Detox

Music to my soul, this week of honoring the body, & listening.

Being a Virgo, & a body worker, I am always encouraging folks to pay more attention to what they put in their bodies, how they move, & encourage them to drink more water!
Yesterday my dau. (who lives next door - tho she's thinking of moving across town - yikes!! Getting married in Jan, & they do 'need' more room - but it's SO handy right now!!) phoned & invited me to bring my matt over & join her in yoga - a perfect beginning!
In the evening, her girls stayed the night with me, & I did some Reiki on the little (4) one when she went thru her restless phase, then on myself as I (quietly) sang the Cherokee chants for the Chakras (for us all) . . . got out my drum this AM & played & sang a bit as we were waking up. Well - I woke up early, so finally came downstairs & wrote a bit!

Practices for today - I have an agave cloth, so used that for the 'dry brush' - do that occ, but usually forget to do it 'dry.'
I wash my face with oatmeal, with calendula, rose & lavender flowers - I grind them in my little seed grinder (electric 'coffee' grinder) & keep a jar in the bathroom. I always lite candles for baths/showers, & have a jar of Epsom salts with a bit of essential oils mixed in - clary sage & rose geranium. So shower & bit of a soak, with wash cloth to 'steam' my face. (Rosemary Gladstar's Family Herbal is loaded with great ideas - for cleanses, for body care products)

A favorite cleanse I use periodically is Chaparral Cleanse, as taught by Lalitha Thomas in her '10 Essential Herbs.' I highly recommend this little tome! She is a practical herbalist - what are things that are easy to use & effective?
I'll do at least a 6 day cycle, she recommends up to 21 days for full effectiveness. You use 1 teaspoon of leaves, & re steep for a total of 3 days, then repeat the cycle; 7 teaspoons of tea in all.

Chaparral Cleanse:
1 tsp of chaparral leaves
Cup of very hot - but NOT boiling - water
Steep overnight, strain & drink first thing in the AM

Using the same leaves, repeat, drinking a cup the 2nd & 3rd days, then discard leaves, & start with new leaves that evening. (1 tsp for 3 days, & always very hot water, not boiling!! I like to use a small french press, covered with a china lid while steeping, then I simply press the leaves before drinking.)

-- Since I didn't read about the suggested cleanse 'till today, I steeped the tea while taking the shower, using 1/2 tsp chaparral, 1/2 tsp olive leaves (also great for cleansing & detox!)
Whole chaparral leaves can be hard to find, as the FDA is uncomfortable with its use (she writes about that in her chapter) It's similar to the proscription on sassafras - if used as country folk do, occasionally for a detox, it promotes healthy livers. In experiments with lab rats being given huge doses over extended periods of time, they had liver problems. Go figure :) I get mine from Mountain Rose Herbs, here in Oregon. They focus on sustainable farming practices, wildcrafted & OG herbs - & some great 'clean' body care products!!

I will work on drinking more water this week - as others have said, city water sucks!! Darn it, they take perfectly good water & treat it! (at the resort, we filtered the Clarine back out of any drinking water.)

OK, so it's 'good' to make sure it's pure - but our city ads fluorine as well, which can be linked to bone loss, & various health problems. We're in a goiter belt, our soil lacks Iodine, chloride & fluoride displace iodide. . . . I use quite a bit of kelp, & have some iodine caps at my office, for days I go swimming (water aerobics)
I may also use some food grade betonite in water (clay - one of my fav. healing substances) this week.

My usual breakfast is my home made granola (some clients spoiled me last Christmas with a care package with some, & I've been making my own since! I use olive oil & OG agave nectar to sweeten, maybe 2 Tbsp for several cups) with plain yogurt, fruit in season (or frozen) & my 'yummy sprinkles.'

Yummy Sprinkles
2 Tbsp Milk thistle seeds
2 Tbsp flax seed (I bake the granola for ~ 15 min @ 20, & have some flax seed in another pan @ same time)
2 Tbsp sesame seeds WITH hulls (for calcium)
Grind in seed grinder (may need to do in a couple of batches) & store in the freezer (I sometimes add bee pollen, or a tsp of fennel seeds)

Lets see; I try to eat simply, lots of veggies, Rice & Lentils is our family standard (OG, natch) & I love the different shades of deeper brown, combined with the short grain brown.

Body image - I tend to 'normal weight,' tho since turning ~ 55, lol . . .
I've always had bigger hips & thighs - 'till I stopped drinking milk! I grew up with pasture fed cows, &no hormones that I know of, & raw milk. Found out this summer that drinking pasteurized milk, since that process destroys the lactase, can cause lactose intolerance. My former hubby had also grown up on raw milk, & became lactose intolerant after we divorced, as we'd gone to certified dairies to get raw milk.
I continued using local yogurt, but pretty much stopped drinking milk. I've never drunk coffee, so mostly have water or herb teas - often from my garden! & I have a couple of tea camellia plants (did you know 'black' & 'green' teas come from Camellias? Any place the ornamentals grow, so will the 'tea' - Camellia sinensis)
I eat some meat, try to keep that to wild (my son hunts) or OG. Mostly drink herb teas & water . . . . occ some wine, often a bit of port or sweet wine . . .

One thing I've noticed doing the SC process - my desire for sweets has dropped off - on Sat I cut cake at an event, & didn't even WANT a piece, . . . Chocolate - I keep some dark chocolate on hand, & find even that easier not to have.

The La Leche League (breast feeding support group) motto for nutrition was "Eat a wide variety of food, in as close to its natural state as possible." Local, OG (usually have at least a small garden!), from the rainbow, . . . & I live in a community that is getting more interested in supporting local small agriculture - weekly farmers market May - Oct, several Community Supported Ag. farms, . . . good Natural Foods store (I was on the old food-co-op board, & we sold the bus to them in the early 90s)

In the late 70s, before studying massage, I began taking Ballet, & while I strongly disliked PE (usually ball sports, with a jock teacher) I adore dance, in its many forms!! I began with Tai Chi with my massage practice, & enjoy belly dance, ecstatic dance, Nia, ballroom, round dance, jazzercize, . . . & deep water aerobics. In the winter it's harder to get myself up for that class - but I intend to go Tue :) Bike to work (good weather/ warm enough) & enjoy walking to downtown ~ 8 blocks) . . .

Love this week - love it, love it!!