I Fiori di Bach per la Cura di Mente e Corpo

Bach Flowers for Mind-Body Healing, the short ebook which I published last year, has proved quite popular. Now my colleague Sabrina Cadario has kindly translated it into Italian! Both the English and Italian versions are free of charge, and details can be found on my Smashwords author page.

My Desert Island Discs

Imagine on this April Fool's Day being invited onto Desert Island Discs, the BBC radio series in which each celebrity guest is asked to select eight pieces of music to take with them if they were marooned on a desert island, and also one book and one luxury item. My husband is currently listening to the archives of this program, which has been running ever since 1942, so we have been talking about our own choices. I would want mine to have an intrinsic beauty, to evoke some personal memories,  and to represent a mix of moods and styles.

Having said this I could easily fill my whole program with the pieces I have been singing in church choirs over recent years, including traditional favourites like Mozart's Laudate Dominum, Palestrina's Sicut Cervus, Schubert's Ave Maria, Franck's Panis Angelicus, and Tallis's Spem in Alium, also parts of more modern works like Philip Ledger's Requiem and Rutter's Magnificat.

Bach would be essential, whether the magnificent Toccata and Fugue in D minor, the soulful Double Violin Concerto, or one of the simpler short pieces which I've been trying to learn on the piano, such as the Allemande from Suite No 4 in E flat major, or the Aria from Goldberg Variations which might help me fall asleep while on the island. Some New Age music such as The Fairy Ring by Mike Rowland would be relaxing too.

And Elgar, to remind me of England and especially the beautiful Malvern area which has been significant in my life - Land of Hope and Glory would be a bracing choice.

Popular songs which resonate with events, dances and romances from younger days would include Both Sides Now sung by Judy Collins, Here, There and Everywhere by the Beatles, Only Yesterday by The Carpenters, Summer Nights by Marianne Faithfull, Thankyou for the Music by Abba, The Carnival is Over by The Seekers, Days by The Kinks, Eternal Flame by The Bangles, Smoke gets in your Eyes by the Platters ... and many more.

My humourous selection would be When the Foe-man Bares His Steel from the Pirates of Penzance - I once sang in the chorus. And I would like an aria from Grand Opera sung by Enrico Caruso or Mario Lanza, the passions of my teenage years, and at least one piece from a musical such as Carousel, West Side Story, Cats or Les Miserables ....

It's lucky that I'm not famous enough to be on Desert Island Discs, because reducing this list down to eight items would be quite impossible. And I don't know what I'd choose for my book, nor for my luxury, considering that I couldn't have my iPhone or computer - now that's a dreadful thought.

ebooks on Amazon Kindle

I've just published Amazon Kindle editions of two of my books: Life's Labyrinth: the path and the purpose and Focus on Healing: holistic self-help for medical illness. Both are also still available as ebooks on the Smashwords site.

Since I started this blog as an exercise on a writers' course in 2011 (see my first post) I've enjoyed exploring the world of electronic self-publishing with its rapidly-evolving technology. Despite having only basic computer skills I found it quite easy to upload manuscripts - though did need help with text formatting and cover design. I love having the freedom to write whatever I like in my own time - seeing it online within a few hours after it's ready - being able to edit and update later if need be - and to check on the sales figures as often as I wish - all without wasting any paper (having chosen not to make printed versions, although this too would be quite easy to do).

My past experience with traditional publishing has also been satisfying overall, despite the various trials and tribulations along the way - often waiting months for responses to submissions, getting the inevitable rejection letters not always kindly phrased (I was devastated by the early ones but eventually grew immune), more months of waiting after having manuscripts accepted, finding errors introduced into the proofs, and royalty payments representing scant return for the years of work involved. Self-publishing may seem painless in comparison, but perhaps the process has become too easy. Marketing is up to the authors themselves, and most of us are not very good at that. And now that so many people self-publish there may be more writers than readers. Most self-published books sell only than a handful of copies, and some sell none at all.

But, probably like most other people who were born with a compulsion to write, I feel it's about passion rather than profit. Whatever publishing method is used, it's rewarding to see the finished products out in the world, and hopefully get some good reviews. And, in the case of my medical books, the reward of having readers say they've found them helpful makes it all seem worthwhile.

I'm now working on another two books which I hope to finish later this year. Meanwhile, here again are the links to the new editions of Life's Labyrinth and Focus on Healing.

Too much medical measurement?

After having a couple of high blood pressure readings (see November's post) I had a 24-hour monitor test which was reported as normal - a great relief. I don't know whether my various small lifestyle changes had made a difference, or whether the previous reading was the result of 'white coat hypertension' at the clinic, or of an inaccurate machine at home. I'll keep an eye on the situation - and continue the improvements in diet and exercise, and with following the mantra NO NEED TO RUSH.

I am uncomfortably aware that many other people are taking long-term, even life-long, hypotensive medication on the basis of just one single high reading without having the 24-hour test - either because this wasn't suggested to them, or because they couldn't afford to pay for it.

Many medical screening tests besides blood pressure checks are advocated today. Occasionally, they detect an early case of serious disease which can be successfully treated. This life-saving benefit for a few people has to be balanced against the downside for many others - a widespread increase in health-related anxiety among the 'worried well' and the practice of treating risk factors and borderline abnormalities in the same way as established diseases, although in the majority of cases they might never have progressed to cause symptoms. Sometimes the treatments, or even the tests themselves, cause harm. In my own circle, for example, one woman recently developed renal failure attributed to 'preventative' medication prescribed on dubious grounds, and another suffered a bowel perforation during a 'routine' colonoscopy which had revealed no abnormality.

Many experts, quoting statistics from studies on large populations, claim that the benefits of screening tests and preventative interventions outweigh their risks. Others disagree. Political and financial factors are often involved as well as strictly medical ones. For example, the recent books Pharmageddon by David Healy and Bad Pharma by Ben Goldacre reveal the techniques through which drug companies covertly encourage doctors to prescribe. And although most healthcare professionals are sincerely motivated to put the good of their patients ahead of personal gain, they may be unconsciously influenced by the fact that careers can be advanced and money can be made by promoting screening programs or by broadening the definitions of pathology.

Over the years, I have been diagnosed with several different borderline conditions myself. I had treatment for some of them, and others I chose to ignore, but whether these were the 'right' decisions I may never know.

 

    

Cat Ward

Today I drove out to Mangere for my regular volunteer session on the Cat Ward at Auckland's SPCA. It's early summer in New Zealand and the kitten season is in full swing. Pregnant mothers, mothers with newborn kittens, and litters of orphan kittens are continually being admitted. Of course there are older cats there too. Some have been picked up as strays, some surrendered by owners who can no longer care for them, and others are victims of cruelty or neglect.

All the cats are beautiful, with their different sizes and colours and personalities. A few are highly vocal, constantly clamouring for attention, freedom or food. Some are labelled 'Timid' and hide away under their blankets. Many others just sit still, waiting with patient dignity for what will happen next.

Volunteers work alongside the veterinary nurses, helping with practical tasks such as cleaning cages, feeding bowls and litter trays; serving meals; stocking up supplies of rags and newspaper; taking rubbish out; and sometimes spending time with sick puppies in the room next door.

We are not encouraged to have too much physical contact with the cats, because of the risk of spreading infection, nor do we know where they came from or where they will go. It's probably better not to get too involved with them individually, because not all will be lucky enough to live happy ever after, though a good number will eventually be adopted by one of the many visitors who come to the Animal Village.

There are always vacancies for new volunteers, to do a variety of jobs: direct care of cats, dogs or rabbits, reception, administration, laundry, driving, fostering and fund-raising. Maybe this Christmas season you might consider helping at your own local animal rescue centre, giving them some money, becoming a foster parent or offering a dog or cat a 'forever home'.

Blood pressure

Friends who know that I'm not a 'morning person' would have been surprised to see me out walking in the park before breakfast today. All part of my enhanced 'healthy living' regime prompted by the shock of a raised blood pressure reading last week.

I thought my lifestyle was pretty good already, but from now on there will be more aerobic exercise; less coffee, wine, salty and fatty foods; more vegetables, herbs, fruit and the occasional dark chocolate ginger; olive leaf extract; and more regular meditation sessions. Psychological factors are not so easy to change, even with the help of Bach flower remedies such as Elm, Rock Water, Vervain and Impatiens to promote a more relaxed attitude to life. I hope to avoid having to take medication, especially since a recent review in the British Medical Journal has questioned its value for cases of mild hypertension.

There is a widespread misconception that people who practice good physical self-care, positive thinking and spiritual development should never have anything wrong with them - especially if they work in the healthcare field. But all bodies are vulnerable to sickness of one kind or another and will eventually wear out completely. It is also true that those with some personal experience of sickness or disability often make the most effective healers.

Healing stories wanted

This is a call for contributions to my next book, which is to be an outline of holistic healing and the mind-body-spirit approach written for professionals in orthodox medicine. It follows on from Focus on Healing which was intended for patients themselves, and will cover similar topics but from a more academic perspective. I hope it may play some small part in resolving all the prejudices and misunderstandings which exist in this area and promoting more integrated healthcare.

Real case histories add enormously to the interest and credibility of books like this, so I'd like to include a good number of brief personal accounts illustrating for example:

• self-help practices, ranging from special diets to meditation
• changes in lifestyle and attitude following an illness
• receiving complementary or alternative therapies
• the importance of therapeutic relationships

If you or someone in your circle would like to write something then please send me a note on jennifer.barraclough@gmail.com and I will provide more details. And please forward this to anyone else who may be interested in contributing. Thank you.