Natural Medicine Week – Practitioner Webinar Recordings 2020

Natural Medicine Week – Practitioner Webinar Recordings 2020

During Natural Medicine Week 2020 our accredited practitioners across different types of Ingestive Therapies, Bodywork & Massage and Chinese Medicine came together to present online events in celebration of a natural approach to health and wellbeing.

If you missed any of these fabulous events, don’t worry – they also recorded their webinars, sessions and Q and A’s so you can watch them at your own leisure.

START WATCHING NOW – check out all the links below!

And a huge THANK YOU to all our practitioners for taking the time to support Natural Medicine Week in 2020 and sharing their therapies

TO WATCH – Click  on the URLs below. 

“From Invisible to Invincible” – The Natural Menopause Revolution
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykm3-IOA-5w&t=24s

Presented by Jennifer Harrington, Clinical Director / Naturopath – Menopause Natural Solutions
www.menopausenaturalsolutions.com.au

The Brain- Gut- Hormone Connection
How stress influences Gut Health and Hormone Balance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJAh7LjB6kU&feature=youtu.be

Presented by Jacqui Watts – Healthful Wellness (www.healthful.net.au) & Danielle Elliott -Tummy Rescue (https://www.facebook.com/tummyrescue/)

 

Endometriosis? Why You Should Remove Gluten and How

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjUEBZm_oB0&feature=youtu.be

Anne-Marijke Gerretsen, the Endometriosis Nutritionist – Eat Well Live Well

www.eatwelllivewell.com.au

The Ketogenic Diet – Is It Right For You?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_Ek72TV4-U&feature=youtu.be

Sonya Reynolds, Nutritionist & Life Coach, Studio-You

https://www.studio-you.com.au/

 

Homeopathy for sleep disorders

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPZgJA1ZL5w

Christina Boyd, Homeopath, Holistic Kinesiologist, Switch on Health

https://www.switchonhealth.com.au

Natural therapies for Hormonal Skin Conditions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YADvMQXdBe4

Deanne Apostolou, Medical Herbalist & Iridologist, Switch on Health

https://www.switchonhealth.com.au

Natural Remedies for Pain

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqF_Az3kqYU

Sally Maizey, Naturopath & Homeopath, Switch on Health

https://www.switchonhealth.com.au

Natural Medicine for Low Thyroid Function

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sw06Fx8agQ8

Carol Hannington, Naturopath, Switch on Health

https://www.switchonhealth.com.au

Switch on Health is the only ATMS accredited college to offer non-Bachelor qualifications in Nutrition, Herbal Medicine, and Naturopathy, and the only college in Australia offering an accredited course in Homeopathy. You can study from home in your own time at your own pace.  The courses are fully tutor supported and flexible payment plans are available.  Sample course content can be viewed for free at our learning platform: https://switchonhealth.learnworlds.com/start

 

The Gut-Brain Connection Webinar

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/2f1yL7POykhIH7fz6G72d4wlEo_OX6a8hHMe_PMPyh0BxjbW3SvUT-LDQNCQco0m

Rachel Aldridge, Naturopath – In Natures Hands

http://www.innatureshands.com.au

 

All Disease Begins in the Stomach

https://www.medicinetraditions.com/natural-medicine-week.html

Adam Tate, Practitioner of Traditional Medicine, Medicine Traditions

https://www.medicinetraditions.com/

 

Cuppa with a Kinesiologist

https://www.kinique.com/share-a-cuppa-with-a-kinesiologist-webinar-recording/?utm_source=mailpoet&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=share-a-cuppa-with-a-kinesiologist-thank-you_22

Marney Perna – www.kinique.com

Anika Brizuela – www.branchoutempoweredhealth.com

Madonna Guy – www.newleafnaturaltherapies.com.au

Molly Brumm – www.consciousheartkinesiology.com.au  

Vanessa Worn – www.facebook.com/Full-Potential-Kinesiology-107332970999197

Zoie Andrews – www.mybestselfwellness.com.au

 

Benefits of Kinesiology

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOskfN5FFeA&t=11s

KinesiAlice – Kinesiology, Mind Body Medicine, Integrative Therapy

https://www.kinesialice.com.au/

Kinesiology and Anxiety

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQL9SCSkdsQ

KinesiAlice – Kinesiology, Mind Body Medicine, Integrative Therapy

https://www.kinesialice.com.au/

Kinesiology and Depression 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDWOTK0YwZc

KinesiAlice – Kinesiology, Mind Body Medicine, Integrative Therapy

https://www.kinesialice.com.au/

Kinesiology and Sleep

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vR4rAHyn8o&t=7s

KinesiAlice – Kinesiology, Mind Body Medicine, Integrative Therapy

https://www.kinesialice.com.au/

Kinesiology and Kids

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3OruKmKqZM&t=1s

KinesiAlice – Kinesiology, Mind Body Medicine, Integrative Therapy

https://www.kinesialice.com.au/

 

7 Secrets to Success – how to beat burnout, stress & overwhelm for good!

https://kajabi.awakendivinefeminine.com/registration-page-1

Kristie Hayden

https://www.facebook.com/DreamWeaverCoaching/

For the first to know about the next Natural Medicine Week – sign up to our newsletter – click here! 

#naturalmedicineweek – natural medicine, a natural choice

Chronic Pain & the Nervous System

Acupuncture needles on stone

Acute pain is usually caused by an injury to our body, and should resolve once healing has occurred. However, sometimes pain persists. When pain continues with no apparent physical reason for it, this indicates that there is no longer just a problem with the body, but there may also be a problem with the nervous system.

Types of Chronic Pain:

  1. Pain that persists after an injury
  2. Ongoing tension pain such as in the back, hip or neck
  3. Ongoing pain due to physical problems. For example: arthritis, degeneration, tumour growth and nerve impingement

All types of chronic pain involve changes in the nervous system. If pain persists, nerves get used to being excited, become more easily activated, releasing more pain chemicals and can sensitise an area so that pain is experienced more easily, even when there is only light touch or small movement, or an increase in stress. (Pearson, 2014)

Pain is a signal that something is dangerous to the body, and its purpose is to stop you doing whatever it is that you are doing. Pain is a strong deterrent, but pain can be disproportionate to an injury or damage and can recur when there is no longer a danger or injury. It’s important to consult with your health practitioner to ensure that there’s nothing wrong in your body that requires immediate attention. If you’ve been given the go ahead you can then explore alternative ways to manage or resolve this pain.

Acupuncture is an excellent treatment for pain – acute and chronic, as is massage and all modalities of bodywork. Bodywork practices help to release tight muscles, help the client connect to their bodies the present moment, and free up the movement of qi and blood.

My Clinical Experience Treating Pain

For 15 years I have seen clients present with different types of enduring pain like sciatica, back or neck pain, and have found that they respond well to shiatsu, cupping and acupuncture. However, often their symptoms return in a week or two. At first, I didn’t understand this. Week after week, year after year I was treating their symptoms, yet I became aware that I wasn’t making a permanent difference. Intuitively I sensed that I was just working on their physical issues, and that their tension patterns were the result of their emotional state, posture, and childhood experiences.

Similarly, I found my own chronic hip pain getting worse with stress which I believe was related to my childhood – the terrible fighting with my brother that had gone on for so many years. As a result of this my body had become chronically braced in a fight response, ready to defend myself. This tension started in the psoas muscle on the right, then pulled my pelvis into a twist, resulting in sacroiliac pain. Osteopathy and other therapies could realign my pelvis, even temporarily release the psoas, but within a few days it’d all be back again.

Trauma – Often an Underlying Cause of Chronic Pain

Chronic pain is more likely to occur when there is significant prolonged stress or a history of trauma. Both pain and trauma affect the nervous system and the brain as both are responsible for our experience of pain. Therefore, in order to resolve chronic pain, we need to address this level of our being.

Trauma can be understood as an experience where we felt threatened, or our life is at risk, and we could not overcome the threat. For example, a child who is bullied by a parent or a gang of kids at school. The threat is too big for them to cope with and the SNS (fight/flight-action response) is engaged but cannot be completed (cannot fight or flee the threat). This triggers the nervous system into overwhelm (freeze response) and the charge is suppressed but held in the body to be dealt with at a later time, when it is safe. But that safe time may not happen. We have also been conditioned to “get on with it” and “get over it” and so do not give ourselves the time and space needed to address and release a stressful experience.

We have all experienced feelings of overwhelmed in our lives, and they can add up creating low grade stress under the surface. If we don’t allow our body to release these “charges” under the surface we may find ourselves chronically stressed, anxious or depressed as it takes a lot of energy to hold these in. This also makes us more likely to experience chronic pain, as well as other illnesses.

The Pain Cycle

One of the most important factors in chronic muscular pain is the unresolved fight/flight/freeze (trauma) reaction. The unreleased muscle tensing leads to pain, which in turn leads to fear and more bracing, which leads to more pain. (Levine & Phillips, 2012)

So, how do we begin to let go of trauma from our body and nervous system?

Firstly, it is important to understand how the nervous system works. This needs more than a few sentences to explain properly but there are many books and articles that explore this in depth. Please refer to resources list at the end of this article.

Tools and Techniques to Reset and Rewire the Nervous System:

  1. Body Awareness exercises – these include mindfulness meditations, yoga, Pilates, conscious dance, walking or gentle movement with awareness, noticing the pain but focusing more on any pleasure or good feelings in the body
  2. Calm Breathing – there are many exercises available online, but the emphasis should be on gradually taking longer breaths, then making them smoother and softer. (Neil Pearson 2014)
  3. Vagus Nerve Exercises – my favourite is sounding “Ahhh” at the heart centre for at least three repetitions and then noticing the body. Do you feel calmer or more activated? Then sounding “Ooooh” at the belly – just below the navel. Again, notice the sensations in the body after three or more sounds. Complete by resting one palm over the heart and the other over the belly. Tell yourself you are there for you, right now.
  4. TRE® (Tension and Trauma Releasing Exercises) may be appropriate for you. Also seeing a somatic-focused counsellor, or craniosacral therapist may help.

I used all of the above tools and techniques in my recovery from chronic hip pain.

If you are suffering with chronic pain, I recommend you address it from three levels – the body, the mental/emotional, and the nervous system. Try and find a therapist who has some awareness of how the nervous system affects pain. You need to find someone you feel safe with and heard by, so your nervous system can relax, which is half the work. There will also be many daily self-practices which may be challenging but rewarding.

Perhaps the pain you experience can be seen as an opportunity to bring you more into the present and into your body, and closer to your feelings. You may resolve old emotional traumas, improve existing relationships and grow as a human being.