Abika Health and Well Being

Natural Health Clinic

Jayne

Period Pain

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Photo by Kristopher Roller on Unsplash

Period pain is something that women are often led to believe is normal. It’s something they have to learn to live with. Young girls reaching menarche are put on the oral contraceptive pill (OCP) to help with their pain. Older women may have never experienced a natural cycle, having always taken the OCP to control their monthly symptoms. Others just grin and bear it, taking over the counter pain killers.

Dear women, you do not have to live like this! Your birth right is to live with pain free monthly cycles. You can experience menstruation with the only symptom being, the passing of blood.

I used to have endometriosis. Each month I would literally be on the floor, in so much pain, with vomiting and diarrohea that I couldn’t even take pain killers. There was a time (lasting a number of months) where I would present to the ER department each month and be put on a pethadine drip. I tried the conventional pharmaceutical treatments but nothing helped. Until I found homeopathy.

I had started to study homeopathy with the thought of treating myself. However, as I studied I realised it would be decades before I knew enough to treat myself. I contacted a qualified homeopath who helped me experience that utopia of a completely symptom free menstrual cycle.

A decade has now passed. I now know enough to help you experience this. Reach out and let me help you enjoy your menstrual cycle.

Kefir

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This is a culture that contains small colonies of organisms (bacteria and yeasts) that grow and multiply in the medium used to feed them – milk or sugar water. They metabolize the sugars and fats and produce many beneficial micro-organisms. The yeasts in kefir kill harmful yeasts such as Candida albicans. Milk kefir produces the widest variety of beneficial organisms which in turn digest most of the lactose. One particular strain found in milk kefir is Lactobacillus rhamnosus which is of particular benefit in people on the ASD spectrum or who have IBS. Water kefir is popular with many people who stay away from dairy for one reason or another but does not contain the same numbers or variety of organisms as the milk variety.


Milk Kefir

By far the easiest to make and the most beneficial cultured food is milk kefir. Simply add kefir grains to room temperature milk, cover with a cloth and leave to ferment for 12 to 24 hours. The kefir is then strained through a plastic sieve and the grains either stored in fresh milk (to cover the grains) in the fridge until next time, or placed directly into more fresh milk.

strained kefir grains
strained kefir grains

A litre is a good quantity to make at a time but this may be more or less depending on the demand in your home. It is a good idea to culture your grains at least twice a week to keep them really healthy.

milk kefir grains and drink
milk kefir grains, milk kefir ready to drink


This produces a thin, drinking yoghurt style of cultured milk. It is excellent in smoothies, great for baking whenever sour milk or buttermilk, etc is asked for and may be used to soak flour to neutralize the phytates, etc.
If going on holidays, place your grains in fresh milk and place them in the

refrigerator while you are away. If the milk is very sour when you return, strain the grains and run them under clear water to rinse them before placing in fresh milk. If you are away for a very long time, the grains may be made dormant by placing them in clear water for up to a few months.

Kombucha

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Kombucha showing masking tape support for protective cloth

The kombucha culture is called a scoby (symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast) that floats on top of a solution of black tea and white sugar. The beneficial yeast and bacteria in kombucha compete with and inhibit pathogenic microbes such as Candida, Staphylococcus, E. coli, salmonella, listeria and heliobacter pylori. The bacteria strains include lactobacilli and Saccharomyces (including Saccharomyces boulardii) these help to kill Candida and pathogenic bacteria such as clostridia. In addition to producing beneficial probiotics for our body, kombucha also produces an enzyme called glucoronic acid, this is especially beneficial in supporting the liver to detoxify.
Make a strong brew of black tea using about 4 teaspoons of black tea leaves and ½ cup of white sugar in approximately 1½ – 2 litres of freshly boiling water. Allow to cool completely to room temperature.
Strain the tea into a large glass container, this may be a large bowl or jar. Slide your scoby on top, it will float. Cover the container with a cloth to allow air to circulate but keep dust and insects out. If the bowl is broad, apply masking tape in a cross across the top to support your cloth and prevent it sagging into your solution.
The bowl is then left in a cool, dark place away from strong smells and allowed to ferment for 5 to 10 days. A plastic drinking straw may be used to test the flavour of your kombucha tea by placing one end under the scoby and having a taste. It is ready to bottle when the sweetness has gone but before it turns really sour or vinegary, the exact moment is a matter of personal taste.
To strain your kombucha tea, remove the scoby from the top using wooden spoons or your very clean hands. Place this on a clean plate. Strain the kombucha into a jug. Clean your bowl, add fresh tea and place your scoby back on top.
The strained kombucha tea should be fizzy. It may be drunk straight away like this or you may now add different flavours. The simplest method is to make a brew of your favourite herbal tea, allow it to cool completely then mix the two together adding just a ½ teaspoon of sugar. Bottle and leave on the bench for another 24 hours and then refrigerate.
As you continue to brew your kombucha, you will notice that the scoby grows. It usually does so in layers. If the scoby is allowed to get too big, there are more organisms competing for the same amount of food. This may make your kombucha sour too quickly and become unpalatable. It is best to every now and then thin out the scoby. Remove some of the layers and either offer them to your friends so they may also make a brew or add it to your compost heap.
Many people make kombucha on all sorts of tea including green tea and herbal teas. This is fine but I recommend keeping one brew going on black tea to preserve the integrity of your scoby.

What is homeopathy?

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Homeopathy is personalised medicine

Homeopathy has been around since the time of the ancient Greeks but the form that we know it today, was created by Samuel Hahnemann just over 200 years ago. It has been shown through many case studies throughout this time to be a very effective form of healing. It stimulates the body’s own ability to heal itself bringing about deep healing on a holistic and energetic level.

Homeopathy is a system of medicine that utilises the concept of like cures like. This means that a substance that is given to a healthy person creates a set of symptoms. These symptoms are carefully recorded and form what is referred to a remedy picture. This remedy picture can then be used to treat the same symptoms occurring in a sick person.

Homeopathy uses an individual approach to healing that involves the selection of a homeopathic remedy that matches the individual set of symptoms displayed by the patient. So it may be that different remedies are required for different people even though they may appear to have the same illness.

The whole person needs to be considered to arrive at an effective prescription, not just the presenting complaint. Because of this, the homeopath may ask questions that are seemingly unrelated to your health issue. The need to find out symptoms that identify you as an individual with an illness, rather than just a disease process, will help the homeopath to arrive at the correct homeopathic remedy or simillimum as it is known.

Individual symptoms that aid in matching a particlular remedy to you as a totally unique person may include things like –

  • your prefernce for hot or cold weather
  • are you a morning person or a night owl?
  • are you thirsty or not?
  • can you chill out easily or must you do something continuously?
  • are you tidy or messy?
  • does it irritate you when the pictures are not straight on the wall?
  • do you have ticklish feet?

The list is actually endless but you will understand that they have nothing to do with your pain or blocked nose or whatever it is that you have come to seek treatment for. Without these sort of symptoms, it is very hard to match a remedy to you and produce the outcome desired.

There may also be things in your past that help to elucidate the remedy. This may be a past illness or an experience that has left a lasting impact on your life. It may take a few visits to your homeopath until you feel comfortable in relating something that you may have successfully kept hidden for years. But this is part of holistic healing.

There is no this for that in Homeopathy. Although many of you may know of first aid treatments using homepathic remedies, there is still an element of individualisation that needs to be noted for the prescription to be successful.

Other ways of describing the process include mind/body medicine or psychosomatic medicine. The bottomline is that homeopathy seeks to balance the whole person in a very individualised way.

Feel free to contact me to find out more or make a booking.

 

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Meditation – keep it simple

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Sunset over the tulip field at the park Volcji Potok

A lot is said these days about meditation. There are plenty of books, on-line course, etc, etc. The important thing to remember about meditation is to keep it simple.

The essence of meditation is to be still. Simply sit with your spine straight, use a support if necessary and be quiet. Notice your breath passing in and out through your nostrils, notice what is going on in your body, notice the sounds outside. There is no need to dwell on these things, if thoughts come, let them and then let them drift away. Your meditation time is not the time to analyse and try to work out your problems, it is a time for the mind and thoughts to rest.

Set the mood for your meditation to aid the practice. This may be creating a particular space, having a special cushion or chair to sit in, perhaps soft music or a candle. These things are not absolutely necessary, they simply help you to set the scene. Once you develop a meditation habit, you will be able to meditate in any surroundings.

Repetition is the key for meditation practice – a little every day. Start with setting aside 5 minutes, preferably at the same time each day. Choose which ever time suits you best, this may be first thing in the morning, when you get home from work, last thing at night or whatever time you like. Once you have created the habit of 5 minutes a day, you can look at challenging yourself to extend this time. 15 – 30 minutes is a reasonable amount of time to aim for. Be gentle with yourself, if you miss a day that is ok. Just confirm to yourself that this is a great habit to implement.

Once you have your meditation as a habit, then you will be able to use this time for other mindfulness practices such as visualizations to manifest the future you desire.

Have fun as you learn to enjoy this habit.