Test Your Indoor Air Quality!
1) Does your home have carpeting?
* Carpeting captures dust, dirt, chemicals and everything we track in from the outdoors. Carpeting also outgases formaldehydes and other chemicals used in processing.
2) Do you have an attached garage?
* Carbon monoxide from cars running in the garage (even for a few minutes), will enter the home no matter how insulated the garage is.
3) Do you have any indoor furry pets?
* All pets with fur create some dander, dust and odors into your environment.
4) Do you allow smoking in your home?
* Smoke is made up of over 400 chemicals and will remain in your environment for up to 10 years.
5) Do you use store-bought cleaning products in your home?
* Just because a cleaning product is available in a store does not mean it is safe. 99% of all store-brand cleaning products are highly toxic. The fumes don't just disappear, but are present in the air and on surfaces until someone touches them or inhales them.
6) Do you dry-clean some of your clothes?
* Dry cleaning uses many chemicals that outgas into your air.
7) Do people live in your house?
* Sounds silly, but people cough, sneeze, constantly shed skin, etc. We are constant
pollution producers.
8) If you open your windows for 'fresh air' do you have a street, factory, animals or other pollution carrier close to your home?
* Cars, factory pollution and even farm animals can create odors and/or chemicals that will float into your house.
If you answered YES to 3 or more of these questions, then you may have some indoor air issues that need to be addressed!
Most of the above problems can be easily fixed with some simple Healthy Home tips.
Subscribe to the monthly issue of Healthy Home Tips at www.healthy-environments.com
Maybe your home needs an Air Purifier or an induct unit! Contact ~ Healthy Environments, Inc. for a FREE Indoor Air analysis at www.healthy-environments.com or toll free at 1-866-629-6911 /locally at 847-543-8372
When Your Emotions Become Like Ticking Bombs & Cause Disease
Doctors have been preaching to their patients how important it is to eat a healthy balanced diet and to exercise on a regular basis. It is also advised to limit our fat intake because it is unhealthy. Many people believe that by taking vitamin and mineral supplements they will ensure themselves that any deficiency they have will be taken care of.
If all the information that has been preached to us about disease and health is true, then how is it that a person such as myself could become chronically sick? Before I became chronically sick, I worked out four to five days a week and ate very well. I ate a varied and healthy diet and also limited my intake of saturated fats. So, how did I become chronically sick after following such an active and healthy lifestyle?
Well, although dis-ease is a physical manifestation, the root causes of most illnesses are not physical. The true root causes of almost every dis-ease lie deep within every person that is ill. In essence, we create every illness that we experience, be it on a subconscious level or an unconscious level. So, how is that possible?
How can we possibly cause ourselves these kinds of circumstances? Well, there are distinct emotional and mental patterns associated with every illness. The way you choose to use your mind and the way you respond to your outer world have more to do with disease than your diet and your environment.
We have heard in recent years how stress can kill you. Well, it is really not the stress in and of itself that will kill you, it is the way you choose to process the stress that could hurt you or make you very sick. The body in essence is a mirror of our inner thoughts, emotions and beliefs. Every single cell in your body has its own intelligence and is able to listen to what you are thinking and feel what you are expressing emotionally.
In reality, your cells and your body respond to every thought you think, every emotion you have and every word you speak. Repetitive modes of thinking and suppressing negative emotions such as anger, resentment, bitterness, and hatred can and will eventually manifest as dis-ease in the body. Literally, your suppressed emotions become like ticking bombs waiting for the perfect conditions to detonate and manifest as dis-ease.
There is a philosophy/science called metaphysics. Metaphysics deals with primarily how there are many factors in the universe in which can not be reasoned with the five senses of the human body. In the aspect of disease, metaphysics proposes that there are distinct emotional and mental factors that contribute to the manifestation to each correlating disease. The correlation between patterns of emotions and thought to a specific disease can be so profoundly true.
For example, let's take a person with heart disease. Metaphysically speaking, the heart represents love and our blood represents joy. Our hearts pump this joy throughout our bodies. When someone lacks joy and love for their life, the heart shrinks and becomes cold and thus the blood becomes sluggish. At this point, one is subjecting themselves for heart conditions such as angina, arteriosclerosis, and deposits in the arteries. In fact, if you were to look at most people who have heart disease, you will find a lack of joy and love in their life.
Another metaphysical correlation of suppressed emotions and illness would be that of cancer. This disease is typically found in people who carry deep anger for either themselves or resentment for other people and circumstances that occurred in the past. These people were very hurt by the past event and usually carry hatred for a long period of time until it literally starts eating away at the body and manifests as cancer.
I hope by now that you can begin to see a deep correlation between a person's emotional and mental state and the disease they carry. Whenever a person comes down with any disease, they need to look at themselves and see what they have been thinking or what emotions they have been suppressing.
Many times though, the triggering emotional and mental factors for a specific disease occurred many months to even years before the manifestation of the illness itself. It is key to discover the true root factors that triggered the manifestation of the illness. Even conditions such as the so-called common cold and the flu may have distinct emotional and mental factors contributing to them.
Any time you are sick in general, you need to listen to your body and hear what it is telling you. Instead of always looking for a magic blue pill or a magic supplement, one needs to be more conscious of their bodies. If you are chronically sick then you need to assume full responsibility for your own health. No doctor or drug can cure you of any illness. You have the cure within you to eliminate any disease. God equipped all of us with everything that we will ever need in this world.
How dis-ease really gets manifested in the body
Symptoms of illness result from only the following 3 factors: 1) Toxic Thoughts 2) Toxic Emotions 3) Toxic Chemicals produced in your body from your negative emotions.
Your toxic (negative) thoughts, which really determine your perception of life events, cause you to have negative emotions, which cause the cells of your body to create toxic chemicals and in turn cause your body to create toxic cells that lead to DIS-EASE.
Science is now proving that when you are in a state of distress and disharmony, your cells produce toxic chemicals that tend to deteriorate and degenerate the body.
Anytime you move into stress and disharmony you express negative emotions that literally create toxic chemicals in your cells. This causes your body to be in a state of degeneration and stagnation. Once you are in this state, you then become susceptible to attract viruses, harmful bacteria, parasites, candida (fungi), and also store toxic chemicals from food and pollution since you will not be detoxifying properly.
Also, when you are stressed out or carry any of the negative emotions such as anger, resentment, hatred, impatience, etc., you tense up. This tensing up causes many of your biological processes to be impaired. Nutrient transport, cell respiration, detoxification, elimination, digestion, assimilation, hormone production and brain function become severely disrupted leading to a gradual degeneration in your whole system.
Emotional stress has the biggest impact on your immune system above any other factor. If you are in a state of balance and harmony mentally, emotionally, and physically, then illness simply can not set in the body. Most people have not been taught how to deal with stress and live in a balanced fashion. The society of today promotes drama, stress and struggle. The secret then is that the suppressing and storing of emotions are the true root cause of most illnesses.
Diet and environment do help to contribute to disease, however, they are not the underlying cause for it. Just look at anyone who is calm and approaches life in a balanced fashion. These people rarely get sick and will almost never get chronically sick. Chronically sick people are ones that are typically very emotional and/or have had serious traumatic experiences in their past. They are also people who tend to hold onto emotions correlating to these past events.
The big secret that many health organizations don't want you knowing is that the body has a divine blueprint for perfect health. Every single cell in your body has its own intelligence and is programmed for optimum functioning. Due to this divine blueprint, the body knows exactly how to heal itself no matter what illness, injury or imbalance that may be present.
The key is to know how to use this blueprint to restore your health or improve your current state of health to optimum functioning. Once you know how to tap into this cellular blueprint for perfect health, you can then heal yourself from any illness.
Divine Blueprint for Perfect Health
Let's use an example of how this blueprint for perfect health works. Let's say that you cut your finger. What most people are unaware of is that the second the cut happens, there are biological processes that start immediately to regenerate and heal the wound.
Due to the cellular programming in your body for perfect restoration, all the necessary processes and substances to heal the wound are automatically carried out perfectly. Accordingly, after about a week the cut is healed completely and you would never know that there ever was an injury.
Another example of the divine perfection of the body and how it is intelligent is when you break a bone. Here is another instance where the body starts immediately to repair and regenerate what is out of equilibrium with its divine blueprint. Again, after about 6 weeks the bone is healed completely and it is actually stronger at the point of the break than it was before.
So from these 2 examples, it is quite clear that the body knows exactly how to heal itself from anything that it is presented with. The question really isn't can a person heal from a chronic illness, but rather does the person have the correct information to use to heal themselves?
True Healing
So, how does one begin to heal the emotional and mental traumas from one's past? The secret to healing yourself on all levels of your being is to learn how to let go and forgive. Learning how to forgive yourself and all the people who you perceived as hurting you is the best remedy for any life issue whether it is a chronic disease or an unhealthy relationship with a family member or past lover.
Notice that I said perceived as someone who hurt you. The fact is, no one can ever hurt you in life. You can only allow yourself to be hurt. The mental and emotional grief that you have experienced in life was really due to the perceptions that you had about each life event. The key is to learn how to change your perception in life.
I have found through personal experience that forgiveness is absolutely the best remedy for any life issue. I know that as I began to forgive the people that I thought wronged me, my health and my life started to improve dramatically. The question I ask of any person that says they are chronically sick or has any type of health ailment is...Who is the problem?
Forgiveness can actually heal you of disease. I will say that forgiveness is the magic cure that many people in life are looking for. There are many people who carry hatred, resentment, anger and bitterness toward the people they think hurt them. These emotions set in the body and get stored over the years until they manifest as disease and other imbalances. Your emotions also get stored in your energy fields and form blockages. There are now scientific instruments that can read your energy fields (aura) and are able to tell where you have energy blockages. Based on where you have energy blocks in your aura, you will be more susceptible to acquire certain diseases.
In essence, if you could read people's energy fields (aura), you could tell where they are blocked energetically and be able to predict what specific diseases they are more inclined to come down with.
Releasing old emotions will cause shifts in your energy fields and thus free up the energy blockages that you may have. That is why letting go of old STUFF can do wonders for your health.
I have heard of people having miraculous cures of their illness once they decided to forgive someone for the past. In fact, there are health promoting biochemical changes that happen in a person's body when they are in a state of forgiveness.
So, how do you forgive you might be saying? Forgiveness is not some hard and complex process like many people believe. It does not take extended energy and time and requires no knowledge of how to do it. Here is the secret answer to forgiveness. Forgiveness starts with a thought. The thought of really wanting to forgive the person in question, letting the past event go and releasing the need to be right. The rest GOD will take of as long as you are sincere in wanting to forgive the person.
That is it!! Pretty simple huh? It does work! Just do it. The sooner you do, the sooner you will feel like a mountain has been lifted off of your shoulders. Not only do you free yourself but you also free the other person. Even if the other person never finds out that you have forgiven them, they will experience a release of some kind on some level.
One bit of advice I can give is that to be able to forgive someone else, you have to forgive yourself first. The same principle applies here where you simply just let go of the past, have the thought of forgiving yourself and release any anger or pain from the past event.
If you can really absorb the information that follows, you will be well on your way to healing yourself from whatever illness you have and/or creating optimum health.
The Formula For Complete Healing
1) Assume Full Responsibility for your illness. No one out there can ever heal you. It is your duty to heal all levels of your being to be completely well. By educating and empowering yourself with sound holistic health knowledge, you will be well on your way to healing.
2) Commitment; doing whatever it takes to heal yourself. I would have walked to the North Pole and back if I had to. Just be committed to do whatever you have to do to heal regardless of how much money and energy you have to expend.
3) Forgiveness- as explained earlier will be the best medicine for your recovery.
4) Implementing a diet and environment that will support your physical health. (You will learn how to do this throughout this book.)
5) Learning how to adjust your thoughts and emotions to support long term health.
Holistic modalities and true organic supplements can help you to heal on a physical level but only when you assume full responsibility for your health and become conscious of your full being. You are a multidimensional being with a complex psyche. You need to learn how to balance your multidimensionality.
The only way one can truly heal from any disease is through healing every level of their being. One needs to look at their mind-body-spirit complex and work to heal those areas that are out of balance. Without such balance, one can never truly heal!
AT THE SOURCE OF EVERY ILLNESS, LIES ITS CURE!!!
Rino Soriano specializes in helping chronically sick people to restore their health. After healing himself from chronic fatigue syndrome, he is now on a mission to help other chronically sick people to regain their health and their lives.
Rino calls himself The Chronic Disease Buster since he feels that once a person has the proper information about disease and healing then busting through their illness becomes easy.
Educating & Empowering People for Optimum Health
www.holistichealthexpert.com
rino@holistichealthexpert.com
Focus Your Light: Earning Money From Home When You Have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome /Fibromyalgia
But you **can** do something in your day - it just may not be much...
... so all you have to do is 'focus your light' - focus your energy!
Most healthy people have oodles of energy - but many don't focus on anything in particular and so they don't feel that they get anything done.
In essence, many people - healthy or otherwise - sadly lack direction. They lack focus...
Even the tiniest amount of energy - directed every day (or every other day or basically, when you feel well enough) towards a goal - in the end, and after time, forms a huge result.
No matter how much energy you have - if you focus that little amount of the energy on working from home - setting up your own project - you will get there.
After all...
... the snail wins the race!
It's not a question of:
"But how can I make money? I have nothing to sell!" - that's the one objection pretty much every CFS or FM sufferer that I have talked to, initially comes up with.
I say 'initially' because after I've explained to them the different ways in which they can make money online, something 'clicks'...
All you need is a computer, the Internet, and a passion about something. ANYTHING!
We live in a world where knowledge is KING. People are hungry for knowledge - and everyone - EVERYONE - knows something about SOMETHING.
It might be about how to manage 3 kids during the holidays. It might be about your faith in a religion or about spirituality. It might be about your interest in history, pets, makeup, knitting, fishing, model planes, sport, massage, quilting, sewing, gardening, computers, chess, cooking, travelling, cars...
You might know about ways to entertain toddlers and young kids (for baby-sitters and young mothers). You might know about how to be super organised - or maybe you're good with numbers?
You may know a lot about your local area - its history - or great places to go out to - or beautiful nature trails in your area. You may know about an area you visit often on holiday...
What matters is that you know about something that you can write about - that you can either sell in the form of an e-book (easier than you think), or that you can put on your own website (also easier than you think), to attract visitors.
We'll look at how easy it is to set up your own website in forthcoming issues.
Having your own website on a topic you are passionate about is the BEST way to generate long-term income - if you do it properly.
The point is that YOU know SOMETHING about SOMETHING that SOMEONE ELSE wants to learn about! YOU have knowledge - that someone else is looking for!
The point is that the only thing you need to bring to the table is passion and the motivation to work......which won't actually feel like **work** when you're doing something you love anyway!
And the great thing about working on your own project is that you can work WHEN you want, for HOW LONG you want, and on WHAT you want.
If you can only manage 25 minutes one day, then that's 25 minutes more than you would have done if you had done nothing! If you can manage 2 hours on another day - even better! If you can't manage to do anything another day, then so be it!
It doesn't matter because you have no-one to answer to but yourself! Because it's YOUR project!
YOU set the pace...
... focus your energy and you can have your own income-earning web project in months.
This is so important that I'm going to repeat it!!!
Focus your energy and you can have your own income-earning web project in months!!!
I'll leave you with a little quote:
"We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about."
-- Albert Einstein (1879-1955)--
And good luck! This is the beginning of a fantastic journey!
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How to Clean-up Your Allergies with 2 Easy Home Tips
So how can you stop this yearly cycle? What can you do at home to end this increased intrusion of allergy problems. Where can you go for relief if your allergies have gotten out of hand.
Would you like to:
? Enjoy parks and other outdoor public areas
? Have pets that you can live with
? Eat foods you have avoided
? Feel great without fatigue
? Sleep better than ever
? Relieve stress - often allergies increase stress to your system.
Keeping your body detoxing (self-cleaning) is one of two important steps you can do at home. A simple Yoga pose done correctly can keep your own personal cleaning crew (your immune system) in tune.
Sit on the floor as in the picture on your heels with feet 2 inches apart. Exhale as you slowly bend forward toward floor with your upper body. Try to have your forehead touch the floor in front of you. Place your arms on floor place with hands under your feet and index finger in the valley or web between the big toe and the 2nd toe. Breathe in deeply. Breathe in and out slowly for 1 minute. Your goal is to work up to 2 minutes. After each time relax on your back and allow your muscles to relax for a few minutes. This pose stimulates the body's ability to cleanse itself. It helps detox the liver, lungs, stomach, spleen and bladder.
Secondly, how clean is your environment? Clients often come to me to treat their allergies however, if your home and office need a good seasonal cleaning allergy treatments only will work for a short time - even if your problem is food centered.
Many foods contain natural molds, for example bananas, grapes, and most other fruits. Or their own dust such as anything than can made into a 'flour' like wheat, corn, potatoes, and more. So keep your home and office as clean as possible. The accumulation of dust and mold in your office or home and on foods can actually "create" allergy intolerance. Here are a few tips:
Detox your home and office. Use Organic products found at the local health food market.
Dust using a damp cloth. Safe organic dusting products keep your environment toxin free
Use machine washable curtains and clean regularly. Natural laundry soap is best
Don't store things under the bed. Dust or vacuum under beds weekly.
Do not allow stuffed animals in the bedroom - inside materials often contain sawdust.
Remove dust catchers like pennants, pictures, trophies, books, models and dried or silk flowers from bedroom
Use an air filter and clean filters regularly
Vacuum furniture and carpet regularly. Use a newer vacuum that doesn't use bags and comes equipped with a self-cleaning air filter system so dust doesn't go into the air.
Limit birds, animals or reptiles in the house.
Bath your household animals often. This means every 7 to 14 days.
If you have a pet allergy do not sleep with your pet. Provide them with their own bed right outside your bedroom door for both your comfort.
Don't groom animals in the house.
For more information on allergies and treatments please read the full article: How to Stop Your Allergies in 7 Easy Steps in our website archives.
The Wealth Connection - 2 Steps to Brighten Your Golden Years Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
Envision your life 10 or even 20 years from now. Where do you plan to be? What are you doing and with whom?
Most of us between the age of 35 and 50 years hope to be retired to some degree in 15 to 20 years or less. We see ourselves living on retirement funds enjoying life and family. I have never had a client tell me they see themselves penniless or sick. Yet, these same clients fail to have a full plan.
They may have a retirement fund at work and other investments but how are these performing? Did you plan a financial foundation? What does your Wellness Investment program look like?
Many people tell me they don't have a financial foundation program or Wellness Investment program in place. Regardless of age and health it is never too late to start planning. It is better than no plan at all. In this article I will give you 2 of the 21 most important Wealth Connection Steps I offer in my online course.
Ask yourself, how does wealth connect to your health? Does it at all? Today most people would agree that finances play a part in how we feel. Lacking funds can add stress to one's life and play a major part in your health. Ill-health can rapidly eat away at savings if you do not have a wellness plan other than health insurance.
In fact, I advise you rethink health insurance. What I mean by this is that it is what it says it is. Health insurance is for ill-health issues. Only a few "health insurance" programs are wellness insurance.
Health insurance also dictates the kind of care you can receive. Wellness insurance on the other hand is still an emerging system. A few companies do offer these types of plans and we do not endorse any insurance company as my job is to educate you a bit and you must look at what is right for your specific needs.
The wellness insurance programs I have seen work like this. The self employed or business can purchase these programs. They have major medical benefits for hospital and sometimes prescription drugs. They also have a "fund" where part of your premium goes that earns interest. That's right interest. You can use this money for any type of care you desire including alternative medicine of your choice. Any funds you don't use in a given year stays in your personal account earning interest year after year. At a certain age you can take this money out and use it. I have seen accounts that reach 30k and more. Why buy health insurance you do not use?
Step One Look into Wellness Insurance programs. Only purchase from a known insurance company. One whose name you have heard of in the past that offers regular polices as well. It is buyers beware market so do your research.
Step Two What amount do you personally put into your saving account each week? Most people say I have it drawn from my paycheck. This is not what I mean. Think about how much you spend each day on simple things like coffee or food. Can you spare $5.00 per week? I have only met one person who said they couldn't even save this much. Six months later this person who didn't become a client phoned me and said they had been doing it and it really worked. Here's the plan short and sweet - I go into more detail in my online program. Contact my office for more details of how to receive a free 7-part on line e-course.
Each week whether you have your paycheck direct deposited or not; have as much as you can afford withdrawn from your account and placed in a savings plan at an investment firm like Charles Schwab. Use who you wish and make sure they have an automatic withdrawal program and that the funds go into a savings program.
Every quarter double the amount you are putting in. If you find you really aren't missing this money from your daily life; double it every month. Don't be surprised if you start looking forward to saving and adding more to how much you 'put away' each week.
Once this account is equal to 6 months income we move this money into a different type of account I go into future foundation steps in the online program. But we keep putting funds into the savings.
What happens is we have at the base a 6 to 9 month savings account earning a bit better than a bank savings account. Next level is a certain type of money market with the same amount of funds earning a slightly higher interest rate, and so on up through Our Wealth Mastery program.
Point in fact, recently "Today on MSN" offered a glance at the habit of millionaires. Simple foundational planning won hands down.
Bonus Tip Invest in your wellness. Visit an alternative doctor like a NCCAOM licensed acupuncturist. This ensures you are seeing someone who has completed an accredited program at an Oriental Medical College. Many acupuncturists are licensed through medical doctor or chiropractic programs. These programs lack in training and number of hours to meet. Make sure your practitioner is an active member of The National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. Even if you love your doctor, choose a NCCAOM acupuncturist for this job - after all would you take your child to a gynecologist just because they deliver babies?
Or if you own a Porsche would you take it to a Honda dealership just because you also own a Honda. No, we take our loved ones and possessions to the experts. Do the same with your health.
Why do I suggest an acupuncturist? They are trained in wellness care and health care. Oriental Medicine practitioners know how to work with all types of illness and keep you well. Plan ahead even if you feel great get an evaluation now and follow a wellness program so that you continue to feel great into your golden years.
A wellness program may simply mean visiting your acupuncturist and massage therapist one time each month. Add up the dollars you save by not getting sick. Invest this savings in your financial foundation.
If you have health issues, think how you will be in 10 years from now if you keep ignoring and minimizing your health, using drugs or having surgery without exploring other options. Acupuncture is virtually painless and offers greater relaxation than even massage.
Dr. Debra Novotny L.Ac, D. Hom; ND www.alternativehealthmentor.com
Discover The Missing Key to Improving Your Health
Here they are?
1. Heart disease
2. Cancer
3. Stroke
4. Lower-respiratory diseases
5. Injury (mostly car accidents)
6. Diabetes
7. Flu and pneumonia
8. Alzheimer's disease
9. Kidney disease
10. Infection
Source: 1999-2001 mortality statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Most of us want to live long, productive, pain free lives.
So, then, why are so many people dying from heart disease, cancer and strokes - most of which can be prevented through lifestyle changes?
***Health Is More Than Just Physical***
Health is defined in Webster's dictionary as "sound physical or mental condition". Did you notice this definition only includes physical health and mental health? What about emotional health and spiritual health? So many times I separate my life into different "file folders".
I have a folder for exercise and diet, a folder for my relationship with God, a folder for my social life, and another folder for my emotions?.can anyone else relate? I try to fix my exercise and diet without addressing my emotions. Or I try to overcome a difficult relationship in my "social folder" without addressing my relationship with God.
I try to separate myself -- my emotions, my mind, my spirit and my body into different parts. And it just doesn't work.
***Water, Ice & Steam - The Same Substance In Different Forms***
Let's take the example of water. It has different functions as water, ice and steam, but it is still the same basic molecular substance. H2O.
Similarly, I believe each one of us has different parts - our emotions, mind, spirit and body, but they all interrelate to one another. They can't be separated. Picture three circles. Now picture them all overlapping. I believe the three circles are your emotions, mind and body and where they all overlap - the core of your being - is your spirit. Your deepest beliefs and desires.
Have you ever noticed that when you feel depressed it is harder to exercise? Or if you suffer from physical pain it is harder to concentrate mentally on your work?
***Fitness Trends - Yoga, Pilates & Wellness***
I believe one reason Yoga & Pilates have become popular fitness trends is because they try to incorporate some form of spirituality. They realize the "key" to improved health is not just physical.
There's another popular trend called "wellness". Instead of only addressing exercise, wellness also addresses other aspects of our life, such as emotional and mental health.
"The concept of total wellness recognizes that our every thought, word, and behavior affects our greater health and well-being. And we, in turn, are affected not only emotionally but also physically and spiritually." -- Greg Anderson
***Unlock Your Potential With This Key - Spirituality!***
Our bodies "were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies?. Don't you realize that your bodies are actually parts of Christ? Should a man take his body, which belongs to Christ, and join it to a prostitute? Never!.... Or don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body." 1 Corinthians 6:13, 15,19-20 (NIV)
What is the key to improving your physical health? Honor God with your body. It is as simple as that.
But, just because it is simple, does not mean it is always easy. How can you honor God with the foods you eat and the physical energy you have (or don't have)? You can honor God with your body with the choices you make each day. One of the main reasons I exercise is to have more physical energy for my daily tasks and to not feel so tired in the mornings.
Honor God with your body.
In closing, remember that "physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." 1Timothy 4:8 (NIV)
Written by Shelley Hitz, Licensed Physical Therapist and Certified NASM Personal Trainer.
Sign up for her free Exercise Advice journal at http://www.abs-exercise-advice.com/journal.html or read more of her articles at http://www.abs-exercise-advice.com. Get your free unbelievable abs ball workout here!
Taking Control of Your Health & Well-being
Taking Control of Your Health & Well-being
by Georgianna Donadio D.C., M.Sc., Ph.D.
Do you ever wonder why, in spite of all your good intentions, you just cannot seem to take control over your health and wellness the way you really want to? The answer to that question can be found in the words of Albert Einstein, who reminded us "you cannot correct a problem with the same thinking that created it". In other words, you cannot change old behaviors without new information.
The Institute of Medicine recently published a study that indicates ninety million Americans are "health illiterate", which means we do not know how to interpret or use health information to control or improve our health, or prevent chronic disease. Data compiled previously identified, "lack of information as the number one root cause of death". Understanding that there exists a cause and effect relationship between what we know and how we behave, we need a model of integrating this important information to change the behaviors that lead to chronic disease. According to a 7-year, 1996, Harvard Medical School study, approximately 70% of all cancers are preventable through lifestyle changes. Furthermore, our diseases and conditions are primarily a result of stress, food, environment, attitude, emotions or beliefs that keep us in behaviors that lead to illness. Which invites the question, are we consciously choosing to be unhealthy, or do we just not understand sufficiently the relationship between what we think, how we behave, what we put into our bodies and how we keep ourselves well or make ourselves sick?
In a world exploding with health information, especially on the internet, we are caught in the dilemma of having abundant amounts of information, without a context through which we can understand and utilize this information in a way that is appropriate for our own unique personal health needs. There is, however, good news - making its way into the mainstream of health care is an integrated model of health information and education that provides a "whole picture of health" perspective, allowing each of us to discern and create our own unique approach to taking charge of our health and well-being. Whole Health Education, developed over the past 28 years, in cooperation with Boston physicians, nurses and educators, is an approach to understanding the cause and effect our behaviors and choices have on our state of health. Demystifying the five major factors that influence how sick or well we become, Whole Health Education provides a perspective on human anatomy and physiology, bio-chemistry, psycho-social, environmental and spiritual aspects which allows for an authentic understanding of what we need know to resolve chronic health problems or to stay healthy. Integrating evidence-based information with the wisdom of various spiritual teachings and a whole-person overview of behavioral options, Whole Health Education offers each of us a tool for personal health management by providing personalized health information that explains the physical, emotional, nutritional, environmental and spiritual aspects of a health concern.
For example, Mature Onset Diabetes affects approximately 18.2 million Americans and is the leading health concern in our culture today. As all chronic conditions are, Mature Onset Diabetes is a multi-dimensional disease state and the unique Whole Health perspective, can facilitate the restoration of health for those with chronic diseases such as diabetes.
Physical/Structural
What happens on a physical and structural level with Mature Onset Diabetes? The specialized beta cells of the pancreas, which produce insulin, become incapable of producing adequate amounts of the critically necessary secretion. This happens over a period of years and can begin in our bodies, over time, by eating large amounts of insulin-provoking foods. These insulin provocateurs, which are sugars and starches in the form of complex carbohydrates, require the pancreas to produce more insulin so that the sugars can be carried over the cell membranes to all parts of the body. Serious disturbances occur when we do not have enough insulin to carry the sugar over the cell membranes. Insulin hooks onto the sugar molecule and acts like a lock and key mechanism to bring that sugar into the cell which is then used in the energy cycle of cell metabolism. The nervous system, brain and the lungs cannot function without the proper metabolism of sugars.
Emotional/Social
Just as diabetes is a lack of nourishment on a chemical/nutritional level, so is it a lack of emotional nourishment on an emotional/mental level. It relates to the "feel good" nourishment component of your body. What do we know about carbohydrates and serotonin? Carbohydrates provoke the production of serotonin. Serotonin is a neuro-transmitter that produces a feeling of well-being. There is a direct relationship between what our body is doing chemically and how we feel emotionally. When we crave or build our diet around carbohydrates, this can be a way of "self-medicating" our emotional needs by eating carbohydrates to provoke insulin production.
Sugar problems can affect us emotionally. Let's say you have a pancreas that is not working properly. What can happen somatic/psychically from the pancreas to the brain? If we are feeling the ups and downs of hypoglycemia, and its biochemical/neurological symptoms, it may undermine our sense of security, self esteem, and produce anxiety and fear.
What is the emotional component of diabetes and the pancreas? Often, it can be a poor sense of self-esteem and a fear of not being "good enough" or not belonging. These feelings, medicated by the serotonin foods, can lead us to not look deeply enough into what is causing our health concerns and allow the feeling/feeding cycle to continue.
Chemical/Nutritional
On the nutritional side, the treatment for people with Mature Onset Diabetes is to decrease the stress on the pancreas by making changes in their diet -- decrease starches and sugars and decrease calories. Eat less, eat right. What kind of a diet would be best for preventing Mature Onset Diabetes? Vegetables, vegetables, and vegetables combined with lean proteins such as fish, chicken, water, a little fruit and a little fat. In a hypoglycemic situation, it is wise not to eat grain or sugar, but sprouted grain bread, and other substitutes can be healthy and satisfying.
Because hormones are chemicals, diabetes and hypoglycemia are both hormonal-based problems. What we know about the hormone system is that it works as a balanced interdependent system. Diabetes is an endocrine-related, systemic problem. With a systemic problem like diabetes, you have a body system problem--you do not just have a condition by itself. It is known that the pancreas is related, through hormone interaction, to the adrenals, and the adrenals are in turn related to the reproductive system. It is known that these glands are related through hormone interactions to the pituitary and the pituitary is related to the thyroid gland, the thyroid is related to the thymus, and the thymus is related to the immune system.
Environmental/Internal & External
The environment that we work in, live in, walk through, live near -- how does that environment have an impact on the way that we feel and the way we feel about ourselves?
How do we learn to trust in the order of the universe? By behaviors that come from trusting the order inside ourselves. We do this by setting boundaries -- codes of conduct of how we are going to behave, eat, work exercise and live. If we don't violate our own boundaries, we are less likely to let anybody else violate our boundaries. We have to start with ourselves. Our experience of victimization can begin with our own self-victimizing behavior.
Spiritual/World View
A Hindu Vendata truth is that "the whole world is one family". It is said that there is only one disease, the disease of separateness, separating oneself from the awareness that we are one living organism. Competition creates isolation. The spiritual challenge presented by hypoglycemia and diabetes appears to be involved with over- or under-valuing the self: judgment of self and then others. Where are we in the process of getting to the truth that we are all equally important? The drama created by a one-up or one-down dynamic that we may allow to be part of our experience can lead to psychophysiology and the behavioral issues which can contribute to and create Mature Onset Diabetes.
Whole Health Education can transform our experience of taking care of ourselves. It can provide an understanding of our health concerns and conditions from this multi-dimensional perspective that makes sense in a way we can utilize the information directly and in a meaningful way. In addition, having the information provided in a mindful, respectful way that invites each of us to discern what we know about our health and condition, how to choose to resolve the problem and what kind of care we choose to have, allows each of us to experience whole-person health care through whole health information. Then, WE become the center of our health and healing process, rather than the doctors or practitioners we go to for guidance.
Georgianna Donadio D.C., M.Sc., Ph.D., has conducted a private practice in Whole Person Care since 1976. She is the Founder and Director of The New England School of Whole Health Education, the pioneer of Whole Health Education and a provider of patient and healthcare professional education since 1977. For more information, visit www.wholehealtheducation.org or call 1-888-354-HEAL (4325).
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