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Wednesday Wellness::Bringing Home the Green

March 9, 2011 by Heather Filed Under: Home, Inspiration & Education, Wellness & Mindset 2 Comments

Keep houseplants and get out and garden if you can. Bringing home the green can be incredibly healthy! These 15 houseplants are easy to grow in a variety of settings.

I’m currently starting some seeds for my garden. It is that time of year when we all start thinking about things turning green, the cycle of growth and spring flowers.

Bringing Home the Green

I’m a big fan of gardening and that includes anything from designing landscapes, creating garden plans, choosing plants, starting seeds, pruning, raking leaves etc.  Some people have NO interest in growing anything and for those of you who feel that way, okay fine maybe you could just keep a couple houseplants!  Seriously, houseplants improve indoor air quality haven’t you heard?  They create oxygen and help filter out toxins in the air.  Some of the hardest working houseplants are also the easiest to care for.

NASA and ALCA (Associated Landscape Contractors of America) conducted a study testing common houseplants for their ability to remove indoor air pollutants and below is their list of the 19 that do the best job.  The study revealed that in a home under 2000 sq feet there should be about 15 plants (in 6″ pots or bigger) to have the best effect.
1. Philodendron scandens `oxycardium’, heartleaf philodendron
2. Philodendron domesticum, elephant ear philodendron
3. Dracaena fragrans `Massangeana’, cornstalk dracaena
4. Hedera helix, English ivy
5. Chlorophytum comosum, spider plant
6. Dracaena deremensis `Janet Craig’, Janet Craig dracaena
7. Dracaena deremensis `Warneckii’, Warneck dracaena
8. Ficus benjamina, weeping fig
9. Epipiremnum aureum, golden pothos
10. Spathiphyllum `Mauna Loa’, peace lily
11. Philodendron selloum, selloum philodendron
12. Aglaonema modestum, Chinese evergreen
13. Chamaedorea sefritzii, bamboo or reed palm
14. Sansevieria trifasciata, snake plant
15. Dracaena marginata , red-edged dracaena

If you are more into gardening outside then I think any gardening activity you do is good for your overall health and wellness.  Fresh air, Vitamin D (but use the sunscreen), exercise and a sense of peace and well being are all benefits that come from being out in nature.  Recent research is showing that there are tremendous yet unknown benefits to getting some form of exercise outdoors.  There has even been a term coined recently “Nature Deficient Disorder“, check out this article for more about that concept.  It kind of makes sense to me!

One thing I always try to incorporate into my gardening is growing a bit of food.  It’s fun, it’s easy and it’s healthy.  I’ve done the majority of my food production in one form of container or another over the past  years.  I’ve grown garlic, lettuce, spinach, bok choi, kale, radish, beets, strawberries, peppers, tomatoes, malibar spinach and all sorts of herbs in containers.   NOW is the time to start those seeds for the upcoming season.  If you are interested in learning about how to start your own seeds  check out these great videos.  The Grow It Eat It website is one that offers a tremendous amount of information specifically on gardening for food production.

Whatever you like to grow, I hope your growing something!  It’s good for the soul, good for your health and good for the planet.

Related Articles
  • Wednesday::Wellness (hkpowerstudio.wordpress.com)
  • The Quest for a Greener Houseplant (treehugger.com)

Wednesday Wellness::Natural and non-toxic

February 23, 2011 by Heather Filed Under: Tips & Resources, Wellness & Mindset 4 Comments

The skull and crossbones, a common symbol for ...

Image via Wikipedia

Use natural and non-toxic cleaning products in your home.

I do this and I think you should too.  Maybe you don’t care what I think but if your reading this, maybe you do, just a little.

Nasty Stuff-Chlorine, Formaldehyde, Chloroform, Lye,  Hydrochloric Acid, Ammonia , Phthalates, Parabens, Petroleum Distillates, VOC’s…these are the worst offenders causing a whole spectrum of health problems that you probably don’t want to know about but should.  I don’t have kids but I care deeply about how and what I surround myself with and if I had children I’d probably be even more fanatical about this topic (I’ve been known to buy bleach on occasion and use products that may contain Lye and maybe a hint of Ammonia-I’m not perfect, I confess!).

Now that I listed the Nasty why the HECK would you want to use toxic products?  Hello?

From my experience there are 2 reasons people haven’t already made the switch to non-toxic:

1.) They think that toxic means cleaner…!*@#???=healthier (please refer to the Nasty above, does that seem healthy to you?).

2.) They think natural means more $$

Seriously, do you want to have anything with a skull and crossbones in your house (and I’m not talking about your sense of fashion or your funky taste in art)?

I don’t and sense I’m not paid to endorse any products here (or anywhere) I’m not going to.  I’m sure you know how to use a search engine of your liking to find the ton of websites, books and blogs out there that already give you the specifics about what to look for and how to make your own-it’s easy and cheap (so you can eliminate #2 from your excuses now). 

As for #1, there are a lot of germaphobes out there and I’m not one of them.  I’m very healthy, I don’t get sick often (neither does my husband) and I spend a lot of time in my home (I work from home) so something must be working for us.  If this is your excuse for not using natural cleaners than I urge you to do a little research and give some products a try, you just might find that they smell better, don’t require using heavy duty plastic gloves to apply and work just as well as the toxic avengers!

One note of warning, so-called “green” cleaners are a big area of revenue for business but not all products are created equally.  Some “green” products are nothing more than the same old toxic cleaners diluted and with “essential oils” added.  Beware, read up and be a smart consumer (read the ingredients).   Seriously, it’s not that much work and you and your family are worth it.

Your life is worth living well so don’t pollute it when all your trying to do is clean it up a little!

PS.  For those of you who are lucky enough to hire cleaning help, supply them with the cleaners you want them to use in your home and make sure they are using them:)

Related Articles
  • Wednesday::Wellness (hkpowerstudio.wordpress.com)
  • How To Make Your Own Non-Toxic Cleaning Products (huffingtonpost.com)
  • The Toxic Tradeoff: What Happens When Some Products Go Green (greenbiz.com)

Do what bring JOY!! Everyday…

February 9, 2011 by Heather Filed Under: Inspiration & Education, Photography, Wellness & Mindset 4 Comments

Find the time each day to do what bring JOY!

This is the most fun post in the whole wellness series.  I find joy in so many simple things.

Some of the things that bring me joy are:

Birdwatching; a finch on sunflowers

do what bring JOY

Playing with and petting my cats

Best Friend Kitties

Going for a walk or dance!

walking: tree reflection
Creating my art~!Knitting with sumptuous yarn; here’s a ribbon and mohair chain necklace.

mohair ribbon knit chain

Gardening (in season but even my houseplants bring me joy); this is my salad table on our deck

Garden salad table

Preparing and eating good food; today I baked Orange Chocolate Oatmeal cookies (recipe coming on Friday!) and a Tuna Nicoise Sandwich for lunchTuna Nicoise Sandwich

Flower gazing (do you ever just gaze at the flowers?)

Lemon Geranium detail

…a few more things…

Feeling the sun on my body

Talking to a loved friend

Enjoying a glass of wine

Curling up with a good book

Taking photos

How do you bring Joy into your daily life?

Farewell 2010

December 31, 2010 by Heather Filed Under: Inspiration & Education, Photography, Tips & Resources, Wellness & Mindset 3 Comments

Farewell 2010…it’s been a year of challenges and change and as much as I enjoy rising to a challenge it’s exhausting.  As I reflect on this past year how it began and how it ended are both very different than I ever could have anticipated!  I started the year employed at a relatively creative job, that I was good at and had been doing for over 7 years.  About mid-January that abruptly changed as I decided that I was not inclined to relocate for my former employer.  Okay…now what?

Well, I decided that I would take the year to reflect on where I’ve come over the past decade and to re-assess where I’m headed.  If I was middle aged I might say I was having a mid-life crisis but alas…I am not middle aged and I’m not in a crisis.   I’ve experienced a lot of intense emotions this year.  I’ve been sad, depressed, angry, resentful, ashamed, scared, lost, confused and bitter…Enough!   I spent time reading, traveling, making art, cooking, gardening, volunteering,  talking long hours on the phone with good friends, I had a LOT of FUN and I realized that underneath everything I am an artist at heart, I am an ARTIST!

I am so VERY GRATEFUL for the time I’ve been given this year to do this reflecting, to be spontaneous, to do things that I might not get another chance to do and to try to learn how to just be (I’m not very natural at this but I’m starting to learn)!  I remember watching a TED conference video a couple years ago about a design firm in NYC that closed it’s doors every 7 years and took the year off to re-group, refresh, renew and rest (I can’t find that talk but if you do, please leave a link in the comments).  That’s what this year has been about for me.  For a long time I’ve been going full steam ahead, doing a ton of things outside of work with all my friends and family constantly telling me they were amazed by how much I managed to do and I was CONSTANTLY BUSY. It’s funny, there is something about that perpetual motion that is wonderful but it eventually you have to slow down.  This year I’ve replenished a bit of my depleted energy and reserved some for the years ahead because I’m ready for 2011!  I don’t really do resolutions but I do plan to create a community of creative people around me.

Farewell 2010

This is the first time I am choosing a word for the year.  Thanks to a little exercise that Kim Klassen posted on her blog I was able to discover that my word for 2011 is CLARITY!  I had a few other words in mind but nothing really clicked until I did this exercise and it came to me.  Setting my intention is powerful and I am so excited to start a new year and see more clearly where I am headed.

~I’m wishing each of you a beautiful New Year!

Release old Dreams~and Make way for new Dreams

December 16, 2010 by Heather Filed Under: Inspiration & Education, Photography, Productivity, Wellness & Mindset 3 Comments

While having a conversation with a friend about my goals for my new business, I had one of those moments of clarity and knew I had a choice to Release old dreams (to make way for new ones)!  I thought about what my dreams for my business had always been (since graduating from SCAD) but I realized that my old dream didn’t exactly align with what it is that I am doing and want to be doing now.

In this moment I was able to see that it’s okay to release old dreams and expectations. In fact, we have to do this in order to make room for new dreams.

I’m all for de-cluttering and getting rid of things in my life that don’t serve me anymore but thoughts, expectations, and dreams need to be treated in the same manner as actual, physical things!

It can be kind of sad to release your old dreams but please realize that those dreams have served you well.  They have motivated you, given you something to strive towards and they have helped shape the direction of your new dreams.
So today I invite you to release those old dreams that no longer serve you.  Go ahead, write them down, seal them in an envelope and send them off!

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