This weekend I had the absolute privilege of immersing myself in the intense environment of a seminar type event (that feels more like a rock concert at times) known as Unleash The Power Within, by Tony Robbins. The experience was INCREDIBLE… and one I believe truly has caused a mega change in my inner life — !
Anyway – through that 4 day craze of stimulating and feeding my mind, my will, and my emotions through powerful demonstrations and activities, let’s just say I got REALLY into the excitement and the voice has been strained … just a bit ;-). Truthfully my throat has been hoarse since day 2!! Ha!
In case you didn’t know, hoarseness can be caused by more than just laryngitis or physical blow/trauma… it can actually also be caused by anything from post nasal drip to smoking, excessive shouting and even acid reflux. Since mine is from shouting, common sense says no need to run to the doc.
So… what to do about ? It can take up to a week to heal (and my kids are already looking at me like I’m weird LOL). And here’s the thing… I had learned SO much information about nutrition as this added element or whole other level or appriach if you will to bettering my life and business … and with my existing knowledge of applying of how real foods can contribute to the body’s ability to naturally heal itself…. that I KNEW I wanted to reach for those healing foods to help me get my voice back to sounding smooth and normal, and my throat feeling at ease and good again!
I don’t want to just reach for cough drops full of refined sugar and unhealthy or even unnatural sweeteners…
So, I’m reaching for these natural home remedies to help:
1. Lots of water from my fluids and my foods
Keeping my throat moist is super important right now. So , I’m making sure to drink lots of water. In a normal day I would drink half of my body weight in ounces of water. So right now maybe I will increase that a bit and pay attention to any time my throat feels dry reach for a glass. I will also focus on eating lots of living Foods… Fruits and vegetables and good oils. These Foods will also help contribute to keeping my body full of water which it needs for healing my throat food and lubricated.
2. Drinking apple cider vinegar.
Raw apple cider vinegar has natural antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. I know this from previous research on my own and regularly use apple cider vinegar with water and maybe a little honey or Stevia in the mornings to promote healthy digestion. But it’s good to know that in this case it is also helping my throat! I’m not really fighting against infections and helping guard against further inflammation of the vocal cords.
3. Warm salt water gargle.
Well this is one that I know makes a lot of people shiver.. It still does my daughter whenever she gets a sinus infection or post nasal drip. I know the sentiment. But the benefits are clear. The salt in the warm water helps remove mucus from the throat and respiratory tract. Again creating an environment where my throat is well lubricated free of anything that doesn’t belong there or can irritate it further so it can properly heal.
4. Cold or frozen Blended drinks.
So while the hot beverages of course will help Soothe My wrote and help clear hoarseness comma cold beverages also served their purpose. Making a or Shake in your blender can also feel really good on your dry throat comma and contribute to your water and living Foods intake. For me, I will use my Shakeology 2 blend together with ice and water , some greens like spinach, and maybe some berries. With Shakeology I enjoy the added benefits of vitamins and minerals, plus adaptogens (helps the body adapt and respond to effects of stress) and antioxidants (which battle free radicals for me), and digesrive enzymes (help nutrient absorption). I want to avoid Dairy, which can actually stick to the throat much like mucus and slow things down.
5. Hot green tea with honey
We’ve already established that the hot fluids will help soothe the throat and decrease inflammation. The added benefit of green tea RX antioxidant properties that help the body Battle free radicals which are damaging Improvement fight against healing. The Raw honey also natural antibacterial properties and consume the throat when stirred into the hot beverage.
6. Chamomile tea with lemon
Again a hot tea will help to soothe my throat for the next few days as it heals. But it chamomile is also a great team with natural antibacterial properties will help fight inflammation as well as infection. Plus the lemon has the ever-popular vitamin C naturally helping the body heal itself.
7. Hot water with lemon and cayenne
Cayenne the optional addition to this equation is said to help with pain relief. This will be my first time to try this added element today as a method so I’ll keep you posted.
8. Rest and breathing
since I want to keep my throat as much as possible throughout my day I will focus on breathing through my nose while i go about my day …working and resting and reading… and playing scrabble with my kids. 😉 Not only will the physical resting of my body and my actual voice allow my body to focus its energy more effectively towards healing needed… keeping my mouth closed and breathing through my nose will help too prevent it from drying out further.
Well there you have it… All the ways I plan to assist my body and healing my horse throat naturally today and over the next several days!
Have you tried any or all of these methods? Which ones? Do you have some to add to the list you would recommend? Share them below!
XOXO,
Angel
Angel Ballance 