Practice What I Preach: Embracing My Worst Fear

PART 1: BEFORE THE CHANGE

Change is scary. Even for adults. The last month, I have been using a new mantra in my kids yoga class and at home with my kids, change, change and I'm okay. It's simple. It's got its own song. We get all into it.

But when things start to change, how do we find our center through it? How do we know it will be okay? Sometimes it really really doesn't feel okay. Sometimes we freak the freak out! *Deep breath*

Seriously how do we know it will be okay? Because it will. * Deep breath* You always can come back to your breath. (Lisa at www.beingbreath.com will be so proud me!) Trust that you are eternal and at the core unchangeable. Trust that even though everything radiating out of that unchangeable core is changing, that you still have a center, and a breath and there is peace within that core.

I find myself clinging onto things or people that I want so bad to have substance but then I look, and it vaporizes through my fingers. Silly me. The only thing I trust is change and growth, and breath.

In my motherhood life, I've been noticing that I don't like my kids behavior after they've had their daily shot of Netflix. Like...who is this off-the-wall preschooler who doesn't want to listen to me, or seems incapable of constructive independent play. Or who is this wacked out toddler reactive to even more things.

So, I decided I needed to face the biggest fear in my home, for the betterment of my family. 

I decided to brave my fear of getting rid of screen time, in fear of not having any quiet moments to think or get things done without constant interaction from my kids. For my kids, TV or videos have worked like magic! I give them only an hour or at most two a day, and they sit and are mesmerized. No questions are asked. No fighting ensues. Its magic.

Now I do believe a little screen time or computer time is healthy for kids. They can learn thing, and its part of our culture. I don't want my kids to feel like outcasts with not knowing what his friends are talking about or how to work a computer. But it was clear from my kids behavior that I needed to have less.

I decided to drastically cut down the amount of "technology time" my kids have each week. Ultimately, I want to limit it to just 2 or 3 days a week for a max of 1-2 hours a day.

It's a big leap of faith. Like most changes, I know in the end all would be well, but in the meantime it's going to get ugly. 

Stay tuned for how we implement the change in PART 2.

Namaste

The Domestic Yogi

Bit By a Tick? What Next?

Don't panic. It's hard. I know, they are ugly, and crawly, but take a deep breath.

Go get the tweezers.

Put the tip of the tweezers as close to the base of the skin as you can.

Hold firmly (but don't squeeze too tight) and pull straight up from the skin.

The tweezers will hopefully help minimize any tick breakage and subsequent oozing and mixing of tick fluids into your skin and bloodstream.

My mom has just informed me that smothering the tick with dish detergent on a cotton ball will work too. Less chance of it breaking off in the skin too. ** Edit. Apparently this may cause tick to regurgitate its stomach contents into the human body. So you don't want to do it since it may be carrying a disease **

Photo by Sarah Blankenbaker

Make sure to put an antibacterial ointment on the bite as soon as possible afterwards. Ticks carry all sorts of harmful diseases, so good to kill as much topically as you can right away.

Natural antibacterial ointments are preferred so those toxic chemicals don't get into your blood stream. Especially if its your child.

I use a wonderful 21 herb salve that my friend made from plants she grew locally. You can make your own healing salves to have ready for bites, injuries or skin alignments. Here is a link to a Make-Your-Own Salve article.

Lyme, You are Getting On My Nerves!

Seriously. Lyme on my nerves. Literally. And figuratively. Six months of the diet restrictions, mega-vitamins/supplements and here you are still. Rearing your ugly head. My hands are weird again.

Everyday is a constant battle of making sure I am taking care of myself enough or I get out of whack.  I'm a mom, an elderly care-giver, and a yoga-teacher who takes care of many, so sometimes its hard to be so focused on my needs. So its been challenging to say the least.

This disease changes and morphs so fast its hard for the body to keep up.

This nerve thing lately. I am blaming it on sugar. I have been cheating and having a few yogurt pretzels here one day, a couple small cookies there the next day. Other than my one daily cheat sometimes though, no sugar, or even honey. Ugh! Lymies love that sugar.

The weirdness in my hands and feet is a deal-breaker. I am a yogi. So this is particularly disturbing.

So I turned to my guru. I ask, "natural remedies for nerve-damage due to Lyme disease." 

Low and behold my google guru tells me: "Mycoplasma, a cell wall deficient bacteria and a common Lyme Disease co-infection, can actually carry part of the host's cell membrane on their surface when it leaves nerve cells.  This leads the immune system to believe that the host's antigen is a threat and it attacks its own host in what is known as an autoimmune response.  The immune system attacks the myelin sheath causing further nerve damage." Source

Nerves that are damaged can't effectively conduct electrical impulses. The result is numbness, tingling, pain, weakness and burning sensations.

The good news is that peripheral nerves, the ones running to my toes and fingers, possess the ability to regenerate and heal themselves. Phew.

My guru tells me that St. John's Wort could help. 

St. John's wort is known for its ability to repair nerve damage and reduce pain and inflammation. As an added bonus, it's supposed to be helpful for treating depression. Heck, a little more happy power won't hurt.

Less than a day after starting St. John's Wart, the feeling in my feet and hands started to come back. A week later and I'm feeling almost back at peak performance with my hands. Here I am, fingers just flowing freely without the dumbness I was starting to get with them.

I am so thankful for effective natural remedies, and the ones who came before me that figured them out. I really don't want to go back on antibiotics, that seem to reduce effectiveness over time.

Namaste

The Domestic Yogi

PS I order a lot of my herbs online at www.iherb.com. If you use my code GQJ111 you will get $10 off your first order over $40, or $5 off smaller orders.

One Simple Way to Teach Your Kids Intuition, Respect and Mindfulness

It's finally spring time! Flowers are abundant. If you are like me, I love to take walks in nature with the kids. Inevitably we pick a few wild flowers to savor and bring home.

My sweet girl communing with nature.
Photo by Venus Leah Photography

Here is a great way to teach your kids respect for nature (and all living things) and also introduce to them the concept of intuition. Before picking any flowers, plants, or taking anything from nature, demonstrate this to your child:

• Ask out loud to the flower, plant or special object in nature if it is okay to pick/take it.
• Let your child know you are closing your eyes and listening for the answer with your whole being.
• Then tell your child that you may not get a verbal answer from nature, but that you are feeling with your whole body for the answer. 
• If you get a bad feeling, your tummy feels strange, or something just doesn't feel right, then you will not pick the flower or take the object. Just simply move on and find another special piece of nature to ask. 
• If you get a good feeling, such as your heart seems to sing spontaneously, then indeed, go ahead and pick that beauty and take her home.

It is so important to model and demonstrate this process to your child. Monkey see, monkey do. 

If your kids are like mine, there is a natural tendency to go crazy wild fast at picking flowers. So encourage them to slow down, be mindful of each pick, and to take a moment to ask each flower (or each bunch of flowers) permission before taking.

Such a seemingly small "ritual" in nature, can have a deep lasting affect on children. It gives them the message that nature isn't just something to reap and conquer. It teaches them to respect nature, just like we teach them to respect other human beings by asking before taking. 

This small ritual is also a way to help children practice opening up their senses, and to trust their gut feelings and intuition in a safe place. There is no right and wrong answer, so there is no fear of failing, nor fear of any negative consequences.  

Intuition is one of those important, hard to teach things. So this is a simple, wonderful way help cultivate it, while also cultivating mindfulness and self-centering.

Let me know how this works for you!

Namaste!