Dr. Frank Lipman, The voice of sustainable wellness

As we age, many of us have a fatal flaw that can lead to a fatal fall — we lose our balance, stability and coordination. Stephen Jepson says he can change that for everyone. And as a bonus, he believes it can help you build brain cells, develop neural pathways and prevent or delay Alzheimer’s and dementia.

What is his prescription? Play!

Stephen believes the key to never losing your balance — or your mind — is in the games and activities of our youth. Wait until you see his incredible playground!

Taken from www.growingbolder.com.

In this New York Times article, A-list actress Angelina Jolie bravely announced that she made the tough decision to undergo elective bilateral mastectomy after her doctors warned her that she has an 87% risk of developing breast cancer and a 50% risk of getting ovarian cancer because her mother died of breast cancer and she carries the BRCA1 gene. While I fully support Angelina’s right to write The Prescription for herself, and while I admire her courage to go public with what some might hide, as an OB/GYN physician with a passion for mind-body medicine, this breaking news concerns me for a variety of reasons.

The Nocebo Effect

In Chapter 2 of Mind Over Medicine, I share the scientific data about “the nocebo effect,” the opposite of the placebo effect, when we think something will harm our health – and it does. In one case study, a man was misdiagnosed with cancer and told he would only live 3 months. He died exactly 3 months later and was found to have no cancer on autopsy.

In another case study that is the stuff of fairy tales, a woman born on Friday the 13th in the Okefenokee Swamp near the Georgia-Florida border was one of three girls delivered that day by a midwife, who proclaimed that all three girls, born on such a fateful day, were hexed. The first, she announced, would die before her 16th birthday.  The second would not survive her 21st. And the patient in question was told she would die before her 23rd birthday.

As it turns out, the first two girls died within one day of their 16th and 21st birthdays. The third woman, terrified that she would die on her 23rd birthday, showed up at the hospital the day before her birthday, hyperventilating.  Soon afterwards, just before she turned 23, she died, proving the midwife’s predictions correct. This is an extreme example of the nocebo effect, when fear-based thoughts about your health can actually kill you.

“Medical Hexing”

In his book Spontaneous Healing, Dr. Andrew Weil argues that physicians may unwittingly engage in what he calls “medical hexing.” When we pronounce patients with “chronic,” “incurable,” or “terminal” illnesses, we may be programming their subconscious minds with negative beliefs and activating stress responses that do more harm than good. What proof do we have that they will not be one of the case studies who winds up in the Spontaneous Remission Project, having been cured of a so-called “incurable” illness?

By labeling a patient with a negative prognosis and robbing a patient of the hope that cure might be possible, we may ultimately prove the poor prognosis we have bestowed upon our patient correct. Wouldn’t we be better off offering hope and triggering the mind to release health-inducing chemicals intended to aid the body’s self-repair mechanisms?

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Many of us have done a detox in order to eliminate internal toxins from our body, but how many of us do anything about the toxins in our own homes? Common household and body-care products are increasingly being found to have negative health effects on the nervous and immune systems, on our reproductive systems and on our endocrine, cardiovascular and respiratory systems.

The average home contains 500-1,000 chemicals, many of which we are unable to see, smell or taste. While these chemicals may be tolerated individually and in small doses, problems can arise when one is exposed to them in combination or in larger doses. Everyone’s tolerance level is different depending on genetics, nutritional status and previous contacts with many chemicals, but the negative effects of household toxins are often compounded by the use of other drugs especially the habitual use of alcohol, or prescription or recreational drugs.

Indoor air is typically 2-5 times more polluted than outdoor air. Home insulation, so wonderful for keeping our homes warm in winter and cool in summer, doesn’t allow fresh air in, so we’re constantly breathing in the same stale air. Wall to wall carpeting keeps us cozy, but can introduce a myriad of toxins to our well insulated homes. It can also trap dirt, fleas, dust, dust-mites and lead.

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The media is abuzz with the latest bombshell about lead in lipstick — and this time, that’s just the beginning. A new study by University of California found many other toxic metals in products we put on our faces.

What’s going on? As I explained on Fox News recently, we’ve known about this problem for a long time. I was part of the team that broke the story about lead in lipstick in 2007. FDA followed with its own study and found even higher lead levels in hundreds of lipsticks. And now, a UC study is here to tell us that it’s not just lead but aluminum, cadmium, chromium, and other toxic metals too.

For six years, the beauty companies have shrugged their shoulders and told us not to worry our pretty little heads.

I agree we shouldn’t worry. It’s time to get mad.

First of all, don’t tell us it’s just a little bit of lead. We don’t want to put lead on our lips in any amount. And besides, there is no safe level of lead exposure — even the lowest doses can harm the brains of children and developing fetuses.

And don’t tell us it’s not a problem because lipstick isn’t for kids. We know that little girls love it, and anyway, where do you think kids come from? From the bodies of women, millions of whom are wearing lead-tainted lipstick every day — and reapplying often.

And do not try to tell us it’s legal. That means nothing when there are no safety standards for cosmetics.

Obviously we need standards. Yet we’re still waiting for a response to this February 2012 letter  from the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, and this request from a group of U.S. Senators who asked FDA to set safety standards for lead in cosmetics back in 2007.

As usual, the only way to get anything done around here is to do it ourselves. Are you with me? Here are my 5 best tips for avoiding lead in lipstick.

1. Don’t wear lipstick. Maybe not what you want to hear, but there’s no way to know which lipsticks contain lead unless you test them at a lab for $200 a pop.

2. Or at least wear less lipstick.

3. And definitely don’t let kids wear lipstick.

4. Ask your favorite lipstick manufacturer to convince you they’re doing everything they can to keep the heavy metals out of their products.

5. Demand safe products. Why are there no safety standards for cosmetics? The cosmetics laws in the U.S. are from 1938! But just two weeks ago, Congressional champs introduced the Safe Cosmetics Act into the US Congress. Please support this important legislation right now by taking action here.

Let’s give the beauty industry a makeover!

Stacy Malkan is a co-founder of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and author of the award-winning book “Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry.” Contact her at stacy@safecosmetics.org and on twitter at @safecosmetics.

SADHAKA: The Yoga of B.K.S. Iyengar is a feature documentary film about BKS Iyengar’s practice, life and influence from award winning director, Jake Clennell. The film is currently in post–production editing. Watch the extended trailer here. And please visit the Donate page to join the community and help Jake finish the film. If you are a yoga student of any tradition, this is a must see!! BKS Iyengar has been a major influence in many yoga styles and in the introduction of yoga to the West.

www.sadhakafilm.net/trailer.html

When the weather starts to warm up, we inevitably feel it in our bones as well—our own personal thaw has begun and winter’s hibernation starts winding down and we start to feel more alive. But those indoor habits can be hard to break. How best to take advantage of the emergent nature that comes with spring instead of spending the day in front of the television?

Throughout human history, we lived most closely to the land. It’s only in the recent centuries that we’ve barricaded ourselves in high rises and giant track homes doing our best to keep nature out as if it wasn’t an inherent part of who we really are. We lose something when we do this—a piece of ourselves that needs to connect with the natural world—and it’s evident in our national health crises both physical and mental. The more we distance ourselves from the earth, the more we move away from our own selves, too.

Check out some of these tips to reconnect and learn from the land:

1. Prep Your Garden

Getting fingers into the dirt is one of the simplest and most rewarding ways to reconnect with nature. If you’re planning a spring garden, now is the time to start preparing your soil and even planting some seeds. Studies have shown that gardening can help relieve depression and anxiety and boost mood.

2. Plan Local Hikes

You’d be surprised just how many city, state, or national parks may be a stone’s throw from your home. Our country’s parks are our nation’s greatest treasures. They preserve vital ecosystems including endangered animals and plants. They protect our history and our future and provide some real, genuine opportunities for soul-searching, reflection, and authentic connections with nature.

3. Ditch The Car

Warmer weather means it’s also more pleasant to be outside for extended periods of time. And if you put on a few extra pounds during the winter, getting active can help prep you for summertime. When the weather breaks, commit to walking anywhere that’s 2 miles or less from your home. It’s better for the environment too. Even if you live in an urban area, you’ll still smell and see spring sprouting up all around you. The air is alive with fragrance and warmth and just the act of being outside in it can liven your senses and connect you with nature.

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You’re not sleeping well. Your belly seems perpetually upset. Your nose is stuffed up and, to top it off, you’re feeling down. You head to your GP for—if you’re lucky—a 10-minute chat about what’s ailing you. The GP then hands you a prescription or two, shakes your hand, and shows you the door. Case closed. Is this any way to heal the unwell? Does this approach actually make anyone better? In a word, no. And more likely, this here’s-a-prescription-seeya approach may even make patients more sick, which is one of the reasons I’ve dedicated my life to helping my patients create and sustain long-term health using the principles of Functional Medicine.

So, just what is “Functional Medicine?” I believe it’s the most profound and effective way to treat patients—particularly those with chronic health issues—and here’s why:

1. Functional Medicine is all about you.

In simplest terms, think of it as the ultimate in personalized, one-on-one, therapeutic relationships. It’s a health-focused, patient-centric partnership, in which doctor and patient work together to dig deep and find out the causes of illness and disease. We examine not only the patient, but also their unique history, environment, lifestyle and underlying factors, and then develop a health-enhancing, usually drug-free plan to help restore the patient to good health and get him or her on a life-long path of wellness. With Functional Medicine, we look beyond the laundry list of symptoms; we take the whole person into account.

2. Functional Medicine is artisanal medicine.

With Functional Medicine, the patient experience is anything but conventional. One might even call it ‘artisanal medicine’, because it involves time, care and patience, since true healing doesn’t happen overnight. With Functional Medicine, we treat the person who has the disease rather than the disease the person has. It’s not unusual for my colleagues and me to spend an hour or more with patients, listening to their histories, doing the detective work, asking questions, and examining the genetic, environmental, and lifestyle patterns that effect health. By addressing the underlying causes of illness and disease, Functional Medicine practitioners are able to design unique, personalized healing plans that Conventional Medicine literally doesn’t have the tools, training, or the time for.

3. Functional Medicine is not assembly-line medicine.

Our current health care system is, to a large extent, governed by profit-driven conglomerates that essentially force physicians to manage huge caseloads and keep people moving through the system as quickly as possible. It’s mass-produced, assembly line, quick-fix, put-a-band-aid-on-it medicine, with little hope of creating long-term health. To it’s credit however, Conventional Medicine is great at managing medical and surgical emergencies, medical crises, acute infections and trauma, but falls way short when it comes to treating chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, gastrointestinal problems, chronic fatigue, autoimmune diseases, functional disorders, musculoskeletal problems and stress related disorders. This is where Functional Medicine shines bright with its more comprehensive, thoughtful approach.

4. Functional Medicine is the best of both worlds.

Functional Medicine is not an either/or system, but rather a true combination of Conventional Medicine and many different alternative and complementary therapies. It acknowledges the strengths of Conventional Medicine for acute and crisis-care, but also realizes that this approach does not have the tools for preventing and treating chronic diseases. Unlike conventional physicians, we are able to tap into all the tools of healing—drawing from Western, Eastern, alternative, preventative and integrative medical practices—to help our patients heal. By pulling from all of these approaches and by paying special attention to diet, exercise, nutrition, supplementation and the workings of the mind, we’re not just giving patients a band-aid, we’re giving them the tools to create sustainable wellness and vitality. To me, is what true healing is all about.

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Anger is big. Anger is monumental. Anger is, well, explosive!

The common myth is that we often think the more spiritually evolved we become that anger just shouldn’t arise in us. But this won’t ever be the case. Whatever your comfort or discomfort level in feeling it, we all must and will experience anger in our lives. It is totally basic and totally human. The tricky thing about anger is that as a standalone feeling it is quite remarkable, awe-inspiring even, but when gone unchecked it gets us into massive trouble.

From a very young age I saw anger in its most violent, unconscious form. It was at once the most intimate, fascinating, and terrifying emotion in my life, thanks to my mom, who as part of her psychosis often flew into insane, fiery, wacked-out rages.

As a kid I used to make fun of how bizarre and unbelievable her anger was, then as a teen I turned my anger at her in on myself. In relationships, I was so afraid of showing any anger at all, that if a friend did something that made me mad, I would break off the friendship. In romantic relationships, I would just cave and bury the feeling.

When I started to work my stuff out as an adult in therapy and on my meditation cushion, the biggest challenge was indeed my relationship to anger. I knew I didn’t have a choice. I knew I had to be shown how to feel and ride it gracefully. And we all do!

Today, I am still amazed by anger’s intensity, its wildly volatile force. But I have also learned to identify the trajectory of anger’s natural path, and when it strikes I am already at the very same time watching it go. In other words, I am already letting it go.

Here are my three key steps to riding the waves of anger:

1. Observe It.

Awareness of the feeling, of the raw power of anger itself is mandatory. Meditation and breathing exercises are great for cultivating this attention. Otherwise we wouldn’t be tuned into the consequence of what happens when we lose our sense of proportion with anger, react to it, and essentially allow the feeling to take us over.

2. Express It.

No matter how we choose to do it, and no matter how seasoned we are in self-awareness, we all have to let anger out or its pressure can literally make us sick. Just like lava flowing out of a volcano, we must create a healthy outlet for our anger. Writing it out, screaming it out (in a safe place), or exercising it out are all great options. The main intention behind this expression is release but also NO HARM.

3. Own It.

Once we’ve calmed down, and in resolution of anger’s organically hot arc, we must acknowledge that we have been angry—to ourselves and to anyone else our anger has affected. Owning our anger, sometimes with apology, sometimes with laughter, sometimes with a subtler “my bad,” is essential in stabilizing and returning to our centers after the storm.

Adyashanti says: “There’s no such thing as never getting angry. Enlightenment can and does use all the available emotions. The idea that enlightenment means sitting around with a beatific smile on our faces is just an illusion.”

See? Even the most enlightened creatures out there get angry! The work is to allow for it in a conscious and responsible way, and to also appreciate its ferocity as catalyst for social change. Anger has after all sparked pivotal movements in the name of justice.

We must however learn to funnel our anger into brave, mindful, and compassionate action. Sounds hard, I know. But this is possible, and a sign of maturity!

Join the conversation. Please comment below and tell us how you relate to anger.

Scientist, activist, author Vandana Shiva talks about the importance of saving non-GMO seeds and her concept of ‘Earth Democracy.’ This interview is 5 years ago and even more relevant today. I love this woman!!!

When we’re sick or injured, we all know that getting plenty of rest is important. This is because during sleep your muscles and soft tissues heal and scar tissue develops. Scar tissue is the dense fiber that the body creates to repair injuries, whether it’s a sudden injury or a chronic injury that develops over time.

What people don’t realize is that the way you sleep can aggravate an injury and prevent it from healing properly.

This is because when scar tissue develops it can bind up and tie down tissue that needs to move freely. This buildup is known as adhesions, trigger points or knots. As scar tissue builds up, muscles become shorter and weaker, tension on tendons can cause tendonitis, and nerves can become trapped. This can reduce range of motion and strength, and create pain. If a nerve is trapped you may also feel tingling, numbness, and weakness.

It’s important to sleep in a neutral position so that your body can heal properly from injury.

And even if you don’t have an injury, if you’re not sleeping in a neutral position, you can create problems like my patient Sam.

Sam is a 35-year-old male that came to the office because he had been suffering with low back pain for “as long as he could remember.” He explained that he had a “knot” of pain located on the right side of his back just above the hip bone. He had been to numerous chiropractors, acupuncturists, osteopaths, orthopedists, and pain management specialists over the past 12 years. Some of the treatments helped for a few hours but none were permanent or long-term.

We performed a thorough history and evaluation, including an extensive overview of lifestyle and biomechanics.  Sam exercises 3-5 days a week and has a healthy diet. Past MRI and X-rays showed a normal healthy spine. So I asked Sam about his sleeping habits – he spends most of the time prone, or on his belly.

After a physical exam we realized that in addition to Sam’s low back pain, there was also significant decrease in the movement of the neck. The decrease in neck movement could possibly be attributed to the fact that his head was rotated most of the night. In the office we did myofacial release technique in which ART was utilized as well as manual manipulation/chiropractic release of the joints. He was advised to sleep in his normal position until the next treatment. Sam left the office feeling better than he had in years and was pain-free until the next morning. What that told us was that his muscle tension was possibly related to his sleep position. I then gave Sam sleep directions with tips on how to keep a neutral position. After the second treatment and change in sleeping pattern, Sam’s pain was gone for good.
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