Archives for 2011

Allergy Sufferers, I know you’re miserable.

First it’s the trees, then the weeds and grasses. Whether its global warming causing climate change which causes a longer and hotter growing season which causes more pollen or not, the pollen levels are trending upwards where I live.

Histamine 101: Histamines are produced by the immune system during the inflammatory response i.e. when foreign invaders like pollen and bacteria attack. Histamines do more than make you miserable (sneezing, runny nose, itchy eyes). Histamines are chemical messengers whose main job is to regulate the distribution of water. When water decreases, histamines increase to conserve water. They also regulate your gastric activity and your sleep and wake cycles.  Histamines also are neurotransmitters affecting emotions and behavior and if your level is too low, can cause paranoia, low libido and fatigue.

Dehydration can cause a histamine response producing the symptoms of allergies even if there is no allergy factor (pollen) present.

Numerous reports and studies show 75% of Americans do not drink enough water and are “chronically dehydrated”. 10-20% of Americans suffer from seasonal allergies. Do the math, chances are you’re dehydrated.

Extra Water and a Neti Pot are my first line of defense during allergy season.

If you are really miserable, try drinking a quart of water with a pinch of sea salt. You may have to do it again 30 minutes later, but this will often relieve your symptoms.

Bathing your nasal cavities twice a day with a nasal irrigator or neti pot should be a daily habit. If the pollen is washed away, the inflammatory responses will be reduced.

The bottom line: Grab the water bottle before grabbing the OTC Anti-Histamines.

Today is the 41^st celebration of Earth Day which marked the beginning of the modern “environmental” movement. Even though lots of activities are planned today doing all sorts of green conservation things, I’m not sure how much has really been accomplished in bringing environmental awareness and change to the world even though the UN declared April 22 International Mother Earth Day in 2009.

Whether you call her Pachamama, Gaia or Mother Earth and honor her or simply take her resources for granted, I encourage you to read HOT Living Through the Next 50 Years on Earth by Mark Hertsgaard.

Love the world as your own self then you can truly                                                               care for all things. Tao Te Ching

We must set a new course of action for healing our biosphere (which is the part of our earth’s crust, waters and atmosphere that supports life, just in case you didn’t know).

Earth’s fate is our fate.

What steps can you take? Drive less, walk more, change your cleaning products, compost, eat vegetarian a couple nights a week, use dish towels instead of paper towels. The resources are endless for ideas of things we can do. Some cost money like having an energy audit or installing solar hot water; others cost nothing like eliminating “vampire energy” simply by unplugging small appliances when not in use.

The key here is to put ideas in to action.

Me? Recently, I bought several Smart Strip power strips which save energy by eliminating wasted “standby” power; I installed another rain barrel. My daughter walks or bikes a mile and a half to school instead of driving.

Make everyday Earth Day.

We must become the change we seek in the world. Mahatma Ghandi

As I planted kale and spinach today and picked some Red Sail lettuce, I thought about how soon I would be able to plant my Black Krim and Georgia Streak tomatoes. I also thought about how much easier it is to tend my actual garden in the back yard than my own garden.

During the winter, I think about what I want to grow and plant each spring. I begin to visualize how the garden will look; when I’ll make the first salad with my greens in April and when I’ll pick the first tomato in July. I think about the miracle of life and the power of potential of those seeds.

Your life/Your body is a garden. Think about what you want and plant those seeds, those ideas, with intention. Feed them, water them. Watch them grow.

It’s so easy to get caught up in the busyness of your life that you ignore the weeds, the stink bugs, the slimy slugs or you forget to water regularly.

What seeds are you planting? All seeds need a good start; just feed, nourish, water, weed and the natural process of growth and flowering will unfold.

If you don’t know what to plant, this is the reason you need to take the time to be quiet, to breathe deeply. You have abundant inner resources.

Seed thoughts of peace, moistened by love, tilled by right action, weeds of discord pulled by diligent action. The harvest shall be abundant joy sustaining future generations. From Voices of Our Ancestors: Cherokee Teachings from the Wisdom Fire by Venerable Dhyani Ywahoo

When your car runs out of gas, it’s expensive, inconvenient, irritating, makes you late, makes your mad, might be dangerous, makes you vulnerable and definitely stresses you out. My guess is you don’t let that happen very often.

My tank is about ½ full and while that may be good enough for my car, it’s not good enough for me.

I’m tired. I ate kettle corn for dinner one night. I drove 600 miles in 3 days. I slept fitfully two nights in a row and woke with a stiff neck and because of the traveling I only exercised once during the week and not my usual 4. And did I fail to mention no writing and no meditating for a couple days? In less than one week, I’m off schedule, irritable and cranky.

As much as I supposedly know about staying healthy and reducing stress, it’s still very easy to quickly get off track. Life is moving very fast. It seems like there are not enough hours in the day, as though time is compressing, and maybe it is. According to the Mayan Tzolkin Calendar, we entered the 9^th Wave which is called Unity Consciousness on 3/9/11 which for 234 days will be a rapid period of evolution and change.  (Solving the Greatest Mystery of Our Time: The Mayan Calendar by Carl Calleman).

Now more than ever, it’s time to take the time to nurture yourself, make sure your tank is full. None of us can afford to run out of gas.

Me? I’m taking a long walk on this beautiful spring day. I’m taking the time to breathe deeply. I’m making the time to just sit with a cup of tea doing nothing. I’ll spend a little time in the garden and pick lettuce, arugula and herbs for my dinner. I’ll slowly refill my tank.

You can’t always be perfectly balanced; it’s just the goal.

When was the last time you went to a playground and sat on the teeter-totter (aka seesaw or tilting board depending on where you live)?

If you try to do it alone, you’re stuck in one place. If you have a friend, a partner, there is at least some momentum. Sometimes up. Sometimes down. Sometimes you are perfectly balanced with your feet floating off the ground, eye to eye with your partner. This takes balance and concentration, both mental and physical, to reach this place. It’s exhilarating but then someone laughs or loses their concentration or shifts their weight and you’re back to the up and down.

Is it better to up or down? When you’re up you have a wider, more expansive, view but what seems like less or even no control. When you are down, your view may be narrowed and you may not see as much but you are grounded. Your feet are firmly planted even if just for a moment and you have the opportunity to stay where you are or to change and move forward (or up as the case may be). Sometimes you’re in control; sometimes you’re not and sometimes you’re in perfect balance.

As Eckhart Tolle wrote, Whenever you deeply accept this moment as it is, no matter what form it takes, you are still, you are at peace.

Stress Relieving Tip: Head to the playground for some fun and play. A trip to the playground is a great way to not take your self so seriously, to let go for just a moment. Can you release rigidity and control for a few minutes and play? Have some fun on that teeter-totter and maybe you’ll even get some insights in to where you are in the seesaw of life.

I got an ad in my inbox last week announcing…” Words, often being criticized as being too concrete, have been slowly falling out of favor, with authors preferring to tell their tales via pop ups, photographs, and interpretative ketchup blobs.”

Disclaimer: This was an ad for a “book” of personal photographs at a discount but I can’t help but comment….

I love words. I love writing. I love reading. As I’ve written before I think of writing as meditation, as a form of stress relief.

Sidebar here: We all need a stress relief “practice”, a number of tools in your tool box that work for you. Not your mother. Not your best friend. For YOU.

But back to writing and words….

While I agree that a “picture speaks a 1000 words”, and I must admit that 140 character tweets are here to stay (190 million people can’t be wrong), words have not fallen out of favor in my book.

Enough words from me….

”Write what’s in here (your heart) because you write because it pleases you but never because you want someone else to like what you’ve said.” “There are stories everywhere and the people who wait for the right one to come along before setting pen to paper end up with very empty pages.” “That’s all writing is, capturing sights and thoughts on paper. Spinning, like a spider does, but using words to make the pattern.” From The Distant Hours by Kate Morton.