Christmas Message from Dr Elizabeth Thompson
The ‘busy’ irony
I don’t know about you, but time seems to speed up for me as we approach the end of the year!
Sometimes, just thinking about getting everything done before Christmas can feel overwhelming. But even if we’re not the ones piling on the pressure, we can be the ones to take the pressure off ourselves! I do recognise that starting afresh in January can feel like a relief, but the key is to make it a positive, open and creative response rather than a fear-driven, self-flagellating, closed one.
And of course my message to you would be incomplete without mentioning that we can each dip into our own Integrative Healthcare toolbox and pull out a host of things that can really help.
When we feel like we have NO time, the thing that carves out some time and space is to sit and DO NOTHING, aka a few moments of mindfulness. But we’re not doing nothing are we? We’re slowing down our brainwaves, calming our vagus nerve, improving the flow of oxygen to our organs, reducing blood pressure, soothing our gut…physiological actions that directly impact our emotional response (and immune response!). Cutting out the cortisol dump gives space for the happy hormones to fire up. It really is a zero sum game.
When we pause, we RESTORE, REFLECT and RECONNECT to self and to others.
And tomorrow is Winter Solstice!
Here’s an excerpt from a poem I particularly like, The Shortest Day – by Susan Cooper.
So the shortest day came, and the year died,
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world
Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.
Wishing you a peaceful and joyful Christmas and luminous transition into next year. 2023 is going to be a BIG and BRIGHT year for NCIM…and we hope it will be for you too!
With warm regards,
Elizabeth
Dr. Elizabeth Thompson, CEO & Holistic Doctor, NCIM