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Sage To Darken Gray Hair And Promote Hair Growth

Natural Remedies

Culpeper says of Sage that it ’causes the hair to become black’.

Garden sage has many therapeutic uses.

In the garden, its flowers provide medicine and nectar for the bees, as well as a herbal tonic to the neighbouring plants.

It is well-known as an aid to oral hygiene. It has strong antiseptic qualities and is supposed to whiten tooth enamel.

Sage is still used today in some tooth-pastes. It is reputedly one effective remedy for bleeding gums, and improving gum health: The crushed fresh leaves are massaged several times a day onto the gums and teeth.

The tea is gargled to relieve sore throats, colds and flu, and ulcers in the mouth.

It can be effective to reduce fevers, and has been used in the past for thyphoid fever. (see ‘Herbal Remedies and Homeopathy’ published by Geddes and Grosset.)

It is a valuable nerve medicine, and is a useful stomach remedy for improving a weak appetite.

Natural Herbal Hair Dye and Tonic: Sage can help restore healthy hair and improve the colour.

Strong sage tea encourages hair growth and darkens the hair, if it is used on a regular basis. Many herbalists describe it in their writings: see John Heinerman’s ‘Encyclopedia of Fruits Vegetables and Herbs’.

Rosemary is another wonderful herb which can help hair growth, but it does not have such a darkening effect on the hair, as sage does.

Recipe For Sage Hair Dye: Here is a simple, natural hair dye and tonic which you can try. It is perfectly safe to use, as it does not contain any harmful additives such as you might find in commercial dyes for darkening the hair.

Take two cups of fresh sage leaves and put into a stainless steel saucepan.

Add one cup of dry black tea leaves

Add half a cup of cider vinegar and eight cups of water.

Simmer very gently, with no lid, for one hour on a very low heat. You should have around half the original quantity of liquid left at the end of an hour. If you need to add a little more water, make sure you do so well before you finish simmering the brew. If you add more water at the end of the simmering, then your mixture will not keep so well.

Take off the heat after an hour of simmering. Set aside to cool.

Once your sage mixture has cooled properly, strain it off.

To the liquid remaining add the same amount of vodka.

Put into a bottle with a screw-top lid and store in a cool place.

Massage around a tablespoonful of the sage infusion into the hair each day. Use more or less, depending on how much hair you need to cover.

Massage the sage tonic well into the roots of the hair as well, so that it feeds the scalp and hair follicles. Massaging the scalp with the sage tonic will help the hair to grow again.

The oils in the sage leaves will put a natural shine to the hair.

Once the hair is sufficiently darkened, which may take several weeks, you can reduce the amount of applications each week. Once or twice a week may be enough to maintain the darker colour.

Sage is really very good for the hair in so many ways.

Alternative Sage Tonic Without Alcohol: You could make up your sage tea without the alcohol if you wish. Only, remember that your mixture will not keep for longer than a week, and it must be kept in the fridge. You could make up a lesser amount, enough to last a week, and then make up a fresh brew of tea for the following week.

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Antibiotic Causing Untreatable New Hospital Super-Bug In NZ

Alternatives To Vaccination

It surely is about time that the medical authorities, instead of discrediting alternative, natural remedies in order to keep dominant in the market place, begin serious study of Homeopathy, Herbal Medicine, and Vitamin C and A therapy.

When given in correct dosage, these are all safe, proven and effective alternatives to vaccination and antibiotic treatment in the treating of diseae.

The latest scare is the emergence of a new strain of MRSA staphylococcus aureus, a hospital superbug which is resistant to all antibiotics.

Dr Deborah Williamson, a clinical microbiologist from Otago University is reported as saying in NZ Herald, Wed, March 18th, 2015, that the antibiotic ointment Fusidic acid is to blame for the new, untreatable superbug, and that Fusidic acid has also caused a rise in bacterial infections which no longer respond to the medication.

Dr Williamson was attending the Australian Society for Infectious Diseases conference being held in Auckland on Wednesday, 18th March, 2015, where she was to present her research findings on the alarming effects of overuse of antibiotics.

She is reported as saying that, because of resistance to antibiotics, common infections and injuries could ‘once again kill’.

The link of Fusidic acid antibiotic to the new superbug should be an easy lesson for people to absorb: The example of Fusidic acid will not be an isolated one.

ANY antibiotic, such as those given for simple infections, or immunizations, or vaccinations, could actually cause other types of untreatable viruses and bacterial infections to arise. This has been the argument for many years of those promoting the safer alternatives to vaccination.

Over the last two or three years there have been many cases reported where antibiotics have proved ineffective and useless for treating serious epidemics. Modern illnesses are just not responding to conventional antibiotic treatments as they used to.

Ebola is the most frightening of these untreatable-by-antibiotics diseases. But there are others which also pose a threat to human life:

Swine Flu was a big scare three years ago. No antibiotic would work to cure the disease, but still the hospitals in Australia and New Zealand were reluctant to use Vitamin C intravenous therapy, despite there being much research to show that Vitamin C therapy would work, if given early enough.

Even though life-support had been removed from a patient dying from Swine Flu at an Auckland hospital, doctors still refused point blank to allow the family to organize intravenous injections of Vitamin C.

The reason for the ban on Vitamin C? Because the drug companies are worried it might be better than their orthodox drugs, and so they take great pains to disallow Vitamin C therapy in our hospitals.

The reality was that, in several hospitals here in NZ and Australia, hospitals would rather let their patients die, rather than give them the chance with Vitamin C.

This Swine Flu victim at the Auckland hospital was very fortunate that he had an assertive family who insisted that Vitamin C intravenous injections be given. They threatened to sue the hospital if the man died before Vitamin C was administered.

And so, very luckily, he was given megadoses of Vitamin C and survived to tell the tale.

There are people the world over who keep excellent health through alternative medicine. They do without vaccinations or antibiotics and use Homeopathy, or Herbs, or Vitamin C instead. There are many tried and true alternatives to conventional medicines which can cure or prevent threatening viruses or infections.

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Read how herbicides such as RoundUp can affect antibiotics http://merrilynhope.com/antibiotic-medicine-harmed-by-herbicides-including-roundup/

This article is continued on this link:

Antibiotic Fucidic Acid Linked To New Strain Of MRSA Superbug

Birch Tree Leaves And Apple Cider Vinegar For Hair Growth

Natural Remedies

Herbal Hair Treatment: Birch And Cider Vinegar Hair Tonic

The medicinal qualities of the Birch Tree are well known. For rheumatism, arthritis, gout and dropsy, the birch remedy has been much used in the past, according to the old herbalists of yesteryear.

Nelson Coon wrote in his book ‘Using Herbs For Healing’ that salicylic acid is obtained from the Sweet Birch herb when it is distilled. Salicylic acid is a component of aspirin, which is often prescribed for rheumatic complaints. So there is an explanation for why Birch tree remedies have been so much used in the past for treating this and related conditions.

Note: Salicylic acid is also found in the bark of the White Willow Tree. This remedy was commonly used to treat headaches, rheumatism, and all sorts of aches and pains before the synthetic form was discovered, namely aspirin.

Read my earlier post on how Birch Tree leaves have been used to treat kidney stones, insomnia, rheumatism, arthritis, dropsy and gout:

Birch Tree Leaves for Kidney Stones

Birch For Hair Growth: Oil extracted from Birch bark is similar to oil of Wintergreen, which is well-known as a stimulant to encourage hair growth.

Several modern herbalists have written of the value of Birch Tree Leaves in treating baldness. We find references to its use in treating baldness in the writings of John Lust, who recommended pounding up fresh leaves with your mortar and pestle, and then massaging the juice into the scalp.

Birch Leaf Tea is also a good stimulant for hair growth, and to give the hair a nice shine.

But here is my own method for making a hair tonic which combines cider vinegar and Birch Tree leaves.

Simply pick a good handful of fresh Birch Tree leaves.

Chop the leaves up a little, or bruise them in your mortar and pestle.

Then put them into a jar and cover the leaves with apple cider vinegar of a good quality.

Screw on the lid and leave to infuse in a warm place for two weeks.

Shake the Birch Leaf mixture each day to bring out the nutrients.

After two weeks, strain off the liquid into a bottle which has an air-tight lid.

Use as a tonic on the hair after washing it with your regular shampoo or soap.

Simply massage around two tablespoonsful of the Birch Leaf Tonic into the hair, straight after towelling the hair semi-dry. Leave the tonic on the hair while it is drying.

The cider vinegar neutralizes the alkaline effect of shampoo or soap, which makes for a healthy scalp. Cider vinegar also has a helpful effect in that it encourages good circulation to the roots of the hair.

The other benefit to the hair is that the nutrients in the apple cider vinegar, combined with the Birch Tree nutrients will nourish the scalp and help to stimulate new hair growth.

Sage is another wonderful herb for the hair. See my earlier post on how to use sage as a hair tonic.

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Three Easy Yoga Floor Exercises To Lose Belly Fat

Natural Remedies

Three Easy Yoga Exercises For Losing Tummy Fat And Losing Weight

Fat stomachs can be a problem for many. Women after childbirth often need to do stomach-firming exercises to flatten their tums. Others, because of poor diet and not enough exercise, may also develop unwanted belly fat.

Even men, both young and old, often develop flabby bellies from consuming too much sugar, farrinaceous foods and dairy products, or over-indulging in beer or fizzy drinks.

With the right kind of exercise, and sensible eating, belly fat can easily be reduced.

Here are some very easy and straight-forward exercises which you can do to firm up the stomach muscles and reduce fat. They come from the teachings of Satyananda, who had a yoga ashram in Auckland in the 1980’s. I studied yoga at this ashram for three years, which is when I learned the Satyananda style of Yoga, which includes these marvellous exercises.

You will find that by doing these tummy exercises on a regular basis, even if you do no more yoga than this, a beneficial effect on your nervous system and digestion and sense of well-being will be experienced. They will help by enhancing your breathing technique, as well as in a physical sense.

Try to practice them every day. Start with five minutes, and build up the time gradually. Before long, you will be wanting to add other asanas to your yoga practice.

These yoga exercises for reducing tummy fat will also help you to trim your waist, hips and buttocks. They are also very good for toning up the thigh muscles.

First Exercise: Rowing The Boat

Nauka Sanchalana. A Shakti Bandha energy block exercise.

This exercise frees up the energy flow. The prana, or energy, can get stuck in parts of the body, such as the joints and muscles, or vital organs. An energy block can cause problems with digestion, with constipation, rheumatism and the like. I have used these Shakti Bandha exercises to cure earache caused by congestion. They also help to relieve congestion in the lungs.

Rowing the Boat exercise massages all the muscles and organs in the stomach area. It helps to remove constipation, helps eliminate toxins, and restores a natural energy flow around the body. This exercise is supposed to be great for enhancing the endocrine functions.

Here is how you do it:

The main thing to remember is not to rush the exercise, but build up a smooth, even movement which co-ordinates with your breathing, which should be slow and deep.

Sit comfortably on the floor with your legs stretched out in front of you. The knees should be straight if you can do that, with the feet together.

Now ‘row the boat’ by moving the hands forward to reach over, or towards, the toes. As you move forward with the arms, you breathe out. As you come back with the arms, rowing your boat and holding imaginary oars, breathe in.

Lean back with those imaginary oars so that you stretch the tummy muscles.

Breathe out again as you come forward with your arms to stretch out towards the toes.

Repeat until you have done ten rounds in this fashion.

Then do ten in the reverse direction. Simply reverse the movement, so that you are breathing out as you move the hands close to the legs, reaching out for the toes, then breathing in as you take the arms upward while you bend back with the imaginary oars.

This exercise can be done by expectant mothers for the first three months only of pregnancy.

It is an excellent exercise to do AFTER childbirth. It will help the stomach organs return to their proper places and develop muscle tone. Note: Do not do too many to start with, and not too soon after having your baby. You should wait for at least a month before beginning an exercise programme, in my opinion. Ask your doctor or naturopath for advice on when you can safely begin doing stomach-reducing exercises.

Exercise Two: Churning The Mill

Chakki Chalana is another sitting Shakti Bandha exercise to remove energy blockages.

For this exercise, the same breathing applies as above. Take your time with the exercise, and breathe out slowly as you come forward, and breathe out as you move the body back.

Sit with the legs outstretched for this one. Clasp the hands together.

Now – Take a deep breath and then exhale as you move the clasped hands forward over the right leg, down towards the toes.

Keep the movement going, heading towards the left foot.

Then, touch the left foot with the clasped hands and, breathing in, arms outstretched, bend backwards as you bring the hands up the left leg to the thigh.

Move the hands down the right leg again, as you breathe out.

Continue in the fashion, making a big continuous circle with the outstretched arms and clasped hands.

Breathe out as you move the arms forward and bend the body forward.

Breathe in as you move the body backwards, coming up from foot to upper thigh with the arms stretched outl

Try to keep the arms straight, as this means you have to bend back a good way with the arms at the top of the legs. This bending back movement gives the stomach muscles a really good stretch.

Exercise Three: Leg Raises.

Now, after having done the two Shakti Bandha exercises as above, lie down on the floor.

Arms loosely at the side of the body.

Legs out straight on the floor. Releax. Take a few breaths and watch the tummy rising with each inhalation, and falling back as you exhale.

Now take a deep breath in and hold the breath.

While you hold the breath, lift both legs slowly off the floor.

Still holding the breath, keep raising the legs upwards until the toes are pointing to the ceiling.

Now, while you keep the feet pointing to the ceiling, let the breath exhale.

Still holding the legs upward in this position, take a breath in and out.

Then take another deep breath in and hold the breath.

Slowly, very slowly, bring the legs down bit by bit until they touch the floor.

Keep holding the breath until the feet are down on the floor again.

Let the breath out, then take another deep breath in and hold the breath while you slowly lift the feet upwards again.

Do this exercise three times then stop.

This one is not recommended for people with high blood pressure or heart problems. If you have health problems of any kind, then leave this exercise out and just do the first two exercises.

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NZ Manuka Tea Bush Remedy Diuretic For Dropsy And Arthritis

Natural Herbal Remedies

Here is another great New Zealand remedy which is made from the well-known New Zealand Manuka Bush.

I quote again that piece of wisdom coined by the famous NZ herbalist healer who published a book on herbal medicine in 1889:

‘It is no use denying the existence of the form of folly which despises things because they are cheap and easily got’. Doctor Neil believes that this is the reason the Manuka remedy has not been more widely used.

Most people have heard of the therapeutic qualities of Manuka Honey, which is very expensive and exported the world over now. It has a reputation as being a relief to arthritis sufferers.

But how many people know that Manuka tea, which is very cheap because it is readily available in our gardens and parks, is also very therapeutic?

Manuka is also known as ‘Tea Tree’, and this is because it was used as a tea by the early settlers to New Zealand. When their stocks of ceylon tea were running dry, or non-existent, then they would resort to using tea made from the Manuka bush – Tea Tree.

Dr James F. Neil recommends the following dosage in his 1889 herbal ‘The New Zealand Family Herb Doctor: A Book on the Botanic Eclectic System of Medicine’.

How To Use Manuka Tea As A Diuretic Medicine For Dropsy:

Take a handful of blossoms and twigs. Put them into a jar and pour over one pint of boiling water. Leave to infuse. Dr Neil does not give instructions as to how long you should leave the herb in, but I would estimate 30 minutes to be a good time. Then strain off the tea.

He says to take half a cupful two to six times a day.

On the previous page he describes a treatment for another dropsical patient whom he told to use a quart of water on a handful of herbs. He does not tell us whether he used cold or hot water for this infusion – I imagine it would be boiling water as in making tea. The patient was told to drink freely of the Manuka tea, and the dropsy was cured.

Dr Neil does not specify the Manuka tea for arthritis or rheumatism, but I am sure it could be a helpful medicine for both these conditions.

Many people swear by Manuka honey for helping arthritis.

If I was treating myself, I would use only half a cupful of the tea taken twice a day for just three days at a time. Then I would take a break to assess whether there was any improvement, or any side effects, before using again.

To Make A Tincture of Manuka

Dr Neil says to use 2 ounces of Manuka flowers and twigs to a pint of alcohol. Full strength vodka is the cheapest way to make a tincture these days.

Infuse the Manuka in the alcohol for a week, then strain and bottle.

Adult Dose: For treating dropsical conditions, or as a diuretic medicine to help arthritis or rheumatism, take from one teaspoon to a tablespoonful of the Manuka tincture.