Essential oils are extracted from various sources of a plant or flower such as the leaves,  petals, roots,  bark, seeds, petals and stems.   The most common method of extracting the oils from its source is through steam distillation. Historically, essential oils have been used for medicinal, aromatic and cosmetic purposes dating back to as early as 3500BC. Nowadays, these highly  concentrated oils serve as a holistic alternative to relax the body and mind,  emotional health, household solutions, personal care for beauty or illness, aromatherapy plus many uses. Choose essential oils carefully. The purer the oil the more $ it will be as you will be purchasing strictly the oil without any added solvents. As there are numerous essential oils and essential oil blends on the market, here are a few [...]

This momma has been busy venturing into the land of WordPress and YouTube, yaaay. I’m excited to bring you more tips for keeping your family, household and self, healthy, happy and SANE! using two very cool platforms.As part of my intro to YouTube and video editing I decided on something light and fun to produce.  Something to give you a little glimpse of the shenanigans in our toddler fueled household.  Naturally my first video had to feature the star of our home. Stay tuned for future video’s with useful tips on health, wellness and of course more mommy musings.At 20 months old our munchkin is at the pre potty training stage (eeek, not looking forward to that), pre Picaso-esque coloring (watch out walls, so I’ve been told) stage and pre [...]

Take control of your sore body and become your own message therapist through FOAM ROLLING. Say what?  Roll what?? Message therapist….me….what??? Okay, so you’re not going to become a message therapist but you can help prevent yourself from reaching the knotty and tight state that sends you racing for the next available appointment with the local masseuse. Soft tissue acts to support, stabilize and connect structures in our body.  Muscles, fascia, ligaments, tendons and skin are all examples of soft tissue.  Using a foam roller allows you to self message and release tight myofascial connections by breaking down build up within these soft tissues. Over time if areas are neglected from lack of stretching, overused or injured, scar tissue with or without trigger points can form. Bonus…an inexpensive way to [...]

All change comes from within us to make the first move. If we’re breathing, we can change. “All great changes are preceded by chaos.”~ Deepak Chopra   “I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.” ~ Jimmy Dean   “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” ~ Mahatma Ghandi   ” Never let the odds keep you from doing what you know in your heart you were meant to do.” ~ H Jackson Brown Jr    “At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want.” ~Lao Tzu    “When you’re trying to motivate yourself, appreciate the fact that you’re even thinking about [...]

The Sun is shining, the sun is shining, the sun is shining and it’s here to stay…FINALLY!!!  After a long winter, May has arrived and brought the sun along with it. Phew, thank goodness. With a busy body toddler and just as busy dog the rainy cold and sometimes snowy days inside were beginning to get extremely long. Another month of crappy weather, this momma would have lost her mind as it surely felt I was close to it some days. Living in Canada this is to be expected but come on? it’s May already! enough with the snow and -0 degree weather.  Sun shining, temperature cool meant the team of us packed up and off we went for a grande adventure. Here are a few snapshots of our day. [...]

Constant nose blowing, pressure in my eyes and temporal region, inability to swallow without feeling like my ears are going to pop and the relentless postnasal drip at the back of my throat all summarize what this momma endured this weekend. Seeing as this was the first weekend of absolute weather bliss I managed to combat the worst of the sinus stuffiness in only 24 hours…yay natural home remedy fix-its equals time to play outside. Here are 5 ways I blasted out the stuffiness from my sinuses. Neti Pot What better way to unclog the mucous built up in the sinuses than by blasting it out using a Neti Pot. When you are feeling like it’s hellish to breathe some nasal irrigation to clear the nasal passage may be necessary.  [...]

Momma confession: Lately I’ve been in the slump regarding my workouts. All I’ve wanted to do is leave work, rest and lay on the couch. However as a momma that doesn’t happen. I can blame the weather since its still feels like winter here. The cold and rainy days with the surprise snowfalls in April has really put a snag on my Spring get-up-and-run outdoors routine. But unfortunately the weather is not to blame, I fell into the “poor momma” slump for a couple of weeks. Various reasons for the ‘slump’ but I have to say that continuously being the “rescuer” in every situation that arises has pushed me over the edge to wanting to be the “victim” for once. I didn’t do the “victim” role very well as it [...]

We all know as the we age our body undergoes many changes. Visible changes to our skin with wrinkles, our hair changing texture and color or just stops growing and features like our noses and ears become larger. Along with these external changes there are internal changes as well that are vast and inevitable. Our bones begin to lose density, our circulatory system begins to lose its elasticity, our organs start working less efficiently and our joints begin creaking and feeling less mobile, just to name a few.  These age related issues are part of life however with a healthy lifestyle they can most certainly be slowed down. Hopefully these inspirational stories will help get you thinking differently at the number of candles on your cake. Instead, they will help [...]

Buckle up and get your running shoes on and water bottle ready for this 4 minute Tabata Workout.  What is a Tabata workout? A Tabata workout is a high intensity interval training (HIIT) routine founded in Japan by Professor Izumi Tabata. It involves 20 seconds of intense bursts exercise followed immediately by 10 seconds of rest for a total of 8 rounds (4 minutes). Studies have shown that Tabata workouts bursts of intensity with short rests impacts not on the aerobic system but the anaerobic system as well. +++Bonus+++Just in case you were wondering. Our aerobic system requires oxygen to serve as a catalyst for the muscles (heart included) to function. This is the system along with other variables that supply our body to endure a long steady state when [...]

Welcome to the It’s A Zoo Out There Event   Bloggers coming together for a fundraiser event for Liam, read a bit about his story here: http://goo.gl/1if6U Make sure to take a moment to visit our very special hosts: Mom to Bed by 8, Children Teaching Mama, MI Savings Mama, My UnEntitled Life, Simply Sherryl, Blog by Donna, Behavioral Child, Growing Up Bilingual, A Bird And A Bean, The Empowered Momma, Couponing for Freebies, Stay a Stay at Home Mom, Free N Clear, Barbara’s beat, My Devotional Thoughts and Giveaway Bandit. The Zoo Park Bounce House and Ball Pit features a unique animal zoo theme, with animal graphics both inside and out, The bouncer has two slides, a bounce area, ball pit, and a ball hoop. The second slide leads [...]