Feng Shui – The Benefits

Posted on December 20, 2011 by admin

“Modern man will never find peace until he comes into harmony with the place where he lives”  Carl Jung

This is a favourite quote of mine and I could almost add that this not only relates to our outer environment i.e. our homes, but also our inner environment – our feelings, our emotions, our thoughts, our health !!

Last month we looked at the ‘basic principles’ of Feng Shui…… “to live in harmony with our environment so that the energy surrounding us works for us rather than against us”.

This month we are looking at ‘the benefits’.  In general Feng Shui can help to improve your health, wealth and vitality.  You can address such issues as relationships, work success, creativity as well as helping to determine the layout, feel and interior design of your home.

The benefits of a consultation are numerous and can:-

  • define your living area or space simply and easily allowing you to feel more settled.
  • help to determine room functionality.
  • harness the use of positive energy via colour, design, directions, elements, symbols, and positioning or placement.
  • bring solutions to problematic areas of your life or your home.
  • enhance energy flow, creating harmonious, healthy and successful living.
  • bring into balance the 5 Elements (key in all Traditional Chinese Work) and the subtle energies of yin and yang.

No one consultation is ever the same but the reasons behind them seem to be fairly consistent, here are some of them.  A desire to:-

  • find a partner, a new relationship or to improve an existing relationship
  • help when a family member has been unwell
  • change jobs and careers
  • feel motivated to move forward – to find focus in one’s life
  • clear negative energy – something doesn’t ‘feel’ right in the home
  • clear energy after the break-up of a relationship and to help re-focus
  • make the house ‘feel’ more like home
  • help businesses focus on key areas such as Sales, Targets, Goals; to set vision/mission statements;
  • improve good fortune, prosperity and overall good health.
  • help make decisions over improvements, alterations and building work.

Feng Shui is a wonderful tool that we can use to heighten our awareness of the subtleties of our surroundings.

What might happen if you focused on the impact that your home/environment has on your energy??

What might happen if you were to make some changes??

So far we have looked at the Feng Shui ‘principles’ and the ‘benefits’.  Next month we will look at ‘the different types of energies’ and their impact on ours!!

Posted in Feng Shui, General Well-being, Mind Body Spirit | Tagged , , , |

Tiz The Season To Be Jolly…

Posted on December 19, 2011 by admin

Top Tips To Prevent Or Cope With Colds & Flu..

Well its that time of year again and so many are suffering from various viruses but mainly the flu.  Children pick up things from school/nursery, adults from trains, tubes, planes and ‘the office’.  Last week several clients had to cancel their treatments.

So, what can we do to avoid the dreaded ‘flu’??  Here are the main 5 tips to avoid colds and flu:-

  1. Eat healthily – lots of foods with vitamins and minerals to help stave off colds and flu and to keep the immune system healthy.
  2. Sleep regularly – get good sleep or rest if you can and plenty of it. Apparently we adults should be getting a good 7-8 hours of lovely restful, interrupted sleep each night!!  Deep sleep releases growth hormones that help the immune system fight off viruses.
  3. Washing hands regularly stops the contamination of germs.
  4. Exercise regularly and in moderation to help support your overall health and immune system.  Note though that too much high intensity exercise can actually decrease the immune system and make you vulnerable to viruses.
  5. Get fresh air – even when its REALLY fresh!!

And, when you are coming down with something nasty, here are the top 5 tips to get you on your road to recovery:-

  1. When you start to feel ill, please stop and listen to your body.  Keep warm and, above all, rest!… Most people try to ‘work through’ their symptoms  - you just prolong your ‘healing’ period AND you’ve probably passed the virus on to others!
  2. As a rule of thumb – it takes about 7 to 10 days to recover fully from viral illnesses such as flu.
  3. Eat healthy hearty warm foods and drink plenty of water to rehydrate.
  4. Be patient, and give yourself plenty of time to recover.  Slow down (don’t exercise) until you are feeling much better!
  5. If your symptoms persist or if you are concerned at any time, seek medical advice.
Above all, do look after yourself this Christmas and do try and get some rest in healthy preparation for the New Year ahead.
Posted in Fitness & Health, General Well-being, Mind Body Spirit | Tagged , , , , , , , |

An Appeal for ‘Women’s Aid’…

Posted on December 16, 2011 by admin

Hello !  My name is Nicky Donovan and I am collecting unwanted complimentary toiletries to donate to a local women’s refuge run by Women’s Aid.

Women’s Aid is the key national charity working to end domestic violence against women and children and helps up to 250,000 women and children every year.

Did you know over two women per week are killed by current or ex-partners, and that one in four women in the UK will experience domestic violence in their lifetime?

Women’s Aid work to end violence against women and children, and support over 500 domestic and sexual violence services across the country.

One of the services supported by Women’s Aid is to provide a place of refuge where women and their children can stay to escape domestic violence. Women arrive at the refuges in a state of personal crisis with none of their personal possessions which includes no toiletries, even a toothbrush.

So, my request is a simple one, do you have or come by unwanted and unused toiletries; perhaps you travel a lot for work and find that you accumulate the complimentary toiletries from hotels? Do you receive unwanted sample toiletries from beauty companies etc.  If you do, and they are unwanted, then I can collect them on behalf of Women’s Aid.

I will deliver them to a local women’s refuge at which there will be a huge number of very grateful women and children.

I am quite happy to come and collect these from you if you give me a call on my mobile (07753 702528), alternatively, if you are seeing or nearby Alison Fuller, you could leave your donation with her and I will collect from there.

To find out more about the amazing work of Women’s Aid please visit their website on www.womensaid.org.uk.  Your help is much appreciated – thank you so much in advance.

Posted in Women's Aid Charity | Tagged , , |

Guest Guru – Sara Forsey, Inspired Yoga Teacher

Posted on December 12, 2011 by admin

Why I practice: Through the practice of yoga, being healthy, happy and contented has become the norm for me. Yoga brings balance, vitality, strength and flexibility to my life – for my body, mind and soul.  Practising yoga never ceases to amaze, inspire and support me.  As well as the joy I find on the mat, it has helped me find fulfilment in my life off the mat, as my body becomes more comfortable, my mind calmer and my heart more open.

Why I teach:  We each owe it to ourselves to live life well.  Teaching yoga inspires me personally and keeps my yoga flame burning.  To see my students flourish in body and heart, renews my spirit and convinces me that I have the best job in the world!

Inspirations:  “Revealing the intelligence of the body through the process of enquiry is like coming home” – Vanda Scaravelli.

Yoga has many elements to help you obtain a sense of wellbeing.  I refer to this as my ‘Yoga Tool Kit’.  The practice of asana, improves physical condition, breathing stabilises the emotions and mediation is sustenance for the soul.  As a consequence, I am now so used to living on a natural high and cannot imagine life without yoga.

If you are interested in attending Sara’s classes, please see below for details or contact her on 07932 782 852 or email on sbruvan@yahoo.co.uk.

Sara’s Yoga Classes:-

The Surbiton Racket Club / Mondays 11.00 am to 12.15 pm

Camilla Campbell Yoga Centre, Cobham / Tuesdays 9.30 to 10.45 am, Wednesdays, 7.00 am to 8.00 am, Sundays 9.15 to 10.30 am

St. John Ambulance HQ, Wey Road, Weybridge / Fridays 7.00 pm to 8.15 pm

Sara’s Winter Yoga Workshops:

Camilla Campbell Yoga Centre, Cobham

Sunday 26th February 2012,  2.00 – 5.00 pm (Sunday 22nd January 2.00 -5.00 pm sold out)

The workshops are a great way to kick-start your metabolism and beat the winter blues. It is a well known fact that at this time of year we can feel depressed, lacking in energy and motivation with our immune systems weakened, the 3 hour workshops aim to beat the winter blues and leave you feeling lighter, invigorated and more positive about the year ahead!  The workshops are a great opportunity to deepen your practice or to discover the benefits of yoga for the first time, the perfect gift to yourself.  To book, contact via www.camillacampbellyoga.com.

 

Posted in Uncategorized |

Feng Shui – The Basic Principles

Posted on November 17, 2011 by admin

Feng Shui in the bedroom

May your walls know joy; may every room hold laughter and every window open to great possibility… M Radmacher-Hershey

The Feng Shui Society explain Feng Shui as – “The practice of analysing and influencing the interaction between people, buildings and the environment in order to enhance quality of life”!

Feng Shui originated in Ancient China and its basis is ‘chi’ (or ‘qi’) which is vital energy, present in everything.  The name literally means ‘wind – water’ and refers to the energy above (Heaven’s chi) and the energy below (Earths chi) and reflects the way the chi moves between the two.

Taking this a little further – Feng Shui is about the interaction between Heavens chi, such as planetary movement and cosmological energy patterns, Earths chi such as in the effects of form, the constitution of the landscape, the effect of the Earths natural energy, and, Human chi (our chi) what we have built, the materials we have used, the shape, colour, design, location etc and electro-magnetic fields produced by technology and basically, anything man made!!

The underlying principle of Feng Shui is to live in harmony with our (your) environment so that the energy surrounding us (you) works for us (you) rather than against us (you). Lets face it, these days, we need all the support, energetically speaking, that we can get!

If you like, Feng Shui is a tool that we can use to explain how our environment affects our lives… or, in other words, it is the art of using the environment to influence the quality of our life!  

It is a sound and sensible way of living with a conscious connection between our outside environment and our inner world – if they are in harmony then everything is rosy!

So, what are the benefits of Feng Shui?  I’ll explain more in my next post….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in Uncategorized |

Guest Blog From Jason Anderson of Movement3

Posted on October 31, 2011 by admin

The Posture Of Dorian Gray

Over the last ten years Posture has become one of the most talked about therapeutic phenomenon.

Everybody wants to know why their back hurts; why their knee rolls in; why one shoulder is lower than the other and more importantly how to make it all better?!

This fascination with physical deterioration and asymmetry has subsequently led us to the assumption that this is purely a musculo-skeletal problem that can be solved with ‘physical’ solutions i.e. exercise, stretching, rehab, massage, orthotics etc…

However, our bodies are a complex series of interwoven systems that all interact on levels, that if we are honest, we don’t fully understand.

When studying and treating posture we can identify common patterns of presentation that cannot just be linked to a physical trigger i.e. clicking a mouse, carrying a handbag or driving a car.

Is it too much of a leap of faith to then link these problems to the organs, the case in which they are protected (the skeleton) and the muscles that surround and stabilise this area?

Q. Do we not experience cramping in the hamstrings when low on certain minerals?

Q. Do we not experience back pain at certain times of the menstrual cycle?

Q. Do we not experience low back pain and abdominal bloating with digestive irritation?

This concept has been named the Visceral-somato (organ-muscle) response and has been thrown around Osteopathic and Chiropractic learning for many years.

In order to grasp this concept a little better, let us take a look at one of the key segments of the body – the pelvis.  Read more on Posture…

Jason Anderson is Managing Director of Movement3 Fitness Studio in St. Margarets.  Click movement3 to visit the website.

Posted in Fitness & Health, General Well-being, Mind Body Spirit | Tagged , , , , , , , |

Just a spoon full of sugar ….?

Posted on October 23, 2011 by admin

and your addicted!

Why is it that sugar has such an impact on us.. or at least on some of us?

It seems to boil down to a simple but vicious ‘blood sugar’ cycle.  In short, when you consume sugar (as sugar, or as an ingredient in processed food or drink) your body breaks down this simple carbohydrate into glucose which deposits into your blood stream.  This can be used as energy but if it is not (and in most cases it isn’t) then it is absorbed by insulin and stored at FAT!!!!  But that is only part of the cycle – the glucose has been stripped out of the blood (and converted into insulin/fat) and now the blood sugar levels plummet as your body tries to rebalance – so you crave more glucose – which becomes interpreted as something sweet – and if you succumb to this craving you set off the whole addictive cycle again!

So, what is the answer?  Its simple really (well I can type it, but I find it hard to stick too).. you simply need to keep your blood sugar levels constant – which means, you need to eat regularly, preferably little and often and avoid the sugary foods or drinks or processed foods where sugar is hidden (this includes ‘no added sugar items’, low fat foods/drinks and alcohol!!).  Stick instead to healthy natural foods and before you know it, your blood sugar levels stablise and the cravings subside!

Oh happy days!!

Posted in General Well-being |

Are you taking responsibility?

Posted on August 31, 2011 by admin

……. Or are you giving away your power?

In my so far ‘short but fascinating’ life as a Therapist I have come across the ‘ownership’ question frequently……. “Am I handing over my issue to the Therapist to fix for me, or am I avoiding ownership and responsibility?’”  Or, “Do ‘I’ really have a problem or is it just something happening to me that can be sorted by someone else?”

When we are suffering from symptoms, conditions, illnesses, stresses and ‘life’s little challenges’ we often, or eventually seek help in some shape or form – a good thing of course, but what is our motive?.  In this modern hectic world, do we fully accept responsibility for these? Do we own them? Or, do we willingly hand them over expecting instant results?

I was reminded of this situation this morning, during a training session…. I’d grumbled at my body fat percentage, only to be reminded (albeit very politely) that exercise is not the only solution to my health but merely part of the whole process and that diet and nutrition equally play a part too – in other words I can’t expect amazing results if I only do part of the work!… So, had I owned the problem, or simply handed it over to my Trainer – assuming that he would fix it?

Is our lack of willingness to ‘own’ the issue, in some way, part of the problem?

I carried out a Feng Shui Consultation some years ago which I felt had gone well…. some weeks later the client contacted me to say that nothing had improved and in fact, things seemed worse!… Worried that I hadn’t done a good job, I thought for a moment and asked “Did you carry out all the recommendations in the report?”, “No”, came the reply, “none!”.

Our path to health and well-being must, therefore, be one that we take ownership for on all levels – physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.  Seeking help, support and expertise are absolutely vital to our growth, our development, and our journey forward but, it is OUR growth and development and OUR journey.  By acknowledging or accepting responsibility for our issues, the process will be smoother than if we give our power away!

Posted in General Well-being, Mind Body Spirit | Tagged , , , , , |

Chemical Attraction!

Posted on August 10, 2011 by admin

Beauty products are absorbed into our skin..

OMG! I was standing in the shower this morning and my mind was pondering what new shampoo and conditioner to buy as the ‘usual’ has got a bit boring…. it started me thinking about how many items I use on myself or perhaps more accurately, on my skin/body… I assumed it would be about 10 – no idea why – but a good number, or so I thought….

It seemed logical to work my way down from head to toe and, holy moses, now you’ll see why I was so surprised – here is how the list goes……

“shampoo & conditioner, face scrub, makeup remover/cleanser (for those little bits that the shower didn’t manage), toner, moisteriser, eye cream (now here I could add serum before moisteriser etc but didn’t today) and I haven’t even got past my chin yet!  Some kind-of hair-oil thing, make-up – which, including foundation I counted 8 items, perfume, deodorant, body moisteriser, and nail varnish”…

Wow, that totals 20 items and I didn’t include the toothpaste etc or the fact that my hair has two types of dye in it which I never even thought to count – this list is also what I consider the basics, there are other extra lovely things I use sometimes or other basics like handcream or concealers and some people use hairsprays and extra hair products like waxes, gels so if we are not careful the list could easily find its way up in the 30′s and all I’ve done is get out of the shower, get ready for my day and I haven’t even started to consume anything yet (well except a great intake of breath)!!

So, now I will take my time and consider very carefully what products I am going to buy, my point being, that I am placing some 20+ items on my hair and skin every day that are being absorbed into my body and I hadn’t even taken time to consider the affects to my health.

I’m off to ponder organic, essential oils, paraben free, totally holistic products….. what’s your list like??

Posted in General Well-being, Mind Body Spirit | Tagged , , , , , |

Gift Voucher

Posted on August 8, 2011 by admin

You can now buy your Gift Vouchers online!

Vouchers are an ideal gift for any special occasion such as Birthdays, Mothers day, Valentines, Christmas or simply to say Thank You!

They are also a thoughtful gift, as they allow the person to select a treatment of their choice.  We despatch vouchers by first class post as soon as the request is received and include a detailed brochure of all the treatments provided.

Simply select the number of vouchers required below, press ‘Add To Basket’ and then go to View Shopping Basket (top right corner) or Checkout to finalise your purchase.

Posted in Alison |