Category: Happiness

What are the Chakras?

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What are the Chakras?

Why do we use them?

How do they help in mindfulness?

You may be aware of the mindfulness course Inner Rainbow Mindfulness. The basic structure of the course is based on the 7 colours of the rainbow, connected to 7 themes and runs over 7 weeks. Many have asked us why we do this and many have heard the word ‘chakra’ and felt uncomfortable or intrigued. Here is what this structure looks like, why we have them, and how it helps mindfulness…

The entire universe is made of energy, and your body is no exception.

Have a look at this post on using frequencies to heal our body. Long before modern medicines, technology and science, ancient cultures (from East to West) held their own concept and understanding of mind, spirit or soul as distinct from the physical body. We all know that all living things carry a life force, energy, chi or soul with them. It separates us from alive and dead. Once that energy leaves, we are only a physical body that can no longer function. Our living matrix is a complex network connecting all body systems, organs and cells together.

Always considered ‘woo’ by the modern scientific community, energy medicine has been often looked at as quackery, fraud or witchcraft! However our bodies are electromagnetic in nature, on this we all agree, and science has measured these frequencies with machines, like X-ray, EKG, thermography, PET and MRI for many years. Also the scientific community have been interested in  using technological research, ranging from holographic patterning (3D images) to Kirlian photography, to observe the human energy field (HEF) and been even been able to begin to demonstrate it’s existence. They are able to recognise networks of complex energy fields which interact with our physical and cellular systems. They have even noted DNA’s positive and negative response to pulsing magnetic fields (see here, here and here).

All healing, natural and pharmaceutical is rooted in science.

There are vibrations from everything in the universe, physical and emotional. Conditions that influence you, consciously or subconsciously will be reflected in your physical and emotional self. They are intrinsically connected. Your inner energy body as well as your external environment influence these reflections. Your upbringing, culture, and geography, for instance, all affect your perception of health and how you should/could be.

Children are more aware of their energy systems and react to them with less consciousness baggage.

They may lack the intellectual capacity and maturity to use words to describe and explain how their body feels. However they can be very true to themselves and react very well to colour, textures, smells, tastes and gut instinct. They are able to use their senses without too much attachment to other things and this can give an amazing opportunity to help them consciously connect their body and mind to achieve true balance and health. 

The chakra system originated in India between 1500 and 500 BC. The map of the chakras connects with various TCM Meridian points flowing along the spine and even the modern images of the autonomic nervous system. They have have been the main means of accessing non-physical areas of your body before surgery. There are thought to be over 110 chakras in the body,  seven are considered major. These seven line up vertically on key points along the middle of the physical body. They each have a corresponding colour from red through to violet.

Within your body you have an Inner Rainbow. 

By learning about the 7 chakras, you can become more in tune with the natural energy cycles of your body and mind. By removing the spiritual belief system of the chakras, we can use them energetically to open up themes and areas of the body. Each chakra has a colour and core issues attached to it.

Using the colours and themes we can link the Bach Flower Remedies and affirmations we use each week, the aromatherapy oils used in the room spray, the different Brain Gym exercise goals and areas they support, the acupressure points used to help reduce the intensity of emotions to the potential core issues. 

By doing this, those on the course are able to approach each weeks issue and theme through a non-threatening or confusing way. The language can become simpler and more accessible. We can all sit and think about a colour entering and exiting your body, however when asked to confront or release a big emotion can have much conscious trauma attached to it.

Here is an overview of each Chakra or Colour and what we aim to work through in that weeks class:

RED/ BROWN

THEMES: “I Have”

Survival, safety, grounding, connected to the earth, family, right to live, who am I? 

ELEMENT: Earth

SENSE: Smell

CORE ISSUES: Security, trust, identity, family, society/school, health, prosperity.

The first week resonates with grounding and feeling stability and security. Many of us feel consciously safe, however the body may resonate subconsciously as unsafe.  You may even feel afraid to change, be unwilling to accept habits, thought patterns or transition is even possible. This can be because of our childhood, c-sections have been seen to possibly re-wire primal instincts and the nervous system response. Relearning new habits and reactions can take time, change can only happen when we feel safe and we trust.

We explore and discuss who we are, our names, feeling safe in the strangeness and perceptions of the course ahead. Introduce the concept of mindfulness as being, “Just noticing”.  Feeling safe in the knowledge that there is no wrong or right, only opinion. We discuss the sense of smell and explore what that opens up. We discuss red foods and what a ‘real’food actually is. Explore smells and how smells make us feel. We try a simple meditation and brain gym exercise. We use an Emotion Stress Release point (acupressure points) to release any fear or nerves.

OUTCOMES: Feel comfortable and safe in change and a new routine. Be open to your environment and begin to feel connection to breath and the body through the sense of smell. 

 

ORANGE

THEMES: “I Feel”

Relationships, how we feel, identity, passion

ELEMENT: Water

SENSE: Taste

CORE ISSUES: Pleasure, creativity, imagination, what we like, reactions, impulses, movement & connection, emotions

We discuss anger and fear being connected. How we react and why, most importantly strategies to help us to change our reactions. By feeling safe, warm, connected and protected we can come out of fight or flight mode and have more flow in life. We talk about how we can work on being present and aware and mindful in your interactions with others

We discuss identity, what that means, also that we are not our emotions, that we feel them and they can come and go. Every emotion is important and noticing, without judgement, about how we feel is key. When we know how we feel we can begin to make decisions about if we want to continue to feel that way.

We are introduced to more tools and we start to move our body to feel more flow in our surroundings. We discuss the sense of taste and explore what that opens up. We discuss orange foods.

OUTCOMES: Feel more open and relaxed to begin to notice how we feel. We do not need to be perfect, everyone makes mistakes.

 

YELLOW

THEMES: “I Am Me”

Self-confidence, identity, personal power, respect, ego, concern about outward appearance

ELEMENT: Fire

SENSE: Sight

CORE ISSUES: Personal power, respect, humility, will, energy

We learn about our personal fire, how it can be too weak and too strong. Life can be hard and we can still be strong for ourselves. We can take responsibility for our decisions and look inside to know the answer for ourselves. Mistakes can be learnt from and there is great strength in humility and compassion.

Our physical energy is linked to how we feel and we explore how we speak and move can change how we feel. Personal power is important and our beliefs and feelings are important. I am responsible for my happiness.

OUTCOMES: Feel confident in different situations. Feel free to make own decisions for your benefit. To release past issues and begin each day new and with confidence and strength. 

GREEN

THEMES: “I Love”

Love, acceptance of self and others, unconditional love, balance, forgiveness and compassion 

ELEMENT: Air

SENSE: Touch

CORE ISSUES: Respect for self and world around you, intimacy, acceptance, empathy and compassion.

It is really important to feel and give kindness towards yourself and/or others. To create peace and harmony we must first look in the mirror and be kind. We play trust games and communicate to feel safe. We talk about green food and how important food is to nourish and heal.

We explore and discuss love, why we are the most important person to love. We can only feel empathy and compassion when we love ourselves enough to give more love out. We discuss the sense of touch, how that creates trust and when is it ok to touch and when is it ok to have boundaries. To have confidence and love for ourselves to say no to ideas and experiences that do not resonate with our body and mind.

OUTCOMES: Feel comfortable saying “I love me, I am special” in the mirror. Know that love is something to give and to receive.

BLUE

THEMES: “I Hear”

Personal truth communication, Creative identity, self expression, choice, communication and listening, balance of logic and emotion

SENSE: Listening

CORE ISSUES: Be comfortable with change and making decisions, communicate truth, courage, forgiveness, finding one’s own voice

Communication to yourself and the world around you is so important. Many of us struggle to say what we think through fear of being wrong or upsetting the other person. We learn different ways of communicating our feelings by drawing them and acting them out. We discuss whole body listening and how to deal with distractions. Focus can be really hard, trying to notice something different every day or using a listening meditation to hear all the different sounds can help you maintain focus by keeping interest there. 

Practising gratitude can be really simple. Using our journals, we stay in the present moment to list what we are grateful for. It can make a big difference.

OUTCOMES:Be able to communicate effectively through a variety of mediums, write, draw, speak, move and act. Know when to use each one to be an effective communicator. Help others to have space to communicate and be a good listener.

PURPLE

THEMES: “I Perceive”

Intuition, insight, sensory perception, imagination, visualisation

SENSE: Intuition (Sixth sense, gut instinct- connects all the other senses)

CORE ISSUES: Wisdom, experience, intuition, imagination, manifesting abundance, dreams, 

 

The pineal gland in the brain is in the shape of an eye, hence the term Third Eye. The Egyptians and other ancient cultures knew about this and understood that it took in information from the world around them and sometimes believed even information beyond the stars could come through. The pineal gland lets the brain know when it is night and day, it is responsible for melatonin (sleep hormone) and serotonin (happy hormone).

We discuss screens and over stimulation. Also we put together a sleep tool kit in class and make goals to reduce screen time, especially when eating or before bed. We empower with knowledge to set the goals by themselves. To give back responsibility of body and mind to the individual.

The meditation is all about feeling the magic, joy and excitement about life. About being able to manifest what you want from life. This helps to provide energy and motivation in the present to go after their dreams. A valuable feeling to be able to tap into.

OUTCOMES: To feel grater control over their lives, to find something they want and to have the energy and motivation to go after it. To trust their instinct and make choices in the present moment free from fear.

PINK

THEMES: “I Know”

the way you express who you are and your connection to the universe, ability to trust life, values, ethics, courage, faith and inspiration

CORE ISSUES: Belief systems, awareness and consciousness.

The Crown chakra is a sum of all the pieces. We review and repeat our favourite games, journal activity or exercise. We goal set for the future based on how we feel at the end. We get ready to come back and go a bit deeper into each colour to find more understanding about ourselves. We learn how we are all connected and how to use our tools in real life.

OUTCOMES: Round up and set goals for the future. Connect all the work we have done and trouble shoot some scenarios to help integrate new tools. 

 

 

What is Kinesiology

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What is Kinesiology

What is Kinesiology

Written by Kate Baldwin

Kinesiology is an alternative health practice that arose from Chiropractics in the 1960’s. It combines a detailed understanding of Anatomy and Physiology with Eastern energy practices. It looks for the root causes behind symptoms, health concerns, emotional trouble or the inability to move forward and works to address the underlying problems so that the body can heal itself and equilibrium can be restored. Kinesiology is designed to attempt to remove blocks and unsupportive mental processes, allowing people to reach their health, emotional or life goals. The practice considers the body-mind and energy of a person to all be important in achieving balance and looks for stresses in any or all of these systems – considering the person as a whole.  

 

Kinesiology uses manual-muscle monitoring – testing how a muscle functions by pressing gently on the muscle to see how it responds – to identify imbalances.  In this way kinesiologists get direct feedback from the body and use the body as a bio-feedback machine – the muscles allow Kinesiologists to find subconscious problems and work with people who can’t communicate verbally, don’t wish to talk about issues or are very young children. Each treatment programme is unique and individual as it follows what the body – i.e. the muscle response- says. When a muscle responds differently to what is expected this provides clues to the underlying causes, allowing the treatment to pin-point the real issue and identify what will help.   

Kids kinesiology inner rainbow images

Numerous, non-invasive, correction techniques are used to help the body remove stresses or blockages. Corrections will vary depending on the type of kinesiology being used and the kinesiogist’s background but may include acupressure, needle-less acupuncture (using a tai-shin), reflex point stimulation, emotional stress release, nutritional advice, counseling, sound/ vibration, massage, coaching, cranial release therapy, bach flower remedies, lymphatic point stimulation, exercises or affirmations. A Kinesiologist will usually provide guidelines for the client to continue the healing process at home. 

 

The meridian and acupuncture system of Traditional Chinese Medicine is very much part of Kinesiology. Consideration is given to the the meridian-organ-gland-muscle relationship and in NeuroEnergetic Kinsiology and Applied Physiology acupuncture points, alone or in combination, are used to find problems, drill down into them and to heal or restore balance. Consideration is also given to all the body’s physical systems, the environment and the emotions and how they all affect and interact with each other. For example if there is a problem with digestion you could look at any number of things to help such as the muscular system (smooth muscle and fascia), the hormonal system, neurotransmitters such as serotonin, the stress response, brain parts like the amygdala that deal with the stress response, the TCM meridian system and specific acupuncture points, environmental toxins etc.  

kinesiology acupoints

How the stress (fight/flight/freeze) response gets subconsciously activated and what these reactions, hormones and neurotransmitters do to the body and mind in the short and long term are often relevant to a Kinesiology balance and are investigated with a client. 

 

One way to understand Kinesiology is to think of the body-mind-energy as an electrical circuit! When functioning optimally the circuit flows smoothly with little resistance and all the appliances connected to the circuit function properly. Sometimes switches get turned on or off and fuses blow – affecting the circuit and the appliances that it operates. This is like an out of balance body, if the flow is not smooth then various parts of it may malfunction! Kinesiologists test the circuits, find those switches that are off or fuses that have blown and reset them so that the circuit flows freely again. Another way to look at it is to think of a stream – if there are numerous boulders and stones upstream the flow downstream will be effected, if we are downstream we will see the interrupted, uneven flow but maybe unaware of the boulders and stones upstream. Kinesiology goes upstream to find and remove the stones, starting with the largest boulders and helping to reestablish the river flow.  

 

Kate Baldwin, Kinesiologist, www.thebalancesession.com 

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What is Mindfulness?

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What is Mindfulness

What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is one of the most over used word of the last few years. We equate it with meditation and being quiet and on our own. Most of us think about mindfulness with dread and guilt because we know we should be doing it but it seems like something we just don’t have time for right now, life is just too hectic. However, mindfulness is simply being in the moment.

We can be in the moment whilst surrounded by others, eating, drinking, socialising, before sleep, whilst exercising, with the kids and of course in stressful situations like work, driving, travelling and basically anywhere at anytime!

There are so many studies, articles, blog posts, books and classes about mindfulness, but what are we looking for and how do we find it and make time for it? It is my wish to try and help you through the minefield!

The whole point of mindfulness, I believe, is to access and switch on the body’s rest and recovery mode. Have a look at my post on how the immune system works here. Most people (especially children) are wired into the fight or flight response long term. This has a massive impact on the body’s ability to repair and heal. Inflammation CANNOT we switched off when in fight or flight. How many of you can list some kind of inflammation (digestive weakness, skin issues, muscle aches and pains, back issues, immune weakness, hormone disruption, fatigue and energy issues, lack of libido, sleep issues and brain fog) among their symptoms of unease. Without even having a diagnosis, you can assume we all have inflammation and these symptoms from time to time, we need inflammation to survive and repair. the real problems come when these symptoms become the new normal, when we adjust to thinking that this is how life is. 

Mindfulness insta

Being mindful is first and foremost re-connecting to your body and listening and learning to what all of these symptoms are telling us- AND ACTUALLY RESPONDING.

So many of us think that there has to be a huge change to heal these symptoms, that a strict and impossible diet change has to happen, that a ‘detox’ needs to be done, that a radical upheaval of how we live our lives must be undertaken. So we make small term promises to ourselves to make changes tomorrow or next week, after New Years, in the Spring etc. However you can make a change right here and now.

  1. Feel your body sitting/standing/lying right now, nothing changes you are just checking in.

  2. Listen to your breath naturally and without effort coming in and out.

  3. Say ‘Thank you” to your body and repeat “I am safe”

Welcome to mindfulness, welcome to stopping everything for a second and being in the moment. Even just for a that short time. It is as simple as that. Be mindful as to how you feel, did anything change in that moment. Those tiny changes have a big ripple effect. You may have awakened your intuition a little, did your body prompt you to adjust your position spontaneously or to remember to do, say, take care of something in that moment? Your body will begin to let you know what it is you need to do if you take the time to listen, even for a second.

Once your body begins to return to rest and recovery and you change your beliefs slowly but surely towards self care and nourishment rather than punishment, guilt and shame for not doing more for your body, life will become easy.

In rest and recovery so much healing can begin. When you feel safe in your body and in your environment you can feel energy, motivation, hope, gratitude, faith and happiness. Mindfulness is simply the route to seeing your life for what it already is, wonderful and full of possibility. Not what it has been prior to this moment or even what it will be beyond right now. It is the ability to accept the past and release control over the future by being here now. Subconsciously if you believe life is hard, full of danger and work, where does joy fit in? If there is no joy how can there be health? Maybe it is hard to see life as wonderful, bring mindful can simply be the belief that there can and will be change, that you are open to finding joy, even if it is not in front of you right now.

Mindfulness is accepting that you actually have the ability to be happy even if it is not how you are feeling in this moment. That it is ok to feel what you feel now, that you can thank your body for the chance and opportunity to accept and therefore move forward. It is only when you feel your presence in the here and now that you can make changes. This is true for all ages and I have been teaching my kids mindfulness skills since they were babies so they have lifetime methods to adapt and react to their day to day lives. To try to build core beliefs based on the ability to change and have the responsibility to choose their own paths. Now I have co-written Inner Rainbow Mindfulness as a 7 week course directed at specific ages groups and adaptable for all. Soon to become an online course too.

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Inner Rainbow Mindfulness Course

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Inner Rainbow

Mindfulness for All Ages

Throughout my years of being in the health industry I have been constantly reminded of the importance of emotional and spiritual health. Without those two hugely important factors physical health cannot be achieved. It is the most amazing thing seeing people’s energy rising dramatically when inner emotional factors have been released. I have experienced this myself in my own journey many times. Thus designing this Inner Rainbow Mindfulness course, for all ages, has been something in my mind for many years.

Every one and everything has a vibration which has cause and effect upon everything surrounding it. This is also the same for every cell, organ and system in our human bodies. Seemingly undetectable frequencies being sent and received to our other cells, nervous system and brain as well as to others and our environment. There is a constant exchange of information through electromagnetic waves, this is a very well known and scientifically proven fact. Being mindful is an attempt to tap into these messages and to consciously try to react to them. That is what true presence is all about.

Sounds woo woo, but it is so simple. Some call it intuition, some call it gut feeling others call it the voice in their head. Its all really the same. The messages just get louder and louder till we sit and listen. As we age we get better at ignoring the signals as there is much around us to distract us. The head often gets in the way of the heart. Our kids have to have a sharper connection to it and their reactions to the messages are bigger and louder. Here is some more insight in to the benefits of mindfulness

Inner Rainbow Mindfulness 7 week Course

The Inner Rainbow mindfulness course has come from years of experience from both myself and Kate Baldwin a very passionate Kinesiologist and long time friend of mine. Seeing clients, friends, family members and of course ourselves trying to figure out the causes of dis-ease and imbalance. Using our skills to teach others, methods to cut through the noise and distraction, to help us to decipher and receive the messages, amplify or invet these frequencies to better effect in our body and the world around us.

The course is aimed at different ages but will all have the same core skill set and tools available to the participants. The key aim is to allow you to take back control and responsibility for your body, no matter what age you are is, in a way that is appropriate and accessible to you and your abilities. To recover communication both with yourself and the world around you, step by step. Skills you should have and need to be able to react to the world around you with more care and better effect.

We are not perfect beings, however, we are allowed to make mistakes, its is what we take from those hiccups and how we react to them that matter.

What the Inner Rainbow Mindfulness course contains:

During the class you should expect to benefit from the following tools we bring to the class:

Inner Rainbow skills (1)

Each week we will use a different colour corresponding to a different Chakra area of the body. This will allow us to open up different emotions, physicality and focus with each week building onto the next. The class will help participants to engage all their senses using age appropriate movement exercises (Brain Gym exercises which may help to relieve stress and improve co-ordination between left and right brain activities), meditations, food discussions, emotional communication games, aromatherapy oils, Bach Flower Remedies, Kinesiology muscle testing, EFT (in some cases) crystals and each class concludes with journal either writing or drawing (depending on ability and desire to communicate). 

Alongside the weekly classes, we have complied exclusive online content including;

Video of the exercises

MP3 recordings of the meditations

Crystal cards,

Aromatherapy cards

Bach Remedy Cards

Cards with tips and foods discussed in the class.

These will be available to continue you ‘work’ outside the class room and help build these new skills into your daily lives.

Rainbow Crystal Bead-Moonstone

Each week will have a crystal bead to build a Chakra Rainbow band, a room spray with Bach Flower Remedies and aromatherapy oils to help to build their safe space and routine at home. We will also provide a notebook for journaling activities. These should be brought back each week.

Here are some further articles written by either myself or Kate

What is Mindfulness?

What is a Naturopath

What is Kinesiology

Journal Writing: How and Why

EFT for PTSD

 

 

 

Day 1 EFT for PTSD Challenge.

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There are books and have been numerous studies (see below for links) conducted about the effectiveness of using Emotion Freedom Technique (EFT) or tapping in PTSD conditions. Trauma can play a huge impact on our behavioural patterns, some for the good (ie falling down when trying to walk as a baby can help us to try again differently), however some prevent us from moving beyond the freeze response. This may block us in life as any trigger which reminds us of a previous trauma will bring on the freeze response or other patterns of behaviours we may want to break free of.

EFT is done by using a combination of acupressure points, along with advanced psychological methods (the setup and the gamut). This method has been seen to produce quick relief from even long-held trauma patterns. 

HERE IS MY CHALLENGE:

BASIC TRANSCRIPT

Learn a key tool in beginning to release the possible negative repercussions of trauma. Help yourself to change thought patterns and behaviour responses to trigger which are no longer serving you in the present. Every day for 22 days record yourself or note down what you are tapping on and do at least two rounds of tapping. Here is the sequence to share with others to do the same and see the ripple of positivity and change occur around you. We will be tapping on the negative. It can be hard to think about all our negative thoughts and emotions when we are so conditioned now to always be positive but we are trying to reduce the intensity of the negative thought or emotion so we have to use it to monitor its effect on us. (USE THE VIDEO ABOVE TO CLARIFY TAPPING POINT LOCATIONS AND ROUTINE)

  1. Write down the negative thought or emotion you would like to work on. 
  2. Write down the level out of 10 that you feel this thought is true or how strong the emotion is. (1 is low 10 is high)
  3. Write an opening sentence to tap on the karate chop point to set up the session
  4. Tap the following in no particular order: top of the head, on the beginning of an eyebrow, on the outside of your eye (just below your temple), under the middle of your eye on the bone, under your nostril (above your top lip), on your chin, on your collar bones just above your chest, under your armpit on your rib cage, inside of your wrist, on the outside of your finger nail on each finger.
  5. Do the gamut: whilst massaging the area on your hand between your pinky finger and ring finger, draw a line with your eyes diagonal to the right and then to the left, draw a circle with your eyes clockwise and then anti-clockwise. Hum the first line of happy birthday, then count to 10 and then hum the first line of happy birthday again.
  6. Assess how much you feel or believe the negative thought out of 10- it should be getting lower than where you started. Think of a colour or spot in the body you may feel the emotion or thought to help assess its transformation. Keep tapping using colours, textures and be aware the emotion may also change, it may go from anger, to guilt for example. Keep the same routine until the original emotion goes significantly lower (ideally 1 or 0).
  7. Make a note of other thoughts or emotions that come on to work on the following day.

Please share this challenge with others who may benefit from releasing and moving forward in their lives.

Here are three PDF’s for you to download and read on some of the research done into EFT and its effectiveness:

The Effectiveness of Emotional Freedom Techniques for Optimal Test Performance By Sachin Jain and April Rubino

A narrative systematic review of the effectiveness of Emotional Freedoms Technique (EFT) E.H. Boath, T Stewart, A.Carryer

Clinical EFT as an Evidence-Based Practice for the Treatment of Psychological and Physiological Conditions by Dawson Church

 

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