September 2nd, 2010 by Fiona
by Ruth
Mothers shouldn’t use the lack of spare time as an excuse for not nourishing your body temple. It’s important to nourish and take care of yourself, that way there is more of you to be present for your family when they need you. And just because you are a mum, there is no reason why you can’t look beautiful on the outside too!
Here are a few simple, fun, raw and FAST beauty rituals I like to make time for (using things you already have in your pantry)…
Instant Papaya Facial
When I am cutting up a papaya for my morning smoothie I take the flesh side of skin and rub it all over my face. The enzymes revitalize your face by breaking down dead skin cells. This works best when the papaya is still slightly firm. Just remember to wipe the papaya pulp off before you leave the house!
Coconut & Vinegar Hair Care
To wash my hair once a week, I like to massage coconut oil into my scalp and through my hair the night before and braid it up, sleep with a towel over the pillow and then in the morning shampoo it out and instead of conditioner pour some apple cider through my hair and then rinse the vinegar out (I’ve also used sour home-made kombucha one time when I had run out of vinegar) This hair treatment is so inexpensive and you probably already have coconut oil and vinegar in your pantry anyways. The coconut oil conditions your hair and its anti fugal and anti microbial properties mean that you’ll never get dandruff. Rinsing your hair with vinegar sounds a bit weird, but trust me it leaves your hair so incredibly soft.
Shower Secrets - Soft Sweet Smelling Skin
This is an awesome balancing in shower treatment for all Aruyvedic body types that cleanses, exfoliates and moisturizer your skin all at the same time. Seriously, you can be out of the shower in under 2 minutes with glowing, soft, sweet smelling skin…
- Mix ½ cup each of coarsely ground salt and sugar together
- Mix together a few tablespoons of cold pressed almond oil and a tablespoon of rose water.
- Then mix the two together and store it in a glass jar within easy reach of the shower
Scoop out a handful while you wait for the water to warm up and rub all over you body. Keep rubbing as you rinse it off under the water.
Done.
How easy was that?
If you like Ruth’s creative ideas, have a peep at her some of her other recent blog posts:
Transform Avocado Stones Into Beautiful Pendants
Chia Fun! Grow Your own Yimmy Fairy Garden
Raw Recipes: Fresh Turmeric Juice
Tags: beauty, coconut oil, dandruff, exfoliator, hair, hair conditioner, hofer, natural beauty, papaya, ruth, scrub, skin, vinegar
Posted in Health | No Comments »
August 27th, 2010 by Fiona
by Carissa
“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.”
Plato
Our 3 1/2 year old loves Star Wars. He could narrate the whole story of The New Hope, look at Star Wars Encyclopedias, books and role play Luke, Anakin, Han, and all the other characters all day long. We think he is pretty young for the film, so we decided to create a Star Wars curriculum for him.
1. We bought a few and borrow lots of Star Wars books. Someone even suggested the Wookie Cookbook!
2. I relented and bought a light saber. Some parents don’t buy guns or swords for their kids, but a stick becomes a weapon anyway. I bought the light saber as part of his ‘costume’. He play fights with full gusto as he narrates the stories. It’s amazing how ‘into’ it a young child is when in pretend play. I was glad to read Play. Yes, You Must by Stuart Brown, the founder and president of The National Institute for Play, because he agrees with play fighting. He:
“studied a group of young murderers many years ago in Texas… Among many findings was the observation that none of these murderers had engaged in normal rough and tumble play when growing up, as compared to a large matched group also under study. Since then, the human clinical data on the importance of rough and tumble play in the development of social competency has been affirmed.”
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Carissa, curriculum, kindergarten, learn through play, Leventis-Cox, Star Wars, word recognition
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August 23rd, 2010 by Fiona
by Joanne Newell
For many families in the northern hemisphere, it’s back-to-school time.
I just love the sense of optimism that’s part and parcel of a new school year - the smell of new books and freshly sharpened pencils, the change in routine, and, if your children are schooled away from home, their excitement at seeing old friends and getting to know a new classroom teacher.
But if your children do attend school outside home, it’s important to remember that they need to feel completely ‘at home’ when they return home from school each day (especially in those first few potentially stressful days of being in a new class). When they open the front door and dash in in a whirl of bags, books, and sporting equipment, they’re craving a ’soft place to fall’, a respite from the outer world they’ve been inhabiting for most of the day.
Even if your kids absolutely love school, they still crave the feeling of security that home brings - and I believe that it’s our job to create that loving environment. If we set that up for them as children, they’ll know that they can create that nurturing environment for themselves as they grow. Creating a rhythm in their schooldays helps make life a little more predictable and secure. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: children, Joanne, joanne newell, Newell, play, relaxation, school
Posted in Kids | No Comments »
August 20th, 2010 by Fiona
by Fiona Hollis
I wrote this after having processed some huge emotions of grief. When these words flowed through me and I felt the truth of each one, suddenly things seemed clearer, brighter, louder and crisper… Taking responsibility for how you feel is an amazing way to accelerate if you feel stagnant. Pretending everything is OK when it’s not - is a great way to drop anchor!
“I am a perfect half of a complete soul created to enjoy constant bliss, love and creation. It is only errors in my soul that block this eternal experience and existence.
I am not my life.
My life is a perfect manifestation of my true soul desires. With humility and total honesty we can feel the truth that creates us. This is where we are able to take full responsibility for our feelings and experience complete change.
As our personal truths shift, error is released from our soul - allowing more love to flow in - thus altering our life immediately through our soul’s manifestation of life around us.
This increased level of love in your soul then reflects out to everyone and everything around you - immediately allowing others to grow.
Only when you choose to stop the flow of love, will the connection stop. As soon as we choose to judge, project our emotions onto others rather than take responsibility for our own pain - the connection is lost.
At any time we have the opportunity to stop and own how we feel - and be prepared to open our hearts fully in order to experience these painful emotions that need to flow out of you - in order to make room for more love to flow in.
We have the freedom to choose everything that happens, especially the speed of our journey. But it is only when the pain gets sharp enough - that we choose ask for God’s help.
God offers a supersonic, spiritual, superhighway… superior soul surgery… raising us so far and above our rusted realms of possibilities, tears tumble towards our hearts at the magnificence of our creator’s cosmic creation.”
This is taken from my personal blog where I discuss emotional processing and how it changes your law of attraction, thus your life.
Tags: emotional processing, emotions, fiona, Fiona Hollis, God, hollis, iloveraw, spiritual
Posted in Health, You | No Comments »
August 18th, 2010 by Fiona
by Joanna Steven
Part III. The dreaded school menu, and healthy alternatives to home schooling.
The modern school system is not only flawed in the way it tries to educate our children, it is also flawed in how it feeds them. Many of us have watched, in shock and horror, Jamie Oliver’s attempts at reforming the school menus in the US. Not only are the schools resistant to change, many people don’t even understand where the problem is in the first place!
Curious, I took a look at the local elementary school’s menu. A banner at the top features “I love lunch” and “eat learn live” written on a black board. OK. Below, we can read: “Feeding our students high quality meals that are nutritious and delicious is our top priority. Chartwells’ menus are built to support the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and use recipes that taste great and are lower in fat, saturated fat, trans fats, cholesterol and sodium and provide whole grains, fruits, vegetables and appropriate portion sizes for age. We analyze our recipes for nutrient content and food component into nutrient standard or food-base menu planning that comply with child nutrition guidelines for the National School Breakfast & Lunch programs. Our Balanced Choices Meal Program is a guidance system to assist students in making the most nutritious parameters and is highlighted on the serving line.”
Shouldn’t it be “no trans fat” rather than “lower in trans fat”? But, it could have been for the sake of having a neatly written paragraph. Let’s look at the menu itself. For breakfast, children have, on various day, a choice of pancakes, breakfast taco, a muffin, French toast with syrup, ham & cheese biscuits, sausage patties and the like. Yes, I definitely want my children eating this every day (no, I don’t).
Let’s look at the lunch menu. Cheeseburger on bun. Ham & cheese wrap. Chicken nuggets. I see some “brocolli” (sic) is included. To bad it is misspelled. Turkey Corn Dogs. Beef A Roni. OK! I’ve seen enough. I don’t want my kids eating all this, that’s for sure! And what happened to the “delicious and nutritious”?
You might think: “if only there were schools for healthy vegetarians!” I certainly thought that, which brings me to my second point. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: education, Homeschooling, jamie oliver, joanna steven, organic, school, school dinners, school lunches, Steiner, vegetarian
Posted in Kids | 1 Comment »
August 16th, 2010 by Fiona
by Joanna Steven
Part II. Are parents qualified to home school? And what about socialization?
As parents, we can only do what we think is best, follow our heart, and hope everything works out. As a child, my mom had to attend a Christian school run by nuns. She swore that when she would have kids, she would send them to a secular school only, and she did. She didn’t enjoy her school, and wanted us to have a better experience. Unfortunately, I don’t think my experience was better than hers, and my younger sister even opted later on to attend the same school my mother went to because she could not stand the one we used to attend. How are we supposed to guess what’s best? We can’t. We can only do what we think is best, and sending my children to the same schools which made me sick with anxiety and worry does not really sound like the best thing to do.
One issue which often comes up with homeschooling is the lack of socialization of home schooled kids. But really, how much socialization does one do while being chastised by a professor, or having to sit still without talking for 6 hours? Is socialization really something we do while eating low quality food in a noisy, unruly cafeteria? And what would be the quality of such interactions? I am fully aware that socializing my children will take a big effort on my part, being quite the introvert, but I am fully prepared for it.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: education, Homeschooling, joanna, joanna steven, qualifications, school, socialization, steven
Posted in Kids | 5 Comments »
August 12th, 2010 by Fiona
by Joanna Steven
Is anything really wrong with our modern school system?
Homeschooling. Few things are as dividing as the simple concept of teaching our children at home. This definition, however, could be a big part of the problem. People against homeschooling often imagine a child staring longingly out of the window at other children playing in the school yard during recess, while an often uneducated mother wastes his formative years keeping him cooped up at home. To me, while this scenario might happen sometimes, it is not an accurate image of what homeschooling can (or should) be.
After doing a quick survey of my friends and family members, I realized that very few of us have fond memories of school. Condescending teachers, unfair punishments, the feeling of wasting one’s time while unruly students have to be unsuccessfully disciplined, studying subjects for hours knowing full well most of them would be completely useless a few years down the road… These are only a few reasons why school is rarely considered a happy place for kids.
I am no exception. Sure, when I was little and had my first Christmas vacation, I actually cried not understanding why I wasn’t going to school anymore. Later on, I had some very good professors who made me look forward to attending their class (if not school in general). Now, though, I am seriously considering homeschooling my child (I am currently pregnant and taking a good hard look at the so-called necessary institutions). What happened to me along the way? What turned me from a school-loving little girl into an anxious, and even fearful child and adolescent?
While preschool was apparently quite fun for me (I have no memories of it), school quickly became a nightmare. By age 6, I had recurrent stomach cramps due to stress, and gradually, I started wishing I could be homeschooled. There were several subjects in which I naturally excelled, such as French literature, but a few like math gave me a lot of grief. I realize now that the fear of being called up to the front of the class, the humiliation of getting bad grade after bad grade, and my general feeling of hopelessness were a big reason why I felt like giving up. I thought I was irremediably bad at math, but as soon as I got a private tutor, my grades went up, to the surprise of my teachers. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: education, Homeschooling, joanna, joanna steven, school, steven
Posted in Kids | 2 Comments »
August 9th, 2010 by Fiona
by Judy Slome Cohain, CNM
[Editor's Note: This article first appeared in The Birthkit Issue 38, Summer 2003 and was updated by the author in April 2007.]
Garlic kills yeast. Those who bake bread know not to add garlic while the dough is rising or it will kill the yeast. Instead, garlic is added to the dough after it has risen, just before baking it in the oven.
A fresh garlic clove can easily cure a yeast infection. The trick is to catch the infection early. A woman who suffers from frequent yeast infections knows the feeling well. The first day, she feels just a tickle of itchiness that comes and goes. The next day, or sometimes two or three days later, the vaginal discharge starts to look white and lumpy like tiny bits of cottage cheese. By this time, she has a full-blown yeast infection and the lips of the vagina are often red and sore.
If a woman can pay attention to the first tickling of the yeast infection, she can use the following treatment. Take a clove of fresh garlic and peel off the natural white paper shell that covers it, leaving the clove intact. At bedtime, put the clove into the vagina. In the morning, remove the garlic clove and throw it in the toilet. The garlic often causes the vagina to have a watery discharge. One night’s treatment may be enough to kill the infection, or it might have to be repeated the next night. Continue one or two days until all itchiness is gone. The reason that the treatment is done at bedtime is that there is a connection between the mouth and the vagina. The moment the garlic is placed in the vagina, the taste of the garlic travels up to the mouth. Most people will find this strong flavor annoying during the day, so the treatment is recommended for nighttime. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: garlic, garlic clove, itching, Judy, Judy Slome, newborns, Slome, vaginal discharge
Posted in Health | 5 Comments »
August 4th, 2010 by Fiona
Dear Passionate People-Lover,
With all this talk about oil spills and ozone layers it can be a pretty overwhelming to talk about “saving the planet”. Especially when you consider the fact that so many of us are struggling to save ourselves! The fact is, the rates of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, ADD, autism and infertility are rising as fast as the rates of green house gas emissions!
This is no coincidence!
It’s no accident that in a world of soda pop, plastic wrap, and microwaveable meals, we’ve started to see a lot more diabetes, arthritis, obesity and even cancer taking the lives of the people we love. Let’s look at the facts:
- World Watch Magazine reported that over 50% of annual greenhouse gas emissions come from animals raised for food.
- A UN Report supports the fastest solution to reducing ghg emissions is transition to a plant-based diet.
- Eating a plant-based diet dramatically reduces the risk of cancer, diabetes, heart disease and obesity.
Essentially, if we add up all the cars and factories and things that give off toxic gases it still doesn’t beat the greenhouse gas emissions coming from the cows, pigs, chickens, goats and other animals we use for “food.” And the bottom line is that if we stopped using these animals for food, we would improve our overall health and well-being.
I see a win-win situation happening here!
Maybe before we start saving up for solar panels, we could sprout clover and just start eating more fruits and vegetables? Maybe instead of spending millions of dollars in environmental debates, we could plant Swiss chard and wheat grass in our window sills? Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: believe in green, Green Smoothie, green smoothie queen, GSQ, international green smoothie day, Lower East Side Girls' Club, smoothies
Posted in Food, Health, Stuff We Love | No Comments »
August 2nd, 2010 by Fiona
by Fiona Hollis
Morning everyone!
Phew - I don’t know about you - but the last 2 weeks were amazing! So many beautiful articles, tips and insight from wonderful speakers and from YOU.
I love the interaction between Rawmom and all you Rawmoms out there - it’s key to growing together and creating an honest, loving and open community.
We all have our own opinions and seldom are they palatable to everyone. Opinions are born from parental conditioning, culture, personal circumstance, personal trauma - amongst many other things. Discussion is a great way to grow and learn from one another, so I felt it would be a great start to post YOUR responses to the most controversial wisdom nugget of pregnancy month. Circumcision, by our Jewish Raw Mom Karen Ranzi.
I would like to thank each and every one of you for feeling able to express yourselves clearly, I am honored that people feel able to express themselves without judgment. It is important to remember that judgment of others is really judgment of ourselves. We and we alone are responsible for our own personal actions and feelings. As soon as we feel the need to attack or judge someone for expressing themselves - we are in error and need to feel why we are so provoked by this opinion.
Reactions are to be expected, and anger when triggered is a great place to start looking at injuries within our souls. Often anger is capping emotion to grief. It is easier to feel anger than grief as anger is a powerful feeling, whereas grief is a very vulnerable feeling. Vulnerable is a very open place to be - and many of us are scared to feel this way for fear of pain.
When you read your replies to Karen Ranzi’s article on Circumcision - please note your own reactions, and take responsibility for your reaction. It is very unloving when people do not take responsibility for their own emotional reactions and choose to project anger at others - that is not our intention here on rawmom. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: anger, bris, circumcision, creating healthy children, cut, foreskin, jewish, karen, Karen Ranzi, pain, penis, ranzi
Posted in Dads, Health, Kids, Pregnancy & Breastfeeding | 9 Comments »
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