Emotional and Mental Detox

Music videos are a rare thing for me to post in my blog. But I encourage you to push play while you read this post entry.  Because it's appropriate. It's the closest thing I've ever heard Hope be put into a musical composition. Maybe that's just me I love it though. So enjoy it while reading!

Sometimes, we are overwhelmed with that dark feeling of helplessness. We fight to get out of bed in the mornings. We are are dreary throughout the day. Smiling feels out of place.  Maybe you have a vice that keeps you elevated - but makes your days prove to be worth nothing. Perhaps you don't even remember your days due to said vice. For some... being nothing is better than being themselves. And..perhaps that's understandable for some. For me, I see it as a waste of the precious life we are given. Chatting with the people you love is heavy and hard to accomplish, because all you want to do is curl up in their arms and stare in silence while they listen to it, or perhaps verbally vomit everything that's wrong.

But you don't, because you don't want to burden them. Or worry them. Or drag them down. Sometimes, finding the motivation to do your job, or work on your underachieved dreams, or function as a human being seems out of reach. It seems in your head there is a buzzing, a constant stream or noise - when all you want is silence. Or perhaps all there is in your world is the roaring, deafening silence, a nothingness - a lack of your 'something.' And all you want is to feel normal again.

The longer you stay in this slump the harder it is to drag yourself out of it. And take it from someone who knows: The harder is it to drag yourself out of it, the less likely you'll be able to do it on your own. Then who knows how far you will drop in gradual declining pit you've managed to fall in.  So... keep reading. Maybe I have some advice that will help.

And I hope you're listening to the song. Hopefully like me, it fills you with an inexplicable joy.

So maybe what you need is a cleansing. A detox of all of your fears, and stresses. Even if the source of your emotional pitfall is unknown and mysterious. Maybe its just everything causing you to feel this way. Maybe it's just life. You're feeling low, vulnerable, and weak.

So its time to relax in your favorite position, close your eyes and meditate. Yes, Meditate. I know what you're thinking, it's corny, its awful, it's cheesy, its so...generic. Shut up and just read. People never give 

You're busy? Make time. Find time. We all have time if we allow ourselves. Sometimes we forget that our selves, our mental and physical health and well-being is the priority. How can we expect to accomplish anything when we have exhausted ourselves. You cannot help others, you cannot work, you cannot function if you are do not make yourself the priority.  

So again. Relax. Anywhere is fine. Wherever you find the most soothing, comfortable, however I do recommend outdoors, in a quiet setting. Close your eyes, and take a deep breath.

Then another. Then another. Don't think about anything but your breathing.  Some of you think you can't just switch your minds off. If you can empty your mind, do it. but if you can't it's okay! Not all meditation is the same. Focus on breathing, and if your mind will not quiet, think actively about your breathing and count. Count slowly to five as you breathe in, and count slowly has you hold your breath for a few seconds, count slowly as you slowly breath out. 

If your mind wants to drift as you slowly relax. Let it  - as you relax, and truly relax, perhaps your mind can seek solace in itself, answer its own doubts. Perhaps it will simply take you to that place in your imagination where you feel the safest, happiest. Take thirty minutes to an hour for just you. For just this quiet. For your mind to roam freely - unrestrained by the logic of life or the cruelty of reality. Let it go to a place where it's soothed, comforted or where it can reason with itself. 

Sometimes it is not sleep alone that is enough to rejuvenate us. Our minds and bodies just sometimes need a moment to reboot, to balance itself.  To find that spark of motivation. To find that initial goal that drives you forward. Or to release and let go of all of the heaviness that is wearing you down - whatever it may be.  Meditation can do that. 

If you cry. You cry. Its a cleansing. A release. And that's okay too. This is detox in it's most natural form. And anything you do help yourself to get rid of the rock in your stomach, the hole in your chest, and the chip on your shoulder in this meditation is acceptable. 

Meditate to music. Or drums. Or silence. Or the darkness of night. Sit up right or lay down.  There is no "correct" way to meditate. As long as you are comfortable, and lifted from the confines the pit you've put yourself in. 

You never know. You may just come out of meditation and realize you were never in a pit to begin with.

Detox - The Proper Way (Body)

One of the many things about today's society that bothers me is the hype about "Detoxing" as part of a daily routine for diets. There is a lot of misguided thoughts about Colon Cleansers and Detoxes that make people think: "This will help me lose weight!"  It also strongly bothers me when people take western medicine to do this. Why are you taking a pill for detoxing your body - a pill that has an entire rapsheet of "potential side-effects?" Please. Can anyone explain this logic to me? Why would you not go the natural route - the route where the worst side effect's you'll get is an upset stomach?

The point of Detoxing your body is not to lose weight. If you lose a pound or two from doing doing such a thing to your body it simply means you had a lot of excess waste within your system - and it has been purged. It does NOT mean continue to do so - and you will keep losing weight. Because this method of losing weight is achieving two things: Dehydration and malnutrition. You are succeeding in giving yourself a constant stream of diarrhoea that is in no way shape or form beneficial to you once the initial detox has completed it's cycle. And that is why your body is withering away, it has nothing to do with "weight loss."

Why does this bother me so much? Well. I'm a shaman, and often times I prescribe a colon cleansing or a bodily detox to the people who ask me for help. I am a healer - and the hype the media and scum-bag dietary con-artists have plotted up are making the world unhealthy.  

Let me first explain what detoxing the body is for, because some of you may not understand. A detox of the body, sometimes called a "colon cleansing," is for the purpose helping ones body rid itself of the waste that has lined the digestive system and bowels - and has remained stuck there for longer than it needs to be. It also is good to help rid oneself of excess toxins from drug use, alcohol consumption and smoking (diuretics are also good for this.) Just to reiterate: Its called a colon "cleansing" and a "detox" for a reason. It aids in getting rid of withdrawals from substances as well by flushing them out of your system. 

And you do not need to do this more than once or twice a year - unless your an avid absorber of toxins that effect your body in such a way.

But how? How does one detox the body safely, without pills and questionable powders that they tell you to mix into the drinks that look add and taste awful? Easy.

There are several herbs that I personally use when I am creating a tea people to help them detox their bodies. The main herbs being: Senna leaf, Chamomile, Peppermint, hibiscus and Psyllium Husk.

The first four herbs are herbs I combine into a gentle tea. It doesn't taste bad. The active ingredients are the Senna. This leaf is great for people who are constipated as well. Most of the time, if a client is simply having bowel movement troubles, this is what I use.  For older people I use less senna to make it more gentle. If a person is constipated to an extreme, I use a rather large pinch. Senna has a way of sneaking up on you, it sometimes can take several hours to kick in. That does NOT mean use more or you won't have life outside of the bathroom for at least twenty-four hours. The peppermint is to sooth the stomach while your body is purging itself, and to add taste. The hibiscus is a diuretic, and is jam packed with antibodies that will need to be replenished as your body is losing them. And Chamomile is to once again, soothe the system, and keep your body relaxed as it purges whatever is in your system out. 

Now this is tea is situational. If we are needing a strong detox, then it is always used in two light doses for the first day, then a strong dose of senna for the next day. The light dose is to prepare the body for the main purge, so that the next day it is not so rough on the person. 

Psyllium Husk is an amazing herb. This herb can be used on farm animals (cows, and horses) with stomach related issues. (You can probably ask anyone with horses - Psyllium Husk can save a horses life.) But it's gentle enough to use on people, and small animals. For people, Twice a day until your body decides to purge itself. Three spoonfuls of the herb directly in a warm (Very gentle and light dose) senna tea. This is probably best treated as a fiber powered drink - because the herb will expand, then coagulate and become mush,  and look like oatmeal if you let it leave sit. It's best to skull (Chug) this herb. The psyllium husk will then stick to whatever is in your body.  It will act to the waste within your system much like Draino acts to clogged up pipes. It will stick to it, and drag it out when flushed. 

These are proper methods of detoxing your body. Not only are they safer, and natural - but they are bound to make you healthier. Remember not to over Detox - or you will simply deplete your body of vitamins. Oh and one more thing readers - If you want to be clean and not have to worry about detoxing... see the foods below. Those are what you should be eating. Fresh and everyday!

"No matter how pretty the package - it's STILL a lie, a scam, and complete incorrect information!"

Reflection

The reflection of our lives all shimmer differently, and sometimes its hard to see it in our own personal sky. We often times move forward on our paths and it seems as if we are moving no where at all. We feel as if the eternity that stretches before us is to long, dim, and treacherous. Where are we even going? Which fork in the road do you take? Where did that person who was just holding your hand disappear too? 

Steadily we walk forward on our paths through lives. And as we move through life we grow, change, mutate like a seedling placed in rich soil. We grow tall, and straight, or we grow to the side, we branch widely or perhaps our branches are gnarled and twisted. Sometimes we are planted in the sun, and sometimes our seed was blown in the shade. 

Can you visualize the plant you have become? Who are you? 

A question we are sometimes asked - a vital question none of us are ever sure to answer. Often when we are asked that, we stammer lamely for a second before telling our name numbly. But our name is not who we are. After all there are billions of people in this world - there are going to be at least one or two people with the same name as you. 

So...who are you? The only way to know that for sure is to reflect on your past in the path (not to be mistaken for dwelling on the past my dears). You are that the hard lesson you learned on the worst day of your life. You are the joy you felt on your best days. You are the person you chose to be when you decided to help a person or not, to save a life or watch them burn. You are who you became when you took your first indecisive steps towards something unknown and bigger than you. You are the dream that you are chasing, or the dream that you are letting slip away. You are the drug and the booze that you rely on. You are your own strength. You are your own vices.

And no one else can take that away from you. You're not a number in a file. You're not a combination of letters that make a particular sound when said phonetically. You are your greatest strength - or perhaps you are your own weakness. 

Want to know the best part on this reflection? 

It will not be the same the next time you reflect back. You are constantly changing, growing - become beautiful or ugly in your own life as you live it and make your choices. Ever changing knowledge and perception within you changes who you are and how it reflects upon you.

So the next time you are asked who you are, take a few seconds to reflect back - and let the best or worst moments spew from you. And then say your name with pride. And meaning. Because while your name may be the same as that person across town, the meaning behind your name will always be different than theirs. Doesn't that make sense?

Because personally? Who I am is far more complicated than what my many names can say. When asked who I am my answer changes: "I am the a shaman, I am one who dedicates my life to helping and saving others." The next day it could be "I am a child of the earth, sister to the sky, and friend to the sea." Or perhaps it will be: "I am a girl treading the currents of life. Someone who knows pain and joy - and manages to wrap them all in one entity." "I am a healer." "I am an emotional and mental abuse survivor." "I am the daughter of a great shaman. I have Warriors and Braves for brothers, and Sisters who are a bit of everything, but most of all filled with courage and strength."

So who am I today? Today I am a young elder, serene and reflective, filled with the desire to let everyone know they are more than a name.

So reflect. And tell me who you are today. I long to know more than just the face and name. If everyone could tell their stories, write it down as if it were a novel - they would see that who they were in the beginning of the book, who they are in the middle of their book and who they will be at the end of it... will all be monumentally different.

So who are you?

What came first: The Hare or the Egg?

Many of us know what Easter is to the modern day. For the modern generations and even a few of the older ones, Easter is chocolates, Marshmallow Peeps, pastel coloured things, Colouring eggs, and then hiding them and going on hunts. A day for family to gather at events and watch their children take off wearing bunny ears and nice clothing. 

For some who are religious Good Friday and Easter sunday are representations of the crucifixion and the rising of Jesus Christ, the ending of Lent, and other such religious things. A day for worship and food, and church. 

So what was Easter BEFORE the Christian faith? What did it mean to people before it was said that Jesus walked the earth and died for a universe of peoples sins? It is sad when the world has mostly forgotten the Origins in which our global holidays derived. The account of which I am telling is just one of many origins, and not the only one. 

Some of us go through our lives wondering how the Easter bunny lay the Egg, how the legend came to be. The legend of which there are hardly any details of which, but commercialized in our consumer society heavily. Some of us dont care. but for those of you who are wondering... here it is: 


Spring. The time of renewal. The respite in the world between obscene heat and obnoxious cold. Winter has ended and summer has yet to begin. In modern days it is end of the fasting season because in historical tie the food storages were dwindling and the new food was not yet grown and ready. 

Surprisingly enough it was a combination of the Pagan and Christian religions that created the long standing tradition of colouring eggs in which a rabbit hides for the children to find. As mentioned before, Christians mark this day as the resurrection of Jesus after his death on the cross. For Pagans it was something a little different. 

In Germany long ago people worshipped a diety known as Eostra. During the same time every year, Pagan's would offer their devotion to her in the season between Summer and Winter, for she was the Goddess of renewal and fertility. Spring is often the mating season, the time for young to be born in the wilderness, for the rebirth of plants to gain new foliage. Eostra was often symbolized with the Hare - which is speculated it was due to the little rodents high reproductive rate. The full moon and the Egg were also used to symbolize the spring time Goddess. 

As Catholicism took over, Eostra gave her name to the festival day - and became known as Easter. The eggs, and rabbits were still celebrated as well as traditions throughout time from the cause of these merging beliefs. In the early 1700's, Germanic immigrants to the USA told the tale of the rabbit laying the egg. Once this story spread in the US, people began making nests in celebration, which soon mutated into Easter baskets. From there the baskets became decorated, and treats began to fill up these once-upon-a-time nests. 


In old Druidic religion, these symbols are once again enforced with Alban Eilir - the Spring Equinox. Alban Eilir means "Light of the Earth," and while the earth begins to thaw and warm life begins to grow anew. Druids see life in all living things, even in rocks and stones and rivers and springs. Plants and trees, everything is sacred to them. In their beliefs the spring Equinox, Alban Eilir the Egg is a life giving force- and the egg is protected by the hare. The Hare is also a symbol of Alban Eilir - so it all coincides. 

All over the world the hare is associated with the moon. There are many different stories of the hair in so many different cultures. These are just but small examples. In Greece, Indonesia, Egypt, China, India and Germany and many more countries there are old folklore on the Hare, and how it become associated so closely with Spring and Easter. 

So this year while you're celebrating Easter, reflect on what Easter truly means for you. Whether you are Christian, or Pagan, or Wiccan or Buddhist, why do YOU celebrate the easter Hare and the Egg? Does it mean something to you? Does being educated about a holiday make it mean something more? 

Either way, we wish you all a wonderful Easter, Alban Eilir, and Spring Time Celebration.