-WB Yeats

A good time of year to spend some time every day with yourself, to focus attention on the areas of you life that need some change. Looking at who you are, who you want to be, the kind of life you want to lead…

‘Why is it that so many of us persist in thinking that autumn is a sad season? asked Samuel Coleridge (1772-1834), who could not understand why his contemporaries found autumn so dreary. ’Nature has merely fallen asleep, and her dreams must be beautiful if we are to judge by her countenance’.

Going Boldly Forwards...

hedge feasts

September…back to school, shortening days turning to gold. My fingers are stained purple making elderberry syrups and tinctures to ward off colds and flu during winter. Golden days walking at the lake, waiting and watching the hawthorn berries to ripen, stopping to feast on blackberries, enjoying the shift of seasons as the days grow shorter and the nights grow longer. The swallows are congregating on the telephone wires, enjoying their last days here before leaving for Africa – ‘they’ve got the urge for going, and they’ve got the wings to go’. Autumn is my favourite time of year – this ‘season of mists and mellow fruitfulness..’

out the kitchen window

(not to mention apple crumbles and pumpkin pie!), the trees wearing their finest before the leaves dance down on the breeze, oncoming Halloween, the end of the Celtic year, Samhain, the start of the new year, and a chance to begin again…September, a time of learning and loving life.

Herbal Medicine by PD LYONS

What if there among their jars and vials

Those poisons that heal came out to play?

Reminisce of summer days,

lazy cats tucked behind old railroad ties

not bothering to move

Even for those well round robins

Tickling roots in search for tender nourishment.

What if among tinctures, oils and dry leaves

it was their nature for telling stories?

Like that time it snowed in April

what sensations to be brand new

tender to an icy touch

all glitter in the afternoon sun.

and oh those Saint John nights

so black, so clear

Stars pushing slowly, the world noticeably turns

refreshed from manic summer selves

our magic then to dance

sitting at home on the rainiest last day of August, remembering harvesting st jon’s wort with blood red fingers from the oil…jars sitting on my windowsill now getting redder and redder…looking forward to using the magical oils and looking back to summer in the garden

Women’s Health Classes with Michelle Lyons

Women are different – we have different bodies, different hormones and different mindsets. Gender based medicine is a relatively new field – until recently most medical research was done on men and the dosage adjusted for women. But women exhibit different signs and symptoms for many states of dis-ease and illness – for men, the classic signs of a heart attack are chest pain, occasionally radiating to the left arm and sometimes accompanied by shortness of breath. For women, the signs and symptoms may include (amongst others) nausea, indigestion, back pain, insomnia and anxiety. Because these symptoms are commonly written off as ‘stress’ or ‘depression’, for many women their heart attacks may go unnoticed and untreated, until  one day, they have a fatal ‘cardiac event’ and the previous episodes are discovered.

Women’s Health Workshops give women the knowledge and confidence to take charge of their health. We will discuss the most common health issues facing today’s women, the signs and symptoms to look out for, the ‘right’ questions to ask our health care providers, what we can do to prevent, halt and reverse the ill-effects and the lifestyle habits we need to embrace to enjoy life to the full. Women have traditionally been the healers in society, both within the home and in the healthcare professions.

Isn’t it time you learned how to take care of yourself?

Workshops Available:

High heels, handbags and hormones – Women and Back Pain:

Women have a differently shaped spine and pelvis to accommodate pregnancy and delivery, whether or not we actually have children. Our hormones influence our joints, muscles and bones. We wear high heels and tight clothes, and carry heavy handbags. If we have had children, our abdominal and pelvic floor muscles, which are designed to support and stabilise our spine and pelvis may become weak, which may lead to postural problems. We are more prone to osteoporosis.

Find out how to protect your spine! What is good posture? The right type of yoga and pilates for spinal health. How can you strengthen your spinal muscles quickly and effectively? Foods to eat, foods to avoid. Supplements and herbs – what really works? Stress management and relaxation techniques.

Managing the Menopause – Naturally:

This workshop focuses on some of the main health issues facing the pre, peri or post-menopausal woman, who wishes to avoid or complement hormone therapy:

Listen to your heart – what every woman needs to know about heart disease, the no. 1 killer of women.

Feeling it in your bones – learn how to prevent, halt and reverse the effects of osteoporosis and osteoarthritis

Developing a cancer resistant lifestyle – promoting immune health and increasing energy and vitality

What every woman needs to eat. Developing effective stress management strategies; balancing your hormones, balancing your life. Managing the ‘symptoms’ of menopause – is it a hot flush or a power surge?!

Yoga and Chocolate: Developing a mindful life:

Two of life’s greatest pleasures in one workshop! Why women NEED chocolate. The history and health properties of chocolate, developing mindful eating habits, tuning in to what your body really wants to say, becoming conscious of your stress patterns and developing tools to manage them. Introduction to mindful meditation, and best of all, chocolate tastings!

Celtic Spirituality, Celtic Healing:

The Celts were a flourishing and dynamic race, who made their way from Northern India to spread throughout Europe. Healthy living was a duty for the Celts; their druids not only had a mystical role but were also charged with the physical, mental and spiritual health of the people. Their lives were structured around a series of festivals and ceremonials throughout the year. They practiced plant medicine, sacred movement and meditation, and lived with a veneration and respect for their environment. During this class, we will re-discover the roots of traditional healing, mythologies and doctrine of signatures, explore the time-honoured medicine used by the Celts – for mind, body and spirit, impossible to differentiate when we talk about whole health.

Week 1: Our relationship with food – if we are what we eat, what are you? Letting your food be your medicine – cooking with superfoods. Hormones, food and you – are you fat around the middle? Conscious eating: making the right choices. Mindful eating: enjoying what you eat. Benefits of vegetarianism. Keeping your digestive system happy and healthy.

Week 2: Tone your bones! Osteoporosis – what every woman needs to know about preventing,halting and reversing the effects.The role of food and exercise.  What is ‘arthritis’ – how to protect your joints. Developing an anti-inflammatory lifestyle. Making the right exercise choices for women

Week 3: Breast Health. Developing a breast cancer prevention lifestyle. Knowing your breasts: recognising change, knowing what to look for. What puts you at risk? What are the roles of food, exercise, stress?Getting a regular check up. Ovarian ca signs and symptoms. Trusting your instincts.

Week 4: Heart health and stroke prevention for women. Knowing your numbers. Risk factors. Signs and symptoms of heart disease and stroke in women. How to prevent, halt and reverse heart disease. Keeping your blood pressure where it’s supposed to be!

Week 5: Taking care of your spine from your TMJ to your tailbone. How women’s spines are different. The role of hormones. Headaches, tension and stress. What is good posture? Bladder and pelvic floor. First Aid for back pain.

Week 6: Stress Rx. What is stress? Stressors and your response. Are you stressed? What can you do about it? Time management, Making lists, Saying No. Breathing, body scan, PMR, guided relaxation, mindfulness. Aromatherapy and massage. Making self care a priority.

CLASS NUMBERS LIMITED – PRE BOOKING IS ESSENTIAL!

FOR INFO/BOOKING CONTACT MICHELLE LYONS

tel: 087 2361224 or email: michellelyons@ireland.com

From ancient times, the druidic healers were famous for their skill in the treatment of disease, and the teachers of the healing arts were held high in the rankings of the Druid orders. They were allowed a distinguished place at the royal table and were entitled to wear special robes. They were usually attended by a large staff of pupils who assisted the master healer in diagnosis and preparation of medicines.

Although their skill and proficiency at healing was primarily due to their deep nature of the healing properties of herbs, they were also practitioners of magic to great effect – knowing well the effects that charms, incantations and fairy cures have on the minds of the patient. Consequently, their treatment of disease was of a medico-religious character, in which various magic ceremonials helped the curative process.

The wild plants of Ireland have been intertwined with our culture and folklore since the earliest times. It is only natural that a largely rural society should be familiar with its native flora, and a wealth of stories should evolve around them. In herbal medicine, it was believed by the ancients that there were 365 parts of the body and a different plant existed to help each one. From earliest times, most farms had a ‘lubgort’ or enclosed herb and vegetable garden. Herb gardens later became associated with the monasteries, notably St Brigid of Kildare (see below). The produce of these gardens were grown to promote healing; as well as medicinal herbs, nourishing vegetables such as onions an celery were often mentioned in the early texts

Evidence suggests that only 5-10% of all cancers are due to inherited genes.

39% of the most common cancers, including breast and bowel, could be prevented by eating well, exercising and keeping weight under control (this is without factoring in smoking/ not smoking)

Irish Cancer Society: modifying lifestyle choices could prevent more than 30% of all cancers.At least one in three cancer cases in Ireland could be prevented and the number of deaths caused by cancer could be reduced greatly by changing your lifestyle.

Pay attention to: What you eat, what you drink, how you live, how you exercise.

The single most important thing is to stop smoking.

Be sunsmart – get enough but not too much! Don’t get burned!

Supplement with 1000iu of Vitamin D3 daily to decrease the risk of breast, ovary, prostate and colon cancer

Eat to beat cancer:

fibre: high fibre diet can reduce risk of cancer, especially colon, but also breast and ovarian, possibly by lowering oestrogen levels

olive oil :oleic acid may cut levels of HER2, a protein found in 20% of breast cancer cases, which enables the cells to divide and grow

fermented soy: associated with lower rates of cancer and less dense breast tissue

vegetables: cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kale) have been shown to be protective

Avoid saturated fats: saturated fat in the diet is directly linked to both breast cancer and cardiovascular disease (which kills one in every two women)

Lose weight to cut your risk of cancer: if you gain weight between the ages of 30 and 50, your risk of developing breast cancer after menopause increases. Just losing 5% of your body weight (8 or 9 lbs) can decrease your risk of breast cancer by up to 40%

Tree Medicine, Tree Magic

The Celts used the great forests as a source

of meat from hunting, of berries, fruit and

vegetables, as shelter and as their Materia

Medica. That the creators of the first Irish

alphabet ‘Ogham’ named its letters after

trees is a testament to the great regard with

which trees were held

Birch: the leaves make a tea which relieves

rheumatism and breaks down bladder stones.

It is still believed that bad luck follows the

felling of a birch

Oak: ships were made with ‘hearts of oak’

and oaks are regarded as highly sacred.

Associated with strength and nobility.

Women hugged oak trees to ease labour.

Druids were known as ‘Oak Knowers’

Rowan: wood used for everyday hand

tools. Alternative name is ‘quicken’.

Branches used for protection against

evil spirits, berries used to smear the

lintel, protect farm animals.

Hawthorn: Even today, farmers will not

take out a lone hawthorn from the middle

of a field. Hawthorn blossoms were

believed to cause death if brought into

the house. Hawthorn is closely associated

 with holy wells, usually known for their

healing properties

High heels, hormones & handbags:

Women& Back Pain

Michelle Lyons @ IHS 2009

Women are different! (Not defective!)

Why?

We have : Different Hormones,

Physical structure of bones and

muscles,

Psychology, Societal role

‘Busy Woman Syndrome’

(Brent Bost, MD):

Incr weight gain, incr aches and pains,

incr depression, decr libido

No. 1 cause disability in women

= depression

Often initially present with diffuse

aches and pains.

Back pain 2^nd most common reason

for a visit to the doctor

(colds/flu = most common)

What your back hates:

dehydration inactivity, esp. prolonged

sitting repeated small bad habits

bad posture bending & twisting

weak core/pelvic floor heavy lifting

holding your breath when moving

High Heels: ¼ of the bones in your

body are in your feethigh heels –

increase osteoarthritis in knees,

cause altered gaitpattern, pelvic

floor dysfunction and low back pain.

decr circulation blood and qi.

need heel cup/strap in shoes but

barefoot is best!

Handbags: (and thin bra straps)

alter posture,

create trigger points in neck

and shoulder muscles

may be responsible for

migraine type headaches

Posture – often a reflection of

self image, self esteem.

self conscious about large

breast size

effects of poor posture on

breathing, energy, circulation,

digestion etc

What is good posture?

static and dynamic

finding it

Knowing the curves of

your spine; where and how

Breathing: deep breathing –

anti stress, energy production,

tones pelvic floor

Hormones: effects on joint laxity,

muscle & ligament integrity, pain

perception, mood, digestion etc

Anti –inflammatory foods:

water not fizzy drinks/ soda

oats, onions, garlic,

dark green leafy veg.

cider vinegar and honey,

omega 3’s: nuts and seeds

esp. flaxseed, oily fish

bay, turmeric, ginger,

cinnamon

Herbs:

Black Cohosh –

old name ‘Rheumatism Root’

not just for menopause!

Nettle –

also good menopausal ally

St Johns wort –

esp. if nerve pain

(I use internally &

externally)

SAMe; esp. if pain accompanied

by depression

Externally:

arnica for initial trauma,

rue for bruising

Healing power of touch – connection

gingerEO & juniperEO

in a massage oil blend,

lavenderEO & rosemaryEO

in a massage oil blend

lavender EO and peppermint EO,

in a massage blend

grated root of ginger in a compress

Epsom salts in bath

Final thoughts:

Lifestyle vs. Medicating

(whether herbs or pharmaceutical)

Proactive or Reactive

Taking control or giving it away

to someone else

‘Never grow a wishbone, daughter,

where your backbone

should be’

- Clementine Paddleford