Holistic medicine is great, but you have to be careful. Some can interact with conventional medicines, ‘dinosaur doctors’ often don’t like you doing anything holistic, and sometimes ‘conventional medicine’ may be needed. Because holistic medicine is not regulated as much, sometimes there are charlatans to beware of. But having said that, good holistic medicine is often effective, and also not tested on animals (though some medicines are not always vegan – homeopathy for instance can use bee stings and some even use the ‘saliva from a rabid dog’ which does not bear thinking where these ingredients are being sourced, as surely a dog with rabies if not cured should be put to sleep? Also be wary of unregulated Traditional Chinese Medicine, as some can (illegally) contain ground up bones from tigers or rhinos, or even bear bile.
How to Get the Right Diagnosis is a book by a man who struggled for 5 years with a medical condition, before getting a proper diagnosis. Using his background of analytics, he’ll show you how to better describe your condition and get specific answers to questions. Learn through the trials and triumphs of others, and use their stories as examples, to get the good medical care you need and serve. Learn how to describe your pain and ask questions to help yourself. Includes tips for an effective partnership. NHS lists all symptoms and treatments, often with lifestyle advice that you could try before going down the medicine route. Their site is more reliable than searching online for gimmicky info. It also good info on complementary medicine.
One of the best ways to ‘practice holistic medicine’ is to just simplify your medication needs with your doctor. Begin by having a medication review. Some people remain on the same medicines for years, when often there are better gentler medicines on the market. Take a list of everything you take, and ask your doctor why you are taking it, is it the correct dose, does it have interactions with anything else, and are you expected to stay on it for life. Then recycle any unwanted medicines at the pharmacist (unwanted and unused pharmacies cost the NHS millions each year).
Avoid essential oils for pregnancy/nursing and talk to your doctor, if taking medication. See toxic foods, toxic herbs and toxic plants to avoid near pets. Don’t use aromatherapy oils near young children and pets pets (air rooms before allowing pets back in rooms, and don’t use aromatherapy oils in bedrooms, if pets sleep on your bed). Avoid herbal medicines without consulting a doctor, if you are on medication.
Good Books on Holistic Healing
Holistic Healing is a book to open your mind to a new more wholesome way of living. Soothe away everyday stress with this beautifully presented collection of practical advice for wellbeing, the natural way. These trusted practices (from ancient wisdom to modern treatments) will help you:
- Quieten your mind with meditation
- Relax and recharge with yoga
- Embrace the healing power of reiki
- Find balance through plant-based remedies
- Create a tranquil & calming home environment
- Be kind to yourself with a self-care routine
The Garden Apothecary shows how to make the most of common garden plants, like the herbalists of the past. With photographs to help you safely identify edible plants, and tips on how best to prepare and preserve your finds, this is the essential guide to enjoying the home-grown riches of your garden. Author Christine Iverson teaches folklore and foraging workshops.
Radical Remedies offers an herbalist’s guide to empowered self-care. Focusing on 25 nourishing herbs, this book shows how they can be used to remedy stress, insomnia, depression, and even comfort a broken heart. With insights on gut health, emotional balance and the importance of whole foods, readers will discover ways to survive and thrive every day. Learn about:
- Healthy gut flora
- Stress and digestion
- Mental clarity, memory & focus
- Stress & anxiety
- Rest & insomnia
- Difficult emotions & depression
- Love your lymph
- Lung, throat and sinus care
- Viral infections
- General pain & chronic conditions
- Headaches
- Nerve pain
- Your home apothecary
The Herb Almanac is a seasonal guide to medicinal plants. This beautiful and accessible guide by Chelsea Physic Garden shows the best times of year to grow healing herbs, and when and how to forage for wild medicine such as water mint, hawthorn berries, rosehips or St John’s Wort. You’ll learn the meanings behind the names of herbal medicines, and find folklore from herb wives, plus tips on sowing, planting and harvesting your own herbs. There are also detailed hand-drawn line illustrations to help deepen your understanding of medicinal herbs.
- Seasonal remedies & tonics
- An overview of herbs in folklore
- Wild medicine
- Herbs in religion
- Floriography (the language of flowers)
- Gathering & using herbs
- An overview of toxic plants (wormwood, hemlock, mandrake)
- Detailed info on over 50 herbs
A Modern Herbal is a book on medicine for a calmer Life. It’s by garden writer Alys Fowler, who may recognise from her years on BBC Gardener’s Question Time. In this book, she can teach you how to grow 100 herbs, then turn them into your own pharmacy, when you feel under the weather.
Simple Holistic Remedies
Herbowski Herbal Healing Oils from Kent are formulated by a qualified herbalist and chemist, and offer a nice organic brand to help to heal minor ailments, rather than drugs. All items are sold in zero waste aluminium tins, so you can easily recycle them, after use. These oils contain herbs, so read precautions and contra-indications before purchase (including pregnancy/nursing).
- Argan oil
- St John’s Wort
- Horsetail
- Linden blossoms
- Lavender
- Calendula
- Marshmallow root
- Cayenne pepper
The Ilex Wood Vegan Herbal Healing Salve has amazing feedback on Google Verified Reviews for scraps, sunburn, sprains, burns or bites. In plastic-free packaging, it’s made with comfrey (broken bones, fractures, bruises and sprains), plantain (a stubborn weed that’s also a natural analgesic), calendula (for skin inflammation, eczema, burns) and yarrow (helps to ease healing and prevent bleeding).
The Ilex Wood Vegan Calendula Salve is a healing soothing salve for dry itchy skin, eczema and rashes. It’s antimicrobialand anti-inflammatory, and can also be used to heal eczema and treat insect bites, along with relieving burns and sunburn and fungal infections. It can also be used as antiseptic for abrasions and scrapes (do not apply to bleeding or open wounds). And to reduce the appearance of scars.
The Ilex Wood Dandelion & Rosemary Salve is a natural healing herbal balm, ideal to soothe aches and pains and relieve tired hands and feet. Kind on dry skin and good as a massage balm, dandelion is a natural pain reliever that can help sore muscles, joint pain and arthritis. It’s also good for rough chapped skin. Rosemary is a stimulating scent with anti-inflammatory properties, perfect for overworked hands after a day gardening, or after a workout or use as a comforting foot rub, after a long walk.
Zero Waste Path Multi Purpose Balm is made (using renewable energy) by Italian scientists who live in Cambridge. Packed in a zero waste tin, use on your lips, hands or body. Almighty Balm is naturally scented with cocoa. And Happy Balm is a blend of grapefruit, sweet orange, geranium and ylang ylang essential oils. Avoid essential oils for pregnancy/nursing and avoid shea butter for latex allergies.
Natural Wellness from Within is bursting with insights, tips and recipes from the experts at Weleda, drawing on 100 years of expertise to bring holistic advice to all from soothing rituals and natural remedies, to the benefits of seasonal self-care. It iwll educate you on certain herbs and flowers, debunk jargon around sustainability and embrace the power of uniting yourself with the natural world with everyday guides to natural care of earth, skin, self and health.
