We often have people coming into the shop and ask about certain conditions and what they can take. As someone who uses homepathy as my main healthcare resource it is often something that I would recommend, and find the responses quite interesting.
There seems to be 3 standard responses;
1. No idea what it is, don't ask, just want to feel better
2. Oh yeah, homeopathy , I use it all the time
3. No way, never used it, it doesn't work and it's dangerous
I thought I would just do a little bit about the history of homeopathy and 'how it works' and follow up with some remedy pictures over the next week. I'm not planning on being controversial, if you don't like homeopathy I don't want to get into a debate really but I am happy to answer genuine questions so please feel free to get in touch. If you don't like homeopathy then that's cool with me and I certainly wouldn't try to convince you except to say that if you try it you might be pleasantly surprised.
First of all, I really don't know how it works, and to be honest I don't think anyone really does know at this point. But I also think this doesn't detract from the fact that it does work for me and my family and the patients I have treated, not always perfectly but I would think that is to do with my ability to prescribe rather than the remedy itself! During my last 2 c-sections I had epidurals (obviously) and then no pain relief at all following the op, just my remedies which I self prescribed. After each one I was up and about within 2 hours and was home the following morning. This is not something I am recommending without discussion with your GP and medical practitioners, but it worked for me and the doctors at the hospital were genuinely amazed by my recovery. I've got the kids through colds in a day, bruises in a matter of hours and calmed my hysterical 8 year old immediately with one dose of aconite after he had a fall at school among many other things. It has been almost my sole healthcare resource for about 9 years now
Is it placebo? I wish it was...it would make prescribing an awful lot easier. I have had more than one occasion (quite a few more than one) where I have prescribed the wrong remedy and nothing has happened, and then changed the remedy and had a full and complete recovery. It follows logically (at least to me) that if it was placebo then it wouldn't matter what remedy you gave, the result would be the same. There is also the argument that it works on animals, babies, plants etc and they have no idea that they are meant to get better when they take the tablet. And quite frankly even if it was placebo, why the hell not - if it makes me better and has no side effects I don't actually care whether it is placebo or not. But as I say I wish it was placebo, it would be alot easier.
My thoughts are that we simply don't know yet how it works - once upon a time we didn't know how electricity worked, or gravity, or cars, or fire even but they worked too and eventually we found out exactly how they worked. And as a by-the-way, we don't actually know how anaesthetics work either but we all take them for granted (and very fortunate we are to have them).
Anyway, homeopathy is not a new thing. It was 'invented' by a guy called Samuel Hahnemann back in the 18th century. He was a GP who decided that there must be a better way than leeches (which are still handy little critters today though), drilling holes into peoples skulls to let the bad spirits out and dosing people up with copious amounts of mercury and silver nitrate. He wasn't the easiest of blokes by the sound of things - he was just a wee bit arrogant (which becomes very clear if you read his writings), but he definately put alot of effort into putting the system together. I won't do any more of the history at this point as it is a bit long, except to say that historically homeopathy has been practiced by doctors and it's provision is written into the NHS charter, so at some point it was recognised as a mainstay of the British Health Care system. This remains true in Europe, where it is practised by GPs and hospitals and is a major part of health care in countries like India where the health system is much less drug based and more holistic.
So how does it work - well, on each bottle you will see a little number, usually followed by a 'c' or less often an 'x'. This indicates the number of times that the substance had been diluted. So I will run through how they make a 3c solution and you can work out the rest from there:
The substance to be used is selected (let's use arsenicum - arsenic) and is made into a dilutable form. Imagine there is a row of 3 test tubes in front of you. You take one drop of the substance and put it into the first test tube, then add 99 drops of water to the same test tube. This gives you 100 drops of liquid in the first test tube. The test tube is the sucussed (basically shaken and banged about), this was historically done by banging it on a hefty bible. That bit seems to be the bit that does the work of turning it into a remedy - no idea how, but there are several theories around which are trying to explain it. When you have banged it 100 times then you put that test tube back in its rack.
Now you take one drop of the succussed solution in test tube one (now a 1c solution) and put it into test tube number 2. Then add 99 drops of water to the second test tube, so you have 1 drop of the 1c solution plus 99 drops of water = 100drops in total in test tube 2. Now succuss in the same way (with the bible) and you have a 2c solution. Now put test tube 2 back in it's rack.
Take one drop of the 2c solution and put in test tube 3 along with 99 drops of water (100 drops of liquid in the test tube) and succuss again. You now have a 3c solution.
Get the picture? Obviously, you need to be a careful with some substances you use to make remedies as they are often poisonous (for reasons I will explain in anther blog), so remedies are made by qualified homeopathic pharmacists and are only sold in potencies which are so diluted that they are no longer poisonous, for example you wouldn't buy 1c of arsenicum to be on the safe side.
The two most common potencies (ie. number of dilutions) is 6c and 30c so the first means it had been diluted and succussed 6 times and the second means it has been diluted and succussed 30 times. Generally you can use either potency but most commonly people tend to use 30c's for acute complaints but it doesn't really matter that much, one might just work a bit better than the other but if the remedy is right then it should work anyway. Its a bit like having 1 or 2 sugars in your tea I suppose, one might taste a bit better to one person and the other might taste better to another person but in the end the sugar has sweetened the tea.
This is getting a bit long so I will stop now and do a how to prescibe blog tomorrow. Hope this made sense, but if you have any questions you can get in touch via the vits n' pieces website at http://www.vitsnpieces.com/ . Tomorrow I will do a bit about prescribing and how to take remedies. Speak then xx
Monday, 27 October 2008
Thursday, 23 October 2008
The power of perception
In Shoreham at the moment the council are running a mystery shopper scheme, the aim being to help businesses by telling them about the customers experience of being in their shop. What a great idea! I think we are really lucky in that, because we are a community business we know most of our customers, and they are really good at telling us when we are getting it wrong - and also when we are getting it right, which is lovely!
It did make me think about the power of our perceptions and how they affect our lives. I don't think it's as simple as having a 'glass is half full/empty' attitude, though that is certainly part of it. Take the so-called credit cruch, a great soundbite if I ever heard one! I know that there have been job losses and that people and business have lost money due to the problems within banking and housing and I would no way want to belittle that - if you have really been affected then I you have my best wishes and I hope that things look up for you soon. This isn't really about the credit crunch as much as about attitudes to it - especially mine, which you may relate to.
Personally we haven't really been affected that much, the shop pays its bills but doesn't really make any money so as long as it carries on that way we are in no worse position than we were. My husband does work for a bank but his job is pretty secure we think, and yes, the price of fuel has gone up and our house price has gone down but that is the point I guess.
We do have a seven seater car, because there are six of us, not just because we wanted a big car so it does use alot of fuel, and also produces more pollution than we would like. So what do we do? Well we could gripe and complain about the cost of fuel, which I admit we did do for quite a while but we could also take a deep breath, put on some sensible shoes and get walking instead of jumping in the car. We live about a mile from school so it is a bit of a trek to walk all the way there and back, with a 3 year old, a buggy and two exhausted schoolchildren. So we don't walk all the way but we drive to my daughters school, leave the car there and walk down to my son's school to pick him up and then we walk back to the car. And you know what, it's lovely! The kids get to interact with their environment, I get to talk to other grown-ups and the kids get to play with their friends. It also encourages us to just pop to the park as we walk past the gates - which the children love. We NEVER used to go to the park when we drove. And it is actually quicker too. Will we keep it up when it's raining or freezing cold in the winter? I don't know, I would like to think so but either way I am not going to beat myself up about it - every day that I do walk is one day that I have cut my fuel usuage and reduced my carbon emissions. It really doesn't need to be all or nothing, just small steps every day will make all the difference.
So the question is - has the fuel increase improved or reduced the quality of our lives? I know what the children would say, they get to see their friends, go to the park and see the flowers and the spiders, it is a bit of a no-brainer really!
Same goes for energy costs. We, like everyone, noticed a huge increase in fuel bills in the recent years but we were terrible about leaving lights on and things on standby. Eventually we bought an OWL energy monitor and it has saved us a fortune! We are stocking the meters in the shop now as I so strongly believe that they are amazing and everyone should have one. All you do is attach a little clip to the electric cable near your meter, which you then plug into the a little box which measures your fuel consumption. There is a really clear monitor that you put in an obvious place and it tells you how much electricity -in monetary terms you are using per hour. Let me give you an example of how it has worked for us; one morning I was heading out the door to take the kids to school, as usual half the lights in the house were on and pre-monitor I wouldn't have thought twice about it. I did however notice the meter, which was showing we were usng a shocking 70p an hour! I took 2 minutes and ran round the house switching things off - including the iron which I had left on, and the rate dropped down to 4.1p a minute. It turned out I was out for 10 hours that day, which even with my maths adds up to £7 saved in one day, and it potentially stopped the house being burned down. We haven't had an actual bill yet, but since we are now aware of our usage I would bet the £29.99 it cost for the meter that it has paid for itself at least twice over.
So is the credit crunch really the end of the world as we know it, or just a trigger to think about how we spend our money? Should we be scared just because we are being told to be, or should we be lokking at how it has really affected us at a personal level and focus on those things? And lets face it, the credit crunch is a fabulous marketing tool for those pack 'em high, sell 'em cheap companies - we all know who they are - that got us into this state in the first place.
Lots of love
Gill x
It did make me think about the power of our perceptions and how they affect our lives. I don't think it's as simple as having a 'glass is half full/empty' attitude, though that is certainly part of it. Take the so-called credit cruch, a great soundbite if I ever heard one! I know that there have been job losses and that people and business have lost money due to the problems within banking and housing and I would no way want to belittle that - if you have really been affected then I you have my best wishes and I hope that things look up for you soon. This isn't really about the credit crunch as much as about attitudes to it - especially mine, which you may relate to.
Personally we haven't really been affected that much, the shop pays its bills but doesn't really make any money so as long as it carries on that way we are in no worse position than we were. My husband does work for a bank but his job is pretty secure we think, and yes, the price of fuel has gone up and our house price has gone down but that is the point I guess.
We do have a seven seater car, because there are six of us, not just because we wanted a big car so it does use alot of fuel, and also produces more pollution than we would like. So what do we do? Well we could gripe and complain about the cost of fuel, which I admit we did do for quite a while but we could also take a deep breath, put on some sensible shoes and get walking instead of jumping in the car. We live about a mile from school so it is a bit of a trek to walk all the way there and back, with a 3 year old, a buggy and two exhausted schoolchildren. So we don't walk all the way but we drive to my daughters school, leave the car there and walk down to my son's school to pick him up and then we walk back to the car. And you know what, it's lovely! The kids get to interact with their environment, I get to talk to other grown-ups and the kids get to play with their friends. It also encourages us to just pop to the park as we walk past the gates - which the children love. We NEVER used to go to the park when we drove. And it is actually quicker too. Will we keep it up when it's raining or freezing cold in the winter? I don't know, I would like to think so but either way I am not going to beat myself up about it - every day that I do walk is one day that I have cut my fuel usuage and reduced my carbon emissions. It really doesn't need to be all or nothing, just small steps every day will make all the difference.
So the question is - has the fuel increase improved or reduced the quality of our lives? I know what the children would say, they get to see their friends, go to the park and see the flowers and the spiders, it is a bit of a no-brainer really!
Same goes for energy costs. We, like everyone, noticed a huge increase in fuel bills in the recent years but we were terrible about leaving lights on and things on standby. Eventually we bought an OWL energy monitor and it has saved us a fortune! We are stocking the meters in the shop now as I so strongly believe that they are amazing and everyone should have one. All you do is attach a little clip to the electric cable near your meter, which you then plug into the a little box which measures your fuel consumption. There is a really clear monitor that you put in an obvious place and it tells you how much electricity -in monetary terms you are using per hour. Let me give you an example of how it has worked for us; one morning I was heading out the door to take the kids to school, as usual half the lights in the house were on and pre-monitor I wouldn't have thought twice about it. I did however notice the meter, which was showing we were usng a shocking 70p an hour! I took 2 minutes and ran round the house switching things off - including the iron which I had left on, and the rate dropped down to 4.1p a minute. It turned out I was out for 10 hours that day, which even with my maths adds up to £7 saved in one day, and it potentially stopped the house being burned down. We haven't had an actual bill yet, but since we are now aware of our usage I would bet the £29.99 it cost for the meter that it has paid for itself at least twice over.
So is the credit crunch really the end of the world as we know it, or just a trigger to think about how we spend our money? Should we be scared just because we are being told to be, or should we be lokking at how it has really affected us at a personal level and focus on those things? And lets face it, the credit crunch is a fabulous marketing tool for those pack 'em high, sell 'em cheap companies - we all know who they are - that got us into this state in the first place.
Lots of love
Gill x
Wednesday, 22 October 2008
It's a big job but somebody's got to do it!
We are constantly looking at new products, and trying to meet the needs of all our fab customers, at home or on the web. It is kinda hard to get it right, but not for lack of trying! And no, this isn't a whinge about how hard the life of a health food shop owner is cos I actually love what I do. It is, however, a request for help.
We are in a weird position at the moment, with the move of the supermarkets into the health food and supplements market. We are in the niche of being the place that people come to when they can't get what they want in the supermarket, but there is a reason that the supermarket doesn't sell these things - they are not big sellers, after all the supermarkets want to sell as much as they can so if people are going to buy it then they will be selling it. And at the same time the supermarkets are buying in the top sellers in bulk and selling them off cheaper than we can often buy them in for.
However - and this is the biggie, we can meet the need for these more unusual little products but we need to know from you what those things are. Where we are able to help is by providing that personal service, and for those who don't know already, if you let us know what you need we can probably order it in for you. So if you are in and can't find what you want then don't just walk away, let us know and we can try to help. After all, thats what we're here for and we are more than happy to oblige.
It's a changing world and for all we small businesses talk about how difficult it is for us to compete against the supermarkets, I actually think that it gives us a huge opportunity for us to provide you with the fabulous service that only we can, and that you deserve. So let us know what it is that we can do for you.
We are in a weird position at the moment, with the move of the supermarkets into the health food and supplements market. We are in the niche of being the place that people come to when they can't get what they want in the supermarket, but there is a reason that the supermarket doesn't sell these things - they are not big sellers, after all the supermarkets want to sell as much as they can so if people are going to buy it then they will be selling it. And at the same time the supermarkets are buying in the top sellers in bulk and selling them off cheaper than we can often buy them in for.
However - and this is the biggie, we can meet the need for these more unusual little products but we need to know from you what those things are. Where we are able to help is by providing that personal service, and for those who don't know already, if you let us know what you need we can probably order it in for you. So if you are in and can't find what you want then don't just walk away, let us know and we can try to help. After all, thats what we're here for and we are more than happy to oblige.
It's a changing world and for all we small businesses talk about how difficult it is for us to compete against the supermarkets, I actually think that it gives us a huge opportunity for us to provide you with the fabulous service that only we can, and that you deserve. So let us know what it is that we can do for you.
Tuesday, 21 October 2008
New blog - how exciting!!
Gosh, here I am being all technical. Well actually here I am asking my husband to show me how to be technical. My hubbie, Mark is our resident techie and put together this blog and also our website with the webshop. It's all new to me but it is all really exciting.
Isn't it amazing - our very first order on the website actually came from Amsterdam! I really love our little shop and we have a real community feel to the shop, and it's lovely to think that we can be involved in people's lives and can make a real difference. I love the fact that, not only do we have the fab therapists upstairs for when you need particular support, but also that we can provide the resources so that you can look after yourselves on a day to day basis. Now though, we can expand that out and do our bit over a bigger area.
As this is my first blog I would like to do a bit of an oscar speech, if that's OK. I would really like to say thank you to everyone who has given both me and the shop their support in the last year since I took over the shop. It has been a bit of a rollercoaster because, if you know me you'll know, I haven't had any experience of running a business before and between that and the kids it's been pretty full on. We have taken on a great bunch of therapists this year, including Claire Yuill who is our physio and also a clinical pilates instructor and Sandry Koo, our acupuncturist. The list is really long and if you have a mo it would be worth having a look to see who we have now - it's all on the website.
And, of course, what can I say about Laura and Dandy - fabulous girls, I don't know what I would do without them. When I started we had seven staff, all doing crazy hours and it kinda felt like you never saw the same person twice. Now we have me and the two superstars running the whole ship and they are doing a great job - I hope it feels that it's a bit more consistent and things are more organised now, it certainly does to me.
Thats loads for tonight, and there is loads more that I wanted to say but I'll do it gradually over the next few weeks. I'm planning to let you know what's going on in the shop, what's gonna happen, new products and also things like recipes, advice on different conditions and articles on different vitamins and remedies. Also I was planning to just have a chat about what's going on generally in health food, shoreham and life, the universe and everything.
If there is something you want me to talk about then get in touch at contactus@vitsnpieces.com and I will see what I can do. Hope you enjoy!
Isn't it amazing - our very first order on the website actually came from Amsterdam! I really love our little shop and we have a real community feel to the shop, and it's lovely to think that we can be involved in people's lives and can make a real difference. I love the fact that, not only do we have the fab therapists upstairs for when you need particular support, but also that we can provide the resources so that you can look after yourselves on a day to day basis. Now though, we can expand that out and do our bit over a bigger area.
As this is my first blog I would like to do a bit of an oscar speech, if that's OK. I would really like to say thank you to everyone who has given both me and the shop their support in the last year since I took over the shop. It has been a bit of a rollercoaster because, if you know me you'll know, I haven't had any experience of running a business before and between that and the kids it's been pretty full on. We have taken on a great bunch of therapists this year, including Claire Yuill who is our physio and also a clinical pilates instructor and Sandry Koo, our acupuncturist. The list is really long and if you have a mo it would be worth having a look to see who we have now - it's all on the website.
And, of course, what can I say about Laura and Dandy - fabulous girls, I don't know what I would do without them. When I started we had seven staff, all doing crazy hours and it kinda felt like you never saw the same person twice. Now we have me and the two superstars running the whole ship and they are doing a great job - I hope it feels that it's a bit more consistent and things are more organised now, it certainly does to me.
Thats loads for tonight, and there is loads more that I wanted to say but I'll do it gradually over the next few weeks. I'm planning to let you know what's going on in the shop, what's gonna happen, new products and also things like recipes, advice on different conditions and articles on different vitamins and remedies. Also I was planning to just have a chat about what's going on generally in health food, shoreham and life, the universe and everything.
If there is something you want me to talk about then get in touch at contactus@vitsnpieces.com and I will see what I can do. Hope you enjoy!
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