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December 2011 |
| In this issue |
Do something different this Christmas
The lights are up in the town square, the supermarket freezers are crammed with platters of party food and the bargain shops are overflowing with enough shimmering tinsel and blinging bejazzle to blind a herd of reindeer. And if you haven't organised Christmas gifts yet, best get on your red 'n white thinking-cap faster than Auntie Ethel downs her festive sherry.
1. Say you care with award winning multivitamins . Ensure a supply of essential nutrients with Solgar's VM 75 which contains high levels of a comprehensive range of vitamins minerals amino acids and bioflavonoids as well as extracts of superfoods such as acerola berry, alfalfa, kelp, parsley, rosehips and watercress. 2. Smelling nice doesn't have to come via the same expensive fragrance that's so common you recognize it on the bus. With more and more people changing from aluminum-containing anti-perspirants to natural deodorants that allow the body to breathe, consider Weleda's fresh, masculine Sage for dad, gorgeously floral Rose for mum, and the enlivening Citrus for either brother or sister. All are made with genuine essential oils, come in a chunky pump-action bottle that you'll want to use again and are vegan-friendly. Hooray! 3. What do you get the person that has everything? A gift voucher, that's what! Whether it's for a treatment to help with a specific condition, to enhance general health and wellbeing, or for some products from the shop or website, we do gift vouchers for any value between £5 and £100. The vouchers can be used for any of the 24 therapies offered from our Glasgow clinic. On the website we offer vouchers for our Morning Massage offer (£28 for a one hour treatment, Mon to Fri 9am to noon), £35 for a wide range of treatments including Ear Candling Reflexology and Shiatsu . Alternatively, the voucher to the value of your choice can be redeemed by telephone for products from the shop or website.
5. Rather than another comedian autobiography that sits ignored on the bookshelf all year get someone a book they'll actually read this Christmas. Fascinating stocking- stuffers such as Herbal Teas and Herbal First Aid by Andrew Chevalier and Aromatherapy: A Guide For Home Use by Christine Westwood are available for pocket money prices (£1.99 to £3.50) and are full of sensible tips for every household. Also available is The New Optimum Nutrition Bible by Patrick Holford (£12.99) and the late Thomas Bartram's classic Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine (£12.99). Our copy of Bartrams behind the counter at Woodland Herbs is so well thumbed that we're hoping that Santa might just bring us one! 6. Making resolutions for 2012? Show you support a chum's efforts to break free from the grip of the demon weed with herbal cigarettes or try converting a caffeine fiend to the delights of dandelion coffee . Symingtons uses the roots of wild dandelions cultivated without the use of pesticides and can be enjoyed with milk and sugar. Dandelion root has been used as a coffee substitute for many years and rather than risk all the potential problems caused by caffeine overuse it's rich in nutrients minerals and contains many helpful substances such as lutein and quercetin. 7 . Looking for an alternative to the identikit gift packs of the high street? Try our thoughtfully assembled gift boxes which only cost the price of the items enclosed. There's something for each family member, with the Brother's Gift Set (£20) bulging with fresh 'n natural products that he'll actually enjoy using and the Sister's Gift Set (£24) containing lots of Rosy treats from Pukka and Weleda. For Mum there's a Gift Set with enough relaxing Lavender goodies to have dissolved all those Christmas stresses and strains away down the bath plughole! Don't forget Dad whose Gift Set includes three Weleda products from their men's range - perfect for kissable skin for those mistletoe moments with mum - and a luxury lavender wheat bag to soothe away the aches and pains that come with the job description of being Santa's helper. 8. It may seem a little unglamorous to be giving someone remedies at Christmas but bet your snow boots that your nearest and dearest will thank you when the inevitable sniffles strike. Try Bioforce's ever popular Echinacea tincture , dose up on Vitamin C from Solgar and add some sunshine with Biocare's D3 drops . In a study published in 2010, researchers from the University of Copenhagen found that the vitamin is crucial to the proper function of T cells, which seek out and destroy invading pathogens. 9. What with those extra bodies in the house, the pets mooching around indoors, Uncle Eric's cigars and all that rich food, Christmas, can get a little, erm whiffy, can't it? To keep your home fresh and welcoming, ditch the plug-ins and opt for this year. A few drops of Sweet Orange and Cinnamon , heated with a little water in a beautiful soap stone burner or candle- free aromastone can transform your front room into a grotto of festive delight - in terms of the smell, at least! For your relation or chum who's becoming interested in this ancient art give them our aromatherapy starter kit gift set (£15) with essential oils, burner, book and natural pot pourri. 10. Up to 2am on Christmas Eve still wrapping presents? Turkey so burned out you might as well sit down to bag of bird-flavoured crisps? Don't pull your hair out and consider running to the hills - you've got that bottle of Rescue Remedy in your handbag. Developed in the 1930s by English bacteriologist and homeopath Dr Edward Bach, Rescue Remedy can help bring calm to life's trickier situations and can be safely used by most (contains alcohol).
Here at our Glasgow shop, Christmas really starts to swing when we serve mulled wine to our customers rather than herbal teas! Still, the lovely mix we have for customers to try in the run up to the holidays isn't alcoholic. Instead of red wine we normally use cranberry juice and keep the harder stuff for special occasions such as our Christmas Open Evenings! Variations of mulled wine have been drunk in and around Europe since the middle ages. Typically served warm and sweetened with honey or sugar, it's a beverage that warms the cockles while the spices aid the digestion - perfect for dealing with the after-effects of festive indulgence!
In the meantime, we wish you, your friends and family a peaceful, healthy and fun- packed Christmas and good health and prosperity in 2012!
Legislation on the sale of herbs has changed
Due to the Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive (2004/24/EC) we are no longer able to dispense herbal tinctures for internal use over the counter or on our website. This means that most of the tinctures we used to sell are no longer available, unless recommended by a medical herbalist after a private consultation. Medical Herbalists still have access to the full range of medicinal herbs. You can find out more information at the website of the
European Herbal and Traditional Medicine Practitioner Association (EHTPA)
and at the
National Institute of Medical Herbalists
.
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The comfort and joy of Mulled Wine
