Freedom from M.E.
Supporting you in your journey to recovery...
Issue 9, January 2009
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| Quote of the Month |
"There is more to life than increasing its speed."
Mahatma Ghandi
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You're receiving this newsletter because you joined our mailing list or signed up to the Interactive section of www.FreedomFromME.co.uk
To change your subscription please follow the link at the end of this email.
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Welcome to our January 2009 newsletter...
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Dear reader,
Happy New Year and I hope that 2009 is
already shaping up to be a year of opportunity and change for you. We are all hitting the road running this end,
with January an extremely busy month. We
have our sponsored firewalk event on Saturday 17th, the second ever
Conscious Transformation at the end of the month, and we're also launching a
very exciting new option around our training courses. There is a lot going on!
We also thought that it would be nice to
give you a teaser of some of the new projects we have lined up for 2009... they
include: -
A series of talks with Anna and
myself visiting a number of cities around the UK. Already being scheduled are Manchester, Brighton, Bristol and London, and if you'd like to get involved in helping organise in your
area, please do get in touch
- A Secrets to Recovery book,
based on some of the most popular recovery stories, with all proceeds going to
The Optimum Health Clinic Foundation
- A sponsored walk climbing
Snowdon, again with all proceeds going to the Foundation, and a great
opportunity for staff, patients and their families to spend time together in a
fun and adventurous way
- The second edition of "WHY ME?"
which I'm currently writing updates for by getting myself into the office two
hours early each day (don't you just love New Year's resolutions!)
- Significant updates and
developments to all of our websites, including a private patients' section
Plus, a lot
more...
As always, we welcome input for any ideas
you might have, and are always grateful for help with getting new projects off
the ground, so please do contact us.
In the meantime, if you've ever considered
becoming a practitioner and wondered how more in-depth training in the
psychology side of the clinic might help and support your healing path, please
do visit www.TheOptimumHealthClinic.com/training
where we have a new option for patients of the clinic which includes the option
to pay in instalments, and also specifically using the first year of the course
to work on their own recovery. The next
course does start quite soon, so please do contact us ASAP if you are
interested in finding out more.
And, as mentioned, Conscious Transformation is
running in a few weeks. You may be aware
that on Conscious Transformation, as a metaphor for creating change and
breakthrough old limitations, we give delegates the opportunity karate chop a
piece of wood in half. You can see some
great video footage of this at the last seminar at www.ConsciousTransformation.co.uk
with the editing and music all provided by Steve our Audio/Visual guy who is
also a patient at the clinic.
Have a great month!
Alex (Anna, and Niki)
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| This month on Secrets to Recovery - Message from Lois
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Happy New Year everyone!
We finished 2008 in style on Secrets to Recovery, with two excellent calls in December that are recommended listening for all new members. In particular the call on the Helper Type, as part of our series on the M.E. subtypes, as laid out in M.E. in the 21st Century, will be relevant and useful for many people.
Coming up in January we have the following calls:
 January 6th - Transformation in 2009
At
the start of 2008, Alex taught a hugely popular teleseminar on
how to get the best of ourselves in 2008. For the start of
2009, Alex follows on from this call, using some of the
new material developed for the seminar Conscious Transformation. He
helps members to truly make sure that 2009 is a their
best year yet, not just on their path to recovery, but in their
life as a whole beyond M.E.
 January 20th - The Basics of Nutrition and M.E.
For
this call, Alex will be talking to Niki Gratrix, Director of Nutrition
at the clinic, about the core principles of nutrition and M.E. Niki
will be helping members to identify and prioritize the key fundamentals
of dietary changes that can help patients on their road to recovery.
Dispelling the myths from the facts, this is a key session for
both those new to nutrition and M.E. and those that have done a
lot of work. Topics to be covered include the reality of
vegetarianism and M.E., the importance of the energy properties
of food, the role of food intolerances, and the truth about how
restrictive a diet you should follow.
To find out more about joining Secrets to Recovery, just visit the website at www.SecretsToRecovery.com and if you have any questions please do e-mail me.
 Lois Thorpe,
Co-ordinator of Secrets to Recovery
lois@TheOptimumHealthClinic.com
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The Optimum Health Clinic Foundation
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 There are still a few places left for our
sponsored firewalk on 17th January, so please do contact lisa@TheOptimumHealthClinic.com
if you are interested in finding out more and joining us for this amazing
experience. Details can be found at www.OptimumHealthFoundation.com
With the Foundation now set up and just
awaiting charitable status, we are now getting to work on some of the projects
we want to fund and support this year, so please watch this space for
information. We are also pleased to
welcome aboard Gill Jacobs as a trustee.
Gill has been huge supporter of the clinic since day one, and is a well
known health writer, publishing books such as "Beat Candida Through Diet" and
"Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Comprehensive Guide." Gill was also a trustee of Action for M.E.
for over ten years.
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Optimum Health Community
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 www.OptimumHealthCommunity.com
continues to go from strength to strength, with nearly 150 members now from all
over the world, and the number of blogs, posts and comments building by the
day. Some of the most popular over the
last month have been this thread discussion on meditation and this thread around members favourite
inspirational and educational books.
Remember, it's all completely free, so if
you haven't already, please do go and create your profile now and get involved.
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5
Steps to Staying Inspired in 2009 - Alex Howard
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Staying motivated and inspired on the
healing journey isn't always easy.
Especially on those days when it feels like we aren't moving forwards
and nothing is working. Here are five
short tips to help you stay on track over the coming year and to make 2009 the
year that things really transform.
1. Have a clear plan
Having a really
clear action plan of what you need to be doing and when, with a clear system
for reviewing progress and adjusting things is essential. Especially on those days where we feel like
things aren't moving forwards, having a plan to fall back on and that we
believe in means we can trust that things will turn around.
2. A reason to change
Of course when
we are ill we want things to change.
However, staying focused on the things we want to do when we have
recovered and reminding ourselves of how different life will feel, is a lot
more powerful than just hating where we are.
The pain of where we are will motivate us only so far, but the
excitement of where we will be is much more powerful. If we have been ill for a long time, it's
sometimes hard to remember what it's like to be well, but doing things to help
this, like visualising it inside of our minds can make a real difference.
3. Inspirational stories
Hearing others'
stories of recovery and change can be a huge inspiration. Surrounding yourself with others that have
been there and turned things around really helps to connect into this spirit in
yourself. It's for this reason that we
set up Secrets to Recovery. Also,
seeking out inspirational books, not just by people that have recovered from
M.E., but also who have overcome the odds in life generally, be it with other
health issues, in business, physical challenges and so on.
4. A strong support
network
Having the
support of family and friends can make a massive difference, especially on days
when you are losing faith. If you are
not lucky enough to have family and friends who are able to understand your
situation, or are looking for support from people that really understand, we
really recommend you use our community website, www.OptimumHealthCommunity.com
which is completely free.
5. Letting go, and
allowing things to happen
Some days, the
best thing you can do is give up, let go, and stop trying to change
things. And if possible, veg out, watch
some crap television, soak in the bath and generally allow yourself to be
miserable. It's obviously important that
this doesn't become a habit, but sometimes allowing ourselves just to give into
our feelings is the best way through them.
And, remember, above all else, inspiration
is something you can do something to get, not just wait for it to hit you!
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Product of the Month
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As mentioned above, we have a new option for patients of the clinic who want to sign up for our practitioner training course, where they can choose to pay in instalments and receive lots of great bonuses. The next course is starting very soon, so do get in touch if you would like more information.
Further details can be found at www.TheOptimumHealthClinic.com/training
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And finally...
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Thanks for reading, from everyone at the clinic, we wish you a very happy, healthy and successful 2009 and look forward to catching up with you next month!
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| Warm wishes,
The Optimum Health Clinic Team
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