Got Juice?

When you are thinking of juice - think live vegetable juice. Fresh, raw juice is alive with nutrients and enzymes that your body can easily use. When you drink your veggies the nutrients reach the cellular level. The reason you want to drink live, raw vegetable juice vs. canned or processed juices is because the canned and processed juice has been pastuerized at high temperatures and all the live enzymes have been destroyed and the juice cannot properly nourish your body. If you are considering the purchase of a juicing machine, opt for the auger type juicer, not the centrifugal spinning type, as it introduces excess oxygen into the juice and promotes oxidation. With some of the auger type juicers, you will also be able to make wheat grass juice, and that would be a plus if you are in need of intense nutrition or healing. Your body is a wonderful machine, give it the nutrition it needs for optimum health and performance!

Hugs,
Gin

Healthy substitutions

This week as you are writing your grocery list and checking your pantry, think if you can be substituting a healthier brand for that item. For example, I love Fig Newtons, but instead I buy Fig Newmans; if you need baking powder, make sure you replace it with aluminum free baking powder; if you need toothpaste, choose a non-flouride natural product. It is so much easier to replace products as you run out than discarding the contents of your pantry! Ouch! Don't forget to buy substitutes for your cleaning products too! I love Mrs. Meyer brand cleaning products. Good luck with your substitutions!

Hugs,
Gin

Make your "Someday" TODAY!

Have you ever told yourself "Someday I will..." STOP! Everyday is a someday! Your "someday" is today - so make it count! Don't wait any longer to make a committment to better mental health! Let go of some of the perpetual chore guilt that accumulates. It is as if the guilt we carry is like our computer screen with minimized windows running at the bottom of our screen...the house isn't clean enough...there are more errands to run...I can't read every book I want to... Give yourself permission to close out those guilty thought windows in the computer of your mind. Clean out the garbage!! Make some tough decisions on what you can humanly do - then let the rest go! You will be amazed at how your stress level will go down. Now, that is a good thing!! When we have too many things going on in our head - we tend to lose signt of the people around us and just what is important in our lives. So make some difficult decisions and say "NO" more often. Love yourself and your family enough to just do it! What's really more important than your health? Without your health - you can't go after your dreams.

If you always say "someday..." that "someday" will never come.

Hugs,
Gin

Kids change everything

After the birth of my second daughter, I took a trip to see my cousin and his wife, they also had a newborn. We were a crazy pair of women - two newborns and two other children about age 3. While visiting, my cousin had the framed poem Babies Don't Keep on the wall. At first reading, my life was changed. I went from being a bit obsessed about how neat and clean my house had to be - to relax, you now have children...it is a new phase of life. I realized, no matter what, I'll never have "enough" time - like before children, the house will never be pristine (with the freshly vacuumed carpet nap undisturbed). So in that moment I decided to go with the flow! I put my children high on my priority list and now we have treasured memories of time spent together doing everyday chores, crafts, reading, etc. - all the things they cherish today and talk about at length. The more secure, safe, and loving the early environment, the more confident and outgoing the children grow up to be. Your time and attention are priceless! Both need to be doled out as needed. Yes, the dust and cleaning will wait years until you (or your children) have (or make) the time to clean and organize - OR, you could catch up the crazy way I did and move two times in two years!!! (Purging "stuff" is liberating!) Here is the last paragraph of the poem...

The cleaning and scrubbing
can wait till tomorrow,
for children grow up,
as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs.
Dust go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

Hugs,
Gin

Love

"Those who are the hardest to love, need it the most."
- Socrates, The Peaceful Warrior (2006)

Hugs,
Gin

Grocery shopping...yikes!

Before I knew better, I used to go up and down each aisle in the grocery store - then I knew I was done shopping and headed for the checkout. Now, I shop the perimeter of the store, where the FRESH food is located. OK, the liquor portion of my grocery store is on the perimeter too...anyway...trips to the grocery store don't always have to be a lengthy chore!

• know where the organic products are located
• keep meals simple
  
• make a list - it is frustrating to forget an ingredient
  
• don't shop hungry (especially with hungry children!!!)
• know the ingredients you need
• keep the shopping for the items located in the center of the store for a longer visit

My grocery store carries organic products. I know where most of them are located. I usually stock up on organic tomato sauce, organic garbanzo beans (for hummus, yum!), organic broth, and other staples on longer visits.

So the moral to this story - fresh food is better for you and your family. Learn to make those quick stops for an evening meal, or for enough fresh food for two days. Gone are the days of shopping once a week for food - you are eating mostly dead (no enzymes) and processed food all week. Shop the perimeter of the store - fresh organic fruits and veggies, grab a hunk of organic protein, and throw together a quick meal!

Love your body enough to eat FRESH FOODS!!!

Hugs,
Gin

What are you teaching?

"A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops." - Henry Adams

Teachers are not only the ones employed in the teaching profession...we are all teachers...all the time. What are you choosing to teach others? With adults, we are able to teach not only by our actions, but also by what we say. With the younger ages it is pretty much "monkey see, monkey do." I can attest to this fact because of the results within my family...I felt the responsibility early. Take the time to teach someone, your children or your grandchildren to -

• love life
• laugh often
• love their bodies
• save money
• help others
• be compassionate
• recycle
• eat organic
• manners
  
• smile
• enjoy music
• appreciate art
• create!
• respect others
• cook food from scratch
• how to set a table
  
• turn off the TV
• play ball
  
• sit in silence
• knit or crochet
  
• play board games
• sew on a button
• fish
  
• read a map
• count back change (without the answer appearing on a cash register!)
• have great penmanship
  
• read the classics
  

The gift of self is a gift that keeps on giving. Teach and enjoy being taught!

Hugs,
Gin