Brown Sugar

Are you still using sugar to sweeten your foods and beverages? While I don't promote sugar, I do understand that sometimes it's the most appealing or appropriate option. What can we do to change white sugar from the highly processed, nutritionally bereft crystalline powder it is into something better?

Add Blackstrap Molasses! Blackstrap Molasses is part of the sugar refining process. Blackstrap contains all of the minerals that have been removed to make sugar white. The problem is that Blackstrap Molasses isn't very sweet. It's actually pretty potent stuff. I love it, but it doesn't help me sweeten my tea on the hot summer days when sugar is what I want.

So, I make my own brown sugar, for those occasions when Stevia, Xylitol or Honey aren't my first choice.

I pour a cup or so of sugar into a jar, and then pour some blackstrap on top of that. Mix together with a fork until you've done the best you can. The bottom will be lighter, but you can put the lid on the jar and shake it until it mixes the rest of the way. Make it as dark as you want!

Blackstrap contains minerals, including Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Sodium, Zinc, Copper, Manganese and Selenium. There are also trace amounts of some B Vitamins.

Commercial brown sugar and turbinado sugar have slightly more nutrition than white sugar, but it is a slight difference when compared to what you'll have when you make your own with Blackstrap.

A Call to Healers

A Call To Healers ~ The energy is shifting, changes are accelerating, and it is time to get it together. Wrap up your loose ends and deal with the obstacles that prevent you from authentically offering your gifts to the World in Service. Be ready, make a difference, change. What are you waiting for? Love, Pachamama

Sometimes I feel so helpless in the face of things like Natural Disasters and Politics. The scope of what's happening compared to the size of just one person can be daunting. There is fear, and a lack of control. Sometimes there is also a feeling of victimization. Sometimes I get sucked into the political thing, and sometimes I believe the corporate media machine. Sometimes I would prefer to pretend none of it is happening, but that doesn't gel with my solution-oriented personality.

So what do we do? How can we make a difference in the face of such magnitude?

I am reminded that there are many ways to make a difference, some subtle, and some overt. For me, it's the subtle ways that make me feel better. The subtle ways hone my skills and strengthen me.

There are countless forms of energy work. Some are learned, some are gifted, some are intuitively known. All have the ability to make the world a better place, through improving the health of Earth's inhabitants and/or Earth herself.

It can be simple or complex, and I'll be the first to admit that I prefer simple. Here are some of the things I do when I have a problem or challenge that needs my attention, that you can do, too:

• Light a candle with an affirmation and focused intent relevant to the problem you want solved
• Reiki given to yourself, others and the Earth
• Prayer in all forms
• Visualizations of your desired outcome
• Pray to running water - the hydrolic cycle will take that energy around the world. Check out Masaru Emoto's work: Dr Masaru Emoto's Water Crystals
• Tonglen is a meditation technique for relieving suffering. This can be applied to Natural Disasters.

Everything helps, and I encourage you to do whatever works for you!

"Be the change you wish to see in the world" - Gandhi

Gem Essences

I had a beautiful time this weekend working on my continuing education. I participated in an Advanced Gem Essence Workshop in Boulder with my Mentor and Herbalist Sisters. It was a wonderful reconnection to the Pachamama, the Cosmos, the soul, and sweet Sisters.

Stones, Crystals, Gems, Rocks - they have so much medicine to share with us. The more you try, the more time you spend asking and listening, the clearer the messages are.

Gem Essences are similar to Flower Essences, in that they help us with our mental and emotional "stuff". Gems differ in that they offer more foundational/structural support, with some of them directly affecting the Chakras.

I use Gem Essences along with Flower Essences in my practice. Please feel free to contact me if you are interested in learning more about how essences can help you with your process!

Energetic Self-Care and the New Moon

I have found that when I am working with the cycles of Nature, instead of stubbornly trying to forge my own path, life flows gracefully, and I am able to accomplish what I want with ease. Here we are, with the energy of the New Moon reminding us to look within, and clean house. I am shining light on my dark corners, clearing and organizing cluttered spaces, and facing my personal demons head on.

A smudge a day keeps the Hucha away. Hucha is heavy energy. Everyone has "stuff", and that stuff can build up the same as the way dust bunnies accumulate in the corners of your home.

What do you do for your energetic self care?

My self care changes from day to day, but I try to pull from the following:
Affirmations
Smudging
Eating wild foods
Eating breakfast outside
Flower and Gem Essences to help with balance
Herbal Infusions
Carrying/wearing stones and crystals
Gardening
Soaking my feet
Reiki
Meditation
Singing to plants
Painting
Maya Spiritual Baths
Time in Nature

If you'd like help coming up with some self-care options that work for you, please don't hesitate to call or email. I would be honored to help you.

It's Just A Plant

I still can't wrap my head around how we've become so far removed from Nature that a single plant can be considered a threat worthy of testimony, prohibition, regulations, fear and armed police response. Why do people feel the need to fight against nature? There are enough real things to fear in this world, I see no need to create more bogeymen.