Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Meditation Experiment: Week 2

Verse:
Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.


A smaller verse to consider and meditate on is very refreshing and not so daunting.

Gentleness, is a fruit of the spirit, which is often over shadowed by Love and Kindness (both very important). When it's hard to love and be kind, gentleness can be a useful tool. Imagine if our gentleness was evident to everyone we came across. A gentle spirit is a rarity, but so beautiful and humble.

Experiment/Meditation:

For 5 mins a day, whenever you can sit and be still, take the time to think about this small verse. Do not feel pressured to find the perfect spot, just practice being sweet and quiet.
-For minutes 1-2 repeat the verse over and over.
-minutes 2-3 be still for 1 minute and try to not let your mind wonder from the verse. But do not repeat the verse. Just meditate.
-minutes 3-4 turn your thoughts to what you think true gentleness is.
-minutes 4-5. Be quiet and relax.

Verse:
Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Hair, Skin and Nails: Acne Scars and Wrinkles

These products are like Heaven on Earth to me. The Wild Rose Facial Oil has made a huge difference in the appearance and texture of my skin. I bought this oil to put under my eyes before I applied makeup. No joke, the wrinkles around my eyes have softened. Once I realized this was a reality and not a heavenly dream, I started using the oil as my night moisturizer. My brown spots on my upper lip are improving and my skin tone is balanced. (Nathan also used this oil on one his tattoos that was having a hard time healing, its a miracle worker! Thank you- Mother Earth.) Ohhhh...to be young again! More details below and heres the site, www.mountainroseherbs.com.
Wild Rose Facial Oil:
$12.50
This is a remarkable oil for rejuvenating and hydrating damaged skin, and was formulated specifically for the treatment of external damage to the outer epidermis. The Wild Rose Facial Oil contains beneficial botanical ingredients such as precious Helichrysum essential oil, Vitamin E oil, and organic Wild Rosehip Seed Oil.This oil is excellent for encouraging healthy skin growth, and for assisting with damage due to acne, scars, sun exposure, or other excessive damage. This is a very concentrated oil, and only a finger tip or two is needed.
Contains: Organic Calendula oil, organic Wild Rosehip Seed oil, organic Jojoba oil, Vitamin E oil and essential oils of organic Lavender, Carrot seed and Helichrysum.

Urgent Prayer Request: For Katie R.

Friends,
Please Pray for Katie and her family. Her cousins new born baby has been diagnosed with viral meningitis. To get a better feel for what that is check out the Mayo Clinics index, www.mayoclinic.com/health/DiseasesIndex/DiseasesIndex, and read up. This is very serious and is so hard on a new born. Please show Katie love and tenderness. Please pray for the baby's fever to go down and for complete healing. Today from 5pm to 5:02pm please stop and pray. Lets all share that moment and agree on this request, set your phone alarm or mark your hand.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Review 2: The Asian Diet, White rice vs. Brown

Yogi Tea Proverb: "Bliss should not be disturbed by loss or gain"
Important Term: Whole food- simple foods or foods that have not been altered or processed.
Introduction to Asian View on Diet (some theory for you):
Asian medicine and philosophy is all about finding and maintaining balance as the goal of life.The three greatest factors that get us out of balance are our: Diet, lifestyle and attitudes. The typical Westerner is almost out of balance in all three areas. Hippocrates, the father of Western Medicine wrote, "let your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food." We have lost the sense of connection between what we put in our bodies and how our bodies then function.The body's needs are very simple, requiring primarily a plant-based, varied, and mostly cooked diet. The keys are balance and moderation. There is not one thing that we all need to eat or avoid, it is finding the proper balance of all things. (In other words, DO NOT DIET and DO NOT STRESS about Islands fries, everyone needs a treat. This way of thinking creates so much freedom and a healthy way of thinking about food.)
The Author continues to build on many interesting Chinese theories. He also digs deep into how our, American, government dictates what we get to eat. He brakes down the corrupt relationship between our government and the diary board. He is also ashamed of all Western med schools, "bc for the entire 6 years of schooling, the average doctor receives 21 hours of education in nutrition." All of this, is to drive the point home that we need to be responsible and take care of ourselves bc our government has failed to encourage people to be or eat healthy. In fact, they have made it hard and expensive to eat healthy. Bussell pleads with is readers to not argue that "poor nutrition is one of the sacrifices of a modern lifestyle." (I can relate this, I sacrifice a good attitude, sleep and having a loving time with friends or my husband for my career.)
Grains:
Most of our carbs should come from grains, fruits and veggies. Complex carbs come from whole food products and break down in our bodies. Refined grains, such as white flour, are stripped of their nutrients and deliver sugar too fast to our bodies.
Of the grains white rice is best (what!) White rice has been getting a lot of bad press compared to brown rice. Brown rice is white rice, with a thick coating or "shell" around it. When the shell is merely polished off of brown rice the product is white rice. Brown and white rice have roughly the same number of cals but brown has more fat. Eating brown rice can be compared to eating a walnut and not taking the shell off. A bit of brown rice can be good for some types of constipation- it bulks up stool due to the extra fiber; but too much can exacerbate constipation by slowing down the metabolism.
All foods and herbs have properties- some things are cooling, warming, moistening or drying, activating or sedating,etc. White rice is completely neutral, so you could eat it all day and it would not throw your internal energetic balance off. But like all things- we should never over consume. So white rice is best- but we should not eat it everyday.Every food has something that another cannot offer us. We need to eat a wide variety of foods and get comfortable with mixing up our diet and routines, for example, eating a salad for lunch and dinner everyday is not moderating your diet, it is not balanced and does not help your body to work for you. Too much of any one food is not a good idea. It is not surprising that gluten and wheat intolerance is a growing problem, in the US we are inundated with gluten and wheat. Also more and more products are using soy and wheat as fillers for processed foods, it is best to eat and cook with whole foods bc you know exactly what is in them.
General Rule: the more processed a food is , the more difficult it is the un-process. Rice is popped out of its shell and steamed; wheat it popped out of its shell, then ground, mixed, heated, kneaded, leavened and baked to make bread. You want to be aware of the amount steps that it takes for a food to be consumer ready. I cant imagine how many steps is involved in making a Twinkie or pasta.
Actions of Common Foods:
Banana
Sweet and Cool. Enters the lung and large intestine channels. Clears heat, moistens the intestine and counteracts toxins. Treats hemorrhoids, constipation, alcoholism and excessive thirst.

Have a great day! thank you for being patient and reading. Please remember that I am summarizing entire chapters and my paragraphs are going to be bit botched. Be the light and be joyful today!

Friday, September 25, 2009

I'll pray for you, you pray for me

This post is written with the intention to ask, does anyone need prayer? Big or small concerns, life or love thoughts, work or home needs, please comment your request. We all have a minute in our day to lift you up in our thoughts. There is time at work, home, while studying, running, eating or just sitting to remember a friend. Prayer is the most powerful way to help one another. With prayer and petition God promises to move in our lives. We forget that no matter how different or distant we are from one another, we have unity in the Lord...(its like all those people who love Dave Matthews- they don't all know or like each other but they unite together to sway to his music and get high.) I have 3 requests:
1. Recently 2 of my (our) friends announced that they are pregnant. It is truly a miracle to get pregnant, carry the baby full term and have a safe delivery. Please pray and be mindful of these women.
2. My older sister adopted a baby boy 3 years ago. The birth mother, of her son, is now pregnant again with a little girl (same dad, but they are not married or in love). The baby is due next week. Please pray for the situation, my sister in concerned and wants the best for her sons little sister.
3. Also, my sweet friends Erica and Amber, their aunt is fighting cancer. Wear a little ribbon around your wrist to remember this request. Thank you.
You are all in my thoughts, not kidding (especially the 8 "followers".) Keep in mind to say a little prayer for: the new marriages, old and steady relationships, boyfriends+girlfriends, needs for a job and the overall desire for peace within this group.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Review 1: The Asian Diet

Yogi Tea Proverb for the day: "Travel light, live light, be the light, spread the light."
Important terms: Oriental Medicine, abbrev (OM)
Preface
Welcome to The Asian Diet. As you read I hope that you learn many things that will help you with the rest of your life.
There are more obese people in American than any other country and the problem is growing rapidly.This is a result of poor diet and inappropriate lifestyle. America is finally waking up to what the Asian culture can teach us in terms of health care (acupuncture, herbology, tia chi, etc.); lets learn what they have discovered about eating and living in balance.
Diet, lifestyle and attitude can easily be adjusted to improve your health and mood.

About the Author
Jason Bussell is an acupuncturist and herbalist, along with all of his US training, he completed advance training and an internship in China. He is the President of the Illinois Ass. of Acupuncture and OM. He and his wife have a private practice in Wilmette. Jason was a pre-med student but began to doubt his decision bc most of the doctors that he worked with and the students that he went to school with were so unhappy and unhealthy. Through a friend he heard about a local OM program. His skepticism about OM was short lived once he saw how effective the medicine was and how much sense the philosophy made. The author oozes with excitement and love for his practice. Jason is so proud to be part of the Chinese culture. It is important to note that the Chinese have been studying nutritional therapy for over 4,000 years, much longer than anyone else (US 200 years.)
What this book is and What this book is not.
This is not a weight loss book, but it is about getting into balance by eating appropriately. Being over or under weight, is in itself an imbalance. As you get into balance you will naturally shed or put on weight. Eating right will prevent or correct all types of disease and disorders. Chinese Dietary therapy is a highly developed science and many people spend their whole lives studying and practicing this. This book is to help us learn the basics of eating right and being well.
Action of common Food for the day:
noted a) taste and temp classification b) the channels that food's energy enters; and c) its known function and application.

ALMOND
Sweet and Neutral. Enters the lungs and large intestine channels. Moistens the lung, moves the stool. Treats panting and dry-type constipation.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Wheat free, Gluten Free, Sugar Free Bake Off

I am terrible at baking but I love a good piece of carrot cake! Lets have a bake off!

Rules: All entries must be wheat free, gluten free and sugar free. Simply find your mouth watering recipe online and sign up asap, so no one takes your idea.
There can be teams of 2, so best friends- its time to unite and discover your skills at baking. This is going to be a real challenge if some one who has the initials NP signs up.
I will supply the right type of liquor and we will have 3 ruthless judges. If anyone is interested, let me know by commenting. More details on the bake off are coming- its going to be a great party and I think I will ask Carlos to make us a special musical mix.

For Amber (10 minute breakfast)

Thank you Amber for being the first follower of Moderation.

1.
Mango, Avocado, Cinnamon, Rice Milk Smoothie. Recipe From: The Clean Detox. This is a great smoothie if you really aren't eating much during the day! It takes 5 mins to prep and about 25 mins to drink, not kidding! If made right, the smoothie has a heavenly consistency which I compare to the baby of Mango sorbet and a Coco's vanilla shake. If a smoothie is all you have time for, the avos really make this a good breakfast supplement. But remember, we should be eating like kings in the morning and paupers by night ( we will address the importance of breakfast in chapter 11).

Ingreds: frozen TJ mangos, avo,cinna and your choice of milk (non-dairy...if you can)

How to:

1. let mangos soften in your blender for about 3-4 mins.

2. add 1/4 to 1/2 avo, more avo makes for a smoother smoothie

3. add the rest of the ingreds to your liking. I go heavy on the cinna

4. Optional: honey or agave. I also like to add 2-4 ice cubs, adds crunch



2. Apples, Cinnamon, Honey, Olive Oil, Pine nuts and Raisin Bake
Amber, this is so fast, delicious and easy! I made it this morning after reading your comment. It was done in a flash and I ate it while studying.

How to: For 1 person, I like a lot
1. Oven to 450
2. get an oven safe whatever. take a handful of pine nuts and raisins throw them in
3. 1 tablespoon olive oil, toss it in (or less, i like a lot- it helps with clean bowel movements)
4. Optional: add honey (the juice from apples is so sweet, you almost don't need it)
5.2 apples. Cut them the quickest way you know how and throw them into your oven safe whatever
6. add your cinna

Bake for 8-10 mins. Let cool, I love to throw it all into a bowl and soak with a little soy milk. If i get really happy, I chop up a banana and eat is like a bowl of cereal- minus the wheat. Keep your metabolism going!






Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Nathans ideas

Moderation is the written account of how I am learning to balance and master the principles of eating right. In addition to the exploration of food and how its nutrients can determine our health, I also want Moderation to be a place that discusses the daily blessings that the Lord has for us.

My husband has been initiating conversations on the concept of meditation, not the modern day mediation but the concept of how to practice meditation and how to allow the practice to add peace to our daily living. We have had several good conversations and I am encouraged to meditate for 10 mins a day. Today was my first day and to guide my meditation I read Philippians 4:4-8. It was hard to only think about this passage and to stop my thoughts from wondering. I am going to meditate on the passage for 1 week. Please join me and tell me about your experience.


Passage: Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

The Asian Diet

I love a good detox. I not only love to "detox" but I adore detox books, I die for the day to day menu plans and the step by step programs. Just recently I spent 3 hours in a dreamy little book store reviewing every detox book I could get my hands on. I don't follow every plan perfectly or think that detoxing is the key to a healthy life or a perfect body. I am more interested in the science and the reasoning behind each detox. I want to make you all aware that the word "detox" has replaced the word "diet" and we all know that dieting is not the ideal way to live in balance with our body's or to enjoy the wonderful gift of food. Some programs I wont even attempt, however I still read the books and walk away with at least one great recipe. I just recently picked up a great book titled, The Asian Diet, this book has been very moving and I cant resist sharing it.
To summarize: How the ancient principles of moderation and balance will help you eat right, lose weight and live longer.
My plan: I will summarize each chapter as I read it, this will save you time and money and allow me to share this book. I will post recipes and wonderful little ideas on how to enjoy food and have a healthy relationship with what we eat ( I am still trying to find that balance and to be honest I am always struggling to keep my weight balanced). Please also read my post on meditation. I am learning that balance with food, joy, peace and fulfillment come from the Lord. To truly live a healthy and fit life we need the strength and the joy that comes from God.