When I was first learning homeopathy, I encountered Misty, a cat suffering with septicemia (a rare, postsurgical reaction involving bacterial spread in the bloodstream and a general breakdown of the blood-clotting mechanism) following a routine spay. She was in pitiable condition, with a high fever and vomiting. Dark blood leaked from her back, her underbelly, legs, feet, mouth and vagina. I also detected bleeding under the skin (dark blue swellings under the eyelids and ears). Though antibiotics might help, I was not sure they would act quickly enough in this crisis situation. She seemed to get worse even as I examined her!
     As a temporary measure I decided to administer fluids under her skin to help counter her moderate dehydration. In the process I immediately noticed that she was very sensitive to pain, far more than I would expect. She could hardly bear being touched at all. At this point I recognized the similarity between Misty's condition and the provings of the remedy Arnica (from the herb leopard's bane). Among the characteristics of Arnica are fever, hemorrhage, black and blue spots under the skin from bleeding, septic conditions, hypersensitivity to pain and an aversion to touch!
     I immediately gave Misty a tablet of Arnica and repeated it every few hours. Later in the day she was much improved. By the next morning her temperature had dropped and she was no longer bleeding. Misty was obviously calmer—eating for the first time since she became ill. Within 48 hours the only evidence of what had so recently been a life-threatening condition were a few dry scabs where the hemorrhage had been, and Misty was discharged. She remained in good health. I was quite impressed that such results had occurred without any need to use antibiotics or other drugs.
     I'm often amazed at how rapidly homeopathic medications can work. In acute problems they usually restore health much faster than [conventional] drugs do, and I have used them to treat a gamut of acute problems from severe infections like parvovirus or distemper to gunshot wounds, bites, punctures and abscesses. But they also excel in treating many chronic conditions, which are the bulk of my practice—allergies, auto-immune diseases, hyperthyroidism, urinary disorders, appetite problems, behavioral abnormalities, paralysis, skin problems, gum disease and so on. In short, they are useful in treating the whole gamut of animal disease.
     A recent case that comes to mind, for instance, involved an older cat whose lab tests confirmed feline infectious peritonitis—a terminal condition not curable with [conventional] drugs. His symptoms included repeated vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite and swelling of the abdomen. Over several days my client and I gradually changed the cat's diet to a home-prepared one and increased his vitality through the use of vitamins and thymus gland supplements. I then recognized an appropriate homeopathic remedy, which, for this particular fellow, was Arsenicum album, or white oxide of arsenic. (Don't let this alarm you. The amount of arsenic in a homeopathic remedy is less than you'd find in the food you eat, when it appears as a trace mineral.)
     So I gave him one dose, which was followed by a short aggravation of symptoms for a couple of days and then a continued improvement for a long period. Two months later the vomiting began to recur, and I gave one more dose. He quickly returned to normal health and has remained stable ever since. On top of it all, his personality improved, so that he is now considerably calmer and steadier, and his weight increased from 6 to 11 pounds!
     Homeopathic remedies can even be used to treat personality problems. For instance, one client's cat had spontaneously developed a drastic personality change for the worse. Where she had once been friendly, she was now irritable, resistant to being held and generally stand-offish. Homeopathic treatment with Nux vomica restored her normal affectionate self.
Reprinted from Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats, ©1995, by Richard H. Pitcairn and Susan Pitcairn. Permission granted by Rodale, Inc.; Emmaus, PA 18098. Available at bookstores, by calling the publisher at (800) 848-4735 or visit Rodale's website at http://www.Rodalestore.com/.
About the author:
Richard Pitcairn, DVM, PhD, has been practicing veterinary medicine for over 35 years. He is the author of Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats (first published in 1982, revised in 1995), and wrote a monthly column for Prevention Magazine for 9 years. He created the Professional Course in Veterinary Homeopathy, which now has over 300 veterinarian graduates, and recently added an Advanced Course. He was a founding member and the first president of the Academy of Veterinary Homeopathy. He also holds a PhD in virology and immunology. He practices and teaches at the Animal Natural Health Center in Eugene, Oregon.

Posted by By Dr. Lisa Samet N.D. on January 29, 2016Do you dread your monthly cycle due to painful cramps? It’s estimated that 50%-70% of all women experience some degree of period pain and cramping.
What causes these painful cramps in the first place?
The explanation lies in the fact that a woman’s uterus must shed its lining each month– and this job requires uterine contractions. As the uterus contracts, blood vessels that supply the uterus become constricted, reducing blood flow – sometimes painfully. For some women, the hormonal changes that trigger menstruation may be more pronounced, causing the uterus to contract even more vigorously – and more painfully.
Happily – homeopathy can really help.
Here is a list of the homeopathic remedies most often recommended for this problem:

• Belladonna: A woman needing this homeopathic remedy will generally feel throbbing pains that can be worse on the right side. The cramping often comes on very suddenly and violently. There can be a sensation of fullness in the uterus as well. The flow is often profuse, bright red and at times, gushing. Motion of any kind will exacerbate the pain.
• Cactus grandifolia: Someone needing this homeopathic remedy suffers with extremely painful cramps – the cramps feel as though there is a tight, gripping band across the abdomen. In some cases, your patient will actually cry out with pain. The flow tends to be clotted - with pain as each clot is passed. There may also be throbbing pain near the ovary.
• Chamomilla: A woman needing this homeopathic remedy will experience intense, labor-like pain with the flow. The pain can be felt extending down the inner thighs. The flow itself is often profuse, dark and clotted with occasional gushing of bright red blood. Patients needing this remedy are often hypersensitive to pain and exceptionally irritable and cranky. They often feel better from rocking and from cold applications and worse while lying in bed.
• Colocynthis: Someone needing this homeopathic remedy will experience cramping that is less painful if they bend double or put hard pressure on the painful area (this is a keynote for this remedy). The pain may be so intense that they vomit. This patient may also be irritable and cranky. They are often worse from anger and from lying on the painless side (better from pressure).
• Magnesia phosphorica: In my experience this is the pre-eminent remedy for period cramps – if the picture fits... a woman needing this remedy will have cramping pain that is particularly relieved by heat (perhaps the key to this remedy) – and to a lesser degree pressure. Most of the painful cramping occurs before the onset of menses – with relief coming with the flow. The flow is often dark in color. Hot baths typically bring relief.
• Nux vomica: Someone needing this homeopathic remedy will have the classic Nux vomica picture – irritable, impatient, easily offended and chilly (this last point being perhaps more pronounced with the pain). The cramping can at times extend over the whole body and they may also feel an urge for a bowel movement with each painful cramp. The flow is typically early, profuse and lasts too long.

How to dose:
Dose with either a 30C or 200C potency to start - placing one pellet under the tongue or one pellet in water, stirring vigorously and taking teaspoon doses as needed. Always cease dosing when relief begins and only redose if symptoms again worsen. As with any medical condition, consult with your physician if you have any concerns about the severity of your condition as it may first require medical diagnosis and/or intervention and monitoring.
Remember - the key to choosing the correct remedy is ALWAYS the same. Match the characteristic symptoms of the patient to the characteristic symptoms produced by our many remedies – choosing the remedy with the most similar characteristics. If you try a few remedies with disappointing results, don’t give up! If you can see a professional homeopath and determine the “general” remedy you need overall, this step will surely help with the cramps and any other PMS symptoms you experience.
About Dr. Lisa Samet:
Dr. Lisa Samet N.D. provides Washington Homeopathic Products with a weekly column on using homeopathy for the family. She's a naturopathic physician who specializes in homeopathic medicine and she's a partner with Dr. Andre Saine N.D. She is perhaps best known as a guest expert on homeopathy used by Dr. Mehmet Oz M.D. on the popular TV program - the Dr. Oz Show. Dr. Samet graduated from the Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine in 1998 and has been practicing in Montreal since then. She was born and raised in New York.
Dr. Samet has chosen to focus on homeopathy because in her experience it is the deepest healing modality available in that it does not just soothe or palliate symptoms but can actually stimulate the body to start to heal itself. Dr. Samet sees patients in her Montreal office as well as remotely using Skype. Learn more here:  Dr. Lisa Samet

Thursday, May 31, 2012 by: Willow Tohi

(NaturalNews) Most parents give pause when medicating their children. It's in the news regularly how some kid died from conventional medicine, and doctors seem all the more willing to write out those prescriptions these days. Their little bodies are still very sensitive and delicate. Homeopathy is amazingly effective, when the correct remedy is used. If you don't use the correct remedy, you will get limited or no effect. There are no side-effects, making it very safe. Children and babies generally respond to it very well, improving natural defenses and lowering the need for conventional medicines.

But for many, homeopathy can get pretty confusing. For this reason, it is wise to consult a practitioner for chronic disease or serious problems. They can also help identify constitutional remedies. But for minor, acute issues, it's pretty easy to learn about a few remedies and try them out. You can always add more after you get a handle on it.

Starter kitBelow are a handful of remedies very popular with parents. Grab a cosmetics sized bag or maybe an empty VHS case, and build a starter kit. Use the lower potencies, 6X, 6C, 10X, 30X, or 30C, for at-home treatment of acute symptoms. Dosing instructions are on the bottle.

1. Arnica - Often the remedy that transforms the skeptical into believers in homeopathy, nothing is quicker or more effective for physical trauma. Get both the pellets (internal use) and the gel/ointmnet (external use). For pain, trauma, bruising, sore muscles, sprains and strains, swelling, shock, overexertion, head injuries, etc. Take before and after events ranging from surgery to tough workouts. Do not use on open wounds - see calendula. Helps stop hemorrhaging from injury, and reabsorption of blood.

2. Aconitum napellus (Aconite) - Use for colds, fever, fear, and other sudden on-set ailments:
• Earache - painful, with a high fever
• Colds - sudden onset, runny nose that is watery, hot
• Fever - high fever, comes on suddenly, skin hot and dry
• Cough - sudden onset, dry, coupy cough
• Insomnia, when the child tosses and turns, kept awake by the fear of nightmares
• Use in first 24 hours of illness, not at the end
• Symptoms - watch for anxious look on the face, with perspiration Better from warmth & rest, worse from cold wind, weather

3. Calendula - One of the best remedies for skin. An antiseptic, use tincture, gel, spray, ointment, cream. Apply directly to wound, cut (not deep ones as it may heal top too quickly), burns, eczema, rash. Helps breakdown scar tissue, has some pain-reducing action, soothes canker sores, prevents pus, resists wound infection, soothes skin.

4. Chamomilla - Powerfully calming, it soothes restless, irritable children. For the child that must be held to be calmed. Use for:
• Colic - spasmodic pains that come and go, worse at night, warm
• Teething - irritable, may have diarrhea, red and tender gums, child refuses toys, food, drink. May or may not have fever.
• Earaches - sensitive to cold and noise, pain that makes child frantic
• Colds - watery, hot, runny nose that is also stuffed, difficulty sleeping
• Fever - alternates between feeling hot, cold
• Cough - dry, tickling, hoarseness, worse 9p.m. - midnight
• Look for anger, impatient, contrary, inconsolable, screaming and arching his back, hot feet, hypersensitive, sour smell to body functions

5. Nux vomica - for overindulgence. Helps the child that has prolonged mental stress, disappointment in not reaching goals, hyperactive, overanxious, impatient, competitive, overexcitable. For the child that thrives on rebellion. Use for:
• Upset tummy/indigestion - gastric reflux with cramping and stomach pains, hiccups, flatulence, constipation
• Headache and nausea, loathing for food
• Diarrhea - from over feeding, or when baby strains but only produces small amount of stool
• Runny nose during the day, stuffiness at night
• Look for concurrent headache, indigestion, emotional upset. Things need to be a certain way, and impatient to be well.

6. Pulsatilla - No other remedy is used more often for children. Match emotional indications first; if they fit, use even if physical symptoms don't fit. A common constitutional remedy, usually for girls, the keynote symptoms are emotional, sensitive, moody children who crave attention. Can be shy, weepy, clingy. Often has complaints after eating rich or fatty foods. Use for:
• Earache - worse at night, may have yellow-green discharge from ears, hearing muffled
• Colds - Nose sometimes stopped, sometimes runny with yellow - green mucous that doesn't irritate skin
• Conjunctivitis - yellow-green discharge from eye
• Fever - can feel child is chilled but she still wants open air, no thirst
• Cough - dry cough at night, loose during the day
• Upset stomach with bloating and gas, abdominal distention in children who are not thirsty. Better from standing and moving, worse resting, in the evenings.
• Look for changeable symptoms, moods
• Better from cold food, complaints improve outside/open air - worse from stuffy rooms, hot weather
• Note: sepia is the remedy to give the caregiver of a pulsatilla child when they feel overwhelmed.

Individuals often respond differently to disease, and in homeopathy this individual totality of symptoms is important in finding the right remedy. One thing that makes it easier to find the right remedy is to try a blend. There are several popular products that have several remedies in them, such as: teething tablets, cough syrups, calms forte, sniffles & sneezes, colic tablets, and many more. There are even homeopathic treatments for ADHD, Asperger's, as well as for developmental, learning, or speech disorders. It is a wonderful, inexpensive tool for parents who want to correct problems rather than treat symptoms, and offers a safe alternative to prescription drugs.

Note: There is no reason not to use the above remedies on adults with the same symptoms.

Sources for this article include:

Hayfield, Robin. The Family Homeopath: Safe, Natural, & Effective Health Care for You & Your Children, 32-38. Toronto, Canada. Alive Books: 1995.

Ullman, M.P.H., Dana. Homeopathic Medicine for Children and Infants, 133-175. New York, NY. Putnam Books:1992.


Learn more:http://www.naturalnews.com/036032_children_homeopathic_remedies_arnica.html#ixzz42YchYxOs

A recent observational study across 12 countries investigated the effectiveness of homeopathy in the treatment and prevention of childhood migraines.
The 168 children involved in the study were treated with individualised homeopathy according to their symptoms.
The frequency, intensity, and duration of their migraine attacks in the 3 months prior to the commencement of the study were compared with those during the 3-month follow-up period.
The collected data showed a significant decrease in the frequency, severity, and duration of migraine attacks during the 3-month follow-up period and, consequently, reduced absenteeism from school.
The most common preventive remedies were Ignatia amara, Lycopodium clavatum, Natrum muriaticum, Gelsemium, and Pulsatilla.
The most common treatment remedies were Belladonna, Ignatia amara, Iris versicolor, Kalium phosphoricum, and Gelsemium.
The study concluded by saying, “The results of this study demonstrate the interest of homeopathic medicines for the prevention and treatment of migraine attacks in children…”
More Information: Homeopathic treatment of migraine in children: results of a prospective, multicenter, observational study.

- See more at: http://homeopathyplus.com/childhood-migraines-improve-homeopathy/#sthash.8JB5DKDu.dpuf

Six Ways to Raise Emotional Intelligence

​TEAL SWAN
 


Much of our identity is shaped in childhood by key events and the emotions and perspectives we associate with them.
All Emotions CountEmotional intelligence, sometimes referred to as EQ, is often overlooked as a skill set in today’s world. The recent animated film Inside Out calls attention to effective ways of addressing a child’s journey by embracing and better understanding their emotions; particularly those that don’t feel positive.
A recent study by the London School of Economics Centre for Economic Performance found that a child’s emotional health is far more important in determining future happiness than factors such as academic success or wealth. Parents can help ensure a healthy emotional upbringing by avoiding making three mistakes.
Disapproval of a child’s emotions: This involves being critical of a child’s displays of negative emotion and reprimanding or punishing the child for expressing them.
Dismissing a child’s emotions: This comes across as regarding a child’s emotions as unimportant, either through ignoring their emotions, or worse, trivializing them.
Offering little relevant guidance: While parents may empathize, they don’t set limits on behavior or assist each child in understanding and coping with their emotions.
Recipe for a High EQParents can successfully form deeper connections with their kids by recognizing, respecting and acknowledging their emotional range, rather than telling kids they should feel a certain way. Telling someone how they should or shouldn’t feel only teaches them to distrust themselves and that there’s something wrong with them. As a communication aid, Inside Out may speak best to older children, because younger viewers may get the erroneous impression that emotions can control them, rather than that they can control their own emotional reactions.
The recipe for healthy bonding and emotional development is for all parties to model how they value the importance of each other’s feelings and respectfully listen for the feelings behind the words. In opening ourselves to being understood, we open ourselves to understanding others. Good parenting involves emotion. Good relationships involve emotion. The bottom line is that emotions matter.
We all struggle with negative emotions from time to time, and the way we address and deal with them influences our emotional health. The goal is to develop a trustworthy emotional connection with the other person that is important to us, which enhances intimacy and the effectiveness of the relationship in accomplishing good. Using this six-part process of helpful concrete steps applies equally to the children and adults in our lives.
• Become aware of the other person’s emotions.
• Care about the other person by seeing their emotions as valid and important.
• Listen empathetically to better understand the way they feel, allowing them to feel safe to be vulnerable without fear of judgment. Seek to understand, rather than to agree or redirect.
• Acknowledge and validate their feelings. We don’t need to validate that the thoughts they have about their emotions are correct; instead, simply let them know that it’s valid to feel the way that they do. For example, if a friend says, “I feel useless,” we could validate them by saying, “I can see how you might feel that way.”
• Allow the person to experience their emotions fully before moving toward any kind of improvement. We cannot impose our idea of when they should be ready or able to feel differently. This is when we practice unconditional presence and unconditional love. We are there as support, without trying to fix them or anything else. Don’t be offended if they don’t accept support that’s offered at this time. A benevolent power is inherent in offering love that exists regardless of what someone does or does not do with it.
• Help the other person to strategize ways to manage the reactions they might be having to their emotions after—and only after—their feelings have been validated, acknowledged and fully felt. This is when we can assert new ways of looking at a situation that may improve the way another person is feeling. This is when advice may be offered.
When done successfully, this process can transform a conflict encountered in a relationship into solid gold.

Teal Swan is the author of Shadows Before Dawn: Finding the Light of Self-Love Through Your Darkest Times, on how healing hidden wounds reveals our authentic selves (TealSwan.com). Inside Out will be released next month on DVD.