Essential Oils for Women's Health Workshop with Fred Krazeise

Review of the Essential Oils for Women’s Health Workshop with Fred Krazeise

Written by Debbie Holcomb

The Essential Oils for Women’s Health Workshop led by Fred Krazeise was a wonderful way to spend my Saturday.  Fred’s lecture was fun, interesting, and very informative.  So many of the things I learned, I wish I had known when my girls were small.  They would have been healthier and happier children (plus my wallet would have thanked me over time as well!).  Megan Lewis led various meditations throughout the morning that helped us focus on the moment, ourselves, and the effects of the essential oils.  Fred demonstrated massage techniques utilizing the lavender, lemon, & peppermint essential oils filling the retreat center with a bouquet of naturally intoxicating fragrances.

The morning came to a close over a healthy yet delicious lunch shared with Fred where we could ask questions and discuss the benefits & uses of other essential oils not covered during the workshop.  The surprisingly filling salad (featuring several items grown by Ruby & Michael in their own garden) was drizzled with homemade basil dressing and accompanied by warm rosemary focaccia bread.  A Day Away Retreat Center and the Essential Oils Workshop are things I highly recommend you experience for yourself!

Sincerely,

Debbie Holcomb

For more information on Fred Krazeise:

http://empoweringwellnessnow.com/

Or Megan Lewis please visit:

http://www.meganmonique.com/

Well, the excitement for the day happened pretty early! I had been down at the main house starting coffee & cleaning up but, as I started back up to the barn house, a bird swooped over my head twice, squawking the whole time! At first, I thought maybe I was close to a nest but as I listened to him, I thought to myself ‘I recognize that kind of chirp’ so I looked up into the tree & there sat a beautiful male cockatiel! He was very interested in me but wouldn’t come down too close because there were 2 cats & 2 dogs eyeing him as well! One of the retreaters, Vickie, noticed me staring up into the trees, pointing, so she decided to find out what was going on. She must speak cockatiel because he moved closer to her and once I got the dogs & cats put up, he flew down onto her hand.  Unfortunately, as she tried to hold him, he panicked & bit her several times so she had to let him go.

Another retreater, Katie, had been on the deck watching the debaucle but, as Vickie & I decided to let the cockatiel rest for a bit, she chose to stay outside alone to soak up a little silence & sunshine.  As things calmed down, the cockatiel flew closer & closer to Katie and finally came to rest of the tip of her tennis shoe!  Vickie had been waiting in the mudroom, ready with a towel, so she snuck back outside, inched in carefully, lured him onto the deck with a cracker (just as a curious cat crept in, too!), and then scooped him up in the hand-towel!! Hooray!!!!

Wait, now what do we do with him??

Michael & I tried to call our neighbor to see if they recognized the bird but no luck. Even though he was REALLY cute & sweet, none of us really wanted to keep him so I suggested they take him up to our local vet (Boyd Animal Hospital). Hopefully, if the owner is looking for him, they’ll think to look there; however, the technicians at the clinic seemed completely tickled to have a new feathered friend in their midst! He has a nice cage with greenery, food, & water so I think he’s in seventh heaven for the time being!

I can’t believe I didn’t think to take a picture but at least this story has a very happy ending!

Next up, Sin-amon Rolls… :p

As an on-again-off-again blogger, I often start my days reading other people’s blogs that I find inspiring so I can get into the right mindset to blog (I can’t possibly be the only person who does this, right??).  Now there are a couple of issues with this process.  For starters, there are so many cool blogs out there that one could lose themselves and a whole day reading, crying, laughing, or trying new things!  As an evolving foodie, wellness wannabe, & green queen, it’s pretty easy to start out searching for natural ant repellent for the garden and end up scouring the kitchen for raw cashews & cacao powder in order to use the cherries I know are quickly going bad in my fridge to make a vegan smoothie!  (Deep breath, refocus, ohm…)

As I was saying, I started today with the intention to write about the really awesome things that happened at the retreat this weekend and ended up adding 3 new pages to my Facebook collection and bookmarking at least 2 new websites!  (More on those below )  I’ve also made a few phone calls, figured out our dinner & mid-afternoon snack menus, and SOQI’d for 40 minutes to warm my “inflammatory arthritis” weary joints (I could have spent the whole day in my SOQI bed soaking up those far-infrared rays, napping, meditating, and reading blogs but a girl has to work now & again so here I sit making connections!).  As I stare out my window at the neighboring cow pasture I’m reminded of – SQUIRREL! – hm, now I’ve lost my train of thought… Maybe it’s time for our afternoon snack which I found on the Healthy Blender Recipes site this morning (click the link for the complete recipe):

http://healthyblenderrecipes.com/recipes/raw_vegan_chocolate_cherry_ripe_smoothie/

Raw Vegan Chocolate Cherry Smoothie

Look at all that yummy goodness!

 Apparently this is how NOT to pit cherries…

Not good for your fingernails or cuticles!

Now in Technicolor!

Yum!!!

*Note: we added ice to ours to cool it down (we do live in Texas after all! )

OK, it’s dinner time so I need to break here & go help Michael do our thing! Stay Tuned for “Recipes for Distraction 2″!

What: Medicine Wheel Ceremony

When: Sunday 06/19/11 @ 8:30am

Where: A Day Away Retreat Center

Please join us at A Day Away Retreat Center between 8 & 8:30am (before the heat takes over!) this Sunday 6/19/11 (treat your dads to a very special Father’s Day!) for a sacred Medicine Wheel Ceremony performed by Michael & Laura Anderson (www.ftha-ul.com).  We’re asking participants who would like to place a stone within the wheel for a $5-10 donation in order to pay for the ceremony itself and to show gratitude for the many blessings the retreat continues to provide.  Brunch will be served afterward.  Please RSVP to adayawayretreat@yahoo.com so that we know how much food to prepare.  Below is the description of the ceremony that was passed on to me.  See you Sunday!!!

The Medicine Wheel

 Medicine Wheels served many purposes for the Native peoples of the World. They were the ceremonial centers of culture, astronomical laboratories, and places people would come to mark the times and changes in their own lives as well as the life of Mother Earth. They were places to pray, meditate, contemplate, strengthen connection with nature, and come to a higher degree of understanding of oneself and our relationship with all creation. Their use in ceremony made the energies of the area they rested on strongly felt. They become what people now call vortexes: places of intense Earth energy and healing. The Medicine Wheel will be built to serve this same function, to help heal our past by reminding us of a time when the world was guided by the law of right relationship, and humans respected themselves and all their relations – mineral, plant, animal, and Spirit. 

It is to be built in respect for our ancestors, and for those that originally lived on this land. Let each stone in the Medicine Wheel be a tool to help us understand our ties with our ancient past, our gratitude for that past, our journey to the future with excitement and joy, by being centered in the present in reverence and respect.

Please join us in this Ceremony. 

The Medicine Wheel

To understand the Medicine Wheel you must first know that the Medicine Wheel of this vision is similar to the 20,000 Medicine Wheels that existed on this continent before the European people immigrated here. These Medicine Wheels served many purposes for the Native people of the Americas. They were the ceremonial centers of culture, astronomical laboratories, and places people would come to mark the times and changes in their own lives as well as the life of the earth. They were places to pray, meditate, contemplate, strengthen your connection with nature, and come to a higher degree of understanding of yourself and your relationship with all the creation. Their use in ceremony made the energy of the area they rested on strongly felt. They become what people now call vortexes: places of intense earth energy and healing. The Weatherford Water Purification Plant Medicine Wheel has been built to serve this same function, to help heal our past by reminding us of a time when the world was guided by the law of right relationship, and humans respected themselves and all their relations – mineral, plant, animal, spirit – on the Earth Mother. It has been built in respect for our ancestors, and for those that originally lived on this land. Let each stone in the Medicine Wheel be a tool to help us understand our ties with our ancient past and demonstrate our respect for that past.          

The center stone of the Medicine Wheel is the symbol of the Creator, it is the center of all life, always creating without beginning or ending, always moving, always continuing. From this center radiates the energy that creates all the rest of life, all the rest of the wheel.  The seven stones that surround the Creator represent the foundation of all life: the Earth Mother, being who gives us our home and our lives, the Father Sun who warms and quickens life, Grandmother Moon who guides our dreams and visions, the Turtle clan representing the element of Earth, the Frog clan, representing the element of water, the Thunderbird clan, representing the element of fire, and the Butterfly clan representing the element of air. These seven stones teach about the basic building blocks of all life.

The four anchor stones for the outer circle of the Medicine Wheel are the Spirit Keepers, they honor the directions. Waboose (the buffalo) in the North teaches the lesson of the giveaway, the acceptance of life, death and the necessity of sharing all that has been given you. Wabun (the eagle) in the East teaches the lesson of new beginnings and helps us to know that each moment can be a new beginning in any aspect of your life or in any of your relationships. Shawnodese (the coyote) in the South is a sacred clown who urges life to keep creating itself. It is here we learn how to love and how to let go of all that is not love, its power is that of the open heart working in conjunction with the discriminating mind. Mudjekeewis (the bear) in the West is the place where we find out how to manifest the powers of Spirit here on earth. It teaches us to look within to gain the strength that comes from true self-knowledge. It is here we bring healing to the spiritual level; it’s power is of serving with great ability.

These four Spirit Keeper stones set the boundaries for the twelve moon stones in the outer circle that divides the year. Humans, like the seasons pass through many phases during their lives. The Moon stones of the Medicine Wheel give us a way of understanding and celebrating these changes. The moon during which you were born determines your staring place on the wheel. Completing the Medicine wheel are four spirit paths, each consisting of three stones. These paths go from the Spirit Keeper stone toward the Center circle, representing qualities that take us from daily life into the sacred space of the Creator.  

May this simple physical description of the Medicine Wheel provide you with the first basic steps for dancing with the wheel, for dancing with your life.

About the Ceremony

The ceremony will begin with opening prayers and a short explanation about the wheel and our intention building it. Michael will set the first stone (the creator), while Laura reads the short explanation about the stone. The drum beat will change when different sections of the wheel are built. There will be a change in the drum beats to correspond with different areas of the wheel we are building and some special prayers to be spoken when the Spirit Keepers that honor the 4 directions are laid. 

Laura will call for the rocks one by one and when your stone is called for, you with your group or alone will come forward to lay it in place while she reads the meaning of the stone to the group at large. There will be wooden markers with numbers on the ground that correspond to each stone. When you are called you will place your stone on it’s corresponding number. After the explanation is read (most are really short) you are asked to place your hand on the top of the stone and state “Thank you for representing (name of stone – ie the moon, the earth, the buffalo etc..) I dedicate you to the memory of our ancestors.”

When all the stones are laid, Michael will balance the energies and call in the directions. There will be a special song and story. (Part of a balanced ceremony) Then we will dedicate the wheel with a group prayer and ask, if you choose to, to join us in stating the dedication prayer.

“To the Spirits of our Ancestors we give our respects, humble as they are, and in our hearts may there always be thanks for you, as long as we shall live.”

We’re hosting our first wedding here this weekend; it’s exciting & nerve-wracking all at the same time! I’m sure it will be fine as Megan is a very laid-back friend with a huge heart but, because she is a close friend, I also want everything to go well for her (I won’t ask for perfect as I know that’s unrealistic!). Here’s the ceremony location (we already moved the picnic table but I haven’t had a moment to take a new picture; however, this is the same time of day as the ceremony); isn’t it BEAUTIFUL?!

http://www.facebook.com/adayawayretreat#!/photo.php?fbid=207572142612841&set=a.124312157605507.8419.120536634649726&type=1&theater

And here’s the website for the happy couple:

http://brianandmegan.weebly.com/index.html

Stay tuned!!

There are so many wonderful things to say about Mary Ellen of Dorey AromaTherapy that I’m not sure where to begin! We’ve known each other just under a year but she has such a gentle spirit that it’s easy to feel like you’ve known her forever. Her knowledge of essential oils & natural remedies (not to mention fashion, design & jewelry!) is vast yet she’s still humble and loves to hear your ideas and suggestions. We met thru our mutual friends, Ana Noyce & Jodi Lovoi, at the Fort Worth Holistic Fair in 2010. She offered a sample of one of her products and before I knew it, I was telling her my very extensive medical history (like I said, she’s easy to talk to)! I’m always looking for new ideas to ease my lower back pain and Mary Ellen’s approach was somewhat new yet so obvious – ‘Let’s try to heal your whole body from the inside out.’ So I bought one of her Women’s Wellness packages and I’ve been using it every day ever since. I won’t go into too much detail but two of my favorite products are her Breast Cream – ladies, get it, you’ll love it! Plus I swear by her Immune Support. Each winter I end up with at least one cold (if not several) but not this past year! Mary Ellen shows you how (and her products encourage you) to manually drain your lymph nodes each day. Toxins can build up in our lymphatic system but Mary Ellen’s formulas help maintain balance in your body plus they’re a daily reminder to give yourself a little TLC!

www.doreyaromatherapy.com

Mary Ellen is speaking Monday 2/21 at 7pm
Fort Worth Healing Circle
Acupuncture Wellness Community Clinic
1502 W. Magnolia Ave in Ft. Worth, TX

Side note: I was trying to keep this blog short but I can’t “sign off” without mentioning two recent situations where Mary Ellen and her products came in very handy.Every once in a while, Michael will accidentally roll one of his ankles which normally results in several days of rest & recovery time (and as we all know, small business owners don’t get sick days!). This time, however, after the initial ice-pack, I applied a generous amount of Mary Ellen’s new Emergency Formula and then placed his ankle under our far-infrared Hot House. The combination worked wonders!! He was back to his normal activities within 24 hours! The second situation happened just yesterday. Sugar (my 4-legged constant companion) must have wandered onto one of our less-friendly neighbor’s property and they decided to remedy that situation by shooting her with some sort of buck shot! She came home covered in blood from 3, no make that 4!, puncture wounds so off we went to the vet. Later that night, as I tucked Sug into her doggie bed, I wondered if there was anything else I could do to help her heal. It was a little late on a Saturday night so I wasn’t sure if I should call Mary Ellen but I did and, even though she didn’t recognize my number, she picked up! She immediately shared some loving advice, things I could do, things I shouldn’t, and by the end of our conversation, I had a few more tips & tricks to help Sugar rest better and heal faster. It’s all of these little things combined that remind me just how blessed I am to have met Mary Ellen. I hope to see you tomorrow at the Fort Worth Healing Circle!

Michael & I got up early this morning to run errands, just typical Saturday stuff, so we were gone most of the day.  As Michael prefers to drive, I spend my time checking e-mails & such on my iPhone which means I don’t pay much attention to what’s going on around me unless Michael specifially points something out. As we return home, we’re heading down the driveway past the front pond when Michael starts sputtering “What the… What is… Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God!” and really catches my attention as we pull off the driveway into the grass by the alpaca pastures!  He whips open his door, simultaneously slamming the car into park, and jumps out running towards the girls’ pen. As I catch my bearings & look up, my attention zeroes in on this…

Isn’t he adorable?!?! Look at those legs!!  More to come…

Drumming Circles

What exactly is a drumming circle?  Well, at its most basic form, it could be as few as three friends getting together for a “jam session” making music on instruments ranging from drums to bells to shakers (or their hands, thighs, or tummies.  Body music counts, too!  Personally, I like to strike or vibrate my metal meditation bowl as it adds a nice contrasting sound to all the deep resonating drums!).  Drums range in size and shape and can be struck with the hand or drumming stick depending on the type of drum and the sound desired.  Drums are also very personal items which many people embellish or decorate to fit their personalities.  The flow of the circle can be free-form or lead by a facilitator meaning the sound can range from organic to very structured.  Part of the beauty of a drumming circle is that the sound can change as the energy changes, as more people decide to participate, or even if one changes their location within the circle.  Drumming circles tend to be “come as you are” events with the main focus on community.  Attendees are always part of the circle (participants and audience are one in the same) and, honestly, it’s virtually impossible to not feel compelled to tap, pat, clap or boogie to the beat.  The soul purpose of a drumming circle (like that play on words? ;o) is to bring people together giving them an opportunity to express the rhythm which resides in us all while ultimately uniting the community as one.  Look for a drumming circle in your neck of the woods (we have 2 this weekend!) and set your unique rhythm free!

“Music and rhythm find their way into the secret places of the soul.” Plato

http://www.energylightinformation.com/news

http://www.drums.org/index.html

http://www.drumsontheweb.com/DOTWpages/Drumkeypages/drumcirclehome_2.html

*Green Tip of the Day: add 1-2 tablespoons of white distilled vinegar to the water as you boil eggs to help keep the shells from cracking while they cook!

My thoughts now turn to one of my best friends. We haven’t known each other very long but we’re “soul sistas” through and though. I have to thank her for reminding me that my personal dreams & desires are important, too. In talking with her last night, I realized that I’ve started to spread myself a little thin. I have no doubt that the connections I’ve made, the people I’ve met, and the things I’ve become involved in are helping me in so many way but, in doing all the fun things and meeting all the new people, I’ve started to neglect the one person who keeps the “Ruby Show” on the air. So, this is me trying to really commit to that New Year’s Resolution to blog more, journal more, and just plain write, dang it!

As I sit at my new “blogging station” surrounded by my 4-legged children, staring out at the misty grey winter day, my mind is focused on the topsy-turvy existence that seems to have us all (some more than others) within its’ grasp. With 2012 quickly approaching, you can’t throw a stone without hitting someone who has an opinion about where we’re headed as a species. Doomsday naysayers, age of Aquarius advocates, Rapture believers, the list goes on and on. Personally, I feel as if we’re all travelers on a great journey, headed towards an amazing destination but “the tower” has us in an indefinite holding pattern. We’re circling the airport, waiting for the people on the ground to get their act together, to get off the tarmac, to get out of their own way or, we’re waiting for the great “Powers that Be” to give us the ok, to tune into our frequency and radio in our next move, or to finally say ‘ahhh, now you’re ready, you can do what needs to be done’. So, as the captain tells us we’re going around again, I decide to take this time to read the books I’ve brought along (and a few the others have, too), to talk to my fellow travelers, to strengthen the powers within me so that I can do what needs to be done once we finally land on solid ground.

Tune in tomorrow for more nuggets of wit, wisdom, and well… whatever!!

*Green tip of the day: straight peroxide in a spray bottle works best for cleaning windows & mirrors.  Note of caution though, use a thick towel or wear those awesome yellow rubber gloves (they do make pretty designer ones now, too!) or those clean streak-free windows will temporarily turn your pretty pink fingertips a nice blotchy white!  Now off you go - give your world crystal clear shine!!