Welcome to your Monday moment of pause...

What a gorgeous week and weekend - it's felt like summer!  For a few moments a day when I close my eyes with the sun on my face I can pretend I am on holiday.  Mini moments of peace are all we have some days but we always have the power to pause reality and drift off into our imagination.  Where would you go if you could be transported somewhere?  Enjoy the feelings it brings up to imagine walking somewhere beautiful or dipping your toes into some cool water.  Your mind doesn't know the difference between real and imagery and will regulate your nervous system either way.  Day dream away ... 

Seasonal wellness - natural hayfever relief

Lots of people are suffering with hayfever at the moment.  If you're lucky enough not to you might wonder what it is that causes such an acute allergic response for some people when you are completely unaffected.  It can be quite a mystery for the hayfever sufferer too!  At this time of year it's likely to be tree pollen particularly birch and ash.  As we progress into summer it is more likely to be grasses and flowers. 

Weleda have produced this brilliant guide on seasonal wellness to understand how to manage hayfever symptoms naturally.  The guide includes a pollen chart for the year to help identify what might be irritating you.  It explains how homeopathy can strengthen your immune response to relieve symptoms. 

Weleda was founded over 100 years ago in order to make homeopathic remedies.  Many people find relief using natural medicines with the benefit of rarely experiencing any side effects.  If you have any questions about using homeopathy please reach out and ask them. In my webshop you can find this seasonal bundle for hay fever relief which includes the mixed pollen tablets, hayfever relief spray and rhinodoron nasal spray.  Use APR10 for a further 10% discount. 

''I've been taking the Mixed Pollen tablets for a few years now.  In the past it was almost unbearable to be outside at times.  Now a runny nose and watery eyes are an occasional mild annoyance.  I find the oral spray particularly helpful in preparation for school pick up when the pollen count can be particularly high.  It reduces the severity of my symptoms significantly.'' - Ali

Homeopathy at home with Marcus Fernandez

''Listen to your body.  If you don't hear it when it whispers, you'll hear it when it screams.  There is no one size fits all.  Homeopaths don't treat disease, we treat people'' - Marcus Fernandez, Alive and Loving it podcast episode 35

I first came across Marcus, the Founder and Principal of CHE (The Centre for Homeopathic Education), at a Weleda conference.  I was fascinated by the simple principle of healing like with like and paid for access to the Home Prescriber course he offered.  During lockdown in 2020 Marcus made this course available free of charge and it has remained so ever since.  If you're interested in homeopathy and how it could help you and your family you can access the video course here.  You will learn about the most common illnesses and the many helpful remedies to have on hand for first aid situations, headaches, coughs, colds, bbites, burns and other common ailments and injuries.   

Marcus has also written a book called ''Homeopathy at home'' which is available in print on as an Ebook.  When you buy this book you get free access to ''Ask Marcus'', an online homeopath for problem solving remedies for a number of acute issues (Ask Marcus is available in lots of different languages).  

Marcus was interviewed recently by my friend Karen for the Podcast she co-hosts with integrative medicine practitioner Dr Rosy Daniel. This episode of Alive and Loving it is well worth listening to if you've ever been curious about homeopathy.  I was fascinated to hear there is a movement called Agro-Homeopathy where remedies have been used instead of pesticides to protect cotton crops and plant yields have increased by 35%.  Naysayers of homeopathy suggest it simply has a placebo effect; when something has a positive impact because you believe it will.  This could be true of every single therapeutic relationship to a point but when animals and plants have a scientifically proven response to homeopathic treatment I think we can all consider being more open minded. 

Recipe - Goats Cheese and Tomato tart

Since coming back from Germany and not having to race back from work twice a week to cook dinner, I've been trying to be more organised about meal planning.  There's nothing like stress to derail good eating habits and nothing worse than eating badly or not at all when burnt out.  So I resolved to try one new recipe a week and with the help of the boys selecting dishes they liked the look of we made a start this week with a River Cottage Veg recipe from Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall.  I'd love to hear your meal suggestions for simple and tasty creations that are loved by the whole family. 

Here is the recipe for thyme, goats cheese and tomato tart.

This week's heart smile - this beautiful embroidered jellyfish.  I first saw it last month at a craft fayre that was on at Nature in Art.  We took a stroll around the stalls and I spent quite some time talking to the lovely stitcher of this jellyfish (which I was very tempted to buy but hadn't because I wasn't sure about the fishy frame it was in).  The boys waited patiently as we chatted before giving me enough pleading looks to persuade me lunch was calling. 

When I went into my local Tesco Express the following week, Cath who I've known for many years, stopped me to say ''You met my lovely Mum on Saturday''.  I was puzzled at first and then she explained her Mum was one of the crafters we had spoken to.  Cath's Mum Sandra had mentioned meeting a ''lovely family'' with two boys with fabulous long hair (one of whom was called Euan).  Cath also has a son called Euan and immediately put two and two together.  We smiled at the 'small world' coincidence of lovely interractions and I shared with Cath that it had been lovely to chat to people and feel like myself again after a really hard month.  I didn't say what had been going on but admitted I'd been avoiding contact with people and feeling sad for quite a few weeks.

That would have been a lovely story in itself.  But the reason the jellyfish is now in my house is because Cath mentioned to her Mum that I'd had a hard time when I'm normally so sunny.  They wanted to do something lovely for me because Cath said there have been times she's been having a hard day and me stopping to say Hi has helped her to feel better.  Sandra changed the frame and gifted it to me.  It just shows we can never know the impact we may have on someone or what they may be dealing with.  I was so chuffed and enjoy seeing my jellyfish now every day in my treatment room. 

If you'd like to see what other creations Sandra has you can find her on Facebook