Why are some – should that be MOST – New Years Resolutions doomed to fail?

For more years than I care to remember I’ve silently started the New Year with a wish to change in some way or another – usually related to improving one of my many failings.

Be a better person – lose weight – get the accounts ready on time this year!! – stop procrastinating – you know the sort of thing. Beat yourself up why don’t you!

Almost without fail the resolution is unlikely to last to the end of January, discarded almost as soon as the christmas decorations are taken down.

There have only been two resolutions that I’ve kept – so why did those succeed where all the other fail?

Looking at the list above you can see the resolution is coming from a mind-set of “my existing life is lacking something or isn’t good enough”

- be a better person comes from I’m not good enough
- lose weight comes from I’m not good enough because I’m fat
- get the accounts ready on time comes from I’m not good enough because I’m disorganised
- stop procastinating comes from I’m an inadequate person who likes to avoid things

It’s easy to see why they’ve failed – they’re not attractive enough as ideas to keep me coming back to them for any length of time.

Let’s face it I am the way I am because I like to be that way. If I’m overweight and disorganised then it’s because I don’t focus on these areas of my life – I always have other things which are more interesting to me, better ways to spend my time.

Looks like the resolution must be appealing enough to me for it to stand a chance of lasting long enough to take root.

So would it be possible to find a different way to look at one of my constant failed resolutions which would work?

What works for you?

How many of you dread the snow and ice each winter? Each year it seems that the roads and footpaths are neglected while cash-strapped local authorities prioritise gritting to just the main trunk roads. For short journeys it would be far less stressful to leave the car at home when there’s snow and ice around. Or walk into town and take the bus to work. But even a short walk on untreated surfaces risks a nasty fall.
So when I was checking my site traffic I noticed that one of Footfairy visitors had purchased a pair of these Ice Traction Slip-Ons. What a great idea! – I’m ordering a set each for my family for Christmas stocking fillers and I can’t wait to try them myself.

So you’re not happy with the way you live your life!

Why not do something about it?

If you’re miserable, frustrated, angry or depressed then you owe it to yourself to try to do something about it.

But where to begin?

When you’re feeling low it can be difficult to see where to start.

Before you  rush out to chuck the job, buy the Ferrari or trade in your other half for a newer model …

I suggest you follow these 5 simple steps for the next two or three weeks.

Hopefully then you may find that you have a clearer idea of where to focus to make lasting change in your life – to live  the life you want.

Making changes doesn’t have to be complicated.

There’s no need for a gym membership and you can begin at any age.

But first you need to decide that it’s ok to spend some time focussing on what you want.

That can be a big hurdle for many people – somewhere deep down they feel guilty or selfish when thinking of themselves. They can’t justify putting aside even 30minutes a day for themselves!

It’s never to late to make a plan which aims to take you closer to your dreams, to living a life you will be happy with.

You can start today – it will cost you nothing but your time, thoughts and energy.

The simple steps which follow are not new ideas but by making them a regular part of your day they will:

By taking these simple suggestions and making them a daily part of your routine you will already be changing …. you will be moving towards the future life you want to live.

1. Start the day well

Develop a routine which starts your day off well

Get up earlier than usual – start with 5 – 10 mins for the first few days gradually working up to 30mins as you begin to get used to rising earlier.

2. Meditate Daily

Once a day – meditate.

3. Keep a Dream Journal

Keep a dream journal.   This is to record your wildest, never in a million years, dreams of how life would be in the best of all possible worlds.

Dream big!  If anything was possible how would you like to be? Where would you like to be?  What would you be doing?

The idea behind this is to let your creative powers loose on the future.

Be as specific as possible  - Each day write down a different possible future path.

Give as little or as much detail as you wish. Keep each idea separate so that you can add to it easily later.

The aim is to explore the various aspects of possible futures which appeal to you  – not to decide on one yet.

So be adventurous let those well-hidden dreams see the light of day.

4. Review your Journal

Each night before bed – read through your dream journal – if you’ve been making regular entries you’ll be amazed at some of the ideas which have sprung to life on the page.

Concentrate on those possibilities which appeal to you most.

Pick one  and jot down any other ideas which come to mind. Flesh out the idea.

Gradually over a couple of weeks you will hopefully find that there are one or two favourite themes which recur in many of the possible futures. You will have discarded many of the ideas and will hopefully have identified areas where you want to change deep down.

5. Plan

The dream journal encourages you to be adventurous – to dream big. The review process builds on those dreams which appeal most.

Now it’s the planning stage – take each dream – and make a plan to realise this.

• What would you need to do to achieve this dream state?
• How long would it take?
• Identify steps which would need to be taken – the order they would need to be taken in?
• The timescales etc., etc.

Each night build on the plans you have for each of your favoured potential futures.

Then what?

The early morning routine you’ve developed prepares you to meet the day on your terms.

The time you’ve spent dreaming and reviewing will have helped you to identify where you need to change.

The time you’ve spent planning will have identified what you need to do to start moving in the direction of your dreams.

On the river of life, your dreams are the boat and your plans are the oars.

Once you’ve decided to stop drifting there’s only one option – join me – start rowing!

Thought I’d let you know how my pilates adventure is getting along. Well gentle reader you’ll be glad to now that I’m still attending weekly classes on Monday nights. My sillhouette is still gargantuan but I can definitely feel those core muscles contracting and sometimes I kid myself on that a long hidden waistline lurks below my voluminous clothes.
That’s what I tell myself and I intend to carry on till it is fact not fiction!!

Unfortunately my budding meditation class has fallen after a few weeks but only because the class has shifted to Monday nights and something had to give. But every evening before bed I sit crosslegged and try to concentrate on my breathing for 5-10 minutes. Lately I’ve found it more difficult to keep focus so I guess I’ll be looking for another group soon.
I like to think of all the other people who are also sitting meditating at the same time – and the good vibrations which are multiplying – nice thought

Each New Year starts for me with the idea that I’ve got one or two goals that I’d like to accomplish over the next year.

Since free time’s precious I usually pick hobbies or interests which sound enjoyable – like the year I attended a stained glass workshop at Pearsons in Liverpool (really enjoyed that!).

This year though my choices could turn out to be life altering. It’s pilates and meditation for me this year. Pilates because I don’t enjoy exercise classes but want to improve my core strength and meditation because I’m interested in the mind-body connection and want to bring some calm into my life.

I’ve been attending Jane Henderson’s mat based pilates class for three weeks now and must say I am enjoying the class and look forward to attending my fourth class next week. If you live in the Dumfries area check out Jane’s website.

I wouldn’t say I’m finding it easy to engage my stomach muscles because truthfully I’m not. But I’m going to keep at it for at least 12 weeks and if it does have any effect you’ll hear about it first!

At present I’m going to one class a week – that fits in with my schedule so I should be able to keep it up. But I did wonder whether or not I would see any visible change if only going to one class a week. So I was browsing Pilates DVD’s to see if I could find anything which I might be able to do at home. I noticed a book on Standing Pilates: Strengthen and Tone Your Body Wherever You are which looks interesting.

It gets to one of my main issues with exercising – I’m lazy! – you have to change into tight, unflattering clothes, lie on the floor like a beached whale and because it doesn’t fit into your life it’s so easy to give up. Maybe by incorporating some standing Pilates exercises into everyday life there would be a better chance of seeing a visible difference. One for the wishlist I think.

I think the key to starting any new exercise regime is to start at the right level – there’s no point it trying to keep up with advanced exercisers if you’re not fit and haven’t exercised for years but on the other hand you’ve got to feel as if you’re having an effect in order to keep motivated.

So on to my second challenge of the year – Meditation.
For many years I’ve thought of trying to develop a meditation practice but I’ve not really seriously given it a go. So as the famous saying goes – when the student is ready the teacher appears – I’ve started attending drop in meditation classes at Gracefield Art Centre. The classes in Buddhist Meditation are provided by teachers and nuns from the Kadampa Buddhist tradition. They are open to everyone whether Buddhist or not.

Over the last three weeks we’ve been given instruction in three variations of breathing meditation. Each class has two meditations one at the start and one at the end of the class so there’s plenty of practical experience of meditation. In between the practical sessions the teacher explains more about meditation, it’s benefits, what we are trying to achieve and how it can bring about a sense of wellbeing.

The classes are suitable for everyone as the meditations are carried out in a seated position. There’s no need to go every week but as with the pilates I’d like to stick with regular classes for 12 weeks and then review how I feel about continuing. Each day I try to carry out a 5 minute meditation usually before bedtime with varying degrees of success. Sometimes it can be difficult to still the mind especially if you’ve had a busy day.

I don’t know much about the Tharpaland International Retreat Centre or the Kadampa Buddhist tradition yet but they run regular meditation courses in Castle Douglas, Dumfries, Annan, Thornhill and Biggar so they are easily accessible in most areas of Dumfries and Galloway. There are also regular residential meditation retreats held throughout the year. Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, founder of Tharpaland has written many books and audio CD’s on meditation a few of which are shown below.

Geshe-la, as he is affectionately called by his students, is primarily responsible for the worldwide revival of Kadampa Buddhism in our time. He is a humble Buddhist monk dedicated to helping people throughout the world find true happiness in their hearts through the practice of meditation.
quote from Tharpaland website

It seems that Kadampa Buddhism is a relatively new group which is spreading in popularity.
For a comparative and informative history of the various Buddhist traditions click here.



The last 6 weeks or so have flashed by.
For the last year I’ve been taking an ITEC Holistic Massage course with the Edinburgh Therapy Academy and as it gets closer to the final exam I’m struggling to keep up with the paperwork.
So apologies for totally missing out October and book of the month! It’s amazing how many urgent jobs crop up when you’ve got something you really should be getting on with! Procrastination indeed!
Don’t know about you but nearly everywhere you turn there seems to be nothing but financial gloom around and it’s so easy to get swamped by worry and anxiety.
You don’t have to be particularly psychic or empathic to be engulfed by the worries around you. So it’s even more important in times like these to take care of your health and the health of your family.
All of these things were on my mind as I was looking for November’s book of the month earlier this week. I was looking for something which would lift me and empower me to make the best of life and to stop focussing on just the financial side of life. So when I was browsing for my next book and spotted Perfect Health – The Complete Mind Body Guide by Deepak Chopra it seemed “just right”. The title appealed to me and seemed to be offering just the focus I was looking for. I’m fascinated by how our mind and body interact and how our beliefs can affect our lives. I’ve not read any Deepak Chopra before but I’ve heard of him in relation to Ayurvedic medicine.

If you’ve read it already –  why not let me know what you think of it.

So why or how did you become interested in reflexology?

Everyone’s got a different story to tell.

My interest started when I was introduced to the therapy by a friend at a stressful period in my life. Kids growing up, work-life balance all to pot, organisational changes at work – all the usual stressors that everyone else has.

I’ve always been fascinated by healing but thought that it was only for the gifted few until I found Reiki around the same time as my interest in reflexology began.

I’m fascinated by the mind-body-spirit connection and reflexology for me is a practical illustration of this.

I love to hear other people’s stories so when I found an interview on Youtube with Eric Huffman an American who trained in Tokyo with Ando Haruki I was interested enough to listen to all 27 minutes of the interview.

Eric’s open account of how his life totally turned about is fascinating – I wish him every success – hope you enjoy it.

Check out Gut Instincts at Amazon

September’s book of the month is Gut Instincts- What your stomach is trying to tell you – by Pierre Pallardy.

Gut Instincts, written by Pierre Pallardy, osteopath, dietician and physical therapist is very easy to read. Mr. Pallardy’s approach to maintaining health and wellbeing focusses on abdominal health in a straightforward manner.

His theories were based initially on his own experience and gradually confirmed through his hands-on experience working with clients successfully over the last 30 years.

Until relatively recently he only had his own practical experience to rely on but much of his instinctive understanding of the importance of abdominal health has been confirmed by research carried out by Dr Michael Gershon.

Dr Gershon’s  fascinating and groundbreaking book The Second Brain: The Scientific Basis of Gut Instinct and a Groundbreaking New Understanding of Nervous Disorders of the Stomach and Intestine is well worth reading.

Whereas Pierre Pallardy’s book is a practical self-help book, Dr Gershon’s Second Brain is a fascinating journey through the scientific world of neurobiologist and the field of neurogastroenterology. Although Second Brain is intended to be read by non-scientists it’s packed full of information on the bowel and all the amazing discoveries which relate to the discovery of neurotransmitters in the gut. Although aimed at the non-scientist by the very nature of the research the detailed explanation of the chemistry of neurotransmitters is difficult to follow at times – but this book will definitely be a candidate for further study – but instead of book of the month it would need to be book of the year!

So Pierre Pallardy’s intuition has been supported by the amazing discoveries of the  scientific discipline of neurogastroenterology.

In the Introduction to the book he writes:

On the face of it, asserting that everything relates back to the abdomen may not appear particularly logical or even defensible. Since my early days as a practising therapist, however, I have believed that treating the abdomen is an essential part of the therapeutic process. I would even go so far as to say that the abdomen is the epicentre of life.                                                                                                       Introduction – Gut Instincts

Looking back with the benefit of hindsight his claim doesn’t seem so far fetched. But when he first made this claim there was no validation or backing for his views. As far back as 1979 Mr Pallardy was emphasising the importance of abdominal health. I admire his courage for as he says it “may not appear .. logical” and there may well be many people who will still find it so.

It will probably be many years before we understand how the upper brain and the second brain in the gut communicate. The enteric brain is able to function without direct communication with the upper brain. The same chemical neurotransmitters found in the upper brain are also found in the enteric brain.

The intestine produces between 70 and 85 per cent of the body’s immune cells, affording protection against serious illness
Gut Instincts

The same type of lesion (tissue damage) that is found in the brains of patients with Parkinson’s disease is also found in their enteric nervous systems.
Second Brain

There’s so much still to discover with relation to the upper brain and the enteric brain.

But if Pierre Pallardy is correct we can all take some easy steps towards better health.

What do you think? Worth trying?

Dynamic Breathing - check out the book on Amazon

Breathing is such an automatic process that we’re not usually aware of it unless there is a problem. It comes as a shock when you notice that you’re having difficulty breathing. And it’s easy for panic to set in.

I’ve been an occasional asthmatic for over 20 years.

Initially diagnosed after the birth of my daughter – for two or three years I had quite bad episodes but since that time I’ve been affected less often.

My airways tend to react in late spring / early summer, after a cold or virus and after any kind of exercise. Especially if moving from a cold environment into a heated one.

I guess I would classify myself as having mild symptoms. While I always have puffers with me I only use them when I need them.

The last time I needed to use them I had a virus – my asthma kicked in quite quickly and I started taking my puffers. But instead of relieving the symtoms I felt very shaky, anxious and had slight palpitations.

This was almost more frightening than the tightness, wheezing and breathing difficulty I was experiencing! Although I don’t use them regularly they were my security blanket.

So when I came across the book “Dynamic Breathing – how to manage your asthma” in my local library I borrowed it. I’ve renewed the book thrice now and have reread it as many times.

It appealed to me because it seemed to offer some practical help for asthmatic sufferers.

In all the 20 years that I’ve had asthma I’ve attended asthma clinics and been shown how to use inhalers but I’ve not been given any practical ideas for self help or management of symptoms. So I was hoping to find some helpful information but not really expecting too much.

What a pleasant surprise! Although it is only a slim volume it packs a great deal of information both scientific and practical into it’s 100 pages ( including appendixes and references).

Just to whet your appetite I’ve jotted down just a few of the topics covered in the book. I’ve selected items which I found interested me and which I would like to draw your attention to.

The list could easily have contained another half dozen topics from the book.

There are equally important chapters on the diaphragm and the surrounding muscles, exercises, posture and body mechanics, stretching and movement and of course information on medication and various other aspects.

The main reason I picked these topics from Dynamic Breathing is that I was amazed by what I read. That bad breathing habits could be contributing to the unpleasant symptoms of an asthmatic episode was a complete surprise to me. Also all three topics illustrate different aspects of the book, both the explanations of why your breathing is important and also the practical techniques which are found throughout the book.

Take the first item on my list Why Nose-Belly breathing is best.

• Over the years I’ve been aware that how we breathe is important – I’ve gone to Yoga classes, read books and such but I didn’t know that some of the unpleasant panicky feelings I was experiencing during asthmatic episodes could have been made worse by my breathing patterns.
• Dynamic Breathing explains in great detail just what happens in both good “nose-belly” and bad ‘mouth-chest” breathing patterns. The book explains how bad breathing patterns can disturb your body chemistry. One of the reasons for this is that during mouth-chest breathing carbon dioxide levels can drop too low causing a variety of symptoms which can aggravate the original asthma symptoms.

symptoms caused by a sudden drop in carbon dioxide levels – racing heart or feeling faint, for instance – understandably lead to tension, anxiety or panicky feelings. Page 10 – Dynamic Breathing

mouth breathing flushes out too much carbon dioxide….. mast cells in the tissues…give warning signals to the airways… activating higher histamine levels in the blood and triggering bronchoconstriction…..blood flow to the brain may be reduced….. leads to feelings of suffocation and panic. Page 11 – Dynamic Breathing

• Not only does the book explain why these effects happen it explains why good “nose-belly” breathing helps and how to exercise to make nose-belly breathing a habit.

Next on my list is  Why nasal and sinus health is important

• Think of your nasal passages and sinuses as the bouncers at the club doorway – they  are there to stop the harmful substances getting through to your delicate lungs. They’re protecting you 24 hrs a day if you’re a nose breather. Of course if you’re a mouth breather then you’ve no protection at all – the troublemakers just breeze straight in.

When the nose is affected by an allergen or congestion this can also trigger bronchoconstriction.

With nose-breathing, air enters the body in a more controlled flow; making acute hyperventilation virtually impossible. Page 15 – Dynamic Breathing

• Because the nasal passages and sinuses filter the air they are often the first to be affected by any irritants. Dynamic Breathing explains why it’s so important to look after your nasal passages and sinuses. There are also recipes for a nasal wash and instruction traction for sinus congestion relief.

Last on my list is How to cough easily and without straining

• Although this sounds gross – Dynamic Breathing explains a technique which will enable you to clear your airways without straining or making your symptoms worse.
• The ACBT technique is explained in detail. It makes use of the nose-belly breathing learned in the earlier part of the book and alternates with mouth breathing to help clear the airways.
• There are also tips and hints to try to overcome the dry irritating cough which can be so exhausting.

This is a book which bears reading and re-reading.

The authors, Dinah Bradley and Tania Clifton-Smith have produced a book which I am certain will be a great help to asthma sufferers and their families.

Further reading: Asthma Statistics in UK

British Lung Foundation

Kick Asthma

August’s Book of the Month is “Dynamic Breathing – How to manage your asthma” by Dinah Bradley and Tania Clifton-Smith. It’s a slim volume, just 105 pages, in the Overcoming Common Problems Series by Sheldon Press.

The book is written by two practising respiratory physiotherapists with a wealth of experience in breathing pattern disorders.

In the introduction the authors say this:

We want to show those with asthma the value of physical coping skills – i.e. learning what’s happening on the outside of the chest wall and including this as a vital part of asthma self-management.

This book should definitely be on every asthma sufferers bookshelf.  It explains the importance of correct breathing. Gives exercises to help develop good breathing habits and explains the adverse effect bad breathing habits can have during an asthmatic episode.