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Anxiety and panic attacks are a common health concern. The ages of affected people range from young elementary kids to our wise seniors. Anxiety seems to be across the board and a common denominator in many of my client's health struggles.
I will not tell you there is a quick fix, a silver bullet, or magic wand answer.
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Magical path in the woods
Before you click the X in the upper right hand corner of your computer screen and end this pseudo conversation (or before you want to reach out and slap me upside the head)... read on, add comments, and create a dialogue.
What is this path you ask? Mindfulness I say, mindfulness around your eating habits but more importantly, mindfulness around your life.
Why Mindfulness?
Mindfulness teaches us to be present-minded and grounded in our professional and personal lives from a foundation of inner (my word) connectedness. A mindfulness practice involves a small amount of time devoted to re-setting. This re-set allows us to be in the moment, make decisions, reflect and communicate from our innermost, authentic voice.
End Result: You make decisions based upon what is best for the growth of your higher self and the greater good not impulse based decisions to satisfy immediate gratification on some level or another.
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22 years ago I was teaching School Health Education in the Syracuse City School District. The district graciously sent me "home" to a week long health conference at St. Lawrence University, Canton. I attended an amazing workshop presented by Ed McGaa, Eagle Man, Sioux Tribal Leader and purchased both of his books.
Now this was not my 1st experience with Native American culture; growing up 20 minutes from the Mohawk Nation and involved with the local lacrosse team, I was exposed to and aware of Native culture and philosophy. But honestly, traditional Native American spirituality is not something that was shared openly.
Over the past 22 years I have read many books by great Native American writers, healers, and visionaries. My latest book by Ehanamani, Dr. A.C. Ross, member of the Dakota Nation - Sioux Native Americans is titled "Mitakuye Oyasin." In this book, Ehanamani introduces me to the Native American principle of the Red Road.
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Healing literally means to make, return yourself, to whole–whole in mind, body, and spirit.
I write this to remind everyone of their own innate ability to heal. Healing is the norm. If you cut your finger, it heals without intervention. Every part of your body is capable of healing if it is given what it needs to heal and thrive. This is a Vitalist philosophy of healing: healing comes through nature. You are nature; therefore, healing comes from within you and through you.
The responsibility to care for our bodies, to ensure lifelong health, prevent disease, and heal is ours. Healing is not about what you are giving up; it is not about deprivation. It IS about what you are inviting into your life: the choices, changes, and additions that will open doors to healing, health, and happiness in ways you may never have imagined or experienced.
Healing your own body is a supreme act of self-responsibility. It means taking control of aspects of your life that have often been left in the hands of the modern medical professional. “You are in the driver seat, Doc. I will do whatever you say.”
Self-responsibility would change the above statement to, “Thanks for being here to support me, Doc. This is how I plan to handle this health crisis.”
“If you don’t take care of your body, where are you going to live?” Unknown
Healing is a simple equation:
Remove the cause(s) of your health issue + add in healing choices = healing, returning to whole!
10 steps to start on your self-healing path:
“Just lift the corner of the clouds and the sun is always shining.” Eli Schechter
Taking one step at a time can create huge changes in your health, happiness, and vibrant longevity. Step up to your plate of health and healing today. Ask a holistic health coach for support on your healing path. This one action could bring some juiciness, oxytocin, into your self-healing equation.
See my bonus pages for more tips on incorporating healing changes into your juicy life!
Every person who self-heals adds one more healed being to the collective mind, body, and soul. These actions, in your personal life, make the world a better place for every living being.
Get healing and, please, tell me your story!
My next book... Early Morning Coffee & Donuts will be out before the end of this year, 2014. OK, so my fingers are crossed that all goes as planned with the publisher!
Are you chuckling yet? A book about coffee and donuts from Paula, seriously? Maybe, just maybe, it is more than you think it is.... read what it IS about here: http://www.paulayoumellrn.com/book-2/
Cheers of good health to you in mind, body, and soul!
The return to school, fall schedules, can bring on a bit of stress. Summer has its go with the flow, easy kind of existence. Easing back in to fall can be made simple and stress free by taking a few mindfulness steps.
1. Remind yourself that fall, and the return to school, means a return to an organized, set schedule. Knowing where you need to be, 5 days a week, can bring a level of comfort after the chaos of spontaneous, summer living. Revel in this return to harmony.
2. Start your day with an AM grounding experience. I do a blended visualization / meditation that takes 5-7 minutes and grounds me for the day. I sit on the stone steps in my back yard with my feet in contact with the ground. (Urban dwellers, sit and visualize your feet in the grass, connected to Mother Earth!) I close my eyes and visualize white light coming from the ground, up through my Chakras and Nadis, then turns around at the crown Chakra and goes back into the earth taking all negative (dark light) energy back into the earth to be absorbed. I visualize white light coming from above, through my crown Chakra, and circling back up at my root Chakra taking negative energy back into the atmosphere. I do both of these twice. Next I visualize white light coming from the earth again, up through my root Chakra. When It turns the corner at my crown, this time it goes back into the earth and creates a root system from my tailbone down into the earth. Now visualize white light from the crown Chakra, turns at the root Chakra and turns again at the crown Chakra to go back into the earth. Again, visualize the roots coming from your tailbone deep into the earth to ground you for the day’s challenges. Finally, I swirl white light energy around my body, from feet to head, like a twister moving up my body. This is to protect me from negative energy and other’s stress.
3. Create peace in your life with a regular yoga practice. The benefits of Yoga are profound. You will intuitively move towards healthier choices in your life. Your mind will become calm. Your body will respond physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually to the beauty of yoga. Your body will be in the flow of life. This is true mind, body, soul healing.
4. Nourish your body with 100% whole foods. To get started on whole food eating, pick up a copy of my book, Hands On Health: Take Your Vibrant, Whole Health Back Into Your Healing Hands.
5. Get to bed and be asleep before 10 PM. When your body is asleep before 10 PM, the level of stress hormones in your body drops. When you stay up late, burning the midnight oil, your body pays through higher levels of cortisol hormones. This is stress. Sleep, sweet dream sleep, before 10 PM and your body’s glandular system works for you in a balanced manner, making happy feel-good hormones!
6. Get outside every day, preferably moving your body. Yes, I mean exercise. Call it movement magic that heals the divine you! Something as simple as a brisk paced walk in the fresh air and natural light can do much to reduce stress, create feel good hormones, help you sleep better at night, and ease the challenges of daily life. Get outside in sun/wind/rain/snow/fog, walk barefoot, sit on ground, hug a tree, rest your spine against an old growth tree… just breathe in the world around you. Your body, mind, and soul will thank you for this grounding, earthy experience.
Positive, holistically-minded, lifestyle choices make for healthier, happier living. For a full list of lifestyle choices I recommend to my holistic health coaching clients, click here.
So recently, I received a very sweet email, thanking me for my support in cleaning up this divine person's diet and contributing to their vibrant health. And... "Gustatory Guru of Gastronomy" was the "alliterative moniker" she used for me!
Seems a lighter label than Diet “Dr. Doom” from an earlier blog post inspired by an encounter with a "health" chump of mine!
I find this to be true of people who are ready, on the cusp of making healthy changes in their lives:
When you are a stick of dynamite, ready to blast off into health and healing, changes are easier to accomplish and feel good about!
I light the fire under you and inspire you to activate your beautiful mind. You then peel back the layers to uncover your perfect soul. Healthy changes happen because when you feel good, you want to feel better. What a ripple effect!
And... when one is not quite ready to dive headlong into major changes (Maybe you are one for a more subtle metamorphosis!), I help plant a seed. A seed that will bloom and grow in your life, when the "soil" and conditions are right for growth.
Ethiopian Smothered Brussel Sprouts and Carrots with Turmeric
1-2 tbsp butter, ghee, or toasted sesame oil
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
Unrefined Sea Salt
3 cloves garlic, minced
¾-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced (or use dried ginger powder in a pinch!)
2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 lb carrots, quartered lengthwise and cut into bite sized chunks
2 lbs Brussel sprouts, cut in half to make bite sized pieces
How to throw this together into a scrumptious pile of food:
Saute' the onion in butter, add ginger and saute' for 1-2 minutes more
Add carrot and Brussel sprout chunks
Let simmer in a cover pan for 10 minutes or so (I like the veggies to have a crispness to them)
Sprinkle turmeric over veggies, add crushed garlic cloves and stir well.
Turn off heat and let sit, covered, while you finish getting the table ready.
Serve: over red lentils.
I bring 1 1/2 cups of water to boil, add 1 cup red lentils, and gently return to simmer. Shut off heat when it returns to simmer and keep covered. I then take the dog for a good 1/2 walk and the lentils are ready when I come out of the woods!
Options:
Use cabbage and potatoes instead of carrots & brussel sprouts
Add garlic, ginger powder, and turmeric to 1 cup pasture raised milk in your blender. I also add 1/2 to 1 cup shredded coconut. Blend to a puree and pour over veggies, stir well and gently re-warm.
Use coconut milk with the above spices.
As you can see, I added a few raw cashews on top!
The veggies are all local, seasonal, and organic.
The spices, coconut, and cashews... well, not so local! 
