If you want to perform a miracle....

On Thursday I will be donating blood. Big deal, right? Where is the miracle in that? 

Let me ask you this.... Your nearest love one is involved in an accident of suffer a serious illness. You are watching them dying in front of your very eyes. Would you do anything you could to save them? Or perhaps its you who needs saving? For instance, you've just gone through a difficult labour, but you are losing a lot of blood. You want nothing more than to hold your new born baby in your arms.... Would you accept a blood transfusion to save your own life or the life of someone you love? If you've answered yes.... read on.

In the UK only around 5% of the population are registered donors. Of course there are restrictions to who can donate blood, such as those who have HIV or Hepatitis, those who have had a tattoo or piercing within the last 6 months, have received a blood transfusion themselves since 1980, aged between 17-65 at your first donation and weigh more than 50 kilos. There are a few more, but this covers the basics.

Did you know there are benefits to giving blood too?!?!  Medical researchers believe that the loss of iron associated with blood donation could lead to a lower chance of cardiac arrests, artery damage and some other heart related illnesses... Oh and lets not forget the free biscuits!!

So what actually happens when you go to donate? Firstly... make sure you have drank something (not alcohol though please) and have something to eat. Then turn up at your local blood donation session!! 

The first time you have to fill in a form with your lovely particulars to make sure you are elligible to give blood, and so that they can contact you. Then every other time you have to fill in a quick questionnaire with questions like "have you been on holiday recently?" "have you received any vaccines since your last donation?" etc etc. It's not particuarly taxing on the brain. 

Then a nurse will take you off to have a quick nose at your questionnaire to make sure everything is in order, and then they prick your finger and take a drop of blood to test in a solution to see if you have enough iron in your blood  to ensure you are well enough to give blood for your own safety on that day. If you pass this test you will be handed a pint of water to drink and you will be elligible to give one whole unit of blood!! Its not much - 450mls... thats under a pint!! Less than the water you have to drink... drink it up! You are watering down your blood a bit ;)

When a bed becomes free you will be called to take your bed and lie down. They then check you know your own name and date of birth, to make sure you aren't a complete idiot. They then poke the inside of your elbow a bit while you clench your fist to feel where your veins are, and whether you have a tendon in the way. Then once they know where everything is (you don't want to be a pin cushion now do you?), they insert the needle into your arm. A tiny scratch. Then lie back and wiggle your fingers (these people are a bit demanding, aren't they?)  while your blood flows into the bag .This helps speed up the process. 

When you are done, the machine beeps to let the blood nurse know, they remove the needle and ask you to hold a pad to your arm, and after a few minutes, to sit up. You can then go and have a drink and some biscuits. 

Not too dramatic for a miracle.... but what you've just read is a miracle... it is the miracle of life. To save a life with such an easy process that takes around 15 minutes, you have the chance to meet some amazing people, and you never know - one day it could be your life or someone you know who needs that miracle. If you want to see a miracle... be the miracle!

For more information or to register please go to: www.blood.co.uk

Be mindful with your thoughts

I have recently retaken up hatha yoga after a long break, not only had I lost flexibility, stamina and muscle tone, I had also forgotten some of the philosophies yoga teaches. Like "be mindful with your thoughts". Yoga teaches that the basic components of the world is energy, matter is composed of dense energy and that thoughts are composed of finer energy. Essentially whatever we want to create, we must think it first. "The thought creates an image, a form, which magnetises energy to flow into the image and eventually manifest itself on the physical plane". If you live in fear, you will attract more fear in your life, if you think more positively we attract that into our lives. 

Paul McKenna is a world renown for his work in self-improvement, and he too uses tools such as positive affirmations to reprogramme the subconscious. Starting with thinking very carefully about the qualities you are wanting to acquire in yourself and state them very clearly in the present tense, and the subconscious mind will respond in an appropriate manner. For instance, "I am going to be fit and healthy" is in future tense, so the mind responds to "going to be", and you can do that later, right? However "I am fit and healthy" tells the mind that you are being that NOW and you have the power in your hands. 

So I am forgetting all this psychoanalysis malarchy, yoga is known as the "ancient science of life" and that's where my life is going now. To the more natural sciences. I don't need prescription drugs for everything when nature provides some most wonderful treatments. I don't need some shrink analysing my mind to tell me why I am failing, I already have all the tools I need. Go out today.... and be mindful with your thoughts.