A NEW WAY OF APPROACHING HEALTHCARE
A few years ago my healthcare routine looked like this: I got sick, I'd go to the doctor. End of story. After all, the doctor knew best, right?
But after years of doing this and not feeling great nor getting the answers I needed I started adding some natural health sort of appointments to my repertoire like Chiropractors and an Acupuncturist. And then finally in the last few years I added a Functional Medicine Practitioner as well. I have found myself in a patient-centered sort of health care model now that I absolutely love. I look out for ME and I use these various practitioners as needed in support of my well being.
In addition to using these practitioners I also make sure to do my own research to see if I can make heads or tails of anything I'm feeling. I might not necessarily BELIEVE everything I read on the internet, for example (and you definitely shouldn't), but I at least feel empowered that I know all of the alternatives before going along with something one of my practitioners suggests.
ENTER ESSENTIAL OILS
One of the things I have started employing in my care is the use of essential oils. If you had asked me 2 years ago if I wanted to use essential oils for health I would have looked at you like you were a bit nutso. Essential oils, as far as I knew, were those things you buy at the health food store to make homemade beauty products smell good. But as I have learned, they are amazing additions to any natural toolkit. I used oils to get over strep throat without antibiotics. I used them to rid my son of a staph infection. We use them to help us get a great night's sleep. Sneezing and itchy eyes/nose from allergies are stopped in their tracks. Stuffy noses, coughs, croupy breathing problems are all easily rectified. Essential oils have such great anti-microbial, anti-bacterial, and anti-fungal properties that they work so well for preventing illnesses and purifying the air, your house, anything you touch, etc. I'm just blown away by how useful these things are.
Seriously, I kind of can't believe sometimes how effective they are and think to myself “I so wish we had known about them years ago!”. But when I think about it, it's rather an ironic statement because essential oils and plant-based medicine have been around for thousands of years. It's just in the last century or so that we've gotten away from these when the pharmaceutical companies started marketing their wares. Unfortunately though, while many pharmaceuticals do work, they often come with unwanted side effects. And I know I for one don't really want to deal with feeling unwell for one thing because I'm taking a drug for something else. I just want to feel good overall!
If essential oils haven't been on your radar I urge you to take a look at them because they just might change your life as well. They really fit in well with a patient-centered, natural solution sort of healthcare model, and if you are already worried about what you eat you can think of this as complementary to your overall well being.
(The pictures at the top of this page feature posts of things I have done using essential oils).
