Positive Life Autumn 2009

THE MEANING OF LIFE God, the Universe and Everything?

THE FUTURE OF MEDICINE Exclusive Interviews with Bruce Lipton and Lynne McTaggart

MUM’S THE WORD Food for Mum and Baby

MUSIC FESTIVALS How green is their scene?

SAU UM T UMME N R 2009 €3

Hay House Publishers Present

An Evening of Mediumship with

GORDON SMITH ‘Amazing’ TIME OUT This is a rare opportunity to see and experience Gordon’s phenomenal gift

Thursday 15th October 2009 The Royal Dublin Society Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 Time: 7pm (Doors open 6.30pm)

To book tickets please visit www.hayhouse.co.uk or call +44 (0)20 8962 1230

“NO SPRING NOR SUMMER BEAUTY HATH SUCH GRACE, AS I HAVE SEEN IN ONE AUTUMNAL FACE” JOHN DONNE

Positive edit HEART. An organ, and feeling, we all have. Have a heart. The Living Matrix - a movie I watched recently - featured a study that showed our hearts as our first communication with the outside and inside worlds: visible and invisible. Simply put, your heart, on your behalf, is your link to the quantum field of information, and knows what’s coming before you do. So, let your heart guide you through our Autumn issue, including features such as Exclusive Interviews with Lynne McTaggart and Bruce Lipton on The Future of Medicine; Patrick Bridgeman’s view on The Meaning of Life; and Davie Philip’s investigation into the greenness of music festivals, including our very own Electric Picnic. Margaret Brazil gives us a view into the afterlife, Amma hugs the planet, and Cora Carey gets her groove back on a Holistic Holiday.

On the health side, there’s EFT, Qigong and Herbal Medicine. And nutritional gems from CNM about Genes and weight, and Lucy Hyland on Home Grown health. So, there you have it, it’s up to you and your heart to explore the rest. Until next time, enjoy!

PAUL CONGDON

Contents 4 6 8 11 12 15 16 18

20 24 27 28 30 33 34 37 38 41 42 44 46 47

Autumn vibes Who, what, when & where?

Astrology Understanding the Gods in the skies - Part 3 Spirituality and the city What gets you out of bed in the morning?

Positive personality Margaret Brazil bridges Heaven and Earth A Hero’s Heart Getting in touch with the hero inside you Intuition & EFT When you know you know QiGong Where the energy takes you Inner Essence, Outer Presence How to thrive in today’s world EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW - The Future of Medicine The Meaning of Life Patrick Bridgeman on the BIG question Mama Amma’s Mother Nature Tree Hugging The Good Life 2.0 The future of green festivals Positive Periods Menstrual wellness and respect Holistic Hols Get your groove back in Civrac Your Medicine Garden Healing Irish Herbs Homeopathy and Autism Back from the brink Weight control Genes or Nutrition?

Mum’s the Word Good fat for babies and mums Eden’s Original From Hungary with Love Positively Newsworthy Our news is good news Home Grown Not just a matter of taste Autumn Recipes Deeply delicious dishes

Publisher PC Media paul@positivelife.ie Editorial Patrick Bridgeman patrick@positivelife.ie Design Simon O’Connor info@simplesimon.ie Advertising Paul Congdon paul@positivelife.ie 0861579518 Please use the information provided in this publication as a recommendation only to better mental and physical health.

We strongly advise you to consult your doctor regarding health concerns that you may have. The views expressed by contributors and advisors do not necessarily represent the views of the publication’s staff.

Printed, published, packaged and distributed in Ireland.

www.positivelife.ie

Autumnvibes Beautiful Business Our friends have some of the best businesses in Ireland, promoting healthy lifestyle choices and making it even easier for you to make your choice:

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“ T H E L I F E - F O R C E O F N AT U R E P U L S E S W I T H I N YO U R B E I N G , R O OT I N G YO U TO T H E E A R T H A N D R E A C H I N G T O W A R D T H E H E A V E N S .

W H E N YO U F E E L YO U R O N E N E S S W I T H O U R N AT U R A L W O R L D , YO U A R E F E E L I N G YO U R O W N D I V I N I T Y. A L L L I V I N G T H I N G S A R E S A C R E D , A N D YO U A R E A B E A U T I F U L L I V I N G PA R T O F T H AT W H O L E .”

S P I R I T O F N AT U R E

Movers and Shakers With all this new energy coming onto the planet and into its people, the last thing you want to be is stagnant. Here are some great ways to get moving and shake things up a little this Autumn:

FUN IN THE SUN ‘Dartmouth Square’ is open to all again. Its a public space for local events which are low impact, fun, educational, green, cutting edge, theatrical, non-commercial and/ or charitable. Donations at events pay for the park’s enhancement. We’ve been to the ongoing ‘Yoga in the Park’ more than once, with a new Teacher every Saturday from 11am. It’s great to be able to exercise out in the fresh air, with lovely people, in nature that’s in the city, but away from the hustle and bustle.

If you’d like more info on upcoming events, or if you’ve any ideas for events, email 28dartmouthsq@gmail.com

CAPOEIRA Is it a game, a dance, a fight, or all of the above? If you want to get your whole body grooving to the Capoeira beat, find out what classes are on in your area by visiting www.

HOMELY ORGANICS The organic supermarket has just announced that they are expanding their Blackrock operation to include online shopping and next day delivery to all 32 counties in Ireland, so that the consumer can shop from the comfort of their own home, and they can bring good wholesome organic food to every home in Ireland. See www.organicsupermarket.ie RAW COOK BOOKS Veronica O’Reilly, chef at Healthy Habits Cafe in Wicklow Town, has launched her new Raw Food Cookbook, entitled ‘Raw in a Cold Climate’, which contains 75 delicious recipes. Healthy Habits Cafe is a unique restaurant, based in Quarantine Hill in Wicklow Town, and serving a mouth-watering variety of raw, vegan and organic cuisine.

For lots of great products, visit www.healthyhabs.com

capoeiraireland.com

TAI CHI If you’re looking for a more gentle movement, Tai Chi proves to be no less powerful at shifting energy in all the right ways. It is relaxation through gentle movements combined with deep diaphragmatic breathing, leaving the practitioner feeling light, vibrant, and free from fatigue. For a list of classes, visit www.taichi-ireland.com

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As an added benefit, MILA™ is glu-

ten-fee, trans-fat free, sugar-free, pesticide free and it is non GMO. The Mixture is mechanically processed using a proprietary system that optimises the bioavailability and increases its nutritional value.

For more info, visit www.chia-ireland.com THE SUPER ZAPPER Many researchers have found that a weak current of pulsed DC kills parasites in the body. This includes all types of worms, bacteria, viruses and fungi, as well as diseased cells and other pathogenic tissue. The Super Zapper is a simple but effective electromedicinal device that does that job.

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Enlightening Events Whatever path home you choose to walk, skip or jump along, there’s an event here to suit all tastes and temperaments:

NATIONAL ORGANIC WEEK This is a great annual event at The Organic Centre, Rossinver, Co. Leitrim. If you’re in time for this year’s celebration, it includes the Harvestfeast in Drumshanbo (Sat 13th Sep), Guest chefs, Organic School Gardens and Healthy Eating for Children, Women’s day and Women’s Organic Horticultural Training Project, and the Community Food Project.

The festival runs from the 13 - 17th Sep Other events include APPLE DAY on Sun Oct 4th and GREEN CHRISTMAS CRAFT FAIR on Sun Nov 29th For more info, visit www.harvestfeast.ie and www.theorganiccentre.ie MIND BODY SPIRIT Whether you’re closer to Dublin or Cork, and regardless of what area of health and spirituality you’re interested in, you can head

CAPOEIRA

along to the annual Mind Body Spirit Festival this Autumn. Speakers include David Hamilton, Jason Chan, Chloe Goodchild and many more.

City Hall, Cork, Sept 18th - 20th RDS Main Hall, Dublin, Oct 24th - 26th For a list of exhibitors and daily timetables, visit www.mindbodyspirit.ie “CLEARING YOUR CHANNEL, AND SOUL RECOVERY FOUNDATION HEALING TECHNIQUE” WITH JANINE THORP AND DAMIEN WYNNE. Damien was taught this technique by highly evolved beings and entities, and has now been asked to pass it on to others. This workshop is equivalent to 7 or 8 individual healing sessions, clearing many blocks and patterns, and also gives the tools of the healing technique so that those who wish to use them in future can do so, and those who don’t, can become significantly more clear about their own channel, more grounded, more aligned, and feel more confident about their purpose and path in life.

Fri 25th and Sun 27th Sept Oscailt, 8 Pembroke Rd, Dublin 4 For more info on ongoing events, visit

AN EVENING WITH NOAM CHOMSKY Professor Noam Chomsky is widely credited with having revolutionized modern linguistics. He is one of the great political thinkers of our time, with numerous bestselling political books. In his forthcoming book, ‘Hopes and Prospects’, he draws hope for the future through grassroots activism as a mechanism for progressive change. “Activism is growing all over the world and ordinary people are realising that they can be agents for change”.

Join him for a stimulating evening on 2nd Nov from 7.30pm - 9.30 pm at the RDS Concert Hall. €50.00 For more info, visit www.seminars.ie

www.angellightcreations.com

AUTUMN SCHEDULE FOR SPIRIT ONE SEMINARS James Twyman, internationally renowned, best-selling author, filmmaker and musician, who has a reputation for travelling to some of the world’s greatest areas of conflict and sharing his message of peace, presents ‘The Moses Code’, ‘The Kabbalah’ and ‘The Proof’ altogether on the 27th Oct 2009 at the Royal Marine Hotel, Dun Laoghaire, Dublin.

Louis Parsons presents a Workshop on ‘Soul Expressions’.

Gary Quinn presents ‘Creating personal riches and well being through economic crisis’.

Vicky Argyle presents ‘The Oracle of Illumination’.

Further details from www.spiritoneseminars.com

THE LIVING MATRIX Our favourite weekly spiritual discussion group, The BuddhaBag Meeting, is hosting a Special Event in the Davenport Hotel this Nov 5th. It’s a special screening of ‘The Living Matrix’, a film on the new science of healing. The film was the inspiration for this issue’s feature story on ‘The Future of Medicine’ (pg.20). So if that article rocks your world, get along to the Davenport for a heaped spoonful of good medicine. Doors open 7pm.

Check out www.buddhabag.org for more info and other events.

RUPERT SHELDRAKE One of the world’s most innovative biologists, best known for his theory of morphic fields and morphic resonance, which leads to a vision of a living, developing universe with its own inherent memory, is coming to Ireland for a Full-Day Workshop in November.

For more info and to book a place, contact Jeff on 0868533744

Understanding the gods in the skies in the build-up to 2012 part III “WHAT IS UNCONSCIOUS WILL EITHER BE REPRESSED OR PROJECTED.” JAMES HOLLIS - THE EDEN PROJECT

Understanding Pluto - also known as Hades, the god of the underworld Despite astronomers demoting Pluto from being a planet, it still remains one of the most powerful astrological forces in our birth chart and in the collective. Together with the other transpersonal planets, Uranus and Neptune, Pluto’s task is to assist us as humans on our evolutionary journey of transformation.

Each planet has its own manner of doing so. Plutonian energy is a raw and primitive force, which cuts out all that is inauthentic or unnecessary. In our birth chart, it can be our greatest strength if we understand and respect what it requires of us.

Mythology is a useful tool in assisting us to understand the nature of these deep archetypal forces, which we often struggle to access on a conscious level. Hades, who

Last, but by no means least, in this series on the transits of 2012, is a discussion of the impact - individually and collectively - of the planet Pluto in the sign of Capricorn, where it is currently located. In this edition, I am going to look at Pluto’s characteristics as a planet and a mythological god. I will then outline the themes of Pluto in some of the preceding signs as it affects you in your natal chart. In the next edition, I will discuss the impact of Pluto in Capricorn collectively, particularly on the financial structures. I will also look at this transit in the context of the overall transits of 2010 and 2012.

6 Margaret Gray MSW Dip. Psychological Astrology Tel. 085 8144135 (Ireland) 808 782 7953 (Hawaii) www.astrologypsychological.com Margaret@astrologypsychological.com

rules Pluto, was the god of the underworld - that which is below visible earth or psychologically, which lies in our unconscious.

It is important to keep in mind that our unconscious holds our creative energy as well as our shadow side. It is in the deepest caves that gold and diamonds are found. Hence, Pluto, in our natal chart by sign and position, describes the area of life where we need to do some digging to discover our hidden treasures, as well as our fears and complexes.

On the Islands of Hawai’i, Pluto is represented by Pele, the goddess of volcanoes.

Like Hades, she symbolizes endings, transformation and regeneration. Last summer when I was back on the Big Island teaching astrology, I went to watch Kilauea as she spouted lava into the ocean and the sky. We all stood in awe, spontaneously clapping at this magnificent sight, aware that we were in the presence of a natural, primitive, unstoppable force, which was at once beautiful, yet deadly if we went too close.

As Pluto moves in the sky through the signs of the horoscope, his task is to bring to light and eliminate that which is inauthentic, outworn and outdated in each of the signs; to make room for something new and authentic to be reborn. Like a finely honed scalpel, Pluto removes that which we no longer need. Because of its elliptic orbit in the sky, Pluto remains a different length of time in each sign, initially going back and forth from the previous sign to the new one, before it settles for a lengthy period of time in its new home. To see a table of the dates when Pluto was in different signs, with an outline of some of the issues that were brought to light and transformed for individuals and the collective during these times, visit www.positivelife.ie On an individual level, the sign Pluto was in when you were born (see chart for dates), describes issues which feel of the utmost importance to your survival and which you can potentially use to create transformation in the world. They are also issues which are likely to involve power struggles. Like Persephone, you may feel pulled into the underworld through these themes, particularly during your Pluto square Pluto transit at Mid-life (I will write about midlife transits in more detail in a later issue).

Join me in the next edition of Positive Life for a description of the effects of Pluto in Capricorn on the collective and on you as an individual. For more info on me and Astrology, visit www.astrologypsychological.com

Margaret Gray is a professional Psychological Astrologer with a consulting practice in Ireland, Hawaii and California. She teaches internationally both independently and on behalf of the CPA worldwide.

Margaret is the book reviewer for the ISAR journal and a member of the APAI, ISAR and the Ast.Ass UK. Whilst in Ireland Margaret is based at Oscailt integrative Health Centre www.oscailt.com.

Copyright of Margaret Gray August 2009 No part of this can be reproduced without her written permission.

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22 grow green

3 six - Una MOllo

Spirituality and the City “WHAT GETS YOU OUT OF BED IN THE MORNING?”

KESHET ZUR Photographer Curiosity. The desire to see what is out there. Experiencing the day and all it holds. My love of people, friends, strangers and family, and all the possibilities that come alive when we join forces.

The unknown. The sense of adventure that everyday holds. I love planning and dreaming, but I’m open to the day and to changing my route. Experiencing all the possibilities within my self, the circle of emotions. The five senses: tasting the day, seeing the day, smelling the day, touching the day and hearing the day. Using them all to dance the day into the next day with joy, growth, love, and whatever the day brings to me.

DANNY SCAHILL Chiropractor & DJ There are two things that get me out of bed in the morning: my passion to help people get healthy and my love of music. I’m a Chiropractor working at Fitzwilliam Health, and I’m also a DJ & Producer. As a Chiropractor, I love to help people move from a place of poor health to optimal health. I get great satisfaction seeing people’s lives change before my eyes! I regularly do Health Workshops and Seminars in Dublin, with my aim being to wake people up to taking responsibility for their own health. My other passion is my love of music, Dance music in particular. I have loved dance music since I was a child. Whenever I listen to my favourite tunes, it makes me feel so good, and I’m a great believer in doing whatever makes you feel good, because when you do, you attract into your life more things to be grateful for. www.fitzwilliamhealth.ie

LAURA RINNANKOSKI Life Coach Love, gratitude, and the endless possibilities in life - that is what gets me out of bed in the morning. I think to myself, “What am I grateful for today, and how can I make those feelings grow?” I also look forward to all the new experiences and possibilities that a new day brings.

Right now I am embracing all the changes and the uncertainty in my life, and I know that many people are experiencing similar changes in their lives. I keep reminding myself of some-

thing that Deepak Chopra says, “In the uncertainty lies all the possibilities“. Love and gratitude are incredibly strong feelings. You can literally change your whole life if you look at all situations with love and gratitude; even the ones that you may perceive as being difficult.

I usually meditate in the morning, and think about all the things that I’m grateful for. It’s a lovely way to start the day...with an attitude of gratitude. www.femalepowercoach.com

PHILOMENA MAX LEONE FITZPATRICK Life Coach / Workshop Organizer Actor / Singer Every morning, I can’t wait to get out of bed to observe passions being expressed, in any form, by other people and myself. Life is a spiritual experience and it couldn’t be otherwise, but what really inspires me is the pursuit of a passion that is the way through which human beings have an actual experience, and become one with their spirituality. For some people, it’s playing tennis, helping others, loving another person, creating a business or simply enjoying a moment of communion with their friends or children. The activity itself is totally irrelevant, it’s the way we feel while we are involved in it that makes it meaningful. Every time we lose track of time and forget about what’s happening around us, every time we get totally immersed to the extent that we forget to sleep, to rest, to eat, and we just breathe it in, we are one with it. www.consciouslivingdublin.com

Pure Excitement. A bowl of cornflakes with Manuka honey (yum yum!). New experiences. Meeting old friends. Laughing with new ones. An urgent need to pee; to evolve creatively; to make music; to have a lovely stretch; to believe in myself more; challenge myself; to cherish the lovely people in my life; treat someone to breakfast in bed; treat myself to breakfast in bed. To dare to begin something I have always wanted. Knowing all the good things the world has to offer. Knowing all the good things I have to offer the world. Singing (fa la la). Yummy food. To learn and gain knowledge. Knowing the everyday possibility of having an adventure. Learning more about myself. The numerous opportunities I have in front of me. To be there for friends. Sharing and absorbing experiences, cultures, traditions, wine, chocolate, jokes and funny stories! Plans for the future. Relishing the past.

Joy and Faith in God. www.philomenafitzpatrick.com

RICHARD STONE Chanting and Movement Facilitator What gets me out of bed in the morning is the fact that life is becoming increasingly more enjoyable for me with each day that passes, so I look forward to experiencing the new and unexpected things the day brings! My life is very busy at the moment, growing in areas that are really fulfilling for me: increasing amounts of playing music, creativity, connections with new people and deeper truths. I have also just moved house to be closer to the sea, and I really love where I’m living now. The universe is flowing along

beautifully, and the more I accept that, allowing it to be perfect just as it is, regardless of my preferences, the more life becomes easeful, joyful and funny to me, and the most amazing wish-fulfilling synchronicities happen with no effort. I have the most loving, beautiful and supportive spiritual friends, and there is so much positive transformation happening daily, that shows me this planet is clearly the place to be!

So I’m glad we’re all here for the party of life! www.dublin.ie/websites/oneness

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Margaret Brazil POSITIVE PERSONALITY

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photo: emma brereton

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Interviewed by Patrick Bridgeman Margaret Brazil had her first psychic experience, “seeing a room full of spirits” late in life. Now 62 years old, spirits utilise her in every way to convince the people who come from all over the world to see her that they are present, and that they are very real.

The best readings are usually to those who are sceptical. The spirits go all out to prove their existence - to show off! There will be fireworks!

It’s good to be sceptical, not to be gullible. Plenty have come through my door sceptical, but nobody has ever left unconvinced. Nobody can explain or contradict the evidence that’s given through me in a private reading.

I had my first psychic experience over 20 years ago. I am clairvoyant, clairaudient and clairsentient. I’m a “medium” in the real sense of the word in that I act as a go-between for clear and lengthy two-way conversations between the person and the spirit or spirits.

There is no secret. None of us are Chosen or are Special. Some of us just develop this gift, maybe through pain or heartache, while others might live their lives busy with other things and untouched by quiet thought or meditation.

At the beginning, I was more amazed than the people who came to me by what was coming from my mouth. I wasn’t sitting down trying to “home in”. In fact, I had to teach the

11 spirits manners after a while. It’s like having children in the house and needing to teach them their place. I had to learn to control them. They can’t just butt in, all of the time, into my life. I have to live normally too. Although, if there is something extreme, they will try to get word to the family by appearing and speaking regardless.

One night I was sitting alone at home when I saw a movement beside me. On the white wall opposite me, an oval frame “appeared” and in it a picture of my father - who died in 1969. As true as God. As though I was watching a short film, I could see him walking from the bus stop on the Quays, down O’Connell Street, wearing his hat and coat and with a newspaper folded under his arm. I watched this for a good five minutes. At least. I kept looking away, looking back. I wasn’t seeing things. Now, if someone has an explanation for that, I’d love to hear it. Because I don’t.

I’ve a private phone number and I don’t tend to give it out. But two decades ago, it started ringing a lot.

Every day. People looking for readings. I’ve never asked anyone how they heard of me. Over time, I came to trust that they were meant to find me. That I can do something for them. That I was meant to see these people who found me. That I must have something to give them. There are no coincidences.

I’m inclined to see each person only the once, unless they really want to come back again. I wish for them to be at peace, to find comfort and then to live their lives, not to become caught up in the dead.

Also, I’m not a fortune teller. People shouldn’t come to me if they’re looking for that. Nor am I a healer. I can’t even look after myself most of the time. Rather I’m a channel through which people who have passed on can communicate with and heal their loved ones. I can’t heal anybody, but I can facilitate wonderful healing that comes from this higher level.

Whatever God it is you believe in, He does not keep secrets from people who take the time to talk to Him. Spirits are always just a thought away.

At the end of our interview, as I was about to say goodbye, Margaret asked me, “Who is the other Patrick?” My Granda Paddy popped into my head and she went on to provide me with evidence that it was him who was communicating with me through her. He told me that he was very proud of me because I was doing something that I loved, and that, while he didn’t want to take credit for where I now was, he’d always been there beside me, giving me guidance and looking after me. Thanks Paddy!

Margaret’s book, “When Spirits Hold My Hand”, is available at all good book stores, and at www.poolbeg.com

A Hero’s Heart

By Sarah Bird

“Man never made any material as resilient as the human spirit.” Bern Williams

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Last week, at the funeral of a friend, I was reminded of the power of the human spirit.

Not once did I hear her complain about her illness; in fact, it came as a big shock when she died, as she never let on how ill she was.

Her death brought to mind her immense courage and her will to live life to the full. Only a few weeks beforehand, she had been to the Heineken Cup Final in Edinburgh and cheered on her Leinster heroes. I can’t help thinking that she and they were made of the same stuff.

On the day of her funeral, I made a promise to live my life fully every day - to appreciate all that I have. Each and every one of us deserves that; it’s part of our birthright. And furthermore, to help us live a fuller life, each of us has access to incredible reserves of human strength and courage.

I have witnessed this all over the world.

In 2006, I found myself on a hillside in Pakistan after the earthquake, where all that remained of people’s homes was rubble.

And yet, in the middle of this carnage, an 80-year-old woman, who had lost 35 members of her family, smiled at me. The smile lasted only a moment, but the spirit that shone out from her in that instant touched my heart as I saw her strength and willingness to go on.

I can’t help thinking that this most magnificent aspect of our human makeup is sadly lacking at the moment. Here in Ireland, we may not be facing war, famine or any major natural disaster, but we’re facing an even bigger foe – fear itself.

Everywhere you look, there are people who are fearful for their job, for their ability to keep paying the mortgage, for their ability to put food on the table. And while I don’t for one minute under-estimate the trauma of unemployment, the reality is that about 88% of the workforce still have

a job – and most of those will continue to do so even if the economy continues to worsen.

Despite this, they’re being crippled by fear. It’s not a fear of what’s happening right now, but what they imagine might happen at some time in the future.

The antidote to all this involves two complementary actions. The first of these is to actually realize that you are being fearful.

Have a look at your body language – are you withdrawing into yourself, have you suddenly become ‘smaller’ because your posture is controlled by fear?

If the answer is yes, it’s then a matter of overcoming your fears. Because when your fear has gone, you will inevitably get in contact with that part of your human spirit that can conquer Everest or survive an earthquake – or even face up to a terminal illness.

Much of the courage of the woman in Pakistan came from the fact that she no longer worried about the possibility of losing everything – it had already happened. And in being freed from her fear, she was determined to face the world with a smile.

On a smaller, though no less important scale, I treat hundreds of ordinary people every year who are seeking to overcome fears, phobias and trauma that are restricting their lives. I have unlimited respect for them the moment they step inside my door, as they’re making a statement that they’re no longer willing to be governed by fear and that they’ve decided to fight back.

There are a number of very powerful and very successful energy psychology techniques available that can help us overcome fear. Chief among those that I myself use are EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) and TAT (Tapas Acupressure Technique). But whatever methods you use to address your fears, it all starts with the decision to be free and with a commitment to get back in touch with our true human spirit.

Let’s start telling ourselves how strong we are, how we have survived times like these before, how we will survive this meltdown.

And let’s not forget that there truly is a hero within all of us who can help us do it.

Sarah Bird is a Personal Development Consultant, Mentor and leading practitioner of Energy Psychology Techniques and Non-violent Communication. For information on consultations and workshops, log onto www.sarahbird.ie

FIND FREEDOM FROM FEAR,

Eating Disorder Resource Centre of Ireland

PHOBIAS, STRESS AND PANIC

“Sarah quite simply changed my life. I was trapped by the panic attacks I was experiencing. Not able to socialise or travel, resulting in me not able to work and having extreme difficulty leaving the house. I could not even use the bus! I am now panic-free, happy and calm and am even back at college!” Michelle, Dublin

Principal: Suzanne Horgan, Certified Trainer in Practitioner Skills of Eating Disorders Blackhorse Lodge, Blackhorse, Drinagh, Co. Wexford *Courses being presented in Dublin in 2010*

Do you wish to work with people experiencing eating disorders or people who have food, body or weight issues?

If panic, phobias or stress are holding you back in your life, your career or your relationships, it’s now time to move on to the life you truly want to lead.

The Eating Disorder Resource Centre of Ireland, in affiliation with the National Centre for Eating Disorders (UK), wish to offer you the opportunity to embark on a one year, part time fully accredited

Using Energy Psychology techniques that are quick and easy to learn we remove the blocks that are holding you back. Research shows them as having a 95% success rate, and can improve corporate and sporting performance or within your personal life

14 eating disorder centre

Diploma in Practitioner Skills for Eating Disorders.

This course runs every year from March to November and consists of 8 modules, each module being presented over one weekend per month.

2010 Diploma Course being run in Montrose Hotel, Stillorgan Rd., Dublin 4.

You can live the life you want, without fear, without panic and without debilitating levels of stress. Make a start towards it today by contacting me

For further information please log on to

www.eatingdisorders.ie where you can download a course prospectus and synopsis or alternatively you can contact us at Phone: 053 9130506 Mobile: 087 2056560 Email: info@eatingdisorders.ie Places are limited so please book early to avoid disappointment

“Real Change, Real Easy”.

Tapas Acupressure Workshop (TAT) 17 & 18 October, Dublin.

For details go to www.sarahbird.ie

SARAH BIRD

Personal Development Consultant Mentor and Energy Psychologist

087 219 3343

sarah@sarahbird.ie

www.sarahbird.ie

WHAT IS NEEM?

Ask your local health store about

The Neem Tree (Azadirachta Indica) is native to India and Burma and a relative of Mahogany. It is tall and spreading like our oak, but its complex foliage resembles more that of our ash. It bears clusters of small, white flowers and its fruits look much like olives. It seldom loses its leaves and the shade it provides is one of the reasons why it is highly prized in India.

For more than 4.000 years, people in India have taken advantage of this fascinating tree. Even before ancient herbalists discovered the analgesic qualities of the Willow Tree - from which aspirin is derived - people used branches, fruits and leaves from the Neem Tree to help with skin ailments. Even today, rural Indians refer to the Neem Tree as “the village pharmacy” because of its huge array of properties which can also help to protect their crops and animals from insects.

Our range of Organic, Fair Trade, Never Tested on Animals Neem products include:

According to ancient Ayurvedic texts, high sugar levels in the body can cause skin ailments and poor health; bitters in the leaves of the Neem Tree are said to counteract the sweetness, purify the blood and, thus, maintain good health. Another practice carried out by the Indian People for generations is the use of a twig of the Neem Tree as a toothbrush for good oral hygiene.

15 Neem Works

Supplements Supercritical C02 Extract of Neem Leaf, Vegetarian Neem Capsules, Neem Leaf Alcohol Extract Body Care Neem oil, Neem cream, Neem Lip Balm, Neem Leaf & Aloe Vera Gel, Neem Oil Botanical Soaps, Nail & Cuticle Scrub, Botanical Fading Cream, Outdoor Herbal Spray

Hair & Scalp Neem Shampoo & Conditioner Oral Hygiene Herbal Neem Toothpaste & Mouthwash

Treasured as a beauty-enhancing, health-boosting plant in the Ayurvedic tradition, Neem oil, leaf and bark contain highly effective compounds especially beneficial to the skin. While sharing many properties with Tea Tree oil, Neem oil has the added advantage of a high fatty acid content. This makes Neem oil especially gentle and nourishing for the skin.

While hundreds of plants have been tried and tested, few have withstood modern scrutiny. No other botanical meets the true definition of a herbal remedy than Neem.

Every part of this remarkable tree has been used to help various types of maladies from ancient to modern times. Its ever growing popularity worldwide has caused more and more products to be manufactured with this almost miraculous tree.

For more information, please, log on to www.organixsouth.com

Distributed in Ireland by Neemworks Ltd. Rathescar, Dunleer, Co. Louth Contact Patricia on 041 6861059 or 086 8114419 email patricia@neemworksltd.com

Accomplish Change Clinic Certified Consulting Therapists & Trainers in Natural Healing Traditions, Hypnosis, Psychotherapy and Energy Psychology Private practice appointments in Dublin Workshops & training - local, national and international Full details, appointments, gift vouchers, upcoming workshops in HypnoBirthing, TAT, EFT, Dream Interpretation, Energy Awareness and CertiďŹ cation Programme in Meridian Energy Therapies are at

www.accomplishchange.com Clinic Hours: Monday - Friday 11.00AM - 7.30PM / Workshops: Saturdays 9.30AM - 5.00PM Tel: +353 (0)1 2986507 Aisling Killoran Mobile: +353 (0) 87 135 2122 Ray Manning Mobile: +353 (0) 87 677 8049 Email: info@accomplishchange.com

5 spine

centre

As a CertiďŹ ed Spinologist you will: s Set your own hours and fees s Enjoy a profession that asists everyone you work on without fail s Enjoy the income and respect of a professional in a specialised field s Be part of the fastest growing profession in the area of human performance s Have immediate employment opportunities upon graduation

www.spinology.org GAA Building, 1st Floor, Mill Rd, Geystones, Co. Wicklow

Find the Spinologist nearest you and ring for a free spinal evaluation for your entire family.

Barry O’Brian spinemaintenance.com 2 Locations Kenmar & Killarney, Co. Kerry. 0868586212 info@spinemaintenance.com www.spinemaintenance.com Doug Kelly Cork Spinology Centre Blackrock, Co. Cork 0861777706 spinologydoug@gmail.com

Shoshanna Tate Carrigaline, Co. Cork 0868051021 Michael Meyer The SPINE Centre Greystones, Co. Wicklow 0857664943 info@thespinecentre.ie www.thespinecentre.ie

By Margot Diskin & Clodagh O’Mara

Intuition & EFT

15

Intuition is what remains when we step out of our mind and allow ourselves to go within, to feel, to look, listen and finally to notice what was a nagging certitude all along. It is as natural as breathing. It is on 24/7. It never stops. You can’t press pause and we all have access to it, whether you know it or not.

So, what stops us from living it? Well, in short, our mind, our emotions and our ego... three areas where EFT offers effective, practical help. EFT can be used to bring peace into the mind – it is an amazingly effective technique to collapse obsessive thoughts and other torments.

We tend to rely heavily on our thinking mind the ceaseless stream of acquired theories and unquestioned beliefs (e.g. No pain, no gain). This part of us is designed to be right at all cost and it won’t shy away from rationalising, deceiving, denying, dismissing the truth and favouring logic over wisdom. Paradoxically, when we are in the flow of intuition, the mind follows effortlessly.

The seat of our intuition however is the body itself. The body can never lie – it simply has no mechanism to do so. It will tell its truth again and again until the message gets through. Some call this message ‘disease’.

We possess two different innate ways to keep us safe from trouble: uncomfortable emotions - you know the ones, they are those that feel like a weight on your chest, a knot in your stomach or that make your blood boil - and our gut feeling or intuition.

Fear, which is supposed to keep us safe, may unfortunately deceive the purpose and even put us in greater danger. For example, a person afraid of dogs is more likely to get bitten by one than someone exercising normal caution. Martial artists, who do not succumb to hatred and anger for their opponent, act effortlessly and intuitively when the need to defend themselves arises.

Uncomfortable emotions act as snow and crackling on a TV screen and interfere with the clarity

“LETTING GO OF EMOTIONAL BAGGAGE IS THEREFORE A CRUCIAL PART OF RECONNECTING WITH OUR INTUITION.”

of our intuitive hunches. Letting go of emotional baggage is therefore a crucial part of reconnecting with our intuition. When we feel peaceful, grateful, compassionate and loving, it is easy to hear the subtle voice of our inner wisdom.

EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) is a simple, effective and yet profound way to free those stuck emotional patterns and get back to peace and contentment.

Paradoxically, the desire to be intuitive, the fear of getting it wrong or being criticised, and attachment to results, all block the intuitive flow.

Intuition is actually none of our business. When we put aside our ego and hand it over to a wiser part of ourselves, this stream of awareness works through us and not by us. It is about listening, and trusting the listening without expectation of an answer or a solution. It emerges just from pure presence.

All the answers are there, ready to be harvested, in a common pool of consciousness.

EFT is the perfect tool to free ourselves from prejudice and the endless chatter of the mind, raw emotional reactions and egoic focus.

Of course the EFT practitioner needs a well-stocked toolbox of skills and techniques to draw from.

However, with time and experience, intuition leads the session, the client’s core issues are easily uncovered, and the right pace and turn of phrase or funny comment that will turn the case around comes to mind effortlessly. A well-conducted EFT session may feel like a meditation where practitioner and client are united by a common intention.

Time and space cease to be important, rapport and understanding deepen and pain subsides leaving healing and peace.

Having recognised the crucial part that intuition plays in a healing practice, we here at Discover EFT dedicate a whole module of our EFT Foundation Course to reconnecting with it through practical and experiential work.

To this end, we have chosen to run the course in a wonderful Period house - a character filled, familyrun B&B overlooking a lake and nestled amongst magnificent mature trees; a setting conducive to relaxation and inner listening.

Of course, our programme also covers practical EFT skills and techniques such as Level 1 & 2, with corresponding certificates, and there are ample opportunities for the participants to hone their newly acquired skills and flex those intuitive muscles. We also give advice on all practical aspects of setting up or expanding a practice for those who wish to embrace or enhance their career as an EFT practitioner.

Participants have reported deep and long lasting benefits that extend way beyond their professional activities. Some take the course for personal development purposes, others with a career in mind.

For the majority, listening to intuitive guidance is now their way of life.

Margot Diskin & Clodagh O’Mara are co-facilitators on the Discover EFT Foundation Course. For more info, visit www.discover-eft.com

Where The Energy Takes You

By Susan 0’Toole

by Susan 0’Toole

“

Here is your mountain.

Its water is spiralling up from your own well to water your roots.

Each tree is a place of Worship, of open exchange, in ‘being’ the understanding, for kindness and human-kinship.

” 16

So, what does it mean to take part in a weekend course learning Qigong? How do people respond when you all learn something together? What happens? It is not by chance when learning this ancient art that we feel and resonate deeply in an openhearted way, experiencing all being moved in unity and as one. It’s a subtle awareness discipline, offering a tool as the practice drives us into an automatic relaxation, bringing us more in touch with ourselves. It goes right to the heart of the matter, by presenting a way of moving with pleasure, and enjoying feeling in motion.

This time honoured process, spanning thousands of years, is likened to embarking on an exciting voyage, with support, and nurturing the growth by sharing the wisdom that has been handed down, making learning comfortable and safe, and highly grounding the body and mind. The Qigong form is a set of guided imagery instructions composed of patterns of movements. They are configured into postures according to the style you are learning along with the basic patterns of breathing techniques. Qigong is no longer an obscure pursuit or for the selective few, but part of the daily lives of many people.

The two main forms taught and practiced here in our community are: ‘Soaring Crane Qigong’ - based on the red crested crane that lives into it’s 70’s and is a very devotional bird.

‘Essence’ - which strengthens the kidneys, which are the building blocks of the body, according to traditional Chinese medicine.

Qigong can work on everyone from doctors, teachers, farmers and housewife’s to the wheelchair bound. They are helped gain access to the positive components by the reassured framing of the techniques of the form, helping to resolve any physical restric-

tions that someone might be experiencing.

Qi moves beyond any physical limitations.

We can discover the simplest way to stay centred and balanced, and let that blocked energy move. Then the world around us will transform. When I stand with my feet rooted to the earth, relaxed and natural, like a pine tree, the body of my weight is evenly distributed. That is symbolic for equilibrium. It can also be symbolic for situations in life, when we are between two events where, for a brief moment, equilibrium has a chance to re-establish itself, or in a qigong movement before the shift comes over to the other leg, between two steps.

These systems are not static; they accommodate our energy flow freely on a day-today basis, helping it to circulate continuously in our mental and physical selves. This happens through the acupuncture meridians that show the pathways of the Qi energy where the spirits of the meridians come alive. The Chinese saw the macrocosm of the universe mapped out onto the microcosm of the body, to balance functional relationships that maintain the quality of the human being.

Practice has a two-fold purpose. Leading and guiding the Qi like a great flowing river, gently moving and exercising the limbs, encouraging blockages to disperse so the Qi energy can flow again. Secondly, practicing in a group is fun and a way to explore the hidden potentials of the mind.

We work on the whole feeling of centring and rooting, which is a way to get the body relaxed, calm and energized. This in turn strengthens our nervous system, which is the interface with our lives through which we experience our life. Through practice, our organic memory is restored to its original nature, allowing integration of some lost aspect of function that had been obscured by life’s habituating influences.

We teach courses at a pleasant spacious house, set on an organic farm in West Cork, where you are away from the pollution and stress of noise. And a short walk will take you to the end of a boreen to a memorable bay of glassy hues of green and blue sea.

Susan 0’Toole teaches Qigong, and practices Acupuncture and Chinese herbs. www.qigonginireland.com 02828960 or 0864044020. Eileen Murray, a Qigong instructor, has made a full recovery from cancer several years ago. www.qigongireland.com

0861732473 or 0214852977. Ann Shaw uses her Qigong skills to help horse riders gain their balance and posture. www.southreenfarm.com 0868054152 or 02833258

The

Organic centre

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Promoting Organic Growing and Sustainable Living

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Autumn/Winter Courses

Storing and Preserving Vegetables and Fruit – Jam without Sugar 19/9 Homemade Remedies for the Winter Month 19/9 Plan your garden now – organic gardening for beginners 26/9 also 10/10 Introduction to Alternative Energy – Wind and Solar PV 3/10 Growing Trees from Seed 10/10 Natural Paints – How to make and use them 11/10 Wine Making 17/10 Grow your own Mushrooms 18/10 Sprouting and Growing Wheatgrass 24/10 Cooking for your Blood Type 7/11 Grains, Breads and Sourdough – more than just a baking course 21/11 Introduction to Hedgerows 21/11 Growing Fruit – Winter Workshop 28/11 Green Christmas Craft Fair 29/11

For new commercial courses midweek visit www.theorganiccentre.ie For dates, bookings and more information on the above and all other courses call

071-9854338 - e-mail: info@theorganiccentre.ie - www.theorganiccentre.ie

Susan O’Toole – www.qigonginireland.com Ann Shaw – www.southreenfarm.com Eileen Murray – www.qigongireland.com

Louise Hay teaches us that we always have the power to choose how we respond to our circumstances, no matter what.

We can do that by reaching for thoughts and practices that move us towards appreciation, compassion, forgiveness, gratitude, humour, hope, love and joy.

3 - Mar Kate

Be guided and supported in the next step on your journey by participating in a Heal Your Life Workshop or Evening Class near you.

based on the philosophy of Louise Hay

CertiďŹ ed Teachers County Clare Eileen Clair 065 905 2239, enquiries@eileenclair.com (Eileen is also a Heal Your Life CertiďŹ ed Coach) County Sligo (also Leitrim, Mayo & Galway) Jamie McKirdy 087 780 3211, jaymckirdy7@gmail.com County Tipperary Brid Harty 086 0622280/0504 43420, b.harty@hotmail.com South Dublin/Wicklow Manda Talbot Brady 01 285 4382/086 343 2528.

Dublin City Centre/North Dublin Mary Kate O Flanagan 086 816 3656. marykate@ireland.com Contact any of us for more information.

01 5262705

Inner Essence, Outward Presence

By Mary Berkery Founder and CEO of Heaven and Earth Day Spa WE ARE IN CHANGING AND CHALLENGING TIMES. THE WORLD WE KNEW OF OUTER SECURITY IS DISSOLVING AND CHANGING. SO, HOW DO WE KEEP BALANCE AND HARMONY AMIDST SUCH OUTWARD FLUCTUATIONS? HOW DO WE KEEP INNER CALM AND CONNECTION TO OUR ESSENCE IN SUCH TIMES. AS A CEO OF TWO COMPANIES, ONE OPENED RECENTLY, I HAVE FOUND THE FOLLOWING PROVIDE SUPPORT IN MY LIFE. PERHAPS THEY WILL INSPIRE YOU TO FIND YOUR OWN WAY.

EAT SIMPLY Eat simply and well –

fresh organic plant-based food. Avoid stimulants or stimulating foods such as sugar, coffee or alcohol.

BREATHE AND HYDRATE When stressed,

stop, breathe, become present with your breath. Breathe through the stress rather than holding breath back. Go through it with conscious breathing. Drink water. I have filtered ionised water in my home and at work, and just having a glass of water when my mind gets fuzzy can do wonders.

EXERCISE AND TAKE CARE OF YOUR BODY Get a regular body workout.

Whether that is a massage, a swim, sauna or slow yoga. This will help you to come out of the speedy mind and into the wisdom and intelligence of your body.

TAKE CARE OF YOUR APPEARANCE

ACCEPT AND LET GO Accept what is

REST Get adequate rest. Sleep allows

happening to you in your life – go with it, in some way surrender to it. Accept the choices you made and give gratitude.

When fear comes - be with it, don’t fight it, let it move through you. Open to the present moment rather than wasting energy looking back saying, “if only”.

the soul to heal and integrate all that is changing within and outside our lives – so listen to your body. Take rest at weekends, get to bed early during the week, don’t pack your diary with activities. Pace yourself in your day.

… by wearing the colours and styles that suit you. Groom your hair and nails.

Moisturise your skin daily and apply protective moisturising oils on your body after showering. All of this enhances your feeling of wellbeing, while giving you confidence to deal with the daily situations that present themselves.

NATURE Take time in Nature. Whether SLOW DOWN When fear or stress

creeps up - slow down. Take time to simply “be“, even if it means cancelling a meeting or an evening out. Create space in your day, your week, just to “be” without planning the next step or next doing - let your mind switch off and rest in not knowing all the answers.

it is by the sea or in the woodlands, let the rhythm and consistency of nature bring balance back to your body and soul.

DO THINGS YOU LOVE TO DO That

may be playing with children, reading a book, cycling, cooking or watching a DVD. Whatever it is, if you love to do it, take time to do it.

CREATE SANCTUARY IN YOUR HOME

Create a place or places of sanctuary in your home. Whether it be a chair with an area where you read or meditate in, or a corner in a room where you have an icon or inspiring picture or fresh flowers. Go to this for your quiet time. Children can get involved with this too in a creative way.

GIVE AND RECEIVE … from your special

AVOID WATCHING TOO MUCH TELEVISION … and negative news. Have

a television free evening and read a book or listen to inspiring music.

friends and family. Offer positive support and ask for it. Go for a walk or have dinner together. Surround yourself with positive and heart-filled people.

LIVE SIMPLY The simple things in life are free - watching a sunset with your child, getting up to see the sunrise, relaxing with friends.

Know that life is always opening to you; that as doors close, doors open. Trust; go deep into it daily. In all of these - one starts learning with grace, presence, gratitude and simple joy - allowing beauty, softness and grace to shine forth from within your life and life experiences, no matter how difficult.

Mary Berkery is Ireland’s leading holistic health and beauty expert, with over twenty year’s industry experience. For info, visit www.heavenandearth.ie

19

The Future of Medicine AFTER WATCHING THE LIVING MATRIX MOVIE, WE WERE INSPIRED TO WRITE AN EDITORIAL ABOUT THE FUTURE OF MEDICINE, AND WERE LUCKY ENOUGH TO GET EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS WITH TWO OF THE FILM’S INSPIRING STARS: BRUCE LIPTON AND LYNNE MCTAGGART.

By Patrick Bridgeman

20

The movie puts forward the theory (backed up by scientific evidence) that the body’s energy field is a major influence in the development of our genes, the growth of our cells and the general working of our immune and other bodily systems. It shows numerous case studies and interviews with people who have been successfully cured of conditions such as cerebral palsy, an inoperable brain tumour, kidney abnormalities and chronic fatigue syndrome, without the need for damaging operations.

“My belief about the future of medicine is that it will be reduced to what it does miracles with: trauma.” Bruce tells us at the beginning of our interview. “It will not disappear because it shouldn’t disappear.

But if you try to ask it about cancer, alzheimer’s, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, obesity and things like this, the answers are not forthcoming because those are not trauma things, those are operational control issues, which are mind-over-matter issues.”

According to Bruce, the most important breakthrough in medicine in recent years is the awareness of a new field called Epigenetics.

The current cultural belief is that our traits and characteristics are predetermined by our genetic history, and that you can‘t change the genes that you were born with. This instils in us a belief that we are victims of forces outside of our control and are powerless in controlling our health; which then leads us to look for a rescuer outside of our self.

However, Bruce knows that genes are controlled by your perception, and through your perception you can modify the readout of your genes to create 30,000 variations of every gene that you have. Therefore, the concept of victim is lost in the new world of Epigenetics, for the simple reason that the individual has the ability to change their perception. You‘re a master if you realise that it’s your perception in response to the world that’s adjusting your genetics.

The mind is the functioning of the brain that interprets the environment and adjusts the biology. So rather than being controlled by our genes, our biology is controlled by our mind. And when you understand this, then you realise the power of being able to change your mind; because when you do that, you change your biology and your genetics.

Through epigenetics, emotion, perception, attitude and belief, the patient is directing the health of their body. They are not the victims of their cells undoing them. It’s the other way around.

We go from victim to master with a change in our belief system.

It has been clearly documented that one third of all healings, be they surgery or drugs or whatever technology, are strictly due to the thought and belief system. This is called the Placebo Effect. “The Placebo Effect talks about a positive thought being something that can heal you. More importantly is the Nocebo Effect,” Bruce explains.

“What the world in general is unaware of is that a negative thought can take you equally powerfully in the other direction.”

When a person is under stress they shut off their growth, they shut off their immune system and they shut down their conscious processing in deference to doing reactive behaviour, which means you become less intelligent. So, as the stresses in this world are mounting, what we are finding is people‘s health is adversely affected, the growth of the system is stymied, and there‘s less intelligence in dealing with the issues because the fear is pushing us into reactive behaviour.

Bruce believes that messing with chemicals causes more problems than changing your belief system. “The side effects are quite different in that there are no side

effects with changing your belief system.

It doesn’t work by changing the chemistry. That’s why the statistics reveal that, in the United States, medicine is now becoming the leading cause of death, through iatrogenic illness. This is what doctors themselves admitted in the Journal of the American Medical Association. 300,000 people die every year as a result of taking prescription drugs. That‘s more than heart disease, cancer and stroke.”

Your thoughts are involved in the creation of your reality, and your heart is a vibrational amplifier that helps to manifest that creation, and when you put the two together in harmony, the message is broadcast out to a large audience.

Bruce’s first book, The Biology of Belief, was on the nature of how personal beliefs affect your life on a personal level. His new book, Spontaneous Evolution, looks at the concept of cultural beliefs and the way the world is organising; how our collective beliefs manifest our reality and, by changing those beliefs, how we can change the existing reality.

“Building a new reality means undoing the foundation of the existing reality so that you can restructure it for something different.

The upheaval is a necessary step in an evolutionary process. So, rather than focusing on the upheaval level, it‘s much more effective to focus on the resolution. There are exciting opportunities that lie in front of us when people let go of their fear of change.”

He puts it to us that a human body represents a massive community with 8,000 times more members than there are people on the planet. Every cell is the functional equivalent of a miniature human living in a society.

50 trillion citizens that can learn to live in harmony, and when the body is blissed out, that means 50 trillion citizens are blissed out at the same time.

Every cell has a job. Every cell gets paid.

There’s a unit of exchange in the body, the equivalent of money, called ATP. There’s an economy. There’s a politics. There’s a protection mechanism. There’s a health force to take care of things.

Basically, inside the body, there’s a civilisation far greater than ours in number, using technology that humans haven’t even evolved yet, living in a confined environment, and living in an opportunity of balance and harmony where every citizen could be totally blissed out.

“There’s an ancient mystical saying that says, ‘The answers lie within.’ If you understand the technology, politics, economy and social organisation of how 50 trillion cells can live in harmony under your skin, and apply them to human civilisation, a

“RATHER THAN BEING CONTROLLED

BY OUR GENES, OUR BIOLOGY IS CONTROLLED BY OUR MIND.”

few billion citizens can certainly live in harmony on this planet.”

When Lynne McTaggart took a break from writing her new book, the contents of which is still a fascinating secret, she agreed that, “One of the fundamental things that has to change in the future of medicine is this focus on the Gene as being the solution to every illness. If you look at what Epigeneticists are coming up with, you‘ll have an understanding that the gene is really subordinate to this outside information-system known as The Field, and that we have to look at information rather than the gene as the thing that we have to crack.”

Often times, illness is a metaphoric representation of something going on mentally or emotionally with us. Ritger Palmer used to say, “I won‘t treat the tumour, I‘ll treat the trauma.” and when he did that, the tumour would go away. We have to ask our body, “What are you trying to tell me?”

A lot of people feel they have to protect themselves from toxic energy or a toxic environment, and they talk about psychic bubbles and that sort of thing, and that doesn’t resonate with Lynne very much because she feels if we’re supposed to all be connected, the last thing we’d want to do is be protected from each other.

“Often times, what you’re picking up, you’re sending out. One thing we know

“THE GENE IS REALLY SUBORDINATE TO THIS OUTSIDE INFORMATION SYSTEM KNOWN AS THE FIELD”

is that we’re all sending and receiving a constant conversation of quantum light.

There’s a lot of synchronicitous information going back and forth.” We’re sending and receiving whether we know it or not, and so the likelihood is that that negative situation is partly of your own making because you’re sending out information to help make it so. So, the first thing Lynne would recommend is to start sending out positive information and energy.

Using kinesiology muscle testing, Dr. John Diamond found that any kind of toxic thought makes somebody’s arm deltoid muscle weak, but the only thing that would keep it strong was going inside yourself and holding onto your homing thought. By “homing thought” he meant that activity and state of mind that puts you in touch with the divine.

For many people that’s singing or painting or it’s their work; for other people it’s just making a chocolate cake, or being a mother or a father. It doesn’t have to be your vocation, it can just be the thing that really makes you most transcendent. In a sense, it was what you were put on this earth to do. Lynne thinks of that as the strongest antidote to negativity, because it is demonstrated to be the one thing that keeps you strong no matter what is thrown at you.

When you recognise when something isn’t working, it’s your reaction

22

to it that causes the problem or not. You have to acknowledge the issue, but it’s all in how you focus your mind. Acknowledge the problem and have the confidence that there’s a solution.

Lynne did a special report on Swine Flu, and demonstrated that the hype is complete and utter nonsense. “More people die from ordinary flu than have ever died from swine flu. Part of healing that is just getting past the awfulising and really looking at the facts. There are several practical things that can be done regarding the negativity of the News. One is: don’t watch that kind of news.”

We are completely different from what we have been told. We have to stop thinking of ourselves as this collection of isolated things jostling around in space. We have to start thinking about ourselves in terms of a ‘pro tem’ system, something that is constant changing energy, that’s connected and engaged; that we exist only in a relationship with the world. We have to think of ourselves as connected, and that would change everything in the way we think about healing and the way we think about being.

“In 50 years time, the idea of using drugs or surgery is probably going to be considered barbaric. We’re moving much more towards an understanding of ourselves as being an energetic system. When you get right down to it, we’re just charge having a relationship with the zero-point field. If you think of our cells as just pure vibrating packets of nothingness, or energy, then you have to deal with things in a very different way than just carving up pieces of flesh or giving drugs to try to change a chemical reaction. We’re now understanding that we’re much more subtle than that and we don’t operate in a linear fashion. If you try to affect one part of us, you affect all parts of us. And so we have to approach things very differently than the idea of just fix the broken machine.”

Our current methodology clearly demonstrates that it doesn’t work. It’s time to really question the paradigm we’ve been using on which modern medicine is based. Now we realise that we’ve been using the wrong paradigm, that we’re something very different from what medicine thinks we are, and so we have to deal with ourselves as an energetic system out of balance, and that‘s really what we should be looking at and trying to heal.

We’re now understanding, from frontier scientists, that we’re all fundamentally connected via this vast quantum energy field, called the Zero-Point Field, which unites us

all like an invisible web. The Field is created from a sub-atomic dance between individual particles constantly trading energy back and forth like an endless game of tennis.

The sub-atomic particles, which are basically just vibrating packages of energy, encode information. Once one wave bumps into another wave, it encodes that information. In a sense, the zero-point field, which is a collection of all the waves of all the information in the world is like this memory bank of everything that’s ever been in the world, and if we are somehow connected to this, and all connected together, then we have the ability to access all the information in the world at any point.

“There’s a real strong transformative power in group intention and communal intention,” Lynne reminds us. “In the face of adversity, get together with your friends and do some intentions together.”

This can also be done at work, if you have people who are like-minded, and can also be done remotely.

Dr Robert Verkerk, founder of the Alliance for Natural Health, says, “It is inconceivable that the medical profession and health authorities won’t, some time in the next 20 years, wake up to the need for an altogether new paradigm for healthcare.

This new paradigm, logically, would be sustainable, based around disease prevention rather than disease management, and would need to be centred around nutritional and lifestyle approaches.

This understanding will in time lead to the development of healthcare approaches that are much more compatible with each of our bodies. And holistic healthcare, in which the mind-body-spirit connection is fully respected, currently the domain of traditional systems of medicine such as those of China and the Indian subcontinent, will ultimately win out.”

There is so much more to say on the subject, and we hope that this will inspire many conversations, but for now, we‘ll leave you with the words of Arielle Essex, a woman who cured herself of a Brain Tumour using NLP: “The most important thing for people to do is to take total responsibility for their health. Not to think that it comes from outside themselves, or that somebody else can give it to them. And by taking total responsibility, that may mean that they have to start with choosing the thoughts that they think, so that they are in a good state of mind; the state of mind that‘s most conducive to healing.”

For more info on The Living Matrix movie, visit http://thelivingmatrixmovie.com. For more info on Bruce Lipton, visit www.brucelipton.com . For more info on Lynne McTaggart, visit www.theintentionexperiment.com .

For more info on Dr Robert Verkerk, visit www.anhcampaign.org

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The Meaning of Life

By Patrick Bridgeman

Some say the meaning of life is individual to everyone. Some say it is something to be experienced that can not be put into words. I say that we have both a collective life purpose and individual life purposes that give meaning to our lives and to life in general, and from my own personal experiences of both, I’m going to put into words what I believe to be the meaning of life as we know it.

Years ago, I attended a Mind Body Spirit expo in the RDS in Dublin. A synchronicity led my sister and me into a talk given by Janine Thorp about Channelled Essences and Indigo Children. It struck a chord with me, so after the talk, I went for a session with Janine, who used her essences to realign me energetically on many different levels. At one point, while using the True Self essence, my perception moved from its usual seat inside my head, up and out of the entire physical universe, into a void that surrounds it. From here, I perceived every possible moment of now, laid out in

24

front of me like a cosmic patchwork blanket. People jumped from one moment to any other and on and on, creating the illusions of time and space.

I noticed that, from my new perspective, every choice that people in the physical realms made was totally accepted. Experiences of pleasure were no more or less valid than experiences of pain. Looking on from what seemed like God’s viewpoint, there was only a content awareness.

By the end of the session, this awareness and my point of perception were firmly grounded back down in my body.

I left Janine, and ended up walking along O’Connell Street with my sister and her friend. I was happy to go anywhere and do anything, and I noticed that something else had changed. Whereas before I could sense a difference between my energy and the energies of the people and places around me, now there was nothing but a clear, clean space which we all inhabited.

We were One, experiencing physical manifestation together.

As my life continued, the experience of this state of content awareness and perception was replaced by the usual assortment of boxes and labels, rights and wrongs, desires and preferences; but the memory remains firm - a signpost pointing the way home for all of Me, Here, Now. This experience shifted my intellectual understanding of God, Life and Reality as I used to know it. What I now believe

is that we are all One: You, Me and God. There’s the non-physical aspect of our God-self that knows everything, and the many incarnated aspects of our God-self that experience everything. We, as our physical incarnations, don’t need to fully know everything, as another part of our God-self already does. It is our life purpose to fully experience everything. And when we do fully focus on the experience of being here now, we open a clear channel to the all-knowing and gain access to whatever information we need.

Would you like to be focused here now?

Look at the words in this sentence. Look at the letters that make up these words.

Notice that some are open shapes and some have enclosed spaces. Find a letter that is a purely enclosed space and focus into it. Here is One. Now. Focus on your heart.

We are here so that our all-knowing Godself can experience all that it knows it can be in a never-ending series of physical incarnations and manifestations. That is the meaning of Life as I know it.

You are one manifestation of what God can be, and you - being God incarnate also have the ability to create limitless manifestations of all that we can be, using your focus as a catalyst for change. Focus is the alchemy which turns energy into matter. The mind is a magnifying glass which focuses the all-knowing into specific information and the physical body into specific action.

Being fully present in any moment makes that experience so much more interesting, so those who live every moment to the fullest will never become bored of life.

We think about things so that we can better understand our experiences in relation to one another, as if we can somehow piece them together for a bigger picture.

Enlightenment is the realisation, through conscious perception, of the Oneness of God (a.k.a. everything and nothing). Like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, it’s only when you view us together as One that the entire picture of who and what we really are can be seen. The all-knowing and the allexperiencing co-existing in our universe of duality. It’s like being in a lucid dream were you realise that all of the characters in the dream are aspects of you.

In order to bring this conscious perception of the Oneness of God into our physical existence, we need to clear the energetic blocks from our physical body, making it strong and supple through physical exercise and the conscious growing and eating of healthy foods. That way we can more effectively ground the energy and raise our awareness and vibration.

Systematic Kinesiology shows that the body knows what is good for it and what is not. The more you develop your sensitivity and awareness, the more easily you can tell what benefits you and what hinders you, even before muscle testing.

Authentic Movement is the physical body’s natural reaction to the impulses

“WE ARE HERE SO THAT OUR ALL-KNOWING GOD-SELF C AN EXPERIENCE ALL THAT IT KNOWS IT C AN BE IN A NEVER-ENDING SERIES OF PHYSIC AL INC ARNATIONS AND MANIFESTATIONS.”

of our energetic body. When we learn to properly communicate with our physical body, we can give it the care and attention it needs, and in return, it will be an amazing vehicle for the expression of your soul here in the physical dimensions.

However, these physical incarnations can pass away just as suddenly as they are born, so enjoy them while they last, and know that there’s more on the way.

The universal Life purpose filters down to our seemingly individual life purposes.

It is always about expansion of self, a raising of consciousness and a return to a perception of Oneness. The reason it feels different for each of us is because each of us is a unique instrument in the divine orchestra of life.

It is your purpose and destiny to do things your way, the way that feels right and true for you. We’re supposed to be different, yet there’s a harmony to the universe if people follow its natural cycles. We can all live the life that feels the most fitting,

like a suit you were made to wear. Others, caught in the illusion of separation and lack, may try to control what you do with your life, but in the end it’s up to you. There may be systems that worked really well for a lot of people at one point in our evolution, but only you know what works best for you here now. God knows you inside and out because God is you inside and out.

If someone who’s energy is in harmony with you is evolving along a very similar path to you, it is possible for you to stay in harmony indefinitely, but it is more likely that people will move in and out of harmony with your energy and hence in and out of your life. Change is constant.

Commitment allows for a build-up of energy which makes accessing certain experiences and perceptions more easy. This is true for relationships with others and yourself, meditation, or any spiritual or physical practice.

When interacting in relationship with another, keep in mind that we’re different expressions of the same soul. Relationships provide you with opportunities to fulfil the purpose of your life or, at least, to move forward along the path of your life purpose. As do all interactions.

We will all evolve. That is the nature of life; the grand design. You will be lifted up by more evolved souls, and as you continue to cultivate a higher vibration, you will in turn lift the spirits of those around you, bringing all of Us back to the realisation of Oneness, Here, Now.

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Mama Amma’s

Mother Nature

By Shalila Baginski

She is famous for travelling the globe and hugging people – her embrace, a rare and deeply healing experience of unconditional love for many. Much lesser known is Amma’s vast humanitarian work: training and business funding for 100,000 women; scholarships for 100,000 children; 400,000 trees planted; free medical treatment for 1,000,000 patients; 35,000 new homes, and that is to name but a few of her countless projects, and most of that work is done on a voluntary basis.

One may well ask, “How can one woman establish such a vast organization while constantly travelling around the world?”

The answer is Inspiration. The tireless work, compassion and love she manifests in her daily life inspires people to serve those less well off than themselves. It touches the best in people, encouraging them to offer their time, skills and financial support to the poorest of the poor.

However, Amma’s care and love extends beyond people to our common habitat, “Mother Earth”. Inspired by Amma’s genuine concern for nature, initiatives under the common name of Green Friends have sprouted on a global level with the aim of preserving and protecting the environment.

In Ireland, the beautiful landscape of West Cork gave birth to the first Green Friends project: a vegetable garden and learning centre on one acre of land that is open to everyone who wants to learn the skills of growing their own organic vegetables, fruits and herbs. The teaching is done, hands on, with techniques that nurture the soil’s valuable micro-organisms and keeps the balance of nature and the biodiversity of the land intact. The harvested plants and seeds are sold to raise money for Amma’s many humanitarian projects. All teaching is free. Open days are offered from time to time with practical workshops on sustainability, basketmaking, beekeeping, waste-reduction, building of alternative housing and herbal medicine. Nature friendly ways of beekeeping are included to help save the bee population from further decline.

From those beginnings, Green Friends initiatives spread quickly to areas all over Ireland. A group of young and enthusiastic Green Friends in Co. Donegal, at the recent All Ireland & Five Nations SheepShearing Championships, promoted the care of birds, bumblebees and butterflies.

In the Dublin area, Green Friends have been offered the use of a site by Dublin City Council, with a view to setting up a community garden near Sundrive Road.

A Woodland Project in Co. Clare gives individuals the chance to “buy” a sapling, which will be planted in their name. A ‘Wealth from Waste’ plastic recycling project is on its way. And all proceeds from those initiatives will again be donated to help alleviate suffering in different parts of the world.

Amma’s intention for the Green Friends projects, however, while providing healthy food and preserving the environment, has deeper implications as well. It is one of her ways of teaching the inner oneness of all life. Human beings and nature are not separate entities; they are interdependent in every way. Looking after the environment helps us to rediscover our relationship with the planet that nourishes and sustains us.

This does not always imply action. Given the chance, nature restores and creates her own balance. Simply watching this happen, is another way of reconnecting with our natural surroundings. It increases our sensitivity to the needs of the plants, animals and trees around us, so we can move into action from the right understanding at the right moment. Growing our own food in harmony with those natural laws, for example, helps to open our hearts and minds to the tremendous gifts that nature has to offer, awakening our gratitude and sense of unity.

“Nature is our first mother. She nurtures us throughout our lives. Our birth mother allows us to sit on her lap for a couple of years, but Mother Nature patiently bears our weight our entire life. Just as a child is obligated to his birth mother, we should all feel obligation and responsibility towards Mother Nature. If we forget this responsibility, it is equal to forgetting our own self”. – Amma Amma’s visit to Dublin is expected in November this year. Please check www.ammaireland.org for updates on her visit.

27

IF YOU MANAGED TO GET TO ANY OF THE BIG MUSIC FESTIVALS THIS SUMMER, YOU MIGHT HAVE GOT A WHIFF OF ‘GREEN’. IT SEEMS LIKE EVERY MUSIC FESTIVAL THESE DAYS IS FLAUNTING THEIR ECOLOGICAL CREDENTIALS AND CLAIMING CARBON NEUTRALITY. AS MORE AND MORE CONCERT PROMOTERS, VENUES AND ARTISTS ‘GO GREEN,’ DAVIE PHILIP ASKS HOW MUCH OF THIS ACTIVITY IS GENUINE, AND WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR MUSIC FESTIVALS.

By Davie Philip

28

THE FUTURE OF GREEN FESTIVALS The summer season of music festivals has come to an end, your tent is packed up and you have cleaned the mud off your wellies.

Earlier this summer I had the opportunity to attend quite a few festivals, and as I write this, we are putting together the final plans for the Global Green, the Electric Picnic’s area for the more ethical and green festival-goer. I worked for a week in the Green Fields at the Glastonbury festival, talked in the Ecogen tent at Oxygen, and developed the sustainability strategy for the Big Tent, Scotland’s largest eco festival. What has this experience taught me about the greening of music festivals and what predictions would I make for the future of ‘green’ gatherings?

We certainly live in challenging times with the pain being felt by both the festival organisers as well as the punters. For almost everyone, a festival is always going to be about the music, Although in these uncertain times, I wonder if festivals can play any part in helping us to make the transition to a low carbon, fair and resilient world.

The origins of today’s music festivals go back to the 1960s and 1970s where they were free and in many ways different. The anti-nuclear and early green movement often provided the momentum for cultural celebration to be united with political action. However, recently these gatherings have been more about hedonism, individualism and consumption; not really the environment to think about our health, ethics or how we engage with what’s going on on our planet.

Big public events and celebrations are essential gatherings for society, and music festivals, even eco-trend-setting ones like Glastonbury and the Electric Picnic, will always have an environmental ‘impact’.

photo: lucy clarke

The Good Life 2.0

But organisers are now committed to reducing the ecological footprint of festivals and finding more responsible and greener ways of hosting these events.

In June of this year, I looked down on the illuminated two square mile site of the extraordinary event that is the Glastonbury festival and thought, ‘Is this really sustainable?’

It was supposedly the greenest yet, but with a population comparable to a small city, an energy bill to match and a huge infrastructure of fences, stages and sound systems, its environmental footprint is huge. However, Glastonbury has always been at the forefront of ecological awareness and the introduction of measures to reduce its impact. When you walk around the Green Fields, there is something special that you won’t find in other parts of the festival. Traditional skills, holistic health and new ways of thinking combine in an explosion of creativity, which in many ways encapsulates the spirit, ideals and basic principles of the first festival four decades ago. Throughout the 80s, the festival was linked with CND, before moving on to green issues. Glastonbury now donates over £1 million each year to Greenpeace, Oxfam and local charities. These campaign groups also have a major presence on site, and there’s even a special Greenpeace field. Glastonbury has set the bar for how festivals can reduce their footprint and be more green.

Last year, Cultivate worked with POD concerts and many of the Electric Picnic’s stakeholders to develop a five-year sustainability strategy for the leading Irish music festival. This, along with other measures introduced on site, including the introduction of the Global Green area, won the Picnic a Green Festival award. This is a voluntary scheme that assesses festivals on their commitment to introduce environmentally friendly practices. The Picnic is the only Irish festival to receive the award.

The Electric Picnic, which took place this September for the sixth time on the grassy fields of Stradbally Hall, is the closest we get to a Glastonbury experience in Ireland. It is a commercial music festival but has more of an arts and culture focus with an increasing green agenda. The strap line of last year’s festival was, ‘Climate is changing. Will you?’

This was printed on 35,000 wristbands, t-shirts and even the main stage. This year the slogan was, ‘Keeping it Green’.

So, what are these ‘green’ festivals actually doing to reduce their impact? Measures include the introduction of eco-cups that can be reused and avoids the festival site becoming a sea of plastic. Stalls selling food are instructed to use biodegradable packaging and cutlery, allowing all food waste to be potentially composted. They are also asked to source food and drink from organic producers and be local or fairly traded. Revellers are encouraged to leave their cars at home and arrive by bike, public transport or to use a lift-sharing scheme. Waste is reduced and recycling introduced. Energy use is minimised and low energy bulbs are used in onsite lighting. Some festivals are even using bio-diesel to power generators. Many are introducing renewable energy stages using wind or solar instead of diesel generators.

Going ‘Carbon Neutral’ is the latest craze for some festivals that simply sign a check to offset their carbon emissions. The Big Tent festival in Scotland is encouraging music festivals to dump carbon offsetting.

They claim that offsetting acts as a smokescreen for their impact, which can have the result of giving festival-goers a false sense that there is no need for action. Offsetting is a way of appeasing our conscience rather than changing our behaviour, and festivals should be about celebrating change, not about business as usual.

As well as reducing their environmental impact, I would like to see festivals doing more to facilitate the building of community and increasing the communication of critical issues. Glastonbury was a leader in this field, with new smaller festivals like the Big Tent and the Big Green Gathering now taking up that mantle. However, times are hard and with financial issues and increased health and safety constraints it is getting more and more difficult to host any festival, large or small. This summer the directors of the Big Green Gathering were forced to cancel their 2009 festival only two days before they were due to kick off.

They have accused the police of taking a politically motivated decision to shut down the festival on the grounds that it attracts environmental activists and would have raised money for Climate Camp.

I think that new initiatives like Climate Camp, which bring people together in a very different way, could be the future of

“LAST YEAR CULTIVATE WORKED WITH POD CONCERTS AND MANY OF THE ELECTRIC PICNIC’S STAKEHOLDERS TO DEVELOP A FIVEYEAR SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGY”

festivals. Although not a music festival, the underlying principles of the camp could be a blueprint for Green festivals of the future. Climate Camp, which was run for the first time in Ireland this summer, is self organising, autonomous and focused on doing things for ourselves in a way that is communal and non-commercial.

A fantastic example of this ‘bottom up’ way of organising a festival is Burning Man, the annual arts festival in the Nevada desert. This is an experiment in temporary community, dedicated to self-expression and a radical self-reliance. It has grown from a small group of people gathering spontaneously to over 48,000 from all over the world. Could this approach work to combine celebration, music and creativity with social and political engagement?

The greening of music festivals needs to encompass the reduction of environmental impacts, but also needs to increase the communication of the ways in which we can change our personal lifestyles and the big challenges of shifting the direction of international politics. Many ‘green’ initiatives being implemented are light, and others are initiated only to save money or for PR reasons. Real measures need to be encouraged, but there is a long way to go before many of our commercial music festivals can claim to be green.

Davie Philip is the Education manager at the Cultivate Centre, a member of the Cloughjordan Ecovillage and the coordinator of the Irish Transition Towns Network. www.thevillage.ie www.cultivate.ie http://transitiontownsireland.ning.com

PositivePeriods

By Kath Clements

AS THE MOONCUP® STALL HITS THE FESTIVAL CIRCUIT EVERY SUMMER, WE HAVE THE PRIVILEGE OF TALKING TO WOMEN FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY ABOUT ONE OF THE LAST TABOOS…PERIODS.

In spite of huge progress in women’s rights, periods are still often associated with shame, secrecy and embarrassment: ‘the curse’.

With periods a monthly reality until menopause, surely it makes sense to reclaim menstruation and work towards a positive experience of periods.

Menstrual Wellness advocate, Hester Philipps, suggests a different approach to help us to do just that.

RESPECT Despite the negativity that surrounds menstruation in our culture, for many young girls, the anticipation of menstruation stirs feelings of excitement and expectation. Menarche (the onset of menstruation) signals their transition into womanhood, and it bestows upon them a very special kind of power, the power to give birth.

One step towards menstrual wellness is to begin re-envisioning menstruation in a similar way to these young women. Another way is to contemplate the women who have gone before you, from other cultures and times, cultivating the power of that shared experience.

30

AWARENESS AND VALUING YOUR EXPERIENCE Many of us have experienced the relief that comes from realising the anger, depression or lack of energy we feel can at least be partly explained by the fact we are about to menstruate. Valuing your menstrual experience doesn’t mean pretending that you love pre-menstrual tension! It does mean not dismissing intense feelings as ‘just PMT’ and enquiring into what those feelings may be telling you about things that need changing in your life.

Alexandra Pope, menstrual health educator and psychotherapist explains: “We’re not meant to suffer when we bleed.

Our menstrual suffering, that’s so often passed off as ‘normal’, is neither normal nor our lot. The menstrual cycle is the ‘stress sensitive system’ in women. When we ex-

perience distressing symptoms, it’s a signal to attend to our overall health and place in the world.”

To help us to listen to our bodies, it is important firstly to simply observe your cycle and how you feel at different stages.

Most women report, for example, that they are more outward, focused and linear in their thinking from the onset of menstruation through to ovulation, and at ovulation they begin to journey back toward a more introvert, emotional and dreamy state.

Of course, in an ideal world, we could go along with being dreamy and creative when the urge took us, then be more proactive and social when that felt right. In reality, other responsibilities and pressures often take precedence over our internal promptings. Still, it can be empowering to just acknowledge how we feel and consider ways to work with our changing cycle.

RE-EVALUATING WHAT MENSTRUAL PRODUCTS WE USE In the UK, television advertising of sanitary products was forbidden until 1986.

Since then, there has been an explosion of ‘necessities’ in ‘feminine hygiene’- from dry-weave top-sheets, wings, intimate deodorisers and feminine wipes, to pantyliners for every day of the month. Lybrel, the contraceptive pill that is taken 365 days a year, even offers us a get-out-clause. No more periods.

Still, many of us don’t consciously consider our sanitary product choice, and reach for the same brand of tampons and pads we have used since we started our periods.

It’s interesting that we spend more time researching, say, our babies’ nappies than something that we use internally for the equivalent of 6 ½ whole years of our lives! What if we considered whether the cotton of our tampons had pesticides or bleaches in them?

Do tampons just absorb menstrual fluid, or do they absorb vaginal moisture too? And where do all those tampons and wrappers end up every month?

Making an informed choice about your sanitary product can be tremendously liberating.

To find out more about menstrual health and the Mooncup; the healthy, green alternative to tampons; visit www.mooncup.co.uk

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By Cora Carey

HOLISTIC HOLIDAYS

Get your groove back in Civrac

When I was 20, I was lost. Desperately grieving and seriously underweight, I recall wishing there was somewhere I could flee to for a while – a special sanctuary where I could be nourished and healed and have space to lick my wounds.

Fast forward 22 years and here I am in Bordeaux, South West France, in just such a sanctuary; except that it is more beautiful and health giving than I could ever have imagined. So why am I here?

And who owns this healing oasis? Liz Dowling: a petite and determined Kerry woman who embodies radiant health, and seems to glow with an inner light and knowing. Having been in the healing and nutrition business for over 20 years, Liz decided, last year, that her destiny lay in France and in providing a healing retreat for tired and wounded souls. So she upped sticks and left for Bordeaux, on her own, at the age of 56, knowing no one.

That in itself is an inspiration!

A series of miraculous coincidences and fortuitous offers of help from normally reticent locals enabled Liz to realise her dream before year one was out. This also reinforced her belief that what you put out there you get back, and she lives this philosophy every day. Liz may be an amazing healer, reflexologist, massage therapist, nutrition therapist and stress management expert, but her greatest teaching tool is her own life. The most flagging spirit cannot fail to be reignited by her contagious passion and courage as she walks the talk, positively affirming that all good things are possible and come from within.

What Liz provides is simply this: space to heal. You’ll also find the support and tools you need to begin moving forward.

How this happens is entirely up to you you may be exhausted and need to sleep, you may need to talk, to cry or simply to give your body healthful foods and gentle walks among the vineyards. Or you may need to sit in the beautiful gardens and simply be. From the moment she picks you up at the airport, Liz will take care of you like a mammy; producing the most scrumptious and healthy meals that cater for all dietary needs. You set your own agenda, and Liz goes with the flow. She has a gift for making herself as available as you need her to be, always respectful of your space, and at the same time ready with a listening ear for your deepest troubles, offering canny insights and hugely practical advice based on her vast knowledge and unfailing intuition.

And all this is in the most heavenly rural setting imaginable. The house, a one hundred year old French Manor, is simply stunning; as are the four acres of gardens.

The manor’s period features have been retained and enhanced with modern stylish touches, and each bedroom is warm, bright and inviting. Closing the massive window shutters each evening is like being securely cocooned for the night, and restful evenings can be spent by the open fire in the gorgeous farmhouse kitchen. Glass of wine optional. So, you can forget the notion that you must abstain from life’s little pleasures while at Civrac! Liz has thought of everything, right down to providing luxurious bathrobes and even sourcing chocolate that’s healthy!

Three tired and emotional sisters (one of them me) made the trip to Civrac in May

For more info, visit www.civracsanctuary.com

and collapsed in a collective heap at Liz Dowling’s feet. A long overdue break from busy career and family lives, our four night stay was like being wrapped in a warm blanket of peace and healing. As a holistic therapist juggling a husband, 3 kids and a Jack Russell, with a busy practice, it was time to walk the talk and make space for some of that ‘me time’ I usually prescribe for clients. Believe me when I say, I’d forgotten what it felt like to be free from commitments and clockwatching.

Healing treatments and assessments (all

by Liz) are optional, but just having her deep wisdom on tap was a huge catalyst and I made giant leaps in terms of personal healing and development. My two sisters, one a self-employed (and self-confessed) stress junkie, and the other an exhausted hypnotherapist also had major epiphanies.

It’s said that every journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. We took the first one by giving ourselves the gift of time and space away from the daily grind and stresses. Civrac Sanctuary and Liz Dowling did the rest!

33

Your Medicine Garden RECENT YEARS HAVE SEEN AN EXPLOSION OF INTEREST IN THE HEALING ARTS. MANY HAVE OPTED NOT ONLY TO MAKE NATURAL HEALING THEIR THERAPEUTIC CHOICE, BUT EVEN TO STUDY FOR A CAREER IN ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE. THEN COME THE QUESTIONS. WHICH PROFESSION? WHICH COURSE? HOW LONG SHOULD I STUDY FOR?

By Helen Begadon

While many people are drawn to a variety of shorter courses such as reflexology and nutrition, the enthusiastic devotee searches for something long-term and life-changing.

For those, the oldest of the healing arts, Herbalism, often springs to mind. Herbs have been used for millennia as humans’ first choice for medicine.

At its most basic level, herbal medicine is available to everyone. The common dandelion, for example, is a gentle yet effective diuretic. Nettles contain blood cleansing properties second to none.

Some more mature readers will remember their grandmother’s bowl of nettle soup prepared judiciously every spring. Less

34

commonly known, perhaps, is that hawthorn berries picked in the autumn and prepared as a decoction can benefit heart health. The elderflower yields benefits for the immune system that can compete with those of echinacea. The common comfrey leaf prepared properly as an ointment can heal wounds when applied. In fact, the average back yard, if unsprayed and left fairly as nature intended, can provide herbs to treat every organ system of the body.

Ireland has a rich tradition of herbal healing beginning in the Celtic era and inherited by the monasteries of the early Christian period. There is extensive documentary evidence of herbal practice by herbalists who studied and were apprenticed for ten years. This tradition continued down through the middle ages until the time of Cromwell. Medical texts in most European countries were generally written in Latin. Ireland, however, boasts a large body of herbal medical texts written in Irish (in other words, in the vernacular).

Nowadays, while most modern pharmaceutical drugs are made from plants, this is done by tampering with the plant to extract so called ‘active ingredients’. In contrast to this, herbalists have always used the whole

herb, whether in a decoction, an infusion or a tincture. This time-honoured craft of natural preparation ensures the absence of side effects.

Of all the possible career choices in natural medicine, herbalism offers one of the broadest and most complete modalities. In the past, herbalists were the medical doctors. Nowadays, while modern medicine has developed wonderful ways to treat acute conditions and emergencies, herbal medicine can offer more effective treatment of the myriad of chronic and lifestyle related illnesses we suffer from.

While it is advisable to call a doctor in the case of heart attack, it might be a wiser choice to visit an herbalist in order to seek the dietary advice and herbal remedies that can prevent the development of heart disease in the first place. Unlike medical doctors, herbalists usually spend one hour with each patient taking a detailed medical history and often using an assessment tool like iridology alongside more conventional differential diagnoses.

The Irish School of Herbal Medicine offers a four year part-time training in professional herbalism. It places an emphasis on the use of Irish herbs and teaches ‘Master Herbalism’ which employs the apprenticeship model.

Located in an old Rectory in Portlaoise, the school has a working herbal clinic where students interface with patients in a real clinical setting. Because the course offers the academic content online, plenty of time is allowed for clinical practice with patients. The student community is compiled of a rich mix of mature and motivated students from a variety of backgrounds.

I personally feel that it is inevitable that herbal medicine will be reborn in the west and take its place alongside conventional medicine in much the way that herbalism thrives in the orient and offers a safe and inexpensive alternative. For now, the most important consideration is the proper training of the western medical herbalists of the future.”

Helen Begadon is course director of the Irish School of Herbal Medicine.

For more details, log on to www.greenmedicine.ie or phone 0578682567

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Duane O’Kane Applying the Principles of A Course in Miracles to reach a deep experience of the truth of who we are and how we can tap into that to find true purpose and connection in our lives.

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Setting the Goal Turning Obstacles into Opportunities Wednesday 28th October 2009 Wynns Hotel, Abbey Street, Dublin 2 Admission `10 Experiential Workshop

The Awakening Friday 30th Oct to Sunday 1st Nov 2009 An Tobar, Navan, Co. Meath For information & booking contact Valerie Ward 087-1326142 / dublin@clearmind.com www.clearmind.com

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The Irish School of Homoeopathy Celebrating 20 years of Homeopathic Education at Milltown Pk College, Dublin since 1989 and at Cork City since 2000.

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Homeopathy & Autism WHEN MY SON ADAM WAS DIAGNOSED WITH AUTISM, IT WAS THE BEGINNING OF A LIFE CHANGING JOURNEY FOR BOTH HIM AND ME. HIS SUBSEQUENT RECOVERY THROUGH NATURAL MEDICINE, AND HOMEOPATHY IN PARTICULAR, HAS BEEN AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE AND AWAKENING FOR ME.

By Michael Farrelly It is impossible to describe the emotions that sweep over you when you realise your child is autistic. However, experience has shown me that it is not necessarily a life sentence for the person afflicted or their family.

There is hope; there is healing; there is recovery. Over time, Adam has gradually emerged from his state. Our journey has brought me to homeopathy, provided me with a real sense of purpose and given me “new eyes” into what constitutes health and illness.

The term “Autism” is only a label that does not tell us anything about the causes of the underlying problem. Such broad labelling results in the identical categorising and treatment of all patients, despite no two being the same. A couple of decades ago in the US, one child in 250,000 were termed autistic; today it is one in 166. Some autism support groups in Ireland put the figure here at about one in 80 children.

Adam’s progress began when he started in an ABA School for autistic children. After struggling for many months to even get a diagnosis, we now had a foundation to build upon. We had real hope and hope is something you need in these circumstances.

Hope is air for you to breathe and ground for you to stand on when you feel you are suffocating and sinking fast. At that time, I started reading a lot of information implicating certain foods as major triggers of symptoms in many autistic children. Heavy metal toxicity was also implicated. We pursued a gluten- and casein-free diet and a protocol

of vitamin and mineral supplementation together with heavy metal detoxification; all under medical supervision. Together with vegetable juicing, we noticed subtle improvements from this approach.

Adam then began cranial therapy with impressive results. This was a major breakthrough for him, and his behaviour and cognition improved noticeably. At this point, I came across a book called “Impossible Cure, The Promise of Homeopathy”, by Amy Lansky; about a boy who had made a full recovery from autism using homeopathy. We started homeopathy for Adam and I decided to study homeopathy myself. His response to homeopathy has been amazing. Many remedies were very effective, but interestingly, a major aspect of the remedy that has been most effective for him, is a lack of mental and emotional development in children arising from a brain injury.

Adam had a very difficult birth with forceps delivery and it seems to me that a lot of his difficulties may have been established at that point. Many parents of autistic children report that their children had difficult births and in my view this is often a predisposing factor in the child becoming autistic.

These children are unable to get in touch with our emotional world. They have lost confidence in this world and are in an im-

37

prisoned state; and will remain there until they regain the confidence to return to the “normal” emotional world. This also helps to explain why autism so often arises in vaccination periods. Being injected with toxic vaccines can be the last straw for a sensitive, susceptible child. However, I have also treated autistic children who were never vaccinated, but a common occurrence is some traumatic emotional experience during the pregnancy or early childhood. The bottom line is that the level of trauma has been sufficient to trigger the autistic state and as every child is an individual, that level of trauma and the response to it will be individual.

Today, Adam is ten years old, attends regular school, has play friends and continues to progress all the time under homeopathic treatment. His situation has paved the way for me to bring the healing art of homeopathy to many sick people, including other autistic children. What a gift! Classical homeopathy provides the potential for recovery at its deepest level, but it does require commitment to achieve maximum results. However, I for one would not swap one minute of it.

For more info, contact farrellym@hotmail.com or 0861596119

Is it in our

Genes?

Nutritional therapists treating patients during their training at the College of Naturopathic Medicine are often asked by patients why some people can eat all around them and remain slim while others immediately gain weight. Could there be a fat gene which predisposes us to weight gain? If so does our DNA leave us destined to weight gain or can we do anything about it?

By Gosia Desmond & Aine Fanning

38 THE SCIENCE Scientists have found that there is a genetic component to weight gain and obesity which is expressed by abnormal lipid metabolism (that’s fat to you and me) which promotes abnormal weight gain, and the good news is that we can do a lot about it by changing our diet.

We’ve focused on 3 of these tricky genes and looked at how you can make them work for you.

GENE NO 1 - LEPTIN GENE Leptin’s job is to regulate your appetite, and the level of circulating Leptin is directly proportional to the total amount of fat in your body. As you gain weight, your fat tissue makes more and more Leptin which is supposed to signal the brain to turn down your appetite, causing you to eat less; although some obese people can become resistant to Leptin. Equally, if you lose weight, your shrinking fat stores produce less and less Leptin, prompting hunger to re-

Gene Tips:

turn. This is fine when it is all in balance, but severe diets, like 1000kcal diets can lead to your Leptin levels severely dropping, causing your appetite to soar, and also reducing your fat burning ability, as Leptin plays a role in this as well.

That is why crash diets never work in the long term!

To combat this, rather than counting calories, it is much easier to change the type of food you are eating to foods that are filling but not fattening.

• Fibre reduces appetite, it helps you eat less and feel fuller.

• Grains, legumes, fruit and vegetables are naturally so low in fat and calories that even when you eat until you are full, your calorie intake drops and you naturally lose weight-without lowering your Leptin!

• Low calorie diets reduce Leptin, so use the rule of 10 - include in your calorie intake each day at least 10kcal for every pound of your ideal weight.

GENE NO 2 –LPL Situated on chromosome 8 is the Lipoprotein Lipase (LPL) gene. It is responsible for coding the important fat-storing enzyme- LPL. LPL plays a vital role in how your body stores fat. Acting like a switch, LPL either sends fat to the muscle tissue, where it’s used for energy, or to the fat tissue, where it’s stored on the hips or abdomen.

It is possible to make fat from the other major parts of foods-carbohydrates and proteins but your body strongly prefers to build body fat from food fat. So if we limit the fat in our diets-LPL will be rendered idle!

Gene Tip

• Turn down the effects of your LPL gene by cutting down on animal fat in the diet and avoiding excess vegetable fat.

GENE NO 3 - INSULIN Too much insulin in your blood stimulates LPL activity in your fat tissue - creating storage of fat - and paralyses LPL in your muscle tissue - preventing burning of fat As powerful as genes are, they explain only about 30-40% of the difference in metabolism from one person to the next.

As you can see, your metabolism depends more on diet and exercise than your genetic inheritance.

Gene Tips

• Eating lots of Fibre and low fat vegetarian foods keep insulin in check.

• Avoid processed carbohydrates like white sugar, sugary drinks, processed cereals like cornflakes, etc. Switch to traditional oats and fruits instead.

• Also eat regular smaller meals-if your meal is small and comes fairly soon after the previous meal, your body takes it in stride. There is no huge rise in blood sugar and no violent insulin response to try to cope with the sudden influx of energy.

Gosia Desmond - Head of Research at The College of Naturopathic Medicine - will be speaking on ‘turning off your genes’ (including your cancer, diabetes and heart disease, as well as your ‘fat’ genes).Dates are: Dublin 30th September ‘09, Griffith College, South Circular Road, 7pm – 9pm / Cork 29th September ‘09, The Ambassador Hotel, St Luke’s Cross, 6.30pm – 8.30pm (Admission €15.)

For bookings for the talk or information on our courses call 01 235 3094 or email dublininfo@naturopathy-ireland.com

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Mum’s the word

By Tracy Kelly Thinking of becoming pregnant? Whether you are just planning, expecting, or in the early months of motherhood, nutrition and whether you and your baby are getting all the relevant nutrients will be top of your list.

One mum who knows all too well the demands of pregnancy and motherhood is Nutritionist Louise Reynolds. Being a mother of four children under the age of seven (including her latest little addition Eleanor of eleven months), Louise is well versed both in the theory and practice of good nutrition.

Louise comments, “Mothers can often worry about their diet, especially in the first few months of pregnancy if suffering from sickness, nausea and tiredness whilst trying to hold down a job. During pregnancy, mum is like a store cupboard and baby just picks what he/she wants. However, the store cupboard can run empty without mum realising. That’s why it’s important to ensure you are getting a very balanced diet, not just for your child’s development, but for your own long term health.”

The most vulnerable period of neural development is during embryonic and foetal growth and studies by the World Food Organisation show the best correlation with the diet of the mother was found at or about the time of conception rather than later in the pregnancy. Louise comments, “It is important to make sure you are eating the right foods when you are planning to have a child, that way your body’s stores are full to set you on the right road to motherhood. However, with 50% of pregnancies being unplanned, this can’t always be the case!”

From a general perspective, Louise has some good practical advice on daily meals, she advises, “A baby in the initial stages is just like a parasite which feeds off the mother, hence, it can often be the mother who suffers in the long term if her diet is unbalanced. Most women will be aware of the basics, including topping up on calcium three times a day, ensuring you are taking a folic acid supplement and consuming iron rich foods.

I always advise to eat a rainbow of foods, meaning eat lots of different coloured foods, which will ensure mum receives a cocktail of nutrients. Its nature’s way of ensuring you are on track!”

41

“THAT’S WHY IT’S IMPORTANT TO ENSURE YOU ARE GETTING A VERY BALANCED DIET, NOT JUST FOR YOUR CHILD’S DEVELOPMENT, BUT FOR YOUR OWN LONG TERM HEALTH”

A study into dietary fat intake for pregnant and breastfeeding women published in the British Journal of Nutrition in 2007 showed that the essential fatty acids Omega 3 and 6 found in oily fish must be deposited in adequate amounts in brain and other tissues during foetal and early postnatal life. The body cannot manufacture them, so we need to consume them in our diet.

Louise comments, “The Omegas 3 and 6 are important for the brain development of baby because 60% of our brain is fat! The

Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute (INDI) recommend that expectant mums should eat oily fish once a week or more.

However, some pregnant women may be concerned about the mercury levels contained in fish, as nearly all fish contain traces of mercury, which for most people is not a health concern, but which can harm an unborn baby or young child’s developing nervous system.

Those who don’t eat fish once a week can opt for a natural fish oil supplement such as Mumomega from Equazen, which is specifically formulated for expectant and breastfeeding mums to deliver the fatty acids they need. Mums can also be sure that the formula is mercury free.”

Midwife Doreen Buckley of Senecio Birth holds Antenatal Classes and Early Parenting seminars each Saturday in Leixlip. Doreen comments, “I encourage mums to really get in tune with themselves throughout the whole pregnancy process - Birth is the strongest natural force of energy a woman will experience in her lifetime. It’s important that she is in harmony with her energy and to achieve this and the optimum birth experience, good nutrition is absolutely essential … I always remind mothers, if they don’t put petrol in their car, it won’t go!”

To find out more about Omega 3 and 6 for pregnancy and Equazen’s Mumomega, log onto www.equazen.co.uk

Positively

newsworthy

By Patrick Bridgeman Life just keeps getting better and better, and even though the challenges in some areas of my life seem to be getting tougher, the good times far outweigh the bad, and the clouds always have a silver-lining with a lesson to learn and grow from.

It’s becoming easier to find positive news stories from home and abroad and, as always, it’s an absolute joy to share them with you, dear reader. So, without further ado, here are some of our favourites.

THE FESTIVAL OF LIFE The Festival of Life is a one-day indoor festival, taking place at Conway Hall in Central London on Sat Sep 26th. Now in its 6th year, it is also Europe’s largest living food and sustainable lifestyles festival. Last year, it attracted 1,200 visitors - including some from the USA, across Europe, and all over the UK - with a range of activities from music to meditation; feasting to fasting; dancing to chanting; children’s edutainment to natural parenting; plus many methods to rejuvenate from the effects of 21st century living. The festival welcomes people who are new to living foods and environmentally friendly ways of living, as well as those who are already knowledgeable. It is familyfriendly, with facilities and activities being planned for children. For more info, visit www.festivaloflife.net

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HOMES FOR GOOD At the centre of the Homes for Good exhibition, held at the Westpoint Arena in Exeter, was a simple but stunning display

of native plants and trees, which caught the attention of the crowds. They were planted in peat-free compost, in big ‘dumper bags’, and it was revealed that all the foliage on display had a use, from food to medicine.

Urquhart & Hunt and Dana Assinder are two garden design practices. They collaborated at the exhibition to create an edible forest garden, in line with sustainability and biodiversity principles. The brief was to create a productive, permanent garden applying the concept of how plants grow out in the wild. The garden mimics a natural woodland by incorporating layers of productivity: a canopy layer, a layer of small trees, a shrub layer, climbers, ground cover and a woodland edge.

For more info, visit www.ecostrust.org. uk/h4g and www.urquhartandhunt.com and www.dkagardendesign.co.uk BELO HORIZONTE The government of Belo Horizonte in southeast Brazil took the necessary steps back in 1993, to improve nutrition and food security for all of its three million citizens. Determined to lift its population out of poverty, the region declared that food was to become a right for all.

Working with the local farmers has enabled this project to be successful. The city’s government buys as much produce as possible from local, small and family owned farms. By purchasing directly and avoiding third party intermediaries, the city pays a lower price, while the farmers earn a higher income. For more info, visit www.positivenews.org.uk

THE RIPPLE EFFECT Annette Morris Keane from The Ripple Effect sent me this story her Gran told her that made her day. “Granny’s friend’s son - a tradesman, did some work for a man he knew could not afford to pay him, so rather than just cut his cost, he did the job for nothing and refused to take any payment from the man who had employed his service. The man in question was so grateful, he bought the tradesman some lottery tickets to the value of €100. Well, that’s not technically true - because they were actually worth €10,000 in winnings!” For more from Annette’s good news group, visit http://ripple-vibrations.blogspot.com THE REUSER Looking into how we can better organise our waste management, I can across an Irish machine called The Reuser. It’s a reverse vending machine (RVM), which is an automated recycling system that compacts, crushes and/ or shreds used beverage containers, reducing volume by a ratio of 30:1. Based on either a barcode or material recognition, it is capable of storing cans and bottles separately. One unit can hold up to 3,800 cans and 1,800 plastic bottles and/or 400 glass bottles. This reduces the need for transportation and storage of these materials, thus cutting down on related CO2 emissions.

When I got in contact with Dean Keating of Reuse Reward Limited, he told me, “The project has been a great success to date. We would have recycled in excess of 1.5m containers in the Dublin area in 2008, 2m in all of Ireland. The cans are recycled

into cans for reuse. The PET bottles can be recycled into numerous items ranging from clothing to kids toys. We have worked very well with schools at both primary and secondary level. All of the schools who have used the Reuse machine and applied for a green flag have been successful. We also have incentive schemes which allow participants to claim rewards based on the amount of recycling they do.

At present, our sites with public access are: National College of Ireland; Finglas Leisure Centre; Ballymun Leisure Centre; and Killinarden Community Centre.

We are working closely with the councils in implementing this new scheme.” For a full list of the rewards available, as well as more info regarding The Reuser, visit www.reuse.ie

PERSONAL RECOVERY Joyce Fegan emailed us her own inspiring story of recovering from an eating disorder: “This experience is often something that you cannot share with everybody you know and love. At times I found it isolating and felt like I was a liar because people in my life didn’t know. I think a healthy balance of honesty is needed.

For me, my recovery lay in recognising the extent and depth of my negative thinking. The thinking created the feeling and the feeling created the behaviour, so in order to recover I needed to work on my thinking first and then everything else would fall into place.

My life went from 90% negative and destructive to 90% positive and hopeful. The

other 10% of the time, you are becoming aware of another little pattern or you are realising that you have changed and so has your vantage point, and maybe the people around you don’t relate to you or attract you in the familiar way you are used to. However, at the end of the day, these are all positive and productive steps. It’s only change.

I feel that you emerge from this process as an entirely revived and refreshed person. Recovery is learning to live, to leave destructive ways behind, love the freedom and enjoy the ongoing learning.

It is agreed the world over that sufferers of eating distress are highly sensitive people and when they learn to marry this with inner strength then the sensitivity is a force for good and fosters and speeds up their recovery process. Full recovery exists – for everyone. Hope is the bridge between the negative and the positive.”

Marie Campion who set up the Marino Therapy Centre in Dublin 3 is adamant that recovery is possible for everyone and states that doing mental house cleaning is a significant factor in what is needed for the recovery process to take place. Marie herself suffered from an eating distress for many years and after full recovery into freedom she felt the urge to help others.

To visit Marie’s “Iceberg” website, log onto www.eatingdisorderselfhelp.com INSPIRE US! If you know of some positive news or have an inspiring true story, please email it to patrick@positivelife.ie as we’d love to read and share it. Thanks.

From Hungary POSITIVE FOOD

with love

By Mark Szoldan

44

My main idea behind Eden’s Original is to bring the best food to Irish People. Living in Ireland, we know that most of the food products and produces have to be imported. They travel a lot to reach the Emerald Island and, to preserve their freshness, most of the time they are picked way before they are ripe. This results in lower-quality food that has less taste and often lacks real micronutrients, minerals, vitamins and healthy macro-nutrients. Growing up in Hungary, we knew how rich food can be if it is made with fruits, veggies and crops that have been sunbathing from spring to autumn, with plenty of rain and the first-grade soil available in Europe. No wonder that Hungary was often referred to as the breadbasket of Europe.

We know the food in Hungary is one of the best you can get in Europe, and we want to bring this to the Irish people.

Then we learnt a lot about spelt. Spelt is a lovely, ancient grain that is being rediscovered by health-food gurus and health-conscious people alike. Spelt contains 50% more protein than common wheat, so it is perfect for vegetarians and people who live an active life. It has a low glycemic index (GI), which means that its carbohydrate content is absorbed slower, providing a prolonged source of energy and making it suitable for people with Diabetes. Because its carbohydrates break down slower and it doesn’t raise the blood-sugar level as drastically as refined, processed foods and white flour does, spelt is an excellent supplement for anti-Candida diets. This is all the more true of our Spelt

Crispbread because it is unleavened, i.e. it doesn’t contain yeast which the fungus Candida can feed on.

It is naturally high in fibre and contains exceptional vitamin and mineral complexes not found in common wheat: it offers an almost full vitamin B-complex (except B12) and is 7 to 8 times higher in calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and selenium than various wheat types.

And as soon as we started to be amazed by the health benefits of Spelt, we suddenly got to know a family artisan bakery at the bank of the River Danube, who produces tasteful spelt crispbreads, biscuits, cookies and other yummy bites using spelt. The Master Baker, who runs the bakery, is a very nice and deeply spiritual man. When he is not working on new ideas in the bakery to make them into a tasteful reality, he spends his time with his teacher in India or Canada. His bakery has many extra features that distinguish their products from others. The bakery itself is a very exciting project as they have their own mill, and the mill and the bakery are built in a way which follows an ancient Roman plan from two thousand years ago. The mill is situated right beside the bakery and is connected to it through a closed pipe system, so the spelt flour is fully protected during processing. What they produce there, including the lovely spelt crispbreads, are literally fresh from the mill, because all are baked within an hour from the grinding of the grains. All our products are handmade and the exceptional quality is ensured through organic certification.

In ancient times, before the discovery of the fermentation process that produces leavened bread as we know it today, prehistoric people took the grains and coarsely ground them and mixed them with liquid (most often water) to make an unleavened cake or “bread”. In other words, this was bread in its original, ancient form.

In this bread, you can find exceptional vitamin complexes and minerals, valuable dietary fibre, lots of real energy from great macro-nutrients, healthy protein, low-GI carbohydrates and healthy fatty acids. There is no yeast, no preservatives; nothing is added to the organic ingredients in this real bread.

It will give you proper nutrition any time of the day.

Since then, we have been happily enjoying the crispbreads they make, and this is what we brought to Ireland first, to share this tastefully healthy experience with you.

If you would like to look at some pictures or you want to learn more about spelt or crispbreads, please visit their website at www.edensoriginal.com

Autumn Recipes Liz Nolan works as a Nutritional Therapist in Health and Herbs, Sea Rd, Galway City, and also runs classes in wholefood vegetarian cookery from her home in Moycullen, 8 miles west of Galway City. Here are some of her favourite autumn recipes: MOROCCAN SAUCE WITH CHICKPEAS AND ROAST VEGETABLES

PUMPKIN AND BUTTERBEAN SOUP WITH COCONUT This is a lovely warming antioxidant rich soup perfect for chilly autumn days. The addition of butterbeans provides protein and a creamy texture and the coconut milk adds a pleasant heaviness a little like adding cream to a soup.

Ingredients:

Directions

1 medium size pumpkin deseeded, peeled and cut into small pieces (if you can’t get pumpkin, butternut squash is a perfect substitute)

In a large saucepan with a lid, fry the onion in the oil gently for a few minutes. Then add the garlic, pumpkin and sweet potato. Cook for a few minutes and add the nutmeg, turmeric, butterbeans plus their water, coconut milk and some water to just cover the vegetables.

Bring to the boil then simmer with the lid on for 20 minutes or so until the vegetables are soft. Liquidise a third of the soup and mix back in to the rest – this gives you a creamy chunky soup. Alternatively, liquidise the whole lot. Season to taste.

If you keep back a few spoonfuls of coconut milk you can use it to add a swirl to each bowl of soup when serving. Lastly, sprinkle with a little chopped parsley.

Serves at least 6 people depending on the bowl size.

1 medium onion finely chopped 2 cloves of garlic crushed 1 medium sweet potato peeled and chopped into small pieces 1 tin of butterbeans + their water (use organic which have no sugar or salt added) ½ tsp nutmeg ½ tsp turmeric 1 tin of organic coconut milk (shake the can before using, to mix, as it usually separates in the tin) Sea salt and black pepper to taste 2 tbsp coconut oil or olive oil A little chopped fresh parsley to serve

This dish is my own version of a recipe from ‘The fair trade everyday cookbook’. It is warm and comforting, and packed full of antioxidants from the brightly coloured vegetables and the spices.

Antioxidants help to strengthen our immune systems, protect us from disease and ward off premature aging. Just what we need as we come into the winter months.

Serve this with quinoa – an incredibly nutritious seed which contains all the essential amino acids, many vitamins and minerals and essential fats. It was known as ‘the food of the gods’ in Peru where it originated. It is really quick and easy to cook, just double the amount of water to the amount of quinoa seed – see below.

For the roast vegetables 1 medium sweet potato scrubbed clean and cut into 1 inch chunks ½ a butternut squash or pumpkin – peeled and cut into 2 inch chunks 1 red and 1 orange pepper deseeded and cut into chunks 2 carrots scrubbed and sliced thickly For the sauce 2 cloves garlic crushed 1 inch fresh ginger peeled, grated and chopped finely 1 tsp cumin powder 1 tsp coriander powder 1 tsp turmeric powder ½ tsp mild chilli powder ¼ tsp nutmeg ¼ tsp cinnamon 4 oz chopped dates 1 tin chickpeas + their water (organic tinned chickpeas are usually free of salt and sugar) 1 tin chopped tomatoes 1 big handful of fresh chopped coriander or parsley or a mix of both Sea salt and black pepper to taste Olive oil or coconut oil

Directions:

Toss the vegetables in some olive oil or coconut oil in a roasting tin and roast on gas mark 6 or electric 200 for about 20 minutes or until soft.

Heat some olive oil in a large saucepan. Add all the spices, garlic and ginger. Fry for a minute or two, then add the tomatoes, dates, chickpeas and their water. Add more water if it seems a little thick.

Bring to the boil and then simmer for 15 minutes. Season and add the coriander.

Toss the roast vegetables into the sauce and stir to coat.

To cook the quinoa – measure 8 oz of quinoa into a sieve and hold under a running tap to clean. Put into a saucepan with 16 fl oz water. Bring to the boil and then simmer with the lid on for 15 minutes. Take off the heat, leave to stand for a further 5 minutes and then fluff up with a fork and serve.

(Serves 4)

From September, Liz will be running Zest4life programmes (Patrick Holford’s Nutrition and Weight Loss programme) in the Galway area. For more information, contact Liz at liz.leagaun@gmail.com or ring 086 8099604 Liz’s website www.wholefoodmatters.com contains articles, recipes and information about her cookery classes.

Home Grown 46

By Lucy Hyland The recent research into the nutrient value of Organic vs. Non-Organic foods seemed to miss the point. Food is a highly complex medium, and to break it down into its individual components is to ignore a tangled web.

Following a large investment from the Food Standards Agency in the UK, we now know that in 10 out of 13 nutrients examined, there is no difference between organic and non-organic foods. Taking this on board, the report ignored the much wider elements of organic farming that aim to benefit the individual, the community and the environment. So in keeping with National Organic Week, 14th-20th Sep, let’s remind ourselves of what we are celebrating?

The growth in sales of organic food and goods has been unprecedented in recent years. However, it’s not just farmers and food producers that have been a part of this. The White House has started an organic garden to grow, in their words, ‘delicious healthy vegetables’. The American Community Growers Association state that the number of community gardens in North America has grown to over 18,000. One of the largest seed manufacturers in the UK has recently stated that sales of vegetable seed have overtaken flower seed for the first time.

A similar pattern is happening in Ireland.

Allotments and community gardens are springing up all over the country, being funded and promoted by European and Irish government programmes. Increasing numbers of towns are setting up farmers markets, enabling farmers to sell direct as their consumers ask them questions about growing techniques and recipes. This reflects a desire for people to bridge the gap between themselves and their food.

When a person chooses to buy organic goods, their decision is often based on a broader perspective than their own individual benefit. In terms of farming practices, non-organic farmers have over 400 chemicals, antibiotics and growth hormones available to them and, in terms of processed foods, non-organic processing allows over 500 additives, etc. Organically farmed and processed foods allow a small percentage of these and do not allow the inclusion of MSG, Aspartame and genetically modified

foods. It is what is in food, as much as what is not in food, that is becoming important.

We know that eating well is the foundation of good health. In the ongoing debate, we need to remember that the organic verses non-organic decision about food does not play as important a role in health as overall eating habits do. However, we are becoming increasingly clearer about the role of phytonutrients, which are created within plants when they come under attack from pests or the environment, i.e. plants develop their own way of protecting themselves against harm. We now understand that these nutrients aren’t just part of the plants defence mechanism, but that they play a vital role in protecting humans against diseases such as heart attack, cancer and stroke. There are over 40,000 phytonutrients, such as flavonoids and isoflavones, being catalogued at present, and some research has shown organic plants to contain up to 50% more of these health enhancing properties.

The UK has been measuring the nutrient content of soil since World War 2 and is seeing a worrying decline. It is recognised that what we put in our soil, water and air does matter. The organic industry claims that it nourishes the soil and does not have such a worrying affect on the water supply.

According to the New Scientist in 2004, organic farming ‘increases biodiversity at every level of the food chain, all the way from bacteria to mammals.’

Organic farming is just one in a variety of factors that affect the quality of food. We cannot underestimate the importance of the cultivator, the climate, soil type and storage.

Perhaps the study has simply reminded us that organic farming may not provide all of the guarantees we are looking for in terms of nutrition, health or safety.

One of the most interesting recommendations to come out of the research was for all of those involved in organic studies to improve the scientific quality of their work.

All sides of the argument may have to accept that, at this point in time, we do not have all the answers. However, looking at the increasing movement that is occurring in this country and others, we cannot escape the insatiable desire of people to reconnect with the food they are eating. So, get your wellies on and start digging.

Lucy Hyland runs a company called Food for Living and is a member of the Irish Association of Nutritional Therapists www.IANT.ie

38 - Health matters

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