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Next meeting July 5th at the Day Hospital, Berwick Infirmary from 7.00pm 9.00pm Annual walk with the Walking for Health Group ***** Our speaker for the June meeting was Alex Spence. Alex is a teacher of Butayko, which is a balanced breathing group of exercises, and can relieve/cure many problems, if done properly. It can also boost energy, improve sleep patterns and improve general well being. It was devised by a Professor Butayko who was a soldier serving during the war as a mechanic, but after the war he became a Hospital Doctor and more and more realised that different illnesses had specific breathing patterns. After studying these patterns over a number of years he created this programme to reverse the effects Alex gave a brief history of his life. He grew up and still lives in the Ladykirk area. His own description of his childhood and teenager years lead you to think that he was what they called a ‘sickly child’, with asthma and eczema thrown in for good measure. He became interested in Butayko in 1998 after seeing it on the TV programme QED, and so, after making protracted enquiries about it, in 2002 he attended a one week’s course on the subject, in Edinburgh. The teacher on this occasion came from Jesmond. After putting into practice what he had been taught, he quickly realised the benefits he was achieving and the vast improvement in his own overall health, he decided to take it further, and learn enough to qualify as a teacher of the subject. This took a little longer to arrange, but eventually he went to Australia, the home of Butayko, where under supervision, he studied the subject deeper, before returning to this country a qualified teacher. Alex commenced his talk by getting all present to raise a hand, and to lower it only when an illness or set of symptoms which Alex read from a list was read out applied to that particular person.. He continued to read the list until everyone had taken their hand down. He did admit later that he had only got a bout ½ way through the list before that had happened, and in actual fact it is very rare for him to get to the end of his list and find anyone with their hand still up. He continued his talk by asking the relevance between Carbon Dioxide and Oxygen and our bodies, and our bodies need for both. As a general rule, many of us think that we need as much oxygen as it is possible to get into our body, and we breathe in great mouthfuls of the stuff thinking it must be doing us good. But too much oxygen is not as good for us as we think; it brings on all sorts of problems. Remember the fight or flight syndrome we have spoken about several times before. Too much oxygen in the blood replicates these symptoms and the body thinks its in this flight or fight mode, which causes the body to produce adrenalin, which if not used to fight or run become stored in the muscle tissue which then causes its own problems namely TENSION AND STRESS which then produces even more adrenalin, and then we get into the never ending circle of stress and adrenalin. Too much oxygen also causes our bodies lose too much Carbon Dioxide which changes the Ph levels of the blood causing the blood to become either too acid or to alkali which can lead to something called the BOHR EFFECT. We should aim for a Ph of between 7.35 and 7.45. Also low carbon dioxide can cause its own problems throughout the body like breathlessness and smooth muscle, one, there are many more, of the effects of smooth muscle is having to wake up and go to the toilet at night Alex likened our needs of both oxygen and carbon dioxide, to that of a car. If oxygen is our cars petrol, carbon dioxide is its oil, without the proper amount of both, we are not going to get very far. To help prevent too much oxygen we should breathe through our nose. The size of our nostrils is much less than the size of our mouths, this automatically reduces the intake of oxygen, plus the fact that air breathed through the nose is filtered of dust and germs, it is moistened, it is warmed, any airborne germs are killed, and it reduces dehydration. A simple test we can do on ourselves is to take two shallow breaths in and out through the nose, then hold the breath and slowly count, noting the figure we have reached before having to take another breath. Personally I didn’t do too well at this, but I will blame it on hay fever and my nose was stuffed up, but I only managed even after several attempts to get to 12, some managed a lot more. Alex reckons 40 to 45 would be good, but even just changing to breathing through our noses will improve our personal numbers. Due to individual’s independent medical needs, Alex was unable to try specific breathing exercises, but assured us that there are numerous either specific or general exercises to minimise/ cure many illnesses Alex has a web site with more information on it which is: - http://www.buteykoscotland.co.uk/ or he can be contacted on 07855167010. Thank you Alex for your time and information. ***** I’m sure Terry will have mentioned somewhere else in the newsletter that our July meeting will be when we join the Walking for Health group for our annual walk. I request that,(A) If this is to be your first walk with either group, please attend the day hospital a little earlier as we have ‘falling down forms’ to fill in for insurance reasons, and (B) if you are a qualified walk leader, please come along so that we can offer a choice of walks. Thank you. ***** THE DONKEY
One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey. He invited all his neighbours to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he quieted down. A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up. As the farmer's neighbours continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off! Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a steppingstone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up Remember the five simple rules to be happy 1. Free your heart from hatred - Forgive. 2. Free your mind from worries - Most never happen. 3. Live simply and appreciate what you have. 4. Give more. 5. Expect less NOW -------- Enough of that nonsense. The donkey later came back, and bit the s!!! out of the farmer who had tried to bury him. The gash from the bite got infected, and the farmer eventually died in agony from septic shock. MORAL FROM TODAY'S LESSON: When you do something wrong, and try to cover your ass, it always comes back to bite you. ***** Northumberland Warm ZoneNorthumberland Warm Zone is part of National Energy Action (NEA) a registered charity tasked with helping householders live in warm dry homes. We are a not for profit organisation and we carry out free surveys for householders to assess suitability for insulation measures. We also have access to bespoke benefits advice and again this is a free service. Clients who qualify under our "priority" service (usually benefit driven), have insulation works carried our completely free and all others qualify for grants under a similar scheme. Our funding comes as part of the government's energy efficiency commitment scheme (EEC) via npower and we offer an independent and impartial service. Active partners are Blyth Valley Borough Council, Wansbeck District Council, Castle Morpeth Borough Council, Tynedale Council, Alnwick District Council, Berwick upon Tweed Borough Council, Northumberland County Council, Northumberland Care Trust and many voluntary sector groups such as Age Concern and local CAB's. The partners we have, all acknowledge the difference we make to clients in helping them into warm dry homes which helps reduce the risks of ill health as well as increasing household income.We are seeking to help people to sign up for potential work - again free of charge.
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