As of July 01 I am moving to Queen Square Building, 45 Alderney Drive, Suite 610, Dartmouth. To book appointments, please call me at 902-431-4888 or email me at meryl@merylcook.ca. Please let me know the best times to reach you and your preferred appointment times and I will respond as soon as possible.
I will be sharing a waiting room/kitchen with Paula Perron, Registered Massage Therapist and qigong instructor. Like my work in Homeopathy and Bowen, Paula’s work is gentle and non-invasive and relies on the body to respond and clear the blockages as it is ready.
I will not be offering insurance billings, but for the convenience of patients will be accepting debit, Mastercard, VISA and of course cheque or cash.
I will continue to collaborate with my colleagues at Pillars, especially on the cases of patients which we share care. As well, I will honour any gift certificates for Bowen treatments that have been issued while I was at Pillars.
I look forward to seeing you in my new office. Please help yourself to a cup of tea when you arrive.
Warmly,
Meryl
Posted in 
I recently realized that this May marks my 15th year in practice. I began my practice with the Bowen Technique in May 1996 and then began taking homeopathy patients in May 2001. It amazes me to look back on the unfolding of my practice – from doing Bowen in my spare room 2 mornings a week while my youngest son was at pre-school, to moving to Kachina Health Associates and sharing rooms with Kelly Beale and Debra Kaetz, to joining Pillars of Health as part of the integrated wellness centre. All have served me well at each stage of my practice development.
The next stage of my practice is soon to unfold. In early July I will be moving to the Queen Square Building, 45 Alderney Drive, Suite 610. I will finally have my own space and will share a waiting room with Paula Perron who does massage and qigong healing. And what a space it is! My new office has an unobstructed view of the mouth of the harbour. Paula and I are enjoying collaborating with Terry Doiron of Oak Leaf Interiors on the design of our waiting room and kitchen. We want the space to feel comfortable and inviting. Patients will be welcome to make themselves a cup of tea and relax while they wait for their appointment.
I will miss being at Pillars, but hope to continue the great collaborative relationships I have built with my Pillars colleagues. I plan to continue to work closely with them, especially for the patients whose care we share. And of course when my patients need something more they will be my colleagues of choice to refer to, and I hope they will continue to refer patients to me as appropriate.
My last day at Pillars will be June 30. As the time gets closer I will update my contact page with my new phone number and hours of operation. In the meantime, continue to contact me at Pillars of Health.
Happy Mother’s Day – Homeopathic first aid that every mother should have in her diaper bag … or soccer bag … or gym bag
As our children grow from babies to toddlers to teens, our bags may change, but our function as the go-to person for scrapes and spills seems never to change.
If someone in your family has an accident or injury, your first responsibility is to apply the proper first-aid measures and to get medical help if necessary. However, homeopathic treatment can complement the standard first aid measures and help to reduce pain and speed healing. Even for injuries which require medical care, homeopathic remedies can be used once an injured person’s condition is stable.
The first remedy every mother should have on hand is Arnica. Arnica is used first in all injury, for shock, pain, swelling and bleeding. Symptoms include soreness and bruised feeling, shock (person may insist they are fine when obviously they are not), soreness from over-exertion. It is used in early sprains to prevent bruising and minimize swelling.
Hypericum is useful for any severe blows to the head or spine (after first giving Arnica). It is useful for injuries to nerve endings – crushed fingertips, tailbone injuries. In tincture (liquid) form it is used to clean animal or human bites, or open burns. Characteristic symptoms include shooting pains, worse from touch, cold, dampness, fog. Better from bending head back.
The third remedy to have on hand is Apis. It can be helpful for bee stings (sometimes Ledum is indicated for bee stings also), hives, jelly fish stings, stinging nettle rash. Symptoms include swelling, itching, redness, pains stinging and burning, puffy swelling and thirstlessness. The pains are better from cold application and open air, worse from heat, touch and pressure.
Arnica, Hypericum and Apis would be my top 3 first aid remedies to carry in my bag, but I also recommend Traumeel gel, which is a gel which contains homeopathic remedies such as Arnica, Hypericum and other first aid remedies. It is useful for blows, bruises and sprains, but not for broken skin.
Homeopathic remedies and Traumeel gel are sold in health food stores and in the health food section of most grocery stores. I do not sell individual remedies, but do carry Traumeel gel and Helios Basic 18 remedy kits, which come with a small book which covers the basics of acute and first aid prescribing.
Some important notes about potency and dosage
Homeopathic remedies come in various strengths (called potencies), from 6C to 50M. Unless you are an experienced prescriber, I suggest you use a potency no higher than 30C.
The number of doses of a remedy given depend on the potency you have chosen and the degree of seriousness of the injury. Note – one dose is considered to be one pellet dissolved under the tongue. It is not necessary to take more than one pellet per dose. For babies and small children (or anyone who might inhale the pellet), you can put the pellet in water and put 1 tsp in the person’s mouth.
For a very serious injury (such as a head injury, second or third-degree burns), you might give one dose every 5 to 30 minutes initially.
If the person’s condition begins to improve, do not give any further doses of the remedy. Start giving the remedy again only if the symptoms begin to relapse or there is no further improvement. If you have given several doses of a remedy and there is no improvement on any level, stop giving the remedy and re-evaluate the symptoms or seek help from your homeopath.
When should I consult a professional homeopath?
If you have tried a few different remedies and the injury is worsening, or if you have recurring injuries (such as repeated strains or sprains) you might want to consult a professional homeopath. With recurring injuries, there may be an underlying susceptibility which can best be treated professionally.
This book is an excellent resource for the adventure traveller. It begins with the basics of homeopathic prescribing (dosages, potencies, where to purchase remedies). There is a good discussion of immunization and prevention, helping the reader/traveler to weigh the risks of immunization against the prevalence and possible complications of various tropical diseases.
I like that the book contains a ‘Gazeteer’ of world health risks, helping the traveler to identify the degree of risk for various diseases where they are going to be visiting.
The rest of the book is divided into chapters on common travel ailments (ie. traveler’s diarrhea, parasites, malaria) with suggested remedies. This book can be used when traveling to remote areas where this is no conventional treatment available, or in conjunction with conventional treatment. There is a good description of how to determine when professional treatment is required.
If you are an adventure traveler or are planning your first trip to a tropical country, this book is for you. It contains lots of information and detail, enough to make sure you refer to it again and again.
A Bowen treatment consists of gentle, rolling movements done with the practitioner’s hands on specific points of the body. These moves are light and can be done through clothing. They stimulate a systemic response so powerful that a pause is observed between each series of moves to allow the body to integrate this information.
A pattern of movements and pauses continues throughout the treatment. The rhythm is so soothing and relaxing that most patients fall asleep during the session. Benefits are usually apparent within two sessions, even when long-standing conditions are being treated.
The effects of the treatment continue to unfold over the next 4 to 5 days and here are several suggestions to help you get the most from your Bowen treatment.
3 W’s
Water. A well hydrated body is able to heal better than a dehydrated one. Therefore we suggest you drink plenty of water (or other liquid) for several days following your session. (If you seldom drink water it is suggested you gradually increase the amount of water you are drinking, rather than overloading your system all at once.)
Walk. Take a walk each day for a minimum of 10 (continuous) minutes. Walking helps your spine to realign and also aids in detoxification and digestion. Try to walk without carrying anything so your arms can swing freely.
Week. The ideal spacing between Bowen treatments is 7 to 10 days. This allows your body time to make the necessary adjustments and to process the treatment. Because Bowen is a very gentle, subtle technique, try to avoid having any other bodywork done (massage, chiropractic, physio) a minimum of 5 days before and for one week after a Bowen treatment. To encourage the tissue fluids to normalize avoid using any local heat or ice on the areas we have worked. If you find you are very achy after your session it is fine to have an epsom salts bath.
Thank you to Barb M. for suggesting this blog topic.
Happy Birthday to Samuel Hahnemann
Today marks the 156th year since Samuel Hahnemann was born. To celebrate his birthday on April 10th, members of the Canadian Society of Homeopaths are spreading the word about 10 good reasons for using Homeopathy!
10 GOOD REASONS TO USE HOMEOPATHY. . .
1. NATURAL ACTION
Homeopathy works by stimulating the body’s own natural defence mechanism to promote health and to resist infection and susceptibility to disease. Although gentle, the results can be powerful and long lasting.
2. HEALTH & WELL-BEING
Homeopathy improves health generally, rather than merely alleviating localized symptoms. It treats the whole individual, acting on the mental and emotional levels as well as the physical level, providing a balance in overall health and an increased sense of well-being and quality of life.
3. EFFECTIVE MEDICINE
When used correctly, homeopathy can be an extremely effective system of medicine, providing long-lasting relief from many acute and chronic conditions and illnesses.
4. NO HARMFUL SIDE EFFECTS
Homeopathic treatment offers a gentle and non-invasive approach to health, producing no toxic side effects, no dependency or addiction, and no withdrawal.
5. COST EFFECTIVE
Homeopathic medicines are surprisingly inexpensive to purchase, especially when compared to over-the-counter and prescription drugs.
6. FAST-ACTING FIRST-AID RELIEF
Homeopathy can be safely used at home or on the road to provide rapid relief for minor problems such as bruises, simple burns, sprains, insect bites, gastric upsets, etc. However more serious or long-lasting complaints should be treated by a qualified homeopath.
7. NOT TESTED ON ANIMALS
Homeopathic medicines are tested only on healthy humans in order to determine the range of action of each remedy.
8. COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE
Homeopathic medicines can be used independently or along with conventional drugs and other therapies (with the full knowledge of your other healthcare providers). It can often alleviate unpleasant side effects of conventional treatments (e.g., chemotherapy).
9. ENVIRONMENTALLY-FRIENDLY
Homeopathy has no adverse impact on the environment. There is not waste of energy or natural resources in the manufacturing process and no pollution of the water supply, oceans, or dump sites when used. In fact, homeopathy is the ultimate Green Medicine!
10. MEDICINE OF THE FUTURE
Homeopathy is the second most widely-used system of medicine in the world. It is available in most countries and is gaining in popularity as an alternative to conventional medicine.
During the month of April, Canadian Society of Homeopaths and our members sponsor Homeopathy Awareness Month across Canada. If you would like more information or handouts about CSoH activities, contact our office at homeopathy@csoh.ca or 604-803-9242. www.csoh.ca
I was so pleased when my colleague Louise Tremblay wrote and published this book. I lend this book to patients who are wanting to learn more about the Bowen Technique. I also give it to professionals such as family physicians who refer patients to me or who have patients that I am treating with the Bowen technique.
The Little Bowen Book covers the origin and basic philosophy behind the Bowen technique (i.e. the body has the capacity to self-regulate and ‘less is more’), our understanding of how Bowen works, what a treatment looks like and the training and continuing education needed to practice this technique.
The book is easy to read and visually attractive. It is available from my office and also from Amazon books.
Thank you so much to everyone who submitted comments and suggestions on my new website and blog. Originally I was planning to draw for those who submitted suggestions for future blogs. However, I received so many encouraging and heartfelt comments that I decided to draw for two prizes – one for the suggestions and one for comments.
The prize for suggestions is Barb MacQuarrie and for comments is Tracy MacDonald. Both will receive a tube of Traumeel and the book Get Well Soon, A Guide to Homeopathic First Aid. Congratulations!
Warmly, Meryl
First Aid Treatment with Homeopathic Remedies
If someone in your family has an accident or injury, your first responsibility is to apply the proper first-aid measures and to get medical help if necessary. However, homeopathic treatment can complement the standard first aid measures and help to reduce pain and speed healing. Even for injuries which require medical care, homeopathic remedies can be used once an injured person’s condition is stable.
Some important notes about potency and dosage
Homeopathic remedies come in various strengths (called potencies), from 6C to 50M and higher. Unless you are an experienced prescriber, I suggest you use a potency no higher than 30C.
The number of doses of a remedy given depend on the potency you have chosen and the degree of seriousness of the injury. Note – one dose is considered to be one pellet dissolved under the tongue. It is not necessary to take more than one pellet per dose. For babies and small children (or anyone who might inhale the pellet), you can dissolve the pellet in water and put 1 tsp. in the infant’s mouth.
For a very serious injury (such as a head injury, second or third-degree burns), you might give one dose every 5 to 30 minutes initially.
Stop on improvement – repeat as needed
If the person’s condition begins to improve, do not give any further doses of the remedy. Start giving the remedy again only if the symptoms begin to relapse or there is no further improvement. If you have given several doses of the remedy (between 3 and 6 doses) and there is no improvement on any level, stop giving the remedy. It is probably not the correct remedy and you need to re-evaluate or seek help from your homeopath.
Your homeopathic First Aid Kit
As injuries and accidents don’t always happen during store hours, it is advisable to keep a basic first aid kit of homeopathic remedies on hand. I would recommend having the following remedies to begin with (you can always add to this base as you become more experienced): Arnica, Hypericum (pellets and tincture), Ledum, Rhus tox, Ruta, Apis, Belladonna
Arnica - use first in all injury, for shock, pain, bleeding, etc. Symptoms include soreness and bruised feeling, shock (person may insist they are fine when they are obviously not), soreness from over-exertion, bruising. In early sprains, to promote healing.
Hypericum - used for injuries to nerve endings – crushed fingertips, tailbone injuries. Severe blows to head, spine or coccyx. To clean animal or human bites, or open burns (in tincture). Characteristic symptoms include shooting pains, worse from touch, cold, dampness, fog. Better from bending head back.
Ledum - use for puncture wounds, bruising (after Arnica), insect or animal bites, for fracture (after Arnica), black eye from a blow. The injured area can be cold and numb, relieved by cold. Worse at night, from warm applications and from the heat of bed.
Rhus tox - use for joint sprains (or Ruta), old sprains, poison ivy, poison oak. Characteristic symptoms include pain on first movement, better after continued motion, better from heat. Thirsty, restless, injured area is hot and swollen. Worse from cold, damp weather.
Ruta - use for injuries to tendons, wrist sprain, wrist ganglion, joint sprains (or Rhus tox), bruised bone, shin splints. Often is used if Rhus tox has not acted. Worse from cold, lying down, wet weather, rest.
Apis - use for bee stings, hives, jelly fish stings, stinging nettle rash. Symptoms include swelling, itching, redness, pains stinging and burning. Puffy swelling. Thirstlessness. Better from cold application, open air. Worse heat, touch, pressure.
Belladonna - use for heatstroke. The patient is hot, very red. Symptoms include throbbing, confusion. Better leaning the head back. (Versus Glonoine, which is better holding the head forward, better by cold application and cold air, can’t lie down because the pillow is beating.)
Recommended books:
When should I consult a professional homeopath? If you have tried a few different remedies and the injury is worsening or not responding, or if you have recurring injuries (such as repeated strains or sprains), you might want to consult a professional homeopath. With recurring injuries, there may be an underlying susceptibility which can best be treated professionally.
There is a wonderful thing happening in the world of homeopathy. Recently people have been posting videos on YouTube and speaking about how homeopathy has worked for them. I have shared several on my FaceBook page Meryl Cook Homeopathy & Bowen. If you would like to see more, just google Homeopathy Works for Me and Youtube. It is very exciting to see videos made by homeopathy patients all over the world and in many languages.
If any of you have a story about how homeopathy has worked for you, please post it on YouTube. The following are the guidelines for this grassroots project. Be sure to let me know if you post a video!
Warmly,
Meryl
Guidelines:
“Homeopathy Works for Me” Project
• Launch Date: Sunday, March 20th, 2011
• Project runs from March 1-March 31, 2011
• Begin Sharing the Document as of March 1, 2011
Dear Friend,
As part of the global homeopathic community, you are invited to take part in a special project, one that we hope can take the message of homeopathy to the whole world:
• If your life has been changed by homeopathy, if you have undergone a healing, or if a loved one has been healed through the use of homeopathic remedies, then we ask that you take a few minutes and make a digital video on the subject and post it to the internet. It is our hope that literally millions of people around the world will take part by putting their own letter in a bottle and setting it adrift in the ocean of the internet, with the hope that it washes up onto many a foreign soil. We ask that people of all nations take part, speaking their own languages, telling their own stories.
• If you are a professional homeopath or medical professional, we ask that you assist us by spreading the word about the project to your clients, and by copying this list of guidelines for them to follow. For this project, we want to stress the stories of people whose lives have been changed—the patients—and not the practitioners who make their living through providing treatment or teaching homeopathy. However, if you have yourself undergone a dramatic healing through homeopathy, you could make a video speaking to that.
To get the job done, we have to all work together and follow the same simple set of rules:
1. Each video must start the same way, with the person speaking introducing themselves by name and then saying “And homeopathy works for me.” Then they can take a few seconds to a few minutes to tell a specific story of why they say that homeopathy works for them. Then they close the video by repeating their name and “homeopathy works for me.” Stories should be told as truthfully, meaningfully and openly as possible. And, should you not want to give your full name on the Internet, just giving your first name is fine. Do what feels comfortable for you.
2. Note: One video has already been posted. While it is early, it acts as a pattern that the rest can follow. It is a clean, simple video by a mother whose child was helped. If you want to see this video, follow the link here:
When you create your own video, you need not mention specific remedies, only that homeopathy worked. In my own case, it worked when nothing else I tried would. So I will stress that in my own video. But you must tell your own story as clearly and movingly as possible. Note that stories about children or pets are great, especially if you can show the child or the dog or cat. Also, stories can be about chronic or acute ailments. Stories can be funny or sad, but don’t be afraid of a little emotion. But there is no wrong way to do it. All stories are welcome.
3. The video should be posted to YouTube on Sunday, March 20th, 2011 at noon in your part of the world, or as close to noon as possible.
If you do not know how to post to YouTube, it is quite simple. Here is a link that will take you to a video that tells you how:
4. It’s important to know that, if you are a member of YouTube already, you need only sign in to upload your video. If you are not a member, you will have to create an account. That is simply done. Just go to YouTube (Google it if you need to) and then click on the Account button at the top right of the page.
5. Also very important, there are three steps you need to follow in uploading a video:
• 1st , you will need to give the video a title. EVERYONE should title their video “Homeopathy Works for Me,” followed by their name or another form of defining the video (“a case of psoriasis cured,” for example).
• 2nd , after you enter the title you will be asked for a description. You may describe your video any way you want to, but make sure to start out with “Homeopathy Works for Me.” Your description might include whether the condition was acute or chronic and what the disease diagnosis of the condition was, for example, or any other information you want to give on the contents of the video.
• 3rd , you will be asked to enter TAGS. Now, tags are ways in which YouTube can sort videos so that people can find what they are looking for. So be sure to enter the words “Homeopathy,” “Homeopathic Remedies,” “Homeopathic Treatments,” and “Homeopathic Medicines” to you list of tags. You may also want to add such things as “holistic” and “healing.” You can never have too many tags, as the more tags you use the more often your video will be called up. And while it seems that using just the word “homeopathy” should work, all variations will help get your video seen.
6. On March 20th, as the videos are being posted, we move into the next phase of the project. And that is that those in the global homeopathic community who have blogs, web sites, Twitter accounts or who belong to Facebook, LinkedIn or any other social site or who are part of homeopathic forums must all begin to post links to various videos. It does not matter which ones you choose. Go to YouTube and enter “Homeopathy Works for Me” in the subject line and do a search. Watch some videos and post about them. Give specific links. Write about it in blogs. Discuss them on forums. Email your list of contacts. REMEMBER, we are attempting to make it look as spontaneous and joyful as possible. So NO GLOATING and NO BAITING the Skeptics.
7. The will only work if we keep it all a SECRET before March 20th and then make as big a noise about it as we can from the 20th onward for the next week or so. So please no more early videos. Keep them on your computer desktop until March 20th. Then launch and announce. Hopefully, as the news of the videos gets out, more and more will be made and we will attract the attention of different forms of media throughout the world. That is the whole point, to bring attention to homeopathy and to bring it in such a way that the focus is on the many millions of people whose lives have been changed for the better by homeopathy. Our goal in doing this is not to enter into debate or argument, either inside the global homeopathic community or with those who are actively working against homeopathy. So stay positive, both in your videos and in your comments and discussions following the posting of the videos. Remember the topic: “Homeopathy Works for Me.”
8. Finally, the whole purpose of this is to show that millions of individual voices will create one very loud voice. If we are to show the world that homeopathy matters to us, we have to first circulate this document across the whole world, keeping it safe and secret as we see to it that every person who loves homeopathy is invited to be part. And then we have to all actually make and post videos and not simply stand back and think it is a nice idea. Finally, we have to make as much noise as possible once the videos are posted and tell the world how much we care about homeopathy.
That’s the project. As the technology is available to pretty much all of us, and as a YouTube video can literally reach the whole world, it seems that a great deal of impact for a modicum of effort is really quite possible. Secrecy is important, as it cooperation. Aside from that, it is just a matter of getting to work.