Archive for January, 2006

Something near and dear to my heart in preventive medicine…

Perhaps medicine is too strong of a word. What I’m talking about here is something to lessen the necessity for medicine. Some things certainly do need medical attention but if I can prevent, or alleviate some of the discomforts of a cold, hey, I’m there! So I guess we can say "something near and dear to my heart in allowing the body to heal itself…"

Description
What I’m talking about here is a Neti pot: a small pot that looks like Aladdin’s lamp. You fill it with warm salt water and use it to rinse out your nasal cavity. I’ve used this devise since my mother gave it to me for Christmas years ago and I swear by it.

Colds and cold medicine
Cold symptoms are the body’s attempts to clean house. It is the healing, it doesn’t require healing. One way the body rids itself of toxins during a cold is through mucus. So when you have a cold and your nose is running, rejoice, it’s your body taking care of itself. Yes, I know, cold medicines help you get back to work sooner but at what cost? In order to aid the body’s efforts and speed healing during a cold it needs rest and, it is my understanding and belief, that cold medicines are toxic. So, during a cold, the body’s going along, cleaning out nicely when WHAM in comes that cold medicine. Now the body has something more toxic and nastier to deal with. It stops removing waste from the body, thus stopping the mucus, to deal with this new health threat: the toxic cold medicine. You think your cold is cured. It feels like it, right? Unfortunately, it’s not. I’d rather respond to the cold symptoms sooner and not introduce toxic cold medicine into my body. So at the first sign of a cold I cut out dairy, heavy protein and refined foods and start using my Neti pot.

Usage and benefits
The recommended usage for your Neti pot is once a day for daily cleaning and prevention of nasal problems. If you use it this often you may never have to deal with a cold again. Actually, that’s a little too intense even for me so I just use it when I actually have a cold. I don’t like continuously blowing my nose or being so stuffed-up I can’t breathe, so I rinse out my nasal cavity twice a day with the Neti pot. I find the best time is right after I get out of the shower. This is when the mucus is softest and exits the body the quickest. I find it quite satisfying to watch a blob of yellow mucus (if I’ve let my cold get this bad which isn’t very often anymore) slide into the sink and down the drain. Disgusting, I know, but it shows me that the extra effort is worth it, my body is getting the help it needs removing the waste and I’m recovering quicker with less discomfort.

Directions
I fill the Neti pot with warm water, add salt and stir until the salt dissolves. The amount of salt you need depends on your own body and what kind of salt you’re using. If the salt water burns when you rinse your nose with the Neti pot you need to adjust the amount of salt you’re using. Stop as soon as it starts to burn and try adding a little more salt or start over with less salt. You’ll need less granulated salt than rock salt but granulated salt will dissolve faster. To dissolve any grains that might have wandered into the spout I cover the tip of the spout and gently rock the pot back and forth being careful not to spill any water from the top opening. Believe it or not that’s all it takes. I stir the water a little more then lean over the sink, open my mouth, put just the tip of the Neti pot into the nostril furthest from the ground and let ‘er rip! er… drip, that is. At first it may feel a little foreign and uncomfortable but trust me, if you lean the top of your head closer to the counter you will cease to feel like you’re drowning, the water will flow out your nose and/or mouth and into the sink. (However, if you ARE drowning, stop. Okay?) Yes, it will come out of your mouth as well and that’s perfectly normall. After you’ve completed one side, all the water in the pot has gone through the nose, remove the pot and blow your nose out into the sink. (I put a hand on either side of my nose so I don’t get anything on the walls.) Then blow your nose with a tissue and do the other side. If you find you’re so stuffed-up that the water isn’t going in one nostril at all, do the other side first. If you have any respiratory problems I recommend checking with your doctor before performing this routine. Ask your doctor to try it out before offering advice on its use.

Follow-up
After I finish both nostrils, I  wash, dry and put away the pot (I store it upside down in a place where it won’t break) then inhale some sesame oil. I got this method from Deepak Chopra’s book Perfect Health: The Complete Mind/Body Guide. Put a little sesame oil or melted, unsalted ghee on a cotton swab and spread the oil or ghee inside your nostrils. Pinch your nose slightly with a tissue and breathe in deeply. I breathe in while alternating between pinching my nose leaving it open. The idea is to draw the oil or ghee up into the nasal cavity. This can be done up to five times a day. It helps to prevent colds, dry noses and crusty noses.

What you need: Neti pot, warm tap water, regular table salt and a sink. That’s it! Oh, yes, you will need a few tissues too. If you’re doing the sesame oil or ghee you’ll need them and a couple cotton swabs too.

Conclusion
The Neti Pot is your friend. Replace ceramic ones if they get chipped. Wash it with soap when finished with it. Turn it upside down to dry.

Disclaimer
I’m not a medical doctor, nor do I play one on television, so this review isn’t medical advice. I’m just telling you what works for me.

An interesting note about this review
This is actually the very first product review I ever wrote. It was originally written in February of 2000 and has been revamped here to update it to modern times. I was planning on submitting this review to earthmed.com (which no longer exists) along with a business proposal to write reviews for their website. Now here I am writing reviews for my own website. Will wonders never cease? Let’s keep that manifesting happening!

View details on Neti Pots from Amazon.com, that’s right, Amazon.com

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Updated and revised to be even better!

What this book is about
If you downloaded the first edition of the Dawn of a New Day Raw Desserts e-book that I presented to you on the site back in September, this second edition has been reworked a little to include photos, clearer directions and even more loving intention! I’m sure you’ll appreciate it.

The original promo for Dawn of a New Day Raw Desserts
I love dessert and I especially love raw desserts. Believe it or not, if you have all the ingredients ready to go it takes less time to make many raw desserts than it does to make a cooked dessert. As an added bonus, raw desserts energize you, they don’t make you sleepy and the raw chocolate recipes produce a feeling of well-being. You are just going to love this.
Do you like eating dessert?
Most of us love dessert but don’t like the sluggish feeling that comes with eating them. Here’s a solution: treat your family, friends and yourself to raw desserts and eat as much as you want without feeling sleepy or eating too many sugary desserts. There’s no guarantee that you won’t gain weight since the largest factor in gaining weight is what you believe (the law of attraction as explained in Ask and It Is Given) but you’ll certainly feel better about what you’re eating.

Special recipes
Same great child and hubby approved raw food desserts, now with pictures!
It’s my gift to you. Tell your friends, pass it along, and let me know what you think.

Download the revised and updated version: Dawn of a New Day Raw Desserts

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I know this isn’t my usual kind of post but I just have to share this one with you. While developing the Dawn of a New Day (DoaND) website we came across a site that uses a design similar to ours. The writer is Bonnie Wren and she is one funny lady. She says that her site, Ballpoint Wren, is her attempt at being humorous. Well, she certainly succeeded.

I was looking at her site, once again, to see if she had a page for testimonials, as I am working on a page of testimonials for myself. While there, the latest post drew me in and I found myself scanning the titles down the page. This one caught my eye and, as I was reading, I started laughing. I mean really laughing. You know, the kind of laughing that would get you some odd stares if you were out in public. Anyway, since it was something her son did on her computer with Google I just had to try it out. I laughed all the way to my husband’s computer to give him a surprise. Man will he laugh!

I’ve even been inspired to read her posts when I’m in need of a little cheering up and she always delivers. Parents and doglovers alike will certainly be able to identify with Bonnie’s writings. I’ve even gotten lost there when I was supposed to be doing something else (research, you know). So, if you are looking for a good laugh, check out her site. Her tagline is "I fought the lawn… and the lawn won". You’re gonna love it.

Read Ballpoint Wren

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My Brilliant Idea
There I was one year after Christmas, shopping the scraps of Christmas fabric at the craft store. I had a brilliant idea! (Of course) I was going to stop making the yearly donation of un-recyclable Christmas wrapping paper to the trash dump by making my own reusable, beautiful, and creative holiday gift bags! Everyone would love them. They were sure to add to the Christmas spirit. Being such a thing of beauty they would add to the already festive display around the Christmas tree. I would be able to use them every year and would be saving the earth (our own tails, really, since the earth will live whether we survive or not). I placed the scraps, along with some out-of-fashion silk shirts, and some colorful pillowcases into the basement to become my wonderful gift bags the following Christmas. Well, the whole lot sat in my basement for a couple of years. Every year as Christmas approached I would remember those scraps and tell myself, "This year will be different. I’m going to make my wonderful bags!" I would design them in my mind and plan how I would make each one special and unique. And still, it wouldn’t get done.

I was determined
After a couple of years I said, "Enough! I don’t care what it takes; I’m getting those gift bags made before Christmas! Everyone will love them and they’re sure to add to the Christmas spirit…" (you remember). I carted my sewing machine, and all the supplies, to my small living room and set myself up to manufacture my latest brilliant idea. "Ah, this will only take a few hours then we’ll have the living room back." It made such a mess in the living room that I was determined to get it all done in a couple of hours. I knew if it took longer it would throw our lives into chaos and that wasn’t a good idea right before Christmas when we had a lot of other Christmas stuff to do. Guess what, that living room was a mess of ribbons, bows, fabric, sewing machine, iron and ironing board, thread and scraps for MORE THAN A WEEK. How did we live around that mess? Well, the rest of the family wasn’t too happy about it but I persevered. I made about ten of those b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l wrapping bags just in time for Christmas.

Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea after all
And when Christmas rolled around they were a hit. They were everything I had hoped for and everyone loved them and they added to the… (you remember). There was only one glitch
everyone wanted to take them home. I was appalled. "What do you mean? I want them back so I can use them again. Do you expect me to make all the wrapping bags and everyone else gets to use them?" "Exactly," said my future brother-in-law. "Then everyone has them and they get passed around and more people can enjoy them," he continued. Well, I was having none of that. I put in all the work and they expected me to continue making them for everyone else every year. Phooey, I wasn’t going to do it. "Can’t someone else make them so we can buy them?" I wondered to myself.

Wrapsacks-An even better idea
Lo and behold a few months later Wrapsacks appeared in my local health food store. "I’m saved!" I thought. "Now everyone can buy their own and I don’t have to make any more for myself, either." Heaven knows I hardly had time to make the ones I did. "And look at these cool patterns. And what’s this? I can register each bag and track them?" I was in heaven! And now you can benefit from these bags as well.

How they’re made
They’re made from 100% cotton fabric with a cotton cord ending in a button made from a coconut shell to keep the cords from slipping out of their channel (you never have to re-thread it). The fabric is opaque so your gift is adequately concealed and the top hem is wide enough to keep prying eyes from peeking in before it’s gift time. The seams are stitched strongly and the bottom is pleated to accommodate real gifts. The overall presentation is very attractive. The dyes are bio-degradable. Fabric designs are fashionable and come in a wide variety to suit most gift recipients. Some designs will even coordinate with your gift. There are many styles and sizes to choose from and it’s ecological.

Fair Trade
Wrapsacks are made in accordance with the Ethical Trading Initiative Base Code. The company visits the factories and can attest to the ethical conditions and treatment of the employees.

How it works
When I buy a Wrapsack I enter the sack’s code on the Wrapsacks website under "Track-a-Sack". It tells me that I’m "about to start a new Wrapsack on its journey." It includes links to log in if you already have an account or to create an account if you are a new user. Once you’ve logged in you give your Wrapsack a name and a goal for its life. One of the Wrapsacks my daughter originated has the goal of carrying a gift to Orlando Bloom and him giving her a gift back in the same Wrapsack. So have fun with your Wrapsack’s goal. After that you enter information for the gift you are giving that time around. Keep in mind that the person you are giving the gift to will see what you are writing but not until after the event (gift giving) date has passed. They can then give another gift to another person in the same sack, and so on, and so on… It’s made to be passed on. The company’s slogan is "Connecting people … one gift at a time". And being able to track it makes it more fun to see what your sack has carried and to whom. Who are you six-degrees of separation away from? You can find out because the website emails you when your sack is passed on. What’s not to love?

Other fun benefits
There is so much to do on their website. You can see who has given the most number of sacks, which sacks have gone the furthest. You can even see the most generous states or cities according to number of sacks originating from them. It’s a whole experience. Find your user name on their website and see where you rank in the list of top "Wrapsters".

Zipsack Totes
They are now also making Zipsack Totes which are tote bags that zip up into a neat little square the size of a wallet. They can be used over and over, are in the same cool materials as the wrapsacks. If one of your gift receivers just loves to hang onto their wrapsacks perhaps a Zipsack is in order as their next gift. They can use this as a tote instead of using a wrapsack as a tote. Then all the wrapsacks that you have lovingly named, given missions and are tracking can stay in circulation. (These totes also come in a heart shape.)

Wrapsack Greeting Cards
These cards are made with the same material as the gift bags and totes on the outside and banana leaf paper backing. They have a pocket inside for your business card, a string holds the paper in so you can replace the paper when you pass the card on to someone else and a portion of the proceeds go to a charitable cause which is listed on the inside of the card.

Possibilities for the company
Partnering with other online retailers could launch this idea further, faster than any other single initiative. Just imagine what it would mean to the gift giving population and mother earth if everyone used reusable gift bags instead of glossy wrapping paper. Not only that, but for retailers like Amazon, RawFood.com, Magic Cabin, Gaiam, Tooth Soap and many others, it would save money on labor since it takes less time to put a gift in a Wrapsack then to wrap it in wrapping paper. To make the whole thing work the Wrapsacks could have a bar code that scans easily and generates an email to the gift giver including the code for the sack. The email would include a link that takes the gift giver to the Wrapsacks website to enter the sack and the gift. What do you think? If you like the idea contacting online retailers with the idea might encourage them to investigate the possibilities so they can adopt it. Let’s do it and be part of the change!

Afterthoughts
Wrapsacks aren’t just for Christmas, although they do make it easier. I still use the bags I made from fabric scraps, out-of-style shirts and colorful pillow cases but now I don’t have to make any more for myself. Yea! I just buy the Wrapsacks and let them do the work. Besides, it’s a whole lot more fun tracking my Wrapsacks then making my own gift bags, it takes less time too!

View product details at Wrapsacks: Wrapsacks for all your gift giving occasions

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About this book
Through the lectures and talks in this book the monks and nuns of Self-Realization Fellowship inspire us to look inside for our strength. By changing ourselves we change thousands and have a positive affect on all of humanity. We owe it to ourselves, our children, all beings on the planet and the planet herself to be better and make a difference in the world. We have a duty, and once we are on a spiritual path that duty is primarily to make ourselves a good example for others.

Transitions
This world we live in is definitely in transition. I was finding it very difficult to have hope for the future, both for myself and for my children. There were times when I would ask myself why I brought children into this world. It isn’t a very nice place, at least it hasn’t been during my lifetime and it certainly seems like it’s getting worse. I tried to keep myself thinking positively but I was just overwhelmed. I didn’t want to bury my head in the sand but I didn’t want to fill my mind with negativity either by focusing on the news. This book came along at just the right time for me. It helped me to find hope again.

My experience
I also found inspiration and encouragement. I can now see a world, and a future, in which my children can live in happiness and harmony. This world will survive and I believe our species will survive too, growing in spirituality and wisdom, for that’s the only way we will survive.

 There is hope for the future and we are it. Let’s make the change in ourselves and the world will follow suit.

View book details at Amazon.com: A World in Transition: Finding Spiritual Security in Times of Change

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