FL Event - Tampa Bay Lobster Fest this weekend!

There's no better way to connect with yourself and others than with good food and live music.  Stay tuned as we continue to connect people nationwide through the upcoming launch of our Mind Key Florida location!

Connecting the Dots - Healing with Nature

When delving into the issue of Healing with Nature, our writers discovered many things....




Our first week was focused on creatively using foods and organic farming and gardening with this video on Polyface Farming, information on Vertical Gardening in urban areas and other tight spaces, and a recipe for Wild Rose Vinegar that utilizes nature's seasonal bounty to heal and nourish body and soul.






Week two, we discussed the healing aspects of nature.  In Natural treatments... Barbara talked about her health journey with Crohn's disease and how being in nature helped balance her body.  In her blog about Drum Circles, Vera said that Shamans recommend drum circles to release unneeded and unwanted energy.  Vera also talked about Nature being the remedy itself.





The third week of July was focused on the spiritual aspects of healing through nature.  Dr. Lisa Avila talked about her experiences with White Pine and the herb's ability to help to ground up and down for balance.  Charla talked about Yearning for simpler times when the foods you ate and the work you did sustained you.







This week, Mind Key writers focused on connection.  Marisa shared how nature and children together offer perspective and inspiration for writing and life in Writing Lessons from the Berry Patch and Tamara talked about education in the great outdoors in Learning in Nature.  Ojanae asked if we really are what we eat and Lyn spoke of helping kids with ADHD in the outdoors and how they connect.






The Earth is bountiful and ripe with healing properties.  Whether you focus solely on the food you eat or you step into the mystical with Chumpi Illumination or Drum Circles, nature has remained the ancient healer and is always there when you need it/her.

The party that's giving back

Looking for good music, good food, and good times this weekend? Look no further than A Party for the People, happening Sunday, June 26th in Middletown, RI. The day is about creating a sense of community and goodwill for all of us who have given back in some way to help others, event organizer and owner of Good Time Productions, Michael Hayes, said.

"Everything that happens impacts the next person because [on the island] they're so close," Michael said. "I wanted to give something back to everybody.  We are always struck by tragedy, but I wanted to do this for a positive reason."

Over the past decade, Michael's watched friends battle cancer, lose their loved ones and homes unexpectedly to tragedy, and time and time again, he's seen his neighbors and community pull together to help those suffering and in need. These are the people who have inspired Michael by their strength and endurance. They have inspired others to be the best version of themselves, and they are the reason that he finally decided to pull together his resources, create Good Time Productions, and give back to the community in a moment of positivity, not grief.

"Everyone on Aquidneck Island has come together to help each other at one time or another," Michael said.

To add to the energy of giving back, a portion of all proceeds for the party will be donated to the Potter League for animals, helping them rescue animals for adoption. 

"It was not my intention to be selfish in this," Michael said. "I knew there would be extra money, and I wanted it to go somewhere that deserved it. I've had 3 dogs, and each one has been a rescue dog from Potter League.  These animals are a part of the island, too."

Michael has been a musician and a songwriter since he was 13, and a cook for about as long.  He loves people, loves organizing, loves bringing people together, and realized that his strength is in the combination of these talents, rather than in any one specifically. A Party for the People became a way to combine his passions into one monster undertaking that is bringing the community together for a positive cause.

"I want people to walk away inspired and fulfilled in a way, not only knowing that they had a great time, but just by the thought that it wasn't tragedy that brought us together.  The people that have survived, the people that have donated all that money and don't need anything in return.  That they had a good time, not feeling broke, or that they were taken advantage of by this fair."

This is not a festival where you pay your entry fee, then keep paying all day.  This is a party for the people. This is an opportunity to remind each other of the good we do every day, of the good that we deserve, and the community we build in each moment of neighborly love.  It's a thank you for being you, for being good, and for giving back.

Interested in going? 

 Discover more info and buy advance tickets at

 www.MindKey.me/GoodTimeProductions

http://mindkeyblog.blogspot.com/2016/06/ri-event-party-for-people.html

Newport, RI Weekly Event - Kids' Corner and Food Passport Program Every Wednesday

Mind Key loves and supports families and natural growing things, so to find that the Aquidneck Grower's Market is creating a program for kids this summer makes us giddily happy!  Make sure you bring your kiddos and check it out.  Every Wednesday this summer in Newport, RI. A Kids' Corner and Food Passport program are coming to the market! Aquidneck Community Table is pleased to announce a new program for our Wednesday summer growers market in Newport: we will hold a Kids' Corner from 2-6 PM with fun activities for our littlest customers! In addition to games like corn hole and fun coloring pages, the Kids' Corner will occasionally feature special activities such as planting seedlings. We will also hold veggie tastings for our Food Passport Program, in which kids will try a "polite bite" of a different type of seasonal produce each week. Participating children will be given a colorful passport in which they can record their tasting experiences and receive a sticker for each new veggie they try. Don't worry if you can't come to the market every single week; we'll hold onto the passports until the end of the season so that they don't get lost, and your child can fill a new page in the passport each time you do attend. The Kids' Corner was conceived by Leah Rodewald, an Iowa native turned Newporter. Leah received her Bachelors of Science in Dietetics and Human Nutrition from Iowa State University. "Throughout my collegiate years, I discovered through observation that health often starts with the kids when it comes to families," she says. "It isn't simply the parents that need to have the desire to eat well; the kids have to be the ones to want to eat healthful foods." Leah is excited to work with the Aquidneck Growers Market to create a program that influences youth to make healthy decisions. We hope to see you this Wednesday, June 1st for the first Kids' Corner!  The location for the grower's Market is Memorial Boulevard between Chapel and Edgar in Newport.     Copyright © 2016 Aquidneck Community Table, All rights reserved.             Our mailing address is: Aquidneck Community Table PO Box 1481 Newport, RI 02840

Flowers--spirit medicine for the body and heart

Evening Primrose by Danielle Rose

Flowers are more than just beautiful to look at.  They are powerful medicine for both the body and spirit.  This week we discussed several flowers and how they can benefit healing on many levels--from alleviating the winter blahs, to dissolving life-long trauma.

In Flowers of Fall--Harvesting strength for body, heart and soul Danielle Rose writes, "[Autumn

flowers] are bright and cheery, and these attributes are mirrored in their emotional and physical benefits, perhaps to strengthen us for the winter ahead."

While on a family vacation less than a year after her mother's passing, Charla Dury also recognized the spiritual power of flowers in Wild Flowers are God's Make-up. 

"I smiled a sad smile, but with hope in my eyes because of the flowers," Charla said.  "The small touches of color that bloom, un-manicured, uncultivated, un-watered and supposedly unloved, but blooming nonetheless despite their circumstances. 

photo by Charla Dury

On the other end of the spectrum, easy-to-care-for bulbs such as amaryllis bring color, spirit and strength indoors all winter long.  

Amaryllis

Danielle shows the basic of caring for amaryllis in Amaryllis: Bring pride, beauty and success into your home all winter long.

"This stately flower symbolized success after a battle or struggle, and that the amaryllis' height symbolized intense pride in Victorian England," Danielle writes.  "They were often given as gifts of recognition in the arts. It has also been said to symbolize inner beauty.
And perhaps the most powerful of all spirit medicines is the flower essence.  Tara Ann introduces us to the power of flower essences in Flowers Healing Body & Mind, and Dr. Lisa Avila shares a case study of a woman with a life-long fear that was all but banished thanks to the help of star of Bethlehem in Spiritual trauma and Star of Bethlehem: A case study.

Star of Bethlehem

"Within a month, she reported feeling substantially better, and as this treatment progressed, her fears retreated to what she described as 'very low level,'" Lisa said. " Flower essence therapy is a very subtle yet powerful therapy that can deeply shift all levels of the human condition, regardless of the origin of the insult or injury."

Have you ever felt the healing power of flowers in your life?

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Spiritual trauma and Star of Bethlehem: A case study

Dr. Lisa M. Avila

Lisa M. Avila is a chiropractor, kinesiologist and herbalist in private practice in New York City, where she custom blends care of the body, chemistry and mind/spirit for balanc of the human condition.

 I met with a 34 year old woman who had since her earliest memory what she described as an “unrealistic fear of kidnapping and death.” She reported no background of trauma of this or a similar nature having ever happened to her in her life. This fear manifested in her having anxiety when walking outside after dark, when being around strangers and what she felt was an overprotective reaction to her children playing outside. These fears of kidnapping and death were an obsessive thought pattern that had been pervasive throughout her life.

Clinical analysis of this patient revealed no specific triggers for this fear. She had a history of many years worth of conventional talk therapy to work through these obsessive thought patterns, but they had been ineffective in solving the problem. With no obvious origin of this extreme fear, I asked her where she thought it might come from. She replied, “I think I came into this world with it”.

Treatment consisted of Neural Organization Technique, a muscle balancing kinesiology technique

Star of Bethlehem

that helps restore the body's reflex system to homeostasis following shock or trauma. This method was employed in order to pull her out of the fight-or-flight mode that consumed her life, to take her out of “panic mode” and reset her back to a grounded, calm center. I recommended 10 drops of Star of Bethlehem taken under her tongue 3 times a day. Star of Bethlehem is a homeopathic flower essence therapy indicated for the after effects of shock, trauma, and grief.  Within a month, she reported feeling substantially better, and as this treatment progressed, her fears retreated to what she described as “very low level”.

Flower essence therapy is a very subtle yet powerful therapy that can deeply shift all levels of the human condition, regardless of the origin of the insult or injury. In this particular case, the patient believed it was a past-life issue or experience that precipitated this consuming fear that she contended with daily. Star of Bethlehem enabled her to gently but effectively dissolve much of the tissue stored emotional memory underlying this all-consuming, lifetime fear.

Dr. Avila may be contacted through Linked In, her facebook page, chiropractic kinesiology NYC, or through phone 212.532.6500 or email, avila_dc@yahoo.com. 

You can also go to Dr. Lisa M. Avila for more information.

Italian Involtini Recipe

Involtini

Yields: 8, one for each person.

What you will need:

·      4 hard boiled eggs, each one cut in half

·      8 slices of Mortadella or  Prosciutto

·      ½ to 1 cup of Fresh Parsley, finely chopped

·      ½ cup of Pecorino or Parmesan Cheese

·      ½ to 1 cup of garlic, finely chopped

·      8 large but thin beef steaks (You can also use veal meat for this, as well.  Some supermarkets slice meat and label it Braciole.)  If you only find a cut that is too thick to pack with ingredients and roll, use a meat mallet to pound them thin.

·      4 tbs of olive oil

·      Salt and Pepper

·      Tomato sauce already cooking slowly on the stovetop

*How to prepare them:

1.     Place a slice of mortadella or prosciutto on each meat steak.

2.     On top of each slice place a silver dollar size of fresh parsley, a quarter size of garlic, one tablespoon of cheese and a half of the hard boiled eggs.

3.     Wrap each filled meat slice tightly.  Use long toothpicks to seal it.  Make sure to place the picks through the middle and sides to ensure the filling remains inside during cooking.

4.     In a large skillet, heat up the olive oil.  Once hot, place the Involtini inside.  Brown well on all sides, approximately 8-10 minutes.

5.     Immediately after place the eight Involtini in the tomato sauce.  Allow them to cook  slowly together with the sauce for at least 45 minutes.

Enjoy!

*IMPORTANT NOTES:  Make sure to track how many tooth picks you’ve placed in each Involtini, as to avoid anyone taking a sharp bite out of them!

This recipe is so versatile that you can experiment with your own fillings.  Try cherry tomatoes, slices of fresh mozzarella cheese, crumpled goat cheese, and much more.

Good health is in the Spirit of food

Being so closely connected to nature, faerie and the elementals, and especially now as I apprentice my way to becoming a master herbalist, I am acutely aware of how we work with the spirits of plants and animals on a daily basis.  

As we breathe in the plants around us, we also consume them.  How unfair it would be to believe that the spirit of the plant is gone simply because we have plucked it from the ground.  In fact, many herbalists such as Robin Rose Bennett rely on the spirit of the plant to help our bodies heal.  Healing becomes more than just how the plant’s chemistry affects our bodies but how the plant’s spirit works upon us too.

The same goes for our food.  In my research and experience as a health writer I have found those who eliminate processed food, gluten, gone organic, or even raw, have had significant health improvements.  I believe this is a direct result of being more connected to the plant or animal consumed.  

Food that is overly processed is often more chemical than food.  Even foods and animals that are overly processed or bred for certain qualities lose the wild spirit that humans find so attractive in each other. Many with gluten sensitivities find that eating small amounts of heritage wheat - wheat that hasn’t changed significantly throughout the centuries - is completely tolerable. (CLICK HERE for an article I wrote on the extensive breeding and milling process for wheat).  The same goes for milk - this one-ingredient food undergoes significant processing between the farm and the grocery, stripping and adulterating the its life-giving qualities.  Again, I do not think it is coincidence there are those who have milk allergies who find no issue with raw milk.

Perhaps the physical and alchemical processing of food strips the spirit of the plant or animal to the point where we lose this essential benefit in our food, and maybe this is why our grandparents who ate eggs and bacon every day for breakfast and smoked a pipe for the better part of a century lived long and healthy lives despite the dangers science has discovered.  Perhaps it isn’t the physical attribute of the plant or animal that is the issue, but the fact that we have lost our connection to it.  

Although I generally I don’t condone smoking, smoking a contemplative pipe at the end of the day, possibly with homegrown tobacco, is a far more spiritual act than sucking down a pack of cigarettes smoked with little thought.  Similarly, gathering eggs laid by hens you have cared for, who have picked through the same garden from which you gather your vegetables, indicates a far higher level of connection to the egg than buying a carton from a hen house a thousand miles away.

Hunters understand the land their meat has lived on, it has breathed and eaten happily and healthily of the same land he (or she) has walked.  After the kill they must carry their meat home, and possibly process it as well.  There’s a far deeper understanding and connection in each bite after such work has been done.  (Read "why I eat meat")

Eating food that has been grown, raised or hunted solely by one’s self or one’s community might offer immeasurable health benefits, but can be fairly impossible in our society.  Since my belief is that the connection to the spirit of the plant or animal offers the greatest form of sustenance and healing, anything that heightens this connection may be sufficient to reap the same benefits.  

That may be raising a pot of tomatoes or an indoor herb garden, leaving it near the kitchen where it the plant’s spirit can be remembered at each meal.  It could be researching or meditating/sitting with the plants and animals you eat the most - whether physically or in spirit - to forge a stronger connection and understanding of them.  It could simply be giving thanks for each individual food on your plate, or acknowledging the different ingredients in your meal is all you need to increase the spiritual connection to your food and improve your overall health.

Want to learn more about how spirituality can improve your health?  Check us out tonight at 7pm EST on Blog Talk’s “Among the Realms Radio.”  Feel free to email me your questions, or comment them here and the panel will be sure to discuss them tonight.