Quite a while ago now, I had a cough, the kind that just keeps going. I went to the health food store and looked for a cough syrup. I did find a natural cough syrup, but it was expensive and would last only 2-3 days. I looked at the ingredients and said to myself: I can make that! I did make it. And that was how I came to learn about healing herbs.

I got books. I took some herbalism classes at the California School of Herbal Studies in Forestville, CA.
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Somewhere along the line, and I can't remember when, I started learning about essential oils. Got a few of those books.

Bach Flower Essences also came in there somewhere.

Along the way, after one of my flus a friend insisted I try a salt water nasal rinse. I was resistant; she was insistent and I listened. It was absolutely the best thing I ever did. I am so grateful to her for insisting.

A sinus rinse and gargle are a miracle cure. It prevents you from getting sinus infections. It prevents that whole nose drip, sniffling awful stuff. Sea salt is a very, very powerful healer.

For a little while after my herbal initiation, I had some flus which were minor compared to what I had before, but soon after, I never got them again. No flus, no colds, no coughs. And it's been over a decade.

I use essential oils for minor things and use them a lot for cleaning. They are fantastic, when mixed with other ingredients, for lots of different cleaning purposes.

Flower essences are great for emotional/consciousness challenges. I found them very helpful.

I love healing with herbs and turn to herbalists if I have an issue. It's why I really like The Lost Book of Herbal Remedies: The Healing Power of Plant Medicine by Dr. Nicole Apelian and Claude Davis. It is actually put together by an herbalist and a herb historian. Many comprehensive herb books are put together by editors of book publishers which means they research books written by herbalists, which is not the same as a book actually written by an herbalist.

The Lost Book of Herbal Remedies: The Healing Power of Plant Medicine is surprisingly comprehensive with many personal notes and recommendations. It's a fantastic resource.

I would recommend everyone know the basics about herbal healing. There is so much you can heal with basic herbs and ingredients you already have at home. And very inexpensively!

Better yet, have an herb garden and grow your own herbs and make your own plant medicine.

Resemary Gladstar, the famous herbalist, has a book called Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner's Guide, that teaches you about herbs, how to grow your own herb garden and how to make your own plant medicine.

I've done this a little with speariment. You've not tasted speariment tea until you've grown and dried your own herbs. It has nuances of flavor and scent you've never experienced in the store-bought tea.

Herbalism is wonderful knowledge to have. It's freedom. I also love how it connects us to our ancestors throughout history and across the entire earth.

When I first started learning about herbs and made that first tea, I dreamt herbs an entire night. That was very special. I learned a lot from that night of dreaming.

It's amazing our Creator gave us everything we need to heal ourselves.

An interesting example of that is plantain. Plantain has many purposes, but the main one is to stop bleeding. It's an herb that looks like your basic weed you'd weed out of your garden. It grows on the side of the road. It grows especially well when it's trampled on. I think that's wonderful.

I hope you consider learning about herbalism. I am sure you will find it surprising and gratifying.

I stumbled upon some YouTube videos of Tyler Perry talking about his life. It's staggering the abuse and poverty he had to overcome to be where he is in his life today.

I looked further and discovered he wrote a book called Higher is Waiting and have been reading it. What an amazingly inspirational book.

It is hard to believe the sheer quantity of abuse he suffered, yet retained hope and faith. His mother taught him about God. She had unshakable faith, in spite of the horrific abuse she had to endure. And she loved Tyler unconditionally.

In reading Perry's book I felt sheer power of belief -- it lifts you right up reading it. He consistently said, if it wasn't for the grace of God he wouldn't be where he is now. Because he believes so unquestionably, he gives hope; his energy and trust is behind you, propelling you forward.

A beautifully written book that addresses circumstances in life we all face. Makes you feel good. Makes you have hope.

Highly recommended as a book that will inspire you and give you peace.

I love working out at home and I love working out with DVDs.

Here are my favorite meditation and yoga DVDs.

Nadia Narain's Beginners Meditation and Mindful Stretching. This is a nice combination of just sitting/being and easy, gentle stretches.  It's a great way to relax, quiet the mind, let go and come back to center.

Another favorite of Nadia's is Everyday Yoga for Stress Release.
This DVD has three 20 minute practices. Each practice is designed for a different purpose. The first practice is an easy, gentle yoga flow. The second is more energetic and incorporates some of the common, basic yoga poses. The third is for times when one is anxious and stressed.

The third DVD I love so much is Mimi Solaire's Deep Stretch Yin Yoga. This is a longer practice where you hold poses for a long time. It is fantastic in establishing deep relaxation and bringing back a positive attitude.

I love these DVDs because they are easy. When you're stressed and overworked, the last thing you need is to do something demanding, something that asks some more of you. These meditations and stretches give to you, calm you down, nurture you and bring you back to feeling good about yourself and life. I highly recommend them.

It's easy to get stressed and overwhelmed in our society. The Internet has provided endless diversion and makes it really difficult to continually discern between important and unimportant and what nurtures us and what doesn't. Then, of course, there are all the other modern-life stresses. And the worst scenario, when something not-so-pleasant unexpected happens and throws your life into extreme stress and chaos.

There are three things I do that help me get through super stressful times that really work for me. Maybe they will work for you. If you do not resonate with these solutions, take time to discover what works for you that way you are ready for those extremely stressful times.

1. I Take a Bath. My naturopath friend recommended baths 45-60 minutes to relax and clear toxins from the body. In the bathwater she recommended 1/2 cup Epsom Salts and 1 cup Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar. Your health provider may recommend different quantities. It is very important to know that Epsom Salts are potent and can be toxic, so you need to know what is best for your body. Sitting in the bath a long time gives the Apple Cider Vinegar time to extract the toxins from the body. I had a hard time sitting in the bath that long. The solution is to not make the water as hot. In normal times, when I take the bath, I don't feel a whole lot of change. I feel better in many ways, true, but the times I feel it most is when I am really stressed. The bath changes my attitude, lifts my spirits, takes away to stress aches and pains and establishes general well being.
2. Tea. I drink 1 1/2 cups hibiscus tea, loose leaf. It has the same results as the bath, without the detoxification. It lowers blood pressure, calms me and establishes optimism and well being. Again, not a big deal under normal circumstances; big deal during stressful times. You might find another kind of tea works better for you.
3. I listen to Pandora Music. It's free, with a little commercials or about $60/year with no commercials. I have a subscription and it is heaven. During stressful times listening to new age music on Pandora literally feels like someone is caressing me and telling me that things will be all right. You can create stations according to artist or song. My favorite artist stations are: Anugama; Liquid Mind; Deuter; Dean Evenson; Sayama.

Of course yoga and meditation are fantastic, but I find during super stressful times, this is difficult and it's difficult to find the time. Same is true for inspirational reading. My mind simple can't take it in. So, for me non-mental, non-time consuming approaches work best for extremely stressful situations.

You can try some of my favorites, however, I'd recommend spending a little time discovering what works best for you. What is certain is there are ways to calm down and get relief from extreme stress.

We are all different. Our learning on this planet is different from everyone else's. Our challenges are different. What works as help and support for one person may not necessarily work for another. Thankfully, these days, there are so many healing modalities and supports that each one of us will be able to find something that works for us to help us get through challenging times, to help us learn and grow. 

We are all responsible for our well-being; we are the only authority in our life. We can do a lot to help ourselves, to heal our selves.

Personally, I am strongly inclined to heal myself, no matter what the issue. If you have the understanding that healing can be instant, that the Universe wants only good for you, where willingness to heal is key -- you can heal. If you are willing to change, grow in consciousness. If you understand that all healing is a shift in consciousness.

Even most healers do not understand this and it's the reason I do couple of things. First, I am always ready to change. When I run into any difficulties, I know I need to learn something. I need to change. I need to grow in consciousness. I stay alert to all discomfort and do something about it as soon as I am aware of it. Sometimes I can change right away. At other times, the issue is more complex and can take me a while.

When I, for whatever reason, was unaware, was unconscious about some situation, and the result of that is a big challenge, once again, I look for solutions.

If I can't figure it out on my own, I talk to my therapist. There are some issues that are difficult to resolve on one's own. There are blind spots.

Mainly, my focus is to stay healthy, on all levels, to begin with.

The way I stay healthy, as I said, is to stay on top of what's bugging me and resolve it as soon and as fast as I can. I do this mostly by using my guided meditations.

When I started giving psychic readings and saw psychically how energy operated in the aura. I also saw solutions to clients' problems. The guided meditations came as solutions, a way to make the necessary change in the aura as a way to change physical reality.

I've created all kinds of guided meditations to address all kinds of needs. And I use all of them.

The guided meditations help me gain awareness about what is troubling me. I gain deeper understanding of the situation, a larger truth that can often immediately release the problem.

Also, while listening to a guided meditation, our higher self always comes in to help and I receive insights, solutions and illuminations and that solves the issue.

The main thing is not to let any problem linger, but to address it right away. Lingering problems create more problems. I found this out the minute I started giving psychic readings.

I remember a session with a woman whose life's MO was to sweep everything under the rug. She was around fifty years old. Oh, the structure of her aura . . . it was a complex mess of unresolved issues that just got more and more complex as more issues were piled on top of the old issues.

It is difficult and takes a long time to unravel something that extensive and complicated. It can be done, but it takes a while and the person has to stay committed to the lengthy process.

So, resolving things, as soon as possible is critical. Unresolved issues, eventually can turn into physical issues.

I uses my guided meditations (they're under the Shop tab), and also Sanaya Roman's (downloads to her free guided meditations are available under the Help section of the website), excellent guided meditations to stay on top of anything that's niggling me.

I also make effort to eat healthfully. For me, the main thing about eating in a healthy way is not to eat processed foods.

We're all different and I think everyone needs to figure out what works best for them and his/her body when it comes to food and eating.

I also exercise and do a good amount of stretching. Again, everyone needs to figure out what works best for them. Not all exercise programs work for everyone. Our bodies are different and need different exercises to function optimally.

When I was in my 20s and 30s I loved going to the gym to work out, as I think most people that age do. Now I like working out at home. I have a stationary bike and I have dumbbells and a barbell. For an easy workout I ride the stationary bike and, at the same time, use dumbbells.

What I also absolutely love to do is use workout DVDs. There are lots and lots of all kinds of different workout DVDs, including yoga, meditation and stretching on Total Fitness DVDs and Collage Video. It's a really easy way to get a variety of workouts at home. I love it!

One of my favorite deep stretch DVDs is Mimi Solaire's Deep Stretch Yin Yoga. Really excellent for deep relaxation and stretching.

If I run into physical difficulties, if I can't figure it out on my own, I see an herbalist.

Since I am inclined to figure out solutions to challenges I encounter on my own, before going and getting help from the outside, I am inclined to encourage everyone else to do the same.

No one knows you as well as you do. No one cares about you as much as you do. Retaining your authority over your own being is what is most important to staying healthy on all levels of reality.

I have a short list of healers I like in the Help section.

So, that's the way I stay healthy and resolve challenges. I encourage you to stay on top of any difficulties and challenges you face and see about resolving them as fast as possible. That is the easiest and best way to stay healthy and not encounter big issues down the line.