2012 - Embrace the Light!

It doesn't matter if you don't believe in astrology.  I'm not out to convert anyone but rather share some very interesting interpretations on today's chaos in the hope that you might find something in this helpful or comforting.

Recently I listened to a fascinating talk by Elizabeth Jones on Healing With The Masters.  Twice.  It was that good.  I thought I'd share how an astrologer is looking at 2012.  I've read/heard so many "takes" on the whole 2012 issue, from doom and gloom, to the end as we know it --- thought it was time for a little more positive look at what Jones says this is all about. 

Uranus is squaring Pluto now.  This is chaos alright but it is intended to help us.  Uranus is the Great Awakener.  It's energy stirs up and challenges "the norm".  This is not fun or comfortable.  But according to Jones this breakdown is meant to be a breakTHRU, both societal and individual.  This light is getting stronger and accelerating so we need to be open to seeing what is being revealed to us, like it or not. 

This planetary energy brings about a crumbling in things we believed in - like stuff from 20 or 30 years ago just isn't true for us anymore.  This is a confusing time because the way we've doing things is getting so shook up.  She said the whole "Occupy Wall Street" issue is a prime example of this. (Reminds me of how food isn't the same as it used to be either - sorry, couldn't resist!)

Pluto is also challenging the norms - telling us the "system" isn't working, the premise we operate from isn't working and this also stirs up the unconsciousness in us.   Time to wake up!   We must face what we have been doing and how it is NOT working for us and Pluto helps with this transparency.  We are seeing this in banking, government and etc.  and we do not like it!  (No kidding, huh?)  (Oh yes, here again, how about we need some transparency in labeling?)

So this squaring of the two planets is bringing us light to see, whether we like it or not.  She compared this to taking a flash light into your basement and finding yuck there, or mice, or critters that shouldn't be there.  We see them, don't like them, and almost wish we hadn't gone down there at all!  We see stuff there that is not "normal" but we cannot fight with what this light is showing us.  Denial sure won't help, will it?  (Ok, I know I'm not the most popular blogger out there cuz I say stuff you really don't want to hear but hey, somebody (ME) is trying her best to shove some light on your food, drinks, pills etc)

If you are feeling turmoil, be it internal or external turmoil, this is being accelerated for a purpose.  That purpose is to awaken us.  It's very much like the collective awakening in history when it was "discovered" that the world was not flat.  This light is coming to take us to our next evolutionary level in much the same way the no longer flat earth theory did.  It had to be mind-blowing, but there was a purpose to learning the truth.

Maybe we don't understand things but we can feel them.  We are getting a chance to see the light and how it can assist with changes.  The light is also there to tell is whatever is occurring in our lives right now is not ALL that we are!  We are more.

The light is with us to take away negatives and closemindedness.  It is clearing and it is healing.  With embracing this, rather than digging in our heals to fight the changes coming, we will have a greater understanding and more AHA moments.  Our hearts are being ignited.  This light will bring us more compassion the more it accelerates.

Having said that, bringing the light doesn't necessarily bring you what you think you want so it was advised that we be open.   Just as the cautions about not praying for a specific outcome, or being careful what you wish for,  ask for light for the best possible outcome.  Being a co-creator with our own light will help us.

So will Neptune, which is providing us with help for surrendering to the process as it's energy opens understanding in the spiritual realm.  This trio then, the Uranus squaring Pluto, and Neptune in Pisces is creating great light for our awakening.  We can see what has been going on all along because this is raising our frequency, according to Jones.   It is NOW the time to let go of our expectations that the "systems" in place will save us from anything.  This is our wake up call - light provided from a divine source.   Jones says we should make a mantra of asking for light as it will help us on all levels, physical, mental and emotional. She said we will do well to look forward to this, run along side of our challenges. It is a dance!  It's challenging but in a good way.

Jones suggested we do meditations asking for the light - or at least ask for it whenever we have a problem, and as a last thought at night before we go to bed.  In the program I listened to, she did a meditation for everyone about it and it was awesome.  I cannot begin to tell you the peace that came over me.

For all the 2012 stuff I've heard about, I really liked this astrological approach by Jones.  It was filled, for me at least, with hope.  Hey if that light is here to help things, I'm glad of it!  Bring it on!  We already know that change makes most people uncomfortable.  Maybe we need to get over that - it sounds self-involved rather than changing for the collective good, doesn't it?

Well I can testify that this light has hit me, challenged me,  personally, and has been for some time as I "discover" the faith I had in "systems" (like government, Big Pharma and the money trails, the FDA, the food supply, on and on ad nauseum) has crumbled to bits.  Nothing is as it seems and it is time to let go of  previous beliefs and blind faith in the systems.   I seem to be hooked  on broadcasting all the untruths, trying to help people see that we are in deep do-do if we continue to blindly accept what we are being told about so many things.  I am encouraging people to wake up and boy that doesn't always go so well.  I've made my positions so obvious to people I know who are resistant to changes or even hearing about how they should make them.  It is more often resisted than accepted - I get a lot of excuses and but.......but....and the subject gets changed, not the thinking or behavior.  I guess it is what it is.  I've learned to put the duct tape on for friends and family.  That's why YOU get it all right here! 

I tend to write about  things you probably don't want to know about  a lot (sorry if you think this has been negative) and I realize - hearing Jones talk about this -  after hearing this talk I think I will start believing that I am sharing my light, which really makes ME feel better, I don't know about you all. 

 May the Light be embraced and lead us all to a healthier, happier 2012!  Thank you ALL for being loyal readers.  I hope to see you all back for more in the New Year!

Cheetos and a 30-Day Challenge

I'm watching 60 Minutes and the segment is about flavoring - the artificial kind.  They create memorability in taste.  They admitted that "addiction" is a good word to describe how they formulate these artificial flavors.  They want the taste to hook you, but then the taste has to disappear so you want more, another drink, another cookie, just for that first "buzz" of flavor.  It is their job to make fools of us and profits for them.  Of course I'm talking about them being all the food companies out there that hire these "taste" experts and fabulous chemists.  Food thru chemistry.  Somehow we are leaving God out of this.  Perhaps this time of year, when everyone is clamoring to put Jesus in the Season, this is also a good time to think about what we are eating.  Would HE eat it? Hmmm.  Ponder it.

The interviewer said that Europeans look at Americans, and the obesity that is so outrageous  here today and the Europeans really don't want to become like us.  Europeans have also united to ban genetically modified foods (GMO's) from their countries.  Seems to me if you want to eat healthy, you move to Europe?  Or we can stay here but read labels for a hobby?  It's a shame it has come to this.  Land of Plenty, it is.  Land of Plenty of fake Phudes!

So you add up our falling for artificial ingredients and you watch what people put in their shopping carts, and you see how the Europeans have a real case.  The sad truth about it most of the weight problem in this country is because of the these phenomenal chemists who create flavors.  These flavors are created.  They aren't real.  Unless you think in some delusional way that artificial means natural or real.  Artificial means created in a lab with chemicals. 

What are Cheetos?  Just what ARE they?  People who love them, really, really love them.  There is an addictive quality to artificial food (phude) that most people are so involved with, they probably could care less that they are eating chemically designed nothing.  And they cannot seem to stop.  They want that flavor, come hell or high water they want that taste.

I work with clients who confess these addictions.  The very thought of them not being able to ever eat Cheetos again sends them into depression.  Seriously.  It may not be Cheetos, it could be any processed snack phude.  The very nature of being addicted to something and then having to quit it is tough.

I battled with nicotine addiction for years - quit annually, several times.  I DO understand addiction.  It wasn't lectures, it wasn't doctors warnings, it wasn't a family begging me to stop.  It was education.  It was understanding what the chemicals were doing on a cellular level in my body.  I wasn't any different than the folks out there that KNOW they shouldn't be eating this crap - but they just keep doing it.  So I do understand.

But there comes a time for everyone - you must be told there is no Santa Claus.  Bummer.  Pretty devastating for a little kid.  And now here I come telling you most of what is on the market in the name of food is phude - not real and definitely destructive.  Bummer. 

Think back to being told the truth about Santa.  You eventually got over it.  You knew it was too good to be true, right?  I mean gee it'd have been NICE to keep the Santa showering you with whatever you wanted.  But hey, we are adults.  There is no Santa.  And there is no nutrition in fake food.  Cheetos are not cheese puffs.  Cheese does not puff!  Cheese does not crunch!  Doritos are not flavored with cheese but some powdery stuff they made in a lab to taste like cheese.  How can we be so addictive to stuff that isn't even real? 

I have a dear friend who's neighbor used to be a high mucky muck with Kraft.  He took an early retirement because he was suffering from the stress of guilt.  He KNEW what they put in the foods.  He KNEW the games they were playing, dangerously, with unsuspecting people's health.  The stories he told at a gathering recently made everyone positively ILL.   He actually is looking for a new job but not in the food industry.  He knows it isn't just the chemists at Kraft.  They are everywhere.

Boy do we ever need to wake up!

It's the holidays and parties and lots of food time.  Can you do it?  Can you eat only REAL stuff?  I know this is the most temptation most people have all year long, isn't it?  Well then, how about we start a challenge.  Beginning on January 1st - can you pledge to eat nothing with artificial flavoring for 30 days?  It will mean you have to read labels.  Let's see how many of you will sign up - leave a comment and let me know if you are willing to join in this challenge. 

In the meantime, just know............somebody is watching you eat those Cheetos at the party.   Would He/She eat it?   (Choose your own guilt giver)

Take the 30-Day Challenge! 

Migraines? A New Approach Without Drugs

I receive a newsletter regularly from APFA (American Fitness Professionals and Associates) where I took classes for one of my certificates. They ran this article recently and I thought I would share it.  I have worked with several people that have  migraines, and while we have made changes in their food choices with remarkable success, this is something additional to integrate into lifestyle changes.

(Reuters Health) - Regular aerobic exercise worked just as well as relaxation therapy or the antiepileptic drug topiramate in preventing migraine headaches in a Swedish trial.

"This non-pharmacological approach may therefore be an option for the prophylactic treatment of migraine in patients who do not benefit from or do not want daily medication," wrote Dr. Emma Varkey and her colleagues from the Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, University of Gothenburg, in the journal Cephalalgia.

Varkey's team randomly assigned their subjects to one of three regimens for three months: aerobic exercise on a stationary bike (40 minutes three times per week), a standard form of relaxation therapy or daily topiramate.

Previous studies have shown that relaxation therapy and topiramate are both effective for migraine prevention, the investigators note in their paper.

The 91 women in the trial were all from a single headache clinic in Sweden. They were between 18 and 65 years old, had neurologist-diagnosed migraine, with or without aura, and got headaches two to eight times per month.

All three treatments reduced the frequency of some women's migraine attacks by as much as three quarters, although the average reduction was more modest.

In an email to Reuters Health, Varkey admitted that she was a bit surprised by the small between-group differences. "Topiramate is a drug of first choice which has shown great effects in studies. It was a bit surprising and very interesting that the change in number of migraine attacks was almost similar in all three groups," she said.

"The only parameter where topiramate was better compared with exercise and relaxation was the reduction of pain intensity," Varkey added. "On the other hand, the non-pharmacological options were free from adverse events and the exercise group increased oxygen uptake, which is very positive."

None of the women in the relaxation group or exercise group reported side effects, but eight women (33%) in the topiramate group did and three withdrew from the study as a result. The most commonly reported side effects of the drug included numbness or tingling, fatigue, depressed mood, vertigo and constipation.

Finding that exercise is not inferior to topiramate as a prophylactic measure is "of great value," the researchers note in their report, because patients often seek non-pharmacological options for migraine.

"From a wider health-based perspective, it should be stressed that patients with migraine are less physically active than the general population, and that exercise has positive effects in terms of general well-being and the prevention of disease," they added.

There will be more studies done, of course, but I found this quite interesting - especially since the results were so positive WITHOUT DRUGS.   Studies and discoveries like this one are not usually found on the nightly news, nor do doctors always stay on top of this non-drug alternative treatment.

(I should add that two people I know were previous migraine victims until  "cured" simply because they quit drinking sugar-free diet coke, and sugar-free phudes.  (I call it phude because it is more chemical than real food. )  Artificial sweeteners may seem like a great idea but they cause a lot of problems because they are toxic.  It has also been proven that people do NOT lose weight by drinking diet sodas.)

If you know of anyone suffering with migraines, please send this along to them via whatever social media you use.  News like this deserves to get out there to people who need it!  There is a link at the way bottom of my blog to send this out to your friends.

Beauty in Your Bones - Osteoporosis Be Gone!

I know a whole world of beautiful people!  They come in all shapes, sizes, ages, educational backgrounds and the one thing they ALL have in common is beauty.  I'm refering to their spirits, not their hair or make-up or outfit.  I'm refering to their love of life, their zest.  It's fabulous! 

I can feel all this beauty, or see it in the twinkle of an eye, a smile, hear it in a hearty laugh.

What I cannot see, or hear, or feel, is their bones.  What the heck is going on within those bones?  Of course I hope it is all good!  I can't x-ray the world but I can put a little list together for everyone on how to have beautiful bones!

Do some resistance exercises - either with stretchy bands or weights - look on line for examples (YouTube is great for that) or ask a trainer at your health club if you go to one.  If you walk every day, this is not enough, unless you are lifting weights as you walk (few do this).  Yoga is great for this and I do love my yoga!  If you think it's not a good workout, try it.  (Hubs didn't think it was challenging at all until he tried it with me one day - Mr. Gym himself struggled big time, sweat and finally admitted it was a really good workout!)

Simple sugars vacuum the minerals right out of your bones - so watch your sugar intake.  There are a lot of reasons to cut back or eliminate sugar altogether, but for good bone health it is critical.

Acid conditions in the body (which you can develop from eating too much meat and/or dairy) will pull the calcium out of your bones to break down the acid.  Pay attention to eating a good balance of foods to keep yourself on the side of alkaline rather than acid.

Look up a list on line of alkaline foods - how many do you eat daily?  Most people are acid and may not realize it but the acidity is taking its toll somewhere in your body.  They say osteoporosis is a silent disease because you don't experience symptomatic pains until it is so advanced you are in major trouble!  Please do not accept that crumbly bones is a natural part of aging.  That is so not true! 

Magnesium and Vitamin D are boosters for calcium.  Without those two little helpers, calcium is lacking. Don't fret about it, just eat your greens.  Vitamin D should already be in your vitamin regime daily to optimize many things, namely your immune system.

Dairy tends to block energy in the body.  Using plant-based proteins like legumes, sesame seeds, greens, sea veggies, quinoa will do a body good!  Kale, spinach, collard greens, broccoli, brussel sprouts - find recipes on line if you don't know what to do with them.

Read Mercola.com - look up his article on The "Calcium Lie" Every Woman Should Know About which is based on the book "The Calcium Lie".  Great information! 

Another thing before I forget is to make sure you are getting Omega's in your diet - especially Omega 3 - which promotes healthy bones.  Fish oil, if you take it, helps.  I eat hemp seeds, walnuts and chia about every day so I don't bother with the fish oil pills.  Seriously, eating a diet rich in nutrients beats having to take a bunch of pills.  And speaking of pills, if your doctor has you on Boniva or one of the "bone building" medications, do some research NOW. Studies are showing they create worse problems down the road. 

Do not take this need for beautiful healty bones lightly.  There have been many studies scientifically showing that people with the lowest bone mass are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's or dementia.  Who wants to sign up for THAT?

I can wish you all healthy bones every day.  The only way you will have them, however, is to make sure you're giving your body everything it needs to make them!