Happy spring to each and every one of you!  We don’t know about where you are, but here in MN, we have shattered 9 high temp records in 11 days!   Something amazing about donning shorts and tank tops when we usually are shoveling snow.  Beautiful!

Having the warmer temps so early also means that alot of people are finding that they are not quite feeling in swimsuit shape yet.  Nothing like a dose of warm weather to put a fire under ones rear to really focus on diet and exercise.

Here at Mandala, we find that staying (or getting) in shape is 80% diet and 20% exercise.  This is not to say that exercise isn’t important.  In fact, exercise is crucial!  One can exercise all they want but if they are not watching the diet, they will not achieve the goal.  It is quite possible to have a ripped 6-pack beneath pounds of belly fat.

Start your day out with the juice of 1/2 a lemon in warm water, 20 minutes before you eat.  Stock the fridge with fresh vegetables, grass-fed meats and eggs, coconut oil, fish.  Cut back on the grains, the carbs.  Eat little fruit.  Ditch sugar completely.  Eat 5 or 6 times throughout the day with your larger meal early on.

Join us!  The weather isn’t going to get any colder for many months.  Wouldn’t you rather be comfortable in your shorts and tank tops, ready to head to the beach?  Yeah, we thought you would.

Wishing you all much joy and abundant health,

Mandala

2011 was a wonderful year for us here at Mandala and we are so very happy that you have been along with us on this journey.   We are grateful to each of you as we continue to build the mandala and make wishes that we may help and encourage many others to feel their best always.

May 2012 see you in the best of health, surrounded by positive people and loads of joy!

In our county, people are waking up to a newer environmental concern – hydraulic fracturing.  You see, one of the main ingredients needed for the so called “fracking” is silica sand, a type of sand that has been found to be in abundance here.  Many counties in our area have already seen silica sand mines approved and in operation.  The mining of, transportation of and washing of this sand poses certain environmental risks, to be sure.  Often times, an area of many acres is ripped and blown open so that this  “white” gold may be exploited, making it not only an eyesore, but creating clouds of fine silica dust that may spread for miles.  Silica sand is very crystalline and sharp and when breathed into the lungs over sustained periods of time can harm any living beings lungs (you, your children, family members, friends, pets) especially those with already compromised lung function.

The same goes for the hauling and storing of said sand.  While the trailers are supposed to be covered, we have already seen plenty of videos showing the drivers in too much of a hurry to take the time to pull the canopy over the payload.  Fine white sand, open-air, 65 miles an hour?  You catch the drift.  Literally and figuratively.

And if it happens to be stored in a mountain-sized pile and a good wind comes a blowin’, well… need I say more?

The “washing” of this sand, in order to separate the white stuff from the less desirable sand requires an obscene amount of water.  One such operation in Texas uses 3,700 gallons of water per minute, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, year round, and their permit application states that their operation will be “permanent”.  That’s over 5.3 million gallons a day!

So, yep, the sand mining, the tons of new heavy traffic on roads, the washing, the medical hazards (silicosis) is bad enough, right?

Well, not exactly.  For you see, the sand is just one of the things used in the “fracking” process.  And the fracking process, itself is rife with environmental disaster.  The amount of water, sand and “other chemicals” that is forced down into our earth in order to extract natural gas to fuel our addiction is obscene.  And… all over the US, there are more and more reports of these chemicals leaching into the groundwater, polluting the wells of countless people, making them sick in the short-term and who knows what else in the long-term?

When a county board, like ours here in Winona, MN, says that they will not welcome public input in order to make a decision on a proposed moratorium on the frac sand mining it is like admitting that the money, not public opinion, wins.  The “industry is good for our city” mentality is the same as saying we don’t care about the health of our citizens, we don’t care about the environmental degradation.  How good can industry be in the long run as we all get slowly (some not so slowly) sick?  How many chemicals can a human body take?  What about the young people up and coming who have been exposed to strange chemicals from conception and throughout life?

We can’t all live on other planets.  And to the people who have the vested interest in seeing this industry fluorish:  There will not always be somewhere to run from the environmental havoc you are helping to create.   Remember that a huge pile of money lying next to you in your sick bed is not going to bring you any joy when you know how that money came to you.  Your cows are most certainly coming home to roost.  Please don’t wait until your child is sickened or your wife lay dying before you examine whether or not this fracking might be the wrong frickin’ way to go.  We always, absolutely and positively, reap what we sow.

And… with this season begins the time when folks are more likely to catch a cold.  Some suggestions:

1)  Wash your hands.  Best way to avoid getting the bug in the first place.  Use warm to hot water and wash until you’ve sang the Happy Birthday song to yourself twice over.  And smile at yourself in the mirror while you do so.

2)  Keep your Vitamin d levels up.  We can’t make it from the sun for the next many months so you’ll need to supplement and/or use a safe vitamin D/tanning bed.  The Vitamin D Council recommends 5,000 i.u.’s/day.  And if you find yourself beginning to go down with a cold, take 70,000 i.u.’s for 2 days in a row. We use and carry NOW Foods D3.

3)  We recommend at least 1,000 mg/day of a quality, buffered vitamin C.  Should you start to get sick, though, your body will absorb much more.  Try 500 mg’s every waking hour.  It helps boost the immune system and is a natural antihistamine (without the negative side-effects of the pharmaceutical ones).  Here at Mandala we are stocked with several dosages of buffered Vitamin C products.

4)  Facial steams and neti (sinus cleansing) are amazing ways to help deal with the sinus stuffiness/congestion that often accompany a cold.  If you’re not sure how to use these, give us a call or stop in and we’ll walk you through it.  We carry all the necessary equipment, oils and salts for both!

5)  Zinc!  It will shorten the life of any cold that you might end up getting.  But you need to take 75 grams/day as soon as you feel the bug coming on.  It’s been clinically proven to reduce the duration but it has to be 75 mg’s/day.  75 is the magic number.

6)  Far-infrared sauna!  Helps to burn out anything while moving blood and lymph.  Helps to detox and soothe your body.  Use ours here at Mandala and if you desire one for home use, why we can make sure you get the best and ship it right to your door.

7) Stay positive.  The more negative we are in our minds, the worse off we will be.  Take it as a message that your body wants to slow down a bit and remember that it’s not even close to the end of the world.  You’ve gotten through these things in the past and odds are greatly in your favor that you’ll get over this one too.

8)  Enjoy hydrating beverages.  Warm liquids like tea are soothing to the throat and will help make sure you are moving plenty of fluids through your system.

9)  When congested, avoid using dairy products and grains, especially wheat.  Both promote the formation of mucus at a time when you really don’t need it.

Be good to yourself always.  We need you to be healthy and happy.  The world needs more vibrantly healthy and joyful people!

And of course, if you’ve any questions please know that you can phone or email us anytime.  We are here to help.

Soon,

Garret, Sarah and Amy

All we can say is “WOW, what a summer so far!”

Things here at Mandala have been wildly busy, even on the weekends.  MandalaTea has been growing by leaps and bounds and local folks can see us out and about with our traveling tea room at the Winona Artisan Market.  We are also going to be brewing up a storm of tea activity at the Boats and Bluegrass Festival, a local music fest which takes place at Prairie Island Campground just outside of Winona.  3 days of keeping people all tea’d up should be glorious!!

We are so blessed with such wonderful and loyal customers, clients and friend here at Mandala.  We are truly grateful you are along for the ride.

Read more about it HERE!

And have a sweet day!!!

We’d like to add that while there are BPA-free plastics out there, we feel as though the best thing to do is to avoid the plastic, no matter what type, as much as we are able.

You may read the article here.

To your health!!

We wish to let you know that we have recently launched a Facebook fan page for both the Mandala Center for Wellness and MandalaTea.  To the left of this page, you can see the “like” button for the wellness center FB page.  From there, we will send out health and wellness related items of interest that you may enjoy and post any specials that we run from time to time.

We sure hope you’ll “like” us and stay up-to-date with the latest in health and wellness.  We love to share, as you know, and really want to see everyone be experiencing their full potential.

Join us!  Please “like” our MandalaTea on Facebook, too!  You may find us there under “MandalaTea”.

Joy to you all!!

A quick note to say that I just posted a new item under our “articles” section of this website.  You may access it here.  Feel free to pass it on to whomever may be interested!