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He Liked It so He Put a Mitten on It
If you a get an email from me this week, it will probably be short, there may very well be typos, and capital letters? Forget it, that’s way beyond me at the moment. Why? Because I have a new friend/enemy – the computer mitten. You want to know the story? Here we go…Since I first became ill, I’ve had issues with my right side. It always hurt more and it didn’t feel as strong. Both my arm and leg, it was all on the right side. But when I found a new massage therapist recently, her work astounded me. After a massage I had so much more movement and less…
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Road Trips and Self Care
A car is, to me, an incredibly luxurious mode of transport. We can go whenever we like! It’s a private pod that can be made comfortable and it’s something that needs to be considered seriously, bearing in mind the impact journeys have on climate change. A road trip can be fabulous, and difficult too. Travelling is tiring, something that seems to be forgotten nowadays. As though if one is sitting down then one is at ease. Not so! As a child, my family always treated travelling or spending time in the cities as an exertion. One had to rest after travelling home from London by train. Linus, my husband, was…
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Beyond Good and Bad
I don’t know about you, but as much as I appreciate and value people I know, choose and trust offering me refinement, celebration, feedback, reflection advice and wisdom… I don’t much like people telling me what I can and can’t do. Especially as most of it turns out not to be true. I’ve turned Trail Blazer, remember? I mean if I’d listened to all the people who told me I couldn’t do something, I certainly wouldn’t be here writing to you today. And so I don’t really like categorizing my life into ‘that’s not for me’. Of course there are things I have no desire to pursue – recreational drugs,…
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Relaxation Rehabilitation Part Four: How to Rest and Make it Fun
Lying down and doing nothing can be what is needed but sometimes our brains feel like they are racing and we need a gentle activity. Here are some suggestions: 1. Sanctuary. Imagine an inner safe place where you can go and feel calm, go there now. 2. Senses. Use relaxing sensory experiences. What is relaxation to you? What invokes relaxation and the sensation of ease? It could be falling asleep,the knowledge of nothing to do, a massage, a hug, a warm bath, the smell of clean linen, candle light, the sea and the beach. whatever it is for you, create or invoke it to relax today. Use smell, taste, colour and imagery.…
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Relaxation Rehabilitation Part Three: Solutions for Resting Problems
* When you struggle to switch your mind off try using mindfulness techniques. Observe the thoughts, the desires, the intense need to sit up and write something down or just look at that. Watch the flood of emotions, guilt, frustration, fear, unworthiness all come up and pass away. Let it all happen. It’s not you, you are the space in between the thoughts. * When you stick with it, the thoughts and tension begin to ease. At the beginning it can be very painful as the secondary tension related pain in the muscles releases. This passes and blood flows more easily. Remember in this difficult moment, you are helping your…
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