Harsh proposals for withdrawal of treatment from smokers and obese people were rejected by ministers for inclusion in Lord Darzi’s recent draft NHS constitution, but it includes the patient’s right to stipulate the type of treatment they want – aiming to increase  the patients’ responsibility in managing their own health.

In addition, increased medical technology, in the field of genetic testing for example, allows further choice and the moral dilemma of how to deal with the knowledge that we, or our future family, may be predisposed to a particular condition.

Armed with the knowledge that we could be at a higher risk of compromised health, we can choose to take steps to mediate that risk if possible or alternatively, to optimistically keep our fingers crossed and hope we are statistically lucky.

I like to be fully informed about my body and its health; I really enjoyed studying Anatomy and Physiology during my massage training, so I could understand how to ‘run’ this sophisticated biological machine as efficiently and effectively as possible.

Being ‘body-aware’ – noticing how we feel on a day to day basis – gives us the opportunity to pick up on any imbalance and make a choice to take necessary steps to get back on track. I find yoga sessions very fruitful, when the stillness and peace of the class allows me to focus on my body.

A massage session can also be a good opportunity to do a ‘body-check’ when I and the client become aware of areas that need attention – either physically because of tension or stress which manifests in muscles or mind, or behaviourally because of lifestyle issues, such as posture or diet. As we become more attuned to the workings of our body, this self-assessment can be a useful tool towards preventative healthcare.

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During the Dalai Lama’s visit to Nottingham many people who heard him were struck by his simply stated philosophies particularly his ‘the art of happiness –“ Happiness is determined more by the state of one’s mind than by one’s external conditions, circumstances, or events—at least once one’s basic survival needs are met”.  In the civilised Western world our basic survival needs have become more and more sophisticated so that acquiring and maintaining these may detract us from feeling that happiness.

When the current financial situation is restraining our spending and rising oil prices are curtailing our travel, the need to economise and recycle could encourage us to let go of what we don’t need. This might include not only clearing material surpluses from our life but also letting go of unneeded thoughts about the past and worries about the future from our mind in order to enjoy being ‘in the moment’.

This can also be applied to our body. We often hold tension in our body related to emotional trauma in our past or concern about the future. I avoid asking clients to relax in preparation for a treatment, preferring to suggest they allow themselves to sink into the chair or couch or feel it supporting them. Being told to relax can require concentration, unless you’ve been preparing towards it, such as at the end of a yoga class. Receiving a holistic treatment allows you to ‘let go’ of muscles that are not needed during that time and gives them the chance to ‘breathe’ and receive new lifeblood.

It was lovely to welcome so many local people at our Chill Out Zone at the Folk Festival – where despite the background of lively music and general buzz, people seemed able to ‘let go’ during their taster treatments.

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Oscar Hammerstein’s popular and inspirational song, probably more popularly known as Liverpool Football Club’s anthem, goes on to say “you’ll never walk alone”, but ‘holding your head up’ high can bring other benefits.

Psychologically, by looking at the world straight on, not only will you meet and greet others more assertively and feel graceful, poised and balanced, you’ll see the bigger picture which helps put things in perspective, encouraging calmness and confidence. You might miss the occasional dropped coin!, but you’ll find greater treasure in people and situations which may bring healthy encounters and opportunities.

In physical terms, by lifting your head up you open your body up and you become more aware of your posture. The Alexander technique, which promotes good postural habits in all different situations, was developed by Frederick Alexander in the 1890’s who found that the functioning of his voice depended on the correct balance of tension in his entire neuromuscular system, from head to toe. See further information on the Alexander technique on http://www.stat.org.uk.

I see the effects of poor posture in chronic back, shoulder and neck pain in many clients and my massage techniques can help people feel where the ‘trigger’ for the pain might be and then through discussion to identify what in their lifestyle is contributing to ingrained poor postural habits. Good posture particularly focuses on how the head neck and back work together and being aware of how we hold the heavy weight of our head – which may be between 4 and 5kg – so that is doesn’t compress the spine or strain the neck muscles.

Good posture brings many benefits and according to STAT’s survey in 2006 – “You feel an amazing lightness, like you’ve been suddenly given the body of someone ten years younger”. That sounds like a healthy goal we can work together on.

I hope to see you at the ‘Chill Out Zone’ at Southwell Folk Festival.

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IKEA’s latest slogan is that ‘regardless of where you live or who you are, home is the most important place in the world’. This has been brought home (excuse the pun!) to me following the flooding when I doggedly remained in my house while reparation work has been carried out. Despite the condition of my house, it’s still my home and staying here has helped me to continue to live as normally as possible. I needed to have ‘blinkered vision’ about the state of my house, while holding the dream of lovely new décor when it’s finished. Interestingly the one thing I’ve found hard is not having a comfy chair to relax in!

It led me to wonder what australiathesport.com makes a house a home and how do people cope who are homeless, vulnerably housed, or housed away from their home hearth as in refugees, or not living in a safe place? Ideally, home needs to be a space to feel safe in, a foyer to welcome friends and a secure base to venture out from to explore the world.

But there’s also a ‘homespace’ within ourselves which we may reach when we are engaged in an enjoyable activity or ‘allow ourselves to be ‘still’ – perhaps meditating or relaxing during a bodywork treatment. This ‘homespace’ is our true self, not the ‘constructed’ one we may present to the world, when the chattering mind creates its own reality and interferes with who we truly are and what we really need and want.

Many clients comment how they experience a particular peace during a bodywork treatment when subtle, creative or healing thinking may happen in this ‘homespace’. Experience the physical and emotional benefits of a Touch Therapy treatment or come to Southwell Folk Festival on Saturday 6^th or Sunday 7^th June and try out one of the many treatments I and fellow therapists will be offering in the ‘Chill Out Zone’.

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I love this time of year when the snowdrops are open and the days are drawing out. I may have made (and probably not kept!) resolutions and the dark January days send me into a kind of hibernation, but now I can feel truly motivated to open the door and step outside with a spring in my step.

In the words of Thomas Dewar – “Minds are like parachutes, they work best when open”. With the longer daylight hours there is more opportunity to open our eyes – not only in the physical sense for the sunshine to help our Vitamin D absorption – but to really see and be open to experience the natural beauty surrounding us which can be so uplifting emotionally. This in turn can help us tune into our inner experience, take stock of what needs attention in our life, what we need to put behind us so are ‘open’ to look at future opportunities and challenges.

Alexander Graham Bell said, “When one door closes, another opens, but we often look so long and regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us”. His experience of having a mother and wife with hearing impairments, inspired work which led to his invention of the telephone.

Mandy, a skilled and perceptive Yoga teacher, encouraged us in our first class back after Christmas, to open up our bodies. We, gently but with ‘intent’, stretched our muscles, which have often been ‘hunched up’ and tight when it’s cold and we’ve perhaps been less mobile. We did focussed breathing exercises to encourage oxygen into the furthest recesses of our lungs – the alveoli –where the actual exchange of nourishing oxygen and waste carbon dioxide happens. This very refreshing exercise both relaxes and energises.

‘Opening up’ has tremendous physical and emotional benefits and if you need support in helping to stretch out winter-tight muscles, phone me to book a Touch Therapy massage.

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“The greatest healing therapy is friendship and love”

 Hubert Humphrey

We may be coy about freely expressing our intimate feelings to our dearest friends yet Valentine’s Day is the second biggest card-giving occasion in the year. However, these ‘billet doux’, sometimes sent anonymously, are often cheeky, light-hearted or downright lewd rather than tender and genuinely caring. Mothering Sunday follows shortly, celebrating that special bond of motherhood.

Love is a complex concept and can give joy or pain. It ranges from the desiring and passionate yearning of eros, through philia a fondness and enjoyment of being with people whose company you enjoy, to agape which aims for a perfect kind of love which proactively seeks someone’s well-being and is not easily ‘dented’ by rejection.

I propose that, rather than (or perhaps as well as) a commercially produced card on Valentine’s and Mothering Sunday, it is really special to receive an authentic simple token of love. It may be spoken, shown or given in an honest, open way which we can truly believe and reminds us that we are desirable, loveable and worthy of a love that is gentle, subtle, non-moralistic and non-judgemental. We can relax and feel secure in its warm glow.

Our closest relationships are those which have most power to affect our well-being. We may be ‘broken-hearted’ when a relationship ends or we lose someone we love; we can be ‘lovesick’ when the telephone doesn’t ring with the expected invitation. The underlying stress can compromise our immune system and we may actually become ill.

In one gesture, you could show you care and boost the morale and health of your nearest and dearest by treating them to a holistic treatment. Phone me to buy personalised, attractive Valentine and Mothering Sunday vouchers.

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