Allan Gardiner Home / txm-touch-experience-methods Updated 2026-10-09
The Gardiner Touch-experience-Methods (TxM™)
"The task is not so much to see what no one has yet seen; but to think what nobody has yet thought, about that which everybody sees." – Erwin Schrödinger
This page shows Methods that do not require a device to provide an environment for the body to recognize failure-to-update flows of information that may be late, corrupt, or missing.
It appears to me that the body has accepted a "new normal" maladaptive status quo such that the body has stopped seeking pathways back to a baseline state. The Methods aim to help the body restart seeking pathways.
The Idea, in Plain Terms
I am an engineer and former commercial jet pilot. Over 25 years I have developed these Methods, with feasibility studies and clinics having more than 400 participants.
Sometimes failure-to-update occurs at the time of injury, such as at a stroke, spinal cord injury, or trauma. The flow of information becomes late, corrupt, or missing that results in downstream movements and/or sensations that simply don't happen. A limb won't voluntarily move. The affected fingers or feet may be painful or numb.
The body has unsurprising ways of protecting itself. For example, limiting movement after a stroke until the body can check itself out.
The Gardiner Touch-experience-Methods (TxM) work from a simple idea: the body keeps an internal map of itself, built from touch, sight, and movement. After an injury, surgery, or trauma, part of that map can get stuck. Rather than talking through what happened or managing the symptom, TxM gives the body new visual and touch information so it can notice the outdated map, correct it, and resume healing on its own.
The Methods do not depend upon belief in them. The person only needs to touch, feel pressure, and move to maintain that pressure while the facilitator moves. TxM can be used at other body parts and can sometimes be used self-contained, such as when the person notices their head shaking, see report.
Light Touch Invites Precision Mapping
TxM invites the body to use novel cross-sensory information. In engineering terms, the body's feedback loop is running on old data, and these Methods give it a reason to resume using fresh data.
The Methods evoke fundamental processes that underlie daily activities irrespective of an injury, stroke, or impairment. I have used TxM as a client while developing the Methods to improve my penmanship, fine motor control, and dexterity.
The images below are from the video of Donna at five days and about three weeks after our first visit, roughly a month after a stroke left her right hand and leg without voluntary movement.
Light touch tracking involves the arc of control from the core of the body. Donna's first movements were not videoed when her hand was flaccid.
Light touch tracking involves coordination of movements that can rapidly improve.
Note for individual observations, not study results: I initially developed TxM for a friend who became quadriplegic after an automobile accident. At that time we combined variable-wavelength light, VWT, on her arm and with TxM at her fingers which she reported made it easier to relearn finger movement. More recently we used only touch, a friend with Parkinson's tremor appeared more stable for a few days.
Case Example: Donna
In 2026, my wife was in a two-person hospital room after surgery. Conversations were limited, but I could hear frustration of the roommate and staff when trying to use a commode.
I met her roommate, Donna, for the first time upon her invitation to share her leftover snacks an hour before she was due to be transferred to another facility. I happened to be wearing my vest from the Healing Hut at the Warrior Games, and she had overheard my conversations with my wife.
Donna's right arm and leg lacked any intentional movement five days after a stroke. Her hand was flaccid. She was discouraged by the low expectations of the staff and friends.
I asked if she would like to try Methods that might, only might, get her hand moving again.
Without hesitation, we began with my lightly touching my index finger pad to hers as I asked if she could feel my touch. Yes. Could she push against my finger? Within half a minute, I could feel her finger movement come back online. The other fingers followed. Then her wrist bending, then rotating. Her arm, with a little support, was able to move a cup placed in her hand to her mouth.
Our time ran out, with enough information shared to meet again about three weeks later. She expected walking out when discharged in four days. The video shows Donna's regained abilities and a demonstration of the Touch-experience-Methods (TxM) that I invented and developed.
Donna is happy to share her experience, including her name, images and video, in the hope that others might learn to do Methods for their family members. The same Methods have been reported to prompt improved functioning even years after an injury. Of course there are many reasons why the body might not respond.
Donna reported that she feels nearly normal movement of her fingers, hand, arm and leg such she expected to walk out of the facility in a few days.
For Clinicians and Program Directors
If any of this is relevant to your caseload, the offer is simple and low-commitment: a 30-minute video conversation to review case materials relevant to what you see in your clinic, and to talk through whether a small pilot might make sense there. No cost, no obligation.
Contact Allan Gardiner to set up a time.
This page is for educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not a substitute for diagnosis or treatment by a qualified healthcare provider.
For Clinicians and Program Directors
If any of this is relevant to your caseload, the offer is simple and low-commitment: a 30-minute video conversation to review case materials relevant to what you see in your clinic, and to talk through whether a small pilot might make sense there. No cost, no obligation.
Contact Allan Gardiner to set up a time.
This page is for educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not a substitute for diagnosis or treatment by a qualified healthcare provider.