We strive to maintain our health today with exercise, diet and preventative care by visiting our general practitioners annually, but what about our eyes? How often should you see an optometrist? Today eye exams are recommended once a year for a multitude of reasons, and having good vision doesn’t exclude the need. A person can have 20/20 vision and still require prescription glasses to help with symptoms such as fatigue and headaches caused by binocular or accommodative disorders. An optometrist is not only trained in detecting ocular diseases, like glaucoma macular degeneration and tumors, but also systemic conditions, that often times have changes within the eyes, such as diabetes, hypertension and multiple sclerosis. Many of these diseases may be asymptomatic in the early stages, but can cause permanent vision loss if not detected early. So if you’ve never seen an optometrist, or it’s been a few years, you’re overdue.

www.iris.ca

When you go for a massage do you ever ask your therapist what kind of oil or lotion they use? Do you care? Some therapists are purists and others not so. For example Holly Oil, which is actually petroleum based, tends to be used due to its cost effectiveness. A popular and more natural option to try is fractionated coconut oil, which is a light carrier oil, fragrance free and much better for your body. With fractionated coconut oil, the lauric acid component is removed leaving it liquid at room temperature. As with all oils and lotions, make sure you are purchasing from a trusted supplier. Quality and freshness differs greatly. Buy organic when you can and stick to natural ingredients whenever possible. Up to 85 % of the product is in the top three ingredients listed. Your body deserves the best.

Roxanne Derkson RMT
www.vivitherapy.com

Xylitol is a sweetening agent used in foods since the 1960s. It is an odourless, white crystalline powder with the same sweetness as sucrose, but one-third fewer calories. It is found in many fruits and vegetables (strawberries, raspberries and plums) and is produced by the human body during normal metabolism. Xylitol currently is approved for use in foods, pharmaceuticals and oral health products in more than 35 countries. It is a naturally occurring sweetener available in chewing gum, candy, and toothpastes, and is an effective preventive agent against dental cavities. A series of studies have concluded that the full or partial substitution of xylitol for sucrose or the addition of xylitol to the diet reduces cavities. The between-meals consumption of xylitol-containing chewing gum has been demonstrated to reduce cavities in teenagers by 30 to 60 percent in studies conducted in Canada, Thailand, French Polynesia and Belize.

Mary Ellen Breckenridge
www.smilevictoria.ca

If you need support to make positive changes for your health, then consider seeking out a certified health and wellness coach to help you on your journey. Whether you’re looking to lose weight, adjust to new hearing aids, get stronger, say “no” more often, learn to live well with chronic pain or any other condition, a coach can help you meet your goals. A certified health and wellness coach uses evidence-based behavioral psychology, counseling, motivational interviewing, positive psychology, adult learning theory, and solution-oriented therapy to help clients identify the areas in their lives that they want to change or improve and help them create a plan to get there. Coaches then provide structure, accountability, expertise and inspiration to enable clients to grow, increase self-awareness, commitment and confidence beyond what they can achieve on their own.

Juhree Zimmerman R.N., B.Sc.N., M.Ed., C.P.C.C., O.R.S.C.
www.strategyforsynergy.ca 

Stress seems to be an inevitable part of modern life. While healthy stress can motivate us to take positive action, chronic stress compromises our immune system, reducing our ability to think clearly. It can also increase the risk of a wide range of conditions including: obesity, heart disease, diabetes, depression, gastrointestinal problems and asthma. The good news is, that each of us has the ability to calm our own stress responses. Three slow, deep, belly breaths can begin to counteract stress symptoms; so can moderate exercise or meditation. But if root causes of the stressors are not dealt with, the effects may be short-lived.  Issues such as an up-coming exam or job interview; family or work conflict, trauma or deep-seated issues generally require more in-depth approaches. Today, simple but highly effective energy therapies can easily be learned for self-care stress reduction or use with the guidance of a skilled practitioner.

What Are These Simple but Powerful Energy Therapies?

Known as Power Therapies or Energy Psychotherapies (EP’s), with labels that sound a bit like alphabet soup, these are a growing number of modalities, which grew mainly from a technique known as Thought Field Therapy or TFT, developed by psychologist, Roger Callahan, PhD in the 1980’s. (visit my website and click on History of Energy Psychology for a detailed description). Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) also known as “Tapping” is one of the better known therapies in this field, because hundreds of thousands of people, around the world, are now using it to help themselves and others. Not as well-known but equally gentle and powerful is another of my favourite therapies, known as TAT or Tapas Acupressure Technique.

What Kinds of Issues Can Energy Therapies Help With?

Energy Therapies can be used to relieve pain, muscular tension, relationship conflicts, panic, anxiety, trauma, depression, insomnia, migraines, love pain, grief, addictions, nightmares, anger and much more. Even a short session can reduce your stress hormone – Cortisol – and lower your blood pressure, while enhancing thinking and problem solving. It is also an amazing performance enhancement tool for speakers, students, athletes, musicians and artists and it can enhance your spiritual practice.

One of reasons that the simple “recipes” these EP’s use are able to help with so many issues, is that they all work to alter the body and brain’s out-moded responses to old thoughts and memories. ( Watch for my December 2015 article on “Trauma and the Unconscious Mind” for more details on this mechanism.) Simply put, they take the body out of reactivity and “stress” mode and into a state of more energetic coherence or calmness. This allows for new, more whole-brain responses to the issues that were previously troublesome.

Here are a few examples of how some specific stressors can be reduced or eliminated with Energy Therapies:

• A student with severe test anxiety can now approach her exams with confidence and calmness and improve her Grade Point Average.

• A businessman uses EFT prior to an important meeting and is able to present his product clearly and confidently.

• A classroom group of children “Tap” at the start of the school day to help themselves be present and ready to get the most out of the day.

• A mature woman is able to work through a childhood trauma and enjoy Christmas with her family for the first time.

• A woman with a 24-year flying phobia eliminates her fear in a 45 minute treatment session.

• A child with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder uses “Tapping” to calm himself down and avoid being teased.

• A military veteran with 18 years of Post-Traumatic Stress who, after years of medication, group and psycho-therapy had minimal relief, is finally free of major symptoms with only 6 sessions of EFT.

• A young actor is able to eliminate performance anxiety and gains notoriety in a highly competitive field.

How Do EP’s Work?

All these EP approaches work with a simple process of putting ones’ attention gently on a distressing symptom, thought and/or emotional memory while holding or tapping on specific acupuncture meridians with your own fingers. This process is a kind of mental Exposure Therapy; which activates a constellation of energetic impulses in the body/mind, where the roots of the issues have been “stored”. Stimulation of the acupuncture meridians at the same time as the mental activation can create a relaxation response in these systems. This generally results in a reduction or elimination of the previously troublesome emotions, thoughts and body symptoms, often with only a few applications. More complex issues may require a few sessions to resolve but usually a person will leave even their first session, feeling more calm, relaxed and neutral about a previously distressing issue. My students and clients refer to this as the PCL state – Peaceful, Calm and a kind of Lightness in their body!

What Does A Private Session Look Like?

It is important that my clients understand that we work together as team! It is a combination each client’s history, inner wisdom, and commitment to self-growth, combined with my knowledge, experience and intuitive sense, together weaving a path of healing. Sometimes this will occur in just one or two sessions but often a series of 3 to 5 sessions over time, with self-care “homework” by the client in between, is the optimum recipe for success. I also believe that healing can be fun! My clients and I sometimes find humor erupting as a very healing mechanism even in the depths of distress.

Our first session of 1.5 hours will start with a brief check-in and history taking, after which we will commence using one of the EP’s such as Emotional Freedom Technique on a troublesome issue. By the end of the session, there should be a noticeable sense of change in the Issue we have been working with. Subsequent sessions are around 60 minutes in length and are directed by the needs of the client.

If you are wondering if a Private Coaching or Counselling session might be useful for you, I offer a free 10 minute phone consultations to assist you. If you know you would like an appointment please call or email and we will set up a time that is mutually convenient.

How Can I Learn These Energy Psychotherapies?

I generally teach EFT to my clients in our very first session, so they can experience the benefits and have it as an ongoing stress reduction strategy for homework between sessions and for LIFE. I introduce additional approaches as requested or required. These may include other EP’s, meditation or grounding and energizing techniques.

Workshops and Presentations

My passion is to teach and empower as many people as possible with Energy Therapies and other healing approaches. I offer short, 3 – hour Stress-Buster EFT classes and longer, 2 day EFT and TAT Workshops, where professionals and lay people can learn how to use these therapeutic tools for self-care and to help others. There are many YouTube videos online and tutorials where you can learn EFT. But according to Gary Craig, creator of EFT “the best way to learn EFT is to participate in a live workshop.” So I hope you will join me at one of mine!

Please email karenledger@shaw.ca with the Subject Line Workshop Request if you would like to attend or organize a presentation or workshop.

Thank You for Your Interest!

It is my pleasure to answer questions or receive comments about this article. You will also find more information and contact information on my website: www.karenledger.ca

Yours in Wellness,

Karen E. Ledger, RN BScN

At One Communications

Life is all about balance; and about communication between the parts of our whole organism. Different regions, different systems of the body all need to be, and are, in constant contact with each other – at least that is so in a situation of healthy balance. When, however, there are imbalances, compromises to the communication channels between regions, between systems, the body is attempting to demonstrate, to gain attention for those imbalances, disruptions and/or distortions in those communication pathways.

In this way, it is very important to look at the presenting situation – of symptoms or challenges that arise physically (and mento-emotionally) for us – for they can be seen then as problems to understand and address. The best way I know of to facilitate a reading of what exactly needs to be understood and addressed, is by osteopathic assessment, palpation, and the treatment process itself.

So the body is a finely tuned instrument. It constantly expresses and reflects its state, and the psycho-emotional state of the mind. It is inexplicably linked to, and expressive of, how one sees the world. If we feel criticized, isolated or judged, for instance, that will be reflected in our posture; how we breathe and talk; how we hold ourselves; how we move about in the world; whether we meet the eyes of others around us; whether we allow ourselves to take in, and feel the support of the ground beneath us, the chair we are sitting on; whether we feel the natural world around us – or not.

Having some conscious awareness of how these interactions between our view of ourselves and the world around us, take place, can be very freeing. New neurological research (well represented by the book, The Upward Spiral, by Alex Korb, PhD) indicates that there is a regulating influence, or an improvement in one’s health that follows simply from acknowledging to oneself how one is feeling. So, if I am feeling sad, and I attempt to move around it; if I don’t want to admit it to myself that I’m feeling that sadness (or angry, desolate, fill-in-the-blank with any uncomfortable feeling for you), then I’m going to tense up against even trying to feel it. Now, the tension itself has become more of the problem than the sadness, anger or whatever I was failing to acknowledge feeling. Note here that I ALREADY AM FEELING the uncomfortable emotional content, but I am trying not to “see,” “hear,” taste,” or “sense” it in any way. If, on the other hand, I simply acknowledge what I’m feeling – it doesn’t have to change – there is already a shift in my brain chemistry toward a healthier perspective toward myself and “the world”.

A big part of the work I do as an osteopath is to share with the people, parents of young children, or animal care-givers seeking my help, the perspective that is so evident to me from that person/child/animal’s body, so that they can use that understanding to work with me in re-establishing a more harmonious balance and regulation within the communication networks that are always functioning in a live physical body. If we are alive, that network is functioning at some level. Our level of health and wellness is largely determined, however, by how clear and unimpeded those communications are, and the extent to which they acknowledged.

If you are an osteopath, physician, chiropractor, physiotherapist or massage therapist and would be interested in exploring ideas like this in a practical and experiential way relevant to your own practice please get in touch with me directly, at: victoria.osteopath@gmail.com Please use the subject line “Professional Workshop List”

I am presently in planning mode for course offerings to begin in the next couple of months. I may also offer some other forum for discussion and sharing amongst my patients and the general public. If that interests you, please send me an email to the same address, but use the title: “Public Discussion”

Howard V. Dieno DO (UK)

British-trained Osteopathic Practitioner

Website: www.dieno.ca

Also see: www.osteopathybc.com

And: www.victoriahealthcooperative.ca

Blog: howarddieno.wordpress.com

Trauma is defined as either a physical injury and/or a deeply distressing or disturbing experience. Trauma is dependent on the constitution of the individual, what is deeply traumatic for one may be insignificant to another. Trauma can include physical injuries, emotional shocks and exposure to toxins such as chemicals, vaccines and medications at any point in the individual’s life, including the unborn child during pregnancy.

Physical trauma

I remember getting my fingers caught in a refrigerator door lock as a child. Just thinking about it now still brings back memories of the pain and worse, the shock of feeling my fingers being squished by a cold, metal vice. I screamed bloody murder! Physical trauma always affects the mind as well and injuries can trigger shock and even death. On a couple of other occasion in later years I injured my fingers and actually fainted. I think we can all relate to incidences like this.

Homeopathy has a lot to offer for physical trauma and the shock that goes with it. Hypericum perforatum, knowns as St. John’s Wort, when prepared homeopathically, can be a great remedy for nerve injuries. Crushed fingers, injured tail bones and pain from dental procedures, even years after the original injury can be magically relieved. I’ve cured many cases of chronic pain in the tailbone from falls or childbirth with Hypericum over the years, a most reliable remedy for this kind of mishap.

Arnica montana, a remedy made from a little yellow flower is one of the most popular homeopathic remedies for injuries of all kinds. Most health food stores and pharmacies now carry it. It’s great to have on hand for falls, bruises and even more serious conditions such as heart attacks and comas, although in such cases I do recommend calling a professional.

Emotional trauma

Homeopathy also offers many remedies for emotional trauma. Fright, grief, anger and jealousy can all be traumatic to an individual if the emotions are strong and long-lasting. Suppressed emotions can affect us even more.

I remember a case of a woman who had a very high fever as a child, causing delirium and hallucinations. She ‘saw’ someone attacking her mother in the kitchen with a knife. This created such a shock to her system that she was in counseling for years after and was still affected when I saw her at age 32. A few doses of Belladonna, a remedy made from Deadly Nightshade, used for treating high fevers with delusions, were very helpful to her and would have been to her as a child.

One of my first MS patients who had been suffering for five years and was progressively getting worse was brought into almost instant remission with a remedy called Natrum muriaticum, a homeopathic preparation of table salt. Careful case-taking revealed that she had developed the disease shortly after her brother died very unexpectedly, which was incredibly traumatic for her. She had not been fully able to express this grief and it had somehow settled into her system triggering the MS.

I saw her occasionally for the next 15 years and the MS never came back, amazingly. I had only been in practice for a year and was extremely surprised by this result, having been told that MS was incurable. Natrum mur is one of our big grief remedies in homeopathy.

Infections

Infections can also be traumatic. Some people never feel well after a bad case of Mono of even the flu. A homeopathic preparation of the infection in question may help. Infections can also affect the brain and behavior; for example it is known that some people can develop severe anxiety after strep infections, which can look like post-traumatic stress disorder. The person may suddenly develop intense anxiety, panic attacks and become obsessive compulsive. Antibiotic therapy can be useful as well as diagnostic but may not totally clear the patient. In a case like that it may be helpful to use a homeopathic preparation of strep bacteria to ‘reset’ the system. Constitutional homeopathy would also be indicated.

Medication and chemicals

Exposure to chemicals, including those in pharmaceutical drugs, environmental toxins and pollutants can also be traumatic to the organism due to their toxic effects. Tylenol is well known for its ability to cause liver failure. I have seen several children who developed autism in part due to Tylenol exposure. One child actually ate a bottle of Tylenol at age three and almost died from liver failure, then developed autism afterwards.

Recent research on the effects of Tylenol examined the link between circumcision and autism. Circumcised boys were more likely to develop the condition. The culprit: Tylenol, used to manage the pain of the procedure.

Vaccines

Vaccines can also be traumatic to the developing nervous and immune system in a susceptible individual. Vaccines not only include weakened viruses or bacterial fragments or toxins but also formaldehyde, antibiotics and aluminum salts. Infectious agents alone can trigger auto-immune reactions and aluminum salts used in vaccines have been shown to do the same.

Fortunately there are homeopathic remedies prepared from all of these vaccines and medications to help. I have seen many children with autism, sensory processing disorders, anxiety, sleep-walking and chronic infections recover with these special homeopathic remedies.

One little boy under my care developed eruptions around the injection sites of his 12-month MMR and Varicella (chickenpox) shots within a month of the injection. After another month the eruptions had spread to this whole body and a few weeks later he started to bang his head, lost his speech, developed black diarrhea and only wanted to eat milk and meat. I started treatment with a homeopathic preparation of the chickenpox vaccine and he began to recover within days. Total healing involved clearing many other substances from his body, including other vaccines he had as well as addressing inherited predispositions, but nearly two years later he is a strong, happy and healthy young boy.

If you or a loved one have been traumatized in any form, homeopathy may be able to help you.

Anke Zimmermann, BSc, ND, FCAH

All those whipped creamy soft foams, shave creams and brand name shampoos we have been using all our lives contain some of the harshest chemicals around; the sodium lauryl sulphates and laureth sulphates and betaines. Bottom line? They are detergents. They aren’t good for us. They strip the natural oil mantle from our hair and skin. They run down our drains and enter streams and rivers, dissolving the protective lipid layer of tiny plants, fish and animal life. They enter our pores and lungs, contributing to toxic overload, neurological malfunction and other nasty things.

Shampoos are a huge problem. The hair industry is based on the routine of stripping the natural oils from the hair shaft and then synthetically putting it back with silicones, acryllics, chemicals and cationic surfactants (carcinogenic, environmentally disastrous substances.)

Before scientists discovered detergents in the 1920’s, people used soap. The first soap was discovered when people poured the ashes from their fire into a stream with animal fats. The two combined to create a slippery bubbly concoction known as soap. Natural soaps made with a high proportion of emollient oils (like castille soap) are gentle cleansers, and biodegradable. The problem is that they can break down and leave scum on clothes, skin and hair. (In the olden days people knew that the acidic water in their rain barrels worked best with soap).

So what is out there for natural personal cleansers besides soap? The plant world offers saponins in plants like Soapwort, Yucca, Quillaria and Soapberries. Shikakai powder (Acacia) from India is a terrific hair cleanser, detangler and conditioner. These plant soaps were originally used as foamers in beer and also in toothpastes; soapy herbs that have been used for centuries to wash clothes and hair. If you have tried them, you’ll find that they are not nearly as luxurious as the fantasy foamers we’ve come to know and love, and a lot messier, but they are healthier and overtime you will see dry over-stripped hair and skin restored.

The chemical industry is responding to the demand for milder, plant-derived surfactants. Even though they are still technically classified as detergent, there are now soapy olive and coconut derivatives with names that include: glucosides, olivates, esters and glutamates. These are milder, plant-derived detergents. Suppliers claim they are biodegradable. They have a nice “soapiness”, but not the rich lather. They don’t strip the skin or the hair and are very gentle and even baby safe. Look for names like poly alkylglucoside, cocoglucoside and decylglucoside. And with the explosion of “green chemistry”, there will be more coming.

Whether you choose to go with good old-fashioned soap, saponin- containing plants, or with the new milder detergents, the conclusion I’ve arrived at is: We have to learn to let go of lather.

Karen Van Dyck, Organic Skin Creamery
www. www.naturesfirstbeautybar.com

There aren’t many areas of health advice which would be almost universally endorsed by health practitioners of every stripe – orthodox, progressive, complementary and integrative – but the Benefits of Exercise would certainly be one. There is, however, still controversy about what TYPE of exercise is best, safest and most effective. And of course, people of different ages, fitness levels and health challenges will have different needs. But I would say there are still a few general principles that the vast majority of us can benefit from: Almost everyone in our society sits too much. Walking daily is a great rule of thumb for most people. It really is the single best exercise for most people, and should form the basis of a regular routine for most of us. Recent scientific evidence shows that short duration, high-intensity exercise yields much better results than long workouts.

Howard V. Dieno
www.dieno.ca