Failure.. or a different sort of success?

I love gardening and usually have a very productive organic vegetable plot. However, earlier this year I didn't get on top of the weeding and only managed to deal with about a third of the garden where I planted some potatoes, beans, onions, garlic and salad. The veg I did plant is growing happily, the borage and himalayan purple poppies have self seeded and are appearing in strange places. Some potatoes are appearing unexpectedly so I must have missed a few when I dug them up last year. The currants, gooseberries and raspberries are laden with ripening fruit but I haven't done anything to them!

Bistort and Buttercups

Like most parts of the country the weather has alternated between hot and sunny and torrential rain and so the bits of the garden I didn't weed have gone absolutely beserk. The wild grasses are about 5 feet high, the nettles and wildflowers are prolific and it is far too late to try and get on top of this unruly garden now. I was a bit frustrated that there won't be as much produce as I would have liked but now I've just decided to let nature take over. I have weeded around the veg and cut down a few nettles so I don't get stung on my way to the washing line but there is something quite amazing about how quickly the garden has gone so wild.

Cornflower

My apparent failure in trying to control the weeds has actually turned out to be extremely beneficial in other ways. There are many more buttercups, bistort, cornflowers, daisies, lemon balm, wild thyme and cornflowers than I would have liked.. but the garden is teeming with insects, bees and butterflies so it's actually been a huge success in attracting the wildlife. As there are more insects and wildflowers I have also seen many more birds in the garden than usual, especially green and gold finches.

 
The whole business with the garden reminded me of a poem about the joy and triumph in failure by Pete Armstrong. I know Pete through a local mindfulness meditation group, he has a website with the wonderful title Holy Bloke Many of his poems are on the website and some collections are also available to download.

Don’t keep your failures to yourself

Don’t keep your failures to yourself:
you and they will get lonely.
Share them with those who will listen,
then you and they can transform into joy.

Enjoy your failures as they appear:
like waves approaching the shore,
emerging perfectly formed from the sea;
like the moon emerging from behind a cloud,
illuminating a golden road across the sea.

Celebrate the perfection of your failures
as heartily as your more mundane triumphs,
and then you will double and redouble
the joy you bring into the world.

If you like that then you might be interested in Pete's book  The Commitment of the Lark: Poems for Looking Deeply

Jo Rhodes is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk.

Spring newsletter

My spring newsletter has articles about pregnancy, sinusitis and flower remedies for stress.

 

Spring newsletter

Click on the picture to see the email version of the newsletter.

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Emotional Freedom Technique

I have several friends who are EFT practitioners and I have been using it myself quite a bit lately. It is a bit weird and hard to get your head around, but if you can suspend your disbelief and give it a go you might be surprised.

In very simple terms it is a sort of emotional version of acupuncture, you tap certain acupuncture points as you say phrases and the idea is to make you feel more positive about what is going on and to help release negative emotions or limiting beliefs.

Those have you that have seen the film 'The Secret' might be interested to know that several people featured including Bob Doyle, Joe Vitale, Bob Proctor and Jack Canfield are all big fans of EFT.

When I first looked into it I must confess I was put off by the evangelical enthusiasm of the orange, over tanned Americans in the videos. It just seemed too goo to be true and just too easy. I was never quite sure what phrases to use and so tried EFT a few times and then stopped. Now there is a huge amount of good quality information and videos on youtube so it's much easier to find out more.

One of the things I really like about the EFT community is that the founder Gary Craig encourages free distribution of the information so more people can find out about how it works. You can pay to see an EFT practitioner to work on specific issues and there are courses available if you want to learn more but there is a lot of great free stuff out there.

http://www.emofree.com/ The Official EFT website from the founder of the technique Gary Craig.

Brad Yates has a very extensive website and many short youtube EFT videos and audio files to tap along to which cover a variety of themes.

Tapping.com An excellent site from Magnus with some longer EFT videos of around 20 minutes on a variety of themes including an introduction to EFT, self acceptance, procrastination, stress relief and dealing with anger.  Also some EFT articles and 'cheat sheet' of tapping points when you sign up for his free newsletter.

While EFT has produced remarkable results, it must still be considered to be in the experimental stage and thus practitioners and the public must take complete responsibility for their use of it and their own physical and emotional well-being. EFT should not be seen as a substitute for regular care from your GP or other health provider.

There are a growing number of EFT practitioners in the UK. Locally I can highly recommend Penny Lowe who works in Settle and Ilkley, Elham Kashefi in Bentham and Lancaster and Heather Smiles in Barnoldswick who also works does EFT with people and animals, especially horses.

If you want to give it a try and start your day with a bit of tapping, I highly recommend this video from Brad Yates, Tap O The Mornin! Guaranteed to make you smile :)

Homeopaths are lovely!

It's official - Norwegian research shows homeopaths are nice people!

I was amused, but not entirely surprised, to come across this research paper from Norway. The researchers did some psychometric tests on a group of homeopaths and found they differed considerably from the average Norwegian. 

'People who work as homeopaths can be described as open to new and different ideas, and as caring, understanding, and altruistic persons. Therefore, there is reason to believe that these dispositions are central in choosing homeopathy as an occupation.'  

I wonder how our critics would fare if a similar study turned their attention to the skeptic community?! See my previous blog about the intolerance and bigotry of some of our critics. 

This idea of openness reminded me of something else I'd read recently.  

I’ve started going to a Mindfulness Meditation Group in Bentham which has been very enjoyable and thought provoking. They follow the teachings of Thich Nhat Hahn and we often read passages from his books. One recent passage from The Heart Of Buddha's Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy and Liberation really struck a chord with me. (For those of you not familar with the language, in this context Dharma = teacher and sutra = teachings)

When we hear a Dharma talk or study a sutra, our only job is to remain open. Usually when we hear or read something new, we just compare it with our own ideas. If it is the same, we accept it and say it is correct. If it is not, we say it is incorrect. In either case, we learn nothing. If we read or listen with an open mind and an open heart, the rain of the Dharma will penetrate the soil of our consciousness.

The gentle spring rain permeates the soil of my soul,

A seed that has lain deeply in the earth for many years just smiles.

While reading or listening, don’t work too hard. Be like the earth. When the rain comes, the earth only has to open herself up to the rain. Allow the rain of Dharma to come in and penetrate the seeds that are buried deep in your consciousness. A teacher cannot give you the truth. The truth is already in you. You need only to open yourself – body, mind and heart – so that his or her teachings will penetrate your own seeds of understanding and enlightenment. If you let the words enter you, the soil and seeds will do the rest of the work.

Jo Rhodes is a participant in the Amazon Europe S.à r.l. Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk.

Positive Care Programme in Bentham

We are starting a project in February at Sole to Soul in Bentham based on a holistic Positive Care Programme which has been successfully running in Leeds for about 8 years. For more about the existing project see the Touchstone website.

Sole to Soul Holistic Therapy Centre

The project in Leeds is for carers or people with long term health issues - participants come in one afternoon a week and get a chance to try all sorts of different therapies as well as workshops, talks on subjects like relaxation, healthy eating, sleep and more. They use a variety of therapies including EFT, shiatsu, acupuncture, reflexology, spiritual healing, Alexander Technique, yoga, pilates, meditation, art and crafts and much more! Their project is over 20 weeks and the effects are quite remarkable.

Many participants have found the Positive Care Programme life changing. Evaluations (2006-2009) demonstrated:

• 38% of participants visited their GP less often
• 32% were able to reduce their medication
• 94% found the Programme helped them to understand how their lifestyle affected their health
• 91% made positive changes to their lifestyle to improve their health
• 92% said their mental wellbeing had improved
• 90% said they now take more responsibility for their health

Click here to read about the real life experiences of some PCP participants 

We are doing a 6 week pilot at Sole to Soul in Bentham which will happen on Saturday mornings in Feb and March. Saturday 18^th Feb will be a free introductory session where people can come and find out more about the project - we will only be looking for 10 people for this pilot. The course will take place on the following 6 Saturday mornings and will be a mix of individual sessions with therapists and workshops and activities in small groups. Most of the therapists at Sole to Soul  will be involved so therapies will include flower remedies, meditation techniques, homeopathy, consciousness medicine, Bowen Technique, Journey Therapy, EFT, Tai Chi, Sound Healing, reflexology, massage as well as workshops and group exercises.

 

If you wanted to get involved we are doing this at a rate of £10 for each Saturday session but ideally we do want people to commit to all 6 sessions – it gives participants a chance to try some things they probably wouldn’t otherwise know about – and hopefully find some information, techniques or therapies that make a real difference. 

Let me know or call Sole to Soul on 015242 63067 if you’d like to be involved in this.

Pain Release Technique - training days

I'm delighted to announce that I have joined the team at Absolute Specialists. Will write more about who we are and what we offer in another blog.  

Clare Walters is the Director of Absolute Specialists and she has worked for many years with people coping with emotional issues, chronic pain and helping people come to terms with divorce and breakdown of relationships. Her background is in homeopathy but she is also a Journey Practitioner and uses The Work techniques of Byron Katie. 

Clare has developed a short meditation, the Pain Release Technique, which is based on mindfulness principles. In a preliminary study, people suffering from fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis, back pain, rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory conditions have found it helpful in reducing pain, relaxing them and helping them sleep. Many have found that using this technique allows them to reduce the number of pain killers that they need to take.

There is a growing amount of evidence that mindfulness techniques can help reduce stress, anxiety and chronic pain - see this video on BBC news or have a read of this research paper which has reviewed the academic research on the subject Mindfulness-based stress reduction and health benefits.

Have a look at Clare's blog for more information on these techniques as well as feedback from satisfied clients. 

We are delighted to announce that Clare is running two Pain Management Workshops in the Pain Release Technique this month. These are designed for homeopaths, counsellors, holistic practitioners and life coaches who want another tool they can use with their clients. 

The first workshop will be held at the Absolute Clinic in Skelmanthorpe near Huddersfield on Tuesday 17th January 12.45-4pm and the other at the Soroptomists Rooms on Otley Street in Skipton Thursday 26th January 10am-1pm. 

Information and booking for these and other Absolute workshops

Or pay by debit card by calling 01484 866747

The Journey by Brandon Bays is the story behind the Journey Process and campfire meditations which several Absolute Specialists use. For more information go to The Journey website

Loving What Is: How Four Questions Can Change Your Life by Byron Katie is the basis for The Work. A huge amount of information is available on The Work of Byron Katie website

Jo Rhodes is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk.

Quarterly newsletter - sign up here

I've finally got round to doing an electronic newsletter.I have been doing a paper one for a while but many people said they would prefer an email version that they could easily send on to friends. So.. I have been tinkering about with MailChimp and this is the result. Click here or on the picture for the current version

If you aren't on the mailing list and would like to be, sign up below, if you'd like the paper and snail mail version, just give me a call.  

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Research papers and where to find them - Part 1

If you are interested in finding more out about the research into homeopathy and looking at the original research papers you may not know where to start so here are some tips. These are things I have found helpful but there are others. Will write more on other resources soon.

Pile of Papers from jepoirrier flickr site

If you work in a university or hospital then you will almost certainly have access to a whole host of journals through your employer – if so, that’s fine – off you go. If not, have a look at these.

http://scholar.google.co.uk/ Google scholar is a good place to start – also helpful tips on search terms - if there is a full text version available it will come up as an option.

Pub Med Central is a growing collection of free research papers in a wide variety of topics. Includes many complementary medicine journals. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/

There are some homeopathy sites with full papers on. Some of the papers are pretty technical and it may feel like it’s another language and so have a look at these first and see how you get on.

The International Journal of High Dilution research is the first full free open-access electronic journal specialising in the multidisciplinary field of High Dilution (HD) research.  http://www.feg.unesp.br/~ojs/index.php/ijhdr/index lots of articles on analytical research, plant, veterinary, pharmacological studies as well as literature reviews and much more.

Nancy Malik has a Wordpress blog where she has put .pdf files containing about 200 full research papers on a variety of homeopathic related topics. It is broken down into sections on basic fundamental research, high dilution research and clinical research.

Aude Sapere is another useful source of information. http://www.audesapere.in  This is an Indian site run by Dr Saurav Arora - several full papers but also sections on research methodology - haven't read through the whole site but seems to have lots of info on research methods in general and a useful table with research papers. Lots of plant and cell based stuff on here too.

Dana Ullman has written an epic tome – have a look at his website. https://www.homeopathic.com/cms-global/shoppingcart/ViewProduct.do?productId=227

Homeopathic Family Medicine - Connecting Research to Quality Homeopathic Care. This is an e book of over 330 pages - you can download about 100 pages as a free sample to see if you want to buy the whole thing. You can buy the e version as a one time purchase or can buy it with updates for a little bit more. Part 2 of the book contains a comprehensive A-Z of conditions and summarises the research available, and, if appropriate, suggests some remedies that may be helpful for these conditions. This is very clear and easy to read and very well referenced so if you feel intimidated by the technical stuff in the academic papers this is an excellent resource. As new research is coming out all the time he updates this 3 or 4 times a year to include the latest research findings.

Open Day at Sole to Soul on 7th September

Lots happening all day 

Bring a friend who is new to Sole to Soul and you BOTH get £5 off ANY treatment

10.00am Welcome

10.30am Relaxation Techniques to Still the Mind with Marie

11.00am A Tale of Two Slippers

Viv’s story of Mind, Consciousness and Thought

11.30am Helping Yourself with Jo’s Homeopathy

12.00noon Mediation Session with Tracey

12.30pm Sole to Soul´s Open Forum and “Ask a Therapist”

1.30pm First Aid with Herbal Medicine by Amanda

2.00pm Stories our Bones Can Tell with Matthew

2.30pm Journey Therapy, the Power of Cellular Healing with Sarah

3.00pm Treasure Hunt

3.45pm Raffle Draw &  Prizes

Sample Alison’s Freshly Cooked Savouries - Living Foods available 11-2pm

How To Build Community

How many of these things do you do? We do a lot more since we got rid of our TV!

I came across this when a friend posted it on Facebook and thought it was worth sharing. It comes from the Falcon Heights Neighborhood Liaison Handbook from Falcon Heights, Minnesota. 

Gargrave Health Fayre - Sunday 21st August

Emotional Freedom Technique

I have several friends who are Emotional Freedom Technique practitioners and I have been using it myself quite a bit lately. It is a bit weird and hard to get your head around, but if you can suspend your disbelief and give it a go you might be surprised.

In very simple terms EFT is a sort of emotional version of acupuncture, you tap certain acupuncture points as you say phrases and the idea is to make you feel more positive about what is going on and to help release negative emotions or limiting beliefs.

Thise have you that have seen the film 'The Secret' might be interested to know that several people featured including Bob Doyle, Joe Vitale, Bob Proctor and Jack Canfield are all big fans of EFT.

When I first looked into it I must confess I was put off by the evangelical enthusiasm of the orange, over tanned Americans in the videos. It just seemed too good to be true and just too easy. I was never quite sure what phrases to use and so tried EFT a few times and then stopped. Now there is a huge amount of good quality information and videos on youtube so it's much easier to find out more.

One of the things I really like about the EFT community is that the founder Gary Craig encourages free distribution of the information so more people can find out about how it works. You can pay to see an EFT practitioner to work on specific issues and there are courses available if you want to learn more but there is a lot of great free stuff out there.

http://www.emofree.com/ The Official EFT website from the founder of the technique Gary Craig. There is an introduction to EFT video and a huge amount of information available here including a free manual to download.

Brad Yates has a very extensive website with many short 5-10 minute youtube EFT videos on a variety of themes.

Tapping.com is an excellent site from Magnus with some longer EFT videos of around 20 minutes on a variety of themes including an introduction to EFT, self acceptance, procrastination, stress relief and dealing with anger.

While EFT has produced remarkable results, it must still be considered to be in the experimental stage and thus practitioners and the public must take complete responsibility for their use of it and their own physical and emotional well-being. EFT should not be seen as a substitute for regular care from your GP or other health provider.

There are a growing number of EFT practitioners in the UK. Locally I can highly recommend Penny Lowe who works in Settle and Ilkley, Ruth Ablett in Bentham and Heather Smiles in Barrowford near Nelson who also works does EFT with animals, especially horses.

If you want to give it a try and start your day with a bit of tapping, have a look at this video from Brad Yates, 'Tap O The Mornin!'.

Wild food and foraging

Living in the coutryside my hubby and I often eat foods we pick up on walks such as apples, many types of mushroom, nettles, sorrel, chickweed, borage, wild garlic, many different berries and rosehips. After doing a bit of weeding in the garden yesterday I was a bit disturbed to see some ground elder creeping its way through the rockery.

But then I thought.. hmmm.. 'free food'. For those of you that haven't tried it, ground elder is actually quite tasty and can be cooked like spinach. The small waxy looking new shoots are very nice eaten raw in salads and are quite spicy, a bit like rocket.


If you are going to eat anything wild please make absolutely sure what you pick is safe. I strongly recommend you get a good book but if you aren't sure whether foraging is for you The Wild Food School offer a free 50 page Urban Foraging Guide which is available to download from their website.

Food For Free by Richard Mabey is, in my humble opinion, the definitive foraging book. First published in 1974 and reprinted many, many times since then. There are several versions available but my favourite is the handy pocket size book.

When it comes to mushrooms I would urge you to be extra cautious and never pick anything you are unsure of. There are some excellent mushroom identification books around. We have the pocket guide which is pretty good but seem to often forget it when we go out on foraging walks!

Mushroom Picker's Foolproof Field Guide is a much larger book and is definitely not pocket sized but has some great information and tips on drying and preserving too. it also has a chapter on the poisonous ones so clearly identifies which mushrooms to avoid.

When you have got some goodies you need to know what to do with them. Our favourite is an ancient book Hedgerow Cookery by Rosamund Richardson-Gerson but there are many more trendy versions around now including a Hedgerow Handbook from the River Cottage folk

There are a growing number of excellent websites and news articles with information and recipes for wild and foraged foods. A recent one I came across was Wild about Weeds in The Ecologist

Fergus Drennan has been foraging for years and has appeared on TV and written many articles in the press. Wild Man Wild Food is his website and he offers foraging courses in the Canterbury area. There are a vast number of unusual recipes in the magazine articles on the website including some fantastic nettle recipes and a Japanese Knotweed and Quince Crumble - that's not one I've tried myself yet but there is some knotweed up the road so might give it a go later in the year.

Eat Weeds near Sidmouth in Devon and The Wild Food School in Lostwithiel in Cornwall have some excellent recipes on their websites and also offer foraging courses.

Some people are also advocating eating insects, they are a great source of free protein and eaten in many countries, but I think I'll write about that another time! 

I have set up an Amazon AStore with a selection of my favourite foraging and  wild food and medicine books. Have a look and see what you think - and let me know if you think I've missed out some good ones. 

Jo Rhodes is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk.