Your SE London Body in Harmony

08/08/2026

A huge part of self-care is sleep.

Poor sleep has also been shown to be linked with
- weight gain
- high blood pressure
- diabetes
- dementia (on a personal note here, my mother had Alzheimer’s, and for years she complained of sleeping badly).
- increased risk of accidents, akin to driving with too much alcohol in your blood
skin ageing prematurely

Not a pretty sight. Beauty sleep is what it says.

Is sleep something you struggle with, or does it come easily to you?

Cranial Osteopathy is wonderful for helping people to relax and to sleep better. It is a kindly and relaxing treatment – some patients fall asleep during their treatment!

If this interests you and you are in or near Baldock in Hertfordshire, or Bromley in SE London, give it a go!

01/08/2026

Do you ever struggle with your balance?

Or feel a bit light-headed if you have to wait at a traffic junction with an acute angle, looking in one direction for a long time while you wait for the flow of cars to give you enough space to emerge?

Your neck is key.

As we get older, the joints in our neck can get stiffer and stiffer, and the muscles get tighter and tighter until they forget how to relax.

Alongside osteopathic treatment, exercise is key!

Learning new skills is good for your brain, from balance exercises to learning Tai Chi, or going to dance classes.

Research has shown that how well we balance can be a measure of how healthily we age – even more reason to make a start, however old you are now.

(This wonderful image is by Bernhard Jaeck from Pixabay)

25/07/2026

Are your shoulders are getting a bit stiff?

Here's a short, easy tip for you. All you need is your imagination ... and your arms.

Imagine that ... you ... are ... an octopus!! A slow, stately octopus:

and your arms are your tentacles,

wafting gently and s-l-o-w-l-y in the warm sea waters.

With kindness, seek out the stiffer nooks and crannies within what your shoulders can comfortably do.

You can 'octopus' sitting at your desk, or standing up wherever you have the room to move your arms.

It’s gently playful,
uses your right brain imagination,
will probably put a smile on your face,
and will help you bring to calm and serenity in our busy and somewhat crazy world.

Do let me know how you get on ...

18/07/2026

The summer holiday season is here!

Whether you're travelling abroad or enjoying a staycation this summer, here are some great tips to help you enjoy a pain-free holiday!

Summer holiday tips to enjoy a pain-free holiday. Advice from registered osteopath Christina Raven, Clinics in Baldock, SG7 & Bromley, BR1

11/07/2026

Are you drinking enough water?

I heard a lovely description of dehydration recently – it’s like when the Low Petrol light comes on in your car, warning you to top up SOON!

Feeling dehydrated is actually quite a late sign of not enough water in your body. It’s far better to sip frequently than to gulp a lot every few hours.

A quick sign of dehydration is the Pinch Test – pinch the back of your hand, and then let go. See how quickly your skin bounces back to smooth. If the pinch ridge stays, then you are definitely in need of water, or a herbal tea, or fruit juice spritzer, or even a 0% beer!

We need water for so many processes in our bodies – not only for our kidneys, which are involved in regulating blood pressure, but also improving our bowels, regulating cholesterol, helping our brains and mood and energy levels, as well as better dental health and lubricating our joints – to name just a few.

Do make sure that you keep yourself well hydrated. Watery fruit and vegetables count too, such as watermelon, cucumber or strawberries – or you could even take a jug of water, and infuse it with chunks of all or any of these!

Let me know how you get on!

07/07/2026

So, a couple of days after my last post with tips and strategies to help you stay cool in this mad heatwave we’re having [with occasional respites along the way], I was in an online networking meeting. We’re an international bunch, and there’s a French lady, in France – where it’s been even hotter than here.

In one of the breakout rooms before the meeting proper started, she was telling us that she had put space foil [like the reflective emergency blankets used for mountain rescues, etc.] up at her windows to deflect the sun's light away from the rooms.

When her sons came home from school, they said that their house looked like a spaceship!

However, it does help keep the rooms cooler. Plus, you can still see through it, so although the rooms are darker, it’s not unpleasant – a bit like being underwater. Very calming. I've applied this to the windows of both clinics - Baldock and Bromley.

And yes, it really does make a difference.

For more details and a handy link, please visit my blog: https://www.yourbodyinharmony.co.uk/more-top-tips-for-keeping-cool/

I hope it helps - let me know how you get on!

04/07/2026

To counteract what I call ‘Laptop Tortoising’, this one is a useful exercise:

SLOWLY and GENTLY, draw your chin slightly backwards, as if giving yourself a double chin – while also feel your neck lengthening and your head rising up a little, and hold for a few seconds only. Again, just once is enough.

This whole sequence should take less than a minute. Rinse and repeat every hour or two while you are at your computer, whether sitting or standing, and you should notice a difference.

If in any doubt as to whether these movements are right for you, please ask me!

27/06/2026

Your osteopathic treatment will involve a combination of physical manipulation (not “cracking”), stretching & massage and also cranial osteopathy.

I also advise on the use of hot or cold, rest or exercise, postural changes, and can, if necessary, give an off-work certificate.

Would you like to feel less pain and more mobile? I'd love to help.

23/06/2026

We still have some space for stall holders for our upcoming summer festival! Feel free to email with any questions [email protected]

22/06/2026

Wow – it’s hot!

Here are some tips for keeping cool during this hot, sunny weather ...

What I do is cut a couple of short lengths of Tubi-Grip and soak them in cold water.

Wring them out a bit, enough to not drip everywhere and then either put them round my wrists, or indeed round my ankles!

(Round the ankles is particularly useful when I’m treating patients or doing paperwork, since I don’t get the sheets or the paper wet.)

This really helps to cool you down, and it’s easy to stick them under a cold tap to refresh the Tubi-Grip as they dry out.

I hope this helps . . .

Oh, and remember to drink plenty of water!

Another useful tip, especially if you’re sweating a lot – since sweat is salty – is to add just one or two grains of a good quality sea salt (or rock salt) to a large jug of water. Not enough to taste the salt, but enough to give you useful trace elements and electrolytes to help keep you hydrated.

And eat plenty of watery fruit and veg, such as watermelons or cucumber.

In India, they know a thing or two about natural air cooling – such as hanging wet cotton drapes, indoors.

I have these hanging from a curtain rail at the open window, or from some of the bars within doorframes that I’ve had put up to help me with drying my clothes.

Single sheets, folded as necessary, work fine.

I either hang them dry, and then spray them with cold water, or wet them first and then hang them [a bit messier but just as effective].

As the air circulates through the house, the wet fabric [especially the ones at the open windows] cools the air by several degrees.

Do give it a try, and let me know how you get on.