Ginger is used often in Ayurvedic cooking.  It can be used in so many ways, both fresh and dried.  Fresh ginger is balancing for both Vata and Pitta.  Dried ginger, because it is stronger and more concentrated, is balancing for Kapha.  Ginger kindles agni, the digestive fire, so it helps the body to digest, absorb and assimilate food.  Ginger is especially helpful in the cold winter months.  It makes food lighter and easier and more digestible.  It is also wonderful to help alleviate coughs, congestion and runny noses.

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Lissa Coffey is an author, media personality, and the founder of CoffeyTalk.com (Reprinted with permission Copyright © Bamboo Entertainment, Inc.)

I’ve never been a fan of video or computer games.  As far as I’m concerned they’re pretty much a waste of time.  My kids enjoy them because they say it’s a way for them to “chill.”  I always thought that if I could possibly create a computer game that would be teaching them something, rather than just numbing their minds, that a lot of people would really go for it.  There are educational games on the market, but I always wanted to do something more spiritual rather than intellectual.  Last Christmas I found exactly what I would have designed, so I stopped thinking about it!  The game is called “Journey to the Wild Divine.”  I got it for Freddy, my video game connoisseur, and it is absolutely WONDERFUL!  I love that we can use modern technology to “chill” and get something out of it that’s really beneficial, too.  It’s a beautiful game, and so well done.  And the really cool part is that it’s not just for kids, it’s for everybody!  Thank goodness that there are other people thinking along these same lines.  I can’t wait to see what else they come up with!

Lissa Coffey’s online newsletters and article content may be reprinted provided the following credit line is included:

Lissa Coffey is an author, media personality, and the founder of CoffeyTalk.com (Reprinted with permission Copyright © Bamboo Entertainment, Inc.)

Our dreams give us a little bit of insight into our psyche.  It’s where our subconscious comes out to play.  A lot of our dreams are just the brain kind of downloading and interpreting all the information that we picked up during the day.  But they can also offer some clues for us to look at what’s going on that we might not be seeing while we’re awake.  And it’s interesting because the symbols that we get in our dreams are not always what they seem to be!  For example, I was having recurring dreams about this dog I had, “Polo.” Polo has long since gone, but in my dream he comes home, I’m surprised to find him in the backyard just hanging out like he used to do.  In my Dream Dictionary it suggested that I would meet up with an old friend. Sure enough, a few days later, I got a phone call from a friend of mine from high school whom I hadn’t seen in years!  Maybe it’s just a coincidence, but I think it’s pretty cool.

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Lissa Coffey is an author, media personality, and the founder of CoffeyTalk.com (Reprinted with permission Copyright © Bamboo Entertainment, Inc.)

Each morning when I hear the alarm go off, I reach for my book of spiritual sayings to start my day off in a good mindset.  Then I have my “Zen” calendar in the bathroom so I can read that thought of the day when I put on my make-up.  When I turn on the computer, the first e-mail I read is Wisdom News.  Whether it’s the refrigerator magnets from the, “Getting There! 9 Ways”, book or the sticky notes I’ve got all over my datebook, throughout the house, and throughout the day, there are reminders for me to focus on what is important.  It helps me to stay centered with all the “busy-ness”going on all around.

Have you seen the newly re-designed coffeytalk.com site?  My webmaster, Brian, has done such a great job with it!  And a new feature that he has included is something called RSS, for Real Simple Syndication.  If you have a website, you can now have Wisdom News posted right on your website, for free!  It’s really cool.  We have 2 years worth of messages that rotate automatically.  So if you know of anyone who would like this on their website, please have them visit coffeytalk to sign up.  It’s really easy, and it’s a great way to start the day!

Lissa Coffey’s online newsletters and article content may be reprinted provided the following credit line is included:

Lissa Coffey is an author, media personality, and the founder of CoffeyTalk.com (Reprinted with permission Copyright © Bamboo Entertainment, Inc.)

Gemstones are from the earth and they contain natural energetic properties, which are transferred to us when worn against the skin.  We can use gemstones to assist us in harnessing the types of energy we need at certain times in our lives.  For example, the blue stones, like Turquoise, Aquamarine and Blue Quartz, are very healing, each in their own specific way.  Rose quartz, cherry quartz, and garnet can be used to stimulate and attract love, especially when used together because the energy is synergistic.  Amethyst, Hematite, and Fluorite can be used to deepen the meditation experience and help us to gain spiritual insight.

Lindsay Leimbach is a jewelry designer in Los Angeles.  She has created, exclusively for us, a beautiful line of necklaces using these very principles.  I have many of Lindsay’s pieces, and I know just how powerful, and exquisite, they are!  Photos of her collection are posted at www.psmeditation.com

Lissa Coffey’s online newsletters and article content may be reprinted provided the following credit line is included:

Lissa Coffey is an author, media personality, and the founder of CoffeyTalk.com (Reprinted with permission Copyright © Bamboo Entertainment, Inc.)

Caffeine is a problem.  A big problem.  In the D.A.R.E. literature that my kids got at school, caffeine is listed as a drug.  It is highly addictive.  And yet many of the same schools that distribute this anti-drug literature to kids sell sodas their students.  Soda companies pay schools to have vending machines on campus, so this is one way for the schools to raise money.  The upside for the soda companies is that kids are getting hooked at a young age.  And the caffeine is not just in the cola products.  Read the labels and you’ll see that they have added caffeine to their orange sodas and root beers.  So we may be ingesting caffeine without being aware of it.  We really need to think before we drink.  Next time you’re at that trendy coffeehouse, try a decaf version of your favorite latte.  Think about what’s going into your body, and about what kind of example you’re setting for your kids.

We care about our health, and we care about our kids.  It’s up to us to offer up alternatives to sodas.  Juices are good, as are herbal teas, and water is really the best.  

Lissa Coffey’s online newsletters and article content may be reprinted provided the following credit line is included:

Lissa Coffey is an author, media personality, and the founder of CoffeyTalk.com (Reprinted with permission Copyright © Bamboo Entertainment, Inc.)

I’m standing in line at the grocery store, loading my boxes of cereal onto the conveyor belt, and I hear the checker ask the customer in front of me that now famous question: “Paper or plastic?”   We all know by now that what they’re really asking us is: “Do you want a paper bag made from some glorious tree that had to be cut down? Or do you want a plastic bag that will sit in a landfill for years without biodegrading?”   Hmmmm, the guilt gets me every time!  I do my best to recycle, Brian uses the plastic bags for his lunches, and we use the paper bags for taking our trash and carting stuff around.  But when I heard the customer in front of me answer: “I’ll have paper in plastic, please,” I realized that I was not doing enough to save our environment!  To get two bags when you really just need one is absurd, and that’s my editorial opinion!

I have heard that grocery stores are seriously considering charging a 15 cent fee for every bag we use for our groceries.  This could really add up quickly for moms like me who go to the grocery store a couple of times a week at least.  But I think it’s a really good idea.  Money talks, and if we are being charged for our bags, we will be much more likely to bring them from home!  And even better, it’s an incentive for us to use canvas bags.  Think of how many trees we’d save in a year just by doing that.  That’s my new resolution,  I’m going to take my “Om sweet Om” and my “Volleyball Mom”tote bags that I got from the coffeyshop and keep them in the car so that they are there every time I go to the market!  I’ll be making a fashion statement, and lugging my groceries in environmentally friendly style!

Lissa Coffey’s online newsletters and article content may be reprinted provided the following credit line is included:

Lissa Coffey is an author, media personality, and the founder of CoffeyTalk.com (Reprinted with permission Copyright © Bamboo Entertainment, Inc.)

I recently started a blog.  A blog is a “web log” and it’s kind of like an online diary.  I used to keep diaries and journals all the time; I started when I was about in the sixth grade.  But I guess with being busy doing mom stuff and work stuff I kind of got out of the habit.  So now that there’s this new online system, I figured it would inspire me to write in a more personal way.  The thing about a blog is that it’s up on the internet, so anyone can read it.  But there’s an awful lot of anonymity to the internet, too and I think my blog is kind of lost in the crowd of blogs so I’m not worried about my little writings getting out and shaking up some controversy not that they’re all that controversial; for whatever they’re worth, I’ve put them out there.

But the point is that I think all of us need some kind of an outlet where we can express ourselves.  Whether it’s online for the masses, or in a blank book we keep bedside.  It can be creative, in the form of poetry or prose, or therapeutic, as we spill our emotions out onto paper.  It’s good to look back and see what we’ve written at different points in our lives.  We can mark our progress, measure our growth.  It’s also a good way to articulate our goals, and keep track of where we’re going.  Journaling isn’t the same as writing in a Palm Pilot or a Filofax; a journal is a place for dreams and wishes, for memories and musings.

Lissa Coffey’s online newsletters and article content may be reprinted provided the following credit line is included:

Lissa Coffey is an author, media personality, and the founder of CoffeyTalk.com (Reprinted with permission Copyright © Bamboo Entertainment, Inc.)

I’m hearing that song from “Mary Poppins” in my head right now – Let’s go fly a kite, up to the highest height, let’s go fly a kite and send it soaring!  With the March winds this is just the excuse to get out there and play.  When was the last time we cut loose and did something child-like?  I remember when I was little we used to pick up paper kites at the grocery store for like 15 cents, and then go to the park on our bikes, our dog chasing after us.  It’s such a feeling to go running on the grass, a unique combination of the breeze and sheer will getting that thing up into the air, high above the trees.  Ah, triumph!  Like the song says, “for a pittance of paper and string, you can have your own set of wings!”   Let your spirit soar.

Lissa Coffey’s online newsletters and article content may be reprinted provided the following credit line is included:

Lissa Coffey is an author, media personality, and the founder of CoffeyTalk.com (Reprinted with permission Copyright © Bamboo Entertainment, Inc.)

My husband has some new friends.  It started with a little hummingbird, and now it’s grown to an entire menagerie in the backyard.  He’s got a hummingbird feeder, which he keeps freshly filled with his special recipe for nectar, a water dish for the little bunny, and now a “squirrel-proof” bird feeder.  Is there any such thing as squirrel proof?  Not that we’ve seen!  These little critters have to be the most acrobatic animals around.  The lengths they will go to, the contortions they will bend to, for a little sunflower seed!  It’s pretty hilarious.  It’s nice to look up from the computer and get some entertainment from our backyard circus.

Here’s an example of a Squirrel-Proof bird feeder:

Lissa Coffey’s online newsletters and article content may be reprinted provided the following credit line is included:

Lissa Coffey is an author, media personality, and the founder of CoffeyTalk.com (Reprinted with permission Copyright © Bamboo Entertainment, Inc.)