Life Hacks
lifestyle
HOW TO…CONTROL NEGATIVE THOUGHTS & FEELINGS by ANNE JONES, author of How to Heal (www.annejones.org)
How do you vent the anger caused by any of the many situations that occur in your day or that are simmering away from past insults or abuse? Are you dealing with any of these issues? • • • • • • •
Feeling pain from the way you have been treated in your childhood? Suffering heartache from being abandoned, rejected or abused by someone close to you? Family or friends who anger you with their lack of respect or consideration of your feelings or needs? Frustration caused by customer support personnel locked into a fixed process and showing no flexibility? Thoughtless or selfish acts of your partner or work colleagues? Anger caused by the actions of narcissistic and egodriven world leaders? Anger at injustices and cruelty to people and animals?
My favourite way to express negative feelings is to have a burning ritual. Use this for past injustices or current situations. Just follow these simple but highly effective steps. 1. Write down your thoughts with no holds barred. You can swear and shout into the paper as you write, have no inhibitions.
2. Write until you have nothing left to say. The energy of your emotions passes from you into the paper. 3. Burn the paper in a safe location (or monitor with children if doing this exercise with them). As you see your hurt, anger and frustration going up in smoke and flames say, “I release all that hurts me. My negative feelings are now transformed into light now, right now, right now.” 4. Congratulate yourself for releasing your pent up and suppressed toxic energies and transforming them into light. Well done.
Here is another method, this one is used by Indigenous Americans 1. Take a pebble or stone 2. Speak or shout your feelings into the pebble 3. Find a safe place to hurl the stone as far as you can, preferably into the sea, a river or waste land. Indigenous American children were taught not to pick up a stone from the ground without asking permission from the spirit of the stone first. This was to ensure they were not picking up other people’s discarded misery. Whatever method suits you, just remember that “it’s better out than in” and the worst approach to troubled feelings is to suppress and hold them within.
IDEAS TO CUT COSTS AT THE CINEMA
•
If you’re a regular cinema goer, some membership schemes let you watch as many films as you like for a fixed price. Cineworld’s Unlimited card is the cheapest, at just £9.99 a month, while Odeon Limitless costs £14.99. These schemes pay for themselves after only two trips per month, and if you go even more times than that, then signing up to a membership scheme can result in considerable savings.
•
Another great option for devoted film fans is the Showcase Insider loyalty scheme, which offers discounted tickets (from £7.50 a film) and rewards providing discounts on tickets, snacks and drinks as well as access to exclusive advance screenings.
•
More casual cinemagoers should look at offers that provide two for one tickets, like Meerkat Movies. Anyone who has used comparethemarket.com to switch providers, get an insurance policy or take out a loan, credit card, car finance or mobile phone contract, is eligible. For a full year after using the site, customers will receive a weekly code, allowing them to buy two for one cinema tickets at Odeon, Cineworld and Vue on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
lifeinmagazines.co.uk
•
A similarly competitive deal is given to Vodafone customers, who can get two adult tickets for £7 at most Vue cinemas. You just need to log into the My Vodafone app, access the ‘VeryMe’ section and select the Vue deal. You will then be emailed two e-codes to use online or at the cinema.
•
Savvy shoppers can use their Tesco Clubcard vouchers to cash in at Cineworld and Picturehouse. Your points can be redeemed for three times their value instore at Tesco. That means that every £1 in Clubcard vouchers is worth £3 at the movies.
•
It’s worth checking what the cinema in question’s policy is. A surprising number let you bring your own food and drink in with you - especially if it’s cold and non-alcoholic, so sweets and popcorn should be fine so you can pick up snacks at a supermarket or similar on the way, rather than pay the prices at the box office.
money.co.uk
May 2022 Life in... Orpington 43
