Green City

I have traveled extensively over the last several years and have lived in many different cities. In a way, I have been searching for the perfect place. That perfect place which meets all my expectations and lives up to my loftiest ideals. Though I have yet to find one city that has everything, I have discovered many wonderful places whose offerings for the natural, green and pure loving denizen have captivated me. Let’s take a virtual journey now to find the Green in all the cities I’ve been blessed to visit, live in and explore. I will take you on a trip to the most ecological and sustainable earth healthy venues, in even the most unexpected towns. Take Lagos, Nigeria, for instance. Where do you go to find organic vegetables, all natural fruit smoothies, recycled and dare I say beauty and tranquility. Well, this is a question I asked myself when I found myself there for a long-term stay and so set out to find the answer. Here are my discoveries. 

For exquisite natural beauty and unparalleled serenity, I love Agaja Beach. This beach is awesome. It is sublime. A well kept secret of well-heeled Lagosians. Most of the inhabitants of this little slice of paradise are Ghanaians, however. For a small fee, they will pick coconuts for you right from the tree and graciously cut a small hole for you to drink the pure waters from. There are artisans from as far away as Senegal, selling beautiful dresses, handmade shoes and straw baskets.

To stock up on healthy food before this half hour jaunt which must be made by boat, I like to stop into La Pointe on Victoria Island; a quaint little shop stocked with organic fruits, vegetables, grains and other packaged goods. Along with healthy food, the healing waters, sand and palm, you can also experience great Yoga in Lagos.

At Da Yoga studio, also on Victoria Island, all manner of classes are offered and the café serves up healthy smoothies and traditional Nigerian dishes. And for dessert Chocolate Royale scores an honorable mention for it's allure as a  local community gathering spot for both families and singles, locals and expats.

On the other side of the world, in a tiny village in southern Baja the offerings are just as pure. El Pescadero is so sleepy and slow that on Sundays, the local Tienda will leave fresh food in bins on the patio for you to purchase on the honor system. There is also a wonderful organic farmer in town named “Kale” who grows the most delicious collard, mustard, basil and of course, kale greens and you’re free to pick your fill any time and pay when you see him.

There is a wonderful organic market in the neighboring town of Todos Santos and a delicious Helado tienda that sells the most exquisite homemade ice cream in a rainbow of natural flavors.

And I love Folly Beach, SC for its wonderful waterways, along with its abundant beaches.

You can enjoy a stroll along the marshes or a run on its warm sands. A great place for a beach wedding, perhaps…

Schoonmaker beach in Sausalito, CA is a bit more eclectic with children running about and all manner of people over from foggy San Francisco trying to catch some sun.

 

For stunning views of the natural wonders of the Bay Area, I adore Pointe Reyes. The lighthouse is breathtaking if you can brave the high winds coming off the water.

In Jamaica, a sweet place to stay and be served fresh lobster just caught, is Tryall.

They will even brew for you a homemade roots tonic made from local herbs and spices. Roots tonic is the best kept secret of the Jamaican community. If you can get your hands on some, please do. It will knock your socks off with its all natural, heady blend of sassafras, ginger, yohimbe, sarsparilla, chaney root, woodroot and many more secret, potent, herbal ingredients...

And best of all, my favorite place in the whole world - Palma de Mallorca, where you can simply enjoy the delights of a casa on the sea. The water is crystal clear, warm and fairly shallow for many meters out.

The Love Cure

I have discovered some amazing remedies for the persistent health challenges we all face. My skin tends to get very dry despite the copious amounts of lotion I use, especially when exposed to cold weather and indoor heating systems. But since I've been taking the Udo’s 3-6-9 Oil in capsule form, the smooth silkiness of my skin has been remarkable. I’ve mentioned this product before, but it is so outstanding, I am bringing it up again. Udo's oil is an absolute must have. When the Omega rich oils lubricate the cells under your skin, a radiant outer glow is a given. The key is to moisturize your skin from the inside out.

Another wonder product is Jarro Sil. This is bioavailable silicon and it has the effect of strengthening the collagen in your body tissues and boosting skin, nail and hair health. Honestly, my hair growth has multiplied, as have my nail growth; and my skin is just luminous. I love it, love it, love it!

 

If you have difficulty digesting dairy and wheat, this Advanced Enzyme System from Rainbow Light will work wonders. It basically provides your body with an extra boost of the necessary enzymes to digest complex foods. 

Not digesting these foods properly leads to elimination problems and thus imbalance of bacteria in the digestion system. Udo’s Adult Probiotic is an excellent way to replenish the good bacteria and to ensure that elimination is regular and complete. I've tried a lot of probiotics and this truly is an incredibly effective product. I absolutely love how balanced I feel, on every level, when I'm taking it.

To ensure a restful sleep after a high-energy day, Gaia Sound Sleep is a soothing solution. It's all herbal including the mystical Kava root from Fiji.

To prep for sleepy time, I spray my bedding with this Aura Cacia Aromatherapy Mist. I get a whiff of the Cinnamon and Ylang Ylang essential oils and off to dream-land I go.

And the wonder of all wonders is this Hawaiian Spirulina! The chlorophyll, vitamin A, Calcium, Protein, Phytonutrients and trace elements in this superfood have been like an energy blast for me every morning. I mix it into my daily raspberry smoothie and magic! No wonder it's called nature's perfect food.

Beyond these very useful supplements, I have found something else that will remedy all difficulties, solve all problems - from physical, to mental, to emotional. It is called the Love Cure and it works. Actually, I made it up myself. One night recently when I was in bed sleeping, I awoke to a nagging itch in my throat like the beginnings of a Spring allergy. I thought I should get up and go downstairs for an Apple Cider Vinegar tonic to nip it in the bud. However, I didn’t want to wake my daughter, so I decided to send love to the specific area that was bothering me. I imagined the power that the vinegar tonic would have and multiplied this by 1000 for the power of Love. I sent waves of love to the area in full faith that it was healing whatever imbalance there was. I saw a pink pure light full of compassion and grace just saturating my throat and restoring it to wholeness. I felt something come over me greater than my own imagining and the pure rose light was working on its own accord. Needless to say, my achy throat was soothed and I fell into a deep and restful sleep. After this experience, I brought the rose light of the Love Cure into any situation or circumstance that troubled me. To my amazement, it works with everything! Any worry, hurt or stumbling block just disappears, It rights itself and I move on to greater levels of peace and harmony in my life. It’s so easy, sometimes I question using it, because it takes the life out of problems and I literally have nothing meaty to wrap my mind around. :-)  I am left with a peace that passeth all understanding. It is wonderful and humbling. Please give the Love Cure a try and see what wonders it can do for you!

Creating Money

Many years ago, I came across an incredibly enlightening book that changed my life. This book, Creating Money by Sanaya Roman, gave me a completely new perspective on money and abundance and how to bring it into my life. Prior to reading it, I believed that dollars and cents had absolute power, in and of themselves, that the only way to have them was to get them from outside of myself and the best way to do this was to struggle and strive and hold on tight. I had no inclination, and no one ever gave me a reason to believe that money has no real value beyond what a culture gives it and that true abundance can only be found within. While reading Creating Money and for a number years afterwards, I let go of so many burdensome notions regarding money and opened up to a whole new relationship with fullness and plenty. 

The basic concept of this book is that money, like all material things, is energy in expression. Spiritual energy to be exact. The author guides you on how to find the source of abundance from within your own being. She speaks about the energy of wealth and how to send this forth into the world, as a way to express material money. There was a particular practice that I absolutely loved, where you visualize the amount of money needed at any given time. Seeing it as clearly as possible, you mentally hold it in your hand. Once you get the clearest image of say $500 in your hand- the crisp bills, the president’s faces, the symbols and numbers- you then transform the picture of the money into energy, into light. The cash in your hand becomes a ball of light, luminous and bright, full of lavender and topaz hues. Then you take your hand, full of light filled abundance and bring it straight to your heart. You then savor the glistening stream of wealth flowing into your being through your heart and illuminating every part of yourself. This practice always proved amazing for me and I unfailingly attracted whatever sum I visualized, into my life within the next few days. And through the most serendipitious circumstances. I found that the key to money was not in obsessing over the form of it, but coming into harmony with the essence of it- the fullness of life within.

Here are some other fun ways to play with money and to realize abundance as something we all possess; truly, a natural expression of our being.  In this, we reclaim our power to be rich inside and therefore, bring rich experiences into our lives. The actual paper money is only relatively of value, so why not make our own and embellish it with the symbols that inspire us. I made this special currency to inspire and enrich me.

The Secret website offer these checks for you to print and fill out, as a way to stretch your idea of how much money can come your way.

And recently, inspired by The Metaphysical Mamas blog, my daughter and I had a money party where we danced around the house with hundreds of dollars and pasted bills on the walls, mirrors, in the cabinets and drawers and then walked around our town and gave out bills to unsuspecting passersby. It was so fun and transformative and as a special treat, abundant blessings of rich supply have been materializing for us tenfold.

For more on this topic go to my book, God Loves Sex and Money ~

Creative Energy

I love to create things and right now I am in a sort of creative whirlwind. There is this energy moving in and through me that is compelling me to make things. Where in the past if I thought I needed something, I would run to the store and buy it or order it from Amazon.com; now, I delight in finding a way to do it myself - and using elements I already have around the house, no less. I have been having so much fun and become so inspired that I, literally, can't stop creating. The other day, after looking through Whole Living magazine which had a wonderful article on the creator of Farmaesthetics, I was inspired to start making some herbal tinctures.

I looked online for some top brands and then checked out the selection at the health food store. However, something in me kept saying, you can do it yourself, Sia. So, so true. I have tons of dried herbs and loads of pretty glass bottles at home, not to mention tons of creative energy...

I decided to start with White Willow Bark, a great tonic herb and the natural origin of aspirin. Herbal tinctures can be made with alcohol or vinegar. For my first herbal medicinal, I chose Organic Apple Cider Vinegar.

The process was really easy and so fulfilling. Basically, you decant the herb in the vinegar. The results were amazing and I have been taking 2 teaspoons daily of this wonderful brew. I also made an herbal bath tea using Espsom Salts, Rose Petals, Lavender, Basil and Mint. You put a bit of the mixture in a cloth towel and tie it with a string, then place it in your tub of hot bath water. Ahhhh.

On a roll, I decided to make some Rose Water which I absolutely love. I usually buy the Heritage Rosewater,

but this time I simply used some dried rose petals from roses I'd bought several months ago and some purified water.

 I mixed them in a glass jar then heated the jar in a double boiler. I let it sit in the sun for about a week and look I what I am blessed with!

It smells so delicious and I just love it. I also made a mint and basil version using dried herbs from my summer gardern and an African Shea Butter cream with Clove essential oil. I even did a small batch of Rose Oil! On all the jars, I put a LOVE label. According to Masaru Emoto in The Hidden Messages in Water, water molecules respond to energy, thoughts, and words. He did an experiment where he said 'I love you' to bottles of water and then looked at the water under an microscope. He found that the 'loved' water had such a beautiful crystalline structure compared to water not so lovingly addressed. This was also true for water in bottles with loving labels. So, I snuggled my jars with a lot of love and set them in the sun. So far, they've been a joy to use on both myself and my daughter.

Next, I ventured into candlemaking. I used 100% pure Soy wax, Lemon essential oil and Rosemary essential oil. My daughter helped and we found the whole experience really exciting. Our dipped candles came out somewhat assymetrical, but with a lot of character and a splendid fragrance!

The pillars came out beautifully and when we lit them, they miraculously burned into a heart shape! I guess all that love really did have an affect!

All this crafting got us pretty hungry and so we came up with a great recipe for a spring Frittata using organic free range eggs, chopped garlic and parsley. We combined all the ingredients and baked it in my favorite iron cast dutch oven. What a delight!