Día de los Muertos

Buenos días! I always have the best intentions...but that darn procrastination gets in the way. So, this holiday (one of my faves) has come and gone - then I thought ... so what, I can still post it, as long as it's before the end of Nov. I just like everything this holiday is about....skeletons, mexican food, tequila, flowers! I love the Spanish and Catholic mix. Oh, and the art - I LUV the art!

Día de los Muertos or Day of the Dead
This Mexican holiday focuses on family and friends who gather to pray for and remember those who have died. This ritual is celebrated in Mexico and other parts of the US. Although it has been merged with Catholic theology, it still maintains the basic principles of the Aztec ritual, such as the use of skulls. In rural Mexico, people visit the cemetery where their loved ones are buried. They decorate gravesites with marigold flowers and candles. They bring toys for dead children and bottles of tequila to adults. They sit on picnic blankets next to gravesites and eat the favorite food of their loved ones.

"Here the people spend the day in the cemetery," said Esther Cota, the parish secretary at the Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. "The graves are decorated really pretty by all the people."

In larger cities, families build altars in their homes, dedicating them to the dead.
They surround these altars with flowers, food and pictures of the deceased. They light candles and place them next to the altar.

The celebration occurs on Nov 2 in connection with the Catholic holidays: All Saints' Day (Nov 1) and All Souls' Day (Nov 2). Due to occurring shortly after Halloween, the Day of the Dead is sometimes thought to be a similar holiday, although the two are celebrated differently.

Needles & Cupping & Balance - OH YEAH

Wow, my energies are so out of balance that it's literally unreal. Made worse by the fact that I quit taking my "depression" meds cold turkey about 5 weeks ago. At first I felt fine, then 2 weeks later when it stared leaving my system, I didn't!! I ran out and thought "hmmm, I'm just gonna stop taking it and focus JUST on holistic therapy and see what happens" It's simple: our bodys chi (energy) pathways being blocked prohibits the good chi to flow thru our system. And since the meds are pretty much gone from mine, I was definitely ready for a treatment. I don't know yet if I can do it (the no meds at all thing) but we'll see.

So, I went for my 3rd session of cupping Saturday and I literally couldn't wait. This time I did the accupuncture with it. I left feeling so good, and relaxed and detoxified. She focused mainly on my liver which is linked to your emotions. It's funny - cause whenever I do this stuff I feel so "untouchable" BUT, that's not how it works. Despite having a great treatment- I did got a bit emotional later that day...Halloween is my very FAVE holiday, and this is the 1st year that I'm not with Jim, and he has Alex for trick-or-treat. Which is fine, cause I had him Friday for the school thing. I also skipped my tradition of making my fave food (spagetti). Ahhh, well - enuf about me - read below on CUPPING. I LUV it!!

Cupping therapy is the method of using glass cups to create localized pressure by a vacuum. The Chinese have been doing this since ancient times by using heat inside the cups. The vacuum inside the cups causes the blood to form in the area and help the healing in that area.

Our body contains "meridians" pathways in the body which the energy of life called Qi ("chi") flows. It flows through every body part, tissue and organ. Cupping therapy is mainly performed on one's back because there are five meridians on your back. When these meridians are opened, the internal energy is able to flow through the whole body, instead of being blocked.

In Chinese medicine, all the organs are connected together. So if you have a problem with one organ, it can affect the health of other parts of your body. For example, it is believed that the kidneys are connected to a persons aging. A person with an imbalance or disease in the kidneys will experience more graying of the hair, wrinkled and dry skin, etc.

Another healing benefit of cupping is it release the toxins in your body. The suction from the cups penetrates deep into your tissues causing them to release harmful toxins. It triggers the lymphatic system, clears the blood vessels, and stretches and activates the skin.

So, there ya go - and it only costs about $30 - 40!!