Good Foods for Hypertension and Diabetes (Plus shopping advice!)

Dinner Tonight: Chicken with Sweet Potato, Okra and Figs

ARTICHOKE: Tonifies liver and kidney function, supports detoxification. Improves bowel movements, promotes digestion, lowers blood sugar and cholesterol.

SWEET POTATO: lowers blood sugar and cholesterol, helps prevent heart disease.

MISSION FIG: help to protect us from cancers, diabetes, degenerative diseases and infections, lowers blood pressure. Dried figs contain lots of vitamins and minerals like B6, calcium, copper, potassium, manganese, iron, selenium and zinc.

It was tough deciding which distressed look I should go for when I went jean shopping the other day. There's the dry-humping-rubbed-out-gams look. There's the spanked-out patches just below the ass look, which makes you look like your partner has very bad coordination and is possibly bedridden with limited visibility, or like you've been lap-dancing the bleachers...or a park bench. I chose the pawed-by-a-clingy-stranger-on-the-crosstown-bus look. It's really important that your distressed jeans send the right message to everyone on the street what kind of spanking you enjoy. Nearby, a spastic blond was bumming that she couldn't squeeze into a size zero pair of skinny jeans. She declared to her friend that it couldn't be a true size zero. Her friend offered words of wisdom that fell on def ears, "Why don't you just a get the next size up?" Miss thing was not amused. Being nothing is very hard work, once you get there you've achieved the ultimate challenge as a woman.

All of this recent snow has made me confront my dearth in proper foot attire. Spending money on myself is something I don't do very often. 50 lifetimes later, I'm still part cloister nun. 'These dried loaves will work wonderfully as clogs. Thank you, Father....No, no...On second thought, I couldn't. The birds might go hungry.' I almost bought some princess Laya space boots, but went for the furry Bjork brown instead. I fell in love with the Cate the Great boots, because she knew what to do with a horse, but I was looking at the Joan of the Arctic price. Whoops! I coulda saved myself a lot of heartache.

Secrets of Okra and Beets

This is tonight's dinner. It's Swiss chard, mango and pear salad with feta dressing, drained Borscht-style beets, garlic and ginger fried chicken, okra and potatoes. Medicinally...Okra can improve vaginal dryness especially at times of hormonal changes as with pregnancy and menopause. Beets are good for anemia, 'grounding' your energy and spirit and are a very potent cancer preventative. Bon appetit!

Medicinal Aspects of Tonight's Dinner:
(Care of "The Herbs of Life from Lesley Tierra" with my added notations)

MANGO: strengthens stomach, quenches thirst, relieves vomiting, promotes urination, soothes indigestion, cough and bleeding from gums (very effective!)

PEAR: produces fluid, lubricates dryness, eliminates mucus, relieves constipation, helps relieve alcohol withdrawal, improves indigestion, helps increase urination

SWISS CHARD: Supports lungs, stomach and colon health. Clears heat, detoxifies, and helps to get menses back during amenorrhea

BEET: Improve spleen health, boosting immunity. Nourishes fluids, eases rheumatic pain, improves congestion in chest, improves circulation.

ONION: Improve lungs and stomach health. Onions are an expectorant, helping to clear fluid from lungs. Improve the common cold. Improve headache tension, relieve abdominal pain, and relieve constipation. Onion plasters relieve mastitis. Help as a nasal decongestant and improve facial edema.

POTATO: Heals inflammation, helpful for children with ADD, tonifies energy and spleen, used topically for burns to prevent scarring.

CHICKEN: Tonifies energy, warming, counteracts diarrhea, helps relieve fluid retention, can improve mother's milk, improves a sense of general constitutional weakness especially after childbirth or during convalescence. Used in the treatment of diarrhea, edema, and diabetes.

OKRA: Very high in vitamin K (which helps prevent bruising), and is a good source of folate and vitamin C. According to truthisscary.com: It is helpful during pregnancy, to improve fertility, improves constipation, promotes colon health and prevents colon cancer, increases digestive health, and relieves respiratory conditions.

I did soul retrievals and energy extractions through the day today, with the help of a number of spirit guides, angels, power animals and even Goddess Minerva. And I gotta say, being in state of fearlessness is natural to me. Going into the unknown and confronting darker energies are both things I do courageously, humbly, in a centered way, with utter abandon and zeal. I seem to enjoy 'scaring the shit out of demons'. You know, the useless mental chatter, negative thoughts and emotions, toxic people residue, ghosts, entities and negative patterns people carry with them. I feel so calm when I can help remove these energies which hold people back, and drain people, or bring illness to them.

The coffee-induced anxious or neurotic mindset I've come to identify with my personal life seem so flimsy to me now. A part of a myth of being intrinsically unlovable, unlikable, and unworthy. Going to that place is knee-jerk reaction and a coping mechanism, that I subconsciously use to prevent myself from feeling empowered or being direct. My fear is not uncommon, we've all been burned at the stake for one thing or another.

Got a reading early in the am to channel for. Yay!

Working With Angels

I love that in my healing practice I can blend the love and wisdom of the guardian angels, archangel Michael, and the Saints who come through for my clients with the wisdom nature and the ancients. This is a formula for truly deep healing. Like all healers, I am just the conduit for the power of love and the wisdom of Higher Consciousness. We've been blessed with miracles, and I'm so grateful to my spirit helpers, friends and God!

About God and How People Use God to Hurt Others:
The old paradigm ways of treating people which includes manipulation, bribery, mental cruelty, narcissism, subjugation, ridicule instead of compassion, insatiable materialism (replacing intimacy, genuine care, love making and community), in the name of God, just won't fly for the new paradigm which is pure of heart. Brotherly and sisterly love for all cultures with all belief systems is the only path to world peace and personal peace. Everyone has their own path. Measure a man not by the items he has acquired, but by the joy he spreads and the empowerment and love he fosters. A "God" who comes from spite, anger, and hatred is the same as Satan, in my book. Hatred destroys itself. There are too many good people on the planet for all of that. That stuff withers in the face of true love, acceptance, kindness and goodness.

“Hi Pandora, I thank you so very much for the awesome treatment Thursday night!! It was strange too but my uncle passed away that night too. So it was extra healing /extra special. You are an amazing - healing - beautiful woman with sacred gifts. I'm blessed to know you !!! You make everything well!” L.P., Harwich, MA

“Hi Pandora! Wow I can't thank you enough for the reading the other day! Not only did I have a unique and fun experience, I feel fantastic. My energy around [an ex] is completely different. I'm able to be around him and I have no desire for him other than a friend, amazing!...Again, I appreciate you so much! I am loving my readings with you.” LB, Centerville, MA

“Hello Pandora, I have you so present in my mind and my soul all the time after our beautiful reading. Things keep coming to my mind that keep making sense. I took notes and I keep reviewing. I want to thank you for delving into my son's problem with such depth and sensitivity. It has really helped me internally in a way that I feel will impact our lives forever. You are a Goddess! I feel so lucky to have encountered you.” M.S. Los Angeles, CA

“Dear Pandora, This is amazing! [Referring to the mind-body recommendations from the metaphysical consultation.]: You've certainly covered everything we talked about and integrated so much knowledge into the difficulties I discussed with you. If only I could do all of these things, I'd be close to 100%! Thank you for all of this. I'm very impressed. Looks like I definitely have my work cut out for me. Lots of changes to be made and new ideas to follow. I look forward to talking with you again, and again…” JP, Truro, MA

“I want to express how thankful I am for your work. It’s impossible to capture in words and it’s very helpful to me. I feel stronger and the path seems surer.” B.G., Orleans, MA

“Hello Pandora, I'm feeling well since our session. It feels as though there is a weight that is gone. I have been sleeping much better this week. I've had some intense dreams but they aren't bothering me like they use to. It's like they are just there to give me information and not there to scare me as well. It's hard to describe, but it's a great improvement from the dreams I use to have. I am also feeling more centered and focused and when my mind starts to go all over the place I'm able to bring it back to a more calm and relaxed state faster. Part of this is from recognizing what is happening and the other part is being able to calm myself more effectively with deep breathing and focusing my mind. I will see if I'm able to attend the class it is something I am interested in.” J.H., Yarmouth, MA

Parenting and Mermaiding

Parenting is such an important and difficult job. If it weren't for parents, there wouldn't be therapists.

Some of my clients just seem like such unsung heroes, such as the Moms and Dads who've raised their kids by themselves. I'm so proud of my male clients. They are so evolved, so in touch with the sacred feminine, and in expressing this part of themselves they have made their wives and girlfriends so happy. This is the era of celebrating the sensitive man. And women, they exist! Let your angels be your cupids so you can find your mate. As Dame Darcy says, "When you're a mermaid, you just are one". There are 'mermaids' and 'mermen', straight, gay, and bi, who are embracing the sacred feminine, through art, through camp, through dance, performance art, in their emotional sensitivity and intuitive understanding.

Eating for Your Body Type in Ayurvedic Medicine

Everyone can be classified by the three-dosha system in Ayurvedic medicine. Discerning your dosha/s is usually fairly easy. Most people are two doshas, some are a singular dosha, and a rare person is a tri-dosha. In Ayurvedic medicine, these three separate elements are in flux within us. Vata is wind and air, pitta is fire and bile, while kapha is water, earth, and phlegm. Chopra's website says that vata is elimination, pitta is transformation and kapha is protection. Too much vata leads to anxiety, too much pitta leads to anger and too much kapha leads to depression. Finding balance as a vata-pitta, vata-kapha, or pitta-kapha is a bit more complicated than with single doshas, as these elements are in contrast to each other.

For example, if you are a vata-pitta and are having wind-related issues such as anxiety, cracking knees, arthritis, allergies, asthma, migraine, panic attacks, or over-thinking things, you need to reduce the vata with certain foods and practices, including using herbs that are relaxing to the nervous system. If you are vata-pitta, and you are experiencing irritability, anger, resentment, constipation, diarrhea, an over-active metabolism, indigestion, acid reflux, or being over-heated, you want to reduce pitta by eating foods and herbs which cool your body. If you're having a couple of each of those symptoms as a vata-pitta, it's time to reduce vata and pitta by increasing kapha.

If you are pitta-anything, you may get upset or easily confused when you don't eat. If you are a thin vata-pitta or are a vata-pitta with more vata happening in the winter, you may become so involved with projects that you skip meals or forget to eat. To stay balanced you must snack on something. Pittas have a strong appetite and strong metabolism and can eat cruciferous vegetables (unless you have a hypothyroid condition) which include kale, horseradish, radishes, spinach, cauliflower, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts. Although as a pitta person you may generally enjoy spicy foods and the internal heat created by them, you've got to be careful not to eat too many spicy foods, especially in the summer, or you could become quite cross and perhaps oversexed. You must eat more cooling foods such as corn, cucumber, watermelon, squash, mung beans, bean sprouts, and avoid too much garlic during the warm season.

Lately, I've been eating more of these kapha-increasing foods: goat cheese, sweet potatoes, rice, almonds, coconut, avocados, mangoes, bananas, yogurt, and lentils, with fewer onions, garlic cloves, and spicy foods. I feel so much more relaxed. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, doctors instruct everyone to avoid cold salads in the Winter, but now that I've been eating tons of salad every day like I used to, the digestive enzymes have really been increasing my digestive health. It's been cooling my mental fire, but generally my internal heat has increased improving my circulation. Also, I've been eating lots of pomegranate seeds which are a wonderful superfood, and have reduced my cravings for coffee, which I have reduced to a diluted half milk cup a day. Feeling like living plant!

More Testimonials For My Work

“Hi Pandora, I thank you so very much for the awesome treatment Thursday night!! It was strange too but my uncle passed away that night too. So it was extra healing /extra special. You are an amazing - healing - beautiful woman with sacred gifts. I'm blessed to know you !!! You make everything well!” L.P., Harwich, MA

“Hi Pandora! Wow I can't thank you enough for the reading the other day! Not only did I have a unique and fun experience, I feel fantastic. My energy around [an ex] is completely different. I'm able to be around him and I have no desire for him other than a friend, amazing!...Again, I appreciate you so much! I am loving my readings with you.” LB, Centerville, MA

“Hello Pandora, I have you so present in my mind and my soul all the time after our beautiful reading. Things keep coming to my mind that keep making sense. I took notes and I keep reviewing. I want to thank you for delving into my son's problem with such depth and sensitivity. It has really helped me internally in a way that I feel will impact our lives forever. You are a Goddess! I feel so lucky to have encountered you.” M.S. Los Angeles, CA

“Dear Pandora, This is amazing! [Referring to the mind-body recommendations from the metaphysical consultation.]: You've certainly covered everything we talked about and integrated so much knowledge into the difficulties I discussed with you. If only I could do all of these things, I'd be close to 100%! Thank you for all of this. I'm very impressed. Looks like I definitely have my work cut out for me. Lots of changes to be made and new ideas to follow. I look forward to talking with you again, and again…” JP, Truro, MA

“I want to express how thankful I am for your work. It’s impossible to capture in words and it’s very helpful to me. I feel stronger and the path seems surer.” B.G., Orleans, MA

“Hello Pandora, I'm feeling well since our session. It feels as though there is a weight that is gone. I have been sleeping much better this week. I've had some intense dreams but they aren't bothering me like they use to. It's like they are just there to give me information and not there to scare me as well. It's hard to describe, but it's a great improvement from the dreams I use to have. I am also feeling more centered and focused and when my mind starts to go all over the place I'm able to bring it back to a more calm and relaxed state faster. Part of this is from recognizing what is happening and the other part is being able to calm myself more effectively with deep breathing and focusing my mind. I will see if I'm able to attend the class it is something I am interested in.” J.H., Yarmouth, MA

Reclaiming the Power of the Female Orgasm with Author Naomi Wolf

Catch my podcast interview with international best-selling author, social critic and political voice of reason, Naomi Wolf here: http://www.womr.org/podcast/author-naomi-wolf/

Naomi discusses the complexity of the female nervous system, proper clitoral stimulation, the connection between sexual fulfillment, confidence and creativity, and the effect porn has had on our sex lives. Don't miss it! The best thing you can give your partner for Christmas is joy!

Abracadabra: Finding the True Meaning of Christmas Through the Tinsil

The angels told me that there are two sacred and powerful times around Christmas. The first begins two days before Winter Solstice and is five days long. This is a period for going within. It is a time to focus on what opportunities have arisen in the last year, or over the last month. It is the time to look for the 'crack in the cosmic egg', to observe the crevices of broken river rocks of the Sweatlodge of our dreams. Like Mary through the darkened desert, led by the twinkling stars, we must take the sacred journey of self. As we commune with the proverbial Christ Child (who represents our divine nature, the wisdom of children, and the creativity within) contained inside our bellies, we sort through the aspects of our familial legacies we seek to release and those we seek to carry on. We connect to our own holy nature by the vibrations of divinity within. Unassisted, we birth our authentic selves into being.

In this heightened place, we become world bridgers and portals of higher consciousness, bringing in new awareness and new generations into a changing world. Into a new world that is dependent on global respect and creating sustainable solutions for the survival of humanity. We cannot imperil anyone's lives, without endangering our own futures. Liberated by the truth, with the artifice blown for the little people today, they must help us navigate the new world with the purity of their sacred hearts. Unsullied by the old constructs, the old paradigm of domination and abuse of power, unable to be enslaved despite the old constructs. The angelic wisdom will lead us to the home of the soul, to the center of creation, where we are all One.

Be open to the gifts of the Magi. Make your three wishes to your spirit guides. Declare into the dark of the night what you want when it is in alignment with the better good for all humanity, of course. Let them guide you in creating the blueprint for the coming year. In creating your vision, keep in mind, that it is through interconnectedness, compassion and love that we will all survive and thrive. We all individually need to take global responsibility seriously. We're all in this together. When we envision our futures and take steps towards the actualization of goals, I believe we should keep in mind that creation doesn't happen in a vacuum. Likewise our spiritual journeys are more powerful when they are shared. Some kind of daily spiritual practice is something we each owe our selves personally for sanity and joy. Its also something which really is our duty to our collective consciousness and evolution. If people realized just how powerful they are and how good it feels to know compassion and be able to put themselves in someone's else's heart and mind, they would see that the condition of the modern world necessitates this revelation and this shared practice of daily and weekly spiritual community. Prayer. Energy healing. Sacred sex. Meditation. Merry Christmas World.

Inebriated ZigZag Journeys: From Displacement to Soul Food

Shrouded in darkness, mild flurries caressed the maritime countryside leaving behind pockets of salty snow for Christmas morale. Like a good elfin pan, I crafted into the night listening to old Steve Martin interviews... Our son made some wonderful gifts at school, like a family Christmas Calendar. Very well done! And lo and behold, despite my protestations about the focus on material gift giving, Santa came after all...much to my son's delight.

Everyone knows that the consumerism monster has gotten out of hand, yet we continue to feed the beastly master, unleashing him from his cage every year like clockwork come December. A cocktail of greed, hysteria, guilt, and unsated desires puts a lot of people past the tipping point, as they race around town hoarding booze, chocolate and rubbing their credit cards through tiny slots at cash registers from store to store, like crickets rubbing their legs together. This is the music of Christmas: cha-ching cha-ching, botta-boom, botta-bing. It's the chaotic crinkling of wrapping paper, tissue and bows, ravaged by kids pumped on GMO-cornsyrup-candy who tear through gift after gift until everything is opened, like a frenzy of mosquitoes on supple flesh of a newborn fawn in the dead and still of an ice cold winter. It's the moaning of family members in painful stoopers with aching joints and sore muscles. It's the droning of an antique vampire, a sedated fixture, a living relic of a bygone era, sunken into an armchair, mumbling incantations, musty racism and a percolating fervor for wartime. Spitting judgment through broken teeth and a tense jaw. It's the shrill screams and the frustrated sighs, as everyone shares their genuine love through all the banality of the corporeal machinations and obligatory gestures with uncomfortable relations.

We all know that Christmas is about love, sharing, and community. It's about joy, merriment, and peace of earth. Yet, who surrenders to a theta state recognition of the divine within us all? Who rides a wave of bliss through the perfume isles of Nordstrom's looking into everyone's eyes in dreamy recognition of our interconnectedness? Who stretches their yogic hearts holding Namaste on their lips down the Lego isle of Toys R Us? Who among us feels himself embodying Christ consciousness in line for coffee samples and one inch square pieces of spanikopita at Trader Joe's? Who among us feels herself fashioned in the likeness of the Madonna, touched by God, as she agonizes over which dangling over-sized purse with retro fringe to buy Mother-in-Law?

We plow through crowds of strangers with our eyes glued to tiny glowing screens, racking up credit cards on our zigzag journeys to get to Peace on Earth and Goodwill Toward Men. And when we arrive at our destinations, pumped full of cappuccinos, Bailey's Irish cream, tiramasu, and easy bake mini mushroom turnovers, decked out in our shiny a glittery accoutrement, do we remember to feed our souls? Do we dance like gypsies, sing like naked natives on tropical beaches, do we drink the medicine of the elders? Do we dump the drama of interpersonal relationships and petty frustrations like a cement mixer at a graveyard, before the waist hardens our arteries, ferments in our intestines, festers in our worn down, pathogen-abiding human bio-domes before we get to the place wear cats purr, children coo, and angels steal our inebriated focus twinkling on the tops of pine trees in our indoor living room forests?

Bitch or Bust

This year there just hasn't been any room for the shopping, card-sending and gift-giving. Although, our family did make it to two Solstice celebrations. Tomorrow, I finally get to the post office between two client readings and some ice skating. After some bouts of illness on the home front, it's been all work all the time playing catch up. There's nothing I'd rather do with most of my mental power, energy and spirit, than surrender myself to the loving and intelligent wisdom of the angels, and help convey personal messages to my clients and mind-body insights for their health and well being. My healing practice mandates a ceremonial lifestyle with daily meditation and few distractions from the modern world. It requires my undivided and absolute attention when I am working. The state of mind required by my profession is that of oneness, harmony, fluidity, humility, neutrality, duty, and balance. I must be surrendered to divine love and feel a pervading sense of trust and safety, cradled by Mother Nature's loving arms. Sometimes, every day practical life interjects itself like an alarm clock, Hello...time exits and it's ticking!

Frankly, I was so busy channeling messages about Mary, Jesus, and from Archangel Michael for my clients, that I forgot to buy stuff and send cards. Silly me.

The other deeply satiating endeavor...Thankfully, starting Thursday I will have a week just to write, with the exception of one healing and two classes. I know I've said this before, but it's so true. I wasn't ready to write the book I am meant to write before. My perspective on things has evolved so much. I feel much less polarized, in terms of feminism, my politics and the sacred feminine. I see what's required within the manuscript to blend the insights of an angel medium with the chutspa of a spunky, righteous and rallying 'sex priestess' of a modern revolution. As Naomi Wolf and I discussed in my forthcoming interview with her (airing this Thursday at 9am EDT, on 92.1 WOMR-FM Provincetown), sexual empowerment wakes one from a deep sleep, it increases conscious awareness, it doesn't allow the soul to be oppressed, and it is revolutionary. So, it's back to manifestos for me. Things have kinda come full circle. May even buy copies of Bitch and Bust magazines for myself this Christmas....

Update, it looks as if the online content for Bitch and Bust has gotten a tad more tepid since the 90s. Wow! Doesn't really have the fanzine quality of my own 'self-published' feminist grrrl magazine, I edited back in 1998 called, Pillow Book: Funky Cunts' Guide to the Emotional Universe. We poked fun at tampon and IUD propaganda, explored female sexuality with a post-Sisterhood-is-Powerful pre-matrifocal existentialism. I edited it, drawing from a dozen friends' writings and artwork. Loved the name, but I never knew where to wear the t-shirt.

We created, the Funky Cunts' Guide around the same time I was writing a paper at Community College about the media backlash against women in the early eighties. The backlash had parallels with the early 50s propaganda calling for the post-WWII female workforce to return to home, be good little homemakers, give up wearing pants, quit their jobs and let financial independence be a distant memory. Sadly, in the 80s game shows and soap operas started hypnotizing a whole new generation of moms. Propaganda from right wing groups and ultra conservatives started sending messages for women to get back to the home. Popular columnists like Popcorn and mags like Women's World had a huge hand in shifting popular opinion, or at least the appearance of it by using false statistics, and over time gained a lot of genuine influence.

The 80s created the newly improved material girl prototype (the trophy wife who could be bought and sold), the suburban soccer mom, the hyper-sexualized and infantalized object of desire, the self-esteem galvanizing dead model look which invoked elements of violence against women (and embraced the Victorian ideal), and the trend in 80s sitcoms of having orphaned children with dead moms (Full House, My Two Dads, Webster, Gimme a Break, Who's the Boss, Diff'rent Strokes, and The Hogan Family). (Then, there's the kids' whose moms just up and left Punky Brewster and Blossom.) For my paper, I drew quotes from books by authors Susan Faludi, Peggy Orenstein, Inga Muscio, Lois Banner, Robin Morgan, and Naomi Wolf. There's that Wolf again. Go by her book, Vagina, if you haven't already.

Naomi Wolf on Healing Wisdom Next Week!

Avoid the day after Christmas let down, with wisdom from best-selling author, Naomi Wolf! So exciting!