Local Stuff: The Bread Peddler

Earlier in June, I participated in a world wide event called Zero Plastic Week. This event was designed to create awareness around how much single use plastic we have coming at us every day (which doesn't really go away).

This event encouraged me to take my already fairly low plastic lifestyle to a whole new level, and I began looking for creative solutions to avoid single use plastic entirely.

A new world wide event, Plastic Free July begins tomorrow.  And I will be blogging about my participation in this challenge.  My challenges, my solutions, (and my failures--which I hope will be few).

Today I want to honor a local business that is also contributing to the solution.  In a town of many, many locally owned bakeries, this one stands out for me.  The Bread Peddler.  Organic bread, incredible food, inviting atmosphere.

I went there for the first time Saturday, clutching my green & white striped flour sack and hoping that they would put the bread right into it, instead of in another bag, whether plastic or paper.

They were super busy and crowded, but the line moved quickly, and the girl who helped me was friendly as she helped me choose two loaves of bread.  She reached for the bag I brought even before I had a chance to ask her if it would be alright.  I was so excited, and fell instantly in love with the place.

Today, I went back with my husband to try some of their food.  We thought we would beat the lunch crowd, but apparently, the place is always busy.  And as before, the line moved fast and efficiently.  We ordered amazing sandwiches, and more bread to take home, and then a slice of peach/pecan tart for desert and some chocolate corks (dark rich small chocolate cakes) with coffee.

We ate our food there, but Mike noticed that when people ordered their sandwiches to go, they would wrap them in paper and tie them with string.

I Love this place!

Thank you Bread Peddler for giving us plastic free options.  And for offering such healthy, delicious food choices.

Why Organic Foods?

Way back in 1994 (back in the days when I still watched TV) I saw a news magazine program, where 5 or 6 families with small children were documented grocery shopping. The camera crew filmed the parents lovingly filling up their shopping carts with fresh produce to feed to their families.  Then those foods were taken to a lab to be tested, and the cameras continued to film as the mothers and fathers received the news that the fresh foods which they thought were so healthy were covered in pesticides.  I remember one of the moms cried.  She was trying so hard to give her small child a healthy start in life.  Imagine her disappointment and frustration.

That program changed my life.  I began scrubbing everything with soap.  But it wasn't enough.  So then I began looking for organic produce, but it hadn't really caught on yet.  So I stopped eating produce.  As if that would actually protect me in a world gone mad for chemicals.

When I moved to Olympia, I became determined to grow my own food.  I started a back yard garden, and I was so happy, until I noticed my neighbor who had his garden on the other side of the fence was using chemicals and since he used a hose with a spray nozzle to water...well, you can imagine.  He was washing all his chemicals into my garden. I was too timid (back then; certainly not now) to ask him to find another way to water, or to stop using chemicals.

So I gave up that idea.  And I went back to trying to find organic produce.

We have a beautiful local food co-op in Olympia, and it's been around for a while, but in those days-every time I would check it out, the produce was in really bad shape, and I couldn't believe they would actually sell it.  Because even I could tell that there was no nutrients in food that looked that bad.  Eventually, the organic food industry caught on, and I began to see more of it.  And that happened just in time.  Because something else was happening.

I learned about Monsanto in 1999, I think it was.  A friend of mine educated me about GMOs.  She told me about soybeans being developed, and corn, and potatoes.  She told me about the science.  About how there was no way to know how it would affect our bodies.  And then she told me that the real danger was in developing food that could be patented.  That meant Monsanto and other biotech corporations could control the food supply.  I began to realize that there was more at stake than trying to reduce my pesticide consumption.

Olympia Food Co-op

I joined the food co-op shortly after that, determined only to buy organic from then on.  And I also began to shop at the last remaining locally owned grocery stores and to buy at the farmer's market.  I was determined to do this, because I could see that the large grocery chains were systematically driving the local business out, and that it was another way of controlling the food supply.  Which ultimately leads to fewer and fewer choices.

The more I educated myself, the more resolved I was to fight corporate food and biotech using my buying choices as a weapon.  

For many people who are still buying what is (inaccurately) referred to as conventional (because what's conventional about pesticides?)  the biggest resistance to buying organic seems to be the price.  

If you believe that the higher price tag on organic foods is because it's some kind of trendy boutique food eaten by suckers who are buying into a fad, please get to know your local organic food grower and you will find that nothing could be further from the truth.

Farming is hard work. And for small farms, it is expensive. Research the history of government subsidies in farming. Subsidies create a false price on food. That is why "conventional" foods bought at corporate grocery stores are sold cheaply.  In reality it costs more to produce food sustainably, because the government is not subsidizing those farmers.  We as consumers must support organic farming, if we wish to see it survive.

Also, ask your local farmer about government regulations and certification fees.  Then you will begin to see that this isn't a luxury item, but the authentic cost of growing food.

And let's remember that our farmers are part of our local community and they have bills to pay, and must support their families, just as the rest of us do.

There are more really good reasons to invest your food dollars in buying organic.  Think about your health.

Even if you eat almost 100% organic foods, you are still affected by the way foods are grown.  Pesticides are air born, and they get into the water.  Non sustainable growing methods create a stress on the land. Research why biodiversity is desirable for the environment.  Sustainable growing methods encourage biodiversity, creating healthy ecosystems, which we all benefit from...

These are just a few reasons why organic foods are the smart choice.

Olympia Farmer's Market
Olympia, WA.  USA

Food issues are a passion of mine and have been for a long time.

I am excited that more people are getting wise about their food.

Key words:

Local

Sustainable

Organic

Humane

Fair Trade

Support your local farm family.

Active Memories. What Are Your Triggers?

Memories come in all shapes and sizes right? Some are passive memories.  They are simply memories of experiences. Nothing more.

But some memories are active.  By active, I mean they have a button or trigger attached to them.  All it takes for you is to be reminded in some way and you are instantly reliving the memory as if it were happening in real time.  This can happen either consciously, so you're aware of it, or on a subconscious level, where you feel triggered by something or someone but you don't know why.

Either way your body is experiencing the same release of chemicals, the same stress, and the same reactions as it did with the initial experience.

Your body can hold trauma, emotions, experiences, and beliefs in your tissues.  If you are unable (for whatever reason) to process that experience , learn from it and let it go, then the energy of that emotion or perception can be stored in your body.  Maybe in an organ, or a muscle, or in the connective tissue, where it acts as a program that keeps running.  A program that influences your perception of life.

Here's an example of what I mean.  A woman was injured in a car accident which was not her fault.  Even after she recovered from her injuries, whenever she would speak of the incident, she would get tense and angry and relive the pain and stress of that situation all over again.  This went on until she had some BodyTalk done.  The trigger was deactivated and the memory became just another unpleasant experience that she rarely thought about.  She also stopped blaming the person who caused the accident and she was able to move on.

Sometimes we're not aware of memories that affect us like in the following example.  

In one session, I worked with a woman whose parents escaped a flood in a rowboat.  During which time the mother was pregnant with my client, who was born a very short time later.  Though she had no conscious memory of the event herself, she knew the story.  More importantly, when the charge was taken out of that subconscious memory, she found that she could now dive under the water when swimming.  Until her session, she hadn't liked having her face below the surface.  

That is how a memory we're not even aware of can affect perception and alter behavior.

We all have enough to deal with in life, without having to cope with old baggage.  Perhaps it's time to clear out and release some of the old stuff which keeps you stuck.  I can help you identify and release those old stories and defuse the trigger from those old experiences.

Tip For The Day-Produce Bags

To eliminate disposable plastic from my life, I am busy sewing cloth bags about the size of plastic bags you get at the grocery for produce.  I will be using them to buy items like flour, rice and other grains, coffee, nuts, etc. from the bulk bins at the Olympia Food Co-op.

My version:

Take remnants of fabric you have sitting around unused (cotton or linen is best), or cut up old sheets, or find fabric second hand, etc. (I decided against buying new fabric, unless I could find it at an affordable price, sustainably/ethically produced, fair trade, organic...)

Cut to size needed and sew into a bag.

Coat the inside with bees wax or leave as is.  Google how to do it.

That's my tip for the day.

Want to participate in Plastic Free July?  Lots of great ideas on their website or visit this event on facebook.

Assorted fabric remnants including vintage flour sacks from my Grandmother.

The Ocean Cleanup

You may have thought that I was finished with the environmental posts now that Zero Plastic Week is over...Yeah, I thought so too.  But being a "healer" and an "activist" go hand in hand, and it's who I have been for a long time.  Our planet, this One we call Earth, is a magnificent self regulating Being in her own right, as science is beginning to finally notice.  She will heal with or without us, but we might not be around to see it.  Reverence for our planet and other life forms is a reflection of the reverence we each feel for ourselves individually.  That's where the healing comes into it.  The more you begin to heal, and come into a balanced expression of life, the faster the Earth will come back into balance.  The more toxic stuff you clear from your own psyche/energy field/physical body, the easier it will be for planet Earth to deal with the toxins we have created for her.

Today's post features a young man's solutions to clean the world's oceans of plastic, enlisting the ocean currents.

It's call The Ocean Cleanup and it is the stellar idea of young Boyan Slat. Please visit his website to find out more.  http://www.theoceancleanup.com/

The feasibility study was done, and yielded good results. Now begins phase two: the pilot phase to reduce uncertainties and optimize design for actual implementation.  He is currently in the process of raising 2 million to fund this project, through crowd funding.  He has 88 days to go.  The organization is hosting it's own crowdfunding campaign, so 100% of your donation goes to the project.

We aim to raise two million USD in 100 days.  It will enable us to execute more pilot tests, study the durability of the system, developing and deploying permanent sampling equipment in the gyre, optimize out vertical distribution research and to further develop and build our team.

To hear the inspiration behind this idea, please watch Boyan Slat's TED Talk.




I won't post any gory pictures about what happens to marine life when they mistake plastic for food, and fill their bellies with it, because it isn't pretty.

But I will say that plastic isn't just an external environmental problem.  You are getting your share internally.  What happens to the chemical components of plastic when it begins to break down?  Think soda or water bottles, food containers, and the water supply.

"These chemicals act in a more convoluted and complicated way.  They interfere with our hormones, and they interfere with the endocrine system, which is the network of glands that orchestrate growth and development.  And there's some research showing that DEHP, this chemical that's in vinyl (used in IV bags), has this property.  It interferes with testosterone."  From the book Plastic: A Toxic Love Story by Susan Freinkel.

So that's the post for today...I think Boyan Slat has come up with a brilliant solution.  I think for the good of the planet, it deserves to be put into application.

Zero Plastic Week Last Day

I'm glad I participated in this week.  I'm also glad it's over.

I learned a lot about myself.  I learned that it takes a rare skill to live plastic free.  It takes commitment, discipline and organization.  Sometimes you even need a back up plan.

I'll be honest, I'm not sure I'm up to being 100% plastic free all the time.

But having said that, I will also say that I will keep trying to move toward that ideal lifestyle where I lessen my impact on the planet.  It is what I have always sought.  I have been aware of many environmental issues since I was about 9 or 10 years old.  That means I've been hearing about climate change and pollution for about 40 years.  I've been aware of the plastics problem for 25 years.  I've been eating organic foods for 15 years, and I'm moving to eating more and more locally grown/raised foods.

I have mentioned that I live in a community that makes it easier, and it's true.  Single use carry out bag ban goes into effect July 1st county wide.  That means plastic bags are prohibited.  Paper bags are not banned but must be made from at least 40% recycled material, and there will be a charge to consumers for these paper bags.  The goal is to get people to carry reusable shopping bags.

I think it will be interesting to see how the major grocery chains will implement this.  The grocery checkers never ask if you want paper or plastic, even though they have both available, and they begin automatically putting your groceries into a plastic bag even before you can tell them you've brought your own.  It's getting really close to the date when this bag ban goes into effect and I've seen no behavior modification at all.  

I may not find out how they do with it, because before this week, I was buying only 6 items from corporate grocery chains.  At the rate I'm eliminating plastic from my life, that alleviates the need to shop corporate at all.

I'm grateful to this community for the abundant options we have to shop locally.  I am able to buy directly from farms, or from farmer's markets and the local food co-op.  There are also some small local markets which specialize in locally produced foods.

Back to the topic of being plastic free...There is another event called Plastic Free July, if you're interested in participating.  And there is also Plastic Free Tuesday, every week.

Zero Plastic Week Day 6

Zero Plastic Week is a World Wide event to raise awareness through conscious effort to avoid adding any new plastic to our lives.  To avoid buying anything new made from or packaged in plastic.  This week is about finding creative solutions to avoid the use of plastic and to get people to think outside of their usual box.

Okay, so you've stopped buying plastic and you're doing your best to avoid consuming plastic and one day you bring in the mail and you have a credit card offer from American Express, and inside is a faux credit card (I guess in case you don't know what one looks like), and sure enough it's made of plastic.  And maybe you didn't respond, so you will continue to get these things until you find a way to stop it.

Or someone gives you a gift card made of plastic.  Or the grocery store wants you to have a membership card made of plastic.  Or your insurance card, driver's license, credit cards, etc., etc., etc.

Or have you seen this one?  Car dealer promo with disposable plastic key in large hard plastic package.  This is the kind of thing which really drives me nuts.

I did find solutions for some of these challenges.  For gift cards there is Earthworks who will recycle them, but not credit cards for obvious reasons.

Want to get American Express to stop pestering you with plastic?  Call the number to stop receiving offers, which by law should be listed on the offer.  It took me 3 phone calls, but they finally stopped coming.

Refuse membership cards when offered at the grocery...An awesome anti-plastic advocate like yourself is already shopping local at your co-op or farmer's market, right?

These are just a few simple things I've tried over the years to eliminate plastic coming to me from unexpected sources.

CDs and DVDs ?  I buy downloads.

There's a lot of plastic in our world.  I'm really proud of all the people world wide who are making the extra effort to live as plastic free as possible.  Great job everyone.  I know someday, this will make a difference.

Zero Plastic Week Day 5

Zero Plastic Week is a World Wide event to raise awareness through conscious effort to avoid adding any new plastic to our lives, and to avoid buying anything new made from or packaged in plastic.  This week is about finding creative solutions to avoid the use of plastic and to get people to think outside of their usual box.

Well it happened.  Today I had to make a decision to buy something I really needed which came in plastic.  And sometimes that happens, because we live in a world that embraces the use of disposable plastic.

I don't want to lose sight of what this week is about.  It's purpose is to wake us from complacency.  To shake us out of our acceptance of the world that is, so we may be inspired to create the world we want.  It's about moving forward and evolving better ideas and habits.

For some people involved in this week long world community event, especially if you're new to it, this week must feel like a week of deprivation and a bit like swimming against the tide.  Or it may feel like an exciting challenge which opens your eyes and makes you even more passionate.

For me, this week has challenged me to make a deeper commitment to a game I've already been playing.  I've taken stock and identified areas I could improve in.  I've overcome my fear of asking someone to accommodate me and I've engaged my creative ability to meet my needs.  

And I have become aware of the global community that I didn't even know I was a part of.  And that's pretty huge.

So today when I arrived at the farm to pick up my unpackaged chicken, and found that there was only one out of the three I was hoping for, I had to make a decision.  If the chicken was just for me, that would've been a no brainer.  I would have just been happy with one.

But along with all my other crazy notions about living a conscious life, I've taken on the added commitment to feed my cats raw organic cat food that I've been making myself every week for the past 3 years.  Which means once a week I buy 3 chickens--one for us humans, and two for the three cats who have chosen to live with us.

The farmer was unavailable so I just had to make a choice.  

So my choice this week is to buy one chicken packaged in plastic at the local food co-op making a total of two for the cats and us humans will have to forage something else.  And rather than obsessing on "blowing it" during Zero Plastic Week, I'm focusing on all the positive changes I've made, and on only buying one thing this week packaged in plastic, which I consider an amazing accomplishment in a world where plastic seems to be everywhere.

I've heard of another upcoming event called Plastic Free July.  I'm thinking that would require a level of self sufficiency, discipline, and organization that I wonder if I'm capable of.  I might have to find out.

If you're interested in joining World Wide Zero Plastic Week you can find that here.

And if you really want to see what you're made of, you can try for something more challenging than a triathlon...Plastic Free July (not for the faint of heart).

And here's another great site for bringing awareness on a weekly basis.  Plastic Free Tuesday 

Permission To Heal

Something which makes BodyTalk a unique system of energy medicine, is that it allows me to conduct the session guided by your body's innate wisdom.

To begin, I establish communication with your body's inner wisdom.  Then I go into the deeper layers of the subconscious to ask permission to conduct the session.

That's a little bit different than getting permission at the level of your thinking mind.

BodyTalk is a system of healing which you could say, gives voice to the body.  Re-establishing communication with your inner wisdom is the goal during a BodyTalk session, whether it's your inner knowing giving you guidance, or whether it is the miraculous wisdom that regulates your body's physiology.

And asking permission is part of that process.  Allowing the body to guide what issues we address, and in what order we do that.

If you'd like to find out what your body has to say about your health, give me a call or send me a message using the contact form in the sidebar.          

Zero Plastic Week Day 4

Zero Plastic Week is a World Wide event to raise awareness through conscious effort to avoid adding any new plastic to our lives, and to avoid buying anything new made from or packaged in plastic.  This week is about finding creative solutions to avoid the use of plastic and to get people to think outside of their usual box.

For today's challenge, I take on the bathroom.

With a guest coming, I needed a new shower curtain today.   Rather than buy a vinyl one, or a cloth one packaged in plastic, I took a pretty cotton sheet I already had in the house and hung that instead.

Today I want to talk about personal hygiene products.  

I can only speak from my own experience, which is kind of minimal when it comes to modern products.  I'm more a fan of DIY.  Fifteen years ago, I began phasing out hair care products, soaps, lotions, and make up for a number of reasons.

It began with the animal testing issue, and continued with the discovery that what goes on your skin, finds its way into your organs.  I didn't want it going into the ground or water either.  And I didn't like all the plastic packaging.  (Now we even have products with plastic microbeads...whoever came up with that bright idea?)

So after trying unsuccessfully for a while to find products that lived up to my standards, I ended up dropping whatever I didn't want to make myself.

My shampoo recipe: Raw local honey and water.  I use it once a week. The rest of the week I just scrub my scalp with water in the shower.  My hair stays even more clean and healthy now that I've abandoned store bought shampoo.  

But there is a lot of DIY shampoo substitutes on line.  Make sure to explore any possible side effects before you settle on one.  For instance, Baking Soda seems harmless, but I ran into some info about it damaging hair, so just do some research.

Same thing with soap.  See what DIY soap recipes you can find on line.  I've used all sorts of things...food based products like yoghurt, chick pea flour, egg white.  Just think it through first. You don't want to stop up the drain. Explore and have fun.

Your skin has its own flora just as your intestines do.  And your skin is the largest organ in the body.  It is also a huge part of your immune system.

Anthony Komaroff, MD  calls skin a formidable barrier to infection.  And goes on to say "Not only does the skin function as an impressive physical obstacle, but like the walls of a castle, it's also an unfriendly environment for many microbes..." He also refers to the flora which calls your skin "Home" as good soldiers which effectively hang out a "No Trespassing" sign to invaders.  You can find that short article here.

Clever substitutes for Toilet paper  and Feminine Hygene during menses.  These are for the truly hard core, dedicated Earth activist.  And ranks right up there with using cloth diapers.

There are tons of DIY make up and skin care recipes on line too.

Natural deodorant?  I use coconut oil with some essential oil in it when I need to.  But again there are lots of ideas on line.

Toothpaste?  I use baking soda, with a little peppermint oil on my brush.

Toothbrush?  I use a brand called eco-dent.  The head is replaceable, so less plastic wasted.  I have recently seen wood toothbrushes with natural bristles too.  And if you really want to go natural, you can use a birch twig if you have access to any birch trees that you know won't be sprayed with anything.  It does work, and was used in times long past--or so folk lore tells us.

Any product you buy prepackaged, is a product you can reasonably substitute by making yourself.  It just requires a little effort and creativity.

Yes, it takes a little extra effort, and even a paradigm shift to break the spell of marketing allure.  And it's not for everybody.  I know women who would no more give up beauty products than they would give up eating.  Because it makes them feel good.

And I would not dream of trying to make them feel guilty over it.  It is my choice to live as I do.  But I cannot expect others who aren't ready, to make this their cause even if I think we all have a very good reason to get serious about the issue of disposable plastic.  

As more of us get involved in taking this situation seriously, we will gently and lovingly educate other people about why we think this is important.  And we will do that by our actions.  Eventually we will reach critical mass, and the consciousness around this issue will shift.  Then solutions will be found.

Don't give up because it seems inconvenient.  Don't give up because it seems hard.  Don't give up because it seems like you're the only one doing anything about it.  Your contributions to shifting the world consciousness are huge when added to what others are doing too.

And really what choice do you have.  You do it because your Spirit tells you to.  There is no joy in going against that higher Self.

Zero Plastic Week Day 3

Zero Plastic Week is a World Wide event to raise awareness through conscious effort to avoid adding any new plastic to our lives, and to avoid buying anything new made from or packaged in plastic.  This week is about finding creative solutions to avoid the use of plastic and to get people to think outside of their usual box.

The lesson for me today, is toilet paper.

For years I have used brands based on their post consumer recycled paper content.  But all of these brands come packaged in plastic.  Since I'm focusing on deleting disposable plastic from my consumer programming, my challenge for today is to come up with a solution that no longer includes plastic packaging.

And I think I've done it.  Not only does it eliminate the plastic packaging, but it mostly eliminates the toilet paper.

I came across a blog post about using what the blogger calls "family cloth", using squares of soft organic cotton flannel, which can be washed.  In her article she tells how to make them.

This isn't really a stretch for any family who uses cloth diapers, or for any women who uses GladRags during menses.

If I go to this method for my own family, then I can afford to buy a single roll of the "conscious consumer" version of toilet paper, (which comes wrapped in paper) to use for guests.

Ta-da!  Plastic packaging eliminated with the added bonus of toilet paper mostly eliminated.

That will also save me some serious bucks.

If you want to participate in World Wide Zero Plastic Week you can find the event on Facebook, or their website.  On Twitter check out #zpw2014 

Stress Reduction

Here is a little exercise I use for stress reduction.  If it seems familiar to you, it's from a post I wrote earlier entitled Neutralizing Stress.

Take a deep breath and bring your awareness into you body.  And just notice for a moment being present with your body.  What are you feeling within? What are you noticing? Notice the contact with the surface you're sitting or standing on.  Notice your clothes against  your skin.  Notice the air temperature, etc. But also notice your inner sensations, like any aches or subtle sensations, and how you're feeling emotionally.

You can take as long as you like with this.  And when you're ready, shift your focus to your heart field, which is the electromagnetic field generated by your heart. 

Just spend a little time focusing your awareness on your heart field.  Don't think about it, but feel it, if you can.  Just noticing it, is enough. 

I picture it as warm soft golden light radiating out from my heart.  I allow my focus to be as soft and diffused as the golden light I am seeing.  Just a soft awareness mingling with my heart field.  Just allowing myself to be present with that energy.

I invite you to practice doing this at least twice a day.  It only takes a few minutes.  You can do it as often as you think of it.

The reason this is important is because when you have trained your awareness to go automatically and easily into your heart field, you have amazing medicine at your disposal, you have an amazing tool for changing your experience and you have powerful protection from negative influence which you may feel are threatening your well being.

Zero Plastic Week Day 2

Zero Plastic Week is a World Wide event to raise awareness through conscious effort to avoid adding any new plastic to our lives, and to avoid buying anything new made from or packaged in plastic.

This week is about finding creative solutions to avoid the use of plastic.  And to get people to think outside of their usual comfortable, complacent box.

Since I don't buy a lot of processed foods, I have already cut way back on my use of plastic.  And I don't buy make up or hygiene products that come in plastic.  So here's where I have to get more invested in finding creative solutions to cut out the last of the disposable plastic coming into my home.

Looking at the condiments in my refrigerator, they all come in glass.  Only my mustard has a plastic lid on the little glass jar.

The small plastic tub which used to hold yogurt, is being reused for something else, and since I found yogurt in a quart jar from a local supplier, I no longer need to buy yogurt in plastic.

In fact looking around my kitchen I was pretty happy that, I had mostly left plastic behind in my grocery shopping.  And that's because I live in a community which has an organic food co-op and more than one farmer's market, and local family run farms which sell organic food raised with love.  And so the credit goes mostly to my community for making those choices possible.

AND THEN...

 I opened the meat drawer.

So now I have a challenge ahead of me.

That drawer usually has two or three chickens and a bag of organ meats for the cats too (and that's every week)--all packaged in plastic.

So there it is.  That is the skeleton in my cupboard so to speak.



But I continued my kitchen tour, to determine where else I could clean up my act.

Chick pea flour! hmmmm.

And  Real Salt comes in a plastic bag.  hmmmm.

So does the fair trade raw organic cocoa in the back of the cupboard. (sigh)

And then I came upon all these little soldiers with their little plastic caps.   Yikes!

And look what was sitting there next to them!

And even the Bananas have little plastic bikinis covering their stems!

So here's where I'm at.  These are my challenges, which I am already coming up with fairly easy solutions (I hope)

Basic Items Which Come Packaged in Plastic

Toilet paper: I'll have to give that some thought.

Cheese: I'll have to think about that too. Maybe get it by the wheel? That's a lot of cheese!!

Bacon: Find local market or farm which sells bacon, NOT shrink wrapped.

Meat: Same as above

Chicken: Solved !! *

Bread: Bake my own

The Salt I use: Find a different brand, with same high quality.

Vinegars, oils, sauces: Too bad about those plastic caps! I can make some of the sauces and vinegar, and I can use butter and chicken fat in place of some oils, but what about good quality olive oil?  And soy sauce? I'll have to think about that too.

Bananas: I guess it's good bye to bananas.

Almost everything else is available plastic free, from produce, to dairy.  Spices and baking essentials like flour, sugar, soda, and others like honey, maple syrup, rice lentils, dried fruit and pasta can be found in the bulk bins.

Yes, it's a little more effort, but I had already made the commitment to shopping mostly local and buying whole organic foods, so there's no change there.

Anyway, I'm just sharing some of my process around this.  If you have ideas, I'd love to hear what you think.

* Chicken Solved!! I get my chicken at a local farm, and they agreed that I could bring my own containers so that means a lot fewer plastic bags already!

Tomorrow is day 3.

What's good for our planet is good for us all.

Zero Plastic Week

It has come to my attention that World Wide Zero Plastic Week began today.

It is an attempt to create awareness of the problems created by so much disposable plastic.  The packaging that we throw away is unbelievable.  And much of it winds up in the ocean.

So day one of World Wide Zero Plastic Week was World Oceans Day.

Why post this here?  Because I believe that healing may come to us, as we heal our planet.

So I have pledged not to buy anything made of or packaged in plastic this week.  I am hoping it will be habit forming for the long term.  Because as much plastic as I have eliminated from my life, I have not cut it out completely.  To do so, would take a whole new level of dedication.  And perhaps for me, it's time.

If you feel a resonance with this exercise, I hope you'll check out Zero Plastic Week on Facebook.

Have a good week

I can't recommend BodyTalk enough for an animal in distress! When a bird slammed hard into my window today and lay in that curled up, wings askew position looking for all the world to be dead, I implemented an energy medicine technique called Animal Access, taught by the BodyTalk System.

It was like watching a flower bloom seeing the young robin come back to life, as I went through each step. Right on cue, as I tapped out the last reciprocal, and felt my spine adjust with a little pop, my bird friend flew away.

It took 10 minutes.  The fastest I've ever seen a bird recover from hitting hard like that.

I'm so grateful to have these tools.

♥

Is Anger A Bad Thing?

Exploring The Role Of Anger

I have learnt through bitter experience the one supreme lesson to conserve my anger, and as heat conserved is transmuted into energy, even so our anger controlled can be transmuted into a power which can move the world.  --Mahatma Gandhi

Last week I wrote a little about the energy of the Wood element as defined by the concept of Chinese medicine.  I spoke of how the qualities of Wood energy manifest within the human body in the form of the Liver, Gallbladder and Eyes.

Assuming that everything in the material world around us is influenced by consciousness, and in turn expresses consciousness, I would like to talk about the role of anger today, which is associated with Liver/Gallbladder consciousness.

In the Chinese concept of medicine, Liver consciousness is all about planning and organization. It processes and stores experiences in our connective tissue so we can remember our lessons.  It generates anger to alert us to an invasion of our boundaries.

The Gallbladder consciousness is all about decisions and motivation.  It is the catalyst which gets us moving from the planning stage to activity.  It releases anger along with the bile to give us the courage and confidence to act on those plans.  And it regulates the strength and flexibility of our tendons, which reflects the way we perceive life.

Viewed within this system, the energy of anger is a natural, healthy emotion that keeps us moving on our path.

Only when it is denied expression does anger turn pathological, giving rise to resentment.

Think about a time in your life when you have pushed your anger down.  Explore how that felt.  Is there any resentment there?  Where do you think that resentment has gone?  Is it taking up space in your tissues somewhere in your body?

Now picture a stream.  The water is flowing pretty well and at an even pace.

Now picture that a beaver has moved in and built a dam.  And now the stream has changed it's course a little in order to keep flowing.  You can think of the beaver dam as your resentment.  It is an obstruction which is causing a blockage in the flow of your energy.  Your body may compensate for this, by redirecting the flow of energy.  But how many obstacles are there, causing slow downs and redirecting your energy flow?  Is your body experiencing a traffic jam?

The Blood follows the Qi

The Qi follows the Thought

The Thought follows the Spirit

The Spirit follows the Tao

Qi (pronounce chee) is the energy we've been talking about.  And Spirit is consciousness.  The Tao (pronounce Dow to rhyme with "now") is defined as the unconditional and unknowable source and guiding principle of all reality; the process of  nature.  It is the absolute principle underlying the universe and is in harmony with natural law, called God or Source Energy by some.

If the blood follows the Qi that would mean that the unobstructed energy flow is very important to the function of your body.  So it would seem like a really good idea to identify and clear out those obstructions to get your energy flowing as it was meant to.  You can think of a BodyTalk session like a Spring cleaning, where we sort through and identify what emotions, and perceptions are just taking up space.  I can help you shift that stuff.

We take on so much in our experience of living.

If you'd like a Spring cleaning to clear out those obstructions and get your energy flowing the way it was meant to, send me a message using the contact form in the side bar at the top of this page.

Wood Element