Category: Learning

Posted on

New challenges: Cognitive Hypnotherapy

Spring in London, Regent’s ParkThis weekend was really exciting for me as I began fulfilling a long-wished-for dream – I have begun my training to be a cognitive hypnotherapist. I am really excited (and slightly daunted) by the prospect of leaning so much more about hypnotherapy, the mind and NLP, and how I can use these skills to support my clients. I had spent ages looking for the right course, and as soon as I had my interview, I knew it was the right place for me. This weekend was full of exciting content and I felt a deepening in a lot of my understandings. The new techniques and philosophies I will be learning sit really well with what I have already learnt, so I feel that I can build on the skills I already have and hone new ones. I hope that as well as enjoying the amazing journey, all of this will help me become an even better therapist.

The picture above is of a beautiful tree I walked past on the way to the college. Even thought it’s is a very busy part of London, I noticed several other people stopping to take a photo of it too 🙂

The picture below is from Action for Happiness – it sums up how I feel about the work I do.
Working with people and helping them to be the best they can is what I enjoy the most

If you’d like to talk to me more about NLP, hypnotherapy or anything else, drop me a line or connect via Facebook or Twitter. I look forward to hearing from you!

Posted on

EFT – Emotional Freedom Technique

I am about to embark on another journey of discovery and learning, in EFT or tapping as it is commonly known. This is something which I have been playing with for a couple of years now and I have finally found the time to embark on the training.

I like the idea that as a therapist I will be able to help an individual articulate positive verbal messages (which in time will help change thought patterns) and through tapping with the fingers on different points on the body will help to release negative emotions which have become trapped in the system. I am sure I will be able to explain more clearly once I have begun my training. I am also looking forward to releasing the negative energy which is currently trapped in my body (and is manifesting itself in the form of pain). 

I feel at the moment as though I have so much to learn and to do! The challenge for me currently is to be still and quiet – which I have introduced into my daily routine through some form of meditation, yoga or Tai Chi (however minimal) everyday. Quite often it involves listening to a Relax Kids CD whilst I fall asleep! (Yes, they are designed for children, but I love them!)

I will keep you updated with my progress – both in helping myself and in becoming accredited to be able to help others.

Posted on

Glass half full?

You know the expression – ‘is the glass half full or half empty?’ – a common idiom meaning to discover whether a person views an event or events with an optimistic or pessimistic point of view. It implies that your answer shows a leaning towards one way of thinking, and perhaps indicate how you view things generally in life. I would argue that in NLP terms, our words shape our thoughts and vice versa so if we say negative words, we believe negative thoughts (which could also be described as negative energy) and the programming we have had since we were children often just repeats a pattern of learnt behaviour.

So if we can learn a behaviour, we can un-learn a behaviour – or to start with, a pattern of speaking. If we change the way we speak about ourselves, for example, we can change the way we think about ourselves and ultimately feel about ourselves.

 Amazing, isn’t it? So next time you think ‘oh I am so rubbish at this’, or ‘this always happens’ – stop and check yourself.

What happens if you change the words you are saying? Is the glass really half full or is it the way you are choosing to perceive it?

Posted on

Happy Birthday Blog!

Hello September and sorry to have disappeared for what seems like ages! What with a very dodgy internet connection and the beginning of a new school term, I have got very behind on my blog. So apologies and thank you to my new subscribers – finally you might actually find something new to read!

I am very excited because it is just over a year since I started writing this blog. I had been reading blogs for some time, but just couldn’t get myself started on my own. Although I wrote a blog whilst I was away travelling, I found it difficult to find my voice in this blog. I think it’s because my travel blog was for a very specific audience – my friends and family who wanted to read the details of what I was up to for the 6 months I was away. With this blog, I was unsure of who would be reading it (-if indeed anyone was). I have several people to thank for giving me the confidence to a) start it, b) continue it and c) continue to work on finding my voice in my blog writing.

So like many a proud parent I have had lots of help from my friends. Massive thanks go to ReeRee Rockette who I interviewed back in January 2010. She has taught me to blog with pride! You can read her blog here:www.rockalily.com/blog

Also Justin Wayne of DIY DTF who encouraged me to find my voice and be myself in my blog.

And my friend Caz who inspires me with her life-challenges and amazing sense of freedom. Her blog is brilliant and you can read it here: lifeislimitless.com

Last but not least to my wonderful hubby who encourages me in everything I do 🙂

Please continue to leave your comments! I cannot explain how much it means to have your feedback 🙂

Posted on

My 30 Day Vegetarian Experiment

I have been thinking a lot lately about what I am eating and what the food I eat is doing to my body.

In a previous post I talked about Paul McKenna’s weight loss system and how my weight has fluctuated over the years. (You can find out how it has been for me so far here.) But now I am thinking about more than just losing weight. I am looking for a way to increase my energy levels and reduce the fatigue and stodgy feelings I get inside my body, and although I don’t eat masses of meat, I am keen to see what difference this makes (if any) to how I feel. I will also monitor the effect it has on my Psoriatic Arthritis (if any). I also have some other some bad habits which I am going to work on too!

So for the next month I am going to eat vegetarian food only – all manner of vegetables, pulses, grains and fruit. As well as this I am going to try to:

 

  • cut my intake of tea from 6 cups per day to 3 cups, plus herbal tea at night
  • I am going to increase my intake of water gradually over the month from 0.5 litres to 2 litres 
  • I am going to attempt to avoid processed foods as much as possible

 

I will post as often as I can on my progress and upload photos of the new delights and recipes I discover! 

To whet your appetite, here is an example of the lunch I ate on day 1 of the vegetarian experiment:

Avocado, tomato and pepper and chick pea and beetroot dips with pitta breadFollowed by mint tea!

I would love to hear from anyone who is trying a vegetarian experiment at the moment or has tried this before. Please share your experiences or comment below. If you have enjoyed this post, be sure to subscribe so you can keep up with my progress. Thanks!

Posted on

London’s Statues, Mythology and Stories

I am obsessed with statues! I know, it’s a bit weird. I think it started when I watched Clash of the Titans when I was a little girl and the statue of the Goddess Thetis came alive with Dame Maggie Smith’s face superimposed on it. It freaked me out, but at the same time I couldn’t stop looking! I had a similar experience as a teenage visitor to New York and saw the Statue of Liberty for the first time. I just couldn’t believe the magnitude of the statue before me, and I think the early cinematic memories from ‘The Planet of The Apes’ (1968) were etched into my psyche. The closing scene which shows the Statue of Liberty only from the chest upwards, haunted me as a child!

London is a fantastic city in which to indulge one’s interest for statues, but if you can’t get to London yourself, have a look at this book – it’s full of beautiful colour photos and background information into the lives of the subjects.

A fabulous book on the subject

On a recent trip to St Paul’s I spent some time looking at the cathedral and some of its many statues. The monument to Queen Anne is flanked by four ladies representing England, Ireland, France and North America.

I think my love of statues also stems from the fact that I also loved Greek mythology as a girl. I was an avid reader who became easily engrossed in stories, and was rather prone to day-dreaming! I would stare at the pictures in the books, and always wanted to see more pictures than were there. When I started becoming interested in art, my appetite for myths returned as so many painters depicted heros and heroines in a way I had never encountered before.

 The painting below is by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1693-1770) (photographed from An Introduction to GreekMythology by David Bellingham, 1989).

‘Zeus sits in majesty on a cloud, while Hermes performs aerobatics above; Aphrodite sits with Eros (Cupid) aboard a chariot pulled by sacred doves; Athene appears below.’

Paintings like like reignited my love for myths and stories by adding another dimension to them for me.

A monument to Queen Anne who reigned from 1665 -1714

North America – I love the lizard and the severed head

Ireland

England

France

Look at the detail on her sash – looks like a gorgon’s head

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted on

Time management, and completing tasks, one step at a time…

I don’t know about you, but one of the things that sometimes holds me back from getting on with things that I want to achieve is the enormity of the task. To help me with this,  I break things down into little steps and tick them off a I go. Seems really simple but it works!

I also notice that by listing and ticking off what I have achieved that day, I feel as though I am moving towards my goal, instead of away from it. Each tiny step has been recognised and even though I am sometimes puzzling over something for days, it comes to me eventually. I just have to trust that the knots in my wooly mind will untangle, if I give them enough time!

One of the best bits of advice that has helped me, is spending 30 minutes on a project every day. That adds up over the week and means that  saying ‘I haven’t got enough time’ doesn’t excuse me from working towards my goals.

Time Management

Being self-employed has taught me to become much more ruthless about my work-time. I found it very difficult at first to discipline myself, and tended to put off the boring bits (which inevitably needed to be done) and just focused on the creative parts that I enjoyed the most. I am now at the stage where I plan my time much better, so I allocate time-slots to different types of work or different areas. I also block out whole days for bigger projects – for example if I am planning some training for a school. 

One of the best things I learnt as a teacher was how to manage my time. In a fifteen minute tea break, I would make a cup of tea, visit the loo, talk to someone, use the photo copier and meet with a child to discuss a problem! I must have managed to say the minimum amount of words to ensure the key points were shared and then got back to teach the next lesson. 

I know that for me time is elastic – some forms of thinking require a lot more time and mental space, with limited distractions. If I am planning, studying or working on something new, my phone is on silent and I ensure that I have a clear diary. I leave tasks that involve going out, being on the phone or internet for a while for other times. I am also very efficient at completing household chores as I know that I have to have a clean and tidy environment in which to work.

I also take lots of breaks. That is another wonderful thing about working from home! I can make a cup of tea whenever I want to and can have as many loo breaks as I like (which you can’t do as a teacher)!

What have you learnt about time management from your job? When do you work best – in the mornings, afternoons or evenings? And what sorts of strategies have you come up with to help you make the most of your time?

I would love to hear what you think about this or any other post, so leave me a comment or drop me a line via the contact form 🙂

Posted on

What do I really want?

In my capacity as a teacher, and more specifically as a Literacy specialist, I have been thinking a lot about doing some training in the area of dyslexia. I am sure that there are many pupils who I could help even more, with some background knowledge in this area.

Despite searching on various web-sites and speaking to people who might know, I still haven’t managed to find the right course for me. I know that I am looking for a course with direct teaching, which means it needs to be in an accessible place, and one which gives me an overview and some skills which I can use to assess and support pupils.

I signed up to a course today and almost as soon as I had filled in the online application form, I felt I had made a mistake. The feeling continued all day, until the evening, when on further consideration, I realised that this particular course goes far deeper than I want to go. It leads to a Masters in Special and Inclusive Education, which at this stage would lead me off on a tangent from where I am going in my career. 

As soon as I made the decision that I am not going to take up the place, I felt much better, as I was beginning to feel quite stressed! I realise now how far I have come in terms of listening to my heart and recognising my internal incongruence signals.

I have learnt today more about what I do want, because now I am sure about what I don’t want!

Posted on

Learning: Increasing my ‘distinctions’

I have just returned from a two day coaching training event run by a charity I support called Youth at Risk. It is only the second such training that I have attended, and this time the concepts have left a far deeper impression on me. The philosophies used are very different from any methods I have previously encountered or studied – more provocative mostly, but I can see how these methods could (and do) help youngsters from challenging backgrounds.

The main philosophy is based on ‘Distinction Based Learning’ by George Spencer-Brown. It could be described as one of many paradigms (like looking through a different lens) to view a situation.

During the training, I could almost feel the connections forming between my brain cells where I was thinking… ‘ in NLP terms, this would be called…’. Interestingly, I noticed the same patterns in people that I often notice on courses- those who were new to this way of thinking, absorbed the information like sponges (or certainly did not protest much). Those who were experienced in a different (or several different) disciplines, found it harder to look at the situations through this ‘paradigm’. I suppose if you have nothing to compare a method to, you accept what you accept and use logic to argue any points you may not readily accept. I was listening and then translating the new learning into my own way of understanding, by attaching  it to ‘hooks’ in my brain. I also ran the information through my system with NLP as my paradigm of choice and picked up any similarities and differences.

What amazes me more  and more these day is how we learn. On a recent meeting to visit my cousin who is an overseas student studying for an MSc; we discussed how she best studies. She said she is struggling to revise because she is used to studying in groups, and as she doesn’t live in halls, she is somewhat distanced from her peers. Her goal for this week is to hang around with people more after class and make some connections. I have limited experience of studying in groups but when I have worked on projects with others, I have always found it more generative than thinking on my own.

Working in pairs during a recent INSET day  Working out a problem in pairs