By Lisa Cherry, on January 22nd, 2012%
Do you ever find that sometimes the same thing keeps showing up in your life in different forms and situations like it’s in a slightly different colour to everything else so that it will stand out and you take notice? Well, I’ve been seeing lots of amazing projects and meeting with lots of courageous, community and system changing people lately that have brought a number of things to me to ponder upon.
I’ve been reflecting upon what we seek out of our experience of being alive. Personal fulfilment, a feeling of connection, a perception of belonging, happiness and a sense of self-worth all seem vital components to living a happy life (securing a definition of ‘happy’ would take another article so please just see it to mean what it means for you).
I have learnt that there are many simple things that you can do so as to have these in your life, but here are a few to get you started.
- Pay it forward. I am continuously amazed at how the more I give, the more I receive. I seem to live on fresh air at times, yet me and my children have enough to meet our needs and a little more. I’m not sure how it works other than seeing it as an energy that flows around people who engage in this way of operating.
- Get involved in a project in your Community. Find something locally and become a part of a bigger picture to make a difference. In Oxfordshire, there is a new project just launching called The OTCN Oxhop Challenge. There are always things happening in your community and if you can’t find something, create it!
- When you stop to talk to someone, a friend, a colleague, an acquaintance, comment on how well they look, or how the colour they are wearing suits them, or pass on something good to them that you heard someone else say. It’s not hard to say something nice to someone but it can make the biggest difference to the receiver of the compliment and they’ll be left with a lovely feeling. The quote “People may not remember exactly what you did, or what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel” springs to mind.
- Being who you are is actually all you’re meant to be….self-love is the cornerstone to everything! Remember that….
What do you do? What brings you the happiness you seek? How do you feel a sense of belonging and purpose? What can you share about what you have learnt on your journey that might help someone else reading this post?
. . . → Read More: Are you feeling happy?
By Lisa Cherry, on January 11th, 2012%
I have always been fascinated with the idea of meditation and have often wondered how some people appear to have the ability to sit calmly and quietly, focusing on breathing and not much else. But it was one of those things I felt was inaccessible to me. I have a very busy head, filled with excitement and ideas and creations and I can sometimes appear quite unfocused, which I’m actually not especially but my focus is untidy and a little unstructured sometimes and left unchecked, can make me feel very tired.
In May last year, I went away for a week to enable me to have some space to write, away from the distractions of daily life with a company called Serenity Retreat where I met a lovely woman called Anne who was running a Course there on Mindful Meditation. This was the first time I heard about it and I was stunned that I could even participate in short 10 minute group meditations without completely distracting myself.
I have gently and slowly built upon this introduction over the last few months. Mindfulness is about paying attention to purpose, having awareness, being conscious. I had never been able to deal with my continuing thoughts through meditation, but Mindfulness just acknowledges them in a non-judgemental way. They are not good or bad. But by awareness of them and redirecting awareness away from negative thoughts and using an anchor to bring thought back to, their effect on our lives diminishes and we can then create a space where calmness and contentment can be and can grow.
I often joke that I need to be a Massage Therapist as it’s the only time that I stop, mentally stop and become very purposeful and ‘in the moment’ about what I’m doing. I have become very aware that I Massage in a mindful way. I am completely focused on the person I am working with and what I am actually doing, the purpose, and this is even more true when I use Reiki. I also have some CD’s with short 10 minutes mediations on that I use for myself and also with my clients during a massage (as an introduction) and I have found, even in this very early stage of bringing mediation into my life, very helpful and centring.
Here are some suggestions if you’re looking to create some space in your mind away from negative harmful thoughts.
- Find out about mindfulness and see if it resonates with you at all. Hugh Poulton runs courses in Oxfordshire which, although I haven’t been on one, I’m reliably informed are amazing and life transforming!
- Try out some CD’s. Sometimes it’s just about finding a voice that you can relax to. I have a mix of accents and of male and female…you have to feel comfortable.
- Become purposeful and aware in your every day activities. For example, don’t just eat, eat consciously. Don’t just walk, walk and know that you are aware of walking and what your body is actually doing to make this happen.
- Become aware of your breathing without trying to change it. It’s not about doing it deeply or through the nose or mouth. It’s just about becoming aware…as it is.
I would love to hear about your experiences as mine are very new and from a beginners perspective and please do share about any courses, practitioners or CDs that you have tried and can recommend….Many thanks and please share the love, mindfully!
. . . → Read More: The Mindfulness of Massage
By Lisa Cherry, on November 17th, 2011%
What is The Healing Crisis?
Therapists often talk about The Healing Crisis which can occur after treatments, particularly Massage and Reflexology. Not everyone will have this happen as a result of a treatment but if you do, it’s good to understand what is happening to you, that it is OK and that it is a positive thing.
The Physical element of this is whereby the body is attempting to eliminate toxins faster than it can do so and is trying to cope with stored toxins that may have been in the muscles and fascia and that have then been released into the blood stream through being released during the treatment.
The Emotional element of this is where unresolved emotional stresses or traumas are stored in the body through being supressed. The body becomes a ‘cupboard’ for unexpressed, pent up emotion. Once released, the body can clear itself of all the negativity. The body is asking you to let go of the emotion you are holding onto. An emotional release is most likely to surface in any Healing Crisis.
Symptoms
Everybody can react differently but generally, these may include:
- Lethargy
- Headaches
- Extra need to go to the toilet
- Dehydration
- Muscle aching
- Nausea
- Unexplainable/uncontrollable crying
- Feeling ‘low’
- The best ways to deal with this are:
- Drink lots of water
- Be restful
- Listen to your body
Understand that this is a good thing and it probably won’t last more than 48 hours!
If you are seeing a Therapist for Treatments, then you probably already understand that you are taking responsibility for your health and wellbeing and working preventatively to maintain a sense of balance and feeling of ‘wellness’. Everybody will have a different reaction to a treatment depending on your own physical and emotional condition. The Therapist can therefore not take responsibility for the way that your body reacts to a treatment. We can, however, work together to ensure that you have the right treatments for you and that you have treatments at a time where you can go through The Healing Crisis as calmly and as comfortably as possible.
. . . → Read More: The Healing Crisis
By Lisa Cherry, on November 13th, 2011%
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81owJQpX1Ac”>Life
It seems to me that there is a distinct flaw in the human condition that somehow allows us to forget the point. The point of our relationships, the point of the work we have chosen to do, the point of our friendships that we have chosen to have, indeed the point of life.
We all do it. We all get bogged down in the minutiae of life’s noise on what she said, or he said, or that person or that place or that thing said or did or didn’t do, all of which we can’t quite deal with. We’re upset. We’re hurt. We feel alone in our pain.
It is in these moments particularly, that we must remember that we can change the way we respond to life, we can change the way we understand life and most of all we change the view of life that doesn’t acknowledge that life is a gift. We are a ‘we’ in this context. We have all been given the gift of life…
All the Philosophical and Spiritual teachers have sought to teach us as to what the purpose of it all is. From these teachings, I take it that the purpose of being here is to make a difference. I also take it to believe that the purpose of life of to be happy.
I found a lovely little Video being shared across cyberspace called Life is Coffee, which as a coffee lover (read coffee snob), I thought was a perfect analogy for me so I hope you like it and that you will share this message.
In line with my Just For Today Vlog from this week, I would like to add a little thought for the day, for my day, one that we can all use in our lives in whatever way works for us. For me, Just For Today I have everything I need and I am loved….
. . . → Read More: And Life Is….
By Lisa Cherry, on October 28th, 2011%
In a recent blog, I explored Holistic Health and what I mean when I use that term; the way I understand it and the way I believe it is understood. A natural progression on from that seemed to me to be an exploration of what wellness is and how we understand it.
What I do know is that we all have the power within us to have a feeling of wellness. A feeling of happiness, of enthusiasm for life and a sense of energy is something that we can all work towards and experience. How?
- Understand yourself holistically as a whole person with many areas of your life that need to be balanced. You are not ‘stress’ or ‘lethargy’ or ‘a bad back’, you are a person operating in society in a relationships at work and at home. You have your spiritual, physical, emotional and mental aspects of yourself to keep in check. See where the imbalance may be and that will give you a lot of information to help you work through whatever is presenting as the problem.
- Self-esteem and self-love is everything or as Louise Hay taught me, the cornerstone to everything. Without it, there is nothing because there is no connection with yourself. If this aspect of yourself is poor, work on it and work on it hard. The use of daily affirmations, positive loving relationships, eating wholesome food and allowing yourself some time to reflect in solitude so as to improve your relationship with yourself and connect spiritually, are all a good start.
- Take personal responsibility. When you are wrong, say sorry, learn and move on. Don’t say yes when you mean no. Don’t relive scenarios over and over again punishing yourself for the past and concerning yourself with the future. Keep your side of the street clean so that you can look at yourself in the mirror every day. Forgive yourself….often. Perfectionism is just another form of self-loathing.
- Live consciously! Value the food you eat, the trees you pass, the people you smile at. Photography is a great way of living in the moment and seeing something from a different angle. It’s a conscious activity. Care for your environment. Care for the people around you. Turn off the TV and sing or dance or bake a cake. Come alive and stop getting lost in the misery of soap operas…..created I believe to quieten the masses.
- Enjoy yourself. Enjoy your sense of connectedness to yourself, the Universe and all people. Have fun. We are here for such a short time. Make your goal that of making a difference to the world, to the people around you.
Your wellness is your responsibility. No-one is going to bring it to you, fix what’s broken, give you a magic pill to ‘make it all better’. The power to do that is within you and no-one else. You can choose this right now. You can choose to take a continuing series of short steps one day at a time and give yourself the life you deserve, being the very best that you can be.
. . . → Read More: What is Wellness?
By Lisa Cherry, on October 24th, 2011%
I have recently found myself in the position whereby I felt the need to evaluate and crystallise what it means for me to say that I am Recovering Alcoholic. It can be a pretty emotive statement for some and I sometimes find a defensiveness about it as people almost run to look at their own behaviour and go about the business of either defending it or shirking away from talking about it for fear of ‘catching’ this god awful dis-ease. Usually there is a lack of understanding about what it means and there is definitely confusion around what is in fact a heavy drinker as opposed to an alcoholic.
If you read my blog regularly, you’ll know that I walked into my first AA meeting at the grand old age of 20 after an incredibly distressing seven year period. It was at 10pm in the basement of a hall on a road just off the Kings Road in Chelsea and I still stank of the booze from the night before. It was 1990 and there was a very lively pub on the corner that had to be negotiated before the meeting was reached. I felt grey, I felt alone, I felt misunderstood and I felt like I didn’t deserve the gift of life. A 10pm AA meeting is a pretty hard core meeting, even for a one in Chelsea. It was not for the fainthearted but, one day at a time, I haven’t had a drink since that first meeting and I will be grateful beyond measure for that, for every minute of every day.
I lived in meetings for about 2 years, sometimes three a day, substituting drinking with tobacco and coffee until I learnt that it didn’t actually matter what your substance of choice is, at some point you’re going to have to feel the pain. You’re going to have to confront what is left. You’re going to have to stare long and hard at yourself and get real, and there is nothing real about being in an AA meeting three times a day, in coffee shops with other meeting goers, drinking coffee until 1am in the morning, smoking endlessly!
When I talk about ‘recovery’, it is this process of being real, every 24 hour period, that I mean. It’s the daily process of reflection, self-comprehension and a self-honesty that most people would avoid at any cost. It is taking responsibility for my actions and being true to myself. It is a daily acknowledgment of what I have in my wonderful life – self-pity and gratitude cannot live side by side. It is impossible.
There is a saying in AA that goes, if you keeping going to the Barbers shop, you’re going to get a haircut. If I hang around dis-ease, heavy drinking, endless smoking and a disconnect from all that is beautiful, I am at risk of having a haircut. I don’t metaphorically go to the barbers very much at all, as these are not the circles I hang around in, but a difficult situation has presented itself to me and I have swiftly removed myself.
For me, my recovery is everything, because it is my life, literally. I am not here to judge other people and the choices that they make. I only know, with all my heart, however uncomfortable that might make you feel, that I cannot put myself at risk because I am worth sobriety. I am worth being well. I am worthy and that is why self-love and my spiritual connection, will always, always be, the cornerstone to absolutely everything.
. . . → Read More: My Recovery…
By Lisa Cherry, on October 16th, 2011%
This has to be one of my very favourite poems….it is such a gift.
The Invitation Oriah Mountain Dreamer Canadian Teacher and Author It doesn't interest me what you do for a living I want to know what you ache for and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing. It doesn't interest me how old you are I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love for your dreams for the adventure of being alive. It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon... I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shrivelled and closed from fear of further pain. I want to know if you can sit with pain mine or your own without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it. I want to know if you can be with joy mine or your own if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful be realistic to remember the limitations of being human. It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself. If you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul. If you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy. I want to know if you can see Beauty even when it is not pretty every day. And if you can source your own life from its presence. I want to know if you can live with failure yours and mine and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, "Yes." It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up after a night of grief and despair weary and bruised to the bone and do what needs to be done to feed the children. It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back. It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away. I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.
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. . . → Read More: The Invitation
By Lisa Cherry, on October 10th, 2011%
I’m often asked what Holistic Health is all about so I thought it was time to give a little background as to why the treatments I offer are holistic.
“Holistic” comes from the Greek word “holism”, meaning “all, entire, total”. When I talk about “holistic” health I mean I treat the body as a whole, rather than dealing with its individual parts. Conventional medicine often only deals with symptoms without discovering the root cause. The body is a complex mechanism of systems, cells and organs and it’s often the case that the cause of a disorder is not necessarily the body part experiencing the symptom. Alongside this is the understanding that along with the body, we also have to nurture and heal the mind and the spirit.
The World Health Organisation (WHO – www.who.int) describes health as ” more than simply the absence of illness. It is the active state of physical, emotional, mental and social well-being.” In other words, being healthy involves your entire self being balanced. That perfectly describes holistic health, where a person is seen and treated as a whole being rather than as someone with an illness.
So why is massage a holistic health therapy? To answer that, you need to understand what effect massage has on the body. When soft tissue is massaged – for example, the back and shoulders – the physical manipulation relaxes the muscles and releases tension, but the effects go deeper than that. The act of massage stimulates the nervous system and sends electrical signals around the body. These signals have a wide range of effects, including healing damaged muscle tissue, stimulating circulation and draining the lymphatic system, which helps clear waste products from the body. Massage also stimulates the production of endorphins, which act as natural painkillers and mood elevators, and reduces the levels of stress-causing hormones.
Massage has been found to be one of the most effective treatments for musculoskeletal problems including back pain, arthritis and sports injuries. However, because massage stimulates circulation, it can also be used to treat other physical problems not connected to the skeletal form. For example, researchers at the University of South Florida (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16267371) found that massage lowered the blood pressure levels in hypertensive people. In Korea, The Red Cross used skin rehabilitation massage therapy (SRMT) on burns survivors and found that the damaged skin healed faster, the scar tissue was healthier and side effects such as pruritus (itchiness) were decreased in those patients that received the treatment. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17435407)
Massage is also very effective at balancing the body’s emotional and mental state because it stimulates the release of hormones essential to our well-being. This means massage can help treat a wide range of other disorders, such as stress and depression. The University of Miami (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15809216) studied a group of women with breast cancer and found that those women who received regular massage treatments had lower levels of stress, depression and anger than those women who had been given relaxation exercises to do, or who had been given no treatment for their emotional symptoms.
So at Holistic Health, we work together, where I use massage, combined with other holistic therapies such as Aromatherapy, Reiki and Reflexology, to benefit your physical, emotional and mental health, enabling you to have a renewed sense of well-being.
. . . → Read More: What is Holistic Health?
By Lisa Cherry, on September 27th, 2011%
Wish I’d had this years ago but here it is…
– written by Max Ehrmann in the 1920s –
Not “Found in Old St. Paul’s Church”! — see below
Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
. . . → Read More: A Rule Book for Living…
By Lisa Cherry, on September 1st, 2011%
One of the first things I ask my clients is “what do you need today?” Such an important question that a lot of people don’t know how to answer. Such a simple question that in itself, can be very enlightening as to how a person is feeling in their life. They might not know what they need. They may not have ever thought about what they need. Some people are uncomfortable with the thought that they need anything at all. We all have needs and we all need to stop and rebalance ourselves sometimes because there are areas in our lives that have become unbalanced.
If you are coming to see me, you have a need that you have identified. Whether that need is for a better feeling of health and well-being, to improve poor sleeping patterns, or you are over tired needing an hour of self-focus. You may have stiff shoulders, or you are just plain old worn out with everything because life feels to much, we can work it out together.
This working with all areas of a person is known as an Integrative approach that looks at every aspect of ourselves. By undergoing this exploration we often find that the symptom is not the cause! Within this process, you have an opportunity to think about where you are, a chance to reflect upon what’s going on for you in all areas of your life. By asking you what you might need, I can then create a bespoke treatment that will ultimately give the biggest benefits and results that continue for far longer than the hour we spend together.
We can explore what oils I might use dependent on whether you need to relax, be calmed and soothed or be invigorated. We can look at your emotional needs and establish whether you need to talk, be silent, or be in a deep state of relaxation.
We might do Reflexology to get the body back into a state of balance or a massage with all of it’s healing, soothing, and/or invigorating abilities with endless benefits in it’s own right. We can maybe use some Reiki in the treatment if the deepest relaxation and healing is needed. Or maybe Hot stones which are fantastic for loosening up stiff muscles with the heat itself being very comforting. The treatment incorporates whatever is right for you on the day you come and see me.
So spend some time thinking about what you need today. Whether it’s to make sure you get your appointment with me in the diary, or it’s 10 minutes reading or walking or doing a breathing mediation. Maybe you need to cook your favourite meal or see your best friend for an overdue catch up. Whatever it is, do it! Because if you come and see me for a treatment, I’ll only give you something lovely to do for yourself for Homework anyway!
. . . → Read More: What Do You Need?
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