Christmas is a time to come together and share the joys of life.

Human nature requires a social gathering from time to time in order to feel supported, comforted and happy. With the cold weather and shorter days, people can feel isolated and tend to meet at restaurants, bars or hotels to drink and celebrate Christmas.

My friend John Kapp is a visionary. He had the idea of a health cafe. Having cared for his wife in a holistic way, he wanted to develop a centre where other people could benefit from an integrated medical treatment. He envisioned a health cafe where people could walk in to have a healthy fruit or vegetable juice and a vegetarian meal in a spiritual environment.

In this cafe, customers would also be able to obtain information about complementary medicine and spirituality through a range of books or have a relaxing aromatherapy massage.

He wanted to develop a centre where the public could meet up with complementary practitioners and where doctors could come together to discuss and share views on community health through an integrated medical approach.

His dream of creating a cafe with a happy environment and therapeutic facilities has now been realised at 86 Church Road in Hove and is called Planet Janet.

The concept of Planet Janet started about two years ago when John and I set up a group called Integrated Holistic Healthcare Forum.

After a few meetings at the local church, we held an inaugural meeting of doctors and complementary practitioners at 86 Church Road and invited Michael Fox from Prince Charles' Foundation Of Integrated Medicine to talk to us about the future of such projects.

Since then, a dedicated team of complementary practitioners developed a co-operative under the guidance of Phoebe, an astrologer and spiritual lady. Everyone involved sacrificed their time to develop this unique project.

When I thought of the motto "empowering the individual to heal", I began to realise John's vision for a health cafe was the perfect venue for public meetings to discuss community health through the medium of healthy food and a happy night out.

Such innovative ventures could revolutionise healthcare and encourage us to look after our own health naturally.

One important criteria for the success of health cafes as a platform for improving community health is the involvement of qualified and experienced complementary medicine practitioners such as doctors, nurses and policy makers.

Planet Janet opens today and you can have a taster of the therapies and beetroot, carrot and ginger juice - it is deliciously cleansing.

I wish all our readers a very happy Christmas and a naturally healthy New Year.

Dr Milind Jani works as a conventional and holistic GP and Dr Asmita Jani as Ayurvedic Consultant from 3 Eaton Gardens, Hove.

Call them on: 01273 777448 or email: milind.jani@ntlworld.com