What is the Goop Lab Episode 5?

Thousands of people have been intrigued and curious about the Netflix series, the Goop Lab Episode 5, called, “The Energy Experience”, with Gwenyth Paltrow. So, who is John Amaral, what IS this energy experience, why does it look like an exorcism, and how do I find this energetic work near me?

Instead of a manual adjustment to the spine, Network chiropractors use the term “entrainment.” It’s as if all parts of you are entraining to the natural rhythms of the body in harmony. The entrainment takes a more holistic approach, honoring a person’s physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health.

Who is John Amaral and what is the Energy Experience?

In the Goop Lab Episode 5, Gwenyth Paltrow and team interview John Amaral – an energetic healer and doctor of chiropractic. He practices a chiropractic technique called Network Spinal, formerly known as Network Spinal Analysis or Network chiropractic. This chiropractic technique, founded by Dr. Donald Epstein in the 1980’s, takes a very different approach than the traditional “cracking and popping,” type of chiropractic. Instead of manual adjustments to the spine, Network Spinal utilizes gentle and specific touchpoints along the spine to unwind stored tension and trauma within the body and nervous system. It uses the body’s innate wisdom and energy, so that the body can essentially learn to heal on its own.

If you want to experience Network Spinal and are located near San Diego, CA fill out the form below to get started! Our office is located in Solana Beach right off Highway 5.

How do people feel during and after a network spinal entrainment?

In the Goop Lab Episode 5, Gwenyth Paltrow describes her experience after a spinal entrainment: “It was like the slate had just been cleaned. Afterward, I felt incredibly, deeply peaceful.” Gwenyth’s experience during the Goop Lab Episode 5 is very common. During and after an entrainment, most people feel this sense of deep relaxation, calmness, and ease. Some people may even get emotional. John Amaral says “a lot of people’s emotional energy gets bound up. The tip of the tailbone will tuck under when we feel victimized or traumatized. So we can see that our emotional system is like a fluid network through the whole body, it’s not like emotion happens in your head, it actually happens on the sites in our body…” 

When we don’t have the energy to deal with certain things in life–whether it be physical, mental, or emotional–we store it within our spine and body. Network Spinal uses gentle touchpoints to establish greater communication pathways between the brain and the body. An emotional release is just the body’s way of releasing this stored energy and trauma. When the body is able to reconnect and move stored energy, it can move out of fight or flight and into safety, growth, and liberation. 

Myths about Goop Lab Episode 5: exorcism, pseudoscience, and more

Are people having an exorcism in the Goop Lab? 

After watching the Goop Lab Episode 5, you may be shocked by people’s strange expressions and movements during their sessions with John Amaral. Let’s be real. It kind of looks like people are having an exorcism. 

The truth, however, is Network Spinal is anything BUT an exorcism. An exorcism denotes the extraction of an evil spirit or demon from a possessed person. In contrast, network spinal holds the belief that people are NOT possessed from something evil and instead, uses all of one’s experiences, including one’s pain, trauma, or painful experience, as an opportunity for healing, growth, and freedom. Network Spinal holds the belief that there is nothing wrong with you for what’s happened in the past. You are definitely NOT possessed by a demon or evil spirit. On the other hand, through the entrainment, a person is able to acknowledge their painful experience so that they can then work THROUGH the trauma, rather than blocking it out or ignoring it.

Is the Goop Lab Energy Experience Pseudoscience?

Ever since the Goop Lab Episode 5 was released, there has been all sorts of talk and articles written on how this energy work isn’t real and is simply pseudoscience. However, Network Spinal is actually one of the most researched and organized chiropractic techniques (scroll below under, How can I find out more information about Network Spinal?). 

In today’s society, the term “energy,” can automatically engender implications of “new-aged,” “woo woo,” and “mystical” experiences. But when you really think about it, energy is actually science! There are formulas on potential energy and kinetic energy. The only difference between if something is solid or liquid is the amount of energy it holds. Think of an atom or ATP in biochemistry! Can we see an atom? No, yet it’s an accepted fact that an atom holds energy.

Why does the Energy Experience look so Weird?

If you watched the Goop Lab Energy Experience, you may have been put off by the weird sounds, movements, and expressions of the people getting entrained by John Amaral. Why DO people look so funny, and is this normal? 

During a session or an entrainment, people tend to express themselves differently while on the chiropractic table. It’s kind of like thinking of how a newborn baby expresses themselves. Some infants make a lot of different noises and sounds. Some are always crying and screaming. Others are always moving and fiddling with things. Similarly, during an entrainment, people may notice changes or urges in their bodies, in the form of sound, movement, breath, or temperature differences. 

You may have noticed these things while watching Elise Loehnen get entrained, when she had a release through sounds and noted how she just “had” to let the sound move through her body to get it to release. John Amaral says, “culturally we so suppress sound and the expression of weird sounds. We don’t want to make weird sounds because we would be “weird”, so a lot of people’s anxiety and stress is not “expressing” as emotion or coming out as the movement and sound.” 

These sounds are actually things that are really innate forms of expression – we are just programmed out of doing them because they “look weird and funny,” but they are actually the most natural things to do! In this energetic experience known as network spinal, we invite you to express yourself in a way that is congruent and true for you.

Am I going to have a similar experience my first time?

No two humans are exactly the same, just as no two humans heal in the same way. As a Netflix series with Gwenyth Paltrow, the Goop Lab Episode 5 portrays Network Spinal to be a bit flashy, grandiose, and extroverted. While this is true for some people’s experiences, this is not the case for everyone. In fact, some people hardly move or do anything on the table… and that’s perfectly okay! Everyone’s experience with Network Spinal is different. For example, Some people FEEL a lot while on the table, while others do not. Some people notice a change in their posture once they sit up, or notice they’re holding their body differently. Others might have an urge to DO something or take some sort of action afterward. And some people may not notice anything at all, at first. This doesn’t determine whether or not you’re a good fit for the care. It just cues us into a person’s authentic form of expression. 

In addition, each entrainment builds on the next. It’s very common for people to notice more over time and with more care. It’s kind of like working out at the gym for the first time. You can’t go to the gym once a month and expect muscle to magically appear right away. It takes time! And consistency and frequency are important if you want to see results. 

What are the benefits of Network Spinal?

During The Goop Lab, people experienced less numbness, increased emotion, past trauma and grief, increased ability to let things go, the ability to run again, and old memories resurfacing. What are some of the other benefits of Network Spinal?

When our bodies and nervous systems move out of stress and defense physiology, they are more able to move toward healing, growth, and liberation. This in turn can result in numerous benefits, including:

• Being freer in your body! — More energy, physical mobility, stronger immunity, and muscular flexibility
• Increased ability to adapt to stress and challenging life situations
• Making healthier lifestyle choices and creating more sustainable changes within your body and life
• More adaptability when faced with adversity — having the ability to respond (instead of reacting) from a place of understanding, rather than from anger and frustration.
• Greater alignment and integration of body, emotion, mind, and spirit.
• Increased connection within the nervous system, so that the body is more able to heal on its own.

What conditions can Network Spinal help?

Every “body” is different and therefore heals differently. Although we can never say that one healing methodology will 100% cure a specific condition, we know that by upgrading the nervous system through Network Spinal, the brain and body have clearer communication signals and the body-mind becomes more adaptable. This in turn can help with a variety of conditions and experiences, including:

• Stress
• Back pain
• Neck pain
• Immunity
• Increased sense of wellbeing
• Sciatica
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Chronic fatigue
• Emotional intelligence
• Inflammation
• Energy
• Sleep
• PTSD
• Hormonal balance
• Enhanced performance
• Major/repetitive traumas

Spinal Wave

In the Goop Lab Episode 5, “The Energy Experience,” you may have noticed a lot of undulating movements in people’s bodies as they were laying on the table. Were they doing “the worm,” on the table? Could they be faking it? 

What was happening on the table is what is called the Network Wave, first demonstrated by Dr. Donal Epstein in the late 1980s. Through Network care, a healing “wave” actually develops within the spine. This wave is a physiological process that helps reorganize and heal the entire body. There are two kinds of spinal waves – one that is about safety and connection within the body (the respiratory wave) and one that is about creating the energy and movement for change (the somatopsychic wave). 

There is much research that goes on about Network and the Network Wave, particularly at the University of California, Irvine. In this particular article, they discuss the Network Wave as a “central pattern generator.” Just like how no person’s gait (how a person walks) is the same, every person’s wave is specific and unique. 

When we don’t have the energy to deal with life’s stressors and traumas, we store them in the body and nervous system. We all have past traumas, no matter how big or small – they could be physical traumas, mental traumas, or emotional traumas. With Network Spinal, we are helping the body reconnect and perceive a level of safety so that it is able to move out of defense and stress mode and into healing, growth, and liberation. In other words, Network care is helping the nervous system feel safe enough to actually work through that trauma so that it can be released and we can let it go.

How can I find out more information about Network Spinal?

After watching episode 5 of the Goop Lab, you may have immediately typed in a google search, curious for more information. There’s actually a ton of research done on Network Spinal. In fact, it’s one of the most researched chiropractic techniques out there. If you’re curious about learning more, this research article about a study done at UC Irvine is a good place to start. This article describes how people under network care experienced a greater sense of wellness than people who were not under Network care. People under Network care also naturally started adopting healthier lifestyle habits, such as eating healthier and starting an exercise program. For more research studies, Network Spinal chiropractors, Drs. Suzanna and Kira Wong, DC with Twin Waves Wellness Center, would be happy to point you in the right direction. They would love to connect and help you discover if Network care is the right fit for you.

How can I find this energy experience near me?

If you don’t live in Los Angeles where John Amaral and The Goop Lab were filmed, don’t worry, you’re not out of luck! There are thousands of Network chiropractors around the world. If you live in Southern California and are eager to try Network Spinal, Drs. Kira and Suzanna Wong, DC would be happy to serve you! They are twin network chiropractors at Twin Waves Wellness Center, located in Solana Beach San Diego California.

Check out their website HERE, or email info(at)twinwaveswellness.com. You can also call 760-487-8106. They’d love to offer a free consultation to see how they can help. Their “why” is to help people heal, thrive, and reconnect to who they truly are on a physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual level. Netflix’s original series The Goop Lab Episode 5 has enabled thousands of people to find this truly spectacular “energy experience” known as Network Spinal or Network Spinal Analysis. Drs. Suzanna and Kira Wong can’t wait to help you in your journey through optimal health and transformation.