Thoughts, Tips for Health, Benefits of Mindful Living
6/29/2017 1 Comment foods that don't heal.![]() My favorite quote which I will use often is according to Chinese Medicine: The body is only as healthy as the blood is clean. The blood only follows where energy leads. This means that we need to start with cleaning our blood. That my people comes from what we eat. The whole foods or the junk will determine the cleanliness of our blood. Supplements, water, balanced nutrients are all important to our blood cells and our bodies ability to follow the road of health and prosperity. Often people in life fill their holes of disappointment, sorrow, heart ache or emotional stress with food, substances and or sugar. This provides a temporary relief to the pain and the hurt. The ones I see the most is soda, the diet variety so there isn’t the guilt of the sugar, or energy drinks. Come on! I get it! I am a mom of 4 crazy busy and active kids. My husband doesn’t get home from work until 10-11 pm. Meaning to feed him dinner and visit with him at the end of his day puts me up super late. Kids sleep in until about 8:00, so for me to have me time and do my morning pages I have to wake between 7-7:30. Anything under 6 hours of sleep for more than 1 night a week is not enough and can wear on your overall health. This means I am screwed! Yup! I am flirting with my health by my current way of living. So do I think of a pick me up? Do I turn to something that provides relief from the tiredness? Sometimes. Yes I have been guilty of a few swallows of a caffeinated drink to keep my eyes open for a few hours longer. But mostly I give in and take a nap! Novel Idea I know but such a huge risk and sacrifice. I sacrifice getting something done like the mountain… Yes mountain of laundry in my bed room. Risk…. Yes I place the kids in front of the TV meaning their brains turn to mush and I know their obedience level cuts at least in half by every 30 min of the box! (Not at all scientific just what happens to my kids through my observation). Huge risk Huge sacrifice. And that is just from stress and lack of enough sleep. Sugar becomes our cocaine that we really struggle to pull away from. Not only does it respond the same in the brain but it keeps us coming back from more. What can we start doing to cut the sugar (diet drinks may not contain the same sugar but the sweeter in it is worst than sugar is for the brain and body, its even more of a neurotoxin). Emotional distress?!? Most turn to eating, they munch all day long and still eat a full meal. As long as there is a physical substance in their mouth they feel stimulated and better. However most of the time they are stress eating meaning their body is still in the fight and flight mode of the sympathetic nervous system response mode and not rest and digest of the parasympathetic. So…. all that munching and eating is actually not getting used for fuel for the bodies cells! But that is double dose bad news. Not only do the cells not get the fuel so you constantly are left wanting more but what you do eat has to go somewhere. If its sugary toxic yuck you start feeling mentally cloudy and numb to the emotional pain, which makes it easy to push yourself beyond what you can handle and sets up for emotional collapse. Well and the body also tends to pack on that extra calorie intake in the form of fat. So… not such a great idea. Me?!? I tend to not eat. I get to looking at the clock and realize its 8 PM and I fed my kids but I hadn't eaten all day. I have gotten into periods of time in my life where depression was severe and my eating non-eating has gotten just as severe. My 5’4” frame of typically 120 lbs has gotten down to under 100 lbs simply because my anxiety got bad and my depression took over. Well, I did eat a candy bar that day so I had something. My mental state was that if the knot in my stomach was because it was hungry, it was something I had control over, if I ate and it wasn’t from that it meant something was wrong and I didn’t know how to control it. Who was I kidding? But I honesty believed that lie. How many lies do we believe to make us feel better about how we treat ourselves in just how we eat and how much sleep we get and how we manage our self care. Note again it has been over 7 years of not having any anxiety or depression in my life so this is no longer the same problem. I now do more of the munch all day long rather than not eat. I hear so many times of parents who bring in their extreme athlete kids to have a massage for peak performance but have chronic back pain they have quietly suffered from for decades? Why do we put everyone and everything first before we take care of our own health and bodywork? Why do we have to feel we deserve a massage before we book the appointment? Why do we think so little of ourself to knowingly treat our bodies with little to no real care by eating or drinking things we know are not healthy? Why is the busy of our lives screaming so loud that we don't have time to make time for our health and happiness? Any insights? Please share your comments below because we are all searching for balance in our lives.
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6/24/2017 0 Comments Detoxing Organ: The Skin![]() The skin is the bodies largest organ and is amazing at eliminating waste from the body, about a pound a day through our pores. Lets help it out!! Avoid: Oh there is so much we put on our skin which is less than healthy. Our skin absorbs that which we put on it so we need to be cautious of what we put on. Parabens (widely used preservatives and have estrogen mimicking properties), Synthetic colors (FD&C or D&C i.e. D&C Red 27, human carcinogen, skin irritated and linked to ADHD in children), formaldehyde (preservative, human carcinogen, causation to allergic skin reactions) as well as several other. Although it is impossible to avoid every ingredient that could possible harm us it is important to do what we can to limit their use or make wiser choices when it comes to skin and body care. Simply using coconut oil to moisturize instead of lotion. Detox Baths: Epsom Salt baths have often been used to help aid detoxification. Make sure you add baking soda to neutralize the toxins that are released so that you aren't soaking in toxic water. Add powder ginger which will increase your body temperature and increase the rate in which your body heats and releases toxins. Just make sure you are drinking plenty of liquids while bathing. Essential Oils. A drop or two of your favorite essential oil to raise your vibration and increase your emotional state will assist in making the bath feel even more rejuvenating. Bathe from 15 min to 1 hour, with caution depending on how hot the water is, making sure you stay hydrated while in the bath. Dry Brushing. This is a natural detoxing method that stimulates the lymphatic system. You want to use a soft but stiff enough to cause some friction. Long handle makes it easier to reach the back. Make sure the room is warm and comfortable as you want your pores to be open. Using a firm but rhythmic strokes start with the bottom of your foot, move the the top of your foot and ankle, brush your calf and shin, then your knee to the top of your thigh covering the area several times. Always brush in an upward direction and cover the whole surface. Repeat with your other leg. When brushing your back start at your waist to your shoulders and neck. Start with your palm of your hand and brush up your arm again always in an upward direction. Your abdomen should be brushed in a clockwise direction (your upper right to your upper left, down and then left to right and up again in the direction of your digestive system). Because your neck and face have very sensitive skin brush lightly or not at all. Then take a warm shower. A contrast shower of 3 min warm water 1 min cold water, repeat the cycle but end with the cold rinse, will stimulate the nervous system and waken the body. 6/24/2017 0 Comments Posture![]() What happens to our bodies when we slouch, is more than just decreased oxygen. The chain of events that comes from the decrease in oxygen is significant. Less Oxygen mean Less Energy!! When we have poor posture we have a mix of strain, pain, muscle fatigue, and drained energy. Strain: Our head weighs 10-11 lbs. When we have forward head posture or the cell phone effect (frequent looking down) that weight pulls on our neck muscles, specifically the Occiputs at the base of the skull. These lead to headaches, neck weakness and discomfort. Pain: When our bodies are not aligned the way they are meant to or work in optimal functioning position we feel the response of pain. It is the natural mechanism to bring attention that something needs to change. Are we standing on one leg when standing at rest or do we shift from side to side? I call it the mom sway. As she sways back and forth to comfort baby or child she is actually bringing more balance and better posture to her body. So even if you don't have a child in your arms, practice the sway. Shifting your body weight from one foot to the other. And yes I can tell which foot you stand on more when massaging your legs. Muscle Fatigue: Hand in hand with pain is muscle fatigue. I find when working on someone, they ask for attention on their neck or shoulder but their legs are fine.... until I start working on the. When a muscle is over worked in an unbalanced way muscles start to fatigue and the body will compensate. The blessing and curse of the body compensating is that we are connected the big toe to the little finger someone through the muscle and fascia train are connected. This means one muscle fatigues another compensates and so on until we have completely shifted how we walk or bend or move. When we get regular body work our bodies work! Imagine that. We balance how we move and shift and the posture we hold through out the day. Energy: What? Energy of life of vitality is connected to posture. Yes! Oxygen is a life force and vital for our cells. Oxygenated cells are happy cells and making sure we are able to breath fully is important to the whole body on a cellular level. I'll post more about breathing soon. When we breath in air we are also breathing in life. Our life. The energy of life. Close your eyes while slouching and focus on how you feel emotionally. Sit up straight and breath twice in through the nose and out through the mouth slowly, now how do you feel emotionally. We carry how we feel about ourselves in our bodies. So straighten up that back and hold the head high because you are worth standing tall and breathing in the life and light that you want to be in the world. 6/17/2017 0 Comments Upcoming Classes![]() Please comment below or send me a message of what classes you would like to attend. Harry Potter Class: There is a story about a man that kept trying to attend the Temple to worship his God and something always came up to prevent the visit. Whether the cannel flooded or the cows got out something kept him from feeding himself spiritually. One day he was out in the field and he just dropped his bucket and ran to the Temple. When we make plans to "fight against the dark arts", "Put on the Armor of God" something will come up to prevent us or deter us from learning the "patroness" or where to find the shield. So this is my Harry Potter class, my pick up a bucket and run to this class. We will be making our patroness' strong to protect us from the Dementors of the world. Energy Systems *Chakras *Meridains *Shielding *Visualizations *Crystals and Gems *Herbs and Essential oils *How to check yourself and bring yourself back into balance. *Self care, including what throws us off. 6/15/2017 0 Comments Sugar Factory![]() I have been pondering something the last couple of months as we have faced some stress as a family. The picture to the side is of an old sugar factory that has been abandoned and left defenseless to weather storms and teenagers. It is tattooed with graffiti and crumbling. I have to admit that there are times I feel like I am crumbling and falling apart. I have to wonder what it is I look like in comparison to what the Lord see's as my potential? I feel somedays that I look like the mess pictured here and I have a long way to go and a lot of work ahead of me. Somedays I feel hope. How do we keep up moving forward without feeling like we are as big of a mess and as abandoned as this sugar factory? How do we move forward each day to make something better with tomorrow with out feeling completely overwhelmed? I have a particular talk given by Jeffery R Holland several years ago that I love and gather strength from often. "There is, of course, one source of despair more serious than all the rest. It is linked with poor preparation of a far more serious nature. It is the opposite of sanctification. It is the most destructive discouragement in time or eternity. It is transgression against God. It is depression embedded in sin. Here your most crucial challenge, once recognizing the seriousness of your mistakes, will be to believe that you can change, that there you can become different. To disbelieve that is clearly a Satanic device designed to discourage and defeat you. Fall on your knees and thank your Father in Heaven that you belong to a church and have accepted the gospel that promises repentance to those who will pay the price. Repentance is not a foreboding word. It is, following faith, the most encouraging word in the Christian vocabulary. Repentance is simply the scriptural invitation for growth and improvement and progress and renewal. You can change! You can be anything you want to be in righteousness. If there is one lament I cannot tolerate it is the poor, pitiful, withered cry, “Well, that’s just the way I am.” If you want to talk about discouragement, that is one that discourages me. Please don’t give me any speeches which say “That’s just the way I am.” I’ve heard that from too many people who wanted to sin and find some principle of psychology to justify it. And I use the word sin again to cover a vast range of habits, some seemingly innocent enough, which nevertheless bring discouragement and doubt and despair. You can change anything you want to change and you can do it very fast. That’s another Satanic deception that it takes years and years to repent. It takes exactly as long to repent as it takes you to say, “I’ll change”—and mean it. Of course there will be problems to work out and restitutions to make. You may well spend—indeed you had better spend—the rest of your life proving your repentance is genuine by its permanence. But change, growth, renewal, repentance can come for you as instantaneously as it did for Alma and the Sons of Mosiah. Even if you have serious amends to make, it is not likely that you would qualify for the term “the vilest of sinners” (Mosiah 28:4) which is Mormon’s phrase in describing these young men. Yet as Alma recounts his own experience in the 36th chapter of Alma [Alma 36] it appears to have been as instantaneous as it was stunning. Do not misunderstand. Repentance is not easy or painless or convenient. It is a bitter cup from hell. But only Satan who dwells there would have you think that the necessary and temporary discomfort of acknowledging your sins is more distasteful than permanent residence there. Only he would say, “You can’t change. You won’t change. It’s too long and too hard to change. Give up. Give in. Don’t repent. You are just the way you are.” That, my friends, is a lie which comes from desperation. Don’t believe it." I know that the Lord is very much aware of us and gives us time and opportunity to reach our desires, our desires of growth and progress. I discovered today that change is easy to embrace once we acknowledge where the sin or the mess lies. Is a belief that we feel is true that isn't? Is it holding onto fear or anger that doesn't serve us anymore. Is it the lack of ability to see what the Lord see's in us? Is it stubbornness holding us back? What is standing in your way from experiencing abundance and joy? I have struggled being mom. In fact somedays I wish I could quit that job and move on to a different one, knowing I really don't want to but sometimes it just feels easier. Mom or Dad is the most important job title and sometimes the hardest one to maintain. I have been struggling this week feeling like my kids even care what I do or don't do for their lives. They sass, they ignore me and and they are down right rude. And then they cuddle up and tell me how much they love me and all of a sudden I don't want them to be in time out for the rest of the month and I am sorry I ever wanted to quit my job.
There are so many tools out there to help parents to be the best they can to help their kids in the face of not being perfect at our job. Every little thing that helps me have a successful moment or two I grab at! So I am going to share what I have learned in a couple parenting classes. There will be sever offered but these specifically will cover: The Sensitive Child... ADHD, Anxiety, or "special" gifts that make raising your child a "challenge" however you look at it. Intro Class: *Hyperactive nerves, Touch to calm the wiggles, Understanding the nervous system, *Hypnosis: what it is and benefits it has for children. *The Empthic Child and How help them cope, Brain Gym, Tapping Thymus, Emotional awareness, *Benefits of massage for children *Muscle Testing and Intuition The World through your Childs eyes: *Homework to be done prior to the class and brought with you for discussion. *Head Magic experience, Art Experience with Interpretation, How to discover your child's emotions. *Emotional Releases that a child could do, How to process emotions and Let them go! *Generational Healing, how healing yourself can help your child. *Focus and the ADHD Child, Becoming The Mindful Parent: *You First, Lead through example. *Recognizing when to use outside resources, list of practitioners and services offered provided. *Discovering and releasing your parenting blocks, *The Empathic self. How to cope as a empathic parent to a struggling child. Parent Massage: *Basic massage strokes, and safety. *Hands on, Bring your child with you. *Essential Oils that can help with different challenges, and how to know how to use them. *Crystals and Gems, Dream rocks, Courage stones, Calming pebble. *The Foot! The Hand! The Ears! Key pressure points that make a world of difference. *Handouts!!! Support: Park Dates!! Who doesn't love another park date!?! Scheduled at varying times to allow parents to meet and discuss what is or isn't working for them $30 per class per family or Purchase the whole Parent Series and/or 4 classes for $100. Whether mom comes or mom and dad its the same price!! Intro Class is a pre-requisite to the other classes. Come at 7:00 and mingle and visit with other parents. Class will start promptly at 7:30 and last 60-75 min with Q&A time at the end. 6/8/2017 0 Comments Yellow![]() Why is it when we need the security, nourishment and warmth of others supporting us that we turn them away and feel like we have to do it alone. We are never alone, even when we want to be. There are always new possibilities that once we open to them all the love, joy and trust come rushing in to surround us. I will keep my yellow surrounding me and I will make sure that I am open, open to the possibilities that are out there for me to grasp. I am not alone in any suffering, although it may seem to be it is the opportunity of feeling alone that we are blessed to make a choice to open ourselves. I have been seeing a lot of yellow lately and have been pondering its meaning in my life at this time. Yellow can negatively signify: Judgement, fear, worrying about what others think, not feeling good enough and low will to live. Positively it can mean: joy, love, energy, trust, nurturing, security, nourishment, warmth, self-esteem, open to new possibilities. It has come up in a message of trying too hard to do things by self. Like everything depends on us and we have to do it all. We feel alone and push the help of others away because of our own judgement on ourself. When yellow speaks the tune of loss of hope, that perhaps there isn't enough to look forward to. It is the same color that best brings us out from it. Like the leaf signifying the end of one season the same colored petal marks the beginning of a new one. New life and new horizons bring us hope. 6/8/2017 0 Comments Love Hate Relationship.![]() I was reminded today that I live in an environment of a Love Hate relationship with myself, and it needs to change. Change is always hard especially the acceptance that change needs to happen. I have been an Empath my whole life and during a time in my life by necessity it was heightened. Well, I proceeded to have serious anxiety and moderate depression for over a decade due to that heightened gift/curse. Ever since the birth of my oldest son and the "turning my gift off" I have not only lived without anxiety and depression by I have also lived in fear of my "gift/curse" returning and not being strong enough to channel it in a way that keeps it a gift and gift only. In my pondering and coming some self realization I created this image. This finger paining I did a couple years ago shows the bottom circle the wall I had built around my gift to keep me protected and "safe". The white light inside gradually become bigger and is able to encompass the walls of protection and break down the borders. Wow! This concept was life changing to me and I loved the new freedom I thought I had received from it. However, it sorta stoped there. It sounded awesome and amazing and logically I knew that it was possible and that this was exactly what I was looking for to be able to develop what it is I do to help people and not be overwhelmed by my senses. I was reminded today that I had forgotten the most important step of this self revelation. FEAR! I forgot that there are always emotions involved and in this case strong one. I had such hope of developing my gift as a gift and allowing the light inside or the LOVE of God within me that I am able to share with others that I forgot to allow that same light and LOVE to replace that fear and the darkness that those walls surrounded me with. We can't love and have complete faith if there is fear in our hearts. "Perfect love casteth out all fear." Moro. 8:16. If there is any fear left it simply means I have more to do to perfect my Love and release all emotional residue of fear. It sucks that fear has to be so crippling. It is no fun to be our own source of obstacles that hold us back. Fear keeps us standing in our own way when it comes to creating life of abundance and joy. We need more live around us, more joy and more abundance and much, much less fear. So perfect the Love of God in your life and watch as it casteth out all fear. Watch miracles take action and change your life. Watch as that Love that God has for you and that you can then share with the world encompasses the walls that stand in your way keeping you from the life you want to be living. |
Calista BurbankI am a single mom, student, teacher, massage therapist, lecturer, blogger, and friend. Archives
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