Body Mind Healing

photograph courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/benstephenson/

Body Mind Healing is quickly gaining popularity not only around the globe, but here in the Philippines as well. There is a growing demand for coaches and healers who can effectively teach and assist people, not only for educational purposes, but as a practice they can incorporate in their daily lives to relieve stress, brain fog, depression and a whole range of debilitating diseases including dealing with the realities of death through body mind healing.

Body Mind Healing evolved from the common principle called "mind over matter", a phrase widely received in the 1960s and 1970s as a spiritual and philosophical belief that the mind is more powerful than the human body. By conscious intention and determination, body mind healing is the practice of restoring the body to its normal and healthy state in conjunction with another form of treatment, either through traditional medicine or through natural means.

As a manual therapist and spiritual coach, I often inform my patients before we even begin our first session that I can only do 50% of the work; the other 50% has to come from their own conscious effort and dedication to become better. I have patients who could barely walk when they first come to me due to paralysis on one side of the body brought on by a stroke. But because they refuse to let their bodies cripple them and limit the remaining years of their lives in this condition, they incorporate a body mind healing practice into their medical treatment and physical therapy. Before long, they are able to walk solely by themselves and find that they are not only healthier and more fit physically, but mentally and spiritually as well.

Body Mind Healing, simply put, is any form of therapy that clears your mind of negative thoughts and a defeated attitude towards a disease or illness that you are physically suffering from. If you hear a person say he no longer wants to "go on living" or claims he no longer "has the energy to fight the disease" would indeed benefit greatly from body mind healing.

However, be careful not to misinterpret a person who says he is "at one with his Maker", is "ready to go" or who says he is "at peace" as someone who is harboring negative thoughts or has given up on himself, especially if the person is suffering from a fatal disease and does not have much time left to live. None of us will live forever in a physical sense so allow a human being to pass on from this world when he is prepared to do so. If you find that it is you who is having difficulty letting go of a person whose time is up, then you may be the one who needs a body mind healing.

On the other end of the spectrum, a person languishing from a fatal disease and has been painfully suffering for a long time but cannot relinquish life either out of concern and worry over the family he will leave behind; feelings of guilt; unresolved conflicts with people in his life that matter to him or unsettled issues would also be greatly assisted by a body mind healing. A couple of sessions would easily help him let go of these "unfinished business" in his psyche, and in doing so, will give him the sense of closure and peace of mind he will need to move on to the afterlife.

Body mind healing is a natural and harmless technique that anyone can undertake through the guidance of a qualified and proficient coach. Practices like:

• meditation,
  
• Conscious Rebirthing,
  
• Qi-Gong,
  
• Reiki,
  
• yoga
  
• aura cleansing and balancing
  

are only some of the gentle holistic therapies that produce amazing and life-changing results. It is your rightful privilege to feel empowered, at peace, happy and content with your life. Do not allow external factors to get the better of you or make you feel like you have no control over your own life anymore. Whenever this happens to you, know that it is merely your own inner fears preventing you from living your life to the fullest and the best way to realize this and solve this problem is embarking on a practice that involves body mind healing.

Exercise Pain

photograph courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikebaird/

Exercise pain is one of the most common complaints I hear from patients who come to me for Bowen therapy. I find it ironic that people are determined to incorporate an exercise routine in their lives to stay fit and healthy, but end up complaining about injuries as well as exercise pain.

Exercise pain is your body's way of telling you that you are pushing your body beyond its normal capacity and you need to adjust your exercise routine to a lesser degree than what you wish to achieve. I know that we all want to look fit, firm and slim for aesthetic reasons as well as for health reasons. It is common knowledge that exercise lowers bad cholesterol, improves blood circulation, gets rid of fat and flabby skin, removes toxins from the body, stabilizes blood pressure and improves resistance to disease by raising our immune system. But it is not suppose to injure the body or cause exercise pain.

Each one of us are built and made differently. Our bodies are unique in their own right and have their own advantages and disadvantages. I for example, come out of a yoga class or a Pilates session feeling light, flexible, taller (as if my spine has been stretched longer by 2 inches), straighter and re-energized. I feel tired at some degree; but it is only the right amount of tiredness and it compels me to sleep earlier than usual (since I am an insomniac) and gives me the deepest and most restful sleep at night. I never come out of a yoga or a Pilates class complaining of exercise pain.

Now others may not resonate with yoga or Pilates and may find it too "slow" for their taste or too difficult, especially if their bodies are not supple enough. Some people prefer high impact exercises like aerobics, tennis, badminton, golf, running, kickboxing, and others. Now I personally have nothing against sports or high impact exercises. If they work for you, then by all means, stick to what you enjoy and love doing. But be aware when your body starts feeling tired and tells you to stop. Often enough, when I ask people who complain of exercise pain if they pushed themselves to continue even when they were starting to feel weak or tired, the answer was always "Yes."

When the body has already reached its physical limit and starts sending you signals that it is tired, it is necessary that you begin warming down or wrapping up your game and calling it a day. If not, you run the risk of injuring yourself or finding yourself waking up the next day complaining about exercise pain. Once you begin to experience exercise pain regularly, it won't be long before it develops into chronic pain or worse, a more serious injury.

Also consider that some forms of exercise, especially sports, have a higher risk of causing injuries especially when you do not prepare your body properly beforehand with stretching exercises or correct warm-ups. Foregoing with these necessary preparations are another major cause of exercise pain. So always make it a habit and a discipline to warm up before you exercise as well as warm down at the end of each session. The muscles need to be gently stretched and allowed to loosen up after a rigorous activity to prevent it from causing you exercise pain brought on by muscle stiffness, tightening, adhesions or restrictions.

Exercise pain can certainly be avoided if you know how to listen to your body and respect its limitations. Harness your sense of competitiveness, especially if you engage in competitive sports as a means of exercise, by knowing when to stop. Don't brand yourself as a weakling or a failure because your body just does not feel in top form on certain days -- because that will happen. Your body is not always in the best condition every single day. So protect and care for your body in a practical and wise manner. After all, its the only one you've got and the quality of your life would be so much happier and more fulfilling if you are not limited by an injury or exercise pain.