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Welcome to The Crucible, Conversations for
the Curious.

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I'm Hamish, your host.

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In each episode you'll hear from everyday
people who've been through profound life

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altering experiences, from life
threatening illnesses or accidents, deep

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existential crisis, addiction, or having
to make life choices that have ultimately

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brought them peace, connection and
purpose.

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They've all stared into the abyss, walked
through the fire of their own personal

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dark nights of the soul, and emerged from
the other side transformed.

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This podcast is for anyone going through
an awakening, a time of massive change, or

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questioning the

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meaning of life.

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You are not alone.

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You can get through this.

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I promise you life is more meaningful and
beautiful on the other side.

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Hi and welcome to another episode of The
Crucible Conversation to the Curious.

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Today I'm here with Barbara.

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Thank you ever so much for turning up
today, Barbara.

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Can you tell me a little bit about your
journey, please?

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Wow, Hamish, where would you like me to
start?

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Okay, I have come on quite a journey.

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It's been a number of years of evolving to
where I am now.

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And it all started back, way, way back in
my early years when I had a horrific

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accident.

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And I didn't really at the time connect it
to how it was going to impact my life.

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and beyond, you know, just getting through
that moving on and yeah, it was, you talk

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about an awakening and it was, it was one
day when I was sitting in a consultant's

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office looking at my own MRI scans and
seeing what this, how this accident had

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impacted me.

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And it was like this, that sort of moment.

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my word, I've lived all these years with
all this pain and being in such a

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a state that I hadn't connected the fall
that I'd had to this problem with my back

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and everything.

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And it was like a light bulb moment going
off thinking, how am I so disconnected to

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my own body that I hadn't realized quite
how impactful the accident had been on me?

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And it was like, how did I not know this?

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It was like, you know, so what did I do?

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I had to find a way of...

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reconnecting to my body, reconnecting to
myself and that's what I've been doing

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over the last 20 years really, and keeping
myself healthy and that's what I love to

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share with people that we don't have to
live in pain and be...

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I'm not going...

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I can't use that word, I was going to say
crippled but I was crippled with pain, it

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was quite horrible.

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one point I was in a wheelchair and my
family was impacted, my life was impacted.

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So when I finally found, I wouldn't say a
cure, but I found the source of where I

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could actually find my own health and
wellbeing.

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And that's what I share with people now.

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So you ended up in a wheelchair after an
accident.

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So how did you turn your life around?

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Because obviously you're walking, I've
seen you doing yoga and teaching Qigong,

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so you're no longer there.

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How did you manage to heal yourself, I
suppose, for want of a better description?

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Well, I wasn't in the wheelchair for a
long time.

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It was a spell of when I was at one of my
worst points.

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It wasn't straight after the accident.

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It was some years later.

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The impact of the accident over the years
had created a deterioration in my spine

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and it created compression of two discs at
the lower and the lumbar region.

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And that...

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over time, each time I had an episode made
it worse to the point where the pain in my

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leg became so bad I couldn't walk.

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And so I had to go anywhere, everywhere in
a wheelchair.

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So I wasn't in the wheelchair all the
time.

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It was just, I can manage around the
house.

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I would hobble about, but when I finally
realised that it was beyond, I had to have

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an operation in the end to fix.

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lower spine but it had also impacted
further up my spine in my chest and in my

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neck which created another problem and it
was that that took me to the consultant

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where I had the MRI scans, and seeing
those scans made me realise that I could

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end back up in a wheelchair if I didn't
start taking better care of myself so I

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went on a journey.

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And it was quite by accident, pardon the
pun, that I ended up training in a

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modality of Chinese medicine that enabled
me to get better.

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And the first part of it was between a
massage, which I was actually encouraged

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to go and get a certificate to get a

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a certificate in massage because of the
job I was doing at the time.

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Taking the timeline has changed a little
bit.

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When I was working as a speech therapist,
I was preparing a communication system for

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young students with severe communication
problems.

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And we were doing a sort of multi -sensory
communication program.

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Of course, one of the senses is touch.

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And in education, you're not allowed to
touch people.

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Excuse me.

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And so they said to me, well, if you get a
massage certificate, you can you can do

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this.

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You can use all the senses.

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You can use touch.

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So I went off and found this wonderful
massage called Tui na.

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And Tui na is Chinese is a modality of
traditional Chinese medicine.

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There's acupuncture.

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Qigong, Tui na and herbs.

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And I was doing this Tui na.

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And when I was actually training, I was
being given the massage by other students.

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And so we were sharing as we were
learning.

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And it was just an absolute mind blowing
change to my health.

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10 days of intensive work on my body.

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I came back feeling absolutely fantastic.

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All the pain in my leg had gone.

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which had been residual pain from all the
episodes on my back prior to this.

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And I was able to walk properly.

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I was able to hold my posture better.

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I felt fabulous.

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And I just thought, do you know what?

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I've got to learn this.

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So I went into work on that Monday morning
after doing the training and I rose to my

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resignation and left my job as a speech
therapist to go and train in Traditional

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Chinese Medicine.

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and I haven't looked back since.

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you realised that if you didn't change how
you were in the world, you were going to

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end up stuck in that wheelchair.

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So you actively looked for some practice
or some way of healing and tell me a

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little bit about that process.

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You were looking, you started to change
your, your awareness of your body.

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Cause I think that's probably where we
need to go with this, isn't it?

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Yeah, what happened was after I had been
told, actually when I saw the MRI scans,

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my consultant said to me, have you ever
had an impact injury?

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And it was one of those questions I
thought, well, what do you mean?

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And he said, well, looking at your spine,
you've had three areas that have been

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affected.

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That's your lower back, your middle back
and your neck, which is why you've come to

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me with

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to get these scans done.

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And I had to think at the time, well, what
could have caused this?

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Now, you may think that I had this serious
fall way back in my twenties, that I would

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have connected to that fall.

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But I had come through it, you know what
you're like when you're young, you just

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get on.

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I mean, yes, I was in a lot of pain for
weeks after that fall.

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And what I had done slipped on a marble
staircase.

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and the impact had gone right through my
spine.

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Now, umpteen episodes later of having
other falls and being a little out of

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balance, probably because of this impact
injury, created more problems in my lower

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back, which then resulted in this, an
operation.

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But then when it impacted on my neck, the
consultant said to me,

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How could you not have connected that fall
to all the episodes of the problems that

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you'd have over the years?

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And I just thought, I just didn't, I just
didn't.

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And it was that light bulb moment of
thinking, my gosh, I am so disconnected.

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And when I left his office, I knew I had
to find a way to ensure that I did not end

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up having the same issues of being in a
wheelchair or the pain that I'd be

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suffering.

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So I went on this journey of looking for
alternatives and I did acupuncture.

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I had, I can't say that it made a huge
difference because I had this residual

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pain in my leg.

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It was the damage to the sciatic nerve.

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And some days I would end up, some nights
I'd wind up screaming in pain with cramps.

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And if I did any type of exercise, it
seemed to make it worse.

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And so there was journey of finding
something that would take away the pain in

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my leg.

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I did physio.

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I saw a chiropractor.

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I saw I tried osteopathy.

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And everything just seemed to aggravate
the problem in my leg.

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And it wasn't until I actually found and
went on this course and had Tui na

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massage.

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because they looked at the whole body, it
wasn't just one, I know chiropractors do

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that and osteopaths do it as well, but it
felt as if because I was actually getting

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deep tissue massage, I was getting it deep
into the lower layers, right down to the

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nerves, right down into my whole body.

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It changed everything.

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The pain went away.

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I was able to walk properly.

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I was able to stand well.

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and I could feel my balance was more in,
well it was more in balance.

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I wasn't feeling like I was going to fall
over or my legs were going to give way.

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And it was just that whole...

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And when I got to work the next day,
people said to me, have you been on

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holiday?

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And I said, no, I've been working.

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I've been learning this amazing massage.

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And it was like, well, we want some of
that.

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And that was like, yeah, you're going to
get some of that because that's what I

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want to learn.

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And that was my journey into healing my
own body.

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And from that point of going back, giving
up my job, going to learn.

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more about traditional Chinese medicine, I
was introduced to Qigong and that was a

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game changer and has been for the last 20
years.

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Brilliant.

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So tell me about the Qi-gong then.

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It's movement isn't it, but it's more than
just that.

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It's the connection that is, it's like
when we move our body, we tend to just,

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you know, like if you're breathing, for
instance, we just take a breath.

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We don't think about it.

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We don't kind of experience really, or
think about what it feels like for us when

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we breathe.

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But when we really focus our mind to the
breath and reconnecting your thoughts with

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that.

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feeling of the air going in, expansion of
your muscles, the expansion of your ribs

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and the pushing down of your diaphragm.

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And when you're feeling that air is going
down into your body and you're actually

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connecting to that, that's what Qigong
does.

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It connects to everything, every movement,
whether you're moving your hand in a

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particular way.

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And you're moving your hand so that you're
conscious of it.

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You're conscious of that movement.

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And you're allowing your body to realise
what does that feel like?

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Feeling the air passing your hand.

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And the movements that we do in Qigong are
gentle, but they're strength building and

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they also help with flexibility.

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So it's an all round, for me, it's the
connection.

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It's...

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It's that connection to the movement, to
the feeling of the movement and to what

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that does for you when you do it.

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And when you really, really get into that
kind of, it's almost like a trance, but

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you're still conscious of it where you're
actually moving the body.

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To me, it's the ultimate form of exercise.

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And because it connects to my body, it's
that whole body connection.

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And though all forms of Chinese medicine,
even acupuncture and the massage,

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everything is interrelated.

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That we look at the way that the body
moves, the way the energy flows through

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our body.

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And qigong is made up of two words, qi and
gong.

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And qi is energy, life force, whatever you
want to call it.

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It's that kind of everything to do with
what you breathe in, what you put in with

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your food.

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and how that is all transformed
internally.

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And also what happens around your body,
all that energy around you, the air, the

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sunlight, the rain, everything to do with
nature.

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And it's this wholeness of all of that
coming together.

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And the gong part of the word is movement.

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So we're moving the energy.

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We're moving the energy right down to the
cellular level internally.

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taking it all the way out to the external
and beyond into the universe and nature.

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journey of discovery, what started to
change?

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I mean, you said you started to reconnect
with yourself, but what other feelings and

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emotions came up as you...

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began to make sense of where you were and
where you wanted to get to.

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When you connect into your own body, after
all, we only have one body.

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00:18:39,105 --> 00:18:47,725
And it is this for me, that moment of
realising if I didn't take better care of

230
00:18:47,725 --> 00:18:50,185
it, it's the only one I've got.

231
00:18:50,185 --> 00:18:52,885
It's the only body that I am ever going to
have.

232
00:18:52,885 --> 00:18:57,865
And that's that I wanted to be able to
move with ease.

233
00:18:57,865 --> 00:19:02,769
I wanted to be able to feel pain free and
to feel energised.

234
00:19:02,769 --> 00:19:10,069
And where this has taken me over the years
is that as I'm getting older, yes, there

235
00:19:10,069 --> 00:19:14,929
are times when I, my body may think you're
getting older.

236
00:19:14,929 --> 00:19:21,369
And I'm not saying I don't accept getting
older.

237
00:19:21,369 --> 00:19:22,309
I do.

238
00:19:22,309 --> 00:19:28,469
It's just that I would like to do it with
more ease and comfort and not to feel

239
00:19:28,469 --> 00:19:29,289
that.

240
00:19:29,745 --> 00:19:34,065
age is something that is going to stop me
achieving anything.

241
00:19:34,205 --> 00:19:40,305
And as I've gone through the years of
practicing Chinese medicine and various

242
00:19:40,305 --> 00:19:47,165
other modalities, I've become more and
more connected into that mind body ability

243
00:19:47,165 --> 00:19:55,465
to realise that everything else is
important externally, but if you're not

244
00:19:55,465 --> 00:19:58,225
well internally and you're not feeling
great,

245
00:19:58,225 --> 00:20:06,005
everything else outside is an effort and
it becomes possibly with pain, with not

246
00:20:06,005 --> 00:20:13,505
being able to sleep, stress, anxiety and
what I have discovered over the years at

247
00:20:13,505 --> 00:20:21,045
various practices coming into my clinic
and where I'm going with this is actually

248
00:20:21,045 --> 00:20:23,725
I want to reach more people.

249
00:20:23,725 --> 00:20:27,729
Being in a clinic I'm only really reaching
one to one.

250
00:20:27,729 --> 00:20:31,409
I can do Qigong classes and I can reach
more people.

251
00:20:31,409 --> 00:20:37,809
But I'd love to, I want to take my journey
next to reaching even more people, to

252
00:20:37,809 --> 00:20:45,149
showing them that it is possible to, as we
do get older, to stay healthy and fit and

253
00:20:45,149 --> 00:20:48,599
to sleep better, to lose weight, to feel
that energy.

254
00:20:48,599 --> 00:20:56,145
And I feel more vitalized and energized
than I have done.

255
00:20:56,145 --> 00:20:59,625
the years before I started this journey.

256
00:20:59,625 --> 00:21:06,125
And it's continuing on as I, I'm not
willing to give up peacefully.

257
00:21:06,125 --> 00:21:07,905
I'm just keeping going.

258
00:21:07,905 --> 00:21:11,525
I'm developing an understanding more about
my own body.

259
00:21:11,525 --> 00:21:14,865
And in doing that, I want to share it with
other people.

260
00:21:14,865 --> 00:21:27,779
And the more people I can reach, the
better they will feel.

261
00:21:27,779 --> 00:21:32,649
think that's fantastic, just that
understanding of what you've gone through,

262
00:21:32,649 --> 00:21:36,239
that experience of what you've gone
through and the results.

263
00:21:36,239 --> 00:21:41,079
And then you've got to go, I want to share
this because it is incredibly important

264
00:21:41,079 --> 00:21:46,759
and it must have been really scary just to
sort of get more and more more and

265
00:21:46,759 --> 00:22:06,483
realising that you are just not connected.

266
00:22:06,483 --> 00:22:14,801
What makes that disconnection become such
a damaging part of our life?

267
00:22:14,801 --> 00:22:19,261
I think a lot of it is to do with the way
we're living our lives.

268
00:22:19,261 --> 00:22:25,041
We are not just disconnected to our
bodies, we're actually disconnected to

269
00:22:25,041 --> 00:22:26,361
society.

270
00:22:26,361 --> 00:22:34,281
And a lot of this around the stress that
we're all living through more recently is

271
00:22:34,281 --> 00:22:36,461
beginning to impact our health.

272
00:22:36,461 --> 00:22:42,221
We had COVID where we were isolated from
each other.

273
00:22:42,261 --> 00:22:44,141
Some people died from it.

274
00:22:44,141 --> 00:22:44,721
And...

275
00:22:44,721 --> 00:22:50,941
The loss on all of this has impacted us
quite significantly mentally as well as

276
00:22:50,941 --> 00:22:51,961
physically.

277
00:22:52,621 --> 00:22:57,721
I think I may have just had COVID
recently, another form of it, which is why

278
00:22:57,721 --> 00:23:03,537
I'm left with this kind of constant
clearing my throat.

279
00:23:03,537 --> 00:23:08,067
But I'm aware that there are things I can
do to help relieve that.

280
00:23:08,067 --> 00:23:11,397
And I've come through it fairly quickly,
which is really good.

281
00:23:11,397 --> 00:23:16,857
And that goes to prove to me that I take
care of my body, that I'm looking after it

282
00:23:16,857 --> 00:23:18,597
and eating well.

283
00:23:18,597 --> 00:23:19,857
I'm moving.

284
00:23:19,857 --> 00:23:25,857
I take exercise, Qigong, and I swim when I
can.

285
00:23:26,137 --> 00:23:31,117
And so there's things that we can do to
help to keep ourselves well, but

286
00:23:31,117 --> 00:23:31,977
there's...

287
00:23:32,497 --> 00:23:37,137
There seems to be this, we're in such a
rush all the time.

288
00:23:37,137 --> 00:23:41,657
We seem to feel that we've got to achieve
so much in the day.

289
00:23:41,657 --> 00:23:47,337
And our society, I do believe, is putting
that pressure on us as well.

290
00:23:47,337 --> 00:23:50,157
Some people are working two or three jobs.

291
00:23:50,157 --> 00:23:52,577
I mean, that just is nuts.

292
00:23:52,577 --> 00:23:55,977
Excuse me for saying that, but it really
is.

293
00:23:55,977 --> 00:24:02,545
It's like, why are we having to live this
life of rushing from here to there?

294
00:24:02,545 --> 00:24:08,465
making demands on ourselves that this is
where the disconnection is coming because

295
00:24:08,465 --> 00:24:11,525
we're not realising what is happening to
our bodies.

296
00:24:11,525 --> 00:24:12,855
And I was like that.

297
00:24:12,855 --> 00:24:15,145
I was like that in my younger years.

298
00:24:15,145 --> 00:24:16,965
I thought I was invincible.

299
00:24:16,965 --> 00:24:22,145
I didn't, you know, and I had an accident,
so I thought I could just get through it

300
00:24:22,145 --> 00:24:23,635
and there would be no more consequences.

301
00:24:23,635 --> 00:24:24,865
But there were.

302
00:24:24,865 --> 00:24:30,185
And it's not until I realised the
consequences of that fall and how many

303
00:24:30,185 --> 00:24:32,433
other falls I had since then.

304
00:24:32,433 --> 00:24:40,053
were due to that first impact and having
that disconnection is what many people

305
00:24:40,053 --> 00:24:47,713
live with because we're just living our
lives and and if when we I have come to

306
00:24:47,713 --> 00:24:53,113
the conclusion that when we actually
reconnect with our own self and our own

307
00:24:53,113 --> 00:25:02,033
bodies and how we think about our health
then it's it it it

308
00:25:02,033 --> 00:25:10,613
can change hugely how people can make that
adjustment to taking better care of

309
00:25:10,613 --> 00:25:11,793
themselves.

310
00:25:11,793 --> 00:25:15,753
And by doing that, they're able then to
care for others.

311
00:25:15,753 --> 00:25:21,213
We're constantly using up this energy that
I talk about, this chi, this whatever, you

312
00:25:21,213 --> 00:25:22,853
know, this life force.

313
00:25:22,853 --> 00:25:24,833
We only have one life.

314
00:25:24,833 --> 00:25:30,391
Let's live it to the full, but not to the
point where we're wearing ourselves out.

315
00:25:30,545 --> 00:25:37,505
that we could take more time to just be at
peace and sit for a few moments each day

316
00:25:37,505 --> 00:25:45,985
and just allow ourselves to reconnect with
who we are and our body in our mind and

317
00:25:45,985 --> 00:26:34,279
the physical.

318
00:26:34,279 --> 00:26:40,059
What can we suggest to people that will
help them to reconnect, to help them slow

319
00:26:40,059 --> 00:26:48,553
down and feel their bodies, feel and begin
to practice a little bit more self care?

320
00:26:49,361 --> 00:26:58,161
Okay, well, I start with the breath and we
all breathe, we have to.

321
00:26:58,381 --> 00:27:03,661
It's one of those things that we're
probably not conscious of it until we

322
00:27:03,661 --> 00:27:05,620
actually think about it.

323
00:27:05,781 --> 00:27:11,981
And I understand that there are some
people like yourself, Hamish, who finds it

324
00:27:11,981 --> 00:27:16,361
very difficult to just sit still, but
you're doing that right now.

325
00:27:16,361 --> 00:27:18,353
You're talking to me.

326
00:27:18,353 --> 00:27:20,913
and you're sitting quite still.

327
00:27:20,913 --> 00:27:24,033
So you have that ability to do it.

328
00:27:24,033 --> 00:27:28,893
It's when your mind is racing off and
thinking I've got to go and do this, I've

329
00:27:28,893 --> 00:27:30,623
got to go here, I shouldn't be sitting.

330
00:27:30,623 --> 00:27:35,293
And it's beating yourself up in a way of
thinking there's too much to do, I

331
00:27:35,293 --> 00:27:36,793
shouldn't be sitting.

332
00:27:37,093 --> 00:27:40,473
But why we don't have to sit, we can
stand.

333
00:27:40,473 --> 00:27:44,393
We can stand and just be at peace.

334
00:27:44,393 --> 00:27:47,281
And this is what I teach in the Qigong.

335
00:27:47,281 --> 00:27:54,301
is how to stand correctly in that you're
actually when you stand properly and your

336
00:27:54,301 --> 00:28:00,381
body is in alignment and you feel that you
will feel that heat building in your body

337
00:28:00,381 --> 00:28:07,781
and all of this is your you become aware
of things and you connect to that you

338
00:28:07,781 --> 00:28:11,141
connect to the feelings that you're
experiencing whether you're sitting or

339
00:28:11,141 --> 00:28:14,217
standing and then we go into the breath.

340
00:28:14,321 --> 00:28:19,321
and then we do this breathing exercise
that's just playing with the breath,

341
00:28:19,321 --> 00:28:25,341
allowing it to do different things because
that's the beauty of breathing is while we

342
00:28:25,341 --> 00:28:32,041
have to breathe and our body will not let
us become unconscious, if you hold your

343
00:28:32,041 --> 00:28:35,941
breath long enough, your body will tell
you, you've got to take a breath.

344
00:28:35,941 --> 00:28:41,841
But when we start to play with the breath
and we can consciously connect with the

345
00:28:41,841 --> 00:28:43,857
breath, that in itself.

346
00:28:43,857 --> 00:28:51,317
helps you to calm everything down because
you're going into that, changing the

347
00:28:51,317 --> 00:28:53,247
wavelengths that are going on in your
brain.

348
00:28:53,247 --> 00:28:57,717
So you'll go from that kind of busyness,
the alpha waves, down right down to the

349
00:28:57,717 --> 00:29:00,657
delta waves where you're almost asleep but
not quite.

350
00:29:00,657 --> 00:29:05,397
You're still conscious, but you're still
conscious of what's going on internally.

351
00:29:05,397 --> 00:29:10,167
And by playing with the breath, we can
change how we feel in different ways.

352
00:29:10,167 --> 00:29:13,737
We can speed up the heart or we could slow
it down.

353
00:29:13,809 --> 00:29:15,329
Isn't that amazing?

354
00:29:15,329 --> 00:29:17,569
We can do that just by standing.

355
00:29:17,629 --> 00:29:21,469
And that's one of the things that, you
know, that's connecting, that is really

356
00:29:21,469 --> 00:29:25,929
connecting to the body and to your own,
your own feelings internally.

357
00:29:25,929 --> 00:29:28,609
And then we play with that for a bit.

358
00:29:28,609 --> 00:29:34,069
And then you'll start to feel this heat
building inside your body that is actually

359
00:29:34,069 --> 00:29:43,889
all this energy moving while you're being
at peace and being still.

360
00:29:43,889 --> 00:29:44,879
We should try it.

361
00:29:44,879 --> 00:29:47,009
We will try it one day.

362
00:29:47,423 --> 00:29:48,643
We all have to.

363
00:29:48,643 --> 00:29:52,703
So is that things like I've heard of box
breathing and 278 breathing?

364
00:29:52,703 --> 00:29:54,163
Is it is it things like those?

365
00:29:54,163 --> 00:29:55,991
Can you explain what those are?

366
00:29:56,017 --> 00:29:59,976
Yeah, box breathing is like you imagine a
box.

367
00:29:59,976 --> 00:30:04,637
You've got four sides and each side is of
equal size.

368
00:30:04,637 --> 00:30:10,197
And so you breathe in, say for a count of
four, breathing in.

369
00:30:10,457 --> 00:30:13,977
Holding it for a count of four.

370
00:30:14,537 --> 00:30:18,177
And then breathing out for a count of
four.

371
00:30:18,737 --> 00:30:21,557
Holding it for another count of four.

372
00:30:21,557 --> 00:30:25,425
So it's equal length of breathing in.

373
00:30:25,425 --> 00:30:29,325
holding, breathing out, holding.

374
00:30:30,185 --> 00:30:35,065
If you wish to change it to slightly
longer, this is a good way of actually

375
00:30:35,065 --> 00:30:37,545
stimulating the vagus nerve.

376
00:30:37,545 --> 00:30:43,725
So you will breathe in, say, for the count
of four and hold it for the count of

377
00:30:43,725 --> 00:30:46,025
eight.

378
00:30:46,025 --> 00:30:53,325
And then breathe out for the count of four
and hold it for the count of eight.

379
00:30:53,325 --> 00:30:55,465
So that's another one.

380
00:30:55,889 --> 00:31:01,709
Now to really get things stimulated I
would like you to just take a deep breath

381
00:31:01,709 --> 00:31:07,185
in.

382
00:31:07,185 --> 00:31:16,785
and just hold it and now what I want you
to do is breathe all the way out.

383
00:31:16,785 --> 00:31:19,855
Keep breathing out until you can't breathe
anymore, anymore, anymore.

384
00:31:19,855 --> 00:31:21,225
Now hold it.

385
00:31:22,025 --> 00:31:23,245
Now hold it.

386
00:31:23,245 --> 00:31:24,535
You're not going to breathe in yet.

387
00:31:24,535 --> 00:31:27,405
Just hold it as long as you possibly can.

388
00:31:27,405 --> 00:31:30,833
Hold it.

389
00:31:30,833 --> 00:31:34,193
until eventually your body is saying, I
need to breathe.

390
00:31:34,193 --> 00:31:36,983
And when your body says, I need to
breathe, take a breath in.

391
00:31:36,983 --> 00:31:38,333
There you go.

392
00:31:38,993 --> 00:31:43,753
Now, if you do that three times, yeah,
you'll start to feel a little bit, ooh,

393
00:31:43,753 --> 00:31:44,333
spacey.

394
00:31:44,333 --> 00:31:47,933
But what you're doing is you're
stimulating the vagus nerve and that's the

395
00:31:47,933 --> 00:31:49,273
biggest nerve in the body.

396
00:31:49,273 --> 00:31:56,253
It's the one that, well, basically it
keeps all your internal organs working

397
00:31:56,253 --> 00:31:56,923
properly.

398
00:31:56,923 --> 00:32:00,561
And it also helps with, it keeps your
breathing.

399
00:32:00,561 --> 00:32:00,991
going.

400
00:32:00,991 --> 00:32:09,761
So it's your heartbeat, all the somatic
influences inside you and also your

401
00:32:09,761 --> 00:32:17,061
digestive system, all the organs, the
vagus nerve is so important.

402
00:32:17,321 --> 00:32:23,201
And we often when we're breathing, we tend
to breathe quite shallow when we're just

403
00:32:23,201 --> 00:32:24,601
normally breathing.

404
00:32:24,601 --> 00:32:29,681
When you actually play with the breath and
doing that one where you hold it right at

405
00:32:29,681 --> 00:32:30,641
the end,

406
00:32:30,641 --> 00:32:35,801
Your body is craving oxygen because your
breath breathed everything out.

407
00:32:35,801 --> 00:32:37,601
Your body is craving oxygen.

408
00:32:37,601 --> 00:32:41,381
You're telling yourself I'm going to have
to take a breath and you kick it in and

409
00:32:41,381 --> 00:32:49,435
that stimulates your ve- gus nerve.

410
00:32:49,435 --> 00:32:54,935
myself beginning to get dizzy just doing
that once so suggest people sit down when

411
00:32:54,935 --> 00:32:56,017
they do that.

412
00:32:56,017 --> 00:32:59,477
Yes, I wouldn't have them standing up
doing that one.

413
00:32:59,477 --> 00:33:02,217
It's, yes, it's very important to sit
down.

414
00:33:02,217 --> 00:33:04,937
And if you feel dizzy, don't do it again.

415
00:33:04,937 --> 00:33:06,697
But keep practicing it.

416
00:33:06,697 --> 00:33:11,757
It's a great way if you're, it stimulates,
a great way to start your day actually,

417
00:33:11,757 --> 00:33:14,697
stimulating the vagus nerve first thing in
the morning.

418
00:33:14,697 --> 00:33:18,337
So you can do it lying down, just doing it
that way.

419
00:33:18,337 --> 00:33:22,065
But be careful when you get up, you may
still feel a little bit dizzy.

420
00:33:22,129 --> 00:33:26,069
And that's just because you have de
-prived your body of oxygen and as

421
00:33:26,069 --> 00:33:30,089
suddenly you're taking that big breath in.

422
00:33:31,609 --> 00:33:38,129
That's a really good one to just practice
every so often and really get your vagus

423
00:33:38,129 --> 00:33:40,329
nerve stimulated.

424
00:33:40,769 --> 00:33:45,969
So as you see, there's lots of different
ways of breathing and there are also ones

425
00:33:45,969 --> 00:33:48,409
where you can breathe in.

426
00:33:49,269 --> 00:33:51,561
And as you're breathing out, you do it.

427
00:33:51,633 --> 00:33:57,841
Pulsing.

428
00:33:57,841 --> 00:34:02,941
again, taking it to the end of the breath,
just holding for a few seconds and

429
00:34:02,941 --> 00:34:06,417
breathing in again.

430
00:34:06,417 --> 00:34:08,297
and pulsing.

431
00:34:08,297 --> 00:34:12,737
Doing each one, each time you do anything,
you're doing it three times just to let

432
00:34:12,737 --> 00:34:13,917
your body get used to that.

433
00:34:13,917 --> 00:34:17,857
Again, it can feel a little bit, you know,
you're going to get a little bit

434
00:34:17,857 --> 00:34:18,897
lightheaded.

435
00:34:18,897 --> 00:34:20,477
That's okay.

436
00:34:20,477 --> 00:34:24,237
As long as you're sitting down or lying
down when you're doing it, but it's a

437
00:34:24,237 --> 00:34:25,917
playing with it again.

438
00:34:25,957 --> 00:34:30,257
But this is my most favorite.

439
00:34:30,257 --> 00:34:35,121
If you take a breath in.

440
00:34:35,121 --> 00:34:37,241
and then take another breath in.

441
00:34:38,461 --> 00:34:42,551
What you're doing is you're taking this
whole breath down into your diaphragm,

442
00:34:42,551 --> 00:34:48,561
taking that first breath in, and then you
just take, feel as if you're lifting,

443
00:34:48,561 --> 00:34:51,881
you're not going to lift the shoulders,
but you feel like you can just take that

444
00:34:51,881 --> 00:34:53,821
little bit extra breath in.

445
00:34:53,821 --> 00:34:59,729
So let's try this again, we're going to
breathe in.

446
00:34:59,729 --> 00:35:04,817
And now I'm just going to take another wee
breath in.

447
00:35:04,817 --> 00:35:10,257
And now breathe all the way out.

448
00:35:10,257 --> 00:35:13,489
and breathe out again.

449
00:35:13,489 --> 00:35:17,329
It's amazing how much you can do even
more, even though you think, I've filled

450
00:35:17,329 --> 00:35:20,829
my lungs, but you can actually fill them a
little bit more.

451
00:35:20,829 --> 00:35:24,119
And then you can empty them and you can
empty them a little bit more.

452
00:35:24,119 --> 00:35:28,689
And I love doing that way.

453
00:35:28,689 --> 00:35:30,149
There's lots of nice...

454
00:35:30,149 --> 00:35:30,655
Okay.

455
00:35:30,655 --> 00:35:31,395
useful.

456
00:35:31,395 --> 00:35:34,215
They are great little exercises.

457
00:35:34,435 --> 00:35:35,135
Yeah.

458
00:35:35,455 --> 00:35:36,895
So there's breathing.

459
00:35:36,895 --> 00:35:42,695
What other things can people do just to
sort of help keep them grounded or keep

460
00:35:42,695 --> 00:35:46,755
them, you know, when, as you said, you're
sorry, this is again, not what I want to

461
00:35:46,755 --> 00:35:47,975
do.

462
00:35:52,255 --> 00:35:53,605
Those were great exercises.

463
00:35:53,605 --> 00:35:55,815
I'm definitely going to try those.

464
00:35:55,815 --> 00:36:02,615
So what else do you find important when it
comes to understanding your self care and

465
00:36:02,615 --> 00:36:05,297
looking after yourself?

466
00:36:05,297 --> 00:36:08,417
Wow, that's a big one Hamish.

467
00:36:08,417 --> 00:36:14,037
There's lots of, because I'm a holistic
therapist, I look at all kinds of things

468
00:36:14,037 --> 00:36:18,917
to help people with their health, whether
it's the way they want to lose some

469
00:36:18,917 --> 00:36:21,057
weight, can help them with that.

470
00:36:21,057 --> 00:36:24,037
But it's not about putting somebody on a
diet.

471
00:36:24,037 --> 00:36:31,177
It's about recognising what it is they
want to be able to achieve by losing

472
00:36:31,177 --> 00:36:31,917
weight.

473
00:36:31,917 --> 00:36:34,737
So it's not about saying, I just want to
lose some weight.

474
00:36:34,737 --> 00:36:43,077
It's about what's the real reason about
what's your motivation, if you like, what

475
00:36:43,077 --> 00:36:46,057
to do to lose weight.

476
00:36:46,457 --> 00:36:49,637
I could give somebody a diet, but they
wouldn't follow it.

477
00:36:49,637 --> 00:36:56,097
It's about really getting into the
understanding of what is stopping them

478
00:36:56,097 --> 00:37:01,937
from taking better care of their health
and what is their motivation for, say,

479
00:37:01,937 --> 00:37:03,197
losing weight.

480
00:37:03,197 --> 00:37:04,209
For sleep.

481
00:37:04,209 --> 00:37:09,199
is another huge one, which is an
indication of stress.

482
00:37:09,199 --> 00:37:14,069
If people are not sleeping well, there's
an indication of stress going on there.

483
00:37:14,069 --> 00:37:20,009
And that we often, because we're living
such busy lives and we're on the go all

484
00:37:20,009 --> 00:37:24,649
the time, our brains never really get to
be at peace.

485
00:37:24,649 --> 00:37:29,309
And this doing this breathing work and all
the other things that I can show people

486
00:37:29,309 --> 00:37:32,109
what to do can help with sleep.

487
00:37:32,109 --> 00:37:34,109
And Qigong is so

488
00:37:34,545 --> 00:37:40,085
Well, it's a very, what I would say is my
go -to for everything.

489
00:37:40,125 --> 00:37:46,045
When I'm a little bit out of sync with
myself, if I just do some qigong, it

490
00:37:46,045 --> 00:37:47,125
brings me back to this.

491
00:37:47,125 --> 00:37:52,425
This is the whole beauty of qigong, that's
why I talk so much about it, is because it

492
00:37:52,425 --> 00:37:54,825
connects you to your body.

493
00:37:55,645 --> 00:38:02,097
And whatever somebody's, you know, perhaps
they're not, they want to give up smoking.

494
00:38:02,097 --> 00:38:03,487
Well, I have other techniques.

495
00:38:03,487 --> 00:38:09,117
I use the havening technique and
hypnotherapy, which helps people to stop

496
00:38:09,117 --> 00:38:10,177
smoking.

497
00:38:10,177 --> 00:38:14,597
So there's lots of little tools I have in
my toolbox.

498
00:38:15,457 --> 00:38:20,657
And when we were talking about the
breathing earlier, I often do some cheek

499
00:38:20,657 --> 00:38:23,837
havening with the breath work.

500
00:38:23,837 --> 00:38:28,657
And that is another way of helping people
to get back into that calm state by just

501
00:38:28,657 --> 00:38:31,654
stroking your arms just gently.

502
00:38:31,921 --> 00:38:37,641
stroking your, and listening to calming
music, if you like that.

503
00:38:37,641 --> 00:38:40,941
I'm not particularly one for doing that
myself.

504
00:38:40,941 --> 00:38:47,561
I just sort of take myself into a nice
place, imagine the nice situation and just

505
00:38:47,561 --> 00:38:52,681
gently stroking my arms, allowing my body
to come back down into that calm state.

506
00:38:52,701 --> 00:38:55,721
And that's, do you know what, this is a
great technique if you're feeling

507
00:38:55,721 --> 00:39:01,833
stressed, is just stroking your arms and
just allowing yourself to.

508
00:39:02,577 --> 00:39:06,957
be at peace and calm and just imagine
yourself being somewhere lovely like the

509
00:39:06,957 --> 00:39:13,797
beach or the forest and just feeling
yourself nurturing yourself and this

510
00:39:13,797 --> 00:39:19,337
creates delta waves again I talked about
them earlier the delta waves that calm

511
00:39:19,337 --> 00:39:25,077
down the body bring your brain waves down
so that you feel like you're much more at

512
00:39:25,077 --> 00:39:30,801
peace and what else do I have back pain is
a big

513
00:39:30,801 --> 00:39:36,081
aspect of what I talk about and on my
website you'll see there's a whole story

514
00:39:36,081 --> 00:39:43,781
around my back pain and how I got better
and back pain is can be cruel caused by

515
00:39:43,781 --> 00:39:50,801
stress, mental health issues and it's
about finding ways of reducing stress and

516
00:39:50,801 --> 00:39:56,221
mental health, building our mental health,
building our resilience and havening is a

517
00:39:56,221 --> 00:40:10,315
great tool to do that, it's helping people
to build their resilience.

518
00:40:10,315 --> 00:40:13,155
I want to take it back to an awakening.

519
00:40:13,275 --> 00:40:20,835
So let's assume one of our listeners is
struggling with some physical pain or

520
00:40:20,835 --> 00:40:25,815
they're realising that they have to change
something because there's severe back pain

521
00:40:25,815 --> 00:40:29,005
or neck pain or there's been a physical
trauma.

522
00:40:29,247 --> 00:40:34,335
What would be a process of...

523
00:40:34,335 --> 00:40:36,795
working out what to do.

524
00:40:36,795 --> 00:40:40,915
So they haven't met you, they're on their
own journey and they're looking at steps

525
00:40:40,915 --> 00:40:41,465
or something.

526
00:40:41,465 --> 00:40:47,985
What would be a way to start to understand
what they need to do?

527
00:40:47,985 --> 00:40:52,505
Well, first of all, recognising that they
want to make change, they would like

528
00:40:52,505 --> 00:40:54,425
things to be different.

529
00:40:55,185 --> 00:41:01,965
And what I love to, when I talk to people,
is to get their background story and to

530
00:41:01,965 --> 00:41:05,905
find out where all of this has started
from.

531
00:41:06,665 --> 00:41:12,225
And some people may not, like myself, I
may not have realised that it was all to

532
00:41:12,225 --> 00:41:14,065
do with that original fall.

533
00:41:14,065 --> 00:41:17,623
And other people, you know, people may be
the same, that they don't know.

534
00:41:17,681 --> 00:41:21,041
particularly what started all of this.

535
00:41:21,041 --> 00:41:28,321
But there is a point where there is a root
cause of why they're presenting.

536
00:41:29,681 --> 00:41:36,341
And what I help people to do is actually
to find that root cause, is to delve into

537
00:41:36,341 --> 00:41:43,089
their past, to delve into how they've
lived their life, their lifestyle.

538
00:41:43,089 --> 00:41:47,049
what they're doing to take care of
themselves now, what they've done in the

539
00:41:47,049 --> 00:41:47,409
past.

540
00:41:47,409 --> 00:41:50,269
And it's like a road map, if you like.

541
00:41:50,269 --> 00:41:56,429
We find, I ask the questions and get to
the root cause of where all of this starts

542
00:41:56,429 --> 00:41:58,729
from.

543
00:41:58,729 --> 00:42:05,309
And sometimes when we don't recognize what
has created all of this, it's going to be

544
00:42:05,309 --> 00:42:10,649
very difficult sometimes for people to
think, well, I'm here now, I want you to

545
00:42:10,649 --> 00:42:11,313
fix it.

546
00:42:11,313 --> 00:42:12,663
why can't I fix it?

547
00:42:12,663 --> 00:42:13,853
What's going on?

548
00:42:13,853 --> 00:42:20,873
But once you get down into the real aspect
of what brought them here in the first

549
00:42:20,873 --> 00:42:27,713
place, they can actually start to see that
there was a time before it all started.

550
00:42:27,713 --> 00:42:32,433
So there was a time where they had no back
pain or they had no illness.

551
00:42:32,673 --> 00:42:43,945
And if we can get back to that feeling
inside our body,

552
00:42:43,945 --> 00:42:50,085
That would be what I would help them on
their journey to do is find that peace

553
00:42:50,085 --> 00:42:51,055
within themselves.

554
00:42:51,055 --> 00:42:56,725
It's just there, it's just we need to find
it and then we build the backup from that.

555
00:42:56,965 --> 00:43:01,685
And though you can say but I'm in constant
pain, I can't get rid of the pain.

556
00:43:01,685 --> 00:43:04,075
Yes, we can, we can reduce it.

557
00:43:04,075 --> 00:43:07,885
There are ways to help reduce, you may not
get rid of it completely.

558
00:43:07,885 --> 00:43:09,265
Pain is needed.

559
00:43:09,265 --> 00:43:13,365
for us to be aware that something is going
on in the body.

560
00:43:13,365 --> 00:43:18,665
But when we are living with constant pain
and it's all we can think about, it can

561
00:43:18,665 --> 00:43:20,305
take over your life.

562
00:43:20,305 --> 00:43:26,745
When you're able to then reduce the
feeling of that pain, be able to switch it

563
00:43:26,745 --> 00:43:33,065
down if you like, turn down the dial, then
we can actually start to rebuild their

564
00:43:33,065 --> 00:43:34,125
life.

565
00:43:35,105 --> 00:43:38,545
And Qigong helps with that as well.

566
00:43:38,641 --> 00:43:43,941
Once you're connecting into the body
through the movements and you're seeing

567
00:43:43,941 --> 00:43:48,661
that you can make those movements,
sometimes they may not be comfortable, but

568
00:43:48,661 --> 00:43:50,141
you can still do it.

569
00:43:50,141 --> 00:43:52,281
And then you can build on that.

570
00:43:52,281 --> 00:43:54,661
But it's always done very gently.

571
00:43:54,661 --> 00:43:56,441
There's no pushing to the point.

572
00:43:56,441 --> 00:43:57,751
You've got to be in pain.

573
00:43:57,751 --> 00:43:58,781
There's no pain, no gain.

574
00:43:58,781 --> 00:44:03,401
That doesn't compute in my vocabulary at
all.

575
00:44:05,541 --> 00:44:07,377
And it's just...

576
00:44:07,377 --> 00:44:12,337
It's a process and it can take a long time
but I'm a guide.

577
00:44:12,337 --> 00:44:13,777
I feel like I'm a guide.

578
00:44:13,777 --> 00:44:19,237
I've guided my own body to health and
wellness and I love to help and guide

579
00:44:19,237 --> 00:44:28,031
other people to their health and wellness.

580
00:44:28,031 --> 00:44:35,611
So it is becoming self -aware, it is self
-care, it is changing how you believe and

581
00:44:35,611 --> 00:44:38,705
I guess love yourself.

582
00:44:38,705 --> 00:44:41,325
Absolutely, absolutely.

583
00:44:41,325 --> 00:44:45,545
The words we tell ourselves, the way we
think about, you know, all the thoughts

584
00:44:45,545 --> 00:44:49,885
that we have in our heads, they're words.

585
00:44:49,885 --> 00:44:56,625
We've taken them, the words that we're
told and we can change those words.

586
00:44:56,625 --> 00:45:00,505
If we have to live with constant
negativity about ourselves and our bodies

587
00:45:00,505 --> 00:45:07,325
and how we feel, you know, like I'm fat or
I wish I could change this or something

588
00:45:07,325 --> 00:45:38,449
like that.

589
00:45:38,449 --> 00:45:44,129
If you tell yourself, I'm going to feel
great today, even if you're saying to

590
00:45:44,129 --> 00:45:46,049
someone, I don't really feel great.

591
00:45:46,049 --> 00:45:49,819
But if you say it to yourself, I'm going
to be great today.

592
00:45:49,819 --> 00:45:52,909
I'm going to achieve so much today.

593
00:45:52,909 --> 00:45:58,409
And you write something down and there's
lots of techniques that you can use to

594
00:45:58,409 --> 00:46:01,649
help stimulate a more positive thinking.

595
00:46:01,649 --> 00:46:06,289
And when you start thinking more
positively about how you feel about

596
00:46:06,289 --> 00:46:07,261
yourself.

597
00:46:07,857 --> 00:46:09,437
Does it matter what you look like?

598
00:46:09,437 --> 00:46:10,837
We're all unique.

599
00:46:10,837 --> 00:46:12,677
We're all different.

600
00:46:12,677 --> 00:46:14,937
We're all shapes and sizes.

601
00:46:19,717 --> 00:46:23,017
I sometimes think, I wish I could lose
some weight.

602
00:46:23,157 --> 00:46:25,197
Well, I did recently because I was ill.

603
00:46:25,197 --> 00:46:30,417
Now it's not a great way to lose weight,
but I'm not worrying about it.

604
00:46:30,417 --> 00:46:31,937
I'm not saying I've got to go on a diet.

605
00:46:31,937 --> 00:46:33,577
I've got to do this and do that.

606
00:46:33,681 --> 00:46:37,121
It would be nice to be a little bit
slimmer, but I accept as we get a little

607
00:46:37,121 --> 00:46:42,281
bit older, us women tend to put a little
bit extra weight on, I think it's our

608
00:46:42,281 --> 00:46:42,861
hormones.

609
00:46:42,861 --> 00:46:47,281
Now that's a whole other story, which I am
not going to go into today.

610
00:46:47,361 --> 00:46:51,041
But it's like, I love my body.

611
00:46:51,041 --> 00:46:53,021
I think it's beautiful.

612
00:46:53,021 --> 00:47:00,241
I think that I have this uniqueness that
is me and I love who I am.

613
00:47:00,241 --> 00:47:03,181
and I love the energy that I...

614
00:47:03,441 --> 00:47:08,001
trying to show people and well I don't
try, I do.

615
00:47:08,001 --> 00:47:12,281
I put this energy out that you just love
yourself.

616
00:47:12,281 --> 00:47:13,901
Give yourself a hug.

617
00:47:13,901 --> 00:47:15,011
You deserve it.

618
00:47:15,011 --> 00:47:16,481
We all deserve it.

619
00:47:16,481 --> 00:47:21,321
And doing the Havening, giving yourself a
hug is just so special.

620
00:47:23,121 --> 00:47:25,141
What's not to love?

621
00:47:25,141 --> 00:47:28,241
I know that there are some people who
don't feel like this.

622
00:47:28,241 --> 00:47:32,017
It's very hard but I'm not making it light
of this.

623
00:47:32,017 --> 00:47:34,947
I know what depression is and I've been
there.

624
00:47:34,947 --> 00:47:40,157
I know that feeling of feeling that the
world is just, you're carrying it on your

625
00:47:40,157 --> 00:47:43,825
shoulders.

626
00:47:43,825 --> 00:47:51,505
but with all the techniques that I have at
my disposal, I can lift my energy, I can

627
00:47:51,505 --> 00:47:53,825
lift my thoughts.

628
00:47:53,825 --> 00:48:00,655
And when I catch myself saying something
negative about my body or myself, I say,

629
00:48:00,655 --> 00:48:01,625
where are you going with this?

630
00:48:01,625 --> 00:48:02,745
What are you doing?

631
00:48:02,745 --> 00:48:06,405
And asking myself, well, do you want to do
that or do you want to change it so that

632
00:48:06,405 --> 00:48:07,665
you feel a lot better?

633
00:48:07,665 --> 00:48:08,985
What are you going to do?

634
00:48:08,985 --> 00:48:13,489
So I talk to myself, I'm constantly...

635
00:48:13,489 --> 00:48:15,389
re -energising.

636
00:48:15,469 --> 00:48:16,309
I love that.

637
00:48:16,309 --> 00:48:19,749
I love that feeling that I can re
-energize.

638
00:48:19,749 --> 00:48:26,629
I can re -energize my thoughts and my body
by just thinking it.

639
00:48:26,789 --> 00:48:28,429
Isn't that amazing?

640
00:48:29,149 --> 00:48:34,975
I'm doing it now, you can tell.

641
00:48:34,975 --> 00:48:38,445
That is amazing and we are creative.

642
00:48:38,445 --> 00:48:39,815
We are very powerful.

643
00:48:39,815 --> 00:48:44,935
I mean you've implied there that if I'm
going to think the world is grey, it is

644
00:48:44,935 --> 00:48:45,855
grey.

645
00:48:45,855 --> 00:48:50,115
It is grey, it is dark and the universe
will say, yeah, it's grey, here you are,

646
00:48:50,115 --> 00:48:52,535
here is proof, here is proof.

647
00:48:53,915 --> 00:48:58,615
And I love that if I'm going to change my
perspective, my way of thinking and

648
00:48:58,615 --> 00:49:04,015
viewing the world, I can make it rosy and
shiny and I can make that my reality.

649
00:49:04,287 --> 00:49:06,607
why not make our lives easier?

650
00:49:07,227 --> 00:49:13,667
I know people are often addicted to their
own pain or their stories or their

651
00:49:13,667 --> 00:49:17,587
emotions, but it's not always helpful.

652
00:49:17,807 --> 00:49:24,847
But how am I going to get out of that
state of being when I am feeling beaten up

653
00:49:24,847 --> 00:49:25,487
the whole time?

654
00:49:25,487 --> 00:49:28,097
How do I start to move from that space?

655
00:49:28,097 --> 00:49:29,987
Because I know I want to.

656
00:49:29,987 --> 00:49:32,671
I've heard the stories, I've heard...

657
00:49:32,671 --> 00:49:38,871
do this, do this, all sorts of things, but
how am I going to start to believe that I

658
00:49:38,871 --> 00:49:39,601
can do that?

659
00:49:39,601 --> 00:49:41,127
Because it's difficult.

660
00:49:41,233 --> 00:49:49,841
It is difficult and I appreciate that I
can say that they've done this.

661
00:49:49,841 --> 00:49:51,401
It is about beliefs.

662
00:49:51,401 --> 00:49:55,301
We all have beliefs about...

663
00:49:55,301 --> 00:49:58,531
Again, it comes back down to what do you
believe?

664
00:49:58,531 --> 00:50:02,841
Do you believe that the world is as bad as
you think it is?

665
00:50:02,841 --> 00:50:06,531
Do we believe that we're never going to
get better?

666
00:50:06,531 --> 00:50:08,861
You're never going to feel that.

667
00:50:08,861 --> 00:50:15,681
So if you believe that, it's about
changing that thought because that's where

668
00:50:15,681 --> 00:50:17,601
your people can be stuck.

669
00:50:17,601 --> 00:50:18,001
They are stuck.

670
00:50:18,001 --> 00:50:25,777
constantly stuck in that belief that the
world is, everything is awful.

671
00:50:25,777 --> 00:50:31,377
But when you can show them that there are
changed ways to that there are there is a

672
00:50:31,377 --> 00:50:35,017
difference, there is there are different
pathways.

673
00:50:35,017 --> 00:50:36,557
You can see it.

674
00:50:37,797 --> 00:50:39,917
Where.

675
00:50:40,717 --> 00:50:45,377
There's it's like a timeline almost like
you've got one end, there's the negative

676
00:50:45,377 --> 00:50:48,217
and at the top other end is the positive.

677
00:50:48,337 --> 00:50:54,027
And we can move back and forward along
this timeline and through this timeline,

678
00:50:54,027 --> 00:50:55,405
we can find.

679
00:50:56,145 --> 00:50:59,685
words, thoughts that are different.

680
00:50:59,685 --> 00:51:04,005
Some will be more towards the positive and
some will be more towards the negative.

681
00:51:04,345 --> 00:51:11,525
And this is a technique that I use when
I'm working with people is that we take

682
00:51:11,525 --> 00:51:14,465
them back and forward, back and forward.

683
00:51:14,485 --> 00:51:19,825
And as we go back and forward along this
timeline, we cannot change the words that

684
00:51:19,825 --> 00:51:22,265
we feel and think as we're moving.

685
00:51:22,265 --> 00:51:24,659
It's quite subtle.

686
00:51:25,009 --> 00:51:30,649
They come to that point where you end up
in the center and you feel quite calm.

687
00:51:31,269 --> 00:51:35,869
And then when that calmness comes over,
you can start feeding in the more

688
00:51:35,869 --> 00:51:37,049
positive.

689
00:51:37,989 --> 00:51:40,569
What feels better for you?

690
00:51:40,569 --> 00:51:45,149
Is it this going up the way towards the
positive or is it going down towards the

691
00:51:45,149 --> 00:51:45,729
negative?

692
00:51:45,729 --> 00:51:49,269
And when you start getting to that central
point, when you're starting from the

693
00:51:49,269 --> 00:51:52,401
central point, you can move back into the.

694
00:51:52,401 --> 00:51:54,821
the more positive because you have
positive words.

695
00:51:54,821 --> 00:51:55,741
We all do.

696
00:51:55,741 --> 00:51:57,501
We all have positive feelings.

697
00:51:57,501 --> 00:52:02,761
Even in our darkest moments, there can be
positive and it's finding that and getting

698
00:52:02,761 --> 00:52:07,321
them to think about and talk about what
those words are.

699
00:52:07,321 --> 00:52:09,551
After all, a word is a thought.

700
00:52:09,551 --> 00:52:11,261
A thought is a word.

701
00:52:11,261 --> 00:52:13,221
The word is a thought.

702
00:52:13,921 --> 00:52:17,873
If we're thinking constantly one way or
the other.

703
00:52:17,873 --> 00:52:19,893
It's about moving.

704
00:52:19,893 --> 00:52:21,393
Again, it's movement.

705
00:52:21,393 --> 00:52:24,813
It's moving that energy one way.

706
00:52:24,813 --> 00:52:28,653
If it's down here, we want to move it up
here.

707
00:52:28,653 --> 00:52:33,173
I know it's about allowing that movement
and accepting that you can say those

708
00:52:33,173 --> 00:52:36,913
words, you can, and you can feel the words
and it's a feeling.

709
00:52:36,913 --> 00:52:38,133
Where are you feeling it?

710
00:52:38,133 --> 00:52:39,813
What does it feel like?

711
00:52:39,813 --> 00:52:43,433
Is it a feeling that you would like to
change?

712
00:52:43,433 --> 00:52:44,513
What could you change it to?

713
00:52:44,513 --> 00:52:46,153
Could you change it to a colour?

714
00:52:46,153 --> 00:52:48,063
Could you change it to a shape?

715
00:52:48,177 --> 00:52:49,057
Can we change that?

716
00:52:49,057 --> 00:52:50,797
Can we make it bigger or smaller?

717
00:52:50,797 --> 00:52:55,437
And we can do this within our own thought
processes because that's what thoughts

718
00:52:55,437 --> 00:52:56,857
are.

719
00:52:57,097 --> 00:53:01,425
They're words we tell ourselves.

720
00:53:01,425 --> 00:53:05,183
Does that explain a little bit about...

721
00:53:05,183 --> 00:53:07,583
It really, really does.

722
00:53:07,583 --> 00:53:13,343
So what you're saying is, or my
understanding, breathe, get yourself into

723
00:53:13,343 --> 00:53:18,183
a state where you are not monkey mind,
you're not going da -da -da -da -da -da

724
00:53:18,183 --> 00:53:19,923
-da -da -da -da -da -da -da -da -da

725
00:53:25,169 --> 00:53:26,121
Yes.

726
00:53:32,831 --> 00:53:36,831
I used to say, I'm stuck, I'm struggling,
and I've taken those words out of my

727
00:53:36,831 --> 00:53:37,691
vocabulary.

728
00:53:37,691 --> 00:53:39,811
It was a challenge.

729
00:53:39,811 --> 00:53:42,361
You know, stuck is now challenge and
things like that.

730
00:53:42,361 --> 00:53:48,131
But as I've changed those words, words are
power, as you said, as I've changed those

731
00:53:48,131 --> 00:53:51,731
words, I'm feeling different.

732
00:53:51,731 --> 00:53:55,171
I'm cognitively different.

733
00:53:55,171 --> 00:53:58,571
And it's exciting.

734
00:53:58,571 --> 00:53:59,871
It's quite, it was quite powerful.

735
00:53:59,871 --> 00:54:01,511
It's very powerful.

736
00:54:02,495 --> 00:54:06,454
A friend of mine says, you know, words are
spelling, they are spells.

737
00:54:06,454 --> 00:54:10,725
You know, it's quite a funny phrase, but
they are powerful.

738
00:54:10,725 --> 00:54:18,595
And if I can change my phrasing from I'm
stuck, I'm lonely, I'm hungry, I'm sad, to

739
00:54:18,595 --> 00:54:25,495
curiosity around that, then there's that
chance to exactly as you said, to look at

740
00:54:25,495 --> 00:54:29,235
that awareness, look at those
possibilities, those potentials, those

741
00:54:29,235 --> 00:54:29,875
choices.

742
00:54:29,875 --> 00:54:31,205
So it is choices, isn't it?

743
00:54:31,205 --> 00:54:32,407
It's always...

744
00:54:32,543 --> 00:54:40,143
I have a choice to be in pain, to be
suffering, to be uncomfortable, to be

745
00:54:40,143 --> 00:54:46,343
miserable, or I can choose, and it takes
some effort, to move in a different

746
00:54:46,343 --> 00:54:48,785
direction.

747
00:54:48,785 --> 00:54:55,925
Definitely, definitely is that and it's
choice, it is choice.

748
00:54:57,845 --> 00:55:06,935
I worked with someone not so long ago and
this person was, had had quite a trauma,

749
00:55:06,935 --> 00:55:15,445
traumatic experience and her history was
quite significant in that her whole life

750
00:55:15,445 --> 00:55:16,361
was.

751
00:55:16,593 --> 00:55:20,973
It was quite traumatic in all aspects
right through from childhood.

752
00:55:21,433 --> 00:55:26,853
And she could not see how she could change
her thoughts to be positive, to be saying

753
00:55:26,853 --> 00:55:33,793
positive words, because everything in her
life was very negative.

754
00:55:33,793 --> 00:55:41,253
But I said words like love and happiness
just didn't compute.

755
00:55:41,973 --> 00:55:44,143
So I said, well, their words exist.

756
00:55:44,143 --> 00:55:46,055
Those words are there.

757
00:55:46,065 --> 00:55:48,545
You may not feel them at the moment.

758
00:55:48,545 --> 00:55:54,045
I said, but those words are still part of
a vocabulary that we can tell ourselves.

759
00:55:54,925 --> 00:55:58,105
So we had a lot of work to it.

760
00:55:58,105 --> 00:56:03,685
It was a lot of work to help her to
understand that she could use those words

761
00:56:03,685 --> 00:56:08,775
so that when she started saying something
negative, we would stop and think, OK,

762
00:56:08,775 --> 00:56:10,045
there's an opposite to that.

763
00:56:10,045 --> 00:56:12,145
What is the opposite of that?

764
00:56:12,345 --> 00:56:15,523
So what word would you say that's opposite
to?

765
00:56:15,729 --> 00:56:17,129
anger.

766
00:56:17,769 --> 00:56:20,949
What would you say is opposite to hate?

767
00:56:21,229 --> 00:56:22,329
What is the opposite?

768
00:56:22,329 --> 00:56:27,709
So when you have an all words have the
opposite so we can play with that and by

769
00:56:27,709 --> 00:56:33,649
going up and down this timeline she began
to start to use those more positive words

770
00:56:33,649 --> 00:56:39,789
and she now accepts that she can love
herself for all her faults that she feels

771
00:56:39,789 --> 00:56:40,749
she has.

772
00:56:40,749 --> 00:56:41,999
She can love herself.

773
00:56:41,999 --> 00:56:43,409
Now that to me is

774
00:56:43,409 --> 00:56:49,789
of great success and she has come through
a tremendous amount of change over the

775
00:56:49,789 --> 00:56:56,169
past couple of years working with her and
it's made such huge strides in her life.

776
00:56:56,169 --> 00:57:01,409
She's now going from feeling unworthy to
feeling worthy.

777
00:57:01,529 --> 00:57:06,349
She's got a job, she's able to paint,
she's being more creative, she's doing all

778
00:57:06,349 --> 00:57:11,969
the things that she's been wanting to do
for years but never had the courage to do

779
00:57:11,969 --> 00:57:12,617
it.

780
00:57:12,753 --> 00:57:14,593
and she's writing a book.

781
00:57:14,593 --> 00:57:21,373
I mean, you know, the things that it's
just taking someone on a journey that it

782
00:57:21,373 --> 00:57:28,193
is possible to make change and to change
the way we think and feel about our

783
00:57:28,193 --> 00:57:38,035
thoughts.

784
00:57:38,035 --> 00:57:41,935
That makes an awful lot of sense and I
think for me I didn't realise I could

785
00:57:41,935 --> 00:57:43,615
change my beliefs.

786
00:57:44,115 --> 00:57:47,055
I had no concept that I could do that.

787
00:57:47,055 --> 00:57:48,735
I didn't give myself permission.

788
00:57:48,735 --> 00:57:54,095
So do you find that people don't realise
that they can change their beliefs or they

789
00:57:54,095 --> 00:57:58,555
don't give themselves permission or they
want to But they don't think they have

790
00:57:58,555 --> 00:58:07,409
that permission or even are allowed to
change

791
00:58:07,409 --> 00:58:14,549
It's almost like we're conditioned to
follow a pattern of how we live our lives.

792
00:58:16,429 --> 00:58:23,649
And our beliefs confirm how we live our
life.

793
00:58:23,669 --> 00:58:24,879
And yes, you're right.

794
00:58:24,879 --> 00:58:27,069
There are some people who will not.

795
00:58:27,069 --> 00:58:28,989
They're stuck.

796
00:58:29,349 --> 00:58:31,989
You use that word, they're stuck.

797
00:58:32,977 --> 00:58:35,137
they can't see that there's something
else.

798
00:58:35,137 --> 00:58:41,857
When they work with other people, and I
think this is, there's so much out there

799
00:58:41,857 --> 00:58:48,857
now that we can tap into to understanding
that we don't have to conform to

800
00:58:48,857 --> 00:58:54,977
everything that we've been told we have to
do, that we can make change and to have

801
00:58:54,977 --> 00:58:59,537
that belief that keep us where we are.

802
00:58:59,537 --> 00:59:02,993
They're there, whatever it is, whether
it's...

803
00:59:02,993 --> 00:59:07,653
You believe that you're not worthy or
you're not able to do this, you've not got

804
00:59:07,653 --> 00:59:12,093
the training, you've not got this, you're
constantly looking for something to

805
00:59:12,093 --> 00:59:18,953
actually make it so that you think, I am
able to do this, I am worthy.

806
00:59:19,593 --> 00:59:26,613
But unless you actually change the
thoughts on that, that belief about that

807
00:59:26,613 --> 00:59:30,883
you're not worthy, you have to tell
yourself that you are.

808
00:59:30,883 --> 00:59:31,665
You have to...

809
00:59:31,665 --> 00:59:33,065
practice it.

810
00:59:33,205 --> 00:59:38,125
Practice being unworthy, now practice
being worthy.

811
00:59:39,045 --> 00:59:46,365
We've done years of practicing all the
negative and yes you're right, I agree

812
00:59:46,365 --> 00:59:52,485
that there are people who feel that they
can't change beliefs but you had to form

813
00:59:52,485 --> 00:59:54,665
that belief in the first place.

814
00:59:54,665 --> 00:59:56,885
That came from somewhere.

815
00:59:56,965 --> 00:59:59,337
So when you have that,

816
00:59:59,953 --> 01:00:05,793
We can undo that, we can pick it to
changing what that belief is if it's not

817
01:00:05,793 --> 01:00:07,313
serving you.

818
01:00:07,493 --> 01:00:12,333
And our subconscious always wants to go
back to what we think is safe.

819
01:00:12,333 --> 01:00:17,173
That's part of the brain that it's like
the monkey brain you talked about where it

820
01:00:17,173 --> 01:00:18,033
wants to keep you safe.

821
01:00:18,033 --> 01:00:19,453
You can't overstep.

822
01:00:19,453 --> 01:00:20,153
You can't.

823
01:00:20,153 --> 01:00:21,893
It's too risky.

824
01:00:21,893 --> 01:00:25,137
But actually, it's.

825
01:00:25,137 --> 01:00:30,317
When you realise that you can make those
changes and not be at risk to yourself or

826
01:00:30,317 --> 01:00:53,873
to your life,

827
01:00:53,873 --> 01:01:09,110
Allow your subconscious to play with it
and realise that you're still safe.

828
01:01:09,110 --> 01:01:14,251
It's just a belief it's just what that
current reality is and why can't we change

829
01:01:14,251 --> 01:01:24,311
it I had to change an awful lot of my
beliefs and It wasn't easy but Looking

830
01:01:24,311 --> 01:01:25,011
back at it.

831
01:01:25,011 --> 01:01:26,431
They were they were mine.

832
01:01:26,431 --> 01:01:31,607
They were my beliefs and they were mine
and why should I let them go?

833
01:01:31,743 --> 01:01:38,573
And yet when I questioned them, I got
curious about them, I played with them.

834
01:01:38,573 --> 01:01:42,283
I love the fact that you like playing with
all sorts of things.

835
01:01:42,283 --> 01:01:45,443
So when I played with those beliefs, is
that true?

836
01:01:45,443 --> 01:01:51,283
Is that way that I got brought up true or
is it true for those who taught me that?

837
01:01:51,283 --> 01:01:56,003
I mean, that's going down the lines of
ancestral beliefs and ancestral stories,

838
01:01:56,003 --> 01:01:58,903
which are the same as societal beliefs and
stories.

839
01:01:58,903 --> 01:02:00,983
They are just what we've

840
01:02:01,087 --> 01:02:02,427
been provided with.

841
01:02:02,427 --> 01:02:04,467
It doesn't mean they are right.

842
01:02:04,687 --> 01:02:09,067
But I had to look at those and question
what my parents taught me and my

843
01:02:09,067 --> 01:02:12,837
grandparents taught me and society and
said, yep, I agree with that.

844
01:02:12,837 --> 01:02:14,227
I'm going to be courageous.

845
01:02:14,227 --> 01:02:16,567
No, I'm not going to be that.

846
01:02:16,747 --> 01:02:20,727
But I had to ask for permission.

847
01:02:21,307 --> 01:02:24,347
I didn't realise that I was able to.

848
01:02:24,347 --> 01:02:28,959
And once I realised that, things just
changed.

849
01:02:28,959 --> 01:05:06,499
you know, it became effortless, not easy,
but effortless, I had to put the thinking

850
01:05:06,499 --> 01:05:09,419
OK, so it's all about being curious then,
isn't it?

851
01:05:09,419 --> 01:05:11,403
That's really important.

852
01:05:12,401 --> 01:05:19,821
It is, and the more curious you are, I
think some people are just so locked in

853
01:05:19,821 --> 01:05:26,501
where they are in their lives that they're
not curious as to what is possible.

854
01:05:26,501 --> 01:05:31,841
And we start playing with words and
thoughts, what our thoughts are and being

855
01:05:31,841 --> 01:05:36,001
curious about what they feel like inside
our bodies.

856
01:05:36,341 --> 01:05:38,937
Because all thoughts create a feeling.

857
01:05:39,025 --> 01:05:42,785
and those feelings, we need a word to
describe them.

858
01:05:42,785 --> 01:05:47,285
But when we start playing with all of that
and be curious about it, what does that

859
01:05:47,285 --> 01:05:47,895
make me feel like?

860
01:05:47,895 --> 01:05:53,225
I've got butterflies in my tummy or I'm
going like my heart racing or do I feel

861
01:05:53,225 --> 01:05:54,205
this excitement?

862
01:05:54,205 --> 01:05:55,805
Do I feel joy?

863
01:05:55,805 --> 01:05:57,595
What words come into my thoughts?

864
01:05:57,595 --> 01:06:02,365
And then we play with all the words and
then the feelings with the words and back

865
01:06:02,365 --> 01:06:04,085
and forward and back and forward.

866
01:06:04,085 --> 01:06:05,435
And I love that.

867
01:06:05,435 --> 01:06:08,869
It's almost like a game where we can...

868
01:06:09,585 --> 01:06:13,245
Try different things and be curious about
it.

869
01:06:13,345 --> 01:06:15,925
It's, yeah.

870
01:06:18,719 --> 01:06:19,659
think that's brilliant.

871
01:06:19,659 --> 01:06:21,439
I love that whole idea.

872
01:06:21,439 --> 01:06:23,339
Now here's a question for you.

873
01:06:23,339 --> 01:06:24,819
Which comes first?

874
01:06:24,819 --> 01:06:28,529
The emotions or the thought or the
feelings?

875
01:06:29,489 --> 01:06:37,393
Wow, yeah, I see it as a circle.

876
01:06:37,393 --> 01:06:43,073
It's a good question because when we were
born, we had no thoughts.

877
01:06:43,073 --> 01:06:46,693
We only had feelings and emotions.

878
01:06:47,233 --> 01:06:50,853
And we had no words to place what these
were.

879
01:06:50,853 --> 01:06:55,353
We just had the reactions as babies.

880
01:06:55,353 --> 01:07:02,493
And then those feelings were all
developing and we were making connections

881
01:07:02,493 --> 01:07:06,609
within the nervous system through those
feelings.

882
01:07:06,609 --> 01:07:08,189
and emotions.

883
01:07:08,189 --> 01:07:15,289
And it's not until we start to have words,
we say words, and there's a connection

884
01:07:15,289 --> 01:07:20,269
with the word, the sound to a meaning.

885
01:07:20,269 --> 01:07:27,369
So I, my belief is the emotions come
first, then the words and thoughts are

886
01:07:27,369 --> 01:07:33,689
very interlinked because when you don't
have what, what is a thought?

887
01:07:34,589 --> 01:07:35,473
It's

888
01:07:35,473 --> 01:07:41,933
we have to have words to express what that
thought is, but we feel it.

889
01:07:41,933 --> 01:07:46,733
So I think the feelings are always that we
have this gut feeling, we can have a gut

890
01:07:46,733 --> 01:07:49,033
feeling, but we can't really explain what
it is.

891
01:07:49,033 --> 01:07:54,153
So that feeling is there and we may not be
able to explain it until we sort of start

892
01:07:54,153 --> 01:07:56,092
putting the words to it.

893
01:07:57,393 --> 01:08:04,849
So I think the feeling and that's often we
don't tend to connect with the feeling.

894
01:08:04,849 --> 01:08:08,989
because we're so in our heads with the
thoughts and the words that we use.

895
01:08:08,989 --> 01:08:17,713
But when we connect to the feeling and use
that first, it can change your thoughts.

896
01:08:17,713 --> 01:08:19,273
It's an interesting one, isn't it?

897
01:08:19,273 --> 01:08:24,753
I think there's a lot of debate about
which comes first, but my feeling is

898
01:08:24,753 --> 01:08:25,573
feeling.

899
01:08:25,573 --> 01:08:27,413
It's feeling first.

900
01:08:27,833 --> 01:08:32,313
I've got that feeling, then I connect to
the thought on it, which gives me the word

901
01:08:32,313 --> 01:08:41,763
that I can place to that feeling.

902
01:08:41,763 --> 01:08:44,243
that makes so much sense from that
perspective.

903
01:08:44,243 --> 01:08:50,703
Yeah, as a baby, there was pain, there was
smile seeing mum, there was that that came

904
01:08:50,703 --> 01:08:54,423
first and then the language to explain it.

905
01:08:54,423 --> 01:08:56,723
I like that.

906
01:08:57,603 --> 01:09:01,619
Because we're not our thoughts are our
feelings are we they're just messages.

907
01:09:10,965 --> 01:09:14,765
what would we do if we didn't have words?

908
01:09:15,485 --> 01:09:21,705
How would we express our feelings and
thoughts to other people?

909
01:09:21,705 --> 01:09:27,945
We would have to use body language, we
would have to use ways of that

910
01:09:27,945 --> 01:09:31,017
communication, which was probably part of
our ancestral.

911
01:09:31,057 --> 01:09:33,587
development and we still do it.

912
01:09:33,587 --> 01:09:39,297
We use facial expressions, we use our
hands, we use our body, carrying our body

913
01:09:39,297 --> 01:09:44,273
in certain ways can show us how we're
feeling in the world.

914
01:09:44,273 --> 01:09:49,953
that we can't do anything with those
feelings if we're not connected to each

915
01:09:49,953 --> 01:09:52,533
other and being able to share it.

916
01:09:52,533 --> 01:09:56,853
And I think this kind of takes us right
back to the beginning in a way is that

917
01:09:56,853 --> 01:10:04,753
this connection humanity is being
disconnected by the way we're living our

918
01:10:04,753 --> 01:10:05,793
lives.

919
01:10:05,793 --> 01:10:10,093
And that in turn is disconnecting us from
our own bodies.

920
01:10:10,353 --> 01:10:12,633
Whereas with humanity,

921
01:10:12,689 --> 01:10:18,109
craves to be with other people and to have
that connection.

922
01:10:18,109 --> 01:10:27,089
And that's what helps to keep us sane, you
know, stimulated, curious about this,

923
01:10:27,089 --> 01:10:33,049
everything that's going on and how it
feels for each of us and sharing all of

924
01:10:33,049 --> 01:10:34,269
this.

925
01:10:34,649 --> 01:10:37,383
I think is where bringing.

926
01:10:38,161 --> 01:10:43,981
If we can bring humanity back together, we
can show and we can support each other in

927
01:10:43,981 --> 01:10:48,461
so many ways with health and wellness as
well as all the other things that are

928
01:10:48,461 --> 01:10:57,781
going on, that it's this connection and in
Chinese medicine is so fundamental, the

929
01:10:57,781 --> 01:11:03,161
connection to everything around us, within
us and around us and the people that we

930
01:11:03,161 --> 01:11:05,623
hold in our communities.

931
01:11:05,745 --> 01:11:10,365
and coming together with those communities
and the support and love that we can give

932
01:11:10,365 --> 01:11:14,565
to one another helps to keep us to live
longer.

933
01:11:14,565 --> 01:11:20,005
But with disconnection, when we
disconnect, we are more at risk of being

934
01:11:20,005 --> 01:11:24,405
isolated even within ourselves than...

935
01:11:24,405 --> 01:11:26,825
Do you see where I'm going with this?

936
01:11:26,825 --> 01:11:34,385
I get quite passionate about how humanity
is feeling as if we're being pulled apart.

937
01:11:34,385 --> 01:11:36,265
And it's the same with our health.

938
01:11:36,265 --> 01:11:40,545
We're being pulled away from what will
keep us healthy and well.

939
01:11:40,545 --> 01:11:41,665
And that's community.

940
01:11:41,665 --> 01:11:46,665
It's about support, finding the people
that are important to you, that that

941
01:11:46,665 --> 01:11:49,325
supports you, that are around you.

942
01:11:49,445 --> 01:11:51,889
And.

943
01:11:51,889 --> 01:11:58,049
Yeah, that's a big subject, Hamish is
thoughts, feelings and words.

944
01:12:09,535 --> 01:12:12,115
I think you have perfectly summed it up
there.

945
01:12:12,115 --> 01:12:15,875
Johann Hari says the opposite of addiction
is connection.

946
01:12:15,875 --> 01:12:21,575
And I think what you've said there about
connection with ourselves, with each other

947
01:12:21,575 --> 01:12:26,175
is such, so important and so profound.

948
01:12:26,175 --> 01:12:28,295
And we are disconnected.

949
01:12:28,295 --> 01:12:32,235
We are so busy, as you said, running
around doing this, doing that,

950
01:12:32,235 --> 01:12:37,835
expectations, demands, that we are losing
that connection.

951
01:12:37,835 --> 01:12:39,231
And that's a tragedy.

952
01:12:39,231 --> 01:12:41,231
It really is a tragedy.

953
01:12:41,841 --> 01:12:44,441
is very, very much.

954
01:12:44,461 --> 01:12:51,601
And if you look at history, back through
the generations, it was the community and

955
01:12:51,601 --> 01:12:58,141
the support of each, each community with
each other and taking care of one another.

956
01:12:58,421 --> 01:13:03,801
Even going back and way, way further back,
if you look at the bonobo apes, they keep,

957
01:13:03,801 --> 01:13:11,377
you know, the closest to us as humans,
they stay in groups, they, they

958
01:13:11,377 --> 01:13:13,537
nurture and care for each other in groups.

959
01:13:13,537 --> 01:13:18,337
And that's where we evolved from through,
I don't know what your beliefs are, here

960
01:13:18,337 --> 01:13:19,957
we go with beliefs.

961
01:13:20,577 --> 01:13:29,397
But it's looking at where we are as
humans, it's almost like we've reaching

962
01:13:29,397 --> 01:13:39,561
this point where in our societies, there's
this division that is creating ill health.

963
01:13:40,305 --> 01:13:46,685
and stress all of the things around what's
going on in our world.

964
01:13:46,685 --> 01:13:54,645
And it's by coming together in communities
and finding our community where we feel

965
01:13:54,645 --> 01:13:56,545
nurtured and cared for.

966
01:13:56,545 --> 01:13:59,265
That's what's going to help us survive.

967
01:13:59,445 --> 01:14:05,365
And the more that we live disconnected
from each other, the more our health will

968
01:14:05,365 --> 01:14:06,425
suffer.

969
01:14:06,425 --> 01:14:08,753
And it's been proven in

970
01:14:08,753 --> 01:14:15,953
research that's been done that we are at
risk, a higher risk of all the diseases

971
01:14:15,953 --> 01:14:23,293
related to stress and isolation and that
is cancers, different new cancers that are

972
01:14:23,293 --> 01:14:31,553
coming forward through now and the mental
health and there's a statistic to show

973
01:14:31,553 --> 01:14:35,653
that used to be the back pain was the
number one cause of people coming off

974
01:14:35,653 --> 01:14:37,617
work, being off work.

975
01:14:37,617 --> 01:14:44,077
But now it's stress and back pain and the
two are interlinked hugely because it's

976
01:14:44,077 --> 01:14:48,497
the nervous system and your mental health.

977
01:14:48,557 --> 01:14:53,077
And this when we come together as
communities and care for one another and

978
01:14:53,077 --> 01:14:58,677
support one another, our mental health is
so much better because we're working

979
01:14:58,677 --> 01:15:01,467
together, we're supporting each other.

980
01:15:01,467 --> 01:15:06,577
And that to me is where this wonderful
connection and you know, it's

981
01:15:06,577 --> 01:15:13,817
I think that smaller communities will in
time be more healthy than people living in

982
01:15:13,817 --> 01:15:19,177
the cities because unless they form
communities themselves, but the further we

983
01:15:19,177 --> 01:15:24,897
disconnect as a society, the more at risk
we are of developing diseases like

984
01:15:24,897 --> 01:15:33,157
obesity, cancer, what's the other one I'm
thinking of, depression, depression as

985
01:15:33,157 --> 01:15:34,457
well on the increase.

986
01:15:34,457 --> 01:15:36,465
It doesn't have to be like that.

987
01:15:36,465 --> 01:15:42,943
And we as humans can actually make that
change.

988
01:15:42,943 --> 01:15:44,163
fabulous.

989
01:15:44,503 --> 01:15:49,023
I think we have, you've brought this such
a beautiful conclusion there.

990
01:15:49,023 --> 01:15:52,113
So thank you ever so much Barbara.

991
01:15:52,113 --> 01:15:54,853
You're welcome and thank you for having
me.

992
01:15:54,853 --> 01:16:02,443
I really enjoyed talking with you, Hamish,
and any time you want me to come again,

993
01:16:02,443 --> 01:16:04,573
I've got lots I can share.

994
01:16:05,503 --> 01:16:08,703
We will definitely get you back on here as
well.

995
01:16:08,703 --> 01:16:10,453
Yeah, but before you go two things.

996
01:16:10,453 --> 01:16:13,303
Where can people find out more about you?

997
01:16:13,777 --> 01:16:23,377
Okay, my website is meetbarbarellis .com
and my whole story around why I'm doing

998
01:16:23,377 --> 01:16:25,737
what I'm doing is on there.

999
01:16:25,737 --> 01:16:32,977
And I am about to set up a membership
which is going to bring people together

1000
01:16:32,977 --> 01:16:38,937
and for me to help talk about and to show
you different techniques and things that

1001
01:16:38,937 --> 01:16:40,837
you can do to keep your health well.

1002
01:16:40,837 --> 01:16:43,633
And that's going to be Vitality Reclaimed.

1003
01:16:43,633 --> 01:16:46,893
based on my membership that's in the
process of being at.

1004
01:16:46,893 --> 01:16:48,563
But you can also ring me.

1005
01:16:48,563 --> 01:16:55,813
I am happy to talk and just to for people
to call me and have a conversation.

1006
01:16:55,813 --> 01:17:02,073
And that's the beginning of your journey
with me to find out whether I am suited

1007
01:17:02,073 --> 01:17:07,513
for you or you wish, you know, if you wish
to proceed with me.

1008
01:17:07,513 --> 01:17:13,393
And my number is 07552 450102.

1009
01:17:13,393 --> 01:17:15,713
I don't know if you wanted that.

1010
01:17:15,753 --> 01:17:16,773
Put that in there.

1011
01:17:16,773 --> 01:17:31,551
And also an email is
vitalityreclaimed@gmail .com.

1012
01:17:31,551 --> 01:17:32,421
Brilliant, thank you.

1013
01:17:32,421 --> 01:17:36,951
Well, I'll make sure that is in the show
notes and certainly your community,

1014
01:17:36,951 --> 01:17:39,491
because that sounds really, really
interesting.

1015
01:17:40,371 --> 01:17:48,145
And lastly, what is your superpower that
you got from your awakening?

1016
01:17:48,145 --> 01:17:57,169
My superpower is my belief that I can heal
my own body.

1017
01:17:57,169 --> 01:18:00,029
without pills, drugs, whatever.

1018
01:18:00,029 --> 01:18:06,687
It's just I have the ability to heal my
own body.

1019
01:18:06,687 --> 01:18:07,647
Fabulous.

1020
01:18:07,647 --> 01:18:08,287
I love that.

1021
01:18:08,287 --> 01:18:11,317
I think that is so empowering, isn't it?

1022
01:18:11,317 --> 01:18:14,481
Because we all have that capacity to do
that.

1023
01:18:14,481 --> 01:18:16,421
Yeah, definitely.

1024
01:18:18,495 --> 01:18:22,255
Brilliant Barbara, well thank you ever so
much for your time today for sharing us

1025
01:18:22,255 --> 01:18:26,235
your wisdom and those little tips that
will definitely help people and me to

1026
01:18:26,235 --> 01:18:27,555
breathe better and things like that.

1027
01:18:27,555 --> 01:18:29,191
So thank you ever so much.

1028
01:18:29,265 --> 01:18:30,255
Thank you, Hamish.

1029
01:18:30,255 --> 01:18:34,023
Thanks very much.

1030
01:18:34,805 --> 01:18:38,385
Thank you for listening to this episode of
The Crucible, Conversations for the

1031
01:18:38,385 --> 01:18:39,165
Curious.

1032
01:18:39,165 --> 01:18:42,765
If these powerful stories of
transformation resonated with you, be sure

1033
01:18:42,765 --> 01:18:46,745
to like, subscribe and share this show
with anyone who you think could do with a

1034
01:18:46,745 --> 01:18:48,745
dose of inspiration for their own journey.

1035
01:18:48,745 --> 01:18:52,005
I would really appreciate it if you could
make any comments on your favourite

1036
01:18:52,005 --> 01:18:55,325
podcast platform as well, that helps me
reach more people.

1037
01:18:55,325 --> 01:18:58,785
All the important links and information
are in the show notes below.

1038
01:18:58,785 --> 01:19:01,869
Thank you very much for listening and
catch up with you soon.