Maybe you’ve heard about the amazing health benefits of ginger. It’s been shown to support better digestion and decrease inflammation.
Yes please!
To get the rewards though, you need to be consistent with your efforts. A client tells me she eats lots of ginger because they get Indian takeout every week. While that is no doubt delicious, it’s far from medicinal.
Fresh is more effective than dried. So even sprinkling some powder on every meal will have questionable results.
What about prepackaged teabags? Meh. It’s pretty weak, most likely pretty old, and don’t get me started on the bag itself. Why are they shiny? Plastic. Hard pass!
If you’ve ever bought fresh ginger with good intentions only to throw it out a few months later when it’s all shriveled up, I get it.
It’s shaped weird. Why can’t it just be smooth and … organized? It’s all lumpy and chaotic.
Well, for starters, it’s a root. That’s what roots do.
But it doesn’t have to be as complicated as you might think.
First of all, you don’t need to peel it. Whew! I give it a good scrub with a vegetable brush under cold running water.
You don’t have to grate it either. Pu-lease! After massaging people all day, the last thing I want or my arms and hands need is intensive kitchen labor. And I could go the rest of my life without ever cleaning the grater again and be quite happy.
I slice it thinly. Easy peasy.
You don’t even have to simmer it on the stove if you have an Instant Pot. (btw consider getting one if you don’t! I use mine several times a week.)
The problem with simmering is you need to keep an eye on it, adjusting the temperature, making sure it doesn’t boil over or boil dry. I don’t have the energy for babysitting my tea.
But you can pop it in the IP, pressure cook it on high for 12 minutes, and enjoy tea for days.
I like to make my extra spicy and use it as a concentrate. I fill up half my mug with the ginger juice and top it off with hot filtered water. Voila!
The day that I finish the last drop, I start a new batch. It’s become second nature and now I almost always have some on hand. If it’s there, I’ll gladly drink a cup or two every day.
I’m all for healthy living, but it has to be simple and doable if I’m going to keep it up. This is my latest shortcut victory. What’s yours?
Maybe you’ve heard about the amazing health benefits of ginger. It’s been shown to support better…
I just got back from the most glorious hike. It’s drizzly and cold here in Philly, but it’s my day off and I wanted to go to the woods. While I was trekking through the trees, I chuckled to myself about descriptors people often use for days like today.
Dreary.
Miserable.
Dreadful.
Come on, now! You can write a story in your head about it being a miserable, rainy day, and it will most definitely be true for you.
But is it True, with a capital T?
No!
It’s rainy. It’s wet. The sky is gray. There are mud puddles. The fallen leaves are slippery. These statements are objectively True. That means I need to dress appropriately and be careful where I step on the trail.
So I did. No biggie. And you know what?
Nowhere did I find any misery.
Instead, I found fresh, clean air. Mud puddles! (My inner child was delighted to have a splash.) And magic. That’s the story I told myself, and for me it became True.
I did pass a couple along the path and we all agreed that it was wonderful being out there without much company. The fellow said that the rain keeps the amateurs away and we all had a good laugh.
As adults, we have myriad opportunities to stretch our comfort zone and rewrite our stories. If we don’t, the zone shrinks over time and we begin to lose freedom of choice. It’s up to each of us to recognize how much discomfort we can face in order to grow and build resilience. Or we can wallow in our restrictive demands for comfort and forever remain an amateur.
For me, hiking in a drizzle is not much of a stretch. Perhaps that’s because I have a great affinity for water and a disposition and constitution that enjoys the cold. There are other areas of life that are much more challenging for me, and this new insight has all sorts of ideas brewing about how I can better meet them with grace and willingness if not ease.
And it all begins with the words I use to describe the event/situation/environment I choose to face. Will it be dreadful or simply unknown? Dreary or just wet? Miserable or potentially magical?
You tell me.
(Please do! I’d love to hear what words you use to rewrite an old story that keeps you from experiencing absolute freedom. What’s your rainy day equivalent?)
This seems particularly relevant now. Just because you’re sensitive doesn’t mean you have to absorb all…
For the past few days, I’ve experienced an intermittent burning sensation on the sole of my right foot.
#$%
I had the great displeasure of living with plantar fasciitis about 12 years ago and I’m not keen to revisit those days. I immediately took action with the intention of tending to body, mind, emotions, spirit, and energy system.
What does that look like? A holistic approach is about recognizing all aspects of ourselves and investigating what is out of balance. I want to address all factors that could be contributing to the imbalance, not just pushing away discomfort at any cost.
Therefore, I did not take Advil or any anti-inflammatory meds. I don’t want to suppress the pain; I want to treat it. At its source. Inflammation is a message of an underlying problem. Squashing it is like shooting the messenger.
Same for ice. I might consider it if the pain was intense, but I’m not there now.
I didn’t try to stretch it out. The connective tissue is irritated, it doesn’t need me trying to force it to lengthen. Not did I go at it with a tennis ball or other massage tool.
I noticed that a low-grade freak out kicked. That’s an uncomfortable state of being and such a contrast to the inner peace that I’ve cultivated that the shift was obvious immediately.
I checked in- what’s going on? Fear. Fear of pain, immobility, and my life being disrupted.
I let my emotions have some space rather than trying to shut them down. I imagined myself on a mountain top, surrounded by the infinite sky and let out the energetic equivalent of a banshee wail. I live in an apartment, so I turned the volume of my voice way down to not disturb the neighbors but turned intensity all the way up. Quiet anguish. Great for discharging energy without alarming others.
Then I got busy tending to my nervous system. This was pure fight or flight mode. My body was itching to DO something, to GO somewhere, to tackle this head on. While that’s perfectly understandable, we can’t access intuition or cognition in this state. Rather than just doing anything, going anywhere, tackling whatever, I figured it was better to have a plan.
Normally I use my rebounder and some vigorous movement to release this activation, but that wasn’t feasible given my desire to protect my foot. Instead, I did some vigorous breathing, extending my exhales while shaking my arms wildly.
When calm descended, I began to strategize.
I pulled up on my mental screen everything I know about inflammation. Stress and cortisol are great contributors, and I was already addressing this. Gut health factors in, so I considered how I could plan meals around healing foods like bone broth, sauerkraut, and ginger.
I applied a salve I’d made from essential oils, as well as arnica gel. (Best to buy these things at a health food store to assure quality and the absence of chemicals. I like to be able to pronounce all the ingredients of products I slather on my skin.) Aromatherapy oils help to stimulate the body’s healing abilities- which is very different from suppressing symptoms.
I reviewed what I know about the fascia system and how it connects from sole to calf to hamstring and spent some time using a foam roller on my calves, hoping to create some slack that would provide ease for my feet.
I’m not exactly an expert on fascia, despite having a good working knowledge. I turned to Foundation Training, an app I use to relieve pain, build strength and balance, and improve posture. There I found some basic exercises for the feet and integrating the rear fascial chain.
All the while I kept a compassionate eye on my emotions. They were very active. Thoughts like – I should know better. I should have been able to avoid this. How bad will it get? How long will it last? Will I become homeless, live under a bridge, and get eaten by cats? OK, that last one is an exaggeration, but you know how the catastrophising can go!
I welcomed all the thoughts and feelings (vs. suppressing which only pushes problems into the future) and paid attention with curiosity and compassion. I was also careful not to let it snowball into a pity party. Basically, I took the role as the wise, loving grandmother, listening to all the children’s worries and then taking charge of the situation.
I looked at several metaphysical connections to the feet- dragging the feet, standing on one’s own two feet, sure-footedness, slowing down, etc. to see if any resonated and if there was some work that needed to be done in the realm of limiting beliefs.
I viewed my feet through the chakra lens, as part of the root system and my connection to the earth. I made plans to get to the park soon to put my bare feet on the grass to help ground my energy.
I considered my shoes and whether or not I needed more support or more freedom for my toes.
Perhaps most importantly, I saturated both feet (they work together as a team, and whenever one is affected, it can easily spread to the other via compensation or defensive mechanisms) with Reiki.
In addition to infusing my soles with life-force energy, this began the healing of any energetic, emotional, psychological or even spiritual contributions. Plus it’s easy, so I can do it without much effort. It’s portable, so I can practice out in the world, with or without shoes, with or without touching my feet. If you ran into me in public, you wouldn’t even know I was engaged in a powerful healing modality while we chatted over tea.
Essentially, I’m looking for anything that could be contributing to the imbalance and everything I can do to promote healing. It might seem like a lot of effort, but knowing how miserable PF can be and how it usually takes months to abate, I think it’s worth the effort.
My friend and I had plans to go for a hike this morning. I debated canceling our outing, but my desire to be out in nature and spend time with someone important to me won out. I slowed down my pace and was more mindful of where/how I placed my feet. I’m delighted to report that I didn’t feel even a hint of that burning while we walked or in the several hours since then.
See how the leaves are in the process of changing color!
So, there you have it! Probably more than you ever wanted to know about addressing plantar fasciitis holistically. If you have any tips or tricks that helped you, I’d love to hear them. The conventional treatment is woefully inadequate and there’s no need for anyone to suffer needlessly if there are any natural remedies that can help.
For the past few days, I’ve experienced an intermittent burning sensation on the sole of my…
Interested in giving yourself daily infusions of spiritually-guided life-force energy?
It’s so easy to learn!
Anyone can gain full-time, forever access to Reiki healing energy with minimum investment of time and money.
It’s the most affordable way I know to get consistent treatment for physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and energetic issues.
Chronic pain, anxiety, depression, fatigue, digestive issues, fertility issues, sleep challenges, focus, creativity, peace, joy and freedom are some of the myriad goals it can be used for.
I know because I’ve done exactly that every day for 21 years. And IT’S WORKING!!
Reiki is an ancient healing technique that uses universal life-force energy to cultivate body-mind-spirit balance, stimulate the relaxation response, and relieve stress and tension.
It’s a seemingly magical reset that helps all systems come back online and integrate for maximum wellness.
I’m offering a Reiki 1 certification training, the starting point for those who want to learn how to treat themselves and their loved ones.
We begin on Thursday, October 17th at 6pm in my Mt. Airy (neighborhood of Philadelphia) studio.
This can be the beginning of a new phase in your life if you commit to blending Reiki into your life.
Interested in giving yourself daily infusions of spiritually-guided life-force energy? It’s so easy to learn! Anyone…
Yesterday was the summer solstice up here in the northern hemisphere. It marked the longest day of the year and the moment the sun crossed the threshold into the sign of Cancer.
Woot woot! Happy birthday season to all my fellow crabs.
Tonight, we have a full moon in Capricorn, illuminated by the Cancer sun.
This is a time for reevaluating my habits, therapies and remedies for summertime.
I’m reconfiguring my meds.
It’s crazy, stupid hot here in Philly, especially considering it’s only June. There’s a part of me that wants to just say “screw it” and stay close to the AC vent. But I know how valuable time in nature is to my well-being.
So, I’m adapting.
That means getting out for a hike early in the day. That means shifting my Sacred Start/morning ritual of prayer, meditation, journaling and yoga from first thing to much later. It means having an easy to assemble breakfast on hand for when I come home ravenous.
Basically, it means shifting my comfortable patterns.
It also means there’s no time to check my emails until after breakfast.
A bonus reward as I’ve been wanting to curb my screen addiction.
Luckily the cosmic energies are in full support of self-nurturing and the structure necessary to support that. I do so love a rut, but find these seasonal reassessments are extremely beneficial to me.
So, this morning found me rocking a new look: hiking boots, shorts and a tank, with very, very pale limbs exposed. I’m sporting 50% less hair these days and loving the lightness and feeling of breezy ease. And I got down to the creek to take my medicine before the temps became unbearable.
Is there one small thing you can adjust at this pivotal point in the year’s cycle to better support yourself?
There are two different approaches to building new habits. A) pick the easiest thing and enjoy the quick return on your investment and grow from there and B) pick the thing that will yield the greatest reward and commit to just that one thing.
And don’t worry about getting it perfect. Just take the first step in the direction you want to go and revel in your ability to take action and care for yourself.
I fold a lot of sheets as a massage therapist/Reiki practitioner. Like, A LOT. Fitted sheets are THE WORST! I’d given up hope of ever having a neat pile of them.
Until I found this little gem. I can practically guarantee you will at least chuckle.
“Everybody has something.” Tosha Silver leads a beautiful meditation, using compassion and acceptance to embrace the…
Goodness, things are very challenging for a lot of people lately. It seems to me like we are being called to let go of all the crud that prevents us from fully expressing our power, creativity and compassion in the world.
Over the past few weeks, I am often reminded of the Carl Jung quote: “Free will is the ability to do gladly that which I must do.” Along with a Zen proverb: “Let go or be dragged.”
Sounds simple, right? But not always so easy. Which leads to this month’s Reiki special offer.
Reiki is a holistic energy healing modality that fosters relaxation and relieves stress and pain, freeing us up to pursue our goals. Remote treatments are received from the comfort of your own space for maximum impact, minimum effort. We have a short phone call to clarify your needs, then disconnect so I can focus on the energy. Afterwards, I follow up with an email, sharing any pertinent information.
This is double the normal package discount. My intention is to make it easier for folks to get consistent, ongoing support for the challenges they face. Many of the issues I’m seeing are deeply rooted and will require some time to shift. The packages help make that happen as commitment follows investment.
Shedding old skins, cultural conditioning, limiting belief systems, outdated coping mechanisms, releasing trauma, poor self-worth and ancestral healing are all UP these days. Reiki can help get things moving where they’d been stuck and give us the energy we need to keep going in the face of adversity.
For those of us in any kind of transition (divorce, moving, menopause, having kids, kids growing up, grieving loss), those who are beginning a new project and those who are burning the candle at both ends, some extra support and nourishment can make a huge difference. If your energy is depleted, stagnant, stuck, stale or altogether missing, Reiki can fill up the tank.
5 session packages are $400 when purchased through the end of March and good for an entire year. That’s a $100 savings compared to the one-off price and $50 less than the usual five package rate.
Luminous Heart Reiki & Massage 