You are currently browsing the daily archive for November 13, 2011.
Katherine Willow’s monthly natural health diary
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It’s late fall and the second round of cleansing is coming to an end for the season. I still haven’t done much myself and am paying for it with a slight edge of irritation that I seem to be sharing with the rest of my household.
No matter, it will pass with a few lighter meals. . .
Felix never did get his cold and I didn’t come down with that awful cough that’s been hitting me at the changes of season. My hot flashes have disappeared without much effort and my stress about the greenhouse project just evaporated one evening when I was focussing on some spiritual work — even though the situation is the same. Something seems to be moving me through challenges more easily than ever. I’m grateful.
Therapy with Deb Boldt continues to deepen and provide me with more calm and ability to ride out my periods of anxiety—or not even enter into them. It amazes me. I don’t know this side of myself that can handle people around me all the time and still feel ok. I am circling a core of pain which causes me to retract like touching a hot iron — the anguish around my daughters and original family. I remain optimistic and am learning new ways to think about all of that. It needs to be slow so I can keep my balance given the responsibilities that I have chosen.
Fall is a time when the mind tends to be more scattered, fearful and even a little crazy. I look over the past two months and realize that I have been distracting from much of my inner work by focussing on outer stresses and excusing my preoccupation by making those events and issues overly important or even crises which only I could manage. Hah! As the weather settles into stable cold, it will be easier — and probably more unpleasant — to access the material I need to breathe into and through. . . This is me reminding myself.
My relationships mirror my avoidance, with a subtle distance creeping in, a slight dislike of being too close or emotionally intimate. This doesn’t help me bridge with Stephen and I’m lucky he is so patient and understanding with me, lucky he is busy with his work, lucky he lives six hours away. This doesn’t fly with Felix though, who has been acting out to get my attention. I notice that I wanted to blame some kind of food allergy and wonder how often this happens in families. When I am with him open-heartedly, he changes immediately! Again, me reminding myself about the things that I tend to ignore or push away.
May you be patient and gentle with your own process of healing in this transition to winter.
warm regards, katherine
During November each year, Movember is responsible for moustaches sprouting on thousands of men’s faces, in Canada and around the world.
With their “Mo’s”, these men raise vital funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer.
This year, our own Jay Young, Operations Manager of Carp Ridge Learning Centre’s Forest School program, began his moustache cultivation, assisted by a few of his staff.
In the pic below have a gander at Chad, Jay and Heather ~ whose mo is coming in the best?
Help Jay raise money: Click here to contribute at his Movember page (you’ll see a “Donate to Me’ button just under his picture).
On November 1st, guys register at Movember.com with a clean-shaven face. For the rest of the month, these selfless and generous men (known as Mo Bros), groom, trim and wax their way into the annals of fine moustachery.
Supported by the women in their lives, Mo Sistas, Movember Mo Bros raise funds by seeking out sponsorship for their Mo-growing efforts.
Mo Bros effectively become walking, talking billboards for the 30 days of November. Through their actions and words, they raise awareness by prompting private and public conversation around the often ignored issue of men’s health.
from Cindy Fleming, healthy food & nutrition advisor (as well as other CREWC duties)
If you’re trying to have the best of both worlds during the holiday season, here’s a treat to indulge in that’s also pretty healthy (especially if you like coconut):
Coconut Crisps
- ¾ cup chickpea flour (can also use romano bean flour)
- 1 tsp gluten free baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup coconut butter (can use butter if not dairy sensitive))
- 1/3-1/2 cup sucanat (can substitute brown sugar)
- 1 egg (or equivalent egg replacement)
- 2 tsp good quality vanilla
- ½ cup unsweetened, dessicated coconut
- In bowl, stir together flour, baking powder and salt.
- In mixing bowl, cream together butter and sucanat. Beat in egg and vanilla until light and fluffy. Stir in dry ingredients and coconut.
- Drop by spoon about 2 inches apart onto non-stick baking sheet.
- Bake in 350°F oven for 8-10 minutes until golden brown.
from Brenda Grey, counsellor, psychotherapist & friend of CREWC
(NOTE: the following is part of an article from www.yourottawaregion.com — you can read its entirety by clicking the ‘read more‘ link below. If you want to help, contact Brenda at 613-623-1888, or email: bgrey1@xplornet.com)
Brenda Grey has collected a petition with 70 signatures asking the City of Ottawa to stop dumping “humanure” on the field. She says a farmer’s field near her house where the city dumped treated human waste has made her and her animals sick. She has since found out that this nightmare situation exists across Ontario and beyond.
Also known as sewer sludge, biosolids are treated human wastewater used as fertilizer to add nutrients to the soil. It’s like manure, only using human waste instead. (Read more about sewage problems in Canada here on our RESOURCES page)
The City of Ottawa and the province of Ontario state that land application of biosolids is safe and completely legal when applied according to regulations put in place by the province.
The last time the city dumped biosolids on the field, Grey said she ended up with a gastrointestinal virus and several of her animals contracted illnesses. read more
Carp Ridge EcoWellness Centre in Eastern Ontario 