Better Heallth

So many people will ask me, “I don’t feel good.  You know stuff about staying healthy….what would you suggest?”.  I will ask them their symptoms and make a recommendation on what I have found to work for a particular set of symptoms.  Usually if they ask early into the illness the recommendation will be either baking soda added to water to balance their ph (when you are sick you are too acidic) or apple cider vinegar and the response is always the same, “That would taste so awful!  I will take….. (some random, over the counter drug)”.

I say OK and leave it at that.  Now, go to your medicine cabinet and pull out some random, over the counter medicine for colds.  Now, read those ingredients.  How many of those can you pronounce?  How many of them do you even know anything about?  Next, look at the possible side effects and the drug interactions.  Not pretty stuff to be found in those sections!  And you are willing to put these unknown chemicals into your body in an effort to feel better.  How effective are these products….really?  In my experience, not that effective.  The cold or the flu bug will run it’s course and I would usually end up missing a day or two from life.

Now, look at what happens when you take something like apple cider vinegar or baking soda and use it religiously for a few days.  During those days you may feel a bit cloudy and not at the top of your game but you aren’t really missing out on life.  After you have used these more natural ingredients to heal your body and you have been smart by getting the extra needed rest and eating good, healthy food you realize that your illness is gone, your body has healed and you feel GREAT!  And the biggest bonus to this type of health and healing…..YOU HAVEN’T DAMAGED YOUR LIVER!!!

That’s the best news ever!  Healthy body, healthy mind and a healthy liver!

Think twice about what you put in your body so that your body will be there for you during the long haul….you know, that thing we call life!

Paying It Forward

On Monday I made a last minute decision and went camping~the first camping trip of the season.  The dogs and I ended up here, a little reservoir in Pueblo, CO.  As camping trips go it was uneventful, quiet with a meteor shower thrown in for good measure.

We got to watch shooting stars while the baby coyotes called for their parents while enjoying burgers (yes, I cooked small burgers for the dogs) that had been cooked over a camp fire and some steamed green beans and an ice cold beer. We sat together watching the fire burn down and relaxed enjoying the kind of quiet you can only find in far off places away from cities, cars and trucks.  The only mechanical, man made thing we heard was an occasional, far off train whistle and the clacking of the train wheels on the track.

Seriously, does life get any better than this?  I love the feeling of sleeping on the ground with my dogs snuggled in~one curled up at the bottom of the sleeping bag keeping my feet warm and the other pushing up against my back with his head next to mine on the pillow (yeah, he's a big dog that stands taller than me when standing on his hind legs).

It was a nice break from real life as I've come to know over this past year.

On my way home I noticed a young couple walking down the side of the road which is pretty unusual for the road and the area but the thing that really caught my eye was the dog they had with them.  He was your average looking dog but he was so painfully thin.  I remember when I found my big dog and how thin he was then and I knew I had to turn around.  I gave them the rest of the dog food I had with me from camping....maybe a couple of bowls worth and the rest of the money I had in my wallet along with a business card.  I told this young couple that if they ever needed anything, a ride, a meal or a bag of food for the dog and something for themselves to call me.  I don't know why I felt compelled to do this but I just felt it was what I needed to do for them.

Now, if any of you actually read this you know that I really have nothing.  I have lost my house, left my kids and my friends in Northern Wisconsin as well as everything I own.  I don't dwell on this fact very often but for me to have done this says a lot about how this young couple and their dog affected me.  It made me realize that without the help and support of my family and friends I would not have been able to take care of my 2 dogs or myself.  It also made me remember to never take important people in your life for granted and that we should always pay it forward.

No Poo Hair

I wanted to share with you a little post that I was asked to create regarding my chemical free hair journey. I'm not sure whether the post will be used by Morrocco Method but I found it interesting how this chemical free hair journey has evolved.  I am totally loving this experience!

My hair journey with Morrocco Method is slightly different from most due to my having gone “poo free” a couple of years prior to starting to use the Morrocco Method products. I have never had great hair but after going “poo free” my hair became a bit more curly, and easier to deal with but.  Years of swimming competitively, growing up in California swimming in the ocean and heavily chlorinated pools and generally not taking very good care of my hair had made it more straw then a soft, smooth, shiny crowning glory.  My hair was just something that I had to keep clean and long enough to put up in a pony tail.

My “poo free” lifestyle worked well enough while I lived in Northern Wisconsin as I was able to keep it in a bun or tucked into a hat when I was going to spend a lot of time out in the winter elements or wrapped in a scarf when I was hiking or camping but I found after I had moved to a high mountain desert that I needed something more than what I was able to create for myself.  Even though I was creating shampoos and conditioners that were home made and natural my hair went from curly to frizzy and was getting nothing but more frizzy.

I did some research and found the Morrocco Method.  Around the same time that I had found MM I read a blog post by a woman I respect from the Paleo Diet community about the changes she had noticed after using the shampoos and conditioners.  That sealed it for me….I ordered my trial packs of shampoos and conditioners!

Now, since I had been “poo free” for so long I didn’t have the oily, greasy stage to deal with and since my hair was already dry, frizzy and totally unmanageable but completely chemical free I noticed a difference right away.  After the third shampoo I was noticing more curly and less frizzy but the biggest difference happened when I had taken the Zen Detox to the “caves” in Idaho Springs, CO.  The “caves” are man made vapor caves with hot springs pools.  The air in the caves is extremely hot, extremely humid and loaded with a number of different minerals from the hot spring water used in the pools that are beneficial for your skin and your hair.  Add this environment with the Zen Detox and 2 hours of meditation, yoga twists and relaxation and you have an additional pump to the detox effects of the Zen Detox.  Once my hair dried I was amazed at the change in texture and softness of my hair (my hair has never been truly soft).

Since I have started using the Morrocco Method I have found that I can go 3-4 days (I used to wash at least once daily) between washing although when I take a shower I will rinse my hair and give my scalp a little massage.  I have also noticed that I have a ton of re-growth coming in at my temples.  This is hair that I had lost during my childbearing years and menopause. 

My hair is thicker, stronger and starting to curl again!  I am finding that there is more lift at the roots and when I finger comb my hair after washing there are no “snaps” of hair breaking. I use the Lunar hair cutting chart and rotate my shampoos regularly.  I absolutely love these products! 

Now I just need to know the best time to shave my head for optimum re-growth~a friend will be losing her hair due to chemo and radiation and I am shaving my head in solidarity and respect for her.  Yes, I will be giving her a travel pack of shampoos and conditioners for when her hair starts to grow back!

Anthony, when will be the best time for both of us to shave our heads?

I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I have enjoyed achieving healthy hair.