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Journey to Wellness
April
2011
THE GOOD NEWS, NATURALLY HEALTHY NEWSLETTER
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Hello
to everyone from Davis, California, U.S.A.
Welcome to this issue of Journey to Wellness.
Where I live we are still looking for the first signs of spring, but surely the
winter-like weather will soon be a thing of the past and spring will indeed be
here. When I found this banner photo of bluebells in the woods it made me
homesick for spring. YAH!!
Each month I have this unique opportunity to share my MS story. Years ago I chose to be "enabled" by my uninvited guest (which is what I called my MS) rather than "disabled," and I believe that each one of us has the opportunity to make that same choice. My task is to help you believe that also. I believe my body is designed to be self-healing, and that my challenge is to learn how to "listen" to my body and to help it turn on that innate self-healing process.
Whether you are new to Journey to Wellness, or you have been with me for years, I warmly welcome you to the world-wide network of Journey to Wellness readers. This month's issue is about celebrating the awesome you! Wherever you live on this planet, thanks to the Internet and the rapid rise in "social networking," it seems that we are all becoming more aware of how truly alike and connected we are. This month it is my hope to convince every reader of how truly awesome you are. I hope at least one thing included in this issue "speaks" to you and challenges you to move ahead in your own journey to wellness. Enjoy.
IN
THIS ISSUE:
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Bon Appétit
- Healthy Food Tips and Recipes |
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Celebrating the Awesome, Unlimited, Perfect You!
Do you think of yourself as awesome? I hope you do, because there is no better word to describe you - who your really are - than awesome.
It is sometimes easy to see ourselves as a mother or father, a wife or husband, a sister or brother, a ______________ (fill in the blank of whatever job you may have), or a person who has a particular physical challenge, like MS. But you are so much more than any of these descriptive definitions.
First of all, you are perfect, just as you are. You were created perfect. But sometimes we confuse who we are with whatever challenge our body may be experiencing. I see my physical body as the house I (the REAL me) happen to be residing in at this point in time. When I keep those two aspects of myself separate, I have laid the foundation for self-healing.
I hope this issue of Journey to Wellness will help you to see a new image of who you are (perfect), and your capabilities (unlimited).
Make the Rest of Your Life, be the Best of Your Life
I believe in you.
I know you have the inner strength and knowing to live a healthy, productive life.
I know you can have what you want in your life.
I know you can feel GREAT every day.
I know you can replace limiting beliefs with an "I WILL" attitude.
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If you are not on my newsletter mailing list, or you are changing e-mail addresses, please fill in this request to join the list and you will always receive a brief e-mail when a new newsletter is available at the website. Please also know that my mailing list is never used by anyone else for any other purpose:
Do you enjoy reading this free on-line newsletter? Do you appreciate the fact that there are no sponsoring commercial ads cluttering the pages of the newsletter and website? Then please consider making a contribution to help sustain them. I have always wanted Betty's house to be commercial free, and that is still my intention. Nevertheless everything connected with the website and newsletter costs money, and over time I learned that I could not do it alone. I cannot say strongly enough how appreciative I am for those of you who help make the newsletter and Betty's House possible. Thank you just doesn't seem adequate to express how grateful I am.
A few months ago when I learned to make a short motivation video for my personal use I showed it to friends and everyone wanted it. Out of that came the idea of offering them as a premium when someone made a donation of $25.00 to this newsletter and the work of Betty's House . . . Life After MS. I then spent many, many hours over several months developing five of them.
I call them
LifeDesign Videos, and since I introduced them the response has
been very
gratifying. Each video is from 3-1/2 to 5 minutes in length and
incorporates affirmations and appropriate images, backed up with motivational
music. The five videos currently available are:
Spirituality
Designing My Abundant Life
Daily Lifestyle - Lady
Daily Lifestyle - Man
→ YOU MAY WATCH A SHORT SAMPLE VIDEO BY CLICKING HERE. ←
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE VIDEOS, CLICK HERE.
You may mail your
contribution to Iams House, 139 Inner Circle, Davis, CA 95618, or use credit card or Pay Pal at my on-line shopping cart here. When making your contribution through the shopping cart, please indicate under "shipping instructions" which video you would like to receive. The on-line shopping cart makes it very easy, You will receive instructions, normally the same day, for downloading directly from my website. If you send a contribution by mail, please be sure to include your e-mail address. Your contributions make the website and this newsletter possible.Contributions needed for Japan relief: I'm a big fan of contribution, especially giving back to whatever gives to you, and that includes the Universe. The tragic earthquake, resulting tsunami, and radiation leakage from the damaged nuclear reactors in Japan, have created a need for charity of monumental proportions.
When I was much younger we used to sing a little song, Love Makes the World Go 'Round. Please join me and let's show our love to our Japanese friends by contributing to the relief work in Japan.
For every contribution to Betty's House this month, I will in turn contribute
the major portion of those proceeds to Japanese relief,
and you will still receive a LifeDesign video of your choice.
Please join me in contributing to this very worthy cause.
Over 100,000 displaced Japanese of all ages desperately need our help!
The Secret to Living . . . is Giving!
THANK YOU FOR SHOPPING AT MY AMAZON STORE: Just click on this Amazon link, then when it opens
bookmark it in your "favorites" and it will be easy to always use it. Each order you place using this Betty's House Amazon link means a few cents is returned to Betty's House to help pay the monthly expenses for the website and mailing list maintenance and publishing. It doesn't amount to very much, but every little bit helps. Thanks so much.
PLEASE NOTE:
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Archives of recent issues of Journey to Wellness are always available here. If you are a new subscriber I suggest you take one archived issue each week and really study the material covered. Over a period of a year Journey to Wellness covers just about every aspect of the healthy natural lifestyle that I recommend.
Bon
Appétit
- Healthy Food Tips and Recipes
This is a very tasty, easy, anybody-can-do-it recipe. I fix four of these, serve the first to myself and save the other three for salads, stir fries, enchiladas, etc.
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 lemon, zested and juiced
2 T fresh thyme, rough chopped (or 1 T dried)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Rinse the breasts and pat dry. Combine the thyme, garlic, lemon zest and juice, olive oil, and salt and pepper on a cookie sheet. Mix into a light paste. Roll each chicken breast in the mixture and leave on the sheet pan. Refrigerate and allow to marinate for twenty minutes.
Place in a preheated oven at 425 degrees F for 10 to 12 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F. Allow to rest for five minutes before serving.
Balsamic-Raspberry Vinaigrette Dressing
At a social event in the complex where I live a caterer provided a very special vinaigrette salad dressing that we all loved, so I sent a note to him and he graciously shared his recipe. You will need to play around with the proportions inasmuch as he makes it for 100 servings.
3 parts walnut oil
1 part top quality aged balsamic vinegar
pinch of salt, pepper, garlic powder
blended raspberries (thawed frozen berries, then whirled in a blender)
The caterer suggested other oils could be substituted, and I'm sure one could toss a few walnuts into the blender with the thawed raspberries to get the same taste. He says he always adjusts the seasonings by taste.
Incidentally the salad served was mixed greens, sweet grape tomatoes, dried cranberries (Craisins), and feta cheese. I thought this salad was the best part of our dinner. I will make it again soon with chicken breast meat for a main dish salad.
FOOD SAVER TIPS (Courtesy of chef Paula Deen)
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To keep your salad greens fresh, soak them in cold water for 10 minutes then, spin the greens in a salad spinner to remove as much water as possible. Wrap them in two layers of paper towels and place in a zip-lock bag. Squeeze out any excess air in the bag before refrigerating. Your greens will stay fresh for weeks! When I tried this I was really surprised at how well it worked. No more throwing out greens that I couldn't use before they spoiled. |
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If we spray our grater with a non-stick spray before grating cheese, the job becomes much easier, as well as the cleanup. The same holds true for measuring cups and or spoons when we measure something like honey, nut butters, etc. - anything that is sticky. Non-stick sprays make lots of kitchen jobs easier. |
Gratitude:
A few days ago the heating
system in my home failed. When I got up on a Sunday morning, in the middle
of a really bad storm, I had no heat
and could not get the thermostat to come on. Being a weekend I had no
success getting anyone to determine the problem and fix it. Using a small
area heater I have, and borrowing another one from a neighbor, I was able to
maintain a temperature in the low 60s in my family room. As I stood,
watching the storm raging outside my windows, my thoughts turned to all the
things I have to be grateful for.
In each of my motivation videos I use an affirmation, "Gratitude is absolutely the way to bring more into your life." I truly believe that is true. I turned on my television and saw the plight of the Japanese people following the terrible earthquake and resulting tsunami and damaged nuclear reactors, and I began to mentally make a list of the things I am grateful for.
Topping my list were intangible things, like all the things I have been privileged to learn along the way in my healing journey. I occasionally wonder how my life would have turned out if MS had not become my uninvited guest over 16 years ago. I wish I had developed the skill and habit of journaling when I was younger. Unfortunately I did not, even though I made several efforts over the years. The closest thing I have to a journal are my personal archives of this newsletter from the very first issue.
What are you grateful for? I highly recommend this very enlightening exercise.
SELF-SABOTAGE
I am often asked why someone is not seeing the results they feel they should be getting. They usually go on to tell me how they eat healthily, exercise, and meditate (at least to some degree), and yet they are not seeing any improvement. After I ask them a few questions I can usually sense immediately where they are challenged.
Belief in yourself and the process are essential to succeeding. Doubts and negative thinking - even listening to negative input from others - will sabotage your success, as will an "I'll try" attitude.
We must accept that we create our reality; that our beliefs are driven by our subconscious programming. Dr. Bruce Lipton's landmark book, The Biology of Belief, outlines from a scientific point of view the how and why our subconscious mind is the root of everything in our lives.
Bio-chemist and intuitive Adam McLeod gives us another scientific perspective of how this works:
"Intentions are a form of goal-based thinking. What happens in your body with the creation of an intention? An intention activates neurons in your brain by sending signals from one neuron to another and alerts your entire being.
On a larger scale, when you think a thought your neurons send signals far beyond your physical body that resonate at your own unique frequency. Your resonance connects you to the universal energy field, which can be described as the collection of all information about everything in the universe and its connection to everything else. This field is present in all places and at all times and simultaneously links all past, present and probable future events. It is a template for information exchange. Our ability to connect with it is one of the things that makes us truly awesome beings."
- Adam McLeod
Published in the Canadian Journal of Reflexology (March 2011)
From every perspective, it seems obvious that our mind is very fertile ground, just waiting for our input.
CHANGING OUR SUBCONSCIOUS PROGRAMMING: I suggest one go into an alpha state through meditation (see these guidelines). Then use the tools of affirmations (words), visualization (images), backed up with emotion. It is a rather simple formula. Reprogramming one's subconscious is a classic example of the simplest things bringing about the most profound results.
Learning to use positive affirmations every day was life changing for me. In From MS to Wellness I wrote about a healing self-talk method, talking to yourself while standing nose to nose with your image in a mirror. My experience using that technique taught me that I truly was/am in control of what I out-picture in my life. I gave an example in that book of the affirmation, "I am a very special lady." I challenge you to do that little exercise, speaking aloud to your image in the mirror, as many times as you must until you truly believe it. You can change any negative belief into a positive using this method. It is one of the most powerful tools for changing any limiting belief that I have learned in my sixteen-year journey.
Here are some general affirmations to counteract fears (excuses) of inadequacy:
"I have the ability to _________________ (fill in the blank)"
"I am limitless"
"I am a creation of Divine mind"
"I have access to unlimited resources"
As you look deep into your own eyes, say your affirmation aloud. Remember that the eyes are the windows to the soul. Continue to look deep into your soul as you repeat your affirmation with as much emotion as you can muster. How many times must you repeat them? As many times as it takes for you to believe - truly believe - the affirmation. I have been known to repeat an affirmation 100 times!
Now create some affirmations of your own.
OPTIMAL VITAMIN D LEVELS:
Recently I have had a number of communications regarding the suggested Vitamin D supplementation recommendation for persons with MS.
I believe it was about 10 years ago when I received a communication from Dr. Ashton Embry, whom I often quote and make reference to, regarding new research concerning the very important role Vitamin D plays in MS. I trusted him explicitly and I immediately began taking the amount he recommended, which I believe was initially about 3,000 i.u./day.
Over the years the optimal levels for those of us who either have been diagnosed or are in a high risk group - I fit into both these categories - have been increased. The current recommended Vitamin D blood test level is:
Based on 25 hydroxy blood test - 125 to 200 nmol/l range
The following quote is from the Direct-MS.org website.
"Given all the evidence which ties vitamin D to MS onset and progression and the recent data on the safety of 10,000 and perhaps as much as 40,000 IU/d, I would strongly recommend persons with MS consider using 6000 IU/d as an adequate supplement. This will ensure their circulating 25D level will always be in the 125 -200 nmol/l range and such a level may well have significant benefit. Furthermore I would recommend that all first degree relatives of persons with MS maintain a 25D level of at least 100 nmol/l and preferably closer to 150 nmol/l."
My results: After years taking 5,000 i.u./day, I tested only 55
When I increased my daily intake to 10,000 i.u./day my level raised to almost exactly 100
It is important to note that unless your physician is an up-to-date neurologist, he/she will probably tell you that you do not need those high blood levels of vitamin D, and in fact they may even warn that taking 10,000 i.u./day could be toxic. Inasmuch as your body would make approximately 60,000 i.u./day if you were exposed to the sun all day, toxicity is certainly not a consideration. Dr. Embry does, however, suggest that one have a Vitamin D blood test done at least every couple of years.
If you wish to read more about Vitamin D and MS, you may go to the Direct-MS.org website.
HISTORY OF BETTY'S HOUSE and JOURNEY TO WELLNESS
Talking with a friend a few days ago, he questioned me about how I happened to start my Betty's House . . . Life After MS website, and why I continue it today, about 14-15 years later. Our discussion caused me to re-think how the website and companion newsletter came about, and why I felt compelled to do them. Recently I had begun to wonder if it really is worth all the time and effort to keep it going, considering the dynamic quality of the Internet and that one must continually stay up to date on the changing Internet community.
In 1997 I had written my first MS book, From MS to Wellness, and since I couldn't get a publisher to publish it, I established a little self-publishing house, legally known as Iams House, and I self published the book. The book had just published when one day I opened my local San Diego Union Tribute and there was a full page ad for a company coming to town in a few days to conduct seminars on how to market products on the Internet. The Internet as we know it today was in its infancy and I wanted to know more about it.
I attended one of those day-long programs and signed up for the program they were promoting, which was at the time called an Internet host, Galaxy Mall. Galaxy hosted the first version of Betty's House, and of course I had to upload data to the site using a slow dial up connection I began to study Internet marketing and almost immediately learned that I needed to learn to develop my own website and break away from Galaxy, and of course I had no idea how to do that.
Right about that same time Cable TV came to San Diego, which of course included cable high speed Internet access. When the cable representative installed my service, as he started to leave he told me that a website went with my service if I wanted to use it. WOW! I was so excited to learn that the cable company would host my website for FREE. That very evening I sat at my kitchen table and sketched out Betty's House. Even though it is much bigger today and contains a great deal more information, it still is basically the same as that initial draft.
I remember sitting in my kitchen, thinking about what I wanted Betty's House to say. My first goal was that visitors to my site would feel like they were sitting having a cup of coffee with me. And I wanted it to provide information that I had needed when I started my journey with my "uninvited guest" and that I could not find anywhere else. Those are still my goals. I want for you to succeed and find what I have found, sometimes it seems perhaps even more than you do.
I told people that I certainly didn't have all the answers - and all these years later I still don't have all the answers - but I invited visitors to my site to come along on my journey while I searched for answers. I talked about coming from an MS family, and that I had a strong interest in the familial predisposition which obviously existed in my family. At that time there was my mother, the first to develop what doctors call MS, and myself. Since that time there have been three more family members diagnosed.
To make a long story short, I struggled to learn Microsoft's FrontPage (the special software that creates and publishes this website), then in a beta test version, and amazingly, tiny step by tiny step, I learned to be a webmaster, simply by lots of trial and lots of error. I hired an Internet marketing consultant and he encouraged me to start a newsletter and mailing list, and thus Journey to Wellness was born. At that time there were no sites like mine, no newsletters anything like mine, and "blogs" hadn't even been dreamed of at that time.
That's how it all began. Which brings us to today. During the ensuing years I found my answers, defeated my own MS, and have been able to help a lot of you find your answers in the process. Interestingly there are lots of blogs and websites about MS today, sharing about their lives living with MS, but I don't know of another one where the person has stopped and then reversed their MS and become symptom free. Which brings me to why I continue both the website and newsletter today.
I hadn't thought about that in a long time until my friend brought it to my attention. I have now considered it for a few days, and have reached the conclusion that you are all like family to me. Many of you have become close friends ─ e-mail buddies. We have shared each other's joys and sorrows, and hopefully we have grown in the process.
The truth is I care a lot about each one of you. I have experienced much of what you are going through with the challenges MS brings, as well as difficulties in your personal lives. And I know that I leaned heavily on my MS family when I lost my son in November 2006. I have shared my life with you, and you have shared your lives with me. I am blessed that you have entrusted me with your confidences.
Love really does make our world go 'round
My goal from the beginning - and still today - is to convince you not only to "try" but to be determined to "succeed" at the inner game of MS. Actually it more accurately should be called the inner game of life, because what I teach doesn't only apply to MS, but to all areas of our lives, as well as any and all physical challenges.
Can anything and everything be healed? I guess the answer to that is yes and no. When it comes our time to leave this planet - no matter at what age that occurs - nothing is going to change that. We certainly learned that with my son Kevin. There are some things in life that we are not supposed to know and understand, and predicting when our lifespan will end is one of those things.
My goal for myself is to be as healthy as possible for whatever time I have left on this planet. I hope that is your goal also.
FILM REVIEW: The Living Matrix - The New Science of Healing
As I write this I have just spent several hours reviewing this fascinating full-length film. It features many well known renowned experts in the fields of biology, genetics, and practically every area of energy medicine. The film calls energy medicine science-based healing. If you are serious about educating yourself about energy medicine (believed by all experts to be the medicine of the future), go to www.thelivingmatrixmovie.com to learn more.
I heard the producer, Becker Massey, interviewed on the Internet and ordered the film, and it certainly did not disappoint. If you want to know the science behind self-healing, and yes it is very much science based, then I very highly recommend this film. I had many ah-ha moments as I recognized my own healing journey while watching The Living Matrix.
FROM HERE AND THERE ON THE INTERNET
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I just watched an incredibly heartwarming video. Check this out - http://www.youtube.com/user/kandwarf It's about a hummingbird that had been attacked and a young man who rescued it, brought it back to health, and the bird choose to become his pet. I thought it was very moving. The background music is equally moving, "Better Together." Enjoy. |
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Be
sure to read the Wheelchair Kamikaze's blog posted dated Friday, March
18, 2011, he called
Bits and Pieces: Back, Once Again.
Marc Stecker is an incredibly
gifted writer, with a wicked sense of humor. If you do not subscribe
to his Kamikaze blog, I encourage you to do so. He certainly gives
another perspective than my "I can overcome anything" attitude, and I
appreciate his courageous battle with MS. |
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Click here for a very important article on the evils of drinking soda from Dr. Mercola's website. I highly recommend everyone read this article. |
FOCUS ON EXERCISE - The Awesome Power
of Qi Gong
Throughout the years of my own healing journey, I have had to learn to avoid boredom by changing my exercise program around from time to time. I have a tendency to begin working with a new Qi Gong routine, then in a short period of time I have it memorized and I no longer look at the video when doing the routine. Such was the case for me with Mark Johnson's Tai Chi/Qi Gong for Seniors.
Mark has a long-time
hobby of building and flying ultra light planes. I recently had a note from
him which included news that a few months ago he had crashed his plane and had
sustained life-threatening injuries. Looking at this photo of the pile of
wreckage it was almost impossible to believe that anyone could have survived the
crash.
Thankfully Mark has made a full recovery, but the exciting news is that he recovered in about one fourth the time doctors expected as he utilized the Qi Gong healing techniques taught in his videos to heal his injuries. I was so intrigued by reading about his recovery that I was moved to get out my own copy of the video and watch it carefully.
As I watched and thoughtfully did the routine along with Mark, I realized that the quality of my rendition of his routine had slipped considerably. I don't think I had actually watched the video for at least two to three years. I was startled to discover that I had not maintained Mark's high level of meditative quality he had built into this routine.
My discovery made me wonder how many of you have this video sitting on your shelf and you, like me, go through the motions without watching and listening to Mark. Or perhaps you have just not continued working with this powerful program. It for sure cannot help us if we do not consistently do the practice.
I sing the praises of Tai chi/Qi Gong for Seniors frequently, and I very often tell people that I walk because of daily practice of Qi Gong. I truly do believe that.
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If you have thought about getting this program but just never got around to ordering it, then I encourage you to order it now. |
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If you ordered Tai Chi/Qi Gong for Seniors in the past but just never got started working with it, then I encourage you to get started today. |
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If you worked with this program for a while and then stopped, for one reason or another, then I encourage you to renew your commitment now. |
I have approximately a dozen different Qi Gong/Tai Chi video programs, but I have never found any other program that is as effective overall as the Tai Chi/Qi Gong for Seniors program by Master Mark Johnson.
Your body is designed to be self-healing, and Qi Gong is THE tool to wake up that innate natural healing ability in your body. The healing power of Qi Gong is awesome, and as Mark has just proven in his own body, it can create amazing and miraculous results.
FROM MY MAILBOX
Hello Betty,
I am intrigued by your "talking to your body" theory. Would you please elaborate on that process. I don't get it! Thanks for all that you do. You have been my guiding light on my own MS journey. I almost forgot. Thanks for the Daily Lifestyle - Man video. It is a great motivator and attitude booster. /s/ Roger G.
Thanks for writing Roger. It is important to know that communication . . . any kind of communication . . . needs to be two way. And communication with our body is no exception. Our body talks to us in many ways. It tells us when something is wrong with it by pain signals, by such things as indigestion, obesity, sneezes, coughs, chills or a fever, dizziness, or perhaps a rash, etc. These are just some of the more common ways our body "talks" to us.
I had never thought about my body communicating with me until I began to practice Qi Gong early on in my own search for how to help my body heal itself. One day, not too long after beginning that practice, I became aware that I could quite literally physically "feel" the chi (my body's energy) moving in my body. I was fascinated, so much so that I began to really study and learn about that internal energy. It took me years before my awareness unfolded to the understanding that I have today, and a recognition of the role that energy plays in self-healing.
But remember that true communication must be two way. Let's explore how we talk to our body. There are many ways. Examples that can be either negative or positive are feeding our body, personal hygiene, managing stress, exercise, getting sufficient rejuvenating sleep, etc. One of the best examples of directly communicating with our body is through meditation, which is an example of two-way internal dialog. Breathing techniques also play a very important role in establishing that dialog.
And we cannot overlook our self-talk. Actually we are always talking to ourselves with our constant, on-going inconsequential mind chatter. The great joy about mind chatter is that we can learn to consciously control its content. That is the major goal of LifeDesign motivational videos, based on affirmations.
Remember, our Internal dialog creates our external reality. May I repeat . . . our internal dialog creates our external reality. Everyone of us has awesome capabilities!
Our Body is Extremely Intelligent!
Everything we need to know is INSIDE of us.
We just have to learn to tap into our inner resources.
I hope this helps Roger. I welcome your feedback.
Hi Betty,
Can't thank you enough for the Healing video. I can see that it is a really powerful healing tool. Please send me the link to download the Creating Abundance video. I need to fatten my bank account! Thanks so much for all you do. /s/ Caroline D.
Thank you Caroline for writing. I love the videos myself, because I know they work . . . if we consistently work with them.
Hi Betty,
I just finished reading the March newsletter, and as usual you seemed to know exactly what I needed. Thank you so much. And special thanks for sharing all the information about CCSVI. /s/ Carol H.
CCSVI UPDATE
Not a lot new to report on CCSVI this month. There was a very important meeting of neurological disorder specialists of various kinds from all over the world in Italy this past week and one of the subjects covered was CCSVI and MS, along with many other diseases. Dr. Zamboni, who brought world-wide attention to CCSVI and MS, chaired this meeting, and we may rest assured that this is just the beginning of increased pressure to determine the role CCSVI plays in the etiology of MS.
Here is a link to a summary of this meeting: http://www2.macleans.ca/2011/03/18/ms-back-in-the-spotlight/
Our Canadian neighbors have probably had to fight harder than anyone in the world to get CCSVI testing and treatment. Check out this story from Canadian TV. It is cause for celebration in Canada:
http://edmonton.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110326/edm_ccsvi_110326/20110326/?hub=EdmontonHome
We have been anxiously awaiting CCSVI news from the Chicago meeting of The Society of Interventional Radiology. Be sure to read this press release. My thanks to Denise Manley for getting this to me just as this newsletter was about to be completed.
Denise shares these comments: Hopefully. . . more people will start seeing an interventional radiologist instead of a neurologist! I'm so thrilled and so proud of my doctors, Dr. Siskin and Dr. Mandato!."
Denise, you certainly are fortunate in having Drs. Siskin and Mandato. They really stuck their necks out and risked their professional reputations to help patients like yourself. You were all risk takers in the beginning, and I salute all of you.
"I'm too tired today." "It's raining." "I don't know enough." "I'm not convinced it will work." "My family won't support me," etc. etc. etc. My old fashioned father when I was growing up used to say that an excuse is "The thin skin of a reason, stuffed with a lie!"
I don't know about that, but we all make excuses. They are the annoying thoughts that keep us stuck; they interfere with our lives and goals; they are the frightened voices residing in the dark side of us that keep us afraid of failure and risk. However we describe them, they suck. Actually it is our excuses - not luck, not our health issues, not our weight, looks or age - that keep us trapped in indecision. It's fear of failure that stands in our way.
Let's relate this specifically to health issues. Sometime we have to reach the conclusion that the pain and fear of being "stuck" in our present state, whatever it may be, is greater than the fear of taking action. How do we defeat those frightened voices? Actually it is pretty simple. Simple but not necessarily easy. We must take action. We must . . .
Feel the fear and do it anyway!
And with each step the way seems more clear, and our footing more sure. Make up your mind that you will only consider one step at a time. If you need to embark on an exercise program, or perhaps meditation, then concentrate on only one activity until it becomes a more-or-less automatic part of your daily ritual before you move on to the next item.
Remember that succeeding is not a matter of luck, it is a matter or deciding on your goals and beginning to do something, anything, to move in that direction.
Keep it simple - one step at a time and one day at a time.
and you will not feel overwhelmed. And please . . .
~ Remember How Awesome You Are ~
Featured Books, DVD
Exercise Programs and VideosPlease, everyone, do not sit around and wait for testing and treatment if warranted for CCSVI. Even if that becomes the standard MS treatment down the road, you need to get moving and improve your quality of life NOW. Even those who have the corrective procedure done still have to work to recover their quality of life.
How do you do that? I suspect that you already know. Start a simple daily meditation ritual, and move your body with healthy exercise.
Oh you say you can't exercise? Excuse me, but that is rubbish. There is no such thing as a person who can't exercise. You can do a very effective exercise program sitting in a wheelchair, or even lying in bed. You just begin with some simple deep breathing and very simple arm movements. EVERYBODY CAN IMPROVE HIS/HER BODY WITH A COMMITMENT TO EXERCISE.
If you don't have them, order Yoga for MS (for strength) and/or Tai Chi/Qi Gong for Seniors (for healing) Gentle Fitness (for overall fitness) and get moving. PLEASE DON'T WAIT! Then pick two or three things from one or two of these programs and get started. Soon you won't believe what a tremendous improvement you will experience. The only thing hindering you is your own lack of enthusiasm and passion. There is no person who cannot improve the quality of his or her life with exercise. Just get moving!
I absolutely know that one of the primary reasons I live a normal, healthy life today is because of these exercise programs. Come on. Get started today!
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THE DETAILS OF THESE VIDEOS AND FEATURED BOOKS HERE
When I concluded the March issue of Journey to Wellness, I suggested that by now spring tulips would be poking their heads through the cold ground, looking for warm sunshine just as we are. I don't think the tulips have appeared in the United States yet, but hope springs eternal, so hopefully we'll be celebrating this harbinger of spring next month.
Make April a great month, wherever on this globe you may be. Go HERE and make a contribution and you'll be donating to the Japanese relief fund. And as a special thank you I'll send you the LifeDesign video of your choice.
That's all for now.
Betty
PLEASE NOTE: I AM NOT A MEDICALLY TRAINED PERSON, AND I DO NOT GIVE MEDICAL ADVICE. BUT I HAVE BEEN A VERY SERIOUS STUDENT OF MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS FOR MANY YEARS, AND I HAVE DEVELOPED A PROGRAM THAT HAS KEPT ME SYMPTOM FREE FOR A LOT OF YEARS NOW SINCE PRIMARY PROGRESSIVE MS FIRST MADE ITS APPEARANCE IN MY LIFE.