• Break Free of Constant Grading and Rating
    Feb 9 2024

    Over the years I have had the pain and pleasure of working with all sorts of teachers. In my area, there are two universities, one college and plenty of elementary to high schools. Some of my aunts were teachers, plus my husband and son are teachers. So, all varieties of teachers have crossed my path, needing to improve their situations and symptoms.

    Most teachers’ response to anything new is to grade it. It’s happened in hundreds of sessions with university and college professors, high school teachers and elementary school teachers. Let’s face it, they are trained for judging in their jobs. Rating and grading the performance of their students makes for a strong habit to rate everything.

    We All Rate Our Experiences

    Problems are created by a lack of intuitive connection in a world full of information and statistics. When a person’s first response is to be critical and negative, there’s no chance for change or growth in their life. It is entirely possible to shut down any chance for improvement when all judgment sees is what’s not good enough. How can we know and trust what “feels” right when our analytical mind is in control?

    Control Issues Block People’s Progress

    Another level of resistance many teachers present, is wanting control of every step along the way. After all, they’re trained to keep control of students in their class. Teachers aren’t the only ones struggling with this problem. Giving up control can be scary, for some, it’s all they have left. When illness has taken control, it can be brutal for individuals who are used to orchestrating every detail in life. Letting go, allowing another to guide and assist may not be an easy choice.

    Fear and Doubt Hide Behind Control

    The ocean of doubt produces question after question. Sometimes questioning is competitive, trying to show they know more. Why would anyone want fear and doubt to control them? Fear and doubt can keep us frozen and stuck with nowhere to go. Change can be uncomfortable as we rise and transform. Some people prefer staying stuck, living with depression and pain. It’s a comfortable misery, a familiar story they are used to.

    Eventually, most people let the reins go, and we make real progress together! We all benefit when we allow wiggle room for new and different experiences.

    Shop Services

    For more updates - Join my list!

    The information provided on A BIT OF GRACE podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Always consult with a professional for medical advice.


    Subscribe to A BIT OF GRACE on Soundwise

    Show more Show less
    3 mins
  • Summer Fizz - Refreshing Strawberry Rhubarb Soda
    Aug 2 2023
    In recent years, I’ve been exploring the world of fermentation to improve my gut health, digestion, and lower inflammation. I’ve tried lots of different recipes with various foods to help heal my gut. Fermented drinks and fermented foods have definitely improved my digestion and overall tummy comfort. I’m going to share a favourite fermented soda recipe I’ve had fun creating. It’s such a lively summer flavour, I thought you might enjoy it.Website post - Fizzy & Fresh – Fermented Strawberry Rhubarb Soda It’s a Strawberry Rhubarb fermented soda that’s lacto-fermented. For my lacto-fermentation soda recipes, you will need to start with a ginger bug. You’ll find lots of recipes for a ginger bug on YouTube and in other places. It’s a combination of sugar, ginger, and water that you add at various times to build up and get it fermenting. It becomes the activator for all of your fermented soda drinks. Today’s flavour is Strawberry Rhubarb. The colour is just beautiful and the flavour is really refreshing! Let’s get into the ingredients. I figured the ratio that’s best for me is double the amount of strawberries to rhubarb. What I’ve used lately has been 2 1/2 cups of cut up fresh strawberries and 1 1/4 cups of sliced rhubarb from my garden. Then I add 1 cup of organic sugar and put all of that in a pot with about 4 or 5 cups of filtered water. You do not want any chlorine in any of this. Always remember to use filtered water. I let that simmer with the lid on for about 20 minutes to keep all the flavour in. Then I take the whole pot and put it in an ice bath in my kitchen sink to cool down to about room temperature. You need to get it cooler because you don’t want to kill off your ginger bug when you add it later. Next, you strain off the juice into a larger, pourable container and pour that juice into a 2 quart glass Mason jar. To that, you will add 1/2 cup of the strained ginger bug and then top it up to the top of the bottle with more filtered water. Give it a stir with a non metal utensil, then we put on a lid. I use the silicone fermentation lids that go on the top and you can put a metal ring or plastic ring on top of that. Once you have it all together, it’s time to allow this colourful mix to become a lacto-fermented soda. You’re going to let it sit out of the sunlight for about 3 to 5 days, as it gets going with lots of bubbles and activation. Place it in another room away from other fermentation projects like bread, so it doesn’t get cross contaminated. Every day, I shake it once or twice to keep it moving and prevent mould. After a few days, you will find it starts to get nice and bubbly. If you use regular canning lids, watch out for pressure building in the jar and burp as needed. As it gets more bubbly and very active, it’ll be time to give it a taste. Just lift off the lid and stir it up. Don’t use metal utensils. If tasting too early, it may taste too sweet. If you let it go too long, it’s going to get boozy. Somewhere in between, give it a little taste and see if it suits you. If you like it, it’s and it’s at the right point, it’s time to bottle it. I use swing top glass beer bottles. For this amount, you can fill four of them. I actually use only 3 at a time, along with 1 plastic bottle. I reuse a plastic drink bottle about the same size as my tester. It’s handy for testing when the strawberry rhubarb soda is ready. After bottling and putting all the caps on, you leave it on the counter somewhere out of sunlight. The plastic bottle is handy because you can squeeze it to feel how much pressure is building. At first, it will give a lot, and then as time goes on, it will become firmer over about 12 to 18, 24 hours. I don’t have an exact time. I check it every few hours. It depends on your environment and temperature. You’ll feel the difference as it gets firm. Once that tester bottle is hard to squeeze, your fruity fermented soda is ready for tasting. I pour a little into a small glass over a couple of ice Cubes to see if it’s fizzy enough and tastes delicious. When you are happy with this fermented soda flavour, it’s time to put all your bottles in the fridge. This slows fermentation and prevents too much pressure. You don’t want blow ups. Keep them in the fridge and enjoy drinking within about 2-3 weeks. This is about the longest I’ve had them last because I really like the flavour. For longer storage, be sure to occasionally burp them. Keep your hand on top of the bottle when burping. Lift the cap a little to let some pressure off. That’s why I put a hand over the top. One time, my son quickly opened a bottle, and it sprayed a ton of fizzy goodness all over the place. That’s your warning about the bubbliness. This lacto-fermented strawberry rhubarb soda is a lively, refreshing probiotic drink that’s good for gut health. Using the ginger bug is my favourite way to make these fermented sodas. They have a really nice flavour ...
    Show more Show less
    6 mins
  • Life Memories and Mulberries
    Jul 3 2023

    Have you ever had the opportunity to go berry picking?
    I’m not talking about the little packages of berries you’d pick up at the store.
    I used to do a lot of berry picking when I was young, and it was a favourite activity. It usually also involved a chance to go out for a picnic with my mom and grandfather, Cappy Guy. My mom would prepare the meal and pack it up for the three of us. We would take off in Cappy’s little car, which he never did seem to get, to handle and how to shift it properly! So I remember bouncing around while riding in the back seat, but I loved every second of the trip.

    After dinner, they would sit and have coffee together and Cappy would light up his pipe. I still like the smell of pipe tobacco when I get a whiff. It always reminds me of Cappy Guy and picnics. Then we would start berry picking. Mom taught me to dress in clothing that would keep me covered up to prevent vicious scratches from the berry bushes. I did get a few scratches each time. It was unavoidable, I was young and those prickly Blackberry bushes were nasty to reach into.

    I remember the delight of getting down into the woodsy area where the berries grew. The three of us would quietly be picking berries. Of course, we would be eating a few berries along the way. A lot went in my mouth first. Then when I was full of berries, they would started piling up in my little container. No one was talking. We were all quiet, enjoying picking the berries. When a container was full, I would hear them talking to each other. I was rarely the first one with a full bucket since many berries went into my stomach.

    It was such a calm, peaceful place. Being in nature, safely tucked away in the forest with my mom nearby. Everything was green, lush and warm, and it was a beautiful time of the year. There were birds and breezes I would pause and listen to. It was a joy to be in nature. Do you feel that way when you get out in nature, whether it’s in a park or provincial park or in the woods somewhere?

    Nature Brings Us To A Calm Place

    It settles us down to a more grounded, peaceful space. Unfortunately, we don’t get to that space often enough.

    To this day, I am grateful for every opportunity I get to pick fresh berries. My husband laughs at me when I full stop to pick a few wild berries when I spot them.

    These days he’s gets a chuckle seeing me at the front of our house. When we moved here, we discovered a special tree at the front of our house. Just beyond my office window there is a beautiful little mulberry tree. This year it is a very happy tree loaded with nutritious, yummy mulberries. I have been out there daily picking some of our prolific crop of sweet little purple mulberries. I certainly eat more than I keep, that is half the fun of this tree. Plus they fall off the tree so easily, many go on the ground and the birds steal those ones. It is a pleasure having my own mulberry tree for berry picking. Every time I go for more berries I think of my mom, knowing she would be right beside me if she were here today.

    It is important to remember and enjoy and be grateful for our fond life memories as they arrive. Enjoy those little pleasures in life, even if there isn’t a fond memory attached. I suggest that you enjoy your little pleasures. Take a moment to pick those berries. Take a moment to breathe in fresh air. Notice your surroundings and be grateful. We must recognize the lovely little treats in our life that come along. Be grateful for them and for those who taught us how to recognize a good opportunity.

    I will always be grateful to my mom for teaching me the pleasure of picking berries and tending to a vegetable garden, for watching things grow in nature and being grateful for its gifts.

    Shop Services

    For more updates - Join my list!

    The information provided on A BIT OF GRACE podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Always consult with a professional for medical advice.


    Subscribe to A BIT OF GRACE on Soundwise

    Show more Show less
    4 mins
  • Do Foods We Eat Fill A Void Or Feed Our Body?
    Mar 23 2023

    The foods we eat, do they fill a void or feed our body? How do we analyze what is good or bad for us? Simply put, how do you feel after eating or drinking certain foods? We all have some foods that upset our stomach and our gut.

    Were you in a hurry and chomped down the food without even noticing its taste or aroma? Hurry, hurry, hurry. We do that a lot, don't we? Were you calm and able to enjoy the meal? Or were you upset and agitated in the middle of an argument?

    Our stomach and intestines and more all want a peaceful environment. It's like riding over a bumpy road at high speed. Things get jostled around and sometimes they break. Do you want to be stuck at the side of the road in need of repair?

    Paying attention to what we eat is important for good health in our body. One easy step is to start noticing how you are feeling both during and after a meal. This small change alone in focus will help you be more aware of yourself on the inside and less distracted by what's going on around you.

    For over 35 years, I lived with IBS and its symptoms. That's Irritable Bowel Syndrome, in case you don't know. It would always flare up in stressful times. I suffered over and over with horrible, painful cramps and other stuff that we won't go into right now. The way I described it at the time, I would say it feels like I'm being cut in half with a knife. It was just awful. It went on for years and years.

    In my 20's, I went through the whole thing of upper and lower GI series that the doctor ordered. Not fun. Swallow a bunch of barium and get X rayed way, way, way too much. Then in my 40's, I was given a prescription to stop the cramps, a muscle relaxant that made me feel like a zombie. I was so zoned out. I tried it twice and said, No thanks. I had two young children, a business I was managing, so much stress in my life. It was crazy! There was no way I could be that totally numbed out and out of touch. It just didn't make sense.

    This led me to dig deeper over the years and recognize how much healing I really needed. I researched a lot and became involved with lots and lots of training and many different healing modalities, or tools I would call them, of what you might call energy healing and transformation. Let's just call it change, creating change in the physical body, mind, spirit, all areas.

    In the process of clearing out my own emotional traumas, I was going through all these changes. I was learning many ways in which the body can heal itself. Along that journey, I realized my job was to share my skills at finding solutions for all sorts of situations.

    Fast forward to recent years, I've been digging into research papers and articles about our gut microbiome. There’s all sorts of information connecting the food we eat or don't eat, with overall health and even some specific illnesses.

    I'll be sharing more about specific foods and recipes I've played with along this journey. Yes, played with, because I enjoy new learning and the adventure of the whole thing along the way! That's all we're going to talk about today, and I'll talk with you again soon!

    For more updates - Join my list!

    The information provided on A BIT OF GRACE podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Always consult with a professional for medical advice.


    Subscribe to A BIT OF GRACE on Soundwise

    Show more Show less
    5 mins
  • Struggling In Life - Do We Rise Up Or Give Up
    Sep 17 2022
    I know it's been a while. I've been moving through my own struggles in life. I was living with a lot of swelling and pain in my body, and I've been working it through, learned a lot. I'm on the other side of it now, recovering nicely. Quite thankful on that, but it did make me aware of a lot that I had not dealt with. We think we've looked at everything and healer type people are supposed to be perfect and always healthy. Well, gosh, every one of us has stuff! Anyone who tells you they've dealt with everything and everything's just fine. Okay, well, they can see. I hope they have, and I hope they are, but there can be some speed bumps that come up that you don't expect. Like for me, this, it had started with one foot, under my foot bothering me, and slowly it got to be more. Anyway, let me just start with some history here, because I knew my first thought was to do with my overuse of my body. Let's just say I had a history, a big history of physically pushing my body past its ability and capacity at the time. I did this again and again. As a child I rode horses and competed at horse shows in summer. Now, in English riding, there are some rules. How you hold the reins and where your feet sit in the stirrups. Like hands together down low, not flailing around in the air, and how your heels are down in the stirrups. Just the ball of your foot in the actual stirrup. These two things strained my wrists, fingers and ankles and feet a lot over the years. Now let's move forward. I've always been a craft type person. Knitting, sewing, like knitting as a teen. I was knitting sweaters, hats, and later on, blankets that my children used to like to curl up in. I sewed my own clothes and lots and lots of cooking and baking. Let's just say my hands have been really busy over the years. In my twenties, I did a three-year Crafts and Design program at Sheridan College. Talk about using my hands! Wow, it was a super creative time, and I loved it. Designing and drawing and photography, silk screening fabrics, weaving. Where I spent most of my time was in the ceramic studio. My hands and arms were pushed far beyond the strength and ability they had at the time. We had to mix our own clay body to make pottery with. I'd be lifting, this scrawny little 20 something, lifting a 100-pound bag of clay up into the mixer. That's several types, because you wouldn't be just using one ingredient in the mix, so you'd be doing this again and again. I remember the strain. It was so hard to do because I didn't have the muscles. Before you start making pottery on what's called a wheel, a throwing wheel, you have to wedge it. It's kind of like kneading bread but requires a lot more muscle. Then when you're throwing wet clay on a potter's wheel, it makes such demands on the wrists, the fingers, again and again, and your hands are in wintertime, cold water again and again. My wrists used to ache when I'd get home. Especially when you start to create bigger pieces, you're dealing with a lot more weight of clay. You're pushing your wrists super hard, bending them to center the clay, before you start to pull it up into thinner walls. Let's see, now we can fast forward to last fall. I was having fun learning how to dehydrate foods from our garden. It started when we had way too many tomatoes! I was using my hands way beyond their capacity again, chopping and slicing far too much. This is around when I started having my hands swelling and my wrists and oh, my goodness, my feet and ankles. Anyway, it got really painful, and I continued to persevere. Thinking, all right, I've got to work through this and sort it out. I was working on myself, and I could get it settled down to a certain extent. It wasn't until I realized that I had been holding myself back, really forever, in thinking I didn't deserve care. I was taught to take care of everyone else and I didn't clue in to taking care of myself. I had pushed and pushed and pushed my physical body all my life. I had to get the big lesson of caring about myself and loving myself and asking for help. Once I settled into that, which wasn't easy, I started to move forward. Got some help and looked for other resources that could help and through a variety of things, moved this forward. Now today, I can walk more easily and use my hands more, they're still weak. I have to rebuild muscles, but things are coming along nicely. What I wanted to point out is at times in our life, like when I was in a lot of pain, frustrated and struggling in my life at that point. It's what we do at those points. Do we give up and wallow in it and self-pity and think there's nothing we can do? Or do we rise up and go, all right, how do we solve this? What needs to happen? When we can settle down and look at things more calmly. Often the reality, the true self within can give us a little talk, that little intuitive voice inside. If we can accept that we need some help, and then sort out a ...
    Show more Show less
    9 mins
  • Judgy Fear Hurts Relationships
    Dec 10 2021
    We humans are built to connect with each other. Our friends, our family, our associates we work with. Even the people behind the cash register when we're out at stores and restaurants, throughout the larger community, and as we travel the world. When I was young, I had to work at my dad's hardware store every summer from about age 13 to 16. I learned a lot about serving others and how it feels to be behind the counter, and how that can affect relationships with those customers. I had to accept and work with such a variety of people. You see, I grew up in a small town that in summer would double in size, with lots of people visiting, staying at their cottages or visiting other people's cottages. It's a beautiful place in the Eastern townships of Quebec. There is a big, beautiful deep lake and just a lovely environment with the mountains around. Often in the store, my dad's store, I got to encounter so many different characters. There were some who treated me with respect and others who were impatient. Full of ego and expectation that they should be waited on first, even though there were four people ahead of them. It was a real learning experience. When the ones that were kind and respectful and patient came in, I would jump to take care of them and do everything I could to find whatever it was in the store. If you don't know, hardware stores can contain a lot of different things, a lot of variety! Then there were the ones who'd come in and be so demanding. I took a little longer to get to those ones. I thought, you know what? You can learn a little patience. I'm not sure how we can get quickly caught up in judgment and thinking that it's the other person's fault. Blaming the other person and accusing the other person and belittling another person or ignoring, dismissing, all those fun words that you can think of. The way that we can be cruel and mean to others. Why is that? How is it that we can go from being calm and just plain reasonable and considerate of others, to raving, mad, impatient, afraid, judgy, smallminded, self, self, self-focused people? I have a real problem with giving too much attention to people who behave in a cruel way. It's troubling to think that really what they're being is bullies and that they can get away with it. So if we don't let them get away with it. If we don't let bullies or demanding people determine how we feel, what we think, how we behave, wouldn't that be nice? Wouldn't it be nice to stand in our own power and first consider what feels right for us? Instead of listening to everyone else and following the lead of everyone else and following the crowd? Look at the situation we're in today with so much division within family and friends over life choices of what people do in their life. When did it become okay to judge so harshly, all of a sudden and forget the incredible relationship that you have? To forget, the bonds that you have, to forget the love that you share. All because of one decision that's been broadcasted again and again and again and again and again to convince and divide us. Come on. We're all human beings. We have so much else in common. It's time to get off the fear train and throw out your fear bunnies. Calm the heck down. Take a breath and realize what's important to you. Don't throw away your relationships so quickly. These are relationships that have been formed over the years. Now, if someone is treating you badly and cruelly, bullying and abusing you. Of course, those are relationships that have to end. Just be wise and don't be the bully. Don't be the abuser now just because you think you're better and you think you're right. You think you made the right decision and you think they're stupid because they made a different decision? No! Who made you the judge? Stop. Take a breath. Love the people you have loved all along. Get out of your head, into your heart and feel what's right. You'll know then what the priority is. I hope that you can see you have choices in your life. I hope that you can see that we don't need to be separate. It's just so sad to see people get hurt and crushed along the way. It's so harmful to be controlled by fear. I'd say, take a look at yourself. Take a look within. I find it a pretty good exercise to look within myself and go. Okay, what part of this is me? What part of this is something that makes me uncomfortable, so I'm overreacting? Especially when occasions come up where normally we would gather together, such as soon it will be Christmas time. Don't let conflict destroy friendships and relationships that have meant a lot to you for many years. Like I said, get off the fear train. Take a look around. Have a few breaths and enjoy your relationships. Yeah, there's bumps along the way, but there's so much that you have in common. Again, be strong in your heart, not your head and know what feels right for you and go with that! For more updates - Join my list! The information ...
    Show more Show less
    8 mins
  • Clarity In Chatting
    Nov 9 2021

    Today I want to talk about how we work together in sessions or even the Life Force Healings, because something that's important for you to know is that it's not me doing things. It's really just my connection. I'm a carrier of that light of Consciousness, that Life Force energy, and that's the intelligent source that creates healing, not me doing something. I just read information and use the tools that I've been given, to help fine tune or see what specific things we need to look at, that sort of thing.

    It's kind of like when a chef uses a favorite knife, it's not the knife that actually does the creation is it, it's a tool. When we're working together, sometimes we'll get into a chat about something and I'll bring up something, mention something in my life, and then that opens the door to you opening up a little more. I've seen it again and again and witnessed how I'm pushed to start speaking about some topic or reveal something in my history, that often isn't the greatest or the most pleasant.

    It helps the other person to open up, because often one example is the family we're raised in can leave us with a warped view of normal life. So we start to chat about something, a situation, a past event could be of mine, could be of yours. Whatever it is, we're just opening up that conversation and letting that information flow. Nine times out of ten, we make a leap forward into another pocket, another file that needs to be looked at and cleared out of some sort of garbage that is stuck in our little mental databank.

    Sometimes it may seem like we're chatting too much and you think you're not getting enough out of the session or whatever, because we're chatting, and actually it's not significant. It doesn't matter, because that's just your mind trying to think through things and analyze that sort of thing. When really this energy and information knows exactly what you need, and you and I aren't in control of that.

    The more we can accept and allow what is destined for that session or in that Life Force Healing at night while you're sleeping, the more you're able to benefit because you're not putting up roadblocks.

    Some people, you'll hear me say they have a Castle wall and they've got a moat around it and a bridge and nobody can come across it. That's all control stuff we can get stuck in because we're so afraid of change and afraid of moving forward that we put up our walls to prevent that.

    So when we're chatting, if you could just allow yourself to just go with that and see what it turns up and what we discover. Stop trying to analyze and decide whether this session was better than the last one or what you want us to be dealing with. Sometimes I'm trying to look at what you've named, the items you've named, and I'm not getting any access in that. Yet we'll start talking about something else, and then I get to come around and access that from a different angle.

    The more you can accept and allow, the more we can get you moving forward. Guess that's about all I needed to say today. Thanks.

    If you want to know more about sessions with me, visit https://JuliaGrace.ca

    For more updates - Join my list!

    The information provided on A BIT OF GRACE podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Always consult with a professional for medical advice.


    Subscribe to A BIT OF GRACE on Soundwise

    Show more Show less
    4 mins
  • Faith Or Fear In Our Life
    May 28 2021

    Is faith or fear running your life these days? How would we describe our life in general? There is a lot going on. Are we comfortable in our choices, in our views? Is there calmness and peace in our environment? I'm not so sure.

    In my own life and with clients, I see lots of stuff coming up. People are feeling worried and fearful, wondering what's coming in the future. Changes are happening, whether people like it or not, with their work, where they are living, moving.

    There's a jumble out there of stuff individuals and families are having to deal with, and it's not all pretty and it's not all easy. We have to remind ourselves and look at where is our viewpoint coming from?

    Do we live with joy and feel blessed with all that we have? Or are we resentful for what we don't have? Are we envious or jealous of what others have? What i's driving our life? Fear of all that will come or faith that we will make progress in ways we may not see at this moment.

    We all have choices so we can stay scared. Or we can be calm, knowing how to put one foot in front of the other, one day at a time, and that brings progress. Even if our egos want to have instant improvements. It is definitely a time to let patience be our guide.

    When we see all the new possibilities and let nature inspire us, it can bring back that joy. Whether it's in small little things of getting out your gardening tools and repotting your plants in your home or outside in the garden, if the weather is good. Going for walks in nature if there's a park nearby or some woods to walk around in and feel the lovely grounding of the trees around you.

    It is a choice we can make. We can either be all tense and fearful and, oh my gosh! Our body just starts to shut down and we get sicker, and we make ourselves more available for sickness. Or we can calm down, take a breath, have some water. Enjoy the little, tiny things in life, little progresses when you accomplish a small task, when you enjoy a good meal. I've been having fun doing more cooking because for a few years I was having a lot of trouble with my hands, past potter issues where I'd overstrained them.

    I've been having a blast getting into doing more in the kitchen. I am a little bit of a mad scientist where I like to tweak recipes and have fun with that. What are, where are the ways that you find joy? What are the things that you enjoy? Pick some of those out even if you haven't done them in a long time. Maybe they could be a little inspiration for you to have some fun. We have choices of where we are looking and how we view the world.

    I hope that you can find your inspiration and your joy and be well!


    If you want to know more visit https://JuliaGrace.ca

    For more updates - Join my list!

    The information provided on A BIT OF GRACE podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Always consult with a professional for medical advice.


    Subscribe to A BIT OF GRACE on Soundwise

    Show more Show less
    4 mins