3 Tips to a Healthier Home

These 3 tips are not the WHAT TO DO, as we are all becoming more aware, but it’s the HOW TO DO…as in, how to transition your family into a healthier lifestyle. These come from my heart and experience over the past year or so. I hope these simple tips help you and your family enjoy the transition.

1)      Embrace the Journey. Turning around your lifestyle choices to become more natural and healthy is a JOURNEY! It is not an overnight change. There are toxic products that need throwing out, a pantry that needs an overhaul, taste buds that need adjusting, emotional habits that need attention and children that need to be convinced! LOL.

It’s a JOURNEY. And if we don’t see it that way, we will always be constantly frustrated at what we are NOT DOING well, instead of celebrating what we are doing well. So embrace the journey. Celebrate each step. Celebrate when you have stopped using chemicals in your kitchen, even if you are still using them in the bathroom. Celebrate when your kids enjoy your healthier baking, even if they still prefer packet items. Celebrate your progress and keep positive! It’s a journey, not an overnighter.

2)      Embrace the inconvenience and the time you spend learning. Yes, I totally did say that. Embrace inconvenience! Why on earth? Because the reason our world has become so toxic, unhealthy and nasty, is because we wanted convenience and we wanted it NOW! And we wanted it CHEAP too! This is what drives so much industry today that couldn’t care less about your health, your children and the environment. So in order to turn this baby around, we have to re-embrace time, processes and things that are less convenient than what we could grab at the supermarket. If we are not willing to do this, we won’t see much change in our homes and our society. Embrace the time spent learning. We have lost so much precious wisdom and knowledge from our grandparents that we need to relearn. Don’t feel it is a waste of time. It’s an investment of your time to learn to live healthier.

 3)      Have GRACE for yourself and the whole family. There have been times I have not walked in grace for myself, and this has just left me feeling down and discouraged that I am not doing what I know I should be doing. This is NOT going to help your health or your family. Most experts agree that 95% of all sickness comes from stress, so if we are stressed and not walking in grace for the journey, we are sabotaging our health from the inside out. Having grace for yourself when you learn these new things, means being kind to yourself and setting reasonable goals that you can manage. Also, it is super important to have grace for your family that it will take them time to learn to enjoy new foods, use new natural products and shake a few bad eating habits. Always extend GRACE to yourself and others and the journey will be so much better and fun for everyone.

 

I bless you with grace for your journey ahead. May you know the joy of living true, and living well.

Reflections on a Wonderful Winter

I love winter. Always have, always will. It probably has something to do with my birthday being in winter but also those fresh mornings, warm food, hot drinks and snuggly nights. But winter for most people is something to be endured and something to survive.

Our family has had such a wonderful winter this year and I just want to share some of our personal victories and breakthroughs as well as some keys that I believe have helped make this a successful, enjoyable winter.

Our Language: We have shifted from talking about sickness to speaking about wellness. NOW we talk often with our kids about how healthy and strong they are; about how wonderful their immune system it; about how blessed we are to have oils to protect us from bugs.

Love and listen to our bodies: We have taught the kids how wonderful their immune systems are, and when they have had fevers, we have taught them that the fever is working hard to fight the bugs (which is the truth). We do not supress our body’s immune responses, we work with them. You will be amazed at how fast you recover when you work WITH your body.

Healthy eating: We have been upgrading our food over the past year or so and eating more seasonal, fresh and whole foods. Processed foods are FAR less and real food is what we eat! I bake healthy snacks and cook from scratch.

Essential Oils: We all use oils daily. I spike my drinks. We diffuse mornings and afternoons (especially when the kids are at the bench eating). We do bedtime massages and foot rubs. If the children seem run down, we diffuse in their room overnight. The times the children have been unwell, we have used the oils to support their immune systems and they recover very quickly.

Warm home: We are blessed to have such a warm home that captures the sun so well. But this winter we put all 3 children in one room and had a small heater on through the cold nights. This worked beautifully!

Emotional/Heart Health: This year we have also talked a lot about feelings. When I notice one of the kids (or myself) seeming down or not themselves, I ask them questions like, “Hey what’s going on?” “Is there something you want to talk about?” “Is there anyone you need to forgive?” EVERYTIME I have done this, they have shared stuff with me and we have prayed through it and released whatever was needed, usually forgiveness. After this, they perk up again and I believe this also keeps them healthy from the inside out.

So I could type all day, but that’s enough to give you an idea and maybe a few keys that you could implement in your home. Don’t just survive winter in the future, THRIVE in each season and embrace each day and season for the joy it holds. Speak life into your family and partner with life in all you consume.

I bless you with health and harmony in your homes,

Raneeta