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THIS WEEK’S
THOUGHTS AND THINKINGS
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Did you see it? We’re starting “Volume 2” for Healthy Healing Digest. That means it’s now officially on it’s second year. Hardly seems possible, but here we are.😊 |
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On the home front, the wee little one is very sweet and very cute and doing very well. 😍 She’s just old enough to start to smile. My husband says I’m the “baby hog”. Well, of course.😉 I have no shame about it. Lol.
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This issue’s a little shorter again. After this week, the Market will slow down considerably. (btw, if you’re local, come join us for our Pumpkin Party this week! As I get farther into aromatherapy school, I hope to share a little more of what I’m learning about essential oils in each issue. |
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The online school I’m going through is called “Heart of Herbs”, and it’s definitely real school. Lots of readin’ and writin’ involved, including a research paper... even chemistry. 😬
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As we go along, I hope to pass some of it onto you. For now, here’s quote from my reading to whet your appetite.
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"Unlike chemical drugs, essential oils do not remain in the body. They leave no toxins behind. And essential oils make much more sense as air fresheners than commercial products, as they cleanse the air by altering the structure of the molecules creating the smells, rather than masking the unwanted smells. When we are looking for alternatives to toxic products on our homes and in our lives, essential oils are a convenient, practical, and pleasant solution." - Valerie Ann Worwood
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I was also reading about the early Egyptians and how they would put wax infused with aromatic flowers and/or herbs onto their hair. In the heat, it would melt, and they would in turn smell good.
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Might be a good way to replace hair gel for those with mohawks. Lol.
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| | My Health Journey: TRIM HEALTHY MAMA
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🎶 Back in the saddle again.... 🎶
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Now that the Market is slowing down, and will soon be over, I’m jumping back into THM full force. In these last months off, I haven’t gained much, if at all, but I’m still wanting and needing to drop another 20lbs. (Or more).
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I’ve continued eating THM for the most part, just haven’t concentrated a whole lot on actively keeping my fuels (fats/carbs) separate. It’s maintained my weight (which is what it should do), but recently I’ve been having a some troubles with my blood pressure being a little more high than I want to see it. So, along with the *herbs I take, I’m thinking losing more weight will help matters.
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*(Never use herbs alone for high bp unless you're actively pursuing proper nutrition and your bp is basically under control. And don't go off any meds without talking to your doc).
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On the plus side, I had a new low with my blood sugar. It was down to 93 points the other day! That's way into the normal range. I'm very pleased with that since my diabetes was the main reason for starting THM. As I've said many times, the weight loss is just a bonus. Health is the goal.
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Anyways, I’d gotten a little burned out on salads for a while, and so I left off eating them for a stretch. There were plenty of other veggies at the Bartlesville Farmers Market to substitute. Thankfully, now that the market will soon be closed for the season (only 3-4 weeks left), my tastebuds for salad have returned.
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Part of that happy happenstance has to do with this awesome dressing. So easy and really does taste like Catalina! For myself, I substituted monk fruit for the sweetener, and if you keep the amount to under a TB, it’s considered a fuel pull and goes with any meal setting. If you’re not a THM’er it’d be very simple to use raw sugar or coconut sugar, or even honey and have it still be quite healthy.
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Took all of about 5 minutes to gather everything and give it a whirl in our little smoothie blender. I didn’t have enough red wine vinegar and so added apple cider vinegar to make up the difference. I’m sure it’ll work, and taste fine, with straight ACV too. |
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Wanna talk about your dieting difficulties or THM? Feel free to email me at jordanscrossingherbs@gmail.com |
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| | | Easy Peasy Baby Craft! |
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Is this not the cutest fleece fabric?? Grand #6 is supposed to be here in early November and I was wanting something special for a gift. We were in Walmart shopping for material, and I happened to go past the remnant bin, and there it was! 😊 Just waiting for me to find it.🧐
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I had no idea what to make at that time, but for $1.47 for the scrap, I’d figure something out....
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After looking at it at home, I was thinking baby blankie. It wasn’t large, but for a newborn it was perfect, and being a little longer, it would be great for a toddler. (I have visions of “Linus” in my head). But how to give it edging?
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I looked online for ideas to give a fleece blankie an edge. There’s literally dozens of ways.😳 My first thought was quilting it, but I didn’t want it layered. We do get cold here in Oklahoma in the winter, but not usually too cold and not very long. So, I didn’t want to make it too heavy. Also, while I love to quilt, I hadn’t done any quilting since my stroke, and since there’s a lot of math and measuring and planning involved (stuff I’m not good at anymore), I wasn’t really wanting to tackle such a big project.
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No, I needed simple, quick and little to no sewing.
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I decided to go the fringe route. The
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instructions I found first were for tying two layers of fleece into a blanket. Again, too hot. It took me a bit, but I landed on this video for a single layer of fleece. Perfect! And easy!
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The above vid is a little long (and boring, no offense intended ☺️), so I just kinda skimmed through various parts of it to get the gist. Super simple. I didn’t tape anything. I just cut out 3” squares in each corner with my sewing scissors, and then took that square and cut along the edges of the fabric in approximately 1” segments (measured loosely with my thumb from tip to first knuckle) and snipped the fringe all across on all four sides.
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Then, I took my snippy scissors (you can use sewing scissors here as well), and snipped tiny little holes at the top of each fringe. From there you take the fringe and tuck it under and carefully pull it through the front. By doing it that way, the fringe comes out right side up and makes the back side of the blankie kosher.
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And that’s pretty much it. I didn’t do it all at once, but working on it off and on it took me maybe 2-3 hours to do the whole thing.
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.. Simple. Frugal. Fun. And totally CUTE! |
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| | Sciatic Relief, Bob and Brad Again | |
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Sciatica. I’ve been dealing with sciatic pain for several months now. I think it started back in April when I started driving again on a regular basis and lifting my leg to get in the driver’s seat. It’s awkward for me and I think I pulled something. It’s not unbearable, but is kinda a nuisance. I know some of you have the same problem, and I wanted to share some stretches and exercises that have really helped me.
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Sciatica is basically a pinched nerve in your lower back. It causes a shooting pain down your leg, along with a dull ache and twinges of pain if you bend wrong. For me, with neuropathy all along my left side due to my stroke, it’s particularly uncomfortable as it keeps the neuropathy’s electrical-type tingling ramped up constantly. Again, not unbearable, but it does wear on you at times.
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I’ve shared about Bob and Brad before, and there’s a couple videos that have been key for me. You can click the links to watch them.
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One Minute Sciatic Exercises |
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Stubborn Sciatica? 3 Advanced Exercises |
Trust me when I say these stretches won’t be comfortable at first, and you won’t feel like you know what you’re doing, but stick with it, and keep doing them and it’ll come. I had to watch the vids several times before I picked up the knack. It took a few days.
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Two stretches in particular worked extremely well for me (although everyone will be different). There’s a push-up kind of stretch and another where you lean against a wall. |
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I modified the push-up stretch. With my stroke arm and my neuropathy arm I was too weak to be able to push up like the example, so instead I get on all fours on the bed, put my hands forward and lower my behind to achieve the same stretch.
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At first it hurt my back (which they said might happen—*see more below), but it lessened the sciatic pain almost immediately! It was really amazing. I kept after it and now a month or so later, my back no longer hurts when I do the stretch and my arms are getting stronger.
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My sciatic still bothers me some. I’ll be honest about that. It’s not a quick fix and I don’t expect it to be. However, in just this short amount of time it’s much improved from what it was, and I find it improving a little more every day. Many sources I’ve looked at say it could take months for it to heal. So be patient and keep after it. Don’t give up. Work on all the stretches they show and find what brings you some relief.
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They have several videos on sciatica pain beyond these two. Just do a search on YouTube for ‘Bob and Brad Sciatica’ and you’ll find ‘em. |
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*Bob and Brad often talk about when you *shouldn’t* do a particular stretch; for instance, if you have a sharp pain then that stretch isn’t for you. Be sure to listen to what they're saying as well as your body, and ease back into where you’re not feeling pain so you don’t pull something else and make things worse. |
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| | Jesus Loves People ..and Chocolate
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It was grocery day. Not sure why, but I said a lil prayer before we left, asking the Lord to make us a blessing to someone as we were out and about. Of course, what flashed through my mind was pictures of helping someone along the road or some other big thing. How he answered it was completely unexpected. But so so sweet.
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I have to back up a bit to explain. Chocolate. Sugar-free chocolate. Sweetened-with-stevia chocolate. Won’t-spike-my-blood-sugar chocolate. Very yummy chocolate. 🍫🤩
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I had made that discovery last grocery day, but had shared a lot of the bag and so was completely looking forward to getting another and keeping much of it for myself.
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Well, we were walking out of Walmart, and to get to where we were parked we had to cut though the little shaded sitting area. There was an older lady, maybe going on 70ish, sitting there by herself. She smiled a bit as we passed, and I asked her how she was doing as we often do without really thinking. She smiled bigger and that made me feel good. But... to be honest, I was still mostly thinking on my own stuff. (Like ..candy ☺️).
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As usual, my lame stroke foot was hurting after being on it for so long, so my normal routine is to sit on the far seat in the seating area as my husband loads the groceries into our nearby vehicle. But too, this time I had
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chocolate on the brain. Sugar-free chocolate.... Very yummy chocolate.🤩
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So with great anticipation, I grabbed the bag of candy and sat down. It was a fair distance to where she was sitting, and I couldn’t hear her real well, but she complemented me on my husband who was doing a lot (all.. ahem) of the work while I sat. I agreed with her as I worked to get the bag open.
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She then asked me (shouted) where I was from, and we found out her husband, who was gone now, was from the same place. By this time, I was indulging in a piece of yummy chocolate. I was thinking on offering her some, when out of the blue she asked me (shouted) if she could have one. I said sure, and so she came and sat next to me.
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We chit chatted (without shouting) about our mutual knowledge of the town where we live. She asked me about church and various people she knew. Then she again, out of the blue, asked if she could have some more candy. I’d noticed she didn’t have many teeth and had a lil trouble with the one I’d given her, so I fished out a softer candy from the variety in the bag. By this time my husband was done. So I left her with a third candy, asked her her name, squeezed her hand, and told her I’d pray for her.
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It wasn’t until later that I realized the whole thing was God answering my prayer to be a blessing to someone. It still makes me smile to think on how Jesus cares about something so small. Here I was expecting something big, but it’s just like him to sit and chat with a lonely senior and share some chocolate, and make her day happier.
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We have him so backwards. What’s big and important seeming to us, is small in his sight. What seems small in our eyes...is big and important to him. It really is the little things.
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Course, I’m still not gonna get much chocolate... but that’s okay. He owns the cattle 🐄 on a thousand hills... and there’s got to be chocolate factories on some of them. 🍫 ;)
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Healthy Healing Digest is published from Barnsdall, Oklahoma 74002
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Copyright © Jordan's Crossing 2017-18 |
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FDA Disclaimer: The statements and products shown in this newsletter have not been evaluated by the US Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Those seeking treatment for a specific disease should consult a qualified physician prior to use. |
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