The UN-Local Food Radical

I need a raise of hands here:  If there was a patch of green grass in your front yard... how many people would be out there grazing?

I have cabin fever, local food fever, warm sun fever...

Here in Northern NY the winter has been brutal; longs weeks of very cold weather. It has been years since I have lived through week after week of below zero temperatures. Snow, we have had plenty of snow this year to boot.

By the end of March I am always eager for the green foods of Spring: (Spring IS capitalized here because right now, Spring is very important to me!)

• wild leeks
• dandelion greens
• spring nettles
• violet leaves
• wild sorrel
• spring sorrel

To have some green nettles to chomp on, what a pleasure that would be.

It is but February 28th and I am crawling out of my skin for fresh food, food I can pluck off the vine or cut from the ground, food that is alive and vibrant with life force energy. I know it is a good two months before I am digging wild leeks. What is a girl to do when the root veggies, squash, and cabbage are no longer appealing to her? (Believe me; I am very grateful to my local farmers who work hard all season to keep me well stocked with these wonderful, winter storage veggies. I just need a break from winter; a bowl of freshness served up with sunshine.)

My radical plan to circumvent local food

I am off to the Potsdam Food Coop this AM to buy organic produce

1. big, juicy navel oranges from Florida,
2. sweet, furry little kiwis from California,
3. luscious red peppers from wherever they were grown and harvested, and 
4. any other delicious, juicy looking fruit or veggie that comes from someplace that is sunny and warm.

I will bring them home, park my butt in a sunny spot (it is gorgeous and sunny today, by 2 PM my front porch will have warmed to at least 50 degrees... this is like a tropical paradise to me!), and indulge in food grown far from my home. My thoughts will go to the people responsible for caring for the orange grove and the kiwi orchards (Do you call a Kiwi farm an orchard?) with love and gratitude for the work they do to grow, harvest, and pack these sun filled wonders to be delivered to my hands. Gratitude to the many hands the crates pass through and the people driving up the East Coast and across this big continent, through the nights, to bring these delectable non-local foods to my hands and belly. This infusion of packaged sunshine, vitamin C, and so many other amazing nutrients may just keep me humming along until my feet are bare with the green grass under them again.

Enjoy the sun today, wherever you are and remember the words of my youngest son when he was an 8 year old boy:

"If you lift the corner of the clouds the sun is always shining." Eli

This is a warning to you dandelions... I will be eating you! 

Please share your secrets for surviving cabin fever, the need for non-local food, and the need for grass under your bare feet.

Creating Inner SunShine!

Sunshine is a body, mind, and soul soothing ray of warmth. We smile more and laugh more when the sun shines. The warm sun on our skin just feels good. The bright light entering our eyes triggers good feelings.

The sun's rays create physiological responses in our bodies. One does not need the scientific reasons behind this. Common sense tells us the sun is just good. Plants starved of sunlight wither and die. Animals locked away from the sun wither and die. The logical conclusion is that sun is good for hum-animal!

Sun on your skin is what produces vitamin D (remember that Vit D is a hormone not a vitamin). Sun light to your eyes regulates many hormonal processes in the human body: serotonin, melatonin, endorphins of all sorts, regulate the cycles of night and day (this is apparent in the cycling of a female's reproductive functions), and so many other hormonal functions necessary for life on this Earth. Worshipping the sun is a fine thing to do. Without the sun life would not exist.

Here I sit in Northern NY State. I have to say it has been a gloomy late fall and early winter. I can count the sunny days in the last month on about 1 hand (with fingers left over!). Clouds, I have seen many clouds these past 4 weeks. 

Now today was sunny.  Wow, what a gift to body, mind, and soul. I hope everyone took advantage and soaked up and soaked in a bit of sunshine; even 10 minutes outside in the deliciously cold and yummy sunshine.

What is a person to do when we have days and days, weeks and weeks of very little sunshine? My first answer would be the obvious: get out of here.  Head south, friend, head south!  For most of us that is not a possibility. The trick is to learn how to create inner sunshine; how to raise our feel good hormones despite the lack of obvious sunshine in our days and life.

When my youngest son was 8 years old, his wise 'lil self said these words to me:  

"When you lift the corner of the clouds, the sun is always shining."  Eli 

I was taken aback by his wisdom. He was speaking more of human sadness but the words hold true here...

1. Get outside and get as much natural light as you can, every single day in every season. Even if it is cloudy, the sun is still there working magic with your hormones and health. Think about it... a solar panel still makes electricity on a cloudy day and a sun flower still follows the sun on a cloudy day. Get out there and create your own electricity (life force energy) with the sun's rays... even when they are behind a cloud. Be a sun flower and follow the sun's rays. Lift the corner of that cloud in your little world, metaphorically speaking, and get some natural light.
2. You will get fresh air too. Again, this is life force enhancing. Get outside; you will be glad you did. Ditch the stationary bikes and XC Ski machines in the winter. Put on some Yak Traks, or similar boot sole (soul) enhancement, and go say hello to Old Man Winter. 
3. 100% Whole food diet. Seriously, do I need to say more about this?
4. Pets: Having a pet to love and care for (and love you right back) is a huge creator of inner sunshine. Don't believe me? Try it. But only if you genuinely want to pour some love into a friend and have it come back to you 10 fold.
5. Plants: Yes, get a plant and talk to it. Water it. Having a green plant growing in your home is something that you can love and care for. Grow an indoor herb garden that you can take little bites of to improve your mood: peppermint, rosemary, parsley, sage, lavender, oregano, basil... just have a window handy that gets plenty of light (even if the sun is not shining).
6. Whole Health Lifestyle Choices. Another area I rant on about... Is anyone listening to me?
7. Yoga... Yes, I love Yoga and all it has invited into my life: body, mind, & spirit healing.
8. Acupuncture: I have extolled the virtues of acupuncture many, many, many times and I will again, over and over. Want a happy sunshine lift? Go get acupuncture.
9. Massage: Massage is a great way to increase your endorphins.  It is sunshine rubbing your muscles, energy transfer from another human being who is a storehouse of solar energy. Think about it: all of the food we eat is stored solar energy. A human is stored solar energy. 
10. Reiki or any other kind of healing energy work that speaks to you and your personal needs. Just do it; you will feel lighter, brighter, sunnier, and happier. Learn to do self-Reiki. 
11. Have FUN.  Laughter and fun ups the feel good hormones.
12. Volunteer and make someone else's day, or life, better - brighter - sunnier.

Summertime and the Living Is Easy

Summer is an amazing time to revitalize mind, body, and soul.  

How can we not feel amazing with the:

• sun shining brightly,
• warm rains on occasion,
• birds singing,
• frogs and crickets chirping,
• fire flies blinking at night,
• local produce pouring off the farm stands,
• green grass and wild flowers coloring our world happy,
• sultry, warm nights swimming in the moon light...

May your summer be filled with warmth, good smells, and happy memories!  Hugs, Paula

Stocking Up the Natural Medicine Cabinet

Making Herbal Medicine 101 Class, June 30th, '14

Learning natural healing, the time honored methods of supporting the body's innate ability to heal itself, is a sure fire method of invoking true healing in your body.

Think of this: every time you cut yourself the cut heals.  That is how your whole body will function, will heal, if you give it what it needs and remove those things that "get in the way" of healing.

Your immune system is your system that works to repair and heal your body.  It works synergistically, in symphony, with every system in your body.  That is the beauty of the whole: holistic healing.

Healing comes from inside you.

A "healer" is a guide who steers you back to your own path, your space of healing. A healer knows the natural ways to invoke the immune system's ability to repair and heal mind, body, and spirit. 

You are your own best healer. 

What to do to create health and healing:

1. *Remove the lifestyle habits that created the “ill” health symptoms.
2. Learn what whole foods are and eat a whole food diet, your cellular health will thank you!  If we have not had this whole food conversation…it is time to say, “Hey Paula, what the heck, tell me the cellular health secrets!”  Move in the direction of more food from plants, balancing out with a comfortable amount of animal based food to keep your body healthy. Listen to your body's needs, not someone else's food rules.
3. Add in herbs and/or other whole food supplements to re-fortify your cellular health, get your nutritional savings account over flowing with life enhancing nutrition!
4. Move your body:  sedentary living kills, movement heals.
5. Fresh air and sunshine…"love" two birds with one action, get outside AND move! (This sounds better than the kill two birds line...)
6. Sleep.
7. Stress: get rid of it or change your attitude about that which you can’t get rid of. (Might I suggest yoga and meditation?)  Which leads me to…
8. Healthy attitude toward yourself, all others on this planet and life in general.  Practice a kindness attitude towards all, starting with you.  Self-care, and its ripple effects for your health and how you perceive and interact with the world, cannot be  emphasized enough.
9. Ask me for my “lifestyle” suggestions handout.  It contains more thoughts on healthy lifestyle choices for you to contemplate and add to your own bag of healthy living and healing tricks!

*Remove the lifestyle habits that created the “ill” health symptoms, some examples:

• Can't sleep?  Remove caffeine and stress for starters.  This may mean finding new ways of perceiving stress and learning to let go of stress.  (see yoga and meditation suggestion above!)
• Breathing problems?  Smoker? Quitting is one obvious solution in your healing quest.
• Allergies? 100% whole foods, raw honey from local bees, remove allergens from your life and living space...
• Constipation?  Stress clamps down the colon; see can't sleep above.  Refined foods clog up the body, your colon... see whole foods above.
• Headaches?  Stress, refined foods, sugar, artificial sweeteners, prescription medications, birth control pills, chemical household cleaners, chemical body care products.... all, and many more synthetics, can contribute to your body imbalance that triggers headaches.

Here's a peek inside my herbal healing cabinets:  the formulas I have used over the years (and trust) and the dried herbs I keep on hand to make my own healing blends.

The Healing Medicine cabinet in my downstairs bathroom.

Dried herbs and raw, local honey...ready to make tinctures and infusions (medicinal strength teas).

The upstairs bathroom healing cabinet.

Peeking down into my herbal first aid kit.

Teaching the art of using herbs, as part of a whole health lifestyle, is a passion for me!  

On Monday, June 30th I taught a fun class at my home:  Making Herbal Medicines 101.

Interested in learning, give me a yell!  This Fall will be a great time for another Herbal Medicine Class!

Blessings and HUGS, Paula

Building Muscle, Building Vitality

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMqSvoW_qhU

A still photo clip from the above YouTube video link:  I use this zip line far more than my kids (and their tire swing, as well). So glad I did not grow up in this era of video games being more important than outdoor play! Playing outside is the zest of life and builds muscles!  Use it or lose it!

Ok gang, the season is upon us (this was taken just before the snow was all melted, Spring 2014) to get outside and move our beautiful bodies, build muscle, increase lean body mass, and just plain feel better and stronger inside ourselves.

"Why?" you ask, "Why Paula would I want to do that?"

1.  Muscle tissue is healthier than fat tissue.  Muscle cells, each individual cell, is more active than fat cells.  This means each muscle cell has a higher metabolic activity level. That means your whole body, with more muscle, will have a higher metabolic rate.

2.  Muscle is active tissue.  Muscle tissue actively moves fluids around your body, massaging blood vessels and body tissues as you move your muscles, helping blood flow and other fluids to flow smoothly and easily.

3.  Conversely, fat tissue squeezes blood vessels, having more of a collapsing effect on blood vessels.  If the blood vessels running through your excess adipose tissue are being squeezed, this makes it more work for your heart to pump blood through these vessels.  Up goes the blood pressure...

4.  A moving body, with healthy amounts of muscle tissue, keeps your body young. And seriously, who does not want this?

Looking for more reasons why exercise is good for you?  See below for my "Benefits of Exercise" handout I use with clients.

Easy ways to build muscle: (with no equipment or minimal equipment required)

• walk
• push ups
• reverse push ups (back bend push ups, you bet I do them!)
• power push ups
• pull ups
• chin ups
• yoga squat poses
• yoga arm poses

How's that for some fun muscle building poses to try out.  One just needs their body and some comfortable clothes that will move with you! Have fun building muscle and zesty health!

Love, Paula

PS  The Benefits of Exercise:

23 Great Reasons to ExerciseBelieve me, I have more if you would like to chat!

Exercise, coupled with whole food eating & whole health lifestyles, may be the closest thing to the fountain of youth. Not only does regular activity strengthen your muscles and improve heart and lung function, but it can also reduce your risk of major diseases, stimulate the growth of new brain cells and even add years to your life. Studies show just 30 minutes of physical activity on most days is all that's required to reap big benefits.  A simple walk that we start and finish with a round or two of push-ups and we are on our way to creating healthy fitness.

The range of health bonuses now attributed to exercise has surprised even doctors.  I am completely amazed this is not common sense!  We need research to prove moving our body, the way nature intended, is good for us???  What has happened to human beings' collective common sense???

Ok.... let's look at the benefits of daily exercise:

Keeps you younger than your actual chronological age.  Exercise boosts the amount of oxygen you consume during and after exercising.  This benefit of increasing oxygen consumption is how we increase our aerobic capacity and live longer.  More oxygen to the cells means healthier cells and longer cell life spans.  The longer your cells live, the longer you could live!  Every minute of good exercise and it does not need to be hard, pounding exercise, adds two to three minutes to your life!  Can you get payoffs like that with any other investment?  Aerobic exercise has also been shown to perhaps stimulate the growth of new brain cells in older adults.  Makes sense to me that it stimulates the growth of new brain cells in anyone who exercises!

Healthier, glowing skin.  When we exercise we increase our oxygen intake capabilities (see above) and increase our circulatory function.  This means blood, lymph and intracellular fluids all move about your body more efficiently.  The micro capillary beds of your face (really, your whole body’s skin) work at top-notch keeping you young and vibrant looking.  More oxygen and food nutrients will arrive at your cells and cellular waste products will more efficiently removed from your cells.  This means better waste removal both through efficient respiratory expiration and your fluid circulation.  End result:  healthier cells, including skin cells.  Your skin and whole body will glow with health!

Fewer asthma problems.  Yoga breathing exercises have .long been used to increase respiratory capacity and ease the symptoms of asthma.  When people with mild asthma exercise regularly and increase their  aerobic capacity and their lung strength, they can reduce the need to use their inhalers.

Boost the immune system and reduces infections.  Your immune cells work faster and more efficiently when you are a regular exerciser.  Those white cells rev up their aggressiveness against antigens entering your body.  A better functioning immune system cuts down on the viral and bacterial ills we pick up; cold, flu, etc.

Better blood sugar control.  When you exercise (and eat a whole food diet) your body will shed the extra pounds.  This creates a stable blood sugar regulation mechanism; lower insulin levels, lower and stable levels of blood sugar.  What a great way to prevent diabetes.  If you are an adult onset diabetic, what a great way to heal your body from this lifestyle induced disease.

Lessen your risk for cancer.  Exercise prevents constipation.  A properly functioning colon is less likely to develop cancer.  People with balanced blood sugars, see above, have less chance of developing colon cancer.  When our bodies are functioning well from whole foods, exercise and lifestyle choices, our hormones balance out creating a lesser chance of developing hormone related cancers: breast and prostate.

Fewer heart attacks, prevention of heart attacks.  Exercise raises your HDL cholesterol.  This is the cholesterol that is considered “good,” the cholesterol reading we want to be high.  Exercise is great for reducing inflammation in the body; less inflammation, less heart attacks, strokes and the resultant vascular health problems.

Lowers stress levels. Regular exercise reduces stress levels in the body, mind and soul creating calmer and more centered human beings.  We were meant to move.  Moving helps to burn up those “fight or flight” hormones in a healthy manner.  Exercise is a great remedy for relieving mild anxiety, frustration and depression.  Think of it as movement meditation, movement “medication!”

Better sleep.  A body that moves daily will sleep better for all reasons: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.  Make it outdoor exercise and the fresh air and natural light exposure increases this benefit many times over!

Prevents and restores bone loss.  Moving your body keeps the bones healthy and young.  The bone cells lay down more new bone, preventing and reversing osteoporosis.

Stronger muscles, better flexibility and balance.  Exercise keeps your muscles strong. Moving through full range of motion everyday keeps your muscles, tendons, ligaments and joints flexible and strong.  Exercise creates balance in body, mind and spirit.  Yoga is one great way to increase your muscle strength while creating better flexibility and balance for ease of movement!

Better organ function and health.  Anything that makes your body stronger is going to make all organs, right down to your very cells, function better.  Better circulation means better oxygen and nutrition being transported to the cells and better waste removal from the cells.  This makes for healthier cells, organs and ultimately a healthier You!

Protect female and male health.  Full body exercise keeps your sex hormones balanced:  this means goodbye PMS and menopausal symptoms, hello healthy life!  Exercise to reduce and possibly remove the symptoms of: PMS and menopause.  Men benefit with lower incidence of erectile problems and increased overall “male” healthiness.   Pelvic exercises, called kegel exercises, help prevent reproductive and urinary organ prolapse, clitoral erectile dysfunction and urinary leaking in females; impotence/erectile dysfunction and possibly enlarged prostate which is a common cause of urinary symptoms in males. Women benefit as they have the same erectile tissues in their external genitalia.  Men, despite not having a monthly menstrual flow, do have a monthly hormonal cycle.  Regular exercise keeps this sex hormone cycle at top-notch function.  Because all body hormones and chemicals work in synergy, healthy sex hormones keep the rest of your body chemistry humming along in great health.  Got those walking shoes on your feet?  Heading out the door?

Weight loss and loss of belly fat.  We are back to the common sense thing again, moving your body, as opposed to sitting on the couch, will keep you naturally thinner.  The body was meant for movement, so it stands to reason it will be thinner with less belly fat than an inert body mass!  Forty-five minutes of moderate-to-vigorous exercise in the morning may actually reduce your food cravings so you eat less all day.  That is a healthy body bonus!

Reduces Inflammation.  Inflammation in the body is the precursor to chronic lifestyle diseases.  Reduce your bodily inflammation and you reduce disease.  See heart attack information above.

Regulates your appetite, reduces cravings, promote healthy digestion.  When you feel good from moving, you are more apt to want to accentuate these good feelings with good food, avoiding the junk. When you eat good food and feel great, you are more apt to feel like moving.  What a wonderful catch 22!

Lowers LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, raises HDL cholesterol.  Trust me, you want this to happen!  Again, see heart attack information above.

Improve mood, concentration, nervous system function and memory.  Healthier bodies with healthier circulation means healthier brains for both intellectual and mood functioning!  See section, above, on lowering stress levels.

1. Your body will express its positive, healthy genes (epigenetics) when you exercise and eat 100% whole foods.  Whole Health lifestyles turn off the negative genes that cause disease.  Start flicking those healthy genes switches on today;  Get Moving!

Attraction.  Exercising makes us more attractive to others in mind, body and soul.  We will attract to us people who have similar healthy lifestyles.

Prolong life.  I think we are back to number one:  exercise keeps you young! Studies lasting many years have consistently shown that being active cuts the risk of premature death by about 50 percent for men and women.  You have mitochondria in your body cells; these are the powerhouses of the cells. When you exercise, you produce more and healthier mitochondria.  This means your body functions better energetically, your metabolism is higher and you live longer because of your powerful powerhouses!

FUN!  Exercise increases the fun factor in your life.  Do things that make you happy.  If running is not your thing, do not do it just because it is supposedly “healthy.”  Do whatever makes your heart sing.  Find several options that make you happy to move and mix them up.  Every day do something that makes you feel good inside and out!  This is your dose of daily fun that keeps you happy all day and night.  Remember the sleep and lower stress benefits of exercise?

Exercise with a friend or a group of friends and create community.  Healthy friendships up the fun factor of exercise and give you a positive support group from which to draw strength.

(Can you see how all of these benefits interrelate with each other?  Every benefit of exercise is part of the “web” of creating better health of mind, body and soul.)

*Adapted, revised and added to from Consumer Reports, September, 2007  and Institute for Integrative Nutrition Top 10 Reasons to Exercise handout

Need I say more????  Are you convinced?  Please, keep in mind that over doing exercise, seriously pounding the body from high intensity training is not the same as regular daily exercise.  Intense training,  the type of training that serious athletes do to compete in marathons, triathlon, etc., may actually age the body faster.

Get outside and move.  You get the added benefit of fresh air and natural light.  Your body will thank you in ways you can only imagine so let your imagination run wild (or walk wild!)!

Just a word from Garfield…… “I think that tossing and turning all night should be counted as exercise!” 

Constipation 101

Constipation is an acute or chronic condition in which bowel movements occur less often than usual or consist of hard, dry stools that are painful or difficult to pass.

Generally speaking, humans should have at least one bowel movement daily, in the AM shortly after arising.  Some humans have bowel movements within a short time frame from each meal.

For others, things do not work so smoothly.  Having bowel movements every 2 to 3 days is not normal. What is happening is the solid waste material is compacting and backing up just above the level of the anus, in the rectal and descending colon.  See picture below.

Solid food waste moves from your small intestine, into the ascending colon where you see the appendix.  Solid waste then moves up the ascending, across the transverse (part of colon going straight across the lower abdomen), and down the descending colon.  When solid waste moves into the rectum, it stimulates nerves that tell us it is time to head to the bathroom. Solid waste then leaves the body through the anal opening.

When this does not work so smoothly, meaning things get backed up, constipation is the result.

Some Common Contributors to Constipation:  (there are plenty more)

• Stress: causes the body to tighten up, in the colon this makes it difficult for things to move smoothly,

• Refined foods: degenerate the body cells weakening every body cell and every organ system. A weak colon does not do it's job well. Refined foods lack fiber. Fiber helps keep things moving along the digestive tract. I can not stress enough...100% whole food diets heal the whole body.

• Water and hydration: lack of fluids in the body makes the stool hard and compact,

• Improper chewing of food from rushing to eat quickly and get to the next to do item (food that is not chewed well does not digest well, this causes constipation),

• Lack of movement / exercise: moving the body keeps the colon toned and working like it should,

• Lack of sleep: lack of sleep slows the body down, including the colon,

• Lack of fresh air and unfiltered sunshine: makes every body system function at optimal levels,

• Excess body weight: slows things down, puts compression / pressure on the digestive tract.

• Hormone shifts in the female's body. This is a normal result of the ups and downs of hormones during the course of a normal, healthy menstrual cycle and changes with the waxing and waning of the cycle. This is normal and will correct itself as hormones shift. As hormone levels change with our growth into our wise woman years, our body may also shift in regards to colon function. A hormone related issue to consider is estrogen dominance over progesterone.

• Position of the female uterus. When the fundus, top of the uterus, tips back in the pelvic cavity, it can rest on the colon. This position can interfere with the colon's function. Women who have a forward tipping uterine fundus can experience bladder symptoms (esp. late in the cycle, just before bleed time). Pregnant women know this bladder symptom feeling.

• Prescription and over the counter medications can cause constipation as a side effect.

• Disrupted gut microbiome.

• Position during the pooping action. Sitting is not a healthy poop position. See below suggestion.

• Pooping hygiene: making time daily to have a bowel movement in a time frame that works for your body. Are you a power pooper or a sitter?

• Holding your bowel movments in because you do not want to use public bath rooms. This dulls the nerve endings in the rectal area. Your body does not pick up on messages well because you ignore and suppress them.

• Magnesium deficiency

Action to take:

• Eat whole foods every day, every meal,

• Include bitters in your diet, think arugula and other bitter greens,

• Chew, Chew, Chew your food VERY well, even soft and liquid like foods,

• Move your body,every day,outside in the fresh air and natural light, (May I suggest Yoga?),

• Drink water and herb teas,

• Sleep and sleep well (If sleeping well is an issue, address the causes),

• Choose wellness to get your body weight within a normal healthy range,

• Move stress out of your life or change the way you perceive "stressful" situations... breathe, let it all go! Yoga, meditation, mindfulness activities are a key to good health and happy pooping action.

• Pay attention to your menstrual cycle. If you are at the point in your beloved cycle, when constipation bothers you, take extra measure to assist your colon in its function. Your colon and you will be grateful!

• Herbal medicinal infusions: these are longer steeped, medicinal strength herb teas. #1 choice is Nettles (surprise, surprise!), red raspberry leaf, alfalfa, oat straw, and red clover blossoms are all good herbs to make into an herbal infusion to add nourishment to body cells and keep the colon humming along. See information below on making herbal infusions.

• Drink lemon water daily. I know, I know, lemons do not grow locally in our Northern NY state BUT they help alkalize the body, stimulate the liver, and cleanse the colon. If you are constipated, a little lemon love is a blessing.

• Keep chlorine & fluoride out of your drinking, eating, cooking, bathing water. They disrupt your gut's microflora and your whole body's health.

• Take some high quality magnesium citrate. Pure Encapsulations brand. Take 300-450 mg at bedtime. See how it affects you over a week’s time. If you need to add in more, take another capsule in the AM. You could divide doses equally at this point: 300 in Am & 300 in PM. Do not waste money on cheap supplements, invest well in your body. It does matter.

• Grind organic golden flax seed or chia seed and take a heaping tsp. to tbsp. daily.

• Use a stool for better pooping position. Putting your feet up on a stool, or any stable object that raises the knees higher than the hips (think squatting in the woods to poop) helps to straighten out the rectum for straight shooting poop right out of the anus. Yes, you want this! The link back there has a fun video explaining this squat vs. sit pooping as an advertisement for a Squatty Potty stool. I just use the wooden stool my kids had to reach the sink when they were toddlers. Works just fine, repurposes something I already had, and saves on plastic purchases.

• Take a green food supplement. As you know, I am not big on "products" and truly prefer to nudge you in the direction of whole foods and whole health lifestyle choices. However, this green food supplement is 100% whole; simply dried and ground herbs and nourishing foods. Nothing added, nothing taken away. I recommend the SuperFood Plus in powder or tablet form.

More Natural Constipation Support

Yoga for constipation:

Daily yoga is a blessing for any health symptoms.  You will sleep better, feel better, and naturally want to eat and take better care of yourself. Have I convinced you to sign up for a local yoga class?  Get a book and start learning yoga at home?  I cannot recommend this healing tool enough.

Great video on yoga and relieving constipation!  And only 4 minutes and 42 seconds of your time invested!

http://www.melissawest.com/constipation-relief/

Acupuncture:    Try Acupuncture for constipation relief.  I can not recommend this enough.  Shelby's needles get things moving fast and help re-balance the health of your body to prevent constipation.  Fits right in with whole food eating and healing!

Whole Foods from the kitchen:  For those occasions when a 'lil extra help is needed, try this poop promotingprune - flax seed pudding:

• Soak 3-4 organic, dried prunes in 1/2 cup water for 1-2 hours.

• Grind 2 Tbsp. organic, golden flax seeds in your blender.

• Pour prunes into blender and grind, blend in with the ground flax seeds.

• Pour into a bowl and eat or let set for a bit and it will jell up.

• Optional: add in 1 tbsp. dark, organic molasses. Add in ground chia and/or hemp seeds.

• Caution: If you are diabetic, pre-diabetic, or have any metabolic disorder involving blood sugar control, do not use this poop pudding. Dried fruit and molasses are very high in sugar. Healing diabetes and blood sugar related diseases requires abstinence from sugar and blood sugar spiking foods.

Herbs:  Need a little more help on occasion, perhaps for travel induced constipation?  Try this Nature's Secret product but do not rely on it daily as a forever tool. Medicine, whether prescription or natural, should be a tool not a crutch. Use them as an aid until you have corrected the lifestyle habits that are creating the problem.

Breathe: Practice deep breathing from the belly to relieve stress in the whole body.  This will help release the strangle hold on your colon muscle so wastes can flow more freely.  See information below on breathing for health. Breath work is the core of Yoga.

Liver nourish and cleanse:  The specific actions to nourish the liver have profound impacts on colon health and regularity.

Massage your colon: Colon Massage

Sending Healing Love, Paula

PS:  I am going to start adding additional information at the bottom of my posts. This is in lieu of having you email me for further information.  Hope this makes the process of getting healthy easier for all!

Where I put these high lighted links in articles, click the link to go to other posts on my blog that help to reinforce the information here in this article.

Prune flaxseed pudding:

I used to soak 4 prunes overnight in 3/4 cup water.

Grind golden flax seeds, say 1 tbsp.

Toss prunes and water, flax seeds ground to powder, and 2 tbsp black strap molasses into blender. Dash of vanilla & cinnamon for fun.

Blend into slurry. Pour into dish and let set. Its jells up into a “pudding”

Eat some morning & night.
I made this as a natural method to maintain colon function during pregnancy and the rare occasion my kids struggled.

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Breathing for Health

Simple calming breath:  Consciously make your breath deeper, slower, quieter and more regular.  If you notice, when you are angry or stressed, your breathing is rapid, shallow, noisy and irregular.  Slow down and calm your breath.  You will calm you body, mind & spirit.

Just consciously making your exhalation deeper will make involuntary inhalations deeper.  This automatically calms the body.

Use this technique:  to take a break at your desk, sitting in traffic, before reacting to a negative or stressful situation, when having a craving for something that is not whole food, to relax to go to sleep

Healing Breath technique: To start, exhale very deeply.

1. inhale slowly & quietly, through the nose, to the count of 4

2. hold breath to a slow count of 7

3. exhale slowly and somewhat noisily through the mouth, counting to 8 as you exhale.

4. when exhaling, purse lips and press your tongue to the roof of your mouth, just behind the front teeth.

Repeat this for 4 inhale-exhale cycles 2 times a day. After a month increase to 6-8 inhale-exhale cycles 2 times a day.  Never more than 8 cycles, 2 times a day.

Remember:  Whole foods help your cells regenerate as healthy cells, not degenerate.  Better breathing brings more oxygen to every cell, again helping to regenerate healthier cells.  Breath deeply today to gain better cellular health for life!

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Herbal Infusions

I recommend making infusions, not herbal teas. Herbal teas are when you steep the herbs for 3-5 minutes to enjoy the flavors of wonderful herbal plants.  Infusions are when you steep the herbs for at least 3-4 hours, covered in a quart canning jar.  I recommend steeping them overnight in the canning jar or the pot you boiled the water in, covered.  You can strain the herbs in the AM and reheat the infusion, oh so very gently to preserve the nutrients, or enjoy at room temperature.

Making Infusions:  Boil water.  Measure leaf and flower herbs while water is heating.  Use approximately 2 tsp. of dried herbs per cup of water.  To make a stronger medicinal infusion, use more herbs.  When water is boiling shut off and add dried herbs.  Cover and let steep for at least 15 minutes.  I make medicinal infusions at night, let steep – covered – overnight, and stain to use in AM.

If making infusions with seeds, roots or barks:  chop pieces as small as you can (roots & bark, seeds stay whole or you can gently crush).  When water is boiling, reduce heat to very gentle simmer.  Add herb pieces, cover, and simmer very gently for 15-20 minutes.  Again, I let them sit, covered, overnight and strain in the AM. Do not let this boil as it ruins the medicinal properties and nutrients in the herbal infusions medicine.

If making mixed infusions with parts that need to simmer and the leaves & flowers that do not, simmer parts first then turn off heat and add leaves / flowers and let steep, covered, overnight.

I recommend making a quart each night and sipping 1 cup, 4 times throughout the day, each day.  I usually make ½ gallon to 1 gallon at a time so I do not have to make medicinal infusions every night.  You can drink it cold (keep in the refrigerator) or you can gently warm.  Do not over heat tea , do not boil tea, do not every make tea or re-heat tea in a microwave.  Microwaves are toxic.

High Mineral tea: restores minerals to the body cells that have been depleted from refined foods, toxins, stress, and life as we know it!   Stinging nettles, oat straw, alfalfa leaf, red raspberry leaf are all good for helping with constipation (extra fluid from drinking the infusion is dandy as well!)

If tea bags are glued shut, do not use them in bag form.  To avoid steeping the glue into your tea, I suggest you open the tea bags and steep the lose herbs in a jar for 3-4 hours or overnight.  Follow the infusion instructions above.