In his book “The Gift of Fear”, Gavin de Becker recounts testimony of a woman who had suffered through a three hour assault in her home and survived only because she listened to her instincts. There seem to be two general mental domains. One is instinctual, and is often referred to as intuition. This mental domain could be characterized as …
What We Want the Most
One of the greatest gifts we can give one another and ourselves is to truly listen. We feel acknowledged and valued when we feel that we’ve been heard. Our physiology shifts from fear and defense to openness and growth. Very often, we will listen to respond: while the other person is talking, we are formulating what we want to say …
The best solution for endless distraction
We had been needing a second vehicle so Magdalena and I recently bought a used car. And even though it’s not as modern as our other car, I enjoy driving it more. The other, newer car has more bells and whistles and that’s exactly why I enjoy driving the older car. It has less bells and whistles. Put another way, …
Are you a tall poppy?
I first heard about Tall Poppy Syndrome from a colleague and friend who lives in Australia. It’s a term that draws people towards mediocrity and conformity. “Don’t get too tall, you might get your head cut off.” Tall Poppy Syndrome exists in other cultures with varying degrees of persecution. You might have heard of the saying: ‘you don’t want to …
Certainty is an illusion
In times of uncertainty, faith and trust are valuable resources to draw from. In fact, it is in those exact times when we feel the need for faith and trust more strongly. But sometimes we don’t feel strong in faith and trust and we rather replace them with the feeling of certainty. The nature of faith and trust stems from …
Being strong is not all it’s cracked up to be
The other day Karen was in for her regular appointment. She started off by sharing some of the big uncertainties in her life and that she is worried about them. I think we all tend to have uncertainties facing us every day. For example, uncertainty in our relationships (especially nowadays where you see more families and friends splitting up because …
The Social Individual
This past 18 months has been a roller coaster ride no matter who you are. And it continues to be our biggest challenge as well as our biggest opportunity. If it wasn’t before, it is evident to most people that we are social beings and that if we are not social, we can negatively affect our state of health. Social …
A Key to Healing Trauma
I think THE most important key to healing any trauma is to consider how we define trauma in any particular circumstance. According to the American Psychological Association, trauma is “an emotional response to a terrible event like an accident, rape or natural disaster. Immediately after the event, shock and denial are typical. Longer term reactions include unpredictable emotions, flashbacks, strained …
Tensegrity
This week I’d like to share with you one of the legs that NeuroStructural care stands on. It it called tensegrity. And in this video, Thomas Myers beautifully explains what tensegrity is and why it’s an important new model in health care for therapists, bodyworkers and lay people alike. Enjoy!
A higher order of awareness
One of the goals of your visits at the Happy Spine is to help you develop new awareness of your body, mind and spirit. New awareness means novelty for your brain which means that your brain can be upgraded. Your brain can become more flexible, as Dr. Norman Doidge wrote about in his book ‘The Brain That Changes Itself’. Awareness …













