Hi-eft

Cleansing Crystals

 Here's a handful of ways that you canclean or cleanse your newly bought crystal - before you use it for the first time.

 

Before they are ready for use, the crystals need cleansing of any negative energies they may have absorbed before they reached you.  There are a number of ways you can do this:

 

1)     Firstly you can bury the stones overnight in the ground.  The earth’s magnetic energy and life force energies of the organic matter, will cleanse it;

 

2)     Wash in the sea (in unpolluted seawater), or in a tumbler of pure water to which a tablespoon of sea salt has been dissolved.  It will take between 15mins and several hours;

 

3)     Wash the crystals under a running tap (however make certain the tap water is not contaminated with too many minerals – fluoride, chlorine etc);

 

4)     Place the crystals in a tumbler of pure spring water in to which has been added a few drops of Bach Flower Rescue Remedy;

 

5)     Place the crystal under a pyramid of some kind and leave it for 24 hours.

 

 

Hozho

 

Christina Elvin

Choosing Crystals - for the newbie

Ever wondered what you do when you want to buy a crystal?  Well here's a starter for when you buy your crystals:

 

1)         Handle the crystals in turn; some will feel cold and lifeless to you, others will emanate an energy making your hand feel warm, tingly or have a magnetic pull.  These energizing crystals are in tune with your energies and these are the ones to choose.

 

2)         Close your eyes for a few seconds, then open them and let your vision be attracted to one particular crystal.  You may even see its aura around it.  Feel the attraction between you and the crystal;

 

3)         With your eyes closed, pass your hands slowly and gently over the crystals, an inch or two (2-5cms) above them.  You will gradually become aware of the energetic pull of one particular crystal which will draw your hand to it.  Your eyes are kept closed throughout

 

If you are completely new to crystals, then it is good to start your one each of the following:

Clear quartz

Rose quartz

Citrine quartz

Smoky quartz. 

 

For healing work it is best to acquire a large crystal – this will be your ‘generator’. 

 

You can also start building a collection of gemstones related to the chakra colours.  Start by choosing one which is related to each chakra.

 

Enjoy them

 

Hozho

 

Christina Elvin

Colour and Mood

Often we may hear people say “Oh they’re in a black mood today” or “You look in the pink” or “I’m green with envy”.  Colours and moods do tend to be linked together in every day life.  So let’s have a look at just what these colours can mean with regard to our moods, both good and bad.

 

RED:

Good for:                                         

Passion, vitality, self-confidence, courage, security

Use when you feel:                       

Tired, alone or insecure

Do NOT use when you feel:       

Angry or hyperactive or you want to relax

 

ORANGE:

Good for:                                         

Joy, creativity, happiness, independence, uplifting

Use when you feel:                       

Depressed, lacking in energy, indecisive, inhibited,

Do NOT use when you feel:       

Angry or irritable

 

YELLOW:

Good for:                                         

Mental clarity, intellectual ability, willpower, inspiring, optimism

Use when you feel:                       

Nervous, need to think, there’s poor concentration, need to make decisions

Do NOT use when you feel:       

Stressed or have insomnia or with hyperactive or aggressive children

 

GREEN:

Good for:                                         

Promoting love, compassion, sensitivity, peace, harmony

Use when you feel:                       

Out of balance, anxious or lack sensitivity

Do NOT use when you feel:

Jealous, envious, the need to think objectively and analytically

 

SKY BLUE:

Good for:                                         

Stimulating communication, self-expression and hearing, peaceful, tranquil

Use when you feel:                       

Ill-at-ease, want to relax or can’t speak up for yourself

Do NOT use when you feel:       

Sluggish

 

INDIGO:

Good for:                                         

Imagination, creativity and inspiration

Use when you feel:                       

You need to relax or think clearly, lack of imagination, agitated or restless

Do NOT use when you feel:       

Depressed

 

VIOLET/PURPLE:

Good for:                                         

Spiritual development or fulfilment, commitment, contentment, self-respect

Use when you feel:                       

Have lost faith in yourself, need purpose and meaning in your life, want to meditate, visualize or reconnect with your spiritual self, don’t love or appreciate yourself enough or feel depressed

Do NOT use when you feel:       

You have serious psychological problems

 

MAGENTA – including Pink:

Good for:                                         

Letting go of negative feelings, releasing selfish feelings;  Pink = unconditional and spiritual and self love

Use when you feel:                       

You are holding on to a relationship which no longer has a healthy life and you want

to be released and want to move on 

Do NOT use when you feel:

Inferior or feel a victim of emotional blackmail

 

WHITE:

Good for:                                         

Clarity of mind, truthfulness

 

BLACK:

Good for:                                         

Remaining unfathomable, keeping people away

Use when you feel:                       

In control and am comfortable with your own personal power

Do NOT use when you feel:       

Out of control, powerless or depressed      

 

GREY:

Good for:                                         

Fading into the background, being inconsequential

Use when you feel:            Desire to enjoy life and to appreciate colourful personalities

Do NOT use when you feel:

Low and ‘down’, of no substance

 

BROWN:

Good for:                                         

Avoiding giving a clear picture                                                       

Use when you feel:                       

Desire to be own person, to stand on own 2 feet

Do NOT use when you feel:

Totally selfish

 

Hozho

Christina Elvin

Lazy 8s - for better communication, relaxed eyes and balance

This is a wonderful energy technique which , one of many originated by Paul E Dennison and Gail E Dennison in their Edu-Kinesthetics Learning-Through-Movement Series, or better known as – Brain Gym ®

 

Drawing the Lazy 8 – or infinity symbol – enables the reader to cross the visual midline without interruption, thus activating both right and left eyes and integrating the right and left visual fields. 

 

This exercise helps with:

relaxation of the eyes, neck and shoulders while focussing

improved depth perception

improved centring, balance and co-ordination.

 

This exercise is very helpful in the following occupations where these skill are needed:

Paying attention to detail, communicating effectively, organising and completing errands, reading without eyestrain, writing legibly, speed-reading, driving with comfort., developing rapport and writing legibly, co-ordinating processes at the keyboard and preventing eyestrain at the computer, expressing leadership skills, conducting interviews, comfortable air travel, filling out repetitive paperwork.

 

This exercise can be done in several ways:

 

1.             Extend one arm straight out in front of you with the thumb pointed upwards to the ceiling,  Focussing your eyes on your thumb ‘air draw’ a figure of 8 with your thumb.  Do 3 full figure 8, then change to the other hand and repeat the process.  Then place both hands together and focussing on both thumbs, repeat the process

2.             Point your right arm out in front of you, at shoulder height.  Now turn your head towards that arm and connect your nose with you upper arm – as in an elephant trunk shape.  Now looking along your extended arm, ‘air weave’ a figure of 8 with your arm. Do this 3 times.  Change arms and repeat the process.

3.             With a crayon or pencil or piece of chalk in your right hand, draw a very large figure 8 or infinity sign on a large piece of paper or the black/chalk board keeping your attention on the crayon or pencil or chalk.  Do this 3 times.  Now change hands and repeat the process.  Now keeping both hands together and holding the crayon or pencil or chalk in both your hands, repeat the process again.

4.             Holding a streamer on a stick in front of you with your right hand, simply wave a figure of 8 or the infinity sign in front of you 3 times.  Change hands and repeat the process.  Now hold the streamer in both hands and repeat it again.

 

 

Hozho

 

Christina Elvin

 

Speaking exercises - in case you're a bit rusty at public speaking

Sometimes, when we have to talk in public a little help can go a long way.  Just trying these vocal exercises can help us brush up our vocal chords and feel more confident when ‘that time’ comes for us to stand up, deep breath and start to speak

 

 

BREATHING:

 

Exercise 1:

Breathe in deeply and slowly through the mouth 3 times.

 

Exercise 2:

I am.

I am going.

I am going to try.

I am going to try to read.

I am going to try to read as much as I can.

I am going to try to read as much as I can of this.

I am going to try to read as much as I can of this sentence in one breath.

I am going to try to read as much as I can of this sentence in one breath without gasping or running out.

I am going to try to read as much as I can of this sentence in one breath without gasping or running out of air.

I am going to try to read as much as I can of this sentence in one breath without gasping or running out of air or going blue in the face.

 

Exercise 3:  / / means to take a top-up breath

Jack reached the top of the hill, a little breathless after his exertion./ /  The climb had made him feel quite warm,/ /  and he took off his jacket, folded it down its length, and rested it over his left arm./ /   Only then, as he looked around, did the full impact of the spectacular view of the Yorkshire countryside hit him./ /  He took a deep breath, smiled, and began the journey back to the bottom,/ /  happy to be alive, happy to be here.

 

BACK OF THE TONGUE AND THE SOFT PALATE:

KICK CAKE AND COKE QUITE QUICKLY.

GO TO THE GIG AND GAG THE GARGLING GARGOYLE.

KING CANUTE COULD NOT CONTROL THE COMING TIDE.

GLORIA GLADLY CRASHED THE GONG AND STRUCK THE GLOCKENSPIEL.

 

GENERAL EXERCISES FOR VOCAL AGILITY.  Some of them make you jump from one part of the mouth to another in quick succession.

COME, McCLUSKIE, MAKE MANY MEN MAN THE MAINSAIL.

TIPPETTY TAT TAP, TIPPETY TAP.

PIPPETY PAT, PIPPETY PAT, TIPPETY TAP, TIPPETY TAP, PIPPETY TAP.

FEE FI FO FUM.

KA-KA NA-NA MA-MA                                                                                                        MA-MA NA-NA KA-KA

NA-NA  KA-KA MA-MA                                                                                                       TA-TA-DA-DA-SA-FA

MA-MA-NA-NA-LA-LA                                                                                                         FA-FA-VA-VA-FA-FA                                             

TA-DA-DA-TA-TA-DA-DA                                                                                                   RALLA LARRA RALLA LARRA

 

EXERCISES FOR THE ORGANS OF ARTICULATION:

The Lips:  Say the following, exaggerating the P, B, M and W sounds.

PLEASE PASS THE PENCILS AND PENS, PAPA.

PETER PIPER PICKED A PECK OF PICKLED PEPPER.  IF PETER PIPER PICKED A PECK OF PICKLED PEPPER, WHERE’S THE PECK OF PICKLED PEPPER PETER PIPER PICKED?

 

BETTY BOTTER BOUGHT SOME BUTTER BUT SHE SAID, “THIS BUTTER’S BITTER”.

 

The Tongue:

THEOPHILUS THISTLE THE THISTLE-SIFTER HAD A SIEVE OF UNSIFTED THISTLES AND A SIEVE OF SIFTED THISTLES, BUT THEOPHILUS THISTLE THE THISTLE-SIFTER THOUGHTLESSLY THRUST A THISTLE THROUGH THE THICK OF HIS THUMB.

TELL TERRY TUCKER AND TOMMY TATTLER NOT TO TELL TALES.

NANNY NUDGED NICOLA.

 

Hozho

 

Christina Elvin

 

Energy Protection tips - for those who work in people's energy fields

Maybe in your line of work you are already aware that you may need ‘Energy Protection’ sometimes referred to as ‘Auric Protection’  at some time or other, to protect you from picking up other peoples negative energies. 

 

Indeed it’s classed as good practice if we not only ‘ground’ our self before seeing a client, but we also ‘protect our self’ before seeing them as well.  And of course after seeing the client, we would ‘cleanse’ our energies too – see the M B S tip on Energy Cleansing.   And this ‘protection’ and ‘cleansing’ applies not only to our self, it also applies to the environment we are working in too.

 

So just how do we ‘protect our energy’?

 

Well in my opinion, I’d suggest that it’s a 3-way process.  As I mentioned above we need to ‘ground our self’, ‘protect our energy’ and then ‘cleanse our energy’.  And we do this by the following:

 

Take 3 nice deep breaths and centre yourself, focussing on your breathing; then for

 

Grounding:            Simply imagine that your feet are developing into roots – as in tree roots – and they are going through the ground you stand on, through the ground below you and on and on and on into the centre of the earth.  And at some point your ‘roots’ will stop, and when they do this you’ll know that they have then reached where they need to be.  So NOW be aware of your ‘roots’ as you travel back up your roots into your ‘body’.

 

Protecting your aura/energy:       There are several ways this can be done:

(1)  Imagine a healing and protective colour – whatever colour that comes to mind is the right one for you at this time – and this healing and protective colour is enveloping you completely, as if in a cocoon of that colour, and that cocoon extends out, further out than the tips of your outstretched hands.  Now imagine what this colour feels like, what it tastes like, what it smells like and what it looks like;

(2)  Imagine yourself standing in a wonderfully refreshing and cooling and comforting shower, a shower that sprays droplets of wonderful violet/purple water over you, and every part of your body that these purple droplets of energy touch are protected – as if by magic.  And when every part of your body is coated by this wonderful ‘shower’ then just imagine what these coloured energy droplets feel like, what they taste like, what they smell like and what they look like;

(3)  This is the one I made up and I use 99% of the time:   Imagine that out of your heart chakra there flows energy, which looks like candy floss  -  just like it comes out of one of those fairground or circus booths with the sugary strands twisting and turning and coating the air as it emanates from your heart chakra.    And this ‘energy candy floss’ is swathing you in candy floss, a wonderful rose quartz coloured candy floss, and is sooo light it’s incredible, yet every part of your body that it touches it sticks to it and is so light and airy yet protective and healing at the same time.  And now allow this candy floss to coat your body, and fill the entire room you are standing in, and fill the entire space of that part of your building going upwards and outwards at the same time.  And when this ‘candy floss energy’ feels as though it has ‘filled your entire working area’, know that you can allow some of this ‘candy floss energy’ to be taken away by the impending client at the end of your session with them.  And know that you lovingly allow this to happen – as you have more than enough of this ‘candy floss energy’ to spare for this client.

 

So, if you don’t use ANY method of grounding or protecting, try one of those above, see how it feels for you.  And you never know, you may even find that you discover a way that feels comfortable for you to use, a different methods than those above.

 

Hozho

 

Christina Elvin

 

Testing Testing - Sharks!

This article is to show the necessity of ‘testing fully’ whether the problem has gone after using EFT.

In July 1999 I was attending a Hypnotherapy Master class and met, by chance, Peter Callaway who told me about No-esitherapy – an interesting way of using hypnotherapy, which I’d never heard of before.  Well, in November that year I read an interesting article in one of the dailies – about No-esitherapy.  And Peter penned it. 

So I called him up to congratulate him on this achievement, and he told me about another brilliant, simple technique that I would really really like.  It was something called “EFT” and he’d just been on a training course in October at Gatwick.  He gave me Gary Craig’s website – www.emofree.com - which I went on and downloaded his free 43-page manual (version 2 I think it was).

Well this manual seemed ok.  So I started reading through it and found out about this thing called ‘tapping’ and where to tap and what to say.  So I thought what I wanted to ‘work on’ – and ‘sharks’ came up for me. 

Now since BEFORE ‘JAWS’ came out many moons before, I had hated sharks. I couldn’t watch them on tv or in documentaries, I certainly DID NOT watch JAWS at the cinema or on video – NO WAY!  If pictures of them happened to come on tv I quickly went to the loo or into the kitchen!  And it wasn’t as though I was going to meet a shark walking down the centre of Northampton – which is geographically located about the dead centre of the country - certainly about 70 miles from the nearest coastline! 

So I thought, “Yes, I’ll use sharks”.  And I didn’t read any further.

Well I tapped on the places the manual said, saying, “Even though I hate sharks I deeply and completely accept myself”.  Then I tapped the points on the page – on myself –saying I” hate sharks”. 

And after tapping the points, and doing this funny thing on the back of my hand – and I remember thinking “Why do I have to hum happy birthday – how silly!” - and then I tapped the same points again.  So then I asked myself “How do I feel now about sharks?  Mm - I feel ok about them I suppose, but I’m not gonna meet any am I?”  (I know now that that’s a great tail-ender) and then I went on to do something else and just left the manual on one side. 

I thought “Mmmm that was easy. Perhaps I ought to go on the training that Peter talked about”.    So I found out about THAT training and booked my self on it.  It was not until 4^th February in Manchester, and was being put on by AMTUK, but I could wait after all Christmas was coming soon, and my 50^th birthday.

Well my 50^th birthday came, and my dear loving husband had booked a surprise holiday, that I DID NOT want to know about until we were going for the plane.  So when we were getting ready to leave, he told me it was Australia.  I didn’t say anything to him but I would have preferred Sedona, USA – ungrateful of me I realise, but if I had been given a choice … I hadn’t even thought about Australia.  However I am sure glad we went there – it was a magical place.  And later when we did go to Sedona, I was very disappointed – so his decision was right.

Anyway, we were going to be returning about a week before the EFT training – brilliant.  So we set off on my birthday trip.  And it was to be just over 2 weeks where we visited Singapore, Cairns, Bloomfield in Queensland, Ayres Rock, Port Douglas then Singapore on the homebound journey.  Lots of places to visit and experience and lots to see.

So, we found ourselves in Bloomfield Lodge, Queensland and to get there we flew in a 4-seater plane from Cairns, landed in a field somewhere, went in a jeep, got in a flat-bottomed boat and went down a river to Bloomfield Lodge – we stayed in our own log hut, with no glass in the windows but shutters instead, and a mosquito net – which we found that if you leave the light on in your room you come back from dinner to be greeted by dozens of wonderfully startling yet beautifully patterned moths, bugs, creepy crawlies and geckos on our net  So there was no reading in bed at night!

There area around there was beautiful, true primordial forest, we had frogs which started up bang on time at night – and I though somewhere there was an engine switched on somewhere.  There was a lovely green snake sleeping it off in a tree above the swimming pool, it had a bulging tummy – probably it’s frog supper!  I managed to get ‘leeched’ twice on a forest walk – no one else did!  And THEN there was the picnic.

The picnic on the desert island on the reef!  And to get there we went on a wonderful 60-foot yacht.  There were about 6 guests and 3 staff on board.  We sailed for about an hour and then a small dot came into sight, a few trees on a blip of sand in the distance.  The yacht stopped!  “Interesting” I thought – “We’re a bit away from the island, I though we’d sail up to the island and get off directly onto it”.  The captain said, “Wet suits are downstairs, we need to put them on before we disembark into the dingy because it’s Box Jellyfish time, and wetsuits can help prevent stings.”

My throat clammed up, my stomach went hard and knotted, I couldn’t breathe properly, I was sweating like mad and not because of the heat I can tell you!  I was in full-blown panic mode – which was new to me, and I didn’t want anyone to know because they’d think I was weak.   

I was wondering how on earth I could get out of this – because THIS was GREAT WHITE SHARK territory!  Was that noise the ‘Jaws’ music or was it my blood pumping like mad?  People went down to change!  I simply couldn’t get out of this!  I had to go down. 

And I can tell you, it’s no joke being in the middle of the Great barrier Reef in the bottom of a 60-foot yacht trying to climb into a wetsuit – that was DEFINITELY wet on the INSIDE because I was sweating like billy-ho!  The yacht was rocking slightly, the engines were vibrating, I was trying to balance AND pull on this straightjacket clothing.  I had NEVER EVER been in a wet suit before!  The pink flippers were nice (just my colour!) and there was matching pinky snorkel and mask – but I DO NOT DO snorkelling, in fact I hated anything tight on my face and head.  I couldn’t even try on my eldest son’s motorbike helmet to see how it felt!

I was ALSO attempting to tap whilst I was getting into this straight-jacket clothing, I was beginning to feel sick but was that the motion of the yacht and the vibration of the engine, and I was hungry too …  I was tapping myself all over the place.  I couldn’t remember where to tap or what to do or what to say – I had never felt so powerless as this before.  All I could NOW think of was JAWS! – THE JAWS picture on the front of the videos!

I managed to get back up onto the deck.  I managed to climb down into the dinghy.  I managed to focus on the island and not look round for THAT black fin cutting through the water, which I KNEW was out there somewhere – just waiting for me.

We landed on the island, and “No thank you!  I do not want to go OUT THERE and look at the reef and coral, I’ll stay on this island!”  And because I wanted to stay on the island I had to have a ‘minder’ stay with me too – Health & Safety rules are alive in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef! 

So I padded around the island on the sand, noticed some very small box jellyfish, which are really quite pretty, didn’t go near them of course.  So I thought, “Well I could always just sit in the shallows around the island” – which I did.  Then I walked a bit further out to look at some nice small fish – in the shallows.  THEN I thought, I’d try out the snorkel and mask and maybe just go out so that my head’s just under the water. 

Unfortunately I kept on turning my head around – under the water – just to check that there wasn’t any looming dark shape gliding towards me, looking for its lunch.  Of course when I turned my head under water, I breathed in and as I didn’t know what to do with the snorkel I took in salt water!!!

However, I WAS just out of my depth in the Great Barrier Reef – what an invigorating feeling!!  Wowee!!  What a mixture of feelings coming at the same time – incredible.

Eventually, the others came back from their diving and watching, we had a lovely picnic and went back to the yacht.  Having changing back into my ‘normal clothes’ I was on the deck, breathing easily thank goodness.  After about 30minutes someone caught a baby SHARK, a little baby great white!  Phew!  It’s little teeth could only bite off the tips of your fingers – that’s all, but it proved there WERE sharks about.  It was only about 18inches long, and it looked sooooo cute.  I even have a picture of myself stroking it whilst it was being hand held by the angler.  And if any of you haven’t touched a shark skin, imagine a cat’s tongue, it feels like that – of course it must be to help it glide though the water, reduce any water resistance.  One way is very smooth, and the other is very rough.

We got back to terra firma and guess what, later there were a group of other baby sharks –‘Nursing sharks’ this time – swarming about near the small dock as people were throwing food to them.  Even more proof there were sharks around. 

Anyway, we got back to England boy! Was I looking forward to my EFT practitioner training.

Chrissie Hardisty was the main trainer, with Tam and Mair Llewellyn-Edwards assisting. It was Tam and Mair’s first EFT training session.  And I found out, several years afterwards from Tam, that he was about 1/2page ahead of the trainees on the training.  

Well one of the practical exercises was to tap between pairs of trainees.  I immediately thought of sharks but I couldn’t even say the word.  The problem had returned without me knowing about it.  So how could I deal with it?  Chrissie said, “if you have a problem saying something, just write it down on a piece of paper and read it to yourself OR simply choose a substitute or opposite word to use”. 

I tried writing it down – nothing shifted because I was still reading ‘sharks’. 

So I next tried the substitute word.  Now what could I substitute for ‘that word’?  Then it hit me, the feel of the skin, one way it was rough and one was it was smooth – like velvet!  So I chose the word “smooth”.  But that didn’t make any logical sense to me.  Anyway, I went along with what Chrissie had said, and tapped using “Even though I have a fear of smooth I deeply and completely accept myself”. 

And I felt so different after going through the tapping just the once - it was great!  Such a lifting feeling.   I felt I could say ‘sharks’ and I did; I even wrote it; and I drew a shark shape.  There were simply zero reactions (SUDs) within me.  This was great! 

And that clearing has stayed with me.  I love looking at shark documentaries now.  I enjoy taking my grand kids to Sea Life Centres and standing in those glass tunnels where fish and sharks swim past sooo close.

So what has all of this got to do with ‘Testing Testing’ you may ask?

THIS was a very big lesson I learnt about being thorough when using a technique AND ALSO testing correctly and completely to make sure that everything has been released.

When I first used EFT with my ‘sharks’ problem (in November 1999) I didn’t read go through to read about the SUDs or the testing.  Looking back AFTER doing my EFT practitioner training in February 2000, I would estimate that the problem in 1999 was at a 10 and went down to about a 4.  I left it at that level – leaving the SUDs to grow and come back.  And boy did it come back!  THAT holiday was a brilliant test – even though I didn’t appreciate it at that time.

I liken the SUDs of a problem to grass or a weed.  If you get the problem down to a 1, it’s like just 1 blade of grass.  You cannot grow a lawn from just 1 blade of grass.  Likewise a weed – we know to kill a weed we need to get rid of the root system  (aka the negative emotional energetic connection).  Now if you manage to get rid of ALL of the roots except one, THAT weed cannot sustain itself and re-grow itself. 

So when testing to make sure a problem has been released or cleared, make sure you get down to that 1 blade of grass. Test test and test in any and all possible ways to make sure it has cleared, so say it, draw it, watch it, touch it, replay it, think it, experience it – do whatever is necessary to test it fully.

The ONLY exceptions to this are if there is any evidence of previous anaphylactic shock reaction or heart attack/stress reaction.  Obviously NOT putting the client in any unhealthy environment goes without saying – even NOW I wouldn’t test my response to my released fear of sharks by going down in a metal safety cage into shark infested waters.  However I have tested it thoroughly enough for me to KNOW my fear has gone.

Hozho

Christina Elvin

World War 2 Phobia goes and Marriage turns up

It was early 2003 when a lady contacted me.  She was a retired spinster aged 68years, living next door to her father, who was in his mid-90s.  Indeed she had been his unofficial carer since she retired from her position in the financial services sector some 8 years previously.  Her mother had passed away just over 20 years previously.  She did not have any siblings and had had only one romantic relationship – in her mid-40s.  That relationship did not last, her father didn’t approve of it.

This client was extremely calm, in fact cool as a cucumber when she was giving me all this information.  She appeared very organised, very calm and very professional.

The reason she contacted me?  Well it took some time for her to say exactly what it was as she seemed to skate around the houses. 

She came for the initial consultation and the conversation was along these lines:  “It’s so silly really and I know I should have done something about it before now, but it has never been as bad as this, and it’s not there all the time.  But with all of this conflict going in the Middle East, and talk about British troops going over there, it’s all getting too much for me.  Every time I switch on the television there’s something about it, and I have to keep it switched off most of the time.  And father has the television on, so every time I pop round to see him, it’s on.  I just can’t seem to get away from it.”

She still had not mentioned what her problem was, however I was getting the hint it was something to do with conflict and/or war.  I asked her direct:  “So what is it you feel uncomfortable about? That you feel you don’t want to see or hear.”

“Well - it’s war” was her response.

Now I understood.  The time was early 2003 and Britain was poised to go into Iraq - together with the American troops.  There had been talk of this for several weeks on television, radio and the papers.

She had mentioned that it “has never been as bad as this“, so I asked her to expand on this some more.  Whilst she didn’t have any relatives or personally know of anyone involved in wartime situations, or indeed know anyone who had been hurt through wartime situations, she remembered all the details of:

q       The Falklands war in the early-1980s;

q       The first time troops went in to Iraq in the early 1990s;

q       She remembered about the genocide that had been taking place in Bosnia – with British troops going in there as UN peacekeepers;

q       She remembered September 11^th 2001 Twin Towers – and whilst she hadn’t had any panicky feelings at that time, she admitted that it was the pictures of it that had shocked and appalled her; 

q       And NOW this! 

Yet in none of these situations was she was aware of anyone who was involved in any way in any of these wars.  And I noticed, none of these situations involved the Northern Ireland conflict.

I asked her what happened to her on each of these occasions, to describe how she felt and what her actions were.  “Well I have to avoid television and radio and reading the papers or else I become very panicky.” 

So I prodded a bit further and asked her what she meant by “panicky”. 

“Oh my, now you’re asking something. Well it’s as though I can’t breathe properly, my breathing gets tight in my chest, and I get funny feelings in my tummy and I just don’t want to be there watching or reading or listening about what’s happening.  Which isn’t right as I am not going to war – other people are.  Why I don’t even know anyone who has been to war or been involved in any war at all.  When I was working I used to avoid talking to people about ‘those situations’, I’d change the subject.”

Well her symptoms were definitely a panic response, in fact a typical fight or flight response.  And this lady knew about her breathing patterns, as she was a very keen golfer, indeed a very fit 68year old.

So, as she had said that she hadn’t been ‘touched’ by any of these wars personally, I thought I’d ask her of her earliest recollections of war. 

“Oh that’s easy,” she said.  “It was when I was 5, or was it 6?  We, I say we but it was me really, I was evacuated from London.  I remember plain as day standing on the station platform with my little case, and my little gas mask and box, and the label tied on string around my neck.  And I didn’t know what it said because - I don’t think I could read at that time.  But I knew I was going somewhere – without my mother and father.”

And then I asked her what had happened to her – after her remembering the station and her evacuation.

“Well nothing really, my father and mother moved up to where I had been evacuated to shortly after wards.  In fact they stayed in that area after the war.  So did I really going to school there and making friends there, that is until I started working.  Then my work took me out of the area, but I came back here to live when my mother became ill, and I looked after her, father couldn’t, well men can’t look after others really, can they?  And then she passed away.  And so now I have my own place next to my father – I don’t want to live with him, we both need our space.  I pop round to see him all the time, make his meals, take him out, we go on holiday together with his friends who are his age.  Now I don’t work I spend a lot of my time around there.  He’s very active for a 90year old you know.  And I make sure he has all the right foods, everything cooked freshly for him.  In fact he doesn’t like pre-cooked foods and it is a bit of a chore really as we have to be so careful where we go, I like him to have freshly cooked foods, even though we may be away.”

I then asked her when her first recollection was of this ‘panicky feeling’.  When did that start?

“Well, that must have been around the time my mother passed away…  Oh my – I hadn’t thought of that!  But why should mother passing away start off these panic attacks?”

I explained the connection between ‘emotions’ and repressed feelings of situations that we had ‘forgotten about’ and that sometimes a shock to the system triggers off those ‘locked in feelings’. 

“It’s rather like getting sunburn” I said, “We know when we’ve been sunburnt how uncomfortable it is, so we avoid situations where we may get sunburnt again.  Hence each time something came on television, or radio or in the newspapers, you avoided it – but you didn’t know why.  Because you had been ‘sunburnt’ as a child and didn’t want to go back there”.

So NOW we had found the ‘emotional’ trigger that had brought on, or rather released, the feelings that caused, the panic attacks.   Feelings of a ‘you’re leaving me here for me to go somewhere where I don’t know’ situation.  A situation that happened a long, long time ago, to a helpless little girl.  A situation that had happened almost 60 years previously.  Repressed feelings of abandonment.  And the emotional trigger had been her mother passing away and leaving her ‘to be in that situation again’. 

And what she had been doing subconsciously was reliving those feelings she had felt as a child.  Reliving them through all ‘war’ situations that came up where British soldiers were involved abroad – replicating the situation that happened in the war where British soldiers were sent abroad to fight.  That’s why the September 11^th 2001 Twin Towers situation she was shocked and appalled yet not panicky – because British soldiers were not involved in that.

So what could we do, now that we had – through talking about her situation using careful questioning – uncovered what had happened to her.

I suggested she tell me the whole story, from her as a 5-6 year old on that station to her mother passing away and on through to now, whilst she tapped on all of the EFT tapping points.  We used the ‘Story technique’.

This took us just under 15minutes, as she had already told me ‘her story’ I could include something if she missed it out.  There were no tears, no sharp intake of breath, and no sign of any emotion at all as we tapped away.  We had uncovered everything by careful questioning – and that in itself had released a lot of emotion.  And at the end of that tapping she said she felt like another person.  And indeed she looked like another person.  She was a lot brighter in herself, her voice was lighter and her facial colour was pinker.

So where does the marriage come into it?  You may well ask. 

Remember she mentioned that she had only had one romantic relationship in her life, and her father did not approve of it, so it was finished.  Well six months after releasing this ‘World War 2’ emotional memory, this lady had met up with someone whom she hadn’t seen since her secondary education days.  They met by chance - even though they lived in different towns.  He had been widowed a few years earlier.  And they met up again, and again, and again.  And she took him home to meet her father.  And within 6months they were engaged to be married. 

And 12 months later, they were married.  A big decision for her as she was still caring for her father at home and all three of them had to take his situation into account.  He agreed to ‘retire’ into a residential home near where they lived. 

Both were 70 when they were married and both looked so radiantly happy, it was as though they were both teenagers in their first flush of youth getting married - and not people in their 70s.  I had an invite to their wedding – that’s how I know.  And she hasn’t had any panicky feelings since letting go of those - way back in 2003.

So, could releasing those World War 2 ‘blockages’ have cleared the way for happiness to flow into this lady’s life?  I like to think so.  After all, in the energy business we know that we need to release those negative beliefs and energy blockages before we can access the joys and happiness that are out there for us – just waiting to come in...

 

Hozho

 

Christina Elvin

 

“Ahhh! The BIG school summer holidays are here ... so what can we parents do?”

Of course we love our kids and grandkids, there’s no dispute over that - however it’s THAT time of year again – the BIG school holidays!  5-6 weeks of keeping the kids occupied whilst at the same time keeping us sane and solvent!    The BIG school holidays always seem to push the boundaries of parenting – well they do with the people I know.  You may know different …

 

So what can we do to help ourselves?  We can do several things both for the kids and for ourselves.  However, first let’s look what’s available for the kids - in some areas:

v      Sending them off to a school summer camp for a week or two – if there was such a thing in your area; 

v      Maybe your local council or Youth Club Association have arranged some Youth Clubs or Play Schemes for youngsters in schools or on the local recreation grounds;

v      And if your kids enjoy sports, well may be your local leisure or sports centre have summer holiday activities such as football coaching, tennis coaching, swimming clubs;

v      Or you just might be lucky enough to have a local drama group or theatre group which organises drama and music and dance activities or workshops for kids; OR

v      If you’re lucky your parents – the kids’ grandparents – might have them for a week of so. 

 

But perhaps the reality is that you live in an area where none of these activities have hit their horizon yet.  AND besides that, each of these activities could cost a fair amount of money, and often (unless they’re residential of course) they don’t start until 10.00am and finish about 3.00pm.  And if you have more than one child, then that could be a bit costly on the purse.

So, if you don’t have a money-tree in the back garden or a nanny or have parents who can look after the kids and entertain them for a week or two, let’s look at some alternatives, shall we?

 

ü       If you know some other parents, and could ‘Share a Day Scheme’ – one parent has the group of kids for one day’s activities, another parent for another day etc etc – that way maybe you’ll get a day’s space to recharge your energy batteries; 

ü       What about taking them out for day or half-day trips – keep the costs down by collecting those ‘Two-for-One’ vouchers that are often handed out at supermarkets or in local papers.  Vouchers which entitle you to take your kids to zoos or sea life centres or safari parks or pleasure parks – you will need transport of course, and a good picnic because food can often be very pricey;

ü       Look out for ‘Country Rover’ bus tickets too – often towns have these kinds of tickets which can be bought relatively cheaply if you buy a 3-day ticket or a family ticket, where you can hop on and hop off at several places;

ü       Get out your kiddies paddling pool/swimming or splash pool in the back garden on warm days, don’t fill it completely, only about 2-3 inches and play tiddlywinks in it, the kids get splashed but they all have to wait for their turn to ‘have a go’, they keep cool and so do you – don’t forget the sun screen lotion on them.

 

Now with some activities, I have used this ‘idea’ several times in the past few years with my grandkids, and will be using it again this year.  My idea is to offer as many different, inexpensive activities as I can possibly think of, and afford, which will suit an age range of 5-10 years (you can devise it for ANY age range).   These activities are allocated in 1/2day OR one-day time slots.   So this’s how I do it:

 

1. Decide how many activities you want to offer  eg 15;
2. Decide on the type of activities you are going to offer remembering to choose those activities that the kids will enjoy – which may not necessarily be what you enjoy;
3. Decide the specific time period you want to offer these activities over  eg 10 days;
4. Get ALL your two-for-one vouchers ready in plenty of time;
5. Now come up with 15 different activities that are suitable for them *;
6. Make certain that you have everything to hand for each activity;
7. Devise a method of them being able to ‘pick’ an activity without ‘knowing’ what it is beforehand #;
8. Get agreement with the kids that they will agree to do whatever the activity ‘states’ they are going to do;
9. Also get agreement who is going to pick an activity and in which order – throwing dice to get the first to go is a great way of doing this;
10. Get started.

 

*  The 15 different activities that I have chosen this year include the following:

1)      Full-day – Sea Life centre by train

2)      Full-day –Safari Park by car

3)      Full-day – Zoo trip by car

4)      Full-day – Farm visit

5)      Full-day – Picnic in local forest

6)      ½ day – mask making (paper, feathers, material and ribbon remnants, buttons, beads, sequins, sweet wrapper papers, silver paper, elastic bands, paints, leaves, pva glue, scissors, string, tissue paper)

7)      ½ day – dalek model making (plastic disposable beakers, polystyrene balls, spent matches, large beads, sticky glue pads; moulding clay semi-circles, spray paint, newspaper, craft knife, pva glue)

8)      ½ day – painting (oil paints, water paints, colouring pencils, brushes, mixing dishes, chalks, canvases, paper pads)

9)      ½ day – card making (card, sequins, ribbons & material remnants, buttons, beads, cut out flowers, glitter pens, sweet wrapper papers, silver paper self adhesive stickers, potato templates, scissors, pva glue, tissue paper)

10)   ½ day – scrap book making (white paper, card for back and front, hole punch, pens, pencils, scissors, magazine picture cut outs, old photographs, ribbons & material remnants, sweet wrapper papers, silver paper buttons, beads, sequins, glue pads, pva glue, book ring or stapler) 

11)   ½ day – story writing – (topic, paper, pens, pencils - unless working on the computer -  stapler or book ring)

12)   ½ day – cinema visit

13)   ½ day – local park and museum visit

14)   ½ day – visit to local aerodrome and museum

15)   ½ day – games playing from a games selection box

 

 

Other activities that have been used previously include:

• swimming pool                                                        
• trip to London by train going to British museum
• feeding local swans and geese at nearby lake            
• cycle ride around a reservoir
• visit to Gullivers Land                                               
• day trip to the sea-side
• cross stitch pictures                                                
• picnic at local recreation ground
• beaded book-marks                                                 
• flower pressing
• glass painting                                                          
• aviary visit
• visiting local garden centre and looking at their tropical fish     
• cookie baking
• cake making                                                             
• bread making
• mustard & cress growing on tissue paper                           
• origami
• camping in the back garden                                       
• leaf printing
• bubble-blow picture paintings                                     
• watching a favourite dvd
• wax candle making                                                    
• puppet theatre & finger puppet making
• plaster of Paris moulded shapes                                 
• making cardboard garages, forts or airports.

 

# Devising a method of showing which activity is to be chosen, there are 2 ways of doing this, yet both work on a ‘toss a coin onto a number’ system: 

               I.      Draw a circle, and divide it into the specific number of activities you have chosen, eg I have chosen 15 activities this year, therefore my circle has been split into 15 equal sections, I have placed a number in each section at the outer edge of the circle.   Toss a coin, which ever number it lands on means that TODAY we will do THAT activity; OR

             II.      Divide a clean piece of paper into 15 equal blocks, place a number in each block.  Toss a coin and which ever numbered block it lands in, will be THAT activity today.

 

HELPFUL HINTS:

Do remember to cross through whichever activity number has already been used. 

I keep a (secret) separate list of the numbered activities, so that I can tell which one we will be doing TODAY.  This information is NOT shown to the children.

At the end of each activity there is a ‘quiet time’ of about 15minutes so the kids can say what they liked and what they didn’t – do take notice of this as it comes in very useful for the following holiday activities.

When going on a picnic DO REMEMBER to choose only what the kids will eat – and let them get it ready.

Carrying a small pack of plasters and some hand wipes are ALWAYS very useful on ‘outside activities’.

Be as creative as you can be with activities and KNOW what your kids like doing.

When using paints or scissors, please make sure that ALL surfaces are covered adequately and protective coveralls are used in ‘messy activities’.

Activities can be for one child or several.

 

OK – so that’s ALL about the kids.  What about us adults – we BIG KIDS?  What can we do to help us ‘wind down, relax and re-charge our energies’ after a half or full day’s worth of kids’ activities?  And because WE need to UNWIND then we really need to ‘build something in for ourselves’ during or at the end of the day.  So here are some tips JUST for US:

 

During the activities themselves you can:

Immerse yourself in and enjoy doing the activities yourself:  of course you’ll be supervising and watching over everything, however let yourself re-visit your childhood by entering into the spirit of those activities, and even if you feel you missed out on them the ‘first time around’ then you can enjoy them THIS time around;

Splash out on that painting: revisit that beautiful sunset, be another Picasso or Van Gogh;

Make that mask: be it happy, angry, Venetian, an animal, whatever you want – just do it;

Design your unique glass painting: if you use votive candles (night lights) then save ‘small used candle glasses’, scrape out the old candles (a great tip is to stand them in, AND fill them with, hot water and washing up liquid, then wipe out the softened wax with kitchen roll paper and bin it) so you can then make your very own unique painted designer candle holders – great for Christmas or Birthday presents too!;

Sculpture that scrap book: – why not do one for a special anniversary, find out if you have a friend’s 25^th or other special wedding anniversary coming up, or a friends 18^th or 21^st, or a parent’s 60^th or 70^th or 80^th birthday, or maybe your own child’s 13^th (first teenage birthday) or graduation from University coming up;

Create those cards: how about you making some ‘Thank You’ cards just from you, or even making a couple of ‘Good Luck in your New Job’ cards, or ‘Enjoy Your New Home’ cards.  They’ll be extra extra special if you have made them yourself as well as being unique, in fact one could even say ‘priceless’.

 

Also during the day:

Drink plenty of water

Tap using EFT to de-stress yourself, simply, easily and effectively by tapping (using your index and middle fingers together) on the following points, tapping in time with your breathing in and out:

Under your eye – on the boney eye socket

Under your Collar Bone – as though you had just eaten something hot and was patting your throat/upper chest area to cool yourself down

Under your Arm – about a hands-width below your armpit on the side of your body – in ladies it’s about 1/2way down the side of your bra under your arm and in children and men it’s level with your nipple but on the side of your body.

 

And at the end of the day you can:

Relax to candles: at the end of the day why not light an aromatherapy candle and just sit for a quiet 15minutes to ‘chill out’, lavender are the best, or you could use patchouli or geranium, just light them and sit down and absorb the aroma, close your eyes and relax;

Play that music: and just melt into it;

Treat yourself to a special meal: and savour those lovely tastes – because you deserve it.

 

Hozho

Christina Elvin