Acupuncture

that's me!

Thursday I had the opportunity to receive a free acupuncture treatment. It was very interesting. In my eastern wellness class (which I aced with a 100%, go me!) we learned about the meridians that run through our bodies, the points in these meridians and what they can be good for, and  a lot more. After answering a series of questions, way more in depth and personal than what your average doctor would have time for, my therapist decided on a good treatment for me. I had about 26 needles in me all together. 3 in my head on the right side above my ear, 2 in each ankle, 1 on each of my hoku points (the meaty part between your thumb and index finger), 2 on either side of my spine right at the start of my sacrum, and a bunch in my upper back/shoulder/neck area.

While she was putting all the needles in, it was really like flies landing on me. However when she got to my right Hoku point my hand felt like every muscle was spasming at light speed and it felt tingly. That sensation lasted even after the needle had been removed, though not as noticeable. I also could not lift my head while the needles were in. My back felt like someone was pushing on trigger points (one of my issues we were working on) with all their force when i tried to lift my head. This was not painful though, it was very relaxing and i could almost feel the tension in my shoulders melting away. I just laid their motionless for a while. When she took the needles out, i didn't really feel it at all.

Afterwards I felt very relaxed. I came home and slept for about 3 hours, without waking up a single time which is huge for me. Then when i woke up i was full of energy and felt great! If you ever get the chance to have an acupuncture treatment done, I highly recommend it. The practitioner takes time to ask questions and  discuss what ever issues you may be having. Its relaxing and definitly got rid of my stress. And who wants to pass up a chance to destress?

Positive News

If you are sick of turning on the news and seeing more reports about murdered children, shootings, political corruption, celebrity scandals, and overall depressing stuff, then I have GOOD news for you! haha i sound like a spokesperson. anyways, I found this awesome site called HappyNews This site shares only good news articles and is a great way to start the day. Also, another good news site is GoodNewsNetwork which has a cool feature, it shows you good news from this day in history. so just a short post to "share the news" hahaha. Have a peak and hope you enjoy!

Hydrotherapy, Reiki, and Eastern Wellness

A new set of classes has begun again. My first Weekend class was reiki and i am now certified in level 1 reiki. The class was life changing really. I learned a lot in that class, as well as learning about myself. I have been doing reiki all my life, i just never knew what it was! I am definitely incorporating it into my massage routine now. My other weekend classes will be deep tissue and reflexology. But my every day classes are hydrotherapy and eastern wellness. I absolutely love these classes. I feel so in my element and am learning a lot of valuable information. I am a long time sufferer of migraines and tension headaches, i now know that an ice pack on the head and soaking your feet in warm water draws the blood away from the head and eases the pain. not much works for my migraines but this does. I also took a test in eastern wellness to find out my element (out of wood, fire, earth, metal, water) and I am fire. Oddly enough my test results showed i was only one point higher in fire than water. And i am a fire/water zodiac, leo/cancer. That was just interesting to me. Overall, i am loving this semester, despite some rather toxic personalities in them. but they are easy to ignore!

My blog stats show that there are still people reading what i post so i hope whoever you are its helping you, entertaining you, keeping you from dieing of bordeom, whatever lol. If you are interested in learning more about natural remedies, rather than taking a pill for every little ache or sniffle, here are a few good sites:
Home Remedies For You
Herbal Home Remedies

Also you may want to learn a bit about hydrotherapy as it is basically healing with water. Thats the thing i used to help with my migraines. The romans, greeks, egyptians, and so on all used hydrotherapy to heal a lot of things. just do a little research and see what you can find. Also if you have a smart phone, like an android (guilty!) there are a lot of interesting apps out there for those of us who want a quick go to guide for simple alternative cures or treatments. just search around for natural remedies, or herbal remedies, or natural medicine, etc.. I have a few good ones. there really is an app for just about everything. of course, keep in mind that western medicine is not all bad, and please do not refuse to see a doctor when you break your leg, or need to have your appendix removed because some herb is said to help. Basically, just use common sense. If you have a sore throat drink some honey and lemon tea. If you have a throat that is swelling to the point you cant breathe, go to the ER!

Solitary confinement

Life is one big busy schedule! I have clinic now, 12 hours a week. On top of my 15 hours of classes. Throw in izzy's classes and online classes, and vincent's preschool, AND our room mates two jobs and school and clinic, and you realize you forgot to schedule time to breathe.
I'm really enjoying the fast pace of everything though. its challenging and fulfilling and setting me one step closer to my dream. and also to a more open schedule lol!
Our new place has a fire pit along with a giant back yard. I am excited to use it, perhaps for yule? I also have space now to have all my "Pagan stuff" out, and not stuffed into a giant bin(s). While i don't have much time to do anything or finish reading any books, I do manage to meditate on occasion, which helps me to stay focused on the main goal: graduating. I also get a few prayers in here and there, and practice with energy work gets thrown in there too! Unfortunately its all been solitary. I miss being with a group. It seems the gods just don't have that in the plan right now. I emailed a friend of mine last night, the high priestess for a coven i have been interested in working with, to let her know I just didn't have time. She told me that was alright and I could still take part when i had time. I was excited, then she posted that coven activities are now post-poned til further notice as she has some personal issues going on.
I also tried to join 2 different groups in my area, and even tried to start one. One group has pretty much ignored me, and another had not so great planning and then shut down. The group I tried to start never got further than an idea really.
Oh well, perhaps this is just meant to be a time for me to work by myself. Perhaps there is some lesson I can learn before joining with a group? Or perhaps time is just against me right now?
No matter what, I know if i stick to whats important and graduate, life will get MUCH better :)

School and Moving

I am finally through the first 16 weeks of massage school! My massage theory and practice practical, where i had to massage an LMT (Licensed massage therapist), was passed with a 97! I would have had a 98 but I need to practice more with my SOAP notes. My LMT said she will be coming back to see me once I'm on the clinic floor, which of course has me grinning from ear to ear. I also passd my Anatomy and Physiology final with a 158/157. I got the extra credit lol. I'm very proud of myself. Next classes start November 1st. Refresher math and Kinesiology. I also get to start my clinic hours then. I need 180 hours of massage to graduate. That seems like a lot but time will fly by.
This set of classes actually ends tuesday. And wednesday I will be moving! Closer to college and farther from negative family. This weekend is being spent packing rather than celebrating my wonderful test scores lol. But its all for the better! I have a few things I want to post about but no promises. Life has certainly been busy since starting school!

New books

I'm still making an attempt to post. I know, I know, its been a month since my last post. I still have plenty I want to post about, just rarely do I get the time to. Luckily I think I have gotten the hang of things and everything has begun to slow down a bit. Our oldest is in preschool now and loving every minute of it. Izzy and I are getting A's and B's and have managed to get some sort of schedule down, however hectic it may be.
I've also taken on two new books to read, Wicca the Complete Craft by D.J. Conway and The Element Encyclopedia of Birthdays by Theresa Cheung. I have heard a lot of great things about D.J. Conway's books and so I look forward to reading this one. As I have said before, I am not wiccan. That doesn't mean I don't wish to learn all I can about different pagan paths. It's always better to study a wide variety and decide your own beliefs than to read one book and decide its your new bible!
So far the Element encyclopedia has been very interesting. I enjoyed reading about my birthday and various family and friends, and Izzy and our friends all had fun looking up their own birthdays. There's also a nice introductory section.
Border's is currently going out of business, so the stores all over the country are having huge sales. Now is the time to buy books if you have always been unable to due to the high cost of some books. I believe the end of september is when they close their doors for good, the closer it gets to that day the better the sales get. But remember, the selection will be pretty sparse the closer that day gets too!
Hope everyone still has some interest in this blog. And good luck to all those of you who are back in school now or will be starting school very soon!

My guilty pleasure



Blue, gold, red, gold tigers eyes

In class the other day we were talking about things people tend to blow money on. That one thing, that you just have to buy even though you don't really need it. That cup of coffee from starbucks every morning (No, you do not NEED it), going out to eat more than occasionaly, buying shoes even though you have twenty pairs at home. At the time, I couldn't think of anything. I like to spend money on my kids, when i have money that is. Though I can tell myself no because I don't want them to be spoiled (They have grandparents for that).
Then I went to The Next Millenium, the pagan shop in town. Now, I strongly believe that you do not need fancy tools to cast a solid spell. You do not have to have a 300 dollar robe, 100 dollar wand, and every essential oil imaginable to "be somebody" in the pagan community. With that said, I still can't resist wanting every crystal/rock/gem in that store.

Blue lace agate. moonstone at side

I have all kinds of stones. Blue tigers eye, red tigers eye, gold tigers eye, amethyst, rose quartz, rutilated quartz, bloodstone, jasper, red goldstone, blue goldstone, pyrite, howlite, onyx... Maybe I shouldn't list everything. I'm no expert on the subject, but it is a subject very close to my heart. Over the years I have gathered a nice little collection. Friends and family know that a rock is a great gift. Especially if its one i dont already have!
Walking into that store, and seeing the huge selection of stones always makes my pockets burn. There are just so many uses for them. Meditation, spells, charms, jewelry, etc.. I love wearing different stones as a necklace. The different properties come in handy for different situations. Like quartz for healing, or pyrite for luck.

Stones have so many uses and properties. I won't share them all here as that would take a while. You can find some good books on the subject though. Or look online for crystal properties.

Snowflake obsidian

If you want to get some stones but don't have a lot of money to spend, head down to the water and look at rocks around there. Go hiking and pick up a few that call out to you. Explore a cave or two. You may just end up finding something you never thought you would. And If you don't know what you found, look it up. What color is it? where did you find it? Ask someone or look in a book or online. There are some jewelry stores that may be able to tell you what you have, though they tend to be the smaller stores. Think outside the box and be open to things. You find a dirty blackish blue rock and think its probably nothing. You rinse it off and notice there are sparkles on it! You may have just found a blue goldstone. Congratulations!

-Lynx