BodyTalk: Enabling the Mind-Body Link for Better Health

Sep 19, 2011 by Peggy Robertson

Dear Peggy,

Could you share information about different kinds of complementary, or more holistic, health practitioners? I have always gone to an M.D., but I hear my other friends talk about different kinds of doctors that veer from the mainstream or traditional medical mindset, and I’m wondering what would be the benefit of going to them.

In good health, Susan

Dear Susan,

There are many different forms of complementary health care. I am surrounded by complementary health care “talk,” doctors, research, and so on because I am married to a chiropractor.  In addition, I help lead a chapter of the Holistic Moms Network where we are constantly talking about our children’s doctors and the pros and cons of health care options.  My beliefs about healing and health have changed tremendously over the past ten years.

I find complementary health care options to be incredibly empowering because they all have something in common—the belief that the body can heal itself.  I was raised in a very Western medicine-”minded” family where we took a pill, used an ointment or received a shot to solve our health problems.  And I definitely believe that Western medicine has its benefits, but there are additional methods for treating illness that can actually be less invasive, and in many ways, reach deeper, and discover the core problem that has led itself outward and expressed its presence in the shape of illness, rashes, food allergies, muscle pain, headaches and so on.

I will talk about one complementary health care option today and will follow up the next few columns with more.  I’m going to start by sharing one that I personally use frequently:  BodyTalk.

My friends tease me because whenever they have a physical ailment or an emotional issue that may be affecting their health, they know that one of the first things I will say is, “Have you gone to my BodyTalk Practitioner yet?”  I’m obsessed with BodyTalk.  And for good reason—it works.

Here is a brief description of BodyTalk, courtesy of Tricia Gast, Advanced BodyTalk Practitioner:

“In the body, each system, organ and even cell is in constant communication with each other. As we experience stress in our lives, this communication breaks down or becomes less efficient and effective. The result is a decline in physical, emotional and/or mental well-being.

“BodyTalk helps reconnect lines of communication, which allows the body’s systems to function at optimal levels. When these links are in place and functioning properly and naturally, the body defends against illness, heals itself at a more rapid rate and more easily adapts to life’s challenges.

“BodyTalk is part of an integral philosophy to health care. It can be used independently of any other treatments or be integrated into other forms of treatment as a complementary process.”

My husband, my two boys, and I, all see our BodyTalk Practitioner regularly. BodyTalk has solved numerous issues for us ranging from digestive issues, muscular issues, emotional issues, even immune system-building support.  What I have found to be especially fascinating is the connection between our health issues and events in our lives that have left an emotional “mark.”

I’m sure that many of us have a current physical ailment that is connected to a past injury and event.  For example, I have a shoulder injury due to an event that occurred when I was 16.  I was asked to pull a large adult out of a swimming pool during a lifeguard-training course.  At that time in my life, I weighed about ninety pounds, and while standing on the edge of the pool, leaning forward to pull the soon-to-be bruised woman out, I managed to yank the woman half way out of the water, drop her on the concrete (listen to her scream) and simultaneously pull my left shoulder completely out of whack.  My shoulder has never been the same.  Can you relate to this experience in some way?  Perhaps a car wreck, a sports injury or falling out of a tree left a nagging physical pain somewhere?

Now consider this:  we also have emotional injuries due to past events, and these emotional injuries express themselves through physical or external consequences.  We simply aren’t aware of the connection between our emotional injury and our physical ailment. BodyTalk is able to find the mind-body link and create a new line of communication between the brain and body in order to support healing.

It’s a fascinating concept, and while I understand it objectively, I still stand in awe when it works, seemingly like magic.  I believe this is due to my Western-minded health upbringing where we really weren’t in charge of our health and needed pills to fix ourselves.  I have had to shift the way I think about my health.  I have such great respect for the body-mind connection now and an equally great respect for the practitioners that are able to support us in ways that don’t require filling a prescription.

Body Talk is also able to relieve stress and help create calmness by helping the mind and body to communicate.  I tend to be rather hyper, rather impulsive and I pretty much run a hundred miles an hour all the time.  I’m sure I shouldn’t be drinking coffee as I type this .  I talk fast, walk fast, eat fast and simply need to stop, breathe and be in the moment. My mother says she gets exhausted just watching me. And unfortunately, yoga doesn’t work for me (feels like a slow torturous death), but BodyTalk actually does help me calm down, breathe and develop a different mindset, much to the relief of everyone. So, there are a multitude of reasons to check it out.  It’s also fabulous for keeping your immune system in working order; if the body and mind aren’t communicating, imagine the glitches that might lead you to developing a cold.

If you are located in Denver, go to BodyTalk Denver for more information regarding Tricia Gast, Advanced Certified BodyTalk Practitioner.  She does incredible work.  If you are not in Denver and would like to locate a BodyTalk Practitioner, check out the International BodyTalk Association where you can also see a video that will demonstrate a BodyTalk technique you can use at home.

Warmly and simply,

Peggy

Peggy Robertson is a stay-at-home mama, former educator, runner, swimmer, sometimes crafty knitter, gardener and stellar organizer. She is the founder of the Denver chapter of the Holistic Moms Network.