Baking Soda Scrub

Baking Soda Scrub

Recently, I’ve been on a big natural, healthy living kick and one of the things I’ve discovered along the way, is the incredible – almost miraculous – abilities of Baking Soda. There are tons of uses for Baking soda around the home, but my favorite, by far, is a simple baking soda scrub.

There are two ingredients:

Baking Soda….  And Water.

I don’t really measure these out, usually I just fill a tiny Tupperware container about ½ full with baking soda and slowly add small amounts of water, stirring it in before adding more, until it is a thick, paste-like consistency.

I use this scrub for almost everything in my house. I clean my microwave with it, I scrub my stove-top, and wash pots with stuck-on-gunk. Once I scrubbed the scum off my shower doors – it worked for that, but it did smear the doors quite a bit and required extra cleaning, so I wouldn't recommend it on GLASS. At least not glass you want to see out of. ;)

It is completely natural with zero harmful side effects or fumes. 

You can also make the same recipe and use it as a exfoliating, moisturizing body scrub – it’s great!

I also use plain Baking Soda and sprinkle it on my carpets before vacuuming to deodorize and clean.

(Tip: You can buy a 13lb bag of baking soda at Costco!)

-Emilyanne

Homemade Vanilla Extract

Hi there! How is everyone doing? I was thinking recently and decided it would be fun to do a series of blog posts about Natural living, cooking, Do-it-yourself health and home products, and other fun things like that. So here we go!

Homemade Vanilla Extract

One of the projects on my upcoming Holiday “to do” lists is making my own, homemade Vanilla Extract.  It is one of the easiest DIY foodie projects out there, and a huge money saver compared to store-bought Pure Vanilla Extract. Not to mention, YOU get to control the quality of what you put in your extract.

What you need:

• 3 good quality Vanilla Beans (per 1 cup of extract you want to make)
• Minimum 80-proof Alcohol, of your choice (Vodka, Rum, Bourbon, etc)
• A Glass Bottle or Jar with an Air-tight lid, such as a Mason Jar.
• A sharp paring knife

Start off by Getting the Vanilla Beans.  I get mine from eBay (seriously), through the seller VanillaProducts. Their beans are great quality and, best of all, inexpensive, I purchased 2 pounds of Organic Madagascar Vanilla Beans last year to extract as Holiday gifts. The left-over beans are still doing great in a dark cabinet, a year later! You can also find vanilla beans in stores with bulk-food sections, or bulk spice stores.  There are many different kinds of Vanilla Beans (Madagascar, Tongan, Mexican, Tahiti, etc.) beans from each region have different flavors. The Madagascan beans have the most robust flavor and are the best for extracting, whereas the Tahitian beans have a lighter flavor and are better for using the actual beans, such as in desserts. Have fun experimenting with different kinds and combinations!

Next, Choose your Alcohol.  Vodka is a great go-to for this project and it's what I have always used. However, I have heard that Rum or Bourbon add incredible flavor to the extract! As long as the alcohol is 80-proof or over, you will have great success with your extract.

Prepare the Extract

First, sterilize your jar, by boiling it for about 10 minutes.

With your paring knife, slice the vanilla beans down the middle, lengthwise. Leave an inch or so uncut at one end of the bean.

Put the vanilla beans in the jar and cover completely with alcohol.

Put the lid on the jar. Shake it. 

Put it in a cool, dark cabinet.  

Now here is the hard part. The extract has to – well, extract, for 2 MONTHS before it’s ready to use!  You should shake it up every week or so and check on its progress.

When 2 months have passed, you can use your Vanilla Extract!  Some people choose to leave the beans in the jar, others prefer to strain them out at the end of the extraction period.  If you leave the beans in the bottle, it will continue to extract and intensify the vanilla flavor of the extraction – It is up to personal taste, experiment with it!

It is easy to make extracts as gifts, even on short notice. Just print up a little tag that says how to store the vanilla and when it will be ready and attach it to the bottle.

The extract will keep indefinitely in a cool, dry, dark cabinet.

Have fun! 

-Emilyanne Andrews

P.S. I’ll add pictures of my experience soon! 

From Chaos to Calm in 2012

Winter is a time of rest. I watch the natural world around me and see the trees are restoring themselves and preparing for the spring bloom. The flowers condense their resources in their bulbs deep in the earth, resting and incubating in this darker colder season. The animals are hibernating and some venture out just long enough to take in sustenance and then go back to their warm dens and settle in. The sun’s trajectory is low in the sky. The days can be frigid. The humans cover their skin with fleece and inhibit what precious Vitamin D making sunshine to which they may have been exposed. Fresh locally grown vegetables are not available and we crave warmer denser root vegetables and soups. Our Circadian Bio-Rhythms nudge us to store our energy too, much like the rest of nature. In leaner times past, humans didn’t have access to the bounty of Whole Foods Markets all winter long. We were in tune with the Earth’s rhythms and followed her lead. We would rest more and prepare food storage for the season much like squirrels and bears. Squirrels stash away their nuts and seeds. Bears put on extra layers of brown fat which can be metabolized all winter long while they sleep. Some birds fly south to warmer climes.

I find it fascinating how humans then try to swim upstream against the flow of the seasons. We don’t slow down and rest. In fact, the Christmas season fosters behavior that is anything but restful. And then we wonder why we get sick on December 26th? It is literally an epidemic this year, more than any other in recent memory. Large numbers of people developed Influenza, colds and general malaise literally as soon as mid-Christmas day. When the push, the mad dash was over, they slowed down, their adrenal glands got a stress break and then, IT hit. This is not an accident. It is a symptom of imbalance, not actually a disease itself. The Flu and colds are literally the culmination of chaos in our bodies. This is a sign of too much “stuff” and not enough restful balance. The best way to prevent colds and Flu, is to slow down and plan rest in to your schedule. Whatever we make the priority will get the most attention. If we want to be more energetic, less fatigued, get better sleep and have greater peace of mind, we will want to consider resting more, unplugging from chaos and give ourselves permission to say “NO” to whatever drains our life force. Set boundaries and journal. Connect with our Higher Power. Allow our spirit to be nurtured. I write this as I prepare to step into my first week of 2012 with a TO DO list that is quite long. And my body says, “Oh not just yet, perhaps some hot tea and warm fuzzy slippers are required for just a bit longer”. I’m guessing you know the feeling?

I am going to honor that natural rhythm and pace myself. After all, life is a journey, not a destination. I plan to enjoy each moment of 2012, savoring it. And I will prevent any of those precious moments from slipping unconsciously into chaos. It is my desire for my year, to nurture balance while continuing to grown and learn. And now it’s time to step outside with my hot beverage to fill my lungs with the fresh air and greet the day.

Dr. Kat Halloran, ND

p.s. Humorously, I am enjoying immediate manifestation of my intention to nurture balance. I started working on my 2012 TO DO list, and my slow internet connection was hindering progress so I took this sign from God as a message to go get a
mani / pedi. It has actually been on the top of my list for way too long, and subsequently, I am actually feeling rather accomplished today! I also wanted to remind you good people that the Flu Shot doesn’t prevent the Flu, in fact it can weaken your immune system. So consider saying “no” to them this year. If you already got one, no worries, you can use Homeopathic Thuja as a post-vaccine therapy to limit Flu Shot side effects and nurture your immune system back to balance. For more Flu and Cold Season remedies or a consult for general health, thyroid, adrenal, hormones and stress reduction therapies, visit our website at www.QuantumLightHealthcare.com.

1-1-11 Enlightening your New Year !

My Spirit is strong. I feel encouraged. I feel immense gratitude. It’s a brand new year powerfully launched by convergent universal energies of change. The day is 1-1-11 bathing the earth with the angelic numerology of enlightenment and new beginnings. This year brings the next chapter of transformation to the planet. What is Enlightenment? It is described as Illumination, Clarification, Explanation in the thesaurus. It is bringing light to a situation, an understanding, a way of being. Our evolution is of the spirit and our higher wisdom becomes the predominant operating system that we live by if we allow it. Our hearts can become lighter, our minds clearer, our meaning in life more understood. We can shine light in the dark places of our own soul and heal old pains. When we release the pain of the past, we are free to move lightheartedly into the future. What can we do right now, today, to allow more light into our hearts? A helpful exercise could be: write down your feelings, what hurts?, what feels heavy? Make a list, there’s no limit on its length. You could have 20 or 30 painful emotions listed there. Finally after all these years, you can release anger, sadness, fear, abandonment, abuse, feeling unloved, distrust, despondency, hopelessness, worry, lack, feeling like there’s not enough time, regret and more. Now close your eyes and imagine you are standing under a waterfall of multicolored light that pours over your head, neck, shoulders, heart, back, trunk, hips, legs and all the way down to your toes, washing away all those feelings that ache in your soul. It’s all washed clean, release it, let it go. Check in to see if there are any stuck places, any areas that you are having trouble cleaning, and if so, use a laser light pressure washer and blast those hard to clean areas and let that stuff wash away once and for all. Now imagine from the center of your chest you notice a warm glowing emerald green healing ball of light. It is bright and mesmerizing, it grows larger, expands to fill your whole chest with safety, contentment, peace, trust. Allow the light to grow to fill your whole body, and then it expands outward and surrounds you with a glowing sphere of emerald green light. It feels wonderful. You allow the light to continue expanding outward into your whole dwelling cleansing, healing, lightening. Then you allow bright white light to do the same, cleansing, warming, healing, releasing. You feel your vibration rise like the hum of a smoothly tuned instrument. You feel tingly and become aware of other new sensations that tell you something new is happening, something new and good. You are transforming your heart and soul, moving out of the dark shadows of pain into the bright light of healing. Imagine every cell of your body is filled with bright healing multicolored light, your body will be attracted to the colors that it needs most to bring about a state of healing and perfection. Allow your heart and mind to feel Hope … Trust … Safety. If you believe in a higher power … allow every cell of your being to be filled with that higher power, with God. Feel how good that feels to have released such pain and invited a soothed state of being. Healing is a choice. We choose to release and let go of the old and make the choice to fill ourselves with a different attitude, a different feeling. If we are filled with gratitude and trust, there is no room for the other darker emotions. Choose the Light and feel the difference. It is an ongoing process, minute by minute, day by day. Sometimes we stray and then gently catch ourselves and choose again.

Quantum Light Healthcare: ALL I NEED

Quantum Light Healthcare: ALL I NEED: "It’s interesting how I don’t feel any certain inspiration to write about anything in particular, while, at the same time, my world has an in..."

ALL I NEED

It’s interesting how I don’t feel any certain inspiration to write about anything in particular, while, at the same time, my world has an incredible amount of things, big things, going on. I feel present – aware – prepared – courageous – able to create, do, be, feel, love and learn. Perhaps it’s just the quiet time I feel I need to let my thoughts flow onto paper. It’s Friday morning, a beautiful, frosty, sunny winter day. Christmas is a week away. I can feel the inward focus of the season. These moments are for looking within, resting, incubating new ideas, breathing a sigh of relief. I have much to be grateful for. And if I wasn’t connected to God (Papa ) and Spirit, I might convince myself that I have a lot of things to worry about. But worry is futile and it only casts shadows on all the beauty and opportunity. I am honored and humbled to be trusted with the care of those who come to me for help. Truthfully, they are sent to me by Papa. It is wild out there anymore. And people are struggling to find their way – find the light. We just finished last Sunday with our first graduating class of AHAP Angelic Healing Arts Practitioners. And it is incredible to see how much the class as a whole and the individuals transformed over three months time. Our Angelic team that guided us all through the process was expressing the need to be in the flow, to allow fluidity … which gave the energy of adaptability to the learning process. We all experience the pain of change, especially when it involves deep programming that must change before we can be presented with the next opportunity for wisdom and healing. It requires Grace. But for most people, what really happens is a bit of kicking and screaming and temper tantruming before we allow what really needs to happen, to happen. So one can only imagine that things feel unsettled, because quite frankly – the Universe is in chaos. But it’s been so chaotic for 2 ½ years now in my life – that I have adapted to it as a way of life – it’s less shocking when a new scenario launches onto the scene. I have learned well to help those in my tutelage manage their major life events and find the Spirit and find God in the process. And moreover, find their own Inner Truth, Intuition and Divine Guidance. Because at the end of the day, we need to Trust ourselves and realize God is ever by our side. If we ever feel alone, it’s because we forgot to look around and pay attention. Once I worked through my weary warrior stage, I became accustomed to the increasing demands on my strength and ability to help those who need assistance finding their Inner God Light again. I adapted. I don’t keep wishing it different or desperately seeking a way to quickly fix it. There are solutions. They are all based in the TRUST of Papa, the WILLINGNESS to continue on doing the work and a KNOWINGNESS that ALL REALLY IS WELL. So I live in the moment – in the Present – enjoying my blessings. Trusting, Loving and being in Peace. I have all I need. And ALL I NEED will always be provided to me. It always has been. Thanks Papa. I LOVE YOU.

Dealing with the Holidays

With Thanksgiving right around the corner here in the United States, I thought that some tips on dealing with Holiday Stress would be a highly appropriate topic today!

When I think of the Holidays, I see beautiful, idyllic images, really, of snow dusted pine trees and icicles spiraling off rooftops and families sitting around tables full of food and love. That is, until about the first week of November… when those pictures start to morph in to something entirely different. You know what I’m talking about, don’t you? When you have to wonder what the annual family drama will be (and what effect any potential drug interactions between excessive tryptophan and wine consumption will have on said drama) , what the FDA’s recommended dosage of Mom’s brownies are, when you will have time for the shopping, cooking, cleaning, etc. etc. etc. “The Most wonderful time of the year” is also the most stressful, demanding and utterly harrowing of all seasons for many people.

So, how do we keep those idyllic pictures in our heads and truly enjoy the Holiday season to its fullest? Read the tips below and see if some of them may help you and your family this year.

1. Employ your Creativity – Our culture has tied commerce with the holidays, in a big way. This year, when money is tight for many people, creativity is your best friend. Search your creativity (or the internet) for home-made gift ideas, and make creating the gifts you’ll be giving a new family tradition. The recipients of the gifts will appreciate the extra thought and time (and love!) you put in to making their gift.

2. Remind yourself (many times a day, if necessary) that it is OK to say “NO” – Do not feel pressured by the wishes (or even demands!) of others. Over-committing yourself can increase stress and feeling burdened and resentful. Make sure that when you say YES to hosting the out-of-town relatives or babysitting the neighbor’s kids, that it is something you can reasonably fit in to your life and schedule and that you are truly willing and happy to do it.

3. Random Acts of Kindness – It doesn’t have to be a lot, but giving to others makes us feel better, and can jump-start a down-trodden Holiday Spirit. Weather it is buying the drink of the person behind you at Starbucks, or volunteering at a charity you like, or even dropping a few pennies in the Salvation Army can; you will help the world and your heart.

4. Take a few deep breaths – Remember when mom said “Count to Ten” when you were angry? Well, the grown up version of that is to close your eyes (Except while driving, please and thank you!) and take ten deep breaths. Deep breathing is very therapeutic for stress, frustration, anger and even anxiety. If some – ahem – mashed potatoes hit the fan at the family holiday party, excuse yourself to the bathroom and take a couple minutes to pep-talk yourself, breathe deep and emerge the picture of calm, cool and collected.

5. Remember why you are celebrating – Whatever the reason is for you, keep it in mind, even make a list. Mine looks something like this: Family, Magic, Hope, Joy, Reconnect with Awe! I have found this to be very helpful in maintaining perspective during hectic moments.

Take Care Of YOU

1. Get Enough Sleep - Busy schedules and stress lead to lack of sleep. Make a point of going to bed earlier if you have to, and try to relax for at least an hour of quiet time before bed. This will help improve the quality and restfulness of your sleep. Your body, and your mental health and clarity will thank you the next day, and even for several days to come!

2. Take Comfort in Ritual – When you are doing mundane things like getting out of bed, taking a shower, making coffee or even stuck in traffic; think of things you are grateful for, this can help you improve your outlook for the whole day. By the way – Smiles are contagious!

3. Health & Exercise – Yeah, we hear it time and time again, exercise, exercise, exercise. But really, Exercise is a great way to improve mood and alleviate stress. Exercise releases endorphins, which is short for “endogenous morphine” which is a morphine-like chemical produced by your body that can greatly improve mood, and even relieve pain.

One of the things we don’t always think about as a potential underlying cause of holiday stress and anxiety is Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), which seriously affects the mood and energy level of many people. SAD surfaces as a reaction to changes in the season, usually during Fall and Winter when there are fewer long, sunny days and more cold, damp and dark hours. If you find that you continue to feel more depressed or anxious throughout winter months, it is a good idea to see a Naturopathic Physician to get assessed for Seasonal Affective Disorder – there are easy things that can really help!

4. Don’t take things too seriously! Stress makes us less in touch with our humor. Keep this in mind, sometimes things that make us upset are not as big of a deal as we think they are in the moment.

5. Do something Fun – Take time off, to do something fun. Laugh, Play, be merry. Relax. Enjoy your family.

My best advice to you is to enjoy a nice fire with some hot cocoa, watch a good movie or better yet, read a good book, and try to keep the cranberry sauce off the carpet!

How do you cope with holiday stress? I want to hear from you!

Happy Holidays everyone!

Rev. Emilyanne Lewis, ATP