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Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired?

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In the busyness of the day, it’s amazing that we can consistently ignore our highest good. Under chronic stress, life becomes very complex. In the state of overwhelm, our brain’s rational thinking gets short circuited. Stress makes us stupid!

And yet life does not have to be so difficult. To turn things around, pay attention to your most basic needs. And then take action on those needs. Corrective action, however, can only come if we are AWARE of our needs.

As an example, how many of us have found ourselves pressing to finish tasks when we are very hungry? This is not healthy, we are building stress. When I’m really hungry, I can’t focus on the task at hand because my hunger is shouting for attention.

And how many of you keep pushing on in the face of anger? Anger clouds perception and judgment. Rather than ignoring or denying its presence, why not take a break, get some exercise, relax, meditate, or just take some mindful breaths.

Arguably, our most serious limiting issue is fatigue. There seems to be little understanding of how seriously fatigue is affecting our performance, enjoyment, and health. Rest is an enzyme of life as necessary as air. We need it to keep going and to heal. If you’re tired, get more sleep. If you are not sleeping well, learn how to quiet your mind. Regular meditation practice will work wonders to reduce fatigue and enhance the quality of your life.

The bottom line is that we need to set healthy boundaries for ourselves. When you cross the boundary, take corrective action. If we don’t, life will catch up with us. Accidents and illness are two examples of ways that nature gets our attention. While unplanned and unpleasant, these interruptions can provide us with an opportunity to take stock of our life and create a better future.

Let’s take a proactive approach and create a healthy lifestyle. Pay attention to your needs and take action on them. Let me know if I can help.

Greg Schweitzer, MBA, D.Ay., Director of Stress Reduction Resources and Effortless Meditation™ Instructor for more than 30 years

Lymphatic Drainage by Vera Lovewell, RN, LMT

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Lymphatic System
by Vera Lovewell, RN, LMT

The lymphatic system is so important to our health. It plays a vital role in balancing our body’s fluid distribution. The lymph system is also a major component of our immune system. It aids in filtering bacteria and toxins out of the body and assists the body to fight infection.

As with any system of the body, there are things we can do to optimize its function. Unlike the circulatory system, the lymphatic system doesn’t have a central pump (heart) to move fluids. It depends on the pumping action created by the movement of muscles; so exercise and activity are important to the functioning of the lymph system. The muscle movement of the diaphragm is a major mover of the lymph; therefore, good deep breathing is important.  A good balanced diet that maintains a healthy weight is also important. Treat yourself well and you’ll treat your lymph system well.

Unfortunately, despite good effort, not everyone is blessed with a healthy lymph system.

Whether it is residual damage from a surgery or a traumatic injury, or a genetic trait, some people experience an insufficient lymph system that causes chronic edema in their  leg (s) or arm (s); lymphedema. Many people are never adequately treated. In the USA manual lymph drainage wasn’t really practiced until the 1980’s – 90’s. Manual
lymphatic drainage and complete decongestive therapy can treat this problem, reducing the edema and supporting the lymph system.

Lymphatic drainage is beneficial to many people. It is used to reduce lymphedema caused by dysfunctions or impairments of the lymph system. It assists with the edema and healing of chronic leg wounds often found with venous statis/peripheral vascular disease.  Manual lymphatic drainage reduces the chronic inflammation suffered by people with various forms of arthritis, fibromyalgia, and other autoimmune diseases. And, it is also beneficial to the healthy population who desire to detox their bodies and give a boost to their immune systems.

Manual lymphatic drainage is a very gentle massage technique that encourages the flow of lymph from the extremities back toward the body’s center and to the circulatory system.  Decongestive therapy is the wrapping done with special bandages after manual lymphatic drainage treatments. It helps maintain the flow of lymph and furthers reduction of edema.

It’s an exciting field that is beneficial to many people and I’m happy that it can now be offered at Twin Ponds Integrative Health Center.

If you have a need for Lymphatic Drainage or Complete Decongestive Therapy, please
call 610.395.3355

Raw Food Diet

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Help for Digestive Problems, Diabetes, Nutrient Deficiency, Aging & Weight Gain

Brook OckermanHave you ever mentioned “Raw Foods Diet” to anyone? If you have, you probably saw them turn up their nose and heard them say. “I can’t eat that way.”  Well, it isn’t what you think!

A raw food diet isn’t limited to living on salads and smoothies. Some of the types made are Italian, Middle Eastern, Asian, Latin American, all American, breakfasts, and, of course, desserts. They are not only delicious and easy, but exotic and comforting. Aromatic herbs, warming spices, and pungent flavors are used just like any other delicious food preparation.

Any appetite will be satisfied, especially when it comes to desserts. The raw desserts are great for those who love sweets, but want to avoid refined carbohydrates, sugars, dairy products, and unhealthy fats. They are divine, rich, and sweet!  Just sample a raw dessert and you will say that it has more flavor than baked desserts. It will be hard for you to believe that it didn’t come out of the oven…and your next word will be, “Wow!”

The raw food diet is based on the belief that the most healthful food for the body is uncooked. Although most food is eaten raw, heating food is acceptable as long as the temperature stays below 104 to 118 degrees.

Cooking food can diminish its nutritional value. For example, the cancer-fighting compounds in broccoli, sulforaphanes, are greatly reduced when it is cooked.  Also, certain vitamins, such as vitamin C and folate, are destroyed by heat.

According to raw foodists, enzymes are the life force of a food that helps us digest food and absorb nutrients. If we over consume cooked food, our bodies are forced to work harder by producing more enzymes.

If you want to find lasting health from better food choices, investigate the Raw Food Diet. Join our fun, delicious, and informative classes.

Instructor: Brook Ockerman is a certified Raw Chef & Instructor with an additional certification in Raw Pastries.

Are You Creative?

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Do You Need to Be?

If your first answer is “not really,” you are probably one of the crowd who thinks creativity is just about Art and maybe Inventions. The new brain/mind/body science will tell you, “you are wrong.” Creativity is needed in just about every succesful behavior including: parenting, playing games, marriage relationships, business leadership, learning, and communicating. You are already creative and you can be better at it.

The good news is that you can easily become more creative and thus more successful in all you want to do.  A key way is through movement training.  Yes, movement training can improve the way your mind functions, including creativity, and it is never too late to start.

 

All behavior has both physical movement and mental components including creative types of behavior. We are all psychosomatic (mind/body/movement) beings and our psyche-soma system can be used to make us healthier and better functioning both physically and mentally.  It can also react to stress negatively and make us depressed, unhealthy and minimize our ability to be creative.

 

A major part to the secret of how to keep yourself in the positive use of the psyche-soma system is good movement training.  Movement by itself works so well that doctors tell depressed patients to “get out and exercise.” This truth is also why yoga, Pilates, Tai Chi, golf training and other physical training can bring you clarity of mind, while it is making your body healthier.  But we can now also use this psyche-soma system more specifically for your particular neuromuscular (brain/body) pattern use.

 

We can use movement exercises which will train you to handle stress better and actually use it to be more successful. You can also learn how to use your Psyche-Soma to turn on its Dynamics of Play, Dreams, Movement, Art and Creativity.  Yes, you can easily and with fun increase your ability to be more creative in all you do.

 

To solve your problems and enrich your life you need to be creative.  As Rich Pastorella, owner of the Pastorella Health and Fitness Center, Weatherly, PA  said. ” Betsy Wetzig’s system of Coordination Pattern Training uses the human system of movement and thought and it allows you to understand them from multiple perspectives and to apply them to the problems that you are facing in your life.”     

Betsy Wetzig – Originator of Coordination Pattern™ “Breakthru” Training, Co-author of Moves For Greatness: Focusing the Four Essential Energies of a Whole and Balanced Leader, Choreographer/Dancer, Educator and co-originator of Full Potential Learning.

Improving Sleep & More

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With State-of-the-Art Vibroacoustic Chair  

What a drag it was to get up in the morning to go to work. When the alarm went off, I just wanted to throw it out the window. I felt like my eyes didn’t want to open and my body felt like a load of bricks.  I finally had enough of this tossing and turning every night and decided to search for some way to get my nerves under control to enjoy a restful night of sleep.  With a stressful and demanding job, I couldn’t afford to work in a fog all day long.

 Then I saw an ad in a magazine about a state-of-the-art vibroacoustic chair at a health center that helps people with sleeping problems, among other things. I wanted to learn about this chair and experience it so I made an appointment with the counselor who is certified in this type of therapy.

I was fascinated that the process of hearing “sound vibration” through the body’s nerves, skin, and bones heals so many physical and mental problems.

Wow!  Just sitting on the o-gravity chair was incredibly comfortable.  I felt like I was floating as my muscles got more and more relaxed. The chair acted like electronic tuning forks that vibrated my whole body.  I was hearing multi-layered sounds from the ear phones and wearing glasses that transformed what I was hearing into mandala-like patterns of light while feeling the chair vibrate. The whole experience took my brain and central nervous system into a deeply relaxed-healing state – my brain was in balanced harmony!

Now that I had a session with the counselor and knew how to work the chair, I can visit the chair at my convenience and go home relaxed and ready for a good night’s sleep. This vibroacoustic chair has done wonders for my health–and it’s easy on my pocketbook.

 Meg Deak, MCAT, LPC, is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Vibroacoustic Sound Practitioner, Certified Emotional Freedom Techniques Practitioner, and Music Therapist

Meditation is Personal Hygiene

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Greg SchweitzerWho among us would start our day without making time for personal hygiene? At the minimum, we clean our teeth, wash our body, and brush our hair. Why do we take the time? We feel better, we’re healthier and we receive good feedback from those we personally contact!

Meditation is a personal hygiene practice.  It prepares us for the day in front of us.  The day goes more smoothly; it is more enjoyable and meaningful as a result of making the time to meditate.

A few weeks after Mary and John learned to meditate; Mary said that John had changed. He’s much happier when he comes home from work, she said. 

John has a stressful one-hour drive to get to work each day. Add to the stress of the drive a long pressure-filled workday and the same return drive home, and you realize what many of us face every day. We then carry the fatigue and pressure of our workday into the evening hours with our family. Now, since taking the Effortless Meditation™ course, John sits in his car to meditate in the garage for 15 – 20 minutes following the ride home. The deep rest of his meditation releases his tension and stress. He then walks into the house with more energy and he’s happier, he’s feeling lighter.

After 38 years of meditation practice, my most obvious benefit from meditation is the increased mental and physical energy and happiness that I feel. Fatigue and stress wear us down; they dull our nervous system and brain. I’ll never forget watching a busy friend, a small business owner, fall asleep as he was talking! When the brain is compromised by stress and fatigue, it’s impossible to be at the top of our game, and it’s hard to find much to enjoy and appreciate in life.

Effortless Meditation™ practice is an antidote. During the practice, we experience levels of rest that are deeper than sleep. The stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol decrease as we experience a deeply relaxed state of inner wakefulness. Similar to recharging the battery of your phone, this is a preparation for a higher degree of satisfaction and success in life.  

For maximum benefits, all it takes is fifteen to twenty minutes twice a day. For many, this is as essential as any daily personal hygiene practice.

Greg Schweitzer, MBA, Director of Stress Reduction Resources and Effortless Meditation™ Instructor for more than 30 years

 

 

 

How to stop food cravings!

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Shaving the Food Cravings!

-“Super Brain” by Deepak Chopra

These strong feelings called cravings can make any dieter a failure. Research tells us that cravings light up the same pleasure and emotion-driven areas of the brain that are activated by cocaine and nicotine.The important thing is to know your triggers and how to avoid them.  When a craving does strike, have your plan ready so you can stay in your rational mind and ride it out− eat sensibly and feel a sense of control.

The following suggestions will help:

  1. Practice “out of sight, out of mind.” Keep them out of your house.
  2. Don’t watch commercials. Tape shows and fast-forward commercials. Create your own affirmation such as, “I eat only healthy foods.”
  3. Eat healthy food throughout the day. This will improve blood sugar, control, and provide the nutrients needed for proper brain chemistry.
  4. Be aware of the stages cravings go through. They will pass in about 15-20 minutes. Focus on something else, drink a glass of water, or take a short walk.
  5. Use the executive part of your brain. Practice mindfulness eating daily – brings your attention back to what you are doing.
  6. Watch your sugar intake. It may be your comfort food, but it can trigger all sorts of cravings. Satisfy your body with fresh organic vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, and healthy protein. This will help balance your blood sugar and stabilize your energy levels, appetite, and mood.
  7. Get enough exercise and sleep. This will help you maintain a normal hormonal balance which helps with mental clarity to focus. This is needed not only to maintain a healthy weight but an overall healthy lifestyle.

Deepak Chopra, MD, says in his book, “Super Brain,” that when you have trained your brain to recognize emotions, impulses, and the non-satisfaction attached to overeating, you reach a turning point where you are confident about using your brain instead of letting it use you.  You will easily choose not to overeat!

Check out our food and lifestyle offerings including: Ayurvedic Wellness Coaching, Macrobiotics & Chinese Medicine, Nutritional Counseling & Wellness Coaching, Whole/Plant Based Foods, Whole/Raw Living Foods. For  more information, call 610.395.3355.

Do Less

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Accomplish More

The day flies by and at the end, there’s something missing.  You’ve checked many things off your “to do” list and yet that seems like a hollow victory.  You’re not satisfied with the day and what you’ve accomplished.

While many may feel this way from time to time, in my early years, this nagging feeling was always present.  At the age of 26, I was an industrial engineer working for a Fortune 100 company in the Lehigh Valley.  My friends and family thought I had it made. I was young, drove a hot sports car, had a good income and was upwardly mobile in a major corporation.   And yet every workday I was counting the hours till I could leave work and begin my life.

The inner me was sick, maybe dying.  Then one evening, with nothing else to do, I accompanied a friend to a lecture about meditation.  The teacher presenting the talk told us that there’s something missing in most people’s lives.  He said what’s missing isn’t “out there” in the world, it’s inside!

Was I looking for contentment and satisfaction in the wrong places?  I was climbing the ladder of success at work, but was it against the wrong wall?  I was trying to be a good engineer, a good employee, a good son and a good friend.  There was lots of pressure and it was tiring.  My employer, for example, told me that I needed to spend a minimum of 10 hours a day at work if I wanted to get ahead. 

In desperation and with hope, I followed up on my gut instinct that night and enrolled in the meditation course. Almost immediately, I experienced a significant shift toward greater happiness and well-being. Two years later, I found myself enrolling in a year-long training program to become a meditation teacher.   

In training, our teacher frequently told us that we were learning to “do less and accomplish more.” Just sit, close your eyes and be still.  Inside you will find the peace and contentment that you have always desired.  It’s our essence, pure awareness, and it’s found at the source of thought.  Life is not meant to be a struggle. Make a practice of returning to the quiet mind every day. The positive influence on the quality of your life will be magical. 

Let me know if I can help.   

Greg Schweitzer, Director of Stress Reduction Resources and Effortless Meditation™ Instructor for more than 30 years

 

INTEGRATIVE

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The Whole is Greater Than the Sum of its Parts

Each of us is made up of many interactive systems. Being healthy in mind and body happens when these systems work together harmoniously.  Often, we humans separate one part of one system and work on it to make it function better.  This is not the best route to take because it does not take care of the whole problem and the whole problem is the problem.

Almost everyone, sooner or later, has a lower back ache.  Is it purely caused by the muscles, nerves and bones in your lower back? No! There are many interactive mental and physical systems which cause it to exist. Since we use the same body to express our mood, attitude, and meaning and things like anxiety and anger cause tension in our muscles, the psychosomatic (mind-body) connection is always involved. Moreover, like the truth of the old song, “the knee bone is connected to the..,” no part of the body acts in isolation from the rest.

Back aches can be caused or made worse from stress, the way you walk and stand, a
nutritional problems, overweight, etc.  All your systems and parts are always working together. The whole is indeed greater than the sum of the parts!  The integration of the body and mind systems and parts can be addressed to become healthier.

Experts from various holistic disciplines at Twin Ponds Integrative Health Center work together to improve the “whole self.” Our programs address stress, emotions, nutrition, lifestyle, movement, alignment, energy, and so much more. Applying this added power of an “integrative approach” to a physical, mental, emotional concern will assure your success!

Betsy Wetzig, Originator of Coordination Pattern™ Breakthru Training

Could this be you?

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And, the Vision is this…

One day a woman with a chronic physical problem had a vision.  It was of having an alternative health center to go to for pain relief and to gain the knowledge she knew she needed for lifestyle changes. She was ready to not only work on relieving her chronic pain but to get to the root cause of all of her concerns.

She knew she needed a place where she could work on the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual levels. She also knew that there needed to be collaborating experts in these fields to give her the support, motivation, andthe self-awareness / education that she so longed for.

“When the time is right, the teacher appears” is a saying in the spiritual world.  She was ready to work at a deep level. Her desire was realized when she found Twin Ponds Integrative Health Center.  Now, she had collaborating experts in the different fields to help her with the psychological root cause, help her to be more relaxed, teach her how to eat healthy, and most of all teach her how to move in an effortless way to relieve her physical pain. 

How exciting to have expert practitioners in their fields give her the support, motivation, self-awareness, and all the education she needed to empower her ”self” so that she can be pain free and successful in all areas of her life.

Could this be you?

Twin Ponds Integrative Health Center is your place for natural health and lifestyle changes!

Especially Athletes! and All Others!

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Diligent practice of hip stretches—what in yoga we often call “hip openers,” as though they are key to unlocking thesecrets of the hips—can dramatically increase your flexibility and range of motion around the hip joints. If you are athletically minded, this can be a good thing. But as with many good things, too much can be overdoing it.

The key for athletes is to develop or maintain balance between stiffness and openness: a balance of strength and flexibility in the muscles around the hips. This balance can change depending on both the athlete’s body and on sport-specific needs.

Depending on your sport, too much flexibility can be detrimental to your sports performance, as it can reduce your snappiness. Consider, for example the stiffness a runner needs for efficient transfer of energy to the ground. A floppy runner, one whose hips sag with each step, will have to work harder than one who springs lightly over the ground. But you need enough flexibility to move fluidly through your stride, without a hitch that can lead to an overuse injury. Poses that mimic the running stride, like lunges, can help you stay flexible through the range of motion used to run, and hip stretches that target the external rotators can help avoid overuse injuries like Iliotibial Band Syndrome and Piriformis Syndrome.

On the other hand, athletes need vastly more flexibility in the hips for engaging in activities like rock climbing, curling, or playing positions like catcher in baseball or softball.  A yoga practice for athletes in these activities can look very different from a practice for athletes who require more springy stiffness in their bodies; athletes who need to take deep squats can enjoy the full range of hip stretches, including poses that move deep into flexibility.

Consider where you fall on this spectrum. There may be a very good reason hip openers frustrate you, or a good reason for you to love and enjoy them. Either way, the process gives you an opportunity to consider what you can change and what you can’t, and to practice focusing your energy on creating useful change and accepting the unchangeable.

For all those who would like to improve balance and flexibility, reduce pain, increase range and ease of movement, and reduce habits of tension, consider becoming a student of one of the following: Yoga, Coordination Pattern™ Breakthru Training, Feldenkrais Method® of Movement Education, Personal Fitness Training, Pilates, Tai chi or Qigong,

What in the world is a CranioSacral Therapy and can it help me?

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There are many who have benefited from this fascinating healing modality. Here are two success stories.

Mary had beensuffering from migraines for months with no relief. Life was filled withstressors including long days on the job without breaks and often times without even time for lunch. The demands of home and work were overwhelming and medicine was no longer providing relief. Now what? She heard about CranioSacral bodywork and thought she’d give it a try. What could she lose?  After four one-hour very gentle yet precise sessions, the migraines were gone.

Susan woke up one daywith ringing in her ears, commonly known as tinnitus. She had heard about this condition from others and recalled that they had little relief from traditional treatments. She considered her options and decided to try CranioSacral bodywork.

The session was totally different than anything else she had experienced. Her session began with the practitioner placing her hands lightly on Susan’s head to feel into her body’s tissues and determine where the greatest blockages might be. This was followed by an hour of gentle palpations and manipulations designed to facilitate the opening of tissues that were stuck in Susan’s body restoring her body’s natural ability to move.  At the end of the session as Susan spoke with the practitioner, tears began to flow, which is common as emotions are released. Susan left the session feeling relaxed with a much clearer head and the tinnitus was weakened a bit and lowered in pitch.  Susan continued for three more session. By the fourth session the tinnitus was nearly gone. She plans to continue with the CranioSacral treatment for general overall health. She feels the sessions not only impacted the tinnitus, but her wellness, on many levels.

Life’s experiences…physical injuries, emotional and psychological stress, and even birth trauma leave an impression in our cells and tissues creating blockages that may hinder our ability to achieve optimal health and wellness. CranioSacral bodywork is an effective treatment option for a range of illnesses that integrate the body, mind, and spirit to promote health, healing and overall well-being.

Diane Griffin, Doctor of Natural Medicine, Licensed Massage Therapist

How Could This Pain Have Anything to do With Stress?

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Sarah took the Effortless Meditation™ course because she was intrigued by what she heard in the introduction session; however, her primary motivation was to support her sister who enrolled in the course. She knew her sister was in distress and she felt that her sister would be more comfortable taking the course if she participated with her.

The first four classes proceeded smoothly, and when they returned in two weeks for their fifth session, Sarah remarked that she hadn’t had any stomach pain in two weeks.  Since she hadn’t mentioned stomach pain as a concern, I inquired about it.  She explained that during the preceding two years, “I’ve had every test in the book to determine why I have pain every time I eat. It’s gotten so bad, I hardly eat at all.”  None of the tests have found anything abnormal and just last week, her doctor explained that he thought stress could be the culprit.

How could this pain be due to stress, she asked.  Sarah said she thought her doctor was crazy, but now she’s seeing that he was correct.  Her pain is real, it’s not in her mind.  Stress causes tension and muscle contraction.  Hold a tight fist for a couple hours and tell me it doesn’t hurt!  Under chronic stress, muscle tension cause headaches or pain may show up in our jaw, arms, abdominal area, anywhere in the body.

The deep rest and relaxation of Effortless Meditation was relieving the tension in Sarah’s muscles.  Deep rest is an antidote for stress, it relieves the stress response.  The proof, Sarah was without pain that had been plaguing her for years, and she was able to eat again incomfort!

Deepak Chopra, M.D. would explain that this wasn’t magic, it’s based in science.  Sarah was meditating every day as prescribed.  Her smile said she couldn’t be happier.

Greg Schweitzer, MBA, D.Ay., Director of Stress Reduction Resources and Effortless Meditation™ Instructor for more than 30 years

The Unexpected Leadership Breakthru with Coordination Pattern™ Training

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Susan was looking for what? All she  wanted to do was relax, learn a bit, and take some time for herself.  The Self and Joy Renewal Retreat was running at Twin Ponds Center. The flyer said, “Enjoy fun, play, food/cooking, music… along with mind-movement understanding.”  Why not give it a try?

On the first night, as the group was making the English Tea, Susan realized that what she really wanted was to break out of the behaviors that were holding her back at work. Already, she was getting a core understanding of how she functioned and differed from others. So when filling out and discussing Betsy’s handouts on Family Styles and Types, she saw how some of her “restricting” habits were learned in her family and culture while others were her reactions to stress.  A light bulb was going off, “I can change!”

Overnight she glanced through Betsy’s book, Moves to Greatness: Focusing the Four Essential Energies of a Whole and Balanced Leader. The section on Swing/ Collaborator/ Leadership weaknesses really hit a cord.

By Saturday, Susan was already using her new creativity and communication skills. Who would have thought her plate of vegetables… as she is a person who always has to be “Correct and Proper” … would win the “Most Humorous” award. Although it was, as Besty pointed out still wonderfully placed and orderly.

Later, as the group made and enjoyed dinner, Susan was fully on board with her new leadership skills.  She had actually experienced how the Coordination Pattern™ Breakthru Training exercises opened up her movement and most surprisingly, her mind; how they allowed her to Swing into her interactive and playful self which had been ignored and pushed down. She told Betsy, “I can hardly wait to lead my next team meeting at work.  I used to dread them.  Now I can enjoy and use my team members’ ways of functioning instead of trying to control and organize them into little copies of me…… I’m wondering what George’s reaction will be when I start enjoying his stories and jokes instead of giving him a dirty look to keep him on task.  It makes me laugh just to think of it.”

Susan was so thrilled with what she learned at this workshop that she signed up to attend the weekly classes.  She knew that this Coordination Pattern™ “Breakthru” Training helped her to break through to a new and improved level of leadership and a more satisfied life.

Betsy Wetzig, Originator of
Coordination Pattern™ Breakthru Training

Moving with the Feldenkrais Method for Sciatica Pain

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Proper body mechanics are important at all times, but especially when you are struggling with low back pain due to injuries like herniated discs or sciatica.

Medical experts will often prescribe gentle exercise, physical therapy or mind body practices like yoga or Pilates, before considering interventional treatments or surgical options. A recent press release in the San Francisco Gate announced the publication of a new book entitled Stop Sciatica Now, which teaches individuals struggling with sciatica symptoms how to use the Feldenkrais method to alleviate their pain. So what exactly is this and how does it work?

The Feldenkrais Method was named for its founder who was a physicist, mechanical engineer and judo pro who developed the technique to cure himself after sustaining a debilitating knee injury. He based his ideas on biomechanics, physics and human development. The concept is that people develop certain habits in how they move.

When a person sustains an injury such as a herniated disc with painful sciatica symptoms, he will start adopting new patterns to compensate for the pain. It is believed that over time these new patterns actually hinder recovery so that he must develop a new perspective on functional awareness and develop new ways to move that enhance coordination and flexibility and ultimately reduce pain. The student must develop new neuromuscular patterns to retrain his mind and body–searching for new ways to move naturally.

Consistent with the idea that this is an education, individuals practicing the technique aren’t referred to as patients but rather as students.

If you suffer with sciatica from a herniated disc and your doctor has suggested exploring ways to get active through gentle movement, the Feldenkrais Method may be something you want to learn more about. The Mayo Clinic indicates the Feldenkrais Method is utilized for neck and back pain as well as neuromuscular issues.

In a session, the instructor guides the student at first with verbal direction and then with a hands-on approach, through a series of gentle movements. The student may be lying on the floor, seated or standing as they learn how to develop an awareness of new movement patterns.

Carol Siddiqi, CYT, GCFP, has been teaching Yoga, Feldenkrais Method®:
Awareness Through Movement and Functional Integration® for more than 30 years

Food & Lifestyle Coaching = Health

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A lousy day on the golf course made Pete realize how much pressure he was under at work and at home, but it took a lousy day on the golf course for him to finally realize that he better take a good look at his life and make some changes.  He was stuck and had no idea what to do. He knew his weight was up, his cholesterol, and blood pressure were too high, he wasn’t getting enough sleep, and his wife wasn’t happy with him.

He had no clue what to do or where to start. He didn’t want to take medications. He was afraid!  He had no idea what his possibilities were!

One day when he was at the supermarket, he saw a magazine about complementary and alternative health services.  He had no idea what it was all about, but he was desperate enough to pick it up and read through it.  Most of the services he had never heard of – funny names like Feldenkrais, Tai Chi, and Ayurvedic.

The more Pete read, the more interested he became. Most of the magazine had to do with the benefits these services provided.  It was hard for him to get his brain around this way of thinking, but he was desperate and kept investigating these new concepts that restored health in a natural way.

One ad caught Pete’s attention. It had to do with Wellness Coaching. He called the number listed and got answers to all his questions. There were so many possibilities!  He now felt hope for a healthy future!

The Coaching helped him realize that he needed to learn to be aware of what he ate, how he ate it, and to be responsible for his health on many different levels.  He called his wife all excited because he signed them up for a “food preparation” class.  That was a start – something for them to do together to improve both their health.

Pete continued with his “wellness journey.”  With the Wellness Coach and other practitioners, he addressed his diet and eating habits, sleep issues, and stress and anxiety.  Today Pete is at a healthy weight, his blood pressure is normal, and he is able to manage his stress.  These were his possibilities and he took advantage of them!  Life is good and so is his golf game – now!

Gale Maleskey, M.S., R.D.

Greg Schweitzer, MBA, D.Ay.

 

From Resentment to Love—with Meditation

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Is there anyone in your life that challenges your serenity?  Of course, we all have such people and situations.

The question is what to do about it? Holding resentment and anger hardens our hearts, taking the joy and serenity from our lives. You may have heard the saying that if you hold revenge in your heart, you’ll need two graves. One for the person upon whom you wish revenge and the other for you!

Chronic anger and animosity breed a host of diseases not to mention unhappiness and discord. The UN charter reads, “War begins in the mind.” The good news is that we have the power to charge.

Louise Hay, a wise teacher and best-selling author, suggests that we send our troublemakers love. The next time you catch yourself replaying those negative internal messages of despair and anger over the actions of others, remind yourself to “send
them love”.

We do not have to love what they’ve done. Their actions may have really hurt. Do you, however, want to hold onto the hurt and anger, or do you wish to move beyond it?

Sending them love puts forth a positive transformational energy. We have the power to bring light to our world through our thoughts and intentions. Try it and notice the impact
on the quality of your life.

Steve, an Effortless Meditation™ client, was frequently rehashing feelings of sadness and loneliness. His family, upset by decisions he had made and actions he had taken, shunned him. He was no longer welcome in their home or in their lives.

Although Steve’s actions were in accord with his conscience, they were not in alignment with the family’s desires and values. They no longer returned his phone calls or initiated any communication with him. Steve’s hurt and sadness replayed over and over in his mind.

After years of distress, Steve learned of this empowering approach in a coaching session.  When his recurring negative feelings toward his family come up, he now sends them love. Almost immediately, he reported feeling better, happier and more at peace. The resentment and sadness was lifting.

Steve is powerless over the thoughts and actions of his family. By sending his family love, his thoughts and feelings have changed. He has jump started his healing process from within.

 

 

Structural Integration (Rolf Method) – Creates Real Strength!

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Betty heard someone say, “Pain and strain is your body’s way of telling you it is out of balance.” She had no idea what that meant. After doing some research, she started to think that maybe her back aches were the result of her body being “out of balance.”

Inthe midst of Betty’s research, she read about Structural Integration and learned how soft manipulation, education, and awareness helps the muscles, bones, and organs move into proper relationship to each other.

The part that excited her the most was when she read that releasing physical restrictions actually increases strength, adaptability, and resilience. Betty loved to run and for the last several months wasn’t able to enjoy this exercise because her back was ”talking to her – real loud!”  So, she found a Structural Integration practitioner and committed to the series of sessions.  Each of these sessions was to build upon the last and the strategies were tailored specifically for her. 

 At first, it was a strange concept for Betty to think that if she builds and deepens a relationship with her “body and self,” she will live with more awareness and harmony in her life. But, this is exactly what Betty experienced as her Structural Integration sessions progressed.  It was working for her!  She could feel her body changing – more natural and powerful.

Betty was able to run longer distances in a shorter time because she was more flexible and stronger. To get back to running and be pain free was her goal and she succeeded. She felt so relaxed and peaceful while she ran.

Betty felt like a new person and decided that the best thing she could do for herself in the future was to continue with periodic Structural Integration “tune-ups.”  Structural Integration transformed her body – and life!

Get Natural Help for Neurological Problems

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If you’re seeing a neurologist for peripheral neuropathy, multiple sclerosis, stroke-related damage, migraine headaches, epilepsy, or a movement disorder such as Parkinson’s disease, you should know that good nutrition and certain nutritional supplements are proven to help these problems. They can reduce pain, slow the progression of nerve damage, help you reduce your drug dosage, and remove toxins from your body that may be contributing to your health problems. 

I’ve helped a number of people with neurological problems, working with them and their doctors to safely combine their medical care with natural, nutrition-based treatments.

If you have peripheral neuropathy, for instance, consider taking alpha lipoic acid, a nutritional supplement that can work as well as the drug Neurontin–without the side effects. Make sure you’re getting enough vitamin B12, folate and Coenzyme Q10, which can help relieve some forms of neuropathy. And if you’re taking cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, you need to be aware that these drugs greatly increase your risk for developing neuropathy, and can also cause muscle weakness and mood changes. Getting your cholesterol down with a healthy, plant-based diet can help you lower your dosage of statin drugs and reduce your risk for developing these troubling symptoms. 

People with MS often do better when they start on an anti-inflammatory diet, getting more omega-3 fats and fewer omega-6 and saturated fats. They also benefit from other nutrients: vitamins D, E and B12, n-acetyl-cysteine, phosphatidylserine, CoQ10 and alpha lipoic acid. 

People with Parkinson’s disease often have had exposure to toxic chemicals, such as solvents, herbicides or pesticides, and may benefit from an evaluation to reduce ongoing environmental toxin exposure. They also often improve by following a detoxifying diet and supplements to help their bodies break down and remove brain and nerve-damaging toxins.

People who’ve had a stroke, who have high blood pressure, or who are at risk for having stroke because of clotting problems can reduce their blood pressure with a diet high in potassium, magnesium, calcium, vitamin D, getting more omega-3 fats, and cutting back on sodium and saturated fats. This kind of diet can also help restore normal heartbeat in some people who have heart arrhythmia problems.

People with migraines and epilepsy sometimes find that they are reacting to certain foods or food additives.  A little detective work can help pinpoint these foods, but sometimes people need to get food allergy testing to figure out what is going on. I’ve found people often improve once they stop eating foods, or, especially, food additives like sulfites and MSG–and aspartame!–that are making them sick.

Gale Maleskey, MS, RD, is an Integrative Nutrition Counselor and Certified Wellness Coach

 

Feldenkrais®: Making the Impossible, Possible and Easy!

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Anna, a middle aged mother of two has been experiencing more and more physical pain as she gets older. A childhood auto accident left her with physical challenges, but now her hip is the main concern. Her physician said that she would probably need a hip replacement in her future.

Naturally, Anna became very fearful about this prognosis and mentioned it to Laura, her good friend. Laura told her that she had read an article recently about an alternative health modality called Feldenkrais that helps people with hip problems, arthritis, and other painful physical conditions.

Anna was a little skeptical, but pursued the search for a Feldenkrais practitioner and made an appointment immediately. Sure enough, her experience after her first private session, which was called Functional Integration®, made her feel very hopeful.  Her tight muscles felt more relaxed and she was more aware of her body feeling more open. The practitioner used gentle, non-invasive touch and verbal instruction to guide her in her own movement process. As she walked down the hall after this session, she felt taller, her balance seemed to be better, and her hip was not hurting like it did before the treatment.

After a couple private Functional Integration sessions, the practitioner suggested that Anna attend some Feldenkrais classes called “Awareness through Movement.”  During the class the practitioner verbally directed the students to highly sophisticated movement sequences that were very pleasurable and effortless.  She did most of these exercises while on a floor mat, but there were others in the class who did them sitting in a chair.

Since Anna has been attending the classes for a couple months and doing the exercises at home, she has gradually felt less and less pain in the hip area. Her balance and flexibility has greatly improved along with her range and ease of movement.

What her original research said was that Feldenkrais exercises help at a fundamental level by improving the body’s underlying neuromuscular and skeletal organization. Learning new ways to move can be an essential addition to the treatment of neurological, orthopedic, chronic pain and stress-related conditions.

Since she caught the problem soon enough, surgery in her future is unlikely; however, she has learned that those who do have hip surgery still benefit greatly from the Feldenkrais classes because their physical therapy recovery is so much easier and faster.

Feldenkrais classes and private sessions are available at Twin Ponds Integrative Health Center.

Acupuncture: Helps With Our Defense Against Disease & Cancer

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Our immune system is our greatest advocate for defense against disease and cancer.  It consists of cells, tissues, and organs that work together to defend our body against attacks by “foreign invaders” such as bacteria, parasites, fungi, and viruses.

It is the immune system’s job to keep these invaders out or to find them and destroy them. The secret to its success is an elaborate and dynamic communications network. Millions and millions of cells, organized into sets and subsets, gather like clouds of bees swarming around a hive and pass information back and forth in response to an infection. Once immune cells receive the alarm, they become activated and begin to produce powerful chemicals. These substances allow the cells to regulate their own growth and behavior, enlist other immune cells, and direct the new recruits to trouble spots.

Some of the most detrimental attacks on our immune system come from stress, lack of sleep, poor diet, and lack of exercise. These factors weaken our immune system and make it easy for us to get sick. We are much more susceptible to germ, bacterial, and viral invasions when we are not at our best mentally and physically.

Can acupuncture re-engage the body’s natural defense system effectively enough to help prevent illness or cancer? Increasingly, the answer is, “Yes.”

Acupuncture has been in use for more than 2,000 years and is gaining popularity for the treatment of common conditions and ailments like stress, pain, and immune system disorders in this country. Traditional Chinese Medicine explains that the body’s energy (Qi) or “chi” flows along specific pathways in the body known as meridians. When Qi becomes blocked, deficient, or stagnant, we experience the signs and symptoms of pain and illness.

Get ready for the winter months when the body’s energies need help getting into balance. Build your immune defenses. 

Join the growing number of people who have turned to acupuncture because they have tried everything else!

Private appointments as well as Community Acupuncture are available at Twin Ponds Center.

There is never enough food for a hungry soul!

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Many of us realize that we are overweight and/or recognize that we are driven by food cravings that lead to unhealthy food choices. And most of us are aware of the impact of being over weight or obese – lethargy, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and gastrointestinal problems are just a few of the major complications. So, why do we continue to overeat and make unhealthy choices about food?

Ultimately, it’s not about the food, it’s about the lack of fulfillment (the hungry soul) inside us. It drives us to eat to satisfy an emotional not physical need.

How do we bring greater fulfillment to our lives and make healthier food choices? A good place to start is with positive lifestyle habits such as exercise and meditation.
Effortless Meditation™ changes our brain and improves our thinking; brain waves
become more coherent and orderly during our meditation.  The state of restful alertness in our meditation brings peace and serenity to our lives. Adding this revitalizing experience, ideally as a daily practice, works wonders.

Try one month of feeding your soul daily by quieting your mind with meditation. I suspect you will quickly notice that you are developing a growing awareness and sensitivity about your need or lack of need for food. Making healthier and smart food
choices comes more easily, almost automatically with growing awareness.

With greater mental clarity and awareness, you will be better prepared to improve the quality of the food that you are consuming. Just as a high performance engine does best on high octane fuel, we thrive when our food is packed densely with nutrients. In
contrast, if we eat foods that are mostly “empty calories” (e.g. soda, white flour and highly processed nutrient sparse foods) we will continue eating and consuming excessive calories in order to get the nutrients that your body needs. Nutrient dense foods energize us and satisfy our hunger with fewer calories.

Be gentle with yourself, meditate, get some exercise, and eat well.

Greg Schweitzer, Director of Stress Reduction Resources and Effortless Meditation™ Instructor for more than 30 years

Acupressure: Holiday Health Is In Your Hands!

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Ready or not, the holidays are coming! Along with the hustle and bustle, stress slowly builds. Who wants to waste time running to the doctor and spending money on pills? There are gifts to be bought and wrapped, decorations to be placed, cards to be sent, parties to attend, cookies to be baked, food to prepare, and on and on! Just thinking about it, creates stress. Save your precious time for the joys of the season. Don’t let stress take control of you.

There’s no better time than right now to learn how to take charge of your health with the healing touch of your own hands.

How can this be done? The ancient Chinese practice of acupressure brings balance to the body using the power and sensitivity of the fingers and hand. Through the use of gentle finger pressure, tapping, gentle pounding, and pressing meridians at acupoints to even the flow of energy, health and wellness is restored.

The body has twelve healing energy pathways (meridians) as identified by traditional Chinese Medicine. Energy (chi) flows through these meridians and your holiday stress and tension can cause them to get blocked at the acupressure points. By effectively using acupressure techniques, energy begins to flow through the meridians reducing muscular tension, increasing circulation, and enabling deep relaxation. Stress is relieved and harmony is restored to all body functions.

Let this holiday motivate you to relieve the stress that is stored in your body now (and even more so as the holidays approach), strengthen your resistance to disease, and ultimately maintain your health. Join us to learn self-care applications and pressure points for not only holiday stress but many other specific conditions.

Give yourself the gift of stress relief this holiday. You don’t have to shop for it, wrap it, or return it!  You’ll have it for the rest of your life to use at any time you feel the need.

 

 

 

 

Do You Know Why a Lymphatic Massage…

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is beneficial for your health? The lymph is like its red brother, blood. It filters foreign matter and removes excess fluid, protein, and waste products from the tissues and transports them to the blood to be circulated and eliminated.

If the lymph didn’t do its job, you would die from protein poisoning within
twenty-four hours.

Unlike the blood, lymph does not have a heart to pump it through the body. It moves along slowly with the help of the contractions of voluntary muscles (a reason exercise is beneficial), squeezes of intestinal muscles, and pulsations of nearby arteries. The negative pressure in the chest cavity provides suction.

External hands-on stimulation helps increase the passage of lymph, especially when it gets backed up.

Lymph collects at nearly eight hundred nodes throughout the body, with two hundred in the neck alone. When nodes become swollen in the neck, armpit, or groin, the areas feel tender.  And, when the ankles, feet, legs, arms, and hands become thick with accumulated fluid, you have edema. Lymphedema also may occur following the removal of lymph nodes due to cancer.

Therapist and doctors report good results for:

  • sprains and bruises
  • puffiness in the face following cosmetic or dental surgery
  • muscular spasms from overuse or chronic tension
  • also figures in the treatment of:  sinusitis, burns, acne, scars, arthritis, emphysema, migraines, tinnitus, trigeminal neuralgia, spinal injuries, and some cerebral disorders

For patients who have undergone such operations as hysterectomy, prostectomy, and mastectomy, clinical evidence indicates that Massage Lymphatic Drainage (MLD) moves fluid when an area can no longer perform this function. If begun before the 5th month of pregnancy, it can serve as a preventive for swelling and stretch marks.

 Twin Ponds Integrative Health Center has 4 Lymphatic Massage Therapists.  If you would like to make an appointment, please call 610.395.3355.

“I was introduced to the Twin Ponds Integrative Health Center while undergoing treatment for breast cancer. The massages continue to be very helpful in my recovery and well being.” Mary 

Research by European scientists confirms the effects of MLD. From the book, “Discovering the Body’s Wisdom,” by Mirka Knaster

 

Spinal Cord Injuries and the Feldenkrais Method of Movement Education

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Cindy Allison, a University of Canterbury, (UC) PhD student, is carrying out the world’s first research on spinal cord injuries using the Feldenkrais Method to provide people the chance to recover movement and stability.

In the 1940s, Israeli physicist, Dr Moshe Feldenkrais, combined his knowledge of martial arts, biomechanics, neurophysiology, anatomy, learning theory, child development, systems theory, physics and psychology to develop the Feldenkrais Method, a form of sensory motor education.

Research has provided evidence of benefits including reduced pain, fatigue, stress and medical costs; and improved mobility, stability, coordination and breathing. However there has been no research done with spinal cord injury.

Cindy was drawn to the Feldenkrais Method because of her own pain and loss of movement and sensation. For her PhD she is developing the first Feldenkrais program in the world for people with spinal cord injury.

Rather than isolating muscles and working hard in an attempt to restore movement, Feldenkrais encourages expanding body awareness, and paying attention to the quality of movement and the effect that the movement has on  the coordination of the whole body.

You stay within your comfort zone; it is process oriented and fun. The focus is also on learning how to learn. Clients grow to understand biomechanics and learning principles, they are eventually able to improve their movement independently of the practitioner.

“I was so impressed with the method that I began researching its potential for people with spinal cord injury. Some of the world’s top neuroscientists advocate the method. I have people around the world with spinal cord injury discovering significant
improvement using Feldenkrais principles despite negative prognoses.’’

Kevin Hitchcock, a former director of news and Channel Ten in Sydney was told he would be paralyzed from the neck down for the rest of his life, she said.

He has made an almost full recovery and written a book after improving via the Feldenkrais Method.

American Molly Hale, subject of a documentary film, broke her neck in 1995 and was told that she would be paralyzed from the shoulders down. Hale has made significant progress. In recent months she has walked unassisted for the first time since her accident.

Germany’s Irene Lober was able to ditch her wheelchair, ski, and climb hills despite being told she would need a wheelchair for the rest of her life. She documented her recovery in her Master’s thesis and then went on to train as a Feldenkrais practitioner.

Australian triathlete, Michael Forbes, describes on YouTube how he learned to walk again using Feldenkrais. More examples are on Allison’s website www.neuroplasticity.co.nz.

I suspect many more stories that haven’t been documented. Recovery is a gradual process but my clients have reported a number of benefits including reduced pain and spasm; and improved coordination and ease of movement, posture and breathing.

“Clients who had no sensation below their break are reporting that sensation and
movement are returning. I want to develop group programs that are accessible
and affordable for disabled people.’’

Voxy.co.nz

If you know anyone with paralysis from stroke, head injury, spinal cord injury or multiple sclerosis, please have them contact us concerning Feldenkrais Private Sessions and Classes. Visit our website for information about Feldenkrais and Carol Siddiqi, Feldenkrais Practitioner.

 

 

How Bad Do You Want It?

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Probably one of the top 10 questions I get asked by new clients is,

“How long will it take before I start to see some results?”

Well, the answer to that question is a tough one, because a great deal of it relies on the client. It depends on:

  • How motivated you are to create changes in your body
  • How well you will adhere to nutritional and lifestyle changes
  • Your age
  • Your sex
  • The amount of stress you have in your life
  • Consistency
  • …and so on and so forth.

Now, assuming that you follow my instructions and advice reasonably well (you strength train consistently, you eat well for the most part, you get semi-adequate recovery), you can expect to see tangible results in about 4-6 weeks; maybe later if you aren’t particularly good with nutrition or if you miss workouts, etc.

Again, I have two words for every client current or new–”lifestyle change.” It has to be within you to change your lifestyle.  How much time do you really have? I can’t believe that one hour a day to take care of ”you” in some way can be too much.

It’s all about the choice my client is willing to make when they walk out my door from a session. I do wish I could be there to say don’t eat that and get up and do your cardio, but that choice has to be made on the true positive goal that each and every individual believes they can achieve. The truth is that we all have it in us. It’s how bad you want it!!

Sean Fahey, Personal Fitness & Golf Trainer

The Incredible Value of Play for Adults!

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Carol was bored on her daily one-hour walks, so she inventeda game to entertain herself. In the next two blocks she would take exactly 300 steps. Walking as “normally” as possible; first day – needed 25 mini steps, second day – needed 10  giant steps, third day-tried zig-zags and only needed 10 mini steps (zig-zags were fun), and so on.

Little did she know that as she was playing she was also improving her mind; improving the way her brain and body handled space, time, design, and even stress.  So, later she was surprised when she was able to avoid a car which had suddenly swerved into her lane by almost effortlessly maneuvering her car, going off the road safely and well.

Play can be lifesaving which is why the military teaches its officers how to improve their ability to play. Einstein riding on a trolley, pretended (played) to ride a light beam as he was watching the town hall clock which enabled him to get the insight he needed to discover that e = mc sq. Miles Davis played with the notes to find the “real” music.

Play helps us deal with our ordeals, and lighten the stress and loads of our lives. Play opens up and heightens our short-term memory and can even help us use our dreams to solve problems, especially creative problems.

Play can help us to use all our talents and skills better, and even lower pain levels and help us heal faster. Play can bring incredible insights into the way you and others function in daily life.

Many people have discovered that a family that plays together is creating a structure and trust that helps when problems arise. The same trust issues can be developed by play in business, which is why those golf and other outings are important and worth the time and money.

There is a funny paradox:  play can improve us without our knowing it. Useful play is a skill that can be improved. You too can learn how to use play more effectively which is why I have joined with Jungian and play expert, Dr. Mary Alice Long, to create the workshop: “Know Thy Self and Play for Success.”

Join us for four days of playful transformation. For more information see our flyer.  Learn how to play with your problems and stress and turn them into the game pieces of success, as you also improve your
creativity and leadership abilities (including parenting).  Besides, we are going to be playing and we’re going to have fun!

By Betsy Wetzig, Originator of Coordination Pattern™ “Breakthru” Training

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The Best Vacation Ever

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A client said, “this Effortless Meditation™ is like a mini-vacation, and I get to take it everyday!”

As the complexity of life increases, the need for balance is greater than ever.  Technology was supposed to simplify our lives, and it has in many ways done that.  For example, who would want to give up the instant information access provided by the internet?   And yet the pace of progress and life today is relentless, overwhelming.

In the area of marketing alone, every week or month there seems to be a new method of delivering your message.  And we’re always encouraged to grab onto the new in order to keep up. At the same time, overwork is practically seen as a professional virtue.  Is it any wonder that anti-anxiety medication sales are at record levels.

Yesterday, I was reading an article from a popular columnist who was saying that while on vacation at a remote island off the coast of South Carolina, his children were at a loss because there was no internet access.  What are we to do, they complained?  This is a sign of our times.  Let’s explore, he suggested, “there are turtles and salamanders in these waters, osprey and eagles in the trees, and an ocean for playing.” The kids weren’t buying it, they were frustrated.

Our children are not the only ones so afflicted.  Adult minds have become so busy keeping up or being entertained that the slower pace of nature can seem boring.  We are over stimulated and the solution is simple.  Regularly give our brain a rest.  Reach beyond all mental activity, that’s a true vacation.  Interior silence, in its essence, is freedom from thought.  We need to transcend the activity of daily life, go beyond thinking, watching, tasting, the activity of the senses, in order to be free.

Try Effortless Meditation, yoga, or just spend some quiet time in nature.  Learn to quiet your mind, and for maximum benefits make this a daily habit/vacation.  Your life will be happier and lighter, and you will become much healthier.

Greg Schweitzer, Director of Stress Reduction Resources and Effortless Meditation™ Instructor for over 30 years

Neck Pain to No Pain – All Gain

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with Coordination Pattern™ Breakthru Training

Gail’s neck pain always got worse when she was stressed out, but it usually showed up as a stiff neck when she woke up.  Of course there were those times when she just turned her head a certain way.  The pain would come and go.

She had had massage and other body work, but it always returned.  Sometimes nothing would help, she just had to endure it, but when she took Betsy Wetzig’s “Walking Workshop,” Gail was not thinking about her neck.   After all, what would walking have to do with neck pain, and how she handled stress?  However in the first 20 minutes of the “Walking Workshop” the neck pains were on their way out of Gail’s life.

Why?  How did she get rid of these “mistakes” and the pains forever?

Gail was pulling her shoulders back and had poor body alignment. Why did Gail do this? Her Coordination Patterns were not working correctly. At this workshop, she learned 4 basic Coordination Pattern exercises that improved the way she moved resulting in correct alignment of her body. Do people understand what alignment really is? Correct alignment equals correct movement of the head. Voila, Gail’s neck pain left for good and her walk was improved as well.

Betsy Wetzig, Originator of Coordination Pattern Breakthru Training

Feldenkrais: Pain in the Knee

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Feldenkrais: Pain in the Knee

Alternatives to surgery for treating joint pain from arthritis

Even if you still have a spring in your step, chances are fifty-fifty that you have, or will have, “some evi­dence of osteoarthritis of the knee,” according to Mark R. Cutkosky, a mechanical engineer at Stanford University. He is part of a research program, known as Movement Re­training, which focuses on alleviat­ing pain by analyzing and possibly changing a person’s stride.

One of the major problems at the root of knee pain is uneven wear and tear on the knee cartilage, which leads to arthritis. “We’re trying to slow the rate at which arthritis progresses,” says Cutkosky. But, he cautions, do not to try changing your stride on your own: you could do more harm than good. The program is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and covered in a special report in NSF’s Science Nation.

With the guidance of a Feldenkrais Method teacher, you could safely change not only your stride, but how you habitually organize and move your whole self—since the knees are dynamically connected to, among other things, the ankles, pelvis, ribs, breath, and eyes. Devised by a scientist determined to defy the medical verdict that only surgery could relieve his knee pain, the neurologically informed method uses gentle movement and attention to unlock the brain’s power to learn a better way.

Exercise in general is crucial for people with arthritis, according to the Mayo Clinic. In fact, lack of exercise can make your joints even more painful and stiff, “because keeping your muscles and surrounding tissue strong is crucial to maintaining support for your bones.

Carol Siddiqi, Certified Yoga Teacher & Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner