Decision making is morale boosting.  It offers us a chance to exercise our personal powers, an exercise that is important for the healthy development of our egos. We need to make careful, thoughtful choices because they will further define our character.  Each action we take clearly indicates the persons we are becoming. When we have consciously and deliberately chosen that action because of its rightness for us, we are fully in command of becoming the person we chose to be.

I love this read this morning. It is exactly what I’ve been thinking about.  How important it is to empower  myself in my decision making.  Earlier this week, I was told that it is important everyday instead of thinking that there are things that “have to” be done and then feeling defeated and guilty when I can’t seem to catch up, that I think of it differently. That I  choose to water my plants (I don’t have to) and I choose to clean my house etc.  Because I don’t  have to and when I do take actions that conveys who I am (no matter what the decision) then I feel good, I feel like I’m honoring and living a creative life.  And it becomes an accomplishment, a pat on the back that I am living and creating my life the way I envision it.

Then these choices lead to new opportunities to make more creative choices.  Continually revealing to me and to the world the person that I am.  Wow when more of my actions line up with how I feel and who I am on the inside, that is so cool! And I know things aren’t black and white. That I have been doing this all along, and striving to be authentic and make good creative choices.  But today I have a new awareness about this process and it is such a gift!

When teaching a new variation or a new asana I feel the same limitations, in trying to communicate the details of something new.  I feel the same insecurities my students sometimes do in trying to perform to be the best that I can be.  Sometimes I succeed and sometimes it doesn’t go as smoothly as planned. But I’m learning to be just as gentle on myself as I am with my students.  That as a teacher I am also a student.  That my abilities and my strengths are always growing and changing.  I cannot get hung up on perfection, just to be my best.  Because there is always that inner judge that will feel not good enough and that leaves me wanting to give up.  I must hang in there and “fight” for myself, to believe in myself and to keep putting myself out there.  I will grow, and and have good days and not so strong ones but that really is ok.  

We teach what we most want to learn ourselves.  And I am continuing to learn much more than I ever expected.

Reiki is presented as a technique which reduces stress and promotes relaxation, thereby enhancing the body’s natural ability to heal itself.

by William Lee Rand

At hospitals and clinics across America, Reiki is beginning to gain acceptance as a meaningful and cost-effective way to improve patient care. Personal interviews conducted with medical professionals corroborate this view.(1) “Reiki sessions cause patients to heal faster with less pain,” says Marilyn Vega, RN, a private-duty nurse at the Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital in New York. [Reiki] accelerates recovery from surgery, improves mental attitude and reduces the negative effects of medication and other medical procedures.

Vega, a Reiki master, includes Reiki with her regular nursing procedures. Because the patients like Reiki, she has attracted a lot of attention from other patients through word of mouth, as well as from members of the hospital staff. Patients have asked her to do Reiki on them in the operating and recovery rooms. She has also been asked to do Reiki sessions on cancer patients at Memorial Sloane Kettering Hospital, including patients with bone marrow transplants. Recognizing the value of Reiki in patient care, 6 doctors and 25 nurses have taken Reiki training with her.

America’s Interest in Complementary Health Care
The general public is turning with ever-increasing interest to complementary health care, including Reiki. In fact, a study conducted by Dr. David M. Eisenberg of Boston’s Beth Israel Hospital found that one in every three Americans has used such care, spending over 14 billion out-of-pocket dollars on alternative health care in 1990 alone!(2)

A survey conducted in 2007 indicates that in the previous year 1.2 million adults and 161,000 children in the U.S. received one or more energy healing sessions such as Reiki.(3)

Reiki is also gaining wider acceptance in the medical establishment. Hospitals are incorporating it into their roster of patient services, often with their own Reiki-trained physicians, nurses and support staff. Reiki was in use in hospital operating rooms as early as the mid-90’s.(4) Since then its acceptance in medicine has grown. It is now listed in a nursing “scope and standards of practice” publication as an accepted form of care,(5) and a 2008 USA Today article reported that in 2007 15% of U.S. hospitals (over 800) offered Reiki as a regular part of patient services.(6) For a detailed description of 64 Reiki hospital programs, please go to www.centerforreikiresearch.org

Scientific Validation
A research study at Hartford Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut indicates that Reiki improved patient sleep by 86 percent, reduced pain by 78 percent, reduced nausea by 80 percent, and reduced anxiety during pregnancy by 94 percent.(7)

In 2009, The Center for Reiki Research completed the Touchstone Project, which summarized Reiki studies published in peer-reviewed journals. The 25 studies examined were further evaluated to determine the effectiveness of Reiki. The conclusion states: “Overall, based on the summaries of those studies that were rated according to scientific rigor as “Very Good” or “Excellent” by at least one reviewer and were not rated as weak by any reviewer, 83 percent show moderate to strong evidence in support of Reiki as a therapeutic modality.”(8)

Why Hospitals Like Reiki
Hospitals are undergoing major changes. They are experiencing a need to reduce costs and at the same time improve patient care. Under the old medical model based on expensive medication and technology this posed an unsolvable dilemma. Not so with Reiki and other complementary modalities. Reiki requires no technology at all and many of its practitioners offer their services for free. Reiki is therefore a very good way to improve care while cutting costs.

Julie Motz, a Reiki trained healer has worked with Dr. Mehmet Oz, a noted cardiothoracic surgeon at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York. Motz uses Reiki and other subtle energy techniques to balance the patients’ energy during operations. She has assisted Dr. Oz in the operating room during open heart surgeries and heart transplants. Motz reports that none of the 11 heart patients so treated experienced the usual postoperative depression, the bypass patients had no postoperative pain or leg weakness; and the transplant patients experienced no organ rejection.(9)

An article in the Marin Independent Journal follows Motz’s work at the Marin General Hospital in Marin County, California, just north of San Francisco.(10) There Motz has used subtle energy healing techniques with patients in the operating room. She makes a point of communicating caring feelings and positive thoughts to the patients, and has been given grants to work with mastectomy patients in particular.

Dr. David Guillion, an oncologist at Marin General, has stated “I feel we need to do whatever is in our power to help the patient. We provide state of the art medicine in our office, but healing is a multidimensional process. . . . I endorse the idea that there is a potential healing that can take place utilizing energy.”

Reiki at Portsmouth Regional Hospital
Patricia Alandydy is an RN and a Reiki Master. She is the Assistant Director of Surgical Services at Portsmouth Regional Hospital in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. With the support of her Director Jocclyn King and CEO William Schuler, she has made Reiki services available to patients within the Surgical Services Department. This is one of the largest departments in the hospital and includes the operating room, Central Supply, the Post Anesthesia Care Unit, the Ambulatory Care Unit and the Fourth Floor where patients are admitted after surgery. During telephone interviews with pre-op patients, Reiki is offered along with many other services. If patients request it, Reiki is then incorporated into their admission the morning of surgery, and an additional 15-20 minute session is given prior to their transport to the operating room. Some Reiki has also been done in the operating room at Portsmouth Regional.

The Reiki sessions are given by 20 members of the hospital staff whom Patricia has trained in Reiki. These include RN’s, physical therapists, technicians and medical records and support staff. Reiki services began in April 1997, and as of 2008 have given 8000 Reiki sessions.

“It has been an extremely rewarding experience,” Alandydy says, “to see Reiki embraced by such a diverse group of people and spread so far and wide by word of mouth, in a positive light. Patients many times request a Reiki [session] based on the positive experience of one of their friends. It has also been very revealing to see how open-minded the older patient population is to try Reiki. In the hospital setting Reiki is presented as a technique which reduces stress and promotes relaxation, thereby enhancing the body’s natural ability to heal itself.”

The Reiki practitioners do not add psychic readings or other new-age techniques to the Reiki sessions, but just do straight Reiki. Because of these boundaries, and the positive results that have been demonstrated, Reiki has gained credibility with the physicians and other staff members. It is now being requested from other care areas of the hospital to treat anxiety, chronic pain, cancer and other conditions.

Alandydy, with her partner Greda Cocco, also manage a hospital-supported Reiki clinic through their business called Seacoast Complementary Care, Inc. The clinic is open two days a week and staffed by 50 trained Reiki volunteers, half of whom come from the hospital staff and the rest from the local Reiki community. They usually have 13-17 Reiki tables in use at the clinic with 1-2 Reiki volunteers per table. The clinic treats a wide range of conditions including HIV, pain, and side-effects from chemotherapy and radiation. Some patients are referred by hospital physicians and some come by word of mouth from the local community. They are charged a nominal fee of $10.00 per session. The clinic is full each night and often has a waiting list.

The California Pacific Medical Center’s Reiki Program
The California Pacific Medical Center is one of the largest hospitals in northern California. Its Health and Healing Clinic, a branch of the Institute for Health and Healing, provides care for both acute and chronic illness using a wide range of complementary care including Reiki, Chinese medicine, hypnosis, biofeedback, acupuncture, homeopathy, herbal therapy, nutritional therapy and aromatherapy. The clinic has six treatment rooms and is currently staffed by two physicians, Dr. Mike Cantwell and Dr. Amy Saltzman. Cantwell, a pediatrician specializing in infectious diseases, is also a Reiki Master with training in nutritional therapy. Saltzman specializes in internal medicine and also has training in mindfulness meditation, acupuncture and nutritional therapy. Other professionals are waiting to join the staff, including several physicians.

The doctors at the clinic work with the patients and their referring physicians to determine what complementary modalities will be appropriate for the patient. A detailed questionnaire designed to provide a holistic overview of the patient’s condition is used to help decide the course of treatment. The questionnaire involves a broad range of subjects including personal satisfaction with relationships, friends and family, with body image, and with job, career, and spirituality. The clinic is very popular and currently has a waiting list of more than 100 patients.

Dr. Cantwell provides 1-3 hour-long Reiki sessions, after which he assigns the patient to a Reiki II internist who continues to provide Reiki sessions outside the clinic. Patients who continue to respond well to the Reiki treatments are referred for Reiki training so they can continue Reiki self-treatments on a continuing basis.

Dr. Cantwell states: “I have found Reiki to be useful in the treatment of acute illnesses such as musculoskeletal injury/pain, headache, acute infections, and asthma. Reiki is also useful for patients with chronic illnesses, especially those associated with chronic pain.”

At this point, Reiki is not covered by insurance at the clinic, but Dr. Cantwell is conducting clinical research in the hope of convincing insurance companies that complementary care is viable and will save them money.

More MD’s and Nurses Practicing Reiki
Mary Lee Radka is a Reiki Master and an R.N. who has the job classification of Nurse-Healer because of her Reiki skills. She teaches Reiki classes to nurses and other hospital staff at the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor. She also uses Reiki with most of her patients. She has found Reiki to produce the best results in reducing pain and stress, improving circulation and eliminating nerve blocks.

Reiki master Nancy Eos, M.D., was a member of the teaching staff of the University of Michigan Medical School. As an emergency-room physician, she treated patients with Reiki along with standard medical procedures.

“I can’t imagine practicing medicine without Reiki,” Eos says. “With Reiki all I have to do is touch a person. Things happen that don’t usually happen. Pain lessens in intensity. Rashes fade. Wheezing gives way to breathing clearly. Angry people begin to joke with me.”

In her book Reiki and Medicine she includes descriptions of using Reiki to treat trauma, heart attack, respiratory problems, CPR, child abuse, allergic reactions and other emergency-room situations. Dr. Eos now maintains a family practice at Grass Lake Medical Center and is an admitting-room physician at Foote Hospital in Jackson, Michigan, where she continues to use Reiki in conjunction with standard medical procedures. According to Dr. Eos, there are at least 5 other physicians at Foote hospital who have Reiki training along with many nurses.(11)

Libby Barnett and Maggie Chambers are Reiki masters who have treated patients and given Reiki training to staff members in over a dozen New England hospitals. They teach Reiki as complementary care and the hospital staff they have trained add Reiki to the regular medical procedures they administer to their patients. Their book Reiki Energy Medicine describes their experiences.(12) One of the interesting things they recommend is creating hospital “Reiki Rooms,” staffed by volunteers, where patients as well as hospital staff can come to receive Reiki treatments. Bettina Peyton, M.D., one of the physicians Libby and Maggie have trained states: “Reiki’s utter simplicity, coupled with its potentially powerful effects, compels us to acknowledge the concept of a universal healing energy.”

Anyone interested in bringing Reiki into hospitals is encouraged to do so. The hospital setting where there are so many people in real need is a wonderful place to offer Reiki. The experiences and recommendations in this article should provide a good starting point for developing Reiki programs in your area.

*Editors Note:It is very important when giving Reiki treatments in hospitals or otherwise to make sure the patient understands what Reiki is and to only provide a Reiki treatment if the patient has requested one. Also, if the issue comes up, it is important to explain that while Reiki is spiritual in nature, in that love and compassion are an important part of its practice, it is not a religion and that members of many religious groups including many Christians, Muslims, Hindus and Jews use Reiki and find it compatible with their religious beliefs.

1 The comments that follow were part of an interview I did with each person either in person or by telephone and were first published in my article, “Reiki In Hospitals,” which appeared in the Winter 1997 issue of the Reiki Newsletter (precursor to Reiki News Magazine).

2 Eisenberg, David, et al. “Unconventional Medicine in the United States”, New England Journal of Medicine 328, no. 4 (1993), 246-52.
2 Beth Ashley, “Healing hands”, Marin Independent Journal, May 11, 1997.

3 P. M. Barnes, B. Bloom, and R. Nahin, CDC National Health Statistics Report #12. Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use Among Adults and Children, United States, 2007. (December 2008).

4 Chip Brown, “The Experiments of Dr. Oz,”The New York Times Magazine, July 30, 1995, 20-23.

5 American Holistic Nurses Association and American Nurses Association (2007), Holistic Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice (Silver Spring, MD: Nursesbooks.org.)

6 L. Gill, “More hospitals offer alternative therapies for mind, body, spirit,”USA Today, September 15, 2008 (Online) http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-2009-2014-alternative-therapies_N.htm.

7 Hartford Hospital, Integrative Medicine, Outcomes, http://www.harthosp.org/integrativemed/outcomes/default.aspx#outcome6. Measurements cited were obtained during the initial pilot phase of the study, December 1999 – December 2000.

8 The Center for Reiki Research, Touchstone Project, Conclusion, http://www.centerforreikiresearch.org/RRConclusion.aspx.

9 Julie Motz, Hands of Life, Bantam Books, New York, 1998

10 Beth Ashley, “Healing hands”, Marin Independent Journal, May 11, 1997.

11 Nancy Eos, M.D., Reiki and Medicine (Eos, 1995).

12 Libby Barnett and Maggie Chambers, with Susan Davidson, Reiki Energy Medicine, Healing Arts Press, Rochester, Vermont, 1996.

We’re in this life, in this body as these spirits that in a way sort of “plug-in” to our physical and bring it to life.  We’re guided by our brains that help us navigate our way through the planet. We are surrounded by practices of life that seem purely made up by other humans as a way to exist and no longer do we survive with our animal instincts intuitively leading us to survive from the wildness of nature we now are focused on surviving the stresses of traffic jams and bad jobs.  We decide we’re too busy to take care of ourselves and of our planet and we stuff our bodies with chemicals in our foods, heavy metals in our environments and trash in our waters.  We flock to self-help books and gurus to help guide us into some way of living that resembles some sort of peace that we can cling to.  We look to other humans on this planet to give us the love and peace that we cannot find in ourselves and some of us become so desperate in this search that we completely loose who that soul is that first plugged itself into this human experience.

So what should we do about it? I don’t know. Maybe nothing.  Maybe that search is the human experience.  Maybe finding those moments of peace that the attempts bring is the life experience.  I’m a seeker in this life.  I am looking for something here.  I have changed and come full circle in my journey.  Now don’t think I’m claiming that I live this life as some sort of super human.  That coming full circle means that I have it all figured out. Because my life would not show that if you peeked in my windows.  But something is becoming clear and it comes from within me… I am realizing the honor that it is to be here, alive.   I realize the honor and love I must give to that spirit of mine.  Its divine.  Its bigger than this body, my brain.  It doesn’t care if I’m fat or thin, just that I can honor its divinity.  It doesn’t matter if I pick up trash for a living or if I work my way up the corporate ladder as long as I live to honor all that is.  Because all of our diets, our spring cleanings, our exercise routines, whatevers are just those attempts to clear out the symptoms of imbalance in our lives so we can briefly touch the divine peace that resides within.  Life then takes us back out into the murky waters of human existence so we can swim back in towards the divine.

The task of the immune system is to identify those things that are naturally in the body and those that are foreign or otherwise harmful material, and then to neutralize or destroy the foreign material. The immune system is a system of complex interactions involving many different organs, structures, and substances, among them white blood cells, bone marrow, the lymphatic vessels and organs, specialized cells found in various body tissues, and specialized substances, called serum factors, that are present in the blood. Ideally, all of these components work together to protect the body against infection and disease.

In cell mediated immunity, white blood cells called T-cells, identify and then destroy cancerous cells, viruses, and microorganisms like bacteria and fungi. When a B-cell is presented with a particular antigen, it engineers an antibody to match it and stores a blue print of the invader so that it can initiate the production of antibodies in case of subsequent exposure, even if a long period of time elapses in between. These cells are your body’s first line of defense.

There are two primary types of immune system disorders. Immunodeficiency diseases result from weakened immune function. Autoimmune diseases occur when the body’s own immune system cells attack healthy cells, as rheumatoid arthritis or lupus.

The immune system can work as it should only if it is cared for properly. This means getting all the right nutrients and providing the right environment, plus avoiding those things that depress immunity. Many elements in our environment compromise our immune systems’ defensive abilities. The chemicals in household cleaners, the overuse of antibiotics, pesticides, and additives in foods and exposure to environmental pollutants all place a strain on the immune system.

Choices in your everyday life are the biggest factors that influence your immune defenses. Not smoking, increasing fruits and vegetables in your diet, eating regular meals, maintaining a healthy weight, get enough sleep and relaxation time, exercise, eat a high fiber, low fat diet and use nutritional supplements that support immune function.

Supportive Nutrients

Vitamin A is a powerful immune booster. White blood cells can not survive with out vitamin A. Recommended daily doses are 1,000mcg for men and 800mcg for non-pregnant women. Note: Pregnant women should take a carotene complex in combination with a wide range of other antioxidants to provide the benefits of vitamin A, without the risk.

Zinc helps to fight and prevent free radicals. Zinc also increases the absorption of vitamin A. Recommended daily dose is 15mg daily for men and 12mg daily for women.

Vitamins C and E helps the body resist oxidative stress and fights free radicals. Recommended daily dose ranges from 500-1,000 mg of vitamin C and 400-800iu of vitamin E.

Coenzyme Q10 is found in all parts of the body. This substance plays a critical role in the production of energy in every cell of the body. It aids circulation, stimulates the immune system, increases tissue oxygenation, and has vital anti-aging effects. Research has shown that CoQ10 has the ability to counter histamine, and therefore is also beneficial for people with allergies, asthma, or respiratory disease. It is also beneficial in fighting obesity, candidiasis, multiple sclerosis, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. CoQ10 along with B6 appear to increase lymphocytes, which are important components of the immune system. Recommended daily dose suggests starting at 10mg daily and building up gradually as needed.

Inositol hexaphosphate, also known as IP6 is a compound consisting of the B vitamin inositol plus six phosphate groups. It has been proven in lab studies to prevent cancer, prevent and treat heart disease, prevent kidney stones and liver disease, and also reduce cholesterol levels and prevent the inappropriate formation of blood clots, a major cause of heart attacks. IP6 inhibits the activity of free radicals in the body, which slows the type of abnormal cell division associated with cancer and tumor growth. Also helps to maintain a strong immune system in people undergoing chemotherapy and radiation. Significant amounts are found in foods such as beans, brown rice, whole kernel corn, sesame seeds, wheat bran, cornbread, grape juice, and raisins. Recommended daily dose is 3,000-5,000mg. Do not take within 1 hour of meals, it may interfere with the body’s absorption of minerals.

Iron is essential for the white blood cells that kill bacteria. The daily recommended dietary allowance is 10mg for men and 15 mg for premenopausal women. Supplemental iron may not be appropriate for postmenopausal women.

Folic Acid, a B vitamin, largely impacts the immune system. Prevents cardiovascular disease and cervical dysplasia. Along with zinc, selenium, iron, copper, beta-carotene, and vitamins A, C, and D, defend against infectious agents. The daily recommended dietary allowance for folic acid id 200mcg for men and 180mcg for women.

Selenium protects the immune system by preventing the formation of free radicals that can damage the body. Selenium plays a vital role in regulating the effects of thyroid hormone on fat metabolism. The daily recommended dietary allowance is 50mcg to 200 mcg.

Echinacea fights inflammation and bacterial and viral infection. Stimulates certain white blood cells. Good for the immune system and the lymphatic system. Recommended not to take long term on a consecutive basis. Take echinacea two weeks on two weeks off.

Elderberry combats free radicals and inflammation. Relieves coughs and congestion. Builds the blood, cleanses the system, eases constipation. Enhances immune system function. Increases perspiration, lowers fever, soothes the respiratory tract, and stimulates circulation. Effective against flu viruses.

Milk Thistle protects the liver from toxins and pollutants by preventing free radical damage and stimulates production of new liver cells. Also protects the kidneys. Good for gallbladder and adrenal disorders, psoriasis, weakened immune system, IBS, and all liver disorders. Have shown anticancer effects against prostate cancer and breast cancer.

Garlic detoxifies the body and protects against infection by enhancing immune function. Lowers blood pressure and improves circulation. Lowers blood lipid levels. Helps stabilize blood sugar levels. Aids in treatment of arteriosclerosis, arthritis, asthma, cancer, circulatory problems, colds and flu, digestive problems, heart disorders, insomnia, liver disease, sinusitis, ulcers, and yeast infections. Taking garlic in a supplement is great but you can also eat raw garlic. Take a clove of garlic and cut it into quarters. Swallow the quarters like a pill. It is a great and very potent way of getting the anti-oxidant properties. If you do this frequently, the smell of garlic will not be a problem.

Astragalus a.k.a. Huang qi acts as a tonic to protect the immune system. Aids adrenal gland function and digestion. Increases metabolism, produces spontaneous sweating, promotes healing, and provides energy to combat fatigue and prolonged stress. Increases stamina. Good for colds, flu, immune deficiency related problems, including AIDS, cancer and tumors. Caution: should not be taken if fever is present.

Cat’s Claw acts as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. Stimulates the immune system. Cleanses the intestinal tract and enhances the action of white blood cells. Good for intestinal problems and viral infections. Caution: should not be used during pregnancy.

Alkaline and acidic substances have properties that can be corrosive, so it is important that the body maintain a relatively neutral pH. The blood for instance has very little room for fluxuation, it must maintain a pH of 7.35-7.45 in order for your body to receive the nutrients it needs from your blood and for you to live The body does have a regulator for your blood to keep it within this range. pH of your colon, kidneys (urine), and saliva are maintained by a healthy diet, which includes certain foods, as well as plenty of water.

Your colon’s optimal pH is 7.8-8.3. Candida can occur in a gut with too acidic of a pH. The acidity allows for overgrowth and symptoms to show up even outside of the gut (skin irritations, etc). Bad breath and pungent body odor can be a symptom of acidic conditions in the body because your skin and lungs gas off excess acidity.

Saliva is a great pH window because it is the first solution that comes in contact with foods and can change pretty easily. Saliva that continually tests acidic can be an indicator of a lack of neutralizing minerals in the body.

Urine is the best way to see the pH of the body. Urine is not generally changed by external factors. But it can fluxuate during a detox when your body uses your kidneys as a pathway for eliminating toxins. Urine that consistently remains either acidic or alkaline can be a sign that the body is in a state of pH unbalance.

pH effect of effective alkalizing activities

Least effective alkalizing activities

Foods that neutralize pH

• Green leafy vegetables, tofu and tempeh
• Lemon juice in water or lime juice in water
• Apple cider, apples, lemons, limes
• Yams
• Spinach, turnup greens, broccoli
• Raw, unprocessed nuts, pumpkin seeds
• Poultry, eggs
• Live-cultured dairy, including yogurt, cottage cheese, blue cheese, swiss, munster.
• Foods high in potassium

Foods that are not acceptable

• Red meat
• Milk
• Refined sugar or foods that contain refined sugar
• Limit intake of simple carbohydrates, such as honey and maltose
• White flour products
• Orange juice, bananas, pears
• Phosphoric acid sources, such as when used as preservatives
• Soft drinks
• Corn or potatoes, or products that contain theses foods
• Calcium carbonate in your calcium supplements
• Antacids containing either aluminum or calcium carbonate
• Sodium chloride salt

pH effects of food

It is generally agreed that a diet of 80% alkalizing foods maintains the best moderate balance-this allows for 20% for foods you like that don’t like you.

• Never eat more than 80% of your hunger- if you cannot climb a hill after eating, you ate too much too quickly- slow down and eat less!
• Eat more than 25 different varieties of food each week- Chinese medicine says 55.
• Exercise according to your breathing capacity-if you cannot speak afterward, then it was too vigorous for you today.
• A relaxation regimen should match the exercise taken- aching limbs are a sign of lactic acid saturation caused by insufficient oxygen in available blood flow.
• Sleep in complete darkness to ensure deep relaxation of the nervous system, and take every opportunity to bathe closed eyes in sunlight to stimulated hypothalamus vitality.
• Immerse as much of your body as possible in sunlight as often as possible.

When diet is not enough

In most instances, dietary measures are all that are needed to bring about the desired change in pH. However, if you have chronic yeast infections, cancer, has been chronically exposed to mercury and/or other heavy metals, or has long suffered with chronic inflammation; dietary changes will bring about progress, but may not be sufficient. If any one of these situations exist, you will need to also supplement with potassium citrate or bicarbonate.

Potassium citrate or bicarbonate

Dosage is generally 1/4 – 1tsp. 3 times a day in water or apple cider for one week. It is advised to start at a lower dose and work up, if needed. Once pH has risen to the desired level, diet alone can generally hold the pH at that level. Do not administer to people with a low serum calcium, or an elevated potassium.

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.

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.

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.

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.