What is Crystal Therapy?

Using Vibrational Energy from Earth to Balance and Heal!

     The art of Laying on of Stones has been around since before we have written record of it. Archaeological digs have brought up evidence of the usage of stones for various purposes, from all around the world, throughout the various ages & civilizations. It was, and still is, a way of getting into vibrational alignment with our Earth.
     The stones were used for spiritual and medicinal purposes, emotional boosting, and for protection. The interesting part about the information that Archaeologists were finding throughout the cultures was that it was as if they had all come together and compared notes, although it is said that these cultures had no direct contact with each other. Common threads kept showing up between the cultures, so where was this information coming from?
      The answer to where this information was coming from is a little hazy, and there are many speculations as to the exact origin; some was obtained from meditating with the stones themselves, channeling certain informational properties, and then passing on that information. Some of it may have been passed on from other civilizations who were considered to be more advanced in various ways. Most of the correspondences we read in crystal reference books is based on this ancient information, whether it was directly obtained or channeled.
     Here's where it gets really interesting! How can a person channel information from a rock? Science! I love this part, because the nerd in me is satisfied with hard facts, figures, and information such as this. Everything, every single thing in this entire Uni-verse is made up of ENERGY. 
     Energy equals Information, and a 'crystal' passes on information through its energetic structure, its atomic pattern, called a Dominant Oscillary Rate. A crystal's atomic structure is perfect, a human's has varying oscillating frequencies, therefore, making ours not perfect in structure. 
     This is good news for us humans, because, whenever we are within the energetic torus (Electro-Magnetic Field) of a crystal, our vibrational frequencies are amped up to meet and balance with theirs. It's called entrainment. THIS is how a crystal can heal. Simple science.
      There is a difference between crystals and stones, but I will refrain from getting too nit-picky, and just say this: A crystal is anything with a perfectly repeating atomic pattern within its molecules, some may not look like they have a crystalline structure to the naked eye, but you would see that perfect structure with a microscope. 
     

Some crystals look like obvious crystals, such as the quartz pieces shown in this picture, but when you have something like magnetite, that looks like a solid mass, although it is crystalline at its molecular level, this would be considered a stone, it's a mixture of minerals, but, I don't want to confuse you at this point in the game. 
All you really need to know is that: Not all "rocks" are created equally in the looks department, but each one has special qualities that some people are more sensitive to than others. 
I have chosen to be around these very healing Earthly vibrational beings because I am one of the sensitive people who feels very grounded and calm when I am in their presence.

I hope I have cleared up any confusion about crystals that anyone may have had. If anyone has any questions about this subject, all of my information was gathered and paraphrased from my Hibiscus Moon Crystal Healing Course. 
This is an amazing, science-based course that anyone who wants can take. I hope you have found this useful, and entertaining.

Namaste!     

*Last week to get the Goods!*

TIME IS RUNNING OUT!!

Hi Folks! I just wanted to let everyone know that this is the last open week I have before I go back to my '9-5' job, so my schedule will be less open soon. What does this mean you get to do? Book appointments NOW! I have openings today through Saturday! 
Click this link NOW http://expandedwellbeing.schedulista.com 
Or text 503-791-0169 to make an appointment!
Namaste!

*Changes, changes, and sparkly new options!*

Just a small sample of the sparkly new offerings open to clientele!

     Good tidings to all who have recently found my page, or have been reading a while! I have recently graduated from a Crystal Healing Course, and am awaiting my Certificate in the mail. Not only can I put CCH (Certified Crystal Healer) after my name now, I can offer you all new options for the services I give. I am very excited to be able to do this!
     You all have read that I have been in the process of changing, and I have invited you all to embrace your change, and make more out of your lives. So- I am inviting you now to book an appointment with me for EITHER a Foot Zone, OR a Crystal Healing Session, OR a little bit of BOTH! YES! You can do that too! 
     I have a new location that I am just ITCHING to decorate & make Sacred Space in. I will have a new price list up within the coming week, and if you feel the need to relax, renew, and rejuvenate, make it a point to plan in some much needed  'You Time' for your busy week! Schedule an hour (or half-hour, if your schedule is cramped) of Theta-Wave healing, with yours truly, and trust me when I say: You won't regret it, and you'll be back for more!
     For those of you new to crystal healing, this type of Energy Work is for you if: you have an aversion to touch, yet still want to get in balance & get detoxified. Crystal healing is a non-invasive (no touch) healing modality. The crystals, and their amazing energy can be used in conjunction with a Foot Zone, for those who still love the massage.
     Both are energy work, and as such, will "reboot" your system in each session. All bodies are different, and Crystal Healing may be performed once a week, or once a month, to four times a year, depending on how your body is operating, or if your Chakras are in need of a good balancing.
     Please, check back often, I will be posting nuggets of info about crystals and how they can help you integrate dis-ease from your past with what you truly desire in the here and now!
     Isn't it about time you got your system "rebooted"? Come find out how fun a Crystal Therapy Session can be!
Namaste!

Life is Ever Changing!

Multnomah Splendor in All Seasons

     I sort of wanted to entitle this, "My Year of Rollercoaster Learning." I did not, obviously, because every year is a rollercoaster of learning nowadays. The past year has been very interesting, and it seemed to fly by at an alarming rate. I am still living in Oregon, which, I am finding fits me so much more than Utah ever did. I am still living with my sister and her husband, and recently made the realization that I no longer wish to move away from that living situation.

     It seems that up until now  in my life, I have been trying to run away from something. Daily meditation has helped me to come to realize that I was trying to run from myself, but, wherever you go, there you are! 

You Can't Run Away from YOU!

     It was getting pretty stressful looking for my own place, seeing the exorbitant prices for apartments in the area. I came to the conclusion that while it was a bit hectic with my husband here- yes, we tried to make it work once again, only to find that we need to be on seperate paths in life- it hasn't been such a pressing issue since he moved back to Utah. I no longer feel as if I NEED to move, just gotta go NOW! Peace: It is a feeling for which I have longed for quite a while. I have yet to be able to run away from myself, in all these many years of trying; so I guess I finally got tired of trying.

     I don't know if it had anything to do with me turning the "Big Four-Oh" in January, or if this meditation thing is really paying off? I feel I am able to truly view occurrences in my life as lessons now, and am very grateful to be able to accept that: Life is ever changing, and so am I! I'm putting myself in a position where I come first. That may sound selfish, but- let me explain:
     In order for me to truly know what love is, so that I may attract that into my life, and reciprocate it as well, I need to figure out what this "Love" thing is that people talk about. I know, it sounds silly, not knowing what love is, though I've marched down that "Aisle of Wedded Bliss" three times. Obviously, I was missing something in my life. Each time I fell into a marriage, I thought, "This is The One! This is The Guy who will take me away from poverty, or depression, or whatever..."

Baby, Don't Hurt Me...

     Why did I use the words, "Fell into a marriage"? Well, for most of my life, I was under the impression that when you're a female, you get married. That's just what you do. Let's be honest, if you had parents like mine, that's all you were told. That's all women are good for, right? Get married, and start a family. Now, don't get me wrong, there's nothing WRONG with getting married, but if you're like me, what if that's NOT what you truly want? Three marriages, and I felt like I was living someone else's life each time.

     In this juncture of singleness, I have quite a bit time to think. I do it a lot! I feel that thinking is UNDERRATED, and should be done more often. However (yes, I did say however), there's a downside to thinking too, which kind of sucks, but tell me you've never OVER-thought about things. Overthinking can be a person's undoing, if they allow it. Is it possible that I just may have come to the point in life (at the ripe ol' age of 40) where I can think about, but NOT overthink things? I believe it may be quite possible.

     I have found that, I am just plain tired of trying to ascribe society's ideas of what women, or people in general (but since I am of the female persuasion...), SHOULD do. I've been spending more time on Facebook, and if that doesn't depress you, nothing else will! I really need something better to do at work other than Facebook... I've come to the conclusion that I do not want to fit into that cookie cutter. I'm m a star, and I'm trying to fit into a cube sized ideal. Not gonna happen!

I AM A GODDESS!!

     I'm not buying into the "What Not to Wear at a Certain Age" BS. I notice that I don't wear what other ladies my age are wearing. I don't act like other people my age do. I love cartoons, and I like to get out and PLAY, dammit! I mean playing like I used to when I was coming up. Forts and all! And, you know what? I feel MUCH better for it! And you will too, if you allow yourself to.

     I have read, time and again, that if I keep in alignment of my true self, like circumstances, and people, will come into my life. Others could leave, such as the most recent husband... I'm actually seeing proof of this alignment in my life. I'm not dating, either, in case you were wondering. I'm allowing that space within me to be ME. 

     You see, every time I got hitched, or dated, lived with etc., I took on my partner's identity. I only recently admitted that to myself, and out loud so I knew I figured it out, I have witnesses! Because my parents were such dictators in my life, it took me far longer than it could have to figure this little gem out. But, figure it out, I did!
     It is taking me a while to shake off the binds that have tied me for so long, and I am still learning and growing, ever changing and evolving. I am getting better every day, in every way, and I am looking for like minded people to join me in admitting that we truly don't KNOW anything for absolute certain in this life! I have only found what I don't like and want, but with these tools, I CAN find what is best for my highest good!

Change is the ONLY constant in life!

     Change doesn't have to have negative connotations. Embrace your change today, and see how your life begins to emulate you and what you want! It's totally like magic!

Namaste!

Catching Up With...

      I realize it has been a great while since my last posting on here. It has been one heck of a journey since I last typed! I have, unfortunately, seen another marriage come to an end. I have moved out of Utah, and back to the beautiful green rainforests of Portland Oregon!

     I have also been through two jobs whilst making my way back to Foot Zone Therapy. I intend to open up a healing Center here in Portland that houses other holistic practitioners apart from myself. The dream may take some time to become a reality, but due to a business class I took Spring Term, it looked like it could be a really real possibility. 

     I am busily looking into social networking organizations to give Expanded Wellbeing the exposure it needs to grow. That too, is slow-going. I keep up the work. I keep doing affirmations each day, I keep re-vamping my personal vision board, and migrate away from negativity as much as possible.  I realize I am in a precarious situation in life, so I am doing my level best to upkeep the positive energy that it will take to envision a better life for myself.

     I have discovered over the last 10 months that while being alone is difficult, I am not totally alone, as I moved in with family; it is an integral part of really discovering who I am, my likes and dislikes, and how to keep loving ME no matter what.

      
     It is a long and arduous journey, but I feel that it is definitely worth it. I continue to plug away, not being able to see what lies in front of me, and while not forgetting the past, making sure I have learned not to repeat it. That is possibly the hardest part of growth. 

     I found that I can create new ideas, but I have to somehow disrupt the "truths" I accepted while growing up. Another daunting task. I also found that the anxiety I get while accepting a new truth is GOOD! Who knew? It is moving out of my comfort zone. It is the key to freedom. Move through the anxiety of the future I do not know, and CREATE what I want in its place. Yes, another painstaking, time-consuming venture. Worth it? I intend to make sure it is!

     Thank you for reading my little blog today. Making this a bigger priority may help me in the long run as well.

Remember: You Create Your Life!

Namaste!

Adopting an Attitude of Gratitude, Truly...

My Trick for the Shift!

     How many times in your life have you truly been grateful for everything in your life? I mean EVERYTHING? If you start thinking about it, most of us, when put to the test, skim over all the crap we've been given, and are simply thankful for all the good stuff.  The stuff that makes us all warm & gooey inside, that's the stuff we're all grateful for.

     How many of us want to be thankful for the abuse we received as children, or for that drunk driver that just took our friend's life, or for Hitler, or for that jerk that just cut us off in traffic? Be honest. Not very many of us. I would even venture to say: almost NONE of us. Don't worry, this is normal. 

     It isn't easy for us to swallow that we are ungrateful beings. We are human, and we are ungrateful for MOST things in our lives. But, if any of us have studied energy vibration in the least, we have learned that gratitude is among the highest vibrating frequencies there is. How, then, do we TRULY adopt an attitude of gratitude when thinking of things we have labeled crappy? We move out of judgement. WHAT? 

Judgement

     Judgement: The vibrational energy space humans reside in 99.99% of the time whether or not we admit it. That's right. We ALL do it. We humans are so good at being in judgement that we have actually come up with labels for it to make ourselves feel better about doing it. We call it blame, we call it justification, we call it fault, whatever the label, we have decided that something was either good or bad. What is it in reality? Simply a vibration at a higher or lower frequency that we attracted into our lives by our own like vibrational frequency. 

     I will label that vibration a lesson, if we can allow it to be viewed as such. We eventually learn that this "lesson" will keep repeating in one form or another until we learn to be non-reactive, and eventually GRATEFUL, that this (these) circumstance(s) made us who we are, lead us to who we needed in our lives, whatever we needed to learn in order to find the joy in our lives that we are here to find.

     You see, in order to attract higher energy vibrations into our world, we MUST vibrate at a higher level. In our lives, most of us tend to walk around vibrating at a very low level. How do I know that? I simply look at how our lives run from day to day. We complain an awful lot (ADMIT IT). We are continuously grousing on and on about what we DON'T WANT in our lives, thinking that it'll change the louder and more vehemently we proclaim it. Then we sit and wonder why our lives never change, or why they've seemingly gotten worse.

Energy Vibration

     What do we think the Uni-Verse hears when we say we don't (want or) like something? I'll give you a hint; the LIKE or WANT part, it was indifferent about the DON'T part. The part we were dwelling on with anger, hatred, guilt, shame, embarrassment, prejudice... shall I go on? These are all vibrations we're spewing forth from our energetic beings every second of every day, and we wonder why our don't wants or don't likes keep showing up... Because there are about 7 billion other beings on this planet likewise vibrating, just what do you think is happening with all those vibrations being spewed?

     Well, I'd like to tell you nothing, but- if you haven't been hiding under a rock a good share of your lives, then you know that energy is recycled. You know the science behind Like attracts Like. You would be correct in your next presumption. Many beings vibrating at low frequencies, because, hey- let's face it- we all have baggage! Baggage we were born with, crap that we got from our parents, siblings, ancestors, the list goes on...

     We vibrate, and it gets recycled. Like attracts like, therefore- and I have written this one before, what we put out, we get back. Not only do we get it back, but because we were dwelling on that crap with a bucket of heaping feelings along with it, we got it back with MORE tagalongs! Those feelings just super charged your crap!!

     Okay, so this sounds bleak at best, right? Not to worry!  I have been learning that we can counteract our own judgements! The graphic at the top of the story? I made that! It is a reminder to be grateful for ALL things. It is a little trick to overwrite some of those programs we've all been running for eons. If you want to vibrate higher, you MUST rewrite your programs. 

     IN ORDER FOR THINGS TO GET BETTER, WE HAVE TO GET BETTER

     IN ORDER FOR THINGS TO BE DIFFERENT, WE HAVE TO BE DIFFERENT

     IN ORDER FOR THINGS TO CHANGE, WE HAVE TO CHANGE.

If you want to vibrate higher, you must learn how to be grateful for the worst parts and the best parts of your life. It will take time, but as I am learning, it took me 38 years to get to the not so great vibrational frequency I am putting out, therefore, (and sadly enough to me), it will not happen over night. 

     Nowadays, I spend a great deal of time thinking about how to see things in a different light. I start by saying to myself: "I honor my feelings of ______, and I am grateful for them."  It took me 38 years to learn that I had the best parents in the world. Through their certain type of child rearing, I learned patience. 

     No- it did NOT happen over night, and sometimes I am STILL the most impatient person I know. I am choosing to see the "abuse" my parents taught me with as the building blocks for who I am now becoming. I used the word "choosing" not lightly. I HAD been choosing to see how they raised me as abusive. I was looking at a situation, and judging it as bad.

     How many of us can do this? How can we look at something decidedly BAD and flip it over? Choice. We see bad or good in life because we have judged it as such. The way I looked at my childhood up until now simply was not serving me. 

     I was certainly not raising my vibrational frequency by labeling, nay, JUDGING it as bad. My hatred was beginning to consume me. Why? My vibrational frequency was being lowered because I had so long chosen to be a victim, that I had forgotten that I was CHOOSING. I bought the lie. I found that I was the only one who could get me out of the crap I had put myself into. 

     The first time I heard that I had the perfect parents for me, the best teachers for the lessons I was to learn in my life, I wanted to punch the guy that said it. Honestly- what the Hell did he know? Didn't he understand all the years of pain I had endured because of my parents??? Tell me if this sounds familiar to anyone in ANY way. That way of thinking has such tactile feelings attached to it. For 38 years, this is what I had been vibrating out from within.

     I will tell you what those vibrations did for me: it started with constant headaches every day since I was 15, back pain that increased with frequency at night at about 19 on, let's see, I was in and out of therapy for "depression", I've been on many different depression meds, I had used OTC allergy meds since the age of 20 because I was allergic (probably to myself...) to life, I self-medicated for over a decade, only to have my kidneys & liver revolt, that's just a few memories.

     Memories? Lovely, gorgeous lessons in vibrational energies! In the past five months, I know my tune has changed, I have been finding different modalities of healing. Coincidence? Hardly. I was just sick and tired of being sick and tired, and started to dwell on how to become well, whole, and in perfect health. Little by little, I was taking the higher vibrational parts of me, the parts that LOVE to learn & cannot get enough, and choosing to have those vibrations direct me to anything, and everything that I had not done previously in order to achieve the feelings I desired. Like attracts Like.

     My past taught me that I was on a path that was not serving me, nor anyone else around me. I chose to listen, pay attention, and find a path that served me, and hopefully others. I can see and feel the difference it has made in my life. It is sometimes difficult to think of some of my nephews and say, "I honor my feelings of hatred, and I am grateful for them!" But I do it until I feel a shift. Feel a shift? I physically feel something change within me when I state the assertion. 

MomMomMomMom...!!

     

     It's like letting a child know you see them when they're desperately trying to get your attention, "I see you, and I love you!" The child feels better. You see the child's countenance change. He may go off skipping. That's the shift I'm talking about. Only, it happens within you! You may want to start skipping too! Hell, I would. Skipping raises your endorphin levels, which in turn raises your vibrational frequency!

Skip your blues away!

     Does anyone feel better after learning this little trick (honoring your feelings & dousing them with gratitude)? Let me know.  I feel better having written about it. I have been putting this article off for a while now for no good (or bad) reason. I feel like a weight has been lifted off my chest. It's much like the way I feel when I douse my hatred with gratitude. My hope is that it will work for you as well. Choose to adopt a TRUE attitude of gratitude!

Namaste!

    

This Book... Get on Board!

Excuse Me, Your Life Is Waiting: The Astonishing Power of Feelings by Lynn Grabhorn

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I started reading this book because I got it from the library. I read a story to my husband about a tiny baseball player (spoilers) that Lynn writes about, then I didn't have time to finish it. I wanted my husband to get on board with me because I could already tell that this wasn't like any other self-help book out there within the first chapter!
My husband didn't seem too interested...  A little while later (and I'm not sure how long, or who he listened to, cuz it wasn't me!), we were sitting in his car and he turns on his mp3 player. It was a book, but not just any book- this book!
Of course I had to have it on mp3! I drive everywhere! Since I got it on mp3, I have listened to it all the way through once, and am on my second go. I have started applying the principles in tiny ways, let me tell you, you get what you focus on! The Uni-verse doesn't hear the DON'T to your wants! You have always gotten exactly what you have wanted in your life, but didn't realize it. We were taught BACKWARDS!
I urge EVERYONE to read this book. It is life changing.



View all my reviews



I wanted to make a quick review of this life changing book in my blog before I let it slip by another day. The application of the principles outlined in "Excuse Me, your Life is Waiting" has already changed my life! I am not joking.  I don't joke when I speak of books...
I hope that you all will find it within you to find a copy of this book, in the library, book store, online, or download and LISTEN to it as I did.  Waste no more time. Every single time I talk about the changes that have already taken place because I tested and tried out this method of the Law of Attraction laid out on the line by the author, I get EXCITED! Excited is where I want to be. When you read this book, you will definitely understand why! 


Namaste!

It's All About Health & Wellbeing

Health & Wellbeing

When I Started my website/blog about wellbeing and health, it led me to ask the question, “What exactly is wellbeing, and how does one translate the correct meaning to the reader?” Dictionaries are often great places to start for general definitions:

Well-be·ing [wel-bee-ing] noun -a good or satisfactory condition of existence; a state characterized by health, happiness, and prosperity; welfare: to influence the well-being of the nation and its people.

Health [helth] noun -1. the general condition of the body or mind with reference to soundness and vigor: good health; poor health.  2. soundness of body or mind; freedom from disease or ailment: to have one's health; to lose one's health.  3. a polite or complimentary wish for a person's health, happiness, etc., especially as a toast: We drank a health to our guest of honor.  4. vigor; vitality: economic health.

These definitions are simple, easy, and to the point, yet not quite the definition we have come to recognize in today’s alternative health circles. But, when browsing the Internet; we need to remember to take a lot of what’s out there with a grain of salt. Amazingly enough, a definition was found that captured the very essence of today’s holistic culture:

Health and Wellbeing - more than just good health, wellbeing describes a state of wellness of body, mind and soul, where all are in a state of health, the individual is happy and prospering. Wellbeing is not available by prescription, there is no one path and many different roads can be taken to arrive there.¹
     It is true, health and wellbeing when put together become one entire picture, and seems to better capture today’s view of alternative health. When separate, the aforementioned dictionary definitions seem to keep that picture in pieces.

One may further ask: “What is wellness?” Yet another good question!  Here are some ideas on the subject-
According to Wikipedia², wellness can take two paths, the Alternative Medicine (this topic will be covered in a later article), and the scientific, Western medicine outlook. Science states that wellness is defined as: health, freedom from disease.  Not a bad description. In alternative or holistic practice, the meaning expands: generally used to mean a healthy balance of the mind, body and spirit that results in an overall feeling of well-being.
Both meanings are correct, but we mustn’t leave out the dictionary definition:
well·ness [wel-nis] noun -1. the quality or state of being healthy in body and mind, especially as the result of deliberate effort.  2. an approach to healthcare that emphasizes preventing illness and prolonging life, as opposed to emphasizing treating diseases.

When speaking of total health and wellbeing, one must consider the inside as well as the outside. You may well have a totally sculpted, organically-fed package with which to look upon, but your inside; your spirit, or soul, and/or mental capacity, could be found wanting.

While having good physical health is certainly not a crime, it is only part of the whole picture we are trying to paint. When you add good mental health practices, maybe some deep breathing exercises, relaxation techniques, anger management, to name a few, along with a stable spiritual awareness, delve into meditation, research healing prayer perhaps, and please remember proper nutrition, it is vital to the operation of your entire system; mind, body, and spirit- all of this is what defines the essence of contemporary alternative wellness, or a state of wellbeing.

1. http://www.wellbeingspot.com/
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wellness_%28alternative_medicine%29

All About Healthy Food!

A simple dictionary definition probably won’t give the answer to this question enough merit, though- we can give it a whirl and see what Old Webster has to say:

Examples of Healthy Foods

Health·y [hel-thee] adjective, health·i·er, health·i·est.  -1. possessing or enjoying good health or a sound and vigorous mentality: a healthy body; a healthy mind. 2. pertaining to or characteristic of good health,  or a sound and vigorous mind: a healthy appearance; healthy attitudes. 3. conducive to good health;  healthful: healthy recreations. 4. prosperous or sound: a healthy business. 5. Informal . fairly large: I bought a healthy number of books.

Food [food] noun  -1. any nourishing substance that is eaten, drunk, or otherwise taken into the body to sustain life, provide energy, promote growth, etc. 2. more or less solid nourishment, as distinguished from liquids. 3. a particular kind of solid nourishment: a breakfast food; dog food. 4. whatever supplies nourishment to organisms: plant food. 5. anything serving for consumption or use: food for thought.
Defining healthy seems about right, though there could be a disagreement with the Semantics of the definition of food, but- for the most part, it is correct.  What are the Semantics in the definition of food that cause a problem? That food is still nourishing and sustains life, not all of it does- these days especially.
In just a few words, to sum up healthy foods for contemporary times, it would read:

Fruits (preferably organic), vegetables (again, organic), non-packaged, non-processed, chemical free, meat; intake at less meals per day than vegetables, oils; high in essential fatty acids as opposed to hydrogenated, or partially-hydrogenated. No Genetically Modified Organisms¹ or Engineering. -This topic will be covered in a later article, and there is plenty of information to be had on the subject if one is looking.  Are you following so far? Good.

In this day and age of people actually not knowing what healthy food is, the question begs to be asked: “Why do we not know this?” In short, because labels have become very deceiving. It can be difficult to know whether we are in fact eating something that will sustain our lives, or land us in the hospital. But, guaranteed, if your food is pre-mixed, and in a package that touts itself as being “healthy” or “natural,” the food inside that package is more than likely neither. It has been processed to DEATH. No nutritional value left. Hence an epidemic of obese, UNDER-NOURISHED humans.

Becoming a conscientious label reader is paramount. The rule of thumb for reading labels (that works for my healthy lifestyle) goes as such: If there is more than five or six ingredients listed, and if you cannot pronounce one or more (or any) of them- should this be consumed? The answer should be a resounding no, but often, gets swept under the carpet. While it seems logical enough to ME, the logic often times falls short on the general public.

We want to believe all food is healthy, or good for us. We want to give companies the benefit of the doubt, and there is no crime in that. One question to consider while trying to give the benefit of the doubt: Why are there so many sick people around me?  The word "sick" is a very broad subject as well, sick encompasses physical, mental, and emotional; believe it or not. While taking all of that into consideration, as you read the label of your tater tots, question why there are so many different chemicals in them. After asking this question, if you still are concerned, further ask: "Whose interests are being served by these companies who are selling chemicals and passing them off as healthy?" If you are not outraged, you are not paying attention!

Question everything. If it does not sit well with you, or does not make sense, it is more than likely not healthy food, and at that point, you have the choice whether to consume it or not.

1. http://www.organicconsumers.org/

Links of Interest on this subject:
http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/
http://organicconsumers.org/
http://www.fooduciary.com/issues/2013/06-06-2013.html

Healthy Urban Kitchen Cookbook- Click Here!

To Exercise or Not? Just DO IT!

Exercise Benefit Cycle

In order to best explain exercise and the benefits thereof, there are copious amounts of information on the
web to explain in better detail the point being made. Comparing four articles on the web (yes only four so far), we can see that though they may be worded differently, they all agree that exercise may be the key to a longer, more happy, definitely healthier life.

It seems that exercise may be able to ward off different kinds of diseases, such as Osteoporosis, Type II Diabetes, Depression (yes, that is a dis-ease), and High Blood Pressure among others. When sitting on the couch flipping through channels on the old television day in and day out, one would hope that the thought of getting up, getting out, and getting moving would occur.  The sad realization, when we read statistics on this subject is: the majority of Americans are not moving.

Doesn’t it seem like a simple fix to keep from being in the hospital? Eating right, getting off the couch and getting outside?  While it may seem like a simple fix to me, there are plenty of people, apparently, who don’t see it that way. A really good question to ask would be, Why? Many answers could be conjectured, but, the bottom line is, people have their reasons for doing what they do (or NOT doing). While most might call them reasons, could those reasons not be seen as excuses? And as I always say: "When you run out of excuses why NOT to do something, the reasons to just DO IT will show up."

“What if someone told you that a thinner, healthier, and longer life was within your grasp? Sound too good to be true? According to a wealth of research, exercise is the silver bullet for a better quality of life.
Not only does regular exercise aid in weight loss, it reduces your risk for several chronic diseases and conditions. Finding activities that you enjoy and that become part of your daily routine is the key to a long and healthy life. The list of health benefits is impressive, and the requirements are relatively simple -- just do it.”   http://www.medicinenet.com/benefits_of_exercise/article.htm

“How Physical Activity Impacts Health
Regular physical activity that is performed on most days of the week reduces the risk of developing or dying from some of the leading causes of illness and death in the United States.
• Reduces the risk of dying prematurely.
• Reduces the risk of dying prematurely from heart disease.
• Reduces the risk of developing diabetes.
• Reduces the risk of developing high blood pressure.
• Helps reduce blood pressure in people who already have high blood pressure.
• Reduces the risk of developing colon cancer.
• Reduces feelings of depression and anxiety.
• Helps control weight.
• Helps build and maintain healthy bones, muscles, and joints.
• Helps older adults become stronger and better able to move about without falling.
• Promotes psychological well-being.”       http://www.nutristrategy.com/health.htm

“When we talk about exercise, we nearly always refer to physical exercise. Exercise is the physical exertion of the body - making the body do a physical activity which results in a healthy or healthier level of physical fitness and both physical and mental health. In other words, exercise aims to maintain or enhance our physical fitness and general health.”            http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/153390.php
"Health Benefits of Exercise and Physical Activity:

• Reduce the risk of premature death
• Reduce the risk of developing and/or dying from heart disease
• Reduce high blood pressure or the risk of developing high blood pressure
• Reduce high cholesterol or the risk of developing high cholesterol
• Reduce the risk of developing colon cancer and breast cancer
• Reduce the risk of developing diabetes
• Reduce or maintain body weight or body fat
• Build and maintain healthy muscles, bones, and joints
• Reduce depression and anxiety
• Improve psychological well-being
• Enhanced work, recreation, and sport performance"         http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwfit/benefits.html

These excerpts from the websites I have linked for you may entice you to look further into each article, I hope they do- then ask yourself this: “Why am I not exercising?” Just do it. Would you rather continue to be power-less, consumed with your excuses? How about power-full, full of reasons why you have gotten up and moved! Again, the choice is yours, make it a good one, one you can live better with!

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