Tag: craniosacral therapy for babies

craniosacral therapy for babies and mother, for colic, reflux, sleep, constant illness, teething, ear aches

How to hold a baby while working with them, plus questions workshop!

by Craniosacral Therapy/Paediatric craniosacral therapy/Nutrition/NAET/ NLP Health Coach/Mindfulness meditation, posted in Blog

Tips on how to hold a baby while working through CST workshop online click here to read more

This will be a workshop of showing practical tips to work with babies when holding them, calming them down, before or during small adjustments, latching problems, sleeping problems and resistance to sleeping, mild torticollis tips, when they have reflux and colic and holding them and calming them, positions and more. Showing on a baby doll.

Questions on working with babies, what to do and not to do plus.

Zoom Link for the workshop will be given near the time and only if booked.

Recording link will also be given afterwards with 1 hour and half CPD.

Payment of £ 30.00

http://www.nutritionhealth.net

Function of the left and right Amygdala from birth

by Craniosacral Therapy/Paediatric craniosacral therapy/Nutrition/NAET/ NLP Health Coach/Mindfulness meditation, posted in Blog

The importance of self-regulation, emotions and attachments since birth

  • The central nucleus of the amygdala has direct correlations to the hypothalamus and brainstem – areas directly related to fear and anxiety.
  • Many projection areas of the amygdala are critically involved in specific signs that are used to measure fear and anxiety.
  • There is a direct relationship between the activation of the amygdala and the level of anxiety the subject feels.
  • Feelings of anxiety start with a catalyst – an environmental stimulus that provokes stress. This can include various smells, sights, and internal feelings that result in anxiety.
  • Fear responses can include dizziness, faint, giving up, pleasing others, freeze, startle, high heart rate, etc. (stress cascade response). This can be felt through craniosacral treatment all over their system.
  • Moderate fear level causes a startle reflex, while a bigger fear does not. The amygdala is thought to be involved in enhancing the startle reflex in the moderate fear reaction (Walker).
  • Facial expression of fear or acknowledged fear is connected with the right amygdala. 
  • The right amygdala seems to be more connected and activated with the conditional fear, while the left is more connected with the non-conditional fears.
  • The amygdala in males, is bigger than the female one as the amygdala has got more androgen receptors and therefore testosterone stimulates the amygdala to grow more.
  • There is also difference in the left and right amygdala for both female and male.
  • The left full growth is about 1.5 to 2 years before the right full growth.
  • Right amygdala is connected to the face recognition. 
  • It is thought that the early left amygdala development, is due to giving infants the ability to detect danger (possible connection to primitive brain, the occipital brain). 
  • In childhood, the amygdala is found to react differently to same-sex versus opposite-sex individuals.
  • This reactivity decreases until a person enters adolescence, where it increases dramatically at puberty.
  • So, the amygdala is very important during the most difficult times in teenagers! If you have some now, brace yourself and blame it on the amygdala!
  • Difference in emotional stimulation in men and women have also been found.
  • A recollection of a horror film in women, would activate more the left amygdala, while same thing for men would activate more the right amygdala.
  • The right amygdala has been linked to taking action and to negative emotions. This is one of the reasons that men might fight when scared.
  • This is why men and women also respond differently to stressful stimuli, as the left amygdala allows for the recall of details, but it also results in more thought rather than action.
  • Amygdala can be affected by meditation, possibly resulting in more compassion and connection towards others, according to a study with Buddha Monks.
  • Left amygdala has been connected to anxiety in children.
  • Low activity of the gland in general though, results in more anxiety and depression.
  • The use of serotonin drugs increases the size of the amygdala (as we have mentioned above because of the receptors 5HT for serotonin).
  • Some studies also have connected autism to small left amygdala.
  • It seems that artistic or creative activity would increase the size and activity of the amygdala.
  • Amygdala also deals with positive emotions, (it could be because of more 5HT receptors in the right amygdala).
  • Amygdala size is also connected to the social interaction and network. The bigger the activity and size the more social the people were.
  • Emotional fear as we mentioned above is very much connected to the gland, as damage to both of them leads to having no fears at all, which can be dangerous for the person and people surrounding that person. 

The amygdala is an essential part of the connection and social activity and behaviour for later on in life. In babies, any birth trauma, in utero and post-birth can lead to possible unstable social behaviour from the start, they might either sleep too much and not connect or engage with the environment around them or scream their head off. Some babies will need more attention than others, and 1 to 3 or more, sessions of craniosacral therapy might help with balancing up their autonomic nervous system.

For adults it might take 10 or more sessions, but it is worth every single session, it will change their way of perceive life, by balancing the vagal nerve.

Written by Maria Esposito BSc (Hons), therapists, teacher and author.

Being present, aligned and grounded

by Craniosacral Therapy/Paediatric craniosacral therapy/Nutrition/NAET/ NLP Health Coach/Mindfulness meditation, posted in Blog

There are a lot of ways to be presents, through mindfulness meditation, through breathwork, through normal breathing, through exercise of any kind, including walking. All of them, do not align you into who you are and what your purpose in life is. I found that in the past 14 years, thanks to craniosacral therapy/healing, that I have been doing and having it myself, that I found that alignment and healing your inner self, and get back to yourself, is more than just being present.

Being present is the first step of many. I found that with craniosacral therapy/healing, for myself and the many hundreds of people I have had the honour to support through their journey of getting to connect to their inner self and healing themselves through the craniosacral therapy, is doing a lot of hundreds steps!

Being aligned with yourself, is getting rid of other people expectation of yourself, as well as the social expectation and what other people think you need to be and do, and get to your own way of wanted to be and do. This is a journey, starting from getting rid of the past pain, possible trauma, and much more. Understanding who you are and change yourself towards what your potential is! Start your journey now, taking 1 step at the time towards your inner self!

I work with a combination of NLP to find your way of support that you have in you to deal with different emotions and feelings!

Understanding your mind flexibility and more!

Babies fascial unwinding, benefit of craniosacral therapy

by Craniosacral Therapy/Paediatric craniosacral therapy/Nutrition/NAET/ NLP Health Coach/Mindfulness meditation, posted in Blog

Understanding Hypoglycemia: Causes and Effects

by Craniosacral Therapy/Paediatric craniosacral therapy/Nutrition/NAET/ NLP Health Coach/Mindfulness meditation, posted in Blog

Hypoglycemia, is quite common or more common than you think. Some times is due to genetic but most of the time, and especially in the modern diet, is due to what we eat and drink. Especially for young children and teenagers, the modern diet now is full of fizzy drinks, coca cola, red bull (full of caffeine which increases the blood sugar), juices, even the fresh made ones, as there is no fiber, that includes carrots juice.

How would you fill with hypoglycemia, either as an adult or child/teenager?:

  • Tired
  • dizziness
  • lightheaded
  • irritate
  • fainting spells
  • depressed
  • anxious
  • craving for sweet or a quick fix
  • confusion
  • night sweats
  • legs weakness
  • swollen feet (for older adults)
  • tight chest feeling
  • hungry all the time
  • insomnia (especially if eating sugary food before bedtime) (blood sugar goes down quickly and person or child or even babies wake up hungry)

Hypoglycemia can lead to aggressive behaviours and quick change of temper. This can happen shortly after eating sweets or sugary drinks. This is not just when you eat sugary foods or drinks, if you eat white simple carbohydrates such as white pasta and rice/bread, alcohol, lots of caffeine, lots of chocolate, and eat only vegetables as well, without any protein, fat or whole carbohydrate.

The whole carbohydrate, is whole bread, pasta and brown rice, quinoa, barley and whole grains and foods, including potatoes with the skin on.

To have a slow release of sugar, and hence reduce the chance of your child, yourself or your teenager to have bounces of low blood sugar levels, and hence irritability, burst of anger and screaming for no reasons, or sleeping problems, is important that each meal has some carbohydrate, protein and fat.

A lunch or dinner or both, you can have portions of grains, or potatoes or greens for adults that are worried about their weight, with a portion of either fish, or meat, or beans, lentils, chickpeas (cooked with a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda to soften the shells, so that do not cause much gas).

Fruits are best eaten either with breakfast with porridge of whatever grains is suitable for you, with plain yogurt, a bit of pure honey, some nuts or seeds (if not allergic to).

Snacks in between are apples, pears, with skin on, or mandarins or blueberries with a bit of yogurts, or humus, avocado with rice cakes or whole bread. There are lots of alternative foods out there, but the best way to get all the nutrients you need and more is to get as fresh and without packed food as possible.

To balance blood sugar, you need a good amount of B vitamins, chromium, good fats, fiber and a slow releasing food intake, with avoidance of sugary foods and drinks. As sometimes it is hard to have a good intake of B vitamins, especially now days, where the trend is eat what you want for 5 days and fast for two days in a week. Or avoid food for 16 hours, plus go to sleep and avoid foods for another 12 hours, have a coffee to get you some sugar and wake you up, than have another one later with a sweet pastry or worse. Have red bull (someone in a casual chat while hiking said to me, it is quite good for the heart, it has got taurine!), for the afternoon and evening, well get some chips only and have alcohol for some more energy!

and yes

I would still take and give some multivitamins as well, as if you live in London, is very hard to get a really fresh food that gives you everything, as well as to fight the toxins from the big city, and as vegetables and fruits lose their nutrients by the day, it will be hard for us to get the amount of vitamins and minerals from the food alone. Unless you are lucky enough to live near a farm or have an allotment and a garden, where you can just pick up your vegetables from there before eating it, than forget the vitamins. You must have also a fruit garden and free range animals and chickens for the eggs and …….

My parents moved to the countryside from a town and that was a blessing, as they still grow seasonal vegetables in big vases. I cannot do it in London, I know that some people can, and that is amazing!

© Maria Esposito BSc (Hons) R-Nutritional Therapists – NAET – R-Craniosacral therapist –NLP health coach practitioner – Certified Angel Guide – Mindfulness Meditation teacher – The resilient Heart (HeartMath) meditation and Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP) – MBant – M-CSTA – CHNC registered

All problems stem from birth and beyond! Imprints and Unconditional love and Craniosacral therapy and more with Maria Esposito BSc (Hons)

by Craniosacral Therapy/Paediatric craniosacral therapy/Nutrition/NAET/ NLP Health Coach/Mindfulness meditation, posted in Blog

Having worked as a therapists from sport massage to Nutritional advice with over reaction of food and craniosacral therapy for the past 30 years, I have found that the majority of the problems stem from either a birth trauma, or even before we were born a trauma that has left an imprint on your parents or grandparents. We all have that, as this depends on where you are from, what history your parents had and what major event has happened in their lifetime, either personal or local or globally.

I know that for many people, COVID 19 has left an imprint, which it means, that might be passed on to the next generation. An imprint is the memory of something, happy or traumatic, that has been stored in the DNA.

We have survived all this years on Earth, as per that imprint. For example if someone in the pre-historic time, when someone witnessed someone being killed by a tiger or killed by another force, than who ever survived got that traumatic imprint and passed it on, to the next generation to watch out for tiger, or snakes, or food that should not have been eaten. Some was passed on verbally or drawing, and others were just imprinted in the next generation in the DNA.

Now, Craniosacral therapy works with body, mind and soul. Any unconscious memory or trauma that has been passed on, can also still affect the person or baby. Usually with babies and mothers is the birth trauma, any other memory will be dealt when the baby is older or ready to deal with it.

With adults, when they start having sessions, the session will bring up what the person is ready to deal with. And with the support of the therapist (Maria Esposito), this will be put to the awareness of the person and dealt with accordingly or let go and transmute into unconditional love.

I always start my sessions with a breathing cycles of unconditional love. Some people during my hiking group, asked, what if I don not what unconditional love is?

Well sometimes that is the case. If you have a pet, or children, you will know what unconditional love is, as they will give that unconditional love no matter how you are with them, till a certain point. Children at some point might also close down if you do not show some love for them or treat them right.

Also with you do not have children or pets, than connect to nature for that. Trees give you oxygen without asking anything from you. The sun shines everyday somewhere in the world, without asking you for anything. The majority will get rain and hence water for you to drink, and to water the food that the farmers grow for you. Unless you are a farmer or you can grow your own food, and in that case, you get the rain unconditionally. The tree will take your toxins from your exhalation of Carbon Dioxide and transmute it, into oxygen for you to breathe. Without them we would not survive more than two minutes!

So you can see how much unconditional love we have around us and how much we are helped without us asking, we take these things for granted.

Babies and children craniosacral therapy, birth trauma and more

by Craniosacral Therapy/Paediatric craniosacral therapy/Nutrition/NAET/ NLP Health Coach/Mindfulness meditation, posted in Blog
Paediatric Craniosacral therapy/healing for babies/mothers/children

Understanding your baby digestive system, colic, reflux and birth trauma

by Craniosacral Therapy/Paediatric craniosacral therapy/Nutrition/NAET/ NLP Health Coach/Mindfulness meditation, posted in Blog

Just to understand your baby food and why some babies will have more colic till 3 months old than others.

The foremilk, is the milk that comes out first, when you breastfeeding. Is that milk that contains water, protein and antibodies.

The hindmilk is thicker and contains fat, vitamin A, E and more fat soluble vitamins. They both contain lactose.

Lactose overload is when the baby does not have enough of the lactase (the enzyme to break down the sugar).

Lactase is produced from the brush border of their small intestinal tract from two weeks onwards. In premature babies it might take longer than full term baby to produce enough lactase to digest the sugar.

If the mother naturally has more lactose in the milk than the baby can digest, or there the baby drinks more of the foremilk than the hindmilk and keep feeding all the time without rest, than lactose can accumulate in the large intestine. This will cause, fermentation and air and bloating. Being very uncomfortable for the baby when it needs to poo and the poo being very explosive. Even though I have seen also babies with an accumulated lactose that were constipated, this might be combined with structure problems, that craniosacral therapy can deal with.

Breastmilk is empties faster from the stomach than bottle milk, hence babies that are bottle fed sleep a bit longer due to the fat content and feeling full quicker.

Bile salts, digest fat, and in breastmilk helps with the digestion of fat and infants do re-absorb the bile from the blood to digest milk as well. This is till the digestive system and liver system develops better.

Oligosaccharides in the mothers milk increase the friendly bacteria growth in babies. The bacteria helps digest the food even further, help to make food for the intestinal tract cells production and the production of some B vitamins and vitamin K.

If your baby drinks more foremilk than hindmilk, the fat content of their feeding will be out of balance. Fatty substances are slow to digest. As the foremilk is usually lower in fat, it passes so fast through the intestinal tract that it does not get enough time to break down and triggers colic by accumulating in the large intestine and cause the gas, and bloating and discomfort in your baby.

Sign and symptoms of foremilk and hindmilk intake imbalance are:

Significate weight gain, fussiness, with feedings, gas, frequent stools that sometimes are green, frothy and explosive stools. Always hungry, crying and screaming, more appetite than usual trouble sleeping.

Allow babies to finish one breastmilk before going to the other side. See a lactation consultant if in doubt.

Craniosacral therapy and nutrition gives the baby and parents a gift of a lifetime in adjusting the entire system through letting go of possible birth trauma, or in pregnancy trauma, stress hormones and more. Tight jaw, after a tongue tie, or high palate and tight jaw due to forces of the birth trauma during delivery and much more. Reduces and eliminates colic, reflux, constipation, sleep problems.

Maria Esposito BSc (Hons)

Nervous system and polyvagal balance with craniosacral therapy

Featured by Craniosacral Therapy/Paediatric craniosacral therapy/Nutrition/NAET/ NLP Health Coach/Mindfulness meditation, posted in Blog

The polyvagal nerve, is part of the nervous system and the nervous system is part of the brain that will give signal when things are ok and when they are not. In some cases, in adults with childhood trauma, can all of the sudden experience stress related episodes with no recollection of when and where that happen. For most people the talking therapy will be good when they know what the problem or issue are, and often they are resolved. But some stress response or trauma will not be reached just by the conscious mind, or it will take months or even years before you can reach it.

Often traumas from childhood are stored in our body or even cells, and those unconscious traumas, can be triggered at any time in the life of the adults. Quite often with a body injury or illness. Craniosacral therapy allows the body system to feel safe enough to show the trauma, big or small, at the time that the person is ready to deal with, usually when they feel safe enough to share or deal with whatever emotion is attached to that trauma. With mindfulness meditation and heart meditation, the person has a tool to be able to connect with their heart and deal with whatever comes up in a loving space. My work is to connect to my heart and the person heart to reach a stillness where anything is possible, and any healing is allowed to happen in a loving experience. Craniosacral therapy, does not force any trauma out without the person being ready. That is the magical part of this wonderful therapy.

Craniosacral therapy is the only one that will help the nervous system to feel calm, relaxed and safe enough to be able to reach that stress trigger and allow the person to deal with it in a more gentle and compassionate way.

Sometimes the trigger of stress is just that, too many things to deal with and no enough time to deal with them apart from night time, when all is quite and the body does nothing. This means that the stress mode or emotions and feeling can be address, even though the person wants to sleep, they do not manage to sleep well and hence is a catch 22. They feel tired during the day, irritated, get busy and drink coffee, teas, or even worse Bull, which is an equivalent of 4 coffees in a can.

Craniosacral therapy, allows the brain to calm down enough and allow the person to deal with whatever situation they are conflicting with or need to deal with during the day, rather than night time, allowing the person to start having more sleep and be more productive in a day time. For me craniosacral therapy is a bit of magical touch, where the person can enter a state of deep relaxion, without too much effort and getting in touch with their inner wisdom and higher self!

© Maria Esposito BSc (Hons) R-Nutritional Therapists – NAET – R-Craniosacral therapist – PCI NLP Coaching programme – Certified Angel Guide – Mindfulness Meditation teacher – HeartMath meditation -Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP) – Trauma certification (PESI) – MBant – M-CSTA – CHNC registered

A proven naturally way to Lowering your cholesterol and tri-glycerides

Featured by Craniosacral Therapy/Paediatric craniosacral therapy/Nutrition/NAET/ NLP Health Coach/Mindfulness meditation, posted in Blog

I am so thankful that after three years I can still pass my Christmas in Italy with my family. Lots of things have changed, people do different things, some with family and others by themselves travelling a bit more. There is still a lot more fears attached to Covid than in other places, and any new news about it becomes an extra worry. In pharmacies people still wear a mask and you feel like the odd out if you don’t. There was a new strain of flu going around and young and older people felt worse than ever with it. This is due to the immune system not being challenged for 3 years. My parents, even in their old age are always worried about lack of food, so they buy more than they will ever eat in one week, and they love to plant seasonal vegetables, even in big pots. When they were given big pots as a gift, they were so happy that they can manage to plant their seasonal vegetables without much effort, as the planting them on the land would be too much for them.

Green and red salad

They try their best not to take extra medication that they can avoid, even though they might take some that are essential. Both my parents were tested high for cholesterol last year, and of course, they were given by their GP the usual medication to lower it. They both did not react well with it, and I mentioned to try to see if with Benecol, as I knew that it would work, would go down enough for the doctors to be ok with it. I also suggested to take fish oil in capsules for both of them, for two reasons, one for the brain, and the other to reduce tri-glycerides, which again they both had a bit high. They have been taking it since the summer, and I asked if their cholesterol was low. They said they were so happy with it, as the cholesterol got down so much, as well as the tri-glycerides, with the fish oil. To be fair the doctor in Italy did suggest the fish oil for that too, which is good. They have not told the doctor about the Benecol though and the reason for being lower. My mum had a heart operation 6 years ago so she had to have a lower cholesterol.

The main ingredients that is beneficial to reduce cholesterol in Benecol is plant sterol ester, and I would not agree with all the ingredients in Benecol, but for people, like my parents that would rather have a food that keep taking pills, this is the 2nd best option.

Freshly squeezed orange juice

The best one is to take plant sterol and phytosterol in capsule as well as combining the dietary changes. My parents do eat their own seasonal vegetables, and fennel, endive and salads, as well as broccoli, chicory, and broccoletti (found in Italy but not England), are part of their stable diet, as well as beans, lentils and fruits. Green leafy vegetables, sage, nuts contain plant sterols as well as the food above.

We were so fortunate to have my mum make us freshly squeezed orange juice every morning, that is because a couple of kilos of oranges would cost two Euros, compared to 2 pounds for a pack of 5 oranges here. They would also eat good nuts such as pecans and walnuts as snacks, which would help with having higher good fats as well. At their age, they eat less meat and hard cheese, due to my insistence, less frying and more oven baked food, as well as using only olive oil if any food needs to be cooked. Using their own olive oil from their own olive tree only raw with salads and food.

© Fennel

 If you do have high cholesterol and high tri-glycerides, you need to consider the entire life style change as well, to make the most of it and get things sorted out for good, and that would include walking 30 minutes, twice a day, to keep your circulation going and keep your heart pumping well.

Some of the plant sterols in supplements might cost as much as the Benecol, so maybe worth getting that instead and you get more for them, like a monthly supply. Fish oil with high EPA and DHA, again get a good brand as that would still be worth it, and even if you eat fish, you might not get enough from a couple of times that you eat it a week. At least you can get the plant sterols and fish oil till your tests come back normal and then keep going with the dietary changes and walking to keep it stable, and maybe just get the Benecol every now and then to keep it down.

© Maria Esposito BSc (Hons) R-Nutritional Therapist – NAET for allergies – R-Craniosacral Therapist – NLP – Angel Guide Certified – Mindfulness Meditation teacher- Resilient heart (heart-Math