Go from surviving to thriving!
Emotional Freedom Techniques - EFT (Tapping)
EFT involves gently tapping on the upper body' meridian energy points, while talking about, thinking or feeling into the problem being addressed.
EFT helps us tune into the negative patterns we form around our uncomfortable thoughts, feelings or troubling memories. During a therapy session we lightly 'tap' on the pressure points while bringing the thoughts or emotions into consciousness.
The aim is to find relief, relaxation, and promote healing around the emotional or physical issues.
EFT is a dynamic and effective therapy that shows results in very few sessions. It can be administered gently and safely to avoid re-traumatising the person working on a problem.
EFT is a research based therapy that holds its own alongside Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) or Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR.)
Therapies available at Functional Lives (click links below)
At Functional Lives we all regularly 'tap' on any issues that arise for us, to ensure we stay emotionally healthy and safe to work with clients.
Bioptron Hyperlight Therapy
A safe and effective medical treatment, with no known side effects, used in a wide range of applications for your health, beauty and well-being:
Natural health therapy & pain relief
Rehabilitation
Prevention
At Functional Lives we offer a 5 minute Hyperlight Therapy at the start of your in-person functional counselling session to help you prepare for your session and relax into it.
It's possible to have stand alone Hyperlight sessions for a particular problem or issue.
Hyperlight can be used for self-help too.
To find out more or to purchase a home use bioptron - contact Maya Hammarsal, as your Bioptron Agent.
https://www.bioptron.com
One client describes hyperlight as 'having a hug from the sun,' (without the harsh UV.)
At Functional Lives we all use hyperlight to lift our mood, 'wake' us up on dark winter days and get us in rhythm. Also used for healing physical wounds, chakra balancing and colour healing.
Reiki
Reiki is a gentle, vibrational, hands-on healing practice that supports the body's self-healing ability.
Reiki session involves the client lying or sitting comfortably while fully clothed. The practitioner places their hands lightly on or near the client's body allowing a free flow of universal energy.
Reiki may assist in:
Reducing stress and anxiety
Management of pain
Improved sleep
Replenishing energy levels and vitality
Enhanced sense of well-being
Reiki can also be used to help release past emotional or spiritual pain and to set positive intentions for the future.
At Functional Lives Reiki can be taken as stand-alone therapy or offered as part of your functional counselling session.
Maya describes Reiki 'like being brushed by the wing of a butterfly.'
As Reiki can be viewed as a spiritual practice, clients are always asked if they wish to receive it, and respected if not.
For those who accept Reiki, Maya often sends Reiki energy to them for free after their Functional Counselling session.
Earthing
A therapeutic technique that realigns your electrical energy by reconnecting it to the earth's electo-magnetic field.
The benefits claimed help with: chronic fatigue, pan, anxiety, sleep disorders, cardiovascular disorders.
Any naked part of you, that's touching the earth, will earth you. Walking on grass barefoot, standing barefoot in the ocean, holding your bare hand against a tree.
Inside you can use earthing mats or wrist bands to keep you connected to the earth for longer periods.
At Functional Lives we offer clients the option of being earthed during their functional counselling session.
You can purchase grounding equipment at Functional Lives.
To maintain our own wellbeing at Functional Lives we all earth when we can and regularly hug trees!
Meditation and Mindfulness and Visualisation
At Functional Lives we offer training and guidance in different forms of meditation and often use visualisation and role play as part of a functional counselling session.
Meditation is the practice of stepping to one side of our mind. Ignoring the 'chattering monkeys' gossiping in our heads and simply becoming aware of our thoughts as they rise and ebb away attaching no significance or judgement to any of them.
Mindfulness is another practice, whereby we learn to be present in the moment of now. Living our life in a focused way without undue attention to what has past or what we need to do in the future. Living our lives moment by moment not losing ourselves in the worry of what is past or to come.
Visualisation is a technique Maya often uses during your functional counselling session to help you to connect to your feelings, help concentrate your thoughts, and gain insight and a feeling of security.
'Pulling on her background in Occupational Therapy Work Practice and Productivity, Maya can put together a work place wellness package for your staff.'
Packages are shaped around the needs of your individual work place.
Sessions can be weekly, monthly or quarterly.
In-house, over the net, or at an 'away day' setting.
Workplace Wellness Packages
Some suggestions for your package:
Individual and group Functional Counselling Sessions
Group based stress awareness and management course
Self help skills set - Tapping, Breath work, mindfulness
Work-life balance assessment
Massage
Exercise
Food and Eating healthily
Social and community engagement
Dealing effectively with change
Relationships - how to negotiate them assertively
Group based Therapy Sessions
Working on a problem with others, struggling with the same issue, is often the way to go - and cost effective!
Maya is skilled in groupwork. She can offer therapy via a group based setting. For example:
Stress awareness and management
Dealing effectively with anger
Learning to live with loss
Ditching fear
Assertiveness training
Contact Maya for further details on how to put a course of groupwork together for you.
Grounding
We can become lost in our thoughts and/or feel disconnected, lightheaded and flighty, especially when dealing with something emotionally painful.
Grounding is a practice that provides space from what’s distressing you, while ‘pulling you back’ into your body and helping you refocus on the present moment.
There are many ways to do this and during your functional counselling session Maya may advise you on how to ground yourself.
Breath Work
The first thing we do in life is take a breath in and the last thing we do is breathe out. The life in-between is filled with millions of breaths, most of which are taken totally unconsciously.
Becoming aware of your breathing patterns and intentionally changing them, you can improve and enhance your mental and physical well-being.
At Functional Lives you can learn a range of breathing techniques to help modulate your emotional state, influence your physical experience, and focus your thoughts.
Depending on your needs these breathing rhythms can help you to wake-up, fall asleep or enter a state of calm.
Giving a 'vegan' diet a go!
Today many people are moving to a plant based diet for a range of reasons: health and vitality, animal welfare, spiritual growth, environmental wellbeing.
For those brought up on a ‘traditional’ Western diet or Eastern diet of vegetarianism - leaving behind all animal based foodstuffs can seem daunting and unachievable.
Taste is a matter of habit and past memory associations - all of which can be altered to suit a new way of being.
Functional Counselling and Therapy - more than just talking
At Functional Lives, Maya uses the three C's approach in
* Calm down heightened feelings around an issue
* Clear out any stuck energy enabling freedom and flow
* Create a functional reality that’s aligned to your wellbeing
Working with Maya is a collaboration where clients are encouraged to participate in their own healing journey.
Her aim is to provide everyone with a therapeutic tool kit they can use for their own support and progression.
At Functional Lives, Maya uses EFT as a core therapy, especially early on but a client can expect to interact with a range of therapeutic modalities (see list below) and encouraged to continue the work in between sessions.
Role play is another technique Maya uses to enable you to gain insight into an issue, especially one based around relationships. (Don't worry you don't have to act!)
At Functional Lives, we’ve all been on the journey and know the challenges and rewards.
Maya says the secret to cracking it is -
'At any given time, all you have to do is decide to make your next meal plant based too.'
Lifestyle management and Coaching
As someone starts to shift their ‘baggage’ and open up to new realities of being, they start to see how some habits and behaviours no longer serve them.
After having done things a certain way, we don’t always know where to start and how to make the changes we want.
At Functional Lives we’re experienced in assisting you to identify areas for change, develop a plan of action, and support you in making your move.
Training to reduce anxiety caused by Covid and face coverings.
Help staff deal with the difficulties of having to wear face coverings (see covid Anxiety page for more on this.)
The package trains staff in how, when and where to use two easily administered self-help techniques, which will calm them down and leave them feeling energised.
Package can be administered in-house or over the web.
Training takes 30-45 minutes.
Individual and bubble groups
Flexible times to suit shift patterns, lunch/breaks etc.
Follow on 'keep it up' sessions available.
1:1 sessions for staff with particular problems available.
