Tag: energy medicine

Level 1: Fundamentals 2024-2025

Study the fundamentals of Eden Energy Medicine in a small, supportive setting and get the training you need to make a huge impact on your own health and the health of your family, friends, or current clients.

The Eden Energy Medicine Level 1: Fundamentals Classes are a one-year program of extensive study in Donna Eden’s style of Eden Energy Medicine.

Upon completion of the program, you will be able to:

Work with your own energy to feel better emotionally, physically and spiritually and excel in your life and career (great for Individuals, Students, Parents, Grandparents, Athletes, Business Professionals)
Have enough experience to confidently help yourself, your family and your friends
Integrate EEM methods into your professional practice (great for Doctors, Nurses, Nurse Practitioners, Chiropractors, Acupuncturists, Clergy, Psychotherapists, Physical and Occupational Therapists, Massage Therapists)
Enroll in the Year 2 Certification Program to become an EEM Certified, Clinical or Advanced Practitioner

You will learn simple, and powerful tools to help you feel and function at your best and that will help you to:

Feel less tired
Feel more alert
Clear worries, fears and panic to think more clearly
Improve your memory
Feel less stressed
Feel more balanced
Be less emotionally and physically reactive to smells, environmental pollutants, other people’s emotions, your own emotions and stressful situations
Potentially recover from illness faster
and so much more

2024 DATES

The dates for this 2024 Fundamentals program are slightly compressed from a typical schedule in order to align with common Massachusetts public school calendar vacations to make the classes more accessible for teachers and students. Instead of a typical 10 weeks between classes, there will only be 9.5 weeks between classes 1 to 2 and Classes 2 to 3. This affords plenty of time to learn and apply the material as written test are typically due within 3 weeks of class and demonstration of competency is due within 6 weeks of class.

Class 1: April 11 to April 14, 2024
Class 2: June 20 to June 23, 2024
Class 3: August 22 to August 25, 2024
Class 4: November 21 to November 24, 2024

CLASS SCHEDULE

Thursday 6pm-9pm
Friday 12:30pm-9:00pm
Saturday 9am-6:30pm
Sunday 9am-5pm

WRITTEN AND DEMO EXAM DATES

Class 1: written by May 5, 2024, demo by May 26, 2024
Class 2: written by July 14, 2024, demo by August 4, 2024
Class 3: written by September 15, 2024, demo by October 6, 2024
Class 4: written by December 15, 2024, demo by January 5, 2024

VIDEO TESTIMONIALS

Amy Bacchieri took Fundamentals with Rachel in 2020, continued on to Level 2 in 2021, became a certified practitioner in 2022 and just opened her practice this Fall. Hear about how the program helped her to create scaffolding for her own healing, build her toolkit so that she can help her family and friends, and evolve her life’s journey as she is now becoming an energy medicine practitioner.

Kathy Okoniewski took Fundamentals with Rachel is 2021. Here she shares about how she started at literally square 1 and how, as each class progressed, she began to feel more confident and competent in using her energy medicine skills. She’s continued on with the certification program (year 2) in 2022 and is working towards certification in 2023.

Louisa Mattson has a unique perspective on the class and on Rachel’s approach to the class as a Teaching Assistant for us. She is a clinical Eden Energy Medicine practitioner.

WRITTEN TESTIMONIALS

“Rachel was AMAZING as a teacher. I knew very little about energy and she opened my eyes to so much. It was easy to understand her material, hand outs and demonstrations. Her ability to answer our questions was fantastic. I absolutely loved the space where we met – calm and peaceful which was perfect for this training. “

“Rachel is incredibly excited about energy and made the workshop fun, informative and personal.”

“I loved everything about the session. Rachel is a great facilitator and really used fantastic examples and stories to deepen our learning. I walked away with a LOT!”

“It was a wonderful experience. I came away with lots of tools to heal myself. Rachel is an amazing presenter.”

“Excellent workshop and presenter. Loved it. Comfortable learning environment, great group, and life changing information to know and use.”

COST

The tuition for the Eden Energy Medicine Level 1 Fundamentals Class is $1195.00 per class. Total cost for the classes is $4780. Tuition covers handouts, meeting space, teaching staff, evaluation and feedback of written tests and demonstrations between classes, and ongoing evaluations to keep people moving forward in a competence-based learning model. Some additional class materials will be required.

REGISTRATION IS AN EASY THREE-STEP PROCESS:

Step 1:

Call Rachel Rice to discuss your interest and confirm fit at 617-388-5079.

Step 2:

There has been considerable interest already in the 2024 Program so we are requesting a deposit this year of $250 to hold your spot in the class. This deposit is applicable towards the full class one fee of $1195. Details for sending the deposit will be confirmed on the call with Rachel.

Step 3:

Register for Your Class with Rachel Rice

A registration link will be available soon. If you register by early March 2024 you can receive some very rich and helpful bonus videos including:

- Energy Medicine: The Essential Techniques A 6-Hour Streaming Class
- The Energies of Love Class A 6 Hour Streaming Class filmed in Victoria (this is part of the Foundations required class materials)
- Healthy Meridians; Healthy Body

Phase 1 of Energy Medicine Covid Research Yields Results

Our research hypothesizes that energy medicine can reduce severity of Post-Acute Sequalae of Covid (aka “PASC” and “long-haul covid”). Phase 1 of the research focuses on identifying the most common energies that are out of balance for PASC individuals. Phase 2 will focus on quantitatively measuring the impact that energy exercises can have on the severity of those symptoms.

Energy Medicine is an umbrella term encompassing a range of therapies like acupuncture, tai chi, and Reiki that are felt to utilize healing “energy”. One modern variant, Eden Energy Medicine, has shown promise in the treatment of chronic symptoms, such as fatigue, insomnia, anxiety, depression, IBS, pain, brain fog, and lack of optimism. These symptoms are similar to those seen in cases of PASC.

During Phase 1, five people with PASC (“participants”), who responded to or were referred through an advertisement in the town of Wayland, MA and through Five Rhythms newsletter, received an evaluation and balancing of their energies. From these sessions, we identified the energies that were most often out of balance.

Each participant completed a symptom survey (on a 5 point scale) before their session and at the end of seven days. Changes in the severity of symptoms were measured. During the interim, each participant was given and asked to complete a customized daily energy exercise routine.

Summary of Phase 1 Results

The top 6 energies that were Out of Balance were Crossover, Triple Warmer Reactivity, Heart Valves, Brain Scramble, Yang Regulator, Meridians (mostly Kidney meridian). See Appendix 1 below for more details.

Some symptom improvement: The majority of participants had some symptom improvement. The symptoms that saw the greatest improvement were fatigue, shortness of breath, difficulty concentrating or focusing, memory problems, difficulty sleeping, anxiety and heart palpitations.

Participant Demographics

Of five participants, there were 4 women and 1 man. All were between 34-65 years of age. One participant had an official PASC diagnosis; the others did not. One person was hospitalized and had received oxygen; the others were not hospitalized. Participants were between two to eighteen months out from first getting ill with COVID.

Some Validation of Findings

Post Phase 1, Donna Eden, the founder of Eden Energy Medicine, offered a live video entitled Donna Eden on Long-Haul Covid. In studying this offering, we found that there were significant overlaps in the energies that she emphasized and the energies that we found to be out of balance. We feel that this supports the direction of efforts undertaken during Phase 1.

Next Steps

Our next step is to create a single video of exercises based on Phase 1 findings that can be distributed to a much larger group of participants who have PASC. The group will be asked to do the exercises in the video each day for a number of days and to complete a pre-survey prior to beginning the exercises. They will also be asked to complete post-surveys at intervals to be determined. We will also have a control group who will not get the video of exercises, but who will complete the symptom surveys. We welcome referrals of participants for our Phase 2 research who have been clinically diagnosed with PASC and/or “long-haul covid” by a medical practitioner and who are between the ages of 20-75.

Research Team

Rachel Rice: Rachel is an Eden Energy Medicine Advanced Practitioner. She has run an energy medicine practice, Five Rhythms Consulting, for over 6 years and has worked with hundreds of clients. She has a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania and a M.A. in Finance and Marketing from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management. Contact Information: Rachel@ConsultFR.com, 617-388-5079
Amber Beland: Amber is a Doctoral candidate in Leadership and Organizational Development Psychology at William James College in Newton, MA. She has worked as a research assistant for Bridging Distance in MA on projects including Digital Isolation and Loneliness in Remote Working and Cross-Cultural Technology Collaboration Use. She has a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology from Ithaca College in NY and a Masters of Divinity from Harvard. Contact Information: amber_beland@williamjames.edu, 603-560-6368

Appendix 1: Energies that were Out of Balance during Phase 1 for at least 3 participants

# of participants	Out of Balance (“OOB”) Energies	Definition
5	Crossover	Energies are running parallel in the body rather than crossing the midline. When OOB this can lead to feelings of overwhelm, fatigue, or being stuck. When OOB, one may get more tired exercising or have a hard time healing.
5	Triple Warmer Reactivity	Triple Warmer is the energy that governs survival, our immune response and habits. When it is reactive, one can feel hypervigilent. This state of energy is often present when there are allergies or an over-reactive immune response. Triple Warmer may pull from other energies, sometimes to our harm, in order to keep us alive.
5	Heart Valves	The energy of the heart valves are ideally harmonized. When they are not, symptoms may be chest pressure, heart palpitations, difficulty breathing, and anxiety.
4	Brain scramble	When OOB, this may show up as trouble reading, writing, comprehending, retrieving information, and brain fog.
4	Yang Regulator	This is one of the energies which helps us feel emotionally, energetically and physically at ease.
4	Meridians	Pathways of light that bring fresh energy to our organs, muscles, and tissues. When OOB, we may feel fatigued, in pain, or symptomatic related to the organ of the meridian.
3	Polarity	Helps us ground, feel stable, move forward and heal.
3	Kidney 1	Source of vitality and energy
3	Kidney 27	Helps us move forward in life
3	Stomach 2	Helps us feel grounded
3	Hook-up	Connects us to ourselves
3	Ileocecal and Houston Valves	Helps digestion and elimination
3	Yin Regulator	Regulates our inner sense of well-being
3	Mingmen	Source of vitality and energy
3	Chakras	Helps bring fresh energy to organs

December 1, 2021December 1, 2021covid, energy medicine, research, waylandLeave a comment

Solid Ground for Energy Medicine Research

I’ve always preferred a fact-based, data-oriented approach, so demonstrations of energy medicine that utilized muscle testing initially had me baffled. I was highly skeptical to begin with and had a hard time believing my eyes when I saw others demonstrating energy medicine. That’s because during a muscle test it looks and feels like the practitioner is pressing more strongly on the muscle. It’s hard to believe that a muscle might weaken just because you’re saying something false, or your hand is over one place or another on your body. The only thing that initially shifted my perspective about energy medicine was experiencing the benefits and alleviation of symptoms directly myself, immediately, and over the long term. Then, in my clinical practice, I started seeing others benefit, often within minutes of doing a single energy technique.

Now, after five years of practicing, I have a meta view of how and when energy medicine can make a difference. But it’s not enough. I’m challenged at times to convey to other data-oriented people the benefits of energy medicine, without having research to share. And, medical practitioners, the folks who are in the driver’s seat to make recommendations to their patients to try various modalities like acupuncture, physical therapy or medication, won’t give energy medicine a glance, without having data to rely on. This is tragic.

We are missing out on an entire system.

looking closely — **We need to take an investigative look at the value of energy medicine.**

So, I’ve launched a research project. The research will investigate the extent to which Eden Energy Medicine can have an impact on lingering symptoms of COVID (known officially as “PASC: post-acute sequalae of Covid” or more commonly as “Long-Haul COVID”). Many of my non-COVID clients have responded well to energy medicine and have found relief from symptoms like fatigue and brain fog, which are also seen in PASC patients. Now, we’ll get to see if the energy techniques can have a measurable impact in this specific sphere.

The research will have two phases. The first phase is a Discovery Phase, during which I will track and balance the energies of several PASC study participants. Then, each participant will receive a personalized home care routine to do for 7 days based on their session with me. They will also complete pre- and post-surveys to track symptoms. When Phase 1 is complete, we will develop a short video routine of energy techniques that can be used during the second phase. The second phase is structured to provide quantitative results and it will have a control group and a trial group. The trial group will do the home care video for 14 days and complete pre- and post-surveys to track their symptoms. The control group will continue to receive the same care that they had already been receiving. They will also complete pre- and post-surveys 14 days apart.

My research partner is Amber Beland, a doctoral candidate at William James College in the field of Leadership and Organizational Psychology. She has both knowledge of Eden Energy Medicine fundamentals and research experience, so she’s a perfect fit.

Amber and I presented an overview of our research at the Spaulding Rehabilitation Network’s Covid Clinic meeting on Tuesday and requested their partnership on our project. The meeting went very well. We received a warm welcome and the group was very receptive to the concept of the research. They think many Spaulding patients would be eager to participate and they offered to share our participant recruitment flyer electronically with all of the Spaulding locations.

In addition to offering constructive input during the meeting and being generally supportive of the work, some of the Clinic practitioners offered to refer their patients to us to be included in the study. This is critically important, because in order for our research to be statistically valid, we need approximately 55 people to join the study.

So… Phase 1 of the research, the Discovery phase, is underway. If all goes as planned, we will be wrapping up our research and analysis in the Spring of 2022. Stay tuned for updates!

If you know of anyone who is 25-65 years old, has lingering symptoms of COVID and they are at least 4 weeks beyond their COVID diagnosis, please have them contact us.

Thank you to Davide Guglielmo for use of this photo.

June 28, 2021June 28, 2021energy medicine, waylandLeave a comment

A Journey

When I started to learn energy medicine, my life changed. I began feeling less fatigued, less anxious, less overwhelmed. My asthma went away and so did my night sweats and my eye strain. The vague pain in my liver that had no medical diagnosis and a tightness on the left side of my head that had been ever-present for at least 5 years disappeared. I began to feel less emotionally reactive and less paranoid. I started sleeping better. My IBS went away. My sinuses cleared up and so did my adult acne. I was no longer a sneezing mess around my in-law’s cats at the holidays.

Little by little, I felt lighter, more joyful and more balanced. I started taking deeper breaths and felt for the first time in my life that I had some significant influence over my physical, mental and emotional well-being. If a part of my body was in pain, I was able to figure out which energy system was related and what I could do myself to make it feel better. I stopped needing Advil, Tylenol, anti-depressants and allergy medicine. And recently, I’ve even started to eat eggs again…a food that had previously made me feel sluggish and tired was now giving me strength to make it through my day.

What I learned when I enrolled in Fundamentals years ago was an eye-opener for me. Now that I understand more about it and a bit about the science that supports it, energy is the lens through which I view the world. There is no going back. I can’t unsee that we we are made of energy and so is everything else. I can’t unsee the patterns that flow and how they get stuck and can be unblocked with a sweep or a hold of my hand. The crazy thing… everyone can do this. Each one of us has the innate ability to shift our well-being that quickly. It’s just a new language. It’s easy to do and has no side effects. Will you join me on this journey?

May 11, 2020May 11, 2020energy medicine, feel better, Five Rhythms, journey, Rachel Rice, symptomsLeave a comment

Part III: Getting to the Root

(In this segment of our interview series, Tania Bandak, MD, a primary care physician at PersonalMDs in Chestnut Hill, turns the tables on Rachel Rice, President and Founder of Five Rhythms Consulting, and interviews her about how the Eden Method enables her to get to the root of the issues. Tania and Rachel have collaborated on increasing the wellbeing of over 50 mutual patient/clients in the past 4 years.)

Tania: Rachel, you recently told me about a client of yours who had excema on over 80% of her body. You said that the rash had been getting increasingly red and itchy for a year and then remarkably cleared up within days of the session. Can you tell us about what you did in the session that you think may have helped?

Rachel; Yes, this client (who has given me permission to share her story) first developed excema about a year ago. It started with patches on her arms and slowly progressed onto her torso and then legs until it was thick, red, itchy and keeping her up at night. Skin creams weren’t helping and the corticosteroid cream that had been recommended for the rash on her arms wasn’t practical for her whole body. Benadryl helped to reduce the intensity of the itch but did not clear the rash. Within 3 days of our energy session, the excema was 60% healed and by the end of 14 days it was 90% healed. It is now completely gone.

Tania: What did you do in the session to help?

Rachel: First I used muscle energy testing to track and balance her energy systems. This helped with the itching but didn’t make the rash disappear. Then, with the idea that something ingested or touching her skin on a regular basis might be causing the issue, we used muscle energy testing as a way to figure out if any of her body care products (like shampoo, toothpaste, soap, lotion) or any foods were impacting her. This testing process revealed that a handful of foods were impacting her strength. When she removed the foods from her diet, the excema improved dramatically over the next three days.

Tania: So, muscle testing is how you got to the root of the issue?

Rachel: Yes, muscle testing is a tool that I use to identify where energy is flowing well and where it is stuck in the body, as well as what energies are impacted by external factors. It is a way of communicating with the body about which energies need support.

Tania: Is muscle testing something anyone can learn? Because honestly, it looks pretty subjective: like you’re just pushing down with differing strength.

Rachel: I agree with you about how fake it looks. I felt the same way the first time I watched Donna Eden do it. I thought it must be fake, or that she must be pushing harder. But that’s not the case. And, yes, absolutely. I believe that everyone can learn to use their muscles to test their energy flow. In fact, when I’m working with a skeptical client, I teach them how to use their muscles to check their own energies so that I am out of the loop. I also teach it as part of sessions, during Introduction to Energy Medicine Classes and in my Level 1: Fundamentals class. It is very liberating and empowering to learn. My client with the excema has learned how to “test before she ingests” in order to avoid foods that will cause her excema to flair.

Tania: How exactly does muscle testing work?

Rachel: In general, muscle testing works on the principle that muscles weaken when stressors are introduced within the testing loop. The stressor can be touching a part of the body that is sick, introducing a challenging thought, or bringing a substance that isn’t beneficial to the body into its field. Muscle testing food and supplements works because everything has a vibration and vibrational signature. Our bodies are made of atoms. In fact, all matter is made of atoms, which have a charge. That charge is always moving at a frequency, which I’ll call its vibrational signature. Some signatures are easily metabolised by our bodies and make us strong. Others are more difficult for our bodies to metabolise and make us weaker. When we have difficulty metabolising a thought or substance, it can result in stress on the body which can show up as various symptoms like muscle weakness, headaches, bodyaches, rashes, IBS, etc. Muscle testing uses this principle that things that are true for us or in sync with our vibrational signature will keep us strong or make us stronger and things that are not in sync with our vibrational signature will make us weaker in one way or another.

Tania: How do you use muscle testing in sessions?

Rachel: Muscle testing is my primary process for figuring out what is happening with the flow of energy through the nine energy systems of the body. It can also be used to figure out the impact that thoughts, beliefs, foods, supplements and medications have on the nine energy systems of the body. Once we figure out what is impacted, we work to balance the energies. This often helps people with symptoms, as it did with my client who had the bad case of excema.

Tania: Can people learn how to do muscle testing on themselves?

Rachel: Shall I show you?

Click here to see a video of Rachel showing Tania how to use muscle testing to track and balance her own energies.

April 13, 2020April 13, 2020energy medicine, muscle energy, muscle testingLeave a comment

An Interview about Beliefs with Tania Bandak, MD

Dr. Tania Bandak and Five Rhythms have colloborated over the past 4 years with over 50 mutual patient/clients and we have seen remarkable shifts in outcomes for many. As a result of this metaview we are starting to recognize themes and patterns and are excited to share our observations with you. This first interview is about how beliefs are inherent to healing. How is this happening? For whom is this working? How does energy medicine dovetail with traditional medicine? And, how does this expand our understanding of healing?

Beliefs.

Rachel: Tania, in your experience, what are some of the treatment areas that have responded well to an Eden Method energy medicine session that weren’t as responsive to more traditional modalities.

Tania: I’ve seen the most benefit in two main groups of people:

Those who have conditions or symptoms which traditional medicine doesn’t have a cure for and those who aren’t responding to traditional treatments as I would expect them to.

For example, even though we do have approaches that can help people with certain chronic or diffuse symptoms such as pain, fatigue, anxiety, insomnia, irritable bowel symptoms, hot flashes, etc, our treatments are sometimes not sufficient in adequately mananging their symptoms. And sometimes we do have treatments that should be working for people who’ve suffered injuries or illnesses, but even after their treatment is completed, they have ongoing symptoms.

Rachel: What is the most powerful shift that you have seen in your patients after they have experienced the energy work.

Tania: What I find so unique about the work you do is that within the course of a single session, your client frequently leaves feeling better–and seeing that they CAN feel better shows them that they have within themselves all they need to feel and be healthy. This belief can be transformational in how they approach their self care.

Rachel: How so?

Tania: So many people have been carrying their symptoms and sensations for such a long time that it’s become infused into their belief of who they are and how their bodies work. It can become the lens through which any experience is interpreted. For example, someone suffering with chronic fatigue may shy away from participating in a new activity because they may believe “That’s something I can’t do.” Or, if there is another reason their fatigue may be worse–a bad night’s sleep, a viral infection, etc, the worsening fatigue–albeit temporary–can be interpreted as reflecting the progression of their chronic illness. These are natural reactions and responses. But, the implications of these belief responses can sometimes unintentionally fuel their pain/discomfort.

Rachel: So how have you seen the Eden Method influencing their belief responses?

Tania: The fact that they frequently feel better by the end of a single session helps them to realize that they do have within their bodies, the ability to feel better. This is incredibly powerful because it suggests that they/their bodies are not irrevocably broken or flawed. And, experiencing that improvement in how they feel can challenge their belief about their bodies and gives them the opportunity to develop a belief system that is more aligned with their health and healing.

Rachel: Are there tools that allopathic doctors have to approach this today?

Tania: Yes, there are. A lot of how we do this is through cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which works towards uncoupling thoughts, feelings and behaviors from each other so there can be a more volitional approach to how we choose to think or act. This is an absolutely fundamental tool, but no one tool works for all people. CBT is a process that can take time to notice an effect.

Rachel: Were you initially skeptical? What resolved your skepticism?

Stay tuned for Tania’s response in our next post. 😉

December 10, 2019December 10, 2019alternative approach, anxiety, Eden Method, energy medicine, Fatigue, hot flashes, insomniaLeave a comment

Stuck in Conflict? Try Energy Medicine

It’s time to come clean: I can count at least two epic fails in the year. Interest in another’s perspective? Nope. Full on blame? Yep. I didn’t do anything wrong! Negative, sarcastic emotion was practically dripping off the tips of my fingers. My words were laced with venom. The depth of my anger surprised me. Skills? I had none. Emotional intelligence? What!? I hardly had control.

These two epic fails rocked my sense of professional competence. For the last twenty-five years, I have been a mediator, communication skills trainer, educator and coach. My passion is helping others constructively put tough issues on the table, to speak their truth, and hear what others are trying to say. I am committed to practicing what I preach. It’s important both personally and professionally to walk the walk and talk the talk with clients and family alike. Could I fail this big AND still be good at what I do? It only got worse when I reviewed all those other times over the years when my skills completely evaporated. What good are communication skills if they skip town when you need them most?

Every experience is an opportunity for growth and learning – and here’s what I started to notice: a pattern. On the surface, they looked like discrete events. Different people. Different topics. Pull back the curtain, and the basic DNA was the same. When I looked back over the years, it was like I was walking through a mine field. If I was not near a mine I had full access to my skills, my head and heart were balanced, and I managed many difficult situations with diplomacy and compassion. But the closer I got to a mine, the more skill leached out of my body. I would be mute where normally I have words. I would fall on my sword when the conversation needed to be about mutual contribution. Occasionally I would hit a mine so directly there was a big explosion and shrapnel. And the same seemed to be true for many clients.

What happens? What are these mines? And what can we do? Here’s where we need to move out of our heads and into our energy. Conflict, difficult conversations and negotiation all raise our stress levels and thus shift our energy. Eden Energy Medicine gives us simple, easy-to-use tools to bring our energy back into balance. Even if my stress is “manageable,” my skills improve by doing the Eden Energy Medicine Five Minute Routine. I have one on-going negotiation where I always lose my zip-up. When a sense of vulnerability sinks in, it’s time to zip-up in the restroom. When I need to speak my truth, grounding and doing Wayne Cook enables me to articulate clear thoughts. For most of my day-to-day communication challenges, the five-minute routine keeps things humming well.

However, sometimes a conflict or conversation touches on a deeper issue. The emotions associated with it are deeper, my sense of identity is threatened, and it feels like my values are on the line. I’m triggered – and I might not even know why. When this happens, energy psychology has changed the game. Also known as tapping or Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), energy psychology allows the practitioner to release old emotional patterns, thoughts and behaviors (AKA mines!) that are no longer beneficial. By stimulating acupressure points, energy psychology re-wires the brain so old patterns recede, creating capacity for working with what is in this moment with openness, compassion and creativity.

I would love to wrap this up in a little bow and tell you a simple daily energy medicine routine followed by a few rounds of tapping has cleared away all my mines and that I am completely skilled all the time. I’m not sure that’s possible. Some mines remain and, I suspect, will require a lifetime of work. However, I spot the mines more clearly, I have tools to make a pre-emptive pivot to avoid them, and I have lessened the impact of stepping on them. My ability to recover and re-engage is greatly improved giving me greater depth and flexibility to talk about the hard stuff.

My clients and Rachel’s are seeing similar results. In fact, we’re so excited that we have created a day-long Communicating with Impact Training that combines the basic Difficult Conversations framework (by Stone, Patton and Heen) with energy management and energy psychology techniques. Curious to learn more? Rachel and I can’t stop talking about it. Give us a call.

Amy Rebecca Gay is a mediator, coach and consultant whose passion is to help people speak their truth. Amy brings an active awareness of the mind/body connection, a warm and welcoming style and a deep dedication to using one’s mind for powerful transformation. She has a PhD from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and is trained by the Coaches Training Institute. You can reach Amy at amy@consultfr.com.

August 28, 2017August 28, 2017Amy Rebecca Gay, conflict, energy medicine, Five Rhythms Consulting, Rachel RiceLeave a comment

Grounding is Not Just for Houses

Recently one of my clients asked me to help her to communicate more effectively in front of a group. She told me that she wanted to be able to handle questions from tough clients in a group setting without getting ruffled or feeling defensive. In the past, she had experienced freezing up when she was confronted by a client with an aggressive tone or posture. She wanted to be able to move through future experiences with more grace, ease and comfort. A key aspect of being able to withstand the storm of confrontation, questioning, judgement and public evaluation is grounding.

We have all seen leaders who are grounded. They are able to make thoughtful decisions and stick with them. They seem unruffled by unexpected events and disgruntled clients or employees. They are able to be present with people in each interaction, seamlessly shifting their attention from one conversation to the next without skipping a beat. They walk with ease.

Leaders who are un-grounded, on the other hand, are more emotionally volatile (sometimes bursting with anger at employees or at missed deadlines) and are more easily impacted by chaos that surrounds them. They have a harder time bringing clarity to situations, have more difficulty keeping things in perspective, have scattered thoughts and have more trouble focusing and prioritizing. They may also have difficulty moving forward.

Energetically, grounding is a function of

our own electro-magnetic connection with that of the earth (like magnets that are attracted to each other)
the flow of energy between us and the earth through meridians (e.g. energetic pathways). Energy flows down from our body into the ground and up from the ground into our body.
the flow of energy between us and the earth through an energetic vortex that sweeps energy up into our body and spills over and back down to the earth.

Losing our grounding happens with acute or on-going stressors, when we’re exposed to electro-magnetic devices, when we’re on a plane and or in a car for long periods of time, when we wear rubber soled shoes or work in a high-rise building.

The good news is that we can reclaim our grounding with some relatively simple Eden Energy Medicine techniques. These techniques get the energy moving more effectively between our bodies and the earth, thus creating a stronger connection and flow, and enabling us to stand more firmly in our bodies. This leads to more effective and confident communication. Try it and see:

Massage your feet, especially the spaces in between your metatarsals (toe bones). Gently squeeze each toe and toe nail and pull the energy off of your toes. Try this on one foot and stand up. See if you can feel the difference in how this foot feels on the ground relative to the other foot. Now try it on the other foot.
Massage your hands, especially the spaces in between your metacarpals (finger bones). Gently squeeze each finger and finger nail and pull the energy off of your fingers. Try this with one hand and then see if your hands feel any different. Now try it on the other hand.
Spoon your feet. I know that this sounds silly but it is tremendously effective (it re-aligns the polarity of your body to be more connected with that of the earth and leads to grounding). Get a spoon that attracts a magnet. Move the spoon along the sole of your foot and sides of your foot.
Massage the front of your shin along the outer edge of your tibia down to your 2nd toe (the one right next to your big toe). If you find a tender spot spend some more time there until the tenderness dissipates (the tenderness is often a sign that energy is stuck). This technique helps energy move out of your body and down into the earth which assists with grounding (like a grounding wire in a house).
Stand on wet grass in bare feet

Being grounded can make an enormous difference in how connected, emotionally stable and effective we are. How different would your interaction and presentation style be if you were grounded?

June 28, 2016July 11, 2016effective presentations, energy, energy medicine, grounding, leadership, presentations, presenting, strong leadersLeave a comment