Wake up green friends! It’s the largest all-cash takeover recorded in history. It’s also the most DANGEROUS combination to ever happen in the world agriculture industry. Monsanto has agreed to be bought by Bayer AG for $66 billion. “A successful merger would create the world’s largest agrichemical firm, which will control more than one-fourth of the combined global market for seeds and pesticides.” (Eco watch reports).
In Ghana, we are still making noise about Monsanto. This takeover hasn’t even been whispered close to our ears and I am sure there are many “good” reasons. First of all, we have been able to resist a complete Monsanto takeover. Aside from its already poor image, the “cropenstein” corporation is facing lawsuits and strong opposition by organic organizations, food sovereignty organizations, eco friendly lobbyists and the like. Sources have recorded that Monsanto officials admitted that this poor image and list of problems played a part in them agreeing to be taken over. If this merger is completed, obviously the name will change and it will become a “new” company with new opportunities for world seed domination! Ghana has done well to limit Monsanto’s power in Ghana (although I just heard they are operating under the name ROUNDUP and selling to large numbers of Ghanaian farmers). So now what? Are we going to dress the donkey and parade it as a new horse? Apparently the Bayer -Monsanto deal is not completely closed yet as they will need the approval of about 50 regulatory bodies. It is however reported that there is a 70% probability that the merger will be completed.
Before I go let me give you a quick background on Bayer – Europe’s largest chemical company known to have been the first to manufacture chemical weapons. These chemicals were used to fuel wars in the Democratic Republic of Congo where millions were wiped out. There was also the Vietnam War. Dr. Vandana Shiva wrote – “MoBay supplied ingredients for Agent Orange in the Vietnam War. Around 20 million gallons of MoBay defoliants and herbicides were sprayed over South Vietnam. Children are still being born with birth defects, adults have chronic illnesses and cancers, due to their exposure to MoBay’s chemicals,” she wrote. “Monsanto and Bayer’s cross-licensed Agent Orange resistance has also been cross-developed for decades. Wars were fought, lives lost, nations carved into holy lands — with artificial boundaries that suit colonization and resource grab—while Bayer and Monsanto sold chemicals as bombs and poisons and their brothers provided the loans to buy those bombs.”
It is beyond obvious that the Bayer – Monsanto merger will create the greatest chemical monster our world has ever seen. It’s time to stand up for ourselves and future generations.I am encouraging all my friends and followers to start saving organic seeds and start a garden at home! Eat well and live strong my friends! Much love to all Ghanaian farmers who are holding on to their organic seed traditions. May you be blessed. Let us be well informed and rise up for our agricultural freedom. Say NO to GMOs!!
I found out about oil pulling in 2012 when I was looking for ways to detox and have a healthier body. “Oil pulling” has been practiced in Ayurvedic medicine for centuries and is known to have helped many improve their general health and also to fight different illnesses including Diabetes, Arthritis, blood pressure problems and even cancer. The method simply involves putting about a tablespoon of recommended oil in your mouth, swishing it around, and performing a sort of “pulling action” around the salivary glands. If done properly and consistently, this practice could change your life!
Traditionally, sesame seed oil and olive oil were used; and in recent times it has been found that sunflower oil and coconut oil are also highly beneficial for this practice. I use coconut oil and this is my story.
I was sick. I was stressed. I had been married 3 years without getting pregnant and at the same time I was struggling to start a business. One day I felt so sick, I decided to look into some kind of detox. I’m a natural lifestyle person and prefer earth remedies to anything else so I turned to a holistic group I had joined to ask for answers. I had already started “garlic therapy” which I will talk about in another post. Then someone suggested that I check out the group on oil pulling. The testimonials were amazing and I was ready to try anything at that point to make myself feel better. Apparently all I had to do was put a tablespoon of oil in my mouth and keep it in there. No gargling, no swallowing, just swishing the oil around in my mouth preferably with my head tilted backwards so that the oil could move to the back of my mouth where the salivary glands are located. I needed to time myself for a minimum of 10 minutes and a maximum of 20. I needed to swish the oil and sort of “pull” with my salivary glands until the oil became watery and foamy then spit it out. The first day I tried with just a teaspoon of the coconut oil. After 5 minutes I felt like I wanted to vomit. Phlegm was building up in the back of my nasal passage and I could feel it trickle down my throat. I wasn’t used to that feeling and spat the oil out after 6 minutes or so. Note: if you try this, do not spit the used oil into your sink as it will have lots of toxins that you don’t need in your environment. Use the toilet and clean it well afterwards or better still do it outside. Anyway so I tried again the next day and this time I was able to do it for 10 minutes. I was amazed at all the phlegm and stuff that came out that day (Too much info but trust me you need to know). From that day on I oil pulled every morning with amazing results. I was now pulling for 15 to 20 minutes every day. It is recommended not to pull longer than 20 minutes as the toxins may now have saturated the oil and will start to burn the inside of your mouth. I experienced this once. There are a few other amazing observations I’d like to mention here.
I have a large garden space so I chose a small corner at the back where I would keep spitting my used oil. After about 3 weeks I noticed the grass at that spot had all died. Amidst a large green area, that spot had now turned brown. This made me understand how strongly toxic the used oil had become. I tried spitting the used oil in the toilet and just flushed without extra cleaning. After 3 days I noticed a dark substance forming inside the toilet. This is why I emphasise cleaning after yourself very well. You may need some lemon, vinegar and maybe a little bleach in the toilet to clean out the toxins.
For the first 2 weeks my life was a living hell. Everything hurt! I was tired and very grumpy. I had read about one feeling worse before getting better during a detox but this was pure agony. I stuck with it. I realized my food cravings were not as strong as they used to be. I was able to eliminate white bread, white rice, meat and various processed foods from my diet. 8 months down the line and I was feeling fabulous. I had lost 15 pounds and my aches and pains were gone. My dental health had improved tremendously and I had put this whole “you’re not having a baby” drama to the side. And if you’re an African or have lived in Africa you know the pressure that comes with being married even 1 year without having a baby (I have a whole other blog post on this one! 🙂
About a year after beating PCOS and borderline diabetes through natural lifestyle and oil pulling everyday, I had lost a lot of weight and found out I was pregnant at 33. I continued oil pulling throughout my pregnancy and had the most amazing pregnancy ever. I went on to have another amazing pregnancy and my second child at age 35. Not to mention my gums were turning from a darker shade to a beautiful bright pink. Try using coconut oil and baking soda as a toothpaste and teeth whitener. Just mix the baking soda and coconut oil to form a paste and use it to brush your teeth. I had fantastic results.
I recommend oil pulling to everyone! Remember to follow the rules in order to get the best results. Oil pulling must be done 8 hours after eating any food or an hour after drinking water therefore the best time to do this is first thing in the morning when you wake up. Here are a couple of guideline photos I found online if you’d like to give it a try. From my research, coconut oil seems to be the best oil to use in oil pulling.
Of the three types of oil tested, only coconut oil was shown to prevent Streptococcus mutans (an acid-producing bacterium that is a common inhabitant of the mouth and a major cause of tooth decay) from binding to teeth and damaging tooth enamel. Other oils you can try are sesame oil, olive oil, and sunflower oil. Best wishes and best of health to you!
Last week I gave myself an oil treatment for my hair. I pretty much soaked my hair in Madame Yasmeen’s hair oil for about 8 hours. After that I washed it with M.Y 100% #natural Baobab shampoo. Check out the morning after video on my youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/yasmeenthevoice ❤
Here I am after applying Madame Yasmeen’s hair butter and brushing thoroughly:
Using all natural and organic products for my hair and skin is one of the best decisions I ever made. My hair feels really great right now!
Photo courtesy: freerspirit.com
Everyone and every thing on earth and in the universe at large is made up of energy vibrating at different frequencies. It is mental energy that motivates and inspires us, it is emotional energy that affects our state of emotional wellness, and it is our physical energy that gets us moving, physically. I’m sure you have heard how mental, emotional, and physical energies tend to affect each other. They all need to be in harmony, vibrating on a high frequency, for one to experience total wellness and joy.
When you vibrate on a low frequency you identify with sad and negative things. Your body lacks energy and it is difficult to see things positively. When you vibrate on a high frequency you feel gratitude, joy, and complete wellness. You attract positive things and wonderful experiences through the laws of attraction. Giving out positive messages (vibes) returns those same sort of vibes back to you, and these positive vibes affect all areas of your life until it becomes truly magical.
As bearers of light and love, it was never intended that we should be vibrating at low frequencies which in turn lowers the vibration of the entire planet. It is important that we recognise the role we play as humans on earth. We have the power to raise our vibrational frequency and that of our entire planet. It begins with you.
So how does one go about raising one’s vibration? Here are a few tips.
1. THINK POSITIVE !
Become conscious of your thoughts at every moment and remove the negative ones. When negative thoughts cross your mind, try to turn them into positive thoughts. Repeat positive re-affirmations throughout your day e.g “today is going to be a highly productive day” , “I will succeed in everything I do”. When confronted with a problem or a negative, accept it, welcome it and then turn it into positive e.g “My first networking event wasn’t well attended this time. With a few positive changes and a better marketing approach it will surely be successful next time.”
2. GET RID OF FEAR
Fear is one of humanity’s greatest obstacles to peace of mind and pure joy. The spirit of fear destroys so many things and most of the time it distorts the natural flow of things. With our constantly changing faster paced world, there are many stressors that lead to worry and fear. Fear of poverty, fear of illness, fear of rejection, even fear of love! Perhaps because we are (again) afraid to get hurt. Sometimes we need to let ourselves go. We must make a conscious effort to release fear from our minds and hearts. We need to simply BE.
3. BE GRATEFUL
Gratitude is of a very high vibration. Being able to express gratitude takes one to a higher vibrational frequency. Give thanks for your life on earth every morning you wake up. Look for the blessings in your life and give thanks. Even if you do this five minutes of every day you will notice a great change on your energy field.
4. GIVE MORE
Abundance is associated with high energy vibration. If you give more you will recieve more. It doesn’t always have to be money. It could be your time and energy used to help someone or something on our planet. Giving selflessly is a sure way to raise your frequency.
5. MEDITATE
Take some time out of your day and dedicate it to meditation. Simply close your eyes and breathe deeply in and out. Pay attention to your breadth and allow yourself to “free your mind” of all thoughts especially the lower vibration thoughts. Use some of your meditation time to visualize positive and beautiful things that will in turn bring peace to your mind and joy to your heart. Through meditation one may even discover hidden spiritual talents! Don’t let these discoveries cause fear (as stated in point 2). Free your mind.
6. SPEND TIME WITH POSITIVE INFLUENCERS.
Such as a spiritual teacher, a like – minded friend who won’t judge you or your thoughts, a loving pet, even positive plants, flowers and trees in your garden. This may mean saying no to a toxic relationship. Spend time doing things you love and that bring you joy. It
could be art, craft, gardening, dancing, the list is endless. Engage yourself with people and things that bring you peace and happiness.
7. LISTEN TO GOOD MUSIC!
There is low vibration music and then there is music that takes one to the highest of vibrations. Choose carefully and wisely and feed your soul with music that uplifts your spirit. Dancing to happy music is a great way to raise your energy levels both physically and spiritually.
8. EAT A “HIGH VIBE” DIET
Everything we eat contributes to our energy field and either makes us slow or sluggish (lower vibration) or makes us light and full of energy. Raw foods are at the very top of the vibrational chart full of vitality and nutrition with the ability to heal. Eliminating processed foods, white flour, gluten, non organci meats, pesticides and chemicals from our diet promotes clarity of mind and spirit, giving high energy levels and optimum health. Many slaughter animals are multreated, fed chemicals and toxins therefore their meat is of a very low vibration full of hurt and sadness. By consuming these meats we transfer these low vibration energies unto ourselves. Eating a plant based diet is a great way to raise your vibration.
9. MAKE AN IMPACT ON ANOTHER
Together, we are one. By helping another to raise their vibration, we all rise. Be loving to another. Be helpful and caring not because you want anything in return but because you are giving selflessly and in the name of humanity. Your actions may change someone’s life and the gratitude they will have towards you will radiate and push your energy to an even higher frequency. Give and recieve.
10. CONSCIOUSLY LOOK FOR BEAUTY EVERYWHERE.
There is beauty everywhere. Even in the so called ugliest of things there is beauty to be found. From the moment you wake up until you go to bed, focus on what is beautiful around you. Zoom in on that flower blooming by the roadside. Enjoy the sight of that mother carrying her child. Appreciate someone’s handmade products and comment on how beautiful they are. Add some color to your wardrobe. Create your own beauty from within and let it spread out to surround you and to touch others.
It is that simple! Be happy! Enjoy yourself! Think positive and do right.
Being exposed to music so early in my life must have had a huge impact on my brain and level of creativity. I have always lived with this huge “bundle of talents” and although I’m sometimes a little quirky, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Having my children and being lucky enough to sometimes see through their eyes, I have come to understand the importance of early childhood development and the importance of music in this development. It is unfortunate that our system doesn’t take music more seriously or make it a more important part of our school curriculum. It not only develops creativity, discipline and spatial intelligence; early music development is also linked to better social development and is an amazing avenue for self expression. Music can help one through trauma and tragedy (I can testify to this). It inspires, uplifts, and heals the soul.
I have been inspired over and over again into going ahead with this journey into the world of teaching kids music. Just like my brother Waleed and I dreamt about all those years ago.
Summer vacation is about to start and I am excited!
Music workshops for children starts Wednesday 13th July at Kiddygram Montessori in North Dzorwulu for ages ONE YEAR AND UP. Children under 3 must be accompanied. During the summer vacation, workshops will be available Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 10am to 1pm and we will be covering areas such as Rhythm and percussion, Learning sounds, voice, and melody.
If you live in Accra and would like more information about my music workshops please email gogreenbutterfly@gmail.com or call 0247900791.
Heart of love to family and friends of Jehad Ashkar ❤ you just ran across my mind so I wrote this poem for you. Stay strong. ❤ ❤ ❤
Just over the rainbow
Somewhere around the corner
I am there.
Through whispers of love
And beautiful memories,
Through songs that
When played, remind you of me,
A word, a phrase
That I would have said,
A time, a place,
my voice in your head…
I am less than a millisecond away
Only in a different day.
Another place
Along the way
Never ever too far away.
Just call my name
And there I’d be.
I am SAFE in the
LOVE that you’ve given to me.
I am so grateful to everyone who came out to support me last Friday at the “Music Messenger” album release party. It had been raining but that didn’t stop us from having the time of our lives!
As I was born in the 80s, I decided to use a Vinyl and Cassette theme for the party.
The Vinyl backdrop we created gave a wow factor to our photo shoot and I can’t wait for all the lovely photos which I will be posting here as soon as I recieve them.
Performances were great! And I was so happy to present a new act to my audience and they loved him. His name is Ayisi Ican – a talented young man who reminds me of Wyclef when he does his vocal delivery.
Ayisi Ican (next to me on your left and my right) and his squad
We had a raffle draw and gave out some amazing prizes. Not to mention all the dancing in the rain. It was such an awesome experience. A happy night full of love.
Buy “Music Messenger” by Yasmeen on iTunes, Amazon and online music stores worldwide.
I know an evil little imp
she’s short and very small
she barks and hisses
she snarles and disses
she’s smart and very strong
but uses it for wrong.
She pinches kids, twists their ears
and taunts them very long.
I know an evil little imp
she used to knock my head.
She’d pinch and squeeze
and laugh and tease
she’d fuss and fight
then claim she’s right.
She’s here, she’s there she’s everywhere.
People have enabled her.
She thought she was the queen.
She thought that she was it.
but suddenly she’s realized
her throne is made of shit.
I left my smart phone at home and took my smart self to the funeral. No what’s app, no facebook, no instagram, none of that. I made myself PRESENT. I allowed myself to be immersed in the pain, and I committed my time and energy. Not phone battery energy, my real energy. Seeing so many people rush towards the casket with their phones, tablets and selfie sticks really got me thinking about how things have changed in my lifetime.
Thanks to the timely intervention of the funeral moderators, announcing the family’s request for no pictures or videos, there will be no photos of the corpse circulating on social media. Oh yes we do this in Africa. We go to funerals, take photos of “popular corpses”, then circulate them on social media to boost our website traffic, facebook and instagram likes, and twitter following. Of course, the extreme morbid curiosity we display in this part of the world ensures that it all works together perfectly. We are truly becoming disconnected from the HEART of humanity and moving into a very dangerous place. We need to check ourselves. Especially in the face of tragedy and a grieving family.
If there is any positive feedback I can give you about what happened today, it would be the wake up call. Once in a while we get that shocking wake up call that reminds us that tomorrow is not promised. Our lives hang in the balance of the universe on a thread that is thinner than that of a spider’s web. It is
so thin, it is invisible to the naked eye. At any moment that thread can snap. Then what? We have been reminded that material worth means nothing if you don’t have love. We have been reminded how FAITH plays a vital role in our lives here on earth as well as in times of transition. We have been reminded to count every blessing and to savour all the beautiful moments. Unless of course you were checking your phone or taking a selfie and you missed the moments that mattered. I didn’t leave my phone at home deliberately. When I got into the car to leave I realized I had left it but I said to myself “Oh what the heck, forget the phone.” And I’m glad I did.
You know that cousin who isn’t really your blood cousin but rather an “honorary cousin” or “cousin by merit”? It’s a really cool feature we had (and still have) , growing up in my amazingly unique country – Ghana. This country is having her challenges, but the social scope has always been beautiful. Growing up, in our social circles we were all “cousins”. If someone said to any of us , “who is this you are with?” We would say, “this is my cousin.” Yes. We felt that close and connected. Our parents (even if just friends), to us were nothing less than brothers or sisters so if you are not my brother or sister, then you must be my cousin! 🙂
I can’t even begin to list the names of all the people I have once called “cousin”. They are many and most of them know themselves because they see me as their cousin too. Whether we are apart for one day or ten years, reunions are always like we never left or parted ways. In the Western world, it is only the offspring of your aunt or uncle who qualifies to be called your cousin. But here in Ghana, we have various types of cousins. Blood cousin – second and third included. “Family friend cousin”. “Our parents are best buddies” cousin. And “I love you, I hang with you all the time, and you look like you could be my” cousin.
Jehad Ashkar (1981 - 2016)
Tomorrow I will be witnessing the burial of such a well known and celebrated cousin. There are many of us who have had very little sleep since the tragic
news broke a few days ago. Social media is still ablaze with thoughts and memories of Jehad. Anxiety presents itself as we prepare ourselves for tomorrow and the inevitable.
Yasmeen the voice 