Spring Greening

I have pretty much mastered the way to make my own bath and body products - which I share with you through Prana Holistic.  So now I have decided to expand to the homefront.  So I have scoured my library of resource books and Pinterest and have been collecting ideas to make my own cleaning products for the home. So far I have found a great powdered laundry detergent, I'm working on the liquid version and I'm on the fence about my dishwasher detergent at this point.  So not bad so far all in all.

Here is the recipe for the powdered version:

1 cup Borax
1 cup Washing Soda
1 bar of Fels-Naptha soap

You shred the bar soap with a cheese shredder (or a similar attachment on your food processor) then mix it with the other two ingredients.  And Voila! 

Store in an airtight container.  Use 2 Tbsp. per load of laundry.

I am working on the recipe using my organic bar soap so I know exactly what is in my detergent as far as fragrance and chemicals. I do not think it will be much different.

I will also update on the liquid version once I find enough containers to hold the finished product.

As for the dishwasher.....well, I'm still looking......more to come. 

Massage Therapy

The time is drawing near that I will be able to offer Massage Therapy with a concentration on Ayurvedic wellness!!  Stay tuned for more.....

Mala giveaway by Jewels of Saraswati

http://jewelsofsaraswati.blogspot.com/2012/01/get-fired-up-mala-bracelet-giveaway.html?showComment=1327957182996#c5281971294496719286

Thankful - ever thankful

Usually as another year comes to a close I am so filled with hope for the new year that I don't really reflect upon the closing year - well at least not in a positive manner.  I generally think "good riddance - that was a painful year".  Then I saw that one of my favorite yogi (@kathrynbudig) jumped out of a plane for her first solo skydive as a thank you gift to 2011.  That got me thinking.....

At first I was pretty convinced that it would be much easier to write my intentions for 2012 than it would be to find much to be thankful to 2011 for....NOT SO!!!

I found so many big - huge - things that happened this year that made me so filled with joy and hope and inspiration.  I took joy from friends having excellent years - getting new jobs, having babies, buying their first home (some doing more than one of these in 2011).  Then I realized that there were as many small things to be thankful to 2011 for - including being able to sit outside in the warm sunshine while I wrote down my thoughts!!

I hope this is an exercise that you will consider.  It was a very uplifting experience.  Gratitude is so precious and as 2011 ticks away, I am profoundly grateful for so many people, experiences and opportunities to learn.  I defined this year, when all was said and done, as the year that I moved more fully into who I am.  I am calling it metamorphosis.  So to each of you - many thanks for 2011 and continued blessings for 2012.

Namaste,

Julie

This is not the way forward

On the anniversary of women be "given" the right to vote - Christine O'Donnell sets the women's movement back 40 years.

Dear Ms. O'Donnell:

In my opinion, if you publically speak out against masturbation and your support of abstinence for teens you have opened the door for debate on these views.  I find it reprehensible that this woman is claiming that someone asking her about topics - that she herself brought into the public arena and has recently written about in her new book - is creepy.  I find it creepy that you, Ms. O'Donnell went on an MTV show and discussed masturbation.  Really creepy actually.  Like incredibly creepy.  How dare you get upset when someone asks you about your position - especially when you are out trying to get publicity for yourself - I mean your "book".  Let me just tell you something...you can NOT throw around words like "sexual harrassment" so casually.  Many women face true harrassment in their work and lives.  You suggesting that this interviewer was bordering on harrassment is naive, slanderous and childish.  YOU spoke about these topics.  YOU bring them up in your book (supposedly - but of course I won't be reading and supporting your "literary" effort).  YOU are out in public doing interviews.  YOU can not dictate how the public treats you.  Piers Morgan was asking you to define your current positions on these topics.  That's his JOB. And any interviewer worth his or her salt will hone in on the topics the interviewee is trying to wiggle out of.  Which for you, seem many. This woman has no place in business or politics.  She has set the women's movement back 40 years and made it even harder for women who face true harrassment to be heard and believed.  I am offended and appalled by this woman.  Please don't support her in any way.

O'Donnell: Morgan's questions were 'creepy': http://on.today.com/oJwfqL via @todayshow

Health Benefits of Yoga

An article by Deepak Chopra, MD on the health benefits of yoga.

http://www.thevisualmd.com/expert_panel/deepak_chopra_md/weekly_health_tip_yoga%E2%80%99s_health_benefits

Special-needs students use meditation to control behavior - Philly.com

Practicing meditation is a great stress-reliever and has been shown to have physiological benefits as well. It's no wonder that applying these techniques have also provided relief to the growing number of children with ADHD and ASD.

Special-needs students use meditation to control behavior - Philly.com