Healthy Happy Loving Life: 15 Top Tips to Beat Allergy Suffering Naturally

23 Sunday Apr 2023

Posted by Kebba Buckley Button in Allergies, Allergy stress, Effective Living, Feeling energized, Health, Kebba Buckley Button, stress, Stress Management, the life you want, UpBeat Living

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allergies, allergy, Allergy stress, Feeling energized, Health, Healthy Happy Loving Life, Kebba Buckley Button, natural allergy relief, stress, Stress Management, The life you want, UpBeat Living

© Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM. World Rights Reserved.

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How Big is the Problem of Allergic Suffering?

According to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (AAAAI), allergies are common and on the rise. Worldwide, allergic rhinitis (irritation of the sinuses) is a misery 10 to 30 percent live with. And if you thought pollens were your major source of allergic discomfort, be comforted. Pollens are the main allergen group globally. The goal of this column is always to help you find the most effective, most natural, and least expensive solutions to anything that is causing stress and misery in your life. So here is some basic information to help you thrive, rather than survive. And here are my top 16 tips for beating allergy suffering.

As you have noticed, tissue in hand, peak allergy season is upon us. Now, in many parts of the country, the misery of allergy stress is keeping sufferers from enjoying life. Sniffles, congestion, headaches, sore throats, raspy voices, brain fog, fatigue, and even nausea are all symptoms people are having this week. For those who want to track the density of pollen in their area, websites like Pollen.com can send out a daily email alert, with a rating of 0 to 12, and the types of pollens that are high that day. Designate your location and you’ll find out, for example, that Phoenix is high in Ash, Poplar, and Mulberry pollens. Today’s level is 8.7, and tomorrow is expected to be 7.8. So tomorrow is a better day for gardening, and today is a better day to wear a mask outside. Pollen.com also has an app called Allergy Plus, which is free.

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What are some medications you could use?

Everyone knows there are over-the-counter (OTC) antihistamines of several different types. If you have been taking one, and it isn’t working while a particular pollen is high, you may want to try another type of antihistamine. Also, there is now a different type of (prescription) medication for allergy, an antileukotreine, that may work better for you. A popular prescription brand is Singulair, with the generic name Montelukast. Check with your doctor about symptoms and possible interactions with other drugs you may be taking.

What are some natural allergy solutions?

Yes– this column is usually about natural solutions! And these tend to be low-cost and pleasant, with quick- and also extended relief. Here are some you may want to try.

Rinse your sinuses with salt water. You can purchase a pot with a pointed end through which to sniff or snort the salt water. It might be called a neti pot. Be sure to follow the instructions on keeping the pot clean. You can also put warm water and a pinch of salt in a small bowl, and simply sniff or snort the salt water. Hold your head back or down, and hold your nostrils, to get the salt water into your sinuses. Blow the water and possibly mucus out and repeat several times; you may also want to gargle with the leftover salt water. There are packets of salt available to add to your warm water.

Check your spice cabinet for ginger powder. Mix ½ teaspoon ginger powder into a cup of warm, filtered (chlorine-removed) water. Stir and drink. Feel your symptoms improving in minutes. Yes, fresh ginger root, grated and pressed through cheesecloth or a tea filter, is wonderful. But when you are feeling bad, and you want immediate improvement, just add the ginger powder to your water. The ginger is very yang, and it will balance out the yin symptoms of allergies. If you prefer, you can take ginger in capsules, which you can buy in any health food store—empty, for you to fill, or already filled. Oil of oregano capsules work for some.
If the roof of your mouth is prickly, try drinking freshly squeezed orange juice.
Look for homeopathics. For Arizona, Allergena for Zone 6, 2 ounce, may sufficiently solve your seasonal allergies.

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Reducing the allergens you take in

Change your home’s air filter to one that has many accordion-type folds across its can be the most irritating. Research has proven that this type of filter removes almost all of the provocative particles, so spend the extra $8 for this type. Your improved sleep at night and your increased productivity during the day will be worth much more than that.
Use local air filters in each room. You can run room-size air filter units ($39 to $450), parking one near your work area and one near your sleep zone. Some types are totally silent, and some make a humming or whirring sound. Some require purchased replacement filters, and some simply have a contact plate inside to wipe clean. Play around with different models, to find the best type for you and your budget.
Outside, filter what you breathe. Wear a mask if you like—never reverse it! And have a fresh air filter installed in your car. There is probably also an “air recirculate” setting on your car air conditioner or heater. Use that to limit the amount of fresh air coming in.
Vacuum and dust. Allergens such as dust can make your seasonal allergies worse. Use a water-bath vacuum if you have one, and use a damp cloth for dusting.
Try a salt lamp. Salt lamps favorably change the ions in the room, and they are said to purify the air. Until more research is done, think of salt lamps as pleasant glowy things that offer a comforting, soft light, and may be beneficial to your health. These are available in white or amber, in natural mineral shapes and as spheres, from golf-ball size to bowling-ball size. My office has an 8” round salt lamp in each room, with embedded dimmer switches; found online, they were about $35 each.
Wash and dry your hair every night. Yes! Your hair efficiently picks up odors, smoke, dust, and pollens, during the day. Then, when you lie down to sleep, you are breathing a special concentration of the very irritants that are causing your allergy stress. So wash that hair every night.
Put a small, fresh towel across your pillow every night. Especially if nightly hair washing doesn’t work for your lifestyle, at least you can give yourself a clean surface to sleep on every night. In the morning, throw that little towel in the wash and launder it on HOT with natural detergent. Dry it on HOT. You can also use a bath towel you have folded into a pillow size and shape.

Strengthen your system

Place the palms or heels of your hands to the sides of your neck and gently rock across the sore muscles. Notice how tight your shoulder tops are. Now gently stretch your shoulders in every direction for 2 minutes. Notice your congestion calming and your head feeling less heavy.
Do yoga or chikung (Chinese yoga) to increase breath. Ask your yoga- or chikung teacher, or try these exercises: in yoga, do Suryanamaskar, the Salutation to the Sun. In chikung, do the Northwest Exercise.
Take Vitamin C and combinations containing it. Vitamin C increases breath and strengthens your blood vessels. Some Vitamin C supplements are available with other helpful vitamins, minerals or herbs that may reduce your allergy symptoms. The two most popular are Emergen-C and Airborne.
Elevate your head when sleeping. If you are very congested, despite your best efforts, sleep on a wedge pillow or simply add an extra pillow. As always, experiment to make it the most comfortable.

And finally

See your doctor if you see funny colors. If your throat feels raw, or your nasal discharge is white or green, it may be time to let your doctor check for strep and its friends. Infections are even less fun than allergies!

Have fun experimenting with a few, or all, of these natural helps. Remember, what relieves your allergy stress may or may not work for your friend or your relative. Hopefully, you’ll be much more comfortable after using these tips, and you’ll be able to enjoy your life during pollen season.

So plan ahead and set yourself up for comfort and energy during pollen season! Now exhale completely and enjoy this beautiful Spring! And that’s you: more and more Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm.

Kebba Buckley Button is a stress management expert, holistic healer, and award-winning author who celebrates life. She has a longtime natural healing practice and is an ordained minister. Among her books are: Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), Inspirations for Peace Within: Quotes and Images to Uplift and Inspire, and Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine. The books are available on Amazon and through Kebba’s office. They are also available in Scottsdale, Arizona, at the Franciscan Renewal Center bookstore and at the bookstore at St. Barnabas on the Desert Episcopal Church. Or simply email us to order: kebba@kebba.com . Thank you!

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Chocolate Mug Cake Day

27 Friday Jan 2023

Posted by Kebba Buckley Button in chocolate cake, chocolate mug cake, Effective Living, GF Chocolate cake, Healthy Happy Loving Life, Kebba Buckley Button, mug cake, National Chocolate Cake Day, the life you want

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Today is National Chocolate Cake Day, which I wrote about on January 17th. My idea was to give you plenty of time to plan for chocolate raptures you would engage with, when the day came. Some of you are good planners and got into some really great chocolate cake today. I had a series of events today, so I will have to celebrate this all-important special day tomorrow. Meanwhile, let’s talk about quick ways to celebrate chocolate cake without having a whole one: enter the mug cake!

The mug cake is a dessert similar in size to 2 cupcakes, or 1 large muffin. You have a small recipe or a mix made to bake in a mug, and you end up with, well, a mug sized cake you’ll eat right out of the mug. Typically, you can microwave these, but some are for baking in your countertop oven or even your regular oven.

For a yummy classic chocolate mug cake from the Chocolate Covered Katie collection, you’ll need cocoa, flour, sweetener, salt, baking powder, milk of choice, pure vanilla extract, and oil or banana. Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients

1 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tsp Dutch or additional regular cocoa powder
3 tbsp spelt, white, oat, or gf ap flour (or try this Keto Mug Cake Recipe)
1/8 tsp salt
2 tbsp sweetener of choice
1/4 tsp baking powder
2-3 tsp oil (Many commenters have said it still tastes good if you sub applesauce or mashed banana. CCK says “I haven’t tried it”)
3 tbsp milk of choice
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Instructions

Mug cake recipe: Combine dry ingredients and mix very, very well. Add liquid, stir, then transfer to a little dish, ramekin, or even a coffee mug. Either microwave 40-60 seconds (time will depend on microwave wattage) OR cook in a 350F oven for about 14 minutes. If you don’t want to eat it straight out of the dish, be sure to spray your dish first and then wait for the mug cake to cool before trying to remove it. Frosting ideas are listed above in the post (on the CCK website).

If this idea appeals to you for chocolate-craving days, you can even portion out the dry ingredients into little ziplock bags, so you’ll be ready when the craving strikes. Even faster prep can happen when you simply keep some mug cake mixes in your cabinet. Play around with the available brands, and find out which you like best. There are mug cake mixes from Betty Crocker and Duncan Hines. There are keto brands, high protein brands, and even a GF offering from Udi’s. Weight Watchers makes them.

So avoid too much temptation at once, and make yourself a little chocolate cake in a mug. Do it in honor of National Chocolate Cake Day or simply to enjoy. Check out some of the mug cake mixes and let me know what you think. And that will be you and me, ever more Healthy Happy Loving Life^sm! Are you in?

Kebba Buckley Button is a stress management expert, holistic healer, and award-winning author who celebrates life. She has a longtime natural healing practice and is an ordained minister. Among her books are: Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), Inspirations for Peace Within: Quotes and Images to Uplift and Inspire, and Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine. The books are available on Amazon and through Kebba’s office. To email us, kebba@kebba.com .

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: My 3 Top Recipe Sources

23 Monday Jan 2023

Posted by Kebba Buckley Button in chocolate cake, Effective Living, GF Chocolate cake, GF recipes, Healthy Happy Loving Life, Kebba Buckley Button, recipe sites, the life you want

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chocolate cake, GF Chocolate cake, GF recipes, Healthy Happy Loving Life, recipe sites, The life you want

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Today I’m sharing my top 3 sources for the best-tasting recipes, other than my personal recipe collection. These 3 sources know everything about flavor and writing clear recipes with obtainable ingredients. I’m always looking for wheat-free and soy-free recipes, since I’m allergic to those 2 things. So the trend of gluten-free recipes is fine with me, since wheat gets excluded, and soy sauce is usually excluded, as it generally contains wheat. But there is a world of other food combinations out there. And these 3 sources can provide us a lifetime of great recipes.

Chocolate Covered Katie may be found at www.chocolatecoveredkatie.com. And of course, you can subscribe. Katie Higgins is the recipe genius who started this site as a blog, specializing in desserts. You can get recipes for the classic comfort-food desserts here, including mug cakes, and all the chocolate combinations you can imagine. However, for almost every recipe, CCK offers alternate sugars or fats or flours that will honor your dietary preferences and still give you a delicious and satisfying dessert. Plus, she warns you what ingredient substitutions she has tried that completely failed. Of course, she has non-chocolate recipes, too. This morning, I watched her video of a 3-ingredient Cheerio breakfast bar: peanut butter and honey heated together, stir in the Cheerios, press the whole caboodle into a lined 8″ x 8″ pan, chill, pull out and cut. Wow! No wonder she has been on the largest channels and news outlets. Oh, and she’s both beautiful and skinny.
Gluten-Free Homestead may be found at www.glutenfreehomestead.com. To fully appreciate the range of offerings on this site, I suggest opening the link on your laptop or desktop. The photography is gorgeous and mouth-watering. The genius flavorist behind this collection is Barbara Bianchi. She got interested in gluten-free cooking when her doctor husband had chronic fatigue. Now in their mid-60’s, they are models of healthy living and say they feel more like they are in their 40’s. Have a look at some of these recipes– gluten-free, low carb, and keto main dishes. And remember to subscribe, like, follow, and whatever your media preferences are.
AllRecipes.com is my third favorite recipe site. Look for it at www.allrecipes.com. This one is for the cook who is feeding people with every possible food yearning. You do have to establish a log-in. But you also get food news, like “Dolly Parton is releasing 4 new at-home baking mixes!” These are under the brand of Duncan Hines, the onetime famous food critic. Now who knew Dolly Parton was doing baking mixes at all? Does this woman never sleep? One caveat: do not confuse this site with Recipes.com, which is an all-commercial site; you can search for anything and be linked quickly to the McCormick corporation, or the Tyson corporation, or Campbell’s Foods. Good luck with that.

Do you have favorite recipe sites, blogs, or cooks you follow? I would love to check them out! And that will be you and me, ever more Healthy Happy Loving Life^sm! Are you in?

Kebba Buckley Button is a stress management expert, holistic healer, and award-winning author who celebrates life. She has a longtime natural healing practice and is an ordained minister. Among her books are: Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), Inspirations for Peace Within: Quotes and Images to Uplift and Inspire, and Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine. The books are available on Amazon and through Kebba’s office. To email us, kebba@kebba.com .

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: National Chocolate Cake Day

17 Tuesday Jan 2023

Posted by Kebba Buckley Button in chocolate cake, Effective Living, GF Chocolate cake, Healthy Happy Loving Life, Kebba Buckley Button, mindfulness, the life you want

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chocolate cake, GF Chocolate cake, Healthy Happy Loving Life, mindfulness, The life you want

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I’m featuring National Chocolate Cake Day 10 days in advance of January 27th, so you can be ready for it with your own chocolate cake! In recent years, many of us have found we feel better eating no refined sugar and maybe no gluten or wheat. So where does that leave us when it’s time for cake? Many of us will need a nap promptly after eating a slice of normal chocolate cake, not to mention its frosting made of sugar and whipped hydrogenated fats. Fear not! There are now a number of people who have been formulating delicious desserts for gluten-free and low-glycemic diets.

And one such champion cook is Elana Amsterdam of Boulder, Colorado. Elana took on gluten-free (GF) cooking when she and her son were both diagnosed with celiac disease– that’s intolerance to gluten. I am assured that today’s American wheat gluten is actually supergluten, so it’s more important than ever to realize if you are gluten-intolerant. Elana’s cookbooks are widely available, including on Amazon and even Thrift Books. She also has paleo cookbooks, so look into those.

Before I show you this recipe, notice it’s really simple, compared to many GF recipes that contain 4 specialty flours, 2 sweeteners, and 2 rising agents each. This one also is sweetened only with agave syrup, which is now widely available in grocery stores in an organic version. Agave syrup has the lowest glycemic index (GI 11-19) of any natural sweetener, but it tastes much like cane sugar (GI 60). It pours like thick maple syrup (GI 54). And cocoa powder has all the antioxidants of chocolate, with none of the cheap (in some products) fats. So you’ll feel great after eating this cake.

Almond Flour Chocolate Cake

Serves 8

2 cups blanched almond flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup agave nectar

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch cake pan with grapeseed oil and dust with almond flour.

Step 2

In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda. In a medium bowl, combine the agave nectar, eggs, and vanilla extract. Stir the wet ingredients into the almond flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Scoop the batter into the prepared cake pan.

Step 3

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for 1 hour, then serve.

You may also want to try this recipe in different shapes. I’m experimenting with making it in baking pans I have that offer 6 heart-shaped impressions in each. Why not make this for National Chocolate Cake Day and again, in a different shape, for Valentines’ Day? Now, you’re ready!

Try it and let me know what you think. And that will be you and me, ever more Healthy Happy Loving Life^sm! Are you in?

Kebba Buckley Button is a stress management expert, holistic healer, and award-winning author who celebrates life. She has a longtime natural healing practice and is an ordained minister. Among her books are: Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), Inspirations for Peace Within: Quotes and Images to Uplift and Inspire, and Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine. The books are available on Amazon and through Kebba’s office. To email us, kebba@kebba.com .

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: My Favorite Quote Poster

16 Monday Jan 2023

Posted by Kebba Buckley Button in Be yourself, Effective Living, Healthy Happy Loving Life, Kebba Buckley Button

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Be yourself, effective living strategies, Healthy Happy Loving Life, Kebba Buckley Button, stress

Photo and poster © Kebba Buckley Button. Wall by St. Barnabas on the Desert Episcopal Church, Scottsdale, AZ. Many more posters (free) at Pinterest.com/kebbabutton

And that will be you, ever more Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm!

Kebba Buckley Button is a stress/energy expert, holistic healer, and award-winning author who celebrates life. She has a longtime natural healing practice and is an ordained minister. Among her books are: Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), Inspirations for Peace Within: Quotes and Images to Uplift and Inspire, and Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine. The books are available on Amazon and through Kebba’s office. They are also available in Scottsdale, Arizona, at the Franciscan Renewal Center bookstore and at the bookstore at St. Barnabas on the Desert Episcopal Church. Or simply email us to order: kebba@kebba.com . Thank you!

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Is it Spam? How to Tell!

15 Sunday Jan 2023

Posted by Kebba Buckley Button in Effective Living, Healthy Happy Loving Life, Kebba Buckley Button, phishing, spam

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effective living strategies, Healthy Happy Loving Life, Kebba Buckley Button, phishing, spam, stress

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Many of us get too much email every day, and too much of it is spam. Here are some examples of what not to open, no matter how curious you are. The senders’ goals are to confirm your email, collect your data, and get your money. It’s phishing! So save yourself later misery by surveying suspicious pieces without opening them.

It’s easiest to handle spam on your smart phone, looking only at the topic and the sender’s email. On an iPhone, for example, you can block a sender and see a symbol—a red circle with a diagonal line—in the flag field. You can also use your settings to have a sender deleted as soon as you have blocked them. This also prevents these spam pieces from going through to your primary email display on your laptop or desktop.

I left these few undeleted, so I could share them with you. Feel free to laugh!

First, look for prestige words like “Harvard” and “Oxford”. You’re supposed to be impressed and click quickly to open the piece. Don’t! Also note personal body- and health words like “prostate”, “breast”, and “p-nis”. [They will spell out these words, but if I do, the system will bounce this article.] If you see these, block and delete immediately.

Harvard Prostate Study. Do you see this in your water?
Micro P-nis Cure. African priest helps white man gain 6 inches
Old Eyes. Visibly erase eye bags in 7 minutes or less
School of Squirt. Make your girlfriend ecstatic!

Not sure if the title defines it as spam? Check the email address the message comes from.

Does the Sender Name have anything to do with the sender email?

Sender: EcoWatt Pro. Topic: Innovative New Tech Slashes Your Electric Bill in Half. Sender email: info@closedarise.shop
Sender: Anna. Topic: Warning Signs of Dementia (#2 is scary). Sender email: randyallen@safetywreck.shop

Impressively, this group has already hacked or “borrowed” names or subject lines from emails of people you know. This one references a group I belonged to for many years, WISK, but which no longer operates. The topic: WISK on Monday, July 18. However, without opening it, I see it says: “Please find document attachment: Please let me know if you received the document. Best Regards,…” Don’t open these! I know several ways that this is hack spam:

WISK hasn’t sent any meeting-related emails for over 5 years
WISK was run by an attorney who never attached documents to the meeting notices
The sender’s email is unlike that of anyone I knew from the group: impresao@rhotoplas.com.br

Finally, there are those who bill you $500 or more for software packages you may already own, or you may never have owned. Look at the sender’s email address! If it’s a personal email, like name@gmail.com, it’s not from Norton or Intuit. I recently received a series of emails advising me my license for a system optimizer I like had expired. Everything looked legit in the email, except it had been only several months since I had renewed my license. So I followed my best rule: contact the company directly. They replied promptly that I had renewed my license for 2 computers in August. That was close!

One of the best ways to lower your stress is to prevent it with wise choices in advance. Don’t help the spammers, scammers, and phishers get rich! Filter them out quickly and enjoy your day. And that will be you, ever more Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm!

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: The Spirituality of Wine

14 Saturday Jan 2023

Posted by Kebba Buckley Button in Effective Living, Healthy Happy Loving Life, Kebba Buckley Button, mindfulness, Spirituality of Wine, the life you want, wine

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Healthy Happy Loving Life, mindfulness, Spirituality of Wine, The life you want, wine

The array of wines for the tasting.

The menu of 6 courses.

In December, a friend who runs a major spiritual direction program announced an unusual event: The Spirituality of Wine. The event would be held January 13th at Saint Barnabas on the Desert Episcopal Church, where I am a member. It’s a beautiful place filled with people who love the arts. So this event filled up. How could we resist finding out about the Spirituality of Wine? And sampling some lovely wines? So we paid for expensive tickets, thinking they would have many varieties of crackers and cheese with the wine and discourse. Oh no! They had a 6-course meal of small plates, each cunningly designed to go with the wine being featured at that moment. The whole event was a delight for the senses.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, almost explains the Spirituality of Wine: it’s mindfulness. It’s paying attention to every tiny detail of the wine’s origin, appearance, nose, and palate. It’s trying to properly pronounce “Albarino” (Spain) and “Viognier” (France). It’s vividly imagining the people who settled in the area where the wine is from, and how they decided to plant grapes because of the moist climate. For example, the Albarino wine (say Albarinyo), a white wine, is from northwest Spain, tastes oddly soft, and has an alcohol content of only 12.5 %. The region is called Galicea (say Galithea), an it was the Kelts (surprise!)(before they were the Irish) who settled the area. And planted grapes. And made wine. Our moderator coached us in the ways of observing the exact color of the wine. Is is garnet or is it ruby? She taught us to see if we could see our glass-holding finger through the wine. How sweet was the wine and what flavors were in that one, such as berries or yeast bread? And so we carefully considered each of 6 wines: 3 white, 2 red, 1 Sauterne with dessert.

I won’t enumerate the virtues of all of the wines, as your eyes and mine would swim. People studying to get master certification as a sommelier have to know exactly the origin, color, notes, alcohol content, and other characteristics of every wine. I will simply list the wines here, with the food course we were served:

Champagne. Dates stuffed with Goat cheese and wrapped in prosciutto roasted potatoes with smoked salmon and onion cream, plus fresh berries.

Albarino. Miso shrimp over ramen noodles with roasted shishito pepper.

Viognier. Butternut squash bisque with maple bourbon cream crostini with spiced cashew spread.

Dolcetto. Chicken Tenderloin with passata tomato sauce skewer with gouda cheese and Kalamata olives.

Monestral (Spanish name)/Mourvedre (French name). Beef crostini with crispy onions and horseradish cream, mushroom varietal on crostini, and wedge of manchego.

Sauterne. Flatbread with pear and blue cheese, wedge of Cambozola Black Label.

Photo by Mary Eileen Middleton.

What a wonderland for the senses we experienced last night! It makes sense to apply mindfulness to tasting. Savoring and pondering our food and beverages can only cause us to consume at a more leisurely pace and help us to enjoy them more. Does this inspire you to look for the Spirituality of Wine or the spirituality in your food? Let me know what you think. And that will be you and me, ever more Healthy Happy Loving Life^sm! Are you in?

Kebba Buckley Button is a stress management expert, holistic healer, and award-winning author who celebrates life. She has a longtime natural healing practice and is an ordained minister. Among her books are: Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), Inspirations for Peace Within: Quotes and Images to Uplift and Inspire, and Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine. The books are available on Amazon and through Kebba’s office. To email us, kebba@kebba.com .

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Happy Friday the Thirteenth!

13 Friday Jan 2023

Posted by Kebba Buckley Button in Effective Living, Friday the Thirteenth, Healthy Happy Loving Life, Kebba Buckley Button, Stress Management, Superstition, the life you want, Thirteen

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Friday the Thirteenth, Healthy Happy Loving Life, Superstition Stress, The life you want, thirteen

Ever since I was a child, I have heard the phrase “Friday the Thirteenth” spoken with tension, even fear. So many people have a fear of Friday the Thirteenth that there is a term for it: Triskaidekaphobia. As a kid, I had no sense of any problem with that date. I was born on the thirteenth of October, which was a Monday. However, in my earliest debunking campaign, to try to help kids set aside their fear of the day, I actually told my buddies I was born on a Friday the Thirteenth! Further, I told them 13 was my lucky number. Did it work? We’ll never know. Remembering my second grade conversations with a little smile, I went on to collect information about what could have led to to this widespread cultural belief in a bad luck day.

It turns out that two very nasty moments in history occurred on Friday the Thirteenth. The first was in 1307, in France. The Knights Templar, formerly powerful and well respected, had a reversal of fortune and were banned across Europe. For over 2 years, people sought out the Knights Templar, arrested, tortured, and murdered them. At the culmination of the campaign, two of the top leaders of the Knights were burned to death on Friday, March 13th, 1314. This was done in Paris, below the Pont Neuf bridge. Today, a plaque commemorates the event. No doubt stories of this time were passed down from generation to generation, until perhaps the details were lost and, centuries later, only the vague fear remained.

Now you know about the negative history. Let’s talk about the number 13, which has some good history:

The Aztecs used a 13-day week with a special god, Tezcatlipoca, who ruled the 13th day with mystery and magic
A Baker’s Dozen is the tradition of giving a thirteenth item free, when 12 baked items are purchased.
The Greeks thought 13 was a powerful number because Zeus was the most powerful of their Gods and also the 13th.

So why don’t we just go with 13 as a power number? Further, why don’t we celebrate any 13th day as being filled with mystery and magic? And on Friday the Thirteenth, let’s smile and know that we can always choose to have a great day. And that’s us, ever more Healthy Happy Loving Life^sm! Are you in?

Kebba Buckley Button is a stress management expert, holistic healer, and award-winning author who celebrates life. She has a longtime natural healing practice and is an ordained minister. Among her books are: Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), Inspirations for Peace Within: Quotes and Images to Uplift and Inspire, and Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine. The books are available on Amazon and through Kebba’s office. To email us, kebba@kebba.com .

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Want Energy? Mind Your EMFs!

12 Thursday Jan 2023

Posted by Kebba Buckley Button in Effective Living, electromagnetic frequencies, EMF, Healthy Happy Loving Life, Kebba Buckley Button

≈ 6 Comments

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effective living strategies, electromagnetic frequencies, EMF, Healthy Happy Loving Life, Kebba Buckley Button, stress

Over the last several years, I have been disappointed to gradually learn the negative power of Electromagnetic Frequencies, or EMFs. I thought I was getting tired from watching our big-screen TV. I got more tired, the more bluetooth and wifi-driven devices my late husband installed. He loved machines and devices. That’s fine. But as the evidence rolls in, I realized I was right: too much EMF can make you tired or worse. A phone held next to your body can cause burns (my late husband had those) or cancer. So how can we be healthy and still enjoy our devices?

The image above illustrates a number of sources of EMF in the home. Study it carefully. Now what if each of those devices is broadcasting something that makes you tired? Here are some simple tips.

You can get any of these devices to stop pumping out EMF by turning them off.
Turn off the TV or any other EMF generator when you’re not using it. And hey! You’ll save electricity, too.
Use shielded covers for your phone that you love holding next to your body. A great brand is Safesleeve, but there are others.
Stop using your celphone as an alarm clock. Get a battery-powered alarm clock, and let the celphone sleep at least in the next room. The first night I did this, I woke up feeling like a new and awesome woman. I went straight to the office and easily knocked off an hour of work before breakfast. My body was comfortable and my mind was very clear. Wow!
Strengthen your biofield so your body doesn’t weaken as much in EMF fields. I will say more on this in a later article.

Take care of yourself and your family in this way, and you will notice a big uptick in wellness and pleasantness. And that will be you and yours, ever more Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm!

Kebba Buckley Button is a stress/energy management expert, holistic healer, and award-winning author who celebrates life. She has a longtime natural healing practice and is an ordained minister. Among her books are: Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), Inspirations for Peace Within: Quotes and Images to Uplift and Inspire, and Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine. The books are available on Amazon and through Kebba’s office. They are also available in Scottsdale, Arizona, at the Franciscan Renewal Center bookstore and at the bookstore at St. Barnabas on the Desert Episcopal Church. Or simply email us to order: kebba@kebba.com . Thank you!

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life: Working Around Your Disabilities

10 Tuesday Jan 2023

Posted by Kebba Buckley Button in differently abled, disability, disabled, Effective Living, Healthy Happy Loving Life, Kebba Buckley Button

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differently abled, disability, disabled, effective living strategies, Healthy Happy Loving Life, Kebba Buckley Button, stress

As a first-grader, I did not realize I had characteristics that looked like disabilities to others. For example, my mind went very deep into anything that interested it, to the exclusion of hearing regular classroom announcements. I could be engrossed in reading an assignment and literally not hear the teacher call my reading group. She thought I was playing games. No. Today, I celebrate my ability to go into very deep concentration. I set timers to be sure I get to the next task on time. And I am a Life Member of Mensa, the High-IQ organization that has a large population of deep concentrators. So was that really a disability? Too many brilliant people have been mistaken for idiots, because their actual abilities were not obvious to others.

I did not have the same social reflexes as other children and was puzzled by their choices. I didn’t enjoy groups. In school, I preferred independent assignments. Today we would say I had low social skills. I wanted to solve that, and eventually I overshot my goals. Over the decades, I have worked to understand others, and I am now the one with the best social skills in most rooms. People compete to get me to join their groups now, and people jockey to stand *behind* me and try to get me to take the leader position. So did I really have a social disability? Or did I simply have different social reflexes?

Thirty years ago, I was in a business networking group with a wise former police officer who had been shot in the neck. That had put him in a wheelchair, and he was now a disabilities expert and consultant. We all brainstormed about what to call his company, without using the term disabilities. Bill’s view was that he was differently abled, or simply different from the majority. Finally, Bill settled on “Abilities 360.” Today, the Ability360 (ability360.org) organization has a number of health-and-fitness locations, with wheelchair pickleball courts and multiple other sports. They offer home modification services, independent living skills instruction, and employment services, to name a few. An 80-something friend of mine, with spinal damage, now has a sports wheelchair and goes to one of these centers to happily rip around the pickleball court. His wife found an SUV that easily holds the sports wheelchair. She says her husband has come alive again after discovering Ability360.

Now consider: what if you were a kitten born with no sight? This 4 1/2 minute video charmingly illustrates the answer: using your other senses, you figure it out. You’re not DISabled, you’re differently abled.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dbUlzMXHD8

Are there characteristics you have that you wish were quite different? Are they really disabilities, or are they different abilities? What workarounds have you used to deal with those? The more you develop your end runs, the more you will be ever more Healthy Happy and Loving Life^sm!

Books by Kebba Buckley Button

Healthy Happy Loving Life!

~ Your source for energized, fulfilled, joyous living!

Category Archives: Effective Living

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