Birth announcement

Tracy is delighted to announce the arrival of a beautiful bouncy baby boy on 23rd December 2008 at 7.31pm.

More news later. Just wanted to let you know both Mum and baby are happy and well.

Tracy's maternity leave

Well I guess I'd better start winding down soon then - less than three weeks to go until the birth of new baby Jones.

It's not like I find my work tiring or tiresome even with this huge bump that I'm carrying around with me, but it would be disconcerting for my clients if I happened to go into labour during a session! LOL

So I'm planning to take a few weeks of "maternity leave". By that I mean I'm not planning to take on any new clients until February 2009 and HypnoBirthing classes are not scheduled until 31st Jan and 8th Feb. If any new or existing clients need to contact me during this time they are free to call or email - I will reply as and when available and will always be glad to here from you.

The online shop is still open for business and all purchases will be dealt with as usual. You are also welcome to book onto HypnoBrithing courses either by phone, email or through the online shop.

On the subject of maternity leave, if anyone is unsure about their own rights etc concerning maternity and parenting you could do worse than take a look at the Government's DirectGov website. If you follow this link there is loads of information that you might find useful.

I will post the news of the birth soon after it happens but for now, namaste.

Tracy x

Women's Health Evening

I just wanted to give advance notice of an event that is being held at The Chiropractic Clinic, Wrexham next year.

On 29th January the clinic is hosting a Women's Health Evening providing information and demonstrations on the various treatments available to women at the clinic: including chiropractic, massage, acupuncture and hypnotherapy.

Of course, it's me who's representing the hypnotherapy part of the evening and I will be busy over the next few weeks devising a short talk to discuss the many and various ways that hypnotherapy can play a role in improving and maintaining women's health.

I will post more information when it is available, but for now, save the date.

I'll post again soon.

Tracy x

NCT Xmas Fair

OK - I admit it - this is another shameless plug for an event that I am supporting. But it's all in a good cause.

On Saturday 29th November Chester NCT is hosting a Christmas Fair in Hoole, Chester. As I have just started offering HypnoBirthing classes in that exact same area I have decided to take a stall at the event. I can't pass on an opportunity to spread the good word about HypnoBirthing and also to browse the other lovely stalls that will be there - hopefully picking up a few Christmas presents at the same time!

My colleague, Nicky Abell-Francis from Zenchi Therapy will also be there to spread the word about baby massage.

It's at All Saints Church Hall, Vicarage Road, Hoole, Chester, CH5 3NZ and is open from 12.30-3.30pm.

Come along, support a great cause and get some early Christmas shopping done to boot.

Tracy xx

Indulgence Evening

Here's an opportunity to treat yourselves to a well earned night off and unwind in good company. You can treat yourself to a mini beauty treatment or purchase beauty and other products. There will also be stalls to give you inspiration for seasonal gifts.

The committee of the Garden Village Playgroup in Wrexham has organised a Ladies Indulgence Eveving on Monday 24th November 2008, 7.30pm - 10pm. It will be held at the Garden Village Institute, Kenyon Avenue, Wrexham, LL11 2SP.

Tickets are £5 and include a glass of wine or soft drink and cake (yum!). Profits in aid of Garden Village Playgroup (reg charity no. 1035133).

Tickets are available from the playgroup staff at the Young Peoples Centre during playgroup opening times (Mon-Fri 9.15-11.45am), from playgroup committee members, from Claire on 07931 383196 or from me at Cariad Hypnotherapy.

If you live in the area and feel like you need a treat then please do come along - the playgroup needs your support.

Tracy x

Flash Upon That Inward Eye

Yesterday I attended a breakfast meeting at Glyndwr University as part of Wrexham Business Week. It was called "Flash Upon That Inward Eye" and was facilitated by Jan Green of Wrexham Business School.

My knowledge of English poetry is sadly lacking and so I hadn't recognised the title of the session as coming from Wordsworth's "I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud/The Daffodils". So I learned something there for starters - and it caused me to go home and read the poem. I also had a nice hearty breakfast and met some interesting people.

The purpose of the session was to talk about creativity and to generate our own personal creativity profile. Jan brought a lot more out of the session that I had expected and I came away with several useful insights into myself (always useful!) and creativity in general.

I wanted to share with you a couple of those general points which I thought were interesting.

Myths about creativity

• The smarter you are the more creative you are - FALSE. Above a threshold of around an IQ of 120 there is no correlation between intelligence and creativity.
• The young are more creative than the old - FALSE. Research shows that it takes seven to ten years to build up a deep expertise in a given field - the kind of experience that enables you to perceive patterns or meaning that might not be visible to a novice. HOWEVER, some experts find it difficult to see or think outside established patterns and minds of newcomers are not contaminated by conventional thinking.
• Creativity is reserved for the few flamboyant risk takers - FALSE. A willingness to take calculated risks and the ability to think in untraditional ways do play a role in creativity but it doesn't mean you have to be markedly different to everyone else.
• Creativity is a solitary act - FALSE. A high percentage of the world's most important innovations are products of collaboration among groups of people with complementary skills.
• You can't manage creativity - TRUE & FALSE. A manager can create the conditions that make creativity more likely to occur.

Some useful tips for engaging your own personal creativity include:

• Look after yourself physically and mentally (meditate, relax, eat and drink healthily, take exercise).
• Persue the passion (whether it's work or a hobby).
• Go with your natural rhythms (fighting them will only staunch the flow of creativity).
• Create some space for yourself.
• Do something different for a change!

Thanks Jan for a thought provoking session and thanks also to the organisers and sponsors of Wrexham Business Week for making these events possible (and free!).

Namaste,
Tracy x

Autobiography

I've been carrying this piece of paper around with me in my handbag for 5 years. It's now tatty and dog-eared but it remains special to me.

Let me share the contents with you if I may......

Autobiography in Five Short Steps
by Portia Nelson

Chapter 1

I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost....
I am hopeless.
It isn't my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.

Chapter 2

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don't see it.
I fall in again.
I can't believe I'm in the same place
but it isn't my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.

Chapter 3

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it there.
I still fall in.
It's a habit.
My eyes are wide open,
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.

Chapter 4

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

Chapter 5

I walk down another street.

I was given this piece of paper (in considerably better condition that it is now) by a friend when I was going through a difficult period of my life. As I was reading it I could see that I had already reached Chapter 3 myself. Reading on to Chapter 4 made me smile and realise that walking around "the hole" was indeed was I needed to do.

But blow me, if there wasn't another chapter that I hadn't even considered as a possibility!

I could choose to not even walk down that street anymore. It sounds so simple now, perhaps, but at the time it was a complete and utter revelation to me.

I could choose to walk down another street....

I did.

And here I am now.

Happier and healthier as a result.

I hope that this little autobiography can help someone else to see that change (big change) is possible, sometimes an absolute necessity, if you are to get on with your life.

Namaste,

Tracy x