Health

66 The West Dorset Magazine, February 25, 2022 Health Walking West Dorset

with retired Dorset rights of way officer Chris Slade

STINSFORD

Park in Church Lane and make your way down to the church, where the cemetery contains the grave of the part of Hardy’s heart not eaten by his cat! After visiting the church make your way down the bridleway to meet Bockhampton Path where you turn right and head west for a mile through the water meadows. When you get to the road, turn left and walk as far as Grey’s Bridge with its warning notice that if you damage it you’ll be transported for life! Cross the road and join the footpath alongside the river, which used to be Dorchester’s swimming pool. You’ll come to some hatches which used to regulate the flow through the water meadows. Cross the bridge and carry on and soon you’ll get to the Dorchester showground. Now is the time, for posterity, to start taking photos of the next couple of miles of the route as it is proposed to build a massive housing estate on what is now beautiful farmland. Turn left and follow the footpath past Coker’s Frome farm, cross over a farm road and continue westwards until you meet the footpath that leads northwards from Bluebridge over the Frome. Head north until you get to the road. Cross it and walk a mile up a bridleway until it descends to a coombe where you turn right and head south east, then south across pleasant pasture until you meet the road again. Turn left and head east, crossing the B3143 Piddle Valley road and continue until you meet the A35 Dorchester by pass at Stinsford roundabout. Have fun crossing the road! There are dropped kerbs for pedestrians. Continue eastwards for a short distance then turn right along Church Lane and soon you’ll be back at your car.

The Hatches were once Dorchester’s swimming pool

Using NLP to deal with your issues

Hilary Charman is a hypnotherapist based at Partners in Wellbeing, Poundbury.

This week I wanted to share with you a useful NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) technique I often teach clients. I particularly like it because it’s so versatile. I’ve used when working with anxiety, fear, pain and healing. So, whatever the unwanted state is (for this example, let’s use anxiety) I want you to consider whereabouts in your body you feel it. If that feeling had a shape what shape would it be? If it had a colour what colour would it be? If it had a texture what would the texture be like? And now I want you to think about your desired state. So what is the opposite of anxiety? It’s important you use your own words. For this example I will use calm and relaxed. If that calm and relaxed feeling had a shape what would it be? What colour? What texture? Now I want you to imagine taking your hands and pulling all that ( shape, texture, colour of anxiety) out of your body. Make sure you get every little bit. And as you’re looking at it notice that it is spinning. Which way is it spinning? Clockwise or anticlockwise? I want you to stop it spinning and start spinning it in the opposite direction. Keep spinning it as fast as you can. As it’s spinning notice the shape, colour, texture is beginning to change. Take your time but notice that as you spin it the shape, colour, texture is beginning to change into the shape, colour, texture of your desired state. Take as much time as you need over this. As the old shape, colour, texture fades/melts completely away leaving the lovely calm and relaxed shape, colour, texture, I want you to stop spinning it and push it back into your body. Filling your body with that colour from the top of your head to the very tips of your toes. How does that feel? And you can use that calm, relaxed colour to fill you up any time you need to. From the top of your head to the very tips of your toes. If you have any issues you’d like me to address in this column please send them to me at info@ HilarysHypnotherapy.com and I will do my best to answer them. Hilary Charman DHHP AMACCPH n HilarysHypnotherapy.com 07900 652755