Please feel free to share this with your family and friends.
Elayne
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Brrrrrh. Winter has arrived along with sunny days and chilly mornings.   If you are feeling the cold, why not warm up with one of my massages on my heated massage table?  If the sun isn't flooding into my cosy room (which it usually is), then the heater brings it up to temperature so you can relax and unwind while I release your tight muscles.   

My special offer until the end of June is $80 for a 60 minute massage and 10 minutes of soothing holistic pulsing.                          

​Fabulous Fridays starts up again on Friday the 23rd June. Classes vary each week and cover chi kung, breathing, womens' health and well being - I send out an email each week with details.  It runs from 9.30 - 11.45 am and costs $20 - the first class is FREE!

"My house is full of unfinished projects - I start but just cannot finish" my friend admitted me, sitting in her lounge with a sewing project in one corner, art work in another, just waiting to be completed.   "It's the same when I'm at work, I see opportunities but I just don't take the chance.  I tell myself not to be lazy, yet I just can't get started".    Her head hung down, she was frozen with the fear of failure.   

As we talked further, she told me that long ago she was successful - completing projects with ease.   Now even the safest of projects she could not complete and she couldn't break free of the habit.   She admitted she used all sorts of excuses and doubts, no matter how valuable and rewarding the project was:-
 - not enough time
-  it wasn't good enough (I'm not perfect)
-  what if I fail?
- someone else does it better than me
- others might tell me I'm wrong
- my work might not be accepted by other people

She was stuck and her confidence was being eroded away.  By not completing a project, she couldn't experience her true potential AND get the feeling of satisfaction of having achieved something.

Fearing failure prevents us from knowing what we might be capable of.

Failure is not black and white, all or nothing, - success happens by degrees.  If you learn french and you study it for a few years, you might be able to chat with french people, but you might not be able to pass a French exam.  Loosen up your thinking about what constitutes 'success' and 'failure'.

Not all bad comes to do us harm. Failure gives us feedback.  We often learn by what doesn't work.  If we don't try, we don't learn.   Keep an open mind and think in objective terms of feedback and results.   This means you will slowly become more confident because what you are doing is tried and tested.  Next time ask yourself questions like:
"What's good about this?" 
"What else is possible?"
"What skills do I need to develop to get better at this?"

Be realistic.  Sometimes outside factors affect our ability to succeed.  Maybe your computer doesn't have the right programme to complete the task.  Or perhaps you had a bad sleep which impairs your ability to think clearly.

Return to innocence - forget about failure and success altogether.   I have been watching my grandson learn to stand up.  He fell over many times before he could stand.   He doesn't even think about failure or success, he just keeps on practicing.

What does success mean for you?  Often we measure success by other peoples' expectations of what it means (and even then we might be second guessing what their expectations actually are).  What does success mean for you?   A sense of purpose?  Good health?  Connections with friends?  Mastering an activity?  What is success for YOU and how does it make you feel good?  

As a hypnotherapist I help people get past those frustrating hurdles that prevent them from taking an opportunity, or getting a project done.    

What of my friend who was frozen with fear?  Once we had worked together she chose the projects that she really loved and has the staying power to get them done.  Her confidence went up and now she takes more opportunities at work.   She says she's up for the challenge and enjoys the satisfaction that comes with it.

Does failure stop you from moving ahead in life?  Contact me to book a session, so you can get a move on and enjoy success.

Have you ever noticed that when you feel an emotion, like guilt, anxiety, discouragement, boredom, or loneliness you want to eat?    Food can never resolve an emotion, but it does soothe... temporarily.   

In my experience, emotions come and go.  They are meant to flow through us - like water through a hose.   However sometimes emotions get stuck in our bodies - just like a kink in a hose will block the water flow.

If I could give you a 60 second technique to shift a food craving or an emotion (and un-kink the hose), would you be interested?       

My teacher Lori Hammond taught me this powerful mindset tool which I really love because it's easy and super effective.   Here is how it goes:-

1.  Connect with the craving or emotion.  Make it stronger by tensing your body up and shallow breathing in your upper chest.

2.  Rate on a scale of 1-10 how strong the craving or emotion is.

3.  Sit up straight, and breathe slowly and deeply into your belly while doing this next part.  Drop into the feeling.
Where do you feel it in your body?   
What colour is it?   (Breathe deeply)
Does it have a shape? 
Sensation? (Another big slow breath)
Sound?
Allow to be as vivid as possible.  (Take one more long slow breath)

4.  Now simply look at it and say in a gentle voice... "There you are - I see you".

5.  Don't try to manage it or make it go away.  Just notice it and B R E A T H E.

6.  As you observe it, you can ask yourself "What if I can feel this and be okay?"  Repeat this sentence a few times.  

7.  Now, look around the room you are in for three things that are red or blue.   Name them out loud.

8.  Observe the place in your body where that discomfort used to be.     Notice how the sensation has changed on a scale of 1-10.
 
It's so simple, isn't it?

If you want to trim down this spring, would you like to join me on my Weight Loss Made Easy Course starting on the 11th October?   


Elayne
p.s.  You can get a recording of this protocol from my free resources page on my website. 
​You can also get my brochure on Stress and Anxiety

Remember a time when you felt ravenously hungry? 
What did that feel like?   
Where did you feel it in your body?

Now, remember a time when you felt completely stuffed. 
What did that feel like, and where did you feel that in your body?

Good.   
​

You have taken the first step in re-setting your appetite - to eat when you are hungry and to stop when you are full.

Many of us are not able to recognise our body's natural signals of REAL hunger and when we are FULL.   So often we are distracted by TV, our phones or conversation, and we don't realise that we have eaten too much until it's too late.

This 20 minute exercise is easily incorporated into your meal time for a few days and can have a big impact on your weight and health - it is called Slow Eating.     

Instead of gobbling down your food, take a few minutes to slow it right down.   
When you chew your food   s l o w l y   - one mouthful at a time - you will start to notice:-
The flavours and textures in your mouth. 
As you become more aware of them, you can listen to your body and its messages
" That's enough peas for now" or "I love those crunchy apples, give me some more" or "Put those potatoes with the eggs". 
Our body has an innate wisdom as to what nutrients it needs and will speak to you when you listen. 
 
Here's how to slow eat:-
 
1.   Turn off all distractions; i.e. tv, music, phone.
2.  Serve up your meal and smell your food - this galvanizes your digestive enzymes into action to help your body break your food down.
3.  Take a deep breath in and do a long sigh on the outbreath.  This puts the body into 'rest and digest' mode - it neutralises the hormones of stress which makes us store fat.
4.  Eat one mouthful at a time and chew your food slowly savouring the flavours and textures.  Put your knife and fork down between each mouthful.
5.  Notice what your body likes and doesn't like.   Listen to it and select foods in the combinations that feel right for you.  It might be that you are attracted to the colour of the food, or the texture (crunchy/mushy/chewy), or it could be the flavour or smell.   

Concentrate on your food and nothing else.  When you eat slowly, your senses get more attuned and give you messages about what to eat. They literally 'draw' you to what the body wants, and make you 'move away' from what it doesn't want.  Make sure you enjoy every mouthful.  As soon as the enjoyment level drops, it's a signal that it's time to stop eating.   
 
Here is the hunger scale
Slightly hungry
Neutral
Pleasantly Satisfied
Full
Stuffed
Bloated
Bloated/Nauseous
 
When your tummy is getting full it releases a hormone called leptin that sends a signal to the brain that you have had enough (you feel satisfied).   With every bite after that, your enjoyment of food will drop, and you will also feel more and more pressure in your tummy area. 
 
This is the time to push your plate away.  Take another breath in and a slow breath out with a sigh.  This reminds your body to rest and digest.   
What if you could push your plate away and trust that you have eaten enough?    

This teaches you how to tune into your own hunger levels.  It resets your body's innate wisdom to recognise when you are getting full and when it is time to stop eating.

Elayne

Stress is connected with being very busy, and sometimes having too much on our plate.  The mind gets into an overthinking loop and becomes hypervigilant - always watching out for the next thing to do.  A massage is a wonderful way to take some time out:- to calm down, release tension and relax.   Here are three benefits to having a massage when you are feeling stressed:
 
1.  You have probably heard of the term mindfulness?   Mindfulness brings you into the present moment.    It gives you ‘time out’ from your busy mind by slowing your thoughts and brings you back into your body.  Having a massage enables you to leave all that busy-ness outside the door, to lie down on a warm, comfortable table and do nothing for an hour.  The act of being focused on your body, and the sensation of being massaged, allows the mind to calm down and relax.
 
2.  Have you noticed that your muscles tighten up when you get stressed?   Particularly the neck and shoulders?  Often when we are stressed we lift our shoulders up just a little and hold them there for long periods of time.   Or maybe we stick the chin forward to look at the computer screen.  Being in these positions for long periods of time is not natural for the body and over time it becomes painful.   The pain then makes us tense up and so it goes on…. Having a massage breaks the cycle and relieves the pain.   
 
3.  There is a sense of general all-over body tension that occurs when you are very busy and stressed.   Shallow breathing indicates to the body that you are not safe, and it enters into flight, freeze or flight mode.   The body tenses up, ready to spring into action at any given moment.  Slow, deep breathing into the tummy indicates to the body that you are safe and it can relax.  So stress can be dissolved very quickly if you breathe into your belly, gently filling up the lungs all the way up with clean fresh air.    I often ask people to “take a deep breath” while I am working with them.  This not only helps to release tight muscles, it helps the whole body to let go of tension and relax.
 
Here are a few tips for you when receiving a massage:

1. Leave your hectic life at the door – you now have an appointment with your body!
2. Breathe long slow deep breaths throughout the massage
3. Focus on the massage – follow the hands touching your body and feel the body sensations
4. Keep all conversation (if any) to what you feel in your body and stay in the ‘here and now’.

  

Have you ever wondered why we need salt?   Apart from the fact that it tastes good, it also helps the functioning of our cells.   The problem is that there is table salt (an extract of sea salt) and THEN there is sea salt!    Table salt is made up of two minerals, Sodium and Chloride – the two major components of salt.    However it does not contain the 82 minerals that are found in Celtic or Himalayan salt.  Our body needs all the minerals and trace elements to function well.    
 

• Not only does salt assist with the uptake of water in our bodies, it also:
• Relaxes muscles because it contains 3 types of magnesium (a common remedy for cramp)
• Aids nerve function
• Helps with blood volume and pressure
• Helps the body transmit messages between the nerves and the muscle fibres for movement
  
• Increases fluid volume in the muscles

 
We lose about 2.5 litres of water a day and this needs to be replaced.   However some people find that drinking that amount of water means they either get fluid retention or they are often in the loo.   Water is absorbed and retained better when you put a crystal or two of Celtic or Himalayan salt on the tongue first, let it dissolve in your mouth, before you drink a glass of water.