Article by Make The Days Count Contributor Marie Monroe
During the recent holiday season I was inspired by a child’s remark that he was making his New Year’s revolutions. He mistakenly, but wonderfully, referred to them not as resolutions but as revolutions. Since that time, and with much meditation upon his misnomer, I have explored his refreshing approach in my own new year. I find, now some weeks into the start of a new life-chapter, that I am going strong with this new perspective.
One of the ways I have approached this season of beginnings is to go deeper than my usual annual fresh start. I have focused more upon the nature that surrounds me and what it is teaching me through its cycles. I have also focused more on the traditional milestones of my culture’s year and its holidays … how one transitions with a natural flow into the next. Read More »
Article by Make The Days Count Contributor Blake Cothron
As the weather outside dips well below freezing and coughing and sneezing become common place, there are simple natural ways you can maximize your health now to stay healthy through winter.
Through the years I’ve battled more colds, infections, and childhood ills than you can shake a bottle of Echinacea at. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve taken my health into my own hands and have discovered through much experimentation, old-time advice, and scientific evidence the great benefits of “natural healthcare”. From diet to herbal supplements, there is an array of healthy, synthetic-chemical free ways to stay robust, energized, and healthy during the winter months, while minimizing discomfort and sickness.
Attacking Weak Links
First off, we must understand that infections such as the cold and flu first attack weak links. If you have a weak immune system, lack enough sleep, and have an unhealthy diet your risk for colds and disease rises exponentially. People who follow very healthy, organic lifestyles get sick less. Of course, everyone gets sick sometimes, period. Scientists are discovering the age-old wisdom that diet is one of the foundations of good health. In 431 BCE Hippocrates said “Let food be thy medicine” and I couldn’t agree more. Read More »
Article by Make The Days Count Contributor Stefanie Johnson
Editor’s Note: This is the first in a regular meditation exercise that Make The Days Count will publish. These are meant as exercises you can do without much preparation and are therefore excellent for home or office.
There are magical places that exist within each one of us, inside our minds, hearts, and souls. By visiting these places, we can tap into the infinite and bring peace and abundance into our lives.
Each journey will be unique, as we are unique, so you may want to have a notebook and pen nearby to record your experience afterward. You may choose to have another person read the meditation to you so you may experience it more fully. Find a comfortable place, close your eyes, open your mind, and prepare yourself to travel within.
This week, let’s explore the Ancient Forest. Inside the Ancient forest, you can be cleansed and replenished, connect with your spirit, and reclaim the abundance that is rightfully yours.
It’s a beautiful, sunlit day. You are walking on a path through a lush forest … Read More »
Article by Make The Days Count Contributor Marie Monroe
“Their love dissolved my struggle and my fatigue. The love of 10 million nameless, faceless people healed me that week.”
Just after 911, I went to a great psychotherapy conference in Hilton Head. For an entire week we learned about holistic healing and had many ‘extracurricular’ activities to accelerate our own: yoga, tai chi, qi gong, labyrinths, dance, meditation, massage, walks on the beach, art and fellowship. This was a glorious healing time for me. In the aftermath of one of the most unsettling times in our nation’s history, recovery and rejuvenation were very much needed.
As a child growing up in the 60s and 70s, I had witnessed many tragic world events - assassinations, the dinner time TV fare of the Vietnam War and the domestic turmoil that ravaged our cities. Later, as a therapist, I had lived and worked in communities in crisis during several tragedies: natural disasters, the loss of the Challenger space shuttle, riots and gang wars, but 911 turned out to be the most difficult time I had had in my career. Read More »
Article by Make The Days Count Contributor Ann Wilkinson
“I’m happy to give you a little life lesson the value of learning a craft. Because it’s not all about the craft. It’s about the love that goes with it. You see, here’s the real secret.”
As a kid I imagined myself as the crafty type, the arty type. Nothing could have been further from the truth. My mom tried to teach me to knit, and I just got grumpy and created a schizoid series of knots before I gave up. Even winding a ball of yarn was an exercise in frustration. So when, as an established adult, I announced that I wanted to learn to knit, everyone in my family was very surprised. Read More »
