Biofeedback

by Norma J. Hope
Certified Biofeedback Practitioner

My whole life changed in every possible way in 2009 and the stress I was under began to drastically affect my health.

While I used to run four miles a day with my dogs, I  suddenly couldn’t even walk two blocks without feeling exhausted.  I had no energy left.  I was tired all the time.  My body felt heavy. Both my ears were ringing again and I felt so down, even when waking up first thing in the morning.  The hot flashes and night sweats were back and wouldn’t go away, even with colon and lymph cleansing like they usually did.

It’s amazing how my body just kept going. In the prior six month period, my husband and I split up, my sister Judy was diagnosed with cancer and I had to sell my home/acreage in the country (which was like giving up a huge piece of my soul).  My 20-year-old cat, Mazer, was killed by coyotes and I had to give away three dogs and two cats.  I searched for and bought a house in Edmonton, packed and moved myself, fought and won a two month neighbour disagreement so I could legally have my new clinic in my new home and then completed a major renovation there to include my clinic.  Then, just before I opened for business, my last dog, Princess, got cancer and I had to put her to sleep.

Looking back, I’m surprised I didn’t collapse sooner.  I  think I would have if it hadn’t been for all the cleansing I was doing to keep myself healthy.  The straw that ended up breaking my back was menopause.  A saliva test showed extremely low levels of all the hormones - progesterone, testosterone and estrogen.  It also showed my cortisol level went from a medium level in the morning and then dropped to an unbelievable ZERO during the day.  So this was the menopause hell that friends and clients had told me about - that I thought couldn’t happen to me.

I was 3½ years post menopause.  I found out my adrenals needed those hormones that my body had quit making for years.  Hormones are fuel, especially progesterone, for the adrenals and whole body.

I knew I was in trouble when my adrenals were so exhausted they shut down the natural peristalsis in my colon.  Being constipated again for the first time in 12 years felt awful and it looked really, really bad on my resume (as I’m also a certified colon hydrotherapist)!

I tried supplements but they made me nauseated.  I got wild yam cream for progesterone and intravenous vitamins, changed my work schedule and did IBP counselling – all of which helped immensely.

I started to feel good, had more energy, began to work more but then I’d crash again, exhausted.  I felt very scared when I could barely get up again, couldn’t walk even two blocks and I was the only one responsible for paying the bills now.

I then remembered how a Biofeedback session at a health trade show had helped me feel really relaxed and had even reduced the mild ringing in my ears.  So I started investigating Biofeedback more.

I tried a number of different Biofeedback practitioners before finding someone I felt really confident in, someone who really knew her stuff.  During a series of sessions, I could really feel a difference developing. It calmed my hidden programming to go, go, go.  It enlightened me emotionally to be okay with the tender, loving, vulnerable person I truly am.  Being present, even with tears, was okay.  It even helped to balance hormones and cortisol levels for my adrenals so it got me pooping again.  Yeah!!

Sometimes, I could feel the vibration during the sessions when some of the programs were running which surprised the practitioner.  It’s not usual to feel it, nor is it necessary for you to feel it for it to be working.  It works on a cellular level and can be deeply subliminal.

You know how they say the healing journey is in layers, like the peeling of an onion?  It felt like Biofeedback was healing me by starting at my center, relaxing my inside core - not just the outside layers - but the tiny inside center of my onion.

For me, the biggest and best ‘aha’ was its astounding ability to identify emotional feelings and trauma and then balance it.  And it was right on the money although some of it was hard for me to hear.  That is just brilliant from a machine! Emotions that are not heard are held inside and stored deeply in the body’s organs, tissues and muscles causing tightening, deterioration, imbalance of health including sickness, disease and even physical pain.

During all this, I knew this was going to be my next tool of wellness for my clients.  The therapist in me had to have it. I already knew it worked and I have very high standards.

And talk about the law of attraction!  At the precise time I was ready to add Biofeedback to my clinic, a client who is also an alternative health practitioner had a Biofeedback device she wanted to sell.  You’ve just got to love when a plan comes together!

It is called EPR Biofeedback Stress Management and Muscle Re-education but it is SO much more.  It was used daily on the athletes at the Olympics to balance their stress both physically and emotionally, plus tone their muscles, their ‘attitudes’ and alleviate pain. That is yet another validation.

Technically, Biofeedback works through 16 electrical factors of the body, calculates combined impedance, amperage and voltage, capacitance, inductance and resistance (called the Xxroid process).   The body is indeed electric therefore reactivity (stressors) is measured on the skin, without your feeling uncomfortable or pained in any way.

Through its complicated software, thousands of frequency signatures ‘feedback’ between the device and the person via a sensor headband, wristlets and anklets, while you sit comfortably in a reclining chair.  This process identifies what needs attention (stressors) specifically and then has the capability to also balance these plus chief concerns you also name.

Stress is at the core of most diseases as documented by numerous medical studies.  It alters your biochemistry, impairs neurological functioning, prevents absorption and slows elimination, weakens your immune system, causes hormone imbalance, exhausts your adrenals, causes recurring physical pain, alters your heart rate and other detrimental effects.

In sessions with clients I have seen many health challenges resolve as Biofeedback addresses the underlying cause, not just the symptoms you have.  We are complicated beings and so is this complex computer system called Biofeedback.   There are well over 300 program screens to train and balance the client.

Clients always notice improvement and a clear feeling of relaxation – with many falling asleep during the sessions. There have been some tender ‘aha’ moments during emotional programs with clients and whoops of joy when pain is gone or lessened. One client said the ringing in his ear was totally gone.  Another client reported no more shoulder pain.

A new client, a young woman pushed past her stress limit, couldn’t stop crying when she arrived but left two  hours later with a sense of calmness – a deep knowing she would make it and be okay.  All clients have a feeling of improved well being after a session.  The first session for a new client is 2 hours and 1½ hours after that.

Biofeedback helps you do stress differently in your life.  Health Canada recognizes it as a ‘medical’ therapy.  It reduces stress on all levels, it identifies reactants – things out of balance in the body, mind, emotions and spirit and helps to balance them.  It harmonizes the different parts of the person, the body and even the soul.  You can’t argue with results!

Norma is a Certified Biofeedback Practitioner, Certified Colon Hydrotherapist, Lymph Drainage Therapist, Certified Natural Health Practitioner and more. Go to www.lifesynergyinc.ca for more information or call 780-477-1100.

Note: This information is for educational purposes only. It is intended to supplement your current health program and not to replace the care of a doctor. For diagnosis or treatment of any disease please consult a licensed physician.

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