WATER PLUS+

recently i started drinking lemon water and find it is best as soon as you wake up in the morning. this is something i have known about but never made it a daily habit of drinking. until now!

my mom was drinking some recently (i get all my health boosting ideas from her...i swear) and i thought why not add some chia seeds and voila! superr energy drink that is a killer immune system fighter. 

then after looking it up randomly i found out it is actually a very popular drink in mexico and latin america...so my creation is nothing new!

it is fascinating to me that my serbian mother knew that drinking lemon water is good for you when you're sick just like people in latin america.this kind of stuff is what i love researching and putting on my blog and not forgetting. i am a firm believer that health and good living is something simple and doesn't require expensive products and supplements.

i still drink warm chamomile or rosehip tea with lemon juice when i'm sick with a cold or sore throat because that's what my mom has always given me since i was little. followed by her very best homemade vegetable soup (absolutely divine), lot's of warm blankets and good sleep.

so take this simple recipe:

• 1-2 tablespoon chia seeds
• 2 cups water
• half a lemon
• 1 tablespoon sweetener agave or maple syrup [optional]

how to:

1. combine the water and chia seeds; stir and let it sit for about 10 minutes
2.  add in your squeezed lemon juice and sweetener if you choose
3. gulp it down!

++ the chia seeds will form a gel consistency almost like bubble tea feels when you eat it except much smaller and actually contains some wonderful nutrients!

i highly recommend you get yourself a bag of chia seeds. they are very beneficial and i'm just now running low on my first bag so a little goes a long way for sure. you can put them in any drink, smoothie, pudding, yogurt, salad, or in baked goods.

these seeds are nothing new and in fact were a staple food for the aztecs and mayans (look it up!) they knew it had energy boosting abilities and it's name means "strength", highly appropriate.

benefits of chia seeds

• high in protein, amino acids, antioxidants
• gluten and dairy free; vegan
• high in calcium (more than milk!), fiber, omega 3 fatty acids (more than salmon)
• high in iron, potassium, magnesium
• help with lowering depression and cholesterol
• help with weight loss; the gel seeds mixed with water will make you feel fuller longer
• no flavor; you can mix it in with anything

next time you're packing your water bottle or getting a drink add some of these seeds before you go! and when people think you're eating little critters tell them the benefits of chia seeds ;)

the fourth

 i spent a couple of days for the fourth of july in pelican rapids.

i will always be a fan of all bodies of water, so inviting! their presence is almost sedative; the waves rippling and never still. it is beautiful any time of the day. i swim to be a part of it. i enjoyed it so much at the lake for so many reasons. it felt wonderful to cool off, to exhaust every muscle and breath, and calm my body after such physical exertion; it washes me clean.

water: always fair, it never discriminates yet it shows no mercy. indifferent, reflective, mysterious and constant. it makes me miss isle royal and my trip too long ago. i need my daily future to involve bodies of water. i love them for being alive. it tells me something exists beside me.

i filled my fourth of july doing what i love the most; finishing my novel the tree of red stars, cooking for friends, sitting around the fire, and forgetting about time. i felt like i was in limbo and every day was blurred into one giant weekend. i did not think much farther than the day. it was wonderful. how rare it is to have the luxury to live in the present.

 i loved playing in the water, sunbathing until i'd sweat, feeling the coat of salt on my sun kissed skin, my wavy and unruly hair, and the exhaustion at the end of a long and playful day that put me in a sweet and swift slumber. i dreamed good dreams; no nightmares, no worries.



++

i cannot talk about the wonders of water without quoting kate chopin's- the awakening

the voice of the sea is seductive; never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander for a spell in abysses of solitude; to lose itself in mazes of inward contemplation. the voice of the sea speaks to the soul. the touch of the sea is sensuous, enfolding the body in its soft, close embrace.

water is infinite.
++