Mar 1, 2016 | Emotional Wellbeing, Health, Inspiration, Resources, Trauma, TRE, Uncategorized
During our time here we have just one place to live – our earth suit – our body.
Sometimes we are so busy living, doing or surviving that we can forget or neglect our body, which may mean we are forgetting or neglecting ourselves.
Noticing can be the first step in becoming re-acquainted in the ongoing journey towards becoming truly grateful for our body, and yet even this can be a challenge.
I have worked with very special men and women who were doing brilliant things, yet struggled to notice themselves. For others traumatic experiences have led to years spent living in a state of disassociation from their body. Others have simply appreciated some help in carving out time to be still, refocus and improve noticing themselves.
I wrote and recorded this guided meditation with all these special people in mind – whilst being totally grateful for my own earth-suit : the part of me that I walk around in and be ‘me’ in.
I hope it is truly gift to you.
- GENTLE, yet POWERFUL
- NOTICE you in a new way
- Journey toward GRATITUDE
- Use at the end of TRE or other bodywork sessions
- START or END the day in gratitude
Get FREE MP3 Meditation
‘I am loving the meditation. I started using it daily, morning and evening – now I just do it every day when I get in from work. It has been a great introduction to my new healthy journey.
The meditation has helped me understand how important and amazing my body is and the correlation of mind, body and soul. It gives me a private, quiet, focused time to appreciate what I have and help me achieve what I want to do’
SCHOOL SUPPORT WORKER
“Love it!
Listened to it three times already…
Something really special about this.
Thanks for sending it.
Much needed.”
HEADTEACHER
“I listened to Body Gratitude last night (and this morning) and I found it lovely. The words were so well thought out and affirming.
I’ve listened to many meditations, usually as part of my end-of-day ritual and I really liked this one. I think it would be great at the end of a workout or before a creative project, but also a super way to start your day on a positive note. ”
THERAPEUTIC WORKER
Feb 20, 2016 | Children, Emotional Wellbeing, Health, Inspiration, Play Therapy, Real Life Stories, School, testimonial, Trauma, Uncategorized
I don’t think I have ever shared direct words from any of my clients before. I have thought long and hard about doing it now, and the reason I am sharing what this incredible boy wrote as part of our closing process, was because HE wanted it shared. The idea that his experience can inspire school staff to know that children can change, was really important to him. The idea that others – even adults – who still find themselves journeying through PTSD, could be encouraged by his words and his journey was equally important.
“Since working with Claire I have changed in many different ways. I have changed the way I act around people. I have changed the way I see things. Everyday I think about how much Claire has helped me come to be who I always tried to be, how I don’t try to be any body, I don’t even try to be myself – I just be the person I am.
I used to say the words PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) like I had to say it or like I had to make everybody know that I have PTSD, however now I have changed. I no longer wear a badge that says ‘I have PTSD’ because I don’t. I am not ashamed of having had PTSD nor am I proud. I don’t think about PTSD and I havent even spoke about it in so long because I don’t need to anymore. I feel free from and unleashed from the horrible badge called PTSD.
My time with Claire has been an unforgettable experience and has been a roller coaster, not always easy and not always fun, but for sure it’s one of those one-time life-time changing experiences you just can’t say no to.”
Boy, aged 12,Shared with permission – as he hoped it might encourage others with PTSD that things can change.
Feb 20, 2016 | Children, Emotional Wellbeing, Food, Health, Real Life Stories, testimonial
I love, love, love it when we give a child the right level of nutrients their body needs. The changes that can come from this simple step are sometimes quietly significant, and sometimes they are so massive they make me want to shout from the rooftops!
I just got this feedback from one of my team who has been supporting a mum in getting the right levels of right quality nutrients for her eldest boy who is still pre-school (just)! Another fabulous example of how a child’s nutrition affects their being and therefore their behaviour.
” It was a rocky beginning, but he has been taking his special vitamins every day since beginning of January (7 weeks). Now, he asks for them every morning and puts the next one out for the following day.
What have I noticed? The whole day is ‘less of a battle.’
He seems to listen more and take in what I’m saying.
He seems to have settled down overnight, e.g. before xmas I wouldn’t have dreamed of going into Tesco with him, let alone with my baby as well, granted I don’t do a full shop but I wouldn’t of even stepped through the door before.
I will now walk to the park with him on his bike, something I didn’t think I would do for a long time!
He even asks for his dinner, I couldn’t get him to sit still before, never mind eat!! A trip to McDonald’s with the boys is stress free! We had also stopped going out for meals because of the stress, but we’ve been out twice in the last month and it’s been a joy!
We are now looking forward to our holiday as a family!!
Kacy, Staffordshire
Jan 18, 2016 | Children, Emotional Wellbeing, Food, Health, Real Life Stories, School, testimonial, Trauma, Uncategorized
Those who are familiar with the CHEW ethos, will know that we like to work holistically wherever possible.
It is so important as health; physical, mental and emotional well-being IS all connected. We understand how stress impacts a body and wherever we can, we help others understand that too. Children who have experienced a high level of stress early in life often have lasting impact from lack of nutrients at key developmental times. Whatever has happened to us in life, there are some things that our body needs that can only come through our mouth, and it is so special when parents understand this, make changes and children’s lives get better.
In their words:-
“We have two adopted siblings both of whom display attachment issues and struggle at school with concentration, emotional and social behaviour.
After discussions with Claire we recently considered and then ordered particular dietary supplements with a view to helping the children in two ways.
Firstly, we recognised that whilst they have a very good and varied diet their anxiety levels may be a barrier to them absorbing all the nutrients they need and therefore supplements may be required. Secondly, to see if their concentration could be improved.
We have been a little skeptical in the past about supplements, but are happy that Claire and her colleagues have done enough research to feel confident in this particular company. We would not invest in cheaper alternatives.
Our children have been taking this nutritional support for about 5 months.
At home we have noticed that the children have been more willing and able to sit and do small chunks of homework. Our daughter especially willing to do it on her own, extremely unusual! Their concentration and ability to think seems to be improving.
At school, following parents evening and update meetings we have been told how well they are both doing in the classroom. They are less “noticeable” in class and are able to complete tasks with much less assistance. This is a real step forward.
There could be any number of coincidences for these changes but we do feel that the supplements have played a vital part.
The children like taking them and will remind us if we have forgotten to put them out.”
Adoptive Parents, SOLIHULL
Dec 6, 2015 | Children, Emotional Wellbeing, Health, Real Life Stories, School, Trauma
… The words from a 12 year old beginning a conversation she wanted to have with me about her sense that she is ‘not normal’.
Her reasons? “I can see things” and “I hear voices”.
It turned out that the ‘things’ she sees and hears are all memories of moments in her life: some of them from when she was 3-4. As she described to me in explicit detail one of the things she ‘sees’, it was a word for word (yet with even greater detail) description of an event that I had been informed of by a social worker and one of her parents before I started working with her a while ago.
It turns out that she also sees the face of someone who hurt her a lot when she was younger.
She also ‘sees’ police.
It also turns out that each of the things she ‘sees’ has with it at least 1 very strong emotion. Confusion, shame, overwhelm, guilt and always terror.
We had a conversation about PTSD. She brought it up, and told me she has it. She had seen a program about people who have it and realise that a lot of what she struggled with was the same. She had just missed a few crucial points about what PTSD is, and so those we cleared up:-
- PTSD is not like ADHD or Autism, in that they are both life-long conditions that people learn to live with. PTSD does not need to be life-long, and there are many, many people who have already recovered from it.
- One of the elements of PTSD is how your memories get messed with; you can feel like you have lost a bit of control over what happens in your mind. Flashbacks, intrusive memories and nightmares are different ways the brain tries to keep processing and making sense of what happened (even years after the experience) and are common experiences for people whilst still on their recovery journey.
- Situations, sounds, smells etc that remind us of the experience that may have happened years before, can still make us feel like we did back then, but if we don’t understand they are linked then we can seem really weird and wonder why it is we might freak out at something other people don’t.
This all made complete sense to this child. She understood herself a lot more and no longer felt like a ‘freak’.
There are many children who are struggling with ‘seeing’ things or having what sound like strange experiences ‘hearing voices’ etc.
I’ve heard of 4 more in schools just this week.
If we as the adults around them (parents or other professionals) ignore or belittle their testimony, dismiss it or tell them to ‘tell the truth’ just because it sounds a bit weird to us, or we think that ‘what happened was a long time ago now‘ then we block the child back into their trauma and do nothing to help them heal.
Our fear at what we perceive as ‘not normal’ shuts them down. We confirm to them that:-
they are weird,
they are on their own,
they are not understood and
there is no hope for change.
Hearing and seeing things for a child who has been through one or more of the different types of trauma at any point in their life, and may have PTSD, is totally ‘normal’.
If we don’t know this we can’t help them, and some might say, that in our own ignorance of PTSD we may hurt them again.
Nov 24, 2015 | Children, Emotional Wellbeing, Food, Health, Real Life Stories, School, Uncategorized
It is funny what you remember.
I was in a reception classroom this week just as it was heading to lunchtime. The children all lined up at the door, and waited… and with the hubbub of their chatter, and the change in energy in the room as they became more and more hungry and wondering where their dinner lady was….I remembered.
I remembered times like that when I was a teacher, and I would help my class get through those painful minutes by distracting them with class games, Simon Says…, and jokes.
Beyond that though, I remembered my own feelings of waiting for lunch at school.
If you were hungry at home you could say so, maybe have something to keep you going and/or go do something to distract yourself. At school when you are just waiting neither of those are options.
I remembered how the biggest change for me going from primary to secondary, was not the size of school, or the moving around to different rooms for different lessons, or the amount of homework…. It was having to wait until 12.50 for the bell to go for lunch, when for the last 3 years it had been at 12.00! Those 50 mins were THE HARDEST MINUTES OF THE DAY.
I was quiet at school, not one of the children who were constantly being noticed, but just because nobody else noticed my hunger I DID! I was so desperate to get food into me by 12.50, that I would go straight outside with my packed lunch and sit on the benches and EAT. Most of my class (and the rest of the school in all honesty) would go to the dining hall, queue up for a seat and eat in there. Not me.
E v e r y s i n g l e day of my first year, come rain, or shine I was out there….even in the snow.
I’m serious.
Nothing was going to stop me getting food in my body ASAP.
What I now know about bodies and fuel, brain function, hormones and blood sugar levels helps me understand this memory picture. I didn’t care that what I was doing was different to everyone else or a bit off-the-wall. All I cared about was re-fueling.
I recognised that same need to re-fuel in that classroom as those children waited. Some just stood and fiddled with lunch boxes, some got quiet and withdrew into themselves, some fidgety and less able to stand still, some could no longer find their ‘indoor voices’ and needed to raise the subconscious alarm with their ‘other’ voices.
I wondered how long before their designated lunch time those tummies had been quietly rumbling; how long had they been distracted from their 5-year-old jobs; how long had they found it harder to ‘play nicely with kind hands’, because they were becoming driven by a different internal biochemical landscape?
It’s funny what you remember.
Food is so important, affecting attention, behaviour and social skills.
How we fuel our children has immediate impact…and potentially long lasting memories!
