Mother Theresa

The universal language of a smile speaks straight to the heart, bypassing the intellect and ego. Ayurveda advises one to greet others with a pleasant face to nurture loving relationships, Taoism teaches that giving ourselves a grin is the best medicine.

Research by French physiologist Dr Israel Waynbaum showed that facial muscles used for smiling or showing anger trigger different chemicals in the brain. Smiling secretes hormones such as pain-killing, ‘good mood’ endorphins and immune boosting killer T-cells while the stress hormones secreted by a scowl may increase blood pressure and susceptibility to infections as well as exacerbating depression and anxiety.

Some say it takes more muscles to frown than smile, but Dr David H. Song, a plastic surgeon, proposes that of the 53 facial muscles, depending on the intensity of the expression, 12 are used for smiling and only 11 for frowning. It seems that after a smile, the ‘frowning’ muscles relax more readily.

We may be able to improve someone’s day – as well as our own – with something as simple as a smile. Smiles are irresistible, contagious and fun. Share heartfelt smiles with everyone you see, with extra big smiles for your family and friends. Look in the mirror and smile at yourself. How does it make you feel?

I catch a reflection of myself in a shop window sometimes and realise I’m frowning – possibly concentrating on my shopping list, but I’ll be delighted if you smile at me and remind me of this article. Perhaps you don’t feel like smiling, but neurologist Duchenne de Boulogne who studied the nature of smiling, found that even a superficial ‘false’ smile which doesn’t extend to the eyes has the same effect on yourself and others, so through positive feedback, you’ll start to feel better and realise that a smile is the sweetest treasure we can give.

St Francis of Assisi

The season of giving and receiving is nearly here but let’s reflect on how we respond to gifts throughout the year.

We may enjoy the whole process of choosing a gift whether it’s a tangible present or something that doesn’t cost money but involves our time such as arranging an outing, cooking a meal, or helping someone with their shopping. We enjoy the look of pleasure on the person we have treated as well as feeling we may have enriched their life.

But how often do you hear the recipient say ‘You shouldn’t have …’.or look embarrassed. They may feel there are strings attached, that they will be obligated in response to a gift. Perhaps they feel unworthy of attention or that receiving help shatters their illusion of independence because they are showing their need or possible weakness. This reluctantly accepted gift may make the giver feel rejected.

Giving and receiving are opposite energies linked in the natural flow of life and an expression of our interconnectedness. If we find it hard to accept a gift perhaps we should remember that someone considers us important enough to give that gift and accept it graciously.

Your interest in well-being through holistic therapy is important to me and I would like to offer you a New Year treat. Give a friend or someone in your family a Christmas gift voucher for a Touch Therapy treatment and this will entitle you to 50% of the value of that voucher off a treatment for yourself to kick-start a healthy New Year’s resolution.

“It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Swami Sivananda

This isn’t a discussion about the purity of organic food – there’s a wealth of information and nutrition experts available, but I do believe we need to understand what is good for our body and why. We can ‘tune in’ to read the signals our body sends us in response to what we eat and notice what is good or detrimental to our body because “we are what we eat”. We need to adjust our eating habits as our lifestyle and body changes and remember that we ‘eat to live, not live to eat’, but nevertheless enjoy and savour our food to aim for a well-run body ensuring health and productivity.

I love food and enjoy cooking, so I find it very pleasurable to sit down and eat slowly and peacefully or in the company of good friends who also enjoy food. Digestion starts in the mouth, or even before, with the sight and smell of food activating our salivary glands, so, for me, the ritual of preparation is very much part of the eating process.

Eating in the street while rushing from shop to shop or between work appointments, we are not concentrating on the eating ritual and may tend to overeat because we are not ‘tuned in’. By eating on the move, we divert energy from properly digesting food and put stress on our (probably already over-stressed) body systems.

‘Fast processed food’ is so readily available that rather than eating healthily at regular times we may grab the nearest easy option – crisps, biscuits, sugary treat, even if our ‘hunger scale’ is saying that we’re perhaps only slightly hungry and a glass of water or cup of green tea or a piece of ‘fast healthy food’ such as fresh or dried fruit, would tide us over till the next proper meal.

‘Tune in’ to your eating habits and taste the benefits.

‘Southwell Life’ – Nov 2007

“…..It’s not only the scenery you miss by going too fast – you also miss the sense of where you are going and why.Eddie Cantor

A recent camping holiday with my daughter in (very wet and windy!) Norfolk reminded me of the benefit of taking things at a slower pace. Being away from TV’s and computers, our preoccupation with keeping our tent securely pegged down and cooking on basic equipment was fun and brought our focus back to enjoying each other’s company, chatting and playing Scrabble (she won every time!).

Many of us live in ‘fast forward’ – and pay the price for it. Our work, health and relationships suffer. Over-stimulated, over-scheduled and overwrought, we struggle to relax, to enjoy things properly, to spend time with family and friends. It wouldn’t be practical on an everyday basis to shun technology, live in the wilderness or do everything at a snail’s pace, but we could aim to strike a balance between fast and slow.

Eating more slowly is better for your digestion and gives time for your appestat – a hypothetical region of the brain thought to control the amount of food intake – to kick in, so you stop eating before you get overfull.

Anaerobic exercising, particularly in disciplines such as Yoga, Tai Chi or Pilates are more beneficial when done at a snail’s pace- the muscles have to work harder when you don’t allow gravity or the impetus of a movement to help get you in or out of a position.

When I do a massage treatment I alternate some more energetic bodywork with some really slow, soothing, almost hypnotic techniques, enabling a deep, therapeutic relaxation. Clients often say that while they were relaxed and suspended in this ‘slow’ time, their thoughts flowed more creatively and perhaps opened up the way forward with an issue which had been vexing them.

‘Southwell Life’ – Oct 2007

Weather has short and long term effects on our bodies according to biometeorologists – scientists who study this connection. “UV-A and UV-B light in small doses has a stimulating and harmonising effect on our energy levels, immune systems, metabolism, blood pressure, blood sugar levels, endocrine system and our ability to concentrate, work and learn.” (Dr Jacob Libermann, ‘Light – Medicine of the Future/Dr. Zane R. Kime, ‘Sunlight could save your life’)

Our reactions to the weather affect the production of hormones in our bodies which are also affected by pain and stress, resulting in a cocktail of ‘enemies’ which can combine to lead to us feeling ‘under par’.

We are well aware of the damage to unprotected skin by the ultra violet rays of the sun and high levels of sunlight to eyes may be harmful. We are also cautioned about exposure to sunlight when taking certain medications, after using particular toiletries or having a massage with phototoxic essential oils such as Bergamot, Ginger and the citrus oils which make you more photosensitive and accelerate that painful and harmful sunburn.

But it’s not all bad news – these cautions shouldn’t put us off getting a healthy daily dose of sunshine – even just 10 minutes is beneficial. It is needed by our bodies to make vitamin D which boosts our immune system and aids calcium absorption, to promote healthy bone growth. Vitamin D is also available from food sources such as milk, oily fish and egg yolks but some sunshine on our eyes has the added advantage of affecting our hypothalamus which governs mood among other things.

The late arrival of summer seems to have contributed to a general low mood this year, but a daily dose of this free ‘medicine’ could help perk us up again.

‘Southwell Life’ – Sept 2007

(Mark Twain)

“The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is. (C. S. Lewis)

I’m aware that the more ‘available’ time I have, the less I seem to do – I achieve far more when I’m busy, knowing that I have to fit tasks into ‘spare’ time and can’t afford to put them off.

Labour saving devices don’t seem to have made more leisure time. Half our life is spent trying to do something with the time we have rushed through the day trying to save! But do we allow ‘free’ time for creative thinking to help us intuitively spend our time in the most efficient, effective way? Time is a precious commodity – once ‘spent’ it’s gone; we need to treasure it.

How many times have I heard myself say ‘I haven’t got time to….’ Is that really true, or is it that my focus, priorities or desire is actually directed elsewhere? If I really wanted or needed to do something, wouldn’t I ‘find’ time? Or is it, in the words of Ecclesiastes, ‘For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven’ – when the time’s ‘right’ I will do it?

So there’s no need to berate yourself that you ‘haven’t had time to…’. If you are interested in a healthy lifestyle, simply keep that aim in mind and you will do those things that can help maintain health and well-being, such as see a friend, walk instead of drive, take time to cook using fresh ingredients, perhaps even have a massage.

P.S. It was lovely to see so many local people visited our Complementary Therapy ‘Chill-out Zone’ for taster sessions at the Gate to Southwell Folk Festival – an ideal opportunity to experience ‘still’ time.

‘Southwell Life’ – Aug 2007

(Amos Bronson Alcott, Philosopher – 1799-1888)

It’s interesting that last month Howard was highlighting the difficulties that can arise between neighbours. Not long after he had written that, we had both, among many others nearby, experienced the trauma of being flooded, which, in contrast, brought out the goodwill that a crisis can evoke in neighbours – cups of tea, offers to help, general concern about our situation and mutual moral support.

An enforced change of circumstances can remind us what is important and that it’s not so much what life throws at us, but how we react. Usual routine is interrupted and raised adrenaline levels to ‘fight or flight’ have, in my case, prompted an energetic clear-out and re-organisation which I probably should have done months if not years ago, but somehow never found that kind of energy!

Having an everyday routine is useful in that we don’t need to think constantly about what to do – some activities just happen on ‘autopilot’. But having the opportunity to step outside of that routine gives a renewed energy and interest in approaching life from a different viewpoint.

I aim to approach my holistic treatments without a specific routine in mind. When I was training, a massage routine was a useful way to become familiar with techniques. However, once I had absorbed them I took a more individual approach with a ‘listening touch’. By working without a restricting routine I have more energy to give and can formulate a ‘cocktail’ of techniques which combine appropriately to make a treatment more dynamic and focussed towards individual needs.

Obviously, at each visit, we can discuss if ‘more of the same’ is what you need and like, or whether a more intuitive and ‘go with the flow’ treatment would be more effective.. it’s your choice.

‘Southwell Life’ – July 2007

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference” (2)

There are the changes that happen to us and around us – age, health, seasons, events – and our reaction to those changes rather than the changes themselves may influence how we are affected. We can recognise that change is happening, accept or fight/resent those changes, but they are often inevitable and we may have to change our thinking, lifestyle or patterns of behaviour in order to deal with them.

However, making the changes that might improve our well-being, possibly without an external ‘trigger’ – exercising more, eating more healthily, being more aware of our posture – can seem daunting. Our head tells us that if we change nothing, nothing changes, but it’s often easier to stay with our habits. Try crossing your arms the other way round from how you do it naturally and you can see just how difficult and strange it feels to do something differently.

However it might only need a small decision or step to start the process. Involving a friend in your change, giving yourself a timetable to plan it – ‘Think it, believe it, do it’, following a self-help book, working with a professional you trust, giving yourself rewards when you achieve a small step, will all help you stick with the process of change.

A holistic complementary therapy treatment which starts with a health consultation and lifestyle assessment can help ‘kickstart’ your change, and subsequent treatments can maintain the momentum of that change and reward yourself for making the change.

(1) Anthony J. D’Angelo
(2) Reinhold Niebuhr 

‘Southwell Life’ – June 2007