Janey Lee Grace - Imperfectly Natural Woman: Getting Life Right the Natural Way

First published by
Crown House Publishing Ltd
Crown Buildings, Bancyfelin, Carmarthen, Wales, SA33 5ND, UK
www.crownhouse.co.uk
and
Crown House Publishing Company LLC
6 Trowbridge Drive, Suite 5, Bethel, CT 068012858, USA
www.CHPUS.com

First published 2006. Reprinted 2006 (twice), 2007.

Janey Lee Grace 2006
Photography Geoff Crawford except photograph on page 923 Tina Bolton

The following extracts have been reprinted with the kind permission of the authors:
Recipe for Hormone Replacement Therapy Cake (page 38) Ann Riggs
Extract from Those Amazing Tea Tree Oils (pages 1556) Karen MacKenzie

The right of Janey Lee Grace to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under current legislation no part of this work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system, published, performed in public, adapted, broadcast, transmitted, recorded or reproduced in any form or by any means, without the prior permission of the copyright owners. Enquiries should be addressed to Crown House Publishing Limited.

British Library of CataloguinginPublication Data
A catalogue entry for this book is available from the British Library.

10 digit ISBN 1904424899
13 digit ISBN 978-190442489-5
eBook ISBN 978-184590424-1

LCCN 2005931364

Edited by Fiona Spencer Thomas
Designed and typeset by Thomas Fitton
Printed and bound in Wales by Gomer Press, Llandysul

Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of all the information in this book you should be aware that the book is essentially a statement of the authors opinion and neither the author nor the publishers can take any responsibility for the effectiveness of any product or service mentioned nor can they accept any responsibility for any legal or other consequences that may arise directly or indirectly as a result of your reliance on any information contained in this book. If you wish to try any of the products or services mentioned we recommend that you contact the manufacturer or supplier for full usage instructions before doing so.

This book is dedicated to my family
and friends and everyone who has a
vision for a healthier world.

Acknowledgements

Hard to know where to start but huge thanks to Caroline Lenton and all at Crown House Publishing for giving me this opportunity to share my top tips with you!! Thanks to Steve Wright and Tim Smith for giving me the airtime to argue the alternative/holistic viewpoint, and thanks to the many Radio 2 listeners who wrote in to say please write a book so we can find out where to buy and how to use this stuff.

Going way back in time I must acknowledge Ron and Linda Grace who introduced me to the whole concept of naturopathy and natural living. In more recent years thanks to Grace Hall for keeping my health on track and Gowri Motha for helping me through four pregnancies and natural births.

Much of my info has come from a very special bunch of ladies, my virtual support group Imperfectly Natural Parents, you are such inspirational, knowledgable mums. Special mentions must go to Hatty, June, Julie, Claudia, Helen, Mink, Nikki and of course the founder of it all Sue.

Thanks also to the Imperfectly Natural People dotted throughout the book, some fantastic tips in there for us all.

Thanks to all the companies who have given us the info to promote their work and loan us a few items to photograph (for a full list see ). Thanks to Richard and Mary at the Dutch Nursery Garden Centre Hatfield for the lushious plants.

Thanks to Geoff Crawford for great reportage style photos, Tina Bolton for the use of the photograph on pages and Rosi Flood for helping to style the shots and remind Geoff to shoot my good side when possible!!

Thanks to my excellent editor Fiona Spencer Thomas and finally to my wonderful husband Simon I couldnt have done any of it without you.

Introduction

If the closest youve ever come to natural living is choosing the light version of mayonnaise this book is for you. If the only recycling youve ever done is chucking your wine bottles into the car parks bottle bin just to rejoice in the crashing sound its still for you.

The title is all-important you see. Its Imperfectly Natural Woman. After all, if youre one hundred per cent natural that wouldnt be natural. Weve all got imperfections and were all at a different stage in our life journey.

What you wont find in this book is padding. You wont find pages and pages of diagrams or photographs of people exercising. Be honest, when did you last get up in the morning, decide to do a workout, pick up a book and follow the diagrams? It just doesnt happen. A video or CD maybe, but a book? Never. Also, I havent bulked it out with pages of recipes. Sure, I may have sneaked in one or two but, mostly, Ill try to point you in the direction of a healthy attitude to eating. Once you know which ingredients you need, youll find that there are millions of books and websites dedicated to the recipes youll need.

There is also not too much in-depth technical information or analysis of the products or treatments Ive recommended. I am not a medical expert, nor am I a nutritionist, and there are even those who think my little bit of learning is a dangerous thing!

As H H Munro said in the last century, A little inaccuracy sometimes saves a ton of explanation.

I know what Im passionate about. I figure that, like me, youre busy and most of the time youll settle for whether or not something works and forego much of the indepth knowledge as to how it works. In case you want to check out something in detail, Ill also list references and web addresses.

What I really want to offer is recommendations you can trust stuff that is safe, ethical and has really worked for me.

You know what its like when your girlfriend bounces in looking ten years younger with shiny hair and bright eyes? You just want to know what shes on and where can you get it. All you ask at that point is, will it do me any harm, what does it cost, how soon can I buy it? Sometimes its hard to prise it out of them because, after all, they dont need you looking ten years younger too! Girlfriend Ill fast-track you to all those secrets.

The other really exciting sections of the book are the Imperfectly Natural People. With the best will in the world I cant guinea-pig everything and, for example, I dont have pets, so I cant make any recommendations there. Alas, because of my imperfections, especially when it comes to recycling, I need a steep learning curve too, so I asked some colleagues and friends whom I respect for their lifestyle and theyve given you their best tips too. Ive already stolen several of their ideas so the whole thing is escalating wildly!

As I said, youll already know some of these products and treatments. You may disagree vehemently with some of my suggestions and be convinced that the one you use has the edge, in which case, please take the time to write or email and we can spread the word. All these little ripples of holistic living will some day add up to a sea of health.

By the way, if looking at any part of this book just makes you feel guilty, just move on and find another section that appeals to you. I really believe we all need to make these changes at our own pace. You may not be ready for some of these suggestions yet, while other ideals youll have been practising for years. But one thing is for sure: once someone is informed, if its meant to be, their conscience will nag away till they give it a go.