SING OUT A HAPPY SONG

It used to surprise me when  clients or guest from my Healing Vacations would complain that they cannot keep a happy positive focus. They start out with the best intentions; making commitments to personal practices, writing in journals and making lists. Then, once they leave the sanctity of their private space and reenter the everyday world, all their poise and peace vaporizes in the din.

It is easy enough to see how this might happen. I once read that the majority of the world lives in quiet desperation. Compound that fact with the stress levels of our culture and being drawn into the current of surrounding negativity probably feels more natural than the effort necessary to keep heads above the water. Those trapped within cycles of anxiety and depression or were raised using anger and resentment  as shields find staying positive especially difficult. 

The magic solution I use and teach is to have a happy song. During a time when you are feeling balanced and lighthearted, think of a song.  Practice singing your song so it becomes a ready tool. Thoughts can follow a downward spiral or an upward one. A day may be filled with events we didn’t choose, but only we decide how  to think  about the event. When something jolts your well-being or when negativity threatens your peace, sing aloud.  It is impossible to think of anything else when you are trying to recall the lyrics of a song. So, Listen to the Carpenters –Sing

Here are a couple more personal favorites:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu7i0fnmW64

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIb6AZdTr-A

photo courtesy of yahoo free photos

Food as Medicine

In my Honduran community, there are families of various incomes. Almost half of my neighbors are still washing their laundry by hand and bathing from a hose or 5 gallon bucket. For people of lower incomes medicine is a great expense. So when they come to my gate with health problems I look to food as their medicine. If a health problem is going to separate people from their money, then let their medicine be  an investment in vitality. 

This belief was driven home this morning as I swept my patio floor. My cat eats a mixed diet that will  include canned tuna. This morning I noticed bits and pieces of tuna drying on the concrete where her plate sat the evening before. There were no ants.

The awareness brought back a lesson learned from a local fisher-woman. She offered to sell us a barracuda she had caught. My husband was suspicious because sometimes this fish can be toxic. When I mentioned my concern to the woman her head nodded in agreement. She then cut off a piece of the fish and placed it on some bark at the base of a tree. She said that if the fish was good the ants would find it in just a minute. Her explanation had barely finished when my gaze returned to the to the meat. It was already becoming covered with ants. Animals (including insects) in the wild will always choose the highest and best. 

Although my cat will eat tuna, she will not eat fish from the grocery store. Yet, she always eats fish I buy from local fishermen. Grocery store fish has invariably been treated with some chemical. Often it is formaldehyde; applied while at sea in an effort to keep fish from spoiling when longer days are necessary to fill the boat.

My rabbits are also keen judges of food. They will often turn up their noses at store-bought produce in preference to tasty morsels growing in my gardens. As maddening as this can be as I view my roses, I understand. It is all about the vitality needed for survival. This is something those living in an economic cultures are not taught. We learn about vitamins not vitality. Without vitality, healing cannot take place. Every level of healing requires vitality. It comes from things of the Earth: clean water, fresh air and minimally processed foods.   

If you want to learn more, come walk with me:

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