Living a Natural Lifestyle

Living a natural lifestyle…what does that even mean?

Well, it depends on who you ask. There’s lots of opinions on this subject and it doesn’t have to be as difficult or limiting as you might think.

Let’s take a minute and dig into what this means to me.

What is a Natural Lifestyle?

In my mind it means creating a home that heals you, instead of overwhelming and draining you. Ways to do this include:

• Slowing down just a bit by living with intention and nourishing your mental health
• Trying to replace as many toxins in my home as possible with healthier options (This includes food choices.) Using natural solutions when feasible
• Choosing to put more back into my environment than I take from it in order to be more sustainable

I know that those three things might seem just about impossible. However, it’s not so hard if you change one little habit at a time. 

Plus, we need to remember that there’s no such thing as a completely natural lifestyle. It just isn’t possible in the world we live in today.

And, I’m passionate about avoiding overwhelm and remembering we should never compare ourselves to others in the first place.

Okay, I think I just heard you take a deep breath! That’s right…there’s no judgement here.

What’s Your “Why” for Choosing a Natural Lifestyle?

For some of us, we are raised up with the idea of choosing natural ingredients over man-made. Maybe we had “crunchy” moms, or mothers that really focused on a healthy home. I love my Momma, but she was not super health conscious. So, that is not my driving force behind becoming a natural health educator.

For me, it started with my mother-in-law. She’s a naturopath and she helped me to see I needed to start making some changes, especially after I found out I had an auto-immune disease. I was tired…all…the…time. This was also during the time when we were all diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome or just told that were probably just tired. I mean, at that time I had just had my second daughter, was nursing, and working from home all while helping manage our ranch. Of course I was tired. However, there was more to it than “just” being a new mother. That was in 2000.

My Catalyst for Making Changes

Time goes on and we reach the true driving catalyst to my choosing to work on being more natural. Within 9 months time, my father, grandmother, and infant daughter passed away. That was from 2005-2006.

So, my daughter, Clara Annabeth, passed away from an infection after surgery.

Four months later we found out my father had cancer. It was later determined that the asbestos on his navy ship more than likely led to his developing lung cancer later in life.

My grandmother had a stroke two months after that and then Grandma and Daddy passed away within a month of each other.

Before my father passed away, he looked at me and said, “Learn from me”. Well, Dad! That’s what I’ve been doing since 2006.

That was the moment my journey to really make some changes to my lifestyle was launched. Slowly but surely, I’ve made changes over the years.

First, I switched to natural skin care products and removed fragrance from my home. I started using natural remedies for my migraines and allergies. Those eventually went away and I started feeling so much better.

Since then, I’ve gone on to learn more about herbs and essential oils and understand what’s in the food I eat. I’m now a master herbalist, animal aromatherapist, and considered a natural living educator.

Change Takes Time

I don’t have an all or nothing attitude. Change can be slow. Change takes time.  

So, I’m here to be your guide on this journey.

I am patient and kind.

You’re not alone.

This is about making choices. I still eat pizza and drink wine on occasion. If you’re looking for an all or nothing kind of gal, I’m probably not your cup of tea.

I have a gift to help you get started too! One of the first natural remedies I learned to make was a soothing salve. I have created a guide to help you learn more about making some for yourself. (Or, it will help you choose a great ready-made product as you gain knowledge about the ingredients included in these little jars of wonder.)