Universally, Spring is defined by birth and rebirth; nudging us towards that urge to clean – clean our homes, garages, refrigerators…….and bodies. To do this, many individuals find that detoxifying helps replenish their system and provide a great start to tuning up their bodies; shedding those winter pounds and detoxifying from all of the comfort foods we sought out over days upon days of bundling up inside. Here, some tips to help with your detoxifying plan. Remember, the detox process is very individual, and can be trying on a system that has for long been enjoying a more gluttonous existence. So please be mindful, and call upon our nutritionists for any advice.
As a basis for your detox plan, you should try to eat a clean diet. A clean diet is one that includes fresh and unprocessed foods and those that do not require extensive digesting – such as fatty meats, fried foods and ‘white carbs’. Toxins and other waster products become stored in fat tissue and can reduce the efficiency of the liver to do its number one job: filtration, so drinking plenty of clean water along with the consumption of fibers and probiotics will help with the cleansing process.
There are a variety of ways to approach cleansing and detoxing. Some patients prefer to use vegetable and fruit juice fasts for a few days; while others prefer to use real food during the process. There are also detoxifying formulas (available at Whole Foods) that can help with increasing your liver activity for pulling out those stored toxins while binding them in order to effectively eliminate them as waste. Before embarking on a juice fast, it is important to discuss the process with your health care provider to ensure that the reduced energy intake and potential blood sugar changes will be safe for your body (and mind). Additionally, for those of you on medications, it is imperative that you discuss the pros and cons of your detoxapproach and its affect on your medication absorption.
Food: Consume fresh fruits and vegetables (preferably organic) juiced, steamed or raw depending on your digestive capacity. Green leafy vegetables provide antioxidants and beta-carotene, while cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage & cauliflower) provide indoles which help the liver rid carcinogenic compounds. Onions and garlic contain sulfur containing compounds which kill bacteria. Whole grains (preferably gluten free) provide the body with energy, bulk and fiber to help you maintain your activity level, keep you satiated, and bind to waste for elimination. Additionally, they provide our bodies with the B-complex vitamins. Steering away from Gluten can be beneficial because this little protein of our more common grains is often very difficult to digest; wreaking havoc on your system and causing immune reactions that can range in severity from sensitivity to allergy. During a cleanse, Gluten free grains (Amaranth, Brown rice, Buckwheat, Millet, GF oats, Quinoa) can help with the energy piece without increasing bodily stress for processing. Lean, cold water fish and poultry are usually easy to digest, while red meats and eggs contain Arachidonic acid, which has been indicated in pro-inflammatory disorders. Cold pressed oils such as olive oil, will help with the lubrication and elimination.
Mindset: Embarking on a cleanse involves adopting a certain frame of mind. It will help if you stay relaxed, get adequate rest, organize your menus, and get plenty of fresh air without doing excessive exercise. This is not the time to train for a marathon. Your body is in recovery and treating it gently will help the detoxifying process function effectively. Look ahead and time your detox appropriately when you know you’ll have the time for self-nurturing. It is not uncommon to shed emotions that may have been weighing you down along with the toxins. After all, cleansing is a mind-body-spirit process.
One of my favorite passages in the Christian Scripture is when Simon Peter, stretching his imagination to the limit, asks Jesus, “How oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Till seven times?” This dialogue appears in the Gospel of St. Matthew 18:20-21.
The Great Rabbi is reputed to have answered, “Unto to seventy times seven.”
Seven was Peter’s max.
490 was Jesus’ max, according to King James.
And if you read the original Aramaic, it says, “seventy times seventy-seven,” which brings us mathematically to forgiving each person you encounter a minimum of 5,390 times!
This is why we really have to stay with a forgiveness practice for our whole lifetime. Charles Fillmore, co-founder of Unity Church, suggests that we do forgiveness work every night before we go to bed.
Review your day.
Find places where you have judged another, or felt judged by another.
As an act of your will, offer forgiveness to those who offended you.
Ask for forgiveness of those you might have offended.
Consider using this afformation: Why is it so easy for me to forgive and be forgiven by everyone?
Or, why are we all so peaceful and free?
Dear One, consider the cost of unforgiveness to yourself and your spiritual growth. If that doesn’t inspire you to do forgiveness work, I’ll put my money on these wonderful words from Oscar Wilde: Always forgive your enemies—nothing annoys them so much.
The genuine, ongoing practice of forgiveness is a way to live without enemies, and that’s a joyous way to live.
Relationship. We can’t live with it, and we can’t live without it. It’s an art, not a science, predicated on the notion that we know what love is. Do we? Really?
I’ll go so far as to say that everyone has a definition of love, but I’m not sure any of us has the definition of love. Love is different for different people. In fact, it’s different for everyone with everyone else.
Most of us think of love initially as what we were told was love by our parents. If we grew up in a less than loving environment, we have a skewed take on love. It’s never too late to change it.
I think the best attitude toward love is to be willing to learn about it. Assume you don’t have the definitive meaning for love and get curious, get educated, get into the wonder of love.
I always know when someone I’m counseling is ready for a relationship when they tell me that they want to love someone rather than to be loved by someone. True love sets those we love free to be more themselves. If someone has to be a certain way or do a certain thing, in order for us to love them, that’s not love, it’s a business deal!
I’m not historically a fan of St. Paul of Tarsus, but he did write something wonderful about love in 1 Corinthians 13. “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”
Whether we feel it or not, we were all born to love. Start now.
My style of Acupuncture addresses the patient’s health issues from several levels. By looking more deeply into the structural and/or constitutional imbalances, which often underlie a patient’s symptomatic complaints, I am able to assist in a more complete and lasting healing. It is precisely this holistic approach which gives me the ability to help patients with the most complex issues. Often by seeing the patient’s problem from this broader perspective, I can solve the most difficult of cases.
Nutrigenomics refers to the study of a person’s genetic make-up and how to tailor diet and supplement regimens for the prevention and/or treatment of various conditions and illnesses. This area of research involves looking at how nutrients affect gene expression. By doing so, nutritionists will soon be able to more definitively suggest specific foods, supplements and forms of supplements for clients who may have heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis or to help with predicting illness given family history.
However, one must not confuse genetically modifying foods with nutrigenomics. Modifying foods is done by splicing DNA and adding genes. With nutrigenomics, the focus is on the natural components in foods that may positively impact the prevention of a condition.
This exciting area of research is still in the research stages with a few companies testing at present, but the data still needs some fine tuning. Do stay tuned!
I am so happy to have joined the talented team here at Visions Medical Center, and in treating my patients look forward to learning your specific needs so that I can appropriately encourage each of you to do one thing every day that will improve your lives.
We are delighted to announce the arrival of Andraly Horn, LMT, BCST. Andraly comes to Visions with the philosophy that physical and emotional ailments are related to the condition of the nervous system as a whole. For that reason, he seeks to ensure that his clients are in a state of deep relaxation as he treats a specific area or problem and attempts to identify and resolve the root cause of the issue. Through his work, he helps the patient attain a state of being fully present so that true healing can occur.
After graduating from the Florida School of Massage in 1993, Andraly taught musculoskeletal anatomy for four years while practicing massage full time. In addition to his massage training, he has pursued advanced training and certification in Sports Massage, Structural Bodywork and Awareness, and Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy. He is a member of the Craniosacral Therapy Association of North America and the American Massage Therapy Association. He also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Health Science. In his spare time, he is an avid organic gardener and loves to spend as much time as possible observing and being still in the natural world.
Andraly will begin seeing patients starting March 23rd.
We are expanding our offering of services, once again, and are proud to announce the newest practitioners to join Visions. Andraly Horn is coming to VMC in March and will bring decades of experience with him, including craniosacral therapy and deep tissue massage. We will also be welcoming Noelle Lee, DO mid-August. Noelle comes to us as a family medicine primary care practitioner. In addition, she practices osteopathic medicine. She will practice Functional Medicine alongside of the physicians and nurse practitioner who currently serve our patients.
We are committed to providing the highest quality of medical and wellness services.to maintain our “edge,” our physicians and nurse practitioner have been attending several conferences recently to ensure that we have the most current research available in the areas of conventional and functional medicine. To that end, and
Soon you will begin to see the new look of Visions Healthcare and the two centers which will come first out of that; Visions Medical Center and Visions Wellness Center. As we make changes and expand in these areas, we will update you on these changes.
Healing is a partnership between you and I. My goal when I work with you is to create a relationship that empowers you to better understand yourself.
My contribution to our relationship is to use my skills in bodywork and biodynamic craniosacral therapy to determine the physical or emotional components of your situation. Your part is simply to be willing to be present for the treatment, and to be open to change. Together, we create an environment for healing.
One of the most common comments that I get from my long term clients and students is that the work we do together brings about an inner awareness that leads to a state of harmony and happiness. I personally believe that happiness is one of the key ingredients of health. The reason why I call the work that I do transformation healing is that it is a conduit for inner transformation on all levels including the development of true happiness.
Happiness. What does it really mean? It is a way of being, a felt sense that is in harmony and balance with our essential nature. It does not come about by doing or getting. According to eastern mindset, happiness is an overall sense of satisfaction and contentment with life and living, a state of appreciation for all that you have, the understanding that every experience can bring growth and spiritual expansion and inner wealth, a perception of balance and peace, a feeling of being whole and complete within oneself. We have all heard the saying “happiness comes from within” Why is it that our culture does not nurture this?
It is human nature to be in the pursuit of happiness. We often seek happiness from external sources such as relationships, the acquisition of monetary wealth and power, careers, developing intelligence, externally looking good and successful to others. Material things can make us comfortable, relationships are a vehicle for us to express emotions and connect in different ways to others. Recognition for accomplishments and admiration for how we look can make us feel good and successful but they do not provide long-term happiness. There is nothing wrong with being connected externally; in fact it is an important and necessary part of life. The important thing to be aware of is that it often brings temporary satisfaction by gratify the ego. If you go through life desperately focusing on the results of trying to acquire status and material things along with striving to look good to others to achieve happiness, joy and peacefulness will evade you.
We also have no control over the outside circumstances in life. External situations can often leave one feeling stressed, dissatisfied, disappointed, depressed, victimized and confused. To experience soul-satisfying joy we must look within. We must break free from the preconceived mindset that our achievements and possessions define us. We must release the expectations of others and find the genuine value within ourselves. When you have a desire, and it gets fulfilled, there is a period of time when you are content. In that moment, you experience the happiness that is a natural part of your being. But then external stimulus such as the media, including marketing, or opinions and beliefs of others intervene and you shift into a state of lack or want. Happiness fades. If you are not aware of this it can become a never-ending cycle. When you are able to realize and recognize that you experience happiness when you are free from constant desire and fear around being accepted, you can start to create your life differently. You have an opportunity to choose and accept yourself and the Universe as it is. You gain a freedom to flow with life. With awareness you can allow your innate nature to spring forth in the absence of the bonds and demands you and others put on yourself. Part of this process is being in an inquiry around your taught beliefs and values. Do they totally resonate with your consciousness, heart and soul? Keep those values, which are in harmony with who you are and release what does not feel true to your core. Take a hard look within to find your own personal truth.
Personal practices such as yoga, meditation and qigong help to cultivate inner peace and truth. Treatments such as shiatsu and transformational healing release entrenched holding patterns of stress and tension, support inner balance and help to integrate body, mind and spirit promoting health and happiness. As you become more aware of your heart, mind and body connection it creates a sense of freedom, which allows you to be satisfied with yourself exactly how god made you, perfect, whole and complete It can shift your reality around how you view yourself and the world. The goal is to be able to enjoy being a unique individual without trying to compete with others. Also assisting you in the development of self-acceptance and ability to take pride in the inner gifts that come naturally without trying. The pursuit of happiness is a journey within. It is a journey through life with a destination of peace, health and contentment.