Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Natural Health

With all the attention being given to the issues of health care recently I’ve been musing about the times of my wandering through the wilderness of life when I stub my toe or encounter other scrapes, bruises and bites that afflict my body, bringing with it pain and agony.  There are those times when infection sets in causing greater tenderness and discomfort.  These are typically minor ailments I normally endure with little treatment other than to wait it out for the body to heal itself.  My attitude about such matters is simply that “life happens”.  However, if these things are not properly taken care of they can turn into major traumatic experiences.  

Other times I have met up with the microscopic “bugs” that bring havoc and misery upon my body, knocking me out for the “count”.  Doesn’t seem to be much I can do except bed-rest and wait it out until I feel able to be back on my feet.  Not one wanting to take synthetic antibiotics, antihistamines or other foreign substances into my body I usually “tough it out”.  I have come to realize that the body is capable of healing itself when properly taken care of, but this is an area of life in which I tend to fail.  Though I don’t abuse my body by taking drugs, smoking, drinking alcohol and such that are harmful to the body, neither do I exercise as I should, eat properly or get the rest I need.  Seems to be a mixed bag of taking care of myself and not taking the care I should.  I would like to mention, however, that I have recently been making major adjustments to my diet and eating more healthy – benefitting in much needed weight loss.  Now I need to come up with an exercise regimen to build the body further, however being the procrastinator that I am I will start that “tomorrow”.

Although I have been blessed with basically good health the reality is my health is not at its optimum.  Though I am not aware of any life-threatening maladies I am completely cognizant that my body has many toxins which are deteriorating the physical substance of which I am made.  Because of today’s processes of chemicals, foods, pesticides, pollutants in the air and water we have become bombarded with many toxins that overload the body’s capability to rid these harmful elements without taking extraordinary measures.  Unfortunately most people are either ignorant about how to accomplish this task or just don’t bother to take the steps to do so.

The foods we eat (which I often argue isn’t really “food”) are so altered from their natural state that it brings about illnesses which are often misdiagnosed; this is true whether plants or animals being grown and processed for our dietary consumption.  As God is the One that designed us He knew exactly what we need to eat to sustain a healthy body, so the plants and animals He created for food were designed to meet those requirements.  But as is the nature of man we have decided to “improve” on God’s designs and have come up with Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) in order to increase profitability at the expense of proper nutrition and health.  Thus most of our food chain has been altered by these products making it very difficult to avoid.  For those who are conscientious about proper nutrition, and acquiring foods in their natural state, becomes increasingly more difficult to achieve.  These and other factors have lead to a greater increase in disease and illness, all but unheard of 100 years ago.

America is in a health crisis which is causing great concern to the population in general as well as government and medical science.  Adding to the problem are the pharmaceuticals being prescribed causing additional ailments through their various side affects.  We indeed have become a sick nation with little hope of recovery as a whole.  Compounding this problem is the change of our health care system making treatment more difficult to come by, and for those who can get the care the costs are rapidly escalating.

For the good news there are solutions to this dilemma but it does require some effort and education on our part.  Most of us are aware of the need for proper nutrition, exercise and rest to maintain a healthy lifestyle.  We can find natural, nutritious foods with some research and becoming more aware of the need to do so.  Exercise doesn’t require much education but it does require the right attitude to “git ‘er done”.  But what about the need to take care of health issues when they occur?  Because this has become such a critical matter I have become concerned about how I may be able to provide help to family members and friends having health issues who are faced with the need for medical attention.   Surely there must be a way to achieve wellness without the need for doctor visits, co-pay, and time spent for the visits as well as filling prescriptions, which all too often have adverse side affects.

There have been discoveries of non-conventional practices being utilized for wellness, bringing out the skeptic in me.  What seems so incredible to imagine these things actually working is the simplicity behind it – all natural methodologies.  One instance is the concept of “grounding” – making actual contact with the ground on our body to induce wellness.  Another study has come up with the use of vibrations/frequencies to stimulate the body into wellness.  Okay, where does one draw the line on this stuff? 

Over the past few years I have been hearing about aromatherapy having positive effects on the body, but I never gave much thought about it.  Not until recently, that is, as I began hearing about doTERRA (Latin for “gift of the earth”) Essential Oils and the tremendous impact they have on our well being.  This naturally made me go hmmmm…  Is it true they can relieve stress, change the mood and aid in eliminating depression?  Hmmm…  Some claim the use of essential oils have caused them to have no further need of prescribed medications.  Hmmm…  The more I hear and read about them the more I’m thinking “voodoo” medicine; this sounds too “new age-y” for me.  How can these things actually work to cause healing?  Scientific studies have been made to support this as being factual.

The more I have thought about this the more it seems to make sense as one considers the fact of God designing and creating our bodies, as well as the earth and universe.  It has been proven the body is designed in such a way that it is capable of healing itself with proper care.  If God did in fact create us (and He did) does it not stand to reason that He knows exactly what is needed for our health?  Science has discovered that everything, including our bodies, have set frequencies.  When parts of our body’s frequency gets out of kilter it only makes sense by applying the right frequencies to our body it will “re-align” itself back to health.  I suppose the same can be said for “grounding”, as we are made from the ground it stands to reason that being grounded – connected to the earth – we share things in common and with that connection wellness becomes realized.

God created many plants having the exact elements necessary for our consumption to maintain wellness.  By extracting the oils from these plants in a 100% pure therapeutic grade manner, which contain the exact elements our body utilizes, making it 50 – 70 times more powerful than just eating the plant, then it seems reasonable that it can aid the body to heal itself.  It is my understanding that doTERRA Essential Oils take many precautions to harvest the various plants under the right conditions and at the correct timing to ensure the highest quality of oils are extracted.  In addition they are sent to independent labs for testing to make certain that each batch is free of all pesticides, chemicals and other substances which would bring impurity to the oil.  They are also tested to make certain that no alterations have been made to the natural chemistry of the oil, ascertaining they contain all of their natural elements.  This is a process known as Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade.  So far I have not discovered any other Essential Oil company having this kind of standard.  It therefore seems to me that doTERRA Essential Oils would be worthy of consideration as an alternative to our health care.

However, to make it clear we certainly do need times of medical attention that require doctor/hospital visits.  They have been necessary throughout history.  On the other hand if there are measures we can take to minimize the need for medical practitioners it would be to our advantage to utilize them.  To apply an Essential Oil to many conditions we suffer from can often ease the discomfort and aid the body to heal itself.  When one can spend pennies to apply some oil to a malady versus spending many dollars on a doctor visit, plus the time spent to do so, it only make economic sense to go that route.  As in all things one must use common sense and know when one should go to a medical practitioner.

Is it time that you make adjustment in your health care practices and consider natural means versus chemical altenatives?  Perhaps more research/study about what has been shared by this wayfarer would be in order to discover for yourself if this be so.  One place you can look for additional information concerning the essential oils is:  www.mydoterra.com/carrollgleason.


Here’s to your good health.  Shalom.