Hello to everyone, from Davis, California, U.S.A.  If this is your first issue of Journey to Wellness, I warmly welcome you. 

The purpose of the Betty's House...Life After MS website, and this newsletter, is to help all people with Multiple Sclerosis believe that they need not be a victim of MS, but rather that they can be a victor; that they can be "enabled" by their MS rather than "disabled," and that the choice is up to them.  I believe our body is designed to be self-healing, and that our challenge is learn how to "listen" to our body and to support our body's self-healing process. 

I also believe that I am not my body.  I believe that when we identify with our body, or with our physical challenges like multiple sclerosis, then we have little chance of overcoming its potential disability.  I hope this philosophy resonates with you.  If this concept is new to you, I hope by the time you have finished reading this newsletter you will be motivated to make some changes in your lifestyle - or at least try one or two - and the way you look at your physical challenges, and to begin your own journey to wellness. 

Perhaps you have been reading these newsletters for some time but have just never gotten motivated to begin a wellness program for yourself.  I hope this issue will contain something that will help provide that stimulus for you.

And remember, you have so much to gain, and nothing to lose.  I did it, and so can you!

    IN THIS ISSUE: 

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:  How different would your life be...if you could - would - learn to turn on your body's own innate self-healing ability?  Please just consider the possibility. 

Both May and June issues of this newsletter began with those words.  I am still hearing from many of you, asking for more information or more help.  In this issue I continue to attempt to help you learn to turn on your body's self-healing mechanism.  I have learned that many of you find it difficult to believe that you can tap into your own inner guidance system (IGS). I will attempt to be an effective cheer leader for all of you.  Please let me know how I am doing!

This issue features an in depth look at The Healer Within, a look at a Salt Lake City Yoga studio featuring a program for MS, recent research reports, and how I came to my personal belief system and program.  I hope some of it "speaks" to you.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!  Again, as I do every month, my thanks and big hugs to all of you who help make this on-line newsletter and Betty's House possible by contributing $15.00 per year.  If you find benefit in Journey to Wellness, contributions may be sent to Iams House, 139 Inner Circle, Davis, CA  95618, or by credit card by calling 800-651-3155, or 530-753-5595, or by sending me an e-mail.   YOU make the website and this newsletter possible.   Without your help both would disappear.

Please also remember that when you purchase ANYTHING through Amazon.com on the Internet, if you'll use this Betty's House Amazon.com icon you will be helping in a small way to help pay the cost of this newsletter and the Betty's House website.   IT IS AN EASY, PAINLESS WAY THAT ALL CAN HELP.

Check out the Amazon website using this Amazon.com icon.  You'll be amazed at all the products available there.  They have a lot more than books today, and it really makes for easy, trouble-free shopping.  For all of you who have been shopping using the Betty's House Amazon link, thank you for remembering to do that.   Each order you place using the Betty's House link means a few cents is returned to Betty's House to help pay the monthly fees for the website and publishing fees for this newsletter.  It is not very much, but every little bit helps.

PLEASE NOTE: 

    1)  Archives of the past year's issues of Journey to Wellness are available here.
    2)  If you wish to send an e-mail to me be sure to use one of the following subjects:

            "Order" if you wish to place an order
            "Report Please" if you are requesting the recommended Supplements list
            "From a Newsletter Subscriber" for all other correspondence

Please remember to do that so your e-mail isn't lost in the never-never land of spam!!

  Bon Appétit - Healthy Food Tips and Recipes

When I am bored with eating the same things repeatedly, I usually look for inspiration by pulling out my copy of Four Steps to Overcoming MS.  In the summertime I always want quick and easy meals that get me out of a hot kitchen ASAP, or which avoid kitchen heat altogether.  Here are a couple of examples:  Chicken New Orleans Style (pg. 29), and 5-Star Chicken Salad (pg. 52).  I especially like this chicken salad stuffed in half an avocado.  Enjoy.

And don't forget to enjoy summer's bounty in the form of fresh fruit smoothies on these long hot days of summer. 

CHICKEN NEW ORLEANS STYLE
(If you like Jambalaya flavor, you're sure to love this.)

        4 skinless and boneless chicken breasts
        3 T olive oil - divided
        1 onion, chopped
        1 clove garlic, chopped
        1 green pepper chopped
        14 ounce can diced or crushed tomatoes
        1 T Italian seasoning
        2 c. chicken stock
        1 c. brown basmati rice
        1/4 t. chili powder
        1/2 t. pepper
        1/2 c. ham chopped (optional for flavor)
        1/4 c. black olives chopped

Heat 2 T olive oil in pan; add onion, garlic and green pepper to pan, cook, stirring, until onion is soft. Stir in undrained crushed tomatoes, stock, rice, and seasoning. Bring to boil, simmer, covered for about 30 minutes.

Just before above mixture is done, heat reserved 1 T olive oil, add chicken, ham (I use turkey ham), and olives to pan and sauté until lightly browned.  Add to the rice mixture for last 10 minutes, or until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender.  Serves 4.  If you like a stronger Jambalaya flavor, just increase the chili powder to 1/2 t. and double the Italian seasoning.  

This recipe is a personal favorite of mine.

5-Star Chicken Salad

        1 boneless skinless chicken breast half
        orange marmalade
        mixed salad greens
        fresh or canned grapes or mandarin orange sections
        fresh carrot (optional), cut into julienne strips
        toasted walnuts (original recipe had salted peanuts)
        any sweet vinaigrette salad dressing

Dust chicken breasts with herb seasoned rice flour and sauté in pan sprayed with olive oil.  Remove chicken pieces and heat orange marmalade where chicken breasts were cooked, scraping pan.  Add a little water and stir until mixture bubbles.  Coat top of each chicken breast with mixture and store in refrigerator until just prior to serving time, if not serving immediately. 

Place chicken breasts in oven or microwave just to heat prior to serving. 

Toss mixed salad greens with warm, sweet salad dressing.  I suggest non-fat raspberry vinaigrette, half and half with orange juice.   Place greens on serving plate and place chicken breasts, which have been cut into strips in center of salad greens.  Surround with carrots and grapes or mandarin orange pieces.

Garnish overall with walnuts.  For your family members or guests who eat cheese, sprinkle with Feta cheese.  (Use 1 boneless skinless chicken breast half for each serving.)

NOTE: This salad is featured at a 5-star resort in Lake Tahoe.  It makes a delightful summertime main dish.   Enjoy.

   THE HEALER WITHIN
               QiGong = Chi (energy) Gong (work)

I have heard it said that sometimes when one re-reads something they suddenly have an "ah-ha" experience, getting something from whatever they are reading that they did not fully get in previous readings.  I have been having such an experience in recent weeks.

In response to a question I received from a subscriber to this newsletter I pulled my old, doggie-eared copy of The Healer Within from my library shelf and began looking for the answer to the reader's question. As I looked for the particular passage that I remembered being there, I began to read other sections, and then other sections, and became so lost in studying Dr. Jahnke's insightful and masterfully written book that I could hardly put it down.

I have recommended this book for many years for the simple, easy-to-do QiGong exercises featured, which may be done either standing, seated, or lying down. My big ah-ha realization was that this book is best described as an awesome veritable "bible" of self-healing.  In recent weeks I have spent many, many hours studying The Healer Within.

                                            ~ EVERYBODY needs this book!  ~

As you read The Healer Within, mentally replace "Qi" [chi] with Internal Guidance System (IGS).  Remember that your IGS is synonymous with chi.  Dr. Jahnke talks a lot about feeling the chi, meditation techniques, etc., as well as the very simple movement exercises, together with powerful self-massage techniques.

If you, like me, have had this book sitting on a shelf for a while, get it off the shelf and re-read it. It holds every key you need to self-healing. If you don't have it, then please, please use this link to Amazon.com and order it today. I promise you that you will be very glad you did.

Someone the other day asked me, "How can you be such a Pollyanna about MS when thousands of people who have been diagnosed with MS live with very limiting disability, which in many cases even destroys families?" I promised that person that I'd attempt to respond to his question in this issue of the newsletter.

First I looked up "Pollyanna" in the Miriam-Webster dictionary and it read:

        Pollyanna:  a person characterized by irrepressible optimism
                         and a tendency to find good in everything

I plead guilty! The real question is not how but why. Attempting to write about this question, I have spent a lot of time analyzing the why.  It is my goal to help all of you find that same positive approach not only to managing your multiple sclerosis, but also everything in your life.  I believe that each one of us chooses our attitude and thus our feelings, from which we create our lives.

That isn't to say that I have not had challenges in my life. But I made a choice early on that MS would play a minor role. Many of you have been with me for many years, and you lived with me through my son Kevin's 2-1/2 year struggle with adenocarcinoma lung cancer before we lost him a year and a half ago at age 42. I believe that some things in life we cannot change, nor understand, like Kevin's loss.  And painful as they are for us, we inevitably accept that they must be part of some master plan that we cannot understand. That is how I view our very painful loss of Kevin. There will never be an answer to why in this lifetime.

Basic premises for my belief system:

[1] There is a power greater than ourselves that lives inside each one of us, and we can learn to tap into that force.

[2] The human body is designed to be self-healing. We just need to learn to turn it on, and not sabotage that innate ability.

[3] All healing is self-healing.

[4] The process of assisting our body's self-healing is very simple to learn.

[5] The most powerful creative force in the universe is our belief, from which stems our attitude and intention.

[6] It is important to live in the moment, letting go of yesterday, and not dwelling on tomorrow.

The purpose of this newsletter, as well as my website, Betty's House...Life After MS, is to help you generate that belief, and to give you some simple tools, which you may use daily.

HEALING TOOLS:

As I reflected on the evolution of my personal approach to managing multiple sclerosis, there were several turning points. I remember the day when I had my first "ah-ha" moment regarding Qi Gong and the effect it had on my body. It occurred early on when I was just beginning to realize the various aspects of what I needed to do to help my body. It was a day when I was limping noticeably, and I suddenly realized that after doing my Tai Chi/Qi Gong for Seniors program I could walk the full length of my house without any limp. The improvement initially was temporary, but it opened the door for me to the potential of Qi Gong. That was a big discovery for me.

I was so fascinated by this discovery that I started to read everything I could find about Qi Gong (from ancient Chinese medicine), as well as the power of the breath in healing. I then began to learn more about yoga and the tremendous power of exercise to assist the body in both healing and maintaining health. I learned to listen - really listen - to my body.

Then came what we now call the Best Bet Diet (BBD), as well as a few important supplements, and I added these powerful tools to assist my body's self-healing.

Then I learned the powerful law of attraction, activated by eliminating negative thoughts and words from my vocabulary. It's easy. Just eliminate the words don't, not and no. You'll be amazed at how your thoughts and feelings go from negative to positive. Michael Losier's book, Law of Attraction, is a powerful yet easy read of how the law of attraction works. You might like to check out Michael's www.lawofattractionbook.com website.  Michael maintains that by changing our thoughts and words from negative to positive, we raise our vibration level, which leads us to manifesting whatever we wish in our lives.

With those tools in place, all based on my personal belief system, I just had to be diligent in staying with the program. Please do not think that I think I have all the answers. I do not. I am just a seeker like you. But I continue to study and learn, and to share through this newsletter what I learn.

It is now about 12 years since I finally got most of the pieces together, and I have had no evidence of any active MS from that time to this. I just have a little neurological damage that was done early on, actually before I was diagnosed with what doctors call primary progressive MS. I am proof positive that PPMS - or any MS for that matter - does not have to progress.

During the last year and a half since my son graduated to his next experience, my own desire to understand what happened and why lead me to reading many books on the soul's journey.  During this process I developed the Internal Guidance System theory of describing the self-healing process.  I now believe that our body's own chi (internal energy, life force, soul, etc.) is the basis for self-healing.

I hope I have answered the initial question of why I practice and recommend this program.  IT WORKS!!  Please do not hesitate to share with me any personal questions you may have

~  "Send love to every cell in your body,
and thank them for serving you well"  ~
                                                                     Dr.Jill Bolte Taylor, Author, A Stroke of Insight                                       

A few weeks ago I received the following e-mail:

Betty,

This article appeared in the Salt Lake Deseret News last week, I thought you might find it interesting. My wife was recently diagnosed with MS. I share all the self-help information I can with her. She is 55 and has chosen to deal with her MS by exercise, meditation, eating right, and getting proper rest. Thank you for all the information you share each month. /s/ Dennis M.

By Elizabeth Stuart <http://www.deseretnews.com/site/staff/1,5231,2775,00.html>

Deseret News
Published: Monday, June 16, 2008

PROVO — Left foot planted firmly on the yoga mat, Maegan Martin slowly presses her right heel to her inner thigh, reaching her arms up over her head and bringing them to rest in prayer position in front of her chest. She doesn't wriggle as she holds the tree pose. She doesn't sway. No one would ever guess, watching Martin do yoga, that she can't stand up without assistance and has to use a cane for balance as she walks.

"Yoga has really taught me how to push myself," said Martin, who has multiple sclerosis. "I push myself in yoga, and it transfers over to my everyday life." A few weeks ago, the 24-year-old pulled herself out of the bathtub without help. A little while later, she walked 55 steps without using her cane. She can now climb into her husband's Jeep by herself — something she hasn't done since she was diagnosed with MS three years ago. Yoga, she said, made it all happen.

Taking a cue from Martin's success, the Provo studio where she gets private instruction, It's Yoga, is now offering a weekly class specifically tailored to meet the needs of people with MS. "I know, know, know that yoga is for everybody," said the class instructor. "It doesn't matter how old you are or what condition you have, yoga can help." More specifically, according to an American Academy of Neurology study, consistent participation in yoga classes can help people with MS battle fatigue.

Provo neurologist Pamela Vincent regularly recommends yoga to her MS patients. She collaborated with Williams to organize the MS class at It's Yoga. "Yoga has been shown to be beneficial to people with MS by increasing energy levels and feelings of well-being," she said. "With practice, yoga can help them get back some degree of flexibility, strength and balance."

That kind of progress, though, doesn't come without a price. The first time yoga instructor Dean Judd saw Maegan Martin, "I thought I was in huge trouble," he said. During their first few classes together, he said he had to physically hold her body in each pose. At first, Judd said Martin experienced vertigo every time she looked up at the ceiling. Together, instructor and student worked out modifications to make each pose more feasible for Martin. She does some standing poses on her knees and uses a foam block to steady her feet while doing exercises that require her to touch her toes.

Thank you so much Dennis for sending along this positive report on the power of yoga.  Your wife is very fortunate to have your love and support...they are so important. It would be a great goal for her to get in the referenced yoga class, if possible.

I am always so glad to learn of a newly-diagnosed person who has already embarked on a good, healthy life-style program. It is a great deal easier to prevent disability than to reverse it.

I am often asked, "What would you say is the best exercise for me?" The response I most often give is, "The one you will do!" In order for any routine to work for you, you must be consistent and do it at least five days out of seven. The important thing is that you move your body. If nothing else, put on a favorite up-tempo CD and "dance" to the music.

Most usually the challenge is getting started, which of course means making a serious commitment. Recently I had a house guest for a week. We were on the go all the time, and my regular exercise suffered. Then it took me several more days to get back into my routine. Believe me, I know how easy it is to get sidetracked. Summer time when we have 95-100 degree days where I live are the hardest for me. I have lots of conversations with myself about exercising when we have day after day of that kind of heat. We have very low humidity here, but when it is 100 degrees, it is miserable for the person with MS, irrespective of humidity!

Balance Training Helps Prevent Falls - From DAILY HEALTH NEWS

I am often asked for exercises to help with balance problems.  I have not personally experienced that problem, but when I read the following article, I decided to share it with you.  I understand that balance challenges are one of those "golden years" fun things we get to look forward to!  It applies equally well to MS-related balance problems, although those of you who are in a WC, or have significant weakness in one leg, will not be able to do all of them.

Every day is a balancing act... how true, especially as we age, since losing balance is often what causes dangerous falls. The simplest motions, such as walking, standing, reaching and lifting, require balance skills that many of us take for granted until we are challenged by injury, illness or simply the aches and pains of aging. Surprisingly, even those who exercise regularly may have muscle development that is out of balance, as I learned after a recent ACL injury. Exercise specialists recommend balance training, along with aerobic exercise and strength training, as an integral part of a regular fitness routine at every age.

To learn more about balance training, I spoke with Juan Carlos Santana, MEd, CSCS, director of the Institute of Human Performance in Boca Raton, Florida. "Balance training teaches you how to stabilize your body by engaging your muscles and joints," he explained. Even those who exercise regularly can still have muscles that are "out of balance" and unable to support you from all angles. Balance exercises are easy to incorporate into your life, no matter what your age. In fact, Santana has taught them to his 75-year-old mother. "She always eats her lunch standing at her kitchen counter. About a year ago, I taught her to do balance exercises while she eats her lunch," he said. "Now, in between bites, she holds on to the kitchen counter and does single-leg balance exercises and mini pumps."

USE IT OR LOSE IT

Balance exercise is important for everyone at every level of fitness, including elite athletes, patients recovering from illness, and, of course, seniors. As with all forms of exercise, how much you need depends on your fitness level. For people in good shape, daily life likely provides a lot of balance movement. Those who are less fit need to do more. In other words -- use it or lose it.

In order to be effective, each balance repetition should be done in a slow and fluid motion, at a rate of about four to five seconds per repetition. Begin by holding onto something or use your arms in the exercises for security and added balance -- but eventually try to perform balance exercises without support. Fix your eyes on a point straight ahead (e.g. a painting or light switch on a wall). Maintain good posture, keep your core tight and bend knees slightly while doing the exercises. When you can successfully perform them in a slow and controlled fashion, start to speed up the movement. This will help develop a quick reaction when you need to move fast to maintain balance, for instance when you start to slip on a wet floor.

WHAT TO DO

Step 1: Begin with both feet on the floor, hip-width apart and do five squats, trying to get a little lower each time. Once you master the squats, which may take about a week, progress to balancing on a single leg.

Step 2:  To progressively master the single-leg balance, gradually go from being assisted (holding onto something) to unassisted (letting go and balancing on your own). After mastering the single-leg balance, progress to single-leg pumps (i.e. mini squats on a single leg, with upper body upright). Start with five repetitions of each exercise and work up to 20 repetitions. This type of balance training can eventually be performed every day. Cut back on the frequency if you feel pain or see swelling. Here are some additional suggestions and variations for balance training...

* Stand upright on one leg for 15 to 30 seconds (most people find this is a challenge). Now do it on the other leg.

* Stand upright on the ball of one foot for 15 to 30 seconds, then the other.

As with any exercise, begin balance training slowly and carefully to avoid injury. It's risky to go too fast, too soon. If you don't know how to do an exercise, ask a fitness professional. For more information, visit the Institute of Human Performance Web site at www.ihpfit.com <http://link.dhn.bottomlinesecrets.com/r/7M9FCP/EWJHX/72JDPO/8AWLV/DH8L/GX/h/> .

"Balance training is a lifelong exercise," says Santana. "Once you're good at balance, it's yours for life, and you need only a minimal amount of balance training every day to maintain it."

I did not include any of the advanced level balance exercises, but you may wish to explore them more at the website.

We all know the importance of Vitamin D as a required supplement for MS.  I recently came across the following confirming information on the Internet:

Vitamin D is known as the "sunshine vitamin" because the body synthesizes it with exposure to sunlight. This fat-soluble hormone has important roles in the body, it:

1. Helps to maintain normal blood levels of calcium and phosphorus.
    
2. Assists in the absorption of calcium and promotes bone mineralization, which may prevent or slow the progression of osteoporosis.
    
3. Strengthens the immune system and protects against a number of serious diseases, including rickets and osteomalacia.
    
4. May provide protection from hypertension, psoriasis and several autoimmune diseases (including multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis).
    
5. Plays a role in defending against cancer (studies link a deficiency of vitamin D to as many as 18 different cancers).

Those of you who are concerned about your children having a genetic familial predisposition to MS, remember it is believed that Vitamin D supplements will prevent that from happening.  Because of our family MS history, my grandson takes Vitamin D every day.

  Hi Betty,

Thank you for another great Journey to Wellness.  I look forward to them each month.  I marvel at how you do it.  Thanks for sharing the photos of your handsome grandson.  I can see why you are so proud of him.  Please keep up the good work.  We all need you.  /S/ Sharon O.

  Hello Betty,

I just had to send you a note about the recent issues of your newsletter.  They are absolutely great.  I am sometimes slow to grasp new things, but since everything I have learned from you over recent years has helped me a lot, I have been learning to apply your teaching about self-healing using our IGS.  Thank you for all the information you have shared in your Four Steps to Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis.  I am working with Mark Johnson's Tai Chi for Seniors, learning to "feel" my body's internal energy, and finally learning to meditate.  Thanks again for continuing to lovingly "prod" us to help ourselves.  It is working for me!  /S/ Todd M.

To Sharon and Todd, and all of you who have written or called about the direction the newsletter has taken recently, thanks for your encouragement and support.  And to the many of you wrote about my handsome grandson, Zachary, and my volunteer program at my grandson's school, I thank you and Zach thanks you. He is so proud of that quilt project and that he and his friend Justin gave their quilt to a needy family with a new baby.  The great joy for me of working on this project was that these 6th graders learned a very powerful lesson of giving back to others less fortunate than themselves.

YOGA FOR MS AND RELATED CONDITIONS - I found this modified yoga program in the Yoga Journal about 11 years ago, and it remains a mainstay of my own exercise program.  This program is recommended by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

TAI CHI FOR SENIORS - This is a simple, easy-to-do Qi Gong (chi gung) Tai Chi video program.  It was the very first exercise program I found after being diagnosed with MS, and about 13 years later I still find it very beneficial and do it almost every day.  This program complements the Yoga for MS routine beautifully.

GENTLE FITNESS - Catherine and I connected on the Internet about 8-9 years ago, and I ordered her Gentle Fitness.  I find it an excellent program, and use sections of it together with the Yoga for MS program.

These videos make up my personal exercise library, and alternating the programs keeps me from getting bored.  Together with deep breathing exercises for a few minutes at least a couple of times a day, and walking about a mile several mornings a week with my ExerStrider poles, weather permitting, not only keeps me fit and energetic, it keeps my legs strong and moving.

Each of these exercise DVDs are available for $29.50 each plus $4.00 shipping and handling.

                Follow this link for more information on these videos and books.

FOUR STEPS TO OVERCOMING MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS includes just about everything I have learned in my own journey to wellness.  It is an easy to read, understand and follow e-book guide to the management of Multiple Sclerosis using the healthy lifestyle approach that I practice and recommend.  It incorporates each of the four areas, exercise, meditation, diet, and supplements.   This book includes an extensive recipe collection as well as an all inclusive guide to the Best Bet for MS food plan.

Four Steps to Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis is available for $21.50.

You may order any of the above by providing credit card information by e-mail to me, or by calling 800-651-3155 (in the U.S. and Canada), or 530-753-5595.

                Follow this link for more information on this e-book.

THE HEALER WITHIN (see the report in this issue) is an excellent book by Roger Jahnke, a Doctor of Oriental Medicine, which I no longer carry in stock.  You may, however, order it from Amazon.com.  Just click on this Amazon link to order.  The Healer Within is based on Qi Gong, the healing form of Tai Chi, and I highly recommend its simple movements.  The best thing about this book is that all the movements may be done standing, seated or lying down.

Have a great rest of the summer everybody.   I thank you all for your continued support and encouragement.  I love reading your correspondence.  You are all very special to me.  Please feel free to write to me anytime.  Please also remember that Journey to Wellness is intended to be interactive.  I really want to hear from you!  Please send me your experiences, challenges, etc. and I will try to include them.  And please, include a photo.

Yet again I remind you, please remember to smile and laugh a lot, and to say "I love you" often to those you love.  One never knows when we will be saying it for the last time.  I truly do know for sure that when all is said and done, and we move on to our next experience, it is only the love that lasts!

Big smiles and {{{hugs}}} to you all,