I can’t even think of year, like this one, that has been so stressful to so many people. Everyone has been affected, though some clearly more so, or more egregiously, than others.
So many feelings … fearful, angry, frustrated, uncertain, abandoned, neglected, lonely, depressed, anxious, and on and on. Can you relate? And each of us has different conditioning, a different perspective, different life situations, and processes the “V” and the “V” and the lockdown and the restrictions … well, differently.
But no matter how you’re processing, most of these 2020 feelings (whether new-found or re-surfaced) are NOT comfortable. Am I right?
What if you could get more comfortable, release some of the gunky gunk you may have taken on in 2020, and reclaim your physical and emotional vitality?
I invite you to do just that! You can learn more here.
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For purposes of this writing,
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Well, she and her husband recently decided to explore going toward a more plant-based diet - not “whole hog” (so to speak), but in a relaxed-and-let’s-ease-into-it kind of way. And so, desiring to support my daughter’s diet choices, I decided to change up the plan for our upcoming breakfast - no more eggs, cheese, milk, cream, butter … not to mention bacon or sausage! (And, to make matters even more interesting, for years my daughter has had issues with beans, soy, tofu, and the like. That meant that even a bean burrito with guac was OUT!)
So, what did I do to figure out what to serve for our upcoming breakfast in a couple of days???
I made a post on Facebook asking for recommendations and suggestions … and, WOW, did my Facebook world ever step up to help a girl out!
I received so many excellent suggestions, and even several recipes. A lot of suggestions for avocado-toast, which I love! Also, a number of suggestions involving eggs. (I have come to learn that the term, “plant-based” is a bit flexible, apparently.) And the suggestions involving beans or tofu … well, I wasn’t too sure about those, because of my daughter’s past issues with them.
The next day after receiving all these very helpful suggestions, was the day before when we were to have breakfast. I was very caught up in my work all day long, and I never got around to planning our meal … which, in all honesty, is pretty much par for the course for me.
Nevertheless, I had about a 1-hour break in the late afternoon to go shop for several (potential) ingredients we could use for our breakfast. I went to the health food store, armed with some vague ideas about what I wanted to accomplish. A very nice store clerk helped me find all kinds of items, which were mostly unfamiliar to me. I thanked him, and he said, “No problem. These are the foods I eat all the time.”
When my daughter came over the next morning, we got to it!
First course
We started off browning some onion in avocado oil. Then she crumbled in the shelf-stable extra-firm tofu (turns out, she’s been doing ok with it!), and sprinkled in nutritional yeast and turmeric. We served this, dotted with a bit of Sriracha, with sliced avocado, sauerkraut and grapes.
Second courseWe used a pancake mix (ok…not totally plant-based, but within tolerances), and to substitute for egg, we used a boxed “egg replacer” added to warm water, and for the milk we used oat milk. We served the pancakes with strawberries, “buttery sticks” (crafted from various plant oils) and maple syrup. Coffee with oat milk for our beverage.
The meal was yummo … from top to bottom!
The best part of all? We had a great time making it together! She taught me a couple of things, and I shared with her some of the suggestions I learned from my Facebook tribe.
I’m grateful to you (you know who you are!) for helping me figure this out … and of course there’s so much more to learn, right? And I’m especially grateful for my daughter and son-in-law for their exploration, which led me to mine.
At this point, I’m not sure how far I’ll go with a plant-based diet, but one thing is for sure – there are resources galore! You just have to take a moment to ask, and then listen.
What recent “exploration” have you embarked on, for which you asked, and received, valuable input from friendly, helpful people, who were willing to be a resource for your “journey”?
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Continued from What's Up With Your Sore Throat? ...
Really? How could this be? What had changed in my life?
It hit me like a bolt of lightning! I had found my voice.
Say what, Marie? What are you talking about?
Ten years ago, during my process of becoming an Advanced Certified BodyTalk Practitioner, I had learned about Body Consciousness – that each part of the body has a consciousness, a role, a reason for being.
Consider your throat. What’s located in and around your throat? Well, for one thing, your voice box – your vocal chords. You can see, then, that one of your throat’s reasons for being, one of its states of consciousness, is communication and expression.
When studying BodyTalk, I learned that a physical pathology in an area of the body can create a pathology in consciousness, and that the reverse is true, as well. A pathological consciousness can create a physical pathology in that area of the body.
Ten years ago, I had come to understand that I did not have my voice, because I had, for many years, allowed various people and circumstances in my life, to shut down my expression of myself.
Equipped with that awareness, I allowed myself to transform from being "muted Marie" to a much more complete expression of myself, and I have come to know that, depending on the situation, even a conscious choice to abstain from vocal expression can the highest and best expression of myself.
Not having a voice, not having an adequate expression of my being, had made sore throats a recurrent theme in my life!
What an amazing journey this is. So many doors opening to new understandings.
Now, with this glimpse into my world of understanding, you can see how a sore throat is not just a sore throat!
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When I was in middle school (way back then it was called Junior High), I started experiencing frequent sore throats, most often accompanied by sinus congestion, and, as such, I was sleeping with my mouth open in order to breathe … which made my sore throats even worse.
Now, who knows why this started happening more and more around those early teenage years. Maybe I wasn’t sleeping enough (can you say FOMO?!), and, of course, I now know how important sleep is for the immune system. Did I care back then? Heck no!
Also, around that time, although my mother prepared delicious and healthy food, using the babysitting money I earned, I was beginning to experiment with my drug of choice – food – and it wasn’t always healthy. In fact, it usually came in a soda pop can or a candy wrapper. Again (I’m oh so much wiser now), I now know that sugar and refined carbohydrate consumption suppresses the immune system.
When my sore throat got uncomfortable enough, my mom would take me to the clinic, and I would get tested for strep, and if I had it, I would get put on antibiotics. So, I get it, that there may have been “bugs” that needed to be “taken care of”. (Now, I know of other ways I would take care of “bugs”, but back then it was always antibiotics to the rescue.)
In the early 80’s when I started having kids of my own, I gained an interest in preserving my kiddos’ health and treating their dis-eases with nutrition and supplements. That’s when I began to learn about the importance of adequate sleep, as well as limiting sugars in the diet, if you want even a chance at maintaining optimal health. I also started learning about vitamins and mineral supplementation, and I developed my own system of what my husband has always called my “potions and mixes”. (He calls me a curandera. Yeah, that fits.)
Yet, I was still experiencing sore throats. Not nearly as many, mind you, but they were still stubbornly present a couple times a year.
But you know what? Just the other day, as I was completing my morning meditation, I came to the realization that I had not had a sore throat for easily 10 years!
Really? How could this be? What had changed in my life?
To learn what was going on with me, read The Deeper Meaning Behind a Sore Throat .
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