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! 

How Healthy pH Levels Can Help With COVID-19

An overlooked aspect of the coronavirus pandemic is the fact that most viruses are pH sensitive. pH medicine offers us a key to treating viral infections that is easy, safe and inexpensive. Shifting a patient's pH, combined with high dosages of vitamin C, vitamin D and other immune boosting support is foundational support to both treat and prevent COVID-19.  

There are many additional treatments like zinc, glutathione, iodine and selenium, even hydrogen, but the first thing we should reach for is baking soda aka sodium bicarbonate, which offers us control of oxygen and carbon dioxide levels.

Wherever the body has low voltage (pH), the cells begin to have problems that get more serious the lower the voltage goes. The lower the voltage goes, the lower the pH goes, and the lower oxygen levels go.  Chronic disease is associated with low pH values (acid conditions).  This means that alkaline (higher pH) tissues have more oxygen in them. 

Wherever the body becomes acidic, voltage drops as does tissue oxygen levels. What is pH after all? It is ultimately a measure of redox potential. Redox potential is a measure of whether electrons are available in surplus (and thus are “electron donors”) or whether electrons are positive (and thus are “electron stealers”). Electrons are necessary for life and are needed for health and in high quantities for healing and the growth of new cells.

Dr. David Brownstein wrote, “The human body is constantly removing old and injured cells and replacing them with healthy new cells. This process can only occur if the voltage of the cells is maintained at an optimal level. This process works more effectively when we are young as compared to when we are older. In the body (or in a solution), voltage is a direct reflection of pH, which is a measure of the degree of acidity or alkalinity of a solution, measured on a scale of 1 to 14. A low pH reading (highly acidic) indicates a low voltage state. Conversely, a high pH reading (highly alkaline) means a high voltage state.”

The amount of oxygen in cells is determined by voltage. If a cell has adequate voltage, it will also have adequate oxygen. If cellular voltage is low, the amount of oxygen in the tissues will be low. This applies to metabolism as well. When voltage and oxygen are low, metabolism becomes anaerobic, which means that oxygen is unavailable. The more aerobic metabolism we have the healthier we are.  

So now that you know what pH is you need to know that the Coronavirus needs a slightly acidic pH to penetrate the cell. The simple alkalinization of the blood reduces the cells susceptibility to the virus and this goes for lots of other viruses and pathogens as well.  When we are alkaline we invariably don't get sick or have mild attacks of viral infections and the same is true for bacterial and fungus infections. Studies have shown there is significant decrease in the growth of bacteria and fungi in the lungs of pneumonia patients when sodium bicarbonate is used compared to saline during nebulizer treatments.  

Although the pH of blood ranges from 7.35-7.45, the pH of other body fluids is different. If the pH blood levels drop below 6.9, it can lead to coma. The pH of saliva is ranges from 6.5 to 7.5. After swallowing, the food reaches the stomach where upper and lower parts of stomach have different pH values. The upper part has a pH of 4.0−6.5, while the lower part is highly acidic with a pH of 1.5−4.0. It then enters the intestine which is slightly alkaline, with a pH of 7.0−8.5. Maintaining the pH values of different regions is critical for their function and good digestion.  

Any increase or decrease in the blood pH can lead to inflammation and we know inflammation is the cause of all disease.  Maintaining the right pH is so important to have good health.  The body does this using primarily three mechanisms: buffer systems, respiratory control, and renal control.

Proteins form a part of the buffer system to regulate the pH levels. These proteins can act as electron acceptors or donors because of the presence of basic or acidic groups. Similarly phosphate buffers also help in moderating the levels of pH. Buffers may help in regulating pH during minor physiological changes, such as during breath holding (which increases the CO2 in the blood), exercise (which increases lactic acid in the blood), or when stomach acid is secreted.

The pH of blood during normal conditions is 7.4. However, CO2 dissociates into carbonic acid in the tissues. Thus, presence of more CO2 makes the blood more acidic. That is the reason when we hold our breath for long durations, the CO2 levels increase in the blood lowering our pH leading to fainting. On the other hand with increased pH, the breathing may get slow in order to increase the CO2 levels and reduce the alkalinity. However, low breathing rate could also lead to low oxygen levels which could be detrimental. Thus, respiration provides an important control to regulate the pH levels.  We already know how important breathing and lung support is for the Coronavirus.  For more info on good breathing techniques, click here. 

The kidneys (renal system) regulates the pH of water in your body. The changes in pH induced by the respiratory system are in minutes, while the changes induced by the renal system are in the order of days. If the acidity of the fluids is high, kidney secretes H+ ions, while if the carbonate ion levels are high it retains H+ ions and secretes HCO3 ions. Although this process is slow it can prove an effective mode to regulate pH. One limitation of renal regulation is that the pH of urine cannot be below 4.4 so renal regulation can only do so much. 

Respiratory acidosis occurs when too much CO2 builds up in the body. Normally, the lungs remove CO2 while you breathe. However, sometimes your body can’t get rid of enough CO2. This may happen due to:

• chronic airway conditions, like asthma
• injury to the chest
• obesity, which can make breathing difficult
• sedative misuse
• overuse of alcohol
• muscle weakness in the chest
• problems with the nervous system
• deformed chest structure

Metabolic acidosis starts in the kidneys instead of the lungs. It occurs when they can’t eliminate enough acid or when they get rid of too much base. There are four major forms of metabolic acidosis:

1. Diabetic acidosis occurs in people with diabetes that’s poorly controlled. If your body lacks enough insulin, ketones build up in your body and acidify your blood.

2. Hyperchloremic acidosis results from a loss of sodium bicarbonate. This base helps to keep the blood neutral. Both diarrhea and vomiting can cause this type of acidosis.

3. Lactic acidosis occurs when there’s too much lactic acid in your body. Causes can include chronic alcohol use, heart failure, cancer, seizures, liver failure, prolonged lack of oxygen, and low blood sugar. Even prolonged exercise can lead to lactic acid buildup.

4. Renal tubular acidosis occurs when the kidneys are unable to excrete acids into the urine. This causes the blood to become acidic.

Factors that can contribute to your risk of acidosis include:

• kidneys not functioning
• obesity
• dehydration
• aspirin or methanol poisoning
• diabetes

If you body is too acidic which most people's are, here are some common symptoms:

• fatigue or drowsiness
• becoming tired easily
• confusion
• shortness of breath
• headache
• lack of appetite
• jaundice - yellow skin
• increased heart rate
• breath that smells fruity, which is a sign of diabetic acidosis 

If you think you may have acidosis, you can get blood work to check your pH levels and your kidney function.  Blood work can also check your calcium, protein, blood sugar, and electrolyte levels which are all important levels to know to see if the body is too acidic.  

If you are concerned about respiratory acidosis is you want to test the health of your lungs. This may involve a chest X-ray or a pulmonary function test.

If metabolic acidosis is suspected, you’ll need to give a urine sample. Doctors will check the pH to see if you are properly eliminating acids and bases. 

Now that I know the relationship between pH and viruses I will start checking oral pH in the office to keep everyone healthy.  It's a quick easy thing that can give us a good idea of your overall pH and the health of the mouth which is part of the digestive tract.  Based on the results we may test you for mineral drops, phosphorus drops or add a baking soda drink in the morning on an empty stomach to help become less acidic.  The less alcohol you consume and the more water you drink can also help your pH levels.  Chlorophyl can also be very helpful in supplement form or just increase your intake of green leafy veggies.  Because this coronavirus likes to hit the back of the throat and go into the lungs the less acidic our mouth and throat are the better.  A mouth wash can really help but not the Lysterine types.  You need to get a more natural one and I love Oxy Pulling mouth wash.  It advertises to do Oxy Pulling instead of oil pulling but instead I love to do them together.  The extra oxygen is exactly what the mouth and throat need to kill any germs and keep the body healthy.    

Deep Breathing to Boost the Immune System

Exercise is known to boost the immune system. It also is a great stress reducer which can help if you are doing too much quarantine snacking out of being stressed.  Go for long walks or runs if you can do it safely, staying 6 feet away from people.  Do yoga from home.  I use an app called down dog that I pay for but since March has been free and continues to be free during the quarantine.  The same company also has free apps for Barre and HIIT which is important for you to get your heart rate up and your lungs working harder.  We actually want to exercise the lungs.  I never thought about exercising an organ until the coronavirus hit and pulmonologists shared that it would help preventatively to do deep breathing exercises to strengthen the lungs.  Before the pandemic I only thought of people with trouble breathing as needing breathing exercises.  

So on a daily basis I want you to do lung exercises both preventatively and if you are feeling symptoms.  Make sure when you do lung exercises you breath by first pushing out your stomach, filling the bottom of the lungs first and then the chest.  Don’t pick up the chest first when breathing, because then you aren’t using the diaphragm to breath.  The diaphragm is the only breathing muscle in the body.  If you don’t use it you are then using the trap and other shoulder muscles to pick up the rib cage and this is why so many of us have knots and tension in our shoulders and neck.  But if you breath using the diaphragm is allows the lungs to expand automatically.  You see the diaphragm is a muscle that sits at the bottom of the rib cage, over the stomach and when looking at the body is an upside down U shape that when inhaling, flattens, enlarging the rib cage allowing the lungs to expand.  When the diaphragm moves like this it applies pressure on the stomach, almost like a massage that is good for digestion.  

The deeper the breath, the more oxygen can come in per breath.  The amount of oxygen that we inhale through our breathing, influences the amount of energy that is released into our cells. On a molecular level, this progresses all sorts of chemical and physiological processes. Breathing is controlled by the autonomic nervous system.  The part of our nervous system we don’t have to think about that makes our heart beat and digests our food.  There are two parts to the autonomic nervous system, sympathetic and parasympathetic.  These two parts control different things in the body.  The parasympathetic controls the breathing, digestion, sleep and libido.  This is the part of our nervous system that makes us feel relaxed and that is why breathing is so good to do during stressful times. It helps get us out of fight or flight mode. Breathing is also the easiest part of the autonomic nervous system to control and navigate. In fact, the way you breathe strongly affects the chemical and physiological activities in your body. It’s amazing what you can do when you can control your breath.  I’m not just talking about how long you can swim under water for but Wim Hof has developed special breathing techniques that keep his body in optimal condition and in complete control in the most extreme conditions. The breathing technique is first and foremost premised on inhaling deeply and exhaling without any use of force!  With his controlled breathing the heightened oxygen levels hold a treasure of benefits, more energy, reduced stress levels, and an augmented immune response that swiftly deals with all germs.

Wim Hof got his nickname “The Iceman” by breaking a number of records related to cold exposure. His feats include climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in shorts, running a half marathon above the Arctic Circle on his bare feet, and standing in a container while covered with ice cubes for more than 112 minutes.  Patients who have used his method say that it helps with stress and it even helped one patient heal from his eczema.   

In 2011 researchers at Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands brought Hof into a laboratory and started poking and prodding him, trying to figure out how he did what he did. At one point they injected his arm with an endotoxin, a component of E. coli. Exposure to the bacteria usually juices vomiting, headaches, fever and other flu like symptoms. Hof took the E. coli into his veins and then breathed a few dozen  breaths, willing his body to fight it off. He showed no sign of fever, no nausea. A few minutes later he rose from the chair and got a cup of coffee.  There's all the proof you need to know how deep breathing boosts your immune system!

To practice the Wim Hof‘s breathing method, start by finding a quiet place and lay flat on your back with a pillow under your head. Relax the shoulders, trunk, and legs. Take a very deep breath into the pit of your stomach and let it back out just as quickly. Keep breathing this way for 30 cycles.  It should take about 3 minutes if you are breathing about 6 seconds in and 6 second outs.  If possible, breathe through the nose; if the nose feels congested then breath through pursed lips. Each breath should look like a wave, starting with the stomach lifting, then the chest. You should exhale all the air out in the same order. At the end of the 30 breaths, exhale naturally, leaving about a quarter of the air left in the lungs, then hold that breath for as long as possible. Once you reached your breath hold limit, take one huge inhale and hold it another 15 seconds. Then exhale and start the 30 cycles of breathing again. Repeat the whole pattern three or four rounds and add in some cold exposure, cold shower, ice bath, a few times a week. The controlled breathing and then breathing all out, then not at all, getting really cold and then hot again is the key to the body’s magic. It forces the body into high stress one minute, a state of extremely relaxation the next. The body becomes more adaptable and flexible and learns these bodily responses can come under our control.

Wim Hof sees this controlled breathing as being able to create amazing physiological responses with the body.  His feats speak for themselves.  But I think it’s not just about biochemistry.  There’s more going on then we can see under a microscope or find in a college textbook.   In energy medicine (which I guess can be partly found in a quantum physics textbook) we see pumping the lungs with breath like this isn’t just about oxygen and carbon dioxide molecules moving in and out but it’s also about the movement of the chi, prana, kundalini energy, chakras,  or the meridian system. It’s all the same. This life force goes by many names.  Chi has it’s origin in Chinese medicine and is used by acupuncturists.  Japanese call it ki, Hebrews call it ruah, Greeks call is pneuma.  The Iroquois even had a word for it, orenda. Prana has it’s origin in yoga and comes from the Hindu culture.  Chakras are energy centers of this life force.  Kundalini is the name of the life force energy that is stuck at the bottom of your spine.  Guess what you do to get it unstuck? You use breath.

I'm not waiting for science to catch up to tell me to use breath to be able to hold more life force in my body.  I see the results with my patients and you can too.  

How to Heal Using Breath


After talking for years to patients about the importance of breathing using the diaphragm and showing them how to do it in order to get more oxygen into the body and decrease stress and tension in shoulder muscles that is as far as I went. It wasn't until recently that I looked into different breathing techniques to use as a tool during times of stress. My assistant was the one who suggested Coherent Breathing. After reading "The Healing Power of the Breath" by Richard Brown and Patricia Gerbarg and using their instructional CD of ten breathing practices I now know what a difference concentrating on your breathing can do to help one feel better.

Coherent Breathing is about training the body to do 5 breaths per minute. That would be 12 seconds for every breath, 6 seconds inhale, 6 seconds exhale. Depending on who we are, we breath too much when stressed or we actually hold our breath, taking deep sighs at times. So Coherent Breathing is a good technique to use to help us regulate it. The beginning steps of Coherent Breathing are:

1)Breathe through your nose with your eyes closed.
2) Taking your time count slowly and silently in your mind as you breathe in...two...as you breathe out...two...repeat this for 2 breaths.
3) Taking your time count slowly as you breathe in...two...three...as you breathe out...two...three...repeat this for 3 breaths.
4) Taking your time count slowly as you breathe in...two...three..four...as you breathe out...two...three..four...repeat this for 4 breaths.
5) Taking your time count slowly as you breathe in...two...three..four...five...as you breathe out...two...three..four...five...repeat this for 5 breaths.
6) Taking your time count slowly as you breathe in...two...three..four...five...six...as you breathe out...two...three..four...five...six...repeat this for 5 minutes.

When you start with Coherent Breathing it is best to find a quiet space and a comfortable place to sit. Start with 5-10 minutes and work your way up to 30 minutes once or twice a day. Most people feel benefits right away. People notice that their mind feels calmer, less filled with chatter and their bodies feel more relaxed. It can be done right before bed while lying down, just make sure you don't fall asleep! Once you feel comfortable with 5 breaths a minute you no longer have to do the beginning steps.

Besides adding it to your daily routine Coherent Breathing can be used during times of anxiety, right in the moment, if you have practiced it long enough or when having trouble sleeping. You can also do it with your eyes open when taking a walk. There is wonderful Coherent Breathing music you can download that chimes every time you should inhale or exhale.

Sometimes there can be problems when first starting to learn Coherent Breathing such as running out of breath, practicing with your nose stuffed up or if five breaths feels too fast. Information on how to overcome those problems and much more can be found in the book "The Healing Power of the Breath" which I do have a copy at my office for borrowing so just let me know! 

When Losing Weight, Where Does the Fat Go?

When losing weight I have patients write down everything they eat and drink, holding them accountable for their food choices and to see specifically how many carbohydrates they are consuming. For more on carbohydrate consumption and weight gain read "The Schwarzbein Principle". I also think it's a good idea for patients to be able to understand what is happening in their bodies as they lose weight on the cellular level. A word of caution, I use scientific words in the following!

When you consume calories beyond what your body needs, you will end up storing that extra energy in the form of triglycerides within fat droplets of individual fat cells. Carbohydrates are easiest to make into fat. Assuming that blood sugar levels are adequate, the carbohydrates will then be stored as glycogen. Muscles and the liver use glycogen for energy. But muscle does not have the necessary enzymes to synthesize all carbohydrates into glycogen; therefore the liver converts the majority of carbohydrates into liver glycogen. Since the liver is responsible for supplying energy to the entire body, once its stores are full, it is responsible for signaling the body to convert the extra carbohydrates to fatty acids to make triglycerides and store it in the fat cells. This is how carbohydrates are easily converted to fat.



When attempting to lose weight, you increase energy output and lower energy input such that the body dips into its energy storage within fat cells to keep itself going. When breaking down fat, the triglyceride is taken out of storage from the fat cell and broken down and used as energy by the body. As a fat cell liberates more and more triglycerides during times of negative caloric balance, it becomes smaller and smaller, but never disappears.

The whole process can be summarized in the following chemical equation:
Triglyceride (C55H104O6) + 78O2→ 55CO2 + 52H2O + energy

So yes, when broken down, fat is used to create energy. I also wanted to show you that 1 triglyceride molecule (with the help of oxygen) is converted to a bunch of carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O). So if we do the math as they did in this scientific experiment, when somebody loses 10 kg of fat (triglyceride), 8.4 kg is exhaled as CO2 while the remaining 1.6 kg is lost as water in urine, feces, sweat, tears and other bodily fluids.

So, when fat is lost, it is mostly exhaled as carbon dioxide (84%), with the remainder (16%) being excreted as water.

Interestingly, this also means that the lungs are the primary excretory organ for fat. Breathing from the diaphragm is important and breathing exercises have helped patients in my office decrease their emotional and physical stress and also boost their immune system. We can see now it is also important when one is trying to lose weight. There are many articles on breathing exercises to lose weight and only now do I see the validity. Try one and if you see results please let me know so I can pass it on to others!