Originally I trashed this response to my article The Psychology of Vaccine Awareness because it was so uninformed and poorly conceived. On further consideration, I realized that the author pretends to harbor many misconceptions similar to many of the general public who have never really looked at the vaccine issue beyond what they are told in the glossy magazines, popular media and from the evening newsreaders. Following standard propaganda in this way, having no information on the underlying science, low- end copy like this email will result. Which is OK as long as the individual is the only one who loses. But it is for the children of the people this misinformed that I will try to respond to these confused comments and try to set the record straight.

I class this type of response in the Hand Holding category, which I usually don’t do. It means that these issues are set straight very clearly and incontrovertibly in the new 2009 edition of the book The Sanctity of Human Blood. Even though this book is very short and very reader friendly, I realize most people will not take the time to absorb the minimal information it contains before they make one of the most important decision they will ever make for their child.

The author of the email attacking my article comes up with nothing new- no new ideas, no fresh insight, no worthwhile assertions. His comments are a very average-level parroting of standard media propaganda which has formed the public perception of vaccines for the past 200 years. The same phrases, the same mantras, the same disregard for scientific fact, physiological processes and actual historical events. So Average Parrot here has put no special effort into researching the areas on which he is holding forth; merely repeating back the same timeworn phrases he has passively absorbed during a lifetime of standard conditioning through popular media. It’s all rhetoric, all chatter, notable for its complete lack of supporting references. This is one of the hallmarks of mundane propaganda – no documentation.

In his opening paragraph Average Parrot makes the same charge at me about unsupported assertions, etc. The ideas in the article in question The Psychology of Vaccine Injury Awareness are excerpted from the book The Sanctity of Human Blood, 13th edition, which contains over 350 medical, legal and scientific references covering every single fact and statistic stated not only in the book but in this short article as well. To that list then do I direct any reader looking for documentation of the position I represent.
    The first chattering about how mercury is gone from vaccines sets the tone of the letter.  It’s going to be the usual line, mercury is gone now from vaccines so everything’s fine, etc. So let’s get this straight: mercury is not gone from vaccines. Either I’m right about this or Average Parrot is right.  We can’t both be right. One of us is wrong.  Clear?  On the 2009 CDC website we see that there are currently 19 flu shots mandated before age 18.  In the 2008 PDR the manufacturers of the influenza vaccines tell us that thimerosal (50% mercury) is added.  They also state that thimerosal is put into Twinvax.  On the FDA website in 2008 mercury levels permitted in current vaccines read as follows:

In addition to all this, remember that mercury was never made illegal, nor will it ever be. Vaccines never expire, so all those millions of old stockpiled doses of mercury vaccines may still be given out, any time any place. Which they are, every day all over the country. The other fact Average Parrot glosses over is that it wasn’t 7 years ago that manufacturers started to try to cover their tracks. Until 2004 thimerosal was still being admitted as a preservative in 4 different vaccines on the mandated schedule.

All these facts are just the tip of the thimerosal iceberg. What about the Kennedy Report, what about the secret meeting in Simpsonwood Georgia, what about the Institutes of Medicine report…? But all this is even a smokescreen– mercury isn’t the only problem with vaccines– it’s not the only thing that makes vaccines suppress the immune systems of children. At least let’s not pretend that the problem has been taken care of when thousands of kids in the US every day are still loading up with the third most toxic substance known to man: mercury in vaccines.

The debate about mercury is dead, Average Parrot is correct. What he missed is that his side lost. The etiology between mercury and autism is incontrovertible. He just never did the research. Guess it never came up on Oprah.

All these references are listed in the 13 edition of the new book.

Next, with respect to the community I discovered with the abnormally high rates of autism, Average Parrot is right. No one can prove that was a vaccine hot lot I witnessed up there, and indeed no one will ever gather the real statistics of autism incidence in that isolated community. Because studies like that would take huge money and the only one with money like that is the drug industry. And this is the exact reason why legitimate estimates of the true number of autistics in this country not only have never been undertaken, but have been routinely blocked and prevented by every possible method. But don’t worry, you’re safe Mr AP. Those backwoods people didn’t get it, they never understood what Haley and Yazbak and I were talking about so no one will ever follow up on that lead. As far as vaccine hot lots, you are correct again — bad lots are dispersed geographically for that exact reason — to protect the vaccine manufacturers from liability. But remember — they only re-distribute lots after there is a problem: an abnormally high incidence of deaths and reactions. Then they redistribute. All I was suggesting is that we may have been observing that first outbreak in a new lot, before redistribution.

Considering that in this location the injuries all did come up in the same age group within the same very short time period, that is a perfectly reasonable hypothesis. But again don’t worry, Mr AP. No one will ever follow up, and your autistic population is guaranteed never to go after your employers. The locals did report it so that it could be studied, but all that Washington did was to send them another Average Parrot like yourself, who literally ran out of the meeting room when the crowd became upset at the condescending mantras he was offering them about why their kids were now permanent defectives. Same rhetoric as you’re chanting here. Perhaps you’d like to take a shot at explaining things to these ordinary people yourself. Sure, you should try it. As long as you have no aversion to tar and feathers.

We see how narrow is the scope of Average Parrot’s academic purview by pretending that the only studies ever showing a connection between mercury and vaccines damage came from Dr Mark Geier’s work. Again this is typical in the world of propaganda– take one reference out of hundreds and pretend like that summarizes the whole field of enquiry. My statement about the overwhelming scientific evidence for neurological damage as a potential result of vaccines stands, and will always stand. But the individual has to be capable of looking a little beyond the texts that are written by his employers, the drug companies. He must look into mainstream scientific literature and be willing to go wherever the data leads. Average Parrot won’t do that. He’s not allowed.

Surprisingly Average Parrot admits the 1700% increase in autism in the past decade, but then predictably ascribes it to the same boring explanation E.L. Bernays media has been using during that whole period: we’re better at diagnosing it now. More autistics now because we’re better at diagnosing it now, right? This impotent dismissal is easily refuted: as Dr Yazbak and others ask, then where are the 40 year old autistics?

Dr Wakefield explained long ago how the diagnostic criteria for autism had not changed as the numbers skyrocketed.

You people really need some new material. If you don’t know what you’re talking about, stop saying it.

As far as deliberate misdirection and misstatement of fact, Average Parrot really goes over the line when he states that there have been no changes in the number of vaccines since 9/11. Is this a joke? What country was he living in during this period? Anyone paying the slightest attention to the Mandated Schedule of childhood vaccines in the past 2 decades saw the increase:

This is not really subject to a difference of opinion. These are the numbers of vaccines we gave our kids during those years.  No amount of double-talk by Average Parrots or even good parrots can change the fact that the number of autistics and the number of vaccines have risen sharply since 9/11. Don’t even need my book for that. This is what I mean about these pedestrian-level would-be pedagogues and their education.  They don’t even try and follow historical events. Average Parrot here wants to read one article by Geier and pretend to understand the argument, and make all these unwarranted pronouncements about this and that,  but is frightened to death to be confronted with a review of the literature known all over the world that holds more than 350 references, which taken together are irrefutable.

The epitome of the academic ivory tower: the difference between seeking the truth and preventing the truth from being known.

Average Parrot’s comment about lack of scientific evidence linking vaccines and diabetes really tips his hand about his own education. In the 13th edition there are abundant clinical studies since the 1980s showing a strong connection between vaccines and infant diabetes. But again, one must take the time to actually read the studies. Much easier to say there aren’t any such studies, because the 2 minute google search they might have done didn’t turn up any.

Just a few of the researchers who have documented the connection between diabetes and vaccines:

– Robert Mendelsohn MD in his 1985 book showing how diabetes was an effect of the new MMR vaccine

– all the 1997 peer reviewed journal articles in the US, UK and in Finland showing the connection between the new HiB vaccine and infant diabetes, as cited in the 13th edition.

– Bart Classen MD has an entire website showing scientific connection between diabetes and vaccines www.nccn.net

Indeed it was the high incidence of diabetes from the HiB vaccines which banned the shot forever from Finland. We still give 4 doses to our kids. And what is the incidence of childhood diabetes in the US in the last 10 years?

There was virtually no such thing as childhood diabetes before 1960. That was when vaccines began doubling and redoubling. At least it is suspicious as a risk factor alone.

The amount of documentation connecting vaccines with diabetes is overwhelming, but one must actually look at it.

Currently there is a vaccine in the developmental pipeline for diabetes!

We have run to the end of my allotted hand holding time. Except one final comment to unmask Average Parrot and show whom he represents.

Epidemiologists are part of one of the new pseudo-sciences that have popped up in recent years pretending some scientific veneer, but beneath it all found to be just shills for the drug companies, or having some specific political agenda. These would include sociology, social science, psychiatry and several other non-sciences. What they share in common is a dependence on a very structured though unfounded rhetoric, sloganeering, and simplistic phrase-mongering.

In the new book, there is a whole section explaining this new phenomenon which is trying to pass itself off as scientific, using epidemiological studies. Here is the excerpt:

“Epidemiological studies also called population studies, are the poor cousin of true clinical trials. They are not controlled studies done under set scientific conditions, but rather attempts at verifying a hypothesis just by counting the incidence of a certain disease or condition within a certain population. The problem is that results from epidemiological studies are subject to widespread interpretation, depending on who’s doing the counting, who decides the criteria for what gets counted, who’s paying for the study, who publishes the results, etc. For this reason, epidemiological studies can be used to “prove” two opposite hypotheses.

In the exploding vaccine industry today, epidemiological studies are quickly becoming the standard to validate our need for more vaccines, because they’re faster, cheaper, and capable of supporting practically any required outcome.”

For this reason we can see why Average Parrot is threatened by the article The Psychology of Vaccine Awareness and especially by the new vaccine book, which he will certainly never read, being beyond his permitted scope. Even though I have directed some comments in this response to Average Parrot, I’m really addressing it to the average educated parents who are struggling with the idea of vaccines today and trying to make up their minds whether or not there is anything to all this noise they hear about problems with vaccine risks and dangers.

To those parents I’m saying yes, follow your instincts, it’s not as simple as your pediatrician and as Average Parrot here would pretend. The issue is not who wins the argument or who is the cleverest at word games like this. The outcome affects your child and his chances of developing a normal immune system. In the modern world today with its Clintons and Bushes and Roves and Obamas, it’s about protection — protecting ourselves from propaganda and the science of lying, protecting the blood of our children from processed foods, contaminated air and water, and specifically from experimental vaccines being shot into their formative immune systems during infancy. It is for them that the parent owes a little investigation — from sources other than those making a living off the selling of vaccines. If the parents have a lot of time they can do their own research. If they want to save months of time they can look at the new book: the 13th edition The Sanctity of Human Blood: Vaccination Is Not Immunization. Don’t believe the book, believe the references. And believe in your child’s future.

Tap Into Your Natural Healing Ability

Once there was a man, let’s call him Richard, who was terribly afraid of spiders.  Simply seeing a spider make the slightest movement sent Richard in the other direction, shivering in fear of being bitten. Walking into spider webs elicited a frantic whirlwind of the arms, as he’d desperately try to rid himself of the web and its fanged owner. 

Richard’s first vivid “spider memory” came from his childhood. He was hiding in a bush during a game of hide-and-seek when he realized that the little white flower on his hand wasn’t a flower at all, but a large, too-well-camouflaged spider. He watched in horrificfascination as it bit him! Decades later, he would smash spiders as they crawled across his bedroom wall, leaving their broken, lifeless bodies as silent warnings to other eight-legged pests.

One day, Richard came across an innovative technique that was supposedly quite effective for a range of ailments, including stubborn phobias. He stumbled through the motions, following a free “try it yourself” version of the process, naming his fear of spiders as theintended target. At the end of the self-led session, his skepticism in full swing, he put away the materials and went back to the daily grind.

It wasn’t until a week or two later that Richard realized something had indeed changed. He watched with interest as a spider scuttled across the wall. After it hid behind a bookcase, Richard’s awareness gave a clarion call: I didn’t jump up and smash it! A few weeks later, to his own disbelief, he found himself “rescuing” a spider by cupping it in a glass and carrying it outside to be released into his garden. And last night – several years after that single, self-led and incidental “therapy session” – while sitting at an outside concert, he watched a spider scurry across a metal bar in front of him and wondered if it would tickle to have that “little guy” run over his arm.

There had been no medical intervention, no endless hours with a psychotherapist, and no medications involved, yet Richard’s decades-old fear of spiders had virtually vanished. Could that one non-supervised self-help session have eradicated Richard’s life-long fear of spiders? Some scoff at the proposal, but new research, and arguably even more compelling personal experience, suggests that such rapid and long-term healing is possible. What’s more, it is the result of literally tapping into a system of energy that already exists within each of us.

Too good to be true? I’m sure it seems that way. But Richard’s story is actually my own. This was my initial and quite surprising encounter with an ancillary therapy called Emotional Freedom Techniques or EFT.

Ancient Roots, Modern Branches

EFT is one of a body of alternative therapies within a growing area of specialty called “Energy Psychology,” which focuses on how your body’s unique energy can dramatically affect your emotional health, your success in the world, and your level of personal joy and wellbeing. As a field, Energy Psychology is both relatively new and well-received. The journal Clinical Psychology called it “an exciting and rapidly developing realm,” concluding that “emerging research suggests that [Energy Psychology’s] methods are very effective indeed, extremely rapid, and thoroughly gentle.” ¹

Most techniques that fall under Energy Psychology’s umbrella – and certainly this is the case with EFT – are at least partially founded on the ancient Chinese medicine theory involving the circulation of energy in the body. Just as there are fluids that flow through your body (i.e., blood, lymph), there is an unseen system of energy that circulates as well. Eastern medicine has long acknowledged the presence of this energy flow and has, over 5,000 years, steadily perfected its approach to utilizing these energies to affect health and healing. Acupuncture and acupressure, two well-known and respected natural health therapies, are part of this long legacy. The latest “cousin” in the family, EFT, is rapidly gaining respect and validity as a tool for quick, efficient, and relatively painless healing.

One of the primary principles of EFT is that all emotional disturbances are caused by a disruption in the body’s energy system. It follows that smoothing out or “fixing” that disruption should “heal” emotional troubles. This makes EFT an excellent ancillary therapy for issues such as depression, anger, jealousy, phobias, paranoia, addictions, performance anxiety, low self-esteem, and a host of other mental and emotional ailments.

But EFT also connects the brain with this dynamic energy system. In their groundbreaking book The Promise of Energy Psychology, authors David Feinstein, Donna Eden, and (EFT creator) Gary Craig explore the connection between the human brain and emotional health. Their conclusion is that “every thought or emotion that you experience causes a reaction in a specific area of your brain.”2 Through EFT, practitioners help their clients shift their brains’ responses to both external and internal stimuli. The result is that the things that used to emotionally disturb a person suddenly elicit a more rational emotional response. (Remember my spider phobia?)

As EFT started its undeniable and inevitable blooming into the world of holistic and natural health, practitioners and clients alike noticed another startling fact: EFT hasthe capacity to help with many physicalailments as well! People suffering from conditions such as carpal tunnel syndrome, neck pain, backache, headaches, PMS, toothaches, migraines, IBS, the common cold, high blood pressure, and many other health concerns can find relief through this new and exciting technique.

In large part, this may be due to the mind-body connection, which has been the focus of many studies in recent years. It’s become an undeniable fact that our minds can affect our bodies in both positive and negative ways. As we discover and heal mental “triggers,” many physical issues can clear up seemingly on their own.

Another reason EFT may help heal physical maladies is due to its unique ability to smooth out the energy system in the body. People with significant health issues may have developed an energy system disturbance that has actually, in time, become part of the problem itself. Recalibrating the energy flow with regard to the particular illness or disease in question may actually allow the body to more easily heal and rejuvenate itself. This is, after all, the aim, function, and success of acupuncture, which has a long and distinguished history of helping a wide range of physical ailments.

All of the above boils down to something like this: EFT allows people to change both brain chemistry and energy patterns surrounding psychological problems, which in turn “disarms” emotional and mental triggers and can rapidly and effectively help treat emotional, mental, and sometimes even physical issues. Positive results are often rapid, painless, and long lasting.

It does sound too good to be true, doesn’t it? Well, for once, it’s not.

Granted, EFT may not cure every ailment and may not work in every situation, but the ease of its use, the painlessness of its delivery, and the odds of its success certainly make it worth investigating. But let’s nip the skepticism in the bud. Most people assume that if EFT works at all it’s due to the “power of suggestion,” some kind of subtle hypnotism, or perhaps even the charisma and enthusiasm of the practitioner. While these are understandable arguing points, the truth is that EFT recalibrates a person’s energy system around negatively charged thoughts so that undesirable emotional responses are eliminated. In fact, EFT’s effectiveness with infants, children, and even animals has been documented. In these cases, it certainly isn’t a placebo effect at work or hypnotherapy. Rather, it’s the direct action of EFT on the recipients’ energy systems.

Incredulous? That’s fine! I didn’t believe it myself, at first. And in my opinion, that only adds to EFT’s credibility: you don’t need to believe in it for it to work. EFT can affect positive changes in people who have zero faith in it. How can this be? Because your energy system and your brain’s neural pathways don’t rely on your value judgments to perform. As an Advanced Practitioner, I will certainly suggest that a positive outlook or “hope” may increase a client’s rate of success due to the power of intention, but I have yet to see proof that incredulity keeps EFT from working its magic on at least some level.

The Basic Recipe

Perhaps one of the most surprising aspects of EFT is how very simple and non-invasive it is. At the center of EFT is a working knowledge of what are called the body’s acupoints. There are at least 360 acupoints distributed throughout the body, tiny areas of the skin that, when stimulated, send signals directly to areas of the brain that are connected with our emotions and our bodies’ energy system. MRIs have demonstrated that “stimulating specific points on the skin not only changed brain activity; it also deactivated areas of the brain that are involved with the experiences of fear and pain.” 3 Further, working with acupoints has been shown to increase the release of serotonin (a natural, beneficial neurochemical), necessary from a neurochemical standpoint to minimize depression, addictions, and mood disorders.
   Acupuncture uses needles to stimulate various acupoints, while acupressure rubs them, sometimes intensely. EFT, on the other hand, uses a series of gentle taps with two or three fingertips on only a handful of these points to provide an incredible healing journey. In short, you take two fingers of one hand (typically the index and middle fingers) and use them to tap on various acupoints located on the upper body (and sometimes also on the hand). To the right, you see a picture of some of the most common acupoints stimulated in EFT.

The tapping itself is gentle; there’s no need for a forceful or high-pressured approach. Practitioners typically aim for about seven taps on each of the points, though far less attention should be paid to how much tapping is happening at each point than to what is being said during the tapping sequence.

Perhaps just as important as the tapping itself is the Set-Up Phrase used to isolate and address the issue in question. This phrase is typically comprised of two parts: the statement of the problem and a positive affirmation. For example, if you are working with a fear of spiders, you would start with the phrase:
“Even though I am terrified of spiders…”

This establishes the problem and helps trigger your body’s subtle energies surrounding this issue. The next step in the Set-Up Phrase process, however, is to tell your body/mind that, regardless of the issue, it is loved and accepted:

“…I deeply and completely love and accept myself.”

This entire phrase – “Even though I am terrified of spiders, I deeply and completely love and accept myself” – simultaneously addresses the issue and primes the energy system for what I like to think of as “recalibration.” Essentially, you allow your body to slip into the negative energy pattern (by calling out the problem) then offer yourself love and acceptance in spite of the perceived negative response.

This statement is repeated a few times while tapping on a point on the hand, then the rest of the tapping sequence commences. What stands out to most EFT newcomers is that when tapping on each of the acupoints, they are asked to repeat the problem indicated by the Set-Up Phrase (e.g., “I’m terrified of spiders!”).

In my practice, most clients ask why we don’t instead repeat the positive affirmation. “Aren’t I just tapping the problem in even deeper?” is the question I usually get. Quite the contrary, by repeating the problem while stimulating the acupoints, the body is sent a signal to release the disruption in the energy system around that particular issue, in effect “recalibrating” it so that the problem (e.g., fear of spiders) no longer sends the energy system into shock.    

It’s like a massage therapist rubbing out a knot in your back – she doesn’t work just on the parts of you that are fine, she works right on the problem area. Of course, EFT is much gentler than massage, and you can do it yourself at just about any time and just about anywhere.    

The result of all this tapping and problem-repeating? The fear of spiders is reduced – sometimes dramatically and often very quickly – and what’s called a cognitive reframe occurs. That is to say that the circumstances haven’t changed – spiders still exist! But the way the client perceives them shifts dramatically. Often, fear gives way to curiosity, as people start to wonder what they were so afraid of to begin with. This, in turn, can even bloom into appreciation as other aspects of the problem shift into focus.    

Remarkably, EFT has the ability to release emotional, mental, and even physical pains that far surpass simple fears. Indeed, it has been known to help with sports performance, reduce many body aches and pains, and even disarm traumatic memories and events such as abuse and rape. The power of EFT is only now starting to become widely recognized, and I foresee its use in many situations as a first-response approach to a wide array of emotional and physical issues.

What, Where, & How?

What you can expect from a session may vary widely from practitioner to practitioner. In part, this is due to the fact that anyone can learn EFT. Many EFT practitioners are trained psychotherapists and doctors, while others are lay people convinced they have found something worth sharing with others. Naturally, that doesn’t mean all EFT practitioners are equally good at facilitating healing. Nor should one assume that only a degree-carrying practitioner can achieve lasting results. Quite the contrary, varying degrees of knowledge, skill, intuition, and finesse can be found just as assuredly in a home office as a doctor’s office.

Probably your best bet when looking for a qualified EFT Practitioner is to look for one who is certified (or certificated) on at least a basic level. Look for a practitioner who evidences some kind of proficiency: Has she written articles on the subject? Does he have a sizeable clientele? Has she been practicing long? Does he have an official “business” (including a business license from the city)? Feel free to call or email the practitioner and ask how long he or she has been using EFT with others, as well as any other questions you may have.

A well-trained EFT practitioner will help you become comfortable and adept with the technique within a session or two. Your questions about EFT and what you can expect during the healing process should be answered during the first session, and you should experience some kind of identifiable emotional or psychological “movement” with regard to the problem for which you’re seeking EFT help (i.e., easing of anger, removal of guilt, lifting of embarrassment, etc.). Initial sessions should include an introduction to EFT, to the tapping points and the Set-Up Phrase, and several runs through the system targeting your specific issue.

When my clients leave my office after an initial visit, they not only have used EFT, they feel comfortable trying it out on their own, too. This is one of the most surprising and fantastic aspects of EFT: once you learn it, you can use it in your daily life without the help of a professional. While it may take a seasoned and skilled EFT Practitioner to help with some issues, many people can learn EFT effortlessly and use it successfully in their own lives when they need it most. This unique combination of ease and effectiveness promises to make EFT a popular technique with anyone who is eager to explore and tap (quite literally!) the healing power within.

For a free manual on EFT, and to learn more about this dynamic healing technique go to www.emofree.com

¹Phil Mollon, Review of Energy Psychology Interactive. Clinical Psychology42 (2004): 37-39

²David Feinstein, Donna Eden, & Gary Craig, The Promise of Energy Psychology: Revolutionary Tools for Dramatic Personal Change. (2005): 13

³David Feinstein, Donna Eden, & Gary Craig, The Promise of Energy Psychology: Revolutionary Tools for Dramatic Personal Change. (2005): 21

EFT In Action

Laura had an intense  fear of heights.

The first time we walked out onto the balcony of a local concert hall, she held onto both the railing and me with a white knuckled grip, her fear of falling so severe she’d get sick from looking down.

“After we had reached our seats, and with only ten minutes before the start of the concert, I asked her if she’d like to lose her fear of heights. She was incredulous but open to the idea and proceeded through the basic steps of EFT with me as her guide.

“After only two rounds of the technique, a peculiar look crossed her face and she said, ‘It’s gone.’ To prove it, she grabbed the railing in front of us and bent over so far that I was uncomfortable! During intermission and after the concert, she tested the results and was able each time to lean over the railing without any hint of the crippling fear she’d experienced earlier.

“To this day – and that was several years ago – her fear of heights in such settings has stayed a thing of the past. So much so, in fact, that she hardly remembers what it was like before our quick, impromptu EFT session.”

Many people who choose eco-friendly products or healthy, all natural foods still resort to conventional ointments when faced with a cut, a burn, or acne. Théra Wise has an alternative. Using naturally occurring, “body-friendly” source ingredients and low impact manufacturing processes, Théra Wise offers a better alternative to chemical ointments,  four natural, bio-active, therapeutic ointments:

• HmR Natural Hemorrhoidal Ointment, which contains witch hazel extract, organic chamomile extract, barley beta glucan concentrate, grape seed oil, seabuckthorn berry oil, organic aloe extract, argania spinosa (argan) oil (containing EFAs, tocopherol, and phytosterols), butcher’s broom extract, vitamins A, C, and E, olive oil emulsifiers and waxes, and natural plant preservatives.
• SHO Natural Skin Healing Ointment, which contains calendula extract, organic chamomile extract, burdock root extract, barley beta glucan concentrate, organic rose hip seed oil, soya sterols, seabuckthorn berry oil, organic aloe extract, argania spinosa (argan) oil (containing EFAs, tocopherol and phytosterols), organic tea tree oil, vitamins A, C, and E, olive oil emulsifiers and waxes, and natural plant preservatives.
• VpR Natural Vaporizing Decongestant Rub, which contains eucalyptus leaf oil, white pine oil, peppermint oil, camphor oil, asian berry wax, organic rose hip seed oil, white thyme oil, bitter orange oil, argania spinosa (argan) oil (containing EFAs, tocopherol ,and phytosterols), vitamins A, C, and E, olive oil emulsifiers and waxes, and natural plant preservatives.
• Ac+ Natural Acne Ointment, which contains witch hazel, tea tree oil, organic tamanu oil, alpha lipoic acid, marine algae extract, barley beta glucan concentrate, aloe extract, organic rose hip seed oil, alpha glucan, vitamins A, C, and E, olive oil emulsifiers and waxes, and natural plant preservatives.

   Though we were unable to test out the Hemorrhoidal Ointment,  we compared the other three products to their conventional counterparts and found Théra Wise to be just as effective – in fact, more so. Vapor rub and hemmorrhoidal ointment are available in the U.S. through CVS.com.

This month we had the pleasure of trying out an array of products from a small, idealistic company called For My Kids. We fully endorse this company and their products, and we also found their website to be informative. Here is an excerpt: “In an investigation of the ingredients in more than 23,000 personal care products, Environmental Working Group (EWG) found that nearly one of every 30 products sold in the United States fails to meet one or more industry or governmental cosmetics safety standards. They found nearly 400 products sold in the U.S. containing chemicals that are prohibited for use in cosmetics in other countries, and over 400 products containing ingredients that cosmetic industry safety panels have found unsafe when used as directed on product labels, including the U.S.-based Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) and the International Fragrance Association. Their analysis of ingredients in more than 23,000 products finds that 751 different products fail to meet one or more industry or government safety standards and 98% of all products contain one or more ingredients never publicly assessed for safety. — Environmental Working Group, Skin Deep (2007).”

Vinegar of the Four Thieves

Vinegar of the Four Thieves is a natural alternative to antibacterial disinfectants. It is based on a well-known formula of vinegar and organic herbs that has been used for centuries to prevent contagious disease. Although they do not, (likely because they cannot) claim For My Kids Vinegar of the Four Thieves is an antiseptic, antimicrobial, antibacterial, or antifungal, the ingredients are commonly known to have these properties. Does it work? We really have no idea. We believe it does, but we’d need a lab and a bunch of scientists to check out the efficacy of a disinfectant. The recipe is good and the idea is sound. No chemicals. Nothing we wouldn’t put on our skin. And think about it; if you’re one of those people cleaning your counter tops, your cutting boards, and your doorknobs with Lysol handy wipes or some other chemically derived, superbug creating disinfectant, it’s getting on your skin and in the air you breathe. If you do feel the need to disinfect, either once in a blue moon or 117 times a day, this is the product for you.

All Natural Hand Wash

This all-natural, lavender-scented spray is ideal for times when you can’t get to soap and water. Just spray and wipe your hands together until they’re dry.

My Mommy’s Face Care

The first time one of our testers used this product, she didn’t read the directions. Assuming this was a moisturizer, she used it as such and reported back that it was really good, though kind of heavy or greasy. After reading the directions and discovering this product is actually a facial cleanser that is supposed to be wiped off with a dry cloth, she tried it again and returned with glowing reports. It is a great make-up remover. We wouldn’t recommend it for the morning, though, or as a cleanser to use before applying make-up. The coconut oil and almond oil are great moisturizers, but, in our opinion, would not be a great base for make-up.Vegan Lip Balm

All Natural Vegan Lip Balm (Peppermint)

Made with great ingredients, this lip balm feels very good on your lips and works well. This is one of the very best lip balms we have ever tried.

All Natural Comfrey Salve

This product is for “boo-boos and bug bites.” We didn’t have any kids running around with any “owies” so our editor-in-chief decided to try this salve as an aftershave. He’s a bit clumsy and ends up with “boo-boos” every time he shaves. He also has sensitive skin. Even with the protocol he has developed to get the best shave, he still doesn’t like the way his face feels after shaving. But he said All Natural Comfrey Salve, “… calms, soothes, and worked well. It even absorbed well, and left my face without an oily look. I would repackage this and market it as an aftershave!”
Insect Repellant

We tried, but unfortunately it was too cold for us to find any insects to repel! This repellant does have a nice earthy smell and feels good on the skin, kind of like a moisturizer.
Happy Fun Dough

No chemicals. No artificial colors. We love it!

Conclusion

All of the For My Kids products are made without chemicals and many of their ingredients are organic. And their products work. We recommend For My Kids for both kids and adults.

www.formykidsonline.com

Intentional Chocolate sent us a box of their “Love Truffles” and hot cocoa to review. They say their chocolates are embedded with this intention: “Whoever consumes this chocolate will manifest optimal health and functioning at physical, emotional and mental levels, and in particular will enjoy an increased sense of energy, vigor and well-being for the benefit of all beings.” They also tell us, “In a double-blind, placebo-controlled study that was published in the scientific peer-reviewed journal, Explore: The Journal of Science and Healing (October 2007) it was found that one ounce of Intentional Chocolate™ per day for three days increased subjects’ well-being, vigor and energy by an average of 67 percent and, in some cases, up to 1,000 percent, when compared to a control group.”

While they use Hawaiian Vintage Chocolate, which the New York Times says is “among the best in the world,” they claim their focus is on intention, not ingredients.

When we think of good intentions, we think of words like organic, unrefined, and fair-trade. Why don’t their ingredients reflect good intentions? Did this chocolate increase our “well-being” more than the organic, fair-trade chocolate we usually eat? Nope. Would we feel better eating Intentional Chocolate rather than conventional chocolate sweetened with refined sugar? Likely.

We do believe in the power of intention, but we believe in the ingredients as well. Good intentions conflicting with poor actions do not yield the most positive results. If a company’s “good intentions” were more than a marketing gimmick, we believe those intentions would be reflected by the ingredients. We believe our health and our environment are better intentions upon which to focus.

www.intentionalchocolate.com

It does not matter what size jar you use as long as the top one quarter is liquid.

Dry herbs lose their potency within a year. Fresh herbs rot soon after harvest. Tinctures preserve and extract the medicinal properties of an herb in an alcoholic extract. Tinctures may last more than a hundred years.

You can purchase tinctures through Organic Solutions, or you can make your own. They are very easy to make, but the process is time consuming, and it takes months to brew a strong tincture.

All of our formulas are available to the public. If we lose business and gain competitors, so be it. We need more herbalists and natural healers in this horrid world of huge pharmaceutical companies and pill pushers in white coats. Be the family herbalist. Be your own doctor. Maybe if enough of you make your own herbal preparations, we’ll drive them out of business.

I’ll drink to that! (Herbal tea of course.)

Stuff for making:

• Blender
• 100 proof alcohol (vodka works well)
• Glass mason jar
• Organic dried or fresh herbs

Stuff for straining:

• Wooden spoon
• Fine kitchen strainer or cheesecloth
• Bottle to put the finished tincture in

Note: Make on the new moon; strain on the full moon. Shake tincture at least once a week

It’s really easy:

Put herbs in blender. Add 100 proof alcohol to cover ¼ inch over the herbs. Blend well to a soupy consistency and pour into a glass jar. Screw on lid.

Let herbs settle for a day to see how much liquid is on top. 3/4 herbs to 1/4 liquid on top is best (see diagram). Screw the lid on and let it brew in the dark for at least 4 weeks or for months if you desire (but remember to strain on the full moon). To strain, pour the entire contents of the jar through your strainer and press all liquid out of the soaked herbs with a wooden spoon. Keep finished tincture sealed as the alcohol will evaporate if left unsealed.

Cheers,

If you want to purchase Organic Solutions tinctures and other products check out our online store, Green Lifestyle Market.

As a brand new farmer, I farmed conventionally for two years and broke even both years on one quarter section. Not so good. No profit. Farming has to make money or there is no point in doing it, right?

I decided I could make a little more money if I converted to organic, plus I didn’t like spraying all those chemicals. So I began the next year with a crop of oats, and I didn’t spray. Well, in the spring, what popped out of the ground was a beautiful field of wild mustard weed. Again not so good. The oats did grow, but they suffered under the canopy of the wild mustard.

From a distance, the field looked like a canola field. I hung my head in shame thinking that once again, I would not make a profit. Some farmers laughed. Some jokingly commented on how beautiful my canola crop looked. And some probably thought I was one bale short of a hay stack! In desperation I searched the web for a solution, but could find nothing. I resigned myself to just let it grow and harvest whatever I could in the fall instead of plowing it under.

That summer I spoke to many farmers and eventually met up with an old timer who used to farm organically. Over coffee at his place, I told him about my field and all the things that went wrong. To my surprise, in one hour he gave me more info on how to farm organically than I had learned in months of searching on the net.

With this new-found knowledge, I purchased a few more pieces of old farm equipment to help me out. Fall came, and the oats, wild mustard, wild buckwheat, and all the other weeds that offered me their seed were pouring into the combine. It was a mess that looked like a dog’s breakfast, but, thanks to my friend, the old timer, I used an old-fashioned screening system I had found for $400.00 at a local farm auction to separate the small weeds from the larger oats . It worked so well, I was able to remove 99% of all the junk from the oats.

With this new found hope, I felt confident I could farm organically. But what was I to do with all these weed seeds like wild mustard? Most farmers just dig a hole in the field and bury them four feet under. I did some brainstorming and research, and then it came to me. I could crush them like they crush canola seeds to make my own fuel.

Since then, I have designed and built my own bio-diesel reactor, purchased a grain burning stove, and purchased a small canola crusher. My tractors and trucks run on my homemade bio-diesel, a major reduction of my fuel farming costs. I also heat my home on weed seeds, saving even more money.

The second year I planted wheat and was able to keep the weeds to a minimum. During the summer, I noticed I had a wheat midge problem. (A midge is a little bug that eats the wheat.) It wasn’t an all out devastating infestation, but I asked around to a few farmers who all told me I should spray to get rid of the pest. However, I knew if I sprayed, I would no longer qualify to be organic. So I went back to the web in hopes of an answer. I found nothing but chemicals used to kill the bugs.

I once again resigned myself to just letting the crop grow and harvesting in the fall if the bugs left anything to harvest.

I once read a quote by Ambrose Bierce, “Patience: A minor form of despair disguised as a virtue.” That sort of summed it up for me. But this story gets better. Much better! I have to tell you! Are you sitting down in your chair?

A miracle happened. About a week later, I noticed a new critter in the field. Lady bugs. Lady bugs and more lady bugs. What seemed like millions of them. Everywhere I looked and everywhere I walked, lady bugs would land on my arms, hands, and hair. I wondered what in the world they were doing in the field because I had not seen them there before. To my amazement, they were eating the pesky wheat midge. Just when I thought all hope was lost, the small seemingly insignificant lady bug came to my rescue.

Every day I would walk through the field and marvel at the tiny creatures that were now living in my field creating balance the way it was designed to work. You know the best thing I ever did was choose not to follow the conventional wisdom. Had I sprayed the first year for weeds, I wouldn’t have all this free bio-diesel. Had I sprayed the second year for the bugs, I would have killed the wheat midge, but I also would have indiscriminately killed many other critters like the amazing lady bug. I wouldn’t have let the natural cycle of the field follow its course. I would have missed out on a major blessing.

Organic agriculture is sustainable. I can’t help but wonder what we as a people could accomplish if we were just a little more patient.