Whippin Wind

I am learning to get up before dawn and begin my walk. I can see the tiny lights of Jupiter and Mars in the horizon. I can hear the sounds of deer in the forest tree's and owls foraging the prairie by moonlight. I find my way in dawns early light by talking out loud to God and sorting through the jumbled up mess that I am coming to know as my mind. The Bible says "We have the mind of Christ."
(Selah) I am stuck there because I am pretty sure the Savior of the world didn't think like me.
My mind sounds like an odd assortment of thoughts that come out of left field with such negativity I am not sure who I have become. Thoughts like "What's for dinner? RU kidding me it's Dawn for Pete's sake! " How are you going to pay for that bill that is late? What did the Dr say again? That deer is looking at you like lunch.." What? Deer don't eat meat stupid. Stupid? I am NOT stupid.
Unbelievable! No wonder I have such a struggle with my life! I can't seem to focus anymore and to think two positive thoughts in a row cramps my brain.(Selah) Which by the way means pause on that.

 Ok, here goes, I am going to blame my crazy thoughts on the wind. That's right the wind. Not the gentle breeze on a summer day kind, but the whip you senseless kind. The grit in your eyes, pushing you down, taking your feet out from under you, throwing stock tanks across the prairie landscape kind.  The kind that slams into your house and bangs on everything that is not nailed securely down. The kind that takes parts of your house and leaves it a 1/4 mile down the road. The kind of wind that can and will take your breath away and maybe your first born if your not careful. I have had a lot of time to think about the wind since I moved out here to the barren prairie. My first thought would be "What did I do to make GOD mad?" But then I thought "No don't take it personally. I am pretty sure the wind has been a factor out in this forsaken neck of the woods (actually very little woods out here) for a really long time. I just happen to be the poor smuck who had to move to the other side of the planet (Now I am sounding dramatic) but the wind will do that to you. This kind of wind has just about driven me as mad as the poor sisters who came before me. Pioneer women with a LOT more to complain about. I am pretty sure if we were privy to their private thoughts their minds were hollering pretty loudly too. I believe they called it Prairie Madness. I sort of picked up the mad part (Just ask me husband)

So that's my vent from the wild wild prairie. A city woman gone wild.
Don't believe me?
Here is a picture of our land.
Nothing to stop that damn wind.
Except a new fence that we bought last week.
I'll keep you posted on how that works.
Maybe a valium would work better.
Just sayin

Power up your brain

We are all in need in our high tech, never ending stimulus lives of a "Brain tune up!" While occasional memory lapses are normal when we get under a lot of stress our brain appears to "Go on vacation!"  After Menopause the ability to retain information becomes more difficult but there are things we can do to help.
Build your B's! When people with memory difficulties consumed more B6, B12 and Folic acid their accuracy on cognitive testing improved by as much as 70%! Eat three to 4 servings of green vegetables, beans and I recommend a sublingual B12 because we often lose our ability to absorb this vitamin through foods. A general B complex from Natural sources is helpful as well!
Drink and Hydrate your brain with fresh vegetable juices and water! Our brains exhibit clearly when we become even a little bit dehydrated. Try to consume half your body weight in fluids per day and when exercising heavily even more. By the time you are thirsty you are mildly dehydrated. Sipping fluids thru-out the day is best.
Enjoy fats! Omega 3's are fats known to lower levels of Beta-amyloid (A protein linked with Alzheimer's) by 30%. Walnuts, Flaxseeds and Avocados are great sources as are sardines.
Purple fruits have compounds called Anthocyanins which defends the brain against free radicals. Free Radicals are very dangerous for the body and the brain. Concord grapes and blueberries are known to bring major gains in brain function for students in a study on short term memory.
Regular walking and breaking a sweat is as good for you as it is for the heart. Your brain starts to lay down new connective messaging between brain cells and age related brain shrinkage is reduced.
Sleep is improved and when the body is rested the brain works more efficiently.
Do something new and differently every day! The brain loves to "figure things out" and grows lazy when not stimulated. So learn new things, drive a different route to work, brush your teeth with your other hand, do a crossword, write a letter, paint a picture. Change it up! Your brain is counting on it!
Minimize chemicals in your life. Buy organic foods and use organic products in your home and beauty. NEVER use an herbicide (weed killer) or pesticide (bug killer) as they are the single MOST harmful chemicals to the brain and nervous system. The increase in neurological diseases is up by 100% from decades prior to chemicals being introduced. Our children and grand children need us to stop using chemicals in our daily life!
Avoid Iron and copper in your supplements. Cook with glass or stainless steel and do not use Aluminum foil ever! These minerals can become  toxic and produce high levels of free radicals when taken in excess. If you are low in Iron it is found in many foods and absorbed more efficiently through foods than supplements.
Find an essential oil that makes you feel good and use it! For me it's lavender while my husband loves Jasmine. Whatever brings a calm to your spirit and body and a smile on your face use it!

Last but never least is prayer and gratitude. The brain responds to thoughts and beliefs in powerful ways. Be thankful and breathe in gratitude for anything that you can think of. It will clear a fuzzy, depressed mind when done daily.

A Thousand Soaring birds

A thousand soaring birds of flight
coming into the fields of early light
their wings are illuminated as they come
a thousand upon the frozen ground

They bring in every sway of dance
the truth of a creator who calls them home
Amidst the noise of city dwellings
cars and horns and indifferent fellows

I see their strength in numbers of love
following one another in patterns of arrows
pointing the way to home and when one wearies
grows tired of the journey
and falls back
another will come and support the effort
together they carry on to the next earthly night
resting side by side
in fields under stars

To awaken before dawn and carry their hearts
towards the day
together
a thousand upon the frozen ground

they will rise ever onward
a thousand soaring birds
in early light
Crowns the earth

The Toxic Truth - Essanté Organics.com/doctorlynn

Who is Monsanto? Why should we care.

Roundup herbicide
Agent Orange
PCBs
GMO seeds

These may not seem related but they all have something in common:
Monsanto

Monsanto by the numbers:

2011 NET sales $11.8 billion

Top Products:
Roundup and Harness herbicides, corn seeds, soybean seeds, cotton seeds, vegetable seeds, insect-repellent cotton and corn

Global Facilities: 404 facilities in 66 countries across 6 continents
Global Reach: In 2009 Monsanto products were grown on more than 282 million acres worldwide with 40% of the US crops.

U.S. Political Campaign Contributions (2000-2012) $829,662
U.S. Lobbying Expenditures (2000-2012) $62,356,730.00

Monsanto has extensive patents on GE seeds and traits which ensures the companies legal rights to sure farmers for any assumed patent violations. Farmers who buy Monsanto seeds are "Locked into a technology use guide" agreement which stipulates that farmers may not save any seeds for commercial use. The agreement allows Monsanto to investigate farmers fields at any time and has filed lawsuits against American farmers as of 2010 400 farmers and 53 business's were brought to trial. They also have bedfellows in Congress who once worked exclusively for Monsanto. They are deciding the safety measures for our food sources and supplies freedoms to Monsanto against law suits from the known public who have been injured by their products by passing legislation protecting Monsanto. While many European countries have BANNED GMO's America is increasing the use every year. In 2009 93% of soybeans and 80% of corn was grown with GMO seeds.

Please pass this knowledge and your thoughts and outrage to the Congress who need to stand up to this monster company. Our lives and the lives of children and generations to come, not to mention the bee's and the birds and the water is at stake.

Be beautiful Safely/ A starters guide to avoiding toxins

The most frequent question I hear for people wanting to switch out from toxic over  the counter makeup, hair care and skin care is HOW? What ingredients should I begin to look for and avoid?

In this crazy toxic planet of ours Beauty products are some of the most toxic. We apply them to our skin (which breathes) our hair (hairspray being one of the worst!) because it is inhaled into our lungs and imagine how sticky that can be, and shampoos/ conditioners and foundations. Lipstick is chock full of chemicals and you will eat those off by noon. Toothpastes are another direct hit for the body.

So what's a girl to do?

Begin to swap
Look at your current products and if you see these ingredients THROW THEM OUT! They are KNOWN carcinogens and are still allowed in our everyday life. YOU MUST protect yourself and the health of your babies.

FORMALDEHYDE is hidden in preservatives and slowly released.  It is found most often under these names:
DMDM hydantoin
Imidazolidinyl urea
Diazolidnyl urea
Quaternium-15
Bronopl (2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1,3-diol)
Hydroxymethylgycinate

Parabens
Ethyl, methyl, propyl, butyl parabens
Phyalates
Alpha hydroxyl acids
Sodium laurel sulfate
Resrcinol



Recourses for another way!

WWW.Essanteorganics.com/doctorlynn  is a company that I have partnered with because they are CERTIFIED ORGANIC and TOXICFREE. There are only 6 companies in the world to receive the seal             TOXICFREE.

For your makeup needs I found a line called 100% Pure. Fruits and Botanicals are what make the foundations, creams and colors.

Check out your cosmetics at ewg.org/skindeep

Education is the first step to greater wellness and beauty! Protect yourselves! It's a beautiful beginning!

Live your life as if you are a miracle

This morning when I opened my eyes I groaned a bit with the first glimpse of the day before me. Outside my bedroom window lay a cloudy, grey, windy, cold, March madness. I lay long under the covers that tucked under my chin, lamenting another day of isolation and pain while I LONGED for spring. You know the sweet, gentle breeze of spring with yellow tulips and the Easter bunny, that  kind of spring. Butterflies flitting in the air while the strains of Mozart floated in across the garden of splendor and grace.  The spring of my imagination. The longing of my soul.
Reality and memory seem to clash in my "New normal" life. These days are not one of gentleness, nor are they what I would call peaceful or beautiful. They are in fact as rugged and raw as my emotions have been. Through the deaths of two family members, two dear friends and the loss of pets and home. In the process of losing those I love I also lost my health. I remember past springs of gardening under the grace of the sheer pleasure in the land around me. The flowers and grasses and tree's that we had so lovingly planted, the walkway to my beloved trolley which housed guests in bathrobes, sipping organic coffee and eating quiche made from the eggs of our happy hens, while Mozart did indeed float across the garden light. Now I look across a wide expanse of weeds and brown prairie with the winds throwing and stirring every single living being around. No garden, just tumbleweeds and rocks. I fell banished from life. Lonely and oddly forsaken.

Those are the thoughts of a mind allowed to run rampant. Without restraint, it will wallow and moan it's gloomy losses and glorify the past.

Then I know that I have been given a golden opportunity to practice what I preach and have preached for over 35 years to anyone who will listen. That joy and sorrow can walk hand in hand. That GOD is a mysterious love, one of divine and deep waters that carry me and if I resist too much, threatens to drown me in the magnitude and force of the rushing waves. Learning to walk on water. Walking on water for me is a mind set. A place of choosing to see the miracle of life around me instead of the obvious pain that is shouting "Look over here! This hurts like hell! When will it ever get better?" Doom, sadness, anger are as obvious as the brown landscape and windy cold. What is harder to sense but still just as real is the miracle of life. MY LIFE. The one that has survived the onslaughts of hell and come out walking and talking. The one that keeps getting beaten as hard as life can beat and rises again with words of glory for a GOD who giveth and a GOD who taketh away. Blessed be the Lord. I am a walking, talking miracle of Gods purpose and Gods grace. No power in hell can take that from me and believe me, they have tried.
So today, in the "reality" of this day I have a choice, to dwell in the cold, windy, barren land or raise my eyes up to the horizon and look for the joy in the midst of the sorrow, look for the tiny sprig of green that is straining to climb from dirt and mud to reach the sun. I can chose to know what a miracle my life is and think on those things. Chose to see what is remaining instead of what is lost. To remember clearly that we are a miracle. A living, breathing miracle. Cells without number. Created with love and just waiting to move onward and upward. Spring or no spring outside we can chose to be the spring inside. To bring warmth and light, joy and song, hope and gratitude.
To thank our maker for the days on earth. To believe in our destiny and our purpose. To dwell in the spirit that carries us and to look outside of our circumstances for that which is in need of us.
To recognize Jesus in every face we meet.