I was today-years-old when I discovered the 5-minute stay-in-your-car oil change didn't literally mean 5 minutes.
It was a busy day. Over coffee and my GPS map, I planned my route and my stops to the minute. I put on fancy but comfortable clothes to give me a good attitude. Made me feel like I meant business.
So when the 5 minute oil change in fact took nearly 55 minutes, I was bummed. (There were two cars in front of me so should have taken 15 minutes, I'll admit that.)
The stay in your car, stay in your car, stay in your car (!!) signs all over the place kept me in, but I'll tell you I desperately wanted to get out in my serious clothes and clip clop my heels over to give them a good reprimand and let them know I mean business today.
Instead, I took a deep breath. Crossed a few things off my to do list and rerouted my map.
What a refreshing feeling to Let It Go. To not get all upset and huffy puffy. What a way to live, to just go with the flow and cooperate with whatever crosses your path. And even to give a smile to the guy who messed up your plans, who lied to you with the 5-minute promise.
Big smile, "Hi Mr. Liar-Liar-Pants-On-Fire, you can't ruin my day, you are powerless! Have a wonderful day you nasty, wasty skunk."
I shifted gears, slid my shades down and winked at him. B-bye!
I think I'll make it my New Year's resolution to just have a good day. Every day.
So.... I did it. I signed up for six weeks of the FASTer Way to Fat Loss program with Coach Patti Holsenback. #FWTFL
There is a big learning curve, but Patti is patient and very good with instructions. Also, the first week is all about learning, you don't start the work for real until the second week.
I never had trouble with fat loss until I was in my forties and then it became a real problem. But this program is great, I feel great and am not usually hungry.
Patti also is a certified Pre- and Post- Natal Fitness Coach and Nutritionist. She works to improve diastasis recti, incontinence and more. She also hosts a strong core / strong mom workshop, offers free downloads, writes a column for a local newspaper and has a blog that she occasionally remembers to write on.
Speaking of Right-On!
This wellness thing has been working out great, the year just gets better and better. I've experienced better wellness all year long, I really feel great.
I know, right?! Basically the stuff I've been doing this year in my 52 weeks of wellness. So I signed up immediately to add that chiropractic care to my routine. They swear a person can get off all medicines under their care. Now that I still can't quite believe since I have cancer and take chemo. But.... we'll see.
Meanwhile.... I've been thinking about joining a dating website as part of my 52 weeks. ((nervously bites nails)) What do you think? I think I'd hate it.
I've added oil pulling to my routine, 2 x a week or so, in my 52 weeks to wellness.
It's difficult at first. It's so gross. I hate coconut oil to begin with. Then to swish it around in my mouth for 10 - 20 minutes without swallowing is just difficult.
I know that you know this, but I have to say it: Spit it out in the trash, not your sink as it will clog the drains.
My hints:
1. Do it while watching TV. For me? Also while walking around the living room. If I stand still, I'll swallow some or gag, I don't know why. Guess I have to keep my mind off it.
2. I have no other hints. Just do it. Breathe through your nose, don't swallow, spit in the trash. That's it.
This requires some time -- meal planning and prep -- but seems like a pretty healthy way to eat. Intermittent Fasting. I'm learning as I go, but Patti is a GREAT teacher, coach and champion.
Give it a shot!
Patti Holsenback is a pre- and post- natal fitness coach and runs a Strong Core, Strong Mom workshop that is amazing. She also leads the FASTer Way to Fat Loss, too, and maybe a few other things. She's also passed the SC Bar and is a lawyer, but she's a stay at home mom currently.
I've added essential oils to my life and I've really been enjoying them. I can't say that they actually help with my health though, I can't tell. But I love using them - they smell good and seem to be beneficial to health just because of what they are.
I purchased a box of roller ball bottles with labels from Amazon. I purchased this oil diffuser. This is my second one. My first had a wood look and was beautiful, but it started making a noise when it was running and I had to get another diffuser. By that time, the wood looking one had gone way up in price and I couldn't afford it. So I got this one, which is OK.
After googling essential oil recipes, I've mixed some up and am using my roller ball to apply. I have one mix for headaches, one for energy, one for immunity aid and one for allergies and colds. I'll make more soon.
I get my oils from Plant Therapy and once in awhile from Young Living. The quality of your oils really matters and differs between companies.
So I picked up these exercise bands from Amazon. I thought they were a LOT bigger, but they are small. I'm using them with my arm and leg exercises to provide a little resistance.
Y'know.... 52 weeks to being a better person. Week #31 and all that.
(Pictured: a device that loosens my spine as I use it each morning)
As we approach the Fall, I want to update my 52 Weeks series a little bit. Upon the new year, I resolved to try each week to add something beneficial to my life. To get healthier and/or happier. Healing and wholeness, spiritually and physically.
I've been doing it faithfully, I just haven't been blogging about it.
But I'll tell you what -- it's made me become way too busy. There's way too many things I have to do each day now, so some of them I've cut down to just do a few times a week. Either way, I'm way too busy and one of these weeks, my healthy thing to do will be to drop something, lol.
In this post, I want to say that I've gone to Capital City Chiropractic Maximum Living and they assessed my spine. I'm receiving a 4 - 5 month regimen to regain my spinal health and improve my posture.
(Pictured: I wiggle and exercise on this thing to loosen my spine each morning.)
This chiropractor, Dr. Tim Losby swears I'll be able to go off all my meds when he's through with me. I have doubts....
I have blood cancer and I am on chemo. I can't imagine my spine will fix blood cancer, but we'll see.
I certainly believe in the 5 Essentials that they preach:
Minimize Toxins.
Maximized Mind.
Maximized Oxygen and Lean Muscle.
Maximized Nerve Supply.
Maximized Quality Nutrition.
And the 3 Tenements stressed by Maximum Living:
1. WE BELIEVE THAT STORIES MATTER.
2. WE BELIEVE IN BEING ONE STEP AHEAD.
3. WE BELIEVE THAT THE CAUSE IS THE CURE.
Also, Dr. Losby says, "
"GOD HAS GIVEN YOUR BODY THE ABILITY TO HEAL ITSELF, ALL WE HAVE TO DO IS REMOVE THE INTERFERANCE"
1. I think I've hit the final stage of grief - Acceptance.
In a 5-year period:
I was a stay-at-home mom and my grown kids moved out
I was diagnosed with blood cancer
My 30-year marriage dissolved
I was in a car wreck in which a friend of mine died from her injuries, she's also my grandkids' other grandma
My father was diagnosed with cancer, had a tumor removed and radiation and is still fighting it, now with a chemo protocol.
My life has changed completely, very little of my old life remains visible. All these losses have left me alone most of the time. It's been an extraordinary experience. I'm grateful for all the blessings I have - the kids are married and happy and successful, they live close and I see my grandkids a lot, I remain on the family property and while I struggle to pay bills like everyone else, I'm not devastated financially, my cancer has a fairly long shelf-life... probably, my dad is doing OK and is in his mid-seventies and has my mom there to help him.
Today, when the poet Derek Berry from Charleston wrote me a poem on a 72-degree sunny, beautiful day on the spring grass under a blooming dogwood tree in front of the statehouse Sherman and his troops bombarded, but did not destroy from his position in West Columbia across the frothy Congaree on his March to the Sea...... you get the picture? ... when said poet wrote this and I was able to smile instead of cry:
Well, I figured I finally hit Stage 7 of grief, the final stage.
2. (The Second Thing I Learned Today {in case you forgot where we were with this}) When I go out to photograph the wildlife in my woods, I need to lock Bogie, my cat, in the garage. While I smiled at his frolicking after birds, I never dreamed he could really catch one. With my 300 zoom lens to my eye and the staccato sound of the Canon shutter speed in my ear, Bogie caught the brilliantly red cardinal I was photographing, caught two in one bite, in fact.
Yes, I photographed the whole demise. With a scrunched nose. And audible reprimands to the cat. It was fascinating, really. But in the future? Boag stays in the garage.
The synergistic effect of the CDC's aggressive vaccine schedule HAS to be studied for safety. It's catastrophically unchecked & I dare say negligent. Our kids are in peril. #soangry
Before 1991, there were only 29 doses of 3 vaccines. After 1991, there were 46 doses of 16 Vaccines. My children born before 91 had no issues and my child born after 91 had a mysterious allergy the Dr attributed to dust and eczema. Since the late eighties, vaccine manufacturers cannot be sued. But in 2008 the Vaccine injury compensation program was developed. It has since then paid out 3 billion dollars. Look up the Hannah Polen case.
Are we really going to wait until the autism rate is one in two? Or that every single child has a chronic illness by age 3? (Food allergies, Eczema, seizure disorders, GI issues and learning disabilities)
This is one problem. The second problem is the escalating rate of cancer among adults. I believe the studies are being suppressed here as well so that we can continue to have cell phones, WiFi, dirty electricity, gmos, plastics and a variety of toxins literally everywhere.
I am at a loss on how I can make a difference.
If you would like to learn more, I point you to Miller's Critical Review of Vaccine Studies and The Vaccine Friendly Plan.
We had a lot of fun New Year's Eve and don't we look tough in this picture?
I devoted last year to wellness and trying homeopathic and integrated options. Some things I have kept in my life on a regular basis (dandelion root tea, gall bladder wrap, essential oils, etc), some things I have discarded (turmeric tea, yoga). I had every intention of writing more about it for you but I did not feel like blogging.
.
This year, I have decided my focus will be relationships. Won't that be interesting? Infusing my relationships with intention.
.
I have added a new and very interesting client and I'm changing my role with another client. One I expect to be fun while the other will be a challenge and, I anticipate, not much enjoyable. It is not the direction I wanted to go with my work and probably will not like it. But… one should always try. I might be surprised.
I've a growing concern about the health damages we incur from increased cell phone and WiFi use, the carcinogenic factors from the RF and EMF radiation. More and more studies are coming in and proving this to be true. Environmental Toxins Information
In this past week's Thriving Child Summit, Dr. Libby Darnell, DC gave us some practical tips for reducing our health risks from. EMFs. I'm going to summarize them below for you. Following that, you can see a video from 2014 wherein Dr. Devra Davis, author of Disconnected, presented the scientific data supporting this claim about wireless radiation. Worst Wireless Products
Baby Monitors. There isn't a safe one on the market. If you really must have one, try to have just audio and not visual which has a stronger signal and keep it as far away from your baby as possible.
Computers. Try to have them wired, not WiFi. If not wired, say on a laptop or chromebook, etc, don't use it when it's plugged in, that makes it worse. When plugged in, you're using a worse type of current. Your cell phone is worse when it's plugged in as well. Using a laptop is safer than using a desktop because desktops have to be plugged in. Using a laptop with WiFi turned off is even better. If you have to use a desktop, there are filters you can buy to clean dirty electricity. Use two filters per desktop.
WiFi. The ideal situation is to have everything wired and skip the WiFi. If you must have WiFi, go to Home Depot or Lowe's and get an outlet timer. Plug your power cord for your WiFi into that timer and set it to be off at night when you're not using it. Give your family a span where it's not transmitting. Also, have the router as far as away as possible, especially away from your kids.
Cell Phones: As much as possible, keep your cell phone in airplane mode with the WiFi turned off, especially for your children. Why do they need a cell phone anyway? The radiation penetrates their brains much deeper, much worse than adult brains. If your kids are playing games on the cell phone, you can have it in airplane mode with the WiFi turned off. Always use head sets, never use Blue Tooth. There are actually warnings deep in your phone's settings about not using your headset. Laws are being drawn up to ensure cell phones must be sold with headsets.
Keep your cell phones away from your body as much as possible. Keep it near a window so every time it looks for a signal, it is not pinging your body. Studies are proving that cell phones stored in a woman's bra have directly led to breast cancer. Studies are proving that cell phones in men's pockets are leading to infertility.
Teenagers seem to be especially difficult to convince to take this issue seriously. As a parent, do what it takes to protect their health. Dr. Libby's advice? Bribery actually works. Monitor their phones. Each time you find it in airplane mode with the WiFi off, you reward them.
If you are pregnant and need to use your cell phone a lot, there is a uterine cover you can purchase
Electric Meters. Most electric companies now use Smart Meters to monitor your electricity usage. These smart meters transfer information a set amount of times and each time it is responding, it is dangerous to your health.
Look at your electric meter.If you have 5 clock looking things, you’re ok, it's still analog.If there’s a number, digital number, you need
to take action. If you have a digital meter, call the electric company.Find out how often that signal is transmitted,
and is it transmitted through space or through wire?Then you can purchase a material, similar to tin foil, to put around the meter, wrap it, look for videos on how to do it
– don’t want to focus it to your neighbors, either, encase the whole thing.Some companies come out and do it.You, legally, aren’t supposed to touch the
meter.
Also, you could call and see if you can opt out,
swap your digital meter for analog, which might require a small fee.I recommend paying the fee to have someone
come out and read it.
Where is that meter located?Do you have a child sleeping next to that wall?Move them away right now.Same thing with major electronics.Fuse boxes and main energy sources, get
kids away from them, a WiFi router – get it away from blasting yourself.Fridges give out a lot of dirty electricity as well.
Light Bulbs. Light bulbs have become an issue for dirty electricity now as well. Just use the old fashioned ones, they are a lot safer. LED Bulbs.
Microwaves. Just don't use them. If you must use one, stand as far away from it as possible while it is in action.
Here are some tips for cleaning yourself from your exposure to EMF and RF radiation. First, test your house and buy filters. Then, take an Epsom bath daily or several times a week. Spend a few minutes each day with your bare feet in the dirt. Spend a few minutes each day simply standing on tin foil. Yes, this works, all that excess energy flows out into the foil. Do it at night while brushing your teeth.
Should you use those expensive grounding mats or grounding sheets?If you're in the US, England or Australia – don’t do it.If you do it, you’ll be bringing IN that
dirty electricity.You’re plugging in a
very expensive fabric covered tin foil.You plug it in, then you’re bringing that electricity into it and then
you lay on it.That dirty electricity
goes through it.If you stand on it NOT
plugged in, it works.But it works just
like tin foil!Just buy tin foil. Check your symptoms of radio wave sickness here.
Once you are protecting your children at home, what should you do about school or the dance studio or wherever they spend a lot of time? Find out where their WiFi routers are located and make sure your child is not near them. Then offer to buy filters for the classroom. Talk to the principal or school superintendent. Arm yourself with research from Stetzer Electric. Once they are aware of this, they may offer to test the rooms for dirty electricity and put filters as needed. Some people get shielding clothing for their children, but this is usually difficult for the children. France has already outlawed dirty electricity and more places are outlawing WiFi in public schools.
The following research is from 2014. I'm sure there is updated information elsewhere, but this can get you started. The labyrinth of YouTube is exhausting to me. Besides, I need to go get my feet in the dirt right now. Love you, mean it!
How are you doing with all your New Years resolutions? Are you participating in my #52Weeks of change? I am still participating, I just haven't been posting about it.
Around the third or fourth week, I added this anti-inflammatory tea to my morning routine. Honestly, I haven't noticed a change in my health yet. Add the following to your cuppa boiling water:
1 tsp. turmeric powder
1/2 tsp. ginger powder
1/4 tsp. black pepper if you can tolerate it, I hate it
juice of 1/2 lemon, I usually add more
2 tsp. raw honey
Google's all over this, so you can easily find alternative recipes. You can use more ginger, but I'm not a fan, so I keep mine minimal. Ditto with the pepper.
If you recall, on week one of my personal #52Weeks, I began Yoga. Well, I'm still doing it, but I haven't improved much because first my son had a burst appendix and I spent a lot of time with him during his 5-day stay at the hospital. Then I was in a bad accident on January 23rd in which I had bruised ribs, a bruised nose (I think maybe broken) and a badly sprained wrist. The doctors thought the wrist was broken in two places and they put it in a cast at first. Then another doctor viewed it differently and put me in a splint. I still have another week in a wrist splint from that. While six of us in the vehicle were injured, one friend died from her injuries five days after the accident. It was an absolutely horrific week and I still can't believe she's gone. It's been a tragic start to the new year for my friends and family.
In addition to the Yoga and turmeric tea, the weekly changes include being deliberate and intentional with love, forgiveness, gratitude, & releasing bitterness. The #52Weeks of change will include abstract changes like these as well as the concrete, physical changes. Go for it! Join me with #52Weeks of change in 2017.
Mariah Carey's epic fail (in which she lost her earpiece, couldn't hear the music, was trying to lipsync, walked around in a daze, whined about not having her own holiday, etc.) at the 2016 Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve party in NYC was to be expected, it perfectly closed out 2016 with the cliche' she graciously tweeted that best represents 2016:
The saving grace of 2016, for me, was the birth of another grandchild and addition of another son-in-law. Those two redeeming factors save 2016 for me. I hope you have a few redeeming factors of your own.
But as we move into 2017, I remind you that changes begin with you. With me. Each of us have to change something to make our lives better.
Join me is making some shifts in your personal life, your spiritual life and your civic life this year. Stick an F in Mariah's ubiquitous phrase and run with it:
Shift Happens.
We have 52 weeks ahead of us. Join me for the next 52 weeks by creating a positive, healthy shift in your behavior each week. Keep it private or share it with the hashtag
#52Weeks.
My first change for week one is to start yoga. I've spent two horrible years on the couch crocheting and crying. I've lost almost everything. I was a stay-at-home mom and housewife. My kids grew up and moved out, followed by my husband. We sold the house in which they were raised. I'm about to lose one of my part-time jobs. I'm 52 with little education, little experience and a chronic terminal illness. I'm discovering most people don't want to hire me. Yoga seems like a great place to start -- stretch, open up and strengthen my core. My second week, I will add releasing bitterness and my third week I will revive love and forgiveness. Beyond that, we'll see what enfolds.
Join me, please. Because errrbody else has left me, ha! NO, JK, simmer down, JK!! (there's that bitterness!).... of course not, join me because you deserve it, we deserve it and America will change if each one of us makes a few shifts, baby! (like.... 52 shifts)
