Foot Care for my Soul

Okay, I broke down today and had a pedicure...alright alright, I went for it and had the mani/pedi combo pack. It use to be that my feet were naturally polished and shiny from being a beach bum at the Jersey shore in the summertime. Now that I live in the Midwest, the broken seashells and sand are impossible to come by.
With my daughter Heather as my Pamper Self Thursday partner in crime. Off we went in search of the perfect summer color for our feet.And there it was. Heather and I stood in front of the color counter, our mouths barely able to contain the shrills of happiness when we saw the perfect color at the same time..flamingo pink!!

We eagerly scurried over to the recliner chairs and plopped our feet into the warm bubbly water. I turned on the chair and enjoyed a deep back, neck and buttocks massage whilst getting my feet scrapped, trimmed, buffed and polished. The angel that was caring for my feet ( she had to be an angel to tackled my poor old neglected feet)painted a pretty design on my big toes and put such a sheen on them. I was amazed when I finally peeked at the finished result.
Next we were onto the mani part of the experience.
I decided to go with the same color on my fingers, just because I could. While with my Nail Angel, she was on a call via speaker from her cell phone as she began my mani. When she got off the phone she was telling me that she was speaking with her aunt back in their home country, Vietnam. She went on to tell me that her aunt has a very old motor scooter that is broken. My angel wanted to buy her Aunt a new one but the Aunt kept refusing her offer. The Aunt said that she doesn't need a new one that she can get the one she has been using for 25 years fixed. This saddened my Angel. I asked my Angel how long she has been in America, to which she replied 5 years. I commented on how well she spoke English and asked if she new English before coming to America. She said that she knew a little, but it sounded different once she got here. She and a few other family members came to America to find work to make the lives of those left in Vietnam better. She went on to tell me that she watched TV and paid attention to customers when they came into the salon. Angel said that she tried to soften her tone since in her native tongue the words come out with a sharpness. I complimented her on beautiful tone with a cute accent. She giggled and thanked me. Before I knew it, we were finished and I had the prettiest tootsie toes and fingers. My Angel told me that she was going to send enough money to her Aunt so she can purchase a new scooter. Her eyes welted up as she thought about home. I knew she missed her home and the rest of her family.


When I left the salon, I knew that I had the best PamperMyselfThursday just from being graced with the foot Angel from Vietnam. She pampered not only my feet, but more importantly, my Heart. I am so grateful for all that I have and no longer felt guilty for pampering myself, for I knew that for what I received out of the day, an elderly woman in Vietnam is a bit closer to getting a new scooter. Apparently new scooters cost about $300... American dollars.


What I received today was priceless.

RuthAnn's Food Network... Blogger Style

Food is another one of my passions. Especially preparing, cooking and fiddling with recipes.My husband Frank loves Hummus so I would buy him some as a treat. In these poor economic times,and at $5.00+ for a container that is only enough for 1 consumption.

I decided to figure out how to make it myself. With an initial investment of $7.00 for a 16oz jar of Tahini (sesame seed paste), look in the gourmet section. This will last a long time since all you will use at a time is 2 tablespoons.
So here we go

You will need:

1 (14oz) can of chickpeas or garbanzo beans
2 tabelspoons of tahini
juice from 1 lemon
2 cloves of garlic
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
half of a whole roasted red pepper(I make mine when I grill) can be bought in a jar
if using the jarred peppers, use 2 slices

I throw all ingredients into my and before you know it.. Walla.. Fresh Homemade Hummus

Try substituting your favorite pesto for the roasted red peppers or sun dried tomatoes.. this hummus also makes a great sandwich spread along with spreading it on flat bread,pita bread, carrots or any veggie of your choice.

Total cost for approximately 2 cups of hummus is under $2.00 .. and it tastes

Yum O

Enjoy...

DAYDREAM BELIEVER

A daydream is a visionary fantasy experienced while awake, especially one of happy, pleasant thoughts, hopes or ambitions.(a b c d e Eric Klinger. Psychology Today. October 1987)

A daydream is that "fountain spurting," as the brain mixes together ideas, memories and concepts that are normally filed away in discrete mental folders. (Jonah Lehrer)

I read the following on a Blog by Jonah Lehrer and wanted to share it. Very interesting read!
"If you sit down and just watch your mind without asking it to do anything, without using some sort of meditation technique, it will switch into default mode and start thinking. If you watch this happen with your awareness and ask which of your senses seems to be involved with thinking, you will usually come up with not smelling, not tasting, not feeling, not seeing but 'hearing'. There seems to a little voice in your head; there may also be images that arise so one is also 'seeing' some thoughts. Try consciously thinking a thought or picturing someone you know to verify this.

If one is not aware of this default mode, one will get sucked into it most of the time and be thinking 24/7 and not be aware of it. Usually the train of thought is a running commentary on how we are doing, what's going to happen, what's already happened; it's not very creative chatter. To get creative insights which also arise as thoughts that we 'hear', it is usually necessary to clear out the default mode chatter to allow creative insights to arise. They will arise if 1) you have asked a question and 2) your mind and body are relaxed, and 3) you are not absorb in the default mode chatter."

Sunday's, I Love Sunday's

There is something so wonderful about Sunday's. For me, the day holds such calm. This especially true as of late, since I have been getting proper sleep at night. I have been living with insomnia for at least 20 years, if not more. My body would run on approximately 4 hours of sleep a night. These 4 hours were broken up, they were not straight through. My body is still adjusting to the gift of calm it has been given. I wish I could describe how much better I feel mentally and physically since I now get between 7 & 8 hours of sleep a night.
My husband is still adjusting to this as well. He is now the one who gets up and brews the coffee or tea! It is a welcomed task for him as he is so happy that I am finally getting my sleep.
How did this occur? One simple word... REIKI

Reiki doesn't require belief. It is.

Intend and Send

Follow your intuition.
Trust It.

Be Reiki

Reiki is a powerful and gentle healing technique that:
* Relaxes your muscles
* Promotes natural self-healing
* Strengthens the immune system
* Relieves pain
* Relaxes and reduces stress
* Treats symptoms and causes of illness
* Balances the energies in the body
* Clears toxins
* Adapts to the natural needs of the receiver
* Enhances personal awareness
* Releases blocked and suppressed feelings
* Assists meditation and positive thinking
* Energizes you and brings balance, well being and harmony
* Promotes creativity
* Heals holistically
* Compliments all forms of treatments and therapies

What is Reiki

REIKI

The secret art of inviting happiness.

The miraculous medicine of all diseases.

Reiki is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing. It was discovered by Dr. Mikao Usui in the early 1900's.

Reiki is a simple, natural and safe method of spiritual healing and self-improvement that everyone can use. It has been effective in helping virtually every known illness and malady and always creates a beneficial effect. It also works in conjunction with all other medical or therapeutic techniques to relieve side effects and promote recovery.

An amazingly simple technique to learn, the ability to use Reiki is not taught in the usual sense, but is transferred to the student during a Reiki class. This ability is passed on during an "attunement" given by a Reiki master and allows the student to tap into an unlimited supply of "life force energy" to improve one's health and enhance the quality of life.

Reiki's use is not dependent on one's intellectual capacity or spiritual development and therefore is available to everyone. It has been successfully taught to thousands of people of all ages and backgrounds.

While Reiki is spiritual in nature, it is not a religion. It has no dogma, and there is nothing you must believe in order to learn and use Reiki. In fact, Reiki is not dependent on belief at all and will work whether you believe in it or not. Because Reiki comes from God, Goddess, All That Is, many people find that using Reiki puts them more in touch with the experience of their religion or spiritual tradition rather than having only an intellectual concept of it.

While Reiki is not a religion, it is still important to live and act in a way that promotes harmony with others. Dr. Mikao Usui, the founder of the Usui Reiki Ryoho system of natural healing, recommended that one practice certain simple ethical ideals to promote peace and harmony, which are nearly universal across all cultures.

1How Reiki Works



Reiki releases blocked "ki" that kept the body in stress and poor health then energetically nourishes these areas. Appreciable results are typically achieved in a single session, multiple sessions produce even better results.


The Reiki energy empowers the body to heal itself. Reiki propels personal growth, reduces aches and pains, stress and headaches. Reiki supports health and mood, and helps people achieve real world goals

1The Meaning Of The Reiki Kanji

The word "Reiki" [pronounced ray-key] is made of two Japanese words Rei and Ki.

Rei means "God's Wisdom" or "The Higher Power." The Rei symbol is above the middle line shown in the Japanese kanji.

Ki means "life force energy." The Ki symbol is below the middle line shown in the Japanese kanji.

So the Reiki symbol or kanji means, "Spiritually guided Life Force energy." It is, perhaps, the God/dess-Wisdom, or Supra-Consciousness called Rei that guides the life energy called Ki in the practice we call Reiki. The God/dess Light or Life Light of the Universe.

Where My Spiritual Wind is Blowing

Life is hard, M Scott Peck

Yes, life is hard, but it doesn't have to be harsh. I have been drawn to my spiritual self for sometime now. I have come to realize that I will not allow anyone to Harsh My Mellow ever again. This includes myself!!

I have allowed myself a luxury called self indulgence. How I indulge myself does not take away from the loves in my life, it enhances them. I now allow myself the time to rest, to seek, to learn and to love deeper.

I have begun a Spiritual Journey @... My Inner World... such a calming way to begin the day.

I have also been receiving Reiki Healings from my husband, Frank who is a Level 2 Kundalini Reiki Practitioner.

It has been years since I have strung more than 1 night of full sleep together. Since receiving the Reiki Healings, I have slept through the night for over 1 week and my new knee (knee replacement 6 weeks ago) is allowing me to move about at a good pace. My Doctor and Physical Therapist tell me I way ahead of schedule.

Coincidence? Naaaa, I feel the energy!

Sweet Serenity