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Showing posts with the label self-care

Take it to the Journal

  In our Intentional Creativity practices and classes, we often suggest,  'take it to the journal' especially when feeling stuck or seeking insights.  For decades, I've kept journals with lots of words, and sketchbooks ... in our Intentional Creativity process we combine the two, and use art and color to assist processing and integration.  Healed Enough journal Simple composition books make a great base for these creative journals, and is fun to decorate the covers, as we did in school! Another option is a sketchbook with blank pages - choose something you'll enjoy using!   Simple art materials suffice and add interest - washi tape, markers, inexpensive paint, old magazines for collage, tools for making patterns, oil pastels, mod podge and glitter are fun ways to add color and movement.  This is a great place to record your intention, ideas and insights that arise during a class or project.  At times I participate in a friend's  EFT tapp...

Coconut Milk Yogurt

 This morning I started a new batch of coconut milk yogurt, using L-ruteri and L-rhamnosus for the culture.  Coconut milk Yogurt The L-ruteri strain was common in our guts 75 years ago, but is rare now.  It was originally cultured by a German physician (Reuter) from a Peruvian woman's breast milk, and is important for the health of the small intestine. Use of this strain increases the production of oxytocin and collagen, and has several additional health benefits. Many with SIBO find it helpful. In the 70s and 80s, I used full fat raw milk from a local dairy to culture my own yogurt, which our family enjoyed.  When making yogurt using plant based milk, it's helpful to add prebiotics and sugar, as coconut milk tastes sweet, but the probiotics need more sugar to culture properly. The medium chain fats found in coconut milk are similar to that in human milk, making it an ideal medium for the culture!  13.5 oz tin full fat coconut milk 1 Tbsp green banana powder or ...

Vibrational Healing

 In neatly 4 decades of offering bodywork and energy seasons, I have collected many modalities and tools. Reiki and other energetic offerings are surprisingly powerful when offered remotely, which gives us the opportunity to work together wherever we are in the World! When we combine Reiki with a dash of creativity, Magïc happens! In 2005, I traveled to my favorite retreat center, Breitenbush Hot Springs for a training in the history and use of  Tuning Forks both personally and in sessions. Already a harpist, I had  studied using sound as a vehicle for balance and harmony a decade before. Our training centered around use of weighted forks on acupuncture points - Ohm tuners and  Acutonics .   Around the same time, I acquired a set of Intentions Tuners (all but one unweighted forks which are  intended for use off the body)  "In water and watery solids, such as the human body, sound travels over 4x faster in the form of photons or sonic shear waves."...

Safe Container

Tapping creative process can be a powerful way to work with trauma of all sorts. My massage mentor Jeanne Christensen compared our therapeutic work to peeling an onion, one layer at a time, to get to the core.  Medicine Basket Creating a safe container is one of the keys to gently working through layers.  I like to allow time to sit back with my journal/ do metacognitive drawing for process. It's good to verbalize that we will only go as deep as we're ready to process, and don't need to unpack it all at once.  The Intentional Creativity container is already structured in ways that support safety and healing for any issues we and our beloveds come with.   I often begin with basic grounding, imagining my roots going into the earth, and letting any feelings that arise drop down like compost. I keep tea or water handy (await from my paintbrush!) and remind myself to breathe.  In this  Tedx clip  ,  Dr Thelma Bryant affirms the healing powe...

Happy Mail

 Yay - that was quick!! I placed my order Sunday, and here it is! I'm a Virgo, and true to form, I have long been interested in health and practices that support it.  I followed instructions in a little book on yoga on HS, and began taking movement classes by the my late 20s  (ballet, and a few years after that, Tai Chi)  My dad always had a garden, and we got whole raw milk from the dairy next door.  I continued gardening, eating whole foods, making my own bread and yogurt (still from raw milk), supplemented with vitamins and  minerals from my 20s.  For most of my supplements, I buy off the shelf or order from the office where I offer massage Reiki and holistic sessions ... but needed more of the  Niacinamide  for my joints, and wanted to try a time release formula. I discovered Niacinamide's use for arthritis this spring, as I was experiencing some pain and stiffness in my right hand, after breaking my wrist in a fall last summer.  New...

Color of Healing

  We had a great RT circle call today, where we did a fusion of the Color of Healing process I learned in a massage workshop 39 years ago, the practice from a recent PRISMA practioner session with Dr Mary Mccrystal, and added neurolines at the end! Several participants had recent surgeries, some had chronic pain or other Health issues, and one had a massage earlier in the day, which often leaves her sore!  We Began with a body centered meditation and breath, noticing our bodies and areas of discomfort. Focus of the opening reading was Joy, and our RT inquiry was to share name and land acknowledgment, then something that brought joy/ they were grateful for. Then I introduced the practice: Color of Healing 🌟 with eyes closed, choose the first color ⭐ We drew the simple 'gingerbread style body outline first, then areas in pain/ needing attention 🌟 with that first or another intuitive color, drew a reverb/ energy field around the body, and I mentioned the African Healer Eric Vor...