Everyday Bliss

---

If you have opinions on anything I’ve said or want to float a “yee-hah-I-agree”, this is your engraved invitation to click the “comment” link below this post & let ‘er rip.

---

How are you doing? The last week has been intense for many of us and I just wanted to check in on you and offer you more support for your transformational journey.

I also want to give you every chance to get the fantastic free trainings I did this week if you haven’t yet, (these WILL be at-cost within the month so get on it!) which are in replay only for a few more hours!

Plus clue you in on a sparkling new opportunity that’s shaping up to be like going to a Greens Festival crossed with a Ren Faire and Mind, Body & Spirit convention all rolled into one. Lots of spiritual and self-help, consciousness raising type teachers are gathering to give you free samples of their best work so you can see if perhaps they have a piece of your puzzle.

Lots of opportunity, open for just a month and keep reading for how I’m participating. (Hint: my Giveaway is foundational magical training you *need* to make anything you do a success)

But FIRST…. a bit of background on why I’m doing all that I’ve been doing lately as some people….

have been interested…

(and occasionally quite vocal)

about the need for an explanation.

A Coaching Tip: Could your need to know something about someone else be just an interesting point of view? That you hold no attachment to with neither reason or justification?

(think about it)

I’ll also share some more depth training on how to move, shape and flow energy before I share the time-limited replays to the two trainings this week…

If you’ve been connecting to my free “Energetic Economic Stimulus” Trainings on how to shape your energy for success in life and business, you’ll know that Wednesday and Thursday we had two amazing, uplifting humdingers of training calls.

I’m providing these free training calls so you can put a rocket booster on your personal and business issues, get them out of the way and get INTO that life you really desire.

Just think of me as your Transformational Google, providing you with  the highest quality solutions leading to a Life of Ease, Grace and Joy.  ;-)

To that end, the two calls I did this week as guest expert for Tom Buford and Adela Rubio were some of the best work I’ve ever offered in public…

Ordinarily, you would have to be a private client to learn this material, though I’m not taking private clients that often anymore…

But these tools were too good to keep and you needed to have them. But if you weren’t there, or need to hear this priceless instruction and get the tool worth $2.5k again…

JUMP ON THIS FAST, for the next 24 hours you can STILL GET THE REPLAYS of these calls:

Learnings with Tom Buford on how to Give Yourself That Raise You Deserve, plus the ENERGY TOOL my private clients pay over $2,500 to learn – just this one tool will save you time and net you thousands if you use it every day:

http://bit.ly/avKuBk

Learnings with Adela Rubio on creating a Conscious Business, and the FUNDAMENTAL ENERGY SHAPING facts you NEED TO KNOW. Fail to put these in place and NONE of the classes you take or techniques you know will ever work. You need to first know how to create at the most foundational Quantum level:

http://bit.ly/yourconsciousbiz

If you haven’t yet encountered Emotional Freedom Techniques or EFT, you’re in for a treat. If you’re an old hand, you’ll still enjoy this “spiritual documentary” (a la “The Secret”) style introduction to what EFT can do, and features some of my most esteemed colleagues. Really beautiful work – pass this one along to your friends and families. And, as Gary is retiring March 1st and has said he will be taking his website down, if the link at the end no longer works, you can download a free “EFT Quickstart” from me, here (will open in a new window)

http://maryamwebster.com/eftbasics/

EFT Works Great for Pain

I know. I used it to help me end years of chronic pain from a broken back, and to heal those tissues and  even grow new bone. Oh yes, you really can. EFT is a really great introduction to energy magic for people of all ages, cultures and belief systems. Pass this one on too. You can use a sophisticated Energy Coaching technique called “Borrowing Benefits” to tap along with Gary here as the pain is tapped out. Just think of your own pain for a moment, then let it go and use the lady’s set-up phrasing and reminder phrases. Tap right along. Get over it.

GREAT back pain release video

This one is from Robert Smith. He’s a wonderfully intuitive EFT practitioner and teacher. Beautiful NLP related interventions and submodality shifting for you NLPers in the community. Enjoy this video and especially if you had back pain like I did, this will be a welcome relief. Again Borrow Benefits, as you tap along with Robert and the lady with horse related issues…and a big pain in her back that goes away in a really interesting process:

Can KIDS do EFT? You bet’cha! (they’re a lot smarter than we are, y’know?)

I’ve taught children young as four how to tap with EFT and though I don’t have one, I highly recommend a Tappy Bear.  (I turned my childhood bear into such a happy tapping guide a few years ago) They’re the BOMB for teaching EFT to kids! Enjoy this wonderful video from Karin Gustafson teaching a little boy how to tap with a homemade tapping bear. The giggles alone are worth listening – and Borrowing Benefits – through the whole video. For those who don’t resonate to “I’m a good boy” – “I’m okay and feel grrrrreat!” is a good substitute.

I do this breast health routine every day. If this is your first encounter with energy therapies, this is a good one to start with as the Triple Thump Plus will not only clear stagnant lymph fluid that can accumulate in and near the breasts and properly energize your breast tissue, but will boost your immunity in general. Want to not have colds or flu? Do this one every single day. Sitting on the toilet? Thump your chest. Takes no time at all. K27, the collarbone point is also good for jogging memory, waking up when driving late and night and for kids in class to remember what they’re studying. This is noted by the great energy healer Donna Eden, whose two videos on this process I include below.

Of interest to women: Doctors often recommend lymphatic massage for women with breast disorders to keep fluids and toxins from building up. The Triple Thump is a safe form of self-massage on the lymph tissue that will help keep breasts healthy! And it is believed, may also help to prevent breast cancer. All that for just a few minutes a day – how much simple could it be?

The Triple Thump *Plus*

Thumping on these three places instantly changes the vibratory energy signature of stress (which is a frequency, like a radio station you can tune into) and flushes your lymphatic fluid which drains stress away from the body. Do the Triple Thump whenever you feel stressed during your day – it’s a great one to energize your wakeup period with too! Be sure to drink lots of water when you do these exercises, to help flush stress hormones out of the body.

1) Find the spots on the model above that say “Collarbone”. These are the 27th point on the Kidney meridian in acupuncture. These are a little below and underneath your collarbone at the “L” where it attaches to your sternum, or breastbone. Put two fingers in this area on both sides of your body and gently thump ten times or massage these spots. They may be sore, and if so, need a good working out as this is where stress hormones accumulate!

2) Next go to the “Thymus Point” which is right on the center of the breastbone, about two inches down from the v-notch at your collarbone. Thump ten times or massage here, using a few fingers.

3) Third in the traditional Triple Thump are the “Underarm points”, below where your armpit hair area ends on the side of the body and one rib-width beneath where where a woman’s bra elastic would end (see above – on the model above the mark is a little high. Feel around for what’s sore – yes, that’s it. Thump both of these two points briskly as well – I use a gently closed fist – to clear the lymph system.

Plus Size It

To “plus” this process to encourage healthy breasts, just add in the Sore Spot neurolymphatic points on either side of the chest above the breasts (see model above or watch Eden’s videos below) and the Under Breast points, underneath the breast tissue, beneath the crease under the breast and on top of the rib below that crease. Since these points are tiny, use the entire side of your hand (like karate-chopping – but gently!) to thump here ten times, or use the soft pads of your fingers to massage the area if it’s sore. This “Plus” addition completely surrounds the breast with clearing and encourages the body’s energy systems to pulse clean energy through the breast area.

Here’s stellar energy healer Donna Eden showing you how to do the triple thump basic move:

Hey there! What’s up?

How have you been?

Has life been blissful for you?

I sure  hope so. But, if things aren’t going so well and you’re having challenges, you’re going to like the freebies &  treats I have for you throughout October.

October is going to be a busy month. I love the autumn, and this month, will return to  public speaking. Coming up will be several really cool no-fee teleseminar series aimed at getting you Conscious, out of fear and helping you stay there, plus tutorials on Vibrational Healing, Spirituality and Outrageous Wellbeing.

October is also Breast Health Awareness Month, so you can count on a good primer (a video, if I can muster the intestinal fortitude to do it “al fresco”…) on ways to keep breasts healthy, for guys and gals both.

Trick or treat? As the month progresses, you’re in for an  amazing grab  bag of goodies -  all treats, I promise. 

You’ll want to mark your calendars for the first of these learning opportunities on Tuesday, October 13th at 6pm Pacific / 9pm Eastern. I’ll lead off the month keynoting the Soulfelt teleseminar series with Michelle Skaletski-Boyd and a host of wonderful presenters you’ll love learning from. If you get my newslettter, you’ll receive your invitation to this no-cost teaching series this Thursday. If you’re not subscribed, you can do that by requesting your free Bliss Kit in the form to the left of this page.

Then wait for Thursday (it’s gonna be so much FUN!) and watch your mail…

AND YET MORE TREATS

Before all that gets underway, I wanted to share some resources I’ve sourced out for the Love Your Life Again class. These are things we all need and are no-cost ways to improve the amount of happiness you have. And who doesn’t need more happiness? Please share these with everyone!

Your Body Holds The Key To Your Happiness

If you’ve ever taken class with me, you’ll know that I love checking in with the body, and always direct you back to your body for answers you need (they’re there, really). The body is a fantastic resource most people partially or
completely ignore, thinking: it’s just a vehicle to schlep your mind around in, why pay attention to it unless it hurts? But the body is also a source of great joy, and the repository of every single memory and emotion you have. One of my favorite quotes about why the world is so screwy relates to this:

“Unresolved emotional pain is the great contagion of our time — of all
time.”

~ Marc Ian Barasch

And guess where that emotional pain is stored? Yep, it’s in our bodies. Marc Ian Barasch, spokesperson for “cultural creatives” (like me, and you if you’re reading this) former editor of New Age Journal wrote about the mind-body
connection in a great early-90’s Psychology Today article that’s worth a re-read, especially if you’re new to this idea: “welcome To The Mind-Body Revolution” here:

http://bit.ly/mind-body-revolution

There’s lots here. Candace Pert and the neurochemistry of emotions, breast cancer survival (plus how to make a tumor disappear), the Dalai Lama and wired monks, Larry Dossey & the Boggle Factor and finally the sage advice of Buckminster Fuller. This article is sixteen years old and still relevant as tomorrow.

What did you think of the ideas in this article? Agree? Disagree? Do you even think some of these things are possible?  I’d love to enter conversation with you on your mind-body connection thoughts. Just scroll down this pageand share your observations in the comment section.

And…after you’ve absorbed this great info, why not clear the feelings of emotional pain your body may generate, with the ETHOS Method or your favorite clearing technique? The more we clear, the less screwy our world. And by extension, everyone else’s world…

Union Valley Headache Remedy

Sounds like the name of a swanky PTA chapter, doesn’t it? Nope, Union Valley is an acupoint on your hand in the flesh web between the thumb and first finger. From the place where there is only skin, go back into the palm area until you feel the muscle between the thumb and index finger bones.

Use your index and first fingers of your other hand to press  firmly on either side of the Union Valley point for at least ten  seconds, then let up. This causes energy to drain out of the  head and is great not only for headaches, but for over-thinking, addictive behaviors and getting people back into their bodies when they become ungrounded.

So How Happy Are You…Really?

Here’s a great series of tests that I sourced out for the “Love Your Life Again” crowd that I thought I’d pass on. They’re from ground zero of the Positive Psychology movement at the University of Pennsylvania, under the guidance of well-known researcher and psychologist, Dr. Marty Seligman. You need to register (it’s f.r.e.e), but you can provide help to the research department plus find out a lot about your own “Authentic Happiness” here:

http://bit.ly/PosPsychTests

That’s all for today, and I wish you a very happy first week of October.

Hurray!

Autumn is here with black cats  (our charcoal-grey fluffer Anoushka, at least), pumpkins  and bobbing for apples plus bonfires, taffy pulls & spiced  cider. Hay rides too, and all manner of things that remind  me of home during this exciting season.

Did the air EVER smell so good? Drink down the invigorating energies of autumn with every breath and enjoy the results…

Until Thursday, have a great week!

Warmest…

Maryam

On another post in the archives, a commenter by the name of Ted got a little upset at my repost of an Yahoo.com article on “Top 10 Stress-less Careers”.  I thought Ted’s comment was provocative enough to post (yes I approve vitriolic comments if they provide value) and also to answer. Here’s that thread, for the possible enlightenment it might provide:

Ted:
“This article is utter bull shit. Every one of those jobs is full of stress. They are either very stressful, too low paying to create financial stress (Maryam note: I think he means “too low paying SO they create financial stress”), or both. Try being an accountant. Every calculation you make must be accurate! And tax season is the worst.

Even being a masseuse causes your own muscles to tighten up. Who massages you? And a teacher? Try making ends meet on a teachers salary when you’ve baby sat a bunch of adolescents all day. You do no one any favors by propogating this drivel. It’s obviously written by someone who’s sitting at home, drinking tea and out of touch with the real world. Why? Because she’s figured out a way to make a stress free living by working 3 hours a day by writing useless garbage. I’d bet she’s living on a farm raising toddlers and chickens.”

(~*~*~*~*~ pause for interlude music ~*~*~*~*~ )

Hi Ted,
Can I recommend you take a chill pill? The vitriol here only indicates that YOU are stressed.  Your outlook effects your experience of life a great deal. My accountant is happy as a lark right now. It’s his outlook. He enjoys tax season and revels in the work it brings. If you’re an accountant and you don’t enjoy it, then you’re in the wrong job. Change your job to reduce  stress. It’s entirely doable, no matter how closed all avenues might seem. (see the end of this article)

You’re also making a lot of judgements that may or many not have any basis in reality. And your experience may be atypical. So…why “propagate such drivel” yourself?

To answer a few of your rants: who massages you? Your buddies – as a massage therapist, you develop cooperative relationships with other massage therapists. Been there, done that.  Teacher? Been there too – high school English. Most teachers who are in it as a career are doing it for love of the job..and don’t view it as “baby sitting”  – you demean teachers by this suggestion. The fact that you can read and write you owe to a teacher. Don’t disrespect them by suggesting their jobs amount to babysitting.

But before you jump on your keys to write a retort, I must correct the worst misperceptions you list: the job of “mom to toddlers” and also that of raising farm animals are two of the most time-consuming and stressful on the planet. Both require early hours until way late at night and in the middle of the night when a child or animal is ill or a large animal is giving birth. (woman and farmer? Resources here) There’s no calling in a workmate to handle your load when you “don’t feel like” going in to work or are sick yourself.

Moms and stock farmers work through it all – no exceptions.  Respect.

The next time you eat a steak, chop or chicken breast think about that. The next time you take a breath or do anything with your mind or body, you can thank your mother for that. Like her or not, you wouldn’t be here without her and whomever raised you to adulthood. If you were as angry then as you exhibit here…it probably wasn’t a 100% pleasant job.

Finally, the article didn’t say zero stress, just less stress. Perhaps I should adjust the title (already done)…but really, is all the venom-spouting necessary? If destressing is important to you then I recommend:

http://maryamwebster.com/stressrelief

or your favorite aerobic exercise.

Also, know that you can step away from this and into your own Unlimited Self, where the problems, stress and upset don’t exist.  You started out in life Unlimited, able to make your life anything you choose. You still have that power and that choice, no matter what your station in life or how crappy your job or living situation. Ask yourself  – “Would an Unlimited being choose to remain this angry, upset and stressed-out?” More here:

http://ethosmethod.ning.com

Have a good one Ted – Be Good to You!

.

One of the things that I’ve truly “gotten” on my hiatus is that I have not allowed myself enough down-time and really need some quality unplugging. No computer, no tv, getting back to a spare, but rich, non-tech lifestyle. Accordingly, for the entire month of April, but for the master class in ETHOS I’m doing for Adela Rubio:

http://selfcaremastery.com/maryam

and a radio interview I’m doing for Connecting Women, I will be completely offline AND off email – our offices, help desk and all connection outlets will be closed.

I’d like to share a lesson from this that I have learned as it will be beneficial for anyone to think about. That is, we have many yardsticks in our lives – many ways of measuring the shoulds and musts. And though we may have come to the point of removing the words “should” and “must” from our vocabulary, those very ideas exist in our molecular structure as strong encodings.

In my case, the coding was around “I *should* be able to rest from a week of work in the two days of the weekend and be okay” and “I *should* be able to  work during the day from 9-5 as others do”.

But my system is not set up that way – it never has  been. I’m an owl, not a lark. A small percentage of the extremely creative (some call them “renaissance people”) have biorhythms that predispose them to work at their best, and to high proficiency on a variety of topics, later in the day. Voltaire, DaVinci, Michelangelo, Tesla and Bill Clinton are among those whose bodies also favored a night-owl lifestyle. I work best in the late afternoon and evening, sleep around 6 – 7 hours at most (7 is almost too much and 8 is definitely oversleeping) and usually work on several projects at once by preference. And I need more than two days to be “off” on the weekend.

My long-suffering workhorse parents despaired of me ever being respectable in the sleep department. I happily created in the wee hours, even as a child. Well-meaning though it was, they used every moral imperative to suggest that I was not a righteous person for being a night-owl and if I kept up “these shenanigans” I would not mature into a good upstanding citizen. Mother consulted Reverend Pegues when I was seven over this perceived fault, with the result that I was awakened every morning at 6am without fail to pray and read the Bible before school in the hopes of rehabilitating my wayward biorhythms.

It didn’t work. I slept through third period in school, refusing to be rousted, and stayed up at night until my body told me it was time to sleep. It exasperated Mother no end, but she finally gave up and when she saw that I was doing cool things – nature photography and essays in philosophy at that point.  She even briefly catered to my 10pm dinner habit  and harbored hopes that I might turn into Imogen Cunningham. No such luck though.

In the intervening years, I’ve found it’s always best to do what my body tells me it needs. When I do that, I am never sick or tired, and am always at my best and sharpest.

Late last year however,  though it was a relatively minor thing, I fell prey again to the moralizing of others around my natural biorhythms and tried to be early-to-bed-early-to-rise to join with a group of yoga friends who were all early risers and determined to make me one as well. And I mean, sunrise type early, greeting the day with Surya Namaskar as the sun crested the local Diablo hills.

The result was that I became out of sorts and was tired quite a lot which is very unusual for me. And even though I love writing more than life itself sometimes, computers, Twitter and email began to irritate me severely. These were cardinal signs to me that I was not honoring my body’s needs and was one of the ingredients in my decision to take a hiatus from business in January.

I naievely thought that my break would begin in January, but no, tying up ends so I actually could take a break took well into February. Then a conference came in March with heavy email, Twitter involvement and text messaging before and after, pushing things even further out.

So drop-dead earnest here, April is my month off. Completely away from the computer. Even cellphone. Don’t send me an EM, IM, DM, TxT or Skypee because I’m nailing the keyboard to the desk upside down and locking the mouse in a drawer. Not kidding.

I’m taking this unplugged break both for my own self-care and health, as well as research for an interesting article, or it might even be a book that I am writing. It keeps extending itself so it could well be the next book. <grin> More much later about that though.

The Moral of the Story Is… that there is no moral imperative around what the body needs. Each of us is wonderfully diverse in our unique makeup.  We all have slightly to profoundly different needs for food, water, sunshine or darkness, sleep or waking, downtime,  romance-time, exercise and alone-time.

That old biblical verse about the plank in your own eye comes to bear here. If someone in your life isn’t configured the same way you are don’t bring your judgements against them. Take care of your own needs and support each other to extreme and joyous acts of self-care, no matter what the hands on the clock say, no matter how different you might be to each others.

Diversity is what makes the world go ’round, be interesting and create genius.

Meanwhile, have a *beautiful* and *joyous* spring!

With Love,
Maryam

(For 3-way Natural No-Junk Deodorant recipe, scroll to the bottom)

In my unending quest for a natural, junk-and-aluminum-free deodorant, I’ve tried them all. None work past a few hours which is basically what I would get with soap and water alone. Recently a friend clued me to the otherwise-pristine Tom’s Of Maine product, “Natural Long-Lasting Care 12 Hour Odor Protection Aluminum-Free Deodorant Stick”. This stick smells like Lemondrop candy and contains both lemongrass and hops to inhibit odor-causing bacteria. And it works like a charm, up into the next day.

But wait a minute shoppers, the first ingredient is propylene glycol, which is a potential poison. Propylene Glycol is chemically related to ethylene glycol, the syrupy ingredient in antifreeze and is used as a less-toxic antifreeze itself – it’s that pink stuff you’ve seen hosed over your winter flight to de-ice wings of the plane.

Saving lives that way = great. But “PG” as it is often noted in ingredient listings, has been directly implicated in cases of iatrogenic renal toxicity (1) when used as a carrier for intravenous solutions. And skin contact causes “…moderate skin irritation. Contact with the skin may cause erythema, dryness, and defatting” (multiply this if you apply deodorant directly after shaving) with chronic use causing “reproductive and fetal effects. Laboratory experiments have resulted in mutagenic effects. Exposure to large doses may cause central nervous system depression…” (2)

Odd that this substance would turn up in products destined for the most delicate skin on our bodies! PG is used to make a stick deodorant solidify. Hey Tom’s – if you’re listening, what about vegetable glycerine or Zimea as a substitute for propylene glycol? Or ANYTHING but this unnatural substance? Derived from natural gas though you say it is, it’s not something I want on my body.

And if you’re going with “The Crystal” in solid or spray form, be aware that it contains potassium alum, a salt of aluminum, so you’re still getting aluminum under your arms.

While the Tom’s deodorant doesn’t thankfully carry alum or parabens, many so-called “natural” deodorants do. Parabens are an even more toxic substance. Methyl, ethyl and propyl paraben are common preservatives in many cosmetics and have been implicated in breast cancer (3, 4) as they mimic the action of estrogen, which has been implicated in breast tumor growth.

From a great article from Dr. Kris McGrath which has great graphic of lymph proliferation into breast tissue at: http://bit.ly/y0kVT

“In a recent study 18 of 20 breast tumors contained parabens (synthetic preservatives) found in underarm products. Parabens mimic estrogen, and estrogen can drive tumor growth (Journal of Applied Toxicology, February, 2004).

The underarm is a gateway to the lymphatic system, which is an essential part of the immune system, and helps the body fight infection and diseases such as cancer”

Okay, so what can we do about all this who want a deodorant and don’t want to pay the poisonous piper? Either find a viable commercial option, or make your own! I’ve made my own deodorant for ages and while it’s not a perfect solution, if you’re worried about breast toxicity, it’s worthwhile to experiment. Recipes follow, but first…

Dr. McGrath whom quoted above, writes for a site that I’ve just been in contact with, TerraNaturals.

The formulary and owner, Tanya Workman, assures me her products contain NO PG, NO Parabens and NO aluminum or other unhappy junk. Just what do they contain and how do they work? That’s a really interesting topic! I interviewed Tanya and that will be the subject of a new article. But in the meantime, if you’d like to look, research or purchase, you can do that by clicking the banner above, OR, make your own.

Auntie M’s Natural Deodorant Recipe

Please understand that with any natural deodorant you may need to re-apply partway through your day for maximum effect. This may be a hassle, but it beats the living shit out of having breast cancer. My sympathies for those who find this a “bore” are on par with my sympathies with those who find drinking lots of water to be inconvenient because god-forbid, they might have to pee. ‘Nuff said.

Caveat: Essential oils are strong by themselves and must be used sparingly on human skin. NEVER ingest essential oils. Mix ONLY 6 drops of any of the following organic essential oils, or use any two in combination. These oils are universally regarded as safe and non-irritating in low concentrations but your mileage may vary, so be sensitive to your own reactions. Including vegetable glycerine where noted below will soothe skin and minimize irritation.

Anti-Bacterial /Anti-Odor Oils:
cedar, clary sage, cypress, lavender, lemon, lemongrass, orange, rosewood, sandalwood, tea tree, thyme

A good mix is clary sage, lemon, tea tree and lavender. Another is lemongrass, tea tree, cypress, cedar & sandalwood. Or a simple mixture of lavender and tea tree. Try different mixtures for yourself and see which you like.

Add 1/8tsp Vitamin E oil, or pierce two Vitamin E oil capsules and add to the oil mix. Vitamin E is a stabilizer and will act to preserve the essential oil mix. You could also use benzoin tincture if you are going with an alcohol base.

For a Spray:

Add the oil mixture to 1/2 cup vodka or Everclear alcohol and put in a spray bottle. Mix in a few drops of vegetable glycerine and a tablespoon of water. Shake well each time you use.

For a Powder:

Mix oils into 1/2 cup cornstarch and 1/2 cup baking soda thoroughly with a fork. Baking soda is a deodorizer and neutralizes the acids that odor-causing bacteria secrete. Cornstarch is now recommended over talc as a body powder as it causes no lung complications if inhaled, and is what is found in commercial baby powders. Caution: don’t use baby powder as it contains other chemicals you and baby don’t need! Plain, inexpensive cornstarch from the grocery store works just fine.

Place the soda, cornstarch, essential oil mixture into an clean spice container with a shaker top and shake well before each use. Wash underarms, pat dry and apply deodorant with a powder puff, or dry hands.

For a Deodorant Cream:

If you want a slightly wetter mixture, or deodorant the consistency of a cream, make the powder version and add vegetable glycerine or a good organic facial cold cream by the teaspoon, blending with a fork until desired consistency is achieved. This will be more moisturizing on the delicate skin of the armpit. Stop just short of the point where mixture would become too greasy for comfort.

When using this version it can be sticky. You can powder the cream down with plain cornstarch or make a special fragrant powder with a few drops of sandalwood or ylang-ylang, for the purpose. The cream form is ideal for putting into a container and taking with you for re-use throughout your day. Great form for taking to the gym, along with a small shaker of deodorant powder.

BTW, all of these recipes work well on feet, too!

For Breast Health Awareness Month and also each month out of the year – do you know how to do your monthly breast self-exam?

Review the self-check procedure and what to look for here:

http://snipurl.com/breastexam

When I spoke of this to a group of women in business at a recent talk I gave, it was pointed out by one of the ladies present:  "The body is a temple, sure, but not every woman wants to feel up her own breasts! I’m religious and I don’t think that’s "nice" for a woman to do."

And now for a reality check….would whatever god you worship want you to be neglectful of this temple that is your body? Or to suffer a disease you may not have if you check yourself and catch changes early? Average of nine months earlier than doctor exams, by the way.

YOU are your own best breast health advocate!

And to go along with your implication of immorality – no, this is not sexually oriented "feeling up".

While you can certainly enjoy the process yourself or even involve your partner for extra fun (why not? if it makes sure you get the job done, go ahead!) a monthly breast self-exam is a purposed, focused fact finding mission.

So please, religious ladies of all sects and everyone else, click the link above and learn how to give yourself a proper breast self-exam.

Once a month. It’s What Nice Girls Do.

When I see disinformation, even very well-meaning disinformation, I’m passionate about correcting it if I can to spare someone some grief. Recently at LifeHacker, the very excellent blog edited by Gina Trapani, there was an article on "Combatting the Common Cold" that contained the advice to eat pasta with garlicky red sauce. Yes’m to the garlicky ragu, not so to the pasta. (about which read more, below)

Inflamed with all the passion of the recently converted, I wrote an off-the-cuff sermon on the evils of gluten which I also give you here. Please take heed. You cannot imagine how very much more healthy you will feel without the "glue" of wheat-based products gumming up your insides!

---

Exclude Pasta, make sure it’s gluten-free pasta or better – strands of spaghetti squash – over which you ladle that garlicky ragu. Pasta and other items made of glutinous grains such as wheat, rye, barley, spelt, kamut and millet all form mucus in the body. If your system is clogged with mucus to begin with, and a virus piles more mucus on, it takes you twice to three times as long to recover from ANY illness, no matter what enhancements you use. (Image courtesy of http://www.kidsaware.co.uk/ where you can get gluten allergy stickers and other gluten-free goods)

Researchers also posit mucus-filled intestines clogged with undigested food, (which can barely extract adequate nutrients from the food we take in) to be the primary source of most of the diseases we face as human beings. Where there is excess mucus present, digestion – and health – is a dicey proposition.

The 7-10 days doctors suggest is the "normal recovery time" for a cold is for the average American body clogged with mucus and fighting for health on several different fronts. Most Westerners are mucus filled due to the fact that the average American and European diet contains a disproportionately large amount of milk and glutinous grains. By "mucus filled", I don’t necessarily mean you have drippy sinuses (though this is certainly a symptom) – this kind of mucus is in the body’s cells and tissues inside organs, muscle and particularly, the intestines. When mucus fills the intestines, food is allowed to ferment, bacteria and parastic infestations can gain hold and low-grade inflamation moves over the body without our even being aware of it.

If you’re gassy after a meal including grain or dairy, this is why. If you have freakish amounts of gas and are wondering how to get rid of it – go gluten-free. Ditto infections that keep coming back and that you just can’t seem to cure. It’s no accident that the primary component of the cold cure above is garlic. Garlic wipes out intestinal parasites in large enough quantities, and is both a virucide and bactericide. Large enough quantities I should note, are quantities big enough to make you severely antisocial, and cause gas and loose bowels of their own. Don’t worry though, you’re excreting the toxins that were making you sick in the first place.

I would also add to the above 10 – 15 mg of zinc every three hours and Vitamin C to bowel tolerance (again, until it makes you gassy) every four hours and sambucus nigra – elderberry – extract, tablets or syrup which has been proven in European studies to fight even the flu virus. On a tertiary level, what a cold is trying to tell you is to slow down. We have cold and other viruses in our environment all the time. We become susceptible when we are stressed, hurried, not eating well or taking care of ourselves.

Ask yourself: "what is my body trying to tell me?"

More On Why You Should Consider Going Gluten-Free:
My pre and post-gluten-free recovery times for an average upper respiratory ailment are night and day different, as most who are gluten and dairy-free find. Unlike the most common of gluten ailments, celiac disease, I do not have serious physical problems – my body is simply allergic to gluten like most Westerners,  and produces gas and liquid in response to it. I had no idea until a naturopathic doctor pointed this out to me by looking at my abdomen girth and measuring it against the rest of my body. When I stopped eating gluten (which was easier than I thought it would be), I lost 3.5" off my abdomen in two weeks, from elimination of the gas and edema (excess liquids) that the allergy caused.

What a great benefit!

Like my "GF" (gluten-free) kindred, I also have by my own reckoning, about forty percent more available energy than I did when eating grains and dairy. I don’t miss grains at all. GF folks can eat rice, nuts, seeds and some of us can also eat corn. Ancient grains are also available to us, such as amaranth and quinoa and grass seed products that are used like grains, such as Ethiopian teff. None of these place the mucus burden on our bodies that wheat, rye, barley and the like do.

And on the virus front….most of the gluten-free find we either just don’t have colds anymore, or it’s a matter of a 48 hour recovery at most. I used to take two weeks to recover from a cold on average, when I was eating gluten. The American Academy of Family Physicians also links gluten with viral issues. (Source: http://www.aafp.org/afp/980301ap/pruessn.html)

YMMV, but when "conquering" a cold, at least for the time it takes you to get over it, consider going gluten and dairy free and taking more water than you think you need. Most Westerners are also chronically dehydrated as we tend to drink coffee, tea and soda over plain, pure water. You’ll get over your cold faster, and your body will appreciate the vacation!

Some sites you might like to visit for more info:

Shauna James Ahern’s awesome blog: http://glutenfreegirl.com
Wikipedia’s Explanation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gluten-free_diet
GF Diet Helps Autism (Aspergers, ADD and more): http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001526.htm
Karina’s Kitchen: Gluten-Free Goddess: http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/

Or, simply Google "gluten-free" to get more information about this healthy and health-inducing lifestyle. Enjoy!

Okay, so the Autumnal Equinox was a week ago, but you can still have yourself a merry litle spa break at this time of the year when the energies are changing like mad, crazy swirls of leaves caught up in a merry dance with the North Wind. Blow some clean air through your hair – open all the windows even if it’s cold  and let your home and office air out completely from morning to night. And…

Try this five minute complete System Recharge to jump up your energy a bit at a time when the earth’s energies are winding down, going deeper, pulsing slower. This practice, which invokes the basic elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water, purifies the subtle energy system and invigorates all of your sensate organs. Spend but a minute or two on each of the four areas:

Earth: Facing North, look down at the ground and feel gravity, pulling your body downward. Palms facing the ground, breathe both in and out through your nose while feeling the soles of your feet as they touch the earth. Breathe in through your soles of your feet and the palms of your hands.

Water: Turning to face the West, lean your neck backward looking upward and allow your lips to part. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Imagine that you are standing in a shallow mountain stream with water raining down upon you. Water rolls off of your body, drips down into the stream and flows away, taking all that doesn’t belong in or on you, with it.

Fire: Facing South, stand erect with your elbows bent and hands raised to shoulder level, facing the front of your body. Breathe in through your mouth and out through your nose. As you breathe in, feel the breath stoking your internal fire or "dan tien" in your solar plexus. As you breathe out imagine you are sending the light of that fire outward, into a protective and energizing sphere which surrounds you.

Air: Facing East, allow your entire body to relax and soften. Feel yourself becoming less solid and more permeable. Your arms hang loosely with the palms facing to the front of you. As you breathe in and out through your mouth, feel the air flowing into and out of your body through the very pores in your skin.

Old circle-junkies among the reading audience might notice this goes in a counter-clockwise (or counter-sunwise if you will) circle. Yes. At this time of the year, the energies of the natural environment that surround us are moving more in these counter-sunwise spirals as the light of the sun itself grows less intense and weaker. This is one way to make a counter-sunwise spiral work for you, to energize and purify. Enjoy!