An article by Robert Sanders, Life Coach, Timeline Therapist and NLP Practitioner
at Vinings Natural Health Centre

We all need to feel safe and secure. This seems like one of the most straightforward of the basic psychological needs. Your unconscious (or subconscious) mind is naturally sensitive to any threats to your safety and security. This need for security is the origin of our most deep-based fears. This is where you learn to notice dangers and respond instinctively to them.

Common sense tells us that we need to avoid things like fire, physical violence, falling from a great height, being attacked by a wild animal, being poisoned or being severely cold or exposed. These go without saying, and your unconscious mind knows how to protect you from these, so you may feel natural fear when faced with a lion, or something being on fire. You will instinctively avoid standing close to the edge on a high building if there is no barrier. You will want to get somewhere warm or wrap your clothes tighter around you if it gets cold.

article by Vinings’ Herbalist, Ms Yaso Shan

The current heatwave may have brought many of us to the beaches and the great outdoors but for those who are wary of excessive sun exposure and the risks to skin health, a good quality skincare product containing sunscreen is a must. A report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) revealed that “up to 90% of the visible changes commonly attributed to ageing may be caused by sun exposure”. It is therefore hardly surprising that many of us want to protect our skin whilst enjoying the benefits of the sunny outdoors.

There is a lot of information out there about sunscreen safety however, not all of it is reliable. To those who are keen advocates of natural skincare products not least of which is a desire to be environmentally friendly, it may be difficult to determine which source of information is worth taking seriously as many of them seem unnecessarily alarmist whilst others are misleading or downright confusing. Terms such as nanoparticles, carcinogens and coral bleaching are all legitimate terms but they certainly don’t apply to all suncare products so it is worth taking a moment to consider the facts.

We all have a basic psychological need to look after our minds and bodies. This is one of the prime directives of our unconscious minds and mentioned in the list of basic needs identified by the Human Givens Institute

It stands to reason that we have evolved this as a psychological driver. If we were not intrinsically designed to look after ourselves then surely, as a race, we could not survive. This drive exists across the natural world, every living thing lives with the overall drive to survive physically and mentally (within its capacity to do so).

What is amazing is the extent to which we, as humans, appear to push against this need!