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Columbus Polarity Center for Integrative Health and Wellness Monthly Newsletter: June 2007 Volume V Issue VI |
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Columbus Polarity Center specializes in complementary therapies and holistic healthcare.
There is a wide range of qualified practitioners available for Polarity Therapy, Cranial Sacral, Rolfing, Reiki, Herbal Therapy, Aromatherapy, relaxation massage and Massage Therapy by LMTs. Our practitioners work with an integrative healthcare focus and often will provide the client with various options that will meet their needs. Many of the practitioners work together to provider the best preventive care for the client. Please check our website www.columbuspolarity.com for more details.
Practitioners at Columbus Polarity are not Medical Doctors, Dieticians, or Mental Health practitioners, nor do they diagnose or treat illnesses or prescribe any type of medications. For medical needs consult your physician.
Article of the Month
by Mary Jo Ruggieri, PhD, RPP
Healing occurs when the life-sustaining systems of the body function at peak performance. Unfortunately, with our environment being so toxic and with the pesticides in our food being so prevalent, we have no other choice but to detox and repair our bodies' support systems.
The healthcare system of the future will incorporate all levels of detoxing as part of a regular health maintenance program. Detoxing is for everyone and can change the quality of your life while slowing down the aging process.
Everything needs cleaned or detoxed. How often do you spray down all your filters you care, hot tub or furnace? We clean our house vents, flush our radiators, and call Roto Rooter when our pipes get clogged. So what's wrong with taking this one step further-cleaning out our body's pipes, removing plaque from our arteries and cleansing our colons?
The problem is toxins. Our environment, which has reached high levels of toxic waste, is the main culprit. We cannot get away from the fact that we live in a toxic waste nightmare.
First prize goes to the chemical industry and its hidden toxic legacy. An industry that's put our health, wellness and safety at a dangerously high risk while continuing to lie and hide the truth at any cost.
Dr. Christina Scott-Mancrieff, in her book Detox, states that our environmental toxins can affect our ability to think properly; they can produce physical symptoms such as exhaustion or headaches; and create emotional turmoil such as anger and frustration. Following a detox program, she continues, reduces the amount of toxins entering your body and helps your body deal with them better by improving nutrition and enhancing the removal of unwanted waste.
A checklist from Scott-Mancrieff's book gives us some eye-opening information on toxic elements in our life. How many of these toxic elements are in your life?
Toxic food and drink
Environment
Is everything toxic? No, just the majority of what Americans eat, wear, and use.
What is so difficult to understand is the correlation of cancer to environmental toxins and the lack of concern about these facts. One in three of us will have cancer in our lifetimes, yet we still sit idle watching the environment deteriorate. It's more of a shame when we see the rise of cancers in children knowing that it's often environmentally induced.
Beginning a simple detox plan
Constant tiredness is the main symptom that indicates a person needs to detox. A final quote from Dr. Scott-Mancrieff: "Health is more than the absence of disease; you need to feel well." It's your choice.
May the longtime sun shine upon you.
Mary Jo Ruggieri, PhD, RPP, is the Director of the Ohio Institute of Energetic Studies (Cleveland and Columbus Polarity Schools), which is a state registered school for Polarity Therapy training and Energy Science studies. satnam170@aol.com or (614) 299-9438
Each year, an estimated 700,000 Americans experience adverse reactions to prescribed drugs that necessitate a trip to the emergency department.
Adverse drug events include allergic reactions, unintended overdoses, adverse effects, secondary effects, and vaccine reactions.
Individuals aged 65 and older, who make up to 12 percent of the US population, account for 25 percent of adverse drug events overall, and half of these events require hospitalization.
Emergency department visits for adverse drug events in those 65 and older are nearly as common as those for motor vehicle occupant injuries. Most are the result of unintentional overdoses and involve acute toxicity from drugs requiring outpatient monitoring, such as antidiabetic agents, warfarin, several anticonvulsants, digitalis, glycosides, theophylline, and lithium.
Source: Journal of the American Medical Association. 2006;1858-1866
Reference: Nutrition Hints, Betty Kamen, PhD, and Dr. Michael Rosenbaum, MD
Go to PubMed, Real Age Smart Search, or any research websites and type in "magnesium." The information and research on magnesium and its benefits are incredible!
Magnesium is:
Magnesium and Exercise:
Magnesium should be taken together with calcium and Vitamin D, which help the body utilize the magnesium.
Suggested reading: The Magnesium Miracle by Carolyn Dean, MD, ND, Ballantine Books, NY
According to a study reported in Real Age, people who ate whole-grain cereal as part of their weight loss program tended to get more needed nutrients and lose more weight.
Check out the organic whole-grain cereals like Ezekial.
Reference: www.realage.com
Sprouts are one of the most nutritious sources of proteins, vitamins, enzymes and minerals available to us all.
Seeds are a storehouse of vitamins, minerals, enzymes and essential fatty acids as well as the greatest source of protein in the vegetable kingdom. When sprouting, a seed unfolds and starts to multiply and develop its nutrients in order to provide nourishment for the maturing vegetable. This miracle of nature means that a little sunflower seed has in it the basic formula for nourishing a six foot plant.
Germination initiates the following changes in the seed:
Protein...
These miniature green vegetables are high in protein when compared to common green leafy vegetables such as spinach and lettuce, but have less protein than bean sprouts such as soybean, lentil and chickpea. Alfalfa and sunflower are richer in protein than spinach or any of the common lettuces and they are free of pesticides and poisons. Alfalfa seed can be as high as 39.8% protein although it reduces its concentration as it grows. On the other hand, lettuce and spinach only supply the nutrients developed from one seed, whereas a sprout salad serves up the nutrition from thousands of seeds.
Minerals...
Next to sea vegetables, sprouts are the best source of minerals and trace minerals. Most salad sprouts are rich in calcium and magnesium, have more phosphorus than fish, and are excellent sources of hard to find trace minerals such as tritium, selenium, manganese, chromium and others. Because minerals and trace minerals are naturally chelated in the sprout, they are more easily utilized by our bodies. Zinc in alfalfa sprouts increases from 5.8 mg in the seed (per 100 grams), to 18 mg in the sprout (dried weight). One cup (100 mg) of alfalfa sprouts provides twice the US RDA of zinc.
Reference: www.hippocratesinstitute.com
Foods that target inflammation are a blessing for people suffering from asthma conditions. Foods to avoid first and foremost are dairy and wheat products because they produce mucous in the body.
Good Foods to Eat:
Reference: Lisa Turner, Natural Solutions, Winter 2007
Mind, Body, Spirit
This section of our newsletter "Mind, Body, Spirit" will focus on a meditation or visualization per month. It is intended to give the reader a choice of meditation techniques to help with stress reduction and disease prevention. Please try these meditations daily to see how they work for you. Always start with some controlled breathing. Please remember how healing it is to meditate. For more information on meditation and visualization classes email maryjo@columbuspolarity.com
What It Will Do For You
This meditation brings the entire nervous system into balance. By putting the thumbs together in the mudra (hand position), the sciatic nerve is neutralized at the point of ego. This particular balance puts pressure on certain meridian points in the shoulders.
In doing the meditation you will come to understand that even with the breath out you are still alive. A lot of problems in family and social relationships are because you don't have control over the breath. It is the link between you and Source and it is what gives you the sensitivity to feel all around you.
How To Do It
Sit in easy pose with a straight spine (or in a straight back chair with both feet on the ground). With the elbows bent, raise the hands up and in until they meet at the level of the heart a few inches from the body. With the fingers of both hands extended and joined and the palms facing the body, place the palm of the right hand over the back of the left hand. The fingers of the left hand point toward the right and the fingers of the right hand point toward the left. Press the thumbtips together. Hold the hands and forearms parallel to the ground.
Keep the eyes 9/10 closed. Inhale deeply and hold for 10 seconds. Exhale completely and hold the breath out for 10 seconds. (The air must go all the way out on the exhale so that all the heart valves get equal pressure, and the brain and central nervous systems will trigger survival systems for a few seconds.) Continue. Concentrate powerfully on the breath. Practice this meditation 3 to 5 minutes at a time. Work up to 10-12 minutes. Before and after meditation do some long deep breaths.
Reference: Survival kit, Meditations and Exercise for Stress and Pressure of the Times by Yogi Bhajan, complied by S.S. Vekram Kaur Khalsa, edited by Mary Jo Ruggieri, (Hari Kaur)
Essential Herbs
Question: I have a very difficult time losing weight and I was wondering if there are any natural herbs that are really good "support" or beneficiary for losing weight?
Answer: Good question! Losing weight can be a tricky thing, since often how we eat is associated with deep feelings and patterns of emotions that we can't let go of.
Losing weight is also contingent upon our eating habits, and our exercise routine:
Certain herbs may help with weight loss. Some of these help reduce weight by promoting healthy elimination via the kidneys or the colon.
Herbs that help eliminate fluids from the kidney are called diuretics. Those that help eliminate waste from the colon are usually bulking powders.
Excellent herbal diuretics are:
Bulking powders are very effective in producing bulk that then facilitates the quick removal of waste from the colon. They provide fiber that is essential to elimination. Two of these are:
There are also some herbs that help with bile production by the liver. Bile is essential for the regular function of the colon. It also is essential for the break down of fats.
Herbs for bile production are:
Some other herbs that help break down fats are:
Some excellent supplements that help with breaking down fat are:
Please bear in mind that losing weight can cause diverse health conditions: You should follow a program of weight loss under the supervision of your healthcare practitioner.
- Charoula, Herbalist
THE ABOVE INFORMATION IS FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. PLEASE CONSULT YOUR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER/PRACTITIONER! INFORMATION IN ANY PART OF THIS NEWSLETTER IS NOT INTENDED TO DIAGNOSE, TREAT, CURE OR PREVENT ANY DISEASE.
"You are the designer of your destiny. You are the author. You write the story. The pen is in your hand, and the outcome is whatever you choose."
— Lisa Nichols, "The Secret"
Elemental Foods
1/4 cup flaxseed oil
1/4 cup pure organic unfiltered olive oil (Trader Joe's has a great one)
3 organic green onions - chopped
1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon sweet basil ( please use fresh if you can)
1 tablespoon rosemary (please use fresh if you can)
1 tablespoon thyme (please use fresh if you can)
1 sweet red pepper sliced thin
1 sweet yellow pepper sliced thin
12 sweet organic cherry tomatoes sliced into quarters
2 carrots thinly sliced or shredded
2 heads of any leafy dark greens ( i.e. romaine, Swiss chard, dandelion, red leaf lettuce, bib lettuce, spring green mix, etc...) Wash them well and break into bite size pieces.
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup chopped chives
1/2 cup chopped fresh mint
Use a wooden bowl if you have one - if not a good ceramic bowl well chilled will do.
Pour the oils into the bowl and swirl the oil around so it has covered the whole bowl.
Add the garlic and green onions and swirl those around the bowl (what you are doing is getting the flavors into the oil)
Take half of the lemon juice, sweet basil, rosemary and thyme and swirl these items also around the bowl.
Allow to sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes.
Stir in the peppers, tomatoes, and carrots. Add the greens and toss - let this sit for 5 minutes.
Add the remaining basil, rosemary, and thyme - add sea salt to taste.
Add the parsley. Toss well. You may want to add more lemon juice - use your taste buds to guide you.
Sprinkle with fresh mint.
I usually eat this salad at least 5 times a week. Your body is receiving a bounty of vitamins and minerals - not to mention fiber. If you follow the PH miracle book - Dr. Young highly suggests starting your day with greens. It helps alkaline the body - which in turn provides better health and boosts the immune system. Try a salad for breakfast!!! You will be pleasantly surprised by the way you feel.
- Antonia Rankin, APP - Energetic Food Awareness
Educational Seminars
Date & Time: Saturday, June 23, 2007
9:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Location: OIES-Columbus Polarity School
1253 High Street
Columbus, Ohio 43201
Faculty: Cynthia A. Vaughn, M.B.A., M.S.W., L.S.W.
Class Outline:
Cynthia A. Vaughn, M.B.A., M.S.W., L.S.W.
Biography
Cynthia Vaughn, project manager for the Ohio Legal Assistance Foundation, has more than two decades of business development, information technology, marketing, project/product management, teaching, and executive business management experience. Cynthia's business specialty has been in developing, managing, and marketing consumer, technology and web-based (IT) products and services with extensive experience working with customer acquisition, retention and loyalty marketing campaigns for small business (wholesale, retail and Web), Fortune 500 and Inc 500 clients. In addition, Cynthia has over seven years of adjunct teaching experience working with adult students in courses such as marketing, sales development, and Internet commerce at Franklin University, Columbus State Community College and The Ohio State University, Fisher College of Business.
Cost: $115
8 Hours of CEUs Available
To Register, call (614) 299-9438 or email Wanda Evans.
Date & Time: Friday, June 22, 2007
9:00 am-5:30 pm
Location: OIES-Columbus Polarity School
1253 High Street
Columbus, Ohio 43201
Class Outline:
Cost: $115
8 Hours of CEUs Available
To Register, call (614) 299-9438 or email Wanda Evans
Advanced Polarity by the Agean Sea
A Polarity Retreat in Greece
September 10 – 17, 2007
Choice of Classes Advanced Case Studies and Protocols
Dates: September 10—Orientation
September 11-15—Classes and Workshops
September 16-17—Personal Sessions Available
Cost: $650 (housing and meals not included*)
$200 ($100 Non-refundable) deposit due at registration
Balance due by June 15, 2007
*Housing and meals can be arranged
Faculty: Mary Jo Ruggieri
Charoula Dontopoulos
Ulrike Harder
Coordinator: Charoula Dontopoulos
Limited Space Available. Please Register Early.
For more information contact:
Click Here To Download a Registration Packet
Or visit our website at www.ohioinstitute.com
Mary Jo Ruggieri @ (614) 778-0121 or satnam170@aol.com
Charoula Dontopoulos @ (740) 986-6945 or wisewomnc@earthlink.net
MORE ARTICLES
By Pam Popper, PhD, ND
For some time, scientists have been researching the link between genes and the development of every disease from obesity to cancer. The motive has been to create drugs that could prevent disease, and profitable screening tests to detect those that are vulnerable.
Sounds good, but in reality, this line of research has been a miserable failure.
Some of the potential discoveries made big headlines, but follow-up research just could not confirm a link. For example, Harvard Medical School researchers discovered a gene called MTP (microsomal transfer protein) that supposedly could increase the odds of living to 100 years of age. However, in a study of 1039 centenarians and 550 younger control-group patients conducted at University Hospital in Kiel, Germany, researchers could find no link. Another Danish study also could find no link.
According to Joel Hirschhorn, pediatric endocrinologist at Children's Hospital at Harvard, "Just about everything that hit the papers up until a few years ago, all those were wrong." Hirschhorn's research found that only one out of 50 genes reported to be linked to obesity actually was confirmed to have any relationship at all. A study in 2005 performed at Duke University failed to confirm any of 7 genes suspected to have a role in temperal-lobe epilepsy. And researchers at the University of Texas were unable to establish a link between 21 genes identified as potentially having a connection to heart disease. Another study reported in the Lancet found that the ability of genetic profiling to predict cancer outcomes only fared better than a coin toss in 2 out of 7 genetic signatures. Lead author Stefan Michiels stated, "I am really not convinced a unique signature exists."
Here are some other genetic myths that have been discredited:
According to an article in Forbes Magazine (February 13 1006), the reason this false discovery is happening is that researchers use computers to scan thousands of little-known genes in search of some connection to any disease. The huge number of potential comparisons virtually guarantees that some false positives will be found. The author of the article likened it to rolling the dice 1000 times and then getting excited when luck finally gives you three sevens in a row.
I have no doubt that our genes have some impact on many aspects of our lives, including health. However, having a gene is not a life sentence. There is a difference between having a gene and genetic expression. Genetic expression is determined by your behavior, in other words, diet and lifestyle. I am sure that one of the reasons that follow-up studies have failed to confirm links between having certain genes and the development of diseases is that the studies did not account for differences the diets and lifestyles of the subjects in the studies.
My favorite point to share with audiences I address is the fact that your genes do not determine your destiny - your behavior does. The reason is that if you go through life thinking that genes are responsible for your health, you are a helpless victim. But of you know diet and lifestyle determine your health outcomes, you get the control back!
Reference: Pamela A Popper, Ph.D, N.D., pampopper@msn.com, www.wellnessforum.com, PH: 614.841.7700.