Show your love on Valentines day .... and every day!

I know Valentines and other "hallmark" days aren't everyone's cup of tea, but I love them.  Yes, I agree its lovely to show people you care without the need for a special day, but a little reminder isn't always a bad idea!

It always makes me smile seeing men walking home from work on Valentine's day with bunches of flowers. The smile soon fades when I look at the prices! The cost of a red roses always makes my jaw drop. But you don't have to pay a premium price for Valentine's treats. Flowers are beautiful but why not try treating someone to relaxing massage or blissful reflexology. Gift vouchers can be purchased from Breathe Holistic Therapy without the increased Valentine's Day price tag.

Mums-to-be* don't have to miss out either. Maternity reflexology and pregnancy massage are wonderful gifts just when you deserve treating most of all.  Ease out aches and pains, relax and rest those tired,swollen feet with therapies designed especially for pregnancy.

Showing your love doesn't have to wait for a special date, but Valentines day can certainly brighten up a dull February, and if valentines isn't your thing then there is always another hallmark day just around the corner!

*treatments available after the 12 week scan.

Christmas Treats

Gift vouchers available, just call or e-mail me, it's easy to tick those christmas presents off your listChristmas is fast approaching! Do you love Christmas or would you rather run screaming to the sunshine? Either way it can be a stressful time. Treating yourself and your loved ones to some time out can vastly improve the whole festive season. It's such a busy time why not avoid the hustle and bustle of the shops and treat your loved ones to a gift voucher for a relaxing treat in the new year, and book yourself in for a treatment with the time you saved!  You really can put your feet up and relax with reflexology or massage while you sort out your Christmas presents at the same time!

Do you know a mum-to-be or new mum? You can treat them too! Gift vouchers are available for maternity reflexology, pregnancy massage, baby reflexology or post natal treatments. A lovely relaxing treatment to look forward to in the new year, what an lovely present to receive.

Talking Reflexology on BBC Radio across the Midlands

Helping Babies smile with Smile Train

At Breathe Holistic Therapy we love finding ways to raise money for charity. Our chosen charity for the next fundraiser is Smile Train. 

We are planning a special day teaching mums and dads baby reflexology to help them make their babies smile! The money raised will all go to Smile Train to help children born with cleft lips to smile. So hopefully it will be smiles all round!

One operation costs around £150.00. I would love to raise enough to change one child's life, but any amount will be fantastic.

You can donate via the fund raising page if that is the easiest way for you, just click here  then click the "make a donation" button or ask me for details.

Charity Fundraising Weekend for Smile Train

Saturday 5th November 2011 in Kidderminster. DY115LB
Baby Reflexology instruction sessions available all day

Sunday 6th November 2011
Mini reflexology sessions available all day.

Appointments essential so please contact me to book your time. Call  07531121199 or e-mail me

look out in the local press and on the radio for details too.

Stress and Anxiety, the power of biology.

Stress and anxiety may well be part of our lives and trying to find ways to combat them is vital if we are to feel healthy and happy. Understanding what's going on in our bodies is one way to help us feel better, knowledge can really help us to cope.

We may be intelligent folk living in complex societies with our lives full of technology and but underneath it all we are still animals! With our very clever phones in our pockets, cars full of computers and  houses packed with sophisticated gadgetry we still can't escape our animal instincts, least of all the stress response.

Our bodies are primed to protect us, and simply put its this fight or flight response that is responsible for much of what we experience as stress. It may now be a looming deadline or huge gas bill that our body is responding to rather than a lion in the bushes, but our biology often doesn't know the difference. Our brains however have advanced and unfortunately our clever heads may well just make things worse. We often try to rationalise these physical responses and this is when the negative thoughts can really become a problem.

Chicken or the egg? Negative thoughts... negative feelings... Which come first?

Experiencing stress and anxiety can lead to the distressing physical feelings .... That makes coping hard enough but there are also the frightening negative thoughts to contend with too. 

We can misinterpret the physical side effects of anxiety and find ourselves adopting unhelpful thinking patterns.  These negative thoughts then fuel the negative feelings... and on the cycle can go until you can completely loose sight of how this all started...

The trigger is biology!

A biological reaction to real or perceived danger, the fight or flight response. This stress and anxiety cycle is not a reflection on the individual, on their lives or their abilities, it is biology!!!

To break the cycle first identify the worrying thought patterns. Here are some examples:

All or nothing thinking : " I made a mistake.. I'm useless and never do anything right"

Personalisation : " Its all my fault "

Subjectification : Believing bad situations reflect on you  rather than being just a bad/ difficult  event.

Catastrophising : Believing one small problem will inevitably ruin everything else.

But of course everyone is individual and you may find some that relate to you and some that don't.  Changing these distressing unhelpful thought patterns is not always easy but it is absolutely possible. try to question those automatic negative thoughts...ask yourself..." Is that true"... " what would I say to my friend if they said this?"... " what are the alternatives?" continue to question the damaging thoughts.

Sometimes just distracting yourself with something mundane can help interrupt the cycle enough for you to see clearly again. Maybe count backwards in 3s or repeat a calming word silently to yourself over and over.  If you struggle with stress and anxiety trying to tackle it can seem like a mountain to climb, but take small steps and you can begin to develop stress management skills and overcome your anxiety.

Remember its biology.

Trying to address stress and anxiety yourself is a positive move, but if you feel your stress and anxiety is intense, long lasting and causing problems do speak to your health care provider for help and advise.