Acorn Health Blog

By Mark Clutton, Clinical Hypnotherapist & Mindfulness Teacher

We all know what relaxation means ……but what about Mindfulness? Mindfulness has been getting a lot of publicity in the last several years and pops up in all walks of life from schools to large corporations.

What is it?

It’s a collection of techniques to help us retrain our brains from going into automatic behaviours and thought patterns linked to the “flight or flight/stress” responses that causes us to become anxious, have negative repetitive thoughts and keep triggering our stress hormones. When we get like this we are frequently living in our heads, locked into patterns of negative behaviour, irritability, feeling overwhelmed etc

NB – it is not a spiritual/religious practice.

Some definitions of mindfulness:

– Paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally.

– A state of psychological freedom that occurs when the attention remains quiet, without attachment to any particular point of view.

– Waking up from a life lived on automatic pilot and based in habitual reacting.

– Mindfulness is the ability to make choices to respond rather than react and not fall prey to habitual reactive patterns.

– A way of treating yourself with kindness and compassion reducing self criticism, not judging your thoughts, or yourself, or your emotions. Applying these techniques to others in your life.

– Becoming aware of what is going on in your head – and not taking the bait.

What about Relaxation?

– Freeing the body and mind from tensions & anxiety.

– Consciously using the mind to relax the body and direct the stream of thoughts.

– A physical and mental state where the body is still and the mind is focused on particular internal imagery whilst being detached from, but aware of, the immediate surroundings.

So what are the benefits of using these techniques? What can they do for you?

– Decreases stress, anxiety and irritability.

– Memory function improves, increases in physical & mental stamina.

– Improved immune system, brain functioning, improves mood.

– Can assist cardio vascular function, and with reducing hypertension.

I’m currently running workshops that will cover the basic techniques, give you the opportunity to experience them and try them out, learn real world skills to help you control your stress and anxiety levels and reap the benefits of a different way of experiencing the world. You will also learn what mindfulness is not, and its limitations.

Course materials will be provided as part of the cost. To book in for the next available workshop click here. For more information get in touch!

By Sally-Anne Marler – Creative Arts Facilitator & Happiness Coach

We often underestimate the power of self-talk and how it can adversely effect our actions, behaviours, beliefs and shape our thoughts. We all mumble things to ourselves, think things that are quite self-critical, scold ourselves when we forget something or for not doing or saying something. What we don’t realise is the damage that this does to our confidence and self-esteem and how it can soon start to become habitual and expected.
The first step in remedying this is to become aware of it. Once you’ve done that you can then start to challenge anything you are saying to yourself that might be hurtful, judgmental or critical. For some – you may be able to identify where this voice comes from – it could be a parent figure or just something you started to do when you were younger, a coping mechanism for example if you were being picked on or singled out with your friends or at school. Once you have done that, try to challenge it in a way that is gentle but assertive. A counter responsive act to neutralise your initial thought! Below are a few examples you can try…
Lastly, think of yourself in the same way you would a good friend or a loving family member and ask yourself would you speak to them that way? The answer will undoubtedly be no, you wouldn’t. So why talk to yourself that way. You deserve better, you are better, you are now and will always be a work in progress just like everyone else. Give yourself and show yourself a little compassion, a little kindness along with a dollop of patience and love. How we speak to ourselves will have a direct influence on how we work with others, approach opportunities and shape our perspectives on day to day living. Start where you are. Start with you.

I offer 1:1 coaching helping you place the focus back onto you, working positively with you so you start to notice your strengths and identify better with your likes, passions and sense of purpose and meaning. I offer a free 20 minute consultation and work creatively with you using journals to help this process. To find out more get in touch or book your free consultation.

By Helen Duffy, Naturopathic Nutritional Therapist

As
a Nutritional Therapist, I regularly talk with my clients about
making something become part of their daily habit. One of the most
simple, yet it can have some pretty impressive effects on our health,
is starting each day with a simple tonic. This means that before you
eat or drink anything else, yes even that most important first cup of
tea or coffee, you have a simple tonic drink.

The
tonic drink that I most commonly recommend to my clients is warm
water, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, honey and cinnamon. All of
the ingredients have their own important qualities and together they
can help to boost your immune system, balance your blood sugars,
expel toxins from your liver, kick-start your digestion and support
your kidneys. Not bad from a pleasant tasting morning drink ready in
a couple of minutes!

The
key to success with this tonic is the quality of the ingredients so I
always recommend using the best that you can find, so that means
organic whenever possible and in the case of the honey and apple
cider vinegar, they need to be raw so that the active ingredients are
still present and haven’t been processed away. Look for ‘raw’ on the
label when you buy them. The apple cider vinegar may also say
something like ‘contains the mother’, which is another way of saying
that the active culture is still present which is exactly what you
want to get the benefits of.

If
you’re struggling to find these ingredients in your supermarket there
are some good online shops, like www.buywholefoodsonline.co.uk
or of course, Amazon.

To
make your morning Lemon
Water Elixir
you will need:

½ lemon squeezed

1-2 tsp apple cider
vinegar

1/4-1/2 tsp turmeric
(optional)

½ tsp honey

¼ tsp cinnamon

Mix the ingredients
together and add to a cup of warm water. Keep stirring as you drink
so the ingredients do not settle to the bottom.

Try
this as part of your morning routine for at least a week to begin to
see the benefits.

Helen
Duffy

Naturopathic
Nutritional Therapist

helen.duffy@northstarnutrition.co.uk

By Sally-Anne Marler Creative Arts Therapist, Facilitator & Coach

We all get hit with this little monster from time to time. He’s very clever and comes in many guises and tricks us into being okay about not doing what we really want! We forget what we really want because it all feels too big or scary and so we remain stuck in habitual patterns and routines that don’t support our goals, dreams or aspirations. It’s not all bad, when you look at why we do this we begin to understand it forms part of our fight or flight response, and we are just trying to keep ourselves ‘safe’. But our definition of what is safe, is very different to what it meant years ago. As we are not all running from a saber tooth tiger these days, most of our fear comes from our minds, not an actual physical threat. It’s the ‘unknown’ that tends to entice the procrastination monster out from hiding and can often be triggered by the prospect of change. But this is living, without it, we are simply existing.

I look back now and realise I became best buddies with the procrastination monster for the best part of 20 years or so and know first hand how it might start off quite innocent, believing you’re doing the right thing and playing it safe but you end up feeling immense frustration, isolation and disorganisation.

Here are my top 5 tips to overcoming the procrastination monster:-

1. Focus only on one or two tasks at a time and ask yourself “what can I do now?” This will take the pressure off yourself and stop feelings of overwhelm. You might not get everything you wanted done, but you will get something done and lift that feeling of being stuck. Procrastination invites itself in when we feel overwhelmed with ‘too much to do’ so simplify your day and see one thing through at a time.

2. Meet up with supportive friends and family IN PERSON. Talk over any problems, concerns or anxiety that you are experiencing with them that fuel the procrastination monster! Be as open and as honest as you can. Once you’ve done this, the fear you felt about it will start to diminish because it’s strength comes from you trying to hide it or not discussing it with anyone. Once it’s all out in the open you will feel much better.

3. What you don’t do influences your brain, thoughts and actions just as much as what you do do. This was a big eye-opener for me and I realised the more I resisted something the more anxious I became about doing it and I started to believe eventually that I couldn’t do it, no matter how seemingly small it was. This is because the brain interprets this ‘non action’ to mean you actually can’t do it. Start making a list of the things you feel you can’t do, then write in front of each one I CAN DO… and read it over several times or say it out loud, then do one of the tasks.

4. Tell yourself daily that you’re worth it, you’re worth it, you’re worth it. Why do we struggle to do things for ourselves but can easily do things for others? This conflict of interest usually comes from not feeling worthy enough and assuming our needs are not as important as the needs of others. You must absolutely believe with your whole heart that you are worthy of love, happiness, success and fulfilment and that it is not selfish of you to want these things or prioritise these things. You are worth it!

5. Be flexible and bring your awareness to the moment. Your goals are a process so acknowledge that, you don’t need everything to be done right now. Remember what you’ve already done and achieved and be mindful of what you’re working towards but don’t get too consumed with it. It’s what you’re doing now that counts. Procrastination loves to take you away from living in the moment and slap you right bang into chaotic thoughts of ‘not done’ things from the future to make you feel small.

If you’d like to understand more about this you can book yourself onto a Mindset Motivator or Mindset Activator workshop, coming soon at Acorn! Click here for more information.