Category Archives: Education

Personal Growth

balance, Education, Insights, ,

Many years ago whilst still teaching, a professional development activity required us all to undertake an assessment as part of a personal growth program. I can’t remember which assessment it was, but it measured several key areas – a bit of a combination of a psychological and aptitude profile to see if we were mathematically or logically aligned as well our artistic and creative abilities. It also included whether we had strong spiritual beliefs as well as our communication skills. It certainly wasn’t about Emotional Intelligences.

No surprises for me when my assessment came back. If you know me well, then you can probably guess where my strengths and weaknesses showed up. I do remember many of the staff grumbling about having to do “touchy feely” activities as a result of the assessment in order to create a “team spirit”.

Many of the teaching staff flitted about showing and comparing their profiles to each other, but I decided to keep mine close. The facilitators had a good idea of the grouping of various abilities and it was clear that for the most part, we had chosen our teaching areas according to our profiles.

With my result showing somewhat of a deficit in the science area, I made the decision to undertake some studies related to that area for personal growth. I chose to do a course unrelated to my subject matter or even teaching.

personal growthI had just finished a 4 year Steiner Teacher Training course and had discovered that I enjoyed exploring subjects that stretched my mind. As Steiner education looks at the whole child including their health, I decided to find out more about Homeopathy.

This might not appear to the skeptic to be scientific, but I discovered that you do need a logical approach to taking a history and recording and comparing symptoms to the effects of remedies. A bit of a giant physiological jigsaw puzzle. This study took another 4 years part time and as part of the course requirements I needed to study anatomy and physiology. Nothing like diving into and improving my scientific knowledge! Another year of stretching myself although I do like to think it was balanced with the esoteric knowledge imparted during the Polarity Therapy that I studied after that…….

What was once “Alternative” is now Mainstream

Education, Homeopathy, , , ,

homeopathy (7)I studied Classical Homeopathy for four years after having been a patient for many more. I found the remedies especially useful as a parent of young children as they seemed to resolve all those childhood illnesses quite quickly.  Gradually I acquired a small pharmacy of remedies and the Homeopath I went to offered a short course in how to choose the correct remedy and to use the remedies safely.

One of the most useful remedies is Arnica – a plant remedy made from Leopard’s Bane and used for injury or trauma. It’s now readily available in pharmacies and health food stores and most commonly used as a cream for bruises and aches and pains. It will “bring out” a bruise and help it to resolve quickly. The pillule form, which is generally only available from a homeopath or naturopath, will be in different strengths or potencies according to the situation. It can also be used for grief, sleeplessness, trauma and even jet lag.

I love delving back into my books and reading about remedies and whilst I was classically educated, I do use combination remedies (called complexes) for some clients if I think they will be of use.

You might be wondering what the difference between classical or combination remedies is.  A remedy prescribed in the classical way will generally be a single remedy. Each remedy has a duration of it’s effectiveness and this will also depend on whether the condition is acute or chronic as to whether the remedy is repeated.  A combination remedy will be two or more remedies that have a similar action. The danger with some combination remedies are that the manufacturers will put together a lot of remedies that work for similar diseases or ailments and they may not realize that some of the remedies will antidote or cancel each other out.

 

The Labyrinth of Life

Abundance, balance, Education, Energy, Hypnotherapy, labyrinth, Polarity Therapy, , ,

Over the long weekend I stayed home alone and wandered along the Spiral Path. I was drawn to do this as it can be as private or public as I choose it to be. The course appealed to me as whilst I have  a couple of physical labyrinths to walk and some finger labyrinths to play with, there still seemed to be something missing. Some of the journalling prompts are challenging, but that’s the purpose. Continue reading The Labyrinth of Life →

Time flies when you are having fun…

Coaching, Education, Hypnotherapy, Life balance, networking, , , , ,

I thought it was just a few weeks since the last update and was surprised to find that it has been a couple of months….

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThere have been a number of projects on the go, the largest being the preparation of a country retreat.

It is being developed as an eco-friendly place and will be very much “back to basics” with an organic/permaculture overlay. With quite a lot of work to do, including fencing and weed removal, it is anticipated that it will take a little while longer before it is officially open to guests.

The scrub being cleared is highly flammable, so not a desirable feature and hopefully it will break down into good mulch.

A labyrinth is under construction in a previously cleared area and should be completed for day visitors to walk in time for the Winter Solstice.

Additional projects underway are:

  • some collaborations with other Hypnotherapists and we hope to see some exciting new therapy options to come out of these discussions
  • the revival of the Melbourne Chapter of IACT, (International Association of Counsellors and Therapists) with meetings scheduled to be held on the 2nd Monday of each month (unless there is a public holiday).

 

Continuing Education

Education, Life balance, Philosophy, , ,

ImprovementThe road to enlightenment can be bumpy or smooth, twisted or straight, forked or direct…..no matter which one you are travelling on, be certain that it is exactly the right one you are meant to be on.

The particular road in the photo is bumpy and corrugated – the legacy of being the old Ghan railway track. The railway was re-routed because of the damage caused by the Finke River flooding and regular stranding of the train, so the tracks were ripped up and the railway became a road.

It is possible to traverse this road without feeling every bump and shake….

How? ….you may ask…… by increasing your speed so that the tyres of your vehicle skim across the top/peaks of the corrugations.

And so it is with continuing education…. there are peaks and troughs, but once the momentum is gained then you move more smoothly and quickly towards your goal. With every long journey it is recommended that you have a map, but it’s not always necessary if you have a gift for navigation by the stars……and sometimes, it is the road less travelled that is the one most interesting.

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost

Marketing

Coaching, Education, , , , ,

….aka shameless self promotion……

Actually if I don’t do it no-one else will….  the business is still at the size where it’s only me. I’m the Therapist, the secretary, the accountant, the publicist, the workshop presenter, the social media guru……

Yes, I’ve read the E-Myth and I have systems in place, manuals written but the bottom line is that I’m the technician, the manager and all the other fancy titles that were in the book and you could think to dream up as I am not yet ready to outsource. Those who know me well will recognize one of my fairly strong traits of not letting go……

I actually believe that that’s a positive for the moment. It means that I am on a steep learning curve for marketing –  finding out what works and what doesn’t – as well as SEO for the websites. There have been some interesting conversations with telemarketers abusing me for not wanting to use their overseas services, when I am a supporter of home grown talent and keeping jobs local. That’s not an invitation for SEO people outside Australia to spam me with their pitch either. Fact is, I don’t write here to be on page 1 of Google – I write because I like to and maybe there are a few people interested. Call it my 5 minutes of fame…..

So take a look at my latest online venturing.. it’s called a pitch site.

http://balance4life-programs.crushpath.me/hypnotherapy

Mapping Your Resources

Coaching, Education, Hypnotherapy, Life balance, Philosophy, , , , , , , , , , , ,

possibilityCreating your own treasure map is possible…. When you map the resources you have and identify what you need, then you are better equipped to start your journey.

Have recently completed a course to become a Professional Supervisor, I came across a great exercise in the textbook we had to read and have used it in some sessions I have already taken.

You need a large sheet of paper and lots of coloured pens or textas. If you feel so inclined, you could also have on hand some old magazines, scissors and glue – to create a collage – very similar to vision boarding.

In the centre, draw a representation of yourself – it can be a symbol or a picture but make it large enough so that you can draw or write symbols/diagrams or words that represent your INNER resources. If there is no room, that’s fine – just attach them to the original drawing.

Next, think about all the things, people, events that support and sustain you, yet are external to you. Place them around the symbol/picture of yourself.

  • Are they near or far,
  • evenly spaced or grouped,
  • are the links strong or weak?
  • What is missing?
  • Do they lift  you up or weigh you down?

Use as much colour and texture as you feel necessary.

Take completely different colour and draw symbols or pictures of things that BLOCK you, or are in the way to fulfilling your dreams.

It could be FEAR – when it comes down to it, we all have fears and the three most basic fears are:

  • Fear of not being loved
  • Fear of not being good enough
  • Fear of not belonging

and these are what hold us back.  Fear of not being good enough can lead to a fear of failure and yes, even fear of success. Strange but true! Many people have a fear of success, because they think that in being successful they may lose friends and therefore no longer “belong”.

The object of identifying the fears and the resources both within and around us it to allow us to work on building new and stronger resources. We have a choice – we can “feel the fear and do it anyway”  (as Susan Jeffers so succinctly put it in her book) or we can choose to feel the opposite…. appreciation. I wonder what feels better!!

Going back to your resource map … what treasures have you discovered?

What tools, people or things do you appreciate for having got you to where you are now?

What do you need to move forward?

Is your inner compass set right to get you to your destiny?

Well, you are the mapmaker in this case… so look to your inner resources and review them. Cast your eye over your external resources and blocks and decide what to keep and what to change. Dig deep enough in the centre and you will find gold.

Work in Progress

Acupuncture, balance, Choice, Education, Emotional baggage, energy fields, grief, Heart Chakra, Homeopathy, Hypnotherapy, Insights, Intuition, Massage, muscles, Nurture, Spirituality, Transformation

It’s been over a month now and apart from learning to live with a left arm and shoulder that has decided not to move so well, I decided to self medicate with a Homeopathic remedy. It took a little while to come to the remedy, but when I did, it was the obvious choice.
No doubt if I had seen my usual homeopath, he would have prescribed it sooner, rather than later.
However after a somewhat unsatisfactory visit to a new GP, I did decide to treat the arm with Acupuncture twice weekly, then weekly with a massage as well.
The Acupuncturist is pleased with the progress, and I have also been doing Self Hypnosis on reducing the pain and looking for the emotional trigger behind it.
Naturally I would prefer the whole thing to sort itself out a lot quicker and it has been an interesting process.
The massages were really helpful and the arm / shoulder moves a lot better after a massage session. I initially had a 90 minute massage with vouchers left over from an exchange of services with a client. Knots in places that I didn’t expect….. What I didn’t expect, was the release of emotion as the tightness eased…..
A fellow Hypnotherapist explained that chronic conditions are the result of long suppressed emotions and if the lid is kept tighly on, eventually the pressure builds up and has to release in any way possible.
So with this in mind, I have decided to continue along the “Alternative Medicine” or Body/Mind/Soul method of treating what the GP has determined is a frozen shoulder.
Having to adjust to sleeping on my right side has had an unusual outcome – whilst I dream every night, since sleeping in a different position, I have had not only what feels like a lighter sleep, but incredibly vivid dreams.

A return of the war dreams and being lost in a myriad of passageways and underground buildings….. of schools that I worked in and people that I have no contact with….. of living in a place that is a mosaic of the different houses and offices that I lived and worked in……and waking with little tags on the inside of my cheeks where I had chewed them during my sleep..
The first indication that a particular homeopathic remedy might be useful.
So back to the books…. Homeopathic books that is…. other symptoms which I had put aside were the sighing, the inability to express the emotion in public and worse for consolation – but able to cry in the office after the last client has left for the day or in the shower.
All pointers to an overlooked, but obvious remedy for grief.
Imagine my surprise when I found that the cramping and shoulder problems were also a symptom covered by this remedy.
By now, if you are familiar with Homeopathy, you will have ascertained the remedy!
Just to check up further on the mental /emotional aspects of the remedy, I consulted my book by Vithoulkas.
His description of the remedy says that it is prescribed 10 to 15 times more for women.
He goes on to describe the woman as “wanting to liberate, assert herself. Sensitivity coupled with romanticism. Ability quick, clever, artistic, women of today. …..she is imposing upon herself the logical conclusions, she will say I must do this, do that : she is capable of performing it. She can do things, so takes a lot of things upon herself, over-working and taking on many more things than she could normally do…. Overstrained, grief, vexation, a frustration in her job and then is a breakdown……Trying to understand what is happening to her. If the shock passes, mostly the body is affected by cramping pains, neuralgias that have no pathological origin, but started from the time of griefe and stress…..”
So am I going to tell you the remedy? No!
Each person is different and what is right for me, may not be for you.
The remedy was taken last night in a 200c potency and the spasms in the arm muscles have eased. It has a duration of 7 days, but if the spasms come back, I will repeat it earlier.
If you do want to find out more about Homeopathic Remedies, how to prescribe, a general guide to some commonly used ones, then I will do a blatant plug for the workshops I teach.
Contact me and we can talk about when and where you can learn more about Homeopathy.
Your regular Naturopath/Homeopath may be grateful that you are doing this as it means that you understand how to take the remedies and what they prescribe is more effective for you.