Lately I’ve been staying busy with various extra responsibilities & tasks. I’m planning to reupholster our 6 wooden dining room chairs so I had a recent run-in with the fabric store. It consisted of lame math skills😖, anxiety, being very flustered, buying fabric; returning fabric; buying other, cheaper, fabric; and now it’s all about how & when to start. Today I removed one of the seats, took out the nails, and removed the old fabric. I’ll probably start tomorrow 🤞.

 

 

I’m 3/4 of the way through my Body into Balance book & it has been amazingly perfect for my wellness/herbal studies💞!! I can’t express how extremely grateful I am to have discovered this ideal health & herbalism reference book!!!! Soon I plan to sum up some major points in a few future posts. There is so much useful & wonderfully explained body knowledge I’ve gained from reading, and it has added a key resource to the herbal wellness section of our home library 📚. If you have not read my past posts about this book it is called, Body into Balance, by Maria Noel Groves. I wish I could meet her & thank her for writing this ideal herbalist reference book. Maybe, if I can figure out how to get it to her, I’ll write her a letter 📝.

I’ve definitely learned that continuous knowledge, for me, is only fully absorbable when I continuously seek & learn new things every day. Without practice nothing is at its full potential!

I have also been playing a lot of games with my son. Mostly strategy board games, puzzles, & math practice. He loves numbers, thinking up games, & using his imagination. We spend hours every day challenging his developing brain. He’s starting to write numbers & letters and his new “thing” is asking me the meaning of words.

We also have started to play some computer games; as of this week. Bing led me to their games & puzzles page and my son’s interest peeked the minute he saw the vivid page with fun stuff to play. He really enjoys playing jigsaw and matching cards. The most amazing thing to me is his abilities to move the arrow correctly to what he wants and clicking on it or dragging the puzzle pieces to their correct destination. I’m sure many 3 1/2 year olds are capable of this, these days, but it still impresses me🤗.

I’ve also been researching my Dosha & investigating Ayurvedic medicine more to compliment my herbal/wellness studies. My mother-in-law gave me this book….

for my birthday and it has been perfect for giving me a thorough overview of this ancient Indian natural healing method for self-care through things like proper diet, yoga, & meditation. My Dosha is Vata and after researching more it became clear to me why I have a tendency toward certain foods, beverages, and herbs & spices. One important component for Vata is, since it is an air type, to be sure food is warm & moistening. It is also suggested that meals be eaten frequently, in small amounts, and comfortably without stress. Vegetables should usually be cooked to help with digestion and tea/coffee should be drank thoughtfully and with milk/sweetener.

Most of the characteristics and recommended food choices are spot on to my natural tendencies and eating habits. I have always preferred my food warm, ate small meals throughout the day because it has always been difficult for me to eat a lot at once without getting a stomach ache, and my favorite drink is a warm Chai Latte which has pretty much all the recommended spices for Vata and is made with warm milk. Vatas should never drink cold milk or really any beverage over room temperature.

I just finished reading a chapter in BIB on herbal remedies and wellness techniques for healthy skin. One vital component that was mentioned throughout–and was actually told to me in my early twenties, but I felt it was too difficult & not worth the effort at a time when I was experiencing the worst case of breakouts and sores on my face that I have yet to in my entire lifetime so far– is that acne occurs from the inside out. There are still topical treatments/care to consider, but the majority of skin (our largest organ & the evidence of overall body health or problems) issues arise out of inner imbalance. Here is some further information on Skin Mapping for a more thorough analysis of how our breakouts can indicate internal body imbalances & issues.

To solve it there has to be dietary changes/restrictions/limitations or it will never get better, completely. My problem area has always been my chin and this is where the majority of breakouts have and still occur; big sores that hurt really bad. This was likely due to the diet of mostly lattes/mochas/coffee (working at a drive thru coffee venue didn’t help), fast food, pasta, cheese, tomatoes, alcohol & cigarettes & my ongoing issue of severe hormone ups and downs each month. It was too difficult for me to imagine having to give these easy/convenient drinks/food up, and so I chose to do nothing other than expensive topical treatments that worked to dry out my skin & never fixed the underlying issues. It really would have felt a whole lot better to just be healthier and treat my body with more respect.

What a person consumes, including water; nutrients; & food effect the skin and how it looks. Skin is made up of collagen, elastin, keratin and with the right amount of the mineral, silica, it helps your body produce more of these essential components. The basics for healthy skin; which if your health goes back and forth like mine due to things such as IBS, anemia, diabetes, thyroid issues, autoimmune diseases, allergies, etc. then it is very important to do your very best at paying close attention to these key elements of your diet:

Drinking plenty of water; getting adequate sleep; eating lots of Omega-3s; good fats; vitamin D; vitamin A; & carotenoids, incorporating silica into the diet (can be incorporated from using herbs like horsetail, nettle, & oat straw as well as eating whole grains, seeds, rice, corn, oats, and flax); lots of vitamin C (rose hips, citrus, strawberries, hibiscus flowers, and bell peppers are good sources); making sure your protein choices are providing all the essential amino acids & organic/pasture raised/rich in Omega-3s; and remember (for external healing) there are herbs that assist with wound and connective tissue repair which include: Gotu kola, calendula flowers, lavender buds, St. John’s wort buds/flowers, and plantain leaf applied topically. Give your body what it needs & it will repay you!

The last thing I want to share, which is a bit off topic, is that my husband, the children, and I went to a woodworking showcase yesterday. It was full of wonderful smells, interesting facts about trees & types of wood, how people create masterpieces of artwork by using various types of wood, and most importantly, that my daughter got to do something really special. She did some wood burning with one of the vendors who had a stand where he was selling hand-painted, wood burned, animal pictures. This just builds on her love for drawing and gives her another hobby if she wants to learn more and pursue classes.

Paul, who reminded me a lot of my dad, was patient with her but saw she had potential and expected her to follow his instructions. There were times he explained she needed to slow down and take her time. This is definitely something that teaches patience and requires years of practicing to acquire the true skills necessary to get the texture and depth desired.

At the end Paul told me that, “She has a lot of potential” and let us know he has three week class sessions (once a week on Saturdays) every few months if she’s interested in learning more. It seems like one of those “this happened for a reason” moments. Every so often I feel my father’s presence in & through other people & this was definitely one of those cherished occasions💞.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful day & is as excited as I am for tomorrow, the Spring Equinox!!

Love,

Anne💕☯️🌻✌️🌹