I Know Too Many People With Cancer

All of a sudden I know too many people with cancer.  Years ago I worked in a cancer clinic supporting oncology patients with acupuncture and herbs.  They were patients of mine, not friends and family.  Prior to leaving for our summer road trip three weeks ago, five people close to me had cancer.  Sadly, now there are only four.  This is too many, and it leaves me sad and angry that our world has become so toxic that everyone from 6-month-old babies to 33-year-old women to 60-somethings can suffer from this epidemic.  What can we do if the dreaded diagnosis hits close to home?

Read more: I Know Too Many People With Cancer

50,000 Ayurvedic Pulses

It is said that it takes feeling 50,000 pulses to get really good at Ayurvedic pulse diagnosis.  After almost 20 years of practicing Ayurveda, I'm probably closing in on that huge number, but sometimes I still find myself doubting whether I'm really feeling what I think I'm feeling.  Driving back to Santa Fe from my recent weekend Ayurvedic pulse seminar with Dr. Vasant Lad at the Ayurvedic Institute, I remembered the profound truth that when we trust ourselves to listen to our intuition, we access a level of knowing that is usually hidden from our over-thinking, analytical mind.

Read more: 50,000 Ayurvedic Pulses

Abandoning The Guilt Trip

While stress gets a lot of press because of its harmful effects on your health, guilt is usually overlooked as being equally destructive.  Whether someone tries to make you feel guilty or you succumb to it yourself, what good comes from feeling guilty?  Remorse for hurting somebody is one thing, but oftentimes we feel guilty because we ate cake, or because we think we're not doing something well enough.  What if we turned guilt around and practiced loving kindness toward ourselves, accepting that we are good enough and that we're all doing the best we can?  We might finally experience a new level of well-being and breathe a huge sigh of relief.

Guilt-Free Eating

One of the worst things we can do during a meal is to feel guilty about what we're eating.  Think of the mental stress we create if we're not enjoying our food, but rather feeling stressed about it?  I'm not advocating that you eat junk food and feel good about it, but that you choose food consciously and then savor it.  One of the explanations I like regarding why French people are generally thin is that they take time to really enjoy their food. In my blog post about learning this lesson with donuts, I share how I had to confront my desire for donuts so I could then let go of it and move beyond the guilt I had created around it.

Read more: Abandoning The Guilt Trip

Healing Trauma and Addiction with Ayurveda and Meditation

Do you, or someone you love, suffer because of a past trauma or a current addiction?  The two often go hand in hand with depression.  The healing involved in such profound life situtations is very difficult and, unfortunately, often temporary.  The powerful healing sciences of Ayurveda, yoga and meditation can actually change the mental, physical, and energetic patterns that keep a person in a state of post-traumatic stress, or depression, or addiction.  Here's some insight into how a holistic recovery program in Santa Fe that incorporates these mindfulness practices can bring about genuine growth and healing.

Read more: Healing Trauma and Addiction with Ayurveda and Meditation

Soy Vey! There's Hexane in My Veggie Burger!

I think it was Gilda Radner on Saturday Night Live who once said "It's always something."  Now it's hexane in my veggie burgers.  Remember hexane? It's an air pollutant and neurotoxin that is a byproduct of gas refining.  Before you start to feel overwhelmed and pessimistic, read on.  There are a few ethical companies who make chemical-free veggie burgers that you can be happy to buy from, or you can take the bigger leap and make your own with this easy, awesome, protein-packed recipe below.

Hexane and Soy

A recent article in Mother Jones magazine publicized an investigation by the Cornucopia Institute into the use of the chemical hexane to produce non-organic soy protein isolate, texturized vegetable protein, and soy protein concentrate.  Hexane became famous as an air pollutant associated with oil refineries and is also a neurotoxin. 

Read more: Soy Vey! There's Hexane in My Veggie Burger!