Shakespeare was right, cares do keep you awake. Many insomniacs and troubled sleepers list red meat issues like health, relationships, jobs, taxes and finances as the cause behind not falling asleep, not staying asleep, waking up frequently throughout the night and generally tossing, turning, teeth grinding and greeting the morning tired and unrefreshed.

After Shakespeare, many scientists and researchers in our industrialised world have provided copious quantities of research proving that sleep deprivation affects our health ranging from poor quality concentration to fertility problems and heart disease.  And if you are tired during the day, cannot concentrate on your job and your relationships are suffering, guess what? The cycle of poor sleep continues.

There comes a time in the life of any insomniac or poor sleeper when he or she becomes tired of trying and failing with all the established advice from well meaning Gurus.  We have all stood waiting at the supermarket checkout and browsed those  popular magazines that every week seem to have yet another article on how to sleep, all of which contain words such as no caffeine, aromatherapy baths, no electronic stimulation, eat turkey and the rest. You could just take the easy route and go to the Doctor and become addicted to pills and live with mental and physical side effects.

I am a long term meditator and characteristically have a laid back personality that needs to be kick started, yet I had sleeping problems after a long stay in hospital.  No one could give me an explanation that made sense to me.  While living in New York, I was drawn to a sign for a Sleep retreat conducted by Michael Krugman who was the founder of THE SOUNDER SLEEP SYSTEM®.  I had found his name through the Feldenkrais world in which I am a Practitioner and Michael Krugman was a Trainer who had insomnia and then developed this system through his own research and experience.

This retreat was my last resort.  It was a three day workshop and Michael is brilliant with his intelligence, research and knowledge behind the science of sleep and sleep disorders and for me, it was the first time someone had offered a proven explanation as to why some of us just cannot sleep.  We learnt about the brain and the central nervous system and how the Sounder Sleep System® exploits the two fundamental, opposing principles of the human nervous system, excitation and inhibition to produce its sleep inducing effects.   The Sounder Sleep System® uses small, slow, gentle bodily movements to initiate and amplify the inhibitory process resulting in natural restful sleep whenever we need it.

My introduction to this Method gave me the most relaxing weekend that I have ever experienced and as I practiced the Methods over the following weeks my sleep returned to perfection.  I could fall asleep and stay asleep without waking up at three in the morning and staying awake.  I became a devoted fan and trained to be a Teacher of the Sounder Sleep System®.

“The best cure for Insomnia is to get a lot of Sleep.” W. C. Fields

Over a course of five sessions, with homework in between, anyone can learn the easy practices that make up the menu of the Sounder Sleep System®.

• Guided Natural Breathing – sounds an obvious thing to do , but one of the first biological rhythms that becomes disturbed by stress, anxiety or illness is the breath.  Take time to notice how your breath changes if you have to make a difficult telephone call, receive an annoying email or you are having an argument or any number of things in your overworked, over-scheduled, over stimulated and overwhelmed world.
• Daytamers™ are small gentle movements practiced during the day to effectively combat stress and tension and anxiety to make your daily life more peaceful.  When your life is more peaceful, your sleep is more peaceful.
• Night Tamers™ are tiny sleep inducing movements that you do right in your own bed.  These hasten the onset of slumber and allow quick recovery from unwanted awakenings during the night.

The day time and night time techniques work together to reduce the stress of life and allow you to get all the natural, restful sleep you require.  The movements are so gentle even your partner will not know you are doing them. You will enjoy making these easy, pleasurable exercises part of your daily life.

The Sounder Sleep System® can work alongside medical advice as it will be a powerful ally in your healing process.  In addition to enhancing sleep is it a great self help, self nurturing practice for anyone who suffers from worry, tension and anxiety from living in the modern world.   It has been taught in universities, clinics, hospitals, primary and secondary schools and business organisations.  There is a 100% success rate in this Method providing the client practices the homework.

Oh… and mine is a double expresso

How to put insomnia to sleep at night is a post from: Salus Wellness

The team here at Salus Wellness are looking forward to working with Idilia in further expanding her successful client base in Cambridge; Idilia is a great addition to our already extensive list of professional therapists.

Visit her profile by cheking here.

Idilia Barreto joins Salus Wellness is a post from: Salus Wellness

The Rossiter System is all about addressing the root cause of your pain rather than just the symptoms. The root cause is usually found in the connective tissue.

What is connective tissue? Simply put, it’s the stretchy and broad fascial coverings which connect each part of the body to other parts – hence it’s called the “connective tissue”. It surrounds every muscle, ligament, tendon, organ, gives the body its shape and holds it together.

If the connective tissue becomes overworked, injured or stressed, it shortens and thickens. This may cause you pain or stiffness and even reduce your range of motion considerably.

The Rossiter System workout consists of powerful 2-Person-Stretching-techniques to quickly and successfully stretch and release the connective tissues, particularly helpful for people suffering from:

• Sciatic, Lower Back or Hip pain
• Knee painShoulder or Rotator cuff pain
• Headaches or neck pain
• Tight calves or hamstrings
• Golfer’s or Tennis elbow
• Arm, wrist or hand pain
• Plantar fasciitis
• Repetitive Strain Injuries

Three Reasons why the Rossiter System works quickly and effectively:

1. Rossiter System workouts address the root cause of pain, the connective tissue. The aim of the workout is to re-create the space – the internal space – the body lost over time either through injury, overuse or bad posture. The body needs this space though to move and work without limitations. Once the lost space is re-gained, the pain just fades away and mobility is restored. In most cases pain is alleviated considerably in the first session.
2. A Rossiter System workout is called a workout for a reason: It is rather hard work and may be reasonably uncomfortable to do, but good results are almost guaranteed. My clients don’t mind going through a bit of discomfort during a session to actually get rid of their every-day pain or restrictions. The client needs to be able to go down onto the floor (yoga mat) and back up again on his/her own to qualify for a session.
3. Rossiter System workouts require the client to take responsibility. This means, they need to be prepared to work hard to get the reward – lose the pain and/or get their mobility back. You, the client, are the person in charge (PIC). I am your Rossiter coach, i.e. I encourage you to work hard. I use my foot on a body part – you remain fully dressed – and then I talk you through the actions and stretches you are going through. You are in control: The harder you work, the better and quicker the result! You can only cheat yourself! With the weight and the warmth of my foot, the connective tissue is anchored in place for the stretch – your part of work – to happen more effectively. I can promise you this: You will be stretched like you probably have never been stretched before. And you will feel the difference straight away!

During the whole months of May and June 2013 this amazing technique can be experienced at a promotional price when you mention this article. What have you got to lose except your pain?

For more information please visit www.elkehausler.com or call me on 07814 089 272

Step out of pain – fast! is a post from: Salus Wellness

The team here at Salus Wellness are looking forward to working with Louise in further expanding her successful client base in Cambridge; Louise is a great addition to our already extensive list of professional therapists.

Visit her profile by cheking here.

Louise Eisner joins Salus Wellness is a post from: Salus Wellness

Stress is a well-known cause of sick leave, but how much does it really affect workers and is there anything employers can do to alleviate this?

The latest Health and Safety Executive (HSE) figures show that in the UK stress is the second most commonly reported condition in self-reported work-related illnesses. An estimated 428,000 workers (40%) in 2011/12 suffered from stress due to their current or past employment and on average each person took an estimated 24 days off work. It is also estimated that 10.4 million working days were lost in 2011/12 due to work-related stress, depression or anxiety.

What is onsite chair massage?

On site acupressure massage is a hybrid of the ancient Oriental massage arts of Anma and Shiatsu. It is a meridian based therapy in which thumb, finger, elbow and knuckle pressure are used on over 90 specific acupressure points on the back, arms, hands, neck, head and legs. It is carried out with the client fully clothed and sitting in an ergonomically designed chair and takes between 15 to 30 minutes.  On site massage is therefore one of the most effective, convenient and popular therapies particularly in the Corporate sector. This helps to stimulate and balance the flow of energy throughout the body in turn stimulating the circulatory, muscular, nervous, immune and lymphatic systems. It promotes the release of endorphins and important mood regulating neurotransmitters which leaves the client feeling relaxed but energised and alert. It also helps reduce muscle tension in the upper body by concentrating on those areas most affected by prolonged repetitive activity.

Benefits to the employer

• improves staff health, energy and performance
• demonstrates genuine commitment for the welfare of your employees
• improves productivity and concentration
• reduces sickness absence
• creates a healthier and happier workforce
• is affordable

Benefits to your employees

• relieves stress, tension, anxiety and irritability
• increases energy levels and helps boost the immune system
• promotes a sense of well-being
• lowers blood pressure
• reduces stiffness, muscle tension and improves flexibility
• reduces and prevents repetitive strain injury

An American Study, recently published in Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, looked at the “feasibility of chair massage during the work hours of nurses in inpatient and outpatient settings and its effect on stress-related symptoms.” Thirty-eight nurses, ranging in age from 21 to 65 years, each received a 15 minute chair massage once a week for ten weeks. These treatments were specifically tailored by three massage therapists to suit the individual’s needs.

The participants were assessed at five and then ten weeks for overall quality of life, levels of stress, anxiety, and symptoms relating to anxiety. The results demonstrated that stress and anxiety related symptoms improved for all 38 participants at five weeks and further at ten weeks. Those nurses working a 12 hour shift (rather than those working 8 hour shifts) reported considerable benefits from massages between week five and week ten. Thirty-five of the 38 participants (92%) gave positive feedback about chair massage in relation to improved sleep, a reduction in pain, headaches, tension and stress. 70% felt it had improved their overall job satisfaction, and 60% suggested they would be willing to pay for short chair massage sessions if these were made available in the workplace.

The researchers concluded that “offering chair massage for nurses in a psychiatric unit or a pain rehabilitation unit during work hours – although challenging because of busy clinical schedules – reduced stress-related symptoms significantly and was highly appreciated by the nurses.”  (Source: International Therapist Magazine, Federation of Holistic Therapists (FHT). Issue 103 January 2013)

The benefits of chair massage @ work is a post from: Salus Wellness

“The company is in great shape and highly profitable” declares Gaetani, “and has great potential of growth both organically and by franchise; my short term mission will be to concentrate all of my efforts to run the company with two main goals in mind:

• further consolidate our position in the market
• reaching out to a broader range of practitioners, to be added to our growing community of nearly 30 professionals”

Salus Wellness established itself with a unique positioning on the marketplace, offering to all practitioners working at the clinic, hands on coaching and training in marketing, sales and business management, helping practitioners to build and grow their private practice.  The company is close the end of its third tax year with a 20+% increase in turnover and nearly 30% increase in profits that is a great result in a traditional business.

Massimo Gaetani takes over Salus Wellness is a post from: Salus Wellness

So what is grieving? There are many interpretations and I am sure you have seen many pictures of what you are ‘suppost to do and feel’.  I see grieving as a sadness that we are holding on to in order to motivate ourselves to do something different or to show caring.

So the man I worked with who lost his Mum, eventually came to terms with that death is part of life but was grieving because he regretted not telling his Mum how he was feeling on many matters, so he never felt a connection.  He realised he was sad now because he was not wanting the same thing to happen between him and his kids.  Of course when he made the realisation the sadness dissipated and he went home and shared his thoughts with his family and encouraged them to share with him.

Many parents of special needs children I have worked with come to realise that they have this child with special needs they are not going to go away. The reason they are sad is because they feel hopeless and are trying to motivate themselves to help their child. When they realise this they often come to think that thought is not helping them achieve their end goal so they switch to thinking that ‘anything is possible’ supports them in taking action to help their kids and loving their kids where they are!

The other common thread in these Option Process Dialogues is that ‘if we were not sad, then that would make us cold and heartless’.  When I think about times I have been sad I do not recall actually actively caring for anyone else, it is totally self indulgent. e.g. I used to sit and worry about Rohan while he was having a seizure. When I dialogued this I realised I was worrying about a possible future where he was unhappy and so I was unhappy, so I was worried then in order to in some way save myself or him from a future unhappiness???   All that time I was worried I was not present and caring for him.  Now if Rohan has a seizure I am totally there for him, loving him, coaching him to breath from a calm place and reassuring him telling him I am there for him and he has the strength and ability to pull himself through.  This feels better inside, feels more useful and feels like caring!

Contact me if you need some help.
Rekha

Grieving is a post from: Salus Wellness

presents

Saturday Morning Homoeopathy with Marlow

with Marlow Purves BA LCH MARH

Remedies for Power Surges and Other Eventualities of Menopause

Homoeopathic and nutritional advice for changing times…the best is yet to come!

18 May 2013 

Homoeopathy for the Nursery

Common remedies for childhood ailments and practical tips for parents

25 May 2013

Vaccination – How to make an Informed Decision

DPT – HPV – MMR – BCG How much is too much?

1 June 2013

Colds and Flu

Managing Acute illnesses with homoeopathy

8 June 2013

10am to 1:30pm – each workshop costs £25

Marlow has been practising and teaching homoeopathy for self-care for over 20 years and provides an accessible, fun environment for learning and discussion. Hand-outs are included.

Register no: 01223 891233 or e-mail adult.education@lvc.org.

Visit our website at www.lvc.acl.co.uk select Adult Education from the menu.

Marlow Purves at Linton Village College is a post from: Salus Wellness

In this fit and fat conscious society we are all striving for better physical health, we want to be fitter and more mobile for longer, disease free and look good!

I know many people who appear physically fit they take regular exercises and eat all the ‘right’ foods but still they have huge issues that they carry around and consequently they are angry, uncomfortable even in their own company and have resulting health ramifications like high blood pressure, stomach ulcers, believe it or not constipation is one they talk about often…the list could go on. Here is one of many pieces taken from a scientific journal, full version can be found http://www.webmd.com/balance/stress-management/features/how-anger-hurts-your-heart

Scientists don’t know for sure, but anger might produce direct physiological effects on the heart and arteries. Emotions such as anger and hostility quickly activate the “fight or flight response,” in which stress hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol, speed up your heart rate and breathing and give you a burst of energy. Blood pressure also rises as your blood vessels constrict.

While this stress response mobilizes you for emergencies, it might cause harm if activated repeatedly. “You get high cortisol and high adrenaline levels and that is the cardiotoxic effect of anger expression,” says Jerry Kiffer, MA, a heart-brain researcher at the Cleveland Clinic’s Psychological Testing Center. “It causes wear and tear on the heart and cardiovascular system.” Frequent anger may speed up the process of atherosclerosis, in which fatty plaques build up in arteries, Kiffer says. The heart pumps harder, blood vessels constrict, blood pressure surges, and there are higher levels of glucose in the blood and more fat globules in the blood vessels. All this, scientists believe, can cause damage to artery walls.

And anger might not be the only culprit. In Kubzansky’s own research, she found that high levels of anxiety and depression may contribute to heart disease risk, too. “They tend to co-occur,” she says. “People who are angry a lot tend to have other chronic negative emotions as well.”

So with this information to hand, if your mind is cluttered with emotional distress even if you take all the other measures you are still preventing yourself from living in a healthy body. You could be spending thousands of hours on exercise and tonnes on money on the best foods for your body but you would be cancelling out the health benefits with your thoughts.

A great man once said “You are the sum total of your thoughts” by Albert Einstein

The question for me would be ‘is it fun, does it feel good inside?’ if the answer is ‘no’ then why do it? Well if you need tools I can help you there so contact me.

Getting happier could be the best and most fun diet you ever did!

Does a healthy mind live in a healthy body? or Does it take a healthy mind to create a healthy body? is a post from: Salus Wellness

I believe change is something we can not stop, our bodies are constantly changing growing from foetus, to baby to child, teenager, adult and then we go thorough the process of ageing further. If we believe this is bad then sure enough it will give you reason to be unhappy however if we look at this change as miraculous, just as the caterpillar comes from an egg, goes into a pupa and then becomes a beautiful butterfly then beginning the cycle again the butterfly mates and lays eggs and withers. To date I have never heard anyone call or describe a butterfly as something that is bad, hard, terrible or ugly!

So why not give it a go, allow yourself to evolve and change? Rather than holding yourself back in a state of discomfort believing change is hard, why not call it beautiful and what mother nature intended for us! This then makes the whole concept an adventure, exciting, no longer frightening. So we enjoy the process of becoming something even more beautiful!

Is change frightening or exciting? is a post from: Salus Wellness