Michelle Czolba- Wildly Natural Skin Care

[Pat Robinson]

[Guest Blog Post from Michelle Czolba - Wildly Natural Skin Care.]

• What circumstances led you to your current health and wellness mission?After leading a very unhealthy lifestyle, I found myself broke, busted and disgusted, not to mention having very low energy, depression and other health issues.
  
  A health crisis was my turnaround point: I went from smoking, drinking, doing drugs and eating processed foods to beginning my quest for health and happiness. I started with some dietary changes, eating less processed foods and more whole foods. I picked up my first herbal medicine book at the library and my path as an herbalist began. Then I realized that my body care products were loaded with chemicals and began to change that as well. Over the last 10 years, I have learned a TON about natural living. And I live it too.
  
  What I realized along the way is that using natural materials for skin care, eating natural foods and using herbs is about the physical body and much more. Using natural skin care actually strengthens our connection to the Earth, which is powerful medicine in itself. Living naturally provides a grounding energy that is so beneficial for our physical, emotional and spiritual selves.
  
  

• How does your work address needs that you see in today’s health care system?
  
  I help people learn to care for their bodies using all natural, Earth-based materials including oils, herbs, salves and more. Currently, standards of beauty and hygiene involve using toxic chemicals which cause health issues and distort the sense of real beauty AND self-acceptance. So my mission is to help people care for their bodies naturally and strive for the perfection that they already are using the Earth’s gifts, ritual and spiritual practice.
  
  

• What do you wish more people knew about health?
  
  That health is energy and manifests on different levels: physical, spiritual, emotional. Our bodies are so sensitive when we listen and they tell us when something is off. Physical symptoms often start out quietly and get louder until we hear and make changes. That health can be found by working with the physical using herbs and foods and also the spiritual using mantra, meditation and ritual (though the lines are really not that cut and dry!). That health or lack thereof is often a messenger that we can learn through. I am an optimist: I also believe that health is always obtainable!
  
  

• What has been hardest for you on this path of natural health?
  
  It has been hard to grow and change towards fuller health and not have those around me follow suit. It can also be hard to walk through the scary places and have acceptance in order to allow that stuck energy to move.
  
  

• What three health concerns could individuals avoid to improve their personal health?
  
  Many health concerns start out with an unhealthy lifestyle. I think 3 big culprits are stress, a lack of nature and a lack of support.
  
  

• What three natural alternatives could individuals add to their life to improve their personal health?
  
  Certainly a natural diet, natural skin care and lots of time in Nature and with a community of loved ones!

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