Labyrinth Buttercups

It's buttercup season and the labyrinth is sprinkled with yellow dots. This has nothing to do with anything about this post, other than I took a picture. ;-) Saturday was World Labyrinth Day. So I went out and walked before Mum came over in the afternoon. It's May already! And all those things on my To Do List have magically remained . . . undone. Well, not all. But, still... So I was walking to feel a bit more inspired, a bit more motivated, a bit more _____. I've been feeling a bit of a slug lately. And then! You know what happened?

Well. I got stung by a wasp on the medial anterior part of my left arm, distal to the elbow. Yeah, I know, right? OUCH. And I'm allergic to stings. I managed to get the wasp off my back without getting stung again. YAY, me! But there was a big welt at the sting site, my arm was swelling up, and there was a red streak going up my arm, and it was burning. All the while, I'm telling myself to stay calm. [OK, stop laughing. You know who you are!] So I took some homeopathic apis. Then I went and got my little laser that I'd gotten from Dr. Brimhall a few years ago. As soon as I shined the light on the sting site, it stopped hurting. Immediately. I thought maybe it was the apis kicking in, or perhaps a placebo effect. So I moved it off the site. It started burning again. I kept lasering and long story short, you could barely see where I'd been stung!

So after I got the pain under control, I got curious about the sting point. Have you ever heard of bee sting therapy? I went to my Resonance Repatterning Meridians book and looked up which acupuncture meridian was affected; small intestine. Then I looked up the qualities associated to it.

I have to say that after the sting & the lasering, I no longer felt like such a slug. In fact, I had an energy and a mental focus that I'd been lacking prior to it. So while I would never wish for a sting, I'm not feeling so bad about it anymore. All in all, I'd say I'm feeling as sunny as a buttercup. :-)

CSFT Seminar

I took a seminar with GSF Bess in Cerebral Spinal Fluid Technique this past weekend. You can read about it here. I had taken it a few years ago before I became a massage therapist. It was an easier class to take this time because there was a more hands-on approach & less information to have to assimilate. However, while I can appreciate this work, I see it through my Brimhall Goggles and it seems s-l-o-w and tedious. Lots of steps involved and I just think I prefer percussors & lasers. I'm sure practitioners who are proficient at it get miracles, just as all healing modalities produce their own miracles. I don't think it's a technique that I want to devote time to mastering. As always, it's not just the class you're taking, but the whole experience of it. It was a pretty awesome weekend, but I'm waiting to write anything else until I can upload some photos to go along with the narrative. I was back in my old stomping grounds of Shepherdstown, WV. One of my favourite places. I was able to get a visit in with my dear Miss Ruthie. She makes my heart SMILE. And I'll end with a BIG THANK YOU to Susan for her kind hospitality.

LOVE Never Dies

I was asked a few months ago to contribute to a scrapbook for Claudette, the matriarch of the Brimhall clan. She has been in my thoughts and prayers alot since last Feb. when she was first diagnosed with cancer. She passed away last week, and her funeral is today. Words fail me at this moment, so I am going to leave you with the poem I wrote for her.

FROM THE HEART OF A MOTHER

From the heart of a mother
To daughter and son,
LOVE shines through
From the Holy ONE.

Heavenly Father
Guides and directs
This heavenly mother
Nurtures, protects.

In times of Light
In times of dark
LOVE from a mother
Is never far.

Her hand of kindness
Her hand of LOVE
Guided by God
From up above

In Spirit and flesh
In Light, in Truth
This mother’s LOVE
Follows you

From here to there
From near to far
A mother’s LOVE
Is wherever you are.

My Weight Loss Story

In yesterday's post I promised more about my weight loss. One of my sisters, known in our family as The Tactless One, said to me at Xmas, "What have you lost? Like 60 pounds?" I don't know because I didn't weigh myself. I think it's about 40 or 50 pounds, but I hadn't been on a scale so I don't know what my start weight was and it's prolly more. I just went on pant size. So I started from the stretchy-XL's (size 18-ish, I think) and v. gradually moved down to size 10.

Here are the components to returning my body to balance:

MOVEMENT:
When I was younger I took ballet, aerobics, etc. Then I became v. ill with debilitating migraines for a few years. It was a long road back to health and wellness. Thanks to getting Brimhalled, along with acupuncture from my husband, I am back among the living. However, during that time, I had stopped all activity because it was just exhausting. I walked my labyrinth, which was the extent of my exercise.

Lack of movement + hormonal imbalance + yummy cheesecake + STRESS = weight gain.

I was never a gym rat and even tho I had memberships, I never went. Yeah, I was one of those. Now you couldn't pay me to go to a gym: the noise, the bright lights, the sweaty people, the smells...Eeewww! But as Bruce Lipton says, Movement is life. So it was a matter of finding my kind of movement. And then I discovered YOGA. Like Columbus discovered America, but still. THANK GOD.

Have you ever met Yoga People? People used to assume I was into yoga years before I was because I meditate. But I never got the Yoga Thing--those people with their yoga mats on vacation. They get that LOOK when they talk about yoga--you know, the Yoga Trance.

And THEN I went to Yoga East. And I got it. I'm one of those people now! What I appreciate about yoga is that it goes beyond physical exercise and works on all levels of the body-mind-spirit. MY kinda exercise! I'm more flexible than I ever was even when I was dancing, I'm stronger and have more stamina. Yoga helped not just with the physical exercise part, but it REALLY helped with all the stress I was under at the time. I remember Sharon Cameron was leading a particular pose and as I was holding it, I was thinking, I love you SO MUCH. Um, except that I said it out loud. Oops. But it was so true. If you're ever on Kent Island in Maryland, GO! You will be WELCOMED with open arms by everyone there.

MIND/BODY/HYPNOSIS
I continued listening to my CD every night with the intention of being conscious of what my body wants to eat, and how it wants to exercise. I focused on being healthy, vital, and energetic.

FOOD,NUTRITION, ETC.
Whenever anyone asks about "diet," Dr. Brimhall recommends The Schwarzbein Principle. My chiro-friend Catherine does as well for helping balancing hormones, people with diabetes, and women going through menopause. Dr. Schwarzbein helps patients reverse their diabetes and they also lose weight in the process. So it's a great resource and it was one of my influences.

I have a rule for myself that I won't eat anything I don't love. I never ate fast food to begin with and I don't drink sodas. It's not real food to me and it warps the taste buds. However, my weakness was pasta and pizza and donuts and cheesecake and ice cream. We have Celiac's disease in my family. It's the inability to digest gluten (found in wheat, barley, rye). While I tested negative for it (YAY, me!) the doctor said I have an extreme allergy to wheat. So if I get a stray bread crumb, I'll be OK (unlike a Celiac). But often with food allergies, you crave the very thing you're allergic to. If I cared enough, I could get it Brimhalled with their allergy elimination technique (which I would definitely do if it were life-threatening). But I thought I'd try wheat-elimination for a month and see if I noticed any difference. I felt so much more energetic and I wasn't so bloated and I dropped a pant size. Plus, I didn't have cravings. And I noticed that once I stopped eating wheat, I also stopped eating sugar (as in donuts, ice cream, etc).

Another thing I gave up (and this is a running joke in my family) : coffee. Are you drinking coffee, not drinking coffee, what? is the standard question I get when anyone's brewing. I drink tea, with a bit of honey, and organic milk.

Here's what I do eat:

• lots of vegetables, and raw for the most part in the warmer months.
• Beans. I like to sprout them and then they go in a salad, soup, stirfry. V. yummy. I've got some mystery beans from an Indian grocery that are AWESOME! But you can sprout any kind: lentils, black beans, etc.
• Hummus--great with veggies, on salad, with rice.
• I'm not a strict vegetarian, I'll eat Alaskan salmon (NOT farm-raised) & sardines for those essential fatty acids we all need.
• Nuts. I make my own trail mix with nuts, gogi berries, etc. from The Apple Cottage.
• For carbs: sweet potatoes, rice and plantains (SO yummy)!
• Oils: I use mostly olive oil and coconut oil (especially for cooking). There's some misinformation about coconut oil, but you can read more info on the benefits here. I also use it on steamed veggies.
• Total Green is an AWESOME green drink that Dr. Brimhall created. You have to get it through a Brimhall doc or someone who uses Nutriwest neutriceuticals. Packed with vitamins, minerals, protein, etc., it can be used as a meal replacement. I don't like breakfast, so I make a shake. In the summer time I make a smoothie with frozen fruit. I also buy rip bananas and cut them into pieces and freeze them. They give an ice-cream consistency to it and make it v. yummy. In the wintertime, I don't like cold things, so I just mix it with water. Yes, it's that good--to me, at least! I always travel with it so that if there's nothing to eat at a restaurant, at least I have trail mix and Total Green. And especially if I'm at a Brimhall seminar with Dr. Doesn't-Give-Breaks, I can keep my blood sugar stable.
• For sweets: trail mix, fresh fruit, bananas, and I LOVE plantains. I boil them and mash them like potatoes and add a bit of cocunut butter.
• In the winter time I like warm foods and hot tea and I LOVE soup. So I make lentil soup & pumpkin soup & veggie soup, etc. I've also done a bit of GF baking. When it first got cold, I started eating oatmeal (a no-no for Celiacs, but I seemed to be OK with it) except that I went up a pant size in a month. So I stopped eating it. For hot cereal I eat cream of rice occasionally. YUM. But mostly I just have Total Green in the a.m.
• In addition to food, I take my Nutriwest supplements as prescribed by the docs. These have been part of what gave me my life back when I was so ill, and I continue to take enzymes, probiotics, and a multi-vitamin.

So that's basically what I did to lose the weight and how I maintain it. It took about a year. I will look for some good chubby-before and now-after photos for another post. One last note: There are all sorts of reasons we gain weight, and I was not limited to one. There was a huge emotional component that I dealt with and that I am sparing you from. Suffice to say, one of the reasons we crave sweets is when we are missing other sweet things in our lives. In addition, I am hard-pressed to think of many women I know who don't have some sort of body-image issue. It is not limited to weight-gain, either. One of the keys is to stop the battle with yourself and accept where and who you are right now. And give up the idea that there is a perfect size or shape or age. Cut yourself some slack. To paraphrase a song: If you can't have the body you'd love, then love the one you're in. Right now. LTS: Life's too short to struggle. And if you want some help with that, go check out John Morgan's I Love My Body. Ah, because now, at the age of 43, I really do.

FW: Tag You're It

My friend Jane sent this to me, so I'm posting it here.

Two names you go by: Only 2? That's a whole blog post in itself: The story of my name. But for now: Mum calls me "Blessing Number One" & my fam calls me Hal.

Two things you are wearing right now: a tiara and a SMILE. hahaha

Two of your favorite things to do: Read and laugh....What's the deal with listing "2 things?" A feng shui person would hallucinate that the author of this is married...but I digress...

Things you want badly at this moment: World peace...and organic milk for my tea, because *sigh* I'm drinking evaporated from my Mormon Pantry.

Two Pets you had/have: Barkley & Remi, my 2 labweilers.

Two things you did last night: Watched The Next Great American Band (GO Clark Brothers!!!) & I knitted (FABULOUS scarf). It was a rockin' Friday night.

Two things you've eaten today: DSF adrenal support (YUM--no, really, bleh) and Total Green drink (v. YUMMY). There's your Brimhall reference for the day. ;-)

Two people you last talked to: John Morgan & a radio station gal in Indiana.

Two things you're doing tomorrow: Oh, I could make up all sorts of things! Refinish furniture, tile the bathroom (yeah, THAT'S happening)...but I'll prolly work on Xmas gifts and an ornament for Ornament Thursday.

What were your longest car rides: across America when I was 6, but the longest ones haven't been in geographical distance.

Favorite holiday: Only one? I LOVE holidays and birthdays and celebrations! Thanksgiving (Gathering of the fam without the Gift Pressure), Christmas (LOVE the lights!) and 4th of July(ooohhhh, aaahhh fireworks!) are some of my faves. Along with Beltane. hahaha

Two favorite beverages: Celestial Seasonings Teahouse Chai, and water from my tap. No, really. It's SO good! You wouldn't believe it. It tastes like Fiji. And that's all I drink.

Well. This has been fun. LOVE to Jane and all my friends back in West-by-God-Virginny!

P.S. XM Radio Guy's show is on tonight: Lucy XM channel 54 at 9 p.m. EST. What will tonight's cheap give-away be? Tune in to find out!

P.P.S. I just read today's blog post at Grasshopper Notes. AWESOME!

In the Finally Dept. but Oh! Where to Begin???

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a big fan of Dr.'s Brett & John Brimhall. I would not be here today if I'd not gone to The Brimhall Wellness Center 3 years ago. I also have had the good fortune to be able to attend seminars with Dr. John because I worked in my husband's office. In the process I've made my way back to health & wellness and learned a tremendous amount about holistic healing. My boss, John Morgan, will sometimes say to me as I'm blathering on, "You say this stuff as if I know what you're talking about."

Doesn't everyone know about cold-laser technology? Doesn't everyone know that miracles happen everyday with alleged terminal illnesses? That a diagnosis is not a death sentence? That even if you're in a wheelchair, you can get back out? That if something in you gets worse, it can also get better? No? This is what I appreciate about Brimhall doctors: they don't accept limitations. "We don't promise miracles, but we expect them," Dr. John likes to say.

So last weekend, I had the good fortune to attend another seminar with my chiro-sister Ruth, taught by Dr. David Lee. Yay! He says, "We get miracles in the office because we ask for them." I think another thing I appreciate about this work is that there is always something new to learn, because he & Dr. John are always learning new things. This work continues to evolve and just gets better and better.

Dr. Lee tells the best stories--too many to tell here. Dr. Lee, get a blog!!! However, here are a few tidbits from the weekend:

• You've got to alkalize your body to energize. Things that contribute to an acidic body: Emotional stress, too many starches, and the wrong drinking water. There's a 4th thing, but he digressed into a story about pigs.
• PIG STORY: Get ready to say Eeeewwwww! In China, pigs are raised in cages that sit 5 on top of each other. They put food in the top cages...and there it filters down. So you know what the other cages underneath are eating....The top 2 levels the Chinese use for food. The 3rd level is USDA & those pigs are imported as food, the 4th is for research, & the bottom are pigs they donate.
• Handy way to fix a hiatal hernia: drink a gallon of water. Stand on a chair. Jump down.
• 4 ways the body detoxes: 60% through breath, 30% through skin, 7% colon, & 3% bladder.
• Decide: means to seperate into 2 sides that can't be put back together.
• L.I.G.H.T. Let In God's Healing Light. Title of his book he's writing. Awesome.

Anyway, more that I could write, but I'll sign off with a few pictures:

Me & Dr. Lee :-)

Dr. Bruce Carrick with my sister Ruthie teasing me with greenpepper. Eeewwww!

The New Jersy Table: Dr. Jesse Liebman & staff. Dr. Jesse ROCKS!

P.S. And I don't know how I left the weekend without taking a picture of the Mincey Brothers!