Feelin' Stronger Everyday
I love these words as they state such a humble truth. Our physical body is always moving towards health and healing despite the unhealthy and unkind things we do to it. Then one day...
It (meaning health) just all seems to fall apart, crumble at your feet, come cascading down from one ill symptom to the next. Does this sound familiar?
I hear these words often: "When I was 20 I ate whatever I wanted and nothing bothered my stomach or digestive tract. I drank like crazy, did drugs, ate junk food, and was still healthy as a horse." (I am not exactly certain how the horse got involved here!) I take such good care of me now... Why is this happening to me?
My reply always resembles something like this: When you are young your body cells are in tip top shape. Our habits, good and bad, either build our body cells for better health or wear them down into degenerative cells. This is a slow and insidious process which is exactly why we do not consciously connect it to the "stuff" we did to ourselves in our younger years.
I wrote about this in:
- Garbage Disposal Syndrome
- Healing Begins At Home
- and so many other blog posts. I hope I am encouraging you and not sounding like a broken record! : )
Back to the body knows what to do and the mind getting in the way thing. This is just one issue in the struggle to maintain healthy habits. Our body knows how to heal, knows how to ask for what it needs (fresh, real food), and functions at optimal levels when we care for it. The struggle comes with the mind:
- wanting what we see advertised by food manufacturers because it is so enticing and the ads mesmerize us;
- not wanting to work hard to avoid that which we know is not cell enhancing food or lifestyle habits;
- having addictions to refined sugar, refined sodium, and flavor enhancing chemicals that tantalize our taste buds, release endorphins, and various other interruptions in normal physiological processes; and
- being disconnected from our mind and spirit. This here my friends is a great space to start working on to get passed the 3 issues above.
I am inviting you to incorporate some mind-body-spirit activities into your life. This will help you bridge the disconnect we have as a culture and bring harmony back to mind, body, and spirit. You will function as a peaceful, whole human being that no longer struggles to avoid the things that you know are not best for your whole body health. Instead, you will feel at ease, comfy, in your own skin making the choices that create vibrant health. All without feeling deprived. (I promise!)
- Deep breathe (deep belly breathe not that shallow chest stuff most people do),
- Yoga,
- Tae Kwon Do,
- Tai Chi,
- Qigong,
- Meditate,
- Pray,
- Walk in the woods,
- Laugh,
- Have great sex,
- Nurture your ties with beloved family & friends,
- Ground yourself everyday, (grounding exercise at the link back there),
- AND then you will be....www.Feelin' Stronger Everyday.com, Chicago!
Whole Body Health BEGINS In Your Gut (your digestive tract, gastro-intestinaI Tract)
Discover how to heal your gut health and restore vibrant vitality to your whole being...
How you ask?
By delving into digestive tract health: Healing Your Gut For Lifetime Vitality online eCourse.
- Click the link: http://www.paulayoumellrn.com/healyourgutecourse/,
- Check out how this course will help you create vibrant health & vitality,
- Invest in healing your gut health (your whole body health),
- Watch the videos, read the PDF, do the gut healing work that I will lay out for you in simple terms and steps, and feel better than you have in years!
AND, you have lifetime access to this information!
Coffee and My Calamitous Affair, Revisited
Dandelion Coffee jar on my front porch in Northern NY, USA
In August of 2014 I wrote a post on Coffee and my calamitous affair with it. Refresh your memory here: http://www.paulayoumellrn.com/blog/2014/7/19/my-calamitous-love-affair-with-coffee
Moving forward a few months and seasons:
April 19th, 2015: My calamitous affair with coffee has continued, on & off. Who can resist the smell, the taste, the sensation in the mouth, throat, and belly? Ah, so tasty, warm, and soothing (well, soothing until the caffeine hits my system exactly 15.2 seconds after the first sip!).
I have tried many, many coffee substitutes and I have to say all may have been tasty in one aspect or another but all have never, ever, replicated the coffee experience (caffeine jitters aside, of course!). One has to enjoy them on a different level and not be thinking of them as coffee or you will be utterly disappointed.
On our family trip to Jamaica, April 2015, I find the most amazing, tasty, and coffee like drink ever: Sunburst's Products Dandelion Coffee. I picked up a jar at the Kingston Airport as we were preparing to depart Jamaica. I had no idea what I was buying as I obviously had not tried it. My thought was this: "If this stuff is even remotely tasty, it will help with my detox off the Blue Mountain coffee that I drank every morning at 6 AM. Seriously, despite my calamitous relationship with coffee - caffeine, what person in their right mind is going to say no to Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee? When in Jamaica, do as the Jamaicans do! (Thank You Mr. White at Great Huts Ecological Resort in Boston Bay, Jamaica. What a great man he is, greeting me every 6 AM with a "Good Morning Miss Paula, the coffee is ready. Where is Eli? I bet Jake is still sleeping!" All words said with the kindest twinkle in his eye. Mr. White was the person, while off work duty, he jumped to fix me up with a local remedy poultice to soothe my bee stung foot. Hugs to Mr. White for making awesome Blue Mountain coffee every AM and your sincere Jamaican kindness!)
So now I am home and must detox from coffee OR:
- put up with caffeine side effects every day
- suffer the caffeine withdrawal headache for a day or two
I opt for the wean down off coffee detox plan:
- 1st morning: 3/4 coffee, 1/4 dandelion coffee
- 2nd morning: a 1/2 & 1/2 blend
- 3rd morning: 3/4 dandelion and 1/4 coffee
- 4th morning: 100% dandelion coffee in my cup
Here is what I found upon brewing the dandelion coffee:
- smelled awesome, very coffee like
- looks dark and rich, how I prefer my coffee
- let's taste the stuff! I was not disappointed but pleasantly surprised! Dandelion Coffee is by far the best "substitute" I have ever tasted. I think, if I was given a cup and not told that it was not real coffee, I would not know and believe I was drinking coffee! I would soon be curious as to why the caffeine effects were not quickly kicking in.
When my current jar gets low, I will be ordering more and hoping the product becomes easy to find here in the USA. http://www.sunburstproducts.com/our-products/
Got Seasonal Allergies Healing Hint:
If seasonal plant and pollen allergies tend to drag you down, try this:
- 1/4 tsp. of raw, local honey every AM & PM. The honey must be cold extracted from the comb to preserve the properties that will ease your allergy symptoms. If the comb was heated up, as this makes it so much easier to extract the sticky honey, the heat cooks the enzymes, nutrients, and immune healing factors that help to ease seasonal allergies. Sometimes the challenge with this is stopping at 1/4 tsp. Think of it as mind-body-soul healing medicine where truly more is not always better!
- Stinging nettles. Most healers recommend freeze dried nettles in capsule form (You can find Ecclectic Institute's freeze dried nettles at Nature's Storehouse, Canton, NY). If you have stinging nettles around you, consider yourself fortunate, and indulge in your healing wild garden's bounty. Please be considerate of the plant and leave plenty for re-growth and to prevent soil depletion. With your nettles: make tea, make pesto, gently stir fry or steam.
My quart size bottle of medicine! This jar lasts a very long time. Local, raw honey is widely available in Northern, NY. Check farm stands, the Potsdam Food Coop, Nature's Storehouse in Canton, Martin's Farm Stand, and Garden Share's Local Food Guide for more local sources.
Are You an Upper or a Downer?
The infectious smile of happy kids, definitely an upper!
On your walk through this world, do you lift people up or drag them down?
The way you carry and express your life force energy can be a healing tonic to yourself or a noose about everyone's neck.
Stop yourself in the moments of your day and quickly assess your:
- body posture
- facial expression
- tone of voice
- words and thoughts
Are you inviting yourself and others to relax, smile, and love life?
This is your daily "Yoga" call to action. When we lift each other up the whole world vibrates at a higher level of energy and color. Smile and make a rainbow today!
My lift up for the next four days:
I have been asked questions about "scholarships" to take the ♀ Moon Cycle Wisdom course; young woman showing interest but wanted an affordable option for their younger year's income. As an uplift to the world I am offering scholarships, because you see these are my thoughts... the more females who engage with their own female energy around their menstrual cycles and life on this planet, the more:
- positive energy for all. Life and energy IS a balance and when we are in the flow of balanced female-male energy peacefulness will be a side effect. (all energy balances out: hot-cold, light-dark, birth-death, etc.)
- more happy females taking this course will in turn encourage other females to take this course and the results will be: see #1 above, and
- It all becomes a vibrant cycle (no vicious cycles here!) of paying forward female healing energy.
here are My "Be An Upper" Scholarship Plans:
4 Hours for 4 Days Scholarships to the ♀ Moon Cycle Wisdom Course
- April 12th, noon to 4 PM $85
- April 13th, Noon to 4 PM $100
- April 14th, noon to 4 PM $115
- April 15th, Noon to 4 PM $130
(All dates linked directly to the "scholarship of the Day" Order Page, click and join the Female Fun!)
The sooner you enroll to heal your energy around your female moon cycle, the bigger your scholarship and savings!
Check Back on April 16th. It is a special day!
My End Note:
Be an Upper!
De-Mystifying Detox Diets
Information on detox diets, detoxing the body, and all the lingo and hoop-la around this issue tends to be confusing as well as misconstrued; depending on who is sharing the information. But seriously, is that not the case with anything? Everything?
The biggest confusion, in my eyes, lies in the modern medicine vs. traditional - holistic healing's views around detoxing.
Teaching people the power of supporting their body's detox process is teaching them to take their healing into their own hands; creating an independence from the health care industry. Which please, do not be misled. Our country predominantly has a disease care system. It is a system that flourishes if your disease symptoms are only suppressed not healed. This means you are a patient, a customer, in this system for life; dependent on the health care professionals and their prescription drugs.
Understanding detox efforts in healing requires a quick look at human biology. Our bodies are built for detoxing. We are detoxing every minute of every day. Your liver is the main organ of detox; constantly filtering your blood and eliminating the "toxins" via the colon. Your colon, obviously, is an organ of detox as it eliminates solid wastes and the products of metabolic breakdown (liver) from the body. Your kidneys keep themselves busy filtering the blood and eliminating waste products down through the ureters, into your bladder, and out through the urethra.
Your lungs eliminate waste, toxins, through your breath. Your skin eliminates waste through the process of sweating. Your lymphatic system moves fluids around your body and helps to eliminate waste, toxins, as well.
Gratefully borrowed from: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/273241902367567074/
So what does "detox dieting" do for all these bodily processes?
The medical profession, our health care system, debunks detox diets from many angles and for many reasons. For example: Detox is a term used by medical personnel to label the process of cleansing drugs or alcohol from a person's system that has been imbibing in excess and/or for long periods of time. For western medicine trained professional to think about detox in different terms means stepping into a realm they were not trained in, natural healing, and thinking from a space that most western medical training scoffs at and actually teaches practitioners is quackery. This is not the important thing here; so let us not focus on it any longer. (For a little history lesson, scroll down to "suppression and decline:" http://www.mygenerationsclinic.com/about-naturopathic-medicine.htm. Another history lesson: http://www.healingmountainpublishing.com/articles/NPmedicine.html )
Instead, lets us focus on what natural, holistic detox is! It is simply assisting and supporting your body in what it does every minute of everyday: detoxes itself and heals itself. When a natural healer (Naturopathic Physician, Herbalist, Holistic Nutrition Professional, etc.) prescribes a detox plan, the detox foods and herbs are simply to nourish and support the organs that do the detox work in the body.
The misconception lies in that people think these herbs and foods are doing something detox special... like scrubbing dirt from the body. These foods and herbs are not a dust buster, vacuum cleaner, or scrubbing bubbles of any type. They are simply foods (herbs are whole foods too!) that are high in nutrients that build cellular health and support healthy body organs. If your body organs are well nourished from whole food eating; they do their jobs better. This is truly simple nutritional physiology. The body is beautiful; poetry in motion in every way.
Now, I will admit, any opportunity some people and corporations have to market and profit from an idea, they will. If there are profits to be made, someone(s) will create scams to go along with it. This happens with everything around health. Let me give you several examples of the recent over marketing of reasonably healthy concepts but the concepts get taken to an extreme or used out of context for someone's profit:
- kale being made into every marketable food possible. I am not against kale chips but seriously... they are now the national health food?
- coconut in everything... we need to eat it, drink it in milk and water form, slather it on our bodies, etc.
- blueberries as the amazing superfood... do NOT go a day without eating them or your health will be in jeopardy.
- quinoa... we just cannot survive, nutritionally speaking without it. What did we do for 100s of years without this powerhouse of food from the Andes Mountains?
- any food, spice, or herb that is shown to up the metabolic rate and it is quickly slapped into capsule forms and sold as the latest "get skinny quickly" scheme.
My point? Plenty of health claims out there for all sorts of supposed healing products.
The wise thing to do is use your common sense in these situations. Products, especially expensive and exclusive products, are not needed!
Human beings have been supporting and assisting their organs of detox from time beginning. The natural cycles of life support this detox action: wild leeks and dandelion greens in the spring open our winter congested digestive tract and get things moving. The liver is stimulated more than it has been all winter, from these traditional spring foods, and aids in moving shit out of the body, literally and figuratively! Traditionally what did people do in the spring? Why they reveled in the wild leeks and dandelion greens, waiting anxiously and happily for their arrival in the spring. Time to dig wild leeks, time to gather dandelion greens and guess what... you are naturally, with the cycles of life, supporting your organs of detox.
Next in the seasonal flow of plants comes stinging nettles; another fine green plant that supports the body's natural detox systems and contributes amazing nutritional support to each and every body cell.
We can follow the seasonal appearance and growth of plants all growing season to discover the very plants people have traditionally used for supporting their organs of detox. In the winter, non-growing seasons, people prepared for this. Roots, barks, leaves, and berries of medicinal plants were gathered and dried for the long winter months. These foods were used when needed to support detox: when ill health symptoms arise or true microbial sicknesses.
Have you ever been constipated for 3 or 4 days in a row? How about a week or more? Remember how you felt? The colon is an organ of detox. Supporting detox (in just one example) is supporting colon health. Who wouldn't want this? Sure beats chronic constipation and the yucky, whole body feelings of ill health that result. Use this "constipated" thought process for all your pathways of detox: sweating, urinating, exhaling respiratory waste, lymphatic movement, and bile production and release into the small intestine. All of these detox mechanisms work more smoothly and efficiently when we support whole body detox.
Detox is not a hoax. Your body is doing it in every second of your life! How it is presented, promoted, and sold for profit may be what can get a bit shaky. Your body has always detoxed and will continue to do so until your life force energy is finished in your physical body. That is life and death here on this planet.
I am, right now whipping up a pot of nettle, peppermint, and rosemary tea. All of these herbs support circulation, cell nourishment, and ultimately detoxification. Simple 'lil pot 'O tea!
Cream of Spinach Soup:
This was an easy pot of soup to whip up last eve. Then I let it sit in the refrigerator for the next day's dinner; all the flavors meld together better this way. All veggies came from the Kent Family Farm and the milk is from local, loved, and well cared for goats.
- Saute' a medium purple onion.
- Add a medium potato and carrot or two to this saute'. Cook them just long enough to slightly soften but still have some crispness. They will cook a bit more when you re-heat the soup the next day so you do not want to create mushy veggies.
- Clean up spinach and steam in a tiny bit of water. I had about a pound of fresh, local spinach and it only takes a few minutes to steam it gently.
- Put spinach and 2 1/2 to 3 cups milk into your blender.
- Add a clove or two of garlic.
- Blend well and pour back into the steam pot. Add the saute' veggies.
- Add any herbs you like the taste of (rosemary, parsley, oregano, basil, thyme, curry mix, etc.) or not!
- Voila' a pot of soup that is loaded with whole foods for detoxing!
A 100% whole food diet IS a detox diet.
You are always supporting your organs of detox, your each and every body cell, when you eat 100% nourishing whole foods.
It really is that easy!
BUT...If you have lived less than a whole food diet...
Join me for my Liver-Colon Detox Nourishment online class
We start our liver healing journey with all new class materials June 1st, 2016.
Class materials are yours for life.
REGISTER HERE:
Bye Bye Back Pain (cont.)
Last week I wrote a post about kissing back pain goodbye. I was not finished when I finished! I have a few more thoughts and suggestions to offer.
Suggestions #2 and #4 I mentioned previously and I am re-writing; reminding you again of their healing virtues.
1. Stop doing whatever activity is disturbing your back health. This suggestion is sometimes easier said than done. For example, vacuum cleaning can be rough on the low back. Paying attention to body dynamics and how you actually push the vacuum cleaner (whole body push vs. pushing by bending from the waist, waist pushing creates and exacerbates the low back problem.)
2. Acupuncture helps to relieve the inflammation allowing the body to go back into alignment.
3. Yoga is an amazing whole body wellness tool and creates a good "aahhhh" feeling in the back. http://www.yoga-loft.org/ Yoga builds core strength: strength in both your abdominal and back muscles. This strength of core is a gift to your spinal health. Strong muscles support the spine and your whole body has better posture and carries you through life like a dance.
4. Chiropractic care helps to put the body back into alignment. Here in Potsdam, NY we have BodyWorks Chiropractic Care: http://www.potsdambodyworks.com/ Dr. Roy and his wife have a beautiful healing practice.
5. Ma-Roller: The MA Roller is a self-massage tool that gently stretches the spine and deeply massages the anti-gravity paraspinal muscles, like very deep-tissue work.
This tool helps to relieve pressure points and get the kinks out.
How to use the Ma Roller is explained quite well on the website link above.
I have one, I use it, and I love it.
6. Lumbar Extender: This little gem is great for returning the natural curve of the lower back relieving pain and inflammation created from incorrect posture (the low back bulging out instead of curving inward) and poor sitting habits.
The Lumbar Extender is used to help relieve chronic back pain, correct postural imbalances, restore the natural curvature of the back, and improve flexibility in shoulder and back muscles.
I have recommended this "back bender" many times over the years. It has helped relieve disk problems and avoid disk surgery.
Me, draped over my back soothing device.
I confess, I receive zero kickbacks for suggesting these products. You can find them on eBay and Amazon, new and used. Do not buy the knock off version of the Lumbar Extender called the Back Magic. The story is that the less expensive product is made with lower quality materials that have been known to break soon after purchase.
I have had the lumbar extender for 15 years; no damage, wear, or tear!
Cheers to a healthier back in 2015
Join the School of Self Healing to learn more health enhancing skills To place in your own medicine bag & use in your daily life and quest for vibrant health!
Click image above or one of the links below to learn more information and get Self-Healing today!
http://www.paulayoumellrn.com/buy-a-home-study-course-begin-the-self-healing-fun/
http://www.paulayoumellrn.com/school-of-selfhealing-welcome-page/
Kissing Low Back Pain Goodbye
Movement is essential to treat, heal, and prevent low back pain. I want to introduce you to my friend, Lisa Huck. Lisa is a Functional Movement Fitness expert, she lives in LA, California. Lisa's YouTube video explains the anatomy of the low back and essential information about movement and low back pain.
Here is an article from Mercola.com that talks about back pain, movement, and exercise: http://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitness/archive/2014/01/31/back-pain-exercise.aspx. If the article seems blank, be not fooled, scroll down and it is there! It is the 2nd video in the article. Lisa huck is a gifted functional movement exercise therapist in California.
This is the above mentioned video. The first 14 minutes gives amazing anatomy & physiology healthy and pained back issues. Go directly to minute #14 and you will see the simple, easy to do, and takes maybe 4 minutes low back relief exercises. They work!
Posture:
Good posture is essential for ridding and preventing back pain. Most people's body alignment, posture, is way off course. Pay attention when you sit and stand. Does your body feel comfortable, natural, bones stacked above bones where they are meant to be.
Some of you may be saying, "What? How am I supposed to know where my bones are supposed to be stacked? I am not an anatomy expert."
To which I will reply, "All wisdom about your body is inherent within you. We have ignored this wisdom for so long that we no longer can find the information, readily, in our heads. We need to look deep into our heart and spirit and the information is there."
Call it up - this wisdom, bring it back into your life. It will help you to heal in so many ways.
When you sit:
Lift your hips up slightly so that your hips are higher than your thighs. This will create a downward slant to your thighs (if you put a wooden dowel on your thighs it would slowly roll down your thighs and off your knees).
Chin up
Lift you heart towards the sky. This simple positional change will pull up your whole body carriage (your skeletal structure) into proper alignment.
Check out the seat in your car. Does the back of the seat (where your butt sits) incline or decline? 99% (my guestimate) of car seats have a decline here. Your butt sinks down in and makes the slant of your thighs run opposite to proper posture alignment.
Easy fix here: put a towel roll in this dent in the seat space so your butt is lifted up higher than your thighs. This single action, on your part, will do wonders for your back on the daily drives.
Spend much time sitting at work? Lift your butt up on this chair as well. (Get up and move every 30 minutes or so. Moving the body helps prevent back pain from sitting, sitting, sitting all day.)
Standing:
Again, lift your chin and lift your heart towards the sky. Feel how your whole spinal column moves into correct alignment, how your whole skeletal alignment changes for the better?
Heels: your heels function best when just slightly lower than the rest of your feet. (Yes, ladies who wear high heels, this does not bode well for the fashion statement!) This is why Anne Kalsø designed the Kalso Earth shoe:
Anne Kalsø 's passion for yoga led her to study in Switzerland and eventually in Santos, Brazil. It was there, in 1957, that she observed the excellent posture of indigenous Brazilians, and the impressions left by their bare footprints as they walked through beach sand. She observed that the footprints laid were deeper in the heels than in the toes. This natural body position resonated with the thoughtful Kalsø. It echoed a formative yoga pose she knew well – Tadasana (the 'Mountain' pose).
As she herself emulated the pose of the native Brazilians, she noticed how her own posture improved, and how her breathing passages opened. She was inspired.
From: http://www.earthbrands.com/kalsoearthshoe/kalso-the-kalso-story
Lifestyle: This is where I say what I always say. No, do not click the x and close me out... listen people, I am trying to help, support, and love you! : )
Your lifestyle is not independent of your aches and pains, health challenges, disease symptoms, and illnesses. If your body is not nourished well with whole foods, your cellular health suffers, you will feel pain eventually from weakened body systems. A wellness lifestyle makes all the difference!
Making changes in your life, choosing whole health lifestyle choices, heals the body. Check out the free health info pages on my web site. http://www.paulayoumellrn.com/free-health-info/
Get moving & eating whole foods, get rid of back pain! Tell me your back pain healing story in the comments section. Do you use chiropractic care? Acupuncture? Massage?
Bye Bye Back Pain (cont.): this is the next part of Kissing Back Pain Goodbye
PS Check out my YouTube video on defining holistic health & healing.