Best wishes for the season and Happy Holidays to all!

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Holiday Tips

Here are some tips to help you not get overwhelmed during this season:

1. Send out Christmas cards to only a handful who will appreciate them.
2. Utilize the e-cards that are available this holiday season.
3. Compose a Holiday Email and send that out to your friends and Family.
4. If you don’t bake then buy. Why put yourself through the stress of doing something you don’t like.
5. Hire a neighbour or friend who like to bake and is looking for some extra money during this season.
6. If you do bake make a double batch and freeze them as you never know who will drop by unexpectedly.
7. Get your children involved in decorating the home and the tree. Put on Christmas tunes and brew a batch of Hot Chocolate and make a new tradition.
8. When giving gifts remember to have a budget and stick to it.
9. Use your points for gifts and stocking stuffers this is a great way to save money.
10. If you haven’t started a holiday tradition with your children yet then have Santa do the stockings and Mom and Dad purchase the big gift(s).

Hope that these tips help you remain in control this Holiday season and not overwhelmed. Remember Christmas is for Children and getting together with friends and family… Merry Christmas!

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Holiday Stress

Stress good or bad still has an effect on your body. The holidays are a stressful time, as we are doing more during this time of year then we normally do. We are decorating our homes, doing extra baking, writing out Christmas cards, buying gifts for our loved ones, entertaining, and socializing more. It is no wonder that we are tired and tend to get sick during our down time after the holidays. This is how our body tells us that we are doing too much.

Start listening to your body or you will not be able to enjoy all the festive activities this holiday season. If you are tired try to ensure that you get enough sleep. If you are overwhelmed your body will let you know as this is the time of year when we catch all those nasty viruses. To ensure that we are not susceptible to the viruses make sure you eating nutritiously, increase your Vitamin C and ensure you are taking the much needed Vitamin D if you live in a climate that does not allow you to enjoy the sunshine due to all the snow or rain. These important factors will help your body physically and be ready to handle the Holiday Stresses!

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This weekend was filled with adventures that pushed me out of my comfort zone and allowed me to enjoy “me”. I find many of us end up in a rut. We are either a mother or father, and wife or husband, and we stay in our safe life and do the mundane things that contribute to losing ourselves. Now I’m not suggesting that we give up our responsibilities! But what I am suggesting is to once in a while step out of your comfort zone and seize a part of you that might have been lost.

For me, I ended up in Toronto at Nathan Phillips Square, where I had an opportunity to partake in the highest urban zip line (130 feet high and 200 metres long). Now I am an adventurous soul, and I do try to the best of my ability, to live life to the fullest, and this is just one of those adventures. I was decked out in all the safety gear and climbed the stairs to the top of the line. Was I scared? Maybe a little, but honestly I was more excited than anything else. My partner tells me that I am missing piece in my brain that tells me I should be scared.  But as I stepped out on the four stairs leading to “nowhere” all I could think of is “this is great!”

You can either hang on to the rope that is hooked to all the safety gear you wear or you can let go and trust that all is good. Guess what I did? I did not hang on I jumped off and even spun myself around while zip lining 130 feet above Toronto. It was exhilarating, and that is why I say to step out of your comfort zone. You don’t have to do anything as drastic as I did, but find something that will awaken the “you”!

It might be something as simple as accepting an invitation to something you have always said “No” to. Instead say “yes”…you may like it. What I don’t want you to loose is the essential part of you that makes you unique. So find something that will excite you and have fun finding YOU.

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“Remember to BREATHE”

Ok it is that season once again and I don’t know about you but I am feeling overwhelmed trying to “fit” everything in. Stress is a part of our everyday lives…good or bad. Being stressed leads us to the feeling of being overwhelmed. Whether it is because of the holidays or because of something like a divorce the feeling can get to be too much at times so here are some suggestions:

1. Breathe!!! That’s right just breathe. I mean take a deep breath in, hold it for 3 seconds, and release it. When you are feeling overwhelmed or stressed we forget to breathe. So if during these times we take a few deep breathes it will allow us a moment to briefly step out of the situation and perhaps gain a little clarity.

2. Get organized. If you’re not organized then start! By prioritizing what is important you can clearly see what needs to get done and what can wait. This is so important since many times we want to do it all but find that we can’t, so by prioritizing we make sure the important items are accomplished and we delegate the rest or release them.

3. Take a Homeopathic Remedy. There are some great remedies located in my Family Remedy kit to help you get through an acute (short term) situation where you feel overwhelmed or stressed.

4. Make an appointment with me. If this is something that is ongoing and you want to address this then Homeopathy is a great approach to getting relief. I have had many emails from women and some men, thanking me for helping them get their life back. I can help you deal with the stress and overwhelmed sensation. Sometimes a fresh pair of eyes can truly see the situation and provide you with other suggestions and solutions.

Hope these tips help you get through this time of year!

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Is Dieting a Good Idea?

If I had a Homeopathic remedy that could shed excess weight I would not only be a very wealthy woman…everyone would be their ideal weight without a thought. Unfortunately, that remedy does not exist. The only way that one can lose weight is through the traditional way of modifying the “diet” and exercise.

I get this questions a lot…How can I lose weight?

The number one thing I do when a patient comes to me and wants to lose weight is to set them up with a journal. I have them journal everything that they eat and from there I figure out the caloric intake, the fat grams, etc. Then I find out what they are craving. This helps me see where I can modification their diet.

Some people have too many calories that they are ingesting and can’t lose the weight. Others it may be fat grams are too high; and some the carbs are the culprit. A word of caution though…NOT all Carbs are bad! If you are craving carbs then reduce the bad carbs such as the breads, refined sugars, and any processed foods BUT please leave the good carbs in your diet…fruits and veggies. You need the proper nutrition, and fruits and veggies are important to your body’s health.

Next look at how you eat. Do you eat 3 large meals a day, with snacks? Or are you a grazer…5-6 small portions throughout the day? You need to find out what works best for you.

Next reduce the portions! Did you know that a daily portion of meat should equal the size of our palm?! In our society we tend to over eat. Also, our plates are larger than they should be. So I suggest using a salad plate to eat off of. That way your portions are in line with what you should be eating.

Finally, EXERCISE is an important component to weight lose. If you don’t exercise you may lose the weight with controlling your diet, however, exercise will contribute to loosing the weight quicker and help you have a healthy body. We all need to exercise at least 30 minutes a day. This means actually getting your heart rate up and breaking a sweat.

These are a few tips for weight loss. I hope that you find them helpful and if I can help in any way with your weight loss goal then give me a call.

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Halloween promotes the “kid” in all of us. Candy is so tempting to us; can you imagine what it is like for the children? I have many patients asking me about how much candy they should let their kids eat. That is a subjective question.

Here are some suggestions and you decide what will work for your family:

1. Allow your child a random selection of candy with limits as to how much they can have each day. They can select the candy they want and you can freeze, give away or throw out the remainder of the Halloween stash.

2. Allow your child to eat as much candy as they can handle for 3 days and then after that the candy is thrown out or donated. This concept is from a dentist I know. The idea being that the children will be sick of the candy after 3 days and that amount of sugar over a short period of time is better than an extended period of time. (That is his opinion)

3. Some Dentists will buy your candy! Children who would rather have the money instead of the candy would be excited about this option. Also it is a good way to get rid of the excess candy you have on hand and no longer want.

4. This is what I did with my kids…allow them to have a limited amount of treats (2-3 in my case) each day. The amount of sugar this way equals the same amount as a couple of cookies or other sweet treats they would normally get. Moderation goes a long way.

Just remember whatever you chose to do, encourage your children to have healthy snacks on top of the sweets. Also, make sure that the kids are eating healthy and balanced meals when they are having the extra sweets. Sugar as you know, will lower immune systems and this is one of the reasons kids get colds or the flu right after Halloween. So if their nutrition is balanced…a few sweets won’t hurt.

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“Sometimes a little “poop” happens”

I know I am mostly preaching to the believers but I need to be heard, and so if there is a non-believer that you may feel benefits from this, please pass it along.

First off I was under the belief that I was to be talking about how Homeopathy saved me and all the ailments that Homeopathic medicines can help with. I was to talk about some controversial topics, but I was prepared for this. I had the referenced cases and was prepared to be challenged. What I was not prepared for was an irate pharmacist that wanted to challenge and refute all that I said. This pharmacist by the name of Tom was on a mission of his own to ensure Gail’s listeners heard his side.

Tom stated that he (and I am paraphrasing) objected to my statement that Homeopathy came before pharmaceutical medicines. He insisted that Chinese medicine was there long before Homeopathy and that is where Western medicine came from. Well the fact remains that Homeopathy extractions are from nature. These extractions are the bases of pharmacology, so with that in mind Tom is correct and incorrect. I will not refute Chinese herbs and medicine as they have been around for centuries and I appreciate the healing can be derived these herbs and tinctures. Homeopathy and Chinese medicine have similarities and obvious differences but the fact remains both medicines come from nature and are a basis for pharmacology.

Tom attempted to talk about the founder of Homeopathy, Dr. Samuel Hahnemann. The fact that he omitted was that Hahnemann was a Medical Doctor. And that his basis of Homeopathy stemmed from his medical background.  Many people omit facts that make their case more solid. This might be what Tom was doing or he may not have been aware of this information. Whatever the case, Tom did not have all the facts in his argument.

As for grinding up spinach and making a diluted remedy from it, he was not entirely wrong about the application of it. Yet, depending on the dosage there is the actual “extract” in the remedy until you reach Avogadro’s Number (and this is Chemistry), which states that any substance becomes untraceable if it is diluted beyond where a single molecule of the chemical can be found. Now let’s be reasonable, I would not make a remedy out of Spinach unless you can prove to me that it has a historical basis for helping a disease.

That leads me to the next point. Scientific evidence does exist, the efficacy of the remedy has been documented it is over the course of hundreds of years. Homeopathy has only been proven on humans and not animals. These proving have the participants sharing their experiences while being on the remedy, as well as their documented physical symptoms. Hmmm, this is sounding more like scientific evidence. The fact is that the provings have not been conducted on a group of 1000 or more like dear Tom would like…and others in the medical field.

I was disappointed in not getting the time to explain more about Homeopathy, but thankfully Gail did quickly research Arnica and found it to be a viable remedy both in tincture and in Homeopathic form… so Tom you were corrected. Also I appreciated the tweets that were sent in and that Gail did state “not to throw the baby (Homeopathy) out with the bath water”. There is more to prove…absolutely… but that the jury is still out on Homeopathy and natural medicines.

All I know is that it works for me and my patients and I will be a strong advocate for Homeopathy and ensure my voice is heard.

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“Natural Beauty…Mineral Makeup”

As much as I am promoting your health holistically by using Homeopathy, it is also important to take care of what you put on your skin. A while back when my daughter decided she wanted to wear makeup I poured through the literature on what the products contain and was horrified to find all the chemicals in the over the counter makeup. So a friend of mine, who is an esthetician, was working with mineral makeup and gave me some of her recipes to use. After playing with the recipes and coming up with our own recipes we had a fun line of mineral makeup.

It is the only makeup that I wear now and I love it. My patients would comment about my makeup and ask what I am wearing. When I told them I made my own makeup they asked whether I sold it. At the time I stated ”NO!” but after many inquires I decided to create another company and the birth of Hope Pure & Simple Mineral Makeup was created.

Whatever makeup you use make sure that there are no parabens and synthetic fragrances that will interfere with your hormones. Also you want to make sure that your make up does not have Sulphates that can be an irritant to your skin. An example of an irritant would be Bismuth. This can cause your skin to become red and possibly breakout. Bismuth is used in a lot of mineral makeup products. Coloring such as Lakes and FD&C’s can be irritants as well, so ensure that your make is coloured by micas and oxides. Other ingredients that can be irritating to the skin are Cornstarch and Rice Powder. Both of these are used to help with making the product apply smoothly but both are a food product and need to be disposed of within 3 months. So you will have a short shelf life.

Dr. Oz made the public aware of the dangers of some minerals in our makeup. What he was referring to was the size of the nano-particles of the minerals. Mineral makeup can be messy and the dust can cause you to have breathing problems as the minerals are so small and can become lodged in your lungs and bronchial. However, if the nano-particles are large enough, such as in my products, then you have no worries with the breathing issues.

Minerals allow your skin to breathe, have longevity and when you have titanium-dioxide and zinc mixed together it will provide you with a natural sunscreen. There are many benefits to the mineral makeup. Containing no chemicals that are harmful to your skin and body is the main one. So chose your makeup wisely and beautify naturally.

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“Battling Acne…Naturally”

Maybe I should start with some background info. I battled Teenage and Adult acne most of my life. It wasn’t until I found Homeopathy and brought my body back into balance, that I was able to get rid of it once and for all. That is not to say that during times of stress or a hormone influx (that is a nice way of saying crazy hormones as I get older), that I don’t get a tiny break out. But with what I dealt with all my life, I can handle a pimple or two!

It is also important to treat your body well on the outside. So when I wash my face I use products that are organic or natural as much as possible. This is important as I don’t need products with chemicals in them that will disrupt my hormones such as parabens, or synthetic fragrances. I also have sensitive skin and so I use these products as they don’t irritate my skin.  The first product I use is:

Gaia Foaming Face Wash. It is a product from Australia and doesn’t contain irritating sulphates, or parabens. This is a light cleanser that I use every night especially in the summer time.  This product can be found at Under the Moon in Strathroy, Ontario…89 Frank Street.

The other product I use and love is FACE OF HOPE, Deep Pore Cleanser.

This is locally made in Strathroy, Ontario, and a great product to use daily or weekly. I find I tend to use it mostly as a weekly skin cleanser, or when I get a break out. I also tend to use it in the winter as it leaves my skin feeling soft and moisturized! It is a wonderful natural product without any harmful chemicals or irritants. This product can be found at Face of Hope, 19 Front Street W, Strathroy, Ontario. www.faceofhope.ca

On top of using these products, if I have a break out I use my #1 favourite versatile product, Tea Tree Oil, as a Spot treatment. Tea Tree Oil is a natural antibiotic that will dry up the acne and fight the bacteria that are causing the break out. I LOVE this product! Warning it is “stinky”!

So now here are the steps to take:

1. Balance your body with Homeopathy

2. Wash your face in the Evening with a Natural Cleanser of your choice

3. If you have a breakout use Tea Tree Oil as a spot treatment

4. When you wake up in the morning wash your face with water and a facecloth. This will ensure that you do not strip away your natural oils and dry your skin out extensively.

I hope these suggestions help you to have the clear skin you desire!