When I first penned this I wasn't thinking about any other need to adapt than seasonal change. How our lives have changed! Having spent the Spring and Summer working remotely i can see advantages and disadvantages. Mostly, my patients like it. To not be able to offer consultations at all, or to only work with phones would be much harder, so I'm continuing in this remote mode - Zoom, FaceTime or Skype. Yes, there are disadvantages but I know I'm following protocols and ensuring your safety.
After a wonderfully productive Summer on my allotment, the trees are showing signs of Autumn. My French Beans are rallying from the recent rain, or should I say deluge, but the days draw in and our rhythm of the year tells us the beat is changing.
Following the strange experiences of lockdown we now have to muster flexibility and resourcefulness for the next phase. Not knowing what might happen is never easy. managing children or frail relatives with anxieties about life, the future, and, now Covid is going to be tricky. Anticipation is healthy and normal but when it becomes all consuming it is not helpful and drains energy and concentration. Late Summer ills are often addressed by Gelsemium, also our number one anxiety remedy. Think start of term, new class, joining a new group. For some a buzz of excitement is positively sensed but for others it can bring in anxious thoughts and too much uncertain ty. So, there's a little tip from me to you for the beginning of this new beginning. Stay well and happy!
Each season brings with it the need to adapt and customize our minds and bodies to the here and now. Summer brings us benefits- longer days and more sunlight and the bonus of the visual delight of so much green and blossom. But along with these bounties comes the need to adjust to these stimuli. When our immune system reads pollen as a threat we react. Just like a virus the pollen cause us discomfort not because it does but because we react to it. Some of us notice a big change with lots of symptoms and others get not a twinge. Why? Because we are all different.
Becoming used to the changes each season brings takes time and occasionally we become ‘stuck’. It’s as if we have a perpetual cold. And sometimes we just can’t work out what’s causing it. Very frustrating! And that’s the point – it’s an irritation we can't get rid of.
What to do? Preparing for seasonal ills take time – preferable a long time before the season bringing the problem. Ideally, we prepare for Hay Fever in the winter months when out immunity isn’t reacting to pollens from tree, grass and flower. And although it may have other preoccupations – winter chills, we can be sure it wont be thinking about summer.
Help during the sneezing season is at hand, and apart from us working together on this remember the golden allergy rules- shower hair and body to get rid of the dust and particles frequently, be observant about your particular aggravation and amelioration, i.e. are you better out or in? in rain or dry? And be present with how it makes you feel. These tiny differences make my job easier and gets relief to you quicker. Sometimes we just need a bit of help to adapt, but each summer it’s different too so keep on being a good observer!