KIMA Wellness

Committed to Healing | HEALING SUMMIT 2015 | Berlin Germany March 3, 2015

“Creating a paradigm shift through a holistic lifestyle”…was last year’s theme

This year our theme is “Committed to Healing” Today is a call to action!

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As part of our Commitment to Healing we would like to highlight a few of the speakers from the recent Healing Summit 2015. This one day conference considered how to encourage people to live life in all its full richness, caring for others to nurture greater well being and empowerment for all.

How Meditation can change your life. People come to me saying they cannot meditate – they cannot quite their minds – remember the mind is an electromagnetic thunderstorm; it is impossible for there to be ‘no action’ not even monks can do this.

Do you know the story of catching a monkey?

Hunters capture monkeys by hollowing out a gourd or container just large enough to for the monkey to hand to fit and grab the banana. However the the hole is not big enough for the monkey’s hand to fit while holding the banana. To get free of the trap all the monkey has to do is let go of the banana.

“Just like the monkey holds on to the banana, sometimes we cling to beliefs, feelings, or behaviors that prevent us from being free and getting what we want. It’s easy to see that the monkey should just let go of the banana, but it’s not so easy to see what we need to release.”

“If you cling to something as absolute truth and are caught in it, when truth comes in person and knocks on your door, you will refuse to let it in.”—Buddha

The Secret to any anxiety producing trap or unbent belief system is SIMPLY learning to LET GO OF IT

An injury term that we commonly hear about in the media, around the water cooler or in conversation is the sports star, colleague or team mate that has ‘done their rotator cuff’. We know that’s something to do with the shoulder, and that it’s usually not a good thing. But what exactly is your rotator cuff, and what is meant exactly by ‘doing’ it? To answer this, and many other vexing questions, read on…

Shoulder Structure & Function

The shoulder is a remarkable piece of engineering. It’s the most mobile joint we’ve got, and yet can sustain incredible forces & speeds without falling to bits. A big part of what makes the shoulder so flexible is the disparity in size between the ball (humeral head) and socket (glenoid) that make up the joint. The “golf ball on a tee” analogy is well founded…

What you gain in range of motion with this kind of setup comes at the cost of stability, which explains why the shoulder has the highest rate of dislocation of all the body’s joints. Some stability is derived from the surrounding soft tissues – the glenohumeral ligaments and joint capsule, the labrum – but not an awful lot. That’s where the rotator cuff comes in.

The rotator cuff is a collective term to describe a group of four small, specialized muscles surrounding the shoulder – supraspinatus, infraspinatus, subscapularis & teres minor. What they have in common is their job, which is to keep the humeral head centered on the glenoid at all times, but especially when the shoulder is in motion. Larger, more powerful muscles such as the pecs, lats & the deltoid can generate large amounts of speed & force, but it is up to these four little muscles to hold it all together in the process!

The four muscles all originate on different parts of the shoulder blade, then converge onto the humeral head to attach in a circular fashion – in a cuff! Relative degrees of muscle contraction from the four work to keep the ball nicely centered on the socket & prevent it from falling apart, regardless of what you’re doing with the shoulder, be it vigorous activity like throwing or swimming, or something more sedate like reaching or washing or using a computer mouse.

This is termed dynamic stability, and it’s the rotator cuff’s main role. This not only prevents the shoulder from falling apart when you use it, but also allows forces to pass through the shoulder en route to their destination – for example, the immense forces a pitcher can generate in their legs & torso in the wind-up that have to be transferred efficiently all the way through to the baseball, require a secure shoulder through which all that force can pass.

Damage to the Cuff

The part of the cuff that is most often damaged are the tendons as they converge around the humeral head. There is a variety of causes, ranging from trauma, overuse, poor posture, and unfortunately, the normal ageing process. Beyond the age of 40, blood flow to the rotator cuff tendons starts to slow down a little, meaning that damage occurs more readily, and when it does, heals more slowly, or, in many cases not at all.

Not all rotator cuff tears get treated the same way. Factors that influence the choice of treatment include the age of the patient, the mechanism of the injury – trauma vs overuse vs degenerative, and the extent of the injury.

An example of the decision-making process re: managing a cuff tendon injury might go like this:

A patient that is:

• young – tendon likely to heal better;
• sporty – operates at a higher level;
• painful – ie. symptomatic;
• has partial thickness undersurface tear – statistically more likely to progress to a full tear;

is more likely to progress to surgical repair  than someone who is:

• older – less blood supply therefore likely to be poorer quality tissue/healing potential;
• sedentary – not requiring as much from their shoulder;
• sometimes painful – possibly able to manage with activity modification & medications
• has a partial thickness upper surface tear – less likely to progress to more advanced damage;whose first line of management would more likely be physical therapy (ie. conservative management), +/- cortisone shot.

The role of Physical therapy and Rotator Cuff damage

A skilled PT can not only guide a patient through the process of optimizing their cuff function, but they can identify and correct postural abnormalities or other bad habits that may have contributed to the original problem, or otherwise prevent or restrict their abilities in the future. Regardless of whether a cuff tear is managed surgically or conservatively, the physical therapist has a central role to play in returning an individual to their desired capacity. Most commonly this takes the form of selected manual therapy techniques to reduce muscle tightness & undesirable tension, joint mobilization to reduce stiffness and specific exercises to improve muscle firing patterns & timing or to increase strength.

About the Author:

Derek Mansfield is KIMA’s shoulder specialist, having completed extensive post-professional training in Australia and the US, and having been the PT for the Australian Men’s Indoor Volleyball program between 2003 & 2013. He combines the use of cutting edge technology with evidence-based assessment & treatment techniques that are customized to suit the needs of the individual, and collaborates with some of New York City’s top shoulder surgeons. He can be found at KIMA Monday thru Friday, and in 2015 is celebrating his 20^th year as a PT.

Committed to Healing | HEALING SUMMIT 2015 | Berlin Germany March 3, 2015

“Creating a paradigm shift through a holistic lifestyle”…was last year’s theme

This year our theme is “Committed to Healing” Today is a call to action!

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As part of our Commitment to Healing we would like to highlight a few of the speakers from the recent Healing Summit 2015. This one day conference considered how to encourage people to live life in all its full richness, caring for others to nurture greater well being and empowerment for all.

He was born in India and went to a boarding school run by Irish Christian Brothers and  The University of Delhi for Medical studies. He got a scholarship to study Medicine in the former USSR in 1973 and continued his medical studies in Moscow. He obtained “The Doctor of Medicine” degree with Honours.

In 1980 he joined the prestigious Central Institute of Advanced Medical Studies in Moscow for post graduation in Acupuncture. During that period he specialised in Pulse Diagnosis, Iridology, Tongue Diagnosis and Hypnosis.
He returned to Delhi in 1982, worked in a Hospital for a year and opened the first Centre for Integrated Medicine in the world. While working in India, he also studied under masters of Ayurveda, Unani Medicine, Yoga and Marma Therapy.

Between 1988-1991 he was The Medical Director of a Complementary Medical Clinic in Hong Kong. He learned Chinese Herbal Medicine there. In 1991 he took up the post of head of The Department of Integrated Medicine at the Hale Clinic in central London. In 1998 he opened his own Integrated Medical Centre in London. It was the first of its kind in Europe.
Dr. Ali did research in stroke rehabilitation using his own technique in two leading UK medical institutions. He trained four batches of NHS doctors in his unique diagnostic and therapeutic integrated medical techniques. He has written 8 books on healthcare and maintained a health column for the YOU magazine in The Mail on Sunday and Top Sante magazine in the UK for 6 years. He regularly speaks at WPO and CEO Universities and is rated as one of the top health speakers at such forums.

Dr. Ali was influenced by his maternal grandfather who was a doctor and a homeopath. His quest for learning the art of medicine took him to remote parts of India where he learnt about traditional healing techniques and herbs used by tribals to treat common ailments. He used his medical knowledge to understand these methods and use it in his practice. This unique knowledge and experience makes him one the leaders in his field of medical practice.

He began to develop his own techniques and methods of treatment. Throughout the years Dr. Ali earned the titles of “Cure-All Doctor” and “Genuine Integrated General Physician”. These qualities made him a Royal Physician and family doctor of many highly influential public figures worldwide. He can treat your backache, eczema, flu, digestive problems as well as rehabilitate stroke, rheumatoid arthritis, and sports injuries safely and effectively in the shortest possible time. It is extremely rare to find a doctor who can treat such a wide ranges of ailments.

What is Integrative Medicine?
The history:

• In the 40s antibiotics were introduced and started to produce complications in the 60s….. the hippies rebelled.
• Then there was Thalidomide which was first marketed in 1957 in West German. Primarily prescribed as a sedative or hypnotic, thalidomide also claimed to cure anxiety, insomnia, gastritis, and tension” Afterwards, it was used against nausea and to alleviate morning sickness in pregnant women. Thalidomide became an over the counter drug in Germany on October 1, 1957. Shortly after the drug was sold in Germany, between 5,000 and 7,000 infants were born with phocomelia (malformation of the limbs).  the thalidomide created deformities in children.

• Then in the 70s Nixon took a group of MD to China and showed that acupuncture could be used during surgery and started calling it COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE

• In the 80s – Doctors go on to study these things they call it INTEGRATED MEDICINE –

• In the 1990s, physicians in the United States became increasingly interested in integrating alternative approaches into their medical practice, as shown by a 1995 survey in which 80% of family practice physicians expressed an interest in receiving training in acupuncture, hypnotherapy, and massage therapy.In the mid-1990s hospitals in the United States began opening integrative medicine clinics, which numbered 27 by 2001. The term “integrative medicine” was increasingly popularized by, among others, Deepak Chopra, Andrew Weil, and Prince Charles – of whom Dr Ali treats.
• The Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine was founded in 1999 and by 2015 included 60 members, such as Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Duke University School of Medicine, Georgetown University School of Medicine, and Mayo Clinic. The goal of the Consortium is to advance the practice of integrative medicine by bringing together medical colleges that include integrative medicine in their medical education. The American Board of Physician Specialties, which awards board certification to medical doctors in the U.S., announced in June 2013 that in 2014 it would begin accrediting doctors in integrative medicine.

Definition of Integrative Medicine: The Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine defines it as “the practice of medicine that reaffirms the importance of the relationship between practitioner and patient, focuses on the whole person, is informed by evidence, and makes use of all appropriate therapeutic approaches, healthcare professionals and disciplines to achieve optimal health and healing”. Proponents say integrative medicine is not the same as complementary and alternative medicine nor is it simply the combination of conventional medicine with complementary and alternative medicine. They say instead that it “emphasizes wellness and healing of the entire person (bio-psycho-socio-spiritual dimensions) as primary goals, drawing on both conventional and CAM approaches in the context of a supportive and effective physician-patient relationship”.

Dr Ali teaches us about the pulse diagnosis. He says the Pulse should be measured by 3 fingers – place 3 fingers on your wrist now and measure on right and left and notice where is the pulse the strongest? What is the quality of the pulse, is it strong or weak?

Right hand – middle finger means a lot of acid in the stomach

The right hand can measure dehydration, pregnancy…. 14 qualities of pulse are taught! Why are doctors now not even taking one pulse or looking at the tongue?

Not everything can be measured by science – Dr. Ali wants to bring back these ancient techniques; but what we need is a standardized system.

What is the principle for integrative medicine? Every one of us has a healing power within ourselves – said by Hippocrates. Think about a cut; it heals without a scar! Old fractures heal and cannot even be detected by X rays.

Why are so many woman infertile? Something is going wrong; Hippocrates says the whole of medicine is based on logic not just science; what you need to do is stimulate the innate healing power – 80% of diseases can be healed from within.

At least 80% of diseases we have especially fatigue IBS, LBP, all can be treated with 3 simple things.

As prescribed by Hippocrates:

1. Eat well
2. Exercise
3. Massage

Dr. Ali says “I knew I had to create my own system and used my attitude to enhance to body’s natural healing potential; use technique of O2; own diet – regulate the acid/alkaline in the intestine – this was the key!” With the system of massage, we focus specifically on two types.

1. Marma
2. Massage/manipulative technique on the neck and the base of the skull

Brain has 2 circulation carotid and vertebral artery and why does it have this? The conscious brain came in much later in evolution; so we have a new brain we have a new circulation and started to study the unconscious brain- we do massage to this area- and stimulate the pituitary limbic system getting more blood to optimize function!

Using the subconscious brain we live, emote, reproduce, digest, protect ourselves, heal and regulate all our bodily functions. We also react to external stimuli, sleep, and wake, make love, coordinate, stand, carry out skills, eat, and maintain homoeostasis (constant body temperature, maintenance and blood parameters). All of these, and more, use the subconscious brain. The basic logic is that the conscious brain appeared much later in the evolution of the brain and is therefore present in mammals. So in human evolution, the conscious brain appeared originally in mammals. On the other hand reptiles, amphibians, birds, fish and insects still only have the involuntary or automatic brain functioning on its own without a conscious command.

The two parts of the brain have developed in humans in two separate circulatory networks. In strict principle  the Carotid  Arteries supply blood predominantly to the cortex or the conscious brain, while The Vertebral Arteries, embedded deep inside the neck column, feeds the autonomous or subconscious brain, the most vital and important part of the central nervous system. Neck traumas, stress, birth injuries, excessive use of computer etc. tighten the neck and impair the blood flow to the subconscious brain, affecting physiological, emotional, and hormonal and some neurological functions of the brain. This leads to my discovery and hypothesis that the uncontrollable part of the involuntary brain can be controlled and influenced to function more efficiently by improving the blood supply to it.

Improving blood flow by our massage-manipulative technique on the neck and the base of the skull, the autonomic brain and hormonal control centres, get invigorated. This has a deep impact on the functions of the entire body and the mind. Thus functions like dizziness, imbalance, lack of energy, insomnia, short-term memory loss, lack of concentration, comprehension, anxiety etc… which are very common amongst the elderly, can noticeably be improved with this technique.  Special breathing techniques used in advance yoga, slows the respiratory rate to 3-4 cycles per minute, causing mild hypercapnia which in turn leads to better or effective exchange of gases in the lung tissue. The result is that the blood receives more oxygen and there brain gets invigorated.

For centuries, it was an accepted belief, especially in India, that one needs to meditate, sublimate, eat vegetarian food, control thoughts and relate them to the subconscious brain. After years of perseverance devotees were able to slow down their breathing and heart rate. They were able to go into a “near death” state of “suspended animation” or deep hibernation, influence healing, even cure diseases. Dr Ali’s technique thus illustrates how to influence one’s well-being, health, brain and bodily functions are simply by improving blood flow to the very part of the brain that regulates all these.

“I use a unique techniques for general back ache- there is a point in the abdominals that you can press; he demonstrates this on a person in the audience, pressing in the abdominals for 30 sec. After her back pain was reduced.

Dr.Ali’s recipe:

• Massage
• Replace exercise with YOGA .
• Breathe:Take a deep breath in and then take shallow breaths. Try doing this several times only breathing ½  or ¼ of the air out. When you retain CO2 in blood the brain thinks “my mistress has gone crazy open up”- you trick the body to bring in more O2. Think about the Tibetan monks – they breathe 4 times in a minute, if reduced to breathing only once a min you go into a hypobaric state. You can use this practice to increase O2 naturally to the system.

We must unify and create training that is going to work. User friendly, cheap to train – all trained in the same thing; a systemized approach.”

We’ve come a long way in our understanding of the mechanisms of pain and how it affects us.

The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) definition of pain is “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage.” Note the last part – actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage. What that suggests is that tissue damage is technically not required for someone to feel pain. Confused? Read on…

A disclaimer: this is a HUGE topic, so I’ll do my best to condense things in a page or three without getting too technical.

Early Pain Models

The earliest & simplest model of how pain works came from the writings of Rene Descartes (he of the “I think, therefore I am” persuasion), the 17^th Century French philosopher. Descartes reasoned on the separation of mind and body – an example of Cartesian Dualism, which can be summed up by the suggestion that the degree of pain experienced was directly proportional to the degree of tissue damage that caused it. As a model it was simple & clean, but there are a lot of ‘what abouts?’ that it could not adequately explain.

In the early 1960’s Melzack & Wall published their ‘Gate Control Theory of Pain’, which, among other things, postulated the existence (subsequently proved to be true) of an ‘inhibitory interneuron’ – a nerve ending within the spinal cord that, when triggered, could ‘block’ nerve pathways carrying pain information back from the body to the brain – closing the gate, if you will. This is the principal upon which TENS, those little nerve stimulators, were designed to work. They triggered the closure of the gate, thus providing pain relief. In fact, anything that could close the gate could provide pain relief, and within this concept were the seeds of our current model of understanding pain behavior: the Biopsychosocial model.

Some basic concepts within the Biopsychosocial Model

The Homunculus – a fancy map

The homunculus is a proportionate representation of the amount of ‘brain space’ given to sensation from different parts of the body, a 3-D map, if you will. There are a number of homunculi in the brain, but we’ll focus on just the sensory one, which receives nervous impulses coming back from the body.

And it looks pretty funny too.

Pain is an Output
There’s something else in play, however. Today we know pain as an output, the result of a complicated interplay of a number of systems, of which nerve traffic from your body is just one.
Things like emotions, context & memory, motivation (ever see a little kid trip over, then look around to see who’s watching before deciding whether to cry or not?), hormonal factors (adrenaline is a fantastic inhibitor of pain), fear, mood, anxiety & depression can all influence the amount of pain you feel.

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Homuncular man’s proportions are determined by the relative sensitivity of each body part, as determined by the density of nerve endings in each part. Not surprisingly, tongue, lips, hands & face are all very sensitive areas, and accordingly have a greater number of nerve endings and a larger amount of cortex dedicated to monitoring their status.

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We also now consider pain as a measure of how much the body feels it is under threat. The brain weighs up all these incoming factors, and then decides if it feels threatened or not, then lets you know about it. More pain = greater threat.

If your brain concludes, rightly or wrongly, that there’s nothing to worry about (regardless of the actual state of the tissues), then you won’t feel pain.

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This is how homuncular man is laid out in cross section in the sensory cortex of the brain. You can see that areas containing just the hand, thumb & fingers is almost larger than the whole trunk, legs & feet!

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The average lifespan of Japanese is listed as highest in the world. Japanese woman’s average lifespan has been first in the world for 25 years. In 2012 the World Health Organization ranked Japan first in the world with an average lifespan of 86.2; males rank number 1 at 85 and females rank number 2 at 87.3. The United Nations list for 2009-2012, lists Japan also as first with males at 79.29 and females at 86.96. To put this in perspective the United States is ranked 36th with an average life expectancy of 79.8; men 77.4 (32nd) and woman 82.3 (35th).

Shiatsu master Mr Takijiro Namikoshi has an opinion on what is necessary for good health and long life. In an interview at his Shiatsu salon in the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo Japan, we discuss combining an orderly, regulated lifestyle with self shiatsu and these 5 basic rules.

I Proper Diet– one must eat the right foods, as well as the right amounts of food, in maintaining a proper diet. It is essential to consume enough, but not too much of the 3 major energy foods- protein, fats and carbohydrates. In addition the recommended vitamins, minerals and water are also needed to break down the food and convert it into energy. He believes breakfast is a must and if the portion must be small than a nutrient rich food should be chosen. The digestive organs are controlled by the vagus nerve. This means that emotional stress can lead to trouble with the alimentary system. Abdominal spiral shiatsu helps to improve the digestive and absorption activities. He also mentions that mental health is as important as physical health.

II Proper Sleep – People sleep about 1/3 of their lives, about 8 full hours a day. Sufficient sleep is essential to the recovery of illness and provides the necessary rest and relaxation for the organs and muscles. There are many sleep patterns but the ideal pattern is to fall asleep shortly after getting into bed, then to enter a deep sleep soon after and remain in a deep sleep until the morning when the sleep cycle ends. This cycle can be compared to a aircraft taking off, the flight gains altitude immediately and remains at the cruising altitude for the duration of the flight and gradually descends to land again at the destination point.

Find and use comfortable pillows and blankets. Mr Namikoshi has invented a special pillow for proper neck positioning. Daily self shiatsu on the neck and shoulders will also aid in proper sleep

III Proper functioning bowels: Under normal circumstances, a bowl movement is expected at least once a day, ideally immediately after breakfast in the morning. If the regime is regularly achieved, the alimentary system could be said to be functioning correctly, with nutrients being readily absorbed.

The amount and type of food consumed helps to determine one’s bowel movement. Excessively consuming heavy meals can lead to either constipation or diarrhea. Psychological impact can also influence bowl movements.  Self abdominal shiatsu can aid in regular bowl movements and maintain proper digestion. Lying on the back in bed, find the 9 vital points of the abdominal area and press each point for 3- 5 seconds. The pressure can be applied with the palm of the hand or 3 fingers. Repeat this spiral massage daily and it will help to restore proper appetite, improve digestion and regulate bowl movement.

IV Proper exercise: One of the most direct ways to promote good health is with proper exercise combining leisure, work and sport or some other recreational activity. Human beings find motivation in a life with meaningful and goal oriented activities. However in today’s computerized society, the opportunities to display these vitalities are more limited. Means of transportation have become so convenient that people do not use their legs as much, preferring elevators or escalators for even a few steps. Under these conditions, people do not get enough exercise, which results in weak muscles.

A lack of exercise has been discussed as a root cause of obesity and other illnesses; people are encouraged to be more active with exercise, it is important to be physically active on a daily basis. Walking is specifically recommended to stimulate a healthy blood flow.

From the shiatsu standpoint, special attention is recommended in exercising the hands and fingers because like Immanuel Kant stated, the hands and the fingers are like a person’s second brain.  The refinement of the hands and fingers skills directly relates to human brain activity. Exercises like drawing pictures and playing the piano have a tremendous positive influence on the development of a young child’s mental capacity. Thus, incorporating self Shiatsu as a lifelong habit, and from early age, will be powerful and impact a child’s life.

V Laughing – natural laughter is a beautiful and pleasant expression. Laughing is a distinctly human trait. The laugh can be a measurement of one’s health. The blood circulation gets better with a good laugh. Laughter promotes better functioning heart and digestive organs and helps to improve the immune system. To live a long and healthy life, laughing heartily at least once a day is imperative. Laughter is a vital part of a pleasant life, enjoyed with youth and vigor!

Committed to Healing | HEALING SUMMIT 2015 | Berlin Germany March 3, 2015

“Creating a paradigm shift through a holistic lifestyle”…was last year’s theme

This year our theme is “Committed to Healing” Today is a call to action!

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As part of our Commitment to Healing we would like to highlight a few of the speakers from the recent Healing Summit 2015. This one day conference considered how to encourage people to live life in all its full richness, caring for others to nurture greater well being and empowerment for all.

A native of Hungary, Edith Eva Eger was just a young teenager in 1944 when she experienced one of the worst evils the human race has ever known. As a Jew living in Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe, she and her family were sent to Auschwitz, the heinous death camp. Her parents lost their lives there.  Toward the end of the war Edith and other prisoners had been moved to Austria. On May 4, 1945 a young American soldier noticed her hand moving slightly amongst a number of dead bodies. He quickly summoned medical help and brought her back from the brink of death.

After the war Edith moved to Czechoslovakia where she met the man she would marry. In 1949 they moved to the United States. In 1969 she received her degree in Psychology from the University of Texas, El Paso. She then pursued her doctoral internship at the William Beaumont Army Medical Center at Fort Bliss, Texas.

Dr. Eger is a prolific author and a member of several professional associations. She has a clinical practice in La Jolla, California and holds a faculty appointment at the University of California, San Diego. She has appeared on numerous television programs including Oprah Winfrey and was the primary subject of a holocaust documentary that appeared on Dutch National Television. She is frequently invited to make speaking engagements throughout the United States, Mexico, and abroad.

I do have a story but I am not my story. I may not have overcome it but I came to terms with it. The ultimate freedom is to rediscover the you …you were meant to be. It is wonderful to be a WHOLE person – the more you depend on needing others to heal… the more you are a victim.

The biggest impact on me was my mom hugging me, the last time I saw her. She said to me: “we don’t know where we are going…. but I want you to remember, no one can change what is in your own mind”. What I discovered is that my mom was right. What I want you to imagine now, is what it would be like if everything was taken away from you – imagine you go home and everything was gone. We don’t appreciate what we have until we lose it.

While in Auschwitz, her sister asks her how she looked after they had shaved their heads – “as Hungarians we are very vain ”. Instead of telling her she looked like a naked dog I told her she had beautiful eyes and I had never saw them before because of her hair. In life you can pay attention to what you lost, or pay attention to what you have now.

Auschwitz was a place like anything in life – an opportunity for an opportunity – the things I discovered:

1. 1. If you concentrate on the me me me you didn’t make it – all we had were each other
   2. Discovered how to talk to myself through meditation – engage in inner dialogue
   3. What kept me going was my curiosity – I asked myself questions like does anyone know I am here?
   4. Difference between stress and distress – does gas or water come out of the shower?

• If I was asked about my one strength, I would say it was to let go of what I was not in control of

1. Healing is very different between curing….Healing is an inside job
2. There are no crisis in life there are only transitions
3. The more choices we have the less we feel like we are a victims

Nothing is more important than enjoying life –

I don’t know what I would have been without Auschwitz and I have for 60 years studied human behavior; emotional IQ is important – parents need to develop this themselves need to be comfortable with discomfort and teach it to their children

Dr Egar speaks about Disassociation. It is how both Victor Frankel and I survived –  he would say “I closed my eyes and I am lecturing to my students or listening to an opera”. I would image I was dancing at the Hungarian Ballet.

“You keep secret what you are ashamed of”

“I didn’t need a Nazi I had one in me”

“Shame is awful – addiction is about shame”

Be powerful – don’t react – to be able to regain your power. What I realize as a clinician – what is really important is to regain power – when someone starts to dump on – say to yourself  “the more they talk;  the more relaxed I become”  Do not allow other people to get to you – have a screen

“People are disturbed, not by things (that happen to them), but by the principles and opinions which they form concerning (those) things.”  –The Greek philosopher Epictetus

Everyone should answer these 2 questions:

1. When did your childhood end?

We grieve over not what happened, but what didn’t happen. In her session she goes back to the place in the past where there was suffering. What is true you?

Would you like to be married to you?

What are you willing to let go of and willing to hold on to? Ask yourself : What do I want? Am I willing to give up what others think? What am I going to do about it? When? How are you going to be a good parent to you?

Healing is not about fixing what is broken but about manifesting what we really are; our greatest self. Letting go of everything that is preventing us from doing that – that is the moment we can embrace our freedom . We do have the power to choose in each and every moment.