02.23.10
Posted in Health & Wellness at 6:21 am by Jennifer
When you breathe, the air goes down into your lungs, where it eventually makes it to the alveoli and to blood capillaries where the oxygen and other components of the air you breathe make it into your blood stream. Components of tobacco smoke and environmental toxins appear to trigger the release within the lungs of chemicals that damage the walls of the air sacs (alveoli). Over time, the sacs no longer have the same ability to bring oxygen from the lungs into the bloodstream
People who have eaten a Standard American Diet for many years, especially with a lot of dairy foods, tend to have lungs tissue that has excess fat and lungs that have excess mucus in them. The fat and mucus coupled with physical and/or emotional stress in the chest or upper back can lead to asthmatic attacks.
In addition, the lungs can often bare the brunt of the toxic chemical attack on the system as the chemicals are, for some people, constantly being breathed in. It is important to cleanse and heal the lungs as well as to remove toxic chemicals from the air.
Herbs for the Lungs
1. Lotus Root Tea
This tea helps dissolve and eliminate mucus and lung
congestion over time.
Fresh Lotus Root (preferable)
—————-
a. Grate a 2-inch piece of fresh lotus root and
squeeze out juice through a cheesecloth. Add 2-3
drops of ginger juice squeezed from freshly grated
ginger root and a tiny pinch of sea salt. Add an
equal amount of spring water and boil for a few
minutes.
Lotus Root Powder
—————–
b. Add one teaspoon of powder to a small cup of
water. Add a tiny pinch of sea salt and 2-3 drops
of ginger juice. Heat on low flame and turn off
flame when boiling begins.
2. Lotus Root Plaster
——————
Lotus root plasters are excellant for dissolving mucus
deposits in the bronchi and sinuses.
Supplies needed:
1. Everything that is needed for Ginger Compress (see
above).
2. White flour.
3. Fresh lotus root (check chinese grocery store or
natural food store).
4. Cotton cloth.
5. A sheet or other cloth to keep plaster in place.
Steps:
1. Perform a ginger compress for 10-15 minutes on lungs
region.
2. Grate fresh lotus root.
3. Mix lotus root with 5% grated ginger and 10-15%
white flour.
4. Spread paste on cloth about 1/2 inch thick.
5. Apply cloth so that plaster directly touches the
skin.
6. Tie in place with sheet or large cloth.
7. Keep plaster on for several hours. You can sleep
with it on if you tie it in place.
8. Procedure should be repeated for 7-21 days. Thick
mucus will start to be discharged.
Many years ago, when I did this on my sinuses, I had to
stay home from work because so much thick mucus was pouring
from my eyes and nose.
A more complete description of the Lotus Root Plaster
can be found in the following book:
Macrobiotic Home Remedies
by Michio Kushi
Japan Publications, c1985
ISBN 0-87040-554-3
Rebuilding & Strengthening
————————–
1. Well-ventilated bedroom
2. Taking walks along the ocean or in the mountains can be
Extremely beneficial over time. If that is not possible,
any walking outside (away from pollution) or even deep
breathing by an open window can be helpful.
3. Healthy, natural foods diet that strengthens the
digestion and avoids overly cold foods and too much flour
and fruit.
4. Yoga, pranayama, and emotional healing techniques
can be very helpful over time.
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02.19.10
Posted in Health & Wellness, Life & Spirit at 6:00 am by Jennifer
It is so important to take the time in our day to quiet our minds, our spirits and our bodies. We can spend so much energy being up in our heads all day long, running from here to there, riding the roller coaster of emotions from the people in our lives. We find ourselves exhausted by the end of the day. Often we feel overwhelmed by life or sometimes even find our selves depressed. Some of us try to go on and put on our happy faces to face the world, when really it is not what we are genuinely feeling. We live like this, and this living depletes our spirit, increases our stress, decreases our immune system and leaves us feeling run down and tired.
There are many paths to re-finding our spirits. Taking a walk, exercising, Yoga, making art, playing with our kids, listening to music. But the one path that has been proven in scientific studies and has been practiced over thousands of years is meditation.
Meditation can be a scary word for some. It draws connotations of chanting and hippies and maybe even challenging religious beliefs. But the truth is, you can create your meditation practice to be what you need it to be and still benefit from it. Meditation can be done in a group or be practiced alone. It can be done formally everyday at the same time of day for the same length of time, it can be a guided meditation using visualizations or can be just a quiet moment you catch before your kids get home from school. There can be “rules” to meditation or there can be no rules at all.
Some ideas to try a meditation practice:
Stopping and being present.
Guide: The goal of these meditations is to get to know our minds better, to cultivate insight and peace, and to become calmer and more focused.
So stop what your doing and just sit there. It is as simple as that. But don’t just sit there, be present in the moment. Notice the birds chirping, or the sounds in the room. Be in the moment. Try this practice many times a day, for as long as you can. And if you are having a busy day, keep it even simpler and continue to do your day, just practice training your mind to be in the moment, moment to moment.
Breathing
Find a comfortable seat. Find a position that you can comfortably hold without moving around. Try not to lean against anything, sit away from the back of your chair, or the wall, allowing your body to find its own center.
Feel your body, your sit bones holding your lower body up, feel your chest open, your shoulders relax, as if they were moving down your back.
Relax your mouth. Allow your tongue to sit softly in your mouth, your jaw soft. Relax the muscles around your eyes.
Place your hands on your belly, just below your belly button. Notice your breath. Take a normal size breath in, and let it ease down your body until you feel the belly expand. Now slowly let the breath ease out. The belly gets smaller. Breathe in the belly expands, breathe out the belly gets smaller. This is breathing in a meditative way. Do this for a minute or longer.
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02.06.10
Posted in Health & Wellness at 2:28 pm by Jennifer
AS SEEN IN THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, JANUARY 9TH, 2009
By DEEPAK CHOPRA , DEAN ORNISH , RUSTUM ROY and ANDREW WEIL
In mid-February, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and the Bravewell Collaborative are convening a “Summit on Integrative Medicine and the Health of the Public.” This is a watershed in the evolution of integrative medicine, a holistic approach to health care that uses the best of conventional and alternative therapies such as meditation, yoga, acupuncture and herbal remedies. Many of these therapies are now scientifically documented to be not only medically effective but also cost effective.
[Commentary] Martin Kozlowski
President-elect Barack Obama and former Sen. Tom Daschle (the nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services) understand that if we want to make affordable health care available to the 45 million Americans who do not have health insurance, then we need to address the fundamental causes of health and illness, and provide incentives for healthy ways of living rather than reimbursing only drugs and surgery.
Heart disease, diabetes, prostate cancer, breast cancer and obesity account for 75% of health-care costs, and yet these are largely preventable and even reversible by changing diet and lifestyle. As Mr. Obama states in his health plan, unveiled during his campaign: “This nation is facing a true epidemic of chronic disease. An increasing number of Americans are suffering and dying needlessly from diseases such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, asthma and HIV/AIDS, all of which can be delayed in onset if not prevented entirely.”
The latest scientific studies show that our bodies have a remarkable capacity to begin healing, and much more quickly than we had once realized, if we address the lifestyle factors that often cause these chronic diseases. These studies show that integrative medicine can make a powerful difference in our health and well-being, how quickly these changes may occur, and how dynamic these mechanisms can be. Many people tend to think of breakthroughs in medicine as a new drug, laser or high-tech surgical procedure. They often have a hard time believing that the simple choices that we make in our lifestyle — what we eat, how we respond to stress, whether or not we smoke cigarettes, how much exercise we get, and the quality of our relationships and social support — can be as powerful as drugs and surgery. But they often are. And in many instances, they’re even more powerful.
These studies often used high-tech, state-of-the-art measures to prove the power of simple, low-tech, and low-cost interventions. Integrative medicine approaches such as plant-based diets, yoga, meditation and psychosocial support
may stop or even reverse the progression of coronary heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, prostate cancer, obesity, hypercholesterolemia and other chronic conditions.
A recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that these approaches may even change gene expression in hundreds of genes in only a few months. Genes associated with cancer, heart disease and inflammation were downregulated or “turned off” whereas protective genes were upregulated or “turned on.” A study published in The Lancet Oncology reported that these changes increase telomerase, the enzyme that lengthens
telomeres, the ends of our chromosomes that control how long we live. Even drugs have not been shown to do this.
Our “health-care system” is primarily a disease-care system. Last year, $2.1 trillion was spent in the U.S. on medical care, or 16.5% of the gross national product. Of these trillions, 95 cents of every dollar was spent to treat disease after it had already occurred. At least 75% of these costs were spent on treating chronic diseases, such as heart disease and diabetes, that are preventable or even reversible.
The choices are especially clear in cardiology. In 2006, for example, according to data provided by the American Heart Association, 1.3 million coronary angioplasty procedures were performed at an average cost of $48,399 each, or more than $60 billion; and 448,000 coronary bypass operations were performed at a cost of $99,743 each, or more than $44 billion. In other words, Americans spent more than $100 billion in 2006 for these two procedures alone.
Despite these costs, a randomized controlled trial published in April 2007 in The New England Journal of Medicine found that angioplasties and stents do not prolong life or even prevent heart attacks in stable patients (i.e., 95% of those who receive them). Coronary bypass surgery prolongs life in less than 3% of patients who receive it. So, Medicare and other insurers and individuals pay billions for surgical procedures like angioplasty and bypass surgery that are
usually dangerous, invasive, expensive and largely ineffective. Yet they pay very little — if any money at all — for integrative medicine approaches that have been proven to reverse and prevent most chronic diseases that account for at least 75%of health-care costs. The INTERHEART study, published in September 2004 in The Lancet, followed 30,000 men and women on six continents and found that changing lifestyle could prevent at least 90% of all heart disease.
In Today’s Opinion Journal That bears repeating: The disease that accounts for more premature deaths and costs Americans more than any other illness is almost completely preventable simply by changing diet and lifestyle. And the same lifestyle changes that can prevent or even reverse heart disease also help prevent or reverse many other
chronic diseases as well. Chronic pain is one of the major sources of worker’s compensation claims costs, yet studies show that it is often susceptible to acupuncture and Qi Gong. Herbs usually have far fewer side effects than pharmaceuticals.
Joy, pleasure and freedom are sustainable, deprivation and austerity are not. When you eat a healthier diet, quit smoking, exercise, meditate and have more love in your life, then your brain receives more blood and oxygen, so you think more clearly, have more energy, need less sleep. Your brain may grow so many new neurons that it could get measurably bigger in only a few months. Your face gets more blood flow, so your skin glows more and wrinkles less. Your heart gets more blood flow, so you have more stamina and can even begin to reverse heart disease. Your sexual organs receive more blood flow, so you may become more potent — similar to the way that circulation-increasing drugs like Viagra work.
For many people, these are choices worth making — not just to live longer, but also to live better. It’s time to move past the debate of alternative medicine versus traditional medicine, and to focus on what works, what doesn’t, for whom, and under which circumstances. It will take serious government funding to find out, but these findings may help reduce costs and increase health.
Integrative medicine approaches bring together those in red states and blue states, liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans, because these are human issues. They are both medically effective and, important in our
current economic climate, cost effective. These approaches emphasize both personal responsibility and the opportunity to make affordable, quality health care available to those who most need it. Mr. Obama should make them an integral part of his health plan as soon as possible.
- Dr. Chopra, the author of more than 50 books on the mind, body and spirit, is guest faculty at Beth Israel Hospital/Harvard Medical School.
- Dr. Ornish is clinical professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.
- Mr. Roy is professor emeritus of materials science at Pennsylvania State University.
- Dr. Weil is director of the University of Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine.
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02.05.10
Posted in Life & Spirit at 8:46 am by Jennifer
Graditude, it is so important that I remember to be grateful for all that I have and honor what I have accomplished. I can get caught up in wanting more and for things to be better or different, instead of looking around and seeing all that I have created. The other reminder today is to be in the moment. All will be revealed in divine timing. I don’t have to worry, I am exactly where I am supposed to be. So when I start to get in fear and worry that things aren’t going my way, I am going to list all that I am grateful for!
Here it goes
- My health
- My family and their love and health
- My home
- My dishwasher
- My pets
- My car that runs
- Teaching yoga
- My creativity
- My abundance
- The people in my life that believe in me
- My favorite scarves
- My connection to myself and to God
- For life and all of the great things and life lessons I have learned along the way
- For being a momma, it has taught be so much about myself and brings so much joy to my days
- For the courage to be who I am and live in my truth
Ok your turn…what are you grateful for?
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02.03.10
Posted in Health & Wellness at 7:47 am by Jennifer
What are Hormones?
Hormones are vital chemical support systems that are secreted by glands spread throughout the body. This system of glands, including the thyroid, adrenal, pituitary and pineal, is called the endocrine system. The hormones secreted by the endocrine system are powerful sustainers of health and contribute to every process in the body, including cellular repair, metabolism, sexual desire and ability, stress adaptation, immune system function, mental functioning and energy production. The body’s health and vitality are dependent on the activity of vital hormones such as Human Growth Hormone (HGH), Thyroid, DHEA, Testosterone, and Pregnenolone. The ability of each hormone to maintain the body’s health is dependent on the amount of that hormone in the blood stream.
Since our hormones affect our mood, our aging process, even our abilities to heal ourselves, hormonal imbalance can create subtle dysfunctions in our physiological and psychological states, including continuing sexual performance problems: lack of sexual sensitivity, lack of sexual desire, deficient sexual experience, failure to achieve climax, dryness of vagina, sexual melancholia and sexual neurasthenia.
What Causes Hormonal Imbalance?
A major factor are environmental chemicals in our food, water and air – heavy metals, herbicides, pesticides, plastics and many other poisons – that mimic estrogen once they enter our body. It has been reported on several news programs (CBS, The Discovery Channel and others) that the common tin can is inadvertently supplying us with unwanted, estrogen-like hormones – a result of a chemical reaction over a period of time between the tin and the plastic inner lining. These unwanted cumulative chemical additions are believed to have dire consequences within our bodies, adding a synthetic steroidal hormone which directly interferes with the normal function of our Endocrine System. Our body is fooled into thinking it is real estrogen and acts as if there is an estrogen excess in the system, creating an imbalance.
How Are Hormones Produced Within the Body?
The Endocrine System is the biochemical system of the body which controls and regulates the functioning of our entire metabolism through the production and direction of all of our hormones. Within the Endocrine System, there are literally hundreds of types of hormones produced – some affect a specific gland or tissue, some affect our overall health, and others simply aid in the production of other hormones.
Hormones are incredible multifunctional biochemicals, without which, we simply could not live. A specific group of hormones are amino acid-based molecules being manufactured by the body’s from-free form amino acids, so if these essential amino acids aren’t available, hormonal production dwindles.
The Endocrine System directly controls the process of aging and how healthy we will be in the process. Hormones manufactured by the Endocrine System directly govern the welfare of the entire body, keeping us young, healthy, and happy. Many pathological conditions are the result of or associated with the malfunctioning of the endocrine gland.
A Happy Healthy Endocrine System
Eating whole food organic diets promotes the healthy balance our bodies need. Eliminating processed foods and foods with additives and dyes is the first step. Then including cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, kale, bok choi, cabbage, watercress, radishes and others, supports the body to regulate and detoxify your endocrine system. There is a nutrient in this family of vegetables called indole-3-carbonal which studies suggest improve estrogen metabolism. You can find this nutrient in higher doses in supplemental form to get faster relief if you are suffering from hormone imbalances. Flaxseed and B vitamins also contribute to balancing your hormone pathways.
By detoxifying our bodies from all of the environmental factors that cause imbalance and then supporting our bodies with nutrition or in some cases using bio-identical hormones for extra support. Bio-identical hormones are hormones derived from plants and other sources that our human body can identify and naturally use. Stress management and finding ways to connect to ourselves spiritually and emotionally have actually been studied and proven to reduce the neuronal changes that are associated with accelerated aging and imbalances in the body. 
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