Five rituals to add to your home wellbeing routine

Sleeping well is vital for our mental and physical health. It’s just as important as eating well and getting enough exercise. The amount of sleep we get each night can affect our mood and our concentration as well as our metabolism and immune function. Most adults need around seven to nine hours’ sleep each night, however, for many of us, that just isn’t happening. Insomnia is thought to affect about a third of people in the UK, especially those over 65 years of age. Many things can contribute to sleep-related problems including illness, environmental factors, lifestyle habits, stress and anxiety, jet lag or certain medications. Sleeping pills and other medication prescribed by your GP can offer a short-term solution, and plenty of people go down this route. However, most of the time, these prescription sleep aids come with unwanted side effects such as headaches, weight gain, constipation, low mood, fatigue, trouble concentrating and dizziness. Plus, once you have finished taking a course of sleeping medication, the insomnia could come back at any time. Therefore, before you decide whether or not to start using prescription sleep medication, it is well worth trying a set of natural remedies first. Often it is possible to improve sleep quality by adapting your own lifestyle and altering habits. Here are some suggestions to help improve your personal sleep hygiene. Establish a sleep rhythm Everybody’s lives are very different, with work and family factors contributing towards our daily routines. However, when it comes to sleep, our bodies crave routine and stability. If, on some nights, you are going to bed at midnight after binge-watching a box set, and then the next few nights you go to bed at 7am to try and catch up on the sleep, your body will find it hard to develop a natural sleep rhythm. If, on the other hand, you always aim for a 10pm bedtime and a wake-up time of 6am, then chances are that your body will start to form a sleep pattern, recognising when it should be in sleep mode and when it should be awake. Obviously, on some nights, it won’t be possible to adhere to your usual rhythm, due to other factors, however, if the majority of the time you are following your usual routine, you should feel the benefits. Shutting off before sleep It’s important to allow your mind and body to relax before you try to drift off to sleep. If you are having trouble getting off to sleep, it could be that your brain is over-stimulated. Try to keep your bed for sleep and intimacy only. That means no laptops, no phones, no TV and even no books. These activities stimulate your brain, instead of relaxing you and should be wrapped up at least thirty minutes before your scheduled bedtime. Similarly, eating too late should be avoided. When you eat, your brain prompts the release of insulin; a process that is also linked to the circadian rhythm. Eating could trigger a signal of wakefulness in the brain, and therefore interfere with your ability to fall asleep. Women may be especially vulnerable to these food-related sleep disruptions it is thought. Breathing, mindfulness and journaling Breathing and mindfulness exercises can be very helpful in aiding relaxation and reducing racing thoughts before bedtime. Even if you find it easy to get off to sleep initially, but wake up in the early hours, practicing some deep belly breathing or progressive muscle relaxation techniques (going through each muscle group – tensing and then relaxing) could assist you in drifting back off to slumber.  Finally, try noting down what’s on your mind before bedtime in a journal or on a notepad. This will help you to offload any thoughts (positive or negative) which may prevent you from relaxing into a good night’s sleep. Similarly, it might be useful to write a quick to-do list on an evening, so that you feel prepared for the day ahead, without worrying about it during the early hours when you should be asleep. Regular massage According to numerous studies, regular massage has been shown to improve quality of sleep. Massage sessions can help to decrease depression and anxiety levels because they trigger the release of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that can help you feel calm and happy. Massage can also help to alleviate back and muscular pain, which in turn could also result in fewer sleep disturbances. Muscular ease and elimination of lower back pain encourages more time spent in the deep sleep stage, which is the most restorative for the body. The technique has also been found to benefit children and teenagers who suffer from mental health issues. Acupuncture Acupuncture is a system of healing which has been practised in China and Japan for over 3000 years. The practise involves fine, sterile needles being inserted into the skin at specific points, which are considered to be lines of energy (meridians). Regular Acupuncture is recognised by the World Health Organisation in treating a wide range of health conditions, relieving pain and promoting good health. It has also been cited as an effective treatment which is linked to improved sleep as well as reducing anxiety and stress. If sleep is causing you stress and upset, and you would like to discuss the various options I could offer you, then I would love to hear from you. If you would like to arrange an initial free consultation without obligation contact me on 07787 831 275 or email me at patti.hemmings@hotmail.com

Self-compassion means being gentle, kind and understanding with yourself; accepting that you are not perfect; and understanding that there is potential for learning and growth in every mistake you make (Neff, 2003). Being critical of ourselves is a very common problem. It’s all too easy to blame everything that happens on our own lack of judgement, skill, knowledge, competence or experience. “I should’ve done this”, “I shouldn’t have done it like that”, “I’m no good at anything” “Things always go wrong for me”. Are any of these phrases familiar to you? Even though self-criticism is common, it’s not to be overlooked. The ways we think of and treat ourselves have been found to be positively correlated with mental health and also to the way we treat others. To put it simply, we need to look after ourselves, so we can form relationships and look after others. Practicing active self-compassion can help to reduce the insecurities that can lead to self-absorbed ruminations. Not only that but it can help to improve long-term happiness, wellbeing as well as performance in your career. Below we explore some ways in which you can practice self-compassion as part of your everyday life. Look after your body As motivational speaker, Jim Rohn, said “Look after your body, it’s the only one place you have to live”. And when it comes to self-compassion, this is the best place to start. Comfort your body with healthy and nutritious food each day. Ensure you are getting at least seven hours of restful sleep every night. And, exercise regularly, doing activities that you like and that bring you enjoyment and fulfilment. In addition to these basic needs – make time for small daily rituals that bring you further comfort. Massage your own face or feet. Run a warm bath with a lit candle. Rub body oil around your neck and shoulders. These are all small things that will help to soothe and nourish your body instantly.  Stop punishing yourself for your mistakes In order to stop being so self-critical, you need to accept that you are not perfect and go easy on yourself when things don’t go to plan. You are valued as a person by your friends, family members and colleagues because of who you are – not because you are flawless.  As humans, we all make mistakes. Some small, some big. It’s important you acknowledge and own your mistakes – it’s this process that often helps to gain power over the situation and helps to achieve calm knowing the problem has been identified. But, first it’s useful to assess whether you have in fact made a mistake, or whether you are just telling yourself that you have. Also, is the so-called mistake really that serious in the grand scheme of things? By analysing the situation and the severity of the mistake and what caused it, you can try to make adaptations for the future. This is an important step in helping you to move on.  A simple way to remind yourself to stop being so self-critical and to be kinder to yourself is to write yourself a little reminder note and stick it in your wallet or in a desk drawer. Write something like ‘I am worthy’ or ‘I truly value myself’ so that you never forget it.  Be grateful Feeling gratitude is very powerful and highly effective in positive psychology (Emmons & McCullough, 2003). Rather than constantly thinking about what you don’t have or what you wish you had, strength comes from appreciating what you DO have right now. Social media makes it far too easy for jealous thoughts to arise, but you can combat these thoughts by practising small acts of gratitude every day. You might choose to write a gratitude diary each night before bed – try writing down three things that you are grateful for from your day – no matter how small or insignificant you feel they are. By focussing on these small blessings, you divert your focus away from the things you don’t have, which results in greater inner peace. Practice mindfulness If you strive to always be in the moment rather than thinking about the past or ruminating about the future, you are sure to increase your mental awareness as well as reducing anxiety and stress about things you cannot control.  This doesn’t mean hiding your concerns or stresses in a closet – you can allow these thoughts to have their moment – but by allowing them to come, and then letting them go, this gives you the power to detach yourself from them. Mindfulness has been found to have a positive impact on self-compassion (Kabat-Zinn, 2014). Mindful therapies include metacognition (awareness and understanding of your own thought processes), quiet sitting meditation, body scanning, and moving meditation (e.g. walking meditations and yoga). There are many fantastic mindfulness apps available to help assist your journey. Many of these include guided meditations, bedtime stories, motivational audios and short mantras to focus on each day or in times of need. Wherever you are on your self-compassion journey, I would love to hear from you. Please get in touch if you need some support by calling Patti on 07787 831 275. I offer a variety of therapies including Counselling, Hypnotherapy and Acupuncture, which I am more than happy to talk through with you in detail.

How acupuncture can help with Bell’s Palsy Clinical trials suggest that acupuncture is at least as effective as corticosteroids and may improve recovery in patients with Bell’s palsy, either used alone or in combination with drug treatment. Note though that most of the trials to date have been of poor quality which allows only tentative conclusions to be reached. Acupuncture may help in the treatment of Bell’s palsy by: reducing inflammation, by promoting release of vascular and immunomodulatory factors enhancing local microcirculation, by increasing the diameter and blood flow velocity of peripheral arterioles nerve and muscular stimulation.

Acupuncture Harrogate Listening to all your health concerns If you have never had an holistic treatment before, you will probably be pleasantly surprised by the experience of acupuncture Harrogate. In my consultations, clients have often said that they feel it’s the first time that someone’s really listened to them and taken their symptoms seriously. This is probably because, in holistic healing, every aspect of your health is important, and all the symptoms that you choose to tell me about, no matter how minor, will be taken into account when I treat you. Taking full details of your health history In your first consultation, I would usually start by asking about your main complaint. I would then ask you a series of questions about other symptoms that you may or may not have. These would be symptoms that I think may be related in some way to your main complaint. During this process, I would also ask you about any major illness that you’ve had throughout your life. This process, together with my observations about your complexion, general manner and appearance, would enable me to start forming my diagnosis. Tongue and pulse examination I would also take your pulses and examine your tongue. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, these are important diagnostic tools. When I take your pulses, this process is quite different from having your pulse taken in Western medicine. I will be feeling the quality of your pulses, rather than simply the speed. I will also be feeling your pulses in three different positions on each of your wrists. This will enable me to gauge how well each of your major organs are functioning, and whether there are any imbalances between them. Looking at your tongue will also give me a similar insight. Making a full Chinese Medicine diagnosis I would then put all these factors together to form my diagnosis, which I would discuss with you, doing my best to answer any questions that you have. I would then ask you to lie on the treatment couch, so that I could begin your treatment. Of course, if you would find it too uncomfortable to climb onto the couch, then I would treat you in whatever position is comfortable for you. What does acupuncture feel like? Most people’s experience of needles is of hypodermic needles. Acupuncture needles are nothing like those. They are much finer and are solid, rather than hollow. An acupuncture needle is about the thickness of a hair, and quite often you will not even know that I have inserted them. Usually, I would then gently stimulate the needle so that your energy is summoned to that particular point on that channel. When your energy connects with the needle, you will feel a sensation of some sort. The type and strength of the sensation varies from person to person, and also varies depending on the location on your body that I am needling in. The sensation might be a mild tingling, an aching, a feeling of heaviness, or sometimes a stronger sensation. The experience is nothing like receiving an ordinary injection. Most people find acupuncture relaxing, and many people fall asleep during treatment. What to expect after your acupuncture treatment. After each acupuncture Harrogate treatment, most people feel a sense of calmness and relaxation. Many people also experience dramatic results after their first treatment. With many conditions, particularly where you are feeling pain or discomfort, you may experience an immediate easing of your symptoms. In some cases, there may be no immediate relief, but instead you may notice your pain diminish over the next couple of days. Is acupuncture safe? When performed by a properly trained professional, such as myself, acupuncture is extremely safe. Also, I use sterile, disposable needles, so there is virtually no chance of infection or contagion. How long are the acupuncture treatments? Usually, your first consultation with me will be longer than the follow-up sessions. The first session usually lasts up to one and half hours. This extra time is to enable me to take your detailed case history and form my initial diagnosis. The follow up sessions would usually last around a hour. What to do before each acupuncture treatment If convenient, you should wear loose-fitting clothes, such as the type of kit that you would normally wear for sporting activities, or anything similar.To get the most from each treatment, it is important to avoid eating a large meal just before the treatment; you should also avoid being excessively hungry. If possible, other extremes should also be avoided, such as being physically exhausted. For example, you should avoid doing a long session of hard physical exercise immediately before your acupuncture session. Also, if you regularly scrape your tongue, it would be helpful if you could avoid doing this for several days before each treatment. Tongue examination is an important diagnostic tool in Chinese Medicine, and this will help me to make a more accurate diagnosis. British Acupuncture Council member.

What is a healthy diet? There is such a minefield of information on diet and nutrition in the media each and everyday that it is not surprising that there is some level of confusion of what are the best foods and drinks to eat. The latest medical research and findings has a huge impact on what we are advised to eat. What are the simple facts? What should you do to make your diet healthy? It is well accepted that what we eat and drink plays a huge role in our health and our longevity, life expectancy. If we look back over the last 20 years we can see that there has been quite array of conflicting advice, for instance the recommendation to eat a low fat diet was common until recently. Although, we know that eating too much fat is bad for us, we also now understand that eating a very low fat diet carries the risk of poor brain function, compromised heart health, hormone imbalances, higher risk of depression & anxiety and higher risks of Insulin Resistance and Diabetes. In addition, many low fat processed foods have a high sugar content (to compensate for the reduced fat content and flavour) which we now know is equally as harmful as foods with a high fat content. In fact, sugar is the very latest food to come under attack hence the introduction of the sugar tax on specific processed foods that have a high sugar content. As a therapist I encourage my clients to look at their lifestyle which includes what they eat and drink, their stress levels, how well they sleep and how frequently they get the opportunity to relax and have ‘me time’. A area of particular interest is our gut flora. Currently there is substantial evidence to indicate that poor levels of gut bacteria can affect not only our physical but also our mental health. In Traditional Chinese medicine which includes acupuncture there is a is a complete healthcare system that has over the last 3,000 years developed a detailed understanding of how to enhance your health through your diet and what is a healthy diet. The ideas evolved alongside the development of acupuncture, and are based on the same thorough understanding of how the body really works. How to eat well from a Chinese Medicine perspective. In Traditional Chinese medicine which includes acupuncture there is a is a complete healthcare system that has over this time, the Chinese have developed a detailed understanding of how to enhance your health through your diet and what is a healthy diet. The ideas evolved alongside the development of acupuncture, and are based on the same thorough understanding of how the body really works. In Chinese medicine, your ‘Spleen’1 is the central organ of digestion. The stronger your Spleen function is, the better you are able to extract nourishment from any food. When you eat, the question is not so much whether a particular food is good for you but rather how well your Spleen can extract the nourishment from it. The first step towards eating well may not involve changing your diet, but rather strengthening and maintaining your Spleen. So how can you do this? All exercise will help the Spleen provided it is balanced by stretching and relaxation. The ‘Spleen’, in its widest possible sense, is aided by movement and gentle stretching. Overuse of your mind can weaken your Spleen (this might be by: prolonged periods of study; tasks that involve hours of sitting and processing information; or constantly brooding on your problems). It is important to balance mental work with physical exercise and fresh air. When done with awareness, all activity that connects you more deeply with the Earth can ground you in your body and in the natural environment. This will support and strengthen your Spleen (whose element is ‘Earth’ in Chinese medicine). These activities include: gardening, or simply being outdoors with the seasons, the elements, and with the trees, plants, and soil. The dietary approach to supporting your Spleen The key to eating well is choosing foods, cooking methods, and eating habits that assist your Spleen in its digestive function. Some general guidelines as to what is a healthy diet Firstly, rather than considering which foods are ‘good’ or ‘bad’ for you, most people will benefit more from following some general guidelines on eating habits: Don’t mix food and work. Your digestion works best when you are focused on your enjoyment of the meal, and are not distracted or troubled by other influences, such as reading, watching television, doing business, dealing with family tensions, and so on. Where possible, mealtimes should be relaxed. And this includes posture: breathing calmly, sitting with uncrossed legs, and not being hunched or twisted. Chew food well. This lessens the work our digestive organs have to do and increases the efficient extraction of nutrients. Chewing also warms chilled food (though these should be generally avoided; see later). There is a saying in China: The stomach has no teeth. Stop just before you are full. If you overeat at any one meal, you create a temporary queue of food waiting to be processed. As a result you feel tired while your energy is occupied digesting this excess food. If this is a habit, your Spleen becomes over-strained, which leads to other health problems (see below). Don’t chill your Spleen. Too much raw or chilled food or fluid will also weaken your Spleen. Each time you eat raw or chilled food or liquid, your body must first heat this up to body temperature and then ‘cook’ it much more than with ‘pre-cooked’ food. All this activity is a great drain on your digestive energy. Prolonged or excessive use of chilled or raw food will eventually severely weaken your Spleen, possibly leading to the collapse of its function. Don’t flood your Spleen. Your Spleen does not like too much fluid with a meal. A little warm fluid is helpful, but too much dilutes your Spleen’s action and weakens digestion: a teacupful is generally sufficient. Most fluid is best consumed between meals. Eat your main meal early. Your Spleen’s function is at its peak at 11am. This is why most people feel a pang of hunger at about 11am. This is your body telling you that its digestive energy is at its strongest and that you should eat now. Where possible, take your largest meal during the day. If you eat late at night, your Spleen is at its weakest and it will be far less able to cope with the food. Choose foods with good ‘energy’. Include as much organic and locally grown food in your diet as possible. In both cases, the nutritional energy of this food is more strongly preserved. This is also true of all fresh food. On the other hand, the nutritional energy of food is significantly damaged by microwave cooking, by excessive processing, by chemical preservation, and is destroyed completely by irradiation. All foods processed in these ways should be avoided. In general, you will know when the food you are eating has good nutritional energy, when the food’s natural flavours are still strong. The above processing methods all weaken the flavour of food. Organically grown vegetables contain significantly more nutrients than non-organic vegetables. This is because the fertilisers used in non-organic production prevent the vegetables from absorbing minerals from the soil. Organic vegetables take longer to grow and produce a smaller yield and are therefore more expensive, but are nutritionally far superior2. Some specific considerations Although the essence of Chinese medicine is that each person eats according to their constitution, it is possible to set out some broad guidelines about what constitutes a healthy diet. There are two main considerations: 1.Establishing a broad and balanced base Grains and vegetables provide a central core of nourishment that is easy on the digestion. If we divide food into three main categories, the following proportions are recommended: Vegetables and fruits: about 50% Grains: about 30% Beans, Dairy, Meat, Nuts: about 20% 2.Making food easy to digest The process of digestion involves breaking food down into a warm soup in your Stomach. Your Spleen can then extract the nutrition from this soup and send it to where it is needed in your body. The cooking method most resembling the Stomach’s action is the preparation of soups and stews. This soupy mixture is already warmed and broken down for your Spleen to act upon it. Soups and stews are therefore the most Spleen-supportive meals. This, of course, means that salads and raw foods are not good for you, though a small amount of raw food can be helpful, such as certain fruits. This does not mean that you should limit your diet to soups and stews. However, the weaker your Spleen is, the more these methods will be useful to you. They are less work for your digestive system, and nutrients are more easily absorbed. Your Spleen has to work hardest when food is very rich (like fatty meat), raw or chilled. So to support your Spleen you need to eat only moderate amounts of rich foods, chew all food well, and avoid too much chilled or raw food. Meat is easier to digest when broken down in soups or casseroles. Finally, the moderate use of warm and pungent spices with cooked food will support the digestive process. How do you know if your Spleen is weak? If your Spleen is weak, then changing your diet and eating habits is likely to make some improvement to your health. However, for you to return to full health, you are likely to need treatment for your Spleen so knowing what is a healthy diet is important. In Western societies, it is common for people to have a weakened Spleen—due to the pressures of work, lifestyle in general, and a poor diet (in Chinese medicine, we call this condition ‘Spleen Qi Deficiency’). If your Spleen is Deficient, you will probably have some of the following symptoms: you feel bloated or tired after eating; you experience abdominal pains, or have a bloated abdomen you have low energy, and weak limbs (your body may feel heavy) your mind feels tired (in Chinese medicine, digesting thoughts is similar to digesting food, and relies on having a healthy Spleen) you have a poor appetite (you only feel like eating small amounts of food) you have problems with excess gas you have a poor sense of taste you are sensitive to certain foods, such as wheat, dairy, and so on you sometimes experience loose stools, even to the point of them being runny (this is a more advanced stage of Spleen deficiency) If you experience some of the above symptoms, you probably have Spleen Deficiency and knowing what is a healthy diet and following that would help. How can you most effectively strengthen your Spleen Traditional Chinese acupuncture is very effective at treating this condition (along with a vast range of other conditions). If you would like to explore the possibility of acupuncture treatment, do please phone me to discuss this, or to make an appointment. In the initial consultation, I would take your complete case history, read your pulses and form my complete Chinese medicine diagnosis. I would then be able to tell you how my treatments would be likely to benefit your health, advise you on how many treatments you might need, and on how quickly each of your symptoms would be likely to clear. I could also advise you on which specific foods would be helpful or harmful to you in your current state of health. This very much depends on each individual, and is not possible to determine until I have made my complete diagnosis for you. If you like to have a chat and learn more about what is a healthy diet please contact me to discuss on 07787 831 275. FOOTNOTE 1: The organ names in Chinese medicine do not correspond exactly to the organ names in Western medicine, nor to the very concept of ‘organs’ in Western medicine. In Chinese medicine, each organ can be best imagined as a collection of separate functions, some of them similar to the functions that Western medicine associates with the organ of the same name, and some of the functions being beyond the scope of the Western organ. But all these functions are influenced by stimulating a single ‘meridian’ (or ‘channel’ of energy).