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!

More on Ice Cream's Purpose, Rommegrot, & the Conversations We Start!

I love conversation with people (my pets too!). People have the most fascinating stories if we take the time to listen; ask questions and just listen. These stories truly are the fabric of life; weaving us together as a culture.

So I had this amazing Facebook message from a reader in regards to my Ice Cream's Purpose blog post.

I learned much about the history of a certain food:  NORWEGIAN ROMMEGROT and this FB message started a conversation with a local person; those threads that weave us together as community with story telling. I think I need to return to the days of evening story telling around the fire!

Here is some of our conversation, the story!

Bryan: I felt compelled to respond to your secret of ice cream as I am a big fan of ice cream...perhaps it is in my blood; my ancestors in Norway loved cows and milk in all of its incarnations but their favorite was rumagrot (poor spelling but Norwegians have a slightly different alphabet). this was a mixture of heavy cream, milk and flour, generously sweetened, with the consistency of thick pudding. At any rate, I feel that ice cream, plain old simple ice cream, has to be a divine gift, necessary to our sustenance, to be indulged in not too infrequently.

But to get back on track, your secret of setting the freezer with an ice cream gauge sounds perfect!

Me: What a great story Bryan! Do you have a recipe for the Norwegian milk and flour thing? I will try and look it up.

Bryan: ROOMEGROT? I don't have a recipe and have never made it...my mother ate it and made it as a young girl, and assured me it was delectable...she grew up on a subsistence farm where wealth was measured by the fat of the land, and fresh cream was a daily companion...later she married my father, who was not a farmer, and lived in a small town where she started buying some of her food (what a change!) cream was too dear and so cream did not make it to the list of priorities...but she did make a version of rumagrot, which she affectionately called "mush", basically a porridge of milk and wheat flour, which is the basic structure or foundation upon which rumagrot is created. After it was cooked she would pour it out on plates where it would take the shape of a giant pancake, and put a pat of butter on top. We would sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on top and start eating around the edges where it cooled fastest, spiraling into the center where the butter sugar and cinnamon were concentrated for a very fine finish. Then we would lick our plates clean. We loved it! The day shone gold when we came in from a winter's day to sit down to our favorite supper meal of mas mush! Some years later, as a grown man, I was meandering through various conversations with my mother, and fondly reminiscing the above. I asked my mother why she no longer made mush. She said, "uffda, you liked that stuff?" (She never knew?) "I only made that when there was nothing left to eat." Ahhh...take me back to the realm of childhood!

I just LOVE this story, this conversation, and the magical things I learned as I looked up Norwegian history, Norwegian food history, etc.!

Of course, I had to make some, see below.  

Here is my kitchen's rendition of this Norwegian food. Of course I made it  with 100% whole food ingredients. I used  whole grain rye flour.

My kids were ok with it. My oldest said it was quite good. My youngest, he is a picky 'lil eater, said he was not crazy about it. He has to eat something 3-4 times before he will decide to like or to hate it.

Me, I thought it was perfectly yummy!

The recipe I used:

(I did cut the recipe in 1/4 as the amounts seemed like a really big batch to me. It made the 2 dinner plates worth above with a little bit left for a smaller plate. The next time I make it, I will make 1/2 of the recipe.)

NORWEGIAN ROMMEGROT 

1 qt. milk
1 c. half & half
1 c. butter
3/4 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. butter
Sugar & cinnamon

Heat milk and half and half; do not scorch; set aside.

In large, heavy pan, melt 1 cup butter and add flour, cook about 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

Pour in milk, cook, stirring frequently until mixture bubbles and thickens. Stir in sugar. Pour 1/4 cup melted butter on top. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Serve warm. Makes 1/2 gallon.

NOTE: This may be kept warm and served from a crock pot. Use low heat. Add butter, sugar and cinnamon after mixture is put in crock pot. Rommegrot is traditionally served at Christmas.

From: http://www.cooks.com/recipe/fw91j8hr/norwegian-rommegrot.html

 

PS Check out my upcoming webinar:

Whole Food Healer Academy

Starting January 5th, just in time to support vibrant, juicy health & healing in 2015!  Enrollment information coming soon.

My Mission: Creating a healing wave that ripples from my Northern NY home out into the world. Healthier people create healthier families, communities, and the world as a whole!

The Protein Powder I Would Make and Use

Do you use protein powder Paula?

Should I be buying and using protein powder?

What is the best protein powder to use, the best base substance the protein comes from?

Answers: No, No, and Real Food.

A protein powder is derived from some food that the protein has been removed from. This creates a concentrated protein.

Let's be mindful around the food we eat. Protein powders are refined food products. The protein has been extracted from the whole food. Why not just eat the whole food? And, how exactly do they, whoever they are, extract the protein? Chemicals? Extreme heat? 

Mindfulness: Eat whole food.

The above powder ad says it is made from pea, hemp, chia, potato, and chlorella protein... (keep reading below the picture!)

www.bodyunburdened.com

Instead of Refined Isolated Protein Powder From These Sources, Try this:

• Buy hemp, chia, sunflower, golden flax, pumpkin, and sesame seeds. Organic and raw, of course. 
• Measure 1/2 to 2/3 cup of each into a mixing bowl.
• Blend them together well.
• Pour into a wide mouth quart canning jar.
• Use 1 to 2 (or more to your liking) tablespoons in your morning oatmeal, granola, smoothie....

You now have the benefits of a whole food, not just the refined out, isolated protein. You get the healthy fats, the fiber, and all the nutrients that are lost in refining of a whole food into just the protein powder.

Whole foods feed your body cells for:

1. healthy cell regeneration
2. preventative medicine
3. healing medicine

Wapatuli Pie Recipe

I remember Wapatuli Punch Parties from my college days... all too well. A cooler full of fruit juices, fruit chunks, and vodka-rum-whiskey and the party was on a roll. 

Call me old but I like my Wapatuli pie better!

When Jake asked me to make him an apple pie I was low on apples. I combined apples, cranberries, blackberries, and blueberries (all local fruit I froze over the summer, apples fresh from Martin's Farm Stand). I chuckled as I was making it as my mind immediately went to college Wapatuli Parties!

Pie Filling: 

• 2 large apples cut into bite sized chucks, leave skin on for the nutrients and fiber
• about 1 cup of each berry, add more to have enough to fill your pie plate
• 1/2 cup of sucanat, unrefined sugar

Pie Crust:

• 2/3 cup of a mixed flour blend: quinoa, amaranth, millet (I grind myself in my electric coffee grinder)
• 1/3 cup dark buck wheat flour (why the crust looks so deep brown)
• 1/2 cup each coconut flour and almond flour. I only used these as I was out of the above mix blend and did not feel like grinding more.
• 2/3 cup pasture raised butter
• 1/4 tsp. unrefined sea salt
• 5-6 tbsp. cold milk, the coconut flour soaks up more fluid as I usually use about 2-4 tbsp. cold milk
• extra flour for rolling out crust, I used the buckwheat flour

A whole grain crust is a much tastier way to enjoy pie. It has flavor unlike refined, white flour crust which taste like baked wall paper paste and butter. The butter is its flavor saving grace!

Place all ingredients into a food processor and process until the whole mess rolls into a ball. Cut ball in half and roll into pie crust and make your pie.

Whole grain pie crust can be crumbly. (See picture at bottom. I had to piece together a few patches!) Take time and be gentle with it. I use a cotton mat and a cotton sock cover for my rolling pin. I bought these in a package kit at Evans and White's Hardware in Potsdam.

Put the pie together and bake for 45 to 60 minutes, just until it starts getting bubbly. There is no need to over cook fruit.

Enjoy!

Dispelling THE Food Myth

So you ask, "What is this myth you are referring to Paula?"

Why it is the myth our medical culture continues to perpetuate:

The food you eat has nothing to do with your long term health. Health is all about your genetics.

So, the wise ones among us use their common sense around this issue and say:

"Hey, we know that. Common sense says that food is the huge impact on our short term and long term health."

I questioned this food issue my very first day in the hospital, clinical setting as a student nurse. I could not figure out why we were feeding my patient, a man who had his 3rd heart attack, these foods:

• instant mashed potatoes with margarine and canned gravy
• pressed turkey loaf slices with more canned gravy
• overcooked, previously frozen, carrot cubes with peas and corn
• a plop of canned pudding with some sort of fake, whipped cream topping to adorn it

I was no nutrition genius at 18 years of age but I was quite certain that nothing on this man's lunch tray was in any way going to heal his damaged heart. 

31 years later and I am still convinced institutional food, fake food products, are killing people!

Another food issue arose when I was in my 40's and it was recommended I have a colonoscopy because of my age. I asked if this was necessary as I ate a 100% whole food diet. I was told yes, it was necessary.

So I then asked: "OK, if I ate McDonald's food three times a day or ate as I do now (100% whole food) what would the impact be on my colon?"

The answer was: "Nothing, your colon cancer, colon disease risk, is based on your genetics and what you eat has no impact."

I opted to not have that colonoscopy and went home to resume my healthy eating habits.

Let's play around with some food information for a minute or two....

 Packaged Food        VS.         Real Food

Which food choices do you think will feed your body cells in a healing way?  

Take Away Points:

Medical care decisions, preventative included, are a personal choice.

1. Keep feeding your body with the magic of nature: real food!

2. Your body cells depend on densely nutritious foods to replicate in a healthy manner. Replication is happening every day. Your food does matter.

Happy Halloween!

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!

My Whole Food Vitamin

Have you heard of Bullet Proof Coffee? This is my bullet proof, whole food, vitamin & mineral morning drink.

Body cells need nourishing. Whole food eating is my basis for nourishing my and my kid's body cells. In today's world, our bodies can use every bit of extra cell nourishment we can get.

Recipe:

• 1/3 to 1/2 cup water, gently warm (not hot!) before adding to your blender. This helps the butter blend in.
• 1 tbsp. butter or coconut oil, your choice, I go with pasture raised butter. This helps the body better absorb the fat soluble nutrients.
• 1 1/2 tsp. turmeric - ginger blend
• 1 heaping tbsp. Superfood Plus powder formula
• 1 to 2 mg of iodine drops, when I remember to add it
• 1 tbsp. organic fruit juice concentrate (I use this for my kid's doses as a flavor enhancer. Cherry and grape concentrate work very well.)

****I added to my mix on 10/22/14:

OK, so I just watched the 9th video in The Quest for the Cures series: http://thetruthaboutcancer.com/live/episode9.php 

This is The Truth About Cancer video series that talks about cancer; what cancer really is and how to cure the body naturally.  I am going to add fresh black pepper to this mix!  Fresh as in you do not cook it and best when ground from whole peppercorns.

Blend all the ingredients, gently.

To make it easier, less cleanup, use an 8 oz jam jar. Add the warm water and butter and shake until melted. Add the rest of the ingredients and shake well; lid on please. It makes quite a green mess if you forget the lid!

The turmeric-ginger blend. I buy in 1 lb. bags from Frontier herbs; organic of course.  Available through the Potsdam Food Coop or Nature's Storehouse - support your local health food store!

This is the Superfood,  www.herbdoc.com. The chorella and spirulina are potent heavy metal detoxers.

There are many green food powders on the market. Try your local health food store. To find one, read ingredients carefully for 100% whole foods. This SuperFood Plus is available wholesale which considerably cuts down the cost. I keep it available and share my wholesale discount. 

My indoor herb garden. I chew sprigs of the herbs daily for their medicinal, healing properties.

Last winter the kids and I took Juice Plus over the winter months. We had a great winter, in regards to our health, and avoided all the viral bugs that swarmed about us. We may add JP again this winter. Juice Plus are blends of fruits and veggies that have been juiced and low heat dehydrated. Basically they are fruit and veggie juice powders.

What do you do to add extra, whole food nutrition to your life? Share in the comments. New ideas are always good!

Holistic Healing Taste Testing

I decided to do some taste testing of the holistic healing options in my Northern NY State. As I taste test around Northern NY I will report on my findings.

If any of the healing options speak to you, try them out and report back to me in the comments.

Acupuncture:  Ok, I confess, I have used and LOVE acupuncture for over 16 years. The taste test was successful after my very 1st acupuncture treatment. I guess I could say I have become a regular consumer! Acupuncture has helped in healing my sciatica, headaches, low back pain, and menstrual issues (I am sure there have been more!).

Originating in China, traditional acupuncture is the oldest continuously practiced medical system in the world. It is based on natural laws that describe the flow of life energy both in nature and in the body. Acupuncture addresses the needs of the whole person and has the best results when patients use it in conjunction with other health promoting attitudes and behaviors.Well known for relieving pain, traditional acupuncture is actually a holistic approach that addresses body, mind, and spirit.

I recommend you try acupuncture with Shelby Connelly and Five Elements Living. I am certain you will find it a tasty way to support your healing!  (315) 262-2622

• • addiction
• • common cold
• • migraines
• • allergies
• • depression
• • mood swings
• • anxiety
• • digestive disorders
• • menopausal symptoms
• • fatigue
• • sciatic pain
• • back pain
• • fertility issues
• • sinusitis
• • bursitis
• • insomnia
• • arthritis