A Note From The Universe - Starting Something

Source: Daily Emails from www.tut.com

Starting something, is the best way to finish something.

And just doing a teeny, tiny something, today, anything, from wherever you are, is the best way to start something.

The Universe

My Fear Of Snakes

Normally I try to write things that are more positive but today for reasons I do not understand, I have decided to write about my fear of snakes. I just feel prompted to write about this and so I will. After all, this is a subject, I'd rather avoid so maybe that in itself is part of positive side for writing this. And no there will be no snake picture posted with this entry for obvious reasons. In the picture that is posted, is the bush that HAD the snake which has moved on for the moment.

You see, today I looked out in our yard, just feet from our pool on the old half dead, purple flowering bush. This bush took a pretty hard hit from a freeze this winter and we actually thought it was completely dead. There are some signs it may be coming back to life but I really need to prune it. As I looked at it, I noticed something odd on the top of it where the sun was hitting the dead branches. You guessed it - one of those s-n-a-k-e-s. And moments later, when I looked again, I saw not one but TWO!

The minute I saw the snake, my breathing almost stopped, my body wanted to freeze and all I wanted to do was get the heck out of there. Through the frightened feeling I felt, my body wanted to run, hide, disappear, cry and be anywhere but where this snake was. For me this is a common reaction to snakes whether it is one that I see physically around me somewhere or one that is on TV or in a magazine. The same reaction happens. It isn't fun. It wipes me out and exhausts me. And the entire time, I struggle to understand just why this event is so powerful.

Many people have suggested over the course of my life to just ignore it and not think about it or make light of it by saying, not all snakes are harmful and you need to learn which are and which aren't. The thing that these well intentioned people fail to see is that it isn't about any of those things. And trying to ignore it and think that it isn't there is like having a 650 pound gorilla sitting on your lap and trying to ignore that!

In addition to the s-n-a-k-e spottings in our yard, I've had the dreams where you could not have convinced me that a snake was not right there. It has been so bad that I had to turn on all the lights and strip the bed down just to prove to myself that there was no snake. Of course trying to go back to sleep after these dreams have startled me so badly is almost impossible.

I've read many things online and heard many people talk about snakes may mean this or that. Some say they have a strong connection to people who are Christians because they see the devil as a serpent. Some say it is a warning or a sign of wisdom/new information coming to you. It could be some childhood trauma playing out as well. The list of explanations could go on and on.

For me, all of these explanations sound nice and look pretty but they don't make any more sense to me than my fear of seeing a s-n-a-k-e on TV. I know that there were some childhood trauma moments around snakes but I most likely don't fully remember the entire event. I know I grew up in a very strict fundamentalist church where Satan, the devil (i.e. serpent) was a very very bad thing. I am coming into new information and awareness each day but it isn't the kind that startles or scares me. It feels pretty safe and welcoming to me. There is nothing in any explanation to this point that makes sense or seems like the key to unlock the door.

Of course, I do realize that fears are not normally rational. They are the connections of neural pathways in our brain and the emotion or memory experienced in the present may not have necessarily been directly tied to the actual event. The fear episode may be strangely connected to something that has entirely nothing to do with it. So, I realize that the story playing out may not have all the facts.

And I know that fears can be overcome. I have done that with many in my life and many of them were not easy to take on, but once I was able to take my power back from them, the fears looked like tiny little spineless nothings. I've learned also, that the more I face my fears and accept them with open arms, the more I am able to reclaim that power. It is through embracing and accepting them that they are no longer enemies.

The answer to this mystery right now is beyond my current consciousness and knowledge. I wish I knew the magic button to push and make this all go away. I wish I understood why it is happening. For now, all I can do is just acknowledge that this exists and will hope that my path leads me to understanding and release of this fear.

Going Through The Clutter

Recently, I've been going through some of my old papers and documents. It was time to clean out that part of my life and organize it. Ever since we moved a couple of years ago, the boxes have been sitting there, waiting for me to do something with them. It was one of those jobs that you just keep putting off because after all, what's glamorous about spending countless hours sifting through old documents.

As I was going through each box, I began to notice something. There were so many pieces of my life here that offered some ray of knowledge about that particular moment in my life. While I'm sure that I knew all of these things were in the box, I had forgotten about many of them. They were like little hidden treasures just waiting to be found.

Of course as time does pass by, we tend to view events differently, especially if we have grown in leaps and bounds in our life. Some of the items in the boxes would have really invoked some deep pain from a life that once was and a life that I had no desire to hold on to any longer. Things are different now in my life and at one point, I never thought I would be able to think this way.

It isn't that all the painful memories are gone, or that I've forgotten all these events. It is that now in the context of healing, forgiveness and growth, these past events just don't have the charge they once did. They are no longer my King. The people involved in these events are no longer in dominion over me. Of course from time to time, my mind allows these things to come in acting as a thief in the night. The only thing is, these events can no longer over take me like they once did as I've burrowed deep into the pain and reclaimed the power that was once robbed from me.

It is a freeing moment for not only my mind but my body as well. For all of us harbor these events within our bodies. If they are not released, than these events consume us and take our humanness away. They attach to us deep in our core and take residence up in the cells and tissues of our bodies. They become our power force and hold dominion over us.

I'm not talking about thinking these away either or making your mind act as if they aren't there and allowing them to masquerade as something which they are not. It isn't about thinking positive thoughts or following some new age form of wisdom. It is not about wearing the badge of therapy to claim you are healed. While all of these things can be good and helpful, it is more than this.

For now, I have learned that I can release and let go of the innermost pains from deep in my soul through my body. The mind body connection offers so much healing and reclaims our inner essence. It has taken many years to cry the screams of tears but the essence of who I am is beginning to join in harmony with all parts of myself. It is now tears of joy that flow from my soul and my heart. It is now hope and a desire to know more about myself and to grow into all that I can be.

There are parts of our self that we hold tightly to and they serve our purpose for awhile but at some point, we become confronted with that inevitable question - will you remain as you are or will you grow and evolve into all that you are meant to be. It is at that point, where we begin to find ourselves. It is at that point where the clutter of our life becomes hidden treasures that help us move forward on our journey. It is at that point that we truly become human.

Open Your Mind To Prosperity

There once was a businessman who had his own simple formula for opening his mind to prosperity. When people asked, "How's business?" he had a standard reply, regardless of economic conditions of the moment: "Business is wonderful, because there's gold dust in the air." It always seemed so for that man. No matter what people about him were doing or saying, he prospered. His friends would say: "I don't understand it. Everything he touches turns to gold." (pg 15, Open Your Mind to Prosperity by C. Ponder )

Let The Body Feel The Pain

In a Peanuts Cartoon script, Charlie Brown is having a difficult time going to school. In it, he complains that every morning as he gets up and goes to school, his little stomach hurts so much. Then, as other kids are enjoying their lunches, his stomach is so sick that he has no desire to eat. He goes on to say that it isn’t his brain that has trouble with school, it is his stomach.

That example is a very powerful example of something I have learned a great deal about. It is referred to as the “Enteric Brain” or the second brain or even sometimes is called the gut brain. What Charlie Brown didn’t fully understand, it was the brain in his stomach where all the difficulty came from. Many of us go through life struggling in the same way as Charlie Brown but we don’t fully understand what the source of our struggles is.

There was many a day that I would get up and go to school where I would be just like Charlie Brown. By the time I got to high school, I could barely eat breakfast in the morning because it would really make me sick. My stomach would be in knots as I faced each day. It was an awful experience and for the longest time, I just thought everyone went through this to some degree or another.

As time went, I realized that when I had very stressful decisions to make or when I was encountering a strange situation or unknown place, my stomach would be in knots. I would not be able to eat, sleep or function that well. I often would say that I made decisions with my gut because in many ways that was true. My gut would react to whatever it was I was facing and if it was in turmoil or in pain and agony, I would know that the decision I was about to make was not right. On the other hand if things were calm and I was not sick, I could feel pretty certain I was making the right decision.

One of the things I struggled with was that because of difficult times I went through in family situations, my stomach was tied up in knots most of the time. There were very few times when it felt good and most of the time it hurt. Eating breakfast or most foods during the day were extremely difficult as I would not feel good from it or get sick. This seemed to be an everyday occurrence and if my stomach didn’t hurt, than I would suffer from daily headaches. Sometimes the two went hand in hand and my only savior was Tylenol.

Things got so bad in high school that I was rushed to the hospital with the doctor feeling I needed to have my appendix out. I was at the age where this was common and so I was immediately checked into the hospital with tests beginning to see what was going on. After many tests that were not conclusive, the doctors were just not sure what was going on or what the best course of action was. Shortly before I was scheduled for surgery to have my appendix removed, the doctor began to question if that was really the best route to go. Thankfully he questioned it.

Soon they determined that it was a nervous stomach (pre ulcer) condition that I had. This was just before Christmas of course when all this was taking place and the next thing I knew, the doctor told me I had to go on a special bland diet and medication. This diet was no fun and while it did help, it by no means took care of the problem. I spent considerable time watching everything I ate and watching my mom prepare meals in such a way that it would not affect me. However, no one ever addressed the real problem behind this. No one understood the connection of stress to the stomach and the enteric brain.

As I have learned now, there is a strong connection to what happens on the outside with what happens on the inside. The stomach is a very important barometer of what is going on in the body because after all, it is the gut brain. If you continue to pile stress and difficulties on the body with no way of discharging them, the body is going to react in one way or another. Often the gut is where the bulk of our stress, pain and grief go but other parts of our body will harbor these things as well.

So when Charlie Brown talked about his stomach hurting, he had a very valid reason for saying that. If someone would have taken myself at that point as well as Charlie Brown, and taught me how to let go of all these things I was locking up within myself, my life would have been very different. Our bodies try to talk to us and get our attention but often we either do not have the tools or the desire to listen to what our bodies are telling us. We try to make this in to a difficult situation of suffering when in fact; the pains, discomfort and conditions we face are there on purpose. They are trying to get our attention so that we will take necessary steps of corrective action. Too many times, we medicate ourselves with drugs, surgery and pathways into la la land, only to find that we have treated the symptoms instead of the source.

Our bodies are miraculous living organisms with the ability to heal, function and self regulate all that goes on within them. Often we search for answers that we so need only for our bodies to offer us solutions that go unheard. Have you ever heard someone say, I just don’t know where I’m going in life and yet the next thing you hear, they are in at the doctor’s office struggling with a foot condition of one type or another? Maybe you have heard of people who are struggling with so much anger at some individual and yet you see the arthritic display in their hands because of their clenched fists. How about the person who is said to have died of a broken heart after suffering the loss of a loved one not knowing how to grieve their loss and say goodbye. There are so many examples in our day and if you stop and listen for them, you’ll hear so many from people around you. You might even be surprised at how much you hear from yourself.

We’re taught in our society that pain can be frightening and scary and at the first sign of pain or discomfort, we need to take something for it. From the over the counter medications to a doctor prescribed medication, we try to get rid of the symptom, also known as the pain or discomfort, instead of looking for the reason it is there. We try to flee from it when there is a reason that our body is working hard to get our attention. If we continue to ignore what the body is trying to tell us, it will continue to get our attention and if we go down this path to far, the conditions can get serious.

Learning though to stop and listen to our body and see what is going on, is a good first step in healing our body. There are times of course that we may not like what we see when we do this and there may be considerable amounts of fear to go along with it, but ask yourself this question. Would it be better to treat the symptoms or treat the cause? I think it would be an easy answer to this question that all of us would want to treat the cause. Yet, the first thing we move towards is finding something or someone to get rid of the pain.

May we all strive to learn to listen to our bodies as well as the answers it so freely offers us. For the more we look to other things and people to heal us, the more we will become disillusioned and disappointed. Yes, we do need the help of those who can heal, but we also need to realize just how powerful we are as a human and the immense abilities we have located within us.

Don't Quit

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all up hill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must -- but don't you quit.


Life is queer with it's twists and turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up, though the pace seems slow -
You might succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than
it seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor's cup.
And he learned too late, when the
night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out --
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt --
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit --
It's when things seem worst that you mustn't quit.

(this came from a poster I had hanging on my wall for years, no author was listed)

Fluoride - Friend or Foe?

Recently a neighboring city, Deland, Florida (FL), decided to stop fluoridation of the water supply only to be lobbied hard by the Dental Association to reverse the decision. And so they did reverse it! I've heard arguments on both sides of why it should and why it should not be added but this particular story gave a few more straight forward facts. Those are the statements that of course can be backed up with something to prove they are true, not just something some person heard from another and was passed down from someone else. So here's some facts of interest that I pulled out from all the comments left on this article. Of course the Deland Beacon Newspaper decided to write an advertisement (disguised as an article) for the American Dental Association but many residents did leave more balanced comments - thankfully.

The things I've listed here are but a small subset of information that is out there. Don't take my word for it - check it out for yourself. The more you look into it, the more you'll see and the more you'll know. Each paragraph has an underlined link to it where I obtained the information so feel free to read all of this or Google search fluoride for the complete story.

1. According to the CDC, fluoridation in low social-economic communities is beneficial. It is the most cost effective way of delivering fluoride to the mass population. Instead of embracing the views of their opponents, the CDC basically writes off these concerns. Their view is that it prevents dental carries inside the mouth through a constant environment of additional fluoride through drinking water.
2. Alcoa in the 1930's was doing research on the waste they discharged into the water supplies noting that Fluorine was present in most water supplies so it could not necessarily be proved that it was coming from their factories. However they felt the practice of dumping waste containing fluoride into the water supplies should be abolished. Alcoa then began to look for ways to sell the byproduct - (the waste being sodium fluoride) of making aluminum.
3. Dean - By the 1920's, industrial waste was one of the biggest problems in the US. H. Trendley Dean was commissioned to study water sources in 345 Texas communities. Dean was a former dental surgeon for the US Public Health and his mentor had been US Treasury Secretary and major stockholder of Alcoa - Andrew Mellon. Dean remembered McKay/Black's claims that fluorosis victims mottled, discolored teeth were resistant to decay and came up with the magic threshold of 1 ppm Fluoride would prevent tooth decay while not damaging bones or teeth. The news was exceptionally good for Alcoa. Dean became the father of public water fluoridation. After an independent study of his results, it was found that Dean had engaged in selective use of data using data from only 21 of the cities that confirmed his findings and ignoring 272 that did not. In a hearing conducted by the AMA in 1957, he was forced to admit that dental flourosis, the first sign of fluoride overdose could be caused by water fluoridated at 1.0 ppm. The admissions were not widely publicized and never acknowledged by the US Public Health, ADA (American Dental Association) or other governmental bodies responsible for shoving fluoride on the public.
4. Other countries have rejected fluoridation. France rejected fluoridation in 1980 because of doubts about whether it harms human health. Denmark recommended in 1977 that fluoridation not be allowed primarily because no adequate studies had been carried out on its long term effects. In 1978, the West German Association of Gas & Water Experts rejected fluoridation for legal reasons and felt long term damage was to be expected.
5. Fluoride is used as an insecticide/roach killer. As little as 1/10 of an ounce of fluoride will cause death. It is more poisonous than lead and slightly less poisonous than arsenic. Fluoride weakens the immune system. It causes birth defects/genetic damage and is likely to aggravate kidney disease, diabetes and hypothyroidism. It also causes the breakdown of collagen. There are direct links that Fluoride causes cancer according to studies in the 1950's and 1960's. It affects the DNA repair mechanism.
   
6. Administered through drinking water, tooth paste, mouth washes, pills or drops. Fluoridated toothpaste contains 1,000 ppm fluoride which is enough to kill small children if ingested. At these levels, it causes gum damage.
   

While I could continue to list information from various sources, this gives you a good idea of just how bad fluoride really is. I was brought up to believe that fluoride was the savior of mankind and it has taken me some time to begin changing my brainwashed thoughts from childhood. As I dug into the information on it, I really got my eyes opened.

Here's a video that gives another perspective of it that I found on YouTube.




A medical doctor from Orange City, Florida wrote in a comment to the article posted in the Deland Beacon Newspaper which I thought was well written. I'm including it with his permission. His name is Dr. Travis Herring.

It’s déjà vu all over again! Once again, dentists and taxpayer-paid officials swarm out to maintain or introduce mass medication of a very hazardous and toxic substance to your water supply. Whoever made the decision to stop fluoridation of the DeLand water supply made the right decision and saved money to boot. Orange City has saved close to a million dollars since the 1997 decision not to fluoridate the Orange City water supply when the issue came up in Orange City (using the figures quoted in the May 7-10 Beacon).

These dentists represent the same trade group that for 150 years has told the world that mercury in our mouths is good for us (even though it becomes a hazardous substance when removed). The world at large now knows that mercury is toxic in an ever more toxic environment and is to be avoided. The dental profession still hasn’t admitted the obvious.

Since the 1940’s dentists have told us that fluoridated water is good for us because of its effect in preventing and controlling tooth decay. That’s the dance of the one-trick pony. The human being is more than teeth. We do know that the abundant element fluoride is very low in mother’s milk. What happens when we upset the balance of nature and give infants 100 times as much fluoride in formula from our water supply? We simply don’t really know. What happens when an entire population is deliberately mass-medicated with a substance even more toxic than lead? Again, we don’t really know. In a chaotically contaminated chemical environment, it is difficult, if not currently impossible, to separate out the confounding factors in any of the studies for or against fluoride. We do know that fluoride is not a nutrient. We do know that dental caries are decreasing in countries that do not practice fluoridation. We do have reasonable suspicion that fluoride may be associated with increased incidence of cancer (e.g., osteosarcoma), premature aging, genetic changes, and nervous system problems including lowered IQ. We do know that life is tenacious and will adapt, persist, and respond to, and in spite of, noxious influences.

And we do know that fluoridation costs money, someone gets paid that money, and we get stuck with the bill. But Environmental Protection Agency employees (not management!) in a July 2, 1997 press release devoted to fluoride concluded “As professionals who are charged with assessing the safety of drinking water, we conclude that the health and welfare of the public is not served by the addition of this substance to the public water supply.” For those who in the back of their minds, think that fluoride, somehow, purifies water and makes it safer, let it be known that fluoride makes water less pure and less safe.

As a physician, I would not dream of indiscriminately administering such a drug without consideration of need and without consent. I would consider it malpractice. I have no serious quarrel with physicians and patients who, with informed consent, elect fluoride treatment. I do have a problem with taxpayers being forced to swallow their medicine whether or not they want it. For those who, somehow, still support fluoridation, do you really want to impose fluoride on others, knowing that today’s dogma is tomorrow’s myth? Authorities and their opinions come and go.

There is an alternative to fluoride for those who believe it’s helpful. It’s called toothpaste and it’s more than enough. But even swallowed fluoride toothpaste is harmful to young children. Read the label. Children, infants with lots of cavities? - stop the soda, sweets, and juices at every opportunity. May cut down on obesity, too. A two-for-one benefit.

Finally, I quote the Beacon: “They showed a horrifying photo of a young woman’s mouth full of caries and threatened that people can die from poor dental health. They said DeLand had showed leadership and was making dental-health progress, but was in danger of backsliding if fluoridation wasn’t restored.” That was a cheap trick and unworthy of their cause. I can imagine that at least some of the public health professionals there, still capable of thought, must have been inwardly cringing at such tactics.

In the end, money started this fluoridation misadventure in DeLand and money ended it. But it behooves us to be alert to that still, small voice that tells us, somehow, it’s not smart to poison our well.

For Further Information:

• Fluoride Action Network
• Consumer Health Organization Of Canada
• CDC on Fluoridation Of Drinking Water
• Fluoride Fatigue/Poisoning
• Infant Formula Should Not Be Mixed with Fluoridated Water (Video)
• Tooth Decay Trends in Fluoridated and Non-Fluoridated Countries
  
• Fluoridation - People Watching Out For the Community
• Study Links Fluoride to Bone Cancer
• Fluoride News Blogspot
• Natural Moms Talk Radio: Bill Osmunson
  

Connected To My Heart

What if I take a moment this morning and just connect - connect with my heart.

What if I feel the love it has to share, the warmth deep inside and the joy it gives in this moment.

What if I just feel that, sense that and allow it to be one with all of my body, all of my mind and all of my day.

What if I just hold that through out the day breathing in all that is good and exhaling all that I do not need.

What a joy it is that I feel through the lightness of my heart beating, beating, beating as it gives so much to myself and those around me. And just notice in my body, every little thing I can as a result.

Oh Happy Day of Possibilities!

Dear Universe

Dear Universe

Help me stay connected to my heart. Let the activities of my day come from my heart through the way I touch people, deal with people and focus my energy for my activities. Let me come from a place of grounded peace and possibility rather than the low vibration of daily stresses. Let me celebrate all that is for the day, not only around me, but that which is within me, connecting my heart, my body and my mind together as one.

Thank you Universe as I let the energy flow through,

Breathe and Know

Breathe in the good

Breathe out that which you don't need.

Breathe in the energy, the strength, the sustenance for your life.

Breathe out that which holds you, constricts you and binds you.

Breathe

Breathe

Breathe

Life has so much to offer, not so little.

Life is about so much more, not what it doesn't have.

Life is about possibility, hope and what can be.

Life is you, us, we, them and everyone in between.

Life is all of together connected so intricately.

Breathe

Breathe

Take it all in

and Know that all is, just as it is for this moment.

Our Survival

How we deal with trauma from generation to generation will determine our survival as a species. - Dr. Paul Canali

Thanking The Universe When Life Sucks!

One of the things I’ve been doing the past couple of days is thanking the universe in the morning or throughout the day when I get worried about where things are at. I’m thanking it for giving me this opportunity to learn or experience all that I am supposed to experience even if I don’t fully know what that includes. I figured that worrying about everything isn’t working so maybe it is time to try something different. I’m skeptical of course of my new outlook but it can’t hurt to try new things. *smile*

Observe And Know

Observe all that is around you

Observe all that is within you

And know that right now in this moment

You are everything you need to be.

Breathe it in.

Phytochemicals

I first heard about Phytochemicals at a recent Qigong seminar I attended in Orlando with Jeff Primac of the Supreme Science Qigong Center. He was lecturing on Food Based Healing that he is a big proponent of and it had everyone's attention.

According to Wikipedia.com, they are chemical compounds that occur naturally in plants. They have been used as drugs for many years. Some examples include Hippocrates prescribing willow tree leaves to reduce fever, Salicin (Aspirin) from the white willow tree as an anti-inflammatory and pain reliever.

On phytochemicals.info, phytochemicals are non-nutritive plant chemicals that have disease preventive properties. There are more than a thousand known phytochemicals. While it is known that plants produce these chemicals to protect themselves, recent research suggests that they can protect humans against diseases. Some of the well known phytochemicals are lycopene (found in tomatoes), isoflavones (found in soy) and flavanoids (found in fruits). They are not essential nutrients and are not required for the body to function.

There are many phytochemicals and while each of them work differently, here are a few ways that they work in our bodies

• Antioxidant - protect our cells against oxidative damage and reduce the risk of developing certain types of cancer. Some sources include onions, leeks, garlic, fruits, vegetables, tea and grapes.
• Hormonal Action - Isoflavones found in soy imitate human estrogens.
• Stimulation of Enzymes - Indoles found in cabbages stimulate enzymes that make the estrogen less effective and could reduce the risk for breast cancer. Protease inhibitors are another phytochemical found in soy, beans, citrus fruits and cherries.
  
• Interference with DNA replication - Saponins found in beans interfere with the replication of cell DNA which can help to prevent the multiplication of cancer cells. Capsaicin found in hot peppers protects DNA from carcinogens.
• Anti-bacterial effect - The phytochemical allicin found in garlic has anti-bacterial properties.
• Physical Action - Some phytochemicals bind physically to cell walls which helps to prevent the adhesion of pathogens to human cell walls. Some sources of anti-adhesion properties are cranberries.

For a list of phytochemicals, go to http://www.phytochemicals.info/phytochemicals.php

According to Jeff Primac of the Supreme Science Qigong Center, phytochemicals are the sparkplugs of the immune system! They are found mainly in the skin, stems and seeds of fruits and vegetables. However, many times we throw away the best part of the fruits and vegetables and eat the part that has no phytochemcials. Of course, it is important to note, that to eat the seeds, stems and skin of most fruits and vegetables, one would take many hours a day to chew and digest these things.

Jeff states on his website that you can heal and prevent almost all forms of disease with natural food found all around us. Inside our food there is great healing power, but it gets lost with cooking, juicing or refining. Fortunately Jeff has found a way using a very high powered blender to blend all these fruits and vegetables together in a good tasting smoothie!

At the seminar, we actually got to try the smoothie and I was pleasantly surprised. Jeff has went out of his way to try and develop recipes that taste good but get the most bang for the buck. And guess what? All it takes is a high powered blender, a bunch of fresh fruits/vegetables and a few minutes of your time each day. For more information, go to Jeff's website and learn all about it. I know I'm going to be doing the same thing!

Acupuncture For Bad Backs

According to a recent news article posted on time.com, acupuncture does work! In this study, there were 638 participants with chronic low back pain that received one of three different acupuncture treatments.

One group received individual care in the classic acupuncture. Another group received acupuncture at standardized points for back pain. The third group were poked with toothpicks instead of the standard acupuncture needles but the toothpicks did not penetrate the skin as regular acupuncture needles would.

None of the patients knew which treatments they were getting. Each patient received 10 treatments over the 7 weeks. A control group of back pain patients were told to continue doing whatever it was that they normally did to control back pain.

After the 8 week follow up, twice the number of patients getting any of the three types of acupuncture treatments showed improvement in their daily functions such as walking or going up and down steps without pain, compared with those only getting traditional care. It was also noted that all three types of acupuncture type treatment even the one with the toothpicks had about the same reduction in pain. A year after treatments, acupuncture patients reported a 63% improvement in pain reduction.

While there can be all types of ways to analyze this, evaluate it and draw conclusions, acupuncture clearly does help. So the next time you have pains and before you say Doc, give me some meds to take away the pain, why not give acupuncture a try? Medications aren't always the best way to treat pain and in fact some times they get in the way of the situation that truly needs our attention.

I was scared to death of acupuncture until the first time I had an acupuncture needle put me in me. It was not as bad as I thought it would be and was not like getting pricked with a needle to draw blood because to me that is much worse and more painful. Believe me, I'm frightened of the thought of needles! So if I can do it, surely anyone can go to acupuncture! There is a lot of wisdom in the some of these ancient healing forms.

Information Source: Time.com

Act With Faith

From Desk Of The Universe

Note: This is a daily email I get and this one seemed particularly good to me. Feel free to go to http://www.tut.com for more information.

Act with faith, [insert your name]. Prepare the way for your inevitable success. To the degree you can, behave as if your dreams have already come true, as if you already owned a Fabulous, fun filled life of adventure, as if later today you were going to learn once and for all to pursue my dreams!.

And you shall see the power you wield as the floodgates begin to tremble, the elements begin to conspire, people in your life begin to change, insights are summoned, comprehensions soar, and clarity is born.

Not to mention fierce, wild animals laying down when you pass by -
The Universe

Seminar With Dr. Canali

Activating The Brain-Body Connection Seminar Series

Time: May 16, 17
Place: Biltmore Hotel, Coral Gables, FL (Miami)

Click here for More Information

Post Traumatic Stress is responsible for more chronic pain, suffering and misdiagnosis than any condition on the planet. The Heal Trauma Save the World Project™ is about isolating reproducible and evidence based aspects of trauma and somatic autonomic regulation therapy to create a highly effective and reproducible treatment approach. There is nothing more important that a healthcare provider can learn than the secret of diagnosing and treating the traumatized nervous system. This seminar is open to professionals from all health care disciplines. If you want to be a part of something life changing, please join us for a 2-day seminar focusing on the application of Unified Therapy™ to cases involving traumatic stress.

Qigong

For more information on this post, http://www.qirevolution.com/

Last week, I had the unique opportunity of attending a 4 day seminar in Orlando on Qigong put on by the Qi Revolution. It was 2000 people from all walks of life converging in the Orlando Convention Center to learn about Qi Gong. Plus, it gave 32 CEU's and was very inexpensive for most seminars that we take for our licensing.

Direct from the flyer in the mail that I received, Qigong is an Energy Art that uses powerful breathing techniques and special movements to strengthen Qi (or energy). [Qi is pronounced "chee"]. According to Chinese Medicine, "Qi" is the leading force behind blood circulation. The key benefit of Qigong is that it turns on your nervous system's healing energy. Practicing dramatically strengthens blood circulation, immunity, metabolism, digestion & the endocrine system.

While I was a little nervous about going to this, I needed the CEU's and I wanted to experience what this was all about. So, I was courageous and signed up for it and am glad I did. It was a little overwhelming at first with 2000 people in a big room as I usually don't do very well in that many people. So that was challenging but I was able to meet some people and felt a little less "all alone".

The first couple of days were challenging. I had just come off of a couple of weeks of working in jobs and trying to keep up with some projects that had a due date on them so I was pretty exhausted walking in there. The movements we were doing pretty much hurt like "you fill in the blank". They were not difficult movements either. It was just that my body was sort of frozen from the buildup of stress. I figured, I would go into the pain because I know that by doing this, I would find peace, calmness and ease. Of course, by the second day we did a stretching routine and that made a world of differance in me and the pain did let up. It became easier with each day.

Throughout the four days, there were different "forms" that we did which is another word for routines in Qigong. Some of them were challenging for me as I still struggle to stand with balance going back to my days of being paralyzed. Each day though, the basic movements did get a little easier.

We did a lot of breath work and I believe the seminar leader, Jeff Primac, called it Breath Empowerment. And boy ol boy was it empowering! He took us through one exercise that had many of us crying and moving and a shaking and releasing. The peace that followed all of that was so wonderful and felt so good to me. From there, we did a 9 breath method and again, it was powerful but then he used the 9 breath method in a meditation circle. All 2000 of us were sitting in chairs, holding hands going through this 9 breath meditation. It was a powerful moment. You had to be there to fully understand it but just take my word for it, that was an experience like no other.

Some of the breath work we did was based upon TUMO. Tumo is an ancient form of breath work that the monks in the Himalayas used to keep warm. It generates so much heat that a guy referred to as the "iceman" can sit in a tub of ice and melt it with the body heat generated by this breathing process. The breath work is very powerful in moving energy (qi) through the body.

Throughout the seminar, he had various lectures on topics such as "Food Based Healing, Origin of the Universe and Miracles, Near Death Experiences and Sacred Geometry". The food based healing was awesome to learn a little about and I'll have to write more on this another day. For me though, the near death experience lecture hit so close to home because I've had a brief visit with that when I was paralyzed. It was the first time I have heard anyone talk about it or been in a room where others have been through it, so for me personally that was very empowering.

There is so much I could say about this seminar but I am glad I went. Working with movement, breath and energy is so healing and healthy for the body. We all need to be doing more of this every day in our lives because it touches the true essence of who we are and what it means to live in our bodies.

Since the workshop, I have continued to work with what I learned (Level 1 Form) including the stretching routine that he showed us. It is amazing just how peaceful and centered, the practicing creates in myself when I do this work. I am sure that it will deepen my healing work and deepen my connection between my own mind and body as it takes me to the next level of awareness.

Beliefs or Chains

I was recently at a seminar and got chatting with another participant. In the course of our conversation, he steered the chat around to the bible and the scriptures. I was a little shocked at first because I didn't see that coming. So anyway, we were discussing various topics and in a very emphatic and forceful manner, he said, "I don't believe that. The scriptures say that is wrong". While I don't want to get in to specifics of the conversation, we were talking about various healing modalities and enlightment concepts.

What struck me as odd though is that this person was here in this seminar to learn, just like I was. Yet, their beliefs were almost holding them back from even listening to what was being taught. Don't get me wrong here because people who have beliefs are valid and their beliefs can be valid. The part that caused me concern though was just how dead set against this person was to anything outside of his realm of learning or experience in life. Maybe he has something figured out that I don't have and maybe neither of us have anything figured out. Who knows? It may take until the end of our lives to know for sure.

So when do beliefs about something becomes chains that tie us down? Maybe one could suggest that they become chains when they allow ourselves to put limits on what we hear, listen, observe or attempt to learn. You just never know when someone is going to share something that may just be a major piece in the puzzle of learning for your life. Of course, if we immediately exclaim with force that we are opposed to anything different than how we view things, the piece of the puzzle may go on by and never come our way again.

One of the things that I found when I was paralyzed and breathing my last few breaths was that so much of what everyone worries about in life, really doesn't matter. Your perspective changes and priorities are different from that point forward. You tend to evaluate everything you were told or taught, trying to find ways to actually prove or disprove it. We are taught so many things in this world and especially in our own cultures. Yet, we often can not see through the fog to see the tree that stands in front of us. We have become so mesmerized by the fog or what we are bombarded with each day that the fog is what we hold on to as if it was our last breath.

Again, I'm not saying that what I have to share with others is the absolute truth. There are many things we do not know. Everyone has their own views and opinions which is often cloaked in the true fact of belief, but none of us truly know if these things are absolutes.

So I challenge each person reading this, to evaluate life from the standpoint of the observer. See all that it has to offer and try not to only see what it is you want to see. Try looking with clear vision into that which you don't want to see because in doing so, you may just discover much more than you already are aware of. Life has so much to offer and let's make the most out of each of our days and our experiences by embracing every tidbit of experience we can. Only then, do we have the hope of becoming all that we can be!

Fearing Fear

"Only thing we have to fear is fear itself" - Franklin D. Roosevelt

As I see the hysteria and panic over the swine flu that is hitting the world, the above statement came to mind. Yes, I do realize this is a health threat and it is serious but the panic and hysteria is only fueling the problem. Diseases and health conditions have a low vibration and so when you add fear and hysteria to that, you only reinforce and lower the vibration level. Of course, as a society and as individuals we can choose to focus on the fear, thereby only hurting ourselves more in the long run.

What if, on the other hand, we view life through a different paradigm. The paradigm that says we are all healthy, vibrant individuals with so much possibility, so much strength and life. We bring in that which we need to our lives and we celebrate all that life and the universal source has given us. We discard that which is focused on what could happen or the fear of what could happen and we rid ourselves of the vibrant energy robbers of past events. Our daily lives focus on taking in all that is healthy through the food we eat, the activities we participate in and the true rest and relaxation that we give our bodies. As we do this, we give way to a higher vibration in our lives thereby not giving worry to the panic and hysteria of the day.

While it is helpful to take basic precautions in life, we do not need to embrace fear and allow fear to run our lives. A helpful dose of fear can be a motivator in how we live our life and how we allow ourselves to grow but it becomes hurtful when we allow it to rule our lives.

Go forth in possibility, in life and in abundance.