Walking The Red Road

22 years ago I was teaching School Health Education in the Syracuse City School District. The district graciously sent me "home" to a week long health conference at St. Lawrence University, Canton. I attended an amazing workshop presented by Ed McGaa, Eagle Man, Sioux Tribal Leader and purchased both of his books.

Now this was not my 1st experience with Native American culture; growing up 20 minutes from the Mohawk Nation and involved with the local lacrosse team, I was exposed to and aware of Native culture and philosophy. But honestly, traditional Native American spirituality is not something that was shared openly.

Over the past 22 years I have read many books by great Native American writers, healers, and visionaries. My latest book by Ehanamani, Dr. A.C. Ross, member of the Dakota Nation - Sioux Native Americans is titled "Mitakuye Oyasin." In this book, Ehanamani introduces me to the Native American principle of the Red Road.

The Red Road is a mind set, a way of thinking that carries one through their day's decisions. It is a way to make the best decision for you and the greater good, right now in this moment, without having that decision be the only choice you have for the rest of your life.

Let me give you an example:

• Someone offers me a large chunk of gooey dessert. My Red Road decision looks like this: "Not now, not today, this is not best for my health." Now this does not mean I can't decide tomorrow to have a gooey hunk of dessert. It just means that right now I am going to make the best decision for my health, for my higher self, for the greater good.

Taking the Red Road path in life gives you the emotional / spiritual comfort of not crossing out the possibility forever.

We have all done this sort of lifestyle planning... "I am not going to" 

• eat desserts ever again
• drink alcohol ever again
• eat pasta and bread ever again...

Then maybe 2 days or 2 weeks into our "not going to" lifestyle plan we have gooey desserts for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Taking the Red Road path in life spares the feeling of deprivation. It is a choice to do the best right now, in this moment.

I find that all paths of spiritual growth and transformation work on this same principle of mindfulness and choosing to do what is best for our personal growth or higher self. I have practiced yoga daily for 16 years and yoga teachings us, through practice, to make healing choices without our feeling deprived. A post I wrote in 2013 delves deeper into this Red Road perk of yoga: Why I Love Yoga And Other Thoughts On Whole Food, Whole Health Healing

We can also compare Red Road and yoga to other spiritual teachings:  Tae Kwon Do, Tai Chi, Qi Gong, Reiki... any deep and true spiritual teachings.

Open the door to new possibilities, take the first step on your personal Red Road Path... a lifestyle that supports health and healing.

If I can be a helpful part of your health repair plan, give me a shout! Happy Spring.

The Power Of Walking Our Personal Paths On This Planet & A Summer Refresher Drink Recipe!

The Native Americans use the term Medicine Path to describe our personal path on this planet; the gifts we have to offer to all life on this planet. What a strong message this sends: when we do what we are personally meant to be doing on our life walk it is healing to our body, mind, and spirit and healing medicine to those we share our gifts with. Each of us has a purpose, a story to tell, a gift to share with the world to make this place a better place for all. When we listen, truly listen to our heart-spirit, we know our special gift(s) to share. 

Are you connected with your purpose here, the gift you need to be sharing with others?

In my young teenage years I knew I wanted to be a health teacher. Going to RN school, right after high school, seemed to me a great place to start (When I look at my life in retrospect... I was not consciously thinking this out at the time!).  Nursing school taught me that our medical field works to decrease and cover the symptoms of ill health but really does very little, if anything, to get to the root cause of ill health and heal it. Health Education was my answer to get on prevention end and help people understand what causes disease, what promotes healthy bodies, and how to best make that happen in their lives. The road of life led me to my own practice, supporting other's desire to return to health is my medicine walk on this earth.

Finding your path in life means creating space to listen, truly listen to your heart and spirit talking to you:

• take walks in nature, relax and listen to what comes up without creating actual thoughts
• speak positive words about yourself and the world around you, your words create your reality and ripple out to the reality of the whole universe
• practice some form of mind-body-spirit activity, daily, that leads you back to you: yoga, tai chi, qigong, meditation, prayer...
• surround yourself with positive people, positive media, positive energy... positive food for mind-body-spirit
• eat whole foods so your body cells vibrate at their highest nutritional frequency
• discover what makes you happy and color your world happy!

All of these actions help you, your whole being, vibrate at your highest life force energy frequency. This is your medicine path in the making!

In my quest to do the best I can with what I do... I have devised a questionnaire for new clients to determine if I am the right choice for them on their healing path.  This questionnaire also helps me to determine if a client is the right fit for me and what I have to offer. The right fit, on both sides, creates happy clients who desire to be successful in this healing walk with me! We work together to color each other's worlds happy!

Summer Citrus Cooling Drink

• 1 lime
• 2 cups water
• 6 or so ice cubes
• optional: fresh herbs from the garden: mint, basil, tarragon, cilantro are all good choices; use one or two at a time

1. Wash off the lime and quarter it, put in blender (yes, skins & all as the skin contains amazing anti-oxidants... anti-cancer properties!)
2. add water & ice cubes
3. blend into a frenzy
4. pour into tall sipping glasses, add herbs, and enjoy (wide mouth pint canning jars work well)
5. PS add a touch of whole food sweetener if too tart for your taste buds but go very easy as sugar is not a cell enhancing food

I have made this with fresh lemons, oranges, peach & nectarines, berries, etc. Use your imagination and let the seasonal fruit offerings guide your choices.

Sacred Eating

Sacred Eating:  Meal Time as a Spiritual Time

In Eastern Indian  culture, eating is a spiritual experience. Truly, living is a spiritual experience and they recognize this. Native Americans always gave thanks to all the spirits of the food they ate, be it plant or animal based food. Eating was always viewed as sacred in our culture.   People were grateful to the earth and all beings involved in providing the food that graced our tables.

In comes modern living and people with way too busy lives who have learned to gobble food while on the run.  Smoothies to chug while racing about the house getting tasks accomplished, omelets being eaten in the car with disastrous results  (Yes, I had one lady tell me a funny "omelet in the car story" and how she reserves omelets for weekend breakfasts only.  I have had equally disastrous results with grated beet salad in the car.  Not a good idea; beets stain everything), and far too many drive through eateries dot our landscapes making eating a mindless commodity for the run, run, run of life.

We have lost the art of mindfulness around that which feeds our each and every body cell; not to mention feeds our minds and souls.

When I was a kid (Oh no, groan... here come the stories of "barefoot to school, uphill both ways!"), I had an internal time clock. I just knew I had to be home at 5 PM for family dinner time.  No watch or cell phone in my pocket to remind me; we were just very aware, on an unconscious level that we needed to scramble home at 4:55 PM.  I am not certain of the consequences of a missed dinner.  I never stepped over that line.  Family dinner time, eating the evening meal together, was an unspoken sacred family time.

Take a moment and think about how you can slow down your daily life to incorporate peace around meals.  Meals where you actually sit at the table instead of finding yourself running out the door, food in hand, to eat in your car  on your way to work or some evening activity.

Sit and be still.  Sit at the table with loved ones (your precious pets count here) and experience the scents, colors, flavors, and textures of your food. Food is a very sensual experience and, yet, most of us skip right over this blessing of sensuality. 

When we take the time to give thanks for all it took to bring this food to our plate and relax and chew it slowly and thoroughly, we perform an amazing healing service to body, mind, and soul.

And, a bonus here, every extra chew means more flavor burst in our mouths, more food broken down for ease of digestion and absorption to feed every one of our beautiful body's cells... does all this not seem worthy of our time and attention?  

When we express and experience gratitude for the food on our plates and gratitude to all who made the meal possible, a ripple of healing effects roll through our body.  This literally creates healthier body cells, a healthier you through better digestion and absorption of nutrients, better sleep quality as your body is less stressed, and an all around better quality of life.

And, on a bigger level, it sends a healing ripple of positive energy out into the world.  Eating peaceful meals has a powerful global effect.  

Can you think of one small step you can take today to make meal time a more leisurely and sacred time in your daily life?  As you contemplate change, remember that no one is perfect.  I was standing at the kitchen counter, eating a "quick" snack when the thoughts for this post raced through my head.  There I stood, eating and scribbling notes before those notes became lost in the recesses of my mind and the rest of my day's activities.

Bottom line:  Eating is a spiritual experience: we are spiritual beings in a physical body.  All of our Earthly experiences are spiritual, divine.  When we treat food preparation and eating from this space, we better care for our bodies.  Choosing whole foods to nourish ourselves, right down to each and every physical body cell, is a choice we can make from a space of wellness and deep nourishment of our body, mind, and spirit.

When we approach all life choices in this manner, making choices for wellness seems like the only way to go. It is pure loving kindness.

You owe it to yourself:  slow down, relax, and enjoy your food.  Discover eating again for the sacred experience it truly is.

Native American Gratitude Prayer

We thank Great Spirit for the resources that made this food possible;

We thank the Earth Mother for producing it, and 

We thank all those who labored to bring it to us.

May the wholesomeness of the food before us, bring out the wholeness of the Spirit within us.