Stay Healthy & Safe In This Time of Fire & Water

July is the heart of summer.  Sunshine, fireworks, trips to oceans, lakes and pools invite us to play, rest and relax.   Stay healthy and safe this summer by observing appropriate fireworks precautions and protecting yourself against sun damage.  And protect your heart with nutrient dense foods from summer’s bounty of fresh fruits and vegetables.  Stay well-hydrated with water; avoid becoming de-hydrated by avoiding alcohol and sodas; make several pitchers of herbal iced tea ~ some brew right in the refrigerator and come in a variety of flavors.  These make excellent thirst quenchers for resistant water drinkers.  For picnics and barbeques try delicious vegetarian meat substitutes like veggie burgers or “Smart Dogs” which have significantly fewer calories and less fat than traditional fare.  Check magazines like Cooking Light, Veggie Life or Vegetarian Times for healthier versions of potato salad, coleslaw, and pasta salads.  Try grilling tofu or tuna, or make scrumptious shish kebabs with small red potatoes (pre-cook), squash and zucchini rounds, mushroom buttons, multi-colored bell pepper pieces, onion, pineapple chunks,  nectarine slices and cherry tomatoes and marinate in a light barbeque  sauce.  They’ll disappear fast!  To satisfy “the crunch factor”, offer a variety of raw vegetables with low fat dips.   Watermelon or fresh fruit salad makes a perfect dessert ~ cool and refreshing.  Be conscientious about appropriate food handling and temperature.

When your body is well-nourished, it will enjoy movement more, such as an early morning walk while the air is still cool.  The Spirited Walker by Carolyn Scott Kortge provides education and information for using walking to connect body, mind, and spirit.  This lovely paperback provides affirmations, visualizations, positive self-talk, guided imagery, and breathwork to connect you to nature, to yourself, and to the Divine through walking.  Truly a guidebook for walking a path of healing.  (Take along ample water.)

Finally, allow the healing power of water to soothe and relax you:  listen to the rain, the river flowing, the babbling brook, the waterfalls, ocean waves; float and allow the water to support you ~ feel yourself becoming lighter; move through the water and experience your body’s ease and grace.  It’s the season to release the weariness of winter and to breathe in the beauty and splendor of Divine grace.