What Is Your Band-Aid?

Let’s talk band-aids. They’re cool when you get a nasty paper cut. The pressure helps stop the bleeding and the protection over the cut prevents infection. Awesome, those band-aids.

My kids love band-aids. Find a bruise from a week ago? Band-aid. Sister is playing with their toy? Band-aid. Dog barked too loud near their ear? Band-aid. Best kid placebo EVER. For all the things.

But band-aids don’t want to stop there. Oh, no.

They want to be the Motrin you take for that persistent headache. The Tums for heartburn. Prednisone for inflammation. Depressed? Yep, there is a band-aid for that. And advertisements will always be there to give you a plethora of band-aid options for anxiety.

Medical bandages. A pill for every ill.

The herbal Ashwaganda can be taken for the sleepless, Type A workaholic to calm down and have energy at the same time. Yes, there, I said it. I LOVE my herbs, but they are not immune to band-aid usage.

What’s your band-aid?

I have a few band-aids I like to use. They come all packaged in my beautiful brown dropper bottles. They have been wild-foraged or grown and tinctured by myself and my children. They are beautiful, hand-crafted, and loved in every step of the process.

And yet, sometimes, used as band-aids.

A little milk thistle tincture to help the liver when I’ve had a bit too much red wine. Fennel or ginger after I have eaten the dairy I know my body doesn’t want. Rhodiola with a side of Ginseng to keep my energy up instead of allowing space for rest.

And when I catch myself in a band-aid usage spiral, I know it’s time to stop and reassess. What is going on here? What’s under this band-aid? Suppressed feelings? Perceived inadequacies? Core wounding? Or maybe it’s physical. A need for more fiber. Epic sleep. Sex and intimacy.

Sometimes it’s just the awareness to nourish my body and take a nap. And sometimes, it’s a deep dive into the depths of myself.

What is your band-aid? What are you placing in or on your body to avoid looking at the wound?

I began Rooted in the Wild because I was sick of handing patients a cupful of medications. Medications to reverse the side effects of other medications. Medications to cover the deeper problems. Medications as band-aids.

I want to rip the band-aid off, look deeply at the wounds. How did this cut get there? How can I assist in the healing and revealing?

Our bodies are constantly speaking to us. My shoulders ache when I take too much on. My head hurts when I overthink things and forget to drop into my physical body with movement. The state of the mind manifest into the physical.

How does this show up for you? How can I assist you in your healing of the wounds?

What’s under your band-aid?