Have you ever stood beside someone who is really positive? How do you feel? Probably happy and energized! Now have you ever stood beside someone who is really negative? How do you feel? Probably drained and exhausted like the life has been sucked out of you. This is exactly what happens on an energy level with all our interactions with people and stressful, daily situations. We connect energetically and most of us do not know how to disconnect, leaving ourselves open to disease on all levels.

My first formal introduction to the energy world was astonishing. It was two weeks after my mother’s passing. I had really severe pain in both my arms for several months, preventing me from doing physical activities, i.e. work. Looking at my education and fitness background, I ticked all the boxes for full health. Any physical therapists I attended could not find any underlying issue. I was desperate to get back to normal, especially after mother passing and was prepared to try anything. I was guided to a very special, skilled and gifted Pranic Healer, Ms Bernadette Sheridan, who explained to me that my pain was not physical but energetic. Sceptical, but willing to try anything to relieve my suffering, she blew my mind wide open. Bernadette explained energy anatomy in a very scientific manner that made sense to me on deeper levels. I had a blockage in my throat chakra due to the stress and grief from my mother’s disease. My pain was miraculously healed.

Science has proven that the universe is made up of vibrating energy. The planet Earth is surrounded by an electromagnetic field that sustains life force. Humans have their own electromagnetic field that sustains life.

Our physical body cannot function without what are called our energy bodies. The physical body is made up of cells, tissues, organs and systems. Our invisible energy body is made up of energy centres called chakras, meridians, auras and several other vital systems of energy anatomy that we all have and need to live in this physical world. They are both interconnected so what affects one body has a huge effect on the other. The laws of nature, science, religion and the miracle of life all validate this universal truth on deeper levels.

The food that keeps the energy body healthy is called life force, Chi or Prana. This comes from healthy real food, water, air, sun and earth. The chakras are energy centres, which absorb and distribute the life force into every molecule of our physical body, which keeps us healthy. If the energy cannot flow or becomes blocked then the area becomes weak and the corresponding physical organ, tissue or system becomes diseased. This is then labelled in the medical world as some form of a condition such as IBS, asthma, autoimmune disease, fibromyalgia or cancer, etc.

When we understand our energy anatomy fully, we will clearly see how we can unblock and release disease to allow the body to self-heal. In order to do this, we must create the correct environment for bringing the body back to balance to allow full healing.

Several factors cause the energy to become blocked:

❏ Real, nutritious food has a lot of life force or energy in it. If we constantly choose–and remember most of us have choice–to consume food that does not suit our unique individual energy and physical body and is toxic to the system then a blockage will be formed.
For example, if we choose to put processed pizza into our body, instead of a healthy source of food like fruit, over time the stomach energy centre may become weak and prevent food being digested properly, which could manifest as IBS or constipation. This then has a knock on effect on overall energy levels, mood and focus as described in my first blog, which affects your relationships, career and finances. The more you keep making poor food choices, the more your energy levels become lower and lower causing life to become less enjoyable and closer to disease.

❏ Water is also a key nutrient that our body needs in order to function properly. Dehydration can lead to several blockages in the system, for example, mistaking hunger for thirst which leads to overeating, muscle pain, especially in the lower back, and brain fog to name just a few. A lot of people who come to us with physical back pain mostly have an energy blockage. Physical treatments alone may not fully heal the body if it is an actual energy blockage. It needs to be released from the energy system.

❏ Movement of the body is key to keep the energy flowing throughout the body. If we stay in the same position for too long then we may end up with congested energy in an area that can manifest as pain, stiffness or a loss of use. Bad posture contributes to energy blockages and that is why strength training and yoga are excellent for keeping muscular and skeletal balance and a healthy flow of energy. It is good to move from a stationary position at least every 30 minutes and doing some gentle stretches and breathing can re-energize the whole body and keep you flexible and healthy.

❏ The mind is one of the major key influences on our energy system. If we produce on average 50,000 to 90,000 thoughts a day, which is influenced more by negativity than positivity, then we create energy blockages within the energy centres and meridians that can manifest as low energy, migraine, anxiety, depression, hormone issues, diabetes, weight issues and cancer. Again, these conditions are all just medical terms for simple blockages that are causing our body physical disease through the wrong use of the mind, which directs the flow of energy. Change our thoughts and we can change our health and the direction of our life. Remember, energy goes wherever you direct it by using your will or intention.

❏ Each chakra or energy centre is very sensitive to the environment. If we keep the environment positive and in balance then our energy will stay healthy and vibrant. Negative stressful environments affect the energy body and quickly depletes it. One can learn how to feel, scan, distribute and unblock any blockages in the energy field very simply within a few days of training. I personally learned this through Grandmaster Choa Kok Sui’s system, which is a gift to humanity, called Pranic Healing and Arhatic Yoga. This is hugely beneficial and important to us understanding true health. Alternatively, find a therapist who is trained in energy medicine to help understand and unlock what may be causing any suffering or pain, which may manifest physically or psychologically.

❏ Stress energy is very depleting and causes the chakras to become dysfunctional. Over a long period of holding onto old negative stressful thoughts, feelings and habits or staying in stressful environments (other people’s energy can affect you), the impact on your overall health can be detrimental. If we do not become aware of this physically, mentally, emotionally and energetically, we can end up on a rollercoaster of highs and lows. It is necessary to protect oneself from these energies and use methods that can restore balance in health.

❏ Stress energy is one of the biggest contributing factors to all man-made diseases. Motivation and drive are an essential part of a productive life, but when it turns into chronic stress, it becomes counterproductive. It’s important to be able to differentiate between both and keep balance.

Suggestions

★ The quickest way to release stress energy is through any form of movement, exercise and breathing techniques.

★ Other de-stressors are meditation, especially a specific meditation called Twin Heart Meditation, prayer, a gratitude diary, relaxation, laughter and fun, being out in nature or just simply doing an activity you enjoy.

★ Surrounding yourself with people who love you and feeling supported also helps to keep your energy health positive.

★ Once you understand how to manipulate your energy systems, which is an inner science, you can produce miraculous results for any type of physical or psychological disease.

Hope this blog is of help and if you would like to learn more please check out the website and contact us for more information.

May we all be blessed with love, light, happiness, health, abundance, success and prosperity.

The mind is a beautiful tool that helps create and navigate us through this amazing journey called life. The key to health, happiness and success is becoming the guardian, protector and gardener of this delicate tool that can be manipulated so easily by different forces.

The mind is not to be mistaken for the brain or nervous system or anything physical because it is none of these. Yet it controls our every thought and emotion which leads to a physical action or reaction in the body. Our mind has evolved at a tremendous pace and is capable of retaining more information than past generations. Unfortunately, with the speed of technology, this can be very overwhelming especially for highly sensitive people.

When the mind is manipulated negatively, it leads to rapid degeneration or disease in the physical body.

For example, think of a negative or stressful experience. Be it in school, at home, at work or at any stage of life to date. If enough focus and attention are directed on that thought, we can trigger a stress reaction within the body that causes a release of hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol.

This stress reaction makes our heartbeat faster, breathing shorten, sugar is broken down from the cells to give energy for a fight or flight response,  leading to the emotion of anger, rage or stress. An immune response has been triggered and a  cascade of chemical reactions in the body has been released all by producing one thought while sitting reading this.

The situation just thought of is not in the present moment. It is in the past. However, we have just thought about it as if it were happening right now. This is a normal response for most of society at this stage of our evolution. We are either living in the past or worrying about the future. It is having a huge deteriorating effect on our health, relationships, careers, finances and overall quality of life.

Now do exactly the same thing, but think of a positive experience. Keep thinking of that experience and feel what is going on in your body. Do you feel joy, happiness and peace? The whole body should feel relaxed and calm. This type of thinking creates positive healthy results as opposed to the previous example, which created stress, unhappiness, and disease. This is the difference between thinking negatively and positively and we are the only one who has control over that process. Once we make a conscious effort to direct our focus on positive thoughts and emotions, we can create peace, love, and joy in life.  Also, we are creating health and a future that gives us purpose and fulfilment. This is the difference between being at ease or disease.

Life is determined by our perspective of a particular experience and the meaning we choose to give to it. For example, the colour red is neutral. There is nothing significant attached to the colour. However, through the use of our minds, we can associate it with negative aspects such as danger, anger, and rage or we could associate it with the more positive aspects of love, passion and warmth. How we have allowed our minds to be programmed and conditioned determines the meaning we choose to give life experiences.

The same concept applies to all life experiences. We choose through our mind to label an experience. If you choose to see the positive meaning every time, your life will transform. Remember people are more important than material things, so always choose to love and accept people for who they are. People will come into life as great teachers to help us see what needs to transform from within.  If experiencing any lower energy, such as anger and depression, we need to change focus, and ask positive questions, to see what we are being taught for our growth and development. Be thankful, bless them and then detach if necessary. That’s what it is all about. Attaching and detaching to every experience. We choose what we want to hold onto or let go of. Nobody else can control those decisions for us unless we give them permission.

The mind is neutral. It stores what we feed it.  The more positive our outlook, the more conscious our decisions will become. We have to decide to take control and be the guardian of what we allow to influence us. If we have created or allowed negative external circumstances to influence and condition our mind to create toxic beliefs and values then we must be honest with oneself and unlearn this way of being to make room for a healthier, happier mind. It is important to take ownership of where we are right now in order to create a future we truly desire, regardless of any situation in the present moment.

The mind is very powerful. Negative programming equals negative results. Positive programming brings positive results. Choosing to feed the mind with inspiration and adopt an attitude of gratitude for every experience we have been given, is a way to begin reprogramming for positive results in health and life. All your experiences up to now have brought you to this point of growth. With this new awareness,  we can appreciate life as a gift and begin to choose the direction we consciously want to take instead of unconsciously.

Each of our life experiences helps us to further our growth and development and come closer to our truth. Some experiences may seem unpleasant or negative in the moment and eventually, we will understand that they were opportunities for us to learn valuable lessons. If we choose to find the positive within the situation, we accelerate our growth. We may immediately get the understanding of the experience or it could take days, weeks, months or years. The key to less pain and suffering is to detach from the expectation of an experience.  Trust and have faith that everything is going in the right direction.

I experienced growing up in a very negative and toxic environment.  I was also the target for bullying both physically and mentally. While these experiences were difficult to deal with as a child, I later realized it was something I needed to experience to enable me to help others in dealing with similar situations.  My experience with being bullied was the awareness that the bully was the one who was suffering from their own pain, anger, and frustration due to their own negative environment.  The way bullies deal with their own pain is to hurt others.  This is not a true reflection of who they really are.  If we can understand that the act of aggression actually shows fear and weakness within the personality, it enables and empowers us to forgive and detach. Do not take it personally and the key to remember is to keep your inner light shining brightly. Stay true to yourself and to your own goals and dreams. Bullies have been some of my best teachers.  My past lessons have taught me to transcend my own fear into power. When focusing on the amazing life destined for you, it will become easy not to give anyone permission or power to project their negativity and insecurities on you.

If experiencing bullying at home, in school, at work or in the community, you may be feeling depressed or anxious. Depression and anxiety are just forms of fear that disable us from moving on from the past and stepping out into a brighter future. Please understand that these feelings and emotions can be overcome with the help of the simple tools shared in this blog and professional guidance.

Challenge the mind to new experiences that take it outside the comfort zone. This will help bring growth and give a new perspective on life. When we become comfortable in an uncomfortable state of mind, growth can be limited. These limitations can lead to anxiety, depression, stress, etc. So make sure to consistently seek growth in life. It is the little steps taken every day that leads to health, happiness and success in life. Remember, if going through a tough time, it will pass and bigger growth comes from it. Keep focused in the moment.  Life happens in cycles so nothing is permanent, each night brings a new day.

The more we practice feeding the mind positively, the more control we have over how we respond to life. We must become a master of our mind and not a slave to it. We have the power of choice and free will. Each day is a new day and an opportunity to become a better version and connect with our true higher self.  We will achieve control over our mind when we make it a habit of not living in the past and not fearing change. While becoming a true master of the mind, we will experience that life flows through us, with us and in support of us.

When we choose to be present in the moment, we have the capacity to experience peace, love, joy, happiness and be an instrument for health, abundance, and prosperity.  This is simply done by positive conscious thinking and taking positive action.  An example of such action is showing gratitude.  Making a list every day of the things that we can be grateful for in life will keep us in higher states of consciousness.

Another important tool for growth in our lives is meditation. Many people become overwhelmed when they hear the word meditation because the concept can be misunderstood. All the health benefits of meditation have been backed fully by medicine and science. Positive benefits include reducing stress, relieving pain, improving sleep, lowering blood pressure and cholesterol, boosting your immune system, better weight management, control over negative thoughts and emotions, more focus in life and a better connection to your higher power, to name a few. The main objective is to obtain prolonged awareness, stillness and experience bliss and to connect with the divine within and receive guidance from a higher source to help guide us on this journey.

An example of meditation is sitting and becoming aware of your breath. This is also the quickest way to calm and de-stress an anxious mind. Being aware fully when eating, walking in nature and consciously noticing your surroundings by opening up your 5 senses – touch, smell, hearing, taste and sight,  or any activity that brings us back to being fully aware of what our body and mind are doing in the present moment. Therefore, the mind isn’t being pulled by events that may have happened in the past or running into the future preventing enjoyment in the now. We can learn simple techniques from many different sources and spiritual practices such as Arhatic Yoga, Mindfulness, Prayer etc.. Just research, experiment and see what practices fit best.

Suggestions to help  detoxify the mind:

❏    Take a moment to be grateful for things we take for granted, such as your eyes to be able to read this, your family for the love they bring, the food and water we receive every day, our jobs for the income it provides, our health that allows you to experience life fully.

❏    Watch out for negative programs from toxic food products and substances like cigarettes, drugs, alcohol, and pornography, all of which dumb the mind down so we can’t think, feel or act from our true self in manifesting our goals and dreams.

❏    Observe how the mind will prevent us from eating nourishing food and exercising due to old programming and bad habits. We all know the health benefits of good nutrition and exercise, so focus on the positive aspects instead of the negative excuses that contribute to keeping us unhealthy.

❏    Remember, once a clear decision is made with the intention to make a change in life, it is done. The mind then tries to sabotage it by remembering old programs to prevent us from achieving the intended goal. Be strong and always remember what the intention is. Eventually, one will transcend the old negative programming and it will become an automatic positive habit.

❏     Protect the 5 senses from toxic television programs, social media and clever advertising that are manipulating our minds to buy certain products that we may not need. They purposely try to control our minds and our reality. We do not need many external things to be happy. It is not called a T.V. PROGRAM for no reason; it is actually making society believe things that are not true.

❏    Newspapers can also feed the mind with negativity if we are not aware. Reading constant reports of negative happenings will cause negative reactions in our bodies.

❏    Negative people will drain the physical and mental body of energy and can program us to a negative way of thinking if we cannot protect our mind. Choose to be around people who nourish and help with growth and development positively. This has a profound effect on the direction of health and the path that we choose for our future.

❏    Being in a job or career that truly does not bring fulfillment, can lead to the mind becoming negative. Remember that most of the waking day is spent there. If the program is negative then we are feeding our minds more negative food that is actually making us become diseased. Either be grateful for what the job is providing or make a conscious plan to pursue a job or career that brings true fulfillment and purpose.

❏    Be mindful about how we view finances, especially towards money. The more negative we are, for example – money is evil or constantly repeating I am broke – affects our ability to make money. This, in turn, affects our health and happiness.

❏    Inspire and motivate the mind by trying new things like reading, art, poetry, dancing and other activities that the mind may have been programmed negatively towards in the past. All these things open channels for creativity, true expression and leads to a happy, purposeful, fulfilling life.

❏    Choosing to be kind to all beings, compassionate, forgiving, tolerant, patient and being of service to others, allows the mind to see things clearly and as they really are.

❏    Create an environment with fun and laughter that feeds growth and development.

❏    Constantly choose positive affirmations especially if facing a disease or a challenge. Notice all the little things in life that we can be grateful for to combat a moment that may be stressful to the mind.

❏    Breathing and simple meditation exercises can help balance the mind quite quickly. Forming good habits like these enable us to become consciously aware of the decisions we are making every second of the day, which is creating our future. With regular practice, these positive behaviors will remain with us for life.

Learn how to breathe.

Without the breath, we do not live physically. Therefore, we need to teach ourselves and help children to remember how to breathe properly and consciously. Most of us breathe into our chest. Shallow breathing can trigger anxiety, stress, and tension. When we learn how to abdominally breathe, it triggers the parasympathetic nervous system and allows us to go into a deep relaxation that is essential for balancing our health.

Flexibility and relaxation are especially important for children. Through simple breathing exercises, we can restore balance in our body, which aids in repair and recovery and allows us to have the optimum energy for the next day’s events. This is extremely important. Gentle stretching, relaxation or yoga exercises keep us feeling young and fresh and will enable us to participate in other activities that we enjoy doing on a daily basis.

Try this simple technique taught by one of my teachers Grand Master Choa Kok Sui modern founder of Pranic Energy Medicine & Arhatic Yoga and also Twin Heart Meditation, which can transform the mind and lead to accelerated spiritual development:

● Sit up straight. Close your eyes and relax your shoulders.
● Breathe through your nostrils into your belly for 6 seconds and hold for 3 seconds.
● Breathe out through your nostrils for 6 seconds and hold for 3 seconds.

This is one cycle.
Repeat this cycle 5 times.

Breathing properly will not only help with calming the mind and reducing stress but also improves the immune system, detoxification system, nervous system, muscular system, skeletal system, circulatory system, respiratory system, digestive system and hormonal system. It can quickly clear the mind and bring in clarity and focus. So proper breathing means stronger vitality and health on physical, mental and spiritual levels.

Once we master the mind, we can achieve great things in this gift we call life. We can use past experiences to help and lead the future generations from making similar mistakes that can lead to suffering, pain, disease, war, and greed. Peace can be achieved on earth once we learn and make a commitment to focusing and directing our mind on a higher level of truth that will bring a great change in our physical reality and to every being in the world.

May peace, faith, hope,  happiness, joy, health, success, and prosperity be with all of us.

This picture of me on the left which took 4 years to achieve is 16 weeks before the competition cut and on the right actually on competition day ( just to give an insight that it is a slow journey and quick fix transformations are not realistic or maintainable ). The photo does not portrait the real life story which is a true embodiment of fear, pain, obsession, and addiction as a result of childhood trauma. It is a reminder of how I was conditioned to believe that fitness equaled 6 pack abs and ‘perfect’ looking models. Smart advertising and companies cleverly using our idea of perfectionism to sell their products based on insecurities. This is a toxic perception of our world and can lead us to feel not good enough, empty and unfulfilled.

Being passionate about sports from an early age, all I wanted to do was be the best I could be and, more importantly, to enjoy the sport. Then came competition which is good once in balance to help develop, discipline and focus oneself but can be taken to the extreme if not monitored. Sport became no longer about playing for enjoyment and all the other positive benefits; it became about winning.

People volunteering as coaches may have felt the right motivation at the time was to impregnate into our young impressionable minds how we must win and be better than other teams. Motivation is healthy once used in a positive constructive way to bring out the best in a human. Maybe due to a lack of understanding or an ignorance of a higher truth – that we are all connected as one, we were actually being programmed to think we were separate from each other causing disharmony among more sensitive souls.  The language that was used in dressing rooms and on the sidelines was very inappropriate and toxic. The unnecessary pressure that was put on us as teenagers was not right in my opinion and the true reasons for participating got lost along the way.

Coaching techniques were old school, delivered by people who were not qualified to coach. Because of this physical injuries became ‘normal’.
Poor coaching techniques led not only to physical ailments but also to depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem. When we didn’t get the desired win or did not meet the expectations of others, negative seeds were planted into our fragile minds with no real understanding or outlet.

So I began to educate myself and learn new methods that produced different and better results. However,  EGO doesn’t like change, especially when you are younger than your peers and you try to guide them in a different direction. The more I tried to speak up the more I met resistance. My belief is to question every method and theory presented in my experience to see what fits right for the individual self in a healthy and safe way. Not to blindly follow the masses in all aspects of life but to use my own intelligence to question and draw my own conclusion in a respectful loving way. If we are blocked from expressing our opinions this can become an issue on so many levels. Children and teenagers in society today are a lot more evolved and actually have a higher understanding than a lot of their peers. If we practice listening deeply to their wisdom we can make great changes in our world as they show us how to break down limiting beliefs and barriers set by past traditions. Always keep an open mind and allow everyone the freedom of speech without negative judgment.

Having participated in different sports from 6 years old to 28 and then successfully competing in the art of bodybuilding from age 28 to 32,  now my focus is on health and movement as a key to preventing injury and to live a happy mobile life. This is my opinion on exercise, fitness and the endless pursuit of trying to achieve perfection which is unattainable in this physical human experience.

Yes, we all need discipline, structure,  motivation, passion, and goals within a flexible framework while practicing detachment to any expectations. We must incorporate balance, moderation, and fun into life. Some children and teenagers are being pushed too hard to achieve results. Understanding fully the science behind how our bodies work, parents would be alarmed at what damage is actually being caused. Children, in my opinion, are not meant to be ‘TRAINING’, they are meant to be learning new skills, moving and having FUN. With that in mind, children must be allowed to move in different movement patterns to keep them flexible, mobile and strong. For example, if a child is seated in school for most of the day to arrive home to do more school work ( which is too much in my opinion ) or sits in front of a computer for a few more hours,  bad posture, lack of flexibility/mobility, possible weight and mood issues can arise.  When adults start over controlling children’s needs, based on expectations to fit in alignment with their own beliefs, blockages can be caused in the mind, energy, and movement patterns, and can lead to an internal struggle in the future. Running from sport to sport, day after day, can have long-term negative effects on the body and mind. We must be mindful and monitor their recovery closely to avoid injuries. Children require good nutrition to support their energy expenditure and aid in full recovery.

My past negative experience as a teenage athlete was resurrected when a 17-year-old athlete came to me with an issue that his inter county coach requested him to resolve. This teenager was an extremely talented athlete. He was told that he needed to be able to produce more speed. His coach related his lack of speed to his weight and told him that he needed to lose at least 14 pounds to make him run faster. His mother was distraught explaining the circumstances. Looking at his physique, I was confused as to why he needed to lose ‘ weight’.

After an initial consultation and testing, his body fat was 11% lean, no fat to lose. The following problems were revealed. His diet was shockingly full of sugar and refined carbohydrates. He was playing multiple sports almost twice a day, using incorrect training methods that did not support power and speed development. He was studying for his final school exams and his sleep pattern was interrupted due to many hours on social media before bed, which affected his hormones and neurotransmitters triggering a stress and immune response and did not support a release of serotonin or melatonin required for deep relaxation and sleep. As a result of all these events and habits,  depression and a body conscious fear causing him great suffering consumed him. The coach not being mindful or aware of the power words can have on a person, and how they may be interpreted given the state of mind that a person is in, triggered more anxiety. Unfortunately, because of time restraints, the best advice I could give this teenager was to focus on his education and to relax more, along with some nutritional guidance. A year later, he came back to my clinic searching for help with serious injuries and a fear of becoming fat. We need to be mindful about how we speak to children and teenagers as their minds are very vulnerable and open. We need to communicate in a way that is compassionate, loving, inspiring and honest. Before we speak we must look at our own character weaknesses before we think of advising or criticizing children and teenagers.

Always strive for health over fitness.Exercise and movement must be fun and always keep in mind that variety is the spice of life. Do not get boxed into one way of thinking. Have fun experimenting with new modalities and having new experiences. By doing this, new channels of creativity will open and more joy will flow into life. We learn more while being creative. If something has to be forced or negativity creeps into what is being experienced, then it may be time to change or this can lead to dis-ease within the body and mind.

Remember, we have a body to explore and experience life. Exercise and movement keep it flexible, strong and functioning properly so we can enjoy life’s gifts. Be careful not to abuse your unique body that can contribute to faster degeneration than is necessary. There are too many teenagers and young adults now needing hip replacements, shoulder surgery and developing lower back problems, arthritis and the resulted stress can lead to labels like depression and anxiety. Remember moderation and not to push too hard especially at an early age and support children’s needs with good exercise technique and nutrition to aid recovery, repair, and growth.

As previously stated, fitness does not equate to health. We have a perception that the perfect body is healthy and this can lead to obsession. Over the years, practicing pranic psychotherapy, I’ve had clients come to my clinics with different addictions. Exercise and the fear of not looking good is a common addiction. A feeling that unless one exercises a certain amount of times in a day or a week that the body will become fat or won’t look good enough and therefore not worthy of love is a very common misconception amongst men and women. Obsessing about the body all the time and not seeing that there is more to who we truly are and the beauty that is within and surrounds each and every one of us, can deplete our energy system and cause so much suffering physically, mentally and spiritually. A more serious knock on effect is,  we are actually programming our children to take on the same addictive energy and beliefs through the transference of thoughts, words, and actions. Our children learn by example and are very impressionable so we do need to self-evaluate and reflect on our daily habits to become aware if they are having a negative effect on the ones we love.

By pushing our bodies so hard, striving for this level of perfection ( which is unattainable in the physical body ) we cause premature aging. Yes, it is important to be strong, flexible and be at a healthy weight for your individual self. What becomes unhealthy is the belief that a perfect body will bring you happiness.

Women in particular struggle with the heavy pressure to look perfect. The beauty industry’s message of what is perfection really manipulates how women value themselves and this creates a false image of health. In order to be perceived as beautiful or valuable, women have been influenced to think that they must be a perfect size or shape. Many women will go to extreme lengths to achieve this “perfect” look. It is rare that the value of self-love and acceptance are taught as one of the first requirements to start a journey to full health. Once we accept and love our true essence from the inside,  the outside will automatically start to transform in conjunction with the professional coaching and guidance of a health coach.

If a person constantly thinks negatively towards any part of their body, they will subconsciously sabotage their desired results, causing a toxic build up in the system that leads to weight gain and further future disease. Again, remember that fitness or a perfect looking body does not always equal health. Fad diets and fancy products that promise miracle results end up leaving the body in a state of chaos, especially the hormonal and nervous systems which can trigger depression, anxiety, and other man-made diseases.

Our bodies are forced to endure long hours sitting at school, at desks, etc., which is an unnatural state for the human body. Bad posture can be the result of these daily routines. Let’s take, for example, an office worker. For the majority of the day, a seated position is considered ‘normal’. Being stressed with deadlines and in constant need of a quick boost of energy to get through the day, most people turn to caffeine or foods high in sugar for that fix. This can cause high numbers of insulin spikes and vicious cycles of sugar crashes leading to fatigue, weight gain, high blood pressure, diabetes, and irritability.

When work is finished after a stressful 8-9 hour day, going to the gym seems like a great idea. After being in a seated position, fuelling the body with poor food choices and stimulants, and deciding to de-stress by doing a routine workout believed to be beneficial for health can actually lead to some negative results if the correct programming, posture and technique is not executed properly. Constant stress is not mechanically, physiologically and psychologically good for the body that eventually can lead to a manifestation of an injury, pain or dis-ease. Most of us are pushing our body so hard it is the equivalent to driving a car with the accelerator on full throttle all the time. This eventually will lead to burnout. We do need to take a step back from time to time to analyze every area in our life to try and maintain balance. We need to have certain practices to achieve a state of relaxation and allow time for our own needs to be met in order for the flow of health to recharge us.

We were born to move and explore. It is our natural state. The problem arises when the body becomes stagnant or rigid due to a belief system that we have been programmed towards by our own perception of truth and society’s acceptance of normality. The human body is an amazing organism. How we treat it is a reflection of our understanding of who we truly are. Have you ever asked the questions:  Who am I? What is my real purpose? What do I feel I deserve?  Do I deserve a life full of health and deep happiness – or do I feel I deserve less than that? What am I trying to achieve in different areas of my life? What will the achievement or success really give me? Do I feel balanced?

My approach to exercise and movement is simple:

Step 1: Choose a hobby that is enjoyable and fun – for example, walking, jogging, team activities, weight training, yoga, etc.

Step 2: Whichever activity is choosen, understand how it affects your body through the different ranges of motion the joints must move through. As a physical therapist, I perform a structural balance test to see where weakness may be and work a plan on getting those areas stronger first, otherwise the body will be left open to injury long-term. Resistance training, either body weight or using equipment, is necessary for all humans to maintain a healthy musculoskeletal system. Think of the body like a house; strong foundations are required before anything else can be built on, otherwise the walls and roof will come crashing down. This is why so many people end up with serious injuries like lower back issues, shoulder and knee pain. Find a highly qualified physical therapist or personal trainer in your area to help access any structural weakness in the body before starting any type of exercise.

Step 3: A clear goal must be established. Let us take for example to reach optimum body weight. There is a science and an art to achieving optimal body composition that requires patience and professional guidance. Most people will look for a quick fix, go to the latest fad diet and try to lose weight aggressively. This can lead to long-term hormonal and psychological issues, not to mention the fact that weight will inevitably be put back on. The knock-on effect this can also have on the family as a result of the stress energy in the home environment from all of the obsessive dieting that the children witness, can lead to them becoming conditioned with weight and food phobias or disorders, manifesting in later life.

Once a goal is set, a strategic plan that maintains balance and moving efficiently must be put in place. For optimal body composition, I recommend eating healthily to fuel the body correctly, which will result in automatically eliminating toxins that may be causing fat storage. Eat 3 to 4 meals a day, when hungry to support nutritional requirements and physically exercise 2 – 4 times a week for no longer than 30 to 60 minutes. Sessions can consist of resistance training along with some interval training and yoga to help keep the body strong and flexible and to utilize the correct energy systems in order to achieve the desired result.

The focus and key to a successful journey is keeping in mind that exercise is enjoyable. Remember that quality exercise is needed rather than quantity. Doing more than what the body needs, leads to a catabolic state (body breaking down muscle instead of fat) and is a waste of energy. The end is fatigue, weight gain, obsession and injury. Choose a realistic timeline and open the mind to challenging the body to improve without getting obsessed about calorie counting, or numbers on scales. Look at clothes, mood and most importantly, pay attention to energy levels throughout the day. If the body is not feeling refreshed every day then something is out of balance. Tuning into the body’s energy level is the best indicator to keeping on track with goals. Our body is not meant to be abused or pushed to extremes; abuse leads to all sorts of health issues.

Step 4: Support goals with proper nutrition, rest, and recovery from exercise.
Important factors to successfully meeting any exercise goal are rest and recovery. Sadly, these factors can be hugely overlooked within the fitness and sports industry. Exercise is a conscious choice of stress to induce a metabolic reaction to achieve a certain physical goal. Like any form of stress, it needs to be monitored and kept in balance so it doesn’t cause a chronic negative effect of catabolism and fatigue. Remember, quality over quantity. The physical body needs rest and recovery to give it the time to adapt to the exercise stimulus for repair, growth and change to take place. Proper nutrition for recovery is widely misunderstood, especially for children. Through clever advertising, the media uses famous people to manipulate what is healthy for adults and children.

For example, sports coaches and parents need to be aware of how media is used for mind programming children to drink protein chocolate milk and other processed and unnatural products full of artificial sweeteners and sugars for recovery. This is sabotaging their health. Milk, for example, does not aid in recovery for the athlete; it can cause malnutrition leaving an environment for stress, fatigue, injury, and depression. A lot of children and teenagers end up in my clinic with digestive and respiratory dis-eases like IBS and ASTHMA. After performing thousands of very simple, non-invasive and inexpensive food intolerance tests, which cuts through the guess work to find the root physical issue,  one of the main triggers found is milk. Most people have issues digesting the proteins and sugars found in milk, yet it is recommended by the media, medical and food industry as a necessary nutrient. If milk is toxic to the physical system, it will deplete vitamins and minerals especially calcium and magnesium from tissues and bones to support the detoxification and immune systems. Contrary to popular belief, dairy products can actually create the conditions for osteoporosis to occur and not prevent it as we are constantly led to believe. Question everything and we need to all do our own research regarding health. Our health is our wealth. Don’t believe everything we are being programmed to believe, not even what I am writing about here. Test and validate health suggestions for yourself.

Step 5: Learn how to breathe.

Without the breath, we do not live physically. Therefore, we need to teach ourselves and help children to remember how to breathe properly and consciously. Most of us breathe into our chest. Shallow breathing can trigger anxiety, stress, and tension. When we learn how to abdominally breathe, it triggers the parasympathetic nervous system and allows us to go into a deep relaxation that is essential for balancing our health.

Flexibility and relaxation are especially important for children. Through simple breathing exercises, we can restore balance in our body, which aids in repair and recovery and allows us to have the optimum energy for the next day’s events. This is extremely important. Gentle stretching, relaxation or yoga exercises keep us feeling young and fresh and will enable us to participate in other activities that we enjoy doing on a daily basis.

Try this simple technique thought by one of my teachers Grand Master Choa Kok Sui modern founder of Pranic Energy Medicine & Arahtic Yoga:

● Sit up straight. Close your eyes and relax your shoulders.
● Breathe through your nostrils into your belly for 6 seconds and hold for 3 seconds.
● Breathe out through your nostrils for 6 seconds and hold for 3 seconds.

This is one cycle.
Repeat this cycle 5 times.

Breathing properly will not only help with your body composition and sports performance but also improves your immune system, detoxification system, nervous system, muscular system, skeletal system, circulatory system, respiratory system, digestive system and hormonal system. So proper breathing means stronger vitality and health on physical, mental and spiritual levels.

To finish, the fitness industry and society’s obsession with the perfect body has become religious. Our perception of perfection has been distorted by our conditioning, beliefs, and propaganda by the media and the fitness world. People believe blindly what is being portrayed as real in our world without questioning, researching and deeply understanding real motives for action. We came to earth as spiritual beings inhabiting a physical body. If we become obsessed with the physical body we become a slave to it, that can cause suffering and disease physically, mentally and spiritually. Free yourself by becoming balanced and let go of attachment and purify negative beliefs and habits from your systems.We must strive to keep our bodies ( physical – mental – Spiritual ) healthy by nourishing with good food and water, moving through different patterns via exercise & movement modalities, meditate, pray, be of service to other humans, internally forgive, love oneself and connect fully to your higher power,  practice loving kindness and honour the divine spark within all beings. Enjoy a balanced life and let the inner child free. Live – Inspire – Fulfill – Evolve.

We wish you all love, health, happiness,  joy, peace, prosperity, abundance and success in life.

Our human experience is amazing. Once we arrive on the planet Earth we can very quickly forget who we truly are and a lot of pain, suffering, and dis-ease can be caused. Firstly we need to look closely at what is the root cause of our pain not just the symptoms that are on the surface. We need to go deep and look inside. You see, I believe each and every one of us is a natural healer and we have the keys inside to our own healing power. Sometimes we just need a little help unlocking this full healing power potential.

As human beings, we need to understand and acknowledge that we are more than just a physical body. Yes, we physically will feel the dis-ease within our body but this is only one aspect of our healing journey. We also have an emotional body, a mental body, etheric energy body or bioplasmic body that are all connected to our soul body ( to simplify ). Once one of these bodies go out of balance then dis-ease sets into our whole being.

For example, if we go to a doctor with an irritable bowel or any physical symptom, most likely we will be prescribed medication to give us some relief. Let’s say the actual cause of the irritation is dairy. If we take our medication ( which may contain elements of dairy and can cause other side effects so please ask the doctor the appropriate questions ) to help heal and make us feel better and we decide to drink a glass of milk with dinner, have a chocolate dessert, and a coffee all in the one meal sitting or even spread out over the day, the medication cannot heal the bowel because we keep pouring the irritant into our body. In fact, we could be giving our body double negative toxins ( food and medication ) that can cause other symptoms/ labels like chronic fatigue, migraines, muscle cramps, asthma, constipation and even anxiety or depression to name a few. Imagine we are putting this toxin in several times a day, week after week and year after year, eventually, our immune system will become burdened with the toxicity and it will scream out with some form of an immune dis-ease.  No medication can help heal fully or repair the body if it is not supported with proper nutrition to help our immune system restore full strength and balance. Once awareness of the toxin is validated through getting simple testing done, which is very inexpensive and is an investment in health and happiness, we can then look at the healing process on the physical level. If the toxin is removed,  an environment for healing the inflammation can be created. This can be done with simple anti-inflammatory foods, herbs and some supplements to help speed up the healing which will compliment any medical advice that may have been given about the dis-ease.

Now if the irritant is not coming from the food we need to go a bit deeper. If pain and suffering persist after ruling out the physical cause -toxic food and lack of clean water, then we need to look into the persons’ lifestyle more. A lot of inflammation in the body can be triggered by harboring negative thoughts, emotions, stress and being subject to a toxic environment. An example would be the way people perceive their relationships with others. If two humans have an argument and over time one cannot let go of the issue then it can manifest physically in the body. The body will try and give a sign that we need to let go and forgive. This can be given the label of irritable bowel, to keep with the example above, but can also be labelled any condition in our medical world. Medication cannot fully heal the physical issue if the root cause is stuck in your mental and emotional bodies. This is why the mind-body connection is so extremely important for whole health. Complimentary therapies are really progressing with working with the medical industry here in the West as we understand more the full nature of dis-ease. Modern medicine and drugs are only around the last 100 or more years while traditional methods of healing have been known for 1000′s of years. If we engage in self-reflection, meditation and reduce stress in different areas of our life, eventually over time with practice and patience, the root cause will be found and we will be better able to understand what our unique self needs in order to heal. This is only one of many factors that can lead to suffering manifesting in your physical body. Controlling negative thoughts and emotions can bring great peace and healing into the physical body supported with professional guidance and help.

Moving on from the mental and emotional triggers we need to understand our energy  body. The anatomy of this body, which is as vital to our human existence as the air we breathe, is made up of energy centres called chakras, meridians, nadis, health rays, and auras. This body in order to maintain health and balance needs what is known as prana, chi, life-force just like the physical body needs air, water, and food. When the flow of energy gets blocked in a channel or chakra due to toxic food and stressful situations and environments,  it can manifest as an imbalance or dis-ease in the energy body first and unlimitedly manifest as a physical symptom. If the flow is blocked, by simply unblocking it, understanding the trigger and putting in practices to keep it flowing in balance the physical body can rapidly bring fresh healing power to the area that had been inflamed causing pain and suffering. There are many different methods and therapists that can help maintain balance within the energy body. This is of vital importance to over all health and well-being and is being widely accepted by the medical and scientific worlds today. Personally, I studied under the Institute for Inner Studies founded by Master Choa Kok Sui and his method of healing the body through Pranic Energy Medicine is a gift to humanity.

Here is a typical case study that we worked with for 2 sessions putting the above holistic approach together ( mind – body- spirit )  to achieve amazing results. The client presented to the centre with severe bowel problems. They were in so much pain that their mother and aunt had to accompany just to make sure that they could make it up the stairs. The client was scheduled to have an operation to remove a portion of their bowel the following month. After an initial consultation and case history and because of the fact they had gone down the conventional medical route and on a lot of medication with no success for months, a decision was made to give a Pranic energy session to relieve the chronic pain. After 45 mins the pain had substantially reduced. We picked up in the energy field that wheat was very toxic to the system which was contributing to the bowel issue. Other contributing factors were family relationships which were very stressful, lack of self-esteem and holding onto anger which was causing the client so much toxicity within the whole system. After explaining to the client what they needed to do in order to heal, we put in place nutritional strategies after testing validated wheat being highly toxic to the physical body, meditation and relaxation techniques to rebalance the stressful issues and forgiveness protocols to allow a full flow of energy through their energy system which was very important to maintain and keep the energy channels clear to allow the healing to be absorbed on all levels ( mind – body -spirit ) by the client. A miraculous recovery followed within a very short period of time.

To finish this article, I’ve been blessed to witness and be in the presence of many 1000′s of miracles through working with the simple laws of nature on physical, mental and spiritual levels. For complete healing to take place we must look at dis-ease from a holistic point of view and not try and separate any part of our unique self. The more we learn to understand, educate and become responsible for our own health with the guidance and love of professionals, family, and other forces, we can achieve extraordinary results. Each and every one of us has the same healing ability and power. We must make the first step to want to heal by becoming empowered with the right knoweldge, education and path that feels right for our unique self.

Thank you for reading and if you have any questions please feel free to contact the centre.

I wish everyone love, light, happiness, joy, peace, healing, abundance and success in life.

Through trial and error, I came to really understand the importance of food. Like many other people, I was miseducated by the media and fitness industry which feeds us a narrow-minded view of nutrition. In my experience, modern diets and the fitness industry can create great results on a physical level, but there is knowledge available that is not always taken on board that can further advance health. A one size fits all attitude towards full health does not work for everyone and looking at a person’s full being, mind-body-spirit  achieves results on a far deeper level than just the physical. Striving for the perfect physique does not always equate to health.

Here’s the basic, simple truth that may be difficult to comprehend because of its simplicity. Our logical mind/ego wants complexity and science based reasoning. But when it comes to food, just think in terms of ENERGY. Food is energy and its purpose is to give us energy in order to do every day physical and mental tasks. The more strenuous the task, the more food for energy we need. Simple!

If you get in the habit of consuming healthy foods with good protein, slow releasing carbohydrates from clean sources, and vegetables and fruit, you have covered all your nutritional needs for nourishment, optimal health and well-being. Forget about calorie counting, different types of fad diets and supplementation unless you feel you are unable to get the balanced amount of nutrients through proper clean real food.

A balanced and varied diet that compliments your unique individual body is key for physical health. Any food that does not suit your individual body will lead to an imbalance or as the medical industry would diagnose with labels such as, obesity, thyroid disorders, diabetes to name but a few.

Some examples of clean sources of nutrients include:

Protein – Meat ( Sparingly ), Fish, Eggs, Legumes, Nuts, Seeds.

Carbohydrates – Rice, Potato, Grains, Vegetables, Fruit.

Good Fats – Avocado, Coconut oil and butters, Nuts and Nut Butters, Olive Oil, Fish oil.

Vitamins and Minerals – All of the above and super foods ( Chlorella, Spirulina, Wheat Grass, Chia seeds to name a few ) .

(The appropriateness of these foods is subject to the individual’s tolerance or intolerance to them.)

Water is also a key nutrient that our body needs in order to function properly. Dehydration can lead to several problems, such as mistaking hunger for thirst, which leads to overeating, muscle pain especially in the lower back and brain fog, to name just some issues.

So now that you have your fuel and water intake sorted and have planned a breakfast, lunch, evening meal, with a snack mid-morning and mid-afternoon (only if you feel hungry), you will have a full tank of energy ready to use throughout your day.

It is extremely important to eat breakfast, and if you exercise, to eat straight after your workout. Your breakfast should contain more protein sources and good fats to stabilise your blood sugar so you don’t have a mid-morning sugar crash. This keeps your mind sharp and focused on the tasks you have to do during the day. If you struggle with eating breakfast, I would suggest trying a homemade shake – using simple ingredients that covers all the nutrients your body  requires, and mixing them in a food blender.

After your workout, ideally you should have protein and a simple carbohydrate to help quickly replenish your energy. Again, whole foods are the way forward for physical health. You just have to be inventive and find foods that you find palatable and that suit your body best. Good sources of carbohydrates work really well at night to help the body and mind release serotonin and other hormones, which helps your nervous system relax and get ready to sleep so you can be refreshed and energetic for the next day.

Think of your body as a car and ask yourself the question: would you put diesel into a petrol car? Obviously the answer is NO because the car would not run efficiently and eventually break down. Yet this is what people all over the world are doing; causing the systems in the body to become very toxic resulting in break down. When the system is toxic it cannot eliminate waste stored in fat cells, muscles, tissues and organs, which eventually breaks down cells and contributes to weight gain, a sluggish thyroid, stress, lack of energy, depression, skin problems, anxiety, cancer and many more diseases.

No internet search or diet book can tell you exactly what fuel your body runs most efficiently on. We have found, that simple food intolerance testing, costing very little money is a huge investment in your future health, can give you a clear indication on what fuel your body runs best on to keep you balanced. The body then has a healthy environment to heal itself and your energy levels increase.

People are familiar with the fact that refined sugar, MSG, aspartame and all processed foods can contribute to disease in our bodies. Research has found that other foods such as broccoli, lemon, onions, dairy and other ‘clean’ food groups can also be the cause of health issues for some individuals. That is why it is so important to get a simple  food intolerance test done to see how your body responds to what you are eating and therefore allow your body to find its own natural balance.

Malnutrition is not normally thought of in our society as a disease, and almost always goes unidentified and untreated. It causes people to constantly feel hungry and lacking in energy. These symptoms are often misdiagnosed by the medical industry as obesity, anorexia, depression and anxiety, among other labels.. A pill will be prescribed, which often only masks the problem and doesn’t get to the deeper underlying issue which toxic food can be contributing factor.

So our perception of what it means to be fat or skinny is misrepresentative – it is simply malnutrition of that individual’s system. If the vehicle or your body isn’t getting the right fuel, it won’t run efficiently or have the energy to sustain a healthy, happy, successful life.

Malnutrition of our bodies then leads us to stimulants such as caffeine, energy drinks and sugar to get the energy we need. These, of course, are a false source of energy and only lead to an energy crash that causes enormous stress on the body. This can then lead to stomach problems, more stress, depression, weight gain, anxiety, muscle problems, food addiction and cancer.

Our behaviour is then affected by having imbalanced energy. Some behavioural issues from malnutrition that people may experience include hyperactivity, depression or low self-esteem, anger, frustration, hopelessness and suicidal thoughts.

These symptoms are very noticeable, especially in children, who are then sent to doctors, psychologists and other therapists for treatment. Often these symptoms are labelled as ADHD, ADD, Asperger’s or Autism. These labels further program the body for disease in the future. The wrong food for the individual is the one driving force for behaviour issues that needs to be addressed first.

Good sleep is crucial for overall health and well-being. Insufficient sleep has an adverse effect on your immune and nervous systems. No medication will reverse the effects of poor bedtime practice. Most of us are living life in reverse and not flowing with our natural cycles. Waking up tired and going to bed wired and stressed. This ‘normal’ pattern of daily life has a deteriorating effect on our well-being.

Some essential points to improve restful sleep especially for children and teenagers are:

➔ Your bedroom should resemble a bat cave – no light.

➔ No technology – i.e. phones, TV, computers, video games, etc.

➔ Thirty minutes of relaxation before bed – e.g. soft music, candles, guided meditation.

➔ Gratitude log and positive journal to aid a restful mind.

➔ Eating the correct foods to aid sleep.

Suggestions:

❏ Book a simple food intolerance test to see how you can keep your unique energy high naturally to fulfil your daily activities. That’s how simple it is meant to be! Cuts out the guess work and unnecessary suffering.

❏ Rotate different food sources and make each meal as colourful as possible, choosing from a list of good whole sources of proteins, good fats, carbohydrates, vegetables and fruits.

❏ Sit with your family regularly to enjoy the process of eating and savouring the atmosphere of the food that has been prepared with gratitude and love. Try at least once a day, but if that’s not possible, try at least once a week.

❏ Relax while eating with no distractions from computers, newspapers or phones. Create good eating habits and pass them on to your children.

❏ Eating while stressed does not allow you to absorb full nourishment from food. We are not meant to eat on the run as we stressfully try to meet deadlines and daily tasks. We are meant to be in a relaxed state to release enzymes to facilitate proper digestion and receive full nourishment from our food.

❏ Eat good, natural food. This will balance weight and control hormones, especially blood sugar and stress hormones. It maintains a strong immune system, proper focus, fun in life, confidence and happiness.

To finish, I have spent thousands on education, read book after book, tried different systems of eating, got tested a number of times and as soon as I started to see FOOD AS ENERGY, it cleared the confusion and debunked all the special diets and fads that huge marketing companies use to sell fitness, health and associated products.

My mother’s body came to a complete stop at the early age of 56.  Food was a major part of why her body deteriorated alongside smoking and excessive worrying.  Do not let your body break down prematurely.  Hopefully you will understand now the importance of making healthy food choices.  Food is your medicine.

At Health 3.0 we do a non-invasive food intolerance test that takes 40 minutes and tests for over 150 different food groups. You can book you appointment by contacting the centre on 053 9143084. Check out our website www.damienwade.ie for more information.