Natural Awakenings | Greater Las Vegas | FEBRUARY 2019

HEALTHY

LIVING

HEALTHY

PLANET

HONORING RUGBY PIONEER

FREE

A. Jon Prusmack

USA SEVENS INTERNATIONAL RUGBY 7S TOURNAMENT IN LAS VEGAS

HEART HEALTH

OF A WOMAN

NATURAL APPROACHES TO KEEP IT STRONG

WHAT MAKES LASTING LOVE - KEN PAGE

Heal

: HUGS THE PHYSIOLOGY OF

EMBRACE February 2019 | Greater Las Vegas | NaturalAwakeningsLV.com

& ou g h fe . r o h T i e, mplet am of My L ow!” o C t s N Ex Mo e nt a l S t a r t He r e “ T he D e l b u nt Yo or t a Co m f e c o m m e n d g u i r e , p a t i e Ma yR H igh l ~ Dr. Pau l

Gentle, Least Toxic, State-of-the-Art, Biological, Holistic Dental Care Our Gentle Holistic Approach Supports finding For Your Health Dr. Wright Uses the Least Toxic,

Root Causes, addressing them and educating you on your Non Metal, Most Biocompatible Dental Materials and options for an Optimal, Integrative treatment plan.

Solutions.

Scientific DNA Testing of Root Canals Is available Have Confidence in Knowing Dr. Jim Wright was

to support you in making excellent informed decisions.

NEW PATIENT WELCOME PACKAGE INCLUDES:

Very Thorough Comprehensive Oral Exam • Diagnostic Testing for Cavity Decay • Low Radiation Digital X-Rays • Dual Oral Cancer Screening - Visual & Cellular • Periodontal Gum Evaluation • Mercury Analysis

Ozone Water Disinfection with Non-Fluoride Cleaning • No Toxins or Chemicals • Disinfects Teeth & Gums • Kills Bacteria & Pathogens • Aids in Preventing Gingivitis

mentored by Dr. Hal Huggins, the Father of Modern Holistic Dentistry. Dr. Huggins chose Dr. Wright as His Dentist. Dr. Wright follows Huggins-Wright Protocols® and Standards for Safe Removal of old Mercury-silver Amalgams fillings and all dental treatments.

Dentists, Specialists & Medical Practitioners • Zirconia Dental Implants; Non-Metal, Diamond Strong • Oral Surgery & Periodontal Gum & Sinus Surgery • Sedation/Relaxation - 5 Options for Your Comfort • SAFE Removal of Mercury-silver Amalgam fillings • On-Site Lab with Latest Technology - 1 Day Crowns

Digital WrightSmile™ Imaging and Cosmetic Dental Consultation

• LUMINEERS® No Drilling or Shots in most cases • Traditional Veneers - Instant Orthodontics • INVISALIGN® - Holistic Clear Removable Braces • WrightSmile® Removable Smile Orthodic

$239 CALL or TEXT NOW

• Detox, Anti-Aging, CBD & Stem Cell Consultations • Professional Referral to Functional Medicine Experts

Dr. Jim Wright

DDS, AIAOMT, AIABDM Board Certified Holistic, Biological Dentist

702.281.9900

FOUR SEASONS DENTAL SPA 8855 W. Flamingo, Suite 101 • Las Vegas, NV 89147

Fo u r S e a s o n s D e n t a l S p a . c o m

Happy Earth Market

Ethically sourced gift items created by local artists, artisans and crafters.

Original Artwork • Pottery Jewelry • Sculptures Clothing • Sacred Herbs Crystals, Gems, Stones Recycled/Found Materials Art • Crafts & More!

LOCAL • ETHICAL UNIQUE • FUN HEM is a place to create art, listen to live music & performances, take yoga and meditation classes, attend support groups and events, meet like-minded friends, learn to paint, crochet, cook, drum and more...

900 Karen Ave.

Unit D-102

Las Vegas, NV

702.757.1556 HappyEarthMarket.com HEM is a marketplace for entrepreneurs and consumers who are Being the Change by living and working to heal and save our giving Earth.

NEED A REALTOR® WHO UNDERSTANDS WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO YOU ?

ORGANIC - VEGAN - YOGA - PRESENT - MEDITATION Like-minded people meeting for a common goal can create infinite possibilities. Offering a piece of my home to you in these pictures and would love the opportunity to help co-create your real estate dreams.

www.1111RealtyLV.com MICHAEL DEDIC – REALTOR® 702-466-7118 Michael@1111realtylv.com

2200 Paseo Verde Pkwy, Suite 300 Henderson, NV 89052

HEALTHY LIVING HEALTHY PLANET

Natural Awakenings is your guide to a healthier, more balanced life. In each issue readers find cutting-edge information on natural health, nutrition, fitness, personal growth, green living, creative expression and the products and services that support a healthy lifestyle.

GREATER LAS VEGAS TEAM OWNER/PUBLISHER Gabrielle Wyant-Perillo

VP MARKETING Erin Hope Perillo EDITOR Martin Miron

CONTRIBUTORS Pat Clifton Angela Drake Allyn Freeman P. Kirsten López, M.A. Jodi Paige Sean Walking Bear PRODUCTION 13 Moons Publishing

COVER DESIGN Erin Hope Perillo

SPECIAL SUPPORT Meredith Montgomery

DIVINE GUIDANCE Michèle S. Perillo CONTACT US

1650 West Robin Street Pahrump, NV 89060 Ph: 702-305-5828 • Skype: NaturalVegas Publisher@NaturalAwakeningsLV.com • NaturalAwakeningsLV.com

DIGITAL ISSUE SUBSCRIPTIONS NaturalAwakeningsLV.com

ADVERTISING/MARKETING

NALVImagineYourImpact.com To advertise with us call, 702-305-5828 or schedule an appointment at NaturalAwakeningsLV.com/book-online.

SUBMISSIONS

NaturalAwakeningsLV.com/forms Submit articles, news items or profile questionnaires by the 5th of the month. Submit calendar listings and special event announcements by the 10th of the month.

NATIONAL TEAM

CEO/FOUNDER

NATIONAL EDITOR

MANAGING EDITOR NATIONAL ART DIRECTOR ART DIRECTOR

FINANCIAL MANAGER FRANCHISE SUPPORT MGR. WEBSITE COORDINATOR

NATIONAL ADVERTISING

Sharon Bruckman Jan Hollingsworth Linda Sechrist Stephen Blancett Josh Pope Yolanda Shebert Heather Gibbs Rachael Oppy Kara Scofield

Natural Awakenings Publishing Corporation 4933 Tamiami Trail N., Ste. 203 Naples, FL 34103 Ph: 239-434-9392 • Fax: 239-434-9513 NaturalAwakeningsMag.com

BODY IN BALANCE THERMOGRAPHY

Early Detection Means Life

• • • •

BREAST AND FULL BODY RADIATION FREE NON - INVASIVE 100% S A F E

One of the easiest, fastest and safest methods for spotting inflammation, a major precursor to disease, is Clinical Infrared Imaging!

Thermography might be useful for detecting & monitoring many conditions including: Breast Cancer, Diabetes, Thyroid Disorders, Strokes, Soft Tissue & Sports Injuries, Circulation Problems, Repetitive Strain Injuries, Chronic Pain conditions & more...

REGIONAL MARKETS

Advertise your products or services in multiple markets! Natural Awakenings Publishing Corp. is a growing franchised family of locally owned magazines serving communities since 1994. To place your ad in other markets, call 239-434-9392. For franchising opportunities, call 239-530-1377 or visit NaturalAwakenings.com.

©2019 by Natural Awakenings. All rights reserved. Although some parts of this publication may be reproduced and reprinted, we require that prior permission be obtained in writing. Natural Awakenings is a free publication distributed locally and is supported by our advertisers.

We do not necessarily endorse the views expressed in the articles and advertisements, nor are we responsible for the products and services advertised. Check with a healthcare professional regarding the appropriate use of any treatment.

Natural Awakenings Magazine is ranked 5th Nationally in CISION’S® 2016 Top 10 Health & Fitness Magazines

Natural Awakenings is printed on recycled newsprint.

Always green, never glossy.

Owner: Susan Barrett, LMT-CCTT

schedule online today!

B ODY I N B ALANCE T HERMOGRAPHY . COM 7656 W. Sahara Ave, Suite 120, LV • 702-256-3090 License: State 0337, City M12-00795, City Establishment M03-97620

Photo by Sergiy Bykhunenko on Adobe Stock

DEPARTMENTS 8 business briefs 10 in memoriam 14 health briefs 16 film brief 17 eco tips 18 global briefs 20 advocacy advertorial 22 feature 28 wise words 30 inspirations 32 healing ways 34 walking the sacred earth 36 conscious eating 39 virgin cheese chick recipe 40 healthy kids 44 natural pet 47 calendars 50 resource guide 53 classifieds

CONTENTS Natural Awakenings | Greater Las Vegas

22 10 A. JON PRUSMACK USA Sevens Rugby Pioneer

22 HEART OF A WOMAN

The Right Choices Keep It Strong

28 KEN PAGE

on Making Love Last

February 2019 Issue

31 A COMMON HEART SONG

Whales Point the Way

32 AMAZING EMBRACE The Healing Power of Hugs

34 WALKING THE SACRED EARTH

The Foundational Shamanic Art and Magic of Smudging

36 RECIPES A HEART WILL LOVE

Tasty Ways to Boost Heart Health

39

44

VIRGIN CHEESE CHICK Roasted Garlic with Rosemary & Goat Style Chevre Bruschetta

40 SOOTHING ANXIOUS KIDS

Natural Remedies Restore Calm

44 ESSENTIAL OILS FOR PETS How to Use Them Safely

business briefs

Brain Solutions Inc

Celebrating a 10th Year of Excellence THIS MONTH MARKS BRAIN SOLUTIONS INC’S TENTH YEAR serving the Las Vegas community. Brain Solutions Inc provides a variety of foundational brain retraining to improve memory, attention, self-control and processing. These programs also help reduce anxiety and sensory integration issues. These basic skills offer the chance for greater success in school, work and life in general.

In 2010, Lopez was the first to bring the Tomatis Neuroauditory Training program and the Cellfield Reading Intervention to Nevada. Since then, she and her staff have served children, adults and entire families with their foundation, neuroplasticity programs. As they begin their new year, Kirsten Lopez, founder and executive director of Brain Solutions Inc, announces the introduction of new programs and revised pricing structures.

Lopez was working with a mother and her son. “My son has a chance now,” she said.

Another mother told Lopez, “You gave us hope and taught us that our child does not have to struggle day after day,” said another mother.

“I can’t believe how far we have come since we met you,” said a very happy dad.

“Rather than being based in a try-more-try-harder model,”

says Lopez, “the programs at BSI bring about enduring and more robust brain function, allowing the individual greater success at home, work, school and life in general.”

Many parents endure a long journey while seeking answers for their child and themselves, feeling the best parts of their child is trapped inside and no one can get them out. Many sense there is something holding their child from bursting forth. “We invite anyone who may face these challenges, or who have a loved one who struggles, to call today to schedule a free consultation,” says Lopez.

“Simply put, under stress we lose resiliency,” explains Lopez.

“At Brain Solutions Inc we address, at a brain level, the causes of stress, such as sensory, anxiety or attention issues. When stress is reduced, resiliency increases, and greater resilience leads to greater capacity to lead a fuller life.”

López has over 40 years of experience working with adults and children of all ages, bringing hope to both individuals and families in challenging situations. She has been an adjunct professor, educational consultant and program director in a neuropsychiatric hospital for children and adolescents. Her interest in neuropsychology and learning have led her to train in the Tomatis® Method, Cellfield Intervention and Interactive Metronome.

Her passion, dedication to professionalism and energy propel her clients to find success. With expertise in education, nutrition, special needs (learning disabilities, behavioral and emotional issues) and alternative scientific methods in neuroplasticity, Lopez believes in finding solutions for the whole person. There are no medications and the results are enduring.

A free Informational Seminar is open to the public at 6:30 p.m. on February 21.

Location: 1003 S. Cimarron Rd, Las Vegas. For more information, call 702-340-2248, email Info@BrainSolutionsInc.com or visit BrainSolutionsInc.com. See ad, page 43 and listings in the Community Resource Guide.

8 February 2019

Link Oriental Medicine Offers Optimal Balance, Energy and Overall Health

IN 2005, VINCE LINK, OMD OPENED LINK ORIENTAL MEDICINE in Las Vegas and today, he still helps individuals of all ages achieve optimum health through traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture, herbs, acupressure, Tai Chi, meditation and more.

Link Oriental Medicine specializes in traditional Chinese acupuncture and herbal therapies. “Traditional Chinese Medicine can help almost everyone achieve optimum health without expensive prescription drugs that often have severe side effects,” says Link. “Today millions of people enjoy the natural healing benefits of oriental medicine without the adverse side effects or undergoing unnecessary surgeries.”

The mission of Link Oriental Medicine is to provide clients with the most effective, natural healing techniques that have been proven to offer optimal balance, energy and overall health.

Visit VinceLinkOMD.com for a virtual tour, with answers to frequently asked questions about acupuncture, Chinese herbs and other wellness protocols offered at Link Oriental Medicine.

Dr. Link graduated from the International Institute of Chinese Medicine. He has trained with some of the world’s leading authorities of Oriental Medicine and acupuncture in China, ChengDu TCM Hospital and Vietnam. Among other prestigious titles, Link has been both President and Vice President for the Nevada Oriental Medical Association (NOMA) and a member of the American Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (AAOM). He is also a Tai Chi practitioner and instructor certified in acupuncture, Chinese Herbology and Asian Bodywork Therapy.

Location: 2920 S. Rainbow Blvd, Suite 140, Las Vegas. For more information, call 702-444-4775, email LinkOrientalMed@yahoo. com or visit VinceLinkOMD.com. See listings in the Community Resource Guide.

9

in memoriam

surgery hospital, he struggled to sell it. He knew militaries needed what he was making, but he couldn’t get to the decision makers. He was forced to close the office.

Still, he sprung from the turf and returned to the fray. The breakthrough came in 1995, when he sent a shelter to Panama on spec with some Marines. They bought it, sales increased, and Prusmack’s invention became standard-issue for the Army, Marines and NATO. Jon exhibited it even in death. Since 2001, he’s attacked cancer with the same creativity and dogged determination he deployed as an entrepreneur. Multiple stem-cell transplants did the trick for 15 years, but the cancer came back. This time, doctors told him it was untreatable.

In 2017, he found a treatment anyhow, participating in a clinical trial for a new type of therapy. Once more unto the breach.

A. JON PRUSMACK THE MEASURE OF THE MAN

by Pat Clifton THEY ALL HAVE IT. LIKE A CLASS OPENSIDE FLANKER launches a shoulder into a meaty hip, grappling the ball carrier to the ground only to spring up instantly, readying for another go with no regard for oxygen supply, trailblazers, pioneers and people compelled to do what no one has before, are driven by a supernatural tenacity.

It worked, at first, and Prusmack was given a relatively clean bill of health, for a while. But every flanker makes his final tackle.

In 2005, USA Rugby couldn’t pay its bills. It needed a lifeline, not unlike recent times. The national governing body couldn’t afford to run the USA 7s, a new stop on the World Series, any longer. It had lost heaps of money on the first two tournaments and, with more liabilities than assets, needed to liquidate.

Prusmack, a longtime grassroots rugby man with years of volunteer refereeing and coaching service and now a booming business, rode in on a white steed to buy the tournament, helping save USA Rugby from bankruptcy. He structured the

Phil Knight struggled to secure loans and flirted with going out of business for years birthing Nike. Before famous victories in Trenton and Yorktown, George Washington lost Long Island, Kip’s Bay and White Plains. It’s as though compulsive, unconscious, maximum effort in the face of failure is, above even talent, a genetic marker for greatness.

IN 2010, HE MOVED THE TOURNAMENT TO LAS VEGAS, WHERE AMERICAN RUGBY FOUND ITS PROMISED LAND.

Jon Prusmack had it. He had it as a young man, when hopes of an appointment to West Point or Annapolis never materialized after high school, leading him to pursue gridiron glory at hallowed Notre Dame. When a leg injury stunted that dream, Prusmack set the sights of his compulsive effort on the original target, earning admission to the United States Naval Academy.

deal so the union would get hundreds of thousands of dollars annually forever, whether or not he broke even. He assumed all the risk, delivering a world-class tournament that would be a beacon for the sport in America.

He aimed the same unbridled ambition toward selling bootleg hot dogs in the dorms to fellow midshipmen, ending his time in Annapolis. Still, Prusmack charged forward. He’d be voted most valuable player of NYU’s final football team in 1966, graduating with degrees in art and mathematics.

Jon Prusmack used it to build wealth as an inventor. His Deployable Hospital Systems, the company which would explode to do more than $150 million annually, took over a decade to ignite. He launched it in 1986 and opened an office four years later, but the company toiled. To keep it afloat, he depleted savings, sold off property and filed for dozens of patents.

Once he had a product, DRASH, a deployable rapid assembly

10 February 2019

Most years, he didn’t break even. Still, Prusmack invested millions, moving the tournament from L.A. to San Diego. There, it was played at the home of the Padres, marking the first major international rugby event played on a baseball diamond.

Prusmack was about a dozen years ahead of his time, as the Rugby World Cup 7s was played in a baseball stadium in July, the Eagles are slated to play their second test on a diamond next year, and three Major League Rugby franchises will be operating out of baseball parks in 2019.

In 2010, he moved the tournament to Las Vegas, where American rugby found its promised land. Under Prusmack, tournament attendance more than quadrupled, ballooning to over than 80,000 in 2017. The USA Sevens went from a fledgling event with potential to the Super Bowl of American rugby.

It broke the network television barrier for rugby, too, landing on ABC in 2010 and NBC’s family of networks through 2017.

For years, Prusmack scratched zeroes on checks to put hundreds of hours of rugby on national television, exposing the sport to millions of potential new fans.

Last year, ESPN, the Worldwide Leader, bought the rights to not just the USA Sevens, but the entire World Series.

Thanks to Jon Prusmack, rugby went from being on television only sporadically and sparingly, to buying time for a decade, to being deemed valuable enough by major networks to garner a rights fee. He almost singlehandedly forged rugby the path to a new revenue stream in America.

Now, you can find domestic collegiate, professional and international rugby on national television several times a year.

Since Prusmack began investing in rugby, the best way to watch a match has gone from borderline-legal YouTube links days after the contest to live network television. When it comes to rugby on TV, Prusmack was the rising tide that lifted all boats.

As the USA 7s became sustainable, he didn’t hoard the earnings. He redistributed them throughout the game, donating more than $1 million for Army’s Warrior Field and Navy’s Prusmack Rugby Complex. When the time-honored tradition of the Collegiate All-Americans going overseas was threatened by more of USA Rugby’s financial woes in 2009, he saw to it they went on tour. When the Eagles needed jerseys, he stepped up.

Jon’s interests and talents varied. At Notre Dame, he studied architecture.

At the Naval Academy, he was on track to become an engineer. Degrees in art and mathematics from NYU. He earned master’s degrees in both industrial design and business administration. For years, he worked successfully as a graphic designer.

Just as his academic pursuits crossed over many fields, so did his professional endeavors. Though USA 7s would go on to be his crowning achievement in rugby, his first contribution was in media. He founded “Scrumdown” in 1968, a glossycovered magazine that’d make it four issues before he pulled the plug.

"The sport of #rugby in the US lost one of its biggest backers with the passing of Jon Prusmack; an ageless entrepreneur who let his vision, passion and money work together; he always had 'The Wonder of What's next'. He will be missed." — Joe Favorito

11

Z

TRIBUTES TO A. JON PRUSMACK

by Allyn Freeman [Last month] an obituary for A. Jon Prusmack was in the NY Times. This posting followed a generous outpouring of sympathy and tributes from the world's rugby community on his passing. Many heartfelt comments appeared on the USA Sevens Facebook page.

An in house memorial remembrance was held at United World Sports, the company Jon founded that operates the USA Sevens in Las Vegas, the Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championship (CRC), Rhino Clothing and Equipment and RugbyToday.com. The latter continued the 44-years of rugby articles and commentary when Jon resurrected "Scrumdown" in 1975 in newspaper form after publishing four issues in a glossy magazine format in 1968 and 1969.

He was always ahead of the curve, mounting creative ideas for sport and business, and, often, combining the two. A significant difference between Jon and other entrepreneurs was his commitment to profitability in the long-term. DRASH, the military shelter company he founded, did not reach the black until after ten-years.

At the USA Sevens events in San Diego and Las Vegas, he welcomed friends and VIPs into the owner's box with gracious exuberance. He was especially delighted to see old Westchester RFC teammates, and former players from Manhattan RFC and the New York RFC who made the trips.

Abroad, he had social and commercial visits to the Italian, Emirates and English Rugby Federations, and conducted many meetings in Dublin with World Rugby. He became the voice of rugby in America.

United World Sports is planning a memorial to A. Jon Prusmack at this March's USA Sevens. See ad, back cover.

Allyn Freeman is editor of RugbyToday.

Reprinted with permission.

In 1974, in true Prusmack fashion, he tried again, this time with a cheaper newspaper format. He hired magazine vet and fellow rugby man Ed Hagerty as editor, the publication was rebranded RUGBY Magazine, and it served as the community’s bible, telephone book, classifieds and encyclopedia for 36 years before transitioning exclusively to digital in 2011, eventually becoming Rugby Today.

The creation of American rugby journalism and its contribution to the fabric of the community landed both Prusmack and Hagerty in the U.S. Rugby Hall of Fame in 2013.

Prusmack was the first American to author a book on rugby in 1979 with Rugby: A Guide for Players, Coaches, and Spectators, and he was one of the founding members of the New York Athletic Club’s storied side, serving as an early coach for the club that would eventually spawn many Eagles and claim multiple national championships.

12 February 2019

The accomplished painter’s masterstroke, though, may well be the Collegiate Rugby Championship. Like he saw a market for yet-to-be invented quick-assembly shelters before anyone else, he saw the opportunity to create one for domestic 7s. He acted quickly, launching the inaugural tournament only eight months after 7s was voted into the 2016 Olympics back in 2009.

Before the CRC, college 7s only existed as a rare, boozy pastime between slightly more serious 15s endeavors.

Prusmack’s creation spawned an entirely new category, as teams trained and played Olympic rugby in earnest for the first time ever. The CRC would lend legitimacy to the sport in the landscape of intercollegiate athletics and join USA Sevens in the fight for eyeballs, as it’s been nationally televised since inception. The first year in Ohio, though, the stands were empty.

Prusmack had swung for the fences and missed mightily. Strike one prompted a move to Philadelphia.

Situated on the bank of the Delaware River, crossed by Washington 242 years ago to surprise Hessian mercenaries and take Trenton, Talen Energy Stadium provided a fitting backdrop as Prusmack, boot on the bow, led rugby into the American consciousness. From thin air and humble beginnings, the CRC has grown to attract nearly 30,000 fans annually, provided a breeding ground for future Eagles, and inspired ambition in American rugby.

It also attracted arguably the biggest domestic corporate sponsor the sport’s ever known in Penn Mutual. Since becoming the event's title sponsor in 2013, the 171-year-old life insurance company has supported numerous grassroots rugby organizations and initiatives, putting a rocket launcher on its exposure to a key demographic, college graduates.

Like the indomitable flanker, Prusmack carried American rugby through the hard yards. Phase after phase, he charged toward the gainline, occasionally falling short, but most profoundly, shattering it from time to time, gaining ground on the evermoving goal line of growing the game.

He gave us rugby on television, rugby in stadiums, world-class rugby on American soil, domestic Olympic rugby, every year. He gave generations of ruggers a spotlight, a place for their stories of triumph and endeavor to be told, all while he was humbly reluctant to share his own. He gave and gave and gave.

It wasn’t always easy. Turns out, when you’re willing and able to invest millions toward doing something bold, something new, something groundbreaking, there’s no shortage of people unwilling or incapable of doing the same with very strong, entitled opinions on exactly how you spend yours.

Pioneers take the arrows while paving the way for those who come after. Prusmack certainly took more than his share for the expansion of rugby in America, and the true mark of the man is that, through the hail of enemy fire, he kept coming. Until the very end.

Pat Clifton is lead writer for RugbyToday.com and host of the Rugby PatCast.

Reprinted with permission.

Zinc Combo Fights Aging Diseases When zinc, a trace mineral, is combined with tea, coffee, chocolate and other foods that contain specific antioxidant compounds, it boosts protection against the oxidative stress linked to aging and diseases such as dementia, cancer and heart disease, report researchers from Auburn University, in Alabama, and the University of ErlangenNuremberg,in G e r m a n y .

Z i n c activates a plant compound known as hydroquinone, which boosts foods’ antioxidant properties.

Hydroquinone alone cannot break down harmful free radicals, but when combined with zinc, a type of enzyme is created that helps prevent damage to organs and tissues.

14 February 2019

Immigration to U.S. Lowers Healthy Gut Bacteria People in developing nations have much greater diversity in gut bacteria than Americans, but a University of Minnesota study of U.S. immigrants has found that six to nine months after moving to the U.S. and eating a Western diet, the gut bacteria of those from countries with predominantly non-Western diets changed to match gut bacteria typical of a Western diet, while their gut bacteria became less diverse and less healthy. These effects increased with the duration of U.S. residence and were compounded across generations. The more “Westernized” a woman’s microbiome, the greater her risk of obesity.

anat chant/Shutterstock.com Photo by Ronny Sison on Unsplash

Bitter melon (Momordica charantia), a spiky, cucumber-shaped fruit, has traditionally been used in Asian countries to lower blood sugar. Now, researchers at Universiti Sains Malaysia report that it can significantly improve symptoms and reduce the pain of knee osteoarthritis. Half of 75 patients were given a placebo and the other half 1,500 milligrams three times a day of a bitter melon supplement. After three months, the bitter melon group had significantly fewer symptoms and less knee pain and analgesic use, as well as lowered body weight, body mass index and fasting blood glucose levels.

Harmful bacteria from the genus Mycobacterium have been shown to linger in showerheads and lead to lung infections through inhalation of steam. University of Colorado researchers analyzed 656 biofilms coating the inside of showerheads sent to them by volunteers throughout the U.S. and Europe, and found twice as much mycobacterium in showerheads from households receiving municipal water than in those receiving well water. Chlorine disinfection methods were suspected by the researchers.

Plastic showerheads had levels that were, on average, two times lower than showerheads made of metal or metal and plastic components. “Hot spots” with high levels of mycobacteria—such as Hawaii, southern California, Florida, the upper Midwest and the mid-Atlantic states—generally overlapped regions where mycobacterium-related lung diseases are most prevalent.

Photo by Maddi Bazzocco on Unsplash

Bitter Melon Eases Knee Pain

Harmful Bacteria Linked to Certain Showerheads

Dmitry Bruskov/Shutterstock.com

health briefs

TukkataMoji/Shutterstock.com

The Power of Thank-You Notes

Maxal Tamor/Shutterstock.com

Ashwagandha Normalizes Hypothyroid Levels Ashwagandha, a traditional ayurvedic herb, can significantly improve symptoms of subclinical hypothyroidism, a condition that affects many women, a new double-blind clinical study shows.

Researchers from India’s Sudbhawana Hospital tested 50 patients that had high circulating thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels. For eight weeks, half were given 600 milligrams a day of ashwagandha; the other half were given a placebo. In the treatment group, TSH levels fell by more than 17 percent, T4 levels increased by nearly 20 percent and T3 levels increased by more than 40 percent. “Ashwagandha treatment effectively normalized the serum thyroid indices during the eight-week treatment period in a significant manner,” the report concluded.

Eric Isselee/Shutterstock.com

Sniffing Dogs Can Detect Malaria After years of worldwide decline, malaria is on a worrisome upswing, but researchers from Durham University, in the UK, have found a quick, noninvasive, low-cost detection method: dogs. Trained to s n i f f o u t malaria parasites in socks that West African children wore for one night, the canines correctly identified 70 percent among the infected and 90 percent among the uninfected children.

Practicing gratitude is a healthy habit, yet people often hesitate to write heartfelt thankyou notes to people that have touched their lives. Researchers at the University of Chicago and the University of Texas, in Austin, report that writers underestimate how much people receiving those notes are surprised, happy and appreciative.

The researchers also found that the letter writers were unduly concerned about their ability to express their gratitude skillfully. While the writers worried about choosing the right words, the recipients felt happiness simply through the warmth of the gesture.

Walnut Leaves Improve Diabetic Health In a double-blind study of 40 Type-2 diabetes patients, Iranian researchers gave half of them 200 milligrams of an extract of walnut leaf (Juglans regia) for eight weeks and the other half a placebo. Although the walnut leaf extract had no significant effect on their blood glucose levels or insulin resistance, it significantly lowered systolic blood pressure and body weight in the patients.

Yoga Therapy:

Adapting the therapeutic practices of yoga to the needs of the individual suffering specific or persistent health challenges.

Specializing in Trauma, Anxiety, Back Care and Women’s Health

downdogdiagnostics.com 702-768-2906 15

health briefs

film brief

Screen Time Doubles Kids’ Risk of Anxiety and Depression

Nuts Improve Blood Vessel Health

Holy Basil Fights Tooth Infection

Tulsi (Ocimum sanctum), an Indian herb also known as holy basil, has been proven effective in studies in reducing stress, lowering blood sugar and healing wounds. Now, research from India’s Rishiraj College of Dental Sciences has found that tulsi essential oil, used as a disinfectant, significantly reduced infection levels following root canals of primary molars in a study of 40 children. Although a triple antibiotic cream had better antibiotic properties, the researchers recommended tulsi for longstanding infections and to avoid antibiotic reactions and overuse.

16 February 2019

Michael Bloomberg at the special advance screening of Paris to Pittsburgh.

Changing Landscapes Climate Change Documentary Seeks Consensus

National Geographic Documentary Films, in partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies and RadicalMedia, has released the new film Paris to Pittsburgh (free at NatGeoTV.com), a tribute to the impassioned efforts of individuals battling the most severe threats of climate change in their own backyards. Set against the national debate over the United States’ energy future and the Trump administration’s decision to exit the Paris Climate Agreement, the film captures what’s at stake for communities around the country and the inspiring ways Americans are responding. The film, which premiered in December in 172 countries in 43 languages, is directed and produced by Emmy Award winner Sidney Beaumont and Emmy-nominated filmmaker Michael Bonfiglio.

It features local leaders and everyday citizens telling the stories behind climate-related recovery and resiliency. The documentary illustrates the tireless innovative efforts to reduce carbon emissions, including those in former coal boomtowns such as Pittsburgh, where Mayor Bill Peduto says, “There are now more jobs in renewable energy in the state of Pennsylvania than coal, natural gas and oil combined.”

Pitipat Wongprasit/Shutterstock.com

Munching on almonds and walnuts significantly increases blood vessel dilation and reduces artery plaque, say West Virginia University scientists. In a two-day study, 27 overweight volunteers ate 77 grams of almonds (about 2.5 handfuls) along with their lunch one day; on another day, they ate 60 grams of walnuts (about two handfuls) with lunch. Measurements taken four hours after each meal found that both diets significantly increased blood vessel dilation and lowered markers of artery plaque. Both types of nuts also reduced heart rate and systolic blood pressure among the volunteers.

Jula Store/Shutterstock.com

Tatyana Vyc/Shutterstock.com

Children and teens that spend more than seven hours a day on screens have twice the risk of being diagnosed with anxiety or depression compared to those that spend one hour a day similarly engaged, concluded a San Diego State University study of more than 40,000 youngsters.

#STRONG

eco tips

FREE BONE SCAN • FREE CONSULTATION

Tips for a Tree-Free Home Many Ways to Pare Down Paper Use

If one in five households switched to electronic bills, statements and payments, the collective impact would save 151 million pounds of paper annually, eliminating 8.6 million full garbage bags and 2 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions, according to the PayItGreen Alliance. While computers continue to offer significant environmental benefits, there are other “tree-mendous” things we can do to conserve forest resources. n Paper bags can be substituted for plastic bags as trash can liners and serve as compost-ready receptacles for fruit and vegetable scraps. ChasingGreen.org describes many ways to reuse paper bags after cutting them along the seams; use them to wrap gifts and shipping boxes or let the kids paint or draw on them. n Use the blank side of sales receipts, envelopes, shopping lists and other paper scraps to jot down todo lists, notes and more. The family can keep a small pile that everyone can tap into.

# B O N EH E A D # S T R O N GM E

7 MINUTES, ONCE A WEEK

NO PAIN ALL GAIN We can help you prevent/reverse osteoporosis, relieve joint pain & improve strength and balance!

7 MINUTES, ONCEAWEEK

NOPAINALL GAIN Mention “Natural Vegas”

&

2 FREE Sessions!

Receive

702-992-0574

3742 E Tropicana Ave., Ste 1, LV | www.osteostrong.me

n Replace paper napkins and towels with cloth napkins or portions of old T-shirts that can be washed and reused.

violetkaipa/Shutterstock.com

n Choose paper products that are gentle on the Earth in how they are made. TreeZero Inc. ( TreeZero. com ) markets, supplies and distributes 100 percent carbonneutral paper made from recycled sugarcane waste fiber. n Consider “branching out” and help protect trees that are being threatened by overharvesting, development and the effects of climate change by supporting the Alliance for Community Trees (ACTrees.org), a national nonprofit that plants trees in communities across the nation.

Get the shovels ready to pitch in when the Arbor Day Foundation (ArborDay.org) celebrates its 148th annual tree-planting events on April 26—especially important this year due to the destruction of many trees from recent hurricanes and fires.

GET HONEYCOMB

RSO

www.evencannabis.com @evencannabis KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN FOR USE ONLY BY ADULTS 21 YEARS OF AGE AND OLDER.

17

global briefs

Bug Apocalypse

Fish Revival

Following the removal two years ago of an obsolete dam in Manville, New Jersey, American shad are successfully spawning in the lower section of the Millstone River. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) recently observed juvenile fish there for the first time since 1845. American shad (Alosa sapidissima) are the largest member of the herring family and are anadromous, as they spend most of their lives in saltwater, but return to freshwater rivers each spring to spawn.

They played an important role in American history and economics.

New Jersey Department of Emvironmental Protection Commissioner Catherine McCabe says, “This species has an inherent tendency to recolonize once obstacles are removed from its migratory path.” During the Industrial Revolution, rivers were dammed for electric power and lakes, but during the last decade, dam removal has become a new call to action. Besides preventing fish migrations, dams also harm water quality in rivers by blocking water flow, trapping sediment and changing habitats.

Horse Sense

Wild Horses Ride Out the Storm North Carolina’s free-roaming wild horse herds on the Outer Banks have “ridden out” their share of storms. When Hurricane Florence struck the area in 2018, the Corolla Wild Horse Fund of Currituck County, where the herd lives, announced on Facebook, “The horses have lived on this barrier island for 500 years, and they are wellequipped to deal with rough weather. They know where to go to stay high and dry, and are probably in better shape right now than most of us humans, who are scrambling with final preparations.” Historians believe the herds, which number about 100 horses, descend from those brought to the New World by European explorers.

Instincts dating back five centuries compel the feral mustangs to either huddle on high ground, butts to the wind, or seek refuge in the maritime forest during storms, say experts. But news has come of a Shackleford Banks horse named Merlin that was fenced in an inundated quarantine site during the storm, according to the Foundation for Shackleford Horses. Merlin somehow survived, and it “may have involved swimming,” says Margaret Poindexter, president of the foundation that co-manages the herd on National Park Service land.

18 February 2019

Hein Nouwens/Shutterstock.com

Shad Return After 174-Year Absence

Patricia Camerota/Shutterstock.com

Insects around the world are in a crisis, and a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that the problem is even more widespread than scientists first believed. In a pristine rain forest in Puerto Rico, the number of invertebrates—including moths, butterflies, spiders and grasshoppers—dropped 60-fold between 1977 and 2013, probably due to a four-degree rise in average temperature. The lizards, birds and frogs that fed on them also seriously declined. In 2014, an international team of biologists estimated that globally in the past 35 years, the numbers of invertebrates such as beetles and bees had decreased by 45 percent.

Another recent study showed a 76 percent decrease in flying insects in the past few decades in German nature preserves. The food web may be being obliterated from the bottom: Insects pollinate three-quarters of our food crops, feed the birds and fish that are also consumed by larger species and are vital to the decomposition that keeps soil healthy and ecosystems running. “Nature’s resilient, but we’re pushing her to such extremes that eventually it will cause a collapse of the system,” Brad Lister, a co-author of the Puerto Rican study, told the New York Times.

Guy42/Shutterstock.com

Sharp Decline Threatens Ecosystem

Bat Cave Rescue

Mind Meld

A cold-loving fungus known as white-nose syndrome (Pseudogymnoascus destructans) originating in Eurasia, where bats evolved to develop immunity to it, began infecting 15 species of hibernating bats in North America in 2006. As the fungus grows over bats’ noses and wings, it disrupts their winter sleep, causing them to expend too much energy and burn up fat they need for winter survival. More than 6 million bats have succumbed to the disease so far. Some species are experiencing near total collapse: Little brown bat populations have been decimated by about 90 percent, while tricolored and northern long-eared bats are suffering losses of around 97 percent. Ecologists thought the fungus might halt at the Rockies, but by 2016 it had made its way to Washington State.

A collaboration between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, biologists, ecologists, mycologists, biochemists and other scientists at universities, NGOs and state, federal and tribal agencies have made significant progress in combating the fungus using genomics: Sequencing its genes has allowed them to determine its origin. Plans include treating the caves and mines in which the bats hibernate. It also appears that some species are developing resistance to the fungus or developing coping strategies, like waking up together every night to generate extra group warmth.

Scientists are trying to translate speech-paralyzed patients’ thoughts into speech using brain implants.

The technique will potentially provide a brain/ computer interface (BCI) to enable people with a spinal cord injury, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, stroke or other paralyzing conditions to “talk” again. Experts think a system that decodes whether a person is silently saying yes, no, hungry, pain or water is now within reach, thanks to parallel advances in neuroscience, engineering and machine learning. “We think we’re getting enough of an understanding of the brain signals that encode silent speech that we could soon make something practical,” says Brian Pasley, of the University of California, Berkeley.

The first BCI read electrical signals in the motor cortex corresponding to the intention to move, and used software to translate the signals into instructions to operate a computer cursor or robotic arm.

In 2016, scientists at the University of Pittsburgh went a step further, adding sensors to a mindcontrolled robotic arm so it produced sensations of touch.

Triff/Shutterstock.com

Art13/Shutterstock.com

Promising Progress Against Disease

Translating Thoughts Into Speech

GET HONEYCOMB

RSO

SHATTER

SAP

www.evencannabis.com @evencannabis

VAPES

CLEAR

KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN FOR USE ONLY BY ADULTS 21 YEARS OF AGE AND OLDER.

19

21

Heart of a Woman The Right Choices Keep It Strong

22 February 2019

Photo by Sawit Reelyaon on Adobe Stock

by Lisa Marshall

SOMETIME BETWEEN THE SALAD AND THE MAIN COURSE AT HER grandson’s bar mitzvah, Joyce Lenard, then 69, felt a crushing pressure deep within her chest. A tireless go-getter who had worked in Hillary Clinton’s district office when she was a U.S. senator, raised two daughters and recently donated a kidney to one of them, Lenard had spent months painstakingly planning the 100-guest gala, so when the pain came, she ignored it and got on with the party.

She even drove herself to her Long Island home that night. “I just assumed I was having indigestion and it would pass,” Lenard recalls.

Hours later, her husband rushed her to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with a rare, often-fatal form of heart attack, takotsubo cardiomyopathy, in which intense stress literally changes the shape of the heart. Thankful to be alive, she has since taken up meditation, cleaned up her diet and now leads a support group for female heart patients of all ages. Like her, many of them never saw it coming.

“Women tend to be the caregivers,” says Lenard. “We take care of our husbands, our families, our friends, our careers, and we often forget about our own health. Then look what happens.” Lenard is among the 44 million U.S. women with cardiovascular disease, an insidious illness that until recently has been erroneously framed as a “man’s disease”. In reality, it is the number one killer of women, responsible for one in three deaths each year, according to the American Heart Association (AHA). By comparison, one in 26 women die of breast cancer.

While awareness has risen since 2004, when AHA launched its Go Red for Women campaign, surveys show only 17 percent of women view cardiovascular disease as something that should concern them. It should, experts say, because 80 to 90 percent of cases are avoidable with lifestyle and dietary changes. In some cases, natural remedies can even reverse it. “We have all this sophisticated equipment and all these medications, but when it comes down to it, the vast majority of cardiovascular disease can be prevented,” says integrative cardiologist Christina Adams, M.D., of the Scripps Women’s Heart Center, in La Jolla, California.

KNOW RISKS AND ADDRESS THEM EARLY In the late 1990s, researchers discovered women were about as likely as men to be diagnosed with the disease, and far more likely to die from it. “They didn’t have the classic signs and symptoms, so they often went undiagnosed and untreated,” explains Jennifer Mieres, M.D., a cardiology professor at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, in New York.

Along with chest pain, women often suffer fatigue, shortness of breath, indigestion, pain in the neck, back or jaw, nausea or anxiety in the months leading up to a heart attack. In more than half of the cases, according to one recent study in the journal Circulation, doctors fail to recognize these symptoms.

Then there is the “not now” factor. “I used to see women all the time who said, ‘I have had these symptoms for months, but I just didn’t have time to take care of it,’” says Mieres, co-author of Heart Smart for Women: Six S.T.E.P.S. in Six Weeks to Heart-Healthy Living.

Recent research has also shown that women are uniquely vulnerable to developing heart disease in ways that men don’t share. Taking birth control pills (especially while smoking) can boost risk. Complications during pregnancy such as preeclampsia and gestational diabetes can be hard on the heart, increasing vulnerability for years to come. Because estrogen is believed to be cardio-protective, when it wanes during perimenopause and menopause, risk goes up again.

23

Z

FOOD NOT MEDS Thirty years after the first cholesterol-lowering medication hit the market, so-called statin drugs have become the largest class of medications in the world, with U.S. sales doubling between 2000 and 2010 to reach $20 billion, according to the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. While drugs can be appropriate for those already diagnosed with heart disease and at high risk of heart attack or stroke, they are not without serious side effects. Statins can cause chronic muscle pain, memory loss and increased blood sugar, while hypertension drugs can precipitate fainting and kidney damage.

For many patients, there’s another way, integrative cardiologists say. Unfortunately, most of the talk about prevention focuses on prescription medications, says Stephen Devries, M.D., executive director of the Chicagobased Gaples Institute for Integrative Cardiology. “What often gets lost in the discussion are the dietary changes, which can be equally important.”

Devries recommends a plant-based Mediterranean diet— low in the saturated fat found in beef, processed meats and cheese—and high in leafy greens, whole grains and the “good” fats found in fatty fish, olive oil and avocados.

Specific foods have also been shown to lower cholesterol and blood pressure.

NUTS, including walnuts, peanuts and almonds, have been shown to lower LDL. One 2017 study of 77,000 female nurses, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, found those that ate peanuts or tree nuts (including almonds and cashews) two or more times per week had a 19 percent lower risk of developing heart disease. Those that ate walnuts once a week cut their risk by 23 percent.

DARK PURPLE AND RED FRUITS contain compounds called anthocyanins that boost production of nitric oxide, and in turn expand blood vessels, improving circulation. Another recent study, published in the journal Circulation, followed 94,000 women for 18 years and found those that ate four servings or more per week of blueberries and strawberries were a third less likely to have a heart attack.

POMEGRANATEs are also key for heart health, with recent research published in the journal Clinical Nutrition showing a daily serving of juice can make platelets less sticky, lower blood pressure and reduce plaque formation.

DARK LEAFY GREENS like kale and broccoli—which are rich in vitamin K—play an important role in fostering a

24 February 2019

healthy heart structure, with each serving per week cutting the risk of heart disease by 23 percent, according to the Gaples Institute.

NURTURING THE EMOTIONAL HEART No discussion of heart health would be complete without an emphasis on social and emotional health, a critical risk factor which until recently has been largely absent, says Sandeep Jauhar, M.D., director of the Heart Failure Program at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center, and author of the new book, Heart: A History.

But research shows the emotional heart can break, too, as in Lenard’s case. With as many as 90 percent of incidents occurring in women, the condition that landed her in the emergency room often shows up in patients with no signs of obstructed blood vessels or high cholesterol. Rather, factors like financial worries, work stress or the death of or break-up with a loved one can flood the heart with stress hormones, changing its shape to one that resembles a Japanese pot called a takotsubo and weakening it profoundly. “Remarkably, in many cases, once the emotional state returns to normal, so does the heart,” says Jauhar.

Longer-term, emotional stress has been shown to lead to platelet aggregation, or stickiness in the blood, which can impact blood flow. Also, constant bombardment by stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol can damage the inner walls of blood vessels, boosting accumulation of plaque.

To nurture the metaphorical heart, integrative cardiologists recommend taking time to maintain healthy personal relationships and minimize work stress. As well, exercising five to six days per week for at least 30 minutes and practicing activities like mindfulness meditation or yoga have been shown to lower heart rate. A recent study published in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes looked at 201 people with coronary heart disease. It found those that practiced meditation were 50 percent less likely to die or have a heart attack or stroke in the span of five years.

Finding quiet spaces to retreat to can also be important.

A study published in November by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, in Boston, found that living and working in chronically noisy environments can boost the risk for heart problems. It is also wise to prioritize sleep (at least seven hours per night), because the lack of it can inflame arteries.

The bottom line is that a holistic approach is best, says Jauhar. “If you want to live a long life, don’t smoke, eat well and exercise, but also pay attention to the quality of your relationships and your ability to withstand stress and transcend distress. Those are also a matter of life and death.”

Lisa Marshall is a freelance health writer in Boulder, CO. Connect at LisaAnnMarshall.com.

Z

“As soon as we hit menopause, our biological milieu starts to change,” says Mieres, noting that “good” cholesterol tends to decrease and “bad” cholesterol (LDL) and triglycerides tend to increase. Yet, arterial plaque—which can ultimately build up, break loose and cause a heart attack or stroke— starts accumulating as early as age 20, so the earlier women start paying attention, the better.

Photo by Motoki Tonn on Unsplash

Photo by Louis Hansel on Unsplash

Photo by Vitchakorn Koonyosying on Unsplash

Z

25

SUPPLEMENTS FOR A HEALTHY HEART RED YEAST RICE EXTRACT: This over-the-counter (OTC) extract, commonly used in Chinese medicine, has been shown to significantly lower both total cholesterol and LDL, or “bad” cholesterol levels, much like a statin does. Studies show 1.2 to 2.4 grams per day can reduce cholesterol by 26 percent in 12 weeks.

OMEGA-3 FATTY ACIDS: Eating fatty fish or taking fish oil supplements (one to four grams daily of EPA/DHA) has been shown to reduce risk of heart disease in healthy people and lower triglyceride levels and risk of heart attack in those already diagnosed with cardiovascular disease. Walnuts, chia, hemp and flax seeds are excellent vegan sources of Omega-3s.

COENZYME Q10: Found in small amounts in organ meats, sardines, cauliflower and asparagus, this powerful antioxidant—also available in OTC supplements—can lower blood pressure and help combat the side effects of statins.

NICOTINAMIDE RIBOSIDE: Fairly new on the supplement scene, this compound, known as NR, has been shown to mimic the beneficial impacts of calorie restriction, improving blood pressure and arterial health in those with mild hypertension.

Photo by Julia Caesar on Unsplash

GARLIC: Some studies suggest that garlic, either fresh or in supplements, can lower cholesterol and blood pressure.

26 February 2019

The ONLY Natural Wellness Spa in Las Vegas

Cheri Petroni, Founder

Organic • Holistic • Harmony True harmonic beauty comes through the balance of your physical, emotional, mental and spiritual energy bodies. Oasis to Zen Wellness Center and Transformation Spa is for those interested in experiencing holistic body treatments, energy work, organic beauty and holistic skin care treatments, warm stone, therapeutic or sound massage sessions and deeper level nutrition coaching and inner care mentorship.

Refill, renew and restore from the inside out. Connect to an inner child light and beauty with advanced wellness programs, relax and restore during spa retreats, experience treatments, natural private skin care products,The Belief Clearing Process® still or active meditation and fulfilling classes and workshops.

Come to the Center where Inner and Outer Beauty Become One

Open Daily by Appointment 5715 W. Alexander, Suite 140, Las Vegas, NV 89130 702-491-6035 l OasisToZen.com 27

wise words

ken page on

MAKING LOVE LAST

by Emily Courtney

KEN PAGE IS A LICENSED CLINICAL SOCIAL WORKER, psychotherapist and author of Deeper Dating: How to Drop the Games of Seduction and Discover the Power of Intimacy. A relationship, intimacy and dating expert, he has led hundreds of workshops on intimacy and spirituality and taught at Columbia University, the Omega Institute and the Garrison Institute. Page also hosts the Deeper Dating Podcast (DeeperDatingPodcast.com).

WHAT ARE CORE GIFTS, AND WHAT ROLE DO THEY PLAY IN THE SEARCH FOR LASTING LOVE? In my decades of work as a psychotherapist and coach, I’ve come to realize again and again that the qualities people feel most embarrassed or awkward about—their deepest insecurities—are some of their greatest gifts.

These Core Gifts are like secret parts of ourselves that we often want to hide because we feel so vulnerable around them. But these gifts are where we have the greatest sensitivity and passion; they’re the things we feel and care the most deeply about and the keys to finding someone who really loves us for who we are. When we learn to lead with and cherish our Core Gifts instead of hiding them away, the story of our romantic life completely changes.

But the opposite is true, too. Suppressing our gifts is actually an act of quiet violence against our most authentic self, and it always leads us into situations where we end up feeling diminished or hurt. The degree to which we feel ashamed of those vulnerable parts of ourselves is the degree to which we’re going to be attracted to people who are bad for us.

28 February 2019

HOW CAN WE MOVE PAST OUR INSECURITIES TO DISCOVER AND HONOR OUR CORE GIFTS? If you find yourself repeatedly attracted to people who don’t treasure you for who you are, there are Core Gift qualities you haven’t learned to honor. Anywhere you’re insecure, you can ask yourself questions that really change the way you think about yourself. What might be the gift that lies inside this insecurity, and how have I not honored it? Who are the people in my life who have valued my gifts, and how did that feel?

You can also discover your Core Gifts by asking yourself what sensitivities keep getting stepped on or neglected—those are qualities you haven’t learned to treasure enough yet.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN WHAT YOU CALL ATTRACTIONS OF INSPIRATION AND ATTRACTIONS OF DEPRIVATION? This is perhaps the most important distinction you can make in your search for love. Attractions of Deprivation are attractions to people who are only sometimes available to love and treat you well, but you become deeply invested in trying to get them to love you because you’re unconsciously trying to heal old childhood wounds through the relationship.

But there are also Attractions of Inspiration; these are people who inspire you by who they are in the world and how they treat you and others. When you start really learning how to honor and lead with your Core Gifts, your attractions change.

You’ll start becoming attracted to available people who love you for who you are.

Photo by Drobot Dean on Adobe Stock

Deciding to say no to Attractions of Deprivation to only pursue Attractions of Inspiration is quite simply the most important decision you’ll ever make in your search for healthy love.

WHAT IS THE WAVE OF DISTANCING, AND HOW CAN IT SABOTAGE RELATIONSHIPS?

The Wave is fear, because something deep inside you knows that this person could be special, and to open yourself up to and possibly be hurt by a kind person is a very scary thing. So your psyche unconsciously protects you by making you want to flee, and if you don’t understand this, then you may leave what could be a wonderful relationship.

If you do understand it, you’ll come to realize that like a wave, it hits hard, but then passes. If you can stick around long enough and just keep enjoying that person throughout the Wave, those feelings will disappear and the attraction will return.

Emily Courtney is a freelance health and wellness writer and editor living in northern Colorado.

Connect at EmilyCourtneyWrites@gmail.com.

Photo by YakobchukOlena on Adobe Stock

The Wave of Distancing is the single greatest saboteur of healthy love that I know of. If you haven’t yet learned to honor your Core Gifts, you’ll want to flee when you meet Attractions of Inspiration who are available and kind. You may begin noticing qualities about them that irritate you and find yourself wanting to leave—this is what I call the Wave.

29

Are you creative, driven and passionate about healthy living?

Inspire others to make choices that benefit themselves and the world around them by becoming a Natural Awakenings publisher.

Learn more today:

239-530-1377 NaturalAwakeningsMag.com/Franchise

This is a meaningful home-based business opportunity that provides extensive training and ongoing support.

No previous publishing experience is required.

Claim your ability. Together we can save the world one happy ending at a time.

LEARN TO COMMUNICATE WITH ANIMALS IN TWELVE WEEKS PRE ORDER TODAY at DogsandBooks.com “Our animal companions tell us what is most important to them.

But, you can only hear them speak if you learn to listen. Imagine knowing what makes your animal companion happy or what hurts.

Be comforted in the certainty that your pet is ready to cross over. Or, learn how you can help them, help you. Their love saves us every day.

When we claim our ability to hear them speak, we claim the power to save them, too.” – Babette de Jongh

For more information about award-winning author, animal communicator and teacher Babette de Jongh, visit HearThemSpeak.com or BabettedeJongh.com

inspirations

A Common Heart Song Whales Point the Way

Hand-crafted by Sean Walking Bear, Native American artist and Spiritual practitioner

by Mark Nepo

therattlemaker.com

version 2.pdf 1 03-Jan-19 11:41:06 PM

Get Ask about our “Get Started JUST AS WHALES ARE BORN WITH AN INSTINCT FOR THE DEEP, WE ARE BORN Started Package” for with an impulse toward creating a quality of life. No matter the type of work that Package leads us there, following that impulse is the destiny of each soul, so we search to find our medium through which aliveness can express itself. Following our instinct for the deep, we find each other.

Includes 2 Private Lessons

Include private lesson *for 2new students only for new student only

In areas of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, whales sing basically the same song, and when a new verse is added, they all incorporate it. As humans, we have a greater capacity to communicate, yet we resist adding to our common song.

C

Whales occupying the same geographical areas that may include large oceans tend to sing similar songs with local variations, but whales from other regions of the world will sing entirely different songs. Once united, though, they find a common pitch. The songs are constantly evolving over time, and old patterns are not repeated. In essence, whales stay current, freshly updating their communications with each other. It’s a noble task for us all to emulate.

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

Most whales, especially humpbacks, compose patterns of sound that are strikingly resonant with human musical traditions. What helps whales be such good communicators is that sound travels about four times faster in water than on land.

Thus, it is profoundly easier to hear in the deep. Dwelling there, we have a better chance of staying current and hearing our common song.

When we follow our instinct for the deep, we discover our common song, which brings us alive. Through this unfolding, we make our contribution to the common good. From generation to generation, all that we learn and create adds to this living work of art we call a quality of life.

Adapted excerpt from More Together than Alone, by Mark Nepo. Connect at MarkNepo.com and ThreeIntentions.com.

“Every moment of our life can be the beginning of great things.”

– Joseph Pilates

702-333-0421

info@pilateszones.com

2960 S. Durango Dr., Suite #111

31

healing ways

Amazing Embrace The Healing Power of Hugs

by April Thompson HUGS DON’T JUST FEEL GOOD; THEY DO GOOD. A SIMPLE

embrace can boost our health and mood, connect us spiritually and even help mend society.

Hugs and other types of affectionate touching can provide numerous benefits in the face of threats or stress, according to Michael Murphy, Ph.D., a researcher with the Laboratory for the Study of Stress, Immunity, and Disease at Carnegie Mellon University, in Pittsburgh. “The research shows that touch behaviors like hugs reduce negative responses to threats and make people feel happier, more secure and more supported.”

In a study of 404 adults, Carnegie Mellon researchers looked at how social support and hugs affected participants’ susceptibility to the common cold after being exposed to the virus. “People experiencing lots of conflict are more likely to get a cold when exposed to a virus,” says Murphy. “But individuals who also tend to receive lots of hugs appear protected from this additional risk.”

A PRIMAL NEED FOR CONNECTION Mata Amritanandamayi, a 65-year-old Indian spiritual leader better known as Amma, has hugged tens of millions of people around the world, earning her the nickname, “the hugging saint.”

Photo by Shalom Mwenesi on Unsplash

Amma’s tradition of hugging people grew organically, from hugging someone she noticed in distress, to how she receives massive crowds clamoring for one of her loving, compassionate embraces.

32 February 2019

“A hug is a gesture that reveals the spiritual truth that, ‘We are not two—we are one,’” says Swami Amritaswarupananda, one of Amma’s senior disciples. “In today’s world, where people often feel alienated and lonely, a hug can uplift and make us feel reconnected to the people and world around us.”

Intention is key to the exchange of energy that occurs with a hug, says Amritaswarupananda. “What is important is the sincerity behind the action—the genuine feeling of love and compassion. A simple glance or mere touch of the hand can have that same power to make us feel whole if that genuine, heartfelt connection is there.”

BRIDGING DIVIDES WITH A HUG While Murphy cautions that the jury is out on the effects of hugs on strangers, as most research has been done on embraces between loved ones, Ken Nwadike, Jr. has built a national campaign around the concept. Known as the “free hugs guy,” the former competitive runner began offering up hugs during the 2014 Boston Marathon, the year after the deadly bombing. Nwadike has since brought the Free Hugs Project to more divisive spaces, from political rallies to protests, offering hugs to all to spread love and inspire change.

Photo by 13 Moons

Hugs tap into that fundamental human need to belong, says Murphy. “Hugs and other forms of affectionate touch act as powerful reminders that we belong. “These behaviors also turn down our biological response to stress and may even improve how our immune system works.” For example, researchers think that touching might trigger our body to release oxytocin, a hormone that can reduce fear and improve social bonding, Murphy notes. Hugs and the associated oxytocin release can have powerful ripple effects in the body, decreasing heart rate and levels of stress hormones cortisol and norepinephrine, along with improving immune function and pain tolerance. Oxytocin can also trigger the release of feel-good hormones like serotonin and dopamine.

Consent is always important, and not everyone appreciates an unsolicited hug.

But like compliments, hugs are free to give and usually well received. As humans, we bear arms that were built not to harm, but to heal.

Connect with freelance writer April Thompson, of Washington, D.C., at AprilWrites.com.

Photo by 13 Moons

The Los Angeles activist’s all-embracing hugs are a symbol of unconditional love, respect and unity at a time when tensions and political divisions are running high. For Nwadike, hugs are a way of de-escalating conflict and mending the human divide.

“Communities are divided because of fear, hatred and misunderstanding. Starting the conversation with kindness, rather than hatred, will get us a lot further,” he says.

33

walking the sacred earth

PART ONE

The Foundational Shamanic Art and Magic of Smudging

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

by Sean Walking Bear Native American Spiritual/Shamanic Practitioner

Spiritual teaching, ceremony, healing and prayer for others to build an army of Spiritual Warriors and practitioners.

PROLOGUE I once offered a ‘Smudging 101’ class that offered over 30 years of knowledge of Native American Medicine Men, plants, smudging, theory, ritual, the supernatural, teachings and stories. No one signed up. I offered the same class but titled it ‘Advanced Smudging.’ The class sold out.

The lesson here was not for me, but a definite indication of how much people think they know about smudging and how little that turns out to be. This, at least, is their understanding when they become overwhelmed with several years of spiritual and shamanic

34 February 2019

knowledge all at once.

Ancient knowledge that was once out of reach has suddenly become available. The hidden spiritual teachings they crave are consumed and they hunger for more. I offer these teachings to enrich your spiritual foundation with authentic knowledge and practice.

MAGIC AND MEDICINE Since time immemorial, smudges and incense have been an integral part of many spiritual practices and religions around the world. Native American Tribes use hundreds of different smudges.

Incenses are mentioned biblically. They are used daily in Buddhist and Indian rituals. Smudges are a formidable tool in Spiritual Warfare. This all confirms that this is a powerful and necessary resource in the spiritual universe.

But, what is smudging and why must we do it? First, we must discuss the natural forms of medicines. Recognize the elemental forms of delivery from plant to medicinal compound. We drink the liquid form as teas, syrups, tinctures and tonics. We ingest the solid form as roots, leaves, tablets and powders. We now must recognize their gaseous or air form when they are combusted—

smudges and incenses. We burn these medicines to utilize their sacred smoke to clear and bless spaces, homes, ourselves and the large empty spaces comprising everything. We chase away evil spirits and negative energies. We inhale and/or swallow the smoke to heal, bless and clear internally. We use them to clear our inner temple and replenish ourselves with blessings and light.

The sacred plants that provide us with medicines are considered very sacred in the plant kingdom. The hallmark of a sacred plant is most or all parts of it can be used as an elemental form of medicine. They are considered powerful spiritual beings that often appeared to ancient shaman. They would pray and fast to be shown medicines to heal those who were suffering from disease or curses. These spiritual beings still visit seekers to this day. They often appear during sweat lodges, pipe ceremony or dreams. They reveal an image of the plant and where it may be found—but force you to do the rest of the work. You are lucky if a Medicine Man who gathers plants recognizes the plant and knows where to obtain it. Sadly, much of the plants, their usage, and preparation have been forgotten.

Can our modern Shaman reclaim this lost knowledge?

PROTOCOL AND UNWRITTEN RULES Many practitioners wonder how and where they can obtain real sacred medicines. It’s good practice to be wary of the way these plants were harvested and if done in prayer and respect.

There is a vast difference in sacred harvesting and desecration.

One maintains its blessed properties and is offered to you in sacrifice; usually the protocol is to exchange for tobacco and/ or prayers. The other way is to reap and rip from the Earth with no exchange and in disrespect for the plant’s life. This is utter desecration and disconnects its blessed properties from the Heavens.

Photo by Cristina Pop on Unsplash

SACRED PLANT SPIRITS

When purchasing these plants, you can practice proper protocol to restore its power and sacredness. Pray over the plant, show gratitude for its sacrifice and ask for its sacred properties to be restored, reconnected and blessed. Even the most desecrated of plants cry out for prayers and renewal.

Their magic is never permanently lost.

Next article, we will discuss Sacred Plant usage, burning, practice, and the sacred art of smudging…

Sean Walking Bear is an accomplished Native American artist, actor and Spiritual practitioner. He is also a creator of sacred, spiritual and ceremonial tools of the Shaman. For more information, visit TheRattleMaker.com. See ad, page 31 and listings in the Community Resource Guide.

35

Brent Hofacker/Shutterstock.com

conscious eating

Recipes a Heart Will Love Tasty Ways to Boost Heart Health

by Avery Mack AS A SPECIAL MEAL FOR VALENTINE’S DAY OR ANY other, many plant-based dishes are so tasty that no one will miss the meat. Low in fat and sugar and high in ingredients that promote heart health, the following recipes are courtesy of Carol D’Anca, a board-certified nutrition practitioner and author of Real Food for Healthy People: A Recipe & Resource Guide, in Highland Park, Illinois.

START WITH SOUP Rich in dietary fiber and low in fat, butternut squash with low-salt vegetable broth and spices is an easy-to-make soup loaded with nutrients and flavor. Allow 40 to 45 minutes to roast the squash.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP Yields: Four servings

1 butternut squash, 2-3 lbs, peeled and cut in cubes to equal 4 cups 3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth Dash red pepper flakes Freshly ground black pepper Pepitas or pumpkin seeds for garnish Preheat oven to 425° F. Line a heavy baking pan with parchment paper. Spread squash cubes in a single layer, using two lined pans if needed. Roast for about 40 minutes or until tender when pierced with a fork.

Alternate method: Wash the squash. Make several slits to allow for escaping steam. Roast whole in the oven for about 45 minutes or until soft and easy to peel and cut.

Transfer the roasted squash to a food processor or heavy-

36 February 2019

duty blender. Add remaining ingredients and process until smooth. Add additional broth to reach desired consistency.

Divide into four bowls. For texture and crunch, garnish with roasted pepita or pumpkin seeds.

HEARTY BREAD This whole-grain, gluten-free, no-knead, no-mess bread contains flax, sunflower and chia seeds, hazelnuts, oats, coconut oil and maple syrup as a sweetener. Accompanying soup, it makes for a satisfying meal.

This recipe is adapted from “Change Your Life Bread” in D’Anca’s book My New Roots.

CHANGE YOUR LIFE BREAD Yields: One loaf

2 cups shelled raw sunflower seeds 1 cup whole flax seeds 1 cup blanched hazelnuts 3 cups rolled oats (use certified gluten-free oats, if needed) 4 Tbsp chia seeds 6 Tbsp psyllium husks Pinch fresh ground coarse salt, preferably Himalayan 2 Tbsp maple syrup 6 Tbsp coconut oil, liquefied at low temperature in a small pan 3 cups water In a loaf pan lined with parchment, combine all dry ingredients, stirring well. Whisk maple syrup and water together in a measuring cup.

Let it sit on the counter for at least two hours, or all day or overnight. When the dough retains its shape even when you pull the sides of the loaf pan or lift the parchment, it’s ready to bake.

Preheat oven to 350° F. Place loaf pan in the oven on the middle rack and bake for 20 minutes. Remove bread from loaf pan, place it upside down directly on the rack and bake for another 30 to 40 minutes.

Bread is done when it sounds hollow when tapped. Let cool completely before slicing.

Store bread in a tightly sealed container for up to five days.

Freezes well. For quick and easy toast, slice before freezing.

Photo by mokee81/AdobeStock.com

Add to the dry ingredients and mix until everything is soaked and dough becomes thick. If it’s too thick to stir, add one or two teaspoons of water until it’s manageable. Smooth the top with the back of a spoon.

Pasta is guilt-free when we use a whole wheat variety that digests more slowly than white flour pasta, avoiding blood sugar spikes, D’Anca says. Gluten-free, grain-free or vegetable pasta can be substituted for whole grain pasta. Fresh asparagus is recommended. If it’s not in season, consider red chard for its bright red and green colors and abundance of vitamins K, A and C. It’s a good source of magnesium, potassium, iron and dietary fiber.

WHOLE GRAIN PASTA WITH ASPARAGUS AND TOMATO COULIS Yields: 6 servings for dinner or 8 as a smaller first course.

3 large cloves garlic, roasted for about 25 minutes in their skins 3 pints cherry or grape tomatoes, halved. Use red, orange, yellow or a mix of colors

Photo by Ariwasabi/AdobeStock.com

THE PLEASURES OF PASTA

1½ Tbsp fresh thyme leaves 1 lb fresh asparagus, pencil thin is best (if not available, substitute red chard) ¼ cup pitted Kalamata olives ½ cup fresh basil ¼ cup white wine or white wine vinegar

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente.

Drain the pasta well and place back in the pan. Add tomato coulis and olives. Toss well to infuse flavors. Let warm for 2 to 3 minutes.

Z

Serve at once.

Photo by Rido/AdobeStock.com

Squeeze garlic from its skins into a large skillet. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Cook over medium heat until the mixture is reduced and thickened to a sauce (coulis), about 20 to 30 minutes.

37

SAVORY SIDE DISH

1 Tbsp ground flax seeds

Chickpeas are a great source of fiber. Bell peppers, also known as sweet peppers, are available in white, orange, green and purple.

Lycopene gives red tomatoes their color, may reduce LDL (bad) cholesterol and lower blood pressure. Yellow tomatoes have twice as much iron and zinc and higher levels of vitamin B and folate to help red blood cells. Darker tomatoes ranging from purple to black produce higher levels of antioxidants for a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease. Don’t overlook green tomatoes, which are higher in vitamin K and calcium than reds or yellows.

3 Tbsp water

ROASTED CHICKPEAS WITH GRILLED VEGETABLES

Remove the mixture and drain in a fine sieve. Too much liquid will make the burgers fall apart.

Yields: Serves two, or four if dished over quinoa

12 small mushrooms, sliced 2 ripe tomatoes, quartered 1 red bell pepper, cut in strips 1 yellow pepper, cut in strips 1 red onion, cut into wedges, or 1½ cups leeks, halved lengthwise, cleaned, and cut chiffonade-style About 6 cloves of garlic, peeled 2 14-oz cans of chickpeas, rinsed and drained 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary Balsamic or white wine vinegar Preheat oven to 400° F. Put mushrooms, tomatoes, red and yellow peppers, onion and garlic in a large roasting pan. Roast for about 30 minutes or until the vegetables caramelize.

Remove the pan and turn the vegetables over. Add the chickpeas and rosemary and return to the oven. Roast for another 30 to 45 minutes until the edges of the vegetables start to turn dark and the chickpeas are browning.

Approximately 1 cup bread crumbs (gluten-free if needed) to act as a binder 4 buns or bread of choice Make a flax “egg” by mixing the ground flax seeds with the water. Let it sit for 3 to 5 minutes until it thickens to an egg consistency.

Place the bell pepper, onion and garlic in a food processor and process until smooth.

Place black beans in the food processor and pulse to a thick, sticky consistency.

Add the drained red pepper mixture, flax “egg”, cumin and chili spice. Process until lightly mixed.

Remove the burger mixture to a bowl. Add bread crumbs until the mix forms into patties.

Grill for 5 to 10 minutes, turning, once, or bake in a 350° F oven on a parchment or silicone mat-lined baking sheet for about 5 to 10 minutes on each side.

GUILT-FREE CHOCOLATE DESSERT “Chocolate desserts usually include loads of sugar and butter, making them a highly processed and saturated-fat food,” says D’Anca. “These treats deliver the good fat of cacao nibs and the antioxidants of raw cacao.”

ALMOND BUTTER AND RAW CACAO CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES Yields: 12 servings

1 cup almond meal

Sprinkle with balsamic vinegar, toss and serve warm as is or over quinoa.

½ cup almond butter

BURGERS FOR LUNCH

3 Tbsp grade B maple syrup

These burgers are good either oven baked or grilled, weather permitting. Offer toppings like baby spinach, salsa, nut cheese, pesto, fig jam, mango or slaw. Apple cider vinegar, dill, celery salt and agave nectar to taste makes a dressing for slaw. Thin slices of Granny Smith or Honey Crisp apples add a tang of tart or hint of sweetness.

1 16-oz can of black beans, drained, rinsed well and dried on a paper towel ½ red bell pepper, cut in large pieces 1 medium-size onion, cut in large pieces 1 Tbsp chili powder, mild or hot to taste 3 cloves of garlic, rough chopped 1 tsp black cumin

38 February 2019

¼ cup raw cacao, organic 1 tsp organic vanilla ¼ cup raw almonds, ground ¼ cup raw cacao nibs, ground Finely ground nuts like walnuts or hazelnuts, shredded coconut or raw cacao for texture and added flavor Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and mix them to a smooth batter. Chill the batter for about 20 minutes.

Roll into either bite-sized or larger balls to serve as is or roll in nuts, coconut or cacao for texture and added taste.

For more recipes and information about nutrition and heart health provided by D’Anca, visit FoodNotMeds.com.

Avery Mack is a freelance writer in St. Louis, MO. Connect via AveryMack@mindspring.com.

recipe from a virgin cheese chick

Roasted Garlic with Rosemary & Goat Style Chevre Bruschetta A Heavenly Romantic Dinner

by Jodi Paige IT IS FEBRUARY IN THE MOJAVE WHEN THE SUN CLIMBS higher in the sky, fruit trees are budding and the promise of romance is sold to us as Valentine’s Day approaches.

Virgin Cheese founder, Jodi Paige, suggests the simplest of sexy dinners, even if you’re solo; Roasted Garlic with Rosemary and Goat Style Chevre, made from plants. This is a dinner worthy of royalty.

Find the best organic bread, fresh rosemary (found in nearly ever landscaping) and indulge in some Malbec.

GOAT STYLE CHEVRE This simple cashew cream cultured cheese has been a hit with Eatt Gourmet Bistro. Make two days before to give it time to culture overnight and set up in the refrigerator. Or, purchase ready made from Virgin Cheese.

Makes 16 oz.

1 1/2 C soaked and drained, organic cashews 1/4 C water 1/4 C organic, refined coconut oil, melted 1/4 C organic lemon juice 1 TSP organic onion powder 1 TSP organic garlic powder Blend in high-speed blender until smooth.

Add 1 PB8 with lactobacillus acidophilus probiotic capsule (or substitute 1 tsp apple cider vinegar).

Pour into glass bowl and being careful the film doesn’t touch the mixture, cover with plastic wrap. Store in the oven overnight with the oven light ON. (Tip: Leave a note on the oven if you have someone thinking of pre-heating it).

Taste the next day to determine desired tartness, pour into a plastic wrap, wrapped mold. Cover with coated fabric or plastic wrap and store overnight in the refrigerator.

ROASTED GARLIC An hour before serving, snip the tips of 1-2 bulbs of garlic, drizzle the tops with olive oil and roast for 45 min at 400˚.

Have rinsed sprigs of rosemary and some rounded small knives standing by.

Cut into rectangles, roll into goat style logs and wrap.

Next, take that impeccable bread, carve out the biggest clove of roasted garlic, spread it, then add a plentiful dollop of Goat Style Chevre on top. Top cheese with fresh rosemary.

Serving suggestion: Before serving, roll in fresh chopped herbs or cracked fresh pepper; very versatile! Great topped on salads or soups. Stores for 3-4 weeks, kept wrapped, in refrigerator. Will freeze and thaw beautifully.

Jodi Paige is CCO (Chief Cheese Officer) of Virgin Cheese, a Las Vegas based company. For more information, visit VirginCheese.com. See listing, Community Resource Guide.

You’re now a few steps closer to Heavenly romance.

39

healthy kids

Soothing Anxious Kids Natural Remedies Restore Calm

by Marlaina Donato KIDS AND TEENS HAVE ALWAYS HAD PLENTY TO BE STRESSED ABOUT, such as family finances, parental bickering, the birth of a sibling and other challenges on the home front. Then there are the age-old tensions of taking school exams and squabbles with friends and other classmates.

Yet with the proliferation of social media and cyber-bullying, kids face obstacles other generations did not, and chronic juvenile anxiety has become a pervasive mental health issue. However, there are a number of integrative approaches that can help heal youthful psyches. “I encourage kids and parents to focus on skills, versus pills,” says Lawrence Rosen, M.D., founder of The Whole Child Center, in Oradell, New Jersey. “There are several safe and cost-effective natural options for anxiety.”

MINDFUL MODALITIES Relaxing and engaging the imagination are necessary for healthy brain development and offsetting stress. Downtime in general and specifically limiting screen time is paramount. “Electronic devices can be very overstimulating and can cause or exacerbate anxiety,” says Kristi Kiel, ND, Ph.D., of Lake Superior Natural Health, in Ashland, Wisconsin. “There should be at least a one-to-one balance of screen time and outside play.”

Mindful activities and creative outlets like art, music and dance in a nopressure environment help kids get out of “fight-or-flight” mode. “Both parents and kids need to have go-to coping skills,” says Rosen. “Meditation and yoga are safe and work very well.” Kids need to feel a sense of control over their bodies, he adds, and mindful breathing techniques can make a significant difference in how they handle stress.

So can a regular dose of the great outdoors. Exercise helps boost serotonin levels, which decreases anxiety. Timothy DiGiacomo, Psy.D., clinical director of the Mountain Valley Treatment Center, in Plainfield, New Hampshire, emphasizes the value of getting outside. “Connection to nature, calmness and present-moment awareness are all benefits.”

SLEEP AND DIET TRIGGERS Before parents seek any treatment for their child’s anxiety, Kiel stresses the importance of looking at the basics. “When children don’t get enough sleep, their bodies don’t respond as well to stressful situations. School-age children need 10 to12 hours of sleep per night, and teenagers should be getting nine to 10 hours.” Sensitivity to certain foods such as gluten or dairy is also something to consider, says Kiel.

Rosen concurs. “Artificial dyes and sweeteners can negatively impact mood and focus. More of an issue, though, is nutritional imbalance.” Skipping breakfast or eating mostly carbs can feed anxiety, he notes. “The

Z

40 February 2019

41

Photo by VadimGuzhva/AdobeStock.com

brain relies on sustainable fuel—a blend of lean proteins, healthy fats—and in some cases, gluten-free, whole grain carbs.”

Eating foods high in healthy fat and protein can help minimize blood sugar fluctuations that can trigger symptoms of anxiety in kids. Probiotics and/or cultured and fermented foods can help gut health and promote equilibrium. Omega-3 fats from fish or vegetarian sources are also important additions.

HELPFUL SUPPLEMENTS Supplements dosed appropriately for children and teenagers are safe and can offer huge benefits. “Magnesium is good for relaxation, especially anxiety accompanied by muscle tension. B-complex vitamins are also important because they are depleted by stress and help the body to handle stress,” says Kiel. Her herbal recommendations include skullcap, hops and milky oat as teas or glycerin-based extracts. “For teenagers, in addition to these three gentle herbs, I recommend kava kava, which can have a significant calming effect without drowsiness.”

POLYVAGAL THEORY Research by Stephen Porges, Ph.D., a professor at the University of North Carolina, in Chapel Hill, addresses the importance of the vagus nerve, which runs from the brain through the face and thorax to the abdomen. His polyvagal theory suggests the interconnectedness of emotions, mind and body in both children and adults.

This nerve affects all major organs and plays a critical role in anxiety and inflammation. Mindful breathing and using the vocal chords, especially singing, stimulates the vagus nerve and nourishes well-being. Splashing the face with cold water during times of stress also tones this nerve and reduces acute anxiety.

DiGiacomo emphasizes that different natural therapies offer hope even for severe cases, advising, “It’s important to know that anxiety is highly treatable.”

Photo by Motoki Tonn on Unsplash

Marlaina Donato is the author of Multidimensional Aromatherapy. Connect at MarlainaDonato.com.

HELPFUL HOMEOPATHY Homeopathic remedies are most effective and long-lasting when they are prescribed by an experienced practitioner that can find a constitutional remedy that matches the child’s symptoms. However, they can also be used effectively on a short-term basis.

ACONITE: for panicky feelings that seem to come out of nowhere, or for anxiety that begins after some type of trauma

42 February 2019

FOR MORE ADVICE ARSENICUM: for anxiety about health or fear of germs GELSEMIUM: for stage fright and both performance and anticipatory anxiety PHOSPHORUS: for children that worry about the safety of their parents PULSATILLA: for children that have a hard time being alone and need lots of reassurance and attention

Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (abct.org) Brain Solutions Inc (brainsolutionsinc.com) International OCD Foundation (iocdf.org) National Child Traumatic Stress Network (nctsn.org)

Brain Solutions Inc of Summerlin

Changing one mind at a time since 2010!

10

our

th We’re offering special birthday pricing in February!

YEAR

Providing brain retraining to improve memory, attention, self-control and processing.

Learning Disorders • Attention & Focus • Sensory Integration Tourette’s Syndrome • Language Development • Anxiety

BrainSolutionsInc.com 702.340.2248

Photo by wmedien/AdobeStock.com

natural pet

44 February 2019

Essential Oils for Pets How to Use Them Safely

by Sandra Murphy

ESSENTIAL OILS ARE DERIVED FROM PLANT-BASED sources, leading people to equate natural with safe; but that’s not always the case. Knowing how and when to use oils is vital, according to Gary Richter, DVM, an integrative veterinarian and medical director of Holistic Veterinary Care, in Oakland, California. A veterinarian trained in the use of essential oils understands the properties of each oil, along with its proper dilution and application, a subject not generally taught in traditional veterinary schools; holistic medicine requires additional training.

With proper use under professional guidance, essential oils can be part of a larger treatment plan, says Richter. Cats are generally more sensitive to oils because they don’t metabolize medicine as efficiently as dogs, he notes. “As one professor used to tell our veterinary class, ‘Cats are not small dogs, so they can’t be treated as if they are’—always good to remember.”

SOOTHING EFFECTS Just as chamomile tea relaxes humans, anxious dogs find its scent calming. Some vets spray the exam room with lavender between appointments to calm anxious clients.

Sally Morgan, a physical therapist and advanced certified practitioner of the gentle animal bodywork therapy known as Tellington TTouch, sees clients in her Northampton, Massachusetts, office. “I put a drop of a peace and calming blend or lavender on the carpet or a pillow,” she says. “It relaxes the animal and dissipates the smells of previous clients. I don’t use diffusers. The odor can be too strong for their sensitive noses. There’s also a danger it could spill and be licked up.”

Certified Professional Dog Trainer - Knowledge Assessed Kim Paciotti, owner of Training Canines, LLC, based in Statesville, North Carolina, finds the scent of green apples relieves anxiety and soothes upset tummies for dogs and puppies that suffer from motion sickness. “Cotton balls placed inside a small container clipped to the outside of their crates deliver the smell,” she says. “They don’t have direct contact, but still reap the benefits, allowing the dogs to self-medicate by sniffing when they feel the need.”

Kimberley Wallace, founder of kW Sustainable Brands, in San Diego, burns organic, sweet basil-scented candles for their

antiviral, antibacterial properties. Her pugs love the smell.

“Our rescue pug has mast cell tumors which compromise her immune system. I do my due diligence to buy all-natural products whenever I can.”

PROCEED WITH CAUTION Pure essential oils are far too strong to use undiluted, Richter says. Age, physical condition and species are so varied that guessing which oil and how to use it can be dangerous to the pet. “Skin irritation like a hot spot or rash is a relatively minor problem that could benefit from the right essential oil.

An open wound requires a veterinary visit,” he says. “Some oils aren’t recommended unless under veterinary guidance.

Reactions can range from mere annoyance to toxicity.”

Wintergreen, melaleuca, pennyroyal, tea tree and pine oils cause the most reported problems for dogs, according to PetPoisonHelpline.com. Peppermint, cloves, cinnamon and oregano oil also can be quite strong and require educated use, says Richter. An uneven gait, vomiting, diarrhea, drooling and weakness can be symptoms of toxicity, requiring immediate veterinary care to prevent damage to the central nervous system or organ failure.

In its fragrance and taste, plants have defense mechanisms to ward off destructive insects or to attract bees and butterflies. Those same properties can help people and animals. The plant’s natural compounds can ward off fungi, bacteria, parasites or inflammation. However, just reading a label isn’t enough to know which oils will work best for these problems.

“The Animal Desk Reference II: Essential Oils for Animals, Second Edition, by Melissa Shelton, is a reader-friendly guide,” says Richter. “I touch on the subject in my book The Ultimate Pet Health Guide: Breakthrough Nutrition and Integrative Care for Dogs and Cats, but for deeper study, I recommend Shelton’s book.”

“One thing I’d say is, learn all you can before using oils around pets,” Richter says. “There’s not a one-size-fits-all formula for dilution for safe use. There are too many variables with oils and animals.” Be more than a well-meaning pet lover—also be well-educated.

Sandra Murphy is a freelance writer in St. Louis, MO. Connect at StLouisFreelanceWriter@mindspring.com.

45

calendar of events MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4 Psychic Development Mentoring With Rainey Day – 6:30-8pm. 4-week. Feb 4-25. This class will provide specialized practice that will guide and support growth, expansion and development with hands-on activities, while practicing and growing abilities that strengthen psychic connection. Let’s get those “aha moments.” $135. 2280 S Jones Blvd, LV. 702948-4999. enchantedforestreiki.com

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9 Reiki 1st Degree Certif. Training – 12-6:30pm.

Feb 9-10. Learn Reiki. Amazing time-proven healing method that will change your life forever. Receive Sacred Initiation. Eliminate unnecessary medical bills. Learn to protect yourself from negative energies. Administer powerful treatments to people, animals and plants. $195 various discounts available. Please inquire. Spring Valley, Flamingo-Rainbow area.

702-659-2390. transformvegas.com

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 17

angels followed by a channeled meditation on how to connect yourself energetically Astrology 101 – 9am-6pm. This course begins all while receiving Seraphim energies. $22. at the absolute beginning; those who aren’t 2280 S Jones Blvd, LV. 702-948-4999. familiar with astrology can gain as much as enchantedforestreiki.com whom already have experience. With astrology, EZ Weight Loss: The Science of Food you can gain insight into your personality, Combining – 6:30-8pm. Major food combining career, goals/dreams, relationships, finances. principles are explained. Prevent digestive $150. 2280 S Jones Blvd, LV. 702-948-4999. disorders; lose or gain weight by using these enchantedforestreiki.com simple miraculous principles. Lose excess fat, rejuvenate, heal digestion – without dieting or deprivation. 30-min movie included. Satisfaction Usui Reiki II Certification Class – 6:30-9:30pm. guaranteed. $12/prepaid. $16/door. Spring Two day. Feb 20-21. Learn Reiki II Second Valley, Flamingo-Rainbow area. 702-659-2390.

Degree to heal unwanted habits and the past. transformvegas.com Receive a Reiki II attunement. Learn three Reiki symbols, distant healing, Gyoshi ho, Reji-ho, Byosen scanning, chakra balancing with stones Happy Earth Market Presents: and Holy Fire Reiki. $200. 2280 S Jones Blvd, LV. 702-948-4999. enchantedforestreiki.com

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20

3rd Saturday Bazaar

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 24

Akashic Records Practitioner Certification Level 1 – 9am-4:30pm. With Leeza. The Akashic Records contain the history record of every soul and its journey. They are the central storehouse of all information every thought, feeling, action, word and deed. It is the blueprint of the soul.

Beginning Psychic Development & Psychic $300. 2280 S Jones Blvd, LV. 702-948-4999.

Tool Kit – 11am-5:30pm. With Rainey Day. Each enchantedforestreiki.com student will be taught techniques that help Raw Food Prep Event: Hot & Cold Raw Soups develop and connect with Spirit, understand – 1-3pm. Learn to prepare (not cook). Delicious, how to use the senses, grow a relationship with nutritious, non-toxic, enzyme-filled raw soups.

Spirit and become a master of your own style.

It's possible. Come and learn. Save time cooking $175. 2280 S Jones Blvd, LV. 702-948-4999. and tedious cleanup. Simple. Quick. Delicious. enchantedforestreiki.com No equipment needed. Full meal and recipes included. $20/prepaid. $25/door. Spring Valley.

Address revealed upon RSVP.702-659-2390. transformvegas.com

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 10

A FREE MONTHLY COMMUNITY EVENT February 16 • 11am-4pm listening and responding to the voice of your body... chiropractic care, car accident & pain treatment natural hormone evaluation & replacement brain chemistry balancing for anxiety, insomnia & depression, saliva testing

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14 SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 16

Seraphim Blueprint Level 1 Certification Class – 9am-5pm. This level heals us physically and emotionally, laying foundation for growth. The first two energies are for healing one's self and others. Being initiated into these energies allows for a sense of greater internal union. $180. 2280 S Jones Blvd, LV. 702-948-4999. enchantedforestreiki.com Yoga Nidra 101 – 1pm. Yoga Nidra is a deeply healing practice as it affects us on all levels of being. Join this unique workshop presentation of how to interpret, write and deliver your own Nidra Scripts. 10 YA CE's. $150. Lightsha Zen, 3281 N Decatur Blvd, LV.702-768-2906. downdogdiagnostics.com

to schedule your appointment call:

702.641.3008

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 25

drpamelafleming.com

Reiki 1st Degree Certif. Training – 12-6:30pm.

Feb 9-10. Learn Reiki. Amazing time-proven healing method that will change your life forever. Receive Sacred Initiation. Eliminate unnecessary medical bills. Learn to protect yourself from negative energies. Administer powerful treatments to people, animals and plants. $195 various discounts available. Please inquire. Spring Valley, Flamingo-Rainbow area.

702-659-2390. transformvegas.com

6859 south eastern ave, suite 102, las vegas, nv 89119

Anger Management Made EZ - Free NLP Seminar & Demo – 6-7:30pm. This interactive NLP Seminar facilitated by Master of NLP of 30 years. Learn to let go of anger that is eating at you; poisoning your existence. Begin living life to the fullest now. Free. Donations welcome.

8871 W Flamingo Rd, Ste 102, LV. 702-659Alkalize for Weight Loss – 3-4:30pm. Learn 2390. transformvegas.com how and why to pH balance the fluids in the body. This info is essential and may save your life. Includes guided imagery for easy instant memorization. Satisfaction guaranteed or it's Angelic Visions "Crystal Circle of Light" Divine free. $12/prepaid. $16/door. 8871 W Flamingo 111 Connections – 6:30-8pm. With Christine Rd, 102, LV. 702-659-2390. transformvegas.com Brisco and Debbie Veach. Lemurian seed crystals grid will be emanating out while a channeled group message from one of the arch

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27

47

ongoing events

Reiki in Salt Cave, Henderson – 6-7:30pm.

1st & 3rd. An unforgettable spa meditative and healing experience. Facilitated by Victoria, inspirational speaker, transformational behavioral therapist and Reiki master with 30 years of experience. Release stress, inhale negative ions, energize respiratory system, Kundalini Yoga and Meditation – 6-7:30pm. meditate and receive customized healing. $35.

These classes are a dynamic blend of postures, Salt Room Henderson, 10624 S Eastern Ave, G, breathing exercises, relaxation and meditation, HD. 702-243-7258. saltroomhenderson.com which teach the art of self-healing and elevation. $18/class. $49/new members. RYK Yoga and Meditation Center, 8450 W Sahara Ave, 109, LV. rykyoga.com Medical Qigong – 10am-11pm. Tue-Fri. Use body movements, rhythmic breathing, visualizations and healing sounds to develop internal energy for health, vitality, mind C S L S N I n s p i r a t i o n a l S e r v i c e – 1 0 a m expansion and spiritual cultivation. $10. celebration. 9:15am meditation. All are Naturally Organic, 1171 S Buffalo Dr, 110, LV. welcome. CSL Southern Nevada is an ever- 702-433-3874. naturallyorganiccenter.com expanding global community, joyously igniting a dynamic spiritual awakening through the Reiki Circle – 2-3pm. New meet-up hour. power of love, peace and prosperity. CSLSN Healers and those new to energy are welcome. is lively and is “not your-usual church.” This Reiki circle is an introduction to the world Love offering. CSL Southern Nevada, 1785 E of energy healing. Experience relaxation, fun Sahara Ave, 440, rear building, 2nd Floor. 702- and community. Give or receive energy. $5.

Eclectic Reikiology, 2760 Lake Sahara Dr, 106, 485-5050. cslsn.org LV. 702-463-4782. eclecticreikiology.com Unity Sunday Gathering – 10am. All are welcome. Unity's Sunday Gathering features Alchemy Sonic Meditation – 3:15-3:45pm. inspirational music, meditation, and a practical Heal on a cellular level. Meditation is 30 message for spiritual living, youth education minutes. Bring a mat and let all of the stress classes, as well as food and fellowship flow away. Take 30 minutes for you. $10. following service. Can't make it in person? Join Eclectic Reikiology, 2760 Lake Sahara Dr, 106, via livestream: facebook.com/unitychurchlv/. LV. 702-463-4782. eclecticreikiology.com

DAILY

TUESDAY

SUNDAY

L o v e o f f e r i n g . U n i t y o f L a s Ve g a s , 222 S Rainbow Blvd, 215, LV. unitylasvegas.org

MONDAY Tonic Tea and Oils – 5-6pm. Tonic Herbal Tea Elixirs are enhanced with therapeutic grade essential oils, and hold the key to exuberant wellness. Discover how teas and oils boost your energy, moods and mind for more abundant states of Being. Free. Naturally Organic, 1171 S Buffalo Dr, 110, LV. 702-433-3874. naturallyorganiccenter.com

48 February 2019 | Calendar

WEDNESDAY EFT Tapping – 12-1pm. EFT Tapping class combines Tapping on meridian channels, NLP, words, deep breathing and coaching. Taught by a university certified teacher. Isa also certifies in Reiki and Yoga CEU courses Yoga Alliance. $10. Naturally Organic, 1171 S Buffalo D, 110, LV. 702-433-3874. naturallyorganiccenter.com Sonic Alchemy Crystal Bowl Meditation at High Noon – 12-12:30pm. Heal on a cellular level. Meditation is 30 minutes. Bring a mat and let all of the stress flow away. Take 30 minutes for you. $10. 2/$15. Eclectic Reikiology and Metaphysical Center, 2760 Lake Sahara Dr, 106, LV. 702-463-4782. eclecticreikiology.com Go With the Flow Yoga – 6:30-7:30pm. Great for beginners. A gentle vinyasa flow class, combining standing and seated poses, and ending in relaxation. We will guide you through simple yoga poses, give adjustments, and you will leave feeling healthy and happy. $15. Oasis to Zen, 5715 W Alexander Rd, 140, LV. 702-4916035. oasistozen.com

Restorative Yoga – 7:45-9pm. Relax and stretch, hold the posture, and enjoy this floor only class. A chill class, really giving time to lean into stretching and restoration. Let go, surrender to the poses, and come heal with us. $15. Oasis to Zen, 5715 W Alexander Rd, 140, Magical Relationships Class – 6-8:30pm. Is LV. 702-491-6035. oasistozen.com your house a war zone or a sanctuary?Learn to be in a mature, effective, loving, respectful, and empowering relationship in this fun and interactive course. Starts Tuesday, Sonic Alchemy Crystal Bowl Meditation at September 18 for 8 weeks. $349/ per person. High Noon – 12-12:30pm. Heal on a cellular $349/first person and 50% off the 2nd person. level. Meditation is 30 minutes. Bring a mat and CSL Southern Nevada, 1785 E Sahara Ave, let all of the stress flow away. Take 30 minutes 440, rear building, 2nd Floor, LV. 702-485- for you. $10. 2/$15. Eclectic Reikiology and 5050. cslsn.org Metaphysical Center, 2760 Lake Sahara Dr,

Reiki Spa Experience @Salt Room-Henderson – 7:30-9pm. 1st & 3rd Mon. Reiki healing, meditation and salt room therapy combined.

Release stress/tension by inhaling negative ions and energize the respiratory system, participate in mindful meditation, receive customized healing, meet wonderful people.

Leave relaxed and energized. $35. 10624 S. Eastern Ave, Ste G, HD. 702-243-7258. RSVP: Go With the Flow Yoga – 6:30-7:30pm. Great saltroomhenderson.com for beginners. A gentle vinyasa flow class, Yoga Nidra – 7:30-9pm. Yoga Nidra is a combining standing and seated poses, and wonderful way to help prepare for meditation. ending in relaxation. We will guide you through It helps in going deeper within; using simple yoga poses, give adjustments, and you deep relaxing stretching and releasing will leave feeling healthy and happy. $15. Oasis blockages through breath exercises. $18/ to Zen, 5715 W Alexander Rd, 140, LV. 702-491class. $49/new members. RYK Yoga and 6035. oasistozen.com Meditation Center, 8450 W Sahara Ave, 109, LV. 702-478-9600. rykyoga.com

new members. RYK Yoga and Meditation Center, 8450 W Sahara Ave, 109, LV. rykyoga.com

Rick Simpson Oil (RSO) Support Group – 6:30-7:30pm. 2nd Tue. Come meet with cannabis consumers to discuss Rick Simpson Oil with the EVEN cannabis team.

Learn about each others dosing methods and share success stories together. EVEN Cannabis Company, 1800 Industrial Rd, 180, LV. 541-538-9212. evencannabis.com

THURSDAY

106, LV. 702-463-4782. eclecticreikiology.com Tonic Teas and Qigong – 5pm. Take an enlightening journey into superior tonic herbalism and therapeutic grade essential oils over tea and an invigorating lecture. Food is medicine and we will show you how to become your own tea healer. Free. Naturally Organic, 1171 S Buffalo D, 110, LV. 702-4333874. naturallyorganiccenter.com

Free Reiki Healing & Meditation – 6:308:30pm. Experience guided meditation, tuning forks alignment and deep customized healing. Release stress, receive customized healing, meet wonderful people. Walk away energized and elated. Facilitated by Master/ Therapist of 30 yrs. Free. Donations welcome.

Yoga Nidra – 7:30-9pm. Guided by the Transformations, 8871 W Flamingo Rd, 102, LV. soothing and comforting voice of your teacher, 702-659-2390. transformvegas.com while you enter into a deep sleep but still remaining conscious and aware. Yoga-Nidra expands your consciousness allowing for a greater sense of self awareness. $18/class. $49/

FRIDAY

to anyone who has anxiety. You don't have to perform at this public forum. Feel free to watch. Participation signups are 8-8:30pm.

Donations welcomed and needed. Hugs!

Happy Earth Market, 900 Karen Ave, D-102, LV. 702-757-1556. happyearthmarket.com

Qigong for Health and Wellness – 6-7pm.

Qigong is an ancient and proven art for health and wellness. Learn moving meditations, breathing exercises and affirmations to empower mind and body for greatness. Become your own healer every Friday with Jorge. $10. Naturally Organic, 1171 S Buffalo Dr, 110, LV. 702-281Qigong with Sifu JC – 9-10am. Qigong is a self 3688. naturallyorganiccenter.com healing system that incorporates body, breath, FREE Open Mic at Happy Earth Market visualizations and sounds to develop internal – 8-11pm. 1st, 3rd, 4th Fri. Anything goes! energy for health, vitality, mind expansion Comedy, Dance, Spoken Word, Singers, and spiritual cultivation. $10. Naturally Organic, Musicians, Jam with Instruments. 1171 S Buffalo D, 110, LV. 702-433-3874.

Open Mics at H.E.M. provide a unique naturallyorganiccenter.com environment that is accepting to anyone who has anxiety. You don't have Tai Chi with Sifu JC – 10am-11am. Tai Chi to perform at this public forum, you can is a wonderful art for anyone who wants to just join the watch, commune and be increase strength, focus, posture. Naturally entertained. Participation signups are Organic, 1171 S Buffalo D, 110, LV. 702-4338-8:30pm. Donations welcomed and 3874. naturallyorganiccenter.com needed. Hugs. Enjoy the wonderful Live Gong Meditation – 10:30am. The sound of humans that brave the stage. Donations the Gong creates deep relaxation,releasing us appreciated, needed and receive from the torrent of thoughts our mind releases, blessings. Hugs!. Happy Earth Market, balances the chakras, stimulates the glandular 900 Karen Ave, D-102, LV. 702-757- and nervous system, gives a sense of expanded 1556. happyearthmarket.com awareness and higher consciousness. $18/ FREE KIDS Open Mic at Happy Earth class. $49/new members. RYK Yoga and Market – 8pm. 2nd Fri. Open Mics at Meditation Center, 8450 W Sahara Ave, 109, H.E.M. provide a unique environment LV. 702-478-9600. rykyoga.com

SATURDAY

that is accepting to anyone who has anxiety. Open Mics at H.E.M. provide a unique environment that is accepting

Chakra Healing Yoga and Meditation – 12pm. This is an inspiring and relaxing class.

Experience yoga breathing exercises, poses

and meditation with a smile and joy, in order to help bring balance to each of the main Chakras. $18/class. $49/new members. RYK Yoga and Meditation Center, 8450 W Sahara Ave, 109, LV. 702-478-9600. rykyoga.com

Happy Earth Market Presents:

3rd Saturday Bazaar A FREE MONTHLY COMMUNITY EVENT February 16 • 11am-4pm Every family can participate and enjoy this monthly indoor/ outdoor community gathering. We celebrate humanity, Earth, craftsmanship, art, culture, food, music and love.

Enjoy drum circles, live musicians, dancing waresolfs, jewelry making and wire wrap, play acro yoga and so much more, you will absolutely feel the good vibes and connect to the tribe you’ve been craving!

Happy Earth Market 900 Karen Ave, D-102, LV 702-757-1556 • happyearthmarket.com

49

GREATER LAS VEGAS COMMUNITY

Your source for natural health, nutrition, fitness, personal growth, green living, creative expression and the products and services that support a healthy lifestyle in the Greater Las Vegas area.

Acupuncture

Artist Space/Event Venue

Education

Link Oriental Medicine Clinic

Happy Earth Market

Brain Solutions Inc of Summerlin

Vince Link, OMD 2920 S Rainbow Blvd, Ste. 140, LV 702-444-4775 • VinceLinkomd.com

"We Built It For You" 900 Karen Ave, Unit D-102, LV 702-757-1556 HappyEarthMarket@gmail.com HappyEarthMarket.com

P. Kirsten López, M.A. 1005 S Cimarron, LV 702-340-2248 Info@BrainSolutionsInc.com BrainSolutionsInc.com

HEM is the coolest and most supportive rentable space in LV. They accommodate any dream and memberships are affordable for starving artists.

Check the events tab at HappyEarthMarket.com for all the current happenings. Support your community by attending the daily activities.

Become a member today! Donations always receive a blessing. See ad, page 3

Offering educational consulting for families whose children struggle. Looking for options to traditional approaches? Just not sure what to do next? Do the answers you’ve been given not fit the needs of your child? Call today. See ad, 42

Books

Food Not Bombs Las Vegas

Dr. Link is national (NCCAOM) and Nevada board certified in the practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine dealing with pain management, gynecology, internal medicine, gastro, insomnia, headache, emotional disorders, allergies, Bell’s palsy and many other conditions.

Animal Communication Hear Them Speak Babette de Jongh 251-424-4944 HearThemSpeak.com Telepathic communication, counseling and healing for multi-species families. Healing with Body Talk, Reiki, Matrix Energetics and more. Plus transcript and follow-up call.

See ad, page 30

Chemical-Free-Life.org Break Food & Additive Addiction ChemicalFreeLifeInc@gmail.com Staff@Chemical-Free-Life.org 310-433-8069 Chemical-Free-Life.org Learn: 1. Which chemicals of concern are linked with which health issues; 2. Where problem additives are hiding; 3. Easy, practical solutions for breaking the processed food and additives addiction and avoiding unwanted food chemicals.

Anti-Aging Oasis to Zen Wellness Center & Transformation Spa Organic Facials, Massage, Workshops 5715 W Alexander Rd, #145, LV 702-491-6035 • OasisToZen.com Because inner balance and harmony creates ageless beauty. Our spa services integrate mind, body and spirit healing to create harmonic balance between traditional anti-aging services and a pinch of organic hippy. See ad, 27

Food Recovery Aid Project (food recovering/share) 1251 S. Maryland Pkwy, LV FoodNotBombsLasVegas.org Food Not Bombs Las Vegas is the Vegas Valley’s local Food Not Bombs network. We are a grassroots mutual aid project based on recovering and sharing free food that would otherwise go to waste.

Energy Healing Destined Heart Ashley Jodra, Practitioner

Psychic Medium & Energy Healer

Cannabis

702-557-8642 Ashley@DestinedHeart.com DestinedHeart.com

EVEN Cannabis Company

Psychic readings, energy healing sessions, spiritual guidance and coaching, insight regarding the phenomenon of past lives, twin flames, karmic relationships, soulmates, soul ties, soul purpose and more. Check website for a list of services.

Concentrates | Drinks | Edibles Info@EvenCannabis.com Instagram: @evencannabis EvenCannabis.com EVEN creates consistent, quality cannabis concentrates with patients in mind. We produce smokeable concentrates like honeycomb and shatter, edible concentrates like RSO, cannabis drinks called Keef and edibles.

Find our products at your local dispensary! See ad, page 17

50 February 2019 | Community Resource Guide

Healing Centers

Holistic/Organic Wellness

Meditation/Healing

Enchanted Forest Reiki Center, Spiritual Gifts 'n More

Awake With Angela Drake

Link Oriental Medicine Clinic

Holistic Nutritionist Quantum Energy Healer Energy Coach/Stem Cell Rep. 702-688-0171

Vince Link, OMD 2920 S Rainbow Blvd, Ste. 140, LV 702-444-4775 • VinceLinkomd.com

Debbie Veach, founder 2280 S Jones Blvd, LV 702-948-4999 EnchantedForestReiki.com Reiki-Shamanic-Cranial Sacral-Chakra Balancing-Sound Therapy-Bars AccessCrystal healers. Plus lots of classes and events such as Reiki certification, meditations, intuitive studies and much more.

Visit our beautiful metaphysical gift shop. See ads, page 46

Herbal Medicine Link Oriental Medicine Clinic Vince Link, OMD 2920 S Rainbow Blvd, Ste. 140, LV 702-444-4775 • VinceLinkomd.com Are you tired of taking drugs with many side effects? There are thousands of different natural herbs used in Traditional Chinese Medicine that are safe and effective for treatment of many conditions. Call today for an herbal consultation or visit our website.

Holistic Dentist AAA Dental & Four Seasons Dental Spa Dr. Jim Wright, DDS, AIAOMT, AIABDM 8855 W Flamingo, LV 89147 702-281-9900 • HolisticDentistLasVegas.com Practicing holistic, biological dentistry with safe removal of mercury. State of the art early detect cavity mapping, cosmetic, general, specialty dentistry and low sensitivity teeth whitening. Offer holistic, no-prep veneers, Lumineers, Invisalign Braces, dental implants and All on 4 Implant Bridges, sleep and full sedation. See ad, page 2

Home Services Signature Real Estate Group Michael Dedic, Realtor® 702-466-7118 Michael@1111RealtyLV.com 1111RealtyLV.com Michael is a Realtor® and holds a Finance Degree from UNLV. Guides buyers and sellers to achieve their real estate dreams. He has been a real estate investor in Las Vegas for over 17 years. See ad, page 4

The body has a bio-field, with QRA: Quantum Reflex Analysis, Angela can muscle test and get to the root cause of your diagnosis, reversing disease, pain and suffering.

Call Angela Now, wellness 2019 is calling. See article, page 20

Oasis to Zen Wellness Center & Transformation Spa Holistic Workshops, Facials, Massage 5715 W Alexander Rd, #145, LV 702-491-6035 • OasisToZen.com Transforming holistic wellness and beauty from the inside out.

We integrate traditional spa services, workshops and organic alternative healing modalities, to harmonize and raise vibration for unstoppable radiance and soul beauty. See ad, page 27

Intuitive Channeling/Guidance Destined Heart Ashley Jodra, Practitioner

Psychic Medium & Energy Healer

702-557-8642 Ashley@DestinedHeart.com DestinedHeart.com

Psychic readings, energy healing sessions, spiritual guidance and coaching, insight regarding the phenomenon of past lives, twin flames, karmic relationships, soulmates, soul ties, soul purpose and more. Check website for a list of services.

Lymphatic Drainage Body In Balance LV Susan Barrett, LMT-CLT 7656 W Sahara Ave, Ste. 120, LV 702-256-3090 • BodyinBalanceLV.com Offering Lymphatic Drainage, Visceral (organ) Manipulation, Chi Nei Tsang & Mayan Abdominal Massage, Massage Therapy, Amino Acid Therapy, E n z y m e T h e r a p y, Tr a c e Mineral & Heavy Metal Testing, Diet/Nutritional Counseling, Breast & Full Body Thermography. See ad, page 5

Meditation is mostly taught and learned for mind and body health maintenance. However, i n Tr a d i t i o n a l C h i n e s e Medicine, meditation can also be used for therapeutic intervention when dealing with insomnia, stress, anxiety, hypertension and pain management, just to name a few. Learn meditation for self-healing. Call for class details or visit our website.

Medical QiGong Naturally Organic Healing Center SIFU JC 1171 S. Buffalo Dr, #110, LV 702-433-3874 NaturallyOrganicCenter.com Sifu JC has been doing treatments in Las Vegas since 2008, with over 20 years experience helping others find their highest health.

Let him help you be your best self! $100 a session or 3 sessions/$275.

Natural Health This Stuff Is Good For You Home | Bath | Body | CBD 702-857-7474 Info@ThisStuffIsGoodForYou.com TSIGFY.com All Natural Home | Bath | Body | CBD products made locally in Las Vegas, NV. We hand make everything we sell using quality, responsibly sourced ingredients. See ad, page 21

Neuroplacticity Brain Solutions Inc of Summerlin P. Kirsten López, M.A. 1005 S Cimarron, Las Vegas 702-340-2248 • Info@BrainSolutionsInc.com BrainSolutionsInc.com Offering brain-based help for children and adults: ADHD, learning challenges, sensory integration, ASD, To u r e t t e ’s , a n x i e t y, reading, stroke and concussion recovery. Our neuroplasticity programs generate foundational results with no medications. Hope starts here. Call today.

See ad, page 42

51

Products: Home/Health

Destined Heart

This Stuff Is Good For You

Psychic Medium & Energy Healer

Home | Bath | Body | CBD 702-857-7474 Info@ThisStuffIsGoodForYou.com TSIGFY.com All Natural Home | Bath | Body | CBD products made locally in Las Vegas, NV. We hand make everything we sell using quality, responsibly sourced ingredients. See ad, page 21

Organic Food/Gardening Garden Farms Foundation 702-551-4769 Bryan@GardenFarms.net GardenFarms.net We are a local urban farming company installing vegetable gardens, orchards and vineyards in the Las Vegas Valley, and offering hands-on guidance in your own space.

Pet Supplies At Your Service Pet Supplies & More Nutritional Experts | Professional Grooming 55 S Valle Verde, #300, Henderson 702-982-4324 AtYourServicePetSupplies.com Nutritional Experts | Self Dog Wash 7083 W Craig Rd, #175, Las Vegas 702-333-4327 AtYourServicePetSupplies.com Quality, fullservice, pet supply stores with the best values in the valley. Pet, kids, adult friendly. On-site bakery.

Alkaline water membership. Nutritional experts. Professional grooming available seven days for cats, dogs and little critters at HD location. Self dog wash at LV location.Pet adoptions too!

Psychic

Ashley Jodra, Practitioner

702-557-8642 Ashley@DestinedHeart.com DestinedHeart.com

Psychic readings, energy healing sessions, spiritual guidance and coaching, insight regarding the phenomenon of past lives, twin flames, karmic relationships, soulmates, soul ties, soul purpose and more. Check website for a list of services.

Reading Intervention Brain Solutions Inc of Summerlin P. Kirsten López, M.A. 1005 S Cimarron, LV 702-340-2248 BrainSolutionsInc.com

Cellfield: A revolutionary reading program designed to create neural connections that are responsible for fluent reading and comprehension.

Cellfield bonds auditory to visual pathways, allowing the struggling reader’s brain to function like a typical reader. See ad, 42

Retail The Realms Within, Metaphysical Shoppe and Spiritual Center James Phoenix, owner 2800 W Sahara Ave, Ste. 7B, LV 702-986-8568 • TheRealmsWithin.com Looking for excellent customer service and great prices?

Metaphysical supplies; books, tarot, spell candles, incense, sage, classes, meditations. Home of the largest metaphysical stone bins in Nevada. See ad, page 55

Rick Simpson Oil (RSO) EVEN Cannabis Company Concentrates | Drinks | Edibles Info@EvenCannabis.com Instagram: @evencannabis EvenCannabis.com

Realtor

EVEN creates consistent, quality cannabis concentrates with patients in mind. We produce smokeable concentrates like honeycomb and shatter, edible concentrates like RSO, cannabis drinks called Keef and edibles.

Find our products at your local dispensary! See ad, page 17

Signature Real Estate Group

Shamanism

Michael Dedic, Realtor® 702-466-7118 Michael@1111RealtyLV.com 1111RealtyLV.com Michael is a Realtor® and holds a Finance Degree from UNLV. Guides buyers and sellers to achieve their real estate dreams. He has been a real estate investor in Las Vegas for over 17 years. See ad, page 4

Reiki Reiki Healing Arts/Illumine Wellness Jay V. Jackson Reiki Master Teacher 9224 Pitching Wedge Dr, LV 702-608-6520 • Reiki-Healing-Arts.com Practicing holistic medicine since 1987. Specializing in highly personalized Ayurvedic treatments and lifestyle consulations, Massage and individual Yoga sessions for chronic and acute problems.

Pancha Karma, Shirodhara and skin care.

Ayurveda and Yoga Study program available.

See ad, page 13

52 February 2019 | Community Resource Guide

The Rattle Maker Sean Walking Bear 702-686-4780 TheRattleMaker@gmail.com TheRattleMaker.com Spiritual/Shamanic Practitioner and Teacher, Home Blessings, Shamanic Healing Sessions, Shamanic Artist. See article, page 34

Spirituality The Rattle Maker Sean Walking Bear 702-686-4780 TheRattleMaker@gmail.com TheRattleMaker.com Spiritual/Shamanic Practitioner and Teacher, Home Blessings, Shamanic Healing Sessions, Shamanic Artist. See article, page 34

Tai Chi Link Oriental Medicine Clinic Tai Chi for Health 2320 S Rainbow Blvd, Ste. 140, LV 702-444-4775 • VinceLinkomd.com Practice Tai Chi to promote health, reduce stress, improve balance/stability and numerous other benefits.

Instructor has over 45 years of tai Chi experience. Yang and Zhao forms including sword forms. Also we offer meditation classes.

Thermography Body In Balance LV Susan Barrett, LMT-CLT 7656 W Sahara Ave, Ste. 120, LV 702-256-3090 • BodyinBalanceLV.com Offering Lymphatic Drainage, Visceral (organ) Manipulation, Chi Nei Tsang & Mayan Abdominal Massage, Massage Therapy, Amino Acid Therapy, E n z y m e T h e r a p y, Tr a c e Mineral & Heavy Metal Testing, Diet/Nutritional Counseling, Breast & Full Body Thermography. See ad, page 5

Naturally Organic Healing Center Sifu JC Central Summerlin! Charleston & Buffalo 1171 S Buffalo Dr, Suite 110, LV 702-433-3874 NaturallyOrganicCenter.com Naturally Organic is Summerlin's best resource for all things health related. From classes, meditations, supplements, lectures and health programs, just walk in, we'll take it from there! Check out our website.

Transformations Rev. Victoria Stitzer, Master of NLP, Reiki Master, CHT, EFT Expert in Rapid Behavior Modification 702-659-2390 • TransformVegas.com Re-script your emotional trama; heal physical/emotional pain; eat right for your type; EZ weight loss; non-invasive detox; past life regressions; b e c o m e c e r t i f i e d Re i k i practitioner in 12 hrs. Results guaranteed. 20% off this ad. See ad, page 49

Yoga/Yoga Therapy Down Dog Diagnostics

Tomatis Method

Alicia Cuglietta, PYT1000, C-IAYT 702-768-2906 DownDogDiagnostics.com

Brain Solutions Inc of Summerlin

Specializing in anxiety disorders, back care and women’s health.

Wellness practices using traditional yoga fused with modern wellness and designed to meet the individual where they are, aiming to bring about balance and healing. See ad, page 15

P. Kirsten López, M.A. 1005 S Cimarron, LV 702-340-2248 BrainSolutionsInc.com Developed by Dr. Alfred To m a t i s , t h i s p r o g r a m strengthens focus, memory, language, learning, processing and coordination. By reducing anxiety, sensory issues and stress we generate resiliency in our clients, leading them to greater success.

No medications. See ad, 42

Wellness Awake With Angela Drake Holistic Nutritionist Quantum Energy Healer Energy Coach/Stem Cell Rep. 702-688-0171 The body has a bio-field, with QRA: Quantum Reflex Analysis, Angela can muscle test and get to the root cause of your diagnosis, reversing disease, pain and suffering.

Call Angela Now, wellness 2019 is calling. See article, page 20

THE NATIONS NO. 1 DIET TEA! Lose up to 5 pounds in 5 days

A UNIQUE ALL-NATURAL BLEND OF 9 ESSENTIAL HERBS Designed to cleanse the upper and lower intestines, ridding the body of toxins and other nasty parasites.

2-CUPS FOR ME DIET

Just 8 ounces of this mild tea twice daily can provide you with dramatic results. Find out why some have even called this amazing drink "a miracle" tea.

Iaso Tea is reaching families from all walks of life and nearly every country on the planet!

1 Month Supply ONLY $44.95

ORDER ONLINE NOW TotalLifeChanges.com/ AwakenSkinnyNaturally Click on SHOP

classifieds RELATIONSHIP OPPORTUNITIES NATURAL AWAKENINGS SINGLES – Ready to meet the love of your life? Dip into our pool of conscious, awake singles and meet someone that you would have never met without us! Free to join. NaturalAwakeningsSingles.com

SERVICES ENNEAGRAM COACH – Dedicated student and teacher of Enneagram since 2009. I identify your type and teach you how to

leverage Enneagram understanding to achieve success in love relationships, those you work with, even your children! Contact Don Fouts at 702-418-5562

WEIGHT MANAGEMENT LOSE 1 TO 3 LBS A DAY – Just 2-cups of this mild tea each day provides dramatic results. Find out why some have even called this “a miracle” tea. Iaso is an allnatural blend of 9 essential herbs to rid the body of toxins. 1-month supply $44.95.

Order online: TotalLifeChanges.com/ AwakenSkinnyNaturally. Click on SHOP

53

Copper device stops a cold naturally last holidays,” she said. “The kids had colds going around, but not me.”

Some users say it also helps with sinuses. Attorney Donna Blight had a 2-day sinus headache. When her CopperZap arrived, she tried it. “I am shocked!” she said. “My head cleared, no more headache, no more congestion.”

Some say copper stops nighttime stuffiness if used just before bed. One man said, “Best sleep I’ve had in years.”

Copper may even stop flu if used earNew research: Copper stops colds if used early. ly and for several days. Lab technicians ew research shows you can went away completely.” It worked again placed 25 million live flu viruses on a stop a cold in its tracks if you CopperZap. No viruses were found alive every time he felt a cold coming on and take one simple step with a soon after. he hasn’t had a cold since. new device when you first feel a cold People have used it on cold sores He asked relatives and friends to try coming on. and say it can completely prevent ugly it. They said it worked for them, too, so Colds start when cold viruses get in outbreaks. You can also rub it gently he patented CopperZap™ and put it on your nose. Viruses multiply fast. If you on wounds, cuts, or lesions to combat the market. don’t stop them early, they spread in infections.

Soon hundreds of people had tried it your airways and cause misery.

The handle is curved and finely texand given feedback. Nearly 100% said But scientists have found a quick tured to improve the copper stops way to kill a virus. Touch it with copper. colds if used withcontact. It kills in 3 hours after the Researchers at labs and universities germs picked up first sign. Even up agree, copper is “antimicrobial.” It kills on fingers and to 2 days, if they microbes, such as viruses and bacteria, hands to protect still get the cold it just by touch. you and your That’s why ancient Greeks and Egyp- is milder and they family. tians used copper to purify water and feel better.

Copper even heal wounds. They didn’t know about Users wrote kills deadly germs Sinus trouble, stuffiness, cold sores. that have become viruses and bacteria, but now we do. things like, “It Scientists say the high conductance stopped my cold right away,” and “Is it resistant to antibiotics. If you are near of copper disrupts the electrical balsupposed to work that fast?” sick people, a moment of handling it ance in a microbe cell, destroying it in Pat McAllister, age 70, received one may keep serious infection away. It may seconds. as a gift and called it “one of the best even save a life.

Tests by the Environmental Protecpresents ever. This little jewel really The EPA says copper still works tion Agency (EPA) show germs die fast works.” Now thousands of users have even when tarnished. It kills hundreds of on copper. Some hospitals tried copper stopped getting colds. different disease germs so it can prevent for surfaces like faucets and doorknobs.

People often use CopperZap preserious or even fatal illness.

This cut the spread of MRSA and other ventively. Frequent flier Karen Gauci CopperZap is made in the U.S. of used to get colds after crowded flights. illnesses by over half, and saved lives. pure copper. It has a 90-day full money The strong scientific evidence gave Though skeptical, she tried it several back guarantee when used as directed inventor Doug Cornell an idea. When times a day on travel days for 2 months. to stop a cold. It is $69.95. Get $10 off “Sixteen flights and not a sniffle!” he felt a cold coming on he fashioned each CopperZap with code NATA8. a smooth copper probe and rubbed it Businesswoman Rosaleen says when Go to www.CopperZap.com or call people are sick around her she uses Cop- toll-free 1-888-411-6114. gently in his nose for 60 seconds.

“It worked!” he exclaimed. “The cold perZap morning and night. “It saved me Buy once, use forever.

N

ADVERTORIAL

54 February 2019 | Community Resource Guide