Kit Kats & Cranio-Sacral Therapy...

 Kit Kat Advert- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-oFKR7eVM8

You will often hear we talk about how we have the potential to embody stress and trauma. The Kitkat advert is the perfect representation of this concept. As you can see in the advert, the man is visibly physically and emotionally weighed down by the demands of his life. Some moments hit harder than others, and you can see his struggle until he finally gets his KitKat. 

Once he stops and enjoys his chocolatey treat, the chaos lifts. There is space for him to breathe, and you can sense his relief. You then see a man joins him, weighed down by his own baggage. In a gesture of empathy, the original man offers the other a piece of his KitKat. 

Whilst I'm highly supportive of chocolate's non-medical but very tasty benefits, it is definitely not going to solve your life problems.

So why has this sparked a switch for me?

Some background before we continue. Everything happens in the body before it goes to the brain. We experience the world through our senses; through sight, sound, taste, touch and smell. As we sense the world around us, information travels through the nervous system to the brain, and the brain will decide on the most appropriate action. Changes will occur within our anatomy and physiology in response to whatever the situation is. For example, the sun is shining in your eyes, so the message is for you to squint to avoid the glare. You start running, so the heart beats faster to pump the blood to increase oxygen and nutrients to the muscles. The muscles contract and release allowing movement to take place. 

These changes occur consciously and unconsciously. To cut a long story short, your nervous system is taking in and reacting to tens of thousands of bits of information every second, even when we're sleeping, to keep us alive, and as healthy and safe as we can be. That's a lot of information and processing. When the nervous system does not feel safe, when it senses danger, if it is overwhelmed by stress, trauma or injury, information can become lost, misinterpreted and, therefore, may respond in ways which are not entirely appropriate for the situation. If the nervous system can't quite read the situation, it will predict what's happening and revert to experiences it has had before, whether that is correct or not. "She's always so dramatic." "The pain goes and keeps coming back." "He always goes for the same type of chaotic women." The brain is extremely clever; it will predict to make you safe. Prediction is more efficient. Can you imagine having to think about everything every day? Thank you for saving me time and effort, but the brain will also make up things, it will create situations and create them so vividly that your body will actually start to think it's real. 

Through the journey of our lives, we accumulate the energies of experiences, and they have the potential to stay with us affecting how we are able to live life in the present. Our bodies are a document of our life experiences, and hold many protective mechanisms that our nervous system put in place to keep us as safe. "I am a perfectionist. I was only praised by my parents and felt their love when I did well at things." "I am cautious of dogs, as I got bitten by one when I was a child." "That word immediately triggers me." 

These protective mechanisms can still be holding patterns, that are no longer useful. We just haven't been able to communicate that we are no longer in danger. We need to tell them that we're now safe. An example of this could be "When I get stressed I get a pain in my lower back. It's the same place I hurt when I fell off my horse when I was child." The nervous system remembers the accident, and is calling upon this experience when stress is encountered. It's a pattern that has been created within your nervous system. It can keep happening until we communicate that we are safe and the pattern is no longer serving a purpose. 

Notice that in the video 99% of the things the man has accumulated are on his body, not in on his head/in his mind, and this is true to life. We spend most of our lives, thinking and trying to convince ourselves that everything's ok. We put on a brave face, we deny our feelings and emotions so that we can be productive and function in the world. We've heard the expression "Bite your tongue." "Don't waste your tears." We know the feelings associated with them. As you think of these times, you might feel a physical change in your body right now. A tightening in your chest, a clenching jaw, or an unsettled belly. When we can't express ourselves, where does all of that go? It stays in us, and we lock it up ready to be released at another physical or emotional expression in the future. 

What are you carrying? 

What happened that you ignored?

What are you struggling with? 

When that thing happened, did you get to explore and express how you felt? 

Thoughts can create physical discomfort, and physical discomfort can affect our thoughts.

Therapy in any form must take a Somatic approach for it to be effective. We must consider the mind and the body, and their ability to communicate with one another, to recognise shifts and changes within them, and be curious to the messages and warning signs they're telling us from the past. 

 I mentioned the KitKat isn't going to fix it, but what will?

Rather than fixing, we need to consider awareness and management. To recognise the warning signs and make a way to consider the messages with curiosity and space. We need to be able to be present and consider: is my reaction reflective of this present moment, or is it informed by something that happened in the past? Is that still relevant in this current situation? We are never going to forget the heartbreak of someone who died. That can't be fixed, but we can be aware of when those feelings arise, and give time to express the emotion at an appropriate time. 

 My offerings of Craniosacral Therapy, Sports Massage, Counselling and Yoga/Pilates are all somatic based. Each one is deeply rooted in the connection of the mind and body. The skills and techniques are very different, but in one way or another, they are working to slow and calm your nervous system to convince the nervous system that you are safe. In safety, we can start to experience, process, release, and make way for new ways of being. You can tell the difference you feel physically and emotionally after a Yoga class or after a massage. Things have shifted, and you have made significant changes in restoring balance and function within your body. When people say, "It's just stretching." Trust me, a whole lot more is happening.

 For deeper progress and life-enhancing change, we need to learn, understand, and process what we're holding, Craniosacral Therapy and Counselling can provide this unique gateway to this deeper work. Rather than repeated fluctuations from activation to stillness, jumping from 1-100 on the stress scale. Rather than embodying the experience and dealing, or in most cases, not dealing and then exploding in a future moment. Can we start to understand and regulate our systems in the moment? Experience the moment for what it is, rather than it being compounded and compressed in to the mound of stuff from our past that we haven't addressed. 

 It takes work, it takes time, mistakes, risk, determination, highs, lows, resilience and motivation, but the benefits are worth it. Trust me, I have taken this journey, and I'm still on the journey. The calm chilled Kiran you know today, has not always been this way. 

Have a break, have a KitKat, and a chat with me to see how you can start your journey for positive change. 

Kiran Chudasama