Staying Balanced…While Sitting

Most of us spend a good portion of the work day in a seated position.  Driving our cars, sitting at our desks; we don’t move much.  I am always amazed at how tiring sitting at my desk for long periods of time can really be.  Maybe you feel fatigued at the end of the work day, or a little stiff and sore?

I recently had a discussion about just this subject with a good friend of mine.  C.J. offered some great tips from her chiropractor in New York, Dr. Jim Kotorac.  She was kind enough to give me permission to share them here on my blog.  Here are some simple suggestions that Dr. Kotorac gives to everyone who has a desk job.

1. This first tip doesn’t require any special equipment other than a clock or a timer.  Dr. Kotorac says that one of the best ways to prevent alignment problems, physical discomfort, and fatigue is to stop every hour and stand up.  You can do stretching or other exercises if you like but those are less important than the simple act of standing up.  C.J. tries to do this every hour on the hour, and it makes a big difference in getting projects finished and meeting deadlines.  When she’s in a hurry, the interruption lasts only 5 seconds or so.  When there’s time, she steps away from her desk and bounces on a rebounder, does yoga or calesthenics, breathes deeply (my favorite), or does some of Donna Eden’s energy exercises, demonstrated on YouTube and detailed on Donna’s website.  It’s so important for everyone – not just coaches – to maintain balanced energy, and these are simple methods for doing so.
2. Sit on a DynaDisc Balance Disc Cushion, which C.J. got at Dr. Kotorac’s recommendation, or something similar.  C.J. used to need regular sacroiliac adjustments, but no longer.  The DynaDisc took a day to get used to because it requires frequent posture adjustments, but in no time the adjustments became both easy and unconscious.  At some point, she wants to get a wobble board or balance cushion for standing exercise as well, but for now (that is for the past 9 years) the DynaDisc has given her sitting bones a perfect workout requiring zero effort on her part.
3. Look outside the box (in this case outside the office supply store) for equipment that can make your office more comfortable and organized.  Years ago, C.J. bought organizing supplies and her first ergonomic chair from a sewing supply website.  I myself have a bungee cord chair which provides a surprising amount of support.  Think about improving the illumination in your office with lamps; for color clarity, try a fixture that produces a more natural light than regular bulbs.
4. Preventing dehydration is as easy as keeping water on hand but it can be just that easy to forget.  C.J. keeps a “water” sticky note next to her computer to remind her to put water where she can reach it before she sits down to work.  I have a crock of delightful spring water just outside of my office door; it encourages me to get up on my feet every so often to refill my glass periodically.

So, there you have it.  Here in my office, I stand up when I can, use an ergonomic chair, use bulbs that simulate natural light, and always try to drink plenty of water.  There are only two things that I would add to the list above.  Breathe deeply and fully, first of all.  And, remember to look away from your computer monitor every so often to help prevent eye strain.

I would love to know what tips everyone else has to offer on maintaining balance and energy throughout the work day!  Please leave a comment below to share your tips, comments, or provide suggestions on what information you’d like to see in future blog posts.

Best to you,
Jane Ann

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5 Tips for Stress Relief, Plus Bonus Tip

1.  Breathe deeply, often:  Oxygen is a great relaxant, stabilizer, and energizer.  Most people take short upper chest breaths which causes shoulder, neck, and back tension and causes you to take in only about 30% of the oxygen you need.  Instead, practice breathing correctly as if you had a hose that runs from your nose to your belly button.  Practice breathing like babies do…they know how to do it correctly and get 100% of the oxygen they need.  Let your belly relax and let your shoulders drop.

2.  Worry is a waste of life and resources:  As it is said, it’s not what happens to us in life, but how we think, deal with, and react to it.  Know that you are capable.  Trust and commit that you will do your best.  It’s all going to work out one way or another.  Research from Harvard shows that only about 8% of what we worry about ever even happens…something else does.  So, let the tendency to worry fly out of your head and know that you can only do your best.  In other words, redirect your mental focus from worry to being resourceful and solution oriented.

3.  Increase your confidence:  Remind yourself of all the small and maybe large challenges and opportunities you’ve succeeded in.  There will be plenty more.

4.  Never waste your time focusing on mistakes or beat yourself up for not knowing:  Use these experiences as lessons and then recreate the experience in your mind with the lesson(s) you learned.  Repeat this at least 3 times to help retrain your brain with new, more effective options to enhance your learning experience.  Life is a learning experience itself.

5.  Never waste your time focusing on problems:  Instead, think of them as opportunities, and either choose to participate or walk away.  Remember to be discerning, i.e. having or showing good judgment.

Bonus tip:  Successful people ask for help!  Get the help you need instead of suffering or struggling.

Jane Ann Covington offers expert coaching and hypnotherapy for those people whose issues have not responded to other methods.  To find out more about how Jane Ann can help you succeed, call (404) 442-8700 today for a free 30-minute consultation or click here to request more information!

Popularity: 2% [?]

We’re moving to a new location!

This is a hectic but exciting day for us here, as we finish up a few last minute packing and organizing tasks.  Today is our last day in this office!  We will open up Monday morning in our brand new office, at the beautiful Piedmont Center.  We are excited to be starting 2012 in such a lovely environment!

Our new physical address will be:

3495 Piedmont Road
Building Twelve
Suite 112
Atlanta, Ga 30305

Call us today to schedule an appointment for a consultation or a session in our beautiful new space!  (404) 442-8700

Popularity: 4% [?]

Hypnosis for Burns

Hypnosis for burns.  The Use of Hypnosis in the Treatment of Burn Patients.  “Hypnosis has a part to play in nearly every aspect of burn care, from the initial visit through tubbing and grafting, and finally to rehabilitation.  Early hypnosis attenuates the inflammatory response to the injury, limiting the usual progression of the burn from first degree to second degree, or from second to third.  Procedural pain can be controlled.  Guilt or anger about the accident need to be alleviated, caloric intake can be increased, and active participation in physical therapy can be enhanced.”

Dabney M. Edwin, Tulane University, LA, USA, International Handbook of Clinical Hypnosis, Online ISBN: 9780470846407; DOI = 10.  1002/0470846402.ch19

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ABC News: Hypnosis Helps Woman Lose 95lbs

As Americans gain girth, and yo-yo dieting or diet pills rarely have lasting effects, many are at a loss when it comes to losing weight.

The latest data from the National Center for Health Statistics show that 30 percent of U.S. adults 20 years of age and older — more than 60 million people — are obese. And kids are following suit, with the number of overweight young people tripling since 1980.

Being overweight or obese increases the risk of many diseases and health conditions, such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Hypnosis is an age-old technique designed to speak to your subconscious mind and alter your behavior. Known to work well to quit smoking, can it re-program your eating habits?

 

Tried-and-True Weight Loss

Judy Lederman has struggled with her weight all her life, and said hypnosis helped her lose 95 pounds.

 

“I’ve tried every diet known to man,” she said.

 

Not wanting to deal with another diet, she went to a hypnotist. At the time, Lederman weighed 224 pounds.

 

Initially, she was skeptical. Not so, when she saw the results.

Her hypnotist, Rosemarie Schulman, uses a two-part process. First, she gets the patient to understand his or her behavior. And then, through a relaxed state of mind, she suggests they alter their habits.

 

“When they are completely relaxed and open to suggestion,” said Schulman, “then you go into saying things like, ‘The sugar cravings you have in the afternoon no longer interest you. The wonderful smell of fresh fruit, and taste, now interest you and make you feel very strong.’ ”

Three years since Lederman’s first session, she now weighs 129 pounds and still works with her hypnotist to maintain her healthy lifestyle.

“I used to go out of my way to find the best bakery or the best cakes or pastries,” Lederman said. “At this point, I would go anywhere to find the best hypnotist, the best gym. My whole way of thinking has turned on that. And the pastries, they can just sit in the bakery.”

Read the rest on the ABC News Web site

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Hypnosis & Hypnotherapy Classes Start September 9, 2011

What to do? Stay stuck in a RUT or Grow into your passion to make a real difference helping others? Start 9/9/11 in Atlanta

• Do you feel unfulfilled; feel that you could never move beyond your current level of effectiveness because you think you need to stay with what you “think” seems available or reasonable to you?

• Are you burned out, bored with your current career path?

• Maybe you, like me, enjoy helping others, but don’t know how to do it in a way that allows you to create a business that funds your lifestyle….

1975 was the year that changed my life forever and for the better. It was when I first experienced hypnosis and hypnotherapy. I became free to act according to current conditions, instead of reacting according to old unconscious patterns that had been unconsciously holding me back. My life then began to soar in a direction that allowed me to achieve my goals.

Can you say “Yes” to any of the following?

• Do you want to learn from a teacher that can teach anyone how to become masterful at providing effective hypnotherapy and other techniques that help others succeed in their life, while making a good living?

• Are you working as a physician, nurse, therapist, caregiver, clergy, teacher, coach, consultant, or are you seeking a fresh career (where you can be your own boss) working in a field that makes a positive difference?

• Do you want to become self-actualized, develop mind mastery, make more money, have fun, gain respect and prestige?

Hypnosis and hypnotherapy may be the right path for you and offer you what you’ve been looking for.  Since1995, I have been teaching folks who are interested in hypnosis these invaluable skills on how to help others, and get paid handsomely for it.   Click on Learn Hypnosis above to get more information.  Classes start soon!! Limited number of students for best personal coaching from me, Jane Ann Covington, BA, CCHT, RBT (36 years training and teaching).

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Preoperative Guided Imagery Improves Cardiac Surgery Outcomes

Effect of guided imagery on length of stay, pain and anxiety in cardiac surgery patients.

“Cardiac surgery patients who listened to a pre-op guided imagery surgical tape had significantly less pain, anxiety, and two days shorter hospital stay.”

Tutsek, D. L., Cwynar, R., and Cosgrove, D.M., Cleveland Clinic, Ohio, Journal of Cardiovascular Management 10; 2: 22-8 1999

Popularity: 4% [?]

Jane Ann Covington’s Insight #1 – There is Nothing Wrong With You!

Welcome to the first in a series of 10 practical and helpful insights about life, success, and the power of the mind!  Check back next week for Insight #2, or simply fill out a web form and we will add you to our regular mailing list.  Enjoy!

Insight #1: There is Nothing Wrong With You!

What we learn growing in our environment may not be the truth about our self, our future, or what’s possible for us. History leaves holes in the fabric of our personal experience that can get us into situations that cause us problems, big problems, or just as bad…hold us back from our higher potential!  And, it doesn’t just happen for children or teenagers …it can happen to us at any age.  I was convinced that there was something “wrong with me”.

By age 5, I knew things weren’t right in my dysfunctional family, yet I had no power to speak up, much less do anything about it. I knew I needed help. I dreamed of being capable and available to get help and learn to help others.

Finally, by age 27, with the help of skilled professionals, I discovered there was nothing wrong with me. I discovered a whole new way of looking at myself, others, and life. I gave myself permission and freedom to intentionally find the specific help I needed to fill in those missing gaps of knowledge and skills that I hadn’t gotten growing up! I then promptly made it a point to learn and practice the missing skills right away.

Who you think you can be may be more limiting than what you are truly capable of becoming. I had tried to get help through traditional means, but that didn’t work for me.  My personal transformation came through specific education, hypnosis, hypnotherapy, and coaching.  For how could I possibly help others if I could not be helped myself?

And, it took another 13 years, to figure out my specific calling, the way for me to help others.  That’s what I get to do every day now…help people succeed!  I have devoted the last 36+ years learning, using, and developing processes that help people in short term therapy using the skills of hypnosis, hypnotherapy, education, and coaching.  You can be helped too to become your authentic self and find joy, passion for life, and inner peace, self confidence, coming to know that you are more than you ever knew you could be.

The subconscious can and will hold you back, but it can also be retrained to be the servant for good for the you that you’ve always wanted and deserve to be.  Call to schedule a free 20 minute consultation with me personally (in person or by phone or by Skype) to discuss your situation and let’s talk about creating a strategy to assist you in moving toward a more fulfilled life in every way, as quickly as possible. It will be my pleasure to serve you and help you discover “There’s Nothing Wrong With You!”

Best regards,

Jane Ann Covington

 

Popularity: 8% [?]

Hypnosis: Most Effective Way to Stop Smoking

Hypnosis is the most effective way of giving up smoking, according to the largest ever scientific comparison of ways of breaking the habit.  A meta-analysis, statistically combining results of more than 600 studies of 72,000 people from America and Europe to compare various methods on quitting.  On average, hypnosis was over three times as effective as nicotine replacement methods and 15 times as effective as trying to quit alone.

-University of Iowa, Journal of Applied Psychology, How One in Five Give Up Smoking.  October 1992.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Hypnosis Subjects Lost More Weight Than 90% of others and Kept it Off

Hypnosis as an adjunct to cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy for obesity: a meta-analytical reappraisal.

Researchers analyzed 18 studies comparing a cognitive behavioral therapy such as relaxation training, guided imagery, self monitoring, or goal setting with the same therapy supplemented by hypnosis.  Those who received the hypnosis lost more weight than 90 percent of those not receiving hypnosis and maintained the weight loss two years after treatment ended.

-University of Connecticut, Storrs Allison DB, Faith MS.   J Consult Clin Psychol. 1996;64(3):513-516.

Popularity: 4% [?]

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