Ditch your local chemist in 6 easy steps

Recently, a Mum friend asked me which chemist we use. 

I was floored. 

Chemist? Having a regular chemist is a thing? That’s not to say that you’re wrong or bad if you do ‘have’ a chemist, it’s just that I haven’t needed one in so long I don’t think about things like this. 

At the time I was so shocked that I had a mind blank and couldn’t think for minutes afterwards. As an Olympic level overthinker I assure you this was quite a feat. 

But then a little later I regained my composure and my brain went into classic Trish overdrive. And now I’m here. Mulling the fact that other mums have a pharmacy local to them that they identify as being the one they ‘have’. It’s their tool in their toolbox for when their kids are sick. And I just want to shout THERE IS ANOTHER WAY! 

Every single ailment that my boys, Jason or I get is treated at home. The last time a doctor suggested something for Ashton I threw the prescription in the bin and did a DIY job using natural medicinals I had at home and it worked a treat! 

I haven’t always felt healthy. I used to rely on multiple doses of antibiotics annually to get by. As a kid my Mum would have ‘had’ a pharmacy just for me, let alone my 2 sisters. So I get it. We’re in a pill-for-every-ill world. 

But since I made some changes to the way I was living I haven’t even needed to look a pharmacy. And neither have the boys or Jason. You can do it too. 

For me these changes have been a gradual shift over about 7 years. None of them were done in order to ‘fix’ an ailment, they were just side effects of my learning more about health and the way our modern lifestyle is built to support sickness. 

These days it’s for me to look back and see that I’ve changed pretty much everything about the way I was living. 

1) I quit the food pyramid, full of inflammatory grains, seed oils and dairy, that I was taught at uni. 

2) I’ve changed the way I move to be more incidental, walking everywhere we go and doing it all outside as often as I can.

3) I’ve swapped every product that enters my home into it’s low tox counterpart. Organic foods, natural clothing and linen, low tox mattresses and pillows, essential oils for cleaning, cosmetics and perfumes and even low tox toilet paper and tissues.

4) I’ve made sleep a top priority. We practice the best possible sleep hygiene (yes, that’s a thing) and I head to bed as early as I can. 

5) I spend time, usually at least an hour, outside 1) in the sunshine and 2) amongst nature. 

6) I’ve adjusted my mindset and am now a pro at letting things go, saying no to protect my boundaries and health and prioritising what’s important to me.

I realise how simple this all sounds. Too simple to actually make an impact, right? Thing is, back before I started I know I believed this too. I scoffed when I’d hear that any of these things had made a significant impact. But now I’m living proof. One day I’ll take the time to detail all the tiny health ailments I had. Small in scale but a large burden when accumulated. For now, you’ll just have to take my word that our not needing a chemist has everything to do with the way we live.