A  F R E E preview of PERSONAL HOLISTIC HAPPINESS

INTRODUCTION

Firstly, I would like to say thank you for your interest in purchasing the ‘Personal Holistic Happiness’ Programme, Allow me to  introduce myself to You and to introduce you to a new way of thinking and well – being!

WALKING MY TALK….

My name is Linda Porter and my story is that after spending many years in the education system, I worked as a local education advisor. During this time I was working with colleagues who were suffering from an incredible amount of stress in their lives and before long I had joined them and had become as close as anyone would want, to a nervous breakdown. 

Looking back with what I call ‘value added hindsight’, this proved to be one of the most fruitful growing times in my life. I was already working as a healer and did not want to go through the conventional approach of anti depressants etc.

So, I committed myself to experiencing complementary therapies at this time. The benefits were immediate and I soon found an enormous difference in the way I perceived and responded to life’s stresses.

Once I had retrained and qualified in a number of complementary health disciplines, I established the Centre for Natural Healing, a very busy and successful centre in Wolverhampton in the West Midlands with a number of link centres on the country. Through focusing on helping people who are experiencing stress, we established a well respected national reputation, not only for setting standards in complementary healthcare approaches but providing specialist input into many workplace environments including the educational system. All of which have been recognised nationally, validated and accredited.

HOW ALL THIS CAN HELP YOU…

This self-help pack offers a basic approach to ‘Holistic Stress management’. It attempts to define what we mean by ‘Holistic’, that we are so much more than a physical body. We are a complex energy system, which is an intricate combination of mind, body and emotions, and there is so much more to our lives than just a series of unrelated situations, which are either experienced as pleasant or otherwise.

This self-help programme also aims to introduce you to a number of different complementary holistic healthcare approaches, for you to experience and evaluate for yourself. By working through and experiencing this pack, you should be able to define a personal self help strategy for yourself, which should help you combat the effects of negative stress in your own life!

It is helpful at this stage to look at what we mean when we refer to negative stress in our lives.  Stress is not a new concept it has always existed and in it self represents an important evolutionary tool in the development of humanity, as we shall explore later on. 

We would like to make the point that these materials are aimed at self help and represent a complementary APPROACH ONLY. In the case of illness from severe effects of stress you are STRONGLY ADVISED TO see a doctor AND QUALIFIED COMPLEMENTARY HEALTHCARE practitioner.

THE CONCEPT:

The concept behind this self-help pack is to provide you with an individual coping strategy. This should help you to:

• Identify situations which cause stress in your life,
• Recognise the levels of stress that this creates for you
• Provide you with a personal coping strategy by evaluating a number of techniques and complementary healthcare approaches that all aim to deal with stress.

In addition to working through the techniques and approaches outlined in this pack, you are advised to experience and evaluate these therapies through local practitioners in your area. If you are unsure of whom to contact we are able to provide you with information of how to assess the qualifications of practitioners in your area.  Information on professionalism within Complementary Healthcare Approaches is available through ASSOCIAT

(Associations supporting standards on complementary, integrated and alternative therapies – visit www.associat.co.uk

BEFORE WE START…. Lets’ try to shift some of the negative thinking and patterns that contribute towards our stress levels.  Introducing a technique known as the ‘Stress Pot’!

The ‘Stress Pot’ is a useful tool to have at hand and regularly work with. It was developed at the Centre, through our research programme into stress and how it was dealt with by other cultures in other times. This particular technique was introduced to us by a Native American Teacher and has been adapted and found to be a very helpful process.

The Native American has a strong tradition of seeing some of the most difficult times of our lives as building opportunities for the future. The purpose of the “Stress Pot” is as follows: -

  A Workplace Bill of Human Rights is included at the bottom of this section. When any of these basic human rights are broken it will create negative stress in our lives or in the lives of people around us. Very often this remains “up in the air” as it were, unresolved. When circumstances or situations remain in this state they are vague, “airy fairy” or difficult to deal with and tend to remain unresolved, building up in the invisible space around us!

Ø      Write down your problems, worries and stresses. By identifying these concerns you ‘ground’ them, in other words they become manageable, visible and able to be coped with. Your stress pad gives you some ideas of what might need to be written down to get you started. An example of a stress pad is included at the bottom of this section. They only need to be notes or a few words. If the ‘prompters’ don’t apply, then just write down what you feel anyway.

Ø      Keep your Bill Of Human Rights in the Workplace close at hand. If you feel that any of these have been violated, you may well need to write this down!

  By writing our challenges down, we ground them, when they are grounded they become perceptible and can be dealt with. By ‘throwing’ away our cares, we are letting go of the hurts and stresses that we have held on to in the past and which tend to shape our present and our future.

Ø      Throw the piece of paper with your problems on into a small fireproof bucket or pot. Let go of what has been bothering or upsetting you, so you don’t need to carry around your bad or sad feelings all day. You can do this as many times as you feel the need throughout the day!

Ø      At the end of the day (or before you go home!), the pieces of paper are burned, thus transmuting and removing all the bad feelings that you have been releasing throughout the day.

By going another stage further and taking these grounded issues outside in a safe place to set fire to, we are actually transmuting or changing the way we are feeling about these situations in our life.

Ø      Take your “STRESS POT” outside, WARNING – DO NOT ATTEMPT TO BURN YOUR PAPER INDOORS!         (This can create a lot more stress than it eliminates!). Find a safe area away from any fire hazards; place the pot on the ground and set fire to the papers in your pot. As you watch them burn, be aware of how your feelings inside you are changing. Wait until the handle of the pot has cooled down before attempting to pick it up.

 By tipping the ashes out in to the earth they actually become the compost for future growth.

Ø      Find some soil or ground and tip the remaining ashes out of the pot. This is the process of recycling your negative stress into compost, the growing ground for the opportunities of tomorrow to blossom.

Ø      You are then able to leave the stresses of the day behind you – Go home and not give a “CARE”!

This is a very powerful technique for changing negative aspects in your life. Try it out for yourself and see how you feel as you actually go through the different stages of the process.

WORKPLACE BILL OF RIGHTS

J   Everyone has the right to be who he or she   truly is.

J   Everyone has the right to have fun and enjoy his or her work.

J   Everyone has the right to be treated with compassion, dignity, fairness and respect.

J   Everyone is entitled to a workplace environment fit for the human spirit.

J   Everyone’s work is valuable, whatever that may be.

J   Everyone has the right to ask for support.

J   Everyone has the right to grow through learning.

J   Everyone has the right to celebrate his or her creativity.

J   Everyone has the right to be involved, empowered and recognised within his or her workplace.

J   Everyone has a right to voice his or her feelings and be heard.

J   Everyone has the right to feel part of a team, yet also be appreciated for their individuality.

J   Everyone has the right to be involved in activities, which enrich the Earth and all beings.

HOW THIS PACK IS STRUCTURED.

The pack is comprised of a number of tools or resources to assist you in developing your personal strategy. These include: 

·        The diary sheets,

·        Therapy evaluation sheets,

·        Research sheets 

·        A number of personal learning and development exercises.

You may make a copy of the personal recording sheets included or if you prefer you can purchase your own book, folder or diary that you can use as a log and record the personal information along the lines illustrated on the sheets included here. This makes it more personal and special to you.