Health | 1000 Fields of Roses

Rattle!

(and live…)

He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”
– Ezekiel 37:3

“Yahweh, you are my soul’s celebration.
How could I ever forget the miracles of kindness
you’ve done for me?
You kissed my heart with forgiveness, in spite of all I’ve done.
You’ve healed me inside and out from every disease.
You’ve rescued me from hell and saved my life.
You’ve crowned me with love and mercy.
You satisfy my every desire with good things.
You’ve supercharged my life so that I soar again
like a flying eagle in the sky!”
– Psalm 103:2-5

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on July 5, 2020 at 8:00 am Leave a Comment
Tags: Elevation Worship

Live Long And Prosper

In this time of coronavirus fear and “social distancing“, we are renegotiating contact with others… the basic handshake is avoided, and other greetings put in its place. For our church, as for other places of worship, that means using the Vulcan salute.
A good choice, I think!
Quite apart from the geek factor, the hand gesture is derived from a Jewish symbol, used during a priestly blessing. Leonard Nimoy (Spock in the original Star Trek) remembered seeing it as part of a service in the synagogue in his childhood, and when faced with coming up with a Vulcan greeting, modified what he had seen.

The original blessing is done with two hands, arms held out and hands touching to form the Hebrew letter “shin”, which stands for “Shaddai”, or “Almighty God”. In this form there are restrictions on who can perform the gesture and the accompanying blessing, but as the Vulcan salute is modified, it is available for anyone to use.

Tomorrow we’ll be telling each other to “Live long, and prosper”, to which the proper response is “Peace and long life”.
And we’ll be extending a blessing to each other as we do it!

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on March 14, 2020 at 10:41 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: Leonard Nimoy, Vulcan Salute

Turn Around

I’ve been reading again!
A quote from the book caught my eye and made me think…

Turning the story around –
“Government/corporations/the wealthy/the political parties are too ~~strong~~ weak. There is nothing ~~anyone~~ they can do to change ~~them~~ themselves, and if there is going to be change, ~~they have to initiate it~~ we have to help them, so all of our individual efforts are ~~irrelevant~~ crucial.”

What do I think about this?
In a week that has brought about injustices and tragedies, seen and unseen, it’s easy to feel like giving up on everything as hopeless and unchangeable, and seeing ourselves as powerless. And, truly, sometimes we are in situations where the outcome bulldozes us down… a failure of society to engage and protect the individual? A long timeline of little adjustments and concessions leading to a tunnel we didn’t know we were heading for? A bit of both? I don’t know.

Governments and the societies that elect them need to change in a lot of ways, but that starts with an individual. It starts with each of us.
I’m feeling like I’m getting preachy – I don’t want that 🙂
Getting back to the quote!
How do I change myself, and influence the world around me? I haven’t finished the book yet, so not sure what that answer will be! One obvious thing is to look squarely at who I am…
What do I believe? Why? Am I willing to question things, in order to more clearly understand?
I come from a Christian understanding of the world. In a lot of ways (globally) that can be seen to be unyielding, rigid, unwilling to look at other points of view… I don’t agree that that’s the way to see things. An unchallenged faith is a weak faith – if God is real (as I believe He is) then He is big enough and strong enough to walk with us through the questions and disappointments. Also, deep enough to encompass differences of opinion!

So – am I willing to confront myself when I am triggered or made uncomfortable by events/circumstances/points of view? Am I willing to Change My Mind?! On that note, I find it interesting to read books by people who have completely different understandings of the world to me. It can be amazing to see where we agree!

I have not a lot to offer, in the big scheme of things. I have some influence in some spheres… but nothing major. I am quiet, not very energetic, often not well. I often feel useless. But I am still not lacking in responsibility to know who I should be and my place in this community…

One thing I can do?
I can welcome whoever needs or wants friendship. I can hold out hope where it’s needed – there are endless cups of tea here, and spare beds/sofas are available! I can brighten someone’s day, even if it’s only in a small way.

And I can guarantee that, whoever you are reading this, YOU are important. You are significant. You are meant to be here, and you have a part to play in this world. Even if it doesn’t feel like it right this second.
❤

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on February 21, 2020 at 4:47 pm Leave a Comment

Cycle Of Life

I’m getting older.
It’s beginning to show.
While I’m not too worried about what I look like, I am interested in keeping healthy enough to keep doing what I want and need to do. Indulging over Christmas hasn’t helped that… but what else is January for ? 😉

One of the things I’ve been trying to do regularly is going down to the pool. Sometimes that’s not possible, so the next best thing (ideally) is walking. I LOVE walking! It’s time out to breathe, listen to music, or just enjoy the changing seasons. Unfortunately, it also takes time, and you have to be away from home… at the moment that’s a bit tricky.
The alternative I came up with was a stationary bike, but all the ones for sale seemed to be quite expensive.
Yay for recycling! (See what I did there?)
Just down the road from us was an old exercise bike on the footpath – it’s basic but serviceable. I can even balance a book on the handlebars while I cycle! I can also do bits of exercise throughout the day, whenever there’s a gap, and I’m still available when I’m needed!

Exercise bike January 2020

😀

And – here’s the inspiration for my title today…

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Health
Music

on January 30, 2020 at 5:53 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: Circle Of Life

Walking To The Cafe

Decided to jump on into another exercise session today. We’d thought we were going to go regularly, but this is only the second time… It was crisp and cold, with blue, blue skies, and the promise of coffee and cheesecake for afters (I skipped breakfast).
Just down the road from us is a free council exercise program, with walking between stations. It seems a waste to have such a resource so close to us and not use it, especially as it’s not too hot now. There are various pieces of equipment for all levels.

The last photo is a station close to the car park, and is primarily for the elderly (equipment to improve grip and flexibility) and for wheelchair users. There are benches at each station in case you overdo it, and it’s a gentle walk around the circuit. Have a look at your local council Parks and Reserves page – I searched under “recreation”, then “strength and agility stations”

Finished the morning with mocha and cheesecake.

You can tell by my coffee that were sitting at a bit of a wonky table – the cafe was so full that we had to sit outside, and the footpath isn’t quite level… here’s the view.

Obviously the place to be!

Continuing the health vibe with kale chips and chamomile tea… time to sit in the sunshine and read 🙂

Published in:

on June 22, 2019 at 3:30 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: council exercise stations, rafter and rose

Beautiful Food

…on pretty plates!
The last couple of weeks have been a bit bland, with illness in the house and nobody really wanting to eat. Yesterday we got back to a full meal, which I thought would be better served on one of my nice plates. Somehow that makes it taste better 🙂

Flowers and gold trim – and pink sauerkraut (it has beetroot and ginger in it).

I also got around to making banana bread today – because we weren’t eating our usual meals the bananas got a bit over ripe. I chucked in some cranberries and sultanas as well.

I think this is the first time I’ve made something with coconut flour (although mixed with basic gluten free flour as well) and not have it turn out overly dry – perhaps putting extra milk in helped?
I’ve also been sharing some bottles of kombucha with Sweet Bean, to rebalance after his course of antibiotics. Nearly back to normal!

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on May 27, 2019 at 8:46 pm Leave a Comment

Enjoying A Day Of Wellbeing

Today was a day of languor and industry, interspersed with coffee and old movies (we’re watching “Summer Holiday” at the moment). I had intended to work on the mending that’s been sitting around for a while. I ended up weeding the planter boxes instead…

Here’s some more thoughts from Wellbeing magazine – it’s been that sort of day!

Nourish – provide with the food or other substances necessary for growth, health, and good condition

Soaking in a bath is one of my favourite nourishing activities 🙂 Sometimes it’s just sitting reading a book for a bit, though – or making sure to eat well and get enough sleep. Different things to different people…

Reflection – the return of light and sound waves from a surface, a thought, idea or opinion formed or a remark made as a result of meditation.

Being still often leads to reflection – leaving the space to reflect thoughts from the surface of our mind or life helps to refine ideas and opinions.

Resilience – an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change, the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape, elasticity.

Another necessity of life, but often we wear ourselves down by doing too much and taking on more than we need to – then shattering rather than bouncing back.

Companionship – the fellowship existing among companions, the good feeling that comes from being with someone else.

We all need those people (or animals!) around us with whom we feel able to be ourselves – however weird and wonderful that may be 🙂 Good thing there’s always someone out there who fits the bill – even if it sometimes takes time to find them!

Partnership – the state of being a partner or partners.

A step or two on from companionship, and well worth finding. Regardless of how sociable we naturally are, we all seem to be built for deeper connections…

Flow – to issue or move in a stream, to move with a continual change of place among the constituent particles, to proceed smoothly or readily.

Sometimes time slows down and anything seems possible. Who knows what might flow then?

Surrender – to give (oneself) over to something (such as an influence)

Relax. Sink in. Sleep peacefully.

Smile – to produce or exhibit a smile, to bestow approval, to appear pleasant or agreeable.

Shine, and be beautiful.

Intention – a thing intended, an aim or a plan, a determination to act in a certain way.

Slowing down and being alone with your thoughts can mean being confronted with the realisation that your life has lost direction – that everything you do is just reaction to events, and there’s no time to catch your breath. It’s never too late to set your intention and start moving towards what’s important to you!

Perspective – a mental view or prospect.

There’s always a bright side somewhere – regardless of the size of the clouds.

😀

And finally – a word from Oprah…

Published in:

on November 3, 2018 at 9:44 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: wellbeing magazine

Groovy!

😀

Feeling all hippie and back-to-the-earth today…
In part, that’s because of the eventual plastic bag ban here. The shop has started stocking paper bags (for 50c) which you can choose rather than plastic.

Like this!
There was a time before plastic when all groceries were bagged like this…
Usually I have various cloth bags rolled up in my handbag, but I washed those recently and forgot to put them back. Here’s all our purchases – also in paper.

It was an opportunity to rethink plastic dependence.
And also to stock up on sauerkraut. ❤

Published in:

on February 20, 2018 at 11:57 pm Leave a Comment
Tags: paper bags, sauerkraut

Jumping In

It’s been a while since I’ve been here – I’ve been such a procrastinator lately… today I got some note-taking done, and have been working my way through textbooks, but it’s been very slow. There’s not really enough time to lose! Nevertheless, I’m bingeing on Antiques Road Show at the moment… pleased with the work I did today, though.

IMG_1691A

Loving my breakfast! 🙂
I’ve been overhauling my eating patterns lately – problems with gut health, mostly by slipping into lazy eating with not enough nutrients and too much sugar. I’ve been enjoying sauerkraut, and substituting milk when I can. More veg, trying for gluten free – seems to be working…
Overall, my health seems to be on an upward turn. I went to a healing meeting at church a couple of months ago, and have since had substantial relief from the chest pains I’d been having over the last year or so – yay! That is a huge benefit, which I am grateful for – I have whole days where I just revel in feeling well, and have started doing exercises again. There’s still a lot of work to do, but it seems doable now. Sometimes, the state of my health feels like this…

… only not as cute.

Trying to get out and about more. We went to our favourite cafe, where they do a great range of gluten-free (and often dairy-free) food.

The chai latte was made on almond milk, which I found a tiny bit “thin” in flavour for the spices.

The views from our table –

It’s generally peaceful there, but more so this time, as we were the only customers for a while.

So – onward into the rest of the term. Hopefully full steam ahead!

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on July 29, 2017 at 10:17 pm Leave a Comment

When Morning Comes

I have had frequent bouts of “not feeling good” lately – nothing major, but wearing. Some days are OK, some are not, and some are very much not. Saturday was horrible, so yesterday was a recovery day.
…but – today! Today was lovely! I wasn’t leaping about or running marathons, but I’ve had three meals today and been able to do lessons with the boys as well as other work. I’ve even been able to walk to the letterbox and back – twice! – today. Comfortably watching Antiques Roadshow at the moment, with butterscotch mousse. Nice! 🙂

Yesterday at church we sang “Great is Thy Faithfulness” – haven’t sung that for a while, and was able to belt it out as a praise for the day and a promise for the morrow (apologies to anyone around me who might have been deafened slightly…)
I’ve also found this song, which I’ve been listening to when I can –