This is a must-see interactive "slide" for any one with blood cells – that means you!. . . it takes you from the size of 12 point font down to a picometer (that's 1/trillionth of a meter)! And along the way you pass by a blood cell, e. coli bacteria, the flu virus, an anti-body, etc.! (Hint: move the tab below the picture).
I'm in love with this creation: Cell Size and Scale
Thank you University of Utah!
"The cell is a machine driven by energy. It can thus be approaced by studying matter, or studying energy. In every culture and in every medical tradition before ours, healing was accomplished by moving energy."
-Dr. Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, Nobel Laureate in Medicine
What are they?
I was introduced to flower essences because one came up on the bioresonance machine as being the #1 item I needed to improve my health! In short, each flower brings about different thoughts or feelings in you and can cause changes around you as well (changes in your life). Sounds crazy if you haven't ever heard of them or tried them but they work!
They are SUPER SUBTLE, not like drugs or medicine in any way, shape or form. And, in my experience, they are SUPER Effective. Also, they only give you as much as you can handle at one time, no worrying about being overwhelmed.
This is an ancient practice of several native cultures. Ancient wisdom reclaimed!
How are they made?
They are made by taking a bunch of the same flower and placing them in a bowl of purified water and leaving it out in the sun to "bake" for several hours. Then they take the water and package it with alcohol (as a preservative), usually brandy, in a bottle.
You should be able to take them with any medications but ask your doctor for sure. In the meantime, or alternatively, they work just as well if you just wear the liquid around all day. Why? Because it works on the energy level not the molecular level (which is why you should be able to take it with medicines).
How do I know which one to use?
Several websites have guides on how to choose one. In general, read through the descriptions and see which one seems the most true for you. If you know someone that can do muscle testing or bioresonce for you that's the best route. The worst that can happen is nothing. If your body can not use the essence then nothing happens. All aspects of the description do not have to fit for you to take the essence.
What's an example of an essence?
Brand: Living Essences of Australia Flower: Golden Waitsia
Description (from Healing Waters website):
The essence of re-igniting carefree feelings, to heal all aspects of anxiety linked to perfectionism. Helpful for those who worry about details, allowing the mind to become bright and inquisitive, positive in outlook, and allows the mind to free itself from the small, tight framework. For people who are continually caught in over-attention to details—the perspective they have increases a negative and hopeless state where problems can never be solved because there is always another detail to consider. For those caught in small details which can create low energy states, depressed states, anxious states and totally frustrated states of mind. When the person is freed from the small perspective, problems can often dissolve because it was the unnecessary focus that was making the problem in the first place. For those needing to accept their present imperfect state of health and wellbeing while convalescing from illness or trauma, Golden Waitsia can be applied to the soles of the feet every few hours.
How do I use it?
To wear it around, you should put 20-30 drops in a very small glass, spill proof, container (perfume sample vials are good)….something that fits in your pocket with out attracting attention. Put in a pants pocket or vest, jacket pocket – as close to your bear skin as you can get. And then at night put it in your pillow case so that you are sleeping on it. It's very important to sleep on it. Lots of thoughts and feelings go through our brain while asleep and we are sleeping for 6-8hours! In the mornig take it out of your pillow case and put it in your pocket. Simple! I've seen little glass containers you wear as necklaces or bracelets, that would be great too.
If you want to ingest it, I can tell you I've always taken 7 drops first thing in the morning and 7 drops right before going to sleep at night (prescribed to me by the bioresonance machine). Some flower essence instructions say to take much less than that (perhaps the results will be more subtle). Use your best judgement for your individual circumstances. Hold the drops in your mouth, under your tongue if you can get it there, for at least 30seconds (and up to 10 minutes) before swallowing. Results may start to happen immediately (within 24hours) or it may take several weeks. 6 weeks is a great length of time to allow it to work fully. This will require probably 1oz. of essence. That is why wearing it is handy too – you don't use it up and you don't have to buy any more.
If you are taking or wearing it and don't think it is doing what it is supposed to do, stop taking it. After a few days do you notice a difference? With such subtle supplements it is sometimes hard to recognize their positive effects until they are gone.
Where can I get one?
The best website I have found in the USA is: essencesonline.com The owner/operator Mindy calls her webstore 'Healing Waters' and stocks a vast amount of the essences she shows on the website. If she doesn't have it she will order it right away. I have used some of the Living Essences of Australia from her site.
One other type of essence I have found that works exactly as their descriptions: najmaessences.com The creators have many decades of healthcare experience. The product is not sold in the USA right now so I order it from helios.co.uk . They ship so quickly and my items arrive so fast that they seem domestic, really! I have used 3 of these essences and they work exactly as it's described, incredible given the complexity of what they do.
Once you've actually decided that a "medicine" (herb, supplement, food, etc.) is best for your child the next hurdle is how you are going to get them to take it. You may luck out and find that your 5 year old can swallow pills of any size and tries to impress you by doing it without a drink, like my oldest. But more likely you'll need to try to get liquids or kids formulations of products and disguise the taste.
I've found that 100% purple grape juice is the BEST liquid to put chinese herb tinctures, liquid medicines, homeopathics, herb tinctures, etc. into. I don't even have to worry about 'boiling off' the alcohol content of tinctures, they don't seem to be able to taste it in grape juice. Prune/Plum juice is also great – before you say "Yuck"! You should give it a try – it's so sweet I need to add water to it when I drink it. It's so healthy (fiber, nutrient content) that it deserves a second chance in your life. Prune juice has gotten an undeserved bad reputation. Try mixing prune juice with other juices; grape, apple, pear, cherry, etc. to get your kids to drink it.
Making drinking the 'medicine' fun has it's advantages as well. Forcing medicine down kids throat is messy and unproductive. Better to have them know they are taking medicine and why. Get their buy-in. Chinese herbs are best taken at mealtimes so I used to mix the kids' medicine in their regular juice cups (shown at left the green 8oz. cup with straw). But this only worked if they drank the whole thing at one sitting or I didn't fill the cup the whole way. I found it much more effective to have a mini-cup used only for administering medicine. That would be the clear 2oz. TupperwareTM cups shown with blue lids. The center circle on the lid is the perfect size, when cut out, to fit a standard sippy cup straw into it. And 2oz. of juice is plenty to hide the taste of most medicines. (There is a clear ballpoint pen with purple cap laying in front of the cups to show scale). I found I could give this to my child anywhere in the house and they could drink it quickly. Since it is only used for medicine I always knew if they had taken their medicine or not. The younger kids always want medicine when an older child is taking some – a sure sign that you've made taking medicine fun.
For medicines/pro-biotics, etc. that are powders after about 2 years old my kids refused to drink it in their juice. I found it better to stir it into yogurt or applesauce. Still, tell the kids it is in there and why because they can still feel the different texture, see the color difference, and/or taste the difference.
To intervene or not to intervene? My husband and I have different views on this topic so when it comes to our children we've talked a lot about it. Of course Natural medicine is about prevention – so you never get sick. But while you are on your way to getting healthy or if you get out of balance, then Natural medicines work best at the first sign of imbalance/illness. When it comes to young children it is often hard to know when an imbalance is first approaching, further complicating the decision to medicate.
Here are the 3 rules of thumb I came up with to know when to automatically give the kids some extra immune system help (rather than letting them 'fight it out'):
1. If they are in Pain.
2. If they are having trouble breathing (stuffy nose, etc.)
3. If they are having trouble sleeping.
For fevers I try to let it continue and monitor their temperature closely. Since a fever is the body's way of killing off microorganisms, suppressing it should not be your automatic reaction. Keep a log of their temperature in a notebook or on a calendar. And note how it correlates with bowel movements, foods, drink, sleep, etc.
Pain often manifests itself in children as a bad attitude, An increase in violent or aggressive behavior, or incessant/repetitive bouts of crying. Basically a dramatic shift away from their normal personality. Since they often won't or can't tell you when something hurts you'll have to watch for these clues and patterns….a notebook comes in handy for that!(see below).
Breathing is so important I'm sure you can tell why it's on the list.
Sleeping: trouble sleeping and breathing often go together. If your child can't sleep they aren't going to get better.
As with all things there are other times to medicate too. You have to follow your instincts first and foremost. And if you choose natural medicines then erring on the side of giving a 'medicine' too early won't do the child any harm (and just might keep them from getting 'sick').
Keep a Journal. You are too busy to try to remember when you started a medicine or how the child's symptoms are progressing/ebbing. Grab a blank school notebook write the day/month/year in the left margin and put down some notes each day or several times a day.
You can look for patterns and clues over several days or months this way (and years too…does your child get pink eye every April? Then you can start to figure out why and work to eliminate the problem). With multiple children tracking key health information is a must and often gives you advance warning of the next child's pre-symptoms of a cold/flu/etc. I keep my journal on the kitchen counter. Here is a sample of ours (we have 3 kids, First letter of their names are at the top of the page, in birth order to make it simple). It doesn't have to look pretty, as my journal shows you.
I just found Bob's Red Mill 100% Bean Flour at my local grocery store! I have not been able to eat a bread-like product for over 3 years. But I immediately adapted my Banana bread recipe and I'm in heaven! My kids even like the results, so it must be good to a normal palate as well. We all like the Carob addition but you can just leave it out if you don't want the chocolate-like flavor. Give them a try – they are quick to cook – b/c nothing really needs to 'cook'. And since there are no raw eggs, everyone can eat the batter without fear of getting sick. The middle part of my 4" round did not get done all the way so it's very thick and rich and decadent – very heavenly.
"Chocolate" Banana Bread/Muffins by Amy Buckley
(No wheat, no gluten, no egg, no dairy, no corn, no rice, no soy, no potato, no chocolate, no sugar)
If using Carob and/or Coconut oil, melt them first.
I put the Carob in the applesauce and heat it and then stir it.
Note: T = Tablespoon t = teaspoon
1. Cream together the following in mixing bowl:
1/2 Cup Agave
1/4 Cup Applesauce
1/4 Cup Coconut oil
4 T Carob Powder
2. Add the following and mix all together until smooth:
2 Brown skinned bananas, mashed with a fork & mixed to soup consistency
2 t Baking Soda
1 t Vanilla
2 Cups Garbanzo and Fava Bean Flour
1.5 T Chia seeds pre-soaked in 4.5 T Water (egg substitute)
1 t Ground Cinnamon
Grease pan w/coconut oil (even non-stick pan)
Bake @ 350 F
Makes 24 mini-muffins(pictured): 10 minutes
And one 4" round: 15 minutes
Other sizes I have not tried yet. They 'cook' fast!
Dan Richard, one of the owners of the NOW Food/Vitamin Brand, describes in his book Beating the odds, how he lowered his Total cholesterol by 89 points in 3 months by taking only 4 supplements per day (pg. 98). No other lifestyle modifications! And his LDL dropped 82 points from 195 to 113! He tried this regime because of all the letters he was getting from customers on how well it reduced their cholesterol. I trust his products and him, so I'll pass this along so you can discuss with your healthcare practioner if you should try it:
Caution!:
Where to get it:
If you try it, write a comment here so we know how it worked for you – Thanks!
The fastest-acting, most effective children's cough, cold, flu, sinus, ear ache, stuffy nose, sore throat, upper respiratory all-natural remedy I have found so far is a Chinese Herb combination by Kan Herb. Their children's formulas go by the sub-title "Gentle Warriors" and our go-to formulation is called "Windbreaker". This is the lightest formulation and then there are four more formulations if the symptoms are more pronounced (see the company web site for info.). These formulas mix great into juice (100% grape juice seems to cover all herbs the best). The cheapest place to find them is on e-bay; Tanya from Mom-E-Mineral has prices half of what my acupuncturist was charging. Shipping isn't the fastest (a week for regular shipping), so keep yourself stocked up!
Personal example: The first time I used Chinese herbs was with Windbreaker for my 4 year old son, Zach. He was crying inconsolably about a pain in his right ear. We happened to be in my Acupuncturist's office at the time and he asked if I wanted to try some Chinese Herbs. After a quick assessment of my son, I took Windbreaker home. Zach was crying the whole way and could not be distracted from his hurting ear with a TV program or his lunch. My husband was rolling his eyes at such an 'unconvential' treatment for an ear ache, so to match his skepticism with optimistic bravado I started the timer on my watch as soon as we had 'forced' the liquid formula into Zach's mouth. To my surprise and delight, within 60 seconds Zach started talking about his TV program! Then he kind of remembered he was upset about his ear and cried a bit more. But by the 3 minute mark, he started to eat his lunch and watch the TV program and never mentioned his ear again!! As incredible as it sounds, this is a completely true story. From then on I was sold on Chinese Herbs.
Will you get such a miracle result? Maybe not. But it will resolve the ear ache/problem faster than any western medicine could. We haven't had such an acute situation since but have used the Windbreaker over and over again for all 3 of our kids. It works expertly every time.
Chinese Herbs/Medicine Tips:
SCNM is holding a video/YouTube Contest; three example videos are posted here. A must see for anyone looking at naturopathic medical school or for those currently attending that need a study break! Since these videos were recorded in the SCNM Clinic and Teaching buildings it also gives you a sneak peak at those.
After 3 years, 2 months, and 10 days – I FINALLY figured out what is wrong with me – Low Cortisol levels! It covers every symptom I have left AND most of the symptoms over the three years: Dizziness, fatigue, intestinal dysbiosis, heart palpitations, low blood pressure, bad body temperature regulation, intermitten muscle weakness, environmental sensitivities, thirst, blood sugar regulation problems, circulation problems, etc.
Essentially I had a complete adrenal exhaustion after the birth of my third child (adrenal gland produces cortisol). Apparently, I've been nursing myself back to health via "alternative" medicine the entire time. I am so Happy right now, there are not enough words to express it.
How did you figure it out? You have asked yourself already . . . well, it's a fun story really . . . I know I need to update the 'My Story' section of the blog, but to cut to the chase, I'm currently in Oregon attending a community college to take the pre-requisite classes I need to apply to NCNM. (Yes, we moved our whole family here after visiting the two schools in May 2010, see post "NCNM vs Bastyr…").
This quarter I'm taking Chemistry 222. We started with Chapter 3 and on the second day of class (January 4th, 2011) the instructor decided to work through a problem from the book. And here is the quote: Problem 3.44, Chemistry by M. Silberberg, "Cortisol….It's profound effect on the reduction of inflammation explains its use in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis". And that was it. Thank you Mr. Silberberg for adding this unnecessary sentence to problem 3.44 (it adds nothing to getting the answer to the problem) and thank you Mr. Hogle for going over problem 3.44, even though you didn't assign it for homework, and didn't review any book problems the entire previous quarter!
I had been getting this swelling in my head the last few weeks about 6pm, I kept thinking it was yeast or other microbes gathering there. When I read Problem 3.44 I knew different; my cortisol was too low to keep the inflammation down! At that moment, the page with problem 3.44 turned into a jigsaw puzzle and all the pieces began to fall from the sky and take shape on those words. (Not literally but that's what it felt like for sure). I walked home in a half-giddy daze and started Googling cortisol – there is a ton of information on it since body builders have to control and monitor it in order to build muscle. Vitamins that were helping me – Vitamin C in particular, help control cortisol levels! More research revealed all my symptoms!
I was blown away. I talked to my husband about it as soon as I could once again form words. He helped me to see how I was so wrapped around the idea of pathogens recurring and growing in my body that I was missing the real cause! (And some how so did all the people helping me over the last 3 years, more on that later).
I have to also give credit where credit is due – a Flower Essence is also responsible for my break through. Specifically, Najma Flower/Energy Essences. This fact is also integral to the Eureka moment and it's timing…
I had been taking two of their flower essences over the December break. The first one is called 'Unveiling' Essence and is described to do the following; "This Essence is particularly indicated to bring unconscious material manifesting as sickness closer to the surface." Once something comes to the surface you can stop taking Unveiling and take 'Perspective' Essence to understand or make sense of what is coming up. Perspective will ". . . clarify your 'life-vision', and help you to see your way through". I was so impressed with how Perspective helped me get out of my anxiety attacks and help me with a new attitude about taking tests that I decided to give Unveiling a try.
I had been taking the Unveiling for four days when class started for Winter quarter. The Chemistry problem was just the spark for my memory, the flower essence deserves most of the credit.
I had been contributing to my own sickness, and preventing my recovery, by being stuck on the idea of micro-organisms! Now what?
Luckily, my Dr. appointment was only a few days away. I told my ND and she recommended some books on Adrenal Fatigue. (From Fatigued to Fantastic is especially accessible; The Cortisol Connection is great too). I devoured them over the weekend, decided to try some of the vitamins, adaptogenic herbs, amino acids, and glandulars the books recommended (I was already following the diet, sleep, exercise, and food recommendations). I ordered them, shipped them expedited, and 2 days later started taking the whole bunch. I took the first batch in the evening and the next morning I already felt better! No kidding.
Of course there was a lot more to my story, but that's the short version.
Now I'm trying to decide who to see next. Now that I KNOW what's wrong I want to go to an ND that specializes in Endocrinology. In Wisconsin I had virtually no choices for natural doctors. Now, in Oregon I have over 350 ND's to choose from! Stay tuned for more health adventures . . .
Alternative HEALTHcare 