Holistic Feathers

~ by Patricia Diane Cota-Robles

You have the ability to make a positive difference in the world. This has been a roller-coaster time of miracles and challenges. It seems as though these extreme experiences are being used to wake Humanity up at warp speed. No matter how hard people may try, their I AM Presence is not allowing them to push the snooze button in order to go back to sleep. It is time for people everywhere to remember who they are and why they are on Earth during this auspicious moment. Important changes are taking place, and in spite of outer-world appearances, we are beginning to see evidence of people in every walk of life reaching out to make a positive difference.

2009 is numerically an 11-year. Eleven is the Master Number that reflects the transformation of the physical into the Divine. The many activities of Light that have taken place this year have provided us with amazing opportunities to move into the highest level of consciousness we have experienced since our fall from Grace aeons ago.

November is the eleventh month in 2009, so we are blessed with the powerful 11:11 numerical frequency throughout this entire month. On November 11 and 29, 2009, we are blessed with 11:11:11 numerical frequency, which will be an incredibly powerful time for all of us.

Whether we consciously remember it or not, each and every one of us has been preparing for a very long time to assist during this unprecedented time. We all have unique skills and abilities that no one else on the planet possesses in exactly the same way we do. We have volunteered to assist in helping to change the old, obsolete behavior patterns that are responsible for the pain and suffering Humanity is enduring. This is being brought to our attention by our I AM Presence, our God Self, because the time for us to begin fulfilling our Divine Missions is NOW!

The only reason we have not been cocreating lives of joy, happiness, prosperity, loving relationships, financially and creatively rewarding jobs, vibrant health, fulfillment, enlightenment and every other positive experience is because we have forgotten that we can.

Remember
Not only can we create the lives we dream of, this is our purpose and reason for being. We are Children of God, and we have been invested with the gift of free will. Our thoughts and feelings are creative. Whatever we focus our thoughts, words, actions, and feelings on, we bring into physical form. It is time for us to remember this Divine Truth and for us to consciously choose to create the lives we want instead of inadvertently manifesting, through our fears, the experiences we do not want.

It is time for us to reclaim our Divine Birthrights and to fulfill our Divine Potentials. As we take charge of our lives, we will be effective examples for our loved ones and friends. We will be positive catalysts, and the results of our efforts will be exponential. We are all One, and the Universal Law is “As I Am lifted up, ALL Life is lifted up with me.” We can each make a positive difference. As we change our lives, we will change the direction for Humanity and for all Life evolving on this planet. Never underestimate your ability to be a powerful force of good on this planet.

You have been preparing for a very long time to fulfill the mission you agreed to accomplish in this lifetime. Not only do you have the skill, talent, wisdom, courage and strength to accomplish your mission, our Father-Mother God and the entire Company of Heaven are standing in readiness eagerly awaiting the opportunity to assist you. These selfless Beings of Light are with you now. From inner levels they guide and protect you, and they intervene to help you every time you ask them to. You are never alone. If you ever feel doubtful that you have the power to make a positive difference in this world, just remember the entire Company of Heaven is there to help you every time you ask for their assistance.

The first step
When you begin to create a plan to make a positive difference in your life, the first step is to take a good look at your life as it exists right now. In order to change your life, you must first be aware of what presently exists. So take some time to evaluate your life as an objective observer. This is not a time to berate, criticize, or condemn yourself for past mistakes. That only adds more negative energy to the situation. The purpose of this evaluation is to help you see what it is you like about your life, and what it is you would like to change. Usually people know their lives are not what they want them to be, and they may be aware of some major problems, such as finances or health, but they have never actually taken the time to evaluate their overall lives. This is a crucial step toward making a positive difference, so invest the time to take a thorough inventory of your life.

In order for you to succeed in transforming your life, you need to plan where you are going. You need to have objectives and goals. Most people spend so much time worrying and dwelling on the things that they do not want in their lives that they have not taken the time to figure out what they really do want. Remember, what you think about, what you hold in your mind and put your attention and energy into, you draw into your life. So it is time to stop worrying about the things that you do not want and start focusing on the things that you do want.

Patterns of thinking and emotional responses are usually habits you have allowed yourself to develop without much conscious awareness. Now that you have decided to take charge of your life, you no longer need to just muddle through the day. Instead, you can deliberately control your thoughts, words, actions, and feelings. Since it is a natural law that what you put your attention and energy into, you draw into your life. It is only logical that you take the steps necessary to let go of destructive programming and begin creating for yourself a fulfilling, happy, harmonious, abundant, and peaceful life.

Exercise 1
Most people rarely feel that they are negative; so one of the things I have them do is keep a scratch tally for an entire week of every negative thought or feeling they experience. Notice I said EVERY negative thought or feeling. This includes the little, trivial, petty things that you allow to pop into your mind, such as the person that pulls in front of your car that you think is a jerk, or the service you received that you feel was lousy, or the lady at the supermarket that you think is a slob, or the disgust you have for yourself for overeating, or the anger you feel if the car breaks down, and on and on.

My experience has been that by the end of the week even so-called positive people have several sheets of tally marks and are astounded at how often they were negative and shocked at how oblivious they were about their negative thinking. So, the next step toward your decision to make a positive difference in the world is to observe your daily responses for an entire week. Pay very close attention to your thoughts and feelings and keep a simple scratch tally of every negative thought or feeling you have. Do not empower the negative thought by writing it down, just keep a scratch tally of it.

This is a very valuable exercise because it clearly shows how many times every single day you are misqualifying energy without even realizing it.

Many people are wallowing in the poor me syndrome. They feel that they are really good people, but all of these terrible things keep happening to them anyway. What this exercise reveals is that we may not be doing catastrophically negative things like mugging people or robbing a bank, but we are often nickel-and-dimeing ourselves to death with trivial pettiness.

Once you complete this exercise and acknowledge that you may not be controlling your thoughts or feelings, but just allowing them to happen, you can move on to the next step of changing those bad habits and begin to take control of your thoughts, words, and deeds.

Each time you put forth the effort to deliberately program yourself into constructive thinking, the stronger you will become and the more natural the positive response will be. Before you know it, your pattern of thinking will automatically be positive instead of negative, and you will have established a new constructive habit.

While you are going through this process of gaining control of your thoughts and feelings, you need to be tolerant and forgiving of yourself. If you find negative thinking or negative feelings creeping into your consciousness, you need to stop, empty your mind of the negative thought or feeling, take a deep breath, regroup, and then look for the positive side of the situation you are dealing with. Don’t give any more power to the negative thought by berating or condemning yourself for the transgression. Just let it go, flood it with the Violet Flame of Forgiveness, and focus on the positive side of the situation, no matter how small.

Begin your new habit of positive thinking by looking for the positive side of every person, place, condition, or thing you encounter. The general rule is that we can easily spot the flaws in other people, but unless someone is a genius or looks like a Greek God or Goddess, we rarely notice their positive attributes. In this exercise you must go out of your way to search for something good in every single person, place, condition, and thing you come in contact with. Sometimes this is a real challenge. Some people you know may seem so objectionable that the only thing you will be able to appreciate about them is the color of their socks, but you must find something good in every instance.

After practicing this for a while, you will come to the realization that, no matter how bad things seem or how degenerate a person may appear, there is a spark of hope in every situation and a spark of Light in every person. By consciously putting your attention on that one redeeming quality, rather than giving momentum and power to the negative, you can turn that destructive situation into a positive experience, and you can often give the negative person the incentive he or she needs to find a better way of behaving. This may sound too good to be true, but I assure you that this is the natural Law of Attraction, and it is as accurate and as workable as the Laws of Mathematics, Music, Physics, or any other science.

Exercise 2
The next exercise I want to share with you is designed to help you reprogram your thinking with positive affirmations. People who have used positive affirmations have always known that they work, but they have rarely understood exactly why. Now, with more and more research, we are learning how the process works.

Through positive affirmations, we can deliberately send forth constructive thoughtforms that will accumulate additional positive energy and return to us, bringing with them what we are affirming. The difference between a prayer and an affirmation is that in prayer we are usually humbly asking for something, and in an affirmation we are actually invoking God and our I AM Presence to command Universal Light substance to flow through us constructively to create whatever perfection it is that we are affirming.

There is another very important reason why affirmations work. When we make a positive affirmation, we begin with the words I AM. These two words invoke our I AM Presence and connect us directly to our omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent Father-Mother God, All That Is. This all encompassing Presence of God is the Universal Source of All Life.

Everything in the Universe is comprised of electronic Light substance vibrating at different frequencies with various densities. The words I AM reflect the all-encompassing Oneness of all Life. “I” represents Alpha, the beginning, “AM” represents Omega or the ending, meaning our Father-Mother God, the Universal Source of All Life, is the beginning and the ending of all that exists.

When we invoke the Light of God by using the words I AM the Light automatically responds. It flows through our thoughts, words, actions, and feelings and obeys our affirmations.

Affirmations are designed to help us begin reprogramming our negative thinking into positive thinking. The longer energy is accustomed to flowing through the brain in a particular pattern, the easier it is to just keep flowing in the same pattern. For instance, if we are used to being critical or judgmental of others, that is a pattern we have developed and the energy flows very easily into that groove of the brain. If we want to change that habit, we have to consciously begin developing a new groove through which this energy can flow. The more we withhold the energy from the negative, critical pattern and send it forth through the new constructive pattern, the sooner we will have changed the bad habit.

When we first begin observing our behavioral responses, we are usually shocked and a little overwhelmed at how ingrained our trivial, petty patterns are, and it seems as though it will be a monumental task to overcome them. However, once you begin to consciously take control of your thoughts, words, actions, and feelings, the changes will take place much more quickly than you can envision at this time. Once you really develop the habit of positive thinking, the critical, petty, trivial things that so easily pop into your mind now will not be part of your consciousness.

With positive affirmations, we form new constructive grooves in our thinking patterns. For this reason it is important to read your affirmations the first thing in the morning and the last thing before going to bed at night. The exercise in the morning will begin the constructive flow of energy through the brain and set your attitude for the new day.

The exercise at night will help by drawing the positive affirmations into your subconscious mind; so, you can reprogram yourself while you sleep, as in sleep learning. Research is proving that what we think about at night before we go to sleep is carried into the subconscious mind, so it is a good idea to put your attention on something constructive. For heaven’s sake, don’t watch the news just before going to sleep.

I AM AN INSTRUMENT OF GOD

I AM weaving my gifts, talents, skills, knowledge, strength, courage, compassion and love into the tapestry of the Divine Plan for the New Earth.

I AM responding to my Heart’s Call, and I AM God in Action.

I AM Consecrating my thoughts, words, feelings and actions to be the greatest force of good I can be on this planet.

I AM making a positive difference every day.

Through the focus of my attention, I AM expressing the following Divine Truths:

I AM One with ALL Life. I AM Divine Love. I AM Infinite Abundance. I AM the Harmony of my true Being. I AM Vibrantly Healthy and Eternally Youthful. I AM a Peace Commanding Presence.

The actions I take everyday improve my family, my job, my community, my city, my country and the world.

I have a Healing Touch. I AM communing everyday with my Father-Mother God and the Company of Heaven.

Through my thoughts, words, actions, and feelings I AM Transfiguring this planet into the New Earth.

And so it is.

(From I AM Cocreating the New Earth: A Book of Invocations. available on the website Era of Peace)
Copyright © 2009 Patricia Diane, New Age Study of Humanity’s Purpose Era of Peace
The information in this sharing is being given to Humanity by the Beings of Light in the Realms of Illumined Truth. The Divine Intent of these celestial sharings is to encourage, empower, uplift and inspire Humanity by allowing us to see the bigger picture during these wondrous but often challenging times.

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A simple visual chart to show you the basic zones for hand reflexology … an interesting concept but it definitely works!

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“A new EU-wide study by The Work Foundation (www.theworkfoundation.org) has found that musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) such as back pain, neck pain and RSI-type conditions, account for nearly half (49%) of all absences from work and 60% of permanent work incapacity in the European Union.

The estimated cost to society in Europe is up to €240 billion every year, with 100 million European citizens suffering the misery of MSDs that are serious enough to warrant treatment and absence from work.

Of course, these figures do not take into account the pain, misery and costs associated with the much larger number of people who suffer less serious back pain and other ill-health without seeking treatment.”

(c) PostureMinder Ltd via www.backpain.org.uk 18th November 2009

Wow … those figures really shocked me today. Over 100 million people in Europe suffer with some form of back and neck pain (musculoskeletal disorders), and I am fairly sure that most of those are not seeking help from medical specialists, chiropractors and the such like on a fairly constant basis.

I’ve suffered with back pain since the birth of my son, over 19 years ago; despite spending a small fortune on a new mattress two years ago, I feel like Goldilocks. I’ve gone from “This bed is too soft” to “This bed is too hard” … in an effort to try to get up each morning without walking like a robot for the first hour, we even invested in one of those mattress toppers (the duck feather and down one – yup, the most expensive in the shop). After three weeks, it hasn’t made any noticeable difference except making our bed more Princess-and-the-Pea (i.e. higher!).

So for the past week or so, I’ve come to the realisation that it probably is not our gorgeous, well-made, comfy mattress that is making my partner and I both walk like robots when we rise each morn – maybe our pillows are the fiends, contributing to an awkward slumber position?

Without getting too technical the hard facts of life are this: if you have a back problem, you need to keep active (mostly – there are, of course, exceptions to every rule). All the back specialists agree on this. If you have poor posture or a barely-there exercise routine, your core muscles will start to go slack (think within your abdomen – they are the ones which strengthen and support your spine) … and then you start to experience back pain when you over-exert your muscles during usual domestic activities, such as lifting the baby or getting the Christmas tree down from the loft.

But we never really stop to think about the pressure we put on our cervical spinal area – that part of your spine which goes from the base of your skull down past your shoulder-blades. Hunched over computers, bad posture while relaxing at home on our slouch sofas, neck to one side as we desperately try to cling onto a commuter handhold on the tube as we sway and lurch to and from work …

I realised last Saturday, during a float session (which I really must share with you all soon – it was amazing!) JUST how knotted my neck muscles were. It was nigh-on impossible to get my shoulders from hunch-position, even suspended in a warm pod filled with epsom salts which was magickally soothing every other part of my body, including my busy mind. I almost spun myself over as I tried to lay on my hands to force my shoulders in to a more natural position.  I have no need, either, to throw my partner on to my therapist couch to check out my theory that his neck muscles are just as tense – I can see by the way he holds himself that this is so. (Note to self: make sure he receives a hot stone massage soon … and I must find myself a nice therapist who can provide me with the same therapeutic treatment!)

Thinking of my anatomy and physiology studies, it makes complete sense that by sleeping on pillows which are, perhaps, not quite right for us could – in fact – lead us to headaches, tension, knotted muscles, lower back pain and a whole host of uncomfortable side effects. Not least a restless night, tossing and turning as we try to get comfortable on our respective sides of our cocoon.

OK. So we need new pillows. But what type? Have you looked recently at how many types of pillows there are?!

Quite by chance, I stumbled across the Mediflow® Therapeutic Water-filled Pillow.

“A water bed for your head”

Gosh, doesn’t that sound just divine? But enough of the flowery talk: will it help us to get a good night’s rest?

Memory-Mattress gives the following information:

Restore your energy. Freshen your appearance. Soothe daily stresses.
All of this is possible with the Mediflow Waterbase® pillow that has been clinically shown to improve quality of sleep.

The Mediflow Waterbase® pillow has a soft, hypoallergenic fibre filling supported by an easy-to-fill water pouch, providing you with the most luxurious, rejuvenating sleep of your life.

Adjust the support level that is perfect for you simply by adding water. Whether you prefer soft, medium or firm comfort, the Mediflow Waterbase® can be customized to fit your needs.

A higher quality of sleep helps you look and feel better. In a published clinical study conducted at the world-renowned Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, doctors found that the Mediflow Waterbase® pillow ranked best in all aspects of quality of sleep tested, including how fast subjects fell asleep, how few times they woke up and overall quality of sleep.

* Restore your energy: Improved quality of sleep reverses the negative effects of fatigue.
* Freshen your appearance: Enhanced sleep rejuvenates the skin to ease wrinkles.
* Soothe daily stresses: Uninterrupted sleep is associated with improved coping skills.

If you would like to read the Cervical Pain results from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, please read the report here: Cervical Pain

Even better … I like a fairly soft pillow, my partner prefers a firm pillow. Well, what do you know? You just top up this amazing pillow with water to suit your preference!

SOLD!

Admittedly, I have not yet had time to settle down and buy the pillows but I saw that Amazon are selling something similar – so I am definitely buying one of those  when I do my Christmas shopping later this week and will share with you all my feedback after sufficient time to test out my theory with a practical solution.

A dear friend is also suffering with coccyx pain (the “tail” pain, which really is a “pain in the butt”) and I made a note to myself that I must investigate into finding some physical way to relieve her pain … I received another reminder today after speaking with a lovely lady who is also suffering with a damaged coccyx. Maybe this pillow can give them some comfort while seated, as it would help to relieve the pressure on their coccyx as they sit down! Now there’s an idea …

Sweet dreams!

PS … please seek the advice of a specialist if you have ongoing musculoskeletal issues!

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We focus on our breathing during our Art of Being Still practice (deep guided relaxation) … this is a great technique which is very easy to  master:

(NaturalNews) The modern day lifestyle can be very fast and furious leaving many people feeling depressed tired and basically unable to cope. While these symptoms are not good they are simply our body’s way of telling us to slow down and to take a few deep breaths.

Most of us think that breathing is an involuntary act and that there is no right or wrong way to do it. But there is, and most of us do it wrong. Pranayama is a yoga breathing technique that is used to prepare participants for meditation and to help them on their spiritual journey. It teaches us that we should take note of our breathing, and that we should use the full extent of our lungs. Basically it teaches us how to breathe properly.

The Pranayama technique that yoga beginners tend to learn first is called the Three Part Breath or Dirga Pranayama. In ancient traditions it was thought best to perform the technique lying down. This way the participants can really feel their breath flowing through their body, but it is not essential to feel the full effects of the technique. It is called the three part breath because it is performed in three stages, first using the bottom of the lungs, then the middle and lastly the top. This means that the full capacity of the lungs is being used instead of the 20% that most of us scrape by on.

When we are young we naturally breathe this way, deeply and using all of our lungs. But as our lives become stressful due to work, financial pressures and kids our breathing tends to become fast and shallow. This means that our lungs do not fill up with enough oxygen and are therefore unable to distribute the optimum amount around our body. Many health problems ranging from heart disease to sleep disorders may in fact be due to what is known as oxygen starvation. We all know that our body needs oxygen to function properly. Our brain and muscles feed on it making us feel more alert and energized. Our lymphatic system, which is the system that rids the body of toxins, is controlled by the simple motion of breathing deeply.

The great thing about this type of deep Pranayama breathing is that it can be performed almost anywhere. It will help keep your mind calm and clear in any situation and done regularly it can give you an amazing sense of euphoria. This is because deep breathing is our built in defense against stress. It lowers your heart rate and blood pressure while easing muscle tension. So next time life seems to be getting on top of you just stop, take a step back, breathe deeply and try to use your lungs’ full capacity. You will be amazed by the results.

(c) Natural News

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Unicorns are ascended horses, beautiful etheric beings of the angelic realm. The magnificent unicorn horn acts as a divine magic wand, sending forth divine energy, healing the deepest of wounds which may have been with you for many lifetimes – they are here to remind you of who you are, working through your soul.

I have long had a love affair with unicorns, ever since the age of 6 when my love of the Grimm Brothers Faery Tales introduced me to the wonders of another magickal, mystical world just beyond my reality. As a child, I yearned to escape to a beautiful garden where I could sit quietly and wait for unicorns to arrive, and marvel at their ethereal beauty.

Of course, I loved horses too – palominos and greys were my absolute favourites! That love affair has never waned through the years either, I still dream of having my own horses some day … and its a love which has stood the test of time and been borne in my own son, who is now based in London as a Household Cavalry Trooper.

I was delighted to receive Diana Cooper’s “Unicorn” book as a Christmas stocking gift from my partner one year; then I came across the beautiful almost-watercolour images on her Unicorn cards (both published from Findhorn Press, a book publisher with a history based in ethereal and elemental workings in Findhorn, Scotland).

After working with the unicorn cards, it was merely a matter of time before I was drawn to working with the unicorns in my work, adding childlike fun and laughter to my day.

Recently I have noticed an increase in requests for those wishing to learn the Unicorn Healing system and integrate their teachings and wisdom into their own lives – or wishing to seek advice from the unicorns via personal card readings.

The unicorns symbolise innocence, purity, love and goodness of the heart. The unicorns originated in the Atlantean times and are now back to teach us – and show us – the gift of unconditional love, in addition to the power of healing through their divine energies and those of their unicorn horn.

Do you believe that the unicorns are purely fiction? I’d love to hear of your experiences and points of view …

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Way back in 1995, I discovered the joys of Elizabeth Arden’s 8 Hour Skin Protectant … pricey for a single mum’s tight purse strings, but I found that it had a multitude of uses and lasted for AGES!

No better description of this product can be found other than to quote directly from Elizabeth Arden’s own website:

“The skincare classic that soothes, restores, calms and helps relieve chapped, cracked, dry skin. Soothes roughness, redness and minor skin irritations.

• Helps protect, soothe and moisturize skin.
• Soothes dry skin and provides anti-inflammatory benefits.
• Soothes and comforts minor weather burns, scrapes and abrasions.

The Legend
Created in 1930 by Elizabeth Arden to soothe skin, Eight Hour Cream Skin Protectant became an instant and overwhelming success. What made it so effective is a combination of petrolatum, a skin-soothing beta-hydroxy in one of its first cosmetic uses, and vitamin E. The apricot colored balm was so beneficial to her clients, Miss Arden used it to soothe her famous thoroughbred horses’ legs. Even its name came about thanks to a remarkable performance – a loyal client used it to treat her child’s skinned knee and “eight hours later” the skin was all better.”

Eventually I moved on to different products, particularly those that avoided petrolatum as my skin was developing bizarre sensitivities, in tandem with sensitivities developing on the inside!

So imagine my joy at CamExpo this October (2009) when I attended a seminar, where the founder of Herbfarmacy gave out sample packs of their products.

In a cute tester pot was a lovely herbal balm which looked interestingly similar in colour to the 8 Hour Skin Protectant cream I used to carry everywhere … I tested it on my lips and lo and behold!  The natural herbal smell even REMINDED me of Elizabeth Arden’s magic cream – a real blast from the past.

So my new favourite carry-all products is …

HerbFarmacy’s organic Skin Care Balm

At £8.95 for a 30g pot, this is a good price for a versatile balm – and if you spend over £35 with Herbfarmacy, you get a pot of this organic magic balm for free!

Herbfarmacy says about their Skin Rescue Balm:

“A luxurious herbal blend which melts into the skin leaving it feeling soothed and nourished. With Marshmallow, Calendula, Chickweed and Comfrey, this moisturising balm soothes and protects dry and cracked areas, rejuvenates sensitive and problem skin and nourishes any skin areas you feel are in need of a boost. For eczema-like conditions we recommend you also use our Dandelion and Burdock tincture to boost inner cleansing

Use to:

Moisturise, soothe and protect dry and cracked areas;

Soothe and protect sensitive and problem skin;

Nourish and moisturise any skin areas you feel are in need of a boost”

So what about the ingredients?  Always very careful about what I use on my skin due to occasional sensitivities, I was relieved to find that it was all-natural, wholesome herbal goodness …

Ingredients Ingredients: *Helianthus annuus (Sunflower oil), *Simmondsia chinensis (Jojoba oil), *Cera flava (Beeswax), *Butyrospermum parkii (Shea butter), *Althaea officinalis (Marshmallow) extract, *Symphytum sp (Comfrey) extract, *Calendula officinalis (Calendula) extract, *Stellaria media (Chickweed) extract, *Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) extract, *Anthemis nobilis (Roman Chamomile) oil, *Lavandula angustifolia (Lavender) oil, *Helychrysum angustifolium (Helychrysum) oil, *linalool, *limonene, *farnesol, *geraniol, *eugenol (Last 5 essential oil ingredients) * = Organically grown/produced (100%)

I love using marshmallow and calendula macerated oils on my skin, so I knew I had found a new favourite – and of course, rosemary essential oil is a mild antiseptic,  and chamomile and lavender oils will gently soothe your spirits and give you a gentle etheric hug as well as soothing your skin.

I’d love to know if you still use Elizabeth Arden’s magic cream or whether you have switched to different – and organic or natural – products in its place:  and if so, what do YOU use?

Excuse me while I head off and shop at Herbfarmacy and grab my free gift …

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Ginger is a calming and soothing flavour with a touch of a bite to it that helps to keep you alert and calm. Ginger is commonly used to help an upset stomach, motion or travel sickness or general low-grade fevers. It is also excellent for nausea and for warming you up when you feel cold. Ginger is reputed to help ward off colds or improve your recovery time.

Ginger is a popular addition to energy drinks with good reason. But you can get the energy and health benefits of ginger tea without purchasing these expensive and sugar laden drinks.

One of the main benefits of the herbal ginger remedy is its ability to stimulate the circulatory system. The herb also helps in bringing an increased flow of blood to the surface of the skin; this singular property makes the ginger a very important herbal remedy for the treatment of conditions such as chilblains and to treat impaired circulation along the hands and feet of patients. The herb also effectively helps in controlling elevated or high blood pressure as it directly affects the circulation of blood.

Following is a brief review of ginger’s health benefits and uses as understood today:

Nausea – it is often used to ease nausea during traveling or early pregnancy as well as that due to other causes. The anti-nausea and anti-vomiting qualities of ginger appear to surpass that of drug therapies (e.g., Dramamine) used for the same purpose.

Digestion – it has the ability to calm the stomach, promote the flow of bile, and improve the appetite.

Abdominal Cramps – it can relieve this symptom, often quicker than any other herbal medicine.

Motion-Sickness – the travel industry is using ginger more and more to combat nausea caused by motion-sickness. Drink a cup of ginger tea (see below) or injest 1/4 teaspoon of powdered or 1/2 teaspoon of fresh ginger before a car or boat trip, ideally every 15 minutes for an hour before you travel. Repeat during your travels at the first sign of motion-sickness.

Some studies have shown ginger to perform better than a placebo but not quite as effective as some prescribed medicications. However, ginger does not cause the common side effects of these medications: dry mouth and drowsiness.

Ginger has also been used in aromatherapy. An oil present in Ginger has a spicy, woody scent that aids in relaxation and stress release. When you make Ginger tea this oil infuses the tea with the aroma which in turn helps you relax and relieve stress as you sit back and enjoy your cup of tea.

Ginger tea has been used as a remedy against flu and colds for centuries, both in India and China, as well as other countries in the east. According to Chinese culture, its powerful yang energy is what warms the lungs and stomach. Ginger tea has been used in China for 2,500 years to treat sore throat, nasal congestion, and sinus pain.

Double-blind studies have found ginger to be effective in decreasing symptoms of motion sickness, particularly seasickness. More specifically, intake of ginger has been shown to decrease feelings of dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and the production of cold sweats. One study even found ginger to be more effective than Dramamine, a drug that is often used to treat symptoms of motion sickness.

(c) Peter Hutch
www.ayushveda.com

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