The Natural You

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https://joannarodriguez.co.uk   Fuck it Friday   https://www.instagram.com/straightforwardpsychology/
Stress and anxiety are part of a normal and natural survival strategy. But we are not designed for constant stress. This causes negative impacts on the mind and body. Function at work suffers, relationships and families are affected and the immune function also decreases . We can “Re-Live” threats from the past and in our memories we can re-create the thoughts and feelings of those events. Or we can “Pre-Live” events by worrying about imagined futures. Much of our thinking is driven by the media, this is fuelling stress, anxiety and negatively affects us. The media are dividing us and creating an environment of hate and fear. 

(CBT) has more evidence supporting it than any other psychological therapy . We tend to focus on the things that are “going wrong” rather than those areas where we are doing well. Jo helps change the lens through which her clients view things and to see areas they might be missing.   IT IS ALWAYS SOLVABLE!

While understanding the past can be very helpful and important, CBT also gives things for people to do. “Third Wave'' therapies, offer holistic view of promoting health and well-being rather than the reduction or elimination of  symptoms. Mindfulness of where holding tension. Breathing (long exhales) help release. Allow ourselves to feel our emotions. A mindful walk is a favourite. Being outside and seeing the sky can remind us of the Bigger Picture. 
Parasympathetic  allows physical relaxing and  then we can work on the “Thinking” side of things, more coherent and get an idea of “what is really going on right now?”. 

The Lead Up comes before the Start. We can learn to detect states and feelings before we are triggered. Problems are never in isolation. Every stress is cumulative and our bandwidth for dealing with them is so small right now. With multiple stressors our brain is trying to find out “The Thing” causing our stress, when actually it's almost never one thing. This is very much part of the medical model of finding that “One Thing” and the “One Pill” to fix it.

“WHAT DO I REALLY NEED TO DO TO HEAL MYSELF?”

We know our minds and bodies are one. Dramatic early changes are possible but consistency is very important. Without practice our mind will default to the old patterns. It’s not about whether we fall off the horse but how many times we get back on. Don’t dwell on the failures. We need to be gentle with ourselves and develop a more compassionate mind and recognise it's OK to fail. Consider the idea of building in capacity for down times and being more flexible in plans. Things are harder when we do them alone. Buddying up with people, support networks and communities can help.  Join the revolution and say “Fuck it!”

UK CBT practitioner register

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Duffy Quiropratica  -  Book: Befriend Gravity
Glenn grew up on the outskirts of Dublin and remembers playing in the fields and being unsupervised playing in Nature and making dens. Then having dogs meant that  they had to walk them which meant roaming around the local countryside and Wicklow mountains.

He now has kids of his own (7&5) and has followed his siblings in Nature based parenting. Today’s “hovering” parents try to control their children in an effort to protect them. This is often coupled with the parents teaching fear of nature to their children. Richard Louv’s book The Last Child in the Woods explores Nature Deficit in kids and how the “Bogeyman” is more likely to be someone you know (neighbour or friend) than to be found in the woods. 

Kids like Nature are a lot better off when we stop interfering with them. Children with sensory disorders need to be in nature. Nature feeds the brain through natural stimulation, something we all need. Once parents become aware of the positive effects of being in Nature both in terms of health and lifespan they want this for their children. To schedule into their busy lives they need to FEEL the value. We are amnesic to the things that work for us. 

Nature is in all of us, ready to be observed. We only need to stop, be present and observe.

Tips: 1) Draw up a values based list and build your weekly schedule around this. 2) The greater the attention the less time needed. 3) be immersed in Nature. 

Meditation: direct attention to something in nature. Use conscious breaths as a gateway to this. At deeper levels become aware of the continuity of self with everything in nature (no difference, end or beginning). 

The Body is so complex. You could spend a whole lifetime studying all the mathematics to explain it and still not grasp its complexity. So why waste time on trying to figure it all out. Glenn now spends less time trying to analyse things and more time using and honing his Intuition. The body is giving off signals all the time, turning off the analytical part of his brain and tapping into intuition, allowing him to see, hear and feel what the body is saying. This is almost a meditative state where he can pick up on the subtle cues rather than just what the client/patient is verbalising about pain. Indeed this can actually distract from the real or underlying problems. The medicalisation of health means that we want to turn off the body Shouting at us with pain signals, instead of listening to the whispering, subtle cues and conversation it is constantly having. But only if we “listen”.

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Charles Hall is Nature Reserve Superintendent in the Northern Cape of South Africa. He has a BSc in Animal Physiology and Honours, in Nature Conservation both from Stellenbosch Uni.

He has also served as Game Ranger, Ecologist, professional guide and hunter. Currently he is responsible for the breeding and welfare of several rare species (Sable, Roan Antelope and Cape Buffalo). He is a man at home in the bush and is deeply connected to the land. More recently, he has been involved in educational projects helping local schools and communities re-connect to Nature allowing them to experience the full value of the Natural environment. It’s through these endeavours of Sustainable Use principles and education, that we see his drive and passion to ensure conservation of our natural heritage.
High value species: Animals have a monetary value either for trophy and/or meat. This is related to the scarcity of the animal. The change to the South African law in 1991 legalising private ownership of wildlife has resulted in flourishing of wildlife, often in stark contrast to countries where this is banned, where numbers have plummeted.  Breeding programmes mean that diversity of the genome is ensured while increasing animal numbers. Bloodlines are recorded for many generations to prevent inbreeding and weakening of the herd and a ratio of around 30 females to 1 bull is maintained. While animals roam freely, farms are fenced. So, depending on the size of the property, feed and minerals may need to be supplemented particularly in the cold dry winters. Artificial insemination is not viable at this point in time. Only 3-5% of a herd will be of trophy value. These are usually males with their more impressive horns and hide. Previously value was in the females for reproduction purposes. This resulted in heavy investment in game farming which has dwindled after this boom period. Hunting by foreigners brings in significant revenue, not only for the hunt but the added value to tourism is significant. Game farming contributes USD 438 million annually to the economy. While tourism in South Africa's National Parks generates USD$120 million annually. 

35% of the SA population is unemployed, natural resources of fauna and flora are under increasing pressure for both food (poaching) and fuel (trees for heating and cooking) Many in rural areas don’t have access to electricity and those that do, are increasingly affected by load shedding (daily electricity rationing) as the National Energy provider Eskom has been under invested and mismanaged for 25 years.

Some consider hunting to be cruel. The notion of killing an animal just for its horns to be hung on a wall in a foreign country, seems justifiably abhorrent to many. Yet, Charles makes the point to meat eaters, that a wild animal shot on the land will very often have less stress and suffering than an animal transported to and slaughtered at, an abattoir would. The second challenge is the simple fact that millions of South Africans are undernourished and their daily challenge is to put food on the plate for themselves and their children. Something not easily grasped by those sitting at home with full bellies everyday. It is this balancing of the needs of people and animals that is playing out all over the world.

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Paula Lavandeira is a senior Midwife and Hypnobirthing Instructor.
Instagram and email:  [email protected] 

Empowering women to engage with natural birth in a more holistic way, allowing  women to overcome their fears and enjoy their birth experience.

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https://hannahelliott.com/

https://www.instagram.com/sexualwellbeingforwomen/

Hannah is a Holistic Psychosexual and Somatic Trauma Therapist  working with women to help recognise their own unique and personal understanding of sexuality and sexual health; with the understanding that arising issues have roots in our psychology and our experiences which often creates a split between the emotional body and the physical body connection. Many issues around intimacy are related to dissociation of the mind-body connection. This is where Eastern approaches tend to be more helpful than current western approaches. The psychological elements of decreased arousal and desire are strongly linked to Stress, Anxiety and Despair. These create a stagnation in what Hannah calls the lower triangle. To address this we need to move out of the head and reconnect to the body. This can be something as simple as SOOTHING things like sighing, taking walks in nature and warm baths.  We live in an overstimulated environment. With a strong hedonistic, ego influenced culture. Porn can be seen as a symptom of our overstimulation. It seems we are addicted to this hyperstimulation in many areas of our home and work lives with constant barrage of lights, sounds, alerts and information.

We need to take EXTRA EFFORT to connect as couples. Turn off the TV, put away the phones, be present.Make the other feel heard. Dress up nicely for ourselves and for our partners. Connect and be interested in their day. Sensate focus: SLOW IT DOWN. Turn the lighting down. Give feedback as to what touch is good or not. 

Mid-life crises: Can be linked to the challenges of female Menopause but often overlooked is the male Andropause with lower testosterone levels, shifting life focus and a common symptom is grumpiness. We need to create more safe space for men who can be addicted to being busy, in a very materialistic “patho-adolescent” society. Allowing and creating an environment for men to move into true adulthood and towards becoming true elders, which is not something that comes automatically with age. 

Listening to your body. Do you have body signals like skin rashes or other areas of body inflammation (eg digestive disorders like IBS or autoimmune like issues)? These can be areas of unconscious stress or unresolved conflict from earlier in your life. Constant life stress activates the Fight or Flight response which turns on the Proinflammatory part of healing system, which is important if you’re just about to be mauled by a tiger. This is the important first phase of healing but we need to move out of that into the Rest and Digest stage which allows for the next two phases of healing the allow for replacement of damaged cells and regeneration. But if we never activate this Parasympathetic side to our nervous systems in this sympatheritc dominance, we stay inflamed.  Ask yourself: Does my body feel “In Harmony”?

There are acupuncture points in the sexual organs that link to other parts of the body. So stimulation of these affect our physical and emotional states.

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www.bgieuropeseminars.com    email: [email protected]
Instagram:  AmyBurkechiro     Facebook: BGI Europe Seminars

Order, Pattern and Structures that are Repetitive, Observable and Consistently evident everywhere.  In Nature these can be seen as a “Divine Fingerprint”.
The camellia flower’s delicate spirals are perfectly in proportion. Just like spirals seen in some succulents and in beautiful architecture. This perfect proportion is seen in the “Divine Ratio”, 1.618 and represented by the Greek letter phi and can be found across all of nature: plants, animals, weather structures, star systems – it is ever-present in the universe. It reminds us of the saying “As above, so below”.
When she sees these patterns, this reminds her of how magical this time and human experience is. These Non-Coincidental Designs show an organising force or consciousness. Quantum physics is leading us away from a linear material  model to something more holistic and energetic.
The human system is incredibly complex and dynamic with a myriad of interactions. Even if we try to isolate a single variable and limit the confounding variables, we can only ever get a piece. Holism states the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Thus reductionist science leaves us with an incomplete view and cannot lead us to an understanding of the whole ecosystem. Perhaps we need a new way of understanding and investigating, as our brains seem to be too limited for this task?
In bodywork approaches like chiropractic, we see distortions to normal patterns in terms of high (too much) tone or low (too little tone). In chiropractic we are taught that these are segmental dysfunctions. An input to this, like an adjustment, goes to the whole system. Whereas, if each segment relates to the Global function, we can see how the tonal change and the adjustment work within the whole system. In BGI, tone changes are seen as a Disconnect and the role of the practitioner is to help establish continuity in the global system. Thus the name: BioGeometric Integration for this approach. Which can be blended with many types of care and practice views; right across the spectrum, from the more mechanistic and structural, to more energetic and intuitive approaches.

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Contact:  [email protected] or call +1 905-569-7080
Love Bomb interview - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwBbZwTaNxk
Wisdom of My Nuts meets 6am EST for 30 min of Breath Focussed Meditation - https://www.facebook.com/groups/152946459301536/

You are part of Nature. Not separate.

Just as Innate Intelligence is part of Universal Intelligence (or what some call God, Spirit, the name doesn’t matter)

We are just like radio (or TV) receiver sets. We need to position our antennae and “dial in” to the right frequencies. 

Indigenous Elder’s advice to walk with 1 foot in our 3D material world and 1 foot in the 4D spirit world (sacred silence)

Six Practical things to help reconnect you to Innate

1. Remove interference to the Nervous System by getting Spinal Adjustments. a)This improves internal and external awareness. b) Interference creates threat and promotes Fight-Flight response which decreases awareness.
2. Breath base Meditation 
3. Nature  a) Become aware of Nature around you. b) Get into Nature when you can
4. Practice Gratitude and Recall times when you felt loved
5. This helps to lead to Self Love
6. Develop a Neutral Mind -(Quiet Mind or Empty Mind)

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Susan van der Spuy - Play Therapy

https://www.suevdspuy.com/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/181710535242967

Children are sponges. Maria Montessori showed that during the various sensory periods it takes almost no effort for a child to learn. Play is the Language of the Child. 

Play is the natural state during childhood. High levels of children's’ engagement with Technology means that many are losing play, the essence of childhood. They are also losing the opportunity to learn the nuances and subtle aspects of human relationships. Losing close proximity to others, touch, facial expression and gestures. Relationships are pivotal and feelings of safety (emotional and physical) are crucial for not only relationship with a therapist but with everyone. Without this, children (and adults) aren’t able to be there true selves.

The Prefrontal cortex (brain’s area of executive function) is still developing at 18-25 year old. A child who doesn't feel safe will be in a constant state of "fight-flight-freeze" which hampers the development of this Prefrontal cortex.

That is why we need to be so mindful of what we are allowing into our child’s lives, minds and  awareness. 

Play therapy provides a safe space for expression, with undivided attention. Mask actual or figurative, drop away when trust is established and the person feels safe and is able to be seen.

Creating the boundaries creates safety. For Sue they are: We may not hurt each other, break the toys on purpose and we need to finish within 45 minutes. The child uses toys in the sand tray or in the room. These can represent releasing of anger, nurturing, make believe (adopt a different persona), rescue vehicles, dolls house, tents, baby bottles, pillows.

All behaviour is meeting a need.  Some children are looking for engagement while others will hide their game, all reveal themes. For example sexualised play, death themes, nurturing. When they start to show play that includes empowerment and mastery, that is a sign that they are starting to heal  in their journey.

Playing in Nature. Using clay near a dam: some might show intention to hurt by throwing clay at others,, some will make a competitive game, while, others will be creative modelling animals or other scenes.

How do we as Parents support the child? The child operates within the Family System. Even a parent without the skills or their own wounding wants the best for their child. So while parents are informed, educated and shown in the under 11 children. From about 11 years old onward, the teenager needs to know that what they say, will not be shared. Otherwise they will not feel safe and not open up. Only time this confidentiality may be broken is if there is abuse, subpoena by a court of law or threat to life. Or where child gives permission and many times the therapist acts as intermediary or advocate, speaking on the child's behalf. Being the voice of the child.

Trauma is anything that overwhelms your coping mechanisms.  Children are egocentric up until the age of six. So anything that happens, they believe is their fault leading to shame and guilt, which becomes their inner voice.”You’re bad” “You’re always making mistakes” These inner voices are the wounding. 

Trauma is stored in the right hand side of the brain in the right Limbic system. How we deal with this trauma is a creative process. That's why being creative and being in Creation, is so powerful and healing.

Studies show that taking inner city kids and adults into Nature radically reduces Anxiety and Depression. Just sitting and communing with Nature, like watching the perpetual movement of waves at th

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Hi  -  I’m your host Tim Wood. 
Welcome to “The Natural You” -  

• where we’ll be interviewing guests from different backgrounds and all walks of life  -  to discuss our relationship with Nature and how we can better connect to the Natural World, both in us and around us. 

Nature already has the answers we need to be healthier and happier, in all aspects of our lives. 
Listen up to hear how to access more of : The Natural You!

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Stew Bittman shares how Nature speaks to him. "Whenever the world doesn't make sense to me. Nature calls, because it ALWAYS makes sense."
He gives us some tips on making time to get into Nature

• Get out the house
• Find a greeen spacean visit regularly
• Grow a garden
• Bring Nature to you with houseplants 
• Watch Nature shows
• Get comfortable being in Nature. Be Still

The different Bible translation of "Dominion over all things" to "Domicile" and the idea of Stewardship. 

Thank God that there's a "non-brain intelligence" inside us. That this is the same intelligence seen in ALL of Nature. Learning to Trust this in our healing starts with acknowledging this in the miracles of everyday (non-brain) body function like digestion or The Krebbs Cycle.

Paying attention and listening to the body.

Love, Joy, Abundance and Peace are all part of this intelligence. Our choices have consequences, they can lead to interferences to health or our feelings of joy and love. Find out how to make different choices by listing to Stews weekly Podcast "Stew-on-This" on Apple or Spotify or  attending one of his Workshops or contact him at [email protected].

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