Wellness Mama®
Simple Answers for Healthier Families
September is Interstitial Cystitis (IC) Awareness Month. As the month draws to an end, I want to take this time to shed light on a bladder disease that affects millions of Americans as well as several of my close friends. Unfortunately, it isn’t as easy to remedy as a common cold, but there are some …
I’ve shared my favorite remedies for PMS and cramps before, but I’ve gotten a lot of questions about essential oils for hormone balance lately and wanted to share some experience with this as well. Essential oils can be very powerful and effective when used correctly, but because of their power they also carry their share …
Elderberry syrup is a mainstay of our Fall and Winter natural remedies, and one of my favorites because it is the easiest to get kids to take happily. It combines the benefits of flu-fighting elderberry with the antibacterial properties of raw honey (and some other beneficial herbs) for a highly-effective remedy. What is an Herbal Electuary? Herbal …
If you were to visit my home and glance inside my pantry, you’d find the normal food stapes, but also several baskets and bins of assorted homemade herbal remedies in jars, tinctures in dropper bottles and salves in tins that we use for various ailments. This herbal liniment is a mainstay in my home apothecary and we …
Did you know that many of the backyard weeds that many of us spend time fighting and spraying with chemicals (like Plantain) are actually medicinal plants with health benefits? We may prefer carefully manicured yards, but often the time, money and effort needed to keep a lawn looking great aren’t worth it, especially when you …
Each year about this time, I start preparing for the Winter months by making tinctures and elderberry syrup (you can freeze ahead) and other remedies to have on hand in case anyone gets sick. I keep all of these remedies in my natural medicine cabinet so that everything is organized and ready to use. When Mom Gets …
When it comes to powerhouse herbs and natural remedies for illness, garlic tops the list. It is naturally antimicrobial, antiviral, and antibacterial, making it beneficial for helping the body fight many types of infections. I always have fresh, organic garlic on hand because my husband comes from an Italian family and all of his favorite …
These dog days of summer when the weather is hot, the children are restless and we all start to think about the fall are a great time to make herbal oils for winter remedies. As the name suggests, herbal oils are a great way to preserve the medicinal properties of herbs and plants by infusing …
I’ve raved about Spirulina before and shared how I use it, but Spiulina’s cousin Chlorella is a powerhouse as well. What is Chlorella? Like Spirulina, it is a freshwater algae with a host of benefits. Unlike spirulina, it is a single-celled fresh water algae (spirulina is multi-cell). It is also one of the oldest known species on the planet and …
Gardening- Cheaper than therapy and you get tomatoes! – Author Unknown There are so many benefits to gardening besides just the fresh produce. Gardeners are known to live longer and I know many elderly people who still spend hours gardening each week… in their 90s! It might be the abundance of Vitamin D, or the beneficial …
I don’t write many posts specifically for men, because men typically require fewer personal care products. I’ve shared the natural shaving options that my husband uses, and this is another recipe for men that I just had to share. Many men notice thinning or balding hair as they age. Women typically only get the pleasure of this …
There are so many simple natural remedies with a long history of use that have been largely forgotten in modern times. From the health-promoting (and hair-growing) properties of castor oil to the natural remedy uses for apple cider vinegar, remedies found in nature have an important place in maintaining health. One of those is black seed …
A skinned knee… my first impression of Ginkgo Biloba was not a positive one. We had a single Ginkgo tree in our yard at my house growing up. It has fascinating leaves that turned bright yellow in the fall. It measured about 20-25 feet tall, but at my age, it might as well have been a …
As a mom, few things in life are more difficult than seeing your child suffer, and ear infections can be a very painful part of childhood for some kids. As a child, I had recurring ear infections and several rounds of tubes. Even though I haven’t had one since I was about 5, I still vividly …
I’m grateful that we don’t often get sick, but when we do, it is typically the runny nose and mild cough type of illness (or just seasonal allergies). I use my natural remedies to help speed recovery, but inevitably, at least one of the children will end up with a sore, red nose from wiping …
A friend recently asked how we had helped my son’s spider bite a few years ago and I told her our protocol of poultices of activated charcoal, baking soda, bentonite clay and plantain (alternating). She said: “Great, but what is a poultice… is that recipe on your blog?” I realized it wasn’t and I can’t …
Essential oils are all the rage lately, and with good reason. They are, in a sense, a pharmaceutical grade natural remedy with incredible power. But with great power comes great responsibility, and there are many essential oil resources online giving worrisome blanket advice about their use. Don’t get me wrong. I love oils and I use …
The other day, I was trying to find a picture of me when I was in high school to show my kids. I couldn’t find one because I was so photo shy at that time… mainly because of my acne (and regular teenage girl insecurities). At that time, I tried every natural remedy for acne I could …
Once upon a very terrible time, all five kids got a stomach bug at the same time… while I was gone… and my husband got it too. Thankfully we don’t get sick often, but it was terrible and I wasn’t on hand to use all of our natural remedies. That was the first and last …
My Amish friends are predicting a really cold winter based on the fuzz on caterpillars, the shells on acorns, the movement of squirrels, the size of pinecones and the bird migrations. Who knows if any of these predictions are accurate, but I’m actually excited at the prospect of a cold winter this year and hopefully …
I’m a big fan of oil pulling. I’ve shared before how I originally started this age-old practice and why I eventually started using coconut oil for oil pulling instead. Why Oil Pulling? If you aren’t familiar with oil pulling, it is simply swishing oil (usually sesame or coconut oil) in the mouth for a period of …
Ever since my first son arrived with his powerful lungs and energetic personality, me and sleep have not been best friends. Not by choice, of course, but our nights have gone something like this for the last 8+ years: fall asleep, wake up because some needs help going to the bathroom, fall back asleep, wake …
Once upon a time, we had a beehive in our backyard. I loved being an amateur beekeeper and we especially loved having a source of (really) local honey. Unfortunately, the kids didn’t love the occasional stings from stepping on a bee, and we had a devastating winter and wax moths took over the hive. Health …
I wrote about oil pulling several years ago, well before it gained mainstream attention in the news and on fashion blogs. It is something I’ve been doing off and on for years and I’ve seen noticeable effects from doing it. I figured that whitening my teeth with charcoal would be my most controversial oral health habit, but …
