Australia’s Leading Magazine for Awakening Consciousness
Established since 1989 Issue 99
Kez Wickham St George‘s
Hidden Faces
Soul Talking Medium
Anthony Grzelka Freedom to choose
Vaccinations Messages from
Source
Grow Your Own
Spirulina Homeopathy
Under threat
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Listen to the Positive News
Real News not Fake!
Living Well Radio is the voice of health wellness connection and community brought to you by Patricia & Jacquie - Conscious Living - consciouslivingmagazine.com.au. Rochelle & Sandra J Flip180 - www.flip180.com.au. Listen to the leaders in the health, wellness and consciousness revolution speaking on a wide range of topics. They share their personal stories and inspiration that motivates them to be change agents. Download the Living Well Radio APP for Android at goo.gl/HddD2g Or get it on iTunes. Listen on Soundcloud soundcloud.com/user-402986929
The Down to Earth Ghost Whisperer, Soul Talker and Medium In this in-depth interview Anthony Grzelka talks about the value of communicating with the spirits of people who have passed over and how it can really help to heal and enlighten the living. He is passionate about taking away the fear and mystique of death. Click here to listen
Celestial Singer, Channel and Sound Healer, Lou Van Stone With a sound that’s constantly evolving, Lou Van Stone combines soaring, ethereal vocals and lush harmonies with ambient instrumentation and hypnotic loops. Lou’s powerful ‘Celestial Sound Healing Voyages’ are rapidly gaining momentum with her potent channelled voice and spontaneous music transfixing and transforming participants. Following Lou’s ‘Sound Blessing’ many people are reporting incredible results, from the healing of pain, to a deep sense of peace and connection. Click here to listen
How my son changed my life and shaped my future. Zsuzsanna Hay shares how her son changed her life and shaped her future, and now assists others using the ‘Theraphi Device’. The ‘Theraphi Device’ creates precise frequencies of Bio-Active Fields, which affect the body’s cellular regenerative, natural healing systems. This fascinating and insightful interview could be the catalyst that changes your life. Click here to listen
Holding the Space for You! Larissa O’Neill - Wyld Tribe Larissa shares her passion, journey and connection. The essence of Wyld Tribe is to gather the seekers, voyagers, the curious and the light workers into a space of creating, leadership, learning and enlightenment. This passionate and enlightening interview takes you on a journey of learning and connection to who you truly are. Click here to listen
You Are Light! Angelina Stojic A messenger of light, Angelina shares her journey and her experiences of evolving in a new way. ReAWAKEN the truth within you, ReCONNECT with all that you are and ReALIGN with the pure divinity you are. Click here to listen
It’s Not Wrong Being Who You Are! Christopher Hughes talks about Right Voice for You which is a workshop like no other, inviting participants to let go of their past stories and definitions of themselves, and to show up in public (and on stage) in a dynamic, present, and powerful new way. Using the tools of Access Consciousness, participants learn how to lower their barriers, receive, step into their potency, think on their feet and generally get out of their own way. This insightful and challenging interview explores that it’s Not Wrong Being Who You Are. Click here to listen
We Need To Be Careful What We Say, Do, Watch, Listen to and Think Rochelle and Sandra J have been receiving Messages from Source and are authors, teachers , and healers. In this podcast Rochelle and Sandra J discuss some of the Messages from Source, the layers and how our words , actions, beliefs, thoughts and what we listen to and watch can dramatically impact our health, happiness and state of being. Click here to listen
ART EN SOUL - We Rise by Helping Others Sara Revet and Sarah Hemetsberger share their vision for health, healing and wellness. Art En Soul Holistic Wellness and Training Centre was created to offer the community a variety of holistic therapeutic services and provide a peaceful, harmonious space for connection and learning. Click here to listen
Receiving the Healing that is Yours In this thought provoking podcast Rochelle talks about the five steps that people can take to make changes in their lives including healing. Rochelle and Sandra have been receiving Messages from Source and are authors, teachers , and healers. Their workshops, live events, courses, meditations, books, entoring/coaching/ transformation sessions, and healing sessions, are designed to guide and support your journey. Click here to listen
CONTENTS IFC
ISSUE 99 SPRING 2017
Living Well Radio – brings you Enlightening Conversations and Encourages Conscious Choice. Podcast interviews at the round table with Patricia and Jacquie from Conscious Living and Rochelle & SandraJ at Flip 180 Radio
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From the Editors
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Behind the Scenes - contributors Dr Cabot. Sherrill Sellman Martin Oliver, Jan Mawdesley, Colleen Clay
34 - 36 Theraphi: Vibrational Healing of the Future + interview with Zsuzsanna Hay 37
38 - 39 Is Dementia Avoidable? - Louise Hallinan
CONSCIOUS PARENTING 40 - 42 Governments Control Families join the conversation
FEATURED 4 - 6
Featured Artist Spotlight Kez Wickham St George
8 - 11
Expo Feature: Be Inspired: Connect to your inner vision and awaken to your purpose
13 - 15 Anthony Grzelka brings us Messages from Heaven
CONSCIOUS FOOD 16-19
CONSCIOUS ECO LIVING 43 - 44 News: Detroit Eco Village - Martin Oliver
CONSCIOUS SPIRITUALITY 45 - 46 Excel at Being Tranquil Master Behram Ghista 47 - 49 You Are Deserving - Rochelle and Sandra J 50 -51
Spirulina – Rescuing Civilization with Green Slime- Ken Street
22 - 25 Homeopathy Under Threat by Martin Oliver 26 - 28 Keep Your Child’s Immune System Strong Sandra Cabot 29 - 31 Natural Non-Hormonal Birth Control by Sherrill Sellman 32 - 32 The Power of Probiotics by Stuart Morick
Lemurian Crystals Balance Atlantis Influences Adam Barralet
CONSCIOUS ARTS
20 Review: Spirulina – our perfect future food
CONSCIOUS HEALTH
Chakra Health & Lymph Drainage - Dr Ravi
52 - 54 Channelled Art - Spotlight on Johnny Garcia 55
Featured Book Review Pomegranate
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Defiant Earth The fate of humans in the Anthropocene
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Book Reviews
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Featured music: Songs of Potential Embrace
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Music reviews
See More Articles ONLINE - NEW Magazine Website
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From the Issue 99 Spring 2017 Publisher and Editor Patricia Hamilton patricia@consciousliving.net.au T: 08 9446 5883 Mobile 0418955396 Co Editor Jacqueline Walker jacquie@consciousliving.net.au T: 08 9446 5883 Mobile 0427 277803 Features Editor Colleen Clay editor@consciousliving.net.au Exhibition & Advertising Sales National Patricia Hamilton patricia@consciousliving.net.au Tel (08) 9446 5883 mobile 0418 955396 Perth Liz Mulvey lizmulvey@consciousliving.net.au Mobile: 0409937763 Subscriptions & Memberships Jacquie Walker subscribe2@consciousliving.net.au Contributing Writers: Dr Sandra Cabot, Colleen Clay, Louise Hallinan, Patricia Hamilton, Arooza Irani, Sandra Junckerstorff, Jan Mawdesley, Rochelle McDonnell, Cushla Lovejoy Ph.D., Stuart Morick, Martin Oliver, Dr Ravi Ratan, Dr Sherrill Sellman, Dr Ken Street, Linda van Zijl, Jacquie Walker, Kez Wickham St George. Graphic Design Zoran Maksimovic Front Cover Art by Kez Wickham St George Photograph byJonathan Gladstone Images: I-stock, Pexels, Pixabay and Johnny Garcia Publisher Conscious Living Co-Creations Pty Ltd ATF the PH Trust ABN 30 064 748 794 103 Paramatta Road, Doubleview WA 6018 Tel 61 8 9446 5883 subscribe2@consciousliving.net.au www.consciouslivingmagazine.com.au
Dear Readers
Editors
What Excitement! We have the most amazing program shaping up for this upcoming Conscious Living Expo November 3-5.
Up Close and Personal
Have you wondered who Anthony Grzelka is and how he became a Ghost whisperer? Listen to his podcast interview where he talks about his personal journey that flows into the article Messages from Heaven. You can join Anthony at his seminar Nov 5 at Conscious Living Expo.
Listen and be inspired
Living Well Radio is growing and we have a feast of great interviews for you. Meet our community leaders who are shaping the future through living their purpose as they share their journey with you… their stories are fascinating and inspiring. Meet Rochelle and Sandra J who bring to us messages from Source; Lou Van Stone talks about channelling celestial downloads though sound and light language; Larissa O’Neill from Wyld Tribe shares her passion, journey and vision for holding sacred healing spaces for women.
Family Health
Does your child constantly have colds, chest infections and stomach bugs? Dr Sandra Cabot’s article looks at what you can do to help increase your child’s immunity. Louise Hallinan asks us to look to the causes behind memory loss and dementia. What does laughing gas have to do with it? Choices – are they being eroded? Why is the conversation about vaccinations and children’s wellbeing silenced? As a parent or family member you may be interested in reading more. What is homeopathy and how does it work? Draw your own conclusions. Zsuzsanna introduces us to the Theraphi machine that is bringing hope to many families and Rochelle and Sandra J share with us the PEIEC method of healing and the 5 Songs of Purpose. Are you looking for a book or cd for that Spring holiday? Take a look at Jan Mawdesley’s reviews. Enjoy reading Love, blessings, joy and warm wishes
Patricia Hamilton & Jacquie Walker
Disclaimer The publisher and editor do not necessarily endorse the opinions expressed by individual writers or advertisers. Editorial advice is nonspecific and readers are advised to seek professional advice for individual issues.
Conscious Living Purpose To facilitate the expansion of consciousness and to co-create a world of harmony, love and wellbeing Copyright Conscious Living Magazine 2017 All rights ISSN 10336826 2 reserved CONSCIOUS LIVING MAGAZINE
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Behind the Scene Meet the people who help to create Conscious Living Magazine Dr Sandra Cabot
Dr Cabot is the Medical and Executive Director of the Australian National Health Advisory Service. She graduated with first class honours in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Adelaide in South Australia in 1975. Dr Cabot began her medical career in 1980 as a GP Obstetrician-Gynaecologist and practised in Sydney Australia. During the mid-1980’s she spent 6 months working as a volunteer doctor at the Leyman hospital, which was the largest missionary hospital in Northern India. Dr Cabot is the author of the award-winning Liver Cleansing Diet, the bestselling non-fiction book of the 90’s that still sells today! Dr Cabot has also written many other ground-breaking books.
Dr Sherrill Sellman ND.
Dr Sherrill Sellman is internationally known as an expert in women’s health and author of several self-care books including Hormone Heresy. She is a psychotherapist, health journalist and hormone wellness coach who teaches, lectures and consults worldwide. Her areas of expertise include: the dangers of electropollution, the myths and truths of menopause, hysterectomies, perimenopause, menstrual wisdom, practical holistic solutions for regaining hormonal balance, osteoporosis, breast cancer prevention, permanent weight loss, food as medicine, and stress management.
Martin Oliver
Martin Oliver, a writer and researcher based in Lismore (Northern NSW), researches and writes articles for Conscious Living and other publications, bringing us up-to-date on important health and environmental issues that impact us in our everyday lives. He is passionate about the environment and the health of the planet.
Jan Mawdesley – Book and Music Reviews
A journalist and newspaper editor for many years, Jan now enjoys writing for pleasure and has over the past ten years written many reviews for Conscious Living Magazine. She has also established what has become a well-respected website reviewing a wide genre of subjects from Australian History, general fiction, romance, young adult and children’s literature. Music has also become a popular review area featuring a wide ranging, eclectic mix of artists and their inspirational music.
Colleen Clay – Features Editor
Colleen has more than 30 years experience in print media publishing, covering newspaper and magazine journalism, sub editing and editing, book editing and ghostwriting. She assists writers to achieve their aim of producing a book, whether it be an instructive or self-help text, short stories, family memoir or a novel. She has been associated with Conscious Living magazine for more than 20 years, including as an editor for one year. Currently, Colleen sub edits most of the text in each edition of the magazine. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the people who contribute and help us produce this wonderful magazine. They are the backbone of our publication and we thank them for all their contributions. SPRING 2017
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Guided
Creative Artist Kez Wickham St George
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n International Author, creative Artist, Speaker and Mentor, Kez is celebrating life with her first solo exhibition, Hidden Faces. Kez is an abstract artist with a broad and flexible technique developed over many years working with mixed media. She studied Art and Art History at the University of Auckland, and moved to Rockingham in 2004. Kez often uses motifs from the South Pacific Islands and acrylics, recycled paper, pastels, and liquid
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glass to create unique pieces on large canvases, wood & other solid-based materials. Her art work has been displayed nationally and internationally and has recently been described by an art critic as, ‘A progressive, interactive collection. Placing herself on many walls globally by using her skills in the arts she is passionate about.’ After co exhibiting for many years with wellknown local and international acclaimed artists, Kez said, ‘It was time to go it alone. I know this particular exhibition’s work is unique and unusual.’ One well known art critic saying that, her work displayed her
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magical multicultural childhood background that she had transferred to the canvas. Her collections have been featured in solo and group exhibitions across Western Australia. Several of her creations hang in private residences overseas, including in South Africa, England, New Zealand, Fiji and Australia. Kez’s art often wanders into the realm of the mysterious. She is an Ambassador for Wearable Arts and has been involved for 5 years. She is their Floral artist for all presentations held in Mandurah. She recently created wearable arts for the yearly Wearable Arts competition held in Mandurah 2017 has been a very busy year for Kez, with two books about to be published. The first one is a kiddie’s book called Sea Pea; this was written as she travelled past Aripaha on the East coast of New Zealand. The seaweed picker’s huts mesmerised her, as did their lifestyle and stories. The other is an adult paranormal novel, The Indigo Child, which is being launched at the Conscious Living Expo November 2017. This novel
‘Earth, flora and fauna; they are my focus in life’ totally fascinated Kez as she began the story about tribal transgender; late nights, research and talking with others about this topic, opened a whole new world for her. Nature has a strong pull for Kez, and her first children’s book, Sea Pea, revolves around the seaweed pickers of Aripaha on the East coast of New Zealand (Northland, by the north cape). The area also inspired her second full adult novel, Metal Mermaid. “Earth, flora and fauna; they are my focus in life,” Kez said. “This is why the seaweed pickers have captivated me. “They take nothing: they only use what is delivered to them from their environment, land or sea. They build their dwellings from washed up timber, for instance.” Adding them into her second full novel Metal Mermaid, Kez realised what a fabulous children’s story it would make. Sea Pea was born. The second novel in a trilogy called Scribe, The Indigo Child is an adult paranormal novel about a tribal transgender. It follows the story of Sorcha, a young herbalist. Describing Sorcha, Kez said: “The story is about an 18th Century herbalist, a young hunchback woman named 6
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Sorcha, who found a way to safely deal with breach birth. It involves a royal family and came about because I am fascinated by herbalism.” An ongoing interest inherited from her Mum, in herbalism and aromatherapy; two of nature’s gifts, began years ago, when Kez ‘dipped her toe’ into these subjects, and gained an aromatherapy diploma. Kez believes it is a privilege to guide people on an experience they can call their very own, which can often be healing, or a journey of deep discovery. In WA’s south west, at the Balingup Telling Tales, a children’s festival, Kez is the resident ghost writer, teaching children how to be creative when writing their own ghost stories. Kez has been published internationally with six novels; she has been published in a United Kingdom poetry novelette, called Tall & Short stories, a UK based Amazon fund-raiser for the Heart Cancer society.
GUIDING OTHERS
Her passion for mentorship for all writers, playwrights and artists is close to her heart. Putting it simply, Kez said: “I struggled in my earlier years about how to set about doing what I wanted to do, so to pass on useful information to those struggling or wondering what to do next is a privilege. To help another grow with their passion is a legacy I’m keen to share.’ While travelling some time ago, Kez met her first mentee, together they produced a children’s book. When the young author showed her the published product, Kez knew she could guide others. Since then there have been those that have gone public and others who kept their stories for their families. Two of Kez’s most recent mentees are a 77-year-old who wrote about his family history, and a Perth family, one of whom is a playwright. “It’s a busy life, but I love it,” Kez said. “If just one of my art pieces, novels or a little advice in the creative field can help, or take you back to the mystery and magic of childhood, or can twitch a smile into place, then my job is done.” Kez Wickham St George will be speaking at the Conscious Living Expo in Perth this November where she is showcasing her art and books. For further information go to www.kezwickhamstgeorge.com or www.facebook.com/kez.wickhamstgeorge SPRING 2017
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Step into the Beginning of What is to Become E
nergetic changes are transforming the planet and our reality. It is time to embrace and connect more fully with our true nature and purpose. At Conscious Living’s Expo in Perth this November 3-5 you will connect with awakened leaders, teachers and ordinary individuals who are stepping up and helping us to meet the challenges that are arising. Embracing the way forward and flowing into your destiny will be easier when you open yourself to explore what is presenting itself in your life right now.
Find Inspiration to Change The program of speakers is truly inspirational featuring the leading West Australian practitioners and authors in the fields of health and healing, spiritual growth, personal development, nutrition and natural medicine. The 3 Day Program includes 32 Free Talks, 13 Keynote Seminars, and 6 Featured Events as well as experiential meditations.
Awaken Your Consciousness
Keynote Speaker Q&A Panels Friday - What is Healing? Divinely channelled, and vibrational healing is taking us into a new paradigm transcending many of the established modalities of natural therapies. The panellists are Dr Cushla Lovejoy PhD, Johnny Garcia from Mexico, Sandra Junckerstorff, Rochelle McDonnell, Larissa O’Neill, Zoran Cunjak and Freya Savitri-McDonald Saturday – Find Your True Purpose Rochelle O’Donnell and Sandra Junckerstorff give personal guided messages from Source to reveal your why and move you to a higher place of enlightened purpose. Sunday - Authors Inspired by Spirit The challenges and opportunities of writing and getting your spirit inspired work published . Carolyn McAndrew, a publisher is joined by authors, Kez Wickham St George; Sandra Junkerstoff, Rochelle McDonnell, Anthony Grzelka and Adam Barralet
Help us to Empower Girls and Women in Impoverished Communities We donate 10% of your Ticket Price to PLAN INTERNATIONAL See the Full Program Early Bird Tickets and Event at www.consciouslivingexpo.com.au
Each morning the Expo opens with a Guided Meditation from Source – The 5 Songs of Purpose is filled with the beauty, purity and light of healing and connection. It will lead you to your higher self, bringing you home with a gentleness and purity that connects you to all that you are and ‘All that is’.
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AWESOME EARLY BIRD TICKET PACKAGES
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Featured Events Celestial Sound Voyage Sound Priestess, Lou channels conscious divine music from deep in the earth and high in the heavens and sings it gently into the core of your being. This transcends singing, it is Sonic Surgery. Penetrating deep into your cells, leaving them dancing and vibrating with light. In her Celestial Sound Healing Voyage sessions in the Sound Temple Lou Van Stone channels personal messages for each person through the language of light and sound. A hypnotic and deeply moving musical experience, from which you will emerge transformed.
Divine Mothers Soul Activation Dr Cushla Lovejoy and Johnny Garcia channel the Divine Mothers who will take you on a journey to experience and open your heart energy. Receive a personal inspirational card and messages as you immerse yourself in the Divine Mothers’ energy in a deeply healing meditation.
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Messages from Heaven In a live awe inspiring performance Anthony Grzelka will entertain and enlighten, while at the same time having audiences questioning what they think about heaven and the afterlife.
Sound Alchemy Journey with Julian Silburn Julian has devoted his life to sound healing and is known for his work nationally and internationally. He learned Yidaki, (Didjeridu) directly from Aboriginal people around Australia including Arnhem land (where the Yidaki originates), and has been playing and healing for more than 20 years. Julian Silburn’s sessions will activate and open your heart energy raising your vibrations and lifting your energy. In this space healing often happens.
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Vibrational Sound Bath with Kyela Miranda and Karl are co-creators of the Australian College of Sound Therapy, Together they play Tibetan and crystal singing bowls, Solfeggio pipes, Fibonacci chimes, Koshi bells , Wuhan wind gong and a Symphonic gong. The sounds of the instruments are both enchanting and captivating . Being in a session feels like a deeply relaxing vibrational massage for your whole being. Kyela are offering three sessions each day at the Expo
Discover the Secret to Sleep with Dr Melissa O’Shea Having experienced her own journey through insomnia, stress-related illness and chronic pain, Melissa has found a solution in the ‘ The Sounder Sleep System™, the only modality created specifically to combat insomnia. Thirteen years as a yoga and meditation teacher has enabled her to train over 10,000 people in the art of relaxation.
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Meet Australia’s
Ghost Whisperer Listen to the live interview with Anthony
Anthony Grzelka’s window into heaven By LINDA VAN ZIJL
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nternationally acclaimed Medium Anthony Grzelka’s highly anticipated new book is set to hit shelves in early 2018.
The fourth to his name, and titled The First Four Days in Heaven, it will bestow upon readers an idea of what awaits them on the other side. Who better to pen such a book than someone who directly interacts with both worlds?
HOPE, HEALING, LOVE
Anthony has been working as one of Australia’s top Psychic Mediums for well over a decade. Astounding people with his accuracy and changing thousands of lives with messages of hope, healing and love from the other side, he is respected for his empathetic delivery of the information he receives. Mediumship, while often viewed as a gift, is a craft that can be honed, and experience and dedication have been instrumental in Anthony’s evolution as a Medium.
DOWN TO EARTH
A father of three and an avid Elvis fan, Anthony was born and raised in Australia’s South West, where he still resides. Anthony spends his rare ‘down time’ on his property in the South West with his family and his ‘herd’ of dogs, including two German Shepherds, a breed he loves. He credits his family for keeping him grounded, and for a man with one foot in each world much of the time, this is both necessary and welcomed. One might look at Anthony and mistake him for a plumber, a jackaroo or even an insurance salesman, and think, “What does this man know of heaven?” But watching Anthony engage with the world of Spirit can turn even the most hardened sceptics and allow a glimpse 12
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behind the veil that separates this world and the next. Regularly holding demonstrations with platform readings around Perth and Australia, sell-out audiences are spellbound by his ability to connect to their loved ones in the Spirit World. Attendees say the connections they witness are often so meaningful, the comfort is shared by those not receiving the reading. And amazingly, some of those heart-warming readings are connections made to our fur families on the other side, even extending to the odd one with scales, or feathered friends with colourful language.
‘Mediumship is a craft that can be honed’ Anthony’s compassionate, down-to-earth and at times hilariously quick-witted nature means patrons leave his Mediumship events usually having laughed, cried and cringed while witnessing something truly memorable and special. Many have become staunch followers, recognising that something extraordinary happens at his ‘readings’. When concluding his demonstrations, Anthony opens the floor to questions about his work and this practice inspired the release of his first book, Medium Down Under. He wrote it to demystify specific spirit-related subjects frequently discussed at these Q & A sessions. After the book’s runaway success, Anthony began work on his second, Life and Beyond: A Medium’s Guide to Dealing with Loss and Making Contact. It provides valuable tips for spiritual wellbeing, and how this can assist us or our loved ones in times of loss or adversity. SPRING 2017
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Life and Beyond attracted glowing reviews from James van Praagh, a world renowned Medium in the United States and Executive Producer of the hit TV series, The Ghost Whisperer. It was Anthony’s long association with van Praagh and the TV series that earned him the title Australia’s Ghost Whisperer.
SPINE TINGLING MOMENTS
‘He has provided readings for families of coma or stroke patients, those with a severe disability, or Alzheimer’s patients’
Anthony’s third book, Spooked, is a chilling insight into some of the spine-tingling moments he has encountered. This book draws on his experience as a professional Medium and many of his extraordinary experiences as a ghost hunter. Regularly conducting night tours of some of Australia’s most spooky and haunted locations, Anthony also holds séances for small groups, which are an opportunity to witness various physical attributes of Mediumship. He has visited some of the creepiest and arguably most haunted places in the world, including Scotland, England and the US, and has conducted many ghost hunts in Australia. His now infamous Greenough Village Ghost Hunt takes small groups through the ghost town of Greenough for a night of paranormal investigations that will stay with tour goers long after torches have been switched off and sleeping bags rolled up.
that has been shared with him, based on information gathered in his many readings and communications with the other side. After receiving frequent requests at workshops from clients who had difficulty in meditating, Anthony released two Guided Meditation CD’s. The first features a Healing Meditation, Chakra Meditation and one designed especially for the busy person on the go. His second CD focuses on Wellness, Anxiety and Depression. Using specific ‘sound frequencies that stimulate serotonin, this CD will assist with grounding, focus and concentration, and teaches the basic foundations and benefits of meditation.
OUIJA BOARD SEANCES
SOUL TALKING TECHNIQUE
Anthony is one of only a handful of Mediums in Australia conducting séances at a professional level. A bit of an advocate for breaking down the negative stigma associated with Ouija Boards, Anthony’s séances demonstrate that these can be a safe and useful tool when used responsibly with the right intent, and with an experienced Medium present. And despite what Hollywood would have us believe, it’s almost always an attendee’s family members on the other side who want to communicate their existence, just like his at ‘platform’ demonstrations. Working for the past 18 years as a professional Medium has also allowed Anthony to become involved with many criminal investigations on behalf of law enforcement in Australia and the US. With Anthony’s growing reputation for uncanny accuracy in finding crucial clues in several very high-profile criminal investigations, he is regularly contacted to work with police and criminal investigators. Anthony’s work in this field has often extended out to missing persons cases and although booked out for private sessions and public appearances for months in advance, he tries to offer assistance when he can with these cases. Anthony is no stranger to work in TV either, with numerous appearances on daytime TV, including being a contestant on the top-rating Channel 7 show, The One. Within his current project, The First Four Days in Heaven, Anthony hopes to pass on to readers the understanding 14
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Anthony has also been contacted by a team of doctors in the US who specialize in the field of Alzheimer’s, regarding his technique of ‘Soul Talking’, in which he is able to communicate at a soul level. He has provided hundreds of readings for families who have loved ones in these circumstances, such as coma or stroke patients, those with a severe disability, or Alzheimer’s patients. In these readings, he gives details about the loved one’s inner world, relating what he or she may wish to say but is unable to. These moving connections must be seen to be believed. Some of his patrons have been fortunate enough to witness them at his Mediumship Demonstrations. Next year Anthony will launch new development groups in Bunbury and Perth. Participants will hone their skills under his guidance. Anthony’s established workshops are ongoing. He runs twice yearly tours of the Haunted Greenough Townsite in April and October and he is planning to tour the Eastern States of Australia in the new year. Anthony will be appearing at the Conscious Living Expo in November 5. For more information about Anthony go to www.whispersfrombeyond.com.au or call 089791 8529.
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Messages from Heaven with Anthony Grzelka Ghost Whisperer
LIVE AT THE CONSCIOUS LIVING EXPO
Sunday 5th November 12.00 – 1:30pm Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre
In a live awe inspiring performance Anthony Grzelka will entertain and enlighten, while at the same time having audiences questioning what they think about heaven and the afterlife.
EARLY BIRD TICKETS Book Tickets Online To Secure Your Seat SPRING 2017
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CONSCIOUS FOOD
Rescuing Civilization
with Green Slime Spirulina – our perfect future food By KEN STREET
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rom primordial slime to future food. The future is now.
What role could an ancient microorganism that was here long before our distant ancestors climbed out of the mother swamp play in rescuing civilization from its demise. Is a humble blue-green algae key to solving a global problem? To answer this question, let’s do a brief history of civilization. Urban civilization began when our hunter-gatherer ancestors domesticated a few crop species that allowed them to live in fixed locations, and not spend so much time running around looking for food. That was about 12,000 years ago.
MORE TIME TO RESEARCH
As farming methods improved, less time needed to be spent on growing food, leaving more time to research and develop technologies such as metallurgy, chemistry, commerce, civics, philosophy, religion, military, politics, and so on. This led to larger, more complex civilizations and urban centres. Now, more than four billion people live in cities and rely on broad acre, mechanized, industrial agriculture for their daily bread. By 2050 that figure will have grown to more
‘If industrial agriculture were to fail, civilization would collapse’ Photo by Shannon Street
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than six billion, and many of us will be living in science fiction style megacities. So, what would happen to civilization if industrial agriculture were to fail? The answer is simple. Civilization would collapse, plunging the world into an apocalyptic dystopia. By 2050 demand for food is projected to increase by up to 70 per cent. A smart question to ask is “just how stable and secure is our agricultural system”. The answer: it is extremely vulnerable and the future does not look bright. During the past 100 years, we have lost 80 per cent of our agrobiodiversity as modern higher yielding, better adapted but genetically uniform crop cultivars replace old and diverse farmer varieties. This leaves our agro-ecosystems vulnerable because they have very little genetic wriggle room to respond to changing conditions.
PERFECT STORM BREWING
And change is coming. It is not being alarmist to assert that a perfect storm of interrelated factors is brewing just over the horizon. Facts we can be certain of are: • Most of our current crop varieties will not be able to perform under the projected temperature increases. • Industrial agriculture is a major contributor to climate change. • Agriculture uses 6800 trillion litres of fresh water per year. • About 30 per cent of the fresh water we use is underground. We are rapidly pumping these aquifers dry faster than they are refilled, leaving us with monstrous water deficits. • We lose around 10 million hectares of farming land each year to land degradation • We use 16.6 billion barrels of fossil fuel to grow our crops. Fossil fuel is a finite resource, which is unequally distributed leading to increasing conflict. • As climates change new pests and disease biotypes are emerging, against which our crop varieties have little resistance. • Increasing cases of extreme weather events are already taking their toll on agricultural production, and the situation will worsen. • We are degrading the natural ecosystems that provide essential services to our agroecosystems. • Governments are spending less and less on agricultural research, right when it is needed the most. What are we to do? We need to produce more food on less land, using fewer inputs under conditions that are becoming less favourable. We need a paradigm shift in how we think about food production. SPRING 2017
‘To produce one kilogram of protein, spirulina uses 26 times and 318 times less land than soy beans and beef, respectively’ TIME FOR ‘NEW’ TALENT
While wheat, rice, soya beans and maize were the rockstars of the green revolution, perhaps it time for some ‘new’ talent. Perhaps the humble microorganism’s time has come. Let’s talk about Spirulina. Spirulina – scientific name Athrospira plantensis – is a microscopic photosynthetic cyanobacteria often referred to as blue-green algae. As one of the elder species, it has been around for more than three and a half billion years and by its action helped oxygenated our planet, making terrestrial life possible. Could it render us another service in our age of need? Most definitely, yes. Later we will discuss why the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has described spirulina as
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CONSCIOUS FOOD the most perfect food for human kind. But now let’s talk about why it is a fit for helping us face a troubling future.
PHOTOSYNTHESIS
More carbon dioxide? Perfect! As a photosynthetic organism, it takes CO2 from the atmosphere and makes carbohydrates; the higher the concentration the better. Higher temperatures! Not a problem. Spirulina’s optimal temperature range is between 35 – 37oC, while the yield of our cereal crops decline sharply much beyond w32oC. Water shortage? Spirulina wins hands down. To produce one kilogram of protein, it costs spirulina 2100 litres, while soy bean costs 9000 litres and beef 100,000 litres. What is more, spirulina can be grown in inferior quality water that is no good for growing crops. What about land use. Again, spirulina has it nailed. To produce one kilogram of protein, it uses 26 times and 318 times less land than soy beans and beef, respectively. Because Spirulina just floats around in a nutrient rich pond absorbing food directly through its cell wall, there is no loss of nutrients from the system. It is almost 100 per cent nutrient-use efficient. On the other hand, up to
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65 per cent of the fertilisers applied to our crop plants never get taken up, often running off to cause massive environmental problems.
UN: ‘IDEAL FOOD FOR MANKIND’
So, on all accounts Spirulina looks to be a robust, efficient future crop. But is it any good to eat? This is where things get even more compelling. Spirulina really is a giant among superfoods with a wealth of scientific evidence to back up the claims. It is for this reason that the United Nations asserts that spirulina is “the most ideal food for mankind”. As well, the United States Department of Agriculture has declared that “Spirulina is a food for the future”. And the FAO has called upon nations to look to spirulina to fulfil their food security needs.
‘You could grow spirulina in soda bottle, a fish tank, a kids swimming pool or in a massive commercial pond’
SPRING 2017
MORE THAN 100 NUTRIENTS
What is so impressive about Spirulina as a food? With more than 100 essential nutrients, spirulina has one of the highest concentrations of vitamins, minerals and bioactive compounds in the world including: biotin, calcium, iron magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, vitamins A complex, B complex, D, E, niacin and pantothenic acid. Spirulina is particularly dense with these nutrients. For example, it has: • 3900% more beta-carotene than carrots • 2300% more iron than spinach • 300% more calcium than whole milk • 375% more protein than tofu and 200 % more than meat Further, 60 to 70 per cent by weight, is made up of protein with a full suite of essential amino acids in the same balance as human breast milk. But what is most impressive about spirulina is the range of health benefits it has exhibited in literally hundreds of peer reviewed scientific studies. For example, spirulina was shown to: • Have powerful Anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory activity. Just three grams of spirulina contains more antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity than five servings of vegetables. • Boosts immune function. • Decreases strokes. • Blood pressure control. • Anti-cancer properties. • Reverse anaemia. • Reduce cholesterol. • Have a positive impact on vascular activity and high blood pressure. • Reduce allergic responses. • Assist in the treatment of diabetes and blood sugar metabolism • Improve muscle strength and endurance. • Protects the brain from degenerative diseases. • Protection against free radicals and associated antiaging effects. • Detoxify the body of heavy metals. • Reverse radiation poisoning.
production systems. But there is more. You can grow it yourself. It’s easy. You can’t grow a cow, an almond tree, enough wheat to make a loaf of bread or enough chickpeas to make humous in your window sill, but you can grow enough spirulina for your own needs. This is because spirulina only requires some water and nutrients to flourish, and growing it is totally scalable. You could farm it in soda bottle, a fish tank, a kids swimming pool or in a massive commercial pond. In this context, spirulina is perfect for urban farming. Imagine the health benefits of growing your own spirulina at home.
Surely when Hippocrates said: “let food by thy medicine and medicine be thy food”, he must have been referring to spirulina
Dr Ken Street is an agricultural scientist and associate professor at the Murdoch University’s Algae R&D Centre. He is currently preparing to release a DIY kit so anyone can easily grow spirulina at home. E: ken@spirulinagrowco.com.au Website: www. spirulinagrowco.com.au
GROW YOUR OWN SPIRULINA
Not only is spirulina a perfect food and medicine, it could literally help prevent the collapse of civilization as conditions become increasingly hostile to traditional food Photo by Brad Street SPRING 2017
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Start Up Kit
Grow your own Spirulina in your home Spirulina seed culture from the Spirulina Grow Co If ever there was a Rockstar of superfoods it would have to be spirulina (Athrospira platensis) and now you can grow it in your own home. Using a lot less space and requiring only a fraction of the time it takes to tend a vegetable garden you can grow enough spirulina to keep your family in a fresh supply of this potent food. Packed full of essential vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients spirulina is one of the most nutritionally dense foods known to us. What is more it is scientifically proven to promote and stimulate the immune system, restore and enhance beneficial intestinal flora, enhance the body’s own natural healing responses, strengthen neuro-protection, promote anti-aging, detoxify pollutants, heavy metals, radioactive compounds and to improve eye and cellular health with antioxidants. The Spirulina Grow Co, offers you the opportunity to grow spirulina in your own home. The company provides you with a living culture of the organism plus a food grade nutrient mix and concise step-bystep growing instructions to get your own culture up and growing.
SO EASY
The growing instruction seem simple enough. Essentially, you set up what amounts to an aquarium: you add water and nutrients, pump air through it, heat it with an aquarium
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heater if need be and then add the live culture and put it a sunny location. If you maintain the right conditions (temperature, light and nutrients) the organism will look after itself and double in volume every 2 – 3 days. It is relatively low maintenance once the culture has reached full capacity. Harvesting, as per the instructions, is straight forward. One just sieves a portion of the culture through the same sort of fabric you would use to make nut milk. You are then left with a green paste which can consumed as is right away or frozen for later consumption. To regrow what you have harvested, you just add some more nutrients to the culture vessel. The equipment needed to set up and maintain a spirulina farm is fairly basic and can all be purchased on e-bay or found in local hardware or aquarium stores. All in all, spirulina farming is a straight forward process that promises to bare rich fruit whilst not burning a hole in your pocket or chewing up your time. For more information go to www.spirulinagrowco.com.au SPRING 2017
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CONSCIOUS HEALTH
Homeopathy
Under Threat Attempt to stamp out 200-year old therapy By MARTIN OLIVER
H
omeopathy is widely considered by those who use it to be highly effective.
As a holistic therapy, it works to treat the person and not just the condition. The world’s second-largest system of medicine, it is used by more than five hundred million people worldwide, and India alone has more than two hundred thousand homeopathic practitioners. However, homeopathy is controversial, and much of this is tied to the way in which it fails to match the dictates of reductionist science.
‘DNA produces structural changes in water, which persist at very high dilutions, and which lead to resonant electromagnetic signals that we can measure.’ ELECTROMAGNETIC SIGNALS
If homeopathic medicines are diluted to the point that no remaining molecule of the active substance remains, then the only mechanism through which it could work is a sofar-unexplained energy phenomenon. In relation to this, in the January 2011 issue of Science, Nobel Prize winner Luc Montagnier wrote: “What we have found is that DNA produces structural changes in water, which 22 CONSCIOUS LIVING MAGAZINE
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persist at very high dilutions, and which lead to resonant electromagnetic signals that we can measure.” In Australia, despite homeopathics being used by about a million people, there are worrying moves afoot to undermine homeopathy, and to curtail access to medicines. The modality could effectively be shut down, in which case Australia would attract a growing reputation as a hotspot for medico-authoritarianism. The reason why Australian homeopathy is on the back foot today is a 2015 review conducted by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) that concluded a lack of ‘reliable’ evidence to support homeopathy’s effectiveness.
CONCERNS UNCOVERED
However, detective work by the Australian Homeopathic Association together with other allied groups has uncovered a range of concerns: • The NHMRC had a strong anti-homeopathy bias before commencing the review. In December 2010, the Medical Journal of Australia published a piece by Warwick Anderson, then CEO of the NHMRC, in which he described homeopathy as a “retreat from reason” and an “alleged therapy”. At about the same time, a NHMRC draft position statement was drawn up that described homeopathy as “unethical”, “inefficacious” and “deceptive”, as revealed in an April 2011 leak. • An initial homeopathy review was started by the author of NHMRC’s own guidelines on how to conduct evidence reviews, resulting in a 2012 report that was then abandoned, with its findings and existence concealed. • The review process was restarted using under a second contractor. • A member of the anti-natural health lobby group Friends of Science in Medicine (Professor Peter Brooks) SPRING 2017
was appointed to the expert committee. He resigned his chairmanship after the link was exposed, but remained on the committee. • Months into the new review, the goalposts were moved when significant changes were made to the research protocol. • In violation of the NHMRC’s own guidelines, there was no homeopathy expert on the panel. • No original studies were assessed (only systematic reviews were used.)
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‘In Switzerland… homeopathy and other forms of complementary medicine have been granted equal status with mainstream medicine’
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CONSCIOUS HEALTH • Despite media coverage referring to “rigorous assessment of over 1800 papers”, only 176 were assessed as qualifying for the review. • Only studies that had more than 150 participants and which were given an unusually high 100 per cent ‘quality rating’ (5/5 on the Jadad or an equivalent scale) contributed to the findings. This meant dismissing the results of 171 of the 176 trials and reducing the number of eligible studies to only 5 “reliable” trials. • Inconsistent parameters are being applied to diverse types of medicine. Most pharmaceuticals and vaccines would also fail the test applied to homeopathy.
‘Risks include an end to the Australian homeopathic manufacturing sector… and a general marginalisation of homeopathy’ FORMAL COMPLAINT
Because of these issues, a formal complaint running to about three hundred pages has been sent to the Commonwealth Ombudsman, by Complementary Medicines Australia, the Australian Homoeopathic Association and the Australian Traditional Medicine Society. The NHMRC report follows a couple of other homeopathy reviews, one of which was the UK’s 2010 Evidence Check 2 report that also took a critical stance. Again, accusations of bias were raised, with hearings dominated by individuals opposed to homeopathy, including three members of Sense About Science, an anti-natural health body that was receiving pharmaceutical funding. In response, a total of seventy MPs supported a motion critical of the report, and the Department of Health dismissed its recommendations, including heavyhanded steps such as banning homeopathic medicines.
SWISS CONCLUSION
In 2012, a thorough Swiss homeopathy report came out. Marking a huge contrast with Australia’s findings, it concluded that homeopathy works and is cost-effective when compared to conventional medicine. In Switzerland, since August 2017 homeopathy and 24 CONSCIOUS LIVING MAGAZINE
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other forms of complementary medicine have been granted equal status with mainstream medicine following a two-thirds majority in a referendum vote. The Swiss study has been deliberately excluded from Australian government reports, presumably because it would throw into doubt the central message about homeopathy’s supposed ineffectiveness. A look at homeopathy meta-analyses in 2013 found that four of the five completed at the time generally concluded a positive outcome above placebo. The fifth that took a different view (Shang et al, The Lancet 2005) has raised some concerns, with assertions that it failed to meet QUOROM (quality of reporting of meta-analyses) guidelines. In Australia, threats against homeopathy are coming from several different directions. The first is a Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) consultation on ‘low-risk products’ where the first round of consultations finished in May. Two of the four options on the table would have negative implications for the modality, if adopted.
ENLISTING THE ACCC
One would be to remove homeopathic products as therapeutic goods. Under this scenario, they would be regulated by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), a non-medicines-specialist body, rather than the TGA. Risks include an end to the Australian homeopathic manufacturing sector, a ban on therapeutic claims, and a general weakening and marginalisation of homeopathy in Australia. One possibility is that the ACCC could draw up its own definition of a homeopathic product that is not recognised by the global homeopathic community. Another option would be a partial exemption from regulation, one downside of which would be a likely drop in the quality of homeopathic products, with more inferior imports on the market. Indeed, therapeutic claims are already being targeted. Brauer is Australia’s largest homeopathic manufacturer SPRING 2017
and recently had on its website an e-book containing homeopathic advice for treating babies. This is currently being investigated by the TGA, following an approach to the health regulator by The Guardian newspaper, and Brauer has now removed both of its online homeopathy publications. A government review of pharmacy regulation recommended that homeopathics should be withdrawn from sale. In June 2017, the Department of Health issued preliminary advice encouraging pharmacies to stop stocking homeopathic medicines, and referred to “unacceptable risks”. Although the Pharmacy Guild of Australia rejected a ban, this message was taken seriously by Terry White Chemmart, which removed all homeopathic products from its sales website while giving its individual stores the discretion to stock them. If homeopathic medicines were to disappear from pharmacies, they would still be available from supermarkets, health food stores, homeopaths, and some naturopaths. The convoluted argument behind the ‘unacceptable risks’ message starts with the highly questionable premise that homeopathy does not work, based entirely on an interpretation of the NHMRC review. It then presupposes that the person has a serious medical condition, and the condition would have been helped by mainstream medicine. Lastly, an assumption is made that the individual is not combining both homeopathic and pharmaceutical medicines, which is another possibility.
HEALTH FREEDOM
Natural health, including homeopathy, lacks champions in Federal Parliament. Even the Greens have declined to champion health freedom and natural therapies as they court a greater level of ‘mainstream’ appeal. This is remarkable, given that two thirds of Australian use natural therapies or complimentary medicines. For supporters of homeopathy, it is disappointing to see much of Australia’s mainstream media, including the ABC, marching in step by adhering to the view that the modality has been solidly debunked by the NHMRC. All media outlets appear to be impervious to the notion that anomalies surrounding the NHMRC review process are worth seriously investigating. This ties in with a tendency towards media antipathy to natural forms of healing, which in turn foments public support for draconian steps to restrict public access to them. As a result, the need for reliable alternative information sources online is more important than ever.
with screenings to follow around the country. The film asks how homeopathy could possibly have lasted for two hundred years if it did not work, and a section is devoted to issues surrounding the NHMRC review. Late July saw the launch of the Your Health Your Choice campaign, which has an online petition on its homepage calling for a Senate inquiry into bias against complementary medicine, and an investigation of the NHMRC review.
‘The need for reliable alternative information sources online is more important than ever’ So far, this has attracted over eight thousand signatures and counting. The launch was attended by Zoe Naylor, the Australian actress who starred in McLeod’s Daughters, and the campaign has since been championed by natural therapist and best-selling author Ruth Sharkey. One of the best ways to stay updated is to join the Your Health Your Choice and 4 Homeopathy Australasia Facebook groups. RESOURCES NHMRC review ombudsman complaint executive summary www.hri-research.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/ Executive-Summary-to-Ombudsman-Complaint-re-NHMRCHomeopathy-Review-FINAL.pdf Just One Drop www.justonedropfilm.com Web: Your Health Your Choice www.yourhealthyourchoice.com.au FB: Your Health Your Choice www.facebook.com/yourhealthyourchoice.com.au FB: 4 Homeopathy Australasia www.facebook.com/4haust Martin Oliver is a writer and researcher based in Lismore.
FILM RELEASED
Meanwhile, a high-profile documentary film about the politics of homeopathy called Just One Drop was released overseas in early 2017, and premiered in Australia in July, SPRING 2017
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CONSCIOUS HEALTH
Strengthen Your Child’s Immune System By DR SANDRA CABOT
I
t is not uncommon for children to experience colds, chest infections and stomach bugs.
Their immune systems are still developing at this stage, and they are less equipped with the immune power to ward off those nasty bugs. They are also more likely to come into contact with germs from other children. However, if your child is frequently sick, or experiencing prolonged infections, it is likely that his or her immune system is weak and needs some support. Maintaining a strong and healthy immune system sets the foundation for good health, now and in the future.
‘Sugar can actually suppress the immune system and feed the growth of bad bacteria’ WHAT WEAKENS IMMUNITY?
A poor, nutrient deficient diet is the biggest reason why a child may have a week immune system. Fast food, soft drink, lollies, chocolate and other treats that come in brightly coloured packets are highly processed and full of sugar, additives, preservatives and bad fats that will not do your child’s immune system or general health any favours. Frequent consumption of these foods can have a profound effect on the immune system. Did you know that sugar can actually suppress the immune system and feed the growth of bad bacteria? In 2016 researchers at the University of Adelaide found that Australian children obtain nearly half of their daily energy intake from discretionary foods, more commonly
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referred to as junk food, and they are filled with immune suppressing sugar. The vitamins, minerals and antioxidants found in fresh vegetables and fruits are essential for supporting and strengthening the immune system. Because of the low intake of fresh vegetables and fruit in the diet, our children are missing out on these vitally important nutrients and their immune systems are suffering accordingly. A lack of essential fatty acids in the diet is another major problem. These are highest in seafood, and found in some nuts and seeds in smaller amounts. Most children do not eat fresh fish, and are commonly lacking in these important Omega 3 fatty acids. The overuse of antibiotic drugs is another major problem. They can weaken the immune system by destroying the healthy bacteria (flora) in the gut and by breeding antibiotic resistant bacteria and fungi, such as candida. A sizeable percentage of our immune system resides in the gut, and taking antibiotics regularly can lead to a weakened immune system. After a course of antibiotics, a superior quality probiotic should be taken for at least two months to help restore the balance of healthy bacteria.
FOOD SENSITIVITIES
Food sensitivities place a huge strain on the immune system, and can result in symptoms such as asthma, eczema, a runny nose, headaches, frequent colds, abdominal pain, bloating and ear infections. This occurs when the immune system detects certain food particles as foreign invaders and creates an immune response against them. The most common problem foods are dairy, gluten and yeast but can be any food. Removing the culprit foods from a child’s diet can offer a major improvement in his or her health and wellbeing. You can trial this with an elimination diet, by removing foods they commonly eat SPRING 2017
and see if symptoms improve, then reintroduce them one by one and monitor symptoms.
DIET AND LIFESTYLE GUIDE
Here are guidelines that if followed will play a key role in supporting your children’s immune systems. • Lead by example: Children will often mimic the behaviours of their parents. Set a good example and eat lots of healthy foods at home, and feed these to your children. Include an abundance of fresh vegetables and fruit, healthy fats and good-quality proteins, and try to keep things interesting and exciting. • Healthy snacks: There are lots of healthy snacks you can give your kids instead of the usual chips, chocolate and cereal bars. Fruit salad, brown rice crackers with avocado, apple slices and nut butter, veggie sticks with dip, smoothie popsicles, mini frittatas and boiled eggs are nutritious snacks your children will love. SPRING 2017
‘Food sensitivity occurs when the immune system detects certain food particles as foreign invaders and creates an immune response against them’ • Fermented foods: These are full of probiotics (good bugs) that will improve gut health and help to strengthen the immune system. Fermented foods such as yoghurt, miso soup, sauerkraut, tempeh and kefir should be integrated into your children’s diet to keep them nice and healthy. • Fresh juice: Juicing fresh vegetables and fruit is a quick and easy way to get concentrated vitamins, minerals and antioxidants into your children. This is particularly ISSUE 99
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CONSCIOUS HEALTH NUTRIENTS FOR IMMUNITY
There are vitamins and minerals that are essential for supporting and maintaining a healthy immune system. Everyone knows that vitamin C is an amazing nutrient for protecting the immune system, and is readily available in citrus fruit, berries, kiwi, tomato and capsicum. Additional to vitamin C, there are other nutrients that are vital to the immune system.
‘Fast foods will do more harm than good. Try to keep these foods to an absolute minimum’ beneficial when they are sick, to help them fight off those nasty virus’s. Ingredients that are great to juice include: celery, carrot, apple, beetroot, lemon, lime, orange, mint, ginger, parsley, pineapple and leafy greens vegetables. • Say no to sugar and fast food: You may think that you are doing your kids a favour by buying them a bag of lollies, or a burger-and-fries meal from a local fast food store, but the reality is this will do more harm than good. Try to keep these foods to an absolute minimum. • Get some sunlight: Kids these days spend too much time indoors watching TV or playing video games, and miss out on the wonderful health benefits of the sunshine! It is important to spend about 30 minutes in the sun each day to get a good dose of vitamin D. Get plenty of rest: Having a good night’s sleep is vital for the immune system as this is when the immune system recovers and replenishes. Studies have shown that sleep deprivation directly weakens the immune system, so make sure your children get plenty of sleep! 28 CONSCIOUS LIVING MAGAZINE
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These include: • Vitamin A: This vitamin supports healthy mucous membranes in the lungs and the gut, and helps protect the immune system. Vitamin A can be found in apricots, eggs, cheese, liver, pumpkin, spinach, sweet potatoes and carrots. • Vitamin E: An antioxidant that helps protect the body against damage, and to support a healthy immune system. Vitamin E can be found in sunflower seeds, almonds, eggs, beef, corn and wheat germ. • Vitamin D: This vitamin is important for healthy immune function and for supporting strong bones. Vitamin D is readily available from the sun and can also be found in cod liver oil, fish, eggs, beef liver and sprouted seeds. • Selenium: This vital mineral is a potent anti-viral which helps to ward off virus’s and reduces inflammation in the body. Selenium is naturally occurring in brazil nuts with smaller amounts found in fish, turkey, beef, eggs, cottage cheese and oats. • Zinc: Zinc helps to keep the immune system strong and is important for wound healing. It is found in seafood, yoghurt, cashew nuts, beans, beef, pepitas and almonds. • Iodine: A mineral that supports a healthy immune system and helps prevent infection. Iodine foods include seaweed, fish, yoghurt, eggs and prunes. A good immune tonic will contain all these vitamins and minerals to offer your child the best support. Give your little ones the immune strength they need to stay healthy! Dr Sandra Cabot is Medical and Executive Director of the Australian Women’s Health Advisory Service. Her medical centres are in New South Wales and South Australia. Her ground-breaking books include Hormones – Don’t Let Them Ruin Your Life, The Body Shaping Diet and The Liver Cleansing Diet. www.cabothealth.com.au SPRING 2017
CONSCIOUS HEALTH
Finally
Natural
Non-Hormonal Birth Control By DR SHERRILL SELLMAN, ND
W
henever a woman is considering some form of contraception, her medical doctor will immediately offer her a smorgasbord of options. Of course, the Birth Control Pill made with a combination of oestrogen and progestins will usually be the first recommendation. But, she could also choose an implant called Nexplanon, a tiny, thin rod about the size of a matchstick that is surgically implanted under the skin of the upper arm, releasing progestin for up to four years. Or, perhaps, she would prefer the NuvaRing, a small, flexible ring containing oestrogen and progestin inserted into the vagina and removed after three weeks and a new ring inserted one week later. The choices keep coming. There is always DepoProvera, an injection of progestin that prevents ovulation for up to three months. For women who prefer something other than the Pill or inserted devices, there is the Ortho Evra birth control patch that sticks to the body and releases oestrogen and progestin directly through the skin. A new patch is used each week for three weeks and a week with no patch.
LIST OF ‘MINOR’ SIDE-EFFECTS
A little secret about all hormonal contraceptives: the two main ingredients in hormonal contraceptives are either a combination of oestrogen and progestin (a synthetic form of the natural hormone progesterone) or progestinonly contraceptives. There are well-noted ‘minor’ side-effects experienced by many women that include breast tenderness, weight gain, skin and acne issues, hair loss, increased facial hair growth, nausea, nutrient depletion, mood swings, vaginitis, varicose veins and decreased libido. Quite a list, and there is more. SPRING 2017
‘Commonly experienced [by women using hormonal contraceptives] are major mood changes, including depression, anxiety, irritation, and angry outbursts’ Commonly experienced [by women using hormonal contraceptives] are major mood changes, including depression, anxiety, irritation, and angry outbursts. A study published in JAMA Psychiatry found that women using hormonal contraception faced a 23 per cent greater incidence of developing depression and greater use of antidepressants than women who did not use the drugs. Among teens using these contraceptives, that rate nearly doubled. However, there are even more serious problems. The hormonal combinations increase the risk of blood clots, strokes, heart attacks, migraines, high blood pressure, gall bladder disease, benign liver tumors, decreased bone density, infertility and yeast overgrowth. They alter the vaginal environment making it more hospitable to sexually transmitted diseases. Birth control pills adversely affect the beneficial microbiome in the intestines, which means a woman ISSUE 99
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CONSCIOUS HEALTH is more susceptible to yeast overgrowth, has lower immunity and more frequent infections. Using hormonal contraceptives is playing Russian roulette with your health. These hormone combinations increase the levels of clotting factors and are responsible for a three-to four-fold increase in the incidence of blood clots. In the US, the FDA warns that the patch version poses an even greater risk because the level of oestrogen absorbed from the patch is 60 per cent more than the amount delivered by the pills. A blood clot can occur in a leg (deep vein thrombosis) or in the lung (pulmonary embolism). The most alarming, yet least known, problem is that oestrogen and progestin can cause cancer. The World Health Organization’s cancer agency, the International Agency for Research on Cancer and the National Toxicology Program have listed oestrogens and progestins as known human carcinogens. This means taking any of the hormonal contraceptive choices will increase the risk of developing breast, cervical, uterine, ovarian, or liver cancers. And the younger the age of a woman when she begins using them, the greater her lifetime risk. Modern women are caught in a terrible dilemma. While they want to control their fertility, they don’t want to have to gamble with their health.
‘Taking any of the hormonal contraceptive choices will increase the risk of developing breast, cervical, uterine, ovarian, or liver cancers’ SMART WOMEN’S CHOICE
There is good news for women! Smart Women’s Choice Vaginal Gel - A revolution in totally effective, totally safe contraception is available. Thanks to the passion and dedication of one woman to save women’s lives, there is now an alternative to the dangerous hormonal contraceptives: Smart Women’s Choice. SWC is a vaginal gel that contains no hormones and no spermicides; it is proven 100 per cent effective, completely safe and causes no harmful side effects whatsoever. Dr Francoise Farron, PhD, an outstanding biochemist, earned her degree from New 30 CONSCIOUS LIVING MAGAZINE
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York University Medical School and went on to work at Harvard Medical School, studying control mechanisms of cell growth as part of a larger program designed to understand the phenomenon of uncontrolled growth in cancer cells. Françoise knew of the contraceptive formula. During her own reproductive years, she’d used it and it had worked for her. But she was not going to abandon her fascinating and successful studies at Harvard to go into the birth control business – until tragedy struck. A friend’s daughter suddenly died from a blood clot while using the NuvaRing. At that juncture, Françoise felt a personal obligation to bring her discovery of a safe contraceptive to market, to make it available to all women who wanted to avail themselves of its unique advantages.
IMMOBILISES SPERM
Smart Women’s Choice, is a novel approach to effective protection from unwanted pregnancies and works in an entirely different manner from hormone-based birth control methods. For fertilization to occur, sperm must travel from the vagina, where it is deposited during intercourse, up the fallopian tubes to merge with an egg that has been released by the ovaries. But within seconds, SWC completely immobilises the sperm within the vagina. Therefore, the sperm cannot make the journey from the vagina into the fallopian tubes and cannot encounter the egg. Consequently, fertilization cannot – and does not – take place. Because SWC does not alter or affect a woman’s hormonal system, there are no harmful sideeffects. Smart Women’s Choice is a simple solution to prevent fertilization; it’s amazing that no one has thought of it before. It is unique and effective; a patent has been filed and is pending. SPRING 2017
MOTILITY TESTED
Where’s the proof? Dr. Martin Bastuba, Medical Director at Male Fertility Specialists and head of one of the foremost fertility clinics in Southern California, performed a motility test on sperm samples to study the effectiveness of SWC on the motility of spermatozoa. The results presented in the accompanying table show unequivocally that SWC vaginal gel immobilizes sperm completely at all dilutions.
Table 1A (Control) Time Positive
0
3 minutes
3 minutes
%mot.
%mot.
agglutination
68
67
0
Table 1B (samples)
HOW TO USE SWC
Using it is as simple as one, two, three!
Step 1: Squeeze about an inch of Smart Women’s
Choice birth control gel onto your middle finger. Step 2: Insert into the vagina immediately before having sex. It helps lubricate for comfort, too. If you have sex repeatedly in short succession, you need to introduce a fresh dose of SWC every time. Step 3: After completion, just rinse with water to restore the vagina to its normal acidity.
% Solution 10
68
0%
1
30
68
0%
2
70
70
0%
2
100
70
0%
4
Conclusion: The results presented in the accompanying table show unequivocally that SWC does agglutinate sperm to varying degrees, and immobilises sperm completely at all dilutions. If sperm is immobilized and thus cannot travel up the fallopian tubes, fertilization cannot occur. Women around the world who have decided to use SWC are delighted with its effectiveness in preventing unwanted pregnancies and a total absence of side-effects. Smart Women’s Choice has been selling for more than three years now: more than 1000 tubes have been sold, no pregnancies have been reported and there have been no complaints. Pharmacist, nutritionist and author, Ross Pelton, R.Ph., CCN, said: “I have been a long-time supporter of women’s health issues. “One of my concerns is the side effects caused by birth control pills. Consequently, I authored The Pill Problem, which teaches women how to prevent the side effects from birth control pills. A safe form of contraception for women would be of tremendous worldwide health benefit to women (and their spouses if women are avoiding the side effects of BC pills & IUDs). “I am happy to report that a safe form of contraception for women has been developed. It is named Smart Women’s Choice. It works by causing the entire ejaculate to coagulate. Thus, the sperm are SPRING 2017
prevented from traveling up the fallopian tubes where fertilization takes place. The coagulate exits the vagina at the end of the intercourse and then rinse with water. It is easy and pleasant to use.”
‘Novel approach… works in an entirely different manner from hormone-based birth control methods’ Women deserve a safe, non-hormonal alternative! Ever since the Pill was first released in 1960, it has been fraught with serious side effects. Some have been fatal. Women were forced to make the difficult decision, Use the Pill or some other hormone-based contraception and take your chances with the many uncomfortable sideeffects and potentially dangerous consequences or risk an unwanted pregnancy. It has taken almost 60 years to find a truly safe natural contraceptive. Dr. Francoise Farron, a fiercely determined woman, has been passionate about her mission to save the lives of women worldwide. After years of research, she has succeeded in bringing her vision of a truly safe and effective, non-hormonal contraceptive solution into the world. As usual, it takes a woman! To learn more, go to smartwomenschoice.com. Dr Sherrill Sellman, ND, is an author, health journalist, international lecturer and radio host. www.whatwomenmustknow.com.
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CONSCIOUS HEALTH
Use the Power of
Probiotics for better health and immunity By STUART MORICK, Naturopath
A
s many as 500 species of bacteria live in your gastrointestinal system and their total mass is estimated to weigh about 1.5kg. Thanks to their various actions, what happens in your gut can have a powerful influence on your health and well-being. Comprised of the mouth, oesophagus, stomach, intestines and rectum, the gastrointestinal system (or gut) has an average length of between six and nine metres. It is populated throughout with bacteria, with the majority residing in the colon. Together with yeasts and other microbes, these bacteria have an essential role in our digestive processes.
INFLUENCE ON WEIGHT
These bacteria aid the production of vitamins and fatty acids, and are critical to the development of a normal immune system. Researchers have found they can influence weight, energy and nutrition, and support your brain health, both psychologically and neurologically.
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A healthy gut consists of around 80 to 85 per cent beneficial bacteria and 15 to 20 per cent of potentially harmful bacteria. When this balance is upset – such as during times of poor diet, illness or antibiotic use – additional gut health support may be required. Probiotics are live microorganisms, specifically bacteria, that can improve digestion, enhance the immune system and protect against disease. Other beneficial organisms that live in our gastrointestinal tract include yeasts and fungi.
‘Create a gut that is the perfect host to bacteria with a diet rich in vegetables, fruit and wholegrains’ Together, all the microorganisms that live and grow inside our gut, are referred to as our microbiome. There is a lot of exciting new scientific research that is being carried out right now which indicates many aspects of our health and well-being are critically affected by the types of bacteria that are flourishing within our gut. Numerous poor health conditions can be an indication that our microbiome is out of balance. If you are experiencing symptoms such as bloating, colic (that is abdominal pain), wind or nausea, then you may have an imbalance in the populations of the microorganisms in your gut. Probiotics especially have been positively indicated as support for many conditions including diarrhoea, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), eczema (and other allergies) and coughs and colds. SPRING 2017
A further aspect of good gut health is prebiotics. These non-digestible ingredients of food can also promote the activity of ‘good’ bacteria. They naturally occur in food such as banana, asparagus, leek, onion and garlic as well as wholegrains such as wheat, rye, barley and oats. Foods rich in probiotic bacteria include fermented vegetables (preferably homemade) or traditionally fermented foods such as lassi (an Indian yogurt drink), kefir and yogurt made from raw milk or fermented soy or coconut. If sourcing probiotics this way, choose unpasteurised products, because many naturally-occurring probiotics are destroyed by the high-heat pasteurisation process. If these unpasteurised foods are unavailable or not to your liking, a high-quality probiotic supplement as prescribed by your natural health practitioner is the next best option. It is essential to consult on the most appropriate probiotic and dose because different probiotic strains have different effects. Importantly, you can create a gut that is the perfect host to bacteria with a diet rich in vegetables, fruit and wholegrains. Regular exercise, stress management and avoiding smoking and excessive drinking will also promote conditions that encourage the proliferation of ‘good’ bacteria. SPRING 2017
BALANCE DISRUPTED
Diet and lifestyle predominantly play the overriding factor in gut health. Excessive consumption of alcohol (moderate consumption is indicated as being beneficial), smoking, hydrogenated fats, highly refined foods, and of sugar, all lead to major disruptions in the balance of ‘good bugs versus bad bugs’. Even lack of exercise has been shown to cause a negative imbalance in gut bacteria. Keeping your diet rich in whole foods, whole grains, and fresh unprocessed ingredients, along with a daily intake of some fermented foods, benefits the body greatly and helps reduce many poor health conditions. Establishing a daily exercise regime can also help you maintain a healthy gut population and balance. Achieving this may let your body experience the true power of probiotics. Further Information: www.purehealthandwellness.com.au Tel: 08 2774 9378
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CONSCIOUS HEALTH In an interview for Living Well Radio, Zsuzsanna Hay shares how a family member with autism changed her life and shaped her future. Today, Zsuzsanna helps others using the ‘Theraphi Device’. This fascinating, insightful interview is at https://goo.gl/mS8DJH
Theraphi:
Vibrational Healing
M
of the Future
any people suffer one health condition or another, or have chronic illnesses for which they have not been able to find satisfactory medical solutions. Consequently, they are forced to seek alternative treatments.
Zsuzsanna Hay’s family was in a similar situation when one of her family members was diagnosed as having Autism following an adverse reaction to MMR immunisation. Issues involved included allergies, inflammatory conditions such as leaky gut and neurological conditions. Her search for solutions ultimately succeeded when she found a vibrational healing device called the Theraphi.
ZSUZSANNA’S BACKGROUND
Originally from Hungary, Zsuzsanna gained a double bachelor degree in teaching rehabilitation called Conductive Education. This approach works with the principles of neuropsychology to create new wiring in the seemingly damaged brain. Armed with her degree and having helped children with physical impairment to walk and talk again, she began travelling the world, taking up invitations to share her knowledge. Her first invitation took her to Italy, then America, followed by Germany. Finally, Zsuzsanna arrived in Australia, where she settled. Her background experience includes working for families, education departments and rehabilitation centres, in each case helping children improve their wellbeing and reach for their full potential. With a stubborn determination, she continued to apply all her scientific training in rehabilitation therapy to research what was available around the world to treat impaired children. 34 CONSCIOUS LIVING MAGAZINE
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From 2011 to 2014, Zsuzsanna conducted extensive research into human mitochondria. Her mitochondria studies pointed her in the direction of nutrition and orthomolecular medicine. In 2015, she qualified as a Certified Nutritional Consultant. This year, 2017, she completed her Neurodevelopmental studies so that she could incorporate the latest brain research and nutritional methods into her work in rehabilitation.
FINDING THERAPHI
While living in Hungary with her family on a small, selfsufficient parcel of land, they used traditional healing with herbs, water medicine, dowsing and healing with food. But her research influenced the family to make radical dietary changes, eating only nutritionally dense food. Looking into her research, they also developed a strong belief in neurodevelopmental therapies, which have strong scientific evidence and a proven track record of improving well-being without side effects. After settling in Western Australia and putting her heart and soul into sourcing and working with wellness
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‘Originally from Hungary, Zsuzsanna has worked with neuropsychology to create new wiring in the seemingly damaged brain’ therapies to improve her family member’s autistic behaviour, Zsuzsanna was led to a solution. Impressed by the devices invented by Priore, Royal Raymond Rife and Tesla, Zsuzsanna tracked down a wellness device in northern New South Wales, called the Theraphi. Once again, it was time to travel. With her family, she went from Perth to the clinic in NSW where they each had nine Theraphi sessions. After the sessions, they all experienced a great feeling of wellbeing. Upon starting her series of nine Theraphi treatments, Zsuzsanna had a severe migraine and a sore back muscle; both were greatly relieved after
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CONSCIOUS HEALTH only one session. Her biggest surprise came when she arrived home in Perth. The next day she felt an immense need to go for a run in the morning and to do some yoga. Well, what a feeling! She had not had this much energy since her twenties. Zsuzsanna now runs every morning. Her bursitis has settled. She could hardly walk let alone run before the Theraphi sessions, she said! She decided to buy a Theraphi device and use it in Perth. Looking at wellness, she tells us that “everything goes back to frequencies”. This would include frequencies of intention when entering any form of therapeutic activity. Given appropriate conditions, mitochondrial activity comes into play. Wellness may be just a vibration away. Since her first experience with the Theraphi device, Zsuzsanna is now more at peace. For years, each day she swung from anger to resentment. Her use of the Theraphi device has helped her alter that ‘frequency’.
WHAT IS A THERAPHI DEVICE?
The Theraphi is an electronic device for creating a radiative bio-active plasma field. Co-created by Dan Winter and Paul Harris, the inspiration for the this device is based on the famous pioneering efforts of Nicola Tesla, George Lakhovsky, Royal Raymond Rife and especially Antoine Priore in France. Although, the Theraphi device is known to be the modern-day application of regenerative electromagnetic therapy, it has been in development for more than 100 years, since Nikola Tesla first discovered the usefulness of scalar waves and suggested its use. Pioneers such as Royal Raymond Rife, Alexander Gurwitsch and George Lakhovsky refined Tesla’s theories and manufactured similar effective healing devices in the 1930s and 40s. The Theraphi takes the original work of Antoine Priore to a whole new level, using modern solid state electronics and Dan Winter’s new equation and ‘phase conjugate’ physics. The Theraphi focuses on regeneration with the use of scalar waves to correct abnormal energy fields around cells, thereby programming them to work normally and restore optimal body functions,
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Precise electromagnetic frequencies derived from hydrogen, and phi-ratio harmonics are modulated and passed through a unique mixture of noble gases. The resulting super coherent plasma wave field transmits 18 36 CONSCIOUS LIVING MAGAZINE
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different healing frequencies which envelope the patient and affect every cell of the body. Countless experiments with the Theraphi have shown that the right mixture of signature frequencies have effects on human body responses to viruses, parasites, immune deficiencies, increases in metabolism, heart rate variability, reduction of inflammation, treatment of degenerative diseases and natural pain relief. The Theraphi works to rejuvenate the entire body and spirit by increasing and making more coherent a bin energetic field known in physics as the ‘plasma field’. This works on many levels. The overall effect is negentropy as the reversal of entropy — as in deterioration and ageing. It has the ability to restore coherence in single and multicellular organisms thereby increasing the potential of homeostasis in cases of many degenerative diseases. The Theraphi process is also known for increasing circulation and sensation in areas where these have been limited or lost.
WHAT DO USERS REPORT?
Conducted over several sessions, the first session takes between 45 minutes and an hour. The sessions that follow take about 15 minutes. In a significant number of cases, according to Zsuzsanna , clients who have used this healing device have experienced a feeling of bliss or euphoria and an increase in dream activity. Users of the Theraphi Device have reported positive results in: • Pain Reduction • Reduction of Inflammation • Improved Energy Levels • Enhanced mental clarity • Positive uplift in mood • Improved focus and stress relief. Although the Theraphi is a relatively new healing device, Zsuzsanna is convinced of the therapeutic benefits that it has to offer in enhancing the effectiveness of her work with rehabilitation and nutrition, as well as general wellbeing. For further information and to book a session, contact Zsuzsanna Hay M: 0458 618 848 E: spectrumpotential@outlook.com
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Chakras, Health and
Lymph Drainage Nature’s path to improved wellbeing By DR RAVI RATAN
clinical aromatherapist and author who integrates Ayurvedic Aromatherapy and Lymphatic drainage with Chakra healing and emotional release work.
C
hakras are the energy centers in our body, they represent the activity of our vital organs and glands.
The energy in our body moves through four major systems, which are: the Cardiovascular system, comprising arteries, veins and the lymphatic system; the Nervous system; the Endocrine System; and the Nadis (the channels of Energy). The Lymphatic system is an integral part of the Cardiovascular system.
METABOLITES
Lymph is basically interstitial fluid made up of blood plasma and white blood cells which has oozed out of arteries at the extremities of our body. It carries metabolites and oxygen to nourish each cell of the body, and it collects toxins, waste and debris of cells, along with bacteria and protein. According to Tantra, our Sacral Chakra, or Swadhisthan Chakra, is associated with the element of Water, and it regulates all fluid circulation in the body, including lymphatic fluids.
‘Prolonged blockage of the Sacral Chakra leads to lymphatic blockages, that may affect the reproductive system and may cause pain in the lower back and legs’ SPRING 2017
Major lymph nodes in the lower body are in the groin area called inguinal nodes. It has been observed that emotional blockages affect the energy of the Sacral Chakra, and this results in sluggish or blocked lymphatics. Prolonged blockage of the Sacral Chakra leads to lymphatic blockages and problems of the reproductive organs, leading to menstrual or fertility issues, as well as being a cause of fluid retention and pain in the lower back and legs.
AXILLARY NODES
Similarly, when we hold emotions such as pain, anguish and trauma in the heart chakra area we block lymphatic nodes located in our underarm (called axillary nodes), leading to breast pain, breast lumps, heart problems, upper back, neck and shoulder pain, and more. The Sacral and Heart Chakras also affect our throat Chakra, or expression affecting our occipital nodes in the neck and sub mandibular nodes in the jaw line up to the ears auricular nodes, leading to issues related to thyroid, ringing in the ears, and other related issues. We can gently rub our lymph nodes on daily basis during our bath, or do manual lymph drainage periodically, which helps us clear energy blockages and stay healthy and pain free. Dr. Ravi Ratan, author of Handbook of Aromatherapy and co-author of Journey Through Chakras, provides personal healing and conducts training workshops in his integrated healing techniques, in North America, UK, UAE and Australia. www.aromatantra.com ISSUE 99
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CONSCIOUS HEALTH
Australians Ask:
Is Dementia Avoidable? Predictions spark fear By LOUISE HALLINAN
international award-winning author and Natural Health Practitioner.
D
ementia is now a frequent topic of discussion in many Australian homes.
There are two reasons why: it is the nation’s second leading cause of death, and it will affect every Australian family in some way. But what is being done about Dementia and those with Younger Onset Dementia? After official diagnosis, is adequate help being offered? One thing is for sure: Dementia patients and their families are being told “there is no cure”.
DEPRESSION INCREASING
They are left with one message – there is no hope! No wonder the number of people with Depression is increasing alongside the number of people diagnosed with Dementia. The news continues to be depressing. In the past 20 years, millions of dollars have been spent on research but so far, in the search for a ‘cure’, each drug has been unsuccessful. With hopes dashed, those living with Dementia can only feel despair. So, what is happening to stop or slow down the numbers of people being diagnosed now and in the future? Does the problem need to be tackled from a totally different perspective? The possibility of Prevention requires serious thought: but is it even possible to avoid getting Dementia? Media reports predicting future statistics for Dementia in the next 20 to 35 years are creating “fear of the future”. When you are told “there is no cure” and read about the future predictions for Dementia, it can certainly make you wonder what hope is there really? Is an epidemic inevitable?
HOPE FOR PREVENTION
From my observations, I believe there’s room for hope. I believe much can be done and it may be possible to avoid getting Dementia. Dementia does not happen overnight. Health issues do not just happen. It is important to accept that in 38 CONSCIOUS LIVING MAGAZINE
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“Millions of dollars have been spent on research but so far, in the search for a ‘cure’, each drug has been unsuccessful” every health condition, there is usually a ‘Cause’ or reason ‘Why’. This same principle should apply to Dementia. Is anyone looking for the Cause? Is anyone asking the reason Why? When a person is diagnosed with Dementia, no reason is given as to why or how he or she actually got Dementia. I believe that to help those already diagnosed with Dementia and anyone experiencing memory problems, it is essential to go one step further. It would be helpful to SPRING 2017
try to identify a Cause. And the Cause will be different with every single person, because we are all unique. We are all at different ages and stages in life, with varied upbringings, health histories, existing health conditions and many different lifestyles. How is it possible to treat such a wide variety of people with just one medication or ‘magic pill’ – if one were found? Dementia is not a one-size-fits all condition, but in Australia today that is the way it is looked upon. I have two examples to explain what I mean. My mother had Alzheimer’s disease for many years and passed away in 2000. Before having a fall and breaking her hip at age 77, she was otherwise an extremely healthy, strong and vibrant woman. She was highly intelligent, very active, did so much voluntary work for many charities and there was never a problem with her memory – sharp as a tack.
POST OPERATIVE MEMORY LOSS
She had hip surgery with anaesthetics and after that she was never the same. From my research, I found that there is a medical term called “Post Operative Cognitive Dysfunction” or POCD, which means “memory loss as a result of anaesthetics”. This condition is apparently very well known in the medical world, and there are many research studies written about POCD. I was not aware of this at all until I was researching why and how my mother got Alzheimer’s disease. One study states that “the incidence of POCD in the first week after surgery is 23% in patients between 60 and 69 years of age and 29% in patients older than 70 years. POCD was still present in 14% of patients over 70 at three months after surgery”.1 I have since learned that there are many people who, as a result of falling, breaking a hip, and requiring surgery with anaesthetics, have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease-Dementia.
LAUGHING GAS USED
The anaesthetic used was Nitrous Oxide, also known as ‘laughing gas’. My question is, why keep using Nitrous Oxide for surgeries when, for some people aged 60 and over, there is a possibility it could result in Alzheimer’s disease-Dementia? The use of this substance should stop and an alternative solution found. This is just one Cause of memory problems leading to Alzheimer’s disease-Dementia. There are many more, and some, like POCD, unfortunately cannot ever be reversed.
CHECK PACKAGED FOODS
Another cause of memory problems that may lead to Alzheimer’s disease-Dementia is – surprisingly – to be found among the ingredients in packaged foods. Something as simple may over time cause extreme damage to brain cells. One to be aware of is Aspartame, an artificial sweetener. Aspartame is considered to be one of the most dangerous substances added to foods and drinks. If you buy packaged food products, have a look at the Ingredients panel on the product and if you see (950) or (951) that means it contains Aspartame. Also, have a look in your pantry and check each product. Many of the so-called diet drinks contain Aspartame, and if consumed over a lengthy period of time, this excessive exposure can cause damage to your brain cells.
‘I believe the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease-Dementia requires more investigation’ Many of us may not be aware of these two abovementioned examples. This gives you an idea of just some of the possible Causes that may be out there. It is important to find and identify any Cause of memory problems you or someone you know may have. I believe the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease-Dementia requires more investigation and as such could lead to finding hope for the future. If you are experiencing memory problems, do not jump to the conclusion that you may be getting Alzheimer’s disease-Dementia. As you can see, there may be a more simple reason or Cause for this happening, and you need to find out why. Once you identify the Cause, then you will have something to work towards for your brighter future and brain health. Louise Hallinan runs Smart Brain Health Centre in New South Wales. Ph: (02) 9844 5449 www.smartbrainhealthcentre.com.au louise@smartbrainhealthcentre.com.au
1 Lazlou FZ, Carre AC, Forrester C, Sellal F, Langeron O, Pain L, Pathophysiology of Post-Operative Cognitive Dysfunction: Current hypothesis, J. Chir(Paris) 2008 July-Aug; 145(4) : 323-30
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CONSCIOUS PARENTING
Governments
Control Families with herd vaccination demands By MARTIN OLIVER
C
urrent trends show governments of affluent nations increasingly involving themselves in diverse aspects of child-rearing. Where this fails to be balanced out by a regard for parental rights, there is a risk that a system of medical authoritarianism could be the result. One area where this looms large is the issue of removing children from their families. Another is vaccination. Prompted to intervene by believing they are acting in a child’s best interests, government bodies are constrained to operate within the boundaries of medical orthodoxy. In a society where objective scientific knowledge dominates, there is a risk that the validity of the parentchild bond with its scope for an unexplainable sense of intuition, guidance and knowingness may be discounted.
‘The validity of the parent-child bond with its scope for… guidance and knowingness may be discounted’ NEGATIVE FOCUS
A culture of risk-aversion leads to a greater focus on preventing what is seen as a negative outcome than advancing a good one. Recent decades have seen the number of doses in Australia’s vaccine schedule multiply more than three-fold, from 1975 when the recommendation involved 16 doses by the age to 5, to today’s 50 doses by the same age. One key concept underlying mass vaccination policies 40 CONSCIOUS LIVING MAGAZINE
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is ‘herd immunity’, which holds that above a certain vaccination level among the population, the spread of disease is held in check. From a figure of 55 per cent in the 1960s, this has risen to a 95 per cent vaccination goal today. Achieving this target is believed by the medical mainstream to lead to the disease being eradicated.
THE TRIBE’S WELFARE
Because of the herd immunity issue, peer pressure is exerted by vaccinating parents on non-vaccinating parents who are frequently stigmatised as freeloaders threatening the welfare of the whole tribe. Mandating vaccines for children is controversial. Arguments against such a measure include the risk of serious injury or death, which vaccine advocates sometimes reluctantly concede but contend that they are rare. In 2011, the United States Supreme Court ruled that vaccines are ‘unavoidably unsafe’. Vaccines are not required to undergo the safety tests required for pharmaceutical drugs. As for the level of risk, this is very hard to determine, but is likely to be massively underestimated. Some western countries lack adverse-effect reporting systems, so any negative reactions are easier to dismiss as anecdotal. Another common tendency if a child’s health goes downhill shortly after vaccination is for a lack of evidence of causation to be argued. In the US, a 2001 study estimated a remarkably low 1.5 per cent adverse event reporting rate. Recently an American nurse reported that in her career she had never seen another colleague fill out an adverse reaction form. Another doctor who filled out six such forms within the space of two months received an angry phone call from her state head of the Centers for Disease Control, questioning her commitment to vaccines. SPRING 2017
ADVERSE REPORTING
For Australia, reporting is voluntary, and the adverse reaction reporting rate is estimated to be somewhere between 1 and 10 per cent. Parents are reminded that they can download the form from the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) website, and fill it out themselves. Globally, vaccine mandates are spreading. They exist or are being introduced into in several countries which previously did not mandate vaccination. These include Croatia, Serbia, Hungary, Poland, Italy, and France. In America, they apply in the states of California, Mississippi, and West Virginia. Meanwhile, Sweden voted against mandatory vaccination policies that would have arguably been unconstitutional. In 2017, vaccination policies have turned into a hot-button issue in some European countries. June and July saw a series of large protests in 21 Italian cities. One in Rome attracted 15,000 concerned people, making it the largest vaccine-related rally to date, and one that was met by a media blackout. Another large gathering in Warsaw had an attendance of 10,000. One remarkable feature of some mandates is their uncompromising stance. Some lack religious, and even medical exemptions. Where medical exemptions are permitted, they can be restricted to a limited number of grounds, even where a GP believes that a particular child may be at risk of vaccine harm. Hardcore punitive measures extend to jail time for Belgian parents who refuse their child’s polio shot, and Serbians having their children removed. Vaccine mandates violate the policy of informed medical consent, as outlined in the UNESCO Universal Declaration of Bioethics and Human Rights, Article 6, Section 1. Where young children are involved, such consent is transferred to the parent or guardian. In Australia, technically speaking there is no mandatory vaccination, given that such a practice would be
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unconstitutional under Part 51xxiiia of the Constitution which protects against medical ‘conscription’. Changing the Constitution is a major undertaking that would require a majority vote in a nationwide referendum.
‘Parents can download the adverse reaction form from the Therapeutic Goods Administration website, and fill it out themselves. DAYCARE BANS
Instead, coercive policies are being pursued. No Jab No Play is a generic term for state daycare bans on unvaccinated children, currently operating in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria. South Australia is looking to introduce similar laws in 2018. In response, ‘right to choose’ rallies have been held in major cities around the country. The NSW measure, first of its kind in Australia and introduced following a concerted campaign by News Corp papers, differs from the others because it allows philosophical and religious objections in addition to some medical exemptions. Applying for an exemption involves downloading a NSW Health form, and attending a medical consultation. However, non-vaccinating parents may be obliged to take their children out of school during disease outbreaks. In a recent development, holistically-oriented Melbourne GP Dr. John Piesse received media attention for speaking at a Melbourne screening of the film Vaxxed, with claims that he was helping parents avoid ‘compulsory vaccinations’
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CONSCIOUS PARENTING relating to No Jab No Play. As a result, he is now being investigated by the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency, and has agreed to stop practicing for a couple of weeks while investigations are carried out. The doctor’s own perspective is that he had been applying a policy of informed consent, and applying his own professional judgement to the granting of exemptions, while operating within the bounds of the law. Some children in his practice are vaccine-injured or have vaccine-injured family members, while in some other cases the child has a pre-existing health condition. Other doctors with a similar approach are keeping in low profile because they are afraid of losing their licences. A Change.org petition supporting the right of doctors to follow the principle of informed consent has attracted more than five thousand signatures, and a GoFundMe crowdfunding page for meeting Dr Piesse’s financial costs, created by patients and supporters, has raised nearly $100,000. No Jab No Play has been criticised by pro-vaccine commentators such as Julie Leask and Hal Willaby, who argue that it is liable to punish children because of a decision made by their parents.
‘No life-long vaccinated-versusunvaccinated population health studies have been carried out… anywhere in the world’ COERCIVE POLICIES
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is pushing for a national rollout. Coercive vaccination policies have the full support of the two major parties and the Greens, with the only pro-vaccine-choice views having been voiced by One Nation and the small Health Australia Party. A similar-sounding program is No Jab No Pay, a Federal Government initiative that targets non-vaccinating families financially by withholding childcare subsidies, and the loss of Family Tax Benefit Part A supplement (a maximum of $726 annually per child). No philosophical or religious exemptions are permitted, and the eligible medical exemptions are very limited and difficult to access. Non-vaccinating parents are known as ‘conscientious objectors’, a term that some find offensive. However, no money can be withheld until the parents receive an official government ‘catch-up’ letter. Vaccine-related concerns in Australia include the lack of a vaccine damage compensation scheme similar to those 42 CONSCIOUS LIVING MAGAZINE
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running in 19 other countries including the US, and a lack of access to information about possible risks, with vaccine inserts sometimes being treated like subversive literature. So far, no life-long vaccinated-versus-unvaccinated population health studies have been carried out in Australia, or anywhere else in the world.
‘ANTI-VAXXER’ LABEL
Meanwhile, the vaccine issue in Australia remains highly polarised, with a lack of middle ground where intelligent debate can occur. Yet this middle ground is the position advocated in print in February 2017 by Peter Doshi, Associate Editor of the British Medical Journal. He stated that where the ‘anti-vaxxer’ label involves lumping all types of vaccines together and treating them the same, it “seems about as intelligent as categorising people into ‘pro-drug’ and ‘anti-drug’ camps depending on whether they have ever voiced concern over the potential side effects of any drug”. For this middle ground to be reclaimed, the media would have to drop its ‘The debate is over’ message, and to tone down the rhetoric that is at present a strongly polarising force. It would also involve the Federal Government discontinuing its practice of banning vaccine critics such as Polly Tommey and Kent Heckenlively from entering the country, on the grounds that they are supposedly a ‘risk to the health, safety or good order of the Australian community.’
RESOURCES Australian Vaccination-Skeptics Network www.avn.org.au Vaccination Answers Informed Sources www.vaccinationawareness.com.au I Stand With Dr. Piesse (Facebook) www.facebook.com/IstandwithDrPiesse Immunise Australia Program www.immunise.health.gov.au Martin Oliver is a writer and researcher based in Lismore. To view the movie go to vaxxedthemovie.com/stream/
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CONSCIOUS ECO LIVING
Detroit
Ecovillage Reviving the ‘rust belt’ By MARTIN OLIVER
O
f the cities in the ‘rust belt’ running across the north-eastern United States, Detroit has been impacted the hardest. Once a booming automobile manufacturing hub, the car was also its undoing. Increased mobility encouraged ‘white flight’, in which Caucasians moved to outer suburbs, leaving the inner districts to a largely African-American population. The decline of the car giants initiated a long-term economic slump, resulting in poverty and urban decay. These problems were exacerbated by ‘redlining’, a policy where banks refused to issue mortgages in poor black areas, until this practice became illegal in the 1970s.
URBAN AGRICULTURE
The result has been about 70,000 abandoned houses, many of which are in line to be pulled down because they are barely repairable. Others have been lovingly and patiently renovated. Neighbourhoods with the worst blight have lost so many houses to trees and grass they look semi-rural. Often a magnet for dumped garbage, vacant lots are, more encouragingly, home to a growing number of urban agriculture projects. The steady drop in both property values and population has resulted in a double whammy to the tax base. Nowhere has this been more marked than Highland Park, a small city in Detroit’s inner suburbs. Once known as the ‘city of trees’, it was where the first Model T Ford was built, and where the country saw its first stretch of concrete highway. From a population peak of 53,000 around 1930, numbers have nosedived to about 10,000 today. The unemployment rate is 22 per cent, and crime is an ongoing problem. The library has closed, and the school system has nearly disappeared, prompting a further exodus of residents. As a result of debt, in 2011 the city’s streetlights were repossessed by the energy company. SPRING 2017
‘As a result of debt, in 2011 Highland Park’s streetlights were repossessed’ CHARISMATIC LEADER
Enter Shamayim Harris (more commonly known as ‘Mama Shu’), an energetic and charismatic community leader living in Highland Park. Harris is also a business owner and an ordained minister. In 2007, she experienced a tragedy in which her twoyear-old son was killed by a hit-and-run driver. After spending some time in a deep state of grief, she was prompted to take action to revive her neighbourhood. She put a US $3000 (AUD $3800) bid on an abandoned house, which became her home and the headquarters of a non-profit group known as Moon Ministry. Its activities include feeding the needy, musical events and putting on classes for children. In a vacant lot near her house, she created a park in her son’s memory. Highland Park’s missing streetlights left a gap that ISSUE 99
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CONSCIOUS ECO LIVING the space of month. The Big Sun Foundation, linked to the band Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, donated an impressive US $100,000 (AUD $126,000). In September 2016, Harris appeared on the Ellen Degeneres TV show, resulting in Degeneres giving the project a prefabricated house that will be the village administration office. In terms of what has happened on the ground, so far rubbish has been cleaned up from the whole block, and a few blighted abandoned houses have been removed. The Homework House has been purchased, and its renovation is complete. Now the Goddess Marketplace is under construction. Harris is aiming for the entire project to be completed by 2020.
‘Residents have learned that council services cannot be fully relied upon, so there is a strong emphasis on self-reliance’ is being slowly filled by the community. A solar LED streetlight initiative was set up, called Soulardarity, and Harris has been involved as a co-director. Because the new lights are community-owned, they are protected against being lost in a similar way as in 2011. While all of this was taking place, a bigger idea was taking shape, involving a transformation of Harris’s blighted block into a thriving urban village.
HOMEWORK HOUSE
Known as Avalon Village, this is to be a local regeneration hub that mixes housing with a range of community and commercial facilities. These would include a Homework House in a former abandoned building, a greenhouse food project, a female-run Goddess Marketplace in repurposed shipping containers, a farmers’ market, a health food Blue Moon Café located in an abandoned fuel station on the corner, a holistic health centre, and sports facilities. Much of the emphasis is on reinstating lighting, generating economic activity, encouraging education, and growing healthy food. People who are fed up with hearing bad news in the media have been keen to get behind this inspiring project. Money has been raised through crowdfunding, with a Kickstarter page raising US $243,000 (AUD $305,000) in 44 CONSCIOUS LIVING MAGAZINE
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SELF-RELIANCE ESSENTIAL
Environmental features include rainwater capture for the greenhouses and toilet flushing, geothermal heating and cooling for buildings, and worm composting. Part of the Homework House roof is covered in solar panels. In a city where residents have learned the hard way that council services cannot be fully relied upon, there is a strong emphasis on resilience and self-reliance. Harris hopes her work will inspire people in other parts of Detroit and similar decayed urban centres to regenerate their surroundings too. RESOURCES Avalon Village www.theavalonvillage.org Soulardarity www.soulardarity.com Martin Oliver is a writer and researcher based in Lismore.
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CONSCIOUS SPIRIT
Excel at
Being Tranquil Harness your innate wisdom By AROOZA IRANI
T
here is no greater joy than excelling at being tranquil, through taming your dragons and harnessing their power to be completely free. What could you be like, if you started today to truly make the most of the rest of your life? Buddhist teacher Behram Ghista believes our innate wisdom will reveal solutions only when we learn to remain calm in the face of difficulties. “I believe the tragedy for most people lies not in their avoidance of the unpleasant aspects of life, but in their inability to give triumph a chance, through facing difficult conditions wholeheartedly,” he tells us. In the face of difficulty, do you suffer from a hostile takeover of your body and mind, by stress hormones? Well, what if you were to simply decide, once and for all, to gain mastery over your life by maintaining your equipoise amid life’s challenges? How much more enjoyable would life be then? Do you long for a hassle-free life and sometimes ask yourself if such a goal is attainable? Suppose you did achieve this impossible dream: wouldn’t that achievement be the greatest hassle you could inflict upon yourself? How sturdy, innovative and clear-sighted would your
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responses to life’s curve balls be if you existed within some silken cocoon? Dispel your desire for a “wrinkle free” life, because eventually you will have to embrace and gain mastery over the inevitability of dealing with abrasive realities. Don’t put your wishbone where your backbone ought to be.
FREE YOURSELF
In most situations, it is not the challenges that are daunting. What immobilises you is the tightening feeling within you: your resistance and fear of facing something you believe is beyond your capability to transform in your favour. Be confident that you can learn to free yourself from such unwholesome responses to life’s inevitable ebb and flow. How? By going through the experience with spirited curiosity as to how resourceful you can be in each specific invitation” to better yourself. No challenge is a problem, unless you choose to make it so. Apply diligence to learning how to excel at being
‘Decide to gain mastery over your life by maintaining your equipoise amid life’s challenges’
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‘In a calm state, more relaxed state, you… will deal with any faulty assumptions you may have, and move beyond them’ tranquil, because this will facilitate your opening up to that which is difficult, frightening and unpleasant, through illuminating novel solutions awaiting your appraisal. {quotes}Understand that life is constituted to be the way it is and you don’t have to be perturbed about it.{/quotes} Accept this fact, and you will liberate yourself from the fatigue and frustration that comes from swimming against the current.
REMAIN STEADY
Amid life’s vicissitudes, be wise: remain steady and centred in the fullness of your spiritual inheritance. If you are unable to do this, the daily biochemical baths of your emotional turbulence will constrict you, leaving your problems unsolved and joyous occasions unclaimed. Instead of fleeing when things seem to overwhelm you, learn to seize the day and gather what treasures you can from it. It is not people or circumstances that cause you grief, or trepidation: it is your own estimation of these realities that creates turbulence in your life. Learning to relate with love, gentleness, appreciation and understanding for “those things” and “those people” 46 CONSCIOUS LIVING MAGAZINE
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that are part of your life, you will increase your skill in flowing gracefully through life’s peaks and valleys and everything in-between.
GAIN CLARITY
Consequently, in all tasks you undertake – even if they are urgent and demand great care – consciously avoid allowing them to agitate you. Nothing is worth putting yourself through inner turbulence in your attempt to tackle the issue at hand. Maintain your equipoise; stay calm, regardless of what despite what the situation seems to be demanding. In a calm, more relaxed state, you can be in full cognizance of your strengths: you will be able to receive the clarity needed to deal with any faulty assumptions you may have, and you will move beyond them. Choose to be impartial to your trials and tribulations, while at the same time celebrating life’s persistence in perfecting you to the point of being the best you can be. Giving full attention to the environment in which you exist and refining your actions daily will help you deal with the challenges of the moment in ways that will astound you. Behram Ghista is a Buddhist teacher of international repute, with more than 18 years’ experience. To know more about Master Behram’s programs please visit www.innerartistry.net
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CONSCIOUS SPIRIT
You are Deserving A Message From Source
By SANDRA JUNCKERSTORFF & ROCHELLE McDONNELL
T
his column is a combination of guided messages, and the writing was energetically guided.
The words and the energy that carries those words is the beginning of healing, healing that is not just a physical healing, but healing that flows in and through all of who we are, which frees us to connect with all of who we are and to give and receive the abundance that is being held.
ROCHELLE & SANDRAJ
Rochelle & SandraJ are the co-creators of the PEIEC method of healing. They have shed their corporate identities and teamed up to share the insightful and transformational guided messages they have been receiving. Their aim is give everyone everywhere an opportunity to experience and participate in awakening and connecting with Source. They are the authors of Five Songs of Purpose; In Silence and Stillness; A Quiet Beauty and Messages from Source. Both Sandra and Rochelle had been experiencing healing, change and transformation. Following on from the healings, they were left with questions about how these changes were taking place, and why, when the body had been freed from pain and illness that the emotions seemed to kick in, or the thoughts and beliefs held were challenged. One evening, after a day of discussion and sitting in the creative energetic space, Rochelle was compelled to write. The energy was thick and heavy, yet comforting and directing. Opening her laptop, she closed her eyes and “wrote” Five Songs of Purpose. After the last words were typed, she closed the lid of the laptop and crawled into bed, not sure of what had been written or what had happened. SPRING 2017
The next day Sandra J shared how that evening the energy around her ‘amped’, and that she had thoughts and concepts that made no sense. After some discussion, they realised that at the same time, they had been given the same information. While this may seem a little strange, it has become the ‘norm’. Five Songs of Purpose, A Quiet Beauty, In Silence and Stillness, and Messages from Source were written in this way. They also receive messages around how to build their business, how to heal others and self and how to teach what has been given and shown to them.
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CONSCIOUS SPIRIT YOU ARE DESERVING!
There is a global awakening, a rising of consciousness that is sweeping through the spiritual teaching and energetic healing space. It is a yearning, a compelling desire to be more than what we are and what we know. To stand in all that we do connected to all that is, and to live in a way that is beyond what we have experienced. The challenge for many is how we do this. How do we live beyond the moment that we are in, above the struggles and the challenges and the busyness of what we do? It is in the acceptance of who we are that we begin to move into a more connected place, accepting that we are worthy and deserving of more than what we have in this moment. That thought can be confronting and challenges what we hold as truth about ourselves. Often what we believe
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and hold as truth about who we are, stops us from seeing the beauty of who we are. Or we hold a thought that we are not deserving. That we are not worthy. We are not good enough. We do not do enough. We do not try hard enough. It is these thoughts, beliefs and truths that we hold about who we are, that block our connection to all that we are, and our connection to Source, The Universe, The Greater Power, or whatever the name you have for ‘All that is’. The first step is to recognise the beliefs and truths we have around who we are, and what we deserve. The next step is to accept that we are more than what we believe and greater than the truth we hold.
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The truth is; You are deserving of all that you desire to be; You are deserving of the healing that you seek; You are deserving of the release of all that is stopping you from moving forward in all that you want to be, all that you can be and all that you will become; You are deserving of the healing touch of another; You are deserving of standing in a place that is not held in lack; You are deserving of the purity of love that flows from the compassionate touch of another; You are deserving of the words of hope and life and of truth; You are deserving of all that is yours to have; The only person that holds you back from receiving that, is you. It is your thoughts, your beliefs and your understanding of self.
So to step into a place of acceptance and recognising that that is where you are, and that is where you stand. In that acceptance is the beginning of healing and of change. Acceptance is nothing more than an empathetic response to self. It is saying, I am and I will be and I deserve to have, because I am worthy and beautiful, and the core of who I am is filled with essence and purity, light and love, and I can become all that I desire to become. To truly stand in a place of conscious awareness, connected to all that you are and to Source, there is a moment of empathy needed. A moment of acceptance of the beauty that is you, a seeing beyond what has been. It is from that place of acceptance that we connect to all of who we are, and begin to become all that we can become. Acceptance is without judgement. It is without shame or condemnation of who you are, what you have done or not done, or what you should be doing. Acceptance is an acknowledgement of ‘this is how it is’. Acceptance is not a place of weakness; it is a place of strength. From that moment of acceptance, you begin to move in a higher awareness, a greater consciousness, which connects you to all that you are and all to the energy that is all things. Acceptance is not surrender without conditions, it is surrender with an expectation of change. An expectation and knowing that the beauty of who you are, the pure essence that is the heart beat of all that is you, is filled with a purity that is beyond measure. The inner you, the pure essence of you is perfect. It is without flaw, it is without mistakes, it is untainted by all that has been, it is the pure connection to Source. In acceptance we acknowledge, nurture, support, and embrace all of self, the Physical, the Emotional, the Intellectual, Energetic and Core. In seeing and accepting that you are life, the expression of all that is, the reflection of perfection, light, love and purity, you raise your consciousness and spiritual connection to a higher place, to a greater vibration that brings healing and wholeness. ‘To heal is to heal from the place of total acceptance’. For more information www.flip180.com.au email: info@flip180.com.au Facebook Page: Flip180life
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CONSCIOUS SPIRIT
Lemurian Crystals
Balance Atlantis Influences Repair your patch of the planet By ADAM BARRALET
author of Crystal Connections
T
he lost lands of ancient Atlantis are familiar to most. This civilisation was renowned for its advanced understandings of a wide range of sciences. In contrast, the earlier civilisation of Lemuria lived in harmony with nature. Atlanteans used crystals on mass for generating energy and healing. They understood astrology as well as the cycles of the Earth and other planets, and could manipulate the pull of these energies to their advantage.
CENTAURS AND MERMAIDS
Atlantis elite explored technology that altered individuals’ DNA in their attempt to make superior changes, which led to the birth of beings such as centaurs and mermaids. However, in the end their great intellect and advanced sciences began to excite the imaginations of those known as the priesthood, who were in power in Atlantis. Greed became a motivating factor as they fed off the power they had in their hands. The elite began to exploit others living within Atlantis and the planet which supported them. Eventually they tipped the balance of the planet too far and Mother Earth had no choice but to assert her power to again bring harmony to the planet,
‘The Lemurian civilisation graced our planet before the Atlanteans’ and Atlantis was returned to the watery womb of the Great Mother. There is another great civilisation known to have graced our planet before the Atlanteans, the Lemurians. Lemuria was a massive land mass that stretched around the Southern Hemisphere. It reached to Madagascar and Africa in the west, parts of Asia and Hawaii in the North, South American in the east, and encompassed Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. The Lemurians were highly empathetic and this allowed them to develop strong relationships with the plants, animals and crystals upon their lands. They nurtured these relationships and in return nature guided them to find powerful ways to heal and grow. Lemurians became caretakers of the Earth and lived a very natural life in harmony with its cycles. They ate raw and fresh plants and seafoods, healed 50 CONSCIOUS LIVING MAGAZINE
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with crystals, and celebrated lunar and solar cycles. Lemurians lived in a peaceful and highly developed spiritual culture that strongly valued each member in their tribe and community. Although the civilisations of Atlantis and Lemuria were advanced, they had some key differences. Lemurians loved nature, understanding and revering her perfection, while Atlanteans used their knowledge to explore how to take nature and make her more perfect by shifting energy streams and altering genetics. While the Lemurians allowed the cycles of nature to dictate their way of living, the Atlanteans worked to dictate and control the cycles of nature. Lemurians valued family, community and group success, and understood that everyone had their individual gift that contributed to the whole. In contrast, Atlanteans became obsessed with individual success, even if it was detrimental to others. They developed hierarchies in which some where seen as more important than others, and those who were ‘less important’ started to lose their basic rights. Those who no longer had rights became used as scientific ‘guinea pigs’ by the powerful.
‘One of our planet’s biggest threats is climate change resulting from exploitation of nature, rather than working in harmony with her’
COMPETE AND OUTSMART
This brings us to the state of today’s modern world. When we look at the dominant powers, Northern Hemisphere countries such as the United States spring to mind. Underpinning these influences are strongly Atlantean values such as success of the individual and a drive to compete and outsmart others. The deeper you hunt for similarities the more emerge. Just think about the emergence of GMO foods, fluoride in water and chem-trails. Again, one of our planet’s biggest threats is climate change resulting from human exploitation of nature, rather than working in harmony with her. Scientists are warning the most powerful and influential leaders of the world of the imminent climatic catastrophes being caused by their actions. But is greed distorting these leaders’ perceptions? Are we heading towards the same destiny as Atlantis? Will history repeat itself?
have migrated to countries such as Australia have adopted these values. Simply consider the importance of ‘mateship’ and the ‘tall poppy syndrome’ to Aussies. The time has now come for those who hold wisdom and teachings of Lemuria to step forward and share. Those living in the Southern Hemisphere must realign to the teachings of their own land and its indigenous people, rather than teachings inherited and adopted from the North. There are many tools that nature is subtly gifting us to help with this realignment, from Lemurian Seed Crystals to unique Jaspers, Quantum Quattro to Super Quartzes. Even Western Australia’s own Mookaite is an invaluable tool. If you are able to start working with crystals found from the lands of the south, the lessons, wisdoms and focus will bless your life and all those you touch.
USE LEMURIAN ENERGY
Adam is a spiritual teacher, adept at working with crystals, along with essential oils, animal guides, tarot and astrology.
Meanwhile, the Lemurian energy still exists and can be found in essence in many Southern Hemisphere cultures. Think about many South American, southern African and south east Asian cultures. You can still see a deeper value of nature inherent in these cultures as well as a high value on the family unit and community. Even those who SPRING 2017
www.adambarralet.com www.facebook.com/mycrystalconnections/
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CONSCIOUS ARTS
Artist Spotlight
Johnny Garcia From Non-Believer to Channel of Source Energy Interviewed by CUSHLA LOVEJOY PhD. Johnny Garcia is an artist, and musician, who has dedicated the last 10 years in assisting people in understanding and realizing their souls’ journey. He supports people in connecting to their authentic creative power and choices. In this interview with Cushla he shares with us how he shifted from being a non-believer to becoming a channel for the Divine Mothers and inspirational Soul Essence art.
My Vehicle
We acknowledge © Johnny Garcia for all artwork in this article.
Cushla: Hi Johnny. So nice to be able to have this conversation. Johnny: Thank you Cushla. I’m excited about having this talk. C: Great. Let me start with the title of this article “From NonBeliever to a Channel of Source Energy”. Can you share with us what that experience was like for you? J: Yes, of course. When I was 18 years old, I was living with my parents in San Francisco and I decided to move out on my own. With this new freedom, I realized I could create my own rules. My first rule was disassociating myself from the organized religion that my parents had forced me to participate in, which was way beyond my comfort zone and personal beliefs. I divorced myself from all non-physical energies – God, Angels, Devil, etc. For the next 13 years, I believed in nothing – except having a good time and experimenting with all the things I was taught to avoid. 52 CONSCIOUS LIVING MAGAZINE
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C: What situation occurred that changed that path for you? J: Around the age of 30, I bought a deck of cards to do readings just for the sole purpose of disproving them. Funny, right? I started doing readings that were extremely accurate, which I thought was just coincidence. I even practiced with myself. One day, I asked a question, pulled out 4 cards and did not like the answer. I reshuffled and pulled the same cards in the same order. What luck, I thought, but still not liking the answer, I reshuffled and for the 3rd time drew the same cards in the same order. Right then, there was a big click in my heart and for the first time I felt that there was something bigger than me. From that moment, my life shifted greatly. C: In which way did it change for you? J: The doors of creativity and unlimitedness opened up. That year, in 2000, I became a professional photographer and specialized in photographing actors, models, and musicians. One of the most common responses I received was how beautifully I had captured them in the photos. “This is the first time I’ve seen ME in photos. You brought out my essence, thank you.” This is when I realized I had a gift of connecting with people’s souls and helping them to see their authentic selves. Soul Conception
Fully Self Realized
As well, 2000 was the year I started painting. For the next few years, art and photography showed me how to be present with my work and go with the flow. Then in 2007, I met you, Cushla, and another big life shift happened for me. C: I remember that clearly. It’s when the Divine Mother’s asked you to work on the book project with me. Do you remember how you felt when we asked you? J: Of course! It was at a time that I had begun meditating regularly and learning about energies, healing and spirit guides. I had never met a true channel until I met you. You offered me a channeling session with the Divine Mothers where they shared that I would be channeling their energies as I painted the art for the book. Naturally, I felt nervous and wondered about the “how”. But the how just happened perfectly and to this date, every painting that I create is consciously channeled with Source energy. C: Besides our book, ‘Connect with your Light Energy’, what other art projects have you worked on? J: Right after the book, I did a series of 26 paintings titled, “The Soul’s Journey”, which interprets the journey of the SPRING 2017
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Divine Mothers
soul, from its birth from Source to its reintegration with Source, plus many of the steps in between. For many years now, I have been fascinated by the soul’s journey and it is the foundation for the work I do, including the Soul Essence paintings. C: Are your Soul Essence paintings similar to soul portraits? Why should someone get a Soul Essence painting from you? J: Soul portraits normally give a figurative interpretation and restrict people to just focus on the image in their
Surrender Into Bliss
drawing. The Soul Essence paintings I channel are completely abstract so that it can be interpreted in the most unlimited of ways. It encourages the mind to stop thinking and instead, to open up more to feel, connecting to the knowingness of who you are - unconditional love and light. We are all unlimited beings and that’s forgotten so often because of all the limitations in our everyday life. The Soul Essence paintings are always the perfect reminder to live more in your expansiveness rather than your limitations. Johnny, currently resides in Washington State. He runs international retreats and workshops and provides one-on-one sessions. Read more here www.johnnygarcia.org Cushla and Johnny have co-created a 2018 calendar of channelled art and inspirational messages, and will be releasing a deck of cards for readings. Johnny will be a keynote speaker at the Conscious Living Expo in Perth this November 3-5.
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CONSCIOUS ARTS SPRING 2017 MUST READS
Pomegranate: A Global History Author: Damien Stone Publisher: Reaktion Books ISBN: 9781780237497 Web: www.newsouthbooks.com.au The Pomegranate you may say is little more than a fruit, strange though it may be, that plays a prominent role in Middle Eastern cookery. A fruit that had almost disappeared into obscurity, at least in Western diets, over the past decades, until more recent times when cuisine of the finest, most unusual and from all corners of the earth, became something that was written about, created and slaved over by chefs and presented in many forms directly into your living room via modern media. But there is more to this strange fruit, a fruit which should be treated as royalty in the world of fruits, as it has been revered by all major religions of the world at some point in their history; it has been found as far back as Neolithic times, when it was deliberately cultivated from the wild. Pomegranate seeds have been found in carbonised form at the Middle Eastern sites of Jericho, Arad and Nimrud and dated archeologically to the start of the third millennium BC. It has had poetry written to it, been a temptress of the Gods and Goddesses, used in rituals and been placed into history inscribed on wall paintings and wall hangings, silver and pottery vessels are adorned with its likeness, with ornaments worn by Kings and Queens throughout history crafted in its form. Great masters of their art such as Picasso, Matisse, William Morris and Dali have created woks about and around this glorious fruit, while the Buddha gets offered a single pomegranate by an old beggar woman then uses this gift, freely given, to illustrate the true meaning of sacrifice to a wealthy Maharaja. So no matter where you look, be it in Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, Catholicism or Christianity the pomegranate is there for all to see. SPRING 2017
Fertility is another area where the pomegranate features prominently, used by the Gods to tempt and also to illustrate the nature of life and death. The links to fertility are and were extremely strong. It was used as a medicine by the ancient Greeks to help with menstrual problems and considered as a symbol of great sexual ability. Each of the ancient civilisations has a considerable mythology woven around this remarkable fruit. In today world it is still used in certain cultural celebrations, still considered a god amongst the fruits and is becoming more and more popular for its health benefits and wonderful flavours when added to foods. As you reach the end of the book you may wonder why someone would have taken the time to research and present a wonderful work, with magnificent illustrations, about a fruit, and if so you have completely missed the point. The pomegranate, as it has meandered down the corridors of history, brings with it a language of its own, telling a tale or two about who we as a civilisation are, where our roots return to, or if you like where all the folkloric, myth and legend that is very much a component of our world came to be created around one simple, in its original form, bitter little fruit with its royal looks and colour. As one final thought on a subject that is as fascinating as it is remarkable, it is considered by historians that the forbidden fruit referred to in the Garden of Eden, may have been the seductress of all fruits, the Pomegranate, not an apple!
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Defiant Earth The fate of humans in the Anthropocene Author: Clive Hamilton Publisher: Allen & Unwin ISBN: 9781760295967 Web: www.allenandunwin.com In this wonderful, glorious debate, almost with himself, Clive Hamilton puts forward the emotive issue of Climate Change, earth change and the destabilisation of the natural order of things, all orchestrated by we, the human race, in a never ending race to the finish, whatever and wherever that may be. He points out the sadly for the earth and for its population, the damage that is being done is considered irreversible; but this is also an issue that is hotly debated in academic circles which have split into two camps, those who believe and those who mock and scorn in regard to climate change. But what has caused such angst and concern; the political climate change and all that goes with it has become a point scoring exercise. Scientifically it has become a very divisive issue. At the bottom of it all is the salient point that because human beings have become so powerful, throughout the medium of Technology, their interference with the natural evolution of the earth, which has been taking place for the past 4.5 billion years, has over the past 70 years severely disrupted the natural pace of progression. The speed of change has increased to what can or could be considered a disastrously rapid pace. Because of the huge amounts of carbon dioxide being released into the earth’s atmosphere, predominantly since 1945, The International Commission on Stratigraphy is seriously considering officially adding another epoch, that of Anthropocene, to the scale, as it is considered, thanks to human intervention, the earth has shifted significantly from the previous epoch, that of Holocene. While this in itself to the man about town, is not a disturbing aspect of their life, the effects are being felt by all with significant shifts in localised weather patterns, which are disturbing. Crops are failing, people are starving, fires and floods are causing wholesale devastation world56 CONSCIOUS LIVING MAGAZINE
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wide. The polar icecaps are melting causing changes to sea levels and also to water quality, which in turn affects all sea life and major river systems are slowing down. Mother Earth or ‘Gaia’, who as Greek Goddess the ancestral mother of all life, is getting very angry at the abuse of her creation. In Hamilton words, she ‘sends extreme events before which our powers appear puny’. He also likens this to a massive tug-of-war between ‘humankind and Earth’, because from his perspective, as technology increases it has placed enormous power in the hands of humans, which has given them a dominance not seen previously, allowing them to alter and control much of nature, thereby altering the natural progression of the earth. The Earth is striking back and becoming far more unpredictable than ever before. What is to be done or can anything be done to change what appears to be the relentless disregard to the basis of our civilisation is a complete unknown. Environmental campaigners and campaigns have, to a degree, raised awareness of what is happening but is this still falling on deaf ears or is there a chance, an opportunity, to be able to halt or correct such devastation? Sadly the damage cannot be undone but perhaps, it can be halted, ultimately that is up to the Human race to decided or will the coldly clinical words uttered by Nietzsche in 1873 still hold true when he said ‘In some remote corner of the universe, poured out and glittering in innumerable solar systems, there once was a star on which clever animals invented knowledge………… After nature had drawn a few breaths the star grew cold, the clever animals had to die’ In the final chapter Hamilton ponders the issue that there can be no real end to the book, to the debate, the destruction, as it rages on endlessly, the only hope is that our descendants will be wiser and, should a new civilisation be built on the destruction of the old, they will have learned the lessons history holds, that we in the forthcoming Anthropocene age, still will not learn! Though provoking and shedding a different perspective on what can and most probably will happen, Clive Hamilton possess more questions that he solves, raises more issues than simply that of Climate Change and offers no solutions other than taking time to pause and reflect, in order to be able to salvage what, in his opinion is a doomed society! SPRING 2017
Reviewed by JAN MAWDESLEY
See more reviews at bluewolf-reviews.com
THE JOY OF LIVING
Author: Barry Eaton ISBN: 978-1-925429-48-0 Publisher: Rockpool Publishing Website: www.rockpoolpublishing.com.au
When Barry Eaton finally gave in and went to see his Doctor about a few issues he was experiencing with his throat and voice, the worst possible diagnosis was made; throat cancer. For a man who has spent many years making a living using his voice as a radio presenter, voice over narrator, and much more, he was not about to take this diagnosis lightly. Told from a very different perspective Barry begins his story trying to understand just what it is that is really happening to him and why. Funny, at time even comical, touching, despairing and as with all of his books incredibly informative, Barry Eaton definitely shows us all ‘why we should appreciate the joys of living’, each and every day.
BUDDHISM FOR PET LOVERS
Author: David Michie ISBN: 9781760294496 Publisher: Allen & Unwin Website: www.allenandunwin.com
Every pet lover, regardless of what sort of pet they have, will immediately relate to the contents of this latest look at Tibetan Buddhism, how it correlates to our pets and their bonding or influence over us, their humans! It also takes a serious look at the benefits we as humans receive, as well as the lessons often learned, from these beautiful, beloved creatures. Anyone who has ever been privileged enough to have a special buddle of fur, feathers or other in their life, including pets as small as hermit crabs and the like, appreciate that extra something they bring to their lives will find they totally resonate to this somewhat different look at their Pet. SPRING 2017
MINDFULNESS FOR MUMS AND DADS PROVEN STRATEGIES FOR CALMING DOWN AND CONNECTING Author: Dr Diana Korevaar ISBN: 9781743369067 Publisher: Murdoch Books Website: www.murdochbooks.com.au
‘She smiled and said with an ecstatic air: ‘It shines like a diamond’, ‘What does?’ ‘This moment. It is round, it hangs in empty space like a diamond; I am eternal.’ This wonderful quote from Jean Paul Sartre, The Age of Reason, really does encapsulate all that is the art of Mindfulness, that of being there in the Moment, that fleeting, nanosecond of time, once gone, gone forever and with it all the emotion that was embedded in that moment. Although the title indicates the book is for Mums and Dads the information contained in the book and presented so beautifully, is something everyone will be able to resonate to, as we all struggle to cope with today’s life challenges and rapidly changing environments.
CLUES FROM BEYOND
Author: Debbie Malone. ISBN: 978-1-925429-47-3 Publisher: Rockpool Publishing Website: www.rockpoolpublishing.com.au
Murder and disappearances occur on a daily basis. Some never reported and many reported but with little or no end results. How do the Police, when all else fails go about moving on, eventually looking into the issue as a cold case and occasionally being able to deliver a result to the families who, although they continue on with their lives, are always are left wondering. Debbie Malone, a highly respected psychic and medium opens the door to one of several ways Police choose to use with their enquiries when many of the rational methods have failed; that of using psychic abilities to try and piece together what happened. ISSUE 99
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CONSCIOUS ARTS BOOK REVIEWS FLOWERPAEDIA: 1000 FLOWERS AND THEIR MEANINGS
Author: Cheralyn Darcey ISBN: 978-1-925429-46-6 Publisher: Rockpool Publishers Website: www.rockpoolpublishing.com.au/flowerpaedia
Cheralyn Darcey has spent many years working with, researching and enjoying not just the beauty of flowers, but learning to tune into what she refers to as the ‘language of flowers’, their meaning, the gifts of healing and balance they bring into our lives and our daily existence. In compiling this work of love, she has documented the world of flowers into what she terms a ‘Flowerpaedia’ allowing everyone and anyone who enjoys flowers, to have a quick and easy reference guide into far more than the colourful moment captured by the eye and the senses.
MY GRATEFUL BOOK
Author: Diana Smith Illustrations: Sarah Jane Marchant ISBN: 978-0-646-96020-3 Website: www.dianasmith.com.au
This delightful little book sets out to remind us that there is so much in our world, in our everyday life for which to be grateful: little things mostly, which because they are little things and part of our everyday life, we often tend to take for granted. Through the eyes of a small child we are once again invited to be truly thankful for such things as a good meal on the table, a smile from a friend, a loved one or someone just passing bye, butterflies and rainbows, especially rainbows, because they are beautiful, can’t be touched and only last a fleeting moment in time.
NUMEROLOGY AND YOUR CHILD
Authors: Jeanne Prosser and Penelope Ditchburn ISBN: 978-0-9945248-6-7 Publisher: Animal Dreaming Publishing Website: www.animaldreamingpublishing.com/
As a parent of this new generation, wondering about so many things, Numerology is an excellent place to start discovering and understanding your child’s or children’s behaviour patterns and by doing so understand how to work with, encourage and set family guidelines, so they will gain the required and appropriate skills to equip them for a future far different from today. Beautifully presented and well explained Numerology and your Child will prove to be as fascinating and informative as it will be helpful towards providing insights for tomorrow’s children as they forge a new pathway through their lives into the ever-beckoning future. 58 CONSCIOUS LIVING MAGAZINE
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SPRING 2017
MUSIC REVIEWS
Reviewed by JAN MAWDESLEY
See more reviews at bluewolf-reviews.com
Songs of Potential Embrace
David Franklin www.davidfranklin.com In this seriously experimental album there are a range of sounds which could easily be considered as the collection of a complete eccentric, trying over and over again to find the perfect metre for expression, or the work of a genius wandering through the sound spectrum, tweaking here and refining there. But regardless of how you consider this collective of sound, you will by the end of the album have developed a definite opinion in regard to the work. Franklin is working with the concept that all sound is music in one form or another; the sound of the telephone demanding attention, the ceaseless drone of the vacuum cleaner as it moves slowly across the soundboard of life, the discordant note of an instrument played in reverse, are all music to his ears and to his composer’s soul. Introverted and extroverted the imagination is drawn to a man sitting in his studio, grabbing this and trying out that for a fit; a perfect match, a blend of the unique and everyday noises that go to make up our daily existence, all of which have been tuned out to form the accompanying drone of the world turning again and again. Underneath this experimental soundscape is that of a serious musician who has already created and released eight previous albums ranging from the avant-garde to the melodic new age. In the beginning we are introduced to this style with The Failed Experiment of Earth Consciousness where Franklin uses an altered acoustic baritone guitar with alternative tuning as a metaphor, a cry, to wake-up in regard to real environmental issues such as earth warming and climate change. Trending towards the more popular style of music in So far Below Franklin works with an altered baritone guitar with the addition of piano gently balancing the work, which was SPRING 2017
written in a cemetery, capturing the unique quietness, the gentle whispering of the soul and sense of great peace to be found as part of the final resting place of so many. RH Factor (re-mix) creates the birth of new life, the noise which must assault a newborns senses as they enter this world, followed by the very confrontational Quotes (re-mix) full of discordant guitar and synth overlayed with the vocal grief of discovering a loved one dead of their own hand. Changing the pace entirely is The Wildness, with Franklin reciting poetry accompanied by Tibetan singing bowls both struck and strummed, to remind us that we need to take care of our life and also of the earth we live upon. Confrontational, intriguing, distinctive and strangely enjoyable this music reaches into the psyche to encourage a connection with a segment, a primal component of who we all are, humans temporarily placed on this place called Earth! Tap here to listen ISSUE 99
CONSCIOUS LIVING MAGAZINE 59
CONSCIOUS ARTS MUSIC REVIEWS NIGHTFALL LONDON
WHAT WE HOLD DEAR
It is hard to contemplate a city as vibrant and alive as London actually having nightfall, slowing down; drifting into that timeless space between one day and another, one world and another. Nick Sparks found this fascinating to contemplate. When he come across the photo of Big Ben at dusk, he decided that his latest compositions of refreshing piano music fitted perfectly into the ambience created by this single shot. Sparks states that his utmost desire is to create music that feeds the soul, inspires and uplifts. With this latest album he has truly managed to accomplish his desire.
Beautiful keyboards emerges out of the silence in this latest album from Wenzel, in the track Murmuration, capturing in sound the dance of Starlings swirling on the currents, creating a dance of pure beauty and enjoyment. He is joined on ten of the twelve tracks by violinist Josie Quick, cellist Jordan Shug and Sarah Joerz; Her beautiful vocalisation on Desert Dream, creates a feeling of deep, mysteriousness to the spiritual rights being undertaken by a tribe in the Southwestern dessert; beautiful, haunting and mysterious. Wenzel has created in music a timely reminder to appreciate all the things we do hold dear in out lives
Nick Sparks www.ricksparksmusic.net
Timothy Wenzel www.timothywenzel.com
SANCTUARY III BEYOND THE DREAM
URBANMETTA VOL 1
Once again Sherry Finzer has produced an album which encapsulates the haunting, ethereal beauty of the flute in Sanctuary III: Beyond the Dream. In a far more reflective and almost introverted mood, somewhat different to her usual style, she taps into the depth of each of the pieces seeking the inner strength of the music, the soul and the heart of each of the pieces. It is almost as if Finzer is looking deep within to allow that gentle spirituality to come forward, to form the notes which are perfection in themselves. The Way gently ushers in the reflective melodies which are to be the significant component of the album.
Anaamaly, otherwise known as Phil Strickland, has created a delicious soundscape that wraps about you like a warm blanket, bringing with it the relaxation that sitting in front of fire on a cold winter’s day brings; a uniqueness that nothing else can quite achieve. Each of the eleven pieces on the album segue effortlessly into each other creating a continuous thread of healing vibration set at a level that reaches deep into the consciousness, allowing the restless mind, the troubled soul to settle, to relax and to simply be. Beautiful, sensual, perfect for relaxation: absolutely delightful.
Sherry Finzer www.sherryfinzer.com
Anaamaly www.anaamaly.com
SHIFTING SANDS
BRING THE FLAVORS
Teasing the ear, tempting the memory, tantalising the senses are just some of the enticing emotions to be felt with this new collection from the delightfully relaxed piano of Lynn Tredeau, who has, once again, blended a range of emotions into sublime music with the true skill of an alchemist. Her delicate touch seems to simply drift from one piece to another with effortless ease, enticing the listener to float slowly along with the ambience created. To have the music playing is to bring a great sense of peace to the room, the space, to offer a soothing touch in a busy lifestyle, to share a moment where, to simply sit and enjoy, is possible.
With Jack Gates music you never know quite where you are going to end up, but on the first track and the title to the album Bring The Flavors you immediately realise that he has once again managed to create a wonderful morphing of jazz, Latin, new age, world fusion and all the other beats and vibes that go into making an inspired, joyful and very definitely up-beat collection to delight. As the tracks unfold, presenting what they will, but always sunlight, enjoyment and a great sense of peace, it is as if the music is reaching out, touching a chord to say, in this world, yes, it is alright to relax, to enjoy and to have fun!
Lynn Tredeau www.lynnetredeau.com
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Jack Gates www.jackgatesmusic.com
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