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.
During sleep, our bodies should be working to support healthy brain function and maintain our physical health.
How is that working for you?
I hope very well! But, if not, I hope something in this article can help you! There are few things in life more frustrating—and more detrimental to our health—than lying awake, so very tired, but unable to sleep. Not getting enough good quality sleep is, however, more than just frustrating because sleep is a very essential function! Without sufficient rest/sleep, it is impossible for a person to be well either physically or emotionally! As you sleep, your body and mind get a chance to recharge. If that ‘recharging’ gets accomplished, you should wake up refreshed, energetic, and alert. If not . . .?
During childhood and into the teenage years, sleep also supports growth and development. Getting inadequate sleep over time increases the risk of chronic (long-term) health problems.
Studies show that when we don’t get quality sleep or enough sleep, our immune system gets disrupted and weakened. This, of course, makes it more likely that we will get sick when we have been exposed to any sort of illness. Our bodies need sleep to fight infections that are passed from one person to the next. Long-term lack of sleep also raises our risk of obesity, diabetes, depression, high blood pressure, stroke, and heart disease.
I could go on and on here, but let’s just get on to possible solutions!
As fall rolls in and the air turns crisp, it also brings along an unwelcome guest—“sickness season.” Cooler weather means respiratory viruses and other illnesses tend to pop up more often. Kids in school are exposed to all kinds of germs (and generously share them at home). Plus, when it’s chilly outside, we spend more time indoors and closer to others, making it easier for germs to spread. To make matters worse, cooler temps and drier air create the perfect environment for viruses to stick around longer, both in the air and on surfaces.
The best way to stay healthy is to give your immune system a boost before sickness season kicks into high gear. That way, you can avoid, or at least lessen, the bugs that come your way. But life happens, and sometimes those best-laid plans don’t pan out. That’s where the products in this blog come in. They can help you stay well, bounce back faster, and make those symptoms a whole lot easier to handle.
Before we begin today’s discussion of essential oils, herbs, and Blessed Waters (homeopathics), I would like to provide a little bit of extraneous, but I feel quite necessary, information. I searched both the Butterfly Express and Butterfly Expressions sites and was disappointed to find that the information I have written and taught in various places over the years on the topic I am about to summarize briefly below is not to be found on either site. It doesn’t seem to be in any of the books I have written, either. (However, I made only a rudimentary search, so . . .) If this oversight is actually real, I intend to remedy the situation as soon as I can find a minute (or a few hours, as it will likely be).
Two key factors in understanding essential oils are recognizing the differences in healing properties among plant families and understanding how various parts of the same plant can offer different therapeutic benefits. It probably doesn’t surprise you that the medicinal properties of the conifer family (spruce trees, for example) are very different from the healing properties of the various herbaceous or ornamental plants (such as the Lauraceae, Labiate, Compositae, and Umbelliferae families).
Even within the same plant family, whether an essential oil has been created from the wood, the seed, the root, or the leaves, dramatically affects the healing properties of that essential oil, and does so to an incredible degree.
A well-built blend allows us to combine, synergistically, the benefits of several plant families as well as the healing capacities of various plant parts, all with the goal of increasing the capabilities of each single essential oil. Just as a chocolate cake is more pleasing—and tastes better—than the varying ingredients separately, an essential oil blend has the potential of being so much more than any of the single oil ingredients by themselves
Let’s keep this information in mind as we discuss various essential oil blends in the pages of this (and every) newsletter.
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.
As I have said often and with emphasis over many years, “All drugs have side effects!”
As an introduction to this section on Alternative Pain Management, I am including parts of an “FDA Drug Safety Communication” issued on July 9, 2015. If you wish to read the entire communication (with pages of additional information for patients and consumers and even more information for Health Care Professionals along with a comprehensive Data Summary) I am providing the link to the FDA announcement itself on the U.S Food & Drug Administration’s web page.
This statement certainly is true of the drugs used for pain management, as is illustrated by these statements taken from the FDA website itself. The use of herbs, essential oils, and Blessed Water or Homeopathic remedies is an effective and safe way to manage pain.
An allergy is an inappropriate response by the body to a substance that is not harmful to most people. The immune system, which is supposed to protect us from toxins and pathogens, wrongly identifies a substance as harmful to us and goes into action. The response can be anywhere from mildly annoying to symptoms severe enough to create anaphylactic shock. These types of allergies may begin with only mild symptoms but grow worse with each reaction; they are NOT something that a person typically grows out of.
When I saw this month’s topic I got very excited. Allergies can be devastating and have a nasty effect on trying to live life and enjoy it! I had so many allergies—an unbelievable number and to a wide variety of substances—during my childhood and early adulthood. If it blew on the wind, if it was meant to be consumed in a raw or natural state such as watermelon or nearly every kind of vegetable or fruit, or if it was a drug of any sort—even such things as antibiotics, dental deadening, and mouthwashes—I was going to react to it in some uncomfortable or dangerous way. Oh, the list could go on and on! I spent my life either in misery from one allergy or another or I was sleepy from the allergy pills I was taking. Trips to the dentist’s office became scary for me and for the dentist! Eventually, I even started to react to allergy pills of every variety.
As with all true allergies, the reactions to many of my ‘triggers’ got worse with time—much worse, involving my heart in scary ways!
Who am I today as far as allergies are concerned? I have none and haven’t had for many years! I eat whatever I want. Do you have any idea how enjoyable a piece of watermelon or a raw carrot tastes these days? Or how fun it is to be outdoors. I don’t even worry about bee stings these days! If I feel the slightest itch in my throat or eyes or any other allergic-type reaction I simply go back to the things I know. Many of those things will be talked about in this article.
Side Note: Having had some scary reactions to antibiotics and other types of drugs in the past and having lived so many years without them, I can’t really say for sure whether they are still a problem or not. I suspect those allergies have also gone away. I took 2 antibiotic pills and 1 painkiller a while ago (the first of either in 40 years) after some extensive dental work. No reaction at all!
In December we will discuss Anxiety, Stress and Self-Reflection. I would like to begin today by recounting a story told by one of my favorite authors, Bruce H. Lipton, in his book The Biology of Belief. I will paraphrase as best I can, in the interest of keeping this segment brief—well, sort of.
Dr. Lipton uses the example of a track race to illustrate for his readers the effects of stress on the body. A well-trained and healthy group of sprinters steps up to the starting line. They hear the command, “On your mark,” and they drop to their hands and knees. Then the announcer barks, “Get set.” Their muscles tighten as they prop themselves up on their fingers and toes. In a normal race, the strain and tension they are experiencing lasts only a second or two before the command, “Go!” is heard.
But what if the “Go” command never came? These unfortunate athletes would be left at the starting blocks, their blood coursing with adrenaline, their bodies rapidly going into deep fatigue as they try to stay prepared for a race that never begins. No matter how healthy and toned their physical bodies are or how much they have prepared their minds for the race, every athlete would physically collapse from the strain.
Too many of us today live in a “Get set” world! Study after scientific study has shown that our hyper-vigilance is wreaking havoc on our physical health, mental stability, and emotional well-being.
So, what’s the solution? May I offer three quick pieces of advice, based on my own experience:
Count your blessings! A young son of mine, counseled during a family meeting to “count his blessings,” reported in church—over the microphone at the pulpit—the next week that he had counted his blessings and found 385 of them. (I’m not exactly sure of the number, but you get the gist.) There never was a happier, more contented, or more willing-to-serve child, nor man, than he has become.
Count your strengths instead of your weaknesses. Then get to work using your strengths in the service of others. Our suffering is too often more the result of our thoughts than our circumstances. We alone have control over our thoughts! Suffering because of our mindset is optional and up to us.
Replace fear with faith. It has been proven over and over—also in scientific studies—that meeting tragedy and difficulties with calm assurance, knowing we (with Heaven as our partner) have overcome challenges before and can do so again, reduces the impact on our health and well-being when life’s realities and obstacles inevitably come our way.
Anxiety is too often fear of the future and doubt in our ability to handle it.
The health benefits provided by proper nutrition, herbal remedies, and the impact of essential oils on our minds and bodies can have a tremendous effect on our ability to look to the future with courage and determination, helping us to be happy in the here and now. See the full list of topics.
September marks the beginning of flu season. The herbal world is full of so many wonderful things to help us build our immune system and combat the flu when it finds its way into our lives. This month we will focus on building your Immune System and the Herbs, Essential Oils, and Blessed Waters that are my favorite for the Flu Season. Some of the products discussed are particularly loved by children but can always be used for adults as well. See the full list of topics.
My Experience with Cold Sores Cold sores are something I have suffered with for most of my life. At one point in my life, the hormonal changes caused by my period would ALWAYS cause me to break out with a large and very painful cold sore. It would last 14…