Recently, I received a newsletter from the author of the book, Your Soul’s Plan, which gave me food for thought.  It addressed natural disasters and the resulting deaths and devastation which come from these events.  It is hard to believe that these events could be occurring for our “global” highest good, but this is what he suggests.   But how?

The author explains-

In the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti, it is natural to wonder, “Is this part of a pre-birth plan?”  I cannot speak to Haiti specifically, but I will share with you my beliefs about the tsunami that struck Southeast Asia a few years ago.

My understanding is that the souls who returned to Spirit (passed away), as a result of the tsunami,  looked at the state of the Earth prior to incarnating and said, “We would like the collective consciousness to be at a certain vibration by a certain point in linear time.  If it isn’t, we agree to give our lives in a large-scale natural event that will result in a worldwide outpouring of love, compassion and support that will raise the frequency of the planet.”

As you may recall, that is exactly what happened.  The governments of the world temporarily put aside their differences in order to funnel aid into Southeast Asia.  This massive outflow of love did, indeed, raise the vibration of the entire world.

Seen through human eyes, the tsunami and the earthquake are terrible tragedies.  It is only natural that we grieve; in fact, we must if we are to heal.  Yet, from the level of the soul there is another perspective, one that says there is deep meaning and purpose in all we experience, even though we may not know what the purpose and meaning are.  Both perspectives are valid, and healing emerges from both.  After we grieve, when we are ready, we may continue our healing by shifting ever so gently to the vantage point of the soul.

We are eternal Divine Beings.  No natural disaster can kill a soul. Nothing can kill a soul.

Two Perspectives

Yes, we can have two perspectives, one that is viewed with our “human eyes” and one that is viewed from an eternal, immortal existence.  The “human eyes” view takes us down the road of despair, fear and deep sadness.  Not fully realizing the “compassion”  and “empathy” that has blossomed from the tragedy and deaths of others.  From loss comes a birth of something else.

However, from the view of “spiritual” eyes it could be that the souls that agree to be part of a large disaster gladly and lovingly do so to bring about a level of transformation in our world.  Love/Compassion are the highest vibrating feelings we could ever experience.  They bring about healing in many forms (physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual).  They are the purest emotions.  While we are in the mode of coming from Love/Compassion we do not judge or discriminate.  Aid and support is imparted to all.  We connect from our hearts to their hearts because we put ourselves in their shoes.

This past Friday a great number of singers and actors came together to organize a telethon that was televised worldwide via numerous network and cable channels.  Over 100 celebrities answered phones.  I overheard Reese Witherspoon speaking to a man who was donating.  She was telling him that the collective love and passion to help which was being demonstrated was just overwhelming.   A Swedish man remarked “Rest in peace to those who lost their lives and give hope to those who are left stranded. We have your back!”

Currently there is a 250 foot long and 80 foot wide barge sailing from Puerto Rico, aptly christened “Barge of Hope”, estimated to arrive on Monday in Haiti.  It carries over 4 million pounds of food, water and medical supplies.  Many are calling it “The Love Boat”.  A sign on the stern of the barge reads “Haiti, Puerto Rico is with you.”  Unity and compassion being heralded.

In addition,  I recently learned that after this year’s Grammy Award’s many singers will stay in Hollywood one more day to record another version of “We Are The World” in the hopes of raising much needed funds for the Haitian citizens. And so it seems that with the Haiti earthquake it will once more “result in a worldwide outpouring of love, compassion and support that will raise the frequency of the planet.”

“We Are The World”

As Confucius once stated, “To put the world right in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right.” Setting our heart’s right is what these disasters seem to do for a period of time.  However, the key is to sustain this Higher vibration of Love and Compassion at the personal level – YOU.

While many of you at this time may be going through your own personal “earthquake”,  trust that you are going through these challenges because they will take you to a Higher place, just as the World is coming to a Higher place.  Challenges (when put in the right perspective) will move you out of fear and uncertainty and into to your authentic alignment with Divine Source.  This gives you the courage to transform to a “higher” frequency; permanently.  The more of us that allow this Higher frequency transformation (sometimes due to “aha” moments, enlightening experiences and turning points in our lives) in whatever form we attain it, the more the World holds this frequency.

As the renown motivational speaker, Barbara Rose, once said, “Allow the head games to be washed away by connecting solely to the core of your heart center – for it is in that core where your Divine essence, and all of your answers dwell.”

Remember it is happening FOR us, not to us!

May we commit to a long term attitude of “watching each others backs”!

** Link to the Red Cross

The day will come when, after harnessing space, the winds, the tides and gravitation, we shall harness for God the energies of LOVE.  And on that day, for the second time in the history of the world, we shall have discovered fire. - Pierre Teillhard de Chardin

The resonance or vibration of Love is the highest frequency which exists in this physical realm and in the soul/spirit dimension.  It is believed that in the spirit dimension Love vibrates at its highest light which is “unconditional” Love.  Meaning there is no judgment, good or bad, of the experiences you have or choices you make; nor of the experiences or choices of others.  It is understood that everything ultimately leads to Love.  This unconditional Love is a constant.

A question I have been delving into is how do we harness on a daily basis the vibration of Love here as physical beings?  How do we use it to guide us, interact with others and to help us create the life we want?  It has become very clear to me that when I make a decision or choice which arises from some fear based belief or feeling it usually does not give “good” fruit.  However, most of us make decisions based on a belief of lack, insecurity, fear of the unknown, fear of the future…etc.  I figure it’s time to make decisions and choices from the feeling of Love.

Wonderfully it seems that our heart was made for the purpose of harnessing Love and for the purpose of receiving “higher” vibrating information and instructions that can guide us to make correct choices for our highest good.  It is believed that ancient people understood spirit and living from heart energy in a much more profound way than we understand it today.  They understood how we were connected to everything on this planet and to the cosmos.

For at least the last 200 to 300 years we have been moving away from trusting the signal, the feeling, or “nudge” which arises from our heart.   We have moved to trusting more in our intellect, our brain if you will.  However, I have come to realize that those of us who journey back to trusting the heart’s “intelligence” will have a much more fulfilling life moment by moment.  Being in our “heads” seems to have a lot of short comings and in the end results in increased frustration, confusion, disappointment and anxiety.   Being in our “head” can lead us to justifying decisions which end up being very disappointing.

An interesting scientific comparison from the HeartMath Institute Research Center uncovered that the heart and brain’s electromagnetic fields (EMF) are vastly different.  The heart’s EMF is five thousand times stronger than that of the brain; its electrical field (without the magnetic field) is sixty times greater than that of the brain.  If it is true that a higher vibrating frequency is closer to the frequency of Love then which organ makes more sense to connect with and trust more often?

Truly the heart is similar to a “receiver” able to connect to higher frequency energy; this higher level energy carries information/instructions.  This “divine/filled with light” information are read by the cells (also energetic) and can guide us, inspire us and elevate our thoughtforms and beliefs.  Living from the heart points us to decisions that are for our highest good.  Maybe this is why the heart has been referred to as the center of the body or the home of the soul.  Living from our heart does not mean that we do not utilize our brain (intellect, logic).  It’s more like from the heart we run our brain and therefore we function mentally, emotionally and physically in a “healthier” and more coherent state versus a chaotic and dramatic state.

How Can We Live From the Heart?

One of the most difficult things for many of us to do is to take a “break” and just be without any distractions!  Literally, just checking in with ourselves and simply asking questions is an easy and powerful way to experience connecting to our heart and to the wisdom it can provide.  Especially when we find ourselves challenged by life situations and experiences -- that is the best time to focus your awareness on the energy/spiritual Heart center and ask it for the truth about you, others, or any dilemma.  Simple, but effective steps to this process are:

1. Get quiet for a period of time (2-3 minutes).  Take a couple of deep breaths.
2. Place your focus on the heart area.  Invite the Divine.  Placing a hand or both hands over your heart can keep the focus.
3. Ask your question (i.e.  Can I make this (relationship, situation…etc.) better?, Is choosing ____best for me?,  Should I trust this person?…)
4. Set for a minute and feel the answer.  Your feeling will manifest into awareness.  If not in the moment, in the near future.
5. Trust the answer.  No need to debate it.  Humbly accept it.

No question is too insignificant.

I once came across the story of a young woman who left home to attend college.  After the first year she was extremely unhappy.  However, she had told herself that this is what everyone did and that she should be grateful for the opportunity to go off to college.  Her heart tugged at her to just go back home, but her “head” told her she would be a failure.  She believed her family would be very disappointed.  She began to consider suicide.  The depth of her misery was going to lead her to take her own life.  Fortunately, she listened to her heart which told her to just call her parents.  Her father answered the phone, she began crying and telling her dad that she wanted to come home.  Without hesitation her Dad said “then come home”.  Had she just not overridden with her “head” what was truly in her heart she could have avoided much internal turmoil and the possibility of ending her life.  She is now a very happy and successful teacher.

How Can We Learn From the Heart?

There are times when we are hit with an unexpected event or with a new re-occurring physical pain.  When this occurs I suggest you do not go the path of feeling like a “victim” (remember it is happening FOR you not to you).  Go into your heart and ask what you are meant to learn or understand.  These are teachable moments. In these moments many emotional past experiences or feelings can come up.  By them surfacing there can be a release and therefore a type of healing/wellness can come through.

For example, a psychiatrist who now incorporates mind, body, spirit techniques once worked with a man who had suffered from severe frozen shoulder on his right side for 4 years.  He could not lift his arm above his shoulder and he rated his pain level at an eight.  The psychiatrist asked him to trust him and to ask his body (heart) what he could learn from all this pain.  What was his body trying to get him to understand?

Though the patient had never tried this he felt he had nothing to lose.  After a few minutes of introspection, the man revealed that he felt he was not a good enough man.  He shared that he felt inadequate.  He had also not been able to father any children and this added to this feeling.  A memory that also came up for him was one in which his parents used to take on foreign boarders.  He recalled a Chinese boarder and remembered that later there were pictures of the Chinese boy in the house but none of him.

Once the psychiatrist allowed his patient to talk about all that revealed itself to him, he asked him to once more rate his pain level.  Instead of an eight it had lowered to a three!  This had never happened in the last 4 years with any therapy or pain medication.

I suggest that next time you don’t know what to do, instead of trying to force your way past your unawareness, trying to desperately figure out a solution, realize that you’ve reached the moment of connecting with your heart which is the closest thing to Love.  Love does not misguide us.

Harness for God the energies of Love and discover your own fire!

Current Understanding of the Heart Field

If you cannot see the video window, click the following video link.

There doesn’t seem to be a clear answer to why this trend exists (not all women are going through this, but a significant number are).   It is good to be aware of this trend so that women don’t feel isolated or believe it is just them.

Women’ Happiness: What We Know For Certain

by Marcus Buckingham

Are these trends increasing or decreasing?

They are increasing. According to the U.S. General Social Survey, women begin their lives more satisfied than men and then become less satisfied with every aspect of their lives as they age.

This used to be true. Today, statistics show that women don’t even begin their adult lives happier than men. Yes, in Churchill’s words, “There are lies, damned lies and statistics.” But still, it’s hard not to conclude that contemporary life is disproportionately stressful for young women, that this stress puts them at an immediate disadvantage and that this state of affairs is damaging, wasteful and needless.

So, if you find it hard to relate to the gradual decline in women’s happiness, if you always feel focused and successful, with plenty of energy and time, and what few doubts you have are quickly drowned out by the many moments of real fulfillment, well done to you.

Just know that, in aggregate, the next generation of women doesn’t feel as you do.

What is causing men’s happiness to rise?

Some of you looked at the gradual climb in men’s happiness and wondered whether ‘”feminism had benefitted men more than women.” You may be right, though the data point the other way—in 1977, 35 percent of men in dual-earner couples reported feeling some kind of work/life conflict, whereas today 59 percent of men do.

However, we know what is causing men’s slight increase in happiness, and it’s not feminism. It’s increased prosperity. Over the past 40 years, the Gross Domestic Product of the United States has climbed 3.1 percent per year and, though money neither buys nor sustains happiness for individuals, increases in national GDP do correlate to increases in national levels of happiness.

This makes women’s decline even more startling. The tide of prosperity should have raised everyone’s spirits, but instead, women’s have gradually sunk lower.

Are women simply more honest about their feelings?

Maybe. Maybe men, in aggregate, are emotionally closed off, out of touch with their true emotions, and so, though they are actually as unhappy as women, they just don’t know it or won’t admit it.

Maybe.

But even if we accept this as true, surely it isn’t a recent development. If emotional distance is simply part of being a man and emotional sensitivity is part of being a woman, these characteristics would have been as true 40 years ago as they supposedly are today. That would make them a constant. In which case it’s hard to see how they could be the cause of these recent changes in women’s happiness.

What we do know for certain is that women are harder on themselves than men. When nationally representative polls of women and men are asked the question, “Which do you think will help you be most successful in life: building on your strengths or fixing your weaknesses?” men split right down the middle, whereas 73 percent of women report they would focus on fixing their weaknesses. This too may be a constant—and I stress “may” be—but if it is, then it is a constant that creates a downward spiral of dissatisfaction. Since women, as a group, believe that success flows from drilling down into their weaknesses, and since, as has happened to women over the past 40 years, they’ve gradually acquired more and more domains in which they are supposed to succeed, a researcher would expect to see women characterizing themselves more and more by who they aren’t, becoming more and more self-critical and more aware of their flaws and failings, all of which might well accelerate these dissatisfaction trend lines.

Are women unhappy because they are trying to become men?

Some of you suggested that what was causing the decline was women straying too far from their natural role as caretakers of the home and family, that, in a sense, women were better off 40 years ago, when the challenges of running a home and raising kids gave women a unique, valuable and, above all, focused role to play. (As I mentioned in my previous post, 42 percent of men and 39 percent of women do believe that it is natural for women to play this role.)

I have my own opinions on this: that while, for obvious reasons, women are compelled to make a greater biological investment in bearing and raising babies than men, this does not apply to raising toddlers and teenagers, nor to running the home, and that, even if it did, what is natural is not necessarily right. (It is natural for the strong to dominate the weak, but it is rarely moral.)

However, my opinions are beside the point. What we know for certain is that returning women to the role of primary caretaker won’t make most women happier. We know this because whenever and wherever the research is done on this subject, the results are always the same: Women with no kids are, in general, happier than women with kids. I realize this sounds perverse—who doesn’t love their kids?—and yet the research has been repeated so many times, in so many countries, there’s no escaping it. Kids, it turns out, are a bundle of stress. They may give our lives trajectory, and meaning, and purpose, but their gift to us is not happiness. Of course, this does not apply to all women—some women feel as though they were put here for the sole and express purpose of raising their kids and nothing, no professional dream or accomplishment, can compare to the joy of this. What the data show, though, is that these women are in the minority.

And the kids appear to be aware of this. A recent study of a thousand 3rd- through 12th-graders asked: “If you were granted one wish that would change the way that your mother’s work affects your life, what would that wish be?” In a parallel study, their mothers were asked to guess what their children would wish for. Here’s what they found: “Most mothers (56 percent) guessed that their children would wish for more time with them. In fact, only 10 percent of children made that wish. Their most frequent wish: ‘I want my mom to be less stressed and tired’ (34 percent).”

*****

I have discovered for myself that when I reach inwardly and truly take some time to ask myself “is this what I truly want”, I do get an answer.  A voice inside of me knows how I have been detoured from what matters to me.  Trust your inward voice and possibly you will not become part of this trend.  It is okay to march by the beat of YOUR drum!

Own Your Happiness!

Through the work of a Naturopathic Doctor named Donald Lepore and his book, The Ultimate Healing System, I discovered that a “recipe” of certain nutrients are needed by our body to breakdown and properly absorb dairy, wheat, corn, rice, fats, citrus, peppers, yeast and many other foods which are a sub-set of these groups.  So for instance, if someone has some wheat bread or crackers, Dr. Lepore discovered that the body needs adequate amounts of essential fatty acids omega-6 and omega-3 along with vitamins B1 and B6.  The mineral magnesium and the amino acid histidine are also needed to breakdown wheat.  Therefore, if any or a combination of these nutrients are depleted in our body we have a negative reaction to wheat.  We may also exhibit problems with airborne allergens, dust, dog or cat dander, detergents, wool or feathers when we have sensitivity to wheat.

Likewise, when yeast growth (fungus) has proliferated in our body and it is due to either a zinc, B6, B1, lysine deficiency or a combination there of, potatoes, walnuts and cherries become very difficult for the body to process.  Also, the eating of these foods can increase the yeast growth.

The chart below details a variety of foods that our body will not process properly if we are moderately to severely deficient in any of the nutrients listed.  It usually takes about 4-8 weeks to totally correct food sensitivity.  The longer you have had the problem the longer the deficient nutrients take to elevate and stop the sensitivity.  Most of the nutrients that are deficient need to be ingested at therapeutic levels.  This means usually 2-5 times higher than the recommended daily amounts.  In my health analysis I discover the correct amount.  Thereafter, once a  month, I adjust the amounts down until the nutrient is at its correct level.

Food Allergens and Their Neutralizing Nutritional Antidotes

I have helped countless of clients overcome wheat, corn, dairy, citrus, fat and yeast category sensitivities by discovering their nutritional deficiencies.  Many years ago I worked with a male client who would have sneezing attacks which lasted about 20 minutes. There was no pattern to when he would have the sneezing attacks.   After a health analysis, we discovered he was moderately deficient in magnesium and extremely deficient in B6 and essential fatty acids which caused his body to have a very difficult time in processing wheat (gluten).   He also suffered from extreme airborne allergies all year long.   I recommended he limit or stop his intake of wheat for about 6-8 weeks until the depleted nutrients were elevated.  On one occasion he ate some wheat crackers and his sneezing began.  Lo and behold we discovered the root of his sneezing attacks!  I am happy to report that he can now eat wheat products, the sneezing attacks have stopped and his extreme hay fever symptoms are gone; this recovery occurred in about 4 months.

These experiences make it very clear to me that our body is a well oiled machine and that every bio-chemical reaction is so important for optimum health.  A car would not perform well without the proper amount of gas, oil and water in the radiator.  Likewise proper levels of nutrients allow us to perform at our optimum level.

OWN YOUR HEALTH!

Wherever researchers have been able to collect reliable data on happiness, the finding is always the same: greater educational, political, and employment opportunities have corresponded to decreases in life happiness for women, as compared to men.

I came across the following article on the online HuffPost Social News (Huffington Post) written by Marcus Buckingham, author and speaker.  I believe that in general the results of the studies mirror the experience of many women (not all women).  Some possible explanations which are being debated are that women stepped into a world already defined by a male view and in time it has not been the right “fit” for women, therefore, it has led to less happiness.  Let me know your thoughts.  I believe many women do look for “deeper” meaning and the mechanical/technical world we live in is not ultimately fulfilling.  I will post the second part to this article next week.

“What’s Happening To Women’s Happiness?”

by Marcus Buckingham

Imagine it is 1969 and we’re in a thriving American city. Let’s choose Detroit. The ’60s were good to the Motor City, and the future would have looked bright as new chrome. Now, imagine stopping a working woman on Detroit’s Woodward Avenue, perhaps a young bank clerk, and asking if she would cast her mind forward, decades into the future. Not to picture the flying cars and space-themed restaurants that always seem to pop up in visions of the future, but to think about the role of women at work, in business, in government, in life. What do you think she would have said?

1969 was an intense, rousing time for women in America. Betty Friedan had published The Feminine Mystique a few years earlier, and had founded the National Organization for Women in 1966. And Gloria Steinem had just published the essay in New York Magazine that clearly separated the modern Women’s Movement from other oppressed groups, “After Black Power: Women’s Liberation,” in which she called for meaningful work, equal pay, and the goal for all women to be freed from the role of only “servicing men and their children.”

Fast forward 40 years: no matter how optimistic the guesses of our “woman-on-a-Detroit-street,” I bet they wouldn’t have outstripped what’s actually happened.

Women Rising

I doubt she would have guessed that by the early twenty-first century, women would be running the governments of countries as powerful and widespread as Germany and Ireland, Bangladesh and New Zealand, Chile, Mozambique, and Jamaica. Or that the wife of one U.S. president would spend months in 2008 as the national favorite to become president herself and, barely failing in that quest, would become an outspoken Secretary of State, or that the Speaker of the House would be a woman, or that John McCain would choose a moose-hunting, helicopter-riding, crowd-pleasing mother of five as his running mate because she’d stared down oil companies as governor of the tough state of Alaska.

How about education? I’m sure she would have forecast that more women would be completing high school and attending college, but do you think she’d have predicted that during the 2008 school year, 59 percent of all the bachelor’s degrees and 61 percent of all the master’s degrees would be earned by women, not by men? Or that by 2009, four out of the eight Ivy League universities–Harvard, Brown, Penn and Princeton–would have female presidents?

And work? Again, she would probably have bet that, in the future, more women would be working, but would she have guessed that October will be the first month in which women outnumber men in the workforce, that women would be holding more management and supervisory positions than men, by a margin of 37 percent to 31 percent, that in like-for-like work women and men with the same amount of work experience would be earning the same, and that women’s pay would actually be increasing faster than men’s? I doubt it.

Yet the biggest surprise would have come if you had asked her just one more question. Given all the evidence of women running corporations and universities, hospitals, media empires, branches of government, army divisions, and countries, do you think women in the future will be happier?

Of course they will be happier, she would have said. With all these opportunities and achievements, how could they not be?

Well, as it turns out, too easily.

Happiness Lost

Each year since 1972, the United States General Social Survey has asked men and women: “How happy are you, on a scale of 1 to 3, with 3 being very happy, and 1 being not too happy?” This survey includes a representative sample of men and women of all ages, education levels, income levels, and marital status–1,500 per year for a total of almost 50,000 individuals thus far–and so it gives us a most reliable picture of what’s happened to men’s and women’s happiness over the last few decades.

As you can imagine, a survey this massive generates a multitude of findings, (see the full report by Wharton Professors Betsy Stevenson and Justin Wolfers) but here are the two most important discoveries.

First, since 1972, women’s overall level of happiness has dropped, both relative to where they were forty years ago, and relative to men. You find this drop in happiness in women regardless of whether they have kids, how many kids they have, how much money they make, how healthy they are, what job they hold, whether they are married, single or divorced, how old they are, or what race they are. (The one and only exception: African-American women are now slightly happier than they were back in 1972, although they remain less happy than African American men.)

If you are a visual learner, this is what the graph looks like: Your browser may not support display of this image.

Figure 1 – Average happiness index value for the period 1972-2006
Source: Based on responses to question 157 of the General Social Surveys

Sad All Over

And, in case you’re wondering, this finding is neither unique to this one study, nor is it unique to the United States. In the last couple of years, the results from six major studies of happiness have been released:

* the United States General Social Survey (46,000 people, between 1972-2007),
* the Virginia Slims Survey of American Women (26,000 people, between 1972-2000),
* the Monitoring the Future survey (430,000 U.S. twelfth graders, between 1976-2005),
* the British Household Panel Study (121,000 people, between 1991-2004),
* the Eurobarometer analysis (636,000 people, between 1973-2002, covering fifteen countries),
* and the International Social Survey Program (97,462 people, between 1991-2001, covering thirty-five developed countries.)
All told, more than 1.3 million men and women have been surveyed over the last 40 years, both here in the U.S. and in developed countries around the world. Wherever researchers have been able to collect reliable data on happiness, the finding is always the same: greater educational, political, and employment opportunities have corresponded to decreases in life happiness for women, as compared to men.

It feels strange to write that sentence, as though I’m mistyping or having a “backwards day,” as my daughter would say. But I’m not. Though the trends in the data certainly don’t suggest that all women are less happy as compared to men than they were back in 1972, the fact is that, across more than a million people, the trends are there, and they are going in the opposite direction than most would have predicted. And the sizes of these trends are meaningful. According to Stevenson and Wolfers, if you assume a strong link between being unhappy and being unemployed (which there is–the longer you’re out of work, the more depressed you become,) the decline in women’s happiness is as if women’s unemployment has risen from 10% to 18%.

Happy Girl to Sadder Woman

The second discovery is, this: though women begin their lives more fulfilled than men, as they age, they gradually become less happy. Men, in contrast, get happier as they get older. (These findings are drawn from the work of Professors Richard Easterlin and Anke Plagnol, who took the same U.S. General Social Survey data and sliced it in a different way. You can find their working paper here).

Here’s their graph:

Slip-sliding Away

This creeping unhappiness can seep into all aspects of a woman’s life. When the researchers asked more specific questions, such as, “How satisfied are you with your marriage?” and “How satisfied are you with the things you own?” and “How satisfied are you with your finances?” the pattern was always the same: women begin their life more satisfied than men, and wind up less satisfied. Sure, the crossover points vary a little–women’s happiness with their marriage sinks below men’s at age thirty-nine; their satisfaction with their finances dips at age forty-one; and by forty-four, they’re more dissatisfied than men with stuff they own.

But overall, the trajectory is consistent, and consistently downhill. As you can see from the graph, by the time women reach age forty-seven, they are, overall, less happy with their life than men, and the trend continues on down from there.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that every individual woman becomes less happy than every individual man–we’ve all got our own stuff going on, and man or woman, some days we’re in a happy purple haze, some days we’ve got the blues, and some days we even succumb to the “mean reds,” as Holly Golightly called them.

Nor does it mean that this darkening outlook on life is necessarily going to afflict you. You are a unique human being, blessed with the freedom to make your own choices, and so it’s completely within your power to choose a life, and a perspective on life, that becomes more fulfilling as you get older, not less. However, right now, the two trends we see in the data are real and telling:

1. Over the last few decades, women, in comparison to men, have become less happy with their lives.

2. As women get older, they get sadder.

Running For The Shelter Of A Mother’s Little Helper…

Looking beyond pure survey data, the World Health Organization can track what this increase in stress does to a woman’s mental health. According to their most recent analysis, depression is the second most debilitating disease for women (heart disease is first), while for men depression clocks in at number ten. As a result, women choose to medicate themselves with anti-anxiety and anti-depression medication twice as much as men do. Never one to miss an opportunity, the big pharmaceutical companies nurse this need by targeting two-thirds of all advertising of these medications explicitly toward women.

`”Hey,” you might say. “Life’s tough. Deal with it.” And of course, you’d be right. Life is not designed with anyone’s happiness in mind, and it has the disconcerting habit of not rewarding the good as much as we’d expect, of punishing the wicked less vigorously than we’d like, and even, on occasion, of getting the two completely mixed up.

Even so, only the most wasted of cynics would deny that something’s got to give. Not only is this “tough life” significantly tougher on women than it is on men, but the advances of the last 40 years were supposed to have changed things for the better. And not just for womankind, but for each individual woman. The hard-won rights, opportunities, and advantages were supposed to have netted women more than just another burdensome role to play–”you at work.” They were supposed to have fostered in each woman feelings of fulfillment and happiness, and even, for the special few, the sustained thrill of living of an authentic life.

This hasn’t happened. Over the last 40 years or so, life is not trending toward more fulfillment for women; life is, in most ways we can measure, becoming more draining instead. To use Thomas Jefferson’s words, though women now have the liberty to choose whichever life they’d like, many are struggling in their pursuit of a happy life.
What’s goin’ on?

Why? What is causing these trends (and what can we all do to reverse them?)

Some of the more obvious explanations are weaker than you might think:

For example, these trends are not caused by women working longer hours than men. We know this because women don’t work more hours than men. In a mammoth study of twenty-five countries, ranging from the U.S. to France to Slovenia to Madagascar, men and women were asked to keep track of what they were doing at various times during the day, and then the hours for each activity were calculated. The results: in developed countries, men average 5.2 hours of paid work a day, and 2.7 hours of homework, for a total of 7.9 hours a day; and women average 3.4 hours of paid work, and 4.5 hours of homework, for a total of, yes, 7.9 hours a day. These averages are statistically identical in virtually every developed country in the study: women and men work the same number of total hours in a day. (It is only in less developed countries such as South Africa or Benin, where women have fewer choices and are largely excluded from the workplace, that women actually work more hours per day than men.)

Nor are they caused by gender-based stereotyping. Sure, forty years ago such stereotyping was still dominant–in 1977 74% of men agreed with the statement “Men should be the primary breadwinner and women should be the primary caretaker of home and family.” Today, however, that number has fallen to only 42%–which happens to be almost exactly the same as the percentage of women who agree with it (39%). Your opinion of which roles are most appropriate for men and women to play is not now determined by your sex.

Nor, surprisingly, is it caused by women bearing a disproportionate burden of the workload at home, the ’second-shift’ as some have labeled it. This explanation falls not because women don’t do more cooking, cleaning and child-caring than men; they still do. It falls because when it comes to the sharing of ‘home’ duties, the trend lines are all moving in the direction you would predict would lead to greater happiness and less stress for women: namely toward greater parity. For example, between 1975 and today women’s housework hours declined from twenty-one per week to seventeen, while men’s jumped from six to thirteen. In 1977 dads with non-teen kids spent 2 hours with them on an average weekday, while moms spent 3.8 hours. Today moms still spend 3.8 hours, while dads’ kid-time has climbed to 3 hours per week day–and if you are a Gen Y dad, you’re all the way up to 4.3 hours per day (Gen Y dads actually spend more time with their non-teen kids than do Gen X moms.)

So if it’s not the hours, or the attitudes, and if the inequality of home-work is fast disappearing, where does that leave us?  Male mid-life crisis? A youth obsessed culture that is harder on women than men? The hormonal fluctuations of menopause?

OWN YOUR HAPPINESS!

Previously, scientists would dismiss the placebo effect and not think about its implications; being that the mind and perception are very powerful.  In fact when someone has a  positive thought about a health related outcome in many cases there is a “healing” response.  On the contrary, research has also come to acknowledge what is termed as the nocebo (Latin for “I will harm“) effect which occurs when someone is given a sugar pill and they report having a number of side effects of the drug that they did not take!  In some circumstances not only can negative thoughts/perceptions or “nocebo” make you sick but they can kill you.

Research is beginning to bridge science with spirit and mind.  It is becoming more apparent to the scientific world that “thoughts” are very powerful whether they are positive or negative and consequently they affect the body likewise.  Not surprisingly, it is believed that close to 3/4 of our thoughts are negative in nature and repetitive.  Whether it is directed towards ourselves or others.  While we do this we literally rob ourselves of good health; we do harm (nocebo).

An internationally recognized authority on the subject of placebo and nocebo effects is Bruce Lipton, PhD, author of The Biology of Belief.  Dr. Lipton acknowledges that medicine is controlled by money and influenced greatly by the pharmaceutical industry.   He states that this “keeps us from looking at healing that does not involve chemicals and drugs only for the simple reason that a pharmaceutical company makes money by selling chemicals.  If we talk about healing yourself with your mind than that product doesn’t sell very well.  It is not in the interest of the pharmaceutical industry to support “free energy” healing and therefore, it is a subject that gets no coverage except for that 15 minutes on the “placebo” and then dropped out of the system; and yet it is the most important new understanding (though it is not new).”

Within the scientific world, Dr. Lipton is committed to bring awareness to this powerful truth of mind and beliefs.  By the way these thoughts and perceptions need to have a strong emotion behind it to have an effect; they often lead to our actions and type of lifestyle we choose to live. A great example of this is given by Tor Wager, an assistant professor of psychology at Columbia University. “Say it’s late at night and everything is quiet and then suddenly you see someone outside, near a window,” he explains. “Your body starts to respond. Your pupils dilate. Your heart rate goes up. You start to sweat.”  The belief that something threatening is out there produces a host of physical responses that you have little control over. If you were told to calm down and turn off these sensations, you couldn’t, Wager says. “But if the belief changes — say, it turns out that it’s just your husband coming home — the physical response changes.”  The question, now, is how to tap into these powerful, unconscious responses, Wager says.

The Placebo Effect

A placebo makes a person feel better for reasons unrelated to the specific healing properties of the treatment.  For years, scientists have looked at the placebo effect as just a figment of people’s imaginations.  Sure, sugar pills seemed to lessen epileptic seizures, depression and smooth out jerky movements in Parkinson’s — but these people weren’t really better. Or so scientists thought.  Recently researchers began using PET scanners and MRIs to Examine the heads of patients who responded to sugar pills, they discovered that the placebo effect is not “all in patients’ heads” but rather, in their brains.   New research shows that belief in a dummy treatment leads to changes in brain chemistry!

For example, a gentleman name  Chuck Park participated in a study and he was told that he might be getting a sugar pill, the 30-year-old software producer was pretty sure he was getting the real thing.  Just a few weeks into the clinical trial, Park’s depression started to lift.  He began to feel less anxious and sad.  Park later learned he’d been taking a placebo all along, it was a surprise.  “I was fully expecting to receive the real drug even though I knew that the placebo was a possibility,” remembers Park of Culver City, Calif. “I guess I wanted it to work — and in a way, it did.”

A woman, in her 30s, was “very significantly impaired,” says Straus, chief of the Laboratory of Clinical Investigation at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. “She had no energy, couldn’t work, and spent most of her time at home.” But her strength was restored during a study to test the effectiveness of an experimental chronic fatigue drug.  She and her parents were so thrilled with her recovery that they were blessing me and my colleagues,” recalls Straus, the principal investigator on that study.

It turns out, the woman’s quick turnaround from chronic fatigue occurred after taking placebo pills, not the experimental drug. “She was amazed by the revelation that she’d gotten better on placebo, says Straus”

“There have always been people who have said that we could make ourselves better by positive thinking,” says Dr. Michael Selzer, professor of neurology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.  After pooh-poohing this for years, here are studies that show that our thoughts may actually interact with the brain in a physical way.”

The following video documents a groundbreaking 2 year study on patients who had severe knee pain.  Both the groups that received the actual surgery and the “make-believe” surgery had healing!

Placebo Surgery

The Nocebo Effect

In the 1970’s a man was diagnosed with end-stage liver cancer and given just months to live.   Though the patient died in the predicted time, an autopsy showed the doctors had been mistaken. There was a tiny tumor, but it had not spread.  Therefore, this man did not die of cancer but from the “belief” that he was going to die of cancer.  It was surmised that if everyone treats you as if you are dying, you buy into that perception and it becomes you reality.

In a Canadian study, more than half of the men who got the placebo pills reported significant relief from their symptoms, including faster urine flow. Researcher J. Curtis Nickel theorized that the patients’ positive expectations of the experimental drug’s benefits may have caused therapeutic smooth muscle relaxation by decreasing nerve activity affecting the bladder, prostate and urethra.  However, there was a percentage of participants on the sugar pill which complained of side effects too, ranging from impotence and reduced sex drive to nausea, diarrhea and constipation.  This is the nocebo effect.  You expect to feel worse and suffer from side effects.

Anticipating bad effects can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. It may help to emphasize the limits of medicine and explain the close relationship between emotions and physical sensations, especially as it involves stress hormones.

The following video demonstrates the nocebo effect on unsuspecting participants who believe they have been given caffeine.

Coffee Placebo

Conclusion

The question, now, is how to tap into these powerful, unconscious responses.  Being aware that we can tap into these powerful unconscious responses is what I call owning your Grandeur and using your grandeur to take charge of your health, if not your life!   Literally, you can tell your body ” enough is enough”.  You can talk to it as you speak to a child in loving yet authoritative terms.  I recently, did this.  I had been struggling with both of the rotator cuff areas of my arms, especially the right arm.  I sought out some acupuncture and it helped with the right arm, but then the left arm became increasingly painful.

As I was doing research and reading as well as watching videos on the placebo and nocebo effect, it dawned on me to try this.  I spoke to my body as I would to a child that is doing something very annoying.  I said, “I am tired of this arm pain, I want you to stop the inflammation.  I have important things I need to do with my life and you need to stop and leave.  My natural state is to be pain free and healthy.”  I had this type of conversation with my body for about 5 minutes.  I did this one more time later that same day.  I also asked to receive clarity of possibly why my arms sometimes felt this pain (occurs about every 2-3 months).   I am happy to report that within hours the pain shifted and a day later I was about 90% pain free on my left arm and 100% pain free on my right arm.

I later had a knowing that I needed to stop pushing myself so hard and being so serious about the goals I set for myself.  It almost seemed that the pain was forcing me to STOP and give myself a break.

I have full confidence now that you and I have been given great ability to create and re-create our life experience.  We can create for the positive or for the negative results.  I choose the positive and to have a forward momentum.  I don’t have time nor the inclination to lead a life of stagnation or pain, do you?  Get angry about it and say no more!  Learn what you must, gain clarity,  and move on…

Own your GRANDEUR, HEALTH and HAPPINESS!

What are symptoms of uterine fibroids?

Not all fibroids cause symptoms.  It is only when they get very large or are pressing or obstructing areas that can no longer function properly is when some of the following symptoms occur:

• Extremely heavy, painful periods
• Irregular bleeding between periods,
• Large clots
• Severe pelvic pressure
• Pressure on the bladder with frequent or even obstructed urination, and
• Pressure on the rectum with pain during defecation.
• Pain with intercourse
• Constipation
• Kidney infections or kidney issues
• A feeling of pressure or fullness in the lower abdomen
• An abnormally enlarged abdomen
• May be the cause of some miscarriages

Fibroids seem to be most common during a woman’s fertile years, especially after the age of 30.  Uterine fibroids can be easily diagnosed via a pelvic exam or ultrasound.  The traditional medical treatments for symptomatic fibroids usually leads to surgery.  The most common surgeries are myomectomy, hysteroscopic resection, myolysis, and hysterectomy. Some surgeries keep the uterus while a hysterectomy removes the uterus. This can be very devastating to a women who still wants to have more children.  In addtion she is placed on hormone synthetics for the rest of her life.

A procedure which does not require major surgery is called uterine artery embolization (UAE).  It is a minimally invasive surgical procedure.  Embolization blocks the flow of blood through the vessels around the fibroids depriving them of oxygen. This oxygen deprivation results in the fibroids shrinking.  A substance is injected through a catheter and lodges in the smaller arteries that branch out to the fibroids. This chokes off the fibroid’s blood supply.  For more information on this procedure click on the following – Uterine Artery Embolization.

Alternative Treatments For Fibroids

It is suspected that estrogen dominance could be one of the reasons uterine fibroids develop.  Interestingly, one common need I found with all the women I worked with was the need for elevating progesterone hormone levels (for more reading on how low progesterone affects a woman’s health click HERE).  Progesterone balances out excess estrogen.  I also have noticed a pattern of high stress and in two cases excessive coffee consumption.  I have my suspicions that in some manner both these things can aggravate and contribute to the development of uterine fibroids.  An excellent herbal formula I have utilized for women with fibroids is called V-X.  This formula shrinks the fibroids and as they shrink the symptoms begin to withdraw.  Usually, within 2 months significant improvement begins to occur.  The formula may need to be taken for about 4 months.

One method in how to get even quicker results from V-X is to open up 6 capsules and mix the herbs with some cocoa butter.  Create a paste and form them into suppositories.  Place the suppositories in the refrigerator and insert one suppository into the vaginal canal, twice a day.  As the cocoa butter melts the herbs are absorbed (use a panti-liner).

When the symptom of excessive menstrual bleeding occurs anemia can set in.  Chronic anemia is very dangerous along with lower blood volume.  I suggest that western medicine treatment or the alternative methods I mentioned be utilized as soon as possible when bleeding is very heavy.

OWN YOUR HEALTH!

BPH is the condition in which a growth of non-cancerous cells occur and causes the prostate gland to become larger (not inflamed). Enlargement of the prostate is not a dangerous condition, but it does put pressure on the urethra.  If left unchecked, benign BPH can cause serious problems over time including urinary tract infections, bladder or kidney damage, bladder stones or incontinence.

The most common cause of prostate enlargement are changes in hormone levels.  As a man ages, his testosterone levels begin to fall. At the same time, his levels of the “female” hormones prolactin, estrogen, LH and FSH rise. This dramatic hormonal shift results in many body changes, such as weight gain, changes in fat distribution and a decrease in muscle strength. Even the testosterone itself changes. A potent form of testosterone called dihydrotestosterone (DHT) begins to dominate.  Unfortunately, DHT can cause prostate cells to multiply excessively.  Blood work reveals that on average four to six times the normal amount of DHT is found in most cases of enlarged prostate.

Most men by age 45 begin to develop a larger prostate gland (with no symptoms).  By age 60, it is believed that 80% of all men experience some sort of urinary interference due to prostate enlargement.  The prostate gland requires 10 times more zinc than any other organ in the body.  It has been discovered that when a man ejaculates he loses zinc.  Therefore, it is highly recommended that men in their late 30’s increase the intake of the mineral Zinc.  Zinc can be highly effective in preventing prostate gland dysfunction.

Studies have noted that lower levels of zinc increase the potential for prostate infection (prostatitis) as well as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BHP – excess cell growth).   Approximately 25 mg of zinc per day is recommended to help prevent these disorders.  It needs to be clarified that BHP is not a pre-cursor to prostate cancer.  However, the confusing aspect is that prostate cancer has the same symptoms noted below.   Sometimes with prostate cancer there is blood in the urine, but this can also happen with a kidney infection.

Symptoms of Inflamed Prostate Gland

• Difficulty urinating; dribbling
• Urgent need to urinate
• Pain in the abdomen, groin or lower back
• Pain or burning sensation when urinating
• Pain or discomfort on penis or testicles
• Frequent urination, particularly at night
• Painful ejaculations
• Fever
• Nausea

Symptoms of Enlarged Prostate Gland – similar to inflamed prostate w/out fever or burning

• Difficulty starting urine stream
• Multiple night urination
• Feeling the bladder is not completely empty
• Urge to urinate soon after urinating
• Pain during urination

How to Elevate Zinc

The best natural sources of zinc include: raw pumpkin seeds (very good source of zinc), oysters, meats, wheat germ, hard cheeses, lima beans, potatoes, oats, green leafy vegetables,  tuna, kidney beans, sunflower seeds and ginger root.   Other sources are brown rice, eggs, spinach and chickpeas (garbanzos).  However, when there is a great need for any mineral or vitamin, the easiest manner in which to elevate the level quickly is through supplementation.

Besides straight zinc (utilize a high quality product) an herb that is high in zinc content is Saw Palmetto.  A great mens’ herbal formula I have recommended to men in their late thirties as a preventative is Men’s Formula with Lycopene.  I recommend 3 capsules per day.  In the case of actual symptoms 6 per day is best with possibly extra zinc (maybe an additional 25 mg).  Straight zinc initial amount recommendation when symptoms are present is from 75 mg to 100 mg per day (these amounts lessen as the weeks transpire).

There are other benefits in elevating zinc when it is found to be deficient.  It seems to help with male pattern baldness, improves eye sight, prevents or reverses some fungal infections and it has been found to increase sperm count (has helped with infertility cases).

If you or anyone you know is exhibiting any of these symptoms it is very important to see a doctor to determine which prostate issue is present – prostatitis, benign prostatic hyperplasia, or prostate cancer.  Either way know that there are always alternative natural medicine treatments which can be taken along with any western medicine treatment or as a stand alone.

Own your Health!

Stress affects both the mind and body (for article on how to calm the mind read – You Have The Power To Keep You Inner Peace).  Physically the glands most affected by stress are the adrenal glands.   The adrenal glands are two small glands, one on top of each kidney.  Each has an outer part called the cortex and the inner portion which is the medulla.  The cortex secretes three different classes of hormones: mineralocorticoids, glucocorticoids, and androgenic hormones.  The medulla secretes epinephrine and norepinephrine (commonly known as adrenaline).

ESSENTIAL HORMONES WHICH THE ADRENALS SECRETE

The most important  mineralocorticoid hormone is aldosterone.  It’s main function is to keep both sodium and potassium in check.  This in turn keeps blood pressure in check and fluid (water) in balance (so as not to retain water; edema, which increases blood pressure).  The kidneys need to have sodium and potassium at proper levels so they can also function properly and keep all fluids and waste acids in check.  Too much aldosterone hormone or too little aldosterone affects our organs, especially the heart, blood pressure, muscles (feel weak) and joints (painful and achy).

The more well known glucocorticoid produced by the cortex is cortisol (hydrocortisone) or “the stress hormone”.  Normally, it’s present in the body at higher levels in the morning, and at its lowest at night, which allows the body to “come down” and “unwind” so that we can get to sleep.  Although stress isn’t the only reason that cortisol is secreted into the bloodstream, it is termed “the stress hormone” because it’s also secreted in higher levels during the body’s “fight or flight” response to stress (when the hormone epinephrine is secreted; a.k.a. adrenaline), and is responsible for several stress-related changes in the body.

While cortisol is an important and a helpful part of the body’s response to stress, it’s important that the body return to a neutral mode after a stressful event.  Unfortunately, in our current high-stress culture, the body’s stress response is activated so often that the body doesn’t always have a chance to return to normal, resulting in a state of chronic stress.  Which can lead to build up of body fat around the mid-section, muscle wasting, inflammation, blood sugar imbalances and depress your immune system which leads to more bouts of colds, flu and respiratory issues.

The adrenaline hormone, epinephrine, secreted by the adrenal’s medulla, historically came into play when our life was threatened.  The threat would cause a rush of this hormone to enter our blood stream so that we could muster as much ability to “win” a fight or successfully run away.  Epinephrine  increases heart rate, blood sugar, and it increases an individual’s metabolic rate in order to produce the most amount of energy for the individual to utilize.  If the brain is under constant stress, more adrenaline is secreted in order to satisfy the body’s needs. This is where the problem begins.

Living in a constant state of energy is not a healthy lifestyle because the brain is already over stimulated (sub-consciously as well).   An exhausted brain will not be much help when you are trying to perform trivial every day tasks much less important or complicated tasks.

HORMONES GONE WILD!

When the adrenal glands begin to act “dysfunctional” due to prolonged stress, they first go into a hyper (overactive, stressed) state.  As they are pushed further and not given the opportunity to recover they go into an “extreme” stressed/overactive state and eventually reach the hypo (under active, exhausted) mode.   At every stage of “dysfunction” certain symptoms begin to develop because the hormones secreted by the adrenal glands are not at their proper levels (too much or too little).  The following charts list many of the symptoms which arise due to adrenal dysfunction.

- Overactive – Hyper Adrenals (can lead to Cushing’s Disease)

- Underactive – Hypo Adrenals (can lead to Addison’s Disease)

HOW TO REVERSE THE SYMPTOMS

The adrenal glands in most cases can be brought back to normal function with appropriate herbs and vitamins.  When the glands are hyper they need substances which will calm down the hyperactivity.  Such herbs and vitamins tend to be passion flower, hops, chamomile, fennel seeds and vitamin C (in ascorbate form).   The vitamins and minerals which need to be replaced because of the hyperactivity are the B-complex vitamins (especially pantothenic acid, B-5), potassium and magnesium.

With a hypo condition the glands are in need of nourishment and support.  Herbs which nourish are astragalus, licorice root (avoid if have hypertension) and Korean ginseng.

The herbal formula I use with great success for a hyper condtion is Stress-J. It provides an excellent mix of calming herbs.   The herbal supplement I recommend highly for a hypo condition is Nervous Fatigue Formula an excellent Chinese formula.   It takes about 2-3 months for a hyper condition to resolve itself while a hypo condition may take 3-4 months to fully resolve.

If you believe you are suffering from one form of adrenal gland dysfunction please do not hesitate to contact me to determine the correct course of action for you.  You do not need to continue suffering needlessly!

OWN YOUR HEALTH!

At the end of the sessions researchers collected the “happy tears” and the “sad tears” with eye droppers.  They found that “happy tears” are made up of brine which is basically salt water.  However, the “sad tears” were found to contain the chemicals and enzymes that are found in tumors, ulcers and other lumps which create sickness throughout the body.

This test concluded that the body, when crying because of sadness, is literally flushing out all of the toxic-chemicals that accumulate and are a part of the sadness/heartache experience.  So it seems that if you  hold back tears which have a strong emotion attached to it, those toxic-waters will find somewhere else to deposit themselves and a holding-back of crying-release will guarantee that the body will accumulate large amounts of toxicity that could have been released through the tears.

“Protest” Crying -vs- “Surrender” Type Crying

Other studies have discovered that if the crying is happening out of “protest”, meaning you do not accept a loss or situation, then there is no soothing, comfort or release from the tears because the resistance and anger continues even after the crying.  Conversely, sad crying that is a call for comfort from a loved one can lead to closeness and healing.   Research also concluded that crying has important effects on healing and that it improves the mood of 88.8% of weepers.  Also, crying with just one other “safe” person present was significantly more likely to produce a therapeutic effect than doing so in front of a larger group.

I have come across two clients which I recommended they cry.  One client flashed back to an experience at 8 years old of having been told about her grandfather’s sudden death from an accident.  At first when she was told she thought it was a joke and because she expressed her disbelief her mother slapped her (she didn’t come from a supportive environment).    Later her mother and other relatives decided that the children should not go to the funeral.  She was very upset that others made that decision for her.  She recalls that she never cried over her grandfather’s death; not because she didn’t feel sadness but because she was “protesting” how she was treated by the others.   The idea of crying over this incident and the way in which she was treated appeals to her and she is considering releasing the “toxins” and “energy blocks” associated with this experience. UPDATE: The above client informed me that she did allow herself to cry off and on for three days.  The following is what she reported,   “It was healing and I had great clarity afterward.  I feel so much more clear and calm.  I have been able to maintain an observation like attitude with my husband and it is amazing.  I am not getting caught up in trying to reason with him.  I just let him express what he feels and thinks and I go on.  I think he appreciates it and it is so much more healthy than all the drama.   All that chatter is wasted energy.  I am still having pain in my back and leg but the other night when it had been really bad all day I was laying on the sofa and suddenly there was this little pop of energy out of my right sacroiliac area (lower right back) with immediate relief of the pain in that area. It has made walking easier and uplifted my mood considerably.  It was really neat.”

The second client did cry over being sexually abused by her own brother when she was about six years old.  Additionally she cried deeply over so many sad times in her childhood and marriage.  After about 3 weeks of off and on crying she reported to me that the release of all these pent up tears has allowed her to breathe more easily and deeply.  She noticed tightness in her muscles release.  More importantly her “spirits” are up and she feels more hopeful about her life.

It seems that “crying tears” release the original chemical reaction of the emotions – emotions which in some cases have been suppressed for years.   Next time you feel like crying DO NOT hold back.  If you don’t feel “safe” or comfortable in the moment, release the tears later.  If you know you have held back many tears over some past experience, then consider releasing all that exists within this “holding back”.  Even if it takes weeks or months to feel like you have cried your last tear (over an experience), the freedom, peace, joy and positive health benefits that will be yours is worth every drop.