I have a new class in nutrition with a really great experiment. I bought a Quarter Pounder with cheese and we are going to take pictures each week for 28 days to see what happens to the burger. I have to say that I haven't bought a fast food burger in a very long time and just the smell of this thing made me sick. Stay tuned to see how the burger changes...or doesn't over the next several days. It will be sitting out in my garage on a shelf during this time.

Do They Like Me?????

Do they like me? What if they don’t? Am I good enough? Submitting an article for publication is a very intimidating thing to do. It is a process where you are really putting yourself out there; exposed for all to see. There can be so many insecurities around getting an article ready for publication. However this process can be exciting as well. Finding the right publication is a fun and enlightening process. It is important to explore all the options and determine where your style and topic will best be received. There are so many differences between publications – even those publications that might seem very similar on the surface. Some are more formal than others. Some want more personal information and experiences and some want a very factual and third person approach. It is important to find the one or ones that speak to you. Writing the article is the easiest part. If you are inspired the words will just come. However make sure to edit and read several times before submitting. It might be a great idea to have some close friends read it too. Then you can see how they respond to your information and see if you are getting the desired effect.

Then comes the really scary part; actually submitting the article. Most publications will not get right back to you, so you will be left wondering if the like it for quite a while. This part was not too difficult for me this time, because I don’t think my information is ready for publication yet. I am still learning and developing my interests and how I wish to present them. I will do this again in the future when I am ready. Right now I am not at that point so I am sure what I submitted is not going to be accepted. Knowing that makes it easier and if they do accept it – what a wonderful surprise. I feel great that I have gone through the experience so that when the time comes for me to do this again I will feel confident and capable.

Holiday Musings

Ahhh….such a relaxing day. I need to recharge because the holidays are right around the corner. My boys come back from college and then my sweet sanctuary becomes a frat house. I do love it though, at least for a little while. While it is nice to leave for work and come home to a house that looks the same as when I left, I do miss the noise and fun of having my kids around. At the holidays it is essential. Next Friday they will arrive and we will decorate the house and have appetizers while listening to Christmas music. This is a holiday tradition and we all love it. My daughter is in France for the holiday but even she wants to Skype in and join the fun. I am sure that will include telling her brothers where things should go. As the oldest, she likes to be the boss. I do miss the noise of my children; even the bickering sometimes. The wonderful thing is that I get 10 days off work while they are here so we can do things together and I can bake up a storm. I like to bake, but I don’t want to eat it all…which I would if they were not here. Having two twenty something boys in the house means I can bake away and not gain a pound. Well, OK, maybe a pound or two but that is it. We will have our traditional steak dinner for Christmas Eve and then over the bridge and through the woods to Grandmothers house we go on Christmas morning!! Christmas means lasagna in our house. Yes, we are Italian…what tipped you off? The best part of the day is my dad putting out his lamp that we got him a couple years ago. My dad is a Christmas Story fanatic. The movie reminds him of his childhood and so my brothers and I bought him a replica of the lamp as a joke. Who knew he would love it so much! He has to make a show about putting it in the perfect spot so the neighbors can see it….just like in the movie. It is great to see him have so much fun. New Years we like to have fondue and play board games. This year I got a Wii for my birthday so perhaps we will have a dance party competition. When it is all over the house will become quiet again and I am sure I will need some peace after the crazy holiday….but I cherish those sounds, smells and feelings that we all share during this wonderful season. I wish you all a joyous season and create wonderful memories with your family and friends. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!!

News Release

For Release 9 a.m. EST
December 11, 2011

Holistic Health Practice Opens

Spirit Serenity opens in Dexter

DEXTER— December 11, 1011 — Finding good options to traditional medicine just got a lot easier in Dexter, Michigan. Kathy Crawford, a holistic health practitioner, opens Spirit Serenity on December 15, 2011. Located in the Baker Street mall, Spirit Serenity will offer a variety of services all focused on improving the quality of life. These services include classes in nutrition as well as customized plans to lose weight or stop smoking.
“Spirit Serenity will fill a void,” said Crawford, a certified hypnotherapist and nutritionist. “People are looking for alternatives to taking pills and they want to feel great about the choices they make. Spirit Serenity will give them the tools to do just that.”
“Kathy has been such a wonderful inspiration to me” said Lynn Bulley one of Crawford’s clients. “The tools I have learned about how I should be eating have really changed my life.”
Spirit Serenity is located at 1300 Baker Street in Dexter Michigan. They will be open Monday through Saturday from 11am to 6 pm with occasional evening classes scheduled throughout the year. For a catalog call 734-444-1444.
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For more information, press only:
Kathy Crawford, 734-444-1444, kcrawford59@gmail.com

For more information on Microsoft Office:
http://www.spiritserentiy.com

Inspired Writing - What Makes The Words Flow

How does one find inspiration? If you ask ten people that question you will probably get ten different answers. Inspiration is such an elusive concept and individual to each person. I find myself inspired by the simplest things. Experiencing a beautiful sunrise or watching a child play can take me to a place where I find my inspiration. I am most inspired when I feel close to my higher power. That is a time that I am still and in the present. It is also a time that my mind is clear and open to any inspiration that may come my way. When I am paying attention – really paying attention – that is when my most inspired moments happen. Have you ever found that when you are in the shower is when you have great ideas? That is because most people relax when they are in the shower and clear their minds which are then open to those inspired thoughts. My inspiration does guide my writing style. I feel free to express myself in a way that is natural to me. I am not fond of formal writing and when I was in college it was difficult for me to feel too inspired about what I was writing. I was concentrating on grammar instead of writing how I felt or saying things in an authentic way. I find that this kills my inspiration because I start using my left brain instead of my right brain. I do understand the necessity for that type of writing, but when I am writing something that means so much to me, I want to write like I would speak. A conversational style is much more comfortable for me when expressing myself. When I am inspired the words just flow and if I start thinking about what I am saying I lose the inspiration. So I encourage people to just write. Don’t worry if you don’t know how to spell a word or if something makes sense. You can go back later if you need to. Just write what you feel and incredible insights will appear.

How to explain life to a table

Hello table - so how are you today? I think that the thought of explaining life to a table could be complicated. Yet the table cannot talk back so perhaps it will be easier than thought. I mean what does a table do anyway? It sits in the same place day after day. Sometimes people put things on it - or if it is having a bad day they may spill something on it ruining it's beautiful exterior. The table was born from a tree where it lived in the fresh air and felt the soft rain as well as the warmth of the sun. Now it has been formed into a table and cannot hear the birds or sway in the wind. How would I feel if someone took away the ability to feel nature from me? Not good I can tell you that. So is my table lonely? What about the furnature surrounding the table. Does the table feel inferior to the couch that gets a lot more attention? Perhaps it feels less attractive than the big dinner table that is newer and shinier. Does it hate it's water spots? Does it feel like everyone stares at it's chips and dings? The funny thing is that these are the things I love about my table - yet I resent my chips and dings. Perhaps my table likes those things about me. So if I could talk to me table (and it would hear me and talk back) I would tell it how beautiful it is and how much I appreciate it. I would let it know how much it means to me and my family and that I will make sure to open the window more often so it can feel the breeze and hear the birds again. I have a feeling my table would say the same thing back to me.

Welcome to Spirit Serenity

I am so happy to see you here. Spirit Serenity has been a dream of mine for the past few years. My husband passed away in June of 2006 and I found myself falling apart - physically and emotionally. I was passed from doctor to doctor and put on various medications. I went through test after test and finally said STOP !! These things have to be related. I found that convential doctors just looked at me like I was crazy (I think they thought I was) and were just treating each symptom...not the whole me. I found a integrative doctor that my insurance would cover and that was when things changed. This doctor took an entire hour to go over my life and finally reached over and said "Kathy - you have been through a lot." I sat there and looked at him and started crying. Finally someone realized that - including me. I had never looked at it that way before. I started some suppliments, had a hormone panel done and found out I had PTSD. With some natural suppliments, diet changes and yoga I found myself feeling better than I had in a long time. NOTE - NO MEDICATION. I decided that many of my friends were experiencing the same types of things because we were at the menopausal age and they were being treated much as I had been. This inspired me to go back to school and learn how to offer alternative therapies to them. This is the start of something wonderful !!!