Welcome guest poster, Lyn Hicks, author and educator of health, well-being and green living
The green, local and feminine movement all represent the many avenues we have to nourish ourselves. Nurturing our health increases our well-being. I find them all to be inspiring to truly be aware of how we are moving in the world, supporting ourselves and the community in which we live. Honoring ourselves through quality choices, eliminating things that are harmful in our environment and giving our business to those companies who have the same thrust towards health is what these movements are about. Nurturing and nourishing our body, our families using this natural gift of woman, will only affect our larger community in a positive way.
Our Food
I approach green living as a lifestyle to find only the quality choices for my world that will enhance my well-being on all levels. The food I chose, of course, is going to build my physical body the best. Real food, less preservatives and artistic ways of preparing them are only going to delight me and supply my body with the optimal way to function. I think the food choice is the most important purchase we all make, for we do it 3 times a day and it is the source to build our cells and systems. Since we are comprised of nature, it seems to make sense that using nature’s bounty as close to the source will offer the best physical health. Our cells recognize real food over preservatives and flavorings. To me this is the most important money spent.
Our Homes and Bodies
Our sacred space of our home is the second most important choice about how to live green. It is the extension of our body, the places we rest and relax. Having quality ingredients in our products we put on our body seem paramount.
Our skin is the largest organ and absorbs many things into our system. Knowing I use the safest products that inspire me with lusciousness, lovely scents and textures seems easy enough. I enjoy using organic products on my body, giving me the heart felt sense of care, honoring myself in deliciousness can only bring well-being on all levels.
The products we use around our house affect our space. We know there are many toxic ingredients about us, so choices to limit and ultimately eliminate these only makes sense that our family and communities will be a better place to live. Little by little we can offer the safest place for ourselves to relax and rejuvenate.
Enjoy Nature
Enjoying engaging is nature is another simple choice to support ourselves to health. We vacation in nature for it offers us the highest in relaxation without doing much of anything else. We receive great healing on an atomic level, a break from all our technology that offers electromagnetic unbalance. Nature balances this with the opposing pole of energy, we can notice this clearly when we step outside and just breathe.
There is great science behind this, being outside is enough to know it supports us. We become present, receivers of beauty, it soothes and calms even the craziest mind. Supporting the parks, playgrounds and beaches only heals us. Understanding the healing power of the nature about us inspires our hearts to joyfully engage and keep it as a resource to well-being.
As an organic flower grower, I enjoy nature daily. It has taught me that this outside environment heals us all! Just deep breathing fresh oxygen is enough to support our bodies in health.
Community Environmentalism
There is the choice of artistic environmentalism, recycling our old products, clothes, toys and even glasses supporting our community with our waste. Rather than fill our landfills we can support others who may need helping hand as they go through a challenging time. It sings our heart to help another which can only bring health, a gift of community support, enriching our lives. Increasing our joy by supporting the larger world, knowing we are all connected is blessing of artistic environmentalism.
Alternative Medicine
Alternative medicine seems a great choice in well-being. Seeking support through healing plants, energies and processes that will support our mental, spiritual and emotional bodies. We support the health of our physical bodies by realizing we are more than just them. The influx of eastern practices in health, yoga, mindfulness all seem to be nourishing to our whole being. I consider these green practices based on using the gifts of healing mother nature. It makes sense and develops myself toward understanding the many parts of me that western medicine does not often remind me to notice.
I teach Tia Chi and Egyptian Dance classes here on the farm. These movements and medicine is ancient and has been proven for thousands of years. I am a fan of Indian Ayurvedic medicine and Tibetan healing as well. I trade flowers for monthly massages, chiropractic and reflexology treatments, and go the Russian Bathhouse for health. All these I consider part of my green lifestyle.
Supporting the local businesses, the neighbors in our town gives me a sense of belonging. When you walk into a store and they know you, it fuels your sense of connection. I feel good inside supporting store owners I like, keeping my town filled with people and products that will support our lives and health. Connecting with others is important in well-being, isolation is the start of illness. Green business choices connects me to others that honor our life and community, making our world a healthier place to live.
These are a few nourishing ways that we can go green by inspiring ourselves to engage our higher emotions in purchasing. We can trade goods and services with our health and wellness in mind supporting ourselves, our family and community. We generate feelings of connection to the larger world that I find creates health on many levels.
This lifestyle just makes sense to my deepest spirit so I inspired you to find ways to live more richly with what works for you. This is not a “have to” practice or a list of items to follow. Green living is a healing practice that inspires us all to know ourselves on deeper levels, returning to the simple principles of nourishing all around us. It feels good and we certainly could use more joy in each day.
I invite you to enjoy my book, The The Lotus Project: The Art of Being a Woman, alluring well-being and beauty through green living. Great ways to refresh how you view your life as artistry that this green movement so fuels!
Lyn Hicks is an author, educator of health, well-being and green living. Trained in Tia Chi Chuan, Aharaj Yoga, and ancient feminine cultures, she shares her yoga of living on her organic flower farm in Pennsylvania. A love of nature, beauty and grace inspires Lyn to share the power of feminine essence with other woman. Educating others to live in more connection with their bodies to allows our innate health system and intuition to strengthen. Her book, The Lotus Project: The Art of Being a Woman, offers alluring well-being and beauty through green living. Videos, blogs, and nature are all found at her website. Our collaboration together in power will create a more nourishing world!
Jannifer says
We always try to stress to people how it is not about having a green checklist but rather a lifestyle change. You have to be willing to change everything about your current lifestyle if you really want to go green. For some it can be quite the challenge.
Anna@GreenTalk says
Great point, Jannifer. I love the lifestyle change analogy. Anna
Lyn Hicks says
It is a lifestyle and contains many choices. We slowly do it ourselves as we learn and then offer ideas to others, especially local resources. The yoga of living!
Anna@Green Talk says
Lyn, absolutely. It can be so hard to slow down with so much going on in our lives. Anna