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What is wellness? Why do we get sick? How do we treat illness and recover?

My answer to these questions has evolved so much over the years I don’t even know where to begin. I do want to note that this is my personal background, experience, and perspective. This is how we approach things in our house, it’s not going to be everyone’s cup o’ tea and that’s ok!

During the Covid era I was posting controversial things on my instagram (cringe—but I would probably do it again) and I said something along the lines of, “Unvaccinated kids are healthier than vaccinated kids.” No one ever really responded to my vaccine posts except the few who were on the same page, but one person I knew from my childhood could not believe I could say something like that.

“Is it normal? Or is it so common that it seems normal?”

She said that everyone defines “healthy” differently so there’s really no way to design a study to definitively prove that statement. While I mostly agree, I do think there are very obvious things that the average person would consider healthy vs unhealthy. One problem we have today is that we’ve lost sight of what normal is when it comes to things that are common. Is it normal? Or is it so common that it seems normal? Chronic ear infections are not normal, yet so many kids experience them. Food allergies are SO common—they are not normal. This list could go on and on. Something that is a common occurrence or happens often doesn’t mean it’s optimal. It might be common, but it may not be God’s design. This is where discernment comes in.

A Generational Foundation of Wellness

In order to understand where I’m coming from I need to give you a little background, this is where vaccines entered the chat.

My Grandpa is a retired Chiropractor of 47 years. He graduated from Palmer College of Chiropractic in 1967, the year my mom was born. I called him as I was writing this to ask at what point he was not in favor of vaccines and he said it was while he was in school. What they taught was this, “It isn’t the virulence or germ that causes disease, it’s the level of resistance of the host.” In other words, the overall health of a person will determine how resistant they are to disease.

“It isn’t the virulence or germ that causes disease, it’s the level of resistance of the host.”
— Gramps

He mentioned germ theory and explained that if it was the germ alone that caused an illness (flu or cold, etc) then how could it be possible that some people get it and others don’t? I’m almost certain that we’ve all experienced a time where we were exposed to someone that was sick, living in the same house or even sleeping in the same bed and not everyone got sick.

He would tell his patients to think of it this way, your body knew how to grow and deliver a baby with ten fingers and ten toes, with organs and systems all in the right place, and we think that we can make this miraculous being BETTER by injecting foreign substances into their perfect bodies? And my spin on it—can we design something better than God’s design? Absolutely not.

My mom wasn’t vaccinated, and I had my very first round of vaccines but that was it. My three younger siblings haven’t had any at all, and the same for our daughter (6) and son (3).

My Grandpa was our only doctor growing up, we didn’t need anything else, really. My siblings and I went to a Medical Doctor for close to nothing. I can honestly say I can count on one hand how many times the four of us collectively went to a doctor. We would obviously go if there was a broken bone, needed stitches, or an emergency that would require a surgeon or something.

The only time I remember going to the doctor was for a rash that we couldn’t figure out, and then a UTI that was absolutely unbearable—and in that case I was so extremely grateful for western medicine. That was the only time in my life that I ever took antibiotics. The second time I was prescribed something was when I was 28 years old. I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes and needed insulin during my first pregnancy—that experience will need its own blog, stay tuned for that!

Growing up, none of us had allergies, no chronic conditions, no autoimmune issues, no learning disabilities or developmental delays, no eczema, no asthma, no mental health issues, VERY few ear infections. All of these things are very common, but they aren’t normal. So when I say that unvaccinated kids are healthier than vaccinated kids, I stand by that. While, yes, it’s my own anecdotal evidence, I think these experiences can still hold weight. The science is also there if you know where to look. If you’re interested in learning more about vaccines, I created a step-by-step guide that will give you some pointers!

Toxic Burden

Now, of course the absence of vaccines isn’t the only thing that leads to good health. A lot of people in the wellness community use the analogy of the bucket of toxicity. Our bodies can only handle so much toxicity, and over time we’re exposed to countless environmental toxins. It could be mold, heavy metals, processed food, acetaminophen (tylenol) and other pharmaceutical products, harmful chemicals in our beauty products, cleaning products, candles, they’re everywhere. These things contribute to our toxic load. When our toxic bucket starts to overflow we’ll see more disease. It’s our body sending us an SOS telling us it’s time we put in some work and pick up the slack.

All of our buckets vary in capacity, but we do have the opportunity to maximize that capacity and build resiliency in our bodies. We can do this through quality sleep, fresh air, daily sunlight, connection and community, sufficient nourishment from nutrient dense foods, and reducing stress where we can.

“You are resilient and divinely designed to overcome.”

Genetics also play a part in this, but we now know that lifestyle and environment can change the way our genes express themselves, this is called epigenetics. You may have heard the saying, “Genetics load the gun, but lifestyle pulls the trigger.” To expand on this a little bit and hopefully drive it home, not only do our choices today affect how our DNA expresses itself during our lifetime, but that gene expression is inherited by our children and their children and so on. I hope this provides some encouragement to be the cycle breaker! We all know that too much stress (environmental, physical, emotional) can make us ill, but did you know that the way we develop and nurture our stress response (regulating our nervous system) can lessen the blow to our brain and, subsequently, our body? And here’s the kicker—that stress response is also inherited by our children! How powerful is that? We inherit the stress response from our mother and grandmother in utero. Another blog for another day, but until then, I am begging you to read The Nurture Revolution by Greer Kershenbaum, PhD.

This is where self responsibility comes into the picture, but more importantly—it should provide you empowerment and hope where we otherwise might feel defeated. We are not a victim to our circumstance—we have this innate ability to change the outcome, and the first step is shifting your paradigm. You are resilient and divinely designed to overcome. You were built to withstand these challenges, and they WILL make you stronger.

OUR Philosophy: Suppression is Regression

The person in my Instagram dm’s was right, my definition of health might be different than yours. My childhood provided a unique foundation of wellness and it has become one of my greatest passions. I don’t think we ever actually arrive at wellness, it requires constant growth and pursuit. As for me and my house, based on my experience and reading, our goal is to welcome the inevitable acute illnesses with open arms. We changed our perspective and see these minor illnesses as a software upgrade of sorts. We embrace the temporary discomfort because we are building our immune systems and adapting to our environment. We come out better on the other side.

The goal is not to be free of sickness. Acute symptoms are a good sign that our drainage pathways are flowing and our immune system is functioning. Not ever getting sick is a red flag.

We want minor symptoms that are bearable and shorter in duration.

After much reflection over the years, I’ve come to the conclusion that we need to just let it be. Just stop. Breathe. Observe. If we can find it in ourselves to trust God the way he created us, to stop interrupting every tiny discomfort, to stop throwing every possible thing at every illness, we might be better off. If we can recognize that oftentimes convenience (suppressing a fever, among other things) can have unforeseen consequences later on, I firmly believe we’d be doing ourselves a favor. The sooner we implement this, the better off we’ll be, and it’s never too late to start!

But let me be clear, these acute illnesses I’m referring to are basic colds and flus. There is a time and place to not let it run its course and to seek intervention. The second my babies are presenting labored breathing, we’re outta here. Thankfully, that has never been the case.

Our bodies are so perfectly designed to mount an immune response when something in our environment is a threat. When we start to feel something coming on, it’s a signal from our immune system that we need to slow down, rest, and allow it to expel whatever needs to come out. It is working to neutralize the threat.

More often than not, we have a job to get to, family to tend to, and we don’t want to deal with the discomfort of headaches, congestion, vomiting, fatigue, coughs, fevers, aches, etc. Who actually wants to be uncomfortable? No one wants to watch their child deal with illness. It’s a normal response to want to squash that cold or flu right away.

But what if those minor symptoms are beneficial to push through? What if that’s how it’s supposed to happen?

Those childhood illnesses that vaccines are supposed to protect us from—most of them are easy symptoms to overcome. When we suppress them with things like tylenol or ibuprofen, it’s interrupting the natural process that our body needs to overcome the threat. Not to mention…acetaminophen depletes glutathione, our built-in antioxidant.

If we don’t let these things run their course, that threat gets buried inside and festers. Homeopathic doctors will tell you that if you suppress the acute symptoms, they still have to come out somehow because your body will never give up on you, so it will likely present later as a more serious, chronic condition. Think skin issues, autoimmunity, etc. We’re trading acute issues and minor symptoms for chronic diseases. Let it ride!

In my opinion, it’s not typically a wise choice to try and outsmart nature, anyway. Thank you, God, for giving us the ability to rest in your design rather than lean on our own understanding. What an absolute gift it is to know that we don’t need to know how every particle in the universe functions. We’ll never fully understand the intelligence of His creation.

A Response That Honors Our Design

I didn’t realize it would take a novel to get to the main point, but here we are! Thank you for sticking with me if you made it this far! For me, understanding the why and how provides much more confidence in my ability to take care of my family and really allows me to tune into my intuition. No one pays closer attention to family than parents, we know when something is off. We are made for this.

There are so many holistic remedies that are available to us. They’re not all created equally. Some have unnecessary fillers and trash, to be honest, which is unfortunate. I try to keep our medicine cabinet as minimal as possible. Luckily, we can do this without spending thousands of dollars on supplements!

Homeopathy is our go-to for literally everything. One remedy can range from $7-$15 so it’s totally affordable! I have gradually built up my collection and it is the BEST feeling knowing I have all of it on hand and don’t need to wait for an appointment or prescription to get help. You may be familiar with the little blue tubes they come in, this is what makes up most of our medicine cabinet and first aid kit. Bumps, bruises, cuts, migraines, postpartum, fevers, restlessness, nervousness, coughs, overindulgence, overstimulation, you name it. Homeopathy can be really powerful and for anything chronic I would consult a Homeopath.

Homeopathy gets confused with natural medicine, they are not one in the same. Yes, homeopathy is natural (arguably the most natural), but not all natural medicine is homeopathy. The preparation is entirely different and utilizes extreme dilution, frequency and energetic makeup of a substance rather than something in its crude form like an herbal tincture, for example.

What I love about homeopathy is that it is safe for all ages and it is so gentle. It gives your body a gentle nudge and allows it to heal itself. This comes especially in handy with infants and pregnant or nursing moms.

We use a lot of herbs in conjunction with homeopathy for extra support. You can also find an herb for almost anything, but there’s a lot more to consider. Dosage, frequency, what is okay for pregnancy, nursing, kids, they might be contraindicated with certain medications, etc. Some of them are STRONG and taking them without knowing what they do can be dangerous.

Some of my favorite ways to use herbs are in teas/infusions, tinctures, baths, and skincare.

Experimenting with different things is how I figured out what works best for us, and it’ll be different for every family. I encourage you to pay close attention to symptoms and how they evolve through the healing process as you give a remedy.

If you take anything from this at all, let it be this: we can’t put our family in a bubble and protect them from all things toxic. It is impossible to escape all environmental threats. The only thing that lifestyle will do is cause stress and fear which can be even more detrimental to our health than the toxins themselves. We have to be realistic and find a happy medium, we have to build resilience.

My hope for this site is that it will equip you with new tools, maybe a new perspective, but at the very least—a little confidence boost that YOU have the ability to transform your home into a sanctuary of wellness.

Cheers to reclaiming your family’s health!

*This article is for informational purposes only and is not meant to replace professional medical advice or treatment.

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Homeopathic Single Remedies to have on hand. I use the 30c potency for home prescribing.

If you’d like to take the plunge, you can find a great starter kit with most common remedies here. If you’re absolutely all in, this one has a ton.

Easy Homeopathic blends to have on hand when you don’t know the specific remedy

Other remedies that we like to have on hand (non-homeopathic)

Dig Deeper! Here’s some of my favorite resources that have given me a better understanding of these topics

 
 
 
Medicine, Remedies, Wellness, HomeopathyJessica Lucas