Lesley Bates discovers that a little resistance goes a long way

IT'S not my normal practice to balance an orange on my stomach while someone pushes my arm down towards my side like a fruit machine, but apparently my body was happy with the arrangement and gave a metaphorical thumbs up to the fruit.

Tomatoes, milk, chicken, tea, coffee and (hurrah) ice cream were also fine, but wheat, red meat, cheese and - horror of horrors - crisps and chocolate were out.

Surely, my body was lying to me - I can't get through the day without a supply of ready salted and Maltesers in my desk drawer.

But try as I might to resist the gentle pressure that Amanda Hibbert was exerting on my arm, I couldn't hold it steady.

According to Amanda, this is an indication of a level of intolerance to those particular food stuffs.

Press my arm for oranges and it stayed rock solid.

Amanda is a bio-energetic therapist at the newly-opened Lavender Centre in Castle Mews off Castle Street and she was using a series of muscle tests to identify imbalances in the energy flow through the body's meridians and chakras.

Vitamin and mineral deficiencies, levels of dehydration, blood chemistry, possible food intolerances which might lead to skin and digestive problems, and the well-being of the body's endocrine system and magnetic grid and electro-magnetic grids can also show up.

It seemed a vast amount to get through in the space of one session, but Amanda can tell a lot from a little resistance.

Bio-energetic therapy is a holistic approach to healing where the whole body is treated - not just the symptoms.

Amanda explains that it encompasses natural healing, energy balancing, energy psychology, nutrition and lifestyle and, by restoring the body's energy balance, encourages natural healing to take place.

"Lots of people come because they are just feeling tired and rundown, or experiencing general aches and pains, without being able to identify the cause," says Amanda.

"The therapy can be highly beneficial and keeps the immune system strong."

While I lay on the treatment couch, Amanda applied gentle pressure to push or pull my arms and legs, forewarning me each time and asking me to resist.

Each action relates to a different section of the body - spleen, pancreas, lungs, heart, kidneys and so on.

Strong resistance indicates good energy flow but little resistance means a blockage in the energy levels.

After working round my body, she tested for good and bad foods for me, hence the orange on my stomach, and toiletry products like shampoo, toothpaste and deodorant to see if any of the chemicals in them could be causing problems.

It's not necessary, she explained to have the food physically present to test for it.

"It's not practical to carry slabs of red meat around," she pointed out. "You can place the food on the body if you have it or ask the body using one of the muscle tests."

After identifying where the energy flow was sluggish, she put both hands on my stomach and more or less asked my body to sort itself out.

Now this is the point where my eyes usually roll up incredulously but, strange to tell, something rather weird happened.

The area of my tummy between Amanda's hands was suffused with heat.

Not mild warmth, mark you, but a feeling of positive energy, and it wasn't coming from Amanda's hands which remained cool to touch.

A quick pressure check on low energy levels and the therapy had clearly had the muscle bulging effect of a can of spinach on Popeye - solid as a rock.

Just keep the Mars Bars out of my way.

A bio-energetic body balance takes 75 minutes for the first session and costs £35 with subsequent 30-minute session at £25.

A bio-energetic therapy session can also be combined with deep tissue massage to relieve pain and muscle spasm.

Appointments can be made with Amanda on 07765 837419.