You are What You Consume

Most of us know about the Super Size Me documentary. In it, Morgan Spurlock ate McDonald’s for a month and shared his physical and mental decline during this period. Dr Chris van Tulleken conducted a similar experiment using ultra-processed food instead of fast food. He documented his health and well-being over a month when he ate a diet composed of 80% junk food in order to draw attention to the heavily processed food that children in the UK are routinely fed. This can be seen in the BBC Documentary, What are We Feeding our Kids?. What strikes me most about these two experiments is the fact that these people experienced such negative results in just a matter of a few weeks. It does not take long to create significant imbalances in the body.

Whether fast food or junk food, both of these men experienced physical and mental symptoms including weight gain, fatigue, addiction to food, erectile dysfunction, depression, and more. Luckily both were capable of reversing those symptoms once they switched back to a healthy diet. It’s so easy to go through our busy days without thinking about how our food affects us, but it clearly has a fundamental impact on our mind, body, and emotions.

Mind vs. Reality

Everyone thinks they have a healthy diet. Seriously, ask anyone and they will say that yes, they eat healthily. But the truth is we all have a tendency to go with the flow, and ‘the flow’ has been toward ultra-processed, fast and easy foods. It’s understandable. We are busier and more distracted than ever. We lack the time to even think about the food we eat, much less cook it from scratch. Most first world countries are indeed experiencing a longer life expectancy, but America is in fact, getting less healthy.

Consumption Beyond Food

These experiments have been on mind lately for a different reason than the connection between food and health though. I’ve been thinking about how fast it is to take a healthy body and make it unhealthy. It took less than a month for those two men to have serious consequences from their unhealthy diets. What about our minds? Can an intelligent person become less intelligent in a similar amount of short time due to what they consume?

For example, if we take a person with average intelligence, and give them books, time to process information, classes with instructors who mentor them, work that builds cognitive thinking skills, and discussions that encourage using them, won’t that person get smarter? If we take that same person of average intelligence and fill their days with social media, entertainment disguised as news, podcasts and articles that simplify issues and play on emotions and implicit bias, won’t that person lose intelligence? I’m just asking questions, but when I look around, these seem like reasonable questions.

Personal Responsibility

Some people might take issue with my saying that we gain or lose intelligence, and perhaps I should say cognitive thinking skills instead. I use the word intelligence though because it seems like the right word. We are not guaranteed health, just because we were born healthy. We have to support our health through what we eat, how we move our bodies, prioritizing sleep, hygiene, and more. I think it is the same with intelligence. We are not guaranteed to keep our intelligence just because we made decent grades in school or have a certain career. We have to support it, continue to be aware of what we are consuming, when our emotions are being played upon, and when we are goaded into thinking that aligns with our implicit biases.

I’m trying to stay hopeful about the state of the world. It seems to me that if we can collectively use less social media, respect the integrity of journalism, build communities in real life, and have a growth mindset, we might be able to survive, and perhaps even evolve.

Again, I’m just asking questions. I would love to hear what your thought and opinions are about the state of the world. So tell me, what do you think?

Wishing you days of fulfillment, and rejuvenating nights 🌱🍓🍜🫖💜

A Better Life

Sunny day along Juanita Bay

This is the time of year many people make resolutions for improving their lives, or at the very least think about their lives in terms of years instead of the minute by minute perspective in which we so often live out our days. I appreciate that we have this yearly built in reminder to look at the bigger picture, make goals, to think about who we want to be and how we intend to get there, although I don’t personally feel inspired in the dead of winter to make any big changes. I struggle every January with winter’s lessons, and leave my bigger picture thinking for the warmer, brighter days of early spring. Towards the end of last year though, I heard a bit of news that I’ve been gnawing on ever since I first heard it and felt compelled to look further into it. I have to wonder, as a whole, are we even making the right New Years Resolutions?

The news item was that American life expectancy is declining, while all other comparable nations’ life expectancy continues to improve. With all our health gurus, power supplements, fitness obsessions, smart watches, and expert doctors, how are we missing the mark in such a grand way? Almost every day there is some “new finding” that gets touted on the news and social media about what to do be healthy here, for example, eat blueberries for brain health, or walk 10K steps a day, (or is it thirty minutes? Or 7,000 steps? Or is the key to moderate the intensity? Or change it every 10 days? Keto or intermittent fasting or celery juice? ) It seems so…desperate, like a person who really really wants something so badly that they grasp onto every new promise like it’s their only hope, their last life saving technique that will float them to everlasting health and happiness. If this were one person, we’d call that person neurotic, but as a nation we call it culture, and it clearly isn’t working.

This website I found has graphs which illustrate the disparities between the U.S. and comparable countries, and it is pretty astounding. The one that shocks me the most, is the amount of money Americans spend on healthcare compared to peer countries, take a look:

https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/HqLAQ/

This isn’t just a healthcare problem, although I do think the American healthcare system is deeply flawed and the pharmaceutical industry is problematic at best, but it is also our food system, work culture demands, isolation and loneliness, stress of all sorts, racial and class systemic inequities, guns, and on and on. I know we can do better in all these realms because our peer nations are proving the point quite well. I don’t have any answers to overhauling all aspects of American life, but I am grateful for the statistical health organizations who track these things to make it clear that an overhaul is indeed needed. Knowledge is power after all. Let’s make real changes this year.

My wishes for you for 2024 is that wherever you are in the world, you have long-term goals defined, understand how to attain your goals, and enjoy your days while getting there.

Free Viewing of Series about Health

Nothing to do during this strange, timeless week between Christmas and New Year’s? If you are looking for some inspiration on how to create better routines and better health in 2022, you might like watching a few of these episodes. This series, by Nick Polizzi, is one I’ve shared once before when they first released it for free viewing. I’ve only watched a few of the episodes but those were good and I’ll try to watch more during this free viewing period. If you are interested, here’s the link or click the episodes below which all take you to the main page of the series.

Here are the episodes you can choose from (or watch them all!) before the end of December 30th, 2021 (11:59PM PT).

Episode 1 – The Hidden Root Cause Of All Disease

Episode 2 – Reversing Autoimmune Disorders & Healing Your Gut

Episode 3 – Brain Health & Restoring Cognitive Function

Episode 4 Solving Fatigue & Insomnia

Episode 5 – Healing Heart Disease, Diabetes & Obesity

Episode 6 – Overcoming Physical Pain

Episode 7 – Healing Emotional & Physical Trauma

Episode 8 – Cancer Breakthroughs

Episode 9 – Intimacy, Fertility & Hormone Health

Documentary Series that is Free this Weekend (6.12-6.13.2021)

This is a documentary series by Nick Polizzi that has been airing for free with an option to buy it and have it forever. If you are interested in any of the below the topics, you can watch the episode(s) free this weekend at this link: https://proven.thesacredscience.com/proven-replay-page. Basically they all talk about the latest therapies that have studies and proof behind them in these various health areas. Herbs are discussed, as is nutrition, movement and exercise, and many other modalities. I’ve watched a couple and they are interesting so thought I’d share.

Episode 1: The Root Cause Of All Disease

Episode 2: Reversing Autoimmune Disorders & Healing Your Gut


Episode 3: Brain Health & Restoring Cognitive Function


Episode 4: Solving Fatigue & Insomnia

Episode 5: Healing Heart Disease, Diabetes and Obesity

Episode 6: Overcoming Pain


Episode 7: Healing Emotional And Physical Trauma

Episode 8: Cancer Breakthroughs


Episode 9: Intimacy, Fertility and Hormone Health

Let me know if you watch any of the episodes and what you think!

Brain Health

While creating a mini-course on adaptogens, I’ve been thinking about putting together a blend focused on brain health for my sons who are students and will be for many more years. The adaptogenic herbs I’m thinking of including are Ashwagandha, Tulsi, Gotu Kola, and Rhodiola. This would be a great mix for long-term energy and stamina, with herbs specifically targeting brain health, focus, and stress management, with anti-depressant and anti-anxiety action. This seems like an optimal mix for a student, or for anyone looking for long-term brain support. As we age it is especially important to make sure our brains get the best nutrition and care we can provide. No one else can do it for you~ this is self care at a fundamental level.

Here is an infographic from Delicious Living that has other ways to improve brain health on a daily basis. These tips are not only good for brain health but overall health and wellness in general, and they really aren’t hard. It’s a nice reminder of how eating more fruits and vegetables, reducing stress, exercising, and consciously limiting toxins improve every part of daily life. I’ve been thinking lately how the ripple effects of our thoughts and actions can be either be beneficial and building a better future, or damaging. It’s hard to always choose wisely, but self care can never be detrimental.

Natrol Cognium Infographic_DL.jpg

Nutritious foods don’t have to be boring. The New Hope Blogger Box has some foods this time around that make superfoods snackable and drinkable. This Beet Latte from Raw and Root has goji and maqui berries along with the beet root to make this a deeply nourishing addition to any daily diet. This combination offers support for energy, heart health, weight loss, and more. Check out their website to see all the benefits of these three superfoods. This powder is going in my morning smoothies.

This dried Dragon Fruit from Jungle Orchards  has only 6g of sugars per package, plus 2g of protein. Dragon fruit is considered a superfood for its many benefits without the excessive sugar that many fruits have, especially dried fruits. This would make a great healthy snack for kids’ lunch bags when you want to send them off with extra fruit but not extra sugar. To learn more about the many benefits of dragon fruit (it was all new to me!) then check out this article which talks about weight loss, lowering cholesterol, improving energy, and more.

Avocado is delicious but has the one overwhelming flaw of being seriously high maintenance when it comes to catching its perfect ripeness, and also you can’t take an avocado anywhere without bruising. These freeze-dried avocados from Senor Avocado take the guesswork out of avocado ripening and they are fully transportable so lunch boxes can carry them. The healthy fats are still there, and the taste is the same as a fresh, but the texture is slightly different so no avocado toast with these. Instead, throw them on salads or soups, or just eat them as a snack or as part of healthy meal. There are different flavors but I really liked these Peruvian Pink Salt ones.

Enjoy the upcoming Memorial weekend (for those here in the U.S.) and be sure to take good care of yourself with some healthy delicious foods, some fun activities, and plenty of rest. Your body and brain will thank you for it. Please subscribe for weekly posts about herbs, natural health, and green beauty, and please share with anyone who might benefit from this article.

Natural Supplements for Bruises

Homeopathic Arnica is one of the few first aid items I always carry around with me. Especially when my kids were younger and constantly falling and bumping into things, Arnica pellets offered instant pain relief and help with the healing process. I heard a mom tell her son the other day, “That’s a bruise. There’s nothing I can do for a bruise,” and I was torn on whether I should show her all the Arnica gels and creams that can be used on the skin, and the pellets and tablets that could be taken internally, or not. I decided it was not the right scenario to go on an Arnica educational tour, so I’m putting the information out into the world here instead, in case someone else has ever thought there is nothing to do for a bruise.

Arnica works great on minor bumps and bruises both in the immediate aftermath of the trauma and also as part of the longer term healing. It is also used to relieve pain due to muscle aches, overexertion, arthritis, and any kind of trauma. People often take 30c daily for a week before undergoing surgery, then resume taking it afterward, but the data on the efficacy of this is mixed. Taking any supplements leading up to surgery should always be discussed with your doctor.

Arnica is best known for helping with swelling and the discoloration associated with bruising. Taking the pellet or tablet form as well as using a cream or gel externally means double the healing action on the injury.

Dosages for homeopathy is a little strange and counter intuitive, but usually the higher the number on the container, the more diluted it is, and the more effective it is. The most common dosage recommendation for general use applications is 30C, but for immediate trauma, a 6C or 12C can be used. Boiron has this quick finder visual to see common dosing for using the pellets, Arnica Pellets, and a lot of other useful information as well.

If deciding on the right dose of pellets sounds daunting, stick to the tablets which tell you on the packaging how to take them, when, and why. There are tablets specific to arthritis, and ones for muscle strain, pain, and bruising.

Hylands has a whole website dedicated to Arnica information and considering Arnica is the most popular homeopathic medicine out there, it makes sense.

Bromelain is often recommended as well for bruising (and joint support), and believe it or not, probiotics play a role in controlling bruising as well as everything else they do. This is because you have to have a healthy microbiome in order to properly process vitamin K which is essential in proper blood clotting mechanisms. Another reason, as if we needed one, to take a good probiotic.

As we get older our skin thins, which is why older people are more prone to bruising. Building the skin up with vitamin C and Collagen are two ways to increase the health and appearance of the skin, while also combatting the tendency to bruise at the slightest provocation. Vitamin C should be increased in small doses over time because too big of an increase at once can cause diarrhea. Collagen can be taken as a powder, in a capsule, liquid, or even in tasty chews. There are several products now that target skin health in an anti-aging way that have both vitamin C and Collagen in them, so that makes it even more convenient to supplement your skin.

Bruising for no reason can be a sign of something more serious going on in your body, so if you have any concerns or things change drastically in a short amount of time, it’s always best to talk to your naturopath or doctor.

Arnica represents what I like most about natural supplements in the way that they offer help where modern medicine does not have anything to give. Plus, that help comes almost completely without negative side effects such as tiredness, hyper-ness, blood pressure manipulation, and on and on that normally go hand in hand with over-the-counter medications and prescriptions. Whatever ails you, if you think you have no options, or even if you just don’t like your current options, look again at what the natural world has to offer. You just might find the secret ingredient to your optimal health and wellness.

Be well and please subscribe for weekly posts about herbs, natural health, and green beauty, and please share with anyone who might benefit from this article.

 

Iron

There used to be a point in many afternoons when I’d feel so fatigued that it was sickening. A full-body tiredness that if I did not lie down and close my eyes it’d take all my faculties to keep functioning. This would often happen shortly before I’d have to meet my kids at the bus stop and I’d worry that I wouldn’t have the energy to get out there, or even fall asleep and miss it. When I talked to my doctor about this, she attributed it to my being a busy mom and said I was probably just tired for understandable reasons like pretty much all moms out there. I tried to explain it was beyond a regular tired feeling, but in any case it was dropped. I brought it up with my naturopath who checked my thyroid levels (my thyroid levels are checked yearly because of a family history of low thyroid anyway) and a whole slew of other levels that had the person taking my blood rather shocked at the number of vials she had to fill. The naturopath attributed the fatigue to sub-optimal hormone production across the board, a lack of protein, and my multiple food intolerances. And actually, all those things could have been the reason for the fatigue, except that they weren’t.

When my youngest son went to that same naturopath, she immediately knew he needed an iron supplement because he was not a big meat eater, nor a big greens eater. And here’s the catch with the greens, it is hard for the body to absorb iron from greens, and greens as well as iron supplements should always be accompanied by vitamin C, either a supplement or in food form. Plus my son had food intolerances which meant that his digestive system was impaired, another indication one might need iron supplementation. When I did further research on iron for him, it occurred to me that I had all the symptoms of low iron too, so I started taking the same liquid iron that he did and guess what- that sickening afternoon fatigue went away.

You see, in all those blood tests, iron was ignored even though my naturopath and I talked ad nauseum about my being vegetarian or pescatarian for most of my life and she was the one who got me to eventually add chicken and turkey to my diet, after about five years of insistence, to help build up lifelong deficiencies. (I’m still squeemmish about the poultry, but my naturopath would actually like me to eat liver and beef, so it’s a compromise.) My physician also was aware of my dietary habits but has never to this day ordered an iron test. But when I told both of them that my fatigue was better with iron supplementation, they both had the same reaction of, “oh, that makes total sense.” It’s not just my experience either. I’ve talked to several women of child bearing years who don’t eat any or much meat who have never had their iron tested. It just doesn’t seem to be a common test doctors think to run.

So I’m harping on about this because it is just my way of saying, you might need to ask for your iron to be checked if you have a mostly vegetarian or vegan diet, are a woman in child bearing years or are currently pregnant, have Celiac disease, IBS, or any other digestive system disorder, have heavy periods or internal bleeding, or have unexplained fatigue or other symptoms. It just seems to be one of those things that you have to be your own advocate on because it doesn’t seem to be en vogue for medical practitioners to think about iron straight away. If you need another reason to look into your iron levels, running low contributes to anxiety and cloudy brain.

It seems like iron maybe got a bad rap, or at least regulated to the ‘no need for supplementation’ space because too much iron causes constipation and ‘too much’ is likely more common in America than too little, considering the amount of red meat most Americans traditionally consume. I don’t know how it is in other countries, but most multivitamins/minerals here are iron free with the assumption being you’ll eat plenty of it in your daily diet. Those food habits are changing though, and thoughts on iron haven’t quite caught up with the decrease in red meat consumption and the increase of digestive disorders. It’s important to keep in mind though that even just taking an iron supplement can cause constipation if you aren’t taking the right kind. An interesting thing about combining iron with vitamin C is that while iron can be constipating, vitamin C can have the opposite effect, so not only does the C help the body absorb the iron, it actually helps counter the potential negative digestive effects.

The best way to take iron though, for both absorption and for avoiding constipation, is to take a liquid form.  Flora, Garden of Life, and Gaia all make liquid iron supplements that are much easier for the body to assimilate than pills, and the vitamin C is included in the formulations. I prefer the taste of Gaia’s but iron is just never going to be a great tasting liquid so consider yourself warned. If my picky son was able to drink it when he was around age 6 though, anyone can do it  And it is worth it to feel like you are fully functioning all day long, instead of battling fatigue and other confusing symptoms.

There are several herbs high in iron as well, such as Nettle and Dandelion. Both of those herbs are known as blood builders and purifiers with the added bonus of being excellent for your skin. Both are often taken to combat skin issues such as eczema. The leaves of each can be eaten fresh in salads (be careful of nettle’s little stingers), made into an herbal pesto, or the dry leaves make a delicious tea, either separate or combined. Tinctures and pill forms are also available and considering we are quickly approaching the season where we find nettles and dandelions growing wild, that also means it’s traditionally the best season to take these two herbs. Eating seasonally and locally applies to herbs too after all.

Best health to you and yours and please subscribe for weekly posts about herbs, natural health, and green beauty, and please share with anyone who might benefit from this article.

 

People and Plants

This e-guide from Delicious Living speaks to my heart. Delicious Living made it in partnership with the company Gaia Herbs which is one of  my go-to herbal supplement brands. I have taken their extra-strength turmeric daily for years and it has made a huge impact in my life (and my aching feet). Plants have been our friends, healers, and joy givers for all of our human existence and it’s a mission of mine to keep that relationship alive and thriving. This guide not only reminds us how many ways plants are part of our lives and part of our health, it also gives some suggestions for herbs that can enhance your daily life and if you think about it, our lifelong health is nothing more than our daily habits so adding small positive actions, supplements, and wellness practices are what make the biggest impact on health, aging, and quality of life. Check out the e-guide and enjoy being reminded of how integral plants are to our lives, and how entwined their health is with our own.

Gaia-guide-promo

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Natural Support in a Classroom Setting

My friend suggested I write about what, if anything, a teacher could do in his or her classroom to help students learn. There are definitely things one can do in a classroom, but what exactly can be done has a lot to do with who and where you are teaching. This friend of mine is actually in her home country of South Africa right now but we lived in Prague together as English teachers many moons ago, so that got me thinking about the differences in cultural classrooms and also the differences in ages being taught. We taught adults in Prague but we both have experience with kids too, both as teachers and parents.

DB4A47C5-BB47-4296-ACC9-D268FC499839[1]One thing just about anyone can do is to bring in fresh plants. This is something parents or students themselves can actually take the initiative on to freshen up the air in a classroom and depending on the plant, actually have added benefits. There are certain plants that cleanse the space of specific toxins, and the fragrance of herbs and flowers can actually benefit the moods and brain functioning of people. One year when my two kids were still in elementary school, I gave their classroom teachers each a pot of Rosemary before the state testing began, thinking the teachers would already know that Rosemary is great for brains, benefiting focus, clarity, and memory.  The teachers were surprised to hear that Rosemary was traditionally used in such a way and I’m not really sure if they believed me or not, but the plants stayed in my boys’ classrooms for the rest of that year.

If you travel from classroom to classroom, then plants might not be practical. Luckily, essential oils are portable and can be used in a couple of different ways. Diffusing essential oils in the classroom can help promote positive mental and emotional health. There are different options when it comes to diffusing, including plug-in ones, light bulbA59AF0A5-9A2C-4D76-B61A-3D62814D9DC0[1] rings, ceramic discs, and candle fueled ceramics. Orange or Bergamot essential oils would be good uplifting choices for returning to school after a long break. When it might be necessary to keep a class calm, Lavender is the obvious choice. When taking a big test, nothing beats Rosemary essential oil for clarity, focus, and memory help. When going through a study guide, if you have any essential oil scenting the room, it will help to have that same scent in the room during the actual test. (Just as at home studying can be amplified with essential oils and then the brain triggered during the assessment with the same scent.) It’s important to switch up the essential oils if used in this way, so assigning certain subjects with certain essential oils can help the brain function best. Also, doing blends might be the best option of all so the scents will be truly unique to a certain class and its specific material, so that way students won’t automatically think of the pythagorean theorem every time they smell Cedarwood for the rest of their lives, or whatever scent has been married to whatever subject. It’s truly something to consider! The role scent plays in memory cannot be overstated, due to the construction of the brain, so making use of it is wise, but being thoughtful about it is kind.

Besides diffusing essential oils, making sprays can be another way to scent the room, and also to combat germs. Thieves oil is the classic germ buster, but many essential oils have anti-bacterial properties, and some are even anti-viral. Thyme is especially good for cold and flu time of year, and besides being antiseptic, antibacterial, and antiviral, it is antifungal too. You can use the spray you make not only as an air freshener, but also to wipe down desks and tabletops. You can also use sprays made from distilled water and essential oils as a body spray to help keep yourself or your student healthy. Just diffusing the essential oils into the air will help keep down the germs, and almost all the essential oils have some antiseptic properties so you can’t really choose badly in that respect. While more essential oils are antibacterial than antiviral, the following have both antibacterial and antiviral properties: Cinnamon, Clove, Lemon Eucalyptus, Garlic, Lavender, Onion, Oregano, Tea Tree, and Thyme. (Reference: Valerie Ann Wormwood’s The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy.)

For more about what students and parents of students can do to combat anxiety and increase their study power, click the links, and here are two more posts on immune boosters for winter.

Although winter is an especially good time for bringing plants and essential oils into the classroom, students and teachers can benefit year round from a bit of nature in their shared space. Instead of gifting teachers apples, a potted plant or a bottle of essential oils might be the healthier option for all. Wishing you all the best in health and happiness~ do what it takes. You are worth it. Please subscribe for weekly posts about herbs, natural health, and green beauty, and please share this with anyone who might be interested.

 

 

 

Thank You and Addressing the Survey

Just a quick note to say thank you to those of you who took the survey in my last post. The answers are anonymous so I can’t address you personally if you took it (because I don’t know who took it), which means I have to do it here. Two things come up in the survey that I wanted to talk to right away. The first is that someone mentioned learning more about growing and drying herbs. I’m not much of a grower myself with barely a raised bed of edibles each summer, but herbs are notoriously easy to grow. Of course, that depends on if you are growing what is native to your area or if you are trying to grow jungle plants in Alaska, but assuming you are growing somewhat native plants, most herbs are hearty, not too picky about soil, and are a good pick for kids because they generally don’t disappoint. As for drying, if you are in a hurry you can use a food dehydrator if you happen to have one, or your oven on it’s lowest setting (under 185 degrees) with the door cracked open. Those two techniques can dry herbs in a day. All you really need though is some sort of slatted drying rack, a cooling rack from your oven would do if the herbs don’t fall through, and a dry room with good ventilation. You want the herbs to not touch as much as possible, and flipping them over once a day or so is also a good idea. You can also tie small bundles together and hang them to dry which is space saver and less work once they are hanging. Either way will take from a few days to over a week, depending on what you are drying and the conditions of the room. You can dry herbs in the sun if you are just looking for a quick 1-2 day dry but still intend to use the plant as ‘fresh’. Hope that helps, but if not there are plenty of websites that go into detail about drying herbs so you aren’t alone and definitely can find what you need.

To those that indicated they would most like to learn about a particular disease and what would help it, I highly recommend starting with the book, Prescription for Nutritional Healing by Phyllis A. Balch CNC. It’s a great resource as a starting place. It does not go too deeply into herbs, but it does give sound herbal recommendations after each disease/condition. An old edition was given to every employee when hired at the health food store I worked at over 20 years ago, and we kept the new editions behind the checkout counter to hand over to customers for when they came in looking for natural help for whatever ailed them. It’s a great resource and I’ve held onto mine all these years despite the fact the cover is gone and the pages are starting to fall out. Here’s a brief video to see what the book looks like:

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Also KP Khalsa has some online videos about herbs for specific diseases/conditions so you might want to look into those as well. I love that people are taking their health into their own hands. We hear a lot about self-care lately and that means something different to everyone, but when we apply that notion to our health it means really addressing the imbalances that inevitably occur so they do not go into a disease condition. Sometimes this means getting a diagnosis from a doctor, other times it might mean just thinking about long term conditions, or parts of our bodies that seem most susceptible to disharmony, and then changing daily habits or supplementing accordingly. Be an authority on yourself. You’ll be your own best advocate and it’s the surest way to your best health possible.

And just FYI, that butterfly was alive and well. I at first was nervous it might be injured or worse because it let me get so close without moving, but then I took the photo and it promptly flew away. Phew! 

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