Monthly Archives: December 2015

Nourishing the body

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Like most people, I’d rather be healthy than sick. I try my best to nourish my body so it is strong and can fight invading germs and viruses. I am particularly vigilant during the fall and winter months, as we travel quite a bit and I want to enjoy my time away as well as not expose others to unwelcomed germs.

During the holidays it is so easy to be caught up in all the excitement, and so we tend to run our systems down. We might indulge in more alcohol and/or sweets, get less sleep, and life can be very demanding and stressful. We tend to spend more time indoors and less time breathing fresh air. This is the perfect recipe for opportunist germs to overwhelm our immune system.

Sure, we can all refrain from the “bad things” and make sure we get a good night sleep, eat well….but hey – it’s the holidays! So if you do not have the best self-control, what can you do to nourish your body so it can fight off all those cold and flu viruses floating around at parties, the airports and malls?

  •  The major champion for our family is Elderberry syrup. We start taking it around late September, early October. In the fall, after a summer of outdoor fun, Mathew spends a lot of time indoors with his classmates and their germs. So, we take Elderberry syrup daily until around late March. It strengthens and nourishes the immune system so it can fight off cold and flu viruses as well as lessen symptoms and duration of the illness.
  •  When we prepare meals, they are packed with Garlic. It makes foods tastes great but it is also awesome at boosting the immune system, it is antibacterial, antimicrobial, a cardio-tonic, and anticancer. When cooking with Garlic always remember to let it sit for 10 minutes after it has been chopped/minced/crushed to allow for the chemical reaction that creates allicin, which is the chemical behind all of garlic’s health-promoting benefits. Here’s what happens: a sulfur-based compound called alliin and an enzyme called alliinase are separated in the garlic’s cell structure when it is whole. Cutting garlic ruptures the cells and releases these elements, allowing them to come in contact and they form the magical new compound called allicin. If you don’t wait, you don’t get the healing properties. Be patient.
  • When we make soup or stew, we add strips of Astragalous Root, a great herb for boosting your immune system, and helps fight off any cold and flu viruses. It is not meant to be eaten, just for releasing its medicinal qualities, so remove before serving. You can find it at a Chinese herbal shop (they look like tongue depressors). I like making big batches of soup packed with tons of vegetables and healing herbs. They are yummy, easy (you just throw everything in one pot), nourishing and lasts for a couple meals – if you are lucky. Who has time to cook every night?
  • I add Ashwagandha Honey to my coffee, oatmeal and love peanut butter honey sandwiches or simply on toast.   Ashwagandha is a wonderful energy builder, it increases the body’s ability to adapt to and resist stress, along with dealing with tension and anxiety. It helps increase memory, facilitates learning, promotes general well being and enhances stamina. It is also a great herb, which helps the body recover after chemotherapy and radiation treatment. It is no doubt the perfect herb to help your body get through the holiday season.

I find it very important to be proactive. If you feel like something might be brewing, do something immediately. Sure, it would be great to get some rest or hike in the fresh air, but you are very busy and even though you should pause, you can’t – so make sure you nourish your system.

  • Instead of taking Elderberry syrup once a day, take it 3 times.
  • If you have a tickle in your throat– suck on Elderberry Zinc lozenges, the combination tends to thwart a cold virus from taking hold (don’t over do it because too much zinc will give you a metallic taste, which doesn’t go well with wine).
  • Flush your nasal passages with a neti pot – get the gunk out.
  • Eat spicy foods so you sweat and your nose runs – get the gunk out!
  • Drink some tea – most people do not have an apothecary of herbs to choose from, so Traditional Medicinals has a great tea line packed with organic healing herbs. When making tea, steep longer than the box says – at least an hour or so. This will help release the medicinal qualities of the herbs. If you are on the run, make a quart mason jar of tea before you leave the house and sip it all day.
  • Ginger root is great to add to tea. It’s makes everything taste yummy as well as alleviates nausea, it’s also antibacterial, antiviral, a circulatory stimulate, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, anti-fungal, anti-clotting, it helps to dispel gas and prevent bloating, anti-arthritic, analgesic, and promotes sweating. Plus, ginger really helps with coughs. It is an expectorant as well, and helps thin mucous so you can move it up and out. Since it is antibacterial and antiviral it helps with respiratory infections.

Okay, hopefully I have armed you with some easy items that can keep you and your family strong throughout the holidays and winter months. Now, go out and enjoy yourself!

What do you do to keep healthy throughout the winter? Please share and I will continue to share.

All information is shared for educational purposes only and has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.  This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

 

 

Craving change (enables you to see options) (part 1)

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As the weather shifts into winter, I’m reminded of change and how it sparks life in me. I know many people do not feel the same way, but when life gets stagnant, I get a disquieting feeling. When I think of change, it sets off a series of feelings and emotions, I get excited about the possibilities and new options that lie ahead. It helps me look for new direction. Sometimes I simply take each opportunity as they are presented to me. Its a little bit calculation and a lot of “Hey Universe, what’s next?!” As I have been recently pondering, “What’s next?” I started writing about change and realized that the subject is way too vast for one blog. Therefore, I have begun the first part in a series, “Craving Change.” I hope you will enjoy it and please share your thoughts.

My first “real job” after college was working in a residential program with mentally ill adults. The career direction made sense at the time since I’d majored in psychobiology with a minor in communications. Who knew I would spend the better part of a decade working in the human service field from that one path I choose. It was an interesting time to be part of the mental health profession. In the early 80s, New York State started to downsize their psychiatric hospitals. (For example, Hudson River Psychiatric Center at its peak housed over 6,000 people, yet by the 80s housed less than 1,000.)  Many of those individuals had lost their connection to and support of their families and friends. They were all alone. Consequently, residential programs sprung up everywhere to help these folks integrate into independent community living. Mind you, not everyone in the housing programs spent a huge amount of time in a psychiatric hospital; the number of facilities simply grew out of a need when hospitals were downsized. The idea was to assist them in developing the skills needed to live on their own. It wasn’t surprising that many who lived most of their adult lives inside an institution could not handle their own home successfully. No matter how much assistance they were given, for a variety of reasons, they simply couldn’t deal with it. Talk about change! These individuals went from an environment where just about every task from getting up, eating, recreating and bathing was scheduled and dictated in a closed “secure” environment to a place where they could determine aspects of their lives with a little autonomy mixed in.

Some worked their way from a 24-hour group home setting with a high level of assistance and care to an apartment with 24-hour assistance, and then an apartment in the community with weekly support.  A few were able to make it into an independent apartment. The only help for an independent apartment was assistance setting it up and monthly check-ins for a year.  One huge barrier to a residential setting was all the rules. Many people simply couldn’t balance everything they were learning and living in close quarters with others. Moreover, add in their own issues while working within the structure of these programs (aka lots of rules) presented huge obstacles. To be honest, I am not sure I could have handled all the rules myself.

Interestingly, my first position was working with one of the original pilot programs to help individuals with their own independent apartment. During that time, I was establishing my very first own apartment too (sure, I had apartments in college with roommates but this was my very own). I had a lot of first hand knowledge and could empathize with the emotions that go with living on your own.

Although I spent almost a decade in this field working for two agencies, I moved from one position to another almost every year. Once I mastered a position, I got bored and restless. Lucky for me there was always a new opportunity for growth around the corner. Unlike my clients, and most people for that matter, I have always craved change. One of the gifts of craving change is that it enables one to see that there are always options. That very perspective helps eliminate a feeling of being trapped in a situation, which for me is a horrible place to be. By the end of my career in the human service field, I was working with individuals that were not able to live in a residential setting and had burned most of their bridges in the community. Some were living in abandoned buildings and cars. Most of the people walking into my office had exhausted all their options.

Throughout my career, I’ve known people that felt they had no options. All they believed they had was the life that was set in front of them. They were caught in a very negative loop and nearly all of their friends and family were caught there, too.  As a result, they never saw that positive change should and could occur. They had tools for survival but none for change.  I felt a critical part of my job was to show them that they did indeed have options. Sure, most of them were shitty but they had options nonetheless. The big secret I shared and sometimes successfully drove home was that once they started making their own choices (hopefully productive ones), more options open up and eventually some of them weren’t that bad anymore. Change is a long road and new opportunities gives life to more options. Unfortunately, most of the people that I worked with were stuck in their patterns but a minority did make some positive changes, which put them on a more productive sustaining path. They were no longer merely surviving. It is important to see the successes, no matter how few or small they may be.

By my mid-twenties, I knew I was ready for a change. I saw more pain, despair and suffering than I could shoulder anymore and I was loosing my idealism and compassion. I began a special summer environmental studies masters program at Bard College, it allowed me to work during the year and focus my studies during the summer. I was lucky to take a leave of absence from my position during the first summer. Crazy as it might seem, but studying the environment gave me back my humanity. I was not sure what was in store for me next but I had an intense need to focus and get intimate with a small piece of land. I had no idea what that would look like, so I applied for jobs all over the U.S. and volunteered locally at parks and preserves. I knew I loved being outdoors and teaching about the wonders of nature. I was excited to see what the Universe had in store for me.

(end of part 1)