Sunday, August 30, 2020

Visualization for Stress Reduction

We help our patients by detoxing the body from heavy metals, chemicals and pathogens while supporting the body with the right nutrition.   Everyone’s program looks different and depends on the muscle testing but I will tell you one common denominator for the rate at which someone heals  depends on their stress level or to be more specific the level of which they put their stress in their body.  Stress changes the hormones causing havoc on the body so healing is slower no matter what you are trying to heal from so stress management is a big part of healing in our office as well.  If I could put stress reduction in a pill I know it could help so many people.  Until I figure out how to do that visualization and imagery (sometimes referred to as guided imagery) techniques offer an avenue for stress reduction. These techniques involve the systematic practice of creating a detailed mental image of an attractive and peaceful setting or environment. Guided imagery can be practiced in isolation, but it is frequently paired with physical relaxation techniques such as muscle relaxation and breathing. When guided imagery is paired with physical relaxation techniques, the aim is to associate the sensations of relaxation with the peaceful visual image, so that future practice sessions involving imagery alone will quickly bring back to mind the physical sensations of relaxation.

I also suggest visualizations as an alternative to meditation when I know meditation can help but the patient has trouble calming the mind.  Instead of sitting in silence and trying to empty the mind that is racing with all the stressful thoughts this is a great time to listen to a visualization.  There are wonderful ones for free on Youtube.  It’s hard to suggest one because everyone is always looking for something different so listen to a few and find one that works for you.  

Guided imagery techniques work to help people relax for several reasons. As is the case with many techniques, they involve an element of distraction which serves to redirect people's attention away from what is stressing them and towards an alternative focus. The techniques are in essence a non-verbal instruction or direct suggestion to the body and unconscious mind to act "as though" the peaceful, safe and beautiful (and thus relaxing) environment were real. Finally, guided imagery can work through the associative process described above, where scenes become a learned cue or trigger that helps recall memories and sensations resulting from past relaxation practice.
Imagery techniques can be thought of as a form of guided meditation. As is the case with other forms of meditation, one of the goals and desirable outcomes is to help people learn how to detach themselves from their moment to moment fixation on the contents of their minds, and instead cultivate a relaxed detachment from which it is easy to watch (but not become embedded in) the various sensations and thoughts streaming through the mind. The repetitive practice of imagery techniques can help this meditative learning to occur so that eventually meditation and emptying the mind can come.



The practice of guided imagery is extremely portable, as it relies on nothing more than one's imagination and concentration abilities which people always have at their disposal. However, like most techniques requiring mental concentration, it is usually most successfully practiced without interruption in a setting that is free from distracting stimulation. The bathroom can be used in a pinch, if no other suitably private and peaceful location is available.  I have used it numerous times since I have kids I’m hiding from.  There is no single correct way to use visual imagery for stress relief. However, something similar to the following steps is often recommended:
Find a private calm space and make yourself comfortable.
Take a few slow and deep breaths to center your attention and calm yourself.
Close your eyes.
Listen to the visualization or imagine yourself in a beautiful location, where everything is as you would ideally have it. Some people visualize a beach, a mountain, a forest, or a being in a favorite room sitting on a favorite chair.
Imagine yourself becoming calm and relaxed. Alternatively, imagine yourself smiling, feeling happy and having a good time.
Focus on the different sensory attributes present in your scene so as to make it more vivid in your mind. For instance, if you are imagining the beach, spend some time vividly imagining the warmth of the sun on your skin, the smell of the ocean, seaweed and salt spray, and the sound of the waves, wind and seagulls. The more you can invoke your senses, the more vivid the entire image will become.
Remain within your scene, touring its various sensory aspects for five to ten minutes or until you feel relaxed.
While relaxed, assure yourself that you can return to this place whenever you want or need to relax.
Open your eyes again and then rejoin your world.

Instead of imagining a favorite place for stress reduction you could also imagine your future self talking to your current self through a certain situation.  Imagine you are already through the stressful situation and have the outcome you want and your future self came to talk you through it as a best friend would.  Know that you have a relationship with yourself.  That relationship should not be all the negative self talk we tend to automatically do.  Make a conscious choice to do more self-love talk.  Be your own best friend.  

You can also do the same for a past situation you are trying to process and heal by using visualization to have your current self talk to your past self through a situation.  A lot of the times when we feel stuck and rerun a situation that has already happened to us over and over again in our heads it is because there is a piece of us that is looking for healing.  We can use visualization and talk ourselves through it, just like a best friend would and hear healing words from our own selves.  

It is these three ways that visualization can really help reduce stress.  The imagination is a great tool so try to use it.  There is no limit on what the mind and mind-body connection can do! 

Monday, August 3, 2020

Inflammation Relief - A New Supplement

Patients come to Healing Arts with all sorts of health concerns. Headaches, bloating, acne, constipation, insomnia, fatigue, infertility, eczema, brain fog, the list can go on and on.  My answer is always the same, muscle test the body to see what toxins the body is holding in order to reduce inflammation.  Inflammation in the head is a headache or migraine.  Inflammation in the joints is pain.  Inflammation in the gut is bloating and so on.  The root cause of all dis-ease is inflammation.  What we find with the muscle testing is why.  Is the reason for the inflammation heavy metals, heavy chemicals, bad flora, parasites, or a food sensitivity?  I fell in love with the technique of muscle testing because it is so fast and noninvasive, giving me and my patients answers.  

When starting to detox and supporting the body with the right nutrition it takes time to get the inflammation down and yet I want patients to get symptomatic relief as soon as possible and I have noticed throughout the years I would have to give 2-3 different anti-inflammatory supplements to do the job so I decided to make my own supplement, called Inflammation Relief, that contained everything to help lower the inflammation.  It contains  Curcumin, Pepperine (Black Pepper), Fenugreek, Gotu Kola, Quercitin, Boswelia, Bromelain, and Magnesium lactate.



Curcumin is a well known anti-inflammatory.   It is the active ingredient in turmeric and works ten times better with black pepper so add both to your cooking every chance you get or buy in supplement form.  Make sure the supplement has black pepper in it too. I do about a teaspoon of turmeric in my superfood protein shake with a pinch of black pepper every morning.  Curcumin specifically is great for reducing inflammation in joints, lungs and brain.  For the brain it works by encouraging the immune system to send white blood cells called macrophages to the brain in order to destroy any abnormal proteins, restoring proper brain function. Now the reason I added fenugreek to the supplement is because fenugreek helps curcumin absorption into our bodies. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1756464616000426
So black pepper helps curcumin work and fenugreek helps it’s bioavailability.  

Magnesium is another great supplement to help with inflammation.  Magnesium can help with lots of different things including sleep and bowel movements.  It helps with those things because it lowers the inflammation.  

Boswelia also known as frankincense is amazing at reducing inflammation especially in joints with cartilage breakdown,  rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and osteoarthritis (OA).  It’s also used to treat symptoms of ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease and inflammation in the gut in general.  

Bromelain is an enzyme find in pineapple that breaks down protein and has pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory effects comparable to NSAIDs.  It too can help with bowel inflammation and help boost up the immune system and fight bacterial infections .  When the immune system is stronger it can fight or get rid of whatever is causing the inflammation in the first place. 

You’ve heard the old saying, “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Today, researchers in the field of antioxidants and the effects of micronutrients are beginning to explain why this old adage is more scientifically true than we may have thought. Apples, as well as many other colorful fruits and vegetables, contain a rich amount of a particularly powerful antioxidant called quercetin. Onions have the highest known quercetin content. Other common foods with significant levels of quercetin include:
Apples
Cauliflower
Grapes
Nectarines
Spinach
Strawberries
Tea
Tomatoes
Although quercetin is commonly found in many of the foods included in a healthy diet, I use it in this supplement at a therapeutic dosage because it’s such a strong antioxidant.

Quercetin has potent antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antihistamine, antiviral, immune-boosting, and other biological properties. Quercetin works in multiple ways to help prevent or alleviate the symptoms of a variety of conditions, including:
Cancer
Canker sores
Heart disease
Herpes
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
Nasal allergy relief
Respiratory infections
Quercetin’s antioxidant properties also appear to offer sunscreen protection against damage to the skin from the sun’s ultraviolet radiation.


Gotu Kola is great for improving circulation which of course, the more blood flow the less inflammation.  Studies suggest supplementing with gotu kola may help you improve your blood circulation. A study conducted on 87 participants diagnosed with poor circulation showed noticeable improvement when given 30 to 60 milligrams two times a day for 60 days.  Additionally, eight more studies reported gotu kola effectively improved circulation while alleviating poor circulation symptoms, including pain, heaviness in the legs and swelling.  Gotu Kola also helps reduce chronic inflammation by triggering antioxidant activity within the body.  

So those are the details of why I put those ingredients in my third personally formulated herbal supplement.  With the right nutrition the body truly can heal.