Saturday 31 December 2011

Midnight strikes ...


In many ways, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day are days like every other in the year … one day turning into night turning into another day.  And yet on 31st December each year of the Gregorian calendar, many people around the world will celebrate that natural phenomenon. New Year is a man-made construct.  The world continues turning just as it always does every day. Man created the calendar; man created the concept of time in an attempt to bring order to our increasingly civilised lives around the changes of the natural world.

In some ways, I like the idea of ‘new year.’  It’s good to have a time to reflect back on the year that’s passed and to begin to look forward to the year ahead.  And to know that millions of other people around the world are potentially doing a similar thing feeds into that human need to belong, to feel a part of something bigger than oneself.  For me, that’s part of the uniqueness of New Year; on no other evening throughout the year are so many people celebrating, focusing on or experiencing the clock chimes of midnight with such anticipation.  And to think of people around the world celebrating as the year turns in their time zone … like a global tidal wave of time and celebration.

It can quite a melancholic time of year too as we reflect on the people, loves, pets, and other things that have been lost throughout the year.  A lot can change in a person’s life from the midnight chimes of one New Year’s Day to another and it can sometimes be difficult or even painful, to reflect on those changes.  Conversely, it can be a time of celebration of a year of achievements, happiness, love and good things experienced.

The ending of one year and beginning of a new one can also be a time of hope and optimism as people look forward to good things they hope to achieve or experience.  A new year can feel like a clean page in a book, just waiting to be filled with happy tales & images.  And I guess this is where people would write their New Year Resolutions … hopes, goals and aims for the year ahead.  For some people, these resolutions will be fulfilled; for others they turn into disappointments when they’re unable to live up to the goals they’ve set for themselves. 

For myself, I like the opportunity to stand where I am right now today; to look over my shoulder at the year gone by and to decide which learnings from the previous twelve months to bring with me and which things to leave behind.  To also look forward in the direction in which I’m heading and to catch a glimpse or two of the experiences ahead of me in the coming year.  An exciting place to be as we can never know what the future holds for us.  We can make plans and resolutions, but sometimes life has other ideas for us … & that’s both scary an exciting.

I’m looking forward with excitement and anticipation to whatever 2012 has in store for me.  I intend to make the most of the opportunities I can create for myself and to negotiate as best I can the detours life might just choose to lead me on.


Wishing you all a fulfilling, growthful and satisfying 2012, x

Saturday 24 December 2011

The Most Magical Night of the Year


For me, even now, Christmas Eve is still the most magical night of the year. As an adult, I am still able to capture and experience the feelings I had as a child on Christmas Eve … and, I love, every year, tapping into those life-long feelings … feelings I hope I can hold onto for always.  I can still re-experience that sense of awe, bewilderment, anticipation and joy at the idea of, and belief in, Santa Claus.  I can still feel what it felt like to truly believe and to imagine Santa, his sleigh and his reindeer flying through the night air, landing on roof tops … and again, I intend to never let go of those old feelings I can still feel …

Every year, I truly believe that magic can happen.  I always spend time on Christmas Eve looking back over the year that has gone by, remembering and being grateful for the achievements and good times, remembering and being grateful for the growth and learnings that have come from the not so good times.  And then, looking forward with excitement and anticipation to the year ahead … tapping into the magic of childhood and years gone by, and ‘believing’ (hoping?) that some of that magic just might make its way into the year ahead.

Christmas Eve in my childhood involved a walk up to the local church with my parents for the Children’s Nativity Service at tea time.  I still remember being in the church, holding my candle, watching the nativity scene grow as members of the congregation added the various people to the manger scene as the service, readings and carols, took us through the story of the nativity.  I loved the feeling in the church; of connection, of reverence, of magic, and of excitement.  And it was in the church, that for me, I’d start thinking about Santa Claus coming later that evening once I was fast asleep in bed.

After the service, we’d walk back home and my Mam would cook a joint of ham for Christmas tea time.  My Dad would go out with his friends … and I’d wait up for him coming home so we could both have sandwiches of hot, freshly cooked ham, with the butter melting on the bread from the heat of the ham!  Before this, I’d have helped my Mam put chocolates (usually Quality Street!), nuts, dates, Turkish Delight and Liquorice Allsorts out on the coffee table around the Christmas tree … and, I’d have ‘sampled’ the treats we were putting out. 

I also remember sitting in our living room, with the ceiling light out and just sitting in the glow of the coloured fairy-lights on the Christmas tree.  I used to love the coloured glow reflecting on the walls, and just sitting / lying on the sofa under that same coloured glow … it was a really special time of the year for me.
 
I’d also leave a glass of milk, a tot of whisky and a mince pie out for Santa Claus … with a carrot left for Rudolph.  I’d also leave a note for Santa … which, the next morning, had always been answered!!

And then, I’d love going to bed … lying there, going to sleep, believing that Santa Claus would come through the night and leave presents for me.  Even once I was old enough to stop believing, I was still able to remember, and re-experience those feelings …  feelings I’m feeling now,  and feelings I know I’ll experience as I lie in bed this evening.

And I love, that I can still remember, re-experience that magic, that sense of anticipation and belief.  I love feeling those old feelings, each and every year …

And the feeling of waking up on Christmas morning, knowing that Santa Claus had been!  And the excitement of going into the dining room to see toys from Santa …  and then into the living room to find wrapped presents under the tree from other people.  I loved … and still love remembering and re-experiencing … the excitement, anticipation of Christmas morning!
  
And I know, that even when I wake tomorrow morning and I become aware that it’s Christmas morning, I’ll re-experience those feelings from childhood of excitement and anticipation and of awe that Santa will have been.  I LOVE Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning for the magical feelings they still instil in me …

I feel really lucky and privileged that I can still feel those wonderful childhood magical feelings ... hope you can all feel them too, x

A Hypnotic Christmas Present From Me To You


I’ve recently completed a Diploma in Clinical Hypnotherapy, and so for today’s blog, I’ve decided to write in a different format … a hypnotic Christmas script; my Christmas gift to you … with love, x

I was told a story by a very good friend of mine … a very good friend of yours … a friend who wanted to share goodness and joy … joy and goodness … especially for this special time of year … Once upon a time to relax and let go … of sadness and pain … it’s time to open the doors of your mind is a place of wonder and joy … of hope and happiness is yours to play with, isn’t it?  That’s right … happiness is a wonderful gift … a present given to you … today … in the present … and, as you open this present … and see what’s inside, just for you … and this is what my friend, and your friend, told me … inside the present is a magical gift … a gift with the presence to manifest your Christmas wishes … Look deeply inside … and there you’ll see a snow storm … but this is a magical snow storm … and I know that you’re curious to know … just how deeply this snow can fall … how much deeper and deeper you go, that’s right … and there are children laughing and having fun … playing with brand new toys … sliding down hillsides on sledges … deeper and deeper … sliding safely into a place of  wonder what you’ll find … as you wander through the falling snow … and you know, that as that snows falls around you, softly brushing against your skin … and you’re curious because this snow is magical … and this snow is soft … and curiously, warm and comfortable … as, you join in with the children’s games … building snow men … and snow balls and this s(k)now it’s your time to have fun, to laugh, to giggle … for always and in all ways … that’s right … to be filled with the wonder of the child … the child that knows that magic is real … that Father Christmas comes to you … on his sleigh … and … ssshh … just listen to the sound of those sleigh bells … hear those bells ring out your name … feel the vibration as the message of Christmas … the message of your Christmas … is told to you … as you listen … and hear the words that you need to hear today … voices coming from inside your present … with words of joy and hope and happiness … for today, for Christmas… and for your future is here today … wrap up those words, gift wrap your snowstorm … and, as my friend … and your friend … Father Christmas told me … take your present of happiness, love and joy … and gift it to yourself … for your present … for your future and for all of your tomorrows … and I know that now …  as you open your eyes to your present … your heart and life are filled, with love, joy and happiness … 
Merry Christmas 2011; with wishes that this is your merriest Christmas yet ...

Tuesday 6 December 2011

The body as object or experiential container of self?

In modern western society, we live in a culture where a great deal of emphasis is placed on how we look as opposed to what our bodies actually enable us to do and experience. This creates a sense of our bodies as objects and creates a sense of disconnection between our bodies and our experiencing of our-Selves.

In the past, our bodies were experienced and appreciated more as means of production, ensuring we remained connected to, and within them. Before the advent of modern technology we used our bodies more; housework was heavier than it is now, people were more actively involved in the growth and production of their own food. The machines we use today create a distance between those things and our bodies, and we no longer experience the satisfaction of using our bodies for hard labour. And it seems that the less, as a society, we have the need to use our bodies for production or constructive reasons, the more the emphasis has shifted onto how our bodies look.

Turning the body into an object to be sculpted, to be dieted or exercised into an ideal dictated to us by the media and peer pressure, disconnects us from our-Selves. Our bodies are part of our-Selves. Our bodies are how we present our-Selves to the world. Our bodies are from where we relate to other people. Our bodies are also what enable us to experience our thoughts, feelings and experiences through our five senses. And yet, by viewing them as objects which need to be changed to fit society’s ideals and expectations, it’s easy to lose sight of, or to lose touch with, the true value and meaning of our bodies; as experiential containers of our Selves.

In modern Britain, it’s almost an accepted norm that women especially, but increasingly men too, will be weight and body conscious, or on some kind of restricting diet in order to mould themselves into an ‘ideal’ shape constructed by the media and society. It seems that many people are more concerned with what society and our culture tell us about how we should look than with listening to their own Selves, to their own bodies. And this is where disordered eating can begin to creep in as people lose touch with their body’s own hunger signals in their attempts to mould their body to fit these ideals. Our bodies, if we learn how to listen clearly to them will tell us what we need to eat. Our bodies, if we listen to them and satisfy their physiological hunger will settle at a weight that’s right for them; very difficult to achieve though in a culture which prizes thinness, and often thinness to a point below the natural weight of many women.

Our modern Western world is still based on a patriarchal system where the masculine is prized over the feminine. The masculine principles of individuality, rational thought, autonomy and independence are prized above the feminine principles of intuition, feelings and emotion. A spiritual theory of eating disorders views eating disorders as a ‘Spiritual Hunger’, as a woman’s disconnection from her Self, her Inner Goddess and her inner feminine as a result of trying to fit into this Western world. People with eating disorders tend to have highly developed masculine principles to the detriment of their feminine and spiritual side which shows itself both in their character traits and their determination to eliminate their physical feminine body.

The accepted female shape, or what is considered ‘attractive’ has changed considerably over time. In past centuries, and even today in other cultures, female bodies are valued and worshipped for the amazing vessels which they are; bodies which nourish and create life. This statue, the ‘Venus of Willendorf’ from Palaeolithic times illustrates these changes.

The idea of woman as a goddess, prevalent in ancient times, has been lost in our society, and today instead, we’re fed images of often
painfully, or unrealistically, thin models to aspire to. A healthy
woman’s body is meant to contain a percentage of fat (between 21% and 36%, compared to 10% and 25% for men), it’s meant to be curvy to house her internal organs and prepare her for nurturing children. A female curvy body with rounded stomach, thighs and hips were once valued and worshipped. Yet today, women strive to eliminate all such curves; and by doing so disconnect themselves from their full experiencing of them-Selves and their experience of living as a woman in a woman’s body.

This blog post can also be found on Camel's Hump Blog ...http://camelshump.co.uk/2011/12/06/is-the-body-just-an-object/