Last week I was lucky enough to attend a training conference in Orlando.  It was a wonderful change from the below-freezing temperatures we have endured in Ohio for the past month! I took with me to read on the plane, a book I've had sitting on my coffee table for months, but hadn't gotten around to reading yet. Shocking, funny, infuriating, and above all, eye-opening, The Omnivore's Dilemma, by best-selling author (and truly excellent writer) Michael Pollan, exposes things about your food you never knew - and once you know them, you'll never look at food the same way.

I didn't expect the book to be so engaging, and my alternate horrified gasps, frustrated sighs, and surprised laughter drew several odd looks from my fellow passengers. Not the least of which was my young seatmate and co-worker, who asked with interest what the book was about. I explained briefly, but then shared a few examples of what I was learning, after the last of which, she replied - "Never mind - don't tell me any more - I don't want to know!" When I replied, but "knowledge is power," my ever-quick-witted protege countered with "ignorance is bliss."

Witty though her response may have been, this sort of thinking frustrates me to no end, and I encounter it everywhere! Somehow we humans seem to have evolved away from our natural inclination to learn what is bad for us so we can avoid it, and into some strange ostrich-like mindset that, "what we don't know can't hurt us." When it comes to food and what we put into our bodies every day, nothing could be further from the truth!

If you've read my exercise blog before, you may know that I have struggled with chronic back pain for going on 10 years now.  As anyone who has experienced it knows, back pain is no joke, and no laughing matter either. In my case, I'm not aware of any immediate cause - my lower back just got stiffer and stiffer, until I could barely put on my shoes in the morning. Finally I started seeing a chiropractor, and things went downhill from there, as years of pent up tension and dysfunction were gradually released, creating havoc among the muscles that had been compensating for the spinal alignment problems for many years. After a year or two of regular chiropractic visits, the bouts of pain became less frequent, and less extreme. But I still have to be careful about what I do, and it sometimes seems the smallest thing will trigger a relapse. You may know what I'm talking about if you've experienced it yourself....

I've felt for some time that there has to be a solution somewhere. My body was made to move, and move without pain. No matter how it got to the state it had come to, shouldn't there be a way to reverse it, and get back to a normal, healthy, flexible and pain-free back? But what is the answer? It's certainly not drugs (a temporary aid at best), or surgery (one older lady I know just had her 5th back surgery; she is in constant pain and on several drugs for it, and has been for many years, having more and more of her spine removed and/or fused with each surgery; she has never been to a chiropractor or tried any sort of natural treatment, and probably never will. I expect soon she will be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life).

I know that part of the answer comes with activity. I never had any such symptoms until several years at a desk job, sitting almost constantly for 8 hours at a time. Talk about unnatural! But such is the way of the world these days. Unnatural as it may be for our bodies, it is indeed normal in today's society to sit at a desk for 8+ hours per day. All we can do is find a way to move as much as possible even while working (such as is discussed in Dr. Levine's book, Move A Little, Lose A Lot). And we can also find ways to strengthen our muscles and joints so that they stay strong and flexible, and able to support our weight and handle other tasks we may throw at them unexpectedly.

The holidays come every year, like clockwork, but somehow so many of us still seem surprised by our credit card bills come January. We certainly live in a society of the moment, but if we truly want to take back control of our health and our future, we also need to take responsibility for our finances, and that means controlling our spending.

You may have heard the phrase, "the slavery of debt," and make no mistake, debt indeed makes you a slave, and the financiers of your overspending are your masters. I still remember vividly a scenario from my church quite a few years back, when they did a message on debt, and illustrated it with live-action scenes of people with shackles and nooses around their necks, being dragged around by those they were in debt to.

It certainly was a dramatic interpretation, but the point hit home with me hard - then still deeply in debt myself - and I never forgot it. Having experienced it myself for many years, I can truly say that being in debt feels like being in chains, and getting rid of that debt is like being set free. I will share my story of the long, arduous process of freeing myself at another time. But today I want to talk about what you can do, right now, to stop feeding your debt, and start building a freer future for you and your family - starting with your holiday shopping this season.

In this follow-up to  last week's post, I will share the second part of my experience with learning to pray. It's a timely one, with the holiday of 'Thanks-giving" later this week! (First of all pardon me for any typos and such - I've had a bit of a cold the past few days, and my brain is a little foggy...But I will try not to ramble on too long!)

Last week I discussed the first part of a successful prayer life (for me, at least) - learning what to pray for. This week I will discuss the second part - how to actually do it. Again, even if you're not a Christian, this can be a very helpful tool in your spiritual and life growth! If you would prefer not to call it prayer, then don't. The way I do it, some people might not call it prayer anyway, but to me it's all one and the same.

Let me start though, with a reference to Christianity. If you've ever read the Bible, and studied the way that Jesus prayed, you might have noticed something interesting. Almost every time that Jesus prays as recorded in the Bible, he starts not by asking for something, but by giving thanks! That's right - he doesn't say "give me this, Lord," he says "thank you" FIRST - before receiving!

Isn't that interesting? For those who have studied modern non-Christian spiritual teachings such as 'The Law of Attraction," you may remember that in order to receive something, you have to first act as if you already have it. This can be difficult for some - how can you pretend to have something you don't? The easiest and most natural way to do this, is to give thanks for it!

Jesus obviously knew this. After all, remember the loaves and the fishes? Jesus didn't sit down to pray to the Lord and say, "God, can you please give us some more bread? Oh, and while you're at it, can you also multiply these fish enough to feed five thousand?" It does not say this in the Bible at all. Instead, it simply says "Jesus gave thanks." Then he broke the bread and divided up the fishes, and lo and behold, "they all ate and were satisfied." Giving thanks is pretty powerful stuff!

This is all well and good, but in actual prayer practice, do you just sit down and close your eyes, and say 'Thank You" to God/the Universe/the Divine - whatever you pray to? Sure you can - that's a great start! I've found there is no better way to instantly create a feeling of peace and satisfaction - even calming the most troubled mind - than to think of all the things I am thankful for. But there are a few specific ways in which I express gratitude in prayer that have proven very helpful to me - maybe they will be to you as well.

This week (and next - in the spirit of the season), I'm going to "get religious" on you - just fair warning. :-)  But for those who may intend to tune out, I encourage you to stick with me. Even if you're not a Christian believer, prayer is not as far from your life as you might think. In fact, if you're a practitioner of any kind of meditation - as many people seeking balance in their lives may be - this is really just a form of prayer if you think about it. Both involve mentally focusing on something outside of yourself - something larger to which we are trying to connect. Both seek to achieve peace, health, and well-being in our minds, bodies, and spirits.

But here is where some may think the difference lies - and I'm not sure exactly how this happened, but somehow we seem to have come to think of prayer as asking FOR something. Not that there's anything wrong with asking for help when you need it, and Jesus does say "ask and ye shall receive." Maybe that's where it comes from, but in disregarding the rest of what the Bible says about prayer, we're pretty much throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Not to mention, I'm fairly certain that Jesus wasn't talking about a new Playstation, Jeep, or even a new house. What he was talking about receiving was the presence, peace, and strength of the Lord. And whether or not you call it "God" or not, this is also what most forms of meditation seek to achieve as well. So if you would prefer not to call it "prayer," to call it "meditation," "mindfulness," or something else, that's fine. Either way, it is something that we - all of us seeking to lead a balanced and fulfilled life - need to engage in regularly in some fashion. Engaging in communication with God, the creator, the Great Divine, is what gives us our juice, our own force of creativity and vision, our inspiration to take what we have been given and make something greater out of it - something that will benefit not just ourselves, but others as well. And without that, what are we all doing here?

Pardon me for climbing onto my soapbox for a bit today.... It seems that one of our greatest flaws as human beings is laziness. Or perhaps this is a particularly American flaw?

We were not founded on laziness - indeed, our founding fathers (and mothers) espoused just the opposite. Personal responsibility was the word of the day, and is even the basis for our Constitution - the government was to give us the freedom to take responsibility for our own lives in most areas.

But somewhere these values seem to have been lost along the way.... Indeed, it now almost seems that we equate "freedom" with LACK of responsibility. In America today, we seem to think that to be "free" means to have others take care of everything for us, and that is a dangerous philosophy indeed.

Relying on someone else, whether it be your government, the industrial food system, your doctor, or even your spouse to decide what is in your best interest and make your decisions for you is to be well on the way to losing all freedom entirely.

But I will try not to get too political today! As you may suspect, one of the areas where I am most concerned about this trend is health and our healthcare. (I use the term "healthcare" loosely here as what we commonly call "healthcare" is really sickcare.) While you may have your own views on politics and how much control we have over the direction of our country and our nation, one thing we all DO have control over (at least so far) is our own health. And I'm not talking about health insurance or the "Affordable Care Act" or anything like that. (That, again, goes back to "sickcare.")

What I am talking about is our ability to take charge of our own health, and stay healthy and well - so that we hopefully rarely, if ever, truly need to resort to the use of our current "sickcare" system.

I heard this tip a number of years ago, listening to a seminar on relationships. I don't remember what the seminar was, or who said it, but I do remember this idea very well, because it stood out to me as something that we all too often let slip by the wayside as we get comfortable in a relationship and start taking each other for granted.

Focusing on the things we love and appreciate about each other, rather than the things we aren't so crazy about, is probably the most important thing you can do to keep your relationship strong and happy.

While the idea is certainly true for both partners, from what I have seen and experienced in my own life, it is particularly something that women succumb to. I don't know why, but it seems to be female nature - maybe it goes all the way back to "the fall" in Genesis, where God says, "you will desire to control your husband."  :-)

Keep in mind I am speaking in generalities here - I'm sure there are men who would like to change things about their partners, but interestingly enough, while men are known as "fixers" when it comes to physical things, women are much likely to want to "fix" things about their mates. Don't get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting your beloved to be the best that he or she can be. But it's a slippery slope that, if we're not careful, can lead to dissatisfaction, resentment, and eventually even the end of a relationship.

Last week we talked about two common myths about eating organic - those who think it's "too expensive," and the nay-sayers who contend that it's not that much healthier anyway. Be sure to check out that post if you missed it!

This week we're covering 3 more myths you may have heard about eating organic foods. The first of them gets my goat a bit, especially since I first read it in a natural health newsletter!

Myth #3: If You're Already Unhealthy, It's Not Worth It

I was a bit shocked to read this conclusion in an article in one of my favorite health newsletters - from an author I usually otherwise almost always agree with and respect. He stated that if you already live an unhealthy lifestyle, eating organic won't make enough of a difference to be worth the cost and/or effort. This was a rather lengthy article, with a lot of other points in it, and to be fair, I do see where he is coming from, to some extent. His point was, you need to clean up other areas of your life first, and then eating organic will be the icing on the cake, so to speak. For example, if you smoke, eat lots of junk food and unhealthy carbs, and don't get any exercise, eating organic food isn't going to magically turn you into a healthy person. In this context he makes sense. We as a species, as I've mentioned before, tend to look for the "magic pill," the "silver bullet," the one cure in a bottle for every ailment or health issue. But the truth is, there are none. There is no pill, supplement, elixir, machine, etc. that can replace a healthy lifestyle. And the same goes for eating organic foods.

Organic has become quite the buzzword over the past decade - with more and more organic foods available in mainstream supermarkets, and even "organic" cleaning products, clothing, and cosmetics finding their way into our shopping carts - both online and off. But what is organic all about, and is it really worth the (perceived) extra cost?

Today, in an attempt to clear up some of the confusion, I will tackle 5 common myths about eating organic foods, although some of these could also apply to organic items in other categories as well.

Myth #1: It's Too Expensive

I've shared my personal experience - including actual food budget and spending - with getting most of my food through organic CSA programs in a previous blog post, so I won't go into that all again here, although there have been a few updates since that post was written. In the interest of full disclosure I no longer get my milk through the CSA, although I'm currently looking into a local herd share program, and I now get the eggs through the veggie CSA twice a month so I do eat more eggs and spend a bit more. My CSA program has also added some other optional goodies such as cheese, and locally grown organic beans, so that has upped the cost a bit when I opt for those items. That said, I still think my spending on groceries is pretty reasonable for a largely organic diet.

I've recently finished reading an interesting book - Organic Manifesto, by Maria Rodale (yes, the granddaughter of that Rodale). In it, she posits that one of the main reasons we perceive organic food as being more expensive is that chemically raised foods are artificially cheap. If it weren't for government subsidies forcing the prices down in order to keep churning out more and  more corn, soybeans, etc. on a mass scale, organic foods would actually be CHEAPER than their chemical counterparts for several reasons.

I've had this book on my Amazon wishlist for quite a while, and finally got around to reading it last month. In the subtitle of his book, Dr. James Levine, MD, PhD, director of the NEAT Center at the Mayo Clinic, says you can "Use NEAT Science to: Burn 2,100 calories a week at the office, be smarter in as little as 3 hours, reduce fatigue by 65%, and extend your lifespan by 4 years."

These sound like lofty claims, and although his basic premise is simple, in practice Dr. Levine's concept is rather revolutionary.

Dr. Levine's general thesis is a fairly commonsense one. He posits that the human body is made and meant to move almost continually, and that our modern sedentary lifestyle, filled with conveniences which remove more and more movement from our lives, is killing us. This in itself may sound pretty obvious, but many of us would say, "well, I have a desk job, so there's nothing I can do about it." And here is where the twist comes in. In the second half of Move A Little, Lose A Lot, Dr. Levine shares an 8-week program for incorporating more and more movement into your daily life, no matter what kind of job you have, or how sedentary your lifestyle may have been up to this point.

Since I am not currently looking to lose weight, I didn't follow the 8-week program, but I did read through the entire thing, which is filled with interesting information, and various tips and hints to keep you motivated throughout the program, remind you why you are doing it, and give you the tools you need to succeed.

He claims that, at the end of the 8 weeks, you will not only be thinner and more fit, but also happier, more energetic, and more excited about your life.