My New Favorite Beverage

It’s a dandelion tea called Dandyblend. It’s tasty and chock-full of health benefits.

After relentlessly trying to quit coffee over and over again, I have finally found the perfect substitute. And no, it’s not green tea. Although I love my Zen and especially Tazo’s Green Ginger, I have found something far superior and it even tastes like coffee: Meet Dandyblend.
Without a single ounce of caffeine or sugar, Dandyblend is made up of dandelion and chicory root, barley, rye, and beets. It is an instant powder and you simply add hot or cold water. Personally, I like my Dandyblend best piping hot with some unsweetened vanilla almond milk. And if you need a sweetener, I suggest adding a small scoop of dark chocolate hot cocoa powder.

Dandyblend is a great health benefit: each ingredient is either a detoxifier or a promoter of organ function. For centuries dandelion has been used as a homeopath and a detox. The dandelion root promotes healthy liver function, because it is full of anti-oxidants such as Vitamin C and Leutolin; these same anti-oxidants protect the liver from aging as well as aid in the liver’s process of cleansing the body, boosting digestion, and eliminating gas. Dandelion is also a blood purifier...Dandelion, especially dandelion sap is highly alkaline and is used to treat acne and other skin conditions such as eczema.

Chicory, a family member to the sunflower, acts similarly to the dandelion by promoting healthy digestion and colon cleansing; the root has been known to fight intestinal worms and parasites! Not only does chicory cleanse the body of toxins it also helps strengthen the immune system and the anatomy’s overall health: chicory helps the blood stream absorb nutrients, since it is full of minerals, such as potassium, calcium, vitamin A; all these minerals strengthen the immune system and bone structure. Diabetics could benefit the most since chicory contains a substance called inulin, which regulates blood sugar levels.

Beetroot is a major aid in cancer prevention, as they seem to significantly inhibit tumors. Beetroots are an incredible source of folic acid, fiber, manganese, potassium, and even anti-oxidant properties. This ingredient, like its fellows in Dandyblend, is a blood purifier, and it even builds more healthy blood cells, because it contains betaine, which stimulates cells, especially in the liver.

Barley and rye extracts - not the whole grain of barely and rye as this product is gluten-free - are very nutritious grains, filled with B complex vitamins. Barley’s rich content of insoluable fibers protects women from gallstones and keeps the urinary tract healthy in all bodies. These grains also heal the digestive system and and break down starchy foods. Barley also helps reduce the cholesterol level in the blood.

Isn’t it great to find a product in which each ingredient aids in your body’s function? Dandyblend makes your blood alkaline, unlike coffee, which changes your Ph balance to acidic; and it detoxes your liver. This beverage is great for pregnant women as well, whom are advised to avoid caffeine while carrying. I feel like I am treating myself to a daily detox with each cup I drink.

You can order Dandyblend directly from the website: Dandyblend.com or you can support your local health food store, Erewhon on Beverly Boulevard.

1st Al Anon meeting.

I went to my first Al Anon meeting last Sunday. I felt numb the entire time. It wasn't until a few hours later that I burst, and cried, but couldn't untangle all the emotions I was feeling.

The structure is something to get used to. I could barely hear the person's name, before everyone chanted "HELLO EMILY." And there were quite a few recitations from the Alcoholics Anonymous' 12 steps. There were two banners hanging on the wall listing all the steps and traditions. Something I couldn't get used to was the word "share." Every meeting begins with a "share," in which the leader of the group offers a personal story with a theme and lesson. Last week the theme was Surrender. My friend and I missed the "share," because we were intent on getting our coffee at Starbucks. We walked in late, with cups in hand. But I must say it was comforting to have warmth in my cupped palm; we were both so skittish about going. The meeting felt lacking without this beginning bit, which set the tone for every one's "share." Geez! I have an issue with that word: it seems to cheapen what someone says! Within all the all-female group, the bravery was strong. People shared some serious and personal stuff, and to call it a "share," as someone is opening up about her home life and crying, for maybe the first time in a while, or for the 5th time that day it seems weird to offer a thank you for her "share." What about: "thank you for having the strength to pour your heart out in front of us, we're here for you, that's why we're all collected in this room?" Maybe all of these sentiments are built into their "shares," and I should just get over it.

Anyhow, I've decided to go back to another meeting, at a different location, to seek out a different group. I won't give up yet. Most people I talk to say, go to about 3 and then decide if it's right for you. Still I felt more peace from the Against the Stream meditation.

Reflection on MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE

I went to this play about a month ago now, with my friend Kat, at the Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga Canyon. It was a one woman show called My Name is Rachel Corrie, played by Samara Frame. The LA Times reviewed it here.

I have less praise for Miss Frame, mostly because she is too old to play the 23 year old Rachel. Frame does have a lot of energy though, and she deserves credit there. But the pace of her speech is awfully fast and I had a hard time understanding the words, and I have read the play before.

I discovered it in college and was mesmerized. The play came to life on the page, although the staged version was much less transporting. I was much more moved by reading it rather than seeing it - a fault of the performance and directing I think. The stage was outdoors and had a background of the hillside and rocks, which served the story well and Miss Frame used the space and brought it to life.

As the audience filed into the benches and cuddled up with sweaters and blankets, Frame was already placed on the stage, hidden underneath a sleeping bag in a nighty and socks. The way the play begins, which is with an outburst, describing her room and scarlet red ceiling, lends to a physical outburst as well. It would have served Frame to be able to be off stage, doing one hundred jumping jacks instead of still and lying down. From there, she has to scrounge up the energy of a young woman and carry herself for an hour and a half leaping and projecting in the cold.

The video projections were a distraction to the story, minus the final projection of Rachel Corrie herself as a motivational speaker in the 5th grade. The LA Times agrees, saying the videos are "rudimentary."

There was a talk back after the applause, which was "mild" said the director and lead founder and financier, Emma Greer. I didn't find it mild in the least, with stories about being an Israeli soldier, and a woman who lost her whole family in Palestine, and many more war recounts. The tension was tight with comments from both sides. With the content of the play leaning towards the defenseless Palestinians and the bullies from Israel, the discussion echoed the same but with personal recounts. After all the play was a one woman show, edited together from a young girl's writings about her own individual experience.

Something that has stuck with me over the past month is the idea of self. Rachel Corrie felt the need to FIND herself, and so she chose to move to Palestine and stay in Gaza to help families preserve their homes from bulldozers. So much of her speeches are filled with questions of "Who am I? What is my purpose?"

I don't think I ever had that dilemma. I always felt myself to be very close, if not embodied. Rachel Corrie kept talking about herself as she were another, or as if she was something she had to go find and encounter. Instead I was always, and still am, trying to figure out what I will do. I associated myself with actions instead of philosophical musings. I wonder on a daily basis what the next step will be to feel accomplished and satisfied with my progress in aspects such as my career, self-worth, emotional advancement, and evolving knowledge. I can't remember a time when I was stuck inside myself, searching for who I was. It has always been "Where will I go? What am I doing today? Who will I meet to help me be more established?"

It's a slow process and frustrating. I feel I am on the verge of something lately. Something feels it's going to snap. But thank goodness I know who I am and what I am capable of. It must be scary to feel far away from who you are.

Self-Resurrection

I have discovered an incredible tool.

There is a website called Daily Om, and they offer courses on a variety of subjects, such as "Falling in Love with Yourself," as well as "21 Days to Drop Your Emotional Baggage," and "Master Your Negative Emotions." I'm thinking of taking "Make Yourself a Money Magnet."
The greatest thing about the website is that it is a pay-what-you-can deal! So you could sign up to take a class for $15 dollars.

So today you can treat yourself, to yourself!

Meditation Monday

Last week my friend Gabrielle urged me to go to a meditation class on Colorado Ave. I wasn't feeling well and towards that evening I really didn't want to go. But I dragged myself there, knowing I would miss out if I just stayed at home like a lump. It was my first meditation class since college. It had been two years. I felt much more deeply in it this time on Colorado Avenue than I had on my little cushion in a dimly lit room in the Boston University gym. I have a read a lot on meditation and the higher self since I graduated. And even without practice I felt more at ease trying to clear my mind and just breathe. I enjoyed it.
After our 30 minutes of silent meditation, Noah began his lecture and then opened up the talk to questions from the room brimming with people.
Noah is a large man, covered in tattoos; and yet his voice is somewhat high-pitched. And he talks like a lot of meditation leaders, with a slow rhythm and a lot of pauses after his sentences. He has been at Against the Stream meditation for a few years. And in that time he has filled the giant room with people of all ages, all backgrounds. After the room filled up, the hallways did too, even the pathways to the bathrooms were full. People were resting their backs against the wall outside the room as if to suck in the lecture through their spines.
Once the discussion was opened up to the group, a young woman asked a question, which followed suit with part of Noah's lecture: abstinence and devotion to God through sex and tantra.
The woman asked: "How can I keep the balance of my practice while I am in a relationship? I want to keep my spirituality alive and in the forefront like it was when I was practicing celibacy."

Noah's answer was very interesting. He said his parents wrote a book on spirituality and their practice; and in it they describe their extreme monogamous relationship. They would save all their lust, desire, passion, compassion, & love for each other and no one else. If a beautiful and pelvic-lurching person entered the television screen, they would have to change the channel, and save that attraction for the stranger and store it for when he & she would be together later that day. They would wrangle and transform and sexual urges they had. Each day they would store up all this love and affection and adoration and admiration and save it solely for the other. It was their way of practicing devotion and by loving each other so much they became closer to God.
I found his story so beautiful. I was so moved and I couldn't keep my eyes from filling up.

Anxiety Over A Decision

Why is it I labor, I dwell, I sweat, lose sleep, lose appetite over deciding what monologue to audition with? It seems every audition that calls for a one - two minute contemporary monologue sends me into a state of stricken panic. Thoughts rush through my head like freight trains: "The right piece doesn't exist!" --> "Nothing is good enough!" --> "Why doesn't anyone write anything good?"

Ridiculous thoughts. But at the moment they seem so real and true. In the end I always find something suitable, strong, and fitting for the character's requirements. But in the inbetween......I lose my mind.

I have been meaning to, for some time, to craft a handful of monologues, polish them to a place nearing perfection, and have them ready at the bat at any time, at any chance meeting. And yet, I haven't done it. Why not?

Women in their 40s are just cooler

I have whittled my way into a lovely group of women. I believe all of them are in their 40s. Our meeting place changes every week and so I am getting a special jaunt and tour of Los Angeles from a brand new perspective. - No more bars, now it's taverns. - No more cantinas, now it's tapas.
Our topics of conversation range from parenting, to work, to poetry, to films from all ages (last week it was the 1940s), to love lives, to food, etc. The topics aren't that different from my friends who are 23-30, with the exception of the children's stories; but these women are very special and have a vibrance all their own. I find that when I leave them I feel lighter, luminous, as if I have laughed so much I am walking above the ground. I don't feel that way around people in their 20s. I am so much in the place of carving out my place, my name, my ownership that it is often I am in such serious conversations with friends in my age bracket.
That is why I always say I can't wait to be 30. I will be a fabulous woman. And I always say I can't wait to be a sassy old lady. I will have gray hair, but streak it purple, and I'll wear braids for the first time in my life. I'll wear high heels and great jackets and just be funky. I hope I'll wear lipstick too.
I am making steps toward being cool, funky, and free now, at this age too. I bought red lipstick. Oooh la la. One of my lovely ladies of the 40s told me, "Oh you're awesome," when she saw my bright, red lips. And Ooooh I felt cool.
I'm not sure why I am not allowed to be as cool as I will be in my 60s, right now; but I am working on breaking the case.