Article Tags: healing | ecology | education | Diet | lifestyle | 10 tips
Tips for Healing the EARTH
in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day
Environmental Cleanup and Haahh!
A Big Outbreath appears to be Good for Earth!
With the Covid-19 pandemic we are seeing that the inconvenience and travesty of this worldwide viral infection is also a blessing for Mother Earth and for our air and waters. Our entire planet is taking a deep breath out—Haahhh!
What can we learn from this experience, how can we use the gift of this time, and how shall we change? Let’s pray our “new normal” will honor the Earth more than we have these past 50 years. Like us, Mother Earth may need this rest period as well to recharge and detoxify our world-wide environment. Here are my comments related our dear Mother Earth:
- Every Day is Earth Day! Let’s honor our planetary Mother each day with the way we live our lives. Blessed Be for all we see and do. Let’s be conscientious in the way we use the Earth’s resources. Wherever possible, we Re-cycle and Re-use whatever we can. We see now more than ever that our lifestyle choices are key to the health of our bodies and of our planet.
- Make your relationship to Earth mutually beneficial. Nurture the soil and plant as you are able in your locale and receive the nourishment of the foods the Earth provides. Ideally, the majority of our diet should be fresh foods from the gardens and orchards. As I wrote in my first book, Staying Healthy with the Seasons (1981), “Every step away from the gardens and orchards is a loss of nutrients, enzymes and vitality from our food.”
- Limit the chemicals you use at home and on your body. How often do you use unhealthy chemicals in your home and foods? Toxins undermine our cells, organs and many bodily functions and overall health, as well as our immunity. Cleaning supplies can be a main exposure to toxins, as well as hair dyes and chemical colors and other cosmetics that create a big concern (women more than men), being so close to our brain. Overall, synthetic chemicals can be toxic to the body and ideally, we limit our exposure as much as possible. Learn more in my blog: Toxins too Close for Comfort.
- Create a comfortable, nontoxic home that supports you. Use the most natural ingredients you have available. Here again, be cautious in all you buy and consume, lessen your plastic purchases, especially “single-use plastics” like water bottles and so much more. We all have a “carbon footprint,” what usage and waste we generate from our actions and consumption, and let’s all ask ourselves where we can lessen our individual footprint.
- Know your home base and your neighborhood. Be prepared for whatever extreme weathers that may be part of your locale. Are you prone to flooding, fires, earthquakes, etc.? What preparation might you have available? Remember, Community supports Immunity” and we all need to have community, and it starts with our family and neighborhood. See my blog article on Survival Preparedness.
- Be aware and pay attention to our natural cycles (if you are not already) — of each day, month and the seasons of the year. Be conscious of what foods are naturally available each season in your locale. Eat an Earth-friendly diet, which is primarily plant and seasonably based. I like to align my creative activities with the monthly moon cycle, from the dark new moon (beginnings) to the bright full moon (illumination) and back again. We are highly influenced by the relationship of the Sun-Moon-Earth movements.
- Be aware of how you travel the Earth and the energy you use in those travels. Limit airplane trips as possible and be efficient with your autos and plan your outings to limit your miles and time in the world. During this pandemic, how’s it been feeling to drive less and be less busy? Walking, or biking and hiking, may still be the best forms of transport now.
- Appreciate all aspects of life and embrace the spirit of all animals, birds and trees (insects, too). Treat all life with reverence. Our earth-friendly diet can help to lower the effects of an animal-based diet on both our land and We can eat is such a way that we benefit our own health and the planet’s at the same time – see my blog post – nutrition that’s good for each of us and planet earth. Likewise, we need to “Green the Earth” more with tree planting all over. The less we cut forests and the more trees on Earth, the better our air and atmosphere will be. Also, are you sleeping better without so much outward activity? Or from less stimulation? Are you getting to know yourself better and your significant others? Let’s use our time wisely now as ever.
- We have much to be aware of and things to heal on our one and only planet. We have had a century of toxic chemicals put into the air and sprayed on our farms, dumped into our waters and mixed in with our food. We have had a long era of what I call, ”replacing dirt and germs with chemicals,” and this stresses our bodies and immune system. We have saved many lives with vaccines and now we may be going too far to think we can fight every germ with a shot. We have other means for Staying Healthy and protecting our body and immunity. We have also become an electromagnetic world with instruments of energy and communication in everyone’s hands, and not everyone does well with our EMF exposure. So, lots to consider if we want to contribute to saving the planet.
- We need to look into the future and find solutions for many of these issues. “There’s nothing permanent except change.” We’ve come such a long way, mostly in good ways, yet with some serious concerns. To be positive, in our evolution from fire and wheel, from the cars to jets, from Morse code to the internet—we are all evolving in this process together. Our current coronavirus time break is giving us the opportunity to reflect on where we are. Maybe, the Mother Earth, upset with her stressful state, has sent us all to our rooms to think about what we’ve been doing. This is the time to make some positive changes for the coming decades so that we have a healthy planet Earth for centuries to come!
Stay Healthy!
Dr. Elson Haas
© Elson Haas MD
Elson Haas is a long-time integrative/alternative/holistic family medicine practitioner (since 1973) and founder/director of Preventive Medical Center of Marin (since 1984) in San Rafael, CA (www.pmcmarin.com). He is also an author and teacher with 11 books in the areas of health, nutrition and detoxification, including Staying Healthy with the Seasons, The Detox Diet, Staying Healthy with Nutrition and Ultimate Immunity. Elson has also published books for children and taught in schools as Dr. Sun, a doctor for the Earth. See his family educational products on www.SeasonsStudios.com.