The Power of Choice
By Lainie Chait
Two very powerful words coming together to create an even more powerful statement – PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY!
The definition of responsibility is: “the state or fact of being answerable, or accountable for something within one’s power, control, or management.” (1)
This can be socially, energetically, mentally, health wise and sexually just to name a few. Every action or thought that stems from us we need to be accountable for. The whole look before you leap proverb is a very good illustrative of this as if you just leap into the unknown without having some intention behind it or some personal accountability, you could be leaping in to a whole pool of whoop ass to your personal wellbeing and that of others.
It took me a long time to understand about personal choice and the way I learnt was through a health condition that wasn’t being managed properly. I have been dealing with a seizure condition for over 25 years now and the lesson was finally learned when I realised that by not engaging and sharing things about my health and mental health status, I wasn’t educating others and was actually making it harder for them to care about me and to assist me when I really needed it.
The reason I didn’t share my health issues simply came down to embarrassment and shame. When I first came across The Happy Herb Company I was an open book and was so over just relying on the medical industry to manage me that they were like a breath of fresh air for me. All these incredible herbs I’d never heard of that supported the brain and nervous system were coming onto my radar and I started to feel that as I used them that my choice and personal responsibility for my condition was starting to evolve.
The medical profession, as good as they are, tend to take this away from you by throwing you on meds that support the symptoms but not the cause. For me, that took away my personal responsibility to try and manage myself as the drugs were numbing me and doing the job for me – out of sight, out of mind!!
Luckily my intuition fought through the haze of the side effects of many prescription drugs and I was convinced that I could find a better way of treating my seizure condition by taking personal responsibility about why my brain misfired the way it did.
This is not the easy road I might add, it takes commitment and love to yourself to find the winning model and even then, as you age and progress, your chemistry and hormones change all the time so it is a lifelong commitment to yourself and it is the best commitment you will ever make in my humble opinion.
There are a myriad of herbs that can prop you up and keep you focused and clear in your journey toward personal responsibility.
The ones I choose to use are:
Damiana which is one of my faves due to its mood enhancing properties. Once again, the meds that I am on take away the natural highs and lows so in order to take responsibility for me being a positive person in the world, I balance that out with herbs such as Damiana and Mucuna which has been known to have an effect on dopamine levels in the brain. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter, which, like serotonin, regulates mood. Mucuna has traditionally been used to treat seizure and nerve-related ailments and may be effective in treating depression. In modern times it has been used as a supplement to rebalance brain chemistry after indulging in alcohol and other drugs.
This was perfect for me as it props up my dopamine levels which the anti-epileptic medication tends to inhibit. I have it in a smoothie almost every morning and I can feel the difference when I don’t have it.
Brahmi and Gotu Kola have been my saviours I believe. Gotu Kola is one of the most important rejuvinating herbs in Ayurvedic medicine particularly for: revitalising nerve and brain cells, promoting calmness and clarity, helping poor memory and lack of concentration, and to assist in balancing the left and right hemispheres of the brain. Brahmi is recognised the world over as a brain tonic, to promote intellect and comprehension, rejuvenate the brain and boost the memory. Both of these are something I couldn’t do without after more than 250 Grand Mal seizures.
Herbal Fibreblend is a cleansing course that is only needed once a year but it is an exceptional. This excellent product contains a blend of 18 herbs that support healthy bowel function, and aids long-term constipation, detoxification, promotes elimination and rids the body of wastes and parasites. Many holistic health practitioners say the key to health starts with colon cleansing for healthy digestion. As more research is suggesting that the gut and brain are intrinsically connected, this was imperative for me to keep my gut flora healthy for the sake of my brain health. Highly recommend it!
Rescue Plus A unique combination of the classic English Bach Flower ‘Rescue Remedy’ and the Australian Bush Flower Essence equivalent, ‘Emergency Essence’. Invaluable to have handy in times of stress. I used this whenever I felt like I was losing my grounding in the busy world. For me, if this grounding slipped too far from under me, it would end in a Grand Mal seizure. Every time I was able to take responsibility though and understand and be compassionate to myself about my stress, I would take this product and it would work instantly to chill me out!
Propolis and Turmeric were chosen due to their antiviral and antibacterial properties. I knew I needed to maintain a high level of health and immunity and taking Turmeric everyday has quite honestly, afforded me this luxury and I use Propolis at any initial sign of a sore throat or a sniffle or generally an uneasy feeling of infection coming through.
Our own version of optimum health is really at our fingertips. We just need to take more time to tune in, understand and be compassionate to ourselves and take responsibility that sometimes we won’t listen to ourselves and that may end up with our body, mind and soul rebelling against us with a myriad of symptoms. Keep track when you feel these symptoms of what you did to add to this and soon you will find a balanced way to bring your body, mind and soul into a place that you can manage like a well-oiled machine – well at least it worked for me!
Good luck and be kind to yourselves.
References:
Nextwave
