Let's resolve to feel great in 2022!  
Welcome to our latest newsletter

Welcome to the first newsletter from your friends at The Heeler Centre in 2022. 

From the whole team, we hope you had a wonderful Christmas and are enjoying a positive start to the New Year (and it didn't feel too much of a jolt when January arrived!).

In this issue, we look at how to avoid injury as we all start working on our New Year fitness resolutions, how to get our nutrition right to get keep our energy levels up and how to prioritise our self-care during the bleakest month of the year.

Also, a quick reminder that we have a new online booking system in place. Although we know you love speaking to our reception team, we appreciate that sometimes you may want to book an appointment out of hours. That's where our new system comes in. Scroll down to the bottom of this newsletter to find out more or look for the blue button on The Heeler Centre website.

Have a wonderful rest of January!

The Heeler Centre Team

How to stay injury-free and on track with your exercise routine in 2022 

Most people post Crimbo will be hitting the gym for the 'New Year, New Me' feeling or increasing the pace of their long-distance training for the marathon they forgot about entering which is now only weeks away! Here's how to stay on track.

Staying motivated and injury-free

Plan what days and times you’re going to train and lay out your training kit the night before. It's harder to dodge a session if your clothes are ready to go.

Keeping a routine will help keep you motivated when it comes to having to go out in the dark nights and wet and windy weather.

Preparing your pre and post-workout meals and snacks so they're ready when you get up in the morning or get home from work will make it easier for you to refuel and feel good.

Ease into it

Don’t hit the ground running if you haven’t trained for a while or haven’t increased the pace or mileage for a few weeks - just ease into any changes. Going all out too soon will put you at risk of injury. Listen to what your body is capable of and don't push through the pain.

Warm-up and cool down

We’ve mentioned it so often but warming up is key to recovery and injury prevention. Make sure your body is warm and your heart rate is increased before you go all power output. Increased circulation means more blood flow in the muscles, making them more flexible and helping reduce injury. When cooling down don't just stop, lower your heart rate gently and give your body a good stretch to relax everything once you're done.

Oh and don’t forget - stay hydrated!

If you're injured and need help getting back in the game, we can help. Call us on 01273 843 780, use our online booking system or click the link below to get started.

Boost your health and get your energy back with our New Year nutritional tips

Our nutritionist Claire Hicks gives us some useful tips on how to eat better this month.

Feeling a bit worse for wear after the festive season, waistline a bit bigger, energy resembling a burnt-out New Year’s Eve firework? We hear you.

Don't reach for yet another coffee or sugary treat to kick start your day. Instead, focus on some good basic healthy eating to boost your health, get your energy back on track and strengthen your immune system ready for the winter months to come.

Let’s start with the first tip...

Ditch the caffeine

Not only does it give you that 'short lived' surge of energy which is quickly followed by an even deeper slump than you started with, it also interferes with the absorption of essential energy promoting nutrients, has a negative effect on sleep and overstimulates the nervous system. 

All-in-all it may seem tempting to reach for this quick fix but long term it won't do you any favours.

You'd do better to switch to herbal teas. Have a look at the Pukka or Yogi ranges for a tasty treat or just opt for plain old water. Many cases of tiredness can be solved by drinking a glass or two of water.

Dry January

Not only will it save you money, ditching alcohol in January will help your liver to recover from the excesses of the festive season.

Too much alcohol can overstress the liver, resulting in tiredness, headaches, skin issues, weight gain and digestive discomfort.

Try mixing a little fruit juice with sparkling water for a tasty alcohol-free drink or experiment with beetroot/carrot juices or one of the bottled natural energy drinks such as Purdeys.

Re-educate that sweet tooth

It's a known fact that the more sugary foods you eat, the more you want - sugar is addictive.

Ever opened a packet of biscuits just meaning to take the one and ended up demolishing the lot? (Don’t worry, we've all been there…)

The only way to break this habitual need for the white stuff - especially after the festive excesses - is to cut it out completely.

Opt for sweet fruit such as mango, pineapple and banana to break you in gradually to this new sugar-free world. Packed with immune-boosting nutrients and natural sugars - they are a great way to change bad habits.

Think whole foods

Foods in their natural unprocessed state provide all the nutrients for health.

Think variety and eat a rainbow of colours both raw and cooked and experiment with some new recipes. Try Quinoa, buckwheat, brown rice, nuts, seeds, pulses, tofu, fresh poultry and fish and a little good quality red meat if it takes your fancy, herbs, spices, fruit, vegetables, live yoghurt and Kefir... the list just goes on and on and the variety is endless.

Eating a diet rich in whole natural foods is one of the best gifts that you can give your body in 2022.

Need to get your nutrition back on track? Click the link below to book an appointment with Claire, use our online booking system or call 01273 843 780.

How speaking to a counsellor can help when you're feeling low in January 

Heeler Centre Counsellor Sarah Sweet shares her advice on prioritising self-care during what can be a difficult month.

Happy New Year! This time of promise and possibility is also sadly for many of us a time of difficulty, even despair.

Christmas may have highlighted financial pressures or relationship problems and exacerbated existing difficult issues. The darker days outside certainly don’t help.

Quite often many of us start the year in a gloomy place wanting more for our lives. The pandemic is adversely affecting everyone in different ways and mental health problems are rising exponentially.

Dealing with any additional difficulties might feel like the last straw.

Seeking some relational support from a trained therapist or counsellor could be the best gift you can give yourself. Talking things through with someone who is experienced, understanding, and empathetic can really help.

Feeling heard and understood, we have a chance to understand what is really going on. Even having a few sessions can help us move into a better relationship with ourselves and have more clarity about whatever difficulties we are facing, helping us access the inherent health that we all have.

A therapeutic relationship enables us to explore and identify whatever obstacles are getting in the way of this health and wellbeing. We start to realise the choices we have which we may not have been aware of.

Let’s set the intention to prioritise self-care and wellbeing this year.

It may be the antidote we need for these difficult times.

As well as working with a therapist, there are many small ways we can do this.

For example, having regular massages or bodywork sessions, going for walks in the countryside or other ways of exercising, finding ways to connect with others in a meaningful way, dancing around the kitchen to some favourite music, finding ways to laugh out loud or engage in creative activities.

The antidote to these difficult times we are in is to feel connected and nurtured.

We can help ourselves so much by engaging in things that help us downregulate and feel more in touch with ourselves. Let’s do whatever we can to really make this a Happy New Year.

If you need support from Sarah, please contact her directly here: sarah@growingawarenesstherapy.com

Website: www.growingawarenesstherapy.com

If you need support from any of our counsellors or want to discuss the best path forward for you, either call The Heeler Centre on 01273 843 780 or visit the website for details of all our counsellors.

** Introducing our new booking system **

New for '22, let us introduce you to our all-new, improved booking system which is now live on The Heeler Centre website.

After feedback from patients and team members, it was the right time to upgrade our appointment calendar, to provide a better, more seamless service in the clinic.

Our new booking system gives you more control over your appointments, such as creating, editing and amending bookings without the need to call us.

All our note-taking is going digital too, so your notes can be stored more easily and shared with other therapists when needed.

You can access the "Book an appointment" button on the website. From here you can book appointments by choosing your therapist or selecting a treatment.

Our clinical protocols are still in place to protect our clients and team

We are constantly reviewing our clinical protocols in-line with government guidance.

We know there is still a risk of infection, particularly with our hands-on treatments. That is why we are continuing to ask our patients to adhere to clinical protocols in the shared areas to reduce the chance of spreading anything.

We appreciate this may be frustrating or different from other clinics. However, our primary goal is the safety and well-being of all our patients. If you need any help understanding our protocols, please call our reception team on 01273 843780.

Thank you for your understanding.