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Him…

Less than a year after losing my husband and just a month or so after finding myself I met someone that was different than the others.  With most came a lot of noise and chest puffing, talking about what makes them a man or “look at all of my stuff.” He was none of those things.  He was “just a guy.” He had an entire tribe of kids (like me), so I felt a little more at ease. I mean telling a guy that you have six children is a little scary.  We talked about A/C and heating units.  He warned me that he wasn’t some big “rich guy” that wanted to be a sugar daddy. (Thank goodness he did that..lol). From the first time I heard his voice I was drawn to him.  It was the tone. It still is the tone.  I didn’t give a damn what his income was.  I still don’t (but he does just fine for himself if you’re curious).  I don’t and never have judged a man by the size of his paycheck.  I judge a man by the way he treats animals, babies and other people when you’re out in public.

See the thing is, I liked him. He was fun and he made me laugh in a way I never thought I would ever laugh again.  He seemed to understand me like no one else ever had. I was no longer sad when I was with him.  He gave me new things to get excited about and made me forget just how broken my heart had been. So, I started spending a lot of time with him. I never expected to fall in love with him and it wasn’t until a forced break that I realized just how much his presence in my life has affected me.

I don’t know a lot about what the future holds, but these are some of the things I am hoping for:

That for him, I am enough. He is for me.
That he will become protective of my heart like I am of his.
That I will get to spend the rest of my life learning and growing with him.

Being A Widow….

Being a widow has affected me in more ways that I had ever imagined.  From navigating my financial situations, children, and friendships to how I deal with the world in general.  It’s been a whirlwind of change and challenges that I had never imagined I would be dealing with at the age of 47.  I mean, at 47, you’re supposed to be sending babies off to college and getting ready to embark on the next phase of life, not planning to start all over because the person you were planning the future with unexpectedly passed away.  But that is exactly where I am.

People understand the obvious parts of widowhood…

The lost connection to someone that you were so close to…the new financial strain…the unimaginable grief. What people don’t see is how the absence of that person affects EVERY SINGLE aspect of your life.  Losing your best friend in the entire universe is probably the most unimaginable pain possible.  The ache you get deep in your soul when reality sets in that you will never see them in this life again is almost soul crushing. what was even more painful was the fact that I never dreamed about him. Maybe once, I dreamed about him, but my children dream about him all the time. I used to think I was being punished because I never saw him.  Now I believe it’s a blessing.  I believe that he is at peace. I knew the kind of man he was and I knew from the conversations he and I had that he fully expected me to keep moving forward in life.

Now, before you pass judgement let me first say that I believe that we come here with a purpose…every single one of us.  I believe we have other souls to touch and lessons to learn in order to grow as spiritual beings.   I believe that those of us that crave enlightenment choose to come here.  We get to see “our story” play out and we understand that there will be growth with what we choose to go through…then we’re born and our memory is wiped clean. We live these lives and affect those closest to us while learning along the way.  When we complete our journey here, we get to go home to either ascend or come back to relearn what didn’t take the first time.  Everyone we meet, we meet for a reason. There is no random happenstance. Everything in this world is cause and effect.

Now back to the moving forward part….One day I woke up and felt free from all of the guilt that I had felt for not being able to save him.  With that, a weight lifted, and I realized that I was ready to find a “friend to go to the movies with and maybe snuggle with.”  It gets really lonely sleeping alone after sharing a bed with someone for almost 22 years.  Forget the intimacy, just the warm body and someone to be there.  I think that’s why I chose to do what I did.  I reconnected with an old boyfriend.  It was never romantic. Not because I didn’t want it, but because he didn’t. It feels embarrassing to say that, but I was so desperate to feel needed that I allowed myself to be taken advantage of and not in THAT way.  Honestly, I didn’t know what I wanted, other than to be needed by a man.  That was a mess that caused so much conflict between me and my children and was so completely unnecessary…but grief makes you do stupid things.  I finally realized that what I needed was not to be needed, but I needed to grieve what I lost and what would never be in order to move forward with my life.

The night I let it all go was hard but cathartic.  It was then that I was able to see clearly. I knew I still had a mountain ahead of me, but I also knew that I was capable of climbing it all on my own. I took back my power and started to take care of myself again.  I found my center and started making plans for a future for myself.  I have spent my whole life solving my own problems, why was this one any different…and it wasn’t.

Less than a year after Allen passed, I met someone.  Some people think it was too soon, some expected it, and others knew it would happen but didn’t know when (even though I swore I would never). Navigating widowhood is hard enough without those who have never lost a spouse passing judgement for when you believe someone should allow their heart to love again.  This phase of life is hard enough without those on the outside telling us how they believe we should grieve and when is an appropriate time to move forward…what if your heart makes that decision for you?

Whether it’s love life, personal choices, socialization or financial matters, or really anything related to losing a spouse…if you’ve never been there, please never presume to know how you would deal with what we are dealing with…I promise you; you wouldn’t do it like you think you would and it is nothing like losing a friend, parent, sibling, or even a child. These are all very different experiences.

As a widow, I am asking that maybe you show a little more compassion and a little less judgement.

Wow! It’s been a minute…..

I cannot remember the last time I wrote a blog post. It’s been a couple of years, I’m sure! So much has happened in the past few years, most notably the loss of my husband. He was my rock, my anchor, and my biggest cheerleader. I just knew I could do anything and get through or around any obstacle as long as he was by my side. He knew how to push me to reach goals and set even bigger ones, so when he died I felt lost. While it took a few months for me to get my bearings, I realized that what he saw in me was my own power and strength and resilience shining through. It just took losing him for me to understand that I am capable of so much more than I ever knew and that my strength didn’t come from him, but from within me.
This past year and a half has been full of changes, some good and some bad. When you’re grieving, sometimes you make some poor choices. You choose to do things because they keep you from dealing with the grief, however grief will come anyway and you will inevitably have to deal with it, a lesson I had to learn the hard way. I finally had to let the grief in. You cannot spend half of your life with someone and not “deal with the loss.” Until you do, there is no moving forward and there is no way you could possibly open your heart again.

Let me tell you, when grief rears its ugly head, it’s a bear. (I wanted to use a more colorful word, but bear will work just fine.) I will never forget the night I let it all go, the night I let myself feel all of the loss and sadness and dreams that were never going to come to fruition. The anniversaries we’d never share, the birthdays we’d never celebrate, the grandkids we’d never get to spoil together and the vacation destinations we’d never explore.  It was a lot to process, and it’s something you have to process alone. No one else can do it for you. I think I cried until I was unable to cry any more tears. The next morning, after 2 hours of sleep, I washed my face, pulled myself together, put on my big girl panties and went to work. I looked and felt like hammered poo, but I went.  It was that morning when I realized that I was ready to pick myself up and start living my “new” life. My life “after Allen.”

For those that have walked through this kind of grief, they will understand that there is a “before” and an “after,”  before the loss when you are oblivious to almost everything around you and the little things annoy the snot out of you and after the loss when you are hyper aware of every little thing you took for granted. Losing your spouse changes you. Some people swear off the idea of ever dating again, some prefer to live in the pain, some jump right into a new relationship and others don’t know what they want or just want to not be lonely AND heartbroken. Once I was ready, I chose to dip my feet in the dating pool waters originally looking for just someone to hang out with. Ugh! What a disaster that turned out to be. After being in a happily committed monogamous relationship for 20+ years where I felt truly loved, seen and cared for…(and vice versa) I was not looking forward to entering this new chapter, with all of these “situationships” and “throuples” and open relationships and whatever else new buzz word was attached to the newest dating trend. But guess what I did? I jumped in. I talked to my share of guys through text or over the phone and just as quickly as I started the conversation, I would end it. I absolutely abhorred the idea of dating and the selection just stunk! (Self absorbed, gym rats, guys who wanted to show you “their goods 🤢🤮,” guys who just wanted a hook up, and so many other things that are such a turn off.) I’ve never been a serial dater so nothing about meeting new men who just wanted to “hook up” appealed to me. After a couple of months I gave up but a conversation with my massage therapist pushed me to one last dating app…

While I still hate online dating with a passion, I did meet someone.  I’m not going into any details, but right now…it’s going well. We do have those moments where we have a blast together. He can make me laugh so hard that my stomach hurts and there are moments that he makes me forget just how broken I was a year ago. Sometimes, I let myself see a future with him.  I do love him….the life I have built with him is much different than I had before but then again, I am much different, but I am happy.
Like I am sure that I have said before, this magnitude of loss changes you.  I have found that I am much stronger than I ever knew I was. I am capable of so much more than I ever thought and I am resilient. I am on this new journey. It’s scary and exciting and full of challenges. I am living life on my terms. I am pushing myself to be the best version of me. I am doing my best to treat every person I meet with love, kindness and compassion. I smile at everyone I meet, because why not? I take pictures of everyone and everything, because the world is beautiful and someday the memories are all we will have left.

If there is one thing I want people to remember about me when I’m gone, it’s that I loved fiercely, lived life to the fullest (without hurting others), and that I left every soul I touched better than I found them.

Eating Healthy on a Budget – Week Four

Sorry everyone, I have been out of town and have gotten a little behind…oops! I’m back though, and ready to rock n’ roll!!  This week we are going to talk about where to buy this healthier food…..

While going to health food stores would be more ideal, sometimes we only have the conventional stores close by, so what do we do??  First…whip out your “dirty dozen list.” You can find it here on the Environmental Working Groups’s Website.  This list contains the top 12 foods that contain the highest levels of pesticides based on annual testing.  These are the foods that I highly recommend that you find an organic replacement for!  If you start your switch there, you are getting the most bang for your buck; healthy nutrient dense foods that are less contaminated by pesticides when purchased organic. There is also a “Clean 15” list which contains the the 15 least contaminated foods.  These food items can be purchased conventionally. Many of these foods contain thicker skins/rinds that the pesticides cannot penetrate, leaving the flesh on the inside pesticide free.

2018 EWG Dirty Dozen

  1. Strawberries
  2. Spinach
  3. Nectarines
  4. Apples
  5. Grapes
  6. Peaches
  7. Cherries
  8. Pears
  9. Tomatoes
  10. Celery
  11. Potatoes
  12. Sweet Bell Peppers

 

So, Where do you go to purchase higher quality lower pesticide contaminated food????  Locally, I have several options….I have Farmer’s Markets, “Pick Your Own” Farms, Local Small Farms, and CSAs.
Let’s start with the Farmer’s Market. Our local Farmer’s Market is open spring, summer, and fall on Saturday mornings from 8:30 to noon.  I absolutely LOVE my farmer’s markets!  I love strolling through the stalls on a Saturday morning, buying the fresh products (many picked fresh that morning) and visiting with the vendors.  I ask questions and they are usually more than happy to tell me all about their farms and growing practices.  It’s wonderful conversing with the people who actually grow your food.  The prices are reasonable as well!  Be mindful though, sometimes you have vendors that ship in produce from other areas of the world or country that are not locally produced or in season.  I usually steer clear of these stalls.  After all, I am looking for local fresh produce that is in season!

 

Another great option is the “Pick Your Own” Farm . These farms are so much fun and can be an exciting outing and learning experience for your kiddos.  We like the local blueberry farm! By choosing to pick your own, you are sharing in the workload and can stock up on enough blueberries to freeze and use throughout the year for a fraction of what you would pay at the grocery store! Berries are the most common “Pick Your Own” product, but there are other fruits and vegetables out there as well.

Small Local Family Run Farms are almost everywhere and offer so many local organic options.  Many of these farmers use farming, planting and harvesting practices passed down for generations, way before the introduction of GMO’s and heavy chemical pesticides!  Visiting these farms allows you to see, first hand, how these farmers care for their farms and gives you the confidence to know that what you are buying for your family’s consumption was grown and raised with love!

 

CSAs are, hands down, one of the best ways to purchase directly from a local farmer.  CSAs or a Community Supported Agriculture agreement benefits both the farmer and consumer through the purchase of shares from a farmer though a predetermined season.  This partnership gives the farmers confidence that they have buyers for their produce and gives the consumer confidence that they are being provided locally grown healthy food weekly or monthly for the growing season.  There are so many different types of CSAs available these days!  They have come a long way!  Now you can join Summer CSAs which usually run from spring through fall, Herb CSAs that provide herbs or herbal preparations, Winter CSAs for

 

hearty winter vegetables, and for meat lovers there are also Meat CSAs.

With so many local options, it’s super easy to use your local grocery store as a place to run just for emergency last minute supplies!  Eating healthier is much easier than one could possibly imagine and very cost effective once you know where to look.  So go ahead and start searching your area for local farms, farmer’s markets and CSAs.  You’ll be pleasantly surprised just how many of these little gems you might find…and the food tastes so much more amazing when it’s that fresh!

Eating Healthy On a Budget (Week Three)

In order to enact real change, we need to start eliminating processed foods from our diets. We need to, in turn start buying ingredients to make real food. I know, I know…quick easy prep meals make for less time in the kitchen, but processed foods are full of junk! To make matters worse, if you try to replace the conventional processed foods with organic processed foods, the prices seem to skyrocket. Here’s a secret, while organically processed foods don’t contain the pesticide laden ingredients that can be found in conventional processed foods, they are still devoid of many nutrients the body needs. So, processed foods in general should be avoided.

Making this change can be really frustrating in the beginning.  At times it seems as though the grocery store has very little in the way of food when you eliminate processed pre-made or easy prep meals. Start buying the ingredients that you need to make your favorite meals. Preparing these foods at home is actually healthier and eliminates the nasty additives that are needed to preserve prefab meals. Not only will this change benefit your health, but it will also save your pocketbook cutting back substantially on your grocery bill!

So where do you start? Look at your current prepackaged meals. Read the ingredients and start writing them down. For example instead of buying pre-made cookie dough, choose instead to write down chocolate chips, butter, eggs, flour, sugar, vanilla extract…. You can actually make large batches and freeze for later use. The savings over the long term are significant!  You can also read the packages of your favorite remade pizzas, pastas, far east inspired meals, and many other boxed dinners.  Write down the ingredients lists that you will need to make these healthier options.  You might actually be surprised at how much better the food will taste!

Another change that should be made on your next grocery list, is the elimination of non-beneficial items.  Items such as sugary drinks and snacks with no beneficial nutrients.  Sodas, flavored milks, and juices should be the first to go.  Instead, replace these items with good clean water, whole fruit and veggie smoothies, and herbal teas.

As you work towards healthier options, slowly start refining your grocery lists to contain more ingredients and less premade meals.  Work to remove quick sugary pick me ups with fresh fruit (to lengthen shelf life just freeze them).  Baby steps help you not only make the changes but stick to them!

Be Mindful of Your Thoughts, Emotions, Beliefs, and Feelings…

Toxic emotions, thoughts, beliefs and feelings can wreak havoc on our emotional and physical health, and I am speaking from experience.  Trying to stuff them down doesn’t help either.  They have a tendency to rear their ugly head at the most inopportune times and can mess up our whole day (sometimes even our whole week).  They can lower our vibrational energy, which in turn lowers our immunity and makes us more susceptible to physical ailments not to mention all of the negative mental/emotional issues that these toxic thoughts can manifest.  Just because something unfavorable happens in our lives does not mean we have to continue to drown in that very unhappy place.  Instead, we need to seek mental clarity and process these negative

emotions, allowing us to grieve and be angry.  Then, when the time is right, learn to let go and find a place of peace.
No one’s life is perfect. It’s part of the human condition to suffer loss and grow.  This is where things can go wrong.  Sometimes we lose ourselves. It’s not uncommon after an emotionally traumatic event, that we just stop…stop trying, stop growing, stop caring.  These are unhealthy responses.  In order to come back to a place of peace, we must learn to process these traumatizing events, learn from them and grow into an even stronger version of ourselves.  We have to learn to let go of control (a very difficult one for me).  Many things in our lives are beyond our control and the sooner we learn that, the better off we will be.  We only have control over what we do and how we let a situation affect us.  We cannot control the way the world does things.  We cannot control the actions of others.  Instead we have to learn to accept what is and completely forgive those that have hurt us.  It doesn’t mean we have to allow others to continue to cause us emotional turmoil.  In fact, if these individuals only bring more toxicity into our lives, it’s best to keep our distance and if need be “love them from afar.”  They clearly have their own toxic garbage to work through.  It doesn’t mean that we don’t wish them well, send them positive thoughts or pray for them; it just means that we have got to keep our own space healthy and positive.

Replace Anger and Hatred with with Forgiveness, Love, Peacefulness, and Mercy.  Replace Sadness with Happiness, Cheerfulness, and TenacityAbandonment can be replaced with feeling Cherished, Precious, or Cared For.
Try daily affirmations replacing negative thoughts with positive thoughts.
For example:

Instead of “I am angry“….

“I am forgiving.”
“I am loving.”
“I am merciful.”

Instead of “I feel abandoned“…

“I feel cherished.”
“I feel loved.”
“I feel cared for.”

Learning to feel positive and replace these negative emotions with positive emotions can and will help improve our emotional and physical being.  Learning to move into a place of love can have a profound effect on anyone.

If you are interested in learning more, I suggest purchasing the books Feelings Buried Alive Never Die by Karol Truman and Conquering Toxic Emotions by Rhonda Favano.  Both are amazing books available on Amazon that can help you navigate your way back into a healthy mindset.

Eating Healthy on a Budget Series (Week Two)

Did you know that prior to the invention of the modern refrigerator in the early 1900s, seasonal eating was the norm.  As there was no way to preserve many foods (other than salting and canning) most foods had to be consumed as they were harvested.

This seasonal way of eating isn’t a bad thing!  Foods consumed at their ripest point are the most nutrient dense and provide us with more nutrition than foods that are harvested too early, late, or foods that sit on shipping t

rucks and containers for days or weeks. The longer it takes to get foods from the farm to the table the more nutrients they lose, this makes buying in season locally a wonderful choice, ensuring that we are giving our bodies the most nutrient dense fuel available!

Eating with the seasons just makes sense.  Take a moment to think about it…

In the summertime, the most abundant foods are the ones that promote hydration; watermelon, cantaloupes, cucumbers, berries and tomatoes all have high water content that help to keep us from dehydrating on hot summer days.  These wonderful fruits and veggies also require little, if any preparation other than washing and slicing.
During the autumn months, foods such as squash, potatoes, beets, parsnips, carrots, and apples are in season.  These fruits and vegetables have a much longer shelf life than those grown in the summer months and can be combined to make soups and stews to warm us during the fall and winter months.  They also have a tendency to slightly increase body fat, which would have been a huge benefit back in the pioneer days before modern heating.  Many of the harvested autumn fruits and vegetables will last through winter and help to provide much needed vitamins and minerals to hold us over until spring.
Spring is full wonderfully nutrient dense greens such as kale, arugula, spinach, asparagus, dandelion greens and lettuce.  These green foods offer incredible liver support and help to detoxify the body of the indoor air pollution (much more toxic than outdoor) as well as helping to aid in the shedding of stored water weight.
Before you know it, it’s summer again and the cycle starts all over…

 

So for those who are new to this way of eating, where do you start? How do you know what is in season and what isn’t? Hit up your local farmer’s market.  When you buy locally grown food, you will find it in abundance there!  It’s usually much less expensive too!  Don’t have a farmer’s market?  Take a trip to your local grocery store and look for produce that is on sale.  This is usually a good indicator that the foods are grown locally and in abundance making their prices lower (less transportation costs and more competition).   For those that are really adventurous, plant your own garden and enjoy the fruits of your labor.  Regardless of how you choose to start, you can afford to eat healthier…it’s a mindset and a lifestyle.  What are you waiting for?

Changing how you view food and how you eat is done in baby steps.  Easing into a real foods lifestyle will help you stick to the positive changes you are making with less burn out.  I teach an in depth course on the subject and help my clients not only see food in a healthier way but we work together to help them continue to implement these changes in their lives with recipes and weekly accountability check ins.  For more information please email me through our contact page.

Tip: Buy berries locally in bulk from local berry farms in the summer and freeze to us throughout the year.

Eating Healthy on a Budget Series (Week One)

Week One….

It has been my experience that many people want to eat a healthier diet, but they just don’t know where to start.  With the artificial inflation of food items, the “crap filled” food is much less expensive than the healthier alternatives, and seems to be the first hurdle.  The second would be how we think of food.  In our modern society, we have this mindset that we not only need meat with every meal, but that this meat needs to be the largest food portion on our plates.  However, this has not always been the case. Historically, meats were luxuries that were only afforded during celebrations.  Most meals are heavy on vegetables that were in season.  The key is to live like a historical working class peasant; someone who only buys refined treats for special holidays and celebrations.  On most days, opt for a vegetable heavy diet without a need for meat with every meal.

*Learn to eat realistic portions.  Eat until you are satisfied, not until you are bursting at the seams.

*Only buy what your family will eat for the week,  don’t overstock and don’t cook more than your family will eat.

*Always stock the basics that you will use in multiple recipes and meals to avoid mad last minute dashes to the grocery store.

*Learn how to substitute missing ingredients with ones you have on hand.

Challenge for the week:

This weekend, empty out your cabinets, fridge, and pantry and place it all on the kitchen table.  See what items you already have and make a list of meals you could make.  If you are missing one or two ingredients, make a secondary list to take to the grocery store.  After you sort through what you have and what you need to complete those meals, take your grocery list and purchase ONLY those needed items to complete your meal planning for that week or two weeks.  You’ll be surprised just how much money and food you will save!

Sleep? What’s That? Ways to Reset Your Sleep Clock.

Trouble getting enough sleep? Circadian Rhythm out of sync?  Suffering from insomnia?  Do any of these sound like you?  Looking for natural ways to recharge and reset?

Are you getting enough quality sleep?  8 hours is the recommended amount of sleep needed for a healthy adult to function properly.  However, did you know that science has proven that the more sleep you get before midnight, the better.  That’s because the sleep you get before midnight is more likely to be deeper, restorative non-REM sleep.  Getting to bed earlier will allow you to get more restful sleep.  Our bodies naturally respond to light and dark.  When the sun goes down our bodies naturally start to produce melatonin, wind down and tell our brains to seek rest.  When the sun comes up our bodies begin to produce cortisol which tells the body to wake up, be alert and productive.  With the invention of artificial light, our bodies have been tricked into thinking it is daylight, when it is actually dark outside, boosting cortisol and reducing the production of melatonin, making it much harder to get restful sleep.  These artificial sources of light; cell phones, computers, tablets, and TVs, can emit more cortisol stimulating light rays than the actual sun…yikes!!  Knowing that these devices can suppress the production of the sleep inducing hormone melatonin, makes playing on your phone just before bed a bad idea that is bound to lead to insomnia or at the very least, less restful sleep.  Just an FYI…humans aren’t meant to be nocturnal creatures.  We are actually diurnal, and meant to be awake during the day.  None of us are actually “night people,” technology and artificial light have made us this way.
So, how do we reset our internal clocks?  Studies show that going camping for just one week, in nature, without any electronic devices can and has successfully turned “night owls’ into “early birds.”  It’s a relaxing and wonderful way to reset your body and improve your sleep schedule and overall health.

Additionally, you can use essential oils such as, Tranquil, Rutavala, Lavender, Cedarwood, or StressAway by Young Living in a massage on the feet and crown of your head to help prepare you for a good night’s sleep.  Try drinking some warm almond, cashew, or coconut milk then sprinkle with ground nutmeg, cinnamon and cardamom to help support healthy digestion and restful sleep. Another option would be to turn off electronic devices an hour before bedtime to give your body time to wind down and prepare to rest. And, if you’re really feeling adventurous, try an electricity-free weekend at home.  Using only candlelight to light the house and turn off all electronic devices.

The easiest way to start implementing these changes to improve our sleep is through gradual modification.  Try going to bed 30 minutes early for the first week. By week two move that back another 30 minutes.  Make it a goal to be in bed between 9:00 and 9:30pm and asleep by 10:00pm.  Your body will thank you!

Become One With Nature

Did you know that being in nature is a natural stress reliever?  Studies have shown that spending time in forests and other green areas can be therapeutic to the soul and lower stress levels.  According to research, Muscle tension, stress hormones, blood pressure and heart rate all decrease much more rapidly in natural settings.  Being in nature has a calming effect on the mind and helps us to unwind, promoting a sense of serenity.   It boosts our natural production of serotonin and increases positive emotions including our ability to show empathy.

Getting outside boosts your vitamin D levels.  Vitamin D is responsible for boosting immunity and lowering your risk of various diseases.

Go outside and take in some fresh air.  Although there is air pollution outside, there is far more air pollution indoors and it poses an even greater risk to your health. Some of these risks include heart disease, bronchitis, asthma, and lung cancer.

Have you ever heard of grounding or earthing?  It’s the process of making direct contact with the earth. Studies have shown that grounding (earthing) can lower your inflammation levels, reduce chronic pain, speed up the healing process, and reduce the effects of aging. There are dozens of companies out there that sell products (mats and shoes) that make it more convenient to ground ourself, however, I still prefer the good old fashioned way of going barefoot.

So, If you’re feeling down in the dumps, get outside and go for a walk, or sit by a stream, or on a rock.  Walk barefoot in the grass or in the sand. Take a few deep breaths and relax, listen to the birds and the wind in the treetops.  Most importantly, just get outside!