Go With the Flow

It's snowing here. I'm wrapped up in several jumpers and working from home.

But I had planned to have a singing lesson, do my shopping and then head over to see my boyfriend in Marlborough.

So what to do?  Well, the singing lesson was cancelled, so that decision was out of my hands. I've now been sitting here, listening to the radio and reading Facebook updates, both of which suggest the roads are getting worse.  The advice is very strongly "don't drive unless you have to".  So I'll probably survive without a trip to Sainsburys.

That leaves the 3rd trip. Obviously I want to see my boyfriend, but I have to put safety first.  I'll see how conditions progress, but it's not looking good.

Now, the point of this article is to talk about how I feel about these changes.  I have options; I could feel stressed and angry.  I could resent the weather for affecting my plans. I could feel hard done by.

Or, I could accept the situation and appreciate the beauty of the landscape covered in its blanket of white.  I could make the most of the extra time to get jobs done.  I could go out for a walk and enjoy the surroundings close up. And I can phone my boyfriend.

We all have a choice in how we respond to situations we find ourselves in.  And this goes for any situation. We have a choice as to whether we see ourselves as a victim or as someone in control of our lives.

So decide how you'd like to respond to the snow, and make the most of the circumstances you find yourself in.

New Year

Wow, I  just looked at my last post at the end of September - on the importance of rest and it seems I've had over 3 months off.

Well it was a lovely rest, but now back to work!


It's the new year - no surprise there. We get one every year and it's usually full of great new intentions on how to set our lives in the direction we'd like them to take.

I've noticed that for the last 2 new years, I've had an overwhelming urge to de-clutter.  To get rid of the old; things that are no longer needed in my life.  To be honest, I have a slight obsession with decluttering.  This is not to say that I live in minimalist bliss.  Oh no!  I have lots of possessions.  But maybe that's why I'm always so keen to get rid of the stuff I don't need.

And also, there's the amazing feeling I get when I prise a bag of unwanted items from my drawers and cupboards.  It feels like relief, freedom, a lightness. I feel excited, like it's the start of a new phase of my life.

If I could do this every day, I would, but unfortunately life doesn't work like that.  I find that I know the right time for me to de-clutter. I get drawn to it and off I go.  The rest of the time I have to live my life.

And does it change my life?  Well, not in a dramatic way, but definitely things change each time this happens.  Maybe my attitude changes, or maybe it triggers me to look at some area of my life or a belief system which is no longer serving me.  I often find that it's an easy way to kick start a change that I know needs to happen, but I can't quite put my finger on the details.

So if you're feeling like a new start, but aren't sure how or where, open a cupboard and start de-cluttering.

The Importance of Rest

On Sunday, I had a duvet day.  I'd been in a show last week, so after a busy day on the Saturday and a very late night due to the after show party, I needed a rest.

Now, normally, I'd probably have pushed through and tried to get on with the things piling up on my to-do list.  But I thought I'd try a different tactic this time.  This time, I embraced doing nothing.  And it was wonderfully liberating.

Now, I can hear you saying, "it's alright for you, I don't have the time to do nothing". And I realise I am in a fortunate state, that I can do this. But it does raise the issue of how important rest is.

Firstly, we don't function at full par when we're over tired.  Extreme tiredness is a form of stress for our bodies and stress has a negative effect on brain function.  We make mistakes and things can either take longer, or be of a lower standard.

Secondly, it's hard work being tired.  Life is less pleasant and things we'd normally take in our stride, become difficult to cope with.  We become over sensitive to things and can become emotional or irritable around others. And obviously, we need to mention that overriding desire to go back to bed.

Thirdly, and less obviously, we can become hyper.  Sometimes it's just adrenaline which is keeping us awake, or we can turn to caffeine and sugar.  This will take its toll on our body, and if we keep this up too long it can lead to burnout.

So, on Sunday, I snuggled down under the duvet, read copious amounts of Facebook and ended the day with a dose of Downton Abbey.

And by Monday I was back to normal energy levels.  So it paid off.

Why not try it sometime?

What is Kinesiology - Part 5 - History

People often ask me where kinesiology came from, so I thought I'd address this in the next part of the series.

Although, it draws on some very ancient healing knowledge, it wasn't discovered until the 1960s.  A chiropractor, called Dr George Goodheart, found that when testing the integrity of muscles, the outcome was dependent on the state of the body at that time.  In this way, he realised that this "muscle test" could be used to find out information which could then be used in the treatment.

Before that, the word kinesiology was just used to mean it's literal translation "the study of movement" (from the Greek). It was a science rather than a therapy; you could become qualified in it, but not licensed.  However after Dr Goodheart's discovery, he went on to devise a therapy which he called Applied Kinesiology.  He taught this to medical doctors and chiropractors. Owing to the vast amount of anatomical knowledge required, he didn't feel it was appropriate to teach it to non-medically trained people.

Fast forward several years, and another chap called John Thie realised that this knowledge could be simplified and still be extremely powerful as a therapeutic tool.  He devised a simpler system called Touch For Health, which links 42 muscles to the Chinese meridian system and uses this to rebalance the body.  It is a very effective therapy and forms the foundation level training for kinesiologists.

Since then, various people have taken the therapy further and many branches of kinesiology have been set up, and submitted to professional bodies for accreditation.  These form the advanced part of the practitioner training and continual professional development.  They are all slightly different, with regard to what they focus on. 3-in-1 Concepts, which I practise defuses emotional stress around an issue (see part 3).  Information about some of the other branches can be found here.  Some are more weighted towards the emotional, some more structural and others more nutritional/biochemical.  Each is very powerful, but people will often find some suit them more than others according to the way they like to work.

I will be giving a talk at the Wellbeing Centre this Saturday (22nd September) if you'd like to find out more about kinesiology and how it can help stress.

What is Kineisology - Part 4 - Corrections

"Corrections" are the name given to the parts of the treatment which actually rebalance the person's energy and defuse the stress.  Kinesiologists often don't go into great detail about these because there are a lot of different types and different ones will be used at different sessions.

Basically, they are mini treatments. I'd say, generally, they last from anywhere between a couple of minutes to maybe 10-15 minutes.  The set of corrections each kinesiologist uses will depend on the courses they've done and so will vary between practitioners.

Broadly speaking, they fall into 4 categories:

Electrical corrections - these work on restoring left/right brain connections and correct the stresses that have "blown our circuits". Some of these have been taken on by teachers in schools via the "BrainGym" exercises. Also, in this section are the acupressure corrections which work on rebalancing the meridians.

Emotional corrections - these work directly on the emotions. Some of these will involve gaining awareness through information which comes up.  Many kinesiologists use flower remedies - the most well known being the Bach Flower Remedies. These work very gently on resolving unwanted emotional states.

Nutritional corrections - these correct imbalances by working on the nutritional system. Many kinesiologists do allergy and intolerance testing (although this isn't something I do) and sometimes this is the first thing people think about when hearing the work kinesiology.  It might be appropriate for the client to add or remove certain foods from their diet for a while, or it might be appropriate to work directly on the effect nutrition is having on the body.

Structural corrections - these are the ones that work directly on the muscles of the body.  The kinesiology systems have aligned many of our muscles with the Chinese 5 element and meridian systems. By muscle testing the different muscles, we can correct the energy imbalances. This can make kinesiology very good for treating muscular problems and even postural problems.

Then there could well be other corrections.  3-in-1 Concepts Kinesiology covered a module on Face Reading (how our facial structure relates to our characteristics we inherited genetically).  This can provide a huge insight for people into why they tend to behave and be drawn to certain experiences.  Practitioners may be qualified in other therapies and choose to bring them into their work.

As you might expect if you've been reading the whole of this series of blog entries, the corrections are chosen according to the muscle testing.  Often different ones will come up over several sessions with the same client, although they can seem to "favour" certain ones. For that reason, every session is unique.

What is Kinesiology - Part 3 - Defusing Stress

3-in-1 Concepts is the branch of kinesiology that I practise. It's works by diffusing the emotional stress around an issue.  Any issue.

Stress often comes from situations where we feel our ability to make a choice has been removed or restricted in some way.  Maybe someone else's behaviour is affecting us negatively. Maybe we're in a situation that we don't like but feel we have to stay in.  Whatever the situation, if the stress is ongoing, look for the feeling of lack of choice involved.

So, by helping the client back to a feeling of choice, resolves the stress.  Sounds easy doesn't it. Well, with kinesiology, it is surprisingly easy because the muscle testing guides the session.  Stress which seems in surmountable can suddenly disappear.  There's obviously a bit more too it than waving a magic wand, but actually not a lot.

One of the things we work with is our belief systems.  Things we've put down in our memory banks as facts, when in fact they are just one particular way of looking at a situation.  Often these come from family or friends and we've taken them on subconsciously when they actually don't serve us.  Things like "I'm only a good person if I have a good job" or " I have to make sacrifices to be liked".  We can change these to more empowering ones, thus helping us to make the choices we really want.  So now the above belief systems may become "It's OK to follow my dreams" and "It's OK to put myself first".

The second thing is resolving the past. Our stress often comes from triggering the emotional  memory of past events. We obviously can't change events which have already happened, but we can change our perception of these events.  What impacts on our present lives is how we feel about our past. So by using muscle testing, we can identify the age at which the trigger for our present stress happened and defuse it.  In that way, that particular trigger can't press our buttons any more.  The amazing thing is that we don't have to have any idea of the cause before we defuse it as the session will bring up that information.

The actual defusing is done using "corrections".  More on that next time.

What is kinesiology - Part 2 - Muscle Testing

Muscle testing is the main thing which differentiates kinesiology from other therapies.  It is a tool by which we get a biofeedback response from the body as to its current state.

Very simply, the client sticks out an arm or leg and the kinesiologist presses down on it. The client resists with a gentle pressure.  According to what is being tested, the muscle may or may not hold the limb in place. This is not to do with strength, in fact the pressure used is very light.  It is to do with the integrity of the muscle in relation to the question being asked.

Any stress will cause the muscle integrity to reduce.  Stress is something that affects the whole body, and extreme stress can produce a noticeable muscle weakness.  It's one of the reasons why we often ask people to sit down before imparting bad news. By asking various questions or getting the client to say statements, we can see which ones cause stress and which ones cause strength.

You may wonder why we don't just ask, and this is to get a truer response than either the client or therapist could get by just guessing.  We often think we know everything about ourselves, but often we are only tapping into our conscious mind.  Underneath that is the subconscious which can hold a whole different story, and holds our unresolved past. The muscle test taps into both and I always find it amazing what insights come up.

Muscle testing is a gentle and safe way to guide a kinesiology session.  As it is tapping into the client's own knowledge, so they are in charge of the session.  Therefore it will only go as deep as the client is prepared to go and so the treatment will progress at a pace which the client is comfortable with.  It also means that the therapist can't project their own values and beliefs onto the client.

If you are interested in finding out more about this, I am doing a free talk at the Wellbeing Centre on Saturday 22nd September at 12pm, where there will be a demonstration of muscle testing.  Please feel free to drop by, no need to book.