Part 1: Impact Injuries

Part 2: Movement as habit

Part 3: Emotional and Mental patterns

Part 4: Diet

Part 5: Toxicity

Part 6: Lifestyle

Conclusion

I view the body-mind system as a multi-layered whole, that is designed to balance itself. While any dis-ease may potentially be addressed from any layer, in practice it may take some experimenting to find which layer or combination of layers is required to set the body-mind on the track to health and wellness.

Be open minded, do some research, learn to feel what you are heart or gut-attracted to (don’t rely just on your head), give a modality decent chance to work,

The best leverage for inducing the body to re-balance itself may be found on any layer which creates a good follow on through the system.

Take heart that the human body-mind system is incredible in its ability to rebalance itself, and that there is a combination of modalities, knowledge and helpful people out there that can help you in your health and life journey.

Case studies

The following are brief reports from actual clients, that are good examples of the interconnectedness of all things. Names are changed for privacy

Dan

chief complaint: emotional: anxiety, low self esteem, that “all started 7 years ago”

Dan had no memory of accident or life stresses that coincided with the onset of his issue. On his intake form however he answered the “where do you feel it” question by colouring in only the head of the body diagram.

His head and neck were indeed very tight. As they released, (using ConTact C.A.R.E) he suddenly remembered he had fallen in a ditch and given himself a concussion…about the time his “emotional” symptoms had started.

Conclusion: One session has produced a great change for Dan, so it would seem that the physical impact was the key to his emotional issues.

Rachel

medical diagnosis: originally Crohns Disease, but not quite fitting the picture

Rachel, age 14, was on various drugs for pain and digestive issues.

I found her neck, diaphragm and the ribs over her kidneys/adrenals were all jammed, which in my model is a great way to make the body feel it is constantly threatened, and unable to fully engage the para-sympathetic or “calm down” system.

The timing of a couple of falls off a horse coincided with the start of her “Crohns” symptoms.

Outcome:

three sessions of ConTact C.A.R.E have each produced a huge improvement, with reduced medication and symptoms. Rachel and her family continue to liase with both the doctors and me, as well as working with diet, as she steadily improves over time.

Ruby

chief complaint: sore lower back

While Ruby would get some relief from her sore back with bodywork and acupuncture, it was only temporary.

She had a first breakthrough when she stopped eating wheat, which was inflammatory and irritating the digestive system nerves and referring to her spine.

Her second breakthrough was when she completed her tertiary studies, and relieved herself of the associated stresses of being a student. For Ruby those stresses were partly about the volume of her work load, and partly about having to study some subjects that and were contradictory or irrelevant to her life experience and values.

Michelle

chief complaint: Frozen shoulder

A successful business owner and busy mum, Michelle had recently had even more demands for energy and attention put on her by a sibling. Despite her best efforts to help it was never enough. While the shoulder was injured it was a justification that was accepted as a need for space. And treatments were time out for her, as was a trip out of town for couple of weeks to see a famous shoulder specialist.

Conclusion: There should be no judgment on Michelle who was a competent caring woman. Her shoulder kept some overwhelming demands literally at arms length, protected her heart, and gave her valuable time out for growth, reflection, and even a little adventure. Why would it get better until she had developed other ways of creating that in her life? This has been a journey of the heart for Michelle. As she learns to manage some of the challenges in her life from a place of heart-based compassion and wisdom, rather than head-based “shoulds”, her shoulder is improving.

Adam

chief complaint: anxiety

Adam had suffered anxiety for a few years. Counselling had helped but he felt he had plateaued in his progress. Part of his history involved some abuse where he was partly strangled. He specifically said during his first session that he saw no value in more talk.

Using body-work, (specifically Zero Balancing for most of the time) he regained a sense of calm. The first session the emotional response to approaching his neck was too intense, so we left it. The next session it was possible but very emotional. Over 5 sessions the neck and throat area lost its over-reactivity, and he reported the sense of anxiety progressively leaving his body – for him it felt like there was a level dropping out of his chest down his legs, until it left completely.

Conclusion: This is a case where the non-verbal part of an issue hadn’t responded to cognitive/verbal processes, but let go very well with gentle and safe touch.

Craig Love is an NLP Coach and a certified practitioner of 3 body therapies: ConTact C.A.R.E, Ortho-Bionomy, Zero Balancing, and is part way through adding the Feldenkrais Method of somatic education to his toolbox. He works in and around Auckland, New Zealand with animals as well as people, helping with issues as diverse as whiplash and back pain to phobias and anxiety, and with “labels” from Fibromyalgia to Crones Disease.

related articles:

Part 1: Impact Injury

Part 2: Movement as habit

Part 3: Emotional and Mental patterns

Part 4: Diet

Part 5: Toxicity

Part 7: Case studies and conclusion

Introduction

In my work as a body therapist, and NLP coach, I am often asked the above question. It is usually followed by “Can it be fixed?”

The usual issues that raise “The Question” are neck, back and sciatic pain, whiplash, frozen shoulder, carpal tunnel/rsi or tennis elbow, headaches and migraines. The un-usual issues that raise “the Question” are those frustrating pains that come and go, move around, or are in odd places.

Lifestyle

The basic principles of health and happiness are really simple:

Exercise

Diet

Sleep

Emotional balance

I can almost resist the temptation to fill out those four principles, but not quite, so look below for the briefest I could be…

But you know this, as every body and most magazines have endless advice and good ideas to tell you what to do, so why arent you doing it all? Simple.

Choose

Lets face it: if you do everything you have been told you should do, you would be through your morning routine, including the skin brush, and the tongue scrape and the pushups and the healthy breakfast and the sauna….. by about tuesday of next week. Not feasible.

So you have to choose. This means a bit of research, and then experimenting on yourself, by trying something out, and noticing the effects on you.

This is where your inertia/momentum of current habits resists any change, and yes you will have to carve out a little bit of time to try something – one little thing – new. Your body is unique and the lifestyle patterns that work for you are too. I would go so far as to say nobody can tell you what is right for you, though they can definitely make some useful offerings for you to fine tune.

Make or break habits

We tend to make assumptions about what is negotiable or not in our lives, and when we get embroiled in busy-ness or overwhelm we lose perspective on what we can or cant change.

A useful question is, could someone else in your situation handle it differently? If so, there is hope for you to learn what you need to, or find the courage to change something in your circumstance, and start investing in your health.

What to do:

Jam some time for you into your diary. Just to reflect, for a start. Prioritise it. Even just a couple of half or one-hour slots to start, in a suitable place for time out. Maybe plan some sessions by yourself and time with someone to give you some TLC, healing or objective feedback and advice.

Notice what demands come up to prevent you actually taking that time when the day arrives! That will give interesting information about what needs to be balanced…

Use the time to decide what is the first little thing you want to start with.

Its like saving, too much at once is overwhelming, but a little bit often will reap eventual rewards, and making the first step has to happen sometime.

I of course recommend some bodywork – particularly a modality that I offer and love, Zero Balancing – or NLP coaching, both will help with your clarity and relaxation, and help with the motivation to move ahead.

Start now, and good luck!

Craig Love is an NLP Coach and a certified practitioner of 3 body therapies: ConTact C.A.R.E, Ortho-Bionomy, Zero Balancing, and is part way through adding the Feldenkrais Method of somatic education to his toolbox. He works in and around Auckland, New Zealand with animals as well as people, helping with issues as diverse as whiplash and back pain to phobias and anxiety, and with “labels” from Fibromyalgia to Crones Disease.

Part 1: Impact Injury

Part 2: Movement as habit

Part 3: Emotional and Mental patterns

Part 4: Diet

Part 6: Lifestyle

Part 7: Case studies and conclusion

Introduction

In my work as a body therapist, and NLP coach, I am often asked the Question “Why am I in pain?” It is usually followed by “Can it be fixed?”

The usual issues that raise “the Question” are neck, back and sciatic pain, whiplash, frozen shoulder, carpal tunnel/rsi or tennis elbow, headaches and migraines.

If you or someone you care about has a painful issue that hasn’t done the decent thing and simply just gone away, then this series of articles offers:

-avenues to explore that you may not have considered yet

-fresh perspectives on those you may have tried already

-some suggestions about where to best invest your time, energy and money.

Toxicity

Pain patterns that seem strange, or don’t respond to various treatments may involve toxicity in one or more of its many forms.

First of all, remember that our systems are able to process and release the various toxic substances that we come into contact with. It is not useful to be obsessively fearful about every little impurity we might pick up – the stress from that alone produces acidifying toxins in the body! (see part 3 of this series) However it is wise to educate yourself and avoid as much as you can.

Even organically grown vegetables contain small amounts of natuarally present toxic substances, which can build up if you eat them every day. The oxalic acid in rhubarb, for instance. For the most part we have evolved with these and can release such toxins, as long as we have a break from eating them regularly.

Industrial chemicals, on the other hand, are new to our systems, and it appears that some people don’t have the ability to process and release some of these, so they have to be stored in the body.

Heavy metals such as lead, cadmium and mercury, and industrial and agricultural chemicals, can build up in the body and cause all sorts of havoc.

Modern foods, especially junk foods, but also many “health foods” are processed and have many Strange Ingredients, some of which amount to industrial poisons. Fluoride in the water is finally being recognised as one of these, even by the FDA in the USA.

Toothpaste commonly has a foaming agent that is considered carcinogenic by nearly everyone except those who are trying to sell it. The list goes on the and moral of the story is buyer: beware, and educate thyself.

Radiation

We are exposed to all sorts of radiation these days. The effects of this are difficult to measure or predict, and may range from subtle and long term to obviously devastating.

Difficulties diagnosing any kind of toxicity include wide variation in peoples’ exposure, sensitivities and symptoms, being exposed to toxins unknowingly, plus the expense of some tests. Also scientific research is by no means exhaustive or complete, – just think X-rays, thalidamide and DDT which were claimed to be safe but turned out to be dangerous or even devastating. Then there is the fact that many big organisations fearing litigation tend to deny their processes or products can be harmful.

What to do

Any pain or disease that is ongoing and resistant to many approaches should prompt you to consult a doctor or naturopath or other practitioner who is experienced in toxicity.

Cheaper tests to get started can be provided with kinesiology. In New Zealand some of the better chemical/medical tests are expensive and have to be sent overseas. Many naturopaths or acupuncturists employ a variety of machines that have grown out of acupuncture and can test for all sorts of imbalances. My personal experience is that no one machine or practitioner has the whole picture of either diagnosis or treatment, so once again, research what and who is available in your area, and be prepared to try a few.

Craig Love is an NLP Coach and a certified practitioner of 3 body therapies: ConTact C.A.R.E, Ortho-Bionomy, Zero Balancing, and is part way through adding the Feldenkrais Method of somatic education to his toolbox. He works in and around Auckland, New Zealand with animals as well as people, helping with issues as diverse as whiplash and back pain to phobias and anxiety, and with “labels” from Fibromyalgia to Crones Disease.

Part 1: Impact Injury

Part 2: Movement as habit

Part 3: Diet

Part 5: Toxicity

Part 6: Lifestyle Why am I in pain?

Part 7: Case studies and Conclusion

Introduction

In my work as a body therapist, and NLP coach, I am often asked the Question “Why am I in pain?” It is usually followed by “Can it be fixed?”

The usual issues that raise “the Question” are neck, back and sciatic pain, whiplash, frozen shoulder, carpal tunnel/rsi or tennis elbow, headaches and migraines.

If you or someone you care about has a painful issue that hasn’t done the decent thing and simply just gone away, then this series of articles offers:

-avenues to explore that you may not have considered yet

-fresh perspectives on those you may have tried already

-some suggestions about where to best invest your time, energy and money.

Mental/Emotional contributors

“Stress” and inflammation

Many pain issues involve inflammation and swelling.

On my wall is a chart illustrating influences on the acid/alkaline balance in the body. Acid can be thought of as inflammatory, versus alkalinity which is detoxifying soothing and healing of the body. It is mostly about food, but interestingly enough, the most acidifying or inflammatory thing for the body is not a food, but “stress”, including anger fear …all that good stuff.

Stress is a thing we tend to think we “have”. The power of NLP allows us to find out something more useful: how you “do” stress. When people use terms such as procrastination and overwhelm, they are actually pointing to specific mental processes or strategies, that, like any habit can be changed.

If you dont think that it is possible to change these circumstances or reactive habit-patterns, well, that is just a belief that can be changed, like so many of your previous beliefs that are no longer useful. A useful question to ask is: could somebody else, even if it has to be superman or Nelson Mandela or Ghandi, respond differently to the things that trigger you into “stress” or how you talk to yourself. Imagining what it would feel like to be in their shoes, stand how they stand etc may give you some new perspective to your problem.

Emotional postures

Not only is “stress” inflammatory, but it is also contracting – think of your “up-tight” posture. Does yours tend to produce neck and shoulder tension, or perhaps low back tightness, or something unique to you?

Observing what you say to yourself, how you picture your present or future situation, what beliefs you have about your capabilities or prospects, gives you leverage on changing those largely automatic processes. There are often clues in your language:

-is someone or something giving you a pain in the neck?

-are snowed under, or being driven too hard, or is it all uphill? – these all have different body shapes associated with them.

Our taken-for-granted postures that contribute to our pain are often merely habits that developed as ways to feel safe or fit in socially in childhood or adolescence, see part 2.

Emotional states also contribute to dietary choices, such as using food or drugs to distract, console or calm yourself down, which leads us nicely back to part 3, diet.

What to do

Everyone goes into their personal repeating patterns, and if you thinking about it in isolation was going to change it, it would have happened by now.

Find another human with an objective view who can give you feedback and help you see new possibilities. Friends and family may be good to talk to but may also be too close to you or match your own pattern too much to help. I recommend finding an NLP Coach.

Getting help: Note on Coaching vs Counselling

Note: There is a difference between “coaching” and “counselling”, according to my personal definition. Of course this is a blatant generalisation, and only meant to inspire you to research and meet different helping professionals to find one that will best meet your needs at any specific time.

-counselling tends to focus more on the why you are like you are, and can be very past-focussed, not necessarily explicitly setting you up with new behaviours.

-pure coaching- may be as simple as helping you identify your goals and values and cheering you on to meet them, and may not explicitly help you get yourself out of stuck patterns. Also some people are completely overwhelmed and turned off by goal setting, so this style wont appeal – lookout for an upcoming article called “Why goals dont work.”

-NLP Coaching, as I practice it, starts with the patterns you currently have, shows you ways out of them, and helps you generate new behaviour that is aligned with your values. Insights about the origins of unhelpful behaviour often occur as new behaviour emerges. The plan is to have the triggers for the old behaviour start a new, more useful behaviour instead. Cunning ay?

Craig Love is an NLP Coach and a certified practitioner of 3 body therapies: ConTact C.A.R.E, Ortho-Bionomy, Zero Balancing, and is part way through adding the Feldenkrais Method of somatic education to his toolbox. He works in and around Auckland, New Zealand with animals as well as people, helping with issues as diverse as whiplash and back pain to phobias and anxiety, and with “labels” from Fibromyalgia to Crones Disease.

Part 1: Impact Injury

Part 2: Movement as habit

Part 3: Emotional and Mental patterns

Part 5: Toxicity

Part 6: Lifestyle

Part 7: Case studies and Conclusion

Introduction

If you are seeking relief from a painful issue that hasn’t done the decent thing and simply just gone away, then this series of articles offers:

-avenues to explore that you may not have considered yet

-fresh perspective on those you may have tried already

-some suggestions about where to best invest your time, energy and money.

In my work as a body therapist, and NLP coach, I am often asked the above question. It is usually followed by “Can it be fixed?”

The usual issues that raise “The Question” are neck, back and sciatic pain, whiplash, frozen shoulder, carpal tunnel/rsi or tennis elbow, headaches and migraines. The un-usual issues that raise “the Question” are those frustrating pains that come and go, move around, or are in odd places.

Following is a brief look at how diet may play a part in physical pain.

Diet

Many pain conditions involve inflammation. This is part of the body’s natural response to irritation, be it physical damage or chemical or allergic sensitivity, but sometimes you can get on a nasty spiral where inflammation leads to pain, leads to more irritation and inflammation … so interrupting that cycle can be an important factor in reducing pain.

All the foods that we as westerners tend to use, not only to celebrate, but also day to day, are very inflammatory – specifically sugar, meat, wheat, dairy, and deep fried foods – so diet may exacerbate an actual injury. Of course this sort of chronic inflammation due to dietary habits is also linked to degenerative and cancerous diseases that are rife in western culture, yet are very rare in indigenous cultures.

Sometimes a specific food intolerance can be directly involved in pain. Low back pain that is unresponsive to physical treatment, might respond well to removal of gluten or some other food, (see part 7, the case study for Ruby) which is upsetting the intestines and causing referred pain in the back. Kidneys, gall bladder and other organs can refer pain to the back, which might be best addressed with diet, detoxification, lifestyle, or treatment with other-than-physical therapies.

What to do:

If you are serious about your health, especially for the long term, then addressing diet is essential.

In general the more raw fruit and veges you eat and the simpler the diet, the less inflammatory it is. Also specific foods can have an anti-inflammatory effect, turmeric for example.

Professional vs internal advice

Good personalised dietary advice can be sought from practitioners such as naturopaths, chinese medicine and ayurvedic practitioners, who can assess your unique constitution and body type and give you a starting point that is tailored to you.

Bear in mind that diet is such a personal thing and absolutely nobody knows exactly what you need at any one time. The ideal advice comes from your body – not your mind or emotions, see below. If you treat yourself as a living experiment, and take your time observing how you respond to changes, you will develop your own sensitivity and instinct about what you want/need and how much.

Emotional eating

The very word “diet” generally brings up emotional reaction to imagined denial of favorite foods.

Two approaches come to mind here. The first is to focus on adding top quality vibrant superfoods that you enjoy, rather than focussing on the denial and lack of consolation. It will build your sensitivity and your taste for food with “zing”.

The second consideration is to address the emotional links to consolation eating and cravings, which leads us nicely onto the next section of this article set : Part 4 – Emotional/Mental. Diet also links to Part 5 – Toxicity. Oooh, now we’re getting into the Interconnectedness of All Things.

Craig Love is an NLP Coach and a certified practitioner of 3 body therapies: ConTact C.A.R.E, Ortho-Bionomy, Zero Balancing, and is part way through adding the Feldenkrais Method of somatic education to his toolbox. He works in and around Auckland, New Zealand with animals as well as people, helping with issues as diverse as whiplash and back pain to phobias and anxiety, and with “labels” from Fibromyalgia to Crones Disease.

Part 2: Movement as habit

related articles:

Part 2: Movement as habit

Part 3: Emotional and Mental patterns

Part 4: Diet

Part 5: Toxicity

Part 6: Lifestyle

Part 7: Case studies and Conclusion

Introduction

In my work as a body therapist, and NLP coach, I am often asked the Question “Why am I in pain?” It is usually followed by “Can it be fixed?”

The usual issues that raise “the Question” are neck, back and sciatic pain, whiplash, frozen shoulder, carpal tunnel/rsi or tennis elbow, headaches and migraines.

If you or someone you care about has a painful issue that hasn’t done the decent thing and simply just gone away, then this series of articles offers:

-avenues to explore that you may not have considered yet

-fresh perspectives on those you may have tried already

-some suggestions about where to best invest your time, energy and money.

Movement as Habit

Question – what proportion of your actions today were habit….?

Question – is it what you are doing that hurts – or HOW you are doing it…?…and exactly how do you lift your arm, say, with over 100 muscles involved…?

Joints in the body repair themselves, but what if the way you learned to “organise” an action creates more wear and tear than the body can keep up with? This is another way of asking why do some people experience pain or discomfort from the the same activity that seems easy and natural for someone else?

Our habits of movement can always be developed in terms of efficiency, – ask even any gold medal athlete. Movement can even become one of life’s simple pleasures (think ‘cat’, purrfectly indulgent in a good stretch). An efficient movement take less strength and energy, and spreads the load on overworked joints. Think “work smarter not harder.”

How we learn our movement

Human babies have to learn pretty much all of their movement – I think of it as building up a movement library. A horse, say, can be thought of as arriving into the world pre-programmed for a lot of its movement and can run inside of an hour after being born, while a human that takes a year or so to do the same thing.

When we learn something that works for us we tend to move onto developing the next skill, rather than working on the first skill until it is completely perfect.

Also how we define “works”, especially once the age of self-conciousness is reached may be more about looking cool, or feeling emotionally safe, but not be that useful in terms of posture, balance and longevity.

Typically our habits of movement are taken completely for granted and not improved until they cause pain.

How to move yourself out of pain:

The Feldenkrais Method™ is the best thing that I have found for helping you develop the awareness and tools to find out what you don’t know about how you move, and improve your habits. You can develop not just pain-free movement but possibly pleasurable and graceful function too!

There are other somatic disciplines ranging from Tai Chi to Skinner technique and more. There is no substitute for trying a few out and seeing which method or teacher/practitioner works for you.

Beware of people (or practitioners) who tell you there is one right way to do something. Their advice may get you in the ballpark, but you will need to experiment and increase your awareness to find the best way for you at any particular moment.

“Posture”

Just speaking the word can cause people near you to shuffle about, perhaps looking a little guilty, as they try and “correct” the way they are holding themselves.

Most of us have been told to sit straight, stand properly by our parents, and many office workers have been told the “right way” to sit or organise their workstations.

Oh yes, we have always plenty of people telling us what to do…

Somewhere to start: Redefine “Posture” in terms of movement.

Rather than considering right posture as being the right way to hold yourself still, usually according to someone elses instruction, how about we redefine posture in terms of movement, and consider how you can find it in your own unique way that best fits your body, today?

If you start with moving very slowly and gently you will up your sensitivity, and can begin to let go of unnecessary tension and strength being used to do simple tasks.

Then you can feel for a way of sitting, say, where you are relaxed, but equally free to move in any direction instantly, without a preparatory movement. This is your new definition of “posture” – Moshe Feldenkrais termed it “acture”, or “action posture”

For instance if you are slouched on the couch, you can probably go left or right easily enough, but going up will require you digging yourself out of the cushions. It is possible to be balanced in a relaxed way on a firm chair and be able to stand up, duck down, spin or anything instantly.

About the author

Craig Love is an NLP Coach and a certified practitioner of 3 body therapies, ConTact C.A.R.E, Ortho-Bionomy, Zero Balancing, and is part way through adding the Feldenkrais Method of somatic education to his toolbox. He works in and around Auckland, New Zealand with animals as well as people, helping with issues as diverse as whiplash and back pain to phobias and anxiety, and with “labels” from Fibromyalgia to Crones Disease.

Part 1: Impact Injuries

related articles:

Part 2: Movement as habit

Part 3: Emotional and Mental patterns

Part 4: Diet

Part 5: Toxicity

Part 6: Lifestyle

Part 7: Case studies and Conclusion

Introduction

If you are seeking relief from a painful issue that hasn’t done the decent thing and simply just gone away, then this series of articles offers:

-avenues to explore that you may not have considered yet

-fresh perspective on those you may have tried already

-some suggestions about where to best invest your time, energy and money.

In my work as a body therapist, and NLP coach, I am often asked the Question “Why am I in pain?” It is usually followed by “Can it be fixed?”

The usual issues that raise “the Question” are neck, back and sciatic pain, whiplash, frozen shoulder, carpal tunnel/rsi or tennis elbow, headaches and migraines.

The un-usual issues that raise “the Question” are those frustrating aches and pains that come and go, move around, or are in odd places. They have usually been tolerated for a long time, and may be written off to “old age”.

1)Impact Injury

(a model used in the modality ConTact C.A.R.E, Flinch-lock release therapy)

Impacts that are overwhelming or surprising can be stored in the body. These “flinch-locks” are lodged in bones, and are typically not consciously known by the client, as the tissues involved are frozen in the “mode” of self-defence, which is instinctive and not a consciously controlled state. Rather, the client is conscious of resulting pain as the body tries to work around and make up for the effectively frozen part.

Luckily these Flinch-locks can be found, and unlocked by matching the pressure and direction of the original force, this time in a situation of comfort and safety. (Think of unhitching a belt.)

This work is pleasant to receive, with a characteristic feeling of support and common-sense “rightness” that comes from working with the individual pressures and shapes.

It is common for very old injuries to “suddenly” cause trouble elsewhere in the body. My experience is that if clients have received even good work from other practitioners, but the work hasn’t “held”, then this approach enables the discovery and resolution of an otherwise missing part of the puzzle.

What to do

If you recognize the timing of any pain or dis-ease as starting soon after an impact, anything from car accident to an operation to stubbing your toe, or if you have pain or stiffness that responds only temporarily to common forms of body work, find a ConTact C.A.R.E practitioner!

If you really haven’t had any injuries (see Dans case study in in part 7), consider that your habits of movement could be the culprit…read on to part 2.

Craig Love is an NLP Coach and a certified practitioner of 3 body therapies, ConTact C.A.R.E, Ortho-Bionomy, Zero Balancing, and is part way through adding the Feldenkrais Method of somatic education to his toolbox. He works in and around Auckland, New Zealand with animals as well as people, helping with issues as diverse as whiplash and back pain to phobias and anxiety, and with “labels” from Fibromyalgia to Crones Disease.

Once activated, these reflexes allow the body to spontaneously release muscle spasm and restore natural posture in balanced and integrated ways. The overall effect is like receiving a very supporting and comfortable “hug” in exactly the right place, in exactly the right way.

Because release is achieved internally via the nervous system, pain and tension seem to melt away as if by magic. And because the body produces these changes by its own means, rather than by externally applied “correction,” it learns more quickly and easily to maintain its new stress-free pattern.

Other techniques employed by Ortho-Bionomists include: a unique and painless application of Chapman’s Reflexes (neurolymphatic release); gentle isometrics and isotonics; rhythmic movements which mirror and release restricted movement patterns; a complete set of home exercises for postural re-education, many of which can be utilized for self-correction of spinal curves; and a subtle, energetic form of cranial-sacral release.

From an article by Registered Advanced Practioner Robin Wilson. The entire article can be read here. For more information also visit www.ortho-bionomy.co.nz and the Wellington School of Massage selection of Ortho-Bionomy classes can be seen directly here.

A coach speeds and eases the process. You are offered the tools and help to identify and clear those the old patterns. Then you get to design and install new more powerful ones, that run just as automatically as the old ones. You become more naturally and easily motivated and empowered to realise your potential.Coaching helps you jump the gap to your future – with style!

When people feel empowered, they focus on what they can do rather than what they cant. Coaching helps you attain and stay in this state more often, so that you can bridge the gap between where they are now and where they want to be personally and professionally.

Release coaching is custom-designed from session to session, so you get to work through what is important for within your own timing. An important premise is that you do have your own answers, even when you think you don’t! The process used in a Release session is designed to allow you to actually change the way you think and feel about situations in your life that are holding you back. When that happens you will naturally find yourself performing the new desirable behaviours automatically!