January 07 Newsletter

January 2007 Newsletter

This is the first of the Peak Performance newsletters which we will be sending by email on a bi-monthly basis.

The aim of the newsletter is to give you tips and advice on personal development which will help you take your health and life in the direction you desire. We are developing a Comments section to the newsletter where we welcome topics, relevant quotes and comments from you which may be of interest to others, regarding health and aspects of life improvement.

 Items for possible inclusion in future newsletters and feedback (feed-forward) should be sent to: info@peakperformanceforyou.co.uk

 If you have friends or family who may also be interested in receiving our Peak Performance newsletter please let us have their first name and surname with their email address and we will be happy to add their names to the list. Should you wish to be removed from our mailing list, again just email us including the sentence: “Please remove me from the newsletter listing.”

 Health Tips

Christmas is now behind us, and it is time for New Year Resolutions. 

Have you made any yet? Have you so far kept those you made?

Maybe consider starting the year with a detox regime!

A simple detox which is not too strict would be to: 

1. Ensure you drink plenty of water. It is recommended that you drink two litres of water a day. Tea and coffee (in addition to alcohol) have a dehydrating effect on the physiology.
   
   If your system is lacking in good hydration you may experience headaches or aching in the body, constipation or flatulence. The body needs water for getting nutrition into your cells and for the removal of waste products. Recent studies by American osteopath Paul Lee have also indicated that ionisation/de-ionisation of water molecules may be used as a fast information transmission system in the body, possibly even faster than our nerves.
   
   From a practitioner’s perspective, many patients are lacking in good hydration, this makes for poorer responsiveness to treatment and a higher level of symptoms.
   
   WATER IS VITAL TO LIFE! 
2. Festive foods raise your acidity so eat plenty of fruit and vegetables. This seems obvious and we are often told we need five portions a day of fruit and vegetables, but can you honestly say that you have them? If so, great, but if not... reduce the amount of protein in your diet for a week or so.
   
   A good detoxifying regime will help to restore the correct acid/alkaline balance in your system. Sadly, many people in the western world have a diet which is too acidic. Excess acids have detrimental effect on most body tissues and body systems accelerating our aging process. This affects our joints, digestion, circulation, immune system and so on. Some authorities also consider that an acid system is more conducive to bacterial and fungal infections.
   
   Animal proteins (meat, dairy eggs and fish), sugars and sweet foods especially raise the body acidity. Fruit and green vegetables in addition to providing important vitamins and minerals help to balance the body chemistry as they have an alkalising effect. 

'Winter Warmers'

So far we have been experiencing a warm winter but do keep your muscles warm if outside in a sudden cold spell. It can be easy to adjust to the current warm temperatures and then get ‘caught out’ in the cold! Cold muscles create tightness and stiffness and can put joints at greater risk of injury. This sounds obvious but each year I do get patients who ‘forget’ and get muscle or joint problems. This is especially important if you have a history of joint or spinal pain. Any discomfort arising from such a ‘minor event’ is usually indicative of a deeper underlying spinal or joint problem (the tip of the iceberg), which would benefit from professional assessment and treatment.

Looking after the immune system

At this time of year we are all at risk of colds and flu infections. Although often there is little we can do to prevent exposure to such ‘bugs’ we can look after ourselves a little more.

• Echinacea tincture: Available at Holland and Barrett or other good health stores, this is a good herbal remedy to assist the immune system.
• Vitamins and minerals: make sure your body is full of good nutrients to optimise your immunity. Consider a supplement this time of year.
• A good routine: following a festive season when we can get toxic, and get out of a healthy routine, our activity can be in opposition to our natural body clock. There are times when the body produces chemicals ideal for certain activities – waking, digesting, sleeping and so on. If we live in harmony with our body rhythms then we are much more likely to stay healthy. If we get out of synchrony with the body physiology it puts us at a higher level of health risk and we are much more likely to get ill.

‘Childrens Corner'

In this section I will pass on tips to do with child wellbeing, based on clinical experiences.  

This week I have treated a number of children in the 20 to 30 month age group – either in, or approaching, the ‘Terrible Twos’ (TT). The TT age is very much about the child becoming aware of themselves as an individual, having their own independent thoughts and choices, being separate from Mum and Dad – and the ability to say NO!! 

What becomes apparent is that the child needs reassurance, structure and security in their life at this stage. They are becoming aware that they can choose ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ – a major stage in growing up – but this can be a little scary at the same time. Often this can be compounded by the arrival of a new sibling in the family. 

A child expressing the Terrible Twos syndrome often has tension in their body. Cranial osteopathic treatment can help release tensions in the nervous system and rest of their body which helps make them feel calmer, more settled and better behaved. As adults we can assist such children by giving a little extra reassurance and greater structure to their life, so that they can cope better with their new-found sense of choice in the world – realising they can also choose ‘Yes’ and not always ‘No’!

 Coaching Tips

Life Coaching is about understanding yourself and understanding how you think and act. In particular it gives us an understanding of the inter-relationship between our conscious and unconscious mind. When we set a goal or task for ourselves, we determine what we want in life. However, unless we understand how our conscious and unconscious mind inter-relate these goals can be difficult to achieve. Often the way we construct our goals and our use of language patterns can create negativity and hinder our chances of success – without our being conscious of it.  When we learn how to create good language patterns of communication between the conscious and unconscious mind, we find ourselves moving spontaneously towards our desired targets in life.

Coaching is for people who want to gain success… and for successful people who want greater success!

Choices- are you at cause or effect?

How often have we thought “You make me... [sick, hurt, resentful, in love or angry]”?  We commonly blame others for the way we feel. It is always easier than looking to ourselves. 

 Let’s take this sentence and look at it more carefully: “You make me sick.”

 If someone is several feet away, do they truly make your body become sick?  The reality is that it is your body. It is your responses to other people which determine how you are feeling about them.

 If someone does something or says something which I feel is negative towards me I have a choice:  

1. accept that negative response inside myself – which may make me feel sick, or
2. realise that the other person is feeling negative (maybe for many differing reasons) and that it is their situation and I can stay calm and choose to stay away from their issue. 

The reality is that we do not know why someone is feeling negative. They may be feeling unwell with an illness. They may have had distressing news that morning. They may have just been in an accident. There are many causes for someone to feel stressed. They may express that stress and negativity towards you and others.

Then you can:

• behave/respond negatively back towards them – this action can make you feel sick and compounds the stressful dynamic between you
• be neutral – this stops you feeling sick inside yourself but does not help them, or
• show some compassion and attempt to understand their distress and help them – this action makes you both feel good, reducing stresses. (N.B. Only give help when asked.)

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