Karen Himlok: one of the most acclaimed therapist in the world visits SHA

As we told you in this post, over the next few months we will have the honor of receiving highly acclaimed international visiting consultants who have been invited to teach and share their talents and skills of natural therapies.

The first visiting consultant is Karen Himlok from South Africa who will be with us until mid-February. Karen has a Masters degree in Homeopathic medicine, recognised as a naturopath and also has extensive training in Western medicine and Chinese Medicine, so she is able to integrate the knowledge of modern medicine with Natural and energetic Therapies and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).

As Karen explains, “in recent years there is a clear trend: people want more holistic therapies that treat their health problems from a more holistic “all inclusive” perspective, also preferring treatment remedies to be more natural and less invasive, such as phytotherapy, vitamin supplementation, chinese medicine and acupuncture. Indeed, there is increasing need for standard medical insurance to cover these holistic treatments. That is because the concept of health is changing and people no longer want to take action only when they are sick but they also wish to be proactive and take measures to prevent disease by using natural therapies“.

This fits a lot with the concept of health that we enact at SHA. In words of our Chairman and Founder, Mr. Alfredo Bataller: “In SHA we do not simply understand health as the absence of illness, but it rather as one’s overall well-being both physically and mentally. This can be by obtaining our ideal weight and increasing our level of vitality, allowing us to enjoy our true potential“.

Karen Himlok also likes to emphasize that therapists need to pay attention to the collection of symptoms and to understand what causes them. In fact, more Holistic orientated therapists are acting in part as counsellors for their clients, coaching them, for better health and lifestyle management.

Therapies in which Karen is a specialist are often based on the origins of Traditional Chinese Medicine, integrating aspects of natural treatments with medical understanding of pathology. Important aspects of the treatment process is to stimulate energy flow to enhance healing, allow the nervous system to recover and to enable the body to relax. Some of the highlights are:

– QiGong Healing: Qigong is a martial arts technique with which it is intended that the energies flow throughout the body while naturally eliminating ailments and pains. The technique can be applied in specific parts of the body or in general:

– Qigong Abdominal massage: it is very useful to help detoxify the body and is very effective before a colon hydrotherapy. The abdomen is a very sensitive area of the body where the digestive organs need to operate at their optimum, furthermore emotions may be held in this area during stress and cause upset to the digestive system. This massage is designed to relax the abdomen, relieve bloating, and reduce the discomfort in the abdomen especially during detox or weight loss while it can stimulate the digestive organs and improve overall digestion.

– Qigong Theta Healing CranialSacral Therapy: Gentle manual manipulation which improves the nervous system function to help the person relax. It is possible to enter a state of complete relaxation and concentration through balancing the physiological structures of the craniosacral system, which includes the skull, spine and pelvis to stabilise energy for other organs and tissues. It serves to relieve stress, injuries and diseases.

In this therapy, the therapist must pay particular interest to the rhythms and beats of the cerebrospinal fluid to understand the overall functioning in the nervous system. QiGong Theta Healing CranioSacral Therapy is especially effective when looking for a general balance of the body, and is beneficial to those who focus their activity in meditation, yoga or professions that require clarity and creativity.

– Acupoint therapy for Detox: , acupoint stimulation helps to open the meridians and allow the qi to flow so it can clear many blockages within the body. It also contributes strongly to the detoxification of certain parts of the body such as the kidneys, intestines or liver. Of course, Karen highlights that the benefits are higher with the combination of healthy nutrition like the SHA diet.

–Neuromuscular Release Therapy: A combination of acupoint therapy and Tuina to address musculoskeletal problems, injuries, sprains, tension, contractions, whether old or new problems for example stiff neck, shoulders, lower back pain, hip pain, etc. Tuina meaning push-pull, is another manual massage technique from Traditional Chinese Medicine that integrates the knowledge of western osteopathy with Chinese physiotherapy to resolve general muscle and joint problems.

– General Body Balancing and Meridian Therapy: General Body Balancing with acupoint therapy to enhance the flow of qi through all your body meridians, expelling of toxic qi and stimulating the flow of fresh healthy qi, improving the general blood and qi circulation. In TCM philosophy, this is how the immune system is improved.

Also yesterday she shared with all of our guests her knowledge abour holistic therapies with the conference ” Introduction to Holistic treatments”. You can read the most remarkable ideas in our hashtag #SHAConference on twitter.

To find more background information about Karen Himlok please click here. To find out more about Karen’s Consultancy at SHA please click here.