Eating Well in KC

Dreams In the Time of COVID

BY JUDE LACLAIRE, PH.D.

In the new reality of COVID-19 our conscious and unconscious worlds merge in living color in our dreams. People are reporting more vivid dreams, remembering dreams more frequently (one French study suggests a thirty-five percent increase in dream recall), and having more fearful or anxiety dreams.

Our dreams serve the function of helping us process our waking state reality, do problem solving, memory consolidation, and give us ways to express thoughts, emotions, and perceptions that are stored in the unconscious. During this time, when schedules may be less demanding, it is possible that you are waking up naturally. You awaken remembering your most recent dream which is often most vivid. Since the dream state is part of the natural rhythm of the brain occurring every 90-120 minutes while you sleep, you may also remember the preceding three to four dreams.

Dreams can be understood on three levels; literal, symbolic/ metaphoric, and global/ universal. Many people turn immediately to the literal interpretation of the dream. If I dream I am driving my car down the street, and my brakes don’t work, it means I better get my brakes checked, or I will have an accident. A deeper look at the dream takes you to the level of symbol or metaphor. Each dream symbol/element may represent some aspect of your life. You tell the dream like this: “The part of me that is driving/in charge is trying to stop an out-of- control,/ no brakes part of myself. I may be endangering myself and others as I speed out of control.” Could this dream have a global or universal meaning? Perhaps you are part of a group or system that is out of control; that may need stopping, slowing, or re-directing. The collective “drivers” can change the direction by finding a way to steer the vehicle safely.

Another very simple way to begin understanding your dreams is to make a list of all the parts of the dream, e.g., the driver, the vehicle, the brakes, the road, etc. By each word, make a list of associations, definitions or connections that come immediately to mind. Now re-tell the dream using the association words or phrases. Try different combinations. You may be amazed, as you understand the connection to your current situation and problems that may be presenting themselves to you.

The Senoi, a tribe living in the upper Malaysian Peninsula, gather each morning for a dream group. Children are guided to remember and share their dreams. They are given some very powerful guidelines to help them in their dream world.

You can call on whatever help you need.

You can always take all the time you need.

You can always protect yourself.

You can enjoy positive and pleasurable experiences in the dream.

You can always achieve a positive outcome or solution in the dream.

You can do this several different ways. You can imagine yourself in the dream and, as the director, you can change the dream in more positive direction and finish the dream. You can write the dream and re-do the dream, using the guidelines, finding new ways to understand and solve any problems or resolve any fears.

This would be a good time to check your sleep hygiene. Make sure you are not drinking caffeine

“Our dreams serve the function of helping us process our waking state reality, do problem solving, memory consolidation, and give us ways to express thoughts, emotions, and perceptions that are stored in the unconscious.”

after mid-afternoon. Try to keep screen time down. Definitely give yourself about thirty minutes before bed to do something relaxing and stress-reducing, avoiding screens/blue light. Get exercise and some time outdoors in sunlight!

Because we have fewer experiences during the day to draw upon, are more isolated, and have fewer distractions, it is possible that you are digging deeper into the unconscious. I am finding that people are connecting with traumatic memories and experiences during this time. It is a time to work through and release these traumas. Some people are doing amazing inner work now.

Practice using your fear and anxiety to be more aware, practice stress reduction, and be kinder and more nurturing toward yourself. This will help you do this for others as well. Hopefully, we can all use the challenges of this time to grow internally and in relationship to others and the world.

Jude LaClaire,

Ph.D., LCPC is a counselor and educator at the Heartland Holistic Health Center. She is the author of the “Life Weaving Education Curriculum” that teaches creative, effective, holistic problem solving. For counseling appointments (confidential video sessions), seminars, in-service training, or speaker’s bureau, call 913-322-5622 or drjude@heartlandholistic.com; www.heartlandholistic.com. Some pro bono and lower fee sessions are available at this time.

EVOLVINGMAGAZINE.COM T here is no doubt that most people are experiencing more stress right now. That can lead to stress-related eating, which can lead people to becoming overweight or obese. Many people may feel they find comfort in food when the stress kicks in, but they may not have identified themselves as a true stress eater, or realized how harmful it is to their health. One doctor is on a mission to help get people to identify the pattern and take control of it once and for all.

“Who out there is not feeling the stress of worrying about what the future holds for you and your family?” explains Dr. Robert “Bob” Posner, a worldrenowned weight loss researcher and medical doctor who founded the Serotonin-Plus Weight Loss Program. “Most people are not overweight or obese because they lack willpower; it’s simply because of the brain’s connection to their stress feelings and how it impacts cravings. It’s all about the science involved.”

One of the first things Dr. Posner’s program does is get people to identify whether or not they are a stress eater. He asks them to get serious about such questions as if they crave carbohydrates, have low energy levels, feel sad at times and then anxious at others, and reach for the food during times of stress. Emotional eaters tend to eat when they are upset or under stress. This may start a cycle of the person feeling bad about themselves, and then eating again due to those negative feelings.

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), emotional eating is when you eat food to help cope with difficult emotions. It has nothing to do with being hungry. Oftentimes, people who are emotional or stress eaters will not even realize how much they have consumed because they are taking in the calories while their mind is consumed by the stress, rather than being focused on the food. Making matters worse, the NIH also reports that the foods people reach for to help with stress are often high in fat, sugar, and salt.

Stress eating becomes a habit for people, and after a while it can wreak havoc on their health. Dr. Posner offers several ways to help take on this issue and win, including:  Be mindful. Take a 5- second delay to ask yourself the question: "Why am I doing this, what benefit am I getting from this behavior, and what harm may I be doing to myself?”  Stock up right. Avoid having the derailing snacks and stress-related snack foods in the home in the first place. If you had to go out of the house to go buy a snack food, you may lose interest.  Choose something else. Rather than grab food when there is stress, engage in stress-reducing activities, including yoga, meditation, exercise, crafts, reading, and writing.  Set the stage. Skip having a scenario of distracted eating, which includes consuming bowls of popcorn, peanuts, or M&M’s while watching shows. Break the bad eating habit while watching television.  Protect your mind. Limit time spent watching stressful news shows. There is an abundance of bad news, and it can cause people to become stressed and filled with anxiety. “People often try to lose weight only to lose the battle and eventually give up trying to get healthier,” adds Posner. “The truth of the matter is that they have just not been taught about weight loss and emotional eating. If they take the time to learn about it, they will be successful and they will enjoy that success for a lifetime.”

It’s important for people to understand the chemistry behind weight issues. Stress causes and increase release of cortisol and ghrelin and depletion of serotonin and leptin. Unfortunately, cortisol and ghrelin lead to increased appetite, lower satiety and therefore tend to be “bad” for weight control. Conversely, serotonin and leptin are “good” for weight control, so the depletion of these chemicals that occur with stress is “bad” for weight control.

Perhaps understanding that there are strong chemical components to “stress eating” is the first step in blocking the final component: Picking up those food and drink sources and placing them in our mouths. At the end of the day, we all can override these chemical signals to block the final behavioral component. Stress eating and the accompanying weight gain will only stress us more. Now, more than ever, weight control is of the utmost importance. Do not succumb to stress eating! With decades of medical experience under his belt, along with his free webinars, Dr. Posner offers telemedicine appointments, weight loss products, and more. He founded the Potomac Internal Medicine Associates primary care office in 1988, and the Serotonin-Plus, Inc. in 2002. He has helped thousands of people to successfully lose weight, and is the author of three weight loss-themed books. To learn more about him and the program, visit the site at: https:// doctorbobposner.com/ or https:// spdiet.com. By Dr. Bob Posner

Vegan Keto Chocolate Avocado Pudding

By: Fresh n' Lean

SO CREAMY YOU WON’T MISS THE MILK

There are some days where you don’t feel like turning on the oven and just eating what I like to call an “instant gratification” dessert. This vegan keto chocolate avocado pudding is definitely that. All you need is a food processor and a few ingredients and you’ll be on your way to dessert town!

I am honestly surprised at how amazing the consistency is of this pudding. It’s like it came from a box, but didn’t! It’s velvety, smooth, rich, and loaded with healthy fats. And along with being ketogenic, it’s also vegan! I see some delicious dessert in your future, friends.

INGREDIENTS

 2 mediumAvocados  3 tbspCocoa Powder  2 tbspMelted Keto-Friendly Dark Chocolate  8 dropsStevia  2 tspVanilla Extract  ⅛ tspSalt  2 tspPlant-Based Milk

TOOLS

Food Processor

INSTRUCTIONS

1 —Cut open avocado and scoop out flesh. Melt chocolate. 2—Combine all ingredients in a food processor. Serve, or chill until ready to eat.

Quarantined with Abuser?

As people are making sacrifices to shelter in place and help to slow the spread of the coronavirus, there are hidden costs that we may not have realized. Domestic and sexual violence, along with child abuse, all thrive in sectors of silence. More often than not, the abuse happens at the hands of someone the victim knows, usually a caregiver or household member. At a time when people are required to stay at home, they may be at unintended risk of violence while trying to keep safe from a virus. Police departments across the country are reporting an uptick in domestic violence calls.

Stressors such as substance use disorders and financial stress are two of the primary underpinnings of violence, and both are rising by the minute in our country as we reach unemployment benchmarks we haven’t seen since the Great Depression. Admissions to substance treatment facilities are skyrocketing, and while most of our economy is seeing a serious downturn, sales of alcohol are soaring. (Neilsen, 2020). On top of that, as the fear around the virus began to spread in early 2020, toilet paper wasn’t the only thing flying off the shelves—so were guns. States reported gun sales skyrocketed amid fears of civil unrest and governmental orders. (https:// www.nytimes.com/ interactive/2020/04/01/ business/coronavirus-gunsales.html, 2020)

Economic stressors, a stay-athome order, more alcohol in the home, and additional access to guns are the exact kindling required for a flurry of interpersonal violence. What can we do to help? First and foremost, we must get the word out to all potential victims that help is still available. Hotlines are still being answered 24/7, and in many instances, agencies have also established texting hotlines and resources. While shelter may not be desired by those attempting to leave a dangerous home right now, many domestic violence agencies are using hotels across the country to offer safe respite for anyone in danger. ChildLine [CJ1] calls are still being answered, and when necessary, workers are still going into homes for safety and security checks if child abuse is suspected and/or reported.

Second, check in on those whom you may be concerned about, and discreetly let them know you are there if they need anything. Due to being under the same roof, your loved one may not be able to speak freely for fear that the abuser can hear. Establish a code word that is known only between you and the victim.That way, if you get that word via text from that person or it’s used when you call, you know that help is needed. Pre-establish what that help looks like. Does the person want you to call and create an interruption, or do you need to call 911?

Encourage the person to change the passwords on accounts and technology, though this could be risky if the offender is monitoring the person’s phone and apps. If a victim goes to the National Domestic Violence Hotline webpage, there is a chat line feature that will immediately delete the messages off the phone as soon as the victim ends the conversation. This could give an opportunity for the victim to access resources, make a quick safety plan, or just get some needed guidance to help him or her get through the hour, day, or week.

One of the most important things a victim can have is resources, be that a friend, neighbor, or family member. Encourage the person to make a safety plan, connect him or her to resources that can individualize a safety plan to the circumstances, listen to the victim, and respect his or her wishes. Your loved ones know the offender better than anyone else, and by doing something against their wishes, you may put them in additional harm. Reassure them that services such as counseling, food pantries, shelter options, transportation assistance, and restraining or protective orders are all still accessible in every town in America. Gently guide them while planting the seeds of life-saving resources.

The National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-787 -3224 . Visit www.thehotline.org for texting and other resources. Jennifer Storm is an award winning victim’s rights expert, advocate and best -selling author of multiple books. Having worked on some of the most high profile cases in our history, she is often the first call media make when stories break on addiction, victimization and trauma. She is the appointed Victim Advocate for the Commonwealth of PA.

Award-Winning Victim’s Rights Advocate Shares Thoughts on How to Stay Safe

“If a victim goes to the National Domestic Violence Hotline webpage, there is a chat line feature that will immediately delete the messages off the phone as soon as the victim ends the conversation.” By Jennifer Storm

Craniosacral Therapy Stimulates Healing, Relieves Pain and Stress

By Molly O’Leary, DC

Craniosacral therapy is a gentle, hands-on treatment that affects your whole body. By treating the neuromusculoskeletal system, which includes all your nerves, muscles, and bones, it stimulates your body’s natural ability to heal itself in the same way it naturally heals a wound or your immune system fights disease.

The craniosacral system includes the soft tissues of the spine and the cerebrospinal fluid that cushions and protects your brain and spinal cord –the central nervous system. The craniosacral system has a significant influence on the central nervous system. Daily stress can cause tightening of the fascia, the soft tissue that affects the central nervous system, which in turn can affect the entire body. Craniosacral therapy frees the central nervous system to perform at its best, and helps to naturally reduce pain and stress.

Fascia is the Key to Craniosacral Therapy

The fascia is made of collagen fibers. These are the body’s tough connective tissues that have been called the body stocking under the skin that helps to hold us together. For example, the fascia keeps our livers in place, and it envelops each and every structure of the body. Every nerve has its own fascial sheath or envelope, as even the largest bone has a sheath.

All body parts are interconnected by the fascia. This means that abnormal tension patterns, or pain, may be transmitted from one body part to another in what, at first glance, appear to be the most bizarre ways until you realize the comprehensive nature of the fascial system.

How Craniosacral Therapy Works

By gently manipulating the fascia, craniosacral therapy uses the bones to move the soft tissue.

Light pressure relieves the tension and stress of daily life on your central nervous system. This releases tensions deep in the body, relieves pain and dysfunction, and improves wholebody health, performance and overall well-being. Conditions Treated

Craniosacral therapy is effective for many conditions, including:  ADD/ADHD .  Bone and muscle disorders.  Chronic fatigue.  Chronic neck and back pain.  Chronic stress and anxiety.  Fibromyalgia.  Learning disabilities.  Migraines and headaches.  Motor-coordination impairments.  Orthopedic disorders.  Post-concussion symptoms.  Post-traumatic stress disorder.  Scoliosis.  Spinal cord injuries.  Tinnitus.  TMJ syndrome. “The craniosacral system includes the soft tissues of the spine and the cerebrospinal fluid that cushions and protects your brain and spinal cord –the central nervous system. “

Your Craniosacral Therapy Session

In my office, I evaluate and treat the craniosacral system using gentle pressure on your head, mid-back, or lower back as needed. Fully clothed, you lie still on a comfortable massage table in a quiet, peaceful environment. Craniosacral therapy is deeply relaxing, and you may even sleep through your session.

You may have craniosacral therapy alone or in combination with chiropractic adjustment and acupuncture, depending on your condition. Your session will take about an hour.

About craniosacral therapy

John E. Upledger, DO, developed craniosacral therapy in the 1970s. Dr. Upledger was a clinical researcher and professor of biomechanics at Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine from 1975-1983. His research verified the existence, influence, and function of the craniosacral system. Craniosacral therapy is taught worldwide to healthcare professionals through Upledger Institute International’s educational programs.

Molly O’Leary,

DC, is an experienced craniosacral therapy provider in Kansas City who combines it with other therapies. A chiropractor since 1988, she has been a Missouri state-certified acupuncturist since 1994 and is a Diplomate through Acupuncture Society of America. Visit Molly’s Healingworks or call 816-444-4214.

Energy as a Language An excerpt from The Language Your Body Speaks

Most of us talk about energy in practical terms. We say, “She’s got great energy,” meaning we sense from subtle cues that someone is animated or perhaps particularly comfortable to be around. We say, “I don’t have the energy to argue right now,” meaning that activity is somehow not being funded, emotionally, physically, or even spiritually. We say, “My energy has crashed,” meaning we have run out of fuel. On an intuitive level, learning about the subtle energies that we are composed of and how to positively influence their behaviors makes a lot of sense.

Your body is made up of energies. What appears to be solidly physical — the cells, the bones, the tissue, the organs — is in fact a swirling, moving set of energetic exchanges. Even the chemical processes of your body are energetic at their root: Chemistry is the story of energetic exchanges at the molecular level.

And just under the surface of your awareness, your body, mind, and spirit are using a language of energetic signaling to communicate constantly with one another.

Using a vocabulary of light, sound, vibration, imagery, sensation, and other messaging, your body, mind, and spirit are talking with one another, adjusting your physical self to match your thoughts, influencing your thoughts to recognize the needs of your body, and embodying the urgings of your spirit. There is a grammar to this language: patterns of movement and energetic exchange. Like all languages, the subtle energies that you are made of encode meaning and shape your experience.

Is learning the language of energy really necessary? It is crucial if you want to be able to participate in your own evolving experience and create the life you crave. Imbalance in the body, mind, or spirit communicates through symptoms, feelings, sensations, thoughts, and events. If we miss those communiqués, the body and mind shout louder and discomfort snowballs into illness.

The communication may start small: a dip in energy that keeps us home from a party, or a somewhat sore throat, or an allergic reaction, or an achy joint, or loss of focus, or a slight miscommunication, mishap, or moment of misbehavior. Yet these messages progress if we don’t really listen and respond. The symptoms get louder and more severe; processes and functioning are disrupted. Digestion, circulation, tissue repair, and/or hormonal communication can falter. And the instrument progresses from malaise to malady (sickness), which also snowballs — sometimes because of the pharmaceuticals we take in lieu of authentic communication; sometimes because the habit of not knowing how to care for our own particular, beautiful, amazing instrument just wears it down over time. A Path to Healing

Although illness can be extremely complex, a compounding of years of miscommunication, the path to healing can be much simpler and more direct. If you learn the language of energy, learn to let your body, mind, and spirit communicate to you in their wisdom about what your instrument needs, and then provide that moment by moment, you will heal.

In the past thirty-five years, I’ve worked with thousands of clients, some with extremely complex and serious lifethreatening medical conditions, and others with less dramatic, lifeinterrupting chronic symptoms. All of them were seeking ways to find support for their instrument rather than mere management of their symptoms or disease. I have seen, again and again, how powerfully you can activate healing once you participate in the ongoing communications of your body, mind, and spirit.

Energy medicine is, as Donna Eden and David Feinstein have said, a form of healing in which energy is both the patient and the medicine. Our bodies communicate using chemical messaging and energetic messaging. By using energy techniques to influence the energetic messaging of the body, mind, and spirit, we can influence the behaviors of the body (including its chemistry) and activate its natural abilities to heal.

In its contemporary form, energy medicine involves using pathways and techniques mapped out within various traditions, such as Chinese medicine, Ayurvedic medicine, yoga, and shamanic healing, among others, in healing practices that date back thousands of years. Contemporary energy medicine also incorporates newer understandings from energy healing pioneers, physics, kinesiology, and body-mind modalities, which give us ways to work practically with our subtle energies to promote well-being.

I invite you to delve beneath the particulars of formal energy medicine modalities to understand the source codes, the language that underlies them. Too often people with chronic illness are drawn to study complementary modalities or nutritional science in a desperate search for wellness, but they end up learning dietary dictums and prescribed practices, rather than how to actually participate in the communications of their body, mind, and spirit. My goal in presenting this language is for you to be able to create your own, personalized energy medicine, in order to truly participate in your own creation of self. My goal in focusing on self-healing is to encourage you to discover how to take healing into your own hands and, in a very individualized way, support your miraculous, inbuilt capacity to heal. Ellen Meredith, DA, EEMAP, is the author ofThe

Language Your

Body Speaks. An intuitive and energy medicine practitioner with over 35 years of experience, she has served on the faculty of energy medicine pioneer Donna Eden since 2010 and teaches energy healing techniques all over the world. Ellen lives in Marin County in California. Visit her online at www.ellenmeredith.com.

Excerpted from the book The Language Your Body Speaks. Copyright ©2020 by Ellen Meredith. Printed with permission from New World Library — www.newworldlibrary.com. By Ellen Meredith “Your body is made up of energies. What appears to be solidly physical — the cells, the bones, the tissue, the organs — is in fact a swirling, moving set