KATY BRADSHAW ACUPUNCTUREAll in the same boat….
Posted on July 9, 2020
I don’t like saying that ‘we’re all in the same boat’ when it comes to the corona epidemic.
We’re really not. We’re not in the same boat. We’re in the same storm. With different boats. Some of which are much more seaworthy than others.
We’ve very quickly learnt that this virus is far more damaging to those of us who are already fighting inequality due to wealth, race, gender, age or poor health.
And whilst yes life has been tricky for us all, it’s just a tad trickier when you’ve been directly or indirectly affected by the illness itself. Let’s just acknowledge that one.
But at the same time, it’s also important to acknowledge that you have had to face your own challenges during this time.
If you live alone you’ve felt lonely. If you live with family, you’re desperate to be on your own. If you’re working, you’re struggling with childcare. If you’re not working, you’re worrying about money and desperate for something to occupy your brain. If you’ve got kids, you’re worrying about their mental health. If you don’t have kids and want them, you’re worried time is running out to do something about it.
Whatever you’ve got going on corona has magnified it. Tenfold.
So remember, it’s totally ok, as ever, to be simultaneously grateful for what you have, whilst also acknowledging any difficulties you are also having. Both things can be true. Both things can be spoken of.
There is always someone who is worse off than you. But that doesn’t mean your experience isn’t real and valid.
So, I am taking today to savour my five minutes of peace, thankful for this moment of breathing space from my noisy and demanding children. It has been an intense three months of being mother/teacher/playmate.
But I am also SO grateful to know that they’ll be back soon to fill the house with noise, squabbles, laughter, cuddles and ENDLESS requests for snacks.
Return to HOME page.
Soya vs dairy vs…?
Posted on December 6, 2019
The big question for many people today is how does soya vs dairy compare? I started experimenting with a plant-based diet recently and have been largely flying through the changes with a smile on my face.
Our family has been cutting down on meat over the last couple of years but remained big dairy consumers thanks to endless bowls of cereal and the favourite dinner (uniquely enjoyed by all members) of macaroni cheese.
A Game Changer
Then, like many others, we watched ‘The Game Changers’ on Netflix and both my husband and I were wowed and intrigued by the results experienced by many elite athletes who have moved to plant-based eating. The health and fitness factors coupled with the enormous environmental benefits inspired us to make the change
Read MoreTaoism and the art of Hibernation
Posted on January 23, 2019
Baby its cold outside. No I mean it’s REALLY cold outside.
OK so it’s not as cold as Canada.
Or Russia.
But its mid-January and we are in the full depths of the Great British winter. Dark at 4pm. Scraping ice off the car before work. Siberian winds coming in from the Continent. A DUSTING OF SNOW in some parts of the North.
When you take a look around at nature you can see what’s happening at this time of year. The trees have lost their leaves, the ground is hard and frozen, the animals are hibernating. Everything is still, conserving energy for the coming spring.
Everything that is, except us.
Read MoreSleep like a baby
Posted on November 9, 2018
According to recent research over two thirds of adults are getting less than the recommended eight hours of sleep a night. That’s over 40 million people starting each day not feeling their best.
In England alone doctors make over 10 million prescriptions for sleeping pills every year. Like most medication these can have unwanted side effects, especially dependency.
Given the scale of the problem I’m sad to discover that only 1 in 5 of us would consider acupuncture for insomnia. And even then that would be as a last resort.
Acupuncturists love to ask about your sleep
Evidence for Acupuncture
Posted on November 9, 2018
There are around four million acupuncture treatments per year in the UK, of which around half are delivered by members of the British Acupuncture Council. Musculoskeletal pain is the most common condition that patients present with, but traditional acupuncturists see people with a wide range of conditions; mental ill health and infertility are the next most prevalent (Hopton 2012): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22240649
The best place to look at the evidence for acupuncture is at Evidence Based Acupuncture. I cannot rate this work highly enough.
You can also find out more via the British Acupuncture Council, who provide a series of fact sheets on a wide range of conditions and These fact sheets provide summaries of research and how acupuncture may be beneficial.
Contact me for more information.
You are when you eat
Posted on August 11, 2018
You are when you eat. Who hasn’t heard the saying ‘eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper’? But why? What difference does it make to eat at certain times of day?
Chinese dietary advice is pretty simple when it comes to timings.
You are what you eat
Posted on July 26, 2018
The old saying goes ‘you are what you eat’. But have you ever considered that you might also be how you eat and when you eat? And what should you be eating anyway?
Now there are about a million different diets out there and I have no intention of adding another one to your repertoire. We know that ‘diets’ mostly don’t work anyway.
But there are some principles of Chinese dietary therapy that continue to hold relevance after thousands of years and I’d like to introduce them to you here.
Essentially there are three main principles – what, when and how you eat is important.
Transformative acupuncture – say what?
Posted on June 20, 2018
I wanted to talk a bit today about why I chose the tagline ‘Transform your Health’ for my acupuncture business. What exactly is transformative acupuncture?
We live in a service economy – 70% of all consumer activity in the world is made up of services – and acupuncture is one of them.
Now for the science-y bit.
The evolution of goods and services goes something like this:
- Produce commodities
- Make goods from those commodities
- Provide a service that delivers those goods
- Provide a positive experience whilst delivering that service
- Transform people’s lives with that positive experience
I’m going to argue that a good acupuncturist sits nicely in stage 5.
A pain in the neck (and shoulder, back, arm, wrist)
Posted on June 6, 2018
I was idly scanning the internet this weekend looking for some stats of people suffering with pain in the UK (um… nearly half of the population!) and stumbled across some great videos posted by British Gypsom. They’ve worked with a physio to create a series of exercises designed to help plasterers ease the various aches and pains they suffer with as a result of their jobs. That’s necks, shoulders, elbows, wrists, forearms and lower backs.
What a great idea!
So I started looking around a bit more and found some forums with loads of threads about people being stopped from doing their jobs because of pain and desperately looking for pain relief.
‘Go to your GP’
‘You’ll just have to rest it’
‘Take a holiday’
I hunted for what I was really looking for but couldn’t find it.
‘Have you tried acupuncture?’
WOMEN’S HEALTH
Posted on June 3, 2018
Chinese Medicine is particularly interested in women’s health. The classic texts that date back over thousands of years dedicate a great deal of time to the study, diagnosis and treatment of women’s health. As a result of this long history acupuncture is hugely beneficial in treating gynaecological issues. In particular acupuncture can benefit:
- Irregular menstrual cycles
- Short/long cycles
- Painful, heavy periods
- Lack of periods
- Spotting, bleeding outside period time
- Ovulation pain
- Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)
- Fibroids, cysts, polyps
- Endometriosis
- Hormonal imbalances eg: PMS, migraine, skin eruptions, emotional issues
Fertility
Acupuncture is of great benefit in the treatment of fertility. It can support couples to conceive naturally and during the assisted reproduction process. It is a physical and emotional support during what can be an extremely challenging time. Read about how acupuncture can benefit fertility for both men and women here.
Menopause
The menopause often brings disruption and misery to a woman’s life. It can involve one or more of a range of symptoms, which women experience to varying degrees and levels of distress. These can include night sweats and hot flushes, insomnia, anxiety, depression, fatigue, headaches, aches and pains, palpitations and genital and urinary problems.
Acupuncture supports the body to alleviate these symptoms in a natural and long-lasting way, without the need for Hormone Replacement Therapy. For women who want to continue with HRT it is still beneficial to receive acupuncture as it will treat the hormonal imbalance that the medication is masking.
You can read more about acupuncture and the menopause in the blog post ‘Acupuncture – an effective alternative to HRT?’
