The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondō. Despite constant efforts to declutter your home, do papers still accumulate like snowdrifts and clothes pile up like a tangled mess of noodles? Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes tidying to a whole new level, promising that if you properly simplify and organize your home once, you’ll never have to do it again. The KonMari Method, with its revolutionary category-by-category system, leads to lasting results. www.goodreads.com
Community News
Home Remedies for a Cough
Did you know that onions can be used to cleanse airways and reduce congestion? Try a poultice of roasted onion to the chest every few hours. They can also be drunk as a warm broth. Cabbage also works well, as it has an extraordinary ability to draw out toxin. Crush the leaves with a rolling pin until the juice starts to appear. Place 3 or 4 leaves over the chest and cover with gauze. You can also drink the juice of a cabbage sweetened with a little bit of honey. Adapted from the book “The New Guide to Remedies” by Paragon Staff
6 Ways to Alkalize Your Body
Did you know that your immunity is based on how alkaline your diet is? Having an overly acidic diet eventually leads to a weakened state, and our bodies become susceptible to disease. Here are six ways to alkalize – and healthify – your body! 1. Drink plenty of water. Drink half your body weight in ounces every day to keep your body systems regulated. For an extra boost in alkalinity – add lemon! 2. Trade coffee for tea. Green tea is highly alkaline. Try jasmine, Sencha or Matcha. 3. Kick that sugar habit. Use stevia, coconut sugar or small amounts of honey in place of sugar. 4. Eat more greens. Vegetables are highly alkaline and oxygen rich. Consume fresh green vegetables often as possible. 5. Move. Exercise to create more oxygen and qi flow in the body and to avoid stagnation. 6. Reduce stress. Meditate as often as possible, practice deep breathing, do yoga, and get plenty of sleep
Autism and Homeopathy
Autism Spectrum Disorders are on the rise with one in 68 children now being diagnosed. These are serious, potentially life-long conditions, which place a great deal of financial and emotional stress on families and society at large. Homeopathy can help to reduce and manage common autistic symptoms that are hard on families, especially eating, digestive and sleep problems as well as behavioural issues such as rigidity and hyperactivity. Homeopathy can also be used to identify the numerous causative factors of autism. If the homeopathic form of a substance which contributed to the condition is given, the child may have a brief healing reaction and then improve. Such substances can include antibiotics, vaccines, pesticides, car exhaust fumes, medications during or before pregnancy and ultrasounds. If you have a child with autism or a related developmental disorder please consider homeopathy as part of a comprehensive treatment plan.
Dr. Anke Zimmermann, ND, FCAH, www.drzimmermann.org
Happy New You!
January. The time of New Year’s resolutions and wanting to change ourselves. The problem is, change doesn’t happen overnight, and most resolutions end up being abandoned. Then we feel yucky about it. Consider, instead, small sustainable steps towards a healthier lifestyle. Being healthy isn’t just about what we eat and how much we weigh. Real wellness includes how we talk to ourselves, our outlook on life, and how we deal with stress. Feeling better can start with any of these things. See January as only the beginning, and, consider yoga! It’s a practice which encourages you to feel worthy whatever your starting point. Yoga promotes self-awareness: learning to listen to your body, your breath, and your thoughts. Then, with self-acceptance (and not the need to ‘fix’ ourselves), we begin to appreciate how our health, wellness, and stress levels are tied to the many daily choices we make. Happy new you!
Susan Turner, Yoga Connections, www.YogaConnections.ca
Goals vs. Intentions
How do you approach the new year? Do you set up goals? Do you make a list of all the things you want to acquire and achieve for the upcoming year? And how has that worked out for you? So whether it be to lose weight (again), promise yourself a change of job (again), or to become more organized (again), keeping true to these goals never seems to last. The truth is, most of us will do the same thing we always do: set some goals that will be forgotten about by the 7th January. So this year, let’s propose something different. Try approaching the new year with intentions instead of goals. Keep it simple. Limit it to one or two. When you create an intention and really feel what it is you want to achieve, you’ve already set it in motion. Watch closely as your intention becomes your new reality!
Carole Tetreault, Calder Healing House, shineyourlight.ca
Be Stress-Free with Reflexology
Stress is definitely something that we all deal with. Chronic stress affects us in so many ways and influences our healing on an emotional and physical level. For most of us, stress is caused by work situations, home situation, parenting, lack of money, car problems, loss of a loved one, or other possibilities like health issues or post-traumatic stress. Our sympathetic nervous system provides the fight-or-flight response to stress. Sympathetic nerve stimulation increases the heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate. The gastro-intestinal tract is affected, blood sugar can have fluctuations, and the adrenal glands become weakened and eventually exhausted. When you have a reflexology session, the parasympathetic nervous system is improved, and the body is brought back to a normal, relaxed functioning. When our body is relaxed and rested, this is when the healing happens.
Rositha Jeanson, Balance and Harmony, www.rositha.ca
Clean Eating: Gingerbread Coffee
2 Tbs Cinnamon, ground
1 Tbs Ginger, ground
1 Tbs Cloves, ground
1/2 Tbs Nutmeg, ground
1/8 tsp Salt
Instructions:
1. Add spices and salt to a jar and shake well.
2. Add about 1/2 teaspoon (or to taste) of the gingerbread mix to your regular or decaf coffee grounds before brewing.
This recipe is adapted from Kristine’s Kitchen. These spices are among the richest in wrinkle and disease-fighting antioxidants. Coffee cheers to that!
Lisa Kehler, www.offyourplatenutrition.ca
Dare NOT To Diet!
Make 2017 the year you jump off your plate and into your life! Dare not to diet. Make a radical shift from being “good” (dieting) to feeling good (living vibrantly)! It’s natural to want to have more energy and vitality! And want to move with ease and feel good in your body. But a diet won’t deliver. Not long term. Simple, enjoyable mindful eating, plus a shift from “have to be good” to “want to feel good,” CAN deliver a good thing! Here are a few shifts to consider for January 1: “I have to go on a diet, I feel gross” to “I have more energy and feel better in my body when I eat the foods I love with balance on my plate.” “I have to work out every day” to “I feel better, sleep better and move better when I’m active. I’m going to find an activity I enjoy.”
Lisa Kehler, www.offyourplatenutrition.ca
Book Club: Year of Yes!
How to Dance It Out, Stand in the Sun and Be Your Own Person, by Shonda Rhimes. Shonda was an expert at declining invitations others would leap to accept. With 3 children at home and 3 hit shows on TV, it was easy to say that she was too busy. But in truth, she was also afraid. Shonda’s introvert life revolved around burying herself in work, snuggling her children, and comforting herself with food. Shonda’s sister muttered something that was both a wake-up and a call to arms: You never say yes to anything! The comment sat like a grenade until it detonated. Then Shonda knew she had to embrace the challenge: for one year, she would say YES to everything that scared her.
Clean Eating: Banana Quinoa Breakfast Bars
1 cup steel cut oats
1 cup quinoa
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon, a pinch of sea salt
3 large ripe bananas, mashed
2 tbsp ground flaxseed
3 tbsp natural nut butter
1 tbsp coconut oil
2 tbsp pure maple syrup
Optional: 1/4-1/2 cup add-ins like chocolate chips, coconut, chopped dried fruit.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray or grease a 9 x 9 baking dish with coconut oil. In a large bowl combine oats, quinoa, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Add in bananas, flax, peanut butter, coconut oil and maple syrup. Stir until well-combined. Sprinkle with optional add-ins. Let batter sit for 10 mins to let flax absorb some liquid. Add batter to baking dish and spread out evenly. Bake for 25 mins or until edges are crisp and center is cooked through. Let sit for 20 mins before cutting into 9-12 squares and allow to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze for longer.
