Everyone who is passionate about homeopathy endeavors to remember the keynotes of the most utilized homeopathic remedies for common conditions, so they are ready to leap into action when illness or injury strikes.
After all, emergencies don’t make reservations. No one needs to be leafing through a 2,600-page repertory when their child is sick and crying.
In Podcast 162 — Never Forget Remedies With Stories, I discussed how meaningful stories can help with remembering remedies. An impactful, successful story of healing — especially a personal one you’ve witnessed — can sear the medicine and its keynotes into your memory forever.
As another way to remember the remedies, my Mighties Plus members use flashcards that my team and I create for them each month. It’s the same technique that I used when I was learning homeopathy. Granted, I carried little cards around in my apron pocket, and now we’re using modern internet technology, but the principle remains the same. It works.
However, no matter how well you know your remedies or how many of them you have diligently collected for your home inventory, no homeopathic medicine will work unless you actually use it.
Yet, sometimes, in this busy world of ours, we can forget to take our homeopathic medicines. As powerful as these medicines are, merely walking by them on the counter won’t amount to a hill of beans in healing.
5 Ways to Remember to Take the Remedies
1. Duplicates: Own more than one tube of the medicine.
For example, if someone needs to take a remedy three times a day, it would behoove them to own three tubes of those remedies.
They might keep one tube of the remedy by the bed (for the first thing in the morning), one at their desk (because they’re at their desk in the middle of the day), and another one right by the salt and pepper shakers on the dinner table (to remind them to take it after dinner).
(Of course, if they only need to take the remedy twice a day, they’d eliminate that midday tube.)
Visual cues help trigger memory. If one sees the medicine, one is more likely to take the medicine.
Ladies, keep your needed remedies in your purse. If there’s one thing we ladies always know, it’s where our purses are. Am I right?
If you’re in the middle of the grocery store and realize you forgot to take your morning dose of a homeopathic medicine, you can take immediate action. There it is, right in your purse. Pop it in your mouth and go on with your day.
Men, you’ve got pockets! These tiny remedy tubes hardly take up any room at all.
Alternatively, leave a tube of the required homeopathic in your car. That way, you’ll always have it nearby, should you forget.
There’s also a way to turn taking the remedy in the car into part of your routine. For instance, you know that first traffic light that always catches you on your drive to work? Okay, while you’re stopped, take the remedy.
It will become like muscle memory. Now, you won’t have to worry about remembering to take it before you leave the house when you’re in a big hurry. You can accomplish that mission while you’re sitting in the car anyway.
Does heat harm homeopathic medicines?
Now, before you fill up the comment section with worries about excessive heat in the car, let me tell you this: I don’t hesitate to leave my medicines in the car. Yes, I learned differently decades ago in homeopathy school. I was taught that heat could adversely affect the efficacy of the medicines.
Then I went to India.
It’s hot everywhere in India, and fewer than 20% of households have air conditioning. Do their homeopathic medicines still work?
You betcha!
My experience in India taught me that these homeopathics are hardier in hot conditions than they are often given credit for.
I also proved it myself when my son’s tube of Arnica (a staple in his ski jacket pocket in case of on-slope injuries to himself or his brothers) accidentally went through both the washer and the hot dryer.
Silly me, I thought the ca-chunk I heard was just the jacket zipper clanking around, but no. It was a tube of Arnica that emerged, its label half-washed away. As an experiment, the next time we needed Arnica, we used that specific tube. Lo and behold, it was still active. The heat didn’t affect it at all.
Indeed, these are Mighty little pills! Even if it’s warm, keeping them in your car won’t be as great a disservice to your condition as not taking them at all because you don’t have them handy.
3. Schedule a smartphone reminder alarm.
For better or worse, our phones are a ubiquitous accessory. Many of my students report success in remembering to take their remedies by simply setting reminder alarms on their phones. You may feel like one of Pavlov’s dogs, but it works.
4. Stack your tasks.
Another way to remember to take the remedies is to link them to other habitual tasks.
So, when I brush my hair, I take my remedy. When I do my leg exercises, I take my remedy. When I make the bed, I grab that remedy from my bedside table and pop it in my mouth. When I walk the dog, there’s the remedy sitting right there next to his leash.
That’s “stacking.” It’s simply coordinating two activities to occur simultaneously. You can customize this approach with whatever you do as a matter of course in the morning or evening.
5. Assign the task of remembering to someone else.
The first year I was in India, I recall that Dr. Prasanta had a skin infection. Because his busy days were filled to the brim with caring for others, he assigned one of his employees to come to his chambers at a specific time to deliver the required homeopathic medicine.
If you don’t have employees, consider your child. We want our children to be a part of this knowledge. Imagine saying to your preteen, “It’s your job to bring the medicine into daddy’s library or office.” “Your job is to give the medicine to your little sister.”
Now you’re teaching them responsibility, orderliness, commitment, and good habits. At the same time, they’ll develop a commitment to their family member.
I can hear them now, as they say with pride, “I take care of my family. I do. All by myself.” (Of course, you’ll be monitoring their performance.)
Another person who would be perfect in this role is the grandmother.
I recently met a grandmother who homeschools her three grandkids in her home every day. So, she would be a perfect candidate. Distributing homeopathic medicine according to a preset schedule would be a small way for Grandma to remain relevant in the family’s daily function. Additionally, it would help keep the grandmother’s brain sharp. (And aren’t we always looking for a way to keep our brains active as we age?)
One caveat:
More often than not, when I begin forgetting to take my chosen remedies, it’s because my condition has resolved to the point that it’s no longer uppermost in my mind. That’s what we would call “very much better,” my friends.
If the condition isn’t raging enough to spur you to remember the medicine, perhaps the medicine has already done its good work.
But if you’re dealing with just garden-variety forgetfulness, then hopefully, one of the hacks will be just the ticket for staying with your schedule until you, too, are very much better.
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Warmly,
P.S. New to homeopathy? Used it before with marginal results? Well, thousands of dedicated students have already taken advantage of my Gateway to Practical Homeopathy® I: A Guided Study Group Curriculum.
This study guide takes you by the hand, allowing you to learn my specific brand of Practical Homeopathy® in a supportive environment surrounded by other like-minded students.
If you’ve already studied Gateway I, don’t stop there. Continue your education! There is so much more to learn in the second part of the series, Gateway to Practical Homeopathy® II.
Continue with your previous study group or start a new one! Either way, you and your family will benefit from your increased competence and confidence.