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
- Wash off the lime and quarter it, put in blender (yes, skins & all as the skin contains amazing anti-oxidants... anti-cancer properties!)
- add water & ice cubes
- blend into a frenzy
- pour into tall sipping glasses, add herbs, and enjoy (wide mouth pint canning jars work well)
- 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.
RACK-ing Up Great Health!
I recently created the above image and idea I am calling R-A-C-K-ing up Health to remind people how easy the return to vibrant health is. When we follow life's plan, the natural laws of the earth and universe, our health flows freely.
I was thinking about this very concept as I was picking black raspberries at my Mom & Dad's home on Saturday morning. I began picking them planning to take them to my home and share the bounty. My kids were gone for the weekend so instead the hand to mouth experience began.
By the time I left my parent's home I bet I had picked and eaten, sharing with my good buddy Basil of course, a quart of these juicy delicacies. That is some powerful and colorful nutrition based upon the stains on my hands, face, tongue, lips, and teeth! (The picture below is Basil and I on a little north country Hornbeck canoeing excursion.)
The thoughts of vibrant, live food kept passing through my mind and how much nutrition and life force energy our bodies receive when we pick and eat food immediately. Ah yes, the grace of local food, raised by ourselves or a conscious thinking farmer, brought to our tables within a short time frame to fill our body cells with nutrition and our entire being with chi energy.
When we pick plant based food from its life source, its source of life force energy, that plant based food begins to die. The longer the time span between plucking or pulling the food from its source, the less nutrition and life force energy remain available to nourish your body. Grow, pick, and buy local for the most cell enhancing nutrition and life force energy infusion you can gift your body with.
To find local farmers here in Northern NY State: www.gardenshare.org
To find local farmers wherever you are: www.localharvest.org
Jump down below those gorgeous berries for a bit more life enhancing advice and a yummy, iced coffee recipe.
Eating fresh food is but one way we can enhance our life force energy and cellular health. Try these natural habits for increasing your vibrancy:
- deep breathing in a relaxed and peaceful way
- yoga
- meditation
- walks in the woods and time spent in nature (remember, you are nature)
- laugh
- acupuncture and energy healing methods
- take a swim in an Adirondack lake
- love with your whole heart
Added July 16th...
- Fun Loving Spontaneity increases Life Force Energy. See the words of wisdom, below, from Shelby Connelly, Five Elements Living, Colton, NY
Ingredients for spontaneity:
- The ability to let go: Take a deep breath and jump. The chores and routine will await your return.
- Knowing life is short: No one ever lays on their death bed wishing they had worked more.
- A friend to push you off the edge: Every women needs a "Thelma" to her "Louise". Oh girls just wanna have fuu-un! (Cindy Lauper is my hero.)
Namaste'
Coming Back to YOU!
BONUS DAY!
This is a paragraph excerpted from the current book I am reading that I found to profound:
"When we walk the labyrinth of our soul out from the center and back into the world, the key is to slow down and observe our minds, observe every single one of our decisions, observe what we say yes to and what we say no to, observe what we give our energy to. It is by slowing down that we become aware of how deep certain patterns have run and are able to steer our course in accordance with our newly established beliefs, with what we have come to know about ourselves. By slowing down we can build our inner clarity and strength to find our way out, leaving the shattered remains of our discarded path behind us." From Heart of the Labyrinth by Nicole Schwab, WomanCraft Publishing.
I share this here as we move into the holiday season. Why you ask? Because so many of us give in to the indulgences of the holidays, the constant buffets of not so healthy foods, excess sweet treats, and alcohol flowing freely. We set out with good intentions; plans to feed our body cells for health and healing, but something seems to get in the way.
When we open to soul, our inner light, grabbing at every treat offered no longer pulls at our reserves. When we align with spirit, our spirit, making choices based upon our wellness needs becomes second nature. No guilt, no feelings of deprivation, just blissful peace.
Question to ask yourself to bring peace when making holiday food & drink choices:
"Is this best for my wellness, will this best feed my body cells for health and healing?"
I wish you peace on your journey.
PS Don't forget about the FREE Holiday, Pamper Yourself Gifts!
This year I'm delighted to extend a personal invitation to you to join me and several healer women colleagues from around the globe, offering our most special and treasured tools, programs, and supports to help you stay feeling nourished, grounded, and energized throughout the holiday season.
The Happy Healthy Holiday Hamper is your very own store for everything you could possibly desire to support you this December. And the best part is, all of the programs, recordings, e-books, and workbooks we've collected are yours for free.
Receive all of your free holiday hamper gifts here: www.tinyurl.com/holidayhamper
Healing the Collective Mind, Body, & Soul!
Human… Heal thyself!
Healing literally means to make, return yourself, to whole–whole in mind, body, and spirit.
Healing is natural
I write this to remind everyone of their own innate ability to heal. Healing is the norm. If you cut your finger, it heals without intervention. Every part of your body is capable of healing if it is given what it needs to heal and thrive. This is a Vitalist philosophy of healing: healing comes through nature. You are nature; therefore, healing comes from within you and through you.
The responsibility to care for our bodies, to ensure lifelong health, prevent disease, and heal is ours. Healing is not about what you are giving up; it is not about deprivation. It IS about what you are inviting into your life: the choices, changes, and additions that will open doors to healing, health, and happiness in ways you may never have imagined or experienced.
Healing your own body is a supreme act of self-responsibility. It means taking control of aspects of your life that have often been left in the hands of the modern medical professional. “You are in the driver seat, Doc. I will do whatever you say.”
Self-responsibility would change the above statement to, “Thanks for being here to support me, Doc. This is how I plan to handle this health crisis.”
“If you don’t take care of your body, where are you going to live?” Unknown
Healing is a simple equation:
Remove the cause(s) of your health issue + add in healing choices = healing, returning to whole!
10 steps to start on your self-healing path:
- Remove the causes of your disease. If you are diabetic, this means removing sugar, in all its forms, from your diet. Lung disease? Stop smoking or exposing your body to the toxins creating the lung challenges. Find a healer who can help you with the task of discovering the causes of your health challenges.
- Add in whole foods. Whole foods heal the body by feeding your body cells with nutrients. Refined, factory made foods deplete the body of nutrients. You want to nourish the body, not deplete it.
- Add in herbs that heal the health challenges you are facing. Every organ system has herbs specific for healing that system. Herbs are whole foods. Herbs feed your body cells.
- Movement. Movement, daily exercise, increases circulation to every body cell. This brings more oxygen and more nutrients to each and every body cell. This IS healing! I call this Movement Magic! Increased circulation also removes the waste products, toxins, from each and every body cell. Again, this is healing!
- Movement Outside! Engaging in your daily movement outside has the added benefit of fresh air and natural light. Fresh air and natural light are amazing healing tools for every body cell. Both help your body to produce the hormones that balance the nervous system and create happy, feel good emotions. Feeling happy and emotionally balanced sends ripple effects of healing throughout your body to every cell.
“Just lift the corner of the clouds and the sun is always shining.” Eli Schechter
- Sleep. When we get to bed, to sleep, before 10 p.m. each night, our bodies work in rhythm with the earth’s circadian rhythm. This is poetry in motion; magic healing energy to your every body cell.
- Get plenty of juiciness in your life! Hydration is a must for keeping body cells working at their optimum levels. The internal structures, organelles, of each and every body cell need proper hydration to do their jobs. If your cellular structures are doing their jobs, your whole body is functioning at optimum performance. Your cells are your building blocks! Get your juiciness from pure water, herbal teas, and fresh produce every day.
- Juiciness in your emotional and spiritual life is also essential for health and healing. When we connect with people we love, who love us, when we have support in our lives, have people to tell “our stories” to, and have people we listen to as they tell their stories, we produce oxytocin. This is the feel good hormone, the hormone of love. Oxytocin is also the antagonist of adrenaline, the stress hormone. Oxytocin helps us to relax, release stress, feel love, and heal mind, body, and soul. Find some juicy friends in your life.
- Kindness. Create and live from a space of a healthy attitude toward yourself, all others on this planet, and life in general. Practice a kind 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.
- Energy Healing. Energy healing helps us to release blockages in our body’s internal energy system, the chakras and meridians. When life force energy flows freely to every body cell, this is healing energy. Find a form of energy healing that works for you and use it regularly to shift the healing, life force energy in your body. Energy healing to try includes acupuncture, acupressure, reiki, yoga, Tai chi, Qi gong, Tae kwon do, prayer, meditation, massage… to name but a few.
Taking one step at a time can create huge changes in your health, happiness, and vibrant longevity. Step up to your plate of health and healing today. Ask a holistic health coach for support on your healing path. This one action could bring some juiciness, oxytocin, into your self-healing equation.
See my bonus pages for more tips on incorporating healing changes into your juicy life!
Every person who self-heals adds one more healed being to the collective mind, body, and soul. These actions, in your personal life, make the world a better place for every living being.
Get healing and, please, tell me your story!
My Happy, Juicy, Life Announcement:
My next book... Early Morning Coffee & Donuts will be out before the end of this year, 2014. OK, so my fingers are crossed that all goes as planned with the publisher!
Are you chuckling yet? A book about coffee and donuts from Paula, seriously? Maybe, just maybe, it is more than you think it is.... read what it IS about here: http://www.paulayoumellrn.com/book-2/
Cheers of good health to you in mind, body, and soul!
Life Force Energy, Healing The Collective Soul
Photo and inspiring words compliments of Ali Hotmer of www.Twin Tree Healing.com, West Chester, PA
Life force energy flows through us. Life force energy flows through all living things.
When we expose our self to life force energy (it is all around us, we breathe in life force energy) our mind, body, and spirit (spirit is life force energy) become more vibrant.
As I was walking through my wood I had thoughts; thoughts I felt compelled to write about and share. A few weeks ago I wrote about the healing powers of the great white pine. This healing power of being in the woods, surrounded by trees and plants, I will expand upon.
I really do hug trees!
The woods are alive and vibrant with life force energy. This energy radiates from every living thing. When we walk in a forest, the emanating energy of one plant or tree overlaps the emanating energy of all the other plants and trees around it.
When you walk in the woods, you are literally bathing your mind, body, and spirit in the life force energy of the woodland plants and trees. This is powerful medicine, powerful healing energy.
This healing energy has the strength to bring peace and serenity to you, the strength to heal from deep inside your being.
To your natural, healing medicine bag I recommend you add a daily walk in the woods (even 5 minutes) and bathe yourself in the life force energy, the collective soul of the world.
Poster available through United Plant Savers
Suggestions to enhance the flow of your life force energy:
- walk in the woods,
- just get outside and walk,
- acupuncture,
- reiki,
- massage, (a new massage therapist in town, Adrea Elizabeth, is looking to grow her clientele)
- yoga, (more yoga in the Canton - Potsdam, NY area),
- any energy healing!
- AND, how about trying this: (You will be glad you did!).
Naturally Simple Ways to Weigh LESS...
Naturally Simple Ways to Weigh Less
and Live More Every Day of your life!
This is all about re-balancing your body, mind, and spirit to create a vibrantly healthy you... inside and out. So much more than the number on the "scales!"
- Feed your soul with primary food. Friends and family, physical activity, spirituality and a satisfying career feed us. Lack of primary food creates over-reliance on secondary, edible food.
- Drink water. Most people are chronically dehydrated. We often mistake thirst for hunger. If you feel hungry between meals, drink a glass of water before giving into cravings. Limit liquid calories from soda, juice, sports drinks and “enhanced” waters. Stick with nature made!
- Eat a plant-rich diet. Plant foods are typically lower in calories and higher in fiber than meat, dairy and processed foods, while providing loads of essential nutrients. Purchase your animal products from farmers who raise the food in a natural manner; healthy and naturally balanced foods make for a healthy, naturally balanced human. Make certain you do get enough fat and protein in your daily diet to satisfy hunger, appetite, and nutritional needs for YOU. Each of our needs is different!
- Chew your food well. Digestion begins in the mouth. By thoroughly chewing your food, your body will better assimilate nutrients; you will also slow down your eating. It takes about 20 minutes for your brain to register that it is full. By slowing your eating, you’ll feel full, satisfied, and better nourished on less food. More nutrients in each cell mean a healthier body!
- Eat real food; avoid processed, packaged foods. Avoid products with high-fructose corn syrup or a long list of unpronounceable ingredients. (Reduce or eliminate refined sugars from your diet; glucose, fructose, any “oses”.) Packaged and convenience foods tend to be highly processed, lacking the nutrients your body needs, and are often loaded with empty calories. Avoid artificial sweeteners. Avoid refined sweeteners, even stevia products.
If you have attended my workshops or been supported by me as a client: Remember the cellular health information from the Whole Food slide show? Feed your cells well! Need to experience this workshop? Join me and the Local Living Venture on Thursday, September 25th for the start of the Whole Health and Healing Academy!
A few more tips for balancing mind, body, and soul weight.
- Eat raw foods: raw fruits & veggies, raw nuts and seeds, raw nut & seed butters. Raw foods are rich in nutrients that are not altered by the heat of cooking and provide natural enzymes needed in the body for many processes including digestion.
- Eating enough healthy fats and protein to satisfy your appetite and your body’s nutritional needs: choose naturally raised animal products for protein and fat and the omega 3's found in naturally raised meat, eggs and dairy products, wild salmon, avocados, walnuts, raw nuts and seeds.
- Eat breakfast. Skipping meals causes your blood sugar levels to peak and dip, affecting your energy and moods. It can also cause overeating later on because you’re so hungry. With this said, listen to your own body and what you know works for you. Some people do much better without breakfast and have no problems with the rebound overeating later in the day. Be conscious of you and your needs. I can personally admit I am not a breakfast eater. I get hungry by 11 AM or so. I listen and follow my body's requests for food.
- Eat mindfully. Turn off the TV. Get away from the computer. Sit down and savor the food you are eating with no distractions. Eat from a space of unconditional self-love!
- Get moving. Do any type of physical activity every day. Find movement or exercise you enjoy.
- Get outside. Your body needs fresh air and natural light. You will create life long health benefits!
- Sleep, rest and relax. Breath work creates relaxation, slow down & breathe deeply. Ask me for my educational handout on breath work. When you are sleep-deprived or stressed, your body will crave energy, causing cravings for sugary snacks and caffeine as an energy boost.
- Schedule fun time. Boredom and stress can lead to overeating. Make sure to take time to laugh, play and participate in activities that bring you joy.
- Find a mindfulness practice and use it every day. (Yoga, Tai Chi, Tae Kwon Do, Meditation, Prayer...)
PS Just a reminder about the Whole Health & Healing Academy that starts Thursday, September 25th. Join us to create vibrant health in your life!