JOURNEYING TOGETHER TOWARDS HOLISTIC HEALTH

June 2023 Magazine

Thu, 08 Jun 2023 23:47:01 GMT

June is National Safety Month and other specific health topics, read more:

Enjoy the read! Let us know your comments or suggestions at: (3) Facebook

Spiritual or Christian Crossword

Wed, 07 Jun 2023 17:02:01 GMT

Click the link below pic: This is a Biblical-Themed Crossword for Fun

https://share.eclipsecrossword.com/play/7f30c010/biblical-themes-words

Meditational Teas

Tue, 06 Jun 2023 14:52:09 GMT

Meditational Tea for Silent Retreat Attendees

Please note that every word in bold is linked to a website with more information about that specific subject. When you click the link, a message should come up asking if you would like to open the link on a different page. Clicking "yes" to this keeps your reading page open while providing the additional subject matter of interest on a different page. This usually provides ease of reading the blog while allowing you to move back and forth from the blog to the linked information. This is not an in-depth review of meditation or teas but a little bit of information about my meditational experiences and how teas may benefit meditation. I also included the two recipes I prepared for the Audire weekend retreat and information about the teas.

I love meditation. I meditate using many forms of meditative space that I create to connect with God. I often begin with prayer, scriptural reading and follow with contemplation on what that scripture means to me; how these words apply in my life in this day and age. I go through periods of journaling in meditation when God speaks to my heart. So much wisdom comes from sitting with God and listening with pen in hand to just write what is spoken. I frequently have pages and pages of written work. When I reread the words that rose from within, I am often blown away and amazed at the power and beauty they hold for my life. I journaled meditation for three years every day, I am taking a bit of a break from journaling that deeply now to recreate a fresh awareness to it when I return to that style of meditation. I take journaling so seriously, it often took hours out of my day, but it was so well worth it at the time. Sometimes I sit with music and/or work in art forms of sketching or drawing something meaningful to me. I contemplate the deeper meaning of the work as I ponder why that image came to my mind at that specific time to work. I love the strokes of the pencil or charcoal as thoughts of God, holiness, family, heaven, departed loved ones, or even nature come to mind. This stirring of my heart strings stimulates my long-term memory cells reminiscent of both good and bad experiences vividly calling them back to me as if fresh and new. Sometimes this experience hurts, but most always it brings healing, closure, a different perspective or a new understanding of life that makes the memory meaningful and holy in some new way. I love to sit at the piano and play the keys as God whispers into my soul deep thoughts bringing about self-awareness of my good and not so good attributes and behaviors and of His profound love for me no matter how I may have deviated from holiness. Sometimes the music moves with a bible story, a psalm or prayer. It is often so amazing to hear the life brought to the piano keys through the movement of God. I love to walk everywhere. My mind goes automatically into meditation mode from years of walking with this purpose. It does not take long until I hear, sense or feel God's presence during my walk, renewing my soul, strengthening me or providing much needed direction. Creation is such an astounding and beautiful gift; it is no wonder God is near as we walk in awe and appreciation of His handiwork. Of course, meditation is always my "Go To" whenever I have an issue or a problem that needs to be remedied, solved, healed, deeply considered or is something that simply needs to be dealt with internally, externally or both. Answers and solutions seem to flow ever so brilliantly and meaningfully from God when they come; but the answers are not always immediate. Continued work in a specific-need meditation for me takes diligent work and constant attention. This, for me, is not a hit or miss time for prayer but an effort of enormous energy. Journaling is especially helpful here since so often the answers seem to trickle in, as if provided in small medicinal doses building upon one another later making full sense. In all these ways, while not required, preparing and sitting with a warm comforting relaxing cup of tea first can help move the mind, body and spirit forward into meditation. Herbal teas, prepared for purpose, can offer many ways to open the door to meditation. Depending on what type of meditation I will be engaging in, is how I select my tea. This takes time and practice and like everyone else, I am always growing in knowledge and wisdom. There is no one right way, but there are many various paths to meditation and there are also many variations in herbal teas. The right paths are the ones that work for you. Many times, I feel called to meditate: a summoning to quiet and deep listening, and then I just do it without much preparation. If I ignore the call, it becomes loud in my mind and somewhat painful to my heart and soul and this demands attention. Until I make this lack of action right on my part, I continue to feel guilty, as if I let God down. I missed something important and knowing this also bothers me. God wouldn't have pulled on my heart so strongly if He didn't care. My remedy for this lazy delayed response is prayer of confession, apology and thanksgiving as I offer my time back to God. Most times this works, but not always, I believe some blessings are then missed forever. It is a lesson learned repeatedly I am sorry to say, I can be quite stubborn at times. I have gotten much better at dropping what I am doing and paying attention to God in the moment. It is interesting to me that God calls me most often in the middle of the night, sometimes calling me to my knees. I have become aware myself that when I have an emergency, I call on God and expect, hope and trust Him to provide attention to me immediately to comfort me. The realization of my ignoring God's call and my inner expectation of God being at the ready when I call upon Him, makes me feel foolish and quite small. The good news is, it is within the meditations that I come to understand my strengths, my weaknesses, my humanity and the bountiful and never-exhausted Grace of God. It is here I find peace, joy, forgiveness and great love. One of the Audire team leaders asked me to prepare two different meditational teas to bring to our silent retreat this coming weekend. This was a lovely invite that brought me great pleasure in serving. Creating tea for others, especially for general population where you do not know much about others' health conditions, means I need to focus on teas that are commonly used for meditation and identify those which are generally known as safe for use for most people. Anyone can have a reaction to any food, environment or medication, so ingredients and information is linked for personal review. Other things I need to consider is aroma and flavor, if it doesn't smell or taste good, who will drink it? Also, people have different senses as to what flavor is more appealing; some prefer floral while others, not so much. So, my two teas will be made quite differently. One will have a heavy floral base allowing for a beautiful fragrance to rise first and heighten the senses and then have a delicate but delicious floral taste that many will enjoy. The other will have more of a fruit and citrus base aroma and will very pleasantly get the job done. I will make enough to bring that each participant who desires to try a meditation tea can try at least one. Sometimes I create my own teas, other times I see a recipe that catches my attention and may use the recipe as it is or modify it by what I have on hand and what characteristics I want to add or remove. Creating my own recipes is my joy. I am providing the base recipe I used for each tea. I did not create both of these teas, but I did create the first one. I use choice organic and properly sourced ingredients and tea bags. I create a clean environment to mix, blend and stir. I often create herb blends from ingredients I have on hand. I have plenty, somewhere about one hundred herbal teas. After considering my purpose for the tea, I consider how much tea I need in a cup (about 1 and a half tablespoons) of the final mixture per person, per tea recipe. There was quite a bit of tea used to create these teas, but given the purpose of meditational tea, I want the teas to stand up to the requirements of function-ability, taste, fragrance, visual appeal and safety. As this is our end year retreat, a very special time, including year three graduates, I want it to be especially lovely. It would have been even more of a vision feast for the eyes to have glass teapots filled with these beautiful teas but given the traveling aspects and time constraints to our teatime, I thought it best to use organic hand-stuffed tea bags. For those on medicine, it is often easiest to google your medicine and search for herbal contraindications or side effects. Then, if an herb presents as an issue, you can see if that herb is one used. If it is, then you can further research that particular herb using the links below and perhaps others you may find as you open the first link. Also, certain conditions, such as pregnancy can be an issue. A quick search of herbal use while pregnant can be googled first and then any herbs that populate can be compared to the list below and then researched as well via the link.

Tea One: Floral based creating for 25 people:

25 tablespoons of chamomile
25 tablespoons of lemon balm
12 tablespoons each of lavender, passionflower and oat straw
9 tablespoons of elder berry
5 tablespoons of rose petals

Tea Two:

Meditation Tea Recipe by Mountain Rose. I substituted lemon balm for skullcap (both have calming effect and lemon balm adds a nice citrus background); and I also substituted peppermint for rose petals, since we had rose in the first tea. The recipe is for one cup in its originally format, I adjusted to twenty-five servings or approximate 1.5 - 2 tablespoons per person of herbal mix. To me, this tea tastes best with a little honey and some lemon.

This tea is not floral based and includes nettle, raspberry leaf, oat straw, catnip, skullcap and rose petal. Their original recipe called for one teaspoon each of the six herbs, which is what I followed but with substitutions as noted.

Herbal Tea Blend Recipe for Meditation (mountainroseherbs.com)

Brewing should be gently done with steaming, not boiling water and should steep for five to ten minutes. For more information about brewing tea, please our blog: "The Art of Making Herbal Tea"

Resources on safe use and precautions:

5 Ways Chamomile Tea Benefits Your Health (healthline.com)

Lemon Balm: Uses, Benefits, and More (healthline.com)

Lavender: Origin, Benefits, and Uses (healthline.com)

The Calming Effects of Passionflower (healthline.com)

Oatstraw Tea Benefits - Lily Health

The Pros and Cons of Elderberry (healthline.com)

What Is Rose Tea? Benefits and Uses (healthline.com)

6 Benefits of Stinging Nettle (Plus Side Effects) (healthline.com)

Red Raspberry Leaf Tea: Pregnancy, Benefits, and Side Effects (healthline.com)

Oatstraw Tea Benefits - Lily Health

Catnip Tea: Health Benefits and Uses (healthline.com)

Skullcap: Benefits, Side Effects, and Dosage (healthline.com)

*Lemon Balm was substituted for Skullcap in this recipe: Link: Lemon Balm: Uses, Benefits, and More (healthline.com)

What Is Rose Tea? Benefits and Uses (healthline.com)

*Peppermint was substituted for Rose in my recipe: Link: 1 2 Science-Backed Benefits of Peppermint Tea and Extracts (healthline.com)

Try This Peaceful Tea Meditation to Bring Comfort to Your Day — Alo Moves

Herbal Supplements: Precautions and Safe Use - PubMed (nih.gov)

Disclaimer follows:

The content on our website, Facebook websites; brochures, etc., is for educational purposes only. Although we try to carefully provide useful and accurate information, you are responsible to research and verify information before relying on it. We are trained herbalists and not licensed or registered healthcare practitioners. We cannot diagnose health conditions, nor prescribe medicines legally; we are not medical doctors. However, we will recommend or suggest medicinal herbs for various health complaints, as we believe in the safety and efficacy of botanical medicine.

The information we provide is not intended to be a substitute for medical treatment. Please consult your medical care provider before using herbal medicine, particularly if you have a known medical condition or if you are pregnant or nursing. You are responsible for your own health. As with conventional medicine, herbal medicine is vast and complex, and must be used responsibly. People react differently to different remedies. Some herbs are contraindicated with certain pharmaceutical drugs.

Furthermore, some helpful herbs may be confused with harmful and/or deadly substances.

Get Out of the Rut Breakfast Challenge

Tue, 30 May 2023 12:23:08 GMT

The Weekly Update Will be Posted Here for the Breakfast Challenge: "Get Out of the Rut"

Weekly Updates Posted: Click on Button for Updates

The Art of Making Herbal Tea

Thu, 25 May 2023 15:30:12 GMT

There is a peaceful meditational ceremony in the creation of tea alone.

Whether it is a fast cup of tea or quiet time set for tea drinking, there is a celebration in savoring and enjoying your tea. This is true even when sitting at your work desk or squeezing sips in between child rearing or housecleaning. Each sip is a slip away to the center of "you" in that moment. If even for just that minute when you take your tea into your mouth and roll it around, tasting the notes in pleasure. It is not always possible, but there is most often a peaceful meditational ceremony happening even as you prepare tea for the day, as any herbalist will tell you. Even if your time is harried, taking time to decide on the little things makes the tea making and drinking special and, most importantly, all about you for just that moment! It is not selfishness but self-care, it is part of loving yourself in health. The amount of time in preparation and drinking the tea you designed specifically for you, along with the environment you will drink it in, will somewhat dictate the extent of your little tea ceremony, and for the most part, it's all good!

First, perhaps consider: What teacup sets the mood?" Is it a grab-and-go cup that fits in the car cup holder? Is it a tip proof or child-proof teacup? Is it a savoring teacup to hold for comfort or will the teacup be a vessel used to drift into meditation?

Then, ask yourself, how much do I want: One teacup; a pot full or a thermos full?

Now that you know the desired cup or vessel, the amount you want to make, and after the appropriate brewing piece has been selected, you might consider: What is my body saying today? What does it need in tea support? What does is desire in taste? How much do I want of this blend today? Is it to pick me up and carry me forward into the day? Is it to sustain me in the day? Is it to relax me? What do I want from this tea, maybe it's only great flavor I desire, or perhaps a tea with pep to begin the day or possibly, a tea that brings comfort or calming is needed.

Then consider, what do I have on hand to create my tea? This might be your hardest task to complete when first starting. This gap will close in time as you deliberately consider your tea drinking desires. You may find yourself adding to your stock at home to satisfy your tea cravings and ceremonial practices.

Now the fun part: Herb blending:

Start with a base that suits your most pressing need or liking. Then add some supporting flavors or desired herbs that benefit your health and/or add deliciousness in the tea you make. Usually, a little less of these supporting herbs are used, although there may be a variety of them used in roughly similar amounts. Then add some final touches often referred to as notes (of flavor). Sometimes for notes, I use floral, other times I use something like Anise Star (almost licorice flavor) or some fruit flavors, like cranberry, apple, pear or citrus as in, orange peel and sometimes, cinnamon There are no rules in making great tea, some of the best teas come from what you might just throw together with what you have. Putting a little fore thought into your tea design, will help you really enjoy your teatime while benefiting your health needs. Journaling your teas helps you remember what you liked and what you didn't like, what worked for you and what didn't work, etc. And "Oh yeah", how you made it!

My tea today:

I chose my butterfly cup. For one, a butterfly is within our logo. Also, I love the wording "Hope" underneath the butterfly, it calls my attention to God. The back of the cup has a lovely biblical verse, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace...". Romans 15:13. As I am also a spiritual director intern, this speaks to me.
I chose Nettle to base this tea because Nettle is very nutritional, and I just felt I need the additional boost coming out of a long illness. Nettle is a great supporting tea for health! I used one tablespoon. (I certainly could have used more but I thought it would be too heavy for me today with the others I wanted to add).
I had a couple of supporting herbs: These herbs included Vana (holy basil) oat straw, spearmint, peppermint, garden sage and sweet basil. The Vana, peppermint and oat straw were dry. The spearmint, garden sage and sweet basil were fresh from the garden. I used 1/2 tablespoon of each of the dry herbs and added a small clipping of about five or six smaller leaves of spearmint, two sprigs of garden sage and a large sprig of sweet basil. Pictured below, I layered these herbs with the oat straw (very light-colored herb) on top. On top of the oat straw, I added the fresh herbs.
I chose my Japanese tea pot which my husband gave me for Christmas one year (my daughter or daughters helped him pick it out). It is beautifully crafted and made of cast iron. It holds the heat in really well for a couple of hours and also seasons the teapot with flavor. It has a large capacity, I easily get over 30 ounces in my pot, I never actually measured it but now I will. I have several tea pots to choose from as I drink tea daily, throughout the day and evening, and I like choices.

TEMP: Be careful not to burn your tea, most people do not have thermometers for this purpose conveniently available. People made great tea for centuries without such tools. In general, I let my tea water come to a hot steam, but not a full boil. If it accidentally boils, I take if off the heat for a minute or so before pouring over the tea and this always works fine for me. I don't purchase spring water for my tea, I use regular tap water which in our hometown in Palm Coast, Florida, is award winning water, year after year. Use water that is suitable for you. All of these are matters of personal preference.

STEEPING: Do not let your tea steep too long. Less is best at first. Taste a tiny bit and see, you can always let it steep longer. You will learn how long you should steep to make your tea great for you. Everybody is different. There are some general steeping timeframes, I have provided a link below that may be a helpful guide. You will find the link under the word, "Resources" below. The best way to make tea is to your personal taste, so experiment, have fun and learn. This would not be necessarily true for all medicinal teas which may need to brew much longer.

AROMA: Take a minute to draw in the beautiful aroma of your tea through your nostrils nice and slow, let your senses become awakened; tea is sensuous, enjoy it. Let us not forget in the ceremony of tea making the importance of the aroma. Aroma is so much more than just smell, it enhances health and the feeling of well-being in many cases. The tea I made was deliciously aromatic; with a light sweet minty taste graced by the orange peel and small bit of honey added. This tea adds nutrients, zip and energy to my being along with a brighter, sharper mind. (Benefits of each tea listed, see below).

ENJOY: Hold and enjoy the comfort of the hot tea. If cool, let the temperature relieve you from the heat by holding and drinking in the cool as it travels within your body. Inhale and breathe in all its goodness throughout your body. Savor the taste, roll the tea around and let it fill your senses. Be thankful for the moment, however brief, you have for yourself to relish and delight in your tea. Let you mind, emotions and feelings sink into the total tea environment. Let the tea touch, soothe and comfort your mind and soul while doing wonderful things for your body. Somehow the day gets better or great, if already good.

SELF-CARE: Self-care is taking care of oneself. If you would like to read more on this topic with regard to health and wellbeing, please see our May 2023 Magazine on this blog site. There is a lot of health information within the writing and the links.

EXPANDING YOURSELF IN HERBALISM: After you get to know yourself well regarding your herbal tastes' likes and dislikes; and, as you continue to explore new options and experiment, you can create a tea prep environment that serves you well with what you need most of the time to develop tea blends. In addition, your green thumb may begin to grow as you start utilizing more and more herbs to cook with, drink as tea, or use in many other ways. Herb life is healthy life in so many ways. You can learn more about how we are incorporating our ever-growing herbal garden into our daily herb use on our Facebook Page, Faith Works Wellness Gardening with Candy. This is where I continue to grow herbs and explore herb gardening potential. Link also provided below.

Resources: How to brew and a little resource for teas mentioned in this writing

How To Brew Tea Perfectly Every Time - Life is Better with Tea

6 Benefits of Stinging Nettle (Plus Side Effects) (healthline.com)

Holy Basil: Benefits, Side Effects, Risks, and Dosage (verywellhealth.com)

12 Science-Backed Benefits of Peppermint Tea and Extracts (healthline.com)

11 Surprising Benefits of Spearmint Tea and Essential Oil (healthline.com)

12 Health Benefits and Uses of Sage (healthline.com)

Health Benefits of Basil (webmd.com)

Oat Straw Extract (Avena sativa): Benefits, Downsides, and Uses (healthline.com)

Tea | The Nutrition Source | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

(1) Faith Works Wellness Gardening with Candy | Facebook

Disclaimer:

Disclaimer follows:

Furthermore, some helpful herbs may be confused with harmful and/or deadly substances.

Sometimes Gardening is a Challenge but Most Always a Blessing.

Tue, 16 May 2023 15:51:18 GMT

And That is True Whether your Garden is a Plant or Herb Garden or Your Garden of Life!

One of my favorite parables in the bible is the story of the withering fig tree. You know the one, where Jesus is walking with the apostles, and he is hungry. He sees this beautiful fig tree rich with leaves and fullness of life, yet no fruit. Truth be told from what I understand, it was not the season for fruit. But Jesus knew His journey and where He was going and decided this was an opportune time to use the fig tree as an analogy within a parable. He cursed the fig tree for the purpose of demonstration and sharing wisdom with his apostles. He said, "May no one eat of your fruit ever again." Mark 11:12-25. Referencing in general terms and with some liberties and assumptions taken... As they journeyed into Jerusalem, Jesus was seeing His Father's House no longer being used as a House of Prayer for all nations but, it was in actuality being used as a Den of Robbers. Jesus was very angry, turning tables over, driving out money changes and merchants who sold doves for sacrifice and more. The Chief Priests and Teachers heard about this rebellion, and they were concerned of the impact Jesus was having on the people. He was opening their eyes to truth which the Chief Priests and Teachers didn't agree. They could also see in this movement their personal interests of business gains would not be served well either. In their fear, they sought to have Jesus killed. The Chief Priests and Teachers, robed in clothing of authority, speaking as knowledgeable (and indeed they were) spoke in words that did not point to God's purpose but drove their own. Their minds were closed as were their eyes and they desired to please themselves, not God. The fruit of the Fig Tree is its purpose in life, the purpose of Chief Priests and Teachers is to help others learn and grow in God. When true purpose of life isn't fulfilled, one dies spiritually, mentally and/or physically. Jesus did not tell the fig tree to die, he said, "May no one eat of your fruit ever again" taking its purpose away, it withered. The Chief Priests and Teachers were not speaking in truth, they were not living as Godly examples and therefore, "may no one eat of your fruit ever again" is very befitting for them as they were spiritually and morally dead. The following verses through verse 22 include the apostle Peter saying as they depart Jerusalem, "Look, the fig tree has withered". In reply, Jesus responded with encouragement to keep faith in God (in His words and in His promises) and to remember that if you hold something against someone, you must forgive them so God can forgive you. In this Jesus is transitioning thought from the Old Testament of sacrificing animals to a new thought of forgiving others in order to be forgiven while living fully in God. Jesus knows, He will be the last sacrifice that is pleasing and acceptable to God which He will offer (and has offered) freely to God for the purpose of salvation. Through His life, death and resurrection, all sin is forgiven, and we are redeemed.

The picture of my little fig tree tells the story of a tiny seed that struggled hard to survive year after year. This fig is about three years old now. In its first year, the frost almost killed it, there was no visible life left. I had faith in life stemming where it cannot be seen, it was somewhere deep within. With love, I was able to assist it back to life and with God's help, it survived. The second year it withstood the winter much better. I cannot bring every tree in the house, nor cover them all as we have so many. I do move them under shelter if possible and provide supporting care of water during the winter and move plants back to sunshine, whenever possible. Like people who or plants and herbs that survive the challenges of life, we all become stronger with love and care. People however must care for totality of mind, body and spirit in order to create healthy outcomes in all three areas. Doing so, provides an avenue to identify the individual full potential and purpose for life. Like the fig tree, we each have purpose we must recognize and serve, or we die of neglect in that purpose and this death can be spiritually, mentally and/or physically experienced, as one death affects the rest as a whole. Since purpose changes with time and circumstances in life, we must remain ever diligent and mindful of God's purpose for our life and provide love and care to our inner spirit which helps us recognize the change, the opportunity and the new purpose itself, so we can properly nurture that purpose and engage.

Our little fig tree has had figs on it even in year one, it knows its purpose and it is thriving. If you look at the top, you can see tiny buds and figs. There are far more tiny fruits of proof in the bottom section. Purpose and potential seem so clear cut for the little fig tree but for me, this is not always so easy. I look forward to enjoying some of the fig fruit while I continue to ponder the thought of what direction will I take in the role of Spiritual Direction next June.

The picture on top is one pepper plant hold two little peppers just getting ripe for picking that obviously were found delicious by something else. I will have to put a little red pepper around the plant or move it. This has not happened here before, even with my 15 pepper plants exploding in deliciousness last year. This reminds me that we must always remain vigilant in life to the little things that sneak-in, that undermine purpose, and which create damage. Sometimes they are things of our own making, other times, they are not. Probably more often than not, they are a combination of the two. We must remain vigilant to our purpose and cause and the steps along the way to achieve: 1 Peter 5:8

The question is now, "How are you tending to your mind, body and spirit garden?". If you need help in any of these areas, there are ways we can help through holistic health practices, through holistic herbalism and through spiritual work. Please see our services section on our website for more information. We would love to hear from you, please see our websites and contact information below:

Love and blessings,

Candy

Resources:

SERVICES (faithworkswellnessllc.com)

CONTACT (faithworkswellnessllc.com)

Faith Works Wellness LLC Open Forum | Facebook

Faith Works Wellness Gardening with Candy | Facebook

(2) Candace (Kilpatrick) Flanagan | LinkedIn

Disclaimer:

Disclaimer follows:

Furthermore, some helpful herbs may be confused with harmful and/or deadly substances.

Eat Away Your Inflammation, Arthritis and Bursitis Pain

Sun, 14 May 2023 21:22:45 GMT

Do You Know, "You Actually Physically Reflect What You Eat"!

We have moved, as a culture and society here, in the Western world, so far away from eating healthy over past decades, but it doesn't have to be this way. It is a matter of awareness. It is a matter of choice. It is a matter of behaviors that work: towards good health; that work towards poor health; or behaviors that don't really do much specifically towards any direction, but without health focus, generally lead to more unhealthy outcomes by default. Why? Because disease, specifically chronic disease, creeps up like an invisible enemy. If you don't notice the slow underlying negative impacts of poor eating, you most likely will feel the impact when you are older, less active, burning fewer calories as result of a slower metabolism, experience thyroid changes, experience cholesterol changes, experience blood pressure changes, etc. People often associate these changes to old age, but really it is about an eroding health condition, many people in studies (blue zone studies) have lived long into their 90's and even into their hundreds in very good health and they did this by living a simple life and eating whole foods, minimally processed mainly consisting of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, healthy fats and minimal amounts of clean healthy protein. If you are not eating in "camp healthy", the negative patterns chosen may, and most likely will, slowly eat away at your health baseline and your overall wellness in response will most likely start to decline and perhaps "yes", you now start to even age faster.

Add to this mix, medicines that start to become part of your daily regimen to try and reclaim some control over your symptoms and health whereby circumstances often become more complicated. Little by little, you lose the edge of heath because with regard to chronic illness, repair and obtaining better health status generally requires a combination of medical assistance, dramatic positive healthy eating implementation strategies and modification to current lifestyle. Medicine alone for chronic illness does not repair, it manages symptoms, and this is quite different! For the general population, medicine used for chronic illness without dramatic positive change to poor eating patterns and lifestyle, generally lead to more and more medicine being needed in time to control symptoms and try to alleviate to the extent possible, the damage done or that may soon occur. For example, an individual with Type 2 diabetes, can in many if not most cases in the early stages of diabetes or prediabetes, turn their disease around through the use of food as medicine and through implementing positive lifestyle behaviors. There have been many who even successfully did this in later stages of diabetes through dramatic changes in eating and lifestyle, along with medicine. Some have been able to reduce their intake of insulin or even eliminate it; now that is empowering! An improvement in blood sugar levels is also an opportunity of prevention for many other chronic diseases, illnesses and even early death.

With regard to arthritis and bursitis symptoms and root causes, if you take medicine to alleviate the inflammation but do not change unhealthy eating pattern or unhealthy behaviors, you will not fix the actual problem, you are only band aiding the problem. The band aid can't keep up with the changes as the body moves along in decline and more medical intervention often becomes necessary, including steroidal shots and surgery, etc. Inflammation is the damage occurring within the body that evokes chronic disease. Stop the inflammation, and health will reclaim what it can; and this is dependent on the severity of damage done but health will still improve in most cases. Internal repair has been profound in many cases, so why not try? I am living proof of this through fabulous restoration of my health reducing arthritis and bursitis where I no longer have any need for medicine. I have no need of painkillers to help my hip, leg or foot. I no longer have severe sciatica and I no longer have a limp that came and went with surging pain. There is no need for a prescription, shots or any surgery, I live pain free and without aspirin or Tylenol. I was a serious candidate for all three medical interventions (and I am thankful there were these options, but they are not for me, at least not at this point in my life). A dramatic change by me through food as my medicine and regular lifestyle changes, brought about my change in health status. I became well, fully well. I require no medications at all to sustain my health. My focus is my food and lifestyle. I changed my work to holistic health and holistic herbalism to help others reclaim their health as well.

Chronic diseases that stem from so-called hereditary causes (about 15%) and then poor food choices and lifestyle (about 85%). There are always a few exceptions to these rules and not everybody comes from the same health box but add to the mix social and cultural food and lifestyle behavior impacts and there is a living dynamic of positive or negative energy happening. Is it good energy or bad? That is up to you to decide, or perhaps your doctor will advise you following a health screening but, just ask yourself these questions: Does your current eating behavior leave you at a good and healthy weight? Do you feel good after you eat or full, bloated and in discomfort? Do you have signs of inflammation via chronic disease? Do you have digestive issues? Does your current eating behavior lead to good or better controlled cholesterol numbers? Does your current eating pattern negatively or positively impact your blood sugar? Are you aware of what you should eat to reduce inflammation? Are you aware of food as medicine? Well, here it is on a plate (so to speak). Healthy eating is whole food eating, minimally processed that offers a food plan that works towards your health and pleases your palate, is taken in appropriate serving sizes for your physical need that is nutrient rich and inclusive of all essential minerals, vitamins, proteins, carbohydrates, etc. And, if you are eating animal products, you should source it from only organic clean and natural sources, properly prepared and eaten only in minimal amounts.

How does your body reflect the food you eat? If you need help in creating a healthier version of yourself, please contact me using the contact links within the website to set an appointment on my calendar to learn more. You can find information about our services under the services page. Under the About Page is more information. Please feel free to follow Faith Works Wellness' Face Book pages, see below. Please see the blog "Traditional Medicine and Holistic Herbalism" found on this website for more information on this topic; and also, a little of my health history. We address holistic health which means we work in mind, body and spirit to bring about the most beneficial holistic change. See resources below that interest you:

May you live in good health and peace,

Candy Flanagan

Chronic pain: Medication decisions - Mayo Clinic

Lifestyle and Disease Prevention: Your DNA Is Not Your Destiny (nutritionfacts.org)

Reversing Disease with Food | Psychology Today

Why People in "Blue Zones" Live Longer Than the Rest of the World (healthline.com)

Foods that fight inflammation - Harvard Health

Chronic Disease in the United States: A Worsening Health and Economic Crisis - AAF (americanactionforum.org)

Our Face Book Pages: We are a brand-new company but that does not mean we are not rich in experience and education: Read more on our website about credentials, tools, etc. that we use. And visit:

Faith Works Wellness LLC Open Forum | Facebook

Faith Works Wellness Gardening with Candy | Facebook

Candace (Kilpatrick) Flanagan | LinkedIn

ABOUT (faithworkswellnessllc.com)

SERVICES (faithworkswellnessllc.com)

Disclaimer follows:

Furthermore, some helpful herbs may be confused with harmful and/or deadly substances.

Traditional Medicine and Holistic Herbalism aka Holistic Medicine

Tue, 09 May 2023 18:20:04 GMT

Some ask: "If you are a herbalist why did you use traditional medicine when you were sick?"

If you read my recent post under, "Angels on Earth", you may realize that I have been sick since somewhere around April 6th or so, I am still fighting this nasty lung infection. At first, I was evaluated for Covid: negative. Then when I went back a week later, I was told it is not worth testing as I may have Covid, but it would be too late to apply any specific Covid remedy into the mix. So, we just went with the symptoms which were furious and powerful, including a super nasty headache lasting about two weeks; a very painful cough, lots of chest congestion, chest pain, a sore throat, loss of voice and extreme fatigue. I had Covid a little over a year ago that put a spongy hole in my lung, aka pneumonia, which was extremely painful, and it took about a year to completely heal. My lungs are my downfall, no matter how well I eat, no matter how much I run and walk which unless I am sick, I do one or the other daily. No matter how well I take care of myself, my lungs become a target of infection in the right circumstance. People have asked, "Since I am a holistic herbalist, why did I elect traditional medicine?" and also, "If you're so healthy, why can't you beat this lung stuff?" These are legitimate questions. Here are my humble responses: Medicine is great for fixing acute illness or injury: a heart attack, a stroke, a broken bone, appendicitis. But medicine does not do much for chronic diseases; it usually only masks the symptoms or changes the cell messaging to block pain or change the way cells function in some manner, but the underlying problem remains. The problem is when symptoms are masked or when cell messages change, for example, especially when medications are used for prolonged periods of time, this can and usually does impact cells of similar make up elsewhere in the body. Now medicine can certainly bring comfort for some aches and pains, such as arthritis, but it is not fixing the problem and it may cause another problem in a different part of your body. An example of this might be aspirin use or other pain relievers. Aspirin type pain relievers change how the cells respond to a situation and this inner functional change can lead to some significant side effects. So, an aspirin for an occasional headache (or other pain reliever) will not really be an issue for most, but continued use becomes a problem in health. In my personal health strategy, I prefer not to take aspirin unless the pain is unbearable, which to me is far greater than just discomfort. I try to deal with the cause of the pain with natural and/or herbal solutions. I find this to work more holistically as it addresses the cause of most problems without side effects. For example, congestion can cause headaches, therefore if you clear congestion, the headache usually dissipates. I often breathe in thyme to reduce congestion by simply putting thyme in boiling water and breathing in the steam; it is amazing. This can be a good thing to do after exposure to many people as it has been reported to have a sort of cleaning effect on the lungs as well. However, there are still some precautions necessary, especially for people like me, with COPD or other respiratory issues. How and when to use herbs properly becomes essential information and continued education in this field is required to keep knowledge current. It is also important for those in traditional medicine to stay current on medical findings and medication data. Tension from pain and sickness can also create a pressure-cooker headache. Chamomile with ginger most often eases the tension, therefore the headache eases and the ginger quiets an upset stomach for many people quite effectively. Sometimes, meditation does the trick alone or it may be enhanced with herbs or other natural courses. If the headache is powerful, I may add a little Queen of the Meadow aka Lady of the Meadow to my chamomile and ginger which has a natural component in it called salicylic acid. Salicylic acid is a precursor of aspirin and can work similarly to relieve pain. However, as a precursor to aspirin this herb may also increase internal bleeding. But, whole plants or plant parts (minimally processed) are wrapped in natural fiber, and when prepared holistically and used properly, often result with less stomach issue or other side effect occurrence. Aspirin comes from this herb or similar herbs, but they are a stripped and mechanically changed version of the whole natural plant (which alleviates pain more gently and naturally). There are still some precautions using herbs, like Queen, such as: It should not be used by pregnant and lactating women, and it is contraindicated in people who do not support aspirin. This is why it helps to not just read herbal information on the internet but work with an herbalist who regularly works with plants and people's health and wellness goals and who continue herbal and health coaching education.

Let us look at cholesterol medicine for example. Cholesterol medicine lowers cholesterol and this is particularly important if you have high cholesterol because the risk of stroke and heart attack increases significantly as cholesterol (LDL or bad cholesterol) rises in your body. But is cholesterol medicine the answer? If so, it should never be the sole answer. People with high cholesterol may think they are doing all they can to lower cholesterol, but are they? Do they know all the options? Even if cholesterol medicine is absolutely required, the individual is always far better off by seriously addressing food intake, which is medicine when used to properly and specifically nourish for cause, and exercise. Cholesterol does not suddenly go to unhealthy levels for most people. It is a course in action that occurs over time, and it can often be detected early with physicals long before medicine is even necessary. This is when serious conversation between the doctor and the patient is very important. It is not a, "wait and let's see approach" while HDL climbs further up the ladder, it is a prime opportunity for change. Even if the doctor does not take this opportunity to discuss how the patient can address this, an individual working on his or her own can and should take the initiative to selfheal through avenues of healthy nutrition and lifestyle changes, if they know where to begin. Holistic Herbalist can significantly help an individual through education, awareness and support of nourishment enhancements and behavior modification, exercise strategies and lifestyle changes. Herbal information may be offered as additional support, as appropriate, to further support healthy outcomes. If you choose to add herbals to your daily regimen of cholesterol management, (or other health challenge) be sure to collaborate with your doctor and an herbalist. Your doctor may need to watch your cholesterol levels more closely, as dramatic changes may occur requiring medication to be lowered. Your herbalist may help you review your symptoms and health considerations before selecting herbs for consideration before trying. Before herbs are added, diets are modified, or exercise is added, you should check with your doctor. In addition, start first with diet and exercise before adding herbs, as these alone may reduce cholesterol significantly and added herbs may not even be necessary. It is important to note that herbs may be added in several ways and this example is limited and not all inclusive. Herbs can be added that simply support nourishment with no specific target of cholesterol, providing overall nutritional benefit which may, as an outcome of this process, aid in the long-term cholesterol goals plus increase health outcomes overall. Herbs can be added that focus on lowering cholesterol levels solely; or herbs can be added to support overall health and target cholesterol levels as part of a cholesterol management program. Whether or not medication has been started, the best place to start is through diet and exercise considerations and then consider whether herbals may push your positive results a bit further, if needed. I believe the best place to be is natural as much as possible. Taking medications for extended periods of time can create havoc in your body in so many ways. This is a personal choice however and certainly not for everyone. Holistic herbalism cannot address many acute problems as effectively as medicine, but often they still can be used if the need for remedy is not immediate. Medicine is appropriate for this short-term use. If you have a lung infection, "yes" there are herbal strategies available to try, but they take a little time to get sufficiently in the body and work. and if it does not work for you; important time has been lost. With lungs as responsive to illness as mine, this would be a bad option. My best option is to take my medicine, get over the infection and start building my overall strength back with herbs. My body has no forgiveness in time and space where lung illness is concerned, and it must be addressed quickly. My best defense, is a good offense, doing all I can to stay healthy; wearing a mask around others during specific seasons of fall and spring (which I have not done); and proactively taking herbs for lung enhancement. Now this is something I lack doing as well and I will be adding this to my regimen. I have not done that yet simply because when I am not in the worst seasons for me (fall and spring), I have little issues and I do not even think about it until boom, I have a lung issue. So, I will be establishing an immensely powerful herbal program for myself that will work to keep my lungs functioning as best they can, which is significant because I tested over one hundred on a pulmonary function test which is outstanding lung capacity. In comparison, my husband does not have my lung issues, and unfortunately, we saw the symptoms creeping up on him of my illness. I was immediately able to jump into herbal action for him. I prepared him tea every day with echinacea, Tulsi, peppermint, spearmint, lemon, and honey. Sometimes I added nettle and oat straw for added nourishment. My husband never became seriously ill. The illness was still in him, you could hear it in his voice and cough, but he never lost a day of work. He was also able to function well at work, perhaps not to his usual speed and personal expectation, but the Tulsi helped him to function well and keep him altogether when ill. With proper rest at night, nutritious food, and herbs, he recovered without cough medicine, antibiotics, or steroids. HIs speed of recovery is already at least half of mine on medication, but I do have the added lung issues. Even still, this gives me pause to reflect how my prevention regimen may also cut recovery time should a future infection occur. I know my husband is generally reactive following exposure to my illnesses, and in the past few years he has become quite ill. The last two illnesses, however, I started him on herbs and the results were like day and night, they remained mild in comparison to his past experiences. Therefore, I will also create a fall and spring regimen for him that works for his needs, prevention and foundational strengthening. People do not realize the power of herbs in food and in teas, tinctures, decoctions, etc., they are amazingly powerful. Herbal remedies have been used over five thousand years and over 50 percent of the United States population uses herbal remedies in some fashion daily. Herbal medicine can help with chronic issues by bringing about a better functioning body right down to the powerful and most important cellular level. Most problems today stem from chronic issues, herbal and holistic health practices can make a very positive impact in health issues stemming from chronic issues. Many, if not most, deaths occur from long term chronic issues, reducing the chronic load on our bodies is detrimental to healthier long-term life experience and improved quality of life.

Before closing, I want to share that several years back, I was chronically ill with bronchitis, pneumonia and lung infections, even chronic asthma all in one period of time lasting about 12 weeks, I was on thirty-two medications including antibiotics, pain relievers, asthma inhalers, steroids, steroid shots and nasal steroids, pearls for coughing, and liquid for congestion. During and long after using all the medicines, I was lethargic, heavy, weak, breathless, depressed, light-headed, and unable to physically do anything like I used to do. In fact, I had such bad arthritis and bursitis, I could barely walk. My knee hurt, my hip hurt, my right leg and butt cheek had sciatic pain running up and down it and I could not sleep with all the pain. I could not sit properly, I could not stand long, I could not even walk up the stairs without holding the railing. The picture of my future, per my ortho at that time, included shots in my knee, my feet and potential surgery in time for my knee and hip. Absolutely not for me! Since I have followed my holistic health path, I reclaimed all my health. I run a 5K normally four times a week, I walk at least two miles every day in between. I go to the gym. I have no active arthritis pain, my hip does not hurt ever, my sciatica is gone, my foot pain is gone, and my knee pain is nonexistent, unless I injure it somehow. My holistic health practices returned me, to the best I can be, to my former healthier self before illness and medication, maybe even better; stronger. I can keep up with my grown-up kids when they visit, and my husband and I enjoy the fullness of life. Nothing slows me down, but my lung issue. Now back to the lung issue. You might think, well you are always sick in fall and winter with lung issues. Yes, I am, there is no getting around that but last time I had Covid it was my health that brought me through. It was my physical strength and capacity that worked along with the medicine to help me get well, along with my herbs. Many people with pre-existing diseases like COPD do not survive Covid, they do not survive asthma attacks and/or they never return to a functioning life. I have, and I have done so with the Grace of God, good medicine, healthy lifestyle, including nutritious food and holistic herbalism. Herbalism not only adds valuable vitamins, minerals and yes, even proteins to your daily intake, they can be created to help restore what is out of balance or not functioning as well as it should. Herbal solutions are generally effectively and safe for most people. Many people are concerned about using fresh or dried herbal teas or tinctures that they fear are unsafe or too expensive. A trained herbalist can partner with you to sort through the herbal questions and concerns by a thorough review of your family history, medicines, family traditions, cultures, and lifestyle practices. You are in charge of you, not the herbalist, nor the doctor and you should always be prepared with questions of your own when you visit either and to research what you are told. Take a long look at your medicines and note the side effects. How many are you taking in one day? Who is watching the contraindications of all these medications overall? How are they affecting other parts of your body? Can you do without any of these medicines? If so, what would you need to do to create healthy change and make it sustainable? We often believe "someone is handling all this", but truth be told, most often, all this is overlooked, and many things are missed.

There is a place for medicine and there is a place for herbalism, the best option includes the best resources from both worlds. To do this effectively, you need a doctor and an herbalist who listen to your goals for health and well-being, and they should collaborate with you to help you create a path to get there. It is true that many herbalists custom craft herbal options at a price, but this would only be a fraction of the cost of the medicine your actions may prevent you needing. Or you could learn to custom craft yourself. Your doctor also benefits financially in most, if not all instances, from prescribing medication; the price is usually high, and you cannot craft the medicine yourself. In addition, you are most likely dependent on insurance approval. No one can be sure if medications will always be available when your body becomes dependent on them, as had happened with prescription shortages during Covid. Prevention, if possible, is always best. You can always ask your doctor, are there other natural options available that are more holistic, there are many ways you can be treated naturally in most circumstances. Also, functional medicine is really a great blend of traditional and herbal medicine, I believe this is an area of medicine that will continue to expand in wonderful ways. If your doctor does not know the answer, ask a certified health coach or an educated and trained herbalist as they may have knowledge of several different practices locally available. A good doctor will offer diverse options, including a blend of both with close supervision; like trying a holistic avenue of weight loss and herbal use for example with a thirty day follow up. Keep in mind that doctors have little training in nourishment in the scheme of their education and most know little about herbs, so they may refrain from questions they don't know how to answer. This doesn't mean your question isn't valid or that there isn't a better solution. It means if they dance around your question, if they do not answer your questions specifically, then perhaps, you might be happier working with a doctor who is more open, or perhaps more knowledgeable, about holistic health--there are more and more doctors now truly interested in holistic health. A holistic herbalist like me, can draft a plan for a client to bring to his or her doctor for consideration that addresses food plans, exercise, meditation or other stress reducing activities and quite possibly, herbals. Many physicians will offer the response, "Good, let's try it for thirty days and see how you are doing at that time and go from there". This makes perfect sense.

If you are interested in learning how holistic herbalism can help you in your health and wellness goals, please use the contact link on the website to set up a call on my calendar to address your questions and concerns or email me at candace@faithworkswellnessllc.com.

Resources for many specific topics discussed above are found below, you may find one or more helpful.

Blessings for great health and wellness,

Candy Flanagan

aspirin blocks the pain how - Search (bing.com)

side effects of aspirin - Search (bing.com)

Meadowsweet Uses, Benefits & Side Effects - Drugs.com Herbal Database

is aspirin made from herbs like queen of the meadow - Search (bing.com)

Best Herbs for Steam Inhalation: Thyme, Mint, Eucalyptus, and More

(insider.com)

Cholesterol medications:

Consider the options - Mayo Clinic

Is Your Doctor Getting Drug Kickbacks? | Healthy Home Economist

(thehealthyhomeeconomist.com)

Further, some helpful herbs may be confused with harmful and/or deadly substances.

Angels on Earth

Tue, 02 May 2023 11:13:51 GMT

Angels are all around; some in human form, others heavenly

It seems to happen more and more frequently lately that I find angels all around me, I ponder on that thought. Some angels come in human form, others, perhaps heavenly. Today's story is about the human form. It all starts with the story of the garden above. This garden is about 48 feet long and about 3.5 - 4' wide. You can't really tell now, but the beautiful rock garden above, blooms in spring, summer, fall and much of winter. It is a hibiscus garden with about 10 trees that will grow back quickly reaching around 10 feet tall and displaying an array of deep orange, yellow, yellow and orange: and peach, some with single flowers others with double flowers. In between each hibiscus are smaller floral bushes that perk the colors up even more. This year, I may even add some herbs along the rock side; you know, the kind that love hot Florida sun. My husband, however, every year at this time, cuts all the trees down low to give them strength and stability to withstand the summer storms. With recent illness lasting well over two weeks, and still going, and all the rain we acquired in short spurts, the weeds among the hibiscus and floral trees, were taking over the garden in fierce battle. Sunday, I went out, still ill but feeling like doing something, I put on mask, gloves and knee-high boots (we have snakes) to battle the wild. You might be wondering about the mask. I have environmental asthma and every year when I work this particular garden, some of the dirt gets into my lung and I have both an allergic reaction and an asthmatic reaction, nasty stuff. Being as I have been ill now with a lung infection, the last thing I want to do is tempt fate. Therefore, I wore a mask. I'm sure I am quite a site with my shorts and tee shirt, knee high rubber boots, mask and leather gloves. I worked for about an hour, perhaps a little longer on Sunday and was feeling hot, sweaty and very fatigued. I put away my tools, personal protection gear, shovel and trusty garbage can that held almost a barrel full of packed weeds. I got some work done in this short time; I was a true warrior of the weeds. Florida gardens are often a battlefield, if you're not familiar, they are often tenacious. They grow long spikey prickly stems; the roots delve deep into the ground, and they wrap themselves around all the roots they find. Many of them also are like tuber things that spread underneath the surface multiplying their numbers and strength faster than poison ivy spreads in kindergarten class. Sometimes these roots are so strong and resistant, as you pull and pull to get the entire root out (otherwise they are back in a few days) you can actually lose your balance when the root lets go. Canal land is not flat, it slopes downward, so one misstep in the footing or loss of balance can easily bring a normally stable person to the ground quite fast with a good chance of landing in the rock on the seawall, maybe, even in the water...not fun! You have to be ever mindful of your footing for stumbling blocks, snakes, rocks and weeds that wrap around your shoes, in order to maintain your balance while you work. I have lost it many times over the years earning my cuts, bruises, bumps, bug bites, and rashes quite legitimately. But I will never give up getting this garden under control because it is so beautiful and well worth it, when it is done. Monday, I journeyed back outside, still sick. I thought just an hour. I got about 15 feet done on day one, so another 15 feet and I'm over two thirds the way done! Probably my first mistake was working ill, secondly, working alone but hey, who doesn't? The wind, I noticed, had a little more whip than usual but it felt nice. I put on my gear, grabbed a clean garbage pail to haul away my adversaries and got to work. I pinched the top of the garbage pail onto the edging of a rock to stabilize and secure it, a least a little. I'm playing tug of war and I believe the weeds were winning, so I took a pause to push the garbage pail tighter onto the rock's lip and went to the garage to grab my trusty shovel, my equalizer. I was only gone a minute, the garage door was already open, so I just had to run in and grab the shovel, I knew exactly where it was. I came trotting down the back when I notice something off. What is wrong with this picture...my eyes scan to the canal. OMG my garbage pail with weeds freshly plucked is now sinking down into the canal, just its wide-open mouth bobbing up and down right at the seawall. I tried kneeling and bending way over and I grabbed the garbage pail, but as it quickly filled with water, the weight was ridiculous. Of course, in water, everything seems much lighter, the problem was I was two feet above the water, and I would have to haul it up and over. Weighing in at about 8.34 pounds per gallon with half the 32 gallons filled with water within the pail, I wasn't winning this one! There was no way I was going to lift this tub of water up and out of the canal much less up onto the seawall. A few times, I felt the wind kick hard and of course the current twists and turns pulling my wrist likewise. Yes, I could have just let it go, but I just hate when people let trash get into our beautiful canals where dolphin, manatee, turtles and so much other wildlife live. My mind was racing with ideas, none that were worthy, just a race of empty thoughts. Still, I tried a few: I tried to turn the garbage pail sideways and just lift a little to try and drain a bit, it worked for a minute but then it took more water back in as gentle but steady waves rolled the water back into the pail. I then resorted to the little sharp shovel. I held the pail with one hand, with current tugging in opposite direction while I tried to scoop the water out with the shovel, this was not working either. There was no way I was going to jump into our canal as the edges of all the seawalls and the bottom of the canal are filled with razor sharp shells and barnacles, nasty infectious material. If you slit your foot or hand and get bacteria in, it is not forgiving, and the infection can come to own you. No thank you, not jumping in, it doesn't help to make a situation worse. By this time, I resorted to being stretched across the seawall first lengthwise, then turning perpendicular to the water being yanked and dragged inch by inch across the seawall clearly earning the scraping, bruising, banging, bumping that went along with all of the effort. As I look around for ideas, I saw no one and nothing that could help me. I was bone dry of helpful thought and I was starting to think I would just have to give up. Maybe, when Steve got home, we could somehow drag that bad boy back up and out, although we have lost ladders never again retrieved. All of a sudden, I heard a voice speak to me, it was my neighbor. Funny, I never really see any of his family from our home too much. Their dock keeps the boat pushed forward around towards the front bend of the canal and out of our sight, with exception of the back end. Also, our yards have pretty dense set of trees and bushes between the two houses and a fence, so you don't see much of anything in their backyard, nor they ours. I do love this privacy. But there he was at the edge of his dock looking at me probably wondering, "What in the world is she doing". Surprisingly, he wasn't laughing, he just kind of looked concern, he probably thought I was crazy at that point. He said, hey the current is moving right towards my dock, just let her go and she will drift my way and I will grab it. It seemed plausible, so I let go. It just slowly sank deeper and deeper right where it was. Now to add insult to injury, my body was soaking wet with sweat, and as I stood up and looked down, my Apple ear bud ($200.00/pair) slid right out of my year. All I could do is watch it float down into the water and drift downward below my line of sight. I actually forgot I even had it in my ear. Honestly, at this point, I didn't even care. I decided to go to my garage and see if I could find a rope to help tie it off the pail to the something; anything. I could still grab and drag it towards my neighbor since he was so nice to offer. Upon my immediate return to my seawall, my neighbor was on my seawall using a fishhook that I guess is used to help lift up heavy fish up and into the boat. The apostles fishing came to my mind, and I instantly thought how unusual for anyone to be just there where he can help me when, just a minute ago, there was no one around. He already had that garbage pail up a good way out of the water, using the fishhook he poked a hole in the side of the pail and allowed it to drain a bit and then was able to pick it up and bring it in to land. Amazingly, it looked so easy. He said, "I saw you struggling to get that pail out and I just felt I had to help you." I am terribly thankful right now, but not so much about the pail being saved, nor the canal being saved of yet one more piece of junk that finds its way to polluting it, but because, there was no one around, and then there was and because it was kindness to just help someone, me. Sometimes in this world, it's easy to not see the good around you, the news on TV is always so bleak. Neighbors don't often talk to others like they used to, and sometimes, the world can feel a bit isolated. Today, it felt warmer, kinder, nicer and I know God saw me and help arrived. Helping someone is a choice. We often get the opportunity, but many times we will just turn away and pretend we didn't see the need, or we tell ourselves, not today, I'm too busy. My neighbor, the human angel, took the opportunity and made a difference for me. This makes me think that every time I sense a need to "help" to try my best to meet the need. We may just be the angel God sends, our response, is our response to God. Oh, and yes! I did clear about another 15 feet afterward; tenacity paid off again. I told my neighbor, "Thank you" with sincerity of heart and soon I will bring his wife and he a little thank you gift. It's always nice to be appreciated, although God will certainly remember him too. May your life be surrounded by angels, and may you be an angel to others when opportunity beckons. Oh, what a beautiful world this would be! God bless....be healthy and stay well.

Ps. 91:11-12

For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

In His love and Grace, we remain,

Candy

Faith and Healing

Wed, 26 Apr 2023 14:24:53 GMT

Faith Healing and Healing in Faith

Well, if you saw the presentation I prepared, "The Link Between Nutrition and Mental Health" you know I opened the conversation with two slides on "faith healing"; and in my email that delivered the presentation, you may recall reading that I noted I had a lot of trials and tribulations just to get the presentation completed and sent out on time and that I would share that story in the blog. Here it is. The good news is that I did meet my promised deadline. The bad news were the many trials that challenged me and the lingering effect. But the even better news? I made new friends, I served God, He saw me through the challenge, I grew in strength and trust. The good news is that I grew within, even if it did have a cost. The good news is my faith has deepened and the good news is, I confirmed to myself once again, God is great. Like I really needed more proof. Now, I'm not saying that my situation was death dying bad, but ... how bad? Well, I will let you be the judge of that answer. I'll begin at the beginning: As a person who worked in large corporate structures with heavy responsibility and the significantly burdensome pressure of highly visible jobs, I had lots of deadlines and people to make happy. I am not afraid of deadlines or hard work. I plan my work and that has always led me down the path to get it done. But this time, it's different, my service it ultimately to God through serving His people. And while there was no earthly bonus that I know of, there appeared to be a little mischief going on in my life. I call to mind an image of two horns, a red body and long wicked tail, you just might be able to name him. It started to remind me of the story of Job. We all live the story of Job once in a while. We are all challenged, but it's how we meet the challenge that can make the difference in one's life. I planned the presentation out 60 days in advance, which is plenty of time for me to work daily to research, gather, develop, write, create and deliver - a total package with slides turned into video presentation and two handouts: one four pages with some significant detail and one, a form for reflection. The goal was to deliver the presentation one week after the fair. I was not supposed to be at the fair because I attend school for Spiritual Direction on weekends and this was a school weekend. I never miss school! I have an A type personality and expect only the best from myself in school. Otherwise, why waste the money and time. By the week before the fair, the presentation was 95 percent written and the resource form was at least 90 percent complete, nothing yet on the Reflection Form. In the weeks just prior to the fair, where I was doing some substance writing, a contractor completely obliterated the neighborhood fiber optic line and in so doing tore completely up the AT & T cable for internet, which is what we have. So, here we begin my saga, with even with the best laid plans. Initially this was only supposed to take one night and the next morning, but lucky us, the contractor (not ours) brought his Ditch Witch (earth moving equipment) into fix the problem the contractor caused, and it totally broke down on our front lawn. So now, we have this nonfunctioning equipment on our front yard not assisting with our nonfunctioning cable; the repair took an additional day and a half to complete. No computer, no internet and no TV for this entire time, plus all the yards were a mess and our driveways were always blocked. Okay, we move on down the road 10 days. With precious work time already lost, also school time because I do have to go to school online as well during the week for herbalism and I missed two nights of that, so now I'm getting a little stressed. On this tenth day in, the same sub-contractor (not ours but a corporate service provider installing cable into the neighborhood, again) knocked out most of the street's internet for another 2 - 2.5 days. Really? How is this even possible? I will say that God also sent AT & T angels who worked long hard hours in our neighborhood to fix what others broke and get us up and running as quickly as they could while working around the other contractor repairs. Oy vey! This now has brought me to one week before. I am still not overly worried; I am very efficient and capable. Yes, and also in prayer. God sent me angels this month to help me too, I am very thankful. My angel, Helen, helped read documents, checked new website views and functioning (yep, I still have this to share) because I was still building my own website, which is now beautiful. He also sent me my angel, Craig, because he researched and set up an inventory site for me and also, he built a very cool program for contacts, such as those contacts you meet at a fair. But, within the same ten days before the commotion of internet disaster, I was finishing up my new website and the website had some issues that were not of my doing and that's when AT & T went down. I had to get a Zen Business tech to help me with the website. We had to stop and start over again and again, with the timing of the outside damage to the internet. This angel was named Nikkii. She jumped right in and took my hit list of website app issues and worked right through it with me, checking in with me every step to make sure it was functioning as it should, and she did it with a smile I could see even over the phone. We resolved every last piece, she worked for days and at no charge--that's quite an angel. Let me just say that none of my angels charged me a penny. We are now one week before the fair. I had two angels, Craig and Helen who offered to man my booth at the fair all day Saturday so I could attend school. They were all prepped and ready with brochures, a poster, business cards, logoed shirts and raffle prizes. But then, just five days out from the fair, there was a health exposure and then we all decided, the night before the fair, Craig and Helen had to step away from manning the booth (totally understandable as they could not risk any exposure for a loved one's safety). Now what? I prayed, I opened my heart to God and called my school, bright and early morning, the now morning of the fair and my other angel Kathy said, don't worry about it, your work is always outstanding, you never missed a day, go and take care of your business. So, I felt this was an answer from God and so I did this and felt peace. Ahhh, I was beginning to breathe, having fun at the fair and planning to finish up the few little pieces left to do for the presentation and send it on its way the following weekend. But then...hmmm...I became ill, so Monday I went for a covid test and thankfully, it was negative, this was good, but I was still sick. But over the next day or so, as I was working feverishly (literally) to get the work completed, I got better for one whole day... I got my work completed and sent out as promised but yeah, you can hear the raspy voice in the presentation. But the next day, whacked me like a freight train. A mighty painful deep chest cough, a severe sore throat, wheezing, headache, so yes, I went back into health care, and they determined I was having severe asthma along with a bacterial infection, it just needed a little time to show its ugly head. Yes, I feel like Job in many ways, but I did keep trusting in God and forging through, but this illness is scary illness because I had a spongy hole in my lungs just last year from covid and very significant injury to my lungs in 2008 from an environmental exposure. The devil always knows where to throw his punch, but its too late, he's just mad because I made it through, now he's vindictive. I never shifted my purpose; God saw me through. A lot of people might think, you got sick because you were so stressed. "Yes" maybe, stress absolutely lowers resistance, no question. But I got sick because of circumstances that led to my stress and circumstances (although no one knows what that was) that led me to contract the bacteria) The stress was just an added factor. Another angel said, God is trying to get your attention!" This is my angel, Sandra. God has my attention daily; I pray throughout every day and meditate. He had much of my attention during all the crisis going on, but she wasn't wrong because I knew I had prior lung issues. I know I have very strong but sensitive lungs. This is why I run four times a week and walk the other three; everyday as much as possible, so I can keep them as strong as I can. God did whisper in my ear a few times, maybe you should wear your mask to the event. I guess my pride didn't want me to, I don't know why I actually didn't, but I sure wish I did. God was trying to get my attention, and I blew it off as if it didn't matter. But it did matter, and it does matter. Prevention matters and we should never tempt the Lord our God, with any of our health issues. When I look back over it all, I see God's hand in everything with angels, albeit the human angels I saw, I don't know if there were any others, but I bet so. My angels worked so hard to help me succeed. What a gift. But my lungs, they got hurt and God did not prevent my illness just because I was doing a good work, because I made a choice not to help myself where I should have done so. I am thankful I am here to say, "Lesson learned", you will probably see me wearing a mask at the next event or wherever large amounts of people are in small speaking spaces, like my table. Also, I always heard, and definitely believe, the devil doesn't bother those who are doing things not of God, he already has them under control. He tackles the Jobs out there. The people trying to do good for his people and that was my intent. Job is a story of a man who faces many obstacles and challenges of life, some of which are pretty painful and horrible. and how faith and walking in faith, brings Grace and healing. Note Job was not spared pain and suffering, although i am holistic and don't readily run to medicine, medicine is good and necessary for many things, especially things like big bad illness, heart attack, broken leg, etc. those things that require immediate medical treatment and fast medicine, this was my case. The angel here was my nurse, she provided the help I needed to get me on the wellness path so I just might be around long enough to do it right the next time. God bless and may you have faith in your healing and choose to do what you need to do to stay well.

In His love and care,

Candy

Holistic Herbalism Simple Applications for Home

Tue, 14 Mar 2023 14:30:42 GMT

Sharing Herbs with My Neighbor Who Lets Me Hang 10 Herb Planters on Her Fence:

Sweet Basil, Italian Oregano and Lemon Thyme

Just another way to say, "Thank You".

Early yesterday morning, just at the peak of dawn, I was outside trimming my herb plants, and I have a lot. I noticed my Sweet Basil, Italian Oregano and Lemon Thyme needed a little more than a trim. They needed to be cut back a bit to let the light get into the body of the plant. Also, my poor little parsley is fighting for space in the urn, so I will be moving Mr. Parsley somewhere else. And, while I am at it, I will also be moving Ms. Garden Sage, as she desires more space as well. I don't know how many plants I have, I have to update the inventory sheet, but it has to be about 75 herbs outside, some on the ground and some in pots. I probably have another 75 herbs or more and counting that are dried, jarred and housed in cabinets set up just for them. I am serious about herbalism, I think I gave my sister-in-law, Helen, the bug as well. I love having another buddy to share all this excitement with as I really enjoy with herbs. My dear friend, Jeanette, is into essential oils, I need to spend more learning time with her: essential oils are fabulous, but I'll stick to what I do best and let her do what she does best, and we can just share. I focus more on tinctures, decoctions, teas, and salves, etc. Anyway, I thought I would just do something nice for my neighbor and bring her some fresh herbs; oh boy, do they smell fabulous. She was delighted with the gift bags; I know it brightened her day. Anyway, I thought I would share a little bit about the wonderful three plants I gave to her: Sweet Basil, Garden Sage and Lemon Thyme. While all of these are absolutely awesome in the food arena, where I got my start with herbs and where they make my house smell absolutely awesome during cooking, they also have other uses medicinally that you might find helpful to know and to possibly research further.

Sweet Basil: (Ocimum basilicum) There are many varieties of basil. You might know it as Cinnamon, Thai, Lettuce, Greek or Bush Basil. Basil has Vitamin A, Vitamin K, Calcium, Iron and Manganese. Basil is known to reduce memory loss, depression; stroke damage while supporting recovery (right before or right after a stroke). It is also known to reduce blood pressure; relax blood vessels; prevent certain cancers such as breast, colon and pancreas; it reduces aspirin damage to gut; increases mental alertness; offers an alternative for antibiotics for infectious disease including antibiotic resistant strains; and it repels mosquitoes and improves food safety. Good to know, right?

Now, I have to mention, Holy Basil (aka Tulsi, one of my favorites you may recall reading about in my "Angels on Earth" blog) has also proven effectiveness in lowering blood sugar in a study of 60 Type 2 diabetics averaged 18% lower blood sugar levels than those who did not use Holy Basil along with medication. In another study of 158 people who expressed at least three symptoms of stress, 39% had a more effective result in improved general symptoms as did those on placebo. Pretty wonderful stuff. For more information, including dosing, safety, etc., please see the Healthline link below.

Italian Oregano: (Origanum vulgare) Oregano was used in the Mediterranean region for centuries, oregano has been found beneficial for: skin sores; aching muscles; asthma; cramping; diarrhea; indigestion; colds; and to boost overall health. There is evidence, but more study needs to be done that Oregano also fights bacteria; relieves inflammation; regulates blood sugar and lipids and also, fights cancer. Oregano, as well as many other herbs, are antioxidants that eliminate free radicals and therefore they may prevent cancer. It appears Oregano has antibacterial; anti-inflammatory; cancer prevention properties and so many more. In general, oregano contains carbohydrates, calcium, fiber, phosphorous, potassium and folate. Examples of antioxidants in the oregano herb include tryptophan, lysine, valine, arginine, vitamin C, vitamin A, and vitamin E (tocopherol).

Lemon Thyme (Thymus citriodorus) According to Spiceography, Lemon Thyme, actually, all thyme originated in Southern Europe, Asia and South Africa and is part of the mint family. The word thyme means fumigate. It has been considered an expectorant by Ancient Greek physician and botanist, "Dioscórides and also, a fumigant by Roman naturalist, Pliny. Roman legions later journeyed thyme to England where it was valued in the Middle Ages and many English gardens had established a place for thyme. (See ref. Spiceography below). Well, this was a bit more history than I anticipated sharing, but it was fun for me! I hope you enjoyed that extra tidbit.

Lemon thyme has been found to be effective in preventing certain diseases while boosting the immune system. Loaded with antioxidants, vitamins, calcium and minerals, lemon thyme is a wonderful add to any health plan. It appears, Lemon Thyme can treat and prevent conditions such as: respiratory tract ailments; gastrointestinal ailments and gingivitis. For more specific information on this topic, see the Spiceography link below.

People often think, drinking tea made from simple herbs is not going to do anything given the tiny amount of nutrients in each cup. But the beauty is, it does a lot. Constant intake of a variety of healthy natural and whole nutritious herbs provides a constant flow of minute nutrients that make a powerful impact to your health. This is greatly empowered with healthy eating and lifestyle. When you add a variety of herbs into your salads, into your tea, into your drinks, into your broths, and into your baked goods, stews, casseroles and pastas; and also, onto your meats and vegetables, you are layering upon layering all these healthy nutrients throughout the day, your body is constantly receiving, processing, absorbing and utilizing healthy nutrients. Good things in, great things come about.

Many people reap the benefits of herbs, why not you? If you would like to speak with me to see how herbs can be added into your health and wellness plan, please contact me via the contact me links on the web pages on https://faithworkswellnessllc.com (where this blog resides). Or you can email me at candace@faithworkswellnessllc.com. I would love to hear from you,

Let's talk herbs!

Blessings, peace and good health,

Candy

Basil: Nutrition, Health Benefits, Uses and More (healthline.com)

Oregano: Health benefits, uses, and side effects (medicalnewstoday.com)

Lemon Thyme: History, Flavor, Benefits, Uses - SPICEography

Thyme: 12 Health Benefits and More (healthline.com)

DISCLAIMER:

Further, some helpful herbs may be confused with harmful and/or deadly substances.

Journeying towards Health Together: Recipes, Community Updates

Tue, 14 Mar 2023 14:21:12 GMT

The Fun of Trying New Recipes

Lots of people struggle with recipes when they are trying to "go healthy". The task of looking up recipes and then buying a bunch of expensive products your not used to using can make the job arduous at best. So, let's simplify things:

Start with recipes you know very well already. You know, the ones you've been making forever off the top of your head. Dust that old recipe off and give it a new face. Take a minute and consider what would you like to change about it, even if it is perfect as it is. Think of a way to modify that deliciousness into something new. For example, say you love macaroni and cheese, and you make it the best and you love it just the way it is. Awesome, keep that fattening beast for when you want it most, a Friday night special or a holiday treat. But what else can you do with it that makes it healthier? Perhaps you can try changing the added butter fat you probably use to a vegan butter? Now that was easy, and good vegan butter is really as delicious as dairy butter.

Well let's see what else we might try to make it a little healthier for more frequent consumption than just holidays. How about if you modify how much you eat by transforming it into something a little different, like stuffed macaroni and cheese tomato or stuffed pepper? I don't know, how brave are you? How about adding chunks of roasted sweet potato and broccoli to it? Okay, no good? How about adding some broccoli as a side dish that is steamed with squeezed lemon juice and serve smaller portions of your mac with a small lean meat and fruit on the side. Don't forget to add a couple of vegetables to fill you up (steamed or low fat or no fat added). How about adding black or red beans to the mac and cheese and perhaps creating a chili mac with added diced tomato, lean meet (or beans only) and chili seasoning and cumin.

Here's the challenge: Come up with your favorite recipe and modify it. Then over the next month, modify two more times. Keep us posted on the blog with what recipe you started with, and any modifications. You don't have to tell us your whole story all at once, come back and give us an update. It will be great, and we can learn something new. Well, I'm starting with my recipe I just tried for "Impossible Burgers" ...an imposter. I love Impossible Burgers and Beyond Beef burgers, but I don't love the price. Now I can make them for a fraction of the cost. I provided the link to the online recipe I found at the end of this blog. It was a good start, but I need to modify it two or three different ways. 1. It calls for white rice, changing that next time. 2. It calls for Canola oil, I partially changed out, will do more next time. 3. I used too much red beet...please someone define what is a small beet, it wasn't mine! Overall, the burgers smelled good, a little too red from too much added shredded beets but, the flavor was on point. It was great. My burgers were also a little too soft too, not bad though. The beet was too big and added too much fluid. Until next time.

https://www.thespruceeats.com/homemade-impossible-burger-4801190

JOURNEYING TOGETHER TOWARDS HOLISTIC HEALTH

June 2023 Magazine

June is National Safety Month and other specific health topics, read more:

Spiritual or Christian Crossword

Click the link below pic: This is a Biblical-Themed Crossword for Fun

Meditational Teas

Meditational Tea for Silent Retreat Attendees

Get Out of the Rut Breakfast Challenge

The Weekly Update Will be Posted Here for the Breakfast Challenge: "Get Out of the Rut"

The Art of Making Herbal Tea

There is a peaceful meditational ceremony in the creation of tea alone.

Sometimes Gardening is a Challenge but Most Always a Blessing.

And That is True Whether your Garden is a Plant or Herb Garden or Your Garden of Life!

Eat Away Your Inflammation, Arthritis and Bursitis Pain

Do You Know, "You Actually Physically Reflect What You Eat"!

Traditional Medicine and Holistic Herbalism aka Holistic Medicine

Some ask: "If you are a herbalist why did you use traditional medicine when you were sick?"

Angels on Earth

Angels are all around; some in human form, others heavenly

Faith and Healing

Faith Healing and Healing in Faith

Holistic Herbalism Simple Applications for Home

Sharing Herbs with My Neighbor Who Lets Me Hang 10 Herb Planters on Her Fence:

﻿ Sweet Basil, Italian Oregano and Lemon Thyme

Just another way to say, "Thank You".

Journeying towards Health Together: Recipes, Community Updates

The Fun of Trying New Recipes

Sweet Basil, Italian Oregano and Lemon Thyme