How is your health? Is it as optimal as you want it to be? What things have you worked on to try and improve it? How can you create your own medicine for your body? Whatever you have going on in your life, there are things that you can do to take better care of your mind and your body, in a way, you can give your body it’s own medicine. Walking is medicine, nutritional eating is medicine, mindfulness and meditation are medicine, laughter is medicine. They are not the same medicines you will get from your doctor, nor should they be used to replace these but they are their own form of natural self-medication.
When you do exercise, your body releases chemicals such as endorphins and these naturally put you in a better mood, ever heard of the term runners high? When you eat food that agrees with your body, it naturally improves your digestion, it helps your gut bacteria and it help those happy hormones within your body. A great deal of your body’s serotonin levels is produced in the gut.
When you are consciously mindful throughout your day, you are helping your body relax. When you meditate you are encouraging the frequency of your brain waves to slow down. You are teaching yourself to be more aware of your thoughts, over time you are helping your body and mind relax.
When you are feeling stressed your body is being flooded with cortisol hormones, gratitude is a fantastic natural medicine to lower these stress hormones. What thoughts can you focus on in the moment that make you feel better? Even if the reality of the situation is not something that brings you happiness, is focusing your thoughts on that helping? If you play that thought over and over, will it help you get where you want to go? If not, what is a thought you can focus on instead that will help? Laughter is an amazing medicine for your body. Laughter relaxes the whole body, it boosts your immune system, it encourages the release of endorphins.
Spending time in nature is a natural medicine, it relaxes the body, it increases your vitamin D, it reduces stress. Spending time with your loved ones is a natural medicine, as humans it is wired within us to be drawn to others. Being around friends and family we care about helps us find better coping mechanisms for stress, it also improves your general wellbeing.
All of these things are in your control and they all improve your health. All of these things are free and will help you take care of yourself. Natural medicine is not all about taking strange herbs and swearing off doctors, it is the things you do on a daily basis, within yourself and around you, to take care of yourself on your own terms. When you take care of your health, when you are feeling vibrant and well, whatever that means to you, you will feel your life in different ways. You will find you have more energy, better moods, a natural gratitude for life and the things within it.
Make the choices today that help you be the best version you choose to be. How will you include more natural medicine into your life this week?