Butterfly Balance Wellness Center

Failing to Keep Resolutions: It's Not About Willpower!

I always find it interesting to watch the marketing of New Years Resolutions. I walked into Costco a few days before New Years last year, and the entryway was lined with diet programs, exercise machines, scales, stop-smoking systems, books on health and fitness - you name the typical resolution, and there was an alleged solution right there for the taking.

On January 1st of every year I can remember, I'd be watching TV, and not 10 minutes into turning it on, I'd be greeted by a commercial about how you need to start the New Year off right by having weight loss surgery or a new diet program. (Uh, no thanks!)

Sure, I've made my share of Resolutions in my lifetime, and there's such a high failure rate on them if you talk to people in February each year. It wasn't until I tried applying the concepts of Health Kinesiology to New Years Resolutions that I started to understand why that might be.

You are a unique, beautiful individual. You can come into my office with the same issue as another client, but your body will have an entirely different, unique way to deal with that issue. And sometimes an issue that sounds like a "no-brainer" in terms of benefit to someone/everyone will have all kinds of issues tied up in it for you that make it not the best thing to pursue without doing other work first. Let me explain.

Essential Oil Testimonial Database, and My Own Crisis Averted!

I discovered an absolutely wonderful website called Oil Testimonials. I've been using Young Living Essential Oils for a while now, personally and in my practice, but there is so much to learn about what they can do for your health and wellness. I have to admit that it's still not an automatic response to pick up an oil for a health crisis; most of us were raised with medications in mind, and that's the first thing we think of and rely on. There are a few oils that I really know in terms of what they're good for, but this website has been a huge help to me in learning more about them.

There are multiple memberships to this site, and I use the free option which gives you most of the functionality of the site. It clearly explains the benefits to upgrading to Silver or Gold memberships on their FAQ page, but there is a wealth of information available with a free membership.

Oil Testimonials is a essentially a database of testimonials from members about their usage of Young Living Essential Oils for various needs/issues. You can enter an issue in the database (like "headache," "bronchitis," "pain," etc.) and multiple testimonials pages will come up. You can read what the member had to say about the issue, which oil(s) they used, and the outcome. It's really opened my eyes to what is possible with the oils.

Last night I was doing some cleaning and noticed that my right ankle was swollen. I pulled up the leg of my pants to take a look at it, and noticed that my lower leg was extremely red, swollen and much harder than usual. It was also a little bit painful and had a tingling feeling, and so red that it looked sunburned against my pale foot.  I elevated my leg and decided to do some Reconnective Healing on it. When I placed my hand on my lower leg, I noticed there was so much swelling and fluid under the skin that my hand actually left an indent. I won't lie - I was a bit alarmed. When you google those symptoms you get all kinds of awful things looking at you on the computer screen, most of which tell you to go to the emergency room. Uh oh!

Review: Life Juice Cleanse

I recently completed a 3-day juice cleanse/fast from Life Juice and wanted to share my experience with it. 

I'd never done a juice cleanse or any other type of fast before, unless it was a fast for a medical procedure. And during those fasts I always felt awful and was starving, so the idea of fasting for the heck of it didn't sound too appealing. I follow the blog of Chef Amber Shea and she was doing a review of various juice cleanses that she had received and done. I was intrigued, and in a moment of temporary insanity, decided to order a 3-day Juice Cleanse from Life Juice in New York.

The juice is shipped frozen via overnight courier and must be used within 3 days of defrosting, as the juice is not pasteurized and will spoil after that time, and lose nutrients even if it didn't spoil. There are 18 pint drink bottles - 6 for each day of the cleanse (the drinks do not vary daily).

Drink #1 is called Himalayan Sea Salt Solé, a mixture of Himalayan sea salt, water and lime, and it is recommended to drink it warm on an empty stomach at the beginning of the day. This was a surprisingly nice drink - very refreshing and light, and the warmth of the drink was very soothing. A nice start to the day.

Drink #2 is called Alkaline Blend, a mixture of apple, carrot, cucumber, lemon, celery, beet, spinach, kale, parsley, and ginger.  A very tasty, sweet juice with beautiful red color, it was probably my favorite of the juices.

Drink #3 is Oh My Green Goodness, a mixture of apple, cucumber, celery, lemon, spinach, kale, parsley, and ground ginger. A very "green" tasting juice from all the vegetables, but still sweet from the apple. I enjoyed this juice, which is a good thing since it repeats later in the day. :)

Drink #4 is Energizer Bunny, a mixture of apple, carrot, lemon, and ginger. I do not generally like carrot juice, so was not looking forward to this. I was surprised, however, how the carrot was not overpowering, despite the bright orange color. I really enjoyed this juice.

Drink #5 is a repeat of #3, Oh My Green Goodness.

Drink #6 is Toasty Spiced Almond, not a juice, but a mixture of filtered water, raw organic almonds, dates, cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg, and they recommended warming it up. I'll admit it was not my favorite drink - it was a bit grainy and thin - but not unpleasant. The fiber content was very high from the almonds, and - at the risk of TMI - was a bit of a shock to my system, if you know what I mean. :)

Solé Drinking Therapy (no, not fish!)

Have you heard of Solé (pronounced "So-Lay") Drinking Therapy? I hadn't, until a few weeks ago.

I had done a prepackaged 3-day juice fast right after Thanksgiving (I'll review that in the next week or so), and the first drink of the day was a Solé drink - ingredients of Himalayan Sea Salt, water and lime. The instructions were to drink first thing out of bed, on an empty stomach. I was not excited to start out my day with a glass of salt water. Honestly, it sounded disgusting. <grin>

However, over the 3 days, it became a wonderful ritual. It actually wasn't as salty as I imagined it would be. Then I thought I would look online to find out why one would want to drink solé anyway; what were the health benefits?

Apparently, the Himalayan sea salt is filled with minerals that the body needs, and the process of making it into solé energizes it so that our body can take in the vibration of the elements for a 24 hour period, stimulating the digestive track, metabolism, and nourishing our bodies. Here are some other benefits I've read about solé:

• Supplies the body with a natural energy that can last up to 24 hours
• Effective in balancing irregular heartbeats
• It harmonizes the alkaline/acidity balance in your body and normalizes the blood pressure
• It dissolves and eliminates sediment deposits which can lead to stones and various forms of arthritis, kidney and gall stones
• Vital to making the structure of the bones firm
• Helps to clean our lungs of sticky phlegm and excess mucous, as well as a cleaning of our sinuses
• Vital to the nerve cells and the communication process of our cells
• Helps the absorption of food particles through the digestive tract
• Drinking sole aids in the prevention of muscle cramps, and helps with sleep regulation. Sea salt is a natural hypnotic.
• Vital for maintaining sexuality and a healthy libido
• Natural antihistamine that helps you breathe better

I've been drinking solé daily for about 3 weeks now in the morning to start my day and one thing I've noticed is that I had an eczema patch on my hand that was flaky and very rough that was not responding to conventional treatment, and after drinking this daily, it has improved drastically. I have not read it yet (I just ordered it), but there is a book called Water and Salt by Barbara Hendel and Peter Ferreira that talks more about the benefits of solé.

Making your own solé is very easy. You probably all know that salt dissolves in water, but did you know that if you keep adding salt, you'll eventually come to a point where it is fully saturated and will no longer dissolve? That's what you're going for with this recipe:

Put 2 or 3 large Himalayan salt stones in a glass container with lid. (I bought a solé kit locally at East West Bookshop which was a container of stones and the recipe.) Cover the stones with a good-quality water (about 2-3 inches above the stones), cover the container and let sit for 24 hours. If the salt is all dissolved, add another salt stone and wait another 24 hours. If salt remains at the bottom, it has reached the 26% saturation rate and you're ready to go! Add 1 teaspoon of the solé mixture to a glass of water and drink slowly on an empty stomach, before breakfast. I usually add some squeezed lime to mine.

Please let me know if you try this and what benefits you may receive from it!

Important Info: None of these statements have been evaluated by the FDA. This product and post are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease, nor should anything be considered a prescripton or guarantee of any health benefits. Please consult with your physician or other health care provider before starting solé drinking therapy if you have issues with sodium and/or other health concerns.

 

Note: Due to FTC guidelines, I am now required to disclose that if you click on a link in this post (or any other post or link on my blog) and purchase Young Living Essential Oils, books/products through Amazon.com or nutritional supplements through AIM Companies, that I will receive a small commission as a result of those purchases. Thank you for your support.

Wednesday Wellness - 12/19: Dealing with Holiday Stress

What are you doing next Wednesday evening? Wednesday Wellness is a series of free monthly talks that I offer on a variety of wellness topics, and is held on the third Wednesday of each month, with the next one this coming Wednesday, December 19th, from 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. at Butterfly Balance Wellness Center, 3515 SW Alaska Street, 2nd Floor, in West Seattle.

The December 19th topic will be Dealing With Holiday Stress and I'll share with you some holistic methods for dealing with stress and finding joy in the holiday season. (I'll let you in on a secret: these work for non-holiday times too <grin>) Space is limited, so please call or email to reserve a spot as the talk is subject to cancellation if there are no advance RSVPs.

If you have any ideas for topics you'd like to see covered in upcoming talks, please contact me. Hope to see you on the 19th!

 

 Note: Due to FTC guidelines, I am now required to disclose that if you click on a link in this post (or any other post or link on my blog) and purchase Young Living Essential Oils, books/products through Amazon.com or nutritional supplements through AIM Companies, that I may receive a small commission as a result of those purchases. Thank you for your support.

What is Earthing?

A Health Kinesiology colleague of mine mentioned Earthing on Facebook recently. I had never heard of it before, so I looked over the website at Earthing.com and decided to check out of the library the book Earthing - The Most Important Health Discovery Ever? by Ober/Sinatra/Zucker to learn more.

Earthing is described on their website:

Throughout history humans walked barefoot and slept on the ground. But modern lifestyle, including the widespread use of insulative rubber- or plastic-soled shoes, has disconnected us from the Earth’s energy and, of course, we no longer sleep on the ground. Fascinating new research has raised the possibility that this disconnect may actually contribute to chronic pain, fatigue, and poor sleep that plague so many people.

The remedy for the disconnect is simple. Walk barefoot outdoors whenever possible and/or sleep, work, or relax indoors in contact with conductive sheets or mats that transfer the energy to your body. People who do on a regular basis say they sleep better, feel better, and have more energy during the day.  This simple practice is called Earthing, and it is both a technology and a movement which is transforming lives across the planet.

Earthing is safe and natural, for people of all ages, young and old, but it is not medicine or a substitute for medical treatment. If you have a medical condition, see your physician or healthcare provider.

 HOW TO EXPERIENCE EARTHING…NOW

Go barefoot outside for a half-hour and see what a difference it makes on your pain or stress level.  Sit, stand, or walk on grass, sand, dirt, or concrete.  These are all conductive surfaces from which your body can draw the Earth’s energy.  Wood, asphalt, and vinyl won’t work.  They are not conductive surfaces.  Experience for yourself the healing energy of the Earth at work. 

I found this particularly interesting, as I have some health issues involving inflammation (which they claim can be helped by Earthing), and I have NEVER enjoyed going barefoot. Especially outdoors. As a child, if my mother put me in the grass with bare skin touching it, I would scream and cry. So, if this was true about earthing, I was NEVER getting grounded from the earth and enjoying the benefits of its energy, as I never touched it! Even at the beach, I was the geek wearing sneakers on the sand. :)

The website sells products that facilitate earthing, but as they mention in the quote above, you can do it for free by standing outside barefoot (it's just not always practical in certain climates or situations to do so, which is why they sell products as well). I was on vacation a few weeks ago in a warmer climate and decided to give it a try - standing outside barefoot on the patio, and even venturing briefly into the grass, which was HUGE for me. (I'm sure there's a health kinesiology correction needing be done there - ha!) I did this every single day for maybe 5-10 minutes, and every day that I did it, I realized that when I went to bed that night, I actually slept straight through, and felt refreshed when I woke up. I was very intrigued.

Knowing I was not going to be walking barefoot in Seattle in winter, I ordered the Earthing Universal Mat. The mat ($59 plus shipping) comes with a copy of the Earthing book, an outlet checker (to see if the ground is properly working in your outlets), a ground cord, the rubber mat and an optional cover for the mat. You plug the cord into the ground hole on a 3-prong outlet, and then attach it to the rubber mat. You can put any bare skin on it - whether it's your feet (which is what I do), or put it under a keyboard and rest your arms on it, or put it in your bed while you're sleeping. The mat arrived the day I returned from vacation and forr about 10 days I noticed that my sleep continued to be restful and uninterrupted, and I find I have far more energy. It's been easier to get out of a chair (which can sometimes be a challenge with arthritic knees). I think it's too early to make any judgments on the use of the Earthing product and it's effectiveness on my health, but the preliminary results are promising.

I also decided to purchase a small Earthing Body Band Kit ($20 plus shipping) which allows me to hook into the earthing/grounding energy while sitting at the office. I have the orange band around my ankle at the office, although I do have to remember to disconnect myself before walking away. :)

I will share with you in a few weeks about my continued experience with Earthing. Have you heard of it before or tried it? I would love your feedback as well if you've done it, whether the experience was good or not. And remember, you can try it for free by simply getting outside and connecting with nature barefoot!

  

Note: Due to FTC guidelines, I am now required to disclose that if you click on a link in this post (or any other post or link on my blog) and purchase Young Living Essential Oils, books/products through Amazon.com or nutritional supplements through AIM Companies, that I will receive a small commission as a result of those purchases. Thank you for your support.

No Mistakes?

There are no mistakes. The events we bring upon ourselves, no matter how unpleasant, are necessary in order to learn what we need to learn; whatever steps we take, they're necessary to reach the places we've chosen to go.

Richard Bach

Do you agree with this quote? Do you think we need to have unpleasantness in our lives just in order to grow?

I think some of the choices I've made at the forks in the road of my life, and/or challenges I've endured, have been necessary to become the person that I am today. But there are others I could've done without, and which have changed me in ways that are not necessarily beneficial, and some that have been downright harmful to my wellness and well-being. This is where Health Kinesiology and Reconnctive Healing been helpful to me personally, in healing some of fall-out of those less-than-helpful belief systems and experiences.

I would love to share these healing systems with you, to help you follow the path that is most beneficial for you. You can make appointments online by clicking here:

 

or feel free to contact me for more information.

Note: Due to FTC guidelines, I am now required to disclose that if you click on a link in this post (or any other post or link on my blog) and purchase Young Living Essential Oils, books/products through Amazon.com or nutritional supplements through AIM Companies, that I will receive a small commission as a result of those purchases. Thank you for your support.

Will That Help You Reach Your Goals?

Goals. We all have them, don't we? Things we want. Things we don't want. A list of things (often in our head) that we wish to achieve. But sometimes it takes work to get them. And it's easier not to do the work. So the goals are there, but ignored. Not being reached for nor achieved.

I had some loose goals roaming around in my head and made some major changes in my life to get closer to reaching them. I made progress, which pleased me. But then I got lazy and took the easy way out which was more preferable than actually doing the work that was required to reach those goals. Then it's easy to actually forget what those goals were to begin with. How can you reach a goal if you're not even clear what that goal is or why you want it?

I spend my time with clients helping them to discover what is holding them back and how to get rid of it. I've seen some great success stories. So, after farting around for a very LONG time on my own, I decided to take some of my own advice. I do Health Kinesiology sessions on myself, and I travel up to Canada once a month to see my own practitioner. But there were certain recommendations that were being made to me (from my own body using muscle testing) and I was pretending I didn't actually hear them, because they were "hard to do." I finally realized that having health issues is "hard" too. And if I wanted to change things in my life, then I had to change things too.

I made a list of actual goals that I had related to my health and well-being, and why. Then I made a list of what I needed to do to reach them. Rather than trying to make a huge bunch of changes at once, I decided to start small. Although when you're dealing with addictions and habits, none of it really feels small, I'll admit.

One of the first things I did was to eliminate coffee. I determined quite a while ago during an HK session that I am allergic to coffee, and my body has absolutely no desire to correct that allergy; it simply wanted me to avoid it for my best health benefit. I conveniently decided to ignore that for well over a year. Well, 10 days ago I went cold turkey off coffee. I was finally ready. I won't lie, it was hard. For a week I was trying to find every justification on earth that it was okay to have coffee. You know, just a tiny bit. Just this once. Every time I had a choice to make, to give in and just do it, or to continue avoiding it, I asked myself:

Will that help you reach your goals?

Keeping those goals in mind really helped me to keep my focus on what I was doing and, more importantly, why. It's made a big difference in helping me to make the right choice. Or, if at some point I choose to do something differently, at least it was an informed choice, knowing full well that it's not serving my goals, and in this moment, that's okay.

Do you have goals you'd like to reach for? Write them down. Make a list of what you need to do to get there. Look at those lists regularly. Look at the things you do (or don't do) and ask yourself how they will help you reach your goals. Keep your eye on the prize.

I'm happy to say that even in this short amount of time I've made noticeable progress on one of my goals. If you're not sure of your goals, or want some help getting over those blockages that keep you from reaching them, make an appointment today. I understand the "hard stuff" and can help you on your journey.

 

Note: Due to FTC guidelines, I am now required to disclose that if you click on a link in this post (or any other post or link on my blog) and purchase Young Living Essential Oils, books/products through Amazon.com or nutritional supplements through AIM Companies, that I will receive a small commission as a result of those purchases. Thank you for your support.

Emotional Stress Release

I've been having a repeating conversation lately with my Health Kinesiology clients and my friends about events and issues that are stressing them out - problems with their jobs, relationships, money, health, etc. While a personalized Health Kinesiology session would be helpful in these situations to deal with the exact issues and how they affect your body, there is a simple HK technique that you can do on your own called Emotional Stress Release, or ESR.

I've done a number of ESR corrections on clients in sessions and shown people how to do it, but I discovered a video online that explains and demonstrates the technique, and I wanted to share it here:

I usually suggest that you think about the issue that's stressful, and explore it as vividly as possible while holding the ESR points, and rate it on a scale of 0 to 10 (where "0" is no stress and "10" is the most stressful it could possibly be).  Hold the points as shown in the video until the number reduces at least a few points. Sometimes that can be 10 minutes or longer. This can be repeated again at another time to continue reducing the 0-10 rating until the issue is far less stressful to you.

You can also have someone else hold the acupuncture points for you (or do this for a friend or family member).

Please let me know if you try this, and what your experience is with it. Clients have found it to be very helpful in dealing with job interviews, tests, and temporary stressful situations. If you find that the stress continues, you may consider booking an appointment to look into other causes and how we may correct them. 

 

Note: Due to FTC guidelines, I am now required to disclose that if you click on a link in this post (or any other post or link on my blog) and purchase Young Living Essential Oils, books/products through Amazon.com or nutritional supplements through AIM Companies, that I will receive a small commission as a result of those purchases. Thank you for your support.

Wholeheartedness

This is one of the most powerful videos I've ever seen and immediately knew that it was something I wanted to share with all of you. Thanks to life coach Andrea Owen for letting me know about it and introducing me to Brené Brown.

This is a part of the description of the YouTube video to explain:

Dr. Brené Brown is a researcher professor at the University of Houston, Graduate College of Social Work, where she has spent the past ten years studying a concept that she calls Wholeheartedness, posing the questions: How do we engage in our lives from a place of authenticity and worthiness? How do we cultivate the courage, compassion, and connection that we need to embrace our imperfections and to recognize that we are enough -- that we are worthy of love, belonging and joy?

The video is 20 minutes long, which I know in today's fast-paced, social media world is long. But you owe it to yourself to listen to this. You are absolutely worthy enough to spend that 20 minutes on yourself.

 I would love to hear how and if this video speaks to you. Please share!