 An Old World plant found commonly in Europe, Africa and Asia, chicory was introduced to the Americas and Australia where it flourished.
With common names such as coffee weed, horseweed, bachelor's buttons, wild endive, blue dandelion or even blue daisy, the woody perennial (an herbaceous member of the Asteraceae family) features bright blue flowers and is often found gracing our roadways and open fields. Since each part of the plant (leaves, roots and buds) provide benefits, chicory has been cultivated for livestock and human consumption. Throughout Europe, along with parts of Asia, South Africa and the southern US (New Orleans), the root is ground into a powder and used either as a coffee substitute or blended with coffee due to its robust flavor. Additionally, chicory is often added to stouts by breweries, enhancing the beer's coffee-like flavor. With 20% of the RDA of vitamins K, A, C, several Bs along with fair amounts of manganese and calcium, the leaves are often added to salads. You may be more familiar with the cultivated varieties like radicchio and Belgian endive. HISTORY Use of the ancient herb dates back to 1 AD when the physicians Dioscurides (Greek) and Plinius (Roman) made notes of chicory used as medicinal plants to aid digestion, support the liver and address inflammation. However, it wasn't until the Renaissance when "recipes" for its use began being documented (quantities, ratios, cooking methods, etc.). According to the National Library of Medicine, "Chicory is mentioned in almost every pharmacopeia written in the 16th and 17th centuries by influential botanists and physicians of the time... In their recipes, all plant parts were used: roots, leaves, stems, flowers, seeds, and the milky juice." Unfortunately, as allopathic medicine took hold, the plant faded from books and use. BENEFITS With high levels of the fiber inulin (68%), chicory is a wonderful pre-biotic that helps grow the gut's good bacteria, nourishing the entire digestive tract, reducing heartburn and constipation. The fiber also makes chicory "heart healthy", lowering "bad cholesterol" (LDL). Research into both human and livestock uses are just beginning to reveal what our ancestors benefited from by incorporating this plant into their daily lives. Research shared on WebMD lists benefits ranging from increased essential mineral absorption (reducing risk of osteoporosis) to reducing risks of liver disorders, inflammation of the skin, even cancer. From "food for the sick", anti-inflammatory applications to its addition to cosmetics, chicory has a long, rich history in common culture and medical practices. Today, it is being re-discovered by the allopathic community and researched for the very properties relied on by holistic healers and native elders for centuries. I just received my first bag of RYZE Chicory (blended with super shrooms) and look forward to experiencing the benefits! Have you tried this ancient herb? Drop your thoughts in the comments! For more information or with questions, email [email protected]. Be sure to follow me on Insta & Facebook @NourishedPath and explore abundant living at nourishedpath.net!
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Good griefI’ve sat with grief long enough in life to know it’s the cavernous echos of love. In those deep hollowed spaces lurk panic and fear. Still. Be still with it. Breathe while the silence rings in your ears. When the ache resonates in your chest. Be still with it. Let it take you…at least some of the time…let it take you under. Into the dark side of love…the loss. What do you see? Your darkness, doubt and light. What do you feel? The ache where love once danced for joy. What do you know? That life, whether we want it to or not, does go on. It’s a cruel truth, the harsh reality. But, also the quiet reassurance found in the promise of the rainbow, the return of sunshine after the storm. The peace that trickles into the pain after a good cry. A chuckle or smile that slips through with a memory. Life is a cycle — inherently paired with endings… birth, growth, death, renewal. So, I sit with my grief. Rage at it. Speak to it. Hold its hand even as it pulls me apart from my loved ones…even from myself. I breathe with it riding my shoulders. Flooding my mind. Creeping in on my laughter. I allow it. I make space at the table of life for death…grief and all its guests. Why? Because it knocks on all our doors, floods our hearts, upends our lives like an uninvited houseguest that even if asked will not leave. It is. Like love just IS. We cannot hide long from love or loss. Both finds us. Break us open. Whether that fissure drains us dry or reveals something new is really up to us. The hope is a good death. A good life and good grief. Can you make space for this? DM for practical support. Reiki. Healy. Being heard. I don't want to hustle I don’t want to hustle. I want to ALIGN with my passion to live my purpose in prosperity: health, love, joy, money.
And, I’m looking for other quirky souls to join me in creating a community where we value your uniqueness even as we recognize we are all One. Heart-led leaders who know personal sovereignty includes body, mind, spirit & energy (yes, $$$ is also energy)… LIFE! Where work feels like synchronistic & energizing Service (to Self, Source & others)… A quantum space where passion intermingles with play & YOU get to decide what prosperity & freedom mean to YOU. Where our individual skills & abilities form a synergistic force of change. Together, we not only Rise, we raise the frequencies & vibrations of all we encounter. I believe in miracles…let’s Be One! Email to learn more: [email protected].  What's a Healy™?
Healy™ is a small, wearable microcurrent frequency device that marries science, health, spirituality and technology to support the body, mind and spirit. Designed to help people live healthy, fulfilled and conscious lives. What follows is this blog, as well as future posts, is an overview of the device, including a bit about how it works and the benefits of incorporating it into your healthy lifestyle:
*While the microcurrent aspect of Healy is contraindicated for the above, individuals may be able to use the Coil (purchased separately), run the Healy without Coil or electrodes, or use the HealAdvisor Analyze app which works through the quantum field to scan and sends frequencies, to enjoy the benefits of the Healy. Please check with a healthcare provider or contact Healy Support for more info. RETURN POLICY: 14 days. Learn more: email to [email protected], or visit https://bit.ly/HealyNP.  What Reiki Can Do
Reiki works with the energetic, physical and emotional aspects of an individual (animal, plant, space or situation) to address imbalances on all levels – body, mind and spirit. Reasons you may want to experience a Reiki session: • General balancing • Clearing emotional blocks • Physical pain • Increasing clarity • Facing life challenges *The healing energy is your own and goes where it is needed. It is a benevolent energy. Reiki is holistic in its approach and works on both the symptoms experienced by an individual or animal, as well as the root cause of the imbalance. It focuses your energy to go where your body-mind needs it to go, how it needs to go, when and for how long your innate wisdom deems necessary. Reiki helps to restore the body’s natural ability to heal and create balance. How to know if Reiki is right for you If you have a nagging feeling that something in your life, body or mind is out of balance, or feel like you are struggling within yourself and your environment, Reiki may be for you! The fact that you are reading this may be the sign that your ready for healing and to experience the growth Reiki can offer. What to expect during a session A Reiki session is typically very relaxing for the client. The practitioner and client chat (or complete a form) to provide an idea of the intention for the session (area or issues to be addressed) and help to monitor progress over sessions. Once any questions have been answered, the client lays down in a comfortable position on the back, fully clothed, and relaxes. During the session, the practitioner places their hands above various parts of the client's body, being guided by Reiki’s sequential positions and client's body-mind. You may experience sensations (sights, sounds, smells, tingles or heat) or nothing at all. There is no "typical" way to experience the healing energy. At the end of the session, the client and practitioner can discuss the experience together for maximum benefit (this is completely up to the client). Typically, I do remote Reiki, especially when working with animals. The process can allow for deeper relaxation as you/the animal is in a familiar surrounding. It simply needs to be a quiet place where you will not be interrupted for 60 minutes (typical session length). I do recommend drinking plenty of filtered water after a session and will provide you with any insights, suggestions and thoughts when we are done (typically written and then we can follow-up with a call as needed). For animals, the process is very similar to a person's remote/distance session and I strongly encourage clients to provide 24-hour access to clean water after a session. Again, I will provide insights and answer questions to help you support your pet. While what I do is based on Dr. Usui's core Reiki principles, it may not be the same as a session you've had with another practitioner as we all work with how we are guided by your energy and our intuition. If you'd like to learn more, or schedule a session, please email [email protected]!  Unbeknownst to me until my 30s, I've been dappling in yoga all my life...stretching my body to get free from my mind, repeating self-made mantras, tuning-in with certain phrases/sounds.
My first foray into “official” yoga was writing and doing PR for an internationally known yogi. Part of my pay was getting to attend a teacher training in Joshua Tree, CA. It was here that I realized while I didn’t know what I was doing, the I AM in me did. Issues cropped-up, traumas that I’d “dealt with” in counseling and been re-sealed started to crack open. I was physically ill much of the time I was there, emotionally drained, yet moving into an awareness that it was all not only “ok”, but meant to be. And, in a spur-of-the-moment situation, this yogi asked me to lead a section of the class. I nearly got tossed my last meal. Still, I was surrounded by the most amazing women who had been supporting me and so, like so many other times in my life when I’ve been thrown into the wilderness without a thoughtful clue, I did it. I eased onto the mat and started speaking and making-up terms for asanas and the group seemed to be following, even giggling (appropriately) as I talked about the mountain pretzel pose (reclining pigeon). When I finished there was silence. Panic set back in… until I saw smiles and heard them saying how I “belonged on the mat”, teaching, they saw the Light around me. I share this because I did NOT become a yoga teacher. After finding the perfect yoga teachers for me locally and sitting through a few teacher trainings, I decided that I needed yoga to be “mine” – my tool for healing, restoration, peace, grounding. Through Jamie Shane and Jessica Hesser, I discovered Kundalini yoga and awakened to more of my Self. I experienced the deepest moment listening to Jai Jagdeesh's In Dreams. I met healer Mystical Matthew who worked on me and when done I said, “Man, your hands got so hot” and he sweetly replied, “No, that was your energy.” I "saw" things/people that "weren't there" and then much of that faded away. But, other things came forward. I took Advanced Chemistry of Essential Oils, got Pn1 certified (nutrition) and completed certifications in Animal Reiki and as a Reiki Master. Still, I do PR, communications, events, etc. while also offering other "woo woo" services. It just is what it is. I tell you all this because we ALL are awakening to more of our Selves. Not our personalities, or beliefs, but a deeper Knowingness. There may not be full clarity in mind, but there is an expanse of Awareness as Source embodied as me, you, we. There are times I feel so disconnected. Meditation and things "don't work like they did in the past." I miss some of that woo. But, I was on the mat today when Jai Jagdeesh’s version of Ardas Bhaee came on and even as I was rolling around, my mind saw giant pillars of golden light rising out of the earth. Each pillar was someone…a network of Light across Ohio, the US, then the Ukraine, Russia and the world. Somehow, it was clear to me that WE are those pillars of iridescent white/golden light and that it is LOVE. Not some romantic, butterflies and pink hearts love. Rather, a white Bison moving steadfastly forward amid a blinding blizzard. Archangel Michael clearing entanglements with a sword of Truth. A Ganesh built like "The Rock" walking by our sides. We do NOT have to be a yogi, a coach, spiritual leader to Be the Change. We can devote our life to family, friends, work “outside the woo woo” and still BE the Light because, simply, we already ARE the Light. We already are the healers, gurus, sages and guides. We don’t have to Know more. We simply follow our Hearts and know wherever we are is exactly where we are supposed to be until we are moved, guided, led by our Hearts (or life) to be somewhere else. For some of us, this IS the path! And, as far as the mantra…Ardas Bhaee is literally the energy of miracles, healings and blessings…”The Prayer to answer all Prayers.” So, today, I go about my business "as usual" because THAT is my calling. Today, and every day, we ARE THE PILLARS OF LIGHT and our very presence is healing this planet and bringing the dawning of a new world. See the pillars rising and connecting as a network of circuits, like roots connecting the entire earth in the highest Love frequency and know that each day more pillars are lighting-up, "coming on-line", and more connections are being made. If we must hold on to anything, let us do our work holding onto Being Light – as Light as we can Be in such tumultuous, painful, fearful times. |
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I'm Mary Ann. I am a storyteller using skills, interests, education and experience to help others. Together, we'll explore your story and write a new ending for your journey along the nourished path. Categories
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