Tag: health

Start using meditation today and improve your health now.

On By RosemaryIn Holistic Therapy, meditationLeave a comment

Meditation can help ease your pain, anxiety, stress and improve the health of your heart, boost your immune system and mood.

Conditions which are caused or worsened by stress and tension can be helped through meditation. By relaxing in meditation, you lower your blood pressure and improve your heart rate, (please note you must continue to take any medication until your doctor advises you can stop) slows your breathing and brain waves. When your muscles start to relax, they release the tension and tightness. The repetition in meditation is what helps us to relax. As we focus on our breath, letting go of our thoughts, and repeating a mantra, affirmation, or word we become present, and start the relaxation response.

Meditation is not difficult to learn, it is a skill which, you need to practice. After a few weeks of practice, you will be able to get to a relaxed state more quickly. If you relax several times a day, you may find you feel more relaxed during the whole day.

There have been many studies done showing meditation can lower cardiovascular risk, by relaxing and reducing your stress. Poorly managed stress is associated with a risk of high blood pressure and heart disease.

Meditation is an immune booster. Your immune system responds to both negative and positive thoughts, meditation will create a positive mental environment for the immune system to flourish. Meditation stimulates the immune system brain-function regions.

There have been studies where HIV patients slowed down the reduction of their CD-4 cell count, using meditation. The CD-4 cells are the immune cells which keep the virus from propagating.

Knowing if meditation is working. If your body is feeling relaxed, calm, and warm when meditating, you are probably going deep enough for the relaxation response.  If you are struggling to feel these, perhaps join a group to help you.

If you really do not get on with meditation any relaxing technique would be helpful.

If you would like to join a fortnightly group online email Rosemary

10 Healthy Living Facts to Help you Improve your Life.

On By RosemaryIn Alternative Therapy, Holistic Therapy, meditation, Natural HealingLeave a comment

During my training as an energy healer, we covered nutrition and how processed food affects your health and energy levels. This post will cover a little about nutrition, straightforward ways to move more during the lockdown, and help your physical body. We will also cover ways to help your mind and spirit.

To work with me as a therapist or join our fortnightly online meditation group email Rosemary

Healthy Eating,

Most of us know sugary and processed foods are not the best choices for a healthy diet. Processed foods are any that have added ingredients. Try to eat at least 80% of fresh food.

  1. Vegetables are packed with the nutrients our body needs; they should be a major part of your healthy diet. Try experimenting with different recipes, finding ones you like, and use them in your lunches and dinners.
  2. Eating proper meals and healthy snacks. Snacking all day makes us think we are not eating much, but we miss out on essential nutrients and eat wasted calories. Eating healthy fats and proteins in complete meals helps to fill us up. If you need a snack, the following are more nutritional and keep you fuller longer, hardboiled egg, a portion of cheese, avocado, apple or other fruit, nuts, and red pepper with guacamole, cucumber slices with hummus, dried unsweetened coconut, and olives.
  3. What we drink, there is no nutritional benefit to alcohol, fizzy drinks, or fruit squashes. The caffeine acts as a diuretic, we, therefore, need to drink more fluids to replace those lost through drinking drinks high in caffeine.  Opting for green tea, herbal tea, or black coffee (keeping our coffee intake to no more than two cups a day, preferably cutting it out altogether).  The best fluid to drink is pure plain water, there are no calories or additives to worry about.  Drinking a glass of water before every meal will make you feel less hungry, and you will be drinking three glasses a day.

Exercise

We all know exercise is good for our bodies, however, it is so easy to sit and watch telly with a snack instead.

1.Walk More

Regular movement is key to so many health benefits. Aim for at least 10,000steps a day. Start easy, with these smallways to walk more and be healthier!

  • Decide to only take the stairs if you are walking less than six floors.
  • Park further away from supermarket entrance when you go shopping.
  • Walk during your work breaks.
  • Plan a walking meeting, or take your phone call while you walk.
  • Get up ten minutes earlier in the morning and take a short brisk walk before the chaos of the day.
  • Walk your kids to or from school, walk to work if it is close.
  • Take a family walk with the kids after dinner.
  • Schedule a once a week walk with a friend.
2. Short Workouts  

Long workouts are not necessary to be healthy.  For most of us, trying to fit in more than 20 minutes is a challenge.  We can try running on the spot or doing some squats while waiting for the kettle to boil or any other time we have a spare five minutes. We can do several basic exercises at home, squats, lunges, push-ups, tricep dips, plank, wall sits, burpees, and mountain climbers, these all get our muscles working again. There is lots of information on how to do these on the internet if you have never done them. You may want to get a professional to show you, though.  Build on this slowly over time, if we have been sedentary for a while, it will take several weeks to get our bodies moving again.

Healthy Mind

This is a balanced mental and emotional state. Where you are productive, feel confident, face your fears, and learn from your mistakes. To keep our minds healthy, we need to exercise and eat healthy as I have already discussed above and get enough sleep and stay mentally active. Your brain is similar to a muscle and needs to be used like any other muscle in your body.

  1. Sleep, getting seven to eight hours of sound sleep, should be our aim. Tracking your sleep with a Fitbit or similar helps you see how well you are sleeping. In a deep sleep is where tissue growth and repair take place. If we are not getting enough deep sleep, we will not feel as refreshed in the morning. Download my tips for a Good Nights Sleep.
  2. Mental Activity. Things to keep your brain healthy include mental activity, crossword puzzles, sudoku, reading, playing cards, and doing jigsaw puzzles. These all help train your brain. There are electronic games for brain training available too. Watching television does nothing to stimulate the brain as it is a passive activity.
  3. Stress has a significant impact on our minds and can contribute to memory loss. Therefore it is important to try to reduce your stress levels. Exercise, relaxation, good sleep, many of the things already mentioned will help reduce stress. Social interaction also helps our stress levels look for ways to connect with loved ones, friends, and others, especially if you live alone. Brain atrophy has been linked to solitary confinement, making the recent periods of lockdown hard for many. Therefore, it is important to stay socially active via the many online means during this time until we can meet face to face again.

Healthy Spirit

The spiritual part of our wellness is the most personal and overlooked piece of living a healthy life. We all would like to live with meaning and purpose, when this is met, we have harmony in our life. Here are some tips for spiritual wellness.

  1. Your spiritual core. By working with a group or therapist exploring your spiritual centre, you will ask yourself deep questions about who you are and your meaning. You may meditate on Who am I? What is my purpose? What do I value most?. Doing this will help you think deeply about yourself and help you achieve fulfilment in your life, possibly clearing energy blocks that are holding you back.
  2. Meditation this is a healthy spiritual practise, where you connect to yourself. Meditation has many benefits for your health. Start slowly, if you are not used to the practice start with clearing your mind of thoughts and focusing on your breath for 3 to 5 minutes each morning before you get up and evening before you go to sleep. Once you have mastered 5 minutes increase to 10, gradually increase by 5 minutes until you can do 20 minutes.

Benefits:-   (for more information on these benefits read my post “About Meditation and the Benefits)

  • Improved health
  • Lower blood pressure
  • Reduced anxiety
  • Decreased stress
  • Deep rest
  • Reversal of the ageing process
  • Increased perception and memory

To work with me as a therapist or join our fortnightly online meditation group email Rosemary

5 Tips to Stay Positive

On By RosemaryIn Healing, Natural HealingLeave a comment

The philosopher Marcus Aurelius quoted “Our life is what our thoughts make it” Many others have written similar quotes since.

Do you always look for the problem, or do you look for a solution?

Are you a glass half empty or half full person?

Many studies have shown the benefits of being a positive thinker, mainly a much lower risk of dying from death’s main causes. 

  • Heart disease
  • Stroke
  • Various types of Cancer
  • Infection
  • Respiratory diseases

I am not going into detail on the above diseases, there is loads of information on the internet to read.

Other benefits of being positive from studies are: –

  • Improved quality of life
  • Increased energy levels
  • Improved psychological and physical health.
  • Quicker recovery from injury and illness
  • Fewer colds
  • Less chance of depression and anxiety
  • Improved management of stress and being more resilient.
  • Living a healthier longer life.

Thinking Positively

Focus on the happy times.

In life, we all have good and bad memories.  To stay positive, we need to focus on finding the silver lining of the situation. When an event is cancelled, don’t take it personally, think about an activity you can do instead that you enjoy.

Gratitude

Keeping a gratitude journal, or any other way of practising gratitude has been proven to reduce stress, increase self-esteem and resilience, to help you cope when life throws you difficult times. Write of think of people and all the situations and things you find comfort or happiness with. Do this once a day, it can be part of meditation too. The list can be simple things like thanking a person for helping you, the love you receive from your pets, the joy of your garden.

Laughter

Laughing lowers stress, anxiety, depression, as well as improving your mood and self-esteem.  When things are hard to find the funny side and laugh, I am sure many of you have experienced this when in a group, how laughing instantly changes the mood and the situation becomes easier.

Positive people

Positivity is as contagious as negativity. Therefore, consider spending time with positive people. It has been said you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.

Positive Self-Talk

We are our own worst enemies; we talk to ourselves in ways we would not consider talking to others. You need to become aware of this talk and change the negative statements immediately with a positive one.  There are also phrases and words we should try to avoid, “I can’t”, “Should”, “problem”, “if”, “just”, “if only”, “but”, “someday”, “why me”, “I don’t know” are some, read a blog post here for 21 words and Phrases.

Want help in finding ways to quiet your negative self-talk, email Rosemary@soul-essence.com

Get Enough Sleep to Help Reduce Your Pain

On By RosemaryIn Alternative Therapy, HealingLeave a comment

Restful Sleep Reduces Pain and Inflammation

Getting enough sleep can help reduce your pain, improve your quality of life and help you overcome diseases

Not only is sleep a fundamental human need, but it is also a necessity for people who experience aches or pains of any kind and should never be taken for granted. Sleep is so important, we naturally fall asleep when our body tells our brain that certain essential chemicals have been depleted and our muscles and ligaments are tired and in need of restoration.

The growing problem is that many of us rely on stimulants like coffee, tea and sodas to force ourselves to stay awake and continue working. We, therefore, stay up too late, get up too early, and continue to consume unhealthy amounts of toxic substances – night after night after night. For the better part of our adult lives, many of us are both sick AND tired through constantly starving our bodies of sleep.

Lack of sleep causes:

  • poor concentration,
  • slower reaction times,
  • decreased performance levels,
  • less ability to learn and compartmentalize new skills and knowledge,
  • more frequent memory lapses,
  • increases in simple injuries and accidents,
  • adverse changes in moods and behaviours,
  • increased frequency of headaches,
  • neck and shoulder pain, backaches,
  • fatigue
  • overload of toxic consumption.

This happens because during restful sleep our body is actually working to repair itself. The liver purifies the blood, the muscles repair, serotonin increases. Without ample sleep, these things do not happen at optimal levels. Our biological clock expects sleep to take over during the evening hours. We are genetically programmed to get up and lie down with the sun. It was the invention of artificial sources of light (candles and bulbs) that began our stressed-out drive for more working hours at the expense of much-needed rest.

What’s the big deal, you ask?

There is always, coffee, caffeine pills, cat naps, life is good getting by on only a few hours sleep per night. Well, not really. Did you know that in clinical tests rats die within a few weeks of sleep deprivation? Chronic fatigue, adrenal fatigue, attention deficit disorder, chronic migraine and headache, body aches and pain, mental illness, depression and anxiety are all in part caused – or made worse – by lack of sleep. And lack of sleep causes lower levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin, placing you at risk for depression and suicidal thoughts.

https://amzn.to/2JlrgWp

 

This information is based on information taken from Arthritis Reversed: Groundbreaking 30-Day Arthritis Relief Action Plan.

Click on the image to go to Amazon to buy the book

 

 

My next post will be about Insomnia

How Your Spiritual Energy Can Benefit You

On By RosemaryIn Alternative Therapy, Healing, Natural HealingLeave a comment

Everything is energy including us, vibrating at different frequencies. There are low and high frequencies. If we are vibrating at the lower levels we will have more pain in our lives than we would if we were vibrating at the higher frequencies.

Humans will always face challenges and fears in their lives. We grow and learn through friction, particularly friction within ourselves. Trying to rid our lives of uncomfortable moments, or difficult challenges is not our aim. We need to master being responsible and aware of our thoughts and actions, so we do not react from impulse, which has you playing out the same old low-frequency patterns you have been carrying around all your life.

Acting out these same patterns is why: –

  • people go on a diet lose loads of weight, only to put it all back on again,
  • people who win the lottery eventually end right back where they started financially,
  • most New Year resolutions are abandoned by the end of January.

If you only change the exterior and work on the things outside of yourself, continuing  to be the same person on the inside, not changing your mindset of lack and fear, (Example if I can’t hide behind my wall of flab I will be seen, vulnerable, and possibly rejected) therefore you will not evolve and change.  Step back for a moment and acknowledge the fact that you’re alive. The life force known as Universal Intelligence is flowing through your human body, making your blood pump, your mind think, your heart desire, your intuition tell you to look in a coat pocket for the car keys you’ve spent half the afternoon searching for. This force that flows through you is the essence of who you are, it’s the highest frequency there is—you are Universal Intelligence seeking expression on Earth through the you that is you. You are a valuable and irreplaceable asset to the Universe. So when your energy is vibrating at the highest frequency possible—the frequency of love, you are giving and receiving goodness and riches around you.

This information has been taken from the ideas in one of the books in Jen Sincero’s series of “You are a Badass ……”

Energy healing will help you work on your inner self, moving you into the higher frequencies so you feel healthier.  Contact Rosemary for more information

How to Alleviate Your Pain with These 5 Therapies

On By RosemaryIn meditation, Natural HealingLeave a comment

Alternative Therapy or Complementary Therapy is generally treatments that are used in place of or alongside conventional medicine. My advice is to always get a diagnosis from a qualified doctor before making any decisions to use alternative/ complementary therapy.

Alternative therapies include many disciplines, such as acupuncture, massage, chiropractic, therapeutic touch (Reiki and healing), guided imagery, yoga, hypnosis, biofeedback, aromatherapy, relaxation, meditation, herbal remedies and many others.

Research over the past few years has shown evidence of benefits for Mind-Body therapies, like acupuncture and meditation for helping to manage pain. Other alternative therapies like massage, chiropractic, therapeutic touch have the potential to relieve pain in certain people.

There are so many alternative therapies, what works for one person is not necessarily going to work for another. Finding out about the various therapies and deciding which one to try is a good idea, you may need to try several before you have success.

 Meditation and Hypnosis

These are mind-body therapies which are to help the mind to have an effect on the body. Meditation and hypnosis help the body to relax which can help alleviate discomfort related to chronic pain. Many types of pain are created due to tension in the body so relaxing will help relieve your pain.

Acupuncture

Acupuncture is thought to decrease pain by increasing the release of chemicals that block pain, called endorphins. Many acu-points are near nerves when stimulated, these nerves cause a dull ache in the muscle. The stimulated muscle sends a message to the central nervous system, causing the release of endorphins (morphine like chemicals produced in our bodies during times of pain or stress). Endorphins are neurotransmitters (body chemicals that modify nerve impulses), block the message of pain from being delivered.

Chiropractic

Chiropractic treatment is the most common non-surgical treatment for back pain. Research has shown chiropractic may be helpful for headaches, neck pain, back pain and whiplash. There are other conditions which can be treated depending on your circumstances. Chiropractors use hands-on spinal manipulation and other alternative treatments, the theory being that proper alignment of the body’s musculoskeletal structure, particularly the spine, will enable the body to heal itself without surgery or medication. Manipulation is used to restore mobility to joints restricted by tissue injury caused by a traumatic event, such as falling, or repetitive stress, such as sitting without proper back support.

Massage

Seated acupressure massageMassage is used to help people suffering pain, to mainly manage back and neck problems. Massage can reduce stress and relieve tension by enhancing blood flow. This treatment can also help reduce the presence that may generate or sustain pain.

 

Therapeutic Touch and Healing

Energy healingHealing and Reiki is a channelling of energy into the body to help restore your energetic vibration back to normal. Our bodies are all energy vibrating at certain speeds. If your vibration speed is not correct you may have an illness or pain, the various energetic type healing therapies help to put your body back to its normal vibration. These therapies are normally done by laying hands on or close to your body.

 

If you would like to try meditation, energy healing or acupressure seated massage contact me to book a session.

What is your excuse for why you can’t meditate?

On By RosemaryIn Healing, meditationLeave a comment

Examples of excuses and reasons that you can meditate.

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My mind is too busy – don’t worry, while you are sitting meditating you will become aware of your busy and chaotic mind, which meditation will help to unwind. You will experience lots of thoughts, feelings and possibly emotions.  It doesn’t matter how you feel whilst meditating, concentrate on how you feel after and for the rest of the day.

I get too fidgety – you don’t have to sit still, you just need to be comfortable, if you fidget do so it will lessen the more you meditate.

My anxiety kicks in – while all your negative thoughts are coming up that would be normal. Meditating and learning breathing exercises will calm you.

Sitting still is my worst nightmare – then consider going for a walk in the park or woods, without earphones in, listening to nature. You could learn yoga, Qi gong or tai chi where you meditate moving. The art is to just “be” not always “doing”

I don’t like it – if you have tried one type of meditation and it was not for you, there are other types out there.  Here are a few transcendental, mantra, breathing, visualisation, guided and there are many more.

I am too busy – How much time do you waste looking at Social Media, watching TV, playing games online? You only need 10 to 20 minutes a day to start to feel the benefit.Candles, Orchid and Some White Pebbles

About Meditation and the Benefits

On By RosemaryIn Alternative Therapy, Healing, Holistic Therapy, Natural Healing1 Comment

meditatingMeditation is good for personal development and feeling of calm and peace. Regular meditation has been known to greatly reduce depression.  If you haven’t done meditation before you need to build up slowly, and find a way of meditating which suits you personally. Feelings of emotional discomfort can accompany meditation; it may bring blocked issues to the forefront of your mind, which you may find a need to heal. The conscious mind is the tip of the iceberg, the unconscious mind lies beneath this, and beneath that lies the level of consciousness of which we are all joined, the universal consciousness.

There are different levels of the mind, caused by the different brainwaves explained below.

Beta (13- 40 cycles per second)
Beta is associated with our waking activity. During a day we experience all the brainwave patterns with a predominance of Beta.

Alpha (8-13 cycles per second)
The first pattern discovered in 1908 by an Austrian Psychiatrist named Hans Berger. Alpha pattern appears when in wakefulness where there is a relaxed and effortless alertness. Light meditation and day dreaming. It is recommended practicing your creative visualization and auto-suggestion technique in alpha state.

Theta (4-7 cycles per second)
Associated with creativity, dreams and Extra-sensory perception for the student the theta state is something to learn to go at will.

To obtain these different levels you have to quiet the mind by concentrating on a mantra or your breathing. The times you feel most resistant to meditating is the time your body will need it the most. Meditation puts you in contact with the things that are buried in the unconscious mind. The reason we bring our subconscious painful memories to the surface is because they are affecting our lives today. Just because we do not remember them does not mean they are not influencing our lives. Many of the beliefs upon which we run our lives rest on decisions we made as a child. Meditation can help you work through and overcome fears that stop us being our true selves. Meditation also helps you find that place within where you feel calm and peaceful at all times, even when life is tough. You will feel happier, be able to make changes when you want to, accept and be in the present and plan for you future.

Research – Benefits to the body

Improved Health
A study of health insurance statistics of 2000 people practising meditation consistently over a five year period revealed that their rate of hospitalisation was less than half of the other groups with comparable age, gender, profession, and insurance terms. Meditators also had fewer incidents of illness in 17 medical treatment categories. Some of the results were quite outstanding; 87% less admissions for cardiovascular disease, 55% less cancer, 87% less for diseases of the nervous system, 73% less for nose throat and lung problems. Psychosomatic Medicine 1987.

Lower Blood Pressure
At the Harvard Medical School Dr. Herbert Benson found that meditators develop what he calls the “relaxation response” to difficult or dangerous situations. This is a much healthier response than the very common “fight or flight” reaction. He also observed that during meditation the heart rate decreases on average by three beats a minute, and that the rate of breathing also decreases. The blood pressure of those who have hypertension is reduced during meditation. Dr.Benson found that all the traditional methods of meditation evoke this response. He also found that four basic elements are needed. They are in a quiet environment, an object for the attention to dwell on, a comfortable posture and, above all a non-discriminatory attitude towards meditation. This is exactly what the Buddha taught two thousand five hundred years ago.

Reduced Anxiety
A study conducted at Stanford University reported a reduced level of anxiety among the participants who meditated. Journal of Clinical Psychology (1989)

Decreased Stress
A study of meditators showed a reduction in plasma cortisol, a stress hormone, during and after meditation. Hormones and Behaviour (1978)

Deep Rest
A scientific measure of deep rest is the amount of basal skin resistance and lower respiration rates. Experiments comparing meditation to resting with eyes closed have shown that meditation is significantly more effective. Similarly meditation also reduces the amount of lactate (a root cause of anxiety, panic attacks and high blood pressure). American Psychologist (1987)

Reversal of the Aging Process
A study group of long-term meditators (practising meditation for five years or more) were physiologically twelve years younger than their chronological age, as measured by reduction of blood pressure, and better near-point vision and auditory discrimination. Short-term meditators were physiologically five years younger than their chronological age. The study controlled for the effects of diet and exercise. International Journal of Neuroscience 1982.

Increased Perception and Memory
College students instructed in meditation displayed significant improvements in performance over a two-week period on a perceptual and short-term memory test involving the identification of familiar letter sequences presented rapidly. They were compared with subjects randomly assigned to a routine of twice-daily rest with eyes closed, and with subjects who made o change in their daily routine. Memory and Cognition (1982)

In a basic Energy Healing session you will be encouraged to relax and go to the Alpha level, where  the mind, body and spirit work together, the result is a balance of thought, awareness and well-being that is unmatched. It is in this state that healing can occur on multiple levels. This includes our seven chakras.

Please contact me to find out more information on meditation or to book a session.