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“You’ve always had the power my dear, you just had to find it for yourself.”

This quote from the well known 1939 Wizard of Oz movie can teach us so much. Often referred to as a hero’s (or heroine’s) journey, the story of Dorothy Gale, her dog Toto and her three friends, the scarecrow, the tin-man and the lion, she meets along the yellow brick road to the Land of Oz, are all aspects of ourselves, which we all have within us…we’ve just been conditioned to believe that we need to seek this wisdom from outwith ourselves.

“You have plenty of courage, I am sure,” answered Oz. “All you need is confidence in yourself. There is no living thing that is not afraid when it faces danger. The true courage is in facing danger when you are afraid, and that kind of courage you have in plenty.”
― L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

We all stumble and fall as we journey along the path of life…and these knocks can hinder us or make us stronger. When hindered by life’s knocks, we can begin to  build up a constellation of beliefs, which create patterns in our lives, which when repeated, start to have a physiological impact on the health and well-being of our body – our very first and only true home, which we occupy every moment of our lives. The thing is, we tend to ignore the cracks and leaks which begin to show up subtly in our human body home, alerting us that something isn’t quite right…and yet we immediately jump when there is a small leak or crack in our bricks and mortar home, without a second breath to think why or how, or ignoring it until it’s a full-blown disaster zone.

Why is this?

Why have we stopped listening to the subtle messages from our bodies, which are doing their best to get our attention, before we become very unwell and dis-eased…and then when we’re finally so unwell, we go to someone else to ‘fix‘ us, giving away our power to heal and rebalance what is in fact innately within us all if we only tuned into this wisdom from the get-go. If we weren’t conditioned to believe we aren’t capable of this self-auto-regulation, we’d all be a lot healthier and happier.

Instead we’re given scary diagnosis’s and made to feel like we have to rely on  outside sources to ‘help us get well‘ again. And the fact of the matter is, we can do so much for ourselves, if only we were given access to the knowledge of what’s actually going on when we get a twinge in our knee or a rash on our back or acne on our face or arthritic hands or bowel cancer or fill in the blank. If someone told us the answers to ‘why me?’, ‘why this?’, ‘why now?’, then we’d all be living more harmonious and balanced lives, as we’re meant to be.

The article, The Wizard of Oz: A Parable of Brief Psychotherapy, explains that The Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion are perfectly illustrating aspects of ourselves, such as low self-esteem, restricted emotional expressiveness, and anxiety. When these aspects are present within ourselves over a long and sustained period of time, they can establish tracks, pattens within us, which can then manifest within our physiology as symptoms – I explain more about the why and how of this here.

Your Body Can Auto-Regulate

The truth is, your body can auto-regulate. It can help itself return to balance and health (read more about this here). There is a connection between your mind, what it thinks, how you feel and how your body responds to this (find out more about this here). You are more than a physical being, more than just

a meat suit running around like a stressed headless chicken, trying to make ends meet and keep up with the latest trends and fashions (find out what this means here). There are in fact six key areas where symptoms are triggered in our daily lives and yet we’re not told about this in school or when we go to the doctors. We’re left feeling a sense of disempowerment and that we have to find the answers outwith ourselves, by someone else who supposedly knows our body better than we know ourselves…?!? Now don’t get me wrong, I believe there is a place for all forms of medicine and healing – I believe it needs to be a transparent system and process though – not one that’s controlled by a one-size-fits-all-approach, managed by pharmacology only.

It’s Biological Intelligence

You see, your symptoms aren’t random, because if they were, why don’t we all get cancer or Parkinson’s or osteoporosis for example? There is actually bio-logical intelligence at play when symptoms begin to show up, even at the most subtle levels (which we often ignore or are told is just the aging process).

The truth is, you’re not broken at all. Symptoms are actually bio-logical feedback, alerting you to the fact something is out of balance – like an electricity outage or a plumbing issue – the body is letting you know that you need to pay attention in order to establish balance to health again.

So what is going on exactly? You can read more about this here in a previous blog I wrote. Why are symptoms chronic and recurring? Why do some people get acne, while others get measles, or some get heart issues, while others live happily ever after? To start with, we need to understand all these questions and then come to the realisation that we need to trust the wisdom of our bodies again, trust that our symptoms are not working against us at all, but it’s actually the logic of our biology, doing its best to help us stay safe, keep well and to survive.

First and foremost, we need to start being more kind and loving to ourselves. And then to others as well…for we are all a reflection of everyone else around us. What we see in another is also within ourselves, the good, the bad and the ugly.

Why am I telling you all this?

I want to help you help yourself. I’ve been on a journey of self-discovery, self-awareness and self-empowerment since I was in my early 20s when I was told by a supposed expert, that I had an auto-immune dis-ease in my own body and that it would never get better, because my body was reacting against itself.

Now this sounded like utter nonsense to me, which is almost 30 years ago now. So I started to do my own research to find my own answers. Why would the body react against itself, or does it really? Well, the truth is, it doesn’t. And this is what I want to share with you.

After learning this knowledge for myself more and more over the last two-plus decades, I am delivering a workshop series to share with you the foundational knowledge of what is happening in the body when we have a symptom. In this workshop series, which is open to anyone and everyone who would like to learn more for themselves, loved ones or clients, about how to help yourself and support yourself towards health and wellbeing when symptoms show up, helps you understand what is truly going on in the body and why.

The current workshop series will run over a 6-week period, from May 8th, for no more than 2 hours a week, in a small group (maximum 12 people), online via zoom, so you can learn from the comfort of your own home or personal space.

To find out more, about this meta-consciousness workshop series, and how you can register now, go here.

Everyone is welcome. Payment plans are available so that everyone can access the knowledge…and no one will pay more if they do pay over a period of installments either. I believe in equality and not being penalised if you want to pay in installments 😘

Day one or one day?

So what are you waiting for? At least take a look at the details so you know what is on offer. Get in touch if you have questions. And take charge of your own health and well-being now. Day one of a new way of being and living or one day I’ll take a look and make some changes…you choose.

“There is only one thing that truly fills the emptiness. Love. There is only one cause of inner emptiness: a lack of love. But it is not a lack of someone else’s love that causes your emptiness. Inner emptiness is caused by self-abandonment — by not loving yourself.”
― Margaret Paul, Ph.D.

Book now!

Follow your own yellow brick road to more courage, a happier heart, and an understanding of your innate bio-logical Intelligence.

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Tapping into confidence to ease student exam stress

Revising for and sitting exams can raise stress levels for any student. Here, I explore and offers hints and tips on how to manage those exam nerves, with a more ease, quiet confidence and a peace of mind to support your focus.

Right now, thousands of students in Ireland are busy studying for and sitting their Junior and Leaving Cert mock exams, before their end of year exams begin later on in June. That’s a lot of hours spent revising. 

Most students have put an enormous amount of time into their revision preparation to ensure they’re ready for anything which may come up in each of their exam papers.  However, how many students will enter their exam room exhausted and somewhat blurry-eyed, after a potentially sleepless night, worrying, nervous and dreading their mind going blank after all their revising?

Maybe some have even taken remedies, medicines or experimented with deep breathing and positive thinking. Nevertheless, many still find themselves paralysed by fear and unable to perform to their optimum level. Feeling overwhelmed, some experience trouble sleeping, migraines, headaches, poor appetite and increased anxiety.

Through my work with helping students, some of the common problem areas I have found are: pre-test anxiety; procrastination; feeling overwhelmed; perfectionism; and the pressure of expectation.

THE CHALLENGE

It’s often accepted in our society that feeling a little nervous before an exam or performance can be helpful, as it helps keep you sharp and focused. However, when nerves turn to fear, this can be a problem. When you’re under stress, your body releases the hormone adrenaline which prepares it for danger.

The body’s fight or flight system has been triggered: you feel sick, your heart starts racing, your muscles feel tense, you’re possibly shaking and your thinking feels muggy. This may be helpful if you are being chased by a tiger – but not if you are trying to be calm and focused for an exam!

Conventional ways of dealing with test anxiety are well documented: deep breathing; be prepared; expect the best; exercise; eat well; and try to sleep. Unfortunately for some people, this advice has little positive effect because of the challenge in dealing with the body’s physical reaction to stress.

THE SOLUTION

The key is being able to release the stress and tension from the mind and body. With the body’s nervous system balanced, students are able to sleep, eat well, take care of themselves and focus on doing their studies.

I use a remarkable technique called Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) or “Tapping”, which can be used to focus on negative emotion and clear it.

EFT is a form of acupuncture but instead of using needles, we tap on the well-established meridian points on the body. When a student experiences the fight or flight symptoms, the solution is in the body’s energy system.

Energy (known in various cultures as Chi) flows through the meridians or channels in the body. However, when a person gets nervous, the energy flow is disrupted (e.g. we experience negative thinking, feeling unable to cope, overreacting to situations, self sabotage and the physical symptoms of stress such as sickness or diarrhoea).

Using the fingers to stimulate the meridian points on the face and upper body whilst verbalising the issues, sends calming messages to the brain. This helps to clear the disruption and re-balance the body’s nervous system.

Incredibly, this releases the stress from the body and people often feel calmer, lighter and more peaceful following a session of tapping. This results in students often expressing an eagerness to get on with their studies.

Also, after just a brief introduction, people can use the technique on their own. 

I use the following three-step process to make this possible:

  • Step one: Identify the problem (fears, self-doubt, anxiety); 
  • Step two: Clear the interference/ disruption (using EFT); 
  • Step Three: Re-frame/ Re-program (using performance psychology with EFT and Matrix Reimprinting).

AN EXAMPLE

It was the day of Patrick’s first exam. This was his last year at school and he’d spent months preparing for these exams. He wanted to do well and look back with no regrets knowing that he’d done his best.

Hours before he felt calm, confident and eager to get on with it. However, when he woke up on that day, his critical inner voice began its work; he began to doubt himself and panic. The body’s fight or flight system had been triggered, his thinking became fuzzy and the creative problem-solving part of his mind felt like it was shutting down – just when he needed it!

He was feeling desperate and so with his parents support, he decided to phone me. We worked on the strongest negative emotions which were the fear of failure, letting himself down and worry that he hadn’t done enough work.

This is really common with students taking exams. There is that logical side of them that knows they have done the work, but when the nerves take hold, logic goes out of the window and no amount of reassurance from friends and family seems to help.

We tapped on this negativity for a couple of rounds and Patrick began to feel calmer, lighter and more optimistic. Now his mind was free of the negative, we introduced some positive affirmations: how he would like to feel when taking his exam; calm, excited and seeing this as an opportunity and not a threat.

Patrick was thrilled to be able to begin his exams later that day and walk away satisfied that he’d done his best. Tapping gives you the opportunity to make the change you need.

When I first spoke to Patrick, his mind was full of fear and doubt. He of course wanted to feel calm, positive and confident, but felt helpless. Using EFT we were able to start exactly where Patrick was with his emotions and remove the negative feelings and sensations. Then his mind was ready to fully experience the benefits of positive thinking.

Dr Peta Stapleton, Australian-based registered Clinical and Health Psychologist and international researcher has explored the effectiveness and efficacy of EFT to support students with school and exam stress, with very positive results. See her brief news interview here on the success of her trials in Gold Coast Schools.

And if you’re searching for the answer to pre-test anxiety and want to be able to sit exams full of confidence and without fear, EFT may sound a little different, but I’ve found initial concerns are soon forgotten as the nerves start to fade. Give it a try – you’ve nothing to lose but your fears!
Get in touch now. Or book straight away.