Phoenix Mandorla

April: Celebrating Craniosacral Therapy Awareness Month

Mon, 01 Apr 2024 12:11:00 GMT

April marks a special time for holistic health enthusiasts and practitioners alike as we celebrate Craniosacral Therapy Awareness Month . This month-long observance provides an opportunity to shed light on the transformative power of Craniosacral Therapy (CST) and its profound impact on our physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being.

What is Craniosacral Therapy?

Craniosacral Therapy is a gentle, hands-on approach to healing that addresses the subtle rhythms and movements of the craniosacral system – the membranes and cerebrospinal fluid that surround and protect the brain and spinal cord. Based on founding father Dr William Sutherland's work in the early 1900s and further developed by osteopathic physician Dr. John E. Upledger in the 1960s and 70s, CST is based on the principle that the body possesses its own innate ability to heal and self-regulate.

How Does Craniosacral Therapy Work?

During a CST session, the therapist uses light touch to detect and release restrictions or imbalances in the craniosacral and connective tissue (fascia) systems. By gently manipulating the bones of the skull, spine, pelvis, and soft tissues of the body, the therapist facilitates the body's natural ability to release tension and restore optimal functioning. This gentle approach promotes relaxation, reduces pain, balances dysfunction and enhances overall well-being.

The biggest achievement of Craniosacral Therapy is its ability to work with the body to regulate the central nervous system. We spend much of our lives in a high-stress state with our CNS highly aroused in 'fight and flight' or stuck in 'freeze'. Craniosacral Therapy quickly downregulates the CNS and moves it to a state of 'rest and digest'. In this state clients breathe more easily and deeply, their heart rate slows, food digestion improves, and a deep sense of relaxation allows the body the space and capacity to heal.

The Craniosacral System

The Benefits of Craniosacral Therapy

The benefits of Craniosacral Therapy extend far beyond the physical realm. In addition to alleviating pain and discomfort, CST can also help to:

1. Reduce stress and anxiety

2. Improve sleep quality

3. Enhance emotional balance and resilience

4. Boost immune function

5. Support the body's natural healing processes

6. Enhance cognitive function and mental clarity

Who Can Benefit from Craniosacral Therapy?

One of the remarkable aspects of Craniosacral Therapy is its versatility and suitability for people of all ages and backgrounds. From infants to the elderly, CST offers gentle and effective support for a wide range of conditions, including:

- Chronic pain

- Headaches and migraines

- TMJ dysfunction

- Fibromyalgia

- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

- Birth trauma

- Autism spectrum disorders

- Learning disabilities

- And more

Celebrating Craniosacral Therapy Awareness Month

As we commemorate Craniosacral Therapy Awareness Month, let us take a moment to honour the profound impact that CST has had on countless lives around the world. Whether you're new to Craniosacral Therapy or a seasoned client, this month serves as a reminder of the healing potential that resides within each of us.

Join us in spreading awareness about Craniosacral Therapy and its ability to promote holistic healing and well-being. Whether through sharing personal experiences, attending workshops and events, or simply engaging in conversations with friends and family, let's come together to celebrate the power of CST and its role in transforming lives.

This April, let us embrace the journey of self-discovery and healing as we unlock the power of Craniosacral Therapy.

How to Book a Craniosacral Therapy Session

A Craniosacral Therapy session requires an hour of your time, and for you to be curious about differences in your body. This curiosity allows space for you to notice over the few days after your session, things that might be the same and different. Clients are encouraged to notice, not judge the outcome. Changes can be both profound and subtle.

If you are curious about how Craniosacral Therapy can support your life journey (and you're located near Rockhampton, Central Queensland), then booking a session is easy. Bookings can be made 24/7 at phoenixmandorla.com.au or call/text 0484 068 348.

If you are located outside this area, then head to the International Association of Healthcare Practitioners to search for a practitioner in your town or country.

References:

- Upledger Institute International. (n.d.). What is CranioSacral Therapy? Retrieved from https://www.upledger.com/what-we-do/cst-overview/

- Mayrovitz, H. N. (2006). Craniosacral Therapy: A Review of Physiological Mechanisms and Clinical Outcome. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 12(6), 489–494. https://doi.org/10.1089/acm.2006.12.489

Unlocking Concussion Recovery: The Power of Craniosacral Therapy

Sun, 04 Feb 2024 21:14:00 GMT

Concussions are a growing concern, particularly in contact sports like football, where athletes face the risk of head injuries with every game. The journey to recovery from a concussion can be challenging, often requiring an holistic approach to support healing and restoration. In recent years, Craniosacral Therapy has emerged as a promising modality for concussion management, offering a gentle yet effective way to address the lingering effects of head trauma. Let's delve into the world of Craniosacral Therapy and explore how it's making waves in the realm of concussion recovery, with insights from research conducted by Upledger Institute.

Understanding Craniosacral Therapy:

Craniosacral Therapy is a gentle, hands-on approach that aims to release tension and improve the functioning of the craniosacral system, which includes the membranes and cerebrospinal fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord. Through subtle manipulations, practitioners seek to restore balance and facilitate the body's innate healing mechanisms.

The Benefits of Craniosacral Therapy for Concussion:

1. Enhanced Healing: Research conducted by the Upledger Institute has shown that Craniosacral Therapy can promote faster healing and recovery following a concussion. By addressing tension and restrictions in the craniosacral system, this therapy supports the body's natural ability to heal damaged tissues and reduce inflammation.

2. Reduction of Symptoms: One of the most significant benefits of Craniosacral Therapy is its ability to alleviate the symptoms commonly associated with concussions, such as headaches, dizziness, and cognitive impairments. By releasing restrictions and improving fluid dynamics in the craniosacral system, this therapy can provide relief from discomfort and promote overall well-being.

3. Improved Neurological Function: Footballers and other athletes recovering from concussions often experience disruptions in neurological function, impacting their cognitive abilities and motor skills. Craniosacral Therapy has been shown to enhance neurological function by optimizing the flow of cerebrospinal fluid and facilitating communication within the nervous system.

Upledger Institute Research on Concussion Management:

The Upledger Institute, a renowned leader in Craniosacral Therapy education and research, has conducted several studies exploring the efficacy of this modality in managing post-concussion symptoms, particularly in footballers and other athletes. Their research has demonstrated significant improvements in symptom severity, cognitive function, and overall quality of life among individuals receiving Craniosacral Therapy as part of their concussion rehabilitation program.

Testimonials from Footballers:

Footballers who have undergone Craniosacral Therapy as part of their concussion recovery have reported remarkable improvements in their symptoms and overall well-being. Many have expressed gratitude for discovering this gentle yet powerful modality, which has helped them get back on the field faster and with greater confidence.

Check out Upledger International on YouTube for information about how Craniosacral Therapy can help with post-concussion symptoms. American Footballer Ricky Williams outlines the program HERE .

Conclusion:

In the realm of concussion management, Craniosacral Therapy offers a beacon of hope for athletes seeking safe, effective, and holistic solutions. With its ability to promote healing, alleviate symptoms, and improve neurological function, this therapy has the potential to revolutionize the way we approach concussion recovery. As more research emerges and awareness grows, Craniosacral Therapy may become an integral part of concussion rehabilitation protocols, empowering athletes to reclaim their health and vitality.

References:

- Upledger Institute ( https://www.upledger.com/)

- "Craniosacral Therapy for the Treatment of Concussion: A Pilot Study" - Upledger Institute Research Division

- Testimonials from footballers undergoing Craniosacral Therapy for concussion management.

Yes... you can find your own craniosacral rhythm...

Mon, 16 Oct 2023 00:25:00 GMT

Finding your own craniosacral rhythm can be a valuable tool for relaxation and stress relief. Craniosacral therapy, a holistic approach to healing, involves gentle manipulation of the craniosacral system – the membranes and cerebrospinal fluid that surround and protect the brain and spinal cord. This therapy helps to release tension and promote the body's natural healing processes. You can discover and work with your craniosacral rhythm, even without professional therapy, to achieve relaxation and balance.

1. Understanding Craniosacral Rhythm:

The craniosacral rhythm is a subtle, continuous pulsation or wave-like movement that can be felt in the head, spine, and other parts of the body. This rhythm is driven by the production and absorption of cerebrospinal fluid and is associated with the functioning of the central nervous system. By tuning into this rhythm, you can access a deep state of relaxation and self-healing.

2. Quiet and Calm Environment:

To begin the process of finding your craniosacral rhythm, it is essential to create a quiet and calm environment. Find a comfortable and peaceful space where you won't be interrupted, preferably free from distractions and noise.

3. Breathing and Mindfulness:

Sit or lie down in a relaxed position. Close your eyes and take a few deep, slow breaths to calm your mind and body. This practice is a form of mindfulness and will help you focus on your body's subtle sensations.

4. Body Scanning:

Start by scanning your body from head to toe, paying close attention to areas where you may feel tension or discomfort. This can help you pinpoint the areas that may benefit from craniosacral rhythm work.

5. Gentle Touch:

Gently place your hands on your head, with your fingertips lightly touching your scalp. You can also place your hands on your neck, spine, or other areas where you want to focus. The key is to use very light pressure, almost as if you're cradling your head without exerting any force.

6. Tuning In:

Now, focus on the sensations beneath your hands. You might not feel anything at first, but with time and practice, you may begin to sense a subtle pulsation. This is your craniosacral rhythm. It may feel like a slight expansion and contraction, a gentle wave, or a rhythmic flow. Trust your intuition and pay attention to any sensations.

7. Breath and Patience:

As you become more aware of your craniosacral rhythm, synchronize your breath with it. Inhale as you sense expansion, and exhale as you feel contraction. This synchronization will deepen your relaxation and connection to the rhythm.

8. Release and Balance:

During this process, it's essential to let go of any expectations or desires for a specific outcome. The goal is not to manipulate the rhythm but to attune to it. As you do this, your body may naturally release tension, and a sense of balance and relaxation can emerge.

9. Consistency:

Like any mindfulness practice, discovering and connecting with your craniosacral rhythm takes time and consistency. Try to set aside a few minutes each day to engage in this practice. The more you tune in, the more in touch you will become with your body's subtle energies.

10. Professional Assistance:

While learning to sense your craniosacral rhythm on your own can be beneficial, working with a trained craniosacral therapist can provide more profound and targeted results. They can help you address specific issues and facilitate a deeper level of relaxation and healing.

Finding your own craniosacral rhythm is a journey of self-discovery and self-care. By honing your ability to connect with this subtle physiological rhythm, you can tap into a powerful tool for relaxation, stress relief, and overall well-being. It's an opportunity to deepen your connection with your body and foster self-healing, helping you navigate the challenges of daily life with more ease and balance.

What the heck is SomatoEmotional Release?

Fri, 14 Apr 2023 20:00:00 GMT

SomatoEmotional Release (SER) is part of craniosacral therapy that is deeply healing, profound and let’s face it… a bit weird. ��It utilises the hands on session and physical support of craniosacral therapy along with journeying with images that come up in the mind’s eye during a session. It is an incredibly powerful technique for facilitating change in your body, mind, and spirit.

Let’s break it down a bit.

Somato – is about soma or body. Our physical self.
Emotional – is about our emotional/spiritual body.
Release – the process of unwinding and letting go.

SomatoEmotional Release is therefore the process of unwinding and letting go of issues affecting our emotional and spiritual bodies through the use of hands-on supportive techniques that also allow tissue release withing the physical body. Pretty cool stuff and super powerful as a therapeutic technique!

What is SER?

SER is what we refer to as therapeutic imagery and dialogue. It utilises your imagination to journey through experiences that are relevant to you at the time of your session.

The process is based firmly in science and psychology (but it is not psychology as there is no analysis). It combines theories from Carl Jung’s shadow work, Gestalt’s open chair routine, Robert Assagioli’s Psychosynthesis, Fritz Perl’s work as well as the theory of archetypes. There is a lot of rich history and research underpinning this process and therapy.

The use of therapeutic imagery and dialogue accesses the non-conscious, which speaks in pictures. It is a powerful tool that works to release dysfunction at a cellular level. We know from research undertaken by Bruce Lipton (Biology of Belief) and Besser Van der Kolk (The Body Keeps Score) that each cell holds a memory of everything that has happened to us. Cells hold not only memories from this lifetime, but genetic memories and intergenerational trauma. (Imagine your grandmother experiencing an accident/trauma when she was pregnant with your mother. Trauma passed onto her baby and her baby stores that in her body and passes on to you…; yep, mind blowing when you think about it).

Our non-conscious mind uses a range of hints to bring images to the fore. When we talk about images these are not only pictures in our mind’s eye, they can also be feelings, smells, tastes, patterns or even a complete lack of. Even if you see and experience ‘nothing’ that is an image in itself.

From a Jungian perspective, what we are accessing comes into the field of ‘shadow work’ those things that we suppress about ourselves. It isn’t always bad either. We can have positive things we suppress, such as kindness towards ourselves etc. It isn’t just the angry or antisocial parts. Our non-conscious mind is constantly looking for ways to balance its systems and bring us back to true health or homeostasis.

So why would you want to do this work?

There are many reasons. I work with an incredible bunch of brave clients who don't want to maintain the status quo and feel there is more to life than where they are at. They might have experienced trauma of various degrees, or it just feel like they are stuck and unable to reach their full potential.

The benefit of SER is that we aren't analysing anything from a psychological standpoint. There doesn't need to be explanation of the trauma, logic or interpretation of the pictures to get a change or resolution. Instead, it is all guided by your Inner Wisdom and what comes up will be appropriate for you at that time, in that session.

At the end I’ve outlined what a typical SER session might look like. It can be more structured than this too. There are several ways to work with SER:

Spontaneous – this happens during a craniosacral therapy session, or sometimes as soon as the client is in the room and the door is shut.
Planned – you have an idea of something you would like to explore during the session
Development – using a process of drawing pictures before and after a session. This can be used to continue the SER across multiple sessions.

No matter what type of SER occurs, it will always be the right one for you. Your Inner Wisdom will guide you through the process so that it is perfect for what you need to release in that session. There are no rules where SER is concerned, and your clinician will go with whatever is presented on that day in your session.

Inner Wisdom

I know we’ve spoken about this in other blogs, but just to recap… your Inner Wisdom (or Inner Physician) is your internal voice. Some might call it your intuition – you know the bit that encourages you to eat healthy, make good choices, trust someone on sight, or not. It’s also the part that knows what you need to heal yourself.

The craniosacral therapy paradigm is to treat people, not pathology. On this basis, the clinician works with you and your Inner Wisdom to effect the change you need in your body in that session. You may come in with a sore shoulder, but your clinician is drawn to work on your opposite hip. The work here, in turn, releases an energy cyst in your pelvis which relieves the pain in your shoulder.

What does and SER session look like?

The story described below is a typical SER session. The subject matter is obviously different and can often include conversations with parts of your body that are causing you pain and discomfort. Is it weird? For you, the client, the first session can be a little different but further sessions and trust in the process allow you feel calm and in control to work with whatever comes up. It isn’t all serious either, we often laugh through the session. Whatever you need at the time to affect a release.

From a clinician's perspective, your body give clues to something important occurring through a complete stillness called a 'significance detector' and this is when the magic happens and the dialoguing starts. It's really cool to experience as both a clinician and a client, which I get to do in training programs and mentoring sessions. By me working on my stuff in this way, it also helps me support you in working on your stuff.

I know the example below is quite long, but it gives you a great idea of how a session runs and what to expect.

I look forward to seeing you and exploring SomatoEmotional Release with you.

Lynne

Example of an SER session – spontaneous SER (see above)

(The dialogue below has been formatted to hopefully help it make sense as the 'characters' come into play and the session unfolds.)

Let’s start with what happens during a craniosacral session. Your clinician has checked points (listening stations) in your body, identified connective tissue areas that need to be worked on (energy cysts) and then the magic starts.

As a client you feel hands on your body and warmth, maybe tingling, as the tissues start to release and your nervous system relaxes. Next you notice that even though the clinician is working around your chest area, you have a sensation down your right leg.

Your clinician asks you ‘where are you in your body right now?’ and you let them know that you feel warmth in your chest and a sensation down your right leg. ‘Let me know when that changes’ they guide. ‘As if that’s going to change in my leg when you’re working on my chest’ you think but then you feel the sensation change, initially it spikes then totally dissipates. Curiously you let your clinician know.

The next thing that happens is your body slips into a deep sense of relaxation and calm. You feel your jaw and neck relax and you aren’t aware of your body directly touching the table anymore, it almost feels like you’re floating. You are relaxed and aware but not able to focus on sounds outside your body, apart from your clinician’s voice.

You become aware of a picture of a blue door in your mind’s eye. Your clinician asks you ‘What’s going on for you right now?’ .

You tell them ‘You’re going to think this is really weird, but I can see a blue door in my mind’.

‘Hmm, a blue door’ , they say , ‘where are you in relation to the blue door?’ .

‘I’m standing in front of it’ you say.

‘What would you like to do now?’ your clinician asks .

‘I want to open the door’ you say.

‘OK, do you have everything you need to be able to open the door?’ they ask.

‘Um, I don’t think so’ you reply, ‘I need a key’.

‘Oh, you need a key?’ the clinician asks ‘Do you know where the key is?’ .

‘Yes’ you say, ‘It’s on a hook by the door’.

‘The key is on a hook by the blue door’ your clinician confirms, ‘what would you like to do now?’ .

‘I’m picking up the key and putting in the lock on the door, turning the handle to open the door’ you say.

‘So, you’ve picked up the key, put it in the lock and turned the handle to open the blue door’ they say. ‘What do you notice now?’ .

‘Oh, wow’ you say ‘There is a beautiful rolling green field on the other side. It is a meadow with a stream and a lovely big tree in the middle’.

‘On the other side of the blue door you see a beautiful meadow with a stream and lovely big tree’ your clinician confirms. ‘What would you like to do now?’ they ask.

‘I want to climb the tree and sit in the branches, look around and read my book’ you say.

‘Ok’ they say ‘you want to climb the tree, do you have everything you need to do that?’

‘No, the tree is too tall for me to climb’ you say.

‘The tree is too tall for you to climb’ your clinician confirms ‘So, here and now, you can make anything you like happen, so what would you like to do?’ .

‘Oh, there is a ladder on the tree I didn’t see before so I’m going to climb it’ you say.

‘You’re climbing the ladder on the tree’ they say, ‘let me know when you’re where you want to be in the tree’ .

You pause for a few minutes as you climb the ladder and find a big branch to sit on. You look around and you can see all of the meadow and the stream and settle down against the trunk. It’s comfortable and safe for you to be there. You feel the dappled sunlight on your skin and a deep sense of relaxation.

‘Where are you now?’ your clinician asks.

You tell them about the tree and how comfortable and relaxed you are. They confirm that you have climbed the tree, are sitting in it and are comfortable. ‘What would you like to happen now’ they say.

You have this overwhelming feeling that you want to your mum to be there with you. She passed over a year ago, but the feeling is very strong. You tell your clinician this.

‘Ok’ they say, ‘so today you can do anything you want, make anything happen so would you like to invite your mum to join you?’ .

‘Yes’ you say and you visualise your mum sitting next to you on the branch in the tree, surrounded by the meadow and the stream and it is peaceful. You feel a little overwhelmed with having your mum with you and tears start to flow.

Your clinician asks you ‘What is happening with your mum right now?’ .

‘She’s smiling at me and holding my hand ’ you say.

‘Oh, she’s smiling at your and holding your hand. And how do you feel about that?’ your clinician asks.

‘I feel confused’ you admit. ‘Mum didn’t have time for me when she was here. It’s nice to have her here but I’m feeling a bit frustrated and hurt’.

‘Oh, you’re feeling frustrated and hurt that your mother is with your right now holding your hand’ your clinician says.

‘Yes’ you affirm.

‘Is there anything you’d like to say to your mother right now’ they ask.

‘Yes, I want to tell her how disappointed I am about her distance and lack of connection when she was alive’ you say.

‘Ok, you are disappointed about the distance and lack of connection when she was alive. Talk directly it to your mother’ your clinician says ‘Mum, I….’ she prompts.

Taking a deep breath, you say ‘Mum, I am disappointed about your lack of connection to me when you were alive. I felt so lonely’ you say.

‘You felt disappointment and lonely when mum was alive due to lack of connection’ your clinician says. ‘Be mum now. She says….’ they prompt.

‘ I understand that now, but you were so independent and capable that I didn’t want to stifle you in your plans, even if I didn’t agree with them. You would become frustrated with me if I did ’ you say as your mother.

‘ And you say…. ’ prompts your clinician.

‘Oh, you’re right. I didn’t want to be molly-coddled as an adult and I felt you were interfering with what I wanted to achieve’ you say.

‘ And mum says…. ’ your clinician prompts.

‘ Yes, I realised that so I withdrew to give you space to explore on your own, hoping you would reach out to me if you needed support ’ you say as your mother.

‘ Any you say…. ’ prompts your clinician.

‘Oh goodness, there were so many times that I wanted to but felt the distance between us was too much’ you say.

‘ And mum says… ’ they prompt.

‘I always loved you honey. I didn’t know how to reach you, even when I could see you struggling. I wish I had tried harder, even if it made you angry ’ you say as your mother.

‘ And you say….’ prompted the clinician.

‘Oh mum, I could have tried harder and knew you were only trying to help but was too stubborn to allow that to happen. I had to be an adult and grown up and work through things myself. But I regret the distance I allowed to develop between us. I missed you holding me. I felt safe then, even if things weren’t great in my world’.

‘And mums says…’ they prompt.

‘I know sweetheart. I never stopped loving you. I am so proud of everything you’re achieving. You are strong and resilient and have learned a lot about life in the time I’ve been gone, ’ you say as your mother.

You realise that tears are flowing freely as you hear this message. You are crying for the lost opportunity in life, but also for the freedom in your mind as you realise that nothing stopped your love for your mum, or hers for you.

‘Is there anything else you’d like to say to your mum before we close the session today’ your clinician asks.

‘No’ you say. ‘Mum has faded now but I feel her in my heart’.

‘Oh you feel your mum in your heart now’ your clinician says. ‘What does that mean to you in this moment? they ask.

‘That I can take mum with me everyday and know that she loves and supports me. I feel like a weight has been lifted from my soul’.

‘You feel like a weight has been lifted from your soul now you can take mum with you in your everyday life’ they say. ‘So, what would you like to do now to end our session today’ they ask.

‘I’d like to go back to the blue door’ you say.

‘Ok, walk me through your journey back to the blue door’ your clinician says.

‘I’m climbing down the ladder in the tree and walking back through the meadow. I feel at peace here. I can see the blue door and am walking through it’ you say.

‘Ok, so you’ve walked back through the meadow and the blue door. What would you like to do now?’ your clinician asks.

‘I want to close the door, but leave it open a crack. I don’t want to lock it again.’ you say.

‘So you’re leaving the door open a crack and not closing it fully’ confirms your clinician.

‘Yes, I’ve realised that this is a safe and peaceful place I can come when I’m stressed. I don’t want to lock that away. I want to work on coming there every day to sit and be at peace for a little while’ you say.

‘Oh so this is a safe space for you that you can visit every day to be at peace’ they prompt.

‘Yes. I’m looking forward to it’ you say.

‘Ok, is there anything else you need to do before we finish your session today?’ your clinician asks.

‘No, I feel complete and at peace, thank you’ you say.

‘Ok, let’s bring you back into your body. On your next inhale I want you to feel where your body touches the table you are lying on’ they prompt.

You feel where your body is making contact with the massage table. At their prompting you wriggle your fingers and toes and take a nice deep breath before opening your eyes. Your clinician gently helps you sit up and you talk about the session and what you noticed. You notice as you sit there that you no longer feel back pain and your headache has cleared. You feel relaxed, but alert and ready to take on your day.

Your clinician talks to you about things processing and unwinding over the next 72 hours and to send a text if you are finding any emotional overwhelm.

You sleep so deeply that night and wake up feeling a little flat the next day. You remember your session well and realise that you are missing the connection with your mum. Your clinician advised you to sit and take yourself to the meadow when things were feeling a bit much, so you sit and do that.

You take yourself back through the blue door and back to the tree. You sit there and breathe deeply, watching your breath flow in and out of your body and your mind calms. Even after just 5 minutes of breathing you feel more at ease and ready to take on your day. Your body aches a little but feels more free so you have a hot shower.

As you sit and reflect on your session, you feel a range of things. You didn’t expect to cry and you didn’t know what the pictures were all about but you feel good today. You felt safe on the journey and your clinician held space for you to experience what you needed to at that time. I wonder what will come up in the next session you ask yourself.

What the heck is energetic kinesiology?

Tue, 21 Mar 2023 06:53:00 GMT

In this edition of 'what the heck...’ I'm going to chat about kinesiology and more specifically energetic kinesiology.

What is kinesiology?

Kinesiology is a modality that utilises muscle testing to pinpoint underlying causes of pain and dysfunction in the body. By identifying the root cause of the problem, the practitioner can determine ways to ease stress around the problem so it can be resolved. The root cause could be anything.... a muscle not working correctly, food, emotion, work, family, relationship, trauma, stress etc.

The session clears stress around the root cause at a nonconscious level in the body. By removing the stress, it allows the client to heal and move forward.... become unstuck if you will. This is useful for clients suffering with both acute and chronic conditions.

Now this might seem a little weird, but if you consider the analogy that our physical self is the tip of an iceberg, the nonconscious is the largest part of the iceberg and the part that we can tap into to facilitate healing in all forms.

What is kinesiology used for?

Kinesiology is effective for many conditions and is holistic – that is, it works on body, mind and spirit. It doesn’t separate you into individual body parts or systems. A small list is below as an example, but essentially if you are concerned about something, then it can be balanced with kinesiology. If you feel you have been kept stuck in a holding pattern and not able to progress in areas of your life, then this may be what you’ve been looking for.

Physical issues such as pain, muscle function issues, tension, constipation, headaches, dizziness, sleeplessness
Emotional issues such as anxiety, depression, sleeplessness, overwhelm, stress, grief, relationships with others, work issues
Spiritual issues such as feeling stuck, not knowing how to move forward in life, questioning life choices, wanting clarity, soul contracts, relationships with others

Identifying the root cause

The practitioner uses scan lists. Scan lists are listed of words, grouped together that are a resource for identifying the root cause and muscle testing the client against these lists allows the practitioner to focus on identifying the issue.

Muscle testing & permission

Muscle testing a client can be done in many ways. Some examples are:

Arms out to the side or front and the practitioner will press down on them
Client is lying down with their arm bent up at the elbow and the arm is moved forwards by the practitioner
The practitioner uses their own hands as a substitute for the client.

No matter which form the muscle testing takes, what is important to remember is the client provides permission. This is done in several ways:

The client has booked their own appointment
The practitioner has asked whether the client agrees to have the treatment and they have answered ‘yes’.

This is really important, especially with energetic kinesiology, so clients feel safe and secure in the knowledge that no one can ‘tap into’ them without their permission. It shows respect for the client and even if a well-meaning relative has booked an appointment, the client still needs to give the OK to go ahead (except if they are a child when the permission is provided by the caregiver).

What does a kinesiology session look like?

A kinesiology session usually will:

Identify issue/s in consultation with the client
Identify root cause and any other issues affecting the client
Identify ways to clear the root cause
Practitioner will assist client to make changes.

Energetic kinesiology

There are hundreds of forms of kinesiology both physical (applied kinesiology), and energetic (check out Energetic Kinesiology by Charles Krebs for more information). At Phoenix Mandorla we offer RAW energetic kinesiology balances .

The biggest question I am asked is ‘does it matter which form of kinesiology you do?’. My response is no, go with what your intuition is telling you and who you feel pulled towards having a session with. Not every form of kinesiology will suit you personally. What I have found is that clients build a rapport with a practitioner and then want to try other services they offer, and this is often the introduction they have into energetic kinesiology.

Personal story

So, does it all sound a bit weird and whacky to be true? It is certainly out of left field when you consider what we are taught about healing and wellness in life. For me, I can absolutely credit it with helping me with severe issues when I had a breakdown about 10 years ago.

My friend did my session and she just said to me ‘so you up for trying something a bit different?’ and we went from there. I couldn’t believe how I felt afterwards. I went in feeling anxious, depressed, and hopeless. I was emotionally heightened, had low self-worth and felt my family would be better off without me. Yep, I was in a really bad spot. My GP was looking after me and I was having counselling, but I couldn’t seem to turn things around.

As I came out from the first session, I felt relaxed and calm. My mind still had thoughts flowing through but I wasn’t trying to grasp them tight, I could let them flow and not take them on board. I felt better in myself and I wanted to be here. I wanted to fight this and to progress forward in life and celebrate with my family. This was a massive turning point for me.

Note that in my real life events, I did have a great support team and energetic kinesiology was a tool I had in my toolbox. It took the edge of where I was at and helped my mind process events with greater clarity. It also became my go-to to help me manage stress and life events. Everyone needs tools in their toolbox as well as the option to explore and refresh those tools as new ones become available.

What do we know about energetic kinesiology?

Well kinesiology falls into a category of healthcare options that have been rigorously tested and experienced over a long period of time such as reiki and even craniosacral therapy. Each of these have the science of quantum physics underlying their efficacy. This science states that everything is energy, and because of that our energy can affect others, and our own thoughts and experiences can affect our energy and our healing ability. If you’re interested in reading more on this subject, check out Dr Bruce Lipton’s Biology of Belief. He is a scientist who has become a fierce proponent and supporter of treatments that focus on the energetic side of client healing, using their own inner wisdom or nonconscious part of their being (note the correlation with craniosacral therapy – check out my blog).

Fantastic tools in your toolbox

With such fantastic options available in the healing space, why isn’t everyone out there doing it? Well, let’s explore that a bit more. A couple of questions to get you thinking….

1. What are your beliefs about what you need to do to heal?

2. Do you believe you can heal yourself?

3. Do you think that the current system we have in place – illness = surgery/medication – is the only option out there?

Now these can be inflammatory questions, but I don’t intend them to be, instead my intent is to start a discussion about where we are at and how open are we to exploring other options. I often have clients attend my clinic who have ‘tried everything’. They don’t feel heard or understood and are frustrated that they get different answers from different specialists, as well as being carved up into individual body systems where their healthcare specialists don’t work as a team for them at all, but rather as lone rangers.

I am not being disrespectful of our current system. It has developed brilliantly and is a life saving mechanism for those who need it. Just as there isn’t one way to teach a group of people, there isn’t one way to offer health options. People are wanting to be more empowered in their healthcare. They want to choose to think outside the box and try alternative practices. This is evidenced by the surge in interest in therapies such as massage, acupuncture, naturopathy, kinesiology etc.

So, my question to you at this point is…. Are you curious about seeing what energetic kinesiology can do for you and is it a tool for your toolbox? Bear in mind that, like medicine, alternative practices don’t always work for everyone.

What does a RAW session look like?

The following describes an average RAW energetic kinesiology session at Phoenix Mandorla.

1. Client and practitioner have a discussion about the issues they would like to balance the stress around. Examples may be – back pain, unable to sleep, stress with partner, money issues, work issues, struggling with a soul mate, all the way through to soul contracts and karma

2. The practitioner will make notes and also include two statements – clear all blocks to self-healing, and highest priority for highest good. This means the session will focus as widely as possible for the best result for the client, as consciously we may not actually be aware of the issues creating the dysfunction within us.

3. The practitioner will then identify other issues to be balanced, using muscle testing, which identifies words/sentences relevant to the issues. This is an amazing part of the process and one I’ve found quite profound. I’ve worked with clients I’ve known very well for years and the information that comes up is interesting. They often say to me ‘well you’ve known me a long time, but you didn’t know that bit about me’. A little note here is that there is no judgement by the practitioner. What comes up, is what needs to be cleared for the client.

4. The practitioner will then touch access points on the client and have the client repeat an opening affirmation where they agree to be open to the process and allow it to unfold.

5. Then the balance actually starts and it looks like:

a. Identifying which balance is needed

b. Identifying which list in the balance to use

c. Identifying issues on the list that need to be addressed

d. Identifying underlying stressors on those issues and how to clear them, for example with an affirmation

e. Continuing the process until all issues for the balance are resolved

6. The practitioner then closes the balance with the client saying a closing affirmation

7. The balance is then reviewed. The piece of paper the balance is written on is burned as we want to remove those stressors completely from the client. We've worked hard to identify the issues.... let's not leave that hanging around.

8. The practitioner will check in with the client in a couple of days to see how they are travelling.

Does the client need to be there?

We are all very busy and it is great to know that you don’t need to be present for the energetic kinesiology balance to be effective. In fact, I have clients who come in for the first balance because they want to see what I do, then are happy for me to balance them remotely. They will switch it up when they want to come in for a chat and that is always welcome.

There are three ways we can do a RAW energetic kinesiology balance at Phoenix Mandorla:

1. Come into clinic and see and experience the process. You can sit in a chair or lie on the massage table, depending on your preference.

2. Have the session by telehealth – where this occurs in real time, as if you were in the clinic, but by zoom.

3. Remote balance , where the you send me through a list of the issues you would like to work on (usually by text or through Facebook Messenger). I complete the balance in the time you’ve booked in the diary and I call you back later in the day to go over what came up.

The sessions occur in whatever form you prefer. I personally like to have my sessions in clinic, mainly because my practitioner is my friend and plus I get to raise things that come up from what is identified during the balance and they are also corrected in the balance. However, I also have remote sessions done for me. I really don’t mind, as long as I’m getting my balance done.

How long does it take?

A balance will take anywhere up to 90 minutes. It is usually an hour, but will depend on what is brought up throughout the balance.

I’m curious…. How do I book?

You can book your RAW energetic kinesiology balance online through phoenixmandorla.com.au , or call/text on 0484 068 348. Pick a one hour session that suits you or if you know you just want to be balanced and are a little flexible, send me a text and I’ll schedule the balance and a call back for you.

You are welcome to share my blog, however it must be shared in its entirety, including images, with no changes to any content. If you intend to make changes you need my express written permission and need to outline how and why it will be used. Attribution to Phoenix Mandorla is required.

What the heck am I taking into 2023?

Fri, 30 Dec 2022 22:44:00 GMT

Today I’m exploring my end of year ritual… it’s all about releasing and letting go of what isn’t serving you so you can start 2023 full of opportunities.

Firstly, how was everyone’s festive season? It is often a challenging time where we get together with people we don’t necessarily want to, buy gifts that extend us outside of our budget and leave us sometimes feeling empty and drained. On the other hand, it can also be an immensely rewarding time where you consciously choose to engage in celebrations and it is a time of joy and healing being around people we love, sharing time together over food and laughter.

There’s no right or wrong way to ‘do Christmas’. Many times, the outcome will be based on the experiences and stressors we have had leading up to the day. Sometimes it’s a culmination of the stress and sometimes it is the release. If it’s the former, those are the days when it’s hard to have gratitude…. and you know what…. that’s ok.

This Christmas has been a mixed bag of emotions for me. The lead up has been stressful as I’ve completed my full-time work to jump into the opportunity to do my soul food and own my own business again. I’ve made beautiful, lifelong friends through my work – have found some more tribe members – and yet I have to let them go. The letting go is hard. I won’t see them every day. I won’t call into their offices and create havoc and laughter. I won’t get to go for coffee walks and chats about life to help ease the stress of the workplace. I won’t get to be the disrupt-her (check out this book by the way - Disrupt-Her by Miki Agrawal, it’s amazing!!) in that space – the one who sees the stress building and actively works to pop the stress bubble; that’s now up to others.

What I do get to do though, is to plan time together with my friends. We’re already planning dinner dates and lunch catchups because those things are important for building and maintaining connection with people we love. Is it going to be easy? Heck, no. There will be things that crop up that drag us this way, and that way and the other way, calling our attention as being more important. So, as I contemplate this cycle we get ourselves into on in our human experience, I’m making a conscious choice to do things differently…. and this is part of my releasing process for the end of the year.

Am I scared by the changes I’m choosing to make? Heck, yes. It’s terrifying. Heading back into business though without a healthy level of fear would be setting myself up to fail. Fear is the bit that keeps your mind on track to achieve your goals. It’s the bit that provides caution so you can evaluate the decisions you’re making and make an active choice to mitigate risk and set yourself up to succeed. For me, FEAR is a reminder that I can ‘ forget everything and run ’ or ‘ face everything and rise ’ and it’s from the place of the latter that I’m reviewing my year and deciding what I’m taking forward and what I’m letting go.

End of year ritual

I posted a couple of weeks ago about my end of year ritual and was surprised by the many comments I had wanting to know more about what my process is and why I do it, so I thought this was a great opportunity to open that discussion for you.

As I write this, I’m currently sitting on my brother-in-law’s veranda in beautiful Dayboro. It’s raining and the frogs in the lake next door sound like bubble wrap being popped. There are whip birds calling and cockatoos coming to visit me. A mother wallaby and her baby have just bounded through the garden in front of me. The setting is idyllic. There is a beautiful sense of calm as I listen to rain and the wildlife and soak up the peace and tranquillity. The perfect place and time for me to reset this year and be creative, write and share my process with you all.

Why a yearly review?

For many years I have chosen to have a ritual that purposely ends the year I’m in and sets me up to start the next year in a space of gratitude, ease and grace. I started this ritual when I was being treated for severe depression. The depression was due to many factors, but as I reflected on where I was at in life and decided that living was what I wanted to do; I knew I needed to make a change. I felt stuck in a life I wasn’t happy in. I was super empowered in some areas of my life and totally disempowered in others which led me to trying to please people around me, losing the sense of who I actually was as a person, and setting myself up for failure which deepened the depression.

To be honest, by this stage, I was sick of myself. I had chronic fatigue, was all work and no play and my personal situation was challenging. I was sick of taking medication which made me feel like I wasn’t in my body. Something needed to change.

During this time, I had regular RAW balances with a friend of mine. RAW is Rekindled Ancient Wisdom and is a form of energetic kinesiology. It works on the premise that we know what we need to heal ourselves and sometimes we need some help and guidance in finding the right words to remember how to do it as we listen to that little voice inside us, our intuition. As with other kinesiology forms, it uses lists of word groups to inform the practitioner and guide conversation with the client to release stressors and restore balance to your body, mind and spirit. I can honestly say that it saved my life at that time.

(I won’t go into more detail here about the balancing process as I’m writing a blog post around energetic kinesiology… so stay tuned for additional stories about this fascinating and powerful modality.)

Every month I had a RAW balance and as I got towards the end of that first year there had been lots of shifts in me – mentally, spiritually, and physically. As I’m curious about the journey, not the destination, I started to evaluate my life. At the start of December that year, I made the conscious decision to create a review ritual for me to work through how far I had come in my healing. It was an important turning point in getting myself back to being… well, me.

End of Year Ritual - The Process

I start my end of year ritual at the beginning of December as I don’t believe that this is something to be rushed in a day or two, although you can complete it at any time. Now I am notorious for not writing things down. I don’t journal as it isn’t something that works for me, and I don’t need to have a record of where my mind was at. However, I did grab a piece of paper and did something very different… I chose to write a review list.

I divided my piece of paper into three and added headings:

What has been terrible
What has been ok
What has been fantastic

I chose headings that were extremes of good and bad to highlight to myself the differences between them. In each section I started adding dot points (yes, you may need more than one page… ��). I’d give myself 15 minutes, then leave the list alone for up to a couple of days.

As I put my mind in a state of reviewing the year, I found that things would bubble up that I wanted to add to the list. So here and there I’d add a bit more and keep going until Christmas. From Boxing Day, I started to review my list of the year that was.

Firstly, I would look at the ‘f antastic ’ column and remind myself of all the great things that I’d achieved that year. When in a depressive state, even a high functioning one, it’s sometimes hard to remember the good things we achieve. This was important for me. I’d read each dot point and think about how that made me feel. Did I change the world? Did I help create a safe space for someone? Was it time with my kids? What were the things that made it great? Was it simply that I got out of bed every morning and showed up? Then I celebrate these achievements…. Anyone who knows me knows that one of my catchphrases is ‘go me, high 5’… yep, I high-five myself for the things that are fantastic. A physical, emotional and spiritual reminder that there are awesome things to be grateful for.

Next is my ‘ OK ’ column. I repeat the process with each of these and look at what makes them ‘OK’. I’ve found it’s easy to slip into the ‘things I didn’t do right or perfectly’ component so I consciously flip the script to consider what each of these ‘OK’ things has left me feeling grateful for. As an example, let’s say I’ve got ‘family holiday’ in the ‘OK’ list… first of all, why isn’t it in the fantastic list? Well sometimes spending time with those you love is stressful, outside of people’s comfort zones and just plain uncomfortable…. the preparation, the stress of packing, getting the house ready…. meh…. that’s the ‘didn’t go right’ bit out of the way…. So, what am I grateful for in this scenario? Well, I enjoyed the time away from home. A bit of a break is great with new scenery and new experiences. Whilst there were challenges and potentially disagreements, we also got some great experiences for the kids, had nice meals, and hopefully made some memories.

My advice to you is to be real about it. Don’t overthink it. Don’t be nice about it because you feel like you should, just think about it as it is. The ‘OK’ list has things where the good and not so good could be fairly even.

Then the last list. The ‘ terrible ’ column. Now we are doing this last because there are things here that were not great parts of your year. Maybe you lost a pet or a family member. Maybe you had an accident, you separated, divorced, your child got suspended from school. Honestly, the list could be anything.

For this list, I want you to do a similar thing to the ‘OK’ list, except you get to choose only one bad thing for each point. Then I want you to choose three good things or learnings for each point. Let’s unpack that a bit with an example.

Example I was involved in a car accident

Bad Thing I was left with serious injuries which have changed my world

Good Thing/Learnings

I am alive
Even with serious injuries there are things that I CAN do still, so I get to be creative and focus on those
I get to explore what is available to me to help me to be the best version I can and live my life to my full potential, even though it is very different.

This is a real example from one of my lists. It was super hard reflecting on the moment and finding three things to be positive about such a life changing event. Sometimes all you can get is one thing to be positive for… so start there and be kind to yourself in the process.

Next step: The Flip Over

The flip over is where I look at the experiences from the list and evaluate what I’ve learned from each of them. All experiences teach us something. Then I evaluate how I can use what I’ve been taught in the future. Is this something I want to remember and take forward with me, is it something I want to store or is it something I want to let go of?

As I evaluate my list, I might make a new list of things I’ve learned. In my example above, I learned that I am patient and resilient. These are two traits that serve me well, so I want to take them into next year with me.

I’ve also learned that I can be unkind to myself during my healing process and that I get frustrated and angry when I don’t heal as quickly as I feel I should. Who knew that I’m actually human right?? These are things I want to work on in the next year. I want to foster self-compassion and kindness towards myself to remove the judgement about where I should be in a healing process.

My learnings also led me to understand that when I’m immense amounts of pain and can see that I have lost a lot of things that bring meaning to my life, I can be mean to those around me. I get angry and hurtful. Are these normal aspects of experiencing a traumatic event? Absolutely, so I don’t want to stop the normal feelings or suppress them, but what I do want to do is work on how I communicate with those around me. Whilst I’m feeling sorry for myself, grieving and healing slowly, my family and friends are also parties to that journey, so I want to communicate with that in mind and be clear about my needs thus reducing the frustration. Am I good at this? Heck, no – well not always. But I acknowledge it exists and I apologise when my behaviour is bad, and I consciously try to do better.

I then take a green highlighter and highlight the things I want to take forward into next year. Those things that aren’t highlighted are the things I’m actively going to let go. Will they come up again? Probably because they are part of our human experience, but I don’t want to start the year holding onto them.

The Release

The final step in my process is to review my list and have a RAW energies balance either in the last week of the year or early in the new year (at least by the end of January). Now the way I show up for my balance is this:

I don’t usually take my list with me (you can if you want to) but when my friend asks me what I want to work on I will just say ‘the things that came up in my yearly reflection that I don’t want to take into next year’
Other things usually bubble up between when I complete the review and when I do the balance, so we include those too
And then the best, most cathartic bit for me. Once the balance is completed, I go home, and I burn the list. Yep, burn the whole lot. I don’t want to hold onto that energy as the year flips over.

And there you have it. My yearly review. The process isn’t perfect, and you will find things that work better for you, (for example, you might like to write a letter to yourself) but this works well for me. Let me know how you go.

Summary of Yearly Review

1. Create three lists

Things that were terrible
Things that were OK
Things that were fantastic

2. Review each list in this order:

Things that were fantastic
Things that were OK
Things that were terrible

Things that were fantastic

Think about why there were fantastic

Go me, high five

Things that were OK

What makes them OK? What are the good and bad things for each

Think about what you’ve learned that you want to take into next year

Things that were terrible

For each dot point work on 'flipping the script' and identify:

ONE bad thing
THREE good things

Think about what you’ve learned and what you want to take into next year

3. Highlight the things you want to take into next year. You will be clearing anything that isn’t highlighted.

4. Have a RAW energies balance to clear the stuff you don’t want to take forward.

5. Burn your list after your balance.

What the heck is craniosacral therapy?

Mon, 21 Nov 2022 11:00:00 GMT

Let’s be honest, craniosacral therapy will never rank highly as a spectator sport. With massage you can see the movement and the dance of the treatment. You can watch the clinician rhythmically move and create physical relaxation in a client’s body. Not so with craniosacral therapy. Instead, it looks, well like someone has their hands still on the body. One on top and one underneath and you hold for a bit there and then move to another bit.

But as a client and a clinician… WOW!! The clinician engages the body tissue and enters the realm of the inner body that pulls the client in too; and the most amazing thing happens – a relaxing and unwinding of tissue, heat as tissues change and a rhythmic pulsing as the body indicates that you’re working on the right spot. As a clinician we use 5g of pressure – yep that’s right about the weight of an Australian 5c coin to create this amazing change that works with the body, not against it.

And as a client – it literally feels like the clinician has their fingers deep within the layers of your body and is pulling apart the bits that you didn’t even realise were tight. It can have many reactions; for me I experience both physical unwinding – like a weight being lifted from the area. I also experience emotional releases which can be tears, sighing, or laughter and anything in between. Through all of it though I feel safe knowing my clinician is there to guide me through what comes up. (I’ll explore more about emotional release in my next blog – what the heck is somatoemotional release?)

So, what are we actually doing? My youngest daughter describes the process as massaging brain juices – and look she’s not altogether wrong, so let’s explore that a bit more…

As with most bodywork – a craniosacral therapy treatment affects the body, mind and spirit. The reason why these are called holistic treatments.

What happens physically?

The clinician uses specific hand holds throughout the body and head to measure the craniosacral rhythm and identify where there are differences in rhythm intensity and movement (for example if the movement is smooth and flowing or choppy and jerky). This identifies physical areas to work with.

Arcing

As part of this process, your clinician will also ‘arc’ through your body to identify areas of hyper-reactive tissues. We all have hundreds, if not thousands of these in our bodies as they are formed from every knock and fall we’ve ever had. In most cases these cause no issues, however if they are compounded with other factors which stress the body, they can be responsible for creating holding patterns in the fascia that adds to discomfort and dis-ease. These areas are called ‘energy cysts’ which I’ll cover in depth in a later blog.

Your first session

At your first session, your clinician may perform a basic whole-body treatment. This is a great way to learn about how you respond to craniosacral therapy and see what you notice about the tissue changes for the next few days after treatment. The places the clinician identifies are held in a way that encourages the tissues to release and relax.

As the tissues unwind and release, you may have memories surface, see images about things that may or may not have occurred in your life and even smell and taste different things. As an example, I worked with a client who had surgery for cancer and she could taste the anaesthetic as we worked. This is a totally normal part of the process, and your clinician will guide you through what you experience so talk to her about what you see, hear, touch, taste and smell. It’s all relevant to your personal healing journey and nothing is considered silly.

Why does this happen?

Well, the next part of the craniosacral therapy session is the non-physical component – mind and spirit. For this, we are accessing the non-conscious (or sub conscious) that works hard to keep us safe and provides responses back to the amygdala in the brain – the gatekeeper of safety.

If you imagine your body as an iceberg (yes, I know… bear with me), then the part that you see above the water represents our physicality – our body in ease and dis-ease, how we show up in the world and what people see. Below the surface is where the magic happens and we will explore the non-conscious more in depth in a later blog, however for today’s purposes it is the storage of our personalities, experiences, and the component that takes all of these and holds them as cellular memory and uses them to keep us, as an organism, alive and kicking.

The non-conscious is the aspect that craniosacral therapy accesses beautifully to assist with the treatment and effect long term changes. Craniosacral therapy works on the basis that everyone has the innate capacity to heal themselves. We know what we need to do to heal…. although this may be at a subconscious rather than conscious level.

The still-small voice of calm

What do you do with that small voice inside you that guides you every day? Do you listen to it as it suggests that going for a walk would help with your stress levels? Do you feel it in a different way? Maybe with a really strong push/craving for something (more of a physical response)? If you could give this part of you that guides what’s best for you every day a name, what would you call it? For now, let’s call it your Inner Wisdom – the part that knows what needs to happen to help you bring your body back to health and wellbeing – the process of homeostasis.

What if there was a way to let your Inner Wisdom have their moment and guide your healing? This is where craniosacral therapy comes in, along with many other energetic medicine bodywork forms including reiki and more physical forms such as massage. We are never independent of the Inner Wisdom, it all depends on how much faith we have in our ability to heal ourselves; and I don’t know about you, but I was not taught to listen to my body’s needs.

All you need to bring to the session is an open mind and a curiosity to see what is different during the session and after the session. Be willing to talk to your clinician about memories that come up, or other things you notice and let her help you on your journey and facilitate change and healing.

What is it used to treat?

Craniosacral therapy works to treat many dysfunctions including, but not limited to:

Headaches/migraines
Chronic pain
Anxiety/depression
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Fibromyalgia & other connective tissue disorders
Sleeping issues
Central nervous system disorders
Orthopaedic problems
Stress & tension-related problems
Temporomandibular joint issues (TMJ)
Immune disorders
Post-surgical challenges

It is deeply intuitive work, and you will find your clinician can identify, through light touch, areas that have felt held and restricted for a long time. Their connection with that tissue and the subsequent tissue release affects change like no other physical therapy.

Curious? Then come on in and see how craniosacral therapy might work for you.

What the heck is a Phoenix Mandorla?

Sun, 30 Oct 2022 04:26:00 GMT

So what the heck is a Phoenix Mandorla? Well, it’s quite a story so let’s see if we can unpack it a bit.

The History

The concept of Phoenix Mandorla was born after a car accident where a car drove through my massage clinic, leaving me severely injured and with a prognosis at the hospital of ‘we’ll know in the next 24 hours’.

At the time, we decided to keep how injured I was a secret because unfortunately, there wasn’t just me in the building and several other clinicians had businesses that needed to continue to function. My landlord stepped in and the legend that he is, had the shop repaired within 3 days. Meanwhile, I was managing the surreal experience of being poked and prodded by numerous specialists with discussions about whether or not to operate or place me into ICU.

The injuries I sustained in the accident were 6 broken ribs and lacerations to my kidney, spleen and liver. It was lifechanging for both myself and my client. If he hadn’t been there to pull the 60kg massage table off me and I had tried to do that, I would not be here telling the story today. He literally saved my life and left me with incredible guilt around not being able to keep a client safe in my clinic space – something that was critical to my business; the provision of safe space in which to heal.

During my recovery, it became very clear that I would no longer be a remedial therapist and I would need to close my business. My work had always been my refuge and for me, to make that decision was more gut wrenching than the tremendous pain and dysfunction I had been left with. I told the clinicians renting space from me and started the slow process of packing the clinic up by myself.

Once the clinic was closed, I did what I could to secure a job in administration – my life prior to remedial massage. I secured a role as a Practice Manager with a new mental health company and started five months after the accident. Mentally OK but physically very far from healing.

I was blessed to work with a team that was flexible around my rehabilitation needs. With constant physiotherapy, occupational therapy, psychologist and pain specialist appointments. They supported me on my journey.

A month after I started my little sister died suddenly and unexpectedly. She was my best friend and my whole world went on kilter again. Mum and I had 3 days in hospital with her as they searched for suitable donors for her organs. We laughed, we cried, we planned her send off and supported her husband and 7 year old daughter on their journey through grief as we continued on ours.

Life started to return to a shaky ‘new normal’, learning a new job, healing, working through grief; then a lady ran a red light and T-boned my car, writing it off and leaving me with knee injuries and whiplash – along with nursing staff at the hospital who were incredulous as they had worked with me 9 months earlier.

What followed was more rehabilitation, operation on my knee and a body that was struggling to heal because of the trauma it had suffered. All through this though I had an unshakable belief that I would be OK. Yes, I had been challenged in the most extensive of ways, but my mind was clear, I was achieving rehabilitation goals and to me, every setback was temporary in my move forward to heal.

My journey over the next five years was… well interesting (as if it hadn’t been already!). The mental health company I worked for moved me into senior management and moved me into positions as the company ‘fixer’, yet went bankrupt after 18 months due to mismanagement leaving the large number of staff across the state out of pocket with superannuation and other entitlements unpaid. Yet another bump in the road of life to navigate.

My husband and I decided that I needed some time out and I took 6 months out from work to renovate our house before heading back into the workforce. I then took a project officer role with an indigenous health company which enabled me to work from home, with a trip to their head office once per month. Whilst I loved the work, the wheels of progress turned slowly and I craved being in an office with people again.

In the meantime, my marriage couldn’t handle the strain of all of the challenges it had been thrown in such a short period of time and my husband and I consciously uncoupled; with the goal of ‘children first’ in mind as we navigated the journey with as much grace as we could muster.

I applied for a role in projects with the local University in a contract that was way too short. I’d spoken to the manager, and she asked me to apply anyway as there were other roles that may be coming up. I ended up working with IT people; a diverse group of introverted and extroverted individuals – mostly men – and this has been the most healing and life affirming role I’ve held outside of my own business and I’m truly blessed to have had the opportunity.

So bear with me as I walk through the last bit…. I know it’s all a bit …. well incredulous really….

Learning and Healing

I have learned so much over the last five years. I’ve made a conscious choice in my healthcare and healing. I’ve been blessed with many experiences at work which have been eye opening, heart wrenching, heart opening, and wholesomely healing.

My life hadn’t just changed, it has been taken, scrunched into a ball, slammed against a wall and smoothed out again. It has left crinkles that will never go away and tears that will not mend. But in a testament to my shear pigheadedness (some call it strength of will!) I would not be beaten. I would not give into the pain or the message that I would always be this way. I would not accept the status quo. Instead, with sense of humour intact (some would prefer that wasn’t the case ��), I made the conscious decision to thrive.

I started to explore, under the guidance of my healthcare team, things I could do to get back into the personal service space. The space where I provide safe and sacred space for healing with my principle focus on chronic pain and PTSD (had a little personal knowledge of this). I had wanted to study Craniosacral Therapy for 12 years. I had tried and failed to get to courses – timing just wasn’t right – then COVID hit.

Not to be deterred by a global pandemic, I focussed on online learning in Biodynamic Craniosacral therapy and thus my journey began. After attending my first hands-on learning course, I was hooked, but wanted more than the content provided – being the nerd I am at heart. I swapped to Upledger course because it was heavily science based and had numerous research demonstrating effectiveness of treatments.

And now…. I’m super excited that I get to bring this to the world in my own unique way. Using a combination of skills I already had around intuitive therapy, combined with gentle hands on physical manipulation that my body can handle; I was back seeing clients at home and demonstrating time and again the power of gentle hands on healing for long term health and wellbeing.

Phoenix Mandorla - The Meaning

This finally brings me to the story of Phoenix Mandorla (thanks for sticking with me).

Throughout my life I have had the phoenix come up as my ‘totem’. It demonstrates that no matter what happens to me, I get back up and continue to thrive. I’m like the kids toy punching clown that won’t stay down when they throw themselves at it. Thought a phoenix was definitely a better symbol than the clown ��.

The phoenix sits within the intersection of 2 circles – a ven diagram for you fellow nerds. The circles are called a Mandorla or Vesica Piscis. It is often used in a religious or spiritual construct. For me it has the following meaning:

The left-hand circle represents the past and everything we have experienced physically, emotionally and spiritually. It’s a place our minds often reside by bringing up past memories and dwelling on them. It is a place we draw from that shapes our current experience giving us knowledge to protect ourselves. At its worst it can stop us moving forward or learning new and wonderful things because we are stuck in assuming everything that has happened to us will always be the case.
The right-hand circle represents the future that is filled with possibilities and wonder. At its best it is something to plan and strive for; yet at its worst it can be overwhelming and create debilitating anxiety as we push with fear towards an outcome that is uncertain. We lose our curiosity in developing ourselves and instead find ourselves caught in a loop between past and future – not being able to change anything for better or for worse.
Then we have the intersection in the middle. I’m sure you’ve all heard of staying ‘in the here and now’, and so it represents the present. The place we can act to both work through the lessons we learned from our past journey and prepare for our future through the steps we take in our present. The phoenix in this position represents ‘from the ashes I rise’ the resilience that we need to focus on the present and transform.

Surrounding the Mandorla is a colour cloud. This is a representation that life can be experienced in full and brilliant technicolour if we choose to allow it. By experiencing life this way, we truly get to live every day; not just go through the motions of existing.

With the bumps in the road that I’ve experienced over the last five years, I’ve made a conscious decision to inject brilliance and technicolour radiance into everything I do (a bit much for the IT guys to be honest LOL). I’m choosing to do this, despite having chronic pain and PTSD. I’m choosing to fight to accept my ‘new normal’ and in doing so I’m in the perfect position to help others on their journey.

When you come to see me, you won’t hear my story unless you ask me a specific question. But my story has led me to believe that we all have the capacity to create healing in our lives where we can reach our full health potential. Notice I don’t say full healing…. that is intentional. Our health potential gives us quality of life back, through accepting where we are on our journey. Instead of fighting the status quo, we move through acceptance and embrace curiosity about what we can achieve physically, emotionally and spiritually to make our journey as positive and colourful as it can be.

I look forward to joining you on your journey, as you join me on mine. One full of exciting possibilities and curiosity as we drop the façade of having to ‘heal’ but instead embrace the possibility of health potential. Come and be curious with me….

Cheers to health and healing xo.