On My Mind

"Biology gives you a brain.  Life turns it into a mind."

Jeffrey Eugenides, Middlesex

Several things have been on my mind lately...one of them is that I wanted to share some link love with you.  Today's link love theme is health!

First, thanks to two close friends who discovered this, I have been introduced to Trisha Yearwood's Power Balls!  I made them a bit differently than her, but basically it was the same idea.  Instead of just sunflower seeds, I used a mix of sprouted sunflower and pumpkin seeds, organic, of course.  The other difference is that I don't have a food processor, so I just chopped the dried cranberries a bit but otherwise everything went into the bowl and was mixed as is.  It comes out chunky, but delicious none-the-less.  So, if you don't have a food processor, don't worry!  Please make sure you use RAW Honey!!!  Very important!  I used all organic ingredients, but of course, that is not necessary if you don't choose to be organic.  My entire family (except my oldest child) loved these and there was a fight at breakfast time over who would get the last ones!  My oldest child does not like peanut butter, so that is why he didn't care for these.

Secondly, I have been reading a lot about the benefits of drinking hot lemon water with raw honey. So, I decided to give it a shot since I am not drinking morning coffee anymore.  I have to be honest...at first I was not a fan.  It was very sour and it actually gave me a bit of a stomachache.  I started with a so-so lemon and I used half, as the recipe called for.  I could barely get it down.  Not wanting to be deterred, I did some more research and found that many people actually have to start with a quarter lemon and work their way up to half a lemon.  Also, you have to be sure to use high quality, organic lemons that are ripe.  So, I gave that a shot and have to say, it is much more tolerable.  It took me a good week to get used to it and now I actually look forward to drinking it in the morning.  It is a fairly new practice for me, so I can't say that I have had a huge health benefit yet, however, I do know that three of my family members have had terrible head colds and I, so far, have been able to avoid it!  That is saying a lot considering my demolished immune system.

The last one for today is yoga nidra, or yogi sleep.  I stumbled across this when I was researching some pain management techniques for controlling my Lyme and co-infection pain.  I was a bit skeptical because I am not a good meditator at all, but turns out you don't have to be.  When I am in need of a rest in the middle of the day, I put on my sound canceling earphones and listen to the yoga nidra script.  I keep the track right on my iPhone, so I always have it if I need it.  I found this website that has free downloads of various types of scripts.  Find one that you like and give it a shot.  It is not just about pain relief, it is about stress relief too and reconnecting with your inner voice.

The above piece was inspired by a commercial I saw the other day on television.  I think it may have been for Febreze, but am not positive.  It showed this woman walking around with butterflies and swirls, and all sorts of lovely things flying out of her hair as she moved.  Now that I think about it, maybe it was a shampoo commercial.  LOL. I don't remember because I was so caught be the idea of mixing a head shot with something else, that I ignored the rest of the ad.  Anyway, this is what resulted from that inspiration.  Funny how we can find ideas in everyday things!

TGIF!  Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!