12 Pairs of Legs

I was at the Princes Trust North West Regional Vounteers Conference a couple of weeks ago and one of the speakers introduced us to the story of an amazing lady called Aimee Mullins.

For those of you who have never heard of her before, she was born without fibular bones and both of her legs were amputated when she was a small child. Having learnt to walk on prosthetic legs she then started to run, and run and run, in fact she went on to become a record breaker in the 1996 Paralympics. She's since gone on to build a career as a model, actor, activist for women & sports and an advocate for advanced thinking about prosthetics.

Inspired to learn more, I did a quick internet search and came across a website which had a video of a talk by Aimee from February 2009 in which she talked about her 12 pairs of amazing legs. One of the first things she tells us about is going on a school visit and asking to be allowed to talk to the kids without adults present for a couple of minutes before the main event. I was thrilled to hear about how, in just a few minutes, without censorship of their natural curiosity they came to see Aimee not as "disabled" but as somebody with potential to do things that their bodies couldn't. Super-abled rather than dis-abled!

How did she get them to do this so quickly? She engaged their imaginations. I suggest you watch the video yourself for her explanation of this - it's excellent.

Another thing that stuck in my mind was her experience of being approached by people who would comment on how attractive she is and then add "you don't look disabled". So the question is raised, what is the nature of beauty? What does a beautiful woman look like? What is a sexy body? And furthermore, what does it mean to have a disability? If it's a question of prosthetics then are people who have had boob jobs and comestic surgery to be thought of as disabled?

Hold that thought and also consider another anecdote that she shares. One of her 12 pairs of legs elevates her height from 5'8" to a statuesque 6'1" and on their first outing together she met a girl friend who hadn't seen her for a few years. When she saw Aimee her jaw dropped and she exclaimed that it's "not fair", meaning that it wasn't fair that Aimee could change her height as and when she wanted to!

So society is changing is it? Are we now thinking about augmentation rather than overcoming deficiency. Are we now looking at potential rather than loss? I do hope so. Aimee's talk certainly made me feel like that's the case. So I'll end with a quote from Aimee and a strong recommendation that you take 10 minutes to watch this inspiring video.

"People that society once considered to be disabled can now become the architects of their own identities and indeed continue to change those identities by designing their bodies from a place of empowerment". Aimee Mullins

Tracy x

First day at school

Yesterday was my daughter's first day at big school. When I say big school, I mean nursery, the year before reception, which may not seem very big to you, but to my 3 year old it's enormous.

We did all of the usual stuff: taking loads of pictures of her in her uniform and sending them to all and sundry to ooh and aah over, tears (mine) as we left her, trying to peep through the window to see how she was getting on, sitting clock watching as the morning slowly crept by (yes, it was only a 2.5 hour session but it felt like a week!).

We had been doing lots of preparation for the big day on account of the fact that she'd been going to playgroup for 18 months and almost every day she still cried and said that she didn't want to go (even on the very last day when there was a lovely leaving party for them all!). We waited with baited breath to see how she would take to this. Things looked promising when I picked her up and she came out smiling clutching the drawing of a red hoover that she had done for Mummy & Daddy. "I enjoyed school" she said. Phew!

So we thought day two would be a breeze. Not quite so simple. Her first words this morning were "I don't want to go to school". Drat! But we glossed over that and by the time she got to school with her Daddy she was already saying "I can't wait to go to school". However, never underestimate the power of a zip.....

Daddy dropped her off in the school yard where they lined up to go in and then off they trotted with the lovely Miss Crumpton. But Daddy couldn't resist a little peep through the window - to his horror he saw her tiny little face start to crumple as she realised she couldn't undo the zip on her coat. As she started to panic she looked up and saw her Daddy looking through the window at which point she started to cry. Poor baby. Poor Daddy. Thankfully, the teachers, who must be very well practised in this sort of thing, stepped in and helped her out. Daddy left and Rhian continued with her day.

I'm not actually sure who was most upset, Rhian or Daddy for whom the memories of his first day at school had apparently come flooding back.

Now I'm sitting here, supposedly doing work, and it's the afternoon. No, I haven't forgotten her and left at school. She's doing a full day today courtesy of Incy Wincy's (nursery plus). And I'm hoping that she's having a lovely time, that she managed to put on her indoor shoes (yes, they have indoor and outdoor shoes), that she ate her lunch and managed to open her banana ok, that she asked to go to the toilet.... oh so many things are whizzing through my mind (and not so much work getting done).

So I decided to get a cup of tea and a biscuit and Google "first day at school" and I came across this poem by Roger McGough which I found amusing:

First Day at School by Roger McGough

A millionbillionwillion miles from home
Waiting for the bell to go. (To go where?)
Why are they all so big, other children?
So noisy? So much at home they
Must have been born in uniform
Lived all their lives in playgrounds
Spent the years inventing games
That don't let me in. Games
That are rough, that swallow you up.

And the railings.
All around, the railings.
Are they to keep out the wolves and monsters?
Things that carry off and eat children?
Things you don't take sweets from?
Perhaps they are to stop us getting out
Runnning away from the lessins. Lessin.
What does a lessin look like?
Sounds small and slimy.
They keep them in the glassrooms.
Whole rooms made out of glass. Imagine.

I wish I could remember my name
Mummy said it would come in useful.
Like wellies. When there's puddles.
Yellowwellies. I wish she was here.
I think my name is sewn on somewhere
Perhaps the teacher will read it for me.
Tea-cher. The one who makes the tea.

Tracy x

Breastfeeding

And so I find that we are in the middle of World Breastfeeding Awareness Week and the theme for this year is "Breastfeeding: A Vital Emergency Repsonse". The aim of the week is to highlight the importance of breastfeeding especially in emergency situations around the world in developing countries. The rationale for this is that children are more vulnerable in emergency situations and that child mortality can increase dramatically from 2 to 70 times higher than average on account of diarrhoea, respiratory illness and malnutrition. In these situations, breastfeeding is a life saving intervention.

Back on home turf, the issues surrounding breastfeeding are, on the face of it, far more mundane but no less contentious for it. A recent survey carried out by Mother & Baby magazine asked 1200 breastfeeding mothers how breastfeeding friendly the UK is. I'm saddened but, unfortunately, not shocked to hear that 60% of mothers thought that the UK is not breastfeeding friendly. The full story makes interesting reading and I urge you to take a look by clicking on this link.

If you want more information on breastfeeding take a look at:
The Breastfeeding Network
The NCT Information Centre

In North Wales there are also the following breastfeeding support groups:
Bangor - Sackville Clinic (01248 362735)
Broughton - Broughton Clinic (Fiona Lee: 07913 658511)
Buckley - Westwood Centre (Fiona Lee: as above)
Caergwrle - Caergwrle Clinic (Fiona Lee: as above)
Conwy - St Mary's Church Hall (Susan Jones: 01492 593402)
Deeside - Sure Start Centre (Fiona Lee: as above)
Wrexham - Ma's Bar, Llay Resource Centre (01978 859020)
Wrexham - Ma's Bar, Chirk Clinic (01691 773581)
Wrexham - 24 hours helpline at Wrexham Maelor Hospital (01978 291100)

And, for support groups in and around the Chester area take at look at this page on the NCT website.

Finally, any clients who are considering breastfeeding their baby can ask me for a free sample of Lansinoh Lanolin.

Tracy x

Dr Miriam's Choice

I was pleased to read in The Mirror today that Dr Miriam Stoppard would choose HypnoBirthing if she were having another baby. Hurrah!

In a nice article, which is usefully called "Why pain is NOT a vital part of having a baby", she describes the various options available to you to help beat the "fear factor" including natural birth, water birth, TENS, pain killing drugs, epidural, gas and air and HypnoBirthing.

If you want to read the article you can click on this link.

Having read that article I went online and found that Dr Miriam makes lots of references to Hypnotherapy in her blog in relation to emotional problems, stopping blushing, anxiety, weight loss, IBS and phobias. You can read them all by clicking on this link.

Thanks for the endorsement Miriam.

Namaste,

Tracy

Musical Inspiration

Sometimes I find that inspiration can come from the strangest and most unexpected of sources. A recent example of such inspiration is from a couple of weeks ago when I took my 3 year old daughter to see a play/puppet show at The Lowry.

It was a production by Long Nose Puppets called "Flyaway Katie" based on the book of the same name by Polly Dunbar. It's a fabulous flight of fancy about a girl who's feeling grey and a bit bored at home one day when she takes inspiration from a bright and colourful picture on her wall. The lovely imagery from the book is reflected in the puppets but to make the production EVEN better there's music too. I assume that the music was written specifically for the production - but apologies if I have this wrong.

The whole thing was captivating for both me and my daughter and I was only too pleased to buy the CD of the music that was available in the foyer afterwards, which I thought would make good listening in the car for my daughter. However, a few weeks later guess who is listening to it - me, of course! I even have it on my ipod.

Unfortunately, I don't think that the cd is on general release, but I think you can get it from the company's website.

It's the combination of words and music (a bit folky) that have appealed to me and I have put the words below - perhaps they lose some of their power without the music but I thought I'd share it with you anyway. Perhaps you will be inspired to go and see one of their shows or buy the CD for yourself (BTW I have no financial interest in these products, I just like them!).

Flyaway Katie (by Long Nose Puppets - sorry if this is incorrectly credited)

You may need some black and white
Shades of grey when things aren’t right
Imagine though if that was all we see

Love and life
Fun and friends
Blues and greens, yellows and reds
The mutli-coloured hopes that fill our dreams

Fly, fly away Katie
Don’t let yourself be dull and grey
The world’s as bright as day Katie
So wonderful
A place to play

You may need some black and white
Shades of grey when things aren’t right
Imagine though if that was all we see

Love and life
Fun and friends
Blues and green, yellows and reds
The mutli-coloured hopes that fill our dreams

Fly, fly away Katie
Don’t let yourself be dull and grey
The world’s as bright as day Katie
So wonderful
A place to play

Fly away, Fly away, Fly away, Fly away

5 Minute Labour

I thought you might be interested to read this amazing birth story. No HypnoBirthing involved, just an incredibly quick and, in her own words, "enjoyable" birth.....

"I gave birth alone...in five minutes flat", Mail Online, 14 March 2009.

Great story!

Tracy x

Baby Gallery

At the suggestion of one of my HypnoBirthing clients, I will shortly be setting up a gallery of babies born the Hypno way.

I'm asking any former, present & prospective clients to send photos and information (such as birth details, birth stories etc) that they want posted on the website.

June and July is a busy month for births and I am waiting excitedly to hear about the new arrivals - I want you to know how very exciting it is for me to get news, photos etc of the little ones! Even though we talk about not fixating on your "due date" in the class, I'm afraid I myself am always aware of your expected dates and even keep a note of them in my diary, happily ticking them off when I get your news.

Tracy x