Archive for Health Tips
Gifts from My Mentors
Posted by: | CommentsFrom Thanksgiving to Christmas, I like to acknowledge the people who have enriched my life during the past year.
This includes, of course, my personal friends and colleagues. But you don’t know them. You can know and benefit from some of my “virtual mentors,” and those are the ones I want to tell you about.
As I reflected on those whose work has enriched either my spirit, soul, mind or body through sharing their expertise, several people came to mind.
Spirit. The most influential–and healing–approach I have ever come across is the Immanuel Approach, developed by Dr. Karl Lehman, a psychiatrist and the author of Outsmarting Yourself and The Immanuel Approach (which we Immanuel Prayer ministers, and he, refer to as “the big lion book” because it’s exhaustive at 759 pages!). From Outsmarting Yourself, I learned about “implicit memory” and how we get triggered, and how to calm body and mind. Dr. Karl Lehman’s work is all about how to let God come in and be with you in the pain, and thus heal it.
I was trained by Margaret Webb and Jessie Handy from Alive and Well in Immanuel Prayer, and continued with training from Dr. Karl Lehman through his Advanced Training seminar and monthly meetings in which local prayer ministers gather to watch and discuss a video of Dr. Lehman facilitating someone in Immanuel Approach. I also meet every other week with other prayer ministers to give and receive Immanuel Prayer.
What has healed me the most, and creates the bedrock of my spiritual life, are my direct interactions with the Lord through these prayer sessions. What has healed my clients the most are the times we use Immanuel Prayer in a Coach-Guided Healing Code. More on that, including videos of my facilitating and receiving Immanuel Prayer, and links to more information, can be found here.
I want to honor Dr. Karl Lehman and Alive and Well for their excellent work. There is no healing like the healing you get when Immanuel–“God with us”– directly intervenes into your issue.
If you’re not sure CEN is part of your experience, take this assessment to find out and learn more about her excellent work.
Mind (and body and soul). I wasn’t sure where to put Julie Bjelland and what I’ve been learning from her about living well with Sensory Processing Sensitivity (otherwise known as being a Highly Sensitive Person or HSP), because it’s all-encompassing.
I have learned brain-training techniques, breathing techniques, how to calm my nervous system, how to track my stress levels, and so much more from Julie’s course and from her Sensitive Empowerment group. I have also received much validation about the unique experiences of being an HSP, through the Sensitive Empowerment community. And, since most of my clients are HSPs, I have been able to pass on a lot of what I’ve learned to them. Many express how life-changing it has been to learn about this inborn trait, which about 20% of at least 100 species possess, and how to thrive with it.
Thank you, Julie, and my fellow HSPs in the Sensitive Empowerment community!
Body. This has been The Year of the Summits, and I’m a bit tired out from it all. But one teaching stands out.
That would be Ari Whitten’s Energy Blueprint. Ari’s information is science-backed–he really takes the time to do the research, which I appreciate. (Julie Bjelland also keeps her guidance rooted in science.) I am learning (since I’m still working through the course) about circadian rhythms and mitochondria, and how they affect our energy and health at the most basic level. (Remember, I’m all about “healing AT the source,” the only way true healing happens.) While “heart issues” are at the source of so many of our problems, including physical, there is a dynamic interplay between our environment and our physical well-being as well. These days, so many things in our environment work against the way God designed our bodies to work. Ari Whitten is helping me understand how we are made, what environmental factors put extra stress on our bodies (especially true for HSPs, by the way), and what lifestyle changes we can make to mitigate the negatives and foster our own body’s balance and energy system.
You can take his extensive, free Energy Blueprint Masterclass by signing up here. Click here or on the picture link to get his free eblook on science-backed supplements for energy enhancement.
Relationships. I’ve already mentioned Dr. Jonice Webb. Her second book, Running on Empty No More, talks about how CEN affects relationships. If you grew up with CEN, or your partner did, please read this book as well as Running on Empty.
You can take the Love Styles quiz to find out how you learned to relate to people based on your family background. I highly recommend it and ask my clients to take this before our session, as it gives a better context for our work together.
There you have it–my current mentors for spirit, soul, mind and body, carefully curated for you. Check them out as you feel led. You can find the assessments for CEN, Love Styles, and High Sensitivity here.
Light Bulbs a Danger–Really?
Posted by: | CommentsI’ve been taking Ari Whitten’s excellent Energy Blueprint course (go here for the free Masterclass), and one of the suggestions for balancing circadian rhythms and getting better sleep is to use incandescent light bulbs with more of the warmer light frequency spectrum.
Blue and green light frequencies shut down melatonin, that crucial hormone that not only signals the body to get good sleep, but is the most powerful antioxidant on the planet.
Well, it turns out that getting regular, old-fashioned incandescent light bulbs is not so easy.
California actually bans the sale of them (since 2018). It’s unclear whether stores in other states will continue to stock them as of January 1, 2020. New efficiency standards that would have, in essence, phased out incandescent light bulbs were set to go into effect then, but those restrictions were weakened in Sept. 2019. This article gives a good explanation of the latest on the status of the EISA . I am still hearing from our local hardware stores that they will not be carrying the regular incandescent light bulbs, but that may change. I’ve had trouble finding them on Amazon.
The recent darling of the lighting industry is the LED bulb. More energy efficient, and supposedly longer lasting (I have grave doubts about that, see the comments on the above link), but … there is a dark side, as this Scientific American article points out. Apparently there are heavy metals such as lead, nickel and copper in the LED bulbs. Compact fluorescent light bulbs contain mercury. If you break kind, you’re supposed to wear rubber gloves, a face mask, and throw away the broom you use to sweep it up!
The main reason I wanted to stick with the older incandescent bulbs was because I want to cut down on exposure to blue and green light at night. My research uncovered that the lower the light is on the Kelvin scale, the less blue light there is. The old-fashioned incandescent light bulbs actually have fire in them, as you can see from the picture, and the orange-yellow spectrum actually helps the body move into rest mode.
Upshot: the “daylight” LED lights would be good for when you want to “wake up,” the “soft white” LED are better for places like the bedroom. Of course, all of us move throughout all our rooms throughout the day, so I guess the best alternative is to wear blue- and green-blocking glasses after sundown, such as Swannies or, even better, Safety Blue, because those also block green light, which interferes with melatonin as well. (Plus, what I like about the Safety Blue, is that they make a kind that can fit over prescription glasses. Just be sure when you order that you get the “fit over” kind. I mistakenly ordered the wrong ones at first, and got a chance to sample their customer service. Which was very good.) According to energy expert Ari Whitten, these are the only glasses on the market that also block green light. (Use promo code EBLE2020 for a 15% discount if interested.)
CC BY by Natalia Medd
It’s not only the lighting in our homes that are a concern. You may have to wear your blue-blocking glasses when you go outside at night, if your community has solid-state LED street lights, that intense blue light can also disrupt circadian rhythms. I think also some cars also use those intense blue LED lights. (They hurt my eyes!)
The bottom line, for me, is to get whatever light bulbs I can that are on the warmer side of the Kelvin scale. The labels should tell you. You want as “warm,” i.e. as low on the Kelvin scale, as possible, if you want to to block blue and green light. In my opinion, we get enough blue light from screens. At night I wear my blue and green-blocking glasses just to be safe, even though I have the warmer bulbs in most places in my home.
I sigh over all this. It seems the toxins are everywhere in our modern world. You just have to do the best you can, control what you can, and do whatever you can to keep your immune system strong and circadian rhythms as optimized as possible. I’m learning so much about how all these things interact, and will continue to share as I learn
Important: Don’t let fear overtake you. A body at peace is a body that can heal or overcome just about everything. Heal the heart issues, do what you can to lessen the toxic load, and trust that God can and will protect you from the forces you can’t control. That’s where I find my peace, and I know you can, too.
And if you need some help finding what those heart issues are, consider getting some coaching at HealingCodesCoaching.com.
What Happens When You Hit Your Sixties
Posted by: | CommentsI wish someone had warned me about this. It would have made life easier for me when it happened.
That’s why I’m warning you now. I really didn’t want to write this post. (What woman wants to reveal her age?) Yet I felt compelled to, because it’s really important.
Something happens when you hit your sixties.
If you’re in your sixties (or beyond), you will probably nod your head and feel validated. I’ve talked to many of my friends and clients in this age group and they all say, “Yes! That’s how it is.”
If you’re younger, you will have been warned, as I wish someone had warned me. I’m hoping you’ll take to heart what I’m about to say, because it will make your sixties much easier when you do get there. The rumblings do start earlier–late forties and fifties.
So what it is that happens when you hit your sixties?
Simply this: All your prior coping mechanisms quit working.
Whatever you were doing that made life work for you suddenly–doesn’t.work.anymore.
For instance, if you depended on multitasking to get things done–you find you can’t multitask anymore.
If you dealt with emotions by pushing them down and moving on–that won’t work anymore either.
If you skimped on sleep and got by–you can’t do that anymore. Your body will start malfunctioning one way or another (sleep affects so much).
If you got along fine without God or religion, OR if you were comfortable in your spiritual practices and religious beliefs–suddenly you may find yourself either adrift, or questioning the very beliefs that heretofore held your life together.
If you feel like your body starts to fall apart in your sixties, I offer this thought: maybe that’s just an outward manifestation of what’s happening inwardly . . . the coping mechanisms fall apart, then the body follows suit.
What is actually happening, I believe, is that in one’s sixties, ANY unprocessed “heart issues” surface, in any number of forms, including physical ailments.
Not only that, but even the heart issues you thought you healed, if not healed entirely, will resurface and demand to be healed at a deeper level.
This may especially apply to Highly Sensitive People, who possess the traits of depth of processing (the pain and trauma go deep), and also emotional reactivity (the original emotions were strong). Unless a heart issue is healed completely, I can almost guarantee it will pop up again in your sixties.
And then, you will have to find a new way to deal with it, if you’ve just been coping rather than truly healing it.
I think it’s actually the spirit/body’s wisdom that makes all this happen. Your spirit and body want you to be healthy, to heal. The body knows that unless all the heart issues are thoroughly processed, that negative energy will compromise the body.
And Body does not want that at all. Body will send you messages. Body will prevent Soul’s former coping mechanisms from continuing to work.
Also, this is your spirit calling you to a much deeper level of being. It is your True Self calling. She/he may have been trying to get through all these years prior, but you were too busy to listen.
Too busy learning how life works and, perhaps, figuring out how to survive in a dysfunctional situation (growing up years).
Too busy figuring out who you were, what you were going to be when you grew up (adolescence).
Too busy building a career, raising a family (adult years until middle age).
Too busy ignoring the rumblings of your spirit and the messages from your body–and the disappointment of dashed dreams (we all have them by middle age).
Now, you’re in your sixties, and your body is screaming, your spirit is screaming: IT’S TIME!
This time you have to listen.
It’s literally a life or death matter. If you don’t listen NOW, two things will happen.
Your spirit will quietly sigh, and slowly withdraw. (Is this what aging really is?)
When the spirit withdraws, your body will give up. It is the spirit that gives life.
If you’re in your sixties, likely you know what I’m talking about. If you’re not yet there, look within. Can you honestly say you haven’t heard the rumblings of spirit and/or body, trying to send you messages?
Listen to what Body is saying; it will send clues. Example: for months I’ve had an itch in the middle of my back. The dermatologist said it was not a skin issue, but a neurological issue. A kinesiologist said my body didn’t agree with the doctor.
A business coach said that a sign you’re being called to something bigger is when you get the ITCH–when part of you just knows it’s time to go deeper.
My spirit lit up with the AHA when I heard that. My body sighed in relief. “She finally got the message.” That ITCH was about my calling to a new plane of spiritual healing and direction. When I recognized that–the itch went away!
What messages are your body and spirit attempting to give to you? Pay attention. Turn up the volume and really listen.
You are being called to finally shed the blocks to your true destiny. May you heed the call. Preferably NOW. Whatever your age, it will shorten the time spent avoiding, and lengthen the time living out, your destiny.
And if you would like help identifying what your spirit/body is trying to tell you, coaching will really help! HealingCodesCoaching.com
Which Breathing Technique Tests Best?
Posted by: | CommentsIn an earlier post, I talked about a way of breathing recommended by HeartMath, in which you breathe with awareness and appreciation into your heart area. This helps your body get into “coherence,” where everything is in balance as measured by Heart Rate Variability.
HeartMath recommends a paced breathing, e.g. 5 breaths in, 5 breaths out, in an even rhythm.
Other people recommend breathing out slightly longer than breathing in, claiming it does something in the brain to turn off the stress response. For instance, I heard a teleseminar for Highly Sensitive People in which Julie Bjelland shared a breathing technique that uses the 4-2-7 rhythm: breathe in for a count of 4, hold for 2 seconds, exhale for a count of 7.
Dr. Andrew Weil advocates the 4-7-8 rhythm as best, which is what I’ve been using most.
Other people suggest a 7-11 or 5-8 breathing pattern–no holding of the breath.
I thought it would be fun to test all these techniques with my EmWave, a portable device for measuring Heart Rate Variability, the test used to measure the coherence of the autonomic nervous system.
Which technique got me into the “green zone” (coherence) quickest (like the “appreciation graph above), which sustained it best? Read on! Read More→
Breathing “By Heart” for Stress Relief
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I am using it to test various healing and healing prayer methods, and what it’s revealing is quite interesting. I recommend it for helping you to find ways to get out of stress mode.
The Best Healing Music: Wholetones
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I started using Wholetones some time ago because so many clients raved about it, but only more recently have I begun to use them when doing my Healing Codes.
What was I waiting for?!
What I’ve found is that Wholetones causes shifts in my issue much quicker than before—often, a significant shift happens daily! I am totally hooked on Wholetones and recommend them.
So what are Wholetones?
Wholetones: The Healing Frequency Music Project was created by Michael Tyrell, an accomplished author, speaker, and well-known musician. He began developing it after he met a piano player in Israel who gave him what appeared to be a simple manuscript. Inside that manuscript was the music that would change Michael’s life forever. As he began working with it, he discovered seven hidden musical frequencies that had the power to heal the mind, body, and spirit.
This is what makes Wholetones unlike anything else of its kind. Since its release in November, 2014, thousands of people are feeling better than they have in years and they’ve flooded Michael with letters to say Wholetones is the reason.
These 7 unique “Musical Tones” are found to: Read More→
Overcome the Main Pitfall of Gluten-Free
Posted by: | CommentsI have been gluten-free for a number of years, and I’m sure it’s been a good thing.
However, when listening to Dr. Alan Christianson’s talk on the Healing Power of Food Summit, I learned that there is on potential pitfall of going wheat or gluten-free.
Wheat contains a lot of what’s called “resistant starch,” which is the kind of food that feeds the good gut bacteria and leads to healthy digestion—and overall health. Scientists now know that our health is largely dependent on how diverse and healthy our gut microbiome is.
Cutting out wheat cuts out a main source of important resistant starch. But never fear! Dr. Christianson gave specific things to do to make up for the the lack.
1. Eat a variety of root vegetables. Root vegetables excel at providing resistant starch. “Buy all the root vegetables you can find in a grocery store, and eat at least one kind/day,” Dr. Christianson advised. Here is my recipe for roasted root veggies.
2. Eat at least one item from a “prebiotic foods” list every day. You can Google “list of prebiotic foods” and come up with a bunch, but here are some for starters that are readily available:
- asparagas
- onions and leeks
- flax seeds, hemp seeds
- garlic
- apples
- bananas
- cocoa (yes!)
- sweet potatoes
- cabbage
- berries
3. Stewed apples. When you cook apples a little, you release the pectin, which is a great prebiotic food apparently. Chop up about 4 apples, spoon-sized pieces, put them in a pot with a little water, and simmer for 5 minutes or so, until the skins get shiny. Add a little cinnamon, maybe some raisins, and you’ve got a great addition to breakfast! (I eat this along with an egg and my smoothie that has berries, flax seeds among other things, so I’ve got a great start to my day.)
The ONE THING That Will Make or Break Your Health
Posted by: | CommentsI had no idea I was doing something on a daily (well, nightly) basis that was so damaging to my health: Not getting enough sleep.
I thought, like many people, that because I always woke up before the alarm went off, I was getting enough sleep. Usually it was 6-6.5 hours.
After even one night of less than 5 hours of sleep, natural killer cells (which kill cancer cells that appear in your body every day) drop by 70%. Just one night!
And routinely sleeping less than 6 or 7 hours a night increases your risk of cancer by 50%. And, “based on epidemiological data, any adult sleeping and average of 6.75 hours a night would be predicted to live only into their early sixties….” (p. 262). In an interview on NPR with Terry Gross, Walker said, “We also know that every disease that is killing us in developed nations has causal and significant links to a lack of sleep. And a lack of sleep defined as six hours of sleep or less.”
Yikes!
Walker cites many amazing studies, on everything from the sleep habits of various species, to what happened when high schools moved their start time an hour later (70% fewer car accidents, 212 points more on the SAT tests!). He calls himself “the sleep diplomat” and is out to help people understand the importance of sleep for our health and even societal well-being.
Take car crashes, for instance. Driving when drowsy is actually more dangerous than driving drunk!
He also points out that sleeping pills, alcohol and other drugs merely sedate you, they don’t help you get naturalistic sleep. Your “sleep” will not restore you as it’s meant to.
Though Walker takes a decidedly evolutionary approach, what he says about the function of sleep made me marvel at how God created us, and gave us this amazing, FREE source of nightly rejuvenation.
If only we will take it seriously….
Few books have actually changed my behavior. This one has.
What tipped me over the edge was learning that you can’t judge whether you’re sleep-deprived. You get acclimated to impaired performance, lower alertness, and reduced energy levels.
The bottom line is: If you’re not getting around 8 hours of sleep per night, you’re sleep deprived and are undermining your long-term health.
I am determined to get to bed earlier so that I can get my 8 hours of sleep that human beings apparently always need. Nothing can substitute.
As I address this issue in myself, I’m seeing just how many “heart issues” are involved. If you struggle with insomnia, I encourage you to read this book, work on whatever “heart issues” are preventing you from getting enough sleep. Follow the suggestions below, and get more help if you need it.
This one thing–getting enough sleep–may
literally save your life.
Here are some suggestions from the book on how to get more and better sleep:
- Establish a regular bedtime and sake-up time, even on weekends.
- Go to bed only when sleepy and avoid sleeping on the couch early/mid-evenings.
- Never lie awake in bed for a significant time period; rather, get out of bed and do something quiet and relaxing until the urge to sleep returns.
- Avoid daytime napping if you are having difficulty sleeping at night.
- Reduce anxiety-provoking thoughts and worries by learning to mentally decelerate before bed (here’s where Healing Codes come in!).
- Remove visible clockfaces from view in the bedroom, preventing clock-watching anxiety at night. Also all screens, and don’t look at any screens at least an hour before bed.
There is an appendix with twelve other suggestions. Highly recommend the book!
And if you need help in finding and addressing the “heart issues” that may be undermining your ability to get a good night’s sleep every night, feel free to contact me for some Healing Codes coaching.
Boosting Oxytocin–The Love and Joy Hormone
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Did you know that there’s a place in your brain that literally lights up when you’re with someone who is glad to see you, glad to be with you?
And that when these “joy centers” or “relational circuits” light up, a certain hormone–oxytocin–releases into your body and does all kinds of wonderful things to you, including promoting healing?
When your Relational Circuits are ON, you can live in love, joy, and peace, even if your circumstances are not so ideal.
When they are Off, you are in fear and stress mode. Then another hormone–cortisol–takes over, and that does bad things to your body over time.
So how do you know whether your Relational Circuits (RCs) are on or off?
Here’s how you feel when they’re OFF:
- You just want to make a problem, person or feeling go away.
- You don’t want to listen to what others feel or say.
- Your mind is “locked onto” something upsetting.
- You don’t want to be connected to ___ (someone you usually like).
- You just want to get away, or fight, or freeze.
- You more aggressively interrogate, judge and try to fix others.
If you answered yes to any of these, your Relational Circuits are OFF.
And having your RCs off “is like trying to see with your eyes closed or driving your car at night with the headlights off!” No fun–even dangerous.
So how do you turn them back on, so that you see the person as more important than the problem, and can operate from love, respect, humility, and peace?
There are things you can do with your body to actually help you “wake up” your RCs. Read More→
How to Deal with Heavy Metal Toxins
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I have to admit, I’m a bit “summited out.”
Maybe you are, too.
But the “Heavy Metals Summit” that started on Monday, I’ve just have had to make time for. (Or else buy.)
Here’s why. My husband is in the process of having 6 or 7 mercury amalgam fillings removed by a biological dentist. She is being very, very careful.
After other summits I’ve attended and research I’ve done, I am sure my husband’s symptoms are due to heavy metal toxicity, at least from the mercury, if not other things as well.
I learned from Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt from another summit that the trifecta of heavy metals, mold, and Wi-Fi signals all exacerbate each other.
The Wi-Fi makes the mold in the air more toxic. Simultaneously, if you’ve got any mercury amalgam fillings in your mouth, the Wi-Fi also releases mercury vapor much more quickly, and it goes straight to the brain. Wi-Fi also does something with some enzymes in the body that normally would enable the body to detoxify from heavy metals and mold.
There is a video called “smoking tooth” on YouTube that shows how mercury vapor from a slight abrasion of an amalgam filling can release vapors into the mouth–and the brain.
I asked two dentists and two doctors about this, whether it was valid, and they had no response for me. One just shrugged and changed the subject.
When I was a child, we used to play with the mercury from a broken thermometer. Do I have mercury in my system from that? No doubt.
Even if you’ve never out of ignorance played with mercury, or had any “silver” fillings, it’s hard to escape these toxins, unfortunately. They are in our air, water, cosmetics, food.
What we can do is empower our bodies to deal with them.
This summit will give many ideas how to do that.
Know that doing Healing Codes to get rid of the stress of unconscious negative memories is important. In fact, Nikki Gratrix will be a featured speaker, and she talks about how unhealed emotional issues block the body’s ability to heal.
I am also using the Halo Detox vial quite often. I believe it is helping both my husband and me, though I have to admit, I did have some “healing responses” from it. Evidence that it’s working, though! (For more information about
I encourage you to register for this summit, and want you to know that if you should choose to buy it, the half-price sale ends Feb. 5. There will be a replay over the weekend, I believe.
(So if you’re not into the Superbowl, you can learn how to improve your health!)
Foods that Heal Your Gut
Here’s something very practical I learned from the Summit.
First, if you have a healthy gut, that goes a long way to protecting you and helping you detox. We are largely made up of microbes, called the microbiome, and these are epigenetical agents that can switch bad genes off and good genes on.
Some foods feed the good gut bacteria; these are called prebiotic foods. I learned from the Heavy Metals Summit (think it was one of the ones from Day 1, possibly Tom O’Bryan’s), that root vegetables are prebiotic foods. He suggested 1-2 servings of root vegetables. I have a medley of root veggies roasting in the oven even as I type! (If you want the recipe, go here.)
Fermented foods such as kimchi (just tried it–love it!), sauerkraut and other fermented foods actually add the good gut bacteria. He suggested getting as many different kinds of fermented foods as you can, and rotate every day, taking a forkful at least a day. (I usually have some at lunch.)
That talk was a godsend to me, because I had gone to the natural foods store to find probiotics, and left without buying anything, overwhelmed a bit by the choices and the prices. I’d much rather take O’Bryan’s suggestions and get the good stuff from my foods. I already feel a difference!
