Adult brain vs inner child - who wins?

When was the last time you were drawn to something that was not good for you? Was it savoury or sweet? Going out with some friends the unmistakable mistake was there. I saw it right away, drawn magnetically to it, before even ordering my meal.

I’d been pointed in the direction of it from the start: a ‘specials’ menu. As I stepped in the room, a smug smile fleetingly spread across its face. The gentle, unmistakable draw of it from across the room. At first a gentle, sweet voice spoke softly in my head as my main course was enjoyed. As my tummy continued to fill, it began pleading childishly. Feeling fuller, the noise in my head got louder and louder, heading towards a meltdown. I could have ignored it. With my full tummy it was time to order coffee and just enjoy the conversation. However, that childish voice in my head was nagging me ceaselessly. ‘Go on, you know you really would love it, remember how good it tastes? Mmmm’. Louder!

The dessert tray arrives. You see a grown woman with a puzzled look, faced with an internal dilemma as the picture perfect merits of the dessert tray are laid out before her. The large, smiling face of the banoffee pie, with a fat tongue of goo oozing out the side.

Irrationally I’m thinking ‘Bananas’. That’s it! My inner child wins with a simple negotiation trick: a faint reminder of some nutritional basis for choosing an extremely calorific and fattening slice of dessert. I said 'yes' to banoffee and manage half before nearly being stuck in the chair with fullness. In the afternoon, a stomach ache and feeling tired and tetchy with all that sugar having given in to the temptation of that sweet and clogging dessert.

My adult brain took over the next day, not wanting to feel ill again and my inner child was noticeably quiet as I was in the gym, methodically working off that fattening dessert. As I made a choice to eat it, I can choose to get active and make amends. I can feel OK about that. I can choose to say ‘no’ too. Choice and balance is what it’s all about, isn’t it? What will you choose today? 

My spa makeover of the body and mind

I promised I would post my makeover experience (with Imagine Spa at Blofield and Dream On organisation) right here on the blog once I'd seen it on line. So, here it is!  Angie's makeover experience in the Evening News

It was most refreshing and enjoyable and I've remembered and used the hints and tips I received on the day. A very special treat and I thanked the Evening News for inviting me along.

We all need time for ourselves, to recover from life's little drama's. A cheaper option is a good splurge of bubble bath - it can soothe you if you've had a tough day. Relax and enjoy a little time-out, I did.

I hope you are having a good week.

When you dream...

It's been a busy week for me. I know there are times in life when there does not seem enough hours in the day for all the things that we want to do, right? I was sorting out paperwork for the last couple of weeks, in between seeing clients. I learnt a valuable lesson to be more organised in many ways.

I also was pleased to get a day out at a spa (with a company called 'Dream on'), courtesy of a competition win earlier this week. How lucky I felt!  Once this article has been published I will post it here. As part of the day, I was asked why I had become a therapist and about my transition to being self employed after working in the employed world for many years.  There's many reasons of course why we do what we do. What motivates us can sometimes be negativity (surely bad for Karma in the long run?) and there is also good stuff. Things that help us to push through - and way beyond - what we actually thought we were capable of. For me, opening up and saying my reasons and my background was challenging. I know that everyone has their own personal journey and mine is considerably easier than many other people. What I got from doing it, was a sense of pride to look back and see that despite doubting my own abilities over the years, I was following my dream.

It made me think. I suppose I am most of the time what some people call 'glass half full'. In reality a part optimist, part realist. I do have the odd day when the liquid drains right out too. Days when I need a way of recapturing my 'mojo'. I have a few personal ways of doing this. One is to watch a video of myself (a real one) of when I felt really good achieving something I worked hard to do. I feel really positive about it too. I would also encourage you to find a way of respecting your abilities and strengths. One simple way is to keep a photo memory on your desk or with you. Something to make you smile, or play music to lift your mood. A little 'pick me up' that you can dip into at any time.

I give my clients self help techniques, and they like it as they gain control. I hope to share these with you too perhaps, if you are interested? I can be contacted for an initial free consultation on 07773 610816, if you are ready to take a step towards realising your potential and going for your dreams. Just like I did.

This moment, now

My own journey with mindfulness continues. With being in the moment. When there is a lot going on, sometimes the clutter can also clutter my mind, especially when I'm at my office, rather than where I work with clients. The noise from outside, the visual bombardment of social media, phone, computer and TV can be such a distraction in the home. I like to remember to stop and breathe. To look at nature, seeing the spring bulbs push their green shoots upwards through the earth. To listen and feel what's going on around me. I could do a lot better at this when I am feeling pressured, and I'm accepting that acceptance, takes a great deal of practice! I think when we see the 'D' of mind (see below), we know it is too easy to listen to negative thoughts or hold on to things that no longer serve us well. Something it might help is remember this little image (kindly borrowed from a wonderful blog from a lady who has gone through breast cancer) 

The lady who wrote it added a great footnote at the end of her latest blog post (22/01/2012). A statement from the wonderful Wayne Dwyer... on radiating serenity and peace: 'Radiate an energy of serenity and peace so that you have an uplifting effect on those you come into contact with. Your presence will make others feel calm and assured'                                                                                            That's something to be mindful about too, isn't it? 

Its the second New Year this year!

Whether intrigued by Horoscopes or not, there are various kinds that exist throughout the world. Today is the start of the Chinese New Year (in China's time zone it would seem), it is the year of the Dragon.

The details of what this means in full I will leave to the experts in their field (the internet is full of explanations too).  It is said that depending on year, month, day and time of birth, you are born under the sign of either a rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. In China many of these are traditionally considered powerful and important creatures. Within the horoscopes each has a particular character and quality relating to the five elements.

I think all of us have qualities and characteristics that we sometimes forget to cherish. Particularly when times are hard and if we look for other people to remind us how great we are. In the wonderful sterile world of social networking we tend to look outside of ourselves and think that other people have got it made, they are the happy ones, they are the lucky ones. 

This Chinese New Year, the year of the Dragon, signifies luck. How lucky do you feel at the moment, how thankful too?

Right now, yes now in this very moment, I am feeling lucky. At this moment I have a lot to be feel lucky for and to be thankful for. I have somewhere to live. I have a roof over my head. I eat regular meals and can be warm. I am just about feeling lucky that my messy desk needs sorting out, and lucky that I have accounting to be done. I feel very lucky that I have client preparation to do. I'm lucky and thankful for the noisy birds that are outside my window too.  I am lucky that I can do things that make me feel happy. I'm lucky I can write this blog article. Even making a cup of tea just the way I like it makes me feel lucky. 

I questioned in my mind what luck was sometime ago. Looking at luck in a different way. It hasn't changed me completely, I'm still me. I still read the horoscopes, I still quite enjoy them. According to my Chinese Horoscope 2012 is a very positive year for me. Funny that, I was feeling it in my bones, before I had even read the horoscope.    

PS, I found this image of a cake toppper item on Etsy and I thought it very pretty so shared it with you!

positive fine dining

Many people have a very harsh inner critic. An expression I hear often, 'I'm my own worst enemy'. If you are having one of those days where nothing's going right or perhaps you are feeling out of sorts, it might be your inner critic taking over. It literally is eating you up! If so, see my tip below: it helps by giving you a chance to remember to graze on happier thoughts.

Have a great day everyone.

Neurons and Obesity - the next big thing?

A recent study on obesity being linked to changes in the brain was published today.
The findings from this study on mice and rats (and human brain structures compared using scans) points toward the neurons in the brain being affected over time. A specific part of the hypothalamus, to be precise, is affected when people have eaten a high fat diet for some time and are obese. The researchers are suggesting that the brain might be 'damaged/changed' and 'control' over weight diminished. This, the researchers think, might then lead to a continued desire to keep eating a high fat diet. More work is to be done to determine if this is factually correct.

The traditional response will most likely be 'give a pill' to re-set that energy balance, and perhaps (ker-ching!) the pharmaceutical companies step in, smiling all the way to the bank! OK, so I may be a little cynical here, though I'm not against this type of intervention.  I just would like there to be at least enquiry into alternative ways of supporting those who suffer with obesity. Also into the sort of interventions that would stop the problem in the first place (and I should introduce HypnoShape® as something I jointly devised with another therapist that tackles obesity as well as those gaining weight worried about their health).  

What I would like to consider is another problem area where brain changes have happened because of the trauma, and yet a non-chemical treatment is on offer and proving successful.  

People with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) given access to 'talking therapy' and 'art therapy' have been shown in studies that even when a part of the brain is affected (hippocampus, affecting memory and learning), they can feel and get better. Art therapy and talking therapy enables them to express their feelings and reduce stress. They adapt, they cope better, but little research is available into how much their neural pathways in their brains have adapted. Perhaps that's where we should be focusing research now, particularly in supporting those with depression? 

Brain medicine, has made great strides in recent years, however it does not yet have all the answers. We know now that the brain has about 100 billion neurons. We know that there is vast processing of information and that the brain is active in controlling our body in every way. The hormones released that deal with weight and gender specific controls, our thinking, our emotions - all controlled by the brain. It is exciting to think we have yet to establish quite just how adaptable our brains are when a part of the brain is changed or damaged. I look forward to seeing additional studies prove how adaptable our brains really are.  

Incidentally, I've met some extremely adaptable-minded people who had weight issues and came to see me either in a HypnoShape group or working one to one with me. The changes some made and stuck with are proof to those people that (even if they had a damaged brain as this latest research suggests!), they were somehow able to focus their attention onto a new lifestyle and make it fit them. Maybe that's why I felt compelled to write about this?  Having one person tell me of their continued weight loss of 18 pounds over 6 months is an example and one where they made small changes that continue to add up month on month.

The feeling of 'little control' is what many clients have when they first come to see me. I empathise with how hard that can be and particularly so if they are feeling in a cycle of despair after dieting. I believe the client chooses, as they walk through my door, if they really want to be in control of their mind and their eating habits. I do sometimes see clients who are not yet ready to make the changes they say they want to, seeming to want me to sometimes make changes for them. (I provide motivation and back up) In their mind they agree with the latest research exactly or they have in their mind 'father/ mother etc was big, so I will be too'.

I'd like to give all my future clients a gift. The challenge of trusting their mind is vastly capable of helping them to make changes!  How else would we be such an amazingly advanced mammal if not for our ability to think and adapt to new situations so well? 

Please do let me know what you think, comments are welcomed. Is this the next big thing to shake up the world of weight management?

Angie Giles Hypnotherapy for Hypnotherapy, Counselling and Personal Coaching
At the Norfolk Clinic (Complementary Healthcare) on 38-40 Magdalen Road, Norwich and 86 St Benedicts Street, Norwich (by appointment only).
Tel: 07773 610816

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