Probiotic Side Effects - Vivid Dreams

In an effort to improve my health I began taking a couple of supplements a month ago. One of them is a probiotic by Natures Bounty with Targeted Release Delivery. The ingredients are:

Sodium     20mg
Bio-Active Probiotic Complex     126mg
vegetable cellulose, pectin, sodium carbonate,guar gum, turmeric, vegetable stearic acid

Typically I'll take one capsule before bed (when I remember). Without fail I'll have unusually vivid dreams and high recall afterward. I thought I was lucid dreaming for the first couple of weeks. But then I noticed that the best dreams were happening on the nights I took the supplement. So I played around with it and discovered that was the case.

Yesterday I searched online for the term "probiotic dreams" and found a couple of references about it. So yeah, I felt great knowing I wasn't being weird since other people were having similar experiences.

Last night I dreamt about an indigenous white woman who was a teacher. At one point she drew a huge arrow on the ground, disrobed and laid down with legs agape in front of it. With her thoughts she communicated that we enter the world through the womb and exit from the head? In the next scene she constructed a huge sun dial like structure from red stone. It reminded me of a stadium as I could stand in it and see large squares of stone on the sides. Not sure what it was used for.

The next dream seemed to take place in the same time/area. I played football on a huge field with a large group of people. It was a prehistoric superbowl.

In the last dream I watched a gigantic lake being drained like a bathtub. It looked like the grand canyon when it was finally emptied. Then I became a seed that was dropped into steamy primordial goop. I remember thinking I did not want to spend my life in that mess. It looked like poop. But a voice said I had to endure it to seed the earth.

Suffice it to say these aren't normal dreams for me. 

Starting A New Diet - Primal/Paleo Eating

 I've finally decided it's high time to reign in my bad eating habits. Last week I lost my damn mind while on vacation. Apparently I think calories eaten while I'm away don't count. Because I denied myself NOTHING. All the while my tummy is pushing further and further away from my waistband. that mess ain't cute.

Somehow I stumbled on a the Paleo Diet / Primal Eating Diet online. Basically you eat what our ancestors would've eaten before we discovered agriculture. We're talking lots of protein, fats and carbs that can be found in fruits and veggies. Here's the list of sites and articles I read before deciding to pull the trigger:

Mark's Daily Apple

Nerd Fitness

How To Keep Feces Out Of Your Bloodstream
Crazy title for a great article about grains and why we shouldn't eat most of them. Who knew those damn things don't want to be eaten?

Mark Sisson's Definitive Guide To Grains
Another interesting read that will scare the corn out of you.

This is my third day on the diet and I'm feeling pretty good. I have:
More energy
Less belly bloat
Fewer sugar cravings
Practically no gas at all (which is unusual for me)
Significantly less hunger ( before I'd be hungry every couple of hours)

Anyway, here's my first Primal breakfast. Eggs, Lite Sausage, left over broccoli and tea w/honey:

Just Saw The In Laws

Well, we just got back from a week long vacation to see my hubby's family in Indiana. We had a great time catching up with everyone. My mom tagged along too! So I actually had another black person to hang out with for a bit (LOL)!

Here's a few pictures taken at my MIL house in the country:

Cousin Ebbi making friends

 Ian swinging from Nana's tree

 Sweet Pea playing in the sand box

 The neighbors mules...or donkeys??

 Eating Nana's chocolate cake on the porch

 Sweet Pea sharing her mimosa

July 2012 Natural Hair Update

My hair and I are getting along much better these days. I'm listening to her now and we're finally starting to see serious retention. Mainly because I've finally acknowledge the primary issue I face: Over-manipulation.

It has been the bane of my HHJ all these years. I simply cannot jump on every bandwagon that comes along without suffering a setback of some sort. My hair just wants to be left alone. To that end I'm currently employing protective hairstyles that last a week or more. I've also done a mini chop to rid myself of those unsightly damaged ends. Here's a pic of my blown out hair with a self trim:

Here's another pic with most of my hair hidden under a scarf and a twist out bang:

Braids without extensions (before my trim):

This weeks hairstyle - stretched twists with Kimmaytube Leave In:

Homemade Cornbread Recipe - Jiffy Mix Dupe

I've always enjoyed sweet cornbread. And the only one we ever had in the house (as a kid) was Jiffy Mix. Even though Jiffy Mix costs less than $1 at the grocers I choose to make this homemade version I found at www.allrecipes.com. My kids love it!

Ingredients:

1 C all purpose flour
1 C yellow corn meal
2/3 C white sugar
1 tsp salt
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 egg
1 C milk
1/3 C vegetable oil

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a large bowl mix all of your ingredients. I typically mix dry ingredients first then add wet ones.
3. Pour mix in a greased a 9 inch round pan.
4. Baked in preheated oven for 20 - 23 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Original Recipe

My Cat Died

I've had my cat Howard for 18 years. He's been my bud for most of my adult life. But he's lived with my mom ever since I had started a family because he hates kids. He thinks they make too much noise.

My mom mentioned he was having trouble eating about a month ago. As the days turned into weeks he stopped eating altogether. And each time I've visited he's refused to come out from under the bed to chat with me.

A few days ago Mama asked if it was OK to have him put to sleep (of course it was). But when the day came we decided it was pointless as Howard's death was imminent yet he was in pretty good spirits. We didn't want him to spend his last moments in a strange place with strange people. It would've scared him. Being home, lying in the sun, seeing and smelling familiarity sounded like a much better way to exit.

Since it's a long weekend my mom and I decided it would be cool if she spent the night here. But when I arrived to pick her up she and I agreed we'd have to take the cat. He looked like a cadaver. Skin and fur hanging from his bones and unfocused eyes.

But he knew I was there! He let me carry him upstairs to the spare bedroom to spend time together. I cried like a baby and he humored me (LOL)! He just laid there letting me hug him, cry and say goodbye. I gave him Reiki to help with his transition. His dying energy was like nothing I've ever felt. Though I could feel his aura about 8 inches above him I felt nothing when I scanned his body. So little life left it was almost imperceptible to me. But near the base of his spine......

The energy pulsed out hard! Pushing against my hand strongly. Strange how his life energy was hanging on by a thread outside his body!! It was amazing. I had to feel it twice to be sure. But it was unmistakable.

After I got myself together we bundled him into the car for the 40 minute drive to my house. Hoping he'd be able to see the resting place we'd chosen for him near our property.

But he didn't make it.

He died in the car while my mother held him. It was kinda beautiful....and peaceful. After he passed I recalled the hot day in 2004 when I picked him up as a kitten to bring him home. Funny how we ended things the same way.

Rest In Peace Howard - mommy loves you!

Alter Egos, Astral Projection and Lucid Dreams

Do you have a dream persona? An alter ego who's bigger, badder and awesomer than you? Well, I have one and I'm thinking of bringing her to life. My own personal Frankenstein. LOL!

Since getting on the mommy track I've kinda lost sight of the things that make me click. Somehow morphing into a sweatpants wearing, ponytail sporting, makeup free, androgynous bore. But in my dreams....in my dreams I'm something else altogether.

This morning I began to think that maybe my dream persona is my unconscious desire to do and be more. Perhaps the "dream" is aligned more with where I need to be. IT more closely represents my mental, physical and spiritual state and serves to push me out of stasis by repeatedly showing me images of personal desire.

Let me tell you about my dream persona. She....
1. Speaks 4 languages: English (obviously), Spanish, German and Italian.
2. Exercises regularly and maintains her weight relative ease.
3. Has great hair!
4. Is a healer and light worker
5. Embraces the healthy expression of love, sex and sensuality

There's more...but those are the major ones. I'm always exploring these themes in my dreams. So why not create them physically so I can evolve to that ideal and continue my growth? Hell. I think it's a great idea. So here's what I'm doing:

1. I downloaded Michel Thomas Spanish from Audible.com to get started on my Spanish skills. Once I'm finished with the intro I'll move on to his Total Spanish course. I don't know how long it will take to learn Spanish well enough to be understood. But I'll give it a try for 6 months and see how far I get.

2. Just picked up Zumba Fitness 2 and tried a couple of songs. I'll have to add more variety to push myself to be more active each day. So I'll give myself until the end of the week to finalized my first months game plan. In the meantime, I'll continue doing Zumba for the fun of it.

3. The hair thing gets it own post! There's a lot going on with it.

4. I finished the Reiki I class last fall. But I don't feel ready for Reiki II yet. I'll write another post about my metaphysical studies and goals.

5. So many issues surrounding sex/sexual energies and the way we learn about it. I plan to address some of those issues via Astral Projection/Lucid Dreaming techniques as well as my pole dancing classes. Once again, this topic probably deserves a separate post. You know what....that'll be the next post I write.

Laters.