Finding balance involves body, mind, emotions and spirit
An interview with Ellen Brakel, founder Self Care Journeys, written by Wendy Vineyard

“It’s not just about the body,” says Ellen Brakel, founder of Self Care Journeys, and an expert in the healing, creative and movement arts. “It’s about creating balance in mind, emotions and spirit too.” 

There are many ways to find balance in your personal journey towards wellness. The best is through finding a holistic practitioner who will address your health needs as an individual and help you take charge of your health. “Everyone needs something different,” says Ellen. “A good practitioner helps empower her clients to be responsible for their own well-being and to find balance for themselves.”  

That might mean teaching clients skills and techniques in a group setting or suggesting easy exercises and daily routines they can do at home.  

Looking for ways to make life simpler and easier is an important first step in finding practical self care ideas that can be done to achieve balance every day.  

”These are many ways to learn how to live more easily in your own body,” says Brakel who has worked for 10 years as a registered massage therapist and added other healing modalities through the years to better help her clients in all aspects of their lives. She suggests taking five minutes each day to breathe deeply through your nose, inhaling and exhaling to a count of four, taking an Epsom salts bath, or journaling every morning to ‘clear the clutter’ so you can enjoy the rest of the day. 

Ellen has seen in her practice that many people hold their stress in their back and neck – a sure sign that someone is spending too much time thinking and not enough time feeling.  

If you’re one of those ‘thinkers’ who has back and neck pain, try taking your focus away from your shoulders down to your feet, or breathe into your belly. Another way to get rid of the tension is to practice a contract and relax exercise – shrug your shoulders up to your ears, hold, then relax so you can notice the difference between tension and relaxation. “Sometimes you need to take the body to the opposite extreme to find balance,” says Ellen. 

“Many people are unaware that they clench their jaw. This can cause headaches and back and neck pain. But if you consciously relax that area every time you notice you’re clenching your jaw, your body will soon get the message that this isn’t an acceptable way for expressing stress.” 

To get in touch with what is going on inside your body start paying attention to the subtle signals you’re getting from specific areas. Check in with how you’re feeling every day – scan your body from head to toes and really feel what’s going on there. Are there areas of tightness, heat, cold, tingling or pain? Consider what’s going on in your life that could be causing these sensations. If you’re ready to pay attention to those signals from inside your body, what changes are you willing to make?  

Having a massage is a relaxing, stress-busting way of being inside your body and finding balance between body, mind and spirit. As a holistic practitioner, Ellen uses elements from several modalities to enhance her massages and provide the individual support her clients need. She looks beyond the signs and symptoms of dis-ease to treat the cause.  

“A holistic practitioner needs to look for the source of pain and tension in order to help the body to heal,” she says. “By working on a misaligned spine, secondary effects such as back and overall body tension will disperse and the body’s self healing mechanism will be switched on. Sometimes the body needs to be reminded how to be in balance.” 

Using craniosacral therapy techniques when she gives a massage, Ellen gently guides the body into a state of self-healing. She does this by helping to synchronize the body's own natural rhythms with gentle pressure techniques. These movements retrain the nervous system to be more relaxed and open when responding to a situation instead of going into overwhelm when under stress. “With a bit of guidance the body finds its own way to a state of balance” says Ellen. ”That’s how the balancing effects of body massage with cranial sacral therapy can last for weeks before a person may need a ‘tune up’ with another treatment. 

Ellen has confidence in craniosacral therapy for its ability to effectively treat chronic pain and provide long lasting relief, or correct many dysfunctions. “A lifetime of injuries, illness, trauma and emotional pain can be stored in the body if they’re not treated properly at the time of injury,” she explains. “These ‘old’ injuries can be contributing factors to the chronic pain and stress that eventually drives a client to find relief through a massage or other treatment.” 

Exploring her own creativity through journaling, and dance, martial arts and yoga that are part of the Nia Technique, and helping others do the same through courses and workshops is immensely satisfying for Ellen. “Making time each day for creative expression is a great way to renew the spirit and experience joy,” she says. “Expressing my creativity helps me feel balanced so I can give more to my family and every other aspect of my life.

Ellen Brakel is a registered massage and craniosacral therapist, certified Nia instructor, Reiki practitioner, and The Artist’s Way coach. Ellen is in private practice and is available for treatments on Tuesday afternoons, Thursdays and Saturdays. She facilitates classes and workshops to help people move towards a healthier, more joyful and creative life. For an appointment, information about Nia classes or Ellen’s upcoming 12-week program to explore creativity based on the popular book The Artist’s Way, call Ellen at 905-469-8356. Check out Ellen’s new website selfcareJourneys.com in mid-February for more self care ideas and upcoming classes.