It's Mother's Day on Sunday 30th of March, so I thought I'd have a theme for the blogs this month: Ageing Well.

Of course, we're all ageing every minute, but getting older is both better and worse than it was twenty years ago.

Gone are early retirement ages and decent pension pots (for most people anyway). And over 55's are likely to have a heavier burden than ever before - looking after grandchildren and their own elderly parents or relations. But medicine is much better able to keep us alive for longer and there is much more support for the elderly in the community (although always room for improvement).

Looking at some of the literature for ageing well, there's a strong emphasis on keeping fit and healthy, but fit and healthy are not necessarily the same thing.  Good health is much more than fitness - good health is the result of a complex combination of mental, physical, emotional and genetic qualities.

As we get older the changes can be much more challenging - family moving away, loss of parents and other loved ones, declining health, trying to keep up to date with technology, or fear of the future.

The relaxing effect of a reflexology treatment can help put things in perspective and provide a listening ear.  Often it's the job of the over 55's to listen to the trials and tribulations of others - family, friends, the stranger at the bus stop.  So having a listening ear during a reflexology treatment can be the only time some of older folks are heard.

Health is about eating well, sleeping well, breathing well, having a good posture, having an effective stress management strategy and supporting an active and robust immune system.  Reflexology can help with most of these: the relaxing effects of reflexology helps to deepen breathing and release tight muscles allowing posture to improve and it also helps to improve resilience to stress.  Many clients find the quality of their sleep improves after regular reflexology treatments - again perhaps because of the relaxation effect.  And that relaxed state allows your body to do it's repair and renewal work, so it helps support a more robust immune response.

Reflexology can improve well-being and restore balance to mind, body and emotions - something that we all deserve, but especially well-deserved by Mums in this Mother's Day month.

So if you want to treat your mum this Mother's Day, ditch the flowers and chocolates and get something really useful - a Reflexology voucher.

So, as a complementary therapist, why am I talking about a healthy mind?  Simple, the mind and body are one integrated system and mind affects body and vice versa.  A healthy body needs a healthy mind.

So, what is a healthy mind?  Good question. Some of the characteristics that demonstrate a healthy mind would be: positivity; equilibrium; optimism; calm; flexibility; openness and of course there are lots of others. 

And what are the characteristics of an less than healthy mind?  Well what about: anxiety; fear; obsessive thoughts; not being able to switch off; negative emotions such as envy, self-recrimination, guilt, excessive sadness, over-excitement, etc.

One of the main characteristics that distinguish a healthy mind from one that is less so, is the speed and intensity of thoughts and not being able to switch off.

But it can be difficult to make changes to the way you think.  How DO you stop thinking certain unhelpful thoughts and begin thinking other more helpful thoughts?  It all happens so quickly doesn’t it?  Your brain just races around certain thoughts or ideas and the faster it goes, the more difficult it is to stop.  It’s like a race car.

Well, the answer might surprise you.  You have to STOP before you start again.

Imagine you’re driving a car at high speed.  You've got your pedal to the metal and you're racing ahead on a straight road.  If you want to change direction – say you want to do a U turn - you have to stop, because if you don’t stop before you change direction you’ll crash and burn.  The speed of the car will prevent your attempt to change direction.  But if you change down gears, braking gently as you do so, you can stop and change direction easily.

Your brain works in just the same way.  If you slow everything down gently, it will be much easier to change your thinking.  And would you like to know how you slow everything down?  RELAXATION.  Yes, that old chestnut.  Doing regular relaxation or meditation will allow your thoughts to slow down to a pace where you will find it much easier to change direction and adopt a new mindset that will serve you better.  It’s about recognising that the more slowly your brain works the more conscious control you have over it.  So if you want to control and change your thoughts, a bit of relaxation or meditation is just the job – BUT the only way you’ll know if this is true is to give it a try.

And if you find it too difficult to slow down under your own steam, you can always try a treatment of Reflexology or Indian Head Massage!  To book contact Doris on 07724 197627.  And you get £5 off your first treatment.

I first wrote this article around this time last year, and I make no apologies for re-posting it again today... Because I heard recently that most people manage about 9 days of their New Year resolutions before they give up.  So if you've had great intentions regarding the changes you'd like to make this year, but find sticking to them much more difficult than you'd thought, here are a few tips to strengthen your resolve:

1.   If you've got a goal - WRITE IT DOWN and look at your written goal every day.

2.   Be clear about WHY you want your goal - and how much better off you will be once you have it - and write that down too.  Write down lots of benefits that achieving your goal will bring you and think about them every day.

3.   Imagination is stronger than willpower, so imagine yourself AS YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE.

4.   GET EMOTIONALLY INVOLVED.  Generate strong feelings of how it would feel when you achieve your goal, get yourself really, really motivated to achieve your goal.

5.   Think only in the positive - the brain doesn't process negatives (try NOT thinking about an orange elephant), so FOCUS ON WHAT YOU WANT, rather than what you don't want.

6.   Check you can MEASURE PROGRESS towards your goal and break your goal down into smaller manageable chunks.  Monitor your success and if you're not meeting your targets, use that as a reason to get even more motivated.  

Good luck!


Lothian Reflexology provides Reflexology for Stress, General Health & Wellbeing, Fertility and Pregnancy.  Gift Vouchers Available


JANUARY OFFER:   Detox Reflexology - 3 treatments for the price of 2 only in January and February.