Home Spa Lady Tips #51-Can Your Purse Make You Sick? / Meditation / Prevent Flu with Essential Oils

Home Spa Lady's
Tips of the Week
Issue # 51 - November 15, 2006
Publisher: Marilee Tolen RN
E-mail Marilee
http://www.HomeSpaLady.com
http://www.HomeSpaLady.com/blog (Blog)
Home Spa Lady(TM)
Circulation: 956
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Make Every Day A Spa Day!
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Please forward this e-newsletter to anyone you know who is interested in natural health, wellness, healing, and beauty based on principles of energy, consciousness, spirituality, personal empowerment, delicious whole foods, cleansing and detoxification of the body and mind, and having a heck of a good time!
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In This Issue
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1. Can Your Purse Make You Sick?
2. Meditation: The Art of Self-Recovery
3. Essential Oil Tip: 7-Second Flu Prevention
4. Success Tip: Maxwell Maltz
5. Recipe of the Week: Vegetarian Stuffing
6. HSL's Joke or Cute Quote of the Week

*Take a class with Home Spa Lady in New York City!. . .see below
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1. Can Your Purse Make You Sick?
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I have a "shoes off" policy in my household.

It just feels very natural to me to take off the shoes we've been wearing all day that have taken us in and out of public restrooms, malls, parking lots, etc.

Many cultures practice this too. As a matter of fact, in Asia it is considered very rude to wear shoes in someone's home. There is also an unspoken part of this policy that many people don't even think of that relates to handbags, purses, briefcases, backpacks, and computer bags.

A friend of the family was visiting from out of town a few weeks ago. I picked him up at the train station and saw that he was traveling with a backpack and a soft carry on suitcase - both of which were on the ground where the cabbies line up, where dogs, and probably some people pee, and a few homeless lie. When we entered my home he saw my little sign in the hallway requesting shoes off and he politely followed that request by slipping out of his shoes. He proceeded to carry his backpack into the kitchen because he was excited to show me his new book. He slapped the backpack on my kitchen table where we eat our meals. I cringed and asked him to put his bag on the floor. I've had quite a few other people come into my home and do the same thing with their handbags and computer bags. I'm surprised more people aren't thinking about this type of thing. It must be the nurse in me.

Well, there has been a study done on what microbes actually travel on women's purses. At Nelson Labs in Salt Lake City they tested the bacteria type and count on the average women's purse. Microbiologist Amy Karren of Nelson Labs said that nearly all ofthe purses tested were high in harmful bacteria like Staph Aureous, Pseudomonas, Salmonella, and E-Coli. In one sampling four out of five purses tested positive for salmonella. But the worst was what Amy identified "There is fecal contamination on the purses" (think of how often women set their purses down in public rest rooms).

How do you prevent tramping these contaminants into your household short of emptying out the contents of your purse into another every time you enter your home?

Here are some tips:

--Use hooks behind doors in restrooms to hang your purse
--Use a hook in your home to hang your purse
--Don't place your purse on the floor in public places, keep on your lap or hang on your chair
--Wipe off the bottom and outside of your purse frequently

What do I do?

I treat my purse like my shoes and keep it at the doorway in a special place.
I also carry a purse size spray bottle of Thieves in my purse.
I spray my purse with it when I feel I have been in areas that are dirty.

More than anything, just become more aware of your belongings and the surroundings they are in. When you start to view through newly aware eyes, cleaner living will just make plain sense.

To learn more about Thieves and where to order - contact your Young Living Distributor or go to: Young Living's Website

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2. Meditation: The Art Of Self-Recovery
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By: Saleem Rana

What you focus on determines your reality because your mind becomes active in acquiring and bringing into your awareness the things that you focus on. If you focus on lack, limitation, negativity, and scarcity, then that is what you bring into your experience. If you focus on abundance, expansion, positive things, and plenty, then that is what you bring into your experience.

A moment of introspection will make this obvious. If it is that easy to switch our reality, from one of suffering to one of joyful experience, why do we persist in injuring ourselves? It is because we are not in charge of our minds. Rather our minds are in charge of us. We, a conscious being, are dominated by our conditioning. This is why the practice of meditation is important. Every time we meditate, we dissolve more and more conditioning. We get off autopilot and take over the path our ship is cruising on. As we let go of more and more of our reflexive thinking, we start to take charge of our own minds, and our reality slowly shifts.

Of course, this is not easy. Yet, it's not much fun living a scattered and chaotic life either. Until our awareness comes to the surface, we can't really expect to improve our health, boosts our finances, or be able to calm the storms of a relationship. Our dreams are always one step ahead of us, lost in the mist of "someday I will...". The path is simple.

Learn a method of meditation and practice it. Like any discipline or skill, you must learn to meditate and practice frequently. But, if you stick with it, the rewards are immense. Increased self-awareness, increased control of your mind, and increased appreciation and meaning of your own self and life are but just a few. In many religious traditions, it is said that we are so often "asleep". What exactly does this mean? It means that we are almost wholly unconscious. We think and act in ways that are not in our best interests. A conscious person is an aware person and awareness is something that comes when we release the subconscious programs that run our lives.

A brief review of yesterday will show you how your notion of self-control and inner mastery is pretty much an illusion. If meditation is not your thing, then try contemplation, sitting in silence, quietly reflecting on who you are and what it is that is important to you. Just following your breath in and out is a good way to begin. Should your thoughts wander, acknowledge them and gently lead them back to the "here and now". A daily routine where you work on raising your awareness will do you a world of good. It will, in fact, change your world, placing you in a frame of mind more favorable to your interests and wishes.

Article Source: Saleem Rana would love to share his inspiring ideas with you. Hunting everywhere for a life worth living? Discover the life ofyour dreams.
His book tells you how.
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3. Essential Oil Tip: 7-Second Flu Prevention
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One of the quickest, most powerful ways to keep your immune system up to prevent the flu this winter is by rubbing this essential oil blend on your feet before you go to sleep. This blend is a combination of some of the most immune stimulating essential oils known, and it is called Immupower (this is a Young Living Blend).

The oils that are in this blend are
--Cistus
--Frankincense
--Hyssop,Ravensara
--Mountain Savory
--Oregano
--Clove
--Black Cumin
--Idaho Tansy

Order your oils from your Young Living distributor or by going to Young Living's Website
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4. Success Tip: Maxwell Maltz
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"When you see a thing clearly in your mind, your creative 'success mechanism' within you takes over and does the job much better than you could do it by conscious effort or 'willpower.'"
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5.Recipe of the Week: Vegetarian Stuffing
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From Sabra Ricci
Great alternative to traditional stuffing or can be served as a vegetarian option.

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 teaspoon rubbed sage, chopped fine
1 teaspoon thyme, chopped fine
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
3 cups whole wheat or whole grain bread, coarsely crumbled
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup of raisins (optional)
1 cup of grated mozzarella cheese
2 acorn squash, sliced in half and cored (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

PREPARATION:
--Saute onions, garlic, celery, nuts and seed in olive oil. Cook over low heat until onions are translucent and nuts are browned.
--Add remaining ingredients, except for the cheese and continue to cook over low heat for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and mix in cheese.
--Sprinkle with a little cheese and bake at 350 for 20 - 30 minutes OR fill squash halves, sprinkle with cheese, and bake until squash are cooked.

Sabra Ricci is a Maui-based private chef specializing in healthy gourmet cuisine.
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6. HSL's Joke or Cute Quote of the Week
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True stories from the Turkey Butterball Hotline, where people call to get advice how to cook a Turkey from the experts

--Thanksgiving Dinner on the run: A woman called 1-800-323-4848 to find out how long it would take to roast her turkey. To answer the question, the Talk-Line home economist asked how much the bird weighed. The woman responded, "I don't know, it's still running around outside."

--Tofu turkey? No matter how you slice it, Thanksgiving just isn't Thanksgiving without turkey. A restaurant owner in California wanted to know how to roast a turkey for a vegetarian menu.

--A lady was picking through the frozen turkeys at the grocery store, but couldn't find one big enough for her family. She asked a stock boy, "Do these turkeys get any bigger?" The stock boy replied, "No ma'am, they're dead."
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Marilee Tolen RN a.k.a. Home Spa Lady
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Marilee!
Phone: 856-857-1799 (East Coast)
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