Giving up Smoking

A popular New Year's resolution - this one! And for many people it is difficult to achieve. I have spoken to some smokers who said it was easy to give up once they had made a conscious decision and through a single act of will they stopped and never went back smoking. I have also spoken to people who have done this and who resumed smoking again even years later. Many ex-smokers cannnot bear the smell of smoke and are less tolerant to smoking than people who have never themselves smoked before. But many people have a serious nicotine addiction which is a physical craving. In my experience, smokers have several things in common.

• A certain lack of confidence
• Stress, but most especially a build up of suppressed anger
• A potentially addictive personality. Smoking seems to allay the dangers of choosing other substances.

I usually recommend Allen Carr's Easy Way to Stop Smoking. Most people find it good but not all.

What can you use to help yourself, if you have decided to give up?

To support the body you will need to do several things.

1.  Feed the nervous system so that one is more resilient to stress and less adrenaline is needed :

Take a Vitamin B Complex from 50mg upwards +.

Take Calcium. Although mostly know for use in connection with strengthening the bones it also has a large role to play in aiding healthy nerves.

2.  Support the Adrenal Glands:

Take a Vitamin B5 or Calcium Pantothenate/Pantothenic Acid.

Take Licorice Root. This will help your adrenals but also deals with cravings for sweet things.

Take Ginseng - this will give you an energy boost as well as soothe the adrenals.

3.  Detox the lungs and clear the airways of a build up of mucus and congestion:

Take Bioforce Ivy-Thyme. this will help you to cough up all mucus and clear the lungs. Another good one is a herbal tincture of Lobelia (many homeopaths use this as a  lung support)

Another good product to ease breathing and aid expectoration is Herbetom-Pulm.

4.  Alleviate cravings for nicotine: Now, this is where homeopathy can really help you. Take Caladium Seguinum 6c 2-3xdaily in tablet or pill form. Available from any homeopathic pharmacy or your own homeopath. This reduces if not kills the cravings.

Another homeopathic remedy that is useful is Tabacum 6c. A homeopathic remedy made from tobacco. This deals with all physical symptoms arising from tobacco poisoning, which many smokers  are experiencing in their bodies.

5.  Alleviate irritability and other emotions that resurge once the smoking which suppressed those feelings is stopped. A homeopathic remedy that will give you tremendous relief from irrabitility a short fuse , becoming angry and over sensitive is Nux Vomica 30c. Take as often as you need. But try to sense when you don't need it as no homeopathic remedy should be taken routinely. This remedy has a special affinity with the liver and the nervous system.

Why not take all the three above-mentioned homeopathic remedies of Nux Vomica, Tabacum and Caladium Seg in combination, in either a 6c or 30c potency. Use the 30c potency if you are a serious long-term smoking addict. Take 2-3 daily for 2-3 weeks.

Another solution is to see a homeopath for constitutional treatment. So many times in a homeopathic consultation people have confessed with a guilty look that they are a smoker! I usually do not pay too much attention initially, as I know that when people get the right support, an energy boost and start to feel really well - they also feel an inclination to make changes. Giving up smoking is one of the first changes to make. I find that many patients have given it up, without it ever even having been discussed. For some where the smoking is connected to emotion and stress, unhappiness or addictive patterns then when we focus on addressing and providing healing in these areas , the smoking gets naturally targeted too. Incidentally, there is a Bach Flower remedy for self-reproach combined with guilt feelings called Pine. I recommend that, as these feelings are part of the package sometimes and somertimes not at all! 

Good Luck because it is really worth the endeavour. Smoking does affect you in ways as yet unrecognised. Giving it up permanently is a step towards freedom.

Airport and Travel Stress during the Holidays

I just returned from my Christmas travels - generally they passed off very well but not without the usual bodily stress of many hours spent in the airport, on buses, trains and trams. Hours spent in air-conditioned, centrally heated atmospheres with no fresh air and nothing green. Time spent under the continual glare of fluorescent lighting, not to mention engine and equipment noise. Hours spent on one's feet, crowded amidst many strangers.

So, any tips for feeling better? How do you remain at ease while travelling ? Jet-lag, aching muscles, stress.....

 Drink plenty of water and water juices. Avoid drinking coffee which will dehydrate you. Get fresh air whenever you can. Do not go hungry.
Bring a small bottle of water with you combined with Lavender and Rose Essential Oils and spray your face and hair regularly. When you get to your hotel room, rub a drop or two of your favourite essential oil onto the surface of a light bulb. When you switch the light on, the fragrance will diffuse throughout the room.
Try the Bush Combination Travel Essence or the Space Clearing Spray if you feel crowded and fatigued.
Have the Bach Flower Rescue Remedy on hand for feelings of tension, anticipation or anxiety about the journey.
Have cleansing wipes with you for refreshing yourself and for when toilet or bathroom facilities are unclean.
Bring ear-plugs with you to cope with noise during take-off and landing or any other noisy areas
If you are a sensitive person, try to focus in on one preoccupation such as reading or listening to your own music. Or close your eyes and drift into your own thoughts. But do not people-watch or observe others. And try to reduce eye-contact as much as possible during the day.

For jet-lag take regular doses of Arnica 30c. This will ease fatigue from physical over-exertion which plane travel is, as it is so unnatural. It helps aching muscles and tiredness all over. If you want, you can bring Arnica tincture with you to drop into the bath at your destination. Arnica also helps if you cannot sleep from over-tiredness.

Bring a peppermint foot cream for aching feet an obviously wear comofrtable well-ventilated shoes.

For sleeplessness as a result of the time-change, especially if accompanied by any dizziness and exhaustion, try taking the homeopathic remedy Cocculus Indicus 30c.

If you are apprehensive about the journey or have a  fear of flying then take Arg-Nit 30c. This may also cover physical symptoms coming from anxiety such as diarrhoea, butterflies in your stomach, sore throat and heart palpitations when the anxiety is severe.

For panic attacks, take Aconite 30c. Panic may mean feeling very disorientated, the heart beating fast or pounding, pale face, cold sweat or burning and tingling sensations. At its worst, panic  may involve a feeling that one is going to die.

If you are worried about germs and infectious illness, take the herb Echinacea a week before, during the holiday or vacation and a week after your return. This will stimulate the immune system and has naturally anti-biotic properties. Takeing Tea Tree Essential Oil with you is also helpful. Apply a couple of drops to a tissue and inhale regularly while on the plane to prevent bacteria being absorbed. Try to breathe through your nose as much as possible and keep hydrated. Being hydrated means all the mucuous membranes are moist and you are less vulnerable to bacteria penetrating your body.

You do not need to be the first in every queue. Observe seasoned travellers; they have learned to wait in a relaxed way. There is no need to be too early out of anxiety and neither a need to be late out impatience.

Travel light. Easier said than done! Never carry a heavy bag slung over your shoulder. Try to understand the difference between needs and luxuries. Simple pleasures are always better than quantities of goods.

Ask for help if you need it. Don't be too independent. There will always be someone to direct you on your way if you feel unsure. Although travel sometimes has its vulnerabilities and you need to be always alert - remember to trust in the essential goodness of people.

Travel can be an adventure - the journey is important as well as the destination. Notice your approach - you may learn alot about your approach to the journey of life. The earth is very much like an airpot where fellow travellers have different goals in mind.

Grief at Christmas Time

For those who are in grief, whether this is fresh and acutely painful or whether that pain has sunk a bit deeper inside and merely echoes its tears in surges ? there is help. And there is concern about you. Your hurt is not forgotten. There are helps available to you to cope with powerful emotions and sadness. It is so natural that Christmas being about love, reminds you of the love that seems no longer to reach you from a person that was always present in your life but now is elsewhere.

Here are some things you can do.

The homeopathic remedy Ignatia Amara is the remedy for you to take. If you know a homeopath you will be able to get hold of it in higher strengths which are more immediate in their effects. If not, then buy it in a health food shop over the counter and take it regularly as it will be slightly lower in strength (30c). These are some of the feelings and symptoms that merit its use:

Deep sadness. An emotional feeling of pain in your heart. Feeling a powerful need to cry or sob but not being able to. A lump sensation in your throat; or developing a sore throat or infected throat from the emotional stress and needing treatment. Sleeplessness and agitation. Feeling snappish, irritable and angry, perhaps bitter; especially when others are celebrating and seem to be unaware either of the person?s death, or your sadness over it. Feeling angry but not knowing why. Feeling disappointed and not knowing why. Having heart palpitations. Feeling angry with the person who died. Feeling guilt, remorse and regret over what was left unsaid in your relation with the one who has gone.

If you have just been bereaved and are in deep shock take Aconite. 1m is the best potency; next best is 200c, and the next best 30c. Beware this will help the shell-shocked state you?re in. But it may suddenly bring you out of coping, automatic pilot-mode to experiencing powerful emotions. Then you must take Ignatia mentioned above. Shock is protective and does help you to manage practicalities but it is not good for you if it lasts too long.

A Bach Flower Remedy mixture to take if you are feeling sad, lonely, guilty, lost and despairing about the future and if you are not confiding or revealing yourself to others and feel unable to turn to them for help. Try a combination of Water Violet, Gorse, Gentian, Pine, Star of Bethlehem and Holly.

Otherwise take Rescue Remedy. Take 4 drops 4xdaily. Or take it more frequently. You can add it to tea or you can add it to a bottle of mineral water and drink from it all day long.

• Try to avoid alcohol if you are grieving. It is okay to have a brief drink of brandy or whisky or sherry. But do not have more than a little. Alcohol will cause your feelings to surge but not in a productive, healing way. And it can make you very depressed.
• Do not go hungry. Low blood sugar will make you feel much worse. Eat little and often.
• Do not numb yourself out through stimulants and painkillers. As painful and exhausting as grief is, it tends to come in waves like the sea. And when the sea of emotion ebbs, peace and sleep follow. Trust it, and do not be afraid of the pain. It is true that the pain fades. When the pain does fade it does not mean you love the person less or that you will forget them either. The memories remain, but the effect of separation is less severe.

At times of grieving, the floodgates inside you open up. Many things flood in. But you will find that many kindnesses flood in. Tenderness and caring come from people who knock on the door, and ask you to talk and who actually care about you. Share it. Grief is overwhelming when experienced alone. If you are a person keeping company with a bereaved person and don?t know what to say, say this ?I don?t know what to say to you? and then hug them, or put out a hand. Just be with them. Sometimes the bereaved do not know what to say or do either. At times when people are open to pain, they are at the same time aware of any loving acts. They notice people they didn?t think would be there for them and are surprised. Grief is a good measure of your friends. And people surprise you. Let yourself be surprised. Let yourself be drawn by anyone who is kind and aware of you. Don?t stay in the corner, by yourself. Even if it is years since the death, you are entitled to time spent thinking of the one who died. There are no rules about getting over death. No statutes of limitation.

Talk about the person you miss so much. Write them a letter. Get them a gift. Talk to them. Honour them by speaking well of them to others. Bring their presence to you by telling a loving anecdote about them. Be grateful they were in your life and wish them well wherever they may be now, this Christmas. And love yourself and your own life, which you are still in possession of. Remember when you came into the world, you were welcomed. Somebody?s hands caught you. The same happened to your loved one when they died.