Take Care of Yourself

I remember the days when I used to actually believe that I had a pretty ok diet - and perhaps by some standards I did. I ate reasonably well most of the time, I often heard people say a little bit of everything in moderation is the key. 

However, it is simply not the key or the right way to health, wellness and certainly not the way to eat if you are a practitioner of anything.

When I ate a little bit of everything I wasn't healthy. I did not feel quite right, I didn't necessarily feel 'wrong', but I knew that I wasn't where I might be either. Eating a bit of everything omits one very important principle that can be applied to our food, water and general lifestyle - a little bit of poison is still poison, a little bit of harm is still dangerous and I do not know very many people who can stop at a little bit of anything.

There are many foods on the supermarket shelves that are little more than rubbish and no longer resemble nutrition, how they end up on our plates is entirely up to us. Or is it? Are we being bullied, pushed, coerced and targeted by clever marketing schemes to purchase things that we would not ordinarily buy? 

And how did we get that way? And who is telling us that a little bit of poison is perfectly ok? Perhaps we need to look at all the sources of these little toxins (in the water, in the food, in the air, in soil etc) and start tracing them back to origin.

A large amount of it can lead us back to the 'experts' on food who are telling us to eat everything in moderation! 

Taking care of yourself in part means to really think about what you are eating, choosing to exercise and working at being healthy. If you were to remove the top 3 most toxic things from your life (diet etc) what would they be? 

You are free to Go

This has been a strange month with wild weather, global change underfoot and hopefully happier times on their way for us all. I was reminded of something early today as I was out walking the dogs around the yard- one of our dogs is a wanderer so she gets a heavy horse lead hooked on to her while the other dog stays close by and walks with us.

The dog with the horse lead is not held onto by us, the lead which is very long only serves to slow her down, giving us time to run after her when necessary so that we can keep her out of harms way. No street sense whatsoever! Anyway. We went for our ramble around the place and then I came back to the house.

I took the lead off of her and went to check on something for a minute, then turned around to see that both dogs were still sitting there in the same place. I realised that she did not know that the leash had been removed and she was free to roam a tiny bit before we headed in.

Then it hit me - this is exactly how so many of us live our lives. We have been hemmed in, leashed and tied on to something that serves to hold us in one place. We are so used to being only able to move around in the same circles, on a 4 foot length of rope and this has been our true experience of the lives we are living.

Tied up, dragging something heavy, held onto and pulled back.

Then when the moment arrives that we find ourselves free to move further, create new circles and roam different paths - how many of us have no idea that we are free to do so?

Perhaps it's time to take a few moments and listen to your body - either you are working at getting your freedom or you are ignoring the fact that you already have it.

It's that time of year again!

So, here we are in the middle of Bee season, the time of year that bees need to make a head start in their honey making. This is vital to the survival of these delicate species - sunny weather, a lot less rain, warm enough and plenty of flowers, trees and plants to forage for food.

One thing that I have noticed a lot more of is that we are putting in gardens in our backyards as well as creating allotments and other green spaces. If you would not ordinarily plant herbs, do it this year - for the bees. You will also gain benefits from a crop of fresh herbs growing close by as well.

Many herbs are a great source of vitamins and minerals and can be added to your diet easily in salads and raw foods as well as cooking (soups and stews are great). When you place them strategically around the garden in with other plants and vegetables they will act as natural repellents to other pests that might eat your plants.

Attracting bees to your garden is a pleasure - just listen to the humm and buzz of life as they go about their work. Work that is vital, endless and necessary to the health of our planet. 

Recently it has been confirmed that some of the loss of bees (and perhaps colony collapse disorder) can be attributed to a class of insecticides used on crops. These are collectively known as neonicotinoid insecticides and are from the nicotine chemical known to act on the nervous system of insects. 

If what we know about the world around us linked to the world inside of us  - what on earth are these chemicals doing to us and our nervous systems? The bees are dying inside and out. Everything is important and perhaps none more important for humans than honey bees. 

There appears to be little to no incentive for the Big Food producers to stop using these deadly chemicals and we are doing little to push them in that direction. It seems that everyone dances to the tune of Big Seeds and Big Chemicals (there is even a rumour that they have bought up the research firm looking into this link with bees). 

Like the line from Bee Movie -' bees don't smoke' - so stop using these tobacco poisons, you are killing us all!

 NY Times Article