Established 2009
Alex Lochhead
Traditional Acupuncture
Arthritis Action
You can get £60 towards your treatments with me if you are a member of Arthritis Action. It’s £25 annual membership and you need to let them know you want vouchers with me. They then send me the vouchers and you get £60 towards your treatment. It’s quite a good organisation, a bit focused on southern England, but free treatment is free treatment! Check the button below for more…
Weleda
I am now selling Weleda products, basically because they are amazing. Organic, clean, ethical, very competitively priced. Some of you have tried the ‘Skin Food’ facial moisturiser and have liked it. At a few pennies below £15 it is a winner. Find out more here.
Welcome!
I’ve decided to take the creative energy of Spring and put some effort into my business. So here is that effort. An itty bitty newsletter, maybe once a month or until I get bored with it.
It will aim to pull together some of the strands of what I do with my time in to a useful resource that hopefully doesn’t take itself too seriously.
I’m not too keen on a lot of the preachy health clap trap that gets banded around on social media, so let’s steer clear of all that hocus.
This month will be about, cleaning up the bathroom cabinet, the fridge and the garden! Let’s go…..
Get Rogering
Oh stop, it’s not what you’re thinking!
Roger Frampton is a jolly clever man who can help educate you about flexibility and strength. He keeps it simple and pretty achievable. You take a quiz which designs the best approach for you. Whether you want to do ten minutes a day or whatever.
This is such important stuff. If you don’t think this is relevant to you YOU ARE WRONG. It’s about £17 pcm and you need very little space or equipment. Maybe some yoga blocks.
I signed up during September and October and really enjoyed it. I think you can get a free week if you fiddle around with things.
Take a look, see what you think.
April Product
This month it’s about facial drops. These little bottles are packed with powerful plant oils such as Rosehip, Jojoba, Rose and Blue Tansy. This facial oil goes on as a base for under moisturiser, SPF or makeup. It is light, easily absorbed and smells bright and fresh.
30ml Glass Bottles with Pipette
£25
YUKA!
This app for your phone is amazing.
You use it to scan the bar codes on products such as food or cosmetics and it tells you what’s in them. It gives the product an overall score and then you can decide if you want it in your life. Let me tell you, the toothpaste aisle is full of horrors! I worked my way along the shelf in the store and could not find one of them ranked better than ‘poor’. They are truly nasty. This has led me to search out a new toothpaste which is ranked ‘excellent’. It is a probiotic paste by Gutology. Sounds awful, tastes great. It costs a small fortune at around £12 a month, you have to subscribe to it. But after reading what went into standard pastes, I’m not touching them again! They sell other cool stuff too for supporting your gut health…..
Hit the Grow Bags
Grow now whilst we can!
Now I have the greenhouse I am going to try and get some food growing in it. I have kicked off the year with flowers so far, but will switch to cucumbers and peppers at least as the season warms up. The seeds will be going in this month, probably on the kitchen window sill, which is minute. Then they will go out in to the greenhouse later on. I have already started the lettuce and watercress in the greenhouse as they like colder temperatures.
Top Tips
Growing seedlings can be a faff. Don’t forget you can buy little plants from a lot of supermarkets or garden centres to give you head start. I’ve included a whole herb garden in my Sainsbury’s delivery this week which I will split up and repot to give me plenty more plants. Our growing season is so small there’s no time to muck about!
Perennial Food Plants
These fellas are for the win! Plants that give you food and come back year after year are the easiest. At the fancy end, I have Blood Sorrel. A pretty, red veined, herb that is a bit like spinach. Looks great, tastes good too. Springs up all over, so be sure to not let it self seed if you don’t want it everywhere. I don’t mind it though as I like a messy, rampant looking garden.
More Perennials
Here are more examples:
Rhubarb
Asparagus
Walking Onions
Jerusalem Artichokes
Chives
Garlic
Kale
Rocket
Watercress
Blueberries
Blackberries
Raspberries
Strawberries
Dandelions – yes they are edilble, try the flowers!
It’s MYA Season!
Yep. It’s here! ‘Move Your Ass’ season is upon us. Lighter days, warmer temperatures, allegedly.
In theory it should be easier to exercise now. I prefer to get it out of the way first thing and have been walking around the race course in the mornings.
I’m aiming to get it up to two laps first thing this week.
Take it steady, if you are starting to become more active. Spring is the busiest time in my clinic for back injuries and strains. This is mostly due to idiot men trying to go from Zero to Hero. Nothing like a bit of gender stereotyping. But it’s true. Take this advice from a man:
How not to be male:
Warm up before tackling out door jobs.
This includes, lawn mowing, hedge trimming and car washing. Even brushing the path may use muscles you haven’t used in the while. Do some waist swings first, some squats or some knee lifts before you get active.
Hydrate!
I’m over lecturing middle aged men about hydration. What is the big deal about drinking six glasses of water? Man alive.
Your muscles are big bags of protein soaked in water. THEY NEED WATER TO MOVE. So just drink some.
Eat Protein for Breakfast.
Eating a bowl of cereal or toast for breakfast is just dreaful. It’s too much poor carbohydrate and will knacker your pancreas and your blood sugar. An egg, some fish, greek yoghurt, nuts or even quinoa porridge is much better for you and your muscles. People gleefully tell me that they have three fruits for breakfast and expect a slap on the back. Fruit can be mega high in (natural) sugar. Sugar is sugar as far as the body is concerned. Try eating three vegetables for breakfast and then I’ll be impressed! Anyone who can manage cauliflower first thing is a titan in my book.
My Guilty Pleasure – Exposed!
Some of you are aware of my sordid side line! If you are of a fragile disposition, best turn away now.
Since September I have been penning a trashy script about an Italian family and publishing it online.
I guess it takes the form of a twice weekly soap opera and this crowd gets up to all sorts.
It is based on a real hotel in Italy that I have added several layers of ficticious prose to. I find it surprisingly entertaining to write and have gathered a few followers along the way. Amazingly I reached the 50th epsiode last week. It has stopped me watching junk on TV for the whole winter, I just write it instead!
If you felt inclined to find out more, see below. I can’t promise it’s any good, but it’s opened up a new world for me!
Frequently Asked Questions
What days are you open?
Wednesday to Saturday lunchtime.
do you treat yourself?
No. I’ve got to be at death’s door to put a needle in myself. I put my hand in my pocket and go see someone else.
How often should you have acupuncture?
There’s no one answer to that, it depends on a whole range of things. Generally, I don’t think it necessary more than one session a week, but there have been times when folks are in deep crisis that they have had two per week. I believe that an acupuncture treatment is active for around 72 hours ‘doing stuff’. So I really wouldn’t want to overlay another treatment within that time.
Is acupuncture all you do?
This one always makes me wince. You try doing an acupuncture degree and then answering the question, ‘Yes, that’s all!’
Pretty much, yes it is. Included in acupuncture is cupping therapy, Gua Sha massage, intradermal needling, cosmetic acupuncture. I do have a small side line of Essential Oil Therapy, but that is a tiny adjunct to the acupuncture.
Has your booking system changed recently?
Answer: Yes!
The old one wanted over £400 a year so I told them ‘no’. It was a bit of a wrench, but I decided to go for it and switch to Fresha. It took quite a bit of doing, but actually I think it is more user friendly than the old one. Take a look here if you like.
Get in Touch
If you must. I really rather you didn’t, but if you have a burning question, here I am. (Only joking)
Email Address
lochhead.alex@hotmail.co.uk
Call Me
07747 080895