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TOUCHING HOME Winter Gardening HEAVEN for Christmas 5 ways to make next year’s super-garden

Near-death experiences

“Home” can be many places

December 2013 | GoNaturalAwakenings.com www.GoNaturalAwakenings.com

December 2013

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Give the Gift of Health This Holiday Season

Holiday Open House

Thursday, December 12, 2013 ~ 5:30-7:30 pm This is the perfect opportunity to find some FUN and UNIQUE items for your holiday shopping. Stop in this evening to take advantage of the awesome HOLIDAY SPECIALS.

Door Prizes, Raffles, Silent Auction, Gift Certificates, Healthy Refreshments, Free Demonstrations

Reflexology Two sessions for just $100 ~ A $30 savings ~ Must be purchased in December but may be redeemed at any time.

Enjoy an incredible reflexology treatment in a relaxing atmosphere. After a warm Himalayan salt foot bath, our reflexologist will apply pressure to specific reflex points on your feet.

These points correlate to every organ in your body.

Call for your free consultation today 352-291-9459 2

11115 SW 93rd Ct Rd, Suite 600, Ocala, Florida 34481 Printed on recycled paper to protect the environment

www.lemireclinic.com

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FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE What is Functional Medicine?

By Dr. Michael J. Badanek, BS, DC, CNS, DACBN, DCBCN, DM(P)

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unctional Medicine is patient-centered medical healing at its best. Instead of looking at and treating health problems as isolated diseases, it treats individuals who may have bodily symptoms, imbalances, and dysfunctions.

As the graphic of an iceberg shows, a named disease such as diabetes, cancer, or fibromyalgia might be visible above the surface, but according to Functional Medicine, the cause lies in the altered physiology below the surface. Usually, the cause of the disease and its symptoms is an underlying dysfunction or an imbalance of bodily systems.

Named diseases are just the tip of the iceberg. Below the surface, according to Functional Medicine, are the real causes of a patient's health problems. If health care treats just the tip of the iceberg, it rarely leads to long-term relief and vibrancy. Identifying and treating the underlying root cause or causes, as Functional Medicine does, has a much better chance to successfully resolve a patient's health challenges.

Using scientific principles, advanced diagnostic testing, and treatments other than drugs or surgery, Functional Medicine restores balance in the body's primary physiological processes. The goal is the patient's lifelong optimal health.

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Today's health care system is in trouble because it applies a medical management model that works well for acute health problems to chronic health problems, where it is much less successful.

If you have a heart attack, accident, or sudden lung infection such as pneumonia, you certainly want a quick-thinking doctor to use all the quick-acting resources of modern medicine, such as life-saving technology, surgery, and antibiotics. We are all grateful for such interventions.

However, jumping in with drugs, surgery, and other acute care treatments often does not succeed in helping those with chronic, debilitating ailments, such as diabetes, heart disease, or arthritis. Another approach is needed. www.GoNaturalAwakenings.com

DISEASES: Arthritis, Cancer, Diabetes, Thyroid conditions, Heart disease, Autoimmune disease, Endocrine conditions, Sexual dysfunction, Fibromyalgia, Chronic fatigue UNDERLYING CAUSES: Inflammation Hormonal imbalances Toxicity Structural imbalances Mitochondrial dysfunction Toxic emotions (anger, fear, resentment, etc.)

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Visit www.alternativewholistichealth.com or call 352-622-1151 for consultation.

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Acne Relief

contents Natural Awakenings is your guide to a healthier, more balanced life. In each issue readers find cutting-edge information on natural health, nutrition, fitness, personal growth, green living, creative expression and the products and services that support a healthy lifestyle.

12 TOUCHING HEAVEN Near Death Experiences 12

by Linda Sechrist

14 INSPIRATION

Insights Worth Sharing

by Linda Sechrist

FAST and EASY. No artificial ingredients. SCRUB removes pore blockages and pulls toxins from skin.

INVISIBLE MASK seals skin 24/7 from external pollutants and dirt, AND continues to pull out toxins! $29.95+$6 S/H. Great for all skin types.

To order, call 352-286-1779 or visit www.Clear-Skin-System.com.

Resale inquiries invited from natural practitioners and dermatologists.

16 CANCER

How It Works, and How You Can Win

by Dr. Michael J. Badanek, DC, BS, CNS

18 YIN & TONIC

I’ll Be Home for Christmas

by Melody Murphy

19 HUMANITY’S ETERNAL QUEST

Eckhart Tolle on the Kingdom of Heaven Within

20

by Eric Nelson

20 GARDENING

5 Easy Ways to Make Next Year’s Garden Wildly Successful

by David Y. Goodman

2 1 YIN/YANG

Seeking Balance

by Nuris Lemire, MS, OTR/L, NC

22 ‘TIS THE SEASON TO BE WISE

A Prime Time to Rejuvenate and

Birth Creativity

Buy into the

community

… Support our advertisers

by Lane Vail

24 CUSTOMIZED HEALTH CARE

by Paula Koger, BSN, MA, DOM

25 TOO MUCH TOGETHERNESS?

Exercise Helps Keep Family

Holidays Merry

by Sarah Todd

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22

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10 8 newsbriefs

publisherletter

10 healthbriefs

1 1 globalbriefs

19 14 inspiration 19 wisewords 22 healingways 25 fitbody

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26 resourceguide 28 calendar 35 coupons

advertising & submissions HOW TO ADVERTISE To advertise with Natural Awakenings or request a media kit, please call us at 352-629-4000 or email us at GoNaturalAwakenings@gmail.com. Deadline for ads: the 18th of the month.

EDITORIAL SUBMISSIONS Email articles, news items and ideas to GoNaturalAwakenings@gmail.com. Deadline for editorial: the 15th of the month.

CALENDAR SUBMISSIONS Email Calendar Events to GoNaturalAwakenings@gmail. com. Deadline for calendar: the 15th of the month.

REGIONAL MARKETS Advertise your products or services in multiple markets.

Natural Awakenings Publishing Corp. is a growing franchised family of 87 regionally owned magazines serving communities since 1994. The magazine is the largest wellness publication in the world. Each month, the magazine is read by 3,800,000 people, and is read online by 150,000 viewers. To place your ad in other markets call 239-449-8309. For franchising opportunities call 239530-1377 or visit NaturalAwakeningsMag.com.

www.NaturalAwakeningsNCFL.com 7

Dear Santa,

Between your busy schedule and ours, a whole year flew by, and we’re finally catching up with you. We have a few things on our personal holiday gift list, but we’ll post those to your Facebook page for your elves to review. We’ll use this chance to ask you to please share some gift-giving ideas with your vast network of good people everywhere.

It’s been a rough year, Santa, and in this time of celebration, we’re sobered to think how difficult life has suddenly become for many in our human family. Millions lost their jobs, homes, and possessions this past autumn when they literally blew away. Please ask everyone you meet to share their blessings with people just like them who are struggling to put their lives in order. Countless families are suffering in the aftermath of the Philippine typhoon. Some of our Midwest neighbors were devastated by the November tornadoes.

Santa, it’s easy to help. The Salvation Army has a tornado fund: text STORM to 80888 to make a $10 donation, or donate online at Donate.SalvationArmyUSA.org/usc/2013storms. For disaster relief to Typhoon Haiyan victims, consider the Phillippine Red Cross. And Santa, please remind everyone to do a little research at CharityNavigator.org before sending money to lesser-known organizations.

The holidays are also a time of joy, and we want to share our uplifting December issue with you, Santa. We’re leaving you a couple of copies of Natural Awakenings next to your organic green juice and flaxseed crackers. Please give one to Mrs. Claus.

One final thought for you, Santa. If, while making your rounds this year, you find you’re missing a few gifts for all the good girls and boys, please be sure to visit our Natural Awakenings advertisers and distributors. They’ll help you find the perfect gift for everyone on your list.

We wish you a peaceful and magical holiday season, and a world of happiness in 2014. xoxo, Carolyn

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newsbriefs

Springtime in London Art and Theatre Experience

W

e are going to London, and you are invited to come with us!

Our tour is set for April 26-May 3. Spring will be busting out all over, yet our visit will occur long before the tourist season starts.

We will be staying in a comfortable, Four-Star hotel for the duration of the trip and exploring the city from our “home” base—no packing and unpacking. We will start by getting an overview of London via the Hop On/

Hop Off double-decker buses and a guided tour on the London Eye, the 443-foot-high cantilevered wheel that takes a half-hour to go all the way around.

Our focus this time is on the theatre and art. We will be offering two choices of several West End theatrical productions, as well as touring the National Theatre backstage, and Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. We will be touring the National Gallery, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Windsor Palace, Kew Gardens, and many more beautiful locations.

The cost of the trip is $2,995 per person, double occupancy ($3,595/ person single occupancy).

The trip includes round-trip air fare from Florida to London and back; six nights’ accommodations at our hotel; all group ground transportation in London including airport transfers; tickets to two West End plays; fasttrack admission to all listed tours and attractions; a Thames River cruise; and more.

Our tour group size is limited.

Make your reservation today by calling 352-286-1779 or visit www.naturalawakeningsncfl.com/london.html.

Publisher Carolyn Blakeslee, Ocala Editors Sharon Bruckman S. Alison Chabonais Linda Sechrist Design + Production Stephen Blancett Steven Hagewood Carolyn Blakeslee Jessi Miller Contact Us 352-629-4000 P.O. Box 1140 Anthony, FL 32617 GoNaturalAwakenings@gmail.com www.NaturalAwakeningsNCFL.com Facebook.com/NaturalAwakenings GainesvilleOcalaTheVillages Copyright ©2013 Natural Awakenings.

All rights reserved. Although some parts of this publication may be reproduced and reprinted, we require that prior permission be obtained in writing.

Natural Awakenings is a free publication distributed regionally and is supported by our advertisers. It is available in selected stores including Publix and Sweetbay, health and education centers, healing centers, public libraries, and wherever free publications are generally seen. Please call to find a location near you or if you would like copies placed at your business.

We do not necessarily endorse the views expressed in the articles and advertisements, nor are we responsible for the products and services advertised. We welcome your ideas and feedback.

Natural Awakenings is printed on recycled newsprint with soy-based ink.

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December 2013

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Meditation Helps Heal Traumatized Veterans

healthbriefs Sprinkle Cinnamon to Avert Alzheimer’s

C

innamon is known as an excellent antioxidant that improves fasting blood sugar levels and prevents heart disease. Now new research offers yet another benefit and reason to add this potent spice to our daily diet.

Researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara, have confirmed that cinnamon helps protect against Alzheimer’s disease. They found that the cinnamon compounds cinnamaldehyde and epicatechin help stop the formation of “tangles” of tau protein in the brain, hallmarks of the memory-robbing neurodegenerative disease.

The study, published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, says these powerful antioxidants that give cinnamon its potent flavor and scent defend mental function in a unique way. “Take, for example, sunburn, a form of oxidative damage,” explains Roshni Graves, of the university’s Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology. “If you wore a hat, you could protect your face and head from oxidation. In a sense, this cinnamaldehyde is like a cap,” protecting against tau proteins.

The findings suggest that sufficient cinnamon consumption might stop the progression of Alzheimer’s or even prevent it.

Cocoa Calms Inflammation

F

ew can say no to a cup of hot cocoa on a cold winter’s night. “Enjoy!” say Penn State researchers. They have found that a little bit of cocoa may be a powerful diet aid in helping to control inflammation and ameliorate related diseases, including diabetes. Numerous current studies link obesity to inflammation in the body.

Cocoa, although a common ingredient of chocolate, by itself has low-calorie, lowfat and high-fiber content. The researchers fed laboratory mice the human equivalent of 10 tablespoons of cocoa powder—about four or five cups of hot cocoa—along with a high-fat diet for 10 weeks. The control group ate the same diet without the cocoa.

Lead researcher Joshua Lambert, Penn State associate professor of food science, says the study results surprised the team, which did not expect the “dramatic reduction of inflammation and fatty liver disease” associated with obesity. Although the animals lost no weight, the cocoa powder supplement reduced liver triglycerides by 32 percent and plasma insulin levels by 27 percent, indicating it might be a powerful obesity-fighting tool.

But there is a catch: Adding sugar, an inflammatory substance in itself, to healthy cocoa will likely neutralize the benefits. Try stevia as a sweetener instead; it’s been used for decades to lower blood sugar.

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T

ranscendental Meditation (TM) has a dramatic healing effect on people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and can also result in lower blood pressure, according to two new studies.

TM—a technique to avoid distracting thoughts, decrease stress, and promote a state of relaxed awareness—reduced PTSD symptoms in combat veterans by as much as 50 percent in just eight weeks, according to a study from Georgetown University, in Washington, D.C., published in the journal Military Medicine. The veterans also reported decreased depression and improved quality of life, with a greater ability to come back to their civilian lives after returning from duty.

Vietnam War vets randomly assigned to TM sessions at a Denver Veterans Center also experienced greater reductions in alcohol usage, insomnia and depression than those in conventional counseling. At the conclusion of a landmark three-month study, 70 percent of the meditating veterans felt they no longer required the services of the center.

A separate American Heart Association report on the general U.S. population showed that the practice of TM generally reduced systolic blood pressure in subjects by five points and diastolic by three points, enough to put many of them into normal range.

Previous clinical trials have shown that lower blood pressure through TM practice is associated with significantly lower rates of death, heart attack and stroke.

TM is usually practiced for 15 to 20 minutes twice a day by sitting comfortably and focusing on an individually selected word or series of words.

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globalbrief Standard Returns

New Sustainable Currency Geared to Stabilize World Economy

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he Terra, an Internet-based trade reference currency (TRC), has been launched as a global complementary form of money to provide an inflation-resistant international value standard, stabilize the worldwide business cycle and realign stockholders’ interests with long-term sustainability.

From a legal viewpoint, the Terra is standardized “countertrade” (international barter), which is routinely used for more than $1 trillion worth of transactions each year. Countertrade legislation already exists in about 200 countries, including all the major trading nations, so introducing the Terra does not require new intergovernmental agreements.

Financial and currency expert Bernard Lietaer, one of the key architects of the European Currency Unit, the convergence mechanism that led to the Euro, posits the Terra as the first time since gold standard days that such a robust, inflation-resistant international base value has been available. He says, “This supranational complementary currency is uniquely designed, unlike national currencies, to provide a stable international mechanism for contractual and payment purposes worldwide. This mechanism would automatically work to reverse the boom and busts of the business cycle and stabilize the economy by providing more cash during downturns and cooling off inflationary pressures in the peak of an upturn.”

Perhaps most importantly, it is positioned to resolve the current conflict between short-term financial interest and long-term sustainability. The Terra works in parallel with national currencies.

Source: TerraTRC.org

“Like” our Natural Awakenings Facebook page for breaking news about health, the earth, and upcoming events.

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December 2013

11

Near Death Experiences

by Linda Sechrist

Through his research, he has identified numerous common elements that occur in NDEs—an outof-body experience, the sensation of traveling through a tunnel, encountering a bright light (usually interpreted as God, Jesus or an angel), communicating with deceased relatives, feeling emotions such as profound peace, well-being and love, plus a flood of knowledge about life and the nature of the universe.

Perhaps the most significant element he reports is the supremely conscious and superbly blissful state that exists beyond both limitations of the senses and intellect and the confines of space and time—the pure conscious form of each one’s truly real self.

Life as Love

T

he advice that the White Queen gave to young Alice in Lewis Carroll’s Through the LookingGlass might be some of the best to offer non-believers and skeptics who question the credibility of near-death experiences (NDE). When Alice protests, “One can’t believe impossible things,” the White Queen famously retorts, “I daresay you haven’t had much practice. When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day.

Why, sometimes I believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”

Glimpses of Grace

The majority of physicians and clinical researchers in the medical community continue to consider NDEs as impossible and merely pure fantasies generated by a surge of electrical activity as a dying brain runs out of oxygen. However, according to a Gallup poll, the 8 million Americans whose transcendental NDEs freed their consciousness to leave the body and enter into a wondrous reality that exists completely free of physicality, believe them to be real, meaningful, and life-changing experiences.

Recently, the renowned NDE narratives of Anita Moorjani, author

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“In touch with our wholeness, illness can’t remain—in ourselves, others or the planet.” ~ Anita Moorjani of Dying to Be Me: My Journey from Cancer to Near Death, to True Healing, and Dr. Eben Alexander, author of Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon’s Journey into the Afterlife, have sparked fresh public interest in NDEs, a word coined by Raymond Moody, Ph.D., in his 1975 classic, Life After Life. Moody, a psychiatrist and professor of philosophy who has spent nearly 50 years investigating what happens when people die, has interviewed thousands of individuals who have personally experienced a near-death experience.

“Over the past 20 years there have been enormous strides in resuscitation technology. Defibrillators and public access defibrillation programs, as well as cardiopulmonary resuscitation, are major factors that allow modern medicine to bring people back from a state that 100 years ago would have been labeled death,” observes Moody.

Rushed to the hospital in a coma, Moorjani, whose body had been devoured for four years by cancer of the lymphatic system, describes the real self she discovered during her NDE. “There I was, without my body or any physical traits, yet my pure essence continued to exist. It was not a reduced element of my whole self; in fact, it felt far greater and more intense and expansive than my physical being.

“I felt eternal, as if I’d always existed and always would, without a beginning or end. I was filled with the knowledge that I was simply magnificent,” explains Moorjani, whose cancer completely disappeared within five weeks after her release from the hospital.

“Not only did I come back with a clean slate, I brought back one of my biggest lessons—to love myself and be an instrument of love. I also returned to life here with a sense of purpose—to fearlessly be as authentically me as I can be. This means,” she clarifies, “that in whatever I do, I am acting from my sense of passion and the sheer joy of doing it.”

During Alexander’s seven-day coma in a hospital, brought about by antibiotic-resistant E. coli meningitis that attacked his brain, he left his mortal identity behind. “My brain wasn’t working at all,” he relates. “My entire

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neo-cortex, the part that makes us human, was entirely shut down. I had no language, emotions, logic or memories of who I was. Such an empty slate granted me full access to the true cosmic being that I am, that we all are,” says Alexander. He further recalls that as his NDE unfolded, it occurred to him that he was being granted a grand overview of the invisible side of existence.

He also had a lovely ethereal companion who floated along on a butterfly wing, telepathically teaching him to accept the universal truth that, “You are eternally loved and cherished, you have nothing to fear, and there is nothing you can do wrong.”

“If I had to boil the whole message down to just one word, it would be Love—the incomprehensibly glorious truth of truths that lives and breathes at the core of everything that exists or will ever exist. No remotely accurate understanding of who we are and what we are can be achieved by anyone who does not know it and embody it in all their actions,” Alexander now understands.

Prior to his life-threatening illness, this neurosurgeon’s sophisticated medical training had led him to dismiss the possibility of NDEs. Today, he works at returning to his NDE state of oneness and unconditional love by using meditation and sacred acoustics, as well as quantum mechanics, to explore the nature of consciousness and higher brain function.

Like Moody, Alexander studies the ancient Greek philosophers Parmenides, Pythagoras and Plato, who took the notion of an afterlife seriously and questioned “what” survives bodily death. Alexander’s consequent nonprofit organization, Eternea, fosters cooperation between science and spirituality by sponsoring research and education about spiritually transformative experiences and holistic consciousness beyond conventional definitions. “I had to learn a whole lot more about consciousness than I had to know about neuroscience,” quips Alexander, who now believes that the brain blocks access to knowledge of higher worlds. “We need to accept—at www.GoNaturalAwakenings.com

“We need to accept—at least hypothetically—that the brain itself doesn’t produce consciousness.” ~ Dr. Eben Alexander least hypothetically—that the brain itself doesn’t produce consciousness.

That it is, instead, a kind of reducing valve or filter that dumbs down consciousness for the duration of our human experience.

“Neuroscience can’t give you the first sentence about how the physical brain creates consciousness,” he states, while many are finding how science and spirituality strengthen each other.

At age 37, a blood vessel exploded in the left hemisphere of Jill Bolte Taylor’s brain. A Ph.D. Harvard-trained scientist specializing in anatomy of the brain, she was fascinated to observe the breakdown of her brain-related functions.

As described in her book, My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey, she became the witness to her stroke, which initially left her unable to talk, walk, read, write, or remember anything prior to that occurrence.

As her left brain shut down, Taylor lost her ability to process all language; with her mind suspended in newfound silence, she experienced an unprecedented sense of deep peace.

She also experienced an inability to visually distinguish edges and bound-

aries between herself and the outer world. Absent conventional orientation, “I could actually see that my skin was not my physical boundary.

“As a result of such a glorious state of blissful realization that I am—as we all are—connected to everything and everyone around us, I no longer see myself as a single, solid entity, separate from other human beings,” advises Taylor.

“Although my left mind still thinks of me as a fragile individual, capable of losing my life, my right mind realizes the essence of my being as eternal life.”

She now understands that she is part of the cosmic flow of energy, which she characterizes as a tranquil sea of euphoria.

Present Possibility

In The Hidden Face of God: Science Reveals the Ultimate Truth, author Gerald L. Schroeder, Ph.D., suggests that each of us is a part of the universe seeking and finding itself. Could it be that without the mental filter and self-limiting beliefs, we are free to consciously know our higher state of wholeness and the truth of our magnificence?

Upwards of 8 million people who have experienced their own NDE are trending the world toward a tipping point into the comforting awareness that anything is possible.

Linda Sechrist is a senior staff writer for Natural Awakenings Publishing Corporation. Visit ItsAllAboutWe.com for the recorded interviews.

December 2013

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The Frugal Wine Snob

Specializing in wines that cost less than $20 but taste like a million bucks. Pouring now at Ocala Civic Theatre!

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CONTACT US FOR DETAILS: 352-629-4000 GoNaturalAwakenings@gmail.com We work for you.

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A

just my own ensked why she “I’ve become focused ergy manifesting as thought she on seeing the perfection of cancer, because my had cancer, life in this moment.” fears weren’t allowAnita Moorjani, auing me to express thor of Dying to Be Me, sums up her answer in one word: myself as the magnificent force I was Fear. “I was killing myself, and cancer meant to be,” advises Moorjani. saved me,” says Moorjani, whose

She hopes that her presentabook documents her near-death extions to medical professionals and perience (NDE) and the higher realm public speaking will influence how she encountered when her body shut the health profession views cancer down. Allowed to identify with her and other diseases and illnesses. true magnificence, undistorted by the “Treatment needs to be about more fear generated by her own lifelong than medicine, because so much of self-judgment, self-criticism, worry disease has to do with our emotions,” and lack of self-forgiveness, she reshe imparts, “especially the ones we turned with a vital, heartfelt message. direct toward ourselves.”

“Everyone is an amazing, mag Through this life-enhancing expenificent being, with great capacity for rience, Moorjani came to understand health, happiness and joy. Although why she owes it to herself, everyone we’ve been conditioned to believe she meets, and life itself to always that we need to pursue success and express her own unique essence. learn to improve ourselves to be “Trying to be anything or anyone happy, such steps are unnecessary, else doesn’t make me better—it just because we already are all we are try- deprives me of my true self and keeps ing to attain,” she says. me from interacting authentically with

“I’d spent a lifetime feeling others,” she explains. inadequate, beating myself up for

Moorjani now knows that all life not meeting my own expectations,” in the universe is one and our core she continues. Through the clarity is love. “I was overwhelmed by the of dwelling in the NDE realm, she realization that God isn’t a being, but understood that the cancer wasn’t a state of being … and I am that state a punishment for anything. “It was of being … pure consciousness.”

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newyear Lakota Advice for Life Friend do it this way—that is, whatever you do in life, do the very best you can with both your heart and mind.

And if you do it that way, the Power Of The Universe will come to your assistance, if your heart and mind are in Unity.

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December 2013

15

CANCER How It Works, and How You Can Win

by Dr. Michael J. Badanek, DC, BS, CNS, DACBN, DCBCN, DM(P)

O

ne of the most dreaded diagnoses any patient can receive is that of cancer. It usually leads most patients into absolute fear.

My intention is to dispel the fear in this short but concise article.

n FACT: There is a very good chance that you can totally take control of this diagnosis.

n FACT: You have many options in alternative health care to help stabilize and even destroy the cancer.

By definition, cancer is the uncontrolled growth of cells. Every cell has the capacity to become a cancer cell under certain conditions. In essence, the shift that occurs when a normal/ healthy cell turns to a cancer cell is a primitive survival response by the cell.

When a normal cell is overwhelmed or over-stressed, it ceases to work as part of the team with the community of other cells that it is a part of, and instead starts to work for itself, for its own survival.

As part of this process, it loses something called “contact inhibition,” which stops normal cells from growing when they become crowded and touch adjoining cells. The loss of contact inhibition leads the cell to grow larger than normal, thereby requiring more nutrients and blood supply than other normal cells.

Now let us distinguish between cancer, the disease, and cancer, the tumor.

Cancer, as a disease process, is usually a relatively slowly developing disease. Several top cancer specialists

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consider the average cancer to develop and progress during the course of about 12 years.

During the first several years, there is no detectable tumor, as it is simply too small to be noticed, except possibly by new forms of diagnostic testing procedures.

It is estimated that the growing cluster of cells reaches a size that can be classified as a tumor sometime between year seven and eight of the 12year cycle.

During the four or five years between years seven and 12, if the tumor goes unabated and unattended, it will double in size approximately every 90 days. Once the amount of blood taken by the tumor exceeds the ability of the host organ to feed both itself and the tumor, the host organ dies. Obviously, depending upon the significance of that organ, that may also mean that the host organism—you—might die as well.

There are many factors that can contribute to the development of cancer. The major ones that are fairly well agreed upon are toxins, 70-75%; viruses, 20-25%; electromagnetic frequencies, less than 5%; and genetics, less than 5%. Of these, toxin are obviously the most significant.

Additionally, although difficult to quantify, these additional factors are also likely significant contributors: psychological and emotional stress; poor nutrition, and nutritional imbalances leading to biochemical compromise; improper hygiene and other microbial

insults (bacterial, fungal, and parasitic) leading to chronic weakening of the immune system; structural and mechanical stresses leading to compromised circulation, lymphatic movement, and neurological regulation; dental fillings, implants, and procedures which compromise the immune system; and a host of other issues.

As Philip Binzel, M.D., wrote in his book, Alive and Well, “When a patient is found to have a tumor, the only thing the traditional doctor discusses with that patient is what he intends to do about the tumor. If a patient with a tumor is receiving radiation or chemotherapy, the only question that is asked is, ‘How is the tumor doing?’ No one asks how the patient is doing. When In my medical training, I remember well seeing patients who were getting radiation and/or chemotherapy. The tumor would get smaller and smaller, but the patient would get sicker and sicker. …

How many millions of times are we going to have to repeat these scenarios before we realize we are treating the wrong thing?

“In primary cancer, with only a few exceptions, the tumor itself is neither health-endangering nor life-threatening. … What is health-endangering and life-threatening is the spread of that disease through the rest of the body.

“There is nothing in surgery … radiation … [or]chemo that will prevent the spread of cancer. How do we know? Just look at the statistics! There is a statistic known as ‘survival time.’

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Survival time is defined as that interval of time between when a diagnosis of cancer is first made, … and when that patient dies from their disease.

“In the past 50 years, tremendous progress has been made in the early diagnosis of cancer. In that period of time, tremendous progress has been made in the surgical ability to remove tumors and in the use of radiation and chemotherapy to shrink or destroy tumors. However, the survival time of the cancer patient today is no greater than it was 50 years ago. What does this mean? It obviously means that we are treating the wrong thing!”

Consider these statistics:

n A true cure rate of 90% or more can easily be achieved by cancer patients who avoid modern American medicine, go with alternative medicine first, and do their homework.

n The true cure rate of modern American medicine is 3% or less.

n 95% of cancer patients who go with alternative cancer treatments have previously had the full modern American treatment and have been sent home to die, meaning alternative medicine is handed a large number of cancer patients already in critical condition.

n For those who wait to go with alternative cancer protocols until after they have been sent home to die, only a handful of the many alternative cancer treatments are strong enough to give them a chance of survival.

n But even for those rare people who do find one of those special treatments, at best they only have a chance of survival of about 50%.

In other words, if you go with alternative medicine first, your chance of survival is 90% or more, if you do your homework. If you go with modern American medicine first, and then alternative medicine second, you will have years of suffering, and if you are lucky, you will then have a 50% chance of survival.

To speak to Dr. Badanek about any current health challenges call his office at 352-622-1151 to schedule a free consultation. His Web site is www.alternativewholistichealth.com. www.GoNaturalAwakenings.com

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December 2013

17

in & Tonic

by Melody Murphy

I’ll Be Home for Christmas

E

very Christmas Eve when I was a little girl, we would play a particular record that included Bing Crosby’s “I’ll Be Home For Christmas.”

As a child, I didn’t know that Bing had recorded this song in 1943 and that it was from the point of view of a soldier overseas in World War Two. I just knew I liked it, and that it was pretty but somehow melancholy—and a little confusing. I didn’t understand the last line: “I’ll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams.”

What? I thought. You just said you would be home for Christmas. And to plan on you, and to please have snow, and mistletoe, and presents on the tree. I don’t understand this “presents on the tree” business, because everyone knows presents go under the tree, but whatever.

The point is, you said you would be home for Christmas. You straightup promised. In fact, Bing, you said you’d be home the night before.

You said Christmas Eve will find you “where the lovelights gleam.” I don’t understand what lovelights are, either, but they sound pretty, so OK. And now you’re saying that you’ll be home for Christmas only in your dreams?

That’s cold. What’s up with the baitand-switch, Bing?

Then I grew up and learned the historical context of the song. And it made sense.

Then I grew up some more, and it really made sense.

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People often ask at this time of year, “Will you be home for Christmas?” I’m never sure if they’re asking, “Will you be at your own house, in the town where you currently reside?” or “Will you be returning as a homing pigeon, or, perhaps more appropriately to the season, as a turtledove, to former haunts and extended family elsewhere?” Because there are more ways to define “home” than one might think.

“Home” is such a subjective word.

And it doesn’t necessarily mean the place you currently sleep, eat, and hang your clothes, or where you’ve lived the longest. My grandmother hasn’t lived in Alabama since 1956, but for my entire life, when she has spoken of “going up home,” that’s where she meant.

This was another thing that confused me as a child. Why do you call a far-away place “home” when you’re sitting right here in your own house? How can home be a place you haven’t lived for years?

That was another thing I understood more as I grew up.

Eventually, it became clear to me that “home” didn’t have to be just one place. I spent my childhood in Port St. Lucie, where central Florida shakes hands with south Florida along the Atlantic coast. Both sets of grandparents lived in Bartow. We had relatives in Lakeland and throughout

Polk County, and in Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee.

All these places felt like home.

Home, of course, was where we lived. But both of my grandparents’ houses felt like home, too. They still do. And I also was quite at home in the houses of many different relatives scattered throughout the South.

Home, then, was where the salt breezes blew and the sea grapes grew. It was also in the heart of citrus country, in the lake-dotted groveland of central Florida. It was through the cotton fields and on up to the high red hills of north Alabama, along the Tennessee River. It was among the pecan groves and back roads of north Georgia. It was in the misty mountains of the Great Smokies, up a gravel road where blackberries grew and black bears climbed trees. And for the past 25 years, it’s been here in the land of live oaks and green pastures.

Home is where you came from and where it all comes back to you, no matter how long you’ve been away.

Home is memories. Home also could be someplace you could imagine living—maybe a place you’ve never lived but where you feel at home, because it’s beautiful or because the people are kind and welcoming and make you feel like you belong. Home is where your family is—or where you find friends who make you feel like family. Home is where you feel most like yourself, where you breathe a sigh of relief and contentment. Home is your place of comfort and joy, of peace on earth. Maybe all of the above adds up to “where the lovelights gleam.”

I’ve come to realize that it’s actually pretty great to feel at home in so many different places, to realize that I could live any number of places and feel at home there. There is comfort and joy to be found in many places. And that is marvelous.

So wherever I am this year, I’ll be home for Christmas. And there’s no place like home for the holidays.

Melody Murphy is a writer and native Floridian living in Ocala.

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wisewords

Spiritual insights aren’t the least bit ethereal

Humanity’s Eternal Quest Eckhart Tolle on the Kingdom of Heaven Within

by Eric Nelson

www.GoNaturalAwakenings.com

ness that there is only the present moment, with no more future to escape into mentally.

The result is a lot less suffering.

“That is the real spiritual awakening, when something emerges from within you that is deeper than who you thought you were,” says Tolle. “So, the person is still there, but one could almost say that something more powerful shines through the person.”

The good news, according to Tolle, is that in order to experience this awakening, “You don’t have to wait for the diagnosis by the doctor or to be put in prison … nor do you have to do 30,000 hours of meditation or live in an ashram for 20 years. Once you get a glimpse of it, you can invite it into your daily life.”

For a growing number of people, it’s this understanding of the always present “spiritual you” shining through that has led to significant improvements in their lives, not the least of which is better health. This would seem to indicate that these kinds of spiritual insights aren’t the least bit ethereal or elusive, but decidedly practical.

“Spirituality and religion belong in the healing paradigm,” writes Airdre Grant, Ph.D., of Australia’s Southern Cross University, in a study published photo by David Ellingsen

T

o listen to Eckhart Tolle is to be reminded that anything is possible—for anyone.

We’re not talking about living a life of leisure, filled with expensive cars, beach homes and extravagant vacations, but an experience brimming with the kind of spiritual insights that make this life not only worth living, but decidedly more fulfilling.

The problem is that when people hear the words “spiritual insight,” there’s often an assumption that it’s about something too ethereal to be practical or too elusive to be achieved in this lifetime.

This is exactly the point that Tolle, one of the world’s most well-known spiritual teachers and authors, rebuffed during a talk earlier this year at California’s Stanford University.

“Some people awaken spiritually without ever coming into contact with any meditation technique or any spiritual teaching,” he said. “They may awaken simply because they can’t stand the suffering anymore.”

He went on to cite examples of those who have either been told they have a short time to live or have been given an exceptionally long prison sentence. In both cases, any thought of a future has been effectively dashed, forcing these individuals into what Tolle describes as an intense aware-

or elusive, but decidedly practical. in the Journal of the Australian Traditional Medicine Society. “They are determinants of health and they are factors in recovery, well-being and longevity.”

So where do these insights come from? Is it simply a matter of wishful thinking? Or is it perhaps something more reliable, more effective than that?

“Jesus said, ‘The kingdom of heaven is within you,’” observes Tolle, implying that this health-inducing understanding may be a lot closer than we thought. “I think if he lived nowadays, instead of ‘kingdom,’ he would have said, ‘dimension.’ And ‘heaven’ refers to a sense of vastness or spaciousness.

So if we retranslate the words of Jesus into modern terms, [it would be] ‘the dimension of spaciousness is within you.’”

“And then Jesus said—when they asked him, ‘Where is the kingdom of heaven and when is it going to come?’— he said, ‘The kingdom of heaven does not come with signs to be perceived. You cannot say, ah, it’s over there or look, it’s over there, for I tell you the kingdom of heaven is within you.’”

How comforting it is to be reminded that the proverbial “kingdom of heaven” we’ve been hearing about for at least two millennia—this “dimension of spaciousness,” or what might be characterized as the understanding of our true spiritual identity—is “within you.” It’s within us all, here and now. All that remains is the willingness—and the humility—to put this insight into practice.

Eric Nelson is a Christian Science healing practitioner from Los Altos, CA, whose articles on the link between spiritual consciousness and health appear regularly in national online publications. Connect at norcalcs.org.

December 2013

19

5 Easy Ways to Make Next Year’s Garden Wildly Successful

by David Y. Goodman

W

hat you do in your garden now sets the stage for next year’s success.

As the chill creeps in, the summer bugs meet their frosty doom, and the wild vegetative profusion of late summer returns to the soil.

December is a great time of year to work outside. So ... where to start?

I like to first jump on my annual beds. Turn everything under, yank some weeds, and if you don’t have a winter crop going, maybe cover them up with straw or mulch to keep coolweather weeds from taking over.

After I’m done with that, it’s time to get cracking on my long-term crops.

Perennial plants live long lives firmly rooted in the same place year after year. If you have berry bushes, citrus, or better yet, your own food forest, the fall is when you get out there and make some adjustments.

Here are a few things I like to do during the crisp days of autumn and winter.

1. Chop and Drop!

In my yard I have candlestick cassias, silk trees, pigeon peas, and other plants growing as nitrogen-fixing “chop-n-drop” plants. Every time I trim them down, they release a little nitrogen into the soil, plus feed it from above via the branches and leaves I’ve felled.

Along with those, I also grow an abundance of Mexican sunflowers (Tithonia diversifolia). They grow 20 feet tall in a single year, producing a fantastic abundance of biomass I

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harvest regularly with my machete. I do the same with pokeweed, moringa, and the above-ground growth of my cassava plants at harvest time.

The “chop-n-drop” idea is an easy one that works even if you’re simply letting local weeds grow and then taking them down and throwing them around your trees. Think of it as mulching, fertilizing and composting all at once.

2. Plant More Stuff!

This is another good thing to do during the cool season. Did you lose a loquat sapling? Are you short on chopn-drop species? Have you decided to add more fruit trees? Get on it!

One year I bought some nice tall fruit trees for $10 apiece because they were getting pushed out by Christmas junk. If you put trees in now, they’ll rest over the winter and spring to life when warm weather returns.

3. Collect Tons of Leaves

Leaves are good for mulching and building compost piles. Piling them up in reserve to add “browns” to your “greens” is a good way to plan ahead.

If your neighbors are gathering up leaves, have them send the bounty your way. All through the year, trees work hard to gather minerals from the soil and sugars from sunlight. They build these goodies into leaves and then drop those leaves as a blanket of soil-building mulch in the fall. If you gather up leaves from all your neighbors, you’re sneakily taking fertility from their dirt and adding it to

yours. The great thing about it? They think you’re nuts. After all, leaves are made for raking, bagging or burning, right? And this guy wants them to dump on his yard? Ha! “Sure, crazy guy, take them!”

Also be on the lookout for free straw. I have great neighbors next-door who create a beautiful fall display each year with that includes bales of straw. After the season passes, they pass the straw my way. Win-win.

4. Make Huge Compost Piles

If you’ve been chopping and dropping, plus gathering leaves, you might as well make a great big compost bed to feed your trees and next year’s annual beds. Though most of the organic matter I gather just gets laid down on the ground, I do like to make a few big piles in fall for readily useable compost. That compost will be ready just when you need it in the spring.

5. Protect Touchy Plants

If you’re an experimenter like I am, chances are you have some species that aren’t perfectly suited to the extremes of winter here. For me, those are citrus and the aforementioned moringa trees. I put circles of chicken wire around the base of each moringa tree, then stuff them with leaves. For my young citrus, I make tee-pees out of Tithonia stems, then clothespin thrift store blankets and sheets over them on frosty nights. I also mulch over the tops or around the base of my ginger plants, canna lilies, herbs and other long-term perennials. Keep them happy, and when spring arrives, they’ll reach for the sky.

So ... what are you waiting for?

Enjoy the cool air, get out there, and get things done!

Do you struggle with gardening in Florida? Want easy solutions to raising your own wholesome organic produce? Find foodgrowing success online at www. floridasurvivalgardening.com.

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Yin/Yang Seeking Balance

by Nuris Lemire, MS, OTR/L, NC

R

ecently Lemire Clinic hosted world-renowned Master Teacher Yun Xiang Tseng (Master Chen) for a five-day visit and teaching experience. He is returning February 27-March 2, 2014, for an event at the College of Central Florida campus. To give you an idea of what Master Chen shows us, here is an excerpt from his book, Master Within: Passion for Life.

People can become their own personal spiritual sage and discover their “Master Within.” It depends on your determination, discipline and dedication. If you possess this motivation, then you can cultivate spiritual enlightenment just as easily in your home as you can in a remote temple. Your heart transcends beyond the mortal and into the heavenly, spiritual realm.

From the mud grows the golden lotus. This book is a facilitating procedure for moving from an old unhappy self to your new inspired passionate self. It provides a method for getting out of the mud you and others have created for yourself. In a very real sense, this procedure will help you to reincarnate yourself.

Stillness is a companion of emotion. You need, merely, to pause in your life, pause your worried thoughts, to recognize how stillness helps to process emotions and thereby, let them go. Unfortunately, people often act to the contrary. They hold on tightly to their thoughts, cementing their emotions into hardened bodies. This

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is an opportunity to pause your life and lick the wounds so that you can move on to the comforting and healing energy that stillness offers. You can break out of your existing mold, out of your comfort zone, and become an extraordinary human. Everyday life is a major obstacle to breaking through the alchemy of our existence. Yet, everyday life allows great opportunities to break through to cultivate human and spiritual energy.

The object is to do nothing, so to speak, but leave nothing undone.

Taoism is a way of living to do just that. Taoism is a philosophy foremost, a way of life, not a religion. Taoism maintains that a true teacher is also always a student. To be a good teacher, one must be an extraordinary student.

I am asking you to ride a dragon.

You must first have the guts, resources and fortitude to ride this dragon. Next, you must take care to make sure that your butt sticks to the dragon. It will be a rough ride, and the dragon will try to throw you for a loop at every chance, so make sure that your butt is stuck to the dragon. Once you are stuck to the dragon, make the effort to feel the flow of the ride. You won’t, at first, know how to drive the dragon, so feel the flow of the ride. Finally, enjoy your ride; go with the ride.

Don’t try to fight the ride. Be one with the dragon and enjoy it. The dragon is representative of spirit, so if you want to ride the dragon, you must become spirit. To do this you must have pure heavenly spirit—Yuan Shen. You must

purify the mind; work with the mind to quiet it. Form the golden elixir of eternal life by transmuting the bodily essence or seed of life (Jing) to vapor energy (Qi), transmuting Qi to spirit (Shen), cultivating Shen to the void and returning the void to Tao or God.

This book is designed to train you to become a wise driver. The question posed to you is, “Are you qualified to ride the dragon?” Learn to enjoy the emotions and not suffer from them. Learn to find unity from contradictions. Learning to find unity from contradictions is Tao. Learn to see what you don’t immediately see, in addition to what you do see. Taoist philosophy is about teaching a totally practically way of living. It’s school smart and street smart.

Lemire Clinic addresses the complete person: Mind, Body and Spirit. For additional information or help with some of life’s questions call 352-2919459, visit www.lemireclinic.com, or attend the free new patient education seminar the first Monday of every month at 6pm. Mark your calendar for Master Chen’s return to Ocala February 27-March 2. To register, visit Lemire Clinic or www.wudangtao.com.

December 2013

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healingways

‘Tis the Season to Be Wise A Prime Time to Rejuvenate and Birth Creativity

by Lane Vail

F

or California acupuncturist Daniela Freda, counseling patients who grapple with low energy during winter is routine. “They’re often concerned something is wrong, since our society expects us to feel the same way year-round,” says Freda, who maintains a private practice in San Francisco. “But in fact,” she adds, “everything is right.”

According to a study published in Psychiatry Research, only 4 to 6 percent of Americans suffer from seasonal affective disorder (SAD), characterized by a predictable seasonal pattern of major depressive or bipolar disorder.

For the vast majority of the population, a slight seasonal variance in mood and behavior is normal, confirms Kathryn Roecklein, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist and prominent SAD researcher at Pennsylvania’s University of Pittsburg.

Practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), like Freda, view decreased energy in nature’s wintertime as a reflection of the season’s energy. In this philosophy, rising (yang) and falling (yin) energies cycle as the seasons turn. Winter is governed by quiet, slow, introspective and creative yin energy. As winter yields to spring, the bright, fast, expansive and extroverted yang energy gains momentum to peak in summer.

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“Nature expresses universal energies in a big way,” says research psychologist and mind-body medicine expert Joseph Cardillo, Ph.D., author of The Five Seasons. Who can ignore a blossoming spring or an abundant autumn? “Those same energetic cycles,” says Cardillo, “are mirrored in the microcosmic human body and human experience.”

Chill Out

Although the December 21 winter solstice marks the shortest day of the year, temperatures in most of the U.S. continue to fall through February.

Cardillo advises embracing winter’s chill because it diverts our attention from daily activities so that we pause to consider what’s important. “The effect is similar to splashing cold water on our face,” he remarks.

As the cold draws animals into hibernation and plants into dormancy, it also beckons us to enjoy extra sleep, notes Freda, as we follow the sun’s path: Earlier to bed; later to rise. She encourages her clients to incorporate restorative activities into daily routines. “Intentionally set aside time to connect with the breath and quiet the mind,” she counsels. Try gentle yoga or t’ai chi, listen to relaxing music, curl up with a cozy book or take

Spring is a time for new beginnings, summer a time for growth, autumn for gathering abundance, and winter for introspection. ~Joseph Cardillo nature walks, flush with fresh sensory experiences.

Cardillo explains that slowing down naturally creates space for the contemplative and creative qualities of yin energy to rise. Meditating, visualizing, and journaling promote access to one’s inner wisdom. “Winter is a perfect time to examine the myriad ideas you’ve dreamt up and assemble them into a new you,” says Cardillo. “Now you are prepared to use the robust energy of spring to scatter those ideas abroad.”

Reflect on Water

In TCM, the element of water, symbolizing focus and purity, is closely associated with winter. Highly adaptable, water can be solid, liquid or formless vapor; it can flow over, under, around or through obstacles with ease; and it can be still and contained. Contemplating the power of water in any of its forms can help synchronize one’s consciousness with the season’s gifts.

“When your mind is unstuck and flowing like water, your dreams start becoming real to you, simply because you’re in the flow, the present moment,” observes Cardillo, who also authored Be Like Water. He suggests looking to water for guidance in creating solutions, sharpening focus or moving effortlessly on to the next step.

Find Balance

Freda points out that within the strong yin energy of winter, “There are yang moments, celebratory moments, to keep us going.” An imbalance can occur when the slowness of winter is completely counteracted by too much high-energy socializing, working or rushing through the day. “An excess of yang during the winter,” counsels Freda, “rather than a glimpse of it,

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can deplete us,” contributing to stress, fatigue and depression.

Conversely, for those with an already predominantly yin personality (quiet, introverted, low energy) who overindulge in the yin energy of winter, an attempt at restoration and quietude can lead to lethargy and isolation. “I see this clinically,” says Freda. “Instead of embracing a little extra rest and relaxation, some people become exhausted and lose their motivation altogether. They become stuck in the yin.”

Cardillo recommends that such individuals engage in mood-brightening outdoor activities to help restore balance. Roecklein agrees, noting that SAD sufferers undergoing cognitive behavioral therapy (which emphasizes positive thinking and beneficial behaviors) likewise are encouraged to participate in physical and social activities that bring joy and meaning.

Rituals Reverse Winter’s Blues

Lane Vail is a freelance writer in South Carolina. Connect at WriterLane.com.

n Warm up near a cheery fire after spending time in the frosty outdoors

Unpleasant winter memories can affect one’s emotional experience of the season every year like clockwork, says Dr. John Sharp, a physician, psychiatrist and author of The Emotional Calendar. Fortunately, it is possible to take a personal inventory, be aware of such behaviors, innovate on traditions and create a new experience.

Holistic Psychologist Joseph Cardillo goes further, suggesting that we create a “personal prescription” to mindfully manage difficult emotions during wintertime. He encourages activating the senses and combining two or more sensory experiences to amplify the effectiveness.

Appealing options include: n Light scented candles or diffuse essential oils (citrus brightens; lavender soothes) n Invite bright colors into living spaces (reds excite; greens, blues and whites calm) n Nourish the palate with winter vegetable stews n Create a playlist of soothing nature sounds or uplifting music

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December 2013

23

Customized Health Care

by Paula Koger, BSN, MA, DOM

The world of alternative medicine—meditation, yoga, acupuncture and a host of related therapies—will celebrate a coming-of-age moment on Nov. 30. In Durham, N.C., Christy Mack and John Mack, chairman of investment bank Morgan Stanley, will officially open the Duke Center for Integrative Medicine. They personally financed the center with $10 million from the C.J. Mack Foundation.

The center represents an acknowledgment of sorts by the established medical community of the potential benefits of these alternative therapies. The Duke Center will be open to anyone from across the globe. Cottages will be built in the woods nearby as living facilities for out-of-town visitors.

—Forbes Magazine

I

have a passion for bringing increased access to, and awareness of, health care options that work to everyone.

My desire arises out of a history of seeing the extreme good results people can achieve when they step up and choose to integrate the many solutions that can help them achieve better health.

Customized modalities have demonstrated great results.

My passion is particularly strong now, as I see the major changes that are occurring in our health care system as insurance and others juggle the changes in our health care industry. To that end, I am inspired to hold a vision of positive change for all of us to have access to choices that surely improve outcomes for all health challenges. We can all win by offering truly comprehensive care to address Body/Mind/Spirit. Everyone can be a part of the solution and participate actively in being empowered to help themselves.

I recently attended a workshop to integrate insurance coverage into the practice of acupuncture. There is reimbursement available to everyone who qualifies for it and it is important to recognize we are a consumer-driven world. What we buy is what is offered. What we ask for is what we get. There are only five states that have approved acupuncture as a reimbursable treatment—and Florida is one of them.

The Veterans Administration health care system is expanding into acupuncture and biofeedback to help our veterans process the traumas that their service to our country has engendered.

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I invite you to participate in the coming together of all the skills that hold such promise for ending the needless suffering and suppression of good health that is so prevalent. Every great movement begins with a vision. I want to express support for all those who are contributing to a more comprehensive health care system and using these methods that have thousands of years of proof behind them.

Mack and a group of like-minded philanthropists formed a nonprofit organization, the Bravewell Collaborative. Bravewell is not some flaky New Age group. Among its 29 members are Earl Bakken, founder of Medtronic, the pacemaker company; Bruce Dayton, the former CEO of the Dayton Hudson retail store chain; and Bill Sarnoff, nephew of RCA founder David Sarnoff.

Bravewell is funding curricula for medical schools and trains 30 doctors each year in integrative medicine at a cost of $30,000 per doctor, using the works of Andrew Weil, best-selling author and guru in the wellness field. Bravewell was created three years after the Clinton administration funded the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine as a separate unit of the National Institute of Health. Since 1999, the center has received $790.1 million in funding to develop programs showing the effectiveness of “mind-body medicine.”

Dr. Brian Berman’s clinical trials confirm acupuncture, used in China for thousands of years, relieves the pain and inflammation from arthritis and lessens the cost of treating the disease. “I believe the integrated health movement promises to reduce rising health costs in the nation and contribute to preventing some serious illnesses,” says Dr. Woodson Merrell, executive director of the Continuum Center for Health and Healing, which is part of Beth Israel Hospital, and professor at Columbia Presbyterian Medical School.

These are some of the recent developments in the acceptance of alternative health care by mainstream medicine.

Dr. Paula Koger can be reached at 941-539-4232, www. wealthofhealthcenter.com. She customizes homeopathy and other therapies.

Printed on recycled paper to protect the environment

fitbody

Too Much Togetherness?

Exercise Helps Keep Family Holidays Merry

by Sarah Todd

G

iven family hopes and often unrealistic expectations that everything will go perfectly, holiday gatherings can sometimes be a recipe for untoward stress.

One of the best ways to keep potential ’tis-the-season tensions under control is to carve out some time for exercise, a move supported by research findings at Princeton University. Other experts suggest that from practicing a favorite Eastern modality to taking a natural spin around the neighborhood, we all have instant access to foolproof tactics for staying relaxed, healthy and more even-keeled among kin this winter.

To mend nerves frayed by debates at the dinner table, slip into a nearby bedroom for a calming yoga workout. Yoga’s emphasis on controlled breathing makes it ideal for treating family dynamics straight out of Silver Linings Playbook. The Mayo Clinic reports that deep breathing increases the flow of oxygen into the bloodstream, easing headaches, muscular tension and chest tightness. Yogic breathing patterns also are shown to lower resting heart rates, which helps practitioners stay composed in the face of any intra-family

www.GoNaturalAwakenings.com

disagreements or other stressors.

For a quick, relaxing yoga routine, begin with a few breathing exercises before moving into a sun salutation—a sequence of full-body poses, or asanas, performed in a smooth, continuous flow. Begin standing, palms pressed together in the tadasana, or mountain, pose.

Then move through a series of motions that sweep the arms over the head, expanding the chest, before dipping into downward dog and plank poses, which help increase flexibility and strength. End lying down in the shavasana, or resting, pose with eyes closed and let the quiet settle in.

Resistance-training exercises are another option. Release pent up tension by pushing against a wall. Stand about three feet away, lean in and push. Position feet at an angle so that a straight body line forms the hypotenuse of a triangle with the wall and floor. This activity drains the limbs of tightness and stretches out hamstrings and calf muscles, enabling us to walk away feeling light and limber.

While some people can happily

greet and maintain cheerfulness throughout holiday family times, others may feel a bit anxious. For a sure-fire endorphin boost, try a cardiovascular workout like running, which German researchers published in Cerebral Cortex confirm produces a flood of euphoria on cue. A quick jog or spirited walk outside helps elevate mood while strengthening the immune system, helping to keep feelings of melancholy at bay.

Before heading for the door, those stretching their legs outside in colder climates need to dress as if it’s 20 degrees warmer than the thermometer reads. This helps prevent the body from overheating, especially after being sedentary for an extended period. To get the blood flowing beforehand, do some simple stretching or take a few trips up and down the stairs.

Exercisers who prefer to stay sheltered from wintry weather entirely have a solid alternative; an indoor cardiovascular workout can mimic jogging’s mood-lifting effects. Try alternating 12 reps of jumping jacks, lunges, squats and crunches to get the heart pumping. Consider a second series for a higher intensity workout.

All of it will give muscles that often go slack during holiday loafing a chance to flex. Because these moves don’t require any equipment, such electives are as portable as a travel hair dryer during holiday visits anywhere.

After one or more of these solo workouts, many revelers may be ready to up the ante on family togetherness.

For a healthy dose of quality time, round up the gang and enlist them in a high-energy outdoor activity like hiking, sledding or even Ultimate Frisbee. Participating in friendly family competition is healthy fun and gives everyone something else to talk about later.

Sarah Todd is a freelance writer in Brooklyn, NY. Connect at SarahToddInk. com.

December 2013

25

CommunityResourceGuide Acupuncture

Colonics

Dr. Paula Koger, DOM, BS Nursing, MA Counseling 941-539-4232 / Dunnellon and Sarasota www.WealthOfHealthCenter.com Dr. Koger has a long history of success with people who are receptive to multiple ancient and high-tech healing techniques. 20 years’ experience including Professor and school health nurse; more than 17 years in Alternative healing practices with training from experts worldwide.

Gentle Waters Healing Center 352-374-0600, Gainesville info@gentlewatershealing.com The therapists at Gentle Waters Healing Center will assist each individual with detoxing using colon hydrotherapy, Far Infrared Sauna, and/or Aqua Chi Lymphatic Drainage. Call Dawn Brower for more information or visit www.gentlewatershealing.com. MA41024, MM15426.

Dr. Heather Murley, DOM, DVM 352-272-9043 / The Villages and Leesburg www.MurleyAcupuncture.com Acupuncture for people and pets.

Acupuncture stimulates the self-regulating processes of the body, providing relief from a wide variety of symptoms. It is commonly used for arthritis pain, back pain, allergy/sinus relief, asthma, trouble sleeping, GI symptoms, changes in urinary habits, depression and anxiety.

Fitness Hip Moves Fitness Studio Rona Bennett, BS, CPT Holistic Health, Personal Fitness Coaching 708 N.W. 23rd Ave., Gainesville www.hipmoves.com / 352-692-0132 An intimate fitness studio focusing on creativity and holistic health. Classes and private lessons in Belly Dance, Yoga, Pilates, and Personal Training.

Rental space available.

Biologic Dentistry

Holistic Medicine

Dr. Cornelius A. Link, DDS 2415 SW 27th Ave., Ocala / 352-237-6196 There must be a biologic balance in the mouth as part of total body health. This means being concerned about infections in the teeth and gums, the relationship of the teeth to the jaws, the teeth to each other, saliva pH and metal toxicity. As a member of the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology, we follow a recommended safety protocol for removal of amalgam fillings, if necessary. Dental materials compatibility testing available.

Hanoch Talmor, M.D. Gainesville Holistic Center 352-377-0015 www.drtalmor.com/ We support all health challenges and the unlimited healing potential of God’s miracle: your body.

Chelation, Nutrition, Cleansing, Homeopathy, Natural Energy Healing, Detoxification, Wellness Education and more.

Bones for Life

11115 SW 93rd Ct. Rd., Suite 600 Ocala, FL 34481 / 352-291-9459 www.LemireClinic.com Dr. Lemire has been in practice for 32 years. He follows a Functional Medicine approach, utilizing up-todate techniques such as chelation, detoxification, natural hormone replacement, nutrition, Prolo/Biopuncture, acupuncture, anti-aging, among others. Dr. Lemire along with his staff are dedicated to a joint partnership with their patients—a partnership that seeks to maximize the God-given life potential of each individual. We believe that true wellness for the whole person includes a healthy body (physical self), a healthy mind (emotions and intellect), and a spiritual peace.

Anne Andrews, LMT, MA 38362 Bones for Life® Instructor 386-538-1918 / www.anneandrews.abmp.com Bones for Life is a self-care program that is designed to improve your posture, balance and coordination as well as strengthen bone. Through a series of gentle and simple exercises you can cultivate more stability and flexibility in your spine. Feel taller and move with power and confidence. Discover ease and comfort in everyday activities and be more at home in your body. Private and group classes are available.

26

James E. Lemire, M.D., FAAFP Nuris Lemire, MS, OTR/L, NC The Lemire Clinic

Michael J. Badanek, BS,DC,CNS,DACBN,DCBCN 3391 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Suite #B Ocala, FL 34470 / 352-622-1151 www.alternativewholistichealth.com

33 years in clinical practice with alternative wholistic complementary health services. Treating the body to support all health challenges with Wholistic Integrative Medicine. Treatments include Autoimmune disorders, Lyme disease, Autism, ADD/ADHD, Musculoskeletal conditions, Heavy metal toxicity, Cardiovascular and endocrine conditions, Nutritional deficiencies/testing.

Life Coaches Cynthia Christianson, M.A., CCC ThetaHealing™ Advanced Practitioner 352-374-7982 or 352-284-1107 www.thetahealingworks.net ThetaHealing™ coaching is using the Belief and Feeling Work to empower people with the ability to remove and replace negative emotions, feelings and thoughts with positive, beneficial ones. Change your negative beliefs and you will heal on the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual levels thus really seeing this relief show up in your life.

Massage Clark Dougherty Therapeutic Massage Clinic 415 NE 25th Ave., Ocala 352-694-7255 / www.ClarkDougherty.com Offering a variety of therapeutic massage techniques for pain relief, improved flexibility, and other wonderful benefits. WorkComp always accepted, also group/private insurance in some instances. All credit cards accepted. Gift certificates are available for holidays and birthdays with 25% discount on a second session. MA27082, MM9718.

Piano Services Hendrix Piano Service 352-895-5412, Serving north central Florida Tuning, repairs, cleaning, fine custom maintenance of your acoustic piano.

Pianist: accompaniment, weddings, other church services, concerts. Experience: churches, cabarets, Marion Chorale, Duelling Divas, much more. Fine used pianos available.

Printed on recycled paper to protect the environment

Veterinary Care Medicine Wheel Veterinary Services Shauna Cantwell DVM, Ocala, FL www.shaunacantwell.com / 352-538-3021 Holistic veterinary medicine for small animals and horses. Arthritis, neurologic and hormonal dysfunction, skin, allergies, cancer, pain, immune and chronic disease.

Certified Veterinary Acupuncture, certified cAVCA animal chiropractic, herbal therapy, tui na medical massage, functional neurology, postural rehabilitation, ozone therapy, homotoxicology, nutrition. Available for workshops.

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Saturday, December 14 2-4:30pm, Unity of Gainesville, 8801 NW 39th Ave., $25 Visit www.ifsk.org for details Check our complete program on the website.

December 2013

27

calendarofevents Calendar of Events listings are free for our advertisers and just $15/listing for non-sponsors. To publicize your event, visit http://www.naturalawakeningsncfl.com/news.htm.

Monday, December 2

Meet the Doctor, Patient Education evening. 6pm, free.

Lemire Clinic, 11115 SW 93rd Ct. Rd., Ocala, 352-2919459, www.LemireClinic.com.

Tuesday, December 3

AUMAKHUA-KI™ Level-1 Attunement. Live Web Class, 11am, $50, pre-register at www.Aumakhua-Ki.com.

Wednesday, December 4

Live Blood Analysis, by appointment. Lemire Clinic, 11115 SW 93rd Ct. Rd., Ocala, 352-291-9459, www.

LemireClinic.com.

Saturday, December 7

* Akashic Record Readings with Andrea Elenar. 12-4 pm, $40/half hour, $75/hour. Call to sign up. High Springs

Dr. Paula Koger BSN, MA, DOM Acupuncture Biofeedback Field Control Therapy Voice Printing Emotional Trauma Release Homeopathy Electronic Gem Therapy Our specialty is getting the results.

Enhancing and promoting your wellness.

(941) 539-4232 Insurance Accepted www.WealthOfHealthCenter.com

28

Emporium, 660 NW Santa Fe Blvd, High Springs. 386 4548657, www.gighspringsemporium.net

* Annual Auction Fundraiser. Preview, 1-2pm; live auction, 2-4pm. View and bid online at www. myunityauction.weebly.com. Unity of Gainesville, 8801 NW 39th Ave., Gainesville, 352-373-1030, www. unityofgainesvillefla.org.

* Crystals, Pendulums and Jewelry, Holiday Sale, 123pm, Hyde-Away Salon, 3725 NE 8th Place, Ocala, FL 34470, www.initiationhealing.com Monday, December 9

* Adrenal Health with Dr. Lemire. Learn how to reverse adrenal fatigue. Free, 6-8pm. Lemire Clinic, 11115 SW 93rd Ct. Rd., Ocala, 352-291-9459, www.LemireClinic.com.

* Thermography, by appointment. Lemire Clinic, 11115 SW 93rd Ct. Rd., Ocala, 352-291-9459, www.LemireClinic. com.

Tuesday, December 10

“Bones for Life.” Learn a series of gentle and simple exercises designed to improve your posture and strengthen your bones. Absolute Health Center, 2720 NW 6th St., Gainesville. Free Introductory class 10-11am or 5-6pm.

Class space is limited. Call to pre-register. 386-538-1918, www.anneandrews.abmp.com Wednesday, December 11 Healthy Wednesday, 6 pm. Film and potluck dinner.

Unity of Ocala, 101 Cedar Rd., Ocala, 352-687-2113, www.UnityOcala.org.

Thursday, December 12

Holiday Open House. Door prizes, raffles, silent auction, demonstrations, gifts and more. Free, 5:30-7:30pm.

Himalayan Salt Room and Lemire Clinic, 11115 SW 93rd Ct. Rd., Ocala, 352-291-9459, www.LemireClinic.com.

Saturday, December 14

* “Peace on Earth” Holiday Celebration. De-stress your holidays with BioMat crystal sessions, Isotonic foot baths, live music, free crystal gifts for everyone, champagne and chocolate. 12-6pm, free. High Springs Emporium, 660 NW Santa Fe Blvd, High Springs. 386-454-8657, www. highspringsemporium.net. * Psychic/Medium Spiritual Development Class in the British method. $25, 2-4:30pm. Includes meditation, lesson, practice. Held at Unity of Gainesville, 8801 NW 39th Ave. Information: International Foundation for Spiritual

Printed on recycled paper to protect the environment

Knowledge, 407-673-9776, www.ifsk.org.

Tuesday, December 17

* AUMAKHUA-KI™ Energy Healing (group session), 8-8:30 am, free, for registrants everywhere, pre-register at www.Aumakhua-Ki.com.

* CIRCLE OF LIGHT parapsychology club welcomes Rev. Rosamarie DaSilva Machado, medium and medical intuitive,e as the December speaker. 6:30pm, Spruce Creek Professional Center, Unity of the Villages, 10935 SE 177 Pl, #504, Summerfield, 352-216-2815.

l Integrative medicine l Wellness care l Acupuncture l Nutritional consults l Herbal therapy l VOM 500 NW 60th St. Suite D, Gainesville (352) 332-9991 www.naholistic.com

Saturday, December 21

“Darkness into Light: Stones for the Crown Chakra” Workshop with Sharron Britton and the Stones of High Ascension. 2-4pm, $20. Call to sign up. High Springs Emporium, 660 NW Santa Fe Blvd, High Springs. 386-4548657, www.highspringsemporium.net Sunday, December 22

Christmas Sunday Service, 10am with Rev. Prentiss Davis; music, Carolyn Blakeslee. Holiday brunch after service. Child care. Love offering. Unity of Ocala, 101 Cedar Rd., Ocala, 352-687-2113, www.UnityOcala.org.

Tuesday, December 24

Christmas Eve Candlelight Service, 7pm with Rev. Prentiss Davis; music, Carolyn Blakeslee. Unity of Ocala, 101 Cedar Rd., Ocala, 352-687-2113, www.UnityOcala. org.

“Discover the Power Within You” Our spiritual community offers practical, spiritual teachings to empower abundant and meaningful living.

We welcome you!

11am Sunday-Inspiring Message, Meditation & Music Saturday, December 28

New Insights for the New Year: Readings with Rev. Steve Henry. 12-5 pm, $35/half hour, $65/hour. Call to sign up. High Springs Emporium, 660 NW Santa Fe Blvd, High Springs. 386-454-8657, www.highspringsemporium.net Tuesday, December 31

Burning Bowl Service, 7pm with Rev. Prentiss Davis.

Unity of Ocala, 101 Cedar Rd., Ocala, 352-687-2113, www.UnityOcala.org.

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Rev. Stan McNeese begins his position as full-time minister, 11am service. Unity of Gainesville, 8801 NW 39th Ave., Gainesville, 352-373-1030, www. unityofgainesvillefla.org.

Also UniKids, UniTeens, Youth Of Unity classes (Nursery care provided on Sundays) … a positive path for spiritual living ...

8801 NW 39th Avenue, Gainesville, FL 32606 352-373-1030—www.unityofgainesvillefla.org

Read us online!

n Free, easy, instant access n The same magazine as the print version with enhancements n Ads and story links are hot-linked

www.NaturalAwakeningsNCFL.com www.GoNaturalAwakenings.com

December 2013

29

ONGOING

LIVE ON STAGE JAN. 9 to JAN. 19

Book and lyrics by Tom Jones Music by Harvey Schmidt

Mondays

A Course in Miracles, 7:30pm. Unity of Gainesville, 8801 NW 39th Ave., Gainesville, 352-373-1030, www. unityofgainesvillefla.org.

Musical Gift Certifica tes On Sale

Night and Day: A Tribute to Gershwin and Porter Featuring the music of George & Ira Gershwin and Cole Porter Vocal & jazz combo concert to benefit Ocala Civic Theatre Saturday, January 25 at 2 & 7 p.m.

Sunday, January 26 at 2 p.m.

Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up? (Musical Comedy) Feb. 6 - Mar. 2

30

Sundays

* A Course in Miracles, 9:30am; Master Mind Healing Circle, 10am; Inspiring Message, Meditation and Music, 11am; Children and Youth education classes, 11am; nursery care provided. Potluck lunch first Sundays. Unity of Gainesville, 8801 NW 39th Ave., Gainesville, 352-3731030, www.unityofgainesvillefla.org.

* Celebrating Community and Inspiring Message/ Science of Mind and Spirit. Meditation 9:45am, Celebration/Message 10:30am, Youth and Children’s Celebration 10:30am. Love offering. OakBrook Center for Spiritual Living, 1009 NE 28 Ave, Ocala, FL, www. oakbrookcsl.org

* Group Kirtan meditation, teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, vegetarian feast. Program begins at 4:15pm at the Alachua Hare Krishna Temple, 17306 NW 112th Blvd (off CR 235), Alachua, 386-462-2017

Monday-Friday

Belly-dancing, fitness, yoga classes, personal training as early as 5:30am, as late as 7:30pm. Hip Moves, 708 NW 23rd Ave, Gainesville, 352-692-0132, www.hipmoves. com.

Tuesdays and Thursdays

Bones for Life Classes. Improve your posture and strengthen your bones with a series of gentle and simple movements. Absolute Health Center, 2720 NW 6th street, Gainesville, FL. 11am-12pm or 6-7pm Beginning Dec.17th and 19th. Class fee $15 per class when you sign up for 4 or more. Call to pre-register:386-538-1918.www. anneandrews.abmp.com Wednesdays

* Quest Book Study Group, 7pm. Spiritual Liberation

by Michael Beckwith. Unity of Gainesville, 8801 NW 39th Ave., Gainesville, 352-373-1030, www. unityofgainesvillefla.org.

* Visioning, and Healing Service, 6-7pm. Love offering.

OakBrook Center for Spiritual Living, 1009 NE 28 Ave, Ocala, FL, www.oakbrookcsl.org.

* Word Weavers Writing Class. First and third

Printed on recycled paper to protect the environment

Wednesdays of the month. Potluck Dinner 6:30, writing 7:30-9:30.

All skill levels welcome. Crones Cradle Conserve, 6411 NE 217 Pl, Citra. 352-595-3377, www. cronescradleconserve.com.

Thursdays

* A Course in Miracles, 10:30am.

Unity of Gainesville, 8801 NW 39th Ave., Gainesville, 352-373-1030, www.unityofgainesvillefla.org.

* Quilting Group, 5:30-8:30.

All skill levels welcome. Crones Cradle Conserve, 6411 NE 217 Pl, Citra. 352-595-3377, www. cronescradleconserve.com.

UnityOcala.org.

Reiki Healing with Dee Mitchell, 7pm (1st and 3rd Friday). Unity of Gainesville, 8801 NW 39th Ave., Gainesville, 352-373-1030, www. unityofgainesvillefla.org.

Saturdays

Farmstead Saturdays. Free, 9-3. Crones Cradle, 6411 NE 217 Pl, Citra. 352-595-3377, www. cronescradleconserve.com.

Be the change in the

World

Become a Celebrant

Celebrants oďŹƒciate at and create modern and meaningful life-cycle ceremonies

Fridays

A Course in Miracles Discussion Group. 4pm, December 6, 13, 20, Sanctuary. Unity of Ocala, 101 Cedar Rd., Ocala, 352-687-2113, www.

CLASSES FORMING REGISTER NOW

Winter 2013-14

LIVE ONLINE INTERNATIONAL DISTANCE LEARNING CLASSES

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olistic Medicine

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A Tuna Christmas On stage Nov 29-Dec 22

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FREE holistic health and wellness workshops, and FREE electro-magnetic pollution workshops, available online or by phone.

Hanoch Talmor, MD

4140 NW 27th Ln, Suite C, Gainesville

352-377-0015 www.betterw.com

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HIPPODROME THEATRE

Tickets at thehipp.org | 352.375.HIPP | 25 SE 2nd Pl | Downtown Gainesville

December 2013

31

Coming Next Month

Ecological Preserve

Organic Farm

Farm Stead Saturday Every Saturday 9am-3pm

Starter plants for sale Country store: Gifts, books, gourmet spreads and jellies Playground

Now Available in the Store

SPECIAL EDITION

Tracy Lee Farms Grass-Fed Beef Prices vary depending on the cut

Health & Wellness

Quilting Group Thursdays, 5:30-8:30 All skill levels welcome.

Word Weavers Writing Group

Rev Up Healthy Choices in the New Year

Every day

Local & National Experts Show You How

First & Third Wednesdays of the Month Potluck at 6:30, writing 7:30-9:30

Fresh Organic Veggies

Select your veggies from the gardens, or from the refrigerated Green Box selection Cash or checks only. We do not accept credit cards.

Please do not bring pets. No smoking on farm.

Store Hours 9am-3pm • Open 7 days/week

6411 NE 217th Place Citra, FL Email catcrone@aol.com

For more information about advertising and how you can participate, call

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32

natural awakenings

Printed on recycled paper to protect the environment

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e all need iodine, yet most of us don’t get enough of it through our diet. A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that iodine deficiency in the developed world has increased fourfold in the past 40 years and now affects nearly three-quarters of all adults.

Numerous U.S. practicing physicians quoted widely in the media estimate that the incidence of hypothyroidism in our adult population may be between 30 and 70 percent.

Thus, we can’t efficiently produce the thyroid hormones that serve as chemical messengers triggering nearly every bodily function. The presence or absence of iodine affects our every cell.

Natural Awakenings Detoxifed Iodine is 100 percent natural, raw iodine in an ethyl alcohol solution. We thank all those that are benefiting from this product and enthusiastically telling us their great results.  Available only at NAWebstore.com  My wife, who suffered from extreme fatigue and other symptoms, saw a dramatic increase in energy after just a few days of taking the natural iodine drops. Now if she misses a day, she’ll end up falling asleep in the middle of the afternoon, like she used to do before taking the iodine. It works! ~ Aaron My doctor told me that I had a hypothyroid condition, prescribed medication and was happy with the follow-up test results, yet I noticed no positive effects on my overall wellbeing. Within two weeks of using the Natural Awakenings Detoxified Iodine, I had more energy, felt more awake and enjoyed clearer thinking and greater peace of mind. People even comment that I look younger. I am a fan! ~ Larry

Be Aware of Hypothyroidism Symptoms Low thyroid function, or hypothyroidism, is the most recognized and obvious indicator of low iodine intake because the thyroid gland contains more concentrated iodine than other organs.

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November 2013

33

CLARK DOUGHERTY

THERAPEUTIC MASSAGE CLINIC

MM 9718

Did you know?

Therapeutic massage can:

Relieve tension headaches and eye strain.

Relax spasmodic muscles and prevent atrophy due to illness or injury.

Increase joint flexibility and/or range of motion.

Improve circulation, cleansing the body.

Improve posture by stretching chronically tight muscles.

Promote deep relaxation and stress reduction.

20 % Discount for pre-purchase of five or more sessions

WorkComp, Group and Private Insurance* accepted

415 NE 25th Avenue, Ocala FL www.ClarkDougherty.com 352-694-7255 / By Appointment Only

Physician and Chiropractor referrals accepted * Group/Private Insurance policies that cover massage therapy

PUBLISH YOUR OWN Natural Awakenings publishes in over 88 NATURAL AWAKENINGS markets across the U.S. and Puerto Rico • Oklahoma City, OK • Indianapolis, IN • Birmingham, AL • Portland, OR* • Lafayette, LA • Huntsville, AL MAGAZINE • Bucks/Montgomery • New Orleans, LA • Mobile/Baldwin, AL* WORKING TOGETHER TO MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE

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Counties, PA Harrisburg/York, PA Lancaster, PA Lehigh Valley, PA Pocono, PA/ Warren Co., NJ Rhode Island Charleston, SC Columbia, SC Grand Strand, SC* Greenville, SC* Chattanooga, TN Knoxville, TN Memphis, TN Nashville, TN* Austin, TX* Dallas, TX Dallas/FW Metro N Houston, TX* San Antonio, TX Richmond, VA VA’s Blue Ridge Seattle, WA Madison, WI Milwaukee, WI Puerto Rico

*Existing magazines for sale

Printed on recycled paper to protect the environment

Discounts & COUPONS Farm Stead Saturday, 9-3 every week. Fun for the whole family.

FREE! 6411 NE 217th Pl., Citra 352-595-3377

20% Discount:

Pre-Purchase of 4 or More Sessions Patricia Sutton, LMT, NMT, CRT, MA22645 Neuromuscular Massage

By Design / 352-694-4503

FREE

Acupuncture consultation.

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Give yourself and your loved ones gifts of health, well-being, and sustainability while supporting our local economy.

Shop locally!

Reconnective Healing

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HALF OFF first session.

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Ayurveda Health Retreat

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Springtime inLondon Art and Theatre Experience

April 26-May 3, 2014

Presented by Natural Awakenings Magazine, The Frugal Wine Snob, and Elegant Getaways

Includes:

• Round-trip air fare, Florida to London • 6 nights’ accommodations at a Four-Star hotel • All group ground transportation including Underground, Tram, Light Rail, and London’s famous double-decker buses • Airport transfers in London • Tickets to two West End theatrical productions

Itinerary:

City overview on the famous ferris wheel, “London Eye” Thames River tour • National Gallery National Theatre Backstage Tour Kensington Palace • St. Paul’s Cathedral Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre Tour • Kew Gardens Tower of London • Hampton Court Palace Westminster Abbey • Windsor Castle • and much more!

Fully escorted and guided. Skip-the-line tours.

Complete tour experiences, not drive-bys.

$2,995

per person double occupancy *

* $3,595 per person single occupancy Group size is extremely limited.

To make your reservation, call 352-286-1779 today or visit www.naturalawakeningsncfl.com/london.html