Atishoo

 The Season For Sneezing

The sneezing season started again. I noticed that a lot of people let their grass and wild flowers grow for bees and insects so that might be part of it. 

No need to despair if you are a suffering from sneezes as soon as the pollen is out and about. Homoeopathy is here to help you cope with your problem. There are lot of homoeopathic remedies which could help you, depending on your symptoms and if you feel better indoors or outdoors. There are combination remedies available in some health food stores, and they seem to work fine because they cover a wide range of symptoms, so they would hit yours as well. The problem with combination remedies is that they might only work for one year and the next year, when you think that you might have found something which works for you, they don't do anything anymore.

The main homoeopathic remedies for treating the pollen problem are Sabadilla, Allium cepa, Dulcamara and Wyethia, where indicated. They are mainly used in acute attacks but there is also the possibility to get rid of it for good.

I want to explain a bit more about the long term treatment with Homoeopathy. Some people have lived with the pollen problem for quite a long time. The longer you have lived with it, the longer it will take to get rid of it. A constitutional approach would be required to do so. This means that treatment would continue after the acute symptoms had gone. Then I would match your personality with the most suitable homoeopathic medicine. This usually happens during the initial consultation but if you contacted me just to get rid of your acute symptoms we might have treated them first without going any deeper. This would now need to be the case throughout the winter. After the first constitutional prescription there would need to be a follow up in 4 weeks time to see how you are doing. There might be more follow ups needed but by the next spring your symptoms should be a lot less severe, and easy to treat with acute homoeopathic medicines. It might take some years to get rid of the symptoms completely so it would be necessary for you to continue the treatment till your symptoms are gone but that doesn't mean that you would need to see me every 4 weeks. 

If you want to know a bit more about how I can help you with Homoeopathy contact me on 07813 195468. I'm looking forward to hear from you.

Be aware

It Was Homoeopathy Awareness Week 

Last week was the end of another Homoeopathy Awareness Week. Every year around the 10th of April there is Homoeopathy Awareness Week for 7 days. This is because the 10th of April was the birthday of Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of Homoeopathy. 

If you don't know what Homoeopathy is: It is a natural kind of medicine with principles and a sound philosophy behind it. It is suitable for all kind of health ailments, acute or chronic. There is always an answer in Homoeopathy because we Homoeopaths have over 3500 medicines, which are called remedies, to choose from. 

Some people say that it doesn't work and cannot work because the substances the remedies made out of are highly diluted. They are sometimes so highly diluted that there is no molecule of the original substance left in the remedy. This is not a fault, this is intended because the dose makes the poison. By diluting the substance we render it safe and the more highly diluted the substance is, the more powerful is the remedy. 

I could tell you a lot more about Homoeopathy and how it works but I do not want to bore you even though I find it highly exciting. Just let me tell you that Homoeopathy has nothing to do with Chemistry so we do not need the molecules in the remedies. It has something to do with Quantum Physics and works with the memory of water. Water is just clever stuff and remembers things. It is a bit like other things you cannot see, hear or feel but they are still there and have an influence on your body like sound waves, electricity and smell. 

Sometimes soundwaves are used to make people feel bad but you cannot use Homoeopathy that way. You cannot make people sick with Homoeopathy. If I do not get the prescription right, the worst thing that could happen is.... that nothing is going to happen. This is a tricky one as well because you might not noticing any change at first but I might so it is always important to keep your appointments. 

Homoeopathy is very gentle but nevertheless very powerful and can changes lives forever. I can truly say that I would not be alive anymore without Homoeopathy. Homoeopathy is also a very individual medicine. If you have a consultation with me, which can take up to 3 hours, particularly if it is the first consultation, I will find the right remedy which fits you. So not one pill for all. 

In Homoeopathy we treat people not diseases. And NO I'm not specialising on anything, I do not turn ANYBODY away, I treat all the people whatever their problem is. Sometimes you need to be a bit patient because it took you some time to get ill so now it will take some time to get you better. But I have to say that I had some very quick responses in my time. 

Still not convinced? Then there is only one way to find out. Book an appointment and call me on 07813 195468. Looking forward to hear from you. 

Sometimes apples are not enough to keep the doctor away. 

  

The stuff of fairytales

The Stork And The Fairytale

For me a stork was a mystical figure. It existed in stories about having babies (as when the stork brings the baby and pecks the woman in the leg so she has to stay in bed) or in old fables. Do you know the one where the fox invites the stork for a meal and presents the food in a way that is convenient for him to eat? So the food was laid out on plates which the fox could eat but the stork couldn't get hold of it and went home still hungry. The next time the stork invited the fox for a meal and the food was put in small, tall jars which were easily accessible for the stork but the fox couldn't get hold of anything which was in the jar. So he was the one who went home hungry this time. I'm not quite sure what this story was supposed to teach me but it stuck in my mind. 

In my childhood that was all I could find about a stork, fairytales and fables. I had never seen a REAL stork in nature all my life. I think they were extinct where I lived because of loss of habitat. Now you can imagine what a treat it was when I saw a REAL stork in nature while visiting family in Germany. 

I actually managed to take a photograph of one in the nest, an even greater treat. I also saw whole gatherings of them on the wet patches of grassland and one fairly close by foraging in the early morning. It was like a fairytale come true. 

This reminded me of Homoeopathy because a lot of people think that this is a fairytale or based on the placebo effect till they actually experience the true power of Homoeopathy. It is true: It doesn't work..... if you don't have the right remedy. Homoeopathy is a very individual medicine and it can only work if you get the right remedy, the right remedy for YOU and this time in your life. 

It might be a bit tricky to get the right remedy because there are over 3500 available to choose from. This is my job. I will take your case and find the right remedy for you. I have studied 5 years to be able to help you and I carry on, always trying to do the best for YOU. So get into your own fairytale and give me a ring on 07813 195468. Looking forward to hear from you.

  

The Needles, the Needles

A Dream Came True

Last week I fulfilled my 20 year old dream to see the Needles. How many times I  gazed at them adoringly from afar. Sometimes, when the weather was clear I could see a hint of them when we were at Bournemouth. Sometimes I just wanted to see them and so I called "Old Harry" on the other side the Needles. 

I got really excited when we went to Milford-on-Sea last October and I could see the Needles from the car park. They seemed to be so close by. That was when we decided that we HAVE to go to the Isle of Wight to have a proper look at the Needles. Two little old ladies on a bench at the sea front told us that we don't really want to go to the Isle of Wight because the food is crap and they are stuck in the 1950's. This shook us a  bit but somehow made us curious about the isle as well. 

Well, we went anyway and NO the food is not crap and they ARE NOT stuck in the 1950's. We saw Osbourne House which was very nice, even though we could not see the whole house because we were still out of season. It was very sad that many roads were closed because of land slides. But otherwise it was very nice and we WENT TO SEE THE NEEDLES!

That was an exciting moment even though I have to say that close by the Needles don't actually look very much like needles. They look a bit more like broken teeth. Oh, talking about broken teeth: That was when Homoeopathy's little sister came to mind, the Tissue Salts. 

They were first introduced by W.H.Schuessler who was a German physician. His therapeutic method is based on 12 cell salts which are essential for the proper functioning of the body. Even though he was a Homoeopathic physician, he always claimed that his method was Biochemistry and not Homoeopathy but even the tissue salts, are potentised. There are 12 original Tissue Salts. The best for teeth are No: 1 Calc fluor, and No: 2 Calc phos. 

They should be taken together if the teeth are sensitive to cold, have caries or if the gums are inflamed and shrink away from the teeth. Both minerals are elements of teeth and bone and will help to rebuilt the structure of soft teeth which are liable to break. I don't know if they will prevent the Needles from further decay but they certainly would help teeth, if taken long enough. Please contact me for further information on 07813 195468. Looking forward to hearing from you as much as I was looking forward to seeing the Needles. 

The force of spring

Little Powerhouses

Even though it is still very cold, even frosty some mornings, green shoots are pushing through the soil. Nothing is stopping the little green powerhouses coming out of the soil. Spring is the time when all the herbs emerge again and while they are still small and young, they are packed with nutrients. So go out into the woods and garden and collect them for your smoothies and salads. 

But there is a warning here: Please only collect when you know with certainty what you are collecting.  Collecting in the woods might be a bit iffy as well because it might be contaminated with parasites, so cook and boil anything you collected in the woods before you eat it. Washing might not be enough. 

I usually collect my herbs in my garden and I'm always amazed by what I find. Not only that I discover nettles in the most unusual places, I also discover that I have more edible herbs than I would have thought.  

Recently I learned about the golden nettle which is plentiful in the garden and I was pulling it up to keep it under control. Now I'm putting it in my salad. That will sort it out. I already have enough leaves and herbs for a lunch so that I do not need to buy anything anymore. And now they are nice and tender and ever so delicious. 

I'm always surprised that so many Homoeopathic remedies are made from herbs. But the remedy has sometimes different properties to the fresh or dried herb, and of course, the remedy is subtler in action. 

Take dandelion for example. As a Homoeopathic remedy it is called Taraxacum officinale and has a strong affinity for the kidneys and the liver like the herb. But in Homoeopathy it is also used when there is irritability and impatience when indicated. This is the same with Urtica urens, the Homoeopathic remedy made out of the stinging nettle. This remedy has also an affinity for the kidneys and increases the milk flow of lactating women like the herb but is also used for stings and skin conditions where indicated. These are only small examples of Homoeopathic remedies made from herbs and they are not suitable for self prescribing.  Please remember that Homoeopathy is a very individual medicine and that we treat the person and not the disease. So if you are interested in treatment give me a ring on 07813 195468 and book an appointment. Looking forward to hear from you.

 

The bright side of the moon

Light Of The Night

Last Saturday the moon was full. It also had a big halo so I knew that it was going to be a cold night. It was so beautiful that I had to take a picture of it. I'm always amazed at how bright the full moon is when the sky is clear. I reckon you can almost read by the light of it, but really only almost. It brings to mind howling  wolves and cries of owls, and the creatures of the night. Think of werewolves, and -rabbits, roaming the earth during the full moon. Spooky, or what? 

But jokes aside, the full moon can have an profound affect on the body. The force of the moon pulls the tides and the human body consists 75% of water, so it is bound to have an affect. Some people might not be able to sleep. I've heard that there are more incidents where the police have to be called out at nights when the moon is full. 

Some people get up during on a night with a full moon and walk in their sleep. One of my sisters had problems with that, and very often my mother would find her knocking on the door on the night of a full moon when she just wanted to go for a pee and ended up on the road instead. I don't know if she had her pee but it was pretty scary. 

There is actually a Homoeopathy remedy made out of the light of the full moon and it is called Luna. It is basically used for ailments from the full moon like sleepless nights or sleep walking. It is also used for people who are worse from the exposure to moon light, or worse before or after the full moon. There are other indications to when it can be used but in Homoeopathy we don't treat diseases, we treat people. So give me a ring on 07813 195468 if you are in a bad state before, during or after the full moon. Looking forward to seeing you.

Clear it out

 

Clear It Out

It is just this funny time of the year when you feel that spring is just waiting to spring. There are signs in Nature that it cannot be long before the flowers start to bloom again. Well, mind you, the daffodils are in the shops already and there are even one or two peeping out of the ground in the neighborhood, waving their little golden bells in the breeze. So it cannot be long before we get a proper spring in spite of the cold and the storms which have been forecast.

I don't know about you but I always feel like having a clear out at this time of the year. As soon as the first nettles are out of the ground, I'll have them on my plate. You also can see me walking around barefoot in my front garden, and there is the cold shower in the morning too. Another good way of detoxing the system is taking activated charcoal. It helps by trapping all the toxins in your body and expelling them in a safe manor. 

I suggested a detox to person who is on a lot of medication and suffers from multiple allergies, but the person was very much against it because there was nothing more to eliminate in the diet. Detoxing is not about elimination, it is about clearing all the rubbish out of your system, everything the body doesn't need anymore. Eating healthily is part of it, particularly after all the food we had at Christmas, but eating healthily means something different for each person. 

Another good way to detoxify your system is Homoeopathy. There are so many homoeopathic remedies to help eliminate the waste in your system and open up the channels again. If you want to know a bit more about Homoeopathy and how it can help you to become healthy again, contact me on 07813 195468.

In the churchyard

The Mystery 

Last weekend we headed out to Alton Barnes. We've passed by this little village many times on our way to the garden center but never stopped to look at St. Marys' the Saxon church and to walk over the fields to Alton Priors to look at the other church, All Saints. Well, we did last week. It was absolutely beautiful. Not only were there two lovely old churches in close proximity, the sun was shining as well and there is a beautiful old yew tree in the church yard of All Saints' in Alton Priors. It is said to be 1700 years old. 

Have you ever wondered why there is always a yew tree in a church yard? My husband and I have talked about that many times, speculating. We thought it might have something to do with the pagans being there first and having a sacred place to worship. We thought that the Christians took over those sacred sites to built the churches. I know that the ancient Greeks used to built their temples near wells and that there was always a tree planted near the temple. The type of tree depended on the God the temple was dedicated to. So for Athene there would be an olive tree because that was sacred to her. So we thought it might be something like that and there are plenty of wells between Alton Barnes and Alton Priors. It is absolutely beautiful. So there was a lot of mystery about the presence of a yew tree in a church yard. Most of yew tress are very old. 

Well, and then I read A book. I cannot remember exactly which one it was but it revealed the reason why there is always a yew tree in a church yard. You need to know, that yew trees are very poisonous. When I was a child I used to play at a play ground where a lot of yew trees stood. The female yew tree has wonderful red berries at the appropriate time of year and as children we gathered them and mashed them up because they were nice and slimy and we could used the as glue. Actually, the red, fleshy seed cover is the only bit of the yew tree that is not poisonous. My mother told me that every thing else, even the grass which grows under the yew tree, is poisonous. And that is the reason that they were planted in church yards. 

Yew trees were used to build long bows, suitable branches providing sap wood and heart wood. Sap wood is at the belly of the bow and is strong in compression, heart wood is at the back of the bow and is strong in tension. So, the yew tree, although poisonous, is very valuable. Even the grass which grows underneath it is poisonous. So you have to plant it somewhere were live stock is not going to be and that is only in the church yard. It was quite a revelation after so many years of speculating. So no pagans, no ancient Greeks or fairies or other mysteries, just cows and sheep. And a very good and sound reason.

But, you see, yew trees are not only good for long bows, the bark of the tree is actually made into a Homoeopathic remedy. It can be used for pain in the knees, elbows and back, when indicated, trembling and an empty feeling in the stomach, if the digestion is very rapid. That is only a small part of the remedy picture but don't forget that we don't treat diseases in Homoeopathy, we treat the whole person. So no self medicating, please. I have studied for 5 years to find the right remedy for you, so give me a call on 07813 195468 to book an appointment. 

The glorious yew tree in Alton Priors

Valentines' day

Love Is In The Air?

Flowers and cards from secret ( or not so secret, admirers), chocolates, red roses and special meals next week. There should be plenty of that on Wednesday, because it will be Valentines' day. Happy Valentines' day. We will go out for a special lunch and it will be nice. But what about all the people who do not have a happy Valentines' day? 

So what if there is nobody who will send you secret admirers cards or red roses? So what if there is no special meal? What about all those lonely people who do not feel the love or any affection from other people? Is it a sign of our times that more people become lonely? What does it say about your person if there is no such thing as a red rose or a card for you on Valentines' day? Are you a bad person? A failure? No, you are not. It just means that you didn't get any red roses or cards for what ever reason. 

A card or some flowers do not make a better person out of you but you might still not get rid of the feeling that nobody loves you or cares for you. I can remember a story we heard during our English lessons while I was still at school where a father sent a Valentines' card to his daughter and changed her life. Well, she didn't know that it came from her father but it shows that the perception of yourself is important. Knowing that you are loved and desired can improve your self confidence hugely. It might increase your self worth. 

One important step is actually to start loving yourself. How do you expect somebody to do something you are not happy to do yourself? Find it difficult to love yourself? Homoeopathy can help with that as well, it might take a bit longer than just a Valentines' card but it is more effective. Give it a go and let Homoeopathy be your alternative.

A red rose for you

 

The water and the willows

Public Drowning

I went to a public drowning at the weekend. No, nobody got killed. It is not about the drowning of people but the watering of grass. It is the water meadows which get drowned. Water from the river is diverted via sluices and channels to let fresh, warmer water flow over the frosted grass early in the year. The water needs to flow and the "drowner" has to open gates and sluices to guide the water through the meadows. 

This is a medieval practice to bring on the growth of grass a month early in the year so that winter feed can be saved. There was a public demonstration of that in the Harnham water meadows and we went along. Wearing wellies was advised, with good reason. It was a wee bit wet underfoot. We were lucky. By the time the demonstration started the sun came out and bathed the beautiful landscape in sunshine. And, of course, we had the wonderful view of the cathedral. Not only that, there were some beautiful old willow trees as well. 

This wonderful tree is not only a beauty, you might know that Salicylic acid, the substance known to many of us as aspirin, originally came from the bark of this tree. There is a Homoeopathic remedy made from it as well.

In Homoeopathy we treat the whole person not just a disease. So I would only prescribe this remedy after taking YOUR case. 

Nevertheless, the Materia Medica on this remedy says that it can be used for piecing pain in the temples and a dullness of the head. It is also indicated for ringing and roaring in the ears, shifting pain in the joints and disorders following the suppression of foot sweat. This is only a small part of the whole remedy picture but quite an interesting one and it shows the diversity of the remedy. Most Homoeopathic remedies have a wide range of action on the mental/emotional and the physical sphere. To chose the right remedy for you is best left to a qualified Homoeopath so give me a ring on 07813 195468 and book an appointment.