07/07/2010 by Cathy.

Have a look at this article seen on Yahoo News:

 http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20100706/thl-rudeness-increases-mistakes-risk-d831572.html

Studies are indicating that our performance in various tasks is impaired if someone has been rude to us beforehand, even mildly rude. What’s more, even witnessing this rudeness to someone else can impair our performance!

Interesting.

The article goes on to say ‘ “This reaction is probably caused by the emotional arousal caused by the rudeness, which resulted in a switchover of cognitive capacity to deal with the required emotional processing, or it may, more simply, be caused by distraction,” Prof Flin said. ‘

This completely rings true. We have a saying that ‘Strong emotion makes us stupid’, and this is because once the emotional brain becomes aroused, the connections to the rational, cognitive part of our brain are obstructed. So how often, for example, do we go into an interview or exam and completely forget everything we know, and we know that we know!

Our minds are pattern matching machines. For some of us the act of walking into an exam or interview is matched to ‘danger’ by our emotional brain, initiating the ‘fight or flight’ response that we are all aware of, switching off our cognitive capacity.

So what can we do?

There are a couple of little tricks that can really help in these situations.

Firstly, did you know that just by going into peripheral vision, we can no longer panic? Try it! Pick a spot to look at on the wall. Remain looking at the spot and start to see how much more either side of the spot you can see, as your eyes de-focus.

Secondly, try a technique called 7/11 breathing. Breathe slowly and deeply from the diaphragm (which means keeping your shoulders and chest still, while your tummy goes in and out). Take a long breath in (for a count of 7), followed by an even longer breath out (for a count of 11), really drawing out that breath out. This causes a physiological response which, after just a few minutes, cannot help but relax you.

I hope you try these out.

For more information on how to get rid of these fears for good, you can email me on

cathy@cathysimmons.co.uk. Full contact details on http://www.cathysimmons.co.uk

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07/02/2010 by Cathy.

I have just seen this article on Patrick Holford’s website, explaining the link between high levels of homocysteine and the risk of developing forms of dementia. The implication is that we can reduce our risk by increasing our daily intake of B vitamins and folic acid.

I would be interested in other people’s opinion of this.

http://www.patrickholford.com/index.php/blog/blogarticle/674/?utm_source=Eletter+news+5+Feb&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=E+news+4+Feb+to+all&utm_content=jrhoward188%40gmail.com

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23/10/2009 by Cathy.

“From 2002 to 2006, the number of drugs that were axed after Phase-II clinical trials (volunteer trials) increased by 20% because the drugs couldn’t beat the placebos they were compared against. More recently, in 2008, a new gene therapy for Parkinson’s disease failed against the placebo. Similarly, in March 2009, Eli Lilly withdrew a new drug for schizophrenia because the placebo effect was double that expected. Also in March 2009, Osiris Therapeutics’ new drug for Crohn’s disease was also withdrawn due to a high placebo effect.
What is going on? ” - David R Hamilton PhD - October 2009

You can read the whole article from David’s October newsletter here.

If you like this, then I would stongly recommend his books. Backed by cited research he gives a real insight into the workings of the mind and the mind-body link.

How Your Mind Can Heal Your Body
It’s the Thought That Counts: Why Mind Over Matter Really Works

Both are a great read

http://www.cathysimmons.co.uk

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17/06/2009 by Cathy.

Psychologist Oliver James reveals how a revolutionary new way of treating dementia brings amazing benefits for patients and carers alike - and it all comes down to three simple rules

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/aug/02/oliver.james.dementia

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15/06/2009 by Cathy.

Here is a really interesting site which explores the science behind hypnosis. The Research section is particularly interesting.

http://www.hypnosisandsuggestion.org/

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