John from ‘Wisdom to Nourish' writes that many people are experiencing broken sleep, strange or vivid dreams and possibly also feelings of anxiety or fear at this time.

Four legs or two, is there really a difference? Do our four legged companions have different nutritional needs? All beings rely on nutrition for their well-being, health and longevity.

Jean Franklin has worked extensively for many years in the cosmetic industry but eventually realised there was a need for chemical free products after hearing continuous complaints relating to skin allergies and skin sensitivity which are on the increase!

That was six years ago when she got to work with an experienced research and development team and developed HerbAfrique, a scientifically formulated herbal product skin care and treatment range which is totally home grown. She calls it 'Nature's 911' in health and herbs!!

Looking back at the Victorian era it's striking how beautifully smooth these ladies and gentlemen's skin were. Notice the glowing hair? Perhaps less toxins were present in the air and water at that time, but they definitely also had a recipe for success when it comes to skin and hair products.

The use of cosmetics has become a daily routine, so much so that often we apply beauty products without reading the labels. Even if we did have a peek at the ingredients in our products, most of us wouldn't know what they were. The list of ingredients is often a reminder of how complicated those chemistry lessons were. Even if we can pronounce the chemicals correctly, how many of you actually know what effect each of them has on the body?

If you'd like to try out some truly friendly and green goodies, today's your lucky day as we're giving away a couple of great hampers from reputable green suppliers.

Any dis-ease or disorder in the body is caused by internal or external stressors which come from many sources such as toxicity, trauma, pathogens, emotional factors (fear, anxiety, anger), pollution, poor nutrition, heredity factors, poor living conditions, lifestyle issues, lack of sleep, overwork, stress and environmental changes (temperature, altitude, damp, dryness, etc.) The symptoms that we see or feel are the body's efforts to heal itself.

The symptoms of stress are caused by the hormone adrenaline which prepares the body for the flight and fight reaction - a certain amount of which is beneficial and assists us in "winning the race". However, it may also bring on negative feelings, emotions and even physical symptoms which may include anxiety, apprehension or nervous dread, brain fog, weak memory, fear, anger or irritability, over-active mind, sweating, the urgent need to urinate, sleeplessness and even exhaustion.

I have chosen to expose myself, in the run of a normal working week, to facts and figures that move me deeply. Can anyone listen to our desperate biodiversity loss over the past 30 years and not go into mourning for the multiple God-created species never to be seen on the face of this earth again? Do we really understand how much we're personally losing out when we do that to our fellow creatures? That we are part of the same body, Mother Earth, that we are killing?

Nux Vom is often called the workaholic's or 21st century remedy, and is especially suited to someone with a 'Type A' personality. In homeopathy we name a patient by the remedy that most closely fits a person's picture of emotional and physical shortcomings, failings, weaknesses, limitations and infirmities. Therefore, when we talk about a 'Nux Vom' person, we are talking about a person who would most benefit from this remedy.

How deep do we need to go in greening our lives? As deep as it goes ' to the bone. Of course it matters what we feed one of our biggest organs, the skin. Who would like to knowlingly expose their lymph glands to a concoction of chemicals contained in 'regular,' often toxic, cosmetics and body products?

A headache is generally understood as a pain somewhere on the head, and most people turn to a 'one size-fits-all' medication for help, such as paracetamol, aspirin, codein or brufen, regardless of the nature of the headache.

Many people struggle with colds and flu during the winter months. This is unnecessary, if you know how to naturally boost your body's own defence mechanisms to keep you healthy and strong.

This is the first part of our new series on using homoepathy for everyday domestic aches and pains. Since raising 5 children on homeopathy and becoming a registered homeopath in England, Genie Rowson is on a mission to share this knowledge with everyone keen to find more gentle and powerful healing for their families. After bad experiences with children on and off antibiotics, both her and myself (Elma) searched for more natural and effective modalities that support the body to heal itself, and found it in homeopathy. Back to Genie.

'Being in powerful landscapes slows one down to take in the breathtaking scenery and the details of a wild flower. This renews our energy for life, with its unpredictable turns.' Every second Sunday Iain Macdonald sets off with a group of about 20 people on a 5-hour walk through the mountains around Cape Town. 'These are walks, not hikes,' he clarified, 'the intent is to let nature regenerate you. For that you have to slow down and be present.' Why are they called Awakening Intuition Walks? 'For me the word intuition is made up of 'in' and 'tuition,' literally meaning 'inner teacher.' My aim is to promote a connection with that inner source through being in nature. Nature offers the perfect ground for attunement within.' Iain started this service 5 years ago, combining a lifelong interest in intuition with love of the outdoors and an interest in meeting people.

what plant does canola oil come from, and is the oil healthy?
Canola derives from the rapeseed plant ' hence the controversy because rapeseed produces toxic oil with a high level of a dangerous fatty acid. The latter is an industrial oil and is poisonous to living things; apparently even insects won't eat it. As the original crop grown in Canada was too toxic for consumption, the rapeseed plant was hybridised to produce crops with lower acid levels and a better nutritional profile. The name 'canola' (Canadian oil, low acid) was created to reflect this; it is also more marketing-friendly. Today it is grown extensively in Canada and the USA and is largely genetically modified.

A reader asked why Sally-Ann recommended the use of fish oil rather than flax oil to supplement your body's omega resources. Here is her answer'

Children eating organic fruits and vegetables had concentration of esticide metabolites six times lower, than children eating conventaional produce, a University of Washington study found when they analyzed pesticide breakdown products (metabolites) in pre-school aged children. The study compared metabolite concentrations of organophosphorus (OP) pesticides (a class of insecticides that disrupt the nervous system) in the urine of 39 urban and suburban children aged 2 to 4 years. The researchers` findings point to a relatively simple way for parents to reduce their children`s chemical loads--serve organic produce.

There is an increased risk in certain cancers just from having 1 or 2 alcoholic drinks a week. This was found by Sue Nelson, a BBC Radio reporter, went behind the headlines to find out how alcohol really affects our health based on the Million Women Study. She found there was an increased risk in certain cancers just from having 1 or 2 alcoholic drinks a week. Age, gender and genetic makeup influence our risk, but nobody really knows their personal risk.

An old patient has been coming to see me with Multiple Sclerosis. She has been ill for more than 10 years, but we have managed to slow the process and it has been relatively stable for some time. During a routine MRI of her spine a mass was noted in her lungs and a diagnosis was made of lung cancer. Perhaps because she already had an incurable disease she felt immune to any other serious disease. Despite my plea to stop smoking, she never did. In my story the susceptibility to becoming a smoking addict is a gift of God, but the lesson and gift is only available after the addiction kicks in and one finds the willpower to give up the smoking. It is in giving up that the gifts are recognized. Like all things in life, our real lessons learnt are when the conditions are most difficult. Giving up smoking is one of the most serious addictions and lessons on our journey. It is a serious problem on many levels.

An old patient has been coming to see me with Multiple Sclerosis. She has been ill for more than 10 years, but we have managed to slow the process and it has been relatively stable for some time. During a routine MRI of her spine a mass was noted in her lungs and a diagnosis was made of lung cancer. Perhaps because she already had an incurable disease she felt immune to any other serious disease. Despite my plea to stop smoking, she never did. In my story the susceptibility to becoming a smoking addict is a gift of God, but the lesson and gift is only available after the addiction kicks in and one finds the willpower to give up the smoking. It is in giving up that the gifts are recognized. Like all things in life, our real lessons learnt are when the conditions are most difficult. Giving up smoking is one of the most serious addictions and lessons on our journey. It is a serious problem on many levels.

Sitting in the sun, one can sometimes feel it's warm fingers caressing even your bones. I believe this is what it feels like to experience the production of Vitamin D. Laser therapy may contribute to the production of vitamin D in a similar way, strengthening the body right into the bones.

The hype around swine flu seems to have been a false alarm. It is likely that other very powerful forces have been involved, driven more by the desire to sell products than by concern for public safety.

The swine flu vaccine won't be available for months, and it is still not clear whether the companies involved with making the vaccine will change direction. At the moment they are preparing to make the usual infl uenza vaccine based on what is going around currently. Making swine flu vaccines was not on the programme and because of the large number of vaccines required companies must decide whether to produce the swine flu vaccine or the normal influenza vaccine.

This year's flu epidemic is spreading. There is not much difference between this one and any other which has occurred over the last 20 or 30 years. In general influenza spreads rapidly around the world as a pandemic. It is its nature and so far nothing special has happened with this one. A pandemic is simply a new infectious disease spreading throughout the world. The fear is that this could be a similar pandemic to the Spanish 'flu of 1918, which killed an estimated 20 million people worldwide.