Acorn Health Blog

What you feed your mind determines your appetite

By Sally Race Clinical Hypnotherapist

Sounds strange? Well, its true!
Much like your body, your mind also responds to what it is fed. Eat a healthy nutritious diet and you’ll be healthy (and happier), feed your mind healthy thoughts and the same will happen.

So what do I mean when I say ‘healthy thoughts’?
I’ll give you an example. In my role as a hypnotherapist, I see people who want to change the way they feel. Many of my clients experience anxiety and when I ask them what they want from the hypnotherapy sessions, their answer is often ‘not to feel anxious’ or ‘to get rid of the anxiety’.

Question; What do you want to change in your life? (remember your answer… we’ll comeback to it).

At that point, I put in a rule; your answer must not include any negative words, such as ‘not, don’t, rid, anxiety, stress or anything else that has negative connotations’. So, what do you want?
This is the point that often has people scratching their heads, often starting a sentence and then realising it has a negative word slipping in and stopping again.

Coming back to your answer, are there any negative words in there? if so, can you change it so it contains none?

Why do I do this? Why do I make people sometimes struggle to change that sentence? Because what you think feeds your mind. If your thoughts are full of what you don’t want, then your mind will be too focused on that to focus on what you do.

Experiment: DO NOT THINK OF A BLACK CAT! Whatever you do, don’t let a black cat thought enter your head, no, don’t do it, don’t think of a black cat at all.
So, how was that? did you manage it, or is that furry little feline still in there?
My guess is probably. So if your goal, your desire is to be rid of anxiety and you keep thinking about it in that way, your mind will be focused on anxiety, want it or not.

Time for new healthier thoughts
Our subconscious minds love repetition. Whenever we repeat something (and it doesn’t matter if its a thought, words we speak or hear or something we do), our subconscious mind takes it on board and puts it on autopilot. Eventually we just do/feel/say things without thinking about them. This is brilliant as it means that we can multi task better and be faster, however, if we feed our mind with the wrong things to put onto auto pilot, we automatically end up with that we don’t want.

So its time for change (if you are ready). Every time you catch yourself thinking something in a negative way, STOP. rephrase that thought into a statement of what you want and repeat that instead.

‘I don’t want to be anxious’ could change to; ‘I feel free and happy’
‘Get rid of anxiety’ could change to; ‘I feel more confident and comfortable everyday’.

In essence, feed your mind with what you want and your mind will take you there, maybe not today or tomorrow, but be consistent and it will and you will notice.

acornnaturalhealth.co.uk

Indian Head Massage – a
wonderful treatment in its own right

This is a wonderfully relaxing massage treatment in a class all of it’s
own!

The client is comfortably seated in a low-backed chair for this massage,
which makes it perfect for the less able-bodied amongst us.

And it can be with or without
massage oils making it ideal for home visits or the workplace, as well as the
treatment room.

It provides a wealth of physical and psychological benefits .. and you
needn’t go all the way to India for one either!

So what is it?

Indian Head Massage (or “Champissage”) combines stimulation of acupressure
points with a wonderful range of
relaxing massage moves to release stress that has accumulated in the tissues,
muscles and joints of the neck, shoulders, upper back, arms, neck, face, and scalp.

What are its origins?

Indian Head Massage has
derived from the ancient Ayurvedic healing system and dates back more than
4,000 years. The art is still passed
down the generations by Indian women today,
being taught to children so that they can return the favour to their
parents and other relatives!

In the West, Indian Head
Massage has been adapted to help eliminate stress and tension in our hectic
lives, and will usually combine both traditional Indian and western massage
techniques.

It is a true “holistic” treatment as it can be
applied purely for deep relaxation, or from a healing approach involving work
on the energy centres referred to as chakras.

An Indian Head Massage is carried
out as a separate treatment in its own right, yet can also be combined with
other treatments and is often used alongside conventional care in hospices,
hospitals and other healthcare settings.

What are the benefits?

* Gently relieves muscular stiffness and
tension

* Helps you let stress
and anxiety melt softly away

* Can help relieve
depression, and improve concentration

* Lifts the emotions and
helps you feel deeply calm and peaceful

* Can help release
endorphins to help with positive thinking

* Promotes deeper,
calmer breathing

* Aids relief from
tension headaches, eyestrain and migraines.

* Softens and nourishes
the skin and assists healthier hair

* Stimulates circulation
and lymph drainage aiding elimination of toxins and odema
* Can helps relieve sinus congestion and headaches

* Assists deep, peaceful
sleep

Can everyone enjoy and Indian Head Massage?

There are certain
conditions where you should avoid massage e.g. epilepsy, certain heart
conditions, contagious skin diseases or
if you have had recent surgery. A full consultation will take place prior to
your treatment, which will provide me with the opportunity to ensure massage is
right for you. However, if in any doubt, please talk to your doctor
before arranging a treatment.

What happens in a treatment?

The client is seated on a low-backed chair
for Indian Head Massage, making it ideal for the less able bodied client. As a treatment couch is not essential, it is
also suitable for treatments at home or in the workplace. (Contact Eileen for more information on
arranging office/home treatments)

An Indian Head Massage can be carried out either with or without massage oils. Without oils, the client can remain fully
clothed, wearing a loose-fitting, comfortable tee-shirt or something similar.

When oils are used, the client removes upper outer-clothing
and a large towel wrapped around to
ensure modesty. Oils help ensure a
smoother massage and a range of beautifully aromatic, blended oils are
available to help enhance your massage experience.

A full Indian Head Massage lasts around 40
minutes, but do allow a full hour for your appointment so you can take time
after your massage session to drink a glass of water whilst you sit quietly,
gently bring your awareness fully back to the present.

Shorter taster sessions are also available if
you’d like to come along and give it a try for the first time. Contact Acorn for details on latest Taster
Session offers!

Aftercare

Some clients can
feel extremely tired or slightly dizzy after treatment, so it is essential to arrange
your Indian Head Massage for a time when you can return to a relaxing
environment afterwards and keep warm, as massage reduces your blood pressure. Drinking plenty of water and avoiding
caffeine/alcohol will help your body de-tox so you get maximum benefits from
your treatment. You will receive full
free aftercare advice following your treatment.

How many treatments do I need?

A single treatment
will be deeply relaxing and beneficial for you and it can be tailored to
provide an emphasis on specific areas of concern e.g. congested sinuses, stiff
neck etc.

You can also
include a regular monthly Indian Head Massage treatment as part of your own health
and wellbeing regime.

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