Healing Begins At Home
We are all healers. Healing energy is a natural part of every one of us. Cut your finger; it heals without intervention. Healing is biologically innate in living beings.
Some people are deeply in tune with this healing energy and can act to support others on their healing journey.
When I say healing begins at home, this statement is something I mean from two perspectives. The perspective show cased above; that the body is a healing organism. Healing just happens in your body, your physical home. Also, healing begins in your home; the structure, building, your physical body dwells in. The space where your habits were born and continue to be nurtured in.
We are 100% capable of organizing our lives to create healing. The choices we make in our lives: what we eat and how we interact in the world all start at home. We learned our lifestyle habits from watching, interacting with, and repeating the lifestyle habits we observed family members engaging in . We can alter our lifestyle habits depending on the healing capacity of the way we live our daily lives. Is this habit best for my wellness?
Most people, when asked and given time to contemplate the question, can tell you exactly why they have the disease symptoms they have. Some people can get to the heart of the matter faster and more efficiently than others; they can tell you the emotional, spiritual, and the physical reasons they are wrestling with ill health and disease.
Bringing this question to people's awareness is the beginning of healing. When we can shine the light on why the disease symptoms are present in our physical health, we can start to address the underlying issues and set the healing energy back into action.
Find a quiet spot. Sit. Ground yourself. Breathe deeply, focusing on the breath for several minutes. Ask yourself: "why do I have these ill-health symptoms." Continue to breathe deeply for several more minutes. Allow the answer to arise; maybe right now, maybe tomorrow or next week.
My 2015 healing wish for you: Discovery of personal blocks to healing and putting healing action to work in your life.
Namaste.
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...
- 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.
- 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.
- 100% Whole food diet. Seriously, do I need to say more about this?
- 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.
- 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).
- Whole Health Lifestyle Choices. Another area I rant on about... Is anyone listening to me?
- Yoga... Yes, I love Yoga and all it has invited into my life: body, mind, & spirit healing.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Have FUN. Laughter and fun ups the feel good hormones.
- Volunteer and make someone else's day, or life, better - brighter - sunnier.
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
Developing Our Personal Power
I took the words in the below two paragraphs, with permission, from Elissa Hayman's November blog post. Elissa is a spiritual healer from New Mexico. I was introduced to Elissa and her work by a fine, local lady and friend.
I was stopped in my tracks by the most fiery blaze of coppery gold color I ever saw, radiating off a long line of cottonwoods on the riverbank.
Someone else had stopped to admire them and we got to talking. He turned out to be an herbalist who lived in the nearby mountains. His renowned company, Dragon River Herbals, was on the scene in Santa Fe; they supplied doctors and health facilities with their high-quality, wild-crafted, organic products.
Through this herbalist, I learned something interesting about wild-crafted herbs: their medicine is so much more potent because in Nature, they go through a lot of stress. The plants' response to the natural stressors in their environment makes them produce more potent medicinal properties. The "fat cat" herbal plants grown in cultivation don't need to develop the inner strength necessary to BE strong medicine.
That's something to remember in November 2014, when it will behoove us to see challenges like a plant in the wild, as something that develops our powers.
I love these words. It is the wise woman teaching I do around the foods we eat, the herbal plant foods we use for medicine, and the way we cultivate personal power in our mind, body, and soul.
Organic foods have this magic about them as well! When food is grown organically, the food itself has to fend off foreign invaders. In this dance for survival, the organically grown food develops higher amounts of nutrients and develops nutrients that do not exist in conventionally grown agriculture's foods (because conventionally grown foods do not survive these natural stressors).
We are approaching the American holiday of Thanksgiving; a time to be grateful for all that we have and have experienced in life.
Life experiences are the building blocks of who you are as a being; your wild crafting as a human. Take a moment to express gratitude, every day, for your life and all the wild crafting that has made you grow stronger. Life experiences are powerful medicine!
Feed your body, mind, and soul well!
Gratitude for making it safely into the Supai Village in the Havasupai Home, the Indians of the Blue Waters. Gratitude for surviving the long and very, hot trail down into the canyon. Getting out was easy; we started at 4:30 AM and beat the sun out of the canyon!
Happy Thanksgiving with Love!
Herbal Recipe to Clean the Liver from Holiday Eating and Imbibing!
Simple Liver Nourishment Cleanse
Liver Nourishment: This is a very simple way to nourish the liver as it goes about its non-stop job of filtering your blood. Your liver is not “dirty.” Spending a few days focusing on nourishing this important organ is a good way to prevent disease and heal your body. Love your liver with good food, liver specific herbs, and relaxation. Oh yeah, did I mention fun and laughter? Anger is a toxin to the liver; let go of anger and revel in fun, love, and laughter.
Raw food fast for 3 days: lots of local and seasonal berries / fruit in AM with nuts and seeds and then vegetable salads and raw nuts and seeds at noon & PM meals.
***If pre-diabetic, diabetic, or you have any metabolic syndrome issues (where you need to not have high levels of blood sugar surging through your system) keep your intake of fruit conservative and eat more vegetables.
Raw root veggie and cabbage slaws are great in fall and winter for the raw, seasonal veggies.
AM liver flush before any food: juice of 1 whole lemon, 1-2 tsp olive oil, pinch of unrefined sea salt. You can use this simple liver flush in the PM and/or the AM.
I have clients who do it in the AM because they drink their Essiac detox tea at night.
Detox infusion: purchase an ounce of each of these herbs: cut burdock root, cut dandelion root, nettle leaf, dandelion leaf, and red clover blossom.
Each night heat 1 quart of water, stainless steel pot please. When water is simmering turn to very low heat and simmer 1 tsp. each of the burdock and dandelion roots for 10 minutes. This is a very gentle simmer with the cover on the pot.
After the ten minutes, shut off the heat and have 1 tsp. each of the dandelion, nettle, and red clover. Add to pot, stir to get wet and cover pot. Let it sit over night to steep, pot covered. Strain into quart canning jar in AM and drink 3-4 cups over the course of the day.
Relaxing habits when doing a liver nourishing cleanse: Plenty of fluids; lots of good, restful sleep, eating in a calm environment (without screens) and chewing very slowly and thoroughly, yoga, massage, relaxing by the fire or under a favorite tree (seasonally dependent behaviors!) while reading a good book…the point is to nurture the whole you and make your liver feel at peace and loved.
When to nourish the liver: Ideally 4 times a year at the spring and fall equinoxes and the summer and winter solstices. I recommend waiting past the Winter Solstice, after the December holidays, for obvious reasons!
Milk thistle is a good herb to take for liver nourishing and rebuilding. It can be added to the above dandelion, etc. herb tea. Milk thistle is a seed and needs to be added and simmer with roots and/or barks.
http://www.paulayoumellrn.com/making-herbal-infusions-teas/
Capsules, tinctures, teas of milk thistle are good options as a single herb or as a combination herbal formula with turmeric and perhaps ginger…
Taking milk thistle for a couple of weeks after a three day nourishing cleanse can help to nourish and rebuild the liver. You can make milk thistle into a tea with nettles. Again, simmer the milk thistle seeds, very gently for 10 minutes before adding the nettle leaves. Shut off the heat before you add nettle leaves and allow the herbs to infuse, covered, for at least 4 hours.
If you would prefer to do a more intense liver nourishing (that is pre-packaged for you, creating ease), go to this website: www.herbdoc.com and search under the 5 day detox programs for the liver cleanse. It is a very complete liver cleanse kit with a well written book explaining liver cleansing and its benefits to your health and longevity. Think of it as nourishing your liver, fortifying it with the nutrients it needs to do its blood filtering job well.
Dr. Schulze’s products are top of the line and use high quality herbs. They tend to be a bit more expensive but quality is quality.
You can do a more intense, longer, liver / organ cleanse by putting the materials together yourself and following the cleanse for more than 3 days
- Whole foods, raw
- Herbal teas
- Fresh made juices
- Lots of pure water (no chlorine and flouride from municipal water supply; both are toxins to body cells and your liver.)
- AM flush
If you have diabetic tendencies do not do a "juice or herbal tea" only liver cleanse. Eat food and keep your protein level up.
Need help? Give me a shout.
Hugs ARE Better Than Drugs!
Hugs have an amazing capacity to:
- bring peace
- soothe the soul
- ease tension and heal an argument
- infuse your life with love
- reduces cravings for sugar, sweets
- heal the human body, mind, and soul!
What exactly do hugs do that is so amazing?
Hugs promote the release of oxytocin, the love hormone. Oxytocin is the hormone that is releases when women give birth, when we nurse our infants, when we have loving sexual encounters, and at other happy times. When your body releases oxytocin the hormone has a calming, peaceful effect on your body because cortisol (think stress hormone) levels go down! This reduces stress and increases feelings of well-being in your world!
Lowering your stress levels through oxytocin and low cortisol levels helps to reduce blood pressure, boosts your immune function, dopamine levels go up (pleasure hormone), and serotonin levels rise (happy, feel good hormone). There is literally a ripple effect of health and mood enhancing biochemical effects that happen when we hug.
I once heard a natural healer compare the body's biochemical reaction to hugs like the reaction to the chemical cocktail ecstasy (a pleasure inducing street drug).
Seems to me that giving and receiving hugs is so much easier, no bad side effects, and readily available. Maybe we should start selling hugs on street corners! Just a thought.
Action to take:
- Get Hugging! It is good for your health and, if you need another reason, all the above health benefits of hugs help your body balance your weight. Give hugs, lose extra body weight!
- Get a massage. Human, healing touch releases oxytocin.
- Pat a friend on the back... oxytocin is released!
- Love up your pets. Pets like hugs too and you both benefit!
- Hug a tree!
Tell me your hug stories in the comments below.
People hugs are good!
Tree hugs too!
Holistic Healing Taste Testing
My latest Holistic Healing Taste Test has been with Jody Wallace. Jody is a Massage Therapist, Plant Spirit Medicine Healer, Atlas Balance Energy Healer, Ayurveda, and other forms of natural healing - body balancing techniques.
I had Jody do the Atlas Balancing sessions on my spine. I have to say I am impressed with the results on my long-term issues with sciatica and low back / hip aches. Jody also gives an impressive massage. I asked her to rub deeply as I prefer the deep tissue work. Her hands did an amazing job making my muscles and connective tissue feel the "aaahhhhh!"
Check out this space to find out more about Jody. Give her a call; you will be glad you did!
http://atlasbalancingusa.com/jody-wallace/
http://www.amtamassage.org/famt/jody http://jodywallace.amtamembers.com/jodys-story
Comments on your experiences are always welcome!
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!