We live in a culture of abundance, everything we need or want is right at our fingertips, making the development of the virtues a difficult thing, so much so that we’ve made ourselves sick in many ways, both physically and spiritually. How do we get back to wellness? How do we grow in virtue and align ourselves to God’s will for us in body and spirit?
In EP 151 of The Catholic Mama podcast, Melody Lyons of TheEssentialMother.com joins me to discuss just this, as well as her newly released book The Sunshine Principle: A Radically Simple Guide to Natural Catholic Healing.
A Catholic wife and homeschooling mother of 8, Melody has come to understand health from a Catholic perspective through her years of managing chronic illness. Sharing what she’s learned about how healing through lifestyle changes and plant-based medicine, she’s done a wonderful job of stripping away the New Age-type “ownership” on natural wellness and shown how compatible with Catholicism a natural approach really is.
And note, too, for anyone who is concerned or wary about plant-based medicine, we can turn to St. Thomas Aquinas to put us at ease, who states that so long as we have evidence that a natural remedy may work and are not employing the use of such things in a superstitious manner or as a way to channel any sort of supernatural entity or “frequency” or the like, we are within the moral bounds to use that natural remedy. So if we have an evidence-based natural solution, say, ashwagandha for anxiety, and it’s taken understanding that it is through natural causes that an effect will be produced (not, like, aligning your chakras with some cosmic force), you are well within the moral code to employ such a solution. You can read Aquinas’s reasoning on this topic here.
Melody does a fantastic job in The Sunshine Principle of focusing on Catholic natural healing, stripping away the New Age nonsense often tacked onto it and addressing any concerns or objections to a life of natural health and healing.
Download the episode below or listen to it on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or anywhere you normally access podcasts. The Catholic Mama is there!
And be sure to connect with Melody on her website TheEssentialMother.com and on Instagram @theessentialmother.
Also! I just launched The Domestic Church, a monthly membership that helps busy Catholic moms and dads enjoy guided spiritual readings through a unique virtual book club, plan a minimalist feast day celebration, and request a spiritual bouquet. Just $10 a month, this patreon-like membership will help The Catholic Mama continue to reach more Catholics seeking to deepen their faith. Learn more and sign up HERE!
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Other Episodes of The Catholic Mama Podcast that You Might Like
EP 88: Why “Crunchy” Motherhood and Catholicism Are Totally Compatible
EP 85: The Theology of Fasting
EP 104: Developing a Domestic Monastery with Genie Shaw
Need help we answering some basic questions about Christianity and Catholicism? Then be sure and grab The Catholic Mama’s How to Talk to Your Kids about God, available for FREE here.
