Balancing the Brain with BodyTalk
Nov 20, 2009
By Karen Atkins, LMT, AdvCBI, AdvCBP, PaRama BP
One of the biggest issues with children today is
that their brains are being severely compromised by the myriad of stresses that
are bombarding them. Since the brain is the CEO of the body, it has to be in
charge of all the activities in the body.
This bombardment of kids' brains and their entire
nervous system often starts in the womb and continues in childbirth and through
early childhood.
Through my own experience of a traumatic birth, I
spent a good portion of my life reacting to the emotional and psychological
imbalances that I have since tracked as an imbalance in the brain.
My particular birth trauma involved the umbilical
cord being wrapped around my neck, being birthed with forceps, and placed in
an incubator for a day and half without contact with my mother, who was knocked
out as a pain relief measure. Early in my childhood I was thought to be ADHD
and was labeled, which only added to the problem, especially at school. I had
to work really hard to get good grades and was always getting into trouble for
misbehavior, which in hindsight I recognize was just acting out my frustration
about not being understood.
As an adult, I was plagued by the residual
unanswered questions about why I was the way I was and still felt
different...which led me into healing, and eventually, to BodyTalk.
From the outset, BodyTalk provided me with immediate
anxiety relief, which had been there from birth. It also resolved a 10-year
chronic issue with debilitating back pain, and ongoing digestive issues. So I
was hooked, and 7 years later, after endless positive results with children,
parents and other adults using this easily accessible, non-invasive, non
judging therapy, I created Nurture New York and Nurture Networks as the
vehicles to expose more people to this powerful therapy and to bring education,
healing tools and a sanctuary for creative expression to everyone in NYC and
beyond.
After practicing BodyTalk for about a year, I went
to school for massage therapy and it was there that I noticed something very
interesting. I no longer had to read and re-read my books and study endlessly
for exams, as I had previously done in school and I was continually getting
excellent grades, even though the material was more technical than many other
things I had studied. BodyTalk had balanced my brain!
One of the most effective methods for addressing
psycho-physical-emotional behavioral problems in children is the simple
BodyTalk technique of 'tapping out the cortices' (balancing the right and left
hemispheres of the brain). This technique, when done regularly, helps to reset
the emotional center of the brain, that tends to over-react to the stresses of
life and creates a barrier to development and overall health.
The brain is intrinsically connected to every part
of the body. The theory behind balancing the brain is that all disease is
reflected in the brain at some level. Images of the brain show that there are
'cold spots' or inactive areas of the brain, which correspond to areas of the
body where there is disease. We have found that balancing the brain with
BodyTalk, and particularly tapping out the cortices (which is one of the best
ways to balance out the brain) the cold spots either diminish or totally
disappear and so does the corresponding illness.
Our nervous systems have a natural reaction to
stress or danger, called the 'fight or flight' response. This reaction takes
resources away from the systems of the body responsible for healing and growing
in order to protect us. While this is a necessary response to dangerous
situations, imbalances in our brain cause this behavior to be the first and
sometimes the only response to daily stress. Doing BodyTalk and particularly
'tapping out the cortices' allows the brain to calm down and get out of the
'fight or flight' mode as quickly as possible, which allows us to heal and
grow. For children in particular, whose brains are growing and developing so
rapidly, this shift is essential.
There have been thousands of case studies reporting
positive changes and progress in children with BodyTalk. An example of this is
a child named Lola, who had been having difficultly focusing, concentrating and
"sequencing." The following is a testimonial from her father:
Lola (4), is a child with a tremendous amount of
exuberance. We found though, that her "exuberance" would often times make it
difficult for her to concentrate or remain focused for any length of time. For
example, she could never sit still long enough to watch TV (not necessarily a
bad thing, I know) but it seemed to be more than her inability to focus as she
had difficulty in "sequencing". Sequencing is the brain's ability to piece
together and follow along a coherent line of thought (like a story, or
counting, etc.). This was a challenge for Lola and resulted in frustration that
often lead to acting out. The frustration got to the point this winter that we
decided to try some BodyTalk sessions.
After four sessions over three months the changes in
Lola have been, dare I say, dramatic. She is still her ever exuberant self, but
she can now sit still, by herself, with a book or watch a show or do some
coloring for an extended period of time. More then once, I have turned to my
wife and asked her (half seriously) who that little girl is sitting quietly
over on the chair thumbing through a clothing catalogue or pleasantly
interacting with another child or adult. Recently, Lola's teacher had pulled my
wife aside (unsolicited) and commented on how much Lola has changed over the
last few months, commenting that ". . .it's as if a light has been turned on. .
."
Lola's case is not unique. It is my dream to awaken
our planet with knowledge of these kinds of solutions for kids that don't have
to be painful or complicated.
"An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time
has come."
Victor Hugo