Tag Archives: Homeopathy

Listening

A Balanced Life, Coaching, ,

Recently I found that I wasn’t listening as well as I should. Quite apart from the slight deafness that has come about after decades of poor fitting motorcycle helmets.

I came to realize that in some of my conversations with colleagues that I was interrupting their conversations. It doesn’t help that my mind races at a million miles per hour when I am in a creative moment, but it is important for me, as a therapist, to correct that behaviour.

When training to become a homeopath, it was instilled in us that “a case well taken, is a case likely to succeed” and this meant not only asking the right questions, but listening carefully to the replies. Or what was not said. In homeopathy there is what is called a PQRS – peculiar, queer(it had a very different meaning back a couple of centuries ago), rare and strange symptom. This will be so different to the usual symptoms of a complaint that it will often lead directly to a remedy.
Similarly in coaching and hypnotherapy, listening carefully to the client will often result in an intuitive response that leads to great insights. Intuition is enhanced by taking time to still your own mind and stop those thoughts or impulsive answers. As the mind chatter subsides you can also become aware of your own, considered responses. Ask yourself “Is my language positive?”

A great acronym to remember is THINK –
Is it
– True?
– Helpful?
– Inspiring?
– Necessary?
– Kind?

Personal Growth

balance, Education, Insights, ,

Many years ago whilst still teaching, a professional development activity required us all to undertake an assessment as part of a personal growth program. I can’t remember which assessment it was, but it measured several key areas – a bit of a combination of a psychological and aptitude profile to see if we were mathematically or logically aligned as well our artistic and creative abilities. It also included whether we had strong spiritual beliefs as well as our communication skills. It certainly wasn’t about Emotional Intelligences.

No surprises for me when my assessment came back. If you know me well, then you can probably guess where my strengths and weaknesses showed up. I do remember many of the staff grumbling about having to do “touchy feely” activities as a result of the assessment in order to create a “team spirit”.

Many of the teaching staff flitted about showing and comparing their profiles to each other, but I decided to keep mine close. The facilitators had a good idea of the grouping of various abilities and it was clear that for the most part, we had chosen our teaching areas according to our profiles.

With my result showing somewhat of a deficit in the science area, I made the decision to undertake some studies related to that area for personal growth. I chose to do a course unrelated to my subject matter or even teaching.

personal growthI had just finished a 4 year Steiner Teacher Training course and had discovered that I enjoyed exploring subjects that stretched my mind. As Steiner education looks at the whole child including their health, I decided to find out more about Homeopathy.

This might not appear to the skeptic to be scientific, but I discovered that you do need a logical approach to taking a history and recording and comparing symptoms to the effects of remedies. A bit of a giant physiological jigsaw puzzle. This study took another 4 years part time and as part of the course requirements I needed to study anatomy and physiology. Nothing like diving into and improving my scientific knowledge! Another year of stretching myself although I do like to think it was balanced with the esoteric knowledge imparted during the Polarity Therapy that I studied after that…….

The Power of Metaphor

A Balanced Life, Coaching, Life balance, , ,
What is metaphor?

It’s a way of speaking that uses words or pictures to describe something in a symbolic way.

At the workshop I presented at today, I used both words and pictures as metaphors to bypass the conscious mind.  This was to get the participants thinking more deeply about their EQ or emotional intelligence in regard to how much balance (or not) is in their lives.

Without giving too much away…. and because I’m planning on repeating the workshop quite soon, I asked them to think about what tools that they might have on hand to apply in various situations.

Using a variety of photos, including that of my own toolbox, we segued into how they might successfully navigate situations or people using various Emotional Intelligence strategies.

My real toolbox contains a good selection of Homeopathic remedies. Many years ago I used to take it on home visits for some clients who had children diagnosed with ADHD. Much easier than having a bored and disruptive child confined in an office and a wonderful way to observe their behaviours in their natural habitat!

The metaphoric toolbox

This contains various tools that can be used to change perception of self or situations. These tools enable one to respond rapidly to changing situations or to be creative and innovative in an approach to new or novel ideas.

Setting life goals is much like having a garden. You’ve designed the garden beds, carefully planned where the trees have been placed and planted a variety of plants – perhaps even a lawn area. But the work doesn’t stop here. The lawn needs to be mowed on a regular basis. The plants need to be tended and occasionally, plants such as roses need to be pruned to produce the next seasons lush growth.

And so it is with life goals.  You’ve planned the goals, placed a few key elements to stand out. All this needs maintenance and constant action to keep the momentum to get the end result. Along the way you may encounter a prickly person or what you thought was a beautiful flower which turns out to be a weed and needs to be removed.

With no way of knowing their story, a metaphor can be transformative to many people as they apply and adapt it to their own life experience or goals and bring about an inner awareness of their own strengths or weaknesses.

Wisdom

Philosophy

Socrates said “The only true wisdom is in knowing that you know nothing”, which I have found to be abundantly true. Yet the dictionary definition of wisdom is just as confusing.  Wisdom can be :

  • the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgement; the quality of being wise
  • the fact of being based on sensible or wise thinking
  • the body of knowledge and experience that develops within a specified society or period

This was particularly apparent when studying Homeopathy. Finding the appropriate remedy seemed extraordinarily easy after taking a short course for home use. A dozen remedies for a dozen or so children’s ailments, what could be easier?  A little knowledge is useful, but the trick is in turning it into wisdom. After four years study of Classical Homeopathy, it was a little more difficult and took a lot longer to find remedies for clients.  There are thousands of remedies that are available and it takes considerable skill to find a remedy that exactly matches the symptoms that a client may present with. My lecturer taught us that the second best remedy is the one we have in our dispensary. I’m sure it is the same with other disciplines of studies.

But how do we know what we know and can we be certain that what we know is correct?

I’m sure the wisdom is in knowing that we know nothing.  Perspective will change how something is viewed and this may be through the mirror of time or through research or philosophy. There are people who would argue that Homeopathy cannot possibly work due to current scientific/rational thinking – that it is a “placebo effect”, yet thousands of people who have taken remedies for ailments and have been cured would vehemently disagree. It is within the realms of possibility that one day science will prove that Homeopathy is curative and acknowledge it as a legitimate form of medical treatment.

Scientific thinking has much changed since the time of Galileo, DaVinci and even Einstein. Theories that seemed improbable in those times have been proven to be true and so it is necessary to keep an open mind to the possibility Hahnemann came up with a curative method before his time.

Homeopathic prescribing

Education, Homeopathy, Life balance, Philosophy, ,

If you are working as a therapist you may decide to use some of the homeopathic remedies readily available in the health food stores. This could be for your personal use or to use with a client – it is suggested that you do some research or take a training to help you understand the actions of the remedies you are working with, possible side effects, duration that the remedy will last and key features of the remedies.

If you have decided to use Homeopathic remedies in your practice, once you have identified the likely needs of your client, you need to become what is described as the unprejudiced observer. This can be applied to all therapies, not just Homeopathy.

Is your client presenting with a label? Do they actually want their symptoms removed or is there secondary gain? There are lots of labels in our busy world, some are disease labels; others are behaviour labels. An awareness of the difference between disease and drug symptoms, along with a good drug reference guide, is essential.

What we must do, as an astute homeopathic prescriber,  is to observe each person as a whole.

Needless to say, each person has separate needs and experiences. So, what is trauma or difficulty for one person may have little long-term impact on another. It is this difference in reaction or non reaction that makes Homeopathy an effective treatment. A detailed history is taken to search for that remedy that most suits the individual and while one person may get one remedy for a cold, a family member or another person may get something entirely different, based on their symptoms.

There may be times that the therapist or practitioner requires a remedy. It must be stated that it is extraordinarily difficult to treat oneself, family or close friends. Seek professional advice. You are of no use if you give yourself a remedy that causes an aggravation of symptoms. Remedies have been known to bring back old, suppressed symptoms of long forgotten illnesses.

Trauma can be physical or emotional. It can be caused by any of the issues below. It can be held in the body at the cellular level and homeopathically can be seen as generational, giving rise to the theory of Miasm or disposition to a particular set of disease symptoms.  Homeopathy seeks to strengthen the body at the cellular level, so with this tool, we have a greater freedom to avoid the patterns of our ancestors.

Some likely needs of the clients you might see are:

  • Grief
  • Abuse
  • Post traumatic stress disorder

As each person’s needs are quite different, so a different remedy will be needed even if there are the same or similar conditions prevailing.

The major Contra-indications to giving a remedy are;

  • If the client is already under constitutional Homeopathic treatment. Taking another remedy may interfere with the action of the remedy given by the Client’s primary Homeopathic care provider.
  • When the client is known to have great sensitivity to mainstream medications or allergens. (Seek professional advice before giving a remedy – you may prefer to use a flower essence or Rescue Remedy)
  • When informed consent has not been given.

For those interested there is a course in Emotional First Aid, outlining some basic grief and trauma remedies run by Balance4Life Programs. Contact us to find out more details.

Energy

Education, Homeopathy, Philosophy, Polarity Therapy, , , , , , , , , ,
So what is energy?
the definition according to
It’s a noun, plural -gies.
1.  the capacity for vigorous activity; available power: I eat chocolate to get quick energy.
2.  an adequate or abundant amount of such power: I seem to have no energy these days.
3.  Often, energies. a feeling of tension caused or seeming to be caused by an excess of such power: to work off one’s energies at tennis.
4.  an exertion of such power: She plays tennis with great energy.
5.  the habit of vigorous activity; vigor as a characteristic: Foreigners both admire and laugh at American energy.
6.  the ability to act, lead others, effect, etc., forcefully.
7.  forcefulness of expression: a writing style abounding with energy.
8.  Physics . the capacity to do work; the property of a system that diminishes when the system does work on any other system, by an amount equal to the work so done; potential energy. Symbol:  E
9.  any source of usable power, as fossil fuel, electricity, or solar radiation.
No mention here of the subtle energies of the body or energy healing.
Is energy visible?
I would say yes and no.
The effects of energy can be observed in different ways.
Energy can be measured by calories or kilojoules present in our foods and some foods, particularly organic or biodynamic foods have a different kind of energy to those foods grown in depleted or toxic environments.
Someone lacking in energy seems quite “wilted” and drab, as can vegetables that are past their use by date.
Those with an over abundance of energy  can appear lively and sparkling, even repelling us if we are not in the same frame of mind.
It’s more of a feeling!
Energy can be observed by moving a switch to off or on.
Either the TV, kettle or other electrical appliance works or doesn’t.
What of the human body?
What energy fields lie within?
Many centuries ago the Chinese mapped the energy fields and called them meridians. They found that if certain points were stimulated, energy flowed through the body more effectively and improved health. Modern medicine now acknowledges the efficacy of Acupuncture in treating many conditions, including its use in anaesthesia.
Tai Chi is an energy based exercise. Gentle, graceful movements that stimulate blood flow, stretch the muscles and still the mind. Ch’i, Qi or Ki (気) may be regarded by sceptics as hocus pocus, even though many cultures have, for millenia, accepted that there are subtle and inexplicable energies that can work on the body and spirit.
Even though there is a vocal band of sceptics who denounce the existence of energy in this context, in the name of rational science, there has been a growing acceptance of the role of energy medicine across the globe.
Samuel Hahnemann was disenchanted with the way medicine was practiced in Germany in the 1780’s and by 1796 he had come up with a way of treating patients that fitted with the Hippocratic Oath “..first do no harm…..”. His system was Homeopathy. It was based on the premise that like cures like – using a substance that could create symptoms in a perfectly healthy person to cure those same symptoms in someone who was sick.  He also discovered that dilution of the remedy caused it to work more effectively in many cases. Today, Homeopathy is used across the world and is available on the NHS in the UK and widely used in India and Pakistan where is a cheap and effective medical alternative.
Another famous German, Rudolph Steiner, continued the exploration of energy fields and medicine in the late 19th century through to the 1920’s.  His major work was in providing an education system that nourishes the spirit of the child and is still recognised today with the acceptance and growth of the Steiner School system worldwide.  Steiner spoke of us having four bodies:
  • the physical or material body that contains the elements of the earth – minerals, gases – nitrogen and oxygen; water and other fluids
  • the etheric body, which plants and animals also possess
  • the astral body, which animals and man both have
  • and the Ego or centre which is surrounded by the other bodies which envelope and sheath it.
Another interesting philosophy to come out of Europe in this era of enlightenment, was Dr Randolph Stone, born in Austria in 1890, who trained as an Osteopath, Naturopath and chiropractor.
He developed Polarity Therapy which melded ancient Eastern philosophies with modern European natural healing practices.
Dr Stone investigated the pathways in the body that energy could be felt to move in and drew upon his vast knowledge to create “maps” of these pathways that therapists could use to locate and move around energy.
He found that energy is constantly moving and we all have a positive and negative polarity.
By using the hands to manipulate the energy in a particular spot with varying pressure, some conditions can be alleviated quite easily.
Dr Stone said that ” the awareness of life as energy currents is the key to the natural art of health building.”

The Rhythm of the Days

Homeopathy, Life balance, Philosophy, ,

Every day has its own special rhythm. To know and understand more about these rhythms creates a sense of security. The overlying theme is circular and can be felt in the breath – breathing in and breathing out.

At school a rhythm must be set from the earliest years. In the Steiner tradition there is a morning circle, followed by play and morning tea. Steiner observed that chaotic behaviour in the child is not the child’s fault but a lack of rhythm by the parents and teacher.

Each day is governed by a planet and each day has a different grain or colour assigned to it. By including a different grain each day, the diet becomes more varied. Colours can be used either in the clothing of the child or the adults, even by using different coloured tablecloths in the home or classroom. For the teacher, it is useful to know what day of the week a child is born on as this also determines, according to ancient wisdom, the constitution of the child. The Homeopathic Repertory also lists remedies suited to constitutional disorders, which is helpful when treating children.

Monday is ruled by the Moon and rice or rice water is the appropriate grain. The colour to wear or use is VIOLET. The metal is Silver and the Chinese Medicine element is Water. Astrologically ruled by Cancer, the body parts most affected by the Moon are the brain, nervous system and bladder. The child born on this day may have a sensitivity and awareness, frequently reflect on events and have a good imagination and memory.

Tuesday is ruled by Mars and Barley should be consumed. The colour to wear or use is RED. The metal is Iron and in Chinese Medicine it relates to the Fire Element. Mars rules the blood in the body, including blood pressure, temperature and adrenal glands. The head, face and reproductive system are affected by the planet Mars and the months  are Aries and Scorpio. The child born on this day may have  fire, passion, energy, assertiveness and willpower.

Wednesday is ruled by Mercury and Millet is the appropriate grain. The colour to wear or use is YELLOW.  The Mercury constitution is often disordered by coughs and colds. The body parts affected are the respiratory system, nerves and the mind can be quite active although changeable. The Chinese Medicine element is Air and the astrological signs are Gemini and Virgo. A Mercury child may have an active intelligence, good communication skills, the power to reason and a love of learning through speech and writing.

Thursday is ruled by Jupiter and the grain that should be consumed is Rye. The colour to wear or use is ORANGE. The metal is Tin, and areas of the body affected may be the liver, gallbladder, digestion, thyroid, hips, navel and feet. Sagittarius and Pisces are Jupiter months. The Chinese Medicine element is Earth. A child born on this day may have enthusiasm, optimism and a benevolent nature, wisdom beyond their years and the capacity to create opportunity and growth.

Friday is ruled by the planet Venus and Oats should be eaten. The colour to wear or use is GREEN. The metal for Venus is Copper and the astrological connections are Libra and Taurus. The urinary & reproductive systems are ruled by Venus and the Chinese Medicine element is Water. Children born on this day may have a sociable and affectionate constitution. They enjoy harmony, comfort and beauty.

Saturday is ruled by the planet Saturn and the grain is Corn. The colour is BLUE. The metal for Saturn is Lead and the Chinese Medicine element is Earth. Astrologically it is ruled by Aquarius and Capricorn. The body parts most affected by Saturn are the spleen, bones and joints and the spinal column. A child born on this day may be noticed by its love of order and discipline. They are often idealistic and have a strong moral sense, living life in integrity.

Sunday is ruled by the Sun and Wheat should be eaten. The colour is WHITE. The metal for the Sun is Gold and the astrological connection is Leo. The Chinese Medicine element is Fire and the heart, circulation, blood and vision may be areas to watch.  Children born on this day may have energy to spare, vitality, leadership and willpower, tempered with compassion, love and generosity.

In Lotus Alchemy, which emphasises the transformation of the human being, there are also the 7 stages of life that correspond to the planets:

Birth to 7 – Moon

7 to 14 – Mercury

14 to 21 – Venus

21 to 42 – Sun

42 to 49 – Mars

49 – 56 – Jupiter

56 to 63 – Saturn

63 to 70 – Moon

70 to 77 – Mercury.


Homeopathic prescribing

Homeopathy, Philosophy, ,

If you are working as a therapist you may be tempted to use some of the homeopathic remedies readily available in the health food stores.

I would strongly suggest that you undertake some basic training  in Homeopathy before dispensing remedies to your clients. You  need to become what Homeopathy has described as the unprejudiced observer and understand what the remedies will do and the possible aggravations that can occur. Although the remedies can be classed as a natural medicine, you must bear in mind that what can heal can also harm if given in the wrong dose and at the wrong time.

There are lots of labels in our busy world, some are disease labels – others are behaviour labels. What we must do is to observe each person as a whole. Each person has separate needs and experiences. So what is trauma or difficulty for one person may have little long-term impact on another.

There may be times that you as the therapist or practitioner requires a remedy. It must be stated that it is extraordinarily difficult to treat oneself, family or close friends. Seek professional advice. You are of no use if you give yourself a remedy that causes an aggravation of symptoms.

Homeopathy seeks to strengthen the body at the cellular level, so that we have a greater freedom to avoid the patterns of our ancestors. Some of the issues that can be helped by homeopathy are:

–          Grief

–          Abuse

–          Post traumatic stress disorders

As each person’s needs are quite different, so a different remedy will be needed even if there are the same or similar conditions prevailing. Seek out an experienced homeopath to whom you can go to for treatment and until you are qualified, send your clients to.

The major Contra-indications to giving a remedy are

–          When the client is already under constitutional Homeopathic treatment. Taking another remedy may interfere with the action of the remedy given by the Client’s primary care provider.

–          When the client is known to have great sensitivity to mainstream medications or allergens. (Seek professional advice before giving a remedy – you may prefer to use a flower essence or Rescue Remedy)

–          When consent has not been given.