Herbalism is a system of holistically oriented wellness that focuses on supporting the body and it's natural systems to build health, rather than to attack a disease.
Surprising to many is that through this holistic lens, it is possible to bring one to health without ever touching an herb. The very heart of Herbalism is as simple as living as human beings were intended to live. The modern lifestyle is the primary factor in disease, and simple lifestyle changes, often with nutritive and supportive herbs, are all that are necessary to regain health in many cases. There are four primary areas of lifestyle that we focus on when addressing disease: Sleep, diet, movement, and stress.
Sleep
Perhaps the most important of the four categories of wellness. Throughout the day, our bodies are busy dealing with many factors, such as stress and digestion, that consume available energy that your body could be using for repairing damage and fighting off pathogens. This is what sleep is for; repairing damage, strengthening the immune system, breaking down hormones created to help the body deal with stress, so stress can dealt with again tomorrow. If possible, we leave three hours between our last meal and bed time, so our bodies can concentrate on resetting and repairing, rather than having to deal with a big load of food to break down before ever starting the important functions that require sleep. Strive for 9hrs of quality sleep.
Diet
This is definitely up there in importance with sleep. Probably too close to differentiate, really. Simply put, we need real food; that is, whole foods, and a wide variety. The wrong foods, like highly processed foods, sugar, alcohol l, dyes, preservatives, and artificial flavors cause systematic inflammation, and damage to veins and arteries, which in turn, causes elevated cholesterol to repair that damage. You get the point.
Movement
Regular exercise is paramount in living a healthy, natural life. One of the key benefits of movement is that it moves the lymphatic system. The Lymphatic system is just like your circulatory system with the exception that it doesn't have a designated pump to keep it flowing. The system literally relies on you to move to bring nutrients to cells and to get rid of waste, especially waste produced by the destruction of pathogens. Moving also builds muscle, which burns more calories, and improves the regulation of sugar in the blood stream.
Stress
A little bit of stress is good. It's what drives us. It signals telling us that we need to take precautions within our current environment. Chronic stress is to be avoided. Chronic stress can cause a whole cascade of problems, like indigestion and hypertension, which in turn, create their own problems. Stress can obliterate sleep, diet, and movement, by driving out all motivation.
Herbs can support one to accomplish those changes. Of course there are herbs for those acute situations to bring relief from pain, discomfort, cravings, anxiety, insomnia, low energy, etc. In the end, though, we want to find the root cause of those acute symptoms, and then address that cause through herbal support, nourishment, and healthy lifestyle changes.
Comments