The chicken you want to buy… package says “All Natural”.

(Speaking of chicken, specifically,

"All natural" is a vague term sometimes used in marketing.  "Free range" means birds have access to the outdoors, but doesn't guarantee any specifics about how much space, or for how long they are outdoors.)

”Natural” seems to be a buzzword right now.

Let me first say, the tag on a package saying “Natural”, or “All Natural” doesn’t carry a lot of weight, healthwise.  It may or may not be healthy.  After all, poison ivy is actually “all natural”.

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So what are some “natural” things that are considered healthy?

Food wise:

Food that has not been heavily processed.

Organic is the best choice because it is less likely to include pesticides, herbicides and other poisons.

“Food” that is packaged (not whole, fresh food) is typically highly processed and usually contains lots of filler and other contaminants.

Meat:  “Healthy” should mean wild-caught, or REAL grass-fed, pasture-raised, or free-range, which translates to: know where your meat is coming from.

If it’s “factory-farm” meat that goes through feed-lot, etc., it contains lots of things that work against our health.

Sleep:

Sleep without artificial sleeping aids is the best sleep, by far.  That’s natural sleep. 

Some people think alcohol helps them sleep, but even though it may help them to go to sleep initially, according to most functional medicine doctors, it actually disturbs your sleeping patterns and does not promote deep sleep.

Have an evening routine; dim the lights an hour or so before bed time; turn off all blue-light screens an hour or two before bed; have a cool and dark bedroom; talk about calm things before bed (not finance or problems). 

Eat early meals; leave off the alcohol; caffeine just in the morning; get morning sun. 

These things should help you sleep.  It’s hard to make all these changes, so just start with one thing.  Go for the win on that one thing.  Then begin another change.

Our minds and bodies will begin to foster illness and mental issues without good sleep.  Sleep is very important for energy, brain power, and overall health.

Stress-Busters:

Exercise reduces stress, tension and anxiety, naturally, especially if you exercise outdoors.

Blueberries, leafy greens, cold water fish, avocado and citrus fruit can help reduce stress.

Adequate sources of zinc help reduce stress.

Grounding reduces stress.

Restful mornings, Play, and Break-times during the day promote peace and calm.

Good sleep helps you have a more peaceful outlook.

Magnesium Glycinate helps you relax.

Meditation, Journaling, Deep Breathing, Lavender oil, all improve anxiety.

When you reduce your stress, you have a more peaceful vision of the world around you.  Your life will feel more at ease.

Besides that, stress truly will rob you of your peace, and will make you vulnerable to illness.

Exercise:

Exercise, outside if possible; make it enjoyable.

Exercise in nature does all sorts of good things for our health, including reducing our stress.

It improves our circulation; stimulates lymphatic drainage; improves mood; enhances mental clarity and even memory.

(not to mention it will strengthen your body and lengthen your healthy life.)

Toxins:

Okay, Toxins are bad. Some worse than others.  We don’t want them on our bodies, in our food, nor in our homes.  However we live in a toxin-filled world.  We can’t totally escape them.  But we can do a lot.

Eat organic as much as you can.  Use skin care and toiletries, hair care, etc. that is toxin-free, if at all possible. 

And the cleansers we use for laundry and other household work, we need to be as natural as we can.  Vinegar and baking soda do great for a lot of cleaning jobs.  I clean drains with vinegar and baking soda and boiling water.

There are quite a few companies now that carry toxin-free items.  I use Norwex (Norwex.com) for laundry.  Instead of dryer sheets or fabric softener, I put vinegar in the fabric softener spot.

I make my own foaming hand soap from Dr. Bronner’s liquid castile soap (drbronner.com), water and a few drops of essential oil in a pump bottle. 

I use RMS (rmsbeauty.com) makeup foundation.  I use blush made from tallow.  My face cleanser is coconut oil from the jar, rubbing it into my skin, then clean it off with warm wet cloth.

Use a good quality water filter for your drinking water.  We used to worry about well water, but municipal water is also a great risk.  Tap water includes (small amounts of) arsenic, aluminum, pesticides, hormones, and lead, according to Dr. Jockers (DrJockers.com).

These small amounts might be ok except toxins build up, and if you have other toxins in other areas of your life, it fills up that bucket of your “toxic load”.

Chemicals like chlorine are added to tap water to kill off infectious microbes. Unfortunately the chlorine also damages our natural microbiome and harms our immune system. Tap water is also loaded with industrial chemicals and other toxic elements.  I use a Berkey water filter (usaberkeyfilters.com).

Toxic mold is real.  Toxic mold exposure can impact almost every organ in the body, including the brain.  Be very cautious of toxic mold.

We will never be able to get away from it all.  But we just need to KNOW these things, and think about it so we can make changes as we can.

Relationships.

Our health will actually be better when we have supportive relationships in our lives, either at home, at work/school, or wherever we spend our time.

Do everything you can to love the people around you.  Care about them.  Some people you just can’t get along with.  But find “your people” and cultivate those relationships.  It will help you build your health.  It will also help the people you associate with.  It will be easier for your life to flourish.

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As I mentioned, it’s harder to be successful when you try to make too m any changes at once.  So choose one.  Dedicate yourself to making that change.  Decide how your life will be better after you make that change.  Think of how it will be different; feel your enjoyment as if you are experiencing it right now.

Enjoy the WIN when you are successful with that one small change.  Then choose another, right away.  Think again, how it will change your life when you conquer that change.  Work toward that vision.

Our bodies are wondrously and miraculously made.  Everything in our mind and body works together.  When you have a headache, it’s probably not a problem with your head.  So it’s important to do things that will help us with overall health in every direction. 

So we can have energy… our brain fog will lift… our symptoms will fade… not because of a pill… but because our health improves.

When I changed my eating habits, and (tried to) add relaxation to my life (gradually I learned to do it), it took about 2-½ months for me to feel my health come.  But then it did come.

We are in charge.

You can do it.  You can make one change at a time.

Don’t force yourself.  Draw yourself to the way you want your life to look; to the way you want your life to feel.  Will power alone won’t give you a win, on its own.  You need to envision things the way you want them to be.

You can do it.  One change at a time.

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A few quotes from some wise people:

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.

~ Albert Einstein

To walk in nature is to witness a thousand miracles.

~ Mary Davis

The beauty of the natural world lies in the details.

~Natalie Angier

Thank you for reading.

To your Health…To your Changes…. You Can Do It.

Sharon