"Holistic medicine is a form of healing that considers the whole person -- body, mind, spirit, and emotions -- in the quest for optimal health and wellness." (Web MD)
But why did you choose to follow a holistic approach to your health?
Growing up I was always unwell with some form of respiratory issue.
I would regularly have a chest infection, the common cold, flu and on top of that I had asthma too so simply breathing would be a challenge.
Most nights I would wake up in the night having some sort of breathing issue.
I would be coughing up mucus or just coughing for no reason.
My nose would always be running. It was rough!
For the longest time, I couldn't even breath out of one side of my nose.
I want to say this was down to dust allergy, seasonal allergies and other factors that I really believe were causing the issue like living in a bungalow home surrounded greenery.
Countryside is beautiful unless you have allergies!
Over a period of ten years, I realized that I had taken antibiotics around 2-3 times a year due to chest infections and I had used every type of nasal spray and inhaler under the sun.
I even had my sinuses operated on and still nothing had changed.
Every other year I would have to go to the Doctor for an emergency appointment to be put on a nebulizer to help me breathe.
It was so annoying because I never got answers, just a treatment.
As soon as I moved to Seattle, those issues has stopped. Done. Ended.
I don't know if it was something to do with my home which was surrounded by a lot of greenery or that our windows were prone to mold during the colder seasons ( we were very on top of the cleaning) OR the fact that I was also tested positive for DUST MITE allergy.. of all allergies
Something was causing the issue.
This issue really took over my teenage years.
It made me realize that I had taken medications for no reason really,
it was about my environment.
I realized that medications were simply a band-aid and not hitting the ROOT CAUSE.
*I am not against medication by any means.
I was tired of taking them for so long without an explanation as to WHY it was happening in the first place.
Antibiotics kill your gut bacteria and I wanted to start looking after my body naturally.
When moving to Seattle, I came across a lot of people who were either yoga fanatics or essential oil enthusiasts or simply into food being medicine.
This is when I began making very small changes.
Bare in mind that this has been a gradual change.
Here is what I have started doing over the last five years or so;
1. Limiting how much I use artificially scented products such as candles, plug-in's, air fresheners. and using more organic essential oils, cleaner brands.
I have completely stopped buying plug-ins but I do still buy some scented candles, I simply use them for less time (for one hour rather than allowing it to burn for hours on end) or I light them in the spare room rather than them being closer to me.
I'm a working progress!
2. Going to the local Farmer's Market.
Eating seasonal produce.
Trying to buy less junk food and eat more real, fresh fruits, vegetables and organic meat.
I have been trying to eat more alkaline foods too as acid creates more inflammation causing illness in the body.
I love using herbs to heal. Turmeric and oregano are a couple favorites!
We only use butter, ghee, coconut oil and olive oil for cooking and I have switched to oat milk as dairy creates more mucus in my sinus, throat area.
3. I've swapped out my home cleaners, beauty products, deodorants etc for cleaner brands.
4. Soda pop is a big no-no in our home unless we have people coming over.
I have stopped drinking alcohol
(not that I was a big drinker but I would force myself to drink it socially, I've completed stopped that)
We use organic cane sugar, honey and maple syrup as sweeteners but i'm working on using them less than we do now. Sugar really isn't good on the gut and in order for me to be more holistic, I'm trying to decrease the amount I consume.
5. I have taken up meditation.
Be it in the bathtub with epsom salts, essential oils and unscented candles or simply in the mornings during my beloved tea-time.
I feel this has worked wonders. Keep those stress levels low!
6. Gut health.
Our gut is truly the make or break of our general health.
It all begins in the gut!
In doing that I try to consume probiotic yogurt every day
(Weirdly, I'm fine with whole milk probiotic yogurt but not cheese and milk. Go figure!)
Every morning I have probiotic yogurt with some frozen organic wild blueberries, honey and walnuts.
I drink bone broth or cook with it once a week.
I add fermented foods to a few meals during the week where I can, fermented foods are LOADED with gut friendly bacteria.
7. I take supplements completely personalized to what my body needs. Check my Holistic health coach out @pilatesandpapaya on IG.
8. HYDRATION
Water with a little sea salt for optimum hydration!
9. Essential oil diffusing using organic essential oils/good quality oils.
10. Lastly, CBD oil.
Check my blog post about cbd oil written by the amazing CBD Queen herself, Jessica at MJesthetics.
It's quite the journey but the important thing is what it is doing for your general health and as we know..
Health is Wealth.
I am done putting a band aid on the problem, let's start dealing with the root causes!
