heart health

"The amount of vitality we feel is equal to the amount of love we give ourselves"

- Himani Ellis; ASHH (appalachia school of holistic herbalism) Founder

HERB

Mimosa pudica
Mimosa can be used to end dream disturbed sleep. This is because Mimosa is considered to be a shen tonic. Shen is a concept in Chinese Medicine that loosely translates as spirit, as in hopefully you have been in good spirits lately. Shen is the heart and mind connection. When are minds are at peace so are our hearts and when our hearts are troubled so are our minds.

Shen disturbances can manifest as insomnia, nightmares or excessive dreaming, forgetfullness, and dementia to name a few symptoms. Mimosa is called "collective tree of happiness" in China.   Its flowers look like something out of a Dr. Suess book similar to the blossoms of the Lorax's truffulla tree.  Mimosa flower is a wonderful addition to an antidepressant formula and gives anyone feelings of inner calm.

ALSO...

The heart is related to joy in Chinese medicine so playing and loving are important factors in staying heart healthy. it also relates to the color red and lo and behold many red fruits and herbs contain constituents that keep the heart disease free. Some of these include: pomegranates, cherries, hawthorne berries, cinnamon, cayenne, and yes... ROSES! 

(all info above taken directly from the ashh newsletter...thank you for being a consistent source of bountiful source of information)

a better than good day

at the end of every day when i sit back to reflect on all the elements in my life right now, i find myself getting a little overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude in which the universe can conduct blunt forced trauma.
and as i pick my thoughts up off the floor to reassemble where my thought energies should be going, i catch myself fighting back the negativity. doing this everyday wouldn't be so rewarding in gratitude if it weren't for the universe having my back....

...like my friend the donkey man calling me to say that he's going to get the headlight fixed on his old honda so i can have something to drive around town while i'm still here...
...like the random townsfolk who drive by and make it impossible not to hitch hike across town...
 ...like the owner of this little boutique in town where i've managed to land some last minute work comes to me, only after giving me one day a week when i was expecting more, to say how she's thinking about opening up a few more days in the morning which will give me some more shifts....
...like  my good friends and practically surrogate father and my practically surrogate mother stop by my house just as i'm randomly home (i've been house sitting all week) to say he came to check on me because he was worried i was sitting here by myself getting lonely, and how unbeknownst to me he's helping me find work...
...like my adopted sister dropping off my two grocery items from my measly grocery list, and throwing in a bottle of wine, only to say it's all on the house...

i feel like the universe just hugged me

give HEMP a chance

something you all should know:

The reason marijuana is illegal has very little to do with drugs, and is really about money and the continued centralization of economic and political control. Hemp seed oil is biodiesel and is three times more productive than any other seed oil crop, and hemp seed oil will run any diesel engine today with no modification. Hemp oil is the reason the petrochemical industry made up the "reefer madness" myth. They renamed hemp, using racist propaganda, calling it marijuana, and lied to make it illegal.

go to http://www.hempstalk.org/festival/ for more information on portland's annual hemp festival.
this is DRUG FREE and ALCOHOL FREE event. it's purpose is to bring awareness about the many beneficial uses of hemp, which IS NOT the same as marijuana (i'll leave that topic for another day).