Cure Frustration: Five Ways To Tame the Beast

Why does this always happens to me? Seriously, again?

If you find yourself murmuring these phrases, you are not alone. Life can be challenging–especially when you are making changes–and sometimes it’s just a plain ol’ pain in the tush. Often when we have an expectation of how its supposed to go, well, it seems life has a completely different idea in mind.

There are a 5 things you can do right now that will ease that frustration when your inner world starts to explode. Read on, dear one.

1. Practice patience–on yourself!

I consider myself a generally patient person, but when it comes to myself and my life, well then it’s a completely different story.

It’s not the, “Be patient! Stop fidgeting,” kind of patience that your mom pleaded for as you stood in the grocery line as a wiggly young thing. It’s more about giving yourself the grace and time to practice and let things unfold. It’s easy to be patient in theory, but using patience intentionally, becoming intimate with how it works, that is when magic happens.

Having patience with yourself is all about self worth, self care, and self value. Do you value yourself truly and trust that there is a bigger plan unfolding before you?

We women are especially nurturing and generous with how we treat our loved ones–our family and friends–and even strangers. But, take a bit of that medicine ourselves and well, it’s a flavor we are often not familiar with.

Here is an example. You said you would do something by a particular day, so you set up a deadline for yourself. Perhaps it was starting a new routine, or making a change like bringing a healthy lunch from home instead of eating out, or hitting the gym right after work. Then, well, life happens. You’ve got deadlines up to your ears at work. A sick child/friend/animal needs you and your perfectly planned day ends up with you crabby, buried in emails, and racing to put out fires. You arrive home late, starving and exhausted. No gym, no new routine. Ugh. To “recover” from your day, you sit in front of the television for the latest episode of 2 Broke Girls while munching on carb-heavy snacks rather than driving yourself to the gym to start that new workout routine you had every intention of jumping into. You’re still tired when you go to bed, and when you wake up, you are disappointed, upset and even more irritated with yourself because you failed, again. Sound familiar?

I have lived this scenario many days around all kinds of different goals. So here is where I started to actually practice patience with myself. Patience allows us to throw out being perfect and be okay with not even doing what we said we would do. Practicing patience is about throwing out the “should haves” and “oughts” and being present to the here and now. In every moment you can restore your integrity by just being patient.

Give yourself enough grace and space to be right here, right now exactly as you are is what practicing patience looks like.

It’s easy to see how this example could lead us into a cyclical routine of self abusive dialogue, distracting ourselves from what we want the most. Living in integrity is not always easy but feeds you deep in your core.

Once I made the connection between what was causing me to be so hard on myself (lack of patience) I started to give myself validations and outs. This might sound like the worst thing possible to do coming from a wellness coach whose job is to transform and keep you accountable, but I disagree.

2. Trust yourself = transformation

I trust you. I trust me.

Sometimes it takes a bit of time to allow for the self care that may have been missing from our own life before we can take on yet another project or goal. Allowing for patience to live and breath up the space can create so much room and freedom it’s wild. Once I took the handcuffs off how it should look for me to create real change and practiced patience with myself, well, everything just changed without me feeling like I was pushing a boulder up the hill. Real change isn’t about what happens on the outside, but how you feel on the inside.

I trust that there is a plan out there for each one of our lives and that we really can’t mess it up if we are living with our heart front and center. Making mistakes and failing is part of change and growth. No one really talks about this, especially in the public realm of our society and culture. Most often we see the overnight success or the brilliant idea or photoshopped image icon on the cover of a magazine. But it’s not real.

Remember how it all began? How we learned to walk, talk, or gain any skill? Every ability takes work, dedication, and lots of dusting yourself off along with the resilience to keep standing up and starting over. Once there is trust, you can:

  • know that you will do what truly needs to be done
  • rest assured that it will be done in good time
  • be free from worry

3. Take a time out

It easy to get busy–especially around the holidays–and forget about self care. When frustration is leading you around like a pet on a leash, take a time out. Even five minutes of playing “hooky” can help. Treat yourself to a cup of tea or walk around your floor at work. Watch a funny video or check in with friends on Facebook. These little feel good breaks can dramatically shift that inner angst that churns up your insides some days.

For those who can’t find an escape hatch, like moms, you can always go to the restroom and have a seat there. Seriously, it’s time for a break. If that’s the only place you can get it, then take it there. Just breathe fresh oxygen into your lungs and feel it moving to your brain. Shake it off, like Tayler Swift says, “Everybody feels this way and it’s okay.”

Rebecca Gladding, author of You Are Not Your Brain: The 4-Step Solution for Changing Bad Habits, Ending Unhealthy Thinking, and Taking Control of Your Life, spoke with Psychology Today on how our brains respond to meditation and explains what we get out of meditating every day.

“Brilliance happens with the practice of rest on a daily basis.” — Gladding

When our amygdala, the oldest part of our brain, is triggered, it jumps into panic mode. This is the source of our emotions and that good old “fight-or-flight” response that gets such a nasty rap. In the process of meditation, which you can also think of as rest or just unplugging, this center (amygdala) is soothed and calmed just like magic. What’s even more brilliant is that you can get the benefits from only 5–15 minutes a day of being unplugged.

4. Touch base

Do a check-in. Have you been sleeping right? Drinking enough water, moving enough, got your sweat on today? Laughed lately? When there is inner ick present, do a daily check-in and check all of the boxes on your basics of self care. It’s what I do when I can’t seem to pinpoint what is bothering me, but I know I’m not feeling at my top form.

Here is the list I use. Rate each one on a scale of 1–10, with 10 being ideal, 1 being, well, not ideal. See where you are at.

Energy (are you pouring coffee down the minute you wake you are so low energy?)

  • Sleep (quality and quantity)
  • Mood (we all have ongoing mood and emotions, but where are you generally?)
  • Stress (some stress is good like promotions, weddings, etc.. but it still can tax us)
  • Exercise (getting some movement in daily, taking the stairs or just stretching?)
  • Food & Water (fresh, vibrant, nutrient dense choices?)
  • Friends & Family
  • Fun…(if I’m not having fun, well, then something has got to give, right?)

Most of the time by going through this checklist I can determine if the source of the bad feeling is from lack of self care. Often times, just what I eat or lack of movement can be the reason for feeling a bit out of balance. Our bodies are amazing machines, but they need kind nurturing and care every day to stay in top form.

If you find that you check all the boxes and its been more than a day or two of feeling bad, reach out. There may be more to the story. There is no shame in seeing your health care provider or letting family or friends in on what is happening. You never know, you could be lacking in a important mineral or have some kind of nutritional deficiency. Don’t be a hero, just share.

5. Talk it out

Never underestimate the power of listening and being heard. Friendships are healing. A scientifically proven landmark UCLA study showed women who have a circle of friends showed less fight or flight responses in comparison to peers who lacked a steady friendship with other women.  Scientists call it the “tend and befriend” response. Cute Huh?

What they found is that when women gather with others, they release oxytocin, which creates a naturally healing and calming effect. Oxytocin has been nicknamed the love hormone, as it is what the body kicks out for both mother and child for bonding and breastfeeding and for couples in “love”. So you need a little boost? Chatting away at the coffeeshop with a girlfriend or meeting up with the boys for happy hour has scientific backing to heal us chemically.

I feel blessed that a big part of my work, helping people transform their lives, is spent talking. I get to listen, feel, and really hear what another person is saying. When you have someone to do this for you, it can transform your world, inside and out. I have a coach of my own whom I reach out to, along with several amazing friends who can, and do hold the space for me when I need it. Reaching out takes courage. But it is worth it to be vulnerable, allowing for it to be about you every once in a while.



Sleep As Elixir: Beautiful Body, Beautiful Mind, Beautiful Life

Are you driving while asleep at the wheel of life? Lack of sleep is the new DWI. Pull over and get some sleep before life happens to you without your consent.

Sleep-deprived drivers have a similar reaction time behind the wheel as drivers with a blood alcohol content of 0.089 (that’s DWI), a sobering fact when you consider that nearly 30 percent of all drivers have admitted to falling asleep or nodding off while behind the wheel!”– Cleveland Clinic

I always get a kick out of how people think of sleep as something that is optional. We stay up later, we get up earlier, work longer, faster, more. Even our down time is packed full of activities that deplete and exhaust us in the name of having a fun weekend. What ever happened to the value of a nap or getting to bed early? We take a perverse pride in working extra long hours, staying up late,  and cheating our bodies and minds of needed rest.

Our culture is all about being “larger than life,” supersizing everything, doing more (and more and more). It demands more caffeine and stimulants like screen time to get that constant stream of micro highs as we are “liked” or “connected” on social media. At the end of the day we are exhausted, but not satisfied. We counteract the buzz of our thoughts by taking sleeping pills or drinking a glass of wine or beer to unwind. Like never before, we are overweight, stressed, fatigued and overwhelmed by our lifestyle of doing more.

Women are often the worst offenders. Women are doing more than ever and believing that SUPER should be added to every role: SUPERmom, SUPERlover, SUPERworker, SUPERboss, SUPERfriend, SUPERwoman. Whether at the office, home, social circle, or gym, women feel they are failing and falling into that kind of exhaustion that has no fulfillment in it.

What if I told you that I had a simple remedy that would:

  • ENHANCE your memory, mood, concentration, outlook and perspective
  • INCREASE your physical ability, immunity and overall energy
  • PROMOTE your weight loss, give you younger looking skin, and heal you on all cylinders
  • REDUCE your stress, anxiety, overall fatigue, and physical injury
  • LOWER both your blood pressure and the likelihood of you making mistakes
  • PUMP up your sex life (oh la-la), creativity, and your ability to make connections and bonding

You agree that if I DID have a remedy that could do all of these things, I would be Oprah’s newest hottest thing, right? Well, there actually is a remedy out there that does everything on the list above. I’m not kidding. I know, you’re now wondering how much it’s going to cost you.

Nothing. It’s free, available to all.

Sleep is that magic elixir. Sleep is the new revolutionary healer of all. Dream on!

According to Huffington Post’s creator, Arianna Huffington, sleep is her secret weapon, the magic to her success. Her advice to women around the world, “Sleep your way to the top.” But, like most women, Huffington didn’t always think this way. Only after collapsing at her desk from exhaustion and ending up with a series of stitches and a huge wake up call did she make this realization.

We have a national sleep deficit epidemic. Even though we don’t value the elixir that only sleep provides, we pay thousands of dollars on tips, tricks, products, and supplements to make us appear rested. Strong women leaders such as Huffington are fed up with this unsustainable lifestyle. It is not only exhausting, it is also causing the kind of physical, mental, emotional, and cultural harm that sucks the joy out of life.

Cheating on sleep for work and our busy lives doesn’t make us super heroes, it just leaves us tired. Lack of sleep deprives us of how amazing and “on” we get to be when we are rested, refreshed, and energized. When we don’t sleep enough, we aren’t fully here and fully alive. We fail at giving the gift of who we are and all we can be. Our beloved family, friends, and the communities where we want to make a difference are robbed by our own lack of sleep. And it isn’t just our mental and emotional selves that suffer. Our bodies can’t repair and heal when we starve them from the process of healing and resetting that happens only in sleep.

Sleep isn’t a luxury, or even optional. It is as essential to living a healthy life as oxygen.

“Sleep is absolutely essential for basic maintenance and repair of the neurological, endocrine, immune, musculoskeletal, and digestive systems,” says Chris Kressor.

If you’ve ever tried to have a coherent conversation with new parents, you understand the dramatic effects of lack of sleep on our ability to recall facts, figures, and basics like which shoe goes on which foot. In all seriousness, the impact that lack of sleep has on our memory, emotional state, and body is only now starting to be understood. Missing sleep impacts our ability to recall things, not only small details, like remembering to pick up more eggs at the market, but our long-term ability to recall information and create lasting memories.

Lack of sleep can not only lower your I.Q. a few points, it can actually make you crazy!

Neuroscientist, Jeffrey Iliff connects the dots between lack of sleep and the rise of neurological disorders later in life such as dementia, Alzheimer’s and overall memory loss. Think about it this way, the brain is the command center of our body. When that control deck is not up to snuff, what happens? When we push ourselves without resting and restoring, we put our brains into overdrive. With constant tasks, duties, stress, and stimulation, the brain is overloaded and, even worse, without proper sleep it is depleted from it’s only source of renewal and downtime.

It turns out sleep isn’t a passive activity. There’s all sorts of amazing stuff going on in our bodies and, especially our brain, when we’re asleep. A good night’s sleep can improve your memory, and keep your brain healthy in the short- and long-term. It also helps us think better, solve problems, and make deeper connections.

A well-rested mind is a clean mind. Not that kind of clean. Wink wink. Healthy clean.

All throughout the day we produce a type of toxic protein called beta-amyloid that tends to collect in the brain and the spinal cord. A new study shows promising evidence that our bodies have a special mechanism to remove this toxin, but only when we sleep. In our sleep, our glymphatic system pumps cerebrospinal fluid through our central nervous system, flushing that toxin from our body. As it turns out, the only time this type of CSM fluid matter is discarded is during our REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep cycle, or deep sleep.

Our limbic system — which is connected to senses, memory and dreams — is one part of the brain that is turned on while we slumber. When the lights are out in the rest of the body, this portion of the brain is awake and kicking. It’s been understood that while sleep is necessary for physical health, strength, resilience, and such, it also renews and restores our spirit and emotional connection.

Though exactly what happens biologically and physiologically is still a mystery, we now know there is a purpose (scientifically proven!) for why we dream. In our sleep we seem to access a deeper level of thinking. Our mind makes connections with the unknown or unconscious to help solve problems, create solutions, and mend upsets that happened during the day. We resolve things from the waking day during our sleep — that fight with a co worker, how to deal with the emotions of a breakup, or even remembering where we left the keys.

Sleep often unsticks us when we have a creative block. Think about a time when you were burning the midnight oil attempting to kick out a creative project, only to be met by a huge block. Frustrated, you hit the sack. The next morning you awake revived and replenished and boom, there it is, a new idea or spark of inspiration that you just couldn’t see in your sleep deprived state the night before. I know some will say, “but I’ve always been a night owl,” or “I do my most creative thinking at night.” This maybe true, but when we are lacking sleep, our bodies and brains are in survival mode and can only function for so long until we crash and burn. Believe me, lack of sleep will catch up with you. If you think your natural biorhythm makes you shine at night, adjust your schedule to sleep during the day (see below for some helpful tips – you’ll sleep best if you block out all of that day light).

When we start to value our sleep and see the importance of it’s healing power not only for today, but for our future selves, we start to think and do things differently. When we take care of ourselves with a good sleep habit, we are more present and able to take care of others and contribute to the projects that fulfill our sense of purpose. Could there be anything more powerful than being fully awake, rested, and ready to take life on with all of our cylinders firing?

Here are a few things you can do to start getting a good night’s rest. Like anything else, it takes time to start a new habit; even sleeping well takes practice!

Tips for Good Sleep Hygiene

  • Don’t be too full – or too hungry
  • Go to bed early! Most of us have active REM between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m.
  • Relax and stretch lightly before going to bed.
  • Practice makes permanent changes.
  • Reduce your exposure to artificial light.
  • Don’t use a computer/iphone/ipad for 2 hours before going to bed. Exposure to screens can disturb your sleep.
  • Use blackout shades to make your bedroom pitch black.
  • Cover your digital alarm clock or get an analog clock.
  • Turn off all digital devices that glow or give off any type of light.
  • If you can’t do these things for some reason, use a sleep mask.

Spread the word and start a sleep revolution. Tips for good sleep hygiene.

It takes time to restore and get your good sleep on! During my teens and 20’s I was destructive with my body, and I didn’t take good care of myself. When I gave up partying, I replaced it with perfectionism and overwork. I had been sleep deprived for as long as I can remember, until I started to “wake up” to how much of a negative impact it was having. Only during the last year have I noticed that I have not been saying “I’m so tired!” And, this is after several years of actually sleeping regularly, mind you. So don’t expect the elixir of sleep to make a difference overnight. Lasting results come from practice.

Think of how long it has taken for you to become this tired and exhausted (a lifetime). It will take time to rebuild your sleep storage account, but you will get there. I don’t feel sleepy during the day any longer, nor do I repeat the dreaded mantra, “I’m so tired.”

Everyone needs a different amount of zzz’s each night. I have friends who get 5 hours of sleep and seem to be healthy and productive. They take care of themselves, nap when needed, and feel great with their sleep routine and hygiene. I do best with 8 hours. How do you know how much sleep you need? Only you will know. Over time you’ll find the pattern that fits you best. Remember it takes time to make changes. Be patient and gentle with yourself. You deserve to be well rested, healthy, happy, and joyful!

Recommended Supplements:
Further Reading:


Missing From the Vaccine Debate – What the CDC is Not Telling Us

The CDC Morbidity and Weekly Report dated October 24, 2014, released information about a flu outbreak that occurred 8 months prior to publication. The article titled, Influenza Outbreak in a Vaccinated Population – USS Ardent, February 2014, details the outbreak and the means used to stop the spread of infection.

While moored in San Diego, California, 25 of the 102 crew members of the ship, USS Ardent came down with flu-like symptoms. Of these 25 crew members, 24 had received their annual flu vaccination 3 months or more before the outbreak. One had not been vaccinated.

Rapid influenza A and B tests were performed and 20 of the 25 tested positive for influenza A. Of those twenty, 18 tested positive for an A (H3) virus and 2 tested positive for an A (untyped) virus. (The CDC states that false negative testing for influenza is common).

Seven swabs from the A (H3) positive sailors were cultured to find the H3N2 virus was 99% identical to the H3N2 strain contained in the annual vaccine. The 1% difference was 5 amino acid substitutions that were found, a slight mutation that rendered the vaccine useless against the H3N2 strain caught by the sailors.

The spread of disease was stopped through isolation and disinfection. Sick sailors were sent home, off the ship, and all commonly touched surfaces were regularly disinfected and decks were mopped with an iodine solution. No further cases were reported.

How many die from influenza each year?

The CDC estimates an average of 26,000 people in the United States die from the flu each year (based on CDC estimates over a 31 year period with a low of 3,000 and a high of 49,000 deaths attributed to influenza). They state that 90% of the deaths occur in people 65 years and older.

In discussing the efficacy of the flu vaccine, the CDC states that flu vaccines work best with healthy adults and with healthy, older children. Because their immune systems are weaker, the vaccination is not as effective for people age 65 and older.

5 elderly residents of an assisted care center in Georgia die after flu shots

Health Impact News (healthimpactnews.com) shows a link to this story, which they published, but the link is no longer viable and the story can no longer be found on their website. In addition, 3 days ago Natural News reporter Jennifer Lilley reported that the assisted living facility stated that there have been no flu related deaths at the facility, and yet the original story reported that every senior who received the shot ran a temperature before 5 died.

What is missing from the vaccine debate

There is a glaring omission in the CDC information. The CDC posts all kinds of statistics, but there is not a clear transparency regarding vaccine injuries, vaccine deaths, and vaccine efficacy. If the CDC fulfilled its proper role to the American people, they would be clearly reporting how many of the influenza related deaths were people who had been vaccinated. They would be reporting clear and believable numbers of vaccine injuries that correspond with the number of cases winning in vaccine court and the personal reports of people who have suffered vaccine injuries who know several others in their personal lives who have suffered vaccine injuries as well.

How to protect yourself from the flu if you do not vaccinate

Diet is the cornerstone of health. A truly healthy diet is your best defense against any disease because you are building a healthy immune system. If you want to take it a step further, check out Bullet Proof Your Immune System. If you’ve been vaccinated, read How to Detoxify from Vaccinations & Heavy Metals.

Recommended Supplements:
Further Reading:

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Still Have Candida? How Mercury Fillings Cause Candida Overgrowth

So you don’t indulge in sugar. You never take antibiotics. You eat a pretty good diet. Why are you still battling Candida?

You may have to look no further than your mouth. If you have amalgam fillings – mercury fillings – the cause of your Candidiasis might be staring back at you.

The Problem with Amalgam Fillings

Mercury is one of the most toxic substances known to man, yet many of us have mercury fillings in our mouths that are poisoning us. Tiny particles break free and mercury vapor is released that we inhale or swallow. The mercury release is 50 times higher for those who have mercury fillings capped with gold.

The body doesn’t just slough off the mercury. The sneaky, toxic, heavy metal fools the body. Its molecular structure is so similar to selenium, which the body needs, the cells snap it up as if it were a helpful mineral.

In the gut, mercury creates an environment that is not friendly for beneficial bacteria. An overgrowth of bad bacteria and Candida results.

When mercury fillings are removed and a proper detox is completed, Candida overgrowth is known to resolve itself with little to no effort.

Related: Heal Gum Disease and Cavities Naturally – Step by Step

How to Get Mercury Fillings Removed

Mercury is so toxic, removal of the fillings must be done by a dentist who knows how to protect you during the process. Biological dentists are holistic dentists who are trained in the safe removal of amalgam fillings. It is still a good idea to talk with the dentist to be sure that their procedure covers all of the steps for safe removal.

When mercury fillings are removed, they break apart releasing particles of mercury. They also release vapor. The Proper protocol involves covering every patch of your skin that could be exposed as well as protecting your airway. This is done with goggles to protect your eyes, a forced air breathing apparatus, extra suction, draping to cover your face, a rubber dam to prevent swallowing particles or inhaling vapors. Cold water should also be used to minimize vaporization and you should rinse your mouth thoroughly after removal.

Related: Top 5 Foods that Detox Heavy Metals and Toxins – With Protocol

Find a Dentist to Remove Mercury Amalgams Fillings Safely

The following databases should help you find a holistic practitioner. The International Academy of Biological Dentistry and Medicine has a database of practitioners. You might also try the Mercury Safe Dentist Directory.

In the meantime, (if you cannot remove your fillings, or until you do, and also after you get them removed), kill Candida, and check out Mercury Fillings, Root Canals, & Cavitations.

Take chlorella, spirulina, and lots of vitamin C, from a trustworthy whole food source, and eat tons of salad with a wide variety of produce.

Further Reading:
Recommended Supplements:

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Healing Vibrations

From what I see and read, energy healing appears to be getting better known and it is, hopefully, the path health will take in the future.  So let’s take a look at what it is.

It really starts with sound.  Sound creates patterns. Everything in the universe is created by sound and it is sound which turns matter and energy into form.  Pythagoras, the Greek philosopher and mathematician, understood this, which shows that it is by no means a modern concept.

If everything in the universe is sound and vibration, then the cells in our bodies must come under this heading, too.  Every cell resonates to a certain frequency. Sound healing involves re-tuning the organs, which become sick if they fall out of tune.  Think of a musical instrument. It’s sound is sublime when in tune with the rest of the orchestra, but its noise is horrible if it goes flat. It is discordant, i.e. not in accord with the rest of the group.

Why the Music Goes Flat

So what causes this discordance in the song of our cells?  Every thought we have, whether positive or negative, is creating a vibration and if we focus on what is peaceful, positive, and happy, our cells are vibrating on a high note, too.  When stress, fear, anxiety, or loss come into our lives, the vibrations change and that has a direct effect on one or all of our organs.  We say someone died of a broken heart.  As a child I thought this was literally the case and wondered how a heart could be smashed like a dinner plate. Later I realized that losing love or a loved one had caused the harmony of the heart cells to get out of sync with the rest of the body, to falter and stop working altogether.

Water can very quickly be affected by negative or positive sounds. The late Dr. Masaru Emoto published a vast body of research on the messages from water when exposed to sound.  He froze double-distilled water droplets and experimented by playing music, praying, speaking to them, thereby changing their vibrations.  The crystal formations demonstrated clearly the difference between something uplifting such as John Lennon’s Imagine and a piece of heavy metal music. They made beautiful patterns when exposed to the former and disintegrated into chaos when heavy metal was played.  Words of hate spoken to them also caused disintegration whereas words of love and appreciation resulted in magical forms.

How Vibration Heals

The good news is that positive sounds coupled with intention can even restore polluted water.  In 1997 the Fujiwara Dam in Japan was heavily polluted and the water was analyzed by Dr. Emoto, using his technique of freezing droplets and looking at them under a microscope.  They looked like some kind of primeval soup with no discernible pattern until the Reverend Kato Hoki, chief priest of Jyuhouin Temple, recited a one-hour prayer beside the dam. When the droplets were crystallized and re-examined, the most amazing transformation had taken place. A simply exquisite pattern had formed.

Now if that can apply to water droplets—and our bodies are over 70 per cent water—we can see just how it can apply to our cells.  Even if we have damaged our bodies through any number of factors, we can certainly redress the balance by changing the vibrations of our organs.  We often hear expressions such as, “When you change your thoughts you change your life.” We probably considered them to be stupid platitudes.  Well it looks as if we were wrong.  What could be more encouraging than that?  So if we start today by being mindful, living in the present, and tuning our feelings to be as loving, hopeful, and positive as we can, we will reap all sorts of benefits, the most important of which is perfect health.

Further Reading:



Praying For Health

Prayer.  Now there’s a word that has been bandied about in the context of health and healing.  Some churches say special prayers for the sick and the Spiritualists offer hands on healing in their churches.  There are hundreds of thousands of healers all over the world: folk healers, shamans, healers registered with approved associations; there are even groups who have a specific time to stop what they are doing and pray for people who are sick.  This is known in some circles as “The Healing Minute” because it doesn’t need to take more than that.

So How Do We Do It?

We use the word “prayer” to explain globally what we’re doing, but some people feel uncomfortable with it and in a group to which I belong, our methods and our beliefs are our own business; we are just required at a certain time every day to stop and send healing in our own way to the people on the main list and our personal lists.

What do I do?  Not wanting to impose anything on someone who may not have asked for help, I just see the person smiling and surrounded by white light.  I expect some of the people in the group do much more traditional things, but it doesn’t matter.  Whatever we do is never wrong if we have the good of the person in mind.  And what does seem to prove its efficacy is the fact that group healing sessions, or the sending of light, or praying, or whatever at a time when lots of people do it together gives very positive results.  The group members and the recipient don’t have to be in the same room nor even in the same country; in fact some healers insist that sending healing to someone who is not present works best,

Does It Really Work?

It has been shown how people fervently praying for the health of one person can have great results.  Take the amazing case of Eben Alexander.

In his book Proof of Heaven, Alexander, a neurosurgeon who was totally brain dead and in a coma for seven days tells us that he was so far away he had no memory of anything on earth but when he started to “come back”, to come out of his coma, he could hear murmuring all round him although he couldn’t understand the words.  He became aware of countless beings surrounding him kneeling in arcs that stretched out into the distance.  It was only afterwards when he was fully back and writing about his experiences that he realized they were people who were praying for him.  Although he reports that he was deeply sad to be leaving behind the wonders he had experienced, the vision of these people gave him an odd feeling that everything was going to be fine.

He wasn’t religious and rarely went to church, but his wife knew the local minister and prayer groups were rapidly organized.  Although I’m not saying the prayers were the reason he recovered, what I am saying is that it was his vision of what turned out to be people praying that comforted and reassured him on his return, and that’s a successful result by anyone’s standards.

Every Thought Counts

Even when we are not necessarily sending healing or praying, just thinking of someone in a positive way can be helpful.  We used to have a saying in our family when we talked about somebody who was having a hard time: “Ah, bless his heart”. We meant nothing more by it than an expression of compassion, of empathy for a fellow human being, but that’s really what praying for someone is all about and that’s why we do it.

Further Reading:


Psychosomatic Illness – Is It All In The Mind?

The dictionary defines a psychosomatic illness as one “…caused by mental or emotional problems rather than by something physical”.  This idea has fascinated me since I became aware of the work Louise L. Hay has done on making a connection between our minds and our state of health.  In her view, anything affecting our lives, (and this can come from our feelings, our background, our belief system), just about anything that touches or has touched us, can be a factor.  She tells her personal story of childhood sexual abuse, which she connected to the vaginal cancer she developed in adulthood. Her book, You Can Heal Your Life, with its explanations of what may have caused illness or led to an accident, has sold millions of copies worldwide.

These are real illnesses, with a physical element, but they are not necessarily caused solely by outside forces such as heredity, smoking, a life crisis, or eating the wrong things, although these factors have probably played their part in the illness.   For many of us, illness is a wake-up call, and we need to look at what we can do to change matters.

Food For Thought

For Phil Edwardes, a UK healer, none of the causes of illness are found anywhere in the body and, emphasising that he isn’t blaming anyone, he believes that everything that happens to our bodies is because we’re inside them.  This does rather bear out a finding in the case of multiple personalities.  People who have several personalities have found they may need reading glasses in one personality and not in another; they may be diabetic in one personality and not in another.

I’d often heard of things being “all in the mind” as have most of us, but when I took my first steps in complementary medicine in 1987, I saw how this thinking could be applied.   One of my earliest purchases was a book based on Chinese medicine that was recommended by my reflexology teacher.  I immediately read what it had to say about every illness I could think of that had touched my family, my friends, or me.  And I was blown away by some of the possible explanations; things fell into place and understanding dawned.

Finding Out For Myself

The best way to learn something is to experience it ourselves and I didn’t have to wait long.  Studying for my reflexology diploma I worked on an old friend who suffered from sinusitis. The treatment really helped, but so did finding an apartment away from her parents, or more precisely her mother, with whom she was often at loggerheads.

In 1990 I started up in business, distributing and demonstrating ear and body treatment candles (although body candling arrived much later on the scene) and one of the very first people to contact me was a lady suffering from a distressing and continual noise in her ears (tinnitus).  She told me she had a handicapped daughter and in the course of our conversation she burst out: “I can’t stand it when she screams”’.  Even with my limited knowledge of the product I was so confidently selling, I knew the candles wouldn’t help her and I really hoped she could understand at some point that she was manufacturing a noise in her head to drown out her daughter’s screams.   It sounds hard, but there is only one place where the solution to any such problem lies … where it started.  In ourselves.  Until we are able to do that, few therapies will bring lasting relief.

Stories I’ve Been Told

A child’s  deafness at birth stemmed from what she’d heard while in the womb. Once her mother understood this and worked on her own emotions—a tough task for her—the child was hearing perfectly by the age of 7.

A young Catholic priest had always known he was homosexual,  but until he was ordained at the age of 32 he had attempted to deny it. He plunged into a nervous breakdown and carried on as well as possible until he started to experience a loud whistling sound in his left ear, which he interpreted as his soul crying out to speak its truth. The physical suffering was intense. He finally decided to come out and to inform his bishop that he was leaving Holy Orders. The decision made, his tinnitus immediately calmed down and at the time the article appeared, he was practically cured.

A colleague at an exhibition knelt down to chat to a girl in her mid-teens who was confined to a wheelchair. She was accompanied by her mother and younger siblings and explained there was absolutely no physical reason why she couldn’t walk, but that was the situation and she didn’t really care one way or the other. It would have been fascinating to learn something about her family dynamics, but even if a skilled therapist managed to uncover the possible root of her problem, unless she was prepared to work on herself, little progress would result.

Choosing Our Words With Care

Some of the expressions we throw around so lightly can give us a huge clue as to what’s going on in our lives—or what could be waiting in the wings to pop up.

  • “She really gets up my nose,”
  • “I can’t stomach it.”
  • “It breaks my heart.”, etc.

We can connect this thinking with sinusitis, digestive or cardiac diseases – in fact, with just about anything.  If we look at some of the things we suffer from: arthritis, short or long sight, poor hearing, allergies, ulcers, constipation, cancer, they can tell us volumes about our deepest beliefs.  Illness may seemingly have a real physical cause, yes, and certainly has a real physical manifestation, but if we can process the painful experiences we all endure as we go through life, we can certainly reduce any damage that physical ill-health can do and hopefully avoid many problems altogether.

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