For a long time very few people really took the idea of self hypnosis very seriously, although meditation and relaxation were always popular. But as more people have come to realise that self hypnosis is simply a form of deep relaxation, self hypnosis downloads have rocketed.

Just as you may well have gone out to purchase a deep relaxation CD in the past, ideal for unwinding at the end of a stressful day, today you can choose from a range of self hypnosis MP3s, download them immediately, and then either play them through your hi-fi, transfer them onto your MP3 player, and listen to them wherever, and whenever it suits you.

Guided mediation downloads and self hypnosis downloads are now becoming available for a number of purposes, offering benefits as diverse as simply alleviating stress, depression and anxiety through meditation and relaxation to helping stick to a diet, quit smoking or even sleep better.

There are self hypnosis MP3s aimed at helping to improve memory, improve concentration and improve confidence, and a deep relaxation CD is the best way to relax before a stressful experience such as taking a flight, attending an interview or preparing for an exam.

For some people the words that worry them are ’self hypnosis’, and there are even some people who worry about things such as whether they’ll be able to wake up afterwards, and what the long term effects might be. It’s important to understand that not only is hypnosis a very real phenomenon, it’s a very natural one, and in fact self hypnosis is so normal that all of us experience it every day.

If you’ve ever been sitting at work, at home or on the bus (even driving!) and begun to daydream, eventually ‘coming to’ suddenly as you become conscious of your surroundings again, then that was a form of self hypnosis. You were fully awake, completely conscious and able to wake up whenever you liked. The fact is that you feel so relaxed and happy, you didn’t want to.

Self hypnosis downloads are the perfect way to help make a real difference to your life, whatever it is you need that little extra help with. Self hypnosis MP3s are now the single most convenient and affordable way to achieve the things you want to.

Drugs, including alcohol, affect the parts of the brain that control pleasure, motivation, emotion, and memory, these changes can lead to the diseases of alcohol addiction and drug addiction. Using these drugs repeatedly over a period of time changes brain structure and function in fundamental and long-lasting ways and these changes can persist long after a person stops using the substances concerned. However, with treatment and prolonged abstinence, some of the brain changes caused by specific drugs may be reversible, which is one reason why effective addiction treatment is essential.

Symptoms of addiction include:

• Tolerance – a resistance to the effects of alcohol or other drugs that is developed over a period of time. Development of tolerance means that a user will inevitably find themselves having to drink more or take a higher dose of a drug to achieve the same feeling.
• Withdrawal – a painful or unpleasant physical response when the substance is withheld. An addict’s body will ‘crave’ the substance to which they have become addicted.
• Denial – many people with this illness will deny that they are addicted. Addicts often emphasise that they enjoy drinking or taking other drugs to deflect attention from their primary addiction.

Addiction inevitably grows more serious over time. Substance use disorders follow a recognised path. This progression can be measured by the amount, frequency and context of a person’s substance use. As a person’s illness deepens, they need more of the alcohol or other drugs. In addition, they may use more often and in situations they never imagined when they first began to drink or take drugs. The addiction becomes progressively harder to treat and the related health problems become increasingly severe. As the illness deepens it becomes even more vital that the addict seeks specialist help from one of the numerous drug rehab and alcohol rehab clinics.

Effective treatment at an addiction clinic will be tailored to the individual’s needs, but will commonly include drug detox and alcohol detox programmes as a first step in conjunction with all of the necessary counselling and medical support necessary to ensure that the person is given the best possible chance of recovery.

Recovering addicts can experience a lack of control and return to their substance use at some point in their recovery process. This faltering is very common among people with the most chronic disorders and is called relapse. To non-addicts people, relapse is one of the most difficult to understand aspects of addiction and the recovery process. However, it is just another part of a complex and destructive illness that affects so many people.

Second hand smoke

Second Hand Smoke and Cancer

The U.S. Environment Protection Agency (EPA) has classified second hand smoke as a Group A carcinogen.
Cancers linked to passive smoking include:

• Lung cancer – 3000 non-smokers die every year from lung cancer caused by ETS
• Nasal sinus cavity cancer
• Cervical Cancer
• Breast cancer
• Bladder cancer

Some chemical compounds found in smoke only become carcinogenic after they’ve come into contact with certain enzymes found in many of the tissues of the human body.
The Risks of Second Hand Smoke to a Child

• Low birth weight for gestational age
• Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)- children whose mothers smoked during pregnancy have an increased risk of SIDS.
• The EPA estimates that passive smoking is responsible for between 150,000 and 300,000 of these infections in children under 18 months annually
• Asthma – According to the EPA, between 200,000 and 1,000,000 kids with asthma have their condition worsened by second hand smoke every year. Also, passive smoking may also be responsible for thousands of new cases of asthma every year
• Chronic respiratory symptoms such as cough and wheezing may be attributed to second hand smoke.
• Children who breathe in second hand smoke are more likely to suffer from dental cavities, eye and nose irritation, and irritability
• Middle ear infections – exposure to ETS causes build-up of fluid in the middle ear, resulting in 700,000 to 1.6 million physician office visits yearly

How Second Hand Smoke Can Affect the Heart

Heart disease mortality – an estimated 35,000 to 62,000 deaths are caused from heart disease in people who are not current smokers, but who are exposed to ETS

• Acute and chronic coronary heart disease
• Passive smoking has been linked to the narrowing of the carotid arteries, which carry blood to the brain
• Exposure to second hand smoke hastens hardening of the arteries, a condition known as arthrosclerosis
• Continual exposure to ETS has been shown to nearly double the chance of heart attack

Second Hand Smoke – Worse Than We Thought
Second hand smoke is serious business, and should be a concern for anyone who breathes it in. Non-smokers inhaling second hand smoke share some of the health risks smokers face. But smokers do face the worst of it – the risks of smoking are compounded by breathing the smoke in for a second time.

Don’t underestimate the dangers of ETS. While second hand smoke may not kill as many people as smoking does, it is toxic and claims thousands of lives every year around the world.

To help quit smoking, visit www.quitsmokingcigaretteguide.com for more information.

Geopathic stress is natural radiation from the Earth that comes to the surface, but is altered along the way by electromagnetic fields caused by underground water, collections of certain minerals or fault lines. This radiation can be responsible for conditions ranging from infertility, cancer, migraines, joint pain, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and insomnia. The World Health Organisation also recognises Sick Building Syndrome is a result of geopathic stress.

Practitioners are available that can rid buildings of this radiation, or alter the building or its contents in such a way that the radiation is longer an issue. One such method is ‘dowsing’. In dowsing, a dowser uses tools and intuition to seek something (for example a water source, in ‘water dowsing’) – in this instance, the unconscious mind seeks the radiation that is infiltrating a building or room. Once the streams of radiation are found, methods are used to rid the radiation or move it, or alter the room or building so that the geopathic stress is no longer an issue. For example, if someone is suffering from insomnia, a dowser locates any geopathic stress and may find that the bed is lying on a geopathic stress line. By simply moving the bed, the sufferer will find they not only sleep better, but they have increased energy levels and become headache free. Another method that can be used in healing sick buildings utilises channelled energy to eliminate the negative energy (this can also be used on a person). This is known as ‘vortex healing’.

Another healing method is the ‘Alexander Technique‘. This is used to treat people, usually suffering from physical pain and/or stress caused by poor posture. By gaining awareness of how we stand, walk, sit and move in general, we can prevent issues that may arise as a result of poor habits, such as slouching. With this technique, the patient is taught to ‘treat themselves’ by monitoring their posture with a view to curing and preventing problems caused by it. It has been said that after learning how to use this method, patients not only find their pains have decreased (or disappeared), their overall posture is improved and they find more energy and suppleness. This then extrapolates to all areas of their lives.

These healing properties – the Alexander Technique, dowsing and vortex healing – can all work together to help heal sick minds, bodies and buildings. In the fast-paced world we live in today, we need all the help we can get!

Aquarius healthcare are specialists in providing support for those seeking private mental health treatment. They work alongside work alongside a number of excellent clinics that are offer programmes covering depression treatment, stress treatment, bipolar treatment and schizophrenia treatment.

Whilst primary mental health care is often provided by your GP, consultant or local healthcare practitioner, it has been shown that intensive in-patient support in a specialist clinic is by far the most effective treatment model. Only through continuous observation and therapy can the deep-rooted cause of most mental disorders be discovered and resolved. Someone suffering from depression, stress, or other low-level mental health problem will benefit greatly from being away from home and work; typical environments where these problems initially develop.

The team at Aquarius Healthcare has a thorough understanding of the problems associated with mental disorders as well as the most suitable clinics available for you to choose from. They offer full assessments with an appropriate psychiatrist who will recommend the best way forward for you or your loved one. The staff are discreet and understanding and will guide you through the whole process.

Steps2Rehab aim to provide the best private alcohol rehab and drug rehab treatment options available, whatever the individual’s circumstances. They offer free, impartial advice that gets the right help for each person and sets them on the road to a full and healthy recovery.

In-patient alcohol rehabilitation and drug rehabilitation are generally accepted to be the most effective ways to overcome drug addictions and alcohol dependency. A residential alcohol and drug rehab can offer everything needed to get lives back on track, including detox, therapy, life skills, accommodation, catering and complementary therapies. Different rehabilitation clinics offer a variety of treatment programmes that are individually tailored to ensure patients get the best possible treatment for their personal circumstances.

Detoxification (or detox) is primarily the first step towards recovery. As part of a continuing therapy, the alcohol detox and drugs detox process works effectively to remove the substance painlessly from the system in a medically monitored environment. However, undertaken in an unsupervised environment, an alcohol detox and drug detox can also be very dangerous.

Alcohol detox and drug detox alone is unlikely to result in long-term recovery. This is because important psychological work must be completed to help the individual understand their drug addiction or alcohol abuse issues and develop strategies to avoid future relapse. Whilst detox is vital for many individuals, it is not always a necessary step in order to maintain a long-term recovery. In-patient rehab is the crucial element in the overall drug treatment and alcohol treatment process. Steps2Rehab can help by offering free advice and facts about a variety of drug rehab and alcohol rehab clinics both in the UK and overseas, ensuring that the most appropriate route to recovery is chosen.

Pole performance is one of the only forms of exercise which uses every muscle group during a work-out. When done properly it increases strength, flexibility, muscle tone and overall fitness whilst the dance aspect improves self confidence and poise.

The Alturnative Studio in Lincoln run pole dancing lessons for fitness and fun as well as group parties at their studio in Lincoln City Centre. We cater for all age groups.

Aren’t Pole Classes only for 18 year old female dancers?!

The weekly pole classes are attended by a wide variety of students. The age range in our current classes is from 16 to 56 with the average student being in their mid to late 20’s. They come from all walks of life including professionals, students, mothers and new mothers, they all want to work out in a supportive environment which aims to raise their confidence as well as increase their fitness. Anyone is welcome to join in the courses, big or small, old or young it makes no difference and as I’ve learnt from experience in the industry, attraction and sexiness are not based on looks alone.

The classes run in the Lincoln studio on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings with a maximum of 10 students per class. The studio is also available for private lessons and private hire at other times as well as party bookings on weekends.

Our Lincoln Pole Dancing Classes are held in the new The Alturnative Studio which is located within The Terrace just behind the Theatre Royal Lincoln. The new studio is gradually being improved but allows us access 24/7

The Clifton Clinic

Why are we different?

Well, we are different because we offer clients the unique opportunity to recover from life-destroying addiction in a private and confidential environment with highly-qualified, compassionate staff. At The Clifton Clinic you have your own space and you will be given a bespoke treatment programme matched to your specific needs – you will not be treated like just another member of a group.

At The Clifton Clinic we facilitate internal change enabling the client to respond more appropriately to their circumstances. Our clients are constantly supervised and supported whilst given the opportunity to deal with life and the challenges it brings. For instance, they have to shop for and cook some of their own meals. Our research has shown that if clients can learn to do this effectively whilst in treatment they have a much higher chance of maintaining their sobriety when they leave treatment.

If you believe that you, or one of your loved ones, has a problem with alcohol or drug addiction then The Clifton Clinic has the solution and you should be talking to us.

If you’re not really sure about whether you have a problem you might like to read our article – “Am I an Alcoholic or Addict?” for further information.

Medical Writing

Anybody with a love for science and the skills to place complex data into words are able to enter the world of medical communication and become a Medical Writer. The key to impressive medical writing is to pen the information from a diversity of selective information to versatile audiences. For instance, if a drug has completed its last set of tests and is being produced for selling; then a range of literature needs to be brought out for a variety of people including doctors, chemists, nurses, patients and bodies such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Often but not always, PhD. graduates have high logical acquisitions that they can put to paper. Nevertheless, minimal qualification will be an academic degree in a bioscience discipline and potentially seconded by a higher degree such as an MSc. The best way to get into this industry is to join a Clinical Research organization (CRO) that will coach you in Regulatory Medical Writing after which you can become a prominent member and work independently and even lead your own squad of scientific writers. Then there is a possibility of becoming a freelance medical writer where you can utilize your contacts within the pharmaceutical companies to obtain contracts.

Some of the many works created by medical writers include;

Findings of clinical research, Documentation and findings of research for regulatory bodies, Drug marketing literature and brochures, Statement of Process (SOPs), Analysis of statistical data, Scientific research publications, Abstracts for submission to journals/conferences, Advertisement and marketing for products, Web content writing, Educational materials, Posters for presentation, Brochures, Protocols, Case reports, Reviews, Editing and proof reading prewritten materials, Press releases, Newsletters, Magazine articles, Policy statement etc.

Tip #1 You need a good reason to quit.  Simply deciding to quit because the sky is blue is not a sufficient reason.  The need to quit smoking is obvious, but the desire to quit needs to come from inside in order for the process to be successful.

Tip #2  Look for small rewards that you can give yourself as you make progress.  You are not likely to just quit cold turkey with no complications.  Set up small rewards that will help you to want to make progress towards ultimately quitting.  This can be a great motivation to keep you on target.

Tip #3  Plan out your quitting strategy.  Decide how you want to try to quit and stick to it.  Set a specific amount of time for your plan.  If after a time, say six weeks you have not quit, work on a new plan.  This will allow ample time to try each method, while still giving yourself flexibility to try something else.

Tip #4  Work to overcome your struggles.  If you are smoking due to stressful things in your life, you need to deal with the stress before you can successfully quit.  Regardless of the reason why you are smoking, it needs to be dealt with in able to quit for good.

Tip #5  Set up a punishment for yourself.  For example, if you generally stop at Starbucks each day for a coffee you might consider skipping that on days when you have fallen short of your goals for smoking.  Whatever punishment you select, make sure it is something that you care about.

Tip #6  Seek out help from your friends and family.  You need support as you are trying to quit, and this will help you to ensure that you are not alone in the entire process.

Tip #7  Look for someone to quit with you.  If you are entirely on your own, you are going to be much more likely to slip back into smoking.  If someone is working with you and holding you accountable, you are more likely to struggle to succeed.  Working to quit smoking is not easy, but hard tasks are much easier to accomplish with a partner.

Tip #8  Ensure you are getting plenty of sleep.  The job of quitting smoking is quite difficult.  If you are not getting the rest you need, you are much more likely to be cranky, upset and angry with the world.  This is can be counterproductive to your goal of quitting smoking for good.

Tip #9  Aim to quit for good.  This might seem a bit strange, but if you are just planning to quit for a weekend you are not going to put much effort into the process.  If you are planning to quit for good, a lot more time and effort is going to go into the process as well as your plan to quit.

Tip #10  Look for ways to take your mind off cigarettes.  If you are always thinking about cigarettes, you may find that you are much more tempted to smoke.  Reading a book, exercising, talking on the phone, surfing the internet and even cooking are all great ways to occupy your mind and keep from thinking about when your last cigarette was.