Our Holisitic Approach to Winter Wellness

Autumn and Winter tend to bring on all sorts of interesting colds and illnesses.  We are not ones to go to the doctor or take medication.  Prevention is key, and when necessary, we will treat ourselves as naturally as possible.

1.  Juicing

At least twice per week, we drink "vruit"!  Using our Juiceman juicer, we create a blend of roots (beets, carrots), greens (kale, spinach, lettuces, chard), herbs (parsley), and fruit (apples, oranges).  It's an easy way to ensure that everyone gets vitamins and minerals from veggies and greens, especially if you have some picky eaters in the family!  Green smoothies made in the Vita-mix are fantastic, too, and contain the fiber content.

2.  Aromatherapy

We wash our hands with soap that has lavender, rosemary and tea tree oil in it after being in contact with other people or places.  A bath with 8 drops of tea tree oil is nice after a day around others who are sick.  Floors are mopped with water mixed with essential oils of lemon, lavender, tea tree and cypress.  Countertops are cleaned with a similar mixture.  Sheets are washed with a teaspoon of eucalyptus oil.  Clogged ears get a drop of lavender oil on a Q-tip.  Itchy throats drink a drop of cypress oil with water.  Stuffy noses inhale eucalyptus and lemon myrtle steam.  More ideas in our Aromatherapy eBook.

3.  Massage

When the children were babies and toddlers, we massaged them after every bath.  Jennifer is a certified educator of infant massage.  You can take a class to learn how to do this by finding a certified educator through Infant Massage USA.  As the children have grown, we massage backs, feet, ear/necks to sooth and comfort when not feeling well. 

4.  Chiropractic

Parents see the chiro (along with a massage) once per month.  Kids go during growth spurts.  Keeping the back in alignment prevents ear infections and many other issues.


5.  Exercise
Stretching, yoga, bike riding, dance lessons, fencing, gardening, playing at the park and more!

6.  Homeopathy & Flower Essences

Remedies by Uriel and flower essences by Bach are used at the first signs of any sort of illness.

 

7.  Rest

Sometimes we just need extra sleep, or a day at home on a weekend without running around to rest and recharge. 

8.  Music

Playing instruments and singing make us feel great!  Regularly listening to and playing music feeds our minds, hearts and souls.

Overall, we see wellness holistically.  We know that leading a healthy lifestyle prevents illness.  We also recognize that fevers and certain illnesses are sometimes important for us to experience.  As a result of incorporating natural therapies, we can go for years without seeing a doctor's office.  We'd love to hear how others approach wellness as a family!

Holistic Therapies at Syrendell

Daddy graduated from medical school (but became a stay-at-home-dad...yay!), and Mommy is a retired elementary school principal (and now a stay-at-home mom...hooray!). Besides these conventional educational backgrounds, they love to infuse their holistic therapies throughout Syrendell. Daddy is a Feng Shui consultant and plays harp for pregnant mommies and premature babies. Mommy is certified in Leclaire Hypnobirthing, Wholebirth Prenatal Yoga, Infant Massage, Aromatherapy and Bach Flower Essences.

Two of the children were born at home, unassisted, and the last one was a pleasurable waterbirth, utilizing flower essences, essential oils, yoga and hypnobirthing techniques. The children enjoyed receiving massages from Mommy and Daddy! Harp, aromatherapy and Feng Shui continues to be a natural part of our daily rhythms at Syrendell.

In case other parents are interested in holistic trainings, we highly recommend the following:
1. Leclaire Hypnobirthing: http://www.leclairemethod.com/ She does 3-day trainings in beautiful Pacific Palisades, CA, near Malibu.
2. Wholebirth Prenatal Yoga: http://www.wholebirth.com/ Robin's approach to teacher training is amazing, and you leave with a renewed sense of yourself as a person! 5-day trainings in the Santa Cruz, CA area, although she'll travel other places if you get a group together.
3. Infant Massage: http://www.infantmassageusa.org/ These wonderful trainings are held all over the US. Teaching couples (some before the baby is born, but most of them after the baby is born) how to massage their babies is one of the most rewarding experiences. Be sure to go to a training by this organization, as they are the founders of IM.
4. Aromatherapy: http://www.theida.com Jade is a gifted aromatherapist and a wonderful person. She teaches in Washington state, but also offers a distance learning option. Info. on pregnancy is included.
5. Flower Essences: http://www.bachremedies.com/Training_Bach-International-Education-Program_pg24.aspx Bach is the most well-known and purchasing their products is fairly easy, world-wide. Trainings are all over the world. I also recommend Flower Essence Society, located in N. California: http://www.flowersociety.org/, Masters Essences (home study option, too): http://www.mastersessences.com/, and Star Essences (trainings annually in Santa Barbara, CA) http://www.mastersessences.com/.
6. Feng Shui: http://www.westernschooloffengshui.com/ Trainings in San Diego, CA.

7. Harp Therapy: http://www.harprealm.com/ Trainings in San Diego, UK, Netherlands, Japan.

Mommy created a holistic childbirth preparation course, Meditative Mama, that incorporates the above therapies into a 2.5 hr. workshop for pregnant mommies and their partners/families. She also trains others on how to teach this class.

Tree of Happiness Award!

What an amazing week!

We have also received the Tree of Happiness Award from Lisa at 5 Orange Potatoes! We thank you, and we look forward to following your blog...sharing ideas.

We are nominating the following blogs for the Tree of Happiness Award!

1. Carle at http://ourholisticlife.blogspot.com/

2. Linda at http://naturalsuburbia.blogspot.com/

3. Jenn at http://naturenest.wordpress.com/

4. Mama Roots http://www.mamaroots.com/

Circle Time!

Hey, hey let's start the day

Sitting in a circle

Hey, hey what do you say

Let's start the day in a circle...

Circle time is a precious opportunity for the 4 of us (or 5 if Daddy is home!) to be together. We do this on Mondays and Fridays after breakfast. Starting off with our "Circle Time" song that the kids composed, we sing, play guitar or piano, and sometimes throw bean bags to the beat!

Circle time may include yoga stretching, reading stories (fairy tales, folk tales, myths) that go with the current season, holiday or S.S. theme, singing/movement songs, bean bag throwing while counting by different numbers, and singing the calendar song. On Mondays, we also talk about the upcoming week and we create a poem together. We type up the poem, print it out, and then use pastels to decorate it. On Fridays, we do form drawing to a story first on chalkboards, then on paper with crayons. We also play geography ball, throwing the inflatable globe around and asking each other to find continents and countries. About every other week, we do a drum circle at the end of Friday's circle time.

Circle time occurs in the living room. We sit around one of our naturally-dyed cloths or silks. On the cloth we'll have tree blocks, yarn, wood puzzles and bean bags out. This keeps fingers busy (especially for the 5 year-old!), when needed. Sometimes, we meditate or just close our eyes and focus on something positive. Some weeks, we talk about what we enjoy doing, and give each other praise, or say a nice comment to each other. It's a wonderful time to bond, plan, evaluate, experience the arts and bring a sense of opening, and then closing to each home-learning week. Feel free to use our circle time song!

Syrendell

Welcome to Syrendell!

We are the Tan Family: Jennifer (mother), Rick (father), Ricky (son 11), Joey (daughter 9), and Wilson (son 5). As a home-learning (homeschooling) family, we share our experiences with others...always teaching, and forever learning.

Our motto is, "LAPHH". Yes, it sounds like "laugh", which is something we do a lot of as a family!

L = Love
A = Abundance
P = Peace
H = Health
H = Happiness

Whether we are learning at home, traveling, attending lessons, visiting relatives, or walking our labyrinth, we do our best to stay true to our motto.

We are inspired by a variety of teaching and learning techniques and philosophies, including Waldorf education, Montessori, and Earthschooling. Music, art, nature and stories are part of our daily rhythms. Holistic pregnancy, home waterbirthing, attachment parenting, and natural healing are some of the many pathways that we explore. Come join us and follow our blog so that we may learn from each other!