Take a deep breath...

06/10/21 • 31 min

Take a few deep breaths, relax, and tune into this month’s episode where host Cathy Booth meets ringer, counsellor, hypnotherapist and trauma care practitioner, Nicky Carling to talk about building up confidence for returning to the tower.

Yes, it’s probably time you changed out of your pyjamas, dragged yourself momentarily away from Ringing Room and ventured out to the exciting world of real-life bell ringing.

However, if this thought makes you at all anxious then Nicky offers lots of helpful tips and tools gained from her extensive experience as a professional therapist.

From techniques like mindfulness and Emotional Freedom Technique, to alternative remedies like Bach Flower Rescue Remedy, there’s a wide range of help to boost your confidence, whatever your needs and ringing level. And if you’re planning to get back into practice for the National 12 Bell competition, then hypnotherapy might just help give you the competitive edge ...
Top 5 takeaways

If you’re feeling anxious about returning to ringing, then talk to someone in your tower who will understand and can look out for you
Read Nicky’s ART article for more information about the tips and techniques shared in this podcast https://ringingteachers.org/survival-and-recovery-toolbox/confidence-building-techniques
Interested in find out more about Bach Flower Remedies? Check out https://www.bachcentre.com/en/
If you’re more concerned about getting back in physical shape for your ringing then ART also has some helpful advice for that http://ringingteachers.org/survival-and-recovery-toolbox/fit-to-ring and Lucy Gwynne, who is a physiotherapist, has recorded a complementary talk given to the St Martin’s guild: see https://youtu.be/AxCZcVDHq9w
Also see Nicky’s therapy website: http://www.mayflowertherapies.co.uk/

Sponsor: This podcast is sponsored by the Association of Ringing Teachers (ART). To find out more about learning to ring, learning to teach or other resources to support your ringing go to bellringing.org

Podcast team :
Anne Tansley Thomas
Emily Roderick
John Gwynne
Emily Watts
Cathy Booth
Ringing by :
The Cambridge Youths (supplied by David Richards) and for later episodes, The Liliputters Guild (supplied by Simon Edwards).
For bellringing training and support for teachers and ringers see: bellringing.org

Yes, it’s probably time you changed out of your pyjamas, dragged yourself momentarily away from Ringing Room and ventured out to the exciting world of real-life bell ringing.

However, if this thought makes you at all anxious then Nicky offers lots of helpful tips and tools gained from her extensive experience as a professional therapist.

If you’re feeling anxious about returning to ringing, then talk to someone in your tower who will understand and can look out for you
Read Nicky’s ART article for more information about the tips and techniques shared in this podcast https://ringingteachers.org/survival-and-recovery-toolbox/confidence-building-techniques
Interested in find out more about Bach Flower Remedies? Check out https://www.bachcentre.com/en/
If you’re more concerned about getting back in physical shape for your ringing then ART also has some helpful advice for that http://ringingteachers.org/survival-and-recovery-toolbox/fit-to-ring and Lucy Gwynne, who is a physiotherapist, has recorded a complementary talk given to the St Martin’s guild: see https://youtu.be/AxCZcVDHq9w
Also see Nicky’s therapy website: http://www.mayflowertherapies.co.uk/

Previous Episode

Inspirational bell restoration project

Cathy Booth’s special guest this month is ringer and project manager par excellence Tim Keyes who gives us the inside scoop of Ledbury’s rather exciting bell restoration and augmentation project.

Tim very helpfully talks through all the different stages of the project, step by step, with plenty of top tips for those of you planning your own bell project.

Cathy hears about the challenges faced, exacerbated by Brexit and COVID-19, but also the enormous highs that come with engaging the whole community in innovative ways.

However, this podcast is much more than the story of a successful project, as the interview takes a surprising literary turn. But then again, we always knew that bell ringing is poetry in motion ...
Top 5 takeaways

Embarking on a bell project? Make sure you have a really good core team with skills in communications, technical issues and finance. Don’t forget to also work closely with the church.
Struggling to find the big donations? You may have to diversify your funding to reach your target.
There are so many tales to tell about every tower – why not turn your stories into a drama or musical performance for a fun, fundraising evening!
Go out into schools and engage with children and young people – years seven and eight are a great age to start with.
So much to see and do, and a national poetry festival! Put Ledbury on the list of places to visit (and ring in) when everything opens up again https://www.visitherefordshire.co.uk/see-do/city-towns/ledbury

Next Episode

10 ways to use a simulator

You may not have given ringing simulators a second thought before, but this episode will definitely get you scrambling up your belfry, with some sensors in hand.

Steve Farmer, tells host Cathy Booth the fascinating story of Simbell. Wanting an easy way to get get extra rope time without annoying the church neighbours with his noisy novice ringing, Steve took the unusual step of inventing his own ringing simulator.

Now simulators are not new, having been a thing since the advent of The Seague Silent Ringing Apparatus in the 1870s. However, Steve had the very clever idea of making his simulator wireless. And what is the advantage of a wireless simulator? Listen to the podcast to find out!

With technology moving so fast it’s hard to say what will come next? Steve looks into his crystal ball and gets us to imagine a future where we might all be ringing in virtual reality headsets. Sounds amazing - just as long as the ‘bong’ is in the right place.
Top 5 takeaways

Want to attract more ringers? Hold an open day as part of the Heritage Open Days. Once you’ve go them up the tower. They’ll be hooked!
There’s a wide choice of ringing software to choose from – have a look at Abel http://www.abelsim.co.uk/ , Virtual Belfry https://www.belfryware.com/ and Beltower http://www.beltower.co.uk
Check out all the super simulator resources, including links to Simbell https://simbell.co.uk on the Association of Ringing Teachers website http://ringingteachers.org/resource-centre/simulator-resources
If there’s something that would help you to ring but it doesn’t yet exist, then why not invent it yourself. If it would help you it’s bound to help others too!
Trying to motivate young ringers? Use a simulator to score their striking rates. And if more intensive training is needed, think about running a summer simulator boot camp with hours of (silent) practice.

Fun with Bells - Take a deep breath...

Transcript

Transcribed by Cathy Booth

Nicky Carling: Because when you're relaxed, then you feel so much better about things and things happen much more naturally. I think the worst thing when you go, when you catch hold of a rope, if you do so with anxiety, I'm not sure it's a good place to start from. But when you relax, just let it happen. It tends to work better.

[Bells ringing rounds]

Cathy Booth: My guest today is Nicky Carling, w