CLAIRE PRICE NATURAL HEALTH
  • Home
  • Body Talk
  • Bowen Therapy
  • Access Consciousness Bars ®
  • Testimonials
  • FAQ
    • Price List
  • Contact
  • About
  • Alive & Kicking

Beth Beauchamp - Massage, Myofascial Release, Body Talk

7/29/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture


​I am tempted to bestow the title of “New Zealand Queen of the Fascia” on the subject of this blog profile, Beth Beauchamp. Many other health and wellness practitioners in New Zealand will likely already be aware of Beth and her wonderful Myofascial Release training courses. I have to admit a certain bias here, as I am a graduate of all three of Beth’s main Myofascial Release training courses. I caught up with Beth for a chat in July 2020.


Beth is originally from the United States, where she gained her degree in Medical Massage Therapy in 2000. She describes that time in her life as one where she was eating healthily, keeping fit, developing a fascination about muscles, anatomy and physiology. This triggered what would be a continuing journey for her learning more about the body, how it works and the influence of the mind on the body.

After a move to New Zealand, Beth pursued training in another modality, Body Talk, certifying as a Body Talk practitioner in 2008. Body Talk is integrative mind body medicine, combining state of the art research in Western science with Eastern concepts, including Traditional Chinese Medicine. Body Talk reconnects energetic circuits in the body, facilitating better communication within the body, thus allowing the body to self-heal faster.

Beth’s clinic work includes Myofascial Release, Micro Fascial Unwinding and Body Talk.

Her fascination with mind body healing led Beth to explore “all sorts of courses” in addition to Myofascial Release, including Shamanism, a nutrition program qualification in 2017, other mind body healing modalities and further ways of developing and deepening her intuition.

Those unaware of fascia would be forgiven for wondering what all the fuss is about. What is fascia and why is it so important to us? The fascial web is a three-dimensional structure which enfolds and weaves between all soft tissue and organs in the body, from head to toe. It is involved in conducting substances throughout the body, including biochemical and energetic information. Fascia is dynamic, continually changing in response to internal and external tension imposed upon it. The human framework would not be able to exist without the fascial network.

Fascia shortens, thickens and solidifies in response to trauma, any physical or emotional injury to the body, inflammation and poor posture. This leads to the body losing its physiological-adaptive capacity. Over time, fascial restrictions can spread, like a pull in a stocking. The body loses flexibility and spontaneity, which then often leads to pain and limitation in the body’s movements.

Fascial restrictions in one area of the body can affect other body parts that seem to have no connection to the original trauma. The more dysfunction there is in the body, the less dynamic fascia becomes. Rather than maintaining structural integrity, fascia then becomes so restricted that it causes structural deformation instead.

Fascia is also thought to hold emotions and past emotional trauma. Releasing fascial restrictions can sometimes lead to release of pent-up emotions.

It is easy then to envisage the potential impact of work which helps release fascial restrictions and how it can benefit clients, physically, emotionally and psychologically.

Research into fascia is still in its early stages but is rapidly developing. The first International Fascia Research Congress was held in 2007 and continues to meet every three years to exchange information about cutting edge medical and scientific research in this area. For more information about this, you can check out this link: https://fasciacongress.org/congress/about-the-congress/

One of Beth’s prime motivations in her work is “bringing people to new understandings that they have more control over their health than they think”. She prefers to help people evolve on their own path, not just heal physically. Beth prefers to work without judgement - “we all have stuff” - and tries to facilitate clients having a fuller experience of how their thoughts affect their bodies.

Beth has a clinic practice at her home base in Nelson, New Zealand but travels to teach. If she loves anything more than her clinic work, Beth laughs, it is her teaching. Over the years, she has developed and delivered her main three Myofascial Release training courses across New Zealand.

The three main Myofascial Release therapy training courses are the Fundamentals, Advanced Upper Body and Advanced Lower Body. More recently, Beth has added another course she created, Micro Fascial Unwinding, which focuses on more of a mind body approach to fascial work.

In her two day Fundamentals course, Beth “provides a foundation to understand the anatomy and physiology of fascia, why fascia dysfunctions and how to identify and release fascial restrictions superficially and deep”.

The Advanced Upper Body and Advanced Lower Body courses naturally go into more detail on how to work with Myofascial Release work in these areas.

Her Micro Fascial Unwinding training helps practitioners “see and feel the body from a different perspective”. This involves holds in various parts of the body to unwind and release the fascia, using more of a mind body approach. She teaches students to trust their intuition, gives them tools to “blank the mind”, tools to enhance their subtle, or intuitive senses, as well as the hand holds. The results of this work, Beth maintains, have been amazing and profound.

Beth’s courses attract practitioners from numerous other modalities – physiotherapists, osteopaths, chiropractors, energy workers, GPs, sports therapists, trainers, movement therapists, yoga instructors and so on. Her view is that any other modality will work more effectively with the practitioner adding in fascial work. “Working with the fascia creates more space in the body, to get the lymph and other things all flowing”, she maintains.

Her number one motivation to provide her training is “to inspire practitioners to get better results for clients.” She likes to make her courses fun and create a warm, relaxed environment, with lots of practice time.

Beth is now providing a Practitioner Certification program, as she tries to raise awareness of working with fascia generally. Her name generally ranks highly in any Google search in relation to fascial work in New Zealand. She would like to capitalise on this exposure to be able to promote other knowledgeable and well-trained practitioners working with the fascia. “I felt I needed to create a standard, a certain level of capability,” Beth asserts. Her goal is to have practitioners certified and working nationwide in New Zealand, who understand the benefits of working with the fascia.

She is of the opinion that “we’re still antiquated in our knowledge of fascia. We look at anatomy from an extremely limited perspective.” The world of the fascia is a “developing field, still in its infancy”. Beth believes there are “exciting implications of what we know. It is profound.”

Beth Beauchamp’s energy and enthusiasm for her work is infectious. Her contribution to increased awareness in her clients and increased skill in other practitioners across New Zealand is tremendous. She has sowed the seeds of curiosity in many others, me included, and continues to be a source of inspiration.

In her spare time, Beth loves to walk, hike, backpack, dance, listen to live music, read and learn. She describes herself as someone intensely curious about the mind body, always extending her own perspective about this. She enjoys “nesting” and being involved in her local community of Nelson.

You can find further information about Beth, her clinic work and her training via the two website links below.

http://mfrworkshops.com/ (for training and courses)

http://bethbeauchamp.co.nz/ (for Beth’s clinic work)



0 Comments

Becs Erickson - Ayurveda Health Coach, Yoga & Meditation Teacher

6/21/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture


​Coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown, many are considering how different their lives could be or are. There has been much talk of what will be the new normal. The issue of change, and its sustainability, is the core subject of Good Change, a program run by Becs Erickson, of Gisborne, New Zealand. Good Change comes from the Japanese “Kaizen”, which means change for better, large or small, continuous or otherwise. It is similar to the English word “improvement”. Erickson embodies a philosophy of small, incremental changes in her Ayurveda health coaching program, encouraging one per cent shifts. Group meetings are held weekly online. Calls are recorded so can be accessed if a participant misses a week. The program has been running for almost two years.

Ayurveda translates to “knowledge of life”. It is an ancient health care tradition originating from and practiced in India. It is based on the belief that health depends on a delicate balance between the mind, body and spirit. Ayurveda focuses on good health, prevention and treatment through lifestyle practices, such as yoga, meditation, dietary changes, massage and herbal remedies.

Good Change explores ten habits, or self-care practices, which combine Ayurveda with behavioural science. Becs Erickson maintains that it is important to address the emotional side of issues to make “changes that stick. This starts to evolve who you are and what you do.” The program covers one habit per week over a twelve week period. There are three twelve week periods of the program that run each year, mirroring the three seasons in Ayurveda philosophy. These three Ayurveda seasons reflect the three Doshas in Ayurveda philosophy. Understanding the seasons can help with health problems you have during that time. Newbies are able to enrol in a twelve week taster of the program.

These self-care practices include starting the day right, breath and body practices, a plant-based diet (which Erickson maintains does not mean going vegetarian or vegan necessarily but is more about changing your relationship to plants), self-massage, sitting in silence, healthy eating which addresses digestion, sense organ care and easeful living. The program focuses on incorporating these habits into daily life gradually, bringing in “more of the Feminine, being in tune with Nature and your Circadian rhythm and helps people reconnect with their bodies.”

Erickson emphasises that her program is self-empowering, helping people realise that they do not have to look to others to heal them. “We’ve lost the ability to trust ourselves and listen to our intuition,” she declares. She finds that the momentum of working in a group in the program seems to accelerate change for participants. Currently there is a range of ages from 30-70 in the group, with all female participants. Men are also welcome. Who signs up for the program? Erickson describes participants as often being “working mums and older women whose kids have left home and have time to work on themselves.”

Becs Erickson is passionate about and has been teaching yoga since 2007. She said she has always had an interest in Eastern philosophies. When her daughter was born in 2009, her health “went from bad to worse.” She went along a Western medicine route, was diagnosed with auto-immune issues and was told she would need medication. Wanting to explore alternatives, she began seeing an Indian Ayurvedic doctor in Auckland, who Erickson maintains was “very traditional”. He guided her back to health. This spurred her on to study Ayurveda health coaching for two years with a U.S. organisation, so that she could teach others herself. She enjoyed the way her Ayurveda health coach teacher, Kate, brought a more contemporary feel to Ayurveda.

As she has started up and developed a health coaching business, Becs has also retained a part time paid job working for a non-profit organisation, dealing with the well-being of children. She works in marketing and trusts portfolios for the organisation. Over time, she has slowly reduced this work to make space for her growing health coaching business. At times, like many others, this has been a huge juggling act, when Becs has had to recall and draw down on the words of her teacher, Cate, that “the heavier your load, the deeper you go with the habits.”

As if running a health coaching business, a part time job and being a mum were not enough, Becs also runs three meditation courses a year and teaches yoga in Gisborne weekly on Fridays. Erickson relaxes by spending time with friends and family, being outdoors, doing yoga and cooking. As Good Change develops, Erickson is opening up the program to like-minded people from outside the region. She is driven by a vision to make Ayurveda teachings available and accessible to all. If you are interested in learning more about Becs Erickson’s work, you can explore further via the social media and other contact information below.

Website: www.heartspace.co.nz
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heartspace.co.nz/
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/heart_space_nz/?fbclid=IwAR1SRU-C52H8rPtyuOErQbpNkgC0wbyTGCqMauyOZiabQ6F132e8KERGTAg
Email: becs@heartspace.co.nz



0 Comments

Welcome to In the Pink blog!

2/9/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Welcome to my very first In the Pink blog post. I'm Claire and I'm passionate and health and well-being in all its hugeness of major, minor and back roads you can cover! I work as a therapist using Bowen Therapy, Myofascial Release Therapy, Body Talk & Access Bars.  If you don't already know, In the Pink is a phrase meaning to be in excellent health, something we all aim for and probably most of us are still working on. There seem to be as many therapies and ways to get well as there are human beings on this planet. Which ones work for you? I'm mostly interested in natural health but am open to other paths. I'd love to explore some of these different therapies and areas of health and well-being in this blog. To me, health and well-being includes all aspects of us - physical, emotional, mental/psychological and spiritual. As long as we're alive, we'll be dealing with them all at different times of our lives and in different ways.  Empowerment comes from being aware, from information, with which you can make your own informed decision and choices. It's not always going to be the same decision, choice or path as that of others and that's alright. Over the course of this blog, I hope to delve into various health and well-being areas to learn more and maybe provide you with some more information and insight into what's out there in this field. Also a fun way to satisfy my own curiosity!
0 Comments

    Author

    Passionate and curious about health and well-being. Therapist providing Bowen Therapy, Myofascial Release, Body Talk & Access Bars.

    Archives

    July 2020
    June 2020
    February 2020

    Categories

    All
    Health

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly