Ruth S. and Dr. E. E. Lindwall, longtime residents of the Atlanta, Georgia, area, knew each other socially and professionally for years before love surfaced along with a shared vision of a life of service, culminating in their 1979 marriage. Dr. Lindwall, or "Isa," conducted a successful chiropractic practice, and Ruth, now "Yolanda," was his Chiropractic Assistant. Because they were dedicated to helping their clinical patients attain-and maintain-optimum physical, mental and spiritual health, in addition to chiropractic care, the couple received certification in Concept-Therapy Institute™ courses and offered a variety of those courses along with free study groups between 1978 and 1984.
From the beginning, the Lindwalls observed that many patients'
efforts to achieve good health was hampered by negative or limiting
ideas that were operating in their lives, often at the subconscious
level. In 1978, they recruited volunteers to participate in an
experiential, two-day workshop of their own design that would
apply some of the universal spiritual principles taught in Concept-Therapy™
along with techniques the Lindwalls had developed. Under the couple's
careful guidance, participants were able to investigate personal
experiences and attitudes toward such common emotions as love,
anger, envy, greed, etc. They were encouraged to release any negative
feelings and reframe each incident using the opposite, positive
emotions. Amazing results were achieved. One woman, scheduled
for imminent surgery to remove uterine tumors, found they were
no longer present when she reported for the surgery two weeks
later. Another woman who had been born with a congenital hip displacement
felt it return to its normal position. A businessman who previously
had been unable to cry was rewarded with tears in the first hour
of the workshop. A follow-up several years later found each of
these individuals enjoying life with no recurrence of the original
problem.
Encouraged by these initial results, the Lindwalls began offering weekly sessions, and continued to refine the procedure for the Releasing process. Between 1979 and 1987, they offered two, two-hour Releasing sessions per week to accommodate all those who wanted more in-depth study and discussion of specific problems in their lives. The sessions were free of charge until Dr. Lindwall retired from his chiropractic practice in 1984, after which they requested a small donation from participants to defray the cost of meeting room rentals.
In 1980, the Lindwalls obtained
a charter and ordination credentials from The Universal Life Church,
Inc., a nondenominational organization, allowing them to conduct
weekend Releasing workshops for the next two years at a lodge
in the peaceful Georgia mountains, away from the noise and stress
of
the city.