November 2007 Features
Patricia Bragg N.D., Ph.D. An Icon of Health
A conversation with Patricia Bragg and Dr. John Westerdahl
by Sydney L. Murray
Patricia Bragg N.D., Ph.D, is an inspiration to those of us who strive each day to make healthy choices in our lives. She is a true icon of healthy living in a world of celebrity that emphasizes beauty over health. The practice of putting only healthy, living things in my body began when I was very young. I was lucky enough to grow up with a mother who had been raised on a small ranch and who didn’t like the taste of “store-bought” food. It just didn’t taste fresh to her. That early training has done me well (although I do remember complaining about helping out in the huge garden that yielded plenty every year for our large family). I am personally amazed by the level of purity Patricia Bragg maintains in all aspects of her life. I was lucky enough to speak with this amazing woman and health icon as well as the Director of Health Sciences for Bragg Live Food Products, Dr. John Westerdahl. Can you imagine a way of life where you ingest no animal products, alcohol, drugs or even negative thoughts? Bragg has continuously lived this lifestyle since she was a child. She believes this is the only way to live. Click here for more...
The Snow Goose Global Thanksgiving
by Nicole Pugh
“The purpose of The Snow Goose Global Thanksgiving is to inspire unconditional love, where all hearts open and all wines flow; a one-day-a-year event when all the people of the world can put aside their anger, hatred, prejudice, disappointments, for just three hours and totally concentrate all of their energies to the commitment of worldwide Thanksgiving for all the ‘good’ things we have, forgetting all the ‘bad’ things. Also, to give real, heart-felt forgiveness for all the wrongs done on earth in thought or action, personal or institutional. A one-day-a-year event where we, the people, strip down spiritually naked within our own belief system and truly forgive ourselves deep down inside and all others and promote worldwide love, respect, tolerance and acceptance of all human beings—culturally, religiously, politically, sexually and, of course, dreamwise. For we are what we dream, and now is the time in human history to dream of worldwide peace and harmony between all God’s children for the next 5,000 years.”—Victor Villaseñor, Snow Goose Global Thanksgiving, 1993 Click here for more...
Viewpoint
That Which Never Changes
by Nicole Pugh
As of the time of publication, the fires of October, 2007 have, for the most part, been contained. The majority of the evacuation centers have been closed and individuals and families in many communities have gone back home to assess the damage that this historical natural disaster has caused. Hopefully, in time, many of the over 2,000 homes that were lost in the greater Southern California area will be rebuilt and those in need will receive the assistance and care that will help them make a new start. And someday, us Southern Californians who long for “normalcy” to return to our region may get our wish, at least on the surface. Yet, perhaps even a year from now, in those rare moments of stillness that creep in to the daily grind of our very adult lives, we may get a whiff of something in the air. We may sense, for just a second, the significance of the shift in the atmosphere that this event has caused. The sights, sounds, emotions and experiences of the fires have been breathed in with the smoke and ash, changing our collective experience from this day forward. Read the November Viewpoint here.
Firestorm 2007
Ash Cleanup Safety
From information distributed by the California EPA and the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment
For many people who were affected by the fires, during the month of November and beyond is when the clean up begins. According to the California Office of Health Hazard Assessment, “ash deposited by forest fires is relatively nontoxic and similar to ash that might be found in your fireplace.” However, this ash may still contain small, cancer-causing particles. Burned houses and other buildings as well as burned household items may contain a higher level of toxic particles and older buildings run the risk of containing asbestos and lead. If the ash is breathed, it can be irritating to the nose and throat and may cause coughing. People with asthma or other respiratory conditions must take special precautions. Click here for more...
Artist of the Month
Astrology
Scorpio: High Priestess (6 of Wands) 10/24-11/22: Seeking approval can sometimes be a futile endeavor, particularly when you compromise your standards to obtain it. Look closely at the ways in which you search for attention. Are they aligned with your integrity? A gratifying experience may be nothing more than an ego-driven backrub. Some of the characteristics you have become accustomed to flaunting might be disconnecting you from your source. The New Moon on the 9th can present a charming opportunity, but be cautious not to jump in too quickly. All that glitters is not gold. Read your November Horoscope here.
Reviews
The Yoga of the Bhagavad Gita:
An Introduction to India’s Universal Science of God-Realization
by Paramahansa Yogananda / Self-Realization Fellowship/ $14.00
“We came from God and our ultimate destiny is to return to Him. The end and the means to the end is yoga, the timeless science of God-union.”
So explains Paramahansa Yogananda, author of the best-selling spiritual classic Autobiography of a Yogi, in the new book The Yoga of the Bhagavad Gita: An Introduction to India’s Universal Science of God-Realization (Self-Realization Fellowship, Los Angeles).
Vision Cafe
Local & Organic: Keys to a Sustainable Future
by Elyssa Paige
Do you know where your food comes from? This is an important question to consider as you push your shopping cart down the aisle. Food typically travels an astounding distance of 1,500 to 2,400 miles from farm to plate in the United States. According to the Worldwatch Institute, this figure has increased up to 25 percent since 1980. Within the agricultural-industrial complex that exists today, food is a commodity. As such, it must be picked, refrigerated, and shipped well before the development of optimal flavor and nutrition. Click here for more...
Calendar of Events
November
SPA THERAPIST CERTIFICATION/LICENSE: including Exfoliations, Body Wraps, other exclusive, premiere classes. Natural Healing Institute, 760-943-8485. 10/07
WATSU, WATER MASSAGE & AQUATHERAPEUTICS. Introductory or full program for National Certification. Natural Healing Institute, 760-943-8485. 10/07
SEEING ORBS IN PHOTOS OR WITH YOUR OWN EYES? To the New Age, New Thought and Metaphysical community: want to hear and experience the deeper purpose of this phenomenon? Free channeled messages, healing and demonstration of co-creation between the elements, ETâ€(tm)s and humankind. Call now for September and October scheduling of Western states. We speak to small and large groups, in living rooms or ballrooms! Clear photos and direct messages at www.VolcanoIsland Haven.com/step-forward-stand-fast Phone (808) 985-7365 or email nlanakila@yahoo.com 10/07
Greek to Me
©2007 by Michael Raysses
I have an odd sense of memory. It’s amorphous, defying shape. In some places, it’s smooth and unremarkable. In others, it’s jagged and dangerous in ways I don’t see until I’ve run my fingers over it, accidentally drawing blood. Then when I bleed, I reflexively lick my wound, tasting the memory that lives in my body’s wine.One of my sharpest memories from childhood is of being on a playground. I’m crouched on an elevated stand, perched high atop a metal slide. From my vantage point, I can see the entire playground without being seen. I look down. On the merry-go-round a few yards from where the slide ends is a group of three kids.
Read more of Michael Raysses' monthly column here.
Holistic Health
by Lorri Gifford
Were you ever called “chubby” or “fatso” growing up? I was—and the healing process, both mentally and physically, has been a long one. The number of overweight and obese children in America today is even higher than it was when I was a child. Results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) indicate that an estimated 17 percent of children and teens are overweight and another 15 percent are at risk for becoming overweight. According to Sabrina Chyzyk, MS, RD, EEE, a Southern California nutritionist who works in childhood obesity, “since 1994, the overweight rates in children continue to rise.”
The Optimum Health Institute
by Koray Ozturk
In the ancient Indian Vedic Literature, there is a simple but powerful saying: “avert the danger which has not yet come.” Recently my wife and I went through our own averting process at the Optimum Health Institute (OHI) in San Diego. The OHI program consists of three week-long sessions teaching ancient spiritual disciplines that promote healing. Participants learn to purify and detoxify the body with diet, fasting, cleansing and exercise, how to quiet the mind with journaling and meditation, and how to strengthen the spirit with study, prayer and celebration. In a safe and sacred environment promoting faith, love and hope, people experience God’s presence in the healing of themselves and others.
Culture
Dying to be Dead: Celebrating Día de Los Muertos in Patzcuaro, Michoacán
by Daphne Carpenter
It is a week before Día de Los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead and Fernie and I have arrived early in this small Mexican town to observe the festivities leading up to November 1st. Within the colonial architecture of the dark shadowy streets and colorful graveyards of Patzcuaro, the native Perhepechas have preserved the Pre-Colombian ritual of honoring the dead.
Sri Chinmoy: Beloved Spiritual Leader Passes Away
Information compiled by Nicole Pugh
Internationally renowned leader and spiritual teacher Sri Chinmoy passed away on October 12, 2007 in his home in Queens, New York. The cause of death was a heart attack. Sri Chinmoy was loved and respected worldwide and hailed as a modern day renaissance man. He wrote over 1,600 books, composed thousands of pieces of music and played over 800 Peace Concerts in venues like Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. He was an avid athlete and his universal philosophy encouraged people of all backgrounds, faiths and nationalities to work together for peace.
Earthwatch
Taking the Factory Out of Farming
by Jessica Mayo
Iowa likes to say that it feeds the world—never mind that the majority of corn produced in the state is animal feed and not fit for human consumption. As the top pork producing state in the nation, Iowa has earned some bragging rights.
Or has it? The amber waves of grain that have characterized America’s heartland are losing their picturesque appeal as ugly metal buildings mar the horizon. Between 1975 and 2005, the number of hogs raised in Iowa increased 14 percent while the number of producers fell 64 percent. Factory farming has taken off in full force, and the family farmers of yesterday are finding it harder and harder to compete with corporate agribusiness. However, a growing contingent of everyday people is beginning to be noticed for their refusal to accept this corporate takeover. Click here for more...
The Living Arts
Is Raw the Real Deal?
by Derek Shaw
Raw food provided nutrition for plants and animals millenia before humankind discovered fire. Many believe that early man was vegetarian while others contend that our primitive ancestors were hunters who ate raw meat. Most historians, however, will agree on the fact that the raw food diet is hardly a new trend. Some people even believe that it holds the answer to disease and addiction. Click here for more...
O.B. People’s What It Means to Be A Co-Op
by Nancy Casady
Ocean Beach People’s Organic Food Market in San Diego first opened its doors in 1970 in response to the community’s need for wholesome, quality food that was fairly priced. In those days, the large chain grocery stores in Ocean Beach priced their food higher for the beach area because there were no other grocery stores in the neighborhood to compete. For the first fourteen years, O.B. People’s Organic Food Market operated as a worker’s collective. In 1985, the workers decided that since People’s had always been a community store, it would be a consumer-owned cooperative. Click here for more..
LifeQuake™
Bay Area
Clearlake: The Healing Begins by Russell Anderson
Up and down the West Coast, there is evidence of California’s special place within the historical framework of mainland America. With a long line of volcanic hot spots and earthquake fault lines, there also comes a more ancient reference to California’s uniqueness on the continent. Aquifers, the way the earth stores water underground, are showing us why certain ranges in the world, such as in California, have continued to serve and feed the hearts, minds and bodies of its people for thousands of years. Nowhere is this relationship more evident than at Clearlake in Northern California. Read more here.
Mind States
Wild Seeds, Sacred Mealsby Jesse Wolf Hardin
Within all of us, there exists the residual instincts of our ancient hunter-gatherer ancestors. It is an inner self, familiar with the cycles of hunger and fulfillment and alert to every nuance of the world we are a part of. Even the most civilized of human beings remains host to a reservoir of primal knowledge. This knowledge is the certainty and sanctity of “life living on life,” the compulsion to feed. It is also the realization that our bodies too will in time serve the Earth as food. We carry with us a genetic memory of the zen-like carnivore’s stalk as well as the desire to dig for roots and the compelling urge to plant seeds, gather a harvest, and gather together to eat.
Digesting Life
by Vaishali
According to many Eastern systems of self-healing, our bodies are an aggregate of different types of digestive intelligences. For example, our eyes digest light waves so that we can make perceptual sense of our world. Our ears digest sound waves so that we may enjoy our favorite music. When we touch one another, our hands digest intimate contact through the tactile feeling feedback system. There is a reason for this conglomerate of digestive efforts. It is because, as the philosophers of the East say, everything we encounter is a form of food. We are literally digesting our lives. Click here for more...
Do Good Stuff
by Annie Wood
A Hollywood native, I’ve been pursuing an acting career since birth (well, at least from the time I could speak and tell my parents about my big plans). I have been fortunate enough—and persistent enough—to see many of my goals come to fruition. I’ve enjoyed moments of great success as host and co-producer of the national TV show “BZZZ!” and I have had many struggles too. During my bouts of success, I am often asked by many charitable causes to lend my support. A lot of the time there are “photo ops” involved. One day, I told my then-assistant, “ I need to find a cause I can get involved in on an on-going basis, not just when there’s a camera crew around.” He looked at me, shocked and dismayed. Then he replied, “Why would you want to do that?” He is no longer my assistant. However, I don’t judge him. He was just not seeing the big picture. It happens. Click here for more...
Holistic Products
FrequenSea™—A Super Food
“The elements in Marine Phytoplankton are tailor-made for the human body. Over-reliance on land-based foods often leads to deficiencies in micronutrients and trace elements our bodies need to perform at optimal levels. I was delighted to discover FrequenSea with Marine Phytoplankton and all its other remarkable ingredients.” ~ Dr. Tennant M.D.
Have you ever wanted to find one supplement that would really do it all? And with my love of the ocean, I think I might have found the one for me. Did you know that Jacques Cousteau once said, “The future of nutrition is found in the oceans?” Click here for more...