Home Is Where the Heart Is

June 21 to July 22 - Zodiac Sign: Cancer - Element: Water - Color: Orange

The good old summer time - this time of year embodies emotional expression, domestic harmony, family relationships, our connection to the past and children. This is a wonderful time of year to nurture both body and soul. Mother nature herself is in full swing ripeness. I can think of no better time to sentimentalize family, home and the richness of friendships. Those who will be able to give and receive more love as they become less attached to their worries and concerns about individual relationships, will find bountiful inner peace. Gemini is attuned to the color orange on the vibrational spectrum. Orange is associated with sociability, creativity and happiness. Orange is the color of the sacral chakra, the energy center of procreation, pleasure, feeling and emotions. The warming color orange can help to encourage free expression of enjoyment and more pleasure in our relationships. It can also help us let go of negative thought patterns.

By this time, if you have been following the suggestions of the previous newsletters, your home should be a chemically free safe environment. You understand first hand that healing comes when you stand up to a situation in which you previously remained silent or you prevent the situation from occurring again. In these lazy hazy days of summer a more important task is at hand, the enjoyment of nature. Perhaps a trip to the sea shore or lake. One of the reasons we find water so inviting is because our body is made up of mostly water and the magnetic pull of our roots is ever calling us home. You will see as you loosen up and let your true self shine through, that some very beautiful qualities begin to show. Sometimes relaxing and doing nothing is the most important thing we can do for ourselves - and the hardest. The best way to teach our children how to enjoy life is to allow them to see us enjoying this gift of life we have been given on this planet.

This leads me to the question; Have we become humans doing rather than humans being? I am the Queen of the "to-do" list. One of the first things I do as I start my day is to make my things-to-do-list. It keeps me focused and on track, but during warm summer days I just don't feel like it. When the call of a summer breeze is more than the need to finish my list, I submit. In my youth when I worked in a corporate setting, rather than going to the cafeteria or restaurant for lunch or break, I would cross the street to a park and walk and eat a bag lunch. The stress of the day would melt away with each step. Today I work in my home office. My dog is my office mate and he helps me unwind with a shared walk when the walls start to close in.

Enjoying nature doesn't need to be expensive. In fact, just the opposite is true. If we trust that life is unfolding according to a higher plan, the wisdom to which we have not yet become privy will unfold before us like a flower. Learning to adapt to calming healthy change is the most important experience we can have. Reading a book for pure enjoyment under a shade tree or working in the garden can be very therapeutic. Perhaps taking your practice of yoga or meditation outside or eating dinner on a picnic blanket will help make everyday a summer vacation day.

Becoming aware of the connection between our conscious and unconscious minds takes a lifetime of patience and practice. Certain attachments are healthy and valuable and others need to be let go so they don't inhibit the growth of new life. I guess what I am saying is that a chemically, energetically and microbially clean house still isn't enough if our hearts aren't filled with the expression of love and joy. I find extending our home to include nature can only enrich our life. We need to be particularly concerned with creating a harmonious home (I am including the entire planet in the word home) along with preserving a sense of continuity and status quo.

Perhaps you are not feeling very joyful because of some sort of ailment. Because this zodiac sign is a water sign let's use water to not only soothe and entertain us, let's use water to cleanse our body allowing it to heal itself. I am talking about the ancient eastern cleansing known as Water Therapy. According to Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia, the definition of water therapy is the use of water to improve health. One form of water therapy is the consuming of a gut full of water upon waking in order to "cleanse the bowel". A litre to a litre and half is the common amount ingested. This water therapy, also known as Indian or Chinese Water Therapy, is claimed to have a wide range of health benefits; or at least no adverse effects. Advocates of water therapy claim that application of water therapy at first will cause multiple bowel movements until the body adjusts to the increased amount of fluid.

Keep in mind that water is natures universal detergent. Consuming ordinary drinking water by the right method purifies human body. It renders the colon more effective by forming new fresh blood, known in medical terms as Haematopaises. That the mucousal folds of the colon and intestines are activated by this method, is an undisputed fact, just as the theory that new fresh blood is produced by the mucousal fold. If the colon is cleaned then the nutrients of the food taken several times a day will be absorbed and by the action of the mucousal folds they are turned into fresh blood. The blood is all important in curing ailments and restoring health, and for this water should be consumed on a regular basis.

The general recommendations for Water Therapy are as follows. Early morning as soon as you get up from bed (without even brushing your teeth) drink one and one-half liters of water. I drink the high pH ionized water from my Alkalizer machine. Never do unfiltered water. In any case premeasure the amount needed the night before. It is very essential to note that nothing else - neither drinks nor solid food of any sort - should be taken within one to two hours before and after drinking this much water. No Alcoholic drinks should be taken the previous night. It may be difficult to drink one and one-half liters of water at one time, do what you can and build up to the required amount. Initially, while practicing you may drink four glasses at first and the balance two glasses after a gap of two minutes. The eventual goal is to chug all of the water all at once. Initially you may find the necessity to urinate 2 to 3 times within an hour, but it will become normal after sometime. If you must go to work and perhaps have a long commute, be sure to allow enough time for the water to "pass" through your system.

Please note: While ingesting about a litre and a half of water is usually harmless, this is approaching the level which can lead to water intoxication in some individuals, is an urgent and dangerous medical condition. Water intoxication (also known as hyperhydration or water poisoning) is a potentially fatal disturbance in brain function that results when the normal balance of electrolytes in the body is pushed outside of safe limits by a very rapid intake of water. An electrolyte is a substance containing free ions that behaves as an electrically conductive medium. Normal, healthy individuals have little to worry about accidentally over consuming water. If you feel in anyway that you are an "at risk" individual contact a health care practitioner and discuss if this therapy will compromise your health.

I think the point I am trying to make here is that wellness, happiness and true wealth is not dependent on money. While money is a component of wealth, it is not the sole ingredient needed for a rich life. Some of the wealthiest people I know have very little money or income. "Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you."-- Oscar Wilde. "The first wealth is health."--Ralph Waldo Emerson. The basic components for health are deep belly breathing, sunshine, pure water, exercise and good nutrient dense alkaline foods. All of these ingredients are readily available to everyone willing to accept them. It is true: "The best things in life are free." and "Without your health you have nothing." These are not just corny old sayings they are basic truth.

Understanding and accepting that many of the circumstances in our lives, even the ones that appear to be adverse, are dictated by the soul's need for growth. Have you ever stopped to think that your illness is your body speaking to you. If you take the time to listen you will understand that without words you are being given a warning to shape up or soon you will be shipping out. Summer is the best time to develop good habits that will cary you through holiday binge eating and cold winter days. If your body houses your soul, then beating within your breast is the heart of your ultimate home. Life is a sacred gift, embrace it with abandon and deep respect, after all; home is where the heart is.

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