When the words ‘self-care’ or ‘self-improvement’ are heard, people tend to conjure up different trains of thought, especially if they apply them immediately to themselves. For some of us, the idea of ‘caring for ourselves’ may get confused with ‘caring too much for self” and/or “caring too little for others”. But failing to look out for your own health can result in a decline in physical and/or mental health in so many gradual and insidious ways! And your poor health, or even lack of optimal health, can impact those around you in so many ways.
I would like to conclude this introduction to this month’s newsletter by quoting from page 3 of my book Butterfly Miracles with Herbal Remedies.
The Focus of Our Work
Herbal remedies and other natural modalities can be utilized in two differing ways. The first method is to focus on the immediate now! Someone you love is ill or unhappy today. Your concern becomes making the pain and the distressing symptoms go away, and making them go away right now! This approach accomplishes a great deal of good in people’s lives. It becomes easy to assume that your work is done when the current crisis has passed. This is where the second method comes in.
With natural healing methods our focus should be the building of healthy, disease free, stress resistant bodies and minds, not just fixing the current symptoms. We are looking for root causes and basic imbalances within ourselves. We are seeking ways to eliminate problem areas and become healthy, happy, vibrant versions of ourselves. We must, of course, cope with what is happening in our lives right now. We have to get up and function each day, after all, but at the same time we need to hold in our mind the goal of strong immune systems, and healthy minds and bodies. Try not to lose sight of this goal amidst the stresses of everyday living. It is far better to eliminate the asthma completely than to get really good at coping with frequent attacks.
Essential oils, herbs, and homeopathic remedies can be great natural options for keeping your skin safe in the sun and keeping bugs away. Products like lavender essential oil and Neutralizer help soothe sunburns, while things like Sun Shade lotion offer sun protection. For bug bites and stings, herbs like calendula or plantain can calm the itch, and essential oils like citronella, catnip, and kanuka help keep mosquitoes and other bugs at bay. Homeopathic remedies like Apis or Ledum can also help with swelling and itching if you do get bitten. It’s a simple, natural way to care for your skin and stay comfortable when you’re outside.
I was absolutely delighted to see what had been chosen for this month’s topic! February can be such a hard month for so many people, and this coming one promises to be harder than usual for me and those around me. As some of you may have heard, our family experienced the devastating loss of a dear loved one recently. I am very grateful for the opportunity to refresh my own mind, study the remedies that deal with depression, grief, and other emotional and mental issues a bit deeper and then share with you what I know and learn. The use of some of these remedies has already had a profound effect on my own mental health recently.
On a lighter note, my older brother, an advanced mathematics professor, told me once that his classes in February were simply used to play fun (and mildly educational) number/math games. Why? Because, he said, students are just up to too much else in February and they need a bit of fun to cheer them up! I suspect that the darker days of winter and, perhaps even in sunny climes, the let down following the holiday season affects us all. See the full list of topics.
My husband and I (he does this better than I do sometimes) look at the plants—every one, and perhaps the rocks and minerals, too—as personal messages from a loving Heavenly Father. Because He understood that we would not always ask for, or even recognize His help in our lives, He endowed the various plants with His own healing capacities and invited us to partake of them to balance and heal our own lives. Plants affect us, not just on a physical (vitamin and molecular) level, but on a spiritual plane as well. It is impossible to use an herbal remedy or and essential oil with an intent to heal the physical body without partaking of its ability to bring light, wisdom, healing, and peace into your life. This peace and wisdom will be multiplied many times over if your use of the herbs, the essential oils, and the blessed water/homeopathic remedies with gratitude to the Creator and an acknowledgment of the role of the atonement in the healing of both physical and emotional (spiritual) pain. Embracing an attitude of GRATITUDE opens the door to ABUNDANCE, allowing us to fully experience the gifts of HEALTH and healing that surround us. See the full list of topics.