Pivotal Moments 101 Real Stories, Real Women, Real Lives

Passing the Test “Where thought goes, energy flows” Tony Robbins For me, there was no dark hour as such. I was already in the dark; I just didn't realise it at the time. I was twenty one and was working as a beauty therapist in deepest Oxfordshire. For those of you who are familiar with or live in the English countryside, towns are often miles apart, and buses are a thing of legend and mystery. I lived seven miles away from work and other than relying on my parents' goodwill for a lift every day; I knew I had to pass my driving test. However, I had already tried and failed my test three times and this latest morning had seen failure number four. Sad and dejected I sighed my way into work. My friend Gill worked in the therapy room two floors below me asked me how it had gone. Gutted, I told her. 'Ah, come with me a minute', she said smiling and lead me into her room. I had spent two years at Beauty College and two years working in the big wide world as a beauty therapist, and in all honesty, I thought I knew everything about the human body. I knew all about the bones and the tissues, the origin and insertion of the muscles, I could label a 26-point cross section diagram of the skin, almost with my eyes shut. So when Gill told me she was going to talk to my body, I was a tad curious. 'Let me do some Kinesiology with you, Kinesiology is the study of muscle movement, so first I'll need to muscle test you', she said. 'Muscle testing is a way of finding out how your subconscious mind thinks and feels about something'. Gill explained. 'Hold your arm out and resist my pressure when I try to press it down'. Easy, I thought and resisted I did. 'Now think of your driving test', she said, and to my amazement and surprise my arm dropped. I had no resistance to her pressure whatsoever! Like a scene from a bad horror film, my head turned sharply towards her. 'What did you just do?' 'Nothing', she replied calmly, 'You did that. That's just how your subconscious mind feels when you think about your test.' I was completely stunned! How could this be possible? How could I seemingly lose control of my body? Worse than that, my mind had gone blank, and I felt like everything I had ever learnt was suddenly erased. In that one moment, a blinding flash of realisation hit me. I knew nothing at all about the human body; there was something much, much bigger going on inside of me. It had nothing to do with the outside at all; it was all about what went on the inside. After allowing me a moment or two to recover myself, Gill showed me a simple but very effective Brain Gym® technique to use myself called 'Positive Points'. This practice helps to remove any emotional stress from your mind. I held the palm of my hand very lightly on my forehead and thought through all the aspects of my driving test for a minute or two until my mind began to wander. It was that simple. Gill then asked me again to think of my driving test while she redid the muscle test. This time I was able to resist, amazing! My body stayed 'switched on', and my arm muscle remained steady. I also felt calm and clear in my head, and I no longer had that awful panicky feeling in my stomach. Next time I took my test I remember staying calm even when another car pulled out in front of me, which before would have made me freeze up and fail. This time I stayed focused and went on to pass my test. I was so pleased with how easy it had been. Your subconscious mind is much like a six-year-old; it always wants to be happy. Positive thoughts flow more easily around the brain and body than negative ones. A negative thought seems to change the internal chemistry somehow and cause 'roadblocks' along those neural pathways. Brain and body are one system working together so when a stressful thought appears your body responds to it. This stressful thought will 'switch' you off for the briefest of moments and slightly weaken your muscle strength. The good news is a positive thought will 'switch' you back on again, and if it doesn't, uncomplicated body based movements and exercises such as Brain Gym® can help. My life path had just taken a massive turn. I no longer wanted to run my Beauty salon. I wanted to go back to school! I just knew I had to learn more about these incredible body based techniques. Learn more about the mind and body connection; about Kinesiology and muscle testing and certainly more about how one very easy, almost too simple exercise had managed to clear my mind numbing panic in minutes. I went on to qualify as a Brain Gym® Instructor, a Neurological Kinesiologist, an Energy Therapist, and much more besides. Bodies fascinate me. Brains amaze me. How we think and feel, affects us every single minute of the day and how quickly we can help heal ourselves just by holding points, making precise movements and practising specific techniques. As human beings, we are an incredibly beautifully, brilliantly designed, hugely complex yet amazingly simple organisms. We are so much more than skin and bone. It is all about what goes on the inside. Next time you find yourself 'switched' off or panicking about something, I encourage you to give the Positive Points exercise above a go. It's the automatic hand on forehead movement we all naturally do when stressed. This time just focus on the problem a little longer until your mind wanders and your body calms down. The solutions truly are all in the palm of your hand. Carey Boyce – UK