With a flurry of excitement around homeopathy this week - yup we even had it trending on twitter at one point, at least in the London area. There homeopathy was the 3rd most discussed topic. Not, in my personal opinion, for the right reasons to be honest.

The Mail (that paper that barely anyone I know actually reads), ran with a headline of 'Homeopathy CAN cure Ebola'. Since it was a newspaper and attempting to sensationalise the situation I'd say it succeeded. Homeopathy CAN deal with many things, has been historically very effective with dealing with various serious epidemics and I think we as homeopaths all see many uncurable cases get better. But until we've done it, got the clinical cases then it's theory.

That isn't my main point, but brings me to it. The response on twitter was a resounding 'The Mail is wrong' message. For a start, my feeling was The Mail was being sarcastic but maybe I'm misreading it all. The virtual shouting, the rage, the passion against us as homeopaths, well that was strong.

Working with tools such as twitter, but also living in real life where everyone has their own opinions and they're not always the same as mine (I know!! Who'd have thought it?!) is an interesting place to be. What I've realised though is it's so rare anyone really listens. It's like we're all shouting out our version and we can't hear anyone else's. I keep drawing this card from my lovely shiny new Fifth Agreement cards:

And think there's perhaps a message there. Even if we disagree, to listen and truly hear is to respect. It may not change your views at all, may simply enhance and strengthen them, I'm not thinking we need to change our minds about anything.

I invite you, for this day, to listen to others without judgement and to open your heart to hearing opinions that differ from your own without the need to fight. Byron Katie talks of how defence is the first act of war and I'm inclined to agree. That intake of breath, that tension, high alert feeling when you're poised to fight back - for today how about we drop that? You don't need to but even for a few moments, I invite you to experiment with letting that go.

With love and light,

Em xx

Yesterday I had another chat about the implausibility of homeopathy, and whilst similar interactions have frustrated, indeed sometimes offended me, today I'm left feeling amused by it all.

Not amused at the other people, not anything there, merely amused that I could have been upset by these others' opinions. I've seen too much, witnessed such change - there is no going back. It is what it is and whilst the model may be difficult to understand - and I'll agree it is, now 11 years in I'm getting there, getting a clearer understanding. I've seen too many babies improve, helped people by prescribing via their wife/husband at times if they were unable to talk at that point, watched animals recover from desperate situations and seen 'impossible' cures.

My pill? I'm going with the medicated sugar one please.

With love and gratitude to those who stretch my understanding, increase my compassion and challenge my self awareness. I couldn't do this without you too xx

It struck me most about this after a discussion with a friend recently. The details are irrelevant but on reflection I thought about what we as homeopaths do is so many times astounding. Yes, we don't always get it 'right' immediately, we don't always change paths and routes for people much as we may wish to. And I wish damn hard at times.

But why do we keep going? Not because of huge pay, easy working conditions or the glamour of it all. More because most of the time, so often, we can make a real difference. A difference to someone who's had all their adult life til now, at 60 years old, debilitating headaches; someone with IBS for the last 30 years, a child who has anxiety and stomach aches, or a case of eczema that nothing else has made an impact on.

It's ok being able to make a difference. And whilst I don't need outside recognition for what I do, I certainly think it's time we hold our heads up with pride and recognise it ourselves.

There's much out there about mindfulness at the moment. And rightfully so, it feels like an age old idea who's time has come. In this part of the world. So many places have already got it entrenched as a part of their spiritual practice but we're catching up. Thankfully, because in this crazy, fast paced, no time for anybody lifestyle I think something may need to change. To shift and adapt before something breaks.

Like any idea there are many facets to it and I practice a form of mindfulness called Focussed mindfulness. It works best on a one to one session and really is very effective in helping us confront old fears that keep us trapped, helping us open our hearts again to life, love and potential again.

Here though, I wanted to share a few ideas around how we can all incorporate more mindful moments into our day. I'm really bad at formal meditating. And I plan to challenge myself on that one and to sit with Isla and do one of my kids meditations each day. But these I find different, meditative in their own way and easy to incorporate into our lives. Here goes with a few ideas:

Keep a gratitude journal. Or write 3 things daily you're grateful for. Do a morning mind dump where you just write unconsciously for 10-15 minutes and get all the stuff that's going round n round out. Discover mindful breathing, body scan meditations, practice mindful eating. Say a prayer of thanks for your food and consider all the work that's gone into getting it to your plate. Take part in the #100happydays challenge on twitter, Facebook or just by yourself. Write a list of things you're good at. Write a list of things you'd like to be good at, pick one and master it. Go out in nature. Stand and hug a tree (this is one of my favourites and always has a gorgeously grounding effect on me). Run, even if only a short way. Stand on the top of a hill, arms outstretched and turn your face to the sun. Hug someone and don't let go for 30 seconds. Laugh. Watch the sun set. Watch the sun rise. Have a breakfast picnic. Be. Just be.

With so much love, Em xxx