Natural Remedy of the Week: Tinnitus

If your ears are ringing, hissing, buzzing, roaring, whistling, chirping or clicking or you probably have Tinnitus, from the Latin word, tinnire, which means "tinkle like a bell." An estimated 50 million Americans do, which means you hear sounds in one or both ears or in the head when no external sound is present. Tinnitus can be caused by loud noises, medications that damage the nerves in the ear (ototoxic drugs) impacted ear wax, middle ear problems (such as infections and vascular tumors) and aging.  

Turn Off the Noise with Herbs & Supplements

Ginkgo biloba helps tinnitus by improving nerve signal transmission as well as increasing the brain's utilization of oxygen. Other herbs to help diminish the sounds of tinnitus include astragalus, elder flowers (opening to the channels of the body), oregano (moves blockage), black cohosh (antispasmodic), violet leaves (used since ancient times to open the ears) and chamomile (to calm inflamed nerves). Look for combinations of some of these herbs at natural food or herbal stores and take a dose three times a day.  

Niacin supplementation may also help by improving circulation to the ears and moving blockages. Try 50 mg. three times daily. (Will make you feel hot, red and prickly for up to ten minutes as it improves circulation). Drink some water and rest or take with a meal. 

To safely remove earwax, which may cause tinnitus, add several drops of mullein flower oil into the ears every night for a week. 

These practices can help too: 

Soothe with Sound Therapy. Wear a hearing aid type device or use the white noise of table top sound machines or even a fan to mask the sound of tinnitus. You create even your own custom soundscapes on-line at the American Tinnitus Organization.org, whether it is rain, crashing waves, waterfall or birds chirping to distract you from your condition.

Change how you react with biofeedback and cognitive behavioral therapy. Having tinnitus can be anxiety producing and stressful because you feel like you don’t have control over your environment. The noise is in your head or your ears and you just can’t make it go away. Biofeedback helps you manage stress by learning how to change your reaction to it. Cognitive Behavioral therapy helps you identify negative behaviors and thought patterns and then change them so they are more positive.

Focus on the Present Moment. Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) can help you feel better both physically and emotionally. Research conducted using Mindfulness Meditation devised by Jon Kabat-Zinn shows that when people become more mindful of the present moment, they don’t focus on the tinnitus as much and as a result, feel less stressed. Visit the American Tinnitusorganization.org for more helpful information.

You'll find plenty of useful natural remedies in my latest book: Scent to Kill. A Natural Remedies Mystery. Visit www.chrystlefiedler.com to find out more!

Tracy's Sleeping Pill

It is amazing to me how difficult it is for people to get a good night’s sleep. I personally have suffered from chronic insomnia since I was a teenager, and have been impressed with yoga’s ability to help. Although, when people typically think of yoga they envision postures and movements, some of yoga’s most powerful tools don’t involve movement at all. One such tool is called pranayama, and it works specifically on the energy system in the body.

The word pranayama is derived from the words prana and ayama.

Prana means life force energy, which is a concept we don’t really have in the West. It’s the energy that animates us and gives us life. When we have it, we are alive. When it is gone, we die. It is also the energy of healing, and is very similar to the concept of “Chi” in Chinese medicine. Prana already exists within each of us, but it is mobilized by the breath.

Ayama means to lengthen. So the practice of pranayama is literally the practice of lengthening life force energy by extending the breath.

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of pranayama practices that can be used to get dramatically different effects. I call one of my favorites “Tracy’s Sleeping Pill,” because it is a practice I regularly use to help me fall asleep. It can easily be done lying down in bed, and unlike many sleeping medications there are no unpleasant side effects the next morning.

I’ve given this practice to many clients over the years, and for most, it really makes a difference. It's also Kate's preferred bedtime ritual in MURDER STRIKES A POSE.  So the next time you have trouble sleeping, give this a try. And--if like Kate--you never finish it because you fall asleep in the middle, so much the better!

The Practice:

1. Lie in bed, on your back in any position that is comfortable.
   Gradually, over 6 or more breaths, lengthen both your inhale and exhale. Make your exhale at least as long as your inhale. Stay at this lengthened breath at least 6 breaths.
2. Break the exhale portion of your breath into two approximately equal parts, with natural pauses both between the parts and at the end of the exhale. Maintain this breath for at least 6 breath cycles.
3. After at least 6 breaths, break the exhale portion of your breath into three approximately equal parts, with natural pauses both between the parts and at the end of the exhale.
4. Continue this breath for at least 12 breath cycles. Do not strain the breath. If you do start to feel strain, go back to the two part breath in step 3. Then continue with that new breath for the rest of the practice.
5. Once you finish 12 or more complete breaths in step 5, release the pauses completely and breathe with a lengthened breath for at least 6 breaths. Then gradually allow the breath to come back to a normal rhythm.

Namaste, and may you have a great night’s sleep!

Tracy Weber

Come visit Whole Life Yoga in Seattle, and check out my author page for information about the Downward Dog Mysteries series.  MURDER STRIKES A POSE is available for preorder now from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Whole Life Yoga, and other retailers!

Yarn to the Rescue

The other day I was feeling stressed and anxious. The reason doesn’t matter, not even that it was based on a real issue. I was doing that horrible circle thinking. Round and round the same negative thoughts. Get to the end and they began again. And I felt it physically as well in the form of what I call a nervous stomach. It was like my stomach was a clenched fist.

I tried various relaxation techniques I know like counting as you breath in and then doing the same as you breath out, trying to stretch both to higher numbers. It worked - but only as long as I did the breathing. As soon as I stopped, the loop of thoughts returned and my stomach got tense.

I did all kind of self talk, trying to convince myself that feeling this way was pointless. I agreed with myself, but it didn’t make the anxiety go away. If anything, it started to get worse. I was focusing on it too, much and it was beginning to feel like a fever dream or Mickey Mouse’s dealing with the ever increasing broomsticks in the Sorcerer’s Apprentice.

My sense of humor was gone and I couldn’t manage a laugh for a stupid sit-com. Several cups of tea didn’t make a dent either.

Then I picked up the shawl I’m making for the next Casey book, Silence of the Lamb's Wool. It is a very simple repetitive pattern. I looked down at the wavy lines of the stitches. The yarn is thick and thin in places because it is hand spun. I took a deep breath and began to work on the next row. It didn’t help my stomach at first, but the negative thoughts began to melt away and I came up with a solution to what was causing all the anxiety in the first place. As I continued on with the rows, I could feel my stomach begin to unclench and it was like a breeze of relaxation went through my body. I even began to laugh at the silly show I had on in the background.

When I stopped knitting, the anxiety did not return. I had successfully calmed myself, all by myself. What a great feeling. Though I happened to have picked up some knitting, crochet would have worked just as well.

I think working with yarn is so much about the journey rather than the scarf or shawl you end up with. The rhythmic movements sooth your mind and spirit.

Writing Busyness

Nope, I didn't spell that wrong.  I meant busyness, not business, although it's the writing business that leads to my current busyness. 

I'm not currently practicing law, which is probably a good thing since I'm doing a lot of writing.  That means I've got an abundance of deadlines, both official and self-imposed.  And as much as I do, I'd like to be doing more. 

The good thing is that I sent off the manuscript for my seventh Alpha Force Harlequin Nocturne earlier this week, a little earlier than my October 1 deadline.  Meantime, I've been working on a proposal for another Nocturne, and also one for another Harlequin Romantic Suspense. 

And then there's the other story I've been working on--a new mystery for a new series for a new publisher!  I'll be talking about that more soon, but not yet... although I am under a deadline for it. 

So, I think I'll keep this post short so I can get back to work.  If my dogs let me.  As always, they're making demands for me to give them attention and feed them and let them out--all as i communicated about in my last Killer Hobbies post. 

How about you--what's leading to your busyness these days?

Amazing Goose

Riddle:   You push your car up the way until you get to a hotel.  There you go bankrupt. What’s going on?

I have a big weekend coming up.  Our nephew (my husband’s sister’s son) is getting married on Saturday in a big church wedding.  His fiancee is charming, sweet and funny, so this is wonderful.  Then Sunday is Michaelmas and we are throwing our annual big pot luck dinner.  There is a medieval superstition that if you eat goose at Michaelmas (the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels) you won’t want for money for a year.  We’ve been doing this almost as long as we’ve been married (thirty-three years); a friend introduced us to the custom.  Interestingly, it seems to work.  It doesn’t make you rich, it just stops the fiscal emergencies.  Before Michaelmas goose, if we got five hundred dollars in the bank, the car had a six hundred dollar breakdown; after Michaelmas, if we got five hundred dollars in the bank, the car had a four hundred and ninety dollar breakdown.  We’ve added our own touches to the celebration: we sing “Amazing Goose, how sweet the flesh, that saved a wretch like me; I once was broke, but now I’m flush, I’m saved from penury.” And we recite a serious prayer to Michael the Archangel.  Then we feast.  Because geese are getting very expensive, I’m only roasting two this year, and we’re cutting back on the guest list.  Fortunately the flesh is very rich and it doesn’t take much to make a serving.  I stuff them with whole cloves of garlic, chopped onions, and whole green grapes and roast them in a hot oven, basting often so the skin comes out crisp.  Delicious!

Hint:  The car is silver, even the wheels.

The counted canvas (a counted cross stitch pattern worked on canvas instead of fabric) turned out to be beyond my capabilities, I kept getting lost in the many color changes, making error after erro.  So my stitching partner has taken it over.  She was just going to do one rose (the pattern is a bouquet of pink and red roses) so it would be easier for me to continue it myself, but she got the bit between her teeth and is going forward with it.  I may reclaim it, but I’ve gone off onto an old painted canvas that will be a Christmas stocking and am very pleased with my progress on it.  I’m feeling somewhere between guilty for not reclaiming the roses and relieved that it’s going so well with her – what I’m after is a fine new seat for the antique English occasional chair, more than the experience of stitching it.  On the other hand, I wanted the work to be mine.

Another hint:  The hotel is in Atlantic City.

This afternoon I am going to a place called Perspectives which is a charity that works to bring families back together after one or both (very often there is only the mother) has been incarcerated or in treatment for drug use or other serious problems.  The children attend classes to help them catch up to their grade level and learn other skills.  In my case, cooking.  I will be working with a professional chef and several other volunteers to teach the children how to cook and serve a simple, nourishing meal.  I’ll probably learn at least as much as I teach.

Final hint:  Near the Boardwalk.

I’m starting to look forward to Magna cum Murder, a mystery convention that has moved from Muncie to Indianapolis, Indiana.  It’s not a big gathering, but the panels are often superb, it’s extremely well organized, and Mattie Coleman should be there selling fancy hats. 

Answer:  You’re playing Monopoly.

Natural Remedy of the Week: Gum Health

Did you know that one in three people over the age of 30 has some form of periodontal disease? It's easy to miss because it's a problem that develops silently and painlessly. Periodontal disease occurs when bacteria in plaque infect the gums and bones that anchor the teeth. Bleeding gums, inflamed gums, loose teeth, change in bite and recession are all indicators of periodontal disease which accounts for seventy percent of tooth loss. 

The Link Between Gum Health and Heart Health

Several studies have shown that chronic dental infection is associated with a significant increase in the risk of stroke. Here's why: bacteria from dental plaque, including Streptococcus sanguis, can enter your bloodstream and cause blood platelets to clump together and clot abnormally. Normally the bacteria are cleared from your body by the immune system, but if your immune system is compromised, as is the case with any infection, the bacteria create a major risk factor. Gum infections elevate fibrinogen and the clotting factor, leading to chronic inflammation and the build-up of arterial plaque, which reduces circulation. The result is atherosclerosis, hardening and narrowing of the arteries, and this can lead to a heart attack or stroke.

Make Your Gums Healthier

Both sage and sea salt have antiseptic properties that reduce inflammation and promote healing. They are also astringent, which helps tighten the gums. Just pour a cup of boiling water over one tablespoon of sage leaves; cover and steep for 15 minutes; strain; add two teaspoons of sea salt. Use twice daily after brushing your teeth. Refrigerate in between uses.

You can also add a drop of tea tree oil to your toothbrush on top of your toothpaste; brush as usual. Tea tree oil, derived from the leaves of the native Australian Melaleuca alternifolia tree, contains antiseptic compounds, which help prevent gum disease. Make sure the product label says it is 100% pure tea tree oil.

Chewing burdock root stems is good to massage the gums and improve stomach activity. You can also massage bleeding gums with a piece of inner lemon rind.  Or try this plaque fighting, gum strengthening solution: 

My friend and co-author Brigitte Mars, a master herbalist suggests taking 1/8 ounce of coconut oil; add 8 drops oil of myrrh, 8 drops tea tree oil and 2 drops peppermint oil. Shake before using and massage a few drops into your gums to promote healthy teeth and gums.

Massage this formula from Brigitte into receding gums:

2 parts yerba mansa

1/2 part myrrh

2 parts echinacea

2 parts prickly ash bark

For bleeding gums, you can make a mouth rinse or use herbal tea of some of the herbs mentioned below to run through a Water Pik™ type device. This is a great way to clean out any missed places, stimulate circulation and get an herbal treatment at the same time!

You'll find more herbal remedies in my natural remedies mystery series:  DEATH DROPS and my latest SCENT to KILL. Here's the scoop:

 Willow McQuade, naturopathic doctor, along with her hunky ex-cop boyfriend Jackson Spade, attend a party for a psychic TV show that is filming on Long Island’s idyllic East End. However, Willow is much more interested in visiting the estate’s lavender farm, seeking inspiration for the new aromatherapy workshops she'll be holding at her store, Nature’s Way Market & Café.   

Before the party is over, Roger Bixby one of the producers is dead and the police suspect murder. Roger was working on the show, MJ’s Mind, with Carly Bixby, his ex-wife and the new girlfriend of Willow's ex from L.A., TV writer/producer Simon Lewis.   

After Willow leaves the party, she gets a frantic text from Simon asking for her help. Since Simon had a fight with Roger earlier in the evening, and because of his death is now the primary shareholder in Galaxy films, Willow's ex becomes the prime suspect. Simon begs her to crack the case and clear him of the murder. MJ McClellan, the psychic and star of the show also asks Willow for help. She hires Willow to provide natural remedies, including aromatherapy, massage, acupuncture and yoga to soothe the agitated crew of her show. 

To find the killer, Willow has to deal with ghosts in a haunted mansion, a truly dysfunctional family, death threats and “accidents,” while trying to untangle a homicide identical to one committed during prohibition. Thankfully, Jackson has been hired to provide security and is there to watch her back and help Willow solve this spooky mystery.

As a bonus, you’ll find dozens of natural aromatherapy cures throughout the book that can help you feel better in mind, body and spirit!

I'm the the author of SCENT TO KILL, (Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster) the second in the NATURAL REMEDIES MYSTERY series, DEATH DROPS: A Natural Remedies Mystery, the non-fiction title THE COMPLETE IDIOT'S GUIDE TO NATURAL REMEDIES (Alpha, 2009), co-author of BEAT SUGAR ADDICTION NOW! (Fairwinds Press, 2010), currently in its fourth printing, the BEAT SUGAR ADDICTION NOW!COOKBOOK (Fairwinds Press, 2012) and THE COUNTRY ALMANAC OF HOME REMEDIES (Fairwinds, 2011). My magazine articles featuring natural remedies have appeared in many national publications including Natural Health, Vegetarian Times, Better Homes & Gardens and Remedy. Visit www.chrystlefiedler.com.

The Philosophy of Yoga

In this week's post I introduce the key philosophical text of yoga, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. In future posts I will delve into more detail about some of the teachings of this wonderful text.



One of my first yoga teachers once said to me “People start taking yoga because of benefits they hope to find in their body. They stay with it because they find something more.”  That quote has always stuck with me, because I’ve found it to be so very true, not just for myself but for many I’ve taught over the years.

People in the West usually think of yoga as strictly a form of exercise. In reality, it is that and so much more! Yoga was originally developed as a method of calming the mind and connecting with the heart. These teachings are wonderfully conveyed in an ancient text called the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.

Written sometime between 400 BC and 200 AD, this text describes in a compact and almost poetic form the teachings of yoga and how it can help us become more centered, balanced, clear and connected.

The first 2 sutras describe yoga’s purpose: Learning to control the random fluctuations of the mind. They then go on to describe how, in calming those random fluctuations, we can become more connected to our values—to who we truly are at our core—while being less influenced by our filters, projection, fears and anxieties.

This clarity of mind was the undeniable benefit I personally found in practicing yoga, long before I actually studied the sutras. I became clearer about who I am and the mark I want to leave on my world. Things that used to drive me crazy became interesting observations instead of painful traumas. Fears diminished. Courage returned. I’m not perfect by any means, but I’m hopefully getting a bit more balanced every day.

If you’re interested in exploring these teachings further, there are many wonderful translations and commentaries available. My personal favorite is The Essence of Yoga, by Bernard Bouanchaud. It is occasionally difficult to find in the United States, so I have some copies available it at Whole Life Yoga. But if you go to any major bookseller you will find many different translations of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali on their shelves.

Frugal yogis can also find many wonderful free translations on the internet. Swami J has a translation many of my students have found very useful. But my biggest advice is to be open to changes that happen as you continue your yoga practice. Listen to the voices of truth you may begin to hear. Yoga is not at all about achieving a certain posture.  Release the shackles of thinking that it is all about “stretching” or even “exercise.”  You likely will get stronger, leaner and more flexible. But the most powerful thing you can stretch is your mind!

Namaste,

Tracy Weber

Come visit Whole Life Yoga in Seattle, and check out my author page for information about the Downward Dog Mysteries series.  MURDER STRIKES A POSE is available for preorder now from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Whole Life Yoga, and other retailers!

The Real Jeffrey

A few weeks ago a young man came to the door and said he was running for office. He gave me a pamphlet which I promptly lost. I might have lost the pamphlet and wasn’t clear on his name, along with not being sure what he was running for, but I’d decided to vote for him. I mean, anybody who would go to the trouble of actually showing up themselves, well, it seemed like they’d be good at their elected office, whatever it was.

When it got to be the day of the election, I checked the voting information I’d gotten in the mail to try to figure out which of the candidates was the guy who came to the door. As I read over the bios, I not only realized which of them had come to my door, but that I had an interesting connection with him.

Before I say more, I should explain what the election actually was for. It wasn’t really even an election but a primary to see who would got enough votes to qualify to run for State Assembly. So, it wasn’t exactly a big election. When we voted, including us 45 people had voted out of thousands in our voting area.

Now back to the mystery man candidate. Well over twenty years ago, I was an assistant Cub Scout leader. One of the boys in the group always stood out to me. He looked and acted more mature. He seemed to know that he wanted to be an actor. His had his own style of dressing and just a different manner than the other boys. He stayed in my mind even when he moved out of the area. When I began writing what would eventually become Hooked on Murder, I decided that homicide detective Barry Greenberg had a son named Jeffrey and I loosely based on the boy from the Cub Scouts.

Yes, the mystery candidate out to be the real Jeffrey all grown up. Sorry to say that even with our three votes, he didn’t win the primary. Now that I’d realized who he really was, I felt a personal connection and even left a comment on his facebook page expressing my regret that he didn’t win. I didn’t mention anything about his connection to the character in my books. I thought it might sound a little creepy even though Jeffrey is a great character.

What do you think?

Listening To My Dogs

I've said for a long time that I'd like to speak Barklish.  That's my imaginary language between people and dogs.   

But I've learned that my dogs communicate just fine with me without an actual language.  They talk, sure, but that's mostly barks from them when they want my attention.  And I can interpret those barks to know what they're intending to say. 

For example, my older Cavalier, Lexie, will bark when she wants to go outside.  That often means she wants to go potty, or at least pretend to so I'll give her a treat when we're back in the house.  In case I don't hear Lexie barking, Mystie will come to me and stand up at the side of my desk chair (which is usually where I am, writing) and paw at me to make sure I hear and obey.  Mystie will also do that when she's the one who wants to go outside even if Lexie isn't barking.

Then there are the barks from Lexie that mean she wants me to open our front door so she can go outside on our fenced-in porch and watch the world go by.  And if the dogs are out there, they'll bark in a different, warning tone to let all people and other dogs passing by know that this is their turf and they're protecting it.  Mystie will also bark when she thinks it's time for a squeak-ball game.

Lexie will jump onto the sofa and paw at a pillow.  Sometimes she gets it arranged the way she want, but other times she'll look at me until I try to put it into the right position for her--not always an easy feat.

Their dinner time is usually around 6:00 PM.  That means that both of them, Lexie in particular, will start coming in to my office and circling me or staring at me around 4:30, just to be sure I don't forget.

And during the day, when I go into the kitchen to warm my coffee in the microwave, they always join me because they have me trained to give them a small treat each time I nuke something. 

Do I talk to them?  Sure.  In English, punctuated by gestures.  They'll sit on command.  They'll "hush" if I'm strong enough about it.  I hold conversations with them that they respond to with their own body language, including cocking their heads if they're really interested.  And if I put on shoes, Mystie in particular will start barking because she knows I may be either taking them out or putting out the trash, which is also interesting since she gets to see the front of the house. 

My husband just returned from a trip yesterday.  I'd joined him in Chicago for a long weekend to visit family, then came home before he did.  Mystie in particular has separation anxiety, and when she sees a suitcase she'll refuse to come into the kitchen, which is where we often enclose the pups when we're out of the house.  Or, she'll try to follow me into the garage to tell me she wants to come along, wherever I'm driving.  While Fred was away, this behavior was even more common.  And Lexie, who considers herself Alpha over me but Beta to Fred, was even more insistent about hanging around me and getting onto my lap to exchange attention for snuggles and chin-kisses. 

As I write this, they're both sleeping near me.  But as soon as I stand up they'll be wide awake and demanding something. 

Which will be a good time for me to kneel and hug them.

How about you--how do you communicate with your pets?

Holiday Preview

Riddle: You have a jug of milk, and you need to measure out just one cup. How do you do this if you only have a three-cup measuring container and a five-cup container?

Less than a week ago we were suffering a heat wave.  I played golf on Thursday and came off the course soaked through with perspiration.  I played golf again on Sunday wearing a heavy shirt (temps in the upper forties) and night before last there were hard frost warnings up in the north of our state.  Fall has arrived with breathtaking speed – though it’s supposed to heat up into the eighties in the Twin Cities for summer’s last gasp tomorrow.  It’s almost like the joke about Minnesota is true:  We tell everyone to get their ice houses off the lakes one weekend and the next open the swimming pools.

Many years ago, in a Seasonal Concepts store, I came across the most beautiful Christmas Creche set I'd ever seen. The figures were resin, very detailed, about five inches tall, painted to look like antique wood.  Their costumes were vaguely late Renaissance . I bought Mary, Joseph, the Babe and an angel. The next year I bought some shepherds and sheep. The next year, the Three Kings - on camels and afoot. An Italian company named Fontanini made them. Fontanini was ambitious, they went on to make all of Bethlehem, which I gradually bought - the green grocer and his cart, the rug seller, the baker, the blacksmith, a pilgrim, the innkeeper, musicians, an excited old man holding a lantern, a child leading a reluctant calf, “a multitude of the heavenly host” who hang on thin fishing line. My collection grew and grew. I bought buildings and palm trees, three Roman centurians (one with a scroll I place to question a spread-armed citizen), the goose girl and a whole flock of geese, chickens and a turkey. They filled our living room at Christmas. Then we moved into a smaller place. What to do? I couldn’t part with them, didn’t want to put them permanently into storage.  So I offered them to my church - which was delighted! So now, the first Sunday in Advent, the pieces go on display on tables in the narthex and stay up till Epiphany. And I am still adding to them. When a member of the Fontanini family came through St. Paul, signing a "tour piece," I suggested that since they have the innkeeper,  a serving girl with a platter, and a boy pouring wine into a jug, they should have a customer for the inn. And so guess what the "tour piece" for this year is? http://www.fontaninistore.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Store_Code=FS&Screen=PROD&Category_Code=5inchfigures&Product_Code=65138

The Feast of St. Michael and All Angels is almost here (Sept. 29).  Who eats goose at Michaelmas won’t want for money for a year.  We’ve been doing it as a big pot luck dinner for over thirty years.  We’re not sure if it’s the goose or St. Michael the Archangel, but it’s done well by us – we’re not rich, but we have had very few minor and no major fiscal emergencies.   The one problem is that the price of goose has risen steadily.  Makes me wish I dared clobber one or two of the geese that currently crowd the fairways where I golf.  Canada goose, I understand, are delicious.

Answer:  Fill the three-cup measure and pour it into the five-cup measure.  Fill the three cup measure again and use it to full the five-cup measure to the top.  You will have one cup left in the three-cup measure.

The Meaning of Namaste

You often hear it at the end of yoga classes, and I usually sign my blog posts with this word.  But what does it mean, anyway?

Namaste (pronounced Nah-mah-stay) is used as a salutation in India and other countries in the East.   I even heard it spoken in my non yoga travels to Thailand a few years ago.   Namaste is similar, in a way, to “Aloha” in Hawaii.  It has many meanings and uses, including “Hello” and “Goodbye” in verbal communication.  In written communication it is used in a manner similar to how we use “Sincerely.”   In short, it is a considerate way to acknowledge and pay respect to another.

Namaste is a Sanskrit word that has been given many meanings, and I encourage you to find one that works for you and make it your own.  Here are some I’ve heard often.

• The spirit in me honors the spirit in you.
• The teacher in me acknowledges the teacher in you.
• The light in me sees the light in you.

Whenever I say Namaste, however, I am reminded of the derivation of the word, as given to me by my teacher.  If you study the origin of the word and meaning of each syllable, Namaste translates roughly to “Not me, but you.”   This meaning reminds me that every class I teach and every blog I write is not really for me, but for the students in front of me.  It reconnects me to why I teach yoga in the first place:  To create a space of healing and growth for my students.  The other definitions above keep me humble and remind me that each of my students is both my teacher and a source of light in my life.

And if you attend a yoga class and are uncomfortable saying “Namaste?”  Then please feel free to refrain from saying it.   Simply holding a “Thank you” in your heart for your fellow yogis and your practice is perfect!

Namaste,

Tracy Weber

Come visit Whole Life Yoga in Seattle, and check out my author page for information about the Downward Dog Mysteries series.  MURDER STRIKES A POSE is available for preorder now from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Whole Life Yoga, and other retailers!

Writers' Police Academy

Writers Police Academy is like no other writers’ conference. There aren’t any workshops on craft or panels by authors. It is all about research, but not just from hearing some professional talk about their job. WPA provides experiences. It was great to hear the former Secret Service guy talk about what it’s really like on the inside, but even better to be caught up in what happens when a suspicious backpack shows up in the midst of the recruits (as we were referred to).

After we were moved away, we watched as a bomb detecting dog checked it out and when he laid down next to the purple backpack, it meant there were explosives inside. A few minutes later the bomb squad showed up along with their trailer. They used a robot to move the backpack to the far corner of the driving track we’d been standing on. Then one of the bomb squad guys suited up in a cumbersome outfit which I know from experience is very heavy. He waddled out to the backpack and then left it to the robot. The robot then blew up the backpack. The sound and energy reverberated through our bodies as a puff of smoke went up.

Where else can you experience something like that?

Since I write cozies and there aren’t really a lot of blown up backpacks, I was really interested in learning what paramedics do when they go to a crime scene. WPA is held at a pubic safety community college which trains firefighters, police officers and paramedics. They have things like an arson lab, police stuff you can try on and full functioning mannequins that can be intubated and made up to look like their oozing blood. There is also a lot of real equipment like fire trucks and ambulances.

In the second Yarn Retreat mystery, Silence of the Lambs Wool, I mention someone being treated by and then carted off by paramedics. I had seen the inside of the a L.A. rescue ambulance at a local street fair. But it was empty and I didn’t get to climb inside.

I pretty much faded to black in my book because I didn’t really know what went on. That is until last weekend. The paramedics students staged a car accident with some real people made up to look like they were injured and one of those mannequins whose injuries were life threatening. I got to watch as they worked on him. Then when they loaded him up, I got to ride along. Sirens and lights flaring we drove all over the place with one of the students and an instructor.

I’d never realized how nauseating it is to ride in the back of an ambulance. I think it is because you can’t really see outside. I was amazed at how much they could do for a victim as they traveled to the hospital.

There were more experiences like a pair of cop cars roaring into the hotel parking lot one night chasing a car. Of course, it was filled with volunteer bad guys from our group.

I toured a mobile command post and met a working Bloodhound. I heard about fingerprints and SWAT officers. It was an intense exhausting weekend and I can’t wait until next year to do it all again.

Back to Writing

I'm back!   

First, as you know if you read Killer Hobbies, I had some pretty nasty computer problems that have been cured, fortunately.   

They were followed by some good reasons not to have time to write: my two baby grandsons.  I just returned on Monday from visiting them in Chicago, along with their parents, of course--my son and d-i-l.  It was a short but delightful trip and I didn't get a whole lot of writing or even editing done. 

Now, I've returned home with a lot to do, including a couple of deadlines and a need to finish up a proposal and write some more. 

Plus, I'm back at my dogs' bark and call.  They were well treated by their really good pet-sitter, of course, and also visited by a kind and caring neighbor, but since I work at home I'm more available, now that I'm back, to comply with their every whim. 

That means I'm busy.  Really busy, thanks to the dogs.  Outside every ten minutes, it seems.  Open the front door.   Play ball.  Whatever they want.

And write.  Plus, I have meetings of writing organizations to attend next weekend. 

As a result, I'm going to keep this post fairly short.  Need to keep working!

Oh, and as I work, I'm keeping watch for the small lizard that was loose in my house when I left that I wasn't able to capture...

How about you--how busy are you these days, and what are you up to?

Hanky Panky?

Riddle: What’s the difference between a comma and a cat?

I’m starting to feel I’m mastering crochet.  I’ve taken classes before, but somehow a week or two after the class ended, I’ve lost most of the skills I learned.  This time I went to a friend who can crochet and did my doggonest to learn the moves, then went to Michael’s (the craft and hobby store) and bought a lavishly illustrated book for beginners.  And that seems to have done it, I can actually crochet.  Not very well – my squares are somewhat oddly-shaped because I’m still learning to keep my tension even – but I can single, double, and even triple crochet, using yarn and a number 5 hook.

On Saturday I got the handkerchief my friend Vivien in Atlanta crocheted for me.  It is startlingly beautiful!  I sent a copy of the pattern to my friend up here who is teaching me to crochet and she says I now have the skills I need to make my own lace-edged handkerchief.  I managed not to laugh out loud.  What she means is, the pattern only calls for stitches I now know.  But I am a long way from using the fine thread and tiny hook it would take to make a duplicate of that lace edging.

My editor likes the handkerchief pattern, too.  In fact, she has suggested I change the title from A Needle Case to Hanky Panky, and make the handkerchief more central to the plot.  I’m thinking about it . . .

The most shocking thing I’ve learned about art crime is the low rate at which it’s reported.  It seems museums and art galleries don’t want to scare off wealthy donors or great artists by letting them know how often thieves make off with items, so they prefer to negotiate with the thieves to buy back what has been taken – or even just let it go, rather than report the theft to the authorities.  So no one really knows the rate of theft of art or antiques from these places, especially when it’s not something famous like the Hope diamond or the Mona Lisa.

Answer:  A cat has claws at the end of its paws, while a comma marks a pause at the end of a clause.

Natural Remedy of the Week: the Relaxation Response

I've been working on a side project that is different but writing mysteries but also focuses on natural remedies. It's a new site (not up yet) called Natural Remedies for Chronic Pain and I hope to help those of you who have problems with pain and want alternative solutions. One of the most effective ways to ease pain and change your relationship to it is by practicing what is known as the Relaxation Response so that's what I'm writing about today.  

The relaxation response was pioneered by Herbert Benson, MD at the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind-Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. This practice enhances the body’s own morphine like substances, like a runner’s high. It’s especially helpful for any type of pain where stress is a factor, like tension headaches or arthritis, for example. Research has proven it's many advantages for stress, anxiety and overall health and well-being. 

You can elicit the relaxation response in many different ways, including progressive muscle relaxation, diaphragmatic breathing, repetitive prayer, visualization and guided imagery. In progressive muscle relaxation, you think of each body part, flex and then relax it. Just start with your face and move downward through your whole body, from your shoulders to your toes. Do it once or twice a day for 10-20 minutes on a regular basis for best results. 

My favorite way to elicit the relaxation response, the body's own healing state, is with Yoga Nidra, also known as yogic sleep. It's easier than other yoga practices, since all you need to do, is sit or lie down and listen for 15-45 minutes, several times each week. Believe me, there is no way to do it wrong!

You can either take a class or listen to a CD in the comfort of your own home like I do. My favorite Yoga Nidra teacher, and I've checked out many CD's, is Jennifer Reis of the Kriplau Center for Yoga and Health in Massachusetts. She's done three so far: Deep Relaxation, Guided Relaxation, and her latest which you can do in segments or as one continuous session is Divine Sleep, Yoga Nidra. I hope you explore the Relaxation Response and try Yoga Nidra. You'll find it is refreshing and rejuvenating! 

You can find out more about Jennifer and Yoga Nidra by visiting her site:  www.jenniferreisyoga.com. You can also buy her CD's there and on Amazon. For more information about the Relaxation Response visit the Benson Institute Mind-Body website at: www.mbmi.org. See you next Monday! Chrystle 

In the meantime, here’s the scoop on my latest cozy Scent to Kill: A Natural Remedies Mystery

“Scent to Kill is a well-crafted mystery…Devotees of natural medicine and aromatherapy will enjoy the tips that appear at the beginning of each chapter and scattered throughout the text.” Publisher’s Weekly   

Willow McQuade, naturopathic doctor, along with her hunky ex-cop boyfriend Jackson Spade, attend a party for a psychic TV show that is filming on Long Island’s idyllic East End. However, Willow is much more interested in visiting the estate’s lavender farm, seeking inspiration for the new aromatherapy workshops she'll be holding at her store, Nature’s Way Market & Café.   

Before the party is over, Roger Bixby one of the producers is dead and the police suspect murder. Roger was working on the show, MJ’s Mind, with Carly Bixby, his ex-wife and the new girlfriend of Willow's ex from L.A., TV writer/producer Simon Lewis.   

After Willow leaves the party, she gets a frantic text from Simon asking for her help. Since Simon had a fight with Roger earlier in the evening, and because of his death is now the primary shareholder in Galaxy films, Willow's ex becomes the prime suspect. Simon begs her to crack the case and clear him of the murder. MJ McClellan, the psychic and star of the show also asks Willow for help. She hires Willow to provide natural remedies, including aromatherapy, massage, acupuncture and yoga to soothe the agitated crew of her show. 

To find the killer, Willow has to deal with ghosts in a haunted mansion, a truly dysfunctional family, death threats and “accidents,” while trying to untangle a homicide identical to one committed during prohibition. Thankfully, Jackson has been hired to provide security and is there to watch her back and help Willow solve this spooky mystery.

As a bonus, you’ll find dozens of natural aromatherapy cures throughout the book that can improve your health. I think you’ll be surprised as how much they can help you feel better in mind, body and spirit!

I'm the author of SCENT TO KILL, (Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster) the second in the NATURAL REMEDIES MYSTERY series, DEATH DROPS: A Natural Remedies Mystery, the non-fiction title THE COMPLETE IDIOT'S GUIDE TO NATURAL REMEDIES (Alpha, 2009), co-author of BEAT SUGAR ADDICTION NOW! (Fairwinds Press, 2010), currently in its fourth printing, the BEAT SUGAR ADDICTION NOW!COOKBOOK (Fairwinds Press, 2012) and THE COUNTRY ALMANAC OF HOME REMEDIES (Fairwinds, 2011). My magazine articles featuring natural remedies have appeared in many national publications including Natural Health, Vegetarian Times, Better Homes & Gardens and Remedy. Visit www.chrystlefiedler.com. 

The Essence of Gratitude

I recently read an essay from one of my yoga teacher training students, in which she discussed how she continually practices being grateful, even when things don’t go her way.  It reminded me how easy it is to let the circumstances of life dictate how we feel.  You can clearly see it in the sun starved faces of Seattleites.  When it’s sunny and warm, we feel joyous and energized.  When it’s rainy and cold, we feel lethargic and depressed.

One goal of yoga is to learn how to find internal peace, so that regardless of the “weather” in our internal or external worlds, our mind is calm, centered and content.  The teachings tell us that we cannot control what happens in the world around us.  But we can control how we react to it.

I once listened to a wonderful recording by Joan Borysenko, in which she discussed practices of gratitude.  I can’t remember the title anymore, but I adapted a practice from it that I use to keep myself connected to the joy and beauty of my life, even when I feel down and things seem to spin out of control.  This practice reminds me that no matter how “awful” things seem at any given moment, there are always many, many things for which to be grateful.

Like many important things in life, the practice is simple, yet powerful.  Each night, before falling asleep, I recount at least 10 things that I was grateful for in that day.

To be completely honest, some days it’s  harder than others.  But I can always do it, even on days that have been truly challenging on every level.  And the practice makes me pay attention and seek out the small joys I might otherwise miss each day.  It doesn’t matter how big or how small, every day brings gifts that make me smile.

For example, today I am grateful for:

• The cool breeze wafting through my living room window
• The purple color in the center of the orchids next to the studio fountain
• The soft, silky spot behind my dog’s ears
• The sound of the neighborhood woodpecker as he drills on our metal chimney top
• The white breasted bird that sat on the line outside my window this morning
• My dog's continued recovery from hip replacement surgery
• Chocolate
• The yummy taste of Blackthorn cider
• The delightful E-card I just received from a dear friend as I typed this blog entry

The essence of gratitude resides in things both big and small.  This practice keeps me connected to all that is wonderful in my world on a daily basis.  I hope you try it and benefit from it as much as I have!

Namaste and may you have many things for which to be grateful.

Tracy Weber

Learn more about my yoga mysteries at TracyWeberAuthor.com, and join my author mailing list for updates on MURDER STRIKES A POSE, available early 2014 from Midnight Ink!

Writers Police Academy 3

I’m post this early since I’m on my way to Greenboro, North Carolina for Writers Police Academy. This is the third year I’ve gone and it is always intense and very interesting. The buses leave the hotel at 7:30 a.m and don’t return until 6 and then there is more going on in the evening. There are workshops on various kinds of crime, chances to handcuff each other and try on gun belts among other things. It is also an opportunity to ask the kind of questions that would get you in trouble somewhere else. It is where I found out how to make a homemade silencer.

This year I signed up for an activity where we get to clear a building. I’m not sure what it entails, but I think it is an adrenaline rush kind of thing.

I don’t usually take a lot of photos during the weekend as I am too interested in what is going on to think about taking pictures. I remember a photo teacher I had saying that you either took pictures or took part in whatever. The pictures I do take are rather random and more like note taking.

When Lee Childs sat my table during the Friday night reception last year, it only occurred to me to get a picture with him when everyone else at the table had already done it.

I’m hoping for clear skies for the flight. The plane from Chicago to Greensboro is small and doesn’t fly that high. The view is fabulous. On the flight back last year, we flew along the lake front in Chicago and I could pick out where my place is. When we flew over Soldiers Field, I could see that a football game was going on. It’s probably as close to being a bird as I’m going to get

Computer Down

Yes, I'm writing yet again about computer problems.  But as awful as my Internet interruption was that I wrote about last week, things got worse.  A lot worse. 

Can you imagine a writer, one with deadlines and other ideas to flesh out, being without a computer???

That was me. 

It turned out that my Internet problem was at least partly caused by malware, which I guess is some kind of really horrible computer virus.  Although I had virus protection on my computer, it apparently wasn't savvy enough to detect malware.  As a result, my computer got slower and slower each time I opened a program until it finally froze.  I had to massage it for a long time to get it to shut down and reboot, and when I did I could use some of the programs--for a while, till they, too, froze.

I was frantic.  My husband got the idea of taking the computer to the nearest possible help, which was an Office Depot store.  Their technicians diagnosed the problem and told us that the hard drive had been murdered by the malware.  (Okay, they didn't quite explain it that way, but that was the effect.)  So, we bought a new hard drive and had them attempt to save anything they could on the old one.  That was going to take some time.

So there I was, a writer without my main computer.  I turned to one of our two laptops, the one that had the same version of Word on it that I'm used to using.  Guess what.  It had also become a malware victim.  We trundled it over to Office Depot, too.  Good thing they are close by.

I then attempted to write on the other laptop.  Problem was, it only had a mini-version of Word on it that I didn't know.  Even so, I tried writing on it and actually drafted a small document.  Good thing I didn't do more, though, since eventually, when I did get my old version of Word back up and running on the other laptop, it couldn't read that document.

Rest of the story?  Well, good thing I back things up.  Plus, when we got the computer back with the new hard drive a few days later, even though most of the programs weren't there, if I searched for a while I did locate my old data.  Yay! 

With help, we installed the programs again.  And one of the first was a new virus protection program, one that, at least apparently, has malware protection.

I'm back in business.  I'm writing.  But my inability to work for a couple of days was really depressing.  It's not me!  I'm a writer, and I write all the time.  Oh, yes, I had some stuff printed that I could edit, so the time wasn't completely lost, but close enough.

What I really want to know, though, is why there are people out there spending their time thinking of ways to hurt others indirectly... by creating stuff like malware and viruses.

What about you--have you experienced any of this nasty stuff?

Me and My Criminal Mind

Riddle: Correct this equation with a single stroke of a pen:
5 + 5 + 5 = 550

Yesterday evening we went to Luther Auctions’ showroom to attend their annual Americanna auction.  Nearly five hundred lots (a lot is a set of items, sometimes not related, sold together) went in a few hours, at a rate of about two a minute.  Sometimes a “lot” was a single item, such as an antique secretary or work of art.  Lots were sometimes sold as a unit but sometimes – with a warning from the auctioneer – you were bidding “each.”  You’d bid twenty-five dollars on six items in a lot, and had to pay twenty-five dollars each.  Plus, the auction house took an additional fifteen percent as a fee, plus sales tax.  There were some terrific bargains, a lot of six Hitchcock chairs in super condition went for fifteen dollars apiece.  On the other hand a very small painting by an unknown nineteenth-century Dutch artist, of a little flock of chickens and ducks, painted on a board, went for sixteen hundred dollars!  It was a lovely thing, however.  It was exciting, but at the same time, my bottom got a little achey towards the end from sitting so long.  I did learn more about how these things are set up and run – and even got two ideas of how to steal something despite the sharp eyes and cameras around the rooms of the place.  (I was told some years ago by a police detective that I have a criminal’s mind.  Very useful for a mystery writer.)

Answer: Connect the left end of the first plus sign with the top of the first plus sign:  5 4 5 + 5 = 550

Ending the Dog Days of Summer German Shepherd Style!

This week I'm Guest Blogging on Write Here, Write Now, the blog for author Sheila Boneham.  Check out the stories of the two German Shepherds I've been blessed enough to share my life with! 

(And you might even see a paragraph or two about MURDER STRIKES A POSE, due out January 8!)

Namaste

Tracy Weber

Come visit Whole Life Yoga in Seattle, and join my author mailing list for updates on MURDER STRIKES A POSE, available early 2014 from Midnight Ink!