I see people for all sorts of things, from emotional distress, to trauma, to physical complaints. I hold space while they share their life story and what their current challenges are, then I take that and prescribe a remedy to support them. I do not heal them. Quite apart from the fact that it is illegal for me to claim to heal anything, I still would not claim to heal a person. Healing is internal, it comes from within. The …
The weather has definitely cooled down so it is time to think about winter and preparing for the viruses that are more prevalent over this time. It’s also flu vaccine season- I keep hearing ads for this, and there are other options if you want to support your immune system without a vaccine. First of all, let’s talk about the fundamental building blocks for health and wellbeing: lifestyle, what we eat and how we treat our bodies. *nutrition is the …
Homeopathy Awareness week started on Wednesday, which was Samuel Hahnemann’s birthday. I have a lot on my plate so I’m a couple of days late but this is your reminder to be out there and proud, share your love for and success with homeopathy this week in particular to raise awareness with everyone. It is over 200 years since the organon was originally published, and over 100 years since the 6th edition, Hahnemann’s final version was published nearly 80 years …
This week starting on Thursdays I will once again be a practicing Pharmacist. What this will mean for you is that I can’t do consultations on a Thursday, and won’t be checking messages or emails, as I will be working at Unichem Kerikeri. I’ve had a few questions about this decision, so this post is to share some things I considered and some of the reasons behind it. I love being a Homeopath, and I am busy with my practice …
Easter is a time where we celebrate with chocolate and decorations of chickens and bunnies celebrating the new life of spring – even though in New Zealand, like the rest of the southern hemisphere we are actually in autumn. Keeping with that theme I would talk about a rabbit homeopathic remedy. Lac Oryctolagus Cunicilus is made from the milk of a white rabbit and was proved by New Zealander Claire Bleakley in 2002. Mammals are the only types of animals …
Happy Easter Among other things, Easter is a time of chocolate and over indulgence. Even if you actively limit sugar at home it is difficult when the kids go to different things and are given an Easter egg or two while there. So here are some reminders of what you can do. If possible, limit snacking on chocolate all day. Having it after a meal is ideal because it not only reduces the blood sugar spike but it means you …
Yesterday I talked about provings, today I want to share about the remedy itself that I helped prove. Ganoderma Tsugae is a mushroom -Reishi is the Japanese name, and in China it is called Ling zhi. The Reishi mushrooms are found all over the world – Ganoderma Lucidum, Ganoderma Tsugae and Ganoderma Sichuanese describe different forms of Reishi mushrooms. However when buying them they can be mislabelled, often those labelled Ganoderma Lucidum should more correctly called Ganoderma Sichuanese (although fortunately …
Homeopathy is not tested on animals. The information we have on our remedies can come from traditional uses and accidental poisonings, but largely comes from humans volunteering to take a remedy – these are called provings. That is even the way that Hahnemann first tested his theory that like cures like, by taking a substance (China) himself and noting the effects it caused in high doses were the same that it treated in small doses. Hahnemann, his friends, family and …
This is a belated International Women’s Day post- written for Friday, but life is busy and I forgot to set it up in advance. A few days late, but this is my annual post about an amazing woman in the history of Homeopathy: this year I’m writing about Dr Margery Blackie, who was best known as the Homeopath to the Queen. Margery was born on 4 Feb 1898 to a family with a strong knowledge of homeopathy. Her Uncle was …
I periodically ask for ideas that people would like me to write about, and this is one that came up a while ago – “after school restraint collapse”. This is a really common phenomenon. Children go to school all day, hold it together, then get home and lose the plot. It can be emotional breakdowns with tears, it may be anger or rage, and typically it will be the smallest thing, maybe something irrational, that sets them off – the …
It’s Valentines Day! So let’s talk about an important aspect of many relationships – sex, and specifically for women when there is a lack of libido. This is something that comes up in my clinic semi regularly, and this post is an overview of some of the issues that can affect your desire. The first point here is that women are all different – so what turns us on (or off) can be different too. That doesn’t mean that you …
This case was shared first in the NZ Homeopathic Society Newsletter. If you are not already a member – join! There are fantastic resources, you will be supporting Homeopathy in New Zealand, and there is a newsletter which always has a range of different things in it, including book reviews and cases. It is only $45 annually, and you can join at www.homeopathy.ac.nz This is a personal story of mine, and is about my son, aged 6. For some background, …
These are regularly confused, and there can even be overlaps between the two, as Homeopaths will give lifestyle advice and Naturopaths use homeopathic remedies. When you go by mainstream medical definitions both are holistic forms of treatment that avoid the use of pharmaceutical medicines. Both health professionals have an in depth first consultation that takes time, and will often spend time after the consultation to look at things holistically and come up with a remedy or plan, however they have …
Summer is here and with it the good old Kiwi Barbecue. One risk with barbecues and camping is food poisoning – something no one wants to deal with. The best treatment is prevention, so here is a reminder of the basic food safety rules: Wash your hands, especially after handling raw meat. Wash any utensils or chopping boards in hot soapy water and dry well. Cook food all the way through – especially chicken, mince and sausages. Reheat food to …
The summer school holidays are long. The first couple of weeks there is a lot of excitement- a busy term 4, then Christmas and new years, and by now, coming up 3rd week of January, some kids are bored, missing the routine of school, and there can be fighting with siblings, or just relentless whining and whinging going on. (If the moaning started as soon as the holidays, I apologise for leaving it so late to post this for you!) …
I am not a New Years Resolution person, but for the last few years I have taken this time to reflect on the previous year, and then set intentions for the New Year. Reflection is a really important skill to foster as a Health Professional, and one that both the New Zealand Council of Homeopaths and the Pharmacy Council require annually, although the focus is slightly different. This year my goals are similar to last year: To write one post …
At the beginning of the year I set myself a number of goals, and shared them with you here to make sure I was accountable. You can read the whole post here. So let’s have a look at those goals and how I have done: Firstly, write a post every week – achieved, and sometimes more than once a week. This is my ongoing commitment to this page, and will remain a goal for 2024. Some posts take a long …
It’s 5pm on a Friday night, your child has started vomiting and you have only one or two Arsenicum pilules left. It’s a long weekend, your youngest has an ear infection, and you realise you forgot to replace the Chamomilla drops. You pull it out and there’s maybe one or two drops left in the bottom. You’re away at a bach, and you left the Hypericum behind – but someone just crushed their fingers in a door and is screaming …
Yesterday I talked a bit about sugar and the effect in the body. Today I want to discuss the sugar remedies, as there are a few of them, and then I will talk about the remedy I use most. There are two main forms of sugar – that from Sugar Cane (which is the form of sugar that Chelsea Sugar Works imports over a hundred thousand metric tonnes of each year), and sugar made from Sugar Beet, which is primarily …
Sugar. It’s found in so many of our foods, and can have physical and mental effects, including spikes of dopamine our reward neuro-chemical. In homeopathy there are a few different sugar remedies, which we will discuss tomorrow. First let’s look at sugar itself and what happens in the body. Because this is impossible to keep small and then discuss the remedies well, if you want to skip the Biochemistry lesson, come back tomorrow to learn about the remedies. There …
This is a common skin condition in teenagers, but does occur in adults as well. Our skin is out outermost layer, and healing here usually requires working from the inside out. In addition hormones have a big affect on the skin – the reason why puberty is the time acne often starts – so if you have done all you can at home, it is worth seeing a professional – both Homeopathy (my modality) and Naturopathy and Medical Herbalism can …
It’s the final week of November, and only a few more weeks of school. Now is the time to get prepared before school ends, the silly season is upon us, and you can’t get the remedies you need over the Christmas and New Year period. So let’s talk about some good remedies to have on hand. Here are brief notes on a few remedies you may like to consider having on hand. Firstly, Sol Australis. The New Zealand sun is …
I was recently discussing a case with a friend and colleague, and one of the things that came up was how different Homeopaths approach things, and it reminded me of the idiom that all roads lead to Rome – because there are many different ways of approaching healing, even within Homeopathy. Even back in Hahnemann’s day, there were differences in practice. Hahnemann himself developed the 50 Millesimal potencies, either called LM or Q potencies. There were Homeopaths who favoured organ …
It is once again Antibiotic Awareness Week. A time to reflect on how we use antibiotics, so that we are not over using these life saving medicines and contributing to antibiotic resistance. While we focus on appropriate antibiotic use in a medical setting, another area of concern is antibiotic use in agriculture: this is not my area of expertise, but definitely a concern. Once again this is a place where Homeopathy shines, and a shout out to Homeopathic Farm Services …