The Curse & The Cure Within - Nature's Pharmacy

In this episode, we explore how our bodies can both generate illness and support healing through the same internal systems. By understanding the connection between the mind, emotion, and biology, we begin to access our innate pharmacy… the natural chemistry that can either disrupt or restore balance. This episode invites you to shift from unconscious reaction to intentional awareness, where healing becomes an inside job guided by nature itself.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:30

Welcome to episode 14, The Curse and the Cure Within, Nature's Pharmacy. Often the best stage of creating this podcast is the quiet stewy. That is what I do when the subject is huge. My mind needs time to let parts and pieces settle before something emerges that strikes a match, lights up the beginning, and expands. I will begin with a quote by Carl Jung. Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life, and you will call it fate. This now takes us back to the foundation of what the Heart Lady Podcast is all about. I created this podcast to reveal the truth about how our minds and bodies work, how our traumatic memories influence our lives, and the extent of control we have or lack over them. In this episode, we will explore a complex topic, the duality of negative and good powers within our minds and bodies. Here's the reality. Our bodies function like a chemistry lab, while our minds act as lab technicians. They control various relay switches, influencing every possible outcome we see or in many cases are unaware of, such as our emotional responses, decision making processes, and physical health outcomes. So you see, taking care of that hidden agenda of our subconscious is a necessary thing because to be able to best direct our land technicians, it requires a clear mind and purpose. I must emphasize that we pretty much operate on autopilot. This means that the information fed into our internal directives, whether from past or recent experiences, good or bad, will influence how we feel psychologically, emotionally, and physically. Consequently, this process leads to subconscious choices that will determine whether we remain healthy or God forbid if we become sick, because somehow it is fate, and we all know that we have little power over fate. Well, we can't avoid catering into believing in fate or that we have little control over getting sick or becoming handicapped. We can do a lot towards prevention and in healing ourselves. In earlier episodes, I discussed how unresolved memories and the emotions they carry can result in dysfunctional living. This dynamic often explains why we haven't reached our goals, why we haven't found true love or why we experienced overwhelming fear in public settings. It is through the process of resolving memories and trapped emotions that we can appreciate the remarkable gift our bodies possess, our inner pharmacy and chemistry lab. However, here is the glitch. No one has told us how to use it, or even that it exists. There were hints of its existence lingering in the recesses of our minds, especially when mom and dad would encourage us to think happy thoughts during moments of fear or illness. I remember this vividly, and it held significant importance. It truly made all the difference. The more I practiced this, clearer it became to me. In fact, I adopted this approach to achieving wellness and success in my parenting, personal relationships, and for my clients. Oh, and for me. But I will admit that during times of undue stress, it may take me a while to figure out what I'm doing to myself and to get back to what works better than freaking out, overthinking, or feeling like I have a permanent physical condition that has me under its control. Yep, me too. In the end, I do manage to claw my way back to sanity. As crazy as it may sound in this so-called modern society, it seems crazier to pursue self-healing than to simply accept an unhealthy condition as fake. Now for some historical information about Homo sapiens and of course a little science, after which we will learn how to use our personal pharmacy and release beneficial chemicals such as oxycot and other feel-good chemistry. In the beginning long ago, for chemistry laboratories at pharmacies, when our ancestors turned to the forest rivers and fields for healing, they learned the language of plants, roots, and minerals. Nature provided medicine all around them, but something equally remarkable happened inside the body. The same natural intelligence that grows medicinal plants was also creating chemistry labs within us, calming us, repairing us, helping us bond, and aiding us to recover from injuries, infections, viruses, etc. So from the very beginning, healing was always from two places, the pharmacy we discovered in nature and the pharmacy nature placed within us. Here's a very short list of some of nature's remedies. Penicillin, an antibiotic, is derived from mold. Cancer chemotherapy, called taxol, is from the U tree. Morphine and codeine are from the opium poppy. Aspirin comes from willowbar. These are the names given to medicine developed in modern times and are considered part of modern medicine. You know the remedies put into pill form or administered through injection. So now let's imagine nature's pharmaceutical remedies from the perspective of our ancient humanoid ancestors, as well as birds, apes, and even insects. They also found remedies in plants, leaves, flowers, and soil, applying them, chewing on them, or consuming them for healing. Here's a great example. Crows and other birds use ants to treat disease through a behavior known as anting. They disturb the ants' nest, then rub the ants on their feathers, causing the ants to spray formic acid, which acts as a natural medicine to kill parasites, fungi, and bacteria on the bird's body, protecting them from infection. But here is my greatest interest, and that is to know how they figured out that remedy. How did the birds discover acid spray as a treatment? Certainly birds can't create a laboratory for experimentation. I could guess that they might have tried remedies that were hit or missed, and then made discoveries that became tried and true, and then taught this to their young. Still, my question lingers. How did they know? How did it come about that the bird should upset an ant's nest to seek treatment? I have one more guess. Maybe an ancestor of the bird tried eating ants, but they were too nasty. However, they ended up flying away with a different relief than for their hunger. The relentless itching of their mite infestation finally stopped. Scientific evidence supports the idea that early humanoids and prehistoric humans actively discovered and utilized plants, roots, and herbs as remedies. They think this involved observing animals self-medicating and experimenting with botanical resources to survive, often identifying potent anti inflammatory, antibacterial, and antiparasitic plants long before modern agriculture. Also there is this. There is also evidence that the Neanderthals use poplar, which contains an active ingredient found in aspirin for pain relief, along with penicillium mold to fight infections. Yep, it appears that Neanderthals discovered penicillin before modern humans did. Evolution or perhaps something deeper, a fundamental understanding of our essence and nature's remedies, as if we possess inherent knowledge because we are made from the earth. Yes, this topic is huge because it encompasses the elements that heal us, sustain our lives, and allow us to enjoy our existence. It encompasses our minds, psyches, bodies, and nature, along with our ongoing need for healing, given that our planet is full of dangerous bacteria, viruses, toxins, both organic and synthetic. It is profound because we cannot always find answers in the logical parts of our minds, in our memories, or even in scientific studies. It exists at the intersection of science and something more intuitive or otherworldly, yet even elements of the otherworldliness are part of our inherent nature. I think we can agree that there is logic in nature, but it's not always the kind of step-by-step reasoning we associate with our human thinking mind. It's more like pattern recognition, sensation, and embedded intelligence. Take, for example, birds using ants to deal with parasites. This behavior is observed in many other species. Science often explains it as instincts shaped by evolution, but that doesn't fully capture the first moment it emerged. Early humans encounter healing molds, nature's antibiotics without understanding the chemistry. From a scientific perspective on animal behavior and evolutionary biology, nature's remedies arise through trial and error, survival advantage, such as remembering what harms, avoiding it, and repeating what helps and of course passing it on. Only this explanation still feels incomplete. It overlooks the felt experience of discovery, such as embodied intelligence. In other words, the body can know things before the mind can explain them. Additionally, there is sensory communication to scent, chemistry vibration, and cues that we often follow without being fully aware of them. It's the same for biological signaling within our body's internal systems, with hormones, nervous system, microbiome interactions. Even in modern science, we're starting to see this more clearly through psycho neuroimmunology of how thoughts, emotions, and the immune system, and chemical signaling communicate, and how organisms sense what helps or harms them. It's not that logic isn't involved, it's that logic is not the origin. The origin is connection. From that connection the body senses, the environment responds, and certain patterns form. Only later does the mind label this as knowledge. So I would go so far as to say that the body doesn't just find medicine in nature, it recognizes it. Not all discoveries begin in thought, some of it begins between the body and earth, chemistry and instinct, signal and response. The truth is before we had a full understanding of medicine, we were already participating in it. I want to make things easy to understand and to practice. However, this topic holds significant mind altering insight because this is us humans as nature becoming aware of our own healing nature, which is powerful. Our internal pharmacy has the capability to create genuine healing chemistry. But first I want you to know it can also produce stress chemistry. When we experience chronic fear, trauma, or are overwhelmed, the body can stay in a prolonged stress response. In that state, hormones like cortisol and adrenaline are released repeatedly. These chemicals are not bad at first, they are protective. The challenge is when they stay activated for too long. This is when the same system that helps us survive danger can overactivate and begins to wear down the body. So in this episode, The Curse and the Cure Within, Nature's Pharmacy, the Curse is the prolonged stress chemistry leading to unwellness. The cure is our ability to shift states of mind to create calm and produce healing. Our body is constantly producing its own chemistry, calming, energizing, repairing, bonding. These internal substances respond to thoughts, emotions, breath, connection, and our environment. In other words, we possess an inner pharmacy as part of nature's intelligence operating within us. Nature's pharmacy inside the human body is comprised of our nervous system, hormones, neurotransmitters, and they are not separate from nature, they are nature. When we reconnect with the natural world or simply put to our own nature, to our breath, senses, and calming emotions, we help the body return to balance. In the last episode, we explored symbiosis and synchronicity, the idea that life thrives through relationships we share with one another, as well as with nature, earth creatures, and the nature within ourselves. So I am asking that you think differently, to take the fact that we are nature even deeper, and that symbiosis doesn't stop at the edge of our skin. The same intelligence that grows the forest is quietly mixing chemistry inside our bodies every minute of our existence. Symbiosis is not only between species and nature, it is also happening within us and our eclectic biosystem. We are not separate, we are connected. Now I want to share some of the main chemicals and hormones of our internal pharmacy, you no doubt have already known about. Endorphins are our body's natural pain relievers. They can reduce pain and create feelings of well-being, even mild euphoria. You can produce endorphins through exercise, laughter, and positive social connections. Serotonin helps regulate mood, sleep, digestion, and feelings of calm and stability. Sunlight, physical activity, and connection with nature can influence serotonin levels. Dopamine, known as the reward chemical, is released when we achieve something, feel pleasure, or expect a positive outcome. Oxycottin is released through trust, touch, kindness, and meaningful social connections. It fosters feelings of safety and connection. Melatonin helps regulate sleep cycles and the body's natural day-night rhythm. And cortisol, known as the stress hormone. In healthy amounts, it aids our response to challenges, but chronic stress can lead to elevated levels, engaging in practices that soothe the nervous system and help regulate cortisol levels. GABA is a specific neurotransmitter that helps quiet the nervous system and promotes relaxation. Remember, neurotransmitters are your body's chemical messengers. They carry messages from one neural cell across a space to the next neuros, muscle, or gland cell. These messages help you move your limbs, feel sensations, keep your heart beating, and take in and respond to all information your body receives from other internal parts of your body and your environment. So now for the truly remarkable part. Our thoughts, emotions, and attention help regulate that chemistry to achieve balance when off kilter, to treat us when sick, to cure us when in crisis. Through something scientists call biofeedback, we can learn to influence our own biological state by noticing our breath, calming the nervous system, or even changing the story we tell ourselves. We send signals to the body, then the body responds with chemistry. Our mind is constantly telling a story about our lives. And if that story is filled with traumatic experiences that we have not recovered from, the mind and body release stress hormones, and we will continue to feel fear, dread, and feel helpless unnecessarily. This is the truth. The body mixes its chemistry in response to our thoughts and emotions. Change these thoughts and emotions and the chemistry changes too. Simple, but not so simple if you haven't dealt with the hidden agenda of your subconscious and unconscious self yet. Because just as sunlight and rain influence the chemistry of the forest, our thoughts and feelings influence the chemistry of our bodies. The result is wellness or illness. And our internal pharmacy is incredibly complex. We don't consciously release a specific chemical neurotransmitter the way a pharmacist fills our prescription. Instead, we influence the whole system through a state of mind. We must create peace, healing, and calming recovery in the mind, and that will help the body. One of the most powerful ways to do this is to use visualization. Rather than trying to command the body to release a certain chemical, we picture the wellness we see, relief from pain, strength returning, body healing from disease, surgery, or injury. The brain often responds to vivid imagery, almost as if the experience were real. When we imagine safety, relief, or healing, the nervous system can shift, and with it the body's chemistry begins to shift as well. Sending out healing signals within our own bodies, via our breath, attention, and visualization, we begin to influence the pharmacy nature placed within inside of us. For illnesses like cancer, visualization has proven to be productive. However, it should not be seen as a replacement for medical treatment. Instead, it serves as a powerful companion practice, helping the body move towards calmness, resilience, and creating the conditions that support the immune system's healing process. So let me just say that when we vividly imagine healing, the body listens. Here's a short exercise of how to use your healing power. Close your eyes, breathe in and out as many times as you need to to relax. Bring your attention to a place in your body that needs support. Now imagine feeling warm in that area. Or radiating light upon it. You could choose the color light, but I prefer blue and then feel the gentle flow of healing. Do this for five. 10 minutes at a time or longer if you prefer. Repeat this throughout the day and even for days as necessary until you feel a change for the better. By doing this, you move from stress towards regulation, from survival towards repair. Your body already knows how to heal. This is one way you support that process. The internal pharmacy is real, and you do have influence over it. And so you know, visualization is a critical part of what science calls psychoneuroimmunology. The connection between your thoughts, your nervous system, and your immune response. When you slow your breath and focus your attention, you shift that chemistry. You move from stress towards regulation. Survival towards care. Your body already knows how to heal. This is one way you support that process. In summary, well, I can't even go back into this episode's subject at this point. Because there's a lot to digest. So if you need to, please just listen in again. And please join me next time for episode 15, How to Harness Our Inner Nature for Healing and Life Success. In this episode, I will discuss various visualization techniques designed to relieve pain, restore calm, promote self-healing, and clear the mind for better focus. Thank you for listening today. I invite you to follow the Heart Lady Podcast so you don't miss any episodes. And I would appreciate it if you could leave a review or a rating on the podcast hosting site where you listen. Please share the Heart Lady Podcast with people you care about if you believe they would enjoy and benefit from the information I share. To learn more about the power of our thoughts and the science behind them, visit our website, the HeartLady Podcast.com. Goodbye for now. And remember, at the heart of the matter, thoughts shape our reality.