Phytochemicals
are the chemicals within plants. Researchers are learning that there are connections
between the color of a plant, and it’s healing or nutritional properties. Each
color is related to a different health benefit, and therefore a variety is not
only visually pleasing, but better for you!
Some Intriguing color
connections…
Cherries and dark
grapes or their juice, which both clean and balance the blood, are blood-colored.
Dandelion and turmeric are both yellow-gold, and are good
for increasing bile (also a yellow-green color) which is necessary for healthy
digestion.
Cinnamon, with
its brownish red color, is a natural fungicide for molds on the soil, also brown
in color. Who’d have thought!?
Flowering Foods?
That’s
right- aside from their beauty and fragrance; many are also nutritious and even
medicinal!
A few common edibles are daisies,
pansies, nasturtiums, citrus blossoms, honeysuckle, sunflowers, & roses (rose
hips). And here’s a surprise-- Did you know that those little sliced
‘vegetables’ called okra are actually sliced flower buds from a close
cousin of the Hibiscus? The hibiscus flower itself is also edible, and great
for making a tangy cranberry-like tea.
š›š›š›š›
–Belladonna: In Italian, a beautiful
lady; In English a deadly poison.– -Ambrose Bierce
š›š›š›š›
–The name daisy comes from
the words "day's eye" because the flowers open in the daytime and
close at night.—
š›š›š›š›
* a word
of caution: No guarantee is made that any individual will not have an
adverse reaction even to plants generally acknowledged as safe *
In Chinese medicine, The
Yin-Yang theory holds that each aspect of the body and spirit has a yin or yang
quality, and that imbalance of the two causes disease. A person with excess
Yin for example is treated with Yang- stimulating remedy to reestablish
balance.
Movement & Meditation
You
may have heard the phrase "sweat
your prayers” somewhere before. Exercise can elicit the same
relaxation response as meditation, lulling the body and the mind along with
it. Repetitive, rhythmic motion or spoken word helps the body to erase the
cumulative effects of stress over time. Deep breathing exercises, yoga, tai
chi, prayer or mantra, all serve to induce relaxation by shifting the focus away from scattered,
chaotic thought, into the present moment.
Massage
Eastern massage modalities
abound and are amazing to receive if you have the opportunity! Ayurvedic,Tui Na, and Shiatsu
massage are a few to consider. Contact your local student massage programs and
enjoy services at about half the going rate!
Mono No AwareRoughly
translated~“sensitivity to the transience of things”
This
very beautiful and ancient Japanese cultural concept has ties to the first of
the Buddhist
precepts, which is simply that nothing is permanent.
Eastern cultures do not necessarily share our pursuit of happy-ever-after
endings, but rather embrace the bittersweet nature of life. The basic message being,
enjoy the beauty that is here and now, because life is fleeting. Thoughts of
past and future only take away from what ever good thing may be happening here
and now..
Because
of their short-lived yet strikingly beautiful blossoms, the Sakura (Flowering
Cherry Tree), embodies mono no aware,
and are frequently featured in Japanese décor. Cherry
Blossom Festivalsare held
nearly worldwide this time of year.
Wow, Spring is just about here! This month has something for
everyone –March brings Daylight savings time, the first day of Spring, St.
Patrick’s Day, Easter, Passover, this day, that day, …whew! Any days left that
aren’t special days?
White
Day
Hey ladies, tell your sweetheart about this: In Japan, women give
men their Valentine’s gift on February 14th, but the men return the
gift threefold on March 14th! Thank you, Japan!
St.
Patrick’s Day
March
17th
Celebration of Ireland’s Patron Saint (and excuse to pinch those
not dressed in green)
-The Harp is the official Emblem of Ireland, not the
Shamrock.
-Guinness's fermenting vessel ferments 2,304,000 pints at one
brewing.
Some
lesser known “lucky charms”…
šThree keys
worn together symbolize the unlocking of the doors to health, wealth and love
šThe featheris an ancient
charm for good luck representing the soul’s journey to the next realm.
šThe swastik
(not to be confused with the Nazi swastika) brings positive energy and good
Luck to the person as well as remove all obstacles.
What is real luck?“Luck
is when opportunity meets preparation.”
Spring
March
21st The first day of spring occurs on the vernal equinox. Vernal
("spring") equinox ("equal night") ~ March 21st
this year.
Easter Lore
According to myth, lunar goddess Eostre once rescued a wounded
bird, whose wings had become frozen by the cold, by changing her into a hare
who could more easily survive the winter. The
transformed creature was still able to lay eggs; she expressed her gratitude to
the goddess by decorating those eggs and giving them to her.
January 24 has been designated
by a British psychologist as the most depressing day of the year. In case
you’re wondering, June 23rd is the happiest day of the year. We’re
well into February now, but still months to go before the monotone grays of
winter turn into blue skies and sunny days. Bring body and soul out of
hibernation by stimulating your senses back to life. Here are some suggestions
for re-energizing this winter:
*If you
can’t go to nature, bring it indoors!
Throw the blinds open to let in the available sunlight.
*Pick
up some fresh, fragrant flowers, and plants to remind you of sunnier days.
*Sounds
from nature are also nice-try CDs with bird songs, babbling brooks, or what
ever suits you!
Coloris also great mood therapy. Considering that it’s composed of
electromagnetic energy, and that each carries its own properties; you can use
it to affect the feel of your home and your mood. There are many inexpensive
ways to add pops of color to refresh your surroundings –like throw pillows,
vases, sun catchers, or sheer tinted curtains to cast a nice hue throughout the
room, even on gloomy days. J
If you’ve
already bagged your New Year’s goals, you’ve got company – about 90% of
us!Here are a couple tips to help get
motivated.Forget ten-step plans, and
complex personal worksheets about your true life calling!Those are great (and time consuming) tools.But let’s start at the beginning…we just want
to get the ball rolling here.
So here is
suggestion number 1:Pick just ONE
thing, and do that.I don’t mean one goal- that’s too much at once!For example, say your goal is to go back to
school.Well that actually means several
things need to happen -analyze your budget, research financial aid, make
daycare plans, change or reduce your work schedule, fill out applications, and
so on.We get overwhelmed with the whole
mountain of sub-tasks and end up putting it all
off.What I’m talking about is, ask
yourself “what is one thing… the first thing that needs to happen?For me it was 1-call the college for an
appointment.Period.It was the ‘one thing’ theory that got me
started, and the rest seemed to flow after that.
Numer 2 is-
Create a “dream board”.A dream board
can look however you want it to look.Mine is a collage made of mostly pictures, a statement of thankfulness
for the dream having come true- as if it is already a fact; and icons that
symbolize and embody my dream life.Maybe you want to be a world-famous surfer one day.So your dream board could be filled with
pictures of your favorite board, photos of surfers in action, photos of yourself
surfing, and include a statement that you create.The idea is to put it in a place where you
see it everyday as a reminder.It’s also
about putting yourself in the picture as if it’s already happened – a way of claiming it as reality and moving towards
the outcome as if you know it is going to happen- because it is going to happen!
Alternative
New Year’s Aspirations
1. As I let go of my feelings of guilt, I
am in touch with my inner sociopath.
2. I have the power to channel my
imagination into ever-soaring levels of suspicion and paranoia.
3. Before I criticize a man, I walk a
mile in his shoes. That way, if he gets angry, he's a mile away and barefoot.
4. I assume full responsibility for my
actions, except the ones that are someone else's fault.
Christmas
is much more fun when you know some facts behind the holiday traditions that we
run through without knowing how they started…
"Rudolph" was actually created by Montgomery Ward in
the late 1930's for a holiday promotion. The rest is history.
If you received
all of the gifts in the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas", you
would receive 364 presents.
Coca Cola was the
first beverage company to use Santa for a winter promotion.
Clearing up
a common misconception, in Greek, X means Christ. That is
where the word "X-Mas" comes from. Not
because someone took the "Christ" out of Christmas.
Poll
Responses
What do the kids willywilly want for Christmas?A Wii of course!
(#1 on the list)
What’s the
worst gift you’ve ever received?
* A TV remote stand. “It was just these two white plastic
hands on a black base. The remote didn’t even fit. It was rubbish”
* A Trapper Keeper
* An Abba cassette
Lastly, my
personal favorite bit of trivia:
Contrary to common
belief, poinsettia plants are non-toxic (Whaaa??!!) (at least not to 92.4%
of us)
***The origin of this could be found in the fact that most plants of the spurge genus are indeed toxic and also because the name of
the plant seems to refer to the word poison. This misconception was spread by a 1919urban legend of a two-year-old child dying
after consuming a poinsettia leaf. While it is true that the plant is not very
toxic, those sensitive to latex (milky sap) may suffer an allergic reaction and
it is therefore not advisable to bring the plants into the home of sensitive
individuals.Spurges are one of the
largest genera in the plant kingdom.The
common name "spurge" derives from
the Middle English/Old Frenchespurge
("to purge"), due to the use of the plants sap as a purgative.(laxative)
We think of
Thanksgiving as a uniquely American holiday, but the celebration of harvest
time is ancient and worldwide. Every autumn, the ancient Greeks enjoyed a
three-day festival to honor Demeter, the goddess of corn and grains. The
Romans had a similar celebration honoring Ceres, the goddess of corn (the word
"cereal" is derived from Ceres). The ancient Chinese held a harvest
festival called Chung Ch'ui to celebrate the full moon. Families would get
together for a feast which included round yellow cakes called "moon
cakes." In the British Isles, the major Thanksgiving forerunner was a
harvest festival called Lammas Day, named for the Old English words for
loaf and mass.
Turkey-day trivia
Crane-berry sauce?
The making of cranberry sauce was taught to Pilgrims by Native
Americans – they called it “ibimi – meaning bitter berry. We re-named it
crane-berry, because its flowers resembled the long-necked bird.
Thanksgivingin…Space?
The first meal eaten on the moon by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin
included turkey and other Thanksgiving dishes, even though it was the middle of
summer.
Thanksgiving Weather Forecast (from
ButlerWebs, Compliments
of RP)
Turkeys will thaw in the morning,
then warm in the oven to an afternoon high near 190F. The kitchen will turn hot
and humid, and if you bother the cook, be ready for a severe squall or cold
shoulder.
During the late afternoon and evening, the cold front of a
knife will slice through the turkey, causing an accumulation of one to two
inches on plates. Mashed potatoes will drift across one side while cranberry
sauce creates slippery spots on the other. Please pass the gravy.
A weight watch and indigestion warning have been issued for the entire area,
with increased stuffiness around the beltway. During the evening, the turkey
will diminish and taper off to leftovers, dropping to a low of 34F in the
refrigerator.
Looking ahead to Friday and Saturday, high pressure to eat
sandwiches will be established. Flurries of leftovers can be expected both days
with a 50 percent chance of scattered soup late in the day. We expect a warming
trend where soup develops. By early next week, eating pressure will be low as
the only wish left will be the bone.
For
Halloween month, I thought it would be interesting to take a look into why we
LIKE to be scared… What’s ‘fun’ about Horror movies and books that earn zillions
of dollars each year?
Seemingly
opposite aspects of us are really facets of the same prism, and our emotional
and physical responses are often very similar to drastically different stimuli.We may smile when someone gives us bad news,
or laugh when we’re hurting. Humor can express a sense of safety within
fear, excitement, tension, or embarrassment – so we laugh when any of these
befall someone else
out of sheer relief that it happened to the other guy!Even the very actof laughing… (Repeated exhalatory
vocalization) is present not only in laughter but also in sobbing or crying and
also in gasping in pain.Huh…weird.
Much
of our entertainment blends funny, scary, and downright painful in the
strangest ways.A few books and movies
come instantly to mind as examples…such as The Zombie Survival Guide by Max
Brooks –sounds funny but trust me- he’s serious!And movies like Shaun of The Dead—I’m sorry,
but watching two guys chuck LPs at zombie heads is just hilarious!
So,
which tendency of perception do you have?Would you call the illusions below beautiful… or frightening?
Lady at her vanity mirror, or scull?
Two women in
Victorian dress, or an evil clown?
What
ever your taste, we’ve got lots of spooktacular reads
in stock this month ~ Here are a few of my favorites available now…
The Philosophy of Horror
The Horror Readers’ Advisory
The Halloween Book
Halloween & Other
Festivals Of Death & Life
This News Corner brought to you by Christine G., McKenzieBooks.com.
News Corner by Christine, September 11, 2007
Bootcamp for your Brain
Bootcamp for your Brain
– Use it or Lose it!
Mental enrichment increases fluid intelligence at any age.Another great reason to read, read, read
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