LISSA RANKIN

Lissa Rankin on the

Mysteries of Healing

by Linda Sechrist

Mind-body physician Lissa Rankin, a New York Times bestselling author and founder of the Whole Health Medicine Institute in the San Francisco Bay Area, takes readers on her decade-long journey in her latest book, Sacred Medicine: A Doctor’s Quest to Unravel the Mysteries of Healing. She provides a discerning guide to the sometimes perilous paths available to patients when wellness fads, lifestyle changes and doctors have failed them.

What motivated you to write Sacred Medicine?

After 14 years of studying and practicing conventional medicine, I left it at age 37 because I became disillusioned and “morally injured” by the limitations of conventional medicine and the U.S. health care system, which give lip service to a patient’s well-being and ultimately are about the financial bottom line.

I never lost respect for the life-saving aspects of conventional medicine. I simply believed it shouldn’t be the only medicine in my medicine bag. It only took me nine months to realize that I could quit my job as an Ob-Gyn, but I couldn’t quit my calling. That which drew me to medicine from age 7 was still alive in me. I began spiritually seeking to find out what else heals. During my years of studying and practicing everything along the health, wellness, psychology, yoga and spirituality gamut, I tried many things, cherry-picking from various spiritual traditions, Eastern religions and New Age spirituality. None of these quite fit either. I found as much shadow in this camp as I did in the conventional medicine camp.

Why use a carefully balanced brew of several healing interventions?

Limiting how you approach your health care to one camp or the other could prevent you from having the best possible health outcome. There’s light and shadow in both camps. My book helps educate readers so they can practice discernment and make wise choices about which tools from the world’s medicine bag serves them best. It’s meant to help them become more miracle-prone and hopefully to embrace the paradoxes of healing, one of which is: You can heal yourself and you can’t do it alone.

A lot of the practices I write about are intended to facilitate the restoration of wholeness. That doesn’t mean that people shouldn’t also seek out potentially curative treatments with their conventional medical doctor. But those treatments often don’t cure either, so I really see it that individuals don’t have to choose one or the other. Rather, they can choose conventional medicine and sacred medicine.

What’s the difference between curing and healing?

Generally, curing is about the elimination of all evidence of disease. Healing is a restoration of wholeness, which is what the word “heal” is based upon. When I’ve been present with people during end-of-life care, I’ve witnessed the restoration of wholeness in the tying up of the loose ends of a well-lived life or a life not so well-lived, even in the presence of physical decline. Repair, healing and forgiveness in both internal and external relationships in our lives can come from doing deep shadow work.

What are our whole health intelligences?

Because healing is a return to wholeness, connecting with your whole health intelligences—mental, intuitive, emotional and somatic—must be the foundational part of your healing journey to create conditions which make the body miracle-prone. I think of the work of integrating them as I do a symphony that requires a conductor to arrange and harmonize the intelligences. I call the conductor the “inner pilot light”.

For example, if we’re making medical decisions or any significant decision, it’s important to consult all the intelligences. Consider not only what the mind is telling you about what’s wise and smart and what the science shows, but what intuition is telling you about what might be in your best interests. Or consider what your gut or other aspects of your

Since 2004

Naturopathic, Functional, Chinese & Biological Medicine

COMPREHENSIVE & COMPASSIONATE HEALTH CARE FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY

All who come to NJ Natural Medicine benefit from our holistic approach to treatment. Regardless of the reason for the visit, the guiding principal remains constant: to observe and treat the whole person, not just his or her symptoms.

Herbs & Supplements Nutrition Acupuncture Bio-resonance Therapy Diagnostic Testing Infrared Sauna Allergy Testing

Dr. Jason Frigerio ND LAc. Kat Dunbar LAc. 2424 Lamington Road Bedminster, NJ 07921 973 267 2650 www.njnaturalmedicine.com

body are feeling. It’s not only the gut that can give us somatic intelligence. We can tune into various intelligences all over our body. Some healers I’ve met are finely tuned into this kind of intelligence to the point that they can ask a “yes” or “no” question and feel the answer somatically. They use this as one of the ways to guide themselves and their clients.

What part does trauma play in sacred medicine?

Although trauma as a cause of physical disease might be disputed by skeptics who resist information that contradicts their worldview, the body of scientific data linking psychological trauma and both pediatric and adult-onset disease is airtight. According to so many sources in the mainstream medical literature, anywhere from 60 to 80 percent of illnesses have stress-related emotional underpinnings. What causes stress? Trauma does.

Linda Sechrist is Natural Awakenings senior staff writer. Connect at lysechrist@ gmail.com.

coming in october

HEALTHY PLANET

Back to School with the Planet in Mind

Monkey Business/AdobeStock.com

Buy Eco-Friendly School Supplies

Opt for durable items that are made with recycled or sustainable materials and use minimal packaging. Avoid items made of plastic. Buy used textbooks whenever possible.

Walk or Bike to School

If the family lives reasonably close to school, encourage kids to walk or bike. For young children that require supervision, enlist one or more adults to lead a convoy of walking or biking kids. School buses and carpooling are the next best eco-friendly choices. When transporting kids by car, make sure to turn the engine off while waiting in the pick-up or dropoff line. Engine idling is a significant air polluter.

Pack a Waste-Free, Non-Toxic Lunch

Avoid anything plastic, including single-use water bottles and Ziploc bags. Reusable, stainless steel, food and drink containers, as well as lightweight, reusable bamboo utensils, are ideal. Homemade, whole and bulk foods are healthier and much more Earth-friendly compared to prepackaged snacks that are usually wrapped in plastic and jam-packed with sugar and other unhealthy ingredients.

This school season, families have an opportunity to make Earth-friendly decisions as they prepare their children for a successful educational experience. These tips balance sustainability against kids’ desires for the coolest, newest gadgets and garments.

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle

Before going to the store to buy new school supplies, search the house for items that can be reused or repurposed, such as half-spent notebooks or last year’s pens and pencils. A little elbow grease and TLC can refurbish old lunchboxes and backpacks—also affording an opportunity to teach kids how to repair and extend the life of items.

Buy Secondhand Clothes

Kids that have outgrown last year’s threads and are clamoring for a whole new wardrobe can be cheerfully introduced to the burgeoning used clothing market, which is both eco-responsible and budget-friendly. Resist the temptation to purchase cheap “fast fashion” that too quickly ends up in landfills and pollutes the environment by using toxic dyes, fossil-fuel-derived textiles and other bad chemicals. Donate old clothes instead of throwing them away.

Model Environmental Stewardship

Show kids that the family embraces an eco-friendly lifestyle. Kids will watch and learn as their parents regularly bring reusable shopping bags to the store, frequent local small businesses, participate in community cleanup efforts and continually search for innovative ways to safeguard the planet.

Nature’s Virus Killer

Copper can stop a virus before it starts

By Doug Cornell

Soon hundreds of people had tried it. 99% said copper worked if they used it right away at the first sign of germs, like a tickle in the nose or a scratchy throat.

Longtime users say they haven’t been sick in years. They have less stress, less medical costs, and more time to enjoy life.

Customers report using copper against:

Scientists have discovered a natural way to kill germs fast.

Now thousands of people are using it against viruses and bacteria that cause illness.

Colds and many other illnesses start when viruses get in your nose and multiply. If you don’t stop them early, they spread and cause misery.

Hundreds of studies confirm copper kills viruses and bacteria almost instantly just by touch.

That’s why ancient Greeks and Egyptians used copper to purify water and heal wounds. They didn’t know about viruses and bacteria, but now we do.

“The antimicrobial activity of copper is well established.” National Institutes of Health.

Scientists say copper’s high conductance disrupts the electrical balance in a microbe cell and destroys it in seconds.

The EPA recommended hospitals use copper for touch surfaces like faucets and doorknobs. This cut the spread of MRSA and other illnesses by over half, and saved lives.

The strong scientific evidence gave inventor Doug Cornell an idea. He made a smooth copper probe

with a tip to fit in the bottom of the nostril, where viruses collect. When he felt a tickle in his nose like a cold about to start, he rubbed the copper gently in his nose for 60 seconds. “It worked!” he exclaimed. “The cold never happened. I used to get 2-3 bad colds every New research: Copper kills viruses in seconds. year. Now I use my device whenever I feel a sign I am about to get sick.” He hasn’t had a cold in 10 years. Users say:

“It works! I love it!” “I can’t believe how good my nose feels.” “Is it supposed to work that fast?” “One of the best presents ever.” “Sixteen flights, not a sniffle!” “Cold sores gone!” “It saved me last holidays. The kids all got sick, but not me.” “I am shocked! My sinus cleared, no more headache, no more congestion.” “Best sleep I’ve had in years!”

After his first success with it, he asked relatives and friends to try it. They all said it worked, so he patented CopperZap® and put it on the market.

Colds Flu Virus variants Sinus trouble Cold sores Fever blisters Canker sores Strep throat Night stuffiness Morning congestion Nasal drip Infected sores Infected wounds Styes Ringworm Other microbial threats

The handle is curved and textured to increase contact. Copper can kill germs picked up on fingers and hands after you touch things other people have touched.

The EPA says copper works just as well when tarnished.

Dr. Bill Keevil led one of the science teams. He placed millions of viruses on a copper surface. “They started to die literally as soon as they touched it.”

CopperZap® is made in the USA of pure copper. It has a 90-day full money back guarantee. Price $79.95. Get $10 off each CopperZap with code NATA30.

Go to www.CopperZap.com or call toll-free 1-888-411-6114. Buy once, use forever.

Statements are not intended as product health claims and have not been evaluated by the FDA. Not claimed to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Yoga Corner

Wading in Slowly

by Nicole Zornitzer

As a yoga therapist, it has always been my ambition to assist in the healing of my clients. The method of healing can vary from physical yoga asana to meditation to sound healing to reiki or Ayurvedic medicine. The tools I share have come through formal education, self-study and my commitment to the practice of Therapeutic Yoga.

Many years ago, I was introduced to the works of Stephen Levine, an acclaimed author, poet and teacher best known for his work on death and dying. He introduced the teachings of Theravada Buddhism to the West and made these learnings more tangible to his followers. His book, “A Year to Live” focused on finding the moments in each day to be appreciative and grateful for the one life we are given. I first read this at a time in my life that seemed hopeless, when I was grasping to find meaning to all the tragedy I had endured over the course of my life. I have since recommended it countless times to those seeking inspiration and guidance on living in the now. I read my second Levine book “Healing Into Life and Death” during my own RYT 300 Hour Teacher Training 13 years ago, and again about one month ago while preparing for my next incoming group of students to train with me for their Advanced Therapeutic Yoga Degree. It felt as if it had been waiting all these years for me to find it for the second time. When I opened my dusty book from 13 years ago, I felt as if I was opening a treasure box. I felt connected to the smell, the texture, the weight of the book. I brought this book on a backpacking trip and read it under a full moon in a tent with a headlamp attached to my body. I felt a connection that I don’t often feel with a tangible item, let alone a human being. I sensed that there was a spiritual evolution happening during these moments and my yogic mind instructed me to just go along for the ride.

That first night, in the moonlight, I got as far as page 13. And this is what I read:

“There are many ways this work can be used. It can be read like a book, not unlike passively sitting on a riverbank listening to the rippling waters, or one can go swimming in it, actively participating in it as a healing process. Indeed, there is a story about an intellectual youth who felt he could learn everything from books. He read about the stars and became an astronomer, he read about history and became a historian, he read about swimming and drowned. Some things we can only learn by wading in slowly, from the direct experience of the ocean of being lapping against our body. To enter this process directly is to participate in the healing we took birth for, is to become fully alive.

The secret of healing is there’s no secret at all. Healing is an open book. You are not on page 13.”

This introduction affected me on a visceral level. I could feel my veins pulsating, I could sense the energy shifting in my body, I could smell the scent of hope in my future. I realized in that very moment, that I have wasted many years of my life living for tomorrow instead of today, creating story lines that never came to fruition, placing expectations on others that were unrealistic and most importantly avoiding my own internal healing process and tending to my own heart. Along this journey of helping others, I forgot about the most important person of all, me.

To heal is a journey and to find the courage to heal has been the most challenging aspect of healing for me. Healing into death, bequests us all to heal into life. At the moment of death, we should all be able to reflect upon this life, and all it has brought us with sincere gratitude. As I heal my own heart, I realize that my vulnerability will help others do the same. We are all humans, just being and I suspect we all are trying our best.

As I learn to wade slowly in this ocean of life, I am equally naïve, yet incredibly optimistic that given the right intentions, I will experience a moment during this lifetime that I will sit in a comfortable chair, gazing at an ocean surrounded by mountains. I will feel a love that overtakes my being, I will be held by those that I have given my life’s efforts to, I will take a deep breath in followed by a glorious exhale, knowing all is well.

Nicole Zornitzer, ERYT 1000, yoga therapist, founder of Niyama Yoga & Wellness Shala, located in Randolph, New Jersey; Upper Lake Mohawk in Sparta, New Jersey; Roseland, New Jersey; and Delray Beach in Florida. NiyamaYogaShala.com.