New Mexico Vegan July 2020

NewMexicoVegan July 2020

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.�

Mahatma Gandhi

For Vegans, Vegetarians, and the Veg Curious

Enjoy your FREE complimentary copy

The views and opinions, expressed by contributing-authors, in the New Mexico Vegan Magazine; may, or may not, represent the views and opinions, of New Mexico Vegan.

Different but Equal (Advertisement)

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Inside

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Editor’s Note

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Veganism is not about… (Advertisement)

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Plantrepreneur

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To Prevent Future Pandemics….(Advertisement)

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Resources

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Photo Collage

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New Mexico Facts & Trivia

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Pro-Intersectional Activism - A Collection of Quotes

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Peace Begins on Your Plate (Advertisement)

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Top Ten Sources of Veggie Protein

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Meet Our Extended Family

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My Name Is Paula Martins and I Have Been Vegan Since February 2019

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Tofu, What Is It?

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Recipe: Vegan Falafel

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Recipe: Soft Corn Tortilla

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Incredible Egg Facts

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Veganism, What To Know

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Affirm It, Visualize It, Believe It… Then Actualize It

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Revisit With Previous New Mexico Vegan Magazine Issues

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Each Day a Person….(Advertisement)

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Advertising with NM Vegan

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Vegan Pulse (Advertisement

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Contributor

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Melissa (Kamacho) Brandenburg

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Bera Dordoni

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Animesh Gupta

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Paula Martins

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New Mexico Vegan Volume 6 – Issue 4 July 2020 Editor: Nancy Arenas NMV Photographer: N. Arenas

a HeartnSole, LLC publication

Like us on FB NM Vegan | 02

Crisis-- a time of intense difficulty, trouble, or danger. Crises-- plural of crisis. Yes… crisEs, are upon us: …fears and dangers of COVID-19; …mass protests for #Black Lives Matter; …dealing with the uncertainty of what Trump1 will do next; and, to complete this list, a round of mortality-cocktails, called ‘someday’ for all in the house. Turmoil, furthermore, is worldwide.

Still, I must believe that our country and the world, can achieve peace… a quality of life where all, humans & nonhumans alike, are respected & safe & prosperous… where everyone understands that …whatever I do to one being, I do to all beings. And, that same do …will I not be do-ing it, also, to my own “I”…?

Once more let me say, how deeply I yearn, that vegans will continue on our mission to firmly establish veganism in this world. We must continue for compassion’s sake. Struggle for justice, if you must …justice for all… and, I do mean ALL! Be counted - stand up - speak up …against things that are un-just. I encourage you to not be satisfied with intermediate success… become satisfied with full-justice only… thereby, your appetite for purity will sustain you, in the great race you run, all the way to the finish-line. Be safe and healthy. Lead by example. Do not lose hope. Do not quit.

These times are burdened by uncertainty, …certainly. The shining-light that has come from this pandemic?... eating animals, equals pandemics. Herein, we have a chance to educate more individuals; and, perhaps, they may rethink: how & what… they eat. At this time, …due to CoViD-19… there is an increased momentum for meatless dining. Calamity is unfortunate; but, since it is here, perhaps an equally beneficial consequence will follow… may the seriousness of our present momentum, sad as it is, be the tour de force that swings us into a vegan world.

Adhering to pandemic protocols, is not subject to personal preference. Essentially, pandemic protocols are no different than speed-laws on the highway. Yes, someone -other than you- made a ruling that is inconvenient for you. Obey the ruling… do it for your land… do it for your people… do it for your own karmic self-respect (what you do unto others, will be done unto you). The more frequently masks are seen in public, the more worthy the ruling will appear; and, our citizenry will feel more safely-unified, due to socially-common customs. Please wear the mask & gloves; play the game of social distancing… do it for us, your neighbors… the friendly ones, who will give you space to change lanes, so you can make your exit, and be on-time, somewhere. Less ME, more WE. Together… we can get through this. Together… we are stronger.

Be safe, Livegan, -- Nancy

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Plantrepreneur Animesh Gupta Hi, I'm Animesh Gupta, a 22 years old plantrepreneur (plant-based entrepreneur) from India who is on a mission to change the way people perceive plant-based food.

It all started a year ago, back in my college when I received a random video on WhatsApp from the only vegan guy in the entire college. He used to put up these stories on the dark side of the dairy industry and its ill consequences, and I used to keep arguing with him with stupid arguments.

I was born and raised as a vegetarian, so it was hard for me to believe all the ugly truths about the dairy industry. After a week, I decided to do some in-depth research and discovered some shocking things that no one had ever told me before. I felt like I was being conditioned and brainwashed my whole life by these dairy giants. After a week of eye-opening findings from research and documentaries, I decided to go vegan.

Going vegan was not an event but a process for me. I started ditching dairy one product at a time and it took me almost 3-4 weeks to completely quit dairy while I was also educating myself. Since I was in college at that time, it was a challenge to avoid it from food because mess food is loaded with dairy & dairy products and my options were very limited. So, it was a little difficult, but then, when I came back to my home, it became easy-peasy for me to choose what's right. It's been 12 months since I am vegan and feel very good about this conscious choice I have made.

I recently started a vegan media group called "HEALERS" (@healersveganmedia) which stands for Healthy Environment and Animal Lovers. I got the inspiration of this from people contributing to animal activism in multiple ways at the Ahimsa Fest - India's largest vegan fest - held in January this year, in Mumbai, India. Due to my unavailability for offline activism, I thought of doing my bit by empowering environmentalists and animal lovers. I am working on taking it offline - to conduct events, talks, meet-ups etc. We also do Instagram live sessions every now & then in an attempt to dive deeper into certain aspects of veganism.

I have left my graduation in computer science in between. It was going well but then I became disinterested in conventional education and felt like a 'slave' of the educational system and also it was creating many problems in my previous startup's functioning & work. So, I dropped out in the final year (4th year).

The term 'Plantrepreneur' is something which gave me a kind of credibility and recognition in my friend circle. When they came to know that I am into plant-based startups, they started teasing me by calling Plantrepreneur. I thought why not pick that term to let others know & get into this space and bring positive change on the planet.

I recently started my startup called "Oats'Up" which is an oat milk-based beverage brand to make your favorite beverage interesting, dairy-free & healthier. We are at the initial traction stage in our city. I educated myself from A to Z to start & make it work when no one was there to support me. The core reason for starting it was due to the problems I was facing in local cafes and restaurants, where I couldn't enjoy the dairy-free version of my favourite beverages, be it coffee, or other milkbased drinks. And, even if I did, they were either costlier or a compromise in some way with the taste.

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Plantrepreneur – Cont’d Animesh Gupta I like humans as much as I like non-humans. I am good at networking and communication skills and hence love making friends wherever I go. In the past 2 months, I was able to convert 8 people to go vegetarian and 4 people to go vegan. I never tried to preach, I just showed them the facts, the newspaper headlines, etc. and they gave it a thought and tried to bring a change in their lifestyle.

What makes me do this is the fact that I believe more often, good people do bad things in ignorance. So, the language of love, respect and compassion always wins. That's why we say "BE KIND TO EVERY KIND.” Otherwise, we would start losing a lot of our existing friends or even start making enemies, which in my experience is an ineffective way to spread a positive change in society.

Learn more about Animesh, a plant-based entrepreneur (Plantrepreneur) & a public speaker https://open.spotify.com/show/22f63ivanB96PiNpi2TtCK https://www.instagram.com/plantrepreneur.in/

“Animals are my friends. And I don’t eat my friends.” – George Bernard Shaw NM Vegan | 06

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ABQ Vegan: http://www.meetup.com/ABQVEG/ Albuquerque Vegan and Vegetarian Parents: https://www.facebook.com/groups/323534174705753/ Cooking with Compassion https://www.facebook.com/groups/1702731393294024/ Food Not Bombs ABQ https://www.facebook.com/fnbABQ/ HeartnSole Spiritual Community: https://heartnsolerevna.wordpress.com/ Leaf: Taos Vegan Society: http://www.meetup.com/Taos-Vegan/ New Mexico Vegan: https://newmexicovegan.wordpress.com/ Plant-Based Eating New Mexico: https://www.facebook.com/PBENM/?rc=p Positive Links http://www.thelinknm.com/ Red & Green VegFest Albuquerque: https://redandgreenvegfestabq.wordpress.com/

www.redandgreenvegan.wordpress.c om

Santa Fe Vegan: http://www.meetup.com/Santa-Fe-Veg/photos/4704212/445478790/ Santuario de Karuna: https://www.santuariodekaruna.org/ Vegan Pulse https://veganpulsetalk.blogspot.com/ www.facebook.com/veganpulse VIP (Vegans in the Park): https://www.facebook.com/events/363650444507091/

If you have an article that deals with veganism and would like to submit it for possible inclusion in an upcoming NM Vegan Magazine, please email us at welcome22day@gmail.com, on the subject line please write NMV Article.

If you are vegan and offer cruelty-free services and products please let us know for possible inclusion in upcoming NM Vegan Magazines, please email us at welcome22day@gmail.com, on the subject line please write NMV Vegan Products & Services.

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1. The leaves of the Yucca, New Mexico’s state flower, can be used to make rope, baskets and sandals.

2. Located in a collapsed lave tube, the Bandera Ice Cave’s temperature never rises above freezing. At the bottom of the 75 foot deep cave, the ice floor is 20 feet thick, believed to date back to 1100 B.C. 3. Doc Holliday operated a dental office and a saloon and gambling hall in Las Vegas before moving on to Tombstone.

4. The world’s first Atomic Bomb was detonated on July 16, 1945 on the White Sands Testing Range near Alamogordo.

5. More than 500, 100-million-year-old dinosaur footprints have been identified and preserved at Clayton Lake State Park.

6. Las Vegas was New Mexico’s first territorial capital (for one day).

7. Public education was almost non-existent in New Mexico until the end of the 19th century. As late as 1888 there was not a single public college or high school in the entire territory.

8. Hollywood cowboy Tom Mix chose Las Vegas, New Mexico as the filming location for some of the country’s earliest westerns.

9. DAV Vietnam Memorial in Angel Fire was the nation’s first memorial to soldiers who served in Vietnam.

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10. Cimarron was once known as the “Cowboy capital of the world”.

Some of the old west’s most famous names, such as Kit Carson and “Buffalo Bill” Cody lived there.

Kimberlé Crenshaw, civil rights advocate, philosopher, and a leading scholar of critical race theory who developed the theory of intersectionality: “Without frames that allow us to see how social problems impact all members of a targeted group... If we aren’t intersectional, some of us, the most vulnerable, are going to fall through the cracks.”

“When feminism does not explicitly oppose racism, and when anti-racism does not incorporate opposition to patriarchy, race and gender politics often end up being antagonistic to each other, and both interests lose.” …

“Intersectionality is an analytic sensibility, a way of thinking about identity and its relationship to power. Originally articulated on behalf of black women, the term brought to light the invisibility of many constituents within groups that claim them as members but often fail to represent them.”

Christopher-Sebastian McJetters, vegan and social justice advocate who focuses on examining complex relationships between animal violence, environmental racism, classism, and capitalism: “Basically what we're looking at is a pattern whereby blackness is used and commodified at different times and by different groups to further an agenda without offering any real type of solidarity on black issues. And if animal rights doesn't address this, our activism will be no different.”

“What we do to other animals informs how we treat one another on this planet, and it is always — always — someone who doesn’t have institutional power, and they’re usually brown.”

“Veganism is an act of political resistance, and frankly, it wouldn't hurt you to show solidarity with marginalized persons who are living with state-sanctioned violence because they don't share your species community. We're here to abolish hierarchies, not perpetuate them.”

“Veganism is the most comprehensive way to resist the violence associated with the subjugation and oppression of nonwhite groups... It has an impact on environmental racism, it reduces our use of resources, it helps people who are living in poverty, it rejects the violence that happens in slaughterhouses, it helps people across the planet.”

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Aph Ko, decolonial theorist and independent digital media producer: “There's something ironic about a man like Ron Finley—who plants gardens in spaces white supremacy created to nutritionally and intellectually starve minorities—being celebrated by the mainstream white news media. The goal of guerrilla gardening isn't to make black folks look more peaceful and benevolent; it's to engage in a new type of fight in which we are taking care of ourselves in an era that's actively trying to poison and kill us. It's an act of survival. It's great that people like Ron and other urban farmers are engaging with DIY, grassroots activism to fight back. However, we need to watch how we frame their stories and most importantly, we need to watch out for who is framing these stories.”

“Let's use our exclusion and invisibility as a power to create impermeable spaces for ourselves, unburdened by the ridiculous and biased premises of the dominant class. Let's use our erasure from this rotten-to-the-core Western notion of humanity to build up a different 'new world', one that is not defined in terms of dichotomies or hierarchies or emotional death—but centered on love: one in which we accept ambiguity and difference, grounded in an expansive, limitless 'we'. We are at the center of a radical shift taking place in pro-animal discourse precisely because, upon self-reflection, we can see that our struggle is their struggle. I don't mean this symbolically. I mean this literally.”

Angela Davis, college professor, feminist, and civil rights activist: “I think it’s the right moment to talk about it because it is part of a revolutionary perspective – how can we not only discover more compassionate relations with human beings but how can we develop compassionate relations with the other creatures with whom we share this planet and that would mean challenging the whole capitalist industrial form of food production... Most of people don’t think about the fact they’re eating animals. When they’re eating a steak or eating chicken, most people don’t think about the tremendous suffering that those animals endure simply to become food products to be consumed by human beings.”

“I think the lack of critical engagement with the food that we eat demonstrates the extent to which the commodity form has become the primary way in which we perceive the world...We don’t go further than what Marx called the exchange value of the actual object- we don’t think about the relations that that object embodiesand were important to the production of that object, whether it’s our food or our clothes or our iPads or all the materials we use to acquire an education at an institution like this. That would really be revolutionary to develop a habit of imagining the human relations and non-human relations behind all of the objects that constitute our environment.”

“The food we eat masks so much cruelty. The fact that we can sit down and eat a piece of chicken without thinking about the horrendous conditions under which chickens are industrially bred in this country is a sign of the dangers of capitalism, how capitalism has colonized our minds. The fact that we look no further than the commodity itself, the fact that we refuse to understand the relationships that underly the commodities that we use on a daily basis. And so food is like that.”

“I think there is a connection between, and I can’t go further than this, the way we treat animals and the way we treat people who are at the bottom of the hierarchy. Look at the ways in which people who commit such violence on other human beings have often learned how to enjoy that by enacting violence on animals. So there are a lot of ways we can talk about this.”

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Shaazia Ebrahim, author of Why Your Veganism Must Be Intersectional for The Daily Vox “(Intersectionality) insists that social justice cannot be single-issue because the experience of oppression cannot be understood using single-issue analysis. To be an intersectional vegan means that you acknowledge that oppression is multi-pronged and to dismantle it we have to attack it at its root. This means veganism would have to fight too against racism, sexism, ableism, and the other 'isms'.�

Voices Carry NM Vegan | 13

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Animals can feel empathy just like humans do. Empathy for each other, for us, and even for other species.

River Otters

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The River Otter is built for swimming - they have a streamlined body, short legs with webbed feet, dense fur that keeps them warm, a tapered tail, small ears, and nostrils that can close underwater.

2. One of the river otter's favorite pastimes is to frolic with other otters and do gymnastics, turning somersaults and sliding around.

3. Around one-third of an otter’s body is composed of a tail.

4. River otters have very small eyes and flat head.

5. River otters are nocturnal, and they come out in at night in the summer and spring seasons.

6. These otters can walk, slide, bound and even run on land.

7. North American otters are capable to travel at a speed of 26 miles per day.

8. They primarily communicate through auditory signals.

9. River otters are intelligent animals and they often like to play.

10. River otters have extremely speedy metabolisms. After river otters enjoy a meal, the sustenance makes its way through their digestive tracts within the span of a single hour.

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It all started when I was only 15 years old and I went to accompany my mother to a natural products store to find something that could help my Uncle and Godfather in curing a brain tumor.

The demand was late, only after exploring all the aspects made available by conventional medicine, they turned to the natural one, which, was so close and so available to be used for its benefit.

Time passed, I grew up and went through a nervous anorexia. I was hospitalized and once again the natural supplements helped me recover. Let us just say that this problem was since I felt like I did not fit anywhere in the world in which I lived. But as someone said, if we feel like we don't fit anywhere in this world, it's because we came to create a new world.

And in fact, even today, at the age of 44, I feel like I don't fit anywhere, only now I don't even make an effort, I don’t care as I did at the time, to fit in. I know I'm different and I embrace that difference.

Currently, with two children, a 25-year-old and a 17-year-old girl, two marriages, I feel that I have found within me the space that allows me to contribute to the creation of this new world. It was also due a lot to the change that occurred after the tumor I had in the pituitary gland. Premenopausal at the age of 31. At the time, when I found out, I was afraid of dying because I knew that until then my life had been a collection of learning moments, which I submitted to, I know this today, in an attempt to fit into this world so imperfect and destroyed by the so acclaimed humanity. When I left the hospital, I knew I would never be the same again and that then, after so many years, I had found my way. I stopped eating meat and drinking animal milk once and for all. Then I stopped eating fish and derivatives. In 2019 I left the honey and eggs.

At the time it was a family-level turbulence, from which I distanced myself, because I knew this was the right way. I had to stop apologizing – this is because in the past, whenever I tried to stop eating meat my mother told me I would have anemia, the truth is that my blood tests have never been better.

Later I started with Reiki, Yoga, Meditation. I continued my journey and never felt happier than I do now.

My personal journey also is to be able to change my paradigm in the face of beliefs that I feel are still rooted at the cellular level and to finally be able to free myself.

With personal development came the need to be the change I wanted to see in the world, the system of beliefs and values that brought humanity to the 21st century and at this point that we are living, failed completely.

Everyone should be focused on creating a new normal, leaving the animals alone and following the right path in order to save the planet Earth. I continue to see the same behaviour repeating now that we are in the second phase of deconfinement.

Humanity has not adopted more sustainable behavior and it is simply frightening.

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In fact I hope that everything will change because I hope to reach 2050 and be with my family in the awakening of humanity.

For instance, my parents started cooking some vegan meals and my mother adopted fruit and vegetable shakes in the morning, which is just amazing, at the age of 84 to realize that something had to change, not only for her and my father’s health, but for the sake of her grandchildren.

I still believe in change and I know that there are so many other beings out there who, like me, have ceased to be afraid, have broken barriers, and are also part of the construction of this new world.

I do not care if they look at me from top to bottom or just ignore. I stopped giving advice away without being asked. I am increasingly focused on my journey and I believe that the pandemic, the quarantine has helped me a lot in this process. I had time to calm my mind, go home and rethink a way to give more good examples.

In the company I work for, I already have some colleagues who have started a process of change, not for the animals, but for their health. Some made a big use of being vegan. To be honest, sometimes it bothered me by the total ignorance demonstrated in the face of topics related to the ingestion of soybean and other alternatives to animal protein. I'm not saying anything anymore. I hope that for the sake of humanity, for their own good, because they also share the same planet as me and my children and parents, that they will change.

In Portugal we already have several spaces dedicated to a healthy, vegan, pure diet.

On the Internet we have endless resources on this topic There are those who want to continue in ignorance.

The time of darkness is over.

It's time to wake up!

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Prep Time: 20 mins - Cook Time: 20 mins – Yield 16 INGREDIENTS For the Falafel: • 1 15oz (425g) Can Chickpeas • 1/2 Onion • 3 Cloves Garlic (crushed) • 1/3 cup Cilantro (finely chopped) • 2 Tbsp Sesame Seeds • 1/2 tsp Salt • 1/2 tsp Black Pepper • 1/4 tsp Dried Chili Flakes • 1/4 tsp Coriander Powder • 1 tsp Cumin • 6–8 Tbsp All Purpose Flour • 4 Tbsp Olive Oil (for frying) For the Garlic Tahini Sauce: • 1/4 cup Tahini • 1/2 Lemon (Juiced) • 2 Cloves Garlic (crushed) • 1 tsp Maple Syrup • 2 Tbsp Water For Serving: • Pita Breads • Salad • Pickles • Chopped Cilantro INSTRUCTIONS 1. Drain the chickpeas, peel and chop the onion and crush the garlic and add to a food processor.

2. Finely chop the cilantro and add to the food processor with the sesame seeds, salt, pepper, dried chili flakes, coriander powder and cumin.

3. Add in 6 Tbsp Flour and process. If the mixture is still very wet, add in 2 more Tbsp Flour.

4. Generously sprinkle flour onto a baking sheet and scoop out a generous spoonful of falafel mix onto the floured baking sheet. Roll the ball in the flour, adding more as necessary to stop it sticking so that you can roll it in your hands. The mix will still be quite wet and the balls won’t be very firm. Don’t worry they will firm up in the freezer.

5. Roll all the mix into balls adding flour to the baking sheet generously as needed. Place the baking sheet into the freezer for 20 minutes so that the balls can firm up.

6. After 20 minutes, either dip the bottom of a glass in some flour and press down on the balls to flatten or flatten them with a spatula once frying.

7. Add 2 Tbsp Olive Oil to a frying pan and once sizzling add in half the falafels, provided they will easily fit in your pan.

8. Fry the falafels turning regularly until crispy and nicely browned on each side. Turn out onto a plate covered with a paper towel to absorb any excess oil. Repeat for the second batch.

9. When your falafels are cooked, throw your sauce ingredients into a bowl and whisk with a hand whisk until smooth.

10. Serve with pita breads, salad, pickles and chopped cilantro.

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Makes one dozen 5- to 6-inch tortillas Ingredients • 1 1⁄2 cups Mexican masa harina, such as MASECA brand • 1 1⁄4 cups warm water • 1⁄2 tsp salt

Instructions 1. In a mixing bowl, combine the harina, water, and salt well to form a firm but pliable dough. If it’s too crumbly, stream in a little more water; if too moist, sift in a tiny bit more harina.

2. Knead the dough for 2 to 3 minutes, until smooth. Divide the dough into twelve equal portions and roll into balls. Cover with a damp, clean kitchen towel to keep moist.

3. Heat a castiron skillet or griddle (avoid using nonstick) over medium high heat. Do not oil the skillet. The pan is ready when a few drops of water flicked onto its surface sizzle rapidly.

4. If you’re using a tortilla press: Line the press with a single long piece of plastic wrap or waxed paper folded in half. Place a ball of dough in the center of the plastic wrap, squish down the dough, and bring down the lever to lock it in place. Alternatively, if you do not have a press, you can use two pieces of plastic wrap or waxed paper and a rolling pin. Place a ball of tortilla dough between the plastic and roll very thinly, less than 1/8 inch, turning the tortilla around a few times to get an even thickness.

5. Now that your tortilla dough is flat, gently peel off the top layer of plastic. Flip the tortilla onto your hand, remove the second sheet of plastic, and place the tortilla in the pan. Cook on each side for 30 to 40 seconds, or until the surface of tortilla looks dry and feels mostly firm, not too doughy, when pressed.

Take care not to overcook, to avoid hard, dry tortillas.

6. Flip the hot, freshly cooked tortilla into a folded clean kitchen towel and cover completely with the towel to keep in the heat and steam. Continue to cook the rest of the dough and to stack and cover the tortillas.

7. Serve the hot tortillas immediately. As the tortillas start to cool, they will stiffen and become more likely to crack if folded, so keep them wrapped in a clean cloth napkin or in a covered container, taking out only as many tortillas as you’re going to eat.

8. Store tightly wrapped or covered in the fridge. Tortillas reheat perfectly in a microwave; just wrap in a damp paper towel and heat on high for 15 to 20 seconds, until hot and pliable.

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OMG, what was she thinking?! How could this gentle, brilliant artist post on Facebook that she hoped everyone who attended Trump’s campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma last weekend would contract Covid-19 and die? Worse yet, within hours 143 responses¬¬, all echoing her thoughts¬¬, flooded in, filled with hatred and fear. What is everyone thinking? Or IS anyone thinking? I’m thinking I’m going crazy with all the madness. How about you?

How can we reunite and return our world to some form of normal if we’re ripping each other apart with distrust and fear? I fully understand the fury and pain surrounding the murder of Mr. George Floyd and it is about time that we recognize that Black lives matter, once and for all. Spewing hatred against anyone, whether black, white, yellow, red or brown, just brings on more fury and pain. Let your voice be heard but be kind if you want others to listen. Wishing death to an entire group of people because you don’t agree with their politics???

Really???

With many of us suffering financially, emotionally, spiritually and physically, unable to reach out and touch one another, we’ve got to have faith that we will all reunite freely, peacefully and in health once again.

Speaking of keeping the faith…. several years ago, while visiting our dad in Southern California, my sister and I attended an adoptathon with our dad’s friend, Donna. I had absolutely NO intention whatsoever of adopting a dog (we already had 5 special-needs rescues!) when I heard a voice in the midst of a group of precious little pups scrambling around a pen, all vying for attention. This elderly Chihuahua with paralyzed hind legs and congestive heart failure was being trampled by all the active puppies. The woman who rescued her from a local foster group the night before, thinking she was cute and adoptable, didn’t realize her condition until I was examining the pup identified as #9020542013 and saw that she was having difficulty breathing and couldn’t walk on her hind legs whatsoever. The rescuer (Julia) told me she would take her in the following morning to have her put down since they’d obviously taken her by mistake. “Uh, excuse me, we’ve already bonded,” I told Julia after holding her for an hour, “and I’ll adopt her right here and now.” But… I was refused because I live in New Mexico. What?! You’ll put the dog down rather than accept my $250 adoption fee because I live in New Mexico??? I explained to Julia that I’m a naturopathic doctor and would work with this dog to help her return to health. She said that if things just didn’t work out, she didn’t want to have to go to New Mexico to pick her up if I changed my mind. Instead of arguing, I begged Julia to let me speak with a vet while I was in California and see about getting #9020542013’s legs repaired so she might be adopted in the future.

Fast forward: Julia was wonderfully compassionate and worked with me. We found a vet who repaired the Chihuahua’s legs, saying that she was “probably badly abused, possibly thrown against a wall, which damaged her spine and left her unable to walk.” In spite of my involvement, I still wasn’t allowed to adopt her and she was bounced through several foster homes in Southern California for over a year. They all said that she was ‘too old’ to be adopted, since everyone wants a puppy.

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I spoke with Julia weekly and she was in my corner, but nothing changed the minds of the folks from the foster group that was keeping #9020542013 - not even the thirteen phone calls I made to the head of the foster group, who steadfastly refused to talk with me because I live in New Mexico.

By now I desperately wanted this baby to live with me. I decided her name was Serena, not #9020542013. I felt such a connection with Serena, I couldn't take "no" for an answer. She belonged with me—I knew it, and she knew it. For Pete's sake, she had called to me from the bottom of a pile of leaping puppies!

This match had divine intervention written all over it. So, I meditated and affirmed and visualized and saw Serena here with the rest of our furry family. Then one day while I was talking to Donna on the phone, she asked Serena’s status. I told her my sad story.

"Hmmm, I'm at my computer…and there she is," Donna said. "She’s still up for adoption. With a smile I could hear in her voice, she said, Well, I live in Southern California, so……. I guess I’m about to adopt a dog!” She filled out the application and immediately got a call from the foster group, who said, "I'll bring her over right away."

"Okay, she's yours!" Donna said triumphantly when she called. "Now…uh…how do I get her to you in New Mexico?"

Twenty minutes later I got a call from Pilots 4 Paws. "We’re bringing your Chihuahua to you this Sunday. This is a free service. What’s the closest airport for you?” asked the hero on the other end of the phone!!!

The following Sunday, Serena was flown into Black Rock Airport in Zuni to live out the rest of her life with a family who adored her.

Believe and You Will Achieve I wanted her with me. I saw her with me. I felt her with me. I KNEW one day she would come to me, because I refused to give up hope. It wasn't wishful or magical thinking. It was manifestation—the same manifestation we can use for almost anything we want in life, including good health, peace, love or prosperity.

How can I relate this story to today’s situation? Again, it isn't wishful or magical thinking—it's manifestation. The power we hold with our thoughts and beliefs, whether healing or damaging, is mighty. Do Black lives matter?

More than ever. If we believe Covid-19 will win, then it will. If we refuse to embrace that as our truth—if we believe in our body's ability to roust and defeat any foreign bug or germ or unwelcome condition—we have a fighting chance to reverse that diagnosis. Consider how science and spirituality have met at the same point: We are what we think. We are what we feel. We are what we eat. No matter what direction we look at it, that's the truth.

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Everything you see in our physical world started as an idea, an idea that grew as it was shared and expressed, until it grew enough into a physical object through a number of steps.

You literally become what you think about most.

Your life becomes what you have imagined and believed in most.

The world is literally your mirror, enabling you to experience in the physical plane what you hold as your truth … until you change it.

John Assaraf, Quantum Physics It doesn't matter how bad things appear to be. It doesn't matter how much we don't want something to happen to us—even if it's already happening. By refocusing away from the negative event and toward a more positive ending, resistance falls away and we significantly increase the chances of that better ending coming to pass.

After all, I affirmed, visualized, believed with all my heart, and actualized Serena coming home to me, and she did. Let us all actualize a world where the madness, hatred and fear has ended, where we all matter and where we can once again come together and hug one another.

Dr. Bera “The Wellness Whisperer” Dordoni, N.D. With over 35 years of serving as a vegan/vegetarian-oriented Naturopathic Doctor/nutritionist, Dr. Bera now focuses primarily on teaching Ho’oponopono in workshops and at retreats in her home in the Zuni mountains. She provides gourmet vegan meals and a relaxing stay where deer and wild turkeys play… as well as instruction in plant-based living, immune-system building and how to make the laws of attraction work for you. To learn more or book your stay, visit drberaTLC.com or http://www.bastis.org/, or call (505) 783-9001

"I hold that the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of man."

Mahatma Gandhi

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To revisit previous issues go to: https://issuu.com/arenasnancy

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Episode 17 - Guest: Karin Nagi - Voices 4 Animals & Children Coming up...

Episode 16 - Guest: Kathy Ward - La Colina Linda Farms Coming up...

Episode 15 - Guest: Sailesh Rao - Climate Healters Coming up..

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