{module_shoppingcartsummar

NaturoNews from NaturoKits®

NaturoNews

A Note from Dr. Julie 

Dear Simply,

Spring is always long and slow at coming here in the Pacific Northwest.  So we try to convince ourselves that our experience is “normal” for spring (it’s cold and rainy everywhere in May, isn’t it?)  And then to avoid the inevitable letdown of the truth (well, no actually, most of the country enjoys sun and warm weather this time of year…. sigh) we devise ways to amuse and distract ourselves.  Our end of April special just might be one of those things.  However,  this past weekend was GORGEOUS in Portland.  Folks became rather giddy and chatty as they streamed out of their houses to enjoy the sun.  And suddenly the dark wet days are a distant blur in our memories again.

Warmly,

Julie Verfurth, ND

Spring has Sprung Special!

In the spirit of spring we offer you…

FREE SHIPPING on orders over $25 through the end of April

Use code DCAPRILSHIP at checkout

Might be a good time to drop a note on the bathroom vanity entitled MOTHER’S DAY WISH LIST with NaturoKits’ website on it, if you know what I mean.

Highly Recommended!

Recently Julie had the pleasure of previewing a wonderful new baby-rearing book by Megan McGrory Massaro and Miriam J. Katz.  Here’s what she had to say after finishing The Other Baby Book: 

“Closeness, connectedness, and attachment may be the most important things that we can give to our children to aid their development into thriving human beings. Unfortunately our modern culture doesn’t tend to prioritize these fundamentals. However, in The Other Baby Book practically every baby-rearing topic discussed inherently supports a strong attachment between mom and baby. If all babies were raised in this intuitive way, the positive effects on our entire society would be incredibly profound.”

Megan and Miriam’s book is well worth reading, especially if you are a new parent, an expectant parent, a grandparent, or a childcare provider. 

Connect with the authors:

On the Web

On Facebook

On Amazon 

Well shucks but folks sure are saying some nice things about NaturoKits:

“BTW: I love the crisis calm. Works within seconds of taking it! It has saved me many times. Just have to remember to take it when the anxiety comes on!”  - J.C., Oregon

 

“Good Afternoon! I just wanted to let you know how well your products work. This morning, I smashed my finger in a revolving cabinet door. I immediately took one dose of arnica montana. The pain was instantly stopped. There is NO bruising! Yesterday was a trip to the dentist. It seems my mouth tends to be overly sensitive when pointy metal prods have been pushed into my gums. I came home and rinsed with calendula succus (as per instructions). I did this three times before bed. This morning, NO mouth pain. (Mouth pain usually lasts at least two days.) Thank you so very much for putting together the NaturoKit. I am pleased to have on hand and quite handy what is needed when it is needed.” - M.C., New Jersey

About Dr. Julie

March 13, 2012

NaturoNews

A Personal note from Dr. Julie

Dear Reader,

This month I am happy to share the story of how NaturoKits came into being.  What inspired and motivated us then and what continues to inspire and motivate us now. History plus inspiration equals our original vision that I am pleased to deliver to you in each of NaturoKits’ products, in each of our interactions on Facebook, and in each article written for you to read in our monthly newsletters.

Also prominent in this issue is the question of dosing.  Homeopathic remedies, herbs, flower essences…these are strange animals to many many people and the comfortable use of them doesn’t seem to come intuitively.  We have tried our best to make the dosing instructions clear on each remedy and in our product inserts, however, a little more clarification seems to be in order, especially when it comes to administering these natural remedies to children.

We encourage questions, comments, and feedback from customers (and potential customers) and will include those most frequently asked in future newsletters for the benefit of all.

Thank you for your readership.

In health,

Julie Verfurth, ND

"Thank you for all the great information! I've used my kit so many times already and it has worked for toothaches, burns, scratches, and frazzled nerves!"  - J.H., Colorado

Q & A Corner

Q:  Are the dosing instructions for the remedies in the Basic First Aid NaturoKit the same no matter what the age, size and weight of the person is?

A:  For the homeopathic remedies (arnica, cantharis, apis, ledum, and hypericum) a dose is a dose no matter what age or weight person it's for, i.e. 3-5 pellets.

Also the Crisis Calm is dosed the same for adults and children: 3 drops either in water or straight into the mouth.

The standard activated charcoal dose for children is 1 capsule - even small children. For adults, the standard starting dose is 2 capsules.  For infants under a year, please check with your physician. 

The topicals (Wild Weed Salve and Calendula Succus) are the same for everybody as stated on the bottles - noting that non-diluted calendula can sting and small children would feel better with it diluted, although it's not dangerous full strength.

One more thing about dosing: all the remedies in our kits, but especially the homeopathic remedies and flower essences, are pretty forgiving when it comes to dosing, meaning that it's extremely unlikely that you'll overdose and even under dosing has a therapeutic effect more often than not.  It's definitely a bit different than drug and standard medication dosing but then again it’s a different medical paradigm!

For additional and more detailed information, some good resource books are listed on our website under "resources" and on the product insert sheets of our kits.

Feature Article

The NaturoKits® Story

There is a vast array of natural remedies available on the market today from a myriad of sources - including health food stores and the Internet.  The average consumer can be easily confused and overwhelmed as they attempt to select and purchase from all the available options, often with the ‘assistance’ of an untrained store clerk who may or may not know which remedy is safe, effective, and appropriate for the situation at hand.  With NaturoKits the work of selecting effective products and educating the buyer on their use is done and assembled conveniently for the consumer. 

But where did it all begin?

The co-founders of NaturoKits, Julie Verfurth, ND and Padeen Quinn, ND, are licensed naturopathic physicians as well as mothers. Years ago they used to compile rough versions of NaturoKits’ natural first aid kits for themselves, friends and family, and patients to have on hand for home, school, and travel use.  They assembled these “kits” because the remedies that they would choose and use themselves weren’t available conveniently assembled together anywhere. 

Then Drs. Verfurth and Quinn realized that there are many more people who would benefit from having high-quality, doctor-selected, naturopathic remedies assembled into convenient kits.  They imagined that people would greatly appreciate having detailed instructions on how to use each remedy (an area that is often touted as being scary or confusing for those not familiar with naturopathic remedies), especially when the ease of use was increased by cross-referencing each remedy with the situations in which it could be used. 

They could see that busy folks (especially moms) would love the portability and simplicity of NaturoKits’ package design.  And they were sure that people would find it incredibly reassuring to know that the remedies in each NaturoKit had been chosen on the basis of being broad acting (both across the population and across multiple health scenarios), of being safe, and of having an extremely low risk of toxicity or harmful side effects.

Most of all by developing NaturoKits Drs. Verfurth and Quinn saw that they could help consumers make better personal health care choices by providing them with products to treat their symptoms in an effective, non-toxic, and environmentally friendly way.  They envisioned that not only would their health kits fill a gap in the market, but much more importantly they would contribute to improving the community at large by decreasing the amount of unnecessary toxic/chemical/synthetic substances that people put into their bodies and into the natural environment at a growing rate. 

NaturoKits’ founders anticipated that there would be a desire and a need for their naturopathic care packages in the general public, especially coming from qualified, trusted health care professionals. This has particularly held true as the national trend in the market continues towards safer, less toxic, and more natural over-the-counter health care products.

NaturoKits was born with the goal of creating naturopathic medicine kits for a variety of health situations and populations.  The founders envisioned NaturoKits to be an internationally renowned company which empowers families everywhere to take charge of their personal health in a holistic way with safe and non-toxic natural medicines.  

About Dr. Julie

Julie Verfurth, ND is a graduate of the National College of Natural Medicine (NCNM) in Portland, Oregon. Prior to becoming a doctor she earned her BA from University of Oregon in linguistics and anthropology and spent time in Venezuela teaching English. She has a great love of and respect for the workings of the natural world, which fuels her passion for naturopathic medicine as well as favorite pastimes such as yoga, gardening, hiking, biking, cooking, traveling, and reading about topics such as food sustainability, Buddhist psychology, parenting with mindfulness and the occasional novel. But trumping all of this is being a mom to her wonderful 7 year old son. Parenting seems to take all of her time, energy, patience, and self-discipline, but it truly is the best thing that she’s ever welcomed into her life.

NaturoKits' mission is to make naturopathic medicine widely available, easy to understand, and simple to use.

February 9, 2012

NaturoNews

A Note From Dr. Julie

Dear Reader,

Continuing on the theme of this year so far – that of simplifying, organizing, and re-prioritizing – I’ve found a very telling quiz for you to take to determine if you are perhaps a little too busy.  (Scroll down to today’s Feature Article)

The quiz definitely struck a personal cord with me and has served as a reminder of my personal commitment to examine and restructure my daily life so that I can be as productive as I need to be without sacrificing the things in life that are meant to bring joy, vibrancy, and energy.  I’ve accomplished the first critical step: realizing that ‘something’s gotta give’.  But determining what and how is proving to be a bit of a challenge. 

Is this an area that is challenging to you too?  Please share your thoughts and your tips with us on Facebook or via email (see links at end of Feature Article).

Thank you and be well!

Julie Verfurth, ND

February on FaceBook

Facebook February is well underway on our Facebook fan page.  We’ve had sales, surprise gift certificates, opportunities to engage in discussion, and right now we’re in the middle of a product giveaway (there’s still time to enter!).   Be sure to stop by and see what all the excitement is about.  We’ve got lots more planned for the remainder of the month and would love to have you participate.

Feature article

We ran across this quiz and found it to be pertinent to so many people.  So with permission, we are happy to share it with you.

Self-Quiz: Are You “Too Busy”?

Time is the great equalizer. Everybody gets the same amount: 24 hours in a day, 60 minutes in an hour. We can’t save time or accumulate or rearrange it. We can’t turn it off or on. It can’t be replaced.

But these days, it seems as if the lament of not having enough time has become a national anthem. Everywhere people find themselves constantly in a rush, over-booked and over-scheduled with no time off. Life is accompanied by the ongoing stress of not enough time. And sometimes doing too much and being too busy can be a way of numbing feelings or disguising depression or anger.

Though it may not always seem so, how we fill our time and how we spend it is our choice. Answer the following questions to discover if you’re caught up in the “too-busy” cycle.

1.      I constantly find myself doing “urgent” things and trying to catch up.

2.      I allow myself to drift into obligations when I don’t know how much time or energy they’ll require.

3.      I find myself running from when I get up in the morning until I go to bed at night. I’m always tired and never feel like I accomplished enough.

4.      I seldom schedule a day off for myself and when I do, I tend to fill it with activities.

5.      I don’t make time for “self-care” activities: physical exercise, nurturing or “pampering” myself, cultural stimulation, spiritual well-being, learning something new, playing, or simply doing nothing.

6.      I seldom have time to do the things I really love.

7.      My work and project areas are cluttered with “I’ll look at this later” stacks and “to-do” piles.

8.      I often miscalculate how long certain activities will take.

9.      I often miss deadlines or work long hours to meet a deadline.

10.  I respond to interruptions such as phone calls, faxes, email, beepers and pagers, and allow them to take me off track.

11.  I try to keep things in my head rather than making lists. If I do make a daily “to-do” list, it’s impossible to complete in a day.

12.  I tend to move from one urgent thing to the next, rather than working toward specific goals and objectives.

13.  I find myself constantly wishing I had more time or projecting an imaginary future when I have more time, making comments such as “as soon as…” or “next year…”

14.  I spend time running errands and rushing because I didn’t plan well enough.

15.  I spend time doing things I could pay someone else to do.

16.  I often do things because I “should,” or continue to do things that no longer fit who I am.

17.  Other people complain that my schedule doesn’t allow enough time for them.

Did you answer “yes” to any of the statements up above?  Did you answer “yes” to ALL of the statements up above?  We don’t have a nifty little key that tells you if you answered “yes” to 3 or less, you’re not too busy or if you answered “yes” to 10 or more you’re drowning or anything like that.  We're sure that each individual can get a good sense of where they lie based on how they feel at the end of the quiz.  So, if so many of us are “too busy” what can we do to slow down, simplify, and re-prioritize? 

Please share your responses and ideas either on NaturoKits’ Facebook page or by email: sage@naturokits.com.  Perhaps we’ll be able to help each other out a little.

Payment Options

NaturoKits is now accepting American Express!

(And still accepting Mastercard, Visa, Discover, and PayPal)

About Dr. Julie

Julie Verfurth, ND is a graduate of the National College of Natural Medicine (NCNM) in Portland, Oregon. Prior to becoming a doctor she studied linguistics and anthropology and spent time in Venezuela teaching English. She has a great love of and respect for the workings of the natural world, which fuels her passion for naturopathic medicine as well as favorite pastimes such as yoga, gardening, hiking, biking, cooking, traveling, and reading about topics such as food sustainability, Buddhist psychology, parenting with mindfulness and the occasional novel. But trumping all of this is being a mom to her wonderful 7 year old son. Parenting seems to take all of her time, energy, patience, and self-discipline, but it truly is the best thing that she’s ever welcomed into her life.

NaturoKits' mission is to make naturopathic medicine widely available, easy to understand, and simple to use.