Now There’s a Certification for It.
You know who you are. Somebody mentions that they haven’t been sleeping well and your brain immediately starts turning. Magnesium? Stress? What are they eating before bed? Are they getting sunlight in the morning? What medications are they taking? When did this start?
You don’t necessarily tell them any of that. But you’re curious.
Someone complains about their stomach and instead of immediately thinking: “What makes stomach pain go away?”
you wonder: “What’s making their stomach hurt?”
Someone tells you what worked for them and you go home and research it. Then you find six other approaches. Then somebody tells you about a seventh. Before you know it, you’ve fallen down another natural-health rabbit hole and it’s two o’clock in the morning.
Welcome.
You may already be a Natural Alternative Specialist.
You Don’t Need to Know Everything
Let’s get this out of the way immediately. You will never know everything about natural alternatives. Neither will we.
That’s actually one of the ideas behind the new Natural Alternative Specialist Certification.
There isn’t one book containing all the answers. There isn’t one perfect protocol. There isn’t one herb. One supplement. One diet. One practitioner. Or one philosophy that owns wellness.
Spend enough time in this field and you’ll discover:
There are 200 ways to do a thing.
Maybe not literally 200. Sometimes there might be 2,000. The point is that our job isn’t to memorize every answer. Our job is to become better at finding possibilities.
From Kitchen Cabinets to Controversial Alternatives
We’re going to cover a lot of territory. Some weeks we’ll investigate things so ordinary that they’re probably sitting in your kitchen right now. Other weeks we’ll venture into areas of natural and alternative health that generate considerably more debate. Good.
We don’t need to be afraid of controversial information. We need to learn how to examine it.
Over ten weeks, we’ll explore areas involving microbes and contamination, magnesium, DMSO, Silver Water, castor oil, parasites and deworming, supermarket remedies, nutrition, lifestyle, and much more.
But here’s an important distinction:
This isn’t going to be ten weeks of product pitches.
Each featured natural alternative is a doorway into a much larger conversation.
If we’re talking about magnesium, we’re really talking about things like muscles, nerves, relaxation, sleep, nutrition, and the body’s need for minerals.
If we’re talking about castor oil, we’re opening conversations about digestion, elimination, topical traditions, and natural body rhythms.
If we’re talking about Silver Water, we’re entering a much larger world involving silver, microbes, historical use, contemporary research, field experience, and differing preparations. The product is the starting point.
The human body is the subject.
We’re Going to Ask Better Questions
This may be the biggest difference between collecting natural remedies and becoming a Natural Alternative Specialist.
Someone tells you: “My hip hurts.”
You don’t immediately reach into your bag and announce:
“I HAVE THE THING!”
Slow down.
- When did it start?
- Was there an injury?
- What makes it better?
- What makes it worse?
- What else changed around the same time?
- What’s happening with movement?
- Nutrition?
- Sleep?
- Inflammation?
- Medications?
- Previous diagnoses
- What has already been investigated?
- Is there something here that needs professional medical attention?
The goal isn’t to demonstrate how much you know.
The goal is to become curious enough to discover what you don’t know.
Your Experience Counts—But It Isn’t Everybody’s Answer
Natural-health communities are filled with extraordinary stories.
Somebody was terribly sick. They discovered something. Their life changed. Naturally, they became enthusiastic. Personal experience matters. But we’re also going to practice humility.
If something changed your life, tell your story. Just remember:
Your testimony is an invitation, not an obligation.
Someone else may choose another path. Let them. Someone may trust their physician more than they trust natural alternatives. Love them anyway.
Someone may ask one question about what you’re doing. Answer one question. Don’t chase them down the driveway with seventeen supplements and a three-ring binder.
We’re here to help people. Not convert them.
Natural Wellness Requires Participation
We’ll also talk about something natural-health advertising doesn’t always emphasize: This can take work.
Changing the conditions surrounding health may involve persistence.
- Different food.
- Different habits.
- Different schedules.
- Movement.
- Rest.
- Supplements taken consistently.
- Tracking results.
- Research.
- Testing when useful.
- Changing course when something isn’t working.
- Sometimes even changing significant parts of your life.
Because if you improve your health and then rebuild precisely the same conditions that surrounded the old problem, you shouldn’t automatically be surprised if old patterns return.
Natural wellness isn’t always about finding something magical to swallow. Sometimes it’s about becoming somebody who lives differently.
And Sometimes the Grocery Store Is Enough
Not everything we’ll study is exotic. In fact, one of the classes I’m particularly looking forward to is what we’re calling:
Supermarket Medicine
Walk through an ordinary grocery store with enough historical and natural-health knowledge and it starts looking very different.
- Foods.
- Spices.
- Herbs.
- Salts.
- Oils.
- Teas.
- Minerals.
- Honey.
- Ginger.
- Garlic.
- Baking soda.
And dozens of other ordinary things people have used for generations.
You don’t necessarily need an obscure website and a $129 bottle to begin learning about natural wellness. Sometimes you need a grocery cart.
We’re Building This Together
The Natural Alternative Specialist Certification is being developed now as a 10-week program. And the goal isn’t simply to add another certificate to someone’s wall.
We want to develop people who are:
- Curious enough to investigate.
- Humble enough to keep learning.
- Wise enough to recognize their boundaries.
- Careful enough to consider risks.
- Confident enough to share what they know.
- Compassionate enough not to force it on anybody.
That’s the kind of Natural Alternative Specialist we’d like to send into the world.
Maybe you’ve been one for years. You just didn’t have a name for it. Now you do.
Natural Alternative Specialist
And soon, you’ll have an opportunity to become certified.
Stay close.
We’re just getting started.