Wanting The Work

I confess. I am an observer of people. I think it is part of the path I walk on this earth. I observe to try and find solutions for people as they struggle with life's challenges. In my previous blog post I spoke of Working With What We Already Have. On this note, I want to remind you that each and every one of us, has inside of ourselves, ALL that we need to heal; to reach every goal we have for our physical, emotional, and spiritual health.  We just need to work with what we have, call up our strengths (and we have far more than we think or give ourselves credit for having), and put into action the steps we personally need to create a healthier lifestyle.

OK, so first... my floor, back to working with what I had and my promised update. Here are finished pictures of the floor. Not bad for 100+ year old floors that the pro floor guy told me my best option was to bag them and start over!

Perfect? No.

Shabby chic? Yes.

I am happy!

Working in health care (true health care and not just disease symptom management) for 30 years and most recently for 20+ years in personal health education,  I have made discoveries. We often have amazing goals for ourselves. We know where we want to be with our health, our body weight, and our physical wellness (emotional & spiritual wellness as well). Our end goals are very clear to us and we do truly want to attain these goals. Most of us have pretty good ideas about what we need to do to get to our goals.

Here's where things get sticky: wanting the work that leads us to these goals of health, weight loss, healing, physical fitness, emotional and spiritual happiness, etc.

In order to be successful at reaching our goals, we have to want to do the work to get there. This means changing the way we eat, what we eat, and our lifestyle habits little by little, step by step (or making sweeping changes if that is how you best function) and sticking with our changes to reach our goals and beyond. Maintaining health means living these newly incorporated eating and lifestyle habits for life, changing them up a bit as the seasons of the years and our lives evolve and need something different. (An example would be slowing down to embrace aging gracefully: giving you body more recovery time between fitness routines and allowing for more sleep at night than when you were 20!)

Reaching and maintaining our goals, for life, is a true "on top of the world" feeling!

The work comes in when we have to suffer a little to meet the challenge of change. I will give an example here in weight loss. In order to lose weight we have to change the way we eat, get rid of the garbage factory made food, and learn to eat less. With this comes the struggle to get through the feeling hungry challenges. If you are used to eating large meals, the challenge will be to leave the table feeling less than full and relaxing, breathing, and moving through this feeling knowing you will be ok, you will survive without feeling stuffed and full all of the time. Going hungry is the work of losing weight for some people. Wanting this work makes reaching the goal of weight loss easier and more acceptable for you to accept the challenges that lay before you.

This is true of many forms of lifestyle change to improve (yes, even heal) lifestyle diseases. To reach the goal of saying goodbye to diabetic, cholesterol, or hypertension medication and ill health symptoms, we must want the work that lies between the present dis - ease in the body and achieving the goal: major eating and lifestyle changes, living completely without sweeteners, and being OK with this and the impacting consequences of our changes.

My job as a natural health educator RN is to give you tools to support you through the WORK of making change and achieving goals.  I have raved about the power of yoga to heal on numerous occasions. I am throwing it out to you again because that is just the kind of gal I am... repeat, repeat, repeat until someone actually listens to me!  (I keep thinking this will someday work with my kids!)

Yoga IS Snake Oil

Why I Love Yoga And Other Thoughts On Whole Food, Whole Health Healing

5 Shocking Ways Yoga Causes You To Lose Weight

The above three blog posts are inspiring posts on the benefits of yoga. I encourage you to explore what makes your mind, heart, and soul sing so that the path of the work comes more easily to and for you every day. Maybe for you it is meditation, prayer, martial arts, Qi gong, walks in the woods, etc. Find your personal soul medicine and practice it daily. Wanting the work will become second nature.

Much love, Paula

PS Upcoming Fall Online Class: 

Herbs For Enhancing Your Natural Health

PPS Beloved Beet Recipe!

Substance part of the beet dish:

6 small to medium local & organic beets, gently steamed (save and drink the steam water)
2/3 can organic chickpeas
1 handful each of organic walnuts and pecans
1/2 handful organic pine nuts

Dressing:

2/3 to 3/4 cup full fat yogurt, from pasture raised cows / goats / sheep, etc.
2 tsp. local maple syrup
Fresh herbs of your liking: Basil, Oregano, Mint, Spearmint, Thyme, Tarragon, Chives , Garlic chives, Rosemary (I used all of these from my herb/weed garden out in front of my home)

Serve on a bed of local, organic, baby greens & sprinkle or slather with chunks of soft goat cheese

Weeds, To Eat or Not To Eat!

www.HandsOnHealthHH.com

Holistic Hugs & Peaceful Blessings!

Paula M. Youmell, RN, MS, CHC

Holistic Health, Nutrition & Fitness Counselor      

(315) 265-0961

"Just lift the corner of the clouds and the sun is 

ALWAYS shining!"          Eli Schechter

Spring Nettles poking out of my home garden plot,  Spring 2014

Weeds to one person are another person's medicine!

I love spring for the wonderful green plants shooting out of the earth around my home, in the woods and fields.  These plants remind me of the ever changing and newness of life, the bounty of good food right outside our doors, and the nutritional value and healing properties of what many people consider weeds.  I personally await the spring's wild leeks, dandelion greens, first nettle shoots, plantain leaves, rhubarb shoots, and so many more spring edibles.

These spring edibles awaken our taste buds, livers, digestive tracts, and each and every body cell.  The incredible amount of nutrients in the plants adds to our nutritional stores and cleans our winter blood, liver, and digestive tracts.

What a relief to move away from my beloved winter root veggies (beets!) and begin incorporating our natural spring foods.

For more thoughts on the whole food-ness of herbs (weeds) click here.

  Dandelion greens and flowers; good for liver health!

Fun Food Focus

Spring Greens Soup

I gather several kinds of spring greens: dandelion, plantain, lambs quarters, nettles, mustard greens, sorrel, violets... the list goes on.  (Learn to identify them, pick and enjoy!)

I gently wash them, throw them in my blender with some raw goat's milk and wild leek shoots and leaves.  Blend into a puree and warm gently.

You can also saute' the wild leek, ever so gently, then toss in the green and saute' for 1-2 minutes before blending.

Easy greens to start with are dandelion, plantain, nettles and violets.

Another idea:  mix them in a salad with local, mixed baby greens - they should be available soon!  Dress with raw - apple cider vinegar, organic - extra virgin olive oil and a few dried spices.  Yummy!

This picture taken today, 5-16-14.  The nettles are getting larger!

Bonus information:  Check out Martin's Farm Stand website, you can pre-order your fresh, local, seasonal produce, on-line!  Cutting edge - local food access!

http://martinsfarmstand.locallygrown.net/welcome

Celeriac LOVE Update!

Celeriac LOVE Update

I am determined to create celeriac lovers out of you!  The below saute' was made with 100% Kent Family Growers veggies and Kerry Gold butter from Ireland (not very local but I am having a tough time finding local butter from grass fed cows!).

Dinner:  

1.  Gently saute' onions in much yummy butter, 2-3 minutes.

2.  Add grated celeriac and saute' gently for 2-3 minutes.

3.  Pop in some chunks of frozen red peppers and green beans (Thank you Megan Kent for putting these veggies up!).

4.  Crush one large clove of garlic and stir it all up.

5.  Cover cast iron pan & turn off heat.

6.  Finish making my root veggie slaw, the rest of dinner selections, and serve up the yummy celeriac dish, see below!

My Advice:  LOVE your celeriac.  It will LOVE you back!

Check out the Kent's interview on North Country Public Radio!

PS  For those of you who have been following my lust of root veggies, fear nothing, I have not abandoned my love for the humble beet!

Build a Better Breakfast...

Building a Better Breakfast... or Lunch... or Dinner:   I will eat this concoction at any meal, when my heart and soul are asking for it! When we think breakfast, most people think cereal and milk (or donuts and coffee!). Cereal is a poor health choice for breakfast, or any meal, for that matter.  I confess, I ate my share of Frosted Flakes and Wheaties, as a kid.  I am even guilty of adding extra sugar to that bowl of cereal.  The sugar bowl did sit in the middle of the table.  What was it there for, if not for me to use??  Yes Mom, I am throwing you under the bus with a rocket launcher duct taped to your butt! So, I have grown up and learned a lesson or two.  Taking care of hospital patients, whose health was severely compromised by poor diet and lifestyle choices, taught me many lessons in a hurry. I do believe I had a passion for health way before nursing school, but that IS another story! Here is a fine article on breakfast cereals (Why re-invent the wheel or re-write the article?), http://www.naturalfertilityandwellness.com/what-is-cereal-good-for/ So here is one of my fun breakfast concoctions.  I start with thin slices of root veggies. Here you see my favorite...beets, in case you have forgotten my obsessive passion with beets! I saute' them in butter for 2-3 minutes on one side. Then.... I flip them over and immediately pile shredded kale on top, then.... I immediately add two eggs and hold them in place, on the kale, until they are "glued" in place.  I like my eggs to be soft cooked and unbroken.  Then.... I add a few slices of cheese, cover the pan, and let cook for 3-4 minutes on low heat.  It's the egg yolk thing, I don't want them getting hard!  And... Voila!  Breakfast (lunch or dinner) is finished!  See top picture for finished breakfast.  And breakfast is gluten free, grain free, and YUMMY to boot. Want information about gluten free?  Ask me.  I am a big fan of getting modern wheat and its gluten out of your diet.  I stick to spelt and kamut and eat it only on occasion.  Grains go right to my butt.  When I eat too many grains and grain based products (brown rice, pasta, pizza dough, bread, etc.), I just crave more.  This starts the cycle of eating more grains, then craving more grains & carbohydrates, craving more sugary things... and well, we are back to my butt! (No, not Mom's butt, her's is under the bus!)   PS  I recommend that you don't eat most gluten free products.  They are junk food, not made with whole food ingredients!  Read ingredients, do not assume the product is healthy.  Again, want information?  Ask me! I do this "breakfast" with many different root veggies as the base slices.  Other good choices for the "base" veggies:   slices of butternut squash, delicata squash, butter cup squash, onion... use your imagination! Apple slices on the bottom, sprinkled with cinnamon, is very yummy too! Eat well, have fun, and if I can be any help to you and your healing endeavors... come find me.  I will be under the bus with Mom!  Paula