Manic Monday: Keeping Positive

One of the biggest drains on our mental and physical energy is negativity.  Have you ever noticed that when you're around people who complain a lot, you feel very tired and sometimes even depressed?  Negative people can sometimes feel like energy vampires.  If you pay close attention, you will find that many people tend to focus on the negative a lot, and you might even be one of them.  If you are, that's okay.  Don't beat yourself up about it.  It's easy to fall into a trap of complaining and negativity, especially when it's all around you.

On the flip side, there's the overly positive person that seems to be almost out of touch with reality.  They take positive thinking and a good attitude almost to an extreme.  This can also be exhausting.  Life is full of ups and downs and we all need a little bit of balance.  However, keeping positive about the events in your life without entering into a denial phase is possible and healthy.

Reacting negatively to situations blocks creativity and reason.  Finding a solution to the problem or challenge becomes more difficult and delays results.  On the other hand, putting on a fake smile and pretending that the problem will just solve itself because of positive thinking is lazy and just as useless.  Positive thinking means finding a way to think positively about the situation so you can change it or accept it.  Usually, this requires a shift in your perception about the problem.  What lesson can I learn from this?  How can I transform this into something that is beneficial and useful?  Asking these kinds of questions will help you to relax, but will also open your mind up to solutions.

For chronic problems (money challenges, complaining, addiction, etc.), there are many tools that can help you move toward your goals.  As we discussed in an earlier blog, writing down your goals is a great way to get focused on what you want.  Also, affirmations and visualizations before, during or after meditation can be extremely beneficial in focusing on the positive and moving toward what you want.

Remember that being more positive takes practice just like anything else.   Start to notice how you feel when you or other people are negative.  When you notice this, change your perception to something positive without going into a fantasy land.  Focus on the source of the negativity but create a positive view of it.  Over time, this will become easier.  You'll soon find that you'll start to attract more positive people, feel better about yourself, have a better view of your future, and react better to stressful situations.  Be healthy!

Mystic Merman  

Tasty Tuesday: Pure Purple Passion

Since I am on my juice feast now, I though I'd share a blended drink I often have in the afternoons.  Because I work at a raw food business, I usually ask other people to pitch into a commune of food and make this for four or five people.  In last weeks blog, I shared the morning cacao drink I make for the phone staff at Sunfood.

This recipe (like all my recipes) changes almost daily.  It depends on what I have and what is in season or available.  However, there are some basic rules for Pure Purple Passion.  First, the base is always fresh squeezed citrus (usually at least 75% orange, with the rest made up of grapefruit and lemon).  Blended into this are high antioxidant frozen berries, and any other berry powders available.  The idea here is to find deep, dark purple or red fruit, which are rich in the anthocyanins, polyphenols, flavonoids, and other powerful antioxidants. The citrus is high in Vitamin C.  Together, this makes a great immune building drink.  If you do this a few times a week, your chances of getting sick can be greatly diminished.

So, here is an example of a version that I made this week (remember, this is for four people):

2 quarts of fresh-squeezed organic orange juice
2 cups of grapefruit juice
the juice of one lemon
1/2 cup blackberries
1/2 cup huckleberries (I picked these wild in the summer, so you can substitute blueberries)
1/2 cup Salal berries (also picked wild, substitute black cherries)
1 tablespoon of Acai powder
1 tablespoon of Maqui berry powder
1 teaspoon of Camu Camu powder

Place all items in a high-powered blender and blend until smooth.  Pour into a glass and enjoy.

Note, if the berries are frozen, this makes for a nice cool smoothie.  Enjoy and be healthy!

Mystic Merman

Manic Monday: Laughing the Worry Away

They say that laughter is the best medicine and maybe it really is.  Think about the people that you enjoy being around.  Do they make you laugh?  Do you make them laugh?  My best friend and I are always laughing when we're together.  I sometimes think that we wouldn't have been such great friends all these years if we didn't find each other's humor . . . well, humorous.

So, what does laughter do for us?  Well, according to research, laughter is good for the mind and the body.  A good belly laugh can relieve tension and stress, keep you emotionally "tuned" to others, and uplift the mood.  There is also evidence that it lowers blood pressure, relaxes the blood vessels making it good for the heart and the brain, enhances the immune system and releases feel-good hormones like endorphins.

In social settings, laughter brings community to the workplace.  Often times, working environments create conflict and hierarchy challenges.  By bringing humor into these situations, the environment becomes more conducive for resolution and teamwork.  If you want to relax tensions at a company meeting, try to make everyone laugh.  It often changes the dynamic of the whole meeting.

We can all laugh more, so seek out opportunities to laugh.  The internet is a wonderful place to find humor that matches yours.  Animals and children never fail to make us laugh.  They can both teach us a lot about spontaneity and being in the moment.  Also, notice how you feel when you hear an infectious laugh.  We all know at least one person whose laugh is contagious.  It's healthy to seek out people who like to laugh and have a playful spirit.

Maybe most important is the ability to laugh at ourselves.  Don't take yourself too seriously.  Lighten up and enjoy life.  Your mind and body will thank you.  Be healthy!

Mystic Merman 

Superfood Sunday: Antioxidant Superfood Powerhouse #1

Wow!  I just realized that I haven't posted on Superfood Sunday for the whole month of November.  I guess my Sundays have been full of activities, keeping me from the computer.  So, I've been thinking a lot about antioxidants lately.  The books that I've been reading on longevity really stress antioxidants for several reasons.  First, modern society exposes us to a huge amount of free radicals, more than humans have ever been exposed to in history.  Second, our food is highly deficient in antioxidants.  Our ancestors ate a wide variety of wild food; in fact, modern hunter/gatherers have been documented consuming up to 75 different plants in one day.  That's a far cry from the 5 to 10 domestic plants we all eat every day. 

So, I'd like to focus on food that is really high in antioxidants (polyphenols, anthocyanins, Vitamin E, Vitamin C, selenium, etc.) for the next few Sundays.  In one of my first posts, I did mention my favorite high-antioxidant berry, Camu Camu.  Berries (especially wild) are notorious for having a high ORAC value, which is the system of measurement for antioxidants.  Recently, I discovered a berry that is higher in antioxidants than any berry that's ever been tested.  The Maqui Berry. 

Indigenous to Patagonia (the temperate forests of southern Chile and Argentina), the Maqui Berry (Aristotelia chilensis) or Chilean Wineberry is a deep purple berry that is in the same family as the blueberry.  Because it is a relatively new superfood to the world market, limited tests have been administered.  However, some companies are already reporting ORAC levels that are up to 10 times that of a blueberry.  The purple pigment in the berry comes from the polyphenols called anthocyanins, one of the most powerful of all antioxidants.  Research shows that these antioxidants protect the immune system, clean up free radicals, protect the DNA, prevent poor eyesight, and a host of other benefits. 

Unlike other wild berries, Maqui berries have a wonderful taste that doesn't require masking of the flavor.  A cross between a blueberry and an Acai berry, the Maqui berry has a rich, sweet flavor that blends well in smoothies or can be sprinkled on raw granola or coconut kefir.  Sunfood.com sells a high-quality, freeze-dried, organic Maqui berry in powder or whole berries.  I highly recommend trying this amazing superfood.  Be healthy!

Mystic Merman

Free Friday: The Truth About Fragrances

At my job, a temporary employee worked down the hall for about a week recently.  His cologne was so strong that it felt like I was walking into a gas chamber every time I passed his office.  This may seem dramatic, but many other employees noticed it too and we complained.  Unfortunately, we don't have a strict policy about fragrances and laws about allergies to fragrances are not very clear.  This issue has come up before and some have complained about discrimination.  So, I'd like to compare this to another issue that is similar to me.

Up to the late 1970s, it was legal to smoke in most office buildings, restaurants, bars, and other public places.  Working environments became the first places (besides hospitals) that began to ban smoking inside.  The obvious reason here involved the non-smoker.  Sure, a person has a right to smoke if they want, but should other people be subjected to that smoke all day long while they're working?  Of course not.

You may not see the parallel here, but it's definitely there.  Most fragrances have neurotoxins that affect the person wearing perfume or cologne, but also disturb anyone else trapped in the same room or office.  The US Department of Labor lists complaints about fragrance allergies on their website including headaches, nausea, breathing problems, difficulty concentrating and tingling of the lips and skin.  They recommend education in the workplace, but there is little talk about creating state or national bans on fragrances in the workplace.

If you wear commercial fragrances, you might want to think about what you're doing to your own body as well as those around you.  I once heard a popular health speaker mention an interaction with a woman while he was doing a book signing.  A cloud of toxic perfume surrounded her as she told him that she always has headaches.  He suggested that she stop wearing perfume immediately.  A year later he ran into her again and she said that she took his advice and the headaches disappeared.

There are other things a person can do to make sure they smell pleasant.  There are natural essential oils that are very concentrated, so only a little bit needs to be applied.  Also, a cleaner diet means a cleaner body.  Cutting out foods that build up toxic waste helps reduce body odor and brings out the more natural smells of the body that should never be offensive.  Covering the body with chemicals, in my opinion, is far more offensive anyway.

So, until there are laws banning toxic fragrances from public places, let's all do our part and contribute to cleaner workplaces.  Be healthy!

Mystic Merman

Therapy Thursday: Juice Feasting

I know last Thursday's post was about water and I was going to continue that, but I'll finish the water post next week.  This week, I've decided to focus on juice feasting.  As some of you may know, I did a juice fast about two months ago.  I lost around 25 pounds and got rid of the inflammation in my foot.  Since then, I have been working on staying on the raw food diet.  It's been great, but the weight loss has slowed down.  Even with the working out and the supplements, I still feel like I need to continue with my cleansing process.  It's like my body is used to years of slow metabolism and sedentary lifestyle.  Juice feasting is just the thing to kick it into high gear.

So, what's the difference between juice fasting and juice feasting?  Well, in juice feasting you add some additional foods to your juice.  This means that your diet is mostly juice, but you can add things like hemp or coconut oil, bee pollen, MSM, algae powders or liquids, cleansing products, etc.  It's a personalized plan, but the added things should be to support cleansing and/or remineralizing your body.

I was first introduced to the idea of juice fasting several years ago through a website called juicefeasting.com.  David Rainoshek has an entire 92 day plus program for a protocol that he designed through years of experience.  I was able to do the program for a couple of weeks, and it felt great.  I've always wanted to take on the 92 day program, because that's when the great benefits hit.

One of the success stories I read was from Angela Stokes.  She lost over 100 pounds on a raw vegan diet, but it all started with juice feasting.  In fact her 92 days covered Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, and Valentine's Day.  With these holidays right around the corner, I am inspired to follow in her footsteps.  So, today is Thursday and I'm going to prepare myself for this over the next few days.  Officially, I'm starting on Monday, November 21st and I'll attempt to go the full 92 days.  If I go the full time, my last day would be February 21st of next year.  I'll blog about it occasionally on days that seem appropriate.  Wish me luck!  Be healthy!

Mystic Merman

Workout Wednesday: Maximizing Your Metabolism Part I

Because of the results I'm getting from the protocol I'm doing, my interest in metabolism and energy has been piqued.  By increasing our metabolism, we create more energy, burn more fat and live longer.  Basically, metabolism boils down to how your body uses the macronutrients of fat, carbohydrates and protein to make energy.  We need energy for every process in the body, so this is essential for everything, not just exercise.  As we age, our metabolism slows down, but there are ways to increase it.

Exercise remains the undisputed champion for increasing metabolism.  While cardiovascular exercise is great for burning calories, interval training and weight lifting are best.  When we break down the muscles through intense exercise, the body requires energy to build the muscle back up, which in turn burns calories.  So, after a hard workout, our bodies continue to use energy for up to 24 hours.  In fact, people who have leaner, more muscular bodies actually burn calories doing nothing.

In addition, getting enough sleep has been shown to increase metabolism.  While you sleep, your body is still performing many functions, which uses up calories.  If we cheat ourselves of sleep, we disrupt this balance and actually burn less fuel.  Reducing stress and learning to relax also lowers cortisol levels, which can help with metabolism as well.

From a nutritional standpoint, eating right helps the body to become more stable and function properly.  Raw, organic plant-based food gives energy, digests more fully, keeps the body's systems balanced and elevates the mood.  When you feel better, you want to move more, which creates more energy for more movement and more joy.  It's a wonderful cycle that can easily be started.

Next week, I will talk about supplements for maximizing your metabolism.  There are several things that have been shown to work with athletes and have been working great for me.  Until then, get out there and move that body.  Life is waiting for you.  Be healthy!

Mystic Merman