Halloween

October is a wonderful month with both the Jazz and Dragon of Shandon festivals in Cork city. We have a midterm break from college and school, but best of all, we have Halloween!

I find it fascinating that Halloween originated in Ireland. Ancient Celts celebrated the festival of Samhain when it was believed that the souls of the dead returned to Earth. Druids lit sacred bonfires, wild costumes were worn, and the Celtic deities were appeased with offerings. It was a festival of great fortune-telling and I’d bet there wasn’t a pumpkin in sight!

Perhaps you might select a local event this month, head out, and get involved. Connection is a vital element of feeling good about ourselves. Conversely, loneliness can have a profoundly negative impact on our health and well-being. Try to connect with others and embrace the fun aspect of October.

“The time to relax is when you don’t have time for it.” (Jim Goodwin / Sydney J. Harris)

At work, I often ask, ‘how do you relax?’. People respond that they watch television, lie on the sofa or have a glass of wine. Whilst these activities are pleasant, they’re not relaxation skills. When we are healthy, we rarely pay attention to our breathing. However, controlling the pace of our breath is itself a relaxation skill. When we master breath control, we are better equipped to manage our worried or stressed reactions.

Humans encounter stressful situations. We cannot control the future or prevent unpleasant events, but we can learn how to relax our bodies and minds with diaphragmatic breathing. Because we differ, we relax in different ways. We owe it to ourselves to discover which relaxation skills best suit us as individuals, then practice and hone our favourite skills.

Diaphragmatic breathing can help improve focus and is used by singers, divers, and athletes
to improve lung capacity. Breathing too quickly can make us feel dizzy or even a little anxious. Taking slow, regular breaths can help us control worried or stressed thoughts and anxious feelings, and help us feel more relaxed and in control.

To control your breathing, place one hand on your chest and the other on your tummy. Inhale slowly through your nose, and imagine your breath is filling your abdomen like a balloon. The hand on your tummy moves. Some pause for a couple of seconds before breathing out slowly (I exhale through my mouth). The hand on your tummy moves as you exhale. The hand on your chest remains still. (This is where practice is required). Repeat this ten times twice per day. You don’t need to use your hands once you master diaphragmatic breathing. You can use this relaxation skill anywhere, anytime.

You’re breathing into your lungs while consciously engaging your diaphragm, focusing on your breath while reducing physical symptoms of anxiety.

This Halloween, enjoy doing something different, eating barmbrack, playing snap apple or apple bobbing, going trick or treating and practising your diaphragmatic breathing!

www.carolinecrotty.ie

Worry & Stress

Worry and Stress

Everyone gets worried from time to time but if your thinking keeps spiralling out of control and into chronic worrying it may be time to seek help. Worry and stress can have different symptoms that affect both our bodies and our minds.

Do you find that you:

Jump to negative conclusions.

Spend time worrying or feel distracted at work or at home.

Try to predict the future but the outcome is never good. For example someone at work mentions that the boss wants to see you and you immediately think “I’m in big trouble” or “I’m going to be fired”.

Think the worst? For example a family member is late home and you think he/she might be involved in a car crash.

Have a mind like a washing machine on spin-cycle with oodles of different thoughts, worries and ideas and you just can’t get them to stop.

Have a feeling of dread or unease and you don’t know why.

Have difficulty falling asleep at night or, once asleep, you wake in the middle of the night and spend hours trying to get back to sleep.

Feel tension in your shoulders, or get headaches or regularly get an upset tummy.

Cry or become annoyed very easily.

Have a ‘tight’ feeling in your chest.

Just not feel like yourself.

Solution

Therapy helps you to recognise your unique individual signs and symptoms of worry and stress and it teaches you how to regain control and stop yourself from worrying about things over which you have no control.

What Caroline Crotty can do for you

I can help you to understand what is happening for you physically and emotionally and help you to learn how to cope and to relax. By learning how to regain control your mind and thoughts, you learn how to manage the worry and stress and ultimately control what is going on in your mind – so that if you have a negative thought you can quickly stop it and change it to a more logical and rational thought. After therapy you will sleep better, feel more positive and confident because you will be in control.