January Newsletter 2016

Hello Everyone,
The start of the New Year often brings hope for change and growth, and there might be goals and resolutions that we wish to fulfill. For many a new year means a new beginning and a new opportunity to live life to the fullest. To embark on our journeys we need energy, a strong immune system, and healthy body and mind. This can be achieved through nourishment, encouragement and care, and by taking time to look after ourselves, and to see what we can do to protect our well-being.

In this newsletter you will find various services which can support you in doing just that:
1. Bring on the Positive New You with Ease This Year – Kamilla Harra

2. 7 Top Tips for Boosting your Immune System – Helen Ryan

3. The healing energy of Reiki

4. The practice of Mindfulness

5. An outlook for exciting workshops and classes.
1. Bring on the Positive New You with Ease This Year
by Kamilla Harra – Kinesiologist at the Novara Centre

WE ARE what we believe and what we eat, and this is why
New Year is such a potent and powerful time, because it
gives us an incentive to change.

Kinesiology helps you be at your most best – both emotionally and physically – and that is a perfect platform to support your personal & health goals this year!
To help you kick-start the year in an empowered way, here is a Kinesiology technique that helps to release stress, worry and other negative emotions in minutes! Stress is recognised as being a leading cause behind disease and being negative is often a result of being overwhelmed by stress – which stops us from taking positive action to achieve our goals!
The ‘Oh My God’ or ‘Emotional Release Technique’ can be done on yourself or anybody else, it takes only a couple of minutes and can produce truly powerful results! 🙂
I have witnessed crying people smile three minutes after they did the technique and people with severe traumas finally get over them by using the technique daily for two weeks!
Before you begin, you have to find the ‘Oh My God!’ points. These points are located on your forehead, directly above your eyes and approximately equal distance between the eyebrows and the hairline. Place 3 fingers of each hand in the middle of your eyebrows directly above your eyes. Start tracing with both hands upwards from your eyebrows, you will naturally find your forehead raising slightly before you reach your hairline. These are the ‘bumps’ or frontal eminences’ we are looking for.

These points are connected to the blood supply in your brain, and when held gently, regulate the blood flow. When stressed, our heart rate and blood supply change, our thinking gets chaotic and or actions reactive. If we maintain a steady blood flow between the two brain hemispheres while we are feeling the unpleasant emotions, our thoughts become more coherent and we are able to respond creatively to stressful challenges, even though the situation used to get us very stressed. You see, a while back your brain has ‘generalised’ a reaction to stressful situations, and for most of us it is a ‘state of panic’. However, you can ‘re-programme’ your brain to generalise the opposite by doing this technique on many different types of stress. The more often you experience a state of calm – induced by this technique – in the face of stress, the more your brain-body physiology will remember react to stressful situations with the relaxed & creative emotional state.
1. Place both hands (using using fingertips of your three middle fingers) on the right and left OMG points.
2. Press your fingertips in firmly but gently and feel the pulse in the points.
3. Focus on whatever has you upset or stressed as much as you can. *I recommend to choose a moderate stress to practice on first, please do not use this on something that creates uncontrollable overwhelm without supervision of a qualified professional.
4. As you focus on the stress, you will notice that the pulses under your fingers would have changed, keep noticing the pulses and continue to focus and think about your stress.
5. Keep holding the points until you notice that you are struggling to carry on thinking of what has upset you or you are switching to thinking about something entirely different. (You may also notice the pulse changing as this happens.)
6. Remove your fingers and try thinking of your stress again: you will notice that you may feel calmer or not as upset about it. Repeat the steps 1-5 again, if you wish to reduce your stress further. 🙂
Reasons to try Kinesiology:
1. It’s an ‘All-rounder’ treatment:
As Kinesiology is arguably an MVP (Most Versatile Player) of the therapy world, it can help with a huge list of challenges, including chronic and acute pain, anxiety, depression, phobias, weight gain, fatigue, digestive worries, hormonal imbalances, menstrual pain, allergies & infertility. It can help you be both Happy and Healthy.
2. It checks you ‘inside out’:
Kinesiology connects and balances mind, body and spirit. Gentle muscle testing is used to work out what’s going on in somebody’s body. Each muscle group is connected to a different body part (digestive or reproductive system, liver, etc.) The way your muscles respond, helps to see any imbalances or deficiencies you have. Various holistic technqiues are then used to re-balance your body.
3. It’s mind-opening:
As Kinesiology draws on many techniques, including acupressure, nutrition, visualisation, NLP, aroma & sound therapy and energy healing (like chakra balancing), you get a taste for many different treatments.
4. It’s Tailor-made for you every time:
As you are unique, so is your treatment. Kinesiology is truly a client-led technique, meaning the muscle testing reveals the exact holistic techniques you need for the fastest and most optimum way to balance and heal.
5. It’s like therapy & pampering in one:
A typical session goes on for an hour up to 2 hours. It starts with some gentle relaxation techniques and followed by any of the techniques in point 3. Okay, it isn’t a spa experience, but overall experience is relaxing and leaves you feeling calmer.
6. Your Love life & Happiness get a boost (seriously):
There is a definite spiritual side to kinesiology, so it can help you accept & love yourself and others unconditionally. This is great if you are wishing to find that special someone or to have more happiness with yourself and in your life in general.
Anyone can do it!
If you have current or previous health complaints (physical or emotional), you are a perfect candidate for kinesiology. It is safe and effective for everybody, even babies and teens.
Book first session at 20% off in January only.

2. 7 Top Tips for Boosting your Immune System
by Helen Ryan, Nutritional Therapist at The Novara Centre.

Why does one person get the flu and another one doesn’t? What is the difference? The answer lies in the strength and maturity of their immune system.

Your immune system is your first line of defence for fighting off any kind of disease whether it is an auto immune disease, or something smaller like a cold or flu. Approximately 80% of your immune system resides in your gut. Yes 80%!! So getting your gut bacteria healthy is vital for you to be and stay healthy. If your bacteria and microbiome aren’t feeling good, neither are you! For example, if more than 15-20% of your bacteria are pathogenic (ie. infectious agents such as virus, bacteria, fungi, parasites etc) then your immune system and gut need support. As Hippocrates said “All disease begins in the gut”. These microorganisms – the 80% commensal bacteria (or the good guys) and the pathogenic (the bad guys) compete for nutrients and therefore work against each other. When there are more than 20% pathogenic bacteria we can develop what is called dysbiosis (microbial imbalance) which can be extremely hazardous to health and impairs immune function. We need to live in harmony with these other organisms, not against them.

So what to do to boost our immune system? Here are 5 tips to avoid that flu, and improve your overall immunity.

1. Bone and Chicken Broth
Bone broth is simply amazing for speeding healing from illnesses and viruses. Slow cooked bone broth helps to heal and seal your gut (from intestinal permeability), reduces inflammation and reduces joint pain. It is rich in many nutrients that repair your gut lining – glutamine, gelatine, collagen (great for maintaining elasticity and reducing wrinkles) calcium and magnesium. It also boosts white blood cell activity which helps to fight off any infections.

See recipe below for the best and most nutritious chicken broth.

2. Kefir
Kefir is a serious player for your gut! It’s a live culture and provides multi strains of beneficial bacteria for your immune system. Although other fermented foods are listed blow Kefir is the King of fermented foods.

3. 5 Foods for Boosting your immune system

• Fermented foods – sauerkraut, kefir, natural yoghurt
• Garlic – best eaten raw or lightly cooked. 1 to 2 cloves daily or more!
• Mushrooms – especially shitake
• Coconut – use for cooking, as a spread or moisturiser. 1-2 tablespoons daily is ideal.
• Bee pollen – sprinkle in a smoothie or over porridge or a salad

4. Probiotic
A good quality probiotic that contains numerous different strains is excellent for the gut and repopulates beneficial bacteria. If you’ve been on antibiotics it’s particularly important to invest in a good probiotic. Capsules are preferable and should contain 10 million live microorganisms for efficacy.

5. Vitamin D
Get some sun! If you can’t get to the sun please do check your Vitamin D levels yearly. Optimal level should be 50-70ng/ml. Vitamin D is crucial to activating our immune defenses to fight off infections.

6. Get 8 hours sleep
Yes 8 hours. Sorry I know you’ve heard it before but most of us are just not getting enough sleep. Sleep is our repair and recharge mechanism from damage and stress. When we sleep we digest our food, reset our hormones and restore the body. If you watch the telly, scroll the internet or twitter or check your emails late at night then perhaps a rethink is needed? Instead, why not try the following for 2 weeks and see how better you will feel:

• Turn off the telly at 8pm
• Turn off your computer at 8pm
• Turn off your phone at 8pm
• Unplug all devices in your bedroom.
• Relax. Read a book. Take a bath. Bake some bread. Meditate.
• Go to bed at 10pm.

7. Avoid eating after 6pm
If you don’t eat late in the evening your digestive system will love you for it! You will sleep better and feel more refreshed in the morning boosting your overall immune system. Just have a glass of lemon in water. Ensure your 6pm meal has some good fats and/or protein – coconut, nuts, fish, liver, chicken.
Chicken Broth (by Sally Fallon Morell of Weston A. Price Foundation)

1 whole free-range chicken or 2 to 3 pounds of bony chicken parts, such as necks, backs, breastbones and wings*
gizzards from one chicken (optional)
2-4 chicken feet (optional)
4 quarts cold filtered water
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
3 celery stalks, coarsely chopped
1 bunch parsley
*Note: Farm-raised, free-range chickens give the best results. Many battery-raised chickens will not produce stock that gels.
If you are using a whole chicken, cut off the wings and remove the neck, fat glands and the gizzards from the cavity. Cut chicken parts into several pieces. (If you are using a whole chicken, remove the neck and wings and cut them into several pieces.) Place chicken or chicken pieces in a large stainless steel pot with water, vinegar and all vegetables except parsley. Let stand 30 minutes to 1 hour. Bring to a boil, and remove scum that rises to the top. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 6 to 8 hours. The longer you cook the stock, the richer and more flavorful it will be. About 10 minutes before finishing the stock, add parsley. This will impart additional mineral ions to the broth.
Remove whole chicken or pieces with a slotted spoon. If you are using a whole chicken, let cool and remove chicken meat from the carcass. Reserve for other uses, such as chicken salads, enchiladas, sandwiches or curries. Strain the stock into a large bowl and reserve in your refrigerator until the fat rises to the top and congeals. Skim off this fat and reserve the stock in covered containers in your refrigerator or freezer.

Keep your Gut healthy and happy 🙂

3. The healing energy of Reiki
Here at Novara we offer the wonderful practice of Reiki, an ancient, non-intrusive complementary therapy. Its hands-on healing technique enhances the body’s own innate ability to heal itself on all levels as it helps restore balance and harmony to the mind, body and spirit. The energy involved in Reiki healing is the universal energy that surrounds all life. We all have an energy field (aura) surrounding our physical body and as we go through life we place demands on our energy field. During a Reiki treatment this energy field can re-energize.
Reiki restores the natural balance of the body, providing deep relaxation and bringing a sense of peace and well-being. The healing energy will pass through clothing, bandages, plaster casts or braces so anyone can avail of a Reiki treatment.
Reported benefits: Reiki can be of great benefit for a broad range of conditions. It is used as a compliment to conventional therapies. Some people who have migraine, asthma, skin conditions, ulcers, orthopedic injuries and arthritis have noted improvements in their health. Reiki has also supported some people who have various forms of cancer and other types of serious health conditions. The gentle Reiki energy is effective in calming the mind and has helped people with anxiety and depression. People may find that after Reiki they cope better with life issues and their energy is not depleted along the way. People with low self-esteem and poor self-confidence levels may have also noted remarkable differences following treatments. It is also a great support in helping people deal with normal day to day issues in a relaxed way.

4. The practice of Mindfulness
On 26th January an 8 week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction programme (MBSR) will be commencing at the Novara facilitated by Kathryn O’Halloran. There are many mindfulness programmes on offer these days and it is important to choose one that suits your needs. Let me tell you a little about the programme and if you are interested in attending you are welcome to contact us.
What to Expect? MBSR is an 8 week, 9 session programme. The course consists of eight 2½ hour weekly classes and one full day session on Sunday towards the end of the programme. In MBSR participants experience and learn to use mindfulness meditation in the form of formal practices, such as sitting meditation, body scanning and during mindful movement. The programme especially focuses on applying mindfulness to the whole range of challenges that can arise from life’s stresses. Home practice is an integral part of this course and a commitment of 45 – 60 minutes a day is required. Home practice consists mainly of guided meditations. This commitment allows participants to cultivate a daily practice of mindfulness that can offer support far beyond completion of the programme.
Why take the course? Numerous scientific studies underline the effectiveness of the MBSR programme and people participate for different reasons such as for stress, anxiety, difficulty sleeping, chronic illness, pain or just simply to feel a greater sense of wellbeing and to enhance their enjoyment of life.
Reported Benefits: The majority of participants report benefits such as lasting decreases in physical and psychological symptoms, an increased ability to relax, reduced pain and/or an enhanced ability to cope with pain that may not go away, greater vitality and enthusiasm for life, improved self esteem and self acceptance, an ability to cope for effectively with stressful situations.

5. Workshops and Classes to look out for in January 2016
2016 is an exciting year for us, as we not only welcome new practitioners to The Novara Centre, but also have an array of workshops and classes planned throughout the year.
In addition to our weekly timetable which you can view at https://www.thenovaracentre.ie/timetable/ these great workshops will be held in January:
Candlelight Restorative Yoga
The workshop blends stretching, gentle movement and restorative yoga with the focus of relaxing into the deepest layers of the body to return us to a place of release, surrender and calm. This workshop is suitable for all levels.

Date: January 3rd, 2016 from 6-8pm, Facilitated by Caron Brady and Gail Redmond
Cost: €18, booking essential, Caron: 087 2051155; Gail: 086 8584269

Couples’ Active Birth Preparation Workshop
This workshop is intended to help mums-to-be and their birth partners to prepare physically and emotionally for a joyful active birth experience. Topics covered include physical positions and breathing techniques for labour and birth, tips and techniques to enable birth partners to provide effective physical and emotional support to the labouring woman, and a wide range of discussion topics that can help couples to navigate their way through the birth experience while protecting their birth preferences and their babies’ sacred birth space.

Date: January 17th from 10am-1.30pm, facilitated by Lara Dunlea
Price: 90 per couple (Early bird price of 80 euro if booked prior to December 18)

Reach for the Sun – Yoga for child and parent
Bring your child (3 to 7 years) and take home a Fun pack incl. information on
body awareness and health. The workshop will take place in our beautiful seafront location and will focus on yoga poses, music and relaxation.

Dates: Jan 17th, Feb 14th, Feb 28th and March 27th from 3-4pm, Facilitated by Jean McDonald
Cost: €50 for the 4 classes, including book and CD

Raw foods from Breakfast to Dinner. Level I – Recipes for a Healthy and Happy Life
Get tons of Exciting, Inspirational information on how to change your health around with little effort, how to clear common health problems.
Watch Kamilla prepare and taste her amazingly simple yet health-vitality-changing recipes!
~ Learn how to have within 2 weeks:
• Heaps More Energy
• Better Digestion
• Stronger Immunity, less sniffles 😉
• Weight Loss (if you need to loose some)
~ 5-Course semi-Organic meal prepared during the workshop (Breakfast – Lunch – Snack – Dinner – Desserts)

~ Get simple and effective information on how to improve your diet straight away.

~ 4 Basic Beauty & Health Foods, which change people’s lives.
~ How to get more Veggies & Fruit into kids or unwilling adults ;).
Date: January 24th from1 – 4:30 pm, Facilitated by Kamilla Harra
Cost: €50
Weightloss & Nutrition Programme
5 week group programme

What you get…
Week 1: Introduction to ‘My Plate and Me’, Goal Setting and Getting Started
Week 2: Blood Sugar Balancing, Digestive Health & Eating out
Week 3: Good Mood Food (good fats v bad fats) & Cooking Healthily
Week 4: Overcoming Cravings, Emotional eating & Stress and how nutrition can help
Week 5: Superfoods, Antioxidants and Increasing Energy

A booklet is provided including menu plans and delicious recipes.
Everyone is weighed weekly, using the top of the range Tanita scales – measuring body fat %, water %, muscle mass, basal metabolic rate, visceral fat, metabolic age etc.
No gimmicks, no hunger, no elimination of food groups.
Just sound nutrition advice and support from Helen, an experienced Nutritional Therapist.

Dates: Starting Wednesday 27th of January from 7:30-9pm, Facilitated by Helen Ryan
Cost: €125 or €99 if you pay in full by January 6th

Serpentine Writing Course
We will be exploring the blueprint of the Heros Journey and the archetypal journey that this entails, using Creative Meditation and Creative Writing
You will:
Explore your inner world through creative Writing
Awaken your imagination
Use the technique of Creative Meditation
Express your stories in a safe space.
Share your creative writing to enhance reflection.

Dates: 8 week course, 8 Wednesdays from January 20th from 10am-12pm, Facilitated by Siofra O’Donovan
Cost: €180 (€160 for those who attended the day long workshop in December)

Well Woman Workshop
Open to all women with an interest in the practice of Yoga for optimum health and vitality. This 3-hour workshop will offer a practice that supports women’s health at every stage in the female life -cycle from menstrual health, through fertility, pregnancy, menopause and beyond. It is a Yoga practice that enables us to re-connect to ourselves and to our creativity (fertility), inner wisdom and natural joy.

Date: January 23rd from 2-5pm, Facilitated by Áine Fortune
Cost: 35 Euro

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction – An 8 Week Course
The Programme is evidence based and designed to develop skills for healthy emotional, mental and physical well-being, and to support integrating Mindfulness into daily life to help reduce stress and deal with anxiety more effectively. We learn to identify the causes of stress and to make wise choices in order to live in a more positive and peaceful way.

Date: 8 Week Course, 8 Tuesdays from 26th January – 22nd March (taking a break for midterm on 16th February) from 7:00pm to 9.30pm, Facilitated by Kathryn O’Halloran
Incl. a day retreat on Sunday the 13th of March from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Cost: €350 to include 8 sessions, one day retreat, course handbook and CDs
New Practitioners:
We are delighted to welcome new practitioners to the Novara Centre.

• Kamilla Harra is a fully qualified Systematic Kinesiologist, Alive Foods Coach and a SomaEnergetics™ Sound & Vibrational Therapist. She studied Psychology in Trinity College Dublin, holds certificates in Shinnick Rapid Depression Method, Light Grids Modality and Access Consciousness Therapy. She blends cutting edge research in nutrition and health with psychology, quantum physics and spirituality to empower people to have the level of physical, emotional and mental wellbeing they truly deserve.
• Calodagh McCumiskey practices Vedic Astrology. Calodagh works in the field of personal development and with clients from all walks of life, and from around the world. She is a Senior Associate Research Scholar with the Astrologers Trust of India. She is also a qualified Sivananda Yoga teacher and teaches Japa yoga a mantra meditation. She travels around Ireland and internationally to teach, guide and life-coach. She offers personal, couples, career, health, business, litigation and mentoring consultations. She also helps people identify the most auspicious time for marriage, starting new business ventures and other projects and life events to give the best chance for success and bring about the best possible outcome.
Please visit our website www.thenovaracentre.ie if you would like more information on any of our three strands or contact us by phone 01-2761745 or email info@thenovaracentre.ie. We are always happy to answer your queries with no obligation to make an appointment or a booking. Follow us on https://www.facebook.com/novaracentre

We look forward to sharing part of your journey in 2016 with you.
Wishing you all health and well-being.
The Novara Centre
To the New Year
By W. S. Merwin

With what stillness at last you appear in the valley
your first sunlight reaching down to touch the tips
of a few high leaves that do not stir
as though they had not noticed and did not know you at all
then the voice of a dove calls from far away in itself
to the hush of the morning
so this is the sound of you here and now whether or not anyone hears it
this is where we have come with our age our knowledge such as it is
and our hopes such as they are invisible before us untouched and still possible