Nowadays we take it for a whole host of reasons, but mainly to play a part in the body’s defence system during the winter months. I remember taking tiny orange flavoured vitamin C tablets when I was at primary school.

As well as a defence against colds and flu, vitamin C also has a mid histamine effect and increases absorption of iron. So if you’re taking iron tablets for anaemia, are you also taking enough vitamin C?

Healthy connective tissue also needs a strong supply of vitamin C plus it increases the formation of intercellular collagen so very beneficial for the skin.

Unlike most other mammals, humans cannot make their own vitamin C, hence why need to ensure a plentiful supply in our diet. The Recommended Daily Allowance is 60mg but pregnant women, heavy drinkers and smokers need more. In fact, just one cigarette destroys 25mg of vitamin C. Stress, medication and environmental factors also deplete the body’s levels.

My favourite is Forever Living’s Absorbent-C which is a unique combination of vitamin C bound in an oat bran matix. Oat bran is a soluable fibre found in unrefined oats and absorbs water in the stomach and small intestine and slows down digestion. Many vitamins that are labelled ‘timed-release’ are generally mixed with (harmless) chemicals called polymers that slow down the stomach’s ability to dissolve the pill. However, Forever’s vitamin C uses the oat bran matrix to create the ‘timed-release’ effect.

Click here to order.
£16.93 for 100 tablets

So anyway, there I was, this morning at 7.15am, typing an article for an online forum about stress. I’d typed my 2000 characters, pressed review and got an error message, pressed back and my article had disappeared. BIG deep breathe and ironic laughter as I was not going to get stressed over writing an article about stress.

Work is the biggest cause of stress in the western world, with our technology overload, long hours, job insecurity and, for the self-employed, working in the business as well as on the business.

We all need some stress to function but when a personal believes the demands made of them exceed their ability to cope, then they will experience negative stress.

According to a recent Aviva survey, UK workers are putting in an extra 26 million hours a day. The mental health charity Mind recent reported that £26 billion is lost each year by British business in sickness absence and lost productivity.

Signs you or a colleague may be stressed include irritability, lack of motivation, changes in appetite, headaches, crying, palpitations, anxiety, more coughs and colds that usual, lack of concentration, increase in spots on skin or ezcema, muscle tension to name just a few.

You may not think you are stressed now but if you continue to place yourself under excessive pressures, work late, read emails at 11pm, try to do it all yourself, then the compound effect comes into place and a few months or even years ahead you could well suffer with stress.

So what can be done to help reduce stress? Change your beliefs – the way we think about a situation can have a direct bearing on the amount of stress we experience. Reframing a situation and looking at it from a more positive perspective is very useful. Plan and time manage your day and week ahead, don’t leave things til the last minute and set boundaries if your office is at home. Delegate and ask for help – 4N is awash with people who can help. Breathe deeply – take a moment to sit up straight and breathe from the stomach, breathe in for count of 4, hold for 2 and out for 6.

Finally, TAKE A BREAK. There is no excuse not to take a moment out of the workplace, particularly on a lovely autumn day/evening like today.

These amazing Doctor Fish, as they are known, are actually two species of fish: Garra rufa and Cyprinion macrostomus and the one’s nibbling my feet were the Garra rufa also known as the reddish log sucker. Strangely these fish have a penchant for dead skin and are used extensively in spas in places like Turkey, Syria and Japan for the treatment of psoriasis. These fish have no teeth and actually suck away dead skin using their powerful sucking lips. They were certainly having a feast on my feet. It’s not psoriasis that it can help, but indeed various skin conditions, dry skin, and wounds. Some places are offering the fish spa as part of a pedicure routine, given the feet an all-over exfoliation.

As I sat there, passing visitors to the show stopped to ask if it tickled. Actually, not not really, it was more of a tingling sensation, rather like pins and needles but softer and didn’t hurt at all. It’s also thought that the fish acitivate certain actupuncture and reflex points as they suck away, which can promote relaxation. I certainly felt very relaxed after my 10 minutes and my feet were far smoother than when I left home and didn’t even smell fish. It was quite fascinating to see the fish darting around my feet, sucking away and gently massaging. Highly recommended.

Firstly, water. A headache is often a sign that we are dehydrated and the body is crying out for water. There is a fab book called “Your Body’s Many Cries for Water” by Dr Batmanghelidj in which he looks at why simply drinking more plain water can help prevent illness and improve health.

Reflexology is another way of easing the ache and something you can do yourself. Simply apply pressue in caterpillar style movements with one thumb on the opposite thumb and also the big toes, both of which correspond to the head. This reflex action is also great for stress, another cause of headaches.

Thinking along the lines of stress causing the headache, lavendar essential oil is great for soothing and calming. Lavender essential oil is one of the very few oils that can be used neat on skin but only in very minute amounts. Take one small drop and rub between your middle fingers and then rub each finger onto your temples. There are some contraindications with essential oils, eg pregnancy, so always check with your local aromatherapist first that the oil you are using is ok. Alternatively, Forever Living Aloe Heat Lotion is equally as good and something I use a lot for aches and pains.

Finally, try resting your eyes. Lay down and rest two used teabags (any flavour although I’m rather partial to Rose, Vanilla & Camomile) over your eyes for 5 minutes. Of course, this may look a bit daft if you are in the middle of an office so just rest the your palms over your eyes for a short while instead.

I love networking and getting to know other therapists. This is one of the reasons I’ve set up the Herts Therapy Network so that therapists can get to know each other, network, learn and give support to each other. I’m fascinated by all therapies and if I learnt them all I’d have no time or energy to see clients, so it’s great to meet up with fellow therapists for a cuppa, find out what they do and perhaps arrange a treatment swap. Last week I met up with several therapists, including Elle-Louise Howe and Sarah-Jane Tepper. Elle is a feng shui consultant and reiki master and being a reiki practitioner myself, I could instantly feel the positive energy coming from Elle when we met. I’ve long be intrigued by feng shui and have followed a few tips from various books I’ve read over the years. One serious tip Elle left me with is that during this Chinese Year I should remove mirrors from any wall on the east of my house to be in line with the energy map of the year. I went home and did this immediately and will soon be booking a full feng shui consultation with her.

On Friday I met up Sarah-Jane Tepper who owns and runs Herts Holistic based in Borehamwood. Sarah-Jane practices reflexology, reiki and is studying massage and, as with Elle, I could feel the positive energy as soon as she sat down. Don’t you just love that, when you meet someone and instantly click with them. I have to thank Sarah-Jane for introducing me to Chai Tea Lattes! Sarah-Jane writes a great blog on holistic health which you can find at her website. HertsHolistic.com. I’m really looking forward to having a reiki treatment with her soon whilst I introduce her to Bowen Technique.

Every year therapists have to clock up Continuing Professional Development points to ensure we are keeping up to date with our therapies, adding new skills and developing ourselves. There are lots of ways to do this including attending workshops on various themes. Last Saturday I attended a fabulous workshop run by Jayney Goddard, the President of the Complementary Medical Association, on the subject of public speaking. Jayney is one of those people I could listen to for many hours and not tire as she is so inspirational and passionate about complementary health. I met seven other therapists, all very different and all very passionate about their various therapies. It’s good to meet other therapists to share ideas on treatments, case studies and marketing. This particular workshop, as I mentioned, was about public speaking and giving presentations on complementary health, using up to date facts, figures and research from the CMA. So I’m now an expert on this and if anyone would like to book me for their club or workplace then feel free to get in contact.

One tip I’d give is that when thinking about your New Year Resolution, think in positive terms ie. instead of thinking ‘I won’t smoke anymore’ think ‘I shall give the body the health respect it deserves’, instead of thinking ‘I won’t bite my nails’, think ‘I shall grow strong nails on my beautiful hands’. If you think the negative then the Law of Attraction states that you’ll get negative stuff back. So think positive instead and positive stuff will come right back atcha! To find out how Law of Attraction can work for you, I recommend any of the books by Ester & Jerry Hicks, or, closer to home, local Herts Law of Attraction expert Rose Todd.

Clearing out your clutter is also great for lifting a weight off your mind. Choose the spot in your home or office that needs the most help and be ruthless. I guarantee once you are clutter-free you’ll feel much better about that place. If it’s your desk, the new ideas will come clearer, you’ll work smarter and positive energy will flow. This is the essence of Feng Shui – allowing positive energy to flow easily around your life and removing any negative blockages.

Right, I’m off to clear my desk and tidy my treatment room. Let that positive energy flow!

Wishing you all a happy, healthy and positive 2011.

.

I’ve spent an hour yesterday with another therapist and we share the same view about educating the public as to what holistic therapy is all about. Her home country and places like Australia and Holland are streaks ahead in the importantance of holistic therapy but over here, unfortuantely, we have the sticking plaster effect. Take a pill, subside the symptom. But the root cause is probably still there!! Also, why wait till a symptom comes to the fore? We give our cars a regular MOT, so why not our bodies and use preventative medicine so you don’t get back pain, IBS or frozen shoulder in the first place.

I want to do it all now! But I also have clients, marketing, my health products biz and, oh yes, a life. Ironing doesn’t do itself nor does marketing so I need to concentrate on a few important things to get to where I want in 6 months time.

Two people have helped me see the wood for the trees in the past 7 days. Corinne McGee of Powerful Women is a life coach and I spent an hour with her last week. During that hour she helped me formulate a strategy to get me to where I want to be in 6 months. It wasn’t difficult, just that I couldn’t see it for myself. Corinne, from an objective angle, simply coached out of me what I wanted. It was all there, in my head, just that it was spinning around. I highly recommend Corinne if you need some help with direction and making sense of things. I came out and I could see the wood, the beautiful wood – it looks great from where I’m standing now.

Secondly, I read a short but powerful article on www.4Networking.biz by Paula Hine of Abundant Solutions. I’ve already met with Paula and her husband a while back for some extremely useful business coaching. In her article, Paula talks about scattering too many seeds. I certainly was. And if those seeds are planted, is the ground they fall on suitable for growth, or covered in weeds? Paula’s article worked well alongside Corinne’s work with me and made me see that I need to concentrate on just a few important projects to get me to where I want to be in 6 months. Quality not quantity. Other projects are great, but will they play their part in my 6 months plan. Probably not. So I’ve parked them, for now.

So, if you feel like you’re running fast but going nowhere through the forest, then step back, take stock and check if you’re doing too much too soon. Ask someone else to help you see the way ahead – from their objective standpoint the view is much clearer – and don’t be afraid of a bit of pruning. Like the plants in your garden, you’re life will be stronger for it.

Paula is one of these people I could listen too constantly, such is her enthusiasm and knowledge for sport and Bowen Technique.

Bowen is a subtle, yet dymanic non-invasive therapy working over muscles, tendons, ligaments and connective tissue, triggering certain nerve endings. The brain sets to work straight away, taking stock of what is happening in the body and what functional problems there may be.

Sports injury management has interested me for a while. I’m a runner (ok, a resting runner at the moment) and over the last 5 years since I started running I have seen countless friends and co-runners falling at the wayside due to injury, but not just one injury, often injury over and over again. When I started learning Bowen, I could see instantly how this amazing therapy could potentially be the key to correct functioning of the body.

Broadening our knowledge of the anatomical working of the body during sport and opening our minds even further to how the body is connected from top to bottom, the course has allowed us to see how Bowen can play a major part in sports therapy. At the moment it’s still a very new idea for athletes, particuarly those who feel the need to be pummelled to ever begin to feel a therapy is doing any good. Bowen is incredibly light but so powerful. Leeds Rhinos are big proponents of the Bowen Technique as are various members of the Danish football team, but it’s going to take many years before Bowen is regarded as a first choice sports therapy. Hopefully this will happen sooner than later, such is the amazing scope of Bowen. I’d love to see Bowen Therapists a central part of the sports staff at Premier League clubs, or included along with physios in the Olympic village.

So, what can Bowen help? First of all, we aren’t looking at symptoms, rather the whole body. What’s happening to the body during a particular sport, what parts of the body are feeling the tension, stress and strain? What is happening biomechanically? By really thinking about what is going on in the body, we can think more logically about where the area of tension is coming from. For example, Paula gave the example of a young sports person with pain in right arm/elbow but through assessment she worked out the problem area was actually the opposite hip.

Runners, gymasts, tennis players, rugby players, cyclists, swimmers, in fact anyone who plays sport can benefit from Bowen. I am so excited about the potential for this therapy and can’t wait to welcome more sports people to my clinic.

If you’d like to know how Bowen may help you contact me at info@sarahpluves.com

Whilst people have been consuming royal jelly and honey for many years, it’s only recently that other bee products, bee pollen and propolis, have been used as excellent products for a healthy lifestyle.

Bee propolis is not the first thing we think of when we think bees. It’s actually a resin secreted by trees which is harvested by the bees and metabolised by them to line their hives and protect them from germs. It’s said the inside of a beehive is more sterile than any operating theatre. Bee Propolis is nature’s antibiotic and also has anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-parasitic properties.

Whist there’s a lot more research required into the extent of it’s efficacy, trials carried out so far have been very promising. A recent study in Cuba found it significantly inhibited the growth of human breast cancer cells.

Bee propolis is found in many products and it’s worth taking time to reserach the best supply. One excellent use of bee propolis is in the Forever Bright Toothgel. Proposlis has proved very successful for a variety of dental and mouth problems including plaque, gum disease and ulcers. Brushing daily with toothgel and added propolis can signficantly reduce plaque formation, as well as having an anti-inflammatory effect.

Skin problems are another area that react very well to bee propolis, when applied topically, due to it’s anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. A recent client of mine used Aloe Vera Cream with Bee Propolis to help reduce uticaria, an itchy rash, on her arms to great effect. A recent 3 month trial of 135 patients with warts showed by that those using bee propolis had a greater cure rate that those using a placebo.

I also read this week that bee propolis was used in a study of 40 women with infertilty and mild endometriosis. Amongst those taking 500mg twice a day for six month, there was a 60% pregnancy rate compared with 20 per cent in those taking a placebo. A lot more research is required into this use of propolis but it’s thought that it has a positive effect on oestrogen metabolism. As a specialist in pre-natal and pregnancy reflexology, this is of great interest to me.

It’s also worth taking propolis supplements during the cold and flu season. In fact, taking it before will give your immune system a boost but if you do succumb to a cold then the duration can be up to 3 days less than without supplementation. If you are going into hospital for a stay, then it’s worth taking the bee propolis for it’s anti-bacterial, anti-viral and antibiotic properties and early studies have shown that it’s effective against MRSA.

Bee propolis is also commonly used for the treatment of digestive problems such as ulcers and ulcerative colitis. It is thought the anti-inflammatory properties have a healing effect on the stomach and intestines.

As mentioned above, make sure you do your research into reputable brands as some companies mix the propolis with other ingredients thus possibly lessening its effects. I personally recommend Forever Living’s Bee Propolis. In fact I’ve been taken it regularly for the last few months but on those occasions when I haven’t taken it (I forgot to take it on holiday!) I haven noticed my sore throat due to hayfever comes back with avengence but goes immediatley I start taking it.

One last note of caution – if you are allergic to other bee products then it is not recommended you take propolis. Also, if you are pregnant or breast-feeding then do speak with your qualified GP before taking a supplement as there is not enough information in this area at present.

Image: Christian Meyn / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Despite these wondrous names, in fact they are only about five species of aloe that actualy possess these beneficial propertis and the most powerful of those five is Aloe Barbadensis Miller and only that should really be called Aloe Vera or “True Aloe”.

So you’ve probably seen it in various items in the shops, ranging from tootpaste to toilet roll, drinks to soap but why is Aloe Vera so good and what can it do for you?

The contents of the aloe vera leaf provide a potent cocktail of good stuff including at least nine minerals, the antioxidant vitamins A, C and E plus B vitamins, vital to growth and repair. Aloe Vera provides 19 of the 20 amind acids required by the body and 7 of the 8 essential amino acids that the body cannot make itself. It contains a variety of enzymes that help digestion and plant sterols that act as anti-inflammatories. On top of all that, aloe has been found to be anti-viral, a natural pain killer, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal.

Those with weakened immune systems or over-active immune systems may find aloe vera of great benefit as it acts as an adaptagen and brings the body back into balance. Case studies have shown a remarkable improvement in those with auto-immune disorders such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. It is also a quick healer and a regular use of aloe is on burns – people have used aloe gel direct from the leaf on to a burn which has led to fast healing with no scars. Acne sufferers also benefit quickly from the use of aloe vera. It should be noted though that aloe vera only acts as a suprressant so it’s important to take it regularly.

Digestion is another area where aloe vera excels by soothing the lining of the digestive tract, reducing inflammation of the membranes and speeding up transit time of contents through the digestive system. As it is anti-fungal, problems such as candida can be controlled by regulating the gut flora.

Aloe vera can be consumed in a variety of ways. The best way to take it is as a drink made from 100% stabilised aloe vera gel. Only 2 fl oz is needed each day and some varieties includes fruit extracts to sweeten the taste. I like it with cranberry and apple. As well as the juice, it can be applied topically in the form of cream, gel, lotion and spray and often an ingredient in shower gels, toothpate (great for controlling gum disease), deodourant and other bodycare products.

As a natural remedy, aloe vera tops the bill in so many ways. Be sure you buy products where the main ingredient is 100% stabilised aloe vera gel (so many products on our shelves nowadays have small percentages but lead you to thinking it is a main ingredient). Do contact me if you’d like some more information on this amazing plant.