Wholistic Living – Summer Foods Are Cool

 

  A major factor for optimum health is maintaining balance.  Part of balance depends on what we consume at certain times of the year.  This may also vary by where we live geographically.

 

      In the heat of the summer, generally, we should focus on consuming cooler foods by their energy or nature.  Heavy foods with high fat content and warm energies by nature may be eaten in the summer, but limited in quantity.  Hot and spicy foods can also be eaten because they can cool our bodies through sweat.  However, regular servings of those spicy foods, red meats, high starch foods, pastas, and gravies should be limited during the warm summer months, while fish, chicken, salads, fruits, and cooked cooler vegetables should make up the majority of our diets.  These simple adjustments will help with our weight, overall health, keep blood pressure and cholesterol low, and cool our bodies naturally.

 

      Late fall though winter is the time to add the warmer foods, higher fat foods, starches, and carbs helps build our fat reserves, keeping us warmer during cold winter months.  This way of balanced dietary life works for northern environments while a warmer geographical location requires some adjustments because the environment is warmer and does not get as cold in the winter.

 

      Some cooler foods include apples, asparagus, bananas, barley, buckwheat, celery, chicken, clams, crab, cucumber, eggplant, wheat, kelp, lemon, lettuce, millet, mung beans, most fish, mushrooms, nori, oats, pears, pork, soybean, spinach, Swiss chard, tangerine, tomatoes, water chestnut, watercress, and watermelon.  While these foods are specifically cooling or cold energetically and are a sampling of the cooler foods, several other foods are considered neutral and may be eaten year-round.  Again, warmer and spicy foods can also be eaten any time, we should just be aware of how often and the amounts to be eaten, so we don’t overheat our bodies.

 

     We should also keep ourselves hydrated throughout the warmer months.  The liquids can include some drinks that replenish our electrolytes especially after any taxing physical activities.  Caffeinated drinks should be limited because they tend to rob our bodies of needed water reserves.  Just because the drink is iced seems to quench our thirst doesn’t mean it satisfies our body’s needs to cool off.  Caffeine, in any form, will tap into the energy stores of the adrenals.  In time, this consumption leads to adrenal exhaustion.  Caffeine impairs healing because it drains energy reserves to create a “sense” of well being.  This doesn’t mean we can never have an iced tea or coffee.  We should treat them as just that “treats”.  

 

      Speaking of iced or cold drinks, generally, room temperature water and fluids are actually assimilated better by our bodies.  Iced water is one of the largest contributers to a weakened digestion causing gas, bloatedness, and lethargy after eating.  Imagine throwing iced water on a fire and the resulting steam and eventually extinguished fire.  The same occurs in the stomach where the digestive fires must be kept continually burning.  Likewise, excessive intake of carbonated water can cause gas, bloatedness, hiccough, poor digestion, dizziness, spaciness, and lethargy.

 

     While many of these suggestions seem to aim at a boring diet, keep in mind that we are omnivores, meaning we can eat a variety of foods.  Treats should be viewed as treats and not staple foods.  Enjoy your foods.  Enjoy a variety of foods and drinks.             

     We should simply be mindful of the nature of the foods and quantities.  Try eating cooler foods in the warmer months for Wholistic Living.  

Tales for the Journey – The Lazy Smile

 

 

     Smiles have enjoyed notoriety through many venues over the years.  A familiar statistic says that it takes 43 muscles to frown but only 17 muscles to smile, so we should just smile more.  It takes a lot less effort.  A man pointed out to me years ago that a spiritual person doesn’t smile.  I don’t agree with that concept of spirituality.  There are the smiles that simply paint a picture of false contentment or joy.  You know the ones.  “I’m going to smile if it kills, because that’s what I’m supposed to do now.” 

    

     Technically a smile is a facial expression that takes place when muscles are flexed usually near the corners of the mouth.  The eyes can smile for that matter right around the edges.  Among us humans, the smile expresses pleasure, joy, happiness, amusement, but it can also be an involuntary expression of anxiety, often referenced as a grimace.  Studies of cultures around the world show smiling as a means of communicating emotions.  The most common cause for the smile is happiness.  Animals share a resemblance to smiling by exposing their teeth when the teeth aren’t a threatening warning snarl or a sign of submission.  Our dog “Khyi” often “smiles” particularly from a gentle tummy scratch.

 

     What about the practical side for our journey through life?  When a smile indicates happiness some studies show a decrease in heart rate along with an overall sense of relaxation whereas fear and frustration increase the heart rate, raise skin temperature, and cause clenched teeth.

 

      Given that a true smile, not a smile from anxiety, is usually a sing of happiness and contentment in life, ask yourself these questions, “What makes me smile?”  “What makes me happy?”  Then, the next time we face situations that cause an increased heart rate, clenched teeth, and sadness, revert to a thought of what brings happiness into your life.  Pause a moment and think on those things, activities, other living creatures, or people that bring contentment into your life and Gently SMILE.  

 

      In a book titled “The Art of Happiness”, the Dalai Lama, the spiritual and temporal leader of Tibet, a Nobel Prize winner, thoughtful speaker, and statesman once said of happiness, “If you desire happiness, you should seek the causes that give rise to it, and if you don’t desire suffering, then what you should do is to ensure that the causes and conditions that would give rise to it no longer arise.  An appreciation of this principle is very important.”  He also stated, “the very motion of our life is towards happiness.”   

 

     So, as adversity, stress, strain, and tension creep into our life pause a moment, think on the people, places, and things that bring us happiness, then put on a simple smile, and find your inner space of harmony and contentment.  Have you smiled today?Well smile… it takes less effort than a frown.

Wholistic Living – Listening to Our Bodies

        A dear friend of mine, who crossed over several years ago, used to say, “You should learn to listen to your body.  It’ll tell you what it needs.”  Then she explained how many have forgotten how to listen to our bodies. 

        Sweets (often called “empty sweets” because their nutritional value is so low) and very spicy, or highly flavored “fast foods” have influenced our tastes so much that natural foods don’t seem to satisfy us as they did our parents, grandparents, and ancestors who listened to their bodies.  Yet, our taste buds can be reprogrammed and we can learn to listen to our bodies.  Leaning to listen to our bodies can lead to healthier living.

        Once our tastes have been reprogrammed, the foods we used to “crave” no longer appeal to us.  Like anything though, learning to listen to our bodies and takes time. 

        To start with consider how our bodies tell us we have over indulged.  We get heartburn, acid reflux, excess gas, or other digestive reactions.  So, run for the antacid or some other fast acting relief or watch we eat.  Ingredients and nutritional facts found on prepared foods.  We simply need to take the time to read the label.  If it tastes and looks good, it must be good for us.  Right?  Not necessarily.  Many prepared foods contain half to three quarters the daily requirement for sodium, sugar, and fats.  If we eat one, two, or three meals of the prepared foods, trust me, our bodies will tell us they don’t like what we’ve eaten! Remember, our bodies will tell us what we should and should not consume.  All we need to do is learn to listen.

        Our bodies communicate about our nutritional needs in many ways.  For example, yawning or feeling quite tired could be a sign of the obvious, not enough rest.  It could also mean dehydration or too much sugar in your system.  However, if we feel “wired” or irritable that too could be too much sugar.  What about headaches?  They’re like internal radar or sensors telling us, “Wake up! Be attentive!”  Something is “off” or out of balance  Don’t just take a pain killer and go about your business.  If you can’t address the problem at the time the headache presents itself, do so later, but don’t ignore.  Then there’s no need to overreact either.  Simply be more cognizant of your body.   Yet another example among many, feeling cold can indicate a need to include warming foods into your diet through meat or introducing herbs like dried ginger, cinnamon, or pepper, and cutting back on vegetables and fruits.

        Our bodies communicate to us in many ways if we simply take the time to learn to listen.  So listen… your body will thank you!

Tales For The Journey – Planting Seeds

        Seeds and seedlings have been planted. Now comes the time of the caretaker, to cultivate, weed, protect against predators, and nourish so the seeds grow into plants. Those plants in turn will mature to produce the desired fruit, and so grows the garden. At the end of this cycle we harvest the fruit from the plant we have cared for, lovingly nurtured. Sometimes we think back as we harvest, this fruit all came from a single seed. Miraculous isn’t it when you think about it. All this from a seed.

        We began by looking through the volumes of seed catalogues and choosing the standard veggies we always enjoy mixed with a few new ones perhaps hybrids or heirlooms, then the herbs, ah the herbs used for culinary and medicinal needs.

        Taking this a step further, consider what’s contained in each seed, locked inside is the DNA for each plant. The DNA holds the family, the color, the shape, the genes for the plant. Most of the seeds will, hopefully, germinate through another miraculous process where the seed begins its transformational journey. It begins through a spark of life and that spark is fanned into a flame of life. Whether you wish to call the process a scientific process or recognize divine intervention, the process is the same. Provided with the proper environment for germination, the seed musters its strength, bursts through a hardened protective shell, sending out shoots and roots, seeking food, water, and sunlight to grow. We intervene to insure that it grows well, so we can harvest the fruit and…grow…just like the plant. Are we that different from plants? As the seed becomes part of the earth and all elements to insure growth and fruit, so we are related to the plant. We are seed, we are plant, we are the fruit through a wondrous spark we call the circle of life.

        That spark of life, divine or natural, dwells within each of us, but it needs to be drawn out and fanned into a flame. Before the growth begins, like the plant seed, that spark of life needs to be acknowledged beforehand. Our charge for our growth, wake up from our slumbers and acknowledge the spark of life within us, nurture it and allow it to grow and flourish. The seed has to be planted in the soil before it can grow. It has within its walls all its potentials, but those potentials remain dormant until they are given the right conditions to grow, develop, and produce fruit. There are many souls in this life who will not wake up to their divine potential and they are like seeds stored away in packets. If you wish freedom in your life. If you wish to grow. If you wish to produce fruit, you must desire to break your bonds to be free. When the desire is there you will receive help in every way possible, It begins with the desire in you to grow and produce fruit.

Kevin Pennell, an author from Bethel, Maine, wrote Two Feathers-Spiritual Seed Planter and has written for other periodicals and media. He is a Usui and Karuna® Reiki Master/Teacher, Herbalist, Certified Hypnotherapist, Ancestral Healing Practitioner, and Intuitive Medium. He conducts Reiki and other workshops that assist spiritual and personal development. Kevin and wife Vickie Cummings own and operate SpiritWings their Compassionate Healing Center and Therapeutic apothecary located in Bethel, Maine

Tales for the Journey – The Work Within

The daffodils’ brilliant colors, the leaves sprout from their roots, and sleepy burdock wakes from its winter slumber to share and enjoy spring. These plants now begin to show their fruits of their unseen labors, their labors that began from within.

Ever stop to consider all the work that went on behind the scenes, the labor that the plant doesn’t show to produce the beauty that’s revealed for all to see? It’s the work within that we do not see that’s so vastly important. If it weren’t for the work that takes place within the plant, the unseen work, we would not behold the beauties that we do. With the naked eye, we don’t see the germination, the fertilization, the cellular divisions… all are necessary, to show the plant, the flower, the fruit. We usually don’t see the shoot break through the seed’s hull, but if it’s done its work within, the unseen work, it does. We see the leaf or flower bud, but we usually don’t see the cells and molecules moving about to create the bud. Only after internal effort on the seed’s and plant’s part, do we just begin to see sprout and bud appear.

The plant in all its magic and splendor shows Itself after it completes the unseen work within.

We can learn some valuable lessons from the unseen efforts of our leaved relatives. Do the work within, the unseen work. Go within, to produce the beautiful foliage, the nourishing fruit, that you are or can be for yourself and others.

As we look within, leave that which is no longer necessary behind. Once the seed husk has completed its task, the plant deems the seed husk as unnecessary baggage and sheds it. The hull protected the seed until the seed was ready to produce the life within. Afterward, the hull was no longer needed, so it was left behind. It served its purpose. After certain objects in our life serve their purpose, shed them, leave them behind. The memories may remain, but we no longer need to nourish them or give them power in our lives.

If there is negativity in our life, leave it behind. It serves no purpose to promote our growth. Remove it from our life. Once you perform this work within, you will begin to see your life differently.

To work within is a very real and practical exercise for our daily life, not just a life of theory, and as you live it you will see how wonderfully it works. You’ll experience incredible changes and see how these changes can have a positive effect in the people and situations around us. You will realize more and more that so much more is possible when we shed the unnecessary objects that clutter our lives. All things ARE possible.

You will be able to move forward into the unknown with absolute faith and confidence. There will be no fear in you as you enter uncharted waters, for the spirit of adventure will be in you as you see the New unfold in true perfection. Look within and see how everything you do this day can contribute to the whole, and to the needs of all those you contact and then give your very best.

It all begins, when you work within.

Spirits of the Land

“You know, I think if people stay somewhere long enough … the spirits will begin to speak to them. It’s the power of the spirits coming from the land. The spirits and the old powers aren’t lost, they just need people to be around long enough and the spirits will begin to influence them.”  Thus spoke a Crow elder.
A dear friend shared this quote via email, causing me to think about our connection with the land, Mother Earth, the Spirits of the Land.  How long do we stay in one place of residence before we feel the urge to move on?  Many families and individuals arrive at a destination long enough to decide where they’re headed next.  They may comment like, “We’re glad that move’s over.  We’ll be staying here a long time.”  Then they talk about how much they dislike moving.  Yet, two, three, or maybe four years later they move on.
In today’s world of mobility, most people stay in one place no longer than a couple years owed to changes in career, job advancements, or educational endeavors to name a few reasons.  What ever the reason(s) many people stay on the move.  Another reason, often heard, “Let’s move, things will be different then.”  Maybe things will change, but often they don’t because the same unseen baggage stays with them.
If we try staying in one place long enough, like the crow elder said, the land begins to talk to us.  We hear the voices of the trees, plants, and animals.  We sense their presence when we walk around and with the land.  We begin to see the grasshopper on the branch as more than a pest, but as a fellow resident, sharing our space, and a potential source of wisdom.  We look at the old tree that provides shade, protection from the winds, maybe even a place of security and serenity when we feel “out of sorts”.  Ever wonder why you feel so comforted by one old tree, after all it’s just a tree… or is it one of the spirits of the land that calls gently… communing with our spirit?
That old tree has seen and experienced many events in the years it’s been in that one place.  It’s weathered and felt many a storm, yet remains steady.  It’s learned how to bend with the wind, draw its sap, its life blood into the roots for long winters.  It shouts for joy with spring sprouting new buds, leaves, branches, and new life.  It shows off its beauty of verdant green providing shade from summer’s heat and then shows its true colors in the fall.  As we watch the drama of that old tree year after year, we learn valuable lessons for our own lives.
Spirits of the land can also reveal themselves through other residents through sharing their families with ours.  With a certain fondness, I remember a red-tailed hawk flying above as I walked some land deciding if I should live there.  The hawk seemed to introduce itself to me with a welcoming “Come, stay with us.  Be our neighbor.  You are welcome here.”  The same hawk shared the land with us.  I watched as it found a mate and later on the proud parent brought the fledglings out within a matter of feet from our front porch, like any human parent proudly showing their children.
An intimate relationship with the land guides us to an intimate relationship with the spirits who will encourage, teach, and influence us.  Our lives will be more fulfilling and focused through our connection with the land.  Our own self image improves.  Our relationships with others improve.  We can begin this intimate relationship the moment we step onto the land realizing we are not a part from, but in partnership with the spirits of the land.
Try this.  Walk onto a piece of land.  Close your eyes. Take four deep cleansing breaths, in through the nose and out through the mouth, then open your eyes slowly and allow the spirits of the land to awaken your soul.
“I think if people stay somewhere long enough … the spirits will begin to speak to them. It’s the power of the spirits coming from the land.”

Benefits From Observing Nature

We connect with spirit in many ways. Art expresses your inner self while music may transport you to realms of new insights and self discovery. Observing nature also opens horizons of new perspectives and reasons for living this particular life, whisking you on to the very core of your spirit and soul.

Connecting with nature through observation provides countless opportunities to learn, grow, gain new wisdom, receive guidance, and resolve difficult situations. Observations of nature become more active and less passive when you integrate, partner yourself with nature instead of being apart from nature. For example, when you pause in a garden, simply letting the cares and concerns of the day slip by, you may find yourself visited by a butterfly, bird, or small woodland resident like a chipmunk or squirrel. Stay a while longer, sit on the grass among the flowers, pick out one personal concern in as concise a manner as possible then put it out to the universe. For example, “What can I do to begin improving my life”? Then, let the thought go, and return to simply watching and observing the butterflies, birds, and chipmunks. Nature becomes your partner as you observe the inhabitants, watching them with not only the eyes of an observer, but the eyes of a participant. Watch closely, seeing if any of them or anything new presents itself, particularly if they do something unusual. Then ask yourself and the universe how this may or may not relate to your question.

A dear friend of mine often said, “Remember to look to the little things”. Maybe the butterfly lands on your nose followed with the thought, “The answer is as plain as the nose on your face”. So, you move on to the next level, by seeking further insights. Suddenly a crow comes up and starts “cawing” interrupting your solitude… but is he? He comes back a few more times, nothing else happens, so you decide to leave the garden and attend to the day’s activities.

For some reason, you begin to think about that old crow interrupting your wonder-filled moments of solitude by coming back time after time cawing and cawing, sometimes close enough to slap. Curiosity causes you to study crows. Your study leads to a book that moves beyond their physical characteristics and on to their spiritual qualities. You discover crows depict personal truth.

The answer rings clear, all the pieces come together as the answer to your question reveals itself. “What can I do to begin improving my life”? Begin by being true to your self or walking in your own truth instead of someone else’s.

Another example with the same circumstances, but this time you just want to sit in a garden for relaxation. Without posing questions to the universe, being quiet and alone are your only goals… but the crow still keeps coming by. That afternoon, the next day, or a week later, something happens, causing you to return to those moments with the crow in your mind. Perhaps you found yourself in a situation where you know you should have followed your feelings and “spoken your truth”, but you didn’t. Then you did the same research and found the same reference of speaking your truth, honoring your truth, or practically speaking, be true to yourself. In the first instance, you sought guidance in the second, the universe provided the crow to teach an important life lesson. Nature provides countless examples when you take time out of your day to simply enjoy the being a part of nature.

Learning to look beyond the academics of species and genders opens up our hearts and spirits to infinite lessons and practical teachings, transforming us into better people. Consider a tea rose. The tea rose is classified as flora, plant life, a flower. Certain specific characteristics classify it further as a rose then, depending on who identified or created the strain, the specific group and type of tea rose is determined. That is one view. Our senses begin to awaken feelings. Focusing on the gentle fragrance blended with delicate beauty we are transported to another dimension of appreciation. Like the aroma of fresh baked bread stimulates our physical appetite for physical nourishment, the little rose stimulates spiritual nourishment. The spiritual applications are endless, limited only by our current needs in life. This takes us to the next step.

We may be facing a dilemma in life that may appear complex, layered with countless alternatives. A walk in the garden seems an appropriate tonic for our muddled confusion. While walking, we stop short of stepping on a small tea rose, still in its budding stage. For some unknown reason, the little bud calls us toward a closer look. We observe enough of the little rose to see shades of pink blended with a bit of pastel yellow. Scrutiny adds a delicate aroma to our observation. Looking around, we see it is alone in the dirt, with no apparent support or help.

Then a warm feeling inside begins to envelope us like a warm and tender hug from a loved one. This little rose will soon become a beacon of beauty out of the dirt. Creator will help open the petals, so it can become what it is meant to be. Then… a practical application blossoms, presenting an answer to our dilemma. If Creator can unfold petals of beauty out of just a root and some dirt, what can happen in our lives if we stop trying to do everything for ourselves? If we relinquish control to Creator and the Universe, what beautiful creation can come from the apparent dilemma? We return to the dilemma with another view. We claim a renewed assurance that circumstances can work themselves out and hopeless situations fade. All this comes from watching and observing a little rose… paying attention to a seemingly insignificant part of nature; watching a little thing. Think of the other treasures that await our discovery.

Several avenues transport us into the environments providing opportunities to get away from the ruts of life and back to nature. A hike in the woods nearby, caring for the small garden in an urban setting, or weekend volunteer ventures that benefit nature. Take your choice, but begin by walking slowly and enjoying simple truths taught through nature.

We desire to learn how to become better people or better souls. These desires can be met through observing nature. The cliché “getting back to nature” suggests something has been left behind or ignored from life. Perhaps we should reclaim the wealth of knowledge available to us through taking time to observe nature.