I was really interested to watch Horizon this week which showed an experiment on twins, both doctors, Chris and Xand van Tulleken.

For a period of about one month one twin had to consume just fatty, high protein foods and the other carb-rich sugary food. During and at the end of this research they took lots of tests which measured their level of fitness, weight, cholesterol and blood sugar.  What was really surprising was the twin who had enjoyed the sugary diet remained roughly the same in terms if body composition, weight and fitness, but the other twin – although he more weight – ended up losing a significant amount of muscle mass and also was dangerously close to becoming diet. For the doctors and I would imagine for most of the general public this was contrary to what they had expected, as it would generally be thought that a diet high in sugar would tend to lead to diabetes and other life-threatening illnesses.

The conclusion that was eventually drawn was that the major reason for our current obesity crisis is down to both sugar and fat in equal measure. A large proportion of processed food contains almost half and half sugar and fat and apparently it is this combination which is highly addictive. These types of food are difficult to resist and can lead to an addiction which can be as strong drugs or alcohol.

As we all probably realise deep down there is no magic solution to the obesity crisis. In a society which tends to favour extremes and quick fixes, we have to ultimately realise that what is needed is balance and a return to wholesome natural unprocessed food.

I remember my mum telling me what she used to eat as a child and a lot of it sounded really unhealthy, bread and dripping, heavy puddings, dumplings, butter and the list goes on. However there wasn’t a huge problem ith obesity at that time. Of course, people tended to do more physical activity  and this is something which needs to be addressed too.

At a basic level it is really quite simple: exercise more and eat good quality, unprocessed food in reasonable quantities. Unfortunately, this seems to be something that many of us find so difficult to do.

My very best wishes for a healthy February,
Wendy x

How are those New Year’s resolutions going? With a certain amount of smugness I can say that Mr Chalk and I are managing to stick to our dry January, although I do keep wondering how it is that January seems to be passing so very slowly and the thought of that nice glass of red that I will have on 1st February seems to be calling me.

At this time of year I tend to see a lot of people who want to start the year with a health kick, whether this is losing a bit of weight, giving up smoking or alcohol, or just getting a bit fitter. With each client it is important that they aim for something which is going to be sustainable in the longer term and which they can stick with. As our subconscious mind does not like the thought of giving something up, it is essential that the client is able to recognise the significant gain they will receive. In addition to this, we can identify certain healthy comforts or treats which can be added which help to reinforce this feeling that we are gaining, not losing during this process.

Each person is different in terms of what they want to achieve and how they can get there, so the whole process is very much tailored to the individual, with a specially recorded CD being made for each client. You could think of it in terms of an individual coaching and hypnotherapy treatment combined.

It is certainly not a case of one size fits all.

If you would like to find out more do please contact me on 01449780352 or 07817158429, or you can email me on wendy@wendychalk.co.uk.

Best wishes,
Wendy x

Last night Mr Chalk and I went to see ‘The long walk to freedom’, a wonderful film which chronicles Nelson Mandela’s life from a young man up until the time, after his many years in prison, he became President of a democratic South Africa.

I felt that Idris Elba did a wonderful job of portraying ‘Mandiba’ and really captured the essence of him, although I know that some would have preferred a more well-known actor to have taken the role.

Mr Chalk and I – being roughly the same age – compared our memories of apartheid, and realised that  it was something we remained largely unaware of at the time, in fact it almost seemed that it was something happening way way back centuries ago, and not in a time when we were children and teenagers. It was something that was covered in school, but then somehow glossed over, and to think of this now it is unbelievable that such a thing was allowed to happen so recently in time.

Many people often complain that the world is a more sinister place with the advent of the Internet, but we both agreed that in today’s society people are able to communicate more freely, and so unjust regimes are flagged up (not necessarily dealt with however) but at least there is much more of a sense of knowledge and transparency.

The injustice that was happening in South Africa filtered through to the rest of the world, but took an incredibly long time to do so. With today’s technology, news can travel so fast and that’s a good thing.

Mr Chalk and I both remembered the concert that was held for Nelson Mandela’s birthday – a really joyful, happy affair – not long after which he was released. One official said to him the day before he turned 70 – it’s your birthday tomorrow, will you be doing anything to mark it, and he replied ‘Nothing of any consequence’ at which point we saw the thousands of people in London singing and dancing.

A truly wonderful man who was able to forgive those who had wronged him, we do miss him.

My very best wishes,
Wendy x

I do hope that you have all enjoyed the Christmas and New Year break, and that you can begin 2014 with a renewed sense of energy and optimism. Whether you have made resolutions for this year, or quite simply want to focus on a more healthy lifestyle, you may be interested in trying hypnotherapy in order to increase your motivation, and help you stay on that healthy path (and not just for January either!)

If you have not tried hypnotherapy before, it can sometimes seem like a bit of a ‘dark art’, with the common misconceptions being that you lose all control, the hypnotherapist will get you to do things that you don’t want to do, you will fall asleep and not wake up, or maybe that you ‘cannot be hypnotised’. I have therefore constructed a list of what hypnosis isn’t when practiced by an experienced, competent hypnotherapist:

It is not sleep
It is not loss of consciousness
It does not make you lose control
It is not mind control

What hypnotherapy is, however, can be described thus:

It is extremely relaxing, a little bit like meditation
It is a focused state of mind, allowing you to look at things from a different perspective
It is a way of guiding you to a more positive, happy mindset
It is an excellent way to reduce anxiety
It is a technique which you can learn to do for yourself
It is a natural, proven and effective way to deal with emotional trauma
It is an extremely powerful, life-changing therapy

So, if you feel you would like to try hypnotherapy for yourself, do call me on 01449 780352 or 07817158429, or perhaps you would prefer to email me at wendy@wendychalk.co.uk. I very much look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes for 2014,
Wendy x

The period after Christmas and before New Year can sometimes be quite difficult. It is a kind of no man’s land, when we feel that sense of anti-climax after the build-up to Christmas and inevitably, after all the over-indulgence, a sense of malaise and heaviness. Some may still have guests and so are feeling quite frazzled with having had to cater for their needs and with the weather being quite miserable there seems to be little opportunity to get out for some air.

The Chalk family have had a relatively quiet Christmas – just six of us including my two boys Olly and Joe along with my lovely mum and dad. This is how I like it, and we all had a wonderful time just enjoying each other’s company and feasting on goose from our local butcher. After lunch we all watched the Queen’s speech and then I tried to help mum with the kindle that my brother had given her. Hopefully this will mean that mum will be able to enjoy her reading again – why do the library service think that the partially sighted are only into Mills & Boon, its their eyesight not their appreciation of literature they have lost!

Since Christmas Day Mr Chalk and I have been enjoying each other’s company. We both have a couple of weeks off work, so we are alternating days out with house sorting days. Yesterday we took a trip up to the Norfolk coast and had a bracing walk, and today has been a massive sorting and de-cluttering session.  Our boys do their own thing, so we are lucky to be left to our own devices.

This time of year can also involve a certain amount of mental de-cluttering and I think this is a healthy thing to do. By reviewing what has happened in the past year, what has worked well and what has been less successful, you can start to make plans for what you are hoping to achieve in 2014. If you are making any resolutions for the New Year my advice is to keep things as simple as possible, maybe just concentrating on one particular thing and sticking to that. Also, it doesn’t have to be something that you are giving up, it can be much more positive if you think of it in terms of a gain. For example, with losing weight I would encourage you to really focus on the extra energy and fitness you will gain as well as looking really good.

I wish you all a very happy and healthy 2014,

Wendy x

Night-time can sometimes be the worst time for some, whether you are one of those who ruminates about certain concerns and worries, or you are lonely, or maybe you find it difficult to sleep – or maybe all three!

One thing that I urge my clients to do at the end of each day is to write down three good things about the day – and these can be quite simple, ordinary things such as a smile from a neighbour, to something a little bit more exciting such as booking a holiday. It’s not a difficult thing to do, and done regularly it can have a powerful effect on your happiness and wellbeing. Sometimes people say to me that they can’t stop negative thoughts, but by actively thinking about and writing down the positive stuff on a regular basis quite literally turns that negative radar round to the positive. The important thing here is not to battle against negative thoughts, but to gradually replace them with positive ones.

Once you get into the habit of this, it then becomes automatic, and you also feel more in control, having that knowledge that you CAN control your thoughts is incredibly liberating.

So remember, three good things ….

Night, night
Wendy x

I am fascinated and it has to be said, saddened by Channel 4’s series about ‘Bedlam’, the mental hospital in London, an institution with a renowned history for being the most famous lunatic asylum where patients used to be put on display for the amusement of the general public. Does the fact that we are now privy once again to watching the inmates through a television set, but not in person, make  this form of ‘entertainment’ more acceptable. I’m not really sure, but I am as guilty as the next person as I am an avid viewer.

This week’s episode showed two very different people – Rupert, a huge bear of a man, who came across as quite aggressive and troubled, and may possibly have fitted with society’s idea of what a mental patient is like, loud, difficult, quite threatening. We saw him at the end of the programme, almost a different person, perhaps even too subdued, evidently well-medicated.

The contrast to Rupert was Dominic, a charming, polite family man who didn’t really seem the ‘type’ to be sectioned. However, we learned that in between periods of seemingly functioning quite normally, he had very dark suicidal thoughts. His lovely wife and four beautiful children were left having to cope with the fallout of his, thus far, failed suicide attempts. His illness seemed quite baffling as he seemed to have a very happy and successful career and family life, until that is, we learned that he had had a very difficult childhood during which he was abandoned by his birth parents.

It can sometimes be the case that a difficult start in life can lead to mental illness in adulthood and symptoms can appear quite suddenly, after years of appearing to be quite well. It is very important that medical help is sought in cases like this, as the right balance of medication and therapy can restore wellbeing, and even sometimes lead to feeling much stronger than ever before. Hypnotherapy can help in this respect, by enabling us to look at past issues with a new perspective, and helping us to realise our own particular strengths and resources, so that we can be much more positive about the future.

Do contact me if you feel hypnotherapy may be of help to you.

My very best wishes,
Wendy x

It feels quite strange to me at the moment as, after having been their taxi driver for the past 20 years, both Chalk boys have now passed their driving test, so I am officially redundant when it comes to child chauffeuring duties. During this last half-term we havn’t seen the younger Chalk for dust, as he has been zipping off in my car and ferrying various friends around who had done the same for him, in order to return the favour. This means that when I get in my car I am immediately assaulted by ‘Kiss FM’ playing very loudly, and he has even started to customise it with various bits and bobs. Happily there are no furry dice, yet ….

However, my services as a taxi driver are not entirely redundant as, with them needing regular medical treatments, I am kept busy taking my elderly parents to their various appointments. I am happy to do this as my mum and dad are truly wonderful people, at a combined age of 172 they show the most incredible strength, warmth and generosity, so that anything I can do to help them lead a reasonably independent life still in their own home is fine by me.

Nevertheless, it is sometimes tough and I do have an empathy for that generation of 50 somethings who are sandwiched between the demands of children and elderly parents. Sometimes you feel as though you want to say ‘Where is MY support?’ If you are in this situation it is really important that you have some ‘me’ time as otherwise the demands of family become all-consuming. If you can have some sort of outlet, perhaps an interesting hobby or regular trips out with a friend, then you will find that the family duties may not feel so burdensome. Finding time to relax is so important when you have many different commitments to juggle.

Perhaps you are feeling the burden of family, whether you are one of the ‘in-between’ generation having to care for children and elderly parents, or you simply feel bogged down by work and/or other commitments? Do contact me with a view to trying hypnotherapy, as it can really help to reduce those worries and anxieties, and leave you feeling much calmer and able to cope with all of the responsibilities in your life.

Best wishes,
Wendy x

In my hypnotherapy practice I come across many clients who for a variety of different reasons suffer from loneliness. This may be due to low self-confidence and therefore an anxiety about meeting new people, even though the client actually wants to have the company of others they feel stricken by a fear of social encounters. Sometimes, a client will have suffered a bereavement and this leaves them feeling alone and isolated, desperately missing their loved one. If they have been with that person for a very long time, the loneliness can be almost unbearable.

And sometimes even people who have partners and families can feel lonely. This is a very different kind of loneliness but can still be extremely isolating.

I consider myself very lucky that I actually enjoy spending time on my own, but maybe this is because I know my ‘alone times’ are regularly interspersed with a busy, noisy, teenager-filled house. I relish the quiet but also I wouldn’t be without my interesting, chaotic, challenging family.

I realise that for some – particularly the elderly – that this can become so distressing and that some people even resort to phoning call centres just to hear the sound of someone’s voice, even a pre-recorded one, as it makes them feel less lonely. We live in a world where families are increasingly divided, and this can cause a deep sense of isolation.

Whatever your situation, it is a basic human need to want the company and affection of others. Whether you have lost a loved one or if you are struggling with confidence issues, you may feel that it would help to explore your feelings. Hypnotherapy can help you to find a sense of peace within and it is a wonderfully calming, comforting therapy to give you that boost and reassurance you need.

Do get in touch if you feel that I could help you.

Best wishes,
Wendy x

Are you (like me) a Downton Abbey addict? I came to it late on, and then had the guilty pleasure of being able to watch two series in a row on Netflix. I am now completely hooked, and watch it every Sunday whilst Mr Chalk rolls around on the floor at his aikido class, which is a blessing because he hates it and, were he at home, there would be a lot of eye-rolling and tutting. Strictly is another programme which engenders similar types of behaviour, and we won’t even mention Corrie.

Anyway, there was a lot going on last night, not least the awful assault on Anna, which was very upsetting. Before this, however, it looked as though Mrs Patmore was going to keel over with a heart attack, as the house party was getting all too much for her. However, once they settled her down and called the doctor, it was found to be merely a ‘panic attack’, which I am sure many people thought were a relatively new phenomenon due to modern-day stress. I am so relieved that Mrs Patmore is ok, and I hope she will find a way to share the load a bit more. She is a marvellous comic character, and is, in many ways, the lynchpin of the ‘downstairs’.

I see many people who suffer from panic attacks, brought on by anxiety (albeit for other reasons than for having to cook for a party of 50 landed gentry) but the symptoms are probably very similar to those suffered by Mrs Patmore, that is shortness of breath, becoming very hot and maybe feeling as if you are having a heart attack. I find that hypnotherapy (even just one session) can have a very positive effect in reducing the incidence and severity of panic attacks. This can be further helped by advice on relaxation techniques that can be carried out at home.

I do hope Mrs Patmore manages to take it a bit easier next week.

Take care,
Wendy x