"Bless You!"

The pollen is thick out there right now, and many of you are suffering. Hay Fever can be a blight for so many over the summer. Our allergy specialist, Gosia Gray, has provided some homeopathic suggestions to help ease you through the season of sneezes, itches, and general misery. May you breathe easy, your eyes be bright, and your tissues forgotten!

Allium Cepa - for symptoms of burning eyes, light sensitivity, watery discharges from eyes and nose, with a tickling sensation at the back of your throat.

Euprasia – burning sensation, swollen eye lids and watery discharges from the nose, with possibilities of a mild wet cough.

Sabadilla - eye lids red and watery eyes, with sneezing runny nose and a sore throat.

Arsenicum Album – burning and watery sensations in your eyes with sneezing, sore red nostrils, burning throat and dry cough.

Gelsemium – swollen heavy eyelids, sneezing sore throat and aching muscles.

 DOSE 30c one three times a day for 3 days and repeat as necessary if symptoms persist. 

Namaste!

As well as being the summer solstice, yesterday was also the International Day of Yoga.

http://idayofyoga.org/index.php?route=information/information&information_id=4

If you have never tried yoga before, or if you would like the opportunity to enrich your own personal practise, Mala runs individually tailored one-to-one classes on a Saturday morning at The Chandos Clinic.  http://www.chandosclinic.co.uk/treatments/yoga.html

Kids: takes risks now and be safer later!

A place which has holidayed 4 generations of my extended family for nearly 60 years, has recently fenced off an area of river-bank which had been open for as long as we've been going there.They have previously curtailed any intrepid exploring by creating wide wood-chipped pathways,(thereby removing the nessesity of bush-whacking nettles for hours); taken down rope swings and on-going, removed the lower branches on trees to deter children from climbing up them. When I took umbridge with the new fence, their reply was of course "Health & Safety". I asked them if they were planning to fence off the sea!

There are few places left where kids can run truly wild, take risks and get a handle on what is really dangerous and what may just culminate in a need for TCP, a compress of frozen peas, or a trip to the local A&E.

With this in mind, here's an article from this weekend's Observer, re-affirming that children who are allowed to take risks, learn an essential life skill in how to be safe.

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jun/14/should-i-let-my-child-take-more-risks

An organisation who promote and uphold this value are "Playing Out" and they have a vibrant branch in Bristol. If you're keen to get your kids playing as kids should, take a look: http://playingout.net/

Get up, stand up!

I know I have flagged this up previously, but here is another article from Medscape on the benefits, really the necessity, of standing up and moving around! Of all the things we can do to improve our overall health, this one seems the most important, and the most attainable. So if you're reading this sat down, stand up and walk around a bit afterwards, just like I will do once I've pressed "send"! And do read to the end of the article, just so you get the gem of the last sentence. Then, seriously, stand up!

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/845770

Neals Yard Remedies... the bigger picture!

Most Bristol locals will know that we have an excellent branch of Neals Yard Remedies on Whiteladies Rd, Clifton. But how many of us know more than those distinctive beautiful blue bottles. Although it's from last summer, here's a fascinating article I found in The Guardian, about Neals Yard bigger picture.

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/aug/07/herbal-remedies-take-healthier-lessons-from-land-neals-yard

Also, if Bath is more convenient for you, Giles sees patients at the Neals Yard branch there on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Ring 01225 466944 for details.