Saint Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day started in the time of the Roman Empire. In ancient Rome, February 14th was a holiday to honour Juno. Juno was the Queen of the Roman Gods and Goddesses. The Romans also knew her as the Goddess of women and marriage.

In my belief, Valentine's Day really means showing love and ut most gratitude to all the people who mean a lot to me. I don't just think it's a day for couples, I think its a day for everyone but mostly to me it's really that day to remember love again. Most of us are so caught up with work and busy lifestyles that we forget to appreciate Love. We forget to appreciate people and things around us. 14th Feb marks a day where we get to fully embrace love in many ways, to show compassion towards people and things. Sure, we all love gifts and roses but I think its really about giving and NOT expecting anything in return. The more we expect, the more dissapointed we feel as we may not get all that we expect, right? So it's better to give and keep giving without expecting to recieve. Some people feel this day is over-rated, that it sucks, I think that those people who feel this way, just expect too much and when they don't get all that they expect, they tend to HATE this day. That's not a true meaning on LOVE. That is simply a selfish act.

"You must Love yourself before you shed Love" :-)

 

Valentine Traditions

Hundreds of years ago in England, many children dressed up as adults on Valentine's Day. They went singing from home to home. One verse they sang was:
Good morning to you, valentine;
Curl your locks as I do mine ---
Two before and three behind.
Good morning to you, valentine.
 
In Wales wooden love spoons were carved and given as gifts on February 14th. Hearts, keys and keyholes were favourite decorations on the spoons. The decoration meant, "You unlock my heart!"
 
In the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who their valentines would be. They would wear these names on their sleeves for one week. To wear your heart on your sleeve now means that it is easy for other people to know how you are feeling.
 
In some countries, a young woman may receive a gift of clothing from a young man. If she keeps the gift, it means she will marry him.
 
Some people used to believe that if a woman saw a robin flying overhead on Valentine's Day, it meant she would marry a sailor. If she saw a sparrow, she would marry a poor man and be very happy. If she saw a goldfinch, she would marry a millionaire.
 
A love seat is a wide chair. It was first made to seat one woman and her wide dress. Later, the love seat or courting seat had two sections, often in an S-shape. In this way, a couple could sit together -- but not too closely!
 
Think of five or six names of boys or girls you might marry, As you twist the stem of an apple, recite the names until the stem comes off. You will marry the person whose name you were saying when the stem fell off.
 
Pick a dandelion that has gone to seed. Take a deep breath and blow the seeds into the wind. Count the seeds that remain on the stem. That is the number of children you will have.


If you cut an apple in half and count how many seeds are inside, you will also know how many children you will have.


(just superstitions nothing more.... LOL :-D)

~Sheena,

Cooking is truly fun! =)

I am very passionate about food and herbs. I love trying out new dishes, different aroma and herbs.

I have been cooking lately and it's really fun!  It's also quite theapeutic? :-).

~Mainting Health in Proportion~

I am totally hooked to the food channel and trying to find a few great healthier choice of recipes. I love eating and trying out different dishes, who doesn't? But the reason I mention Healthier choice of recipes is because I have constantly been thinking about how we are living and mainly how we are benefiting from it. There are lots of people who eat un-healthy and also over-eat. It frustrates me so I wanted to share some of the facts that I have reading on and listening to. As much as I love to help people, I also love to empower people.

I truly don't believe in dieting. Dieting generally leads to self-hatred making you feel crazy about yourself. There has also been a study that most people don't actually follow their diet scheme. Why I also don't quite believe in diet is mainly because after the diet, people go back to their un-healthy life-style. What's the point then? Its better to just keep eating healthy but in moderate proportion and not over-eat.

It is not that food is a struggle but it's your weight that is really the invitation to Your Best Life. This is absolutely true. At many times, when we feel low, depressed, lonely, over-whelmed and bored, we often reach out to food when really the problem is not the food but with what we are going through. This entirely points out that obsession is a way that most of us break our own hearts over and over again. It is better to deal with whatever needs to be dealt with in that moment than to eat and fall apart further than what we're feeling. Even when you are eating. you constantly feel miserable, right? :-). FOOD JUST DOUBLES THE PAIN.

The relationship with food and the relationship with whatever is going on in one's life, the goodness that one feels and the alignment that one feels when things are working well with thyself is on the direct proportion to how close one is to that which we call "God". The issue isn't about the food but the disconnection one feels from which we call "God". 

"We turn to food when we are not hungry because we are hungry for something we cannot name. A connection to what is beyond the concern of daily life; something sacred but replacing the hunger  for divine connection with "doubled stuffed oreos" is like giving a glass of sand to a person whose dying of thirst and that is what everyone is continuously doing. We are trying to feed ourselves with which we cannot fill us. Obsession gives a plane ticket out of a particular kind of heart-break one has encountered" - Geneen Roth.

Some people feel if s/he doesn't do what pleases the other person then somehow the other person has the power to alienate you. It's not just punishment but it makes you feel utterly destroyed.

Some of the profound ways to best keep healthy is to really: exercise regularly, meditate, find inspiration in good books, go for retreats, and really just stay focused on eating healthy and maintain a well balanced diet with no restrains but enjoyment in proportion.

- Eat when you're Hungry

- Eat sitting in a calm environment

- Eat without distraction.

- Eat what your body can allow.

- Eat until you're satisfied.

- Eat with the intention of being in full view of others.

-Eat with enjoyment and pleasure.

Lets start from now!

- over and out....

~Sheena.