Do you feel “dependent” on certain herbs? Do you need to use certain essential oils every night in order to fall asleep? Would you freak out if you went on vacation and forgot your favourite nutritional products?
What if I told you that while all of these thing are awesome and super helpful, that you don’t really need to be taking them – certainly not every day, for the rest of your life!
Note: For the purposes of this essay, “supplements” includes herbs, essential oils, flower essences, homeopathic remedies, and nutritional products (such as vitamins or shakes).
Supplements are wonderful adjuncts to our wellness, and their main purpose is to support our body during the healing process, as well as allow our bodies to access higher levels of functioning for long-term optimal health. However, they are not meant to be long-term “crutches”.
If after a period of time, stopping supplementation (in any form, including vibrational) causes you to regress or your symptoms to return, then it is very likely that you chose the wrong supplement in the first place, as it it did not address the root cause.
With all of the herbs, oils, and nutritional supplements available to us (not to mention the countless CBD products and vibrational remedies), it certainly seems like “practicing holistic health” is both a complex and costly endeavour.
The natural and holistic health industry is no less prey to bait-and-switch marketing schemes than conventional (i.e., allopathic) medicine is, and it would be a mistake to believe that those who tout the benefits of natural health products are inherently more virtuous than pharmaceutical sales reps.
In fact, because nutritional supplements and many (if not most) natural health products are unregulated, consumers must be doubly cautious with any and all claims made. At the end of the day, just remember the old adage: BUYER BEWARE.
As natural health consumers and practitioners, we are at an amazing point in time where we have countless products available to us, each with their own protocol. Based on supplementation alone, we can craft an infinite number of wellness plans for both general wellness and acute conditions.
However, I’m finding that the majority of people, practitioners included, who take supplements tend to forget this one simple, but very important fact:
We were perfectly fine without them!
Now, I’m not saying that supplementation is a waste of time. What I am saying is that it’s important that you remember that the point of taking a supplement, whatever it is, is to supplement – that is, support – your body so that it can get back to doing what it does best: heal itself.
Nobody ever got sick from “peppermint essential oil deficiency”, and nobody ever developed systemic inflammation due to a “lack of turmeric”.
Can these things help? Of course they can. In the immediate interim, they can help to alleviate your pain so that you can more easily pursue long-term, sustainable change.
And depending on the condition and the supplement in question, you may be able to target the root cause of your condition and bring your body back into balance. You’ll know that it “worked” if your condition goes away and does not come back. Why? Because if your symptoms return when you stop taking the supplement in question, then all you’ve been doing is masking the symptoms and you’ve missed the cause.
If you’ve taken any of my workshops, I’m sure you’ve heard me say: “If you need to take [natural health product] every day to help with your [condition], then it’s not working!”. It’s masking symptoms, that’s it. The fact that it’s a “natural” product doesn’t make it any different from masking symptoms with OTC medications.
Rather than empowering you to take your health into your hands, relying heavily on supplementation results in you giving your power away. Except that this time, instead of allowing the dominant narrative of the medical industry to lead your actions, you’re allowing the (very capitalist) intentions of private natural health companies to dictate your choices.
For me, I know I’m taking the right medicine when I take it for a temporary period of time, and my body continues to maintain its state of health and comfort without it.
On that note, more is not better, especially when it comes to natural health (which includes vibrational/energy medicine). We actually need very little in terms of dosing in order to induce a therapeutic effect.
On your own, you are whole, healthy, and complete. Supplements can help to bring yourself back into a state of balance, and can also help you to optimize your health.
But they are not meant to be leaned on. Your body is perfectly capable of holding a higher vibration and operating at a more optimum level of health on its own.
Do I take supplements? I certainly do: I drink some form of tea every day (it varies), I take flower essences on most days (I work with 1-2 flowers for a month at a time), and I use essential oils most days of the week (but not every day). I also take CBD oil as needed.
What I choose changes, because I change. I never intend to take something and to have to use it indefinitely. And even though I enjoy receiving support from plant and energy medicine now and again, I know that I am capable of being in perfect health on my own… As are you!
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