As I lay upon my bed, hurting, tired, foggy in mind and heart, I turned my gaze upon the luscious beauty that my child exuded and felt only the deepest of sorrow. Here, in my tomb, I felt only the struggle to survive each day, to make it to the end when an uncomfortable sleep would overtake me, only to wake up and watch my child grow from this place, realizing that I was trapping her, as I was trapped.  I could not even stand up long enough to wash dishes so my time with her was spent in the bedroom - in this place. I realized what I was not able to do and be for me, for how I was and so what I could not be for her.  In desperation, with my shining child within my view, I told God, directly, that if this is how my life had to be, that I did not want to be here...
In the beginning, this terribleness is what I felt - deeply sad and tortured by what I had created as a reality. The exclamation of my feelings to the universe, however, brought the awareness required, at that time, for me to create change in order to remain here. And, having been to the edge of leaving this planet more than once, I can assure you of some positive first steps to take in order to heal your perspective and body. Any place you begin from is perfect and the positive changes you seek involve shifting your lifestyle and diet.
The first place to work on, within your lifestyle, involves your mind. That's right - get into your own head. What are you thinking? Do you wake up every morning dreading the day or do you cherish the fact that you have a bed, food to eat, running water and a place to live? If not, you can shift that perspective now. It is paramount that the  pace is set for attracting what you require during your healing journey and provide fodder for your new, healthy self to achieve great and even greater heights. A positive attitude is a major key to long-term success! You can decide to wake up in a place of gratitude. An example would be: "I am so happy I have this clean, warm blanket (and feel the warmth on your body), that I have a pillow under my head (feel how good it is to have it there) and that I am having a wonderful day, right now (then envision yourself with a smile on your face at work, shopping, or whatever it is that you choose to do)!" Allow yourself the luxury of reveling in your waking joyfulness.
While at work, especially, when the idea hits that you are bored or unhappy dip into the appreciation of everything around you and choose to move through your day within the present moment  by shifting the tendencies toward negativity. Allow the present to be filled with wonder as you enjoy the colors and shapes that fill your world. Use reminders - some of us use a stone, designate a ring, wear a particular bracelet, use sticky notes or any of a number of other little things to help. Do what it takes, in positive ways, to remain in the highest place within your thinking as you possibly can. If you are consistent, you will see short and long-term changes in your life. 
Along with your shift in thoughts and feelings about your world, make sure to include how you think about the fuel that your body is supplied with. What do you eat everyday? Is most of your food processed, filled with sugars, now-rancid hydrogenated oils and various chemicals such as pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, antibiotics, dyes and so on? If so, it is time to rethink your approach in order to regain an optimum level of health. Whole organic foods (do your best) and whole food supplements are best. Why? Food in it's whole and natural state is fully recognizable by the body as a source of energy - it has all of it's vitamins, minerals, fats, enzymes and cofactors that make it usable. Science cannot emulate all that makes up a portion of nature, no matter how the attempts have been made. And, when only a portion of a complex is used, problems arise. For instance, when one uses Ascorbic acid (as it seems most of us have at one point or another) that is only a part of vitamin C. In order to make Ascorbic acid usable, your body will take the rest of vitamin c from it's own stores to piece it together. Soon, the whole of vitamin C can become depleted in your body, as a result. It is like dissecting a frog (most of us have done this in school) and then expecting it to jump around again. All the parts and pieces are there and in tact but the frog is clearly dead.  Dead pieces of vitamins do not work either. And should the fractionated vitamin continue to be taken the very issue that was within the body in the first place can show up in a worse way and new issues created. Living, whole foods are the best choice for great health.
At the end of the day it is you who decides what your life will be. You do not have to get to the desperately deep place of sorrow I experienced, for instance, in order to shift and love living life - either again or for the first time! Choosing to create a healthy and happy lifestyle full of love, joy, good health and longevity is there for you.  Animating your life by choosing those living foods that your body can use to rebuild itself, every step of the way, is there for you.  
If there is change required in your life, then only you will make it a reality. You are worth every bit of effort it takes to give yourself the best treatment possible.
Be your happy, healthy, gifted self and happy creating! 


* The Real Truth About Vitamins & Anti-oxidants by Judith Decava, CNC, LNC, second edition
* www.ifnh.org

As the morning sun hit my bowl, I was reminded of childhood fantasies and the ease for which I produced my movements through the world...
Food and sunlight - they are one and the same as we eat that which has absorbed the latter - plants directly, animals through the plants they've consumed. Food is a staple which provides nourishment on many levels and the wonder it can provide as children is not lost on us as adults - we love it. We love the texture, the smells, the colors and the enjoyment sharing it can bring. We cook for ourselves, together as families, and for others in restaurants. Food means a lot to all of us and the many ways it can be prepared and consumed is a wonder. Our bodies are meant to absorb the required nutrients and become healthy and robust - we aren't meant to overthink the delicious beauty food can deliver to our lives...or is it wise to examine it's role a bit more than we realize?
As a child I assumed my body worked well - just like anyone else's. I ate homemade foods, predominantly, but conventional concoctions such as mayonnaise and ketchup, ice cream, potato chips and frozen pizzas were in there. I did not realize, until much later in life, after my body nearly gave up as my soul's vehicle, that things were not as they seemed.
The question at this very moment is, even if you feel you are healthy, are you? Or, is it that your amazing human body is maintaining itself, the best it can, through a myriad of health-altering chemicals in conventional food, the air you breathe, the water you drink and the reactions to the thoughts you use daily, out of it's ability to adapt - only to fall to pieces when it has finally had enough? Well, that depends on a great many factors and as my experience nearly lead to my early death, I found out the hard way that every morsel (and pill) you put into your mouth is a literal building block for your home. Why not just avoid possible issues in your health, the best you can, now?
Though you may feel that when you eat certain foods, which may contain but are not limited to conventional wheat, sugar, dairy, unfermented soy, hydrogenated oils, processed breads, crackers, cookies and cakes and so on, are you? Simply because you do not seem to display the symptoms associated with an intolerance or allergy to one of all of these foods (and others), should you personally continue to consume them? These are questions you will have to answer for yourself, yet it is important to at least include healthy, more easily digestible foods into your diet, enabling your body to access and use a dense array of nutrients, as much as possible.
Such healthy foods to include are:

• Whole food supplements (Standard Process is amongst the very best) targeting your specific issues and or to maintain health
• Vegan Protein such as Body Ecology's Fermented Protein shake http://bodyecology.com/superfoods.html
• Cultured vegetables and drinks
• Other raw, organic vegetables
• Spring water or purified water
• Oils/fats such as coconut, olive, pumpkin seed and walnut oils
• Organic meats such as beef, chicken, duck, turkey, fish and etc.
• Bone/meat broths 
• Homemade veggie chips (from zucchini, for example) and dehydrated herbs and meats
• Fruits (if your system can handle the sugar) that also can be dried in to snacks

Then, you may choose to include environmental aids such as air purifiers (NOT filters), water purifiers and healthy products for your body and home such as non-chemical cleaners and cleansers, makeups and lotions, and essential oils instead of toxic chemical fragrances such as fragrance plug-ins, sprays, 'deodorizers', synthetic fabric softeners and more.
Now, should you decide to take the bull by the horns and move forward into optimum health, you can choose to begin by using an elimination diet to find out what your intolerances and allergies are and or you can use Alcat testing to find out by lab result  (for instance). Then based on your budget and or chosen level of direction, you can eliminate all conventional food, environmental toxins such as cleaners and lotions,
(to relieve the body of toxins much more quickly) release nearly all sugars (honey is the best), hydrogenated oils, dairy, wheat and soy right off the bat. Then, depending on whether or not you need to, or decide to treat for candida, you would eliminate all fruit and berry sugars, honey, starches and alcohol until you rebuild your inner ecosystem. How long it takes to rebuild your gut health and your home (body), depends on what you have been through and what level of detoxing you decide to begin from. Some movement toward a healthier lifestyle is better than none and it is important to pick a direction and take it sooner than later. You can always do more!
There is a large amount of information to each element of a healthy lifestyle that has been brought up here. This is simply meant as an introduction to the idea of a healthier life and then some of the possible directions you may choose to take. There will be more in-depth information to follow this blog, upon items discussed here. Don't wait, however, if you are excited about moving forward. Do more research now.
Here are some resources to get started. Each has elements of the other and once you have gained enough information and experience, you will have the ability to utilize direction from each to create your own avenue. There are recipes to be found on these sites, as well!

• http://www.ifnh.org/
• http://bodyecology.com/
• http://www.gapsdiet.com/
• http://www.westonaprice.org/

Hindsight is twenty-twenty. If I had realized even a tenth of the information presented here, while I was young, I would not have suffered so much. It took all the pain I went through and nearly passing away to bring me to the awareness and realization that the old world foods and recipes that our grandmothers and grandfathers used to make are what we can use to live healthy lives - even through all of the contamination on this planet.  A life that also includes daily positive self-talk, and actions, in addition to the possible use of a myriad of modalities now available, for energy clearing and balancing, are some of our best choices for a positive, healthy and joyous lifestyle.
If you are reading this blog today, it is not by accident. Think about your life and cause positive shifts to happen for yourself now. Making the choice to enhance your current level of health now can be much easier than feeling desperately unhappy with further complications. You are worth every moment of effort that you can create in order to move forward into a healthier, happier you.

How often is it that we travel throughout our day half awake?  The instant the alarm chimes, our minds jump into the solitude provided by 'busy' and locomote through the gift each day is, without giving a second thought as to what it is that is really available to us and what is really happening.  How COULD we?

Well, it seems rather easy, doesn't it?  Most of us are raised by parents whose main goal is to survive, not thrive, and that mindset is passed down to us through their daily corrections of our actions, their actions and the actions of those they hold close (not to mention the media).  Is it their fault that we are the way we are - nope.  Is their negative programming that effected us part of our issues - they certainly can be.  How can we break free from this? How can we retrain our minds to understand that life is precious and not to be taken for granted?

One way is to simply decide to create the shifts required to live a new and health life.  However, when there are issues that seem beyond our scope, somehow, there are many modalities available to us - Reiki, Hypnosis, NLP, Spiritual Response Therapy and EFT, for example - that can assist us in release and in the ability to open up to a new perspective. In order to strengthen the work done within these sessions, at home, you must work with your beautiful mind on a daily basis - not just on Wednesday, when Rhiley is gone at soccer practice, not just on Saturday morning when you await the arrival of your spouse from the night shift - it's ALL DAY LONG.  You have to WANT to shift, want to cause your life to be better, want to move forward in ways you never have before.

Each day, rather than move forward in a premeditated haze of "I have to do this, this and now that", open up to the possibilities that can be created through your mind - the dramatic shifts that can take place as you allow your higher perspective to gain ground, moving into a more joyful place than you've ever been, before.  As your ability to make positive shifts gain in strength, you will continually be amazed at how easy it is to see the next step - whatever it may be and wherever it may take you.  You DO deserve joy, peace and a higher level of awareness. Once you set upon the course to take yourself there, any modality you are drawn to is going to present a key to your process.  Go for it - be happy today. Remember how YOUR life is precious with a daily attitude of gratitude!