Complementary Therapies: Reiki

Posted on May 3, 2013 by Kizzy

by photostock

Reiki pronounced ‘Ray key’ is a natural system of healing. Many Reiki practitioners and teachers believe that this Universal Life Force Energy is, quite simply, the power of unconditional love.. Although Reiki’s roots are in Buddhist Qigong, it is not part of any religious belief system. Anyone can learn to give Reiki if their intention is pure; and anyone or anything can receive it.

The Eastern tradition that gave birth to Reiki teaches that we are multi-dimensional beings, not merely a physical body. To be truly healthy all parts of our being, body, mind, emotions and spirit need to be clear and in balance. The pressures of modern living are constantly causing imbalances in our personal energy (‘Ki’) and so we often feel low and depleted. It is in this state that our immune system comes under severe stress. This stress will manifest on some level of our being, possibly as physical pain or sickness, but often as mental illness such as depression, or emotional problems like fear or anxiety.
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Complementary Therapies: Reflexology

Posted on April 5, 2013 by Kizzy

by satit_srihin

Reflexology is the practice of applying pressure to certain parts of the feet, hands or ears in order to provide beneficial effects to other parts of the body. It is a natural healing system based on the premise that there are reflexes in the hands, ears and feet that relate to other areas of the body. By applying pressure to these reflexes the functioning of those areas can be improved.

Foot reflexology is the most commonly practiced form of reflexology. Some people imagine that it may tickle but firm pressure is used. The left foot corresponds to the left side of the body and the right foot to the right side. A reflexologist will treat both feet even if you are only experiencing difficulties on one side of your body to ensure that you remain balanced.
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Complementary Therapies: Massage

Posted on March 1, 2013 by Kizzy

by imagerymajestic

The word ‘massage’ comes from the French and means ‘friction of kneading’. Massage is a method of manipulating the layers of muscle and connective tissues to enhance their functioning and promote relaxation. This friction improves the circulation of blood and enables the release of toxins. It also stimulates and relaxes the muscles, reduces or eliminates pain, lowers blood pressure and heart beat and allows deep relaxation to occur. The body is manipulated manually and specific areas can be targeted. A therapist will usually apply pressure with their hands or fingers although they can also use their elbows, knees or even their feet.

There are many different types of massage including sports massage, Indian head massage and Swedish massage. A full body massage will work on each muscle group of the body. An Indian Head Massage will concentrate on the back, neck, arms, head and face. This can be useful for helping to relieve headaches, sinusitis and reducing tension in the shoulders. A sports therapy massage can help to restore pain free movement to ligaments and joints. It is often the non-sportsperson who can benefit most from these types of massage so don’t be put off by the name.
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Recipe: How to Make Apple, Bacon and Onion Chutney

Posted on February 20, 2013 by Kizzy

My husband has moved over to a predominantly Paleo diet recently in a bid to lose weight and feel healthier. A paleo diet is made up of predominantly meat and vegetables so I’ve had to extend my repertoire to make sure we have a meal every night. This recipe is based on one at www.paleomg.com. We’ve served this chutney with burgers, pulled pork and cheese on toast.

Ingredients for Apple, Bacon & Onion Chutney

2 bacon rashers
2 red onions
1 apple
Balsamic vinegar
Water
Olive Oil
Sea salt

1. Fry the bacon until crisp.

2. Slice the onions and add soften with the bacon. Use a small amount of olive oil if you need to.

3. Dice the apple into small pieces and add to the pan.

4. Pour 3 tbsp of balsamic vinegar into the pan. Cook on a very low heat until all the ingredient are soft and the balsamic has reduced and sweetened.

5. Pack the mixture tightly into a sterilised kilner or jam jar.

Recipe: How to Make Slow Cooked Coffee Beef

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Kizzy

This recipe has quite Mexican-y flavours, I adjusted it from a rib recipe on www.paleomg.com. I served it with white and wild rice but it would have been even better with sweet potato wedges.

<strong>Ingredients</strong>

1 x onion
1tsp dried chilli flakes (half a teaspoon if you don’t like too much heat!)
Olive oil
2 x garlic cloves
Cubed stewing beef
Cup of vegetable stock
2tbsp honey
Juice of 1 lime
Cup of freshly brewed coffee
Sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste.

This is a one pot recipe, layer all the ingredients into your crock pot in the order they appear on the list. Cook on 150 degrees for 3-4 hours or until the beef falls apart.

Recipe: Fruit Salads

Posted on February 6, 2013 by Kizzy

Looking for some quick and easy salad recipes? This Feta and pineapple salad and watermelon and goats chees salad would be ideal for a light lunch or a refreshing starter that is easy to create.

Feta & Pineapple Salad

Ingredients

Feta

Fresh pineapple

Fresh mint

Salad leaves

Dressing – lemon, olive oil, sea salt, pepper

Watermelon and Goats Cheese Salad

Watermelon

Goats cheese

Salad leaves

Pine nuts

Croutons

Dressing – lemon, olive oil, sea salt, pepper

Complementary Therapies: Hypnotherapy

Posted on February 1, 2013 by Kizzy

by Ambro

Hypnosis allows you to open your mind to suggestions so that you can make positive changes in your life. Hypnotherapy helps you to enter a deep state of relaxation, similar to being in a dream like state. It can be used for a variety of reasons including anxiety, stress management, personal development and to tackle phobias.

Virtually anybody can be hypnotised although some people are easier to hypnotise than others. It is important that you find a therapist that you feel comfortable with as you need to be able to have trust and confidence in them so that you can relax fully. When you are hypnotised you remain in total control and if you want to come out of a hypnotic state for any reason you will be able to do so.
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How I Deal With Disappointment

Posted on January 30, 2013 by Kizzy

by aopsan

There are many quotes about failure and why it is an essential part of life. A well-known one is that the only people who don’t fail are the people who never tried anything new. Of course never trying anything new is a failure in itself.

If you choose to put yourself out there in life and in business, failure and the subsequent feelings of disappointment are inevitable. This knowledge doesn’t make those feelings any easier to deal with.

Failure tends to happen when you’re trying to grow, trying to achieve that next level. It happens when you’re already outside your comfort zone when you’re in your fragile and vulnerable place. In your comfort zone it’s easy to be strong, you’re at your most confident. In your stretch zone it’s a lot more difficult to recover, but recover we must.

In my experience recovery periods get shorter each time. You learn to bounce back quicker. You get to know what encourages you to come back fighting. For me:

It’s channelling the negative energy in a positive way – I’ll encourage myself to really feel the disappointment or anger, and then I’ll take that ball of fire and chuck it at my next best idea or project to create something worthwhile off the back of the failure.
It’s a long walk in the rain or extreme physical exertion – for some reason it blows away the cobwebs and the exhaustion makes way for a fresh start.
It’s music – songs that encourage particular emotions to help me work through the disappointment and anger, ending with songs that emote feelings of success and achievement.
It’s regrouping – my family and my home provide comfort, grounding, and a place from which to launch myself from again.
It’s my husband, my business partner and my friends – all of whom reflect a mirror on different aspects of me so I can reflect and understand what to do next.
It’s being brave and getting back in the saddle. It’s putting yourself back out there knowing full well you may face the same pain again and doing it anyway.

How do you deal with disappointment?

Recipe: Erica’s Italian Chicken

Posted on January 28, 2013 by Kizzy

The actual name for this dish is ‘Chicken stuffed with mozzarella wrapped in Parma Ham with italian tomato sauce and seared asparagus’ which is a bit of a mouthful. I’m taking full credit for it as it’s one of those dishes that developed from ingredients I had kicking about: all the best ones do I think.

The Sauce

The sauce can be used as a pizza base, pasta sauce or with chicken so my advice is to make a batch like I did.

Ingredients

2 x cans of chopped tomatoes
Handful of parmesan
2 x spring onion
5 x garlic cloves
Handful of basil
Handful of parsley
3 drops tabasco
Black pepper
Sea salt

Let’s not get fancy, you pretty much whack everything in a pot, cook it for a bit and blend. You can’t really go wrong.

For the Chicken

Slice chicken breasts lengthways, stuff with mozzarella and wrap in parma ham. Bake in oven at 200 for half an hour. Slice chicken before serving making sure chicken is piping hot through.

For the Asparagus

Just sear it on a griddle with olive oil

Serve it

Dollop a ladle of sauce onto plate, slice chicken once across centre (as shown in pic) and let mozzarella ooze. Place asparagus beside and serve it.

Are you missing something?

Posted on January 25, 2013 by Kizzy

In my life, I’ve found self-awareness to be a key tool to self-development and improving how I relate to others. Understanding my own behaviour and how it affects others allows me to change if I need and want to. If I don’t like an outcome, I look at what my role was in that outcome, and what I could do differently. Sometimes it means I need to admit that I’m wrong and do something to put things right too.

How could this work for you? As an example, someone I know – let’s call her D – discovers that her younger daughter has been deleting her emails without opening them. They don’t have an easy relationship, but D is genuinely hurt and confused why her daughter doesn’t want her emails. If she casts her mind back, however, she can remember her son getting quite cross with her on two separate occasions about the content of emails she wrote to him. In particular, he felt she was using the letters to say things that she wouldn’t say to him face to face. With that knowledge in hand, what should D do to sort things out with her daughter? Reflecting on her own actions and acknowledging that sometimes she does use the written word as an easy way to address difficult topics will give her an insight into her daughter’s response, and help D know what to do next.

I’ve studied cognitive analytical therapy and cognitive behavioural therapy as well as transactional analysis, all of which help me get a better insight into my own actions. If this sounds of interest, read Games People Play: The Psychology of Human Relationships to learn more.
Do you analyse your behaviour?