Stories | Body Brain

RMTi STORIES

Meltdowns

I have known 11-year-old P to have meltdowns since she was very little. This could be triggered by anything, and no amount of reasoning or consoling will help to calm her down.

Now, in primary school, it manifests as not being able to cope with overwhelm.

I asked P what her challenges are, and what she wants to improve on.

1. Focus & finish tasks. (Re: homework)

2. Be clear about what she wants to do. (She says she has interruptive thoughts that pop into her head.)

I did one session with her at the end of December, and didn’t see her until a month later in January.

• She happily reported: I didn’t meltdown!

• Me: What do you mean?

(P was on MC from school for a couple of days the week before, and school work had piled up.)

• P: Normally, I would get all anxious… and the feeling will build up, and get bigger & bigger & bigger. I would go home (from school) & not be able to do anything. By the end of the day, nothing is done… And I will meltdown.

• Me: What was different this time?

• P: This time, I could tell myself to go home & eat lunch first. Then, do however much I can do. Then, go for class (tuition or dance class). Then, come back & do some more. I didn’t meltdown.

P also improved on the two other things she struggled with - focus & clarity. She can sit down and finish a piece of homework without drifting off. She is also clearer with what she likes/wants to do, and no longer have competing & disruptive thoughts.

Making Choices

Let me tell you the story of a little girl J who couldn’t make choices…

Some years back, when J was 8 years old, we went to a Halloween event at the River Safari… There were staff stationed along the way… giving out freebies to kids when approached.

One of the staff was giving out neon light sticks & bangles. She asked J to choose a colour, but J just “couldn’t”. I could see her “stuck” in the moment. Something as natural as “what colour I like” doesn’t come naturally to her. In the end, feeling pressured to pick one, she took a green one without thinking.

I was a little surprised. Cos green wasn’t a colour she normally gravitated to.

Later, she negotiated/forced to change it (for a pink one) with her younger sister who didn’t know any better.

J is now 12.

And I have been working with her using the Rhythmic Movement Training (RMT) protocol that helps to open her neural pathways.

On the 4th session (before we even started), J came up to me excitedly exclaiming: “Guess what?? I can now make decisions!”

• Me: What do you mean?

• J: If you ask me if I like this or that, I can now tell you. I couldn’t before.

Ease of Movement

When I first started learning the Rhythmic Movement Training (RMT) protocol, my first practice person was a 65-year-old friend of mine, K.

I asked him how he would like to improve his life… and he said: “I want to look younger!”

• Me: I can’t make you look younger… but I can help you feel younger!

• K: Ok!

K lives a very active life - windsurfing, golfing, etc. And he wants to be able to enjoy it to the fullest.

He had a tightness in his lower back that limited his reach when he bends over to touch his toes.

After doing some gentle rocking movements with him, he bend over reach increased by two inches!

What I didn’t know at that point in time is that he had Spondylolisthesis - a spinal condition that occurs when one of the vertebrae slips out of place onto the vertebra below it.

Said K: "I had to take anti-inflammatory and pain meds during the acute phase but after improvement, there was still some degree of stiffness and limited mobility.

Your exercises helped to soften the spasm that caused the stiffness and improve my range of motion. Less spasm means less pain also.”

Insomnia

Sleep, or the lack of, seems to be a growing problem these days…

I have a good friend S who had a bad case of insomnia. After hearing me share about the various benefits of Rhythmic Movement Training (RMT), she asked if RMT can help her sleep better.

In practice sessions with the 65-year-old friend of mine, he would fall asleep after I do isometric pressure exercises with him.

Rhythmic movements also help to regulate the nervous system.

So I figured, why not try?

After the first session, her sleep quality improved. (Her sleep tracker charted a steady improvement.) The duration of sleep also improved!

Two days later I get a text from S:

“My colleague claims that I have a glow these 2 days. Not sure if it's my hair cut. But I do feel calmer and happier today even though I thought I'll be upset and depressed after something that happened last night.”

Posture

Remember my friend S who had an insomnia problem?

One thing I like about RMT is that the benefits spillover to other areas of your life.

Even as rhythmic movements can help to regulate the nervous system, it can also help one cope with overwhelm (which can be a contributing factor to insomnia).

It can also help release long term muscle tension & postural habits.

In the case of S, I noticed that her right upper back is more raised than her left upper back. (This was probably during our 7th session; I see S every fortnight.)

I took a photo just to show her, not expecting a dramatic before/after result.

After doing some isometric exercises with her, the muscle tension relaxed… and that raised part of her back flattened!

We were both amazed.

While RMT may appear to have a "magical" effect within a short period of time...

REMEMBER:

RMTi is not a quick fix programme.

Building neural pathways take time!