October Newsletter 2015
Welcome to our October Edition of the Novara Newsletter
While the sunshine and warmth of the past week or so has lifted most spirits and offered us some consolation for our lack of sunny summer, most of us are feeling the cold in the evening and we are aware that autumn is well and truly upon us. Every season has its upside; and autumn has a particular beauty to it as berries and crops ripen and the leaves show such vibrant colours. However, autumn also has us wrapping ourselves in warmer clothes and looking for that feeling of comfort.
With this in mind, this newsletter has something for everyone with topics ranging from wellness workshops, boosting your immune system, health food and programmes, to simple tips for parents to help their children with their feelings and emotions.
Enjoy!
In this newsletter you will find:
Contents
1. Our exciting range of workshops and classes 1
2. Boost your immune system this fall with Reflexology and Massage 3
3. A Note on Feelings – Parents and Child 4
4. Healthy snack for everyone’s lunch box 6
5. Special Offers on Food Intolerance Testing and Weight Loss Programme 7
1. Our exciting range of workshops and classes
Oct 4th Renewal Day – MBSR Programme
Oct 11th Yoga for Emotional Well-being and Physical Radiance
Oct 25th Birth Empowerment Course
Nov 29th Grounding Workshop
Dec 6th Moving into Stillness
Dec 13th A day of Mindful Living
October:
Renewal Day – MBSR Programme
For all who have completed the 8 week MBSR Programme
Date: October 4th, 2015 from 10:00am to 4:00pm, Facilitated by Anne Twohig, CFM Certified MBSR Teacher, Mentor & Trainer
Cost: 45 Euro
Yoga for Emotional Well-being and Physical Radiance
Join Orla in a workshop that explores how yoga postures, pranayama and mindfulness meditation can help to bring balance to our emotional and physical bodies. Learn how to use your physical body and your breath to cultivate the ability to be present, to observe and to initiate change where change is needed. Learn to use your practice as a vehicle to emotional wellbeing and physical radiance.
Date: October 11th from 10:00 am to 12:30 pm, Facilitated by Orla FitzGerald
Cost: 30 Euro for advance booking, 35 Euro on the day
Birth Empowerment Course
This course will provide women with the tools to create the most empowering birth for them and their baby. You will learn different techniques and receive a wealth of information, ranging from the pre-, ante- to postnatal process.
Date: October 25th from 10am-4pm, Facilitated by midwife Ursula Stack and doula Nadja Conroy
Cost: 120 Euro, pre-booking is required (50 Euro)
November
Grounding Workshop
Learn how to Build and Grow Your Yoga Practise from a Grounded, Deep-Rooted Foundation. Learn to cultivate a strong, healthy, intelligent foundation from which you can feel grounded and secure in your yoga practise. Learn to bring your body and mind into a steady, harmonious state that is at the heart of yoga and good health.
When life is hectic and full of change we can feel ungrounded, confused, indecisive, chaotic and even physically unwell. In this workshop we will use physical postures, pranayama and meditation to explore how a strong sense of grounding allows you to develop and expand your yoga practice, while creating the right environment for health and harmony in your day-to-day life.
Date: November 29th from 10:00 am to 12:30 pm, Facilitated by Orla FitzGerald
Cost: 30 Euro for advance booking, 35 Euro on the day
December
Moving into Stillness
A day of Mindfulness and Yoga facilitated by Martina Dolan (Mindfulness teacher) and Rachel Lee (Yoga teacher). The day will include: Guided lying, walking and sitting, Mindfulness Practices, Gentle and Restorative yoga sequences and the opportunity for discussion.
Date: December 6th from 10am – 4pm, Facilitated by Rachel Lee and Martina Dolan
Cost: 60 Euro
A Day of Mindful Living
The day is an introduction to the practice. It offers people a wonderful opportunity to recharge and refresh. Over the course of the day we will practise a variety of mindfulness practices such as sitting and lying meditation and also mindful yoga.
Date: December 13th from 10:00am to 4:00pm, Facilitated by Kathryn O’Halloran
Cost: 60 Euro incl. a Mindfulness Meditation CD
2. Boost your immune system this fall with Reflexology and Massage
by Grace Purtill
With the onset of the approaching dark evenings, maintaining
Our health and wellbeing can be a little bit of a battle.
Regular Massage and/or Reflexology treatments can provide
our immune systems with that extra protection.
Massage is the use of hands to manipulate the soft tissues of the body, particularly muscles. It can be used for relaxation, stimulation or rehabilitation, and promotes suppleness of the muscles, improves circulation and reduces stress.
Soothing – Massage uses touch to sooth and relax the body. 75% of disease is caused by stress and a massage which reduces stress can improve health.
Stimulating – Massage encourages improved circulation, aids digestion, waste removal and neural communication. It invigorates and relaxes muscles, preventing spasms and stiffness, and is both physically and psychologically beneficial.
Reflexology is a therapy that treats the feet. In order to balance the whole body, the feet are like mini maps of the body’s anatomy, so by massaging and applying pressure to the corresponding area it encourages both relaxation and stimulation, and helps to rebuild energy and recover from illness and disease.
The benefits of Reflexology and Massage are so numerous and wide ranging that it is impossible to convey all that they have to offer. They are highly effective for treating and enhancing the body, mind and spirit and everyone can gain from its benefits.
Whether you are a student, a parent, a grandparent or trying to become a parent, the following are some treatments that can benefit you.
Full body Massage – Releases muscular tension from head to toe.
Pregnancy Massage – Helps alleviate aches and pains and other common health problems associated with pregnancy.
Facial Rejuvenation Massage – A relaxing treatment reducing tension and increasing blood flow to the face, head and neck.
Reflexology – Can be used to treat many ailments and conditions, some of these include:
Fertility and Reproductive problems, Joint mobility, Insomnia, Chronic fatigue (ME), Stress and Thyroid disorders.
If you would like to make an appointment or have a chat with Grace Purtill about which treatment would suit you, please contact us here at the Novara centre.
3. A Note on Feelings – Parents and Child
by Frances Burns
With children back at school again here are some simple tips
for parents about helping children with feelings….
The movie ‘Inside Out’ offers encouragement to parents to give a
little breathing room to the world of emotions. Parents can begin
to listen to children’s upsets. Not argue. Not explain. Not cajole.
Listen. When parents hold a necessary limit, feelings will run through the upset child like storm water down a gully. It’s noisy! It’s messy! But then, the feelings clear away, and because one has cared, the child is surer that he/she’s loved. This ensures the feelings are not bottled up, squashed into their bodies or pushed away, which can cause emotional difficulties later on.
Example: one could use the ACT Model.
• Acknowledge the feeling – Describe what you see or hear: ‘It looks like you’re frustrated with your lego set….’, ‘you’re mad about that…it’s ok to be mad’ or ’sounds like that hurt’
• Communicate the limit: ‘Lego is not for throwing’ or ‘People are not for hitting or hurting’
• Target an alternative: “Can you use your words to tell me how you’re feeling or to ask for help?” or ‘soft toys like the sponge ball are for throwing…you could show how annoyed you are by throwing that or bashing the playdough or pillow’ etc.
Listen warmly all the way through the child’s emotions. Feelings will pour out. By listening to children’s feelings, one can actively build that vital sense of parent-child connection. One could say ‘let’s watch the feelings together…let’s be the feeling detective….let’s surf the feelings together & let them wash on out’.
In the movie ‘Inside Out’, hurt feelings drive Riley, the 11-year-old heroine, to run away. Her parents couldn’t listen, so her sense of connection crumbles. She can finally remember their love when her tears begin to fall. She makes her way home, and her parents quietly embrace her. They listen. More tears fall, and warm connection is restored.
Help Children Regulate their Emotions.
When a child is angry, the thinking part of their brain has shut down. They are in survival mode, sometimes called, “flight or fight” mode. If a parent is triggered by the child’s behaviour, the parent’s brain goes into survival mode, too. One is not able to think rationally. Reactions will either be filled with anger, yelling and punishment or shut down and giving up.
• Stay calm: It’s not easy to keep cool when kids are angry or upset. Meeting them with disrespect sends the wrong message. Model calming techniques by taking deep breaths, counting to 20, reflecting before responding.
• Decode the Behaviour: Look at things from the child’s perspective. Their response is a reflection of what they are feeling inside. However, at this point, they can’t express it in other ways or put it into more appropriate words.
• Empathize: Help your child understand their own feelings by offering an empathetic response, “It seems unfair that we have to go already!” or “I know it’s hard to leave when you’re having such a fun time!.. or “that’s disappointing’ You do not have to agree with the feeling, it simply means that you are trying to relate to their experience.
• Slow It Down: It’s easy to get pulled away with the “runaway train” of angry, frustrated words and emotions. Instead of jumping on board and responding to every criticism or complaint the child throws at you, try to put on the brakes, “Woa! That’s a lot of info. I’d like to listen, but you’re talking too fast. Let’s slow it down or wind it down so I can understand what you’re saying.” After some listening, one could suggest…’Let’s try the balloon game to help with the big stormy feelings. Fill up the chest like a balloon & let all the air out slowly’.
• Connect: For many kids, warm connection is exactly what they need! This produces a love, pleasure chemical in the brain which is the anti-stress, calming chemical, calming down the flight fight response & regulating the feeling. If you are able to look past the behaviour , you will be able to see that your child is hurting and needs support. This teaches the child to regulate their emotions.
• Encourage: Remind your child that feelings come and feelings go live waves in the ocean. And that this feeling will pass.
Do The Teaching Later
Waiting or delaying your response does not mean that you are a passive parent or you’re saying that disrespect is OK. It means that you are waiting until your brain, and your child’s brain, is able to receive information, learn something new and move on without being angry or disrespectful.
• When you’re ready to talk, you can start with, “It seems like you were upset about leaving the playdate earlier. Can we think of a different way to tell me how you feel?”
Problem solve
• Talk about the child’s feelings & needs
• Talk about the parents feelings & needs
• Brain storm together to find a mutually agreeable solution.
• Write down all the ideas together.
• Decide what is planned to follow through on.
4. Healthy snack for everyone’s lunch box
by Helen Ryan
BANANA BREAD
Great for school lunches or when your little ones (or big
ones!) come in from school and looking for a snack! Add some
extra protein to it by spreading some tahini or almond butter on it.
Or if you prefer, just eat it plain.
What’s good about it:
Bananas are a wonderful energy food and a great source of potassium – an essential mineral for blood pressure and heart function maintenance. Walnuts and macadamia are packed in protein and are great nuts for brain health – important for cognitive function and learning – are high in the essential fats Omega 3 fatty acids and DHA. Ever notice that walnuts are even shaped like a brain?
Makes 1 yummy warm banana bread:
200g white flour or white spelt (or Doves gluten free if coeliac or gluten sensitive)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bread soda and 1 tbsp lemon juice
half teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tsp caraway seeds
60g walnuts
1 teaspoon vanilla
120ml melted coconut oil or macadamia nut oil
30g raw honey or organic maple syrup
2 tbsp chia seeds: 6 tbsp water
3 ripe bananas
Combine the bananas, oil, cinnamon, maple syrup,
vanilla, bread soda and lemon juice in a large bowl or blender.
Add the chia seeds and mix well.
Lightly oil a 2lb loaf tin and coat liberally with dessicated coconut to prevent the loaf from sticking.
Spoon or scrape the batter into the tin and bake for 50-60mins (you can test to see if it’s done by inserting a skewer into the centre which should come out dry)
Remove from the oven and allow to cool before turning out the loaf.
Keep in the fridge covered for up to a week.
Dairy free, egg free, gluten free if you wish.
5. Special Offers on Food Intolerance Testing and Weight Loss Programme
FOOD INTOLERANCE TESTING –
discounted for October only!
Normal price:
€149 for 50 foods …. NOW €125
€199 for 75 foods …. NOW €165
€249 for 100 foods …. NOW €220
€299 for 150 foods …. NOW €255
PLUS Nutritional Consultation…..with a further reduction!
Normal price €85. Reduced price €65 *
*Nutritional Consultation at reduced price only when Food Intolerance test carried out.
To book call Helen Ryan at 0862300400 or email nutritionwithhelen@gmail.com
WEIGHTLOSS & NUTRITION PROGRAMME
MY PLATE AND ME
(transform your weight and your health one plate at a time!)
Six week group programme starting Wednesday 4th November 7:30pm
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
Week 6: Christmas Survival Guide!! Moving forward and maintenance
……and loads more!
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.
Price: €115
Please visit our website www.thenovaracentre.ie if you would like
more information on any of our services 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
Thank you for sharing part of your journey in 2015 with us.
Wishing you all health and well being this autumn.
From everyone at The Novara Centre