—Harriet Beecher Stowe

   

In my younger days, I worked for a pharmaceutical company. But I lost faith in my employer and the drug model when I discovered that homeopathy worked better for me than the prescription pills I’d been taking. That prompted me to study energy medicine, leave my job and start publishing my first Natural Awakenings with two other women in Connecticut. Looking back now, I can’t believe how different my lifestyle is from my pre-Natural Awakenings days, when I took daily prescriptions and over-the-counter drugs. I’m grateful for the natural lifestyle I’ve found and for the much healthier version of me now.

   

Financially, investing in our wellness is as important as contributing to a retirement fund, since a prolonged illness can wipe out a life savings. Learning and implementing health-promoting practices over time builds our “health reservoir,” so to speak, and keeps our immune system, cardiovascular system, cognitive function and other systems healthier and more resilient too.

  

I’m always on the lookout for new healthy things to do. Recently I started growing microgreens. Sprouts and microgreens are loaded with vitamins, minerals and other powerful phytonutrients and are easy to digest and assimilate. Plus they’re inexpensive and easy to grow.

   

I also grow aloe—they make nice houseplants in the winter—and have started adding the gel from these homegrown plants (which are huge now) to my smoothies. It’s hard to believe they started out as small organic seedlings just a few years ago.

   

Foraging for wild foods is another fun thing I like to do. Wild foods are a notch above everything else, in my opinion—off the charts for life-enhancing benefits. Some people believe that because these plants are left alone in nature to evolve, they produce powerful compounds you won’t get from the cultivated fruits and veggies found at the market. Ramps and garlic mustard are two of the wild foods I’ve collected this month.

   

Okay, maybe cleanses aren’t “fun,” but I find the results so worthwhile that seasonal cleanses have become a tradition. Periodic cleanses can remove some of the toxins our bodies inevitably accumulate over decades of living on planet Earth—like PFAS (the endocrine-disrupting “forever chemicals”) and the heavy metals that are everywhere in our environment.

   

A cleanse frees up space in the liver so everything functions better. I’m currently on day nine of Anthony William’s nine-day liver cleanse, and I feel terrific. Some people think I’m over the top with my squeaky-clean diet, but I’m just making up for lost time!

   

Another healthy tradition is to periodically de-stress. If you’re looking for a place to do that, Omega in Rhinebeck is a short drive away and one of the best places I know to unwind, eat delicious plant-based meals and meet kindred spirits. And lucky for us, it is re-opening in July.

   

We hope you enjoy this month’s issue and find new ways to add to your health reservoir.

Here’s to feeling good—naturally,

Marilee