janine mccarthy ortho-bionomy

// the path to natural pain relief //

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1 to 1 video consultations for pain relief

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During the CO-VID19 pandemic I can’t offer in-person Ortho-Bionomy bodywork sessions to help you relieve pain and stress.

But I’m determined to continue helping all my clients as much as I can.

So during the lockdown you can meet with me by phone or video on Zoom for a 30 or 60 minute consultation for self-care, postural re-education and wellbeing support.

During these sessions we can:

  • examine the pain, discomfort or reduced functionality you experience,
  • consider the impact your daily activities (e.g. working from home) are having on your body
  • explore how your current postural habits are contributing to your pain/discomfort/reduced mobility
  • discuss pain relief techniques, movements and positioning you can use to improve your daily experience in your body
  • develop new habits of posture and movement to help you create a new relationship with your body and support your transition to sustainable, authentic wellbeing

Your body is always trying return to its primal state of wellbeing. It has enormous resources for self-healing and regeneration. Physical tension and emotional/mental stress create resistance that blocks your natural healing processes. Relaxation and ease are the keys to release this resistance and allow your cells to return to their natural state of vitality.

So now you don’t have to miss out on the benefits of Ortho-Bionomy sessions due to our forced social isolation. Book your appointment online HERE  or contact me by SMS on 0422 266 190 or email janine@ortho-bionomymelbourne.com

Here’s what some of my clients are saying about the video consultations:

“I worked with Janine online and it was a really useful session: we were able to review progress and add some new strategies to the mix. Working this way underlines the ‘teamwork’ aspect of her treatment and succeeds because Janine is so clear in her understanding and perceptive about the feedback she is receiving. It can also be helpful to address issues in the home environment where from day to day we move, live and work.” EM

“I booked a video session with Janine after feeling pain in my lower back and shoulders. This session was very helpful as Janine demonstrated the movements, showing me in great detail and with patience how to apply a range of exercises to ease the pain. I have had better posture since, which is very helpful considering all the time spent in front of the computer working from home.” MA

“Last year I started working with Janine to reduce my neck and shoulder pain and associated headaches and this had been so effective going from 3 or 4 headaches a week to now only once or twice a month. But my neck and shoulders got really jammed up just after the (COVID-19) shutdown and I got a headache that had persisted for a few days. So I asked Janine for an online session. It was really effective, we released the neck and shoulder pain and the headache went away. I felt so much better. I was so relieved that I could still work with Janine from home, I don’t know what I would do without this. I am going to keep doing regular online sessions with Janine to manage my headaches, yay!” SB

“I booked a video session with Janine because I’d sustained an injury right at a part of my body that I’ve been working with her for many months. There was also a bit of unresolved tension in that area still, and stress had been affecting my ability to listen to my body. During the session Janine recommended techniques I could use at home and gave me support and encouragement to apply them for myself reminding me that just because my body isn’t yelling at me (with pain) that it doesn’t mean I should stop listening to it. Since that session, I have been using the practices every day. Not only do they help physically relieve pain, but also I’m giving attention to my body in calming, conscious and intentional ways, which really helps to relieve stress and feel nurtured.” MK

 

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Video consultations from home

Simple self care for pain relief

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Do you or a friend need pain relief? Are you looking for a simple, quick, natural solution?

Then this class is for you:

Simple Self Care for Pain Relief
Saturday 28 Sept 12.30-2.30pm

If you experience pain on a daily basis or even just sometimes, you’ll know that it gets in your way. It makes you tired and grumpy. It makes you scared that something is wrong with your body.

There are lots of options out there for pain relief. Many of us are told we have pain because we don’t have enough ‘core strength’ or we should ‘stretch more’ or we have ‘bad posture’ and should ‘just straighten up’, ‘put those shoulders back’ or ‘tuck your tailbone under’. We’re told to do repetitive (and sometimes painful) exercises. We reach for the painkillers but worry that we might become dependent on them or take too many.

I’m here to tell you that your body knows how to relieve most pain all by itself. Our bodies have evolved over thousands of years to look after themselves when something goes wrong. And they’re REALLY good at it.

In this class you’ll learn simple techniques for relieving pain from all major regions of the body, with no special props or equipment. They’re quick and easy to use and most importantly THEY DON’T HURT.

You’ll be blown away by how simple it is to feel better.

The class is suitable for all ages from children to elderly. Bring your friends, children and family members and learn to tap into your body’s natural self-correcting ability.

The class will be held in the peaceful One Heart Yoga Studio at Abbotsford Convent. Numbers are limited so BOOK NOW to secure your place.

Call Janine on 0422266190 or email janine@ortho-bionomymelbourne.com for more information.

Walking without pain

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I received this moving letter about walking without pain from a client (aged late 60’s) recently. I hope it’s helpful for others who have similar pain – if that’s you, call your local Ortho-Bionomy practitioner to get some help.

Hi Janine,

I wonder if you realise how much pain and suffering you have saved me.

Every morning when I walk down for the paper I am reminded of how painful, and distressing this walk used to be before you worked on my feet. I used to think that the stiffening and pain would slowly get worse as I aged and I would just have to put up with it and quit walking for exercise.

I recall that when we went to Queensland for seven weeks a few years ago I had to hobble along the beach, unable to keep up with my wife, and really concerned that exercise would be impossible if my feet didn’t improve. Slowly, slowly I improved, but the problem never went away. I had to be careful not to walk too much or too quickly. Running was definitely out of the question.
Well the sessions with you fixed all that and we walked for hours each day on our recent holiday without any pain and I congratulate and thank you for that. I have even run for short periods without ill effect. I keep telling everyone how your Ortho-Bionomy ‘fixed’ me.

Thank you.

Ortho-Bionomy study groups and training consultations: why? when?

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Picture this: You have almost finished your practitioner training, it’s taken you nearly 7 years and was fitted around the births of your two children. You only have one class to do and then you can finally call yourself an Ortho-Bionomy Practitioner and launch your new career. But wait – you still have 3 study groups and 4 consultations to complete! And this is in the days before online study groups and Skype consultations (and very few Australian instructors), so you just have to wait for an instructor to visit your local area before you can finish all these bits and pieces.  Then you attend the study groups and consultations and notice how much value the newer students are getting from them, not only from information provided by the instructor but from observing how other practitioners approach client issues, from connecting with other students and practitioners in our community and from observing how instructors work with their clients in real sessions. You wish you had given more priority to these sessions earlier in your training journey!
I have to admit, much of this is of course based on my own experience 😆 and I know many other students are similar. We focus on getting the big chunks of training done with classes and residentials, figuring there will always be time for the little things later, but I suggest it’s time to rethink this approach.
The study groups, consultations and feedback sessions are actually the ‘low-hanging fruit’ in the training program, the easy things to do that actually give more value than it appears on the surface. They are now easy to attend more frequently throughout the year – in the past it was only once or twice a year when a visiting instructor taught a study group or offered sessions when they came to teach a class in Melbourne (for me). Now a number of instructors offer online study groups so you don’t even need to leave home, and they are very low cost per hour of training credit. Consultations give you precious one-to-one time with an instructor to focus on your own questions, and if you do them as feedback sessions working on the instructor, you learn so much about your touch, your embodiment of the principles, your use of techniques and the way you conduct a session that it’s like having a whole class in one hour. If you join with 1 or 2 other students for a group consultation you each get to receive a session from the instructor and observe the other 1 or 2 sessions, while each one only pays for one session and receives 2 or 3 units of training credit. You can imagine how valuable this is if you take this opportunity throughout your training rather than leaving it until the end. It also enriches your learning experience in the classes to have this small group time for focused practice, especially in face-to-face study groups. Instructors are always open to requests for these training sessions both in person and online, so you are no longer restricted by distance and timing as in years past.
One way to be sure to have all your smaller training units done by the time you complete your classes is to set yourself a (flexible!) schedule.
So if you wanted to complete your practitioner training over a 3 year period, you would attend 2x3hr or 4×1.5hr study groups, have 1 feedback session (work on an instructor) and 3 consultation units (could be done singly or in blocks) each year. Or you could complete your 3 feedback sessions in the first 2 years and then do your 3 evaluation sessions (working on 2 or 3 instructors for final assessment as a practitioner) in your 3rd/final year of training.
So visit OBA’s website and check the online and in-person study group offerings this year, and contact a local or visiting instructor to plan a Skye consultation or a group session. The bonus is you can use these towards your OBA continuing education units for this year while you get closer to completing your practitioner training with every session.
See my earlier post “How to complete Ortho-Bionomy practitioner training in 3 years”.