Last week, I got some calls from people who read my article about using EFT to boost your metabolism and get motivated to exercise. They said, “Gwenn, I’ve BEEN exercising, I’m NOT overeating, but I STILL haven’t lost any weight! What should I do?!”

The answer is usually so simple, and so easy, you’ll wonder why you didn’t learn it in grade school.

Not only does it help with weight loss, but this SAME solution helps boost your energy, improve your ability to heal, increase your mental comprehension AND your physical coordination.

In fact, this is often a LIFE-changing procedure.

Instead of just ‘going through the motions’ every day, how would you like to wake up every morning feeling excited and energetic?

FEEL ALIVE! THRIVE WITH THE CROSS CRAWL
By Gwenn Bonnell

There are times when we feel uncoordinated and out of balance. We find it hard to focus and to comprehend new information. Simple tasks such as reading, writing, even listening, seem beyond our capability. It’s impossible to lose weight, and our motivation is gone. What’s going on?
Our energies are not “crossing over.”

Just as the left side of our brain sends information to the right side of our body, and vice versa, our energies are meant to crossover at the neck as well. Normally, our entire system contains these crossovers, these “X’s,” these sideways figure 8’s, these infinity symbols. Our DNA is built on this pattern. We thrive when these crossing patterns are fluent in our physical system and our energetic body.

Our energy systems and bodies are hard wired to provide us with these crossing patterns. As we grow, movements that naturally occur during crawling, walking, and running stimulate the receptive as well as the expressive hemispheres of the brain. This makes learning easier. It improves coordination, breathing, spatial awareness, hearing, and vision.

Unfortunately, our lifestyle does not leave much time for the physical activities that naturally emulate the cross crawl motion. When we do walk, we are carrying a handbag, a suitcase, a briefcase, or a child, all of which interfere with the motion of crossing the midline of the body. Even holding a dog’s leash sends the body’s energies off balance.

Luckily, spending a few moments each day doing the Cross Crawl exercise facilitates the natural crossover of energy between your brain’s left and right hemisphere. You’ll find your energy level, balance, coordination, and concentration improve when you Cross Crawl consistently each morning. It’s also a great exercise whenever you feel lethargic and unmotivated, and after you carry a handbag, a suitcase, a child, etc.

Since this natural action of crawling helps integrate both sides of the brain, the Cross Crawl is a great exercise for children of all ages before they go to school or begin their homework. In fact, this exercise is taken from Educational Kinesiology. Children get creative with the Cross Crawl, and enjoy performing it to music or in slow motion.

I’ve seen the Cross Crawl help restore movement to stroke victims, and heard of it facilitating all kinds of healing and pain relief. At the very least, the Cross Crawl helps our entire system function more effectively, and helps maintain health.

THE CROSS CRAWL
1) Stand in place and perform the natural walking motion while lifting the OPPOSITE arm and leg together and breathing deeply. This normal involves lifting your right arm and left leg simultaneously. As you lower them, lift your left arm and right leg.

2) If you are not able to walk or stand, you can sit and move the opposite arm and leg together, reaching to touch the opposite knee or ankle with your hand or elbow. For infirmed people, this can be done while lying on a bed. You can have someone else move your legs and arms for you.

3) As you repeat the motion, exaggerate the lift of your leg and the swing of your arm. Even more effective is tapping the opposite knee with your hand or elbow. The important motion is to cross the midline of your body.

4) Continue this exaggerated march for at least a minute, breathing deeply in through your nose and out through your mouth.

For best results, perform the Cross Crawl at least once daily. The positive effects include:
- Improved focus and concentration
- Boosted metabolism and overall energy
- Greater coordination and balance
- Enhanced breathing and stamina
- Better hearing and vision.

There is a reason why most diet and exercise programs emphasize walking as a simple way to lose weight. Walking, especially power walking, not only burns calories but more importantly, emulates the cross crawl motion, therefore boosting metabolism and overall energy levels.

Some people, however, will not feel immediate positive effects from walking or the Cross Crawl exercise; in fact, walking will actually weaken them. If this exercise is difficult for you, if you feel uncoordinated lifting your opposite arm and leg together, or if it exhausts you, then your energies are probably running straight up and down instead of crossing.

Experiencing stress knocks our energies into a “homolateral” pattern. This means our energies move straight up and down the body instead of crossing at the neck. Normally, we compensate, and as the trauma passes, our energies begin to cross once again. However, when we are under continual stress, or experience a major trauma, this homolateral pattern becomes embedded in our system.

When our energies are no longer able to crossover, we feel slow and sluggish. Our physical body only gets about half the energy it needs on a daily basis, and we are in survival mode. What little energy we have is employed for breathing, digesting, and eliminating waste. Our metabolism slows. We lack the energy needed to think clearly, to learn, to create, to concentrate, to be enthusiastic or passionate. As all our physical processes slow down, we feel less alive, and we tend toward depression. Our immune system becomes hypervigilant, yet we may be chronically ill and unable to heal for unknown reasons.

Now we need the “Homolateral Correction” to bring us into harmony with the language our energy body is talking. Then we can gently teach it the cross over pattern.

HOMOLATERAL CORRECTION:
1) Stand in place, and perform the walking motion, this time lift the SAME SIDE arm and leg, first on one side of the body, then on the other side, to a count of twelve. Keep yourself comfortable. If it’s easier to do this while sitting or lying down, that’s OK. If you are ill or weak, another person can lift your arms and legs for you. DO NOT STRAIN as this will send your energies back into homolateral. It’s important to breathe deeply and rest when you get tired.
2) Next, perform the Cross Crawl motion: lift the OPPOSITE arm and leg to a count of twelve (each side).
3) This is one set. Repeat this two more times for a total of three sets.
4) Finish with an additional twelve Cross Crawls.

Perform this routine at least twice a day for ten to thirty days. Even though you’ll probably feel immediate benefits, it may take a month or so for the crossover pattern to stabilize. Once the crossover pattern becomes established, keep doing the Cross Crawl on a daily basis to maintain long-term benefits. Be aware: this is often a life changing experience!

Copyright 2003 Gwenn Bonnell, All Rights Reserved.

Gwenn Bonnell is an energy coach, trainer and writer. She runs Heaven on Earth and is dedicated to sharing the knowledge of various Energy Psychology techniques through training, workshops, and private sessions. Contact Gwenn at 954 370 1552 or gwenn@tapintoheaven.com.