Biggest Loser

My day job in a locally owned business isn't as interesting as my dream job as a Hedge Wife but it pays and I will be talking about it periodically on here.
Something that is rumored in the workplace to be coming up soon is a Biggest Loser contest amongst the co-workers. The holiday season is coming up, which means fatty, sugary treats and weight gain for most people. The rumor is, that the competition will start at the end of this month, which is causing some grumbling among my fellow employees.
I take it as an opportunity to keep myself accountable to the healthy eating principles I've adopt throughout my studies in the last year an a half/two years.

To get myself, and maybe some of the coworkers in the right mindset, I've collected a few weight-loss articles and also recommending a few books.

Marc David wrote a really amazing book called The Slow Down Diet that promotes de-stressing your diet and good health will follow. He wrote this article, Losing Weight: 4 Things That Work & 4 Things That Dont on the Institute for the Psychology of Eating website.

Along the same lines of not stressing about the diet and enjoying life as well as food, Kevin Gianni, author of High Raw, wrote this great article about an Unhealthy Meal...and it's not what you might think. (High Raw is one of my all time favorite books btw. It is what encouraged me to get moving on my dreams to become an herbalist and head towards my life goals). Also see his article on emotional eating, which includes an audio interview with Jon and Kevin's thought's afterwards.

Mark Sisson, author of the Primal Blueprint, is ending his 21 day transformation challenge right now with a contest for You (and me lol) to vote on our favorite Primal recipe video. The recipes, plus the free e-books available on his website, are very helpful for anyone who wants to try something new in their dietary experiments. The Primal Blueprint is my husband's favorite idea when it comes to diets and lifestyles. (we're both very into individualization when it comes to eating and usually prefer concepts and ideas over protocols and rulebooks but more on that later).

That's a lot of information for one little blog post. More to come, I promise.

Happy 25th Birthday

Happy 25th Birthday Herbal Healer Academy!

In my newsletter from Herbal Healer, Marijah McCain wrote:

"We are celebrating 25 years now at Herbal Healer Academy. We have come a long way since I started this company with a $50.00 investment.

It all started with the Herbology Course and then came products to sell. After many years of research and talking with thousands of you, I have found some of the best natural medicines available. I am very particular about the products I offer, if I won't take them myself, I wouldn't sell them. They have to be safe and cause no side effects and be effective.

Many of the HHA Members have been with us since the beginning and I would like to say thank you for sticking with us through the thick and thin. We have had some rocky times, but perseverance and the truth always prevails. I have no regrets, which is really amazing when you think about it.

There is a sign on my wall that say "Goal: To generate the most reputable, results oriented, natural medicine supplier and alternative healing correspondence educator on the planet" Sums it up nicely, and thank you all!"

I am so happy to be a student of Herbal Healer Academy's Herbology course and hope to see many more anniversary notes in the future. 

Herbal Give-a-way

Herbal Roots Zine is doing a give-a-way of a Prunella and Golden Birch elixir and Kiva Rose and Jesse Wolf Hardin's book I'm a Medicine Woman, Too!

The Elixir is multipurpose for inflammation and pain relief. "A dropperful can assist with overtaxed muscles sore from physical activity, tension headaches, and even the burning and discomfort associated with mild to moderate urinary tract infections. This combination is also especially useful when there are signs of excess liver heat and tension, including temper fits/outbursts of anger, a red tipped tongue, rapid pulse, frontal headache, bloodshot eyes, and bloating with a band of pain across the top of the abdomen."

The book was inspired by Kiva Rose's daughter Rhiannon and is a children's book to inspire young people to be interested in the healing herbs around them. Also included in the book is the Name That Herb game!

See more about the give a way at the Herb Roots Zine update!

What is an Herbalist?

What is an Herbalist?
(This is a post in the works as I'm still learning what it means to be an Herbalist myself)

According to the Encyclopedia of Natural Healing, herbs help us in various ways. Some are like superfoods that are “building blocks for the entire body” while others are used like drugs and “exert specific strengthening or stimulating effects” whiel still others cleanse, build up or even perform more than one function. Herbalists know that specific herbs are helpful in correcting certain disease states. The herbalist considers the whole person and the state of the overall system  and the basic formula is modified for the condition.

Marijah McCain, the founder of Herbal Healer Academy, of which I am a student, states in her lessons on Herbology that “The medicine that will survive into the future will be one of a non-aggressive nature. By this, I mean you will not have to be hurt, cut or drugged to be healed…Dietary changes, herbal therapies, Homeopathy and expanding self-awareness are all part of the Holistic Field of Medicine…the Holistic Approach to Medicine IS the Medicine of the Future and Herbs play a significant role in this transformation process.”

She later defines “Herbs are our foods and medicines, and they have been put on this earth for us to use…herbs are in tune with the Universal Life Giving Force and by utilizing the Potencies that they have, we are able to be healed and come closer to that Universal Life Force Energy balance within our own persona.”