Sitting a lot, lack of good muscle strength, and scoliosis, had me pretty miserable, so I made an appointment to see what this alternative health modality called Structural Integration was all about. Many injuries and physical bad habits (moving incorrectly) changed the alignment of my body which made it hard for me to walk without pain.  I have learned that pain and strain is my body’s way of telling me it is out of balance. So, it was time for me to do something serious about it!

Andrei is a gentle soul who knows his stuff.  His ability to detect the origin of the tightness within my body causing the physical misalignment was fascinating.  As I laid on the table wearing my gym clothes, he began working on my feet and legs.  He explained that was necessary because if the bottom of the body is not in alignment, the top of the body will not hold the alignment.

It felt different from a massage.  Andrei used a range of techniques to lengthen and reposition the protective and supportive layer that surrounds each muscle and provides a matrix that supports every tissue in the body.  This is called fascia.  The amount of pressure he used varied.  Sometimes it was a slow, deep, stretching movement, and sometimes a constant applied pressure. And it wasn’t painful!

I was involved in the process.  Andrei at different times asked me to make continual small movements or take slow deep breaths while he worked.  This allowed him to access and work with the connective tissue. He worked in an unhurried and deliberate way and encouraged me to give him feedback so that I was always within my comfort level.

Andrea told me that people who experience Structural Integration usually feel a greater awareness of body posture.  This was certainly true for me! After one of my first treatments, I walked into the reception area and the assistant director who was sitting there said, “Wow, look at you!”  I not only felt lighter, but I was walking much straighter and it really was so much easier to move. Not only that, but I had no pain – it was just so easy!

Most of the time hands-on adjustments do the trick, but with her they weren’t working. 

As a result, her symptoms continued to get worse.  I then mentioned the success I’d seen with other patients that underwent Non Surgical Spinal Decompression. I explained to her that the X-Rays revealed the discs between her vertebrae were very degenerated, worn out and thin.  This has a tendency to place pressure on the nerve roots where they are given off from the spinal cord.  This in turn causes the pain and muscle spasm that she was experiencing.

I also explained that Non Surgical Spinal Decompression Table is a very effective, yet gentle and non-invasive way of increasing the space between the vertebrae which takes pressure off the nerve roots.  By doing this, the pain goes away.  It also helps to re-hydrate and improve the health of the discs which helps keep the pain from coming back.

The patient agreed to give it a try and after 12 treatments she stated, “This is the best I’ve felt in years.”  It’s been several months since her last Decompression treatment and she still feels great!

She now comes in every 2 weeks for a gentle hands-on Chiropractic wellness adjustment that helps her maintain the gains she made with the Decompression Therapy and greets me with a big smile and a hug every time. 

Helping people in this manner is the greatest part of my profession and is what makes me proud to be a Doctor of Chiropractic!

Every time I give a massage it is different.  I love just following my inner guidance and the client’s requests to make the session special for that client on that day. I set up the room with the heated pad to warm his muscles and put on some gentle soothing music. These start the relaxation process.  I blended some gentle and long Swedish massage strokes and deep tissue massage, to help with the release of tension and knots. His 90 minute session gave me the opportunity to spend more time on his right shoulder that was holding a lot of tension.

Before I started to work on his back, I did some Craniosacral Therapy to release restrictions that would improve the functioning of his central nervous system. This was a new experience for him and the depth of relaxation he was feeling was amazing to him! He commented on how surprising it is that just placing hands in certain areas allowed his breathing to go so deep. The 90 minute session also allowed me to do extra work on his back and legs. I did different massage strokes and Myofascia Release where I gently applied pressure into the myofascial connective tissue restrictions.  This helps to eliminate pain and restore motion for overall better results. I could feel his muscles let go of the tension.  When I massaged his legs, he told me they felt lighter.

It is very rewarding to get feedback right away. I finished our session with some gentle energy healing called Reiki which helps the body relax and quiets the mind at the same time.  This energy work enhanced the massage and allowed the muscles to let go even more.

By the time he was ready to go home, he was so relaxed he looked as if he had just awakened from a deep sleep! Some research states that a massage is equivalent to four hours of sleep. It is so rewarding to help someone reach such a deep level of relaxation in just a short period of time.

I love helping my clients relax on all levels: body, mind and spirit. Blending gentle, deep massage with energy work like Reiki gives amazing results.  I feel such joy knowing that because of the depth of this client’s relaxation, his muscles will continue letting go of the tension he was experiencing.

Murielle Wesch, Licensed Massage Therapist

Connie told me, “Your knowledge about the mind-movement link is powerful.  I have found that for understanding ourselves and each other (my husband and I), the Training has not only helped us through our struggling times, but has also supported us in appreciating our differences.” Then she said, “Let me give you an example. You taught me that the dominant Pattern of my mind and movement is Swing, which means that I can be spontaneous, quick to process, and playful. My husband uses more Shape Pattern, and thus is more slow, methodical and practical. I have learned to honor his process and push only a little. When we disagree on something, I give him his space to process before we work things out. When we make big decisions, he slows me down which allows me to process more deeply so I can then get in touch with my feelings and be sure about my decision.”

And with a smile she added “I’m glad my husband and I aren’t alike.  We enjoy and appreciate each other the more we understand ourselves and each other. Good communication is so rewarding!  It makes being in a relationship more interesting and fulfilling.”

Then after she thought for a moment she said, “This Coordination Pattern “Breakthru” Training has been effective and helpful knowledge that we have applied not only to our “Valentine” relationship, but now also in the raising of our children.”

Betsy Wetzig, Founding Director of Coordination Pattern “Breakthru” Training and Full Potential Learning

Here’s how the sugar-cancer connection is laid out, based on current research

• Cancer cells do rely on sugar (glucose) to produce energy, but all cells use sugar; cancer cells are no different in that regard except that they use even more sugar than regular cells because they are so “energetic.” It’s high insulin levels that really seem to promote cancer cell growth

• High insulin levels are most likely to come from insulin resistance, where cells can’t allow insulin to bring glucose into the cell. As a result, your pancreas makes more insulin, until, finally, it poops out and you need to take insulin injections

• What exactly causes insulin resistance isn’t known, but the big risk factors are the same ones that cause type 2 diabetes: obesity, lack of exercise, lack of muscle, and a high-carbohydrate, high-sugar, excess-calorie diet. Even some nutrient deficiencies, like magnesium, chromium, vitamin D and B vitamins are associated with insulin resistance, and, not surprisingly, a high-sugar diet depletes your body of these nutrients

How does insulin promote cancer?  According to Craig Thompson, M.D., a world-renown cancer researcher, and now, president of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, the more insulin they get, the better cancer cells do. Cancer cells rely on what’s called “insulin signaling” to develop, and they can develop mutations to take full advantage of insulin, increasing its influence on the cell.  Dr. Thompson has said he believes that many pre-cancerous cells would never acquire the mutations that turn them into malignant tumors if they weren’t being driven by insulin to take up more and more blood sugar and metabolize it

So the bottom line, as I see it, is how do we reduce insulin resistance and high insulin levels? The same way we control or even reverse type 2 diabetes. Here’s what I tell my patients to do

• Get regular exercise, both aerobic and muscle-building.
• Attain a normal body weight, or, at least, a weight at which you can be physically active and feel good.
• Avoid concentrated sources of sugar, such as soda, sweetened fruit juices and teas, candy, and desserts. Even be careful how much real fruit juice you consume (no more than 6 ounces a day.) Eat fruit instead.
• Get away from refined carbohydrates such as white flour. Focus on whole grains, beans, lentils, brown rice, sweet potatoes, nuts and seeds, and vegetables like carrots for your carbohydrates. If you think you are intolerant of gluten, don’t eat it!
• Replenish micronutrients as needed.  You may benefit from supplements of magnesium, chromium, vitamin D, B vitamins and other nutrients found in a multi-vitamin if your diet or absorption ability has been lacking.

By Gale Maleskey, MS, RD

In the preceding five years, her condition had become so debilitating that she could no longer work full-time.  At one point, she was so troubled that she could barely leave the house.

Fortunately, she was spirited and did not give up easily.  She tried medication, cognitive therapy and was vigilant about diet and exercise.  She also regularly listened to self-help CD’s, occasionally attended yoga classes, surrounded herself with crystals and fidgeted with gemstones everywhere to deal with her anxiety.

Compassionately, Sarah’s physician and a few friends enthusiastically encouraged her to take my Effortless Meditation™ course at Twin Ponds.  She was very skeptical, as she said, “I cannot sit still, so how will I ever be able to meditate?”

Sarah eventually acquiesced, realizing that she had little to lose except the course fee.  Once her physician assured her that the course was worth 10 times what was being charged, she was ready to take the plunge.

What was to come took Sarah by complete surprise.  After the third 1.5 hour session, the third day of the course, she excitedly declared to me, “I have removed all my gemstones and crystals from my car and I haven’t carried them with me since I learned to meditate.  She was initially hesitant to discuss these changes but after a few months of being free of her obsessive compulsive behaviors, she freely began to share her story with others.
“When it came to obsessive compulsive disorder, practicing Effortless Meditation™ did for me what medicine, diet and exercise, and cognitive therapy couldn’t, and literally within days.”  To her delight, Sarah’s obsessive mental dialogue has lost its power to control her life.

Greg Schweitzer
Effortless Meditation™ instructor

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 which were holding her back at work.  This change was going to be so fundamental.  Already, she was getting a core understanding of how she functioned and how other people were different from her.  So when she filled out and discussed 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 just her personal 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, as they made lunch, Susan was already using her new creativity and communication skills, learned just that morning.  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 Betsy pointed out, still wonderfully placed and orderly.

Later, as the group made and enjoyed the pasta 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 literally  “Swing”  into her interactive and playful self which had so long 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 breakthrough to  a new,  improved, level of leadership and life.

By Betsy Wetzig,  Originator of Coordination Pattern Breakthru Training and Full Potential Learning

The study of tai chi encompasses so many areas, starting with body awareness, and then moving on to physical strength, balance and control.  After that, the benefits really start to accrue, in the mind and the body and the spirit.  Students find the reasons that they may have started the study are no longer the reasons that they continue.  The satisfaction of learning an art form (in their mind AND their body) is never-ending, and oh-so-rewarding.

Watching the evolution of a student from beginner to accomplished tai chi practitioner is why I continue to teach.  The most current research in health and longevity says that the best outcomes are achieved when there is a balance between mind and body and spirit.  Since tai chi affects all these areas, I can think of no better way to help humanity then to teach this art.  Dedicated students blossom, like a lotus flower slowly unfurling.  Immune function, cognitive function, and perhaps most importantly, confidence, improves.  I love hearing what students have to say about the changes they’ve experienced, or what their loved ones notice.  From the middle-aged daughter of an elderly student, “Mom, you get up off the floor with more ease than I do!”  From a spouse to her husband, “You’ve been much easier to live with since you’ve been practicing tai chi”.  From a physician, “You are in great shape for your age – whatever you’re doing, keep it up!”.  The change in attitude to difficult life events – from frustration to challenge – is worth the practice time.  And practice it does take, just like learning any art form.  And from there, comes the reward.  The accomplishment is directly related to the effort, and it becomes a positive feedback loop.  As the benefits accrue, the motivation to practice and learn more increases

As I witness the change in my students – the improved physical condition, the calmer demeanor, the willingness to open their hearts and their minds – I take a deep breath and am thankful that teaching tai chi is the work that I do

Hilary Smith, Instructor of Tai Chi since 1995

The contest to win a cruise was sponsored by my business networking group. The purpose of the group is to support the members’ business. Each year, we have a membership contest to support the growth of the group. This year, the prize was a cruise for two. The members receive points for bringing guests and more points for enrolling new members. The person with the most points wins the cruise.

Early in the contest I did not bring any guests, and guess what? I was not winning. But then I thought “Wouldn’t it be great to take my wife on a cruise. Maybe I should give this a shot.” So I looked at how I was thinking about inviting guests and realized that the mindset I was using was not supporting me. I decided to open up my coaching toolkit and pull out one of the most important tools: working with how we see the world.

After talking to one of my coaching colleagues, I found that I was using a mindset along these lines: “It is pushy to invite members. They are too busy and won’t want to visit us anyway, so why bother.” Well, that is rather embarrassing, but it is the truth. Okay, so that mindset is not working, but what mindset would serve me better? Here is what I came up with: “I am being a contribution to the people that I invite to be my guest for a meeting and it supports developing a business relationship with them. Plus, this game is fun.”  Well, that mindset gave me a lot more energy, breathing room and ease.  I started calling people; I started bringing guests and one of them joined!! It was easy and fun, and I was developing relationships, supporting my business and supporting the group all at the same time.

So, I won the contest and my wife and I are planning a cruise. The tool I used is definitely not rocket science and it is probably not something you haven’t heard before. But, it is not what you know that matters, but how you use what you know.

Stay tuned! I’ll send you pictures from the cruise.

Here’s to your success.

Steve Gunn, Personal and Organizational Coach

This is a question at the center of attention of both business and political leaders.  At work, employers have for many years expected their employees to do more and more work with less and less assistance.  Payroll has been cut to the bone.  Productivity has risen, and health care costs have skyrocketed.

Although we consider our nation to be the most powerful in the world, there’s much evidence that we are far from the healthiest.  Look at your insurance premiums and you can see why businesses, who traditionally paid all or a lion share of health insurance premiums, are scared as health care costs take up a growing piece of their revenue.

We strongly believe that the wisest thing that any organization can do to decrease their health care costs and enhance the wellness of its staff is to offer Effortless Meditation™ classes. The EM program is a win-win for any employer. Employees love the benefits of meditation.  It is easy to do anywhere and the deep rest is nature’s medicine, as important to us as the air that we breathe.  Employers who have introduced Effortless Meditation into the workplace find that employees are happier, more energetic and productive; this is truly a win-win situation.

If you know of any business leader, manager or business owner who would like to know about the benefits of stress reduction and wellness through Effortless Meditation™, please pass on to me the contact information.  I’d enjoy discussing with them the results of numerous workplace programs that we’ve conducted along with validation for the practice that comes from 40 years of scientific research.
Greg Schweitzer, MBA, D.Ay.
Effortless Meditation™ instructor