Balance

This morning during yoga, we were in our standing balance posture. While we were standing in the posture, the teacher mentioned to find something that is not moving and look at it to stay balanced. 

So I started thinking about what is constant in life. God. Moroni 10:19 "He is the same, yesterday, today and forever." So if I want to stay balanced I need to set my focus on something that is standing still, constant, unwavering. God. "The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light."(Matthew 6:22) 

What a simple and beautiful truth. I have seen it in my own life. If I focus on God, I am much more balanced. Well what does focusing on God look like to me? To me, God is love. It is the greatest commandment we have been given. So as I focus my actions, thoughts, and feelings on love, I can and will stay balanced. Meaning no matter what goes on in the world around me, finding a way to always come from a place of love. This is the way to find the most balance, flexibility and peace. 

In yoga when I am balanced in my postures, it gives me a chance to stretch more, increasing my flexibility; and focus more on my breath, increasing my peace. In life as I focus on God. I will be able to have more time to feel peace and be in the present moment. I also will be able to be more flexible with what goes on in the world around me. 

God is love. I have so much to learn but am grateful for this sweet truth I learned today and will continue to practice staying balanced and loving in my life. 

Namaste. 

Breathe

I want to start by saying our bodies are amazing! They are continually communicating with us, we have the choice to listen or to ignore.  I am really good at going and doing, getting a lot accomplished in a day.  But I have never learned to stop, enjoy, relax, and breathe. But my body has never gave up on me, just kept giving me reminders that I need to slow down!

Since high school I have been overdoing it. While graduating high school, I got my associates degree, was on the dance team, and had a job. I kept up this pace of leaving home early morning, getting home late evening for about a decade (how am I old enough to talk in decades?). Even once Ila was born I remember me and my mom spending a good portion of the week she was born reorganizing and decorating Ila's room. I just couldn't relax or stay in one place and enjoy.  

So becoming a stay at home mom was hard for me. I was so use to a schedule and running from place to place, all day everyday, that it was hard for me to just be at home. I even still would find stuff I "had" to do just to be back in my comfort of constant chaos.  

Well recently I have been studying and learning more about my adrenals.  As I was reading through the symptoms of burdened adrenals, it basically sounded exactly like me; can't sleep at night, cravings for salt and sugar, imbalanced blood sugar, dizzy, headaches, anxiety (which mine shows up as just holding my breath or shallow breathing, so I hadn't even put together that it was anxiety), irritability, and my most famous symptom brain fog. 

Well can you guess what is good for the adrenals? Deep breathing, Yoga, relaxation, meditation, routine, self-care. All the things I had never learned to do.  Well it is interesting how everything falls into place as it needs to.  About a month ago I bought a pass to The Front Climbing Club so I could take advantage of their yoga classes.  So I have consistently been going to yoga a minimum of 3 times a week but I love it so much I am normally there 6 days a week.  I also have been waking up early and trying to create a routine of study, relaxation and self care every morning for about a month now. I am trying to be more mindful of how I breathe shallowly and practice what I am learning in yoga throughout the day. Opening up my heart and breathing!

So things are looking up. I am grateful for my body and its hints and clues it has been giving me to slow down. Also for my footzoning and essential oil knowledge to know where to turn to start balancing and grounding my body even more.  Maybe sometime in the near future I will have a night that I actually sleep through the night and feel rested! Sounds wonderful~

Ila Rose Smith

I can't get it out of my mind that I need to share Ila's special day/journey! I have learned more the last year of my life than my entire life combined. This sweet angel, Ila has taught me so much even before I saw her beautiful face :)

Last July we found out we were expecting, as many of you know, I have never been a huge book worm/ researcher... but something about knowing I was bringing a little one into the world, I couldn't help but research and find the best options for my baby.

The day after we found out, I got on the phone and started calling around to different places. I knew I wanted a natural birth at this point simply for the reason that I was afraid of needles, ha.  I got a hold of Chris Miller, a local midwife who does home births, and made an appointment to meet with her.

When I told Jake, he was quite hesitant.  I got the impression that he thought once again I was a little crazy, ha.  But as always, he was willing and open to go and hear what she had to say.  After the appointment his gears switched. We loved the comfort and ease of Chris, we began our journey in learning that birth is a natural, beautiful part of life.

We went home and watched "Business of Being Born," an educational documentary on NetFlix about birth in America.  We were both convinced that we wanted a natural homebirth. It is what felt right to us after our own reading, research, and prayers.

Throughout the rest of my pregnancy I heard it all.  When you have a homebirth, everyone seems to love to tell you their birth horror stories.  But the part that broke my heart were most stories seemed to have a common theme; a medical intervention, a complication and a doctor who came in and "saves the day." (Although they were the ones to convince the mom to do the original intervention that caused the problem).  The other situation that makes me sad is when the mom is convinced that she is unable to give birth for one reason or another! Of course you are! But no story was discounted, I took every one to my midwife and researched them myself to be reminded over and over that birth is a natural, beautiful part of life and goes smooth when we do not intervene with unnecessary procedures.

Well Ila's due date came and went, which I'd expected since natural births actually average to be 41 weeks and a day not 40 weeks.  But it didn't make it any easier.. home everyday waiting for our baby to arrive. I was quite restless.  Any signs of labor, I would get so excited and think "tonight is the night."  Jake teased me of crying wolf.

Well March 16 arrived finally, that evening around 8 our friend Steve was over with Jake and we were all hanging out. Eventually I stood up and walked out of the room and said "Geez you go 9 months without ANY cramps then you get the worst ones of your life." But I didn't think anything more of it.  I went to the back of the house and started timing these cramps.  Well they were two minutes apart and about 45 seconds long.

It went on for 20 minutes and I text Jake and said "I need you."  He came back and said "Sam and Emily are here now and they're all going out to eat, should I go with them?" In Jake's mind tonight was no different than all the other nights I thought I was in labor.  It didn't take him long to realize...I said "No, will you go fill up the birth tub?" He looked at me funny knowing that labor is normally 12+ hours but did it anyway and knew it was the night.

Labor is a beautiful thing.  I knew exactly what to do through my intuition.  I had taken a Bradley birth class which I am grateful for all the reading and education I took away from it, but my intuition was such a huge part!  I was in transition (the most intense part of labor, transitioning from contractions to pushing) basically from the beginning, so I stood throughout my entire first part of labor. I would feel a contraction come on and just lean against the wall or sink or anything I could find. I tried two times to switch positions to decrease the intensity, but I learned that those positions were probably for an earlier part of labor because nothing helped. The only way I could make it through a contraction was to lean and stand. Which, wow to those women who have had a natural birth while laying stuck in a hospital bed! The one contraction I layed down for was soo much more intense! I can't imagine having all my contractions that way!  You women are tough!

What saved me was being able to walk and move around. The diversity of moving even just a few feet every once in a while between contractions kept me going!

Well after an hour of these intense contractions that were on top of each other, I got into the water. Right as I got into the tub my water broke and I had two of the most intense contractions. On my third contraction I had the urge to push. Before this point I hadn't realized how quickly things were going. But the urge to push kind of alarmed me... I looked to Jake and said "I don't know why but my body is pushing, or at least I feel like doing that, what should I do?" He said to just trust my body and if it's telling me to push to go for it.  I was a little scared that I was still at like a 2 since that was the last I had heard in my appointment that afternoon. But I knew to trust my body and it wouldn't be wanting to push if I wasn't ready for it, so I went with it.

When my water had broke we called Chris and she was on her way to the house. She got there around 9:20, put her tools down and started saying "we've got a full head of hair." What? The baby is almost here? Crazy! At 9:47 pm baby was born! At this point we didn't know if it was a boy or a girl! We were so taken in the moment of meeting this sweet baby it didn't matter anymore.

There are no words to adequately describe the feelings of love, peace and joy that filled our home. Enough to forget that moments before you we're experiencing the most intensity you had ever experienced in life. Maybe not forget, but realize it brought you this angel so it was all worth it. I loved being pregnant. Every day was magical to me that there was a life inside. I may sound crazy but I loved the whole birthing experience and more than it all I love holding this innocent baby straight from heaven in my arms.

What a joy motherhood is. I am posting this a year later. It has sat as a draft for a full year. What a beautiful year it has been! I have a toddler now. Where does time go! Sweet Ila Rose you are loved by many and bring joy into all of our lives,

What is Footzoning?

Our feet hold a perfect map to our entire body. We can find everything from our organs, circulatory system, lymph, glandular system, digestive system, muscles and bones in our feet. There are two parts to a foot zone; ZoneBalance and ZoneAnalysis.  ZoneBalance brings the body back into a state of balance through working with the signal system in the feet. ZoneAnalysis is used to assess the current condition of the body and analyze areas which are burdened or imbalanced.

There are many things that cause our bodies to become out of balance, for example; poor diet choices, environmental toxins, negative thoughts and feelings. Through a footzone our bodies will rejuvenate and detoxify and begin to heal from the inside out. The body will balance and renew on a cellular level. 

As a Certified Footzonologist, I have been trained from the Nordbloom Institute of Footzonology. My training also included knowledge on herbs, essential oils, and a plant based diet which all further support rejuvenating and restoring the body to a balanced, whole state. 

I am so grateful to have been blessed with this knowledge. At graduation two years ago, we each shared why it is we studied FootZonology and what we are going to do with our knowledge. I remember being overwhelmed with this feeling of opportunity and responsibility to help and serve others and teach them what I know. I still have this overwhelming feeling to help and serve others that this knowledge may also bless you and your family! 

❤️

Why I am Mormon

The first weekend of October and also the first weekend of April are my two favorite weekends of the year. I am feeling blessed for the inspiration, hope, love, and joy I have received today and will continue to receive tomorrow! As I was listening today to President Uchdorf speak about how much members of the church dedicate themselves... I got to asking myself "Why am I Mormon?" "Why do I spend two complete weekends a year listening to people speak?" "Why do I spend three hours a week in meetings, Tuesday nights at the church with my calling, every morning studying?" What is my motivation?

Well how I feel right now, after listening to conference for four hours today and spending most of the rest of the day talking about the messages I heard to others is a good place to start, I feel peaceful, hopeful, inspired, and excited to name a few emotions. It was not a sacrifice. I was blessed in return ten fold. 

The gospel is my most sure way to feel this way. Hope, peace, joy, love. When I hear the prophet of God and his apostles speak I can't helped to feel of the light and truth. It is through the Savior Jesus Christ and his Atonement that I may be whole, that I may be complete. 

I am a Mormon because I am given the opportunity every week to be cleansed and renewed. I make mistake after mistake every single day. I can't go a day, an hour, a minute?! Ha probably. Without making a mistake. I definitely can't go a week without falling short :) I am so grateful for an opportunity every single week to made clean from my sins and added strength for the week to come. I need that weekly boost of strength. Without the Savior I am nothing. 

In today's world, there is so much darkness. So much sadness. So much misery. So much cruelty. It can be dark and hopeless at times. It is through the Savior and His gospel that I find peace, hope and joy. ❤️

I testify that Our Savior lives and loves each of us. That every one has unique talents, gifts, personalities and experience that aren't only welcome to the church but needed to help bring light to the souls of many. He needs our help. Others need our help and our light. So shine :) this is why I am a Mormon. I love light!

My Niche is Me

Lately I have been searching for a niche or even just a more defined purpose. I have done many trainings in the last year and a half; foot zoning, face zoning, foot zoning coach training, oil classes, meditation classes, most recently I have been into learning more about yoga and ayurveda. I want to help people. I want to influence others lives as those around me have positively influenced, mentored and taught me. But I find it hard to reach out to the world around me at times because at the end of the day I love my time home with my 18 month old Ila, I don't want to get a baby sitter so I can zone all day, I don't want to be gone every evening doing oil classes, I want to soak every moment in with being her mama and a wife to my sweet husband. 

Well there is a trend with my posts. My sweet friend/client at the salon comes in about every six months and every time I see her, she encourages me to get my information online. I have had lots of suggestions to start blogging lately and tonight it clicked. I don't need to find this special niche. My niche is me. All I have to do is share who I am, what inspires me, what I believe in and if I can inspire someone else out there I have done my job. 

Well this doesn't come without some fears on my part. One I just mentioned; consistency. I have a hard time being consistent. I am here and there. Up and down. Passionate about something new every day. So the idea is I can share that here. It will keep me learning, it will keep me sharing. The consistency of sharing will be what grounds me. I have troubles being up in the clouds. I am a dreamer. 

My other fears. I am not a writer. My husbands side of the family finds amusement in my English ❤️  So to my English majors, I apologize. 

Last fear, I am not an expert in any one area. I am just a mom, wife, friend, daughter, sister, person, Foot Zoner, hairstylist, oil user, natural mama sharing what I love. I am just me. 

So here goes I will be checking in again soon. I would like to end all my posts with a little something I have learned from yoga. 

Namaste. (Which means: the divine light in me, honors and see the divine light in you. In my words: I am a child of God and so are you and I see that light of Christ within you!)

Namaste. 

The Smiths - anything but ordinary

So here we are, probably the most common last name in the United States, yet we like to push the boundaries of social norms or at least the standard American way :) not really, we just are naturally drawn to, I guess. Sometimes we are referred to as the "hippie friends." I prefer being considered "natural." At the root of all I do, it seems to be nature that drew me there.

So we had our daughter at home, we believe in co sleeping and baby wearing; we eat unusual things like chia seeds and goji berries; I am a certified foot and face zonologist; we drink sunshine water, we are vegetarian or vegan (depending on the day), most commonly gluten-free vegans; we use essential oils and herbs when we are sick (or well), we are weary of plastic and chemical cleaners, we believe in the law of attraction and we are Mormons :)

But at the end of the day, we are all the same. We love our family. Our greatest joy is spending time with each other. We love the beauty and goodness of people. Some days are bliss, some days are rough; but we try to find the joy of daily living.

I love to read and learn more on health and wellness so I would like to write more of my journey here. A place I can reference my friends and family to recipes I love, websites that have helped us, and books to read.

I have had many, many people who have helped me on my way, who I will always be grateful for. If the things I write can help anyone on their way I will be happy. It is my turn to give back.

Loves.
Cassey