At the Hospital | Funny Clip | Mr. Bean Official

It is important to have a good laugh every now and again because that is good for your immune system as well. Have a look at this:

Take responsibility: Coughs Part 2

Take responsibility: Coughs Part 2

So, here I'm again urging you to take responsibility of your health. I'm on about coughs again because there is more you can do to get rid of them than just drinking thyme tea. Oh, I forgot to mention that you should remove the thyme from your mug before drinking the tea. And people are still coughing a lot.

The other thing you can do, is make your own cough syrup. You would need two  clean jars, each with a lid, an onion, a tablespoon full of sugar or honey and a bit of time.

First cut the onion into small dice. Put them into a clean jar, scatter the tablespoon full of sugar over them, or use the honey, and put the lid on.

Leave the mixture over night and strain into a clean jar the next morning. Take a teaspoon full of that mixture twice daily. It doesn't taste particularly good but you can add the juice of a lemon which should taste better but I haven't tried that yet, so I cannot say. I will not forget to mention that you should clean your teeth before you go to bed, if you take the cough syrup before you go to bed, After you had the cough syrup.

Take responsibility: Coughs

Photograph by Roger Giraud-Saunders

Take Responsibility: Coughs

Yes, it is still January but the day looks promising. I hope, we won't have the same bad surprise like yesterday when the rain came down after a nice sunny morning.

Talked enough about sore throats, that should be history by now and usually sore throats are not particularly persistent anyway.

The persistent bit about a cold is usually the cough. There are some things you can do about a cough but don't forget that they can get into the lungs and can cause a lot of trouble there. So it is always better to get the help of a health professional if you start to feel worse.

But what you can do as soon as you start coughing is, drink plenty of warm fluid like thyme tea. To make a good thyme tea you need to put a teaspoon full of dried thyme leaves or some sprigs of fresh one if you have it to hand, in a big mug. Fill the mug up with hot water and leave it covered with a saucer to stand for 10 minutes. You can add some honey but drink it warm. This will help to liquefy and loosen the mucus so it will be easier to cough up.

Take responsibility: Sore throat Part 3

Take Responsibility: Sore Throat Part 3

Another fine Winter's day and we DID have a bit of sunshine yesterday. I hope you got out for your dose of vitamin D, or a small quantity of it. Apparently in Winter you would need to be out in the sunshine without any clothes for 2 hours to get the full dose for one day. I would not recommend that because it could get you arrested and you definitely would get a SORE THROAT.

So, talking about sore throats, off you go! 

Another thing you could do about sore throats, and this is for HARDCORE, so be careful, is chewing a raw clove of garlic.

You just peel a small glove of garlic, put it in your mouth and start to chew it very slowly. It might be very hot in your mouth, so it is nothing for people with a sensitive mucus membrane. Try and keep the mash in you mouth as long as possible and then start to swallow it as slowly as possible.

Garlic is a very strong natural antibiotic and the raw stuff might give you a bit of a tummy ache but that is nothing to worry about. It will pass. The smell lingers a bit longer so consider what you are going to be doing for the next two days.
Keep in mind that if your throat is sore for longer than 2 day you might want to see a health professional.

Take responsibility: Sore throat 2

Take Responsibility: Sore Throat Part 2

Another fine Winter's day. Lets face it, it is JANUARY and we do actually not expect sunshine, do we???

But with weather like that a sore throat is very likely to happen so I have another tip for you to deal with it.

If you cannot stand gargling with sage tea or salty water try something a bit more pleasant. Mix a tablespoon of honey with a tablespoon of lemon juice and let it slowly slide down your throat. It is very soothing.

If your sore throat feels better if you have something hot to drink you can top the honey/lemon mixture up with hot water in a mug and sip it slowly. I love that drink even if I do not have a sore throat which I hardly have anyway thanks to my wonderful HOMOEOPATHY. 

Photograph by Roger Giraud-Saunders.

Take responsibility: Sore throat

Take responsibility: Sore throat

It is important to take responsibility for your own health. There is a lot you can do about minor ailments like sore throats.

Yesterday I've talked about gargling with salty water, and don't forget to spit it out after your gargled.

Sage tea is good for sore throats as well. You put a teaspoon full of dried sage leaves into a mug and pour some boiling water over it. Cover the mug with a saucer and leave it to brew for about 10 minutes. Let it cool a bit more till it is just warm enough to hold in your mouth but not too hot. Gargle with it and spit it out. It tastes a bit nicer than salty water. Repeat it as often as you feel like.

The other thing you can do is a Quark poultice. And this is how you do it:

Take a tea towel and fold it length wise. Fold it again the same way. Put a piece of kitchen towel folded in half on top of the folded tea towel. Then smear the kitchen paper all the way with quark. You find quark in the cheese section of Waitrose or Saintsbury's. Put another folded piece of kitchen towel on top of the quark and wrap it around your neck. Then cover the tea towel and your neck with a woolen scarf you tie around your neck as well. The quark bit of the tea towel needs to be at your throat. Leave it for about 20 minutes or as long as it feels comfortable.

My daughter used to hate it and she would rather have a sore throat than a quark poultice but I find it very soothing. It is a bit of work and if you are not careful it can be messy as well.

Of course, Homoeopathy is so much easier but you need to know what you are doing. The first aid remedy for a sore throat for me is always Arsenicum album, particularly when it is better for hot drinks. If the pain is on the left side and is better for swallowing solid food you can try Lachesis. Right sided sore throats respond quite well to Mercurius. You can get theses remedies at most Holland&Barrett stores. But don't forget: If you don't feel any better the next day it is advised to see a qualified health practitioner. 

And let me know if you need help or have any more questions. 

Take responsibility

Take responsibility

It just occurred to me last Tuesday when I started to feel rough. I CAUGHT THE TOWN BUG! So what did I do? First I took some Arsenicum album as first aid. 

Back home I went to bed with a hot water bottle because I was really cold. Food was out of question because I felt really sick but a hot cup of green tea was nice.

And then: Plenty of water and Belladonna. During the night it occurred to me that I might have caught the bug which was moving around town and made all the people sick. It might be flu or it might be just something else. it doesn't really matter, what it is. It was definitely something flu like, so my wonderful homoeopathic remedy Oscillococcinum or Anas Barbariae 200c came out and was taken till I fell asleep.

The next morning after a banana and a glass of lemon water I was well enough to spend a lot of money on a shopping trip to Bath. I found a lovely dress in Bibico. Well, shopping is exhausting, so back home I was back to bed and didn't feel really hungry so an apple in the evening was enough. And my good remedy.

So after another day I was as good as new but I thought that it is really important to look after yourself and your health. There are a lot of things you can do when you are not feeling well. Rest is always good even if you cannot go to sleep, and warmth.

And if you don't feel hungry, don't eat. If your body is already dealing with an illness, digestion is even more hard work. It won't help.

Belladonna is a good remedy if you feel feverish. If you have a sore throat you can gargle with sage tea or a salty solution ( 1 teaspoon of salt in a glass of warm water)

Watch this space and you will get more health tips.

Grounding

Grounding in winter

It is just nice to sit in front of the open fire with a hot cup of tea when it is cold and frosty outside.

If you want to boost your immune system, this is not the right thing to do. I'm not talking about going on long hikes when a gale of icy wing is blowing and the rain or snow is coming down quickly. 

There are easier things to do to stay healthy this winter, maybe not more pleasant but a lot quicker.

I'm talking about Grounding. If you want to know a bit more about that, then watch the little video I've shared on my Facebook page "Parkfields Homoeopathy", but basically it means that you walk bare feet on bare soil.

This can be the lawn in your back garden or even in the park as long as you are careful about sharp objects lying on the ground. But basically it resets the electrics of your body. It is very relaxing and feels nice on the bare feet if you choose a soft patch of grass. You can also do it at the sea side in the sand (Bournemouth is great for that).

So, and now comes the kick: Do it in winter when the grass is frozen. That really starts your immune system. But please do it only till your feet start to hurt. That can take anything between 1-5 minutes (or even shorter). Dry your feet afterwards and wear warm socks.

I was actually heading out on Sunday morning at 8 o'clock thinking that at that time of the morning nobody would be around to watch me walking bare foot on the frozen grass. But, no luck. Apart from the dog walkers who greeted me very politely there was the neighbour with his two kids. I hoped that they wouldn't spot my bare feet but no luck either: That was the first thing they saw.

I think I have a reputation now☺

Winter

 Photograph by Roger Giraud-Saunders

It is snowing

You want to stay healthy, even if it is snowing like it was today?

Yes, this Sunday it was really wet, cold and horrible. Best to snuggle up in front of the wood burner and have a nice cuppa.

Staying fit and healthy is not always easy in those conditions. I didn't want to go out and even putting the rubbish out was a bit of a drag and just enough of the out door exercise I wanted for today.

At the moment I'm trying to boost my immune system using cold water like the German Vicar Sebastian Kneipp recommended (and used on himself to cure himself from Tuberculosis).

Fear not, you don't have to immerse yourself in a tub full of freezing water. You can do, if you do so desire, or just give your arms and legs a cold flush after you have had a shower.

If even that is too much for you do it like I do: Every morning, and every night just before I go to bed I rinse my face with cold water till I get that little kick of saliva in my mouth. 

You can get the shower head off the hose to do it or just use your hands to splash loads of cold water into your face. The rule is: The "warmer" the cold water is the longer you need to do it.

Do it for a month and the benefits will set in but I'm sure you will recognise it a lot earlier.

But don't flood your bath room.