Springing into action
Ok it's official: winter is over, spring is here. Last month the blue tits in the garden were fluffed up in the wild warm wind and chirruping endlessly as they tried to get to the pine nuts I scattered. Personally, I think they were blaspheming at being trapped in a wind tunnel that puffs them into pom poms on the air and prevents descent to ground level. Frustrated at their thwarted aeronautical attempts to drop like deadweights from the branches (they're rather fat here in central London), they were squeaking away in the bushes. Occasionally one made a break for it and struggled valiantly, a blur of blue and yellow, until nature won and the little chap gave up and whizzed backwards slap bang back into his bush.
Not any more. The sun is out, the days are sunny and...the ants are here. I keep finding six legged scouts in odd places, searching out what food they can nick from the kitchen. Although no sign of them today. I'm worried. I think they have retreated and are regrouping. I may come home tonight to find the fruit bowl empty.
Getting what you want
I believe that you may get what you want in life if you keep it quiet and work away at things in secret. However, you are more likely to get what you want if you tell people. So, what do you want? Too shy to tell? Ok I'll go first:
I want...
* a fantastic free massage every day for the rest of my life (Hey, I'm just being honest here, stop laughing)
* to improve my drawing skills
* to transform my garden into paradise by acquiring (1) some plants (2) garden table and chairs
* for Postural Assessment to sell 300 copies between Dec 13th this year (when it is published) and Dec 31st this year when I get my royalty statement.
* to learn how to play great guitar
* A living space with a roof garden full of plants and plenty of space and the ability to let in lots of light, with areas to do my craft work and to write books, perhaps overlooking the Thames or on the edge of Hampstead.
* To have the ultimate Dream Team, a team of like minded souls supporting each other's dreams and celebrating with each other when these manifest.
There, I've told about 2,000 people. If I can do it, perhaps you can too? What do you want? Who can you tell? How quickly can you tell them? What might happen if your family, friends and colleagues all knew you wanted to move house? move country? change career? have another baby? become a canine masseuse? sell your artwork for money? write a book? paint your window frames pink? build a school? become a horticulturalist? train as an osteopath? set up your own business? make your own beauty products? run a farm? run a marathon? adopt 12 cats? adopt a child? spend three months in Costa Rica? spend three years studying physiotherapy? win Masterchef? win a local election? join mensa? join a circus? live in the country? live in the city?....
The Ultimate Wish List Edition
Are you curious about what other people wish for and whether anyone wants the same kinds of things as you? Wouldn't you just love to know what other therapists want to have, do and be? How about you email us your wishlist and Zoe and I will remove all names and mix everything up and publish the entire list in the next newsletter? It could be the Ultimate Wish List edition, a collection of therapists' hopes, dreams and desires. Will will make it if you will create it. (How's that for an offer?)
Professional Values and Behaviour
Ok, back to some therapy-related stuff. The Charered Society of Physiotherapists (CSP) is updating its Code of Members' Professional Values and Behaviour, attempting to answer questions such as, "is it ok for a physiotherapist appear on X Factor?" "may a physiotherapist endorse a product?" If you are working as a therapist in almost any capacity, whether it be massage, reflexology, sports therapy, or sports massage, you too will no doubt be a member of an organization that requires members to adhere to a a similar code. With changing times and opinions it's good to review these codes. Yet it is not always clear how these codes relate to actual practice. The four tenets of the CSP Code are (1) Behave ethically, (2) Take responsibility for your actions, (3) Strive to achieve excellence and (4) Deliver and effective service. Do you have a copy of the code to which you should adhere? Do you meet its requirements? Are there any aspects about which you are unclear? Reflecting on these kinds of questions contributes to Continuing Professional Development and may be documented and submitted as part of your ongoing learning.
Motivation to Try New Things
Where does motivation come from? Do we feel motivated because we want to move away from a negative situation, or because we want to move towards a positive one? I've noticed that when running workshops, therapists come with different motivations. Some want to learn a new skill of course, yet many come to meet other therapists and to network, or to improve their confidence, or simply to 'keep their hand in' at a skill they already have but may not have used for a while. Some are hoping to move on to more advanced courses.
Since the last newsletter I have been motivated to start learning guitar. I pluck away at the three strings I now 'know' trying to relax, maintain good posture, put my fingers in the correct positions, breathe, look ahead to what's coming next in the score. Last week my 11 year old son put his hand on my shoulder and said, "you're much better than I was after 2 lessons" and gave me the raised eyebrow look of encouragement parents give their children who are 3 bars short of having a tantrum. The dog heaved herself to her feet and quietly left the room. I put the instrument down sucked my sore fingers and went and made fruit kebabs. When you are frustrated at not being able to play a tune through without a single mistake its very satisfying to STAB pieces of apple, banana, grape, raspberry and blueberry onto a wooden skewer. Except that you can only really stab apples as the rest provides no resistance. So a handy tip if ever you need Fruit Kebab Relief Therapy.
Is there something new you would like to try? What motivates you to try it? What barriers prevent you from doing it? Can you remove any of those barriers? If not now, when?
Personal Progress Report
* On Thursday 7th of April I took and passed my 3rd kung fu exam and have moved up a rank. I had been training hard, four times a week in preparation, and rather relived when, standing sweating with my fellow wing chun brothers and sisters was informed I had passed. For safety, I'm having to remove some of my piercings in preparation for training at this new, higher rank. Oh my Goodness! Now I'm naked!!!
* I officially submitted my 5th book proposal, Treating Runners, to the publishers Human Kinetics. And now we wait.
* I had the photography shoot for the cover of Postural Assessment. Richard Lewis, an ex sports massage student (now training in osteopathy) very kindly volunteered to be the 'body' in the photograph and stood patiently whilst we shot photos of his back. Some of you reading this met Richard when he popped into a workshop I was teaching on Palpation Skills at the British School of Osteopathy in April. So when you see a copy of Postural Assessment you can say, "Hey! I know what that man looks like from the front!" To maintain his physique prior to the shoot Richard gave up eating sweets for a month. Thank you Richard. Obviously, anyone who can do that can certainly do a five year osteoapthy degree.
Too often we cite our failings and pay less attention to our successes. What have you achieved in the last for weeks?
Getting what you focus on
Many of you know that I believe in metaphysics - that you get what you focus on, that like attracts like. Life frequently finds ways to help me support this belief. For example, yesterday I was enjoying a long walk home from the supermarket, trundling behind me a shopping trolley full of food and thinking how nice all the cast iron railings were in the fronts of the large houses I was walking past. I noticed that whilst some of the railings looked original, they were probably new because they had definition to their fleur de lis and spear-shaped tops and were not all gunged up with years and years of that thick black railing paint.
As I walked, I wondered who made all these new railings and if they had the original molds or had made copies of the old railings, and I thought what an interesting job it must be to be asked to recast or sand blast decorative ironwork. I stood outside one house, abandoned by the looks of things, the railings of which were leaning outwards and their 1930s pastel green/turquoise paint flaked off and rusting, and I wondered what was going to happen to the railings when eventually the house was sold and the new owners had to decide what to do about their ironwork.
All the way home and in the evening I took pleasure in thinking that there are many unusual jobs in the world, and making casts from old iron railings was probably one of them. It was comforting also to reflect on the fact that some people still wanted to preserve these old designs and take pains to clean up and repair this kind of metalwork.
Then the strangest thing: the very next day amongst the post I found a catalogue addressed to JJ Engineering. The first thing was that it was my initials (Jane Johnson). Secondly there has never been a JJ Engineering at this address, ever. Thirdly, the catalogue was from James Hoyle & Son, an 'architectural foundry' detailing the pages and pages of cast iron railings they supply. I hadn't told anyone my thoughts about the railings, have never received this catalogue before, and as far as I am aware, nor have any of my neighbours. So this is yet another 'proof' for me that the universe gives you what you focus on.
How about we all try an experiment? How about, you choose something you want to achieve, or something you want to have or to happen, and to focus on it for a month, thinking about it, writing about it, talking about it. Really put your focus on it. Shall we see what happens?
Seeing clearly now
Talking of seeing things, I finally got round to ordering my new glasses. Unsurprisingly, the only free NHS glasses in the shop were the large rimmed mock tortoiseshell a la Tootsie pair that really suit women with hair the colour of hyacinths. Or, a 'funky' pair (the salesman assures me) in boiled sweet lime green or boiled sweet red only available in one size: pygmy. I ended up buying a not too bad pair in black that would have been better if they'd had little wings at the top corners so I can practice my 1950s diva look, but apparently Ronald Brown opticians in Kentish Town Road have no demand for 'fashion' spectacles. Now that I can see clearly and the weather has warmed I'm feeling a little more springy (apart from my fingertips which cannot feel anything at all due to zealous guitar practice). Is there something you've been putting off that you could get sorted this month?
Things We Think
You'd Like
// Sue Carberry sent us in a tip for a new massage tool Check it out! Sue says, "It’s fab for working on the body through the towel and through clothes. It can get a bit slippy when covered in oil, but, so far it shows great promise."
// 16th Annual Congress of the European College of Sport Science. Liverpool 6-9th July 2011. Theme is 'New Horizons in Sports Sciences'.
// 13th European Congress of Sports Psychology, Madeira, 12th-17th July. This year's theme is 'Sport & Exercise Psychology: Human Performance, Wellbeing and Health.'
// 28th June Soft Tissue Release (STR)
// 29th June Massage in Hospitals
// 30th June Muscle Energy Technique (MET)
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