Archive for August, 2009

Animal Communication —– Getting the “BIG PICTURE”

August 31, 2009 · Filed under Animal Communication, Case Reports, Interspecies Communication, Thoughts About Animal Communication · Tagged

this could've been Fanny, giving me and Susan the "big picture."

This could've been Fanny, giving me and Susan the "BIG PICTURE."

Once I had finally decided to set my sites on really and truly becoming an animal communicator, doors started to blow open. If you’ve read previous posts on this blog, you know that I believe that our will and intention are just about our strongest allies for manifesting thoughts into reality. Well …  and focusing on what you want instead of what you don’t want. That’s super important too.

But back to those doors.

I will never forget the experiences I had in an advanced animal communication class after I had really set my intention to talk to the animals.

Information from the animals comes in many forms. Some of the most common are pictures, sounds, thoughts, words, emotions, and physical feelings. The first three are seen and heard in your mind, the latter two are actually felt in your emotional and physical body.

But there is another, larger, way of receiving information from animals, and that is what I experienced over and over again in the advanced workshop: getting the BIG PICTURE or the “gestalt” of the situation, all in one fell swoop. It’s like getting the whole chapter of a book at once instead of having to read line by line, paragraph by paragraph. It is the be-all-end-all — the whole enchilada.

In this workshop, we were working in pairs doing problem solving with pictures of animals brought by other workshop participants. Each pair didn’t know anything about the background of the animal’s problem, but the person who brought the picture did. The problem was laid out in detail to each pair, and then the pair sat silently with the picture and made their own individual notes about their conversation with the animal.

My partner was Susan, and she and I were working with a donkey, Fanny. I no longer remember the details Fanny showed us because this was soooo many years ago, but when we compared our notes we were dumbstruck because the story we each had gotten from the donkey was identical to the other’s! Needless to say, we were so excited we were about to wet our pants!

This happened over and over in the workshop, for almost every participant. We were all blown away, and our instructor was too. She had rarely seen this kind of sudden and overnight progress in her students. It was a super high, and each time it happened the person who brought the picture was able to confirm the information that had been received.

Wow! We were on our way to becoming real animal communicators!

What was happening in that workshop was that we were all,  for whatever reason, being blessed with the ability to get the big picture — or the gestalt — of the situation at hand. Some say (and I believe this, by the way) that there is an Animal Council of spirits that oversees the work of animal communication, and that its sanction is necessary to really doing a good job in the field. Our teacher that day felt the Council had placed a big rubber stamp on our particular class and blown open the doors for us to share, for the first time, the mind-blowing experience of “just knowing.”

You can label this kind of understanding as a “gestalt” experience or as “just knowing,” but either way it is the absolute best and most incredible way to receive information about any given situation with an animal.

That said, my clients LOVE the blow-by-blow, sentence-by-sentence translation I give them via written transcript of my session with their animal. I love those too. But getting the big picture is really where it’s at in terms of filling in all those blanks about what’s really going on, so if you work with an animal communicator, I hope you get this part of the (big) picture too.

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The “Window of Normal Emotions” – How It Can Help Us Heal

August 29, 2009 · Filed under Health & Healing, Personal Stuff, Superfood for Your Animals .. and You, Uncategorized · Tagged , , , , , ,

I took this picture at the Tor (tower) in Glastonbury, England, some years ago. This opening felt like a mystical window on a world of possibilities!

I took this picture at the legendary Tor (tower) in Glastonbury, England, some years ago. This opening felt like a symbolic, mystical window on a world of possibilities! May you find yours, and may it lead you to good health.

We all know how, when we’re  really sick, anything and everything in life feels insurmountable. You have a high fever, or a migraine headache, or you’re throwing up and having diarrhea at the same time.  Even thinking about a routine day or going to work makes it ten times worse.

Fortunately, these extreme cycles of illness usually come and go over a period of days  and you get back to yourself fairly quickly and can take up where you left off with your regular duties, work, and play.

Not so, however, with many of the maladies people are suffering from  these days: Epstein-Barr or chronic fatigue syndrome, Lyme Disease, thyroid imbalance, blood sugar problems or diabetes, chronic pain and inflammation, irritable bowel syndrome, STRESS from an overloaded schedule, to name just a few.

These and many more ailments or diseases often go undetected and are not diagnosed for years, if ever. They are commonly insidious and subtle, rather than blatant and outright like the flu, and can take one’s level of energy and general health down so slowly that the person they afflict doesn’t even realize what is happening. Instead, the body adapts to it’s “less than” health status and becomes severely compromised.

Life becomes a string of accommodations: getting less exercise because one just doesn’t have the energy — to the point of eventually getting none; eating more and more sugar and carbohydrates in order to get one’s blood sugar level into a normal-feeling range; relying on caffeine in order to function; sleeping too much or not sleeping at all. It’s a self-perpetuating cycle … and yet the afflicted individual comes to believe that this is “normal” and only to be expected as one ages, etc., etc.

Believe me, it is NOT normal at all. And it’s very important to wake up and smell the coffee (but drink a little less of it!). I can attest to this pattern personally because many years ago I slowly became severely anemic and unable to function and yet somehow denied what was happening, thinking I was just tired, until the condition became life-threatening.

What’s important to realize about this pattern is that, while in it, one loses all perspective about what’s normal and what’s not. Judgment becomes skewed so there’s literally no energy or ability to make correct decisions about options regarding one’s health. The “sense of well being” is so long gone it is but a figment of the imagination, if one can still even “imagine” that feeling at all.

My algae upline, a Chinese Medicine doctor and acupuncturist, recently talked about how a “window of normal emotions,” even if felt and glimpsed for a few brief moments by the ailing individual, could be a true life saver. How? By literally “waking you up.”

The “window” occurs during those unexpected moments where you once again feel a glimmer of good health — no matter how brief. You wake up feeling excited about your day. You have the energy to take a walk — even if it’s just a short one. You feel inspired about cooking a meal for the first time in ages ….  and it feels GOOD!It might not last long, but it feels really good.

Those feelings of happiness and well-being — “windows of normal emotion” — are priceless incentives that will remind you that indeed you CAN do something about your poor health. You CAN take more control and make  choices that will lead you back to balance.

So watch for those “windows of normal emotion” and seize the day when they occur. Order that life-giving supplement you’ve heard about, or spend just 10 minutes nurturing yourself in some way you’ve been craving for months. Just DO something. One step at a time, one day at a time, and “window” – to – “window,” you’ll get there. Don’t give up hope! You CAN feel better!!

(Secret advice: I know of NO better life-building/immune-system-enhancing pure food than blue-green algae, and over the past 20 years have watched countless individuals, both human and animal, recover from life-threatening conditions once they started eating it. You might consider it as an option  when you’re in a “window of normal emotions.” I wish you well!)

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FOR MORE ABOUT THE MAGIC OF BLUE-GREEN ALGAE:

My Algae Story

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Do Animal Communicators Eat Meat?

August 27, 2009 · Filed under Animal Communication, Interspecies Communication, Leta's Philosophy 101, Penelope Smith, Personal Stuff, Thoughts About Animal Communication, Uncategorized · Tagged , , , , , , ,

"Yum!" or not yum? You decide.

"Yum!" or not yum? You decide.

Carnivore versus Vegetarian/Vegan:  This is one hot topic indeed. And many seem to think that we animal communicators who do eat meat are hypocritical and should go up in flames . . .  kind of like the steak in this picture.

Every animal communicator has been faced with this question, often in the form of a combative challenge. The scope of the answers given, and the rationales therefor, are as wide and diverse as the individuals who espouse them. In fact, the topic is so controversial, and the stance of animal communicators so varied, that it is the subject for one of the main discussions in the summer issue of Penelope Smith’s quarterly journal, Species Link. If this is an issue that seriously concerns you, you might consider ordering the current issue of this journal.

In a nutshell: the opinions of the animal communicators queried for this article range from “serious meat-eater with no qualms” to “would never eat anything I can talk to.” Actually, “no qualms” isn’t quite right, as I’ve never heard of a meat-eating animal communicator who isn’t terribly conscientious about the type of meat she puts in her body and who doesn’t also bless the animals for their sacrifice.

The question in your mind about right now, of course, is whether I, the animal communicator/author of this post, eat meat or not, right?

The simple answer is yes, I do, and with great blessings and gratefulness and no apologies. I, like many animal communicators surveyed, have Type O blood, for one thing, which is that of the original hunter gatherer amongst our ancient forebears (it was, in fact, the first blood type). But for me, also as for many others, there are health issues involved, including a tendency toward a life-threatening form of anemia.

In my case there are other reasons as well. Meat being one of the more grounding substances on the planet, I find I require it to keep myself from getting too spaced out and ending up wandering around in the ethers all day. Working in the psychic and telepathic realms does tend to make one spacey — some of us more than others, I would suspect. So, for me at least, a few ounces of heavy animal protein really facilitates my work.

But another reason I eat meat, I admit it, is that I plain out love it. I’m of the generation that was raised on it, and it is a serious part of my diet. As when growing up, when at all possible I prefer to eat wild game or family-caught fish, and indeed on the Texas ranch we kept such in our large freezers year-round.  I can attest firsthand how different meat tastes when killed humanely and quickly and with gratefulness than that of animals sent to slaughter. And I try to eat the latter as little as possible.

Lots of people would love to argue this question ad infinitum, which I  have no interest in doing — about anything really. But I leave those of you who adamantly oppose meat-eating with the following thought to ponder.

Plants are also living, breathing, intelligent beings. And it has been proven that they react to inhumane treatment, chaos, and neglect. One can certainly talk to them, and communicating with them in my practice has me and not just a few others convinced they are among, if not the highest form of intelligence on the planet. So next time you put a bite of lettuce in your mouth you might run through the objections you spout to those heartless meat-eaters and see how they apply to your own values and eating habits.

No matter what you eat, enjoy! EATING is one of the great pleasures we earthlings are privileged to indulge in, and I think we should all delight in every moment and aspect of it. And always, always, always bless your food and give thanks for it.

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Here is my own brief, personal favorite food blessing and prayer. And if you hold your hands over your plate, palms down, while praying and blessing your food, you will feel living, universal energy flowing through them. I promise.

I give thanks for all the beings who gave of themselves to provide and prepare this food. And I ask that it be raised to the highest vibration level that is conducive to my digestion, assimilation, and elimination.

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Help! The Nature Spirits are Going Crazy!

August 23, 2009 · Filed under Health & Healing, Interspecies Communication, Personal Stuff, Superfood for Your Animals .. and You, Uncategorized

DSCN3145By “help” I only mean: Would you like to share in some squash or tomatoes or kale or spinach or beets or carrots or okra or beans or cucumbers or onions or chard or lettuce or parsnips or broccolini (I know I’m leaving something out)?

We have plenty! Our cup runneth over! The nature spirits have been hard at work in our garden, so what you see here, spread out on my kitchen island,  is just a sampling of the harvest we are blessed with every day or two.

Amazing!

I remember when we planted the garden. Actually, when we “conceived” of the garden. It was nothing more than a big square plot with weed barrier covered with chippings. I knew I wanted to turn it into a vegetable and flower garden, but how? It was SO infinitely boring and plain and barren and arid.

I did a little meditating about it and talked to the devas on my land, and the nature spirits, and in the blink of an eye they showed me that the garden should be a spiral. Wow! This seemed incredibly creative to me, but I was also kind of surprised because it was the easiest pattern to create out of what already existed. All we had to do was cut out the weed barrier in the spiral to be planted, raking the chippings into the pathway inbetween! Genius!

And so we did. And enhanced the soil in the planting spiral as well. And planted seeds and seedlings in full faith, even though a bit late in the season.

I walked the spiral, chanting a few mantras of thanks for the guidance of the other kingdoms, and strategically setting down rocks and crystals as I was guided to do so.

The nature spirits have danced! They have held hands with the devas and brought into fruition a bounty we never expected! They love the spiral and they love our daily meanderings in their midst. Harvesting each morning is like a great adventure — some zucchini have weighed in at over 4 lbs (more than my Chihuahua)!

I think the secret ingredient of this blessed abundance is that we co-created this garden with the complete cooperation and guidance of the nature spirits and devas that are essential for bringing everything living into manifestation. We humans would be fatuously deluded (and often are) to believe that we alone can make anything we want happen and that there are not energies or higher powers that help make it so.

Thank you, dear spirits, for helping make our garden SO, SO, SO, beautiful and abundant. Our own spirits and health are all the better for it.

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IF YOU’D LIKE TO READ ABOUT HOW ALL THIS STARTED, GO HERE:

Gardening With Nature Spirits

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The Missing Link – What’s Yours? (Clue: It’s Your Health’s Best Kept Secret)

August 22, 2009 · Filed under Health & Healing, Superfood for Your Animals .. and You

WEEKEND BLOGS ARE DEVOTED TO HEALTH AND HEALING. THIS ENTRY IS COURTESY OF MY ALGAE UPLINE, ALAN JOEL, A CHINESE MEDICINE/ACUPUNCTURE EXPERT WHO WORKS WITH COUNTLESS INDIVIDUALS TO IMPROVE THEIR HEALTH. THANK YOU, ALAN!

Your "missing link" is a blessing in disguise! Figure out what yours is.

Your "missing link" is a blessing in disguise! Figure out what yours is.

When I counsel people about nutritional supplements, I find that people often have the complaint, “Nothing is happening!” They report this after taking the supplements for a few weeks or a few months. I almost always find this amusing because they are experiencing what I call “the missing link.”

The Missing Link
What’s the missing link? When it comes to nutritional supplements, the missing link is what people “miss” when they look at what’s changed about their health. Most people notice when something positive occurs, such as an increase in energy or a better mood. What they fail to notice, though, are the health challenges that are no longer present (i.e., the ones that are now missing). Those are the missing links.

When I counsel people about nutrition, I have them complete an intake form listing all of their health complaints and issues. As the weeks go by, I also have people journal about any changes they notice about their health. Some of these include the effects of toxins leaving their body — such as bad breath, skin eruptions, and even diarrhea — while others are more positive, including more stamina and mental clarity.

When someone tells me that their new supplements and nutritional regimen are having no effect, I ask them to review their intake form to see if they can identify any missing links. Most of the time, people are surprised to realize that many of their previous health complaints are no longer present.

A Case in Point of the Missing Link
For instance, I recently counseled one lady who felt her program wasn’t working. She had started a nutritional program that included high-quality blue-green algae, enzymes, acidophilus, and bifidus. I thought it unlikely that these powerful nutritional supplements were “doing nothing.” Upon reviewing her intake form, she realized that she no longer suffered from weekly headaches, and that her back pain was greatly reduced. It may seem odd that she didn’t immediately realize such a change in her health, however her experience is fairly typical. She, like many of us, was so busy every single day that she didn’t notice much about her health unless a symptom was so painful or annoying that it interfered with her daily routine. She was aware of a headache when she had one, but failed to notice the lack of one. Interesting, isn’t it?

The Moral of the Missing Link
The moral of this story is that before you begin a new health regimen, take stock of your current health. Take pen and paper, and do a mental review, starting at the top of your head and ending at the bottom of your feet. For instance, starting with your head, jot down whether you have headaches, eye strain, hearing problems, mental confusion, sinus congestion, teeth sensitivity, skin problems, or poor-quality hair. Do this kind of careful review for each area of your body.

As you start your new health regimen, whether it be taking supplements or engaging in a new exercise program, journal about any changes you notice. These could include changes in your weight, mood, skin condition, bowel movements, ability to sleep at night, or daily energy level. After a few weeks or months, go back to your intake form and compare your health before and after. You may be surprised at what you discover. You may find a missing link or two.

In addition to helping you clarify how your new health regimen may or may not be helping you, this process also helps you be more aware of your physical and mental health in general. Awareness is always the first step to good health, so engaging in this process on a regular basis is a good idea. Think of it as your own brand of health insurance!

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TO READ ABOUT MY MISSING LINK, GO HERE:

My Algae Story

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Yes Dorothy, Even You Can Communicate With Animals!

August 19, 2009 · Filed under Animal Communication, Case Reports, Horsin' Around, Personal Stuff, The Animal's Point of View, Thoughts About Animal Communication · Tagged , , ,

Everybody can communicate with animals if they want to. Most of us do all the time, at least those of us who have animals and love them and treat them like family. Yet when the subject of “animal communication” as a special skill or profession is broached, most of us would say, “Oh nooooo, I am not nearly that gifted!”

Well you are. We all are. It just takes a little fine-tuning and a little trust in ourselves.

When I first began pursuing animal communication in a formal, structured sense I too did not believe I could do what I had seen and heard “real” animal communicators do. But I did begin studying and, in my spare time, which there was never much of in those days, would practice a little. I never thought much was happening.

But then one day my beloved horse Sailor graphically proved otherwise and helped open my eyes on a whole new world.

My Beautiful Sailor Boy

My Beautiful Sailor Boy

I was working non-stop in the corporate world at that time and also raising a kid, and Sailor was young and needed to be ridden more than I had time for. A good friend owned his brother and invited Sailor to her farm for the summer so her husband would have a healthy, young horse to ride. They rode a lot, and I totally trusted their horsemanship, so it sounded perfect.

Having been with Sailor since he was a wee babe, I began preparing him for the separation by “telling” him about the plan telepathically and by visualizing pictures of my friend’s farm and projecting those to him. I told him he was going to “summer camp” and that it would be great fun! I hoped that my messages were getting through but of course doubted that they were having any impact or being understood at all. But I was doing my best.

The day finally arrived for Sailor to embark on his summer camp experience, and another of my friends who hauled horses professionally showed up with her big stock trailer to ferry him over. Sailor hadn’t been hauled a lot but had never been a real problem to load into a trailer. That day however, his balking was unreasonable and quite lengthy.

My friend asked me to move way back out of the picture so she could use her usual tricks to get Sailor into the trailer, so I complied and went and stood by the house, half a football field away. Still Sailor balked.

All of a sudden it dawned on me that Sailor had no idea where he was going or why — I had failed to tell him. Now at that point in my development, as I have stated above, I really didn’t have any faith that anything I was conveying to Sailor was getting through, but just in case it might I thought maybe I should fill him in on what was going on. Only fair thing to do, right?

“Sailor!” I yelled, silently (didn’t want my friend to think I was crazy.) “Today is the day! Today is the day you’re going to summer camp! And Alice is here to take you. But you have to get into the trailer in order to get there. So hop in!”

Sailor swung his head around and fixed me with a long, focused gaze for a few moments. Then he wasted no time — he turned to the trailer and practically bounded over Alice to jump in!

My jaw was on the ground.

Sailor left this world a few years ago, and I still tear up when I think of him because he was such a character and taught me so much. He was one of my dreams come true. And he was definitely the proof-in-the-pudding for my my budding animal communication career.

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IF YOU’RE LIKE I WAS, AND DOUBT YOURSELF, TRY THIS:

The Doubt Box

Bless you, dear Sailor, wherever you are now.

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So What’s the Big Deal About Fasting? And What Does This Have to do With My Mustang Mare?

August 17, 2009 · Filed under Horsin' Around, Mustangs, Personal Stuff, Uncategorized

Fasting. Ugh. I hate it. I have tried it a few times and simply cannot accommodate it in any way, shape, or form — bodily, sensorily (is that a word?), or philosophically. Cleanses, yes. Fasts, no. Perhaps it is just me, or my constitutional make-up.

Whatever, and be that as it may, there is a large body of evidence, harking back to ancient times, that fasting is good for the body and soul, and therefore I guess, what ails you. To quote:

“Fasting allows the organs that cleanse the blood, primarily the liver and kidneys, to take a rest, to detoxify. That which they are burdened with [toxins] are henceforth washed away, leaving the blood clean and the organs rejuvenated . . .”

….. okay, I have to admit, that’s my own quote, making fun of the old, arcane language used by early herbalists and doctors …………..

So yay. Wouldn’t we all like to do this, regularly, leaving ourselves “washed clean” and therefore ready for the next onslaught of burgers and fries?

I would. But I just can’t. Period.

So, back to the topic at hand. Bella. My Mustang mare. What in the world might the idea of fasting have to do with her?

Well, Bella, as you may already know if you have been following this blog, is from a wild herd of horses in Wyoming that has the draft horse, Percheron, mixed into its bloodlines , and she seems to have imbibed every nuance of that draft horse gene possible. She is not your typical Mustang, to say the least.

No. Instead she is ultra-tall for a wild horse, around 16 hands (you horse people will know what I’m talking about), and weighs in at around 1400-1500 lbs. — an exceptional weight even at that height. She’s just BIG. In fact we have to curb ourselves from constantly calling her “Miss Piggy,” while chortling and turning away so she won’t think we’re making fun of her.

Bella, "Miss Bigness"

Bella, "Her Bigness"

Okay. So she’s big. That’s fine and always has been. But normally her ‘bigness’ is somewhat attenuated by ‘working out’ a la my riding her several times a week. Not so these past many months since I injured my back last September.

So . . . back to the fasting thing. What can one do if one wants to “cleanse the blood, detoxify the organs,” etc. without a full-blown fast?  Well, try eating minimally and upping exercise, but then do a partial FAST for a few days from all supplements and superfluous substances so your organs get extra rest. And drink tons of water during that time to flush out the resultant toxins.

That’s what I’m doing with Bella: less feed, less hay, and NO supplements for a while — giving her body and organs a  time to rest and detoxify.

Miss You-Know-Who, frustratedly trying to extract hay from her new mini-hole hay net.

Miss You-Know-Who, frustratedly trying to extract hay from her new mini-hole hay net.

And I’m trying to remind her daily: “Fast? NO! (I would never do that to you Miss Piggy . . . I mean Bella). Cleanse, YES!” So far she’s not really on the team, but I do think she’s going to feel better sooner rather than later. And my back is oodles better now, so “Bella, watch out!”

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FOR MORE ON BELLA, OR JUST THE FAT, DRAFT TYPE HORSE, SEE:

The More, ahem, “Robust” Type Mustang

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Food for the Lazy Dieter

August 15, 2009 · Filed under Superfood for Your Animals .. and You, Uncategorized · Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

WEEKEND BLOGS ARE DEVOTED TO HEALTH AND HEALING. THIS POST WAS WRITTEN BY ALAN JOEL, MY SUPER UPLINE IN SIMPLEXITY HEALTH.

Dieting? Ugh . . .

Dieting? Ugh . . .

D.I.E.T. is a four-letter word. Count ’em. There are four letters in that word and we all know that four-letter words are bad news. Well, to me, a diet is bad news, too. I don’t like to diet — at all. I’m a hedonist at heart, but being knowledgeable about nutrition, I tend to be able to moderate my libertine tendencies somewhat. However, I’m super-lazy when it comes to dieting.

The Food for Super Lazy Dieters
Fortunately for me, I’ve discovered a super food that make losing weight and sticking to a healthy diet a lot easier. This food is blue-green algae, and in this article I break down the essential ingredients in this food, and explain why each ingredient makes it easier to sticky to a healthy diet. It does for me, and I’m a hedonist to the extreme.

Chlorophyll for the Gut
Blue-green algae has one the highest chlorophyll contents of any food around. Chlorophyll helps the dieter by invigorating the intestinal lining, which enhances digestion and assimilation of nutrients. It also increases the peristaltic action of the gut, which reduces constipation, and soothes gastric ulcers and inflammation in the gut.

Carnitine for Burning Fat
Carnitine is basically a fat-transporter. It’s an amino acid our body makes that transports fat molecules across the cell membrane, so the cell can metabolize the fat and give us energy. This allows us to have more stamina for workouts and burn more fat. While blue-green algae doesn’t contain any carnitine, it has all the raw ingredients our bodies need to produce carnitine.
Phenylalanine for Good Mood
Now this is something every dieter needs — a good mood. Blue-green algae contains phenylalanine, which is an amino acid that has been shown to elevate the mood and decrease appetite. So, if you take blue-green algae 30 minutes before eating a meal, chances are that you’ll have a happy meal and not eat as much.

Tyrosine for Decreased Cravings
Blue-green algae contains moderate amounts of this amino acid. Tyrosine is a precursor to thyroxin, which is a hormone associated with reducing symptoms of depression. Having adequate amounts of tyrosine, and hence thyroxin, helps emotional or binge eaters decrease cravings. Tyrosine has been used to treat eating disorders because it is also elevates mood and decreases cravings.

Blue-green algae, in short, is a power-packed food that contains a lot of the basic nutrition our bodies need. It also contains ingredients that elevate our mood, decrease appetite, and reduce food cravings. How’s that for a totally natural food source? Not bad, right? Plus it’s organic, which puts it into the “very healthy” category.

You can read a lot more about — and order — blue-green algae products HERE.  Happy dieting!

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The Other Shoe (painting) Drops (falls into my lap)

August 13, 2009 · Filed under Penelope Smith, Personal Stuff, Susan Hertel

susanhertelIf you’ve followed this blog at all, then you know that my very favorite painter in the whole world is Susan Hertel, and that I now own and live in the house she built in the late 1980’s in Cerrillos, New Mexico, just south of Santa Fe. If you haven’t read about the divine way this all happened, you can by reading Miracles Really DO Happen — at least they do to me … That’s Susan to the left, in a self portrait. Susan loved horses and painted them, life-sized, a lot.

In the linked post above you will read about how I was not only led to this property by some amazing grace, but wound up with one of Susan’s paintings hanging on my dining room wall.

Susan was widely known and collected, and her works are very expensive so I could never afford one. Having one in my home is a miracle in and of itself. The painting that came to me was one half of a two-painting combo (called a ‘dip-tych’). Its counterpart has been hanging in New York City.

I guess the two were like twins separated at birth though because, through further miraculous events, I was recently asked if I would like to home the other half of the dip-tych. Now THAT’S a no-brainer. Wow, wow, wow, wow! So now I have both here at what was Susan’s home in the first place. Who knows, she may have painted them both in what is now MY studio. And we are pretty sure she’s orchestrating all of this from above.

Here’s what the paintings look like side by side (though awkwardly photographed, so you must use your imagination).

DSCN3114

DSCN2715Perhaps the strangest thing of all is that the huge body of the black horse in the painting on the left is a dead ringer for that of my hefty mare, Bella, and I’m pretty positive my horse Copper slipped out while I wasn’t looking years ago and posed for the horse on the right!

Susan, may you rest in peace and happiness in the knowledge that these two paintings are in the home you built with so much love and caring, and that they are treasured beyond description.

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You can read a little more about the history of all this here:

Penelope Smith Comes To Dinner!

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Just Act Like You Know What You’re Doing … or … How I Finally Made the Move to New Mexico

August 12, 2009 · Filed under Leta's Philosophy 101, Personal Stuff, Uncategorized · Tagged , , ,

My Dream Home in NM

My Dream Home in NM

My mother used to say:

“Honey, you can walk down the street buck naked, and if you act like you know what you’re doing, nobody’ll ever even notice!”

God bless her soul, and may she rest in peace.

Over the [many] years I’ve been on this earth I’ve learned that my mother was righter than even she imagined. Sometimes in order to make something happen you just have to act like it already has. I know it sounds backwards, and you may be asking “How do you do that, for Pete’s sake?” Well, here’s how it worked for me.

Three years ago this month I decided I was going to move from Texas to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Period. It was time. I’d been visiting NM for 20 years and was drawn there in many ways and for many reasons. Plus, I’d been on the ranch in the Texas Hill Country — a place about which I will forever hold treasured memories — for 8 years and was feeling a little too isolated as my years progressed. So it was time.

BUT … for about a year after making the decision I was caught in one of those “in between” moments of life, where you know the general game plan but there seems to be absolutely nothing you can do to make it happen. In this case it was very much a cart before the horse situation, or which-came-first-the-chicken-or-the-egg kinda thing. How could I move if I didn’t have a place to move to? And how could I buy a place to move to if I didn’t sell the ranch first? Both major propositions involving lots of moolah!

Another related action plan was to buy a car that would be good on ice and snow. All I had at the ranch was a monster diesel truck for hauling cows and horses and getting around town. Not that I don’t love that truck, and I still have it, but pickup trucks are NOT what you want to be driving on ice! Unless you have a heavy payload in back, which I usually don’t.

I was venting my frustrations with a dear friend one day, about this state of limbo  I felt caught in, and she said the most interesting thing to me. I paraphrase here, but it was something like:

“Leta, I have a friend who just starts acting out things she is hoping for as if they are already happening. Why don’t you just go ahead and buy the car now. You know you’re going to need it eventually, and I have a feeling if you take that first step it may get the ball rolling. Oh …  and buy a red one.”

Having previously studied magic (yes, I studied magic) with this friend, I understood about the red — it’s a fire color and full of action and will, so choosing a red car would be an outward manifestation of my determination and desire.

So………long story short……….I found and bought the perfect little RED Subaru Outback (the be-all-end-all when it comes to ice and snow) and, sho nuff, three months later I found my dream home just south of Santa Fe, the Texas ranch was under contract, and I started packing!

So whether it’s walking down the street buck naked or buying a saddle for that horse you have your eye on, go ahead. Be brave and invite life to come on in!

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IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT MY MOVE, CHECK OUT THESE:

What My Past Year Has Been Like

Miracles Really DO Happen  — at least they do to me . . .

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