In TMC metal rules the lungs, large intestine, and skin.
Essential oils: cypress, Clary sage, eucalyptus, pine, tea tree, thyme, frankincense, juniper berry, sweet Marjorie, myrrh, yarrow
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Spiritual Buzz Words
Tag Archives: health
Grounded Gardener: Hawthorne
Hawthorne: Crataegus monogyna, Crataegus oxyacantha
Family: ROSACEAE
Also known as: May berry, hawthorn berry, red haw, may blossom, whitethorn
Parts used: Leaves, berries and flowers
How to use: orally, topically
Properties:
Cordial
Hypertensive
Astringent
What Hawthorne Helps:
Digestive System:
Indigestion, diarrhea, stomach pain, tapeworms and other intestinal infections, increases urine output, kidney and bladder disorders
Cardiac:
Heart disease, blood vessels, congestive heart failure (CHF), high and low blood pressure, hardening of arteries (atherosclerosis), high cholesterol, can improve circulation
Muscular:
Muscle spasms
Skin:
Boils, sores, ulcers, frostbite
Mental:
Reduces anxiety, acts as a sedative, stress management, nervousness and sleep disorders
Reproductive:
Helps with menstrual problems
Notes:
Methods: tincture, tea, washes
Therapeutic concerns:
Drug Reactions: ***Can react with prescription drugs used for heart disease***
If you are taking prescription or nonprescription medicines, talk to your health care provider before taking herbal supplements. If you are currently being treated with any of the following medications, you should not use hawthorn without first talking to your provider:
Digoxin: Hawthorn may enhance the activity of digoxin, a medication used for irregular heart rhythms.
Beta-blockers: These drugs are used to treat heart disease by lowering blood pressure and dilating blood vessels. Hawthorn can make the effects of these drugs stronger. They include:
Atenolol (Tenormin)
Metoprolol (Lopressor, Toprol-XL)
Propranolol (Inderal, Inderal LA)
Calcium channel blockers (CCBs): These drugs are used to treat high blood pressure and angina by dilating blood vessels. Hawthorn can make the effects of these drugs stronger. They include:
Norvasc (amlodipine)
Cardizem (diltiazem)
Procardia (nifedipine)
Phenylephrine: In a laboratory study, an alcoholic extract of hawthorn fruit reduced the effects of phenylephrine, a medication that constricts blood vessels and is commonly found in nasal decongestant products. Natural remedies, including cat’s claw, coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), fenugreek, fish oil, ginger, and other herbs.
Medications for male sexual dysfunction (Phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors): When used together with Hawthorn, it may result in blood pressure dropping too low.
Nitrates: These medications increase blood flow to the heart and taking Hawthorn together with them might increase the chance of dizziness or light headedness.
Source: Hawthorn | University of Maryland Medical Center http://umm.edu/health/medical-reference-guide/complementary-and-alternative-medicine-guide/herb/hawthorn#ixzz3r9ChiX2t
University of Maryland Medical Center
Follow us: @UMMC on Twitter | MedCenter on Facebook
Might Cause: upset stomach, nausea, fatigue, sweating, headache, dizziness, palpitations, nose bleeds, insomnia and agitation
Pregnant/Nursing: Depends on Who you ask
Should be avoided in pregnant and nursing women.
Animal studies have not shown any adverse effect on embryo development.
Therapy Length: Short term for up to 16 weeks
Not Safe for children
Book of shadows notes update 2010
Use: berries, leaves, and flowers.
For: heart disease, congestion, heart failure, blood vessels, chest pain, irregular heartbeat
High and low blood pressure, hardening of the arteries
High cholesterol,
digestive system – indigestion, diarrhea, remove tape worms, stomach pains, and other intestinal infections
Use as topical for Muscle spasms.
Helps reduce anxiety as a sedative to increase urine output and menstrual problems.
The tea can be used to wash Frost bite, sores, boils and skin infections from lack of movement.
Short term use: 16 weeks straight with 4-6 week break
Can cause: upset stomach, nausea, fatigue, sweating, headache, dizziness, palpitations, nose bleeds, insomnia, agitation
*mixed poorly with Rx medicines.
Auspicious to use when client has a wrinkle in ear lobe before hearth medicine is prescribed. (Cantrell, L)
Lol
Herbal Buzz Words: Vata Dosha
A Dosha is ayurvedic term used to describe a person’s constitution or body type. Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of doshas can help balance ones ailments.
A client might be made up of more then one Dosha but living in an environment that would irritate an imbalance with in a targeted body system or organ that is ruled by that Dosha. Adding things that encourage a specific dosha’s balance through ayurvedic diet and lifestyle changes can improve the longevity and quality of the client’s life.
There are 3 Doshas: vata, pitta and kapha
Vata
Also known as vayu
Elements: Ether and Air
Season: autumn
Hours: 2-6 am/pm
Most favored Environment: warmth and sunshine
Most aggravating environment: cold, windy
Traits: cold, dry, light, irregular, hard, mobile, subtle, rough, clear, artistic, create, graceful, motivating, and energizing to others. Light sleeper, insomnia, poor eating habits, low stamina, restless, quick to think of something new to do, self motivator, digestive issues
Aspects in body controlled by vata:
All movement, blinking of eyes, nerve impulses, breathing, metabolism, waste elimination, pulsating of the heart, circulation of lymph and blood.
Physically: heart, throat, abdomo, pelvis, pores of bones, bone marrow, brain, bladder, subtle channels of the nervous system
Emotionally: creative, inspiration, spiritual aspirations, higher level thinking, communication, and comprehension
Foods to add: warming foods, whole foods, freshly cooked, healthy fats, try to enjoy your meals in peace
Foods to avoid: cold foods, dairy, heavy proteins and fats, alcohol, bitters, pungent, astringent and stimulating
Suggest types of movement: gentle exercise is best. Suggest things like yoga, tai qi, swimming and walking. Vigorous exercise can aggravate symptoms.
The 6 Components of Wellness: Social Health
In our journey of studying about the 6 components of wellness we have talked about, Physical Health, Mental and Emotional Health, and Environmental Health and how they are all connected to each other. They all work towards one goal of overall wellness and a healthy lifestyle. They can also change our social life. Social health is a part of wellness because we have to be able to interact well within society to have a healthy life. If any of the other areas of wellness are not carefully attended too then our social health may suffer.
The 6 Components of Wellness: Social Health
On Your Dictionary (.com) Social health is defined as:
- how a person gets along with other people
- a person’s level of support from people and institutions around them
- how well a society does at offering every citizen the equal opportunity to obtain access to the goods and services critical to being able to function as a contributing member of society
We humans are social creatures. We interact with others on a daily basis both, in real life and on social media outlets. We affect the people we encounter as much as they affect us. It is up to you on how you want the encounter to go, positively or negatively. It is 100% your choice. The more you learn about living a well lifestyle, the more aware you become of the choices you get to make. Choices like; who you are, who you want to be, who you want to be around and how you like to be treated, become yours again if you start to live a mindful life. Once you have a healthy outlook on life you become completely in control of your life and begin to see that you don’t have to give that power away to anyone.
Here are some suggestions to help move forward with your social health:
- Always be yourself in all situations, no one can take away who you are or tell you who you are. Don’t be afraid to let people know what you like or dislike about what they are doing/saying. One of my favorite quotes about being yourself is…
“Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is you-er than you!” ~Dr. Seuss
- Be a clear communicator; express what you believe clearly for others.
- Treat others with respect-
- Turn your TV off when you have visitors
- Put down your phone when friends are around
- Treat others how you want to be treated.
- Limit your social media time-
- Have a better real life than your social media life
- Clean up your social media profiles, unfollow/unfriend people or organizations that are frustrating you. Don’t let their problems be your problems. If you’ve outgrown a person or idea then let go of them, life is a journey and not everyone/thing is going to be there forever…even if you once thought they would be.
- Don’t let virtual interaction be your only interaction. Get outside
your computer, do activities with your family/friends that are fun filled-it’ll ensure your life is fulfilling. Make good memories with good people so you have something to recall when you’re old and gray(er).
- Surround yourself with like minded people. Like minded people will help you grow and learn. These people should be supporting you in every adventure you take on.
- Interact with everyone, even your cashiers. Mr JEM does this at the grocery a lot. Keep it positive, smile, use their name, and thank them. You might just make their day. Make eye contact.
- Always remember the golden rules you learned in kindergarten-
- If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all
- Do to others what you want done to you.
- No hitting, kicking or biting. 🙂
- Put things back where you found them
- If it doesn’t belong to you leave it be
- Say you’re sorry when you hurt someone (and mean it)
- Sharing is caring
- Live a balanced life – learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work, every day…some
- Smile more than you frown. It makes a difference to everyone around you.
- Make sure you keep a good balance between your social time and your personal time
As you start to become aware of the types of people you want to surround yourself with you might want to shut down or pull away from people who are not like minded. You may feel like no one understands the changes you are making. All of that is normal, especially if you have made a sudden realization that your old lifestyle was harming you or stunting your growth in some way (intellectually, emotionally, physically etc) If you know someone who is making new or different healthy lifestyle choices encourage them in their journey.
There are lots of groups in your local community, and online, that are full of people living healthy lifestyles. Most communities are very welcoming and have lots of knowledge that they are willing to share, if you ask. In the same way that you would network for a job you would network for like minded people. Use key words in your online searches that pertain to what you are looking for. Each local community has different groups, search your area for food co-ops, non dominational churches, mommy and me groups. Take a class, cooking, meditation and yoga. You are bound to find someone who is also living a healthy lifestyle.
Online communities are very easy to find, especially with all the different social media platforms we have now-a-days. You can find private groups, open groups and tons of blogs on wellness, health and lifestyles all over Facebook and Twitter. All you need to do is follow one person in the wellness movement and they can lead you to many more. Most of individuals leading the wellness movement mention many other people to check out. They share others with like minded lifestyles in order to help us all grow along with them. Remember use your key words to find the groups (Zen, wellness, fit, work out, physical fitness, healthy lifestyle, yoga, meditation etc.). Here is a great facebook group Xen Bliss Community that is willing to support anyone in their wellness journey.
The more you work towards a healthy social life by including yourself in communities, the more you will learn about yourself and overall wellness. Eventually you will be able to help someone else more forward in their journey towards wellness. Maybe you will be the light they are looking for.
Are you involved in any local groups that help you continue your wellness journey?
Subscribe to get the last two components right into your inbox…
Namaste ❤
JEM
JEM’s Chex mix
Chex Mix Janelle McCoy 2014
6 tbs butter
3 tbs Worcestershire sauce
packet Italian seasoning
3 c chex mix( rice, corn and wheat)
1 c broken pretzel sticks
1 c trisket mini’s
1 c gold fish
The 6 Components of Wellness: Mental and Emotional Health
Mental and Emotional Health is the next component to talk about in The 6 Components of Wellness series. Last week I touched base on Physical Health. Now we will talk about how we can start to gain Mental and Emotional Health. 
So, what is Mental and Emotional health? The Mental Health Foundation has a great definition…
‘A positive sense of wellbeing which enables an individual to be able to function in society and meet the demands of everyday life; people in good mental health have the ability to recover effectively from illness, change or misfortune.’
Emotional wellbeing is an important part of wellness; it helps us recover from life’s stressors. Having M&E Heath can help you overcome loss, gain, illness, and all the other things life likes to through our way. It honestly just helps you get through the day.
After some careful thought and meditation I have come up with 6 parts that have helped me gain Mental and Emotional health. Let’s just jump right to it
- Sleep
- Physical health
- Meditation/Mindfulness
- Therapy
- Gratitude/positivity
- Being clutter free
We already talked about a few of these in the past post of the series and I am sure we will talk about some of them in the next 4 Components of Wellness yet to be covered. I mentioned every part of wellness is connected; they all help one another. I think the best part of a wellness journey, is while you’re working on one component you’re actually working on multiple components.
As I mentioned in the past, sleep is important to your health in a number of ways. Having a healthy sleep routine is essential to your Mental and Emotional health because it helps you relieve stress and stabilizes your mental wellbeing. You should have a healthy sleep hygiene routine before bed and in the morning. Allowing yourself to get 6-9 hours of restful sleep will improve your mood, stress bashing capabilities, body image and memory.
Ms. L is trying to get a good night rest…in Mom’s bed. She thinks she’s funny. We ended up having a sleep over
Something that we found, and use in our home, is guided meditations and sleep hypnosis’s videos that help build a healthy sleep cycle. We use free ones that are all over YouTube. They can help you fall asleep and stay sleep for the whole night. Getting enough sleep through the night helps you in the morning too; you can get out of bed, perform your morning routine and feel well rested. Being well rested helps your stress levels stay even throughout the day, fatigue, cravings and even headaches.
Physical health is important for your M&E health because it gives you self esteem, positive body image and relieves stress. How can you not feel good about taking care of your body? You can’t. When you take care of your physical health something changes in your mental health too; it makes you want to do more, learn more and stay healthy. Check out my last blog The 6 Components to Wellness: Physical Health to give yourself some ideas on how to improve your physical health.
Besides therapy, meditation and being mindful are probably the most important practices I have found to help my emotional wellbeing. We will talk about therapy in a little; let’s start with being mindful.
Mindfulness is an act of being receptive while holding your attention open to the present without judging the activities, thoughts, or emotions that we are constantly dealing with on a daily basis. Being mindful helps you to not judge your
Ms. V is quieting her mind in order to visualize her back handspring back tuck.
thoughts and feelings, good or bad. When you are able to open yourself up you can stop letting your life pass you by. Some people refer to it as living in the moment. A good mindful practice lets us live in the moment while being aware of what is going on around you. It empowers you to learn from the experiences life is handing you, while you are living those experiences.
Meditation helps mindfulness go to a new level. Quieting your mind not only helps relief stress and helps sleep, it can help you learn who you are, where you are going and pretty much every answer to every question you ever wanted answered. It takes practice. I am not saying you should sit in full lotus, “Om’ing” for hours and hours. I am saying stop and breathe through your stress. Stop and quiet your mind for a few moments every day until you can learn to sit for 30 minutes at a time. Even 5 or 10 minutes can make a huge difference in your day. Simple mantras are very helpful in the practice of meditation and mindfulness.
When you are feeling stressed try to stop, take a few deep breaths and say to yourself something like “I am safe, I am calm, I choose to be here” It takes 30 seconds to remind ourselves that we are going to make it through whatever may be raising our stress levels. I learned this from Grace Smith, her hypno-affirmation is one of the best ways I have learned to slow myself back down and bring me back to the present. If you haven’t already you should really check Grace Smith out, she is an AMAZING women she will help you!
Meditation, mantras, affirmations and simply quieting one’s self are all great ways to bring us back to our mindfulness practice and keep our emotional wellbeing stable. All of this takes practice but as you practice your mental health improves and the less you need to stop throughout your day to refocus because it will become first nature.
Ms. A Playing Stop, Relax and Think with her therapist.
Therapy is the most important part of mental and emotional health if you have any mental disorders, depression or anxiety. A therapist can help you find coping practices and give you information about medicines that may help regulate you if you need them.
I am not a medical professional and if you are feeling like you need a therapist you should contact your doctor. Therapy is for anyone of any age and it should not be looked down upon. I believe therapy can help everyone. There are many forms of therapy; behavior, hypno, art, talk, play and your doctor can help you find the right one for you. Sometimes your therapist can become a “friend”.
I talked a little about gratitude and positive attitudes in Don’t B!+ch About it; Be About It. Your M&E health can improve with a positive change in your attitude. Having a positive attitude and surrounding yourself with positive people will help you see the gifts life is giving you; this also helps you become more mindful.
Mr. JEM being thankful for a snack after long travel.
A good way to get in the habit of positive thinking is starting a gratitude journal/practice. Adding gratitude journaling to your morning and nightly routine will change your mental health. Every morning, think of three to five things you are grateful for, say them out loud, to the mirror or journal them so you can go back to them later in the day. Then do the same before bed to finish off your day with a positive ending. This can change anyone’s sleep health, going to bed positive and thankful. (Win, win!)
It is good to include your family in this practice also, especially at the dinner table. Telling your partner why you are thankful for them can help lighten up their day along with yours. It is okay for it to be the small things; any positive thing is something to be thankful for. Gratitude and positivity is a great way to exercise mindfulness throughout the day. Being positive lifts the dark cloud over your thoughts and helps your mind clear. There is nothing better for your mental and emotional wellbeing then a clear head.
This brings me to the last part of Mental and Emotional health, being clutter free. Have you ever had the best day away from home just to come home to a cluttered messy house? Clutter is self damaging. It drains all the good thoughts and replaces them with everything you should have, could have, would have BUT didn’t. It holds lots of stress, dirt and germs. Holding on to things that are not needed can add unwanted stress. Not just for yourself but for your friends and family too. Having stuff everywhere raises anxiety levels, holds onto negative vibes and kind of just sucks. This all affects your body and mind. You cannot have a clear mind without a clear space to clear your mind in. You are not going to be able to think of positive things when you are over whelmed with the negativity of stuff. Donating can be like paying it forward, selling it can help add extra money to the family; both things will help relieve the most common everyday stressor, finances. Clearing your space will clear your mind. It will feel like a burden off your mind, body and soul.
Mental and Emotional health is just one step towards wellness. There are so many steps on the wellness journey. The good thing is they all help each other. Once you work on one it leads to the other. Taking it one day at a time will help you climb the staircase of health. Once you devote yourself to a journey of wellness you will start to see and feel the benefits of the journey, and want to learn more and work towards a better life. As you move forward every step becomes natural and it is easier to move on to the next.
Subscribe to receive the next post in the 6 Components of Wellness series directly to your inbox.
If you liked this post, checks out others like it:
Can you have wellness and chronic pain?
The 6 Components of wellness: Physical Health
Don’t B!+cth About it; Be About it!
I Am Not Perfect, But I Am AWESOME!
Namaste ❤
JEM
The 6 Components of Wellness: Physical Health
The 6 components of wellness were brought up in my last post. Can You Have Wellness and Chronic Pain? I decided to break down each component for myself and my beloved followers. I believe this can help everyone’s wellness journey by understanding the six components a little better. I decided to start with one that challenges me the most, Physical Health. I seem to have this fear of exercise, it’s not like I don’t like to exercise, Okay I don’t love it at all. The thing is once I start, I feel great; it’s the getting to it that hinders my progress. I make tons of excuses: it’s hard, I don’t know how to properly exercise, and it hurts too much. All of this sits in the back of my mind all the while knowing that if I would just keep at it, exercising would become habit and help my body become stronger so that I might stop hurting so much.
BUT there is so much more to Physical Health then just working out. Let’s start with the definition of Physical Health. In italics is what you find when you Google search physical health definition:
Physical Health can be defined as an essential part of overall health of an individual, which includes everything from physical fitness to overall wellbeing.
I think there are 6 important parts that make up Physical Health. They all seem to work together too, when improving one you can improve the other parts. It’s all connected just like the 6 components of wellness.
- Exercise
- Diet
- Sleep
- Being Chemical Free
- Sexual Health
- Being Disease Free
Take a walk, bring the children. Your never to young to learn the importance of physical health.
Let’s break down the 6 parts of Physical Health.
I decided to start with my very most favorite, exercise. As I said before I am not the most fit person in the world and struggle with many blocks towards working out. I am not sure why. I am sure that I want to work towards breaking the blocks down and this is one way I decided to work on that. I know all the health benefits of exercise, it strengthens your body which reduces pain, it reduces stress, helps with sleep, anxiety and depression, and it strengthens your heart. The list goes on and on.
Whether you’re new to exercise like me or a work out vet, you know it is hard, but is it? Is it really hard to care about your body?
If you are new to exercise know that age does not matter, I read this blog about a 90 year old that does yoga and jump roping every day. She was doing handstands. She said it makes her feel young again. There are many free blogs and vlogs out there to help you get started in the habit of working out. I suggest starting with walking and yoga. They are both low impact, easy on joints and muscles. It is suggested to get 30 minutes of cardio 3 times a week to keep your heart healthy.
Your diet matters as much as exercise. Paying attention to your diet can improve your health tremendously. Diet can help prevent diseases like diabetes, heart disease, obesity and even cancer. These four preventable diseases are the top killers in The United States of America. Diet can also help with sleep, depression and anxiety. We should all be eating a plant based diet or at least whole foods diet. Being aware of what you are putting into your body is very important. Let food be your medicine by eating healthy fresh whole foods.
It is not important to start completely organic but it is a good goal to work towards, start with the so called “Dirty Dozen”. Eating clean plant based foods will improve your physical, mental and environmental health. It is important to have a healthy eating schedule also. Try eating dinner an hour earlier so your body has time to digest before bedtime. Can your 
family do a No Fast food for 30 days Challenge? We are going fast food free for a year. Or even just try Meatless Mondays for a month; it’s a small start to a better life.
Getting enough sleep is important for your physical health; it helps with weight loss, allowing your body to rebuild after
exercise, reducing stress, replenishing energy and keeps your mental health stable. Sleep can help you feel better about yourself. Getting enough sleep also helps improve your memory. It is important to get 6-9 hours of good restful sleep a night. Having a healthy diet and exercise routine can help improve your sleep. There are many chemical free ways to help with sleep, there are herbs, meditations, and foods that can help improve your sleeping experience.
Chemicals are everywhere and are definitely harmful for our bodies. They are in our foods, cleaning supplies, body products, air, water and dirt. Eliminating chemicals from your diet, home and body care routine will help with your overall health. Using natural cleaners and body products can help with asthma and respiratory problems, cancer, attention and 
hyperactivity issues, and so many more afflictions. The natural products will also lesson the amount of chemicals that ends up in our air, water and soil. I believe they just plain make me feel better overall, and making my own has helped my family with seasonal colds and save money. Going chemical free will help your physical and environmental health. Let’s stop poisoning our bodies and planet by trying natural products; you won’t know how well they work until you try.
After a long discussion, Mr. JEM and I decided that Sexual Health is important to our physical health also. Having a healthy sex life is beneficial to your health. Although everyone’s version of a healthy sex life is different, there are many studies that show that regular sexual activities improve your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. Sex helps with weight loss, sleep, anxiety, positive body image, building positive relationships and even helps fight depression.
Being diseases free is a rough topic to talk about, as we all know someone who is suffering from one or more diseases. I 
am not a medical professional, but prevention of chronic and acute disease is important for physical health. There are many ways to keep these disorders under control: regular doctor’s checkups, a healthy diet, exercise, being chemical free, good hygiene, proper sleep. Pretty much all the components of good physical health can help prevent and/or treat most diseases.
I know this has been a really long post. There is so much more information that can be said about the 6 parts of physical health and they could all be a post on their own but today was just a little bit of information to get you thinking about physical health and ways you might be able to start improving your own physical health. Remember wellness is not a race, it is a journey and only you can be ready to improve your wellness. Take one step at a time. Doing some research on your own and asking questions, is how intellectual health plays a part in your wellness journey. As you can see all aspects of wellness help one and other, you must have a healthy balance of each component in order to achieve wellness.
Stay tuned for 6 Components of Wellness: Mental and Emotional Health.
Namaste ❤
JEM
Cooking With Herbs
An Herbalist’s Point of View
Everyone cooks with herbs and spices. Sometimes we use fresh herbs and sometimes dried, it doesn’t matter which stage you use the herbs and spices. Either fresh or dried will make your food taste delicious. The thing not everyone knows is that herbs, either fresh or dry, have healing properties. Yes, even in your food. You can use herbs in your food to help an ailment and you’ll have a delicious tasting meal at the same time.
In the 5th century Hippocrates said “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” I firmly believe he was talking about eating clean whole foods. In the 5th century they also used many herbs to help their food taste delectable. They knew then that many plants had properties to heal or prevent illnesses and diseases. We wouldn’t have our current knowledge of herbal healing without our ancestors learning it first. Even ingredients of ancient witch’s healing brews translate into everyday herbs we use today. This is because witches were healers, herbalists and gardeners that understood that plants and herbs could prevent and help ailments. You can use herbs in tinctures, salves, capsules and oils to help your body. Why wouldn’t cooking with them be the same? The great thing is that they are the same; you just use them as you cook instead of as a strict supplement. This might take more time then ingesting a tincture or capsule filled with the herb but if you are cooking with the herb everyday it will build up into your system just like the tincture or capsule does.
I am going to use soup as an example. How many times have you heard someone suggest eating some soup to kick a colds butt? I can’t even count the number of times I have been told to do this or used soup to help my family members feel better. Every time my husband is sick or the weather is a fright I make a big o’ pot of homemade healing soup. The kids make fun of me saying it’s my witches brew. (I have been known to yell at someone for stirring the pot the wrong direction.) I think certain soups are suggested because the ingredients used to make soup help many symptoms associated with the common cold. The ingredients can do things like soothing coughs, throats, congestion and even belly aches. Soup will also warm you to the bone and help remove any germ that might have gotten in during cold weather.
“The warmth of the soup helps all that” or “helps sooths your throat,” you might be thinking.
This is true but if you are like me your soup has helpful ingredients in it like salt, onion, garlic, rosemary, thyme, and basil; just to name a few. All of these ingredients are plants that have cold fighting abilities. When you are cooking and eating the warm soup the steam enters your sinuses and the plants that are used work as a form of aromatherapy and decongestant, opening up your airways. Eating the herb enriched soup give your body the energy to fight the germs. Garlic, onion, thyme and rosemary all have germ fighting abilities and basil breaks down the shell of the bacteria so any antibiotics will work better. Some of these herbs even have bacteria fighting abilities. Add a little cracked pepper (red, black, white or well any pepper will do) to your bowl will help give it all an extra kick.
It doesn’t matter if you use fresh herbs or dry herbs during cooking. What does matter is the amount of herbs you use. It is suggested to use 1/3 the amount for dried herbs as you would if you are using fresh herbs. This is because the dried herbs have a higher concentration of flavor. Some 
professional cooks say it is better to add your fresh herbs towards the end of the cooking process. I am not sure that I would agree with this, I believe that when you add the fresh herb you should add them throughout the cooking process. Some in the beginning, some in the middle and some at the end depending on what you are cooking, how you are cooking it and which herbs you are using. You can chop or leave fresh herbs whole. Before using dry herbs I always give them a good crush. Crush the dry herbs by placing them into the palm of your hand, then press or rub the herb gently with your fingers to release the aromatic oils. Always add the dry herbs to your dish at the beginning or middle of your cooking process. This gives the herb time to rehydrate. I always suggest tasting your food as you are cooking. This way you will know if it needs more flavor or not.
Remember I just used soup as an example there is many ways you can cook with herbs to help your ailments. You can control your blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol all by cooking with or eliminating the right herbs, spices and foods. You want to make sure you do some research before ingesting herbs, to make sure they are edible. Some plants are meant for aromatherapy and topical use only, others are strictly ornamental. Some are even harmful for pregnant women and nursing mothers. You wouldn’t want to have a reaction because you didn’t make sure the herb was safe for your body. Most herbs you find in the produce or spice isle are safe and healthy for daily consumption. We should all take our ancestor’s advice and let food be our medicine.
Happy Cooking!
JEM
I Hacked Vicks Vapor Rub…
Please read this disclaimer.
I have been surprised with all the feedback I have been getting about my vapor rub lately. I never thought it would be so popular. I had whipped up a quick batch last year and immediately gave it away to friends and family members. I never received feed back until now and boy is it nice to hear how well it has helped other families. I decided while filling yet another order I would share how I made it with the world!
The best part of JEM’s Vapor Rub is that it doubles as a Neosporin or Mel-a-gel. Not only will it sooth your congestion you can also use it on cuts, scraps and other booboo’s as well. We have even used it to help bug bites stop itching. Okay I lied the BESTEST part about this vapor rub is that it is petroleum and other harmful chemical FREE!
Now normally I would say the Essential oils are optional but for this recipe they are NOT optional. The essential oils are what makes the vapor rub, vapor rub. I have researched what goes into Vick’s and which oils have healing properties that helps with congestion. Of course you could always add to this list, but I would seriously recommend not taking any of these out.
What you need to make an all natural vapor rub:
- 2 ½ TBSP Coconut oil
- 2 TBSP Bee’s Wax
- ½ TBSP Caster Oil
- 1 ½ TBSP Aloe Jelly
- 20-30 Drops of Camphor Oil
- 40-50 Drops of eucalyptus Oil
- 30-40 Drops of Tea Tree Oil
- 20-30 Drops of Peppermint Oil
Steps:
- In a double boiler melt coconut oil, bee’s wax and castor oil together.
- As soon as the bee’s wax and coconut oil is melted turn off heat.
- Let cool for a few minutes and then add the Aloe Jelly. Mix well. REALLY WELL to get the jelly to mix with the wax and oils.
- Once Aloe is incorporated into the wax and oil mixture; add your essential oils. You want to let it cool some before adding the essential oils because they could lose their potency in high heats.
- Pour mixture into clean dry air-tight containers. Leave open until the vapor rub cools and hardens.
** When doubled, the recipe will make three small 4 oz mason jars worth of vapor rub. **
Once hardened you can use it just like vapor rub. Apply to chest, back, neck, feet and even under your nose (no, not IN your nose silly). This vapor rub is safe for the whole family. When using it on babies I would suggest keeping it off of their face. (Just in case, you wouldn’t want anything getting into babies eye, nose or mouth) When my kids were babies I applied it to their feet and put socks on them. I still do this for Things 3 and 4 and even Mr. JEM when he’s feeling yucky.
If you don’t have time or the ingredients to make your own, check out JEM’s Eclectic Home Etsy store for a chance to have your very own 
container of JEM’s Vapor Rub land right in your mail box right in time for cold and flu season.
I hope you enjoy this chemical free version of Vapor Rub. I know that my family does.
Check out my post…I Hacked Burt’s Bees Hand Salve for another DIY recipe.
Please read this disclaimer.
Namaste ❤
JEM
Can you have wellness and chronic pain?
I have been trying to write a wellness vs. healthiness blog for about a week, I even had it all scheduled and drafted out. So that yesterday I could sit down and just type it up and post it. BUT the chronic pain kicked in. I drank my lemon water and did my yoga routine that usually helps my lower back and seehip; it just seemed to continue to get worse. I ended up back in bed, thinking who am I to write a wellness and health article, when I can barely get out of bed today. I decided to call my mentor and she reminded me that maybe my story will touch someone and that I should share it anyway.
Today I sit here repeating my new mantra,
I am not my body. I am more; my body cannot stop my mind.
Maybe this shouldn’t be a blog about wellness vs. healthiness, maybe I should write about “Can you have wellness and chronic pain at the same time?” My pain comes and goes; I will have a few good weeks and then a few bad weeks, because I have 4 children and a husband that is gone a lot with work, I push through, but I know my limits. Some days I am knocked on my ass; but I still find a way to keep myself moving forward.
Does this make me unwell or unhealthy? No, I do not think so.
Why? You may think.
First we have to talk about what wellness is. What is wellness?
Wellness is defined as the quality or state of being healthy in mind and body, especially as the result of deliberate effort. Wellness is the state of living a healthy lifestyle to better your mind, body and soul. The answer to why is right in the definition. Wellness is a lifestyle, a journey, which means you are continually working towards the goal of having a healthy life. If you continually look for new ways to balance the six components of wellness, you are living a healthy lifestyle; which is what wellness ultimately is.
The six components to wellness are:
- Physical health
- Mental and emotional health
- Intellectual health
- Social health
- Environmental health
- Spiritual health
You will need to continually work towards wellness and health. Working on all six components of wellness is how you achieve an overall level of better health. The interesting thing is that all six components work together. When you start to work towards your physical health your mental and emotional health grows. With the growth of mental and emotional health your spiritual health will start to change. As you learn to be physically, emotionally and spiritually healthy you will gain intellectual health. As you grow you will learn to become more socially and environmentally healthy because you will start to surround yourself with like minded people and clean up your environment. It’s all one; it’s all intertwined in a big giant ball of enlightenment. This is what we all should be working towards anyway.
There are many ways to start your wellness journey. Here are a few…
Physical health: A clean food diet, exercise, using chemical free cleaning and body products.
Mental and emotional health: Therapy, finding a life coach, meditation, a daily of practice gratitude, removing negative people from your life.
Intellectual health: research and learning new things, going back to school
Social health: removing negative people from your life, finding groups and people that have like minded lifestyles or have made similar positive life choices.
Environmental health: recycling, decluttering your home, being paper and plastic free, reducing waste, becoming chemical free.
Spiritual health: meditation, prayer, yoga
Life is not a race. It is okay to take it one step at a time. Even if you do not feel like you have wellness or even that you could, I believe that you are not alone. There are many ways to change that feeling, even if you are not physically able to work out daily; as long as you are working towards a healthy lifestyle and fighting to have balance of the six components of wellness, you are already there. There is nothing wrong with starting small, because that is how journeys start. Wellness is a journey even you are worthy of taking.
Namaste ❤
JEM
Janelle McCoy 