Peak Week

I just learned about something called Peak Week.  It's the third week in September, where the highest number of asthma attacks are experienced and reported.

It's a perfect storm of ragweed season being at its height, kids being back in school and passing all the germs around, and the stress of the fall routine changes catching up to us. 

Being a former asthma sufferer, this discovery hit home for me.  The fall was always tough for me.  I suffered from allergies and asthma from about age 14 to 34.  I had a smattering of attacks throughout the years, spent a decade on inhaled steriods, daily allergy meds, and a restricted diet to help manage it. 

I really didn't get a handle on it until I adopted a more significant lifestyle change recently which significantly reduced toxins and irritants in my daily environment and also addressed the role that unprocessed emotions were playing in the picture.  I use natural products to support myself now, and I am happily able to have an unrestricted diet, no meds, and a lot of natural energy. 

I am so thankful that this is no longer an issue for me,  and if I do have a rare unexpected flare up I have a whole arsenal of natural, God-given tools to support myself.

Prayers for all people experiencing the stress of respiratory diseases.   I know how scary and debilitating it can be.

Here are some things I did to get a handle on it.

1.  Switch to non-toxic products: Look at the labels on the products you're using in your home.  So many of them contain ingredients which are very aggravating to the respiratory system and the gut among others.  There are apps and websites available to help you navigate this.  Check out my Natural Living post for what to look for and what to do about it.

2. Examine your emotional health:  Grief is stored in the lungs.  Take some time to explore if there are things that have happened in your life, not limited to the loss of a loved-one,  which you have not gone through all of the stages of mourning over.  For example, if something turned out different than you always dreamed ,of, you might need to mourn the loss of that dream.  There are lots of other trapped emotional patterns that can contribute.  There are ways to help your body and mind release trapped emotions, and I have been amazed at the impact that this has had on my overall welless.  If you want to dive deeper into this, send me a message, I am working on sharing more about this in the coming months.

3. Work on your gut health:  Our gut is critically important for our overall health.  When we are exposed to chemicals and bad thought patterns for a long period of time, our body accumulates this and makes adaptations to do its best to continue operating.  But, we might not be efficiently absorbing nutrients, or have a good balance of flora, or we might have inflammation that inhibits normal gut function.  To get back into balance, you need to remove the irritants (like those noted in step 1 and 2) through natural detoxification methods and then provide abundant nutrients to help your body heal. It is possible to heal your gut and it will have a huge impact on all of your body systems.  I am proof-perfect: 4 years ago I was in rough shape and was diagnosed with an Inflammatory Bowel Disease.  Now, after concerted effort to do the things I am recommending, my gut is in great shape and it shows in my current health status; I'm in remission and feeling great, medication-free and happy!

4. Get a community of support: Loneliness can have a huge impact on our health. So can negative influence from those around us.  It is so important to find a positive environment that can encourage you on your path to feeling well.

The best decision I made for my overall health was getting a Starter Kit from Young Living.  I gained a supportive community to help coach me to make the changes I needed to make to feel better, and I gained hundreds of natural tools to support my body, mind and spirit for so many things.  I cannot stop talking about this.  If you have seen the change that has occurred in my life in the last 3 years, you know something is different, and this is one huuuuge factor in my ability to get a handle on my well being. 

Breathe easy, friends. 
Love,
Lisa