Stuck in Pain?
The human body is truly amazing. It has great capacity for self-healing and when left alone, with good supporting circumstances, will do what needs doing in order to return to a state of balance or health. Group yoga, Feldenkrais and/or meditation classes are effective healing tools and can cause miraculous change. However, due to lifestyle, unconscious habit or injury, sometimes intervention at an individual level is necessary.
Pain is the body’s way of hanging the ‘Out of Order’ sign on the door. It is not normal and every effort should be made to listen to the distress signal being made. Sometimes, if things have been left too long or circumstance has resulted in permanent injury, the issue is no longer righting the problem but maintaining the best possible state and learning to wear the pain gracefully.
Unfortunately, if one part of the body is not functioning correctly, it affects other parts of the body. For example, if the neck is out, the lower back tends to follow in an effort to compensate. If the lower back goes, this can result in constipation or menstrual difficulties. Insomnia and changes in the eating habits are other signs that something is amiss. And these are just the physical signs. Everything is connected; consider the emotional and mental effects of injury and illness…
At various times, I’ve found it necessary to do more than my own yoga/exercise programme to maintain good health and well-being. Below are three practitioners I recommend who may be able to help. They do different work and after many years of working with my body and mind I have a sense for when each approach is necessary. Like everything else, it is a matter of experimenting until you find what and who works for you. I am aware that there are many excellent practitioners and techniques available in the marketplace. I am recommending Jacob, Julie, Rebecca and Bernadette because after much searching, they have consistently proved helpful for me and I trust them.
PLEASE NOTE THAT I Neither RECEIVE NOR EXpEcT GIFTS OF ANY KIND IN RETURN FOR THESE REFERRALS
Jacob de Hoog
South Fremantle
Phone 9538 1363 and 0409 112 725
Body work of all kinds tends to stir things up physically, emotionally and mentally. Old movement habits and injuries are often linked to old emotional and mental habits. Also, making changes in the body sometimes has a domino effect on other seemingly unrelated areas of life. Jacob is an excellent guide through the difficult passages. Since 1984, he has worked in his busy Fremantle practice, offering a holistic approach to human development, through individual consultations, workshops, courses and retreats. Jacob draws on a wide variety of sources for inspiration, including somatic, humanistic and transpersonal psychology. He is equally at home with the language of the corporate world and the understandings of the great spiritual traditions. He has written two books and many articles and presented seminars in the U.S.A. Jacob works in the roles of counsellor, therapist, body worker, teacher, consultant, coach and mentor.
Bernadette Robinson, Paediatric physiotherapy
Bernadette graduated at the Physiotherapy School at the Georg August University Göttingen, Germany, in 1980. Prior to moving to Australia she worked for 15 years as a Physiotherapist in the Children's Hospital & Child Development Centre in Oldenburg, Germany. Here she treated children of all ages with a variety of medical conditions. During this time she specialised in the treatment of children with developmental, neurological and respiratory conditions. After she passed the AECOP Exam in 1999, she worked for a couple of years at Rocky Bay, treating young adults with neuro muscular conditions, before she became the Senior Physiotherapist at the Fremantle Child Development Service. Bernadette still holds this position and works one day per week in her private practice.
Over the past 16 years, Bernadette extended her knowledge and experience in working with infants & toddlers in Western Australia.
Early Gross Motor Skills and Emotional Wellbeing of Infants & Young Children
Bernadette observed that the development of specific early gross motor skills is fundamental for many of the infant’s developing social, emotional and physical functions and relationships. For example, infants with weak stability and poor control of their core trunk muscles often have concomitant difficulties with not only fine motor skills, but also with the feeding relationship and feeding, sleeping, speech, language and communication. Daily care activities can become a stressful experience for the infant and the caregiver if lifting, carrying, lowering, bathing, feeding, positioning, and protection are awkward and if infant’s cues are misunderstood.
Paediatric physiotherapy involves a mother and infant who are in the very early stages of their relational journey together. Bernadette tries to enhance this relationship by collaborating with mothers to develop positioning and handling skills that make both the babies feel physically secure and the caregivers more confident in their parenting role.
Bernadette is available on Fridays for home consultations.
Physiotherapy Service for Babies & Toddlers
Bernadette Robinson
Physiotherapist (Paed)
SHENTON PARK WA 6008
Mob: 0407 382 561
Links to other good people to know:
Alan Moffatt:
Old fashioned, reliable good service - gardening and odd jobs. Alan’s Garden Service. Phone 0413 697 648