B for Backache

23 Tuesday Oct 2012

Posted by in Autogenic Training, Backache, Relaxation, Stress

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Backache is a surprisingly common condition that often requires complete bed rest. This affects both the individual sufferer, and the country as a whole – working days lost due to back pain damage the British economy by an estimated £12.3 billion a year. Men are more likely to suffer back pain than women but both sexes can benefit from a variety of self-help measures and professional treatment.

Some people choose to lie on the floor with a pillow under their knees while watching TV, while others invest in an orthopaedic mattress for their bed. Chiropractic treatment is another option, and offers an evidence-based approach to acute and chronic back pain.

I believe that the source of back pain can be found in past life events and behavioral or mental patterns we adopt. Posture is very important – the way we sit defines our emotions, and our emotions define the way we sit. Equally key to back health are an ergonomic office environment, regular exercise and a healthy diet.

As human beings our body is upright which means that we are more vulnerable than animals because we bear weight on just two extremities. As a result, however, we also benefit from the openness, responsiveness and freedom of the arms. The back holds together the whole body and provides flexibility.

We react to everything that happens to us with our whole body, making repeated imprints in our cells. Some of us accumulate and suppress the tension that is created when we respond to challenging situations. When we experience back pain we have to examine this uprightness and what flexibility (both physical and mental) means to us. Maybe we believe in an idea very strongly and refuse to look around and accept others?

With any spinal restriction we should examine the organs and/or nerves that may also be affected by the misalignment. Backache is more complex than it appears and needs to be investigated thoroughly.

Relaxation can also help. Imagine you scan through your body like a spotlight in the theatre. Without trying to judge or achieve anything, observe what is there. This kind of quality focus will help you to become aware of  and gradually offload any tension you are storing in your body.

Further resources:
ML-Chiropractic 604 Fulham Road  London, Fulham SW6 5RP
Management of pain through autogenic training
Back pain blog – visualization is not part of the basic Autogenic Training exercise as this article states, but the standard exercise alone is also helpful in releasing tension.

A for Allergy and Asthma

01 Tuesday May 2012

Posted by in anxiety, Asthma, Autogenic Training, Stress

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On 1 May 2012 it is World Asthma Day.

Asthma (sometimes called bronchial asthma) is characterised by difficulty breathing. Its symptoms, which include coughing, wheezing and chest tightness, are common when sufferers experience an “asthma attack”, but with proper treatment asthmatics (of whom there are more than five million in the UK) can live well. There is no cure for asthma, but there are ways to control the symptoms.

Whether your asthma is allergic, exercise-induced, cough variant, occupational or nocturnal, the trigger is nearly always related to stress and anxiety.

During an asthma attack, muscle fibres in the walls of the bronchi and in the bronchioles within the lungs go into spasm. The contraction of these muscles causes narrowing of the bronchial tubes– giving the disturbing feeling of tightness and the inability to breathe without wheezing.

Research has shown that muscular relaxation alone appears to be ineffective  in the treatment of asthma. However, mental relaxation techniques such as autogenic training and transcendental meditation seem to produce a clinically and statistically significant improvement of symptoms.

Autogenic Training doesn’t focus on any single breathing technique; indeed, focusing on breathing is only introduced during the fifth week. This means that the body is already prepared for this next stage and the only thing we have to do is to follow the natural rhythm of breathing. Typically, the breathing rate slows down and it becomes possible to move from thoracic to diaphragmatic breathing.

General tension and relaxation has an effect on each type of the muscles in the body – skeletal, visceral and cardiac  – so practicing a 10-15 minute relaxation exercise helps to rewrite the programming of these tissues and cells. As ever, the trick with relaxation is to let it happen and allow your lungs to be filled with fresh air.

Other resources:
Saltcave: Non-drug treatments for asthma and allergy
Dietrich Molte – Speaking Of: Asthma
Relaxation therapy in Asthma

Exploding the myths about sleep – and silence

07 Wednesday Mar 2012

Posted by in Insomnia, relaxation technique, Sleep

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The biggest story on the BBC News website for the past few days has been “The myth of the eight hour sleep” – surpassed by “Segmented sleep – ten strange things people do at night”. The first article discussed how the “ideal” night’s sleep hasn’t always consisted of a single eight-hour chunk – in previous times and cultures, people were used to sleeping for four hours, wake for two, and then return to sleep. The second profiled people who thrive on waking in the night, and show how their unusual sleep patterns can actually bring them peace, clarity, and an edge to their lives that was missing when they tried to conform to the expected societal norms of sleep.

Reading about what people can achieve during the middle of the night made me think about how we can actually achieve a huge amount in a short space of time. When some of my clients working in highly stressful jobs tell me “I haven’t got a single minute of free time to relax”, I always challenge them. They are usually the ones awake in the night, tossing and turning and obsession over their anxieties. Yet they claim they can’t spare a minute during the day to engage in an activity that would help them sleep better.

Everybody, even the Prime Minister, can spare one minute. Here are some ideas on ten things you can do in a minute of silence. And you don’t have to get up in the middle of the night to do them!

I’d love to hear your feedback or share your ideas of what you get done in your minute of rest time.

Surfing the brainwaves

20 Friday Jan 2012

Posted by in brain, relaxation technique, Stress

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“But I can’t relax! I’m just a naturally stressed person. I tried relaxing before and it didn’t work”.

It’s all too easy to buy into the concept that you are an anxious or ‘highly strung’ type of person and go through life struggling to enjoy yourself. For may people, even though they say they’d like to change their life for the better – and are even shown the tools – they give it a half-hearted go and conclude that it’s just not for them.

I’d be willing to bet that you’ve had quite a few relaxed moments in your existence so far. Most of us listen to music, watch films, read books or go for walks. Everything slows down, you feel at peace. You may even lose your sense of time. Even if it was just momentary, your mind and body have relaxed before – and they can again. You just need to practise.

As they say in the face cream commercials – “now for the science bit”.

There are four different types of brainwaves, with varying degrees of activity. When you are awake, thinking and actively ‘doing’, the beta waves dominate. These are the fastest of the four. This is followed by alpha waves which come to the fore when you sit down and rest after a day at work, or engage in something slow paced such as gardening or going for a walk.

Have you ever driven home and not really been aware of the journey? Or talked with a friend but can’t recall much of the conversation? You were probably experiencing the effect of theta waves, which are active during lapses of concentration or connection.

Gamma, the slowest brainwaves, engage when we are deeply asleep. Our sleep cycle is typically 90 minutes long and cycles from beta, to alpha, to theta, to gamma, and then back again. This is why sometimes it is very hard to wake from a sleep, and other times you are alert the moment you open your eyes.

Research has shown that when practising relaxation or meditation we can learn to experience the benefits of theta and gamma waves. The key objective when we learn to relax is for our brain to recognise the difference between being relaxed and awake. Whenever we practice a relaxation exercise in the day, it’s important to close it properly. If you’re practising in the evening, you can always turn on your side and go to sleep (that’s if you haven’t already fallen asleep!).

Modern life demands that we engage our brains throughout the day and undertake several activities at once. This doesn’t leave much opportunity to recharge the batteries or slow down the hyperactive brain. For this reason I always recommend practising a short relaxation exercise (five or ten minutes) during the day, rather than waiting until the end of the day when it’s all too tempting to just collapse in a heap on the sofa.

Be aware that the mind will wander – but don’t worry, that’s what brains do. It doesn’t mean we can’t relax, simply that we just need to bring our attention back to the exercise. If we have to do it 100 times, that’s absolutely fine and all part of the process. Practice makes the master, as they say, so enjoy learning to sail on your brainwaves. It’s a beautiful ride.

Sleepless in the City

08 Tuesday Nov 2011

Posted by in Autogenic Training, Insomnia, relaxation technique, Stress

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It’s funny how little things can throw us off course. Our body gets so used to its rhythms and patterns that any changes to our daily routine can have a big impact. I really noticed the phenomenon after the clocks went back at the weekend. Just the difference of an hour can affect how we sleep, and our feelings about ourselves as a result.

Sleep problems are increasingly common, thanks to the hectic pace of life today, and the 24/7 culture that expects us to be available whenever, wherever.  There are some sleep problems that are largely unavoidable, such as the fatigue associated with parenting babies and small children, nighttime shift work and international travel. But many people still struggle to drop off and sleep soundly, even without intervening factors.

It was problems with sleeping that led me to discover Autogenic Training (AT) in 2004. Despite the severity of my insomnia, it disappeared in a few short weeks as I learned how to take my body and mind into a deeply relaxed state. About a year later I began to experience sleeping difficulties again, and was worried that I had relapsed, or that the AT had somehow ‘worn off’.

However, I was reassured to discover that it was just another layer of my development, and that I had several more to go in order to help my body and mind to truly heal. A few things I learned from that experience were:

-       It takes time to develop a condition, and will take some time (but not as long) to heal it. There is no quick fix, whatever we might like to believe.

-       It can help to befriend your condition, rather than view it as an enemy. This will help you to understand what it needs.

-       Things might temporarily get worse before they get better, as if to remind you of your problem’s existence before you can let it go.

-       Your condition might flare up again from time to time, but less severely and for shorter periods. This is all part of the healing process.

One of my clients had suffered from insomnia for 50 years, but after five weeks of AT training could sleep for five hours instead of the usual two to three.

Another client admits that he does his best business brainstorming when he’s not able to sleep. He actually enjoys these creative times. I’ve observed this with other people too – we may experience a condition for years and wish to change it, but on another level we’re kind of attached to it. We actually need to go through a grieving process and say goodbye to the nights when we enjoyed the silence and mystery of the darkness.

You may also find you buy into the ‘romance’ of insomnia, or the competitive sleeplessness that pervades our society. People often boast about working into the small hours and still hitting the gym at 6am. Margaret Thatcher was well known not only for surviving but thriving on four hours’ sleep a night. It’s important if you do hold some positive’ associations with insomnia, that you let them go so you can truly relax.
Sleeplessness should not become a lifestyle.

I found that avoiding coffee after 5pm, having a light dinner, a hot bath and using lavender essential oils helped. I also benefited significantly from a series of shiatsu treatments.

However you choose to treat your condition, it’s important to regularly recharge your battery. I’ve written about the importance of ‘me time’ in a previous post , and that you enjoy what you are doing. Autogenic Training (AT) has been proven to help with insomnia. If you would like to come for a trial session, please get in touch. Anyone can learn AT.  It’s simple, you can practise it anywhere, and the results can be life-changing. You’ve nothing to lose but your insomnia.

Sleep tight!

A labour of love

25 Tuesday Oct 2011

Posted by in birth, pregnancy, Pregnancy and relaxation

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A lot has been written about pregnancy and birth, much of it contradictory, but one thing all the books agree on it the importance of preparation. We tend to focus a lot on the outcome of the birth (and you will often hear people say “the most important thing is a healthy baby, regardless of now it came out). But the process of ‘giving birth’ for the mother, and of ‘being born’ for the baby, are nonetheless very important events. The way you enter the world has more bearing on the rest of your life than you might think, as I discovered when I looked into the circumstances of my own birth.

You might have heard about the concept of rebirthing – in a nutshell, it is all about how what happens during those hours of labour and entry into the world is repeated during our later life. I found it quite astonishing to see how I was repeating the patterns set from my birth. So, for example, I tend to prefer working in isolation, am comfortable in my own company and find it hard to accept help or work well in partnership. How interesting to draw a link, then, with the circumstances of my birth, where I was separated from my mother for long periods and only given back for sporadic feeding. I learnt from the very first days that I had only myself to rely on, and over 30 years later I am teaching myself about accepting help and working as part of a team.

According to the psychiatrist Dr Stanislav Grof, the creator of a form of breathwork aimed at achieving wholeness and integration of mind and body, there are four significant aspects to birth:

1.              Amniotic Universe – The only world that life knows at this point. Blissful feelings of peace and joy in a healthy womb.

2.              Cosmic Engulfment – No exit. Equilibrium disturbed, contractions begin. Unbearable feeling of being stuck in hell with no way of escaping.

3.              Death versus Rebirth Struggle – Second clinical stage of childbirth; intense struggle for survival. The pathway starts to open.

4.            Death versus Rebirth Experience – The child is born – ‘I survived’. Intense ecstatic feelings of liberation and love. A new world begins.

If you’re pregnant and approaching the birth, you’ve probably thought a lot about how you will deal with your labour and what pain management techniques you may choose to use. But it can be enlightening to view the process from the baby’s point of view as well. Having spent eight or nine months feeling safe and protected in the womb, you start to feel uncomfortable – there isn’t enough space any more and you know you need to leave. You have no concept of how this will happen, whether it will be easy or hard, or what will happen on the other side. You have no patterns yet to follow, only your instinct.

You can tune into your baby during periods of relaxation and be on the alert for the signs they are giving you. It might feel silly to you but try to talk aloud to your unborn child, let them know you’re there and are listening to them. Tell him or her that you are really looking forward to meeting them and you will be receptive to their signals that they want to make an appearance.

A friend of mine once told me that the most surprising thing to her about giving birth was that a baby came out! She had focused on how she would experience the sensations, deal with contractions, etc, but couldn’t quite believe that there was another person suddenly there. Had she thought about the birth as a partnership with her baby, with each playing their own special role, it might not have been such a shock to the system.

Birth is still one of the few truly magical processes left to us and symbolically surrounds us in many ways. The very act of waking from a night’s sleep is a rebirth of sorts, leaving our warm, safe bed for a day of unknown experiences. Or think about the seasons and the way nature constantly renews itself. I find it a wonderful reminder that we actually ‘know’ so much less about the way the world works than we think!

A pregnant pause for thought

29 Thursday Sep 2011

Posted by in pregnancy

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I remember that I became an aunt for the third time exactly a year ago, and I found it just as exciting and special as it was first time around. I couldn’t help but marvel at the perfection of my little niece’s tiny body and limbs – and of the process that had created her. For nine months she was growing in the perfect environment at the perfect temperature with just the right amount of light and shade. Everything she needed to become a perfect human being. When you think about it, you can understand why babies scream as soon as they’re born. What a shock to leave such a comfortable and familiar environment, what an assault on the senses!

Of course, there are also times that the baby will be affected by some of the goings on outside that warm, safe place. A physical shock (such as the mother falling or experiencing significant pain) or high levels of anxiety will disturb that calm and comfortable interior. While it is impossible to avoid everyday stress and worry (as life, sadly, doesn’t always turn out as we might hope) research has shown that high levels of stress can adversely affect the developing foetus, causing behavioural and developmental problems. A study conducted a couple of years ago found that babies whose mothers had experienced significant stress in pregnancy (such as a bereavement or severe relationship problems) had on average a 10 point lower IQ than those without.

Still more research has shown that mothers who consciously used relaxation techniques gave birth to calmer babies than those who had not. It was as if the baby had already learnt about relaxing before they were even born! And if we needed further proof, a study of over 1,000 women in Germany found that 70 per cent of those who had used autogenic training (AT) techniques during labour and childbirth experienced ‘notable pain relief’ and were more likely to experience a natural birth process.

A certain degree of anxiety during pregnancy is absolutely normal. Especially if it is your first baby, you will probably have many questions regarding the health of your baby, its effect on your relationship, family finances, the kind of mother you’ll be – all manner of normal and sensible concerns. The key is to not keep it all bottled up. It’s crucial to find someone to talk to, be it your partner, a family member or a good friend. Don’t worry about sounding stupid or suffer in silence – people want to help and be supportive!

I don’t want to scare any pregnant readers out there, especially as there are many stressors over which we have no control. So please don’t feel guilty if you’ve felt anxious during your pregnancy, the likelihood is that you and your baby will be just fine. But, knowing what we do about the correlation between stress and foetal development, it makes sense to arm yourself with the best possible tools so you can make things as easy as possible on yourself and the life growing within you.

Relaxing during pregnancy

There are many things you can do to make yourself more comfortable during pregnancy. Here  is a simple relaxation exercise that you can practice on a daily basis to get in touch with your body and your baby. At the end of the exercise, try and focus on your abdomen and the baby inside. You might even want to talk to him or her – from 20 weeks it has been proven that babies can ‘hear’ and maybe even recognise the sound of your voice.

Lie down whenever possible, although after 30 weeks it is advised to lie only on your left hand side, rather than flat on your back as this can put too much pressure on your blood vessels and make you feel faint. Exercise can help you feel more energised, although the further advanced you are in your pregnancy, the easier you should take things. Yoga, swimming and walking are all good, low-impact exercises that can help, but make sure you check with your GP or midwife before starting any new exercise programme.

Other good ways of relaxing include listening to calming music or a relaxation tape, or getting a specialised pregnancy massage or reflexology treatment.
Remember, happy mum = happy baby!

It’s also important to spend time having fun and relaxing with your partner, if you have one. Having a new baby can be an immense challenge to the strongest of relationships, and time you put in for the two of you, both before and after the birth, will pay immense dividends during those broken nights and early days.

Above all, enjoy relaxing in your pregnancy! You will be run off your feet when the baby actually arrives, so this is a time to slow down the pace and let yourself be pampered and looked after by people who love you. It’s not all a one-way street…

Breathing in….and out

14 Monday Mar 2011

Posted by in Harmony, Managing Change, Retreat

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Do you ever get the feeling of being so overwhelmed with life and its challenges that you just want time to stop completely? It was this urge that drew me to a retreat in France at a place called Plum Village. I knew I needed to slow down and reevaluate my life but, once there, I spent the first few days wondering what I’d let myself in for.

This was no swanky spa break, but a proper spiritual retreat, led by Buddhist monks and nuns, in accordance with Buddhist traditions and ceremonies.

One of the philosophies that struck a real chord with me was the importance of letting things happen without forcing. Three days into the retreat, I went on a walking meditation in the hills, which involved focusing on how your feet make contact with the earth, helping to prevent other thoughts and worries intruding and distracting you from the moment.

As a result of focusing on my moving feet I found it increasingly difficult to continue. I became aware of how each step contributed to a greater change and had to force myself to go up a small hill. This was a very significant experience which put me in mind of the rebirthing I had undergone a couple of years before.

On my return I felt very tired and sad, as if I was grieving something lost, but I wasn’t sure exactly what.

The mind can go in a thousand directions
But on this lovely path, I walk in peace
With each step a gentre breeze blows
With each step a flower blooms
(F72, Walking Meditation Gatha)

Another important experience for me happened during a walking meditation where a strong and powerful energy moved me to run ahead of the group. I felt it was a healthy, positive energy rather than a destructive one so I let it lead me – but ended up lost in the beautiful French hills. I closed my eyes and tried to get in touch with the intuitive part of me that might know the way, but without success. I had to wait for one of the nuns to arrive to point me in the right direction, which was another way of changing old patterns. I have always found it difficult to ask for help, but this situation forced my hand and I have found it easier to do since this episode.

I also found that even when strong emotions surfaced, I was able to make them melt away – almost to tame their overwhelming power -  by practising a variety of meditations. What seemed to really work was to stop watering the seed of grief, anger or fear, but instead to focus on my breathing to help me stay present in the here and now.

Why not give it a try – follow your in breath from the beginning to the end, than follow your out breath, again from beginning to end – it is not as easy as it sounds! Once you calm down the inner chatter, amazing things start to happen.

Harmony

10 Thursday Feb 2011

Posted by in Harmony

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Embracing the Way, you become embraced;
Breathing gently, you become newborn;
Clearing your mind, you become clear;
Nurturing your children, you become impartial;
Opening your heart, you become accepted;
Accepting the world, you embrace the Way.

Bearing and nurturing,
Creating but not owning,
Giving without demanding,
This is harmony.

From Tao Te Ching

Top tips to de-stress this Christmas

14 Tuesday Dec 2010

Posted by in Christmas, Stress

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We all know that Christmas is supposed to be a time of fun and relaxation, but for many it is a limitless source of stress and anxiety. From family ‘issues’ to exorbitant gift requests, the pressure to enjoy the ‘perfect’ Christmas may be so great that we feel disappointed and inadequate because our holiday somehow does not measure up to the ideal.

Here are my top 5 suggestions that have enabled me to enter into the Christmas spirit with minimal stress.

  1. Be prepared! It’s not just the Scouts who benefit from this motto – give yourself plenty of time to decide how you want to communicate with your family and friends. Rather than send traditional cards by post, this year I chose to paint and then photograph a card that I then emailed out.
    I also contacted family abroad well in advance asking for their present suggestions as I knew I would not be able to carry bulky items on the plane with me. We also agreed a gift budget, which I have found to be great in preventing spiraling costs and resentment from whoever spent more money.
  2. Ask friends for their Christmas survival tips. Useful ones I picked up included avoiding Oxford St in the evening or at weekends (or if you have no choice, going first thing on a Saturday to avoid the crowds), taking an afternoon off from work to focus solely on Christmas (be it tree decorating or pudding preparation) and buying presents throughout the year so there’s not a mad dash come 23rd December. Although the last tip isn’t massively helpful if you haven’t started your shopping yet, but worth remembering for next year!
  3. Change your perspective. You can either seethe with resentment at ‘having’ to visit your great Aunty Ethel and ‘waste’ your precious annual leave or see it as an opportunity to remember where you’ve come from, appreciate the people you have in your life, and do something with those cold, short days you’d only be spending inside anyway. I tell myself that the summer holiday is mine to spend as I choose, but Christmas is not all about me. Alter your expectations and your mood may change accordingly.
  4. If you’re hosting Christmas lunch, just remember that’s all you need to do – ‘conduct the choir’. It’s perfectly reasonable to ask guests to bring a dish or a course, and online food shopping is essential if you want to avoid fighting over the last turkey. Just remember to book your delivery slot in plenty of time, they disappear fast!
    It can also be helpful to have a few after lunch ‘activities’ to hand to ward off potential booze-fuelled arguments.
  5. It might not be what you want to hear, but we all know that overindulging can make you feel worse, and if you have an existing health condition such as diabetes, big culinary blowouts can be a real no-no. Even those of us with relatively robust constitutions can overtax our kidneys and livers, so make sure you also fit in some exercise, plenty of sleep, and alternate the indulgent days with some lighter food and drink. When you feel fit and healthy your body and mind are more able to cope with the inevitable ups and downs of a family Christmas.

It’s easy to forget that some people would give anything to be surrounded by family, arguments and all. Being alone at Christmas can be a bleak and depressing experience, especially if the individual is recently bereaved. If it feels appropriate, do invite people you know will be alone to join you. It’s just one day out of the whole year and might make a real difference to them. If they’d rather be alone, they’ll let you know.

If it’s you who’ll be spending it alone, decide how you want to play it. If you want to ignore it, why not! Or you could always look into volunteering as a way of being surrounded by people without feeling like you’re ‘imposing’.

It would, of course, be remiss of me not to include a juicy plug for my own business – why not give the gift of relaxation by downloading a gift voucher from my website! And please do get in touch with some of your Christmas de-stressing tips. It’s great to know what works for others. And have a wonderful break, whatever you do.

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