There are different types of Bowen Therapy. The one that I use is called Bowtech. This is the original form of the therapy developed by Tom Bowen.

Some of the conditions that often respond favourably to Bowen work are:

• Back pain and sciatica
• Digestive and bowel problems, including constipation
• Earache and jaw problems
• Migraines and headaches
• Hip, knee, ankle and foot problems
• Menstrual and hormonal irregularities
• Neck and shoulder problems (including frozen shoulder)
• Groin pain, pelvic tilt and uneven leg length
• Respiratory problems and hayfever
• RSI, carpal tunnel syndrome and tennis elbow
• Sports and other traumatic injuries

This list is by no means exhaustive.

Bowtech can be beneficial in a wide range of situations. It can assist recovery from many conditions, from traumatic injury to chronic illness, depending on each individual’s capacity to heal. Some people say that Bowen can reignite the healing process when it may have stalled.

Please contact the clinic if you’d like to know more about Bowen for a specific condition. More information on Bowtech can be found at www.bowtech.com

Adapted from Bowtech Instruction Manual by Oswald and Elaine Rentsch, Modules 1 & 2

Young children who do not get enough sleep, even with consideration of lifestyle factors had an increased risk of becoming overweight.

A group of 244 children took part in The Family Lifestyle, Activity, Movement and Eating (FLAME) study in Dunedin, New Zealand. Each participant was monitored every 6 months, from age 3 to 7 years, recording of their weight, height, body mass index (BMI), and body composition were measured every six months from 3 to 7 years of age.  At age 3, 4, and 5 participants where monitored for body movement, physical activity and sleep and diet and was completed.

The results of the New Zealand research concluded that young children who sleep less than 11 hours a day are at a significantly increased risk of having a higher BMI by age 7, even after controlling for other risk factors for weight gain.

Each additional hour of sleep per night at age 3 to 5 years was associated with a reduction in BMI of 0.49 and a 61% reduction in the risk of being overweight or obese at age 7.

Brain Gym, developmental movement for retained reflexes with simple sensory processing activities, can offer additional support calming and better quality sleep for all ages.

Journal Reference:
BMJ-British Medical Journal (2011, May 27).
Children who sleep less are more likely to be overweight, study finds.

ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2011/05/110526205103.htm

I thought I might point out a few things about sitting in front of a lap top, just to get you thinking about the sort of damage that you can do without even realising it.

Is this you?

Computer neck!!!  Your head is about as heavy as a bowling ball.  The muscles at the back of your head are trying really hard to hold your head up in this posture.

What happens?

You end up with a sore neck and tops of shoulders.  A lot of people get headaches as well.

Should I even mention that sitting cross legged on an angle can stress your low back?  Maybe not.

Try changing to this!

Making sure that your neck is in line with your back makes for less strain on your neck and shoulders.

Feet flat on the floor puts less strain on your low back.

Hmmmm…. Less pain!

A study from the US has proven that your personality type can have a major impact on your weight. A study of 2000 participants, spanning more than 50 years showed that people with impulsive, cynical, competitive or aggressive personalities were more likely to be overweight, whilst those who displayed neurotic tendencies tended to be yo-yo dieters (this study was published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, July 2011).

A similar study conducted in Japan (published in Bio Psycho Social Medicine) looked at 101 subjects but this study was only conducted over a six month period.

However it seems, no matter the length of the study, the location or the number of subjects, the results are the same. Your personality can impact on your weight. By defining you personality type, it is possible to make conscious decisions about your daily activities including food and exercise. You just need to be aware of your personality pros and cons and work with them to make a better, fitter, healthier you.

For more help & information on how to maintain your weight with consideration of your personality, make an appointment to see our Dietitian today.

Emotional stress can contribute to physical conditions in children, just as it can in adults. Neuro Emotional Technique (NET) is extremely effective at helping children to release this stress.

Children often have a difficult time expressing how they are feeling about a situation. When this stress isn’t released effectively it can contribute to the development of a physical condition. With NET we identify the emotional stress and help your child to release it.

Emotional stress can contribute to an unlimited list of physical conditions, but some common symptoms that could indicate that your child has emotional stress include:

• Sleeping problems
• Tantrums or misbehaving more than usual
• Being unusually sensitive or emotional about trivial things
• Aches and pains
• Headaches
• Stomach aches
• Food sensitivity or intolerance

NET is a gentle technique, which makes it very suitable for children. To make the correction we will ask your child to think about the stress that’s related to their physical complaint. Then we’ll ask them to contact specific body points that are associated with the stress, and we’ll perform a quick and gentle adjustment. It’s that simple!

If you think your child may benefit from NET talk to one of our chiropractors.

The silly season is in full swing but perhaps you’re looking forward to the quiet time post Christmas.  This is a great time to reassess the pace of your life.

A favourite tool of mine in the clinic is using an ‘energy cake’ to depict a client’s life, as it is now and where they’d like it to be.  We notice what the balance is like in the juggling act of work, family, play, friends, etc in everyday life and then, working quickly with Brain Gym® , we reset and produce a more balanced ‘energy cake’.

Why not sit down with a sheet of paper, a pencil and eraser and try this simple process.

1. List all the parts of your life  – yourself, partner, children, family, relationships, home, garden, friends, work, activities, etc
2. Draw a large circle = your Energy Cake
3. Now allocate a piece of your Energy Cake to everyone or thing on your list. The energy needed for each item is reflected in the size you allocate it
4. Notice how it feels as you add all your aspects of life – is there enough space for everything and everyone? Does it feel balanced or well proportioned?
5. If you answer no, why not pop in for a 30 minute Brain Gym session, with your energy cake and we can create a healthy, well balanced Energy Cake for 2012.

I attended a conference a few weeks ago looking at the chemical make-up of dairy foods and how these affect our body. Multiple studies have been conducted on the impact of saturated fats on our health. There are a number of different kinds of saturated fats, and it was a few specific saturated fats that are found in dairy foods that were the focus of the conference. The information presented was all very scientific.

At the end of the first day of the conference, I walked out thinking to myself “but what affect do all these nutrients have when they are all mixed together in a food, the way they are when we consume them?” I obviously wasn’t the only person thinking this as it was a question raised the very next day. The answer – all foods are nutritionally more than the sum of each part.

As we are well and truly in the depth of the festive season, I feel that this is the perfect time to invite everyone to take a step back for a while and take stock what you are trying to achieve through your diet and lifestyle. Are you looking too closely at your foods and drinks thus making eating & drinking seem more of a daily chore that something that you enjoy and share with friends? Rather than be a martyr on yourself this festive season, why not enjoy everything it has to offer. Stone fruits including mangos, peaches, nectarines, etc, as well as blueberries & raspberries are all in season so enjoy them. Beautifully coloured pumpkins & beetroot are fresh, tasty and look fantastic in a salad or dish- so make the most of their availability. And what is summer without seafood and barbeques?

Rather than be constantly restricting what you eat – embrace the festive season and take advantage of what the season has to offer – plenty of amazing fruit & vegetables, fresh seafood and amazing weather to let you get outdoors and be active.

Some children and adults are less resilient than others. They seem easily overwhelmed and bombarded by all sorts of sensory experiences or new experiences that others barely notice.

Many of us ‘sensitive’ types (balance, sound, smell, vision, touch, etc) may actually have an active retained primitive reflex such as Fear Paralysis Reflex (FPR) or Moro continually challenging our tolerance for stress or amplifying perceived threats or fears or having toddler tantrum like behaviour well past our toddler age.

Sensitivities signal that our limbic system, (emotion, memory and hormone centres of the brain) may not be well ‘wired’ to higher levels of the brain, like the prefrontal cortex (the ‘CEO’ of thought and judgement) which impedes our ability to rationalise; etc.

In fact moving past the terrible toddler tantrum stage indicates that enhanced neural development through the limbic system has been effective.  If there has never been defiance at the 2-3 ages it is also indicative of our emotional centres not being well developed.

Reconnecting or consolidation of these neural pathways through the limbic with rhythmic movement based on developmental movements we make as infants has been found extremely beneficial in a number of areas of emotional support.

For more information check out the website www.rhythmicmovment.com or contact Evonne in the clinic.

A new initiative called Exercise is Medicine^® Australia (www.exerciseismedicine.org.au) has been set up to focus on encouraging health care providers to review and assess every patient’s physical activity levels at every visit.

Exercise is Medicine® Australia: guiding principles

There are three guiding principles of this initiative that are designed to improve the health and wellbeing of all Australians through regular physical activity. The guiding principles are:

1. Physical activity and exercise are important to health and the prevention and treatment of many chronic diseases;
2. More should be done to address physical activity and exercise in health care settings; and
3. Patients should be referred to appropriately trained health professionals to deliver exercise treatment services.

The prescription you receive is exercise!

Research has proven that exercise, instructed or prescribed at the correct intensity and duration, not only improves our quality of life but it decreases our risk of disease, chronic health conditions and obesity.   Here are some exercise intensity facts.

Regular exercise at the correct intensity can:

• Significantly improve overall health

• Reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease by one-third

• Decrease depression as effectively as medications or behaviour therapy

• Reduce the risk of heart disease by 40%

• Lower the risk of stroke by 27%

• Reduce the incidence of high blood pressure by almost 50%

• Reduce the incidence of diabetes by almost 50%

• Reduce mortality and the risk of recurrent breast cancer by almost 50%

• Lower the risk of colon cancer by over 60%

Ref : Exercise Is Medicine (US) brochure 2009

Moving optimally

When we do move and exercise, we all want it to be with as much ease as possible.  The correct exercise prescription can also assist your chiropractic treatments, helping your body feel its best.

What you should do

Open up a dialogue with the team at Kingswilliam, speak to an Accredited Exercise Physiologist (AEP) or visit the Exercise is Medicine ® Australia website www.exerciseismedicine.org.au.

Deb Koorey is an exercise physiologist, director of  “Let’s Get Fit” and one of the team of professionals that we use at KingsWilliam.

Food Matters is an 80 minute documentary that looks at the importance of good nutrition for good health, and makes for quite interesting viewing. It explores the impact that nutritionally depleted foods, chemical additives and a reliance on pharmaceutical medicine is having on our health.

The documentary features interviews with nutritionists, naturopaths, scientists, medical doctors, and medical journalists. Some of the views expressed are controversial but the basic message of the film holds true; i.e. that good nutrition is vitally important to enable our body to heal itself, and to allow us to live long and healthy lives.

Food Matters can be streamed online from their website for $4.95 USD, or you can purchase the DVD. The website also has some useful articles for you to read on health and nutrition.

http://www.foodmatters.tv/index