Golden moment 45, written for July 13

Yesterday's golden moment may surprise some of you, but my golden moment was a gum graft.
Anyone out there have anxiety about dental work? I know I do. In fact, I feel quite justified in my anxiety over dental work. I had eight years of braces, (With no breaks people, they were on my teeth for 8 years straight) I had two major jaw surgeries, the first one lasted 8 hours and I couldn't talk, or eat solid food for about three months afterwards. It involved a bone graft from my hip to my jaw, laughing after having a chunk of bone scraped from your hip is excruciating. I gave birth without any drugs, or medication to ease off the pain, and I can tell you the graft was FAR worse than anything I felt in labor. Like a knife stabbing me it hurt so bad. I was afraid to sleep at night because I couldn't breathe very well, I was so swollen. In fact, the swelling did not go down completely for a whole year. Though the bruising did end eventually. Then, after all that, my jaw actually re-opened. And my teeth went crooked again. Not as bad as before surgery, but I do not have perfect teeth. I could actually bite normally for a short time, but the over bite just opened itself up again, and the doctor said it was so rare he hardly ever mentions it. But it only seems to happen to women between the ages of 18 and 25 or something, some weird fluke where the body just wants to reverse the effects of the surgery. And that statistic happened to be me. The second was only a four hour procedure and I don't think it was nearly as bad as the first. I don't remember much about it. Oh, and after I finally got my braces off, and teeth implants in, guess what, I had 18 cavities. I don't think I need to convince you any more that I have some SERIOUS anxiety surrounding dental work. I have literally gone in to have my teeth cleaned only to start hyper-ventalating and having a panic attack.

So you can imagine some of the trepidation I felt surrounding the gum graft I had to have done yesterday. But let me tell you what I did. When I had the thought "I DON'T WANT TO HAVE THIS GUM GRAFT DONE!" I actually decided to turn it around to "I want to have this gum graft done" and I found three truths in that. My truths were:

I want to take care of my teeth.
I love the office my periodontist works in, there are beautiful views of the forrest wetland outside her floor to ceiling windows
and
I really like my periodontist and look forward to visiting with her again.

As I walked into the office, or sat down in the chair and felt anxiety start to rise within me, I asked myself "Are you in pain? Are you safe? Is there really any danger here?" Every-time I had to answer, no to these questions and then I just told myself to relax.

At one point during the procedure my periodontist and her assistant were telling me a story that just made me laugh!  And I found myself marveling at the fact that despite having dental work done, I was happy enough to be laughing!

Whenever I felt my fists clench, my stomach tighten, or my lower back arch I asked myself the questions again, "Am I in pain? Is there really any danger here?" The answer always came up no, and once again I could relax.

The graft went beautifully, that hour was up before I knew it. When I went to get up, I had a drop in blood pressure and thought I would pass out, but my periodontist and her assistant were angelic as they put a cold lavender scented wash cloth on my forehead and slowly leaned my chair back for me. It took me a while to get my blood pressure high enough for me to get up without fainting but they were so sweet and let me take all the time I needed.

As I drove home I thought about the incredible blessing it was to have access to such good care, to be in such a comfortable setting, and to have such a kind periodontist who truly had a passion for her work.

That night, my periodontist called to check up on me. (I know, she is AMAZING!) And I told her that I was doing great, and that my gum graft that day had truly been one of the most enjoyable dental experiences I've ever had. In fact, I can honestly say it was a very nice afternoon.

My amazing mother in law has been kind enough to watch my toddler so I've had almost two full days to just rest and heal.

Discovering my power to just let go of such incredible anxiety astounded me. It was like cleaning up layers of clutter. The more you pick up the more you discover that there is something beautiful hidden beneath all the junk. It was like that with my thoughts, all I had to do was question the reality of my thought. "I'm anxious" really? Is that true, are you in PAIN right now? When I answered, honestly I could say "No" and then there was peace. Even if I had been in pain, I think it would have been okay. I would have gone from there, but I could deal with it without the stress, and fear factor.

Finding this within me, was incredible, it was so freeing and so peaceful. I learned so much from this experience. Everything was just wonderful. And that, was golden.

Golden moment # 15, Butter.

I LOVE butter.

Oh, yes. I love butter. Real food is just a good thing, and butter is about as real as it gets. Julia Child once said "If you are afraid of butter, use cream." I love cream too. Without it we wouldn't have butter... But let's talk about how golden butter is, really-and not just butter, FAT. Yes, fat, wonderful delicious, energy giving, life sustaining, brain feeding, hormone producing fat.

Fat is one of the greatest foods God placed on this green earth. And somehow, like so many wonderful pure, perfect, flawless creations our great Lord gave us, we have warped and twisted it into something very unlike the Creator's grand design. We have hydrogenated oils, skim milk, low fat ice-cream (What!?) and non fat lean cuisine, we count calories and forget to eat food. We are afraid of fat.

I think part of it lies in the fact that our language does not give a positive connotation to fat. When people are obese, we call them fat. We see this as a negative, undesirable thing-then we roll butter fat, meat fat, fats from oils and nuts, or foods like coconut and avocado, all in the same word. The truth is, people are not obese because of fat, they are obese because there is an imbalance in their body, and usually toxic overload. They are simply not coping, and in many cases are not getting the nutrients they need to maintain a healthy weight for their body, or are incapable of assimilating the needed nutrients. The fact that they are overweight is actually a miracle of the body, diluting toxins, or storing needed energy in case of starvation. (Note, dieting puts you into starvation mode, as will strenuous exercise causing your body to store more fat in case a tiger comes after you again or famine strikes, a natural food storage system if you will, in case of emergency.) The body is AMAZING, it will do whatever it has to in order to keep you ALIVE.

Your body will create cysts, store fat tissue, form allergies or anything else it needs to. In fact any "dis-ease" the body creates is simply a coping mechanism to keep you alive. Once you give your body what it needs, the ease will return to your body. You can in fact, be a healthy weight, rid your body of cysts, clear all your allergies, and live in a healthy, thriving body! There is nothing your body can not cure itself of when given the proper nutrients to re-build healthy thriving cells. It's re-building and restoring everyday. Only when it doesn't have the tools to re-build and restore perfectly do we see disease, allergies, weight, and aging take hold. It's like a carpenter trying to build a house without all the proper tools and materials, it will not be a perfect house, it will have weaknesses.

But, I am not a nutritionist, and my goal is to keep these entries short and sweet little morsels of golden delight for you to read, and this entry is about how much I love good fat. And here is why.

I love how it tastes! I love how it makes me feel! And I love all of the research that has been done endorsing its vital importance to our health. I love all the places you can find fat, in dairy, in meat, in avocados...YUM, in nuts and in oils. I love that everyday there is a new article out there teaching us about essential fats, and how important they are to our overall health and well being. I love REAL food, and I love BUTTER! 

I also love my gallbladder, and bile is amazing, without them, I couldn't break down and properly assimilate all the wonderful fat that keeps me skinny! Our bodies are the most complex, awe inspiring, fascinating, creation. Go google  "Healthy fat" you will be reading all day.

After you have finished perusing all the great reads out there on healthy fat, butter yourself a piece of whole wheat toast and throw away everything in your cupboard that has hydrogenated oil, most especially that tub of "can't believe it's not real butter" believe it, it's NOT real butter.

 I'll meet up with you when we are 120 and we can keep talking about how awesome butter really is.

DD

What is your favorite REAL food!

The art of relaxation

There are some things in life we are born good at, there's no denying it, we have a natural God given gift and talent. One of those things for me, is relaxing. I LOVE to relax.  This entry is all about setting up the perfect bath and meditation I use to help myself relax.

My bath sweetner of choice is Epsom salt and an essential oil I'm in the mood for. I buy all of my oils through the DoTerra company.  They are quite simply the best producer of essential oil in the world once you've used their oils you will never use anything else. I favor grapefruit for a pick me up and their serenity blend for relaxation. Be sure and light your candle, have a cool glass of water or your favorite juice nearby and some gentle music. My favorite relaxing music is "Sleep" by lifescapes.

As I lounge in my bath, I like to meditate. Sometimes I listen to a guided meditation cd, I like "Getting into the Vortex" personally.  Or I read a meditation written by Maureen Garth from one of her popular guided meditation books for children.  Or I fall back on my own favorite meditation in which I imagine the light and energy of kind loving hands hovering just above my body starting at the top of my head. As the hands pass over my head and slowly move across me, ending with my feet, I concentrate on each area of my body the hands hover over and focus on relaxing that part of my body. As the hands move toward my feet, I imagine all negative energy or ill health is gently being pushed toward my feet and pours out the bottom of my feet. As soon as the stress and anxiety touch the air (or water in the bath)  it is released as golden light, and is transformed into health and vitality. The most important part of this meditation is simply to not let your mind wander. It may take a while to imagine moving from the top of your head to your tippy toes, don't let your thoughts veer off.

I also find it helpful to imagine the healing hands hovering over me are those of my husband, as he is the one person I feel most safe and secure with, and who's love I trust implicitly.

So my divas, take some time today and go relax. You'll be happy you did, trust me. I think one of the easiest talents to foster is that of pampering and loving oneself. Most people just don't take the time to do it, but once you do, I think you'll find it comes quite naturally.

Take a hot bath with bubbles
Forget all your troubles!

The Domestic Diva

A green drink your toddler will love...

One of my passions as a domestic diva is health and nutrition, while I'm not always perfect at it I do my very best to keep good food in the house. However, sometimes I feel a bit overwhelmed. There is SO much information out there about what to eat, what not to eat and why or why not to eat it that something as simple as a snack becomes a whirlwind of confusion. When my friends call me and tell me they want to change their lifestyle habits I always give the same advice "start with ONE thing."  Every little health tidbit I feel inspired to write about in this blog is going to be small, the type of change that can be your ONE thing. It is more important to take ONE small step in the right direction than to keep traveling down the wrong path because it is familiar. Today, I'm going to give you a simple recipe for a green drink you and your family will love. It is my go to pick me up drink when I need energy, a quick tummy filler, or when I want to feel like I'm doing something beneficial for my family's health. This is how to make a DELICIOUS green drink.




You will need:
Two or three leaves of organic kale
One ripe organic banana
Organic apple juice
3-4 ice-cubes
And a blender

First rinse your kale well  and then take the leafy parts off the stem and put them in the blender. Pour enough apple juice in your blender to cover the Kale leaves and blend until smooth. (This may take a little while depending on the type of blender you have). After the green is pretty blended add your banana and ice then blend again. You have just made yourself a delicious and nutritious green drink! While you're sipping on this amazingly tasty concoction you can read over this list of all the good things cruciferous vegetables do for your body and feel REALLY good about yourself. (Kale is a cruciferous vegetable, if you didn't know that it's okay I didn't either until just recently)


Cruciferous vegetables have;
lots of vitamin C
and Vitamin A,
 folate,
calcium,
 iron,
fiber and
phytochemicals - which
scientists are finding help
prevent several kinds of
cancer.
ALSO!
You just drank yours raw, which has the added benefit of being alkalizing to your body, and all of the nutrients and enzymes naturally occurring in the plant are maintained since they weren't heated. Also, because you blended it up, your body doesn't have to work as hard to digest the nutrients and they will be absorbed by your body much faster than if you'd had to chew it in a salad. Blend one of these up for breakfast, for a snack, for your hubby, for you kiddos and most importantly FOR YOU!

                                                                   Scotty says "YUM!"
                                                                  Here's to your health!
                                                                             DD