Hedge and a Hog

“Spend some time in a higher vibration” my acupuncturist said. “And drink some fresh green juice every day.” I needed to get a grip and realign. So off I went to Santa Barbara. Sometimes I wonder how exactly we live here, in New York, but I guess it gives back to you for a while. It used to give back to me. But now I’m much preferring to be in nature. Night singing birds, night blooming flowers, the dry sage and sagebrush afternoons….sparkling sunlight and spaces of quiet.

I hung out with my friend the Hedgehog, sleeping on her living room floor and we cooked (she cooked, rather,) nearly every meal from our farmers market harvest. Santa Barbara has a great farmers market, link to which is provided below. Tomatoes, avocados, asparagus, lettuce, potatoes, onions, cauliflower, olive oil, pretty well the normal organic cornucopia, and fragrant roses in every room.

Every morning we had juice by Ascending Health Juicery. This is a new thing, as far as I know. A couple of local acupuncturists started making killer organic and very fresh juices. You order the day before by phone or email and they buy accordingly from the farms either early that morning or the evening before, so your juice has high levels of chi, and a living vibration. So far, they have green juice and red juice but will do custom orders if you like. The green juice is usually something like kale, spinach, turnip tops, dandelion, fenugreek greens, parsley, cucumber, and the like. Usually commercial green juice is apple juice with some greens thrown in. Not so here. This is a liver cleansing treat and my body was immediately delighted. The red juice has beets as well. If you are in Santa Barbara and want Alfred and Deb’s juice, you can call them at 805-698-5443 or email ahjuice@verizon.net

I did my usual treatment of lymph drainage and colonics. It’s weird to me that western allopathic medicine doesn’t know much about the lymphatic system. It’s an important system! For people with compromised lymphatic systems, like me, there are few options outside of Manual Lymph Drainage Massage and colonics. You can develop lymph blockages easily, particularly if you have had cancer, don’t exercise much, or have a lot of scar tissue. Many years of poison eventually turns your lymph fluid, normally the color and consistency of non-fat milk, to that of cottage cheese!!! Then you need to get rid of it and move it, circulate it, or it will breed disease. I enjoy my Santa Barbara regimen of lymph massage and colonics but I wonder sometimes how I got to be the lucky one to have it. The Center for Lymphatic Health (805.962.1882) is in Santa Barbara and Allen Wells is one of the best practitioners around. Link at the end of this post. And once the lymph is moving, it’s got to go somewhere, right? And what better place than out, via the usual channels? That’s why a colonic is so great after lymph drainage. You can see the cloudy lymph and the bright yellow liver waste going out through that tube and every teaspoon of that stuff that you get out of your body is one small step closer to feeling clean and fresh and healthy and optimal. It’s one teaspoon less of that crap inside you! I don’t need to talk more about these things, I think. You can call Suzie Sebastian at Healing Waters in Santa Barbara if you are looking for a great colon therapist. Her number is 805-453-2942

We went to a lilac farm! Like everyone, both the hedgehog and I thought that Lilacs were an east coast thing, but that doesn’t stop them from growing in California’s high desert. As long as you have a frost, lilacs can live. And live they do in Acton, at the Kilcoyne Lilac Farm. The season is short, like it is here in New York, and they are expensive at the farmers markets, but they are lovely, and precious and delightful. They are also very powerful windows to the past. People who have grown up around lilacs often have a strong and emotional reaction to them so this is very lovely indeed. After we left the farm, with buckets of lilacs in the back seat, we came across the Shambala Cat Sanctuary, and managed to see a Bengal Tiger pacing about outside his run, which was being cleaned I hope. We ended up flying though the heavily perfumed Ojai night, drunk on orange blossoms, and enjoyed ourselves at a little Mexican carnival in Santa Paula.

I went to a puja for the Medicine Buddha with the monks who accompany the Dalai Lama. This was at a lovely and charming house near the natural History Museum. And later in the week I scored a ticket to see His Holiness himself, the Dalai Lama at UCSB. Higher vibration indeed! He’s a goof-ball, a so-sweet, absolutely adorable sitting on his little couch, legs folded under him, wrapped in his robes and sneezing, poor thing. He is very funny and of course, utterly delightful. I was sitting pretty far away, but I still enjoyed his presence.

I had a facial from Andra, whom I have referred to here as the hedgehog. She does nurturing, nourishing and all natural facials, and her company is called Skin Dance. As anyone who goes to her will agree, she is the best, no question. If you are in Santa Barbara and would like to schedule an appointment with her, you can call her at 805-965-0041.

We did yoga with Eddie Ellnor at Yoga Soup, his classes are really fun and always different, and I found myself rolling on the floor, laughing. Yoga Soup is the excellent place to do yoga in Santa Barbara and I will give the website below.

Living in New York and the Gulf means a different relationship with certain herbs than one might find in Southern California. California is one of the states that has legalized medical marijuana and has been for over 10 years. It’s worth noting that this useful herb is available in culinary forms, as delicious rice krispy treats as well as the more usual cookies and brownies.

It was only 10 days but I really feel like I did a lot in this little visit, and am enjoying my partially (!) detoxified body tremendously.

Dalai lama
Center for Lymphatic Health
Yoga Soup
Kilcoyne Lilac Farm
Shambala Sanctuary for Cats
Santa Barbara Farmers Market
Pot dispensaries of Southern California