Wise Steps for Health
Does every illness have an emotional element?
Is your body sending you symptoms of illness to get your attention?
Is your mind so busy with worry and anxiety that you misinterpret what your body is telling you?
If you knew what it wanted could you reduce symptoms or reverse the illness by acting on the message?
We teach people to:
- quieten their thinking minds
- access their body wisdom
- learn what actions their emotions are guiding them to take
- take the actions to build the life they want and deserve
Why is Health so important?
Health is about quality of life - it's the one thing you can't buy. Dramatic stress or slow ongoing stress, left unresolved, seems to create different illnesses in us all. In the short term a headache might be the result of allowing someone to give you an unreasonable amount of work. Over time, a lack of a 'healthy response' to life's stresses and challenges can lead to a state of dis-ease. Wise Steps is committed to helping individuals maximise their health and life quality. Caroline works with individuals who have the odd bit of tension and need to make a few life changes through to individuals suffering with illnesses such as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Multiple Sclerosis and Depression.
What is different about our approach?
Caroline uses a mixture of Reverse Therapy and Health Coaching to help individuals regain balance between their minds and their instincts. "We do too much thinking and worrying and many of us have lost the connection to our inner wisdom and emotional intelligence" says Caroline. Many traditional medical approaches analyse and treat the symptoms. With Reverse Therapy we treat the source. We help each client find out the message behind the illness - the reason their body is sending them such strong symptoms of disease.
We believe that the body is wise and communicates to the individual through emotions and sensations. This innate inner wisdom we call Bodymind.
This natural guidance system sends different chemical messages to us, in the form of emotions, to encourage different types of action. For example, emotions of happiness and excitement are confirmation that we have made the right choices and that we are doing the right thing. In contrast, feelings of frustration encourage us to abandon what we have done so far because it is not getting us the result we want, and to start thinking about new and different approaches to the problem or situation in hand.
Ignoring these emotional messages causes Bodymind to up the level of messages from emotions to symptoms, in order to get the person's attention.
"If you have been told that the illness came out of the blue for no reason and there is no known treatment then why would you consider listening to your body? Further ignoring your Bodymind leaves it only one option, to shout louder generating an increase in symptoms" explains Caroline.
Body Messaging was discovered by Dr John Eaton, the founder of Reverse Therapy, and is a key tool used by clients. Each client has a personal message about their illness. Many clients have two messages, one relating to specific circumstances and another addressing life re-balancing.
The other half of the approach is to improve how we use our thinking or cognitive mind, Headmind. We need our thinking capacity to plan effective action. When anger builds up in Bodymind because someone is being treated unfairly it is Headmind that needs to plan the best way to express the unacceptability of the unfair treatment.
Getting Headmind and Bodymind to work together gives someone the direction and gut response to a situation (from Bodymind) and the cleverness and elegance (from Headmind) to resolve the situation and get the individual's true needs met.
So what actually happens in a state of dis-ease?
The situation the individual finds him/herself in is not comfortable and requires some changes and adjustments. The individual's Headmind advises against this on the basis of 'don't rock the boat', 'you could make things worse' or 'their needs are greater than yours', etc. With Bodymind re-sending messages and being consistently ignored something finally snaps. Either the 'pot of emotions' explodes with an outburst that, on later analysis, leads to a big session of mindful 'guilt', or the Body is put onto red alert. This should be a temporary state of affairs, but left switched on causes the body to become out of balance. In this state all sorts of illnesses can either develop or be stimulated. There is a range of other factors including genetic pre-disposition, current wellbeing, nutritional status, fitness and exposure to irritants and infections that also contribute.
Here are some of the illnesses we currently treat (click for a popup containing more information):
- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (M.E.), Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome
- Fibromyalgia
- Multiple Sclerosis and other Autoimmune diseases
- Allergies
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Colitis and other gut disorders
- Depression
- Trauma, Anxiety and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
- Performance Anxiety
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (O.C.D.)
- Eating Disorders and Addictions
What happens in a session?
The client is taught how to communicate with their Bodymind, re-direct their Headmind and work with their body message. They discover their body message by investigating their symptoms through their Bodymind rather than traditional Headmind questioning. Typically, Bodymind is so thrilled to be listened to after being ignored for so long that a reduction in symptoms can occur straight away. Some clients need to take their first small steps to regain life quality and balance before symptoms reduce. Clients work at their own pace between sessions on the areas they feel most strongly about. They are supported with sessions at two weekly intervals to begin with, then once they have some success in reducing their symptoms, gaps between sessions are increased to a length they find comfortable. It is an educational process and each meeting is an opportunity to share successes and explore what else was actually required in the situations where the client was less effective at reducing symptoms.
Once the client has found their body messages and learns how to apply them effectively in their daily lives, restoration of health can occur. Their energy and spirits lift as they create balance and variety in their daily lives. By the last session clients have a radiance about them that their friends and family notice.
Bodymind is dedicated to the person getting their fundamental and emotional needs met. If something is not right Bodymind sends sensations or emotions to encourage the individual to either speak up or take action in order to get them met. If this is ignored, more and more chemical messages, experienced as emotions, are sent to the individual. Without action being taken Bodymind eventually escalates the situation and puts the body on red alert. This triggers the Hypothalamus and sets off various stress responses that lead to or stimulate symptoms of many illnesses.
Headmind is the thinking part of us that talks to us and plans things out. It can make links and bring brilliant planning and ideas to a motivation driven by Bodymind. Sadly, in the state of disease, Headmind tends to detach from Bodymind and work independently. When this occurs the great qualities of thinking can be turned onto a distructive path and generate an enormous 'worry machine'.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/M.E. is a non-specific illness. Clients suffer a range of miserable symptoms including fatigue, brain fog, digestive disturbance, food intolerances, sleep disturbance, joint pain, muscle twitching, recurring infections, flu-like symptoms, cramps, light and sound sensitivity, headaches, etc. We believe these symptoms are caused by an overactive Hypothalamus which in turn stimulates the Pituitary and Adrenal glands, otherwise known as the H.P.A. axis, keeping the individual in a permanent or spasmodic state of red alert. We work on the issues that are creating this state so that the individual can revert to a symptom-free state of full health. Some clients achieve this in only a few sessions. Those with strong anxiety tend to take a little longer. In cases of Post-viral Fatigue Syndrome, the over stimulated H.P.A. axis has lead to an increase in activity of the immune system. It is understood that the immune system can reduce in function after long periods of stimulation, providing viral and bacterial infections an opportunity to invade. While clients find they can rebalance their H.P.A. axis quickly, the immune system takes a few weeks to re-balance. The period of stress (or inner conflict) leading up to the viral infection is investigated during treatment.
Listen now to a radio interview with Caroline Khambatta from Wise Steps on BBC Radio Northampton in June 2009.
Fibromyalgia differs from C.F.S./M.E. in that there is a strong pain element. While many clients suffer unbearable levels of joint pain each individual seems to experience a unique combination of muscle and joint pain. Many clients also suffer some or all of the symptoms described under C.F.S.
Multiple Sclerosis is believed to be an autoimmune disease. In a dreadful case of mis-identity the body attacks the myelin sheaths of the neurons. Myelin is the insulation that coats the neurons, enabling messages to pass effectively between the brain and parts of the body. Without this insulation, the messages cannot be effectively sent. This leads to loss of communication to certain parts of the body and later to loss of the use of certain muscle groups. Although stress and emotions are perceived to be 'irrelevant' by many Neurologists, sufferers of M.S. will tell you something different. They say there was a 'stress' element to both the onset of this disease and the progression, whether Relapsing Remitting or Progressive. See M.S. Studies for more information . Many patients describe a trauma or severe ongoing stress prior to symptoms and diagnosis. Immunologist and Neurologists who have carried out research in the last decade are starting to map out this relationship. When we are stressed the Hypothalamus is stimulated and turns the body onto red alert. This causes the H.P.A. axis (Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal axis) to be over-stimulated to the point of exhausting the Adrenals resulting in a drop of Adrenaline. This drop in Adrenaline triggers a chain of complex reactions that lead to a stimulation of any autoimmune activity. Autoimmune activity occurs when the body mistakenly believes it is under attack - so this stimulates, in turn, the H.P.A. axis keeping the stress cycle active and the disease active.
With autoimmune diseases the body believes it is being invaded by foreign bodies and attacks for the purpose of defence. However, there is a case of mis-identification which leads to attack of the person's own body tissue. All autoimmune diseases seem to have a stress element i.e. knowing that you have one is stressful and worrying about the future of the disease creates further stress.
Read the article on the impact of stress on Multiple Sclerosis, by Ian Cook in New Pathways
It's starting to be accepted that there are several factors contributing to allergies including allergen exposure, genetic pre-disposition, stress and immune activity. While there is little agreement amongst experts about which is most important, there are also problems with drugs being misused particularly with asthmatics. At Wise Steps we encourage our clients to work with respect for all these elements and the relevant experts for each. We help the client understand the stress factors in their illness. Many clients develop intolerances, rather than full allergic reactions to allergens and find that when their stress levels reduce their immune system is less sensitive.
Gut disorders are often the first sign of upset. We talk about our gut feel regarding decisions we make and as we enter a period of shock or red alert, our digestive system is often de-prioritised. This is fine temporarily but chronic stress can bring about chronic illnesses. I.B.S. symptoms can be fully reversed. Other gut diseases, where there is tissue damage, can be limited by dealing with the stresses that initiated and maintained them.
Depression can take many forms. It is extremely common to experience secondary depression when a person had been diagnosed with a chronic illness or has experienced ongoing stress or trauma. Depression can leave an individual feeling isolated from others and also from their own feelings. We believe that depression occurs when Headmind notices how much emotion is building up and, rather than dealing with, de-presses it. We teach clients how to stop blocking their emotions and use them directly as guidance to take small steps to move on in their lives. Most clients report a lightness and increase in energy after a couple of session.
Listen to Caroline talk about 'Depression and Stress in the New Year' on BBC Radio Northampton.
In all these cases the thinking mind is busy running a disaster movie or audio tape of something that did happen, or might happen. The movie tends to be exaggerated over time as it is run and re-run, either triggered by small daily activities that relate to an element of the movie or for the purpose of working out what caused the problem or trauma. While the movie is running the individual has no access to their natural instincts. For more information listen to the Radio interview on Trauma (mp3).
During performance anxiety the Mind is extremely busy running disaster scenarios and causing such high levels of stress in the body that performance is inhibited. In public speaking the body can start shaking and the mind goes blank. In a state of red alert blood is redirected to the muscles ready for a 'flight or fight' response. This also explains the reason for sexual dysfunction as blood required by erectile tissue has been diverted elsewhere. We teach our clients to quieten the mind and connect with the Body so that they are grounded and feel resourceful in whatever they are doing.
OCD is noticeable when someone becomes dominated by a set of behaviours that are repeated over and over again. The individual feels compelled to repeat the processes with great accuracy, as if going round in a recurring loop. This tendency becomes exaggerated when the person is under stress or emotional pressure. Like an addiction, these activities are 'false' substitutes for something missing in the individual's life. We identify what is actually missing and start helping the person to take actions to create what they really need.
When something fundamental is missing from our lives we crave it. In such cases our body intelligence sends us messages to encourage us to find that missing element, be it friendship, love, support, nutrients, etc. When we experience something 'like' the thing that is missing, we get a chemical reaction that is close to the emotion we are seeking. For example, someone missing love and intimacy in their life may have infrequent exposure to endorphins, chemicals in the body that make us feel really good. Eating chocolate, drinking or taking drugs can produce very similar experiences - but afterwards leave us feeling even more empty and just as dissatisfied. Instead of dealing with the true wants and desires, the person becomes addicted to the replacement that goes some way to giving a short burst of pleasure but does not fulfil the true need. Self-harming releases endorphins and also gives a short burst of the feelings that are desired. We help the individual identify the real issues and start working on creating changes that bring about what was missing in their life.