According to The British Pain Society almost 10 million Britons suffer with pain almost daily, which has a major impact on their quality of life and leads to many days off work. 

A big part of my role as an Osteopath is to educate people on what causes their pain, and how they can get better! This fantastic 5 minute video below explains why it is so important to understand pain.

The Understanding Pain video also details how we can retrain our brains to overcome acute and chronic pain. It promotes the importance of a healthy lifestyle and diet as well as reducing pain medications, and further explains our emotional relationship to pain.

Enjoy!
Lara :)

Allow me to share a key point that I learnt over the weekend on the Be Your Own Bodyguard (BYOB) course run by Tony Blauer (Founder of BTS), about our Behaviour when faced with Fear or Intimidation.

Since the BYOB seminar is primarily a self-defence course, the theory is based on your body's response to a threat where self-defence is an inevitable consequence. However this theory can be applied to any sequence of events that the mind processes when faced with a threat, fear or doubt.

The Cycle of Behaviour Theory
Tony Blauer explains our responses to fear by using the Cycle of Behaviour (See image below - cited at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEZaRF2fbFc)

My understanding of this cycle is that when faced with a scenario we must be motivated and confident to fight back. To many of us that sounds obvious, but when broken down into a sequence of events (expectations/visualisations/beliefs etc.), it is not always as easy as it sounds.

To have the motivation to fight back, takes a lot of positive mind processing and is personal to each individual. For all of us however, our motivation depends on our expectations, and our expectations are based upon our visualisations and beliefs in our own ability to succeed.

Tony Blauer explained that applying this cycle to challenging situations we may encounter every day, can also help us succeed. For example when we're fatiguing in the last mile of a run, completing a challenging task or even having an important meeting. Although many of us know about 'positive thinking' this Cycle of Behaviour highlights that if you lack motivation or assume you will fail a task, you immediately set yourself up for failure.

Tony Bauer went on to ask...
“If you had to choose between having a strong mind and a weak body, or a strong body and a weak mind, which would you choose?”
To which he answered...
 “You will always need a strong mindset to fight back.”

So why is it that so many of us have pessimistic thoughts and lack motivation when faced with challenges? I'm sure if you were in a dangerous scenario you would be motivated to fight back.

Therefore next time when you're faced with a challenging situation, think about your Cycle of Behaviour: Be confident, believe you can succeed and you will be motivated to make the outcome positive.

...Well I know after this course I will!

Lara  :)

If you're interested in learning more about the Cycle of Behaviour check out his Seminar video below YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEZaRF2fbFc

Or visit Tony Blauer's website at www.tonyblauer.com

Did you know?
As many as 25% of the UK adult population have a sleep disorder resulting in excessive daytime sleepiness (1). Additionally many adults do not have a bedtime routine and often go to bed stressed, thus sleeping poorly.


Recently in our clinic we have seen an increasing number of stressed individuals with disrupted sleep patterns, as well as children with sleeping difficulties. Research suggests that children's disrupted sleep is often due to their parents' poor attitudes towards sleep, and often when asked they also have difficulty sleeping (2).

And so, in an effort to help you sleep more soundly & wake up feeling freshed, here is a reminder about the importance of sleep and the need for a good bedtime routine.

The Science behind sleep..
 During sleep we release a hormone (Norepinephrine) which tells our brains to produce a chemical called Melatonin. Melatonin is the key to a successful nights sleep as it coordinates our sleep cycles.

In order to produce Melatonin, our bodies need a perfect environment including darkness & relaxation. However, due to our lifestyles not all of us have adequate levels of Melatonin, which prevents us from a restful night (3).

Your Melatonin levels will be low as a result of excess levels of a stress response chemical called Cortisol.
  Cortisol levels increase when we:
- are emotional, worried or anxious,
- have experienced trauma (physically or emotionally),
- are over worked & lack sleep,
- have irregular blood sugar.

If any of the above apply to you, then it's important you work out a bedtime routine.

Scientists have found that preparing your body and mind before you go to bed is essential in giving your body the correct signal for a good nights sleep (4).
This involves:
+ allowing time to relax & reduce stress before bed
+ avoiding sugary snacks & stimulants, e.g. coffee, alcohol
+ avoiding bright lights including TV/computers/phone screens before bed

During the night our bodies are then able to physically restore & repair themselves, conserve energy & allow our brains to develop, so that tomorrow we can be even more productive and focused than we were today.

Lara :)

Useful references:
If you suffer from sleep disorder see the BBC's link below for some great tips:
(1) BBC – Science & Nature (2012) http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/sleep/articles/advicetips.shtml
(2) SLEEP – The easy way to peaceful nights. (B. Hollyer & L. Smith, 1996)
(3) http://www.therapyportal.co.uk/articles/why-what-you-eat-before-bed-affects-your-sleep
(4) The Functions of Sleep (E. Hartmann, 1973)