Healing the Body Naturally: A Holistic Guide for Moms

Healing is a subject I’ve been around for a long time. 

Of course, I’m not a medical doctor.  But I’ve been on a self-healing journey for more than two decades.  Then, when my son’s little body manifested physical dis-ease of severe allergies and asthma, I started researching the how-to of healing with an urgency like never before. 

I don’t claim to have everything figured out.  But to me, healing the body naturally means supporting the body’s ability to restore itself so that healing becomes easier, faster, and more complete.  It’s addressing the root cause of the problem to the best of your ability. 

If you’re a mom searching for whole-person ways to support your own health or your child’s, you’re in the right place.  This guide will help you understand the core principles of natural healing, physical and energetic, and how to weave them into your daily life. 

Can the Body Heal Itself? 

“Your body is a healing machine!” is a mantra that we say often in our family. 

Whenever there’s a scrape, an ouch, or a sniffle, we say this out loud so everyone is reminded that, with good care and positive expectation, your body will heal itself. 

If you think about it, ALL healing is self-healing and natural.  Without the body’s innate ability to heal itself, no healing would ever occur. 

Consider a surgery of any kind.  The doctor connects the dots to create the best condition possible for your body to mend itself and find new balance. 

Your body starts to heal itself when it has the conditions to find balance and alignment to function as it should.  The trick is to figure out what causes your imbalance and how to fix it.

Finding the Root Cause

One of the first concepts to understand about healing the body naturally is that without understanding the root cause of the problem, it is difficult to heal completely. 

For moms, this means asking a lot of questions when symptoms appear. 

Symptoms are the body’s way of communicating. A rash, headache, tummy ache, or mood shift isn’t random—it’s a message.

Instead of simply soothing the discomfort, ask:

• What could be irritating the body?
• Is there inflammation? Poor sleep? Stress? Food triggers?
• Is the environment overwhelming?

When my son experienced a series of severe anaphylactic reactions 1.5 years ago, I was forced to look further than his allergist’s office out of desperation. 

Was there anything that we could do differently?  

I worked with my Reiki teacher, who intuited that the air in our home was suppressing his natural healing process.  It turned out that our spray-foamed roof was trapping all the harmful gases inside our home, suffocating and harming our lungs. 

I worked with a pediatric naturopath to test his body for toxic loads, mold exposure, and gut health.  What we found was a body struggling to remove a variety of toxins from its systems, and an immune system overreacting to protect itself. 

I’m happy to say that my son has not had a severe reaction since that time.  His lung function improved greatly, and we are currently cautiously optimistic about having him off the inhalers.   

What did it take? 

A whole-house ventilator, an induction stove, lots of supplements, countless smoothies, and countless energy healings.  And the journey continues.  

I only wish that I’d asked these questions much sooner. 

Healing the Body Naturally

You or your child may be facing a different kind of challenge, big or small. 

But the principles remain the same.  Find balance and alignment, and your body starts to heal. 

Everything physical has an energetic side, and everything energetic has a physical side.  But, in order to introduce actionable concepts, I’ve separated them into two distinct categories.

The list below introduces the most important conditions for healing. 

You don’t need to do everything at once. Gentle, consistent support is what your body needs.

Healing the Body Physically

Nervous System Regulation: The Foundation of Healing

Before supplements, before protocols, before diet changes—there is the nervous system.

Your nervous system is your body’s “command center.”  It is a complex network of the body’s communication system, registering inputs and translating them into appropriate responses, including healing.   

When you’re under stress, the part—the sympathetic nervous system or “fight or flight”—that keeps you on alert for survival switches on. 

When you’re relaxed and at ease, the part—the parasympathetic nervous system or “rest and digest”—that helps you rebalance and heal switches on. 

In short, a regulated nervous system tells the body: It is safe to heal.

When stress is high and ongoing, the body stays in survival mode. Digestion weakens. Detox slows. Immune function becomes less efficient. 

This is why prolonged stress often leads to illness. 

And in this modern age, stress comes to you from all kinds of angles, especially if you’re a mom.  Even for kids, plenty of stressors can dysregulate their nervous system.   

Here are some ways to support your nervous system.

• Slow, deep breathing (even 3–5 minutes counts)
• Adequate rest and sleep
• Spending time in nature
• Gentle touch, hugs, rocking, or holding for children
• Creating predictable rhythms for sleep, meals, and rest
• Reducing sensory overload, such as too much screen time, whenever possible

Food as Medicine

Food isn’t just fuel—it’s energetic input for your body. 

Food is one of the major ways we bring life force, or prana, into our bodies.  Each food has a different quantity and quality of this prana, with fresh fruits and vegetables at the top of the hierarchy. 

Physiologically, when there’s good and plenty of nutrients in your food, your body has sufficient tools to do what it needs to do.  If not, it will add more stress to your systems.     

Every bite either supports healing or adds more work for the body. 

So, when you’re out shopping for groceries, focus on whole, real foods and a balance of fresh proteins, vegetables, and other food groups.  Reduce your family’s intake of processed foods and remember to stay hydrated with clean water.  

You don’t need perfection—just steady improvement.

Reducing the Body’s Daily Burden

Your body and your child’s body are always processing inputs—from food, air, water, products, emotions, and stress.

When the daily “toxic load” is too high, the healing systems get overwhelmed.  This was certainly the case with my son. 

Sadly, there are so many ways that toxins can enter the body these days. 

When we first started working with our naturopath, my kiddo’s body had extremely high levels of arsenic, glyphosate, tin, multiple strains of mold, and a host of other things. 

I couldn’t tell you with certainty how each got into his system.  But one thing was for sure, that his little body was constantly under stress to remove these toxins from his body. 

These findings led to some big changes in our household, from where we bought our groceries and how we washed our produce. 

Here are some easy ways you can lighten the load for your family:

• Choose organic foods whenever possible
• Clean and prepare foods properly to reduce the burden
• Choose cleaner personal care and cleaning products
• Improve indoor air quality when possible
• Reduce unnecessary medications and chemicals (with medical guidance)
• Limit heavy sugar and artificial additives
• Create emotional safety in the home

Every reduction frees up energy for your body to find balance and start healing.

Supporting the Body’s Detox Pathways

The body is already designed to detox—through the liver, kidneys, skin, lungs, and lymphatic system.  

But when there’s a high prevalence of toxicity in your inputs, your system can have a difficult time removing them all.  

The good news is that there are simple ways to boost your body’s detox pathways.  The goal is to support a natural flow.

To help your body detox:

• Drink plenty of water
• Eat foods that are rich in minerals and antioxidants
• Support your digestive system with enough fiber, prebiotics, and probiotics
• Sweat through exercise or a warm bath
• For us, fruit and vegetable smoothies fortified with minerals and antioxidants (recommended by our naturopathic doctor) made a huge difference. 

Even though we’re now finished with most supplements, we continue to make the smoothies and prioritize hydration. 

Avoid fad detox products or short-term fixes and consider it a lifestyle.  Especially for kids, slow and gentle is always best.

Gut Health + Immune Strength

Did you know that the vast majority—up to 80 percent—of your immune system cells reside in your gut? 

The health of your gut microbiome has critical implications for your immunity, brain function, moods, inflammation, and nutrient absorption. 

When your gut is not doing well, you can experience infections and inflammatory bowel diseases.  Gut imbalance has also been linked to allergies, asthma, autism, diabetes, liver cancer, multiple sclerosis, and neurodegenerative diseases. 

When the gut is healthy and thriving, not only do you feel good, but the whole body becomes more resilient.

Your diet, stress levels, environmental toxins, exposure to antibiotics, and the regularity of your bowel movement all influence your gut health. 

Here are some easy ways to support your gut:

• Eat diverse, whole foods with lots of fiber
• Eat fermented foods
• Drink plenty of water
• Limit sugar and processed foods
• Eat prebiotic and probiotic foods and take supplements
• Be mindful of taking antibiotics
• Manage stress and prioritize rest and sleep to support your nervous system

Nutrient- and fiber-packed smoothies are also great for supporting your gut.  You can fortify with a probiotic supplement, which will multiply its impact.

Movement to Stimulate Flow

Movement is one of the most overlooked healing tools—and one of the most powerful.

Physically, brisk movement stimulates lymphatic drainage (detox), blood circulation, digestion, brain functions, and nervous system regulation. 

Energetically, movement shakes up stagnant energy in and around your field and helps expel any dirty energy.  It gets the energy flowing for more balance. 

This doesn’t have to look like a formal exercise.  Simple movements like walking, gentle stretching, and playing all go a long way, especially if you do them outside. 

For busy moms: even if it’s just for a few minutes, try dancing to your favorite music!  Get your children involved and jump around together.  You will laugh, giggle, and breathe.  

Healing the Body Energetically  

Energy medicine is based upon the foundation that there is an unseen, energetic component to our bodies.  An electric field.  

Stress, trauma, anxiety, and worry block and/or deplete our energy.  When such conditions are left unaddressed, they hurt our physical health and manifest in the physical or mental body as disease.  

The good news is that there are countless ways to heal naturally with energy.  It’s all about the mind-body connection.  

Mind Your Thoughts and Emotions

From my experience, this is where it all starts. 

Healing, transformation, and creation: it all starts from your intention and what you create at the unseen level.

If you truly believe that something will work for you, then it probably will.  But if you doubt and dismiss, then it probably will prove to you that it doesn’t work.   

It’s just the law of alignment, or the law of attraction.  It’s always at play, whether we like it or not.  

In healing, this tendency has been observed by many doctors and scientists.  Dr. Bruce Lipton, a cell biologist and the author of The Biology of Belief, asserts that our thoughts and beliefs have tremendous power over our DNA.  

We have the power to create and dissolve disease, Dr. Lipton says.

Another example is Dr. Bernie Siegel, an oncologist surgeon and the author of Love, Medicine and Miracles: Lessons Learned about Self-Healing from a Surgeon’s Experience with Exceptional Patients.  In it, Dr. Siegel observes that love and a positive mindset contribute to healing among cancer patients.  

What does this mean for moms? 

If you’re experiencing a health condition, try to keep your vibration—thoughts and emotions—high.  Choose love and forgiveness for yourself even as you continue to ask the questions necessary for your healing.

If your child is experiencing a health condition, please do your best to approach your child with hope and love instead of worry. 

It’s a fine balance, I know.  It’s DIFFICULT not to worry, as a mom. 

But detachment is a key ingredient in any manifestation.  If you hold too tight, the energy cannot flow. 

Let go and surrender, and tend to your own garden.  The seeds will sprout when you least expect them to.

Energy Hygiene

Energy hygiene is simply the practice of caring for your energetic cleanliness and boundaries the way you care for your physical ones.

Just as you wash your hands to remove physical germs, energy hygiene helps clear emotional and energetic residue picked up throughout the day.

This is especially important for: empathic moms, sensitive kids, and families navigating illness, stress, or change.

Simple energy hygiene practices include:

• Removing clutter in your home
• Being mindful of how much emotional input you take in from other people, places, and things
• Spending time in nature
• Turning off mental noise through prayer, meditation, or stillness
• Intentional breathing with the focus of releasing the day
• Showering or bathing with salt and the intention of “washing off” what doesn’t serve you
• Energetically cleaning your home with smoke smudge or sprays

For me, taking salt showers helped me increase my vitality significantly.  It just gave me more energy to live life.  Salt baths are even better, and very kid-friendly.

Give it a try and see for yourself! 

Reducing Energetic Load

Energetic load is the invisible weight your nervous system carries—from worry, fear, grief, conflict, pressure, overstimulation, and unresolved emotions.

Even when you’re “doing everything right” physically, a heavy energetic load can keep the body locked in survival mode.

Reducing energetic load might look like:

• Simplifying your schedule and slowing down
• Letting go of unrealistic expectations
• Creating emotional safety at home
• Limiting exposure to distressing or overstimulating media
• Saying no more often
• Teaching children that their feelings are safe to express

As the energetic load lightens, the body often softens and symptoms shift.

Energy Medicine as Complementary Care

Energy medicine works alongside physical/medical care—not instead of it. 

It can provide gentle, but deep and effective, support, especially if done consistently. 

There are many energetic healing modalities at your disposal.  Some are readily accessible and literally at your fingertips.

For a stressed-out mom, Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) or tapping can provide effective and quick relief.  They are also very easy to do, as so many are available on YouTube.

Soothing music or sound therapy has been clinically proven to help people heal, making it ideal for kids. 

Modalities such as Reiki and Pranic Healing can help remove dirty and stagnant energy from your field and replace it with healthy energy.  They can also clear any blockages, replenish depleted energy, and generally promote balance so that healing can occur.  

Be your own Healer

While it is perfect to seek sessions from experienced healers, I encourage anyone who might have an interest to learn these techniques for themselves. 

When you learn and practice Reiki, for example, it starts you on a path of deep healing for yourself and those around you.  And you can support your family and friends with your knowledge and skills!

I’ve been giving my son a variety of energy healings in the past couple of years.  I believe it has helped, although it was with a host of other changes already described. 

His breathing has greatly improved, along with his digestive health.  He has not had a major reaction in 1.5 years—knock on wood!—and has not developed any new allergies. 

For my family and me, I’m going to focus on hope and count our successes.  I’ll continue on this path and figure it out as much as I can, as I have done so far. 

I choose possibility and hope.  I hope you choose the same for yourself and/or your child. 

Final Thoughts

Mothers are powerful anchors in their homes, often setting the emotional and energetic tone for the entire family.

Natural healing doesn’t have to be complicated—it is simple, intuitive, and already woven into your instincts.  When body, mind, energy, and environment work together, healing becomes something you gently allow.  

Start with something small today and see for yourself.  Wake up the healer in you.