Kinesiology: Health & Wellness For Your Mind, Body, Spirit.

Kinesiology: Health & Wellness For Your Mind, Body, Spirit. Leona Taiaroa-Massey & Samia Bano

Looking for a #holistic, natural, #funandeasy approach to #healthandwellness?

Listen now to this interview with Leona Taiaroa-Massey, #Kinesiologist & #PersonalTrainer. We explore:

-- why #chronicpain, like shoulder or back pain, often persists despite years of seeing chiropractors or physiotherapists

-- how #kinesiology looks at the underlying #rootcause of pain and other health and wellness issues

-- how kinesiology helps #preventinjury, #SupportHealing, and #RestoreBalance in #mindbodyspirit

-- how kinesiology creates a #safespace for healing and why your body won't heal if you don't feel safe

-- and so much more!

NOTE: Kinesiology is grounded in #traditionalchinesemedicine techniques​ and is performed by a highly skilled practitioner being a multi-functional modality.

Learn more and connect with Leona at: https://www.kinwithleona.com.au/contact-us

To Book your Free HAPPINESS 101 EXPLORATION CALL with Samia, click: https://my.timetrade.com/book/JX9XJ

#TraumaRecoveryJourney #HolisticWellness #ListenToYourBody #EmotionalHealing #TraumaInformedCare #HolisticHealing #SafeSpaceMatters #MindBodyWisdom #BodyWisdom #HealingJourney #TraumaInformed #HolisticHealth #mindbodyconnection #bodymindspirit #bodymindconnection #mindbodyspirithealth #mindbodyfitness #MindBodyTransformation #RootCauseMedicine #kinesiologyworks #kinesiologyaustralia #KinesiologyHealing

Here's the audio version of this episode:

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Full Video Transcript

SAMIA:  Hello, Salaam, Shalom, Namaste, Sat Sri Akal, Aloha, Holah, Ciao, Bonjour, Buna, Privet, Mabuhay, and Dzień Dobry! I'm so happy to be with you again, and I know you'll be so happy you've joined us today, because we have a very cool guest with us today, and it's Leona Taiaroa-Massey, who is Kinesiologist and Personal Trainer, and I'm so happy and excited that you're with us, Leona. Welcome, welcome, welcome…

LEONA: Thank you. It's good to be here.

SAMIA: Yes. And please tell us more about who you are and what you do.

LEONA: Okay. So I initially started out as a personal trainer who wanted to help people with their fitness and health. And then one of my mentors does sports kinesiology. So that's how I got introduced to kinesiology. And I love the way he trained his clients. So he was doing injury prevention to stop his clients from getting injured, because, you know, people, when they train, things start to happen and they might get injured. So his whole model, I guess, was all about keeping his clients safe and addressing both sides of it. So that's how I got introduced to kinesiology. And then so I started to study it. So he's doing. He's also a personal trainer who does sports kinesiology, and I got introduced to it that way, and then I decided to study it. So I wanted to help people on a psychological and emotional level as well, because, as we know, with personal training, it's physically demanding sometimes, but we don't always address the other side of it. So how are they coping emotionally and psychologically with the actual exercise? You know, there's always a neurological component to it when you're exercising. So we're addressing the body as a whole.

SAMIA: Yeah.

LEONA: You know, body, mind, spirit.

SAMIA: Yes, I love that. And, you know, interestingly, when I first was introduced to the idea of kinesiology, I must admit I did not look into it very deeply. It was basically, I was in college, and we actually had the opportunity to you like, in one of the degrees that was our courses that was offered on campus was in kinesiology. But the basic way that I got exposed to it was I was taking a yoga class through the kinesiology department. And one thing that I noticed that was a bit different about that yoga class versus when I took yoga in other spaces was that they had an emphasis on helping us understand our body better, like how our body functions, our different connecting the different forms and postures that we would take. So not just only being like, okay, this is how you do the posture and but this is, but also like helping us understand like what muscles we are using.

LEONA: Yes.

SAMIA: Are the proper ways of alignment and how, you know, those different parts of our ourselves connect and just helping us get a better understanding of, you know, like when you're not in alignment, when you don't execute on a posture properly, like it's actually a big deal. It can be a big deal. Impact that it has on your health and well being and yeah, it helped me have a deeper understanding. But by and large it was still very physically oriented. And so I did not realize that with kinesiology, you know, there's this other aspect to it that focuses on helping you understand more of the mind, body and even in incorporating like your spirit connection.

LEONA: Yes.

SAMIA: And working all of that together. So that's really beautiful.

LEONA: Yes. You've definitely hit the nail on the head there with their connection to the body and the mind and understanding how your body works. You know how like I'll just give you a quick example. When you get nervous, people say, "Oh, I got butterflies in my stomach." That's perfect example of the body mind connection how because you're nervous, it's affecting your stomach type of thing. And it's the same with a lot of things. They do affect our stomach. I think that's the one that most people could probably relate to. Yeah.

SAMIA: Yes. You know, like, as I have been becoming more and more aware of how my body affects my mind because me, like, I used to really ignore my body a lot.

LEONA: Yeah.

SAMIA: I mean, I. There was no way I could escape my mind. Like, I couldn't escape my thoughts, I couldn't escape my emotions. So when I first started to try and help myself, that was my point of focus. I was like, okay, I need to figure out how to calm my mind and calm my thoughts. But as much as possible, I would ignore my body because like, for me, my body was a source of trauma. Like, I'm a survivor of child sexual abuse. And so I never felt safe in my body. And I was like, oh, it's because of my body that I got hurt. And so all I wanted to do was just be able to hide my body. And if you ignored me in terms of don't even look at me, then I was so happy. But you know, as you heal and you are growing, you know, you, you begin to be like, okay, okay, all right. My body, I have to start paying attention to you.

LEONA: Correct. And that's the other thing. Our bodies telling us things all the time, whether we listen to it or not, is another thing. Like, we're always getting warning signs. You know, before you get sick, you get a sore throat, and it's telling you to slow down, you're doing too much, your body's getting overworked, you know, but most of the time, we don't listen. We just keep going. I'm a perfect example of that. I mean, you know, because I love training. I would do the same thing, you know, I'll just keep go. Keep going to the gym, keep training. And I'm not well, you know, and then before I know it, I've just crashed and burned and I'm like, okay. My body was trying to tell me to slow down, and I didn't listen, you know…

SAMIA: Yeah.

LEONA: It's that awareness. It's the awareness of it.

SAMIA: Yes. Oh, yeah. I mean, you're... There's the awareness and. And appreciating that. It's trying to help you. Like, even when you know you're getting sick, it's actually your body trying to help you.

LEONA: That's right.

SAMIA: You know, it's like, it's trying.

LEONA: Yeah.

SAMIA: The point of you being sick is not to be sick. The point is that there's something wrong and your body is actually trying to fix it and heal it and help you be better.

LEONA: 100%. But we don't listen. We don't listen most of the time.

SAMIA: Yeah.

LEONA: And we kind of see it as well. In my case, like, I see it as it's slowing me down.

SAMIA: Yeah.

LEONA: Because that's what it's trying to do.

SAMIA: Yes. Yes.

LEONA: But we see it as the negative…

SAMIA: Yes. Because the slowing down is important for the healing to take place. That's why it's trying to slow you down. But we're like, no, I'm going to block your efforts to slow me down. Because I see slowing down as a problem.

LEONA: Yeah. Yeah. It's actually the opposite.

SAMIA: Yeah.

LEONA: And that's the other thing. Like, it's understanding your body, like you said. Okay. You're getting warning signs. The awareness around it. Why is this happening? Stop. Question it. Like, hang on a minute. I can't ignore these things. I really need to address them.

SAMIA: Yeah.

LEONA: You know, do I need more sleep? Do I need to up my vitamins? Do I need more water? Just tiny little things that we need to be aware of and incorporate.

SAMIA: Yes. Oh, when you mentioned water, that was a huge learning for me because I used to have a big problem with headaches. There were, like, times when I would have what I called a normal Headache. And then there were times I got, like, severe migraines.

LEONA: Yes.

SAMIA: For a long time, I didn't really necessarily distinguish in terms of, like, I knew when I had the migraines I was in way worse pain. But like, for me, it was like, ah, headache, it's a headache, it's a headache... And I didn't distinguish. But, like, turned out a lot of the normal headaches that I got used to get a lot it was just because of dehydration. And so once taking more care in terms of being more hydrated, the normal headaches reduced. And then now, thank God, even my migraines are pretty much. It's so rare for now for me to get even a migraine. And turns out those were more, like, related to my trauma. They did stress and anxiety and so forth. And so as I have healed more and more deeply the trauma, the migraines have also, like…

LEONA: ..slowly dispersed.

SAMIA: Yeah.

LEONA: That's amazing. And that's exactly it. With the trauma a lot of people are suppressing it because they don't want to deal with it, which is fine. But that's where we step in. We create that safe space for people to address. You know, sometimes we don't always, we facilitate the session, but if they don't want to go there, that's also fine.

SAMIA: Yeah.

LEONA: But every time they get more and more comfortable with opening up, then we start to unpack the layers. Right. But we don't like to force things on people, you know, if they're not ready, they're not ready.

SAMIA: Yeah.

LEONA: And that's just how we run the session. We always let them know if they're starting to feel unsafe. They don't. They might think they can go there, like, go back to what actually happened, but it might get to a certain point where they start to feel like, oh, no, I can't do this. And we just say, okay, we'll just stop there for now, for today, you know, and then move on to something else.

SAMIA: Right.

LEONA: Yeah. So that's what kinesiology is all about. Just addressing those concerns. I mean, we look at a whole lot of things. It could be structural, like somebody comes here with a back pain. We look at the neurological component to it. You know, it could be a nutritional deficiency that they have, or like you said, dehydration, not enough water, just something as simple as that.

SAMIA: Yeah.

LEONA: Could be triggering the migraines, headaches every day. You know, like you said, there's many layers.

SAMIA: Yeah.

LEONA: So our job is to try and figure out which avenue to go down and then address it.

SAMIA: Yeah.

LEONA: And facilitate that for them.

SAMIA: That is really, really good. Yeah. Because, you know, our system, we have so many systems that make us up. And if you just focus on one part, then, you know, and... But the other parts are still out of balance. You can still find yourself struggling and be like, "Hey, why is this thing that I am trying and, you know, using to try and help me supposed to help me? Why isn't it helping me?" And maybe it's helping a little bit, but not going far enough. And oftentimes that's the thing is that everything's interconnected. Everything's interdependent. And so it's like, yeah, you're doing something right. But there's still something else missing. And so, like, how do you figure out what's missing?

LEONA: That's exactly it. And people don't know what they don't know.

SAMIA: Yeah.

LEONA: Like they might have seen. I'll use the back pain, sort of neck pain, shoulder pain as an example, because a lot of people, like, in my experience as a personal trainer people, the most common injury is a shoulder pain or knee pain. So because our shoulders are overworked all the time, people always have one or the other, like and then their wrists fall into place. Neck pain, back pain. So if they've been seeing a chiropractor or an osteopath or who else? Physiotherapists. And they've been seeing them for years, you know, they make them feel good for a little while, and then pain comes back. That's telling you there's something else going on there.

SAMIA: Right.

LEONA: And you need to address the other side of it. Like, that's where kinesiologists step in. So we. We sort of. We help them with the other side of it.

SAMIA: Right.

LEONA: So we can work in with other therapists that they may not be addressing those areas. And that's the other thing. I really want to get the awareness out there of what a kinesiologist does, because a lot of people still don't understand what we do, and they don't even know what it is. So it's bringing that awareness out there. This is how we help people. And if you've had pain for years and it's still not going away, why not try a kinesiologist and see if they can help you?

SAMIA: Yes. Because it's the magic lies and the holistic approach that you just. Yeah. Which includes counseling. I didn't realize…

LEONA: That's the other thing I forgot to mention. Yeah, correct.

SAMIA: Yeah.

LEONA: So kinesiologists are also trained in other side. Sorry to butt in. We're also trained in highly skilled in counseling. And it's a really important aspect because you need to understand what the client has been through to be able to help them.

SAMIA: Yeah, yeah. No, no, it was. I was just going to say that it wasn't until I met you, Leona, that I realized that counseling is a component or can be a component of kinesiology, which is, you know, like, so helpful. And when you said, okay, you know, when we are having a session, and if you know, of course you're facilitating it, but you never force a client something. I mean, that tells me the wisdom of your approach. And any good counselor will have that aspect to how they work with you, because it's like to be forced into anything, it's horrible. It immediately, you know, like, makes you feel unsafe. Then, of course, your defenses want to come up and you can't relax.

LEONA: Yeah, yeah.

SAMIA: And if you can't relax, if you don't feel safe, you're feeling all defensive, how are you supposed to heal?

LEONA: That's exactly it. And that's the other thing. If the nervous system's not feeling safe, it's not going to get better.

SAMIA: Yeah.

LEONA: It's that safety aspect that's holding on to that stress and tension. And I've seen... There's another kinesiologist I know of that he addresses that specifically focuses on the nervous system because he's had clients that have come to him with knee pain, back pain, and all these things, and or they've been seeing a psychotherapist, for instance, but the psychotherapist wasn't able to get them out of that freeze mode where they couldn't open up. So he was able to unpack that because the nervous system wasn't safe.

SAMIA: Yeah.

LEONA: Yeah.

SAMIA: Safety as such a huge, huge issue. I mean, a lot of times, you know, like, when I'm digging with my clients into, okay, what are the root causes here that we're needing to address, a lot of times, you know, there's, like, fear. There's so much fear. And actually, the other side of the fear. I mean, the fear is what you're aware of and that you're feeling, but really, what's the fear about? It's about wanting safety. Needing safety.

LEONA: Yeah.

SAMIA: You know.

LEONA: And unfortunately, fear holds a lot of people back in life in general. Yeah.

SAMIA: I was just actually, a few days ago, I was going through an exercise. It was more of, like, a spiritual exercise, and I was tapping into some past memories with one of my teachers and mentors. And I remembered a point in my life when I was like so afraid. Like, you know, I was still in that trauma, traumatized stage of my life and there was just so much fear and the realization, you know, one of the thoughts that I had in that session, it actually made me think about there's this line in one of the Harry Potter books when it's actually happened. The first book or the second book, I can't remember which book it was. But basically, you know, Voldemort is the big villain, right. He's been, he's not back in his body yet. And one of the ways that he is surviving in spirit form or he attempts to survive in spirit form is he kills unicorn. Because if you drink unicorn blood, even if you are on the edge of death, it'll keep you alive, you know.

LEONA: Right.

SAMIA: And so Voldemort kills a unicorn to drink and drinks the unicorn blood to give himself, you know, that ability to cling on life, cling to life. But the thing about staying alive in that way is, you know, I can't remember who said it, is that if you, because you've killed something so pure, so innocent, even though you stay alive, it's better half life and it's a cursed life.

LEONA: Right.

SAMIA: And you know, that idea of living just a half life, a cursed life, I was like, oh, you know, that is what I was living when I was living in my fear and letting fear control my life. I was living that kind of half life and cursed life. Ah, it's just so horrible to be in that mindset.

LEONA: Yes, that's right. And unfortunately a lot of people are doing that now.

SAMIA: Yeah.

LEONA: And the other thing is, I think people don't know, like, they don't know, they know they need help, they just don't know where to get it from.

SAMIA: Yeah.

LEONA: Who do I see? Who do I talk to? You can talk to family, but you're always going to get a biased opinion. Whereas like with counsellors and kinesiologists, we have an unbiased approach, you know, it's safe to talk to us about whatever it is you want to talk about. And there's no judgment, there's no biasness, you know, we are just there holding space for whatever it is you need to discuss or talk about or. Yeah, work through.

SAMIA: Yeah, yeah, I mean, you know, I think the non judgment part is what I find really, really valuable because, you know, I mean, if you are like you're a professional, you have a certain, you have learned what you have learned. So you have certain frameworks in your mind in terms of, you know, that have influenced you in your understanding in terms of how to understand what, what's wrong, how to help someone, etc. So in that context, you know, there is a certain amount of bias that you may have, but the fact that you know, you can nonetheless practice non judgment.

LEONA: Yes.

SAMIA: Which you absolutely can. That is so important because I think with family, sometimes that's the hardest thing. Family and friends.

LEONA: Yes.

SAMIA: Is that, you know, because they know you and that's a relationship with you right. And so it's sort of like when we are, when I like, I do this, I'm generally a great coach, but I cannot coach my sister.

LEONA: That's exactly what I'm talking about.

SAMIA: I cannot do it. It's like so hard for me to maintain that non judgment. Because I know her and I, and I also like, you know, know her patterns and I know. And sometimes I'm just like, come on, sister, shake yourself out of it.

LEONA: Yes. Yeah.

SAMIA: I would never do that with a client, you know.

LEONA: Yes, that's right. That's... Yeah, you've hit the nail on the head again with that. It's, yeah. Not having any pretty conceived ideas about.

SAMIA: And just dynamics, you know, that you have years and years worth of certain relational dynamics and it's like, I mean, not that it's impossible to.

LEONA: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SAMIA: But it can be hard.

LEONA: It can be hard, especially when you're so close to the person. And that brings me to the other aspect of it is certain cultures, it's frowned upon. Like you said with. Oh, no, no, you didn't say this. But when I've had a client who has a certain family traditions, you're stuck in a relationship and it's just frowned upon if they get a divorce. So she couldn't really talk to her friends.

SAMIA: Yeah, yeah.

LEONA: She couldn't talk to her friends about it. The whole community. She said even if she talks to her closest friend, it will get out somehow. Obviously couldn't talk to her family member about it because it's just the. No, no, no. You can't divorce your husband. You're not happy. You just have to work through it. This is just how it is.

SAMIA: Yeah.

LEONA: So that's where we're good. Because they can come and talk to us, feel safe, know that it's not going to get out. And, and try to get more clarity on their situation and make up their own mind.

SAMIA: Right.

LEONA: You know, and not have all these influences over them. You know, what's what at the end of the day, they need to make the right decision for themselves. Not what the family says, not what the friends say. It's what they want, how they're going to feel safe, how they're going to move forward.

SAMIA: Yeah. And it doesn't like, like I can speak to my experience. For me that was huge. Like when, because for many, many years, a good 10 years or so, I didn't tell anyone about having experienced child sexual abuse. I was struggling on my own to deal with everything. And then when finally it got to be too much, I was like, oh God, if I did not get some help, I have to talk to someone. If I don't, I just can't keep, keep, keep at it on my own. I just can't. And so what I had to. Thankfully by that point in time my family had moved to America, I had started college. And on college we had free counseling services available to us as students. And so that was like, I was like, okay. But I had to make sure that things like if I went and spoke to a counselor that things wouldn't get back to my family. I was like so concerned about that because that was one of my biggest fears about what would my family say, what would my family think and feel they believe, would they not etc., etc.... I wasn't ready to tell my family, you know, and so I have to find someone that I could feel safe telling that. No. Safe telling in the specific sense of not only like that they, yes, they would listen to me in a kind way and non judgmental way, but also safe that things won't get back to my family. So I actually went to the psychological center and I asked them questions and I was, and I spoke to, I was like. And I went ready with a whole backup story in my head about what I would say if they started asking me questions about why I was asking them questions.

LEONA: Right? Yes.

SAMIA: So I went in with a plan, but I went in and I was like, okay. I just, I'm just asking theoretically if such and such a thing was to have happened and this person came for help, would the situation be kept confidential? You know, and thankfully the answer was yes. So and part of that was that I was over 18 and part of it for me also was that my abuser was not even in America.

LEONA: Right.

SAMIA: They were out of the, I mean, in a different country. So once I verified that, okay, this will remain confidential Then I was like, okay, guess what? This is not just theoretical. This is actually, like, my situation. And I was able to spin up and continue with the session. But, yeah, that was like, huge, huge, huge…

LEONA: Huge... Yeah, I can imagine. Definitely, resonate with what you're saying, because I know there are people struggling out there with who they can talk to and, you know, feeling safe to be able to tell people. Yeah, really important.

SAMIA: You know, the other thing was that, like... And I see this actually happening with a lot of other clients that I work with and other people are trying to find the right help for them, is times, you know, like, the culture aspect of it.

LEONA: Yes.

SAMIA: Can become a little problematic. So, like, for example, when you go, like, in America, you know, we have a more individualistic culture, whereas, like, I come from India and Pakistan, where we have more collectivistic cultures. Right. And so there's just a very different mindset in terms of, like, over here, if you are having problems in any given relationship, whether it's your partner or your parents or your siblings or your friends, one of the very acceptable solutions is that you cut ties, you remove yourself from that relationship as a way to create healthy and, you know, create healthy boundaries for yourself and stuff. But oftentimes in more collectivistic cultures, like in India and Pakistan, that may not be considered as a acceptable option. Like, for example, context of an abusive spouse even a lot of times, you know, like, for people for whom divorce is a big taboo, they're like, well, if you're going to tell me I have to leave my husband and that's the solution. Well, what you're it's just not going to work for me. It's not going to work.

LEONA: Yeah, yeah.

SAMIA: And so, like, in terms of finding help, like, sometimes, you know you can, like there's some counselors, etc, that you may reach out to where, you know, you may feel like they won't get you, they won't understand, or they may try to push you into solutions that are not right for you, that are not acceptable for you. And sometimes that can happen. But oftentimes also, it's a fear that we have that keeps us from even seeking help and even trying out. But in my experience, the good counselors, they have that approach of you're never going to force you into anything that you're not comfortable, you know, like Leona. And so even that, I personally may have a different perspective or different opinion on what you could do that I would do if I was in your situation. I'm still not going to force you to take on my situations and my ideas. And so that's...

LEONA: That's right.

SAMIA: Like, it's I mean, I just want to encourage people to take that little bit of a risk to just hear.

LEONA: Yes.

SAMIA: The different perspective.

LEONA: Yeah. Definitely, yeah. And it's interesting with counting, I had one client, one girl. She came to me for kinesiology. She didn't know what it was, and she wanted to understand it, but the whole time she just talked, so I just listened. I didn't actually get her on the table to do the session, but I know she even said to me the next couple of days that she felt so much better because as she was talking.

SAMIA: Yeah.

LEONA: She was listening to herself.

SAMIA: Yeah.

LEONA: And she was solving her own problems. And you'll find that when you are a good listener.

SAMIA: Yes.

LEONA: People do solve their own problems...

SAMIA: Yes.

LEONA: Because you're not interrupting and all they're talking. They're talking. And the more they talk, the more they. They're like, hang on a minute. You know, and they're starting to see.

SAMIA: Yeah.

LEONA: The situation and get clarity on it. And all you're doing is listening to them.

SAMIA: Yeah, yeah. I know exactly what happened with me and my first counseling session, too.

LEONA: Yeah.

SAMIA: And actually...

LEONA: ..that's the whole point of the counseling session. That's the whole point of it.

SAMIA: Yeah. I mean, one of them, right. I remember with me, I talked most of the time, and my counselor, she just listened to me. And towards the end, she was like, let me reflect back some of what you say...

LEONA: ..understand it. Yeah.

SAMIA: She was literally repeating back some of what...

LEONA: ..you said.

SAMIA: ..I said, in some she said exactly what I said. In some cases, she slightly paraphrased what I said. But, you know, so, like, the... It was just amazing. Like, I gave my own solutions for a lot of, you know, the problems that I talked to her about. And so just her listening was really helpful. But also the reflecting back was really... Even though she was saying what I had said, hearing it in her voice just had another... It was just another layer of...

LEONA: ..understanding.

SAMIA: So you absorb some thing and you get in and you understand it even. And you it just goes in even deeper.

LEONA: That's right. Because, you know, you were hurt and you're like, that's exactly what I said. She was listening.

SAMIA: Yeah.

LEONA: She actually understood what I was saying. She reflected back.

SAMIA: Feels... It feels so validating also to hear what someone else is in someone else's voice. You're like, that makes sense. That's right.

LEONA: Yes.

SAMIA: Believe what they're saying more because you had the same thought.

LEONA: There you go. That is a good counselor.

SAMIA: Oh, dear. Yeah. Sometimes, you know, our tendency. I mean, I know, like, as friends and family, when we're trying to help each other out, our tendency is we want to give advice. You know, if someone comes to you, they're sharing your problem, sharing their problem with you. You want to immediately jump in your care bear mode. You want to make things better for them. So then you want to give them your best advice and...

LEONA: Yeah.

SAMIA: Them the solution, you know?

LEONA: Yeah. Yeah.

SAMIA: And sometimes that's helpful and sometimes that is needed. Like, sometimes that is part of, you know, getting a different perspective that you're not able to see for yourself. But oftentimes that needs to come second. Not, you know.

LEONA: Yeah, that's right. Yeah, 100%. I definitely think we've covered the counseling side of things, but, yeah, really important for people to know that a kinesiologist is highly skilled in counseling as well. You know, we are trying to facilitate the journey.

SAMIA: Yeah.

LEONA: As best we can.

SAMIA: Tell me about one of your other favorite modalities to use, as when you work with people.

LEONA: In the kinesiology modality. Do you mean like inside of that?

SAMIA: However, like when you... Someone comes to you. Of course, you are a kinesiologist and you're so much more. I know that you have your own unique ways that you have developed also, like, you combine so many different modalities. You have also done, like...

LEONA: Oh, I see what are you saying... Yes.

SAMIA: And all kinds of things. So tell me a little bit more about how you love to help people.

LEONA: Yeah. Like, you know, because I'm so passionate about health and fitness, I want people to be their best selves.

SAMIA: Yeah.

LEONA: I want them to wake up in the morning with energy, feel good throughout the day. You know, just live a abundant, healthy life, you know, not have these aches and pains and tension and stress and, you know, emotional things going on. I mean, we all have these things, but how do we deal with them? You know, how do we manage them? So, I mean, my big thing is understanding, you know, what's holding people back from living their best life, you know. What's underneath? Why don't they like exercising? Why don't they like going out and getting in the fresh air? What's behind that?

SAMIA: Yeah.

LEONA: So it's just understanding, you know, it might have been something that happened to them when they were younger. Let's say, for instance, they were playing in the jungle gym like they were 6-7 years old and they fell off something and then that. It's just had a traumatic, you know, effect on them. And it's not conscious, but it's there. Like, it's in its body's holding on to it. It could be something like that.

SAMIA: Yeah.

LEONA: That, you know, that's affected them later on in life. You know, I don't want to do these things because of what happened to me when I was six and I thought I was over it, but I'm actually. My body's still holding on to it.

SAMIA: Yeah.

LEONA: You know, it's just. It could be anything.

SAMIA: Yeah. Yeah.

LEONA: That's what we do. We try to unpack. What is holding them back?

SAMIA: Yeah.

LEONA: Why do they feel like that? Because we look, we all know exercise makes us feel good. It gets those endorphins going, the happy, the feel good emotions, you know, everybody knows this.

SAMIA: Yeah.

LEONA: You know, after you've done rigorous exercise, you always feel amazing.

SAMIA: Yeah.

LEONA: So why... It doesn't have to be going to the gym and, you know, doing weights and stuff like that for somebody. It could be dancing, it could be, you know, walking, taking hikes. You know, whatever it is that makes you feel good, that's what you should do.

SAMIA: Yes, yeah.

LEONA: And it's just unpacking the things behind that's holding them back.

SAMIA: Yes.

LEONA: Yeah.

SAMIA: Yes, yeah. When it comes to exercise, you know, I think it's important to realize that not every kind of exercise is going to be best for you as an individual. You know, like, yeah, that was something. So, like, for example, for a lot of people, it's like, you think exercise, dominant culture says go to the gym. And when you go to the gym, there's like these prescriptions of this is what you do. But hey, maybe that's not the right thing for you. Like you were saying, maybe instead what's better is you go hiking or you go swimming, you go dance, or you. Or maybe you need to do some tai chi or yoga or, you know, just if you like... I have my mom, for example, and like, so there were so many people who would be like, telling her, walk more, walk more. But she literally, she, like, one of her problems was that she developed some bone spurs in her feet. And the more she would walk, the more her feet would hurt. So walking was a terrible idea.

LEONA: It's not a good option. Yeah.

SAMIA: Yeah, yeah. And like, for me, I had an issue with, and I actually had to be very. I actually loved biking. But When I started getting these hip bursitis flare ups, I had to be like, oh, no, that. But it got worse when I...

LEONA: Right…

SAMIA: So I, the cycling.

LEONA: Yeah.

SAMIA: Go back on the biking and then. Okay, first let's heal the bursitis issue. Why is it coming up in the first place? Why does it keep coming back? And then, you know, you can go back to biking once you feel the issue.

LEONA: Yeah.

SAMIA: So there's that also that there's form of exercise that you love, like biking for me. But in the moment it may not be the best option because, you know, you need to heal something...

LEONA: ...of your situation. Yeah. So how is your hip at the moment? Do you still have that bursitis there or is that...

SAMIA: You know, it's been a few years now since I've had a flare up of the bursitis, so. Okay, it's the problem solved.

LEONA: Yeah. So, you know, from a kinesiology aspect, we hold a lot of emotions in our hips, so if they're suppressed, that can cause issues, but once you deal with them and address them magically, the pain goes away.

SAMIA: Yeah. I've been working so much on myself in terms of healing things that I'm consciously aware of, but also practicing just letting go of what I may be just holding on to subconsciously and consciously. So just go deeper and deeper into the healing practices.

LEONA: Yes.

SAMIA: You know, like I said, now the migraines have become really rare. It's been so many years now since I've had the bursitis flare up and I have had other issues. Like I'm better held now in my 40s than I was in my 20s.

LEONA: Amazing.

SAMIA: I was like in the midst of like, height of my trauma, dealing with my trauma. It was like all... I'd suppressed it in my teens and my early childhood because I just didn't have the capacity to deal with it. So...

LEONA: Yeah. And would you say that was at the height of where all your complications were, like the migraines, the hip bursitis... Was it around that time that you were suppressing everything?

SAMIA: Yeah.

LEONA: Isn't that amazing? It's not amazing, but that's the connection.

SAMIA: Yeah.

LEONA: That we're talking about. This is exactly what kinesiology is all about.

SAMIA: Yeah.

LEONA: This is you've just explained exactly what it's about. It's addressing those parts of it. And now you, you're. You're saying that you haven't had a besides flare up for a while and you don't get as many migraines. And, you know, there's the connection right there.

SAMIA: Exactly. And I had, like, so many issues, you know, like, I was seriously overweight. I had all kinds of hormonal imbalances. Like, I had real like, I had. My thyroid was out of balance. My endocrine hormones were out of balance. I had, like, a whole bunch of different hormonal systems that were out of balance. And, you know, like, I had hair fall. I had the migraines. I had, you know, like, I had dental health issues. You name it. Like, I had...

LEONA: It just goes on and on, doesn't it?

SAMIA: Yes.

LEONA: So many things. There's so many different layers. And then it's like, hang on a minute. You know, you really have to question it. Why am I having all these issues?

SAMIA: And all I wanted to say. Yeah. All I wanted to do was ignore all of these physical problems. I was like, yeah, and they just got worse. It just got worse. It just got worse.

LEONA: Got worse.

SAMIA: Exactly. You can't ignore it. I mean, I was like...

LEONA: You can't ignore it.

SAMIA: Yeah. I was not friends with my body. I did not care my body. But, you know, that. That was part of the problem, that I did not love my body.

LEONA: Yeah.

SAMIA: You know, so…

LEONA: Yeah. I'm so glad you worked through all of that and you're feeling better as well, like. And look at the work that you're doing. It's just amazing.

SAMIA: Yeah. Yeah. It's like an ongoing journey. You know, no matter how much. You go through in terms of healing and improving yourself, there's always room for improvement. And not just of, like, past stuff, but because of even current things that we keep doing.

LEONA: You know, we encounter things every day, I guess. You know, life goes on. Life changes, and we are. We are a work in progress...

SAMIA: Yes.

LEONA: Always.

SAMIA: And it's a good thing. It's a good thing because if we were like perfect already. I don't think what would be the purpose and point of our life anymore.

LEONA: That's... Yes, totally. What would be the point?

SAMIA: Oh, gosh. I think that'd be the time that it's like, okay, I'm ready to be back in heaven. Everything's...

LEONA: Yeah, yeah, yeah, totally. So I hope that sort of gives people more understanding of what kinesiology is and how. How it can help people. And thank you for giving me this opportunity to share, you know, what I do, because I think it's really important for people to have the awareness, know that they can get help who they can see and what that person can do for them, you know, it's just un. Understanding all of that, because somebody out there might. They will totally resonate with what you've been through and is definitely going to help them.

SAMIA: Yeah. And you, too, so much, Leona, for sharing some of your journey and your struggles as well, because it definitely helps to know that, you know, like, for me, when I learned about other people who are struggling, and not just always struggling in the ways that I was struggling, but struggling in other ways, but they overcame their struggles, you know, it planted seeds for me in terms of, like, hey, if they can overcome their challenges, their traumas, whatever issues they're having, maybe I can, too, you know?

LEONA: Yes, that's right. Planting the seed.

SAMIA: Yeah.

LEONA: That's three nails you've had on the head. Planting those seeds. Because it does. It plants a seed, and then later on, it'll trigger, you know, they'll be like, hang on a minute, Samia said this, you know, and they'll remember. So, yeah, it's planting those subconscious seeds that we want to flower and, you know, obviously enable them to get help.

SAMIA: Yeah. And I do I have come to also trust that the seeds will sprout when it's best for us, you know.,

LEONA: When they're ready.

SAMIA: Yes. The fact that, like, for me, a lot of my trauma was suppressed in my year, like, teens and my younger childhood, it wasn't like, of course, it was a problem, in a sense, but the thing was that my body, my mind, my brain, they were doing the very best they could with you, and what we, you know, what we could manage to make sure we could keep going and, you know, like, survive and deal with things. As a child, I just didn't have the capacity to be able to face that depth of trauma, you know, and so when I did have the capacity, that is when my brain was like, okay, we are ready to start surf sending you some of those memories back and surfacing these things that we had suppressed for so many years, because we know, like, I, like my inner self, knew that I had the capacity now to be able to handle what was going to surface, you know?

LEONA: Yeah.

SAMIA: So to trust your. Your body in that way, your mind, your heart, that they are doing their very best to help you and guide you in the right direction. Yeah.

LEONA: It's an amazing thing. Yeah. Yeah.

SAMIA: Thank you so much, Leona. I'm so appreciative of your…

LEONA: You're welcome.

SAMIA: Of your time and your wisdom and your willingness and openness to help people in these amazing, holistic ways. Do you have Any last thoughts you would like to share as we wrap up for today?

LEONA: I guess just o finish up, I would say don't let other people's opinions influence you. If your body will tell you if something's right or not, listen to it. Just listen to your body. Like, if it feels like it needs to reach out for help, do that. If it doesn't feel right, don't do it. Yeah, but at the end of the day, we need to be more in tune with what our body's telling us and just have that awareness around it when certain situations come up. Yeah.

SAMIA: Yeah. That's very, very nice advice. And my last reminder to our audience will be to please make sure you check the show notes, because we will be dropping Leona's links in there so you can connect with her and continue to learn and get the help and support you need whenever you're ready for it. And until we connect, just wish you lots and lots of peace and joy… :)