Dear Amazing Reader,
Thank you for stopping by and supporting my blog last year.
I hope while you were here you discovered much to inspire you, as well as loads of everyday tips to help you live a healthy, happy life.
May your New Year be filled with inspiration, love, laughter, and many magical moments with friends and family.
Let’s step forward into the New Year together on the road towards great health and heappiness.
Do you feel burned out, run down, and exhausted? That’s no way to enter a New Year! 2015 has been a tough year for many, many people and it’s important to regroup and recharge as we roll on towards the year-end. Because I want to help you stay ahead of your game I’ve put together this list of ways to rebalance and revitalise body, mind and soul so you can be your renewed best, ready for any challenges the New Year throws at you.
Revitalising yourself has much to do with releasing what no longer serves you and many of these practices involve letting go of the old. With the year drawing to a close it’s the perfect way to say goodbye to the old and make space for all the future holds for you.
Whether you’re someone who’s driven by a burning passion or like me, fired by curiosity always jumping to the next intrigue, you need to set your boundaries. Establishing boundaries isn’t about limitation. It’s not only to ensure your adrenal glands don’t give up from over-stress, and it’s not about conserving physical energy. Rather it’s about giving you the space and energy to spend more time pursuing those parts of your life that give you joy. When you have strong boundaries you can keep right away from others dramas.
This is so important. Perhaps the most important step you need to take to revitalize your 
mind as well as your soul is to let go. If you’ve been hurt by someone in the past and are still carrying that heavy, painful, angry burden it’s now time to release it. Even if they’re not aware they hurt you it’s time to forgive. It’s not about negating what happened, but about you releasing the weight and the toxic, destructive impact anger and resentment have on your body and your soul.
There’s absolutely no question about the benefits of meditating – studies just keep underscoring the many ways it benefits your health and wellbeing. Whether you snatch five minutes in the morning, adopt mindfulness through the day or join a meditation class, it’s simply a matter of finding the form that’s right for you and then sticking to it.
It’s vital to get out of toxic relationships as they cloud your life with negativity. If you feel it’s too drastic to release them completely start small and schedule a day or a weekend free from all the negative people who drain you – even if you love them. Include anyone who’s quick to criticize or totally self-absorbed.
When you’re completely absorbed expressing yourself creatively just for fun, whether it’s singing, painting, sewing, gardening or whatever, it’s really difficult NOT to relax and stop stressing
Challenge yourself by setting a date with 
just you to do something outside your comfort zone. Spend time alone discovering your capabilities. Find something that challenges you like hot air ballooning, scuba diving, attending a gallery, or even public speaking. When you challenge yourself you discover how capable you are. You may even find a new interest.
Clean out the old and make way for the new. And that applies whether it’s material possessions, outdated attitudes or even people. The amazing thing is that when you start to de-clutter on any one level it flows through into all levels of you, the physical, emotional and spiritual. After you clear out the living room you’ll find your thoughts shifting and you may even look at the people in your life with new clearer vision.
Volunteer – your time, your knowledge or your support. Volunteer at a food truck, a shelter, or anywhere you are reminded of all the blessings you have in your life.
Set aside some time each day for a thought diet. Limit your thoughts to the here and now, focusing only on the present. Forget the past and let the future unfold in it’s own time.
We can be quick to criticize our failings but often completely overlook our successes. Give yourself permission to feel proud of ALL your achievements, no matter how small.
If you need to let it all out! 
Run a warm deep bath, add some Epsom salts and essential oils and soak. Cry out all the burdens of the last twelve months. Let it all flow until you feel relaxed, lighter and more positive. Emotional crying releases toxins that are byproducts of stress so your body will be cleaner and lighter too.
If you’re someone who worries chances are it keeps you awake at night and stops you enjoying life to the full. Setting aside ten to thirty minutes each morning or night for just “worrying” frees you up for the rest of the day. When you find yourself starting to worry outside this time put the thought aside to revisit at the designated “worry window” time.
Lying to others doesn’t honour them or you. Allow yourself the gift of honest thoughts and communication with others. Having to keep up a lie is a heavy burden to carry.
Time spent with just you is pure gold. Learning to say “no” to others and making space for yourself in your busy life provides an opportunity to heal and revitalize. It not only helps you connect with your inner wisdom more deeply, it also recharges you. Make time for yourself.
Go outside, take off your shoes and sit or stand on the earth, the grass or in the water to ground yourself. Just being in nature lifts your spirits. Our modern environment has a toxic effect on your body and directly connecting your body to the earth through your feet creates a chemical reaction within your cells that helps rebalance you. Focus on being present and breathe deeply to oxygenate your blood and fire up your brain cells.
Instead of vaguely vowing on January 1st to “lose weight”, “eat healthy” or “exercise more”, do a mini detox to help you quickly recover from too many festivities. Set aside a day, weekend, even a week to take a break from alcohol, processed foods and sugar. Plan ahead. Get in fresh fruit and veges, wholefoods or minimally processed foods, or even go totally organic. Drink lots of pure water to flush out the ‘nasties’. Add warm lemon water in the morning. Do whatever you can manage. You’ll feel clearer with more energy.
Adults need 7 to 8 hours sleep every night. Having a sleep-in on the weekend doesn’t balance your sleep bank. When you’re chronically sleep deprived your brain stops getting the ‘tired’ messages so you’re not even aware any longer that you need sleep. If you’re not getting at least 7 hours sleep a night your brain needs retraining.
Research shows we need physical exercise every day. It could be weights, running or a gym workout. Or instead you could do gardening, walking, swimming, tai chi, rope skipping or any other activity you enjoy. I have a really, really long hallway and I love reading. So when the weather’s foul I walk briskly up and down the hall for 30 minutes, reading all the way. Just get active!
Make a daily date with the sun. Not only does it brighten your outlook it also provides you with vitamin D. It’s the only natural source of this essential building block which is required for hundreds of functions in your body.
Carry a bottle of water with you and sip through the day. You’ll be surprised at how much you manage to drink. Surprisingly when you’re chronically dehydrated your brain mixes up the messages it gets from your cells and tells you “you’re hungry, go eat” instead of “go drink”. Also too many substitute coffee, tea or soft drinks for water, which act as diuretics and deplete your body of moisture.
Who doesn’t love a rainbow? 
The colour of fruit and vegetables tells you what it contains. It’s not enough to have one or two, you need the full range. So aim for five or more different colours on your plate to get a broader range of antioxidants.
Remind yourself of just how fortunate you are and of all the bounty in your life. Keep a Gratitude Journal to record three things you are thankful for each day, no matter how small.
We’ve all got one, that voice inside our head that’s so quick to point out all the holes in our 
plans, to warn us we don’t have what it takes to succeed and to remind us of our past mistakes and failures. I used to call mine “The Committee” because sometimes it felt like a whole group ganged up together to completely overpower me. But you can evict them. If you’re a gentle person bribe that inner critic outside your head, or explain nicely that you’re the boss and have the final word. If you’re a bit blunter you could do as I did. Whenever that “Committee” started criticising I’d jump in with “sit down and shut up” before they could get going. It’s amazing how quickly you can silence the critic simply by deciding that YOU’RE the one in the driver seat who makes all the final decisions.
Guilt is simply homework from your Inner Critic. When you reclaim control from the critic you don’t have to carry the guilt either. Write down what you feel guilty about, the whole story if you want, and finish it with “I forgive you” (that part’s really important). Next read it out loud. Lastly burn the paper. The three steps of this small ritual each plays an important role. By writing you crystallize the issue, including your forgiveness of yourself. Speaking the words out loud empowers them. Burning the paper symbolically releases your guilt.
Open yourself to someone trying to tell you something, and listen without any judgement and without giving advice. Don’t relate what they say to your own experiences. In fact just listen, nothing more – unless they ask for your thoughts. Listening without engaging your inner critic or your life story is one of the greatest gifts you can give and nourishes your soul.
Cultivate generosity. Giving enriches somebody else’s life. Giving without expecting anything in return also equals deposits in your happiness bank. Passing it forward is one simple way to give. Check The Wake Up Project for mindful living tips, uplifting kindness stories and free kindness cards.
Taking time to meditate or pray 
or any practice that connects with your inner wisdom and develops your spirituality is an investment in defining your purpose and passion. Your inner wisdom is like the GPS for your life and provides you with guidance and clarity about who you are and your life path.
Words like should, must, don’t or can’t are all ‘rule words’ that indicate somebody else’s expectation of you. Ditch rules set by others that contain any of these or similar words. When you set new standards that honour your needs and rights you reinforce your personal boundaries.
All information and opinions presented here are for information purposes only and are not intended as a substitute for professional advice offered during a consultation. Please consult with your health care provider before following any of the treatment suggested on this site, particularly if you have an ongoing health issue.
Source articles
There are many reasons why someone may turn to almond milk. Increasingly it’s seen as a tasty substitute for cow’s milk for those with dairy intolerance or allergy. But even without having dairy intolerance many people now wish to lighten the load placed on their digestive system when they eat animal foods including dairy products , and so turn to cow’s milk alternatives. Many others drink almond milk simply for its delicious taste, at the same time reaping the health benefits offered by this vibrant nut.
Nuts are little powerhouses of healthy goodness. Quick, easy and delicious they are power-packed with wonderful health benefits. While each type of nut differs in it’s composition and thus its particular health benefits, all have much goodness to offer and almonds are no exception.
All nuts contain protein, and fibre but are low in carbohydrates. They also contain healthy fats. Many studies have found that in spite of the high fat content nut consumption is linked to a lower risk for heart disease.
Almonds are high in monounsaturated fats, which is also the fat found in olive oil. However, almonds come in with a better ratio of protein to fat than other nuts. Many hold almonds in very high esteem and regard them as ‘nut royalty’.
Monounsaturated fats are great for your heart health, helping to reduce cholesterol levels by reducing LDL, the ‘bad’ cholesterol. Some studies have shown that high levels of LDL cholesterol in patients were reduced with a diet containing almonds and other nuts.
The Nurses Health Study showed that a 30% reduction in heart disease risk could be gained by replacing carbohydrates with an equivalent amount of nuts. A 45% decrease in risk could be gained by substituting the monounsaturated fat in nuts for saturated fats in meat and dairy products.
Almonds are loaded with antioxidants which prevent oxidative stress caused by free radicals. Oxidative stress damages cells and contributes to many serious illnesses including cancer.
Most of the antioxidants in almonds are found in the brown skin and eating nuts with the skin still on delivers double the antioxidants and double the protection for your cells.
One of these cell-protecting antioxidants is vitamin E. In fact almonds are the best source of Vitamin E of any food. This antioxidant is particularly good for skin protection helping to improve its conditon and appearance and protect against the effects of aging.
Many people are deficient in the fundamental mineral magnesium and this causes widespread health problems as magnesium is required for many, many body processes. Almonds are a great source of this vital mineral and just 60 grams of almonds, one small handful, provides almost half the recommended daily magnesium intake.
Studies show that improving magnesium deficiency can reduce hypertension and LDL cholesterol levels. Including almonds in your diet supports the health of your cardiovascular system.
It’s common for diabetics to have magnesium deficiency. High magnesium foods like almonds may be helpful in preventing blood sugar disorders such as insulin resistance, type 2 diabets and metabolic syndrome.
Many people consume far too much omega-6 every day and not enough omega-3. The western diet provides a really unbalanced omega-6 to omega-3 ratio. It should be about 4:1 but in many cases it’s more like 10:1 or even 30:1 skewed to omega-6.
Unlike walnuts which contain good amounts of omega-3 almonds are high in omega-6.
Eating lots of almonds could become a huge problem if you’re not regulating how much omega-6 you get from other foods, notably vegetable oils containing polyunsaturated fats.
But almonds contain monosaturated fats which are a far healthier option than the polyunsaturated fats of vegetable oils. Sourcing the omega-6 essential fatty acids you require from almonds rather than less healthy foods is a smarter decision. Almonds are a great health food as they also contain a range of other wonderful nutrients.
Embrace almonds as part of a healthy eating plan. Consider your diet as a whole and replace unhealthier components with nutrient-rich almonds.
Home made almond milk is a wonderful substitute for dairy milk. It’s nutritious, being high 
in protein and of course healthy fats. It also contains fibre, Vitamin E, the minerals phosphorous, magnesium, copper, selenium and calcium, the amino acid tryptophan, as well as flavonoids.
In addition it has no cholesterol.
It has a slightly nutty taste and a creamy texture and the flavour is lighter than soy or rice milk.
Of course almonds are a tree nut so almond milk isn’t for anyone with nut allergies.
Almond milk is widely available through supermarkets as well as health food shops, but is pricey and unfortunately some brands are sweetened.
A number of brands have a very low percentage of almonds in them, which greatly reduces their nutrient value. By making your own nut milk you can increase the nut content and so the nutrients, dramatically.
Almond milk is good cold, in tea or coffee, smoothies and can also be used for cooking items like cakes or soups. I use it, but in small quantities and so often end up throwing quite a lot out from the bought boxes, which means making my own is a great option.
Almond milk is really easy to make and the best thing is you can make it in just the quantity that you need, so no problem with it spoiling.
It’s simple to adjust the recipe to suit your own personal preferences. For instance, you can flavour the milk with spices to suit your taste, a great option if you’re creating a dish where you want a specific flavour.
Plus, you’ll have the leftover pulp to use in cooking, so you get the health benefit of every part of the almond.
Here’s how you make it:
Disclaimer.
All information and opinions presented here are for information only and are not intended as a substitute for professional advice offered during a consultation. Please consult with your health care provider before trying any of the treatment suggested on this site.
Another school term has started and with that comes the re-appearance of the head lice plague. The blight of every school mum, head lice provide a never-ending battle for parents. What do you do when you get that call from school “Your child has lice?” If you’re a health conscious parent you’ll look for a natural alternative to the noxious poisons found in insecticide based head lice shampoos and lotions.
Here’s a toxic alert! Skin can readily absorb any product that’s applied to it. Once absorbed it travels to your bloodstream and throughout your body causing toxic effects.
There’s agreement amongst experts that absorption of toxins through the skin is more dangerous than through the mouth. When toxic substances are ingested they are broken down and often detoxified by the liver and kidneys. When they’re absorbed through the skin they travel straight into the blood stream without being broken down first, carrying the full toxic load with them.
One study found that some toxins were absorbed more easily through hairy skin than hairless skin. This makes one wonder whether higher levels of pesticides are being absorbed through the scalp from head lice shampoos and lotions than is expected. Are the toxin levels being absorbed becoming critical?
Apart from the dangers of absorbing the toxins into your body, the chemicals in the shampoo can also irritate the skin especially if the skin is sensitive, as in a child, or if it has any breaks in it.
The chemicals in head lice shampoo can also irritate the eyes.
All insecticidal shampoos and lotions sold in Australia must be registered with the Therapeutic Goods Act (TGA) to ensure they comply with safety standards and are effective.
But although deemed safe many of these lotions and shampoos containing pesticide can be harmful to children. Because children’s bodies are much smaller than adults the amounts of toxin in the products can have more impact on their small bodies.
Lice often become resistant to insecticides and many parents find that insecticide shampoos and lotions don’t kill the lice. Repeated unsuccessful attempts to get rid of the pests leaves your child exposed to higher doses of poison without solving the problem.
If you’re in any doubt you need to ask yourself whether the pesticide based shampoos are worse than the problem?
While head lice don’t carry and spread disease like some other pests, they are none-the-less a real problem.
So how do you beat the problem without poisoning your child?
There are a few alternatives to toxic insecticide treatments. Simply by diligently combing conditioner through dry hair with a metal lice comb you can rid the hair of lice and nits. But it can take a number of attempts. Conditioner stuns the lice for about 20 minutes so they can’t crawl around and if you are quick you can comb them out.
But even more effective is to use conditioner in conjunction with an essential oil mixture.
Some essential oils are very effective at getting rid of lice and nits. Plus the mix can be added to a spray bottle of water and used daily to prevent further infestation.
An essential oil mix first stuns the lice just as conditioner does, but unlike conditioner it also kills them. Lice attach the nits, or eggs, to the hair shaft where they stick like glue and are normally very difficult to dislodge. The great thing about the essential oil mixture is it loosens the nits making them easy to comb out and dispose of before they hatch into nymphs.
A number of essential oils are suitable in the battle against head lice but some, like tea-tree oil which is very effective, can be too strong for children’s sensitive skin.
These ones are more gentle but powerful enough to do the job.
To 75ml base oil (coconut is great, or sweet almond) add:
Lavender essential oil – 25 drops
Geranium essential oil – 13 drops
Rosemary essential oil – 25 drops
Eucalyptus essential oil – 12 drops
Makes 2-3 treatments. Store any left over in a glass bottle, amber is best.
Be sure to use high quality essential oils. Do not use fragranced oils.
Massage the oil mix through dry hair and leave for two hours.
Shampoo out adding the shampoo BEFORE wetting your hair.
Wet hair and wash.
Put conditioner on hair and comb through with a metal lice comb. This makes it easier to remove all the creatures. To make certain you get all the lice and nits divide the hair into segments and thoroughly comb through each section.
Repeat a few days later to remove stray lice from any missed eggs.
This formula can also be added to distilled water and sprayed over your hair each morning as a lice deterrent.
For really bad infestations the treatment can be repeated every 3 days over a few weeks if needed.
Be generous with the amount of oil used. The bottle will do 3-5 treatments depending on the amount of hair you have.
The extra bonus is your child’s hair will smell beautiful.
Remember to take all the usual precautions: tell your child’s school, tie back hair, don’t share brushes and combs, run bed linen and hats through a hot washer dryer to kill any stray lice and nits.
Head lice infestations are a fact of school life. Check your child’s head regularly. If your child starts scratching don’t panic. Get to work fast to eradicate the pests with the least toxic impact for your child.
All information and opinions presented here are for information purposes only and are not intended as a substitute for professional advice offered during a consultation. Please consult with your health care provider before following any of the treatment suggested on this site, particularly if you have an ongoing health issue.
Source articles
http://cincovidas.com/toxic-alert-skin-can-absorb-what-we-apply-to-it%E2%80%94including-cosmetic-chemicals
http://raisingolives.com/oils/treating-lice-naturally-with-essential-oils
Is your life happy? Do you remember to enjoy the small things in life? Do you express your gratitude every day?
In order to live a healthy happy life requires you to address all aspects of your life and surroundings. You need to go much further than just getting fit or changing what you eat. Obviously fitness and diet develop the physical body. But they also develop the mental and emotional bodies to a degree through the endorphins released through exercise, and by creating a better chemical balance in the brain through good food choices.
The mind-body connection is well recognized and it’s known your emotional state affects how healthy your body is.
Holistic growth involves changing and improving on all levels – spiritually as well as physically and mentally. It requires you to be constantly aware and willing to make changes in attitudes, to practice mindfulness, to cultivate gratitude and to open your heart with generosity.
To develop your spirituality you don’t need to follow a religion although you can if you prefer. But you do need to develop a close and meaningful relationship with your essential inner self. You could go and undertake something quite life-changing such as Vipassana to achieve this, but often it’s by simply looking at the things in your life differently that you create the biggest impact, and you can do this in small ways every day.
Becoming connected to the world directly around you in a positive and meaningful way can create a snowballing effect that leads to big changes within. By developing and practicing this you also show love and care for yourselves. You can do this by:
The key to achieving these grass root changes is in the cultivation of gratitude, which results in you becoming more generous, which then leads to personal awareness and growth. What a great chain of events!
Gratitude is a funny thing. We are all taught to say please and thank you but not often how to feel and express gratitude for our life.
I remember teaching this basic social grace to my son when he was 3 years old. As he and his little friend were exchanging Christmas gifts the boys were told to “shake hands” to show gratitude and thanks. They looked at each other bewildered for a moment and then both started shaking their hands wildly in the air around themselves.
But gratitude is not just about saying thank you for a gift (whether you like it or not). It’s about finding joy in the detail of your life and bringing the focus of your life back to the minutiae around you.
It’s about bringing an awareness of the continual flow of life and a development of a sense of your connection to all, within.
It’s about recognizing all the blessings that are a part of each day, the blessings that often get lost in the daily humdrum.
Gratitude’s about finding joy in the detail of your life.
When exactly is it we first become focused on “keeping your eye on the prize”? I see this as the single most important attitude that undermines the practice of gratitude. We spend our life focused on achieving the promotion, the dream house, cool car, we follow fashion which changes so fast we constantly need more new garments, we work towards the next holiday, beautiful jewelry and on and on and on.
We’re driven by never-ending striving for what we need to achieve and own, our eyes constantly focused on what’s up ahead, the big prize.
When we live with this focus we miss the life around us, the little details of our everyday life…we fail to ever live in the moment.
Living in the moment is what we’ve been told to do in order to know, understand and improve ourselves, but we’re never in the space to achieve it.
By cultivating gratitude and forcing yourself to bring your focus back from what you desire or want to achieve you start to notice the small things around you, and to find ways to give back to the earth as well as to the people in your life.
By cultivating gratitude you also cultivate generosity.
One way to begin cultivating gratitude is to start a gratitude journal.
Like to know more about keeping a gratitude journal and the benefits of gratitude?
Disclaimer.
All information and opinions presented here are for information purposes only and are not intended as a substitute for professional advice offered during a consultation. Please consult with your health care provider before following any of the treatment suggested on this site, particularly if you have an ongoing health issue.
Spring Has Almost Sprung and that spells bad news for anyone who suffers from hay fever as it means it’s ‘Sneezing Season’ again. Unable to get out and enjoy the beautiful Spring sun, seasonal allergy sufferers following the conventional path can only look forward to being housebound for even longer or taking medications with side effects that really knock them about!
Hay fever results from exposure to pollens released from grasses and other plants, carried through the air, which cause inflammatory reactions on the mucous membranes and affect the immune system.
With sneezing, itching, runny nose, coughing and congestion, hay fever (or seasonal allergic rhinitis) is enough to ruin anyone’s day. It can affect any of the mucous membranes of the eyes, nose, sinuses, throat and palate, or all of them at once.
But it doesn’t have to be like this.
There are many natural remedies including herbs, vitamins, kitchen cures and my favourite, homeopathy, that can effectively knock the symptoms of hay fever on the head by providing natural antihistamines.
In addition to actual treatments some precautionary practices can minimize the effect of the allergen on your system. Gifting your liver a Spring clean can lessen the allergic effect. Here are tips to help you gently detox your liver without ‘doing a detox’.
Supplements can improve your response to allergens. Vitamin C and the bioflavonoid quercetin have an antihistamine effect, while vitamin A helps maintain healthy mucous membranes. Studies have shown a link between low zinc intake and higher allergy risk so a zinc supplement may help anyone who falls into this category,
It’s important with any aggravation of the mucous membranes to reduce the amount of dairy food you eat as it increases the production of mucous and exacerbates congestion. Eat less milk, cheese, ice-cream, cream, yoghurt and butter during hay fever season to keep you better prepared. And watch for “milk solids” often added to processed foods.
Refined starches also stimulate mucous production and limiting bread and other baked goods can reduce the severity of your symptoms.
Increasing your intake of omega 3 fatty acids over the season can help decrease the incidence of hay fever as they help lower the amount of inflammatory chemicals produced when you are exposed to an allergen.
While many alternative treatments, including nutrition and supplements, can alleviate hay fever by strengthening the immune system they don’t always give immediate relief in the moment when symptoms strike. Some can reduce symptoms when taken in mega dosage but often need to be taken in combination with others.
Air filters can make a real difference by keeping the air inside your home pollen free especially when placed over windows and doors.
Steaming is an age old practice for breaking up congestion. Add a few drops of eucalyptus essential oil to a bowl of steaming water and with a towel over your head breathe in the eucalyptus-rich vapour to loosen mucous and clear air passages. Tea tree is another suitable essential oil.
Many herbs including chamomile, stinging nettle, ginger, and butterbur can block histamine and relieve symptoms, but often their effect is limited to just some of your symptoms or they can take time to have an effect.
In someone already highly oversensitive to plant material herbs may not be a great choice, and may even exacerbate the symptoms. Stinging nettle is one herb commonly used for it’s antihistamine and anti-inflammatory effects. But when I take it internally it causes itching and swelling on my skin. The crude nature of herbs may actually be too harsh for these highly sensitive individuals.
Homeopathy can be used for hay fever either preventatively or as a treatment. It has a great track record for the treatment of hay fever with symptoms being switched off almost immediately when the correctly matched remedy is used. I can personally vouch for this.
In France the most commonly prescribed treatment for hay fever by medical doctors is a homeopathic remedy just because it can be so effective and fast.
I’m going to introduce you to some of the more commonly used homeopathic remedies for symptomatic relief. These remedies activate the body’s own system of healing. They’re excellent for quickly relieving the symptoms of acute bouts of hay fever when they’re selected to closely match the individual symptoms being experienced.
Use remedies in 6x, 6c, 30x or 30c potencies, taking one dose every few hours for up to 3 doses. With the right remedy symptoms should improve after the first or second dose. If symptoms haven’t improved after the third dose it means you’ve selected the wrong remedy, so go back and again match the remedy picture to your symptoms for a closer match.
Pay particular attention to what makes your hayfever symptoms better or worse – these are important pointers to the right remedy.
As always with Homeopathy the remedy picture must match your symptoms for it to work. If none of these remedies match visit a homeopath who can select the right remedy for you from the hundreds of possibilities.
Perhaps the most commonly used remedy for hay fever is Allium cepa (red onion). Use this when sneezing is prominent along with watery eyes that burn and smart. The tears here are non-irritating but the copious watery discharge from the nose is acrid and irritates the skin between the nose and upper lip which becomes red and sore. The nose feels blocked and the sense of smell is gone. The voice may become hoarse. When Allium cepa is called for the symptoms improve outside in the fresh air or in cool air.
This remedy is very commonly used for hay fever with burning and itching in the throat, nose or eyes. The discharges burn and redden the skin. This person will feel cold and although they want to be rugged up their head clears in cool fresh air. They are sensitive to light.
Euphrasia is needed when the eyes feel swollen and gritty. The copious watery tears are acrid, unlike Allium cepa, and they irritate and burn the skin around the eyes and even the cheeks. There is a watery discharge from the nose which is bland and non-irritating. There may be much sneezing. Symptoms are worse outside in the open air, and also worse from heat or wind. (Notice how the symptoms of Allium cepa and Euphrasia are opposite to help you distinguish which is a closer match)
Violent sneezing is a symptom that may call for Nat mur, particularly when it is accompanied by itching and tingling inside the nose. There may be a watery or egg-white like nasal discharge, although not usually at the time of hayfever onset. These symptoms get worse after being out in the sun. Taste and smell are lost. Cold sores may occur at the same time. The person needing Nat mur may feel sad or sorry for themselves and want to be alone, and they feel better outside.
Sore, smarting eyes that are light sensitive call for Nux vomica. The nose feels stuffed up making breathing difficult. There may be a streaming discharge through the day even though the nose feels stuffy. At night the nose dries up. This person feels irritable, even nasty, and chilly. Other people can really annoy them. They may have a headache with the stuffy nose which is made worse from stooping. Their symptoms are worse in dry air and better when the air is damp. These people have a tendency to over work, and may crave coffee to keep them going.
Congestion is the hallmark of a Pulsatilla picture with thick discharges that are bland (non-irritating) and yellow or yellow green. While there is much nasal discharge in the morning the nose is dry at night. This person feels much better outside in the cold fresh air and considerably worse in a warm stuffy room. They also feel better when they keep moving about. They may be weepy, and children whiny or clingy.
Eyes that water with red burning margins of the eyelids, and lots of watery nasal discharge indicate the need for Sabadilla. There is much sneezing which occurs in spasms, one sneeze after another, and is caused by a tickle in the nose. The sneezing causes the eyes to water. This person is very sensitive to the smell of flowers which may exacerbate the sneezing. The tickle in the throat may be relived by warm drinks. This person feels very chilly, and the symptoms are worse in the open air and better in a warm room.
Extreme, even intolerable itching in the nose and throat calls for Wyethia. This is the remedy for severe itching of the upper palate, where the person tries to “scratch” it with their tongue. Often the throat feels swollen, dry or burning, causing a constant need to swallow to moisten it.
These are just a few of the hundreds of homeopathic remedies used for treating hayfever. If you can’t match one to your symptoms consult a professional for the remedy you need.
Homeopathic treatment is very effective for preventing, as well as treating, hay fever attacks but it must begin well before the hay fever season. If you’d like to diminish your hay fever in the future begin by selecting the remedy that matches your current symptoms most closely and take it whenever you have an acute attack this season. In about six months visit a professional homeopath who will treat you to improve your resistance to allergens and prevent, or reduce, further attacks in the future.
I experienced terrible hay fever when I was younger with red, burning, itching, watery eyes. But I haven’t had any for many years after taking preventative homeopathy one winter years ago.
If you’d like to learn more about using Homeopathy to treat your family’s acute and first aid illnesses why not join my HOMEOPATHY @ HOME Course designed especially for the home prescriber. This fun and information-packed course is totally empowering, and enables you to be ready with the right homeopathic treatment for you and your children need whenever you need relief from an acute illness.
All information and opinions presented here are for information purposes only and are not intended as a substitute for professional advice offered during a consultation. Please consult with your health care provider before following any of the treatment suggested on this site, particularly if you have an ongoing health issue.
http://www.naturalnews.com/035367_hay_fever_seasonal_allergies_remedies.html#
http://homeopathyplus.com.au/hay-fever-help-homeopathic-treatment-and-other-self-help-tips/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2157014/The-hayfever-treatments-really-work.html
http://www.naturopathic.org/content.asp?contentid=117
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So many people feel overwhelmed today, and stumble through their life trying to stay a-top the wave of obligation and busyness, without falling and crashing. Just staying up there requires energy and effort. Getting rid of stuff can help clear some space in your life and your head to make that balancing act just a little easier.
As life continues to speed up the feeling that we need to simplify, if only to stay on top and survive, is expanding and gaining importance. De-cluttering is often the first step towards a simpler life. The beauty of clearing out the junk in your life is that it’s not limited to just the old clothes you no longer wear but can be undertaken as a conscious project where you target clearing on every single level of your being.
Everyone is familiar with spring cleaning but not so many set themselves up to undertake the “whole enchilada”, to declutter more than just their possessions. When you begin to view de-cluttering as a “life-cleanse” rather than as simply a bit of a clean-out you set yourself on a path for a cascade of dynamic life-changing effects.
Everyone has stuff in their life that no longer serves them, baggage that no longer supports them to be the best they can be. Sad to say this outdated stuff can even include people.
To do a full de-clutter of your life really takes some hard soul-searching. In order to totally renew ourselves on every level we need to clear not just belongings but also outdated or negative beliefs, debt, bad habits, people that who leave us feeling bad about ourselves, judgments and criticisms of self and others, or mental clutter.
For many of us holding onto excess possessions, thoughts, emotions or beliefs, has to do with our past experiences and what we learned as we grew up. Relationships, feelings of obligation, debt can all be tied tightly to emotions that are rooted deep in our early years, so they can sometimes be difficult to dislodge. Often we are not even conscious of where they arose from.
The process of life de-cluttering can seem a mammoth exercise. It can seem completely overwhelming and confusing. Where to actually begin could even stop you from starting.
But the same rules that apply to spring-cleaning also apply to making the total life clean out happen. Just as you start spring-cleaning in one room and work systematically through the whole house, so too do you start with one small part of your life and clear that first.
It is all about recognizing what needs to go and then breaking the huge challenge down into small steps that are easy to manage and succeed at.
The beliefs, habits, and possessions in our life can have a great hold on us and shifting them out of our life can be very challenging and difficult. Often by clearing out excess possessions in our life we create a ‘roll’ that then eases us into decluttering the trickier things.
By starting in our homes and removing the excess we open the way for a decluttering on all levels. We open the way for clarity and space not just in our surroundings but also in our mind, body and spirit. Once we declutter our possessions we can begin to recognize, examine and discard those more challenging things in our life, the mental clutter, debt, bad jobs, even relationships.
Often we can have a sense that we don’t really feel happy, or passionate about life. But we may not be able to pinpoint where the feeling stems from. Sometimes we have just become so caught up in living, juggling work, kids, friends, parents, money, plus all the other obligations of life, that we have lost sight of our own needs. The negatives in our life have been absorbed and become so ingrained that we don’t even notice them as being less than ideal anymore.
I like to think of these outdated 
parts of our life as the grain of sand in the oyster shell. The sand grain sits there irritating the poor oyster. But with work the oyster is able to transform it into a beautiful gem, a pearl. By opening up the shell of ourselves and working on the irritating grains of sand in our life we can transform problems into pearls.
When we de-clutter we learn to let go and create space. There is a saying that if we want something new in our life we need to first make a space for it to fit in. With our life becoming even fuller and more challenging every single day it seems imperative that we clear every aspect of it that we can. New things will always move into our life, it is the nature of living, but whether we have the space in our life to embrace the positive that waits to arrive depends on whether we are prepared to release the negative first.
As we declutter we gain a sense of lightness as each non-supportive thing leaves
us for good. These are heavy burdens and releasing them lifts the weight from our shoulders giving us a sense of freedom.
Whether the clutter in our life is physical, emotional, or mental it takes a good deal of effort to maintain our relationship with them. When we own less we need to devote less attention to stuff and so we gain the precious commodity of time.
To begin your declutter start by drawing up a plan. Don’t worry if everything isn’t included. Things that need to good will become apparent as you go ahead. Start simply with releasing the most obvious things. Break the process down into small steps and tackle one at a time, then move on to the next. Stop along the way to acknowledge what you have cleared and pause to notice if more stuff has arisen.
If you need help to get clarity about where to begin, or help to form a plan of action, or you know you’ll be able to do this if you just have the support to keep you on track, I am here to help.
All information and opinions presented here are for information purposes only and are not intended as a substitute for professional advice offered during a consultation. Please consult with your health care provider before following any of the treatment suggested on this site, particularly if you have an ongoing health issue.
As the chill wet of winter settles in and the incidence of coughs and colds grows it’s time to get serious about natural alternatives to prescription antibiotics. One natural remedy that has been around for thousands of years to fight winter viruses is the garlic.
The humble garlic has enjoyed a long and illustrious reputation as a heal-all, and rightly so. Garlic has been used for healing since the time of the ancient Egyptians. Now science has confirmed that garlic deserves its status and is indeed the medicinal giant it was always held to be.
Garlic was used by both the ancient Greeks and Egyptians to treat a range of health problems. From Egypt it spread through Pakistan and India into China. In many different cultures garlic was used to treat very similar ailments, including respiratory, digestive, fevers and rheumatism. In ancient Greece Hippocrates, the father of medicine, used garlic in the treatment of many diseases.
As a culinary herb garlic is relatively new and throughout history was more likely to be used for its medicinal properties. For a plant that offers so much to invigorate your palate, it seems almost too generous for it to have powerful healing properties as well.
It is the active ingredient in garlic, allicin, a sulfur compound, that holds all the healing power, and allicin is the same ingredient that gives garlic its strong odour and taste. This compound is produced when the clove surface is exposed to the air by crushing or cutting the clove.
Garlic acts as a broad spectrum antibiotic and is able to kill a wide variety of bacteria. Unlike chemical antibiotics that kill off millions of friendly bacteria that your body needs, Garlic only targets the invading bacteria, and even promotes and increases your healthy bacteria. Garlic is also a powerful anti-fungal, anti-viral, anti-protazoal and antiparasitic, efficient at destroying antigens, pathogens and any harmful micro-organism.
To gain the benefit of garlic it needs to have a strong garlic-y smell released by the active allicin. Without this aroma it won’t do you much good. The cut surface of the garlic needs to be exposed to the air while it is raw. If you are going to cook with it make sure it is crushed and left to sit for a while first.
Some of the healing effects of garlic are:
Cardiovascular: Cardiovascular disease is the biggest killer in the world and hypertension is an important indicator. Garlic acts powerfully on the circulatory system, helping to lower hypertension and regulate cholesterol.
A 2013 study* found that taking a daily dose between 600-1500mg of aged garlic extract was as effective as the hypertensive drug Atenolol in reducing blood pressure over a 24 week period. It does this by widening the blood vessels
By lowering LDL (bad) cholesterol garlic reduces the risk of heart disease. However it doesn’t seem to affect triglycerides or HDL levels.
Skin: Although you won’t find garlic in your skin cream it is a strong acting topical treatment for acne. It possesses excellent anti-microbial properties to kill bacteria and works effectively to kill radicals swiftly.
Chronic fatigue syndrome: In many ancient cultures garlic was used to improve the capacity of labourers to work longer and harder by reducing fatigue. Today it can be used to relieve the symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome as well as to improve physical endurance, although no studies have been done into this use.
Respiratory: Asthma and Bronchitis – Garlic is known to have a strong action on the respiratory system and is a useful treatment for asthma and bronchitis. As well as being very effective in treating the common cold by reducing its duration, garlic can also be used to ward off colds and other viruses.
Immunity: Garlic is known to boost immune function to reduce the incidence of colds as well as dramatically reduce the duration of colds by up to 70%. This wonderful bulb is a true superfood, containing many trace nutrients to strengthen immune function. Garlic is high in manganese, Vitamin B6, Vitamin C, Selenium and fibre. It also contains decent amounts of potassium, calcium, phosphorous, iron, copper and vitamin B1 as well as small amounts of other nutrients.
Detox: In high doses it has been shown that garlic can protect against heavy metal toxicity as well as reducing many signs of heavy metal toxicity.
Food Poisoning: It has been suggested that fresh but not aged garlic may be capable of killing certain bacteria including E. coli.
Hair Loss: Garlic contains keratin in the sulfur it contains which both stimulates hair growth and strengthens the hair.
Other Uses:
Allergies
Candida
Vaginitis and candida
Hypoglyceamia
Liver problems
Haemorroids
Tumours
UTI
Plus many, many more ailments from the prevention of tick bite to diabetes.
When a cold first begins its assault on you one of the easiest ways to fight it off is to chew or swallow a raw clove of garlic in which a strong garlic aroma has developed. The effect of garlic can be quite dramatic even eradicating the cold. Cut the clove open first and leave to sit in the air for a few minutes before you eat it. The healing power strengthens when the cut clove is exposed to the air.
Some people have no problem with eating cloves of raw garlic but for others it’s not so easy.
When I need a dose of garlic I crush it and use it on top of my meal. That way I can eat it with the first mouthful – the garlic is still raw but easier to take with a mouthful of food.
Don’t shy away from raw garlic. Garlic only affects your breath if you chew it. Instead you can cut the clove up and swallow each piece without chewing. Plus there are plenty of delicious foods such as fresh hommus or guacamole that contain lots of garlic in its raw state.
As a bonus garlic is not only very nutritious it is also low in calories.
Another way to take your garlic is through your skin. Your skin absorbs what is put on it and this goes for garlic as well as expensive skin products.
Crush a few cloves of garlic and cover them with some carrier oil that is suitable for applying to the skin, such as olive oil, jojoba, almond or other food grade oil. Allow the mix to steep for at least half an hour. Don’t be tempted to heat the garlic as even short-term heating reduces the anti-inflammatory effects. The carrier oil holds the allicin from the garlic clove.
Once the oil has finished steeping apply it to the soles of your feet. Put on some socks to protect the oil and relax while the oil is absorbed through the pores of your skin. Once in your body it is carried throughout the body.
If you prefer you can rub the cut garlic clove directly onto the soles of your feet. It will still be absorbed through your skin.
But be warned. You will probably develop a garlic taste in your mouth, or your breath may start to smell of garlic about twenty to thirty minutes after applying the garlic to your soles. This indicates that the garlic has been absorbed and carried through your body.
It would be wise not to do this immediately before going out socialising.
If you simply cannot face raw garlic you can always take your garlic as a supplement, in the form of a powder, an extract or oil. However there is a great difference between garlic supplements. The amount of allicin they contain is dependent on the way in which they are prepared. Unfortunately, allicin is not stable and can change quickly, reducing the effectiveness of the preparation. If the supplement is odourless its effectiveness is compromised.
To reach therapeutic levels you need at least two to three cloves each day. Don’t be afraid to use this smelly treasure and hold back, as the body can tolerate up to four grams or about four cloves each day.
But, there are some people who are allergic to garlic. And you need to be careful with garlic if you suffer from a bleeding disorder or are taking blood thinning medications.
*Pakistan Journal of Pharmaceutical Studies.
All information and opinions presented here are for information purposes only and are not intended as a substitute for professional advice offered during a consultation. Please consult with your health care provider before following any of the treatment suggested on this site, particularly if you have an ongoing health issue.
Source Articles
http://www.medicaldaily.com/garlic-good-you-7-surprising-benefits-garlic-optimal-health-324114
http://authoritynutrition.com/11-proven-health-benefits-of-garlic/
http://www.susunweed.com/Article_Garlic.htm
http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-300-garlic.aspx?activeingredientid=300&activeingredientname=garlic
Sometimes we get so set in our habits it becomes impossible to think about changing them even if doing so means taking back control in your life. Often the route to changing set habits seems too tough to even begin. That’s where process becomes vital. A plan that breaks down the insurmountable changes you need to make into small easy steps is invaluable as it makes those changes easily achievable.
When my son was in his first year of University he visited his Naturopath for some health issue. Hardly surprisingly the naturopath called him out on his eating habits, asking why he ate junk, specifically McDonalds, for his lunch when his Uni was surrounded by great little Asian cafes where he could go and get a big bowl of broccoli instead.
My son came home and told me he’d been told to eat broccoli for lunch. He laughed a lot, said “Yea right! As if (that’s ever going to happen)” and for him that was end of possiblity to change. Totally normal response from an eighteen year old I thought.
Telling a guy of this age to replace all his delicious (to him) foods with another food that he didn’t love, was like speaking to closed ears. For him the cost and the task were both simply too big. He wasn’t prepared to give up his foods because he loved them. He coudn’t find a good motivation as he wasn’t really convinced enough that his poor diet was contributing to his symptoms, in spite of what his naturopath and I told him. He didn’t see the benefit, better health, as big enough a compensation for the loss of a practice he loved.
So we talked, and I gently nagged, and he ended up agreeing once a week to try out the nearby cafes and let me know if there were any worth visiting. Plus I suggested he modified the instructions a little to make it easier and less of a chore.
The prospect of steamed broccoli for lunch five days a week didn’t cut it with him. But when I broke it down into small steps by suggesting he try it just once a week the task was immediately manageable. He no longer saw it as an imposition as he actually really liked the new foods offered.
When I modified it to something less extreme than a bowl of broccoli, and made the change smaller, it was far more appealing to him, and better than the junk food healthwise. In fact he came to enjoy the variety.
Changing habits is never easy to do especially when they are ones you really enjoy. When you focus on the deprivation that’s involved, of how much you’ll miss out on if you drop or change the habit, any benefits can become difficult to see, and without obvious benefits there’s no incentive for you to do it.
The other big problem that often stops you before we even start changing your habits is the actual logistics involved. Sometimes the organisation required to make change becomes so huge it seems insurmountable. While there must first be enough motivation for you to put in the effort, the steps to get there must be designed so it’s actually easy to manage them.
In my son’s case he not only thought he’d miss out on something he loved, but he also had to consider the issues or steps involved in deciding which café to go to before he’d commit to doing it – which ones he could afford, which would have quick service to fit into his lunch break, which menu looked better, and perhaps most importantly whether his friends would also change so he didn’t need to eat alone. The last of these was a ‘maker or a breaker’. If his friends had stayed with the junk food option the steps to change would have been insurmountable in his assessment and he would have dropped the idea before starting it.
One simple way to overcome the apparent looming difficulty of making change is to break the goal down.
I take the attitude that by changing just that one meal a week my son was 20 percent healthier than he was before. And it opened the way to eating healthier because once he started he found he enjoyed it as much as the junk. This made it easier to replace more and more meals with healthier options.
This is a tactic I often suggest to clients. Most of them love their coffee but often coffee contributes to their ill-health. If I ask them to stop drinking coffee they often agree reluctantly but don’t actually make any change, and sometimes even don’t tell me they still drink just as much.
But if they only have to cut their coffee back from say four cups a day to three the task is much more achievable, and they start to see benefits immediately. They’re already doing 25 percent better than they were, so are that much further towards their goal of good health.
Many times when you just don’t ‘feel the joy’ it’s normal to want to change your life. But if you are so busy focusing on the end point where your life would be totally happy, blissful and perfect, that place where you are in control of your life, the road to get there appears simply too long and difficult. The steps you need to take seem too big, especially if they involve juggling many other responsibilities in your life to manage.
Breaking everything into small steps is the easiest way to bring change, to allow you to take a gentler pathway to that goal you have. It also provides an easy confirmation that things are starting to change and you are achieving what it is you want.
When I want to make changes I first break the task down into small steps. Then to I go back through it and break it down again, taking it right down into tiny little steps. There are days when my steps might include one so basic as getting up and going outside. When I get there I can feel the satisfaction that I have been able to drag myself away from my work so I have a sense of achievement that reminds me “I can do this”.
The steps you take don’t have to be major in themself, they simply need to be defined and achievable. They reinforce your knowledge that you can make the change you need. Each and every one needs to be acknowledged right when it’s achieved. And most importantly each one will allow you that feeling that you again have some control in your life.
So what is it you want to change first? Take another look at where you can break it down into those tiny little, easily attainable steps. Then begin, one confident step at a time on the pathway towards your goal.
All information and opinions presented here are for information purposes only and are not intended as a substitute for professional advice offered during a consultation. Please consult with your health care provider before following any of the treatment suggested on this site, particularly if you have an ongoing health issue.
happy holistic health 