Survival and Thrival

I was gonna take Sunday off, but I have so much good stuff inside of me! And as a break from the doldrums and misery of 2007 (it does get better, honeys, hang in there, but not without more excitement), I'm here to give you Laura Lee's tips on surviving in the desert, along with other morsels of health info I've collected over the past decade. Not all, of course, but some highlights, when I've had to help myself out of plenty-a-jam.

Research, people! It's a lifelong commitment to know what you are doing to your body, mind, spirit, each other, and the planet. I've been lucky to have been surrounded most of my life with people who question, seek explanations, and don't accept what is being spoon-fed to them by this back-assward culture of acquisition and competition. Whoa! I'm just getting started! But onward:

FIVE ESSENTIALS FOR SURVIVAL

WATER - I carry my GLASS liter bottle around with me (I understand it isn't possible in all situations, and have broken my share, believe me) in my byo case. It's neoprene, and pink, hence it's nickname, Pinky, has handles and keeps the water a bit cooler, not to mention less chance of breakage when I drop it. We all prolly know by now that plastic gives off toxins to the contents, and moreso the more acidic it is... which brings us to water quality, and pH, a whole new gamut I won't go into here. One of the many books I can suggest, Your Body's Many Cries For Water. Suffice to say, I drink from a filter/alkalizer from Whole Foods, it cost me about $100 and I replace the filter as directed, which is I think about $30. And it's portable.




SALINE NASAL SPRAY - Not the kind that goes in your eyes, it has additives in it that actually are bad for your eyes, by the way... I looked up each one myself and those chemists must be insane. Maybe since they are acids and drying agents, it keeps people using and buying. Anyway, I first discovered it when I got my second tat. Spraying saline on it was SOOO much better than putting goop on it like the first one... I stumbled onto this brand at Walgreens, and it's like half the price at WalMart, if you can stand to go in that store anymore. The good stuff is called Simply Saline, and it is what Ocean used to be, before they changed their formulation. I use it for everything, honeys... not just to hydrate inside my nose - the lack of which is the #1 way cold viruses enter your blood vessels -I rinse particles out of my open eyes (you'll get used to it, it's very gentle), spray it on scratches, in my ears - and, laugh if you want, but it is first-rate for the beginnings of yeast infections. Anti-microbial, anti-biotic, anti-fungal -- all without harming a single cell on your body. Brilliant.

LIP BALM - In the same way here in the desert our nasal passages and eyeballs get dried out and prone to infections, so too do our lips. I learned those three things alone can just about eliminate the kind of colds people get - you can laugh at this, I did - like they do in LV. In Las Vegas there is even a name for it, creatively called the "Vegas Cold," because of a few factors: the dryness of the area, the number of germ-festivals that are touched a gazillion times a day (door handles, slot machines, ughh), and the sheer volume of people - from everywhere on the globe. That is one great recipe for getting the yuck! Lips get overlooked, and need to stay hydrated too, and protected by a layer of something, if not to trap those nasty viral agents, at least to keep you from licking your lips and ingesting whatever landed there in public. Ew. Trader Joe's carries a nicely priced set of 3 sticks, natural ingredients, and a slight hint of mint. Yum!

SPRAY BOTTLE - OK, here is one place I will use plastic without apology. My little dollar-bottle. When I'm outside, or in the car that has no AC, it is a must. Plus, I can switch it from the mist setting to the spray, and shoot people with it when they are bad.

HANKIE, NECKERCHIEF - Whatever you want to call it, handy for lots and lots of things. Wet, tied around the neck, it is a great body-cooler, and also serves as an anti-redneck device. For anything from dabbing water all over, to an emergency Kleenex, to wrapping owies, to snapping flies off the ceiling where you can't reach them with the swatter - the uses are endless.


THRIVAL ESSENTIALS

There are many a philosophy on these things. Here are some of mine. They may be a bit complicated, and it took a while to get them in a concentrated form. I call the first part the ABCs. I know, original. but check it out:

A - awaken (ya gotta start somewhere)
B - breathe (so important!)
C - charge! (as in, energize yourself.)
s - SNUGLE!

OK, here is the SNUGLE part (no, I didn't spell it wrong)

S - shower with filtered water (your skin ingests water)
N - natural cleansers
U - uplifting scents (click here for my favorite stuff, LUSH)
G - guzzle lots of water early in the day
L - listen to energizing music
E - exercise (I personally do the "Hindu" pushups, squats, bridging, and no-momentum situps)


A favorite philosophy from one of my Tai Chi books. Works every, every time:
BREATHE. FEEL THE EARTH. DO NOTHING EXTRA.
And as one of my hero-types, Victoria Moran, writes in one of my favorite books of all time "Creating a Charmed Life" - DO THE NEXT INDICATED THING.

EAT every three to four hours, even if just snacks. Reduce your portions, and work into it gradually. Make the food delicious, healthy. Get enough fat and minerals. Eat and exercise for your blood type - I do, and I have absolutely zero cravings, never do cardio, and am as strong as an ox. Or at least, two horses. I also use static magnets. Ones designed for use on human tissue. The ones that restored my life when I left the military, broken.

And unless you are on a pizza and fishstick diet, for heaven's sake don't deprive yourself of salt. The crystals are a source of bone strength, and your nerves need it to communicate electrical impulses. Natural food diets cut out a lot of sodium, naturally, due to their lack of processing. Eat raw as much as possible, lightly cook what you must, and add pure sea-salt after cooking, and you won't overdo it. See articles here, here, here. And we wonder why our no-salt geriatric generation has such a high rate of osteoperosis.

FULVIC ACID - makes all nutrients more bio-available, and chelates inorganic metals like aluminum, copper, mercury, and iron out of you (cereals high in iron actually contain metal shavings! look it up!)
MSM makes rigid cells permeable, pliable, able to import all that good nutrition you are intaking, and exports all those toxins!
BEE POLLEN has - get this - 135 nutrients! and is considered to be the most complete food on the planet, with aminos, vitamins, and minerals.
B COMPLEX - must be in sub-lingual form (placed under the tongue) or it is wholly inefficient. Jarrow makes one called Methyl B-12 that is outstanding. Whole Foods, honeys. In fact, I allocate money when I can to Jarrow vitamins and minerals, since they are pharmaceutical grade - meaning, they are tested and consistently have the ingredients they list, in the amounts they list. Unlike 99% of other storebought vities. I won't buy it otherwise. Tho I do get thrifty when I get herbs, like licorice (sooo good for your body, honeys) Dong Quai, Wild Yam, Vitex (great female hormone assisting herb) etc.

GLUCOSAMINE & CHONDROITIN for ligaments, joints; other good things, not readily available in produce anymore, unfortunately due to overharvesting (some things have 60-90% fewer vities and minerals than 50 years ago... look it up!) are: potassium, iron (bioavailable) calcium, magnesium, zinc, chromium, selenium, and oh - folic acid, for building tissue and enhancing metabolism. Consider taking digestive enzymes with big meals, and probiotics on occasion.

Tryptophan (find it as 5HTP) is an amino necessary for good serotonin production, leading to relaxation, sleep, and aids in dealing with stress, due to the draining effect it has on all our vitamins and aminos in our bodies. Especially B vites! They are used up so, so easily. You will notice being able to take those pull-my-hair-out-cuz-you're-an-asshole situations with more grace and ease, and recover quicker. Stress is a bitch, honeys; it leads to an increase of cortisol in your systems, which is a leftover hormone from Satan that actually inhibits fat metabolism, impairs memory, and contributes to so many other insidious things. Plus chronic stress, and an acidic body, contribute to the big C!! And for your own sake, paste Dr Mercola's site on your toolbar, and visit it often.

SLEEP! FOR 6 - 9 HOURS STRAIGHT and longer when needed, if you can - a holla to the mommies who are so deprived in this department, so deprived! Bodies just can't recover without proper rest. Wrinkles, fat, hair loss... I use the Sensory Deprivation Method, myself, namely soundproofing and lightproofing. If you can't go to the extreme of egg-crate foam on the walls, especially behind your head (whoever came up with the sound-reflecting wood headboards should be shot), try using a new, unused pet bed. Find the softest, fuzziest one in your favorite color and pattern, one that has a dipped 'entry' that you would use under your neck, then lay a folded-up fuzzy pillowcase over your eyes, and voila! I went one step further, and bought a memory-foam neck pillow, that I use lying down - great for my neck, especially with my arthritic issues there, and I pull the 'arms' up around my ears. I can hear NOTHING, honeys. Well, very loud noises. And that switch you see is for a light vibration, also good for aching necks (and knees, I recently found).

But using fans, music or other white noise contributes to hearing loss and tinnitus - your ears need a break too! If anything, use something like a soundball with rainfall, chirping birds (which actually lowers blood pressure) or certain neuro-enhancing CDs - here is my favorite collection so far).

USE ENVIRONMENTAL SOUNDS during the day, unless you're lucky enough to be living in a jungle already - chimes, birdsong, wind thru trees - to ground your emotions, moods, and thinking. Nurture your nature. Follow your instincts and intuition. Learn to discern the soft, inner voice from outside chatter (or internal, at that). Stay in when you feel it would be better to do so, even if you just close the blinds and spend the day wrapped around a pillow and a cookie. Nobody says you have to be sick to need a day like that.

Clean when you can. Tidy, at least, gives room for the soul. Clean is what you can appreciate when you realize you're not sticking your fingers in the toothpaste goo in the sink. Do anything you can with schedules, technology, products - to make your life as easy as it can be. There. I gave you permission. (Though you really didn't need it.) Use watery dish soap in a spray bottle on dishes that won't get done soon; re-package your pet food in a airtight tub with a scoop; have household members hand-pick their very own, private table setting, that they will use at every meal, to discourage multiple dish-usement; fart in a jar and save gas - whatever it takes, honeys.

Clean your animals' ears and feet as often as they need it. Love on them the way they understand -brushing mimics a motherly licking; using nails of thumb and forefinger to "bite" their skin gently, like they groom each other; and sniffing their face now and again reassures them you know who they are. It works. Their play is their exercise - do it with them every day! Like feeding them regularly, it gives a sense of continuity, and schedule. Something you can both depend on, and rest in. Anything out of the ordinary will immediately become apparent. Treat them well, they are your elders and your children.

Cleanse your blood and digestive tract regularly. Walk every day. Drink water. Stop thinking so much. Ask more questions. Make good friends. Then stay in touch with them. Nourish both sides of your brain! Try ambidexterity, and especially encourage it in young ones. Be kind to yourself first. Then let that flow out into the rest of the world. All things, like self-love, other-love, keeping home tidy, recycling, treading lightly on the earth, compassion for all beings, etc. - will come from this one premise.

~o~