Monday, January 29, 2007

The Dance

I had the honor this past summer to attend the first annual 3 day event, 2006 Flute Quest, near Seattle. It was perhaps the most spiritually beautiful publc musical event I've seen. Three days of live Native American Flute music filled the air. Native American flute players from across the US performed all day and into the evening, chatted with attendee's, and set up tables displaying their amazing handcrafted works of art, flutes.

Daily workshops were held for those desiring to learn more about the flute and how to play. Another workshop lead by Robert Mirabal and his brother Patrick Mirabal on how to make these simply stunning wooden instruments. Robert and brother Patrick presented a most entertaining performance one evening. Their wit, charismatic sense of humor, animation, and music was absolutely the most touching and entertaining I've seen. Mary Youngboold was amazing as well as Ron Warren, Coyote Oldman and so many others. It was a terrific event, I can't wait until the 2007 Flute Quest!

Other flutists and musicians included: Mary Youngblood, Ron Warren, Coyote Oldman, Jeff Ball, Vince Chafin, Ash Dargan, Gary Stoudtdos, Clint Goss, Brent Haines and many others.







Taos Tales CD by Robert Mirabal



REFLECTIONS

EXCERPTS FROM MIRABAL'S NOVEL SOON TO BE PUBLISHED.

There are no goals…, just to explore the facade…,
to explore the false _____ that are inside me…, that lay dormant underneath dusty smiling little lies.

Let the out law track me down and crucify.
Gone will be me…, “That one that used to be.”

Allow me to be the rain in the fall. The leaf
that holds on but eventually forgets the task
and lets go.
Like the earth, let me accept my changes…,
nobly, gracefully, naturally.

Dance I will…, but never the same dance,
and then…, still…, ever so still.

Mirabal Flutes website

To see some extremely artistically crafted flutes visit
Coyote Oldman Flutes website

And be sure to check out
The International Native American Flute Association
to learn about Flute Circles in your area.

The Native American Flute is fun and relatively easy to learn to make a decent song from.
~

Monday, January 22, 2007

Lemon Essential Oil


Heartburn is a burning pain felt behind the breastbone. It is most often the result of acid reflux, that is, when stomach acid rises up the esophagus where it irritates the lining. Lemon is one of the best remedies for heartburn, as it causes the stomach to stop excreting digestive acids. Simply add a drop or two of lemon to a small glass of water and drink.

Did you know that Lemon essentail oil has many traditional uses?

Lemon has antiseptic-like properties and contains compounds that have been studied for their effects on immune function. According Jean Valnet, M.D., the vaporized essence (essential oil) of lemon can kill meningococcus bacteria in 15 minutes, typhoid bacilli in one hour, Staphylococcus aureus in two hours, and Pneumococcus bacteria within three hours. Even a 0.2% solution of lemon oil can kill diphtheria bacteria in 20 minutes and inactivate tuberculosis bacteria.

Lemon essential oil has been widely used in skin care to cleanse skin and reduce wrinkles. It promotes clarity of thought and purpose, as well as health, healing, physical energy, and purification. Its fragrance is invigorating, enhancing, and warming. Lemon has been shown to have antidepressant effects in research done by Komori, et al.,1995. It serves as an effective insect repellent** and works well in removing gum, wood stain, oil, and grease spots.

More ideas:

- Use 6 drops of Lemon essential oil (item # 3578) and 6 drops of Purification essential oil blend (item # 3399) in a spray bottle mixed with distilled water to use in the bathroom as an air freshener.
- Use 1-2 drops of Lemon essential oil to remove gum, oil, grease spots or crayon.
- Use 1 drop of Lemon oil to add flavor to baked goods or beverages.
- For homemade lemonade, in a blender mix 2 drops of Lemon oil, 2 tablespoons of honey and two cups of pure water. Adjust the amount of each ingredient to suit your own taste.
- Rub a drop of Lemon essential oil on a corn, callous or bunion mornings and evenings.
- To clean and increase the shelf life of fresh fruit, fill a bowl with cool water and 2-3 drops of Lemon oil. Drop your cleaned fruit into the water and stir. Be sure all surfaces of the fruit contact the lemon water.
- Add 2-3 drops of Lemon oil to water and spray counter tops to sterilize them.
- Soak your dishcloth overnight in a bowl of water and a drop of Lemon oil to disinfect and kill germs.
- Add a drop of Lemon oil to your dishwasher before the wash cycle.
- Rub a drop of Lemon oil on your hands after using a public bathroom.**
- Use a paper towel soaked with several drops of Lemon oil to sanitize bathroom fixtures.
- Place a drop of Lemon oil on cold sores, herpes or other mouth ulcers to lessen pain and aid in healing.**
- Put a drop of Lemon oil on bleeding gums caused by gingivitis or tooth extraction.
- Put a drop of Lemon oil on oily skin or acne to balance sebaceous glands (oil glands).**
- Rub several drops of Lemon oil on cellulite to improve circulation and help eliminate waste from the cells.**
- Rub two drops of Lemon oil topically to clear athlete's foot.
- Rub several drops of Lemon oil on varicose veins to improve circulation and relieve pressure on the veins.
- Rub a drop of Lemon oil on a wart morning and night until it disappears.
- Rub a drop of Lemon oil to clean a butcher's block or other cutting surfaces.
- Put 10-15 drops of Lemon oil in each gallon of carpet cleaning solution to help pull out stains and brighten the rug. This also leaves a fresh smell in the room.

* * Note: any citrus oil can cause photosensitivity. Therefore to not apply directly to skin that will be exposed to sunlight within 12 hours. Ingesting lemon essential oil does "not" cause photosensitivity. Please use any citrus oil mindfully and with respect.

Disclaimer: Information found in this post and blog refers solely to products from Young Living Essential Oils and is for educational purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent disease. We urge you to do the health related research necessary to learn what is right for you. Young Living uses only therapeutic-grade AFNOR -ISO standard essential oils. "Perfume-grade", "Food-grade", or other poor quality essential oils may possibly be harmful due to unknown additives and poor plant or distillation conditions. US labeling for essential oils is governed by the Perfume Act, allowing labels to say "100%"pure essential oil" and by law contain only 5% of any grade oils. Those are not the garding and standards used at Young Living.

Click here to learn more and visit my essential oil website:
The Very Essence


~

Saturday, January 13, 2007

Estrogen and Hormones:
What we women need to know


I've been doing a lot of research these past several months and one of the things of great interest to me is... Why are the people of the USA the most ill and diseased in the world?

There's so much to sort through and attempt to make sense of, big companies and pharma want us to use their latest great products, action groups are battling to be heard and taken seriously, and everything in between.

We are at best left to feel confused, like we cannot do anything about the problem, and we haven't a clue, nor the time, to discover what's fact and what's fiction and what exactly is safe to eat and use these days.

There is hope!

Whenever I moved or arrived in a new town, the first thing I would do is find a place to buy organic food and some restaurants that didn't insult my taste buds and food intellect. Years ago fulfilling those criteria was a great feat in itself. As the years passed it became easier as natural foods became more and more main-stream. I've bought organic everything for the past 25 years. However, over the past few years I've been having conversations with my sisters and friends where we're saying to each other things like... "the organic produce looks and tastes exactly like the regular produce, what's up?"

Even this afternoon I took an apple out of the fridge and it felt "sticky" to the touch, not because it had gotten something sticky on it but because it's sprayed with some type of wax, which is no doubt a petro-chemical. I have paid extra, for the past 25 years to "not" have those types of things on my food. And up until the FDA and USDA took over the regulations on the organics things like petro-chemical waxes were forbidden.

What was also forbidden was to send a organically raised cow to a feed-lot for fattening up. Well gang, not any longer! All those little conversations I've had questioning, "is this really organic?" have come to a halt. Of course we had to suspect something was up when super market sized natural food stores began popping up virtually overnight and so-called organic products filled the shelves.

I am extremely sad to see that a perfectly fine, truly organic industry has been ruined and manipulated. I laughed when I heard WalMart was getting into organics... WalMart couldn't do real organics if their life depended on it! How do I know this? Because that chain is massive and even if you combined all the organic farms in the world together you still wouldn't be able to fill the shelves. True organic farms aren't capable of supplying a massive industry. This is why we are seeing additives and things like petro-chemicals in our organic foods today.

Do you know that according to the FDA and USDA it is perfectly acceptable for a Genetically Modified soybeean to be used in organic products? Or, that Genetically Modified corn is ok too?

Do you also know that the Genetically Modified crops can and do cross pollinate with crops that are not GM crops?

Do you know that "soy" is NOT a health food? It is in fact a poison that we shouldn't consume. Those studies they did some years ago on the Japanese soy-rich diet... well, the Japanese never ate the soy products that big industries have shoved in our faces claiming them to be healthy foods. Yes, we were duped.

In fact, the soy products the Japanese did eat were "fermented" for years before they were ever consumed and for the most part were used as condiments rather than a main dish. The very long process of fermenting soy is slow and expensive.

Also "soy protein" is a by-product, a waste-product. A product that even scientists agree should not be consumed. In the US, we don't see fermented and aged soy products that are ok to eat in very small amounts.

I believe that we women are getting a seriously bad deal here, our kids, and you guys are too. They say cancer is the number one killer in the US.

Are you also aware that cancer can "only" grow under certain conditions?

Cancer can only grow in "acidic" conditions. And, it can only grow in an "estrogen" excess environment. And that is precisely what we have with our diets and our health in this country. It's no wonder that we are the sickest country in the world!

Where does the estrogen and estrogen mimics come from? Genetically Modified crops (corn, soy, cotton & alfalfa), anything soy (and yes I do mean any form of soy), feed-lot animals. Those crops also get fed to the animals we eat. There are also tons of chemicals, household and industrial, that mimic estrogen.

WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT

Read labels. If any product has a list of ingredients you cannot pronounce (excluding latin names), and if the list is long, don't buy it. I refuse to buy any product that has any form of soy, or any form of corn in it. Same with cotton seed. I avoid all of those ingredients like the plague.

Buy Locally. No matter here you live in the US there is going to be a real organic farmer near you.

Eat Seasonally. Our bodies are suppose to get seasonal foods, not food trucked in some 3,000 miles from some far off location.

Eat only 100% Free-Range poultry products. Search out a local person who raises their own chickens and allows them to run freely, it doesn't take much ground to raise some chickens so there's no doubt someone is close to you.

Eat Grass-Fed beef, Bison, pigs, sheep, chicken, goat. I have found a fantastic source. I've had different cuts of their Bison, and beef and not only does it taste better than store bought, but it tastes better than the organic! I have also tried their butter, yes it is expensive, but I will say this... I will never again put any other kind of butter in my mouth! The flavor is absolutely astonishing. For the first time in my life, when I eat the grass-fed products, I can honestly say that every cell in my body has a smile. And, I truly feel that I've been slowly starving to death because the organic meats I have gotten are from feed-lots and not grass-fed. Check out their website and place a small order and you'll see what I mean...
US Wellness Meats

Here's a short artcle that I think you'll find interesting too...

THE PHYSIOLOGY OF HORMONES

by Sherrill Sellman

"Supplementing one's diet with plant-based digestive enzymes available from the health food store is becoming necessary for people of all ages.

Women and hormones equal big business these days. Like animals lured into a snare by a trail of crumbs, women have been cajoled with scientific studies, media advertising, patient hand books and drug samples to accept Hormone Replacement Therapy as a magic potion. HRT is praised as the cure for hot flashes and all the other symptoms assigned to the menopause pantheon. In addition, it is considered an and-aging medicine acting as a talisman to ward off osteoporosis, heart disease and Alzheimer's.

Millions of menopausal women flock to their doctors' offices. each year seeking relief from such complaints as hot flashes, night sweats, bloating, indigestion, allergies, headaches, insomnia, fatigue, depression, high blood pressure, weight gain, head hair loss, facial hair growth, mood swings, aging skin, irritability, foggy thinking, lack of concentration, anxiety attacks, heart palpitations, bone loss, and heavy bleeding.

The common panacea prescribed for all these symptoms is usually HRT. All these presenting symptoms are lumped together into the menopausal pigeonhole; estrogen deficiency is the diagnosis, and synthetic estrogen replacement becomes the cure. It's an obvious and simple solution for hormonal imbalance--or so we are led to believe.

But what if these symptoms that mostly plague 40 and 50-year-old women are not at all about menopause?

What if it's not estrogen deficiency but rather estrogen excess that is the cause of these discomforts?

What if the real physiological problems are, in fact, being ignored, misdiagnosed or misunderstood?

And what if the pathological condition of "menopause," the supposed cause of a midlife woman's lament, doesn't even exist?"

OTHER GREAT LINKS

Vital Choice Seafood

Weston A. Price Foundation

Local Harvest

Seeds of Deception

Weston A. Price Foundation

The Dark Side of America's Favorite Health Food Revealed

And if you haven't watched this 90 minute video yet I highly recommend it: The Future of Food
~

Saturday, January 06, 2007

Seattle Area:
Winter Cleansing & Wellness Seminar Jan. 23rd

Who's ready to get the New Year off to a terrific start?

We are hosting a "Winter Cleansing & Wellness" seminar in the Seattle area on January 23rd, just in time to help you shake off those winter blues and (dare I say) some of those ingredients from holiday feasts and treats. We'll also be covering some of the hundreds of ways you can use essential oils for your wellness and around the house.

Learn about and experience the many benefits of the 'Essential 7' kit.

Learn about the '5-Day Nutritive Cleanse'

Learn how to use AFNOR-ISO grade Young Living Essential Oils to enhance your well-being

Learn about and sample essential oils, ask questions, sample a tasty snack, and spend the evening with like-minded people who are making a difference in their lives for the New Year.

FREE to the general public and guests, $10 for current YLEO Members.

DATE: Tuesday, January 23rd

TIME: registrtion 6:30pm, seminar starts at 7:00pm - 9:00pm

LOCATION: Edmonds Convention Center, 201 Fourth Ave. N, Edmonds, WA 98020 Get Directions

Please state at the registration desk that Evelyn Vincent told you about the event so I can meet you.

*

Thursday, January 04, 2007

The Future of Food

There is a revolution happening in the farm fields and on the dinner tables of America - a revolution that is transforming the very nature of the food we eat.

THE FUTURE OF FOOD offers an in-depth investigation into the disturbing truth behind the unlabeled, patented, genetically engineered foods that have quietly filled U.S. grocery store shelves for the past decade.

From the prairies of Saskatchewan, Canada to the fields of Oaxaca, Mexico, this film gives a voice to farmers whose lives and livelihoods have been negatively impacted by this new technology. The health implications, government policies and push towards globalization are all part of the reason why many people are alarmed by the introduction of genetically altered crops into our food supply.

Shot on location in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, THE FUTURE OF FOOD examines the complex web of market and political forces that are changing what we eat as huge multinational corporations seek to control the world's food system. The film also explores alternatives to large-scale industrial agriculture, placing organic and sustainable agriculture as real solutions to the farm crisis today.

Watch this documentary film "The Future of Food" (each part is about 10 minutes):

Part One


Part Two:


Part Three:


Part Four:


Part Five:


Part Six:


Part Seven:



Being a gardener (of mainly heirloom & native varieties), a native plant enthusiast, landscape designer, and a lover of excellent quality and naturally unique foods-I found this film to be very well done and enormously educational.

I believe that purchasing a copy of the DVD and hosting 'free' screenings in neighborhoods across the country would help to enlighten people as to what exactly is going on, it's available at The Future of Food. I honestly cannot believe that 'if' people knew what Monsanto and other large corporations have been doing that they would continue to buy food, or any product, that has been 'Genetically Engineered' (GE).

Take the time to watch this film, it will effect the rest of your life... one way or the other.