love happens

The Earth loves you!

do one thing today that shows you return her love.

you walk wrong

at last!!!!!
a concise detailed description of the evils of shoes.

please read and then come see me for reflexology so we can wean you off those evil shoes!

from the article:
"...She explains that, when we don’t use our feet properly, our muscles have to strain to compensate—not just in our feet but in our whole body. She asks me to lift the front of my foot, which I also do. She then replants my foot and asks me to “trust my bones to hold me up.”

And I have to tell you, in that brief moment, it felt like I had never stood up properly on my own two feet before in my entire life..."

You Walk Wrong

from article:

"Try this test: Take off your shoe, and put it on a tabletop. Chances are the toe tip on your shoes will bend slightly upward, so that it doesn’t touch the table’s surface. This is known as “toe spring,” and it’s a design feature built into nearly every shoe. Of course, your bare toes don’t curl upward; in fact, they’re built to grip the earth and help you balance. The purpose of toe spring, then, is to create a subtle rocker effect that allows your foot to roll into the next step. This is necessary because the shoe, by its nature, won’t allow your foot to work in the way it wants to. Normally your foot would roll very flexibly through each step, from the heel through the outside of your foot, then through the arch, before your toes give you a powerful propulsive push forward into the next step. But shoes aren’t designed to be very flexible. Sure, you can take a typical shoe in your hands and bend it in the middle, but that bend doesn’t fall where your foot wants to bend; in fact, if you bent your foot in that same place, your foot would snap in half. So to compensate for this lack of flexibility, shoes are built with toe springs to help rock you forward. You only need this help, of course, because you’re wearing shoes.

Here’s another example: If you wear high heels for a long time, your tendons shorten—and then it’s only comfortable for you to wear high heels. One saleswoman I spoke to at a running-shoe store described how, each summer, the store is flooded with young women complaining of a painful tingling in the soles of their feet—what she calls “flip-flop-itis,” which is the result of women’s suddenly switching from heeled winter boots to summer flip-flops. This is the shoe paradox: We’ve come to believe that shoes, not bare feet, are natural and comfortable, when in fact wearing shoes simply creates the need for wearing shoes."

Consider a paper titled “Athletic Footwear: Unsafe Due to Perceptual Illusions,” published in a 1991 issue of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. “Wearers of expensive running shoes that are promoted as having additional features that protect (e.g., more cushioning, ‘pronation correction’) are injured significantly more frequently than runners wearing inexpensive shoes (costing less than $40).” According to another study, people in expensive cushioned running shoes were twice as likely to suffer an injury—31.9 injuries per 1,000 kilometers, as compared with 14.3—than were people who went running in hard-soled shoes. "(emphasis added)

happy earth day

some inspiration for you...


"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." - Winston Churchill

"Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts." ~Rachel Carson

"We have such a brief opportunity to pass on to our children our love for this earth, and to tell our stories. These are the moments when the world is made whole." ~Richard Louv

in defiance of the weather

saturday it snowed here in the pacific northwest. we haven't seen snow at sea level this late in the season since 1972.

i'm tired of waiting for winter to be done and tired of waiting to be out in my garden. with the price of food going up on a daily basis i want to get my garden planted so that i can start harvesting beautiful food from the back yard. so i bundled up and went to the garden store yesterday to get some plants for my pots and some garden gloves without holes. my back porch is looking remarkably spring like with young starts to salvia, snap dragons and coral bells.

i trust that nature won't let them freeze... she's had her say and let us know who's boss.

just in case though i have this pot that never grows things well. it gets reflected heat and things tend to go up in a crisp. to appease mother nature and the faeries of my yard i built a fairy house for them to live in.

i have to say it was a delight and i endeavor to build more throughout my yard this season. i found bits of cast off things, driftwood, a broken vase for a skylight and a broken gooey duck shell that resembles butterfly wings. it was beyond fun and i do hope that someone has moved in. the house needs more roofing supplies so i am hoping something shows up today in the house or when i venture out there again today.

i am determined to get my spinach and lettuce and peas in before the end of the week. we shall see :D

houseplants that remove toxins

I just found this post and wanted to share as well as to remember these for future reference...

Placing a phalaenopsis orchid removes toxic xylene from the air which comes from the electrical equipment around you including TVs and computer monitors. UK based Style Wll Save Us (SWSU) has a great book review out on this topic called Eco-friendly Houseplants - 50 Indoor Plants That Purify the Air in Houses and Offices.

I discovered the peace lily absorbs alcohol, acetone, trichloroethylene, benzene and formaldehyde. The lilies are also known to help reduce allergies. No wonder I’ve seen them as ‘get well soon’ arrangements in hospital gift shops. Indoor gardening brings oxygen, beauty, and joy and removes toxic icky particles from the air.

So where do these problems in the air start? Well, trichloroethylene is released in printers. Formaldehyde is traced back to gas cookers, upholstery, wood stains, curtains, floor coverings, varnishes and ceiling tiles. Acetone is in many cosmetics. Benzene is common in carpets, paints, varnishes, adhesives and wallcoverings and alcohol is present in perfumes and mouth wash. The houseplants reviewed purify the air better than any expensive air purifier by absorbing the bad air and sending out oxygen to heal and invigorate.

I was eager to test this fact so I went to look at Trader Joes and found a Dendrobium Orchid which removes alcohol, acetone and formaldehyde from the environment. SWSU mentioned it is an ideal bedroom plant as it’s one of the few plants that works in reverse by releasing oxygen at night whilst absorbing carbon dioxide. I placed it by our bedside and told my partner of the healing effects it has as we rest, and in the morning we actually did feel more refreshed than usual, and it was six a.m!

No matter where you live you can bring houseplants to clear the space for you and your loved ones. Give it a try, it’s natural!

from http://feelgoodstyle.com/2008/04/16/healing-houseplants/

chocolate prophecies

I just ate a Dove chocolate and the message inside told me to make a list of my dreams, which reminded me to actually post about Thursdays circle.

First we played with moon magic. Tonight, Sunday, is a full moon so we made three lists. First a list of things to release. On the full moon the moon is at it's greatest power, in the coming weeks it will shed it's light until 14 days from now it will be dark. In this time it is the perfect time to make a list of the things you need to release and burn or bury then so their hold on you can dissipate with the energy of the moon.

We also made two list to keep, one was of things you are thankful for in your life and one was of things you desire. The idea with this process is to do these two lists every 3-4 months and check to see if the things you are thankful for in your life were ever on your desire list. It is a sneaky way to keep track of your ability to manifest things in your life.

We drew cards from the Goddess deck and did brief intuitive reading for each other, stating only one word "hits" we got from looking at the card.

There was a brief talk about mythology, specifically origin mythology. I sent out a challenge to anyone who wanted to accept it to play with their ideas about the origin of the universe and humans. My intention behind this process is to develop a relationship with the way you view the world and it's stories. Some of us hold on to beliefs that no longer serve us but we don't realize we are holding on to them until we look deeper into ourselves and explore key issues. If there is conflict between the truth you are holding in your body (the one given to you growing up) and the belief you hold in your heart (the one you choose) there will be difficulties in making things happen in life. The conflict needs to be resolved and old beliefs need to be gently returned to family and society. If we know and understand how we believe the universe works, we can control the outcome of our daily existence a bit more. Spend some time journaling or collecting images about the way you believe the universe and humans came to be. This may take awhile to find all your stories. Then gently read or look through them and see if any are no longer authentic to who you are now. If so bless them and allow them leave.

Following this was a discussion of happiness. It seems to be my work right now to play with the idea of happiness and so I shared some of my insights. From all the articles and books I have been reading three things stood out most as to what made people happiest. Permission to fail, having the ability to take risks, follow dreams and know that there is a support system there to back you up seems key to me. Connection, specifically to other people and to nature. With out connection we are alone, how can there be happiness if there is no person or object of natural beauty to invoke, experience or participate with. Service if you find small ways to help other people, animals or the planet you are most likely a happier person.

We had a great discussion about these ideas and other thoughts were brought up by the group.

Last we played with manifestation. I had asked the group to bring something they were working on manifesting. We share challenges we had with choosing, scary manifestation stories that needed to be healed and read a great passage from the book Eat,Pray, Love about manifesting and having people spiritually sign your petition. We chatted while eating beautiful food and drinking tea and ripped pages out of magazines so that we could visually see the images or writing on a daily basis. For me, I have found that this daily bumping into the thing you are manifesting helps focus my energy and therefore manifest my desire in a more wholly formed way.

Last I left a suggestion for starting a journal solely devoted to Miracles, Blessings and Gratitude. Noticing the small everyday miracle, blessings and moments of gratitude can only serve to make you a happier person, more focused on the here and now , full of hope and waiting for the delight as you spot the next moment of small magic that enters your life daily.

Thursday Circle This Week

Yes the second Thursday of the month circle is happening on the third week this month :D Just to keep you on your toes!

This month we will be playing with the concepts of myth, happiness, and manifesting.

Please bring a journal and figure out something you are trying to bring into the Real World... "Any picture you image, if focused on daily for an extended period of time, cannot help but appear in your outer world." If you come across any images or quotes in the next couple of days that express this please bring them with you as we will be beginning work on a visual (picture or written) for you to keep close.

Please feel free to bring anyone who might be interested and RSVP so I know how many chairs to have about :D and email me if you need directions to my home!

Wine and Wellness Night

Put it on your calendar! 5/14/08

It a FREE event where you get to play with a bunch of wellness practitioners and learn all about things like EFT, reflexology, personal coaching and much much more.

It happening Wednesday May 14th 6:30-9pm admission is free and a wine bar will accept your cash for your favorite red or white.

I will be doing a 12 minute presentation on reflexology, come say hi!

Come! and bring other girls to wander about with! Here are the specifics and a RSVP. I will remind you again so don't worry about forgetting :D

http://holidaygolightly.com/wine-and-wellness