Health and Wellbeing

Heidi Beck from Thrive Homeopathy discusses the importance of addressing both physical and emotional issues in health and well-being. She emphasizes that symptoms can often be chronic and long-standing, and traditional medication may only manage or suppress symptoms rather than promote true healing. By taking a thorough history and considering the mental and emotional aspects of a person's health, homeopathy can provide a holistic approach to treatment. Heidi provides examples of how homeopathic remedies have helped individuals with issues such as worry, inability to say no, and grief. These remedies not only address physical complaints but also provide a newfound sense of confidence and relief. This program was produced by and first broadcast on Radio Kidnappers, a volunteer-based community access station. For more information go to www.radiokidnappers.org.nz. Thanks to New Zealand On Air for making this program available through funding the Access Internet Radio Project. Well, good morning everybody. This is Heidi Beck from Thrive Homeopathy. I'm back in the studio here with Ken Morrison, our producer. Hello, Ken. Hello, Heidi. How are you? Are you looking well? I am. Thank you. I had a great weekend at Art Deco. I hear you were out. I was out and about and you were out and about as well. Absolutely. What a fabulous weekend for everyone. It was and I think we just have to have some fun in between, don't we? You're right. We do. It's all about having fun, Heidi. Yeah, and now it's back to work right in the middle of the week. What are we talking about this week? Well, today I thought I would just sort of share some of my personal thoughts on health and well-being and obviously they will be intertwined with homeopathy. Yes, indeed. As always. Well, I just wanted to say that often people come to my clinic with only, and I say that in all parenthesis, some physical complaints. But, yeah, these can be the acute pain, the inflammation, the infection, you know, the cough, anything that's just happened, the rash. But more often these symptoms have been longstanding and are pretty chronic. They've been medicated for years. There still has not been a recovery, maybe just a managing or suppressing of symptoms, but definitely not a returning back to health. So that's why they come. And then during the initial very thorough consultation of 90 minutes, we take the whole history. So it's that medical, the personal, the family history. And whilst doing that, the client and the homeopath discover that there are often deeper seated issues. So what you might be saying is it might be psychosomatic? Yes, and I do believe that our thoughts and our beliefs, they are very beneficial in healing, but they can often be detrimental to our health. Sure. So how do we get our head around that? Well, we basically just dig a bit deeper. And then according to that mental-emotional picture, we also match the remedy that will have physical symptoms as well. So it's that whole picture. Are your clients sometimes surprised when they get on that journey back into their past about what's really causing their illness? Absolutely, yes. Some are pretty surprised. Some are even shocked because it's like a revelation to themselves while it's going on this journey. We normally, when we have health issues, we go to a GP and then we're referred on to the specialist. So we look at the skin separately. We look at the heart, the cardiovascular system separately. We look at our bones and joints separately, but it's all connected. And so our emotions, our thoughts, our whole being, it's not just that one picture. So when you come to the homeopath, it really is about everything and not just the skin. You might come with the skin or the diarrhea, and we just discover that there's so much more. And then we treat the person, not the disease. And I think that is a very significant difference in the way we deal and look at health and illness and wellness. Maybe half the battle is that 90-minute talk that you have with them because I'm going to my own doctor. To be honest, sometimes you're lucky to get five minutes. Yes, that is the huge difference. And I have had people say to me, Wow, I haven't put all these pieces of my life together in one whole story. And now I see that there is a certain pattern. There's a repetition maybe of illness or of how I feel about things or the type of pain that I have. So yes, it really is a revelation for some people. So once you get the revelation, where do we go from there? Well, then that's my job. That's when you come and pull the shots. Yes, I always look at it like collecting puzzle pieces. All the information, all the symptoms, all the little stories, the descriptions, that is all a little puzzle piece. And then I have to collate this and put it together so that it makes sense. And it has to make sense in the form of the prescribed medicine that I will select. And if everything fits together, then I give the remedy and then things shift. Maybe I'll give you an example. Go for it. That might be really good. A real life story. Oh, I've got so many. Let me think of one. Okay, well, for example, my daughter has now just left for overseas. And she was worrying. Worrying, what if I don't like it? What if they don't like me? What if I don't understand anything? What if I don't find new friends? What if I get sick? What if, what if? And it was to the point that she started to have tummy aches. She wasn't sleeping and she was very nervous. So, obviously, we had a chat. And my piece of advice to her, as it is to my listeners, is worrying is a choice. One that I would avoid if I were you. So, obviously, she had a chuckle, thought about it and said, well, actually, you're right. Let's cross the bridge when we get to it. If I can't find friends, well, then I'll deal with it. If I don't like the family, I'll deal with it when I'm there. But even with that knowledge that she should think positive thoughts, it was still a challenge and she couldn't sleep. That's a good point that you raise because I guess living with you for the amount of years that she has, the message will be permeating down from you to her. And you think, wow, mum's right. Why would I worry about it? Exactly. So, I mean, why would someone in that position who's got access to you 24-7 almost, why would they still feel that way, do you think? Well, I think because sometimes life just throws us a curveball and gets a bit too much. And besides, they're teenagers. Who likes to listen to mum and dad? It's no different in our house. I'll be honest. My daughter is better than our son, so she does listen to me. And I actually gave her a remedy. And from that point on, she was sleeping well and the tummy ache was gone. And in my clinical observation, there are a few very similar scenarios. One is that people worry a lot. The other one is that they can't say no. And that is a huge issue. And that does cause physical complaints. Just this week, I had a lady come to me. For years and years, she's been very pleasing, very kind, definitely will say yes before she says no. And if she does say no, then she would always doubt. Oh, my God, was that rude? Should I have done that? Or worry that might lead to some kind of disagreement. So in our consultation, she came because of tightness in her abdomen and tightness in her belly and a twisted, tight sensation in her neck and back. So the story went all the way back to 20 years ago when she was pregnant. And the doctors did some emergency treatment on her. And she just felt very, well, without a voice and just had to say yes. And she felt very indignant about the whole procedure and what was done and never was able to actually voice this anger and disappointment, grief. And from that point on, more and more, she just nodded and said yes. So based on that story and on those symptoms of tightness and the pain and constipation, I gave her a homeopathic remedy. And she just came back for the follow-up and said, Wow, this is wonderful. My pain is gone. My bowels are moving. I feel loose. But the most amazing thing, the Christmas period was not a dread. I actually stood up to my mother-in-law. I just said no. And there wasn't a conflict because I was just very clear that no. And obviously, everyone accepted it. She confronted a bossy neighbor and said, Hey, this is enough. You don't need the key to our garage anymore. And we're putting up a trellis for privacy. And he wasn't happy, but she felt happy even after the small confrontation. And she said, This is just amazing. So from now on, she will continue to say no. And she was very happy with that. That is a great story. And I just wonder, out of your nearly 4,000 homeopathic remedies, after listening to that lady for 90 minutes, what made you decide to go to the show from pull-off number 2015? Yes. Do you recall in one of our shows, I described that we have different remedy kingdoms. So we have the minerals. We have the plants. And we have the animals. So each person in their ill or diseased state will have a different expression of vitality, the words that are used. And so this lady was very soft, very gentle, very reactive to her environment, both to the weather and the temperature changes, as well as to people. So that made me obviously think more of a plant remedy as opposed to a mineral. That might be someone who is very structured, very organized and very clear and comes with a list. So that will help you narrow down where to look for the right remedy. So not only did the remedy cure her physical complaints, but it gave her a newfound sense of confidence as well. Yes. That's unbelievable, isn't it? It is. And that's pretty amazing. And that's what I believe, that we do have to just look at the way we think and feel and reflect a little bit on that because obviously that could be holding you back. Another lady, there's a lot of grief way back from the war and all the things that have happened since. And I tried several remedies, I think three or four, and it's for chronic insomnia. We haven't gotten anywhere. So at one point I said, it's not about sleep. There's a huge block. You're just blocking off everything. So I'm going to give you a remedy to relieve the blockage and then we'll treat the grief. Prior to that I was just addressing the grief, but I couldn't get through. So yesterday she actually called and said, you're not going to believe this. I had two nights of a beautiful sleep and I did not take any medication. Wow, that's amazing, isn't it? So in a few days she'll be taking the remedy for the grief, but already she's feeling better. So that's another one that we do have to deal with our past. We can't just push it aside and ignore it. I'm not saying like in psychotherapy where you really dig deep and bring it to the forefront. That can be pretty heavy and brutal, but it's more about just voicing what's going on deep, deep inside and then the right remedy does the rest. So I won't be telling you what to change in your thoughts or in your doing. I didn't tell the lady to go and say no to her mother-in-law. It just happened naturally. It might be fair to say if we went to our doctor with the complaints that your daughter described and the lady who had the lack of confidence and the lady who's suffering from grief, it would be fair to say that a GP might prescribe antidepressants? Well, actually all these people were on antidepressants which haven't helped. They were on laxatives. They were on sleeping pills. Some also on blood pressure medication. So yeah, it's just manage it, but definitely not fix it. And of course with homeopathic remedies, we don't get a side effect, do we? No, you don't. No. The only thing that you can get is a slight aggravation. There might, especially in skin symptoms, it can be a flare-up, but the skin, we mustn't forget, is an elimination organ. So that flare-up might actually be detoxing. I have another client right now. Well, she has been drinking, what did she say? I think it was two and a half liters of Coca-Cola a day. And she has, since pregnancy, huge skin symptoms. Really, really bad. And the doctors have been trying to manage that for one year. And they're now at the point that they want to give an IV of antibiotics on a weekly basis, but it's so powerful and the steroids that they want to give that she has to be monitored, her liver and her heart. But this young woman is only 21. So I've given her the suggestion to cut out the Coke. I've prepared her that she probably will have some detox symptoms and headaches, which she has. It's four days in. But along with the remedy, she stopped all the medication that she was taking. And yeah, she says her skin is clearing. And she feels really good. A bit irritable and a bit nervous because of the detox. But I think that will lift in a few days. I guess also along the way, as part of your practice, you're dishing out a good dose of common sense in a way, aren't you? Yes, often. Often that goes with it. That's the free comment at the end. Yes. Just the common sense of life experience and observations from clinic. And tell us, if we want to come and see you for your treatment, where are you? Well, my clinic is in Napier on Hospital Hill. Number one, Lambton Road. And it's really easy to find. It's off Milton Road, up Milton Terrace. Parking right in front. And a beautiful clinic with a very different kind of setting. So it's not the typical, when you go to your doctor and you've got the big table and the two chairs opposite. It's more of a comfortable environment. More relaxing. Cup of coffee, scone. Well, we don't go that far. Got to do all the water. Beanbag and toys for the kids. And a beautiful view. Indeed. What more could you want? Yes. Today we're talking about health and well-being. And you want to talk about adrenals and sleep. I mean, how much sleep do we need? I normally get about six hours a night. Is that enough for an old man like me? Well, if you feel fit and you're able to do everything that you want to do, absolutely. And I think it is a myth that we think there's a certain number of hours that is one size fits all. It's not like that. We go through different stages in our lives. Obviously, babies need a lot more sleep. Younger children, obviously. To the detriment of parents, they seem to need less sleep. Teenagers, they need heaps of sleep. They can sleep 12 to 13 hours in one go. They can party again for a few nights. But then they need to catch up. And we can manage anywhere between five to eight hours. And when we get older, it becomes less again. I was watching Donald Trump on the old telly the other night. He was saying he's averaging three or four hours. Is that enough? If it's right for him, I suppose it's enough. Well, is anything okay with Donald Trump? Next president of the United States. I hope not. But no one heard that. Yeah. Let's go back to sleep and how homeopathy can help or some of my tips that I do give my clients. First of all, getting into some routines is a good idea. Definitely keeping all your electromagnetic fields away from your head. The amount of people that sleep while charging their mobile phone next to their heads, just because you can't see it, smell it, or feel it, these are electromagnetic fields. And, yeah, they do influence our brains and they can influence your sleep. What about talk radios and the like? Well, I don't have anything electrical next to my bed. You don't have a big TV in the bedroom or anything like that? No, no, absolutely. The bedroom is to relax and to rest, but not to watch TV, no. Another thing, the room should be very dark, and that's for our melatonin to produce so that we can sleep. So that bedroom light is not a healthy thing. Fresh air is also important. So if we have been in the habit of listening to a talkback all night or leaving the radio on in the background just to keep us company during the night, if we got rid of that, would we see a marked difference in how we sleep? You should, yes, absolutely. The other thing is eight cups of coffee a day is not a good look. That's not going to help you sleep, and I have had several people say, I can't sleep and I'm nervous and I have that much coffee, and I have headaches. Well, let's cut down that coffee to one a day, increase your water intake, and almost half the job is done, they're already sleeping better. Wow, I'm going to have to cut down just eight a day, you reckon? Yes, some do, yes. One to two, absolutely fine. But if you are having trouble sleeping, I recommend some rescue remedies that you can take internally or you can actually put a few drops around your belly button and rub it in clockwise and put your hands down around your belly button and breathe in deeply so that your hands go up and your hands go down. So it's in a rhythm of maybe count to five. With those deep breaths, you're relaxing and you will realize that we, especially when we're stressed and anxious and worried and too much on, that we do shallow breathing. And most people breathe shallowly is their word all the time, don't they? Yes, absolutely. So how do we get into that habit of, I mean it's like chewing your food 40 times, I suppose you've just got to get into that habit. Yes, I think for a while you have to think about it and why not when you're sitting at your desk and you have a break, just put your hands down and feel, are they going up? Are they going down? Are they moving? And if so, then you're breathing deeply. If not, you're just breathing up in your chest and that, well, it won't help the adrenals relax. And adrenals nowadays is a huge issue for stress. In the former days, like back in the hunting. Back in the good old days. Back in the way, way back days, the adrenals would send the hormone adrenaline to your limbs so that you could fight or you can flee, whatever was the case. But afterwards, you would relax. Today, we have lots of stressors. We have time pressure. We have that stupid little phone sending messages constantly. We have appointments one after the other. We just don't seem to relax as much and we need that. So if you don't, that will affect your sleep and your health. You mentioned before we came to where that we need to take time out to smell the roses, so to speak. Yes, I know that sounds a little bit la-di-da, but I think we do just sometimes have to concentrate on what we see, on what we feel, on what we experience, as opposed to just taking everything for granted and jumping ahead. There's another example of a remedy that helped me. I used to be very, well, I guess I'm still driven and determined and keen to get ahead and do things, but I used to stress myself out whilst doing one thing. I was already planning and organizing the next and the next and the next. You were multitasking though, weren't you? Yes, that's all right if it has to be for a short while, but if that's how you function all the time, that's not healthy. So I once got a homeopathic remedy prescribed from my homeopath and it was amazing. I just felt the serenity of being able to enjoy the cup of tea for the five-minute break, take in the environment and then concentrate on the next task. So it's wonderful if you can do that. Great idea. That's an interesting thing that you mentioned. I would have thought that as a homeopath, you would just self-diagnose and self-treat. Don't you do that? You've got your own. I do. We all do. Naughty, we shouldn't, but we all do. It works beautifully for all the acute little illnesses, the scrapes, the sprained ankle, just that obvious kind of injury. But we also have deeper issues and they wouldn't be there if we could step back and reflect. But sometimes you need help because you're so involved with what's going on that you can't see the bigger picture. So that is when we go to a colleague who will then look at the picture, give us the remedy and then we can move forward again. Just about out of time, Heidi. Just to remind our listeners one more time before we get to a thought for the week, where can we find you if we need to come and see you? Well, you can either go to my website, which is www.thrivehomeopathy.co.nz and you will see a map and you can make your own booking via the internet or you can contact me on 021-335-233. And yeah, it's in Napier, so on 1 Lampton Road. If you miss those numbers, just give us a call here at the station on 878-710 and we will put you in touch with Heidi. And now your thought for the week, Heidi. Well, I would just like to wish our listeners a good week and be kind to yourself. This program was produced by and first broadcast on Radio Kidnappers, a volunteer-based community access station. For more information go to www.radiokidnappers.org.nz Thanks to New Zealand On Air for making this program available through funding the Access Internet Radio Project.