It is Christmas

 Fatty Christmas

When I think of Christmas today, the homoeopathic remedy Nux-vomica comes to mind. You might ask why this is the case. 

Well, Christmas doesn't seem to be the season to be jolly anymore. There is no talk of peace on earth anymore. Often it is the time when family life becomes more violent than ever because of high expectations which cannot be fulfilled. And there is the anti-climax when all the hard work is done and all the worry is over and you suddenly realise that you have been working so hard for weeks for the sake of two days. 

Lets face it. Nowadays Christmas is about food and drink. Most shops will be closed for one or two days and this seems to be a reason for most people to panic. So the question is: "Is there ENOUGH food in the house?" In so many cases there is too much food in the house and therefore there is pressure to eat it. So we have a big, festive breakfast and shortly after that, the Christmas lunch when all the family are coming. If we are lucky we might fit in a walk between lunch and the mince pies and Christmas cake before we move over to supper. And of course, there will be nibbles and plenty to drink. We usually eat and drink too much and do not feel well at all. 

We do not really want lunch after the festive breakfast but it has been bought and cooked, so we eat it. We think that the walk will do us good after lunch and make room for the mince pies but it was not really long or strenuous enough. But we do love mince pies and after all, they are still truly seasonal because you cannot buy them all year round, so you have to make the most of them. They will be shortly gone from the shops and you cannot have them till next year, which is only a week away, unless you have a big freezer with lots of space you can fill with mince pies. Yes, and it is Christmas so having prosecco with breakfast is fine, and anyway alcohol is allowed almost from the moment you open your eyes in the morning, and this for two full days. I could carry on like that, and yes, I do the same. I have a Christmas pudding and I want it with brandy butter, which my loving husband will make with lots of brandy. I do not know why I still have a Christmas cake and a Stollen every year but they'll get eaten as well, I do not understand when. I didn't make any Christmas cookies but we do have nibbles and sometimes I wonder how we eat all of that in just 24 hours.  

That is when Nux-vomica comes in handy. It helps when you have been living the good life. It can also help with hang overs but that depends on what you have been drinking. And don't forget that Homoeopathy is a very individual medicine. It needs to fit YOU. So if you need any help please contact me on 07813 195468. And a very happy Christmas to you all. 

Christmas at Stourhead. Photograph by Roger Giraud-Saunders

Advent

The Weeks Before Christmas

It is time to put the wreath on the door again. 

Every year I try to use only natural materials so that the wreath can go directly on the compost heap without me having to fiddle around. I always use the decorations more than once, in fact I try to use them every year. But that means that I have to rummage around prickly stuff to get them off.  

So I came up with the idea to use materials which could go on the compost heap in one go but I never managed it entirely because I like a bit of glitter in my wreath. It looks so nice in the dark evenings. There is no way you will get some natural glitter, apart from frost, so I came up with the idea to use little fairy lights. Yes, I will have to get them off after Christmas, but at least this might be easy. The idea with the fairy lights didn't work out because the old one were broken and as I wanted to be sustainable I didn't by new ones. I managed to stay all natural, just without the sparkle, apart from a red bow. But that will be easy to take off..

Natural stuff matters a lot to me. This is the reason why I try and eat as naturally as possible and only use cosmetics I made myself. I never managed to make a good shampoo myself so I would use my old bottle and have it refilled with a very natural product. And, of course, I use HOMOEOPATHY. 

Homoeopathy is a natural medicine which is sustainable. Homoeopathy is made from substances derived from minerals and from the plant and animal kingdom. It is without side effects and is not addictive. Homoeopathy can be used with all health issues, acute and chronic. If you want to go all natural with your health issues as well, give me a ring on 07813 195468 and book your appointment for the New Year. Looking forward to hear from you. 

Silver and gold

Talking Is Silver

I have been to a wedding recently. It was a very nice event. Beautiful couple, beautiful location and the food was superb. The weather could have been better but it is November, so what do you expect? 

It is always interesting to meet new people at events like this and I always realise that I never have enough time to talk to all the people and get to know them. It would be good if the wedding would last 3 days, like it does in some cultures. And I also always realise that I'm not very good at making small talk. 

As soon as I start to talk to someone I go straight into Homoeopath-mode. It might feel a bit strange to some people to get interrogated by me but I always leave them the possibility to leave. I'm not nosy, I just want to get the picture of the person opposite me. I'm actually not a talker, I'm more of a listener. 

This is a very good characteristic if you are a Homoeopath because you might listen to something somebody has never talked about before. So I would listen to you as well, and there would be no rush. My initial consultations can last up to 2 hours so that you have enough time to tell me everything you want me to know. No, I'm not nosy and I do not judge. Everything you will tell me is treated with confidentiality. I just want to match you up with the remedy that might help you. So if you have something you want to talk to me about, book your appointment by calling me on 07813 195468. Looking forward to hear from you. 

Hochzeitsturm, Darmstadt, Germany.

 

 

In The Dark Of November

The year has passed so quickly and now it is November again. November with the Remembrance Day when we will remember all those people who lost their lives in conflicts. Even though the war which should have ended all wars is over for 107 years, there are still wars today. It is time that we learnt to solve conflicts without anybody getting hurt.

November is the month when we remember not only the victims of wars, but also all people who have passed away, the same year and earlier. In Germany we used to visit the graveyards on the first Sunday in November. November is a month of grieving, people who have lost somebody dear to them might feel it particularly acutely when the skies are grey and the afternoons are cold and dark.

Homoeopathy can help in situations like that. Homoeopathy has almost as many remedies for different sorts of grief as there are words for snow in the Inuit language. There is a remedy for the grief when somebody has lost a very young child. There is a remedy for old grief and for the grief for the loss of a spouse. There is also the "funeral" remedy which helps to contain the raw grief of a recently bereaved person without taking it away. 

There is a remedy for grief about the earth and nature, the loss of natural spaces, and grief from a very young age. Another remedy deals with ailments from grief, and if somebody has never been well after the loss of a dear person. There is even a remedy for people who grieve not the loss of a person but the loss of their job, their property, their status or a limb.

Homoeopathy can help you to get over this essential but debilitating feeling. You don't have to bear your grief any longer all on your own. If you want to know a bit more about Homoeopathy and how it can help you, please get in contact on 07813 195468.

We will never forget.

In the darkest wilderness

 The Land Of Legends

I was quite excited to go on holiday to Scotland. This is the land of myths and legends, the land of the red squirrel, the eagle. 

Here it is where you might spot the wild lowland haggis or find a highland haggis swimming in the whisky pools. 

Scotland is the land where you find Loch Ness, which is 38 km long, up to 230 meters deep and holds more water than all the lakes and reservoirs combined in England, and its monster Nessie. 

This is the land of Ben Nevis and beautiful landscapes. The land where you get wonderful porridge and delicious shortbread (and malt whisky). Oh and not to forget the Heilan'coos.

So, yes, naturally, I was very much looking forward to go to this wonderful place. And I was not disappointed. The landscape was breath taking, the porridge was wonderful and so was the shortbread. We saw red squirrels, Loch Ness und Ben Nevis, waterfalls and the sea. Oh yes, and 3 Heilan'coos. 

Unfortunately we didn't see any eagles, any haggis, not even in the deepest forest, or Nessie. 

But haggis and Nessie might be a legend anyway, who knows. 

What definitely is not a legend in Scotland, is Homoeopathy. I know many people say that it is a legend, a placebo, that cannot work. But in Scotland people seem to be of a different opinion. In every health food shop, which we found in every town we visited, we found at least a small selection of Homoeopathic remedies. Talking to the shop assistants we found that they were in great demand. 

Well there's no need to convince me. I know that they are working but let me remind you that Homoeopathy is a very individual  medicine and can only work if you have the right remedy for YOU. You don't have to do that on your own, that is what I'm here for. If you want me to find the right remedy for you, give me a ring on 07813 195468 and book your appointment.

Looking forward to hear from you. 

Where is the monster?

The change of season

When The Wind Blows....

..it seems to blow the rainclouds away. So now it is officially autumn again. All in nature looks so tired but that is unfortunately not down to autumn but to the lack of water. We still have had not enough rain. 

We were driving through the country side at the weekend and I was amazed that the elderberry were lush and ripe hanging in big bunches off the bushes inspite of the lack of water.  The elder bush is a particular favorite of mine and it is so versatile. You can pick the flowers in May and make a refreshing cordial out of it or even something sparkling and slightly alcoholic if you a very careful. I've heard that it has a tendency to explode.  You can also use the ripe berries at this time of year to make a juice which helps you with colds in winter. Again you have to be careful because you need to boil the juice or there might be some poisoning if you use it raw. 

Even though I do love the plant, I do not like the flavor of the elderberry juice very much. Sometimes I mix it with apple and/or blackberry juice. So it is much easier for me to use the Homoeopathic remedy of the elder which is called Sambucus nigra after the botanical name of the elder bush. This remedy is particularly suited for people with breathing problems. 

I'm sure that you might have experienced the stuffed nose which closed up completely when having a cold as soon as you were lying down. It can really ruin the good night sleep so much needed when having a cold. Well, I have used this remedy many times with great success to solve that problem. But it can do more for you when indicated. 

Don't forget that Homoeopathy is a very individual medicine and that you need to know what you are doing if you want to be successful. I have studied for 5 years in order to help you with your health issues, so no self prescribing please. Give me a ring on 07813 195468 so I can give you a hand. Looking forward to hear from you. 

Never ending

 The Elephant In The Room

It is me again writing about water. Or rather, the lack of it. The summer has been too dry and nature is looking as if it's going into autumn too early but in fact, the plants are suffering from dryness. 

There was some rain, our water barrels in the garden are not all empty, but it was not enough to keep the water table at a safe level. The fact is that we take too much water out of the system. We all need to save water. We all think that we are not using too much water but since I saved water in the kitchen and ran the water I use to wash fruit, vegetables and salad into a bucket, I noticed how much it actually takes to prepare a meal. That can easily amount to 40 - 50 liters, depending what you are cooking. I must admit, that it is hard work and uncomfortable to slog the buckets out into the garden but then I imagine how uncomfortable it would be if I would turn my tap on and nothing came out.

Another area where we are using too much water is washing and showering. Nobody wants to be smelly wearing dirty clothes but do you need a shower 3x a day? Or even every day? Would not a wash do it? 

I will tell you about my grandfather. My mother told me the story how he used to wash. With one washbowl of water he would clean his teeth, dunk his comb in to comb his hair (that was all that it got), then he would wash his body and in the end he put the bowl on the floor to wash his feet. I don't know how clean he actually was afterwards, but the water was definitely dirty and well used. This definitely saved a lot of water but I'm not sure if this is the way to go about it.

Well, everybody has their way of feeling comfortable but I'm quite sure it will not be a problem to use a little bit more water for your personal hygiene. 

The other end of the spectrum is when people wash too often. Compulsive handwashing has nothing to do with hygiene, it means that it is time to see me. 

Get started

It Is Never To Late

The summer is over and we are heading into autumn. It is that time of year when children go back to school and bring home all the health problems you do not want. So this would be a good time to book an appointment with a Homoeopath.

Have you ever been to see a Homoeopath? No?? Why not? There's nothing to be afraid of. Have you been wondering about what will happen if you go to see a Homoeopath? I can tell you about it.

When you come to see me for the initial consultation, I will ask a lot of questions. I will ask about why you came to see me obviously, but I also ask about you as a person. I ask about what you like in terms of food and climate, what you are passionate about and what your hobbies are.

I also ask about your history, your childhood and your family history. We could end up talking for 2-3 hours. Then I take all that information away in order to find the right remedy, in Homoeopathy we call the medicine remedy, for you. This might take another 8 hours of hard work.

I then will send the appropriate remedy to you with instructions on how to take it, . You'll take it and usually after 4 weeks we meet again for the first follow up. We will talk about what happened after you have taken the remedy and about how you feel. This could take another hour or more, depending on what you have to tell me. No matter, I will be there to listen to you and talk to you. There is no time pressure. It might be that you forgot to tell me something which might, or might not be important, but that is not a problem. There will always plenty of time, because apart from the remedy you will get my time and attention. 

Everybody is different. Everybody is individual even if they suffer from the "same" thing. Homoeopathy pays tribute to that fact and as Homoeopaths we treat people not diseases. During the first follow up I decide if you need a second remedy, and, again, I will get that remedy to you. There might be the need for more than one follow up, particularly if you suffer from something chronic. The follow ups usually occur at 4 week intervals but that depends again on you, because don't forget, that Homoeopathy is a very individual medicine.

I trained for 5 years with the British School of Homoeopathy and I have been a qualified, registered Homoeopath now for 13 years. But you see, Homoeopathy is a life long learning experience because there are new remedies which get researched and there is usually more than one side for the existing Homoeopathic remedies, so you never know enough. I keep on learning in order to find the perfect fit for you, and Homoeopathy has always an answer with more than 3500 Homoeopathic remedies. So what are you waiting for? Pick up your phone and dial 07813 195468 and secure your appointment. Looking forward to hearing from you. 

 

Off you go

Have A Nice Holiday

Summer holidays again! The schools have broken up and soon there will be time to have some holidays. We are not going anywhere anyway, but the thought of long summer days spent somewhere nice is just wonderful. Thinking about going somewhere, like Bournemouth, reminds me of traveling. I always think that it is quite funny, well, sort of, that there are so many ailments where there is no effective mainstream treatment and I'm just thinking of something like travel sickness. It is just amazing. You are not really seriously ill but it feels as if you are going to die. 

I can remember once being on a ship out at sea to see seals in the North sea. We were supposed to be 4 hours on the water and I was looking forward to the trip. Even though it was not very rough or windy, and I was never sea sick before, I became severely ill an hour into the journey. I can tell you, I never felt so ill in all my life. The remaining 3 hours seemed like a life time and I felt desperate because there was no way to get off the ship earlier. I was trapped. The funny thing was that I was still very ill for about 2 days after the trip even though we were already on dry land again. I used to get car sick as a child and the anecdote my mother use to tell people about my car sickness was when I was sick on a hot summer day back in 1968 when she was taking driving lessons. This was when I was severely sick in the back of her driving school instructors new car. I can remember that my mother used my knickers as a cloth to clear it up after the instructor got a bucket of water from somewhere in the neighbor hood.  

I'm still thinking that life would have been so much easier if I, or my mother, would have known about Homoeopathy back then. Travel sickness is one of those things where a little Homoeopathic pill can make all the difference. So many journeys would lose their daunting threat if Homoeopathy would be applied. There are many Homoeopathic remedies which could help, Petroleum and Cocculus indica are only two. If you might remember, Homoeopathy is a very individual medicine and the remedy which might help you or your child depends on the symptoms displayed. Make an end to those daunting journeys and give me a call on 07813 195468. Looking forward to hear from you.

Here comes the sun

Here Comes The Sun

It was very hot but luckily it got a bit cooler. Hopefully there will be some more rain as well, the garden would be happy about it. We, as human beings, need the sun but there can be too much of a good thing. So it is essential to stay safe in the heat. There are some things you can do to achieve that. 

Go out either early in the morning or later in the evening to avoid the full blast of the heat during the day. Drink enough water to stay hydrated. When you do have to go out, try and walk in the shadow. Wear a sun hat to protect your head and make sure that you wear loose clothes so that the air can flow around you to cool your body. It is better to wear some light shirts or loose dresses/trousers instead of wearing not very much at all. Be aware of sun cream because it has its limitations of protecting you from the sun. 

If you do start to feel dizzy, get a headache, becoming nauseous or disorientated after being out and about, even if you have not been in the sun too much, you might suffer from heat exhaustion or even heat stroke. In this case, please seek medical help immediately. 

Homoeopathy can help with minor ailments from having had too much sun.  Causticum can help to ease the pain on sun burned skin if the sun burn is not too severe. 

Belladonna is another good homoeopathic remedy for sunburn, particularly when skin and head are red and hot.

A good homoeopathic remedy to take before seeking medical help in case of a sun stroke is Glonium.

In case of any emergencies seek immediately medical help.

Some people get a headache as soon as the sun comes out, even if they are not sun bathing. Well, homoeopathy can help with that as well. Natrum muriaticum is one of the homoeopathic remedies which can help with that but don't forget that homoeopathy is a very individual medicine and completely tailored to you so what I mention here is only a rough guide. 

 A good homoeopathic remedy for people who have never been well after a severe sunburn is actually made out of sunshine. It, too, has the symptom of an achy head in sunshine, particularly if the sun is shining on an uncovered head.

It suits people who are very sensitive to sunshine in general as well .

Let me know and get in contact on 07813 195468 if you think that you might benefit from homoeopathy, I'm happy to help.

Apricots do like the sun.