Bring It On!

When Annie explained that Health Kinesiology improves well-being by muscle testing, I thought I’d be lifting weights; a scary thought for someone who struggles to lift a full kettle! But I needn’t have worried, because, to my relief, the muscle testing has nothing to do with strength at all.

The Heaven Scent Bliss treatment room is upstairs in Annie’s home. With stars on the ceiling and a painted mural on the wall, it is a haven of peace and tranquillity. I am lying on the bed with my right forearm raised, and Annie is applying light pressure to my wrist with her fingers. She tells me that she is going to be asking my body a series of questions, and that when she asks these, she will be looking away from me. This is a sign that I do not need to respond to her verbally, as the muscle contractions in my wrist will be answering for me. If the muscle relaxes, this is a ‘NO’ response, and if the muscle remains strong and rigid, this is a ‘YES’ response. Annie proceeds with a stream of rapid questioning about which treatments might be most beneficial for me. And her questions are interspersed with little nods or shakes of her head, as she notes the responses of my muscles. She looks like she is talking to an invisible person.

The interrogation lasts for a few minutes, and then Annie looks up satisfied. My body has told her that I need some Bluebell Essence, which is good for new beginnings. I take drops of the essence on my tongue and then lie back down for the questioning to resume. After weighing up a few alternative treatments with my subconscious – I presume this is the way it works – Annie announces,
“Citrine and Tiger’s Eye!”

Citrine is a stone that I have already identified as being significant for me. And, as citrine is associated with success and abundance – something that every business person is striving for – I am pleased with my body’s choice. Annie places the crystals at specific energy points around my body, according to the Seal of Solomon Healing Grid, which helps to release blocked energy. It is deeply relaxing; so relaxing in fact that a whole lot of yawning begins. Strangely enough, the yawning doesn’t come from me, but from Annie! “It could be worse,” laughs Annie, after coming to the end of a particularly resonant exhalation. “A Health Kinesiology practitioner I know farts all the time during a treatment!” And the reason? Apparently, yawning, farting and other such bodily emissions are ways in which practitioners express that the energy in the client has shifted. And boy, am I shifting a lot of energy! So, like the brown water in my detox foot spa, I take this to be an indication that the treatment is working.

After the crystal therapy there is more questioning, and I am getting used to being an outsider in a conversation in which I know I am participating. My body tells Annie that I could benefit from some Feng Shui guidance, and she spends the next few minutes explaining certain simple corrections to my home and office environment that could encourage prosperity. I take careful note of her advice.

Then I have more crystal healing, which involves me lying on a yellow sheet with rose quartz and clear quartz points gridded around my body. The colour yellow signifies creativity, and it combines with the rose and clear quartz to align my physical, emotional and mental self, helping to bring about a true understanding of myself and my potential.

But it is the following part of the treatment, which resonates with me most. Annie demonstrates how to make a Manifestation Wheel. Put simply, a Manifestation Wheel is a montage of all my hopes and dreams. I write my name at the centre of the wheel, on a piece of paper. Then from my name I draw a number of outward spokes, at the end of which I am supposed to draw or attach images that represent my desires. The different spokes symbolise different aspects of my life, such as my career, my relationships, my health etc. Annie shows me her own Manifestation Wheel. It is an impressive collection of aspirations, and at the bottom she has written, “For this or something better… bring it on!” She asks me the type of thing I might include on my wheel, and I am stumped. It dawns on me that I don’t really look too far into the future at all; I’m far too busy just handling each day as it comes. But when I think about it, there have been a few changes over the past year that might now allow me to look a bit further ahead: my dad passed away in March after a long illness, I have finally decided to sell my house in Cheshire that I have been renting out (with much difficulty) for the last six years, and, as it reaches its first anniversary, my marketing business is starting to gain momentum. If ever there was a time to look to the future, it is now. I have heard about the law of attraction, and I also believe in making your own luck. For both, you need to know what your goals are. I’m always telling people the importance of using a marketing plan as a route map for attaining their business goals, but actually the same applies to life in general, doesn’t it? If I don’t know what I’m aiming for, how will I know how to get there and when I have arrived? With this in mind, I resolve to set myself clear objectives.

The final part of our 90-minute session is Havening; a therapy that helped Russell Brand to conquer his addictions and David Walliams to swim across the English Channel. Havening is a technique that breaks the link in the brain between a traumatic event and the negative emotions associated with it, allowing you to view the event neutrally. In other words, it can stem negative thoughts and feelings, which would otherwise consume your energy and possibly lead to ill-health. It can also be used to reinforce positive affirmations, and this is what Annie wants me to do. I sit on the edge of the bed, and Annie shows me a sequence of motions to carry out with my hands. I stroke my face, my arms and the palms of my hands a number of times, all the while repeating the affirmations, which Annie has picked out as being especially pertinent to me, and which she wants me to continue repeating twice a day at home.

I leave Heaven Scent Bliss clutching my ‘homework’ and am already piecing together my Manifestation Wheel in my mind. On it, there will be a picture of my house with a ‘Sold’ sign outside. And the money from that…well, that could be used to take my business to the next level, or perhaps I could use it to put down a deposit on a new house for our family to live in. I know now why my body told Annie that I needed Bluebell Essence for new beginnings. Very clever! Our bodies know what we need, if only we will listen to them.
And so, at the end of an eventful year, I will be moving on into 2015 with a fresh perspective and the opportunity to start thinking big. ‘Bring it on’ indeed! (Does anybody want to buy a three-bedroomed house in Cheshire?)