Editorial
Volume 20 Issue 2 — July/August 2014
by Melva Armstrong

At last, summer has arrived after a very cool and wet spring across the province. I am sure we are all feeling grateful to have this delightful season return, so we can explore the great outdoors and perhaps do some travelling and visiting with friends and family. It feels wonderful to be able to go outside, without freezing, and enjoy nature in all its magnificence and splendour. I love watching the leaves come back on the trees as they turn different shades of green with each new day. Then, there is the beauty of the flowers and fauna that reappear like magic every year, and the gifts of the many songbirds that nest in the nearby trees and keep chattering from sunrise until sunset. It is truly a season of rejuvenation for all living things. The return of spring always feels like I am emerging from a cocoon gently stretching my body in all directions, and then beginning to go forth and embark on all the projects I had contemplated during my deep inner work of the winter months.

As I worked on this issue, I enjoyed the many new people I got to meet as well as spending some time with the regulars who are already part of the WHOLifE family. Welcome to all the newcomers and thank you everyone for your support, advertising, articles, and all the caring and sharing you do to make WHOLifE possible. From the feedback I receive, the journal is very much appreciated for the information it provides on the many services, products, and people that can help us live healthy, happy, joy-filled, love-filled, and abundant lives. There are endless natural ways we can take care of ourselves, however, it does take time and research and patience to find the things that work best for each individual. From my personal experience, these efforts do pay off and one gets to learn so much more about life and meet so many fabulous folks along the way, that it’s really a thrill to embark on the journey of self-care, self-love, and self-appreciation. It’s about honouring oneself and being brave and following one’s heart and inner guidance. There is so much beauty in life for all of us to discover. It is just a matter of making the time and effort and telling yourself you are worth it. Every journey starts with one step and when one is focused, everything else just falls into place. That’s how I started on this wholeness journey, and it has been an amazing process. So, don’t delay, begin today and see how your life will be full of magic and delights along the way. If you are reading the journal for the first time, then you have already started on your wholeness journey and a big new wonderful world is waiting for you to discover and for you to discover yourself more fully.

With summer comes the growth of one’s own, or wild, or other people’s local fresh fruit and this, for me, is the yummiest part of the season. How sensuous to bite into a fresh, juicy red strawberry, or to gently squish some tangy raspberries on my tongue, or perhaps pop a few scrumptious Saskatoon berries or blueberries into my mouth to savour. The best is when I pick the berries right off the plant. Second best are those from the farmers’ markets, and third, those from the health food stores. To learn about the many health benefits of these summer gems, be sure to read Sandra Brandt’s article, Bountiful Berries: Colourful Juicy-sweet, Summer Gifts (p. 8), in which she also provides some tasty recipes for you to try.

In the midst of all your summer activities, I trust you will take a copy of this issue wherever you go, and be sure to find time to read it from cover to cover. Hopefully, you’ll pass it on to family and friends when you’ve finished. It contains a variety of information on the body, mind, spirit, and the environment that you may find useful to help keep you and your family healthy, happy, whole, and inspired to be the best you can be! All the advertising and article contributors magically show up and want to be included, the designer puts it beautifully together, and voila, everything always works out perfectly. It’s an incredible process and I am ever grateful for all the help I get from the visible as well as invisible realms.

I love to hear from readers, so keep in touch and share your thoughts and feelings about the journal.

May the summer bring you many bright blessings!

Namaste
(The spirit in me honours the spirit in your)