Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Vocal toning
I came across an article today on 'vocal toning' during labour, and it mentioned that the long A sound as in "ACE", when said in lower tones and held helped dilate the cervix and create more space within the pelvis.
Janice Clarfield is a Yoga instructor from Vancouver, BC; she has put out a Prenatal Yoga CD set which includes instruction on Visualization, Guided Relaxation, Vocal Toning and Breathing techniques.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
a new camera for me!!
I've been wanting to work on my photography skills for awhile now..about 8 years ago i got into the idea and bought a Pentax manual/automatic and began shooting everything i saw (we lived in Victoria so most of it was beautiful)..and then i got less inspired and my skills rapidly diminished to point and shoot. So yesterday i took my new Nikon to a class to learn how to use it!! I had alot of fun..just taking the whole day for taking pictures. Now i'm walking around my house seeing photos that are over exposed, and feeling sorry that my kids had to put up with all those darn flashes. I can now go flash free (most of the time)!! Here are some of my manual photos from yesterday..
Friday, January 22, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
so simple.
The Top 10 Things Children Really Want Their Parents to Do With Them
Posted by: Dr. Mercola
January 21 2010
1,525 views
Many moms today feel as if they are not good mothers unless they are racing around, shuttling their children from lessons to practices, and back to lessons again. What do you think matters most to your children? You driving them to lessons and practices? Or the smile and hug you greet them with after school?
If you guessed the latter, you are correct.
Here is a list of the top 10 things students around the world said they desire most from their mothers.
1.Come into my bedroom at night, tuck me in and sing me a song. Also tell me stories about when you were little.
2.Give me hugs and kisses and sit and talk with me privately.
3.Spend quality time just with me, not with my brothers and sisters around.
4.Give me nutritious food so I can grow up healthy.
5.At dinner talk about what we could do together on the weekend.
6.At night talk to me about anything: love, school, family etc.
7.Let me play outside a lot.
8.Cuddle under a blanket and watch our favorite TV show together.
9.Discipline me. It makes me feel like you care.
10.Leave special messages in my desk or lunch bag.
Children are incredibly wise and tend to see the world more simply than we do. Perhaps it is time we start taking their advice.
Posted by: Dr. Mercola
January 21 2010
1,525 views
Many moms today feel as if they are not good mothers unless they are racing around, shuttling their children from lessons to practices, and back to lessons again. What do you think matters most to your children? You driving them to lessons and practices? Or the smile and hug you greet them with after school?
If you guessed the latter, you are correct.
Here is a list of the top 10 things students around the world said they desire most from their mothers.
1.Come into my bedroom at night, tuck me in and sing me a song. Also tell me stories about when you were little.
2.Give me hugs and kisses and sit and talk with me privately.
3.Spend quality time just with me, not with my brothers and sisters around.
4.Give me nutritious food so I can grow up healthy.
5.At dinner talk about what we could do together on the weekend.
6.At night talk to me about anything: love, school, family etc.
7.Let me play outside a lot.
8.Cuddle under a blanket and watch our favorite TV show together.
9.Discipline me. It makes me feel like you care.
10.Leave special messages in my desk or lunch bag.
Children are incredibly wise and tend to see the world more simply than we do. Perhaps it is time we start taking their advice.
big mom and tots
This painting is so sweet....it reminds me of how (most) of us mothers forgo our best 'style' when we have children...i feel like this momma looks. Big, puffy and busy. Ha. As a child I remember thinking about how it wouldn't be much fun to have a tiny mom without any boobs, my mom wasn't big at all, but she was the perfect amount of soft.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
Happy Birthday to me!
I got a tattoo this past week...at book club i said, "i need to do something crazy before i turn 29", and Mar said, "get a tattoo", so i did, a small one on my wrist. It reads "Chava", but its written in Hebrew, and it means Eve, life giver (mother). I can hear my kids fighting over Connect Four upstairs, off i go to break it up.
Friday, January 15, 2010
oh Gloria
This is taken from http://www.glorialemay.com/blog/?p=260
January 10, 2010
“Being a Midwife”
Being a midwife starts with the ego. Our “ego selves” see the status, admiration and responsibility of the job as an attraction. What the ego cannot see is that the aspiring midwife has placed her foot on a road by taking up the work. This road will take her on a journey, which she will only finish when they chisel the word “midwife” on her gravestone.
The midwife will know days when the road is clear and smooth and her heart is bursting with joy. Along the road, she will also be ambushed and attacked. This is the nature of life and it is not personal, but it will seem to be personal. Childbirth is so pivotal to society and there have been so many years of misinformation that the attack that befalls midwives is swift and harsh—it is not for the faint of heart. Many good women have left the midwifery road because the attacks were just too violent for their spirits in this lifetime.
The midwife who sticks to the road learns to temper her pride in her work, knowing that, to the degree that she is pumped up by success she will be devastated by failure. Failure and success become less important to her as she walks the road and her focus on the birthing family becomes more important. She begins to disappear as an individual and a personality and, in that disappearing, her true Self emerges.
She learns from the mothers. The most important things are the simplest: be on time, keep your word, keep confidences, be organized and, above all, be patient. These things take a lifetime of mistakes to master. She constantly looks critically at herself to unearth her failings in these areas. The midwife makes many mistakes. There can be no learning or growth without mistakes. She doesn’t make the same mistakes over and over. She listens to the experiences of others to avoid those mistakes she can avoid and is grateful for the teaching. She is able to be honest with herself and her clients about what she learns.
She is averse to condemning other practitioners, knowing there is a karmic come-uppance that comes with self-righteousness.
She understands that her words are remembered for a lifetime and chooses them wisely. How she speaks results in the birthing woman being honored, respected and dignified. She knows her role is to be transparent in the process of birth. She has a quiet, dignified way of being. Her context for each birth is, “This is the only one.” Her actions and attitude at the birth will affect the family for the rest of their days. She is trusted because she has shown by her actions and speech that she is trustworthy. She has no need to prove anything and is able to discover some new lesson from every birth.
Numbers of births, degrees and licenses do not concern her. She knows that she chose her profession with all its inherent risks and she refuses to portray herself as a victim.
She takes responsibility for passing on the knowledge to the new ones; her legacy will be generations of women who emulate her. She teaches the old ways because birth is ancient and it works. She distances herself from the crowd. She takes the time and space to develop and formulate her own values and ideals.
She has known the warmth of the placenta, the tear-filled eyes of a happy new father, the devastation of miscarriage, the freedom of a fast car and the fear of imprisonment. She has been honored and insulted, blessed and cursed, loved and hated and has reached a place where she likes the woman who gazes back at her in the mirror. She is excited about her future and at peace with her past. All this she brings to the birthing chamber as her contribution.
Written at Burnaby Correctional Center for Women in 2002.
First published in Midwifery Today Magazine Issue 68, Winter 2003
January 10, 2010
“Being a Midwife”
Being a midwife starts with the ego. Our “ego selves” see the status, admiration and responsibility of the job as an attraction. What the ego cannot see is that the aspiring midwife has placed her foot on a road by taking up the work. This road will take her on a journey, which she will only finish when they chisel the word “midwife” on her gravestone.
The midwife will know days when the road is clear and smooth and her heart is bursting with joy. Along the road, she will also be ambushed and attacked. This is the nature of life and it is not personal, but it will seem to be personal. Childbirth is so pivotal to society and there have been so many years of misinformation that the attack that befalls midwives is swift and harsh—it is not for the faint of heart. Many good women have left the midwifery road because the attacks were just too violent for their spirits in this lifetime.
The midwife who sticks to the road learns to temper her pride in her work, knowing that, to the degree that she is pumped up by success she will be devastated by failure. Failure and success become less important to her as she walks the road and her focus on the birthing family becomes more important. She begins to disappear as an individual and a personality and, in that disappearing, her true Self emerges.
She learns from the mothers. The most important things are the simplest: be on time, keep your word, keep confidences, be organized and, above all, be patient. These things take a lifetime of mistakes to master. She constantly looks critically at herself to unearth her failings in these areas. The midwife makes many mistakes. There can be no learning or growth without mistakes. She doesn’t make the same mistakes over and over. She listens to the experiences of others to avoid those mistakes she can avoid and is grateful for the teaching. She is able to be honest with herself and her clients about what she learns.
She is averse to condemning other practitioners, knowing there is a karmic come-uppance that comes with self-righteousness.
She understands that her words are remembered for a lifetime and chooses them wisely. How she speaks results in the birthing woman being honored, respected and dignified. She knows her role is to be transparent in the process of birth. She has a quiet, dignified way of being. Her context for each birth is, “This is the only one.” Her actions and attitude at the birth will affect the family for the rest of their days. She is trusted because she has shown by her actions and speech that she is trustworthy. She has no need to prove anything and is able to discover some new lesson from every birth.
Numbers of births, degrees and licenses do not concern her. She knows that she chose her profession with all its inherent risks and she refuses to portray herself as a victim.
She takes responsibility for passing on the knowledge to the new ones; her legacy will be generations of women who emulate her. She teaches the old ways because birth is ancient and it works. She distances herself from the crowd. She takes the time and space to develop and formulate her own values and ideals.
She has known the warmth of the placenta, the tear-filled eyes of a happy new father, the devastation of miscarriage, the freedom of a fast car and the fear of imprisonment. She has been honored and insulted, blessed and cursed, loved and hated and has reached a place where she likes the woman who gazes back at her in the mirror. She is excited about her future and at peace with her past. All this she brings to the birthing chamber as her contribution.
Written at Burnaby Correctional Center for Women in 2002.
First published in Midwifery Today Magazine Issue 68, Winter 2003
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
Moomah
Ode to Moomah. Lets take a moment to click on the link and search through this beautiful site. This cafe is a super cool place in NY...dedicated to moms and their kids. I want my house to look like a mini version of this place...i'm going to steal some ideas for sure. When we lived outside of Calgary i would take the kids into the city to go to the Coup for lunch, and then to a kids play place that had OK coffee and a HUGE playspace that i would often lose them in. It was a great escape though and i miss having those options.
Everyone knows about ETSY but do you know about http://www.weloveindie.com/ ? They edit what comes onto the site so they aren't promoting bad artistic endeavors that should not be online..ha. ETSY allows anyone to set up an account..which is great, but http://www.weloveindie.com/ is a bit more pared down to the really well done.
Everyone knows about ETSY but do you know about http://www.weloveindie.com/ ? They edit what comes onto the site so they aren't promoting bad artistic endeavors that should not be online..ha. ETSY allows anyone to set up an account..which is great, but http://www.weloveindie.com/ is a bit more pared down to the really well done.
(Photo taken form the Moomah site)
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
ze healthiest chocolate pudding
I was at a dinner party about a month ago and the host made this delish chocolate pudding, none of us could place the taste in our mouths, but it was different and good. At the end i asked for the recipe and i couldn't believe how simple it was and foolish i'd been. It was tofu!! I just made it for lunch for my kids, since i can add random goodness and they won't notice.
Recipe: 1 pack of firm organic tofu (i like Soyganic)
3 tbsp (or to taste) of agave nectar or honey
bittersweet chocolate, melted OR 5 tbsp plain cocoa powder
* blend it up in your Vita-mix or blender and its done!
To be sneaky i add some supplements into it sometimes, like hemp oil and spirulina (but don't go overboard or they'll notice!) And raspberries add a nice touch.
3 tbsp (or to taste) of agave nectar or honey
bittersweet chocolate, melted OR 5 tbsp plain cocoa powder
* blend it up in your Vita-mix or blender and its done!
To be sneaky i add some supplements into it sometimes, like hemp oil and spirulina (but don't go overboard or they'll notice!) And raspberries add a nice touch.
Monday, January 04, 2010
to just be
Now and then i ponder my life (almost everyday)...and i question what i do and why i do it...i almost always go back into the mania that i am and do the same things i was doing before, but at least i know why i'm doing them...i am usually running away. What from? My mortal body, the threat of death, pain and suffering in the world...or that i am really afraid of amounting to a nobody? If i strive for something bigger and better, maybe it will make me bigger and better, no? What i should've learned a long time ago, is that striving only makes me a fool. I'm always on the lookout for a good idea, always reading a few books on new projects, when i haven't finished the one i started. I know part of it is my genetic code( i am a Sanguine to the nose), but for the most part i like looking to the future, and maybe to just a dream. I am one of those people that can barely stand reality, if i see a child with a mother that looks unfit to be a mother, that alone can put me into depression for the rest of the day. I have a hard time editing what is my problem and what isn't, and so i find myself heading to 'escapist island' often. My resolution for 2010, is to just BE, i am not what i DO or PLAN to do...i am me and i can only do what is at hand to do. On a creative note, if i want to paint for a day, i can paint (and i don't have to go to the art store and decide on my palette for the next 6 months) or if i want to play piano again, i can, but i don't have to sign up for a year of lessons. My life is full. Full to the brim. I once read a great book called, "If you want to write", it was written a long time ago, i think in the 30's. It was about how our society (even in the 30's) was becoming a culture that needed gratification for everything they did, and how if we truly are meant to do something, we would do it EVEN IF NOBODY EVER SAW US DOING IT (both activism and creative pursuits).Wowsa. And now with Facebook, blogging, and Twitter, etc..we can broadcast all we do to the world, and feel like we're a little bit bigger and better because we do what we do (and everyone else knows about it too!) If we could just rest in the GRACE of being who we are, and not striving to be more than we are, we would BE better...we'd be real, not so competitive and we'd have better community since one person wouldn't be trying to do everything. (Even if you CAN make that baby bonnet, just buy the darn thing from someone who already made it to give them some support, and they in turn will support you in what you do). This post just went from one thought into many thoughts, and skipped into a rant. Anyways, i am ME this year and thats it. My one and only resolution.
This Personality Test is pretty bang on (take it and let me know what you are:) I was Sanguine Choleric
Even the Ancient Greeks believed in "Humors", this is an interesting read.
Here is a painitng by http://www.nikolasdemasi.com/ titled "Sanguine View"...interesting since sanguine also means blood.
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This Personality Test is pretty bang on (take it and let me know what you are:) I was Sanguine Choleric
Even the Ancient Greeks believed in "Humors", this is an interesting read.
Here is a painitng by http://www.nikolasdemasi.com/ titled "Sanguine View"...interesting since sanguine also means blood.
.jpg)
Friday, January 01, 2010
hopeful 2010
Hello friends! I had a fun night with friends last night, good laughs, food and drink. We ended up staying the night and came home this morning to a house smelling minty fresh..why? Not sure...maybe little knomes came in last night and did a phantom deep cleaning...phantom meaning 'invisible'. Or maybe its the neighbor's essential oils seeping through the fire wall. Its bugging me, especially since its so strong i can taste it. Anyways, Happy New Year!!
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