We can't be up to the celebration of awesomeness number 10, surely, can we? That's over two months celebrating and promoting natural therapies, healing and dialogue! That's over two months talking to you all about how to empower our own health! You amazing Steemfolk - wow! - you form such an incredible repository of knowledge for all! Thanks to all of those who've been featured in our curation so far - we've just been in awe of what you produce.
In case you were wondering how we chose posts to be featured in these curations, we favour:
- original articles
- a blend of personal stories and facts/research (either anecdotal or otherwise) to engage the reader
- good images or photos
- novel or interesting approaches to self care through natural remedies
- content that makes us go aaaaaaaaahhhhh
If you'd like help making your posts pop, please let us know - we're here to help you succeed!
Enjoy this week's curation, as down under heads into Spring and up above heads in Autumn (or fall!).
You may have noticed we've changed our cover photo for the 'Celebration of Awesomeness' - sometimes it takes a little experimenting to get things the way we like them, huh? We're all up for feedback though - this account is really about the collective, so please feel free to get involved. We're after someone clever to design us personalised banners, so if that's you, please get in touch!
So in California, especially in the Redwood forest and coastal ranges, you find this tree. Sometimes you can smell it from far away, even driving with your car windows down. When it rain, it especially fills the air with it's essential oil rich almost Eucalyptus strong scent. In the Sierra foothills of California, which is on the east side of the state (but the west side of the mountain range, which gets the coastal moisture) you also find California Bay, especially on the north facing slopes and along the deep caverns of steep rivers and creeks. It is related to the Bay that you commonly know for cooking, at least many of the species we know as 'Bay leaf' are in the same plant family. Some are not though. Some folks use this species of Bay in the same way, I think it is incredibly strong and should be used really lightly internally. It is so strong sometimes, that just inhaling a leaf could give one a migraine, or take away a migraine, depending. I think it is great infused in apple cider vinegar, and then used to clean surfaces with in your home as a natural cleaner. I also put it in a bathtub on occasion, especially for when I am achey. I have also used it in cooking, as a flavor agent, food as medicine, or digestive aid, but I tend to put a half a leaf or so in the mix. Some folks will throw a leaf into a steam inhalation for colds.
She doesn't stop there - read the rest of the post to find out more about paper birch, miner's lettuce and more - the wealth of cultural and medicinal knowledge that this Steemian brings to her posts in outstanding, to say the least!
The type of herbs used will vary across the continents using what grows natively in that region.These dried bundles of herbs are burned slowly (something akin to incense) releasing the aroma into the air. Smudging, the ritual burning of herbs is done for many reasons including to clear a space or person of negative energies, to purify the air, to ward of bad spirits, to bring vision, clarity and much more.*
A conscious community where people own their responsibility to fill themselves up ALWAYS has time and space for the vulnerable, the sick, the dying, the displaced and dispossessed. There is always safety and people feel it's OK to be vulnerable and draw on others sometimes when they need. The fact that someone draws on your energy is actually a hallmark of community. Your withdrawing from that equation negates all that could be possible.
Goldenrod is well-known for it's healing abilities. Herbal medicine practitioners use it to counter inflammation and irritation caused by bacterial infections or kidney stones. Mistaken for causing allergies in late summer and early fall, golden rod is innocent as it's pollen is sticky and doesn't float in the air. Ragweed is the cause of hay fever.
More than any other method, urine therapy represents the principles of natural medicine. One's own urine is a specific medicine for anyone who is ill. It is made for him or her personally and is just right for what he or she needs at the present moment, because it changes its composition all the time. It is not only something that cures, but it also sustains health when taken as a preventative. Taken energetically, one could consider urine to be an exact hologram of both healthy as well as diseased body fluids. All information from the body fluids is collected and stared in the urine. One's own urine is the best medicine for the kidneys that we could imagine. It is clear for any holistic health practitioner that all cycles within the body are interconnected, and this means that the healing of one of those cycles will have a positive effect on the others. Urine was often used at the front, for lack of other medication and as a disinfectant for surgery instruments.
The Tao Te Ching was written by Laozi/Lao Tzu at least 2400 years ago. Although there are certainly a wide variety of texts and teachers that have come together to form the basis of modern Taoism, the original Tao Te Ching is central. It's been translated hundreds of times, and it is certainly one of the most influential spiritual texts of modern humanity.
New member 
How can smells evoke memories long gone and thus affect our mood? It is quite simple as our brain's olfactory system is connected to both the amygdala, which is a set of neurons which plays a key role in processing our emotions, and also to the hippocampus, a small organ which is an important part of our limbic system. The limbic system has three key functions namely emotions, memories and arousal/stimulation. The hippocampus is mainly associated with memory, in particular long-term memory.
We loved the quote from Walter Hagen she ended her piece with, and we'd like to leave you with it as well.
You're only here for a short visit.
Don't hurry, don't worry.
And be sure to smell the roses along the way.
Smelling the roses is a nice thought for a natural medicine, don't you think?
We'd also like to give some recognition and love to some other people writing under the #naturalmedicine tag this week - 
