WOMAN HELPS STUDENTS TO RELAX, FOCUS.

Byline: VICTORIA GIRAUD

A persistent migraine headache propelled Betty Mehling into her life's work as a relaxation specialist.

The nagging pains occurred over 25 years ago. After discovering relief using an ancient Oriental acupressure healing method, Betty trained in the art and expanded her expertise into a book, "Relax with Self-Therap/Ease," a relaxation tape for children, "Magic Island," and a stress management program for children that she teaches in schools.

Betty began suffering from migraines after moving from California to Texas with her new husband, Rick, then in the Air Force. She ended up with a weekly standing appointment with the base neurologist.

"I took a tremendous amount of drugs for my migraines, but I never felt present, never rested. I was scared a lot that they were never going away," Betty remembered.

When she came home to California for a visit, her father encouraged her to visit a woman who practiced Jin Shin Jyutsu, a form of acupressure. He was trying to avoid neck surgery, and the treatments were successful for him.

"I'm probably what you'd call a hyper person," Betty explained. "When I got a treatment, the jittery thing in my heart center was calm."

After three treatments, however, Betty still wasn't cured, and she returned to Texas and recurring headaches. The doctors there concluded that she would probably feel better when her husband's tour was over and they returned to California.

When Betty moved back, she revisited the acupressurist and, with time, the treatments worked. "I realized that I had taken no responsibility for my own health. I would go to somebody, and they would fix it."

A graduate in journalism from Cal State Northridge, then Valley State, Betty had apprenticed at the Van Nuys News and Valley Green Sheet, now the Daily News. She met her firefighter husband while covering the Burbank fire beat. He is now the battalion chief in Burbank.

Betty taught high school journalism while in Texas and back in California went to work as assistant copy editor for the now-defunct Home magazine of the L.A. Times. Her enthusiasm for acupressure soon overrode her journalism career, and she quit the paper to focus entirely on her newfound interest.

When her practitioner planned to move, Betty realized she really wanted to learn how to heal herself and perhaps use it on her father and close friends. "I fell in love with it," Betty said. After learning as much as she could from the acupressurist, Betty got in touch with Bonnie Pendleton, a woman who had long been a student of the acupressurist.

Bonnie and Betty's association resulted in their popular book on "Self-Therap/Ease," first published 24 years ago and now in its 12th printing. The book is full of photos demonstrating the proper positions for hands and body for each acupressure treatment. The practical demonstration photos show how to eliminate hiccups, alleviate sinus problems, nausea, dizziness, headaches, stomach aches, arthritis and other problems.

Betty's idea of helping children relax and manage stress came from being a volunteer mother in her son Ben's elementary school class at Lupin Hill in Calabasas. Gradually, her ideas grew into a stress-management program "broken down to kid size" that she has presented in many different schools, from Las Virgenes and Simi Valley to Redondo Beach and Sacramento. For years, she gave her program to fifth-graders attending the Las Virgenes Unified School District's outdoor education program at Cottontail Ranch.

"When you're feeling uncomfortable in your body, sick or have an injury, that's tension. Stress is a feeling: You're overwhelmed or scared," Betty tells the children in her relaxation classes. She then tells them she will give them tools so they can help themselves feel comfortable.

Although she has taught some brief programs to younger children, most of the programs target students in fourth grade and older.

After they've learned some of her methods, Betty reinforces the techniques by asking, "How do you feel now that you took care of yourself?" She reminds them of the pleasure they felt the first time they could tie their own shoes, for instance.

Betty's tools include teaching children how to stretch, breathe and progressively relax; how to find the "power centers" on their body to feel better; and how to visualize, which she calls "the TV set in your mind."

A favorite expression of Betty's demonstrates her feelings: "Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he feeds himself for a lifetime."

Her methods have had some unusual and gratifying results. An older child Betty had taught shared the information with her younger brother, who used it when he developed leukemia. It helped him to relax during tests on his body and cope with the nausea from chemotherapy. One child helped his mother relax when she cut her hand seriously.

As Betty reminds her classes, "Tension robs energy. Being relaxed focuses energy. It's like going to the gas station so you can do things the rest of the day. Take 10 minutes or less and let go of the thoughts and the places the body holds energy."

Betty would like to continue teaching relaxation, create more books and tapes on the subject, and train others to work with children, especially those who are in hospitals.

Betty says her own biggest challenge is "to practice what I preach. It's ironic that one who is such an expert in the power of relaxation has such a personal challenge creating it, but it's a practice that I work on nearly every day of my life."

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Photo (color) Betty Mehling demonstrates how she uses acupressure and relaxation techniques to manage stress. David Sprague/Daily News