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Yo Yo Healthy Living: Part 3 (My Adventures in Hypnotherapy)

Head Health Nutter — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 17:52:59 +0000

When was the last time you experienced a cosmic joke? Did it involve a health issue? This week I have an amusing story to share with you about my first session of hypnotherapy, my challenges and revelations, and how it all affected this week’s session!

As I wrote in Being a 21st Century Magician, I recently manifested hypnotherapy into my life as a means to help me off this frustrating healthy living yo yo I’ve been on (read part 1 & part 2). My first session was last week on Thursday, with Dr. Bronwen Gates at Positive Changes.

(By the way, this Etobicoke location is the only Positive Changes center that has a medical doctor. Dr. Gates is a licensed anesthesiologist as well as a registered hypnotherapist. This means our healthcare system covers some of the expense!)

If I had only one word to describe my experience with Positive Changes so far, it would be: acceptance. In my free consultation with Terry Hodgkinson, I choked up on tears when he said, and I’m paraphrasing,

“At Positive Changes, we don’t see people as broken. We believe they simply have out-dated programming, much like a computer, that needs upgrading to function more effectively.”

My 1st Hypnotherapy Session

Bronwen (she prefers to be called by her first name) and I had a great first session. We talked for about 30 minutes and then we recorded a personalized hypnosis session. Sunglasses with blinking lights on the inside and a faint humming sound in a headset are used to lower brainwaves to the alpha level to initiate the hypnotic state.

To help relax the body, there’s a comfy lazy-boy chair and low, soothing music and nature sounds in the audio background. Bronwen named the CD session, “New Possibilities” and it focused on the suggestion to open up to a new way of being. That there are unlimited options available to choose from when I crave a cigarette.

My homework was to listen to the recording 1-3 times daily for the next week until our next session, and record anything that happened over the week. Well, here’s where the cosmic joke comes in!

My most recent cosmic joke

The morning before my first hypnotherapy session, I woke up with a sore throat and some congestion. The day of my session, I was fine. I began with my homework immediately that night and religiously listened to my recording 2-3 times per day. I was still smoking but it was more out of habit rather than from a craving.

I felt as if my body was winning the battle with the virus but Sunday night came and I woke up with pain in my ear. And it was plugged. Have you ever gotten water stuck in your ear? That’s what it’s like! And it’s annoying as hell. My head’s felt like it’s been in a rubber tire since then.

Turns out to be an ear (and eye) infection – my cold moved into my ears and eyes! It’s never happened before… So my deafness, effectively rendering me incapable of continuing my homework, was as if my body was saying, “No, no! I don’t want to hear it!” in response to the changes happening in my subconscious.

Interesting, yes? Actually, when I told my good friend this story, she immediately sent me Louise Hay’s interpretation of the ultimate cause (emotional) of an ear infection:

Anger, not wanting to hear, too much turmoil, parents arguing. The affirmation: ”Harmony surrounds me. I listen with love to the pleasant and the good. I am a centre for love.”

My 2nd hypnotherapy session

When I arrived to my session yesterday, Bronwen gave me a short assessment survey. Then we sat down and talked. I shared my story, we laughed at the irony, and we just chit chatted about it all. One interesting thing that came up was the process of learning.

Bronwen used the analysis of learning to drive:

At first (this stage is called, “unconscious incompetence”), you get behind the wheel and you really have no clue what to do. Then you learn how to drive in theory, this stage is called, “conscious incompetence.” When you’re implementing all your knowledge to actually drive, you increase your level of awareness and consciously perform the activity (“conscious competence”). The final stage is when it becomes an ingrained behaviour within your subconscious so that it no longer requires conscious effort on your part.

She said the transition between these stages often overlap and can be rocky at times for some people. She reminded me that we’re all on a journey and that this is a process, my individual process, and that our experience is what’s right for us. See, another example of acceptance!

One of the questions Bronwen asked was what I thought I needed to move forward. I suggested maybe a plan of action with a quit date, and thought that being reminded of what I’m working towards (my vision = health, vitality and youthfulness) would all be helpful.

My 2nd personalized recorded hypnosis session included all this, including Louise Hay’s affirmation, and more! It’s titled, “Limitless” and I love how Bronwen suggested that my subconscious decide the best course of action, whether it’s in a plan or I suddenly choose to stop smoking. Limitless is the theme and it’s also my vision for how I’ll feel once I stop smoking.

A BIG thank you to Bronwen for a wonderful experience, for her support and a kick ass 2nd hypnosis session! I’m happy to report that I’m healing from the ear infection (with antibiotics – boo, but necessary) and back to listening to my recording 2-3 times per day. Now it’s catch up time with work and have a fun weekend.

I’d love to hear your cosmic joke stories! If you have one that you’re comfortable sharing, please leave a comment or email me stephanie [at] livelighter [dot] ca.

Yo Yo Healthy Living: Part 2

Head Health Nutter — Sun, 22 May 2011 14:20:03 +0000

It’s been almost a month now since I wrote about my current struggles and plans to overcome them in Yo Yo Healthy Living. It’s time for an update and although I have some disappointments to share, I also have some super exciting news on my next adventures!

First, let’s start off with some good news. This weekend is a long weekend for Canadians, Victoria Day is tomorrow (I hope everyone’s enjoying it everywhere!) and I’m happy to report that I’ve had a lovely balance of responsibility and fun. Which is what healthy living is all about, isn’t it?

Lovin’ Right Now

For starters, Honey and I took care of the first step in fixing a current housing situation (borderline crisis!) and had fun doing it together, enjoyed the beautiful weather with some gardening (mmm… sustainable, healthy and cheap eating), decluttering (with a good chance we’ll get back to renos tomorrow!), physical activity AND tons of good times (yes, partying and fireworks) with family and friends! Whoo Hoo!

Setbacks on the Plan

As for the plans to get back on the healthy living wagon that I outlined in Part 1 and in cleaning up my finances mentioned in Healthy Finances are a Part of Healthy Living, well, it’s been a bit rocky. I’m still slacking on the exercise and eating, plus I overspent (just a bit) and failed to budget for the costs of fixing our housing situation. Boo.

Positive Changes (Literally!)

Despite these minor setbacks, there are some amazing positive changes already undergo and coming up! There are two main changes that I’m certain will help me take back my control of my life:

I’ve applied for a part-time job (with two employers, so far) that will help increase my income – probably the most prominent factor contributing to my current financial reality. (By the way, if you have ANY money management issues and still haven’t checked out Til Debt Do Us Part, please do! It continues to inspire me to take responsibility for my financial health and because I’m watching it with my Honey, it’s even helping strengthen our relationship.)
Remember this week’s guest post on The Benefits of Hypnotherapy? I had a free consultation with Positive Changes, a well-known behaviour modification center using hypnosis, and was so impressed that I signed on for nine sessions. (Thank you, Mom, for this wonderful birthday present!)

Since I’ve fallen off the healthy living wagon, I’ve been trying to tackle the problem the same way I did last time when I succeeded. However, it hasn’t been working and my efforts have moved into the realm of insanity, according to Einstein’s definition. So it’s time to change tactics and approach.

There’s a lot to look forward to for me with these particular choices. Not only will the part-time hospitality job help improve my finances, it’ll also provide me the social and physical activity I crave. Plus, I can afford then to take a step back from my freelance writing biz to evaluate if it’s working for me.

As for the hypnotherapy, I suspect that as long as I do my homework, it’ll create sustainable changes in my behaviour. I’ll I be getting experienced support in creating those changes and the hypnosis will be targeting stubborn, out-dated subconscious programming no longer serving me.

I’m stoked for both of these adventures, though I’ll admit there’s some fear because of the upcoming changes. Each will change my life in different ways but no worries, I know this is what I have to do to start creating a more agreeable reality, so I’m sucking it up and being a woman!

Stay tuned for another update (about a month) in Part 3 of Yo Yo Healthy Living. If you’re curious about hypnotherapy and the Positive Changes center, I’ll be writing a series of articles about my personal experiences!

Yo Yo Healthy Living

Head Health Nutter — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 21:46:44 +0000

You’ve heard of yo yo dieting but have you heard of yo yo healthy living? It’s when you’re struggling to adopt healthy living practices and I’ve been living it for awhile now. Perhaps you can relate so today I’d like to share with you what I’ve been going through and what I’m doing about it.

In December, I wrote Confessions of a Fallen Health Nut and had an awesome health plan for the new year. I was doing o.k. and following it fairly closely until I got super busy in March (when I had planned to stop smoking). Great news for my business but not so hot on the health front.

From my experience in getting healthy, consistency (i.e. forming habits) is key (read my health her-story here). But damn, it can be hard to accomplish when life gets hectic, even when you know what to do!

Why is it so hard? According to Paige Waehner in this About.com article, it comes down to the energy needed to change and way too many choices every single day. I hear that. It seems when I don’t exercise in the morning, I rarely get it in before the end of the day.

But I believe the main reason it’s difficult to change is because of stubborn subconscious beliefs. To help squash these persistent roadblocks, I’ve begun a series of daily (morning and night) affirmations to try to reprogram some of my self-limiting beliefs. I’ve also been dabbling in using Emotional Freedom Technique.

Another biggie (from my experience) is having a clear vision of what you want to accomplish and why it’s important to you. So I started meditating 10-15 minutes daily (almost) about 3 weeks ago and started reading Soul Purpose: A Practical Guide For Creating A Life You Love by Janet Amare. I figure that if my freelance writing biz is truly my life purpose, then I would have enjoyed the busyness more.

I refuse to give up! I’ve reread 15 Practical & Easy Health Tips, I’m going to continue to aim for activity every day, including strength training 2-3 times a week to increase my metabolism (which I’ve been doing successfully for 6 weeks now), and will make more of an effort to save the junk food for only my cheat days. I’m aiming to get back down to my healthy weight (20 lbs lighter) and also, of course, stop smoking.

Whew! This post was challenging for me to write. Why? Well, ever since I slipped off the health wagon, I feel my integrity is shot. It doesn’t feel right to be blogging and offering health advice when I’m struggling myself. But my friends have been encouraging me to be more personal on the blog and share these struggles because they believe it’ll help you, too.

Does it help you to hear about my personal struggles? Shall I continue to write regular posts like this to keep you updated on my progress? If I don’t get any comments, I’ll assume you like the typical way I blog (i.e. more informational)!

Update: Thank you for the encouragement, Heather! If you’re interested, read Part 2 and Part 3 of the Yo Yo Healthy Living series.

Shed Weight with this ‘Golden’ Grain

Head Health Nutter — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 15:25:38 +0000

Today is officially the 1st day of spring! What better way to wrap up the Holistic Spring Cleaning Series than with a guest post about a super clean, nutritious grain that helps you lose weight? Bindu Grandhi, flexitarian cookbook author, blogs about quinoa and shares with us an easy, tasty recipe.

Grains are my-go-to staple food – they’re mild in flavor, inexpensive, and keep well. My pantry is stocked with brown basmati rice, whole-wheat pasta, couscous and my most favorite grain – quinoa (pronounced keen-wah).

While quinoa is considered a grain, it is actually the seed of a plant that is related to beets, chard and spinach. Honestly, I don’t care how it’s classified because if you’ve never tried it, you don’t know what you’re missing!

This ancient grain native to South America was considered “the gold of Incas” because they recognized this superfood’s value in increasing the stamina of its warriors. In fact, quinoa is quite the nutritional powerhouse:

High in protein, it is one of the few non-meat foods that provide all eight of the essential amino acids that our bodies need to repair themselves.
High in fiber, low in gluten and a great source of healthy carbohydrates.
Great source of lysine which plays a critical role in tissue growth and repair.
Loaded with vitamins and minerals (such as iron, magnesium and potassium); its magnesium, copper and phosphorous content means that quinoa is especially good for those that have migraine headaches, atherosclerosis and diabetes; its potassium content can help beat bloat.

Best of all, one cup of cooked quinoa has just 220 calories and keeps you satiated! So if you’re trying to eat healthy or shed a few pounds or fueling up for exercise, make quinoa a part of your meal plan.

Look for quinoa in your local supermarket or in natural foods stores. Some of the price clubs also carry quinoa; I got a 4 lb. container for $10! Make sure you store quinoa in an airtight container. It will keep for a longer period of time, approximately three to six months, if stored in the refrigerator.

Prepare quinoa by placing it in a fine-meshed strainer and rinse under cold water. Cook according to the package directions. By the way before I cook, I shallow-fry the quinoa in a skillet over medium-low heat for 2-3 minutes – stirring constantly until the raw smell disappears.

It takes only about 15 minutes to cook, making it a great time saver for busy cooks. When cooked, it has an airy rice-like and slightly crunchy texture, and a somewhat nutty flavor. Quinoa is so versatile, the perfect accompaniment for vegetables, beans, or tofu.

If you have recipes that call for couscous or rice, just substitute quinoa instead. When I’m short on time, it makes for a great one-pot meal and I jazz it up with spices!

Here’s one of my favorite recipes:

Sautéed Vegetables and Quinoa

This nutrient-rich packed dish loads up on veggies, mixed with quinoa and just a hint of garam masala. Simply yummy – great for brunch, lunch, dinner or snack!

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 25-30 minutes
Makes 4 servings

1 cup quinoa, dry roasted
1 ½ tsp. extra light olive oil
1 red onion, peeled and sliced
1 garlic clove, peeled and sliced
1 bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and chopped
3 baby portabella mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
1 jalapeno (optional), stemmed and diced
¼ tsp. garam masala
2 cups of water
Salt to taste

Garnish: ¼ cup fresh cilantro or parsley, chopped

In a medium saucepan, heat oil and sauté onion, garlic, bell pepper, mushrooms and jalapeno for 6 minutes. Add the garam masala and sauté for another 2 minutes. Add 2 cups water, cover and bring to boil. Add quinoa. Cover and return to boil. Reduce heat to low and cook for 15 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat, fluff with a fork and salt to taste. Garnish with cilantro.

*Variation of this dish: Try other vegetables like eggplant or zucchini. Or add baby shrimp in place of the mushrooms.

About the Author

Author of Spice Up Your Life, Bindu Grandhi is passionate about healthy and flavourful cooking, especially when it’s flexitarian. She shares her health knowledge with the world by providing practical, healthy and tasty recipes as The Flex Cook.

Quinoa rocks my world! Here’s another quinoa recipe from the Live Lighter archives for you to try. How much do you love quinoa?

‘Spring Clean’ Your Home with Neo Feng Shui

Head Health Nutter — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 14:46:45 +0000

If you plan on spring cleaning your home (find tips in our last post How to Declutter Your Life), you’ll have the perfect opportunity to make your space work for you. Guest blogger and Neo Feng Shui specialist from Denmark, Mette Keating, is here to tell us about Neo Feng Shui®!

“Are you practicing Neo Feng Shui?” my sister asked me. “Am I doing WHAT?” I asked. My sister came by for a visit and had noticed the MAJOR clean up – purging, rearranging furniture, repainting, etc… I was in the middle of a serious spring cleaning.

Before Neo Feng Shui

I was at the end of my maternity leave and had spend a lot of time caring for my baby but also thinking about what was important in my life, how I wanted to live it and felt it was time for a change. For some reason that had naturally led me to work more consciously with my physical space and take action!

My sister provided me with a book on Neo Feng Shui which was the beginning of a completely new and wonderful chapter of my life.

You don’t have to get to that point of no return before creating a physical space that supports you in your life rather than not, just like you don’t to wait for a health issue before you start looking after your eating and exercise habits.

After Neo Feng Shui

What is Neo Feng Shui®?

Neo Feng Shui is a brand new way of working with Feng Shui. It was created for modern people and is based on common sense and individuality. Neo Feng Shui offers simple guidelines that do not involve any particular beliefs or rules. Neo Feng Shui brings you a perspective of how your surroundings affect your lifestyle and how you easily can make changes that will greatly improve your life.

Neo Feng Shui is about becom®ing aware of all the things that make us struggle in our daily lives. It is a simple guide to learning how your surroundings affect you and the way you live. It provides you with greater understanding of how you are affected by your environment. It is also a powerful tool for personal growth and understanding.

Before Neo Feng Shui 2

Neo Feng Shui teaches you to ‘read’ your surroundings and also learn more about yourself, so that the unconscious becomes conscious. When the knowledge is applied, you will be able to take important steps in your life.

Neo Feng Shui®

Sagar Bohnstad and Bodil Sukul developed Neo Feng Shui in Denmark in 2000 after intensive studies of the classic feng shui. They wanted to address a loss of potential in the ancient wisdom.

Neo Feng Shui excludes the superstition, Chinese beliefs and religious additions placed on Feng Shui over thousands of years and returns to the basic interpretations of physical space, flow, colour psychology, lighting and material. It is influencing people both personally and professionally all over the world.

After Neo Feng Shui

Tips on Neo Feng Shui to get you started:

Stand outside your home as if it was the first time to you are about to enter it. How are you ‘greeted’? Do you have to pass by the garbage bin? Is it easy to come up to the front door? What does the space inside your door look like? Do you have to step over boots, bags, etc. to get in? Is it crowded and disorganized?
Start cleaning up and make your entrance way nice and welcoming to you and anyone else entering your space. Take an observant tour of you home. Enter each space in your home as it was the first time and observe the effect it has on you. This way you find out which areas in your home need attention first.
Imagine that you emptied your home of everything. Then only take the things you really love and want to have back into your home. Not the things you have because of guilt or that you store for others. Give away or sell what you don’t want.
Pay attention to every room and space in your home. If you have storage areas, closets, allies, basements, et. make sure they are organized and that it is easy to find what you need. Remember all clutter effects your subconscious.
Apply things like fresh flowers, plants, pictures or items that make you feel good and happy inside, places where you can easily see them.
When you are lying in bed, what is on the wall you are looking at? It is the last thing you see before going to sleep and the first thing you see when waking up and should be something that inspires you and makes you feel good?

More information and free video tips or e-courses in English about using Neo Feng Shui in your home can be found on the Sagar Bohnstadt website.

About the Author

Mette Keating helps companies bring joy into the workplace with Neo Feng Shui® design. Find more on her website, InDeVision. If you are interested in applying Neo Feng Shui to your work environment in North America, please contact Mette Keating at Mette@indevision.com

How to Declutter Your Life

Head Health Nutter — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 17:15:58 +0000

With temperatures rising, we have less than a week left of winter (yay!) and to help you prepare you for the season of rebirth, we’ve been posting a Holistic Spring Cleaning Series. In today’s post we put it all together by sharing tips and links for decluttering the major areas of your life.

Spring cleaning aficionados all know decluttering is an essential part of the exercise – it makes it so much easier to clean when you haven’t piles of junk (a.k.a. things you don’t need) to move around! This same premise holds true for more than just your environment; it also applies to your body, mind, emotions, soul and even your finances.

In terms of cleaning up your finances, getting rid of expenses you don’t need is tantamount to opening up your budget for things you DO really need or want. Since today is a video post, here are a few money-saving tips from Howcast:

Note: Howcast gives some great tips that not only save money but are good for the environment and your health. However, I’d like to suggest that in tip #10 “doctor” means a natural health professional (like a Naturopathic Doc) regarding your questions on cleansing, nutrition and supplementation.

Decluttering your finances (continued)

In 2008, I wrote 7 Ways a Recession Can Be a Blessing and believe there’s gold here for those who are resisting any significant change in their spending ways. Also just as helpful is The Bright Side of Climate Change I shared in 2009.

For those of you who want more tips in how to declutter your expenses and clean up your finances, check out the sensible personal finance blog, Get Rich Slowly. J.D. Roth shares stories about debt elimination, saving money and practical investing.

Decluttering your space

ZenHabits.net is the ultimate resource for simplifying life (check out Leo’s archives), including 18 Five-Minute Decluttering Tips to Start Conquering Your Mess. There’s also some good tips in this eHow article, How to declutter your home and organize your life fast!

Here are 5 decluttering tips that have helped me clear and organize my spaces:

Take it one at a time. Make the project manageable by focusing on one room or closet at a time, or even one drawer at a time. Much of it will depend on your time and energy available but the point is to overcome any feelings of overwhelm and just get started.
Make a mess first. Ironic as it is, this is the secret to my decluttering triumphs! By throwing everything in the middle of the room to be sorted, not only are you making space so you can put things back neatly once the outlying area is cleaned, but you’ve just committed to the task. Most people can overlook clutter when they can walk around unimpeded but it’s hard to miss if you’re tripping over it.
Create piles. You’ll want at least 2 bags: garbage and recycling; and at least 2 boxes: special recycling and donation store (or garage sale if you’re up to it). For the special recycling box, this is for toxic items like old bath & body products, batteries, light bulbs, etc. For more on special waste, check out How to Properly Sort Waste for Disposal.
Clean the peripheral area and start sorting the pile in the middle of the room. Find places for the things you’ll be keeping for sure and that belong in that room. If something belongs in another room, take it there and return to the room at hand.
Clear out the junk. The idea is eliminate the unnecessary so you must determine what that is. For me, if it’s something I don’t use on a regular basis, I ask: 1) Have I used this in a year? 2) Does it have sentimental value?

Decluttering your mind, emotions & spirit

One of the core lessons I learned in Embrace, Release, Heal is that a spiritual perspective leads to positive thoughts which lead to positive emotions. They are intertwined so when you declutter the negative in any of these areas, you’re actually cleansing the others, too. Check out my book review for more on this book.

Another even more practical guidebook for cleansing these intangible aspects of our lives is Sandra Ingerman’s How to Thrive in Changing Times. Readers learn and practice fun ways to release negative thoughts and emotions, and replace them with more positive, life-enhancing ones. Find out more in my book review.

There are many energy healing techniques available out there today that will help you change your subconscious self-limiting beliefs to affect behaviour. We’ve blogged about a few of them here on Live Lighter: What is EFT? and several posts on PSYCK-K in The Ultimate Self-Improvement Tool, The Most Intriguing Aspects of PSYCK-K and Using the Mind to Heal the Body.

These techniques involve a facilitator until you learn it by yourself but if you wish to start cleansing these energetic aspects of your being by yourself, I suggest starting with Debbie Ford’s 21-Day Consciousness Cleanse.

Decluttering your body

There are many ways to cleanse your body but they all start with eliminating as many toxins from your diet and life as possible. For an overview, read How to Detox. If you’re just starting out, read An Easy Gentle Cleanse for a First-Timer and Five Steps to Losing 25 lbs in 3 Months as well as 15 Tips to Make Cleansing Easier.

Another safe but challenging way to declutter your body is doing an elimination diet to determine any food sensitivities. Whichever cleansing method you choose, make sure to check out this post on Supplements & Herbs to Support Cleansing.

For those who cleanse on a regular basis and wish to get a little more hardcore, try a Safe, Enlightening 3 Day Fast. Before you undertake a fast, though, please read Is Fasting Healthy? and When is Fasting Not a Good Idea to determine if it’s the best approach for you.

When cleansing your body, I suggest working with a licensed health professional, like a Naturopathic Doctor, since drastic changes in diet may exasperate underlying health conditions. Also, everyone is different and a doc who’s knowledgeable can recommend products and techniques that are right for you, determine your health on the onset and monitor your progression.

I hope you liked this post and found it helpful. For the final post in this Holistic Spring Cleaning Series, we’ll be publishing a guest post about reducing and managing stress – another important factor to spring cleaning your entire being.

Update

I just received a surprise in my inbox that I can’t wait to share with you! We’ll publish the post on stress next week.

Holistic Spring Cleaning Series

Embrace, Release, Heal Book Review

Head Health Nutter — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 21:12:20 +0000

After a short break to announce the winners of our latest contest, we continue Live Lighter’s Holistic Spring Cleaning Series with a review on a book about healing. We covered some practical tips and info for cleansing our bodies with food, now let’s look at cleansing our minds, hearts and spirits.

Leigh Fortson was “doing everything right” when she was diagnosed with cancer in 2006. For decades she learned about and practiced healthy lifestyle habits but even so, by 2008, Leigh was given her third cancer diagnosis. She set out to discover the missing elements of conventional medicine – and found them.

Embrace, Release, Heal illustrates the value and significance of holistic healing and cleansing. It highlights the effectiveness of recognizing humans as multidimensional beings and treating (at it’s basic, this means cleansing) all of our human aspects: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.

Who will benefit from Embrace, Release, Heal?

As the sub-title suggests, An Empowering Guide to Talking About, Thinking About, and Treating Cancer, this book was written for those whose life has been impacted by cancer. As you’ll find out later in the review, it successfully fulfills this promise through real-life stories, information, practical tools and a litany of resources.

It’s these very aspects which make it just as relevant and powerful to anyone who holds an interest in health and healing. Specifically for people who wish to deal with the real roots of illness to provide potent healing – not just band-aid solutions.

Also just as fascinating are the revelations of modern medicine insufficiencies and a money-hungry, ineffective, multi-billion dollar cancer industry. Thankfully Leigh’s research also indicates positive change is already happening!

About Embrace, Release, Heal

From the book description:

…her doctor offered few treatment options and little hope. Unwilling to believe there was nothing left to do, Fortson set out to learn all she could about how diet impacts cancer, treatment alternatives, and the power of the mind-body relationship. Now cancer free, Fortson shares with us Embrace, Release, Heal, the fruits of her research and spiritual awakening distilled into one empowering book. With insights gleaned from a dozen experts, remarkable stories from people who have lived through cancer, and practical tools, this guide will help anyone whose life has been impacted by a cancer diagnosis. Covering the physical, emotional, and spiritual layers of the journey, this in-depth resource explores:

The pioneering science on how our mind and emotions can contribute to both the cause and healing of a disease, as understood by Dr. Larry Dossey, Dr. Bruce H. Lipton, and more

Snapshots of what Fortson considers the most progressive traditional, holistic, or integrative cancer treatment techniques

How nutrition and supplements can yield surprising results

Way to access the healing power of your subconscious mind and effectively use your intuition

Whether you’re trying to uncover what it means to have cancer or how to make sense of it, here is an uplifting and informative book to help you reclaim your authority and make empowered choices that are right for your health and well-being.

Any interesting questions raised in the book or debates discussed?

As I alluded to above, this book is chock full of them!

For instance, Leigh reveals the impact that negative thought and emotion have on physical health. Many people resist this idea because it requires taking personal responsibility in creating the illness – triggering negative emotions about oneself. Leigh supplies empowering proof that embracing this belief is actually instrumental in the healing process.

Besides some very interesting and controversial opinions (like there is no such thing as `cancer’), the author also includes research from ground-breaking discoveries (which mainstream medicine ignores) that suggest alternative medicine can be more effective and less harmful than conventional medicine.

Though, I love how the author and her sources never really bash contemporary medicine, and give kudos where it’s due.

Embrace, Release, Heal also contains some disturbing information about the current healthcare system and the powerful, dysfunctional cancer industry. It’s convoluted and far-reaching, beginning with how med students are taught in school to the power of the FDA, insurance and pharmaceutical companies.

Here’s a snippet from just one interview, this one is with Dr. Birdsall of the Cancer Treatment Centers of America:

Most of the large facilities that deal with cancer are academic medical centers. They focus on educating students, and they engage in medical research, but patient care often comes last. Even in the community setting, virtually all hospitals are referral driven. So for example, the doctor admits the patient into the hospital, so the doctor is really the hospital’s client, not the patient. Then the insurance companies pay the bills, so they’re also the client rather than the patient. In fact, the patient frequently isn’t even in the dialogue.”

How topical or important is the book?

Considering the World Health Organization predicts cancer rates could increase by 50% to 15 million by 2020, I’d say this book is very timely. For the millions of people who are and will experience cancer, complete with all its terrifying and horrific facets, this guide book will certainly dispense various levels of relief.

Personally, I also believe it’s an essential resource for everyone `fighting the war on cancer.’ Why? Because of it’s approach. Embrace, Release, Heal focuses on working with the illness to accomplish real, thorough healing rather than disregarding the lessons and growth opportunities that cancer provides.

It’s also topical because more people are recognizing the short-comings of mainstream medicine, the corruptness of the cancer industry and are seeking answers in alternative healing solutions. More people are taking responsibility for their health and discovering their own innate healing abilities.

Any new ideas presented in the book?

As you may have guessed from the review already, yes in spades! For myself, I was well aware of the placebo effect (where a patient heals through the positive suggestion by the doctor) but I had no idea about the nocebo effect which is the exact opposite. There are many cases where the negative opinion of doctors actually contribute to death!

Ok, that might not be new to everyone but what about the idea that cancer is actually a fungus?

In summary, Embrace, Release, Heal is a marvelous, enlightening and inspiring book for all those interested in natural, holistic healing. Although it’s packed with relevant and intriguing information, it’s got an empowering message and many real-life happy endings.

Purchasing info

Embrace, Release, Heal is due to come out May 1, 2011, and will be sold for $16.95 US. (Fill out this form to be notified when it’s available for purchase.)

Disclaimer

The publishers, Sounds True, sent me an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Why Organic Food is Healthy

Head Health Nutter — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 02:26:31 +0000

If you’ve been reading Live Lighter regularly, you know we’re posting a series on spring cleaning. On Sunday we shared 119 cleansing recipes to help you spring clean your body. Today guest blogger, Melissa Cameron, helps you choose the cleanest ingredients available to use in your cleansing dishes.

Everything has a downside, and modern food production is no exception. While at one time it was all the rage to be able to get whatever we wanted in a nice and neat package at the grocery, we’ve recently discovered there’s a sacrifice we make for such convenience: nutrition.

Another factor that has increasingly gained more consideration is the environment. As we look toward the future and contemplate whether or not we will be able to keep up our modern food production practices at our current pace, we find that we are sorely lacking.

While conservation seems like a loftier goal to most, the more immediate problem is your own health. The meat we eat is full of preservatives, hormones and antibiotics. Our produce has also been exposed to preservatives, along with pesticides and other chemicals. If you switch to organic food, on the other hand, you can forego all of it.

Organic Food & Fitness

While the term “fitness” may make you think about the trim, muscular people you see on infomercials, there really is a lot more to it. Sure, it’s great to be trim and muscular, but your body has to be in a more natural state internally to be truly fit.

When you consume organic food over long periods of time, you detoxify and return your body to a more natural state by attrition. In other words, you flush all the junk out of your system by not repeatedly replenishing it via consumption. Those attractive people on TV may not be as fit as they appear; they could be dehydrated and malnourished because they haven’t taken the proper steps to be truly fit.

What organic means in terms of our food:

Organic produce is that which has not been sprayed by with synthetic pesticides and preservatives.
Organic livestock is that which has had a federally regulated amount of time in a pasture and has not been injected with preservatives, hormones, etc.

Tip for the Novice: The Farmers’ Market

Assuming this is your first foray into organic living, you are going to have to become intimately familiar with the farmers’ market. It’s the place to find fresh, organic food because the transit time from the farm to the market is much lower than the farm to a grocery store. This ensures that fewer nutrients are leached from the produce.

Plus, the farmer is right there for you to talk to, so ask questions if you like. There’s nothing like this layer of involvement with your food; it promotes a real sense of community.

Farmers’ markets can usually be found along a major roadway, so they’re pretty easy to come upon – even if you’re not looking. They’re also typically held on the same day of the week, so if you’ve seen one at a parking lot on a certain day, you can return the same day next week and it will be there.

If you are looking for something more obscure than typical organic produce (or if you need organic meat), you should visit a health food store or a typical supermarket. Either way, you will find plenty to keep your Cuisinart slow cooker busy.

About the Author

Melissa Cameron is a 33-year-old mother of two who enjoys spending time with family, scrap booking and writing. Her dream is to one-day work for herself online as a freelance writer. Melissa is an avid Internet surfer enjoys digging up deals and is known by her friends and family as a walking infomercial. Check out her website to read a review on a Cuisinart food processor and much more.

Do you eat organic food for the same reasons Melissa gives in this post?

119 Cleansing Recipes

Head Health Nutter — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 00:36:15 +0000

On Thursday we announced Live Lighter’s Holistic Spring Cleaning Series and since today is normally a recipe post, I figured what better way to start off the series than with a compilation post sharing ALL the “cleansing” recipes we’ve shared on Live Lighter!

There are many detoxing and cleansing approaches out there, from simply eliminating something from your life (like cigarettes, alcohol, sugar, etc.) to more hardcore methods like a commercial colon cleanse, fasting for 3 days or changing to a vegan diet for a short period of time. (For tips: read Cleansing Made Easy.)

Whatever your approach, cleansing highlights restrictions and makes it challenging to prepare food that’s not only made from ingredients you’re allowed but tastes good, too. So for your pleasure, here’s a veritable smorgasbord of cleansing recipes that will certainly have something you can safely enjoy:

119 Cleansing Recipes

Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack and dessert ideas for those cleansing or detoxing (depending on your program, of course).

Froozie Recipes (smoothies without dairy)

Some of the following recipes use milk alternatives, such as rice, almond or soy beverage.

Smoothie Recipes (with dairy)

These recipes do not use cow’s milk but they do include yogurt.

Juice Recipes

Personally, I don’t have a juicer but I’ve tried all of these in my blender.

Blended Green Meals

The recipes below without nuts can also be juiced, but you take out the fiber.

Detox Drink Recipes

The following drinks will assist you on your cleanse/detox for various reasons, for example, the liver flush helps draw out toxins and aloe helps heal the colon.

Allergy-Free Recipes (mains, sides, sauces, salads, snacks & desserts)

There are tests to determine food sensitivities (food allergies have more severe symptoms and easier to identify), including what is referred to as the “elimination diet”. This is basically a cleansing diet that “allows” foods that are generally easy-to-digest and “avoids” foods that are known to act as allergens for some people.

There are different elimination diets out there (my elimination diet restrictions). The following recipes are based on my particular diet so you’ll have to double check to see if the ingredients are on your own “allow” list. Please feel free to substitute ingredients were you must:

Have you tried any of these recipes? Which ones were your favs? Do you have any cleansing recipes to share with us?

Holistic Spring Cleaning Series

Head Health Nutter — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 01:50:04 +0000

In celebration for the long-awaited first day of spring, March 20th (just two weeks away), we’ll be publishing a series designed to help you clear out `stuff’ that no longer serves you to make room for the new! These tips include suggestions for cleaning your body, mind, spirit (emotions) and environment.

Are you prepared to spring clean? I’m not either but we have some time to get ready! If you haven’t already read it, please check out The Ultimate Total Health Spring Cleaning List. This is a little taste of what you can expect to see in our Holistic Spring Cleaning Series.

And to help you through any stress (physical, mental or emotional) that spring cleaning may cause, I’d like to refer you to 21 Ways to Access Heaven. This list continues to help me through challenging times.

Live Lighter’s Holistic Spring Cleaning Series

What can you expect to read in the series? Although I’m still working out the details, here’s some teasers:

Compilation post of cleansing recipes and a guest post about organic foods to help you clean your body.
A book review on “Embrace, Release and Heal” – an inspirational book about cancer and the healing effects of emotional cleansing.
How to spring clean and declutter your life, including tips for cleaning out your space and mind.
Another guest post with stress-releasing and stress-prevention suggestions.

That’ll bring us up to St. Patty’s Day where we kick back, relax and celebrate a bit for after gathering all this information. After that, it’ll be up to you what and how you want to tackle your spring cleaning. For instance, if you’re Catholic, you might decide to cleanse by giving something up for Lent.

Since many of us will be decluttering our environments, I’ve requested a guest post from Neo Feng Shui Designer, Mette Keating, from a Danish Design Company. Learn how to arrange your furniture to increase the flow of Chi with an intro to Neo Feng Shui article as a follow up to the series!