Healing with Honey

The power of Raw Honey for self medicine practices is one of my firm favourites that I keep on my medicine shelf and here’s why …

I was first introduced to raw honey growing up as a little girl, my Isa gran and grandad were bee keepers and i remember trying the raw honey on the comb for the very first time, looking in awe at the amazingly perfect hexagon shapes filled with liquid gold and the sensation of the sweet sticky but chewy wax from the comb getting stuck in my teeth. It was worth every taste!

My uncle Chris and Aunty Kathy also went on to keep the tradition going becoming bee keepers too, they sold the honey in jars and I remember these neat stacks of honey pots with gold labels stored in there outhouse shed. This incredible collection of gold filled jars that would appear to glow as the sunlight stretched through from the window. From an early age I heard the stories of honey being medicinal and it was always a treat to have some or use it.

I started to use honey more intentionally as self medicine years ago, as well as eating it I also use it as a face scrub. The set honey is the best for this as it’s already feels grainy not runny and as my uncle Chris tells me this is due to the bees collecting pollen from different flowers possibly mainly from clover. But even if you have runny honey, as I find when you reach the end of the jar and the runny honey starts to solidify at the bottom to create the sweet sugary grains— these are the best as they too feel like a sugar scrub for your skin.

Honey for Face / Body Scrub + Mask 

I use honey on my face as a sugar scrub and mask in one! Apply the sticky honey grains to damp skin ( it actually won’t feel so sticky this way) then start to gently scrub your face and you can leave it on as a face mask for up to five minutes. Then rinse with tepid water and press your face after with a damp cool or warm flannel/face cloth.Your skin will feel better, softer and have a more beautiful tone.  I use 1-2 times a week this way. Honey protects the skin from cell damage so using this as a way to keep skin looking younger and to support the aging of the skin—keeping skin supple and healthy looking naturally vibrant.
Lots of skin, beauty and hair products claim to be infused with honey, but there’s nothing better than actually using the real thing and you’ll avoid all the other toxic chemicals often loaded in with these expensive products.

Honey for Wound healing

I also use raw honey ( use runny honey or set honey) as a wound healer, it’s great for cuts, grazes, minor burns, scars, spots and eczema healing. Just let it soak in on clean skin and leave it there to absorb. You can always apply a soft bandage or press a cotton cloth to the area if you prefer not to expose any sticky residue.

Once you’ve left the honey sink into the skin and area of the body that is damaged, wait and let it have time to absorb.  You can just leave it there or rinse off a few hours later—Honey is a healer, it’s antibacterial and antinflammatory properties make it wonderful for wound-healing because its so rich in antioxidants, vitamins and enzymes! it’s packed with healing properties that aid in healing wounds. The ancient Egyptians used honey for this same reason, it was medicine.

The honey helps to reduce swelling, heals skin conditions and sores faster and cleaner…which I’ve seen on my sons skin when he suffered with eczema, as it soaks in promoting the tissue to repair, soothing inflammation and reducing the redness. It’s very nourishing.

 

Honey for internal health: 

I’ve recently made up a honey and garlic infusion. Half a jar of my usual honey with 4-5 gloves of garlic roughly cut and added to infuse and use as a medicine that is amazing to take for sore throats, viruses, colds and flu symptoms. It sits on the shelf and is used either when needed or as a preventative to these kinds of sickness, just take a spoonful a day! Honey is a healer for sore throats, dry coughs and a helpful boost for the immune system, strengthening the body’s defenses against illnesses.  Honey is great for the gut! It supports a healthy gut microbiome due to the prebiotic and antimicrobial properties it is abundant in and a healthy gut is the protective layer within your body you need to stay well.

Honey is also said to be great for heart health too! Helping for lowering blood pressure and improving cholesterol levels. Internal healing with honey is a gateway to improving health.

Honey for Offerings:

Honey was also used by ancient Egyptians who presented it to their gods and loved ones as a sacred offering, for rituals and a gift of purity and sweetness. Honey is a sacred substance made by hard working bees who touch nature deeply to extract the sweet nectar and transform it to this liquid gold.
Honey was also used as currency and for trade in some cultures, it was valuable as a form of payment! 

Honey was also used for its natural preservative qualities, people used it to cover over meats and fruits to keep the foods from spoiling, allowing them to keep food for longer.

Honey as a sweetener; 

Honey can be used to sweeten tea, drinks, add it to yogurt bowls, smoothies, milk and honey and as a spread for bread, toast and even steak! Try it, such a good combination—Steak and honey!

I always recommend purchasing raw local honey, from local farm shops. Not the big chain food stores, as these honeys are most likely a mix of all different honeys from around the world— mass produced and often poorly kept and unhealthy bees making it just for mass producing. This is actually detrimental to the bees lives, as these bees are not left with thier own honey to survive off during winters hibernation, instead they are given water and refined sugar to feed off, all the honey taken away and so the bees then don’t live as long and are not protected from viruses or bacteria like they would be when consuming thier own medicinal honey!
Raw local honey is better for you, ethical bee keepers will leave a slot of the honey for the bees to live off, not taking it all away and you’ll also be getting more of the plant connection in your body from your local area with small amounts of the pollen in the honey. So this raw local honey is then actually really helpful and benifical for hayfever and seasonal allergies for those who suffer.

* please note honey is not suitable to give to babies or puppy dogs until they are over 1 years of age. The advice here in this read is from personal experiences and my own personal preferences to self medicine and is not to cure, treat or diagnose others.

Honey is a gift!

 

If your not already using it as such then I hope you start and these tips bring you more connection and nourishment with some honey in your life.

love

Tina 💛