Juuva and Young Living

Here's the thing:
I have been pondering how to address a new life path that I have decided to take.  And, in truth, I still don't know how I feel about it.  Let me explain what I can and maybe get some feedback.

The thing is, the world has some serious health issues that it needs to address, or should I say WE need to address.  Along with the many advances in this world, many unforeseen problems have emerged.  There is no denying that autoimmune diseases are skyrocketing.  We have resistance to antibiotics that are supposed to help us.  Our food system is "sick" as well and needs our help.  The last few years I have been on a search for a more holistic approach, a more natural course of healing and health.  (Yes, I still shave my legs, and, no, I am not moving to a remote area to start an organic farm).

In the Doctrine and Covenants, a book of revelations given to the Prophet Joseph Smith, we are given a code of health.  Section 89 is know to our members as the section containing the Word of Wisdom.  This revelation lays out Do's and Don't for our health, things revealed long before the time when scientists learned these things for themselves; things such as avoiding tobacco and strong drink and  that we should eat meat sparingly, and fruits and vegetables often.  I want to share two verses:

10- And again, verily I say unto you, all wholesome herbs God hath ordained for the constitution, nature, and use of man-

11- Every herb in the season thereof, and every fruit in the season thereof; all these to be used with prudence and thanksgiving.

There seems to be a revolution of sorts happening, one where certain people are striving to get back to their roots, per se.  They are wanting to learn about the herbs of the past, ones that brought healing.  They are learning the qualities of certain plants, how they affect our moods through aromatherapy, or through partaking of them.  They are learning about growing their our food, in soil that is healthy and not depleted of nutrients and minerals, without the use of chemical pesticides.  I see this knowledge extending to companies who are trying to take what knowledge they have to their customers.  People want to have products that are natural and some companies are striving to listen.

God has ordained the use of herbs.  Every thing we need for healing and good health comes from the earth, comes from God.  I appreciate that there are companies out there, striving to use what the earth has provided.  There are so many good products in this world.  Not one company has is all.  And not all bodies will react to products the same.  We must take it upon ourselves to study, to ponder, to try them ourselves and find out what is right of you personally.

As I type this I have my diffuser running a blend of essential oils that helps with clarity, focus, and enlightenment.  Before I ate breakfast, I took a dose of structured silver and drank a green drink that is filled with all the omega's our body needs.  I strive to eat organic, partaking of a plenty of fruits and vegetables each day.

It is with all this in mind that I decided to go forth with something I never thought I would do.  I never wanted to be a working mom.  I never wanted to be in sales, especially network marketing.  But as I have pondered and prayed, I felt it was my duty to teach what I have learned and share possible ways for others to find healing.  But, I will go about this a different way.  I have recently become distributer for two different companies:  Young Living and Juuva.  My approach to this is different in that I am not in this for the business opportunity or the untold wealth that is promised. 

It is about the products and about the people.

I feel obligated to share what I have learned and to help others find the right path of healing for themselves.  I don't intend to get layers of people underneath me to sale the products so that I can make more money.  In fact, I feel so strongly about helping others that I intend to sell the products at the lower preferred customer price, always, and not the higher suggested retail price.

This blog will remain my thoughts about my life journey.  I will not use it to sell the products to my friends.  The biggest turn off for me is when I feel used by my friends just to get their business going,  to feel obligated out of friendship to buy a products I won't use,  just to save a friendship.  Here is your invitation:  If you would like to learn more about this aspect of my healing, I ask you to follow my page on facebook named Empower Juuva.  There I will teach about the products, including essential oils, and give testimonial to how each has worked for me.  You can also contact me personally to ask any questions. 

Have a beautiful first day of summer. 💗

A Book that began the Healing

At January of this year I was at a low point again.  Even though my health had been getting better for a time, it seemed to have regressed again.  I struggled through the holidays with my energy level and by the beginning of the year I knew I needed to address things again.  It was at this time that I was introduced to a book titled "The Adrenal Thyroid Revolution" by Aviva Romm.  As a doctor, Romm had discovered many women in her practice that were experiencing the same thing I was.  They'd go to specialist after specialist and receive test after test only to find that there was no explanation for their symptoms.  Supposedly nothing was wrong with these patients.

The dedication to Dr. Romm's book reads:

To all the women who have felt unseen and unheard, you are not invisible and you are not alone.

To all who have been told "It's all in your head," it is not.

And to all who have felt like you've been sleeping for too long, rise and shine.

Let's move mountains together.

So many times I wondered if I would ever find an answer.  Wondered why all the test results were inconclusive and did not lead me to solutions.  In searching for an explanation to these unexplained symptoms, Dr. Romm wanted to find out what was really going on.  What was at the core, at the root of all these women's problems?  I love this!  I love that she wasn't trying to just fight the symptoms, but was seeking to solve the underlying problems.  Again, I think doctors are great.  What I learned from my experience is that because specialist are trained in their specific field, it is hard for them to see the big picture.  And most are not trained on the nutritional effects on our bodies.  So to have a book that explained more than just how to mask the symptoms to cope with life, I was ready to study it and apply it.

Without getting too much into her book or the scientific stuff, I want to share what stood out in my understanding. There are more than these two root causes, but I will only mention these two right now.   In our world, especially our western society, we are over stressing our bodies and the systems that run that body.  We are constantly going, constantly doing, thinking, checking phones, adding to our to-do list, seeking entertainment.  We have an emotional and mental overload every day.

Second, we have food stress.  Our food system, especially in America, is not what is should be.  We are fighting chemicals, pesticides, genetic modifications to our food, not to mention processed food that mimics real food.   The food today might be marketed as healthier and more readily available, but it is significantly different than the food of our ancestors.  and our bodies were not made to process and use food that had been altered and changed and is deficient int eh nutrients it really needs.  Our food is causing our bodies stress.

When I read that first chapter I felt the truth in it. I knew what she had discovered was what was wrong with me, and what was wrong with so many women.  I knew I was led to this book for  a reason.  I knew I needed to follow this book and discover how I could take back my life.  Because, in truth, I was not helpless. 

Five months later I can truly say that this was the key for me, the catalyst I needed to bring the beginnings of healing and hope back into my life.  Thank you, Dr. Romm, for sharing your wisdom.  Thank you to my caring neighbor, who knew to follow a prompting and suggested I read this book.  So glad I have taken charge of my health. 

Food Culture

Food, Food everywhere and not a bite to eat.

For those who have food allergies or diseases that limit their food choices, they can feel the truth of this phrase. 

We live in a world were so many things are centered around food.  Birthday parties:  Must have cake and ice cream.  Game night with friends: where's the snack bowl?  Night at the movies: Popcorn!  It almost seems like you can't have an event unless there is food included.  Our church culture is a huge culprit to the "food need."  Every youth activity has a treat.  So many lessons on Sunday are topped off with candy at the end.  Relief Society get togethers are epic for their refreshments.

Why?  Why have we come to a place where food is the thing that brings people together?

I want you to think for a moment about all the events you go to in a month.  How many of them involved food?  Now I want you to place yourself in a position where food is not necessarily your "friend."  None of the food at those events are things you can partake of.  Sure, they might have a salad here and there, but the dressing might not be one that agrees with your body.  A whole array of yummy food, and you can have none of it. How do you feel now?  Are these events ones that you now want to avoid, just so you don't have to deal with the food situation?  Do you now find sorrow in a place where you used to find joy?

When I first faced my new life of celiac disease I had to make a decision.  How was I going to address this food culture dilemma?  Yes, the world is becoming more aware of food sensitivities and yes people will try to be more understanding and try to provide more food choices.  But it won't always happen.  And, the truth is, I don't expect people to cater to me.  It is not their job to make me happy.  And I won't allow them to make me sad.  I determined from the first what I really wanted, and that was to socialize.  I determined that, for me, the people were what was important at the event, not the food.  Even at a family dinner, specifically centered around a meal.  My mom was so good and would call me before the dinner, wanting to make sure she had something I could eat.  Over and over I tried to convince her I was bringing my own meal and I was fine.  Did that take more thought and preparation on my own part?  Sure.  But I kept going back to my original thoughts, I am there for the people and I choose to be happy no matter what my circumstance. 

Food culture does not have to control our lives.  We can have joy even when surrounded by things that are hard.  Choose joy, because it is your choice!

Hair Affair

I want to admit something:  I have loved my hair most of my adult life.  I know, that can be taken as shallow, but there it is.  I have loved the color, I love the thickness, I love that it grows fast and is generally healthy.  And I like it long.  I like to curl it. I like to put it in two braids on a hot summer day. I like to throw it into a ponytail and forget about it.  I guess maybe I feel younger and prettier with long hair.

So imagine the difficult decision it was to cut it all off today.  First, let me show you a couple of pictures:

My hair was long! But it was also unhealthy and so much thinner than it's ever been in my life.

The second photo it to show you the state of my hair. Notice the short hair and frizz?  Since my health took a turn for the worse a few years ago, I am still coming to realize all the different aspects of my body that it has affected.  My hair falls out like crazy!  At any moment I can run my fingers through my hair and find my fingers filled with stray hair.  Because of the malnourishment in my body, it pulled in on itself and sent the needed vitamins to the vital functions of my body.  My hair was not one of those.  So, now that I am working toward better health, my hair is growing back in.  I have a lot of frizz and short hairs.

Why do I mention all this on my health journey blog?  I want you to think about your health as a whole.  My hair is actually another symbol of this journey.

We all want to be happy and content in life.  We may really like the life we have, feeling at peace with the way things are going.  And then something happens that knocks you off your axis.  You try desperately to keep it all together, to cling to every aspect of your life that you can still control.  Like my hair:  My hair was 'fine', right?  I'm not saying it is wrong to keep hold of things that you still find joy in, that still help you to feel there is some normalcy about your life. We all have to figure out these different aspects in our own way.

For me, this was one of the steps I needed to take.  It was the next thing I needed to do to bring further healing to by body as a whole.  If I want my hair healthy, I needed to cut it off and let it 'heal'.  For me it is a symbol:  What am I willing to do to bring about what I truly want?  

What I want?  I want to be here for my kids, fully engaged in their lives.  I want to travel with my husband.  I want to have energy to serve the Lord in the way I know He needs me to.  I want to hike, to waterski, to enjoy the world around me.  I want to be present.  And I want to be healthy.  To do all these things that are important, really important, to me, I have learned to sacrifice some unessential things for things that are essential for my body.  I loved homemade wheat bread, but it was not for my body.  I loved popcorn, but my body says no.  These are not essential for my body to live.  I have found other things that bring the health I desire.  It's okay to let things go.

That is why my hair is a symbol.  I am willing to let go of something I love for something in the future that could be even better for me.  Besides, it's just hair, right? 😏

 

What Is My Health Worth?

I've been to a lot of doctor appointments over the past few years.  I've had a lot of tests done.  More often than a few times, I prayed with gratitude for having good health insurance, that I was able to have the cost mostly covered for these appointments and test.  These things took a lot of time.  But it's worth it, right, if I can find answers and get results.

But I didn't find results.  Not in the typical way I was raised to find results  Growing up, if we were sick or hurt, we went to the doctor.  "Ear infection?  Here's an antibiotic."  You know the drill.  The doctor was the only answer.  In fact, we were a little leery of anything homeopathic.  These people were just... weird?  different?  not modernized?  I don't fault my parents for jading my thinking.  That was just the way was at this time; antibiotics were new and readily available, and we used them.

I want all of you to know, I have a great respect for doctors and nurses.  They have dedicated their careers to trying their best to help people to heal and find comfort.  I now have a son-in-law that is studying to become a doctor, and I fully support him.  What I want to share is what I have learned.  Crazy thought:  Doctors are human.  Doctors have limits.  And, sometimes, they don't have all the answers.  It's not to say they aren't trying their best, because they are.  But they are on this earth, learning and progressing along the path, same as us.

Here's another revolutionary notion:  we are the stewards over our own bodies.  If we are in tune enough, relying on prayer and internal evaluation, we can learn what is best for us personally.  And sometimes that might be different than what the medical community thinks is best.  I have a niece in Primary childrens hospital right now who's parents can attest to that fact.  I just heard two other situations where the doctors were sure the patients had no hope and needed to be taken off life support, but these parents opted to trust in God and their children live.  But, I digress.  Thoughts for a different time...

As stewards, we have every responsibiltiy to study, to research, to learn what our bodies need.  I have striven to do that.  I include in this research visits to doctors and learning from them.  What I learned is bits here, pieces there.  I have celiac.  Learned that from a doctor.  But I didn't get the complete solution from any of them, or even all their pieces put together.  Until I went home and took the research upon myself, it was then I started to heal.  I now use essential oils, structured silver, and other supplements.  I now eat organic and steer clear of processed foods and inflammatory foods.

What does this have to do with my blog title today?

I was resistant to "going natural".  Why?  Because it is different.  Because it has a cost. Because it makes me responsible and, let's be honest, we don't like to be responsible when bad things happen.  With doctors and medical tests the financial cost was minimal.  Insurance covered it.  It was awesome!  Right?  Organic food is more expensive.  Oils do cost more than medicine.  Supplements are taken daily and must be bought often.  And none of this is covered by health insurance.  (a political argument for another day 😉) 

One day I was talking out these financial frustrations with a friend.  She said "You can't put a price on your health."  It really made me think.  I was more than willing to take chemicals into my body in the hopes of healing, because they were cheap!  But I was fighting against putting good, amazing stuff into my body that not only heals but prevents, all because I wasn't willing to sacrifice my personal fun money to pay for it.  All because of a price tag.  But was I really saving anything? What was my time at the doctors costing me?  What was my ill health costing my family, in regards to time away from them and fostering relationships?  The spiritual loss could be so much more damaging than any financial cost ever could be. If I'm really a steward over by body, and will be accountable to God someday for what I have done with my body, would I want to tell him that I turned away from His natural creations for something manmade?  That I'd rather have more fabric to feed my hobby than to buy food that would heal my body?  What was a trusting more:  God, or man?

Again, I know this is controversial.  I reiterate, there must be a balance in all things.  God gave us knowledge, gave us technology, gave man the means to gain medical knowledge.  He leads doctors in their work.  But!!! We cannot neglect the natural world.  And that is the journey I now pursue. 

Well then, that took a different course than I originally set out to write. 😂  But here it stays, and here you read what was meant to be written all along. 

P.S.  For readers of last weeks entry... my daughter has given me permission to share her story.  If you will be patient a few weeks, I will share the miracle of her life these last years.  I want to be respectful and honor her as a person, so the entry will take time.  Much love to you, my few readers. 

Miracles

I believe in Miracles.

Tomorrow my oldest daughter will be getting married in one of the temples of our church.  A year ago, she was in quiet a different place than she is today.  Because her story is personal to her, I will not share the details.  But I want to say that, indeed, a miracle has occurred.  It is a miracle to see where she is at today, different than where she was a year ago, to be with a different man who adores her and respects her.  To see her happy and filled with love are the greatest miracles of all. 

I, too, have experienced a miracle.  In January I started a healthy lifestyle change.  I will go into more detail on a later post, but I will say it has been a miracle in my life to be where I am now from where I was even 6 months ago.  I have continually gained energy back.  I have been more mindful of my body and it's needs for rest, recovery, and refueling.  I have been able to plan this wedding with very few hitches in my health.  That is a miracle.  I am at peace with where I am at in the journey right now.

So, Yes, I believe in miracles.  They are real.  They are gifts from God.  All we need do is open our eyes to see that they are available to all of us.  Tomorrow will be a beautiful day.

Grieving and Acceptance

Grief comes from many different circumstances.  We grieve when a loved one dies.  We grieve when a friend becomes lost to us.  We grieve when a child go astray.  It wasn't until recently that I realized you also work through the steps of grief when you lose the life you thought you would have.  When a lifelong illness strikes, you mourn the life you once had and you mourn the life you  hoped to have in the future.  That grief is real.  And it is part of life and part of the testing we go through.

Yesterday marked the seventeenth year since the birth, and death, of our son.  Even with the knowledge and testimony I have of God's great eternal plan, I still grieved.  And there is nothing wrong with that.  It doesn't diminish my testimony to grieve.  It is perfectly normal, and in fact healthy, to go through grief.  It is cleansing and it is healing.  As I grieved during this time,  I wanted to understand the process it takes to grieve.  Studies have been done, and scientists have identified steps that we naturally go through in this process.

It is perfectly normal to bounce between these steps.  You could be to acceptance and still have a trigger set you off that takes you back to depression for a time.  That's ok!  There is no right or wrong way to grieve.  There is no set time frame.  It could last a few days to a few years.  The thing to realize is that it is personal!

A few months ago I was depressed.  And I didn't realize I was going through the grieving process.  I had been working so hard to do everything I could for my health, and it just wasn't getting better,  as I had hoped it would. I thought my friends were avoiding me because they were tired of hearing what I was dealing with, and I wasn't able to give them the time they deserved because I was too tired.  None of this was true, but depression pulls you to thoughts that are self-defeating.  To keep things real, I want to share a few paragraphs from my journal at that time:

         This entry is going to be real, and it's going to be raw, and might even be a bit ugly.
I hate this trial I'm going through.  This is hard.  This is painful.  And I often feel little hope of it ever getting better.  It has been going on so long and, in the midst of all my health struggles, other extremely difficult trials have occurred or continue. At times I feel broken, hopeless, and sad.
       This is one of those times.  I know I am grieving. Still.  I'm grieving for food I once enjoyed and can no longer have.  I'm grieving as more and more foods are taken away from me, and the fact that I find very little enjoyment in eating anymore.  Nothing, or rarely anything, is tasting good to me.  I eat to live, and that's about it.  And sometimes I even force myself to do that; eat the food that I know is right for me.

Yes, it was a difficult time.  I had priesthood blessing that helped, and time at the temple that was rejuvenating, but I still struggled.  I did not want to accept that I could not longer be the person I once was.  I liked that person.  I had been happy. 

It was one morning during my prayers that I heard clearly: "Accept this Trial."  It had never occurred to me before this moment that I was fighting the Lord.  I thought the person I was before was pretty great.  But the Lord has so much more in mind for me.  And so I prayed and told him I accept this trial.  I gave my life over to him, to let Him make of me what he will.  I am trying to humble myself and present myself to Him, to do what He needs to do, to use me where He needs me in His work. 

The last paragraph in my journal entry from the day I accepted this trial:
I have never thought before of how much can change within me when I choose to accept the Lord's will and His ways.  I already feel different.  I feel more empowered and a greater strength to face this.
How can we feel empowered when we are accepting the Lord's will and His ways, instead of our own?  I invite you to ponder that with me. 

Any questions on grief and the grief process, I would love to hear your comments.