My Calamitous LOVE Affair with Coffee!

My Grampa Page's coffee mug. Funny how seemingly insignificant objects, a coffee mug, can stir deep memories and emotions.

My Grampa Page's coffee mug. Funny how seemingly insignificant objects, a coffee mug, can stir deep memories and emotions.

I love coffee.  I love the smell and the taste.  I love the memories that coffee stirs up for me.  (This reminds me to give you a heads up about my new book, be looking for it later this fall. (If I get my butt in gear and finish it!) I have used coffee in the title as it stirs up much fun and memories for me. I hope it will for you, as well!)

Coffee Memories: 

  1. My Dad's coffee mug (for many years it was just like Grampa Page's mug above!) sat right next to the stove, geared up and ready for AM coffee. The mug may have changed but its station in life has not.
  2. My Gramma Page was a coffee-a-holic.  This is a love statement; a statement of awe. She could drink a cup, at midnight, and go right to bed. Me... I would be up until the next midnight bells were rung!

I have never had a coffee drinking habit. Coffee is a rough road for me, hence our calamitous love affair. I love coffee, coffee does not love me. Caffeine sensitivity is a tough ride. One cup of regular coffee can send me down a path of jitters, racing heart, and a crazy head for hours. The effects will finally wear off, with much relief on my part, only to rebound hours later and send me on another caffeine jolt. Good thing I never aspired to be a drug addict, something tells me I would not fare well! I inherited this drug sensitive gene from my Mom. She also does not fare well with a cup of coffee!

Maybe a year or so ago, I thought it would be fun to have a coffee in the AM ritual. Something soothing, warm, and yummy that I could enjoy in the peaceful AM quiet of my home before the daily chaos ensued. This liquid crack stuff is addicting! It is very easy to slide into a coffee habit as the body, mind, and spirit ask for more, every AM. I even purchased a hand grinder, from Sweet Maria's, to do this coffee thing right! 

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I tried decaf coffee to avoid the jitter craze. Decaf is very questionable to me; like refined white flour and white sugar...a whole food  substance that has had part removed cannot be a good thing, in my eyes. Then there is the issue of: "How did they (whoever they are, these caffeine drug lords) remove the caffeine?" Was it chemically extracted or water bath extracted? The story goes that if it is organic coffee, it has been water bath extracted. Phew, no chemicals here, right? (I have read many different accounts of how this whole decaf process happens in beans.) Decaf was not for me, too many questionable practices and potential chemicals.

In come low caffeine varieties of coffee. It is amazing the amount of information there is to learn about something as humble as coffee beans! So, of course, I try these coffee beans as I am determined to have a coffee habit that does not make me crazy. The Potsdam Food Coop carries a low caffeine whole bean, organic, and roasted by St. Lawrence Valley Roasters. Of course, this liquid drug still makes my head and body reel with hyper-energy.

So here I am, one year later, and this is what I notice: I wake up groggy, cloudy headed, and feeling like I need that AM coffee to get going, to dispel the cobwebs from my head (AND wishing someone would deliver coffee to my bed!). This is a big problem for me as I have always been a: wake up spunky, feet hit the floor immediately (I am not happy lying in bed stretching and yawning, I like to move!), and get moving kind 'a gal.

My plan: I will wean myself at the end of the summer, after Labor Day (But hey, summer does not end until Autumn Equinox. I can squeak in a couple more weeks...) Seriously, here is where I sit in the AM, would you want to stop this habit just yet? I know, I know, I can sit here without my locally roasted, low caf coffee... but not yet. After Equinox!  : )

Why you ask? I really do not like how I wake up in the morning. I do so prefer the spunky in the AM me. This weaning test is to see: Is coffee the culprit in my new AM feelings OR is it my age? Time will tell... let September be my reckoning time. 

For now, coffee and I will ramble on in our calamitous love affair.  Paula

PS  April 19th, 2015 Update about and awesome coffee substitute that actually tastes like coffee!, click here: http://www.paulayoumellrn.com/blog/2015/4/19/coffee-and-my-calamitous-affair-revisited

My AM coffee "space"

My AM coffee "space"

Me, in my AM coffee space

Me, in my AM coffee space

PS Update on My Healing Yard.... This information came from Susun S. Weed's Wise Woman Herbal Ezine for You, July 22 - 2014

Wild Carrot Contraceptive

  • Harvest fully matured brown seeds.
  • Store in a brown paper bag.
  • Use one tablespoonful of the seeds, mixed into food daily, for at least five days following fertilizing intercourse. 

My note: I have always read it was 1 teaspoon of the seeds from ovulation OR potentially fertilizing intercourse to your next period flow. It would take many Queen Anne's Lace flower heads to make 1 teaspoon of seeds, even more for 1 tablespoon! Lots of collection needed to sustain this method of fertility control!

This is said to change the lining of the uterus, making it too slippery for a fertilized egg to attach. 

Check out Robin Rose Bennett  for her extensive work in wild carrot as a birth control ally. 

Summertime and the Living Is Easy

summertime feet

Summer is an amazing time to revitalize mind, body, and soul.  

How can we not feel amazing with the:

  • sun shining brightly,
  • warm rains on occasion,
  • birds singing,
  • frogs and crickets chirping,
  • fire flies blinking at night,
  • local produce pouring off the farm stands,
  • green grass and wild flowers coloring our world happy,
  • sultry, warm nights swimming in the moon light...

May your summer be filled with warmth, good smells, and happy memories!  Hugs, Paula

 

My "New" Favorite Song

So, you may be asking: What does a song have to do with health and healing? 

Everything I say, everything!

Musicians weave soul magic with their words and the musical notes.  Human healing begins at the soul's level.  Remember me writing about how healing the physical body begins with healing the emotional and spiritual body? What better catalyst than music!

An earlier post, about another favorite song, urges using forgiveness as a self-healing tool.

My new favorite song and how it fits into this whole story...

As you know, from a previous post on blasting belly fat, I recently ventured down into the Havasupai Indian Reservation in the Grand Canyon. After I posted this adventure story, a dear friend sent me the link to a song I had not heard in years:  In the House of Stone and Light by Martin Page.

Listening to the hauntingly beautiful music and soulfully insightful words of this song returns me to the same peace, deep inside my heart and soul, that I felt down in the Havasupai's canyon world.

(See pictures below.)

The House of Stone and Light as we walked into the Havasupai village.

The House of Stone and Light as we walked into the Havasupai village.

Meandering through this House of Stone and Light!

Meandering through this House of Stone and Light!

Little Navajo Falls In The House of Stone and Light.  Yes, we swam there!  In fact, I am on that beach!

Little Navajo Falls In The House of Stone and Light.  Yes, we swam there!  In fact, I am on that beach!

The sunrises and sunsets on the canyon walls were completely mesmerizing. The light, on the sandstone walls, absolutely glows. (I live in a sandstone home, I recognize my stone home's beauty and, yet, this canyon home is an intense sandstone home space!)  American Indians speak of sacred places where there are high levels of spiritual energy.  It was obvious to me that this oasis, in the Grand Canyon, is one of these sacred places, a vortex of energy.

The sunrise, hiking out of The House Of Stone and Light.

The sunrise, hiking out of The House Of Stone and Light.

 

I would love to take my healing energy back to Havasupai.  Maybe I could offer my nutrition and whole health healing to the Havasupia people. I could support their health around the high incidence of diabetes and diabetes related health problems.  I could be giving back to the people who opened their canyon home to me and my family!

For now, I listen to my new favorite song, over and over again.  My kids tell me I am obsessed with this song about the canyon home.  I tell them the hike down into this beautiful home of the Havasupai was a deeply moving and soul cleansing experience.  

If they hand me my backpack and tattered Teva hiking sandals, I will know they are sending me packing back into the canyon!  I will go, willingly!

My dirty feet and tattered Teva sandals after a day of canyon hiking!

My dirty feet and tattered Teva sandals after a day of canyon hiking!

Your Take Away Health Information:  Find music that soothes and excites your soul.  

Sing, dance, let the music flow through you like the healing energy it is.  Much Love, Paula

PS  The lyrics of the song are deep, meaningful, soul searching!  Tell me this is not a healing experience...

O Mount Kailas uncover me
Come my restoration
Wash my body clean

I've been walking
Along a crooked path
Where the walls have fallen
Broken me in half

I'm telling you
I will not rest till I lay down my head
I'm gonna go
In the house of stone and light

I shall not cry
For the blind man I leave behind
When I go
In the house of stone and light, yeah
In the house of stone and light

Holy lady
Show me my soul
Tell me of the place
Where I must surely go

Old man waiting
At the gates for me
Give me the wisdom
Give me the key

I'm telling you
I will not rest till I lay down my head
In the house of stone and light

I make my way
Oh, gonna be such a beautiful day
In the house of stone and light
In the house of stone and light

Let me in beneath my skin
In the house of stone and light

It's been too long
My spirit's been at war
Havasupai Shaman
Let me be reborn

And I will embrace
The sun upon my face
Come the day
I awake the child inside
In the house of stone and light

And when I go
I will op', op', open my eyes
In the house of stone and light
I will see you
In the house of stone and light

Looking in beneath my skin
In the house of stone and light

Going inside
In the house of stone and light
(Stone and light)
Looking for the child
In the house of stone and light
(See myself got such a good shelter)
In the house of stone and light

In the house of stone and light
(I'm gonna let this child come washing of water)
In the house of stone and light
(He's speakin' softly to me)
(I must go there, to find my soul, yeah)

In the house of stone and light
(I can see so clearly now)
(I will go there, to find my soul, yeah)
In the house of stone and light
(Well keep on knocking on my door)
(I must go there, to find my soul, yeah)

In the house of stone and light
(I will go there, to find my soul, yeah)
In the house of stone and light
(I must go there, to find my soul, yeah)

Songwriter:

Martin Page

His albums are awesome. Check them out for some soul soothing, healing music!





3 Day Belly Fat Blast!

Do not, I repeat, do not attempt this stunt at home!  Guaranteed to blast 2 to 4 pounds of fat right off your belly & butt in just 3 short days! Here are my five easy steps for success on this belly fat blast:

1.  Get your butt (and belly fat) to Arizona:  plane, train, automobile... bus if you must. Walking and biking are fine options, as well, and will seriously ramp up the belly fat blast!

2.  Hike 8 miles down into the Supai Native American Reservation.  Once there, you will be hiking many more miles, every day, to see and do what you want to see and do.  35-40 miles in 3 days... see how this belly fat blast just happens!?

havasu falls 2

3.  Live on the food (and a lizard or two, see info below) you carry in your back pack... down those 8 HOT, dusty miles into the Grand Canyon.

Food Carried:

Amazing nutrition in a fruit, nut, and Superfood power bar.  I avoid packaged food but this one is great in a pinch.  www.herbdoc.com  Nope, no kick backs for me. Darn!

Several varieties of organic beef jerky available at the Potsdam Food Coop.

Bison bars from the health food store in Flagstaff, Arizona.  These bars were a great pick!

Organic cheese sticks (Someone knew I would need cheese.  Again, see below.) It is amazing how they survive, despite the heat.  They were a little floppy on day two but we did not die from food poisoning!

Organic carrots, apples, and nuts pack well.  Thanks again to the Flagstaff, AZ store!

alm pecans

Dessert in the canyon was 2 of these very tiny, raw food cookies:

4.  Share your meager food supplies with the Supai Native American Reservation dog you fall in love with.

pedra 2

Pedra is the blonde doggie I fell in love with. Her sweet 'lil kisses on my face were a welcome bit of love.  Her black and tan friend was collar-less, tag-less, and therefore name-less. She won my love as well.

Pedra's tag said: "Pedra. Love me, feed me, leave me free."  On the flip side the tag stated: "Prefers paleo diet with cheese and a side of lizard."  So, I did what any dog loving woman would do... shared my beef jerky, bison pemmican, and mozzarella cheese stick (I was so glad I bought those Organic Valley Mozz cheese stix! Pedra loved them.). Funny, she did not want a bite of my Superfood bar or a share of my almond and pecan stash.

I tried to capture a lizard for Pedra and her friend but damn those canyon lizards move fast! I left her to handle that part of her diet on her own. No, I did not eat any lizards.  Couldn't catch 'em!

Yes, I asked Pedra to come home with me but she said: "No thank you Paula.  I run free down here in the canyon."  Guess being a Northern NY "house pet" was not on Pedra's agenda for this life time!

5.  Bring your 12 and almost 15 year old sons with you.  I figured their growing, teen bodies needed the calories more than my 49 year old - no longer growing body needed the calories.  Just in case we did not carry enough in... I ate lightly and left the food for the boys.  Amazing how a mom will go without to ensure the comfort and survival of her offspring!

Success of this program is based upon:

  1. minimal food
  2. maximum movement
  3. sharing minimal food with awesome dogs
  4. bring hungry teen boys and leave the bulk of food for their consumption and survival
  5. grain free diet (keep in mind that live stock is fattened up for slaughter by grain feeding...)
  6. butter free diet (OK, one morning my boys had oatmeal at the Supai Reservation Cafe.  I confess, I ate a pat of Land O'Lakes butter. Had it been my NY State pasture raised butter, I would have eaten a 1/4 cup!)

I am home now... real butter is back in my diet!

This success story is based on a quote by a rather enlightened MD (I forget his name!):

          "We have moved from a culture where movement was mandatory and calories were hard to come by to a culture where calories are mandatory and movement is hard to come by."

Got any belly fat blast stories for me?  Perhaps long hikes in the ADK mountains with little food? A trek up the Appalachian Trail and running low on food before the next drop?  Maybe the Pacific Crest Trail caught you low on food? Drop me a comment and share your "do not stay at home" fat blast stunts!

Blessings, Paula