Omega-3′s, ADD, OCD and more
This morning, I just received this article about the correlation between low fatty acid levels in the body and nervous system disorders such as ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder), bi-polar disorder and schizophrenia. The suggestion is made that by receiving adequate levels of the essential fatty acids, that brain functioning can be improved and symptoms of the above naturally decreased! While Mike Adams (above) offers information about the healthiest sources of essential fatty acids you can also find excellent information at Dr. Mercola’s site.
This particular article on Dr. Mercola’s site emphasizes fish oil’s effects in decreasing depression, as well. Dr. Mercola recommends Krill Oil and you can find numerous articles that explain his position on this.
This being said, I want to emphasize that bringing your body back into a healthy balance seems to clear the path, so to speak, so that the emotional healing around past experiences, traumas and the effects of them in patterned behavior, thoughts, beliefs, physiological and psychological reactions, can occur much more rapidly and effectively.
When our bodies are out of balance, our ability to heal from the difficulties in our lives is greatly diminished. How much might this contribute to people not getting better? How much may it have contributed to your experiences of staying stuck in old, and unsatisfying patterns?
Have a healthier, happier day!
Holly
Lifting Brain Fog
The beginning of a New Year is bringing a new blog! A New Year’s GIFT to you!
LIFTING BRAIN FOG
I’m so eager to get my new blog on up and active, but my technical skills are slowing me down, so for now, I’m posting my first post here!
About 4 1/2 weeks ago, now, my wizard chiropractor/healer, more holistic than any other provider I know, (Dr. Ragon in Green, Ohio, if you are local) said he would help me to make dyslexia a thing of the past in me! He had commented to me that he used to have dyslexia and the “used to be” were some of the sweetest words I’d heard in a long while! AP (Applied Kinesiology) showed an allergic reaction to wheat and gluten, and so began a lifestyle change of some proportion!
The differences have been very encouraging and progressive. I’ve noticed my skin isn’t so dry, my digestion is better, I’m wanting to eat less (since now I’m actually absorbing more of the nutrients in my food), and since my body isn’t wrapping the gluten in water, I’ve lost some weight, as well.
What is perhaps more exciting to me is the difference in my brain functioning. My memory is greatly improved, as is my organizing abilities, I’m still doing the dyslexic switching (I’ll explain more about this in a later post), but I’m more aware of it, am actually catching it a bit more before it happens. Although, today, I wanted to recycle a paper cup with some water in it. The water went into the trash, since the cup was going into the recycle bin!!! Wrong receptacle! It was the sink, not the trash, silly brain!
But you know, I am developing more compassion for this brain that has had to work harder all my life because of the gluten intolerance. And I am SO looking forward to the fruits of a brain that glides, rather than one that always was running into the dry, gravelly patches and stumbling. Ohhhhh….what adventures await!
Some initial research has uncovered numerous contributors to what many refer to as brain fog. I have been quite familiar with energetic contributors to this, but not as much, the allergens, like gluten. And the psychologist in me has recognized that a fair amount of anxiety in general, and social anxiety, in particular may have stemmed from allergies, so that anxiety can be a symptom of allergic reactions. Treat the allergies and the anxiety mitigates and perhaps could even disappear!
I will be writing about this from 2 perspectives: one as an individual with my own unique experiences to share and as a holistic and energy psychologist, bringing a psychologically unique perspective on what the psychological and medical professions often lump into convenient diagnoses, like depression and anxiety. They then use these diagnoses to prescribe medications that DO NOT heal the causes of the symptoms and that far too often cause both short and long term side effects that can be dangerous to your health. In fact, that’s why the DSM (Diagnostical and Statistical Manual) was written.
May this blog bring you relief, freedom and joy!
15 Tips for Healthier Eating Over the Holidays
Did you know Americans gain an average of 5 pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year’s!?
I’m guessing you don’t want that to be you! Here are 15 great tips for enjoying and savoring the food you eat without the weight gain. Fifteen GREAT tips, that’s more than you’ll find anywhere. It’s an impressive list—really!
1) Choose smaller portions of the more calorie dense foods and not just at the main meals, but do this throughout the holiday season. You don’t have to make them much smaller to begin to reduce calories! If you want to have more on your plate fill up on vegetables—provided they aren’t in casseroles or swimming in cheese and sauces.
2) Walk after you eat. This helps you to digest your food better. Eating a huge meal (or any sized meal) and then lounging on the couch is a sure-fire way to add inches.
3) Have small, nutrient rich snacks before attending those big holiday meals. You’ll be less hungry and it will be much easier to take smaller portions and pass on the second rounds!
4) Another great filler trick is to drink a full glass of water before eating. This fills your stomach and makes it easier to stick with the smaller portions.
5) Eat mind fully: Begin your meals with thoughts or a prayer of gratitude for the sustenance you are about to enjoy and while eating, bring more attention to the act of chewing, to the taste of each bite, and every flavor in each bite. Breathe and relax in between bites.
6) Take smaller bites and chew more slowly.
7) Resist the temptation to snack and graze. While holiday meals often “give” you a whopping 4,000 calories, probably the biggest reason for all that weight gain is the constant presence of candies, cookies & other confections everywhere! Limit yourself here and you will be happily rewarded!
8) Always try to eat sugared foods AFTER you have eaten protein and complex carbohydrates. Both of these will help neutralize the sugar, to save your spleen all the work associated with the insulin rushes from sugar on empty stomachs (this also is an anti-aging technique!).
9) Notice when you may be eating to comfort yourself. Many people feel some anxiety being around others over the holidays, for a number of reasons. If you find yourself eating to ease social discomfort, or emotional stress, go out and get some Rescue Remedy (Bach Flower Essences). A few drops of this under your tongue will have you feeling calmer in a matter of minutes, and make it much easier to diss the dish!
10) And a quick EFT tapping session with yourself to release your stress and anxiety will work wonders for you.
11) Only eat while sitting down. This is a tip from Ayurveda and it does help you to eat more slowly, be more responsible for what you are eating, and more easily pass on more of the goodies tempting you.
12) Oftentimes, those who have candida, especially those who don’t realize they have it, feel physically worse after the holidays in a host of different ways from loss of energy, to drop in mood, to increased digestion issues. Another reason to limit the simple carbs and sugar!
13) For those who are on gluten-free diets, you are probably already very aware of steps to take to avoid gluten, so for you, it’s a matter of being extra vigilant in avoiding all the many, many foods that will be around you full of gluten (tapping will help with your ability to resist).
14) In your own home, don’t keep the holiday cookies and confections out in site as you walk through your rooms. Put the treats away. Cover them up when company is not there. Put them somewhere where you have to take extra steps, and go out of your way to get to them.
15) While this is not a suggestion many of you can implement unless you already have healthy cookware, but it is SO IMPORTANT FOR YOUR HEALTH AND YOUR FAMILY’S to NOT USE Teflon (non-stick) cookware. Teflon is so toxic! Check here for more information on this.
Sending you the warmest of wishes for a fabulous holiday season for you and your family!
Holly
Suggestions for a Happy, Healthy, Holistic Holiday!
Suggestions for a happy, healthy holistic holiday (stress reduced and environmentally friendly version)!
The season’s in full swing! How are you?
As wondrous as these times can be, they can also be full of stress and anxiety. So here are some great suggestions to decrease the stress you experience so the beauty, the grace, and the joy of the season can be yours more fully and powerfully!
The single, best way to reduce your holiday stress and create more meaningful and fulfilling celebrations is to decide that having more joy is more important than doing it all.
Letting go of “shoulds”, of pressure, of expectations will bring so much more light into your holiday season that you will be amazed!
Doing what brings you joy and taking care of yourself in body, mind, spirit and thought is transforming. Right now life may seem like a whirlwind scrambling just to try to fit it all in, get it all done on time, and answering to the Marley-like ghost telling you what you SHOULD be doing this holiday season. Yet, even now, you can choose other options.
Here are some suggestions to create a deeper, more spiritual, fun, and connected celebration (even if you are someone for whom the holidays tends to not be joyous times).
1) Take 30 minutes of your time to listen to Have a Happy, Healthy Holiday! This is my gift to you, my holiday podcast on Today’s Tapping (you must be a member to listen; signing up for a free membership is easy).
2) OR: Set aside a quiet time and space for some reflection. Play some peaceful, seasonal music, light a candle (not petroleum-based and without leaded wick, preferably), and drink some relaxing tea (fairly traded). Ask yourself what one change could you see yourself making that would help create more of what you most desire? Imagine how it would make you, your family and friends feel to incorporate this change, how might it change the atmosphere or the energy of your celebration? Now, before you get caught up in thinking “oh no! just one more thing!”, let’s look at what you can do to minimize the increased stress that folks often experience during this season.
3) Get ideas for a greener and healthier holiday season from Joyously Green: A Resource Guide to Green Holiday Living and Giving!
4) Let go of one activity that brings you more stress than joy.
5) Take more walks, even if they are short ones, do stretches, take baths with Epsom or sea salts, or a cup of vinegar if your muscles are sore.
6) Keep some Rescue Remedy (available in the organic section of many grocery stores and at every health foods store). It reduces your tension level in minutes.
7) Find a simpler or more creative way to accomplish holiday tasks, to create the holiday spirit–group cookie baking, pot-lucking it for the meals, plan your shopping before you leave the house, do your shopping on-line.
8) Notice where you feel stress in your body (probably in your chest, shoulders, and neck), and take deep belly breaths, breathing out the tension and “piling it up” in front of you*. When done, remove this pile or see it being blown away or dissolved or transformed into something beautiful and light.
9) Remember to bring love and gratitude to all your activities, whether baking, gift-making or buying, wrapping, decorating, attending services, creating ceremony, etc. This honors traditions, so we are not just doing what’s been done because that’s the way to do it, or unconsciously being controlled by consumerism and the focus on the purchase of things. It also increases the spirit of the season within us, and we radiate more love and joy to others.
10) Schedule in time for yourself: get a massage or Reiki treatment, a facial or pedicure; create quiet time alone, call friends you’ve been meaning to call.
11) Eat better! If you find yourself caught up in carb and sugar cravings, try to have substitutes on hand. Once you give into eating more of the sweets, it’s harder to stop—don’t we all know that! Carbs and sugar will lower your energy, generate grumpiness, impatience, and general bad behavior—in adults as well as children!
12) Don’t skip meals! Even if you are in the bad habit of doing so and feel like you are getting by, with the increase in carbs and sugars, your mood, energy and behavior can plummet!
13) Buy less!
14) Spend less money on what you buy!
15) Ask for help! Let go of feeling that you have to do it all by yourself (because someone else might get upset or be disappointed with you, or you think you are not being good enough or doing enough—whatever self-sabotaging beliefs you allow yourself to hold).
16) Nurture the magic of all the moments that together create the holiday memories.
17) Choose to release your stress in healthy ways to minimize the tendency to take your stress out on your loved ones (walk outside, meditate, pray, exercise, do yoga, etc).
18) Allow yourself to laugh and play, to feel the joy of child-like freedom and spontaneity.
19) Recognize the signs of burnout (snappy mood, fuzzy thinking, forgetfulness, irritability, impatience, anger, especially inappropriate and excessive anger, illness, upset stomach, sleeping and eating problems, clumsiness, body tension and pain, difficulty making decisions, feeling anxious and unhappy, drained and exhausted).
20) Remember that stress increases addictive behaviors (drinking, craving sugar, fat and carbohydrates, taking drugs, shopping, etc.) and know that these behaviors numb all feeling and make you feel worse in even the short run. So commit to choosing healthier coping strategies for yourself, like the ones suggested here.
*If this time of year brings on the blues and you find it almost impossible to get yourself “in the spirit,” then, go on to my site Today’s Tapping.com. Learn about tapping there, or get yourself to a counselor, therapist, life coach, or spiritual advisor. You will be gladder than you can know that you did!
Monday Night at Unity Center of the Heights
Two Great Workshops ~ One Great Evening
Monday, November 9, 7 – 9 PM, $25
Unity Center of the Heights 216.321.7566
2653 S. Taylor Road, Cleveland Heights OH 44118
Chad Cameron & Ike Allen say you are the
Hero of your own “Ultimate Journey!”
Each of us is cast into this amazing Human Game, no matter how unsuccessfully we choose to play it. For many of us, we’ve created countless situations and storylines to hide our true power and limit our experiences while playing. Our daily life has dwindled, become less than real, and only small proportions seem enjoyable to us…
You’re not here by accident or to suffer. You’re here to be the main character and Hero within an infinite Matrix that YOU actually created. Your Matrix is designed for you to have limitless human experiences and ultimately, uncover your own meaning, totality and True Identity.
Welcome to your
“Ultimate Journey Blueprint”
Here is just a sample of what you will learn in The Ultimate Journey Blueprint presentation…
- How to recognize your “Ultimate Journey Blueprint” and live a life filled with miracles
- A proven method to stop living from the “victim” mentality
- Ways to transform your fears into fuel for change
- How to move beyond ego as your primary identity
- How to return to the infinite sea of possibility with the “Quantum Possibility Factor”
- New perspectives on money, mentors and the power of your unconscious
- How to shift your complaints into positive life-changing experiences
- The role appreciation and gratitude play in your “Ultimate Journey”
- How to continuously take the Leap! with the “True Inspiration Process”
- Dismantling your thoughts that there is “something wrong”
- Becoming crystal clear about every choice you make in your life
- How to reawaken to your True Self and balance the material and spiritual worlds
- How to experience True Fun, Love, Joy & Power by living in the “Unknown Zone”
- Solving ALL relationship problems by discovering their true purpose
Now, you can reach your full measure of fun, love, joy and peace.
As filmmakers and seminar leaders, we’ve had the unique opportunity to speak and collaborate with numerous modern day visionaries. While making the movies “Leap!” and “A Journey In Miracles,” we interviewed over 75 people. We’ve also, researched countless other philosophers & philosophies. In addition, we’ve experimented with a multitude of tools, practices and techniques from past and present traditions.
We’ve spent years experimenting with our discoveries and now, assembled a model that offers a modern day approach to playing your “Ultimate Journey.” This formula leads you into “Direct Experiences” of your true nature. We don’t teach you THE TRUTH, we actually guide you to uncover YOUR TRUTH.
How to Live an Enlightened Life in the 21st Century
with Chuck Hillig
Are you really happy? If you’re not, then what’s missing in your life? What are you getting that you don’t want, and what do you want that you’re not getting? Do you have the courage to shift the context of how you look at your life? Are you ready to learn how to live with integrity and authenticity in the 21st century? Is it possible to stop the struggles that are triggered by obsessive thoughts of “me-mine-more,” and, instead, just to “be” who you already are…pure consciousness? Come and find out.
CHUCK HILLIG: Before he retired in 2006, Chuck worked as a state-licensed psychotherapist in California for 30 years. Using his studies in both eastern philosophy and western psychology, Chuck’s “Enlightenment Quartet” presents a world view about living a truly enlightened and authentic life in the 21st Century by waking up to who we really are. Chuck has appeared on many TV and radio shows and has participated in seminars and workshops around the country from Florida to California. His books include Enlightenment for Beginners, Looking for God, Seeds for the Soul, and The Way IT Is. So far, his writings have been published English, French, German, Dutch, Hungarian, Russian and Italian. www.chuckhillig.com
Harvest for Hunger Benefit Concert
Benefit Concert for “Harvest for Hunger” this Monday evening, November 9th, 7:00 – 9:30 pm. Funny Stop Comedy Club, 1757 State Road, Cuyahoga Falls, Oh.
Beautiful people are putting on this Benefit Concert in honor of Scott Fetterolf a local legend who LIVED TO GIVE through his Folkatorium. If you don’t know of him, he had music every night at the Folkatorium, feeding people for $5 for a meal or for free if they didn’t have the money!
It’s only a $5 cover and you’ll feel so great spreading the love!
Call 330-923-4700 for reservations.
Musical Guests:
The Moonflowers
Charlie Weiner
Zach
Blonde Boy Grunt
The Groans
Comedians:
John Rathbone
Mark Knope
Dan Swartout
Live to Give
Live to Give: The Real Secret to Manifesting Life’s Rewards
Dr. Joe Vitale and Dr. Rick Barrett have a new FREE eBook out called Live to Give. You can get a copy yourself at www.livetogive.com.
“Live to Give reveals that an open heart and a willingness to serve can not only change you, but also the planet. The authors-Dr. Rick Barrett and Dr. Joe Vitale share moving stories and offer practical ideas on making a difference right where you stand. As you learn to give more, you’ll learn to live more.”
Giving and sharing of ourselves quickens the transformations we are longing to make within ourselves.
New Offices!
We have just completed a HAPPIFYING move!
I am SO PLEASED to announce that I moved the offices again; this time just one block away to a building and office space that is much nicer than what we had before. It’s grounding, peaceful, quiet…already feels filled with much more healing energy than the last place.
So, wish us well there, please!
New address:
10 West Streetsboro Street, Suite 302
Hudson, Ohio 44236
330.653.5081
I am keeping the name Nakaia for now, although Nakaia now is just me. There are a few therapists who are renting space from me. They’ll be offering Reiki, Hypnotherapy and other therapies by independent practitioners.
Folic Acid
Dr. Charles Gant said that from a natural perspective, a good first line of approach with depressive symptoms is taking folic acid. It is easily available, inexpensive, and helps a great number of those experiencing depression, since our modern diet is not sufficiently rich in folic acid, and many people are deficient in this vital nutrient.
You can find a vast amount of information on line about folic acid and depression, so please, please, do your research if you want more information! This research will also talk about how much to take. Since, I am not a qualified nutritionist, I leave it up to you to research this on your own.
Many suggest taking folic acid with Vitamin B12, since a deficiency here can mask a folate deficiency.
Foods that are rich in folate include: brussel sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, spinach (make sure it’s organic!) asparagus, bananas, peaches, oranges, orange juice, liver (the best you can afford).
Foods rich in Vitamin B12 are: liver, beef, chicken, pork, fish, whole eggs, milk, cheese, yoghurt. For vegans, it is suggested that they take a supplement of B12, since what is available in plants is not nearly sufficient for the body’s needs. More: http://www.vegsoc.org/info/b12.html
Behavioral effects of Folic acid deficiency: forgetfulness, insomnia, apathy, irritability, depression, psychosis, delirium, and dementia.
More Information: http://www.antidepressantsfacts.com/whatdrug.htm
Behavioral effects of B12 deficiency can include: memory loss, irritability, depression, disorientation, apathy, paranoia and more sever symptoms.
See also: http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/b12/manifestations.html.
And: http://www.b12patch.com/about-b12deficiency.html
In a government study, “Both low folate and low vitamin B12 status have been found in studies of depressive patients, and an association between depression and low levels of the two vitamins is found in studies of the general population. Low plasma or serum folate has also been found in patients with recurrent mood disorders treated by lithium. A link between depression and low folate has similarly been found in patients with alcoholism. “
More Information: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15671130
Psychiatrists are researching the link between folic acid deficiency and depression , though not that the final comment in their abstract suggests that folic acid depression may be a specific kind of depression, hence paving the way for folic acid needing to be prescribed by a medical professional!
More: http://psy.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/21/11/926
Playing For Change
As many of you know one of my greatest passions is for healing and bringing together in peace, our global family. I invite you to go to my site to watch a few of the videos I have placed there from Playing for Change. Listen to this incredibly inspiring music from musicians from around the world and then click to the site to find out more about them.
You may remember a video going around over a year ago in which musicians from around the world, electronically “joined together” to play “Stand by Me.” This video went viral quickly. And the energy of the idea virally developed into a movement now known as Playing for Change. They are playing together around the world and money raised from their performances is being used to build music schools in economically challenged areas!
This fall, these world musicians are touring the United States and will be playing in Cleveland on October 30th.
I encourage everyone to be a part of this heart opening, spirit-lifting phenomenon!
http://www.todaystapping.com/inspiration/music/playing-for-change/
Wishing you all peace, peace, peace…a deeper, more present peace than you have known before!
Holly
