Purifying Our Homes:

A Healthy Life from the Inside Out

A healthy home starts with our health from within.

Looking after our home starts with us: what we eat, what we think and what we do. The Buddhist pillars of practice - cultivating a peaceful mind, a contented heart and gratitude - have an impact on our ability to be with and love life, and in turn to enjoy and nurture our homes.

The age-old saying "We are what we eat" is true in more ways than one. Eating in simple and nourishing ways - consuming local fruits and vegetables, grains, legumes nuts and seeds, organic dairy, poultry, fish and animal food in moderation nurtured in wholesome and humane ways, provides an optimal setting for a healthy environment to flourish at home. Our bodies reflect back to us who we are, and so does our home.

Making and buying natural products free of harmful chemicals and preservatives for cooking, cleaning, washing, wearing and all kinds of other things, right down to painting and building will greatly contribute to our health at home.

There are many inexpensive ways to substitute toxic chemicals in commercial products for simpler and safer ones. Wild natural herbs and plant-based essential oils blended with vegetable oils, emulsifiers, beeswax or water can replace or reduce harmful toxins, unsafe scents and provide healthier air quality too.

Here a few examples of how to enhance your health and your home's:

For your home:

1.    Try a homemade dish soap with a simple combination of water, glycerine and essential oils. Experiment with 3/4 cup water, ¼ cup vegetable oil with glycerine and the essential oils of lavender or tee tree.

2.    When you are painting and building with commercial materials, a few drops each of the essential oils of rosemary, thyme and lavender in a small basin of water work well to reduce toxic odours to minimize nausea and headaches.

3.    Try the earthy scent of desert sage (Artemisia) to purify your home when strong emotions dominate.  Smudge with the herb.

4.    Burn natural beeswax candles to purify and replenish the air you breathe. Regular candles are made of paraffin wax, which is a by-product of petroleum and harmful to your health.

For you:

5.    The pure essential oil of lavender is versatile and well worth having around; it can soothe burns and wounds, reduce headaches and help you sleep.  For burns (with only lavender) put it right on the burn. An ointment/salve works best for a wound.

6.    A mixture of calendula, comfrey and olive infused oils with beeswax and the essential oils of lavender, lemon and rosemary is wonderfully nourishing to the skin. Make it as a spray or salve for tender skin.

7.     Try an all-natural lip balm made with beeswax, coconut, shea butter and olive-infused oils. You can taste and feel the difference from commercial lip balms, which contain harmful petroleum-based ingredients and lanolin .

8.    Try a homemade mosquito repellent with any of the tree resin essential Oils: pine, cedar, fir and lemon with an 80% alcohol and 10% glycerine combination.

9.    Make a great shower scrub with corn meal, lavender or rose buds and your favourite essential oils. Try geranium, neroli and lavender!

By listening to our body's innate intelligence, we can develop an instinct for what is good, both internally and externally. Foster peaceful, sustainable and gracious families and homes. This requires practice and a commitment to presence, the long-term benefits are worthwhile!