Only this craze fosters good looks, health, and well-being, really?
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After a recent colonoscopy (TMI?) I was happy to find out my intestines were clear of polyps, lesions, cancer, Crohn’s Disease, and inflammation, but they did send me home with a few pamphlets. After all, the procedure was warranted by a host of mysterious digestive problems. A high fiber diet pamphlet seemed routine as a follow up, but as I read through it, I realized I was definitely falling short of the daily recommended 21-25 grams of fiber suggested per day for women (for men it is 30-38 grams).

People have figured out how to lose weight quickly with various dietetic approaches like KETO and other low carbohydrate diets, but are those diets sustainable? The lesser known health compromises attributed to high fat, high protein, low carb diets affect digestion and elimination- which equates to nutrition and detoxification.

Weight loss aside, I decided to start eating 20 plus grams of fiber a day and found it was quite strategic, like you really can’t put anything in your mouth unless it has good fiber content to meet the RDA and still manage your calories. I was easily motivated to give it a try since fiber, also known as roughage or bulk, absorbs large amounts of water which creates softer, bulkier poops reducing pressure against the wall of the colon promoting an easier passage of waste. Eliminating waste is the key word here, since I do believe in detoxing through diet.

Benefits listed in my pamphlet:
Fewer toxins in blood
More regular bowel movements
Fewer “bad” colon bacteria
More “good” colon bacteria
Better control of blood sugar
Lower risk of obesity
Healthier colon
Better immune function, which may reduce infections
Better absorption of calcium, which leads to stronger bones

This list appealed to me on every front. I have been diagnosed with osteopenia, I continually strive to eat a super food diet, and I’ve been dealing with a belly-weight gain that I can’t seem to budge- even with a carb reduction. It turns out, most Americans eat only 10-15 grams of fiber a day and, sure enough, that was me. As I started counting fiber, I quickly discovered the foods I could eat and made a simple list to count my fiber content per meal and refer back to. This made it easy to reach 20-25 grams a day as I was learning to create meals with enough fiber. In contrast to the American diet, the rural African diet is very rich in plant fiber- over 50 grams a day- and this speeds up the time to digest and expel wastes. For these rural Africans it takes one-third the time to digest and eliminate the foods they eat compared to people living in Western cultures. This may be the reason they suffer from fewer intestinal diseases than Westerners.

Intestinal problems like colon diverticulosis occurs when pockets (diverticuli) of tissue bulge out from the bowel wall due to increased pressure in bowel. The colon, or large intestine, begins in the lower right abdomen and forms a large question mark that ends in the rectum. The colon is packed with over 2000 different kinds of bacteria, many of which provide health benefits to the body. The most beneficial bacteria rely on plant fibers for their own good health. Having lots of “good” bacteria can reduce the number of cancer-causing substances in the colon.

This is why eating plant foods may help protect the colon.

Fiber is the part of the plant that the human body cannot digest and falls into two groups: insoluble and soluble. These two types of fiber are important for maintaining intestinal health, maintaining a healthy weight, reducing cholesterol, and controlling blood sugar. Insoluble fiber is indigestible and absorbs water producing larger softer stool and more regular bowel movements. This is important in preventing disorders such as constipation, hemorrhoids, and diverticulosis (the inflamed or infected version of diverticulitis) and at the same time aid in sweeping certain toxins and carcinogens out of the body.

Insoluble fiber examples:
Whole grains
Corn bran (including popcorn) Nuts and seeds
Most green veggies
Certain fruits (apple, oranges, bananas, avocado, tomato, kiwi)

Soluble fiber examples:
Oats, rye, barley
Legumes (peas, beans)
Fruits (berries, plums, apples, bananas, pears)
Most root veggies (potatoes, carrots)
Supplements like psyllium made from the husks of plants

Prebiotic fiber examples:
Many of these are high FODMAP, so cross check if you are following that diet or experiment with the FODMAP diet if you experience gas or bloating.
Asparagus
Yams
Garlic
Onions
Bananas
Leeks
Agave
Chicory
Wheat, rye, barley

Antioxidants are other substances in plant-based food that can help to prevent heart disease, eye problems, and some cancers.

The bowel really has a very simple job of removing some of the water from stool and shaping it for elimination. Without fiber there is not much to shape and the bowel wall stops “exercising” i.e. peristalsis and becomes flabby and week i.e. diverticulosis. A high fiber diet reduces pressure in the colon by increasing the bulk in the stool, giving the intestines something to shape/exercise and this can help reduce or even stop the development of diverticulosis or its complications (diverticulitis).

Heart disease is prominent in our culture, as well, and a high fiber diet can lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels in the blood. Oat fiber and psyllium, in particular, may help prevent some types of heart diseases.

Recent digestive issues prompted my colonoscopy, and I learned that IBS, disorders of the lower digestive system, is really a catch all term for a myriad of digestive issues, explained and otherwise. Digestion is quite particular to the individual and there are many factors that make for easy or difficult and painful digestion. Good and bad bacteria in the colon plays a critical role in this process. IBS is not technically a disease, but the inflammation and unwanted bacteria cause unpleasant symptoms such as constipation, diarrhea (or both alternately), bloating, abdominal pain and cramps. Acute episodes can be triggered by emotional stressors, tension, and anxiety, poor eating habits, and medications.

I follow a FODMAP diet and so it was easy to increase my fiber intake without creating the harmless gases that can cause bloating. If you increase your fiber and experience bloating I suggest researching a FODMAP diet.

FODMAP stands for Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides and polyols, which are short-chain carbohydrates (sugars) that the small intestine absorbs poorly. Some people experience digestive distress after eating them. Symptoms include: Cramping.

After reading that pamphlet I started focusing on the highest fiber foods that I could tolerate and got inspired to make bran muffins and plan a day of fiber rich meals. Immediately, I felt 100 percent better! So to get you started...

You can make your own substitutions, but try not to eat too many at once, like someone I know...the original recipe is to the left and my alterations are to the right, simply based on what I had on hand. And even though I had raisins they are a high FODMAP food. No thanks.

​https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/25224/classic-bran-muffins/

1 1⁄2 cups wheat bran --these are flakes in a clear bag •

1 cup buttermilk - I used plain kefir •

1⁄3 cup vegetable oil - I used raw coconut oil or ghee •

1 egg 
2⁄3 cup brown sugar - I used slightly less sugar. 1/2 C. + 1/2 of a 1/3 C. Organic sugar•

1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla extract - out of vanilla I used Orange essential oil and my mom
used orange zest from a whole orange. I'm going to do that next time.

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1⁄2 teaspoon salt

1⁄2 cup raisins- instead I used chopped walnuts and 2 TBS of chopped fresh ginger.

Follow the directions otherwise. All ingredients are organic. I greased my muffin tin with the coconut oil and baked for closer to 10 minutes and then let them cool in the pan. They are so yummy  and 3.5 g fiber!!!!! I put them in the freezer and pull out 1 in the morning to have with my morning coffee. I use Barista Oat Milk and it has 2 g of fiber.

​www.mic.com/p/the-dark-side-of-vaginal-health-products-18651391

By Melissa Pandika
Updated:
June 16, 2020

A plethora of new vaginal "health" products that claim to keep your vagina pretty, “fresh,” and healthy have emerged as of late, so much so that media outlets have declared V-care one of the biggest wellness trends of 2019. Fur sells oil for pubic hair and skin, while The Perfect V sells beauty sheets for your vulva. Lady Suite sells a probiotic cleanser. Plenty of other brands sell spritzes, washes, and wipes. Douches and wipes have been pushed on women for a while — but now, brands market these and similar products as “self-care.” Are all these vulvar and vaginal health products really necessary, though? And more importantly, are they safe?


Before this recent explosion of products, consumers posed the same question about douches, products that cleanse the vagina with water and other fluids. It turns out that many doctors advise against douching, since it can disrupt the delicate bacterial ecosystem in the vagina, which in turn maintains the acidic environment needed to prevent irritation and infection. Yet nearly one in five women ages 15 to 44 in the US douches, according to the Office on Women’s Health. Douching persists, as Timeline points out, thanks largely to the longstanding marketing strategy of cashing in on women’s insecurities — namely that their vaginas are smelly and gross.
Nearly a decade after Summer’s Eve drew criticism for employing this very tactic to market its feminine hygiene products, a new cadre of “intimate care” brands have emerged. Many distinguish their products from their older, mainstream counterparts through attractive, millennial-bait packaging, as well as the promise of gentle, naturally-derived, organic ingredients. They focus not only on cleansing, but also on pampering and beautifying — a means of feminist self-care. The Perfect V describes its offerings as “pure, indulgent pampering and love for your ‘V,” while “lady-owned” Lady Suite says it’s “dedicated to helping all ladies fall in love with their bodies” and wants to facilitate “a positive connection between you and your lady parts.”
But are these products really all that different from their predecessors who pandered to patriarchal expectations that women’s bodies constantly be groomed, fragrant, "pretty," and youthful? Experts still believe that their appeal is more so psychological than physical.
“As a general matter, there is no good evidence that women need these products,” says Stacy Lindau, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Chicago, about douches, feminine wipes, or any variation of them. For the most part, vaginas and vulvas have evolved to function without their help. Think about the safeguards your other mucosal surfaces have in place, like your nose, which contains hair and mucus to trap germs, or your eyes, which produce tears to keep them lubricated. Your vagina works in a similar way, Lindau explains, with hair on the outside and mucus on the inside.
In fact, these products may even worsen vaginal health, and we have little evidence of their safety, Lindau tells Mic. Washes, soaps, sprays, and other products used to cleanse the vulva or vagina can irritate and break the skin, as well as cause inflammation that prevents bacteria, blood vessels, and nerves from maintaining an acidic environment in the vagina, she adds.
Several patients who have visited her with complaints of vaginal dryness and painful intercourse saw their symptoms improve after they stopped using feminine hygiene products. (She does note that there are some cases in which intimate care products may help, such as for women with breast cancer who have undergone therapy that lowers their estrogen levels. Since reduced estrogen levels can cause vaginal dryness, they may benefit from products that restore its moisture.)
“Any person with a vagina who might want to use these products should look at the ingredient list and ask themselves how many they can pronounce or recognize,” Lindau says. You should also ask yourself whether you would put these ingredients in other mucosal membranes, like your eyes or mouth. If the answer is no, then you probably shouldn’t put them in your vagina, either.
And unless you’ve had a hysterectomy, remember that the vagina connects to the cervix and uterus, and finally, the fallopian tubes, which enter the abdominal cavity — meaning that “we’re putting chemicals into a body part that allows them to essentially travel to the inner cavity of the body,” Lindau says. The abdominal cavity, in turn, houses many other organs, and there’s a chance that douching may carry germs into that cavity.
Many of the newer intimate care products are advertised as “pH-balanced,” which may make you think they won’t throw off your vagina’s pH, but Lindau says that they may still contain ingredients that cause irritation. There’s also no strong evidence to suggest that probiotics — typically live, beneficial bacteria — will restore a healthy bacterial ecosystem in the vagina. Although researchers are trying to understand the human microbiome, “we’re not at the point where we can take early scientific discoveries and translate them to a recommendation.”
So, what are some proven ways to stay healthy down there? First, consider embracing your bush. Lindau says that pubic hair plays an important role in maintaining vulvar and vaginal health. Second, “let your body do its job,” Lindau says. “Avoid soaps, sprays, oils, and creams to the vulva and vaginal area unless there’s a very good reason.” Mucus already expels discharge, blood, and semen from the vagina.
Lastly, body odor is normal, Lindau says. The beneficial bacteria in the body naturally produce some odor. Using soaps and other odor-eliminating products could destroy beneficial bacteria and cause an overgrowth of harmful bacteria. If your vagina smells like baby powder and roses, you’ve probably killed important bacteria that help keep it healthy. A fishy scent or other strong odor may point to a problem, though, especially if you’re also experiencing issues such as itching or discharge, according to the Mayo Clinic. See a doctor if you’re worried about vaginal odor, rather than try to mask or remove it with an intimate care product.
To Lindau, these self-care-gone-south products speak to a larger, problematic obsession with hygiene — “where women feel that they need to use cleansing products in order to be sexually active or to be appealing.” Even if you’re drawn to these products mainly for the wellness they promise, you’ll probably have more luck finding it elsewhere.

When this concentration is prolonged through an uninterrupted flow, it becomes dhyana. In dharana, we experience release, expansion quietness and peace, freeing us from attachment. This freedom results in the indifference to the joys of pleasure or the sorrows of pain. The repeated continuation, or uninterrupted stream of that one point of focus is called absorption in meditation (dhyana). Not to be confused by Sanscrit words, but rather decipher that mediation comes out of a process of preparing the mind for the purpose of reaching a heightened level of spiritual awareness and to develop your inherent potential.
Meditation may be used to reduce stress, anxiety, depression, and pain, thereby increasing peace, perception, self-concept, and well-being. Continual scientific research aims to define the possible health effects on our psychological, neurological, and cardiovascular systems along with other effects on brain and immune function.
For these reasons, meditation attracts not only spiritual seekers on the road to enlightenment, but anyone looking to explore different ways of being- through physiological changes in the body that create more joy, more happiness, and more ease in daily life. Meditation helps to cultivate the middle path by increasing and enhancing one’s ability to allow, tolerate, and observe the complex world and relationships around them without attaching one’s self or an expectation or outcome to any person or event.

In the 1970s, Herbert Benson, MD, a researcher at Harvard University Medical School, coined the term “relaxation response" after conducting research on people who practiced transcendental meditation. The relaxation response, in Benson’s words, is “an opposite, involuntary response that causes a reduction in the activity of the sympathetic nervous system”, the fight or flight response. Studies on the relaxation response have documented the following short-term benefits to the nervous system:                                                                                                                                    
Lower blood pressure / Improved circulation / Lower heart rate
Less perspiration
Slower respiratory rate    
Lower blood cortisol levels
More feelings of well-being                                                                                                                                         
Scientifically, meditation has been proven to:

•     Decrease anxiety
•     Improve cognitive thinking                                                                                                             

•     Ease stress by activating the Parasympathetic Nervous System
•     Increase oxygenation of the body through deeper breathing                                         
•     Moderate digestion
•     Stimulate the relaxation response
•     Increase mental and physical flexibility
•     Stabilize emotions by increasing the grey matter in your brain which is responsible for muscle control,          seeing, hearing emotions, and speech.

Whether you come to meditation through the philosophy and practice of yoga or meditation as the practice in and of itself, you are embarking on a great self exploration of your mind and body. 

K.I.S.S Principle

Simplified, meditation is an approach to training the mind and training implies practice. The idea of meditating can be quite intimidating and even unfathomable for a beginner to sit for long periods of time and think of nothing. The easiest way to approach meditating is to keep it simple and straightforward by focusing on the breath- creating a fixed point of concentration and not go for the distance. Quality over quantity is the idea and sitting for 5-10 minutes to start with is an accessible approach.  Focus and concentration is challenging, so start by meditating for only a few minutes and then work up to longer periods of time. Concentration meditation involves focusing on a single point like the breath, repeating a single word or mantra, trataka ( i.e. staring at a candle flame), listening to a repetitive gong, or counting beads on a mala. The trick to meditation is each time you notice your mind wandering, you draw yourself back and refocus your awareness on the chosen object of attention. As thoughts arise let them pass by like clouds in the sky.  Know that even the most proficient meditators do this. This is the practice and in this process your ability to concentrate improves.

Another variation is mindfulness meditation which encourages the practitioner to observe wandering thoughts as they drift through the mind without passing judgement or labeling. Here the intention is not to get involved, but to be aware of each mental direction as it appears. Mindfulness meditation reveals how your thoughts and feelings tend to move in particular patterns. Through this process you can become more aware of the tendency to quickly judge an experience as good or bad, pleasant or unpleasant and with practice, an inner balance develops, so as not to be driven by your perceived “likes” and “dislikes”.

Various techniques make meditation easier to embrace and takes the pressure off of what is seemingly the impossible or daunting for a beginner. One of my favorite meditation techniques is the cultivation of compassion which involves envisioning negative events and recasting them in a positive light by transforming them through compassion. I also subscribe to moving meditation techniques, such as tai chi, qigong, and walking meditation, especially accessible to a beginner because intrinsically and physiologically one is balancing the brain with each swing of the opposite arm in movement with the opposite step hence working across the center line of the body and balancing the left and right brain hemispheres. The balancing effect is readily calming to the mind clearing way for concentration.                                                                                       

However, the purpose of meditation is not to achieve benefits, but to simply to be present. The goal of meditation is no goal, but rather to defragment your thoughts so you can step back and make sense of them with a clearer prospective. In Buddhist philosophy, the ultimate benefit of meditation is liberation of the mind from attachment to things it cannot control, such as external circumstances or strong internal emotions. The liberated or “enlightened” practitioner no longer needlessly follows desires or clings to experiences, but instead maintains a calm mind and sense of inner harmony. Meditation is said to increase the blood flow to the brain and “rewire the circuity” of the brain. In the movie What The Bleep Do We Know, science showed the more we repeat the same thought patterns in our mind the stronger those brain synapses become. Sort of like the more chocolate you eat, the more chocolate you crave. Meditation invites us to strengthen positive feel good neurological pathways and weaken or break the cycle of negatives disruptive patterns.

A Monsoon Nectar Aromatherapy Facial merges beauty and the healing arts to impart your skin with a radiant glow and reset your sense of joy, comfort, and ease.

​Aromatherapy, the combination of aroma- meaning scent or smell and therapy- meaning treatment, is concerned with the psychological and physical health of the individual on a holistic mind, body, and spirit level. Natural aromas from essential oils are the basis for aromatherapy which we experience through our olfactory system, our sense of smell. Another word for our sense of smell is olfaction which affects the limbic system of the brain, our feel good mood center. Involved in sensory perception, motor function, and olfaction, the limbic system is also responsible for controlling various other functions in the body including interpreting emotional responses, storing memories, and regulating hormones.

Limbic system structures are involved in many of our emotions and motivations, particularly those that are related to survival such as fear and anger. The limbic system is also involved in feelings of pleasure that are related to our survival, such as those experienced from eating and sex. The limbic system influences both the peripheral nervous system and the endocrine system.
Regina Bailey ThoughtCo.com

In the land of Arizona, Bisbee has become my get-a-way when I can take time away from Sedona. I used to live here and run my business in this eclectic artist enclave, reminiscent of Jerome, but more populated by locals. And when I left, I had no idea that my visits would feel as if I never left at all.

Returning frequently, I still feel like a local. I stay with various friends, sometimes house/dog sit, and see clients in their kitchen or on the patio for old school hairdressing. I can meet up with friends or just let the days unfold serendipitously, as it’s easy to run into people you know. I eat at my favorite restaurants and make sure to bring back the best coffee in the world and maybe a jar of honey from over the line. Every visit feels like coming home and this town’s specialties are just that!

While I’m here, one of my favorite things to do is go to The Garden’s At Mile High Ranch and get an ozone sauna. Today, Maggie (one of the family owners), gave me the option of music or a meditation and I opted for the "moving beyond fear" meditation.

In a private setting, I can look out through a window and see the garden and the large trees that surround the property. Th ambiance is soothing. The therapy consists of 30-45 minutes of steamy warmth that detoxifies your body and can be done once in a while or as part as a detoxification program. The steam sauna with ozone allows the steam to surround the body and ozone can be introduced through the skin. Just your head remains outside the sauna for easy breathing.

The goal is to increases the eliminative, detoxifying, and cleansing capacity of the skin by stimulating the sweat glands and increasing blood circulation and this further promotes healthy skin tone and texture.

Humid heat swells the pores which allows the ozone through the skin into the bloodstream where it  travels to the fat and lymph tissue. Cleansing the lymph tissue of toxins is important to any detoxification therapy and the ozone/steam sauna is the easiest and best way to accomplish this.

The combined action of moist heat and ozone cleanse the lymphatic system, which you can think of as the garbage system of the body that carries 90% of the body's fluids. Raising your body temperature artificially induces a fever-like effect and results in the destruction of bacteria and viruses. Combined with heavy sweating and the cleansing effect initiated by ozone, this “fever" results in the elimination of toxins accumulated mainly in the lymphatic system and gives your liver a huge break. Ozone brings oxygen to the tissues for enhanced health and vitality and the combination of steam and ozone is a natural, effective way to promote a refreshing sense of well-being.

Part of Bath Culture, the use of ozonated steam purifies the skin, soothe sore muscles, boost circulation and imparts deep relaxation.

Benefits :
Reducing lactic acid build up
Relaxes muscles
Increases muscle flexibility
Oxidizes toxins so they can be eliminated through the skin, lungs, kidneys and colon.
Stimulates blood circulation, helping injured muscles to repair quicker.
Stimulates vasodilatation of peripheral blood vessels relieving pain and speeding the healing process.
Eliminates bacterial and viral infections of all kinds.
Speeds up the metabolic processes of the inner organs and endocrine glands resulting in a loss of 200-450 calories in a 20 minute session.

Research shows steam hyperthermia as an effective treatment for:
* Detoxification programs
* Immune system deficiencies
* Pain management
* Cancer
* Arthritis
* Stress and muscle tension
* Increasing body metabolism
* Elimination of toxins
* Blood circulation

The Gardens at Mile High Ranch is for sale!
​Pet Friendly Hotel | Bed & Breakfast | Bisbee, AZThe Gardens at Mile High Ranch is high-desert country with two acres of lush gardens, wildlife, and beautiful 150-year-old cottonwood trees. BLM wilderness is located just beyond our boundaries. The Gardens is located only one mile from the Historic District of “Old Bisbee”, and we offer peaceful evenings and a healthy breakfast served in your own apartment. 

What is a chakra? A Sanskrit word meaning wheel or disk. In yoga philosophy the chakra system refers to spinning vortexes in the energetic or subtle body that correlate to the glandular system in the physical body; not physical entities but they do affect the body just as thoughts affect the breath and emotions affect behavior. These meeting points between the mind and body are concentrated consciousness. Passed down from ancient India through yoga philosophy, the chakra system is a path of connection to the divine energies of consciousness. A path of connection between Heaven and earth, spirit and matter, mind and body. This path runs through the core of each of us and is accessible and available at all times. ​

Specific essential oils also correlate to these energy centers and can be inhaled and or applied topically for grounding and balancing effects to create a sense of well being and ease. Amazingly, these natural essences facilitate reconnecting with your true nature devoid of the anxiety and stress that cause blockages. Blockages, emotional or physical, affect our esteem, confidence, ability to love and communicate, physiology and sleep, and so on. In essence, we are our healthiest when are energy is balanced. Out of balance creates disharmony and that sense of feeling "off" that can be felt in relationship issues, emotional turmoil, dis-ease and even illness.

Nature Knows is an adage to consider since plant essences are the original apothecary with medicinal merit and efficacy. Throughout all cultures man's connection to the earth leads to the connection with the Divine, so through these plant essence we can connect to the Divine within ourselves tapping into our true nature of ease and comfort and love.
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