Could You Have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder?

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post-traumatic stress disorderI may not have gone to war but I felt like a warrior. I had dreams that woke me sweating and gasping for breath. I was living but I wasn’t really living. I knew I wasn’t in a good state but I didn’t know that I could be experiencing a form of PTSD.   Does this feeling sound familiar? I hope not but if it does…this is what changed everything for me.

I’ve tried writing about the way my daughter was born about a million times now. Every time I stop. I just get stuck. I can’t finish it. In this context it is to help others that have not lost someone but are going through all the same grief as if they had.  It’s called anticipatory grief and I specialize in helping people past the toughest times in their life.

I believe we can heal on all levels and that will ultimately help us be and relate to others with more and more love.  I also believe that even though life can throw us some serious challenges, we can come through it better than we were before, More connected, more empathetic, more open, more loving and healthier on all levels.

Are you caring for a mother with Alzeimers disease?  Are you married to a partner with a terminal illness? In my case a mother who is caring for a child who is expected to slowly die. None of these situations are easy. You have to go on doing all the things you normally do because they need you but there is this massive sense that nothing is okay. It is soul rattling. My heart goes out to anyone going through something similar and it is my hope that those people will ask for help because the sick person gets all the help and the support person is left to deal with it on their own.

I was lost.

I felt as a new mom that all of my friends were so far away, living a totally different life. Even when a friend did reach out, I didn’t know how to be close with them. When anyone would ask how my daughter was doing I would just say: “she’s great!” It wasn’t the truth, it was the only thing I could get out of my mouth in order to stay positive. For friends of someone going through something difficult you don’t have to be perfect. You just have to be there.  People naturally want to help but are often too scared that they will say or do the wrong thing

It’s not about saying all the right things and getting approval, it’s about being there. Imperfectly. There is a line of empathy cards for awkward moments that say things like: “I’m so sorry you’re sick. I promise I won’t try to sell you on some random treatment I found on the internet”(emilymcdowell.com/collections/empathy-cards) .

So often we make it about us, but it has nothing to do with us. It isn’t personal.

Often those that are going through a trauma like this are depressed or anxious but it’s hard to know what is the situation versus what is you. After all who can be happy while going through this? You may not expect to feel like yourself and over time you slowly lose who you are as a result. It’s kind of like aging. When you have aches and pains in your body it’s so easy to say: Oh well, I’m just getting older but a lot of those aches and pains could be alleviated or prevented. Same goes for someone’s mental state during a trauma, they don’t expect to feel happy or grateful, so they let it go and over time, they may stop expecting to be happy.

My mission is to help people that are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder so that they can reclaim who they are and feel empowered to take care of themselves again.

If you feel like you’ll never feel like yourself again there is so much help out there.

On my end I’ve tried and felt amazing results from daily Qi Gong practice, La Trame Vibrational Therapy, Reiki Healing, Life Activation and most recently Reconnection Healing. That’s my route. The healing route. Maybe you’re more comfortable with talk therapy. In that case I would suggest a therapy that deals with the subconscious mind because, in my experience, the only way to get beyond the surface of the issues and make real change is to go deeper than the conscious mind.

Whatever you choose, it doesn’t much matter to me as long as you seek help and get the support you need to feel like yourself again.

With the deepest love in my heart I wish healing for all those going through a trauma like I have.

Why is it so Hard to Do What We Want to Do?

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I Have Been in the Professional Closet for Many Years…

I’ve been an energy healer hiding behind the more physical services that I provide.

For almost 10 years now I haven’t been upfront about what I do.  I used to hide behind personal training then Muscle Activation Techniques (MAT) because it’s the more accepted form of treatment.

Why do we do this?

Because it’s easier.

It’s a lot harder to show that there is more that we can’t see. It’s a lot harder to prove that how you feel creates the life you have now. It’s a lot harder as a healer to show that we have to heal all the deep down “stuff” that is creating this physical reality you’re living.

I think most spiritual types like me make these little compromises all the time for fear of being seen as a woo woo, hippy or too ‘out there’ by the left brained logical types or those that may not be ready to hear it.

I’m talking about my experience being out there as a healer and owning it but this applies to anyone who is not truly doing what they want to do. Whether it’s a job, a relationship, a life path, the actual choice doesn’t matter, it’s the honoring who you are that is the biggest deal here.

It doesn’t hurt much at first but we give up something small maybe we take a temporary job just ‘for now’ or we give up a hobby we love and then it can build over time to bigger and bigger things.

Kind of makes me think of many lawyer movies where the star is a straight shooter with strong morals who slowly makes one bad decision after another and soon doesn’t recognize who he is anymore.

Don’t let this be you

I hate to sound preachy but I don’t care.  Listen to your gut, listen to your body, listen to that quiet voice guiding you because it will just get louder and louder until you listen to it and take action. The alternative doesn’t need to be horrible, it’s just not for you. That temporary job is not for your highest purpose, it’s not evil.

Listen to that voice, that feeling, that inner knowing and take the next smallest step toward it even though you are not sure how it will pan out or you doubt you’re making a mistake. If you are making a mistake, trust me you will know it and adjust your course.

Take the next step in honoring your highest purpose and you will be rewarded in synchronicities, confirmation, abundance and joy.  I am still working on it but I keep taking the next terrifying step and trust that it is where I am meant to be.

~ Madeleine

Apana Bodywork

Pregnancy is a Bitch

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pregnancy is a bitchLet’s face it people. Pregnancy ain’t no picnic. You have a whole host of things that can happen. But one thing is for sure: your body has to move on over for the little one and that is a certainty.

Your hips widen, your feet fall flat, your heart shifts to the right not to mention the nausea and fatigue.  Your body is put through the ringer and many women are uncomfortable for the majority of the second and third trimester.

If you’re having difficulty with exercise that you previously had no problem with or if you have trouble sleeping because you can’t get comfortable this is worth considering.

I know what it’s like to feel sore and achy in places you never knew existed so I feel for you!  Your body is making major adjustments that will put more stress on certain joints. Creating a life can also suck the life out of you so exhaustion is also common. One of my pregnant friends admitted to napping under her desk at her lunch hour!

The good news is, it doesn’t have to come to that!  Let me throw you a life preserver and help you out of the discomfort and exhaustion.

At Apana Bodywork we custom tailor your treatment to include stress relief, recharging your energy and realigning your body so that you can feel that pregnant glow everyone is talking about.

Call us for a FREE 30 Minute consultation to see if this treatment is right for you!

LESS PAIN, MORE GAIN!

Madeleine Dasilva
Apanabodywork.com
647.801.2424

Healing from Brain Injury: Zoe’s Story

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What’s your biggest fear? Mine is public speaking. Yesterday I finally did the presentation on healing brain injury: Zoe’s Story, and it was terrifying…until I started.

I loved how it felt. The possibilities are endless in how people will receive your message and what they will take from it. I love that; the chance to change someone’s perspective.

This brings me to thanking all the family and friends who supported me yesterday evening.  It’s hard to know what to do when someone is going through a challenge and the majority of help is provided by just SHOWING UP.  So thank you all for that!

A friend came up to me after the talk and asked me if I had read Dr. Doidge’s book ‘The Brains Way of Healing’ and I knew what he was referring to.  In the book he mentions the PONS modulator that is placed in a persons’ mouth that sends electrical impulses through two cranial nerves to the brain to hopefully send those signals throughout the brain so it can rewire itself.

I actually called Dr. Doidge to ask him when that would be available. He said it was in trials in the U.S. military and expected it to be available to the public in about two years.

I believe that given the right stimulation that the brain can heal itself. I also believe that the willingness of the spirit to support this healing is crucial. That willingness is not under our control.  We can support, provide stimulation, be open to all healing modalities that may provide what is needed to heal but ultimately it is up to the person if they are going to heal. This is not a conscious decision but one made on a soul level.

Disturbingly enough, doctors will never provide you with any suggestions of healers, naturopaths, Muscle Activation specialists, Posturologists, brain gym and treatment options like the Anat Baniel method.  All these modalities have the potential to help you in your quest to find a solution to the challenges your child faces. In my case it was my newborn baby and I couldn’t of felt more alone.

Luckily I am in the healing profession so I could use some of my skills on my daughter but what about all the parents who are busy working professionals and don’t know about all these alternative healing modalities that could be useful?

I’ve learnt that many rehabilitation/healing modalities have a place, it’s just matter of figuring out what is appropriate and when.

To all parents of kids with brain injury: Listen to your doctor and then do what you feel is right for your child. Listen to your intuition and trust it above and beyond anything else that is said to you.

How You Can Heal from Plantar Fasciitis Without Orthotics

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That debilitating pain you get first thing in the morning when you put your feet down on the floor. It feels like your heel is filled with little bits of glass. This is obviously not the greatest start to your day.

This doesn’t just happen in the morning but all throughout the day if you happen to sit down for an extended amount of time and get back up again, there it is all over again. For most people the intensity of the heel jabbing decreases after the initial pain in the morning but the repetitive stretching and tearing can cause the fascia to become irritated and inflamed which makes this condition more likely to become chronic.

Sounds like fun huh? Well many folks go to the foot doctor and get orthotics but I see this solution as merely a crutch that is useful on a temporary basis but isn’t a long term solution.  Just like when you break your leg and have to limp around on crutches for 6-8 weeks, you end up ditching the crutches when your leg is all healed up.

My goal for my clients is to have them work towards functioning well without orthotics because orthotics are another work around mechanically and can cause your body to compensate and pick up the stress in other areas.

Here is a simple explanation of foot mechanics to set the stage for understanding why we get plantar fasciitis.

You have a forefoot and a rearfoot and those are like the front of your car and the back of your car only they work in opposition. These two parts of the foot must lock one on the other during the push off phase of gait/walk cycle in order to create a rigid lever. If they don’t lock then you’re pushing off phase of gait/walking occurs on a foot that is a “loose bag of bones” which creates a lot of tension on the plantar fascia and micro tears.

Q: What causes plantar fasciitis/heel pain?

A: As mentioned above, your foot is in the unlocked position during the push off phase of gait. This creates a problem because your plantar fascia gets fully and completely stretched creating micro tears which results in injury, inflammation and pain.

Q: Why do I have more heel pain in the morning?

A: During rest your body begins healing these micro tears in your plantar fascia and when you get up in the morning or after sitting for a while, you literally re-injure the plantar fascia. This is why this is so irritating and painful. The body keeps trying to heal it and by walking with poor foot mechanics, the injury re-occurs.

Q: How can I heal from Plantar Fasciitis with Muscle Activation Techniques?

A: There are several ways MAT can help

  1. We correct your faulty mechanics that lead to the plantar fasciitis in the first place
  2. Decrease Pain and inflammation : As muscles get back online , the inflammation naturally decreases and so does the pain as a result
  3. Corrective exercises: We give you specific corrective exercises to reinforce proper foot mechanics so you don’t slip back into the mechanics that created the problem.
  4. Slowly transition from orthotics/more supportive shoes to relying less and less on external support and more on the support created by the muscles in the foot and ankle

Q: Do shoes with poor support cause plantar fasciitis?

A: No is the short answer. However, if you’re muscles aren’t doing their job then your foot could be placed in a bad position during push off, thereby putting a great deal of strain on the plantar fascia making you dependent on the support of an orthotic or shoe. The ultimate goal is to rely on your muscles to create proper foot mechanics in order to take the stress off the foot and allow it to heal and move away from being dependent on the support of an orthotic or shoe.

During treatment, your tolerance to stress will be assessed and only when you are ready to start to transition from orthotics or high support shoes will you be instructed to do so.  Most of my clients move away from orthotics because they don’t need them anymore.

In short, once you have plantar fasciitis your foot is good and irritated and I would recommend doing anything to decrease inflammation whether that be applying a natural or over the counter anti-inflammatory cream, soaking in Epsom salts, taking advil, taking a homeopathic orally like Arnica a few times a day, elevating with ice for 10 minutes. Anything that makes you feel better for the time being to get your inflammation down will help you heal. In addition to that I would recommend learning how MAT can help you correct your foot mechanics so that this doesn’t become a chronic problem. Muscle Activation Techniques is a service we provide at Apana Bodywork, Contact us here to receive a free 30 minute phone consultation to see if MAT is right for you.

Do You Think Personal Training Will Look Like This?

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personal trainingIf so, you are sadly mistaken my friend!

Most people don’t have the strength to do a straight leg push up let alone be stepped on during one!

If you’re a trainer and you have clients who have injuries, limitations in movement or issues with strength of certain joints, check out Muscle Activation Techniques and read up on a new technique that is all the rage right now called Muscle Activation Techniques. All the pros are using it, so why not offer this to your clients as an add-on and help them heal from those chronic injuries that keep them from working out at the intensity they need to be!

Check out an article in Men’s Fitness: 5 THINGS MUSCLE ACTIVATION TECHNIQUE (MAT) TRAINING CAN DO FOR YOUR BODY

Are You a Personal Trainer Who Is:

1. Tired of working around body pain with your clients?

2. Frustrated because your clients are constantly injured?

3. Are you trying to find exercises that won’t hurt your clients?

 

I started out as a trainer and I have been there! I was given every injured client. It’s exhausting if you don’t have the right tools.

 

Here’s Why I was Frustrated While Training Injured Clients:

I’m Training my client at the gym and no matter how many times I would say “don’t let your knee dive in” during a squat, it didn’t make a difference!  This is bad form that cannot be corrected with proper cueing. No matter how hard my client tried she could not stop her knee from dropping in. I became curious as to why this was happening.

 

Here is the Solution I Found Worked Quickly:

In the first day of the Muscle Activation Techniques (MAT) internship they explained how the body compensates or works around a (neurological) weakness as a form of protection from injury or instability. The body avoids positions of weakness and favors positions of strength as a safeguard and it does this AUTOMATICALLY! That made so much sense!  That’s why no matter how hard my clients tried to correct their form, they couldn’t.

The body’s goal is to protect, conserve and heal and if it can’t heal, it will continue to protect in as many ways as possible for as long as possible. When a person squats and their knee dives in, there must be a muscular weakness/inhibition that they are avoiding, and as a result, the body is favoring a position of strength and taking a “detour” around the position(s) of weakness.

The sooner we realize that the nervous system is the boss of how we move, the sooner we stop fighting with the body and start working with the body to get it to do the things we want!

Get your mechanics checked out today and make sure you aren’t the next injured client!

Note to Trainers who are interested in MAT

If you’re a trainer and you’re interested in Muscle Activation Techniques there is an economical and straight forward training that MAT provides in Toronto where you can become Jumpstart Certified in Muscle Activation Techniques. This is a great way to help your clients heal from their injuries and help you gain the trust of your clients.

– Madeleine

Apana Bodywork

Do you have chronic pain that is stopping you from living your life on your own terms?

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chronic pain treatment aurora york region Apana BodyworkMuscle Activation Techniques Helps with Chronic Pain

Maybe you just have a low grade headache most days of the week or you have tightness in your lower back every day. The muscular problem creating these aches and pains can be solved.  The reason Muscle Activation Techniques (MAT) was created was because there was a large gap between getting by and living optimally. Let me give you an example of the difference in approach Apana Bodywork takes compared to physiotherapy.

Say you had a severe injury and you had to learn how to walk again.  The goal of traditional physiotherapy is to get you walking and being able to get dressed and go to work and if you can’t do that, your environment would be altered to make it easier for you, For example installing a hand rail for the bathroom. But that isn’t really living is it?

Get Back to Living

With Apana Bodywork, we want you to get back to really living your life on your own terms and that means clearing away any blockages that would stand in your way of achieving greater strength and motion.  Wouldn’t you want to get back to your active lifestyle and not have to design work around solutions to your immobility/pain problem?

The quality of your life would be severely affected if you were an active person and you could no longer be active. One of my first clients was told by a good sports medicine doctor in Toronto that since she couldn’t go up or down the stairs without pain after six months of physiotherapy that she would just have to “alter her lifestyle” so that she would avoid stairs. Within six sessions of MAT she was going up and down stairs without pain. Just like that her body was given the right information so that it could function like it should.

 

Contact Apana Bodywork at 647.801.2424 to feel the difference one session can make!

apanabodywork@gmail.com

How Exercise Can Help Alleviate Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety

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I used to be big into exercise and took a break for awhile after my daughter was born. I noticed my anxiety went up and I had trouble sleeping at times and of course started to gain some weight. This short article from Mayo clinic reminds us just how important exercise (even 30 min brisk walking) is for everyone but especially if you suffer from anxiety or depression.

How Exercise Can Help Alleviate Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety

Regular exercise probably helps ease depression in a number of ways, which may include:

1. Releasing feel-good brain chemicals that may ease depression (neurotransmitters, endorphins and endocannabinoids)

2. Reducing immune system chemicals that can worsen depression

3. Increasing body temperature, which may have calming effects

Here are a few tips to rack up the 30 minutes EXERCISE you need:

1. Taking the stairs at work or during your subway commute

2. Parking the car further away

3. Get off one stop sooner and walk

4. If you want to get to a yoga class and can’t seem to fit it in, find one on Youtube and do it for free in the comfort of your home.

Muscular Compensation: How Your Body Works Around Weak Links

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muscular compensation - muscle activation techniques aurora - Apana BodyworkI’m Training my client at the gym and no matter how many times I would say “don’t let your knee dive in” during a squat, it didn’t make a difference!  This is bad form that cannot be corrected with proper cueing. No matter how hard my client tried she could not stop her knee from dropping in. I became curious as to why this was happening.  In the first day of the Muscle Activation Techniques (MAT) internship they explained how the body compensates or works around a (neurological) weakness as a form of protection from injury or instability. The body avoids positions of weakness and favors positions of strength as a safeguard. That made so much sense!

The Body’s Goal is to Protect, Conserve and Heal

And if it can’t heal, it will continue to protect in as many ways as possible for as long as possible. When a person squats and their knee dives in, there must be a muscular weakness/inhibition that they are avoiding, and as a result, the body is favoring a position of strength and taking a “detour” around the position(s) of weakness.

Why Do Muscles Become Weak?

Before we can talk about muscular compensation we need to quickly address why muscles become neurologically weak or inhibited in the first place. How do muscles become neurologically weak in the first place?  Stress, trauma and overuse shut down the connection between the brain and muscle rendering muscle contraction less efficient and effective or completely absent.  This connection is necessary for proper muscle function.  Net effect: your muscles won’t contract when you need them to or may not contract at all.  This makes you vulnerable to injury because you are more unstable.  This may not seem like a big deal but wait until one weakness stacks on to another and the entire functioning of your body is affected because your body is compensating around weak muscles.

The Nervous System Finds Ways to Work Around the Weaknesses

Most people are shocked to find out that not all their muscles are contracting perfectly.  The objections I hear are: “But I work out!” Or “I feel fine!”  How can we function if this is the case?  The reason we get around so well is that our nervous systems find ways to work around the weaknesses. Like a road closure that makes you take the long way around, the ‘detour’ your body takes to avoid the weakness isn’t as efficient. It may look odd and could even be causing imbalances at your joints but it gets the job done.  Over time, joints can easily get worn out when muscles aren’t doing their job.  It can even render simple activities painful.  Compensation is a work-around that is necessary until we activate those weak links and get back to our proper biomechanical functioning.

Returning Functionality Back to Those Muscles with MAT

Once we get muscle function back, your joints are more balanced taking the stress off of them and for most, decreasing pain and stiffness and increasing motion.  Post treatment mostly everyone reports feeling different when they walk. They have also observed feeling looser, more agile and the complaint they came in with typically changes in quality and severity and this progresses over subsequent treatments. The way your body feels improves gradually over the course of treatments and you begin to feel relief.

Many clients haven’t returned because the problem they came in with is gone.  For others, they drive their bodies like race cars and as a result need more maintenance.  They come in to maintain their alignment, strength and overall sense of well-being while pushing the boundaries of what their bodies can handle.  Wouldn’t you love to be stronger now than you were when you were 20?  That’s a great feeling.

MAT specializes in your muscular system in a way that is going to speed healing from injury, surgery, patellar-femoral syndrome, arthritis, scoliosis, degenerative joint disease, (DJD), bursitis, even ‘sleeping funny’ can be alleviated by re-connecting your muscles. The impact of the muscular system is huge. It is the largest organ in your body and its proper function has cascading effects over your entire system.

In a nutshell when you get a MAT session the specialist will find out what you can’t do. We then restore proper muscle function and reinforce those habits and motions that will speed healing. There is no treatment out there that assesses and treats the muscular system with such focus.  If you’re struggling with an injury or want to try to avoid surgery or if you just have a bad shoulder, neck, ankle MAT is right for you, contact Apana Bodywork and find out how we can pave the road to health.

 

Madeleine Dasilva
Certified Muscle Activation Specialist & Reiki Master and Teacher

www.apanabodywork.com
md@apanabodywork.com
647-801-2424

The Effect of Stress on Muscle Contraction

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Have you ever been so stressed that you just switch to survival mode? You do what you must do, or what is being asked of you, but you are acting almost subconsciously or even robotically and feeling less and less like yourself…

Stress Can Be a Debilitating Feeling

While some people may suggest that they work better in a stressful environment, stress gets old very quickly no matter the circumstances. Your body gets tired, your digestion may suffer, your sleep becomes interrupted, and you simply do not feel like taking on the day ahead.

This Stress Affects Your Muscles

You can actually feel the effect of stress on muscle contraction. Muscle function can also become strained or non-existent during stressful periods. Stress from any source, whether physical, emotional, or chemical, can shut down your muscles. This stress can result from the lack of sleep, too many deadlines at work, or an accident or personal injury. Regardless of the stimulus, stress has the effect of throwing our bodies “out of whack”.

Muscles do not function on their own; the brain and spinal cord are in charge. If the brain is not receiving the proper information, the muscle simply does not contract or it contracts sluggishly. This creates a problem when you want to play sports, pick up heavy loads, twist, bend or climb stairs. When muscles are not doing their job, the body must compensate around them and that creates problems like tightness, instability, pain, discomfort, and lack of motion.

MAT Removes Stress by Helping Your Muscles

When muscles are working properly, they help you feel lighter and more agile. They also help to stabilize your body and keep you moving fluidly. MAT removes stress from the body by helping your muscles do their job properly.

At Apana Bodywork, we can help. We can determine just the right combination of treatments to help you release or let go of your stress and allow your body to become balanced and strong again.

Everyone struggles with challenges at one time or another. Whether it is a health issue, a family issue or career/job stress, we can help lessen the burden. Our skilled specialist will listen and help you to pave the road back to feeling well again.

Call Apana Bodywork today at 647-801-2424 for your free, no obligation health consultation and make feeling better a priority.

~ Madeleine