I believe the most positive step we can take towards creating wellbeing in our body is to follow our intuitive natures. I have had many personal instances of success and have seen it happen with my non human animal friends as well.

A few years ago I had an infected wisdom tooth and a very swollen cheek, and a lot of pain. I visited a holistic dentist, she insisted I needed to remove the tooth and have an x-ray, take antibiotics and the whole process would cost about $1800. I knew that my tooth should stay, as crazy as that would sound to anyone looking at my face. So I got a second opinion, from another holistic dentist. He taught me how to massage the infection out of my gum, said I needed to rinse my mouth with salt water often for the next few days, and floss every day on an ongoing basis. Easy solution, the pain left and I still have my tooth. Let’s face it, it grew there for a reason! The answer can be so simple when we listen to our own bodies.

Last year I was living in Adelaide with Wayne (dog) and a friend or ours Caroline in Adelaide. Wayne had limped on his back right leg ever since the day I first met him, about three years prior to this. Regular swimming and walking had helped but it still bothered him. It had just been getting worse and quite painful for him, and he had a couple of acupuncture treatments with a holistic vet in Sydney. So one day I just decided to ask Wayne, what does your leg need? He said an herb. I replied what type? He said we will find it soon. And that was that. He also told me about the emotional pain in his leg, a man had kicked him in that very spot when he was a puppy.

The next day we went to some local organic markets. I had the conversation in mind and was keeping my eye out for medicinal herbs. However as we walked back and forth I was continually attracted to a market stall selling decorative plants. Strange I thought, but finally I asked the vendor if he had any medicinal plants. He said, yes just one, it’s for arthritis. So I bought it for $3. I had limited experience working with herbs and asked Wayne what to do with it. He said to steam it on his leg. So in my own creative way, I boiled some leaves on the stove in water and held Wayne above the steam. It was a funny sight, looked like I was about to cook him. Some animal rights activist!

So he said next time it would be better if I used a tea towel to wrap around his leg three times a day over a two day period. And then, he didn’t limp any more. To this day his leg is strong, he is 14 years old.

A couple of weeks ago I was at a dairy farm in France. A mother cow told me her calf needed an herb as he was sick in the stomach. They had been kept inside in a small shed over winter with 7 other cows for a total period of 6 months. She told me if they were outside it would be something she would teach her calf to eat. I walked outside and went straight to an herb that I did not recognize. I was not sure what to do, recognizing I have limited experience in this area. I asked a local vet, she said never give cattle a different regime of food, as it can kill them. I took a sample of the herb and researched it. I found out it was dockwood. Unfortunately I could not find any information about whether it was safe for cows to eat. I am currently at an organic farm in the UK, spending time with Rosamund Young who is the author of secret life of cows. She told me the cows will seek out herbs at different periods of their life; dockwood is one they use when they are sick.

I am sorry I did not have this information at the time so the calf could have been relieved of his stomach ache…..Herbs can be so powerful, one has to be careful. If only the cow and calf had been freely roaming in a paddock they would have sought the solution then and there. Their cow friends went to a paddock that day, very cool watching them react to being outside in the sunshine. These two, mother and calf, had to stay indoors, as the calf was being sent to the abattoir in a month’s time, and he needed to be grain fed during this time.

Unfortunately, non human animals are often kept in unnatural conditions where they are unable to express their true natures.