by Joy Thompson | Feb 8, 2018 | Blog, Essential Oils
Did you want to revamp your medicine cabinet or first-aid kit? For myself, I have a few must-haves that I recommend to have on hand for those “just in case” occasions that happen… On Guard protective blend essential oil: great for eliminating and controlling pathogens due to the potency of its constituents. This blend can be diffused to eliminate airborne pathogens. Dilute and rub on pulse points of the extremities, or on neck or behind ears for sore throat or earache. Melaleuca essential oil: this oil has cleansing and regenerative properties; this oil is considered to be anti-fungal, disinfectant, and good for flus and colds. Oregano essential oil: this oil is high in antioxidant activity and contains phenolic acids and flavonoids. This is considered a “hot” oil and should be diluted. Lavender essential oil: calms and relaxes. good for burns and bug bites. Each 15ml bottle contains about 250 drops of essential oil. For purchase of oils: my.doterra.com/joyfulhands Colloidal Silver: I purchase mine at Sprouts or Jimbo’s. Arnica Montana homeopathic pellets:for muscle pain/soreness, muscle bruising Hypericum homeopathic pellets: for nerve pain, nerve injury Congaplex from Standard Process: feeds the immune system and in the kitchen: Vitamin C, vitamin D, zinc for immune support I hope this helps if you are planning on adding or redoing your first-aid kit or medicine cabinet. Blessings and Health!...
by Joy Thompson | Apr 27, 2017 | Blog
When you have a headache, instead of reaching directly for an OTC aid, try the following: 1) Drink a glass or two of water. Dehydration can play a big role in headaches. Coffee, alcohol, or sugary drinks can dehydrate us… 2) Eat a handful of almonds (unless you’re allergic or find that almonds are a trigger-food for a migraine; if so, skip this suggestion.) Almonds can act as a pain reliever because they contain a compound called salicin which is an ingredient in some of the popular over-the-counter medicines. 3) Take a few deep belly-breaths. Breathing by filling up your diaphragm, and completely filling up the lungs can get some extra oxygen circulating in your blood. 4) If you have some pure peppermint essential oil. rub a drop into your temples, forehead, and into hairline. *do not get too close to your eyes, and DO NOT rub your eyes with peppermint-coated fingers!* To purchase pure essential peppermint oil which can be taken internally: www.mydoterra.com/joyfulhands If your essential oil is pure enough to be taken internally, put a drop under your tongue and/or on the roof of your mouth. 5) Pinch your fingertips. there are reflexology points for the head and face on your hands and feet. Using one hand, pinch the webs and fingertips of the opposite hand. 6) Stretch! Gentle and slow neck rotations, shoulder shrugs, and neck isometrics (press palm into forehead and hold. press hand on each side of head and hold)…Hold each stretch for 5 seconds, relax for 5 seconds, and repeat 3 to 5 times. 7) Massage!! Massage can ease the pain of a headache or...
by Joy Thompson | Dec 1, 2015 | Blog
Our immune systems are amazing and the more I learn, the more I am in awe of it. It works optimally when we feed and nurture it healthfully; it takes care of us, as we take care of it. Recently there was a photo going around on the internet that educates on this topic: “The flu is NOT a season! It is an inability to adapt due to decreased sun exposure and water intake, combined with increased sugar intake and stress. Create resistance! Create health!” Then I stumbled across this article and it fit the “season.” I have a couple of the supplements and remedies mentioned at my office for sale while supplies last. Battling the Cold and Flu Season, Naturally Seven top tips for fighting the common cold, flu, and staying healthy By Dr. Doni Wilson (taken from The Life Connection, December 2014 Let’s start with prevention: TIP 1: Avoid sugar and alcohol Two top enemies to an invincible immune system are sugar and alcohol. Dr. Doni recommends avoiding or minimizing sugar and alcohol consumption, as they both lower your ability to fight off viruses. Even just 8 tablespoons of sugar (as in 2 cans of soda), or fructose (such as in honey or ½ cup of orange juice) can lower your immune function for five hours after you consume it. That is because sugar inhibits the white blood cells that fight off bacteria, leaving you vulnerable to infections. A similar thing happens with alcohol. When you drink three or more alcoholic drinks (wine, beer, or liquor), your white blood cells are weaker and have a harder...
by Joy Thompson | Nov 5, 2015 | Blog
According to many articles, we are supposed to limit the meat we ingest (especially beef) and have more fish and fowl as well as lots of vegetables, right? My uncle found this recipe in Dr. Mark Hyman’s book The Blood Sugar Solution and I enjoyed the taste and texture so much that I went home and made it myself. Now the cooking time is short, so the onions were on the raw side which my mother was unable to digest; the second time I made it, I sautéed the onion to slightly precook them and then added them to the rest of the ingredients and cooked as directed. This took care of the problem. **this recipe is NOT a pretend-it’s-beef meatloaf. but it does have a nice density to it. **this spinach is NOT hidden for the people in your life that may need their veggies hidden away. TURKEY AND SPINACH MEAT LOAF Serves 4 Prep 10 min. Cook 30 min. 1 ½ C. pecans 1 Pound lean ground organic turkey 10-ounce Package frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry 2 Eggs 1T. Extra virgin olive oil ½ Small onion, diced 1 t. Dried basil ¼ t. Sea salt Pinch of black pepper Preheat oven to 375 deg. F. In a food processor, grind the raw pecans to a medium-fine texture. In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground pecans with the remaining ingredients. Mix well. Place into an oiled loaf pan and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before...
by Joy Thompson | Oct 6, 2015 | Blog
Although we more often think of carving pumpkins for the autumn season, these fruit are actually edible…and not just for pies or muffins!! They can be eaten raw, roasted, baked, and steamed; the flesh, seeds, and leaves are edible AND they are nutritious and low calorie (Did you know that a 1-cup serving has 3 grams of fiber and only 49 calories?). Pumpkin is packed with antioxidants such as vitamins A, C, and E, beta-carotene, and zeaxanthin (which helps to prevent age-related macular disease). It’s a rich source of B-vitamins like folates, niacin, thiamin, and pantothenic acid, and minerals such a calcium, copper, potassium, and phosphorus. These are immune-boosting ingredients to help the body stay strong and ward off common colds and flus that may be going around! (1cup of pureed pumpkin has 11mg [20%] of RDI of vitamin C) 1 cup of cooked mashed pumpkin contains more than 200% of the RDI* of vitamin A which aids vision, particularly in dim light. Also pumpkin is rich in carotenoids, which are the compounds that give the fruit their bright orange color, including Beta-carotene which the body converts into a form of vitamin A. Pumpkin has a high amount of phytonutrients, particularly the antioxidant Beta-carotene, like their orange colored friends: sweet potato, carrot, and butternut squash, which helps to prevent the risk of cancers particularly of the mouth, lung, and colon. It also has anti-aging benefits and antioxidants called carotenoids that have free-radical-neutralizing powers to help keep skin wrinkle-free and radiating a healthy glow. Boost your mood with pumpkin seeds: the seeds are rich in the amino acid tryptophan which is important in the production of serotonin...
by Joy Thompson | Aug 27, 2015 | Blog
I am trying to add turmeric and other natural anti-inflammatory foods to my diet. There was a turmeric tea/milk recipe which I could not like — even when telling myself it was good for my health. However, I found a Turmeric Salad Dressing recipe online last year and have fallen in love with it! I have put the recipe from the web here, but I have a tendency to add a little more pepper, turmeric, garlic, and vinegar. This recipe is from Healthy Holistic Living… 1 tsp of ground turmeric 1/2 tsp fine sea salt 1/4 tsp ground black pepper 1/4 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp dried dill weed 2 tsp honey 3 Tbsp vinegar 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil Put all ingredients into a glass jar or shaker bottle with tight fitting lid. Shake well. Pour and toss over your favorite salad...
by Joy Thompson | Jul 21, 2015 | Blog
Kale is good for us. We’re supposed to eat it for our health. And in the past few years I have learned that the ingredients used with kale will determine whether or not I like what I’m eating… I now add it to my coleslaw recipe. Kale chopped small and added to the cabbage not only makes a pretty dark green addition to the light green cabbage (and the shredded orange of a little carrot) but doesn’t seem to add bitterness in flavor. I use a ratio of 1:4 or 1:3 of kale to cabbage and use a oil, vinegar, dry mustard coleslaw dressing recipe. View image | gettyimages.com I also have taken to adding it to soups. Nice to learn how to incorporate extra veggies into our diets, isn’t it? I admit it. I am trying to learn to like kale raw. It has a rough texture and a bitterness that I find difficult to enjoy. Having said that, when I find a recipe that I LIKE, I want to share it with you. Perhaps you’ll like it too. Super Food Kale Salad dressing: 3/8 c sugar (or a little less) 1/2 c vinegar (or a little more) 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper 1/4 c olive oil salad: 1 bunch kale(washed,chopped, stems removed) 1/2 (16oz) pkg frozen shelled edamame (soybeans) thawed 1/4 of a red onion, sliced thin 1c shredded carrot 2/3 c fresh blueberries 1/4 c sweetened dried cranberries (or a little less) 1/2 c cashew pieces 1/2 c shelled, roasted sunflower seeds Put half the dressing on the salad and let marinate at least 2 hours. Serve...
by Joy Thompson | Mar 13, 2015 | Blog
I have been challenged recently to chew each bite of my food for a minimum of 20 chews. This has been nearly impossible for me! I don’t even realize how quickly I eat and seem to chew only a few times each mouthful. Chewing is the first step in the digestive process and allowing the saliva to do its job is important for a healthful meal. A book I recently started reading (Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal by Mary Roach) is about our guts and digestion. Two quotes from the introduction make me smile: “Yes, men and women eat meals. But they also ingest nutrients. They grind and sculpt them into a moistened bolus that is delivered, via a stadium wave of sequential contractions, into a self-kneading sack of hydrochloric acid and then dumped into a tubular leach field….Lunch is an opening act.” “The early anatomists has that curiosity in spades. They entered the human form like an unexplored continent. Parts were names like elements of geography: the isthmus of the thyroid, the isles of the pancreas, the straits and inlets of the pelvis. The digestive tract was for centuries known as the alimentary canal. How lovely to picture one’s dinner making its way down a tranquil, winding waterway, digestion and excretion no more upsetting or off-putting than a cruise along the Rhine. It’s this mood, these sentiments — the excitement of exploration and the surprises and delights of travel to foreign locales– that I hope to inspire….” It’s funny how little we think of digestion. Like many of the automatic processes we have, we don’t pay much...
by Joy Thompson | Feb 24, 2015 | Blog
http://gty.im/71141693 I am in awe of the body and what amazing miracles we are. Never more so than when I am honored to massage a pregnant woman. I tease that this is the only way I have figured out how to massage more than one person at a time on my table. Sometimes the baby will shift around and the mom’s belly will change shape or show a foot or elbow through the skin. Other times, everybody will relax and fall asleep. What makes prenatal massage different from circulatory or deep tissue? The focus of pregnancy massage is “balance.” Other modalities’ focus is “change,” as in I am trying to bring about a change in their body. For example, I will try to release a spasmed muscle. Whereas, the pregnant body is going through daily changes: a growing, moving child; varying center of gravity; day by day body changes. So the massage having an intent to balance and calm an everchanging state of being can bring a deep state of relaxation. Although there is a “recipe” I learned in school, I can vary the session to focus on what the Mom-to-be needs. About 8 years ago, a client had extremely severe sciatica with her pregnancy and only wanted low back massage with hip stretching; so that is what I did for 30 minutes every 2 weeks for her during the last few months before the baby arrived. One client had such claustrophobia that she was unable to lay down comfortably; instead, she straddled a chair, propped her body with pillows so she could relax. We had her facing a...
by jhtmadmin | Sep 16, 2014 | Blog
Essential oils are natural aromatic compounds found in the seeds, bark, stems, roots, flowers, and other parts of plants. They can be both beautifully and powerfully fragrant. If you have ever enjoyed the gift of a rose, a walk by a field of lavender, or the smell of fresh cut mint, you have experienced the aromatic qualities of essential oils. In addition to giving plants their distinctive smells, essential oils provide plants with protection against predators and disease and play a role in plant pollination. Essential oils are non water-based phytochemicals made up of volatile organic compounds. Although they are fat soluble, they do not include fatty lipids or acids found in vegetable and animal oils. Essential oils are very clean, almost crisp, to the touch and are immediately absorbed by the skin. Pure, unadulterated essential oils are translucent and range in color from crystal clear to deep blue. Try this at home: Squeeze the peel of a ripe orange. The fragrant residue on your hand is full of essential oils. In addition to their intrinsic benefits to plants and being beautifully fragrant to people, essential oils have been used throughout history in many cultures for their medicinal and therapeutic benefits. Modern scientific study and trends towards more holistic approaches to wellness are driving a revival and new discovery of essential oil health applications. dōTERRA (CPTG) Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade® essential oils represent the safest, purest, and most beneficial essential oils available today. They are gently and skillfully distilled from plants that have been patiently harvested at the perfect moment by experienced growers from around the world for ideal...
