Dr. Alvita Soleil

Every February 14th, across the United States and in other places around the world, candy, flowers and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine, and “Love”. Certainly, Love is an appealing subject to write about, but in this month of February, I choose to explore the anatomy of fear as I believe that it is the emotion of fear that keep us from feeling and having Love in our life.

In the economic uncertainty and the related challenges that we are facing globally, we have become an emotional breeding ground for feelings of fear.  We all have fears; every human in the world experiences fear. The emotion of fear does not belong to any specific group or skin color.

Do you know many people who talk genially about their fear at dinner? Probably not, most of us cloak ourselves in a blanket of fear/anxiety/stress, until a traumatic event happens, then we can no longer avoid entering the “valley of fears”.

SO WHAT IS FEAR?

In our culture we all experience fear in different ways. Fear manifests itself in many forms, many emotional disguises, and has many ramifications. For many of us fear defines our thoughts, our behaviors in our relationships, and who we are in the world. Fear may express itself as a form of contraction, emotional discomfort, a feeling of melancholy, tension, worry or insecurity. It can also be appear as symptoms of anxiety, stress, panic attacks, phobia, nervousness, and post- traumatic stress disorders.  Another less obvious manifestation of fear is the desire to change or control our environment and the people in it. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 19 million people in the United States alone suffer from mental illnesses that involve irrational fear responses.

Let’s look at Biological Fear as a chain reaction in the brain:  The Fight /Flight Response. This response has a legitimate function because it alerts us to something which could possibly be harmful to us.  The dictionary definition of fear is an “unpleasant emotion caused by exposure to danger, expectation of pain.” The ability to feel fear is hardwired in our brains. It is a basic survival mechanism in response to pain or threat of danger.Let’s play a scenario: its dark out and you’re home alone. The house is quiet other than the Oprah show you’re watching on TV. Then suddenly out of the corner of your eye, you see and hear the front door being thrown against the door frame. Your breathing speeds up and becomes shallow, your heart races, your eyes dilate, and your muscles tighten. You think someone is there to “get you”. No time to think about poetry, you react automatically and quickly or you may find yourself frozen by the intensity of the fear. A split second later, you realize it’s the wind. No one is trying to get into your home, and finally you relax.

For a split second, you were so afraid that you reacted as if your life were in danger, your body initiated the fight-or-flight response that is critical to survival. But in fact, you realize there was no danger at all. What happened to cause such an intense reaction?

Fear is an unconscious chain -reaction in the brain that starts with a stressful stimulus (sensory input) and ends with the release of chemicals. This biological autonomic response to danger is a brilliant mechanism embedded in the brain’s consciousness.  The process looks like this: The door knocking against the door frame is the stimulus. As soon as you hear the sound and see the movement, your brain sends this sensory data to the thalamus. At this point, the thalamus doesn’t know if the signals it’s receiving are signs of danger or not, but since they might be, it forwards the information to the amygdala, and stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol are released. The autonomic nervous system “thinks” it is danger of dying. The amygdala receives the neural impulses and takes action to protect you; it tells the hypothalamus to initiate the fight-or-flight response that could save your life.

The human body’s response to fear / anxiety is exactly the same whether a threat is real or imagined.

In the modern world our genes that build our brains and bodies spend most of their time dealing with the laws of the jungle. Our autonomic nervous system can’t tell the difference between a tiger coming to devour us or losing our job. With no conscious thoughts, we constantly categorize things, either as safe or as threatening, based on our personal knowledge of the world and previous experiences. 

Experiencing fear/stress every now and then is a normal part of life. But living with chronic fear can be both physically and emotionally debilitating.  The cerebral cortex, the brain’s center for reasoning and judgment, is the area that becomes impaired when the amygdala senses on-going fear, and the ability to think and reason decreases. The body is not given a chance to return to a normal cycle. Prolonged states of fear may damage the heart, weaken the immune system, and create a range of metabolic disorders. It can contribute to obesity, high blood pressure, and weakening of the endocrine system. Further implications of negative fear contribute to high levels of cholesterol, and reduced bone density.

In essence the amygdala stays “switched on” most of the time. The reasoning mind hasn’t been able to over-ride the switch, so stress hormones and adrenaline increase in the body, and eventually we do not feel sick.

From a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) perspective prolonged exposure to fear will damage the kidneys. Kidney deficiency in TCM can manifest in various symptoms such as anxiety, panic attacks, sexual dysfunction, lack of will power, ear ringing, low back pain, issues with the central nervous system, poor short term memory, premature grey hair, incontinence, low libido, miscarriages, and night sweats. Even history of sexual abuse left untreated can create fertile ground for a pattern of kidney Qi dysfunction to manifest.  Please refer to the guidelines of my last Post Paradise article “Winter Dreams” page 11 on tips to strengthen the kidneys.

PSYCHOLOGICAL FEARS, THE BI-PRODUCT OF BELIEFS

Fear in this category is divorced from any concrete and true immediate danger. It keeps us from achieving goals or tasks that range from the mundane to the extraordinary. This kind of fear is not something that is happening in the present time, but of something that might happen in the future; the big “WHAT IF?”

“Fear: False Evidence Appearing Real.”  Neale Donald Walsch

Does fear live in the objects we name, or is fear a projection from within ourselves onto the world around us?  Let’s name a few. Fear of loss, fear of failure, of being hurt and rejected. Fear of humiliation, of anger, fear of disapproval, of being alone and left behind, fear of intimacy, of being wrong or judged, rejected.  Fear of success, and disease. Fear of the unknown, fear of death, that’s a big one!  Are these fears familiar to you? What about the fear of not fitting in, the fear that we don’t measure up or the fear of being ourselves! What are we really afraid of? That our money will be stolen? That we’ll get sick and die? That nobody will love us? Are we afraid of what we’ve done in the past, or of our desires in this moment?

I could easily fill up a couple of pages of this imaginary “WHAT IF”?  Is there ever an end to fear?  Is it possible that most fears come from the same source? I believe so.

When we allow ourselves to go to the unmasked moments of life, and be with the experience of fear itself, not the story of fear but the energy of fear, we may realize that fears distill into one core primal fear: the fear of separation.

The fear of separation is expressed by a deep sense of emptiness, disconnected from something or from someone. It triggers a sense of loss, insecurity, and doubt. In the mist of our ancient memory we may feel that we have been abandoned, rejected, or unworthy to receive. We may believe we are “not good enough”. How can we trust and feel safe when our survival is threatened?

– The fear of abandonment can include the pain of loneliness, and betray. We may feel excluded, forsaken, rejected, alienated, and the sense that we do not exist.

– Fear of trusting. Have you ever experienced a relationship where your level of trust and safety was so deep that you were able to surrender completely to the experience of intimacy and caring? Many of us believe that the world is not safe, and as such we cannot surrender and trust people and places. Neither we can trust our own body wisdom, and surrender to the inner voice of knowing what is right for us. Trust is such a huge factor in health issues. A lot of health challenges ultimately stem from a lack of trust.

– The fear that I am not good enough runs deep in our culture. Somehow we feel we do not deserve to receive love and joy, to be successful, healthy, honored and respected. We are not worthy to feel good or to fulfill our dreams. This fear manifests as low self-esteem, and self- worth. We long for approval, acceptance, and self- love.

Next, I will be writing on how to break free from fear. Read on….

With the holidays behind us, and winter officially here, it’s a good time to reflect on what this season offers us from the perceptive of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). We will look also at the groundwork for sustainable change in this coming year 2013.

Traditional Chinese Medicine offers guidelines on how to enhance Health and Wellness.

In TCM, every season energetically influences specific organs, emotions, foods, and healing principles. Winter is ruled by the water element, which is associated with the kidneys, bladder, and adrenal glands. Therefore, during the winter strengthening the kidneys, bladder, adrenals, and building and conserving our strength is essential. The kidneys are considered to be the “gate of life”, they store our essence, regulate reproduction, development, and fluid distribution. Our longevity is directly related to the health of our kidneys. Fear is the emotion of the kidneys in TCM. It is associated with the color black, ears, and salty flavor.

Winter Food 

Winter is a time of gentle celebration where TCM emphasizes nutritious and warming food and family connection.

Winter is a time when many people like to reduce their activity. If that’s true for you, it’s wise to reduce the amount of food you eat to avoid gaining weight unnecessarily. Avoid raw foods as much as possible, as they tend to cool the body and can deplete the digestive fire. During winter eat warming food such a soups and stews, root vegetables, beans, miso, and seaweed.  Warming spices such as cinnamon, ginger, garlic, and cardamom are wonderful additions to winter recipes. In general, grains, seeds and nuts are also good for winter.

Foods that benefit the kidneys in winter include sweet potatoes, kidney beans, squid, millet, sesame seeds, and lamb.

Please refer also to the January 2012 article on my website for additional winter health tips.

Life Style

TCM promotes keeping life simple and avoiding excessive lifestyles in winter. The energy of winter is all about going within, and preparing for the change and growth of spring. While sleeping longer, resting, restoring, and revitalizing our kidneys’ energy, we also need to take time to look deeply into our fears.

One of the major internal causes of disease in TCM is when the emotional responses to a situation are out of normal proportion, and if not resolved can become a chronic illness. Fear is not a pleasant subject that we usually talk about, and yet, most of us have organize much of our lives around fears, from our relationships to our occupation to the way we dress, and live. This subject is vast and deep; therefore we will dedicate the next article to continuing exploration of the anatomy of fear, and how to reduce fear and increase trust.

Our world, our future, all that we have known is now changing. It seems that everything is rising out of the muck and being exposed for all to see.  The war in Afghanistan, the economy, global warming, and so many haunting situations we are witnessing are causing legitimate depression, paralysing fear, and  anger. Yet one of the most important things we can do is to keep our head grounded in our heart.

From the law of attraction, living in fear will bring more fear. So it is time to gather our courage and to keep choosing healthier solutions beyond the fear as we look deep within and continue to live from a place of true knowledge and wisdom.

Without the eyes and mind of the heart we will not be able to see, to think, to feel and to know the innovative and creative ways in which we can restructure our individual and global existence.

I invite all of us to create a space that is pure and fresh for this coming 2013.  Each of us is needed today as we work together, combining our gifts and talents.  The tools that we have at our disposal, and the knowledge that we possess are the spiritual gifts that we must give back now at this crucial moment in human history.

Here are some suggestions for reducing fears, creating sustainable change, and uplifting humanity.

• Identify the cost of staying frozen with fear, and how much of your life is organized around fear. Watch carefully the sequence of events which flow spontaneously from the well know emotional state of fear.
• Dissolve old beliefs of fear with psychotherapeutic alternative medicine.
• Seek supporting resources where you may find your solitary journey transformed to a rich, and joyous relationship with others.
• Explore and start living from the knowledge of the “new science” paradigm. (Visit my website for more information on this subject.)
• Drop deeper into your bodies and fall in love with yourself. Reconnect and be recharged by Mother Nature.
• Develop a co-creative partnership with your Essential Self – a sacred relationship with your Soul.
• Spend quiet time listening to your heart, asking for clarity about your life purpose. Then take inventory, andreview your own standard, inner policies, processes, rules, and values by which you live your life.
  • Determine where you want to express your vision and brilliance. Shape your vision into a clear strategic action, and align your mind, body and soul with your vision.
  • Dedicate time to the common good, compassion, fairness, long-term sustainability, and the spirit of community.
  • Dream, imagine a world where there are proven techniques for resolving violence and conflicts peacefully. Imagine a world where you can be and stay healthy. Dream the possible! Dream of a peaceful and loving world.

My wish for 2013 is for all of us to realize our natural state of Being, which is Love. Love is our perfection.

We are creatures of Love, created of love by love, and we are here on this beautiful planet to express this purpose. May the true wisdom of our heart be our guidance in this incredible journey of opening up to a new level of personal and global consciousness.

Have a Great Healthy, Peaceful, and Prosperous New Year!

Today, many people in the world observe various seasonal celebrations during the month of December. Most of the customs, lore, symbols, and rituals associated with “Christmas” are actually linked to Winter Solstice, a celebration of ancient Pagan cultures.

Whether or not you follow a traditional religious observance such as Christmas, Hanukkah, or Winter Solstice, this time of the year has close ties with the laws and cycles of our solar and planetary system.  We human beings are intrinsically interconnected with the Earth; we are an integral part of solar and planetary activity that affects us in visible and invisible ways. Heaven and Earth touch every aspect of our lives, and it feels good to honor the cycles of nature.

I personally enjoy celebrating the seasonal natural cycles of life such as Winter Solstice. In ancient cultures Winter Solstice was a time of great celebration, for it meant the turning point of winter and the eventual return of spring. It is a time of balance and change. This celebration has been associated with the return of the Sun, hope, rebirth, renewal of the spirit, and the victory of light over the darkness.

Indeed, the winter cycle is upon us now. December 21 marks the Winter Solstice, the shortest day and the longest night of the year.  The sun begins anew its journey toward longer days of new growth and renewal. Celebrating the natural rhythm of life can help us feel more connected to the wisdom of nature, to Mother Earth, and to our ancestors.

At this time of the year, the Ancient Wisdom of these seasonal traditions offers us a chance to experience the rebirth of our own spiritual nature.  As nature retreats back to herself in winter, we too can find some quiet restful and reflecting time. Perhaps we can surrender to our own inner light, to the natural transformational power of our inner-being that guides us through the dark times like a beacon to remind us what is important.

The transformation is not always pleasant.  In fact, sometimes it can be painful, for the changes involve breaking down, stripping every thought, every belief that no longer serves us, so we can access new possibilities, and discover the being we were meant to be.

Taking a holistic approach to caring for yourself this holiday season can really make a difference in your physical, emotional, and psychological well-being.

Here are a few suggestions;

Love yourself: Identify what is important to you. Keep reminding yourself of it when facing a challenging situation. Develop or commit to a practice that connects you with the sense of “feeling good”, a place of refuge that can sustain you through hard times. Winter is an excellent time to travel within, to nourish yourself, to reflect on qualities of your being that you want to grow into, and a time to birth your dreams.

Deeper Connections:The holidays give many of us an opportunity to reconnect with loved ones, old friends, and community. It can give us the opportunity to deepen the sacred relationship between you and the Earth.

Take the focus off food: Instead of an indoor party with platters of treats, host an outdoor activity. Eat light; choose fruits and vegetables of the season. Eat warm and healthy, local food before you go to parties.

Get plenty of physical activity: When your schedule gets hectic, get creative!  Jump rope during TV commercials, dance in the kitchen or take a brisk walk. Yoga, Tai Chi or Qi Gong are also great stress relievers.

Get quality rest: In Oriental Medicine theory during the winter months we should be getting more sleep than the rest of the year. Our bodies are meant to change with the seasons as Winter brings fewer hours of sunlight so we adapt accordingly.

The shared message of Christmas, the Solstice festivals, and Hanukkah, speak of a time to have good friends around, to do acts of kindness, share food and warmth, and tell stories around the fire. It is also a time of the year to prepare ourselves to surrender our inner shadows to the womb of winter, and be renewed by the seeds of Light that burn deep inside of us.

The common spirit of the Holy Days is the spirit of the heart, the love, the light that warms the heart and the soul. This spirit allows us to soften, transform and create new changes in our self, our life and our world.

Whatever tradition you chose to celebrate, may your holidays be filled with Light, Joy and Laughter in this most auspicious transformational journey that we call life.

How do we know whether our bones are healthy or not?  Sometimes it may take a fall to figure it out.

A few months ago, I fell and fractured five bones in my right hand and wrist. The fortunate part of this event gave me an opportunity to revisit my knowledge about bones, and to open a deeper personal relationship with this fundamental support system.

Our 206 bones are more than just a support system for the body. They are not as static or solid as they appear; they are living tissues that undergo a continual state of transformation as every atom in our skeleton is replaced in a three-month period.

FUNCTIONS OF THE BONES:

 Bone is a complex, living tissue which constantly changes and adapts itself to the demands put upon it.

 They are a factory for our blood cells, a mineral storehouse, home of a myriad of nutrients, hormones, and other biochemical factors.

 They maintain our body’s pH, releasing alkalizing mineral compounds strategically when our body becomes too acidic.

  They protect our vital organs from harm, and soft tissue from damage from the outside world.   

 They give us fluidity, mobility, strength, and allow us to sit, stand, bend, and walk.

You have choices about your bone health – your risk is not your destiny!

Some of my patients are very surprised when I tell them that there are natural methods they can use to speed up their fracture recovery or prevent and even reverse osteoporosis and osteopenia.

The human body is amazing in its ability to heal itself as long as it is well nourished and supported.

Let’s look at some signs and symptoms that may be indicators of early bone loss: Receding gums, losing balance easily, Vitamins D deficiency, loss of muscle strength, and grip strength, weak and brittle fingernails, cramps, muscle aches, and height loss.  Test the PH of your urine for the alkalinity/acidic level, and have a hormonal panel to check progesterone, estrogen, testosterone and DHEA.

FOOD IS NATURE’S BEST MEDICINE

Eat an alkaline diet as much as possible. An alkaline diet can lessen the burden on your bones — and your body.  Eating a balanced diet full of fresh vegetables, dark leafy greens, kale, collards, broccoli, fruits, quality sources of protein, and healthy fat is the first step to bone health. Also consume foods that support the kidneys, such as legumes, beans, lentils, tahini, sardines, salmon, figs, yogurt, cheese, oatmeal, and goats’ milk.

These foods offer generous nutrients that our bones need.

One of the major causes of osteoporosis and joint pain is loss of important minerals due to over acidification. The direct relationship between pH balance and your bones reminds us that our bodies were meant to eat mineral-rich foods straight from the earth and sea.

Avoid tobacco, excess caffeine, soft drinks, and excessive alcohol consumption. Excess protein or carbohydrate consumption will also acidify the body.

BONE BUILLDING NUTRIENTS:

Vitamin D up to 2.000IU daily: Primarily regulates calcium absorption in conjunction with vitamin K, and stimulates the transformation of fracture site stem cells to bone building osteoblasts.

Vitamin C up to 3000mg daily: Essential for proper synthesis of the bone collagen protein matrix. It is also one of the most important antioxidants and anti-inflammatory nutrients.

Calcium up to 1200mg daily:  The most fundamental regulator of intracellular processes. Calcium is best taken with food that includes some fat, because dietary fat increases calcium absorption. 

Magnesium up to 1200mg daily:  Magnesium is needed for more than 300 biochemical reactions in our bodies. Magnesium and calcium should be present in the body in equal proportions. Having too much calcium relative to magnesium can be very damaging to the body, partly by depositing excess calcium into joints and the lining of arteries, as well as the brain.

Boron up to 3mg daily: Important in bone healing because it reduces urinary excretion of calcium and magnesium and significantly increases blood levels of both estrogen and testosterone

Manganese, copper, and zinc are co-factors that activate enzymes to help build bone mass.

HERBAL FORMULATIONS:  Make your own tea using a combination of nettle, oat straw, horsetail, red clover, dandelion, peppermint and comfrey leaf. These are very effective to build your bones. Drink a cup daily.

HOMEOPATHY:  Symphytum (comfrey) has a remarkable ability to speed the healing of bones and Calcarea phosphorica for fractures that are difficult to heal.

ORIENTAL MEDICINE:  Many bone problems originate from poor circulation, inhibiting the delivery of vital nutrients to the bone cells. Promoting blood circulation to remove the stasis and produce new bone is one important measure for preventing and treating osteoporosis, or osteopenia.  The skeleton’s growth, development, and repair are closely related to the kidneys. Traditional Oriental Medicine has developed time-proven remedies and formulas that strengthen health and longevity of the kidneys.

EXERCISE: Weight bearing exercise helps to build your bone.

MINIMIZE STRESS:Constant stress promotes an unhealthy hormone shift increasing cortisol and reducing serotonin levels. Higher cortisol levels increase inflammation decreasing calcium absorption and increased calcium excretion.

FOLK REMEDY:  Apple cider vinegar contains manganese, magnesium, silicon, and calcium and has been linked to sustaining bone mass.  Drink daily 8 ounces of water with 2 teaspoons of Apple Cider Vinegar. A small amount of honey is optional to improve taste.

It is never too late to build stronger bones, and it is never too soon. Your best insurance for a strong-boned “cronehood” is to build better bones before menopause. It is up to you to get more exercise, eat mineral-rich green allies and develop a passion for an elegant posture and a long stride.

This article is meant for educational purposes only.

Perimenopause, menopause, post menopause, the change…this is a significant time in a woman’s life.

In America today there are about 40 million women undergoing this powerful cyclic change, and the number is growing as the “baby boomers” enter this transition of life. Many woman fear this powerful cyclic change, for we have been conditioned to think and believe that this is the end of our womanhood, the beginning of a rapid decline into aging and the loss of our attractiveness, vitality and sexuality.

There are so many myths about menopause. First and foremost menopause is not a disease but simply the entrance into a wondrous new phase of life that carries its own special beauty. From a spiritual vantage point the metamorphosis energy of menopause prepares us women for a powerful inner journey of physical, emotional and spiritual change. Our nurturing and love may now be directed more inwardly, into a deeper self- expression of our own inner selves. While some woman may be grateful for the experience that has brought her wisdom, we may still find it difficult to adjust and to accept the physical changes in our bodies.

Unfortunately this cycle of life is rarely honored in the rational linear world of western society.  Most of my women patients who come to the clinic are poorly informed.  They experience confusion about what kind of hormones they should receive, and few understand menopause doesn’t have to be years of “volcanic hot flashes”, emotional outbursts, and memory lapses.

So what is Menopause?

Menopause indicates the cessation of menstruation. The actual age of menopause varies considerably from woman to woman; the norm is 45 to 55. Menopausal changes occur not only in the ovaries, but also in the adrenal, thyroid, pancreas, pineal, and pituitary glands and elevated insulin levels that can trigger hot flashes.

Menopausal symptoms vary from person to person from mild to severe. Some of the distressing symptoms include hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia, irregular menstrual bleeding, irritability, fatigue, poor concentration, mood swings, depression, memory loss, vaginal dryness, headaches, increased urination, back pain and weight gain, loss of libido, headache, heart palpitation, foggy thinking, and bloating.

The extent of symptoms has a lot to do with a woman’s basic health before menopause. Common triggers that increase hot flashes are spicy foods, caffeine, alcohol, fatty foods or sugar, diet pills, stress, anxiety, overwork, anger, and feeling out of control.  In addition environmental toxins, endocrine disruptors, and unhealthy life style contribute to hormonal imbalances.

Dance of the hormones

While it seems that low estrogen levels play a role in causing hot flashes, estrogen may not be the only hormone to blame. Low levels of progesterone, testosterone, stress hormones and cortisol, as well as follicle stimulating hormones (FSH) and luteinizing hormones (LH) are thought to cause hot flashes.

Alternative Treatment Option to HRT (hormone replacement therapy)

While HRT can ease menopausal symptoms, such as hot flashes and fatigue. The benefits vs. potential risks of cancer and side effects need to be weighed carefully.There are numerous alternative options now available, including various forms of estrogen or progesterone alone or in combination, available as pills, creams, patches or gels.
– Bio-identical hormones. These hormones are extracted from soybeans or wild yam and then chemically altered in the laboratory to make an exact replica of your body’s own. They are available from formulary pharmacies.

– Oriental Medicine. From an Oriental Medicine viewpoint, menopausal symptoms are not caused by the onset of menopause but by the unbalanced state prior to this natural transition. Therefore we address the root and symptoms of the unbalance. Acupuncture and Herbal formulasare very powerful, safe and very effective in alleviating hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms. They can reverse osteoporosis, keep estrogen- and progesterone-sensitive tissues in the vagina and bladder from weakening and drying out, and maintain a healthy, vigorous heart and circulatory system.

Management of Menopausal symptoms

A helpful way to deal with hot flashes is to learn what triggers them. You can try to minimize their occurrence by relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, meditation or yoga. Since triggers can be physical or emotional, maintain a healthy lifestyle, eat a balanced diet, and nurture yourself any way you can.

• Reduce your stress factors. Stress promotes biochemical imbalance by overtaxing the adrenals, which then steal progesterone to make more adrenal hormones.
• Keep active daily; move, dance, walk, stretch, bounce, pump iron, inquire. The essence of vitality is change, keep on changing. Take up belly dancing. Break rules and taboos, my favorite saying is “what people think of me is not of my concern”.
• Find support in a circle of women who are walking a similar path.

Foods: Soy and flaxseed are particularly rich sources of phytohormones. Other sources include cashews, apples, almonds, turmeric, fennel, carrots, oats, plums, olives, potatoes, tea, sunflower seeds, alfalfa, clover and wild yam. Eat fresh organic vegetables, fruits, and whole grain products. Drink mineral rich herbal infusions (nettle, oat straw, red clover tea, or comfrey tea). Try yogurt instead of ice cream for stronger bones and fewer vaginal infections.

Vitamins: Boron 2-2mg daily, Calcium 1200-1500mg daily, Folic acid 800mcg daily, Magnesium 1500mg daily, Vitamin D 100IU daily, Vitamin K 100mcg daily.

Dear menopausal woman, as you delve within your own intuitive and mature wisdom you will find your natural place. Take care and nourish your body. Release and make peace with all past relationships and beliefs that no longer serve you. Be the love that you are, the wise one that recognizes the sacredness of life, and the interconnectedness among nature, people and all things.

Do the seasons and the weather  impact you?

According to Traditional Oriental Medicine, the cycle of the seasons has more influence on your health than you may think. Five thousand years ago Chinese physicians developed a philosophical and practical approach to healing called the five elements (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water). This unique concept and diagnosis system governs the physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of human beings. In addition the five elements identify stages of trans-formation, patterns of expansion and contraction, proliferation and withering.

The theory of the Five Elements has correspondence to colors, flavors, tastes, organs, systems of the body, patterns of disease, and every aspect of human life.  It also symbolizes the continuity of life, and integrates human activity with the natural rhythms of the universe.

So what exactly does the summer element in Traditional Oriental Medicine represent?

 Traditional Oriental Medicine teaches us the summer season is associated with the fire element. It is a time when nature is at its maximum growth. The organs governing this element are the heart, the small intestine, as well as the functions of circulation and heating in the body.  It is associated with the color red, and bitter flavor. It is a time when nature is at the peak of its growth.

The heart is not only the physical organ that lies in the chest and propels the blood, but also the spirit, or “shen” representing the universal consciousness into which we grow and expand.

Just as the sun provides warmth and light for all creation, so the heart – the root of life and intelligence – permeates warmth in human relationships, enthusiasm, passion, compassion, and fulfillment.

The heart gives rise to our capacity for perception, feelings, love, joy, awareness, discernment, communication, and memory.

The heart also links us to a higher intelligence and creativity through an intuitive domain where spirit and humanness merge.

Here are some tips for preventing imbalances with the fire element this summer

Dietary recommendations to keep you cool and balanced all summer long:

Fruits and vegetables: Eat Watermelon, Apricot, Cantaloupe, Lemon, Peach, Orange, Strawberry, Grapes, Lemon, Asparagus, Sprouts, Bamboo, Bok choy, Broccoli, Chinese cabbage, Corn, Cucumber, White mushroom, Snow peas, Spinach, Summer squash, Watercress, Seaweed, Mung beans, White lentils, Cilantro, Mint, and Dill, Dates, Lychi berries, Roasted Sesame seeds and sesame oil to nourish the heart.

Summer Spices:  Add a little spicy, pungent flavor to your cooking. Cayenne, various peppers, fresh ginger, horseradish are good in the summer.  It is important to not overdo these foods as they can eventually be too dispersing.

Summer Beverages: Add lemon juice and cucumber to your water.
Peppermint tea, rosehip and chrysanthemum teas make  great summer heat quenchers.

Other Helpful Dietary Tips for the Summer Season

• Eat in moderation. Over consumption of any food, especially cooling foods, can lead to indigestion, sluggishness and possibly diarrhea.
• Cut down on dairy products, heavy, greasy, fried foods. Eat moderate amount of red meat and chicken as it can increase internal heat.
• Zucchini, citrus fruits, soy products, kelp, white or green vegetables are good for clearing heat. If you are prone to heat   rash avoid warm or hot foods such as: chicken, prawns, lobster, mussels, spicy and fried foods, peanuts and alcohol.
• Eat iced drinks and ice cream in moderation. Summer heat combined with too much cold food or drink weakens the digestive organs.

Prolonged exposure to heat and insufficient body fluid can result in heat exhaustion. Dehydration can stress the heart and impair the kidneys’ ability to maintain the correct level of fluids and balance of electrolyte.

Preventative tips for heat exhaustion:

• Pace yourself when working outdoors, exercising or just having fun.
• Carry water with you and sip it throughout the day. Keeping yourself hydrated is important.
• Drink power drinks that have potassium and electrolytes such as Gatorade. Watermelon juice cools and cleanses the system; it clears summer heat and acts as a natural diuretic.
• Avoid drinks with large amounts of sugar.
• If you feel dizzy quit your activity and get out of the sun fast. Drink cool, not cold water with a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar in it. The vinegar helps to replace electrolytes and minerals.
• Take a cool bath for 15-20 minutes. Try to submerge as much of your body as possible.

Some people believe that the body is a sophisticated piece of machinery, an object that we can use and abuse, exploit, and judge. Some others hold the body as a temple of the Holy Spirit, the sacred grail. Many believe that our bodies are the living cells of the earth. Within us is contained the cellular memory of our own life as well as all life on Earth. (In fact we share 60% of our genes with a banana, 90% with a mouse, and more than 99% with a chimpanzee). In the old paradigm of quantum physics the body seems disconnected, mind and body are separated. Materialism is primary, consciousness is secondary.  We are wisps of memories and desires enclosed in a package of flesh and bones.

Yes the mystery of the human body is a great topic. But allow me to give us a deeper awareness of the true nature of our body where the perfect model of spiritual and human life lives.

From the current consensus of the “new” research of quantum physics the human body is said to be a hologram in which every part contains information about the whole. The body is composed of energy and information, not just solid matter, and we are connected to patterns of intelligence that govern the whole cosmos.  Therefore the mind, soul and body are inseparably one. Our bodies are the physical results of all interpretations we have been learning since we were born and beyond. Furthermore, we are not a victim of our genes; our DNA is a code that we can change and upgrade by choice!

The implications of these discoveries give us much to digest. They are so vast, powerful, and dazzling – even a little frightening.  Yet within us lie the possibilities of our deepest truth and freedom. The words of Nelson Mandala come in my mind when I reflect on the body. He said “I am the master of my destiny and the captain of my soul” (and humbly I like to add) riding the wave on the ocean of infinite divine intelligence.

Our very body with its pain and its pleasure is what we have; fully human, fully awake, fully alive, fully divine, and rooted in the ceaseless flow of the supreme matrix of love.

Take a moment right now, and create an image in your mind. Behind you stands your parents, and behind them your grandparents. Behind your grandparents are their parents, and behind your grandparents, their great grandparents. Even without knowing your family lineage just imagine all the way back to the very first mother that gave birth.

Focus for a moment on the lineage of bodies, their size, features and shapes that have been passed down through generations. Take a moment to feel all these bodies.

Feel their hearts beating, their lungs breathing, all the cells working hard for so many years. Have their hopes and desires been fulfilled?  Are they happy? When you look at yourself in the mirror, what do you see? Who is looking at who? Feel your own body from the inside out. If you pay close attention it will reveal its mysteries to you. The body never lies. Our body gives us numerous kinds of feedbacks, most of which we are taught to override. When we reject the body’s signals about physical well-being, we exhaust our reserves and fall ill. When we shut out our feelings, we lose our heart connection and dismiss a vast store of natural wisdom, and the connection with our soul presence

The journey of coming home to the body is profound; it can be dark and exciting as we start to know ourselves. Knowing ourselves means knowing our values in life, our beliefs, our personality, our priorities, our patterns, our weakness, our fears and our boundaries. It also means knowing our strengths, our passions, and our purpose in life. It require a lot of courage to honor, and to listen deeply to our body, regardless of how wounded we might be. It is a deep and slow process with a long and winding road to bring ourselves naked face to face with just our being-ness, without our stories.

Coming Home to the body reveals a path of peace available to us all. As we reclaim our heart, our spirituality, our body, we find a deeper form of belonging through communion with nature and the living divine intelligence that is in and around us.

There are infinite ways to discover the journey home, and I invite you to use love as your mirror, listen to it, nurture it beyond the memory of yesterday, and the dream of tomorrow.

Woven into our lives, there is a power that holds the body and the universe together. That power is love. Each moment we are breathing is a miracle, we just need to let our breath relax enough to feel the gift that is being given.

When people ask me what I do as a Doctor of Traditional Oriental Medicine, it is hard for me to give a short answer. The nature of my work as a doctor/healer is to educate, to empower and to facilitate appropriate healing using 30 years of experience, integrating various modalities with cutting edge technology.  I can talk about alternative therapies, theories of disease, importance of good nutrition, supplements, hormonal changes, digestive track, bowels, pain issues and so forth. But for this article I prefer to indulge in a discussion of human potential and concepts of the wisdom of healing.

Healing is a vast subject and can be seen in everything in life. It is not only something we do when we are sick, it is also the change that naturally occurs when we take the time to pause, nurture, and care for ourselves. Healing is not a passive commodity that can be delivered or purchased, nor is healing the composite of quantifiable data emerging from blood and urine. Furthermore, healing is not about curing the disease. Rather, it a process that addresses the whole being, far beyond the limitations of the physical body, the mind or the personality.

Healing is the deep journeying process of returning to our freedom, experiencing our joy and trusting the truth and beauty of our own nature.

I believe no matter how deep our illness or imbalance, it is never too late to get well, as the healing can take place on four different levels of awareness: the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. Secondly, what determines the nature of our healing experience is the degree to which we are willing and able to see ourselves as part of, and as co-creators with the universal energy of life. So defining the nature of healing is important.

You may agree with me that the term wholistic health has become overused and misused. Nevertheless, when we draw upon the wisdom of eastern medicine, ancient traditions, energetic medicine, new discoveries of modern quantum physics and our own spiritual experience, we are taking the step that is needed to embrace health.

How can we rediscover wholeness in the midst of our increasingly fragmented and rootless culture? It is a challenge!

Certainly, it is necessary to get the right diagnostic, the right health program, the right doctor, drug, vitamins, herbs, and healer.  But above all, we need to realize that the most powerful instrument for healing is our own development of self-awareness.

Wholeness is an integration, harmony and balance of body-mind-Spirit, interacting within the totality of one’s environment.  It is the State that exists at the very nature of any organic system – from a cell, to a tissue, to a human being, to a flower.

Whether recognized or not, most of us experience a feeling (sometimes subtle and at other times pervasive) of being disconnected. This alienation and separation creates a chasm that exists inside of us, between us as human beings, and within our relationship to the world. We are all prisoners of our perceived conditioning and as such, we have deprived ourselves of the spiritual world, of what was once held sacred.

Most of us need healing in order to be released from the spell of separation, disease, illness, suffering and even aging.

One of the gifts of healing involves the removal of dark shadows that limit us from living to our full potential. Its role is to provoke change, and steer growth. It requires letting go of fear and trusting our innate intelligence and the creative force that is love, knowingness and forgiveness.

Ultimately, the wisdom of healing leads to an intimate union of body-mind-spirit that can be defined as an unfolding process of consciousness – one that facilitates self-awareness and self-expression, fosters our self-healing capacity, deepens our self-love and increases our presence in the world.

On a larger scale, the wisdom of healing is there in order to free us. When we address the false perceptions of who we think we are, the dissonance with nature, and the split between the mind-body-spirit, we open ourselves to a vital dimension of awareness – the recognition that we are spiritual beings in physical bodies with innate loving intelligence.

 I have worked with many patients over the years that asked for, or wished for a magic pill that gives them more energy and makes them feel good. Many would give a lot for the promise of instant well-being.  In our constant search for the quick magic wand, most of us are looking outside of ourselves, someplace, someone, something to fix, or to get…  Certainly, it may be necessary to get the right diagnosis, the right health program, the right doctor, drug, vitamin, herb, or healer in order to feel good. But above all, we need to recognize that healing is a journey of coming back home to our body, coming back to the presence of the evolving mind, heart and Soul.

Without a conscious relationship, with our body, we have no means of expressing the divine intelligence that lives within us.  Our body carries us every step we take in the journey home to our soul. This companion is the receptacle of our ancestors, thoughts, beliefs, stories, our experiences, our fears, and our hopes. It is the signature of who we are, the unification of the Mind and Soul.  Without the body, there is no Soul, without the awaken Soul the body resembles a frozen river.

So I ask you, do you love your body? Do you know what sustains you (besides food and chocolate)? What beliefs you hold about your body? Do you inhabit your body? What is the relationship you have with your body?

Most of us have many reasons to treat the body like a distant relative.  Our culture is obsessed with trying to achieve the “perfect look”. We are constantly bombarded with nonsense media messages about our body from fashion fitness to the latest diet.  No wonder our personal experience of our body maybe confused. At best it is a source of pleasure, and a good piece of machinery; at worst it may feel intolerable, vacant, dirty, sinful or painful.

The truth is that in our culture our sacred bodies have been stripped, denied, separated, and alienated from their own essential life force – the Soul.  Even our spiritual literature can create or exacerbate a separation within us.  We are taught to rise above our body, that we are not our bodies, that our bodies are sins of the flesh or a ghostly illusion, and being attached to it is a source of suffering.  This split separates us from all aspects of ourselves, from God, Goddess, spirit and nature. In addition we are taught to not trust, to deny the life force, the spark of consciousness that lives inside of us.

In my experience it is difficult to maintain a positive relationship with myself when I neglect my body through the relentless stress of a fast paced life style and endless demands for productivity.

What a great loss to feel estranged from our own homeland!  Perhaps you may remember a time when you were lying on the grass and you felt an overwhelming sense of well-being, when your body felt so relaxed, so exquisitely open. As a gentle wind caressed your skin you felt alive, tingling. You did not know where you began and where you ended, and in the soft belly of the earth mother you let go more and more knowing that it was safe and you were loved.

This profound sense of reconnecting awakens our deep self, our Soul. As we re-inhabit and embrace our body we reclaim our aliveness, creativity, joy, and our peace.  Our bodies are the living cells of the body Earth, and hold the secrets of the universe. To reclaim it, to celebrate the grief, the blood, the fears, and the scars is to honor it, to know we are a proof of our divinity. Our work is to embrace our full humanity in our body.  I invite you to take permanent residence in your beautiful bodies as we journey collectively toward our embodied wisdom.

“You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft body animal of your body love what it loves”.                                                                                                                                                         Mary Oliver

Our body is a sacred marriage of matter and soul, and so we are the sacred union of spirit and earth.

Recently a dear friend and patient of mine, Michelle Mitchell, died of cancer. I was honored and privileged to be asked to sit in the sweet presence of her soul. Words could no longer be spoken as she had just fallen into a coma when I arrived at her bedside.

In the tender silence of the room where close friends came to honor Michelle, I prayed, grounded my heart and body in the energy of the divine Mother. There I held Michelle in the light of her being until she departed.

 In the deepest part of me I know that the body holds the secrets of the universe, and her passage gifted me a deeper felt knowledge and understanding, a perfect mirror for all of us in trying to make sense of who we are as mind and soul in the body.

So it is in the light of this mystical passage that I feel compelled to dedicate this article to you Michelle, and to share my experience of the inner reality that was reveled in both our souls.

Our body lives a gigantic truth that is difficult to put into words. In ancient times the body was considered the holiest temple, and no search for the grail of any kind could have been more sacred than searching for the revelation of the body, the most intimate expression of God, Goddess, all there is. Our bodies are the signature of who we are. It is the receptacle of our stories, our fears, and our experiences.  It is also the guardian of our hopes, our longing to love and to be loved.  

Our cells are in the living body of the Earth and the Universe.

 Our body is the sacred marriage of matter and soul, and so we are the sacred union of spirit and earth.

Our human body, 125 billion miles of DNA, 5o trillion cells cooperating and communicating with each other with extraordinary speed, carries the memory of the whole story of creation from the origin of the universe to us – to this moment.

When we perceive our dense, fragile, physical structure called the body, subject to disease, old

age, decay, and death, we usually see the impermanence, the attachment and the limitation of the body and life itself. This misperception created by our mind conceals the splendor of our essential and immortal reality which is the soul.  The life of the soul is beyond death, and beyond biological life: it is a conscious living, immortal presence.

Our soul is the brilliant limitless essence that lives in our body, our cells.  It is our true original identity.

The soul is not an organ, but it animates all living organisms. It is not a function, nor a faculty, but an active agent of consciousness. It is not the intellect but it expresses the divine qualities of intelligence and love.  The sovereignty of the nature of the soul is a light that shines through us, animates us and makes us aware that we are nothing and everything.

There is no separation. We are all children of the life force and the love that indwells every atoms of the universe.

 Death may be an offering by our spirit to meet a challenge of purification and regeneration of Our being. The passage of the soul is an alone process in which consciousness unravels the entanglements of the Ego within the self. During this process as pain and suffering are faced and embraced, the duality perpetrated by the ego is dissolved and disintegrated.  Eventually the heartbeat of love is freed to express divine consciousness, and deep from within begins to flow the wisdom of pure illumination.

When we look beyond the “I” personality, and open the door to the root of ourselves, we let the soul, the seed of eternity,  the higher self flow through us, as us, and the boundaries dissolve. We can then enter a greater wholeness, merging into the divine Being that we are.

I realize that the more I understand the bigger picture of our hidden sacred heritage, the more I can heal and release the limitations of my past and set myself free to step into an exciting future. The relationship I have with my Soul can be with every breath I take, every step I walk, every word I speak, and everything I see.

Michelle, as you are dancing in the great beyond your whole self is experienced as an eloquent, graceful, singular limitless presence. Your legacy is not just your two beautiful young children but the realization that the body is the most sacred place of pilgrimage. It is the temple of the Goddess within, and when we love and care for the body, we know we are not the body but the eternal Soul.

 Rest in peace sweet Michelle. You are loved and you are love.