Top 10 Reasons to Bring your Kids to the Farmers Market

By Rick D;

The Farmers Market is a great place to bring your kids for so many reasons! The Farmers Market allows you to provide your family with wholesome, healthy food while supporting your local community at the same time.

Here's the reality- Family farmers need your support! Now that large agribusiness dominates food production in the U.S. Small family farms have a hard time competing in the food marketplace. Buying directly from farmers gives them a better return for their produce and gives them a fighting chance in today’s globalized economy.

And health-wise, your doing your family a great favor! Much of the food found in grocery stores is highly processed and grown using pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, and genetic modification (GMOs). Some of it has been irradiated, waxed, or gassed in transit. These practices may have negative effects on human health. In contrast, most food found at the farmers market is minimally processed, and many of our farmers go to great lengths to grow the most nutritious produce possible by using sustainable techniques, picking produce right before the market, and growing heirloom varieties. (Make sure to ask each farmer about their growing practices. We've found that most sustainable farmers enjoy talking about their love for the soil and the great lengths they go to produce healthy, pesticide free food!)

Top 10 Reasons to Bring your Kids to the Farmers Market

1. Develop healthy emotional eating habits.

One of the biggest myths about emotional eating is that it's prompted by negative feelings. Yes, people often turn to food when they're stressed out, lonely, sad, anxious, or bored.

But emotional eating can be linked to positive feelings too! It's no accident that McDonald's named their kids deal a "Happy Meal"! They do this to form a lifelong emotional bond between being happy and eating at McD's, and it works!

You can beat the fast food marketing guru's at their own game. Simply swap out the fast food and replace it with a fun day at the Farmers Market! Do this on a regular basis and your kids will start to equate healthy real food with those happy family days at the market.

2. Connect kids with "real food"

There is a huge disconnect between most Americans and their food. For the most part, we've stopped questioning where our food comes from, how it is raised and if it is good for our health. To a large extent, this is why our supermarkets shelves are lined with so many boxes of processed junk. And most of it is Genetically Modified (GMOs). We are the ones buying it so they keep making it!

We can break that cycle with our kids and the Farmers Market provides a great opportunity to further the food connection discussion. It's much more effective when you practice what you preach. Buying from local sustainable farmers reinforces the message.

3. Talk with real farmers

As you know, kids are naturally curious. This is a good match because farming is really amazing. Think about it: plant seeds in dirt, add water, get vegetables! Of course there's a lot more to it than that.

As we mentioned above, a lot of the farmers we meet are very proud of the work they do and they're very happy to talk about it. With a little coaching (if necessary) you're kids can ask some great questions, like- Why are you a farmer? What's your favorite things to grow? What's that hardest thing to grow? The easiest? Do you use chemicals or pesticides? Why, or why not?

A cool side-effect of this is that the next time you go to the market your kids will remember the farmers. It's great to make new friends, especially when their doing something as important as growing your food.

4. Let them buy their own food

Depending on your kids age(s), give them a few bucks to buy some of their own food to bring home. This in itself is a great learning experience. Will they think long and hard about what to buy? Or will they buy the first thing they see? Learning to shop wisely and consider all the options is a great skill to have.

And let's be honest, if we really want to teach our kids about the value of real food, they should know how to shop for it!

PS- If you have young kids, instead of actually shopping maybe you can just let them give the money to farmer. Little kids (and the farmer) will probably enjoy this!

5. Cook the food you bought at home

Getting kids involved in cooking is great. Basic cooking skills open so many choices for them later in life and alleviate them of the need to buy ready made, highly processed meals. But it's not always easy.

Cooking the food you just bought, or the food THEY just bought if you followed the step above, makes this a whole lot easier. It's the next logical step- "We bought these veggies from the nice farmer, now we get to cook them!"

6. Introduce new foods

Face it, some kids are just picky eaters. The 3 steps above may have a profound effect on their willingness to even TRY something new, right? Let's go through this- We met the farmer, learned about how they grew this, we bought it, we took it home and now we cooked it. It's just natural to want to taste it!

7. Learn about nutrition

For older kids, the Farmers Market provides an opportunity to learn about nutrition and why real foods are so important to maintain a healthy body. If your kids compete in sports, you can teach them why nutrients will make them better athletes. Even if they don't play sports they can understand that real food is packed with vitamins and minerals that make them stronger, smarter and healthier.

Additionally you'll be able to choose non-GMO foods and support non-GMO farmers.

8. Get away from the screens

TV screens, computer screens, iPad screens, phone screens- ARghhhh! Yes, I know you are reading this on a screen (unless somebody printed it for you). Screens are awesome but they have their time and place. Food has a huge impact on childhood obesity but at the same time most kids are on their butts too many hours per day.

Do we really have to watch Lion King one more time? The Farmers Market is a great excuse to bust away from the TV, or Xbox or Facebook, Instagram, - whatever, and get some fresh air.

9. Family bonding

A trip to the Farmers Market provides a great way to spend time together as a family. It's easy to enjoy each others company when you're doing something healthy. With little kids you can play fun games like finding food that's different colors or shapes. With older kids try a scavenger hunt and offer a family prize if the goal is hit.

It may take a little work (and a bribe or two) but the market can be a fun family outing. Who knows, you may end up creating one of those fond memories that your kids can carry and pass on to their kids. How great would that be!

10. Teach the importance of community

The growing number of farmers markets in the United States gives us hope. They serve not only as a way for people to purchase local food but also as a chance for them to connect with others within their communities. Buying local promotes a sense of pride in you home town.

Farmers markets allow you to teach your kids that they can make a difference by voting with their dollars. When you shop at a large grocery store chain, a fraction of your dollars stay local. Supporting local farmers keeps the money in your community where it can be reinvested for the good of the town.

Ready to find some farmers markets? Enter your zip code in the search box at the top of the screen! And then you can have your kids help you write reviews of the market so others can benefit as well.

Your question: Do you bring your children to the farmers market? (post your comments below)
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About the Author: Rick is a founder at eatlocalgrown.com. He enjoys taking on near impossible pursuits. His beautiful wife of 25 years, his 3 three grown children (and his future grandchildren) provide the motivation required to keep throwing rocks at the big bad guys. In his spare time he enjoys being a dad, cooking, playing guitar, traveling, drinking good beer and hanging out with great friends.

Read More: http://eatlocalgrown.com

What Most Doctors Don't Discuss About Clogged Arteries

By Dr. Ben Kim;

To most people, clogged arteries mean increased risk of experiencing a heart attack or stroke. Often, getting diagnosed with partially occluded arteries leads to a prescription for cholesterol-lowering medication or invasive procedures like an angioplasty or bypass surgery.

Before you find yourself being asked to choose one of these conventional medical approaches to addressing clogged arteries, I encourage you to be fully aware of the actual make-up of plaque that can occlude your arteries, the way in which such plaque develops, the different levels of risk that accompany varying degrees of blockage, and most importantly, what you can do to reduce your risk of experiencing health challenges that can be caused by occluded arteries.

Pathology 101 teaches us that accumulation of plaque, commonly called an atheroma, is a buildup in artery walls that is composed of the following:

•     Specialized white blood cells (macrophages)
•     Cellular debris
•     Calcium
•     Fibrous connective tissue
•     Damaged lipids (cholesterol and fatty acids)

Atheromatous plaques aren't a welcome addition to your body, but they're extremely common and just one of many natural degenerative developments that occur as you age. To completely avoid atherosclerosis as you get older is virtually impossible; development typically begins in childhood, and the presence of atheromata isn't uncommon even at the toddler stage.

Buildup of atheromatous plaques occurs between the innermost lining of your artery walls and the layer of smooth muscle that gives your arteries the ability to pulsate and propel blood through your circulatory system.

Atheromatous plaques begin with an accumulation of specialized white blood cells that have engulfed damaged low-density lipoprotein (LDL). Your body works to remove such accumulations, but if you're exposed to a continuous stream of them via unhealthy dietary choices, these early accumulations can begin to attract even more white blood cells. Over time, these plaques tend to accumulate calcium deposits on their outer layers; these calcium deposits serve to stiffen the accumulations of white blood cells and damaged lipids within.

Conventional medical thought is that arteries that are clogged by atheromatous plaques decrease blood flow to your tissues, and in the case of occluded arteries that are supplying your heart or brain, if blood circulation is compromised enough, you may experience a heart attack or a stroke.

We now know arteries that are 30 to 40 percent occluded may actually be more likely to contribute to a heart attack than arteries that are 90 to 95 percent clogged. As Dr. Dean Ornish explains, when there is a significant amount of plaque buildup in your arteries, these plaques are more likely to be stabilized by calcium deposits.

Another reason why more occlusion does not always increase your risk of experiencing a heart attack is that your body can develop alternate pathways for blood flow - called collateral vessels - when arteries become fully or almost fully clogged; this is a great example of the never-ending pursuit of your self-healing mechanisms to keep you alive.

An artery that is only 30 percent clogged won't typically have collateral vessels around it (it usually takes more occlusion and time for your body to create collateral vessels).

Also, arteries that are only about 30 percent clogged aren't likely to be stabilized by calcium deposits, which means that whenever you experience significant emotional stress, such arteries can easily constrict due to your body's natural flight/fight response, and constriction of atheromatous plaques can cause them to rupture - this is how plaque ruptures tend to occur.

When a plaque ruptures, it's possible for an artery that was only 30 to 40 percent clogged to become fully occluded within several seconds to a few minutes. This process is termed catastrophic progresion, and is the mechanism by which many heart attacks and strokes occur.

The good news is that studies by Dr. Dean Ornish and his colleagues indicate that making healthy dietary and lifestyle choices can dramatically decrease your risk of experiencing plaque ruptures, and often, even people who have frequent episodes of angina (chest pain) caused by clogged arteries can experience significant improvement within a few weeks.

To reduce risk of heart attack and stroke, one of the most important lifestyle choices to make is to learn how to effectively manage emotional stress because it's emotional stress that's most likely to cause rupture of vulnerable plaques in your arteries via sudden constriction that's regulated by your autonomic nervous system.

Numerous studies clearly indicate that mental and emotional stress - including chronic depression and anger - significantly increase your risk of experiencing a heart attack or stroke. This is why being in an unhappy long term relationship is arguably just as dangerous to your health as smoking, eating poorly, and not being physically active.

On the dietary front, the most important action steps are:
 

• Decrease intake of unhealthy fats, sugar-rich foods, and other foods that are rich in     refined carbohydrates
   
• Ensure regular intake of nutrient-rich vegetables, fruits, and legumes

Part of ensuring optimal nourishment includes making sure that you're getting enough vitamin B12, vitamin B6, and folate, which are micronutrients that are vital to keeping your blood homocysteine level within a healthy range. Allowing your blood homocysteine level to get and stay elevated virtually guarantees that you will develop cardiovascular disease.

I hope that this post encourages you to continuously work at being emotionally balanced, optimally nourished, and committed to making healthy lifestyle choices every day. These ways of being make up the best approach to treating and preventing clogged arteries, and as soon as you get started, you'll begin to reduce your risk of experiencing cardiovascular disease and a number of other health challenges.

Your question: What protocols do you take to keep your arteries from clogging? (post your comments below)
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About the Author: Ben Kim is a chiropractor and acupuncturist living and working in Barrie, Ontario, Canada. Dr. Kim studied at the University of Toronto before going on to earn his Doctor of Chiropractic degree in 1997 at the National University of Health Sciences in Illinois. He completed a residential internship at the TrueNorth Health Center in northern California for certification in therapeutic fasting supervision by the International Association of Hygienic Physicians. Dr. Kim is also a graduate of the Contemporary Medical Acupuncture Program at McMaster University.

Read More: http://drbenkim.com

The Truth About Yogurt Revealed

By The Alternative Daily;

Most people think of yogurt as a superstar of health foods. While plain yogurt does offer considerable benefits, most yogurts sold in grocery stores, even health food stores, have gone through industrial processing, have a bunch of additives, and are not nearly as healthy as they are hyped up to be.

When choosing a yogurt, don’t be fooled by a label that says ‘natural.’ Many yogurts are loaded with sugar or high fructose corn syrup. While refined sugar is itself to be avoided as much as possible, high fructose corn syrup poses further dangers. Multiple studies show that the way that it is absorbed by the body can lead to a higher risk of obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

Sugar-free yogurts contain aspartame, a dangerous substance, according to a large amount of studies, with a long list of reported side effects including headaches, nausea and seizures.

‘Natural flavorings’ are also misleading. While they may be natural, some of these natural sources include crushed beetles (red), and beaver anal scent glands (raspberry). Artificial flavorings are any color with a number attached (i.e. Yellow 5).

Studies have identified some artificial flavors as potentially carcinogenic, and many of them have been linked to hyperactivity in children and other behavioral imbalances.

Some yogurts contain corn starch or modified food starch. These ingredients are used as thickeners and emulsifiers, giving the yogurt texture, but also adding unnecessary carbs, and usually GMOs, into the mix, as most industrial corn in the United States is genetically modified.

Tricalcium phosphate is another substance to watch for when choosing a yogurt. It is added as a calcium supplement, and is usually manufactured from bone ashes. Unless you want burnt bones in your food, you may want to steer clear.

One of the main benefits of real yogurt is the probiotic content. Truly natural yogurts contain live cultures, and it will say so on the label. If a yogurt label says ‘made with live cultures,’ the cultures are likely no longer living.

Processed yogurts usually contain a probiotic called Bifidus Regularis, which is extracted from animal intestines in a laboratory. The probiotics in real yogurt occur naturally in the yogurt itself. Low-fat yogurts may also contain less probiotic content than the full-fat versions.

yogurt Greek yogurt, a natural, healthy choice, unfortunately poses a toxic threat to the environment. When it is strained, the resulting liquid is acid (sour) whey. According to Modern Farmer magazine, this waste product is very toxic to aquatic life, and there are no industry-regulated standards as to where or how the acid whey is dumped by Greek yogurt manufacturers.

When choosing a yogurt, be sure to carefully read the ingredient label to avoid unhealthy additives. Plain yogurt is your best bet, and real, and the ideal plain yogurt will have just two ingredients: milk and live yogurt cultures.

Anything else is working against the benefit that the yogurt provides. For a delicious treat, add your own organic fruit, and maybe some coconut crystals if you like it extra-sweet, and enjoy!

Your question: What kind of yogurt do you eat? (post your comments below)

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Read More: http://www.thealternativedaily.com

The Amount of Light In Your Workplace Is Linked To Your Sleep and Quality of Life

By April McCarthy;

A strong relationship exists between workplace daylight exposure and workers’ sleep, activity and quality of life. Windows and natural lighting can make a big the difference in your health.

Compared to workers in offices without windows, those with windows in the workplace received 173 percent more white light exposure during work hours and slept an average of 46 minutes more per night. There also was a trend for workers in offices with windows to have more physical activity than those without windows. Workers without windows reported poorer scores than their counterparts on quality of life measures related to physical problems and vitality, as well as poorer outcomes on measures of overall sleep quality, sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances and daytime dysfunction.

“The extent to which daylight exposure impacts office workers is remarkable,” said study co-author Ivy Cheung, a doctoral candidate in the Interdepartmental Neuroscience program at Northwestern University in Chicago, Ill.

Changes in the circadian system are considered a natural part of aging and are implicated as an underlying factor of reduced sleep quality especially in those who work in workplaces without natural lighting or those on night shifts. Routine lifestyle rhythms with light exposure may serve as a protective factor contributing to the maintenance of high-quality sleep.

Cheung's research abstract was published recently in an online supplement of the journal SLEEP, and Cheung will present the findings Tuesday, June 4, in Baltimore, Md., at SLEEP 2013, the 27th annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC.

The study group comprised 49 day-shift office workers -- 27 in windowless workplaces and 22 in workplaces with windows. Health-related quality of life was measured using the Short Form-36 (SF-36), and sleep quality was evaluated with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Light exposure, activity and sleep were measured by actigraphy in a representative subset of 21 participants -- 10 in windowless workplaces and 11 in workplaces with windows.

According to the authors, the architectural design of office environments should take into consideration how natural daylight exposure may contribute to employee wellness.

When comparing long sleepers, who usually slept more than nine hours a night, and short sleepers, who usually got less than six hours a night, there are general difference in light exposures during the day.

Based on several measures, including hormone levels, body temperature and sleepiness, long sleepers had a longer biological night than short sleepers. This means that there are differences in internal circadian signals which may be queued by natural light and darkness.

Those findings are reported in the January issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

These differences could help account for variations in the amount people sleep. The fact that the length of the biological night seems to vary from person to person may also help explain why it is difficult to change sleep habits willfully, he added.

“Day-shift office workers’ quality of life and sleep may be improved via emphasis on light exposure and lighting levels in current offices as well as in the design of future offices,” said Cheung.

Light Therapy

You can use artificial full-spectrum lights in the morning to help reset the body clock so you can get to sleep at a more appropriate time in the evening. In the past decade, pioneering research lead by Columbia University investigator Michael Terman, Ph.D. established that the circadian rhythms that help set your sleep patterns are highly susceptible to changes in exposure to light rays -- whether from the sun or from bulbs that mimic the full-spectrum of sunlight. By exposing the eyes to specially designed full-spectrum lights (10,000 lux fluorescent bulbs) for 30 minutes in the early morning, scientists have helped people get to sleep earlier and stay asleep longer. It is thought that regular exposure to such light in the morning triggers a more advantageous nighttime release of melatonin, the hormone that governs your body clock, but the mechanisms are not fully understood. You may be more familiar with light therapy for its use in treating seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a type of depression that shows up in winter months and stems from sunlight deprivation. Studies have shown that a course of light therapy treatments can have a dramatically positive effect on both sleep and symptoms of depression.

Light therapy can truly work wonders for people who find it difficult to fall asleep before midnight and are sluggish in the morning. Rapid improvement in falling asleep earlier is often experienced after just a few days of 30 minutes of exposure to a light therapy box upon awakening in the morning (see www.cet.org for more information on the boxes). For people (even teenagers) with more severe insomnia, who regularly stay awake until 1:00 a.m. or longer, shifting sleep patterns can involve sensitive timing. So while the procedure can be done at home, it is a better idea to work with a sleep specialist to devise the treatment program for serious insomnia. The treatment also usually requires waking up a little earlier each morning, which takes real commitment. But if you are miserable from insomnia, it's worth trying.

On the research forefront are special dawn-simulating sleep masks with embedded lights that turn on gradually four hours before the end of sleep. One might think leaving the shades open will do the same thing, but bare windows raise the possibility that your bedroom will be flooded with ambient nighttime light, which poses its own set of problems that are conveniently the subject of the next discussion, Dark Therapy.

Dark Therapy

If exposing your eyes to light in the morning helps you fall asleep earlier and sleep longer, it should come as no surprise that blocking exposure to light at night can positively influence sleep. Scientists digging further into the sunlight-melatonin connection have discovered that the blue spectrum of light has the greatest impact on melatonin and circadian rhythms. If you are exposed to blue light late at night -- from a computer or television screen or a digital clock near your bed -- it can wreak havoc with your body clock making it harder for you to get to sleep and to get up in the morning. Keep your room pitch dark at night, covering all digital clock or DVD player readouts. Interestingly, a 2008 study from the Corvallis Psychiatric Clinic in Oregon showed that using amber-tinted glasses blocked the excitatory blue spectrum of light commonly encountered during television and computer viewing. Using amber glasses during evening screen-watching time had a significant effect in inducing and promoting a good night's sleep.

However, more research is needed to examine the maintenance of daily routines in broader populations with varying cultural backgrounds and living arrangements. Future longitudinal studies may assess whether lifestyle regularity constitutes a cause or a consequence of quality sleep patterns. 

Your question: Do you work near natural light? (post your comments below)
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About the Author : April McCarthy is a community journalist playing an active role reporting and analyzing world events to advance our health and eco-friendly initiatives.

Read More: http://preventdisease.com

The Myth of Stretching for Flexibility and the Damage it Causes

By Mark David;

It’s an everyday mantra in our culture that we must stretch to maintain healthy, flexible joints.  But is this really the truth? Or could stretching actually be damaging us instead of preventing us from injuries?

A joint is where two bones meet and are connected together.  For example, the femur cannot only move back and forth, but it can rotate as well, which gives you the ability to move your leg in all directions – forward, backward, to the side, and across the other leg.  If the leg bone wasn’t attached to the hip bone, none of these movements would be possible.  It’s only because of the ligaments, which hold the joints together, that these movements can take place.

How does Stretching Damage the body?
 
When we partake in conventional stretching regimens, what we are actually doing is stretching our ligaments and causing them to become loose.  These loose ligaments will allow the joint more freedom to move and increase flexibility, but at the dangerous price of a less stable joint.  As you can imagine, ligaments that are loose will allow the joint more wiggle room and increase the chances of dislocation.

“If you stretch one of your joints to the point of pain and burning to increase flexibility,

you are stretching the ligaments that give the joint its stability.”

- Fredrick Hahn

Although the revelation that stretching can damage the body might trigger anger in longtime advocates of stretching, the good news is that there’s another way to increase flexibility that comes with no increased risk of injury.  In fact, increasing flexibility the proper way will actually increase the stability of the joint and at the same time greatly decrease your risk of injury.

What is the Cause of Inflexibility?

Inflexibility is a safety mechanism that our bodies employ to prevent injury due to lack of enough strength to operate in the unattainable range.  That’s right.  The reason why our joints become inflexible is because our  muscles are not strong enough to safely move it through the entire range of motion.

Increase Strength to Increase Flexibility

Muscle strength actually enhances flexibility.  As author Fredrick Hahn points out in The Slowburn Fitness Revolution, “Trained muscle is not only stronger, it is more supple, has improved circulation, is better hydrated, and can exert much greater force across the joint.”  He continues by saying that “Strong muscles moving the joint through its full range of motion while maintaining the integrity of the ligaments produce optimal, stable flexibility.”

A recent study, conducted by researchers at Democritus University in Greece, has compared the flexibility subjects gained from 3 different protocols.  The first group did nothing, the second undertook an intensive strength-training program of weight lifting only, the third group engaged in vigorous aerobic exercise only, and the fourth group did both strength training and aerobics.  Their findings may surprise you!

The strength-trained subjects had enormous increases in flexibility in all seven categories, the men who jogged and walked showed minimal increases in flexibility but only of their hips, and the group who participated in both aerobics and strength training increased their flexibility to the same degree as those who underwent strength training alone.

So if you want to enhance your flexibility, forget about stretching, yoga, pilates, and all the rest.  “Clearly,” writes Hahn, “if it’s improvement in flexibility you want, strength training is the way to get it.”

Your question: Do you believe stretching is important for flexibility? (post your comments below)

Sources:

University of Maryland Medical Center: Cough

"Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine"; Effect of Honey, Dextromethorphan, and No Treatment on Nocturnal Cough and Sleep Quality for Coughing Children and Their Parents

"Natural, Alternative and Complementary Health Care Practices"; Roxana Huebscher, Pamela A. Shuler; 2004

"1,801 Home Remedies: Trustworthy Treatments for Everyday Health Problems"; Reader's Digest; 2004

"Jude's Herbal Home Remedies"; Jude C. Williams, Jude Todd; 2002

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/132856-natural-homemade-cough-remedies-suppressants/#ixzz2CXAWUfcW

The Slow Burn Fitness Revolution, Hahn, Fredrick.
Relax into Stretch: Instant Flexibility Through Mastering Muscle Tension, Tsatsouline, Pavel.

University of Maryland Medical Center: Cough

"Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine"; Effect of Honey, Dextromethorphan, and No Treatment on Nocturnal Cough and Sleep Quality for Coughing Children and Their Parents

"Natural, Alternative and Complementary Health Care Practices"; Roxana Huebscher, Pamela A. Shuler; 2004

"1,801 Home Remedies: Trustworthy Treatments for Everyday Health Problems"; Reader's Digest; 2004

"Jude's Herbal Home Remedies"; Jude C. Williams, Jude Todd; 2002

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/132856-natural-homemade-cough-remedies-suppressants/#ixzz2CXAWUfcW

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About the Author: My name is Mark David.  When I was 12 years old, my mother died of cancer.  It was the most traumatic and difficult experience I’ve ever had to deal with.  When I tell people this, many try to convince me it was a horrible tragedy and comfort me as if I’m some helpless victim, and while I appreciate the kind gestures, I don’t see it that way.  My mother lives on inside me, her energy still very much alive, and together we are an unstoppable force for changing this world.

Read More: www.endalldisease.com

The Uncharted Territory of Remote Healing

By Ida Lawrence;

There was a time in the US when chiropractors were looked at with suspicion, homeopaths and herbalists were considered quacks, and naturopaths, acupuncturists, ayurvedic medicine practitioners, rolfers… these were unheard of. Well, things change. Alternative medicine is the preferred choice of millions of people now, and for very good reason.

Who doesn’t know that the human body is energy, with energy vortexes and channels? Your mainstream medical doctor, that’s who. Western medicine is a little slow on the uptake, but that’s okay. We’ll move on. They’re great when it comes to traumatic injury, tests and diagnosis, but for dealing with the source of disease they’re quick to confess… we don’t know.

Well, who does know the human body is energy? Your local theoretical physicist will tell you, and so will the metaphysician next door. I’m joking… but not. Turns out everybody is local, but we’ll get to that in a minute.

How does disease enter the body? Bad food, too much food, no nutrition, toxic substances, viruses and bacteria, stressful thoughts, attachment to negative emotions and going stagnant from too much sitting… to name a few. To be healthy, we do our best to avoid the disease causing factors.

But what about energy? How can we affect energy to heal the body or maintain health? Acupuncture is a very old health system that works to circulate and balance energy, medical Chi Kung is another and metaphysical energy work is another. These methods work on channels and blocks or clusters within the physical body and within the etheric body which surrounds the physical. The practitioner is with you, either hands-on or near you, affecting the etheric.

Here is where the real new frontier begins: as the matrix ponders how to genetically modify and patent human embryos, we step off across the universe into the most liberating health technology ever! I get excited. There are healers who can work on you when they are thousands of miles away from you. I hope this doesn’t sound like fantasy, because yes, this is real. A healer can work on you from anywhere… such work is called remote healing.

To understand how, it is important to return again to the fact that we are all energy. In the energetic reality of the universe, there is no distance. We are all local, like I said. I’m sure you’ve had a taste of this in telepathy… no magic… just the vast reality of what we are and ‘what is’.

The remote healer can view or feel the energy of the person they are going to work on from any physical distance, as each person’s energy signature is as unique as their life experience. The feeling of us is the information of us and even the sound of us… all of our information including that which needs to be cleared and adjusted to facilitate healing. The healer needs only to tune in and locate the resonance, and this is done through natural abilities, meditation and deep relaxation or trance.

I’m going to focus on my own remote healing experiences with Soren Dreier. He is a more than 20 year veteran of energy reading, hands-on healing and remote healing, living in Denmark. In a later piece I’ll cover experiences with a remote healer in the US, and a remote self-healing group process as well. In these two pieces you should be able to see just how effective, deep, long-lasting and unique remote healing can be. Healers see differently, they notice and deal with different physical or psychological issues, and they feel different to me when they come in for a visit.

I first arranged an energy reading with Soren, and that was mind blowing and life changing in and of itself. He delivered his report in an mp3 sound file, and it was interesting to hear the resonance of his voice… a very encouraging resonance. I didn’t realize the significance until several months later when I scheduled a remote healing.

Soren is quite well-known: not someone you’ve seen being interviewed by Oprah, but a person long recognized and highly regarded in the field of metaphysics and new-age thought. I experience his energy as large, open and very loving.

Before a scheduled healing takes place, I will relax in a private space and enter into meditation. It’s funny, but I can usually tell when he comes in because there will be a tickle on my nose and I’ll realize… Soren’s here.

During the healing I experience physical sensations such as tingling in the arms and hands, waves of energy rolling up and down my body, and visions in the mind’s eye… colors, a person’s hands, children playing and so on. I sense him working about a foot above my body. Everybody’s experience would be different… this is just mine.

Later, Soren was kind enough to tell me what he experiences, in general terms.

He is not influenced by the physical embodiment of the person when he views the person. He uses focused and conscious attention and breath, and enters quantum field where he can see minor adjustments that need to be made, and unhealthy patterns.

He will first work on high impact areas, which are usually the kidneys and liver, lungs, shoulders and hips. As he moves energy from the feet up to the head he can feel where the problems are as the movement of his hands slows down. Amazing as it may sound to us, he does remove an etheric body part if necessary, work on it, and place it back. He will hold the person’s head in his hands, make a spinal or joint adjustment and clear clusters of energy from an organ. The etheric body issues are mirrored in the physical body.

A person’s energy vortexes (chakras) have a sound, which he can hear. All energetics are based on sound frequencies, and can be adjusted with sound. If the vortex is off pitch, related to stress, he will tune it with his voice.

The meridians can be viewed as colors. After he has balanced the energy, the meridians will all appear to him as gold. There is much more that can be viewed during a remote healing, such as the energies of another person affecting the quantum field of an individual. He works on this as well.

This kind of work is like that of an explorer in uncharted territory. Soren’s system is his own system, and there is no school of thought other than the healer’s own school.

Healing through the energetic process can take time, as illness is sometimes hard for an individual to let go of. Trust and receptivity of the person being healed can be a factor, and Soren is extremely patient with that. If people are not happy with their healing, he will repeat it.

Well, I hope I’ve given you an idea of how doctors in the renewal might be a little different than doctors of today! As to my own healing, after the first time Soren visited I got up and looked in the mirror and my face was bright and glowing… it shocked me to be honest. I felt highly energized and relieved of shoulder and hand pain from rheumatoid arthritis.

After the healing series, Soren prepares an mp3. The reason we feel so good when listening to it, is that his voice frequencies can be felt in the solar plexus, and they are specifically aimed to continue the healing process.

The heightened energy from my healing lasted for a full two weeks, so much so that I’ve stopped taking steroids, which I’ve wanted to do for 28 years. This disease was a long time coming, so it may take me some time to release it completely, but the process is happening.

I know I’m taking you a long distance when talking about remote healing and self healing, and yet openness to alternatives has taken millions in the direction of freedom from symptom and disease-based medicine. Acknowledging that we are energy, and disease begins in the etheric and moves to the physical, gives us a glimpse of that future world where there is no more disease. Everything is energy and everyone can heal… so let’s continue to explore the uncharted territory of remote healing. There’s more to come!

Your question: Have you ever performed or experienced remote healing? (post your comments below)
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About the Author: Ida Lawrence is an author, blogger, copywriter and editor based in Atlanta, Georgia. She has authored two books on racial justice and human rights, and numerous articles on human rights, self-empowerment and related subjects. Ida is also a certified Tai Chi instructor with a special interest in helping seniors and the disabled with Tai Chi and Chi Kung practices modified for their use. Her goal in life has been to find answers to the question of ‘why’ and then to explore the question of ‘what is’. More of her work is available at her personal blog, http://talk2momz.com/.

Read more: www.wakingtimes.com

Therapeutic Benefits of Manual Lymphatic Drainage

By Dr. Tonya Cremin;

Most people are familiar with deep tissue, hot stone, or sports massage and the therapeutic benefits they have on the mind and body. But many aren't aware of another type of therapeutic massage that helps to release toxins in your body - manual lymphatic drainage.

Lymphatic drainage is a gentle form of massage that stimulates the lymphatic system to promote the removal of bodily toxins and waste and encourages a healthy immune system. To fully understand the benefits of lymphatic drainage, it helps to learn more about the lymphatic system.

The lymphatic system is an extensive drainage network that helps keep bodily fluid levels in balance and defends the body against infections. It is made up of lymphatic vessels that carry lymph - a clear, watery fluid that contains nutrients - throughout the body.

Lymph fluid flows through the lymph nodes, which act as filters trapping anything harmful that the body doesn't need. This includes bacteria, viruses, damaged cells, or cancer cells. When bacteria or other immune threats are present in lymph, lymph nodes increase production of infection-fighting white blood cells, which can cause the nodes to swell. The human body has between 400-700 lymph nodes depending on the person.

The lymphatic system has no "pump" of its own to move lymph through the system. Rather, regular body movement and breathing function to move liquid lymph through the vessels and filters of the lymph nodes. For people who get too little exercise and eat too much processed food, the lymphatic system can easily be overtaxed and not function efficiently - leaving your body susceptible to infection and disease. By stimulating the lymph nodes through massage, it helps to clear any blockages and gives the lymphatic system a boost keeping it running healthy and strong.

What to expect

Lymphatic drainage is a specialized hand technique that consists of very gentle and rhythmic movements, administered by a highly trained therapist. Each stroke slightly moves the skin in the direction of the lymphatic flow to encourage the drainage of fluid and waste.

Depending what your complaints are, the focus of a lymph massage for general immune stimulation is typically on the upper body, including the face, neck, and arms. After your lymph massage, it's important to drink plenty of water, reduce your salt intake and avoid alcohol.

Benefits

Lymphatic drainage massage can benefit just about everyone. The benefits are many and include:

Detox: At the end of winter the body benefits from lymphatic drainage to reduce the sluggishness brought on by consuming too many starchy, high fat foods and getting too little exercise.

Headache: Most headaches including those resulting from sinusitis have a component of congestion that responds well to lymphatic drainage. Once tissue is decongested, blocked fluid and blood flow improve, reducing pain and discomfort.

Promote healing: After surgery or injury, tissues may be swollen and sore. Lymphatic drainage will help drain the tissues, reduce inflammation and improve healing.

Pregnancy and after: There is often fluid retention in pregnant women and lymphatic drainage can improve comfort especially in the legs and feet.

Reduce swelling: After long periods of immobility such as air travel, fluid tends to stagnate in the tissues making them puffy and tender. This condition responds well when fluid is reduced with lymphatic drainage.

Reduces scar tissue: lymph drainage regenerates tissues to reduce scarring at surgical incision sites.

Your question: Have you ever tried a lymphatic drainage massage? (post your comments below)
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About the Author: Tonya Cremin, Physician of Osteopathic Medicine and founder of Fairfield County Integrative Family Medicine and Healing Therapies, provides a whole-life approach to preventive healthcare and care of chronic and acute conditions. Dr. Cremin treats patients with osteopathic manipulation (OMT or OMM), to help with pain or other medical conditions. Additionally, her specialized training allows her to confidently advise patients regarding use of a wide variety of complementary and alternative modalities, including, but not limited to, nutrition advice, use of herbs and supplements, acupuncture, yoga, and hypnosis. To learn more, visit http://www.integrativefamilypracticect.com.