Random (Post) Updates

Short Fasting Update:

On Monday I completed my first 3 day Juice Feast with juices picked up from New Family Naturals. After I finished it I rolled into a 3 day raw foods cleanse from Khepra's. I feel great and ready for the next short Juice Feast. I'm still enjoying a juice here and there and my next 3 day JF is scheduled in two weeks.

2013 FSVB

 Feng Shui Vision Board Update:

I completed my second FSVB and I am posting it because I listened in on a Denise Linn class where she specified how she makes her vision board and that we should share our vision boards with others and when we encounter others we should send love into them. She also recommends you make a smaller version to keep close by. For me this means I will occasionally pull up a picture of my board throughout the day on my phone or computer and spend sometime visualizing.

I noticed some serious differences between this one and my first one. This one is rather sparse. I have spent a lot of effort simplifying my life and it is showing in my desires and thought patterns. There are lots of gaps in the pictures and words (you can even see the grid colors!). I'm slightly embarrassed to admit in my first FSVB I layered pictures and packed massive "things" in it. Finally this one includes a lot of animals, trees and affirmations.

Apple Cider Vinegar Challenge Update:

I am stunned how much ACV did to clear up my facial skin in particular. Within the first week I got an unexpected glow and clearer complexion and the results continued. I still don't like the taste of ACV and undiluted it's strong going down; however I am working on an ACV shot to make the process easier.

Ionic Footbath Update:

I still love my ionic footbath and I want to provide some helpful hints. If you do purchase a machine with replaceable arrays, the life can be extended by keeping the operating system at 1.5 and after use immediately wrap the array in a cloth. Others store it in a plastic bag. The trick is to keep the array from being exposed to air. Also, there are other types of footbaths that do not require arrays. One such product can be found here.

100 Days of Schizandra Update:

Another beauty tool which gave my skin the healthiest dew drop glow. I have also noticed these tonic adaptogen herbs keep me on an even keel. I am mellow and not disturbed by the pettiness of others (a needed skill at my work). I am continuing to take this herb for liver assistance and continued improvement in my well being.

More Fasting...

With the Juice Feast coming closer and closer (I am undecided on the actual start date but it will be sometime this Spring or Summer) I wanted to get in the swing of fasting. I am in my last course for graduate school and it is a capstone class requiring about 3 hours a week. This gives me a lot more time and energy for healing.

As I prepare I feel a bit like Hebert's Amazon Preparing for Battle which I saw last weekend at the National Gallery of Art. I fasted on tea and water for two and a half days two weekends ago, I am fasting for three days this weekend on teas, water, and Blue-Eyed Spirulina Goddess Juice. These were planned fasts. I decided to throw in an unplanned for juice fast next weekend after I saw New Family Naturals Juice Cleanses. I am so happy to find these services in this area!

I've also been reading up on fasting. I'm reading The New Life Fasting Guide and I love this passage:

     "With fasting your quality of life increases, and many illnesses can be halted, even healed. Fasting remains a true adventure in a world where the highest mountain peaks have been climbed and the deepest oceans have been crossed.  On a fast, if you are able and willing to travel, you will discover nothing less than the amazing and beautiful landscape of your deepest self, your soul and a new you will emerge, giving way to a life lived more fully."

Yes I am fasting three short times this month which may seem excessive if you are unaccustomed to fasting, however for me in my current condition it is just right. After reading Patricia Bragg's book on Apple Cider Vinegar and seeing that she fasts one day a week, I considered trying that. So far, it hasn't happened. Maybe in February. In the meantime I am still intent on living "a life lived more fully."

Rewilding Ourselves, Rewilding Nature

Proper stance for bowel eliminations

If you've ever heard of Daniel Vitalis you've likely already heard about rewilding. He explains his rewilding views and strategies in two 2012 interviews here and here. In essence he sees the current human race as overly domesticated, resulting in the slew of degenerative diseases we commonly see today. What have you gotten away from that the ancients got right?

What's equally interesting to me is this short documentary I came across, Rewilding Scotland, regarding rewilding nature. Of course the ancients weren't always right (massive deforestation, extinction of large predatory animals, caveman bopping their desired mate on the head...), but I can assume they did the best they could under the circumstances they were in. Sometimes that means we have to question if modern people can work with ancient history to restore our natural ecosystem.

For the bulk of my years I've felt drawn to the metropolitan lifestyle, however in the last couple of years I've been drawn into nature as my lifestyle of choice. In one sense the urban jungle does resemble the laws of nature yet for me it is one with limited clean air, positive thoughts and healthy trees. I am ready for my own sacred space where one day I would like to Juice Feast on vegetables grown from my hearty garden. Until then to fend off degenerative diseases (and rewild myself) I:

eat cultured foods

use a stool for eliminations

spend quality time in nature

eat clay

sweat

Although it is not my intent to revert to cave person lifestyle ways...if that is where all this rewilding ends up, then I want to be part of Atouk's (Ringo Starr) clan. This is a goofy movie but one I find VERY funny!

Feng Shui Vision Board

I am in the process of creating my Feng Shui vision board (FSVB). I have only done one before and it was quite a remarkable experience. How is the FSVB different from a standard vision board? First I want to share the definition I am starting with. Rodika Tchi defines Feng Shui as:

It is a complex body of knowledge that reveals how to balance the energies of any given space to assure health and good fortune for people inhabiting it.

To apply this knowledge to a vision board, I start with the Bagua which has been reshaped to represent a grid.  Here is an example. Each area of the board represents the various Feng Shui aspects of life. This is a basic layout for colors but I also incorporate the elements (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water) to this process through pictures, objects, etc. For instance abundance is associated with Wood. If I wanted to add abundance to my life I would add money, healthy plants, a fish photo to the Abundance section.

One of the benefits of a FSVB is that when I want to visually create my future, I do so in a balanced manner. I can quickly see the gaps and imbalances in my life and thoughts with this approach. Typically this means the area is underrepresented. In the areas, underrepresented or not, I want to add some oomph I look for expert Feng Shui advice on what to add. The advice I will be using is from a library copy of Denise Linn's Space Clearing A-Z: How to Use Feng Shui to Purify and Bless Your Home.

My First Vision Board

It takes me a long time to put together a board (My first board took months). I find it to be a pleasurable creative practice, so I don't rush it. I start by collecting magazines, picture books from the local library donation bin and any neat knick-nacks I admire which I can affix to the board. This step takes the longest. After I have a bag of visions I lay out the spatially equal construction paper, color-coded to the bagua and place it on the board. Sometimes the construction paper pack doesn't have the right color for the bagua. If this is the case I usually find  a beautiful picture in a glossy magazine vibrant with this needed color. I then affix that to a piece of construction paper.

After the layout is ready I break out the scissors, glue stick, thumbtacks and set them beside the board. Once this is all ready I take time to meditate. Meditation helps me align myself with my Higher Self. I try never to do any manifesting or divination without clearing my energy with  pre-meditation because I believe it helps me stay aligned with good energy. In my meditation I ask for assistance in creating the FSVB. After I've completed my meditation I spend some time looking at all the images and then I begin to play with the process.

When I moved a few weeks back I took down this FSVB and thanked it with gratitude before I recycled it. It's been near a year since I created my first vision board. This new one is already proving it will be different from my first one as the images which caught my attention are very different--yet true to the person I am today.

Update:

Please see my second Feng Shui vision board here.

Finally--Fuller Hair

For all hair types

I actually have a lot of hair. Seven years ago I experienced 3 deaths in the family in 2 1/2 years. Those trials are what eventually led me to living a (n extremely) healthier lifestyle. That experience as a whole took a toll on my body, mind and soul. My hair was a good indicator of my overall health and the changes I was going through. The biggest issue with my hair was it became very full and heavy. My hair is actually wavy and curly but the trials of life pulled my hair flat. No matter what I did it would not hold a curl.

As I've healed my life and implemented More Precise Haircare techniques, I've slowly built a lasting curl back into my coif.  Last May I donated 14 inches of hair to charity.  My hair was really short but it felt great and was a wonderful way to start over. Still, originally it was fairly limp and I couldn't hide that in a braid or clip. What's my secret? I proudly use apple cider vinegar (ACV) rinse (yes, I'll live with the smell). I am using this Roots combination right now and I am very pleased with it. I have not used it as a hair rinse in the shower, rather I add a capful daily to my scalp and hair as a leave in. Usually on one day of the weekend I massage a tonic into my scalp and comb through coconut oil in the rest and leave in until I wash my hair later that day. My hair is getting very shiny, curly and beautiful.

From this experience I've become an explorer with ACV. On Christmas I put it to the test. After a poor food choice (sweet potato chips and garlic hummus--yum, but ouch!) my stomach turned sour. I had to leave the house soon so I randomly made an ACV drink. I poured an ounce into a glass jar with a tablespoon of coconut sap nectar and the juice of one lime. I filled the 16 ounce jar up with water. On the first sip my sour stomach started righting itself.

I decided to challenge myself and drink ACV every day from Christmas through the end of January (for starters) and see what happens. I was delighted to go to my local library's website and find the Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar book online for instant access with my library card. I read up on it and I'm quite impressed with its possibilities and interested in the results of my experiment.

Releasing the Unnecessary

Source

This has been an incredible month for me. Despite moving I did manage to squeeze in my Winter Solstice Liver Flush near the new moon. The Winter Solstice itself was spent in meditation, contemplation and journaling.  I had wrapped up the final details of the move the day before and was most interested in resting in bed. There was only a slight problem with that interest: I had given away all my furniture the day before to Homestretch, Inc. who will provide the donated items to persons recently off the street and into their new homes.

So I slept on the floor for two nights until I could put together my platform bed. After careful consideration I ordered an organic mattress. However it may not ship for another month...or two.  I've become reacquainted with the notion that change is not always comfortable.

In addition to releasing the big stuff, I've been slowly releasing the unnecessary from my household for months. I feel blessed to have a charitable organization come to my door step and pick up my donations.  Despite doing all of this--I still have a lot of work ahead of me. I've deliberately moved into a smaller space so I have to find out what I need here in this life rather than what I owned in the previous life. I used to be addicted to "stuff" and now I'm realizing with startling clarity releasing this excess stuff is allowing me to rapidly change my life course. I now have more room for healing, for kindness, for compassion.

Solar Power (It Just Makes Sense!)

One of the benefits of preparing for a Juice Feast includes an overhaul of my current way of living. In the course of the preparation I have made huge unexpected leaps. I have switched to a (nearly) 100 percent organic wardrobe (I'm still releasing old things but not buying anything new that isn't organic), I have given up even more chemicals from hair care to body care. These were not planned changes, but my drive to live a healthier lifestyle offered these choices to me. And I conscientiously made these new choices which have changed my life for the better.

Solar Prayer Wheel

Om Mani Padme Hum

Another fantasy of mine is solar power. I am delighted to announce my first (well second really--no I'm not counting the school-mandated calculator either) use of solar power. Let me start with the first solar item. I've had this prayer wheel in my life for over a year. When the sun comes up in the morning it starts spinning and spreading compassion into my life and the world. It does not store power so it stops spinning when the sun goes down.

Solar charger

Now, for the grand unveiling of my current solar energy usage...a solar charger! Today my solar charger came in the mail and I immediately placed its solar side to the window and charged my e-reader (that purple plate has nothing to do with the charger). For my next coffee enema I will be reading electronically, compliments of the sun!  This model is tiny, it can be place against a window but it also comes with two attachable suction cups so it can ride in the car with you. My first foray into solar charging is for USB charging only. Of course, one day I aspire to greater reliance on solar energy. But I am celebrating my first steps.

I am grateful for my dedication to my healing journey and quest for continuous self-improvement. The unexpected life-changing solutions bring much beauty to my life. With solar power I am going to have to get much more serious in my devotions and salutations to the sun!