My Facebook Photo
February just flew by, and here we are in March, with
crocuses and snowdrops already in bloom.
Health regimes seem to be on the agenda for most of the
acting and film community at this time of the year and I was going to look at
some of the things that can help us all to pull it together. We can think that
if we go to the gym we are being healthy but that depends on our addiction
quotient. How many, teas, coffees, and alcohol did we have, before or after, we
went to the gym? What can we do to tackle addictions and the denials of
them all?
I made a start by tackling my own tobacco habit. Since my
last blog I have switched to the e cigarette, but I have not managed to forsake
nicotine entirely though I have reduced the amount and form of nicotine so that
at the moment I am not taking the additional damaging fumes from tobacco. I am
happy with the varieties available at www.10motives.com
and I find that they last for a few days because I only smoke 10 a day, the e
cigarette gives out the equivalent of 40 cigarettes before the battery dies.
I’m afraid it is not as pleasurable as tobacco and doesn't have the same relaxing
effect, but it definitely feels cleaner and healthier on the lungs. I hope by
next month, I can report to you that I have stopped completely. The last time I
gave up with e cigarettes, I was successful for about 2 months, so it is
possible to stop with this approach. The biggest challenge for the smoker is
that in a moment of stress, you start smoking again. It is very important to re-programme the
brain to stop thoughts that tell you can’t cope with stress, without a
cigarette.
Last time on the blog, I spoke about crystal therapies,
and how they are capable of helping to re –programme our brains away from
addictive behaviours.
Here are the crystals which particularly help with
tobacco and alcohol addiction.
Amethyst – pictured here.
It is the best crystal to use for addictions and when amplified
beside quartz it can help to transport the brain away from the time wasting and
damaging effects of alcohol and tobacco. Amethyst has a cleansing effect from
the urge to imbibe and it helps to re-direct our brains by re-focusing onto
activities of a creative nature. Around Amethyst you are more likely to do the
displacement activity of putting away dishes or writing a blog, than picking up
a cigarette. It is worth the expense of buying a stone, just to see it’s
effect. For the price of a packet of cigarettes you should be able to get quite
a large piece of stone.
Azurite – A blue stone that is very difficult to find so
it’s relative, blue Sodalite is just as good, because it sooths the emotions and is able to bring self-esteem or well-being to the fore of our minds, which
can offset the stress that leads to cigarette smoking or alcohol.
Cornelian – A bright orange stone, immediately energies
the wearer removing fatigue very quickly and along with Amber, it is nature’s
caffeine, so to speak.
Purple Fluorite – This stone is very powerful in
combating addiction because it’s properties help the mind to concentrate. The
wearer may also experience a level of determination that could otherwise be
elusive. It is a stone for meditation and mindfulness.
I hear the sceptics saying hogwash! Well try it and see –
rather buy a stone than a packet of cigarettes! As I said with the help of
these stones I hope to report to you, by next month I have given up cigarettes
entirely.
Wealth is also important to our Health and if we don’t feel
appreciated it can effect self-esteem, which in turn is often the spark to more
addictive behaviour. So I think it is helpful for those struggling to give up
cigarettes or alcohol to think of the positive things they have achieved and
not dwell on what they think are negative parts of their personalities.
CELEBRATING ACHIEVEMENTS (without alcohol and cigarettes)
With the Oscar season finally over, it is time to get
back to basics. For those who haven’t looked at the films I have directed, you can
find them with their trailers listed here.
In particular I think you will enjoy watching the film I
wrote and directed called Photoshoot staring John Altman and Debbie Arnold. It
is about the life of an ageing actress, May Hudson, whose reclusive nature is
interrupted by the attentions of a Paparazzi, Wayne Wilson. He is challenged by
his Editor, to get pictures of May Hudson to increase the circulation of the
magazine, but it soon dawns on him that getting a picture of May is not going
to be easy and he may have to scam her to get what he wants. He is forced to
pose as a film producer, while he enlists her ex film Producer friends to trick
her back into films by having her photographs taken. Loosely based on the Hollywood film Sunset
Boulevard, Photoshoot, looks at the predicament of the older women in an
industry which at worst has resigned them to the scrapheap, and at best left them on the shelf. The film takes a teasing
look at the film industry and how it’s fascination for the perfect photograph is
false and even brutalising to women.
Enjoy the Films and your discoveries with Healing
Crystals.
Photo - Mairi Sutherland at the Production Guild 2006
