I’m an artist living with schizophrenia. I’ve been open about my illness since it began. I’ve painted my hallucinations, spoken on panels and with the press. Since I gravitate to drawing my experiences, the progression to creating a graphic novel felt natural to me. Still, for many writers with disabilities, the process of adding illustrations to prose could feel like a daunting task. While putting a graphic novel together takes time and dedication, with a little planning, it can be done. Here are a few tips to consider if you are contemplating this form of storytelling.

Tip 1: Get feedback

I talked about my illness for years before I wrote any of it down — like beta testing, one could say. I’m also queer, and sharing about life with schizophrenia was a lot like coming out of the closet. Once out, I was out. Then I started putting it to page. 

I shared my graphic novel idea with friends. They loved it. Friends always do, it seems. Positive feedback is important. It keeps me going. While I know that my friends are biased, I pay careful attention to what they understood, and learn from their reactions.

Tip 2: Set boundaries

You must ask yourself, what am I comfortable revealing? A lot of disabilities are more visible than mental illness, but not everything is easy to write about. Like any memoir writer, you need to decide what you want to put out for the world to see.

Tip 3: Fine tune your sketches

While I’ve told my stories many times, writing them out wasn’t easy. I’m a visual person, so I tried to first draw the whole thing. It didn’t work. I had to adjust the form I wanted my story to live in. I developed the style of pictures and how they reflect my words. If you’re not comfortable with drawing, this is the point when you would look for an illustrator. You would look for someone whose style of drawing fits the personality of your story.

Tip 4: Finance your graphic memoir project

I wrote a grant proposal. This forced me to clarify my story idea. It also pushed me to create an outline and to build a process, and my process was bullet points and lists. I made a list of what happens in the chapters. Sounds easy, huh? I’m tricking you. It’s not. But it was the easiest way for me to move forward with my project. This is where I tried to figure out the story’s arc, the beginning, conflict, climax and resolution.

I know this process seems obvious. Yet it was the grant application that got me to focus. I needed to know what I was going to draw before drawing it, and the questions got me to follow a path. As I got organized, I found that it’s easier to backspace on a computer than ink on paper. Even drawing digitally, I suggest writing first. Initially, my writing looked more like a sloppy script than a polished manuscript, but it was for my eyes only. My first draft had ten chapters. My sixth draft had seventeen.

Tip 5: Find a mentor

The grant allowed me to work with a mentor. Our first meeting, he asked me to explain my story. I did, yet he had no idea what I was talking about. I had to develop a pitch that summarized my graphic novel in no more than three sentences.

Here’s what I came up with for my graphic novel: Crazy Like a Fox: Adventures in Schizophrenia is about a fox trying to survive their first year with the diagnosis. I pull from my experience of symptoms, visiting hospitals, being betrayed, and becoming homeless. I use humor to approach a difficult subject.

While finding a mentor isn’t easy, another option is to have a more seasoned graphic novelist available to run questions by. In some cases, this may have to be a consultant you hire.

Tip 6: Create a drawing schedule

This is tedious, but my favorite part. Having a regular time to work on my drawings helped me to dive deep into the project. It made it possible to build relationships with my characters.  For instance, my protagonist is named Fox. The doctors are drawn as sock puppets. Fox’s nemesis is a dodo bird. I chose to draw creatures and not people because it added a comedic element, it’s fun and it fit the story. This process also helped me realize that words should not describe what happens in the pictures. They need to add something that’s otherwise missing.

Tip 7: Edit your work

I had written the screenplay, had hired the actors, now it was time to direct! Look at your panels and think of different camera angles. See? I told you it’s not easy. Every page and every panel within the page is a composition. When I edit my drawings, I take into account how things are arranged on the page. People read pictures left to right, top to bottom. People pay attention to the words more than the pictures. So be sure your word bubbles are placed so it’s easy to tell in which order to read them. I learned to have consistent handwriting. I wrote every letter in uppercase except the letter “g” because I don’t like the way capital “G” looked. Some computer programs allow you to type the text, I didn’t go high-tech.

Tip 8: Put together a review team

I got a second, third and fourth opinion. I had friends read my thumbnails. I joked that I was writing a book by committee. That’s not accurate. I love show and tell. I love hearing the LOLs. I know I’m doing something right.

This part of the process helped a lot with my first draft. It made me realize that my drawing and storytelling style had changed since I started the project.  For example, there were characters that deserved some background information, like why is Fox’s nemesis so mean? I had to rewrite and redraw to make the book more cohesive. So, yes, I sat down and drew the whole thing over with changes — one page at a time.

The bottom line

Putting together a graphic novel or memoir takes a lot of time and dedication. And in closing, I encourage anyone attempting this storytelling form to not look at the first draft as the final one. I learned that from all the writers I’ve known over all the years. It’s like painting in layers. It takes patience but in the end, you’ll have something beautiful to share with the world.

Christi Furnas is a queer cartoonist, illustrator, oil painter, and disability advocate living with schizophrenia. She has exhibited in galleries across Minnesota and in New York. Her mini-comic Crazy Like a Fox: Adventures in Schizophreniahas sold locally, nationally and internationally. She currently lives and creates in Minneapolis with her wife, two cats and dog. You can learn more about Christi’s work at www.christifurnas.com.

The post 8 Tips to Writing a Disability Graphic Novel appeared first on Oleb Books.

Finally! After investing blood, sweat and a sea of tears, you have completed your manuscript. You spent untold hours painstakingly editing and proofreading it, and it feels as if your brain will simply ooze out of your ear in a gelatinous mass if you give it even one more cursory look.

What is the next step on your path to publication? How do you woo that ideal agent or perfect publisher? In your mind’s eye, you can practically picture them: sitting back and reading your work with a satisfied smile. Their hands fly over the keys, they are so eager to request your manuscript. But how do you actually achieve this writer’s nirvana?

Enter the query letter. What is a query? It is an absolutely imperative part of the whole matchmaking process with that publishing professional. Think of it as the first impression on a blind date. It is the letter that will convey you and, most critically, your work, in a purely positive way.  The goal, of course, is to seduce them into wanting to read your manuscript. This can be an intimidating step, especially for debut authors. What should one include? Below are three query letter tips to getting your work off your hard drive and into hard cover.

Tip 1: Do your research

Make sure the publisher or literary agent you are querying is the right one for you. For example, do not send your brilliant memoir featuring an expertly crafted protagonist to an agent who only represents sci-fi. Thoroughly evaluate the website as well as the social media sites of the agent or publisher. What are their submission guidelines? Know and follow them.

When reading the bios of agents or publisher information, pay attention to details. Is the agent you are querying from Florida and your novel is set in the Everglades? This is the place to mention it. Do they represent any of your favorite authors? Bring it up. Weave your words to create commonalities and honor the human on the other side of the keyboard.

It might seem efficient to create a template and simply change out the names. This is a rookie move and will most likely result in an automatic rejection. Pay close attention to the spelling of names, titles, etc. before hitting the send button.

Tip 2: Pique their interest

Provide a succinct summary. Look to the back covers of some of your favorite books for examples on how to create a compelling synopsis. This can be extremely tricky as you want to be brief but also leave them with enough of your story to be thirsty for more. The person receiving your message is likely swamped with emails.  But how do you shine in the slush pile you wonder? Convey the tone and style of your work in your query. For example, does your work sparkle with wit and attitude? Infuse that in your letter.  Include the manuscript basics: What is the genre of your work? Title? Word count? This needs to be one clear sentence.

Tip 3: Always include an author bio

This is the place to include any relevant information on writing credentials. Sometimes these experiences come in many forms. What makes you uniquely qualified to tell your story? For example, perhaps your manuscript features a protagonist with a disability and you have lived experience with the same condition. This counts as a qualification. You are a subject matter expert in this arena, and the ideal person to tell the story.

If you have not taken writing workshops, been published, earned an MFA or won writing awards, do not despair! The publishing world needs all voices. You can discuss your writing style, and other books you have read that are comparable to your manuscript. There is a place for you. Just remember to be persistent, polite and professional.

Perhaps your work is not a match for the subject of your literary affection at this point, but it is a small world and you never know who knows whom or when you will interact again in the future. Do not be disheartened by rejection or by unanswered emails. Keep calibrating your approach, but do not expect an agent or publisher to give you feedback on your query or manuscript. This is not their role. Keep at it and stay organized. It only takes one match to result in your work going from computer to copies.

The bottom line

Query writing is not for the faint of heart, but neither is the writing life in general. Now, put on your detective hat and start perusing those agent profiles. You will be hot on their trail in no time. Who knows? Maybe they will be bragging about the new author discovered in their inbox at their next event!

The post 3 Query Letter Tips for Writers with Disabilities appeared first on Oleb Books.

Today on The D Lit Blog, we’re posting an excerpt from author Anne E. Beall, PhD’s book Heroic, Helpful and Caring Cats: Felines Who Make a Difference.   

Book excerpt

In order to understand the role that cats play in Americans’ lives, we conducted a survey of a representative sample of the U.S. population. We surveyed 1,507 people who have lived with a cat, either currently or as an adult. We asked them to tell us about the favorite cats in their lives and what they felt about each one. We also asked about their attitudes toward stray and feral cats.

My firm, Beall Research, conducts qualitative and quantitative research for Fortune 500 companies. We conduct surveys on a variety of topics, although not usually on cats. Below are the findings from this study.

Cats in the Home

Among adults who have lived with a cat, more than three-fifths of them currently have a cat and over half have a dog. Other pets, such as ferrets, mice, birds, and rabbits, are rarer. Approximately 8 in 10 respondents currently live with 1-2 cats in their household. Over half (55%) of respondents have had 1-2 cats as an adult and the remainder have had 3 or more cats during their adult years.

Communication and Intelligence

We asked survey respondents to tell us about one to three favorite cats they’ve had as an adult. Approximately 60% of the cats that respondents described were currently living with them at the time of the survey. There were 1,507 respondents who answered questions about 3,169 cats. Thus, we were able to understand over 3,000 cats and over 3,000 cat-human relationships. We asked several questions about each cat: how close the person felt to each feline, how much communication occurred, and in what ways the cat and the person had helped one another.

The first question we asked was how intelligent each cat is compared to other animals. Two-thirds of these cats are perceived to be extremely intelligent compared to other animals. We then asked how intelligent the cat is compared to humans, and one- third of these favorite cats were believed to be extremely intelligent relative to people. We also asked how much communication occurs between the caretaker and the cat, and we learned that over half (59%) of these relationships have a tremendous amount of communication. Only 4% have no communication.

When asked how well the cats read their caretaker’s feelings and preferences, over half of these cats appear to read the person extremely well. This finding is not in line with stereotypes of cats as aloof and disinterested. Only 4% of cats did not read their caretaker well at all. Given that communication is a two-way street, we inquired how well the caretaker reads the feelings and preferences of the cat. Apparently, it’s similar to how well the cat reads the person.

We found that in general the amount of communication between the caretaker and cat was highly correlated with how well the cat and person read one another, as well as the level of closeness with the cat. Thus, both talking to your cat and listening to their communications leads to greater closeness and a greater ability to read the feline.

Relationship and Helping

We then asked how close the person feels to each cat. Given the amount of communication that occurs between cats and caretakers, it’s not surprising that over three-quarters (77%) feel extremely close to the cat.

We were curious how people help their cats, so we provided a list of common ways that people assist cats and asked if they had helped their cat in any of these ways. Interestingly, playing with the cat and providing them with companionship and comfort were among the top ways that the person helped a cat. These responses suggest that the human-cat bond is strong, and that people are doing things they feel their cat appreciates.

We also asked how the cat had helped them and the most common response was that the cat made the person happy. Other popular responses were that the cat provided companionship, loved their caretaker unconditionally, was a friend, or was someone whom they could cuddle or hug. Although cats are often stereotyped as being aloof, it’s clear they’re not.

Anne E. Beall, PhD is the CEO and Founder of Beall Research, Inc, a consulting firm that uses data and research to discover trends and create solutions for Fortune 500 companies. Author of Cinderella Did Not Live Happily Ever After and 6 other books on fairy tales, gender dynamics, human-animal relations, and market research, Anne previously worked for the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and National Analysts. She received her MS, MPhil, and PhD from Yale University. A lover of cats, storytelling, and running, Anne lives in Chicago.

The post Book Excerpt: Heroic, Helpful and Caring Cats: Felines Who Make a Difference appeared first on Oleb Books.

Below is an excerpt from author Linda Olson’s book Transform Your Story: Letting Go of the Past When It Won’t Let Go of You.

About Author Linda Olson

Linda Olson is a go-to story expert who helps authors, speakers and entrepreneurs  to transform lives with their story. She is a TEDx Speaker,  a multiple bestselling author, and founder of Wealth Through Stories. Her mission is: to impact a million people a year through story.

Transform Your Story is her story from tragedy to triumphant, as she walks through the pain of being responsible for the death of her little brother only to discover a life she never knew was possible.

Transform Your Story: An Excerpt

Mom, standing in the entryway of our 1959 farmhouse, her breakfast apron speckled with bread crumbs from making our sandwiches, waved as we boarded the bus.  “Don’t forget! As soon as you come home from school, change your clothes and help with the potatoes.”  Her shouts barely reached our ears before the bus door unfolded to close out the crisp morning chill.

Fall harvest was in full swing.  Our family of seven knew firsthand about “if you don’t work, you don’t eat” and we didn’t complain.  Cracking open a steaming baked potato in the dead of winter was reward enough for our labors.

I thought of the school I had attended last year.  The imitation red-brick building had sheltered my father while he mastered his sums and learned the alphabet. For eight years, in the same one-room schoolhouse, I had recited poetry and drawn maps of foreign countries, happily studying with thirty other children who lived in our small Canadian community.  The hardwood desks, arranged by grade, were the academic nests of friends and family.

Now the country schools had consolidated, and students rode a bus into town to gain the benefits of more formal education. Although I could hardly complain about getting a ride—trudging through fifteen inches of snow for three-quarters of a mile in forty-degree-below-zero weather was not my idea of fun—getting up before dawn to ride the bus an hour every morning meant an hour’s ride every night only to arrive home at twilight.

Now those days were behind me, and I was growing up—much faster than I wanted, to be sure.  Meager attempts at finding my identity blurred among seventy-five freshmen classmates.  Our high school student body topped out at two hundred fifty pupils—hardly the cozy, intimate circle of friends that I had hoped would welcome a local farm girl.

After the day’s lessons and the long ride home, I hopped down the steps of the bus and lugged my book bag to my bedroom.  I changed clothes—work in the garden required well-worn denim jeans and a hand-me-down loose, long-sleeved cotton shirt—and stopped in the kitchen to quickly make a peanut butter-and-jelly sandwich.  Tossing the dirty knife into the dishpan, I hurried to the garden to join the others.

Taking a bite of my sandwich, I pushed open the front screen door with my foot and saw that Mom had recruited some extra help for the day’s task.  Grandma, on crutches but eager to help, and Grandpa Warkentin along with Aunt Laurie nodded their greetings. Three-year-old Karen, Aunt Laurie’s older daughter, played with my little brother. Billy was two years old and melted everyone’s heart with his bib overalls, bare feet, and winsome smile.  He tagged along everywhere, always wanting to be part of the action.  Today that action would include burrowing beneath the wilted potato leaves in our Manitoban soil to dig out the Red Russet and Golden Yukon potatoes which would be stored in the basement for the winter.

Mom looked out across the front field, her hand shielding her eyes from the late afternoon sun. She spoke quietly, within earshot of Grandpa. “Last year we took so many trips with the pails; today we’ll use the front-loader to bring the potatoes right up to the front step, as close as we can get to the house.”

Grandpa nodded, and Mom glanced my way.  She must have seen the question in my eyes.  My ears had perked up at the overheard suggestion and I was mutely anticipating her next words.  Remembering how my arms had ached last year after hauling two five-gallon pails full of potatoes for hours, I would dearly love to avoid the myriad trips from the garden to the basement in the late-September heat.

“Would you like to drive, Linda?”

I broke into a smile.  At only fourteen, I was already an old hand at driving the Cockshutt 35 tractor. Taking a turn driving large farm equipment was a common responsibility for most teenagers in the area, bridging the gap between childhood chores and essential farming tasks on the family homestead.

Mom continued her instructions.  “We’ll pile the potatoes in the front-end loader. When it’s full, Linda, drive it to the front of the house.  Then we’ll unload it with the pails and carry the potatoes to the basement.”

She didn’t need to repeat her words.  I nodded my obedience and quickly ran to climb the thirty-four-inch tire, boosting myself into the red metal seat.  I could already taste the dust flying in the autumn air, envisioning the tractor bouncing its way along the well-worn path to the house.

*****

I parked the tractor near the garden where I joined Grandpa, Mom, Violet, and Vera. We emptied pail after pail of potatoes into the bucket of the front-end loader until it could hold no more without spilling. Now it was time to head back to the house. Hopping once again into the metal seat, I positioned myself behind the wheel and turned the key. I peered over the top of the faded yellow tractor and, carefully shifting into reverse, backed the vehicle away from the garden, turning the steering wheel to change directions. Next I shifted into drive and steered the 5,000 pound tractor toward the doorway of our pink stucco farmhouse. Billy and Karen played on the front step, watching my approach.

I neared the house and released the hand throttle, one foot on the clutch and the other on the brake. This was so much easier than toting heavy pails, I thought. We’ll be finished in no time. I pressed the brake, anticipating the deceleration of the Cockshutt.

It didn’t happen.

The tractor didn’t slow, didn’t obey my command to slow its pace.

I gripped the steering wheel for leverage and pressed harder on the brake. The huge machine refused to slow. Alarmed, I realized the house was rushing up too quickly.  I gathered all my strength, slid off the seat to a standing position and, with all my weight, jammed my foot on the brake, pumping up and down, up and down, demanding that the wheels stop their turning.

No response.

Bewildered and confused, I sensed the betrayal of the machine beneath me, rejecting my efforts to bring it under control. Quickly it was swallowing the distance to the house.  I locked eyes with Mom, silently pleading for split-second direction; all I saw was my own panic reflected in her eyes.  I screamed the only explanation I knew.

“I can’t stop the tractor!”

Learn More About Linda Olson

For a snapshot of my bigger story, I encourage you to listen to my TEDx talk, Your Story Is Gold. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skMnvS48MsY

What does a young person do when she is derailed from her expectations of the future? What happens when life one moment is benevolent and sweet and the next moment darker than even the most unimaginable nightmare? 

My walk of horrific pain and guilt ultimately led me to enjoy a life I never knew was possible. Over many years and a deep faith in God, I found strength and courage to face every challenge, every fear, every frustration that stood in my way.

Transform Your Story is the story of my life, from tragedy to triumphant as I learned the power of self-forgiveness. As you read my story I would like you to focus on, if you wrote your story, what would you like to share that could impact others? You may ask, “Me? There is nothing unique or different about my story.” Whether you believe it or not, you have a story you need to tell. There is no one in the whole world that has a story just like yours … and others are waiting to hear it. Story writing is NOT about perfecting your writing, it’s about sharing a message to transform lives. At the back of the book I have offered some great tools that can help you get started with your story.

Picasso says, “The meaning of life is to share your gift (that’s your story). The purpose of life is to give it away.”

Grab a copy of Transform Your Story: Letting Go of the Past When It Won’t Let Go of You on Amazon now!

The post Transform Your Story with Author Linda Olson appeared first on Oleb Books.

I didn’t know my son Sebastian until he was 15. That was the year we had our first real Mother’s Day celebration. We lived in the same house together for 15 years, so don’t misunderstand. I gave birth to him. I changed his diapers and taught him to ride a bicycle.

I was a stay-at-home mom, and he was my only child, but I didn’t know him. We spent hours together every day playing and doing crafts together. He painted the most extraordinary pictures, even as a toddler. His existence filled my imagination from the moment that I looked at the faint blue positive mark on the pregnancy test, but I still didn’t know him until he was a sophomore in high school.

Now Sebastian is 18, and every time he hugs me I can still feel the shell of his tiny newborn ear against my lips and his infant body in the nook of my shoulder where his chest meets mine. I always inhale, trying to recapture that baby smell and the tickle of almost invisible hair on my lips. His hair is now thick and smooth, not the dandelion fuzz of pale blonde.

He still hugs me every night before I go up to bed. Even after everything, especially after everything, Sebastian tells me that he loves me. Now taller than me, when his long arms reach around my shoulders and he leans in for the hug, I can still feel his little sneakers banging my hips and his little toddler arms hugging my neck. I smell the ghost of Cheerios past every time. I hear his child’s voice whispering,”You are the best mom in the world.”

In the car when we talk about the things we’ve been through together, about how I finally came to know him when he was 15, I reach my hand out to him. Sebastian’s cool, long-fingered artist’s hand lands in mine, squeezing. In his gentle adult grasp, I feel the ghostly hand of a child in mine, much smaller.

I cherished every sweet moment with him. Every hug, every smile, every game of hide and seek. I rocked him to sleep each night when he was little. We read aloud together until he was 12. He still hates Les Miserables. Tolkein was more his thing, with the dragons, wizards and the magic ring that makes you invisible, but also drains your soul.

What magic ring did Sebastian have that cast its spell so thoroughly over him, that it silently saved him while killing his soul? Surely it was not the cloak of invisibility that he wore all through his childhood as he zoomed through my house waving his wand. He was Darry, King of the Fairies and Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts. He cast his charm all over so thoroughly that I didn’t see him. I couldn’t see him.

Nobody saw him. You see, Sebastian is the only person in the world known to see with words like a dolphin sees with sound. His blindness is an invisible disability. He has always slipped through our sighted world with what appeared to be the same ease as a spinner dolphin flying through the air.

I remember his eyes, so bright blue and filled with pain as we both sobbed on the kitchen floor. It was January of 2017 and we had just discovered that 15-year-old Sebastian couldn’t recognize his own face and had taught himself to navigate our own home by counting his steps and turns. I had to tell him that he’d been born blind, not understanding how it was possible myself.

Now I am privileged to see the man who walks through this world with dignity and grace. His dry, laconic humor cracks me up, and his striking art inspires me. With his help and support, I am fighting to end the discrimination against the millions of people who have cerebral/cortical visual impairment. CVI was identified as the number one cause of visual impairment in the developed world more than 10 years ago and still doesn’t have a diagnostic code. On Sunday, May 10, 2020, I will celebrate my fourth real Mother’s Day as Sebastian Duesing’s mom. I was always his mom. I just didn’t see him.

Order Stephanie Duesing’s book, Eyeless Mind: A Memoir About Seeing and Being Seen, on Amazon!

Stephanie Duesing is the author of Eyeless Mind: A Memoir About Seeing and Being Seen, a true story about the discovery of her son Sebastian’s almost total blindness at the age of fifteen.

Stephanie is devoted to raising awareness of Cerebral/Cortical-Visual Impairment (CVI) and advocating for patients with this prevalent but largely unacknowledged cause of visual impairment.  A music educator, Stephanie has taught elementary and middle school music and chorus, as well as private voice and piano. She also opened her own Musikgarten studio, where she taught classes for families with babies, toddlers and preschoolers. She’s a graduate of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and lives in the western suburbs of Chicago.

The post My Son Has an Invisible Disability. On Mother’s Day, I Celebrate Seeing Him. appeared first on Oleb Books.

You know drinking water is good for you, but there often comes a point where you want something more. You want color and additional flavors, as well as the possibility of making the water even healthier.

Infused water is the solution. Infused water is where you immerse vegetables, fruits and herbs in cold water for a period of time, infusing the goodness and flavors of the ingredients with the water itself.

Benefits of Infused Water

Infused water enhances the benefits of drinking water, and it makes water more interesting and enjoyable to drink. These health benefits include:

1. Improves digestive health – staying well hydrated is essential for good digestive health, particularly in relation to preventing constipation
2. Boost your immune system – the nutrients from the ingredients you include in your infused water can have a positive impact on your immune system
3. Help you lose weight – drinking water increases your metabolic rate and reduces your appetite, both of which can help you lose weight
4. Improves your energy and concentration – dehydration can have a significant impact on your levels of energy and your ability to concentrate, so drinking infused water will help you stay alert and focused

Tips When Making Infused Water

• It is usually best to make your infused water recipe in a jug that you can then enjoy throughout the day, although you can use a bottle or a large glass too
• Choose a clear container, as the ingredients look great inside the water when sitting on your table or countertop
• Add the ingredients to the jug or bottle before filling with cold water
• Cut up the ingredients into cubes or thin slices to infuse the flavors and nutrients faster
• Be patient – the longer you leave it before drinking, the better it will taste and the healthier it will be
• Some fruits, particularly citrus fruits, infuse quickly, while herbs and berries take longer
• Keep the jug or bottle in the fridge
• Once you have finished the water in the jug or bottle, refill it again to reuse the ingredients
• Mix it up with the ingredients and experiment

Get Started with These Health-Enhancing Water Recipes

The Immune Booster

The immune booster is ideal as a daily drink or if you are feeling a bit under the weather and need a boost. The ingredients taste great and they will infuse your body with immune-boosting nutrients.

Ingredients:

• Orange
• Raspberries
• Ginger

Remove the green leafy part of the raspberries as well as any stems and add a handful to the jug. Slice up the orange into thin slices, leaving the skin on. Then, add some slices of fresh ginger.

Vitamin C Booster

This recipe is packed with color, flavor and natural goodness with an emphasis on vitamin C.

Ingredients:

• Grapefruit
• Cucumber
• Lemon
• Lime
• Watermelon
• Mint

Cut the watermelon into small cubes and the cucumber, grapefruit, lemon and lime into thin slices. Add to your jug or bottle, fill with cold water, then add some fresh mint leaves.

Berry Buster

Berries are packed full of natural goodness and they are delicious, so this infused water recipe makes a fantastic healthy alternative to normal water.

Ingredients:

• Strawberries
• Blackberries
• Blueberries
• Raspberries
• Mint

Slice up the strawberries and add them to your jug or bottle. Add the other berries whole and fill the jug or bottle with cold water. Finally, add some fresh mint leaves.

Pre-order the author’s forthcoming book, Water Wellness, now. (No official publication date yet, expected late-summer 2020)

Kriss Smolka is the creator of the award-winning health & fitness app WaterMinder. WaterMinder was named Apple App Store Editor’s Choice in 2019 and has been featured by The New Yorker, Women’s Health, Glamour, Business Insider, BGR, Venture Beat, Apple, and more. Based on his own experience and extensive research, along with numerous real-life stories from those who have been affected by dehydration, Kriss started work on Water Wellness, a hydration book with the goal of educating everyone on the importance of staying hydrated. For more information visit: https://hydrationbook.com or find and follow the author on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

The post Infused Water Recipes for Enhanced Health appeared first on Oleb Books.

For several of us, we’ve finally gotten our wish to work from home. But it’s not for the reasons we had hoped. And, with the 24/7 news cycle focused on increasingly alarming news about the Coronavirus, we’re unable to focus on our work.

In these tumultuous times, we’re all trying to wrap our heads around what may be the worst pandemic to take place in our lifetimes. We just want the Coronavirus to be contained so we can go back to our lives before “social distancing” mandated these cautionary measures. Not only are we challenged to maintain six feet of distance from others, but we can’t shake hands, hug or even open doors or push buttons in elevators unless we’re wearing gloves or have our sanitizer handy.

With the rapid spread of this new virus that’s affecting millions of people worldwide, we feel everything from hysteria to anxiety to despondency. The fight-flight-freeze response has become our bodies’ reaction each time we listen to the news. We need to lighten the stress from living in this heightened state of fear. Practicing Mindfulness can provide the calming effect we’re in search of.

Mindfulness is the practice of being fully present and having an awareness of what we feel in the moment. This mental focus, instead of heightening our state of fear, can actually ameliorate it. Mindfulness enables us to work through it with a conscious awareness of how best to do that. We mindfully navigate through our fear in ways that can help us stay calm and centered.

Use these Mindfulness practices to help you through this unprecedented pandemic:

1. Acknowledge the disruption. Recognize that this is a difficult time.

2. Stay rooted in the present. Don’t get ahead of yourself and indulge in thoughts like, “The world is coming to an end” or “I’m going to get the virus.” Slow down those thoughts that project negatively into the future.

3. Take a hiatus from the news. The news and social media are filled with an endless chain of alarming stories and updates. Don’t let yourself binge watch. Limit yourself to watching the news once or twice a day. Otherwise, go about your normal routines.

4. Take a mental health break. Go out for a walk where you avoid being in close proximity to others. Or draw a warm bath and feel yourself relaxing. Give your mind a rest from all the thoughts and worries.

5. Center yourself through meditation. Meditating by focusing on your breath can be very centering. Another way is to silently repeat a mantra or sentence that’s positive and affirmative. You might say to yourself, “I’m healthy,” or “Let go.”

Try this guided meditation.

6. Wind down for the night. Many people are having difficulty sleeping during this troubling time. To help yourself prepare for rest, turn off the TV and put away your devices at least an hour before you go to bed. Listen to soothing music or read a book that will take your focus off of worrying.

The Coronavirus is very real and very frightening, but so are the thoughts we tell ourselves. Be aware of your internal monologue, and if it’s negative, try and make a concerted effort to switch to the positive.

As with all difficult times, this too shall pass.

Grab a copy of Ora Nadrich’s book, Live True: A Mindfulness Guide to Authenticity, on Amazon.

Ora Nadrich is founder and president of the Institute for Transformational Thinking and author of Live True: A Mindfulness Guide to Authenticity, named in the “100 Best Mindfulness Books of All Time” by BookAuthority. She is a certified life coach and mindfulness teacher, specializing in transformational thinking, self discovery and mentoring new coaches as they develop their careers. Contact her at theiftt.org.

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