Becoming Crunchy

Archive for September, 2011

This post was written for inclusion in the Mindful Mama Blog Carnival hosted by hosted by Kelly of Becoming Crunchy and Zoie of TouchstoneZ. Participants are writing posts about what mindfulness mean to them. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.

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Image by Dave Schumaker via Flickr

“If thou could’st empty all thyself of self,
   Like to a shell dishabited,
Then might He find thee on the ocean shelf,
   And say, “This is not dead,”
   And fill thee with Himself instead.

But thou art all replete with very thou
   And hast such shrewd activity,
That when He comes He says, “This is enow
   Unto itself  – ’twere better let it be,
   It is so small and full, there is no room for me.”

~ Sir Thomas Browne, as quoted in A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L’Engle

Mindfulness…meditation…they mean different things to me (and I daresay all of us) at different times and different places in life.

I quoted the above passage because Madeleine L’Engle is one of the people who has made me think most about what being mindful means, and the book it’s from talks a lot about meditation and the release of ‘self’ to simply ‘be’.

I’ll have more to say on that shortly, but first I wanted to explain my title – what do I mean by derailed? Read the rest of this entry »

Image by JasonUnbound via Flickr

So much of my Becoming Crunchy journey has been about learning to value the natural, normal and real over the chemical, the technological solutions, the fake.

And it’s not that I hold zero value for those things – I think we have an amazing capacity as a race to be creative and come up with discoveries and solutions to things that truly need it; our problem is that we have the tendency to move on to bigger and better while simply throwing away whatever was before.

Of course, when I say we, I mean I – it wasn’t until the past year or so that I really started finding merit in being a ‘crunchy’ type, and as always I must give the caveat that I still have a ways to go…but it seems like I’m always finding new ways to move back into valuing what is natural and real, and lately the focus has been on pregnancy and childbirth in particular as I work toward certifying through DONA International as a doula. 

Over the past week I’ve had the amazing opportunity to attend a childbirth education class and a 2-day birth doula training course as part of the steps required for DONA certification.

While certification is a route that I’ve chosen toward becoming a doula, I do want to make note that not every doula is certified and that there are different organizations out there who offer certification – and that basically a piece of paper does not necessarily a doula make.

I chose the route of certification through DONA for several reasons: Read the rest of this entry »

Congratulations to our 6-Month Blogiversary Celebration Giveaway winners!!!

For the Visionwise giveaway, we are pleased to announce Dionna as the winner of the mini Chakra Flags, and Charise as the winner of the Pocket Pouch!

Lauren, the creator of Visionwise, has a deep connection to the spiritual realm that is reflected in her work. Her jewelry is gorgeous and each piece has special healing properties depending on the mineral/stone. Her leather cuffs and medicine bags are beautiful works of art, each infused with strength and power. Lauren also offers Chakra flags, prayer flags, dream pillows, and fine art prints/postcards. It is easy to fall in love with Visionwise!

We are pleased to announce that Lauren is offering 10% off anything in the Visionwise shop to Becoming Crunchy & Hybrid Rasta Mama readers – just enter the code RASTAMAMA at checkout.

Be sure to keep in touch with Lauren at her Etsy shop and at the Visionwise Blog!

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Emily is the winner of the Ice Pop Joy giveaway!

“Ice Pop Joy is a collection of delicious, healthy, organic popsicle recipes  for the whole family. It’s a valuable reference for parents who are looking for a different type of snack: one that’s cutting-edge nutritious and delicious. Parents will appreciate that their kids are not only eating healthier foods, but that they are also expanding their culinary palates with exceptional ingredients such as fresh herbs, local, organic and seasonal fare.” ~ Ice Pop Joy

Be sure to keep in touch with Anni Daulter, author of Ice Pop Joy at Bamboo Family Magazine (free) Online, The Bamboo Family Magazine Blog, on Twitter, and on Facebook!

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The winner of our giveaway for Lucky Lou Lou felted soaps is Julia!

Lindy uses super soft merino wool sometimes blended with silk to felt around her 100% Vegan cold-press soaps. What you get is a hybrid soap washcloth which gently exfoliates. The soap lasts longer with the felt casing, and when it is gone you have a soft colorful felt pouch to keep using for skin exfoliation in the bath/shower – or you can just cut it open and use it as a pouch. Each cake is wire-cut, air-dried and aged to create a long-lasting soap for exceptional mildness. These soaps are lightly scented and mild for the most sensitive of skins.

Lucky Lou Lou is offering 15% off in her shop to Hybrid Rasta Mama & Becoming Crunchy readers for the next 2 weeks – just enter the code MAMA 15 at checkout.

Be sure to stay in touch with Lucky Lou Lou on Etsy, Facebook, and the Lucky Lou Lou blog. Read the rest of this entry »

We all talk about how we want to bring more connectedness into our lives. We may want to connect with spirit, our bodies, acceptance, forgiveness or simply to find peace. Whether you already have a practice that centers you or you want to have a practice, but haven’t yet begun, here is a chance to write about what keeps you going or keeps you from starting and read what others are experiencing on their own journeys.

I am so pleased to join Zoie of TouchstoneZ  in presenting the Second Mindful Mama Carnival.

Topic: What does being mindful mean to you?

Do you have a mindfulness practice? Is mindfulness something that you try to cultivate in your life? How does living mindfully appear and feel in your life? Is there something that prevents you from living the your life as mindfully as you wish? Let us know what mindfulness looks like in your life. Thank you to Rachel @ The Variegated Life for the topic suggestion

Deadline: Thursday, September 15. Fill out the webform (at the link or at the bottom) and email your submission to BOTH Zoie and Kelly by 11:59 p.m. Pacific time: zoie{dot}touchstonez{at} gmail{dot}com and kelly{at}becomingcrunchy{dot}com

Carnival date: Thursday, September 22. Before you post, we will send you an email with a little blurb in html to paste into your submission that will introduce the carnival. You will publish your post on September 22 before 9am PST and email us the link if you haven’t done so already. Once everyone’s posts are published on September 22 by 9am PST, we will send out a finalized list of all the participants’ links to generate lots of link love for your site. We’ll include full instructions in the email we send before the posting date.

I hope you’ll join us in writing about what mindfulness means to you. Please submit your post on the form below by Thursday, September 15th 11:59pmPST and have your post up on Thursday, September 22nd. We will send you code for the top and bottom of your post that will link to any other participants in the carnival Wednesday, September 21st with final update on September 22nd.

If you have any questions, please feel free to comment below or email  zoie{dot}touchstonez{at} gmail{dot}com and kelly{at}becomingcrunchy{dot}com

Copy this badge code and add it to your blog sidebar:

You can fill out the form at the bottom of this post or go directly to the submission form Here

Image by ADD Photography via Flickr

I am pleased to welcome Nadia Jones as a guest poster today; after reading some of my posts on my breastfeeding struggles and knowing that I do feed my little one by bottle, she offered to share some interesting and important information on keeping baby’s teeth safe when it comes to bottle feeding.

One thing I was curious about when first reading her post was whether the same cautions would apply to breastfeeding, and if not, why not. Nadia graciously answered my query on why and how it is not really the same, and I’ve added her answer to the post.

I hope you enjoy and find this post helpful, and be sure to leave any questions you may have for Nadia in the comments section.

The Rotten Truth About Baby Bottle Tooth Decay

If you’re feeding baby by bottle, it’s important to know whether you are putting him or her at risk for developing baby bottle tooth decay, especially as he or she begins to develop teeth around the 6-month-mark.

What is Baby Tooth Decay? Read the rest of this entry »