Past EZines from HotFlash-NewsFlash
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September 15, 2005

 Welcome,
     I am beginning the premier issue of HotFlash-NewsFlash on a rather serious note.  Partly it comes from world events but mostly from my reaction to them.  As I write this I realize that today is September 11, the fourth anniversary of the devastation of the World Trade Center, the loss of innocence in the lives of Americans.  It is nearly two weeks since Hurricane Katrina whipped the Gulf Coast destroying countless lives, homes and a way of life.  And it is not even a year since the Tsunami ended the lives of more than a quarter of a million fellow humans and ripped apart millions more.  These gargantuan catastrophes are signs or a call for everyone to wake up.
     These events are calling up challenges to all of us.   How about looking at our values.  What are our priorities in life?  Are they really about family, loved ones, our fellow humans?  Or are they about acquiring as much stuff as possible, a bigger house that uses excruciatingly more planetary resources, working more to have more and teaching our children how to be more consumptive?  How much does anyone really need?  So much stuff, so much to lose.  I read that in the 50’s the average house was less than a 1,000 square feet and that was when we didn’t even have an oil crisis or weren’t depleting our lifesaving rainforests.  Families back then were also closer and spent more time with each other. 
     Why does anyone need to waste so much?  How is it that we can continue accumulating when our world brothers and sisters live in such squalor?  We are depleting the planet.  We are altering weather patterns.  We are changing geology, our earth’s form.  We are separating the rich from the poor to a sickening level.  Let these recent devastating events bring this home to you.  Re-evaluate what you really need and want for yourself and for the world’s children, your children.  Don’t forget that all people are your brothers and sisters no matter where and how they live.  Transforming your life requires honesty, soul-searching and reaching to a higher level of being.   Changing your life to a simpler, less frantic, more loving way will help change the world.  Give it a try.
The Hot Flash Queen

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September 30, 2005

Another Surge!
     Just as with hot flashes another hurricane hit again, thankfully reeking less havoc than expected.  Was it caused by global warming?  The geology department at the University of Michigan, my old alma mater, believes global warming is a fact.  A few years ago they sent a research synopsis of core samples drilled from the earth’s crust.  It was a rather conclusive statement that over geological time the earth indeed has been warming.  This obviously affects the temperature of the ocean.  Storms brew and wildness happens.   While this may be just the natural order of things or the sign of the end times, my scientific and nature-lover self believes it is the result of inattention to our world, the pillaging of our resources.  Severely altering the earth’s surface and crust has serious implications in terms of the planet’s functioning as it has in the past.
     Just as with wild weather, hot flashes and night sweats come from an imbalance in the private world of the self.   Hormones are in fluctuation and the body responds to this readjustment in wild, uncomfortable ways.  And with increasing age our bodies no longer have those fresh, newborn, youthful cells to carry us through all the toxic waste we have put into ourselves over years and years.
     As hurricanes increase in intensity let them reveal your contribution to your own inner hurricanes be they hot flashes or wild, strong moods.  Did you know that hot flashes and moods are partially a result of foods we eat, not only what we eat today but from long-term betrayal to our liver and pancreas which in turn affect hormones?   Inability to sleep is more often than not a drop in blood sugar.  Have you noticed hot flashes coming on after eating salty foods or chocolate or highly caffeinated beverages?   They create heat and dryness.  What happens in menopause?  You heat up and you dry up. 
    The same non-action that causes our earth to heat up and become polluted is the same disrespect we have for our bodies.  What we put on and in our bodies, how we feed our minds and how we ignore our needs cause the dysfunction we have today.  Eat healthy, non-processed food.  Respect yourself.  It just might keep you healthy and lighten-up those hurricane symptoms.
Hot Flash Queen
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October 15, 2005

Hello
     Do you ever feel like you are swimming in a sea of letters or an ocean of acronyms?  It seems that every bit of public media is loading us with disease filled letters that invite us or rather force us to call the local MD to find out the latest in what might be wrong with us.  That purple pill is so pretty it must fix something and that big black and white horse pill is quite ominous.   It should really do the trick.
     Did you know that for a drug company to do clinical trials, meaning testing on humans, that a symptom has to be turned into a disease?  And, that the pharmaceutical industry has the biggest lobby in the country.  Or, that the profits of drug companies are obscenely huge.  When I worked at a large drug company quite a few years ago the employees were proudly invited to a quarterly report.  I forget most of what was said because I was flabbergasted by the profit, 1,100%.   That is one-thousand, one hundred percent.   That is appalling.  Ladies we are being sold a bill of goods here.  We are being sold disease rather than health.  My granddaughter thinks that every little ill has a pill to take care of whatever is uncomfortable in her body.  What most people need are a healthy diet, exercise and an enriched lifestyle.   Forget taking unneeded drugs for symptoms caused by poor self-care.  They may take away the symptoms but don’t they cure the cause.   They do eventually overtax the liver bringing on heftier problems down the road.  You cannot be healthy with an unhealthy liver.
     So, I have a tip for a common problem.  I think the acronym is GERD though I’m not absolutely sure what it stands for.  It’s maybe ARF ARF, repeated acid-reflux disease or maybe BARF which is bad acid reflux disease.  It commonly is, what we called back in the day, acid indigestion.  Tums and Rolaids used to make people feel better though they aren’t a good idea either because they reduce the stomach acid further.  The heart burn or acid indigestion is generally a result of too little acid.  As we age, which by the way is after the age of thirty, stomach acid actually begins to decrease.  When protein is ingested there needs to be enough hydrochloric acid in the stomach to process it.  If there is not enough, the food putrifies causing heart burn or ARF or BARF.
Too much ARFing and BARFing can cause a hiatal hernia.  That also comes about by eating too much or by a fat stomach or by hunching over and not sitting up straight.   There is also a way to fix an HH  without drastic intervention like surgery.
For indigestion there are digestive enzymes available at your local health food store or from your holistic healthcare provider. Broad spectrum digestive enzymes are great for general digestion or any digestive problems.  They should contain amylase, protease, and lipase. Betaine Hydrochloride is great for protein digestion.   Digestive enzymes are very helpful to not only break foods down but to make nutrition more readily absorbable.  With the typical American diet and the decreased mineral content of fruits and vegetables every bit helps.  Good digestion is the key to good health.
    Hiatal hernias can be manually fixed in all but the rarest of cases.  A hiatal hernia is when the opening of the stomach is pushed up from the abdominal cavity through the diaphragm and into the chest cavity.  Because the pressure in the chest is less than the abdomen the stomach unconstricts allowing stomach acid to spill into the esophagus.  This causes pain and over time it does cause damage to the esophagus.  It’s best to find a chiropractor that fixes hiatal hernias and then learn to maintain it once it’s only slightly problematic.  The technique consists of manually pulling the stomach down and therefore, out from above the diaghragm.  On yourself, do this standing.  Inhale.  Stick your fingers straight into your stomach just below the sternum (breastbone).  Push in.  As you exhale fully, push your fingers downward above the stomach.  Do it several times.   If this doesn’t work, see a chiropractor who is able to do it.  It’s an amazing treatment.
     Take good care of your health in natural ways if possible.  Sometimes, thank God, there are great pharmaceuticals to cure infections and voracious diseases.  Just keep perspective.  Let the body heal itself.  It pays to be as chemical and toxin-free as possible and avoid HH & COPD & GERD & ARF & BARF. 
Doctor Karen

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October 28, 2005

Happy Halloween!
Hello Ladies,
     What are you going to be for Halloween?  And, don’t tell me that you aren’t going to dress up this year.   Think about it.  It’s the one time of year that encourages breaking out of the mold and trying on something else.  Did you really think that Halloween was just for kids getting candy?
     Is there someone you’d like to emulate?  Or, do you have an alter-ego or a hidden mood that you’d like to put in the spotlight?  Who or what kind of person do you admire?  What is your secret fantasy, well, one that you can play up in public?  It’s time to hit your graveyard of dreams and unbury who you want to be.  Give it a try and see how it feels.  After all, it’s Halloween and even if you scare someone, including yourself, that’s just perfect.  Forget the candy, give up the ghost, and go for the treat of being your dreamgirl.
Yours truly,
This year I am Maya Angelou.  I have her elegance, eloquence, and an artful life.  I also don’t put up with any crap.

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November 15, 2005

Practice  Thanksgiving  Early
only nine days left
     How’s your thanksgiving going?  Are you in a mode of difficulty where you are frustrated, things are too difficult and the world is falling apart?  And, you are too busy to stop and feel thankful for all the wonders in your life?  Remember, you are a vibrational being pure and simple.  What you feel is what you bring to yourself.  When your mind and body are occupied with frazzle it will keep coming your way.  When your mind and body are in a state of gratefulness for what you have, you are filled with grace.   It is that simple.
     Take the Thanksgiving opportunity to shift your thinking to one of happiness and joy, no matter what your circumstance.  If nothing today fits the bill, think back on better times.   Use thoughts and feelings in the past to bring that inner smile.   Look at even one thing in your life that feels good in your heart and let it fill you.  Fixate on feeling joy and it will spill over into all areas of your life and to everyone around you.  Can you imagine what a world we would have if everyone practiced feeling happy?  Have you overlooked gratefulness in your life?  Don’t hesitate.  You only have nine days left till Thanksgiving.
HotFlashQueen
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November 30, 2005

The Gift of Well-Being
     I feel perfectly satisfied and content.  Today is my older son’s 40^th birthday and the last day of a Thanksgiving visit with Sean and his wife Julie in Connecticut.  My belly is exceedingly full and so is my heart.  There is nothing more I want from life than how I feel at this moment. 

     How do you feel right now?   Is it good and happy and joyful, full of life?   Or, do you feel hurried, worried and buried under enormous tasks of the day?  Take just one moment now.  Close your eyes and think of something happy and good.  Feel it in your body and let it expand to fill you.  Then, open your eyes and remember to feel that way whenever you can and as often as possible.   Stop a moment, feel good and go on about your day.

     It is our birthright and a beautiful gift that we have the capacity to feel good.  And, that we can choose to do so at any moment.  Practice it and not only will you feel better but your life will also change.  

     Click on my website below and check out all the new guided imagery CD’s available.  They represent years of work and will enhance your healing, growth and joy.   What better gift can there be than that of well-being? 
Happy Shopping,
HotFlashing & HotFeeling Queen
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December 31, 2005    

New Year's Resolutions
What are you trying to force upon yourself this year?
     Do you make New Year’s resolutions year after year only to stop them nearly as fast as you make them?  Resolutions are hard to continue.  They’re like choking down food you hated as a child because someone said it was good for you.  And, you had to sit there till you ate it anyway.  What good did that do?  What did that really teach you?  Forcing something to happen doesn’t work.  By it’s very nature resistance comes up and voila, there go the good intentions.  Then comes that old failed-again attitude which leads to feeling lousy which leads to reverting to old, bad, but comfortable habits once again.
    Chronic pain, disease, and emotional attitudes are also persistent bad habits because they are ingrained in the energy field of the body as well.  They are of the mind.  Unless something alters the inertia or the momentum of it, dis-ease it will continue to plague indefinitely.   That’s why forcing the issue upon yourself through resolutions or good intentions, especially by abstaining or depriving or driving yourself, just don’t work for long.  The healing must come first in the mind.  Then the body can come along for the ride.
    Creating positive mental thoughts and feelings go a long way toward attracting more good and healthful ways into your life.   You know how when you feel grouchy or bad and then something distracts you and all of a sudden you feel okay?  Practicing your own distractions works wonders for the psyche and the body. Because we do attract into our lives by the attitudes we keep, it is imperative to develop a habit of feeling good when you can.  The most difficult part is remembering to remember to do that.
    There are also other ways to alter energetic patterns.  One of them is through guided imagery.  By being guided to your inner sanctum, so-to-speak, it’s possible to access the past when misperceptions, painful events or trauma occurred.  Once there you have a great opportunity to shift outmoded, undermining beliefs and to heal.  The mind is powerful and does control just about everything within you.  Once you change your mind, new habits just might blossom on their own.  Make your new year happy.  Change your mind.  Change your life.
   Check out the guided imagery CD’s on my website, www.hotflashqueen.com  Stop forcing yourself to change and do it the easy way.
Have A New Year of Happiness,
The Hot Flash Queen

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February 2, 2006

HAPPY   VALENTINE’S  DAY just a little early
     I’ll start off first by saying that sharing is invaluable to relationships whether global or sibling.  It lends itself to world peace and getting along.  It is inspired by compassion and concern for our fellow humans.  It creates that tears-of-joy feeling in the heart.  It comes as a result of growth from self-centered egotism to seeing everyone as equal to ourselves.  I do know this, however, what about that box of candy you want for yourself, that you don’t want to share with anyone even if they are eyeing it enviously?  What do you do?  Grudgingly or lovingly give some to that person who is salivating and turning green by the second?  Or not? 
     Let’s go back to that time with probably a sibling or some little kid with whom you were playing.  They want something you have.  I don’t frankly remember an exact moment in my life but I can still feel it.  Parents are always demonstrating it with their children.  What happens?  The child who has to give up something, especially before the concept of other has begun to dawn on them, is told he has no right to a choice in the matter.  What he or she has must be given to someone else.  The little one doesn’t understand why.  It’s confusing.   The idea of sharing is not understood by the young brain.  What they end up feeling is anger, unfairness, and that they aren’t entitled or important.  Does this end up teaching children they aren’t special, that what they have really belongs to someone else?  What I wonder is, does being forced to do something against a person’s will engender caring and compassion or greediness, resentment, and a feeling of lack or never enough.  I don’t have the answer but I have my suspicions.   What do you think?
     Heal that place in your heart that says it’s not okay to have what you need or want, that you don’t deserve any better.  Realize you are special and that by really knowing it, you are then free to give everything away in love.   And you can eat that whole box of candy yourself without feeling guilty.
Hot Flash Queen
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February 14, 2006

Happy Valentine’s Day -  again
      I just had to send the newsletter a day early so I could capitalize on this fabulous holiday.  So often we hear that Valentine’s Day was manufactured by the card, candy, and flower companies.  While that may be true, just think of what it represents.  There couldn’t be a lovelier day than that of feeling love. 
     In my younger days if I didn’t have a boyfriend or a husband I would feel kind of lonely or out of sorts, but not anymore.  What I’ve come to realize is that I am happy regardless and perhaps more content than I have ever been.   Sure I would love to have a man in my life for mutual caring and sharing but now that the biological urge to procreate has passed, I don’t feel like I have to be with anyone.  That feels great.
     My Valentine wish for you is to feel great too.  My life has been filled with difficulties and very hard times but I’ve come to realize that happiness is a choice.  When things don’t feel so good now, I practice feeling happy by remembering something funny or feeling that incredible love I have for my children or grandchildren.  I have many fabulous memories to draw on.  Now that it’s becoming a habit I feel great most of the time.  And, you know what?   Better things are coming my way all the time!
Have A Loving Valentine’s Day
Hot Flash Queen
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February 28, 2006

Fat Tuesday

     Okay, so the New Year’s resolutions didn’t quite stick.  It’s tough getting from the two-month stretch of Halloween-through-New Year’s-sugarfest to eating healthy again on New Year’s Day.  I’m personally not that disciplined and my brain is on super-crave after all the goodies.  After a month or so, when the sugar fog has worn off, I’m finally ready to take care of my body again.   My birthday is in April, spring in Oregon is usually here (except this year), and I’m thinking summer clothes.  Yeehaa!  Winter weight off-you-go. 

     But, it seems just when I’m back on the wagon, so-to-speak, my granddaughter comes around knocking.  It is Girl Scout Cookie time once again.  I love those things.   And, I love to help out my dear grandchild.   What’s a grandma to do?  Freeze the cookies, some say.  They taste better that way.  Hide them.   Even though I forget where everything else is, I always remember where I put the goodies.  And so, the dietary indiscretions continue. 

     This morning I turned on Good Morning American/The Today Show/The Early Show all broadcasting New Orleans, the Mardi Gras.  FAT TUESDAY.  It’s Fat Tuesday!  WOW!  How perfect is that.  Today is the day.  This is the day that I, and of course everyone else, should officially proclaim as the day to face the jazz music.  What do I, what do you want for your body?  Do we want to feel good and stay that way or do we want to progressively deteriorate over time?  And feel lousy?  Proclaim Fat Tuesday as a day to reassess eating habits and charge through life with fun, vigor and good eating!
Here’s To Good Health & Fat Tuesday
Hot Flash Queen

P.S.  SNORING is an indication of Sleep Apnea which effects millions and leads to heart failure.  It is very serious.  Sleep apnea is when you stop and start breathing while you sleep.  It’s very hard on your heart.  Apnea can be caused by closing off the airflow to your lungs.  Because Americans are becoming fatter, the problem is becoming more prevalent.   Extra weight in the neck area is one of the reasons it occurs.  Getting checked can be free by visiting a store that sells oxygen tanks and the equipment to facilitate good sleep.  Please get checked if you snore.  I’ve been checked and it’s very easy.  It could save your life.

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March 15, 2006

Grief
     When my brother died, I wish I’d cried an ocean of tears that I’d ranted and raved and threw the biggest fits and then cried some more.  I wish someone would have jumped up and down and yelled and screamed in anguish with me.  I wish that someone would have held me and lovingly patted my head and told me to do it some more.  Till I was weary, till the cells of my body were purged of my grief and despair.  Until I wanted to live again.    Until I was smiling again.
     Imprisoned grief and sadness are silent destroyers.  They creep into nighttime, into silent reveries.  They pervade your body and mind until you break.  The torrent of unshed tears douse the flame of life if you dam them behind your eyes.  Let them go.  The universe rejoices at their release for those tears water the ground in which you shall be renewed.
In Joy
HotFlashQueen
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March 29, 2006

April Fools Day
     Oh boy.  I’ve never looked at it this way but while contemplating various holiday writings while I was wide-awake one three a.m., I realized there is a whole other meaning here.  April Fools Day was always about tricking others, to fool them or to make them look foolish.  It’s fun when my grandchildren try to get me but I’ve never been much of a prankster.
     What would be a lot more fun and useful is to make this a day commemorating all those foolish things each of us has done in our lives and all those times of embarrassment that turned us that humiliating red.  How about honoring the fact that we are all occasionally less than perfect, that we all have a lapsing mind from time to time and that being a goof, whether we like it or not, is one of those things that bonds every human being.  If you say or do something stupid today, enjoy it.  Remember April Fools Day is for being right with those times.
Away With Pride & Welcome Foolish Moments
HotFlashQueen
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April 15, 2006

I    FELL  OFF  THE  HAPPY  WAGON
     It all started a couple of weeks ago with a scratchy throat and a skiing trip.  The very slightly irritated throat seemed a passing annoyance when my family and I headed out of town for my first ski trip since moving from Colorado.  We were headed to a cabin in the woods in Sisters Oregon, an area I hadn’t explored.  I love the woods and I love getting out of town.  Seeing new places is one of my favorite things to do, especially with a camera in hand.  
     But no!   It was not meant to be.  By the time we arrived I was sick and headed to bed.  A 102-degree fever for three days had developed into more than a slight annoyance.  Reading a wonderful book, The Book Thief, watching TV, looking out the window in the woods and mostly gazing at the ceiling was my ski and exploring weekend. 
     When we were 20 minutes into our trip home my granddaughter started throwing up next to me, partly into a plastic bag.  At the same time, I developed a coughing fit which sounded like I was going to be throwing up at any moment.   From the backseat my other granddaughter was spouting out instructions to all of us and my dear son, Chris, thought he was in the midst of a nightmare.  Actually he was.  
    What does this have to do with falling off the happy wagon?  As you can imagine things get started.  They escalate and can go on and on, unchecked.  Two weeks later I’m still sick with what I have come to find out is called the Oregon Crud.  They say it can last for six weeks.  I’m fatigued, still coughing and don’t want to get off the couch.  I have been a curmudgeon for over two weeks now.  Really.  Thinking and feeling happy thoughts hasn’t worked because frankly I’d rather be sulky.  But, tomorrow is the celebration of the resurrection.  It’s time to come back to life, to leave my sour and testy self behind.  It’s time to arise from the couch, to revitalize and renew my sense of happiness.  What more can I give to my life and those around me than my joy?   No matter what my circumstance, feeling good, even when I’m not feeling good, feels good.  Well mostly, except when I want to feel crotchety.
Back on the happy wagon,
HOT FLASH QUEEN
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April 30, 2006

Just in case you haven’t noticed
     This week there was a lot of information in the air about the genocide going on in Darfur and elsewhere in Africa.  I wasn’t going to write about it yet but my morning writings had me ruminating about our world and the behavior of too much of humankind. While I believe that peace and joy begin in each individual heart and spreads outward to those around us, I also know that apathy and an oblivious mind allow atrocities to continue.
     Murdering for gain or arrogance has been going on since recorded history and everyone who knows about it contributes whether it’s by turning a blind eye or by participating in the slaughter.  Our own country, which I feel is the best in the world, was founded by our European ancestors who stole ALL the land, slaughtering tribes of Indians who were in the way.  People did this and others let this happen.  Nazi Germany happened.  Rwanda happened.   We just cannot let this continue another day.   Children are being stolen.  Women are being gang-raped.  Millions are homeless.  Hundreds of thousands of innocent people are being murdered, for what I do not know.  Is it religious righteousness?  Or, greed or anger or not being taught to have a heart?  Are these people without souls?  I thought human consciousness was evolving to a higher state of being but it looks more like we are developing hell instead.
     Women, we need to get our priorities in order.  Let our Baby Boomer generation focus on the activism we came of age with or were born with in the 60’s.  As our children leave the nest and our grandchildren begin to reside in our hearts, let’s get on with being elders and setting the world right.  We can be a huge force.  All those children being murdered are our grandchildren.  Let us weep for them and then dry our tears.  Let us take charge and do something about it.  Stop with the being too busy.  What could possibly be more important?  The world is getting smaller by the day and this just might be coming soon to your own backyard.
Come on girls, we have work to do!
HotFlashQueen
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May 14, 2006

Miss Manners
     Yesterday was a Mothers Day tea hosted by my older grandchild’s Girl Scout Troup.   I had noticed it several weeks ago and my older son Sean, visiting from the east coast, noticed it last weekend. Nicole, my grandchild, had turned into Miss Manners. All of a sudden she had become ladylike and polite. I have to say I never thought I would see the day. Nicole is a rough and tumble, blunt and sassy ten-year-old girl who likes to wear red satin heels. She loves dressing up and climbing trees at the same time. And, shaving the dog and now the cat who still is in hiding.
     Denali, my younger grandchild, and I arrived at The Tea and were welcomed by young women of elegance. The girls of Troup 930 were dressed in their finest.  Nicole was wearing a stain-free, untorn white eyelet dress and white, strappy, heeled sandals. We were then escorted to our seats and served tea or apple juice. Rounds of fruit and then various tea sandwiches were offered. The young ladies walked around the large tables asking each woman or child, individually if they would like whatever it was they had on their platter. They must have made more than thirty visits to each person during the course of the tea.  Everytime they were refined in their manner.
     After the meal, the girls sat at the rectangular head table facing the guests while their leader called out doorprize winners and thanked everyone for everything. It had been a very nice, pleasant time. I was beaming at my granddaughter when my eyes strayed below the table. There they all sat prim and proper, lady-like, except for one. Nicole.   My granddaughter who sat in the center of the group, was slouched back in her chair with her high-heeled feet flat on the floor and her legs spread as far wide as they could possibly go. I laughed. The contrast of behavior from only a few moments before with what everyone could see framed under that table made me grin. There was my girl in her ladylike glory. What could be better than keeping it real?
I do miss manners in our 21^st century, but I’d rather have a good laugh.
Hot Flash Queen
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June 1, 2006

It Takes A Mouse
     Taking good care of yourself is a no-brainer, you’d think, but noooo.  How many of us actually do that? Even though I teach and preach it, I sometimes fall short. This is an example. My son and family went to Oahu last week and left me to take care of their two cats, a dog, and a fish. I stay at their place because I have no doggie bathroom area.
     This is the problem. The furnace wasn’t working. The house was 56 degrees and it was raining that Pacific Northwest, nonstop drizzle that it usually does. It was cold. And damp. I wrapped myself in giant blankets all day and I was still cold. Sleeping was awful. The dog barked too often the first two nights. I was cold and I was annoyed. When I woke up, I felt like I had been camping in nasty weather. But, I stayed. For four days I endured.
     Then it came time to go to bed once again, but I just couldn’t do it. The night before I was all settled in, peacefully, and about to drift off when all of a sudden little huge scratching, chewing, gnawing noises started. And they persisted. Then the bountiful profanity commenced in my head. I couldn’t stand it. Mice? Under the bed, in the wall?
     Too close, whatever. Insanity was thriving. But, I endured. Then it came time to go to bed once again, but I just wouldn’t. I picked up my purse, took the dog and drove home in my pajamas not even a mile away. What had I been doing? What was I thinking to put up with that when it would’ve been quite simple to just go home? It was that blessed mouse that made me realize the craziness of putting up with what I didn’t need to. The moral of the story is: Listen to the little irritating noises and do something about it.
HotFlashQueen
How many things in life do you put up with that would be simple to change? Make the time to ponder the question and then do it.
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June 14, 2006

Pedestrians
What is the deal? I just do not get people walking in front of moving cars. Today while driving the street between a strip-mall and its parking lot a woman, probably in her early 40’s, walked right in front of my moving car. There was no long line behind me making it a lengthy wait and it was not even raining. If this were a rare mindless occurrence, it wouldn’t be such a big annoyance but it happens all the time. Every time I drive past a shopping area people walk in front of driving vehicles forcing them to stop. Have these folks lost all common sense? Or have a deathwish? Has exhaust addled their brains? Don’t they realize that a moving car can lay them flat? Mostly, I think it must be a powerplay or a total lack of consideration. But, this really must stop. Cars should have the right of way and people should learn to be a little more courteous. Otherwise we should just run right over them. What do you think?
ReallyHot
HotFlashQueen

NB: I am not a violent person by any stretch of the imagination, and agree that automobiles and such should stop for human dolts and animals.
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July 1, 2006

Take Charge of Wayward Habits
Yesterday a patient told me something that gave me a different perspective on making changes for the better.  He said that he used to drink a lot and that one day he thought, “What if I am really successful one day?  I want to live long and be healthy enough to enjoy it.”  He was looking at his present behavior and how it would be detrimental to his future dreams.  It’s easy to be immersed in everyday activities without paying attention to the consequences of our actions. Poor nutrition, lack of sleep and exercise all take their toll on longevity and well-being as do damaging thinking and mindless behavior.  His words gave me pause to reflect on what I have been ignoring and how I could enhance my life by changing what is not good for me in the long-run. What seems to feel good at the moment isn’t always what feels good at the end of the day.
Hot Flash Queen
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July 15, 2006

Just Breathe
The other day I was watching a program on TV and heard the most beautiful and profound words. Whoever wrote them has my gratitude. One of the characters was in jeopardy, terrified and ashamed of their own actions and didn’t think life could ever be okay again.   The helpful character said “Just breathe.   When it’s really awful and you don’t think you can stand it or go on anymore, just breathe.  It will take you from one moment to the next. And then you breathe again.” What better words could be told to someone who needs them?
Inhaling Deeply
Hot Flash Queen

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August 1, 2006

Take The Time
      The other day a 55-year old patient came in to see me and was talking about her 92-year old husband.  She gets frustrated because he tells the same story over and over and over again.  He is in great shape physically and mentally and tends to their gardens and property.  She loves him.  He has been a good husband.  What she realized is that when she is patient and listens repeatedly, even though she’d rather not, it makes him happy.  She told me of a certain instance and said that from then on he was in a good mood and smiling all day long.   At the end of the day she felt good about listening and she too, was happy.
     Denali, one of my grandchildren, was over and wanting me to watch a Jimmy Neutron animated movie with her.  I’m not fond of watching animation for some reason and resisted in my mind.  I have so much to do, you know.  But, she was visiting and my heart ruled.  While watching, little to-dos kept popping into my head and along with it the frustration of not doing those things, my busy-ness.  Then I looked at my grandchild and knew that nothing could be more important than these precious, fleeting moments in time.  How absolutely blessed I am to be in this child’s presence doing what she finds significant. What could possibly more useful to me and to her than taking the time to enjoy our life right then.   At the end of the day I was glad and she has additional warm memories to carry her through life.
    Take the time to know what, in the long-run, is truly best for you and yours. It probably isn’t the things you have to do.  It’s more likely the time given and the love shared that make your life truly feel great.
HotFlashQueen
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September 1, 2006

A Time-Out
There are those delights we see sometimes that just hit us by surprise.  The other day gave me one of those times.  I was blessed to be on vacation in Colorado with my two sons and my younger granddaughter, Denali.  It had been a fabulous several days for the adults but a little rough on an eight-year-old.
     We were out and about and up to the mountaintops most of the days in unusually lousy weather.  We also oriented our travels to make it more interesting for a young girl.  We 4-wheeled it to a ghosttown.  We panned for gold and gems and went to places where the odds of seeing wildlife were good.  It worked.  The first we saw was a bobcat, a highly unusual sighting and then mountain goats, bighorn sheep, elk, deer, marmots, a mouse, and a lizard.
     All went fairly well but after a few days, when we were hiking to a postcard view, Denali had had enough.  She pulled out her petshop  pets, sat down and said she wanted to play.  And, that she did.   When I started my usual photographing because the scene was so darn cute, she quickly let me know she wanted her privacy.  My boys and I respectfully gave her space and moved along several feet.  But, as we stood talking I just happened to glance her way.  She caught me and wow, did I get the evil eye.  I was clearly out of bounds and knew it.  She needed space, some alone time without interference, without observation to ground or center herself, something.
     That was a proud grandma moment.  My boys were also impressed.  To not only know what she needed but to ask for and expect it was more awe-inspiring than my beloved mountains.   In five or ten minutes she was done.  She invited us over to see what she had been doing and was then ready to move on.
     We all need a time-out to listen to the quiet, to reflect on our lives, to breathe in the grandeur of life.  Take the time, ask and expect it.  Then move on feeling full, calm and ready to go.
Chill,
The HotFlashQueen
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September 15, 2006

That Voice Inside Your Head

     Do you have a voice inside your head that tells you things that aren’t especially good? I sure do even though I work hard not to have them. Yes them. There are helpful ones and then there are those that restrict and hold me back. We all have voices that speak up from time to time and they come from various places. Most are from childhood but some are from trauma and life experiences that affect us deeply.
     Here is a good example from my recent past. I am a chiropractor and wholistic health practitioner with a new, six-month old practice. All had been going smoothly and building nicely till midsummer when it began to slow down. In my head I argued that summer is typically slow. People feel good. They go on vacation, etc. etc.. While that is true, it’s only part of the story. Last night I had an awareness of what was a more true reason. There was one day this summer when two patients had problems with the care I was giving them. I’ve only had a few complaints in over twenty-five years and don’t know what was going on that day. Both situations were minor and the people were fine. I wasn’t. What I remember about that day was I felt awful. That voice in my head started a negative streak that questioned my abilities and desire to be a chiropractor. That’s what happened to my practice. Those voices in my head shifted my energy enough to slow things down. Just when I think I have those old negative nasty voices under control, up they come from some deep recess in my mind for healing.
     This is where mindfulness, meditation and guided imagery come in. Paying attention to what’s going on, pondering the why’s and the wherefores, and then using guided imagery heals and shifts perspective. Altering those voices to loving, kind, compassionate ones energetically shifts patterns of cause and effect. The change in attitude makes all the difference.

HotFlashQueen

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October 1, 2006

A Little Chicken Showed Me Something
Today I was at a health fair presenting a new and fabulous technique about health restoration.   In addition to sharing these latest wonders, the fun at these events is meeting other practitioners and vendors. Usually a nice comraderie develops and a good time is had.  One woman from a local farm had three baby chicks on her table that were only one week old.   They were darling little peepers and attracted much attention. Toward the end of the day I couldn’t help myself and just had to pick one up. The little one, when I brought her against my chest, settled right in making herself comfortable.  I loved it.  Of course I was a little concerned in my doctor attire that it might go to the bathroom on me and mess up the professional look I had going.  She didn’t.  What she did was climb up my necklace to nestle under my chin. It surprised me that she knew to do that and I got to thinking how I sometimes lose my way and don’t know what to do. Those distractions or old programmed messages lead me astray and away from knowing.  Being a chick is a little less complex but she reminded me that we all know.  It’s a matter of tuning in and listening to the heart. This little chick knew.  She hadn’t had programming to mess her up but she knew very well where that comfortable place was.  Or, maybe she knew something was up with that cooked chicken next to her on that table.  I don’t know but whatever it was, she was one smart chick.  She wanted to get out of there and hide.
Always learning
Hot Flash Queen

If you want to access your smart chick visit www.HotFlashQueen.com and check out the available MP3 downloads.  Guided Imagery leads you into your subconscious to reveal and resolve issues that stand in the way of happiness.
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