These events are open to anyone with an interest. It is extremely reasonably priced for what is on offer. What is on offer I hear you say? Read on.

Body Harmony® has a 27 year history now and was founded by Dr Don McFarland from Santa Monica, California. These International Conferences are when the largest group of different teachers from around the world get together, update their education and put together a 12 day seminar schedule for people eager to absorb all that the work has to offer.

It’s also the place where certification takes place for people wanting to teach and practice the work, although many people attend with no intentions of seeking qualifications on their agenda. If you’re thinking of coming for the first time you will find a group of friendly, life-loving people – many with extensive experience in the healing and transformational arts, openly sharing the pearls of their wisdom. And they come from different cultures too – many participants seem to enjoy this part of the experience.

What you will find here is a practical, hands-on body processing ‘system’ that aims to bring a harmonious relationship between all the parts of the (or your) body, particularly in relationship to a person’s goals or intentions. Body Harmony® recognises the physical basis for behaviour as it is expressed in posture, however posture is not considered a static expression.

Body Harmony® seems to integrate the thinking-moving-body-behaviour situation, which, quite honestly, can at times become quite fragmented. This tends to happen at times with quite a spectacular level of ease and efficiency and this is something that many people seek out the work for – a kind of wondrous transformation.

To participate, you obviously have to make your way to Almuñécar, – a beautiful coastal town located on the Costa Tropica de Granada, about 500 klms south of Madrid. Spain is rich in history and culture, and Almuñécar and the surrounding areas are no different. Not all the experience at these International Conferences take place in the seminar room.

A travel day is included as part of the event’s schedule, and this year will be to the Moorish city of Granada, to visit the magnificent ‘Alhambra’ palace and fortress, built in the 14th century, and now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The schedule of seminar time is far from exhaustive, so participants have time to enjoy lunch and a ‘siesta’, as well as being able to explore the town after class, dining with other participants and generally experiencing a satisfying blend of time in and out of the classroom. If you feel you would like to join this event, rest assured, there will be a place for you.

Most people report feeling thoroughly refreshed in mind and body along with other surprising personal discoveries that make the return well worthy of the investment. The starting point to discuss your participation, – and your adventure – probably begins by emailing Duncan or downloading a brochure by clicking here.

Body Harmony® (Armonía del Cuerpo) es apreciada en todo el mundo como una síntesis práctica de trabajo corporal que hace la diferencia en la vida de sus clientes, practicantes y maestros que la utilizan. Es un conjunto de herramientas dinámico, funcional y liberador para incluirlo en su vida.

Este evento es una oportunidad de desarrollo dentro de un maravilloso entorno de aprendizaje sostenido, que contará con la presencia internacional tanto de profesionales como también de entusiastas.

Aquí puede aprender la tecnología Body Harmony® e incluso desarrollar su propio método único de aplicación. Éste puede ser un momento decisivo para su desarrollo personal. Body Harmony® significa calidad de la vida, la suya, la de su familia y la de su comunidad.

Cada día de esta conferencia está considerada cuidadosamente para hacer posible la más fácil, agradable y natural experiencia de transformación disponible para Usted. Cada día le ofrece la posibilidad de aprendizaje continuo y auto-desarrollo. Cada día abre la puerta a otra dimensión de su propia experiencia que le podría ayudar a iluminar su camino.

El horario diario de la conferencia le ofrece tiempo suficiente para explorar la ciudad de Málaga y sus alrededores históricos. Se dedicará un día de viaje en grupo para experimentar la belleza natural de la zona. Este evento permite, sin lugar a dudas, una síntesis natural de experiencias fabulosas tanto dentro como fuera del seminario.

Tarifas de la Conferencia

Instrucción de Seminario para el Participante                                         Octubre  8 – 19.

Para ingresos recibidos antes del 1 de junio de 2012                              US$ 1775.00

Para ingresos recibidos antes del 1 de septiembre de 2012                   US$ 1995.00

Para ingresos recibidos después del 1 de septiembre de 2012              US$ 2195.00

¡Puede optar por registrarse en este evento abriendo un depósito de US$275 para – iniciar su participación – y para empezar a planificar su aventura en Málaga!

Este evento tiene lugar una vez cada 18 meses y solamente una vez cada cuatro o cinco años en Europa. Los eventos anteriores se han celebrado en Bali (1996), El Caribe Mexicano (1997), Tenerife, Islas Canarias (1999), Palm Cove, Australia (2000), El Caribe Mexicano (2002), Creta, Grecia (2003), Bali (2005), Baja México (2006), Lake Bled, Eslovenia (2008), Samoa (2009) y Nueva Orleans, EEUU (2011).

It was late afternoon just before closing time at a seafood store I like to purchase from. They usually stock a fresh marinara mix from their offcuts which was what I was intending to purchase however it was late and most of the products in the long display had been returned to overnight cold storage. Another customer was in the shop and this particular lady was asking questions about products that weren’t available at that time of the day when the staff where on their last procedures before closing the doors. I waited patiently while this woman dragged the chain and eventually I had my turn.
“Do you have any marinara mix?”, I asked, as none was visible in the display.
“Yes, I think we do, – we’ll just have to find it.” I waited for 10 minutes, – an inordinately long  time in the scheme of things and finally a man appears with a frozen pack of marinara mix…and I froze with it.
“That’s not exactly what I was thinking”, I stuttered. By this stage, however, a sense of obligation overwhelmed me and the correct answer,”Oh – thanks for going to all that trouble but that’s not what I’m after” did not pass my lips and I made the purchase.

When I got home (a fifteen minute journey) I read the packaging, identified it was a Thai seafood import and expressed my disappointment. My dubiety demanded a closer inspection and I decided to go ahead with dinner in the absence of other suitable alternatives.

The next morning I awoke early with mild intestinal discomfort. By the afternoon I was well aware that my situation wasn’t good. By the evening I was in significant pain. The following day I ran like a tap. By that evening I fell into bed and spent the night drenched in sweat. I awoke knowing I was now on the other side of the illness. My body had broken the spell and a recovery process of sorts began. Though not everything quite recovered. My intestines felt, quite literally, scarred.

During the seminar that followed shortly after my illness, I became aware that everything was moving reasonably well in my body with the exception of my abdomen. My abdomen was restricting my breathing. I didn’t and hadn’t felt much like eating. I noticed that I was losing muscle mass and that the exercise routine I engaged in was more difficult to complete.

When it came my turn to receive a treatment I requested some work on my abdomen. My practitioner (Gina) found a tight mass around my belly button.  Any movement in excess of its small parameters registered as pain, however my practitioner applied gentle yet definite jiggling motions suggesting movement to an area of obvious compaction. My nerve and a pocket of my intestines had become very tightly bound, courtesy of my food poisoning, and charcoal, slippery elm and other supportive concoctions had helped, but not effected a complete recovery. This compacted residue was, I was aware, compromising my overall wellbeing. Now, as I lay supine on the table, these compressive effects were beginning to lift. I felt a surge of sensation run down the back of my left leg. My breathing became easier and fuller, I could feel the tight mass in my abdomen changing – these gentle jiggles were allowing a ‘lifting’ sensation to pervade and release the compacted area. My practitioner then had me lay on my side, and more of this mass was addressed from a different relationship to gravity. And the relief expanded. I declined the request of my practitioner to roll again onto my back as my whole body was now experiencing such a remarkable sense of wellbeing and relief, I just couldn’t consent to changing anything at this moment…

In just a few short minutes I felt able to roll again onto my back. As the work continued I became aware of the distinct sense of needing to burp. I knew, as one can through such a direct experience of their own body, that the unravelling of this mass was now allowing what was trapped in this area to start to move again….and burp I did, and again the sense of relief grew. Everything changed from this point. My appetite returned. It was easy to breathe. And once again I experienced the value of having the benefit of a ‘hands-on’ approach for restoring me to balance. The greater education here, that of aligning my communication and actions with my instinct –  is a behaviour I decided to strengthen.

In our family, and in our other social relationships, (and of course, professionally) we use hands-on approaches frequently to address people’s circumstances in surprisingly efficient and unexpected ways.

Do I need to rent a car or should I rent a car? or Will I need a car?

Here is a Transformational 4 Step to live life on the vital side.

1. Become more aware of your body.

Body awareness is not a given. There are many parts, places, areas and relationships within your physical self that may lack awareness, so there is no conscious feedback loop to work from.

2. Become aware of a mind-set related to a posture, or to the way you move.

If you pay a little attention to your body you may notice that adjustments in your posture and physical organisation relate to changes in perception. They relate to the way you may be subconsciously thinking about a situation. Wouldn’t it be a good idea to become aware of how you are viewing something via awareness of your posturing / gesturing???

3. Change the Loop.

Posture is mind set, and mind set is posture. One can reinforce the other, and most certainly does at times. Create change in the patterns by re-organising the relationships within your physical body. The fibers of your body need the opportunity to open and align around a new sense of your self. This is what Body Harmony® does. Make a little adjustment to your way you hold your head while in conversation and see what happens. Or locate your feet more directly underneath you or STAND ON BOTH FEET evenly.

4. Go Along Your Merry Way.

Options, – this is all about creating behavioral options for yourself. Imagine opening the doorway to a new stream of responses, – a liberation from the obligation to respond as you always may have. The door is open, and as many people are experiencing, this kind of change becomes positively reinforcing because it feels so right.

A Most Outstanding Opportunity Is Almost Upon Us

Spring is here and so is the 10th One Month Body Harmony Retreat. It’s held in our seminar room on our 42 acre property in the Noosa hinterland, Alaya Verde. We are just over 15 minutes from Noosa. And once again we are pleased and inspired to have who we consider to be THE greatest manual therapy magician of our time, Dr Don McFarland. Don is not only a remarkable practitioner, – his teaching skills are quite exceptional. Thousands of individuals and practitioners from around the world have been the beneficiaries of new life and bodywork skills as a result of his teaching. And Don – the founder of Body Harmony®- is joined by 3 of the most experienced Body Harmony teachers in the world, Linda Haxby-McFarland, Gina Carruthers and Duncan Hogg.

Participation Options Are Flexible

You can now choose from 2 days of class right through to the full month program. New participants are required to commence from the beginning. To see what is available take a look below.

October 15 & 16 – Saturday & Sunday – An Introduction to Body Harmony® with the founder, Dr Don McFarland. Start here and you can continue on with other parts of the class for people new to Body Harmony®.

October 15 – 20 – Saturday through Thursday – Towards A Healthier Physiology – Learning the art of Body Harmony® – bodywork applied consciously. AUD$1350.00

October 22 – 26 – Saturday through Wednesday – Block 1 of an 11 Session Sequence covering the entire body. AUD$3125.00 for 15 days or pro-rata for 5 day segment*

October 28 – Nov 1 – Friday through Tuesday – Block 2 of an 11 Session Sequence covering the entire body.

Nov 5 – 9 – Saturday through Wednesday – Block 3 of an 11 Session Sequence covering the entire body.

Nov 11 – 13 – Friday through Sunday – This 3 day class specifically presents the information to help you reorient your perception towards the wondrous, and the miraculous. Learn to use your relationship to your body to ‘see the cup half full’.

Camping On-Site Is An Option

If you would like to enhance your experience and minimise your costs, camping at Alaya Verde is an option. Previous campers would drive to the beach for a swim before class! Camping costs: $25/night.

Why Participate In This Class

1. You want to learn about bodywork and develop a hands-on aspect to your skills.
2. You are interested in healing.
3. You need a break and don’t realise that this is an outstanding opportunity to revitalise.
4. Your body is tired and carrying excess stress detrimental to your health.
5. You’ve always been interested in psychology and are wondering how it relates to your body.
6. You’ve recognised behaviors that do not appear to support your goals, desires and intentions and would like to change them.
7. You’re a previous participant and remember how valuable the class is.

Pay Your Deposit by October 5 and receive a 5% discount.

Connect with the Body Harmony One Month Retreat on Facebook.

Email Duncan to discuss your participation.

* 5 day segments for new participants must be undertaken sequentially ie you have to start at the beginning.

Don McFarland is widely considered to be one of the most remarkable practitioners of our time – with 60 years of experience – he has dedicated a lifetime to practicing, teaching and developing the ‘hands-on’ transformational arts. He is again a presenter at the World Massage Conference this year and will be in Australia to teach the latest developments in Body Harmony®. Anybody interested in massage, bodywork, manual therapy or healing can benefit from the skills Don McFarland has refined over the many years his career has spanned. The One Month Retreat is divided into 3 different sections which can be taken as a whole, or separately. We welcome your inquiry today.

To download the full brochure click this link 2011 One Month Program

Listen to this short excerpt from ‘The Body Harmony Experience”‘ CD featuring Dr Don McFarland. bh-experience-sample1

Oct 15 – 20     Towards A Healthier Physiology

These first 6 days build a foundation for learning and practicing the work. The fundamentals of any successful bodywork interaction are explored through giving, receiving and coaching. Experiential exercises, demonstrations and relevant case histories are all utilised to enhance the quality of each treatment. Movement therapeutics, up-to-date physics and science, understandings of perception, posture, physiology and much more are woven together to allow you to appreciate more of the Body Harmony® experience.

EARLY REGISTRATION $1195.00 / REGULAR TUITION $1350.00

Oct 22 – Nov 9     The Intention & Manifestation
11 Session Bodywork Program

This 15 day program is divided into three five day sections. Eleven specific bodywork sessions are presented allowing participants to work through the whole body, from the tip of the cranium to the pads of the feet.  Teaching and feedback  is focused towards learning the art of each application.  Each session is viewed from a multiplicity of dimensions, – spiritual, emotional, physical, cognitive and bio-chemical. Don McFarland, the founder of Body Harmony®, presents this once-a-year opportunity to appreciate the power of Body Harmony® through your continuous exposure, – step by step, day by day and layer by layer.

1. Front of Body / Torso. Neck to Pelvis
2. Back of Body / Torso. Hamstrings/Sitz-bones to Neck
3. Legs. Understanding. Hips to Feet. Ankles
4. Sides of Body. Where Front and Back meet.
5. Inside Legs. Where Front and Back meet. Arch of Foot to Pelvis
6. Abdomen. Between Thoracic and Pelvic diaphragms. All organs. 4 Quadrants.
7. Sacrum and Spine
8. Shoulder Girdle. All joints between collar bone/shoulders and finger tips.
9. Neck and Head
10. On and Off Body
11. Energy Centres. Where 2 or more bones meet is an energy centre.

EARLY REGISTRATION $2975.00 / REGULAR TUITION $3125.00

Nov 11 – 13     Actively Meeting The Moment

“There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” – Albert Einstein. This 3 day class specifically presents the information to help you reorient your perception towards the wondrous, and the miraculous. When habituated information processing recedes and you bring your sensory resources to the foreground life becomes anything but ‘the norm’. You will be learning to develop a different approach to your own experience.

EARLY REGISTRATION $660.00 / REGULAR TUITION $730.00

Oct 15 – Nov 13  The Full Month Retreat

Investment        Early registration A$4125 / Regular A$4485

Reviewers*        Early registration A$3545 / Regular A$3775

A $375.00 deposit* will secure your place.

Early registration date: MAY 20, 2011.

Click here to  make  your  payment.

Upon receipt of your deposit we will forward you a confirmation letter and receipt of payment.* Non-refundable, non transferable. All prices are gst inclusive.

October 15 – November 13

This is the 10th consecutive year of the One Month Body Harmony® Retreat. The dates have changed slightly, we are running from mid October to mid November this year. Recent developments in the practice of Body Harmony® from our international event in New Orleans produced some wonderful outcomes. ‘Ease, Efficiency & Enjoyment’ – these qualities applied to our bodywork practices lead to easier ways of achieving better results. This is a unique opportunity – 150 years of bodywork experience shared between Don, Linda, Duncan & Gina – a wealth of support to assist your learning and realization.

The 2011 program is an opportunity that we think appeals equally in merit to the practitioner (or would be practitioner) and to the individual seeking growth and personal realization. As in past years, our program is available in smaller segments and these options can be viewed in the e-brochure. If you would to benefit from participation in some or all of this event, email Duncan duncan@healthinperspective.org to express your interest. To download the pdf brochure for this event, – follow this link to our downloads page.

Some helpful suggestions – from Gina Carruthers

Getting to know your physical self is subtle but really very simple and one of the greatest things to focus on to bring ease, health and joy. Here are a few suggestions and their benefits:

1) Quiet yourself Down – Get on the ground, in constructive rest, and just be quiet. The benefits include: calming the nervous system, aligning with gravity, synchronizing internal harmony, and releasing your core to something greater than itself – the earth beneath you. Emptying yourself allows for new thoughts and behaviors to take hold.

>2) Centering your Pelvis – Sit, Stand and Sleep with a centered pelvis. The benefits include: calming the nervous system, aligning with gravity, eliminating muscular compensations, and being more aware of what takes you away from ease in your life.

3) Hydrate your Spine – Keep your spine hydrated through micro movements in every direction including curling, arching, and lateral fish movements. The benefits include: efficient nervous system, supportive bones, eliminating tension, and a juicy experience of yourself and life.

4) Support your body with adequate water and minerals. The benefits include having muscles that CAN relax, and reducing the amount of time your body has to revert to a ‘survival response’ leading to physical compensations that reduce your overall efficiency.

Your Basal What?

Have you heard about your ‘basal ganglia’? Most likely not. It happens to be the name for the place in your brain where embedded behaviors are organised, – these are behaviors you don’t have to think about to engage in. Examples include writing perhaps, or walking, or typing, or driving – and also things like how you approach a problem, a relationship, a new possibility.

Imagine, all those things learned and embodied, – your behavioral repertoire ready to engage given the right stimulus. Sometimes that automated response is perfectly matched to the circumstances, and sometimes it is not. At times a behavioral tendency can itself become a burden, a form of self-sabotage, – an unwelcome input. Here is one area where Body Harmony® can be very useful to you.

This is our area of expertise. Body Harmony® is a set of transformational tools to help you make the corrections when a behavior no longer matches your intentions. Body Harmony® is a form of body processing that helps to make a possibility more probable by making the process of becoming aware much easier. The hands-on element of the work brings fluidity to the rigidity of over-used behaviors, that take the form of your physical grievances. Body Harmony helps you to make a self directed change, – the change of your choosing. A life supportive change. Sometimes you have to change your Body to change your Mind.

Finding Realization In The Body…

A newly released book we came across, ‘Touching Enlightenment, Finding Realization in The Body‘ by Reginald Ray, suggests that ‘to abandon discursive thinking – disembodiment – as our primary way of orienting ourselves…. and more than that, that a wave of alternatives to engage where we are living out of the full, unique embodiment that is possible for us all are now becoming more compelling to counter our dissociation.’ We tend to agree. In his 1967 book, ‘Betrayal of the Body‘ Alexander Lowan MD writes that, “To know who one is, an individual must be aware of what he feels. He should know the expression on his face, how he holds himself, and the way he moves. Without this awareness of bodily feeling and attitude, a person becomes split into a disembodied spirit and a disenchanted body.” Becoming acquainted with your first order experience provides you with direct and very useful information. All of the principles expressed through our work aim at realigning your mind and consciousness within bodily sensation and immediate experience. This can be very useful indeed.

And finally a few updates

We would like to thank Sydney based photographer Andre Martin for his assistance in photographing our retreat/B&B.

Check out ‘Your Brain at Work’ by David Rock. Available as an audio download from Audible.com.

For those of you who don’t know our son Kim is continuing to expand his education in all aspects of natural health and healing (check out Kimmana.com for info). As of September 2012 we intend to add cleansing and detox programs to what we offer at Alaya Verde. Also, Alaya Verde is on Facebook. We would be pleased if you ‘Like’ our page…

The next Body Harmony International Conference is anticipated to be held in June of 2012. Granada, Spain is shaping up as the destination and we are currently deciding on venues to host the event. Many thanks to Andrea and Esperanza for helping with the research.

Congratulations to Robyn Barraclough for producing an excellent website for the Canberra Body Harmony School. Click the link to see the site.

Also, Body Harmony® is on Facebook. Click this link and get the updates by choosing to ‘Like’ the Body Harmony® page.

Firstly, thank you for your time and attendance at the talk and apologies for the delay in listing this information. Thank you to Lauren Ashby for the invitation to present. I am offering anybody who attended this talk the opportunity to receive a 50% discount off the regular cost of a private treatment and consultation (the offer is good throughout 2011). Contact me via email.

Notes

The most useful information to be gained about posture will come from you yourself trying on suggestions and seeing how they can work best for you. There is no perfect posture, however there are ways of organising yourself when it comes to sitting that will be easier, more mobile (ie you can move more freely) and have a better outcome for your body over the course of time.

I mentioned in the talk that the collagen fibers of your body will begin to adapt to whatever position they are arranged in after about 20 minutes, so if you sit in a position that compromises your overall alignment and ease of movement you are educating your body to that positioning/posture.

The word posture is more commonly thought of as a noun, although in reality it is more correctly a verb, – think of how your arrange yourself to sitting as an element of your ‘posturing’. Consider it more of a dynamic process that does involve you in so much as you are free to choose moment by moment how you organise yourself physically to undertake the task of your interactions at the desk.

I discussed the idea of feedback loops in the class, and I communicated about this in relationship to the signals your body gives you that require consideration and then response. I used the example of thirst, or your bodies need for water as an example of one form of biofeedback, however there are many. Painful sensations are communications from your body that require some kind of responding. Adjust to find comfort, move to find comfort.

Some of you may be in the habit of dulling down the sensations or awareness of your body in order to complete a task. If this is you I would request that you consider whether this is for your ultimate good. This may take the form of disregarding or invalidating your physiological needs while you focus on a piece of work. In my experience it most commonly is accompanied by somehow having your head no longer centered over your body. It is also commonly associated with shallow breathing. My suggestion is as follows: do the exercise we did in class where you align or center yourself (sitting or standing), close your eyes and slowly, slowly, slowly allow your head to come forward (think chin to chest) until you go as far forward as you can without strain. Then move slowly, slowly, slowly in the opposite direction, keeping eyes closed as you tilt your head back all the way, breathing consciously during the process. Then slowly, slowly, slowly come forward until you feel your head is no longer forward, nor backward, but where you feel it ultimately centred and in a neutral location. Allow your eyes to drift open and register the new location. Take a minute to allow the rest of your body to adjust and then continue to go about your business from this new position.

Remember the breathing exercise we started with? I asked you to sit on the edge of the chair and gently accentuate the movement of your spine as you inhaled and then exhaled. As you inhaled you allowed your head to gently arch back as you reached the top of your inhale. As you exhaled you allowed your chest cavity to fall with gravity and your head to come forward as you released the air on your exhale. Is this something you could practice on occasion? Be sure to involve your lower spine and pelvis in the rhythm of this breathing exercise.

The greatest challenge I see facing people who sit as long as you do is this, – without awareness you will naturally function out of habit. You may function largely unconsciously with respect to your posturing. If you learned wonderful habits related to the organisation of your body in the past then you will have good unconscious habits related to sitting. If you didn’t then now is a good time to begin the re-education. If you feel that it is too late or too difficult etc you might consider this response as something arising from your current posturing rather than to be any true statement of what is possible for you. So if you function out of habit (as everyone generally does), and your habit is to sit forward or slouch back or lean on one hip this will be the way you operate. I mentioned that we are consciously considered to be able to process 40 bits of information per second, whereas we are unconsciously processing 10,000,000 bits of information in the same second. Those 40 bits of information can leverage a change in the functioning of the unconscious operation with 2 important qualities, – intention and willingness.

The real question we are facing is to do with movement and I need to qualify what is meant here. I mentioned the collagen fibres and how they adapt, and no doubt they have adapted over time to make certain postures feel ‘easier’ or more familiar although they are well and truly ‘out of alignment’. The movement I am talking about is actually something called ‘motility’ – or internal movement. It is an expression of how freely your body allows the translation of movement. It is expressed, as one example, in how freely you can breath and how much the translation of each breath washes through the fibres of your body. You are approximately 60% water. Habituated posturing that can occur while you work for a couple of hours without even thinking about your body – having a compressive effect on your natural rhythms, and these natural rhythms need internal space to operate optimally.

One way I am considering you can respond to the physical effects of your interaction with your working environment then is movement. Breath with awareness for 5 minutes from an aligned perspective. Keep your knees slightly below your hips to allow mobility of your lower spine. How you do an exercise is of ultimate importance to the outcome, so I suggest you do such exercises slowly, consciously, and listen to your body.

There are many things you can do to improve the overall awareness of your body. The value in improving your body awareness is that you can now respond to sensations and feedback that may have been forgotten. I did the exercise of touching each others spine to indicate that some areas have more sensation than others. The more aware you are of your body, the greater the opportunity to take care of issues before they become problems.

I mentioned an article worth reading, and here is the reference: New Scientist article (Mag issue 2747 – can be purchased online) The healing touch – The secret to repairing our bodies and growing new organs is getting all touchy-feely”. The article is written by Bob Holmes.

Thanks to Paul Barraclough for reading New Scientist and forwarding us a remarkably interesting article. It, along with a short reference from the ABC’s program ‘Catalyst’ conveys information directly relevant to the significance of receiving good bodywork. It is certainly very validating and inspiring information and forms the basis of this month’s article. I would also like to thank the ATO. The Australian Tax Office has booked me to present a class on posture next month as part of their well-being program. Please contact us if you would like to take advantage of a presentation in your work-place or area. Educating people in effectively developing and utilising their awareness of posture and movement is part of our area of expertise.

This month’s Body Harmony® update has five items:

A reminder about New Orleans in May. The time is drawing closer and you can still enroll . Call me 0n +61 (0)7 5485 3099 and check out the post at http://healthinperspective.org/general/neworleans2011/

Body Harmony®  – the Gold Coast Sunday March 27 Upper Beechmont – afternoon information session and private sessions with Duncan Hogg. Contact Scott Quilliam for details.

Private treatments with Duncan Hogg for one day on the Gold Coast, Queensland. Monday, March 28. To book, email Duncan.

The One Month Program - is now open to your enrollment. To download the brochure please – follow this link. The event runs from October 15 – November 13 with Dr Don McFarland - the founder of Body Harmony® and a bona-fide legend of manual medicine. Read the article below and find out why this event will be of tremendous benefit.

Genes, Behavior, Movement & Body Harmony®

This article helps to convey a little more light on the value of Body Harmony® and it comes from a brief viewing of an Australian science television program called ‘Catalyst’, broadcast on the ABC network in Australia. This program aired in 2005. It was a study of the link between genes and behavior. In the study psychologist Dr Richie Poulton of Otago University in New Zealand asked the question, “Could there be behavior genes that were triggered by the environment?”

Well the answer to that question is yes. The concurrent study of life experience and genetics has been remarkably revealing. Genes were found for predisposition to anger and depression in times of stress. The findings, based on what is considered to be one of the best studies of it’s kind in the world, found that, put simply, if you have the violence gene and a traumatic childhood you become prone to violence as a behavioral expression. If you have the gene, but not the upbringing, the violent behavioral expression is absent.

For me, the logical question is how. How do these traumatic life experiences engage the ‘anger’ gene or other such behavioral predispositions? A likely contender from my point of view is posture. Yes, posture. Posture is the physical expression or embodiment of these events – the unresolved adaptations if you like. Perpetuated physical survival responses change the stresses acting upon and within your cells and cellular matrix. It changes the movement and energetic patterns of the individual. Let us consider the revelations of the ‘New Scientist’ article entitled “The healing touch – The secret to repairing our bodies and growing new organs is getting all touchy-feely”. The article is written by Bob Holmes.

Our sense of touch, it appears, is also experienced by our cells, – they have a sense of touch also. And it seems that this sense of touch, which can also be considered as the way the surrounding environment is being received by the cell, is having remarkably deterministic effects on the activities of each cell. In recent years the tools to register such tiny forces acting upon our cells has come in the form of devices such as Atomic Force Microscopes (AFM). To quote Wikipedia, “The AFM is one of the foremost tools for imaging, measuring, and manipulating matter at the nanoscale.” Denis Discher, a biophysical engineer from the university of Pennsylvania conducted some experiments with an AFM using ‘mesenchymal stem cells’ – which become or evolve into various cell types including muscle and bone. In the experiment they manipulated levels of stiffness -  “the resistance of an elastic body to deformation by an applied force…”* each resulting in a different type of cell evolving from the stem cells. Essentially the direction the stem cell takes is influenced by it’s recognition of the environment in which it finds itself and this communication of ‘isometric pressure’ is effected through the cell membrane. And now my favourite quote from the New Scientist article,
“in practice, this means changes in external tension – such as differences in the stiffness of the matrix, or the everyday stresses and strains of normal muscle movement – can be transmitted into the cell and ultimately to the nucleus, where they can direct the cell’s eventual fate.”

Dr Don McFarland DC, the founder of Body Harmony® has lectured for decades about posture and mindset. He has stated for many years that “The issue is in the tissue but it doesn’t have to stay there”. Environment, whether it be the environment of your childhood, or the environment of your (internal) cellular matrix, is having a determinant effect on your well-being. The internalising of your environment and experiences of life – your process of ‘embodiment’ – becomes a personally incorporated influence apparently on and within your cells, which inevitable determines the quality of your experience, ie your day-to-day experience. It may just be responsible for ‘turning on’ (or off) certain genes. This physical process of embodiment, expressing in posture(s) may also be accompanied by areas in your body of movement restriction and energetic inactivity. And this becomes a point of reference for the interpretation of your world. These movement restrictions may also ultimately determine the behavior of your stem cells, if indeed the stem cells rely on information from their environment to determine what they actually become.
This New Scientist article (Mag issue 2747 – can be purchased online) is particularly validating for anyone who has spent time in the Body Harmony® classroom, or as a client. Our focus on pulsation, consent, wave motion and other salient features of touch, which have been evolved from listening to the feedback offered by many different bodies, may well have arrested the development of many disease processes along with supporting desirable behavioral change. It has certainly changed the life and health of many participants. Movement may well become recognised as the true medicine of our bodies. Not chaotic, jarring movement but pulsating, rhythmical, innate and flowing movement. Movement that brings harmony back to the entire organism, unifying the fragmented aspects of our internal relationships.

And so the question arises, – how are you, within yourself. Could you become a more cohesive physical, functional whole? How are you breathing?  Do you need to bring some focus to your body? What new behaviors could you choose to make a difference. A new world awaits.

The 2011 One Month Program is open for enrollment. Early registration discounts apply. Payment plans available.

Health & Happiness

Duncan Hogg & Gina Carruthers

* Wikipedia definition

Just a little update for those who have checked in with us about the weather lately. Where we live we had approximately 650 mm of rain in December and 750 mm of rain in January. That’s a total of 1400 mm or 56 inches. Our ducks liked it. The devastation this caused in other parts of south east Queensland was massive and experiences like these are traumatic for all involved. It does bring out the best in people though. Friends of ours – Jon & Judy Durand from Beech Mountain Pottery – filled their van with the water purifiers they make, drove to the worst affected valley and started handing them out to people. Awesome. Now cyclone Yasi is bearing down on northern Queensland – a catagory 4 cyclone (5 is the highest) and the system is HUGE. Wind gusts are anticipated to be up to 240 klm or 150 miles an hour. Preparations are underway. It is well north of us on its current trajectory.

So this month’s Body Harmony® update has four items:

1. A reminder about New Orleans in May. People are enrolling now to receive the discount applicable to registrations prior to February 5. Call me if you are interested, +61 (0)7 5485 3099 and check out the post at http://healthinperspective.org/general/neworleans2011/

2. Body Harmony  – the Gold Coast Feb 15 – late afternoon/evening information session and private sessions with Duncan Hogg. Contact Scott Quilliam for details.

3. Bringing the principals of Body Harmony to your area, office, group etc If you are interested in hosting an educational event contact Duncan to discuss the options.

4. A short article of interest. I recently watched a very interesting program on SBS Mind Over Money that looked at emotional factors affecting financial decision-making. It certainly spiked my attention. Behavior is paramount in my mind. Understanding and appreciating the processes that underpin human functioning through behavioral choice is key to success. Posture – or more correctly posturing – refers to the way you organize the internal relationships of your physical body to meet incoming information or situations. This article looks at how decision-making is influenced by your posture. It draws on some of the revelations of Harvard trained social psychologist Karen S Lerner, whose research was sited in Mind Over Money along with my 25 years of studying posture, body language and bodywork through practicing Body Harmony®.

May I begin with this quote from the article The Emotional Decision Maker by Peter Zimmerman and Jennifer S. Lerner, Harvard University.

“To begin with, most human cognition is unconscious – that is, we lack awareness of our mental processes. We absorb millions of bits of data per second through our senses; we compress, screen, and process this data automatically through various shortcuts in the brain. What emerges in our conscious awareness are the snap judgments, instant recognition, the sense of certainty and the intuitions that we can’t fully explain. Though wondrously efficient, these processes generate cognitive biases and errors.”

For many people, the link between posture and behavior is not obviously apparent. This is beyond the popular ideology of ‘good posture – bad posture’. This is recognition that we have multiple postures – much like personalities. These organizational patterns – which are what postures are by definition – when engaged appear to have a one-to-one relationship to behavior.  The postures themselves appear to be considered necessary tools used to engage our world – although this is happening outside of our awareness.

The details are all important here. In a posture all sorts of internal adaptations can be made that determine the patterns of use (or disuse) of areas of our bodies. This is all about how you do what you do. For example how you do your posture of frustration, or your posture of rebellion, or happiness and so forth. One element is how you do it, and another element is when – under what circumstances. What circumstances arouse a particular postural response from within you?

A posture may be evaluated by recognition of its impact within you and there are basically two criteria here. Does it unify you or does it fragment you. Does it bring ease of function or does it restrict your freedom of movement. Dr Don McFarland, the founder of Body Harmony®, speaks of the internal dynamics of various postures, where the competing agendas appear to cause actual tearing in the tissue by virtue of being attracted and wanting to avoid something simultaneously, – a literal push/pull expressed in the mixed messages being played out in the fibers of your body.

In the article previously referenced by Zimmerman & Lerner a distinction is made as to two different kinds of emotion affecting decision-making. Integral emotion refers to the legitimate emotional considerations generated by the decision at hand. An example being you want to go swimming but the large waves and strong current generate a realistic fear that the conditions are not safe. This apprehension is an integral emotion.

The second type of emotion is called incidental emotions, – and these “arise from past events and carry over to influence subsequent judgments or choices”. Daniel Goleman in his book Emotional Intelligence writes informatively on the neuronal and physiological aspects of the influence of incidental emotions. The most striking aspect of this kind of processing is that irrelevant information is brought to bear on current circumstances without awareness! Once again, to quote the Zimmerman & Lerner article,

“countless studies conducted in the Harvard Decision Science Laboratory reveal that incidental emotions affect us all, whether or not we are aware of them.”

Incidental emotions seem most closely associated with fragmenting postures, or postures that compromise the flow of energy and information throughout our bodies. And under these circumstances very little of what is a person’s environment is being perceived. More accurately, and as is the case with our brains at times, we fill in our gaps of perception with our expectations, – we simply make things up to fill in the picture. Under such conditions our responses are not well matched to our circumstances. This represents a tremendous growth opportunity.

It is precisely in these gray areas of perception that Body Harmony® allows a new possibility to flourish. Artistically applied, Body Harmony® provides a transformational context for healing. Given the support of one’s personal intention, an opportunity becomes available to choose consciously a pathway of behavior that aligns one’s posture, perception and intentions. Your body, if you choose to pay attention to it, can become an ally in your travels. I am reminded of that simple piece of wisdom that states “Do what you always do, get what you always get.” Sometimes the most striking of experiences is realizing a choice or an option exists where assumption had taken the throne.

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If you would like to join the next main event for Body Harmony®, Dr Don McFarland, myself and a host of other teachers are participating in an International Event in New Orleans May 8 – 21. Discount tuition applies to registrations processed before February 5.

Web References

New Orleans Conference http://healthinperspective.org/general/neworleans2011/ Jennifer Lerner’s papers http://content.ksg.harvard.edu/lernerlab/papers/

Thank you for your involvement!