Doesn't time fly?........

Can you believe it? This week beginning 25^th March is the 12^th week of 2013. This means we are a quarter of the way through the year! How quickly does time pass?

So now is a good time to reflect and look back at what you have achieved over the first quarter of 2013. Did you set yourself goals, targets or New Years resolutions in January? Have you achieved them? Did you set any? Have you made any plans for the rest of the year? Have you made plans for next year?

It may seem I am asking a lot of questions, but if you don’t ask the questions how do you know the answers?

If we make plans we feel more in control, we know the direction we are heading, we know when we have achieved one goal and can move on to the next. We can also make any changes and alterations to our plans if different situations arise.

I like to think of myself as a bit of a free spirit, however I have come to the conclusion that to feel free we need some structure in our lives. If you are living life careering from one event to another and feel out of control why not come along and see if we can help at Fine Fettle? Any of the therapists are happy to have a free 15 minute chat and suggest ways we might be able to help.

Contact us or come and see us, we love meeting new people.

 

Sue Ford

Clinical Hypnotherapist

NLP Life Coach

New Years Resolutions - Did you keep them?

A blog From Helen Williams who works from FINE FETTLE MHC:

Did you start 2013 determined to stick to your New Year Resolutions? Has it all fallen apart after only a few weeks? The statistics show that less than 10% of those who make resolutions actually stick to them for 6 months with nearly half giving up by the middle of January with 45% blaming lack of willpower

If you have fallen by the wayside but really want to change certain aspects of your life then maybe you have to revisit the whole commitment thing and this time:

Set Yourself Up for Success

Your reasons WHY

The first place to start is to understand WHY you want to make changes

Too many people go straight for the WHAT (e.g. lose weight) without first considering WHY

It’s essential you think about the reasons WHY you want to make changes and improvements as without this initial process you have no driving force to keep you on track and propel you to succeed.

Take time to consider this, make sure your reasons are positive and personal. This shouldn’t be someone else’s goal for you. This has to be your true reason. So spend time really identifying the key points for wanting change. If your reason is strong enough it will keep you going especially when the hard times creep in, attach enough importance to the goal and you’l be more likely to succeed.

Your Goals

Once you have the WHY in place you can go on to set your goals following the SMART rules.

Research shows we are 80% more likely to achieve our goals if we make them “smart”                                 

What is SMART?

Specific - you need to know exactly what you want to achieve, vague statements will not work. So just putting “I want to lose weight” or “I want to improve my running” is not specific enough. Instead something like “I want to lose 1 stone by May 2013” or “I am going to run a 5k in May 2013 in less than 45 mins” is far more exact.

Measureable - you need to be able to track your progress and measure the out come.

Action based - say what you are going to do, have an action plan (see below)

Realistic and relevant - your goal should be challenging but realistic e.g. you are not going to lose 3 stone in a month. It must be “do-able”. Putting something unrealistic is just setting yourself up to fail

Time bound -your goals should always include a time limit. Whatever goal you are setting should always include “by when” do you want to achieve the result?

Your long term goal is probably your most important and meaningful but sometimes achieving this can be quite far in the future. This could mean that you have problems staying motivated and focused. If you set yourself shorter term goals, they are like stepping stones that will help you get to the ultimate prize and will help monitor your progress.

“A goal without a plan is just a wish”

(Antoine de Saint-Exupery)

Your Action Plan

★Write down a list of actions that you are going to take that will help you achieve your goals.

Make these actions positive. By this I mean don’t have a list of actions which start “I will not .......” this is a negative and concentrates on what we want to avoid or eliminate. So saying something like “I will not eat biscuits” will just make you want to eat biscuits

Start each action with an “I will .....e.g.eat more protein and vegetables”

★Every action you write down should lead to your goal

★Have a support group, tell people what you are doing. This gives you accountability. Enlist the help of friends, family or colleagues who will help you and maybe even join you. Choose carefully, you don’t want people around who are constantly trying to send you off track. We’ve all been around those people who say “one piece of cake won’t do any harm” or “one more won’t hurt” etc These are negative influences in your life, they are not your supporters they are sabotagers -ditch them or make sure you do not mix with them during this time!

★Write your WHY, your goals and action plan down. Buy yourself a beautiful journal and use it to record your thoughts and feelings along the way or maybe you could start a blog.

In your head it’s just an idea, on paper it’s a plan

★Be realistic with your action plan. It has to be sustainable. With each task think to yourself “can you see yourself doing this in a years time?” If the answer is NO then reconsider. These should be actions that you can fit in to your daily life. If they are realsitic you can do them

★Diarise things like exercise plans, make them as important as business appointments, do not allow other things to supercede them, give them priority and importance (all the more reason for making them realistic)

★Once you have written out your goals and action plan post it somewhere you will see it every day.

★Take time out every week to reflect on your progress and reward yourself for your successes.

★Goals are not set in stone, you can make changes as you progress. If you are getting stressed out because you are not achieving everything on your plan then change it to something that is more realistic (but should still be challenging)             

               

★So now go and write down your reasons for change, your goals and how you are going to achieve them.

★Take responsibility for your life. Whatever got you in to the situation you are in -YOU are the only one who can get you out. This is the single greatest skill you can learn, master this and everything else will fall in to place.

“Accept responsibility for your life. Know that it is you who will get you where you want to go, no one else.”

(Les Brown)

Surrey Nutrition Clinic offers support to help you achieve your health goals.

We offer full 1:1 nutritional consultations at FineFettle and we have now introduced a new 1 hour “Optimise You Health” session. During this time we can discuss your specific health or weight loss goals, your current diet and lifestyle and make recommendations to support you, whether that goal is to increase your energy, to lose weight, optimise your digestion or maybe to address PMS symptoms. The 1 hour session also includes relevant handouts.

As a special introductory offer for February and March we are giving a 10% discount to all new clients who book either an “Optimise Your Health” session or a full nutritional consultation

If you have a specific health complaint we do recommend that you seek a full 1:1 nutritional consultation.

Call Fine Fettle Multi-healthcare on 01372 458984

If you would like to speak to Helen Williams, the Nutrition Consultant then please call Surrey Nutrition Clinic on 0208 226 5063 or e-mail info@surreynutritionclinic.co.uk to arrange a convenient time.

Initial research suggests hypnotherapy may help in the reduction of hot flushes connected to the menopause

Clinical Hypnosis Can Reduce Hot Flashes After Menopause, Baylor Study Shows

Oct. 31, 2012

Baylor researcher Gary Elkins says clinical hypnosis may offer a low-cost alternative treatment for hot flashes in postmenopausal women. (Baylor University photo)

Contact: Terry Goodrich, Assistant Director of Media Communications, (254) 710-3321

WACO, Texas (Oct. 31, 2012) -- Clinical hypnosis can effectively reduce hot flashes and associated symptoms among postmenopausal women, according to a new study conducted by researchers at Baylor University's Mind-Body Medicine Research Laboratory.

Hypnotic relaxation therapy reduced hot flashes by as much as 80 percent, and the findings also showed participants experienced improved quality of life and a lessening of anxiety and depression.

The mind-body therapy study of 187 women over a five-week period measured both physical symptoms of hot flashes and women's self-reporting of flashes. The women received weekly sessions of hypnosis by clinically trained therapists, and they also practiced self-hypnosis using audio recordings and such visualizations as a snowy path or a cool mountain creek, according to the study, published online in Menopause: The Journal of The North American Menopause Society and funded by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine of the National Institutes of Health.

"This is the first study in which we compared both self-reporting and physiological monitoring -- not just a change in tolerance or ability to cope, but the hot flashes themselves decreased," said Gary Elkins, Ph.D., professor of psychology and neuroscience in Baylor's College of Arts & Sciences and director of the Mind-Body Medicine Research Laboratory.

By the fourth session, hot flashes had decreased about 70 percent, and at a three-month follow-up, the decrease averaged 80 percent, he said. "Some women reported having nearly complete elimination of hot flashes."

To be clinically significant, the decrease must be 50 percent or more, he said. Besides decreasing in frequency, the hot flashes also became milder.

"For women who want to be involved in their own therapy, this is very appealing," Elkins said. "It also has the advantages of cost savings and few or no side effects. Over the long term, the intervention has the potential to reduce health care costs and provide a safe and effective choice for women during menopause."

Other treatment options are hormones -- estrogen or progestin --which are most effective with a range of 90 to 100 percent reduction in hot flashes, but associated with increased risk of breast cancer or heart disease; antidepressants, with a decrease in the range of 45 to 60 percent but with possible side effects such as dry mouth and decreased interest in sex; and herbal remedies, generally found to be of little more benefit than a placebo, Elkins said.

During the study, women wore skin monitors with electrodes. They pushed a response button when they experienced a flash, and the monitor also recorded physiological changes such as temperature.

"This is one of the largest studies for menopausal intervention that has been done, and certainly for mind-body intervention," Elkins said.

"Our next steps are to determine if the intervention can be provided by audio and video recordings as well as the long-term cost benefits," he said. "If it can be provided by audio recording, we could achieve a wide usage and potentially help millions of women. Studies also need to be done to see whether this could benefit the immune system and ward off disease."

Research findings mirrored results of an earlier Baylor study using hypnosis to reduce hot flashes in breast cancer survivors.

Other researchers involved in the study were William Fisher and Aimee Johnson, both doctoral candidates of psychology at Baylor; Janet Carpenter, Ph.D., R.N., a professor in the department of nursing of the University of Indiana; and Timothy Keith, Ph.D., a professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

http://www.baylor.edu/mediacommunications/news.php?action=story&story=124775

Blog Challenge Update

 

Well this post completes the challenge I set myself at the end of October 2012 to write a blog a week until Christmas, and here we are January 2013! In my defence I completed before Christmas but due to technical problems didn't manage to post until now.

I have surprised myself because I have really enjoyed the process of blogging. Sometimes I felt pressured for time, however when I decided I HAD to stop to write it, it didn't take me very long and afterwards I felt glad that I had written it, realising I was another step closer to achieving the goal I had set myself. Thinking about it, that's like a lot of things in life, we are often too busy being busy to stop and do something we enjoy.

I am reminded of a quote I read;

'The time to relax is when you don't have time'

Lily Tomlin

So I would like to set a challenge for those of you that would like to take it up.

In 2013 set aside  one hour of your time once a month to consciously do something that you've wanted to do but felt you didn't have time for. Make it your present to you. It's worth it.

Have a very Happy New Year and why not pop in and see me in Fine Fettle Thank you for reading my blogs and I hope 2013 brings you everything you want it to.

Sue

 

Sue Ford

Clinical Hypnotherapist/NLP Practitioner/NLP Life Coach

 

PS Have taken up my own challenge and will continue to blog but this time once a month. Would love to hear what challenges you have set yourselves. 

Sue's penultimate blog

Alittle rant........

Everybody is allowed a little rant every now and then and this is mine........
The majority of us take some time out of our busy lives to look after ourselves which I think is a pretty good idea........(you can hear the 'but' coming can't you?, well that's not quite right because I am an NLPer so I use the word 'however').......however it's usually something physical, having our hair cut, seeing an osteopath if our body needs putting back to default, going for a massage, going to the dentist, going to our gp, I could go on. You notice that there is nothing about our minds or emotions, a lot of people seem to think of it as a weakness or a waste of time to take stock of our lives and see if there is anything we want to change or see how close we are to achieving the goals we have set ourselves (if we've set any that is!). I heard someone once say 'Change is an action not a reaction' and this is so true. So why not make 2013 your year to put that right, take some time to audit your life and take care of your mind and emotions? You don't know what you can achieve until you try.
This reminds me of a quote from 'Alice in Wonderland'
Alice 'That's impossible.'
Mad Hatter 'only if you believe it is'
Ok end of rant, feel better now I've got that off my chest.
Why not pop in and see me in Fine Fettle in the New Year and see if hypnotherapy or NLP Coaching can help you make the changes you want?

Until next time

Sue

Sue Ford
Clinical Hypnotherapist and NLP Coach

Hi still going  only two more bloggs after this one!  I'll ignore those of you that cheered!  This week I'd like people to think about how much confidence they've got and whether they would like more.

I am reminded of a story of a man called Jack Who carried a box that was strapped to his back It was the same box he carried every day Carefully, protectively, come what may 'What's in the box? '

People would wonder

'What's in the box ?'

People would ponder

'Is it a fish like a cod?'

Jack definitely did not nod

'Is it an exotic flower for us to see ?'

Jack would smile enigmatically

'Is it a document of vital importance ?'

Jack would shake his head with annoyance Until one day a boy asked him outright 'What is in the box? '

Jack looked at the boy and his smile was bright He put the box down just missing his socks Which were purple and orange with holes in each toe through these holes his nails would grow He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket And then a pencil and his mother's locket And after that a firework rocket Which if lit may take your eye out of its socket He leaned the piece of paper on the lid And wrote..My voice I call it Sid 'What's it doing in the box?' the boy asked I'm looking after it Jack wrote at last Protecting and caring for it The boy was silent for a bit 'How does it sound?'

Jack looked puzzled

Wrote on the paper and looked around

'I don't know he's been muzzled'

'How strange' said the boy

'To have a voice and never speak

To have a voice that could never express joy Does it make you feel like a freak?'

Jack shrugged expressively

'Do you not have any questions?'the boy asked Jack nodded vigorously 'Well what's stopping you?' the boy said at last Rubbing his face rigorously Jack scribbled Do you think I could?

He was so excited he actually dribbled!

Think and speak outside the box

Your opinion is unique and valid

Pop in and have a free 15 minute chat with Sue and see if hypnotherapy or NLP could be something that you could use.

See you next week

Sue x

Fine Fettle Multi-healthcare

01372 458984

info@finefettle.org

Imagination by Sue Ford

Imagination
Hi, me again....have been thinking about imagination and creativity this week.
Freeing up your imagination and releasing your creativity is like opening a door in your mind and hundreds of exquisite butterflies streaming out filling the air around you with gentle ripples of glorious colour. Feeling the brush of invention caress your cheek  as their wings lift them higher the sound of beating wings, a gentle lullaby, taking your dreams ideas and inspirations with them, releasing them into the universe letting them expand and develop. Some soar too quickly and like Icarus they melt and fall. They weren't fully formed, they had no direction, no focus, some faded as they saw how bright their companions were, but some...... glowed brighter until their beauty was awe inspiring and took your breath away and you're glad you released them and didn't keep them hidden away.
Then there are one or two that lead you down a different path to places that you didn't know existed. Places that can change ideas, beliefs and your life's goals.

Do you want to look at changing ideas or your life goals. Do you want to release your creativity? Why not come and have free 15 minute chat to see if hypnotherapy and NLP can help you?

See you next week

Sue