Greetings!

Hope everyone had a fabulous holiday. We are now off and running for the beginning of 1999. (Every time I see the new year written, I feel like my eyes are blurring, and I have double vision. I guess the last time that happened was 1888 - of course, if I had been around then, it would explain my blurred vision now . . .)

In this month's newsletter, I have written about updating health goals for 1999. Dr. Mark Force has contributed an interesting article on New Year's resolutions, internal cleansing, and taking time for yourself. Helen Olsten has information about our responsibility for healing, and Kareyn Talson has an important segment about detoxifying the body.

I hope your year is getting off to a great start.

For your good health. . . .

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I always love January. I like leaving the old year behind and getting started with the New Year. For me, January is the most hopeful month, filled with expectations of the coming year and new goals.

One continual goal of mine has been to strive to maintain my health. Last month, I wrote about how our mental attitude affects our physical health. Obviously, the opposite is also true. Physical health affects our mental attitude.

This has always been a vicious circle for me, trying to maintain appropriate balance to keep both physical state and mental attitude positive. Just as grumpiness depresses my immune system, my 'weakened' immune system depresses me!

All my life, I have had plenty of frustrating times dealing with a weak immune system. However, the last few years, even though they have been the most stressful years of my life, I have had fewer viruses and colds than in years past.

This blessing has been, in part, due to changing my eating habits, concentrating on incorporating nutrition into my daily routine, and my supportive chiropractor/kineseologist/ nutritionist. I do have days where I forget, or am too busy, but then I try harder the following days.

Establishing the habit of an appropriate health regimen is an ongoing process, continually growing. Improving on my health will continue to be one of my main goals for 1999.

Maybe some of you are also setting goals of maintaining or improving your immune system this year, or maybe you would like to change your eating habits, or you may have some other goal you would like to accomplish. Whatever it is, remember to slowly make the changes.

There aren't too many people who can change all habits at once. You may have decided to eat half as much sugar as you would normally (check all labels), or drink half as many soda pops. Possibly you want to cut down on the amount of caffeine, or nicotine you use, or exercise more.

Start with something you can accomplish, because this will give you more confidence in choosing the next step. Breaking bad habits can take many days, especially physical addictions. Making good habits usually takes at least three weeks, or even longer for us to begin to get comfortable with it. The important thing is to be determined.

My mother was very determined when two years ago, she surprised her family with a wonderful Christmas present; she stopped smoking - cold turkey - with the help of herbs, and advice from her favorite health food store.

It wasn't easy, especially after smoking for over 45 years, but she gave it her best effort, and was successful. We are so proud of her; it was the greatest gift she could have given Bill, me, and her two grandchildren. Thank you, Mom!

Whatever goals you set, and steps you decide to take, be sure to pat yourself on the back for your efforts. Do not count the times you slip up, but instead count the times you are successful.

When you goof up, don't worry, just start again, and try a little harder. Developing a good habit takes time, and we need to allow for short term adjustments, as we plan our long term goals.

I wish all of you a healthy, happy 1999. . . .

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It's that time again. That time when the compulsion to resolve rises up in us, and we promise to ourselves that we will in whatever chosen way become better people. To resolve to be a better person and to choose some action toward that end are noble expressions of our innate desire towards growth and fulfillment. Be careful, however, how you go about manifesting your resolve.

So many of the ways that we go about New Years Resolutions are anything but loving. We tend to feel that we are somehow faulty, and we must make grand efforts to fix those things that are wrong.

Now I'm all for becoming a better person. I hope that every day I am able to show a little more of that essence in all of us that is good and true. I also wish that blessing for you. Let's love ourselves in how we go about weeding and nurturing our gardens.

You might try resolving to love yourself and others, to give appreciation and comfort to yourself and others whenever possible. To give and receive with grace, to say a kind word when you see the chance, and to make sure those kind words go to you, as well.

Oh, and don't forget to forgive (remember to include yourself). You might try resolving to have more fun, to breathe more deeply and more often, to get enough sleep, to be more aware and act accordingly, to eat for a deeper pleasure. That includes both the immediate sensations and joy that a healthy body provides, and to let your body move more and enjoy the life within it (don't waste and imprison this life force, it was given to you by God). You might try resolving to have more joy, depth, breadth, and meaning.

Time to Clean House:

A good move to make after the Holidays is to do some internal house cleaning. This will help to get rid of the foggy headedness and low energy that often follows overdoing food and drink.

A cleanse of two to six weeks is a wonderful way to start the New Year. You will feel energy, well being, and clarity returning as you use the cleanse that follows.

The cleanse outlined below is very simple to do and very effective. You should be very pleased with the results. Do this cleanse for two to six weeks depending on how quickly you feel refreshed and reach your goals. You may experience some transient cleansing reactions such as (headache, fatigue, etc.).

This cleanse doesn't require a fast or change in your diet, although eating foods that are less refined and eating more raw foods will help.

The Cleanse -

Colon Plus Powder or Capsules: Psyllium, flax, acidophilus, bromelain, and other agents that detoxify the intestinal tract and improve both digestion and elimination.
Suggested Use:
1 Tbs. powder 2-3 times a day mixed in dilute juice (shake to mix in a jar with a lid) or 6 capsules 2-3 times a day.
(note: though the capsules are more convenient, powder works better.)

Cholacol II: Cleans the villi of the small intestine to improve absorption, detoxification.
Suggested Use:
4 tabs 15 minutes before meals, for 2 weeks only

Beta TCP: Improves flow of bile and aids detoxification of the liver.
Suggested Use:
2 tabs with each meal

Livotrit: Aryuvedic herbal formula for liver detoxification that includes milk thistle.
Suggested Use:
2 tabs with each meal

Take Time For Yourself:

Take some time (I recommend 20-30 minutes every day) for prayer, reflection, and/or meditation. This is very nourishing to the spirit and allows you to make sense of and integrate the events of the day. It allows you to relax and especially if done toward the end of the day, permits deeper and more restful sleep - a much more rewarding habit than spending that same amount of time in front of the TV. Try it for a couple of weeks and see how it feels for you.

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Here we are at the beginning of 1999 and on the brink of the new Millennium. What better time is there for us to consciously accept responsibility for our own healing? It can be an amazing, empowering experience when we read, study and learn about new alternative ways to improve our health.

Each one of us is totally self-contained with all the answers for healing within the subconscious. This is how the body heals itself. When we work in "partnership" with a medical or nutritional practitioner, we have to remember that they are "instruments" in assisting us with healing.

With this realization, we can see that it is our own responsibility to heal. We take on this responsibility when we begin searching for our own answers. Then we are consciously acting as participants in healing, and not just being acted upon. The health practitioner's responsibility is to assist us in finding the "tools" we need for our bodies to do their own healing.

This is why alternative healing methods are so important. Therapeutic touch is an example of these holistic practices, which act as a booster cable to jump-start the person into healing themselves.

Another example is Aromatherapy, which raises the vibrational frequency (often low due to depression or illness), thus helping bring an individual out of a downward spiral.

Rose oil is one of the essential oils used frequently in Aromatherapy, because it has the highest known vibrational frequency of all oils tested. Again, these tools assist the body in healing itself.

There are many gifted health practitioners who help facilitate the process, and understand their relationship with the patient. Even the most trained physicians know they do not have the power to heal someone who does not want to be healed.

We give our bodies 'permission' to heal, through using various tools and methods. Every time we allow someone to take our healing power away, because of intimidation or arrogance, we are 'enabling' them to have control over us. We give away our responsibility for healing, and therefore cannot heal effectively.

Our body's ability to heal itself is affected by both external, as well as, internal influences. A resilient ability, though it may be, these influences can tip the scales in either our favor, or against us. As stewards of our body, it is our responsibility to nurture this wondrous gift.

Dr. Andrew Weil has written many books about encouraging both patients and healing professionals to have this philosophy. His books are important reading for those truly interested in holistic healing.

This relatively new awareness of our own personal responsibility in the healing process is helping integrative medicine become the healing practice of the 21st Century. Even the American Medical Association has acknowledged a value with holistic health practices.

In closing, I would like to encourage everyone to make a personal commitment to accept the responsibility for your own healing. Develop a habit of asking questions and looking for answers to facilitate the healing process.

Familiarize yourself with several alternative methodologies. If you should require the assistance of a traditional medical professional, seek out those who have an appreciation for the value of this responsible philosophy.

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In the world we live in today, cleansing and detoxification (fighting free radicals) should be a part of everybody's daily routine in some way.

Think about it. We all run a gauntlet of pollutants every day that could weaken the immune system and promote ill health - in our food, in our water, in the air, in our stressful lifestyles.

At the very minimum, by taking a Vitamin C supplement (antioxidant, free radical fighter, immune builder) every day, we can lessen our chances of falling to ill health. Depending on your personal health profile, recommendations run from 500 to 20,000 mg. daily. In higher doses, Vitamin C crystals mixed with water to make a drink will aid in absorption.

When I was informed that this newsletter would address body cleansing and detoxification, I immediately thought of men and women that I have been in contact with over time who were battling one of the most chronic and life threatening illnesses. Some of these people chose chemotherapy based traditional treatment, others followed a path of non-traditional therapy based on nutrition, while still others took a combination traditional/ non-traditional approach.

In this writing, I would just like to report my observations and communication with these people, hoping that this might be helpful to those who find themselves in the very stressful position of having to make these choices, or better still, not to be in this position in the first place.

First, regardless of choice of type of treatment, attention to nutrition and lifestyle must be a priority. At this point in general knowledge, I believe that poor nutrition, unhealthy lifestyle, as well as environmental factors are commonly accepted to be influential on chronic illness.

Therefore, the first decision should be to adjust anything in your life that is in your control and known to be helpful, particularly in support of the immune system. This, of course, would involve an evaluation of your nutrition and lifestyle.

There are environmental changes that you have control over, such as the elimination of chemical household products, (hair spray, cleaning compounds, fresh paint, pesticides, etc.), particularly those in aerosol cans. Since you can't control or alter the entire environment, I'm going to specifically address nutrition.

Lifestyle changes are logical and well known, including elimination of smoking, fatty foods, overexposure to harmful rays of the sun, and anything that is causing stress. Always helpful is to increase exercise. A health care professional can assist in identifying necessary lifestyle changes, depending on your type or category of illness.

Back to nutrition. In general, a low-fat, low animal protein, high fiber diet has shown to be most helpful. My interest and attention is focused on the use of certain nutritional supplements and herbs.

Through my observation, study and anecdotes, the following may be beneficial, if not critical, to the cleansing and detoxification process that, in turn, strengthen the immune system so that the body is equipped to fight for the right to good health:

Coenzyme Q10; Germanium; Wheat Grass Juice (fresh squeezed, not tablets, if possible); Vitamin C and Bioflavonoids; Omega 3 and Omega 6 Essential Fatty Acids; Vitamin A and Beta Carotene; Vitamin E; Melatonin; Garlic; Proteolytic Enzymes; Grape Seed Extract; Superoxide Dismutase; Blue-Green Algae; Squalene; Shark Cartilage; Maitake; Pau d'arco; Dandelion; Echinacea; Green Tea; Red Clover and others.

Of course, you should seek the guidance of a health care professional to deal with any chronic illness, especially to diagnose, determine dosages and track progress. Also, some nutrients are most effective when injected.

A final thought - It has always disturbed me to hear the obsolete reference, "stricken with cancer". Cancer is not like lightening. Using up-to-date knowledge, we have a great chance of being able to jump out of the way before the "strike".

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