Random Thoughts XXI: Vibrations of Life

Vibrations are very powerful because energy is directly affected. One vibration may cause pain, one may locate it, and another may end it. What kind of vibrations are you bringing into your energy field?

Vibrations are heard and felt. For humans, speech and other forms of sound create vibrations within and around us. The Bible speaks of The Word Being God and God Is (the) Word. With this "word," all creation, including our reality, was formed.

In Yoga, this "word" is OM. It is pronounced AUM. Your mouth starts with the A shape and sound, leads into the U and ends with the hum that is produced with the sound of the M. In Yoga, OM is the universal sound vibration that creates a peaceful feeling and connects all matter within a certain space or environment.

from krishnaculture.com

Sanskrit is a very powerful language because the letters and words create a certain vibration within the spirit. The English language can affect the mind (in so many ways ), however, when words are spoken in Sanksrit, such as "Hari Om" or "Om Shanti," a certain vibration is created that leaves a lasting and peaceful feeling - not only in the mind and body but in the spirit as well.

This does that mean that English does not carry that potency. It has the potential to do that as does any language that beings use to communicate. With the languages of today, especially English, you have to be specific in your speech and especially in your intention and awareness. You have to give a clear and specific signal to the "universe" - in heart, mind and soul - in order for "the universe" to properly provide.

I'm talking about this because I spoke to one of my oldest and dearest friends today. She told me that someone did some kind of bowl thing on her. The person put the bowl on her head and made a noise with it. The end result was that she was supposed to feel better.

She had pains in her back before this occurred but she was able to deal with it through arnica. After the bowl treatment, the pain is back. Her mother did it too and now feels a lot of pain in her hands.

I explained to my friend that this is not a bad thing. I figured that the bowl technique created a vibration that let you know what channels and passages are blocked. The vibration may not immediately treat that blockage but on first try, it certainly let them know what areas they have to work in.

The trick for them is to find out why they have this pain and then figure out how to treat it. Let me say that my friend is NOT a fan of pills and doctors. She had to deal with them on many occassions and had "not so great" encounters with them.

I told her that she should go to the doctor (especially in her mom's case) TO FIND OUT WHAT IS WRONG. Then, go to whichever practictioners she feels comfortable with to treat the case.

As for my friend, I know that she is very devotional to God. She is an Orthodox Christian and goes to church regularly. She is an Ethiopian Orthodox so in church, they speak Amharic. I remembered that in church (I used to go a lot myself), we used to chant in praise of the Lord.

Amharic is not as old as Sanskrit, however since it is considered an ancient language and used for devotional purposes, I knew that it would be a good thing to use as therapy.

So as I was talking to her about chanting in Amharic, Sanskrit, or English, she began to understand the power of vibration. She opened up and told me that Yoga was something she wasn't really into doing because of the chanting and the whole "religious" aspect of it.

From an Integral Yoga point of view, I explained to her that Yoga does not take ones faith away but adds to it. You don't have to say "Hari Om" or "Om Hrim" to be a Yogi. A Bhakti Yogi is someone who is devotional to God, the form of God you choose is inconsequential. If you go to church and do everything in service of God (or at least have that intent ) then you are a Bhakti Yogi, no matter what faith or religion you are bound to.

If you're in a class and you don't want to say OM...that's cool. Say "AMEN" to yourself. AMEN, AMEEN, and SHALOM are all derivates of OM.

I asked my friend to chant every morning and every night. She is going to use one of her church chants. I told her that she must say the same chant at these times and then whenever she feels pain, she should chant again, thinking and breathing into that area of her back that is giving her pain. She agreed and I think she also felt a lot better about Yoga, especially in regards to opening her mind to the healing possibilites that Yogic reasoning provides.

This does NOT mean that chanting will cure her ailment. What this will do is facilitate the vibrations in her body to heal. She got the first vibration that pinpointed where she needs to work on. These new vibrations should enable her to relax her mind enough to realize what she needs to do in order to treat and heal her backache.

In a nutshell, I'm hoping the chanting will make her realize that she has to slow down. In the meantime, she'll try this out and take arnica pills (instead of the cream), starting at 200cc and gradually going to 30cc, if necessary.

For YOU, be mindful of the many vibrations that you take in and give out. Notice your speech. How does it affect others? How does their speech affect you? Notice your methods of communication. Think about how a different method (for you and them) would change the dynamic of your relationships. Even if you try a different form of communication and it doesn't work out, learn the lesson from it and then you can move forward in your journey towards holistic health.

Another way to be aware of your vibrations and how you can enable them to empower you is by taking away that speech for a while. For one week, sit in silence (which is called Mauna). If you can't sit down and be still (like in meditation), do your tasks but say nothing and try to think nothing else but what you are focusing on at the moment. You can do it for 5 minutes or for days on end.

Nada Yoga is the Yoga of sound. Notice if you keep still, the sounds you hear. Sooner than later, you will be able to hear the hum in even the most inanimate of objects. Sooner than later, you will hear the hmmmm (OM) within yourself.

Should I keep you posted? Let me know what you think. Leave a comment here or send me an email at drea@dorightforyourself.org

Until next time, stay strong, stay healthy, and fight dis-ease!

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Random Thoughts XIV: Homeopathy. Baloney or Testimony?

Working as a Vitamin Associate at an Apothecary, I get asked a lot of questions on what works and what doesn't. I get a lot of questions on Homeopathy. The thing is that the questions mostly come from within.

People that request homeopathy in our store know what they're getting into. They have already tried it and it works for them. They may even have their own homeopathy person that guides them and tells them what they should take and why.

Sometimes, I get a newbie. They want to know what is the best thing for them but they're on certain medications that would restrict the usual pathways to get over their ailment. Based on the recommendations of others, I would offer them a homeopathic remedy. You have bruises or muscle pain? Let's give you some arnica. Got a cold or flu. Alpha CF or some oscillo....(it's a really long word). Most of the newbies, take my word for it and go forth. They usually come back and give me feedback (mostly positive). Every once in a while, a newbie would ask me how does this stuff work? It's funny...because I've been asking myself the same thing for the past 5 months.

I started my quest to find out about homeopathy. What exactly is it? Does it really help? What do these numbers mean and where in the heezy do they come up with these names? When I first started on my quest, I got some answers but since I wasn't present and in the moment (more on that throughout my blog), I didn't pay much attention. I just knew that 30cc is probably stronger than 200cc but we still give a person 200cc when they have acute pain (this is in regards to arnica. When I explain more, come back to this sentence and see if you can understand it better).

Unfortunately, the more I tried to make sense of it all, the more questions I had. The more frustrated I became, the more I strayed away from homeopathy. I got the "itching for this scratch" again because I realized that I'm offering people these products and I STILL don't know why! I don't even know what half of the ingredients in these things are.

I love Inspector Gadget. He was bungling and sometimes an idiot but he certainly had a gadget for everything. Today, I am not bungling and certainly not an idiot, but I have this gadget that helped me immensly with finding a solution: Twitter.

So I got on twitter and asked about homeopathy. Out of all the responses, I got two that really caught my attention. One response was in support of Homeopathy and the other was totally against it.

Here's some things that I learned from the supporter, Debby Bruck:

• Homeopathy is not "like treating like" (as I previously thought and was told). It's "similar treating like." So that means that if you have muscle spasms, homeopathy will look for a substance that will give a similar reaction in an otherwise normal person and give it to you. The theory is that the similar thing will help your body to increase its immune support to heal you. "Like treating Like" is actually called Isopathy.
  
• Homeopathy is a truly holistic approach. The homeopath will look at your physical, mental, and spiritual "fitness" (or lack thereof) before "prescribing" any holistic remedy.
  
• Unlike herbs and other supplements derived from herbs, homeopathic remedies are regulated by the FDA.

Right before I was going to ask her a barrage of questions (she motivated me to have an interest again), I got a reply from another Twitterer that homeopathy was garbage. I read his article and found it to be very informative. This twitterer is a Pharmacist from Canada named Scott Gavora. Being a former Pre-Pharmacy major in college and working in a hospital pharmacy in my teens, I was very interested in what he had to say. He basically made the correlation between homeopathic remedies and allopathic pharmaceutical drugs.

Before I provide you with links galore, let me give you my synopsis on both views:

• I was never a fan of pills. Once I started working at the Apothecary, I began to understand the nature of pills and began to appreciate them. Even more than my disdain for pills was my hatred for pharmaceutical drugs. Not the drugs themselves (since they actually do help people) but the side effects and the marketing for these drugs are too much for people to bear. The US is a country filled with "followers." You tell them this is "brand new" and will "cure you in 2 days" and Americans are all over it - even if they don't need the drugs. The worst part about it is that during these commercials, they will run down the side effects so quick, all you may hear is "fatal." However, most Americans don't care about the side effects because its "new" and "fast." With that said, I appreciate the pharmacist's honest and accuracy in talking about pharmaceutical drugs but I'm not buying it. I'd rather get placebo and pray to God that my faith will carry me through.
• I'm still a little fearful of homeopathy. So if I had the runs, I would take something that would give a similar reaction to the runs in an otherwise healthy human? Why can't I just drink water and eat apples? Get some more fiber in me or drink some herbal tea that will work that out? I'm a huge fan of the simple stuff.
  
• Even though I'm fearful to try homeopathy, I am still very intrigued with it and will continue to look into it. It's best for me to keep an open mind and still be mindful that allopathic medicine DOES have its place and is needed by thousands (or even millions) of people.
  
• Both views have allowed me to appreciate this quote from Sri Gurudev, Sri Swami Satchidananda - Truth is One, Paths are Many as well as the concept of "bio-individuality" from Joshua Rosenthal. What works for one person, may not work for another. One man's pleasure is another man's poison. You just have to be aware of which is which (for you).

For all of those people who are interested in homeopathy, I have one piece of advice:
If you are going to take the pills, do not drink coffee, peppermint tea, or eat chocolate 20 - 30 minutes before taking the remedy. These things constrict the blood vessels, making it more difficult for the pills (which are actually sublinguals, meaning they melt under the tongue - no need to chew or swallow anything) to be assimilated into the body.

Now it's time for you to Do Right For Yourself! and make your own decisions. Here are some articles and blogs for you to look at. Comment on what you think on this blog or send me an email or a tweet. I like the phrase "help me to help you."


Homeopathy FAQ
Homeopathy as a "pseudoscience"
More Homeopathy Q&A (I'm providing this link because they do talk about the "like treating like" concept)

I have a lot of things in my head that I want to talk about. I hope you like my Random Thought. Trust, more posts will come out very soon.

Until next time, stay strong, stay healthy, and fight dis-ease!

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Essential 4 Series: Teasers

I'm actually putting this up for me and not you. This is to remind me to get these posts done. I'm hoping that you can help me by keeping in my butt and reminding me of these teasers so that I can get on the ball.

Essential 4 Series: Breathing Methods - Tai Chi


When people ask me how I started on this path to health, I reply by saying, "Yoga saved my life" and then I talk about how I finally connected with Yoga. While Yoga did save my life, it's not the first thing that got me on the path to wellness. I learned how to properly breathe way before I met up with Yoga.


The year was 1995...it was early in the year. It wasn't quite Spring yet but Winter was definitely over. To put it plainly, I was a serious pothead then....


Essential 4 Series: Water


Recently, I noticed that I was getting some BO (Body Odor) at the same time everyday. At first, I chalked it up to "that time of the month," however this still occurred way after my period was over. The BO would come towards the end of the day and without warning. The only thing I changed was the fact that I stopped eating chicken since November 2008.


I put my thinking cap on and thought about it for a long time. I realized that since I stopped eating chicken, I started eating more and more fish - salmon to be exact. Whenever I would eat a lot of salmon, the BO would arise. I started doing research...I understood that an excess intake of dietary protein leads to body odor. WoW!


I didn't decrease my protein intake. I chose to eat different kinds of protein - tuna, sardines, lentils - I needed to diversify. This worked for a week and then the BO came back, right on time, around 4pm.


Now it seems like I fixed my issue. By decreasing protein? Nope. LOL By drinking more water...


These aren't going to be the actual posts. I'm going to put these through my editor and she'll probably make it sound (and read) a whole lot better. I'm definitely going to draft the Tai Chi post tonight and send it off to my editor. The Water Series will come right after the Tai Chi post so be on the lookout for it. I plan to jam pack it with tons of information that may astound and amaze you! :D

I'm also going to send my editor my Domestic Violence post soon too. I think that is too important to hold back any longer.

Sometimes life gets in the way of getting things done. Sometimes you are the barrier between getting things done and living your life. I have been on both sides of this fence. No more excuses. Time to do it. Win Now? Why Wait!

Stay strong, stay healthy, and fight dis-ease!

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Random Thoughts XII: What is Holistic Health?

Recently, someone asked me "what is holistic health?" and "is it right for everyone?" Of course, I gave her a general answer but I feel it's important for me to give an official and specific answer.

Let's look up the word "holistic" in the dictionary:

holistic

Main Entry:

ho·lis·tic

Pronunciation:

\hō-ˈlis-tik\

Function:

adjective

Date:

1926

1 : of or relating to holism
2 : relating to or concerned with wholes or with complete systems rather than with the analysis of, treatment of, or dissection into parts <holistic medicine attempts to treat both the mind and the body> <holistic ecology views humans and the environment as a single system>

— ho·lis·ti·cal·ly \-ti-k(ə-)lē\ adverb

So "holistic health" would look at the complete system of the body rather than the analysis of the dissection of its parts. To holistically heal someone (or yourself), you will have to look at you ailment from the mental, physical and spiritual "systems" instead of just from one aspect (usually the physical).

Yoga is an example of a holistic way of healing. Yoga incorporates mental, physical, and spiritual health so that you can become a better human being by Self-Realization. Asana deals with the physical, meditation deals with the mental, and pranayama deals with the breath. When the breath is extended or controlled, the mind and the body are one. The mind is calm and the body is nourished with oxygen. This opens the door for spiritual healing.

You don't have to do Yoga to have holistic health. Holistic health only maintains that you treat the complete systems - the mind, body, and soul - to achieve and maintain health. It doesn't make sense that your dietary habits are on point but you're stressed out and feel like you have no true purpose in the world. Stress is the underlying reason for 85% of all dis-eases we are faced with today.

There are numerous ways to heal the physical body and various ways to treat and eliminate mental dis-stress. People choose a number of faiths to connect with their soul and the Divine spirit within. The unfortunate thing is that most people don't do these things at the same time. They may start to workout but because of that, it takes away time to go to church or spend time with family. They may eat right but neglect their mind by continuing to deal with negative energies and decisions that bring them down, mentally and spiritually.

Holistic health is a good choice for everyone. Wellness is being well. Completely and fully.

My job, as a health counselor and owner of this blog,  is to help you figure out which processes of healing is right for you. The end result is that you are bathing in the fountain of wellness.

It's time to enjoy being Whole.

Before I go, I'm going to mix up Matt Stokes' Health Tips a little bit. I'm going to add #5 to the Health Sidebar and #4 to this one. When you read it, I think you'll understand why :

#4

Primary Food

Food comes in two different forms.

-  Secondary Food is what we traditionally think of as food.

-  Primary Food is a combination of all of the other things that keep us going (healthy relationships, physical activity, desired career, spirituality, etc, etc,).

It is important to pay attention to both of these food groups. They are irrevocably linked.

If we are not balanced in one of them, we won’t be balanced in the other one. 

Next time you attempt to incorporate better eating habits, make sure you don’t forget to pay attention to the primary foods you are lacking as well.

 Courtesy of

Until next time...stay strong, stay healthy, and fight dis-ease!

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