Podcast 135 — Winter and Freezing Cold Is Upon Us. What Helpful Homeopathic Medicines Might We Need?

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IN THIS PODCAST, WE COVER:

01:00   Introduction: Homeopathic Medicines for Winter and Freezing Cold

02:29   When the Heat Goes On, Petroleum

05:03   What We Put on Our Skin Is Absorbed

07:57   Catching a Cold?

            ColdCalm®

            Aconitum napellus and Bryonia alba: A Banerji Protocol®

09:47   Brrrrr. Frostbite.

            Hamamelis virginiana

            Agaricus muscarius

13:08   Depression and Vitamin D Deficiency

            Aurum metallicum

            Ignatia amara

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS PODCAST:

Joette Calabrese on YouTube (Monday Night Lives)

Joette’s Learning Center

The Academy of Practical Homeopathy®

PracticalHomeopathy.com

Gateway to Practical Homeopathy®: A Guided Study Group Curriculum

Joette's Study Group, Find Your New Study Group Friends

Joette’s Mighty Members

Kate:

This is the Practical Homeopathy® Podcast, episode number 135, with Joette Calabrese.

Joette:

Hi, I’m Joette Calabrese, and I welcome you to our health care movement — yours, mine and the countless men and women across the globe who have retaken control of their families’ health with Practical Homeopathy®.

So, for the next few minutes, let's link our arms as I demystify homeopathy — what was once considered an esoteric paradigm — into an understandable, reproducible, safe and effective health care solution available to all.

This is the medicine you've been searching for — my unique brand of homeopathy, PRACTICAL Homeopathy®.

INTRODUCTION: HOMEOPATHIC MEDICINES FOR WINTER AND FREEZING COLD

Kate: (01:00)

Hi, friends. Welcome back to the podcast. We're so glad that you could join us today. We want to thank you for taking the initiative to learn more about homeopathy. We know that it's going to have a huge impact on your life, and so we're excited for you and glad that you're here.

If you're new here today, we want to welcome you. Today's podcast is going to be about winter remedies. And Joette's here to tell us about the remedies that are commonly used — or could be needed — in the wintertime.

Joette:

Hi, Kate. So, I'm looking out my window, and there are squirrels running all over the place. It's beginning of December, and they are fat, fat little squirrels. They’re the chubbiest. They almost look as large as a small raccoon. They are huge where I am, and they look really healthy and robust.

So, it got me thinking about how different it is in the winter — of course, it is because I'm up north — and how they're preparing. Their cheeks are just loaded with acorns and all kinds of things, and I see them scampering about and planning for the winter.

And so, I thought, why don't we plan for the winter, too, regardless of where we live … even in the South. Now, certain tropical areas, this may not be a problem, but even where it gets just a little cold — say, even Tennessee and those states do have little cold times. And people complain all the time, and it's understandable that they don't feel the same. Well, they always say “when the heat goes on.” So, I thought we'd talk about that.

WHEN THE HEAT GOES ON, PETROLEUM

Joette: (02:29)

And so, one of my favorite medicines in the winter when the heat goes on — and I don't believe it's from the heat necessarily, it's because it's just winter — and that is the remedy Petroleum. It's so good for people whose skin gets dry in the winter — even just a little bit. It doesn't have to crack, doesn't have to flake. Doesn't have to erupt.

Kate:

That's what I was going to ask you, actually. You know how the cuticles of your fingernails, they get dry, and they start peeling and your skin gets really dry, like the elbows and everything. So, you're suggesting Petroleum could help with even that?

Joette:

Yes. Petroleum 6 is the potency I would like. I've used it in a 30; I've also used it in a 200. But what I like about using Petroleum 6 is that you could use it twice, maybe three times, in a day.

So, dry lips … if there's cracking and flaking, we can still use Petroleum. I would start with Petroleum. In a way, it makes a lot of sense because if we've been using Petroleum on our skin in the past, it often can cause this problem.

So, I remember years ago — I'm old enough to have been influenced by someone like Doris Day. And for those of you who are my vintage, you might remember that she put out in general to the public — I don't know why it was that everybody seemed to know this about Doris Day — that she would smear petroleum jelly all over her body in the winter and then wrap herself up in cellophane.

And everybody thought, “Well, if Doris Day does that, and she's so attractive, maybe that's what we all should be doing.”

So, I actually remember sometime in the early sixties or so that that's a lot of what women did, using a lot of petroleum jelly. But the problem with petroleum in its gross form is that it can suppress the condition and drive it to a later date — which is probably why some people who did that, many years later are in need of the homeopathic medicine, Petroleum 6 or 30.

It can be taken twice a day, if the skin is very dry. And then as the skin improves and the skin is not as dry … Or that feeling that my face is tight. And I don't use soap. (I'll be honest with you, I don't use soap on my face. I simply use a washcloth and hot water and then dry off because soap really will make my face feel even more dry.)

Kate:

I do that, too. That's so interesting. And you have very young-looking skin, so it must be working.

WHAT WE PUT ON OUR SKIN IS ABSORBED

Joette: (05:03)

Maybe. But that's something that I would urge people to consider using.

Now having said that, let me just go off on a side note, and it has nothing to do with homeopathy, but I suppose in a way there's some connection. And that is, that I believe that anything we put on our skin is absorbed … readily. And it can cause trouble, or it can be of use to us.

And the way that I learned this was that, years ago, before I knew enough about homeopathy to be able to treat my young son — I only had one child at the time — I used to use garlic. And I would mash it up and mix it in olive oil, and I'd have it sit there and steep for a fortnight or so. And then, when he got sick with a fever or something, I would rub the bottoms of his feet with this olive oil/garlic mixture.

So, one time, he was not feeling well, and I did that. I said, “Okay, now lay still.” He was on his bed, and I put an old rag under his feet, and I rubbed the bottom of his feet loaded up with garlic and olive oil.

And I said, “Okay, now don't move,” because I didn't want the mixture to go all over the bed. “Don't move. I'll be right back.”

And I ran to the bathroom, washed my hands and came back with a pair of old socks. Put the socks on his feet, arranged his covers and got him all ready for bed. And about two minutes later, I went to kiss him, and his breath smelled strongly — not a little bit, but very strongly of garlic.

And that was when it occurred to me that indeed what we put on our skin is utilized throughout the entire body. And now it was coming out. It wasn't from his feet. I mean, originally, it was, of course, but now it was in his entire system so that I could actually smell it on his breath.

So, that's what really made it clear to me that anything we put on our skin should be worthy of our entire body. So, I don't buy lotions; I don't buy creams. I rarely use any makeup at all. I do wear lipstick. I'm very careful about that — about what kind I use, and I use it only occasionally. And so, I'm very careful about that.

And instead on my skin — whether it's dry or not, I just automatically do it — I use tallow. And often, I mix it with olive oil or something, and I use that on my hands. Or after I've washed my face, if it seems to be a little dry, I'll put some on my hands and rub them together and put a little bit of it on my face.

Now, upon first applying it, it feels oily. And it seems like, “Oh my gosh, this is terrible. I can't walk around being this oily. If somebody kisses my face or my hair touches my cheek, it's going to stick.” But that's not so. It seems to absorb quite readily.

Between Petroleum 6 and my homemade lard/olive oil mixture, I find that that really gets me through the winter without having to consider anything that’s storebought with synthetic fragrances and petroleum base and ingredients that are unpronounceable.

So, that's my skin routine.

CATCHING A COLD?

Joette: (07:57)

Now, let's go to something else in the winter, and I can't imagine doing without these two remedies. So, I keep them — well, I used to keep them, I should say — in my purse. I don't any longer because I simply don't get sick very often. I think it's been, I don't know, five years since I've had a cold or something like that or a flu.

But there was a time when I and my children would get a cold once, maybe twice in the winter. And the first one that I used to keep in my purse was ColdCalm®, C-O-L-D, and then calm, C-A-L-M. That's made by Boiron.

It's an excellent remedy to have on hand. It comes in a little box, and then there are tabs that are pushed through the little card. And so sometimes, I just take it out of the box, and I slip the little card of pills in my wallet or in my purse. Takes up almost no room at all.

And at the first sign of a cold, that's what I used to use, and that's what I encourage folks to use … at the very first sign of it. And the sooner it's taken more often, the better it acts. So that's the one medicine for colds that come on in the winter.

The other that I like is Aconitum, A-C-O-N-I-T-U-M. There's a second word, “napellus.” But if you know just Aconitum, that's good enough.

Aconitum 200, and I like to mix it simultaneously in the mouth with Bryonia (B-R-Y-O-N-I-A) 30. And that happens to be a Banerji Protocol®.

And that, too, can abort a cold or a flu or something that's going to the throat or the chest. And so, either one of those two to have on hand during the winter is really right as rain for most families. It really puts us in order.

BRRRRRR. FROSTBITE.

Kate: (09:47)

Okay, so what about when you're outside in the winter? And for those of us that live up north, it can tend to get very cold. I've had before where you're outside for an extended time, and you're not properly clothed, and your fingers get really, really cold — maybe frostbitten. Or I think there's a word that you had for that.

Joette:

Chilblains. I love that word.

Kate:

So, what does that mean exactly?

Joette:

Frostbite is when it's pretty severe. Chilblains is the step just before frostbite. And there's a step just before that as well.

Some people just have cold fingers in general. Sometimes, they turn a little white, and they often have cold hands and feet. And then, in that case, I'm going to suggest a remedy such as Hamamelis. (We're going to spell it in the notes instead of my doing it off the top of my head.) Hamamelis … and often it's used a 200C, twice daily, for someone who has regular cold fingers and toes because it has to do with …

Kate:

Circulation.

Joette:

Circulation. Exactly.

Now let's say the person goes further and they have not taken Hamamelis or regardless of the Hamamelis, they've now subjected their bodies to cold that is unrelenting. Then you might go to the next medicine for chilblains and/or frostbite, and that is A-G-A-R-I-C-U-S, Agaricus.

And that's not necessarily a preventative. I would consider that more a medicine that's used when you're already in a fix. You know, “Uh-oh, I have done it. I've overdone it. I've skied too long. I've shoveled the snow for too long a period of time. I should have worn gloves, and I didn't, and now I'm paying for it.”

That's when we use Agaricus, and that would be used as an SOS, kind of, as needed. And in that situation, we might use it in a 30th potency every few hours — excellent for chilblains and frostbite. And as long as it's used regularly, every few hours and depending on the severity, often the person will feel a great deal of relief.

Frostbite can actually be quite dangerous. We don't want to go too far with that. So, we want to have that medicine on hand in the ready for the winter months forthcoming.

CONFUSED BY HOMEOPATHIC MEDICINES WITH SIMILAR NAMES?

Kate: (12:05)

Okay. I can see people asking about which Agaricus is it, Joette, because there are many of them in the materia medica and available for purchase. But often, you suggest to students that if you're uncertain, find the remedy that has the most written about it. In this case, that would be Agaricus muscarius …

Joette:

That's it!

Kate:

… and that's usually the one.

Joette:

Yes, it is. Yes, it is.

So, it's the same thing with a lot of these homeopathic medicines: first word that is common.

And we say, for example, Arsenicum. Someone just says plain old, Arsenicum, and they're not being specific. They usually mean Arsenicum album, but there's also Arsenicum iodatum and many other types of Arsenicum. So, you're going to use Arsenicum that is most commonly used when you look it up in the materia medica. It's pretty clear that this is the one that is most often used because there's the most literature associated with it.

Kate:

In general, but it could be something other. But in general, if you're wondering. Yes, good point.

What else in the wintertime do people suffer from?

DEPRESSION AND VITAMIN D DEFICIENCY

Joette: (13:08)

Depression? How about that? How about lack of sunlight? Yes. Yeah, that lack of sunlight is a big deal.

And so, some people think, well, I'll just take vitamin D, but I'm not a fan of vitamin D. It's synthetic. It's manufactured by an industry.

If you're looking for vitamin D than you would want to eat foods that are high in vitamin D. And the foods that are high in vitamin D just happen to be winter foods such as meat pies.

And so, we make a flaky crust with lard or tallow, which has plenty of vitamin D naturally in it. And if you've ever read the books by Laura Ingalls Wilder on the subject of “Little House on the Prairie,” that's what they used to use in the winter. They would use lard and tallow to make their pie crusts, and they made many, many pies every week.

That was a great way to not only get the natural vitamin D but also was a tidy way to make a meal. It made the house nice and warm. It fits very neatly.

So, if you're not going to eat lard or tallow — although I would urge you to do so — and instead, you put your tallow on your skin, now you're using something that adds vitamin D to your skin automatically.

And you've decided no, none of that appeals to me. Then we can often use the medicine Aurum metallicum, A-U-R-U-M, metallicum, M-E-T-A-L-L-I-C-U-M. This is for frank depression — not just a little blue, but depression.

Someone who loses interest. They've lost their get up and go. They see everything as though the glass is half-empty, and it's pretty clear that it has something to do with the weather. It can have something to do with circumstances as well. But then we use Aurum metallicum 200C. And it's usually used every third day — one dose every three days.

And as always, with any of these homeopathic medicines, remembering they're not supplements. They're not vitamins. They're medicine. So, as improvement ensues, we back off. We taper away. We halt the use of the medicine, and if it's needed again in the future, we just take it up again.

But this is not to be repeated for long periods of time. Once we see improvement, that's when we halt the use of the medicine.

Kate:

I have a friend that in the wintertime — almost like clockwork, every year in January — she takes Ignatia. That's the remedy that helps her, so to speak, the winter blues or depression that she gets in the wintertime. Is that another medicine that could be helpful in the winter?

Joette:

Yes. Ignatia could also be useful. Certainly, Ignatia, generally, is a little more for the female side of the world, and Aurum metallicum is a little bit more for the male side of the world. It doesn't mean you can't give a man Ignatia, nor does it mean you can't give a woman Aurum metallicum. But there's a little more weight on the sadness of a woman towards Ignatia and a little more weight on the sadness of a man towards Aurum metallicum.

Kate:

Okay. Well thanks, Joette, for some great ideas for remedies that we might want to have on hand for the winter in case those situations arise.

Joette:

Good. Love it. I hope this helps lots of folks.

It's my honor to share many lessons on this simple method of using homeopathy for free —without affiliates or advertising — here in my podcasts, but also my blog posts and Monday Night Lives.

But it's critical that you learn how to use these medicines properly. These podcasts should serve as only the beginning of your training. Peruse JoettesLearningCenter.com to find fun study group opportunities and in-depth courses developed by subject.

So, with the proper training, you can join the thousands of students before you in developing the confidence and competence to protect the health of your family and loved ones with my brand of homeopathy, Practical Homeopathy®.

Kate:

You just listened to a podcast from internationally acclaimed homeopath, public speaker and author, the founder of The Academy of Practical Homeopathy®, Joette Calabrese. Joette’s podcasts are available on all your favorite podcast apps.

To learn more and find out if homeopathy is a good fit for your health strategy, visit PracticalHomeopathy.com.