Mind Body Therapies Edmonton
At Red Leaf Wellness, our mind body therapies work with your body’s natural energy systems to restore balance, release tension, and support deep healing. These modalities are rooted in Traditional Chinese Medicine and energy healing principles, sharing a foundation with acupuncture in their understanding of Qi, meridians, and the body’s innate capacity to heal.
What Are Mind Body Therapies?
Mind body therapies are modalities that address the connection between your physical body and its energy systems. They work by stimulating and correcting impaired energy centers and pathways throughout the body. This is the same vital energy (Qi) that acupuncture works with, flowing through meridians that keep us alive and well. When blockages and disruptions occur, they affect our health, and mind body therapies are powerful allies in restoring that flow.
Related modalities in this family include acupuncture, Reiki, Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy (BCST), Qi Gong, Tai Chi, and Biodynamic Energetic Therapy (BET). Of these, acupuncture is the only modality that uses tools such as needles to stimulate energy points. Our acupuncture services are available separately through our Acupuncture Services program.
Our Mind Body Therapy Services
Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy (BCST)
Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy is a fully clothed therapy that includes gentle, skilled, and attuned touch. It helps to ease the central nervous system, release chronic tension, support the body’s natural healing and self-repair processes, and improve overall health and well-being.
The energy and fluids that flow through our bodies have their own rhythm, which the therapist can sense and use to locate blockages. There is no forcing or correcting, only gentle guidance as our therapist encourages your body’s intelligence to work on its own and do what is best for your overall well-being.
Through this gentle touch, you will be guided to explore what you are feeling, amplify the awareness of your body, and bring to light any unconscious and habitual tensions you may be holding on to. When your brain becomes conscious of them, you can then begin to create change through healing and restoring vitality, connection, and balance in your body.
Biodynamic Energetic Therapy (BET)
Biodynamic Energetic Therapy (BET) is a clothed, non-physical, and dynamic energy practice. The therapist stimulates the energy and body systems in need of balancing and assists your body by cycling the Qi, blood, and other fluids. This helps to correct any deficiencies and symptoms created by blockages and stagnation.
Think about your circulatory, respiratory, and neurological systems. Any blockages or stagnation here can present in an array of symptoms such as pain, shortness of breath, migraines, and numbness. It took time for your symptoms to present, so it takes time to reverse. This restorative process can take several hours of rebalancing to correct the impaired systems in question.
BET sessions can be done in person, on their own, or in combination with a massage treatment (which allows access to direct billing and insurance reimbursement). Sessions can also be performed remotely through an online appointment, wherever you are.
While we do offer BET treatments in combination with Massage Therapy, they are more effective when performed on their own. This allows the practitioner to focus on one form of therapy at a time, and the longer the treatment, the more effective the outcomes.
Understanding Qi and Energy Imbalances
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, when the body is under stress, its meridian system becomes imbalanced. Many factors cause stress, including physical injury, psychological tension, biochemical problems, and environmental factors such as excess cold, dampness, wind, dryness, or heat.
Under duress, blood, Qi, and fluid cannot flow normally, which usually leads to congestion (excess or blockage) or depletion (deficiency or weakness). Common Qi conditions include:
- Deficient Qi: Not enough Qi to perform the necessary functions
- Stagnated Qi: The Qi flow is impaired, which can cause pain, sluggishness, or stiffness
- Rebellious Qi: The Qi flows in the wrong direction
- Blood stagnation: The blood is not flowing normally because of an obstruction
- Fluid stagnation: If yang energy cannot transport fluids, they can accumulate to cause dampness such as edema or phlegm
These imbalances can be found throughout the meridians even before they manifest physically. Our mind body therapists work to restore balance in the steady flow of energy and between the two complementary halves of Qi (Yin and Yang).
When to Consider Mind Body Therapy
- Chronic pain or tension that has not responded to conventional treatment
- Stress, anxiety, or emotional overwhelm
- Recovery from injury or surgery
- Sleep difficulties
- Feeling disconnected from your body
- Supporting overall wellness alongside acupuncture, naturopathic medicine, or other treatments
How Mind Body Therapies Work With Your Other Care
Our mind body practitioners collaborate with the acupuncturists, naturopathic doctors, massage therapists, and nurse practitioners at Red Leaf Wellness. This means your energy work can be coordinated with your broader treatment plan for deeper, longer-lasting results.
