'What I do is like meditation on drugs'

By Regan Kelly

"What I do is like meditation on drugs.” In the modern world, it is hard to escape the feeling of over-stimulation.

When information is everywhere, it can be hard to destress, and one person who is passionate about combating that is Elaine Baxter.

She is the founder of Rebalance With Elaine, and she works as a holistic health coach, offering emotional and physical healing through one-on-one sessions.

Elaine is originally from Rathowen and worked in banking for 12 years until she was made redundant during the financial crash following the Celtic Tiger, while her mother was also ill.

It was then that Elaine became interested in nutrition and analysing the body, before moving on to breathwork and reflexology.

Since then, Elaine has been mastering the art of being aware of the nervous system and working to regulate it through a holistic approach.

If anything, social media has made people aware of nutrition and mental health, due to having more access to information.

Elaine said: “A lot of people nowadays are taking wellness seriously, being good at exercise, nutrition and supplements, but we overlook the nervous system.

“We overlook emotions, and I did for years, because we’re not really taught how to be with them, other than traditional talk therapy.

“For me, it was breathwork that opened that up, because it was done in a fun way, rather than sitting down and talking – but that is useful as well.”

Protecting your peace in the modern world is something that Elaine is an expert in dealing with. “There is information everywhere, and when that’s the case, everybody is an expert. There are a lot of experts online, and we are bombarded with information, which can be really difficult for people.

“People just need that sense of community. I come into contact with people who are tired and have no energy, and that’s the modern world doing that to them.

“People need a connection with others, having a sense of community, in a space where people won’t judge you.

“We need a safe space to allow ourselves to be heard, where people don’t want to change you or fix you. I think that’s the missing piece for a lot of people in the modern world, just meeting people and connecting.”

Elaine loves helping people, with breathwork and reflexology, she can help people access parts of themselves that they never knew they could.

Being from Westmeath and working with local people, she witnesses successful cases every day.

“The people of Mullingar have been amazing, and it has turned out to be deeply transformative for many.

“When you can create a space for someone where there is no expectation to change, true healing is just about allowing yourself to be, and many people might not have had that before.

“My therapy is all about conscious connected breath, and using the breath to tap in to the body, so really, what I do is like meditation on drugs.

“We are emotional beings, and in a lot of cases the mind moves on from a traumatic experience, but the nervous system has not, and it can be relieving for people to access that part of themselves.”

Many people find the outdoors helps to maintain positive mental health, and in Westmeath we have some of the best in Ireland. Getting out in nature helped Elaine, and it’s something she encourages her clients to do.

“Like lots of people, I was forced to go outside and do things during Covid, but taking part in group sessions, and I saw the benefits in it. A lot of the time, it’s not normal to be sitting outside and doing deep mindful work, but it can be hugely transformative for your mental health, in comparison to an indoor studio.”

Elaine has had her own intense experiences with breathwork, working with Dr Kathy Scanlon during lockdown.

She explained the intense nature of that kind of therapy and what it can elicit in someone, especially when they are not expecting it. “Dr Scanlon said to me, ‘You might cry’, and of course I thought, Why is she saying that? I am the Ice Queen. I never cry.

“Needless to say, about four seconds in, the tears started rolling down my face, and I said’ where is this coming from?’.

“That’s just an example to show how you can feel things that you have suppressed, even sometimes it’s laughter, it’s not always sadness.”

As the world continues to be a hectic place, it is beneficial to look after mental health in any way that helps, and alternative therapies like breathwork make learning about such things easier for those who do not respond to traditional talk therapies.

ReBalance with Elaine continues to blossom; on Sundays, she is leading an outdoor series at Lough Ennell to help build emotional resilience.