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10 Steps to a Healthier & More Positive Life
By Nicola-Jane Senior, Complementary Therapist

1. Healthy Eating
With a few adjustments, you can be on your way to eating more healthily. It really isn't that hard. A few changes can be done if you feel that you want to improve your diet. Here are some tips:

. A good breakfast is essential such as porridge or yoghurt with dried fruit - especially good when most of us haven't much time for a good lunch.
. Snacks - Replace unhealthy crisps and chocolate bars with either fresh fruit, dried fruit, home-made health bars - contact me for the recipe! Dried fruit regulates blood sugar levels and you don't get that mid afternoon slump in energy you get with unhealthy snacks.
. Drink at least 8 glasses of water a day - add some fruit juice to it if you like. Fruit teas are also wonderful!
. Replace white bread/pasta/rice with wholegrain or brown bread/pasta/rice. It is much more filling and holds more nutrients giving you more sustainable energy.
. Include a good quality daily multi-vitamin supplement. - ask at a health food store for advice.
. Add more vegetables to every meal - a great source of natural goodness and nutrients
. Replace white sugar with brown sugar or honey if you must add to drinks.
. Replace salt with either lemon juice, herbs or spices when cooking.
. Cut down on caffeine drinks, this includes cola and tea too.

The way in which we eat has a huge effect on how we feel and also our energy levels. Eating more healthily can improve our mood and give us that much needed strength to face our hectic daily lifestyles.

2. Start a Journal
Creating a journal or workbook is a wonderful way to involve your creative side, to explore your ideas and to put to work your new aims and see the progress. Make this journal positive so that you can read it and uplift yourself. Observe how you express yourself. Writing is a way of looking at yourself through an outside view - what have you noticed about yourself as you read past journal entries? Let your mind be free to open up to new levels as you write. Writing can be a very freeing experience.

3. De-Stress
Stress is one of the major problems in today's lifestyle. We are constantly rushing around trying to fit everything in. We are not robots. Sometimes we forget we are human and push aside the need to relax and re-charge our batteries from time to time. There are many ways in which we can make time to de-stress. Many of my clients for instance have regular massage therapy or Reiki Healing, coupled with the muscle relaxing and de-stressing of the actual therapy, the essential oils also have a positive effect on mood and ease stress and knotted muscles caused by stress. Visualisation is a quick way to ease stress - see below

4. Visualisation
Visualisation is a mental technique, it is easy to perform and used by many for relaxation. It is a technique that allows us to create a detailed vision or feeling in our mind and is a very effective method for tapping and reprogramming the subconscious mind.

Your subconscious mind thinks, understands and communicates in images, rather than logical, language based thoughts. This is one of the reasons why visualisations are such a successful way of receiving messages from (and passing messages to) the subconscious.

If there is a situation that makes you feel anxious, nervous, unconfident or stressful, use this technique to visualise the moment and reprogram the feelings to promote success and positive emotions. This could be used for anything from an interview to an exam situation.

The visualisation technique for relaxation is very simple:

. Find a quiet space where you won't be disturbed.
. Sit or lie in a comfortable position.
. Breathe deeply and relax. Feel your lungs expand and contract as air moves through your body.
. Picture a place where you would like to be. It's maybe an imaginary place or somewhere you have been on holiday. Imagine each area of your body starting to feel relaxed. Start at your toes and work upwards to the head.
. When you breath out, picture the cares and troubles simply melting away with each breath.
. Enjoy this exercise and take as long as you need to 'see' this success. Do it frequently. Your mind will develop its new pattern of being able to relax your whole body.

5. Get out more!
And I'm not talking about going down to the pub! Getting out and about during daylight hours can boost our mood. Fresh air activates those 'feel good' chemicals in our brain and helps vitamin D to be absorbed through the skin which also enhances feelings of wellbeing. People who suffer SAD - Seasonal Affective Disorder can benefit from getting more vitamin D.

6. Positive affirmations
Affirmations are another method of creating positive images about yourself in your mind. Pick a statement that you would like to use to improve yourself.

If you are a person who is always anxious, say: "I am calm." Always start the affirmation with "I am" so you confirm this statement to yourself.

Make this a positive statement that you are comfortable with and that will improve an aspect that you might not be happy with.

Repeat this statement to yourself everyday when you wake, when you go to sleep and during the day. This will bring you positive words in your mind. You will soon feel that statement.

7. Positive environment
Surrounding yourself with the things you love may not seem difficult but if you are surrounded by items and people that create images from an unhappy past then these wont be the things to inspire you and set you on your new journey of positivity. Rid yourself of all the negative 'clutter' in your life. This will create more space for the new things that you enjoy and the good things you deserve. This is a very liberating exercise I can assure you!

8. Spirituality
We are all on a form of spiritual quest in one way or another. To be on our own path of spirituality doesn't have to be in the form of going to a religious centre every week. Whilst this can be an enjoyable experience, finding one's own spirituality can begin with silent reflection in a quiet room. Being' spiritual' isn't just about following a certain religious faith, it's acknowledging that 'spirit' is present in everyone and enjoying the presence of it for a few brief moments.

9. Love Yourself
How many of us cannot accept compliments? It's about time we should! Every time you meet people don't be afraid to sell yourself positively. Let others know what you do and your good points. It may feel awkward at first, but you will soon see that it is an effective way of opening new doors - whether it is to your career or your personal life. How else will people know what a wonderful person you are, unless you tell them?

10. Smile and Laugh!
This is the most simple way of relaxing. Laughter certainly is the best medicine! Smile, and know that you don't need an excuse to be happy!

Ncola-Jane Senior is a complementary therapist based in Sheffield. Further information is available from her website at www.spritmantra.co.uk

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