February is Heart Health Awareness Month. It’s rather simple to eat heart health promoting foods with every meal especially if you are vegetarian or vegan. I just wanted to share a list of just several of the numerous heart health foods out there. I have linked a most of these to recipes I have or other articles, so if some of these aren’t your cup of tea may be you can experiment with some ideas I share on my site.

Flax

Almonds

Walnuts

Spinach

Sweet Potato

Asparagus

Raisins

Broccoli

Blueberries

Carrots

Red Bell Peppers

Oranges

Acorn Squash

Cantaloupe

Papaya

Raw Cacao and Dark Chocolate

Tea (specifically sun tea which is where you add tea herbs into a jar with water and let it steep in the sun) I have tried a recipe by Ani Phyo for a delicious sun tea that I need to remember to share once it gets warmer out!

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Today I have been taking it rather slow and easy, the past few days have been rather exhausting. I’ve been really cramming things into my days and today it finally caught up with me. For once I actually took a 45 minute nap O_O and I am not a cat nap kinda gal.

I am grateful that life is so action packed but I think today was just what I needed to get back on track and possibly consider what is really worth rushing around for and what is not.

Today I did a little online shopping. My brother was sweet and gave me an Amazon gift card for the holidays this year and since I do not mind buying books on the “okay” condition rating the card went an extra long way.

It can be extremely difficult to buy some of the products I  like to keep myself stocked up on where I live. I end up relying on the internet for almost all of my medicinal herbs, nuts/seeds, oils and books. I absolutely love reading and am always looking for materials on raw food, health, juicing, herbs, botany, self-improvement, memoirs and so on.

The book I am most excited to have in my hands is, Heinerman’s Encyclopedia of Healing Juices. My major concern with this book is that it was published in 1994, I am worried that some of the information may be out of date. I also am a bit wary because Heinerman stresses using blenders for juicing while I have personally always favored using a juicer. Either way having this information will be helpful for this site, myself and clients. Usually people are more likely to have a high-speed blender in the house compared to a juicer. I can’t wait to explore this book and really get juicy with it 😉 I have seen wonderful reviews on several different websites too.

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On The Raw Food World’s website I purchased some herbs from Jing Herbs. I am personally a fan of their products, usually people have different brand names, ways of growing and producing products that energetically connects with us differently. For example, for me nothing beats picking strawberries at a farm and eating one right after I pick it. I use these herbs for tonics mostly or if I want to replicate a latte, cappuccino or any warm frothy energy boosting drink. Only a small amount is needed, depending if one is new to herbs or not depends on the amount herbalists typically  recommend. I am personal not at herbalist, I know just enough information for what I think my body needs. There are little suggestions I can make but this is for sure not my strong point. I plan to read more about these powerful herbs and am always looking for any recommendations on books to read, videos to watch or so on!

I bought two herbs from the “at-cost” section of their site, Astragalus Extract Powder and Chaga Powder. On The Raw Food World’s website there is some quick blurbs about these products so please take the time to read it if you have the chance. Both of these are immune boosting and are also known for their longevity benefits.

Chaga has a bitter sweet taste, which with regular consumption it may start tasting different and even more on the sweet side. Chaga Mushrooms are anti-viral and are great for heart, lung and spleen health. They promote healthy function in the adrenal glands as well as digestive organs. Chaga mushrooms are even high in B vitamins! If you are on diabetic prescription medicine please do not use Chaga powders, extracts or any other forms. They have been shown to interfere with insulin treatments.

Astragalus is sweet and warming, and organ wise it is most beneficial for the spleen and lungs. It helps align ones Qi promoting a healthier posture and aligning, thus ones breathing is typically fuller. A great way to remember this is that Astragalus is a root, so that beautiful strength, alignment, and air quality we associated with plants helps create a visual and mental connection. Astragalus root may protect one from high blood pressure and generally promote cardiac function. This root has also shown positive results in  forms of anemia and improving blood making function in our bodies. Since Astragalus has so many blood flowing health benefits it makes sense that it is also great for an extra energy boost 😀

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I have been going through a lot of self reflection, meditation and mental cleansing work lately. It only seems fitting also that February is considered a Heart Health Month. Each day I overcome one major fear, something that the idea of it my hands start shaking, my stomach turns and more recently it can even wear me down and make me feel like crying. I have been actively working on forgiving someone, forgiving myself and the story I made up for the two of us. I hope forgiveness near takes me so long to achieve ever again. It’s amazing how much fear and falseness I created in this situation and just now I can really face it all.

Here is my video about my journey on forgiveness & as human beings our addiction to self pity.

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Thank you all so much for taking the time to stop by my site, read my jibber jabber and even sending me questions, comments and e-mails. It’s heart warming to hear about people’s journeys from all over the world, different ages and stages in their life. I am grateful for you all. Much love ❤ and raw power 😉

Jess