Farewell Caffeine I have loved you well...

Dear Caffeine. Has it come to this? Have we finally reached the stage in our relationship where we must part? No! No, I say. I cry. I scream it to the heavens. I can not part from my lifelong love, my succor, the wind beneath my wings. But alas, it looks like dire circumstances have brought us to this place. My destiny lies along a different path than yours. It is one that no longer includes daily stomach cramps from having drunk you first thing.

Alack, alack, alack. I've done all the experimenting I can do (no more commercial soda for months now. I've drunk coffee hot, coffee cold, tea hot, tea cold, tea tepid, each one quickly, each one slowly, with food, without food etc etc etc), and the results are startling and unequivocal. If I drink caffeine, I will suffer the slings and arrows of belly cramps. If I don't (as in, I drink herbal stuff, hot, cold, tepid, etc.), I am fine. I have no cramps. I feel no pain, and I go about my day. The big question now is, how do I get my morning oomph? I will need to do more Chi Kung to build Chi and incorporate a bunch more warming yoga asana into my daily practice.

My mission is clear. Farewell, Caffeine. You served me well for decades, but now we part as friends. Your loyalty will be rewarded in song and story. I will hold you in my heart (just not in my mouth) forever.

Yoga Asana to Build Energy

Sun Salutation (http://www.yogaforeternalbliss.com/yoga_asanas/images/surya%20namaskar%20A.gif):

Yoga For Energy: 10 Uplifting Poses To Fight Fatigue (PHOTOS)
http://www.huffhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/07/yoga-energy-fatigue_n_3536173.htmlingtonpost.com/2013/07/07/yoga-energy-fatigue_n_3536173.html

Chi King Postures To Build Energy http://qigong15.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/chi-kung-pattern.jpg

Gallbladder cleanses or make sure you have light olive oil

I've begun prepping for my next gallbladder/gallstone cleanse. I'm doing the cleanse Sunday into Monday (so look for me to be moaning and groaning if I do make it onto my computer, at all).

In the meantime, I'm on black walnut/wormwood/cloves tinctures. And all my water will have apple cider vinegar in it until after the cleanse.

One amazing thing: I found an olive oil that is so light that I think I'll actually be able to drink it in the quantities in which I need to drink it in order to actually do the cleanse. A light olive oil is particularly important if you ever want to be able eat olive oil, ever again, after you've done one of these cleanses. By the time I was done drinking the copious amounts of oil I had to drink in order to complete the cleanse, I never wanted to be anywhere near oil olive again. In fact, now, years later, I'm still unable to be around the really pungent ones.

Last time I did the cleanse, the oil was way to olive-y and it was very hard to endure. But, as I am a tad phobic about having surgery and as the cleanse works beautifully, I'm all over this. I would much rather endure one day and night of misery than endure surgery. That's my phobia and I'm stickin' to it.

I'll post something about how it goes after it's over. In the meantime, I'm eating carefully and taking excellent care of myself so I won't suffer too much during the cleanse itself.

Here's to taking our health and our bodies into our own hands. I have no problems with traditional medicine. My sister is a doctor. When it is appropriate, traditional (western) medicine rocks. On toast. With jam. For me, the only thing that western medicine says to do is to get my gallbladder removed. That's not an option for me so I'm doing this instead.

How about you? Have you ever tried a gallbladder cleanse? How did it go? If you haven't, would every give it a try?

Choose to relax!

Today's cards: Seven of Pentacles, High Priestess, Page of Cups. Today is for rest, relaxation, and rejuvenation. Heh, on a Tuesday. Yeah, right. But, why not? Even if you are on extreme deadline, what's the harm in taking ten seconds to stop, quiet your mind, and just breathe? Here in Richmond, where I am at the moment, the sun is shining, the birds are singing (literally) and I am seated comfortably on a fluffy couch as I type. Although I face a grueling drive up 95 in a few minutes, I'm taking the time to smell the figurative roses. And why not? I've been working hard. Heck, everyone I know has been working hard. Most people I know are constantly on the move, consistently working until they drop, and getting too little sleep. So, just what's wrong with claiming a little joy and calm in the middle of the maelstrom? I say, nothing. For those who know me in person, that's a serious departure from my normal Type A "go go go!" But, I'm taking a page out of a different book. I'm trying very hard to choose to relax and just be even if it's for just a few seconds out of a harried and hectic day.

See, the High Priestess is all about choices. Choices and intuition. Our bodies are smart. They tell us what we need, and most of us need way more rest and relaxation than we give them. So, a conscious choice of even a few minutes of quiet and peace in an otherwise crazy day can give us a lot of that peace of mind that we all need to be our best. Now, I know some of us thrive on the crazy. We need that jolt to be at our peak. But, as someone who has operated in that paradigm for decades, I'm here to tell you that it has its price. That price can be your health, vitality, or just your energy level. Everyone needs recuperation time. Some work themselves like crazy and then take two weeks of solid play. Some need it more often. I'm just saying that a wee little bit of time spent breathing and "chillin'" (as my nephew would say) can go a long way to recouping some of that energy and vitality that the Seven of Pents says we all need today.

The way to reengaging with our internal, joyful, childlike selves (ye old Page of Cups in today's card draw) is to slow down and take those few deep breaths, feel the sun on our faces (or the raindrops, depending on where you are) and give thanks for that moment of peace.

Oh and if someone asks you out on a date today, go! That Page is all about new romance. And after all, it's spring!

It's time to clean house!

Today's cards: Nine of Rods, Eight of Cups, Two of Swords.

Even though I am about to go hike a few miles with the dog, really today is about what I need to do on the inside. It's time to Go Within. Oh and it's not just about your internal monologue and kicking its butt to  release some negative self-talk patterns, although that's certainly in here. It is also about making your space conducive to new stuff coming in. Sometimes, we stagnate. We stagnate in our jobs, in our relationships, in our minds, and in our homes.

Looking at it like a feng shui practitioner might, we have stagnant or blocked Chi in our spaces. So, instead of energy being able to flow into and out of our lives, it gets stuck somewhere along the road. So, we want a healthy, constant flow of that energy moving through our lives. The trick here, though, is that we don't want it to come in or leave too quickly. We want a building of energy, a vitality to be generated and present as we move through the bulk of our days. We also want an ebb when it is time to relax and wind down toward nighttime.

We don't want it to blow through us like a tornado, because then, it will just leave destruction in its path. Do you feel like that happens to you sometimes? Does it feel like you're always exhausted and you're constantly running from one crisis to the next? Are there too many stimuli coming at you at all times? Again, looking at it from a feng shui practitioner's perspective, you might need to slow the energy in your space down a bit. You might strategically place a couple of stones in your space. Get a small quartz crystal or even just a rock you find that you like and put it somewhere near the middle of your living space. Rocks have been known as calming influences for a long time. Where do you think worry stones came from?

So, let's learn from people far wiser than us. Let's put a few things in our homes/work spaces that let us find the eye within the storm.

And, last but certainly not least, make your space your own and make it clean. Recycle, give away, or toss that which you no longer need. Let your space be for what is now, and not what was, and also not what might be. Today is where we are and that's what we need to deal with.

Remember, worry doesn't fix tomorrow's troubles; it just saps today of its joy. You'll get there with or without worrying about whatever it is that has you in knots. Make your space your own. Make it clean, and you will have clarity and calm.