This Healing Path

I just renewed my domain, Walkingwithblueberries. I thought about letting it go, since I haven’t been writing, and decided to start again but with a different emphasis.  I’m not making this open to the public at this time, just those already accepted and I may go through that.  I want to be inspired by writing, not try to inspire or even share with anyone else.

My MM diet has been a struggle all this past year.  I get on the MM wagon and fall off.  I know I need to be on, but living with a brother who could care less about what he eats except that the food should taste good and that it have lots of fat involved is hardly motivational – especially since I make most meals for both of us.

So – this blog.  Here, at this site, dedicated to my health and healing, I hope to remind myself why I choose this path in the first place and what I hope to accomplish. One day at a time. Give myself an early morning kick.  Reignite the dream.

It’s the day after day of it that grinds down the dream, ploughs my determination into the dirt and leaves me at the end of the day, wondering why I started out so strong and finished eating a Culver’s fish sandwich and fries.  Ugh!

If I sit down and add up the changes I’ve noticed, I can make a good case for continuing on this path.  Even after a shaky year, my sinuses are still 80 percent better than they were 2 years ago.  My gastric reflux staged a comeback, a great motivation to start back on the celery juice, which I have done and have been helped already.

I don’t want to drink celery juice; some mornings, it’s really the last thing I want. Especially if I plan to go somewhere.  Some days after drinking the juice, I will spend more time in the bathroom than elsewhere. So I make the juice and drink it for two days or half a week, then stop.  Start up again, then stop.  It still helps, but I’d like to be consistent.

So.  Me, here, in front of this computer screen. I need my writing, not just to inspire me but to center me.  I hide so much of myself from the world, from my loved ones, from me. But when I write, I grow in power.  Like a swimmer lifting drawing breath between strokes, my writing energizes me. Here, I reach into myself, past the doubts and the excuses, the emotional storms and chaos distracting me and stand.  Just me.  I enter my inner being and shout, “Hey!  Wake up! Be!” Alone but more powerful than I’d imagined.

Wow.  So. This is why I plan, every morning, to sit here and start my day.  Hello! What a world it is!

Angel Tonic Tea

My daughter named the above tea blend after drinking it recently.  I had taken a quart mason jar of the tea with me when I went to meet her and the grandkids at Fireman’s Park, Elkhart Lake ( in Wisconsin.  A great beach with clean, beautiful water!).

My daughter sent me a text later that evening stating that during her drive home, she felt “calm and alert.” She felt it was the result of the Angel Tonic, which impressed her as she struggles with adrenal fatigue and we had been at the park for over 6 hours, swimmng and chatting.

The Angel Tonic above is made with four organic ingredients: Lemon Balm, Rasperry Leaf, Red Clover, and Rose Hips. I ordered most of these herbs from Amazon, as I am a Prime member, which gives me free shipping, and they have quite a good selection of dried, organic herbs sold in bulk.  These came in 1 pound bags. The Rishi loose leaf tea bags can be ordered from Amazon as well.

I have been drinking this daily for the last two weeks and had noticed such an improvement in my energy levels that I thought I would share the tea with my daughter.  I also packed an abundant amount of each herb in mason jars so that she could make the tea at home.

The tea pot in the picture is quite large, easily holding a quart and a half of liquid.  With a smaller tea pot, you would need to adjust the amounts accordingly – or use a half gallon Mason jar. I use two Rishi Loose leaf tea bags: one bag half filled with  dried, organic Lemon Balm, one bag half filled with dried, organic Raspberry Leaf and Red Clover.  The 1-2 Tablespoons of dried, organic Rose Hips are dropped into the tea pot directly, as they are heavy and sink to the bottom, but feel free to add them to one of the tea bags or one bag of their own. (Note: I say to half-fill the tea bags as room must be left to twist and tie the tea bags before dropping into the pot.)

I decided on the above “Fab Four” ingredients because each herb is recommended by Anthony William in his book, “Life Changing Foods,” as great supplements. Lemon Balm, as Anthony William says, “takes no prisoners.” It is an all purpose herb, destroying both Shingles and the Epstein Barr viruses as well as Streptococcus, a bacteria that has been invading my sinuses for the past 18 years.  Rose Hips help in the fight against Streptoccoccus.  Raspberry Leaf, besides helping all female organs, is wonderful at increasing energy levels, and finally the Red Clover helps in liver cleansing, another important factor in the fight against invading viruses.

Finally, adding that all important item – Raw Honey – is crucial to the success of the tea. Raw honey, according to Anthony William, fights pathogens and helps restore the glucose reserves in our liver and our brains – so important when fighting adrenal fatigue.

I enjoy the Angel Tonic and an iced tea all through the warm weather.  Come winter, I’m sure I’ll prefer it room temperature or, if warmed, I will remember to add the raw honey after re-heating to protect the delicate phytochemicals – over 200,000 of them, according to “Life Changing Foods.”  

And on that note, I take my last sip of this wonderful tea.  Here’s to healing. Bottoms up!

 

In The Absence of Sound

I realized this morning that I haven’t suffered from tinnitus in days.  Days! Until today, when I noticed that I have a slight ringing in my ears, just enough to make me realize that I haven’t experienced the worst of the buzzing for quite a while now. Not since I discovered that the cans of flavored sparkling waters I love are filled with Natural Flavors – a new name that hides the old name of Monosodium Glutamate – and stopped drinking them.

I love sparkling water.  I weaned myself off of Diet Coke by switching to the flavored sparkling waters of La Croix, Klarbrunn, Polar . . .  I’ve probably tried them all over the past ten years or more.  And I trusted them.  In my fight against migraines and tinnitus, I trusted these tasty beverages to remain seated in the “neutral”  corner of the ring, encouraging me to refresh myself with the “natural” source of flavors that I loved.

In Chapter 19 of his book, Medical Medium, Anthony Williams states, “Any ingredient with a name like natural flavoring is hidden MSG.” He further states, “MSG typically builds up in your brain tissue.  It can then cause inflammation and swelling, kill thousands of your brain cells, disrupt electrical impulses, weaken neurotransmitters, burn out neurons, make you feel confused and anxious, and even lead to micro-strokes. It also weakens your central nervous system.”

Gees!  All those years, drinking those cans of delicious sparkling water. I may as well have been slamming a door on my hand, over and over and over again. But I didn’t know.  The information on Monosodium Glutamate that I’d read over ten years ago had warned of the damage MSG and artificial sweeteners could do to the brain, as well as provided the various disguises under which MSG and associated compounds lurked, such as: glutamate, hydrolyzed, yeast extract, brewers yeast, protease, aspartame, saccharine, carrageenan, and so many, many others, including the generic “seasonings.”

Natural Flavorings, however, was not included on that list at that time. I’m guessing that after the big uproar over the dangers of MSG and its compounds hit the internet, the food marketing geniuses came up with more comforting names like: Natural Cherry Flavor, Natural Lemon Flavor, and my favorite, Natural Smoke Flavor, which sounds really good for us, doesn’t it?

Who would guess that MSG hides beneath such names? It’s a “Buyer Beware” world out there in the food marketing industry, fully supported by the FDA. And even though after experiencing enough migraines from eating Barbecue sauces with Natural Smoke Flavor, I figured it out, boy, I still never thought to question my sparkling water ingredients.

But after two months following the Medical Medium diet protocol, I began to notice that my tinnitus really seemed to flare up after drinking a can of the Polar Vanilla-Orange sparkling water that I especially enjoy.  At first I blamed it on the aluminum can itself and reduced my consumption.  But even one can a day triggered the tinnitus.  Then last week I paused and read the ingredients on the can of Polar Sparkling Water.

I just hadn’t connected the dots.  When I read Anthony’s chapter on foods and ingredients to avoid, I saw Natural Flavorings listed and made a mental note to watch for that ingredient when I shopped at the store.

Worse, that same day while cleaning my cupboards, I discovered that Natural Flavorings was listed as an ingredient in the Tazo Passion Fruit Tea I loved. I checked the Bigelow and other “herbal” teas I’d purchased as well,  and yes, threw the majority of them away. My impression – if it isn’t straight black tea or straight green tea, there may be flavorings in them, and they sure aren’t natural!

The good news?  I found Spindrift, a sparkling water using real fruit juice in its makeup.  Imagine that! My tongue is still getting used to the taste of “real squeezed fruit.” The flavor is more subdued, but I know I’ll learn to enjoy them.  I can eat dandelion leaves now, for heaven’s sake!  I can learn to appreciate this.

My ears are ringing slightly now.  A headache lurks on my brain’s “horizon,” not increasing yet, just considering its next plan of attack.  I’m sure the years of MSG enhanced sparkling water will require more than just avoidance and a few more heavy metal detox smoothies to remove what’s entrenched in my brain tissue, causing inflammation, etc.  But I will persevere.

Persevere and sound the alarm along with Anthony William and so many others out there, trying our best to uncover the truth, trying our best to heal.  It’s resist or let ourselves be trampled on by the Corporate Mega-giants out there who see us as a source of profit, not as humans.  Is there really a choice?

 

A1C’s and Cholesterol

I’ve introduced a friend to Anthony William’s books and blog and webinars.  We both suffer from diabetes, so we both watched last night’s webinar on the liver and diabetes.

She asked me how my sugar levels were looking with all the fruit I’m eating now.  Since I just saw my medical practioner last Thursday, I could share that after two months of eating on the diet and reducing my Metformin down to one pill a day, my A1C was the same as last year’s, which had been 6.4 – under the 7.0 that sets the alerts going.

Since I reduced the Metformin without checking with my practitioner, she was concerned that this might change.  She asked me to check my blood sugar daily for two weeks and let the nurse know the results.  I have been doing that and they continue to be excellent – with one exception, under 110 and all well under the 130 range they are looking for.

M.C. stated that she “felt hope now.”  I’m glad.  Without this diet, all we have is the rest of our lives on medication, with an expectation that of course, everything will likely get worse.

My cholesterol levels have improved as well, but two months is not the ideal length of time to show real improvement with cholesterol. When I have the levels checked again in December and if/when they show improvement at that time, then my practitioner will believe my diet change is helping.  But I believe now.

 

 

 

Dandelions, Second Crops and The Angel of Purpose

Since I was 8-years-old, I’ve wanted to be a writer.  It was a dream I held close for many years.  Then I tried writing, hoping to get a short story published – but no go.  A couple of poems published in small magazines, but that’s it.  Then over time, I let the dream go – or tried to – believing it was buried under the needs of daily life as a “no longer viable or needed” option in my life. Not to mention that as the years of migraines and other physical issues piled up, my energy decreased, along with those hopes and dreams.

Yet still those embers remained. Sometimes that dream of writing was no more wanted by me than the tinnitus that plagued me, but it remained, buried inside my heart all the same.

With retirement came time to work on myself.  Finally I had time to meditate, to pray, to ask the Divine Source for healing – emotionally, spiritually, and physically. And with  the improvement of the emotional and spiritual aspects of myself came the answer of how to find physical healing as well – from whom else but my daughter. She had already read the first of Anthony William’s books, Medical Medium,  and had started on her own healing path. She spoke of it to me during a visit in March and sent me home with a copy of his book. Now I have them all.

My daughter recently admitted to being surprised that I had jumped on this “path” and begun healing with such dedication and determination. I’m known to start a diet plan and stop, start again and fail. But I told her that I knew, after reading just a few chapters, that this was the answer to my prayers for better health.  I also understand, now, that the deficiencies in my ability to stay on a particular diet weren’t just within me and my lack of willpower, but in the diets themselves – diets that looked good and sounded good but weren’t doing me any good even while I was losing weight – weight that I, of course, put back on as soon as I stopped following the particular diet plan.

I’ve been reading the books and following the diet plan described in Healing Your Thyroid ever since, minus a 9-day trip to Florida at Easter time. So about two months all in all.  And what amazes me now is not just the physical healing I’m experiencing, but the spiritual help and healing I am receiving as I continue to read and apply the recommendations made by Anthony and Spirit of Compassion.

angel_sculpture_hope_wing

Calling on the angels for help and support is a primary source of strength when working on this diet. Anthony includes this at the end of his books – how to contact the “Essential Angels”  by vocalizing a need, even if your words are  whispered or sub-vocalized. He lists 21 Essential Angels at the end of his first book, Medical Medium, providing names and specialties, such as “Angel of Mercy” or “Angel of Healing” or “Angel of Relationships” – oh, so many different angels. He also recommends calling on the Unnamed Angels who have no ego and are more readily available for support when appealed to.

I have called on both the Unnamed Angels and various named Angels.  I believe that doing this after starting the diet is the source of my surprising strength and determination to remain on this diet plan – because that is what I asked for at the start from the angels I called upon.  Thank you, Angels!

And I will continue to call on the angels, especially before going to see a movie this upcoming Tuesday, when I fear the smell of popcorn in the theater will defeat my willpower – at least without angelic help to overcome this particular temptation.  I love popcorn, especially when I am in a movie theater – must be the luscious, fake buttery smell of the stuff in the air as I walk inside.  So, prayers are being said already, believe me.  I don’t want the migraine that will assail me after eating the stuff, no matter how heavenly it tastes or smells. Sigh.

I also called on the Angel of Purpose to help me figure out my purpose in life, now that I’m retired and have time to do other things.  I called on this angel maybe two weeks ago or so and woke in the morning thinking, “I should start a blog about this path I’m on.”

Huh!  Well, I would never have thought of starting a blog.  Writing a short story, yes, and would have done so already if I didn’t have such a bad case of writer’s block. But a blog? No.  Really. This is not something I would have considered on my own. I knew in my heart the idea came directly from the Angel of Purpose, sliding into my mind just before waking when I was more susceptible to listening to angelic suggestions.

Within a week, I went from thinking about it to speaking of it to my daughter to acting upon it.  I am still amazed.  Bu here I am, typing away and having a wonderful time!  Thank you, Angel of Purpose!

Today, as I browsed through Anthony’s book, Life-Changing Foods, I stopped at dandelions and read through the selection.  I sat on the front porch and as I read, I listened to the rain falling outside. I got up, stood on the steps and looked at the gentle rain and all the dandelions sprouting in my yard.  It is an organic yard – we don’t spray and we sure don’t spread weed killer.  So, not pretty, but not dangerous to your health, either.

I thought that with the ground softened by the rain, I could probably get the roots to come up with the dandelions when I picked. I still had to use the garden trowel and dig, and I couldn’t bring up all of the root, but when I finished, I had enough dandelions to juice, root, stem and leaves.  No heads – they had all turned to seed, but hey, it was the deep healing of the organs I primarily wanted, and dandelion roots, so Anthony says, is a good way to achieve that.

I did eat a couple of the leaves before doing this, hoping to get the “elevated biotics” in me before rinsing the rest clean in the sink – I didn’t want to juice any dirt still clinging to the roots of the plants.

Dandelions, I found, release a deep, green liquid when juiced – jewel green and quite lovely.  I followed the recipe on page 248 of Life ChangingFoods for Dandelion Green Juice, with its celery and oranges and cucumbers. I had doubts, though, of my ability to drink anything with that much dandelion root in it, so I pulled out the pitcher of rhubarb lemonade from the refrigerator, just in case the juice was still too bitter for me to drink without a little help.

But it was good!  I didn’t need to add any lemonade.  After drinking half of it, my stomach felt a bit iffy, but the feeling quickly passed and I finished it all with no recurrence of discomfort. Hah!  Tomorrow, I’ll be out there again in between the thunderstorms, plucking dandelions from the side of the house.  I’m actually looking forward to repeating the experience.

Four months ago, I couldn’t have chewed on dandelion leaves without spitting them out, much less juiced them, roots and all.  I know my taste buds have changed.  I don’t even like the taste of chocolate candy anymore (yes, I’ve snuck a few bites of chocolate in the past two months).  Who would have thought?  Not me!

I especially loved Anthony’s “spiritual lesson” regarding the dandelion: that, “Dandelions come back around again, and in this way we can find contentment and solace . . . because there are new chances around the bend.” (Page 247 of Life-Changing Foods).

I found encouragement in this that my dream of writing can, in the autumn of my life, be  renewed and revitalized.  I give thanks to Anthony and Spirit of Compassion for this awareness, as well as to Angel of Purpose for guiding me into discovering this insight.

May you, my readers, have many such spiritual awakenings and insights of your own as you read these books and heal your body on this path.  What are we here for if not to see a little further into the mystery that is life and spirit and God’s sacred path stretching before us. It is all ours to reach.  Amazing!

When Life Gives You Rhubarb

 

I’ve always loved rhubarb.  I grew up with rhubarb custard pie my mother made. When I moved into her home to take care of her and dad, a big patch of it grew out back.  I loved picking it in the spring. There’s a trick to picking rhubarb – you don’t cut it.  You hold each stalk firmly near the base and pull straight up. This way, you get a nice clean stalk and leave no weeping root behind for the bugs to crawl inside of.

I enjoyed making the rhubarb custard pies and later even learned to make a strawberry/rhubarb jam with pecans at the request of my sister-in-law. And even when I moved to my new home that doesn’t have a rhubarb patch, there was always somebody  every spring giving the stuff away.

Just this past week, I received rhubarb from two separate sources. I had to take it.  A patch of rhubarb grows like weeds, which almost guarantees that it is organic, since nobody with rhubarb in their back yard needs to spray it with pesticide to protect it or add fertilizer to help it grow.  It grows! So when a fellow knitter brought in a huge bag of rhubarb to our Tuesday night knitting group and set it on the table for people to take  home, I had to take some.  And when my daughter sent me home with more, I had to take that too.

But rhubarb can’t be eaten raw and without a sweetener.  At least not by me.  And now that I’ve started this healing path, I can’t make the custard pie I still love, with it’s egg yolks and flour and meringue topping.  Mmmm.  OK, maybe I could make a regular rhubarb pie without the egg yolks and raw honey and a gluten free pie crust, but that’s an experiment for another day.

When I mentioned the abundant rhubarb to a friend, she suggested rhubarb-lemonade.  I’d never made rhubarb lemonade and went on-line to look at recipes.  I found one.  I adapted it somewhat.  Here is my version of an “on the diet plan so Anthony William would approve” rhubarb lemonade.

Maybe if you have a rhubarb patch or know someone who does, you can make this too?

Rhubarb-Lemonade:

6 cups chopped rhubarb

4 cups water

Lemon zest (I used all of one half of a large lemon for this)

I brought this mixture to a boil, turned the heat to low and let cook for 10 to fifteen minutes – until all of the rhubarb was cooked well.  I removed this from the heat and let cool for about an hour.

I strained the rhubarb into a bowl, pressing the mixture with a large spoon down against the wire mesh gently as I tried to push as much of the liquid out of the rhubarb “mash” as possible.  This took a little time and patience.

Into a mixing bowl I added:

The juice of 5 large lemons

4 cups of the strained rhubarb mixture

1 cup raw honey

Note: The remaining rhubarb liquid I poured into ice cube trays.  After it freezes, I shall put the cubes into a plastic bag and save for a later glass of lemonade that I want to enhance a bit.

Stir the mixture until the honey is absorbed.  I poured this into a pitcher, and set in the refrigerator. Once chilled, I shall add sliced strawberries for an extra bit of color and flavor.  Can’t wait!

The lemons and strawberries were not organic. I buy organic as much as I can, but some things, like strawberries, are either too expensive or difficult to find organic.  But Anthony has provided a solution to this dilemma.  He recommends praying (sub-vocally, of course) to the Angel of Disarmament to help nullify the danger of any pesticides or other toxins and to encourage only the good attributes of the fruit to be taken up by the body.

Needless to say, I’ve been praying under my breath to the Angel of Disarmament quite a bit lately. The hardest part was remembering her name!  But I’ve got it down in my memory now – at least down to only one or two stumbles – Angel of War, no, Angel of Disbursement no, oh, Angel of Disarmament,that’s it!  It just takes a bit.

So this recipe might require you to taste and adapt to your own tastebuds.  Remember, my lemons were like small oranges. Yours might be quite a bit smaller.

Also, if anybody tries this with maple syrup instead of honey, let me know!  I’m curious about that taste combination.

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Call Me an Acolyte

While preparing supper (It’s a holiday.  We are having chicken.), I started wondering whether I was now a “fan.”  This question popped up in my head because I thought about how much my blog will revolve around Anthony William – his books, his teachings, his diet plan.  I’ve never been a fan, per se, since following the Beatles when I was a kid.  Am I one now?

I don’t think so.  I am not trying to uncover his personal data.  I think Anthony William is a great man and teacher who is called to go above and beyond the normal or even the gifted in this life, but I am not curious about where he lives, how he lives, if he is married or how many children he has – you get the picture.

I am a follower, though.  I can’t be on this Healing Path without Anthony and his books. So, call me an acolyte.  That sounds archaic and cool at the same time.  I like it!

Healing Is Hard Work

I am starting this blog in hopes that others, like myself, will want to talk – or shout -about our struggles and successes with healing after starting on the path outlined by Anthony William in his“Medical Medium” books. Following the diet plan is a big job.  Staying on the plan takes work and dedication and, hey, money to change from eating “normal” food to the more expensive organic produce.  I have to go back and reread sections from the books to be sure I understood what I read – and then there is so much information to read and try to remember.  But . . .

I am beginning to heal.  I’ve been on the diet for over six weeks.  My acid reflux is gone.  I went off all antacids when I started the diet plan and haven’t missed them at all.  Even when I eat meat in the evening – an occasional occurrence now – I am not jerked awake by acid spurting into the back of my throat.  I no longer fear that I will end up choking to death on my own stomach acid like someone who has drunk a bottle of vodka in one sitting and then passes out.

I still fear that the acid reflux might come back.  I still hold my breath after eating late in the evening, wondering what will happen after I’ve gone to bed.  But nothing happens.  At least nothing more than a little ping on the radar – I think I’m experiencing indigestion and then it’s gone.  No acid reflux at night.  I can use one pillow again.  I am healed.

I still have migraines.  I still have diabetes, although I’ve cut my Metformin down to one tablet a day instead of two.  I’ve lost eight pounds but have a long way to go.  I am still hypothyroid – that will be a long, slow process of healing and then weaning myself off medication for that, which I hope is still possible.  My daughter, an acupuncturist and herself on the diet, says to expect a year and maybe two to completely heal the health problems I’ve had for almost twenty years.  That is going by the Oriental estimate that it takes approximately a month to heal for each year of illness. And even if my migraines are the last to disappear, at least they, like the rest of my issues, have improved.

I have hope.  And as Anthony William says in the last chapter of his book, Medical Medium – Life Changing Foods,  “Hope is the spark of faith that your life can improve on every level.”

I can do this!  I will do this.  Will you?