Introducing Happi Nappies
Happi Nappies is a Facebook page and website dedicated to helping people switch over to reusable nappies.
Disposable nappies take 200-500 years to decompose and can contain toxic levels of Chemicals. The reusable alternatives are made of organic cotton, bamboo and hemp so it’s easy to see why so many people are considering making the change.
Cloth nappies have come a long way since terry squares and safety pins, they go on with Velcro or poppers and go in the wash at 40 or 60. Many people use disposable (biodegradable) liners to make cleaning even easier and with many councils offering cash back incentives this really is the year to embrace cloth nappies.
Feldenkrais and the Art of Listening
My Guest Blogger this week is the amazing Yeu-Meng from Feldenkrais Essex
The Art of Listening
Do you feel sometimes that people don’t really listen when you’re talking? They seem to have their own agenda and steer the conversation to what they want to say and not listen to what you have to say. Do you think you might have that sort of relationship with your body? Do you ever properly listen to your body as it tries to tell you what it likes/dislikes or do you impose your will on it to do as you please?
Listening to Your Body
Feldenkrais® is not only about movement. It is also about listening; listening not only to interpret the teacher’s verbal directions during an Awareness Through Movement® lesson, but listening to our body as it responds to those instructions at the same time. For example, when we reach with the arm, we listen to how we perform that movement – what is the quality of the movement, is it smooth or jerky, how far do we go easily without stretching or straining and so on. We listen not only to what is happening in our arm, but also to how other parts of us react to this movement – how does our torso support the movement, are there any ripples of movement from the pelvis or the feet, how does the movement change your contact on the floor. How does one part of us talk and relate to the other parts?
We are so used to “shouting” at our bodies. Many of us perceive of our bodies as merely a physical vehicle that transports ourselves from A to B and don’t pay much attention to it until something goes wrong. We also have the habit of compartmentalising ourselves into arms, legs, torso and head without thinking about how they ‘talk’ and relate to each other. We don’t listen to what our bodies have to tell us until they begin to “shout” back at us. Literally it means pain and discomfort, limitations in our quest to get ourselves from A to B. The most common comment I get from people is “I don’t know how that happened. My back/neck/knee/ankle suddenly went as I turned round, or bent down etc”.
An Accident Waiting to Happen
I have a theory for this. Things rarely go wrong suddenly and without warning – when something goes, it is probably because it was an accident waiting to happen through years of moving in a particular way. Perhaps we had ignored earlier warning signs – a little throb, twinge or discomfort here and there, but we dismissed those sensations because it wasn’t serious enough to take heed. Our body was trying to tell us something but we chose to disregard it.
As an Ehlers Danlos sufferer I used to put parts of myself out constantly. My back would suddenly go as I lifted my hands up to wash my hair. I remember reaching across the passenger seat in the car to retrieve my handbag – something clicked or popped in my hip joint and I was limping for weeks after that. I have not suffered from these inexplicable sudden injuries now for some years since I did the Feldenkrais training. The odd occasion when something goes, the recovery time is much quicker – it lasts for days rather than weeks or even months.
A Different Way to Achieve Core Strength
I haven’t gone to the gym to strengthen my core or my muscles, neither have I stretched to free the tightness in my neck and shoulders. I simply listen to my body as I do numerous Feldenkrais® lessons and take this learning into practical application into my everyday life. This improves the way I use myself daily and herein lies the clue for our wellbeing. It is the way we use ourselves on a daily basis that has the greatest bearing on the health of our joints and muscles. When I reach for something now, my body is probably aware of what my neck is doing, how I am shifting my weight, whether I am holding my breath etc – these are all the things that are involved in making this simple everyday movement an effortless one. Some of this is conscious, a lot of it is unconscious, and the more Feldenkrais® I do, the more unconscious this way of moving and using myself becomes as the habits of good quality movement replace the not so good ones. It is the art of listening to your body, truly listening.
We don’t expect babies to lift weights to strengthen themselves in order to learn to crawl or walk. They learn to organise themselves through sensing their skeleton through movement and their relationship to gravity. In turn, their musculature develops to support the function of crawling, walking, sitting, running and so on. I am now stronger because I am better organised skeletally, and my musculature has developed to support this. In the past, years of physical therapy did not have much effect on me as those exercises did not support how I used myself in my daily activities – it did not address the issues of how I was walking, sitting, using my arms – these were all actions which I was doing which were threatening my whole being through not being aware of healthy organised movement.
Feldenkrais® for Optimum Functioning
In short, listening to yourself and how you organise yourself to do various activities could be the key to your wellbeing , to healthy ageing or to your pain management. The next time your bend down to tie your shoe laces, turn round to talk to someone behind you, or reach up for that object on the high shelf, listen to how you are doing that movement. Develop the art of truly listening to your body before it shouts at you.
Yeu-Meng
http://feldenkrais-essex.com/feldenkrais-and-the-art-of-listening/
9 Compelling Reasons Why You Need the Benefits of Reiki
9 Compelling Reasons Why You Need the Benefits of Reiki
I found this article Reikirays.com which I thought was rather interesting.
Article by Neelam Rai
Reiki uses the universe’s energy to heal you. It is as simple as that. But, such a simple concept has far reaching benefits. If you have ever had a Reiki session, you may be able to relate to what I am saying as far as the benefits of Reiki. After a Reiki session, you feel a sense of calm, and an absence of any rush to get anywhere. You feel at peace with your inner self, wherever you are at that moment.
Through Reiki, the universe is trying to help you get rid of any problems that might be troubling you. You may feel energized; you may feel relaxed; you may even feel like crying. It all depends on what you were seeking from Reiki, and by extension, from the universe.
There are so many benefits of Reiki. Here are some of the most compelling ones.
1. Reiki Helps You Feel Healthier
Think of Reiki as the warmth that will dissolve your problems. When the energy of the universe flows through you, it brings healing powers with it. If you are suffering from backaches, migraines, irritable bowel syndrome, or any other such complications, Reiki may help you minimize your physical pains.
Papers published in reliable journals like Journal of Complementary and Alternative Medicine and PubMed have shed light on Reiki’s healing properties. For example, one study confirmed that “Burnout is a work-related mental health impairment comprising three dimensions: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment. Reiki aims to help replenish and rebalance the body’s energetic system, thus stimulating the healing process” (Díaz-Rodríguez, Arroyo-Morales, Fernández-de-las-Peñas, García-Lafuente, García-Royo, Tomás-Rojas, 2011).
Did you know that Reiki may help you sleep better, even if you have been fighting nighttime depression or insomnia? As you get more sleep, you will feel more energized thus increasing your overall feeling of wellness.
2. Reiki Helps You Regain Focus
Through Reiki, you allow the universe’s energy to flow through you. As more of it flows through your body, mind, and soul, it clears out a lot of clutter. Reiki puts your chakras–the center of spiritual power in the human body–in balance. When your chakras are balanced, you will begin to feel like you have gained a new perspective on life. Everything will appear clearer – your life, your adversities, your career path, everything.
Best of all, this shift helps you regain focus in your life. When you truly understand the importance of different aspects of your life, you can prioritize them better. Proper prioritization helps you get things done. Once you get into this cycle of clarity, it will sustain itself. Consider having someone to guide you in allowing the universe’s energy to help you. Once you learn the tools and techniques, you can practice self-healing.
3. Reiki Helps You Get Rid of Bad Karma
Think of bad karma like a blockage in your system. When there is a blockage in an artery, the blood flow to the heart is reduced, and it leads to a cardiac arrest. Similarly, when you have bad karma around you, your energy may get trapped. Such interruptions to the flow of energy may express themselves in a variety of forms. You may feel irritated, depressed, or it may even take the form of a major physical problem.
Reiki can help you cleanse your karma. The blockages can be removed by a Reiki master. The Reiki master will channel the energy of the universe through herself, and into you to cleanse you of the bad karma surrounding you.
4. Reiki Helps You Magnetize Abundance
The universe works through your will. If you think and believe that you deserve happiness, then the universe gives you just that. If you believe that you are born to fail, then it will agree with you as well. Abundance and prosperity will be yours if you can channel the right energy. Reiki is your conduit to universe’s positive energy.
A Reiki session can help you be more affirmative. You can also use the energy generated by Reiki to touch the things around you. A Reiki charged ball can be put in your bank account. The more you are in contact with the vibration that brings abundance, the more you will attract it.
5. Reiki Helps You Feel Empowered
Reiki has a powerful calming effect. When you are at your calmest, you are free to accept all your flaws and embrace your good qualities. Do you know what that means? You become self-aware; aware of your role in the larger universe, and how you fit in the grand scheme.
When you can stop focusing on your shortcomings and start working on them, you become more empowered. The hopelessness goes away because now you can take charge of your life. You can steer it in any way you like. The power is in your hands. And I bet you didn’t realize your hands can heal you?
6. Reiki Helps Release the Stress
Stress is a by-product of our ridiculously fast lives. Right from the time that you wake up to the time you fall asleep, you are bombarded with more information than you can ever consume. You need to stop, sit down, and relax.
One of the benefits of Reiki is that it can help you achieve spiritual peace, which is peace on a spirit level. This benefit of Reiki has become more and more relevant as the times are changing. In fact, some studies have shown that Reiki relaxes people who work in high-stress jobs.
After a Reiki session, some people feel sad for a day. You may even cry. But, remember that these are the negative energies that are being released from you. That’s Reiki helping you. You are finally healing.
7. Reiki Helps You with Creativity
Office work, ads, news, gossip, politics, and the list of attention-grabbing aspects of modern life goes on. As the numbers of screens around us have increased, we have no time for ourselves. Creativity stems from a clarity of mind and the power of imagination.
Achieving a higher level of mental focus is one of the most well-known benefits of Reiki. When you are in a Reiki session, the proper flow of healing energy removes all kinds of energy blocks in your mind and spirit to help you unleash your creativity. Since you are at a heightened energy state, you can think better, imagine more, and create a fresh new world around yourself.
8. Reiki Helps You Get in Touch With the Spiritual Side
Reiki treatments often lead to spiritual growth. When you are not being bogged down by the trivial everyday worries, you have more mental space to ask important questions. You want to find a purpose to life.
If you allow Reiki to help you, its techniques will help your spirit be at peace. When your spirit is at peace, you feel emotional tranquility that isn’t easily disturbed. This transformation is essential if you seek a greater truth. If you want to find your life’s purpose, you need to be at peace with yourself. Then, by opening your spiritual eye to what the universe is trying to communicate to you, you are more likely to find the meaning of your existence.
9. Reiki Assists in Recovering From Illness
Reiki works with the energy of the universe. A Reiki practitioner sees everything in terms of energy. A longtime illness could be associated with a disturbance in your energy field. Reiki may be helpful in bringing it back in balance.
Look at it this way. When the mind and the soul are healed, the body is more likely to heal itself. The diseases are often external expressions of energy disturbances, and Reiki works in balance with your medical providers to help you correct disturbances.
Elegant by Irene Brankin
Ooooh to be Elegant particularly in this loooong heatwave we have been having – at least down here in the South East. Hot is not the word for it!! I am like a wilted lettuce – hot, red-faced, sweaty, no energy, in a brain daze.
A dear friend of mine, Irene Brankin, wrote this blog, which I think sums up how some of us may be feeling....
ELEGANT
Ooooh to be Elegant particularly in this loooong heatwave we have been having – at least down here in the South East. Hot is not the word for it!! I am like a wilted lettuce – hot, red-faced, sweaty, no energy, in a brain daze.
No wonder I wish I could be Elegant!! Some of the meanings of the word are –
Dignified, Tasteful, Refined, Sophisticated,
Stylish, Graceful …
Have you ever seen a wilted lettuce looking anything like these?? No, neither have I!!!
Solutions
So what are my options around this issue? I am sure you have many solutions and I’d love to hear them too.
I could sit in front of a fan all day long; get someone else to do what I need to do; get up at dawn and do what I need to do; do any housework or anything at night; not bother about it all; stay in the shade; keep having cool showers; wear shorts and ‘t’ shirts all the time; wear loose clothes… I could go on and on.
Reality
OR I could simply accept that this is my reality in the heat. I am not a woman who thrives in it so I can stop moaning and groaning about it. I can do the best I can for me whatever I am doing.
I can accept when I get told (not in a heatwave) that I can be any of those lovely meanings above. I am always amazed when I am told that, I can assure you. So, what amazes you when others tell you how they see you? Are you able to let it/them in? It can be difficult to let us see ourselves in a larger way by including in others’ views on us. And it can be even more challenging when they are things we don’t want to hear!!
Stop It, Fuck It, Thank You
This is what can happen on my new Autumn 10 Week Online Course – Stop It, Fuck It, Thank You – you can be challenged to see more of YOU. Yes, I could say ‘The Good, The Bad and The Beautiful’ and include more of YOU.
If I use my saying (SI, FI, TY) for myself then I can tell myself that it is time to stop pulling myself down with my comparisons with those Elegant People.
I can scream, moan and groan till the cows come home that won’t change anything except use up the little cool, calm and collected energy I have.
And I can accept my reality of how I am in a heatwave and put what I want to do into action.
And I can thank myself for being me – the beautiful soul I am – one who copes and doesn’t cope. Someone who makes me smile, laugh, cry, puts me at ease, someone who is vulnerable and also strong.
I hope you have taken away something from my Blog today – that it is okay to be honest about ourselves too.
Go Well
Irene Signature
Contact me for further details of my 10 week Stop It, Fuck It, Thank You, Course irene@irenebrankin.co.uk