Resolutions – There are no rules
Hi! Welcome to my page and thanks for joining me. Like everyone else I know I have made resolutions for this new year.
These resolutions are:
- To continue running and eating sensibly
- To spend more quality time with my hubby and busy Izzy (my daughter)
I also decided after a very stressful November / December where we lost a much-loved family member, both myself and hubby were made redundant and getting ourselves through a difficult Christmas and 4 family birthdays it would be cleansing to do dry January and R.E.D January. I had it all planned, gave warning to family and friends we had meals planned with through the month, pencilled in the days that I knew I could go running around my work, even announced it on my Facebook business page – feeling very organised and a tiny bit smug I then declared to everyone I knew that I was prepped and ready for it……. And I really was…until I got the flu…
Catastrophe!!
High temperature, broken sleep, hot sweats and freezing cold, dizziness, headaches and the heaviest chest cough I have ever had!!!! So, no running – I am barely managing to walk Princess Lola every day which means I feel I have failed R.E.D January already on week one. Dry January? well I have stuck with that if you are lenient and disregard the hot toddies laced with whisky that my hubby has been drip feeding me every night.
So, amongst all of the physical symptoms I was also feeling extremely negative and was rigidly camped in my primitive mind feeling very sorry for myself until I realised – that while I hadn’t physically kept to my plan I realised that I had performed another task which was different but very much along the same train of thought. While moping around the house, not even being able to see clients due to my contagious lurgy I had ordered some cookbooks (healthy meals and slow cooker recipes) and written a healthy meal plan for the whole family and a shopping list was done based on the meal plan. Yayyy!! So, January was not going to be a complete failure after all.
My clients at home will be reading this and saying to themselves “come on Caron you know what’s happened here don’t you?” and yes, I do guys thanks so much xxx So perhaps now is a good time to remind ourselves that the mind does not know the difference between imagination and reality, so when I planned in my days for running my mind believed this task had been completed and moved me over nicely to start the next stages of our healthy life change preparations which was the meal planning.
How could Solution Focussed Hypnotherapy Have Helped?
So those of you who have not had hypnotherapy (yet, she added hopefully) will be wondering what an earth I am talking about, you probably think I’ve lost the plot? Of course the mind knows the difference I can hear you shouting at me… however, I am here to tell you that it doesn’t! Research has shown that the mind cannot emotionally tell the difference between a physical act and the mental act of thinking about it. For example: Alvaro Pascual-Leone a Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School gathered a group of volunteers and split them into 2 groups. One group was asked to physically practice a simple five fingered piano piece for 2 hours per day for 5 days and the other group were asked to do the same task but mentally – only imagining the piano piece and keeping their hands still. At the end of the 5 days the region of the motor cortex devoted to the finger movements of both groups were compared and found that both had expanded!
Does this mean we can think ourselves healthy without lifting a finger?
No! What it does mean is that we shouldn’t be so hard on ourselves if we do not complete the task we have planned, chances are our mind has moved over slightly and completed another task that is relevant or on a parallel giving you time to get back to your original task when you can.
So, don’t invite negativity by beating yourself up or feeling disappointed – move on, stay positive, focused and committed and do what you can when you can – there are no rules or timescales, just you trying to be the best you can be. Well done!!
In my case, hopefully I should be back pounding the streets this weekend.
If you see me out and about on the streets of Westhoughton or Lostock say hi and give me a wave. Thanks for reading, have a great month!
#resolutions #hypnotherapist #begoodtoyou
Caron Iley
Clinical Hypnotherapist & Solution Focused Practitioner
Havisham Hypnotherapy
T: 07580 041394
E:to:ci@havishamhypnotherapy.co.uk”> ci@havishamhypnotherapy.co.uk