self help

What Does Your Stress Look Like?

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Next week sees the arrival of the UK’s annual Stress Awareness Day, that happens on the first Wednesday of November every year. This year’s theme and focus is on stress being a balancing act. And acupuncture is ALL about BALANCE.

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The balancing and harmonising affect of acupuncture, that uses ultra fine needles as thin as a human hair, makes it well placed to deal with stress. In scientific terms, acupuncture has been shown to stimulate release of endorphins (the happy hormones) and oxytocin (the calm and contented hormone often associated with nursing mothers) – leading to reduction of stress levels.

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As a member of the British Acupuncture Council, and a traditional acupuncturist, I use acupuncture to address the root cause reason as to why a physical or emotional issue is present or persisting. The Five Element style believes that most often the root cause reason is in our default Element.

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what is my element ebook on ipad thumbnail mergedIn Chinese Medicine, there are Five Elements – Fire, Earth, Metal, Water and Wood. We do have all of the Five Elements within us, but one Element is the dominant one, like our default setting, the one that shows itself the most in everything we do.

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I might have five people all coming for acupuncture because they are stressed out, but each of them might experience stress very differently, depending upon which Element is dominant for them. One might be overworked, overwhelmed, anxious and tearful, another might have tight shoulders and feel irritable or frustrated. Understanding the kinds of habits, behaviours, blocks and emotions that you experience in daily life, is the first step to managing your stress levels.

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The free ebook is intended to be a gentle introduction into the Five Elements, to give you an idea of what each Element is like, and to see if you can identify yourself in one of them. Download it by filling out the form below, I’d love to know what you think!

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© Rhiannon Griffiths 2014

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Beauty In Transformation

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Today I was visited by this little fellow – the third tortoiseshell butterfly to grace this space in the last month. I originally wrote this post when the first little chap unexpectedly arrived, the second one arrived to nudge me in to writing it up, and now the third is REALLY shouting their message of transformation at me! He even settled on to my laptop!

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The first one was a gorgeous surprise, not only because it was fully autumn, and now pretty much Winter, here in the UK, but also because he appeared indoors, in my bedroom. It was as though he appeared by magic, in all his grace, ease & beauty.

Yet I was struck that it was very likely that the part I didn’t see, the part before the unveiling of the amazing, intricate wings, was anything but easy, graceful or beautiful. The caterpillar creating the chrysalis, the feeling of something ending, letting go, trusting the process, the dying off of the old, to allow the transformation into the new.

Timing is everything & not only did my first graceful visitor come during a time when I was working behind the scenes on my new website & it felt like pulling teeth, whilst I was pulling my hair out, but he also came to remind me that Autumn is the season of the Metal Element, which has letting go, dying off to make way for the new, connecting with beauty & grace in transformation, at its very heart.

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Any big change, any big growing, any step along the road to transformation can be challenging, it can feel uncomfortable, it can feel hard. It’s when we are nearest to the biggest & best changes, those which are going to have the biggest impacts on our lives, the bit beforehand feels like the hardest part. Sometimes, like  the hardest part we have ever endured.

From the perspective of the butterfly I gained space, room to breathe. He awakened in me a knowledge that even the hardest struggle is worth it. It is worth it for the breathtaking transformation & beauty that comes after it. Transformation isn’t always easy, but my goodness it is magnificent.

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So, for me, I need to let go & trust that the launch of my new website & everything after it will bring beauty, ease & grace, even though I’m struggling to trust it right now & things feel overwhelming. The autumn needs to come & the leaves need to fall off the trees in order for the new buds & blossom to appear in the Spring.

What do you need to think like the butterfly about? Are you going through a website or branding transformation? Are you considering retraining or looking for a new job? Is there something in your life that has a lack of ease at the moment? Are you growing & need some support in your chrysalis time? Could you benefit from acupuncture or coaching as you go through your transformation? Let me know in the comments below!

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© Rhiannon Griffiths 2013

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Feeling Into The Space

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This time last month I returned from a week in sunny, hot Malta, having celebrated one of my closest friend’s fabulously continental wedding. It was wonderful & such a joy to be a part of!

On my first day back in my Thame clinic after the break, I opened the treatment room door to a space of white gorgeousness. The ladies who now collectively own The White House in Thame, had completely transformed the clinic whilst I was away! It was breathtaking. I loved it immediately.

But as soon as I started to set up, with my trolley & my acupuncture needles, I realised that everything FELT different. It felt as though it was my first day at a brand new clinic, not the same therapy room I’d been working in for the last four years!

It struck me that the space had changed, so the energy had changed. The FLOW of energy had changed. How I moved in the room had changed.

Physically, the treatment couch had moved, the chair for patient chat had moved, the back of the room was blocked off & contained the desk that had once been in the main part of the therapy space. Everything felt clearer & lighter, calmer & whiter, but I also felt clumsy, uncomfortable, unfamiliar. The processes that had become second nature over time were now redundant, they no longer worked.

So I just STOPPED. I took time to FEEL into the space. I adjusted how I moved in the space. I moved my trolley to the other side of the room. Immediately the “dance” of my treatments felt better. The FLOW from my trolley to the treatment couch felt more familiar again. The ENERGY was smoother, easier. I also acknowledged it would take time to really get used to the new space.

A month on, I can barely remember what the room looked like before, or how I set things up. I am used to the new flow of things, & the room certainly now has the wow factor as a therapy clinic.

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Things I learnt:

+ you can’t THINK yourself into a new space.

+ Strategising & over thinking doesn’t work, you have to FEEL into it.

+ Change feels uncomfortable for me, but “change” soon becomes the “norm” again.

+ Things aren’t set in stone, flexibility to adapt cab bring something even better.

+ Things don’t always have to be the “way I want it”, to work or to have benefits for me.

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So what do you need to FEEL into this week?

+ A relationship with another person? Has it changed? Is it new? Is it evolving?

+ A change in you? A new part of you that you’re just discovering? An old part of you that you haven’t connected with in a long time? Perhaps you just don’t feel like yourself?

+ An emotion, body issue or pain? What might it be trying to tell you? What is the dominant emotion? If the pain was an emotion what emotion would it be? Is the flow of energy stuck?

+ A work situation? An office move? A new member in your team? Is the ENERGY now different? Are you having to FEEL your way into the new situation?

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See how it feels in your BODY, & where you feel it. Trust your gut & your intuition. Make changes or adjustments as you FEEL into it, don’t think it or jump to action, FEEL it.

Embrace flexibility & balance – allow the energy to flow, allow it to find the new space, the new situation. And if you need support or guidance with energy flow, ask me about acupuncture or coaching.  Perhaps you’re already on the path to transformation & you notice you feel different? You might want someone to walk alongside you. Do you need to now FEEL into the TRUEST version of you?

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© Rhiannon Griffiths 2013

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Self Love Day

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For me, Valentine’s Day has always been about checking in with myself, ensuring I am maintaing a positive, healthy, compassionate relationship with myself. This includes cutting myself some slack, not being so perfectionist, embracing my “weirdness”, being proud of my sensitivity, celebrating my MAGIC, and making time for self-care.

This hasn’t always been the case, as a teenager I didn’t like myself at ALL. I struggled with being different, and couldn’t understand why I felt things so deeply and so acutely, then when Valentine’s Day came around it just accentuated the absence of a special someone, and the obligatory chocolates, flowers and cupid’s vomit of heart-shaped everything pretty much everywhere. Now that last sentence makes it sounds as though I hate Valentine’s Day, and I REALLY don’t, it’s just I KNOW love has to start with the SELF, bucket-loads of it, and that’s what the day should be about.

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valentines Day 2013

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So with this in mind, you can imagine my excitement and glee when I was emailed by the gorgeous Michelle from Sacred Self to say that I had won her latest giveaway, and that my prize was an eBook from Julie Parker over at Beautiful You! The timing could not have been better! Today has been the perfect day to sit down with a cup of Pukka LOVE tea (my favourite, and yearly Valentine’s gift to myself!) and read through the inspiring, uplifting and affirming quotations.

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Self Love Quotes ebook pic

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My goodness, so so beautiful!! It is a veritable feast of self-love, and the stunning illustrations that accompany each page, just highlight the amazing gorgeousness of it all! You cannot help but take in the compliments that are sent straight in to your heart as you scroll down each page… it’s good for today, but it would be GREAT for ANY day of the year – love is not just for Valentine’s, it’s for life! (Even better, at the moment, Julie has a “pay what you want” offer on the eBook over at her site!)…

We ARE beautiful, we ARE worthy, we ARE good enough, we ARE loveable, we ARE pretty damn amazing, incredible and gorgeous creatures – each and every one of us, remember THAT on Valentine’s Day and you won’t go far wrong!

Sending YOU tons of goodness and LOVE

R xx

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© Rhiannon Griffiths 2013

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