It IS time to change

We should embrace change because it means we are not standing still. If we stand still the blood stops flowing, the system and chi stagnates and we can become ill. This is true also for the soul.

Change is stimulating, change forces us to look beyond self-imposed barriers and to re-assess. Even what seems like a negative change will have a positive aspect, particularly if you look for it, particularly if you want to find something positive. How many of us can say that about our lives? DO we really embrace change? Or do we just muddle along through, grumbling as we go? Do we always look at change in a negative light?

I wrote the above words for my Newsletter and it struck a chord and got me thinking. I don't embrace change, I know I don't! And yet I know how good it is for us. I know how my life would flow so much more smoothly if I accepted change more easily. Rigid thinking is what gets us into ruts and upsets and disappointments in life. Accepting what we have and what we are given by the universe means life is more comfortable.

Always striving for what we don't have is tough. Not that we shouldn't strive for excellence, and there is nothing wrong with a clear goal and a determination to get there. But life does not always go as we had thought it would. It is dealing with the unknowns, the knock-backs and the curved balls that throw us. If we only accepted and embraced the change at those points then how much anguish we would avoid.

That's my resolution for the coming year - "Embrace the Change!"

Money Madness

Someone came to see me today who needed help with his panic attacks and anxiety. It is something which is right up my street. No problem buddy, I can help you with that. He isn't working and couldn't afford my modest fees. I offered a (substantial) reduction but that didn't cut it either.

What to do? I offered him an affordable CD at a reduced price. That went down well. And after that I suggested he needed to go through his GP. I gave him my NHS provider number and perhaps the PCT might pay for him to see me. Or not. As far as I am aware, the credit crunch has not recently hit the NHS - it got smacked in the face with it sometime after 1972...

But it raises an interesting question. I feel like an altruistic healer, all I want to do is help people. But I operate as a capitalist business. I can't figure out the answer.

Angel Delight

I have just spent 3 full days in the company of my son. A full 3 days devoted entirely to him, except for a quick outing with the dog. It was so good to focus on him and his needs rather than trying to fit in my own around him. True, if I had an army of staff I could focus on his needs exclusively all day every day, but we are in the real world here.

So we had a great few days. He is potty training, bless him, and did really well. The first day was tough - we were on the last set of clean clothes by 4.30 in the afternoon but after that it progressed. Friday evening was tough - he did 2 poos in the bath, what a sweetheart! But by Sunday he had got the idea. Today is a nursery day for him and I wonder whether the exciting playtime will be too much and he will completely forget about practising his new skill.

What we did whilst hanging around indoors was drawing and colouring and helping me in the house and all sorts of wonderful things. We made a pumpkin collage for his "pumpkin competition" at nursery. He is 2 years old and already I have been roped in to help him enter competitions. I'm not that happy about it really. Still we made his collage and it looked fab! Torn up pieces of orange colours from magazines for the body of the pumpkin with black pipe cleaners to give it shape around the outside. I was so pleased. If he wins the competition it will be more than I ever won in nearly 40 years!

What a delightful weekend. I know mothers who are so desperate to "have a break from the kids" but I don't get this at all. I want to spend more and more time with my child. I hate being away from him for more than a few hours. I love being a mum, it is pure delight...

It's TOUGH out there!

It's a tough world out there. Economic recession, high prices, companies folding already. All meaning that people don't have money remaining for complementary health. WHY? Isn't health your most important asset? It is mine - emotional and physical health is vital. Without that you are in a world of pain.

And that's how we see most of our clients - they are in pain.

Take one of mine who called in on the off chance for some hypnotherapy. He just wanted one single session - he lived in London, he wasn't going to be a regular client. This poor chap was loooking for something - he was stressed, unhappy, depressed, on medications, having mood swings. He was certainly in a world of pain.

We had a lovely session, where he calmed his mind and body, probably for the first time in years. We went through some visualisations aimed to give him peace, a better perspective on life, hope and to calm the mind and spirit. He felt so much better afterwards. And so did I. He took a couple of my hypnosis CDs too. I hope he is using them.

I love this job