Acorn Health Blog

By Rebecca Slater

There is a saying “Giving birth should be your greatest achievement not your greatest fear”. When I found out I was pregnant in March 2015 I was over the moon but having had a lifetime of hearing people’s birth horror stories and seeing the media portraying pregnancy and birth as something to be feared I have to admit I felt more like I was about to face my greatest fear rather than my greatest achievement.

At the time if somebody had told me that I would feel so empowered by my pregnancy and birth experience that I would become a hypnobirthing practitioner I would have laughed, but that’s exactly what happened.

My fear of pregnancy and birth was pretty intense so I knew I was going to need some help if I was going to be able to enjoy my pregnancy. I did my research and came across Mindful Mamma hypnobirthing, a one day mindful hypnobirthing course that I hoped would help me feel more confident and in control.

At 32 weeks pregnant my husband and I attended the Mindful Mamma course, prior to which I had read the book and had been listening to the hypnobirthing track every day from about 24 weeks. I was really impressed with what I learnt and felt totally chilled throughout the pregnancy and was just looking forward to my babies’ arrival. It also really helped my husband know what his role would be during the birth as I think sometimes birth partners can feel a bit out of it and not fully confident in knowing how they can help and how important they are.

What I loved about the course was that it wasn’t at all how hypnobirthing is often portrayed. A lot of people think hypnobirthing is only for those who want a home birth or that those who do it are all hippies, this wasn’t the case at all. The tools and skills I acquired from Mindful Mamma can be utilised at any type of birth, it didn’t just promote undisturbed birth it also encouraged the use of hypnosis for birth alongside mindfulness techniques for medicalised births, such as inductions and caesareans.

By utilising the tools that Mindful Mamma had furnished me with I sailed through pregnancy and although I didn’t end up having the birth that I had planned I felt totally in control throughout the whole experience and when my baby made his very chilled arrival into the world on Wednesday 25th November I knew that I definitely experienced my greatest achievement.

From day one people have commented about what a calm, contented baby he is and nearly six months on that hasn’t changed. I think Mindful Mama played a huge part in this as it helped me relax and stay calm not only during the birth but also throughout the pregnancy, which I believe my baby picked up on.

I think that many people feel that they have had a negative birth experience because they see birth as something that has happened to them rather than something that they have had a say in and control over. I became a Mindful Mamma practitioner as I want more women and their birth partners to feel empowered by birth and this can be achieved by helping with creating positive mind-set through a variety of hypnobirthing and mindfulness techniques and also by giving them the tools they need to feel confident enough to ask questions that will help them make the decisions that are right for them and their baby.

I will be holding classes once a month at Acorn Natural Health Centre to find out more visit http://www.mindfulmamma.co.uk/rebecca-slater-ilkeston-heanor-and-surrounding-areas/

By Maz Harvey

The term massage encompasses a large and varied
number of techniques and approaches.
Massage in its simplest form entails any
hands on techniques involving stroking, rubbing, lifting and squeezing of the
tissues with or without a skin lubricant. More advanced forms of techniques
practiced under the umbrella term of massage include techniques used by Physiotherapists,
Osteopaths, Chiropractors and even Acupuncturists.

I believe the time is right for the massage bodies
/ authorities to distinguish between the

various forms of massage so as to enable the public
to know which type of massage practitioner to go to for treatment. A simple
split may be Spa massage and Clinical massage?

Who can benefit from massage and what can it treat?

The answer to this question would fill a very long
blog post so I will give a few random examples of who / what I have treated
this week.

I have helped a lady recovering from a stroke, a
more mature gent struggling with a thigh problem that was keeping him awake at
night and ‘more importantly’ stopping him play golf, a G.P. with a painful
neck, a talented teenage footballer desperate to play in a final this weekend,
another mature gent still turning out to play veterans football and several
neck and shoulder problems, some with related headaches and some with related
nerve sensations down the arm.

As you can see ‘Massage’ can help with many types
of soft tissue, joint and nerve pain. It may well take several sessions to get
to the root of the problem and it may involve lifestyle changes by the client
but don’t underestimate the potential effectiveness of massage.

www.acornnaturalhealth.co.uk

By Anne Marie Allen

What is it?

Reiki is a Japanese form of hands on energy healing which helps your body to release stress and tension by creating a state of deep relaxation. By creating this state, Reiki helps your body to heal and balance and clear any negative or blocked energy, boosting your body’s energy levels, restoring harmony and feelings of wellbeing.

So, what does it do?

Reiki gets to work on the areas that your body needs the most, including;
*Promoting health & wellbeing
*Pain management
*Helps to reduce stress and tension
*Promotes feelings of peace, serenity and wellbeing
*Enhances any medical and complimentary treatments you may be receiving
*Helps to relieve and eliminate the side effects of conventional medical treatment, such as chemotherapy.
*Helps with post operative healing
*Encourages mental clarity
*Relieved symptoms of stress and tension
*Calms the mind and emotions, relieving symptoms of depression and anxiety
*Improves sleep quality
*Soothes digestion
*Strengthens self esteem
*Heightens self awareness and intuition
*Helps to balance emotions

What will it feel like?

Often during a Reiki session, people report feeling;
Heat
Coolness
Pins and needles
Tingling
Pressure
Energy moving in their body
Deep sense of peace & relaxation
Feeling of floating

So what happens during a Reiki treatment?

During your first Reiki session, there will be a short consultation where we will have a chat and you’ll have the opportunity to ask any questions you may have.
After the consultation, you’ll be taken over to the comfortable treatment bed, where you’ll be asked to take your shoes off and lie fully clothed under a wonderfully soft blanket. The lights will be dimmed and soft music will be played, whilst you lie back and relax.
Through a series of light, non invasive touches, I will channel the energy through myself and into you.
After your treatment, you’ll be offered a glass of water, whilst we have a chat about how your treatment went.

Do I have to believe in Reiki for it to work?

Reiki is not a religion and is not based on any religion, although the energy is spiritual in nature. You do not need to believe in Reiki for it to work, but you do need to be willing and open to it working.

If you’d like to try Reiki for yourself, you can take advantage of the special offer for March.
For the whole of March, I am offering thirty minute Reiki taster sessions for just £15!

www.acornnaturalhealth.co.uk