My beloved grandmother was content to sit on a porch for hours engaged in storytelling, while I struggled to remain still long enough to listen. Deeply aware of the special gift of her healthy and vibrant presence in my life, I promised myself to spend more time with her, listen more attentively, and put my own agenda aside in order to enjoy her company. Caught up in the rhythm of daily life and the intricacies of my youthful self-absorption, romantic woes, building a business and searching for Mr. Right, the years flew by and grandmas body began to break down. I now find myself missing her hugs, her unconditional adoration and the sound of her laughter with a longing that stings my soul.

During our weekly drives together to the traditional Sunday family suppers at my mothers home, grandma would delight in the details of my private life. Darling, what ever happened to that nice fellah you were dating she would ask with eager anticipation, and I would brush aside her heartfelt question, feeling like a fly under a microscope and yearning to be alone with my thoughts. I knew she could see straight through my eyes into the depths of my soul, and this feeling of transparency filled me with the urge to run and hide from her knowing glance.

One hot sunny day in mid-summer several years before she died, I decided to surprise grandma with an impromptu afternoon visit. I found her sitting at a public swimming pool next door to her apartment building trying to ease her loneliness by watching the children swim and play. In that rare moment of connection I was overcome with feelings of love and empathy for her. I now ask myself, why was it so difficult for me to sit still with her, to truly listen, to cast aside my own schedule and quiet my mind in order to enjoy those precious moments together?

My mother fought her own demons in the final years of caring for grandma. Can you believe I drove to 10 different stores trying to find the her the right kinds of onions and pantyhose! My mother would moan to me during one of our many gripe sessions involving grandmas highly specific requests. Well at least you didnt have to spend 45 minutes at the supermarket while she examined every single potato, I would reply with a snicker. Usually these conversations ended with laughter, but beneath the lighthearted banter was a shared understanding that grandma would not be with us forever.

What are the deepest voices of a womans soul, and why is it so difficult for us to stop the noise for long enough to listen? As I sit on my back porch looking out over the marsh on this balmy morning in early May, I am finally allowing myself to listen to the faintest whispers of my own soul. Several years ago, after a long-term relationship and months spent planning the wedding of my dreams, I experienced a broken engagement. I allowed myself to break open to the pain, and entered into a long period of spiritual stagnation. I questioned my work, relationships, my own self and the life choices I had made. Derailed and fragmented as my life veered off course, I considered a geographic relocation and entered into a series of short-term meaningless relationships that left me feeling lonely and disillusioned.

As a psychologist I enjoy witnessing young womens lives evolve and transform. There was one young woman in my practice who had a particularly profound impact on me. During the course of my own grief and despair, I watched her life take shape as she healed deep childhood wounds, changed career paths, blossomed in her marriage and experienced the joys of pregnancy and parenting for the first time. In the course of our work together, I became aware of a mounting ache inside my own heart. Bearing witness as she busted through her wall of fear in order to align with her soul, I recognized my own longing to do the same.

Just last week, I dared myself to step into my wedding gown for the first time since the broken engagement. As I stood on the platform in the bridal shop and gazed at my reflection in the full-length mirror, I recalled my mother sitting in a chair several years prior, watching as I stood in the exact spot for the second fitting of my gown. I remembered with sadness the deep fear and concern in her eyes, sensing my relationship with my fianc was in trouble and my hopes and dreams were about to come crashing down around me. In my reflection I saw myself as a slightly older version of the bride-to-be from several years ago. In my own eyes I saw loss and despair, pain and regret, yearning and aching, renewal and hope. In this moment I felt more alive than I had in years. Finally aware of my ability to heal and my endless reservoir of hope, faith and love, I found my mother not in the chair behind me but inside myself. As the faintest of whispers echoed from deep within my soul, this time I remained still long enough to listen. The whispers became more audible as they told me to stop running, embrace stillness, release fear and allow the love back in.

As a small child I marveled at how the moon would follow the car, always appearing directly overhead. The moon wears a seatbelt, my grandfather explained, and I would try to visualize the glowing sphere fastened securely into a car seat, riding along a parallel interstate in the sky. My grandfather was a creative and playful man who understood the magic of a childs perspective. Perhaps the pain we all experience stems from faulty perspective brought on by a sense of misalignment, or alienation from the voices of our own soul. In order to act genuinely and authentically from or deepest core, we must allow ourselves to remain still for long enough to hear the answers that already lie within us.

The child in my heart reminds me that stars in the night sky are diamonds, moons can wear seatbelts and relationships can be reborn. As I am becoming more mindful in the present and releasing my ties to the past and the future, I find myself finally ready to live deeply and wholeheartedly and claim the joy and fulfillment my grandmother left behind. Recently as I was driving alone late at night, I caught the reflection of a full moon in my rearview mirror. Memories of my grandfather flooded my mind, and I swear, the moon followed me all the way home.

Risa Mason is a licensed clinical psychologist in private practice in Charleston, S.C. She specializes in coaching women towards inner peace and fulfillment by teaching them how to live, dream and thrive. You may contact her for individual or group coaching, or public speaking engagements at 843-769-0444.

¶ 10:59 PM 0 comments

Ingredients:
1 small Can Diced Chiles/Tomatoes (Spicy or Mild)
1 Large Can Diced Tomatoes
1 Sausage (Hilshire Farms or equal)
4 or 6 servings of Rice

This easy super cheap meal is quite tasty and something you can have in the fridge as a backup for those nights when you need something quick and easy. This meal can be served with some rolls and goes great on cool nights.

The first thing you should do is start your rice as it will take the longest. Then in a medium-large frying pan or skillet heat on medium heat while you chop your sausage in 1 in circles or halves. As you cut the sausage throw them in the pan and let them cook.. There really is no time limit for them to cook, just while you are chopping. You can slightly brown them if you prefer. After you have chopped the sausages open the cans of tomatoes and dump them on top. Then let them simmer while the rice cooks.

This meal can sit for a while on the stovetop or you can serve it as soon as the rice is done. Feel free to add your own spices and herbs or eat it as-is. This is a take on goulash, but with a spicy spin using the chiles. This meal is also really good as a left over which is always a good thing. Please email us if you enjoyed this meal and we would also like to hear from anyone who added their own twist to it. Enjoy!

Lenore & Gregory Huskey - We are a quickstart company founded in 2005 and have deemed ourselves as truly trying to start a company on as little as possible. We first started out with a few funny shirt ideas, but quickly changed direction to sell Flag Shirts representing over 180 different countries. Our website is http://www.flagpridet-shirts.com

¶ 5:36 PM 0 comments

Dental diseases are the most common and prevalent diseases affecting almost everybody in the world. Today the cost of dental treatment is enormous.

Treatments to treat these dental diseases are of two types, occasional and routine. Occasional dental treatments include tooth extraction, braces, root canal treatment etc., while routine treatments include cleaning, plaque removal, X-rays, etc.

People today care more about their teeth and image than they did few decades ago. With wide television coverage nowadays on cosmetic dentistry, having a good-looking smile has become even more important. Dental insurance plan is a good way to reduce the impact of dental treatment especially for large families. Almost 55% of Americans are covered by dental plans.

Insurance plan for dental treatments is coverage for individuals to protect them against the high cost of dental treatments, and is usually included in health insurance. For this plan the individual has to pay a monthly premium to the insurance company. The insurance company then provides the cost of medicines and treatment procedures to the individual for a specified period. Usually the period is limited to one year. The insurance has to be renewed after the period. The premium set by the company usually increases year by year. For sicker and older individuals the premium is higher than for healthier individuals, which has been a cause of controversy and debate in the western world. The premiums range from 15$ a month to 70$ a month depending upon the type of insurance plan taken and the health of the individual.

Dental insurance plan usually involves a lot of health records, age records, screening and paper work. The insurance company tries to avoid adverse selection. Adverse selection means people with poor dental health who are more likely to opt for dental insurance plans than healthier people. This increases the insurance cost to the insurance company. Most individual dental insurance plans require a waiting period before having any major or minor restorative work done. However there are annual limits to the cost of treatment that one individual can claim under dental ainsurance plans.

When the employer provides employer dental insurance plan then it works out better than discount dental plans opted by individuals. However the trend of employers providing insurance plans is on the decrease.

Dental insurance plans help improve the dental health of individuals as they are paying premiums and hence opt for dental treatment. Employer dental insurance plan is more common and less costly than the individual insurance plan.

If you are looking for a good Dental Insurance visit top-dental-care.info and cheap-dental-plans.info.

¶ 8:45 AM 0 comments

There are many ways to treat acne and acne scars, ranging from applying topical creams that can lighten dark spots or remove pimples altogether, to manual methods that involve wounding the skin and penetrating into much deeper areas of infection. One such method is phototherapy, which is a relatively new technique whose overall effects are still being studied. Light therapy for acne is also expensive, so if you have acne and you have been recommended a regimen involving phototherapy, you need to do research on it before opening your wallet.

In general, light therapy for acne involves the use of a specific wavelength of light to treat acne-prone, acne-riddled, or acne-scarred skin. A dermatologist who does phototherapy can choose amongst different tools to apply the specific wavelength of therapeutic light. There are lasers, light emitting diodes (or LEDs), dichroic lamps, and even fluorescent bulbs. Not only is there prescribed light therapy for acne, there is also light therapy for skin rejuvenation, which some patients claim can help make skin appear younger and more supple.

Not all kinds of light are good for the skin. For instance, the ultraviolet light of the sun can do damage to the skin, and can cause acne break outs. In phototherapy, dermatologists use safe wavelengths of light in order to treat acne and other skin conditions. In one kind of light therapy, dermatologists use blue light twice a week on patients, a treatment regimen that has been shown to reduce the severity of acne by as much as sixty percent in patients. This particular form of light therapy for acne is even more effective if it is done daily, and if accompanied by red light therapy.

How does light therapy for acne work? Most acne is caused by an anaerobic bacterium called Propionibacterium acnes. P. acnes survives in an environment without oxygen, hence its happy encapsulation under the skin, in an acne cyst, and away from the air. P. acnes also produces free radicals when exposed to certain wavelengths of light.

Light therapy can work in different ways to eradicate P. acnes. Some light therapy, in particular blue light therapy, induces the bacteria to form free radicals, effectively killing the bacteria in their own toxins. Other kinds of light therapy can induce the bacteria to produce oxygen, so that P. acnes is killed in an environment least conducive to its growth.

As a result of the success of light therapy to treat acne, scientists and engineers have developed light boxes for home use. Such light boxes are effective for those who have had acne for a long time, and they can be an inexpensive alternative to treatments in the doctor's office. However, the strength of light coming from light boxes can be much lower than those in the dermatologist's clinic, so that the light box has to be used more often, and for a long period of time, in order to duplicate the success of commercial phototherapy.

Another novel light therapy acne treatment involves the use of high intensity blue or violet light. This technique, called photodynamic therapy, has not yet been approved for commercial use, and has yet to be studied and published in a scientific journal, where it can be subjected to peer reviews.

Phototherapy can also be used for other skin ailments, such as psoriasis or eczema. In this case, dermatologists make use of ultraviolet light in order to slow down the rapid turnover of skin which is characteristic of these two disorders. Phototherapy in the form of visible red light is also used to combat the effects of aging in the skin. This type of phototherapy increases the production of the skin protein collagen, so that any damage to the skin can heal much faster. Phototherapy can also be used for tanning skin, and even to make wounds heal. For instance, infrared light has been shown in a few clinical studies to assist in restoring sensation, while reducing pain and improving circulation, of patients with neuropathy.

Light therapy for acne can come in many forms, and more research is being done to ensure its safety and improve on current light therapy methods. In the future, we will certainly see more innovations that can help make light therapy more convenient, and even cheaper for those who need it the most. If you are interested in undergoing light therapy to treat your case of acne, consult with your dermatologist first and look at all possible options available for your needs and budget.

Flor Serquina is a writer and also a wife and a mother who has a great interest in maintaining the healthy skin of the members of her large family. For more information visit her website, where she discusses various subjects such as light therapy for acne, zinc for acne and new acne treatments.

¶ 3:05 AM 0 comments