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Practitioner Retreat in Costa Rica
A couple of years ago, at a conference in Malibu, I sat outside late with a group of friends drinking wine and talking. Every once and awhile one of us would declare ‘no more kinesiology-talk’, but it never lasted long; the conversation returning again and again to the work/research/politics of this fascinating modality. Some of these were people I had never met in person before, but we all felt deeply bonded by our shared experience with this work. Later, talking with one of these friends, he expressed some sadness that there had been so few opportunities to actually work on each other at the conference. Sure, there was a ‘Balance…
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Memories of Water and Frozen 2
In the new Disney movie Frozen 2, Elsa reveals another interesting power that we don’t see in the first movie. In addition to making ice, making dresses, bestowing life upon snow-folk and singing songs that will linger in your consciousness for all eternity, in this movie she makes water behave in an interesting way. She seems to be able to summon the memories of a place through the water found there, then turn it to ice so that she can look at it properly. This as a concept is kind of fascinating because it mingles with some of the science that we are playing with in the holistic health field…
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What’s in a name? Losing my ‘K’
What’s in a name? We have long known that ‘Kinesiology’ is not the perfect word to describe what we do. Yes, there is muscle testing and yes, we study muscle movement, but we know that what we do falls into a broad spectrum. Some of our modalities are overtly concerned with structure; muscles, spindle cells, proprioception and the way these move together. Others don’t pay attention to muscle or structure at all, perhaps only teaching the use of a single indicator muscle in order to read stress found mostly in the emotional and energetic systems. Other systems run the gambit and dip into both ends. No wonder it is difficult…
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Balancing the World, from the Heart
I was actually a little nervous yesterday in that ‘what if you throw a party and no-one comes?’ kind of way. Yesterday (September 29) was World Heart Day, and so all over social media I could see posts and memes warning about heart disease, about diet, about the statistical likelihood that your heart stopping is the reason for your death. As an international community of holistic health practitioners, the IKC (International Kinesiology College) decided to do something quite different. We hosted a ‘Balancathon’. In the Chinese meridian system, every two hours of the 24-hour daily cycle, the meridian that is in charge or at its’ peak of energy changes. 11am-1:00pm…
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A KinesioGeek Manifesto
KinesioGeek is a term that I began using jokingly to refer to my own brand of nerdiness a few years ago and I was surprised when others began using the term themselves. I realized I had struck a cord – this was something we could identify with. Do we need a manifesto? Not really. But this is what I stand for in my industry in a nutshell, and if you want to stand with me I am thrilled to see you here! To read the magazine, check out gemskinesiology.com And in text below for those who can’t see the image properly: I will use what I know to create balance…
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My Problems with Self-Acceptance
I have major problems with self-acceptance. Here’s the thing – I work in an industry where we are constantly trying to help people to love and accept themselves and I understand that this is a key to feeling good and healing both physically and emotionally and all the rest of that. We say it like they are the same thing: self-love and self-acceptance, and in reality, they have to be pretty closely linked because how can you love that which you don’t accept? And yet this is where I struggle. For one simple reason that might sound silly when I say it out loud, but here it goes: I want…
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A life-changing foot rub in 10 minutes or less
Feet are not my favourite thing to work on. Especially here, in the land of perpetual flip-flops where feet tend to be particularly grubby. But there are times when working on feet is absolutely going to be the key to getting someone back into good shape. I had one of those sessions the other day, and as I was working on said Hobbit feet, I started thinking about foot rubs and how often well-meaning people give really bad foot massages. You know the ones; they are ticklish, or vaguely creepy. But if you know what you are doing, you can reset someone’s posture, release old injuries, relax the body and…
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Goodbye Happily Holistic
Warning: nostalgia which may or may not become schmaltzy. My old office is closing. Happily Holistic, the business we began when we returned from Costa Rica, built for five years and then sold. I am feeling a little bit heartbroken over this. I knew that it wasn’t mine anymore after I sold it and tried to stay out of their business. But this forces me to think about it a little bit; what made it successful for those five years? Yeah, I know it probably sounds like I am saying that I am the secret sauce in this equation, but I know that isn’t the case. I think the difference…
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Launch Something; Learn Empathy
Putting something new out into the world can be terrifying. Saturday morning I woke before my alarm, even though it was early and I had been up until 1:00am the night before working on the final details. Launch day – time to ship. For the last 7 months I have been part of a team that has been working on a new App for Specialized Kinesiology practitioners. Something new and scary that has the potential to change the way things are done completely, while also having the potential to create anger or confusion. I am thrilled with this App and what it represents; all the things that I fully believe…
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What does success feel like to you? Literally.
I was recently interviewed for a book and this was on the list of questions. I had been given the list in advance, so I had some time to prepare my answers. I made a few notes that were probably pretty unremarkable: happy healthy family, the ability to travel, knowing I’ve helped others, etc. But then during the actual interview, she changed the question somewhat. She asked me, ‘What does success feel like; as in how does it literally feel in your body?’ And with that slight change in the question, the answer changes entirely. It goes from a question that can be answered easily into a moment that actually…
