HOLISTIC NEW ENGLAND
SPRING/SUMMER 2022
Better Health Ahead Spiritual Healing in Hospitals D Treating SIBO with Herbal Medicine
Self-Care for Black Women D Legalizing Cannabis D Recipes for Beet Lovers Reviving the American Chestnut D Confessions of a Vegan Food Purist
2 Spirit of Change | SPRING/SUMMER 2022
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MAIN OFFICE PO Box 405, Uxbridge, MA 01569 Phone: 508-278-9640 Fax: 508-278-9641 www.spiritofchange.org ADVERTISING INFORMATION Phone: 508-278-9640 x 5 E-mail: advertise@spiritofchange.org PUBLISHER & EDITOR Carol Bedrosian Phone: 508-278-9640 x 3 E-mail: carol@spiritofchange.org NATURAL LIVING EXPO Michella Brudner Phone: 508-278-9640 x 2 Email: michella@naturalexpo.org ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Wendy Watkins Phone: 508-278-9640 x 5 Email: wendy@spiritofchange.org WEB EDITOR Lisa Fontanella Email: Lisa@spiritofchange.org CONTRIBUTING COLUMNISTS Eric Linter, Astrology DESIGN & PRODUCTION Samantha Angeli Amber Routten-Mitchell Wendy Watkins PRINTING GDI, Inc, Hanover, MA
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Spring/Summer 2022• Vol. 35, No. 146
Departments
Features
Musings
Confessions of a Vegan Food Purist by Mark Mathew Braunstein.......................................................18
by Carol Bedrosian.................................. 6
Starspeak
by Eric Linter............................................. 8
Healthy Eating: Beeting Judgments
by Kevin Williams....................................12
Journal of Natural Healing: Vanquishing SIBO with Herbal Medicine by Rosalind
Directories Yoga Guide......................................... 51 Calendar.............................................55
Copyright ©2022 Spirit of Change. All Rights Reserved. Spirit of Change distributes 40,000 magazines throughout New England semi-annually (Fall and Spring) and accepts paid advertising as an advertising service. Responsibility for the products, services or claims of our advertisers rests solely with them; advertisers are liable for any claims made against Spirit of Change Magazine as a result of their advertisement. The information in Spirit of Change is intended as a sharing of knowledge about holistic health for educational purposes. Health care decisions requiring medical advice should be made with the help of your health care professional. Subscriptions are $20.00/4 issues. Article and artwork submissions are accepted for review and will only be returned if accompanied by a SASE. To receive bulk shipments of Spirit of Change to distribute to your clients & customers, please email carol@ spiritofchange.org.
34
Departments Features
by E. Rohrbaugh..................................... 14
Online at: SpiritOfChange.org
28
Holistic Logo Directory...................57 Advertiser Index.............................. 64 Holistic Specialties Directory........65
Superpower Senses by Susan Meeker-Lowry............................................................. 20 Healing on Extended Planes of Existence by Peter Mark Adams...................................................................22 Spiritual Healing in Hospitals and Clinics by Sandy Edwards.........................................................................28 Self-Care for Black Women by Oludara Adeeyo...................................................................... 34 The Alchemy of Hope: What You Can Contribute To the Greater Good During a Pandemic by Linda Marks.............................................................................. 40 A Human’s Purpose by Millie the Dog with Maryann Roefaro.............................. 42 Only Human by Lori B. McCray......................................................... 44 When You Let Yourself Feel Love by Trish Whynot.................... 46 High Time: An Interview with Alyson Martin and Nushin Rashidian on the Move Toward Legalizing Cannabis by Mark Leviton............................................................................. 50 Reviving the American Chestnut by Joseph Resch and Lauren Krumm.................................... 66
Upcoming in Fall/Winter 2022
Cover Art
Boyan Dimitrov “Poppy Field”
4 Spirit of Change | SPRING/SUMMER 2022
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MUSINGS
BY CAROL BEDROSIAN
Expect Your Body To Heal and It Can
"I
t’s not just disease that starts in the mind; everything starts in the mind,” says visionary leader and author Marianne Williamson in Heal, a film about the power of the mind to heal the body. “We have more faith in the power of cancer to kill us than the possibility of our body to heal itself,” she notes. Unfortunately, she is right. Even though both facts are true — cancer can kill us and our bodies can heal themselves — humans are only just now beginning to realize they have a choice about that second fact: a belief in healing matters. The placebo effect, highlighting the powerful influence belief has on healing outcome, has already been documented in thousands of experiments from Harvard Medical School to the National Institutes of Health. What the science is telling us is that we can just as easily choose to believe we can heal ourselves, as believe that we can’t. Why not choose healing?! The secret is in how to get started. People can make this decision with varying degrees of commitment and belief. Back in the early 1980s when I got my first full-time job with full medical, dental, and vision benefits, I soon realized I had nothing to use my benefits on because I was young and in robust health. I felt cheated! When I eventually developed a need for root canals, I actually felt vindicated by getting to use the benefits. A few years later when I left the job and my medical benefits were about to expire unless I opted-in to continue, I had already discovered the effectiveness of acupuncture, herbs and alternative medicine. I remember receiving the insurance form in the mail and declaring, “Well, I’m not going to need this anymore!” And I tossed the envelope in the trash without a second thought. I began publishing Spirit of Change the very next year. Thirty-five years of professional research and personal experience now confirm to me that humans are endowed with powerful, healing tools that we can learn to use on ourselves and others. The most powerful of these is the belief the body can heal itself. Once you decide this is true, it makes no difference what treatment method you choose — energy medicine, remote healing, acupuncture, herbs, prayer, yoga, or even surgery, chemotherapy or pharmaceuticals, if necessary. When you apply the treatment tool and expect your body to heal, it can. This is not to say that all pain or disease will be eliminated. We will all die of something one day, and undoubtedly some illnesses serve an important purpose to redirect the course of our lives. But humans have the potential to alleviate huge amounts of pain and suffering from life on Earth when people are skilled in self-healing, and the body’s healing power becomes common knowledge. I have come to believe that learning how to develop and manipulate this healing power is really just the warm-up gig for realizing our power to create every aspect of our lives on Earth. Because we are so motivated to heal when something is uncomfortable, healing projects are actually gifts that propel us to practice our powers of manifestation daily, and even passionately. Once a person discovers the power to heal is real, the shift to a new understanding of how 6 Spirit of Change | SPRING/SUMMER 2022
we are creating our world and our state of well-being every second of every day with our thoughts, beliefs and actions is not far behind. Studies show that meditation, compassion and loving thoughts release healing chemicals like oxytocin and dopamine into the body. This lowers stress and boosts overall immunity. Likewise, experiencing stress and indulging hateful or negative thoughts releases harmful chemicals like cortisol into the body, which prime the body to fight or flee. This defensive posture degrades the immune system, increases blood pressure and causes other physical imbalances. You can choose to spend time daily in meditation and add to your healing reserves. Each of us chooses our own thoughts and actions, and in this way contributes to either health or disease in the body. In addition to our healing powers of belief and manifestation, humans are gifted with a unique superpower of love. Love has the power to instantly unite humans as one so they act transcendently for the purposes of greater good and transformation. It is also the force that connects each person individually to the body’s healing intelligence. Nothing feels better than sharing in the love of those around us because love is humanity’s secret healing ingredient that never runs out, and only increases. Forget about the supplements; the best and quickest way to boost your immune system is to flood yourself with love. Allow yourself to think of every person, animal, place and thing you love and bask in that warmth and tingly glow. Celebrate yourself and the light you shine. Loving and healing go hand in hand. Carol Bedrosian is the publisher of Spirit of Change Magazine. www.spiritofchange.org. Photo©Galina Peshkova/123rf.com
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H
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
umankind is at a juncture that includes numerous threats. The increasing impact of climate change, a worldwide pandemic and political instability hasten the rapid evolution of attitudes and institutions. Our democracy is under attack from within and without. Neighbors and even families are divided. Corporate controlled media pushes its own agenda. Those same corporate interests have conquered the halls of government with armies of lobbyists. If you believe polls, both parties are out of sync with voters. For years the performance of governing bodies has disappointed millions of people on all sides of the political spectrum. Hopes rise and fall with each daily news cycle. Many frustrated and overworked voters have tuned out. Social change can seem retrograde, woefully slow or all too infrequently, exhilaratingly fast. Over two centuries our nation’s story has unfolded. We were founded on the precept that “all men are created equal” and among other “unalienable rights…are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” The Founding Fathers neglected to include women, enslaved citizens or the country’s original inhabitants, the true Native Americans. The path forward towards “a more perfect union,” looks
rugged. 2022 features the USA’s first Pluto return, a make it or break it juncture for most empires. The first exact return date was in February. A second comes in July and a third at the end of December. As President Biden aptly put it, “We are in a battle for the soul of America.” Somber, realistic and hard-working Saturn is visiting the USA’s natal Aquarius Moon. In a nation’s chart the Moon is the astrological symbol of its people. This is not the time to shy away from the responsibilities of living in a democracy. We all need to stay involved, informed, make our voices heard, and come November, get out and vote. Despite the seriousness of the times, let us not for one minute overlook the wonders of spring rebirth and fertile summertime. Winter’s chaotic energies ease with the warm weather months but tensions, fueled by a re-tightening of the square between Saturn and Uranus, are again on the rise by mid-summer. We can harness the energies for constructive change, or allow events to spiral out of control. Be clear in your goals, steadfast in your values and true to yourself. Stay humble. Adapt quickly to changing circumstances. Questioning authority and prevailing beliefs can be a good thing, if you have a better alternative. Illustration courtesy grandfailure/123rf.com
MARCH 2022
Tuesday, March 1st is Mardi Gras. I expect many celebrations to be muted due to continuing Covid concerns plus a tired Moon near the end of her cycle. We are at a time of completion, rest and renewal. Longtime readers know to start projects while the Moon is waxing, between the new and full phases. The new Moon in Pisces anchors super busy Wednesday, the 2nd. The Sun, Moon and Jupiter are all conjunct. Confidence and hopes surge as the next activity cycle begins. There are no retrograde planets. Astrologically, we are in “all systems go” mode. Another planetary trio in Capricorn intensifies passions. This stouthearted Venus, Mars and Pluto stellium is irrepressible early in the month. Love well and commit fully to your heart’s desires. A Mercury/Saturn pairing, also exact on Wednesday the 2nd, reminds us to be thoughtful, patient and realistic. Not even the prospect of six more weeks of winter can dampen spirits. During the first week of March the stars give a rousing balance of optimism and pragmatism. Social inclinations are strong the weekend of the 5th and 6th. Traveling in tandem, Venus and Mars are at the last degree of Capricorn on Saturday. The Sun is also conjunct Jupiter and Neptune. Magic is at work. Moods are buoyant. The mysterious forces of nature amuse and entice. Art, music, movies and loving ways stir folks from the winter doldrums. Mid-March sees mellower trends. The Sun passes by Neptune on Sunday morning, the 13th. Early that same morning we move our clocks ahead one hour. This can be a day of notable dreams and spiritual experiences. Sleeping in can also be delicious. Epiphanies, healings and other transformational experiences are likely around the time of the full Worm Moon of Friday, the 18th. On Sunday, the 20th the Sun enters Aries and spring officially begins. The spring equinox also marks the start of the zodiacal year. Mercury’s conjunction with Jupiter suggests a whole lot of truth-telling is imminent. However, Neptune is also in the mix so be sure to verify facts before you have your say or make an important move. Creativity is inspired this week, although Mars’ testing square with Uranus on Tuesday, the 22nd is likely to alter many plans. Slow down, watch your step and be extra careful around machinery and sharp-edged tools. Partners, mentors and parents are wise to proceed thoughtfully when both the Moon and Venus pass by Saturn on Monday the 28th.
APRIL 2022
Just two hours into the month the Aries new Moon kicks off a fresh achievement cycle. The widening gap between Saturn and Uranus signals
a relaxing of tensions. In fact, as the new month begins, Saturn is conjunct Mars and Venus, increasing the bonds of friendship as well as awareness of our interdependence. If one person can make a difference in the world, imagine the impact millions of like-minded people can have. Mars’ April 4th conjunction with Saturn asks that we evaluate our commitments and either engage more fully or move onto other playing fields. Thursday, the 7th and Friday, the 8th are good days for discussions and negotiations. The weekend brings uneven going. During the wee hours of Saturday morning the first quarter Cancer Moon stirs deep memories and protective feelings. Sleep can be difficult. Late morning brings uplifting trends but the evening hours present new challenges. Try to remain calm, tactful and cooperative. The waxing Moon provides good momentum during the middle of the month. On Tuesday, the 12th Jupiter overtakes Neptune, igniting imaginations as well as opening hearts and minds. Compassion is genuine, faith is unshakeable. The Sun’s same day sextile to Saturn suggests brilliant concepts can have practical benefits. Dare to dream! Exact Saturday afternoon, the full Pink Moon in Libra dominates the weekend of the 16th and 17th. Many relationships are touch and go. Handle partners and loved ones with care and affection. Venus helps elevate moods Sunday evening. A notably enjoyable night follows but Monday morning sees tensions rise. Unresolved issues and insecurities are at the heart of the unrest. Monday afternoon sees a new wave of healing energies. Be bold. Kiss, shake hands and make amends as the Sun prepares to exit Aries. Late on the night of Tuesday the 19th the Sun enters earthy Taurus. Eager gardeners best wait until Thursday, the 21st or Friday, the 22nd to plant hardy crops. Friday is also Earth Day and a succession of favorable aspects promises heartwarming celebrations. Be attentive to friends during the weekend of the 23rd and 24th. Sidestep worries by taking a walk, run or bike ride. Mother Nature, visits to museums and movies all offer rewards on Sunday afternoon. Magical trends are in play on Wednesday, the 27th. Venus, Neptune, Jupiter and the Moon form a powerful, mystical stellium in late Pisces. Look for divine inspiration in ordinary things and places. We are nearing the first of two springtime eclipses. Realizations are the order of the day. So, too, are unexpected surprises. Pluto turns retrograde on Friday, the 29th. Power sharing arrangements are apt to change. Greed and overbearing self-interest are hard to tolerate. Stay intent on helping others. Even the smallest of efforts transforms the potent energy into a force for good. April 30th hosts the Taurus new Moon and solar eclipse. Every eclipse brings elements of
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discovery as well as uncertainties. Things begun the week of an eclipse seldom play out as originally conceived. Because unpredictable Uranus is close to the Sun/Moon conjunction we can expect plenty of odd occurrences during the coming weeks. But don’t worry; Venus’ conjunction with Jupiter and Neptune while all three planets sextile Pluto indicates that each and every challenge can be successfully navigated.
MAY 2022
Venus’ healing May Day sextile to Pluto is the month’s opening planetary alignment, and it’s a favorable one! With love in one’s heart all good things are possible. Sunday, the 1st is also a fine day for a walk in a park. Stop and smell the flowers or watch clouds float overhead. Upbeat trends continue. On Tuesday, the 3rd Jupiter makes an encouraging sextile to Pluto. Serenity, faith and good moral values are promoted. Mars forms a sextile to Uranus on Wednesday, the 4th. Ambitions are kindled and success is likely. Late that night the Taurus Sun is in an exact conjunction with Uranus. Trust may be shaken. Earth changes, instability in financial markets and other surprises are strong probabilities. A quick recovery and return to efficient progress is also likely as the Sun is sextile Mars on Saturday the 7th. Sunday, the 8th is Mother’s Day. Lunar squares to the Sun and Uranus require everyone to be flexible. Treat mom like royalty and all will be well under the edgy first quarter Leo Moon. As the Moon waxes and momentum gradually builds, two big changes occur on Tuesday the 10th. Mercury turns retrograde in Gemini, and Jupiter enters Aries. Expect stunning transformations of heart and mind in the most unlikely places. During the weekend of the 14th and 15th many folks suspect something big is brewing, and they’re right! On Sunday the Taurus Sun is at odds with Saturn and harmonizing with Neptune. Some things are about to end while others prepare to blossom. Choose the path of least resistance. Luna is nearly full and will eclipse the Sun just minutes after midnight on Monday, the 16th. This total lunar eclipse is visible here in the eastern US. Because Scorpio and Taurus host the Moon and Sun, material plane security is a central concern. Expect a personal realization or two, as well as surprising developments on the world stage. Tight eclipse alignments are also perfect for cultivating inner awareness. In some Eastern cultures this full Moon is associated with the return of Buddha’s spirit to Earth’s plane. Tune in. On the night of Tuesday, the 17th pay attention to both the weather and what you put in your body. A Mars/Neptune conjunction increases sensitivities, and can have serious side effects. Subconscious forces may be active. Make sure idealism is well grounded and has practical benefits. Thought processes soon become clearer. Decisive action is favored on Thursday, the 19th. Trust your hunches and stay true to your principles. The Sun enters Gemini on the 20th where, traveling close to Mercury, the duo harmonizes with Jupiter. Travel and learning receive a healthy boost. Broaden your horizons but don’t overlook what you already know. The new work week of Monday, the 23rd begins with a dazzling solar sextile to Jupiter. Ambitions are kindled and progress is rapid most of this week. Energizing Mars enters his own sign of Aries during the evening of Tuesday, the 24th. Money and control issues may surface on Thursday night, the 26th. Remain cooperative and receptive to suggestions but say no to anything at all confrontational.
Sunday, the 29th is a busy final day of the lunar cycle. Spirits are uncharacteristically high for this lunar phase as Mars overtakes Jupiter that morning. Many souls will be primed for a day trip or other springtime adventure. The morning is the best time to be working in the garden. Socialize after noon. Monday the 30th brings the Gemini New Moon. The new cycle begins with powerful assistance from Jupiter and Mars. Kick up your heels and make ready for fun!
JUNE 2022
On Sunday, the 13th we move our clocks ahead
one hour. This can be a day of notable dreams
and spiritual experiences. Sleeping in can also be delicious.
10 Spirit of Change | SPRING/SUMMER 2022
The first two days of the month are mellow, then things get interesting. On Friday, the 3rd mental Mercury resumes forward motion. Minds are in flux. It may take an extra effort to get even simple messages across. The next day, Saturday, the 4th, is Saturn’s turn to change direction. The Ringed Planet turns retrograde in late Aquarius. Many folks rethink their goals, friendships and other alliances. The first quarter Moon of Tuesday, the 7th may also occasion more shifts in plans. In quite a few instances a new idea represents an improvement over an older strategy. Engaging social auspices arrive the evening of Friday, the 10th. Conversations are pithy and meaningful. Venus meets up with Uranus Saturday evening. This can be an amazing day for parties and other gatherings. Transformative and visionary forces are in play, and hearts are easily enchanted. Have
fun! Watch your speed on Monday, the 13th. The waxing Moon raises the tempo and crescendoes with the full Strawberry Moon in Scorpio early on the morning of Tuesday, the 14th. Mind what you say. A slip of the tongue or other gaffe can prove costly. Mixed trends continue into the following weekend. Be aware of partners. Kindness and consideration are indispensable. Sunday, the 19th is Father’s Day. Emotions run fast and deep. Express your gratitude and appreciation for whatever dad taught and did for you. A pending angle between Mercury and Jupiter helps make the day enjoyable. Summer arrives the morning of Tuesday, the 21st as the Sun enters Cancer. At this sacred solstice the longest hours of daylight envelope the northern hemisphere. Venus is in a fabulous trine with Pluto to start off the new season. The enduring power of love is written in these stars. Venus soon enters Gemini, where she assumes a favorable angle with Jupiter. Prosperity, fertility and good cheer are supported as the month nears its end. The night of Tuesday, the 27th hosts the Cancer new Moon. This is an excellent omen for launching boats and other enterprises. Romance is also favored. Venus wraps up the busy day with a satisfying exact sextile to Jupiter just before midnight. Loving hearts are content. Gardeners take note: the fertile Cancer Moon holds sway on Wednesday and most of Thursday.
JULY 2022
The cosmos sends mixed signals as July begins. After a thoroughly enjoyable day, the evening of Friday, the 1st is dominated by an ominous square between Mars and Pluto. Avoid trouble. Steer clear of temperamental types. Be alert on Saturday, the 2nd for potential upsets and confusion. Independence Day finally brings more consistently upbeat trends. The evening’s lunar trine to Uranus invigorates freedom-loving fans of democracy. Wednesday, the 5th sees gradually increasing tensions. That night’s first quarter moon in Libra tests many partnerships. Be kind. Help pals fulfill their
needs and all will be well. The waxing Moon is again building momentum as the weekend of the 9th and 10th nears. Early Sunday morning the Sun forms a sextile to Uranus, supporting adventurous and inspired acts. Try something new this weekend. The full Buck Moon in Capricorn makes a big impression on Wednesday, the 13th. The Sun is conjunct Mercury, and Pluto is conjunct the Moon. The four opposing planets each harmonize with Uranus. However promising the future looks, it is wise to have contingency plans in place before springing into action. Make sure partners are on board with plans. Don’t take anyone for granted. Summer fun is on many peoples’ minds as the weekend of the 16th approaches. Beautiful escapes are appealing with the Cancer Sun and Mercury in trine to Neptune. Water is especially captivating, whether a pond, lake, river or ocean. The working week begins with Mercury and the Sun opposing Pluto. Mercury’s sign change the morning of Tuesday, the 19th adds to the challenges. Seeing clearly is the number one priority. Projecting inner unrest is common under these opposing forces. Don’t just point fingers. Ask yourself how you contribute to current difficulties. Complicated issues will take time to sort out. Stay humble and treat partners with respect as the last quarter Moon energy plays out on Wednesday, the 20th. The Sun arrives in regal Leo during the afternoon of Friday, the 22nd. A change of scenery is enticing so finish up work in the morning and make ready for weekend adventures. Saturday travel is facilitated by a well-timed midday trine between Mercury and Jupiter. Progress is uneven on Monday, the 25th and Tuesday, the 26th. Mercury is at odds with Mars. Some folks feel cranky, others struggle with bad timing and poor word choices. Try to be tactful. Drive with extra care and caution this week. The Leo new Moon on Thursday, the 28th coincides with a tough Mercury/Uranus square. The risk of accidents remains elevated. Jupiter also turns retrograde the same afternoon. We all have more learning to do. On Saturday, the 30th Mercury’s testing opposition to Saturn underscores the need to stay focused and keep an open mind. Some souls are called to look after neighbors and close relatives. Fortunately, July has a happy ending. The Leo Sun trines Jupiter the evening of Sunday, the 31st. A sextile angle between the Moon and Venus ensures captivating fun and enjoyable socializing.
AUGUST 2022
Mars is in a volatile conjunction with Uranus on the 1st of the month. Extreme caution is advised in all activities. Watch your step. Take pains to avoid misunderstandings. A new path forward could present itself, but uncertainties remain. On
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Tuesday, the 2nd vastly improved trends arrive. Defuse any residual tensions and then go about fully enjoying the upbeat, life-affirming energies. The working week ends with a number of difficult circumstances. Friday, the 6th’s first quarter Moon is part of a tense grand square configuration. There may not be any truly good options to choose from. Make the best of your circumstances. We are again experiencing the impact of the destabilizing square between Saturn and Uranus. If the risks are unacceptable, waiting may be the best choice. Sunday, the 7th sees an uplifting trine between Venus and Neptune at midday. By late afternoon Mars is at odds with Saturn and it’s time to slow down. Loving ties are tested on Monday, the 8th. Seek peace with partners but stick up for yourself if necessary. The full Sturgeon Moon in Aquarius is exact the night of Thursday, the 11th. Again, the Saturn/ Uranus square is involved. The Moon is conjunct the Ringed Planet, forming a challenging T-square with Uranus and Mars in Taurus. Life can appear to be spiraling out of control while market and political chaos add to worries. However, Mars also forms a stress relieving sextile to Neptune. Empathy, compassion, prayer and unconditional love all can help defuse tensions. It’s a great day to practice mindful non-attachment! Pragmatists do well on Sunday, the 14th. This is a superior day for analyzing what is. It’s also a fine time for literal as well as figurative yard sales. Let go of clutter in your mind, home, car and anyplace else. Lightening the load will hasten progress during the coming week. On Tuesday, the 16th Mercury is trine Uranus, a fine omen for making fast tracks and learning new tricks. Be sure to fully enjoy Venus’ joyful midweek trine to Jupiter. Living passionately is encouraged. Tricky trends dominate Sunday, the 21st. With Mercury opposite Neptune and the Moon at odds with both planets, confusion is likely. Out of the fog come ingenious solutions. More answers appear as Mercury trines Pluto on Monday, the 22nd. That night the Sun enters Virgo and harvest season begins! The Virgo new Moon occurs on Saturday, the 27th. Venus is at odds with Uranus and Saturn, while the new Moon is testing Mars. Roll up your shirtsleeves and fasten your seat belt. The road ahead will surely have its challenges, but there’s nothing that can’t be handled, rest assured. The journey will be smoother if we focus, pace ourselves and work with partners who share our core values. Keep looking up! Eric Linter offers a complete range of astrological services including readings and classes. Contact him at stars@ ericlinter.com or by telephone at 508-541-4115. Read his Daily Forecasts on the Spirit of Change homepage at spiritofchange.org. SPRING/SUMMER 2022 | Spirit of Change 11
HEALTHY EATING
By KEVIN WILLIAMS
BEETING
JUDGMENTS
J
udgments, preconceived notions, assumptions, Fear turned to awe as I watched its deft ninjaand stereotypes all have negative connotations like movements, moving so quickly that it almost attached to them, but when we look deeper, appeared to be frozen, as it blipped from wildflower we see that, in fact, it’s just our brain attempting to to wildflower, bending space and time to access recognize a pattern. Patterns are how our brains the sweet nectar of the butterfly bushes that my operate. partner planted just for this moment. If I had One day while in our garden I saw a bee out of freaked out, run, or started swatting madly, an the corner of my eye, buzzing and amazing opportunity of hanging with a Pickled beets are making that fuzzy sound of tiny beating hummingbird would have been missed. wings, but it was only my brain that great for the die-hard Then I thought about the importance had decided it was a bee before my of bees. In Cooked, Michael Pollan says beet lover, but for eyes could confirm it. My fear of bees the world would shut down within is founded on a pattern. At a young the mild enthusiast two weeks of bees going extinct. After age I was stung by a bee on my ankle. taking a quick moment to revel in the or newcomer, It caused an allergic reaction that made roasting can’t be… fact that our garden was having a truly my ankle swell up so big I needed exceptional year — it’s important to well, you get it. crutches for a week. Combine this with enjoy the small victories — I thought the fact that my mother developed a severe allergic about how easily my fear transformed into elation, reaction to bee stings at age 50 and was rushed to the and how these two tiny souls, those of bees and ER as her throat closed. hummingbirds, are basically doing the same job. My fear, judgment and resentment of bees had for a Imagine my surprise as I looked up fearfully, second mistakenly turned that hummingbird into a wondering where my EpiPen was, only to see the bee in my mind. most beautiful, delicate hummingbird before me.
12 Spirit of Change | SPRING/SUMMER 2022
But our judgments don’t stop there. We are judging people all the time because our brains are trying to recognize patterns and keep us safe. They do this by scrolling through our memories until they find something relatable. In the garden, the memory chosen was the sting when I was younger and the memory of my mother in the hospital. In that moment none of the literature on how awesome bees are came to light. When meeting a new type of person for the first time, your brain, devoid of any real memories, will scroll through whatever “programming” you’ve seen on TV. If you’ve never met a Nigerian teenager, an Italian immigrant, or a transgender store clerk, your mind jumps to some episode of the Cosby Show or a cartoon you saw when you were five, and makes a judgment about that person based on a cartoon character. A cartoon character! — isn’t that absurd? — from Speedy Gonzalez to Foghorn Leghorn to the Black maid on Tom & Jerry. Have you ever seen a cartoon of a Chinese person created before 1980 — slanted eyes, long braided ponytail, Kung Fu robe and wooden sandals? It really doesn’t get much more racist than that. In the kitchen, beets are one of those poor veggies that everyone judges. They come covered in dirt and have a hairy tail. They stain your fingers and have a long cooking time. And yes, it’s true, they turn your poop red. The cultivation of beets began in Roman times for the greens and not the distinctive, rich, red root. It was known as a blood builder and prescribed to give strength. We now know this is due to the high iron content of beets and the nitrates that deliver oxygen to the blood. Beets are also high in the compound betaine, a mind relaxant that helps treat some forms of depression. In time, the superhigh sugar content of beets made them popular as a cheap sugar source. If you grew up in the 80s like me, you might have first met them in their most intense form — pickled — hanging out in the back of the refrigerator at Grandpa and Ma’s.
ROASTED ROOT VEGETABLES
Pickled beets are great for the die-hard beet lover, but for the mild enthusiast or newcomer, roasting can’t be…well, you get it. A root vegetable medley is a good intro to beets. It gives you a chance to enjoy the amazing balance of flavors present in a roasted beet. At once earthy and sweet, roasting allows these flavors to sing on a level they would never achieve on their own. Turnips, kohlrabi, golden beets, rutabaga, and winter squashes all work great in this medley. Multi-colored carrots or potatoes are especially fun in this mix as their taste may be familiar, but a roasted yellow or purple carrot is a little harder to identify once its cooked. The natural sugars in these starchy root veggies make them kidfriendly, and playing a guessing game about which veggie you are eating provides an extra layer of Photo©nesavinov/123rf.com
fun. Plus, you’ll finally have a use for all those root veggies that come in your farm box. Just like human cousins, these tubers might look similar but they have personalities all their own. You can’t judge a book by its cover. Be sure to cut all vegetables into equal size pieces. Bigger pieces are easier to cut, but take longer to cook. The small differences in cooking time between veggies get bigger when the pieces are bigger. Smaller cuts guarantee relatively equal cooking times. Serve this colorful vegetable bouquet with any roasted meat, or sprinkle while warm over a salad with goat cheese, or stir into cashew cream sauce for butternut ravioli for extra nutrition and texture. GARLIC HERB OIL
1 clove garlic 1 cup olive oil 4 Tbsp chopped herbs (= rosemary, thyme, sage, parsley) 1 tsp salt Chop garlic and herbs. Mix together on a cutting board, sprinkle salt on top and scrape into bowl. Pour oil over top and set aside. Will keep for two weeks. SPICE MIX 2 Tbsp pink/sea/ kosher salt 2 Tbsp granulated garlic 1 Tbsp powdered ginger 1 Tbsp poultry seasoning 1 Tbsp black pepper 2 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp cumin 1 tsp coriander Mix spices together and set aside. ROOT VEGGIES 8 cups root vegetables, diced to nickel size 1. Use beets, carrots, kohlrabi, turnips, rutabagas, winter squashes, celery root, parsnips, potatoes or sweet potatoes. Peel first. Cut potatoes last to avoid discoloration. 2. Pre-heat oven To 375. In a large mixing bowl, add 4 tablespoons of spice mix and ¾ cup garlic oil mixture. Mix with rubber spatula or hands until all root veggies are coated equally. 3. Spread out on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle 2 more tablespoons of spice mixture on top, cook 25 minutes or until pieces are cooked through. Drizzle remaining olive oil mixture on top.
ROASTED BEETS
This roasted beet recipe is simple to make and the beets stay good for up to a week in the refrigerator. Tweak the lemon for lime in the summer and orange in the winter. Have a large bowl and dark www.spiritofchange.org
colored kitchen towel to cover the bowl handy. 6 beets, rinsed, with top and bottom trimmed ½ cup olive oil Zest and juice from 1 lemon Rosemary, 1 sprig fresh or 1 tablespoon dried 1 bay leaf 1 Tbsp freshly grated pepper 1 Tbsp pink or sea salt ¼ cup water 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar 1. In a shallow baking dish place the cleaned, cut beets. Pour olive oil over beets and use hands to rub each beet and cover with oil. Wash hands immediately to avoid staining. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle remaining ingredients except balsamic vinegar. 2. Cook for 45 minutes or until a fork can be stuck into beets easily. Place beets in a large bowl and cover with a towel. Wait 5-10 minutes for beets to cool and then use the towel to remove skin by gently but firmly wiping off beets. Use cold water to rinse off the remaining beet skin. 3. Dice beets and place in a food storage container. Pour balsamic over beets and store in fridge.
ORANGE BEET CUCUMBER SALAD
Roasted beets can be enjoyed on their own, added to a salad, pureed into hummus or used as a base in this nutrient-rich salad. The pop of edamame and crunch of cucumbers are grounded by the earthy beets and sweetened by oranges. Serve on its own by adding fresh basil or get crazy with a little blue cheese or gorgonzola. Serve as side dish to grilled fish or beef. The temperature and texture variations will keep you smiling and beeting the blues.
Arthur Gertler M D
Holistic Physician
Lyme Literate Detoxification Chelation Therapy IV Therapy Natick, MA 781-752-6378
3 cups diced, cooked beets (see recipe above) 2 cups peeled, diced cucumber 2 oranges —1 segmented, 1 juiced and zested 1 cup edamame ¼ cup chopped scallions 2 tsp minced parsley ¼ cup balsamic vinegar 1 Tbsp olive oil 1 tsp apple cider vinegar 1 tsp pink or sea salt 1 tsp Aleppo red pepper flakes Mix all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Chill for 20 minutes before serving. Kevin Williams is the chef at Roots Natural Foods, Kitchen and Juice Bar in Leominster, MA. He loves painting, DJing and is a board member of the Twin Cities Rail Trail between Fitchburg and Leominster. He is a founder of the Afro-Celt cooking movement. Email him at rootschef978@gmail.com. Visit www.rootsnaturalfoods.com. SPRING/SUMMER 2022 | Spirit of Change 13
By Rosalind E. Rohrbaugh
Vanquishing SIBO with Herbal Medicine 22 YEARS OLD. FIVE FEET, ZERO INCHES. 77 POUNDS. That's the lowest my scale’s ever read. The first time I saw that number, I was on a Publix scale at the beginning of summer 2020. That night, I hardly finished a single, plain, baked chicken tender with a small, microwaved yam cut open on the side, one of the few meals my stomach could tolerate. I had become a creature of little to no appetite. As each day progressed, any attempts to find physical comfort were disrupted by excruciating stomach pain and bloating. Nausea had me dizzy all day. Each early morning would break and send me up out of bed to be sick all day again. The weight loss and the symptoms had been gradual, with a strange pain starting at the top of my stomach around the beginning of 2017. I was at my standard petite size of 100 pounds at that time. The nurse at my primary care office waved it off as a minor case of gastritis and prescribed Zantac. After a month on the drug with no improvement, but instead, progression — a new symptom of
Small Intestinal Bacteria Overgrowth is a real condition, a monster that ravages the body. I’m thankful I took charge of finding help for myself. lower stomach pain had begun — I decided it was time to visit my first gastroenterologist. This was in the middle of 2017. I never did meet the doctor, except when it was time for my dueling endoscopy and colonoscopy. “Just to see if we can confirm anything,” they explained, after I dropped the bombshell that I did indeed have a father with ulcerative colitis. After the endoscopy and the colonoscopy came back clear, I discovered there was yet another hurdle to clear — a capsule endoscopy. A week later, I
was back in that same room, swallowing a little robot pill that would spend the next eight hours photographing my insides. Two weeks later, they told me the only explanation was Crohn's due to ulcerations they had detected. “Isn't there any more testing we should do first?” I questioned. The nurse insisted there was no need; I did have a family history after all. Their recommendation was steroids, but I wasn't feeling entirely convinced. So, I sought a second opinion. When I arrived at the new doctor, the scale was now reading 90 pounds — 10 pounds gone in just under a couple months. “This might not be Crohn's disease,” the second gastroenterologist said, as she stared down with a scowl at the pill camera's photography. She complained of poor image quality. So, she ordered new tests — none I’d been given before — and all of which returned clean. My new GI concluded after two months of labs it was simply a case of IBS. “Try and up your calorie intake and take some peppermint capsules.” Continued on page 16
14 Spirit of Change | SPRING/SUMMER 2022
Photo©sima/123rf.com
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www.spiritofchange.org
SPRING/SUMMER 2022 | Spirit of Change 15
With that, she sent me home. A month later the scale was at 84 pounds, with vomiting every morning. Upon reporting it to my GI, she recommended an iron level check. Three weeks passed, and I was back in her office. “Low iron anemia” was the term. “But you're just borderline. We'll do another pair of scopes to see if there’s an ulcer.” With that they scheduled me, and I did indeed have ulcers in a more visible spot, albeit small and scattered. “I'm still not convinced it's Crohn's based on that,” my GI explained as I shook off the sedation from the procedure. “I have to wonder if it’s SIBO,” she said, stunning me briefly. SIBO. The acronym was foreign to me, and the full name offered no further recognition. Small Intestinal Bacteria Overgrowth.
research things on my own. I typed “SIBO” into my search bar three days after I watched the Publix scale read 77 pounds. I canceled my follow-ups and read as much as I could about the condition that I was growing more and more confident had plagued me these past several years. According to the Mayo Clinic, “SIBO occurs when there is an abnormal increase in the overall bacterial population of the small intestine.” It can have a variety of causes, from heavy aspirin and antibiotic use to structural abnormalities and poor motility in cells. Sometimes, it occurs without clear reason at all. The symptoms include bloating, weight loss, nausea, and vomiting. The National University of Natural Medicine adds that SIBO also leads to iron deficiencies. The Crohn's and Colitis Foundation claims that infectious and bacterial “Never heard of it,” I admitted. conditions of the small intestine can mimic Crohn’s flares in individuals “Many haven't,” she nodded, and she was more than correct. Barbara Bolen, with inactive Crohn's disease, as well as mimic the symptoms of Crohn’s in PhD, writing on Verywell Health states that, “SIBO is those who do not have Crohn’s at all. When it comes thought to potentially cause most IBS cases in the United to treatment, antibiotic therapy is considered the gold States.” Yet, many doctors aren’t educated enough to standard, lasting from two to six weeks. However, it Herbal therapy uses recognize SIBO as a condition. One of the most significant is also acknowledged that most SIBO patients should shortcomings of SIBO acknowledgment is the difficulty in expect a relapse within nine months, which means a tea of ground thyme, diagnosing it. The primary method of doing so is to perform another two to six weeks of antibiotic therapy. a hydrogen breath test (HBT) to measure the gas levels in oregano, allicin, and Armed with this information, I returned to my GI one's gut after drinking a sugary, lactose concoction, and and politely demanded another round of antibiotic berberine consumed collecting various breath samples into a plastic bag over 3-4 treatment. I was on the medication for six weeks total, hours in a surgical setting. However, these tests only have and they were the most miserable weeks of my life. Most multiple times a day for a 65-70% accuracy. SIBO patients are not aware of a challenging symptom Luckily, the test diagnosed me with ease. At my followa die-off period, as your body kills off both several months. According called up appointment to go over the results, I finally imagined harmful and good bacteria from your gut. By the time this ordeal ending. According to my GI, SIBO only had my six hellish weeks were up, my vomiting had stopped, to the NIH, "herbals one treatment — antibiotics — so I took the prescription. and my bloating had gone down to nearly nothing. I was Unfortunately, even a 14-day run did not produce a single finally cured! For three weeks. also appear to be as symptom change for me. My SIBO soon returned with ruthless vengeance. I was "Well, you seem less bloated. I'd say it worked," she effective as triple antibiotic gaining no weight. I struggled to focus on school or even insisted in response. "Just try and not think so much about on tasks I enjoyed. Some days began to feel as if they’d be therapy for SIBO..." it. Please also be aware this gastroenterology office is better off not being lived at all if this was all there was. closing, so we won’t be having a follow up. You’ll get your My GI still pushed treatment with Humira, though we records in the mail." I felt floored by her rapid, apathetic still had no definitive diagnosis of Crohn’s. I continued to tone, though her morbid disregard for my condition and her insistence to close refuse and went back to my research, where I discovered online blogs and Reddit the case now made sense. She was unwilling to admit that my condition was not threads of people claiming to be in the same hell. Massacred by the side effects of ending alongside her employment. repeated antibiotic therapy, some finally had given up and said they were simply This was towards the middle of 2019, and I was down to 81 pounds. As I resigned to live with their SIBO. began searching for a third GI, Crohn's was put back on the table, so I had a third coloscopy. I was barely out of sedation once again before being told there was no doubt it was Crohn's, although the biopsy came back acute, not But then, I found it. It was a National Center for Biotechnology chronic. All we had were those tiny ulcers and the symptoms as evidence, no Information study in partnership with the U.S. National Library of pathological presence. Medicine National Institutes of Health. “Herbal Therapy is Equivalent “It's not a perfect science,” he said when I questioned it, and explained that to Rifaximin (Xifaxan) for the Treatment of Small Intestinal Bacteria IBDs can present differently for everyone. He insisted I give up my denial. I had Overgrowth.” I watched the title for the longest time as if I expected it to Crohn's, albeit mild Crohn’s. change. My eyes felt like they would pop clean out as I read the results of After six unsuccessful months on a sour, powdered, prescription medical the tiny study of 104 patients that showed that “herbals also appear to be as food drink, and repeated recommendations to “just give it more time,” the scale effective as triple antibiotic therapy for SIBO rescue therapy for Rifaximin was reading 79 pounds. non-responders.” “Let’s start Humira,” my doctor suggested, a biologic for the treatment of The next day I started searching for an herbalist I could talk to. I was rapidly Crohn’s. It was at this moment the prospect of SIBO floated back into my mind. growing discouraged until a small one-doctor practice appeared on my Google The doctor scoffed at the very mention of the acronym. page, located 15 minutes away. I called nervously. A week later, I was sitting in “If it is SIBO, it’s from the Crohn’s and you were already treated for SIBO.” a small, quiet room that smelled of lavender and a hint of rose, painted with “But maybe I still have it…” green pastel walls. Across from me on the other side of the desk the doctor sat, “If you still have it,” he cut me off, “it’s from the Crohn’s. If you treat the blonde hair in a tight tail, the shape of her eyes indicating a soft smile beneath Crohn’s, you treat the SIBO.” her mask. I refused the Humira, and realizing I was losing this GI’s support, began to “So, tell me about what's been going on,” she invited, and did I ever. I poured
My SIBO Diagnosis
SIBO Herbal Therapy Rescue
16 Spirit of Change | SPRING/SUMMER 2022
the last few years of symptoms, doctors, antibiotics, and even the nagging Crohn's label over her desktop in a wave. I told her I wasn't sure how much longer I could go on this way. “I'm spent,” I said. “Understandably,” she replied. “But I believe I can help you.” So, with hesitant hope, I watched as she began to lay out the plan. Herbal therapy uses a tea of ground thyme, oregano, allicin, and berberine consumed multiple times a day for several months. There was only one catch: the program was going to cost $1200, and was not insurance reimbursable. This number initially overwhelmed me as I questioned how I could manage such a cost. But then I began to measure the difference in cost between the Western diagnostic medicine I had already undergone and this herbal treatment. According to MDsave, the average cost of a colonoscopy without insurance is $2,611, and I’d already had three, not to mention all other tests, office visits and prescriptions. My insurance premiums run $270 monthly, not including out-of-pocket co-pays, which for some people can run into the thousands. The cost of herbalism is worlds beneath what Western healthcare demands. I committed to coming up with the fee. For the first six weeks, I wondered if I'd just flushed my savings away for what amounted to some excellent quality tea. Finally, I noticed results starting to occur! With each passing week, my symptoms diminished bit by bit. My calorie intake rose to between 1800-2000 a day by the end of month four. At this point, I decreased my herb consumption from three times a day to just once to prevent that all too familiar element of SIBO — the high risk of relapse. 23 years old. Five feet, zero inches. 87 pounds. That's what the scale read at my annual wellness exam with my primary care provider at the end of 2021. Ten pounds gained since my worst moment. I found a fourth gastroenterologist, one who acknowledges that I don't have Crohn's. In fact, even with my family history, I only have an 8% additional chance of developing inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a number not that significant, and yet a label that was used against me to gain proper and compassionate treatment. I wondered why there was such determination to label me with a disease I did not have, and to prescribe pharmaceuticals without enough evidence to confidently make a Crohn’s diagnosis. As I began to search for answers to this question, what I found was shocking. In 2018, The Chicago Tribune reported on a California lawsuit filed against the makers of Humira, claiming the company had paid for doctors’ meals, drinks, and travel just to prescribe their drug — the same one my 3rd gastroenterologist had pushed so aggressively. Further, nurses claimed they were encouraged to do door-to-door visits peddling this pharmaceutical, and downplaying the chances of deadly infections and cancers that can come from its long-term use, sometimes not disclosing these risks at all. Bottom line, these doctors made money when they prescribed the drug to their patients. I’m grateful for the second chance that herbalism gave me. It is a true injustice that more sufferers from SIBO are not educated on this option, and are simply given repeated antibiotic treatment with no long-term improvement. It is an even greater injustice that in our society of Western medicine, treatments such as herbalism aren’t even considered an option by mainstream healthcare. If they were, more people could be aware of these treatments as safe and effective. SIBO is a monster that ravages the body and refuses to let go without intervention. More disturbing, it is a prevalent condition, and yet a thoroughly neglected one in the medical community. But now I know there are options and solutions. I’m thankful I took charge of finding help for myself. Now, all there is left to do is continue to heal. Rosalind E. Rohrbaugh is an undergraduate student at the University of Central Florida currently pursuing a B.A in English Creative Writing and a minor in Writing and Rhetoric. She adores reading scary stories, taking her chihuahua on stroller rides, and watching horror movies. www.spiritofchange.org
SPRING/SUMMER 2022 | Spirit of Change 17
Confessions OF A VEGAN FOOD PURIST A
s a teenager, I drove a Good Humor truck and spread joy throughout suburbia by selling ice cream to the little kiddies. As an awakening vegetarian, I became a vegan the day after I quit that summer job. That was 1970, when not even vegetarians knew the word “vegan” or its tenets. Fifty-two years later, I am delighted to be witnessing mainstream food products emblazoned with the word “vegan” on their labels. But I feel disheartened when that potentially nourishing food turns out to be nothing but junk food — for instance, cupcakes, which by omitting the dairy and eggs, then happen to be vegan. Two years ago, a cupcake bakery opened in my corner of Connecticut. I usually would have been oblivious to its existence because I studiously avoid consuming white flour and white sugar. As Marie A. meant to say, “Let them eat cupcake.” If people want to die by cupcake, that’s their choice, and not my concern. Yet, this particular bakeshop piqued my interest for four reasons. That it makes nothing but cupcakes. That so many people eat so many cupcakes. That it has remained in business past that critical first year when one out of four new eateries shuts down. And fourth, and most remarkable, that all of its cupcakes are vegan. Any omnivore who routinely patronizes this bakery may unwittingly be taking two steps forward — one for the planet and one for farm animals. In contrast, a vegan who typically shuns cupcakes 18 Spirit of Change | SPRING/SUMMER 2022
By Mark Mathew Braunstein
I am delighted to be witnessing mainstream food products labeled "vegan," but feel disheartened when potentially nourishing food turns out to be nothing but junk food. but who makes an exception for this shop’s fare is consciously taking one nutritional step backwards. And for the vegan baker who instead could have been baking whole grain bread, hers is one tremendous step sideways. Unless vegans keep tightlipped about what passes their lips, they serve as ambassadors for a cause. While some vegan activists wear buttons or tee shirts imprinted with playful witticisms promoting their outlook on life, others betray their message by the pallor of their complexions or the width of
their waists. Vegans who are passionate about their trendsetting diets have an opportunity to spread their message by presenting themselves as pictures of health. One potential path to looking and being healthy is to eat whole foods, not Good Humor ice cream bars. And not cupcakes laden with white flour and white sugar. Eating out and ordering takeout are luxuries that I am affluent enough to afford and decadent enough to indulge. While I enjoy sitting home alone eating sprouts, I enjoy even more dining out with friends at vegetarian or vegan restaurants. Veg restaurants that serve only natural foods provide a special treat. Every time a new veg eatery opens or an old one expands, I rejoice for the veg movement’s success. During the past decade, I have noticed a downward trend among some veg restaurants. I guess with increasing competition, to appeal to a wider audience, they have allowed previously banished foods to creep into their kitchens. That should not trouble me, except that to make room in their pantries they have bumped the so-called health foods off the menu. In order of disappearance, the first to go has been tempeh. Whole grain breads and pastas were next. Even brown rice turned white. As no restaurant can stuff food down their customers’ throats, they must bow to the whims of their patrons. If long lines form outside their doors, I am happy for their success. But with my favorite dishes dropped from their Illustration courtesy Khaneeros/123rf.com
menus, I have dropped from their ranks. My absence is my loss, not theirs. While salads may still grace their menus, I order dishes that I would never take the time to prepare at home, not dishes that I would never eat at all. At some veg eateries, deep-fried and pan-fried foods under clever codewords “crispy” and “seared” now predominate. Among those that serve alcohol, their wine and beer lists have grown longer than their lunch and dinner menus. Two years ago, a gargantuan vegan restaurant opened in my nearby city of Providence. It hosts three separate dining rooms with three separate menus and, as though one were not enough, three separate sit-down booze bars. But nary any fresh vegetable juices. At some veg restaurants, mock meats have crowded out whole foods. Made with devitalized wheat gluten (whiter than white flour) or texturized vegetable protein (abbreviated and obfuscated as TVP that might as well be STP) or isolated vegetable protein (hexane-soaked bean derivatives that deserve to be isolated from your diet), mock meats are highly processed and fractured foods that have no place in any diet, whether vegan or not. Mock meats are alternatives not just to meat. They are alternatives to food. For the sake of argument, let’s discuss just the nourishing aspects of food. From a strictly nutritional standpoint, real meat is more wholesome than mock meat. Guided by my bias towards whole foods, I would prefer to eat meat seasoned to taste and look like soybeans than to eat soybeans manufactured to taste and look like meat. Naturally, I eat neither. What I do eat are soybeans that taste and look like soybeans. By perpetuating the misbegotten myth that meat must dominate the dinnerplate, mock meats make a mockery of veganism. While it’s encouraging that some omnivores sometimes eat mock meat instead of the real stuff, it’s baffling when vegans imitate eating the very thing they profess to avoid. Mock meats are vegan foods for vegans who wish they weren’t. Perhaps murky mock meats can serve as a transitional food for meat eaters who wish they weren’t. Brand new industrialized fake meats have gained footholds in some fast food chains. Compared to its conventional Elsie-theCow Whopper at my local Murder King, the Impossible Whopper checks in at 31 extra calories and checks out at $1.20 more. Despite prices higher than real meat, phony baloney meats are presently all the rage among curious foodies. As they hold the promise of weaning meat eaters off real meat, some food journalists herald copycat meats as the dawn of a new age. But wait! There’s another side to this con. For her recent PhD dissertation, “Swap the Meat, Save the Planet,”1 Hannah Joy Malan crunched the numbers. At the dining halls of UCLA, where Impossible surrogate meats cost students on the prepaid meal plan no more than real meat, Ms. Malan’s research showed that while meat consumption dropped slightly, so did that of wholesome vegetables. As a food fad, it had weaned almost as many students away from eating beets as from beef. I hope that none of those former beet eaters were vegans. Eating facsimiles of meat that are not meat might be one step forward for omnivores, but two steps backwards for vegans. NOTES 1. Hannah Joy Malan, “Swap the Meat, Save the Planet: A Community-Based Participatory Approach to Promoting Healthy, Sustainable Food in a University Setting,” UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020, https://escholarship. org/uc/item/3pq4t2mz. (An edifying summary and commentary of Ms. Malan’s 326-page dissertation is provided by Open Philanthropy Project, “If We Build It, Will They Come?” Open Philanthropy Farm Animal Welfare Research Newsletter, March 9, 2021, https://mailchi.mp/cf613c018ffc/if-we-build-it-will-they-come)
Mark Mathew Braunstein has contributed to many holistic health publications, including six times previously to Spirit of Change. He is also the author of five books, including Radical Vegetarianism (1981, Lantern Books 30th anniversary edition 2010). For a free PDF of Radical Vegetarianism, contact the author at www.MarkBraunstein.Org. www.spiritofchange.org
SPRING/SUMMER 2022 | Spirit of Change 19
Photo©Ulkas/123rf.com
Our Senses are Our Allies BY SUSAN MEEKER-LOWRY
M
periods increased until my anosmia was total. All y sense of smell has always been a source of told, I experienced six months of intermittent loss pleasure and curiosity. When I was a young and four months of complete anosmia. girl, I would head to the woods, my nose quivering I researched everything I could find on the subject. (or so I imagined) as the smells of pine, leaves, damp What caused it? Most often viral moss, and soil were released by my footsteps. I’d stick my We have access to infections, sinus problems, polyps, head injury. Could it be cured? nose deep into my mother’s the very life and Sometimes, if you were lucky. It dark red, climbing roses — how was terrifying; anosmia wasn’t fragrant they were! The spicy intelligence of the considered a big deal and there was deliciousness of blousy peonies! And the unmistakable sign spring universe through the very little interest or money for research. (Thanks to Covid, this is really was on the way: the scent of superpowers of starting to change.) snow melt! It never occurred to Anosmia is an invisible loss. me that losing my ability to smell our senses. People can still see, hear, drive. (anosmia) was even a possibility. Unless their job depends on the ability to smell — as But it happened (pre-Covid), beginning in the mine did — they can still live a “normal” life. There summer of 2018, the year I moved from Maine to is some acknowledgement of the safety implications, New York to be closer to my sons and grandchildren, but very little attention is given to the emotional and to focus on making natural perfumes. In the impacts of being “nose blind.” beginning, there were times when I could smell Yet, I felt as though a part of me had died. Waking and times when I couldn’t. Gradually the anosmic
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up — no smell of coffee or even poop in the kitty litter. I loved cooking for my family, but no more. No smell of musk from damp earth. My daughter-in-law was pregnant and I feared I wouldn’t experience that beautiful new baby smell ever again. I lived in a bubble that separated me from everyone I loved, and even from myself. When I’d walk by the desk and shelves that serve as my perfumery, lined with hundreds of little bottles of aromatic delight, all I wanted to do was sweep my arm and smash them to tiny pieces. No longer did a whiff of something bring back a memory of my grandmother’s dressing table, or a fleeting scent bring back in a flash a place or event so long forgotten it was like it didn’t exist. I felt like I was losing parts of my very being. As my life fell flat, joy receded. When I wasn’t actively doing something, I was depressed. There were times I simply did not want to live, as dramatic as it sounds. Finally, in April 2019, my ENT appointment arrived and I was diagnosed with inflammatory polyps that responded well to non-surgical treatment. Within a few days my smell began to return. Within a month it was mostly restored, and when my new grandson was born I was blessed with that sweet new baby smell! Over the weeks and months that followed, my sense of smell grew keener until finally the intuitive connection between my olfactory abilities and my memory of scent returned. Now I am the Goddess of Scent. Walking with my family in the woods, I draw their attention to the sweet balsam fragrance made so much sweeter by the heat of the summer sun. Or bend down, dig a hole, and invite their little noses to explore the damp, musky, mossy soil. Or — a favorite -— picking fungi and snapping it open to release its unmistakable dusky scent into the air. I draw attention to the myriad fragrances of a storm blowing in — sweet hay, resinous pine, blooming goldenrod, the musk of decomposing leaves, then lightning flashes and a metallic note releases as the wind picks up. All of these are gifts, our bodies tuned to the energy, our senses picking out the nuances, with every pore open in our being. We are living vessels of sensation and feeling, dancing with the joy and magic of it all. This is what it means to be human! My experience with anosmia changed me and added a new dimension to my work and purpose in the world. I never take my ability to smell for granted, and I have a greater appreciation for my other senses that seem to be keener as well. Perhaps my nose has invited them to come along for the ride. This has enriched my life in countless ways, and enabled me to focus on beauty and promise, despite the constant barrage of frightening news. My senses are my biggest allies.
Facing Our Past, Moving Into the Future
Our ancient ancestors utilized their senses as a matter of course, and often relied on them for specific
information, something most in this culture have long forgotten. One of the many strands of thought author Betty J. Kovács explores in Merchants of Light (The Kamlak Center, 2019) is our senses, and how they were deliberately maligned, along with traditional women’s ways of knowing. The true nature of our intimacy with Earth and all life, as well as our knowledge of spirit and consciousness, were literally stolen from us. This can be traced to when the Christian hierarchy consolidated power, land, and riches by persecuting land-based peoples — our ancient ancestors — destroying their sacred groves, caves, and other places of power. When our ancestors were killed, or driven off their lands and forced into serfdom, whether in their own lands or forced onto ships to be sold into slavery, we lost more than conventional history teaches us. Over the centuries we forgot the real power of our senses — not because they are gone, as tonsils are removed with surgery — but through neglect and denial. Our ears lost the ability to hear otherthan-human voices, our eyes no longer saw the life force in all beings. We could no longer perceive the deep sonorous tones of rocks, or the intelligence of plants. The living world of minerals, plants, dirt and water became just so much material stuff — resources and commodities, not living beings as the gifts they truly are. But our senses have not disappeared. Their keenest intuitive perceptions are still available to us, simply hibernating, waiting to be awakened. Ask the wind when it’s wild and when it’s calm. Sit with rocks and boulders; lie on them. Honor the waters. Marvel at the life in soil, the myriad varieties of moss and lichens and fungi; let them nourish your spirit. No matter where you live, there is beauty and nature. Even a weed pushing through a small crack in cement matters, and may have a message for you. Delve deep. Feel. Listen. Keep your heart open. Let the energy flow in and through and out. Do this over and over, in different places at different times until it becomes second nature — and it will. Everyone and everything we come into contact with vibrates with energy that we not only perceive but dance with. For example, in addition to hearing with our physical ears, we hear telepathically or intuitively as well. I converse with trees and have since childhood, and I mean that quite literally. At the corner of our driveway lived a huge white pine that split into two about 10 feet up. I loved this tree and took my sadness and joy to her. Mostly my communication with trees is in words that I hear with my inner ear, though I often talk to the tree out loud. Communicating with non-human elements of our world are often denigrated as figments of our imagination, but children are born with this intuitive sight, hearing, knowing and will retain these abilities if they are acknowledged and respected. Unfortunately, our culture teaches well-meaning parents to slam the door on this aspect of being human, ultimately teaching our children they cannot trust themselves. In order to hear what Earth is saying, we need to believe it is possible, desire that it happen, and let the love flow. When doubts creep in and you wonder, “Was that real or my imagination?”, let the doubts go and share your experiences with others, which can help them recognize their own experiences. Note: Sometimes you may feel the land itself is sharing something with you, or you may feel pain or discomfort. When I witnessed my first clear cut in the Pacific Northwest, I felt as though I had been kicked hard in the stomach, and the emotional pain was intense. Earth is in pain now, and many places especially need our love and healing energy. If this happens to you, share it widely! My intuition tells me more people are waking up now than ever before to who we are and why we are here. Awakened, we are strong. We are resilient. We have access to the wisdom and the love of all who have preceded us, and to the very life and intelligence of the universe through the superpowers of our senses. We are more than our physical bodies, as Earth is more than inert elements, and we don’t have a moment to waste.
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Susan Meeker-Lowry is an herb and fragrance lover, and owner of Gaia’s Garden Herbals, a home-based business offering hand-crafted, small-batch herbal skin care products, creams, salves, serums, and natural perfumes. She can be reached at smeekerlowry@gmail.com. Visit her shop at www.etsy.com/shop/GaiasGardenHerbals. www.spiritofchange.org
SPRING/SUMMER 2022 | Spirit of Change 21
HEALING Artwork courtesy benjavisa/123rf.com
on Extended Planes of Existence BY PETER MARK ADAMS
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Is there more to reality than we can possibly imagine? The answer is a resounding yes!
lmost two decades ago I was diagnosed by a medical doctor and acupuncturist with an enlarged liver. His diagnosis involved using a micro-ohmeter to monitor variations in the skin’s electrical resistance on the main acupuncture meridian points. He told me that my condition could be healed, but this would require weekly treatments for the next eight months. A day or so later, my wife, Kenzie, and I met a Russian bioenergist who offered to demonstrate her healing skills. Since neither of us shared a common language, we couldn’t discuss my health issues or anything else for that matter. Instead, she passed her hands around me at a short distance from my body and quickly diagnosed the same liver condition as the acupuncturist had. This impressed both of us, and I decided to undertake a healing session with her the following week. The session started with her bringing her own energy into focus. She asked me to breathe deeply and rapidly a few times. I am familiar with various sorts of breathwork, so I recognized that this would quickly increase the level of my inner energy. She then massaged my liver, and this marked the last second at which my awareness could be said to be operating within normal bounds. She inhaled sharply. As she did so, her hands pulled some manner of blockage from my liver, as though she was ripping a plant, roots and all, out of the soil. I distinctly felt “it” move from me to her. She then exhaled powerfully over my head. Right then my 22 Spirit of Change | SPRING/SUMMER 2022
whole mood and energy shifted. I felt weak and light at the same time. Although these actions describe what happened, they completely fail to do justice to the intensity of the process that I experienced. When she pulled the problem out of me and into herself, it showed quite clearly in the pain and sadness that were etched on her face. A moment later, she lifted her face upward and powerfully blew out, permanently and completely releasing the problem. I felt weak. I lay down. All of a sudden, I was completely overcome by what I can only describe as ecstatic bliss, pure and endless joy, a sense of the unutterable perfection and humor of existence itself. I dissolved in joyful laughter, a level and depth of laughter that I have never experienced before. I laughed uncontrollably for half an hour. About a week later, I visited the acupuncturist, who checked my liver once more only to find, much to his amazement, that he could no longer find any trace of the previous liver problem. When we told him about my session with the bioenergist, he said, “I must meet this woman!” Decades later I am still completely free of the problem. This account illustrates the intimate connection that exists between our natural energy field, our health, and the quality of our awareness. It demonstrates our innate ability to intuitively understand the deep, emotional roots of ill health. And it shows us how natural processes can effect fast and Continued on page 24
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SPRING/SUMMER 2022 | Spirit of Change 23
Most of the various energy healing protocols available today can deliver relief from a range of mental, emotional, and physical problems. When facilitated by an experienced healer they can achieve a success rate upward of 90 percent. HEALING ON EXTENDED PLANES OF EXISTENCE continued from page 22
effective healing by changing the dynamics of our energy field. The reality revealed through energy-based healing is quite different from the world of most people’s day-to-day experience. Like most of us, I have been raised to believe that what you see is all there is, and everything in the universe can be reduced to and explained by particles of matter bumping into one another. Reality is far more complex, multidimensional, and connected than we imagine. Each and every one of us, using only natural methods, can realize a level of healing and positive personal transformation far beyond conventional expectations. Like almost everyone, I possess an inbuilt skepticism to any suggestion that reality is fundamentally different from what my day-to-day experience and mainstream science tell me. When challenged by anomalies that exceed this onesize-fits-all worldview, the response is usually one of ridicule, outright dismissal, or rationalization. However, there are very good reasons why a change in our worldview is long overdue. People are increasingly aware and accepting of the fact that their experience does not accord with mainstream science. Recently, one of the world’s leading philosophers, Thomas Nagel, triggered a storm of criticism by stating the obvious fact that the five-hundred-year-old scientific project of attempting to explain everything in terms of interactions among the smallest particles, called reductive materialism, has failed.1 A similar argument has been advanced by biologist and complexity theorist Stuart Kauffman.2 It failed because it cannot account for the most defining and essential features of life: consciousness, agency, meaning, and values. By consciousness we mean the irreducible, luminous awareness of the present moment shared by all sentient beings. It is sometimes hard to grasp, but this 24 Spirit of Change | SPRING/SUMMER 2022
dynamic quality that so essentially defines us escapes all explanation, whether on the part of philosophy, neuroscience, psychology, or evolutionary theory. By agency we refer to the fundamental quality of intentionality that all sentient beings possess: our desiring, willing, planning, and executing. Purposeful action gives rise to meaning, another fundamental quality of being. And with meaningful action comes values. Values capture our inherent sensitivity toward such fundamental issues as right and wrong, justice and injustice. We all know that these essential elements are characteristic of all sentient life and form an intrinsic part of reality, and yet, modern science can find no place for them.
Deprogramming the Parameters of Consciousness
Where we do find these qualities at their most pronounced is in the arena of healing and personal and spiritual transformation. For this reason, we need to remain open to the possibility that anomalous experiences in these contexts, such as those that accompanied my own healing, may well be pointing us toward a broader conception of reality and consciousness than has been accepted up till now. What may come as a surprise to those who have hitherto not been exposed to energy healing is the rapidity with which even the most extreme effects can be resolved once their originating nexus has been identified. Most of the various energy healing protocols available today can deliver relief from a range of mental, emotional, and physical problems. When facilitated by an experienced healer they can achieve a success rate upward of 90 percent. The process by which we come to hold our beliefs about the nature of reality, consciousness, and personal identity — our enculturation or programming — prepares us to fit in with a certain society and culture. But just because it enables us to interact with the portion of reality relevant to our society does not mean that it also prepares us for perceiving those aspects of reality beyond our society’s sphere of interest. For this we require a much broader perspective: the capacity to push the boundaries of consensual understanding and accommodate a fresh vision of the familiar world we inhabit. I liken this process to deprogramming. My own deprogramming has been a continuing process over many years. One event that helped me occurred when I was growing up in Africa in the early 1960s. We had decided to drive down to the coast, some four hundred miles away. Pedro, who worked with my father, hitched a ride with us. We drove down from the Kenyan highlands through the great Rift Valley and then headed southeast. All day we traveled on the rough red earth road that in those years ran all the way to the coast. We crossed dried-up riverbeds and vast tracks of featureless savannah, a great plume of red dust flowing out behind the car. Late that day we arrived on the edge of the city of Mombasa on the coast. We stopped at a small open market next to the road to pick up some fruit before going on to our final destination much further to the south. As we got out of the car, a younger, casually dressed man who was beaming from ear to ear stepped forward and warmly greeted Pedro. It was his brother! We asked Pedro how on Earth his brother could possibly be waiting for him at such a remote place on that day and time. He shrugged. “Because I would be here,” he said, as though it was the most normal thing to expect! In the early 1960s, the internet and mobile phones were still twenty-five years or so in the future. And even supposing Pedro had phoned him sometime before we set off, it still doesn’t explain his brother being at that particular roadside market at that very time, and our spontaneous decision to stop there. Is there more to reality than we can possibly imagine? The answer is a resounding yes! Another event that helped me to remain open to new possibilities occurred in my teens. I had joined a karate club run by a highly respected master, Ronnie Colwell. One night Ronnie demonstrated the controlled use of chi, or vital energy. He had a few of the burlier club members hold three thick wooden boards, each around 12 inches square and 2.5 inches thick, tightly together. He then struck the first board. Nothing happened. But when we examined the boards we found that while the first and second boards showed no sign of damage, the third board, the
one farthest away from the strike, was neatly split down the middle. How he did this, how it was even possible, puzzled most of us at the time. It still does today, over forty years later. The martial artist’s explanation is that it is done by focusing their chi on a point beyond where they are going to strike. In this case, Ronnie focused his energy on the third board, the one farthest away from the struck surface, and then split it. Finally, perhaps the most dramatic experience that confirmed my acceptance of an esoteric worldview occurred on the cusp of my entry to the world of energy healing. When Kenzie and I met our first Reiki teacher we sat and talked about energy and the path to inner cleansing and personal cultivation. After a while I started to feel that there was something wrong with my eyes. I became aware of stray blues and greens that appeared to flow across portions of our teacher’s hands and arms. I rubbed my eyes and checked what I was seeing outside the window. No trace of the stray colors appeared; it seemed that my eyes were not at fault. I resumed concentrating on what she was saying, only for the colors to spread and grow more vibrant. I tried a number of times to shake off the visual “distortion,” but by now the phenomenon had taken on a life of its own — the colors had formed a kaleidoscope! The disconnected patches of color began to coalesce into a seamless field of green streaked with deep blue that flowed across her hands, arms, and, finally, her entire body, swirling in graceful eddies like oil paint over the surface of water. I became aware that these colors radiated ten to fifteen centimeters out from her body, forming an iridescent field of emerald. I described what I was seeing to Kenzie, and this confirmed that we were on the right track to study with this teacher. When I reflect on my experience, over twenty years later, it occurs to me that I was able to see her aura so easily because she had a very high level of inner energy. The controlled activation and ascent of this inner energy is one of the main aims of most yogic systems. Apparently, our talk about aspiration for healing and growth raised my level of awareness and this enabled me to see her aura.
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The Bounds of Reality
Most of us think that what we see is all there is. Yet there is ample evidence that what we see is only a small fraction of what exists. That there is a gap between these two becomes apparent when we encounter certain people and entire cultures with fundamentally different perceptions of reality. The respected anthropologist Edith Turner wrote about the conflict she experienced between her scientific training and her actual experience undertaking fieldwork in a traditional society. One day while attending a healing ritual among the Ndembu people of Zambia she distinctly felt a sense of a gathering intensity within the ritual space as the ritual progressed. “I felt the spiritual motion, a tangible feeling of breakthrough going through the whole group,” she writes. Watching the healer’s hands scrabbling on a woman’s back, she reports, “I saw with my own eyes a giant thing emerging out of the flesh of her back. This thing was a large gray blob about six inches across, a deep gray opaque thing emerging as a sphere.” She described this object, the revenant of a deceased person, as “a miserable object…more akin to a restless ghost…There is spirit stuff. There is spirit affliction; it is not a matter of metaphor and symbol, or even psychology.”3 We may never know for certain, but it would appear that her intense engagement with the ritual process drew Edith Turner into its ritually generated field, allowing her to see, at least for a short time, what was taking place on a deeper level of the healing process. This type of experience is neither rare nor is it confined to the remotest regions of the world. In fact, we find parallel accounts in the ethnographic literature as well as in the day-to-day experiences of many energy healers worldwide. The segregation of these deeper layers of reality from our day-to-day awareness leaves us with a skewed understanding of “what exists” and what forces may be acting on us. A famous, indeed infamous, example of ritual healing happened to anthropologist Bruce Grindal when he slipped, uninvited, into a Sisala death divination
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Continued on page 26 www.spiritofchange.org
SPRING/SUMMER 2022 | Spirit of Change 25
HEALING ON EXTENDED PLANES OF EXISTENCE continued from page 25
You’re welcome to join us for ECK Light and Sound Services on Zoom sponsored by the Massachusetts Satsang Society. They are held on the first Sunday of the month starting at 11:00 am. Themes will be announced on the events page at eckinmass.org If you want to join these or other services, contact Mark at resa_in_ma@yahoo.com ECKANKAR, The Path of Spiritual Freedom
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26 Spirit of Change | SPRING/SUMMER 2022
ritual in Ghana. The ritual was undertaken to ascertain the reason for the sudden and unexpected death of the royal drummer. In a 1983 essay, “Into the Heart of Sisala Experience: Witnessing Death Divination,” Grindal describes how, as the ritual progressed, he experienced stronger and stronger psychophysical effects, including intense feelings of terror and dread as well as powerful stomach contractions accompanied by moments of greatly heightened awareness. Suddenly he experienced a great jolt at the base of his skull, as though his head had been severed from his spine. At this, “a terrible and beautiful sight burst upon me. Stretching from the amazingly delicate fingers and mouths of the goka (the ritual performers), strands of fibrous light played upon the head, fingers, and toes of the dead man. The corpse, shaken by spasms, then rose to its feet, spinning and dancing in a frenzy….The corpse picked up the drumsticks and began to play.”4 Those experienced with such modalities as kundalini yoga may well recognize Grindal’s psychophysical symptoms as connected to the activation of his own latent kundalini energy, and therefore understand just how powerful the ritual field generated by the ritualists was. Experiences such as this naturally raise many questions. Did the dead drummer actually rise from the dead, or was the entire scene purely hallucinatory? Would an independent observer have witnessed the scene in the same way, or merely perceived a group of ritual dancers performing obscure movements around a burial pyre? Of his experience Grindal noted that “the canons of empirical research limit reality to that which is verifiable through the consensual validation of rational observers. An understanding of death divination must depart from these canons and assume that reality is relative to one’s consciousness of it.”5 Indeed. Given his enculturation, the unsuspecting anthropologist could hardly have anticipated the impact of attending, albeit uninvited, a ritual process that revealed the psychophysical underpinnings of this African ritual and the changes it engendered in the quality and depth of the perceptions of the observers and participants. Most of us remain completely unaware and unsuspecting of the effects of unseen influences — those of the family, ancestors, past lives, and the deceased — on our health and wellbeing. Accounts like this challenge us on many different levels. Our day-to-day awareness offers only a narrow and partial vantage point from which to survey the broader reality. At the end of the day, what we call reality is as much a construction of our perception, and therefore as much “in our heads” as it is “out there.” When we experience a shift of awareness, the dynamic range of our experience also changes, sometimes radically. When this happens, and depending on how radical a shift we have made, reality can become unrecognizable from the point of view of consensual reality. Is this perception of an alternative aspect of reality more or less real than that of our daily lives? From the perspective of the healer it doesn’t matter. What matters is the healing process. The dedicated healer follows his or her intuition, and empathy guides them to the heart of the matter. That success rates of anything up to or over 90 percent can be achieved by facilitating a client’s own use of purely natural (nonpharmacological) approaches is itself proof of their validity. Phenomena occurring at the very edges of human experience are radically underdetermined; we simply have too little information to frame a proper understanding of them. The truth, Oscar Wilde once remarked, is rarely pure and never simple, and this is certainly true of anomalous phenomena. While there are many aspects that defy rational understanding, the evidence for their validity is too strong for us to dismiss out-of-hand. As a result, we must extend our cognitive model by integrating far more factors than we usually allow for. The world of the energy healer occupies a liminal zone, betwixt and between, where anomalous phenomena become the new normal. The model of reality that evolves in an attempt to understand these phenomena is of a complex, multilayered, multidimensional space inhabited by many orders of being. Each of us can make these worlds more transparent by undertaking the transformation of our own psychoenergetic being.
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NOTES 1. Nagel, Thomas. Mind and Cosmos: Why the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature is Almost Certainly False. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. 2. Kauffman, Stuart. Reinventing the Sacred: A New View of Science, Reason and Religion. New York: Basic Books, 2008. 3. Turner, Edith. “The reality of spirits.” Shamanism, 10, no. 1 (1997) 4,5. Grindal, Bruce. “Into the heart of Sisala experience: Witnessing death divination.” Journal of Anthropological Research 39, no. 1 (1983) 518
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On this planet we are faced with enormous challenges, but through these we can see, if only dimly, the outlines of a future humanity existing on a higher arc of spiritual evolution. The task of realizing this future is not someone else’s. It is certainly not the task of some remote political or corporate elite. The task of realizing this better future is yours and mine and all of us who wish for something better, not only for ourselves and our loved ones, but for all sentient life. By opening ourselves to the power of love and by taking responsibility for our own healing, all contribute directly to the harmony of the larger field. After all, we are part of a much greater whole. 614
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Excerpted from The Power of the Healing Field: Energy Medicine, Psi Abilities, and Ancestral Healing, by Peter Mark Adams, published by Healing Arts Press, ©2022. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission of publisher. www.innertraditions.com. 318 417
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in
BY SANDY EDWARDS
I was determined to become a healer despite having no sign of natural ability. So, what made me leap into something for which I had no apparent talent?
28 Spirit of Change | SPRING/SUMMER 2022
H
ealing is a natural phenomenon. After all these years, it continues to amaze me that moving my hands around someone could possibly make a difference to their health and wellbeing. But there it is. It has been proven to me time and again. There is nothing out of the ordinary about me. If I can learn to give healing then anyone can, if they are sincere and determined. Being more at home with logic and order, I found the world of healing strange but exciting; it opened up a new vista of learning and experiences, leading me to a fresh and wholesome perspective. Discovering healing and developing the skill has been a voyage of awe and wonder that is available to anyone who is prepared to embark. Every healer I have known talks about sensing energies and seeing colors. They are often
surprised to learn that I hardly ever experienced anything extrasensory until after many years of giving healing. Healing has nothing to do with being psychic or being a medium. Though I am not interested in developing either of these skills, I do believe they are valuable gifts when used wisely. But, even if I were a psychic or a medium, the training I received directed against utilizing these senses while giving healing. Our remit is purely and simply to deliver healing. Consequently, when patients eagerly ask if I have picked up any information about them, I invariably have to disappoint. Even if a healer were psychic in any way, it would be against the rules of a reputable healing organization for a healer to glean information about a person without their knowledge. It would be like going through someone’s handbag without their permission.
People tend to assume that healers must be particularly kindly and goodytwo-shoes types, but this is not necessarily so. However, thanks to the principles that underpin healer training, students become aware of the importance of continually working on themselves, dissolving fears and limitations, forgiving others and transforming the negative thoughts and emotions that lead to stress and worry. Anyone who has taken this challenge to heart will know that it is truly testing and soul-searching stuff. I had a tremendous amount of work to do on myself and I have achieved a great deal, but it remains a lifelong work in progress. Even now, I can be enraged by the diabolical things that people do, and irritated by irksome things that people say. I often quip that I would be a perfect person if nobody upset me! But even that would not be true, of course. Ask anyone I know and they will confirm that I irk as much as anybody else. But rather than dwell upon where people have room for improvement, the point is that character flaws must be no barrier to us becoming effective healers. If we waited until we were perfect or “good enough,” nobody would ever learn to give healing. If there were anything unusual to mention about me, it would be that I was determined to become a healer despite having no sign of natural ability. So, what made me leap into something for which I had no apparent talent? It was the outcome of my quest to combat psoriasis, a flaky skin condition that was affecting my scalp, causing itching and embarrassment. This had been a constant and tiresome companion since my teens. There is no cure for psoriasis, and steroid cream is the only medical method of gaining temporary relief. Not willing to use steroids, I looked to complementary remedies but achieved no success. Psychology books pointed to deep emotional issues, and I attempted various methods of digging up the offending roots. I felt certain that I was on the right track and made some progress, but it was not enough. To digress for a moment, hypnosis brought only a small improvement for the psoriasis, but a major breakthrough for smoking. Exactly as the hypnotist said, I have not wanted a puff of a cigarette since that one session. During those explorations, I was surprised to be advised by a spiritual healer that I should take up healer training. The act of giving healing, she said, would balance the energies within me that were causing the psoriasis. She recommended the UK-based organization National Federation of Spiritual Healers (NFSH), later to become known as the Healing Trust. I had not heard of the organization before but I felt inspired to follow it up. For me to resolve to be a healer was like someone who had never seen a cooker decide to be a chef; plus, I expected healing to be in my spare time and entirely unpaid. Also, cooking is within everyone’s experience and easily justifiable, whereas healing would be awkward to explain to curious family and friends. Despite the negatives, I felt a thrill at the prospect of training to heal, and I immediately signed up.
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Blindly Learning To Heal
I had no sensitivity to the energies that were being talked about on the course, so I found that training to be a healer was like being led down a pitch-black alley without being able to touch the sides. Everyone else seemed to revel in the various sensations that confirmed the validity of what we were being taught. Conversely, I was impervious to such phenomena and just blindly followed instructions. I simply placed my hands in this place or that, precisely as shown, and trusted the process. My lack of sensitivity seemed to make no difference to the actual effects. Patients gave me as much positive feedback as they did the others. It became evident to me that one could become an effective healer with no natural talent and without needing to sense the energies involved. I supposed that the key to effectiveness must be the amount of passion behind the intent to heal, as I certainly had an abundance of that. My lack of sensitivity to energies could be due to my being what is termed predominantly “left-brained.” When the left hemisphere of the brain is
Continued on page 30
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SPIRITUAL HEALING IN HOSPITALS AND CLINICS continued from page 29
flight, and the prospect of what was to come would spoil any journey for him. dominant, the person is said to be analytical, objective and logical, which I can During one especially painful descent, I suddenly thought to try healing. There identify with. “Right-brained” people, on the other hand, are said to be intuitive, was no time to do the usual whole body circuit, so I simply cupped his ears. The thoughtful and subjective. Neuroscientist Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor graphically pain disappeared within a minute and, for the first time, he was able to happily describes her personal experience of being dominated alternately by the right watch what was happening outside. He has never had the problem again. or the left hemisphere of the brain. As a brain scientist, she was fascinated to In my very early training days of discovery and wonder, I would eagerly ask witness this while suffering a devastating stroke. Her captivating TED Talk is each patient what they had felt or experienced during the session and then available to view online. listen with incredulity to their account. However, I was soon gently corrected The softer qualities of right-brained people certainly seem abundant among and advised that, as a healer, our only remit is to deliver healing. The extent of the countless healers I know. But, again, my being out of step with most other enquiry afterwards should be limited to “How did that feel?”, giving the patient healers made no difference to the positive outcomes for patients. the opportunity to share their experience without feeling pressured. Training with the Healing Trust means learning to heal without touching the The range of regular and positive feedback convinced me beyond doubt patient, except for the shoulders and feet. However, that healing was making a wonderful difference we can elect to work with touch, in which case the to people’s lives. Further, if I could become an only additional contact points are the joints of the effective healer without the slightest prior ability, arms and legs. The patient either sits on a chair or lies and without being able to sense energies, then It pleases me to think of ways on a couch, fully clothed, while the healer encourages surely anyone could. Some healing organizations them to relax. The session begins with a light touch teach that the ability to heal is a natural part of in which physical improvements on the shoulders and then, with hands away from the being human — that everyone is a healer, whether body, we work downwards, starting around the head they believe it or not. I must have had the capacity may not be as difficult to and along the trunk of the body. We then work in line all along; it just needed sparking. with the skeleton, firstly along the spine, then down Healer training with a reputable organization achieve as we might imagine. the arms and legs, finishing with a light touch on the is spread over a couple of years to ensure that shoulders. The whole process takes about 20 minutes. enough supervision and experience is gained before For instance, as easily as cells For new patients, we explain that they may feel qualifying. At the end of my two years, on the way have moved out of their perfect heat, cold, tingling or involuntary muscle jumps, or home from qualifying, the idea struck me to apply they might see colors. If they did not know of these for a National Lottery grant to set up a voluntary place for health, why should possibilities in advance, they might feel alarmed at healing center near my home. Voluntary healing experiencing something out of the ordinary. Or they centers are dotted all around the UK, but need to they not return just as easily? might see or feel nothing at all. Everything is normal. be local enough for people to access them easily. During my training years, a consistent flow of The more the better, I thought, and set about the positive feedback from patients compelled me paperwork. There had never before been a healing to believe that the training was effective and that center start-up funded by a grant, so it was a healing works. It was astonishing and exciting to find that, simply by my wonderful surprise to open the award letter. following the method taught, patients reported feeling better. Occasionally, The first healer who agreed to team up knew of an ideal venue for us to use. people told me that they had felt physical movements happening deep within Our team of eight dedicated healers welcomed patients month after month. the afflicted part of the body, and that it now felt better. More often, people Volunteers do not grow on trees, and they have a host of other things that they said that their pain had simply disappeared. Others reported that they had could be doing with their precious time, but these people made our Mondayexperienced a discomfort or an emotion rise up during the session that had then morning sessions their priority, some travelling quite a distance. Together, we quickly melted away. Tense patients would leave relaxed and those who came in created a friendly and fun atmosphere that our visitors enjoyed being a part of. downcast would be uplifted. Although our work with various self-help groups was enthusiastically received I practiced my fledgling skills on willing friends and relatives. A colleague at by their members and organizers, one of my main goals was to let the medical work had been plagued with gout for weeks, and it was getting steadily worse. world know that healing exists and to have healing made available at NHS Walking was excruciatingly painful, but he continued to work full-time. His (National Health Service) venues such as doctors’ clinics and hospitals. My miserable expression showed that he was unable to find any relief for the agony initiatives to bring healing into hospitals and to self-help groups were often and that it was getting him down. Although a total sceptic about healing, he was welcomed, but we needed a senior person within a hospital or a general practice now desperate and prepared to try anything. One Friday lunchtime I gave him who was willing to champion our cause. It seemed a tall order, but I kept the a healing session in the office — not the ideal setting in which to unwind, but thought alive in my mind. we had no choice. He was impressed to find that, despite having so much on his mind, he was able to relax deeply. The experience lifted his mood, but the gout remained as painful as ever. I suggested that we try weekly sessions and he agreed. One day in 2006, I gave healing to a woman at our voluntary group who had But on the Monday morning he strode into work all smiles. With amazement been to us a few times but whom I had not yet met. I was amazed and thrilled all over his face, he described getting out of bed on the Saturday morning and when she told me that her hospital consultant had recommended that she come reaching the bedroom door before realizing that his foot was back to normal. to us. Apparently, he had picked up some of our leaflets from a display stand and And it remained so. had also heard good reports from other doctors about spiritual healing. She said Another surprising healing success concerned my young son. When flying, he that he had referred a number of his patients to our group and was pleased with invariably had difficulty getting his ears to pop to counteract the changing air the results that he had seen. This was very exciting news. Perhaps he might be pressure. To minimize the pain, we would travel with menthol crystals so that open to the idea of making healing available within the hospital. he could sniff the vapor to open his ear canals. Landing was the worst part of the I wrote to her consultant, Dr Sukhdev Singh, at the Gastroenterology
Healing at the Hospital Begins
Continued on page 32
30 Spirit of Change | SPRING/SUMMER 2022
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why should they not return just as easily? After all, each cell is made up of Department of Good Hope Hospital in Birmingham and offered to deliver millions of atoms, and each atom is mostly empty space. The nucleus of an atom healing to his patients free of charge. To assure him of the professionalism is equivalent to the size of a football in the middle of a football field, with the of the Healing Trust, I detailed the minimum two-year training period, the nearest electron orbiting way outside of the stadium. With such a vast amount national standards of training and of accredited tutors, the assessment panels, of space inside atoms, and with atoms being the building blocks of everything the professional code of conduct and disciplinary procedures. I also mentioned in our world, even the most “solid” piece of rock is, in fact, mostly empty space. Healing Trust members who were already well established at other UK So perhaps there really is more room for the cells of our body to maneuver than hospitals, so he would see that healing was accepted elsewhere. seems possible. Dr Singh replied to my letter in welcoming terms. He invited me to meet him Added to this, astrophysicists know that mysterious elements — dark energy on the ward where most of his gastroenterology inpatients are cared for. When and dark matter — exist that affect the world we can perceive. About 68 percent he stepped forward to shake my hand, my first impression was of his down-toof the universe is dark energy and about 27 percent is dark matter. This means earth kindliness, and I felt that we liked each other from the first moment. I was that less than 5 percent of all that exists is observable. The remaining 95 percent surprised to discover that Dr Singh himself led meditation and mindfulness1 is only known about because it has an effect on the physical world around us.2 It classes for his patients, free of charge and in his does not seem such a great stretch, then, for healers own time. It was refreshing and uplifting to meet to say that there must be an unknown force called a medical expert who was proactively including healing energy because it has an observable effect on complementary therapies within his provision of living things. If just one person can make care. Scientist James Oschman Ph.D. explains in his I began work with Dr Singh’s patients in August book Energy Medicine how our cells and tissues a physical, mental or emotional 2007. After their consultation with him, he would respond to energies and vibrations all around us, suggest that they might benefit from a healing session and discusses the role of natural energy forces recovery, then anyone can. The with me. If they took up the offer, I would lead the within us that work to maintain normal health and person to my room next door. well-being. Institute of Noetic Sciences It is often said that a complementary therapy Scientist Gregg Braden offers a wealth of session helps patients to feel better because they are evidence in his award-winning books to support his has compiled a database of in nurturing surroundings. However, the room I use contention that there is a field of energy connecting at the hospital is a standard, sterile consultation room all of creation. He says we communicate with this thousands of medically reported with no soft music or potted palms. The examination field through the language of our emotions, and the cases where clinical remission couch in the center is surrounded by the usual array quality of those emotions reflects in our physical of medical equipment, and the view through the health. has mysteriously occurred. first-floor window is of the local cemetery. All in all, it seems possible that the physical Another common assertion is that patients feel positioning of atoms, and therefore cells, may better only because a complementary therapist takes be more fluid than we think. Even if it were not an interest in them as a person and provides a kindly actually true, the concept gives me a more limitless listening ear. But I exchange just a couple of sentences with a new patient, simply mindset when giving healing. But in many cases, there seems to be no other to put them at their ease. explanation. Knowing that the people I see at the hospital have gastric problems, I If just one person can make a physical, mental or emotional recovery, sometimes lay my hands on their abdomen. When people attend a hospital then anyone can. The Institute of Noetic Sciences has compiled a database of appointment they anticipate unpleasant invasive treatment so, by comparison, thousands of medically reported cases where clinical remission has mysteriously being asked if it is okay to lightly touch inoffensive areas is probably a occurred.3 These recoveries clearly cannot happen outside of the natural laws of welcome departure. They invariably agree, and many comment on how physics, chemistry and biology; it must be that we simply do not yet know all of comforting it feels. the laws. Working with patients who have been suffering for a very long time, despite the best medical care, may seem daunting for a healer. I attempt to maintain a NOTES highly positive mindset by means of a variety of methods. 1. www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/mindfulness It did not feature in my training, but I believe that the greater a sense of 2. Science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/what-is-dark-energy elation and bliss the healer can generate and maintain during the session, the 3. Institute of Noetic Science, Spontaneous Remission Bibliography Project better the outcome for the patient. Whether true or not, it feels brilliant for http://www.noetic.org/research/projects/spontaneous-remission the healer. Occasionally, I feel intense waves of euphoria and at other times a sudden upwelling of deep emotion that passes through me and goes. When this Spiritual Healing in Hospitals and Clinics by Sandy Edwards published happens to me, the patient often remarks afterwards that they felt something by Findhorn Press, ©2021. All rights reserved. www.Innertraditions.com. similar happening to them, and how light and bright they now feel. Others have Reprinted with permission of the publisher. described having the most amazing experiences, while I was aware of nothing at all. To me, these experiences confirm that powerful healing is occurring. How can a healer remain optimistic in the face of seemingly insurmountable Sandy Edwards is a fellow of the Healing Trust, UK. She set up a voluntary healing odds? Physical problems often appear impossible to change. It pleases me clinic and volunteered in hospitals before instigating the largest medical research trial to think of ways in which physical improvements may not be as difficult to of spiritual healing, the results of which she presented at the Houses of Parliament in achieve as we might imagine. London. Sandy has served as a trustee of the Healing Trust charity and lives in Dorset, For instance, as easily as cells have moved out of their perfect place for health, UK. https://healinginahospital.uk/
SPIRITUAL HEALING IN HOSPITALS AND CLINICS continued from page 30
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been looked at as second-class citizens of the world. Used for our labor. Robbed of our identities. Gawked at for our unique features. And even though slavery was abolished, the societal system that was created as a result of white supremacy still exists to this day. Intergenerational trauma persists. This is trauma that was passed on from one generation to the next through learned behaviors and emotions. Understand this: The system was built to exhaust and exclude Black people. It was not built to help us win, which is why we — my sistahs — must look out for ourselves and each other. Get ready to learn about how you can take care of your mind, body, and soul. Now more than ever, you must pour back into yourself what you so freely give to others.
The Reason for Self-Care
Seforlf-Care BLACK WOMEN BY OLUDARA ADEEYO
Illustration by Tess Armstrong
B
lack women are phenomenal. We come in different shapes, sizes and shades. Some of us are mixed-race. Some of us have strong roots that are linked to Latin American countries, as well as the Caribbean. Some of us don’t speak a lick of English. Some of us have skin color that is as dark as a vanilla bean or as light as cane sugar. Throughout history, Black women have been the glue in their communities. We provide physical and emotional support to 34 Spirit of Change | SPRING/SUMMER 2022
families, friends, and strangers. We band together to uplift neighborhoods. We teach. We nurture. We build. And while we accomplish great things, we are being killed silently, because we do not practice proper self-care. To be Black in this world is to constantly struggle. If you don’t live with it, then you see it. And sometimes, you witness and experience it. It’s a global struggle that started with the transatlantic slave trade and colonization. For centuries, Black people have
Ever feel overwhelmed, worn down, and burned out but you can’t really identify the cause? Let me introduce you to something called racebased traumatic stress. The stress you experience related to racism is hurting your health — even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed it. Most health issues in Black women can be linked back to some form of racism. Whether it be on a personal or institutional level, racism is a proven risk factor for death in Black people. For example, racism attacks when your pleas for proper medical attention are ignored in the hospital. It attacks when you’re sequestered into neighborhoods that lack proper resources. It attacks when you’re not given the same lifealtering opportunities as others. An overload of stress like this traumatically impacts your overall wellness. Your mind, body, and soul become so overwhelmed that these three vital areas of your life are unable to properly function. Hence, the need for self-care. Attending to yourself when you are experiencing traumatic stress is essential to maintaining your well-being.
What Is Race-Based Traumatic Stress?
Race-based traumatic stress was coined by Robert T. Carter, PhD. It describes your body’s response to mental and emotional damage caused by negative race-related encounters, a.k.a. racism. Research has found that when you experience race-based traumatic stress, your body mimics the way it would react with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This means that being on the receiving end of racebased discriminations, prejudice, hate crimes, or microaggressions can give you PTSD. Which means you have probably been walking around with a low-grade version of PTSD for many years, perhaps even decades. For instance, when you have paranoid or obsessive thoughts about how you should act to not be seen as a threat, that’s PTSD. It throws off the functioning of your entire body. The fact is, stress hurts. It leads to other debilitating diseases. And the hard truth is, racial stress kills. It leads to illnesses that cause death in your mind, body,
Continued on page 36
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SELF-CARE FOR BLACK WOMEN continued from page 34
and soul. With symptoms of PTSD, you become consumed by your perceived threat and are hyper-focused on keeping yourself safe. This makes it hard for you to simply enjoy life. However, no one has the time for that when we’re just trying to survive being a Black woman in a racist and sexist society.
Self-Care in a Patriarchal Society
The stress that Black women experience from racism is combined with the stress of sexism. On top of racial trauma, Black women also have the pressure of dealing with being a woman in a patriarchal society, a “man’s world.” First the world tells you that you are less than because you’re Black. And then it says, Don’t forget. You’re a woman too. You’ve got to act a certain way. You’ve got to meet unrealistic beauty standards. You can’t get paid as much as men. And just as you settle into the complexities of your womanhood, you’re reminded, Don’t forget. You’re Black too. It’s a cycle that beats on your ability for self-care. Well, enough is enough. You know that systemic change is the key to full healing, but you need to take measures now to protect your well-being. You must bow out of the oppressive fight that is trying to kill you. It’s time for you to regain control over your health. It’s time to practice radical self-care.
What Is Radical Self-Care?
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Radical self-care is the active decision to put your wellness before anyone or anything else. For Black women, it is a form of protest against a society that is determined to oppress us to death. By choosing to intentionally take care of yourself, you are letting the world know that you are a person who knows her worth and cannot be made a Black martyr. Radical self-care goes beyond your physical fitness. It also includes your emotional well-being, as well as the condition of your soul or spirit. This is called the mind-body-soul connection. Research has found that these three areas of your life are intertwined, so when one is acting up, it impacts the other two. Thus, you must learn when to use your radical self-care skills.
When to Use Radical Self-Care
Knowing when you need to use radical self-care is essential to your wellness. The answer? Every day. What makes radical self-care so different from other types of self-care is that it requires you to give your full attention to your well-being. Ever get a stomachache when you had to make a tough decision? Or when you were feeling extremely nervous? Or how about the time you said yes to something you didn’t want to do? You know what I’m talking about. Bubble guts. Bubble guts is an example of our mind, body, and soul talking to each other. Our spirit senses something isn’t right, our mind is shooting out unhappy emotions, and our body is reacting as the stress hormones course through it. Incidents like this are signals that something is out of order within you, and that one of your needs must be addressed to maintain your health. To do this, maintaining balance within your three spheres of wellness is very important. You must use one of your acquired wellness tools. But real talk, that can be hard to do. Life happens. You get so distracted by the flow of your life that you forget to take care of yourself. Therefore, finding a practice of self-care that works for you is essential to the upkeep of your overall health.
How to Practice Radical Self-Care
To properly practice self-care, you must focus on all three areas: mind, body, and soul. Self-care is a set of daily practices that you do to support your wellbeing. These exercises, activities, or actions require you to put yourself first every day. Yes, girl. Every day. Self-care calls for you to get in touch with your inner being so you can learn what helps you cope in times of distress and what helps you create a life of happiness. Through self-care you gain knowledge on who you are as a person, allowing you to fall in love with the incredible woman you are on a daily basis.
The Purpose of Radical Self-Care
In addition, pursuing a life filled with self-care improves wellness and prevents
illness and disease. The act of self-care has become critical to surviving in the modern world, especially as a Black woman. It helps you create a safe space for yourself in a society that does not care to make room for you. You help your future self and encourage personal growth when you engage in it. For you, self-care is a necessity and not a luxury.
Mental Self-Care
One of the most important areas to begin your focus of self-care is your mental health — the mind. This is the epicenter for your wellness. Your brain is a dynamic organ. It controls all the functions of your body. So much of how your brain operates dictates the person you become. Your memories, intelligence, and emotions are stored in your mind. From the time you’re in the womb until you are in your late twenties, your brain is continually developing. What you go through in your childhood shapes the way you think, behave, and react. Through your family, you’re introduced to things like love, self-worth, and conflict resolution. You may create unhealthy habits that were birthed from the early years of your brain development. You may even have traumatic experiences that alter the way you perceive people and things. But what is so fascinating about that brain of yours is that it has the capacity to reorganize what it has already learned. Your brain has a characteristic called neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity is your brain’s ability to change and adapt the way it functions. This means that your mind is able to toss out things it’s absorbed that no longer serve your well-being. Through emotional corrective experiences, your brain can reroute you to a healthier way of thinking, and therefore living. This is so important for you. It. Is. Necessary. You can shake off your past, the old ways of thinking that have kept your mind captive, and chase after your own emotional wellness. Change the narrative of your life with self-love, and take on practices that purify and free your thoughts. Liberate your mind. Some of these suggested exercises are everyday actions you’ve probably heard of before. Other exercises are those only someone like you — a Black woman — will benefit from. Whichever activities you decide to incorporate into your daily life, you will be doing one special thing: choosing yourself.
CHALLENGE YOUR NEGATIVE SELF-TALK
How we speak to ourselves impacts our mental health. This is why you must challenge any negative self-talk immediately. Self-talk is what is considered our internal voice. It speaks to us throughout the day as we maneuver different situations. However, sometimes, our thoughts lean toward the negative side as they’re impacted by our experiences and beliefs. Such as being conditioned as a Black woman by your surroundings to believe your skin, hair, and body are less than desirable. They’re not, by the way. You are beautiful. We subconsciously pick up these messages and start to tell ourselves things like I am not good enough. I can’t seem to get anything right. I will never find love. No one wants a woman who looks like me. Girl, stop. Thinking like this will only lead to increased feelings of stress and sadness. You are good enough. The next time you realize you are talking badly about yourself, interrupt those thoughts with positive self-talk and some reality testing. This is when you examine your thoughts and perceptions to see if they match your external world. Be objective and ask yourself: What evidence do I have to back up my thinking? What would happen to my feelings and actions if I changed my thoughts? Disrupting negative self-talk is how you gain power over your mental wellness and enhance your radical self-care. Needless to say, this exercise should decrease your negative thoughts and improve your mood. You should begin to feel better and believe your positive self-talk the more you practice.
Continued on page 38
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SELF-CARE FOR BLACK WOMEN continued from page 37
STOP POLICING YOUR SPEECH
We are conditioned to be superconscious of how we speak. With hypervisibility as a Black woman comes hyperawareness. Of how you sound, how you look, how you eat, how you walk, how you breathe. It’s exhausting. We try to not feed into the “angry Black woman” stereotype, so we purposefully speak lower and softer when we’d rather be a bit louder and more direct. We adjust our tone so we don’t offend others by possibly coming off as aggressive. We withhold words because we fear that if we say something, we will be vilified. We hold the weight of speaking for all Black women with our voices, when we just want to speak for ourselves. Whew. Girl. It’s time to cut this behavior and take back your voice. To stop policing your speech, try the following: First, actively work on letting go of fear and doubt of being misunderstood. Some people are determined to misconstrue what you say simply because you’re Black. Forget those folks. Second, if you feel like you are coming from a good place, say it all with your chest. Third, find small opportunities, like with a trusted friend, to convey exactly how you’re feeling without adjusting your tone. Say what you need to say without second-guessing yourself. As you practice this activity, you’ll begin to let go of obsessive thoughts and gain the self-confidence necessary to continue your road to radical self-care. You will find your voice again and not be afraid to use it, despite what others may think of you.
CHECK IN WITH YOUR THOUGHTS
To do a self-check with your mind, grab a notebook. Now answer these questions, and reflect on them: What are my thoughts right now? How do these thoughts impact my mood? When did I start thinking about these things? How often am I thinking about them? Who is a safe person that I can share my thoughts with today? The purpose of this activity is to become more in tune with your mental wellness. Your answers to these questions will increase your self-awareness. Let’s spend some time checking in with our thoughts. Our minds deserve some extra tender loving care. As a Black woman, you may not feel comfortable attending to your own needs, thereby working twice as hard to not be stereotyped as lazy. You take care of others and neglect your emotional needs in the midst of it. You gotta stop this. We deserve a mind filled with clarity. And when it comes to our thoughts, there are specific things we need to assess to make sure our mind is operating at its healthiest. Checking in with your thoughts is like taking your mind to the mental mechanic. There is no reason to crash and burn. Regular tune-ups are a necessity. After doing this, you’ll feel more equipped with how to properly take care of your mental health on the road to radical self-care discovery.
VALIDATE YOURSELF AFTER EXPERIENCING MISOGYNOIR
Misogynoir — that is, misogyny directed at Black women, where racism and sexism are at the crux of the treatment — is one of the the worst experiences a Black woman can encounter. Whenever you’re unwarily mistreated, it can send you into a mental spiral of thoughts. Did I get treated like this because I’m a woman? Were they rude or were they racist? You begin to question your self-worth and actions, wondering what you did to deserve someone being racist and sexist toward you. Truth is you did nothing to deserve that treatment. Nothing. People will dislike you and treat you ill simply because you are a Black woman. If you don’t have access to someone you can process those hurtful feelings with, it’s important to validate yourself. This means allowing yourself to believe what you experienced is true and all your emotions associated with that event are accurate. Following are 38 Spirit of Change | SPRING/SUMMER 2022
some ways to validate yourself. First, tell yourself some or all of the following statements: I am allowed to feel this way. What happened to me, happened. I do not need to prove it to make it true. My perspective on things matters. Nothing is wrong with how I perceive things. Next, write down what you experienced in a journal and revisit it another time or share it with a friend when you are ready. By validating your experience, you are validating your existence. After giving yourself the gift of validation, you will feel better about yourself and your radical self-care efforts. There may be some lingering feelings of anger, but those negative emotions will not take up too much space in your brain.
USE GUIDED MEDITATIONS
Meditation sounds more intimidating than it is. You’re probably thinking, That ain’t for me. My mind is always racing. Well, if you wanna decrease your experience with emotional distress, you need to give meditating a try — especially as you prioritize self-care. Meditation is top-tier when it comes to taking care of our mental health. It’s the practice of focusing or monitoring our thoughts for a time. When we meditate, we calm our mind, improve our attention, and reconnect to ourselves. We regulate emotions and learn to self-soothe. By introducing meditation to your self-care practice, you are creating an exclusively safe space to release emotions. You are training your mind to be aware of all that is in and around you. Meditation doesn’t always have to look like sitting down for twenty minutes and trying to swat away stressful thoughts. Even if you’re a beginner, you can use guided meditations. It feels less overwhelming when you have someone else leading you. To find the right guided meditations, start by searching YouTube for what fits your needs, such as the length and topic. If that doesn’t work, consider downloading apps that fit the style of meditation you want. Some app suggestions include Headspace: Meditation & Sleep, Liberate: Black Meditation App, and Shine: Calm Anxiety & Stress. Meditation helps clear the mind. Something we desperately need as we deal with symptoms of race-based traumatic stress. As we calm our minds, we improve our mental wellness. You’ll feel happy, relaxed, and peaceful when you practice daily meditations as part of your radical self-care.
Choose Yourself
Ultimately, self-care is healing work for your entire being. From your mind to your body and to your soul, the self-care activities you use to take care of yourself can overlap. Because that’s the goal: total healing of your personhood. When you heal yourself, you create an earth-shattering legacy. The lineage of women who come after you will be healed. Your inner circle of Black women around you, healed. By actively choosing yourself, you are breaking the generational curses or traumas that have cycled through your family. You activate your ancestral strength. Things like addiction and abuse, they stop with you. You change the way children in your bloodline will be raised. You break down emotional barriers that no longer keep feelings like fear and shame imprisoned in your body. You bend the universe with the powerful stomp of your walk to a higher level of self-worth. You create an exceptional example for yourself and others of what self-love truly means. You teach yourself and the next generations about the importance of their own self-care. Radical self-care is a movement that you cannot let pass you by. You must participate. The world depends on it. You depend on it. Excerpted from Self-Care for Black Women: 150 Ways to Radically Accept & Prioritize your Mind, Body and Soul by Oludara Adeeyo. Copyright © 2022 by Simon & Schuster, Inc. Used with permission of the publisher, Adams Media, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. All rights reserved.
Oludara Adeeyo is a psychotherapist based in Los Angeles, where she assists individuals experiencing homelessness, as well as severe and persistent mental illness. She is passionate about helping people improve their overall well-being, especially Black women.
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SPRING/SUMMER 2022 | Spirit of Change 39
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What You Can Contribute To The Greater Good During A Pandemic
A
s we move through our third winter of a pandemic world, it is clear we are living in unprecedented times. We are navigating a continuously changing landscape in which the ways we live, work, study, socialize and care for ourselves and others have morphed, and morphed again. The only certainty is uncertainty. Our daily vocabulary now includes masks, gloves, social distancing, COVID-19, antigen and PCR testing, and an introduction to the Greek alphabet through mutant variants: alpha, beta, gamma, delta and omicron. Peppering the daily news are reports of percent positivity rates, number of new daily cases and hospitalizations, as well as, sadly, deaths. It is no secret that this pandemic world has taken a toll on our mental, emotional and spiritual health, whether we are young, old or in-between. Navigating a global public health crisis is scary to begin with. When a pandemic becomes politicized and people’s beliefs and behaviors become polarized, the crisis escalates and we feel invisible and powerless. While having our minds firmly grounded in the current reality is critical for self-care and survival, the spirit needs a seed of vision and hope that the future will be better than things are right now. How can we find empowerment in a pandemic world, where so much seems out of our control? Finding a creative spark that can germinate into a seed of vision for better times can transform both our inner lives and our outer world. This vision seed fuels hope, which allows us to not only go on day by day, but also channel our energy and creative power to make a difference for the future. Hope is a creative crucible. It opens the heart and taps into the creative energy that comes with getting clear about what really matters. Clarity gives direction for both our mind’s focus and actions that follow. Hope catalyzes an alchemical reaction within us, and when shared in our circles of family, friends and colleagues, allows us to transform our current experience into something much better. What are ways you can contribute to the greater good during a pandemic? 1. TAKE A POSITIVE STEP TO SET OFF A RIPPLE OF GOOD IN THE LARGER
COMMUNITY. COVID-19 has showed us we really ARE interconnected. Let’s use this reality to know that every positive step we take does make a difference in not only our own lives but also the lives of loved ones and our greater world community. 2. BE A GOOD EXAMPLE. As people tire of pandemic living, and want to throw caution to the wind, it is reinforcing to see others do the right thing. Wear a
40 Spirit of Change | SPRING/SUMMER 2022
Illustration courtesy Kiyanochka/123RF.com
mask. Social distance. Make safe choices about activities in our COVID-19 world. Do whatever you can to stay safe, and should you show symptoms, get tested, quarantine and do your best to protect others. 3. CULTIVATE CREATIVE OUTLETS. They help us process our experience and can also touch others. Music and songwriting during this pandemic time has been powerful for me. Journaling, story writing, cooking, gardening, painting, drawing and taking photographs are personal outlets. Finding new ways for people to gather and connect safely can help stave off a sense of isolation. Family dinners on Zoom, attending or performing in virtual concerts or open mics, and meeting outside at a state park instead of inside in a living room allow us to still enjoy pandemic-safe social contact. 4. SHINE THE LIGHT OF KINDNESS. In our current world, materialism has eclipsed kindness to our detriment. We need to find a way to restore a better balance. Kindness is fertilizer for the heart and soul. Kindness lightens our personal burdens and touches others in our local and global communities. 5. STEP AWAY FROM POLITICAL POLARIZATION AND FOCUS ON WHAT IS
AT THE HEART OF THE ISSUES THAT AFFECT US ALL. It seems that both the
left and the right have become further apart on most any issue that might serve us best from a middle ground. Even public health issues in a pandemic have become politically polarized. Risk mitigation practices, like wearing a mask or getting vaccinated have morphed into threats to individual freedom and Democrats versus Republicans. Trying to get facts and making choices accordingly is better for all than engaging in political warfare.
On behalf of the Oneness of all existence, Millie brings you ...
A Human’s Purpose This book is for anyone:
• Searching for the deeper meanings in life and death • On a spiritual path who wants to understand themselves • Who wants to understand others more profoundly • Who wants to create a love and joy filled life • Is open to new ideas and concepts that infuse love into all aspects of your being “For most of my life I was searching for purpose, not understanding the challenges and losses I have experienced. After reading A Human’s Purpose I have gained more clarity than I can state. I have a whole new outlook on life and death. It was life-altering!” ~ Kim W.
Millie is an old soul that will steal your heart
6. CONSCIOUSLY CHOOSE PROJECTS THAT WILL HELP OTHERS IN YOUR
COMMUNITY. Some projects need financial resources or goods. Others need
time. Contribute food or money to a food pantry. Offer graphic design, office or IT skills to an arts non-profit. Ask what kind of help is needed at the YMCA, your local hospital, or a children’s program.
7. APPRECIATE THE CONTRIBUTIONS OUR FOUR-LEGGED COMPANIONS
ARE MAKING TO OUR WELL-BEING. Cats and dogs, and other animals are supporting emotional, mental and spiritual health during this pandemic time. Donate pet food, blankets and toys to an animal shelter. See if they need help doing laundry, cleaning cages, sorting through supplies or any other task. Veterinary clinics are overwhelmed with care needs as more people adopt pets. See if you can offer any kind of help as a volunteer. 8. HELP THOSE AROUND YOU TAP INTO THE ALCHEMY OF HOPE. Invite loved ones to talk about a vision of how we can work together to transform our world for the better in the face of issues that are most pressing. Vision tends to spark more vision. Let conversations move into plans for action.
www.AHumansPurpose.com
Yoga & Wellness Center
9. LOOK FOR AND SHARE IMAGES AND INSPIRING STORIES OF PEOPLE MAKING A DIFFERENCE, HELPING OTHERS AND OVERCOMING THE ODDS.
Images and stories are powerful and fuel the alchemy of hope.
10. LEAN INTO YOUR ABILITY TO LIVE WITH UNCERTAINTY. We
often back off from what is scary and go into our turtle shells. Take one day at a time. Find ways to be grounded, like meditating, journaling, taking a walk or doing yoga, even when there is chaos. Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths when you start to feel frightened. Feel the chair under your tailbone and the floor beneath your feet. In reality, we are always living with uncertainty. When life seemed more stable, pre-pandemic, uncertainty was just not as apparent every day. Life is an evolutionary process. Things grow and change every day. Mutant virus variants do; so do we. Uncertainty can grow good things as well as bad. If we can work to focus our minds and hearts on what is needed and how to make things better at any point in time, we have the power, individually and collectively, to tap into the alchemy of hope.
Linda Marks is a singer-songwriter and recording artist, and a heart-centered body psychotherapist in Waltham, MA. Listen to her two 2021 pandemic-inspired albums “Monuments Of Love” and “Home” on all digital platforms, and watch her inspirational lyric videos on YouTube. You can reach Linda at lsmheart@aol.com or visit healingheartpower.com. www.spiritofchange.org
Open To Your Self... with poses steeped in the teachings of masters worldwide through Svaroopa® Yoga.
“Om Svaroopa Svasvabhavah Namo Namah”
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app.ubindi.com/Susan.Daniel Sattva (Susan) Daniel, CEYT seaglassyoga.com | 603.324.2394 | coachsue@seaglassyoga.com SPRING/SUMMER 2022 | Spirit of Change 41
A Human’s Purpose by
Millie the Dog
with Maryann Roefaro
Illustration courtesy franzidraws/123rf.com
I
came into the world in the usual way. My birth mother seemed to have an easy time of it. I was among seven precious souls committed to being adopted by wonderful people. All my siblings had made agreements with their future Earth parents well before we were all born, and everyone had taken part in selecting their names, just like humans do. Yes, humans pick their parents and family, and know their names before they are born, too. Everyone does. That’s how it works — both humans and dogs (all animals) are aware of their path prior to being born and the onset of amnesia that follows an Earth birth. Amnesia is part of the deal when you decide to be reborn on Earth, the freewill planet. It’s one of those imperatives for soul growth, and the implementation of each of our co-created plans. Earth, as magnificent as it is, remains a land of density, where life is complex and decisions and choices are many. Because of this, it provides a haven of opportunity for souls to ascend to a higher level of consciousness through the choices, decisions and directions humans are presented with and decide to take. If humans who are born on Earth remembered what it was like back home, the epitome of love, the world would be a completely different place. They would understand that we are one, and everything they do and think creates the fabric of existence and affects all of us. I remember how small I felt, gazing at the world in wonder. I was in physical form once again: Hey world, meet Millie! I had such happy memories of my life back home, my going away party and all my pals. Suddenly I realized — leaping litters! — my amnesia had not set in yet. Each day I would grow and learn more about my surroundings and wait to forget. Then one day I realized my wish to never forget and always remember was granted. I did not, and would never again have amnesia! With this tremendous gift comes tremendous responsibili42 Spirit of Change | SPRING/SUMMER 2022
A human’s purpose is to be love, to know your love makes a difference, and to make the world a better place from the inside out. ty. You just don’t land having all this information that can assist in the transformation of humanity and keep it to yourself! You see, I have been immersed in learning the nuances of a human’s purpose for thousands of years. I have not only experienced many situations that facilitated that learning, I’ve established many friendships back home and attended lectures from masters and divine beings. When I take a look around me and listen to the news when mom and dad watch it, it appears that most humans have not recognized their purpose to date. This is clear to me from how people treat each other. Being highly sensitive to frequencies and vibrations, all animals spend a lot more time in a higher vibrational dimension than humans. That allows us to sense, feel and hear things that humans cannot. Most of the world is actually invisible to humans. Dogs can see energy fields around people and things. Some people can see them, too. I believe humans call them auras. These auras tell us a lot about life. We can tell when humans are happy, sad, angry, afraid, etc. Many of my pals who live out in the wild use these frequencies to tell them what is okay to eat and what is poisonous, or who may want to eat them for dinner, and who would rather munch on tree branches because they prefer a vegetarian diet. Continued on page 44
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SPRING/SUMMER 2022 | Spirit of Change 43
HUMAN'S PURPOSE
Cont. from page 43
We Are Made of Love
Only Human
You are only human. Nothing more, nothing less. If you love who you are, life is so much easier. If you’re mean to your sweet self, does that really lift you higher? Hatred is not in the best interest of evolution. Hatred is going backwards. I say, experiment with love. For your self, for your neighbors, for the dog who won’t stop barking. Hate is a sinking ship (I know, I took my turn as captain). Swim away from it. Swim fast. Swim far. Let love lift you up; I promise the view is better. Let love float you along peacefully. Nothing to fight against; calm, relaxed, tranquil. Let love teach you how to open, and remind you that you are whole.
Artwork courtesy Art Of DiNo
LORI B. MCCRAY
Dogs are highly intuitive beings capable of unconditional love because we understand that we are made of love. Our unconditional love is not an act of doing; it’s an act of being. It’s the love we exude from every cell each day that makes humans create cute sayings like, “Dogs should rule the world.” Humans are also made of love, but they often think of unconditional love as an action that requires effort, work and practice to develop and maintain. If unconditional love were an action, it would be near impossible to love everything and everyone under every circumstance — like swimming up the most powerful waterfall. Unconditional love is being, not doing. Every relationship we have begins with the relationship we have with ourselves. When love rules on the inside it pours out into life to create an existence of joy. It doesn’t mean an individual’s life is trouble-free — usually far from it — but it means they are not shaken by every speed bump they encounter, and they can look beyond a challenge to understand its purpose and transient nature. When people have contradicting thoughts about themselves, the resulting self-talk creates barriers and places a strain on their relationship with themselves and with love. This subsequently leads to strained relationships with others. It’s not unusual for people to sabotage themselves and undermine love’s power and goodness by disabling its ability with negative thoughts.
If unconditional love were an action, it would be near impossible to love everything and everyone under every circumstance — like swimming up the most powerful waterfall. Unconditional love is being, not doing. Life is crafted by love, then implemented by the thoughts and actions that resonate with our imbedded beliefs and intentions. We attract that which resonates with our most dominate beliefs. These beliefs can be true or false; either way, we are a magnet attracting to our life that which we believe, consciously or not. We express frequencies of love determined by all the choices we make, the quality of our intentions and the way in which we live our lives. The frequencies created by this framework place each person into a state of magnetism to gather more of the same, as the universe responds to these rules of attraction. It’s so important to be mindful of how we think and what we believe to be true, especially about ourselves. Life takes on a more enhanced and richer quality when a person expands one’s tolerance, widens one’s viewpoints and enriches his or her curiosity and zest for life. A human’s purpose is to be love, to know your love makes a difference and to be true to your calling and capacity to give. It’s to make the world a better place from the inside out.
Karma Is Not Optional, It’s Mandated
www.ArtofDiNo.com www.ArtofDiNo.com
44 Spirit of Change | SPRING/SUMMER 2022
I hear the word “karma” tossed around a lot when humans are chatting. I think it could be helpful if I shared some information about karma that I learned back home. The garden of life has roots that retain memory — karma. The universe has to have a way to balance cause and effect, because balance in the universe is not optional, it’s mandated. In this capacity, the universe plays the role of the
ultimate police officer, ensuring ethical and honest action; or the accountant, ensuring that for every debit there is a credit that restores balance. Balance that is lost must always be regained and this is karma. To maintain balance, there must be some system that resolves any and all inequity created by human intention and action. This is why we reap what we sow, as the universe has a responsibility to ensure ethical activity. It’s also the reason we don’t need to wish for the demise of others or render judgment. Aspects of love like acceptance, tolerance, inclusion and forgiveness — not retribution — are expected from humans. An important reason to forgive is to restore love. Forgiveness should never be at the expense of anyone’s dignity or self-respect. No one should ever submit to any kind of abuse or sacrifice. The purpose of forgiveness is to release negative attachments towards people or events. This allows for greater health and clarity of mind. It frees us from the bondage of that drama, and clears the clutter and negativity that can stress the bonds of love with self and others. This negativity can also attract more of the same, and result in situations that are not conducive to the highest good of self or others. Humans need to remember to reach for the stars and pull themselves and our world out of the quicksand. There is no avoiding the inheritance of a world flawed with good and bad, but anyone and everyone can have the courage to be the change we want to see in the world. We are one — we are all brothers and sisters in this world together to make it a better place, filled with love, compassion, honesty and accountability. You’d be amazed at the number of humans walking on Earth today who have signed up to mitigate and help eliminate karma of the past. While you may not realize it, much karma has already been resolved, and love consciousness is expanding at a faster rate than ever on planet Earth. There are many individuals of love, including lightworkers, meditators and healers, who continue to put their efforts forth to bathe the universe in healing love and light for the benefit of all. Some special, highly evolved souls come to Earth to teach us many lessons, not the least of which is inclusion. Their lives exemplify incredible love and compassion, as things are not always what they appear to be.
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Buffy is a beautiful soul who incarnated with special needs. On Earth, one would say her external carrier had been affected by abnormalities in the structure of chromosome number 21. Buffy lives on planet Earth with a condition known as Down’s syndrome. I say her external carrier or vessel, because I know her internal carrier, and her soul is one of the most precious and evolved souls one could meet. She has given the world a great gift by agreeing to land as a special needs kid. I was at Buffy’s going away party and I can’t even describe the send-off. She agreed to complete amnesia but she will be able to see and hear a great deal that humans cannot because of her lack of susceptibility to human domestication and the quality of her sacred heart. She will have the gift of direct communication with her angels, and she will be able to sense auras and energy fields. The family who mutually agreed to assist the world with Buffy as their offspring and siblings are souls committed to mitigating Earthly karma, and teaching compassion and inclusion simply through their example of living and loving. These are an exceptional group of souls — if you could only see what I see and know what I know. There will be some children and adults who meet Buffy and feel sadness for her and her family. They may think she’s mentally challenged because she is talking to herself, but she’s not talking to herself; actually, they are mentally challenged regarding her gift. They may think her family has to carry heavy burdens. Buffy will live as one of the happiest humans around, and her love will touch every heart she meets. She will find delight in the little things and teach those with incredibly high levels of intelligence that they have much to learn. During Continued on page 46
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When you let yourself
Feel Love By Trish Whynot
W
h en you let yourself feel love you feel a presence in your heart. From there you have a choice: to brush it off or breathe it in. When you breathe it in it glows like an ember glows when you blow on it. It fills you and takes you to heavenly heights. Love has the capacity to take our breath away, even when it just touches us on the surface. But from there we have a choice: to brush it off or to breathe it in and allow it to change us forever. While holding my grandson for the first time I marveled at every little detail. In awe of the perfection of this little being, and feeling graced to have received the invitation to hold my son’s 6-hour-old infant, I was in love. Then I remembered that there was more. I had a choice to brush it off or breathe it in. Pausing for a moment, I wondered how much more love I could withstand. It was a little scary. Scary, in part, because this much love would likely touch me to tears. Deciding that I was okay with tears, I breathed love in, the tears flowed, and in the absence of fear so did the love. The world melted away as love flowed freely through us, between us, and all around us. Being in love was being immersed in love. This moment changed me forever. In this moment I wasn’t afraid of what this little newborn might think of me. I wasn’t trying to get his love or gain his affection. I wasn't thinking about who I
HUMAN'S PURPOSE
was going to tell. I had made a conscious choice to not be afraid of what others might think of my tears. I just purely wanted to bond without expectation or anticipation. I was fully in the moment with love. It is easier to allow love to flow with an infant, in nature, with a pet, or a new relationship because it feels safer. There is less ego involvement, less expectation, hence, less fear. I do believe that with practice, intention and reconcilement of fear these encounters can be more frequent. If my experience intrigues you and there are no newborns/puppies/kittens in your inner circle to bond with, seek out a place or circumstance where all the elements are pleasing to you. Release any expectation or anticipation. Marvel at the radiant beauty. Then remember you have a choice: to brush it off or breathe it in. “Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” ~Rumi This little bundle of pure joy reminded me of how love flows in the absence of our barriers of fear. Trish Whynot, D.C.Ed., has been practicing holistic counseling for 22 years and is the author of Why Me? Why Now? Why Not? Finding Opportunity in Your Obstacles, an illustrated guide to living that expects opportunities even during challenging times. www.TrishWhynot.com.
Cont. from page 45
her lifetime, she will continually view the world with the eyes, heart and wonder of a child. Her love will touch every person she meets and her mission to teach inclusion will be fulfilled. When you see or meet somebody who you think is weird or different — somebody who does not maintain the same beliefs as you do, somebody who does not subscribe to your definition of normal, somebody who has preferences that seem foreign to you — your only role is to respect them for their individuality, and love and support their co-created plan. There are many lessons that can be learned from embracing tolerance and inclusion.
Good Vibrations
Did you know that everything vibrates? Everything — thoughts included. Part of understanding how the universe keeps a record of everything and how it is mandated to ethically rebalance and resolve outstanding variances is to understand vibration. Frequency and vibration are how we communicate on Earth. When we die, we vibrate at a different frequency due to the freedom that is created from the loss of physical form and the associated density of matter. Death is merely a change of form, a vibration at a different frequency that the human eye 46 Spirit of Change | SPRING/SUMMER 2022
cannot usually see. When the human body is sick, the cells and organs that are affected by disease vibrate at a lower frequency than healthy tissue and organs. As the human body begins to languish when preparing for death, the vibration of the body slows. Albert Einstein is a terrific soul and I spent some time at his lectures back home. He’s so dedicated to the rise in human consciousness. He is so kind and humble and he has a great sense of humor, too. He always welcomes pets to his lectures because he loves the vibrations of those animals who are interested in learning this kind of stuff. He sees humans as networks of complex energy systems and energy fields that interact with everything around them. He is confident if people could truly understand that they are beings of energy, they could comprehend new ways of viewing life — especially health and illness. Humans and pups have billions of receptors that constantly receive information. The result of this union causes a cascade of biological events in our bodies that respond to thoughts, emotions and feelings. A person can alter their physical make-up by how they think! Each cell is alive and can change depending on the signal from a receptor. It’s important to realize that consciousness does not reside in the brain; it resides in every cell of the body.
Receptors associated with everything from what a human believes to what he or she eats expand by usage. The more sugar a person eats, the more they will crave. The more alcohol a person drinks to drown their sorrows, the more they will require to fuel that habit or addiction. The more a person believes they have a dark cloud over their head that makes bad things happen, the more the same will occur. The more a person gives power away and allows another to aggravate him or her to the boiling point, the easier one’s blood will boil the next time they interact. Over time, receptors expand and humans become products of their actions and emotions. This is why it’s so important to retain the power that resides within and pay attention to what is being said to yourself and others. It is vitally important for a human to understand the cascade of effects that result from how one thinks and lives. Humans have no idea how much power they have to heal themselves.
If a person continues to send out messages to the universe that they need more money, that is how the universe will respond — by assisting them to create the conditions to need more money. A mindset of abundance will create more abundance. Be Happy and Resilient
When humans choose happiness, they change their neurochemistry, and with practice they shift their perspective towards optimism, calm, awe, wonder, and most importantly, love. It’s a decision to step off the roller coaster of drama. It’s a decision to be grateful for what an individual has instead of lamenting what they do not have. It’s about having faith that creating outcomes is not only possible, it’s probable. Happiness is a decision, so wake up each morning and decide to be happy. Decide to have a happy day regardless of life’s events. Make sure you get enough sleep and a proper diet to foster optimal health so you have the energy and fortitude to face the challenges of the day with ease. Look for the little miracles in life: Finding a parking spot in a busy lot; pressing the elevator button and having the door open immediately; parking in a spot and coming back to find the person in front of you left so you can drive straight out with no need to reverse; seeing a friend you’ve been meaning to call but have not had the time; thinking of somebody at the same moment the phone rings and they are calling you; wanting to purchase something and bumping into it shortly after; receiving the gift of nice weather for a special event; experiencing the alignment of all the stars on race day so a personal best is achieved; getting home to your pup or kitty who loves you unconditionally and showers you with licks, kisses and purrs; beating the odds when you or somebody overcomes a hardship; having a rainbow be the sign you’ve been asking for; hearing a song on the radio that provides a message; experiencing a total stranger who makes you smile, laugh or provides a helping hand; meeting a person and connecting with them immediately like you’ve known them forever; wishing for soft serve pistachio and finding it at the first ice cream stop; taking a walk and wishing for a latte or smoothie and, bam, the coffee shop or smoothie store appears seconds later; opening a book to the page that has the message you were seeking; having a book you need pop off the shelf or light up in the library or book store; needing a good laugh and having Continued on page 48
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Share Your Lo e!
Joe Biden, may your heart be open and you do no harm, only good. Make love, not war.
Xi Jinping, may your heart be open and you do no harm, only good. Make love, not war.
HUMAN'S PURPOSE
Cont. from page 47
one; turning on the TV to find your favorite movie is on; and on and on. Find joy in the little things in life and you’ll always have something to be happy about. If you always need big stuff to make your day or make you happy, you’re likely to have some exhausting and unhappy days. Try to always have something to look forward to – even if it’s just tea the next morning. Make it a point to share, as truly, it is in giving that we receive. A generous heart does not have to be affiliated with money — it can also be giving of your time and/or talents. The energy of stewardship is essential because it is like an insurance policy that will pay wonderful dividends. This does not mean, however, to keep assisting people you know by giving them money, if the money is consistently used like a band-aid and has no long term benefit or value. There are those people out there that abuse kindness and generosity. That is not what is meant by sharing and stewardship. That is a form of abuse and enabling that will just perpetuate an individual’s lack of accountability and motivation to improve their life on their own. If a person continues to send out messages to the universe that they need more money, that is how the universe will respond — by assisting them to create the conditions to need more money. A mindset of abundance will create more abundance. The energy of gratitude for any level of economic security will allow that energy to magnetize more of the same. If individuals think they are poor, they will be, and if people think they are rich, they will be. How you define rich and poor is dependent on your perception of each. A human’s words and actions are a reflection of what they think of themselves. Every relationship we have begins with the relationship we have with our self. People who are bullies or are mean to others via verbal or physical assault have various levels of clutter to clear within themselves. Although the source of this clutter may be a result of wounds from other people, each person must take responsibility and accountability to clear their own clutter and heal themselves of the darkness that pollutes the light and love that resides within. Even people who appear completely evil and perform unconscionable acts harbor light and love within, which remains dormant and rests outside an individual’s conscious awareness until they chose otherwise. It can be awakened with sincere desire and love. Sit quietly. Close your eyes and start to play a video in your imagination that includes people, places and things that you truly love. Imagine that as each person or pet you love comes into view, one at a time, you allow your heart to swell, and you smile and laugh. Go on the next person. Do the same with beloved places or things. Allow your heart to swell with love and gratitude that you are blessed to be able to love. As time allows, after you’re feeling filled with love, visualize yourself from the earliest age you can to the age you are currently. Feel the love you have in your heart for yourself. Be proud of every accomplishment, big and small. Remember how hard you worked from when you were little — learning to crawl, walk, spell your name, learn your alphabet, tie your shoes, all your years of education, your hard work, the people’s lives you’ve touched, the imprint you’ve made on your world … everything. Fill your heart with deep love and appreciation for your blessed being. When you’re in a good place, open your eyes and seize the day! Excerpted with permission of the author from A Human’s Purpose by Millie the Dog with Maryann Roefaro. ©Maryann Roefaro. Waterside Publishing, 2018.
Vladimir Putin, may your heart be open and you do no harm, only good. Make love, not war. 48 Spirit of Change | SPRING/SUMMER 2022
Maryann Roefaro is a highly intuitive spiritual mentor, whose spiritual gifts were developed at age 14 after the death of her beloved mother, who promised she’d always be with her, and who continued to communicate daily. Dedicating her career to healthcare, Maryann has been the CEO of the largest private cancer practice in Central New York, Hematology-Oncology Associates, since 2000. She is an ordained minister, a certified Heart Centered Hypnotherapist and a Reiki Master Teacher. Millie is her adorable miniature poodle with a sweet disposition and a beautiful heart and soul. A Human’s Purpose is available on Amazon.
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T
he cannabis plant had been used by humans as medicine and enjoyed for its psychoactive properties for thousands of years, but in 1937 it came under strict federal regulation in the United States. Harry J. Anslinger, the first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics — who made some notoriously racist comments — waged war on cannabis, also called “reefer” or “marihuana,” Mexican slang for “the weed that intoxicates.” In 1971 President Richard Nixon declared a “war on drugs,” and every federal administration since has continued the campaign. Despite this, almost all Americans now live in states where cannabis is legal to use in some form as medicine, and in eighteen states it’s legal for adults to use for recreation. It is regulated and taxed by state and local governments, which often spend that revenue on badly needed social services. Medical cannabis is used to treat multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, nausea caused by cancer treatments, and other ailments. Journalists Nushin Rashidian and Alyson Martin have written about cannabis and drug policy for more than ten years in The Atlantic, Esquire, The Nation, and other publications. “It seems that nothing can kill the cannabis plant,” they write, “not seventy-five years of prohibition, nor decades of reefer madness, nor forty years of the drug war.” Yet the federal government continues to treat cannabis as having no medicinal value and considers it as dangerous as heroin. Millions
have been arrested for marijuana possession, a disproportionate number of them Black or brown. Martin and Rashidian founded the news organization Cannabis Wire to report on marijuana regulation and law, the economics and science of its cultivation and use, and the implications its legal status has for criminal justice and individual liberties (cannabiswire.com). Rashidian told me that from the start they “were really passionate about educating journalists to ask the right questions to give them the tools they needed to cover a subject that was very new for many of them.” She and Martin are the coauthors of A New Leaf: The End of Cannabis Prohibition, which examines the history of cannabis use and the road to today’s imperfect, ever-shifting legal and scientific status quo. Martin attended the College of Saint Rose in her hometown of Albany, New York, while Rashidian studied at the University of California’s Irvine campus; both obtained advanced degrees from New York City’s Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where they met and are now adjunct faculty. For many years they traveled the country, from Seattle to Washington, D.C., covering news stories about cannabis. (Martin says she’s driven across the U.S. six times in her red VW Beetle.) Right now the COVID-19 pandemic has confined them to their home base in New York City. We talked by video chat.
Artwork courtesy tomass2015/123rf.com
HIGH TIME
Mark Leviton: How much illegal drug use is there in the United States? Nushin Rashidian: In the U.S. around 35 million people over the age of twelve use a drug illegally during any given month. If you remove those who only consumed cannabis, that number drops below 10 million. Yet half of all drug arrests are for cannabis. Given that extent of use, with relatively little harm, it makes sense that so many Americans support cannabis legalization. The prevailing view is that the known harms of prohibition outweigh the possible harms of legalization, and that arresting and incarcerating people for drug use doesn’t make a lot of sense. Mark Leviton: The federal government classifies drugs on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the most dangerous and subject to the toughest restrictions. Anabolic steroids and Tylenol with codeine are Schedule 3. Methamphetamine and Vicodin are both Schedule 2. Marijuana, along with heroin and LSD, is Schedule 1. What does that mean for advocates of legalization? Nushin Rashidian: It’s not really logical that cannabis ended up on Schedule 1, which is reserved for drugs with no accepted medical use and the highest potential for abuse. Cannabis actually does have valid medical applications. There’s long been a racially tinged hysteria about “marijuana.” We might laugh now at the 1930s film Reefer Madness, but it represented the pervasive belief that cannabis was being pushed on “vulnerable” white people by out-of-control Black and Mexican people. The reason Alyson and I prefer to use the word cannabis instead of marijuana is because it’s more scientifically accurate. But there is another reason: the drafters of the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act — which didn’t prohibit cannabis but did try to tax it out of existence — purposely used the word marihuana for the plant to make something familiar, cannabis, sound unfamiliar and foreign. Schedule 1 classification also creates barriers to research. Today there is only one federally approved producer of research-grade cannabis — at the University of Mississippi at Oxford. In 2018 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Epidiolex, a cannabidiol (CBD) oil, for use by children with epilepsy. CBD interacts with the body’s endocannabinoid system, but it doesn’t get you high. Mark Leviton: At this point, how many states have legalized cannabis for either medical or recreational use? Alyson Martin: It’s a patchwork. Eighteen states and Washington, D.C., have legalized cannabis for adult use. Almost all states have legalized some form of medical cannabis, but some are “CBD only,” which means that the entire cannabis plant has not been legalized for medical use: THC, the main psychoactive compound in cannabis, is excluded. It produces the high. Just to confuse matters further, if a cannabis plant has a THC concentration of 0.3 percent or less, it’s classified as hemp, and totally legal. The federal 2018 Farm Bill removed hemp from the Controlled Substances Act, but hemp cultivation is still highly regulated. For years in Georgia, for example, parents of children with epilepsy could possess CBD oil to treat their kids, but there was no legal method for procuring it. But since 2019 Georgia’s governor has signed legislation to allow for in-state production and sale by several companies. Nushin Rashidian: In Texas, which has a “CBD only” law, there are three companies in the entire state that can legally sell it, so it’s not a full medicalcannabis program. A lot of the classification — this is cannabis, this is hemp; this is medical, this isn’t — is arbitrary. The cannabis you buy in a medical dispensary is the same as what you’re buying in a recreational shop. CBD derived from hemp is the same as CBD derived from marijuana. The Farm Bill didn’t legalize hemp; it legalized low-THC cannabis. But I doubt Senator Mitch McConnell [Republican from Kentucky] would have been a big supporter of the bill if it had been framed as a cannabis-legalization bill. Mark Leviton: Legal cannabis is already an $8 billion annual business, but that pales in comparison to domestic sales of alcohol, which topped $250 billion last year. Could it be that the predictable effects of alcoholic drinks — you consistently get the same results from the same dose and brand — is a crucial factor in its market success? By contrast, marijuana fails to provide a reliable, identical high every time, so many people are wary of it.
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SPRING/SUMMER 2022 | Spirit of Change 51
HIGH TIME continued from page 51
Alyson Martin: It’s important to note that the effects of cannabis vary widely by individual. Raphael Mechoulam, the Israeli scientist and researcher who discovered THC, refers to the cannabis plant as “cannabinoid soup.” Smoking cannabis or using a vaporizer could affect people differently than eating an edible, like a lozenge or a cookie, with the same THC level. Then there are other factors: How hydrated are you? Have you eaten a meal lately? What’s your weight? Are you a first-time cannabis consumer? An intermittent consumer? Someone who consumes on a regular basis? Mark Leviton: Can cannabis ever be addictive? Nushin Rashidian: Can you become dependent on cannabis? Sure, just as you can on gambling or shopping. The cannabis industry should encourage conversations about possible dangers. It’s not anti-cannabis to say, “Don’t drive stoned.” We need information about not just teenage use but adult use, too. What are the short- and long-term effects? Alyson Martin: Research is definitely expanding on adolescent use and use during pregnancy. Former U.S. surgeon general Jerome Adams issued an advisory in 2019 about those two groups. Recent studies show that teen cannabis vaping is on the rise, and that use by pregnant women is prevalent and problematic, which are areas of focus for law- and policymakers, who might, for example, craft publiceducation campaigns targeted at these populations. Mark Leviton: When I was using medical marijuana in 2016 during cancer treatments, I purchased some chocolate coated blueberries that contained five milligrams of THC each. I was fine when I ate one. On another occasion I had two, and I was still OK. But when I had three, I had the most unpleasant reaction to cannabis in my life. For the first time I believed there was such a thing as a cannabis overdose. Alyson Martin: It can be unpleasant. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identifies “too much” THC as causing confusion, anxiety, paranoia, a faster heart rate, Nushin Rashidian and Alyson Martin increased blood pressure, nausea, and hallucinations. The kind of experience you had with edibles is certainly real. Back in 2014 Maureen Dowd of The New York Times went to Colorado to cover cannabis legalization and wrote about ingesting a cannabis-infused candy bar and having such a bad experience that she thought she had died. Regular cannabis consumers ridiculed her mercilessly, but she started an important conversation. Colorado had not focused sufficiently on dosage in products. To save on manufacturing and packaging, dispensaries used to sell one cookie and tell consumers to cut it into many pieces. After that column appeared, Colorado began to limit how much THC could be in a single serving and focused on public education around dosing. We also need to know more about terpenes, which are what you smell when you consume cannabis. It’s part of the experience, like the bouquet of wine. Terpenes may play a role in the effects of cannabis. Again, though, we need more research. But, no matter what, consumers are going to have to figure out how different factors combine to create a certain experience. Neither public-health officials nor cannabis dispensaries have a one-size-fits-all answer. A lot of people will say, “You know, this isn’t your grandpa’s weed,” and the truth is we are seeing much stronger products in the legal market. Anecdotally there’s indication that the presence of CBD could mitigate some of the effects of THC, but it’s not conclusive. Mark Leviton: It seems that the majority of Americans would like cannabis to be legalized, but their elected representatives are overwhelmingly not acting on that desire. Alyson Martin: I think that’s accurate. If New Yorkers could have voted on full legalization, they probably would have approved it five or ten years ago. 52 Spirit of Change | SPRING/SUMMER 2022
[Former] Governor Cuomo signed the legalization bill passed by the legislature in March [2021], but legal buying or selling could still be two years off. Alabama’s governor signed a medical-cannabis-legalization bill this year. There may be some conservative areas of the U.S. where cannabis sales will never be legal for any reason — akin to the “dry counties” that prohibit alcohol sales entirely. Idaho might be the very last state to act. If it were up to the voters, we’d already have national legalization. At this point Pew surveys show 60 percent of Americans support legalizing cannabis for both medical and adult recreational use, and 31 percent support medical only. Just 8 percent of Americans polled this year thought cannabis should be illegal in all circumstances. Nushin Rashidian: I think it would be useful for Pew and Gallup, the major polling organizations, to start asking more-detailed questions about cannabis. You can legalize cannabis in a way that enriches either private companies or the state. How you tax cannabis and how you license sales has public-health and economic implications and can ensure that people who have been disproportionately harmed by the war on drugs get to participate in this new economy. Mark Leviton: What are the arguments against legalizing cannabis at this point? Alyson Martin: The most common argument is essentially a moral one: that allowing or encouraging intoxication is bad and leads to ruined lives. Another argument is that big corporations are trying to dupe us into legalizing cannabis so they can make a lot of money from a dangerous product. Just like Big Tobacco or Big Pharma, Big Marijuana wants to come into your state and sell cannabis cigarettes to your teens. A lot of religious people are opposed "Any cannabis arrest has a even to medical use, and police are trickle-down effect. It’s not largely opposed to legalization, at least just the original jail time or publicly. Opposition also comes from fine that wrecks lives; it’s the what I’d call the recovery industry — mostly rehab facilities. Many of way our laws pile on additional those have religious roots and use the consequences. You can lose your morality argument. housing subsidy, custody of Nushin Rashidian: When it comes your child, or access to student to legalization of cannabis classified loans and other benefits." as hemp, I’m shocked at how quickly
people who were opposed to it for decades have reversed their positions. Why now? It’s kind of baffling. For years activists couldn’t get politicians to understand that hemp is a benign product, not an intoxicant. But legislators refused to legalize it because they believed people would smoke it to try to get high. Since 2018 it’s been a non-issue even among Republicans. They’re no longer against cannabis; they’re against the type of cannabis that gets you high — and the permissive culture they associate with that. Mark Leviton: The public has shown a willingness to allow state lotteries and legalized gambling as a way of raising money for infrastructure, schools, and so forth. Could cannabis legalization create another sin tax for the public good? Alyson Martin: “Pot for potholes” is a frequent talking point in favor of legalization, but voters are becoming less interested in that argument. They want schools and health care funded all the time, not just when the state gets a lot of cannabis-tax revenue. And should the argument for legalization focus solely on raising revenue? Nushin Rashidian: I think the racial-justice argument is stronger. When cannabis is legalized, fewer people of color go to jail, with all the destruction that causes, and cannabis tax revenues can be used to redress systemic inequality. Increasingly states are earmarking that tax revenue for social equity purposes: low-interest or no-interest loans, grants, or to fund efforts to expunge people’s criminal records of arrests for cannabis possession. Also, those disproportionately affected by the enforcement of anti-cannabis laws are now sometimes prioritized to receive cannabis business licenses. Overall, states that have legalized cannabis are trying to create pathways to success for those who don’t have the same resources as big businesses, which are Continued on page 54
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Henniker
Sea Glass Yoga Wellness offers Svaroopa® yoga, Jappa Meditation, wellness coaching and healings. Sunday-Friday. Also Yoga blankets, jewelry and Herbal iPain-Away CBD lotions. seaglassyoga.com. 603-294-2394.
VIRTUAL Gentle Kripalu Yoga with Pat Lebau, professional level Kripalu Yoga Teacher. Zoom Gentle Yoga, M,W,Th 10:30. Zoom for Plantar Fasciitis Th Noon. PatriciaLebau@ gmail.com. (508) 393-5581. PatLebauYoga.com. SOHUM Yoga and Meditation is an online platform. Former yoga studio owner, Ritu Kapur is an Occupational Therapist and E-RYT. She offers a variety of classes, workshops and in-person Yoga retreats. www.SOHUM.org; Ritu.Kapur@Sohum.org Include your studio. Next ad deadline is January 31, 2022. email advertise@spiritofchange.org
SPRING/SUMMER 2022 | Spirit of Change 53
HIGH TIME continued from page 52
often run by wealthy white people. Where the criminalization of cannabis has hurt certain communities, some state legislators want to use legalization to help them. It’s a chance to repair the damage done by unjust enforcement of antidrug laws. Alyson Martin: In 2013 the American Civil Liberties Union issued a report called The War on Marijuana in Black and White. It found cannabis use was roughly even in Black and white communities, but Blacks were three and a half times more likely to be arrested for possession. That statistic remained unchanged in an ACLU study from 2020, even with full or partial legalization in many states. Any cannabis arrest has a trickle-down effect. It’s not just the original jail time or fine that wrecks lives; it’s the way our laws pile on additional consequences. You can lose your housing subsidy, custody of your child, or access to student loans and other benefits. Mark Leviton: What’s the current position of the banking and credit systems with regard to legal cannabis? Is there a kind of gray market operating? Nushin Rashidian: It’s a mess is what it is. A lot of banks won’t deal with cannabis businesses out of fears of federal backlash, even though the government has shown no real interest in busting banks. It’s not that the cannabis industry has zero access to banking. There are still hundreds of banks and credit unions willing to do business with them. In some cases, cannabis businesses have hidden banking and credit arrangements. We had our own run-in with this when we founded Cannabis Wire as a news organization. As a subscription service we needed to establish a paywall, and we couldn’t use one of the premier services because we had Cannabis in our name. Mark Leviton: In 2009, during the Obama administration, Attorney General Eric Holder announced an end to the Bush era’s frequent raids on medicalmarijuana distributors, with the Department of Justice (DOJ) restricted to raiding drug traffickers who masqueraded as legal dispensaries. What’s the current situation? Nushin Rashidian: There were actually two major DOJ memos issued under Obama. The 2009 memorandum, suggesting the federal government would have a hands-off policy when it came to medical cannabis, created something of a freefor-all. Then, in 2013, a second memo laid out some enforcement priorities: no cannabis transported across state lines; no cannabis sold to minors; no cannabis activity on public lands. If you obey state laws, it said, you’re OK, but if you do any of these things, we’re coming after you. When Donald Trump got into office, Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded the Obama memos but didn’t issue anything in their place, which left considerable confusion. He took away everyone’s security blanket but did not launch a crackdown. Alyson Martin: But all state laws regarding legalization are in conflict with federal law. This is why there’s so much lobbying for the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act, which passed the House of Representatives again this year but still hasn’t passed in the Senate. It would open up access to financial services for legitimate cannabis-related businesses, open up lending, and protect banks. Mark Leviton: It’s probably a fool’s errand to think you can write a law that takes into account every contingency. Alyson Martin: Yes, we joke that regulating the cannabis industry is like playing whack-a-mole: knock one loophole down, and another pops up. Unless the legislation specifically says you cannot sell cannabis while playing softball in a recreation league, some people will sell cannabis while playing softball in a recreation league. People will find loopholes or invent new products that legislators can’t anticipate. In Washington, D.C., the law doesn’t allow you to sell cannabis, but you are allowed to give it away. So, someone could order a pizza for a hundred dollars and get a quarter ounce of cannabis for free, or purchase a T-shirt for forty dollars and have a free sample of cannabis tossed in the bag. In Nevada a decade ago it was legal to make a donation to someone who just happened to grow cannabis, and the grower could share it with you. Pretty soon people were donating for a fiveminute session with a cannabis consultant and walking out with cannabis. 54 Spirit of Change | SPRING/SUMMER 2022
Nushin Rashidian: As long as the laws are generally reasonable, people tend to follow them. But anytime the laws are viewed as an imposition, you’ll see workarounds. Where the law doesn’t license cannabis businesses or imposes draconian requirements, that leads people to explore these gray areas. Mark Leviton: When the first medical-marijuana initiatives began, there was opposition from illegal growers, who feared government intervention, taxation, OSHA requirements, and so forth. In the pot-growing area of Northern California where I live, many progressives were urging “no” votes. Nushin Rashidian: That kind of opposition was pretty localized to what’s called the Emerald Triangle: Humboldt, Mendocino, and Trinity Counties in California. A strong gray market has been thriving there for many years and basically supplying cannabis to the entire country. For those growers, legalization meant a steep licensing fee, zoning permits, quality control, and limits on the size and location of cannabis farms — all levied on a business that had been operating for decades without such requirements. Alyson Martin: I will add one thought about the Emerald Triangle: The California Department of Food and Agriculture is laying the groundwork for a statewide certification program that will establish standards for regionspecific cannabis labeling. I expect Humboldt cannabis, which is already known around the world, will become even more identified with high quality and will be promoted as the “Champagne of cannabis,” analogous to the French grape growing region that is the only place authorized to call its wine “champagne.” Mark Leviton: Are we on track for federal legalization at some point? Alyson Martin: Before the pandemic I would have said we might get there this year. Now I’m thinking more like 2024. President Biden has said he doesn’t think cannabis consumers should go to jail, but he has opposed national legalization, punting to the states. Nushin Rashidian: The situation we have now, with so many state laws in conflict with federal law, is unprecedented. It’s difficult to report on cannabis because we have to attach so many footnotes and caveats: cannabis is legal for adult use in both D.C. and New Jersey, but in the former you can grow it for personal use but not sell it in shops, while in the latter you can sell it in shops but not grow it for personal use. Mark Leviton: Does the U.S. Food and Drug Administration play a role with respect to cannabis? Alyson Martin: Absolutely. We already talked about the FDA approving Epidiolex for the treatment of two rare forms of epilepsy. One approved cannabisderived product opens the door for more. On its website the FDA says it sees the “potential opportunities” of cannabis-derived compounds, but also that some companies are already marketing products containing cannabis in ways that violate the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and might compromise the health and safety of consumers. Nushin Rashidian: You cannot take the active ingredient of an approved pharmaceutical and insert it into food. So now that there is an approved CBD drug, technically all these CBD beverages and cookies contain a pharmacologically active compound, and the FDA now has the unenviable job of dealing with the proliferation of these products. It might decide to allow CBD below a certain level or to treat salves and lotions differently than items we ingest. Mark Leviton: I just saw a New York Times article about Martha Stewart’s new CBD-edibles business. Nushin Rashidian: The FDA shot itself in the foot by taking so long to release rules for CBD, which still hasn’t happened. Meanwhile this unregulated market thrives, and consumers are getting used to seeing CBD everywhere: in salons, in vitamin shops, even in Bed Bath & Beyond. They have a CBD-infused pillowcase! But if the FDA rushes out the guidelines, it runs a real risk of getting it wrong. I think the Farm Bill complicated things by making all cannabinoids except THC legal. So now anything the FDA does for CBD might have to apply to dozens of other cannabinoids that are in the flower, even in negligible quantities. Mark Leviton: What other uses of cannabis are being studied? Alyson Martin: Ziva Cooper, the research director of UCLA’s Cannabis Continued on page 65
Calendar MARCH 3/1 – COLOR RAY HEALING ONLINE COURSES BEGIN. Start your journey whether you're casually curious about the healing potential of color, want to take charge of your healing journey, or are interested in Color-Ray Healing Practitioner certification. Visit www.LearnGem.org/color-ray 3/7-4/9 — HOW TO EFFECTIVELY SUPPORT SOMEONE IN SPIRITUAL EMERGENCY. Join us for 5 online webinars plus 2 live meetups with expert Emma Bragdon, PhD. This course is for experiencers and healthcare providers. 10.5 CEs available. https://courses.imhu.org/collections/b1a210 3/12 — REIKI I CERTIFICATION. Virtual via Zoom, Libby Barnett, MSW. 42 years experience. Reiki Energy Medicine author. Notebook, pin, certificate awarded. Credit cards accepted. CEU's/contact hours. Call (603) 654-2787. www.reikienergy.com. Reiki II: 3/13. 3/23-6/8 — WHY DO I DO THAT? Join Dr. Judith A. Swack, originator of Healing from the Body Level Up (HBLU) methodology for this 6-session live webinar to learn some powerful, yet easy to use techniques, including Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), to release unwanted emotions and self-sabotaging behaviors from your unconscious mind and body. Bi-weekly, 6:30–8pm. www.hblu.org/why-do-i-do-that-webinar.html 3/26 — REIKI LEVEL I PRACTITIONER TRAINING. Learn how to use gentle healing energy to take control of your health and moods and feel less anxious in life. Receive a manual, practitioner certificate and lots of guided in-class practice. (508) 808-5696 or northeastreikicenter.org
each student will receive many healing experiences. Bena Phillipo, Holy Fire III, Reiki Master/Teacher. Sacred Resonance Healing. (508) 303-0366. www.SacredResonanceHealing.com. 4/9 — REIKI LEVEL II PRACTITIONER TRAINING. Learn advanced Japanese Reiki techniques: Ki cultivation, distance healing, how to create a professional practice. Receive a manual, practitioner certificate, guided in-class practice. (508) 808-5696 or northeastreikicenter.org. 4/17-4/30 — A TREAT FOR MOM! Celebrate with a gift she’ll cherish from Kristen Mara. 10% off with code SPIRITMOM. Handcrafted with love and 100% recycled metals in New England. Jewelry designed for your life. Kristenmara.com. 4/22-4/24 — EVOLVING INTO YOUR LIGHT: ELEVATING YOUR EXPERIENCES. 3 immersive days expanding, evolving, restoring, connecting with the divine you. This energetic experience shifts you for living in a higher vibration, positively changing how you feel, think and relate to yourself and the world. The LoveLight Illuminations Center. 10am-4pm each day. Virtual via Zoom. www.lovelightilluminations.com 4/27-5/1 — THE 27TH ALL & EVERYTHING INTERNATIONAL ONLINE. HUMANITIES CONFERENCE. The ALL and Everything International Humanities Conference is an international forum for the presentation and discussion of studies associated with the exploration of G. I. Gurdjieff’s work and legacy and in particular his writings. Register at www.aandeconference.org. 4/30 — REIKI MASTER CERTIFICATION. Virtual via Zoom, Libby Barnett, MSW. 42 years experience. Reiki Energy Medicine author. Notebook, pin, certificate awarded. Credit cards accepted. Call (603) 654-2787. www.reikienergy.com.
APRIL
MAY
4/8-4/10 — HOLY FIRE III, MASTER/TEACHER CLASS. This class is for anyone who has had Reiki I & II Training and is certified. In the process of learning,
5/2 — GDI 171: HOW TO GIVE SAFE, MEANINGFUL AND EFFECTIVE DISTANT HEALING SESSIONS course begins. Dive deeply into the mechanics, ethics, skills, and
www.spiritofchange.org
techniques needed to give distant healing sessions — no matter your modality. Visit www.LearnGem.org/remote-healing. 5/4-5/25 — ANGER MANAGEMENT ZOOM CLASS. Learn how to be less reactive and not let stressful situations or other people control your emotions. Guided in-class worksheet exercises and emotional healing meditations. 4 Wednesdays, 6-8 pm, $120. (508) 808-5696 or northeastreikicenter.org 5/22 — NEW ENGLAND VEG FEST is a free festival that brings the local community together to celebrate vegetarianism: an animal-friendly, environmentally sustainable, and healthy lifestyle. Family friendly, fun, delicious food and plenty of samples! Held at Worcester State University. 12-5pm. www.nevegfest.org.
JUNE 6/11-6/12 — SINGING SEMINAR ONLINE. Find your voice and be the singer you want to be in two days! World famous seminar teaches beginners to sing, and professionals to reach new notes. Strengthen your voice, be more confident, increase range and more. Sign up at https://signup.understandingofmusic. com or (781) 599-1476. sallee@understandingofmusic.com. 6/24-7/1 — IMAGINING TRIBE: SUMMER IMMERSION FOR YOUTH CHANGEMAKERS AND CULTURAL EVOLUTIONARIES. Level 1. Ages 17-24. Eight days for living in community, diving deep, for encountering Soul threads, for awakening to our living Earth, and for being supported by the mystery and seasoned human guides. Find meaning, purpose and belonging in a parched world. Details at www.spirithollow.org. 6/25 — REIKI I CERTIFICATION. Virtual via Zoom, Libby Barnett, MSW. 42 years experience. Reiki Energy Medicine author. Notebook, pin, certificate awarded. Credit cards accepted. CEU's/contact hours. Call (603) 654-2787. www.reikienergy.com. Reiki II: 6/26.
SPRING/SUMMER 2022 | Spirit of Change 55
9/1 — Learn how to give effective gemstone therapy sessions in Gemstone Therapy Level 1. See September listing or LearnGem.org.
ONGOING DAILY FREE GUIDED COMMUNITY PRACTICE online through Cambridge Health Alliance Center for Mindfulness and Compassion. Over 20 teachers offering sessions in English, Spanish and Portuguese. See schedule and register at www.chacmc.org/connect or (617) 591-6132. TRADITIONAL USUI JAPANESE REIKI TRAINING. Become your own energy healer to be healthier and less anxious in life. Have confirmation Reiki is flowing from your hands by end of the class. (508) 808-5696 or northeastreikicenter.org. ECK LIGHT AND SOUND SERVICES ON ZOOM sponsored by the Massachusetts Satsang Society on the first and third Sunday of the month starting at 11am. Check eckinmass.org for monthly themes or contact Mark at resa_in_ma@yahoo.com.
JULY 7/9 — REIKI MASTER CERTIFICATION. Virtual via Zoom, Libby Barnett, MSW. 42 years experience. Reiki Energy Medicine author. Notebook, pin, certificate awarded. Credit cards accepted. Call (603) 654-2787. www.reikienergy.com.
AUGUST 8/3-8/5 — LEADERSHIP NATURALLY. A weekend training with Susan Abookire, MD, including immersive forest experiences that focus on cultivating your personal leadership style. Email abookiremd@gmail.com or visit naturesystemsinstitute.com.
UPCOMING 9/1/22 — DIA 111: HOW TO WORK WITH A SINGLE THERAPY DIAMOND ONLINE COURSE. Learn to support whole-being transformation in yourself and others using the healing power of diamonds to awaken inner blueprint instructions for optimal health. 10-month course for self-therapy or certification. Visit www.LearnGem.org/dia-level-1 9/1/22 — GEMSTONE THERAPY LEVEL 1 CLASSES BEGIN. Gain a deeper understanding of how gemstones work and how to apply them to give safe, meaningful, and effective self-therapy or give sessions to others. Visit www.LearnGem.org/gem-level-1 9/30-10/2 — LEARN TO PLAY MUSIC IN A WEEKEND! With The Understanding of Music Seminar online. World
56 Spirit of Change | SPRING/SUMMER 2022
famous seminar (www.understandingofmusic.com) turns beginners into musicians, revitalizes and inspires even pro musicians. https://signup.understandingofmusic.com or sallee@understandingofmusic.com (781) 599-1476.
SPIRITUAL INTUITIVE DEVELOPMENT CIRCLE Online Zoom Monday evenings. Explore your innate gifts of receiving intuitive information and transmitting the energy of love and light. We practice meditation, mantra, chakra clearing, energy healing, mediumship, channeling, and more. www.circlesofwisdom.com.
10/1 — REIKI I CERTIFICATION. Virtual via Zoom, Libby Barnett, MSW. 42 years experience. Reiki Energy Medicine author. Notebook, pin, certificate awarded. Credit cards accepted. CEU's/contact hours. Call (603) 654-2787. www.reikienergy.com. Reiki II: 10/2.
LEARN TO MEDITATION WEBINARS WITH SCIENCE OF SPIRITUALITY. Free online Monday evening at 7pm. “Meditation is a private retreat from the problems of the world.” Sant Rajinder Singh Ji. www.sos.org/webinars/ learn-to-meditate-series.
10/1 — 3rd ANNUAL STURBRIDGE HERBFEST. Classes, vendors, food! Join us on the Sturbridge Common, Rt 131, MA. 9:30-4:30. For more info or vendor applications contact Salli Greene at Alternatives for Health. (508) 347-2111 or sargreene@gmail.com. www.sturbridgeherbfest.com.
LINDA PATTERSON AND THE ECLECTIC INSTITUTE OF AROMATHERAPY AND HERBAL STUDIES offers Palmistry Certification in Sturbridge 3/4, Introduction to European Based Aromatherapy Certification in Carlisle 5/7. For more information visit www.aromatherapyandherbalstudies.com.
11/5 — REIKI MASTER CERTIFICATION. Virtual via Zoom, Libby Barnett, MSW. 42 years experience. Reiki Energy Medicine author. Notebook, pin, certificate awarded. Credit cards accepted. Call (603) 654-2787. www.reikienergy.com. 11/12-11/13 — 15TH ANNUAL SPIRIT OF CHANGE MAGAZINE NATURAL LIVING EXPO. Royal Plaza Trade Center. 181 Boston Post Road West, Marlboro, MA. Saturday 9-6; Sunday 9:30-4:30. Featuring 200 exhibits, 50 workshops, readings, shopping and fun. Enjoy the healthy indoor and outdoor food courts for delicious breakfast, lunch and dinner meals throughout the weekend. Too much to see and do in one weekend! Plan to attend both days! www.NaturalExpo.org. 12/3 — REIKI I CERTIFICATION. Virtual via Zoom, Libby Barnett, MSW. 42 years experience. Reiki Energy Medicine author. Notebook, pin, certificate awarded. Credit cards accepted. CEU's/contact hours. Call (603) 654-2787. www.reikienergy.com. Reiki II: 12/4.
GENTLE KRIPALU YOGA ZOOM CLASSES. With Pat Lebau, professional level Kripalu Yoga teacher. M, W, TH at 10:30am. Gentle Zoom Yoga for Plantar Fasciitis on TH at noon. Donation-based payment via Paypal or Venmo. PatriciaLebau@gmail.com or (508)-393-5581. www.PatLebauYoga.com. EMPOWER YOURSELF with an armor of clear, calm energy in 10-20 minutes. Learn the ancient OJAYA Deep Meditation Armor technique with videos produced with love in the Earthborn Rainforest — a self-paced jungle meditation retreat in the comfort of your own home! Begin the adventure free today at ojaya.com. BOSTON SCHOOL OF HERBAL STUDIES. Arlington and Lincoln, MA. Affordable, evening and weekend classes, Aromatherapy Certification Courses, Herbal Apprenticeship Programs and Advanced Training. Call (781) 646-6319 or see bostonherbalstudies.com.
NEW ENGLAND’S
SPRING/SUMMER 2022
HolisticDirectory Astrological Consulting
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Questions? Astrologer Eric Linter has answers. Changes in relationships, career, health, finances or spiritual practice are inevitable. Eric’s clarity will help you stay on the right path. His insights help you better understand and appreciate life’s challenges. His clients say Eric Linter is “profound and enlightening” and “one of the best astrologers on the East Coast.”
Eric, a professional astrologer for 25 years, works with individuals, couples and businesses. Specialties include career moves, personal creativity and karmic relationships. Consultations are available in person, by telephone, or on cassette. Eric also offers classes, lectures and appearances at parties and special events. For more information and to schedule a private session, contact Eric by email or call: stars@ericlinter.com X 508-541-4115 X
Children's Health & Services
Touchstone Community School is an independent school serving students in grades PK–8, cultivating a joy of lifelong learning through transformative intellectual, social, and emotional growth. Come visit us!
Classes, Certifications & Schools
SCHOOLS OF WISDOM
Cel
Years! 25+
Women of Wisdom HOLISTIC HEALING CENTER
Usui, Holy Fire, Karuna Reiki Hypnotherapy G Crystal Healing Past Life Regression Integrated Energy Therapy Akisni G Inner Child Healing
Illuminating Light Healing Center Change Through Empowerment Rev. Kristen Stone is an Intuitive Psychic and Spiritual Medium. Rave reviews describe her as “connected and gifted” and having “an uncanny ability to zone right into your
www.spiritofchange.org
Grafton, MA 508-839-0038 touchstoneschool.com
“I learned more from one session than I did from 5 years of analysis.”- J.G., Cambridge, MA
Centers
g ebratin
Learning through nature and outdoors The child as an active learner Project-based learning Challenging academics Focus on physical activity At least one hour of recess daily Focus on creativity and the arts No standardized testing Small class sizes
Holistic Practitioner and Professional, Earth Medicine, Angel Alignment, Wicca Akashic Soul Mastery, Hypnotherapy, Mediumship, and Animal Communication; Training for Reiki, IET, Gaiadon Heart, etc., plus workshops daily GIFT SHOP
Unique Jewelry G Healing Tools G Statues Crystal Bowls G Ritual Items G Angels Mediums or Psychic Readings Hours: M-F 10 am-8 pm, S/S 10 am-6 pm 118 Washington Street, N. Easton, MA womenofwisdominc.com 508-230-3680
At the Gemstone Therapy Institute, you’ll find both medicinal-grade therapy tools and an alternative-healing school offering meaningful and scientificallybased beginner to advanced training in Diamond and Gemstone Therapy.
Join a circle of well-connected individuals who understand the art, science and transformative potential of gemstone healing in a world where an energy-based approach has become both accepted and essential for overall health and well-being. We can show you how to use diamonds and gemstones to get deep and meaningful healing results, so you can transform your life and fulfill your potential. Online classes available! Our founder, Isabelle Morton, was the original visionary for Diamond Therapy and Gemstone Therapy in 1987. She is the go-to expert on gemstones, how they work, and how to receive their benefits. LearnGem.org • 860-646-3063 education@gemformulas.com
energy.” Her readings are profound, accurate and get to the root of the soul’s need to heal.
AFFORDABLE HERBAL EDUCATION THROUGHOUT THE YEAR
• Universal Readings: Psychic, Mediumship, Oracle & Tarot Cards
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• Healing Modalities: Usui, Karuna, Holy Fire, and Kundalini Reiki. New Paradigm M.D.T.
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• Mentoring/Coaching Programs: Intuitive, Conscious Living Coaching to guide you to your Soul-Purpose. www.illuminating-light.com • 508-818-0675 57 West Main Street, Unit 4, Norton, MA, 02766
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Intensive Seven Month Herbal Apprenticeships Advanced Training – Levels two and three Aromatherapy Certification – Two Levels Lyme Disease Practitioner Training HERBAL CLASSES
Herbal Apprenticeships ❖ Advanced Training Ongoing Classes, Medicinal Plant Walks For information on all our classes, see www.bostonherbalstudies.com Arlington, MA ❖ 781.646.6319
June 24, 25 - Navigating Depression as a tool of Transformation with Kat Maier September 25 – Aromatherapy Level One with Linda Patterson October 15, 16 - Herbs for Brain Health and Function with Guido Mase
SPRING/SUMMER 2022 | Spirit of Change 57
Classes, Certifications & Schools New England Institute of Reflexology & Universal Studies
v
v
v
~ Now teaching throughout New England ~ www.walkinbalance.com v 508-317-3044 v
Eclectic Institute of Aromatherapy and Herbal Studies
Instructor Linda Patterson offers over 20 years of experience in the science, art and principles of herbalism and aromatherapy.
Approved Continuing Education in Reflexology, Massage, and Reiki Integrative techniques strengthen foundations and create a balanced treatment style NCBTMB provider
Our goal is to act as a bridge between complimentary and conventional medicine through the training of qualified holistic practitioners. Join us!
Ongoing certification courses offered throughout the northeast including: ✴ 7-Month Herbal Certification ✴ 4-Month European-Based Aromatherapy Introduction ✴ 4-Month Advanced Aromatherapy Course ✴ 3-Month Conscious Nutrition Course ✴ Palmistry a tool of diagnoses
Consciousness Transformation Advaita Meditation Center ®
Advaita (Nonduality) is a philosophical BET TER TOOLS FOR WORK AND LIFE and spiritual tradition of self-realization. We look to both eastern and western teachers for inspiration. From our students: • How do you stay calm in this busy life? The center has given me the tools to do just that. • There has been no greater blessing in this life than finding the path of Advaita and the amazing people who journey together on it!
k
Sacred Haven Living Guide k
Intuition Coach & Teacher Imagine a world where you: k Follow your inner guidance k Take empowered actions k Fulfill your soul’s destiny k Live in your purpose
• And more! See our website for full details.
advaitameditation.org
28 Worcester Lane Waltham MA 02451 781-647-0020 Email: info@advaitameditation.org
The Free Universal Spirit is the teaching of the love for God and neighbor
www.Gabriele-Publishing-House.com Toll-Free: 1-844-576-0937 PO Box 2221, Deering, NH 03244
k Where reality and imagination come
together k Filled with magic, mystery and awe
that inspires a life of ease and flow k And allows your soul’s energy to guide
you confidently and gracefully to your heart’s desires. When you live in your own Sacred Haven, you discover the power of nature’s cycles and create an authentic life that lights you up. Start your journey now and get your free soul clarity gift! http://bit.ly/IntuitionGift www.CarolynMcGee.com
Colon Hydrotherapy Experience colon hydrotherapy in a safe, relaxed environment using state-of-the-art FDA registered equipment. Stephanie Dumas I-ACT Certified Colon Hydrotherapist, Owner
Lexington Medical Building 16 Clarke Street, Lexington, MA Cleansing for the body, the mind, the spirit
• Sanskrit classes for all student levels.
Every cell of the body has a consciousness, a subconscious and a spirit consciousness. If the nervous system is tense, the eternal life force, the spirit consciousness, can supply the cells only to a very limited extent and the cellular tissue is paralyzed. The result is illness and blows of fate, since the nervous system registers a person’s feelings, thoughts, words and deeds at every moment.
Coaching Carolyn McGee
• Open Meditation every Wednesday evening throughout the year.
Cause and Development of All Illness What the Person Sows, He Will Reap
www.aromatherapyandherbalstudies.com 978-297-4502
Join Carolyn to Create Your Own Sacred Haven
• Introductory class in Advaita starts each January, April and September.
stephanie@healthyspiritcleansing.com 781-860-5116
58 Spirit of Change SPRING/SUMMER 2022
Andrea Seiver, Ph.D. Channeled Readings Classes Have you spoken with an ascended master recently? Vywamus, channeled by Andrea Seiver, is a master and teacher who is working to help all humans make theshift into the higher levels of consciousness. Readings with Vywamus cover your life work, relationships, past lives, and other
issues with his characteristic warmth, humor, and practical advice. Channeled Classes and Spiritual Tutoring help you personally evolve and begin to live in a state of higher consciousness. Evenings with Vywamus: Enjoy discussion evenings with Vywamus, contact Andrea for next dates. For information, contact Andrea at 617-332-1541 www.andreaseiver.com Available Now! The Next Big Bang: The Explosion of Human Consciousness A Vywamus Book Read more at www.andreaseiver.com
Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive. — Howard Thurman
Counseling and Therapy VANESSA LINSEY
MEDIATOR & COACH
Are you a spiritual being in a very human marriage? Couples coaching will help you and your partner refresh, transform, or reinvent your relationship. During coaching sessions, you’ll explore topics like health, money, sex, parenting, love languages, work, domestic roles, retirement, and blending families. You’ll also learn to: • Turn toxic arguments into productive conversations
• Make confident decisions about your family’s future • Discuss difficult topics in a safe and supportive space Coach Vanessa Linsey loves helping couples get on the same page. She is a communication expert and divorce mediator with extensive background in mindfulness and parenting. “Vanessa taught us how to see each other in a different light. I highly recommend her to any couple that could use a little help in making their relationship a much better one.” Visit vanessalinsey.com to learn more or for a free consultation.
• Improve the quality of your intimacy and together time
DR. TARAH DOYLE, Holistic Counseling and Energy Healing
Tarah is a holistic psychologist who uses a combination of energy healing techniques, breathwork, meditation, and visualization to help her clients move through blocks, shed layers of programming, and realign to their Authentic, Soulful selves.
Holistic Counseling Concepts Trish Whynot, D.C.Ed. Doctor of CORE Education Author of “Why Me? Why Now? WHY NOT? Finding opportunity in your obstacles.” Dr. Trish Whynot’s approach is a blending of personal growth and spiritual wisdom incorporating ASAT™ C.O.R.E. Counseling, meditative techniques, and wise guidance that comes through the Mineral Kingdom.
If you are ready to heal and are committed to your own healing, Tarah invites you to reach out. Tarah offers the following services: • Holistic Counseling • Guided Energy Clearing Sessions • Transformational Workshops, and • Individual & Group Coaching Programs www.tarahdoyle.com tdoylepsyd@gmail.com
Get to the root of physical, social and financial problems. G Learn approaches to living and loving that expect opportunities even during challenging times. G Thrive on the wisdom, compassion and understanding gained from life experiences and open to an array of extraordinary futures.
Holistic Psychotherapy Lori Miller-Freitas, LICSW Get to the core — Transform your life! You are on this earth to be happy and realize your true potential.
Brainspotting A neurobiological tool for releasing traumatic/emotionally-charged issues within the brain. Holistic Psychotherapy Clinical Consultation Using extensive professional experience to resolve issues related to: Trauma, Grief, PTSD, Anxiety and Phobias.
EMDR R BSP R Hypnosis R Reiki
Certifications: LICSW, EMDRIA Approved Consultant, National Board of Certified Clinical Hypnotherapists. Visa/MC acccepted.
I use a combination of traditional, body centered and energy therapies to increase the speed and deepen the level of holistic healing.
294 Pleasant St. R Ste. 103B R Stoughton, MA www.eaglespirittherapies.com 781-297-2003
Barbara Madden Johnson
“Barbara has a unique gift. She really helped me find the person I was meant to be buried under the layers of what people wanted me to be.”
Certified Master Hypnotist NLP Practitioner Energy Medicine Practitioner
You can do this. You can find peace of mind. You can make positive changes permanent. You can heal your body, mind, and soul. You may not know how to connect to the part of you that knows the way, but that part of you is still in you. Barbara will help you reconnect and guide you on your unique healing path.
– Sheryl C., Boston, MA
Barbara brings a rich blend of deep experience as a clinician, clinical supervisor, college administrator, and professor. She helps individuals resolve health issues, including learning disabilities, dyslexia, immune and auto-immune diseases, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and depression, as well as issues relating to career, identity, relationships, and more recently, gender identification.
Be at your creative potential now. Barbara Madden Johnson, MA, CAGS, LPC 617-484-1716 u UcanEmerge@aol.com
G
“What impressed me about Dr. Trish Whynot was her ability to see through the chaos of life’s web and identify the root cause of any problem.” — Bob Olson, Afterlifetv.com Workshops and Sessions Available In Office, Phone or Skype Pittsfield and Windham, NH trish@trishwhynot.com www.TrishWhynot.com G 978-314-4545
Every blade of grass has its angel who bends over it and whispers, "Grow, grow." — The Talmud
www.spiritofchange.org
Counseling and Therapy
PATH TO THE PRESENT Diane Spindler, LMHC, LMFT Healing and teaching for over 25 years h Relief of PTSD and depression h Elimination of phobias h Reduction of anxiety, panic attacks,
unexplained body pain, nightmares, flashbacks, and dissociation
Psychotherapy clients have reached a point where they know why they feel badly, but don’t know how to release these bad feelings that keep them attached to their old stories and in the past. Using Gentle Reprocessing and other leading edge therapies, I help clients let go of these old stories so they can move on to a happier future. If you’re a veteran, a first responder, a victim of physical, mental, or sexual abuse, a victim of a disaster, a person with a traumatic background, a person who has anger issues, or a person who is afraid of public speaking, this process could be for you. h 508-886-0007 h
www.GentleReprocessing.com
The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook. — William James
SPRING/SUMMER 2022 | Spirit of Change 59
Counseling and Therapy
Center of the Heart Whole Health Integration Joan Holzman, Psy. D. Lic. Psychologist, Lic. Marriage and Family Therapist Dance/Movement Therapist From the time we are very young we take life’s experiences to heart. Over time we may forget our core, hurts and feelings, but they remain with us. Our heartfelt experiences help shape our sense of self and our interactions with others.
I offer a variety of modalities such as: EMDR, Sandtray Therapy, Relaxation Techniques, Therapeutic Movement & Psychotherapy to help heal our core issues and attain a more integrated sense of health and well being. I look forward to meeting you. Client Comments: s Sandtray – “Sand tray therapy helped me see my life more clearly.” s EMDR – “I had insights I never had before.” s Therapeutic Movement – “It was great to feel the freedom in my body after working with you.” 42 Thoreau Street, Concord, MA 01742 508-828-0820
Crystals
Portal Crystal Gallery
R Minerals and Jewelry R Top Quality Selection R Weekly Classes R Guest Presenters R Available for Rental R Meditations and Workshops
Crystals & Wellness Space
489 Mass. Ave., Arlington, MA 12 – 4 pm daily Kyle@CrystalConcentrics.com
Kyle Russell, Founder
617-771-5119 R PortalCrystalGallery.com
Distance Healing ANN’S ENERGY HEALING Ann Valiante has been doing energy healing for over 20 years. She is certified as a Pranic Arhatic healer which is much more in depth than regular Reiki. It consists of balancing, cleansing and energizing the chakras also cutting cords, releasing attachments etc.
Ann is also a Karuna Reiki master teacher, a Lightarian master teacher who works with archangels and a Pranic crystal healer. Lastly she does Pranic psychic self defense, which is for spirits that may attach themselves or cords that are sent out from people you may or may not know. Ann’s Energy Healing is currently specializing in DISTANCE HEALING and offers affordable rates. Please call Ann at 774-259-7392 or email her at amv60854@aol.com.
Healing and Bodywork Upper Valley Reiki & Holistic Arts Darlene L. Bailey Darlene’s sessions and classes provide a relaxed, peaceful environment where you will experience the nature of energy and grow in understanding that you are the healer as a sovereign being. Together we will create a healthy body, positive outlook, and peace-filled happy life.
SACRED RESONANCE HEALING Bena Phillipo EM Level 4 Practitioner CST Practitioner Holy Fire III Karuna Reiki Master/Teacher SESSIONS AND CLASSES • In House Sessions using Reiki, CST and EM Email or call for a session • Distance Healing Sessions using EM and Reiki Flexible times offered • Geobiology Land Clearing for home and property. ON SITE CLASSES • Holy Fire III, Reiki I & II Class March 12th & 13th, 2022 • Holy Fire III, Master/Teacher Class April 8th - 10th, 2022 • Holy Fire III, Karuna Master Class May 6th - 8th, 2022 Exploring the healing arts in the San Francisco Bay area, I came upon many practitioners who used a variety of modalities. Some combined different techniques in a single session, which worked well for me. Knowing this, I went on to learn many different healing modalities: Chi Nei Tsang, Shiatsu, Reflexology, Craniosacral Therapy,
60 Spirit of Change SPRING/SUMMER 2022
Retreat for Self-Development & Expansion May 13, 14, & 15, 2022 www.darlenebailey.one/events
Reiki and my latest healing modality is EM. I have had great success combining these in various ways. Holy Fire Reiki is a new form of Reiki, the energy comes directly from source and most who experience it find it to be stronger than other forms of Reiki. Attunements are replaced by Ignitions and the energy flows directly from Source, as we relinquish control over Reiki energy, we also gain free will to use it. Craniosacral Therapy using the light touch of CST one uses their hands to diagnose and treat distortions and dysfunctions along the spinal cord. Using soft touch techniques, we release the restrictions in the tissues around the craniosacral system. EM is a type of healing energy medicine that combines ancient Chinese systems, including acupuncture, feng shui, with modern knowledge of physics and anatomy. EM allows practitioners to diagnose and treat people over long distances. Tapping into Universal QI for both diagnosing and treating both western diseases and balancing eastern flows. My journey continues. Perhaps yours will begin, or continue; join me. Sacred Resonance Healing 43 Highland St. Southborough, MA 01772 SacredResonanceHealing.com • 508-303-0366 Bena@SacredResonanceHealing.com
Deborah is dedicated to the whole health and well-being of her clients. She brings a wealth of training, experience and practical, compassionate wisdom to every person, appointment, and class. WHAT HER CLIENTS SAY
DEBORAH STRAFUSS Reiki Master Teacher, Certified Spiritual Life Coach, SCR, CDP Healing Yourself Naturally with Reiki
Happiness is not having what you want. It is appreciating what you have. — Unknown
Multi-Modality Sessions • Reiki • Matrix Energetics (working in the quantum field) • Crystals • Private or Group Reiki Classes by appt. www.darlenebailey.one darlene@darlenebailey.one
Crystal Reiki offers Reiki sessions, Reiki Training, and transformative Spiritual Coaching to support you in living your best life, Birth Healing and Land and Space clearing to provide healthy beginnings and environments for life.
“Your access to Spirit is divine, healing and magical.” – Sarah “Deborah … gently offered her insight and provided tools to help me turn my mindset from frustration to acceptance.” – Jeni ONLINE AND COVID-SAFE IN-PERSON SESSIONS AVAILABLE
Find Crystal Reiki at The Gentle Place Wellness Center in Framingham, MA R 508-353-5136 R www.CrystalReikiEnergy.com
Healing and Bodywork
©
Libby Barnett, MSW, RMT Awaken Your Healing Touch Libby is a gifted, knowledgeable Reiki Master with 41 years experience. Libby learned Reiki from John Harvey Gray in 1979, and is the longest practicing Reiki Master Teacher on the East Coast. Her book, Reiki Energy Medicine, Bringing Healing Touch into Home, Hospital, and Hospice has sold over 75,000 copies in five languages. Use Reiki to create more joy, ease, and happiness. Let Libby’s warm, heartcentered approach help you take your next step toward self-love and inner peace. Reiki brings balance and harmony, supporting you doing the work you were born to do. Reiki facilitates transitions, promotes creativity and wisdom, and accelerates spiritual growth, helping you manifest your magnificence. Libby has been teaching Reiki at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health for 15 years. She has taught medical and nursing students at Harvard, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Brown, Tufts, and Yale, as well as staff at Mass General, Brigham and Women’s, Beth Israel, Mt. Auburn, Emerson, Dartmouth-Hitchcock, Southern New Hampshire, New York Columbia Presbyterian hospitals, and social workers at the University of Maryland. Libby was featured in a Reiki segment for the PBS nationally televised series, Body and Soul. “Libby has a beautiful way of teaching and creates a perfect atmosphere for healing and learning.” One of Libby’s passions is teaching hospice staff and volunteers. Fueled by Reiki energy, their healing touch is
enhanced, creating greater effectiveness in calming agitation, soothing pain and providing comfort. In class, a powerful slide presentation captures the essence of Reiki and highlights the latest research. Reiki stories from Libby’s extensive experience will uplift and inspire you, showing how anyone can learn Reiki. You receive attunements and practice giving and receiving Reiki. You leave class with an illustrated notebook, certificate, and Reiki pin, fully trained and certified to do Reiki on yourself, family, friends, and animals. “Hands on, Reiki’s on.”
Healing: Combined Modalities Body Balancing Center bringing body, mind and spirit into balance
ENERGY HEALING Therapy Emotion and Body Code, Energy Codes and Bio Energetic Synchronization Technique, Psych-K, NLP and more... www.BodyBalancingCenter.com Text or call 508-868-3624 info@BodyBalancingCenter.com
"My commitment to teach the Usui System of Reiki Healing in the authentic, traditional manner inspired me to visit Japan to retrace the roots of Reiki. I am dedicated to teaching this sacred healing art to promote health and conscious living on the planet. I invite you to give yourself the gift of Reiki. It is an easy, effective self-care tool to love, heal, and empower yourself. I look forward to meeting you and sharing Reiki.”
Reiki II Class on day following Reiki I Class; Taking Reiki I and Reiki II back to back is encouraged. Reiki Master Class: April 30 or July 9 or November 5 Graduates of other Reiki teachers welcome. Additional Reiki training dates can be found at: www.reikienergy.com All credit cards accepted. Social Work, Nursing and Massage contact hours/CEU’s available. Reiki Master Teacher Training info available on request. To register or for more information: reikienergy.com reiki@reikienergy.com • 603-654-2787
DETOX & CLEANSE With Infrared Thera Sauna, Q2 Ionic Foot bath, BEMER MASSAGE THERAPY
Please check our website for all upcoming retreats to Florida, Egypt, India and Costa Rica. VIRTUAL EVENTS • Free 1 Card Reading - via FB Live (every MON at 9pm) • Golden Age Creation - FREE Golden Light Healing Meditation every 20th of the month
All classes are offered virtually via Zoom: Reiki I: March 12 or June 25 or October 1
COLON HYDROTHERAPY Detox with state of the art “Open System” providing complete privacy. F I-ACT and National Board certified.
Bhavna Srivastava, The Golden Light AVAILABLE SERVICES • Private Card Reading • Golden Light Healings • Mastermind Program • Group Healings/Clearings COACHING AND MENTORING • Monthly intensive 2 day online or in person PROGRAMS/WORKSHOP • Shine Your Light Mastermind Program • Golden Light Healer Workshop • Golden Light Modality RETREATS • Multidimensional Connection Retreat in Utah • Let’s Dream in Orlando Retreat • CEO Retreats
MEDITATIONS • Golden Light Healing Meditation TURNING POINT • Body blockages cleansing • Ancestral blockage clearing • Past life karma dilution • Relationship with self-disconnection healing • Protecting self from the negative world/people • Bad relationship affecting progress • Money channel blockages • My work channel blockages • Goals achieving blockages • My higher purpose blockages JOIN FOR INTENSIVE 2 DAY COACHING & HEALING WITH BHAVNA! CALL FOR DETAILS bhavnasrivastasva@bhwellnessgroup.com www.bhwellnessgroup.com 1-774-242-2112
Healing: Combined Modalities Some of my offerings are: • Holistic aesthetic / therapeutic body products • Self-help books on self mastery • Spiritual art • Free holistic consultations • Massage therapy Rejuvelate is the legacy of light adventure! Rejuvelate products (holistic body products, books and art) bring integrity, quality and exceptional offerings with a new quantum twist.
www.spiritofchange.org
Rejuvelate Shanti (Deanna Avakumova) www.rejuvelate.com 617-548-8758 North Andover, MA 01845
intuitive HEALING
Wendy Marks
M.Ed, C.A.S., FAPA R Medical intuitive sessions, energy heal-
ing and integrative therapy R 30 years of experience in traditional and
complementary healthcare
R Improve your physical, mental, and
spiritual health R Works with individuals to develop their
own intuitive skills “By healing ourselves we create changes that have a ripple effect on the world around us.” Looking for practical guidance to create your own spiritual path? You’ll find it in Wendy’s book Your Soul’s Companion, available on her website and at amazon.com. www.wendymarks.com R 781-449-5368 wlm922@wendymarks.com
SPRING/SUMMER 2022 | Spirit of Change 61
Healing: Combined Modalities LIFE FORCE REIKI & AROMATHERAPY Mind Body Spirit Well-Being with Reiki and Essential Oils
Nutrition
PAULINE KOSOWAN Reiki Master Practitioner and Teacher Aromatherapist
I CAN HELP YOU:
Remote Reiki Sessions Essential Oil Instruction & Authentic Oils 508-737-1384 * www.lifeforcereiki.com pauline@lifeforcereiki.com
BETH COLON, M.S., BCHN Nutrition Counselor Board Certified in Holistic Nutrition
Come on a journey with me to improve your health with holistic nutrition.
Homeopathy Experience the Healing Energy of
Homeopathy ABBY BEALE, CCH RSHom(NA) Are you looking for a smarter way to heal your body from nagging chronic issues?
Homeopathic care is holistic and individualized, taking into account all of who you are and how you experience life – mentally, emotionally, and physically.
All appointments currently online only. ABBY BEALE, CCH RSHOM(NA) homeopathyhealings@gmail.com HomeopathyHealings.com k 413-426-1024
Contact me to learn more about... • Ingredients to Avoid • Purchase Products • Host a Gathering • Join the Movement • And More!
100% Safe for Families No Compromises • 100% Free of Toxins
Theresa Begin Independent Consultant purehaven.com/tbegin linktr.ee/PurehavenTheresa Tlbegin6@sbcglobal.net 860-478-1098
Connecting to Spirit for inspiration, sustenance and support for your life’s journey Nancy guides you into a connection with spirit and your soul for guidance, healing and direction. Connect with a loved one who has passed or receive Soul messages in a session with Nancy. Ask about package discounts and mentoring relationships. Spiritual mediumship Spirit portraits of loved ones in Spirit F Akashic record life readings F Group sessions and classes F Akashic Training F Soul Art F F
Nancy Johansen RN, CCH, RMT
Soulful Life Coaching
Ethically Sourced Sheepskins
SOUL ART MENTORING Nancy Also offers Soul Art Mentoring over a period of time. This mentoring includes Akashic healing work, sketches to help you on your way, and a final piece of art that commemorates your Journey and gives you a vision of you on your Soul’s path. Interested in finding out more about training or mentorship? Contact Nancy for a FREE discovery session 978-835-0005 F nancy@angelscapes.net Haverhill, MA F angelscapes.net
Connecting you with your Angelic Dream Team, creating your Happily Ever After Angel Readings S Past Life Regression Angel Therapy® S Reiki S Hypnotherapy
COZY SHEEPSKINS FOR EVERYDAY LIFE
MAMA
SOUL ART Nancy offers sessions in the Akashic Records to open to your Soul. She will sketch while she reads. You will receive your art a couple weeks later.
READINGS AND SESSIONS IN
at Angeltouche
SHEEPSKIN
978-340-0448 HolisticNutritionServices.com
Readings
Whether it’s depression, anxiety, women’s issues, digestive troubles, child behavior problems, or more, know that homeopathy works with your body to relieve symptoms, restore vitality, and improve your overall health. Ask about Tea with a Homeopath events or beginner study groups.
Natural Products
Our mission is to educate consumers about pure, safe alternative choices that empower people to live the healthiest lifestyle possible. We remove the toxins so you can protect your family.
Relieve digestive issues such as IBS and GERD Stop unhealthy eating practices Curb sugar and carb addictions while improving your A1C numbers Enhance your health with nutritional cleansing.
• White & Colorful, all textures • Kundalini Yoga & Healing Reiki • Babies & Furry friends love them! • Guru Dev Yogic Healing Oils SHEEPSKINMAMA.COM INFO@SHEEPSKINMAMA.COM
62 Spirit of Change SPRING/SUMMER 2022
Psychic Intuitive S Angel Therapy Practitioner ®
Private sessions in person or distance by phone and e-mail. Classes and workshops ~ Franklin, MA Nancy@Angeltouche.com www.Angeltouche.com S 508-577-4552
If it's important you'll find a way. If it's not you'll find an excuse. — Ryan Blair
Retreats
Sage Mountain Botanical Sanctuary is a nonprofit conservation retreat center located in Central Vermont, just south of Groton State Forest and 20 minutes east of Montpelier. Our 600 acre wilderness preserve features rustic lodging and
opportunities for day visits, private overnight retreats, and group bookings. We also offer online courses in herbalism for grief and trauma, holistic tools for end-oflife care, and flower essences. Learn more at our website and submit your request for a reservation at www.sagemountain.com. Sage Mountain Botanical Sanctuary www.sagemountain.com 802-479-9825
Spiritual Practices When we change... the world changes. Methods of achieving stability and clarity of mind become more and more essential as our social, political, and economic structures change dramatically. Raja Yoga is a simple but powerful form of meditation that can help you to develop peace of mind, resilience, and inner strength. The Brahma Kumaris is a worldwide spiritual organization, affiliated with the UN and recipient of seven Peace Messenger awards. Classes include meditation and a range of other practical tools for selftransformation. Workshops, group meditations, and retreats are held regularly. All activities are offered free of charge, as a community service.
Spiritual Practices The Greater Boston Church of Spiritualism ARLINGTON MASONIC TEMPLE 19 Academy St., Arlington, MA (off Mass Ave., easy access by T via Harvard Sq.) The Greater Boston Church of Spiritualism embraces a religious and spiritual belief blending ancient wisdom with contemporary thought. Services are held at 10:30 am every Sunday, with mediumship, live music, inspirational talks, and healing by laying on of hands.
As an evolving spiritual community, The Greater Boston Church of Spiritualism offers weekday evening classes in mediumship, healing, and meditation; mediums days are the last Sunday of the month; and seminars and workshops through the year. For a brochure with upcoming events, or to speak with the Pastor, call us. During the pandemic we are holding all services and classes on Zoom; past services can be seen on YouTube. Visit our website for Zoom links, more current events or information about re-opening in person.
Our mailing address: 40-44 Spring St., Watertown, MA 02472 617-923-4334 GreaterBostonChurchofSpiritualism.com
b Brahma Kumaris Learning Center for Peace
75 Common St, Watertown, MA 617-926-1230 • bknewengland.org boston@us.brahmakumaris.org
Yoga
b Inner Space Meditation Center & Gallery
1110 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 617-547-1110 • innerspaceharvardsq.org info@innerspaceharvardsq.org b Shrewsbury @ ATFS Center
433 South St, Shrewsbury, MA 617-926-1230 shrewsbury@bknewengland.org b Providence
123 North Main St, Providence, RI 401-354-2693 providence@bknewengland.org b Manchester
575 W. Willow St, Ste 209, Manchester, NH 603-622-5500 manchester@bknewengland.org
Ann Bissanti
Worcester Yoga Center Hatha Yoga begins with refining the physical body but does not stop there. The exercises involve slow precise stretching, strengthening, and breathing techniques, which not only tone the muscles but affect internal organs, nerves, skin, and virtually
all body systems, making Yoga a superior wholistic method for physical fitness and preventive and corrective health care. Certified Yoga teacher and therapist Ann Bissanti, trained in India by B.KS. Iyengar, has studied Yoga and meditation for the past 30 years. She has taught Yoga at Leonard Morse Hospital in Natick, at various fitness centers and adult education programs, and privately. Call us for more information. Worcester Yoga Center 21 West Street, Worcester, MA 01609 WorcesterYogaCenter.com | 508-829-6300
TWO GREAT SERVICES IN ONE EASY LOCATION
Offering the following services onsite or at your location as well as remote. Parties-Corporate or School Functions-Fundraising events.
We offer a variety of yoga classes to meet your needs. See our events and offerings which support health, wellness, healing and spiritual growth.
Private or group channeling sessions Psychic Readings • Angel Readings Spiritual Consultations • Reiki - Energy Healing Past Life Regression • Hypnosis Intuitive Development • Numerology Home clearings
Beach Yoga near Jenness State Beach NH (JUNE - AUG) Outdoor Yoga at Chivers Pond Candia NH (MAY - SEPT) Chair Yoga • Vinyasa Flow Yoga • Gentle Yoga Sound Healings with Crystal Bowls Reiki Shares • Meditation FREE Community Yoga Classes each month
Angie D’Anjou, Spiritual Consultant Angie@angiedanjou.com • 603-321-4818
Molly Thomas, Certified Kripalu Yoga Instructor Molly@inspiredyogaandhealth.com • 603-548-9873
SESSIONS BY APPOINTMENT
angiedanjou.com www.spiritofchange.org
DROP-IN or AVDANCE BOOKING AVAILABLE
• 126 Route 27, Suite A1, Raymond, NH 03077 • inspiredyogaandhealth.com SPRING/SUMMER 2022 | Spirit of Change 63
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Susan Abookire.........................................8 Academy for Soul Healing....................23 Advaita Meditation Center................ 7,58 All & Everything Conference................21 Alternatives For Health.........................51 Alternative Wellness Centers................53 Angelscapes....................................... 31,62 Angeltouche............................................62 Ann’s Energy Healing.............................60 Arvigo Therapy.......................................36 Awakening Moments Center................63
Natural Living Expo........................... 3,13 Nature’s Mysteries...................................50 NE Institute of Reflexology...................58 NPMDT...................................................37 O OJAYA Dharma Sangha...........................5 Olson Media Group........................... 7,43 Optimism Plus........................................40 P
B Balance Within.......................................50 Libby Barnett...........................................61 Beadniks....................................................9 Bhavna's Wellness Group................ 37,61 Body Balancing Center..........................61 Boston School of Herbal Studies, The..57 Brahma Kumaris.....................................63 Mark Braunstein.....................................53
Index of Advertisers Spring/Summer 2022
C
S Sacred Resonance............................. 33,60 Sage Mountain........................................63 Science of Spirituality............................45 Sea Glass Yoga & Wellness............. 41, 53 Seeds of Awakening................................25 Andrea Seiver..........................................58 Sheepskin Mama....................................62 Sohum Yoga.............................................53 Spirit Hollow...........................................33 Sturbridge Herbfest................................15
D Dr. Amparo David..................................17 Dinno Health Acton Pharmacy............27 Dr. Tarah Doyle......................................59
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E
H
L
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Healthy Spirit..........................................58 Helfand Retreats.......................................8 Holistic Nutrition Services....................62 Homeopathy Healing.............................62 Joan Holzman.........................................60
FrogPond Yoga Centre...........................53
I
Life Force Reiki.......................................62 Light Unlimited........................................2 Vanessa Linsey........................................59 Eric Linter................................................57 Lotus Flower Living.................................8 LoveLight Illuminations........................31
G Gabrielle Publishing House..................58 Gaia’s Garden Herbals............................50 Gemstone Therapy Institute............ 23,57 Arthur Gertler.........................................13 Greater Boston Church of Spiritualism.............................................63 Groton Wellness Center........................19 H HandTales................................................23 Healing from the Body Level Up..........68
R Rejuvelate.................................................61 Maryann Roefaro...................................41
Cambridge Health Alliance...................39 Central Mass Lyme Foundation...........13 Circles of Wisdom..................................27 Clairvoyant Sun......................................43 Crystal Reiki............................................60
Eclectic Institute of Aromatherapy and Herbal Studies, The.........................58 Eidon Ionic Minerals.............................31 Enchanted Fox........................................51
Bonnie Page...............................................9 Path to the Present.................................59 Pets and Spirits........................................40 Portal Crystal Gallery............................60 Pura Haven........................................ 39,62 Pyramid Books.......................................47
Illuminating Light Healing Center........................................57 Inner Traditions......................................36 Inspired Yoga and Health......................53 Integrative Mental Health for You........33 J Barbara Johnson.....................................59 L Ed Langan................................................72 Life in Time-Space...................................3 Pat LeBau.......................................... 43, 53
64 Spirit of Change | SPRING/SUMMER 2022
M Made Simple Skin Care..........................15 Linda Marks............................................13 Marshall Mindset Coaching..................45 Maha Yoga Center..................................51 M.A.S.H............................................. 15,53 Kristen Mara...........................................45 Tina Marian.............................................29 Wendy Marks..........................................61 Massachusetts Satsang Society........ 26,39 Carolyn McGee................................... 9,58 Lori Miller-Freitas..................................59 Moon on the Mattwa Studio.................21
Natalie Toth.............................................40 Touchstone Community School...........57 U Upper Valley Reiki & Holistic Arts......60 V Veg Fest....................................................47 Vesta.........................................................47 W Way to Balance, The...............................25 Trish Whynot..........................................59 Women of Wisdom.......................... 29,57 Worcester Yoga................................. 53,63 Wu Healing Center.................................35 Y Yoga Anita...............................................53 Your Health Matters...............................40
HIGH TIME continued from page 54
Research Initiative, has been studying the impact of cannabis on opioids, trying to determine whether people who use cannabis can get sufficient pain relief from lower doses of opioids. Humans have an endocannabinoid system on which compounds in cannabis act. This system is implicated in a number of things, from mood to appetite. Our bodies produce endocannabinoids, which is why we have receptors for them, and those receptors also respond to cannabis. So, researchers are studying the therapeutic potential of cannabis for conditions like pain and PTSD, among many others. Mark Leviton: Won’t big pharmaceutical companies take over the cannabis industry? Alyson Martin: There are actually three giant industries looking at the cannabis business: alcohol, tobacco, and pharmaceutical. There’s still the question: Is cannabis medicine or a nightcap? Is it a drug you get from CVS or a plant you grow in your garden? Big Ag could add cannabis to the long list of products it controls, too. You can go online and read conspiracy theories about Monsanto for days. Mark Leviton: What do you think will be the future of cannabis? Nushin Rashidian: I think we’ll see research that will allow people to make informed decisions, and an end to the drug war and the disparities in arrest and incarceration rates that have come with it. It seems inevitable that cannabis is going to be federally legalized at some point. Republicans like the pro-business aspect and support the states’-rights issue, which is why one cannabis bill in Congress was called the Strengthening the Tenth Amendment through Entrusting States (STATES) Act. But Republicans would like to leave LGBTQ+ rights and abortion rights to the states as well, so progressive cannabis advocates really have to think about the possible side effects of using the states’-rights argument to legalize cannabis. There’s also the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, which, as you can see from its name, puts social justice at the center, using taxation to address the harms of racism in policing and so forth. It was passed by the House of Representatives in December 2020 but did not advance in the Senate. It was just reintroduced this year. Some people want state-run cannabis stores, with private industry completely excluded. Others want the whole industry to run like your local farmer’s market. Alyson Martin: Cannabis is legal in Canada for both adult and medicinal use. Mexico could legalize cannabis by the end of this year. The United States is going to be squeezed on both sides, with Americans vacationing in Cabo San Lucas and Montreal, using legal cannabis, and perhaps wondering why their own country isn’t moving forward with similar policies. Nushin Rashidian: New Zealand had a legalization referendum that was narrowly rejected in September. Australia is starting, region by region, to study this. Globally it’s happening. It’s going to happen slowly, of course, like anything else. When cannabis is legalized, there’s still a question about whether it is going to essentially map against other commodities or whether it will set a new normal in terms of the social responsibility of corporations: Is this going to be more mom-and-pop? Is it going to be more multinational? Are we going to have the haves and the have-nots? So far, I’m not super encouraged that it isn’t just going to fall into ye olde patterns of inequity like any trade: the flower trade, the coffee trade, the sugar trade. What is a global market for cannabis going to look like, and will it repeat some of the unsavory and problematic patterns of the past? I think it still has a chance to not repeat them, but I’m concerned that it could. This interview was originally published in the July 2021 issue of The Sun (thesunmagazine.org). It appears here by permission of Mark Leviton, Alyson Martin and Nushin Rashidian. (cannabiswire.com) Mark Leviton is supposed to be retired, but it didn't take. He lives in Nevada City, CA, where his radio show Pet Sounds is heard every Monday on KVMR-FM. www.petsoundsmusic.com. www.spiritofchange.org
Directory of
HOLISTIC SPECIALTIES
ANIMAL SERVICES
MASH Integrative Veterinary Care, since
1982. Dr. Margo Roman & Associates. 508-435-4077. Hopkinton, MA. MashVet.com
AROMATHERAPY
Perfumery with garden scents and colors. Recipe booklet. Beginner
suitable. Available for demonstrations and consultations. Joanne 508-799-0235.
ASTROLOGY
Eric Linter, over 35 years experience.
Readings, classes, daily forecast. stars@ericlinter.com. 508-541-4115.
CRYSTALS
Portal Crystal Gallery, 489 Mass. Ave, Arlington Center, MA. Open 7 days 1-4pm. 617-771-5119. Kyle@CrystalConcentrics.com.
DATING
Our amazing members value spiritual growth, yoga, meditation and sustainable
living. 21 years online! Meet your soulmate. www.SpiritualSingles.com.
DOWSING
Discover the science of dowsing.
Self-instructional DVD's, books, home of the original Cameron Aurameter. 805-649-5721. www.dowsing.com.
EMF PROTECTION
MEDICAL INTUITIVE Intuitive Healing with Wendy Marks
Over 25 years, with long-term chronic problems a specialty. Very effective with finding root issues. Compassionate and committed. 781-449-5368. www.wendymarks.com.
PAIN RELIEF
Pat Lebau, MA, ERYT-500, Kripalu Yoga teacher, offers Integrated Positional Therapy sessions. PatLebauyoga.com
READINGS
Nancy Smith, spiritual medium and Akashic life readings. 978-835-0005. www.angelscapes.net
REIKI
Holy Fire III Training. Women of
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SPRING/SUMMER 2022 | Spirit of Change 65
Reviving The American Chestnut Restoring Abundance in Mid-Atlantic Forests by Planting Trees — with Kids By Joseph Resch & Lauren Krumm
I
An American chestnut resprout on Long Island, NY. This is most likely a remnant of what was once a healthy tree a century ago.
traditions, it was soon to grow. After experiencing firsthand the enthusiasm of magine a woodland of towering trees, some over one hundred feet tall with trunks up to fifteen feet across, and a thick layer of delicious nuts blanketing the participants and volunteers, it became clear to the Antinanco team that expanding on the program was inevitable and would be of great benefit to all. its floor. The creatures bustle about, gathering as much of the precious food There are no fully chestnut blight-resistant seeds or seedlings yet available, as they can. Allegheny woodrats and other rodents add chestnuts to their though there are organizations such as the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment winter caches, bears have a buffet, flocks of passenger pigeons and wild turkeys hurriedly gulp them down, and even humans could be seen collecting basketfuls Station and the American Chestnut Foundation working diligently on solutions to this. So, we selected seedlings for planting from surviving American chestof this rich source of nutrition. This would have been a common scene in parts of the Eastern United States, nut trees with the ability to resist the blight enough to flower and produce nuts. where the American chestnut (Castanea dentata) trees were once a keystone spe- This method will provide a new generation of trees that can be monitored for blight-resistance, as well as help preserve the genetics of cies in our forests. A chestnut blight was introduced to the surviving native trees we have been left with. From North American in the early 1900s with the importation those trees, the individuals that demonstrate the ability of Japanese chestnut trees, and by the early 1940s, the funto grow strongly and produce nuts can be used to help gus had killed virtually all native American chestnut trees is committed breed even more tenacious generations in the future. in the United States and Canada. Antinanco is a non-profto preserving Adding to our mission to revive this keystone species it organization based in Holmdel, New Jersey, and our traditional at a time when it is needed most, we have begun expandcommunity of families, friends, and volunteers is helping ing the diversity of our planting sites with other native bring these and other native food-producing plants back and indigenous knowledge trees. Wherever possible, we utilize spaces that have been to our forests. beyond the classroom walls left by other trees which are unfortunately declining due The original idea was to hold a tree planting workshop to invasive pests. After all, as the old adage goes, variety for kids, and focus on restoring trees which both needthrough nature experiences, ed help in repopulating, and which could add the greathands-on projects, international is the spice of life. The more we can provide diverse food sources for our wildlife, the more resilient their popuest value to the ecosystem. The American chestnut was cultural exchange programs lations, as well as our ecosystems will be. The canopy chosen not only because of its unfortunate demise and space once occupied by an ash tree for example, which functionally extinct status, but its great potential to help and environmental unfortunately may have lost its battle with the invasive feed our dwindling wildlife populations and possibly even conservation projects. emerald ash borer, can be replanted with another species people, as it did long ago. The inspiration to choose a tree that needs help reestablishing, and enjoys similar site with this potential comes from the examples that our indigenous brothers and sisters have set for us, which show that the land can be conditions. While our primary focus so far has been to reintroduce the American gently cared for in a way that creates habitat for a diversity of life, by intentionally chestnut tree, we want to make sure there are as many species as possible producing food for humans and wildlife at any given site. cultivating native plant species in order to feed this life. Many gardeners may be aware of a concept called companion planting, in In November of 2018, amidst a blanket of fresh wet snow, a group of roughly which different species of plants are intentionally grown in close proximity to fifteen children, adults, and a cute dog named Gigi set out upon a rustic farm in Eastern Pennsylvania to plant chestnut seedlings. Under the leadership of Joseph each other to make use of specific benefits they may provide. Antinanco has incorporated plantings of other native species with the chestnuts, some with the Resch, who assumed the position of the American Chestnut Revival Project Leader shortly thereafter, the group planted twenty-six trees with love and careful intent of possibly aiding the chestnuts’ growth and health, and others in order to expand the diversity of food production on the sites. intent, named, and protected them from deer with funny-looking white plastic For example, herbaceous perennial plants such as false indigo (Baptisia austratubes. The seeds, or rather, seedlings, were sown. Though this was just one activilis) and slender bushclover (Lespedeza virginica) were added near the trees to ty in a weekend-long event focused on practicing and preserving Earth-centered
ANTINANCO
66 Spirit of Change | SPRING/SUMMER 2022
Photos courtesy Antinanco
make use of their nitrogen-fixing abilities, as well as for their potential benefits to pollinators. Native trees such as honeylocust (Gleditsia triacanthos) and black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) were planted for the same purposes, spaced a bit farther away, and can be cut back without being killed if they begin to compete with the chestnuts. Native fruit-producers, pawpaw (Asimina triloba) and persimmon (Diospyros virginiana), were planted at the sites as well, with pawpaws being sited where the soil stays more consistently moist. Over the following two years since the first planting, Antinanco offered four more tree planting workshops in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. This has resulted in a total of two hundred fifteen native trees being planted by volunteers, children, and families. We pay these trees a visit each season to remove weed competition, take measurements, and compare the impacts of companion plants, tree genetics, sun/ shade on site, and juglone presence — a toxic compound — on their health and growth. Also of great importance to us is the ongoing monitoring and care of our American chestnut seedlings. We have noticed signs of chestnut blight in several of them, with the majority showing the ability to grow well despite this so far. We plan to test various methods of helping these trees as they grow, gathering as much useful data as possible along the way. Some of the trees from our first planting have already exceeded nine feet in height. The Chestnut Revival Community Grows
Antinanco’s American chestnut tree planting workshops have evolved into a well-anticipated annual program, offering a fun and educational channel for raising awareness of the American chestnut’s decline and its impact on local ecosystems. Our hands-on approach includes learning activities as well as group discussions with our resident forest experts, and step-by-step training and guidance through the planting process. Local volunteers learn to prepare a comfortable home for the trees by taking measures to protect them from wildlife, digging holes to proper depths, inoculating the roots with ectomycorrhizal fungi spores, taking careful notice of soil levels, and adding companion plants. Each newly planted seedling is named and labeled, which is helpful in tracking their progress and makes them easier to find when volunteers revisit their trees. Our 2020 planting season saw much growth in attendance and overall interest in the project. We engaged over 150 local scouts, students, parents and other volunteers within two planting events. Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, our participants enthusiastically turned out with shovels in hand and contributed to the planting of forty American chestnut trees, forty-three pawpaws, ten American persimmons, nine hazelnuts, five honeylocusts, three black locusts and hundreds of companion plants. www.spiritofchange.org
Over the 2021 season, we expanded our existing chestnut plantings by 45 trees, and added 87 other native trees and shrubs to our planting sites. These will help to regenerate forest cover in areas where many ash trees were lost, and some will expand the food forest coverage as well since they are edible. Species planted include American persimmon, pawpaw, black chokeberry, larch, redbud, and silver maple. We also began the work of upgrading shelters on some of our older plantings, from plastic tree tubes to fivefoot-tall wire cages, which will protect the trees while allowing more space for growth until maturity. Another important aspect of the project began to quickly grow this past year as well: distribution of tree seedlings and seeds to our local public. Antinanco supplied nature enthusiasts with 192 native trees, including 50 chestnuts, and 250 chestnut seeds, to grow and expand biodiversity on their own land. In addition to growing community involvement, Antinanco is proud to have published and released our very first book American Chestnut Tree Conservation Field Course: Manual for Forest Ecology and Conservation of the North-East United States. The manual is designed for undergraduate college students and explores the topics of ecological principles to manage ecosystems, specifically focusing on the conservation of the American chestnut tree species. It includes fieldwork and lab components, and teaches how to recognize forest disturbances, determine forest age, identify dominant and understory species, the principles of basic tree identification, and how to measure biological diversity, tree growth and health. Resources
• American Chestnut: The Life, Death, and Rebirth of a Perfect Tree, by Susan Freinkel • The American Chestnut Foundation tacf.org • Sandra L. Anagnostakis’ extensive publications at https://portal.ct.gov/CAES/ABOUT-CAES/ Staff-Biographies/Sandra-L-Anagnostakis • The American Chestnut Cooperators' Foundation www.accf-chestnut.org • An Introduction to the American Chestnut Online Course by Stacy L. Clark. Available at https:// www.srs.fs.usda.gov/products/courses/ This article originally appeared in the Journal of Medicinal Plant Conservation, 2020/21. Reprinted with permission of United Plant Savers, unitedplantsavers.org. Joseph Arnold Resch began caring for plants and gardening at the age of five and has worked in the green industry for over eleven years. He leads Antinanco’s effort to help the functionally extinct American Chestnut tree as Project Coordinator. Lauren Anne Krumm’s lifelong appreciation for nature paved the way to her passion for preserving ecology and working with plants and herbal medicine. Lauren joined the Antinanco team as the Green Initiatives Outreach Coordinator in spring of 2020. Stay informed about their American chestnut adventures at www.antinanco.org/subscribe.
Blue cardinal flower (Lobelia siphilitica) is a native plant that benefits pollinators. These and other species are added at planting sites to provide food for wildlife and fix nitrogen for the trees.
Hardware cloth is cut and shaped into cylinders to protect the base of each tree from rodent damage. Without it, the trees can be girdled or completely cut off at the base.
American chestnut seedlings freshly planted in a reclaimed farm field at the South Branch Preserve in Budd Lake NJ. Chestnuts must be protected from rodents and deer when they are young.
Two-year old hybrid American/ Chinese chestnut seedlings ready for planting. If seedlings are to be started in containers, a deep pot is best for establishing a long healthy taproot.
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68 Spirit of Change | SPRING/SUMMER 2022