Ever since menopause I have struggled with a number of symptoms that did not make me really ill but which were always a nuisance. Chronic muscle aches. Physical exhaustion. Blocked sinuses. I would have put all this down to the normal process of aging, but clients at Nuk Tessli, who were older than me and not at all used to the hard physical life I lived, were running rings round me. Three years ago I started having mild headaches (which I had never had before), sore throats, upset stomachs, a rapid heart rate, and a constant feeling as though I was coming down with the flu. I went to a doctor and although he was a little surprised at the heart rate he told me there was nothing at all wrong with me.

But the symptoms persisted. A few months later, a friend recommended an alternative medicine practitioner whom he swore by. He had just gone through a triple bypass and he maintained the practitioner had saved his life. I knew nothing of her techniques so imagine my enormous surprise when the practitioner, who styled herself as a nutritionist, told me to lie on a couch, then put small envelopes of food on my stomach and tested the muscle strength of my legs. I had never heard of anything like this: it was mumbo jumbo in the highest degree. But I had to acknowledge that what she told me was working. I ended up having to avoid a great number of foodstuffs - soy, dairy, gluten, caffeine, sulphates, and sugar. But why, I constantly asked myself, was this suddenly happening to me?

My next contact with Energy Medicine was pure happenstance. I was doing the illustrations for A Mountain Year, and wanted a picture of an immature salamander, which looks a bit like a tadpole with four legs, and which is known as an eft. Tadpoles, however, could not have been further from Google's electronic mind and I was presented with all sorts of bizarre sites about something called EFT or Emotional Freedom Technique that involved tapping acupuncture points to relieve stress and just the kind of vague symptoms that were troubling me. After the nutritionist's successes I had to allow that there might be something to this Energy Medicine business after all. The downloads were free - I'd give it a go. I persevered for three months with no success whatsoever. But one of the sites steered me towards pendulum divining. "Use any weight and string," the adviser said, so I got a washer and a bit of twine and had a go. It was truly amazing. The pendulum rapidly became a fantastic tool for me, not only to determine what I could or could not eat, but also for many other aspects of my wellbeing. I can also use it to determine other people's food problems.

Both the pendulum and EFT sites kept mentioning a woman called Donna Eden. I was pretty sceptical about the raves - everyone seemed to be selling stuff and most of it seemed far-fetched and definitely not cheap. Finally I broke down and ordered Donna Eden's book Energy Medicine from Amazon. I never spent a more rewarding $20 in my life! I learned about the Energy Body and the way to keep it on a level track by doing quick daily exercises. The book was a little confusing at first, and I had to concentrate really hard, reading a few pages a day. I was also in the middle of Nuk Tessli's summer season so incredibly busy doing other things. About three quarters of the way through the book, I learned an acupressure routine for curing allergies. (Acupressure uses acupuncture points but no needles - all you do is press or tap.) Donna's patient was a hay fever sufferer, but I wondered if the routine would work for food sensitivities. I put a piece of my famous stone oven bread (which I had not eaten for 18 months) in a plastic bag on my stomach, went through the acupressure routine described and ate the bread. I had no adverse reactions whatsoever. The next day I went through the process with cheese - again with no ill effects. Within days, most foodstuffs were available to me again although I still have problems with anything that contains preservatives. I can easily detect foods that will give me a reaction - I simply check everything with the pendulum. I sure get some funny looks in the supermarkets!

Now for the exciting bit. On my recent book tour I met a woman named Ruth Beck. She has completed Donna Eden's Basic 5-Day Training, Energy Medicine for Women, and is enrolled in the 2-year Donna Eden Energy Medicine Certification Program. Ruth's emphasis is quite different from mine. I fell into this whole business because I like to eat! Ruth sees Energy Medicine as a skill for life – for maintaining a strong sense of groundedness, for being able to respond to the stresses and energy disturbances of everyday life, to correct for energy imbalances that we may have been carrying for years, and to have a pro-active personal practice of self care. Energy Medicine covers a wide range of practices: Chinese Medicine, Reiki, Tai Chi, Karate, Meditation, Yoga, EFT and so on. The interesting thing is that, once I got my energy body working, EFT started to work as well. I now use a mixture of practices - yoga, EFT, pendulum divining and Donna Eden's exercises. Together, they have given me a whole new lease on life.

I was thrilled when Ruth said she would be able to come to Nuk Tessli to share her knowledge. Ruth has used Donna Eden's Energy Medicine practices to diminish peri-menopausal complaints, and maintains a daily practice that keeps her energies humming. If you wish to contact her directly, email rbeck1@netidea.com.

What better setting could we have for this kind of learning experience than the unpolluted waters and clear mountain air of Nuk Tessli? Instead of taking three years to fumble around and learn by hit and miss as I did (and how much longer would it have taken if I had not wished to draw a salamander!) you can have all the knowledge you can absorb in five days. I'll even throw in a free bit of string and a washer to make a pendulum. People with food sensitivities are welcome although those with very specialized diets may have to bring some food with them as Nuk Tessli is a very long way from stores. You'll learn practices with roots in ancient cultures and free health promotion techniques for the new millennium. The real beauty of all this is that you can do most of the exercises yourself. We will intermingle hikes and canoe trips with the Energy Medicine experience and, if people are interested, we could even include a day of baking the best bread in the world in the famous stone oven.

We're going to use Tour #9 for this, 30th August to 3rd September. There will be no extra charge for the Energy Medicine information, you will simply pay the normal Nuk Tessli rates. I hope you can join us for this unique and very special experience.

For reservations and further information:

Write - Chris Czajkowski, Nuk Tessli Alpine Experience, Nimpo Lake, BC VOL IRO, Canada
Phone: Summer - 250 742 3222. Winter - 250 476 1171.
E-mail - nuktessli@lincsat.com