I've been quiet for a while as I have just moved to South Shields in Tyneside. It's an amazing place at the edge of the land and sea where the world comes and goes past my window. I walk round the corner to a long sandy beach where I can watch the birds and the sea to my heart's content. The air is fresh and clean and the energy always moving, just as it should be. This is the kind of place where you feel that it is pointless to worry. Of course, worrying is always a waste of your energy, if you … [Read more...]
Ditch The Drama Queen
We all know her, don't we- that woman who spends her life lurching from one crisis to another, making dramatic exits, slamming doors, driving off into the night.... We put up with it- it's her hormones, it's her time of the month, it's her age, things always seem to go wrong for her, it's not her fault... Of course, it's not always a woman, we know men who behave like that too, but for them the reaction often manifests as anger and that's somehow OK in our society. If you live or work … [Read more...]
Should you be worried about the ‘Nocebo Effect’?
We are all familiar with the Placebo Effect, the idea that something will make you feel better if you believe it will. Indeed one of the accusations of sceptics about complementary therapies is that they are 'merely' acting as a placebo. But the placebo effect is well-documented, although not fully understood, and is effective in around 30% of cases. This is better than many prescription medications. Maybe 'an apple a day could keep the doctor away' ! I heard a programme yesterday on BBC … [Read more...]
Are You Practicing Mind Control?
One of the main causes of stress in the modern world is that we can't switch off our minds. We spend all day doing tasks that we are not fully engaged with because our minds are elsewhere- on our shopping list, plans for tomorrow or worrying about something that happened yesterday, last week, last month or even years ago. Our thoughts are in control of us, we are not in control of our thoughts. And for some people this can even go to the next level: over-thinking. This happens when we make … [Read more...]
How I Got ‘Here’ from ‘There’ Part 2
Last time I spoke about how I ended up leading a jet-setting life in the oil industry, but felt in my heart that there must be more to life! After five years of working with my father in the family business, I had a baby and everything changed again. I had always liked children and done a fair share of babysitting, but nothing prepares you for your first child, no matter how many antenatal classes you attend. I went from being highly efficient and organised to barely being able to get dressed … [Read more...]
Boosting Your Business Confidence
I ran a webinar a couple of days ago on the topic of finding your flow in your business, more specifically your health and well-being business. My premise was that many of us struggle to build a viable business because there are certain obstacles that prevent us being totally aligned and authentic in what we are doing. This in turn prevents us from doing our best work that would attract great clients or customers. These obstacles can be physical, emotional, mental or even spiritual and we may … [Read more...]
Could This Be Stopping You Getting More Clients?
One of the biggest problems that therapists, coaches and consultants experience is getting a steady stream of clients. People enter the health and wellbeing sector because they really want to help others, it’s seen not as a job but a vocation. That is why it is so sad to see that dedicated professionals, with years of training, often fail to attract the clients they need to have a viable business. I accept that there are some individuals who enter this field and are able to support … [Read more...]
Do You Actually Want to Feel Better?
I was reading an article earlier this week which quoted some shocking statistics from a group of health and fitness professionals, based on their experiences with clients. They had concluded that 70% of people don't want to do anything to get well, they just want to feel better. It seems to me that many people take no responsibility for their health and wellbeing; they do as they please and then expect health professionals to 'fix' them when things go wrong. Regular readers here will know … [Read more...]
How Flower Essences Can Restore Your Emotional Equilibrium
Flower Essences have been used for thousands of years, particularly to help with emotional issues. Rescue Remedy is probably the most famous flower essence in the world, but there are now hundreds of different essences available from around the world. While it is often best to visit a qualified practitioner who can make up an essence for your individual requirements, you can buy 'off-the-shelf' combination essences to help with a multitude of common problems. For example, my family always … [Read more...]
How Writing Can Help You Heal
Apparently new research from the University of Minnesota indicates that office workers who keep a diary of the day's events in the office lowered their stress levels. There has been quite a good deal of research in this area and for the past 20 years Dr James W. Pennebaker from the University of Texas has been getting clients to write their deepest feelings about past emotional trauma for around 15-20 minutes for four consecutive days. ‘People who engage in expressive writing report feeling … [Read more...]
Are You Getting Enough Sleep?
Getting enough sleep is a vital part of our well-being along with exercise and nutritious food. Some people seem to think that it is a lifestyle choice, but chronic poor sleep can put you at increased risk of health problems such as cancer, heart disease and depression. However only around 10% of us have clinically diagnosed insomnia, and just 20% of us suffer from sleep problems. Tiredness during the day may actually be the result of something else such as stress, anxiety, boredom or lack of … [Read more...]
Even I have started to feel depressed!
Here in the UK we seem to have had a never-ending winter. I know it isn't like the North American Prairies where you are snowed in for months on end, but it feels to me that this winter has been colder and greyer than I have seen for a long time. The forecast for this weekend is snow and freezing temperatures whereas this time last year we had temperatures of 21°C. I have developed a cold this week and feel really tired, although this is the first illness I've had all winter it feels like the … [Read more...]
Are You Still Trying to be Superwoman?
Women these days are really juggling with work, children, caring for parents and running the house. In the 1970s we were told we could 'have it all', just how true was that? I have a free webinar coming upon Wednesday 20th February on 'Becoming a Queen of Calm' when I will be sharing some ideas to help you go from frazzled to feeling serene. The link to register is in the 'Events' over on the right or click here If the time doesn't work for you I will send you the recording as long as you … [Read more...]
Are you my Ideal Client?
As I am still quite busy with this daily video challenge and getting new courses up and running this week, I thought I'd post another of the videos from the video challenge. It would be great if you made some comments or suggestions in the boxes below. … [Read more...]
