I will be writing a regular article which will look at the subject of health and wellbeing for people in general and how as polers we can make sure we are looking after ourselves.
I am a qualified holistic therapist with qualifications in Massage, Indian Head Massage and I am also a Reiki Master. My previous experience as a Health and Wellbeing Co-ordinator for my former employer makes this a subject very close to my heart, as well as being a fellow poler, obviously!
We all know the importance of eating the right food and exercising, but how often do we manage to put it into practice? I don’t know about you but I can always find a reason not to exercise when I know I should – ‘too tired’, ‘too busy’ etc. but I always feel so much better when I do, which is the main motivator to be honest.
Up to quite recently I have had cold after cold, which is not like me, and I also seem to have caught every virus and bug that has been going around. Eventually I sought advice from my doctor who sent me for blood tests etc. and he shrugged his shoulders and said ‘You are run down and need to look after yourself.’ Well there’s a surprise! With his words in my ears I went to the nearest chemist and bought a tonic, immune boosting tablets and a bucket of vitamin C as I was determined to get over this period of feeling run down.
What I also realised was that I had the tools already to help myself but just hadn’t thought about it, as I wasn’t in the ‘right place’ to realise it. I quite often help friends and family with reiki treatments but I hadn’t taken the time to use it on myself. For those of you who have no previous knowledge of reiki, I will explain. Reiki (ray keh) means universal/spiritual healing and is about using energy that surrounds us to get rid of any negatives that are hindering our body in functioning correctly. The seven chakras that need to work in our body in harmony can easily become out of sync or unbalanced and this a way of making sure that they are working at full capacity and in line with their designated body organs to ensure our good health. Things that happen to us can unbalance these and this is when we can start to feel tired, unwell, stressed, etc.
I then looked at my diet and realised that the foods that I was craving were actually doing me more harm and this needed to be addressed. It is so easy, though, when feeling low or unwell that we reach for our ‘comfort’ foods while in actual fact they are sneaky gremlins that add to our problem.
I have recently launched a Bodyshape 28 programme which pulls together all the subjects I love to help people feel fitter, feel happier and look great. This consists of looking at what they want to achieve, e.g. getting toned, eating healthier, getting fitter and then talking to them about their current usual diet, what foods they can’t do without, what exercise they have tried or hate. With this information I can then put together a personal plan for them and add in exercise through pole classes and support this with massage and reiki.
My first client started on a two week programme diet which excluded wheat, sugar, dairy and alcohol. To help them on their way we went food shopping together to pick out the new ingredients and I found this quite enjoyable. It made a nice change to look for alternatives to eat instead of putting the usual food items in the trolley. I also decided to join her so I could see for myself what the diet was like.
At the end of the two weeks she had lost the bloating feeling in her stomach and lost her ‘muffin top’ as well as just under half a stone in weight. Oh, and I also lost just under half a stone and felt much healthier and more aware of what I was eating. Interestingly, we both decided to continue cutting out wheat from our diet and drastically reducing sugar and dairy (we didn’t mention anything about alcohol though!).
Each month I will write about different health and wellbeing topics and share with you my knowledge, findings and ideas. However, I want to hear from you and what you think or would like to know about, so please contact me if you would like this to be included in one of our articles. Please feel free to contact me at poleplus@live.co.uk and you can also follow me on twitter sue@poleplus and I look forward to hearing from you.
By Sue Colebourne BA Hons Cert Ed VTCT
