Embracing my Inner Hippie- #3

Water Anyone?!?

I know and I hear all the time that we are supposed to be drinking water all the time, but this article is pretty cool from http://www.mangosteen-natural-remedies.com. Clear cut and a good motivation!

Functions of Water in The Body

The human body is anywhere from 55% to 78% water depending on body size. A rule of thumb, 2/3 of body is consists of water, and it is the main component of human body. Did you know that your tissues and organs are mainly made up of water? Here is the %:

• Muscle consists of 75% water
• Brain consists of 90% of water
• Bone consists of 22% of water
• Blood consists of 83% water

The functions of water in human body are vital. The water:

• Transports nutrients and oxygen into cells
• Moisturizes the air in lungs
• Helps with metabolism
• Protects our vital organ
• Helps our organs to absorb nutrients better
• Regulates body temperature
• Detoxifies
• Protects and moisturizes our joints

Every cell in your body needs water from head to toe. That is why it is so important to drink enough fluid. Take for example, brain consists of 90% of water, if you do not supply enough water to your body, your brain cannot function well, and you will get headache or migraine. Hence, next time, if you feel fatigue and headache, it may be the sign of dehydration.

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Harmful Effects and Symptoms of Dehydration

The Harmful Effects Result from Dehydration:

• Tiredness
• Migraine
• Constipation
• Muscle cramps
• Irregular blood pressure
• Kidney problems
• Dry skin
• 20% dehydrated – Risk of death

Symptoms of Dehydration

Here are some of the symptoms that you need more water:

• Dark Urine – Dark Yellow or Orange in Color: Urine is generally pale yellow to clear when you have sufficient water intake. Dark color or strong smell indicates that you need to drink more water.
• Dry Skin: Skin is the largest body organ and requires its share of water.
• Thirst: Thirst is the most obvious sign that you're already dehydrated. It is always a good practice to drink more water when your are not thirsty, don’t wait until you're thirsty.
• Hunger: Most people mistake hunger for the indication to eat more, whereas in actual fact, they may be dehydrated. So before you have your meal, grab a glass of water.
• Fatigue: Water is a source of energy and gives you a boost in energy

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Top 11 Health Benefits of Drinking Water

You will be amazed of the benefits of drinking water as follow:

1. Lose weight: Drinking water helps you lose weight because it flushes down the by-products of fat breakdown. Drinking water reduces hunger, it’s an effective appetite suppressant so you’ll eat less. Plus, water has zero calories.

1. Natural Remedy for Headache: Helps to relieve headache and back pains due to dehydration. Although many reasons contribute to headache, dehydration is the common one.
2. Look Younger with Healthier Skin: You’ll look younger when your skin is properly hydrated. Water helps to replenish skin tissues, moisturizes skin and increases skin elasticity.
3. Better Productivity at Work: Your brain is mostly made up of water, thus drinking water helps you think better, be more alert and more concentrated.
4. Better Exercise: Drinking water regulates your body temperature. That means you’ll feel more energetic when doing exercises. Water also helps to fuel your muscle.
5. Helps in Digestion and Constipation: Drinking water raises your metabolism because it helps in digestion. Fiber and water goes hand in hand so that you can have your daily bowel movement.
6. Less Cramps and Sprains: Proper hydration helps keep your joints and muscles lubricated, so you’ll less likely get cramps and sprains.
7. Less Likely to Get Sick and Feel Healthy: Drinking plenty of water helps fight against flu and other ailments like kidney stones and heart attack. Water adds with lemon is used for ailments like respiratory disease, intestinal problems, rheumatism and arthritis etc. In another words one of the benefits of drinking water is that it can improve your immune system.
   
8. Relieves Fatigue: Water is used by the body to help flush out toxins and waste products from the body. If your body lacks water, your heart, for instance, needs to work harder to pump out the oxygenated blood to all cells, so are the rest of the vital organs, your organs will be exhausted and so will you.
9. Good Mood: Your body feels very good and that’s why you feel happy.
10. Reduce the Risk of Cancer: Related to the digestive system, some studies show that drinking a healthy amount of water may reduce the risks of bladder cancer and colon cancer. Water dilutes the concentration of cancer-causing agents in the urine and shortens the time in which they are in contact with bladder lining.

How Much Water Should You Drink? Is Drinking 8 Glasses of Water Enough?
There is no clear-cut answer as to how much water to drink per day, because it depends upon a number of factors like your health condition, your activity status, the climatic conditions, physical size, your weight and your environment etc. You lose quite a lot of water through sweating, exhaling and urinating. In hot weather, you tend to lose more water through sweating, in cold condition, you tend to urine more. In the event of sickness like flu and diarrhoea, you tend to lose fluid. When you weigh more, your body needs more fluid for the muscle, organ, bone etc.

There are many recommendations advise that you drink 8 glasses (250ml/8 ounce per glass = total of approx 2 litre) of water a day. Is drinking 8 glasses of water enough? Remove the environmental, climatic factors and your activity level out of the equation, the amount of water intake is vary according to your weight. A more accurate estimation is to drink at least half your body weight (in pounds) in ounces of water. Let's illustrate with the following example:

1. You weigh 160 pounds.160 ÷ 2 = 80 (amount of water to drink in ounce per day)

Answer: Drink 80 ounce of water per day.

If you are using kilograms in unit, divide the kilograms by 30, this gives you the water to drink a day in litre.

2. You weigh 75kg 75 ÷ 30 = 2.5 (amount of water to drink in litre per day)

Answer: Drink 2.5 litre of water per day.

Tips for drinking water: Spread the water out evenly throughout the day. If the amount of water is 80 ounces, spread the water out by drinking one 10-ounce glass every hour for eight hours, which is about drinking 8 glasses of water per day.

For exercise, drink 1-2 cup of water 30 minutes before exercise. It helps to replenish the fluid loss and fuel the muscle during the exercise.

Since other factors like your activity level and the environment conditions do affect your water intake, another way to know if you’re getting enough water, watch your urine. It should be light yellow colored or clear. If it is dark or strong smelling, it is time to drink more water. Also watch for other signs of dehydration such as fatigue, headaches, and difficulty concentrating. If you are thirsty, you are already dehydrated.

My prayer...

My prayer for one in particular but when I think I want to it to be for all mankind.....

Find Hope- I pray that you find hope in God. Not just a momentary, fleeting kind- but a deep rooted, whole, true hope in the master artist and creator of the universe. A hope that is so real, so alive that no matter what comes at you in life you will never ever feel alone. I wish that on your darkest day, when the whole world collapses down on you, and the clouds are so thick over you…. I pray you feel that one tiny ray of light- one that pierces through your eye into your soul and overwhelms you hope. Hope that although this world and its people will fail you there is something bigger, something more to hang out onto. Hope that if you can just get through this one day things will get better and that there is love waiting for you.

Know Peace- I pray that one day you meet the Peace Maker and you know him. The definition, the inventor, the provider of peace is calling you. When everything is backwards and upside down he longs to bring equilibrium and balance. Not necessarily by taking everything away but by instilling a deep sense of rightness in every cell of your body. When everyone else is falling and tumbling- you can walk steady because you know Peace by his name. I pray also that one day you may find peace with yourself. You may have made good choices or bad, work hard or been lazy, been a victim or not… regardless I pray you realize nothing… none of it matters except for you are today. Who you choose to be in the future. The past does not control you, it does not dictate who you become. He forgives and forgets just as you should. Find PEACE in that. Forgive yourself, and let go and find peace within yourself.

Be Forgiveness- I pray that one day you become forgiveness. That you realize we are all screw ups- you me, our parents, our friends, our enemies- we have all messed up. We all have weaknesses and we all have hurt one another. Not one of us is worthy of anything good. But I pray you embrace forgiveness- a full realization and understanding we are all human. To let go of past hurts and pain others have caused you. To realize we all have probably done the same to others, To understand the only way to move forward is to forgive, and let love in. Forgiving allows freedom. Personal freedom from all the hurt, pain, and suffering. IT allows you to be free from the chains of being a victim of circumstances- by forgiving it says ‘though you have wronged me you no longer have power over me anymore.’ I pray also you learn to forgive yourself. I’m sure that have been thing you wish you never did, things that have compromised your character, challenged your beliefs, things that eat you up when you’re alone at night. I know was haunted from these things for years. But there is healing here too. Forgive yourself. Release yourself from this prison and embrace Love, he is waiting for you.

Feel Joy- I pray on day you feel joy. A joy that is not circumstantial. A joy that is active and real. A joy that is true. It is a rare gem, hard to find, but once captured it will change your life forever. Through hope, peace, and forgiveness you will start to cultivate it and step by step it flows into every part of who you are. So much so that one day a child’s laugh, a sunset, or a flower dancing in the wind will illuminate your life. This joy does not make every wrong right or blind you from that ugly parts in this world, it simply allows you to know that there is something bigger going on here. That even through the darkness that surrounds us there is something to be grateful for. Cling to that. Know that you were saved. Someone gave his life for yours and wants to know you intimately. That is joy. I pray that you can feel this in your core, that although you may be sad or struggling that you can rest easy knowing its temporary. I pray you meet Joy.

Accept Love- I pray that above all things your hearts will be open to Love. Not just the everyday, fleeting kind but to the Love that your knows your name, the one who knows how many hairs are on your head, the one who knows your thoughts before you do, the one who created each cell in your body. I pray the that this Love becomes enough to sustain you. That it is enough. Once you allow yourself to know Love like him you will never need anything else in this lifetime. Although you may want or like other things, you will never NEED anything. He thinks your beautiful, strong, talented, and loves you wholly and completely. I pray also you learn to love yourself. Take pride in who you are and who you were created to be. Know that you are good enough. And I hope that even if you feel undeserving or don’t understand how…. Accept love from those around you. It’s ok to let love in. I will warn you it is scary though. When you are vulnerable and you let the walls around your heart to come tumbling down it will probably be the scariest moment of your life… but once the love comes rushing in you will never ever once regret it. Fall in love with Love, he so desperately wants you to be his.

See Beauty- I pray that one day you look in the mirror and realize that you are beautiful. Without make up, hair done, or shower…. You are beautiful. You were created in the image of Beauty. He is the definition, the complete essence of beauty and perfection and then made you in his image. Embrace that, have confidence in that fact. I pray also that you will stop and look around at this earth we were given. Even past the cement jungles and roaring of electricity and cars Eden is still here. I hope that one day your eyes will see past all the awful things we have done to our world and you will find those glimpses of Eden. The raw, the natural, the colors, the sounds, the peace…. It’s perfect and our souls long for it. So stop and take a minute find it and seek out the beauty that surrounds and realize that He made it for you. If you can experience that I promise your soul will be at rest. And even if its for a brief moment nothing else will matter in the world. Except for that sunset, your eyes witnessing it and the way the air tastes. Embrace beauty everyday.

Week Six and Seven

It's been a buys and full couple weeks here in Fallbrook. Jordan has been working with his brother and I am still over at Starbucks. In between work and sleep we have been visiting family and catching up with friends.
Our good friend is in a band in San Fran and he came to his home town to play a little show at our favorite dive bar. We got all dressed up and had the best time. We stood in the front row and danced the night away. In between the music we got to catch up with a bunch of people we haven't seen since July. The beauty of having Amber and Bryan live only 20 minutes away is that we get to spend random time together. We all got kind of bored one night and decided to go out to Old Town Temecula and have dinner together. It was a cool little place that had live music. Marley decided to be my buddy that night! We had so much fun just being silly, counting things, making funny faces, and eating!

Such a sweet little one when she's not running around C-R-A-Z-Y!!!! Props to her mama for chasing her around all day EVERY DAY! I don't know how you do it!
Miss Ally! Can't believe how grown up she is. And how incredibly Beautiful! Love spending time with her.
This is a view from Jordan's last job in La Jolla. They pre-wired an entire house from the 70's for an alarm system and I think surround sound or something. All I really know is my boy came home covered in dirt and saw dust cause he spent the day crawling in a tiny crawl space under the house that was filled with dead rats. Gotta love a man that provides for his family! So grateful for his willingness to do ANY job to put food on the table.
Jordan and Amber's old boss and family friend took her family to Malawi, Africa for a year to help run some orphanages. The same ones that Jordan has gone and helped with. We had a little goodbye get together. This is the coffee shop that Jordan worked at when we dated in high school.
Two of my favorite girls. Love them.
Sometimes we are silly. Sombreros and Crocs! We are quite the pair.
Motor home living! It gets chilly at night before we turn on the heater so we just bundle up! I love this adventure we are on. We took this picture right after we unplugged the toilet and almost threw up at the AWFUL smell. haha.... priceless!
We have made two separate trips up to Arrowhead. One to hang out with Brandon while my dad was out of town and second to spend the day with Mom, Marty, Martin and Mackenzie! It is so wonderful to feel the fresh mountain air. Love being able to hang out with family with Jordan. It is so special to me to have everyone bonding like I do with his family.
We drove up to Long Beach also one Sunday to hang out with Josh, Cilla and lil Logan! The boys went shooting at an indoor range while Cilla and I got to catch up and hang out. I pretty much held that baby boy all day long. He is so adorable and chill. Perfect combination in my book!
My sexy Man!!!!!! Nothing like a man with a gun in his hands. Must admit he's a pretty good shot too. Josh smoked ribs and chicken all day while we were out and then Cilla made an excellent salad. It was an incredible dinner. We hung out and talked and then played cards. It was such a fun night!
We went to Amber and Bryan's for dinner one night and ended up making cookies with Marley and then they had a music night. So fun to hear Jordan and Amber collaborate. They are both incredibly talented. We sat and watched as they played and Marley ran around crazy in the living room dancing! It was really fun. Love getting to know Amber and Bryan as a married couple and as friends. I love the way they love each other and the examples they set for mars. They are really just fun people too... we always have such a great time together.
Feel so blessed to be able to spend time with family lately. Even though at times it can be overwhelming, there is nothing better than watching your nieces and nephews growing up and building relationships with everyone as we all get older!

Embracing my Inner Hippie- #1

Parts of me have been overwhelmed with being home in California. Southern California is a whirlwind, a tornado, a hurricane that never stops. Everyday is full. Every hour there is something that should be done, every minute you are thinking about the next. My head starts spinning just writing this and I just want to climb up on the roof and yell at the world "SLOW DOWN PEOPLE!!!!!! You're driving me mad!!!!!"

Seriously though, you ever just sit on a bench or in your car and watch everyone buzzing by... what are we all in such a hurry for? Why do we feel this constant pressure to do as much as we can? Fit as many things as we can into just one day?? Don't get me wrong, I am naturally a busy body and a do-er but I have come to realize in the past few years there is magic in sitting. In Being still. There is peace and a deep happiness in silence. And although I used to be aggravated at people moving a slow pace I now envy it.

Then I hear news stories and read articles about all the things manufacturers and growers do to our food before we consume it and I get even more overwhelmed. We are killing ourselves. We have these amazing machines as bodies and we tear them apart one piece at a time by ingesting chemicals and who knows what!?!

I can't lie I got so overwhelmed yesterday after thinking about all this that I had to do something! Even if it was just for a minute I wanted to escape all the madness that we have created for ourselves. So all I ate for the entire day (minus dinner) was whole, raw foods. Nothing processed. I went outside and sat in a chair and just felt the wind on my face, ate some nuts, and listened to the birds chirp while I did some deep breathing exercises. haha... it was a moment of silence I so desperately needed.

But it made me think I want to do a few things each week to get back in touch with my "inner hippie." By that I just mean I want to do more natural things. Think of how far we have come from the beginning. We rely so much on convenience. Efficiency. And things that take the least amount of time. So whether it's eating more whole raw foods, deep breathing, walking in the park, yoga, taking time to write an actual letter to someone, not using any technology for a day, or whatever it is I am going to work on it. We were given a gift... this whole world is ours. The beauty, the life, the people... I want to enjoy it more and worry less about becoming something or someone. Call me a hippie, a gypsy, a bohemian or whatever you want but I am ready to slow things down a bit and embrace God's greatest gift to me- My life.

Embracing my Inner Hippie- #2

"Stress Kills- There are numerous emotional and physical disorders that have been linked to stress including depression, anxiety, heart attacks, stroke, hypertension, immune system disturbances that increase susceptibility to infections, a host of viral linked disorders ranging from the common cold and herpes to AIDS and certain cancers, as well as autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis. In addition stress can have direct effects on the skin (rashes, hives, atopic dermatitis, the gastrointestinal system (GERD, peptic ulcer, irritable bowel syndrome, ulcerative colitis) and can contribute to insomnia and degenerative neurological disorders like Parkinson's disease. In fact, it's hard to think of any disease in which stress cannot play an aggravating role or any part of the body that is not affected (see stress effects on the body stress diagram) or. This list will undoubtedly grow as the extensive ramifications of stress are increasingly being appreciated. http://www.stress.org/topic-effects.htm"

It's insane how many effects that stress can have on your body. Being in Southern California is stressful. I am not saying that it is all bad stress. But we are busy people. There is a lot of doing and sensory overload. So here is one way to reduce stress and balance yourself in the midst of the madness.

Deep Breathing is a great way to reduce stress...... here are some other benefits as well


1. Breathing Detoxifies and Releases Toxins
Your body is designed to release 70% of its toxins through breathing. If you are not breathing effectively, you are not properly ridding your body of its toxins i.e. other systems in your body must work overtime which could eventually lead to illness. When you exhale air from your body you release carbon dioxide that has been passed through from your bloodstream into your lungs. Carbon dioxide is a natural waste of your body's metabolism.

2. Breathing Releases Tension
Think how your body feels when you are tense, angry, scared or stressed. It constricts. Your muscles get tight and your breathing becomes shallow. When your breathing is shallow you are not getting the amount of oxygen that your body needs.

3. Breathing Relaxes the Mind/Body and Brings Clarity
Oxygenation of the brain reducing excessive anxiety levels. Paying attention to your breathing. Breathe slowly, deeply and purposefully into your body. Notice any places that are tight and breathe into them. As you relax your body, you may find that the breathing brings clarity and insights to you as well.

4. Breathing Relieves Emotional Problems
Breathing will help clear uneasy feelings out of your body.

5. Breathing Relieves Pain.
You may not realize its connection to how you think, feel and experience life. For example, what happens to your breathing when you anticipate pain? You probably hold your breath. Yet studies show that breathing into your pain helps to ease it.

6. Breathing Massages Your Organs
The movements of the diaphragm during the deep breathing exercise massages the stomach, small intestine, liver and pancreas. The upper movement of the diaphragm also massages the heart. When you inhale air your diaphragm descends and your abdomen will expand. By this action you massage vital organs and improves circulation in them. Controlled breathing also strengthens and tones your abdominal muscles.

7. Breathing Increases Muscle
Breathing is the oxygenation process to all of the cells in your body. With the supply of oxygen to the brain this increases the muscles in your body.

8. Breathing Strengthens the Immune System
Oxygen travels through your bloodstream by attaching to haemoglobin in your red blood cells. This in turn then enriches your body to metabolise nutrients and vitamins.

9. Breathing Improves Posture
Good breathing techniques over a sustained period of time will encourage good posture. Bad body posture will result of incorrect breathing so this is such an important process by getting your posture right from early on you will see great benefits.

10. Breathing Improves Quality of the Blood
Deep breathing removes all the carbon-dioxide and increases oxygen in the blood and thus increases blood quality.

11. Breathing Increases Digestion and
Assimilation of food
The digestive organs such as the stomach receive more oxygen, and hence operates more efficiently. The digestion is further enhanced by the fact that the food is oxygenated more.

12. Breathing Improves the Nervous System
The brain, spinal cord and nerves receive increased oxygenation and are more nourished. This improves the health of the whole body, since the nervous system communicates to all parts of the body.

13. Breathing Strengthen the Lungs
As you breathe deeply the lung become healthy and powerful, a good insurance against respiratory problems.

14. Proper Breathing makes the Heart Stronger.
Breathing exercises reduce the workload on the heart in two ways. Firstly, deep breathing leads to more efficient lungs, which means more oxygen, is brought into contact with blood sent to the lungs by the heart. So, the heart doesn't have to work as hard to deliver oxygen to the tissues. Secondly, deep breathing leads to a greater pressure differential in the lungs, which leads to an increase in the circulation, thus resting the heart a little.

15. Proper Breathing assists in Weight Control.

If you are overweight, the extra oxygen burns up the excess fat more efficiently. If you are underweight, the extra oxygen feeds the starving tissues and glands.

16. Breathing Boosts Energy levels and Improves Stamina

17. Breathing Improves Cellular Regeneration

18. Breathing Elevates Moods
Breathing increase pleasure-inducing neurochemicals in the brain to elevate moods and combat physical pain

How to Breathe properly?
In order to breathe properly you need to breathe deeply into your abdomen not just your chest. Even in the old Greek and Roman times the doctors recommended deep breathing, the voluntary holding of air in the lungs, believing that this exercise cleansed the system of impurities and gave strength. This certainly is of great value to you in your work in the world. Breathing exercises should be deep, slow, rhythmic, and through the nose, not through the mouth. The most important parts of deep breathing has to be regulating your breaths three to four seconds in, and three to four seconds out.

1. Inhale through your nose, expanding your belly, then fill your chest. Counting to 5
2. Hold and Count to 3. Feel all your cells filled with golden, healing, balancing Sun light energy.
3. Exhale fully from slightly parted mouth and Feel all your cells releasing waste and emptying all old energy. Counting to 5.

Schedule your deep breathing exercise just as you would schedule important business appointments. Set aside a minimum of two 10 minute segments of time everyday although you can begin with two five minutes segments if you prefer.

http://www.onepowerfulword.com/2010/10/18-benefits-of-deep-breathing-and-how.html