Jenny

Somatic Practitioner – Teacher

Golden elixir

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It’s funny to think back at a time in my life when the beauty elixir was in a dark glass bottle with empty promises and fragrant aromas to seduce – to now. 

Making decisions

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Making decisions, finally with heart.

Lately, I have found myself spending a lot of time alone. I’ve always felt comfortable in my own company, but I also have a busy and at times, over-analytical mind. Making decisions is sometimes a torturous task for me. That might sound dramatic, I know.  I’ve come to realise that I have a  – shall I call it a character flaw? – strong desire to not disappoint or let the other person down. And simultaneously and paradoxically there is the loaded thought of “what if it’s the wrong choice? What if I miss out on X, or Y? What if I’m selling myself short?” and so on.  These contrasting “noises” in the background cause confusion and decision-paralysis.

That was then, now I am doing it differently.  I’ve come to trust the inner voice,  the heart, intuition, the gut feelings, that clear first feeling of either ease or unease as my compass. I’ve come to acknowledge that the first thing that comes to my mind got there from my heart – the all-knowing, wise, miraculous, powerful love-force organ that is always whispering to the body, to the mind “…this is true for you, this is not. do this, go there, say that..”

The heart – the all-knowing, wise, miraculous powerful love-force organ that is always whispering tot he body, to the mind...

Sometimes I can’t or don’t listen to my heart, to what my body is telling me – sometimes I doubt my intuition or feeling.  But,  if there’s an uneasy feeling when I think about a decision to choose A or B, and that feeling stays strong and consistent, that’s it – that tells me. Go with the other choice that feels good, that my body feels the ease with.

Muscle testing (aka energy testing) is a similar process in terms of the objective to arrive to a truth of the matter via the intelligence of the  body. When I feel into decisions via the heart with cues from body sensations (breathing, gut etc.) rather than focusing the mind – I find that the results, or shall I say consequences of choosing a decision becomes irrelevant, because the heart has led. Because the heart has love and intelligence beyond what we can ever fathom. Not trusting the heart to guide you is un-loving of yourself. This is my personal take-away.💛

Fasting on French

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Fasting on French

Last year – that’s November 2024, I decided a short water fast would be a good idea. I had been reading and listening to countless podcasts and it made perfect sense that it can be incredibly beneficial not only for the body and the mind. 

Cellular repair and recycling, autophagy (cells of body literally “self+eating”) and a gut microbiome ‘reset’ sounded like the perfect health protocol to do.  The positive effects promised for brain health reverberated in my mind after witnessing cognitive decline in my beloved mother and subtly present with my beloved father too.  Mental clarity and reducing inflammation in the brain?   I packed my bags.

I had a little practice with up to about 24 hours of water fasting, but it was incredibly challenging when food is accessible to us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Fasting in an urban environment was just too hard!

I found a natural, honest – what is it called these days?  – biohack.  A way to fast that, in retrospect, mimicks how our ancestors might have experienced it: live in nature,  get sunlight, sleep on the ground, feel the earth on bare feet, breathe in the clean air, swim in the ocean and surrender to what is. 

The natural, supporting, nourishing, nurturing, life-giving environment I was living in and amongst, made the difference...

That’s almost exactly how it happened, except I had the “luxury” of a tent, sleeping bag and chair. I arrived on French Island (Victoria, Australia) with my very basic camping gear with no food – just my portable water filter jug and sea salt for daily electrolytes. (There is tank rain-water at the campsite) Already, this signals my brain:  “Time to surrender, forget food, you’ll be fine, nowhere to get food, so just let go…”  And, surprisingly, I did.

French Island is the perfect place in my opinion to try a 2-day or longer fast if you can handle it.  You see, even if I did get hungry (I didn’t and I elaborate more soon), the closest and only food store was about 6 kilometres away, a 2 hour walk.  That’s the perfect deterrent, distraction and frankly, supporting factor to keep on with the water fast! I fasted without struggle, with relative ease and no hunger- just tranquility. Why? Here’s my take: I was immersed in pure and preserved nature (a third of French Island is national reserve), nourished daily by the sun and elements,  safely cocooned in the healing embrace of Mother nature. 

Let’s start with the absence of: No cars, no air or noise pollution to assault the senses, no artificial blue light throughout day, no access to food store, no air-conditioning, no heating, no street lights. There was however, exclusively abundantly– just nature! Sun, sea, sand, koalas, echidnas, snakes (I never saw one though), potaroos (like a miniature kangaroo-x-rat), bush rats, abundant birdlife, flies flies and more flies, and at night a clear starry sky.

What I feel – no, know that made the fast struggle-less and dare I say – easy, was being in nature, fully. The natural, supporting, nourishing, nurturing, life-giving environment I was living in and amongst, made the difference; that made my 7-day water fast go without any suffering, hunger or angst. In fact, I felt a little euphoric at times, and always calm and peaceful. I experienced a kind of  sense of relief, unshackled from any pressure to do anything. I found myself day dreaming a lot. I observed ants and admired the small sparrows and gasped in delight when I saw up close – very close! – a koala. I followed the echidna as it buried it’s face into the earth making holes everywhere. I had no tasks except hang out with Gaia! Nothing to do (in terms of modern living) except surrender and just accept….and enjoy it actually! It was the perfect, natural place to be to cleanse the body, mind and soul;  giving the body time and space to repair, recycle and restore, without the effort and energy of digesting and metabolising food. 

If I could narrow it down even more, I’d place the top 3 elements that nourished my body during 7 days of no food would be: 1, the daily sun, 2, the electromagnetic energy from the earth (aligning my electrical circuitry with the earths), and the clean pure air from the trees.  Will I do it again? I’ve since done a 3-day and 5-day fast on French, but a 7 -day fast again? Maybe a new location. 

Why? Because those sandflies at French island are totally nuts! Thank you Mother nature. Thank you French Island!  🍃 Won’t miss the flies though, sorry.  😃 

My Story

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My Personal Story

One day, I started to write my ideas for a healing method that combines all the wonderful techniques I had learnt over many years, and had always used – especially for my parents. What started to flow onto paper surprised me, though simultaneously also felt natural, authentic and perfect.  Some people might call it a “download”; a creative inspiration coming from somewhere or someone…

What I do know is that these ideas and thoughts arose from a personal experience with my mother.  Endless notes on paper soon became ElderHeal™ – a tactile healing practice close to my heart.

The story behind the story of ElderHeal™ began in Melbourne.
I was caring for my elderly mother who had cognitive decline, in an aged care home. An understaffed and overwhelmed health system unfortunately only provides basic needs care, leaving many residents deprived of the love, care and important healing of which touch therapy provides. In these circumstances family members often feel powerless.  I could not bare to see this sterile, mechanical care and so stepped in myself.

For several months, multiple days a week, I visited to help care for my mother using my therapeutic skills in bodywork desiring desperately to bring as much comfort, love, connection and care possible, despite the difficult circumstances and conditions. This emotional experience was transformative for me and my beloved mother in a matter of weeks, proving the healing power of touch.

(I and the nurses) witnessed miraculous changes in my mother's cognition and physical and emotional health.

Over the course of a few months I (and the nurses) witnessed miraculous changes in my mother’s cognition and physical and emotional health.  Upon learning that dysphagia was preventing my mother from eating well, or even at all, I forged ahead,  using my knowledge about the body, pathologies, anatomy, physiology, symptoms and techniques – all to help improve functions contributing to her difficulty in swallowing and the intake of food.

I designed a treatment for my mother that used a unique type of touch therapy of which I specialise in and uses gentle motions on the soft tissues – called, Bowen Therapy – and included mobilisation techniques to reduce some spasticity in her limb, relaxation massage for the face, acupressure to stimulate meridian pathways, reflexology, aromatherapy and some movement techniques. I employed a blend of many skills of which I had gained throughout my long career in bodywork and natural health.  I realised then what I gift it was to have these skills as I looked at my mother’s face–now coloured with rose pink cheeks with fresh blood flow.

In a short time and much to the surprise and delight of staff, my mother gained weight for the first time since arriving! She had weighed 38 kgs when I first saw her – thereafter 42 kgs!. I also spent countless daily hours to feed her nutrient dense foods on each visit and discard the high sugar and refined carbohydrates on the menu. My mum, previously deathly frail and lifeless now showed visible signs of improvement and vitality.

It is generally accepted in allopathic medicine that late stage dementia typically has a poor prognosis. This never deterred me in my quest to do all I could, nor for my mother in lovingly receiving the undivided attention and healing touch I gave – touch that sent ripples of love into her days. And so the closing several months of my mother’s physical life were filled with love, care, therapeutic  touch, comfort, less pain, and a significant period of improvement.

When her time seemed to approach nearer for her transition, I continued to give love and comfort through the healing therapies – providing for a comfortable, gentler, dignified and loving process to usher Mum into the journey of the afterlife.

Being able to treat my mother for many, many months in resident care – with what I have now named ElderHeal™  – was the greatest, most fulfilling and nurturing gift for mother and daughter to experience, connecting us always and for eternity.

May your loved one also experience the healing power of touch.

It is from this emotional and heart-filled experience that I decided to teach my integrated method of healing for the elderly.  The techniques I applied provided not only physical ease, but also connection, comfort, safety and dignity for my mother during an otherwise difficult time of discomfort, fear, disconnection and isolation.
ElderHeal™ is in memory of, and dedicated to my beloved mother, Meropi Petridis.

May your loved one also experience the healing power of touch.

Love,

Jenny 🕊️