Physical Health and Body Archives - Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ragweed Allergies – 8 Ways to Calm

Ragweed allergies and dry symptoms are becoming more relevant with climate change. It’s not just autumn or fall anymore. And while it’s dry out in my neck of the woods, it’s also humid daily. I find dew on my window in the AM. And I’m seeing how this affects my new plant.

We are all part of one living ecosystem. And ragweed season affects our local environment, home, plants, and bodies.

While high humidity is breeding ground for mold toxins. And a dehumidifier would be helpful to smolder prevent.

Because being inattentive can create more chaos in the body than just ragweed allergens.

Fall season ragweed in the air causes watery, itchy and sinus-related symptoms. Ragweed allergies can be often confused for colds and flu, especially with COVID-19 that has similar and often strange symptoms.

They build up to exacerbate Vata, Pitta, and Kapha imbalances.

We’re all made of some amount of wind, fire, and earth in us that need tuning up restoring. If restoration is something you’re needing, you can take the body balance quiz for more awareness.

8 Healthy Ways to Calm Your Ragweed Allergies

1. Steam. Steam over stove with peppermint oil in a pot. Also, releasing a few drops of eucalyptus oil in the shower is good for clearing sinuses.

2. Neti pot. This is by far the best allergy invention yet! By cleaning out nasal passages with natural sea salt and (boiled or purified) water, you can prevent sinus infections. Do this every week at a minimum, but I like twice a week during allergy season (or year-round).

And a natural saline spray can help to clear out the sinuses. This is good for convenience, if you’re super stuffed up, and the neti pot scares you because you think it’ll reach your brain somehow.

Even though in truth, the nasal passage is on a different track, so the likelihood is slim.

But a natural saline spray is still a healthier way than taking daily medicine that accumulates.

And if you want to give the neti pot a try, this is what I do:

I take about 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of natural sea salt and add ½ cup of boiled water. If you’re a beginner, you may want to start with 1/4 tsp salt and you can always add a little more based on the severity of your congestion. You can also buy pre-measured saline packets.

Let the hot water cool to warm or lukewarm. I usually set the timer for 20 minutes after boiling the water for 10 to 15 minutes.

Then you take your neti pot solution and pour it into one nostril, and then the other. Streams of water will come out the opposite nostril.

And you can instantly feel better like I have felt when allergies were getting the best of my energy.

If you’re taking a shower, it’s practical to perform the neti pot regimen there. But over a sink is fine too. Just be sure to have a towel nearby, as water can still run from your nose after you’re finished.

I usually look face down to the floor into a regular or paper towel (afterward), for several seconds just to get rid of any excess water that can be delayed in dripping.

Tip: I don’t do the neti pot regimen if I’m going to a yoga class that day because Downward Dog likes to be downward dripping nose dog if ya know what I mean! 🧘🏻‍♀️ And that’s awkward dawg! 🐶

For cleaning the neti pot: use a small amount of soap as you may not remove every soap trace. There’s also probably still traces of salt sitting at the bottom of your vessel if you use a clay one like I do. Plastic is easier but not as pretty.

Salt is a natural cleaner, so you can rinse with water thoroughly and using soap cleaned fingers or a clean toothpick to remove any lingering residue (as sponges can harbor bacteria).

The time and effort you spend on your entire neti pot regimen is worth it and a TOTAL life game changer especially if you are prone to sinus infections.

You also can rid of uncomfortable tension in the face from ragweed allergy congestion.

3.Apple cider vinegar. When I take ACV, I use an eyedropper in a vial/bottle and add mixed up water with apple cider vinegar that has the “the mother” (milky substance). This is the good stuff that you should invest in for your medicine is food cabinet.

When you apply, put it to the back of my throat to protect the teeth. ACV is acidic but (counterintuitively) good for a high acidic stomach, as it stops the stomach from producing more acid.

And sometimes in the mix of allergy season, there’s chest congestion. That’s when I will boil apple cider vinegar over the stove, and inhale the steam into my chest. This is a last resort as I don’t know about you, but I think the ACV fumes doesn’t agree for my Vata body.

But ya do what you gotta do!

I use the cheap (not organic) ACV for boiling, otherwise the good stuff is wasted.

Apple cider vinegar also helps heart burn feelings (that’s associated with acidity and often eating too much in the acidic foods categories). It’s one of Mother Nature’s gift. Maybe that’s why the super kind has the “mother.”

4.Drink green and peppermint tea. Ragweed often brings on symptoms and headaches that warm tea is good for.

Add raw honey for congestion.

Peppermint tea is good for headaches. Herbal teas are caffeine-free so they are good any time and at bedtime. They also calm stomach aches.

AND for the home, it’s a common bug deterrent.

5.Air purifier. A machine like this in your bedroom where you spend many hours, helps to clear the air some. When you’re laying down, chest congestion build ups easily.

Tip: make sure to get the HEPA level filter for allergens, molds, and spores (much smaller particles to capture than a filter for dust only) that are common during ragweed season.

6.Nettle or turmeric tea. Nettle tea doesn’t have a culinary use flavor, so you can add other tea that will add flavor. With turmeric tea, you can add black pepper that has a synergy effect with the curcumin compound that’s in turmeric.

Black pepper can help you sneeze. And that is our body’s natural mechanism to clear out some dust and pollen.

7.Menthol vitamin drops. If you have sinus pressure, menthol drops are good for the Kapha congestion symptoms and tiredness. Keeping them by your eye drops is a good reminder to take them.

Dry or irritated eyes are a common ragweed symptom.

8.Raw honey. If you find the right raw honey from local beehives, this can help a little or a lot to break up sinus and chest congestion.

It’s also an amazing moisturizer and does wonders for inflammations like itchiness. It’s an anti-bacterial.

…Maybe that helps to look at the sticky goodness and your local bees in a different way? 🐝🍯

Awareness Is a Happiness Solution

Awareness is the tool that helps you everywhere in life. No matter where you are. Even looking out at a serene landscape that you appreciate…

Being aware is not just knowing and feeling your surroundings. It’s being present in the moment.

Sometimes the moment is not where you want to be… like the thoughts are sad or you’re not in the mood to do what you’re doing.

There are those times when your present moment is not a good feeling. If you’re hiking, maybe you’re hungry, hot/cold, tired, etc.

And those are all real feelings you have.

That’s very different than the mindfulness you’ve heard where there’s no pain in the present moment current thoughts… only in the past thoughts and in the uncertain future.

And what you do with your initial feelings or thoughs in the present moment, like distracting or focusing on a rare bird that flew by, replacing sour thoughts with better thoughts, or greeting others can change things for you.

The micro step you take to turn your thoughts into positive ones and loving thoughts change the direction of your day.

Like, you think if you finish this task, then you reward yourself… or by doing this, you’re one step closer to a goal. Or letting go of a bad situation you were just in.

Thought and mindset resetting is how you can use your mindfulness and awareness as a successful weapon. It’s simple but not always easy.

Running in the opposite direction is the easiest maneuver as it takes little extra thought, and as a clear better direction.

That could be as easy as switching tasks.

Since we were young, we learned that if we ever saw danger, naturally run in the other direction.

And after you practice with negative thoughts, this too can become an automatic prompting.

Where you snap out of your thought… and that makes you more aware.

That also trains you to observe your thoughts and let go of the ones that don’t help you.

Even though they seem to be nourishing as your thoughts.

Focus on other dominant thoughts.

Look in another direction.

And in your thoughts, think in another direction.

Thoughts are to the mind as visuals are to the eyes.

You observe your surroundings with your eyes and you can observe your thoughts with your mind with practice.

Some people have a photographic memory or they see in numbers or words that scan across their minds.

But most of us can’t see our thoughts.

But imagine you could.

And observe your thoughts in a pause.

Gather how you feel about them for another brief moment.

And decide what you want to do with them… keep or run in the opposite direction.

Either way, self-awareness lets you decide.

Self-awareness is like seeing yourself in the mirror.

And without a mirror, if you imagine yourself and what you look like to your surroundings, then that’s also self-awareness.

That’s the type of awareness that is most useful in this life, so you can better react and respond to situations where others are involved.

And present awareness can help you survive. Like knowing you’re here and something is out there. Or you’re both here at this same place.

And present awareness can help you thrive…

When you focus on, are intentional, and spend more time mindful on an area, you get a deeper awareness.

And that can develop into new ideas and your next step in life.

That’s why it’s smart to spend time in silence with your thoughts so you can become deeper aware about your life.

This is known as a form of meditating.

There is a meditation form where people usually have their eyes closed with the goal to rest from thoughts.

And then there’s the kind to gain insights. That’s the type I do with my eyes open.

Either way, life is in meditation when you pause from the usual thinking daily activities.

I meditate when I’m doing something in the kitchen with my hands or when I’m looking out and up into the sky or a room (like in Tree yoga pose).

For me, meditation is gathering new ideas and thoughts. It’s about downloading insight from the outside realm.

It’s not a ritual escape or a way to de-stress, although it usually happens when my mind is relaxed.

Because it’s hard to focus or meditate if your ego is involved, or you’re feeling anxious or angry about something.

Rarely do new insights come in that way.

As I believe there is a plan for each of us that we can choose to follow and find the optimal meaningful life designed for us, or choose our own path that’s usually more aligned with our culture.

And I found that this life is a choice of finding deeper purpose or discovering without deeper meaning.

And you know which camp you’ve been living.

Deep awareness seekers are usually seeking purpose.

We want to connect-all-the-dots in our lives.

Because we don’t want to misstep and go down unnecessary rabbit trails unless we know they’re for us to go through for a good reason.

At some point, we connect good reason with more meaning to this life than meets the eye.

…What we thought life would be when we were first getting off the ground is not what where we end up.

And then tuned into this awareness, we can get back to finding our core purpose and our destiny.

This takes time. But as we grow, we realize that some things in life like a first or second job is not as serious as we once thought…

Back there.

And now we’re here..

Back there got us to here.

But it was temporary.

And if we’re not happy at our current job or life season that we’re living out, we can remind ourselves (during those tough situations), to hang in there.

This too shall pass.

As we’ve seen in our past.

And if we’re golden happy where we are, we can relish and enjoy the moments to the fullest.

Because soon enough things will change in the future.

So enjoy the present.

In our happiness, we’re making happy memories as we speak.

And if you can find a way to look at and embrace getting up in the morning as your happiest moment… and then finishing the hard parts of your day as a reason to then celebrate, then I think you will know what living full is.

And you can carry that to your next life assignments.

How I like to celebrate in my world is appreciating framed colorful confetti cards that say “Happy Birthday” or similar in various languages.

In awareness, those colorful cards are everywhere when you look around in grocery and convenience stores.

That’s how I can happily change my day.

It’s a momentary reminder that every day is a celebration. 🥳

And maybe that’s an idea for you or someone in your life…

That everyday is another celebration day to add to your birth day.

Guilt Replacements For Happiness

Guilt is not a good feeling. But subtle, it’s often missed and takes away from happiness. So recognizing it exists in your life is helpful so you can then replace the lesser feelings with higher ones.

Guilt shows up in so many different ways in each of our unique lives.

But in common, so often guilt arises from the upbringing ingrained in you from childhood.

It’s not easy to shake off.

Early on, you were limited in the changes you could make. But today you can and should make the necessary changes for a happy life that free you and make you unstoppable.

Because guilt can have a dark cloud grip on your life.

I realized this in my own life…

When I was younger, I enjoyed reading. And I felt guilty being cooped up inside under a reading light instead of playing outside.

I felt disciplined but I also felt the pressure to be a more social kid.

So I was at odds about enjoying learning when it wasn’t cloudy outside.

Then all grown up, I looked back and realized I love learning and growth that I had set myself up to do from a young age.

And today I’m still all about personal development that to me is living life to the fullest potential.

And I’m sure when you look back in your life, you can see some of the sacrifices you made that help you today!

Even though while going through those times, it probably didn’t feel that way.

It felt like pressure.

That’s where you and I learned and felt the concept of guilt from an early age.

And in Brene Brown’s Daring Greatly, she teaches that guilt is behavior-based and feeling like “I did something bad” while shame is identity-related and “I am bad”.

Both live in the mind but are changeable in our thoughts.

But guilt subtly creeps up in today’s thoughts. And the dots are not connected to the root.

…And that robs daily joy.

It’s not easy to let go of those guilt feelings from the past that apply to your situations today.

And if you were able to le-go of the ego then that would be easy.

But none of us can do that as part of our makeup and built-in equipment.

The ego (or my new made up French word l’ego) can play any of us all day in our thoughts if we allow.

Like in the example I gave of…

When it’s nice weather outside, I still feel those initial guilty feelings that I should be outside.

That developed in my inner child.

I initially almost wish that it were rainy or cloudy out so I didn’t have to worry I’ll regret or miss a beautiful day.

And something as simple as that is how the brain can get stuck if allowed.

But wiser and more evolved, I take those feelings and replace them with better ways and thoughts, so I feel accomplished no matter where I am… indoor or out.

I change my perspective with my thoughts.

I find something positive about my choice.

It’s a fight with the split mind (that we all have), but replacing those lesser thought-feelings with something better and higher is how to change those ways without looking back.

…And make decisions quicker without second guessing.

You learn that your mind is not always your friend.

There’s you.

…And then there’s your mind.

That’s in your body.

So aware on that (as observer to my thoughts), today when I’m inside on a full blue sky day, I crack open my back door so that I can feel the inside-outside living.

Problem solved.

And I give those guilty feelings an ‘ol heave-ho back seat.

They no longer exist until they pop back up another time. And then I’ll rinse and repeat the same or find an even better way.

It keeps getting better until the guilt no longer has you.

That’s aspiring, yes? 😊

And well, I know since you and I have the same human mind instrument, you can do the same for your guilt areas!

…Where you already have all the answers inside you to change them to positive or loving thoughts.

So, now to make yourself aware, all you’ve got to do is figure out: what areas in your life do you hold guilt for?

Because they’re there.

And when you bring them to view when you’re not impacted, you are prepared to address them when they show up again. You’ve got this!

It probably takes a ‘lil intentional thinking initially, but if you can capture what you are still holding onto as guilt, you’re well on your way to replacing them and putting them to rest.

And how I concretely know that for you (as well as me) is that our ego is where these fuzzy areas are lost and stored.

That’s clear so you and I can be on guard.

And when the triggers and thoughts are brought back in the same fuzzy manner, you can de-fuzz them at the gate!

We all have an ego (just like we all have a brain) and it never goes away. And we can protect ourselves from the daily damage.

Keeping our thoughts healthy is the way to empowered happiness.

And awareness is always the first step.

So on that best self-aware intention, if your lingering guilt is from not doing something where you had been asked to, another good step is to ask yourself: why don’t I want to do that?

Because doing what others want you to do isn’t always your best.

Usually there’s a good reason for you choosing or wanting to choose another route. Because you and your inner self know better what you need in your life.

And sometimes at odds, you don’t know why you made some choices until you look back.

Trust yourself and signs you get in this life as life tries to route and re-route you. For Your Best.

That’s the better way than doing everything you plan out of fear or a roadmap someone else laid out for you.

Getting over the guilt of letting others down is sometimes all that is needed from you to get past feeling bad… that can easily cross into the boundaries of shame.

…Or lead to a pity party.

Clearly and intentionally justifying your reasons turn the love back to you and makes whatever you end up doing even more compelling-worthwhile.

Because you and your ideas are worthy and should never be discounted because of others.

And you should always be able to look at yourself in the mirror and say, “I am worthy” no matter what’s going on around you.

That could be a good place to start.

And you can make what you choose (sometimes against what others say) to be your greatest weapon advantage.

Replacing your guilt feelings becomes your new-next growth level.

You teach yourself to evolve into better and higher ways that helps your life. And helps you not miss a daily happy beat.

That’s the next level challenge to beat.

And if I can do it, I know you can also rise to the occasion.

Living happy and with no regrets in mind is worth the effort.

And always remember, you and your life are worth it! 🎉

Work-Life Balance Tip (From An Avocado Seed)

Work-Life Balance is the way for daily joy and a recipe for a more happy and healthy life.

…These days on those missions, workers are choosing work-life balance, joy, self-care, wellness, and delaying gratification of traditional retirement. Because our world has changed, and you can work anywhere these days.

And you can create your own job in the growing Creator Economy.

That’s one hopeful and healthy reminder that you can do anything in this Life. And a small way to plant your intention is by growing an avocado plant. 🥑

The easy steps are below to grow a healthy plant from an avocado seed. 🌱

Small ideas like this encourage our daily joy that help move you to take action (that moves the needle).

And if you’re at a job that started great and then took a downward spiral or is stagnant, you are not alone!

So many are waiting on their DREAM JOB to show up and out.

From my lens of holding dozens of corporate management positions, it doesn’t exist. I hoped and hoped… and still hope, but evolved into writing my own job description that has given me more joy.

And you can do that today wherever you are to gain your happiness without delay in your dream work-life balance life… and doing what you’re meant to do… creating, helping others, and solving world problems.

Without delay.

You can hit publish, empower yourself to step in, or pick up the phone and connect. The world is big and wide and you don’t have to look far.

Working for an employer is jut one way that helps you get experiences and learn skills while contributing your time, effort, labor, and mind. And you get paid in exchange.

But empowering yourself as your own boss in your domains is the cherry-on-top… where you get the best of all worlds and feel unhindered.

And when you think of it like that, you can create so much good exchange in this world.

And also always be useful doing meaningful work. That helps your growth.

And when work doesn’t grow or we’re no longer contributing, then we know it’s time to move on… and that’s healthy good for everyone involved.

…And if you’re like me, or maybe I’m odd (or old-er 😉)… I never want to retire. I think work is part of purpose and the right kind helps us stay young.

Redefining work is where it’s at!

I believe you should love working your passions, interests, and gifts you’re good at that you enjoy.

Maybe because I’ve had so many experiences, both good and bad.

Early on, I loved my teen job where I had very little responsibilities.

That was good for that youthful time. I had fun. And the reward was development and growth and taking on new, impactful challenges while saving money to buy a car.

But I wouldn’t go back to that as I’ve outgrown those fun, no-real responsibility jobs. It doesn’t suit or align with my identity. It’s a mis-match like wearing Love’s Baby Soft fragrance would be.

And finding where you fit now is where you get the most out of this world.

At some point, you fully realize that you only have this one life you get and you won’t get this time back.

And that you have so much more to give than a lowly position that’s replaceable by another body or teen.

You’ve gathered experiences, and grown into a wiser brain that can be put to good use for the world you and I share.

In my walk, that’s the realization I had disappointment after disappointment collected, one job role after another for a couple decades.

I didn’t feel like my contributions and impact was commensurate to my knowledge and what I had to offer the world.

The corporate jobs at-hand sucked all my energy and most my hours for the week.

So I kept going and growing, even though the jobs looked respectable and good on paper.

And I eventually landed myself into freelance writing work the year of the pandemic when many of us career pivoted.

I also started this healthy and happy blog that year.

As a writer, I found work-life balance that didn’t just mean working from home. That’s one aspect or benefit.

It also meant choosing to prioritize health, and a healthy lifestyle over stress (high Pitta).

I could write all morning and then be ready for something else in the afternoon. I wasn’t chained to a desk or forced to attend office meetings that wouldn’t matter in a year (or sometimes even the next day).

There was work-life balance in every way.

I could find emotional freedom feeling calm during unplanned yoga time and not have to wait until later.

And I could run errands when others were at work.

I could also avoid public mobs and heavy traffic patterns that I grew up with in the DC metro area, that’s now the worst traffic.

And staying aligned, I vowed never to work jobs without some (healthy and happy) passion EVER again… and/or loving or believing in the people and mission I work directly for.

I realized work-life balance with PASSION WORK EXISTS where you get paid for your efforts. It’s not a pipe dream.

That was my new HIGH bar to keep reaching for.

…And I haven’t been disappointed putting in the risk and effort tradeoff.

And if you were to reach for your abundance and believe your dreams to come true, balance and passion work EXISTS for you!

You can leapfrog to work-life balance sooner rather than later in your choice.

…From those who did, I’ve only heard that the only regret they had was that they didn’t do it sooner!

Maybe that’s the motivation you need.

And helpfully could be for you… am I wrong?

Some are consciously walking off the job for their personal lives, health, and safety… choosing work-life balance and creating the life they want in work, life, and balance.

People on the job these days have to wear so many different work hats while multi-tasking life.

It’s no wonder so many people have ADHD signs, brain fog, and burn out symptoms that they need to medicate.

Today post-2020, it’s much more acceptable for us to slow down, take self-care sabbatical time, and pivot work and careers more often without harsh judgment.

And in my work-life balance pivot to a healthy lifestyle, I started this hobby of growing healthy avocado plants as a metaphor…

How to Grow an Avocado Plant from a Seed (a healthy reminder for work-life balance)

…One day I took a baby avocado seed and grew it to an avocado plant after my breakfast with a plant-based avocado smoothie.

It’s such an easy thing to do.

You don’t need a green thumb.

And the plant doesn’t need much window space or light in case you’re in an apartment with limitations like I was.

An avocado plant is like a Peace Lily plant you sometimes see in offices. They do not need a lot of natural or artificial light, so you can enjoy them indoor in a shaded spot. 🌱

These are the steps to how you get your plant going and growing:

Rinse off your avocado seed. Peel off the brown paper-ish skin shell. I think this step gets often missed from others I’ve talked to. This helps to let the root grow.

Your nails are the better way to get the shell off without scratching the seed.

So you’ll want to do this when you haven’t just gotten your nails done. 💅

Then when you have a bald seed, you’ll see it bare looking like a peanut (light beige) color in a walnut shape.

You’ll want to fully moisten some paper towel and wrap over the seed, and then place the wet seed in a plastic bag and leave alone in a cool/shaded spot in your kitchen where you visit often.

Leave for a week or two, and then check in on it. By week two, add more water if needed. Keep it soaked.

After some more time, you’ll start to see a crack in the avocado seed and a budding root.

The fault line means birth is happening (a happy baby seed 🌱).

When the root grows to about a thumbnail’s length, place 3 toothpicks in the seed and prop it over water in a glass or cup with fresh room temperature filtered water reaching the root.

Keep it in a shaded spot.

Keep checking and filling up the water to about the same level, and changing out if it looks cloudy and has too much debris.

If you notice any root rot or slime, gently clean it off and you can rinse your seed off if the water gets dirty.

Gradually over the weeks and months, move your new baby avocado to a sunnier spot indoors. And when your glass is full and you have substantial roots growing, plant into a larger glass so the roots aren’t crowded.

The avocado plant is an amphibian plant (living in water and then soil).

Eventually, after months or years will go into potting soil. I waited 2 years before planting mine in soil.

Waiting until there are leaves is a good idea.

Keep this article as reference, so you can review the steps (and not get too antsy to plant in a soiled pot). 🪴

And the longer you keep your growing avocado plant living in water instead of dirt, the stronger the roots get before you give it life on earth soil. This ensures stability for growth.

After a few months or so, you’ll see some good progress with green leaves and a stem that goes up and root that goes down like described in the cute All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten book 😉

A few leaves are the sign to add a pot with soil.

You can water every few weeks or less. Do it when you remember (ssshhh, talk about low maintenance! This plant is great for brown thumbs (🙋🏻‍♀️), lazy gardeners, or frequent travelers… and no worries, as you don’t need a plant sitter!).

Daily or weekly, check in with your plants when you can pause and work-life balance. 🪴 The leaves will tell you if it needs water.

Grow an Easy Avocado Plant

After you enjoyed your avocado on toast or with a meal, you can plant your seed for an avocado plant for daily enjoyment. It's perfect greenery for an apartment or bookshelf where you can grow your own plant when you have a brown thumb or want to appreciate avocado abundance. This a great project for adults and kids! 🌱

Author: Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Materials

drinking container or glass
toothpicks
paper towel

Instructions

Clean off your seed. Larger round to medium seeds work better.
Peel off the brown outer layer so you see the bare seed flesh that has a peachy flesh color. Tip: Do this when before you go to the nail salon as you will need to use your finger nails. Knives and sharp objects won't do the job without damaging the seed. It may be easier to wet soak the outer layer first to make it easier to peel off.
Take partial paper towel and full soak seed with water. Wrap around the entire seed, but don't leave too much excess paper.
Place the seed in a sealed plastic bag (works best) and set in a darker, cool room temperature place in a place you don't forget about.
When the paper towel starts to dry out over the days, moisten with fresh filtered water. Keep repeating this step. One day you will see a middle crack in the seed. This is to allow the root to sprout and grow that can take a few weeks. Be patient! And if your seed crack breaks the seed (no worries and don't give up), keep the seed half that has the root.
When you see an obvious root bud growing, you can place 3 toothpicks evenly around the seed and set in a drinking glass or container with a rim. Glass works nicely so you can see the roots from the outside. Then add water so the bottom and middle of the seed is "bathing" in the water, but the top of the seed does not need to be submerged in water.
Over more weeks, you will see a green stem grow upward and eventually leaves will sprout (months later). Enjoy and keep adding water to your glass as your seed roots are thirsty. The roots will eventually outgrow the glass where you may then choose to transplant to a larger vessel. This is a great easy project for the Kindergardener in each of us where the roots go down and the plant goes up!

Mental Health Awareness – How Far We’ve Come

Mental Health Awareness Month is a reminder in May that health is not just physical, it’s mental too… and it especially matters in the deep mind-body connection.

Each and every day is an opportunity for growth toward living better wellness and gaining mental health awareness that stems from our deeper insides.

Mental health is spiritual and linked to our spiritual well being that completes the mind-body-spirit in us.

If you grow your spiritual sides, you’re exercising and growing mental health.

…Like lifting weights or your heart rate for your physical body health.

The heart and mind are closely related and getting quiet time allows you to tap into those spiritual feeling-thought areas that make up our daily mental health.

You can think of your spirit as your heart that often refers to your gut feelings (that aren’t actually in the gut). The effect is a gut-heart connection.

We already know there’s a stomach gut-mind connection as most of our happy hormones are made in the gut that affect how we feel and think.

Essentially when we exercise our right to re-route our negative thoughts and flip them to positive and loving ones, we do ourselves a world of good.

We bypass bad thoughts and feelings resulting in some form of misery that’s unessential for us to grow.

Mental health awareness (wellness) allows us to see and observe that they’re related and happening inside us.

It’s deep and not easy to see what our own minds are thinking and even more obscure to see what our hearts are thinking at any moment…

And it’s even more challenging with mental health disorder filters or if temporary inflicted by common states like anxiety.

These ways cloud views, so keeping up wellness and living balanced is what I’m passionate about.

And bringing our awareness to present moments helps us process what’s going on at any time.

Also relationships make great mirrors in what we communicate verbally and non-verbally. 🪞

We can find out what’s going on with us.

And make happy mental health changes, so we’re free to live our most fulfilled lives!

Happiness was not talked about when I was growing up. And wellness was not something mentioned in the Corporate America jobs I held for decades.

So Mental Health Awareness Month is one of the several recognized events throughout the year to keep a reminder going… and to recognize how far we’ve come.

It’s a way to celebrate strides and not go back to our darker ways and pasts.

In the past, so many of us kept our mental health sides quiet and hidden. And generations before, even more so.

We’re a much more aware society, open to growth.

That’s something to healthy celebrate! 🎉

In the end, it’s our personal health that dictates what we can and can’t do…

And if you don’t know why you’ve suffered in relationships that are mirrors reflecting back, you probably have some hidden areas that need healing.

They’re hidden so you’ve never seen them and how getting them into view can change your mental health.

That’s what my journey taught me…

I didn’t know what I didn’t know. I saw a bright future forward and ahead, and never thought to look backward.

Until I was stuck. And I reaped opportunities to be in company with healers.

They made me realize forgiveness could bridge the gap to my wholeness.

That removed the subconscious blocks and made them conscious for healing.

Without wholeness that comes from healing, a person is never free from their imperfect past (that we all have no matter how much we enjoyed our childhood).

And if there is a current triggered situation in life, that can be an opportunity to clear out the past cobwebs.

And remove being a prisoner to the ego mind that’ll subconsciously make the situation worse.

That robs joy and happiness.

…In the one life you and I get.

…We’re here to evolve and get better and whole.

And that’s up to each of us.

Best remedies any of us can apply in mental health awareness is self-care that can include: yoga, meditation, nature walks, church, connectedness and all of the above.

And in those moments, you can gather answers to:

Are you healed from your past? Or do you still carry burdens?

…And maybe a current life problem is helping you to get to root causes.

Mental health awareness blockages means there’s some healing needed.

Some signs to look for:

You can’t talk about your past, sob deeply, or get defensive about certain triggering situations or people.

Witness the words you use and say, and if they are being defensive or blaming others.

Have you forgiven those who hurt you? It doesn’t matter if they knew what they did to you or not… OR whether or not they can apologize today. Those would be good if they restored the peace, but usually we’re in situations where we can’t get that closure.

But you can get forgiveness so you can heal and move healthy and happy on.

Doing this in a retreat or healing session with others is good because then you know for certain it happened as you have an event to remember and wasn’t just a few thoughts you had.

Also, do you ruminate on the same past thoughts?

If you do, you have to get closure or clarity, or you’ll always be carrying the burden of feeling stuck.

Clarity feels like peace and maybe even being able to laugh at some of the things that happened that were so traumatic before. They helped you grow to your wholeness and maybe even help others going through similar challenges.

Remember the saying, “What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger.”

And feeling sorry for those who don’t know any better helps you have compassion for others.

Often it’s mental health that becomes the barrier to do better.

Because hurt people, hurt people.

And when you’re healed, you can see that clearly.

That goes beyond your past, processing, and forgiving and creating a new way to look at the past.

Then you can be the answer to people around you needing answers to their problems.

…And when you do, you can realize how far you’ve come! 🙌

Be well and Happy Mental Health Awareness Month!!