When I was about age four I had a phobia about …Umbrellas! Yes I was terrified of going anywhere if I got even the slighted glimpse of one of those big black monsters. This was a huge inconvenience for my parents as on wet days one of them or Granny would have to sit with me in the car with me instead of going into mass. Visitors to our house were forewarned that past the front gate was strictly an umbrella free zone. I vividly remember the terror I had on seeing an open umbrella and no amount of coxing or explaining to me that it was harmless was any help. This situation must have gone on for at least a year until my mother had a brainwave. On a shopping trip to Dublin which would have been a rear event in those days she bought me a small pink and blue umbrella. This may well have been the first time such an item ever crossed the Shannon. The next morning I clearly remember Mammy saying “I got you a present it’s in the hallway. I ran out in excitement and to my horror I see what looks like an umbrella opened up on the floor….. But wait it can’t be … this one is small and very pretty!!!!

Phobias are irrational fears about something ordinary like an umbrella, dogs, cats, or even travelling in a lift or flying in a plane. Introducing a person to the frightening stimulus in small stages like my mother did with the umbrella is one way of overcoming phobias. This works better for objects and animals than for events or situations.  In Systematic Kinesiology we have another method of helping people who have phobias. We work very gently on the person’s energy system to calm down the fear in the subconscious mind. This system works well for people who have a fear of flying, public speaking or similar.

To finish my story it took me a day or so to make friends with my new present but then we became inseparable rain, hail or sunshine. After that the big black monsters just seemed to disappear.

When I was young if I couldn’t get to sleep at night my mother would tell me to “Count Sheep”. This didn’t make much sense to me as we had no sheep on the farm just cattle. Of course I was supposed to count imaginary sheep, the whole idea being that I would get tired and fall asleep. I’m not sure how well this works but there is something very calming about repetitive mental activity. In real life counting sheep is not so easy. As you start to count they wander around the field swapping places. Another “sheep trick” is hiding behind each other so two become one.

Getting back to the subject of sleep …melatonin is the hormone which regulates sleep cycles. This hormone is produced naturally by the body as darkness falls. Nowadays the bright blue light from screens of laptops, i pads, tablets and mobile phones held close to the eyes can trick the brain into thinking it is still daytime. Because of this melatonin is not produced making it more difficult to get to sleep and quality of sleep is not as good..

Some simple self-help tips:

Eliminate all blue light sources such as i pads, tablets and mobile phones from the bedroom.

If possible avoid using these devices for about one hour before bedtime

If you use your phone as an alarm clock switch it to “airplane mode” at night.

Gentle exercise such as walking or rebounding during the day will help with sleep.

Touch the two prominent bumps on the forehead using the finger-tips of both hands, gently stretch the skin upwards and hold for a few minutes. This simple technique works really well to calm and relax the mind.

In a Systematic Kinesiology treatment I help people who have difficulty sleeping by:

Balancing the whole body including the energy system which generally helps people to relax

Checking for and treating adrenal stress which is often a cause of poor sleep

Supporing the endocrine system including the Pineal gland which is responsible for producing melatonin.

Sometimes people have accepted that they are just poor sleepers and nothing will help. However this is not necessarily the case. As shown above with Kinesiology there are several different options to help people. I always aim to get to the root cause of the problem, treat it and offer my clients solutions that they can use at home as well.

I have written a few articles about how I fixed myself using Kinesiology. This one is different!  A few months ago I hurt my shoulder and despite my best efforts I couldn’t fully fix it myself. It improved a little but would get sore again when under any pressure. I was rubbing various points related to shoulder muscles but I was only guessing as I could not muscle test on myself. To do this I really needed to see another kinesiologist.

Finally I gave in and asked one of my colleagues to take a look. She tested me found the problem and fixed it. I felt some relief straight away and I knew we were on the right track. Once we figured out where the problem lay I was able to continue working on it myself and in a few days the pain was gone. The actual source of pain was not even a shoulder muscle but one in the mid back which was affecting my whole shoulder and neck area. In kinesiology we treat the entire body and check many different muscles in a treatment session. This makes it easy to catch a problem in one area which might by causing pain somewhere else. Sometimes pain in the lower back or sacrum can be due to problems with the neck and vis versa.

The lesson I learned from this is that when I need help I will ask for it sooner rather than later. The earlier a muscle weakness is treated the quicker the recovery time. As therapists we are very busy looking after other people and it is easy to neglect our own health.  I fully intend to get regular treatments from now on.

I often meet  people who in the course of conversation will tell me that that have some pain in the lower back, hip, knee, shoulder etc but…. “it’s not bad enough yet”. In other words they won’t get anything done until it gets much more painful!  This is such a shame as intermittent or minor muscle problems are easy to fix in the early stages. I know this myself from experience.

For some people public speaking comes naturally and easily but not me. I used to be terrified even having to introduce myself in a group. I would hear my heart pounding and my voice would be thin and shaky. Up until recently I never needed to speak much in public so it was ok. Throughout my Systematic Kinesiology training we were encouraged to take up any opportunity to speak in public. We need to get the message across to people of what it is we do. I got the chance to do this a few weeks ago at the monthly “Sligo Women in Business Network” meeting. At the February event we were asked if anybody wanted to participate in a “members soapbox evening” to be held at the end of May. The organiser was looking for six speakers and each person would have 15 minutes to talk about their own business. Thinking this sounded like an ideal opportunity for me and anyway May being still a long way off…I put down my name. Now I was committed and straight away a little bit of panic crept in. Then the self-talk started

What would people think? ….I’m just a few months in business the other people are very confident and competent business owners… they know a lot more than me!

What if I freeze up and I’m not be able to speak?

What aspect of Kinesiology will I talk about? …..there are so many options…

Will I do a demo or not…. will I bring my plinth or not?

What if nobody volunteers to be my demo person?

What will I wear? ….My navy “Sligo Kinesiology” Tee shirt, my light blue one or something smart?

Two week before the event I still hadn’t my speech ready and I was jumping around between different options. Then on the advice of an experience public speaker I decided that I would forget about the demo and explaining how kinesiology works. Instead I will just tell my own story of how I got involved in kinesiology and WHY.

On the evening of May 29^th I arrived at the venue early set up my banner and a few small props. I was the first speaker of the evening by my own choice. Once I was called I just went up front and starting talking. I had a few notes written but found I didn’t need them. I simply told my story going through the key points of my life which led me to become a Systematic Kinesiologist. I also gave a few examples of ways in which I have helped people with various different complaints. I even made a joke or two and got a few laughs. This just happened it wasn’t planned. Then my 15 mins was up and it was all over. Everybody clapped I went back to my seat and was able to relax and enjoy listening to the other speakers.

I always find that thinking about something is much worse than actually going out there and doing it. I would regularly talk myself out of doing challenging things and regret it afterwards  Every time I push myself to do something that takes me out of our comfort zone I learn, I grow and I feel better afterwards. Kinesiology has helped me to grow in so many ways and do things I would never have imagined even six months ago.   I am delighted now that I availed of this opportunity to speak in Sligo. Oh and in the end I wore my light blue “Sligo Kinesiology” Tee-Shirt.

On Saturday I went to the beach with Pippa for the first time this year. I love to walk barefoot on the sand at the water’s edge because it feels really good and is a great way of grounding. It is said that the earth has a slightly negative charge so when we walk barefoot on the sand or grass electrons flow into the body. These electrons cancel out free radicals or positive ions which have an inflammatory effect on the body. We tend to accumulate positive ions from toxins in the environment, eating processed food and from getting stressed. Antioxidants in organic fruit and vegetables help to fight free radical damage. Regular grounding by walking barefoot on the beach is just another simple, pleasant and free way to stay healthy.