Creating Inner SunShine!

Sunshine is a body, mind, and soul soothing ray of warmth. We smile more and laugh more when the sun shines. The warm sun on our skin just feels good. The bright light entering our eyes triggers good feelings.

The sun's rays create physiological responses in our bodies. One does not need the scientific reasons behind this. Common sense tells us the sun is just good. Plants starved of sunlight wither and die. Animals locked away from the sun wither and die. The logical conclusion is that sun is good for hum-animal!

Sun on your skin is what produces vitamin D (remember that Vit D is a hormone not a vitamin). Sun light to your eyes regulates many hormonal processes in the human body: serotonin, melatonin, endorphins of all sorts, regulate the cycles of night and day (this is apparent in the cycling of a female's reproductive functions), and so many other hormonal functions necessary for life on this Earth. Worshipping the sun is a fine thing to do. Without the sun life would not exist.

Here I sit in Northern NY State. I have to say it has been a gloomy late fall and early winter. I can count the sunny days in the last month on about 1 hand (with fingers left over!). Clouds, I have seen many clouds these past 4 weeks. 

Now today was sunny.  Wow, what a gift to body, mind, and soul. I hope everyone took advantage and soaked up and soaked in a bit of sunshine; even 10 minutes outside in the deliciously cold and yummy sunshine.

What is a person to do when we have days and days, weeks and weeks of very little sunshine? My first answer would be the obvious: get out of here.  Head south, friend, head south!  For most of us that is not a possibility. The trick is to learn how to create inner sunshine; how to raise our feel good hormones despite the lack of obvious sunshine in our days and life.

When my youngest son was 8 years old, his wise 'lil self said these words to me:  

"When you lift the corner of the clouds, the sun is always shining."  Eli 

I was taken aback by his wisdom. He was speaking more of human sadness but the words hold true here...

1. Get outside and get as much natural light as you can, every single day in every season. Even if it is cloudy, the sun is still there working magic with your hormones and health. Think about it... a solar panel still makes electricity on a cloudy day and a sun flower still follows the sun on a cloudy day. Get out there and create your own electricity (life force energy) with the sun's rays... even when they are behind a cloud. Be a sun flower and follow the sun's rays. Lift the corner of that cloud in your little world, metaphorically speaking, and get some natural light.
2. You will get fresh air too. Again, this is life force enhancing. Get outside; you will be glad you did. Ditch the stationary bikes and XC Ski machines in the winter. Put on some Yak Traks, or similar boot sole (soul) enhancement, and go say hello to Old Man Winter. 
3. 100% Whole food diet. Seriously, do I need to say more about this?
4. Pets: Having a pet to love and care for (and love you right back) is a huge creator of inner sunshine. Don't believe me? Try it. But only if you genuinely want to pour some love into a friend and have it come back to you 10 fold.
5. Plants: Yes, get a plant and talk to it. Water it. Having a green plant growing in your home is something that you can love and care for. Grow an indoor herb garden that you can take little bites of to improve your mood: peppermint, rosemary, parsley, sage, lavender, oregano, basil... just have a window handy that gets plenty of light (even if the sun is not shining).
6. Whole Health Lifestyle Choices. Another area I rant on about... Is anyone listening to me?
7. Yoga... Yes, I love Yoga and all it has invited into my life: body, mind, & spirit healing.
8. Acupuncture: I have extolled the virtues of acupuncture many, many, many times and I will again, over and over. Want a happy sunshine lift? Go get acupuncture.
9. Massage: Massage is a great way to increase your endorphins.  It is sunshine rubbing your muscles, energy transfer from another human being who is a storehouse of solar energy. Think about it: all of the food we eat is stored solar energy. A human is stored solar energy. 
10. Reiki or any other kind of healing energy work that speaks to you and your personal needs. Just do it; you will feel lighter, brighter, sunnier, and happier. Learn to do self-Reiki. 
11. Have FUN.  Laughter and fun ups the feel good hormones.
12. Volunteer and make someone else's day, or life, better - brighter - sunnier.

Stalking the Wild Nettle

Nettles are my favorite healing herb. This fact about me is something I do not hide. Now I have plenty of other herb friends, both cultivated and wild, that run a semi-close second in my favorite herb department. Nettles are #1!

Nettle seeds

In the above picture you are looking at the beautiful tiny seeds that dangle in strands from the nettle plant. These seeds are powerhouses of nutrition for nourishing thyroid health.  The dose is 1/4 teaspoon daily. I would take this as 1/8 teaspoon, twice daily.

To dry nettle seeds I cut the entire stalk at the base and hang them upside down in a warm and dry space. Make certain you have a screen or something similar underneath the hanging plants to catch any falling seeds. When they start to dry, I carefully cut each strand from the stalks. I put them in a paper bag, poked with a knife to make many air holes, and hang the bag to completely dry the seeds. Leave the top of the bag wide open for better air flow. You can also use a very fine mesh bag to hang and dry the seeds.

The remaining stalks can be left to dry out the leaves. Again, trim the completely dried leaves off the stalks and store them in an air tight container. You now have dried nettle leaves for adding to soups, stews, sauces, and for making healing tea.

The beautiful nettle plant displaying her seed strands.

Looking straight down at the nettle plant. The seeds strands form a whorled pattern about this beautiful, healing plant.

Nettle's many healing gifts to your body:

• strengthens the kidneys and adrenal glands
• builds natural energy from the inside of the body (which is the opposite of coffee's effects in the body, coffee wears out the adrenal glands, nettles builds and heals the adrenals
• nourishes the hair and skin making you shine with vibrant health
• is an adaptogenic herb, helps a living organism adapt to stress (adrenal health!)
• rebuilds and restores the body cells as nettles is a powerhouse of nutrition
• great for reducing allergies on its own or make an herb honey with raw, local honey and nettle puree, take 1/4 teaspoon twice daily (This is basically making a tincture using honey as the base.)
• great for nourishing the male and female reproductive tracts
• nourishes thyroid health and contributes to body weight balancing

This is but a partial list of all the benefits nettles has in the human body. I suggest you become friends with nettles and learn all you can about her healing ways.

What you are observing, below, is a chicken nettle salad sitting on top of a romaine lettuce, carrot, and cucumber salad. In the upper left corner is a big dose of my late spring, wild leek infused sauerkraut. I got carried away and made 8 quarts! 5 quarts down, 3 quarts left to enjoy!

Chicken Nettle Herb Salad

• left over chicken breast from dinner at the ADK Cafe in Keene, NY. If you are ever passing through here, stop and eat. The food is divine, the meat is local and pasture raised!
• sprigs of fresh rosemary
• fresh chives
• nettle top leaves
• homemade mayonnaise made with 3 tablespoons whipped heavy cream, 1 small egg's yolk, and a dash of yellow mustard. I whipped the cream well, added in yolk and whipped some more, then added mustard. The cream and eggs were both from local, pasture raised animals cared for with love.

The chicken was chopped up, mayo blended in, added in the chopped herbs and nettles, and stirred all together. I plopped this decadent chicken salad on top of my veggie salad (all local veggies from Martin's Farm Stand) that was dressed with my homemade herb vinegar dressing. The finishing touch: wild leek sauerkraut!

Eat healthy, eat whole... your body cells with thrive with vibrant, radiant health!

Read Ingredients!

Some quick advice for the day (and truly, the rest of your life):

Read Ingredients on every food product you buy:

• human 
• pet
• etc.

Many people, when reading food labels, stop at the front of the product.  Words and wording such as these entice the person to buy without further investigation into the products real ingredients:

• All Natural
• Natural
• Holistic
• Organic
• 100% Natural
• Cholesterol Free
• Fat Free
• Whole Grain
• Whole Wheat

Blah, Blah, Blah... These words can mean absolutely nothing.  For Example: Whole wheat just means there might be a dusting of whole wheat in the product AND the rest of the ingredients could be pure garbage: fillers, sugars, dough conditioners, artificial this and that...

Here is an example of a "Whole Wheat" bread label:

I can honestly say I would not eat this bread even if I was really hungry.  This is even putting the gluten issue aside.  Seriously, what are all those chemicals and why are they in bread for God's sake?  Food should be pure, natural ingredients meant for nourishing each and every body cell. If this is not what is in the "product," opt to stand up for your health and place the item back on the shelf.

Use this thought process and label investigative work with every food item you do not make:

• at home
• from scratch
• with local, well-raised ingredients

Eat well, your health and very life depends on it!  Hugs, Paula

PS  Use this label investigative technique with all body care products, cosmetics, household cleaners, everything you buy. Your health and the earth's health depend on truly natural choices in living.

My Healing Yard, Take 2

Come along, time for another healing walk through the back yard.

A couple of weeks ago, the boys were mowing the lawn.  Suddenly the lawn mower quit. I immediately wonder: lawn mower ill or kids quitting when the job is not half finished? Jake yells to me:  "Mom, come over here, please."  I go over to see this nice sized patch of purple flowers he has neatly mowed around.  I was not sure what they were but glad he left them intact, knowing that next year the patch will be bigger!

So, my sister googled the image, a few days later, when I find some in my Mom's yard.  This purple beauty is Self-Heal (Heal All), a powerhouse healing plant from the Mint family!  Good for: sore throats and mouth sores, fevers, diarrhea, skin wounds and sores, a diuretic for kidney ills, and conjunctivitis.

This humble plant contains antibiotic, hypotensive (lowers blood pressure), and anti-mutagenic (think cancer) properties. Traditional Chinese Medicine considers it a cooling plant and uses it to treat the liver (inflammation) and aid circulation.

Thanks Jake for seeing these 'lil flowers in the lawn and knowing to protect them from the hungry lawn mower!

Self-Heal growing next to a friend, White Clover.

White Clover:  Colds, coughs, fever, and vaginal infections. Flower tea is used for arthritis and gout, health conditions in the same family.

White Clover

Wild Strawberry leaves were once used as a nerve tonic, for bladder and kidney ailments, jaundice, scurvy, diarrhea, stomachaches, and gout. Fresh leaf tea was used for sore throats. Berries are eaten for scurvy and gout... something tells me to eat them just because they are yummy! Root tea was used to treat gonorrhea, stomach and lung ailments, irregular menses, and as a diuretic. What a humble little plant!

My yard is carpeted with Wild Strawberry plants. I have caught the cat's eating them on many occasions, bet they were self medicating their bellies!

Rhubarb root is delightful for constipation as it stimulates the liver to release bile which promotes colon cleansing. The root helps lower cholesterol, is an antiseptic, relieves spasms, has anti-tumor effects, is a diuretic, and a general tonic for good health. 

Rhubarb stalks are a good source of calcium, anti-oxidants, are a laxative, and a purgative.  Rhubarb is high in dietary fiber, protein, vitamin C, vitamin K, B complex vitamins, potassium, manganese, and magnesium. Rhubarb is a rich source of polyphenolic flavonoids like beta-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin.  Hey, rhubarb is a "superfood" that does not have to be imported thousands of miles!

Caution: Do not eat the rhubarb leaves... TOXIC ALERT!  The triangular leaves are extremely high in oxalic acid, which can cause severe illness in people, resulting in the common belief that rhubarb is poisonous. If the plant is subject to extreme cold, the dangerous acid can migrate into the stalk, so be sure to store rhubarb in a warm or temperate space, just like the climate it normally grows in.

My Rhubarb patch, looking a little ill this time of year!

Bee balm: My patch is a mix of wild and cultivated.  I planted it to feed the hummingbirds and have found it attracts bees, dragon flies, butterflies, and various other flying insects!  It is Wild Bergamot! The leaf tea is used for colic, to expel flatulence (gas) and parasites, colds, fever, stomachaches, nosebleeds, insomnia, and heart troubles. It was used with measles to induce sweating and "fever" the virus out of the body.

Bee Balm

Plantain: Here is a plant for your skin!  Got some pesky bug bites?  Chew up plantain leaves and put the chewed up "poultice" onto the bites.  Let them sit for a bit and soothe the bug bites.  This is back yard first aid!  Plantain is used to heal all sorts of skin issues, sores, and ulcers as it stimulates the healing process.

This plant is another healing powerhouse, used as a prominent folk cancer remedy - healing plant in South America. My yard is a cancer healing center!

Plantain is a confirmed antimicrobial.  This is what we should be making hand sanitizers out of, not toxic chemicals and over used and abused antibiotics.

Plantain's seeds (the seed stalks are an easy way to identify this plant) are mucilagenous and used to reduce cholesterol.

Plantain

Wild Geranium: This fun little plant grows atop my septic tank.  I am not sure I would ever want to harvest it from this spot...

Wild Geranium's root is used for stopping bleeding, diarrhea, dysentery, hemorrhoid relief (seems to me it would be healing to varicose veins as well), for gum disease, kidney and stomach ills, and as a diuretic. The powdered root is used to heal canker sores, apply topically. Externally it is used as a cancer remedy.

Wild Geranium

Motherwort

Motherwort: This plant, hanging here on my front porch (above picture) was an awesome gift from Martha Pickard's farm, (Nourished Roots Certified Nutrition Specialist).  I am going to tincture it as Motherwort is a wonderful healing plant for the female reproductive tract: promotes and regulates menstruation, as an aid in childbirth, as a uterine tonic, and for menstrual cramps.  I would mix it with Red Raspberry leaf and Stinging Nettle leaf for an amazing uterine tonic and female reproductive tract healing remedy.

Motherwort is also used for asthma, as a sleep aid, for heart palpitations, for sciatica, fevers, spasm, nerve pain, and stomachaches.

Motherwort is equally awesome for the heart, nourishing and strengthening the heart muscle and its blood vessels. It is a remedy for most heart diseases and rapid heart rate (tachycardia).  I would blend it with Hawthorne Berry for heart-loving nourishment!

Below is the pint of Motherwort tincture I have brewing.  The Motherwort demands respect when handling, like Stinging Nettles.  It has sweet, little, biting blossoms whorling about the stem.  Handle carefully, lest you get picked!

Thank you Jane for always keeping a supply of organic vodka at Village Wine & Liquors, Potsdam.  Keeps my tincture "squeaky clean!"

I would be horribly remiss if I did not mention my best herb friend here... Stinging Nettles. Yes, that is a gallon jug of Nettle, Red Clover flower, and Strawberry leaf tea.  Thank you John Casserly for the big bag of dried Nettles.  What a gift!

Herbs ARE very healing to body, mind, and soul.  The herbs nourish the physical body with vitamins, minerals, and healing chemical constituents that we really do not need to know their every name... just know that they work.  Herbs heal the mind because of the thinking you do to learn about their healing properties. Learning about herbs is a mind soothing activity. You are taking self-responsibility for your own health and acknowledging, at a very deep level, that you are not at the "hands" of fate and genetics.  You can do something, everyday, to make yourself feel and function from a vibrant space.  Herbs heal the soul because... well, look at my friendly connections just in this post.  My sister, Ginny, googling Self-Heal and teaching me a new plant, Martha gifting me with Motherwort, John gifting me with Nettles, and Jane gifting me with always having organic vodka available. Every time I use these healing gifts, I will think of my dear friends.  Self-Heal will always flash my sister into my mind. Herbs keep me connected with the best people and that is very soul soothing!

Creeping Wood Sorrel: This is that fun plant kids pick to eat because it is sour tasting. I ate plenty as a kid! Perhaps it is a wise, intuitive, healing action for kids who need the vitamin C after a long winter in Northern NY!  

Traditionally, the leaves were chewed to relief mouth sores, sore throats, and nausea.  Fresh leaves are poulticed and used on skin sores and ulcers, as well as cancers. Leaf tea is used for scurvy, urinary tract infections, and fevers. Caution:  Large doses may cause oxalate poisoning (much like the rhubarb leaves above).

Creeping Wood Sorrel, notice the tiny yellow flowers.  When in full bloom, flowers will be all over them.  Maybe flowers are another characteristic that attracts kids.

I hope I have helped you to look at the plants in your yard from a different perspective, a healing point of view.  I always feel so sad for the lawn that people try to mold and shape into nothing but pure grass by cutting down and digging up plants and applying toxic chemicals.  When we leave nature as it is, bio-diversified, we have a healing oasis right out our back door (front door too!).

If you sit on the lawn, so you are close to the ground, and look at just a 2 square foot space, you will be amazed at the biodiversity of plant life in just that small space.  Even more fun, try moving about your yard, sitting in different spots along your journey.  By the end of your adventure, I bet you can find 50 to 100 different species of plants!

Go ahead, take a walk and look into your grass. Sit down and really look.  I bet you can find many, tiny plants interwoven with the grass blades, struggling to come to life. That is your healing garden!

Blessings, Paula

Self-Heal... another pretty picture!  I see Wild Strawberry leaves, plantain, white clover, and wood sorrel intertwined in here!

Naked Sun Time!

Happy Summer Solstice, Happy Summer SUN Time!!

Vitamin D is essential for our body's functioning... every cell of our beautiful bodies! Vitamin D is actually a hormone. We know what happens when hormones get low or out of whack; this has far reaching effects on the whole body, mind, and soul.  Think PMS!

Another Hormone D  issue that was brought to my attention as a public school teacher:  cognitive issues around low Vitamin D levels.  A student was having great difficulties understanding and following simple instructions and directions and was found to be quite low in Vitamin D.  Get your kids out into the sun (skip the sun screen, just be wise about skin type and sun time).  Kids who are labeled with the ADD / ADHD diagnosis?  Maybe they just need some sun and natural Vitamin D!  (100% whole food diet would be very healing as well but that is another blog post!)

We must remember that this hormone, Vitamin D, is an important part of our hormonal feed back loop. All hormones, all body chemistry, work in harmony: a synchronized symphony of wellness!  When one hormone is off (low levels in the body) this affects all other hormones, cognitive functions suffer, our immune system suffers... our whole body suffers.

Here is your beautiful hormonal system: a feed back loop system!

So, where am I going with this Vitamin, hormone D information?  

Get out in the sun people!  We are at the summer solstice, the longest day of the year.  

Live it up, get naked in the sun!  (I just love this woman's post on being comfortable in our skin, in our nakedness!)

Funny Naked story:  When 25, I went to Germany with a dear girlfriend. We were invited to a bath house. Now I had not a clue, at 25, that Europeans were so freely naked. (I should have figured this out by the male attendants wandering about the female locker room, cleaning and restocking towels.) Anyhow, we walk out of the locker room in our bathing suits. The gentleman who brought us to the bath house says: "You can leave your bathing suits on if you want to but you are going to be the odd one out and will be stared at."

I had my bikini off, lickety-split, and thrown into the wooden cubby on the wall before he finished speaking. My girlfriend hung onto her bathing suit straps with a death grip. Finally, she was convinced to remove it. After a couple of hours of hot tubs, pools, steam and dry saunas, cold pools, and sun rooms we were asked to head for the bar for a beer. Here is where my girlfriend said: "No way, not sitting at a bar, naked, drinking beer!" I found this to be a fine invitation, having grown up swimming naked in various locations up and down the St. Regis River and drinking beer around bonfires which inadvertently led to naked dips in the moonlight.  

Naked beer drinking in Germany? Sounded fine to me!

Sorry Mom, I know you did not bring me up this way!

Find a space where you can shed as much, or all, of your clothing and let the sun love your body.  

Skip the sunscreen, it interferes with Hormone D creation!

I do recommend:

• Hat to cover the face, no need to add more sun time to aging the face's skin (our faces get plenty of incidental sun time!)
• Keep it nourishing skin time, not "sun-burn" skin time
• Take awesome, natural care of your skin, in or out of the sun!

Love your skin, love your hormone D level, love the sun, love yourself!  

Happy Solstice, Paula

PS  I made certain my boys got naked sun time every day.

       Shhhh, don't tell my boys I added their pictures!

NAKED Skin Care

NAKED Skin Care, Natural Skin Care That Is

I used to make my own shampoo, conditioner, lotions, face creams, blah, blah, blah.  I still do make my own face stuff but really, how much time do I have?  Homemade gluten free bread, homemade veggie slaws, 100 % homemade meals from local foods, and fermenting my own veggies.  There IS only one of me!

I have had psoriasis for 15 years, just after the birth of my eldest son.  Hmmm, coincidence?  Anyhow, I have pretty much kept it to a very mild issue with diet, sunshine, yoga, and natural lifestyle choices.  Gluten free is a huge help!

Then, along comes Eli, Son #2.  He developed psoriasis at 8 years of age.  It's a gut and whole body health issue but no time to write a book to explain all that in detail.  Try to get an 8 year old to leave gluten alone.  (Someday he will wish he listened to me...gluten intolerance, if continually irritated with gluten can become full blown celiac disease.  It's just like pre-diabetics and diet or orally "controlled" diabetics who continue to indulge in sugar... just wait, they can develop full blown, insulin diabetes from the continual irritation of sugar in their systems.)

Yes, We will be doing another Gluten Free Workshop; me and the Local Living Venture.  Sign up for their newsletter and get informed!   Use this email address and ask them to subscribe you:  sustlivingproject@gmail.com

OK, so I digressed a bit, forgive me.  I was looking for natural skin care for psoriasis to help my son.  His is much worse than mine, but, may I add, completely disappears when he leaves gluten out of his diet.  So, anyhow, I found these products.  I know apple cider vinegar is good for the gut and good for the skin.  Keeps the microbes healthy and in check.  But I did not want to make the products myself.  Again, how much can I do everyday?

LOVE this company's stuff:  http://www.justnaturalskincare.com/Psoriasis/ALL-skin-psoriasis-products.html

Bottom Line:  Psoriasis Advice

1.  100% Whole food diet... am I a broken record about this or what?!

2.  Gluten free, no refined sugar.

3.  Naked sun:  as naked as you are comfortable being outside!  Sun to the skin, protect the face (it's the wrinkle factor on the face!).

This is the email, I just received from JustNatural,  offering a 20% discount in March.  There is no better way to try something new than with a discount! OK, maybe free, but that is not an option!  They even have products for stopping hair loss with age.....

JustNatural's Coupon

      Use 

March2014

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20% off

Shop Today use code March2014 at checkout

Click to visit 

JustNatural

    We wish a warm thank you to all of our wonderful customers

www.justnaturalskincare.com

11101 S. Crown Way Wellington, FL 33414

Copyright © 2014 Just Natural Products LLC. All rights reserved.

Again, we wish a warm thank you to all of our awesome customers!

We would like to introduce and share with you the quality of natural hair and skin care products.

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