A Lust for Life – February 2020 – Feeling anxious? Self-Compassion is the key to calmness
"Never look down on anybody unless you are helping them up." Jesse Jackson Have you ever had a morning where you woke up and just could not face going into school or college? Not because you were physically sick, but for some weird reason,you just couldn't quite put...
A Lust for Life – January 2020 – “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it. George Santanyana I'm just back from a visit to Krakow, the beautiful southern Polish city steeped in history. You may be aware that the Nazi death camps of Auschwitz and Birkenau lie only about an hour...
A Lust for Life – October 2019 – Master Your Emotions in Three Steps
Jenny is a 38-year-old, kind, caring and hardworking woman, married with a young child.Like many of us, Jenny is juggling a lot of different responsibilities in her life and finds it hard to carve out time for herself. Not so long ago, Jenny was in an important...
A Lust for Life – Sept 2019 – How to embrace and inhabit The Calmness Habit
An Extract from The Positive Habit Love, calmness, confidence, gratitude, hope and happiness: these are the six emotions that tip the balance of our mindset in favour of a positive outlook rather than a negative one. Wouldn't it be great to feel more of these...
A Lust for Life – December 2018 – All That Glitters is Not Gold – 3 Strategies for Avoiding Family Arguments this Christmas
Ivor Browne, the eminent Irish psychiatrist's autobiography, 'Music and Madness,' contains an Introduction by Colm Tobín which describes a New Year's Eve lunch he attended in Browne's home years ago...read more
A Lust for Life – November 2018 – 5 Strategies to Protect Your Mental Health this Winter
As the days become darker and shorter many of us can end up feeling our mood reflects the gloomier days, our tempers are shorter and the light has gone from our step, this is also known as the rather appropriate acronym S.A.D - Seasonally Activated...
A Lust for Life – August 2018 – Gratitude Attitude
Gratitude deserves our attention. Without gratitude for what we have, it is virtually impossible to truly cultivate peace of mind, contentment and happiness...read more
A Lust for Life – July 2018 – Self Care
Googling self care will usually result in more bubble baths and ice cream than practical advice for when you are in a crisis. But introducing small self care habits into your day can go a long way to safeguarding your mental health in the long term, as...
A Lust for Life – April 2018 – Social Anxiety
Social anxiety affects an estimated 16.8% of Irish people according to Social Anxiety Ireland. In my work, I see many clients who suffer from social anxiety. Often they appear to be ‘on the outside’, the most confident of people – yet they are crippled...
A Lust for Life – January 2018 – Contentment is the Springboard for Success
“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.” – Marcus Aurelius What does it mean to be content? What does it truly mean to you? Like many words connected to emotions and...
A Lust for Life – December 2017 – the Year of Inner Resolutions
Out of the fog of the silly season and New Year's Eve, many of us 'resolve' to make New Year's Goals that will really bring us success and happiness. We jump from one extreme to the other and from too much food and drink we decide to become vegan and run a...
A Lust for Life – August 2017 – Feeling Safe
“Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it.” – Eckhart Tolle Why is feeling safe so important? Feeling safe is fundamental to our well-being. It's primary, it's primal and is the springboard from which we can create the life...
A Lust for Life – July 2017 – 5 Effective Tips to Start Dealing with Anxiety
Tip 1 - Understand that anxiety is not your fault Why are we collectively dealing with so much anxiety? Understanding the roots of your anxiety is essential and also realising that it is not your fault is the first step to moving away from its crippling...
A Lust for Life – April 2017 – the Morning Ritual – a Habit for Success
Establishing a morning ritual has been shown to be one of the key driving factors of many high achievers and is a pathway to connecting to the sacred space that exists in us all. This sacred space is golden and untouched by the busyness of the mind and the outside...
A Lust for Life – March 2017 – is Technology Your Master or Servant?
In order to ensure mental well-being, it is essential to examine the link between the epidemics of anxiety and depression and dependency on smartphones, social media and internet use. It really is time for you to examine your relationship with your phone/device and...
A Lust for Life – Let go of unwanted past conditioning – January 2017
Fiona Brennan writes in a Lust for Life about how to let go of unwanted past conditioning to tap into your full potential. Many of us spend so much of our conscious and subconscious neural energy on rumination, doubt, worry, stress and concern. These negative...
A Lust for Life – December 2016 – Conscious Christmas
In the days and weeks running up to Christmas, it easy to understand why many of us lose sight of the true message of this wonderful, winter celebration and what it is really about. It is, of course, predominantly a religious festival that celebrates the birth of...
A Lust for Life – Caring for Yourself – September, 2016
“I have come to believe that caring for myself is not self –indulgent. Caring for myself is an act of survival.” Audre Lorde, American writer, radical feminist, womanist, lesbian, and civil rights activist. The importance of establishing a self-care routine that...
A Lust for Life – Thriving – August 2016
Fiona Brennan on alustforlife.com discusses the reason why so many of us are many of us living stressed lives, rather than thriving. Until the birth of the Positive Psychology movement, most psychologists concerned themselves with fixing unhappiness, anxiety,...
A Lust for Life – Positive Visualisation – June 2016
Practise using the power of your imagination with this positive visualisation. ‘I‘ve had lots of worries in my life, most of which have never happened.’ Mark Twain Negative thinking is a habit and habits can be broken. Negative self-talk (the inner critic) is often a...
A Lust for Life – May 2016 – 3 Lucky Readers can Gain Free Access
Calling all 'A Lust for Life' readers! Three lucky 'A Lust for Life' readers can gain free access to this powerful self-help program. Email your story to fionahypnotherapy@gmail.com and explain why you think you need The Positive Habit in your life. The...
A Lust for Life – April 2016 – Epigenetics
In addition to the wonders that neuroscience has contributed to illustrate human kind's ability to choose how we wish to think, feel and behave, there is also a growing body of scientific research into the area of epigenetics. Epigenetics is the study of genes and the...