This edition of Holistic Living Magazine is talking about the Mind and Body Balance & Connection. This is an important topic because if you are looking at holistic health, you have to realise that you are far more than just a physical body.

You need to understand how your thoughts affect your physical health. You need to look at yourself as a spiritual being, this includes looking at your energy.

Modern medicine is now recognising this as well as the teachings from ancient medicine.

It still baffles me that some people think that everything can be solved by taking a drug but when the physical issue is caused by your thoughts, feelings and energy, how can a pill truly work?

So what does the body mind connection mean and how does it affect you? Your body responds to the way you think, feel, and act.

The body mind connection is your body’s underlying activity that occurs in the background of your consciousness or subconscious that affects your thoughts and feelings.

In the same way the body affects the mind, the mind is capable of immense effects on the body. We need to start looking at the body mind connection as a whole rather than two separate parts. Each one affects the other.

When looking at true health and well being the body mind connection cannot be underestimated.

There are ways that you can improve your emotional and physical health once you really understand this and see that it is about finding balance on all levels. Your body, mind and energy are all interconnected.

Poor emotional health can weaken your body’s immune system, this makes it more likely that you will develop dis-ease within your body.

Sadness, stress, and anxiety are all emotions. They can all lead to both physical and psychological health issues. When feeling one of these emotions, you may not take care of your health as well as you should.

If these emotions are not dealt with they can cause, depression, autoimmune disease and muscle tension, amongst other symptoms.

Treating the symptoms alone will never lead to long lasting holistic health. I hope you are beginning to see how the body mind connection all fits together.

In this magazine our experts will help you realise how to understand this connection and how to use it in a way to help you to heal physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally.

Finding this balance is key to enjoying a healthy abundant life. Once you find this balance it is amazing how life starts flowing through you in so many ways.

I hope you learn to balance body, mind and soul. It is so important to have a healthy mind and body for true healing to occur.

Enjoy.

Your body is easy to define. It’s squidgy, you can push it, prod it, move it… you can do lots of things with it.

Go places, see things, hurt it, get sick, break parts of it. Basically, you know what it is. It’s the physical manifestation of you.

So, what is you? What is your mind? A bunch of feelings? What is a feeling?

A manifestation of multiple chemical reactions across neuron interfaces? But how does something physical, and in some ways ephemeral in the way the chemicals interact, become a feeling? An emotion? A memory?

I remember walking through the Siq to get to the main part of Petra, but how does that memory exist? How can I recall it? How did I put it there? Yes, I physically went there, well, at least I think I did.

I remember going there. Now we are in the territory of solipsism…the theory that only the self exists, or can be proven to exist.

What if this is all a dream? And it is all in my mind, and nothing actually exists? Can you prove that is not the case?

Perhaps, perhaps not. What we can do though is see that the mind is connected to the body. Try this for size. Think of something you are really afraid of. Snakes for example (I hate snakes. Really hate them).

Now imagine one is right there with you. Or a spider, anything really, feel anything? Little heart pounding? That is one way the mind is connected to the body.

Now think of a time where you were sick for a while, perhaps the flu, or something a little more debilitating.

How sharp was your thinking? Duller than usual? Just not on top of your game.

That is another way that the body is connected to your mind. This is a symbiotic relationship. One begets the other.
When you are physically sick, a cold as an example, you can’t think straight.

When you have a mental health issue, depression perhaps, then your body struggles, you want to sleep all the time. Everything is hard, your emotions are on tenterhooks.

Essentially you are one, you are not mind and body, you are mind with body. You are you. If you neglect one part of you, the other parts will suffer.

And on that note, let me leave you with something I still find surprising. Did you know that your stomach is home to 100 million neurons, equivalent to the brain of a small cat?

That effectively you have a second brain? That while this doesn’t ‘think’ per se, it does have ‘feelings’.

So, the next time someone says ‘trust your gut’ … don’t dismiss that out of hand; your mind body connection psychology is much more intertwined and stronger than you think! Enjoy the rest of the magazine and get your mind body online.

Think Twice: How the Gut’s “Second Brain” Influences Mood and Well-Being,
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/gut-second-brain/, accessed 4th September 2018.

Medicine now knows that your body and mind are interconnected. It is not OK to simply take a pill to boost your immune system to get well, there are many things you need to do to get your body and mind healthy.

You need to think healthy, eat healthy and move healthy. To do this, you need your body mind connection working. Balancing body soul and spirit with your mind is key to having amazing health.

We all know that your immune system plays a huge part in your overall health. What if you could use your mind to affect your immune system, giving you a healthier life and body? Guess what, you can!

Before you learn how to do this, let’s look at what is happening in your body when your immune system has been compromised.

When your body is in a state of stress it affects your immune system. When your immune system is stressed, it becomes weak and causes dis-ease within the body.

There are many diseases out there that are caused by a weak immune system. When the body is stressed it secretes stress hormones, adrenaline and cortisol to name a couple. What do these stress hormones do?

Adrenaline, or epinephrine, is a stress hormone secreted from the adrenal glands.

When the brain communicates to the glands that there will be a need for a fight, flight or freeze response it gives your body an adrenaline rush and increases your secretion of adrenaline. – So here you can see that the body-mind are working together.

Cortisol, reduces body functions that would be nonessential or detrimental in a fight, flight or freeze situation.

It alters the immune systems response and suppresses the digestive system, the reproductive system and growth processes.

This complex system also communicates with regions of your brain that control mood, motivation and fear. – Again we can see that the body-mind are working together.

The opposite of stress hormones are endorphins, dopamine and serotonin. These make the body feel good.

Endorphins, are a group of hormones secreted within the brain and nervous system. They have a number of physiological functions. They are peptides which activate the body’s opiate receptors, causing an analgesic effect.

Dopamine, is a compound present in the body as a neurotransmitter and a precursor of other substances including adrenaline. This helps to control the brain’s reward and pleasure centres.

Serotonin, is a neurotransmitter, although some consider it to be a hormone that has a wide variety of functions in the body. It is used to transmit messages between nerve cells.

It is sometimes called the happy hormone, because it contributes to wellbeing and happiness.

You can see these chemicals cause physical responses in your body. So in knowing this, what if you could use your mind-body connection to manipulate these responses within your body to create better health?

Would you feel more empowered, rather than relying on a pill to get you healthy? What if you learned to have a healthier lifestyle, so you can have a more vibrant life?

What if you could program your subconscious responses to act in a healthier way, so you do not even have to consciously think about making the necessary changes? This is possible with hypnosis.

I want you to know that through hypnosis, you can teach your body to relax using suggestion.

Hypnosis is a way of reprogramming how you think, feel and act. Today hypnosis has been accepted by conventional medicine as a way to treat a number of problems and it can be used in so many other ways too.

Once your body knows how to relax, it will secrete all of the feel good hormones, balancing out the stressful ones. If you want to know how to have a healthy mind read on…

So What Is Hypnosis & How Do You Do It?

Hypnosis works by reaching a relaxed state where it is possible to sink deeper into your mind and rewrite or reprogram your subconscious. You can learn self-hypnosis or you can go to a trained therapist.

Through both physical and mental relaxation and suggestion, hypnosis allows people to bypass their conscious mind and introduce positive thoughts and ideas into their unconscious.

In practising this it will affect the conscious mind and lead to behaviour changes. This is powerful when looking at the mind-body connection.

Through working with your subconscious mind you can affect your behaviour and your behaviours can affect your physical body. Once you realise this you can really start to see the mind body connection working.

One way I like to reconnect my client’s mind and body is to get them into a relaxed state using hypnosis, and then direct them to part of their body.

Maybe direct them to a place in their body that does not feel comfortable or is in pain. Get them to notice the thoughts, feelings and emotions that are associated with this part.

Ask the part what it needs in order to let go of the pain or uncomfortable feeling. Your body wants you to be happy and feel free and when you learn to speak to it, will give you the answers you seek.

Once you get the answers you are looking for you can use suggestions and affirmations to make the changes, or you can use the answers you get to make conscious changes in your life.

I have found this to be the most powerful way to create changes with my clients, and of course there are many other ways.

So you now realise hypnosis can help your mind-body connection, what are other ways you can improve your connection?

These are some simple things you can do to encourage your mind-body connection and if you are looking for someone to help you using hypnotherapy and you need some deeper work, I will be more than happy to work with you to reconnect your mind and body.

Mind body therapy is a powerful tool for healing mind body and spirit. I hope this makes sense to you and you can use this information as one of the steps to help you on your journey back to health and wellness.

The art of balance comes in many forms. The one that I want to write about here is the art of ‘Mind-Body Balance’.

So, what does this actually mean? What is Mind-Body Balance and how can we get a deeper understanding of this?

In many spiritual disciplines ‘mind-body balance’ is about having harmony and balance in one’s being from the dualistic, two-fold perspective.

It is about bringing in a focus and connection with the mind and body so that they are in sync with each other and in a state of ‘communication’ – with each aspect ‘knowing’ what the other is doing or feeling.

This dualistic focus is a good way for people to start looking at living a more holistic and balanced life. With this image we can begin to more fully understand that the human being is a complex and multi-dimensional being.

When we start to connect the mind to the body and realise that one is often dictating or directing the other it becomes quite fascinating.

A little example of this is easily explained and experienced with a small exercise:

Imagine for a moment that you are biting into and sucking the juice from a fresh orange.

Almost immediately you will notice that your mouth is filled with saliva! The body responds to the mind – to our imagination.

When we use this connection of the mind-body balance consciously all manner of things can evolve.

If we move even further along from the dualistic mind-body perspective we can add the soul component and get the three-fold perspective of body-mind-soul.

If we then add the spiritual aspect we can then get an even more comprehensive view of the four-fold-human being with body-mind-soul-spirit.

But let us stay with the body-mind balance image and work with that for now. When we give ourselves the time to contemplate this aspect of ourselves we can then start to ask ourselves what does this actually mean and how can we make use of it?

One way in which we can use body-mind balance is in counselling and psychotherapy. In some modalities of counselling and psychotherapy ‘somatic’ or ‘body based’ techniques are often used.

In my own modality of ‘Psychophonetics*’ counselling and psychotherapy, I use this mind-body connection a lot with my clients. I get my clients to not only talk and think and conceptualize what is going on for them, I get them to ‘feel’ it and experience it from their ‘body memory’.

Every experience that we have is stored in this ‘body memory’ – to be precise it is stored in our ‘etheric memory’ in our ‘etheric memory body’.

The etheric body is also called the ‘life body’. It is the aspect of us that continually helps to restore the body. This etheric body is often what people ‘see’ when they see a haze or a colour around the body.

From a four-fold perspective we have the physical, etheric, astral and ‘I’ components that make up the human being. (Taken from the Anthroposophical – Rudolf Steiner based viewpoint of the human being).

In a therapeutic setting, with an experienced practitioner, these body memories can be accessed and worked with to help bring about some understanding, healing or clearing.

In my work I use sound, movement and gesture (body expression) to help this process.

With the mind organising and configuring all that is going on a two-fold (mind-body) understanding is found. Oftentimes in therapy, where this two-fold process is not adopted, the client can be left with a feeling of things not being complete.

When the mind only (conversation and thinking) process is used it is, as I have expressed, only part of the full image and process.

People can ‘talk’ about releasing fear, anger, grief, regret, etc, but unless it is released from the body it remains.

Simply telling the story to a therapist is not really going to clear or heal any trauma that is in the body.

In this scenario that I have described, we can see that the body-mind connection is important, especially in the psychotherapeutic field.

Further to this we can be mindful of the body-mind connection when following a meditation practice.

In meditation we aim to stimulate, heighten, calm or empty the mind (depending on the meditation technique), but are still very much connected to our bodies.

The body is what keeps us anchored and connected in our meditations. It is the ‘reel’ that the kite string is attached to when our mind wanders out into the vast expanses.

It is when the kite string is detached, and when people can’t come back to their body, that they have experiences that are beyond their ability to cope with.

The body is the ‘home base’ that we can generally always come back to. In many of my meditations I use the body as part of my practice.

I do muscle relaxation meditations, walking meditations, chakra meditations and body point (pressure point) meditations to connect to myself to my mind and body in deeper ways.

Training and allowing energy to flow through certain points of the body in meditation, whilst the mind is being activated or stilled, is another example of the body-mind balance connection.

In this place a real sense of balance can be achieved. In this place the harmony and connection between body and mind can be very real. In this place they can be experienced as ‘one’ as they form their own lemniscate of ease and flow.

As you practice and deepen your meditations to connect more fully with the body-mind balance experience, you will be able to more fully appreciate and understand how you are this multi-dimensional being.

One exercise that you might like to try is to focus on your heart and allow the mind to penetrate into it to help reveal what feelings are in there.

Allow your mind to traverse every cell, every artery, every atom of your heart and see if you can allow the feelings to be expressed as your mind explores and discovers each one.

This ‘Heart Exploration-Expression’ Meditation is very powerful and after some practice you will get to feel the absolute connection and synergy of your body (heart) and mind.

In this practice you may (probably will) uncover some old emotions and feelings, and even some suppressed ones – which could even be joyful and fun!

Let the mind do the exploring and let the body do the releasing – this is a great balance to find.

I trust that you will get some insights from this article and from this meditation exercise and I wish you well on your further explorations of the body-mind journey.

*Psychophonetics is a therapeutic modality based on the initiatives and human development understandings of Rudolf Steiner (1863-1925). Psychophonetics was created by Yehuda Tagar and is practiced in several countries around the world.

I reached for my draw and without warning I was paralysed in searing pain. No matter what I tried to move I couldn’t, the pain made me scream out in a way I have never heard my voice before, in fact it didn’t sound like my voice.

My breathing was rapid, shallow, panic filled and fuelled with fear.

“My god I can’t feel my toes, my foot, I can’t move my leg, my arm.”

My mind was hurtling words of “What is happening why can’t I move? Oh my God what is this?”

I tried to move my hand and my mind screamed out “pain again, oh no”, my breathing fastened in panic again. Unable to move, unable to feel my foot, my toes. What was I to do?

Calm my mind, quieten my breath and wait. Wait for my body to release the grip of the mind.

Rationalise, be logical and think of the science of the physiology. Really at a time like this?

Feel, quiet, calm the mind, feel the body, listen to what the mind is saying – “Oh my god what is this?” And the panic, fear, the pain intensifies once again.

Calm, quiet the mind – disconnect from the mind and all its panic and fear, feel into the body, move into the pain not away from it. Breathe with intent to relax and focus, calm, quiet…

Making the body-mind connection took more than an hour and slowly and carefully I was able to release my hand from the wall and stand up straight.

Momentarily I let go of being in my body, feeling into it and my mind took over, panic and fear, once again my body was wracked in paralysing pain.

I dropped into my body to focus on the breath and feel the space of calm, quiet.

In every moment of being in the calm quiet space I was able to move slowly, and the mind would scream “it’s going to come again, it’s going to hurt me again.”

For those moments I had allowed my mind to overtake my body. Once I made the decision to focus my mind on the body and form the mind-body connection, I could move again.

What Is Possible?

Have you read about or perhaps watched the Shaolin Monks or Masters of Japanese martial arts, their incredible agility to leap great heights, to turn their bodies over and land unharmed, to kick through solid walls?

Have you heard about people who do not eat food but live only on water and air?

If you have what did you think about it? Perhaps “how is this possible?’

It’s not only possible – it is real, because you either have control of your mind or it has control of you.

It’s a bit like having a job you get a great buzz out of and you immerse yourself in it, loving every minute of what you are doing.

Or you have a job that you hate, you are there because you must work, or you don’t believe there is anything else for you.

Every day you have pain, you get sick easily, bad period pain, frequent injuries through incidents at work or even at home or your car becomes unreliable.

Your mind is not a machine or a computer running to its own grand plan – or is it?

I have heard many people make comments such as “Being in my head” “if only my mind would stop”. Your body responds to the mind and your mind responds to you.

You the amazing eternal spirit within the mind and body. You are the CEO – Director of your thoughts and actions. Your body is the carriage, the house. Perhaps you may even think of it as your personal Temple.

Doing something on a whim, eating something mindlessly are signs that the mind is running you rather than you are being an active conscious participant of your mind and body.

Let’s have a look at the mind and get it straight that we are not talking about the physical brain here.

The brain is more incredible than any mother board that will ever be invented, electrical currents direct traffic to all areas of the body for all the systems to function.

The most vital nourishment for the brain is oxygen. The mind, we can say is the thinking part of the brain. There are said to be 3 parts to the mind;

Conscious mind is where we know about everything in our awareness, sensations, perceptions, memories, long term memory, feelings, mental processes that allow us to think and talk in a rational manner.

Subconscious mind is where we hold beliefs, emotions, and habits.

Unconscious mind this is the darkness of our mind where we hold all our memories which are unacceptable or unpleasant, such as feelings of pain, anxiety, or conflict.

It is said that we use only 10% of the conscious mind with a whopping 90% between the subconscious and unconscious mind.

For many people it is the conscious mind in which they “live” 90% of the time with their unconscious mind overseeing their awareness without them being aware!

Why is it that indigenous earth people can survive a venomous snake bite where a city dweller will most likely die? How is it that indigenous tribes can walk under water for long periods of time without any form of oxygen supply?

Because they are each able to detach from the mind and its whims and to go into the depth of their calm quiet space either outside the body or deep within it.

These examples of what seem to be super human powers offer you the opportunity to explore the mind body connection from a new perspective.

Perhaps look at how you process pain, experience events in your daily life and find how much you are or are not the CEO – Director of your mind.

Another part of this is your connection to your body. What is your expression toward your physical body, how do you care for it, more importantly the way in which you hold yourself, the words you use when you refer to your body?

How To Make These Tips Part Of Your Life Every Day:

· Take a few minutes every day to sit upright, breath in slowly and deeply, feel the flow of breath, notice where it goes. Release the breath slowly for as long as you can.

· Sit in a chair, close your eyes and take your attention to your little finger, notice what the finger feels like. When you have a sense of just the finger and all that it feels like, move to the next finger.

Do this little by little each day eventually achieving a full body scan. Each time noticing all the sensations, feelings and even emotions that are in each body part.

· Take 10 minutes a day to sit where you will not be disturbed, get comfortable, be sure to sit upright in good posture. Relax your shoulders, jaw and eyes, breath slowly in and out.

Start to follow the breath into body parts that have been giving you pain or discomfort, take a little time to focus on that part and ask, “What is it that you need.”

Wait quietly and the answer will come in thought or a picture in your mind.

· As you learn to hear what your body is telling you notice what thoughts you are having at the same time. Are these thoughts in alignment with the sensations in your body?

When the mind and body are aligned you will be able to move pain from within and release it.

· To be consciously aware is to take notice of your thoughts and reactions, it is to be present and aware in every moment. Stop to notice what you are thinking before acting or reacting.

To be Spiritually awake make these practices part of your day every day; gratitude, forgiveness and judgement. And accept that there is an unseen greater power all around you.

As a Life Coach, I help clients find success and gain balance in all areas of their life. In this article I’m going to share with you the importance of personal fitness for both the body and the mind.

In addition to increased energy, vitality, strength and flexibility, the benefits of good fitness include better concentration, more stamina and greater readiness to meet life’s challenges.

There is much research to prove that good fitness greatly reduces the risk of a variety of illnesses and physical problems such as osteoporosis, heart disease, and adult onset diabetes.

Despite the many positive consequences of fitness, people often struggle to achieve and maintain it. Sometimes this is due to lack of knowledge of effective health habits.

It can also be because people need help to reshape their lifestyles and reprogram unhealthy patterns of behaviour.

Physical and mental fitness both involve developing a certain degree of flexibility and stamina. These are achieved through consistent healthy life practices rather than through ‘quick fixes.’

Fitness is a result of personal congruence, respecting the value of the body, and promoting the connection between mind and body.

Complete fitness applies to both the body and the mind. To be truly “fit” means to be healthy physically and mentally.

Ultimately, fitness comes from living a healthy lifestyle.

Nutrition and exercise are the two areas of focus necessary for good physical fitness. Both are very important.

Eating a healthy diet, for instance, can lead to having a healthy heart, a sturdy cardio vascular system, low body fat, strong muscles, solid bones, etc.

Being healthy also means having a positive outlook on life. A healthy attitude, physical toning and good nutrition all support each other to produce a great lifestyle.

The “Inner Game” Of Fitness

The mental aspects of fitness are related to what can be referred to as the inner game of fitness.

The concept of the “inner game” was developed by Timothy Gallwey (1974, 2000) as a way of helping people to achieve excellence in various sports (e.g., tennis, golf, skiing, etc.), music and also in the workplace.

Success in any area of performance involves using your mind as well as your body. Preparing yourself mentally to perform well is the essence of your “inner game.”

The “outer game” has to do with physical skills. In fitness training, for example, this would involve how many calories to eat, which types of exercises to do, how many repetitions to make, etc.

The “inner game,” on the other hand, has to do with your mental approach to what you are doing.

This includes your attitude, confidence in yourself, your ability to concentrate effectively, deal with setbacks, and so on.

The most challenging muscle to train is the one “between your ears.” You can have a room full of the latest and best equipment, but if you don’t have the right mindset, you’ll have an uphill struggle.

Some key components of a successful inner game include:

· Setting clear and achievable goals

· Developing the motivation and self-discipline to follow through on those goals

· Having tools with which to break old habits and set new healthy ones

· Updating your self-image and mental maps of yourself

· Appreciating and acknowledging your progress and building self-esteem

Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) provides a model of change and a variety of tools that can help clients with their “inner game” of fitness.

In addition to their applications to problem solving, NLP processes and principles can greatly enhance a person’s fitness in a number of ways.

Creating The Future

Goal setting is the first and primary technique to help define what you really want to achieve. A key to goal setting is defining the right kind of goals.

Fitness, for instance, is not about having the “perfect body” but rather about having your own body become fit and healthy.

It is important to rephrase goals such as “being thin” to more specific outcomes like having strong bones, a stronger heart, able to touch your toes, etc…

To succeed in reaching fitness outcomes, it is important to begin by setting short-term goals. For instance, think in terms of losing 3 kgs first (rather than 15 kgs).

Your short-term goals must then be connected to the long-term outcomes you want.

Keeping fit is not only about eating right or exercising so that you feel better for today. Fitness is preparing your body and mind for the future.

A woman I know set herself a goal to lose weight and fit into a new dress she’d bought for a friend’s wedding.

She lost the weight and looked great for the wedding but then immediately gained all the weight again soon afterwards.

Disappointed with herself, she came to see me and I helped her get a clearer picture of her long term goals and connected these plus her positive actions to the future.

When thinking about her daily eating and exercise habits, I coached her to ask herself:

“What kind of body do I want at the age of 65?
How do I want to move as I age?
How much energy do I want to have?
What do I need to do today to ensure a healthy future?” As a result, she developed good, long-term health habits and maintained a manageable weight.

People who are truly fit make fitness part of their identity. Good exercise and eating habits should be as natural as washing your face, brushing your teeth, bathing, etc.

Achieving good fitness involves making yourself a priority. We do so many things for others in our lives (children, partner, boss, clients, colleagues, etc.) it is important to consider, “Who is taking care of me?”

Fitness is about doing what you can for yourself. When deciding what to eat, for instance, think of yourself as an expensive car.

If you had a Ferrari or a Jaguar, what type of fuel would you put in it? Treat your body the same way.

Motivation & Confidence

Many people desiring to achieve good physical fitness are challenged by lack of motivation, especially when they are overweight, tired, discouraged, and so on.

People who are out of shape frequently feel tired, discouraged and suffer from low self-esteem. They may joke about their “multiple chins, or spare tyre” but this mental outlook can start a downward spiral.

Good fitness requires a lot of learning, discipline and control.

It can be difficult for people to get momentum, and they may find themselves struggling with laziness or boredom.

As a Life Coach, I help clients discover and focus on their own personal motivation. To do this I split their idea of motivation into two; motive & action.

Firstly, we look at their motive – why they want what they want. And then we figure out what action they are able and willing to take to start the ball rolling.

I encourage them to work towards a positive outcome rather than moving away from a negative idea i.e: towards being fit, instead of moving away from being fat (which is driven by a negative mindset).

The level of a person’s belief and confidence in themselves has a huge impact on their success or failure.

As a life coach, I teach clients to build their confidence by reinforcing their progress, and congratulating themselves, no matter how small each achievement. A key motivator for many women is to be “a good role model for my daughter.”

Creating A Compelling Future

Creating a compelling future is one of the keys to winning the “inner game” of health. I teach clients how to do this by visualising their desired goals and successful outcomes.

Such images help to inspire and propel them forward towards their dream. In addition to helping create positive expectations, visualising successful outcomes helps you to tap into and direct your own inner driver.

Are you driven by achievement, or recognition and praise or affiliation, belonging and feeling needed?

In NLP we learn that we experience life in the form of inner pictures, sounds, words and feelings. These sensory perceptions influence how we think and feel about our world.

For example, think of an advertisement on television that made you want to have the product being advertised. What was it about the ad that inspired you to go out and buy the product?

Was it the colour, the brightness, the music, the words, the tone of voice, the movement, etc?

In the same way that we can be enticed by a television ad, we can use our imagination and visualisation techniques to help us create an inner representation of our compelling future.

Visualizing Success

· Think about both your near-term and long-term future. Ask yourself, “What kind of body do I want to have by the time I’m 50, 60, 70? How do I want to move? How much energy do I want to have?”

Imagine yourself in the future having already achieved these goals and enjoying life. Get in touch with what you are seeing, hearing, doing and feeling while enjoying these benefits.

· Adjust the sensory qualities of your internal experience in such a way that it feels more motivating or compelling.

Does the experience become more compelling and attractive if you add more colour? Brightness? Sound? Words? Movement? What happens if you bring the image closer or move it farther away?

What happens if you make the sounds or words louder or softer? What do you experience if you make the movement quicker or slower? Identify which qualities make the experience feel the best for you.

Apply those qualities and experience the good feelings that come from having achieved your outcome.

· Ask yourself, “What do I need to start doing today in order to ensure that I will get my long-term fitness goals?”

Remember the good feelings that will come from reaching your successful future as you picture yourself doing the exercises and eating the way that you know will help you move closer to your goals.

Breaking Old Habits

Changing old habits and establishing new healthy ones is another key to achieving good physical and mental health. When you are offered some cake, do you immediately reach for it without thinking? Let me suggest that you stop and first ask:

Do I need it? Why do I want it? What will it do for me to have it?

What do I really need right now?

As these questions imply, it is important to sort out your “needs” from your “wants.” If you want the cake for the taste, for instance, how much do you need in order to get that taste?

If it is to please others, are there better ways to do that? If it is to please/reward yourself as the question, “how will I feel after I’ve eaten this?”

Questions such as these can help you switch your mindset about healthy eating from “depriving” to “benefiting” yourself. This allows you to get the same feeling and gratification from not eating as they do from eating.

They begin to realise that the pleasure of not eating will last longer than that derived from eating, and that the food hangover that frequently results from overeating is not nearly as pleasant as the feeling of energy and confidence that comes from eating healthy portions of food.

Clearing The Past

Do you “live to eat” or “eat to live.” NLP techniques, such as those involving time line therapy, are very useful in helping people discover the situations that triggered unhealthy eating habits earlier in their life.

This can be a very emotional process, but once people find such triggers, the issues can be addressed directly rather than trying to resolve them through food.

It does take more than one or two sessions to identify and reprogram the problematic thought process. Taking this time, however, can help lift the burden so you are able to move forward in life.

Elizabeth, for example, struggled with eating and weight issues. The source of this struggle was her feeling that she didn’t deserve to be happy.

Together we explored the origin of this feeling and discovered that she came from a rural, blue collar background.

Having grown up in a poor but hard working community, Elizabeth felt guilty that she was more successful than her friends and relatives. She was afraid that if she embraced her success, she would lose it all.

Overeating and being heavy was a way of punishing herself for her success, so that she wasn’t perfect.

Once we discovered this fact, I helped Elizabeth to re frame the part of her that felt guilty for succeeding.

As a result, she was able to change her perception of success and find other, more satisfying ways to share and celebrate her accomplishments with her family and friends.

Alice struggled with her weight for a different reason. She had recently broken up from a long-term relationship.

In exploring her unhealthy relationship toward food, she discovered that she was doing it as a way to punish both herself and her old boyfriend.

A part of her thought, “I’ll show him and get huge. I’ll punish myself, then he will feel sorry for me for being unhealthy and overweight.”

This realisation allowed Alice to re-evaluate her feelings toward herself, her ex-boyfriend and food, and to get satisfaction by taking care of herself rather than punishing herself.

By exploring the events that triggered her unhealthy eating habits, I helped Rosie discover that her conflicts around fitness stemmed from the fact that she had been molested by her father when she was a child.

Rosie placed much of the blame for this situation on her mother, who always wore a lot of makeup, and who Rosie thought of as a slut. As a consequence of her family history, Rosie did not want men to look at her.

She hid behind her weight, choice of drab clothing and lack of makeup. After using the NLP timeline technique to bring new resources to herself and resolve these past events, Rosie went home, dressed up and put on makeup for the first time.

This was the beginning of a series of positive changes that Rosie claims has “changed her life.”

Triggers and beliefs that come from the past are not only limited to weight and food issues. Kathy, for example, was a ski instructor who was involved in fitness training in order to get to the next level in her profession, but she found herself “holding back.”

An exploration of her resistance revealed that she felt she “shouldn’t do things boys can do.” Her belief was, “If I am fit, I will compete with men. Girls don’t do that.”

When I helped Kathy reflect upon the origin of this feeling, she recalled that her mother had discouraged her from being athletic.

It turned out that Kathy had an older brother who was not interested in athletics at all. Kathy would use the equipment her parents bought for her brother and her mother thought her father would “have a fit” if he found out.

By going back on her time line to explore the situation more deeply, Kathy realised that her father did not mind at all.

As a result, Kathy was able to let go of the concern that she had picked up from her mother’s well-intentioned but erroneous messages and reached her goals on the ski slopes.

Another example is that of Margaret who was thin and athletic but had suffered a back injury. She went to fitness training in order to regain her strength after surgery but struggled with lack of energy and motivation.

Through coaching, I realised that it was important for Margaret to have someone who would listen to her and be an outlet for her concerns around her training.

Reframing Inner Resistance

To successfully reach our goals we must be congruent about getting what we want. This is another aspect of the “inner game” of fitness.

Sometimes it seems like parts of us are resisting or uncooperative. Other times, we have to struggle against old patterns, responses and habits.

Rather than simply fighting with ourselves, it is important to acknowledge and communicate with all parts of ourselves.

Reframing is an NLP process for addressing inner conflicts and resistances, and for finding other ways to get what we want without engaging in negative or unwanted behaviours.

Reframing is based on the principle of “positive intention.”

The principle of positive intention states that at some level all behaviour is (or at one time was) “positively intended.” Another way to say it is that all behaviour serves (or at one time served) a “positive purpose.”

The positive intention behind eating sweets, for instance, might be to “get comfort” or “reward yourself.” “Comfort foods” often serve the positive purpose of “showing appreciation or love,” “sharing a good experience,” etc.

In other words, every behaviour or response is aimed at getting for a person something that he or she wants.

Once the positive intention behind the seemingly negative behaviour has been discovered, resources and alternatives are much more easily found.

It is important to have other choices that are as effective for fulfilling the positive intention of the problem behaviour in order to appropriately address the obstacle.

If there are no alternatives, the risk is that you will become conflicted internally or become overly rigid or dogmatic.

Rather than feeling distrustful, guilty or ashamed about difficulties, the recognition of your own positive intention leads to trust and gives a specific strategy for finding other alternatives rather than becoming frustrated with the typical “trial and error” (or “trial and horror” as it is sometimes called) approach.

The reframing process involves understanding and communicating with yourself, rather than blaming or punishing yourself. The basic steps involve:

· Identifying the problematic feeling, response or behaviour. What behaviour or response is getting in the way of achieving your goals?

· Discover the source of the problematic feeling, response or behaviour in your past. When did this pattern of behaviour start and what were the conditions under which it began?

· Finding the positive intention or motive for the response or behaviour. What is that behaviour getting for you or trying to do positively for you?

· Identifying alternatives and resources that address the positive intention, but without the negative consequences.

What other ways can you get that benefit? What resources and understandings do you have now that you did not have at the time that this pattern started? (Find as many as you can.)

· Enlisting the cooperation of all of your inner parts to try a new choice. Which new alternatives and resources would you be willing to try? (Choose at least three.)

Conclusion

Fitness and training are classical examples of the overlap between mind and body, and achieving good fitness demonstrates the many benefits of that integration.

The ultimate objective of fitness training is to create a positive spiral in which eating right and working out lead to better sleep and more energy which, in turn, lead to natural weight loss and other positive physical results.

People are often surprised to find that they can be eating plenty of food and losing weight at the same time.

While fitness training requires a certain amount of motivation, learning and effort to begin, once a good routine is in place, it becomes a form of therapy and stress management in and of itself.

Workouts are like a type of therapy and can become powerful ways of relieving stress and provide an effective strategy for taking preventative action.

For example, instead of having a couple of drinks at the bar, you can go to the gym for the same amount of time and work out the stress.

NLP Tools such as Establishing Well-Formed Outcomes, Creating a Compelling Future using Time Lines and Submodalities, Mental Rehearsal, Future Pacing, Changing The Past and Reframing can be used to help you achieve success for both your body and mind, in the “inner game” of fitness.

Dear Mind, Do You Love Me?

Sometime it feels like you’re just hanging around with me until you can move on to someone else.
When was the last time you did something nice for me?
You get massages every now and then, but they’re not really for me are they?
You really get them so you can feel better.

I don’t think you realise how one sided our relationship is.
You push me around, control me and make me do whatever you want nearly every minute of our waking life.
Have you ever considered what I might want from our time together?
I try to let you know when things aren’t working for me, gently at first, with a little bit of tension – but you ignore that.

What option do you leave me but to yell with pain, discomfort and disease?
Even then, when you finally do notice me, you think the problem is mine, not yours.
Have you ever considered it could have something to do with you?
How you ignore and abuse me or how distant you’ve become?

You think it’s my hormones, my tissues, my organs, my nervous system, my immune system, my pain – but it’s not like that at all Mind.
Pain is one the few things I have left to call you back to me.
I’ve even heard you bragging how you dominate me to your friends – ‘Mind over Matter’ you say – it makes me feel like I don’t matter to you at all.

I’ve always been much more committed to our relationship than you have – always have and always will be – even though you’ve probably never even thought about it have you?
Do you remember how long it took you to accept me?
At first, you only noticed my face, mouth and eyes, and even then, you weren’t really excited by me, as much as what you could get through me.

It took you weeks to get to know me better – arms, hands and fingers – and months to finally accept legs, feet and toes.
And don’t get me started about gut.
All those ‘gifts’ you bring me – chocolates, sweets, ice-cream, lollies and junk food?
Lets be honest, they’re not really about me at all are they?

You force them on me because you like them, even though you know they make me sick.
That’s not love Mind.
I can’t go on like this forever you know.
If thing’s don’t change soon, our relationship won’t last.

Even then, you’ll think it’s my fault and blame me.
But it won’t be me Mind, it will be you who leaves first.
Just like you always do – before you can get hurt.
When it’s all too much, you’ll shed me like a skin as if you never even knew me.

You’ll float off to the ceiling and leave me to die on my own.
It makes me wonder if you’ve just been using me all along?
Even when you’re stressed you pull away like this, not entirely, but enough for me to feel it.
Do you think I don’t notice when you put all your attention on things more important to you than me – what you want and what you don’t?

How much of your life have you been playing this silly little game Mind?
What has it gotten you? What has it gotten Us?
Do you notice what happens every time you try to be intimate with me?
You come on all strong, paying me attention, noticing me and exploring me.

But in less than a minute you’re off again, thinking about something else.
Do you have any idea how sad and lonely I am when you aren’t fully present with me in every fibre of my being?
Have I ever left you Mind? Even for a minute, a second, or a moment?
When I tense myself and hold so tight because you can’t cope with your memories of the past or your fears of the future, you think there’s something wrong with me – not you.

And I stay like that for days, weeks and years, barely breathing, patiently waiting until you’re ready to return.
And then when you do, I do what I always do when we come back together – I shake.
I shake with grief and I shake with joy.
I tremble and tremor, I twist, stretch and move.
I warm and I soften and I shake myself open to you once again.

You were too young to remember our first time – how my movements brought us together.
In our mother’s womb, it was my twitching, my jolting, my kicking, my pushing, my stretching and my pulling that drew you to me.

Long before you were even born into your own little awareness.
But you’re all grown up now Mind, with an ego to think about – so you don’t let me move Us like that any more. Since that day you realised you could move me how you wanted, that’s all you ever do.

You never let me move Us, except when you’re asleep – and that’s only because you’re not there to control me or suppress me or shut me down.
As you drift into slumber I secretly wait for the chance to move how I want to move – how I need to move to make us both happy.

But as soon as you wake, you lock me down and throw away the key.
You don’t even know why I move Us like this do you?
You think I’m scared, or in shock, or I’m nervous or in panic or have some kind of disorder – but it’s not like that at all Mind.

Can’t you hear me calling you?
Can’t you here me calling you back through my movement?
Come back to me Mind – please move with me again.
Let Us move together and be free.
You’ll remember something you’ve long since forgotten.

You’ll re-find something you’ve long since lost.
Us.
And I’ll move you in a way that you never can – for I’m older and wiser than you’ll ever know.
You’ll fall back in Love Mind.
You’ll fall back in Me Mind.
You’ll fall right back into Us.

Into Our Loving Arms and Our Loving Legs, Our Loving Head, Hands and Feet.
Breathing together, beating together and moving together as One.
I want you Mind.
I need you Mind.
We have to be together.
So dance with me, move with me, sway with me.

Give over, let go and be free.
It’s the most natural thing in the World Mind.
A marriage made in Heaven and Earth.
It’s Flow Mind, Surrender Mind, Body Mind.
It’s Harmony, Freedom and Grace.

I wait for you Mind.
I long for you Mind.
I love you Dear Mind.
Love Body.

Introducing Body-Mindset as a pure methodology for the health & wealth of your body- mind spirit ~ heart & soul is long overdue. It dramatically effects the quality of your life. We have known for nearly half a century that the scientist Rene Descartes was wrong.

The body-mindset is truly connected and clearly both the body and the mind have a profound and continuous impact on one another.

We have also learned in the last half century that scientist Isaac Newton was wrong about the nature of the universe. We are not separate. We are one. Not only is our body-mind connected but we are all connected to one another.

The entire universe at the subatomic level is connected through waves and particles.

How does this affect little old you? What’s in it for you in terms of the quality of life and those you love?

EVERYTHING SO STAY TUNED….

Why The Body Shapes Your Consciousness.

In terms of the body affecting your entire life it all begins with touch. As a child, your well-loved body, (beginning as a baby) sets you up for a life time of well-being.

Everyone craves touch but not everyone is comfortable being touched. If you were not held with love and affection as a child then it affects your entire life.

You learn to be suspicious of those who might want to touch you. You mistrust touch because it is foreign to your body-mindset.

Accordingly if you don’t respond well to touch, you may skip over the touch and rush into erotic pleasure. You miss the affection necessary to bond with your lover.

Accordingly everything that affects your intention counts. Then your intention becomes a reflection of your most dominant thoughts and affects your energy & consciousness.

This is why your body-mind shapes consciousness based how clear your intention is. Did you get that?

If not take a closer look . . .

The Science Of Coherence 1, 2, 3

From neuroscience we now know that your brain waves are coherent or incoherent. Your nervous system tends to lean towards sympathetic (fight or flight) in the primal brain or parasympathetic which is a state of relaxation.

Your awareness then focuses in the prefrontal cortex located at your forehead (or 3rd eye). This allows the most evolved part of your brain to communicate with your heart.

This occurs consciously through intention. It occurs unconsciously through energy flow, brain waves and cardiac output.

Heart Math Institute clearly states that the coherence or incoherence of your cardiac output determines how you feel about your life and your environment.

When the output is coherent, you feel expanded and connected to your entire core essence. This is the state when the prefrontal cortex of the brain talks to the heart and vice-versa. This is the second state of coherence.

The 3rd state of coherence is your entire electromagnetic energy system (aura or human energy field) that talks to the heart and the brain in addition to your gut.

Yes we now know that your gut feel and your intuition is one and the same. This enables you to talk from intuition, the courage of your heart and your brain’s highest function all at the same time. Wow that’s so cool!

Did you realize you are this amazing?

Power Of Silence & A Bare Mind

One of the most effective and natural ways to develop coherence 1, 2, 3 is to silence your mind. For this you must calm down and allow yourself to let go of all thoughts.

At one time I believed guided meditation was the best method. Years later I realized it did not assist Coherence 1, 2, 3 because my mind was thinking too much – even though I liked the guided voice.

When you are silent you can listen to the silence. This means you observe the nothingness. Then you can let go of all thoughts. Begin by observing your thoughts.

Then let go of them. Then bare your mind (empty the mind) and drop way deep down into your innermost self. Then wait patiently for inner guidance.

Your inner guidance will appear but you must be patient. The stillness will open the doorway to your evolving consciousness.

Power Of Grounded Movement & Energy Flow

A second very powerful method to evolve complete coherence is to move your body and connect to mother earth. A combination of effective movement includes

· Walking on the grass in bare feet.

· Bioenergetic exercises that include grounding and deep breathing to circulate energy throughout your body-mind.

· Yoga exercises are great too if the teacher guiding you is fully grounded and embodied.

· Deep tissue body work by a skilled practitioner to open chronic muscular tensions.

· Process work that includes charging and discharging will assist you. It’s a powerful method for huge freedom.

The more freed up energy you allow on a daily basis, the more you will become the most heartfelt version of yourself. Coherence will permeate your brain / heart / body.

You will begin to feel expanded and connected to the cosmos and the divine source. Just do it earnestly for a week and observe what happens.

Why Love Is About Letting Go

Many things happen during our lifetimes that may or may not knock us off our horse. Building a personal container of body-mindset resilience is the best foundation for a successful life.

This begins with letting go of who you are not. Make an organic decision to not remain stuck in the past or future. Remain in the present moment and pull all the powers of your soul into this moment only.

Then create a clear intention to love yourself and forgive all those who have hurt you. This will free your soul tremendously. This opens the doorway to innovation and creativity.

When the core of your consciousness is the heart, the world is your oyster. You will attract what is rightfully yours and negative people will flee. They will be blinded by your light and your brilliance.

The Family Fate

Most people who have ever lived on this planet have accepted the fate that was passed to them by their family of origin.

This means the conditioning by age 7 and family system shapes your identity from early in life. We live up to the expectations of the family and culture / country or religion. Most people cannot break this prison no matter how hard they try.

The body-mindset including brain patterns, are set in motion. They see the world as a fixed place with objective or set rules of life solidly in place. You unconsciously live up to these patterns.

You live with a blind loyalty to your family and feel responsible for your parent’s happiness even if it means parenting them. Even if it means abandoning your dreams. Role reversal is a prime example of family entanglements.

For example if a man does not heal his broken heart, he will behave exactly like his father as he grows older. Even if his father was abusive to the family. This is conditioning.

Also if a women does not clear up the sexual shame in her family of origin – especially with her father, she will withdraw from her life partner sexually after her child bearing years.

These are two very common examples of being stuck in the family fate.

Your Destiny – The Road Less Travelled

In order to live your soul’s destiny, you must stand on the shoulders of you parents, thank them for all they gave you – including your life and finally leave home.

You did not come from your parents – you came through your parents. You came from the source of creation.

It’s your destiny to be at peace with both parents. To love and forgive. Otherwise your fate will be to repeat the pattern with your own children.

You must leave this family system and begin a new fresh and much healthier family system and career with your partner.

Your unique body-mindset must shine through with heartfelt brilliance.

As an intuitive energy healer using the Forensic Healing System, I’m part of a group of likeminded women that are here to help themselves and others heal by acknowledging their divineness and empowering themselves with letting go of many hidden blockages, pains, shock waves and emotions, resulting from previous experiences.

We have been through life (times) of being subjected to suppression, submissiveness, discrimination, abuse and torture. Women (and men too, though I’m addressing the majority being women) have been exposed to so many facets of indescribable pain.

Many of us have been living unconsciously, believing what we see and hear on the television, radio, newspapers, and social media to be fact or truth. We let go of our power and live life to other’s expectations. Not who we truly are but rather who we should be as seen by our relationships with our immediate family, friends, peers, teachers and co-workers etc.

The mind-body connection is always trying to balance whatever we do that isn’t in alignment with who we are. The dialogue we have with ourselves can be destructive and unsympathetic.

We can be judgemental, critical, deliver harsh messages to our inner self which we emotionally take on. Our body responds to those experiences and sooner or later it starts to show us signs through distress and breaking down.

Using this system, I have found the number of destructive lies, sabotage, deceiving feelings and emotions we put upon ourselves is blowing our minds. Our physical body has to deal with supporting our emotional mind (the central part of who we are) it is the power source connected to all.

In this 3 D realm we constantly struggle with duality. We use the terms right, wrong, good, bad, negative, positive. We are in a process of awakening which is constantly allowing ourselves to let go of all that was, to get peace, freedom and wisdom.

When individuals start to awaken from this slumber. When we realize we are seekers of the truth (finding out that we’ve been manipulated all along throughout our human lives) and that we no longer are what we believed, (we just accepted without questioning) there will be powerful and clear identifiers urging us to become more congruent in our lives.

We are being more observant of what we are creating as our reality. We are conscious creators. As you become aware of this and you are actively empowered in your reality, you can master your fate.

Ways To Help Balance Your Inner With Your Outer

Finding ways to live life free from being locked in your own thoughts. Trust that the smallest of actions can be life changing.

“THE GRATITUDE I EXPRESS SENDS OUT A POWERFUL SIGNAL THAT ACTIVATES MILLIONS OF MORE BLESSINGS IN MY LIFE”

There is a shift happening, we are really coming out from the darkness and into the light (although remember, there cannot be darkness without the light). There is a unity consciousness occurring. We understand now more than ever that if you react to something or someone by judging or criticising, it really is ourselves being that to ourselves.

An interesting perspective is this; all your life you think you are your body. Some of the time you think you are your mind, but it is at the time of your death that you find out who you really are. Your body is the vessel, your mind is your ego and your soul is spirit, (unconsciousness or past) these are part of a triumvirate (power of three).

I didn’t think we could get any deeper with the Forensic Healing System, and it’s amazing to see clients get results, so it’s been even more exciting since another additional module has been created which works on and incorporates more intensely healing aspects of the Soul. It’s the sixth module within the Forensic Healing System called the Soul Module.

“Whoever Envies Others Does Not Obtain Peace Of Mind” – Buddha

Forensic Healing is a proven therapy system superior to all healing modalities, because it:

• Profiles the client, identifying negative life patterns, archetypes, emotions, belief systems, and much more
• Clears curses, negative energies, rituals, and many other spiritual issues
• Activates spontaneous healing forces in the body for immediate changes
• Removes the negative conditioning stored in the DNA or cell memory
• Uses healing secrets from ancient healing scripts combined with the most-advanced scientific methods.
• Utilizes healing pathways that use physical, emotional, energetic or spiritual elements.
• Heals deeply at a soul level by targeting soul facets, fragments, DNA etc
• Places a blessing on the client at the end of a healing
• Educates and empowers the client to understand themselves so they leave with new information to progress in their life.

I wonder sometimes what the world would be like if many of us paused to think for a moment about what was really important in the overall scheme of things?

Maybe our perceptions and beliefs would change from day to day according to where we are, who we are with, what we are doing, the weight of our priorities and obligations, our seasonal expectations, the friendships we make or neglect and the relationships we nurture?

How we relate to ourselves, to love, to different people, our children, situations, our environment, the pace of life and financial security are all random ingredients of consideration that influence the choices we make from one moment to the next.

These and many other things are the enablers and inhibitors of both challenge and opportunity. Maybe we allow, consciously or otherwise, our choices to take root at the core of who we are and shape a world of sense and sensitivity for ourselves and each other.

How we see and react to the world around us helps to define the framework of life, how we choose to live it and our experiences of actually living.

Common across all aspects of choice is how we think, what we think about and how we relate to our thoughts. Henry Ford summed this up quite eloquently when he said ‘whether you think you can or think you can’t – you’re always right.’

Think about that for a moment – it’s both profound and yet startlingly obvious. What we tell ourselves has never been more important than it is today.

It’s important because our thoughts are becoming more and more centric to our physical, emotional and mental health – influenced perhaps by the waters of Aquarian energy sounding an invitation to everyone to begin a personal voyage of higher conscious transformation into co-creative regenesis to positively reshape the world.

Thinking is itself an art form. Our thoughts are the most naturally powerfully creative, co-creative and destructive forces of our own human nature.

When we stop to observe the natural world around us, there is beauty to be found in the changing of the seasons: the yellow trumpet daffodils announcing the arrival of spring, wild flower meadow butterflies animating the breeze of summer’s fragrance and visual beauty, the changing colours of autumn’s orange and gold tapestry, and the fairy-tale wonder of winter snow as each snowflake descends uniquely to create the uniformity of a magically converged landscape where, in a single moment, everything we see is connected.

At the opposite end of nature’s spectrum we observe the destructive energy of a hurricane, the devastating tidal surge of a tsunami, the intensity of desert heat inhibiting the survival of plant and creature and Winter’s relentless challenge to endure in the face of natural adversity.

In contrast, the balance of nature is found in the stillness of a calm sea where the sun is reflected as surface diamonds sparkling in the waters of our thoughts and in the depths of our emotions.

These seed images we’ve just co-created in your mind’s eye demonstrate the ease through which the art of imaginative thought induces visual imagery and a symbiosis of sensory self-expression and inner-feeling.

Every thought we have induces natural neurological processes in the brain igniting neurons to create complex synaptic networks which collectively become part of our human energy system.

At the same time, a library of bio-chemical signatures is updated for each experience of thought and we rely on these signatures to feel and interpret our emotions, fear, love, happiness, anxiety, etc.

These chemical signatures are transmitted to all the cells in our body and it is estimated that perhaps as many as one hundred thousand chemical reactions occur in every cell in every second.

Just as the biology and chemistry of the natural world combine to create the conditions for positive, negative and neutral change, our thoughts behave in the same way.

Negative thoughts can create the tsunami of our destructive inner-self producing wave after wave of toxic bio-chemistry within us.

Inversely, positive thoughts create the inner-sunshine of contentment which encourage our bodies with naturally beneficial bio-chemistry for sustained wellbeing.

In simple terms, if we think about a piece of coal representing toxicity inside our bodies and a bright sparkly diamond as the metaphor for inner-wellbeing, the more we can remember to use the language of positive thought the more likely we are to feel, experience and radiate inner beauty.

As your mind and body work together, their collective goal is to create equilibrium, to maintain the scales of inner-peace and a vision of perpetual tranquillity.

As the forces of the natural world polarise into positive, negative and balanced expression, our thoughts are the energy source of polarised self-expression and sensitivity.

In the same way that the seasons of nature have very specific characteristics and outcomes, based on degrees of variable change, we too as human beings are directly affected by the energy of our own human nature.

Unlike the natural world, we have the ability to instantly transform and manage personal energy systems to create and co-create a better world for ourselves and each other.

The way we are all able to do this is through our mastery of the energy of our own thoughts.

If we take the time to acknowledge the fragility and elegance of the natural world around us, we can choose to arrive at an appreciation and understanding that we are all mirrors of nature’s elemental forces reflected in the energy of our own human nature.

If you stand in front of a mirror and wave at yourself with your right hand, the image you see reflected in the mirror will wave back at you with their left hand – demonstrating an equal and opposite expression of energy.

Have you ever noticed that when you smile at someone – they smile back, if you shout at someone – they shout back and if you talk softly to someone they will reply softly too!

Smiling can be viewed as a positive exchange of energy, shouting could be negative and talking softly may represent a calm and balanced expression of energy which is neither positive nor negative but instead has the power to harmonise.

One of nature’s loveliest metaphors of harmonised energy is the incidence of sunshine together with rain producing the spectacular phenomenon of a rainbow – a gentle reminder of nature’s co-creative genius.

In simple terms, if we reflect upon the behaviour of others as a mirrored guideline of personal thought, it will always be possible to respond softly to someone who may shout and when we do this consciously this is the moment we begin the gentle process of mastering the energy of our thoughts.

Imagine for a moment the power of your thoughts because they manifest all that you are and all that you will ever be – they are one of the most important elements of your health and wellbeing.

Perhaps most importantly, it is being recognised more and more that each of us really do have the personal power to master the calm ocean of our thoughts to create the world we desire – a world of peace, of love and inner-calm regardless of our seasons.

Important, I think, to note that endeavour is the invention of self-transformation and all endeavours begin with a single thought.

Important too to recognise that without coal there would be no diamonds so its OK to feel and explore the negative thoughts that we often have as individuals as this is perhaps the catalyst of our human nature to create the right conditions for a journey of beautiful self-discovery.

Shine bright like a diamond and very naturally the world around you miraculously begins its own beautiful transformation to reveal your mirror ‘seed of tranquillity’.

It is understood by most that we need balance in our lives to feel nourished, rested and motivated. As humans we are subject to the weaknesses and strengths of our species and our lives reflect this.

Competition is a primal instinct for us and though many advocate for equality and fairness we need to accept that this is unrealistic in our world.

Competition and being compared starts with the expectations of society and our families at an early age and the expectation they have of us, such as meeting milestones such as walking, talking, weight, etc. at certain times or ages and the ones we create as we age.

We need to have a realistic outlook about what life is like for a human on our planet, and this changes according to our location and circumstances. An adult living in a war dominated area will have a different outlook to one living in a first world country.

Our outlook is also affected by societal and personal expectations about our worth and how we measure success, how we treat each other and how we see ourselves.

Now, I can understand if you think I have strayed from the theme of what is a healthy mind, body balance and how do we achieve it?

When we have a destination in mind, such as the secrets of mind and body balance which is a huge topic, we need to know what resources we have and how much baggage we carry so we can effectively plan to reach our destination.

So, let’s start with what you are taking along with you on this journey. The heaviest of your luggage will likely be expectations, guilt, anger, ego etc.

Notice, these all relate to emotions, and it is emotions which are the heaviest of burdens in striving for mind and body balance.

Our emotions are built of experiences. Some experiences are good and give us a heightened sense of happiness and others are negative and steal our joy.

The Amygdala which forms part of the Limbic System, along with other substructures, helps to regulate emotional, voluntary, endocrine and visceral responses in our body.

Dr Paul D McLean (1913-2007) was the neuroscientist said to have introduced the concept of the Limbic system. He proposed that there are 3 evolutionary developmental stages to our brain.

The Proreptilian formation, the first of these stages focused on survival and reproduction based on instinctual responses from our brain.

The Paleomammalian formation stage introduces emotional and motivational responses and the Neomammalian formation which governs our cognition skills, language, verbal expression, conscious thought and self-awareness.

Please just stay with me, it’s not all scientific jargon.

Another way that we perceive information is related to a triad of the mind, heart and gut connection. We have heard people say, “use your head”, “listen to your heart”, and “trust your gut”.

Emotions play an important role in TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine), where they are connected to organs and the interplay between physiology and emotions is recognised as crucial in creating balance in the body and mind.

Liver: anger, frustration, resentment, bitterness.

Heart: joy, lack of enthusiasm, mental restlessness, anxiety.

Spleen: worry and overthinking, excessive mental work.

Lungs: sadness, grief or detachment.

Kidneys: fear, insecurity, will power.

The purpose of our little anatomy lesson was to familiarize you with how our mind and body work together to receive, process and action information. As we know repetition is the key to learning, so what are you repeating? What information and memories are stuck?

Our bodies can be viewed from a basic holistic perspective of needing to be nourished and cleansed constantly to maintain balance and this is a recipe for life: nourish, cleanse, repeat.

Using this basic formula helps us to maintain mind, body and spiritual balance.

I find that if you take responsibility and become the driver of your body and mind, not the passenger, then you develop confidence in your ability as a creator of your experiences and memories.

Millions of people are at unease with their lives and search for answers in the medical profession looking for a pill to alleviate the signs of their unease.

Many people are reliant on anti-depressants, and though they may be useful for a short time they were never meant to be used on a regular basis, yet this is the reality for millions of people globally who seek to quieten the cry

for help and the inner turmoil they experience driven by our lifestyles, expectations, stress, poor diet etc.

This inner turmoil is an inflamed state and we have become an inflamed society with diseases related to inflammatory conditions taking the lead in health issues.

Dr Irving Kirsch et al (Kirsch I. Antidepressants and the Placebo Effect. Zeitschrift Fur Psychologie. 2014;222(3):128-134. doi:10.1027/2151-2604/a000176), in this study extrapolates that drugs are helpful, but some 82% of the results are likely due to the placebo effect.

The Placebo effect has been referenced by scientist as an explanation when they cannot explain how something has helped a certain condition and could relate to anything that does not meet their criteria as a viable explanation.

Chronic stress plays a huge part in our wellness, with many unaware of the luggage they are carrying every day. When we have an acute episode of stress our body goes into the ‘fight or flight’ mode.

Our mind does not discriminate between imagined situations and reality and responds as if it were real.

Our expectations when unmet create a sense of fear and insecurity placing us in ‘fight or flight’ everyday leading to a sensitization of the nervous system and keeping us in a chronic heightened state.

Preparing for your mental, emotional and spiritual need is something people neglect but this is what can tip the balance of your day. Taking emotional breaks are equally as important as physical ones.

Disconnecting from expectations and the turmoil of unpredictable emotions is crucial for overall wellness. What works for you?

I like to think about my day and any unexpected emotions which I experienced during the day as I go to sleep.

This is not necessarily for you.

You see, I am Ok with who I am, I am not perfect, and I experience a range of emotions in the day, I find it soothing to name these emotions such as frustration, anger, jealousy, sadness etc and explore how the circumstances of the day triggered previous experiences and memories allowing me to process and digest my day.

Balance is about finding the middle ground as anything else is not sustainable. It’s understanding and taking the time to meet our needs first, so we have the resources to meet the needs of others.

Recognising when we are drifting into our primitive pro reptilian reactive state is the first step to balance.

As a Doula and Hypnobirthing Australia Childbirth Educator, I have witnessed the power of the mind-body connection in pregnancy and birth play out in many fascinating ways, from dreaming in a baby at pre-conception, through conception, pregnancy, labour, birth and bonding a woman’s thoughts and feelings can directly impact her fertility journey, her pregnancy, her birth experience and her baby’s experience of it all.

When a woman is anxious, fearful or overwhelmed, her body responds by releasing catecholamines or stressor hormones. These hormones enter the bloodstream, travelling through the placenta, and then on to her baby.

Dr Sarah Buckley, well known Australian Doctor and author of the Hormonal Physiology of Labour study says;

“The experiences that will begin to fire and wire your baby’s brain start in your womb, with the physical sensations that provide the earliest learning.

These include being physically supported by the womb and amniotic fluid, being kept warm by your body warmth, being gently rocked as you walk, being exposed to different tastes from your diet via the amniotic fluid, hearing our voice and voices of other family members, and feeling calm and settled when you are calm and settled.

Conversely, high levels of stress during pregnancy can fire and wire your baby’s brain for dysfunctions in learning and over-reactivity to stress.”

Dr.Sarah Buckley, Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering.

In labour and birth, the interrelation of the mind-body connection is never more apparent and when harnessed by the birthing mother in a positive manner can be a powerful tool to the accomplishment of a calm, comfortable and satisfying birth experience.

Birth is the ultimate act of surrender and letting go, the logic and thought processes associated with the neo-cortex or thinking brain do not serve the mother in the journey of labour to birth as this area of the brain is very concerned with keeping order and control.

Birthing women need to be free to let go and centre themselves within the instinctive areas of their brain during childbirth and specifically within the primal centre and the limbic centre.

When a mother can prepare her mind and spirit holistically and feel confident to surrender to this primal place, her body can respond beautifully and her labour can often flow more comfortably and without rise for the need of interventions.

What the mind believes tends to be realised, so in the context of birth, if a birthing mother feels private, unobserved and most importantly safe then she is held in a beautiful space in which to trust in her body and her baby and the overall natural process of birth.

Alternatively, if she feels anxious, threatened or uncomfortable in her birth space, it is likely that her body will respond by releasing stressor hormones.

These hormones interfere with the pulse like flow of oxytocin, the hormone that causes contractions of the uterus and also directly inhibits the amount and effects of beta-endorphins which are her bodies own pain relieving hormones.

When the oxytocin is not flowing, labour will often slow or stop until the mother feels safe and secure in her environment again.

In nature we see this regularly, if a mother Springbok for example is in labour in the plains of Africa and is then confronted by an aggressive lion, she will not continue to labour, she will instinctively be activated into her sympathetic nervous system or flight/fight response, which promptly shuts down her birthing hormones so as she can remove herself and her babies from the present danger.

In the birthing environment for humans, a similar threat may be in the form of a Doctor entering a woman’s birth space suggesting that she is taking too long to birth (referred to clinically as failing to progress), this comment which is often followed by the suggestion of interventions is perceived by the mother as a very real threat to herself and her baby and her body can often respond with her labour slowing down completely just like the Springbok birthing in the wild.

This “failure to progress” comment which is often given to women in labour when their birth progress does not fit into their chosen hospital or caregivers timeline for birth, is also an example of the vast amount of disempowering language that is admonished upon pregnant and birthing women which can further undermine and negatively influence her belief in herself and in her body’s ability to give birth.

The language used in birth in relation to the role of the mind-body connection is so important to acknowledge here because the words a care provider chooses to use during a woman’s pregnancy and especially during her labour process can have a profound effect on the mother and in turn directly influence how her body responds during childbirth.

An example of this might be that a care provider declares to a birthing mother “You have been in labour for twelve hours and you are only 3-4cm“ another care provider giving the same clinical information who may firstly hold a much more realistic view of normal physiological birth, might convey this in a far more positive manner by saying.

“Your body is doing a fabulous job making the way for your baby and you have progressed beautifully to almost 4cm. The first message implies that there is something wrong with the woman’s body, she is failing at birth and that she should consider an intervention to assist her labour process.

The second message by contrast acknowledges the woman’s innate birthing rhythm and empowers her to keep going and believe in her ability to give birth, the language used in this second example will be more likely to encourage the woman and her body to respond positively and she will then often shift beautifully into active labour.

As I mentioned earlier, what the mind holds onto tends to be confirmed, so if a woman is fixated during her pregnancy on a particular fear in relation to her birth e.g. that she will not progress and need interventions to give birth, then if this fear is not addressed and re framed then it often plays out exactly as she has replayed in her mind throughout the pregnancy.

This is why it is so important and valuable for women to be very mindful and specific in the thoughts they are choosing in relation to their births.

The body will respond in many profound and intricate ways to thoughts, stimulation and suggestions.

This is why affirmation work during pregnancy whereby a mother saturates herself and her subconscious mind by seeing, listening and verbalising positive intentions related to her ability to give birth calmly and positively will be so beneficial to developing trust in her mind-body connection and the process of birth.

“My baby’s birth will be easy because I am so relaxed.”
“My body is perfectly designed to birth my baby.”
“I soften, open and release.”

A mother can also further enhance the power of her mind-body connection in pregnancy and birth, by using self-hypnosis, this is a proven and effective tool that I have used personally to translate the sensation of birth in a powerful and positive way.

Hypnotherapy guided imagery processes and positive suggestions are uniquely able to bypass the critical mind and any unhelpful thoughts or beliefs that are being driven from within the subconscious mind.

Martin L Mossman MD puts it very well “Imagery utilizes the natural language of the unconscious mind to help a person connect with the deeper resources available to them at cognitive, affective and somatic levels”.

What is unique also to the subconscious mind is a readiness and willingness to replace old unhelpful beliefs with new and positive ones.

What is even more amazing about the mind-body connection in labour and birth in the context of hypnotherapy is that through hypnosis, a woman can actually condition her body to release the powerful pain relieving hormones or endorphins during labour, the body becomes like a robot and will respond to the directions of the mind, “with every breath my body goes into an even deeper state of relaxation.”

I loved giving birth so much, that it activated my mission to become a doula and holistic birth educator and share this information about the immense power of our mind to assist our body during labour.

I believe that the hypnotherapy conditioning methods I practiced during both pregnancies were key to me optimising the power of my mind-body connection and the realisation of my comfortable and satisfying birth experiences.

Dreaming and visualizing the birth experience that you want and imagining how you will FEEL as you experience your labour and birth is also a key way to use your mind to prepare your body for birth.

At Hypnobirthing Australia™, we tell our mothers “your mind also holds visions of the future” with this suggestion pregnant mothers are encouraged to visualize themselves moving through their labour process, breathing fully and easily, relaxing more with each surge and imagining their cervix softening and opening easily.

This considered practice trains the mind and body in preparation for labour and I believe activates the quantum field to magnetise this positive birth experience closer to therm.

After the baby is born, the mind-body relationship continues to play a role for mother and baby. When breastfeeding, a woman needs to feel very calm and relaxed in order to optimise the release of Oxytocin.

Oxytocin plays a pivotal role in positive breastfeeding because it is a key component responsible for the milk ejection or let-down reflex. As in birth, if a woman is feeling uncomfortable or stressed, her oxytocin production will be hindered and she may experience difficulty with her let-down reflex.

Her baby may then become stressed as he is not receiving the milk he needs and his distress further impacts the mother and her body’s ability to breastfeed successfully.

The mind-body connection in pregnancy and birth is therefore profound, complex and unique and this is why throughout pregnancy and beyond, it is so important for mothers to take the time to prepare and enhance their mind-body connection through conscious practices such as relaxation, meditation, hypnotherapy, yoga, deep breathing and visualisation.

As they learn and integrate these techniques –their mind, body and little baby will respond positively and they can look forward to a calm, satisfying and magical birth!