Nourishing Your Family in Ecuador

Hello All,

I am currently in Ecuador for Young Living Essential Oils training. There are people from all over the world here. It is amazing to learn first hand how Natural Medicine is becoming increasingly more popular with people. The "old ways" are coming back, only with so much money invested in pharmaceuticals, big money and governments with seemingly good intentions are trying to take away are rights to buy, grow, use, sell organics, and natural options.

I'm not crying "conspiracy", but seeing this first hand from countries all over the world. Please write your representatives and let them know you want to keep your rights to purchase healthy, natural products. I'll write more later.

To read about my experience go to my Young Living Blog

 http://tarasyounglivingessentialoils.blogspot.com

Chow for Now,

Tara

Hard Times, Hard Choices

In this day of many economic unknowns many people tell me "oh, I can't afford to buy organic food "or "don't have time to cook for my family."

I guess I just don't have patience for these excuses because I was thrust into changing our lifestyle because our "buckets" had become so full and we had become so sick. The truth is, at the time we were actually doing a lot of healthy things, but it was the accumulation of the "little bit's" of let it slip here and there, and the "unknowns" that were tearing us down.

Nourishing Your Family spends some time with the problem, but focuses on spending the majority of time on the solution to where we have found ourselves. If you want an EXTREME look of where things are going, and I know this is a risk to show the

extreme, but I guess I really want people to understand that their individual "health problems" can really be linked to much more "global concerns" than they really are aware of.

In case the link I've posted fails, Google GMO Trilogy - Unnatural Selection. Watch the whole thing or nothing at all.  http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4499930634181592531

Most importantly whether you view the link on Genetic Modification or not, know that our world is changing in more ways than any of us can know. Your seemingly individual issues are global for many reasons. It is ultimately up to you to find out why. 

I believe ignorance is NOT bliss, and that positive solutions must be created even in the most challenging of times.

Peace & Be Well,

Tara Rayburn

The "But I Don't Like It Excuse..."

Michael and I have come to a realization over the years, the older you get, the more things you eat because they are good for you, not necessarily because you "like" them. The great thing is, sometimes if you just accept that and stick to it, usually your body and your taste buds change, and you end up liking the things that actually make you feel better instead of worse.

Our kids' food allergies ended up teaching this in a huge way. We had to keep "food diaries" and note what happened to them not only physically but emotionally after eating foods. One big "a-ha" was that it was not always an immediate reaction, but rather a cumulative one. Days of high grains and high sweets (even fruit and dried fruit) would present major concentration loss, irrational behavior, irritability, congestion.

Seeing these patterns on paper, started causing me to think about and notice what had been happening in me, to a much lesser degree over the years. The bigger key is that sometimes they are more of a cumulative thing. One shot of most things aren't going to hurt most folks, but daily, but couple times a week, or even weekly in some cases can really add up to symptoms.

What really caused me to "blog" on this particular topic was a weekend with a niece and nephew. By the end of three days, if I heard the phrase "But I don't like that" used as a validating reason for why they would not eat a food put in front of them, I thought I was going to hurt myself with a kitchen appliance.

At first I got defensive (my natural instinct of course...) then I got frustrated and authoritarian, then I tried covert operations and bribery....finally, I resorted to just plain honesty from my heart.

It went like this:

Well, why don't you eat any vegetables and fruit? Don't you know you have to give your body and brain the tools (nutrients) they need to get the job done? If you never give it what It needs, it won't be able to do a good job for you.

It felt like I was in the old Far Side Comic where the person is talking to the dog and all the dog really hears is "Blah, blah, Fluffy, blah, blah, blah, fluffy...."  But you know what? When you least expect it kids do hear you, and in some way they may choose to take that advice.

You know, for me, I had to see my unhealthy eating habits, allergies, sensitivities through my kids first, before I really stepped it up a notch.

TIP: Notice how you feel after eating foods that give you a "high" and then drop you low and add to your list of symptoms. Create a Physical/Visceral anchor in yourself that this "Indulgence = X Symptom" ie:
When I eat sugar, my face breaks out or I become very irritable with my family. It's like Pavlov's Dog... when you equate a negative over and over to something you've previously deemed positive, it can cause a much greater impetus for change.

So in a very big nutshell, the "But I don't like it." response goes like this...

Sometimes liking it is not what it is about. Sometimes we eat it just because our bodies need it to grow healthy. And you know, many times we even grow to like those other things too.

Peace & Be Well,

Tara Rayburn

Healthcare Welfare

A realization just hit me...healthcare in the United State is a form of welfare. It is very clear it is set up to pay for illness instead of reward or encourage proactive wellness habits. People are choosing convenience and cost over quality of life. It is almost as if people would rather play Russian Roulette to get a diagnosis, instead of investing in their health. There is an ill-fated belief that "someone" will pay for their sick bills, but not their wellness habits like organic, non genetically modified, and farm fresh foods.

The truth is you either pay now, or you pay later. To stick your head in the sand about what is in the foods you eat, to say " I can't afford to eat that way" or "I don't have time to cook" are all very short sighted beliefs. In this day and age of chemical bombardment, stress, the departure from old wise nutritional habits to not educate yourself about what you eat and how it affects you is a recipe for illness.

As far as the "cost" of eating fresh, pure, organic foods, let's look at the "cost" of getting a chronic illness...days missed at work, costs not covered by insurance, family stress, pharmacy bills, poor quality of life, possible job loss...

An amazing thing happened recently, my 7 year old daughter just received an attendance award at school. You see for a long time, my kids missed a lot of school due to being sick and having major allergic reactions. Yes, we now spend more on food and essential oils each year... but how priceless is it to see your family's health improve and your child get stronger and stronger each year. An attendance award, two years ago I would have told you there is no way.

We live in a culture ready to pay huge bucks for extra activities and pre-paid college for our kids, why not be willing to invest in their health from the start? If you love them...Nourish them!

Peace & Be Well,
Tara

Welcome To the First post of "Granny Pearl's Ways..."

As I sit here thinking about my granny, it's been a little over a year since she passed away. She was 95 years old, not on any medication, and died from, well, just being old. I really miss her, and more, I regret I didn't sit down with a pad of paper, a digital camera and lot's of time.

I became involved with the Weston A. Price Foundation almost four years ago. If you don't know much about that organization, I encourage you to visit their website ("http://www.westonaprice.org") or pick up a copy of "Nourishing Traditions." In a bit of a nutshell, Weston A. Price was a dentist back in the 30's who started seeing patients coming in with cavities, crooked teeth, and diseases. He'd never seen this before. It turns out, this is when processed foods were born: white processed sugar and white flour.

Well, he got curious, and ended up traveling the world studying many cultures still living on their native diets. Across the world they had beautiful broad faces, straight white teeth with no cavities, no diseases. He took photos and documented their diets - both differences and similarities. As these people began to adopt a Western diet of processed sugars and flours, their faces began to narrow, teeth became crowded and disease set in.

Now, if Dr. Price saw what "processed food" has become now, I believe he'd roll over in his grave, and drink a whole bottle of Cod Liver Oil for us all.

My granny and my mother both gave me the deep appreciation for nutritious foods. Granted, as a kid, I would sneak junk foods at friends houses and nutritionally rebelled in my early twenties. But very quickly discovered how this affected my health. It has taken me many years to really begin to understand those things my granny had told me, and why they were so important.

Now living in N. Virginia, where there are so many different cultures, still new to our country, I am hearing first hand both how sick so many have become by adopting our so-called normal diets, and the absoulute "pearl's" of wisdom they used to follow in their native countries.

It is my quest to find and share these ancient and wise ways, so we can all live life in healthy abundance.

Peace,
Tara Rayburn
http://www.nourishingyourfamily.com