Monday, May 3, 2010

Preventative health care, home remedies, and reaching the Black community

This has been a topic I have been addressing for the last 4 years or so.
I moved to an inner-city residence and became one of the founding members of a cooperative.
It was good for a while, but it felt as if I was preaching to the choir. People from miles around, and even other states had heard of this natural holistic place and came for the food and the exchange of ideas.
The people who lived around the corner and up the street had no idea who we were and what this place was all about. I moved slowly from that space to a space of teaching.
It has been a wonderful 4 years of teaching and learning. To be able to explain what e-coli is and how it is spread and other social health issues of the day(H1N1, viruses, etc.) I am really reaching people that need to learn, and hopefully they will then educate the ones around them.
Teaching about our health, how to prevent disease, how to take care of our body mind and spirit, in a holistic natural way is the way I see our health care evolving.
As our ancestors used what was in nature, we are now understanding the power of creating remedies from simple home recipes. 
We are now in the season of Spring and with the pollution and the wind whipping through the city, many of us feel the pollution, whether it triggers an asthmatic attack or an allergic reaction of sneezing, watery eyes and painful sinus cavities.
The first thing we can do, is Spring cleaning! All the dust and signs of Winter in our homes and cars need to be removed. We can't do much about an inner-city environment, so I have some simple remedies that will help you get through this season.
There are many vegetables and herbals you can get at your local grocer : ginger(you can make a tea, squeezing with hot water and local honey(local honey gives your body immunity against environmental pathogens),garlic, onion. You can use spices like cayenne or black pepper, chili powder, turmeric, cinnamon, cumin, cloves and herbs like parsley, rosemary thyme and oregano, again add this into something that is hot, like soup, to infuse into the water, that will quickly heal your body. These herbs and veggies fight infections and are antiviral.

Use eucalyptus, tea tree and peppermint aromatherapy oils(click on my link for these oils http://astore.amazon.com/bodyseaso-20 ) to help loosen mucus and heals the throat, nasal passages and helps to relax the bronchial tubes. You can do this by inhaling the vapors using a few drops on a cotton ball, or use an aromatherapy diffuser. If you like baths you can take a 20 minute hot bath with 10-15 drops of each oil. In the shower you can put the same amount of drops in a 1/2 cup of carrier oil, like olive oil and take 5 minutes to rub onto your body before you get into the shower, be careful not to get in eyes or any open body cavity as it will burn, if this happens use lots of water to flush.

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