A History Lesson

      Back in the day Indians had medicine men and we had  great great grandma's tried and true concoctions. The Chinese had Chinese medicine that worked for thousands of years. If those failed then one would visit an herbalist, a homeopathic and yes even the oil salesman. 

       All that began to change during the late 1800's and especially during the  early 20th century. Modern medicine and pharmacology began digging their heels in. Without getting too political, each one of these now called "alternative therapy's" were slowly crushed, (not just by chance) and put out of business in America. Therapy's that had been used since Biblical times were then being labeled "quackery." 

     Medicine has been ruled by big pharma for about a 100 years. They pour money into medical schools which then are roped into servitude to teach specific curriculums that are approved by them and Natural medicines or nutritional wisdom were not a part of it.  Pharma have the backing of big money, government agencies and of course the doctors. In these hundred years we have seen the hospital and pharmaceutical business grow into a monstrous multi billion dollar beast.
    Think of it, IF they came up with a cure for cancer, it would collapse the economy. Yes, I said it. Think of the millions of jobs at stake. Think of the billions of dollars hospitals, doctors and pharmaceutical industry would loose every day, year. Not to mention the thousands of smaller companies, charities and med schools that are supported by the system. In my opinion, a cure can not be found or our world will be thrust into a depression with no recovery.
     An excellent book to read about the rise an strangle hold of the medical complex and Pharma has on our economy is "A World Without Cancer" by G. Edward Griffin.  Since 1971 and Reagan's War On Cancer, a Ka-zillion dollars have been spent on cancer research yet, statistics remain the same, in fact they have gotten worse. Don't get me wrong. That is not to say that some hospitalizations and pharmaceuticals aren't helpful, even lifesaving but, rather than trying to find the causes (cause and effect) or delve deeper into natural solutions (can not be patented, therefore makes them no profit) for all the maladies that ail mankind, they spend billions to create a new drug that mask over the symptoms. All the while putting on a guise of concern but never really addressing the underlying question for breakdown in the first place.

     The medical complex's ginormous marketing campaign over the years to educate med students while discrediting anything outside said allopathic medical  norm, along with people putting blind trust in the medical system and their doctors, has led us all where we find ourselves today, dependent on a failing drug oriented medical care system. But, people are starting to wake up.

     Thanks to the internet we no longer have to passively allow hospitals, doctors and pharmacists dictate our health life course. We can educate ourselves, be informed patients. Know our options.

     Sadly, It's usually after an individual has run out of allopathic options and is sent home to live out the rest of her life with the original problem and a hand full of drugs, that she turns to researching "alternatives" with a more open heart and mind. 

     That's when she comes up against a plethora of options long ago poopooed by conventional "wisdom". With much skepticism she begins her course meandering into the realm naturopathic medicine, holistic and nutritional therapies, vitamin and supplementation, Chinese medicine, acupuncture, reflexology, massage therapy and now, essential healing oils.

     Reading opens the eyes to pioneers of years gone by who never quit blazing the natural trail.  Esteemed scientists, doctors, dentists and journalists who refused to follow the course dictated to them.  Who is this Max Gerson, Weston Price, Royal Rife, Linus Pauling, Gary Young, Hulda Clark, Russel Blaylock, Jonathon Whitiker and Susy Falon? Books by MD's like Ray Strand's "Death By Perscription or G. Edward Griffin's "A World Without Cancer." Companies like Life Extention or the Natural Health Ranger.

     There is so much "alternative" health and nutrition information that has been researched by intelligent upstanding courageous (can't use enough adjectives) individuals that until the internet, was only found in a obscure corner of the library.  Now, for the discerning individual, it's all there for the asking. It can be overwhelming. I know because I live it. With the passing of my first brother I was forced to look back on life. My mothers words came blasting back from the grave. My ex-father in law, the health nut (yes, I married the high school sweetheart) lectures now made sense. Without hardly knowing it, I set on a mission to understand healthcare choices that would turn me 180 degrees.

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Alternative Alternatives

     Around 2009/2010 I was introduced to a  retired Cardiac nurse who had all but saved my daughters sanity with yet another technique of  "quackery." Let me explain.

     I will try to make a very long an sad story short. My daughter had loss a set of twin girls at twenty weeks while vacationing in Florida. After delivering the girls Leah was left scratching herself because of an insatiable itch that was driving her crazy. The hospital had done all the standard testing for liver toxicity, because itchy skin is a symptom of toxic liver. All test came back negative. They sent her home, saying "She'd been through a lot and it is probably a psychological/emotional issue." 

      This itch was no ordinary itch. She had scratched her whole body into into raw red mess. Once back home in Michigan Leah went to see the Cardiac nurse we'll call JJ. JJ had left the hospital scene to become a holistic practitioner who used a machine called the BioMeridian Scan. Without a lot of detail, the bio-meridian scan works along the line of an EKG or EEG. The human body has 14 meridians  leading from our feet and hands to all the vital organs. These are the same meridians that medical doctors, acupuncturists or reflexologists use. A wand is pressed against the meridian sites which then sends an electrical pulse down each meridian and depending on how long the pulse takes (whether it gets bogged down mid stream) to get to specific organ attached to that meridian. The feedback can tell how well or sick and what areas are of concern. Similar to EKG.

     Within a few minutes the scan had detected a toxic liver. Now you may think this is voodoo medicine but, the simple vitamins, enzymes and a cleanse that were prescribed by JJ because of the scans findings, healed Leah's liver, clearing up all signs of itching within a few days. Until then the itching and being told it was all in her head nearly drove my daughter crazy. I am scared to think of what might have lay ahead for Leah had she not sought out this unconventional holistic practice. Thank goodness she did.

     Western medicine IS NOT the end all know all good medicine. It has its limits and that is what forces (and thankfully so) patients to search out alternative ways of healing.  Alternative practices have by necessity slowly found their way into modern medicine under the name Integrated Medicine. Not because these alternative practices were sought out but because patients demanded it. Now, chiropractic, massage therapy, acupuncture, reflexology, bio feedback, green nutrition and yes, Essential Oils have found their way into many of the top hospitals in the country, including our Cleveland Clinic.

     My daughters loss was just one more reason to start educating myself on what alternatives are available outside of the norm. Learning about the BioMeridian Scan was now a priority.

     The first scan JJ performed on me pinpointed to a tee many of the symptoms and troubled areas I had long known. I was profoundly intrigue at how accurate the diagnosis was and the relative ease of how to remedy many of my issues. I was convinced.

     For the next two and a half years JJ would travel once every couple months from Detroit to my suburban Cleveland home to see dozens of  BioMeridian "believers". Testing them and offering natural healthy solutions to best remedy ailments that many had lived with for decades. I learned so much about Natural Health care, ie. vitamins, nutrients, enzymes, probiotics, colloidal silver from JJ during those years, I will forever be grateful. Since, I hear she and a partner has opened a clinic and continue to help folks who want a different avenue of care than what allopathic medicine currently offers.

     Still, you ask, what does this have to do with Young Living Essential Oils. Be patient, I'm getting there. Join me for my next post.

Journey's Genesis

 

       Finding my way to Young Living Oils started recently but, the journey that led me to this point began in the early 60's when I was a child. My mother was either a pioneer or a left over student of an era when essential oils, homeopathy and Grandma's homemade prescriptions were the mainstay in human health. Before modern medicine most of our Grandma's best remedies for health came from one of these sources.


Me and my husband of 26 years

     My mother studied under one of Detroit's only reflexologist where she learned the technique of homeopathy and reflexology. My youngest brother and I were her guinea pigs. Our medicine was not typically asprin or pepto bismal but, tiny beads we'd happily put under our tongues until they disappeared. I loved how it felt as she rolled her knuckles into the bottoms of my feet, kneading the tips of her fingers into the tops of each of my toes.  The fact is I didn't appreciate what a wonderful health educated person had a hold of my feet.

       Years later, I was exposed to another "health nut" who poo pooed the American Medical norm while dating my high school sweetheart. His father was the Jack Lalane in our circle of friends. He daily drove home the benefits of nutritional health, vitamins, minerals and fish oil supplementation. It was no surprise when thirty years down the road, he and his son opened a chain of health food stores. I learned a lot from him, yet stubbornly refuse to adopt the healthy way of living saying "if this were so great, all the doctors would be preaching about it."

     Fast forward to 2002 when I witnessed first hand the destruction of a human soul by modern medical techniques. Watching as my fifty year old brother succumb not to the cancer that spread through his body but, the ravages of chemo "therapy", tortured me.  It made no sense to me to introduce a chemical that kills everything good, in efforts to achieve health.  Bomb the whole house to clean out the rats is ridiculous reasoning.  There has to be a better way. If anything good came from Jon's death it is this: It put me on a path to understand all those things my mother tried to teach me. It opened my heart and mind to gain a better knowledge of what  "the health nut"  was trying to instill all those years ago.

      Years later, with hundreds of books under my belt, so many health oriented videos that I can't count, oodles of personal interviews with people who swear by one natural health regimen or another, I have found great faith in many alternative modalities. Of course, everyone must choose for themselves who and what they will put their trust when it comes to health. However, I feel strongly that you do yourself a huge disservice if you do so blindly. We must take charge of our own medicinal destiny. Doctors are not gods. There are many non destructive alternative medicines to "heal thy self."

     Educating ourselves first of all takes an open mind, open heart and a thirst for knowledge. I had to live a little to learn to appreciate life and it's fragility to feel a need to know and understand something better.  I continue to have the desire to understand my body in relation to healthy alternatives to allopathic medicine.

     This is an introduction to me, Julie, and my journey through the medical mire which is our health care system. Telling how I find myself with a reflexology book in hand and a kit of 12 most used essential oils on my lap.  I am confident in alternative medicines. Young Living Essential Oils being my latest alternative endeavor of understanding. Join me in my next blog page to learn why I want to "get into" Essential Oils as an alternative to my usual medicine cabinet.