Blog – Page 5 – Integrative Health Education

Four Steps to Get PR Savvy

Written by IHE on January 15, 2015. Posted in Blog, Public Relations. Leave a Comment

Step 1.
What is PR?

Broadly speaking PR is the process of maintaining good relations between an organisation and those outside of it.

I tell my clients that everything they say or do is public relations.

It’s not spin; organisations that have good relations with their public or customer walk the talk.

Step 2.
What can PR do?

PR is a lot more versatile than advertising, and whilst you’d expect a PR consultant to say that, here’s why:

Public relations activity can influence opinion, educate, inspire and excite; it can create word of mouth and start a buzz.

It can bring people together and importantly it can differentiate your brand or organisation from the competition.

Step 3.
PR Practices

There are a number of PR disciplines that can work together or alone as required.

➢ B2B or business-to-business PR, might, for example, support a trade sales campaign.

➢ B2C or business to consumer activity, helps to support communication between a business and the general public.

➢ Crisis management, this helps to contain a crisis or issue that will affect an organisation’s reputation.

➢ Lobbying or political PR encompasses tactics that influence the opinion of those in charge of making legislation or leading a large group of people. This includes industry associations.

➢ Internal communications helps to manage the internal relationship between an organisation and its staff.

Corporate social responsibility – A company’s sense of responsibility towards the community and environment (both ecological and social) in which it operates

Step 4.
Typical PR tactics

A common misconception is that PR is just media relations, some people even think PR stands for press release… if you think that you’re missing out on a whole load of ways to reach your audience.

Here are just a few ideas to get your started on you PR plans:

➢ Events such as trade shows, customer events or business seminars can all help to get gain new customers and strengthen relationships
➢ Media relations is still a key element of any PR campaign but it’s got more complex thanks to the proliferation of websites, bloggers and vloggers
➢ Stakeholder engagement can help to ensure everyone you need to take your business forward is onside
➢ Celebrity or expert endorsement is invaluable, harnessing the influence of experts or personalities who your customers trust is a tactic that can pay big dividends
➢ Sponsorship is an excellent way to help to develop or deepen an organisation’s relationship with their clients but don’t forget to reserve budget to maximise it properly across all your media channels
➢ Stunts can not only engage with your audience directly but, when done well, may also result in column inches
➢ Networking and client entertainment – making your clients feel special and valued and getting to know them better can only be a good thing for your relationships
➢ Forming strategic partnerships with other businesses or organisations with common goals can help to create really memorable marketing campaigns that deliver real value to your audience

Plus Social media, which can be used to amplify all the tactics I’ve mentioned, and also plays a valuable role in customer service, customer feedback and developing a dialogue with your clients and other organisations.

Of course that’s not everything you need to know about PR, but you should now be able to take your PR planning to the next stage.

Why not sign up to Integrative Health Education’s course to learn more about using PR and social media to build your business? We hope to see you on 31st January!

Dial a Friend

Written by IHE on December 31, 2014. Posted in Stress, Today's Top Tip. Leave a Comment

Sharing your troubles can give you perspective, help you feel cared for and relieve your burden.

Detox: Q&A With Emma Lane

Written by IHE on December 30, 2014. Posted in Blog, Experts, Gastrointestinal health. Leave a Comment

January is one of the most popular times of the year to detox. We asked Emma Lane to give practitioners eight things to consider when tackling detox with their clients.

Q: What signs should practitioners look for that a client could benefit from a detox?

Emma Lane: General signs are fatigue, weakness, elevated blood cholesterol, bloating or oedema, whilst specific signs for systems in regards to the bowel are – halitosis, bitter taste in the mouth, fatty stools, constipation or diarrhoea and intolerance to fatty foods.

In regards to the immune system – food allergies, skin issues or asthma; and hormonally – stress, infertility, PMS or being overweight are all tell-tale signs that a client needs to detox.

Q: What is the ideal duration of a detoxification programme?

Emma Lane: This is very dependent on the person, their current level of wellbeing and health, what their overall energy reserves are and the type of cleanse that is being recommended.

The actual overall period of time for a detox could vary from ongoing supportive good lifestyle choices, that can go on forever, to a one-day juice and bone broth fast that will just help give the body a rest and a bit of a clean out, or a specific practitioner-led cleanse that could last from days to weeks.

Q: What are the common factors that result in someone needing detoxification?

Emma Lane: Basically poor lifestyle can create many problems in our body’s overall optimal function. Clients can have raised stress levels, a diet that is high in sugar or poor quality fats and processed foods, a lack of exercise and so on, which will affect the delicate balance of the body’s systems and can lead to congestion or sluggishness in the detoxification pathways.

We misuse medications, antibiotics, and hormonal medications such as the oral contraceptive pill, we have poor digestion and poor bowel movements so we have not got adequate elimination of toxins through the digestive tract and via our liver and kidney functions. All these things will contribute to increased levels of toxicity.

Q: What dietary and supplemental measures can be taken to help support detox?

Emma Lane: There are many, many things to consider but at the most basic level the ideal strategy is to get the client to make better lifestyle choices, which remove or reduce the things that are creating overload within the system.

Food is an easy place to start. Eating appropriate levels of fresh fruits and vegetables, especially cruciferous vegetables, broccoli, kale and cauliflower is key. Also include foods which are good sources of glutathione or help to produce it, such as asparagus, watermelon, broccoli and papaya. Include bitter foods within the diet like dandelion greens, bitter melon and mustard greens.

Q: What about fluids?

Emma Lane: Making sure that people are drinking the appropriate levels of water is of course important. An easy guide is to take a client’s body weight in kilograms and multiply by 0.033, this will give you the litres that they should drink per day.

Having a fresh hot lemon drink first thing in the morning before food is another easy tip to share with clients, as this will help give a little clear out and support the liver.

Q: Any other easy detox tips for clients?

Emma Lane: A few simple steps include: avoiding damaging fats, eating organic foods as much as possible and avoiding processed foods. Basically avoiding any artificial flavourings, preservatives and ‘e numbers’. Keep alcohol intake very low. Clients can also try things that will help with passive detoxification, like skin brushing, infrared saunas and improving lymphatic system function via regular ‘pumping’ exercise.

Q: What about nutritional support?

Emma Lane: In regards to nutritional support, things like silymarin which is found in milk thistle will protect the liver and help to regenerate liver cells. It doesn’t help with detoxification itself but it helps with the overall health of the liver. Making sure you are getting enough antioxidants that support the liver is important, as are amino acids. So ensure the client’s protein intake is sufficient. If they have a digestive challenge, especially in regards to reduced levels of hydrochloric acid, then the client will not be breaking the appropriate proteins into amino acids and therefore being able to use them for the liver detoxification.

In regards to detoxification in general you want a good mix of nutrients coming in for phase one and phase two which will be B vitamins, folic acid, glutathione, antioxidants, branch-chain amino acids, carotenoids etc.

Q: From a safety point of view, what should practitioners be looking out for?

Emma Lane: For safety, ultimately it is making sure that you have got the appropriate nutrients coming in, whether from a supplemental source or a dietary source, that will support the phase two (conjugation) before up-regulating phase one (cytochrome p450 enzyme), so that you don’t create more reactive oxygen intermediates that can be more damaging than the initial toxins that the liver was breaking down.

Practice Mindfulness

Written by IHE on December 30, 2014. Posted in Stress, Today's Top Tip. Leave a Comment

Heighten your awareness of the moment by focusing intently on an object. Notice a pencil’s shape, color, weight and feel. Or slowly savor a raisin or a piece of chocolate. Mindfulness leads to relaxation.

Play a Few Bars

Written by IHE on December 29, 2014. Posted in Stress, Today's Top Tip. Leave a Comment

A number of recent studies have shown that music can do everything from slow heart rate to increase endorphins. Good bets: Bach’s “Air on the G-String,” Beethoven’s Pastorale symphony, Chopin’s Nocturne in G, Handel’s Water Music, or pianist George Winston’s CDs Autumn or December.

Make 2015 your best year yet…part two

Written by IHE on December 28, 2014. Posted in Blog, Integrative Health Education. Leave a Comment

There is so much to look forward to from Integrative Health in 2015. We pride ourselves on working with the best trainers, but we also seek out courses that are the missing link in helping practitioners improve the way they work with clients.

A great example of this is Debbie Grayson’s Basic Pharmacology and Drug, Nutrient Interactions course held in February, July and October. The course will give practitioners a practical working knowledge of interactions between common pharmaceutical drugs and supplements. This course is recognised by the British Association for Applied Nutrition and Nutritional Therapy (BANT) and provides seven hours CPD towards therapists’ annual accreditation and certification is provided.

Fully qualified osteopaths, physiotherapists, sports massage therapists, personal trainers and CHEK practitioners should look out for James Duffin’s Integrative Neuromuscular Therapy workshop in April. Integrative Neuromuscular Therapy (INMT) is an in-depth form of ‘hands-on’ therapy, which applies specific soft tissue therapy techniques to alleviate the symptoms of acute and chronic pain syndromes. James Duffin has worked closely with José A. Llaguno, one of the world leaders in INMT. If you miss April then don’t worry, James will be back with this one later in the year.

One of our best-loved educators, JP Sears, will be braving the UK winter to teach here in March. Based in California, JP is a holistic lifestyle coach who helps to empower people to live more meaningful lives as whole individuals. His courses are relevant to many different sectors of health and wellbeing so watch out for more news of his visit.

We’re really excited about welcoming Kieran Macphail to the team. Kieran is a physiotherapist, nutritional therapist and exercise specialist who is passionate about getting people out of chronic pain and back to what they do best. His course, A Practical Approach to Mastering Breathing, will take place in April and uses case studies and practical sessions to teach practitioners how to assess and improve a patient’s breathing mechanics.

And last, but certainly not least, our very own Emma Lane will be teaching her World of Parasites, Fungus and Bacteria course…look out for Level 2 towards the end of the year. Also new for 2015 is her Destination Wellbeing diploma…more news on that very soon.

So as you are settling down to enjoy the Christmas break, do take some time over the holiday to think about your CPD in 2015. It’s going to be another exciting year at Integrative Health Education and we hope you will join our community.

Merry Christmas from Emma, Graeme and the whole team!

Space Out

Written by IHE on December 26, 2014. Posted in Stress, Today's Top Tip. Leave a Comment

Look out the window and find something natural that captures your imagination. Notice the clouds rolling by or the wind in the trees.

Just Say No

Written by IHE on December 23, 2014. Posted in Stress, Today's Top Tip. Leave a Comment

Trying to do everything is a one-way ticket to serious stress. Be clear about your limits, and stop trying to please everyone all the time.

Make 2015 your best year yet…part one

Written by IHE on December 22, 2014. Posted in Blog, Integrative Health Education. Leave a Comment

Becoming the best practitioner you can be takes hard work, it takes time and it requires the right training. Planning your training and finding the best course is often the hardest part to get right.

Emma Lane, founder of Integrative Health Education, explains her approach to her own CPD: ‘I’ve always been very proactive with my personal development. I’m constantly looking at how I can meet my clients’ health and wellbeing needs and improve or broaden my treatment options.

‘Talking to other practitioners is key. If I learn of a type of practice or treatment that I feel complements my existing skill set or will help me to answer a client’s health issue I then seek out the best practitioner in that field to learn from. I want to learn from the best and that’s the approach upon which we’ve built Integrative Health Education.’

Courses planned for 2015 include some well-established, ‘essential learning’ workshops such as Emma’s Holistic Approaches to a Fully Functional Gut and Graeme Jones’ Stress: A Modern Day Epidemic as well as some new topics that will have wide appeal like Tells of a Dis-Eased Body. Unique to Integrative Health Education, this one-day course takes a fascinating look at the warning signs the body gives us. Learn facial and tongue analysis, visceral somatic referral patterns and nail analysis – tools that will help practitioners understand their clients’ internal ecology and spot signs of potential disease development.

Personal trainers and corrective exercise specialists can look forward to some excellent courses next year and Integrative Health Education is delighted to welcome Mark Buckley. Mark is an orthopaedic rehabilitation expert and strength and conditioning coach from New Zealand who has worked with many professional athletes. He’ll be flying into the UK in September to teach his FMA Strength Training workshop.

Earlier in the year PTs should look out for Robert Yang who is coming over from America to teach Olympic Lifting in March and he flies back in July for his Programme Design course (definitely a ‘must-do’ for 2015!). Rob is a certified nutritionist, strength and conditioning specialist, Olympic weight-lifting coach and an advisory board member with the Titleist Performance Institute, so don’t miss out on him coming to the UK.

Graeme Jones, one of Integrative Health Education’s directors and our resident ‘stress expert’, will be on hand to help practitioners tackle this highly relevant topic. Stress: A Modern Epidemic will be held in February and June and is hugely beneficial to all practitioners as it introduces stress physiology, pathophysiology and psychobiology. Graeme’s new course, The Effects of Stress on Weight Loss: A Guide to Helping Clients is very relevant to a wide variety of practitioners, from PTs to nutritionists. Look out for this in June, October and November – no excuse to miss it!

Anyone looking to grow their business in 2015 should start the year as they mean to go on and book Nichole Sweetsur’s PR and Social Media course in January. This one-day workshop is a very hands-on day that helps ALL practitioners get to grips with their marketing.

This is a just a taster of what we’ve got in store for 2015…. look out for part two of this blog which is coming soon!

And for an overview of all the 2015 courses, have a look at our calendar.

Schedule Worry Time

Written by IHE on December 20, 2014. Posted in Stress, Today's Top Tip. Leave a Comment

Some stressors demand immediate attention — a smoke alarm siren or a police car’s whirling red light. But many low-grade stressors can be dealt with at a later time, when it’s more convenient. File them away in a little mental compartment, or make a note. Then deal with them when the time is right. Don’t let them control you.

Breathe

Written by IHE on December 17, 2014. Posted in Stress, Today's Top Tip. Leave a Comment

Breathing from your diaphragm oxygenates your blood and helps to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system, which helps you relax almost instantly.

Be a Fighter

Written by IHE on December 14, 2014. Posted in Stress, Today's Top Tip. Leave a Comment

At the first sign of stress, you often hear people complain, ‘What did I do to deserve this?’”. The trouble is, feeling like a victim only increases feelings of stress and helplessness. Instead, focus on being proactive. If your flight gets canceled, don’t wallow in self-pity. Find another one.