Yesterday, I went to an open day at a complementary therapy centre in Cardiff and had a taster session of 'Shiatsu'. I'd been interested in shiatsuit for a while, but knew very little about it. I was really impressed by the therapy and it's whole body impact. Here's an extract from the Shiatsu Society's description about Shiatsu:

"Shiatsu is a therapeutic practice that can support individuals in moving towards greater health and well-being.

Shiatsu is a relaxing treatment and can be beneficial for back pain, stress, headaches, whiplash injuries, neck stiffness, joint pain and reduced motibility and many sports injuries amongst other ailments.

Shiatsu is a Japanese word meaning "finger pressure". It is a new name for the oldest form of medicine - healing with hands. Everybody has the healing power of touch and responds to touch. It is a natural ability that people are now beginning to recognize again.Shiatsu uses hand pressure and manipulative techniques to adjust the body's physical structure and its natural inner energies, to help ward off illness, and maintain good health.

Shiatsu is characterized by its great simplicity. It grew from earlier forms of massage, called Anma in Japan (Anmo or Tuina in China) which use rubbing, stroking, squeezing, tapping, pushing, and pulling to influence the muscles and circulatory systems of the body. Shiatsu, by contrast, uses few techniques and to an observer it would appear that little is happening - merely a still, relaxed pressure at various points on the body with the hand or thumb, an easy leaning of the elbows or a simple rotation of a limb."

After a family bereavement, we decided to go to Pembrokeshire to visit family and do some chillaxation. We strapped our (newly acquired)bicycles on to the back of our trusty van and headed off.

We've only recently bought bikes. It was very much to do with my ever pressing need to fight the flab! So, with my £45 pink bike from Gumtree, matching pink helmet and, actually, matching pink hoodie which I bought in the Eisteddfod, I am now actively working to beat the bulge!!

We also managed to time it right and got the kites out just when there was no rain but a decent bit of wind! Having not flown a kite for a long LONG time, it was a real buzz to be yanked across the field and watch my husband climb the tree to rescue the big kite!!!

I'm not a big gym fan, so it's good to be able to do some other activities to get fit and loose a bit of weight. So, cycling, swimming, kite flying, poi spinning. What next? That jobbing club I was thinking about? I'll let you know!!

We visited the Edinburgh festival for the very first time this year, after a few years of 'promising to go'. After looking at the hike in flight costs, we decided to drive, so stayed in Lancaster on the way up and Liverpool on the way back.

We stayed in Kirkhill Mansion, about 10 miles outside Edinburgh. We had no trouble at all driving into the middle of festival-ville and parking. The car parks are plenty and costs are on a par with other UK cities.

We saw 5 shows, from pantomime, to Japanese 'comedy', to theatrical performances. The piece de resistance were the Japanese Taiko drummers and the Chinese State Circus. Who could believe that 3 people could make a whole church vibrate and that it was possible to unicycle with one foot!?!! We also saw some street performers and stalls doing excellent portraits and I was lassoed by a lovely knife throwing texan!

We're planning to go back next year and we're already planning our trip! If you haven't been you must go! Definitely something to add to your 'do before I die' list!!

So, what is emotional intelligence or EQ (emotional quotient)? Well, it's pretty much what it says on the tin. It's having intellect about emotion; both your own and others. It's about having the ability, either innate or through training, to understand why you or others act in a certain way; what makes you or others 'tick'; about the office politics, with the little 'p'! The book to read s that written by Daniel Goleman, who talks about EIQ as the missing link, the missing part of IQ. The concept has been around since the 1930s but
Read More seems relatively little used in the workplace.

Daniel Goleman identified the five 'domains' of EQ as:
1. Knowing your emotions.
2. Managing your own emotions.
3. Motivating yourself.
4. Recognising and understanding other people's emotions.
5. Managing relationships, ie., managing the emotions of others.

You can buy Daniel Goleman's 'Emotional Intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ' at Amazon

You can take a mini, simple EQ test here: http://www.ihhp.com/quiz.php I did this quiz and was impressed by the simple but thought provoking response. The test only took a few minutes and the feedback gave tasty food for thought! There are lots of test around with varying degrees of detail and accuracy, so have a search around to fnd one that you feel comfortable with.

It is said that for various reasons and thanks to a wide range of abilities, people with high emotional intelligence tend to be more successful in life than those with lower EQ even if their classical IQ - intelectual quotient is average.

Here are some suggestions for developing your own EQ:

http://www.redraventherapy.co.uk/aboutus/blog.html/199-emotional-intelligence-july-2010.html

Reflexology, Thai Foot Massage, Reiki and Indian Head Massage can off set the effects of stress on the heart and the overall health of the body. Complementary therapy attempts to treat the body, mind and spirit as a whole system by getting to the root of the problem and not looking just at the symptocalmwaterms. It can help the body to reach a place of deep relaxation where it can balance the body systems.

Through the relaxation process the body is more capable of dealing with the stresses placed on it by daily living and those associated with work, family life, illness etc. Complementary therapy can gently nudge the body towards improved functioning of the system by improving lymphatic drainage and venous circulation, simulation to the nerve pathways, and muscle relaxation.

Sufferers of stress have noted that they feel a lot more relaxed and indeed tend to feel less stressed after a session of therapy. They have also noted a reduction in their stress levels as a result of the treatment

Reflexology is believed to encourage the release of endorphins, the body's natural feel-good hormones, well documented in their ability to relieve stress.


Coaching to Stress Less

The modern world is stressed to be max. If you need to find a way to deal with your stress and re-engineer your lifestyles to achieve a calm, healthy, well life, coaching can help. Coaching can help you explore methods of limiting stressful activities and find ways to help your body and mind to de-stress. You may want to explore on the stress busting activities or increasing physical activity to promote wellbeing. Whatever you decide is the right path for you, Coaching can help you map and travel that path

On Friday evening I ran my 4th Reflexology workshop for Merched y Wawr. Merched y Wawr is a welsh women's group, not unlike the Women's Institute, except that the main language is Welsh. I've run workshops in Cwmbran, Newport, Crickhowell and Aberdare. I run my workshops in this way: a general presentation about what reflexology is, it's history, what imbalances it can help to rebalance and then descripe and share the foot map with the group. I then ask everyone to find their particular reflexes on their hand and then to find the same reflex on a friend's hand. Everyone has really enjoyed learning about Reflexology and have found it useful to put their learning into practice. Also, many of the group have asked about their ability to help their friends, partners and grandchildren outside of the group. I'm certainly pleased to be able to share my learning with the group and also to help spread the wellbeing and the healing outside of the workshop.

Merched y Wawr have asked me to run 3 workshops at the National Eisteddfod this year at Ebbw Vale. I'll be doing my workshop in the 'learner's tent', so whether you're a Welsh speaker or a Welsh learner, you're very welcome to come alone and join in the learning

Knee pain can be related to overuse where small stresses are repeated a large number of times without allowing adequate recovery, for example running too much too soon, or excessive jumping. Or injuries can be acute where the injury is caused by an impact or twisting such as an anterior cruciate ligament injury. An overuse injury can also be considered to be acute if it is painful or inflammed.
Knee pain is commonly caused by doing too much too soon when you haven't exercised for a long period of time - especially high-impact aerobics; walking, running or jumping on hard surfaces or uneven ground; excessive running up and down stairs (When you walk upstairs you are putting pressure on your knees that is equivalent to four times your body weight, when running up the stairs it can be eight times your body weight).

Prevent knee pain by keeping the muscles that support your knees strong and flexible. Start out slowly. Walk before you run - before you engage in a strenuous high impact activity such as jogging or running, try walking for a week. If walking causes knee pain, you shouldn't be running. Warm up and stretch before working out. Give your body a chance to recover from exercise. If you do high impact activities take every other day off. Avoid running up and down stairs and full squats. Doing knee exercises to strengthen and stretch the muscles that support the knee are vital for knee pain and injury prevention. Proper footwear is also important, especially if walking or running on hard surfaces. Keep your weight under control. Reducing one's weight reduces stress upon the knee.

Reflexology is a valuable tool that helps with not only the pain associated with knee issues, but is also a means for keeping the knees strong and healthy.
These are the main reflex points on which I focus, when attending a client with knee weakness.

Knee Reflex: In order to strengthen the knee joint and to send healing energy to any injured area.
Location: a small, soft triangular section, about 1 inch below the ankle bone.

Spine Reflex: The spine is the main support for the entire body, taking some of the weight off the knees.
Location: inside portion of the feet, running from the neck of the big toes, to the edge of the heel (it follows the natural curve of the instep).

Adrenal Gland Reflex: The adrenal glands increase the body’s natural anti-inflammatory hormones, which seem to soothe problematic knees.
Location: situated directly on the top portion of the kidney reflex points.