It Costs Money to be Healthy- but Not A Fortune ? 2:100

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I decided to start a series of blog posts and videos. (I will be posting a related video down below from my YouTube Channel : Sheep Hill Herbs) The topic is 100 things I learned from being an Herbalist the past 2 decades. These are hidden secrets and truths. Honestly stuff that people don't want you to know, because they are free and it cuts into profit. I am all about making a profit, but not at the expense of a person getting well. This is my second post and 2 of 100 to come. Go back in the blog posts, and you will find my 1st post on the DECISION to be HEALTHY. 

​ I learned this lesson the hard way, by spending thousands and thousands of dollars on different tests, and products that maybe gave me some forward movement, but were in the end more of a stress because of cost. On my natural health journey, and in my pursuit to find a vibrant and radiant way of living- I have spent thousands and thousands of dollars. If I added it up, it would be more like tens of thousands of dollars on products and services. 

I want to share here what I believe is essential, but not necessary, and the pitfalls in expenditure in the pursuit of wellness. First I want to say that herbs are FREE. Well, many of them are. So many medicinal herbs grow in our backyards, if you take the time to care for, harvest, and cultivate. If you do not have plants, then chances are your neighbor does, or friends and family. Many fruiting trees, and wild plants like chickweed, are called invasive, or a nuisance because of their rapid growth and spread, or messy fruit that falls to the ground, but they are also exceptionally useful and healing in nature. 

Herbs you buy at the greenhouse, are really inexpensive as well, and even cheaper are buying seed packets and planting your own herbs. I think this must be God's gift to mankind, because plants grow rapidly, spread easily and essentially are inexpensive. That is why, expensive products are made and marketed because there isn't a lot of profit to be made in a plant that grows everywhere. If you do not want to grow, collect, or find and gather your plants and herbs, then purchasing dried herbs again is not going to break the bank. They are a fraction of the cost of supplements. 

Now, I like supplements, and have taken many over the years, but I have found that the supplements, and herbal products, closer to nature, and with less processing, work better and do not exhaust finances. I also think, because of what we know about health care in this country, and the high, exuberant costs, there is a feeling or belief that natural health needs to be expensive to be effective. I have found for myself, that I have received excellent services, bits of wisdom, and forward movement by working with local, community practitioners such as Nutritionists, Chiropractors, and Massage Therapists, that were very affordable, and very knowledgeable at what they do. 

I know this- when dealing with a health issue, adding on debt and financial stress is only going to make the burden of the mind and thus hamper the healing of the body. It is my firm belief that God, and the Universe at large would not want that for His people. A loving Father would provide a viable means of healing that is affordable for all. Now there are definite times and needs for intervention, or if a person has been in a bad state for a long time, that expensive services might be needed to "reset" the clock, so to speak. For instance, if a person has had no care for their teeth for many many years, and is riddled with many cavities and other problems, there may be a need to spend a large sum of money to fix the problem and get in a good position to work with nature. 

I can totally understand when dire situations call for extreme measures. I am speaking of prevention, and daily living, and revitalizing the system. There are many things that you can do that make significant changes in the body, in a positive direction. 

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Water therapy is a very effective method for rejuvenating the body, and that can be in the form of foot baths, with dried mustard, alternating hot and cold showers (see https://www.wimhofmethod.com/), swimming in the ocean, swimming in general, hot baths with sea salt and essential oils, tea fomentations, and even just listening to the sounds of the ocean. All of these natural methods are inexpensive and "free" for the taking if you have access, which unless you are in a very restricted country with no movement, you should have access to clean water. Water has been an amazing therapy tool in my own journey, and it is very important to me to go to clean and pure water sources. I am not an environmentalist so to speak, but I believe in taking care of nature, more from a Native American philosophy. 

Sun therapy. Sunshine is exceptionally therapeutic and healing. There has been a lot of fear and warning about the sun and staying out of the sun, and covering up in the sun. I believe it is necessary to be careful when going to the beach for the first time in the year, if you have no tan base at all. You will most definitely get burned, and burning the skin is not healthy. However, slowly tanning and building up the bodies natural mechanism for skin protection is very beneficial. Dr. Christopher recommended sun bathing all year round, even in the winter. He would tell his students to use to wash lines and put sheets up on both sides to make a sort of protected area, and then start by sunning the entire body, for even just 1 minute on each side, and then increasing that time as each day passes. 

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Photo credit, Brian Garcia (unsplash)

The sun can also be helpful in "pulling impurities" and toxins out of the body. Dr. John R. Christopher said that if you get skin cancer, it really was cancer in the body that the sun pulled out to the skin. I am not sure about this, as I am not a doctor, but I can definitely see the extrapolation of this premise for the sun does wonders to extract all kinds of imbedded "stuff" in our skin from long winter months with very little sun, and heavy clothing. I always feel like my skin looks so much better, and refreshed during the summer months, however, I do go through a bit of a cleansing in Spring when my pores start to re-open and I begin my gardening season. 

Lastly- I want to briefly touch on the topic of eating well, and the high cost for Organic. This is a separate topic in and of itself. I will be sharing a lot of tips on how to save on cost and eat really well. I have a family of 7 people and most would be shocked at the low cost of my food bill and the healthy food we eat. I do however spend a lot of time making foods from scratch and that is a big part of the savings. The time spent in my own kitchen is better than time spent in a hospital, or sick and missing out on life. 

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