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I have long been fascinated by numinous realms which we humans can enter for power, joy and to discover the nature of our unique essential being and let it guide our lives. For thousands of years, artists, mystics, and shamans have known the secrets of expanding consciousness to access spiritual wisdom, creativity, and bliss. These people—which have belonged to a relatively small group in cultures throughout history—knew how to access realms of wisdom and awareness which all of us can learn to move into and out of at will if we so desire. We can all learn to do this by activating what I call the consciousness matrix. This is the interface encoded within our energy fields, our cells and our DNA, which enables us human beings to tap into vast realms of spiritual power and authentic freedom, then allow these gifts to enrich our lives. Developing the skills to do this brings not just the idea but the actual experience of being ONE with all living things including the universe itself. In fact, the ability to do this is our birthright. Learning how to go about it gives you access to genuine spiritual experience. It also connects you to the unique soul energy within, enabling bridges to be built between the core of your being and your day to day life. Finally, this allows you to access your own unique view of reality. It teaches us how to trust ourselves, and introduces us to the exhilaration that comes with living life from the core of our being. ADVENTURE BEGINS All freedom comes from within. Live free and you feel fully alive. It is like taking a deep, spontaneous breath. It is like laughter. Freedom is also full of surprises. There is a boldness to it. You dare to say what you think and feel, yet are not afraid to listen to the words and hearts of others who think differently. So many of us get caught up in a need to conform to the ideal that has been projected onto us by society, our families, our education, or our religion. We long to be free, but do not know what this really means or how to find real freedom within ourselves. We often look upon power as something external to us, so we don’t learn how to trust our own values and spiritual experiences. We become liberated from having to conform to other people’s rules or the slavery of imprisoning ideologies. It even helps us to transmute the life-draining powers of addiction and crippling influences of unconsciously-held negative feelings and traumas which strangle the fulfillment of our dreams into usable energy. The freer we get, the more self-determining our life becomes, and the more exciting. Gone are the days of out-of-control stress and following the latest fad diet or exercise craze. You begin to sense what is right for you and follow your instinct. When huge challenges do arise, instead of appearing to be crushing forces, you can turn them into worthy opponents. You learn that wrestling with them helps you break through to an even wider experience of liberation. To do this we become not only able to live gracefully as five-sensory beings in a three dimensional world. We learn to move at will into multi-sensory and multi-dimensional reality. Then we can draw on the creative and healing power we find there allowing it to infuse our day to day lives with a clearer sense of direction and meaning. TECHNOLOGIES FOR LIBERATION Developing the skills for tapping into the consciousness matrix could not be more important at this moment in history. As we do, we are able to enjoy the highest levels of creativity, discover our own unique values, and access deep levels of truth within so we come to live our life to the full. Then we become able to work with others in ways that honors all life. In the past thirty years, I have studied, taught and worked with methods for expanding consciousness for healing, creativity, and authentic freedom. My goal has been to create programs which draw on the most ancient methods for accessing realms of expanded consciousness, then to marry them with leading-edge physics, biology, systems theory and the rapidly developing science of consciousness itself. I have been determined to discover technologies for liberation which are simple, well tested, practical and which, once you begin to work with them, can be used like a ladder can be for getting us to the second floor of a building and then be thrown away. I was never interested in creating some new system, or psychology or philosophy. I wanted to make something that would help people discover their own inner truth, spiritual perceptions and pathways as the ultimate authorities and then learn to trust themselves. My work with Journey to Freedom and my deep connections with shamanism—which I have studied, worked with and taught for a quarter of a century now, has always been focused on helping myself and others expand our awareness so we can draw on energy from the deepest levels of our being and learn to listen to the whispers of our souls. As we come to do this—slowly but steadily—we discover what real freedom feels like. The membranes of fear or self-condemnation, which surround us, become thinner and thinner so that our real values and desires from the depths of our being can be gradually set free to become the living realities which guide our lives. LISTEN TO THE WHISPERS It is only by listening to what I call the “whispers of your soul” that you learn to explore the consciousness matrix. They will help you discover the magnificence of your own being so you come to experience your oneness with all life. I’d like to share with you a simple, fun and powerful little exercise that I and countless others have used for years. The more frequently you practice it, the clearer do the whispers of your soul become. Practice this simple, pleasant little technique once a day for two weeks and you will sense that a bridge has begun to be built between the deepest levels of your being and your outer life. You discover your own place of silence and natural beauty—a sanctuary into which you can enter and return, no matter where you are or in what circumstances you find yourself. It is here that you can create the space which allows your soul to speak to you from the greatest depths. ENTER YOUR SANCTUARY Turn off your cell phone or take the landline phone off the hook so you won’t be disturbed for the next ten minutes. Sit on a straight-backed chair, or on the floor if you prefer. Take three or four deep breaths through your nose, letting the air escape gently through your mouth on the out breath. Close your eyes. Let your imagination run free. Allow your mind go back to some place in nature which you have seen and especially like. This is a place in ordinary reality, not somewhere from a dream or a story. It may be a place familiar to you, say at the end of your garden. Or it can be somewhere you have visited only once. When you’ve found the place you like, sit for a moment quietly remembering as much about it as you can. Now see what happens when you activate your senses. Just let yourself be right here and right now. What do you see, smell, hear, how does the air feel, how does the earth feel under your body? Do you sense the presence of any supporting energies or helpful beings here with you? If so, listen to what they are offering. Ask your soul to speak to you. These things may surprise you. Now, ask for whatever you think you need in your life right now. Then sit in silence in your wonderful sacred space and without judgment, pay attention to what you sense, hear, and feel. When you are ready, give thanks for whatever friendship or beauty you find around you and say goodbye for the moment to your inner sanctuary, knowing that you can return to it whenever you like. The more often you do, the richer the experience becomes, and the more clearly can you come to hear the whispers. Now, very gently, in your own time, open your eyes and come back into the room. BRIDGES ILLUMINATE This is important if you are to make good use of what you have experienced. Use a notebook to record what you have found— where you went, what you saw, felt, tasted, sensed. Who, if anyone, was there? What happened there? Did you get any answers to your questions? Record both the positive and the negative without judgment. Just let the words flow. Remember, this is not an essay for school. There is no right or wrong way of doing this. I suggest that you practice this exercise for ten or fifteen minutes each day. Then, at the end of two weeks, come back to your notebook and read what you have written. You may discover certain themes that have come up time and again. Sometimes they are things that you would benefit by addressing but have been putting off. Or you may discover something that you have always wanted to do or be but have never dared contemplate acting on. Such are the whispers from your soul. The more you listen to them, the more you will be able to move into the vast consciousness matrix and connect with the oneness of all life with all the possibilities it offers you. The more you connect with the depths of your essential core, discover your own truths and live them, the richer your life will become, no matter what your current circumstances may be.

It is important to realize that no matter how inadequate you feel, your best is likely to be better than anybody else's in raising your child, simply because he is your child. But you will not be perfect. Nobody ever was. You will make mistakes. So will your child. Mistake making and forgiveness on both sides needs to be worked into all agreements between you. It is important to remember that you are not here to sacrifice your life for the child, nor is he meant to sacrifice his for you. You are here to give the best you can, and to do what you believe is right, whether or not this or that particular thing happens to coincide with your child's own wishes. When a parent's relationship with his or her child is honest, without guilt, free of any need to be loved or approved of, then the conflicts that arise between you, instead of being destructive, become positive forces in the growth of your relationship - the child's moving toward independence, and your continuing to grow in confidence and self respect. Raising Nature's child by no means demands that you become a servant or slave. There will come times when you have to put your foot down. This may be the twenty-third time your baby throws his fluffy duck out of the play pen and shouts in a demanding way for you to pick it up and put it back in again. It may be later when your child steps off a curb without looking and you have to grab him by the shirt collar and yank him out of the way of an oncoming bus. Such occasions are no time for `parenting classes'. You have to trust your instincts and take action. He or she won't like it. That is too bad, because it is the right thing to do. I remember when my children first started going to the local church discos. I agreed that they could go but insisted that they be home by 10 o'clock. That was important to me. An early return from nights out was written into a lot of our agreements, probably because as a child I lived in a family where nobody cared what time I came home and I interpreted that to mean they didn't care about me. Each of us has our idiosyncrasies. `But Mummy,' my daughter used to say, `everybody gets to stay out until midnight - it's not fair.' `I am sorry Susannah,' I would reply, `I never said I would always be fair. I want you home by 10 o'clock. Frankly, I don't care in the least what everybody else gets to do. It is home at 10 or you don't go.' nurturing seedpower The remarkable thing about a seed is that you don't have to sit and watch it every minute, nor do you have to buy a lot of expensive paraphernalia to get it to grow beautifully. Far from it. You need to supply very little for a seed to develop into a good plant: some healthy earth; the sun - not too much or the young leaves will burn; enough water - again, not too much, or the seed will rot. These simple things create the environment in which, thanks to the inner wisdom of seedpower and of Nature herself, the tiny seed will develop steadily and gracefully into a full-blown flower. So it is with each baby. Your child is much like a small plant. It needs a safe, healthy environment which allows its unfolding to take place, and of course the trust of its guardian - namely you - in allowing this to happen. Coming to trust this power for unfolding in your own child, learning to listen with your intuition and mind and heart to what a child is telling you and making use of some simple techniques for feeding, encouraging play and creativity, and helping your child's body heal himself whenever he is ill, is about all it takes to nurture a child the gentle way. By doing so, you encourage the full development of an individual into whatever he or she is genetically and spiritually designed to become. It doesn't cost a lot of money and it doesn't require that you become some superhuman parent. cut out commercialism In our society, babies are big business. Television, newspapers, magazines - even the little pamphlets they give you free at mother and baby clinics - are full of advice about what you should do and information about products: from bottled baby foods, to special so-called educational toys - which, they tell you, you simply cannot be without if you are to raise a healthy, happy and well adjusted child (whatever that is). All of them have been created by special interest groups. So has a lot of the information about health, diet and child care that appears in the media. Its sources include drug companies intent upon selling immunization serums, purveyors of baby clothes and goods keen to enhance their profits, and baby food manufacturers determined to convince you the best foods for your child come in miniature glass jars. They are all designed to serve their own interests. And they all, to a greater or lesser degree, exploit parents. By preying on our fears of inadequacy and our desire to do the best we can for our children, they can make us feel powerless. Such propaganda not only induces you to spend a lot more money than you need to on a baby or child, it shifts the emphasis of parenthood away from the enormously rich, challenging and fascinating realm of relationship between you and your child, where it belongs, towards a goal of amassing a lot of material junk. I am often horrified by the quantities of shiny plastic rubbish modern parents can collect around their babies and children - toys that never get played with, clothes that never get worn and convenience foods which should never be eaten since they have little capacity to nourish any child. nurturing the seed What your child really needs is what every child in every culture throughout the world has needed for the last million years - simple wholesome food, physical warmth, play, the opportunity slowly and gently to learn about the world around him and about the culture into which he has been born, as well as a parent - or maybe two - who not only makes sure he is safe but delights in his presence. Many parents worry that having a baby will restrict their lives enormously by making them stay home all the time. It does for a while but it needn't always. Traveling with a baby who is breast-fed is just about the easiest thing in the world to do. All he needs is his mother plus a few nappies. He does not need the full range of newfangled travel gear from a slick baby shop. I have traveled with all my children - by car, by rail, by plane - all my life. I not only find it easy, I enjoy having their companionship - especially when you are stuck in some foreign city with no friends in one of those faceless hotel rooms. It is good then to have a friend. A Nature's Child can be just about the best friend you will ever have.

When World War I ended, manufacturers of chemical weapons did not know what to do with their company’s deadly products. A few inventive scientists—mostly in Germany—came up with the bright idea that these killer chemicals could be used on food crops. After all, since they killed enemies in wartime, surely they could be used to wipe out insects, fungi and other pests on farm crops. Who knows, they might even serve as fertilizers for farmers. CHEMICAL FARMING IS BORN They discovered that a mixture of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK) would grow big yield crops of good-looking vegetables, grains, legumes and fruits. But little interest was taken in their discoveries until years later, at the end of World War II. At that time, most foods were still grown pretty much as they had always been—by farmers who manured, mulched, and rotated their crops to keep soils rich and in good condition. To put it another way, most food was grown organically, although nobody had even coined the word by then. By the time World War II ended, chemical conglomerates involved in the manufacture of phosphates and nitrates as war materiel found themselves stuck with huge stockpiles. So they went looking for new markets. Aware of the early research into chemical fertilizing, they began to sell them artificial NPK fertilizers at costs low enough to make it all look very attractive. DECEPTIONS BEGIN These purveyors of chemicals spread the false belief that NPK is all you need to grow healthy crops. However, there were unfortunately two very important facts which chemical hawkers left out. Probably they did not even know. (Or perhaps it was not so good for their profit margins to know.) The first is that, although plants grow big on artificial fertilizers, they do not grow resistant to disease. The second is that the health of human beings eating plants grown this way can be seriously undermined. Plants grown only on NPK are deprived of essential minerals and other micro-substances which they need to synthesize natural complexes in roots and leaves that ward off attack by insects, weeds and animals. SOIL LIFE DESTROYED So before long, the new artificially fertilized vegetables and fruits began to develop these diseases. Chemical hawkers were quick to the rescue. The answer to this problem, they told us, was to be found in using MORE chemicals. This is when pesticides, herbicides, nemacides and fungicides came into being, providing chemical companies with yet another exciting business opportunity—especially since the longer you fertilize chemically, the more depleted in organic matter all soils become and the less they contain of the minerals and trace elements needed to synthesize natural protective complexes during growth, so the more pesticides you need. As time went on, more and more pesticides including other even nastier chemicals were sold. Before long, another important fact began to raise its ugly head. It was this: like plants, human beings need a lot more than nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus from the foods they eat to maintain their own health. MINERALS VANISHED Your body cannot make minerals. It has to take them in, in a good balance, from the foods you eat. In addition to nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus, your body requires magnesium, manganese and calcium, selenium, zinc, copper, iodine, boron, molybdenum, vanadium and other trace elements, some as yet undiscovered, to stay healthy. These elements can only come from the foods you eat. This they do, so long as the foods you eat are grown organically in healthy, traditionally fertilized soils. But they are completely missing and unbalanced in the foods we buy today, thanks to our legacy of chemical farming. The organic matter in healthy soil is Nature's factory for biological activity. It is built up as a result of the breakdown of vegetable and animal matter by the soil's natural ‘residents’—worms, bacteria and other useful micro-organisms. The presence of these creatures in the right quantity and type gives rise to physical, chemical and biological properties that create fertility in our soils and make plants grown on them highly resistant to disease. When it comes to human health they do a lot more. GIFT FROM MINERALS The minerals and trace elements you need to trigger your metabolic processes, on which health and leanness depend, have to be in an organic form—this means they have to be taken from living things such as plant or animal foods. You cannot eat nails—inorganic iron—and expect to protect yourself from anaemia, or chew sand—inorganic silica—and be sure to get enough silica, the trace element to help keep your nails and hair strong and beautiful and protect your bones from osteoporosis. It’s the organic matter in soils which enables plants grown on them to transform inorganic iron and silica into the organic form, which is taken up by the vegetables and fruits, grains and legumes which we then eat, making these nutrients available to our bodies. Destroy the soil's organic matter through chemical farming, and inexorably you destroy the health of people and animals living on foods grown on it. Organic methods of farming also help protect against significant distortions in mineral balances—an increase in one or more mineral elements which can alter the availability of others. This can also undermine your health. No such protection is available when your foods have been chemically grown. STRUGGLING TO COPE Your body has a remarkable ability to compensate for a mineral or trace element missing from your food. But, after years of our eating nutritionally-depleted foods, multiple deficiencies are virtually ubiquitous. According to large scale studies, these days almost none of us get the minerals we need to ensure that our metabolic processes work adequately—processes on which health, leanness, and the immune system depend. And the deficiencies we have developed from this, as well as the metabolic distortions that come in their wake, cannot easily be corrected. Popping the latest multi-mineral tablet from your corner pharmacy or health-food store won't do it, by the way. NATURE’S OWN Nutrients in foods exist in complex synergy and affect each other. They also interact and work together in your body. A balance of bio-available minerals and trace elements in fresh, organic foods is infinitely more complex than vitamin fanatics would have us believe. To restore balance once it has been disturbed, you need to return to good wholesome food—supplemented with extra green plants such as kelp, spirulina, chlorella, barley grass or alfalfa. However, this is a slow process taking months and even years. OSTRICHES EVERYWHERE Our indiscriminate use of chemical pesticides, herbicides, insecticides and other chemicals has quite literally poisoned the land we live in, and fostered degenerative diseases throughout the world. It was Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring, who, back in 1947, warned that this would happen. At the time, she was viciously attacked for her brilliant book. Chemical interests did everything in their power to discredit what she wrote. Now, more than half a century later, her prophetic words have turned out to be terrifyingly accurate. Since Silent Spring, many laws have been passed and many official agencies have been set up throughout the world designed to regulate the kind and quantity of chemicals used on the land. They vary greatly in their approach and powers from one country to another. Sadly, they all have one thing in common: an inability to stop or significantly alter the ubiquitous poisoning of lands, people, animals and the earth itself. So the poisoning of our air, land and water continues. In most countries it grows worse year by year. Like ostriches, we often bury our heads in the sand, hoping that what we don't see won't hurt us. Meanwhile, each year, billions of gallons of chemicals are sprayed onto crops. In the US alone, billions of pounds of pesticides are spread over the soils including herbicides, chemical fertilizers, rodentocides, and other chemical contaminants. GO ORGANIC Even better... grow as many of your own fruits and vegetables in the garden, in the windowsill of your kitchen, or anywhere you can find good soil that has not been chemically treated. Organic growing will help protect you from significant distortions in mineral balance. Conventionally grown fruits and vegetables are sprayed with pesticides—petrochemically derived compounds which behave like low-dose synthetic oestrogens in the body. Many are also treated with fungicides or wax. Each one of these chemicals contributes to the toxic overload which ages your body rapidly, putting pressure on your liver and encouraging free radical damage. When it comes to maintaining good insulin balance, you do not want this to happen. A stressed liver has trouble managing glucose and controls insulin poorly. Shop as often as you can in stores which offer organic produce and non-GMO foods. Not only do organic vegetables taste better, the organic matter in healthy soil is nature’s factory for biological activity that, when you eat them fresh, is communicated to you. Organic vegetables supply us with an excellent balance of minerals, trace elements, and vitamins. The organic matter in soil is built up as a result of the break-down of vegetable and animal matter by its natural residents - worms, bacteria and other micro-organisms. The presence of these creatures in the right quantity and type, which you never find in factory farming, gives rise to physical, chemical and biological properties which create fertility in our soils and make plants grown on them highly resistant to disease. This resistance to illness and degeneration is then passed on to us when we eat the foods.

Beautiful skin vibrates with energy. All twenty-one square feet of it. Skin is not only your largest organ. It is a multi-dimensional interactive system of information, molecules, energy, cells, and genetic messages determined by the health of your body. In fact our skin is completely dependent on the body’s living matrix for its radiance. Learn to feed it well and your living matrix will function at a high level of order. Your skin becomes regenerated and rejuvenated no matter what’s your age. Who ever said it’s not possible to turn back time? THE BIG THREE There are three little-known nutraceuticals to turn to when your skin needs extra help. They represent a magnum force against aging, wrinkles and skin problems. They form the core of a wide-based anti-aging, anti-inflammatory antioxidant army, working to protect the integrity of the living matrix. The big three work wonderfully together. They also work well when taken with the more common antioxidants from alpha-lipoic acid, grape seed extract and Co-enzyme Q10 to vitamin C and zinc. TAKE SULFUR Sulfur is the third largest elemental component of your body. The hottest item in offices of savvy plastic surgeons these days is a unique form of sulfur known as MSM—methyl-sulfonyl-methane. At the top of the list for extra support, MSM is a superb free radical scavenger. It neutralizes free radical molecules that damage skin. Found in every tissue of your body, MSM concentrations diminish with age. So they need to be supported by the right kind of diet and supplements after the age of 25. MSM is also found in rainwater, the sea, and all living organisms. It exists in especially high concentrations in raw vegetables, fruits, and sea foods. Even the cocoa plant from which chocolate is made is a good source. But, unless your diet is composed primarily of raw foods, it is highly unlikely that you are getting enough MSM for optimal health and beautiful skin. The crème de la crème source of sulfur for the human body, MSM slows the loss of collagen, stabilizes connective tissues, and helps clear toxic buildup both on a cellular level and in the body as a whole. MSM is light years ahead of other forms of sulfur. It is completely safe as well as highly effective. Even people who are “allergic” to sulfur-drugs and sulfite-based food additives thrive on it. GREAT NAILS AND HAIR Sulfur is the most beautifying of all the elements. Even the curliness of hair depends on it. It regulates the sodium/potassium balance, bringing in nutrients and oxygen to cells and neutralizing wastes. Every time your body clears destructive chemicals, it uses sulfur to do this. MSM provides elasticity and healing repair to skin tissues. It can even alter cross linkages, smoothing out scars. It is not only useful as an internal supplement essential for beauty. As a prime free radical scavenger, this form of physiological sulfur also helps rid the body of allergies. It even helps protect the lining of the digestive tract from parasites and pathogens. This is most important for skin, since when leaky gut or dysbiosis occurs in the digestive tract, our skin suffers. If you have a tendency to acne, you can break out. If your skin tends to be dry, this can make it drier and give the face a colorless, lifeless look. Sulfur is also essential for strong cartilage, for bones, and to build keratin—the fibrous protein out of which your hair and nails are made—as well as for virtually every function of the skin. With extra MSM, your nails grow faster and stronger. Your hair gets thicker and shinier. A good dose of MSM is 2000 milligrams (2 grams) for each 60 kilos of weight a day. Start with 500 mg per 60 kilos of weight and work up. Use together with half that amount of vitamin C (so if you take 2 grams of MSM take 1 gram of vitamin C). POWER FOR LONGEVITY The second master nutraceutical for skin is carnosine. Carnosine is not to be confused with the amino acid L-carnitine which transports fatty acids into the mitochondria of cells so they can be turned into ATP. Carnosine is a dipeptide—a two-part protein—made out of the amino acids beta-alanine and L-histidine. Like MSM, it is a natural metabolite in your body as well as a powerful antioxidant. It occurs in particularly high concentration in long-lived cells like nerves and muscles. Carnosine levels also decline as our bodies age. In muscles, its concentration falls by more than 60 percent between the age of 10 and 70. Carnosine both rejuvenates old cells and extends the functional life of skin’s building blocks—DNA—as well as its lipids and proteins. As such, it is identified as an “agent of longevity”. This amazing dipeptide also clears toxicity. When chromosomes are exposed to high levels of oxygen, carnosine is the only antioxidant known to protect them from oxidative damage. It rejuvenates connective tissue and speeds wound healing. Carnosine may eventually prove to be an important key to dissolving AGEs and destructive cross-linking of collagen after it has occurred, but it is too soon to tell for sure. THE CARNOSINE PARADOX Carnosine addresses the great paradox of life—the fact that the elements which support life—glucose, lipids, oxygen proteins and trace elements—also destroy it. This nutraceutical binds toxic metals so your body is able to eliminate them safely. Carnosine both supports life and protects from its destruction. It guards cells and protein tissues from oxidation damage. It prevents glycosylation—the process that produces AGEs to build up leading to collagen cross-linking, wrinkles and sags. Research studies in Australia confirm that carnosine increases the longevity of fibroblasts—the skin cells responsible for producing collagen. It also extends the Hayflick limit—the maximum number of times a cell can divide before dying—by a remarkable 20 percent. Because of its ability to repair protein tissue, Russians use carnosine, with great success, in a special form called N-alpha acetylcarnosine—or NAC—in eye drops to eradicate cataracts. It improves your overall skin condition and is able to treat tough leathery skin as well as help prevent many age signs on the face. Used as an oral nutraceutical, the recommended dose is 50 to 200mg of carnosine a day taken on an empty stomach. In the case of carnosine, more is most certainly not better. Doses above this amount can actually be less effective. BEAUTY’S GOLDEN THREAD The last place you might expect to find a golden thread in the tapestry of living skin is in a special form of vitamin B3—nicotinamide or niacinamide. This form behaves quite differently than the well-known nicotinic acid which causes hot flushes when swallowed. As far back as 1968, Nobel Laureate Linus Pauling published research reporting success in the treatment of psychiatric patients using moderate doses of niacinamide together with ascorbic acid. Nicotinamide has long been used both topically and orally for its anti-inflammatory abilities. It has a stunning ability to reverse many aspects of skin aging when used internally and even externally when used as a component of skincare products: As a precursor to electron carrier substances in living cells—NAD and NADP—nicotinamide enhances energy production within the living matrix. It takes part in many metabolic pathways including turning glucose into ATP making fatty acids important for skin beauty, and metabolizing proteins. It increases collagen synthesis by stimulating the activity of fibroblast cells, prolonging their life, and protecting them from senescence. It decreases skin inflammation by inhibiting the release of histidine, triggering the production of anti-inflammatory mediators. It enhances the synthesis of lipids important for good cell walls and overall skin health and beauty. It diminishes wrinkling. It repairs DNA when skin has been exposed to too much UV light, electromagnetic frequencies or chemical pollution. It helps fade age spots and helps prevent the formation of new ones. It plays a central role in blocking genetic messages that result in skin cell aging. BANISHING FREE RADICALS If, in addition to the three master nutraceuticals—MSM, nicotinamide and carnosine—you might want to use one more nutraceutical with first-rate antioxidant properties. You can’t do better than thiotic acid—also known as alpha-lipoic acid—ALA. The “universal antioxidant”, this sulfur-based, vitamin-like substance is an important cofactor in the production of cellular energy. When it is not in sufficient supply, muscle mass shrinks and skin’s energy is reduced. ALA protects DNA and mitochondrial membranes, inhibits inflammation and remodels collagen. Thiotic acid is used as a drug in Germany because of its ability to enhance sugar metabolism. A unique free radical scavenger, thiotic acid is both fat- and water-soluble. This means it travels easily across cell membranes to quench free radicals, both inside and out. A very small molecule, ALA works together with other antioxidants to recycle them. When vitamin E quenches lipid peroxidation, a new free radical is formed. Thiotic acid reduces that new radical, turning it back into Vitamin E so it is ready to fight the battle for yet another day. It does the same with vitamin C. The usual internal dose of ALA is 100 mg taken twice a day with meals. ALA is an excellent nutraceutical. I use it when I am traveling or am under a lot of pressure from work. It’s great stuff. But it doesn’t hold a candle to the magnum force the “big three”—MSM, nicotinamide and carnosine—have to offer when used together. If you are going to explore the power of nutraceuticals for skin, I suggest you begin with this combination, then work your way down the list, adding ALA and others if you feel you need them. And what is so wonderful is this: Making use of the Big Three can not only transform the look and feel of your skin. Thanks to the power of the body’s living matrix, they can regenerate and rejuvenate body, mind and emotions as well. Now Foods, MSM, 1000 mg MSM (Methylsulphonylmethane) is a natural form of organic sulfur found in all living organisms. This natural compound, researched since 1979, provides the chemical links needed to form and maintain numerous different types of tissues found in the human body, including connective tissue such as articular cartilage. While MSM is a natural component of almost all fresh fruits, vegetables, seafood and meat, food-processing methods reduce sulfur levels, making supplementation more important than ever. NOW MSM is tested to meet a minimum 99.7% purity level. Order MSM from iherb Paradise Herbs, L-Carnosine L-Carnosine is a proton buffering neuropeptide consisting of alanine and histidine (beta-alanyl-L-histidine). It is normally found in the brain, innervated tissues, the lens of the eye and skeletal muscle tissue. Current scientific research suggests that L-Carnosine has the ability to protect cells against oxidative stress that can cause premature aging and cellular damage. L-Carnosine has heavy metal, free radical and active sugar molecule scavenging activity (helps prevent glycation of proteins). Order L-Carnosine from iherb Thorne Research, Niacinamide The B vitamin niacinamide, also known as nicotinamide, is one form of vitamin B3. It acts as an antioxidant, inhibiting free radical formation, and has been shown to promote pancreatic beta-cell regeneration. Niacinamide has been found to stimulate GABA (an inhibitory neurotransmitter) receptors without binding to the receptor sites, thus creating a sedative-like effect. High amounts of niacinamide have been documented as being beneficial in protecting joint cartilage cells. Niacinamide has also been used in support of several dermatological conditions. Order Niacinamide from iherb Doctor's Best, Best Alpha Lipoic Acid Alpha lipoic acid (ALA) is a fatty acid that functions like a vitamin, although it is not classified as a vitamin. As a coenzyme, ALA plays an important role in the metabolism of glucose that produces energy in cells. ALA also has antioxidant properties and thus is important for controlling free radicals. Because it is soluble in both water and fat, ALA is sometimes referred to as the "universal antioxidant." Order Alpha Lipoic Acid from iherb

Are you one of the thousands of people who reach for artificial “low-calorie” sweeteners—such as aspartame or saccharin—to add to your tea or coffee, in the belief that they can help keep you from getting fat? If so, this is hardly surprising. We have had this lie shoved down our throats through advertising and the media, thanks to the lobbying of money-hungry companies keen to sell the sickly sweet chemicals they peddle. Independent research into the dangers of artificial sweeteners rarely sees the light of day. It can be a serious challenge to find unbiased data amongst the multitude of misinformation that is littered across cyberspace. It’s essential that you learn the truth about these destructive substances, as well as what they’re really doing to your health and your waistline. APPETITE STIMULANTS Independent studies have turned up some surprising results when analyzing the relationship between the use of artificial sweeteners and obesity, although as yet few people know about this. Far from helping you lose weight, these sweeteners actually stimulate your appetite, causing cravings and telling your body to “store fat”. How does this happen? When you taste something sweet, your body expects calories to immediately follow, just as they do when you eat sugar. This triggers your appetite. However, since the calories don’t follow, the sensation of hunger remains. You begin to crave more sweet-tasting, carb-rich foods. This effect is most marked in aspartame, though it also applies to the other common sweeteners such as saccharin and acesulfame potassium. HORMONE HAVOC This alone is bad enough, but it’s only half the story. The other half concerns aspartame’s effect on the key hormone insulin, responsible for regulating fat metabolism. Although vigorously denied by the “research” of the manufacturing companies, recent studies indicate that aspartame can actually trick your pancreas into releasing insulin—despite the fact that aspartame does not alter blood sugar. It can do this simply by activating our “sweet” taste receptors. Since the elevated insulin finds no blood sugar to combine with, this increases your hunger even more, and makes your cravings worse. The result of all this? You’re more likely to a) eat more of the sugary foods you’re craving, setting up a vicious circle, and b) lay down more fat stores, due to the hormonal fluctuations happening in your body. A new study published in the January 2013 issue of science journal Appetite reported that, between groups of rats fed either aspartame, saccharin or sugar, the aspartame and saccharin groups gained more weight than the sugar group—and this was unrelated to intake of calories, since they all ate the same foods. BAD NEWS FOR DIABETICS Not only is this terrible news for those trying to shed fat. It also has dire consequences for the ever-growing group of humans afflicted by diabetes. Many diabetics have been led to believe that these sweeteners are a healthier alternative than sugar, when this too is based on a fallacy. Sugar itself, in all its forms, is also toxic to the human body. And it too is an arch enemy to good health and weight loss. (See Robert Lustig’s excellent lecture on the dangers of sugar here.) But unlike sugar, low-calorie sweeteners are often sold as “diabetes-safe.” This too is a dangerous lie. As we have already seen, consuming aspartame can elevate insulin levels abnormally. The more often this happens, the more the body becomes resistant to this hormone. The insulin resistance that follows will lead to—or worsen—diabetes, along with obesity and many chronic degenerative conditions. FURTHER DANGERS As if you needed any more reason to stay away from artificial sweeteners, get this: Aspartame is composed of two separate components, aspartic acid and phenylalanine. Phenylalanine quickly degrades into methanol, which in turn becomes formaldehyde—yep, that stuff lab specimens, and dead bodies are stored in—and accumulates in our cells. When levels of this nasty chemical get high enough in the system, it can cause all sorts of dangerous effects. The “Aspartame Consumer Safety Network Fact Sheet” warns of the following potential symptoms: “headaches, nausea, vertigo, insomnia, numbness, blurred vision, blindness and other eye problems, memory loss, slurred speech, depression, personality changes, hyperactivity, stomach disorders, seizures, skin lesions, rashes, anxiety attacks, muscle cramping and joint pain, loss of energy, symptoms mimicking heart attacks, hearing loss and ear ringing, and loss or change of taste.” All that, and it won’t even help you lose weight! NATURE’S SWEET OFFERINGS So what can we turn to now that both artificial sweeteners and sugar are off the menu? Fortunately for those of us with a sweet tooth, nature has provided a delicious and safe alternative: Derived from the sweet leaf plant, Stevia, in its natural state, is the best no-calorie, health-supporting natural sweetener on the planet. Even though it’s sweeter than sugar, its taste has a slower onset and longer duration, meaning it doesn’t carry the same risks as aspartame and the other artificial sweeteners. Not only is it safe—it is actually good for you, and may even help enhance glucose tolerance and improve insulin sensitivity. Another natural alternative safe for occasional use is coconut sugar, derived from the blossoms of the coconut palm. It has a high nutritional content, containing potassium, magnesium, zinc and iron, as well as Vitamins B1, B2, B3 and B6. It has a low glycemic index, so is considered safe for diabetics. It has a rich flavor that has been compared to toffee. Coconut sugar, which is currently bringing high profits to both coconut farmers and retailers especially in the US, has one major drawback, however. What nobody is warning consumers about is that coconut palm trees cannot produce both coconuts and coconut palm sugar, which is gleaned by drawing the sap out of the tree. When the sap is used to make coconut sugar, the flower buds, which are dependent on the tree’s sap enabling them to form, wither and die so the tree cannot grow coconuts. Because the tree can no longer produce coconuts and all the precious products made from them it can suffer and die. In short, producing coconut palm sugar is not a sustainable industry. Despite experiments in some places to make use of coconut trees one year as sap producers and the next as a coconut producer, this remains a serious challenge worldwide. STEVIA—IT’S GOOD FOR YOU An exotic herb which grows in subtropical areas of South America, stevia is replete with non-caloric sweet molecules. This is the reason for its sugary flavor. Stevia has sweetened herbal drinks since Pre-Columbian times. Its properties were first recorded by a botanist named Antonio Bertoni in 1887, who wrote about ways the natives of Paraguay used it. Others have discovered stevia in the past fifty years and made good use of it. Japan and the United States have done extensive research and safety testing on the plant. Their research shows that this marvelous sweet herb is non-toxic, safe for diabetics and beneficial for weight loss as well as daily use for yourself and family. More good news: Stevia is not a source of nutrition for bacteria in the mouth, nor for yeasts and fungi such as Candida albicans in the body. A few years ago, following some rather bogus animal research promoted by Monsanto—who produce much of the artificial sweeteners in the world—the European parliament banned the sale of stevia in Britain and Europe. There is not much pressure at the moment to lift that ban. In the meantime, if you live in the EU, you can nevertheless order stevia online from herbal shops, either in your own country or another European country, including the UK, without difficulty. It is widely available in shops and stores in the United States and Canada, Australia and New Zealand and most other countries of the world. Stevia is great for all sorts of reasons on Cura Romana. How sweet is Stevia extract? Stevia extract is 200 times sweeter than sugar. Add a pinch to drinks like coffee or tea. Dilute in water when you are using it to make a salad dressing or dessert. How many calories are in Stevia extract? None. Stevia extracts have zero calories, zero carbohydrates, zero sugar, zero fat and zero cholesterol. Can Stevia extract replace sugar in the diet? Yes. Refined sugar is virtually devoid of nutritional benefits and, at best, represents empty calories in your diet. Stevia is natural, much sweeter than sugar, and has none of sugar’s unhealthy drawbacks. Can Stevia replace artificial sweeteners in the diet? Yes! Stevia is the only a safe, calorie-free, all-natural alternative to artificial or chemical pharmaceutical sweeteners in the world. Will Stevia raise my blood sugar levels? Not at all. In fact, according to some research, it may actually lower blood sugar levels. Can I use Stevia if I am diabetic? Yes. Stevia is a great addition to a healthy diet for anyone with blood sugar problems since it does not raise blood sugar levels. I’d advise you to stay away from any form of artificial sweeteners including those recently being marketed as “natural stevia” which are, in truth, distortions of the real thing. Here are the best and most useful forms of stevia you will find anywhere. Both can be ordered direct from iHerb no matter where you are in the world. BEST LIQUID STEVIA Wisdom Natural, SweetLeaf, Liquid Stevia, English Toffee Sweet Leaf liquid stevia with all natural flavors is convenient and easy to use. As a supplement, add this nutritious stevia to water, tea, coffee, milk, sparkling water, protein shakes, plain yogurt or anything else you can imagine. It comes in many different flavors including lemon but English Toffee flavor is the best by far. Buy English Toffee Stevia BEST GRANULATED STEVIA Spoonable Stevia by Stevita uses only stevia extract with at least 95% pure glycosides (extremely sweet tasting ingredients of the Stevia herb leaves), and a little erythritol, a crystal granulated naturally produced filler found in fruits, vegetables and grains. It is best for baking and sprinkling. Buy Stevita GOOD COCONUT SUGAR Navitas Naturals, Coconut Sugar, 16 oz This coconut sugar is top of the range. It’s produced in Indonesia where farmers have harvested the nectar from coconut palm trees for herbal medicine and food for centuries. This product contains 100% pure evaporated coconut sugar that is certified organic, kosher and vegan. Buy Coconut Sugar ORDERING FROM IHERB.COM: They ship all over the world very cheaply, and their products are the cheapest and best in the world. Get your order sent to you via DHL. I use them for almost everything no matter where I am.

“Age is something that doesn’t matter unless you’re a cheese.” Billie Burke Your brain and lifelong personal development need a rich environment filled with smells and textures, sights and sounds, as well as new ideas and the best possible biochemical medium to thrive. Each time you experience anything, learn anything, or encounter anything, your brain forges new connections. To hold onto new facts, experiences and memories, neurons must grow new dendrites. These dendrites reach out towards other neurons, creating links that have never existed before. This is why it is so important, as you grow older, not to become complacent with your life, get into a rut, or allow it to narrow by doing the same things all the time in the same way. Forget the pharmaceuticals and all their nasty side effects. State-of-the-art natural substances work better. They intensify your experience of excitement, deep relaxation, sensuality, and memory, as well as enhance your creativity and your capacity for joy. GREAT BRAIN SUPPORT There are more than fifty neurotransmitters that affect the brain. Many are found only within the brain and the gut. There is no need to concern yourself with all of them, but it’s useful to be aware of some of the most important. Dazzling advances in brain enhancement have come out of the knowledge we now have about how to support these neurotransmitters naturally, using freeform amino acids, herbs and nutritional supplements. These can not only enhance brain functions but health all round. For instance choline, some of the B complex vitamins, and minerals such as potassium are necessary in truly adequate quantities (not the easiest thing to get as you grow older) for nerves to fire properly. There is also a rapidly developing awareness that we can use natural compounds, such as acetyl L-carnitine, GABA and phosphatidylserine to help counter depression, insomnia and other neurologically-related conditions. Let’s look at two important neurotransmitters and one essential phospholipid found in every cell, the roles they play in keeping your brain young, your emotions balanced, and your body vital, and how you can support them naturally. WHAT THEY DO Serotonin—alters mood, controls appetite and the emotional perception of pain, brings calm and improves memory. Antidepressant drugs known as serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)—like Prozac/Fluoxetine and Zoloft/Sertraline—elevate serotonin by blocking the chemical’s recycling and inactivation. But beware! These pharmaceuticals have potentially dangerous side-effects. What you need to know is that cells in your brain and gut can synthesize serotonin naturally when you provide them with abundant access to the amino acid L-tryptophan, and to 5-hydroxytryptophan. (5-HTP) Phosphatidylserine—enhances learning, improves memory, and protects from high levels of stress hormones. GABA—an inhibitory neurotransmitter brings calm and relaxation as well as a sense of remarkable wellbeing. SEROTONIN FOR MEMORY Serotonin is one of two neurotransmitters that look after learning and memory. It has many other health-enhancing properties as well. This is an inhibitory neurotransmitter—fundamentally calming to the brain and to the rest of the body. Serotonin plays a vital role in regulating appetite and sleep, both of which go awry when insufficient serotonin is available. Low serotonin can produce depression, insomnia and appetite disorders, including food cravings that are never sated. When you have adequate serotonin, you feel satisfied as well as relaxed and comfortable in your own skin. Serotonin also improves memory. In animal studies, when serotonin levels are increased, the ability to store memories and to learn is enhanced. Drinking alcohol decreases your brain’s ability to concentrate and to remember. Studies show that when people have been given natural substances which produce greater concentrations of serotonin at the synapse, alcohol-related memory deficit does not occur. How serotonin levels affect mood and behavior: Adequate Serotonin Good concentration Easy going attitude Responsive behavior No carb cravings Good sleep patterns Dream recall Rational thinking Loving responses Good natured personality Low Serotonin Depression Poor attention span Reactive behavior Cravings (carbs and sweets) Insomnia Poor dream recall Impulsive behavior Anger and frustration Bad temper Your body makes serotonin by converting the amino acid tryptophan into another metabolite, 5-hydroxy tryptophan (5-HTP), and then changing 5-HTP into serotonin itself. Some of your serotonin then gets converted into melatonin—the hormone used to regulate your body clock. Serotonin is also found in your digestive system and in blood platelets where it helps control blood clotting. Much migraine has been linked to a serotonin deficiency. Many popular migraine drugs are serotonin agonists. This means they heighten serotonin levels in the brain. Increasing serotonin is a goal of many of the anti-depressant drugs such as Prozac, too. They try to correct or mitigate imbalances in the amines—also known as monoamines—which include serotonin, dopamine, adrenaline and noradrenaline. Many antidepressant drugs act by increasing specific amino amines in the brain. While they may be successful in temporarily alleviating depression, all of these drugs cause serious side-effects including insomnia, anxiety, allergic reactions and nervousness. There are better, easier, and more natural ways of increasing serotonin. They include taking supplements of L-tryptophan or 5-HTP on an empty stomach or using an extract of St. John’s Wort or both. Caution: Do not use 5-HTP or St. John’s Wort if you are currently on tranquilizers. Ask for help to gradually get off the drugs before using them. GABA HELPS YOU STAY COOL Glutamine, gamma-Aminobutyric acid and glutamate amino acids, together are known as the GABA system. Discovered in 1950, they are the “calmers”—the most important inhibitory neurotransmitters in the brain. They work to balance and control levels of the stimulatory neurotransmitters, such as noradrenaline. Adequate GABA is important if you are to experience reduced anxiety, deep relaxation and to sleep well. All sorts of tranquilizing drugs like Valium or Ativan, other barbiturates, and benzodiazepines, which have sedative effects, try to manipulate levels of the GABA. Nutritional supplements of L-glutamine improve levels of the GABA system naturally, and in the process can help eliminate food cravings and alcohol cravings. L-glutamine has also shown good results in the treatment of Alzheimer’s patients. Mainstream media and scientists tell us that taking GABA itself is not a good way of increasing GABA, since, they say, GABA cannot not cross the blood-brain barrier. However, critics of Big Pharma’s propaganda counter this claim insisting that supplements of GABA, taken together with either L-theanine or the amino acid glycine, activate GABA receptors and provide a wonderful sense of peace and wellbeing. I have certainly found this to be true in my own life. It is usually taken in doses of 550mg of GABA on an empty stomach with 200mg L-theanine once or twice a day. It’s also helpfut taken just before bed to support good sleep. STRESS FREE PHOSPHATIDYLSERINE Not a neurotransmitter but a special form of phospholipid which supports many neurotransmitters improving cognitive function, clearing depression, and enhancing memory and mood, phosphatidylserine (PS) blunts cortisol and helps us deal with stress. PS works best when combined with the omega-3 fat DHA. It can work wonders wherever there is a deficiency of the omega-3 fats or the methyl donors (vitamin B12, folic acid and SAMe) which prevent the brain from making adequate quantities of phosphatidylserine by itself. Supplements of this important phospholipid have been used effectively to clear depression and improve mental functions in the elderly, thanks to phosphatidylserine’s ability to orchestrate so many important tasks. These include stimulating the release of many brain neurotransmitters, regulating the availability of glucose and activating the transport of nutrients into the cells. For your brain to learn efficiently, it needs adequate levels of phosphatidylserine. Levels tend to decline with age. As with any nutritional program designed to enhance brain function, it is never enough only to tackle the issues at a biochemical level alone. There are other actions you can take to transform brain functions while dramatically improving your health and slowing aging. Here are a few of the best. 9 STEPS TO BRAIN POWER 1. Forget high-carb-low-fat diets forever. Make sure you have plenty of good quality protein from fish, organic chicken, organic meat and eggs, as well as lots of phytonutrients from low glycemic, low density carbohydrate vegetables such as broccoli, spinach, bok choy, fresh herbs and low-sugar fruits like berries and melons. 2. Get moving: Physical exercise increases the circulation to your brain. Mental exercise helps create new synapse connections, protects you from the loss of brain cells and can even help you grow new ones. 3. Manage stress: The number one enemy to brain health is stress, because of the effect of cortisol and other stress related compounds which actively destroy brain cells. Take up meditation. Give yourself plenty of time for relaxation, no matter how much responsibility you have for looking after others. Above all, decide to live your life in line with what you really want yourself, rather than living by someone else’s rules. 4. Steer clear of poisons: Eat only organic foods. Avoid GMO foods, herbicides, pesticides, drugs and other compounds that poison your body and stress your liver. Clear your home and workspace of all chemical cleaners, air-fresheners and other products. Use aluminum free baking soda. It’s safe and works great for all cleaning jobs. There are strong links between a buildup of these elements in the brain and the development of diseases as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. 5. Get a hair analysis every five years: A simple hair analysis carried out in a medical laboratory can check for levels of heavy metals such as cadmium, aluminum and lead which build up to damage brain tissue. If you find that they are present, put yourself through a controlled detoxification program. 6. Keep alcohol to a minimum: In any amount, alcohol can damage brain tissue. If you are going to drink at all, make it infrequent and drink only the very best. Forget the plonk. Top quality wine is better than beer or distilled alcohol such as whiskey. 7. Look after your liver: Support the health of your liver with periodic detoxification supported by liver-protective plants such as milk thistle and phosphatidylcholine. Damage to the liver causes damage to the brain. 8. Prescription drugs, over the counter drugs and illegal drugs have side-effects that negatively undermine the health of the liver and the brain when taken over the long term. Stay away from them. Don’t take drugs of any kind unless they are absolutely necessary for life. I’ll share with you products which I have used myself with excellent results: SEROTONIN: NOW FOODS, MOOD SUPPORT NOW Mood Support is a nutritional supplement that contains both nutrients and herbal extracts that aid in the support of a healthy nervous system and a positive, balanced mood state. Buy Mood Support together with NOW FOODS, L-TRYPTOPHAN L-Tryptophan is an essential amino acid; therefore, it is not synthesized by the body and must be obtained from the diet. L-Tryptophan is critical for the production of serotonin and melatonin, which can help to support positive mood, healthy sleep patterns, and proper immune system function. Every lot of NOW L-Tryptophan is tested to be free of Peak E and microbial combination. Buy L-Tryptophan GABA: 200 MG OF ZEN 200 mg of Zen contains a combination of L-theanine and GABA. L-theanine is found in green tea (Camellia sinensis). Buy Gaba PHOSPHATIDYLSERINE SOURCE NATURALS, PHOSPHATIDYLSERINE Phosphatidylserine (PS), a phospholipid and DHA, an omega-3 fatty acid, are major components of cell membranes, particularly the membranes of nerve cells. They facilitate the electric signals that are the basis of neuron communication, supporting memory, mood, concentration, stress control and other cognitive functions. This DHA conjugate form of PS is believed to increase the delivery of this vital compound to the brain, supporting advanced brain protection and enhanced cell function. Buy Phosphatidylserine

What do you know about your second brain? Never heard of it? Few people have. But so important is it to your health, ability to deal with stress, emotional balance, and spiritual life that you need to learn about it as quickly as possible. Your digestive system is, in truth, a second brain. It boasts more nerve endings than the brain itself. Most people find this astounding. When we eat foods that antagonize these nerve endings, we experience all sorts of negative physical and emotional states that compromise our lives. If you have any tendency to gain weight, trouble in your second brain will cause you to do so, and make it very difficult for you to lose weight. Even more surprising, troubles with your second brain can produce extreme symptoms in adults and children, which range from disorientation and poor judgment to deep fatigue, depression, anxiety, slurred speech, and more. Your intestine is porous by nature. A healthy digestive system relies on good-guy bacteria to plug any holes in the gut, neutralize toxins, and metabolize vitamins and nourishment from the food you eat. We’re completely dependent for our health and wellbeing upon a symbiotic relationship with these good bacteria whose job it is to plug any holes in the gut wall, through which proteins—such as gluten and casein—can to pass to enter the bloodstream and wreck havoc in body and mind. A truly healthy balance of good-guy vs. bad-guy bacteria in the gut creates a barrier against toxicity entering your blood. When we have enough good-guy bacteria, which is flora, this enables us to metabolize and break down our foods properly. When, however, we get an overgrowth of bad-guy, opportunistic flora such as Candida albicans, vast quantities of toxins make their way through a porous gut, creating allergies and other conditions such as inflammation on the skin and food cravings, and emotional issues, which are not in fact emotional at all but biochemical in origin. This is what happens when undigested particles penetrate a “leaky gut.” How do we get bad-guy bacteria into our system? By eating grains, cereals, sugar, package, and convenience supermarket foods, and very often from taking antibiotics. Antibiotics are used far too often. They are supposed to clear out colonies of bad-guy microbes. But antibiotics also wipe out good-guy microbes. So that once a course of antibiotics is completed, it is very difficult to re-establish a healthy balance of flora in the body. By the way, babies get their first dose of good bacteria while passing through the birth canal. If a mother has a history of taking antibiotics and has an overgrowth of bad gut flora in her body, then the baby’s body becomes colonized with them as well. Second brain issues were first identified way back in the 1920s by the famous allergist, Dr. Albert Rowe. Clinical ecologists will tell you quite clearly that second brain issues are the most common causes of chronic fatigue, weight gain, anxiety, allergies, and depression. It was Rowe himself who dubbed these conditions “allergic toxemia.” Later on, when he realized just how widespread negative food reactions had become (they are much worse today, with all the convenience foods, grains, cereals, and sugars we eat) he came to refer to all second brain disorders as “allergic tension-fatigue syndrome.” Theron Randolph MD, another pioneer in the field of environmental medicine, charted a myriad of emotional and physical symptoms caused by eating foods with which the body can’t cope, including overgrowths of bad gut flora, which results in leaky gut syndrome. Randolph worked with over 20,000 patients in a career that spanned 60 years. He published almost 400 scientific articles on his discoveries. Here are a few questions you can ask if you suspect you may be among the growing numbers of people unsuccessfully wrestling with the manifestations of second brain issues today: Are you chronically tired? Do you struggle with your weight and suffer from food cravings? Do you suffer from chronic anxiety or depression? Do you have allergies, asthma, or eczema? Do you have a child with autism? Hippocrates (460-370 BC) believed that “All diseases begin in the gut.” In the last 10 or 15 years, Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride MD has made an in-depth study into the nutritional aspects of how the gut works, and how poor gut function seriously impacts not only physical health but also brain functions for all children with learning and behavioral difficulties as well as for adults. She has written a valuable book called Gut and Psychology Syndrome. It’s an in-depth examination of how to counter second brain problems through diet alone. The book is fascinating to read. It also includes a number of excellent recipes. I recommend it to anyone who is suffering from depression or other common second brain disorders as well as anyone who has children experiencing dyslexia, ADHD, ADD, dyspraxia, or autism.

The emotional and spiritual transformations that take place on CURA ROMANA JOURNEY weightloss program begin as simple, physiological shifts in the way the diencephalic area of the brain and the autonomic nervous system function. Quite apart from the health-enhancing and weightloss benefits they have, these shifts give us greater access to bliss. They encourage the body to let go of wastes, rapidly decreasing the toxic burden a body has been carrying. As toxicity diminishes, our living matrix—that is our physiological, biochemical and energetic body—is enlivened. Our senses become heightened. CURA ROMANA JOURNEY also brings a calming, centering effect to the mind and emotions, quieting habitual thought patterns so that many of the inner conflicts and confusions which all of us carry can be quelled. As human beings our capacity for bliss, as well as our need to experience it, is inscribed on the primitive brain—almost as deeply as our need for air, water and food. Bliss is the medium through which mind, spirit and emotions weave a tapestry of meaning. Bliss renews. Bliss cleanses. It makes us feel whole, solid, stable and alive. Bliss tells us: ‘This is something I want to try,’ then brings us the courage to go for it. Physical illness often develops out of unresolved conflicts between our primitive, instinctual, nature—which is centered in the diencephalon, autonomic nervous system and limbic system—and our intellectual cerebral cortex—from which we have been virtually brainwashed to believe we should be living our lives. A T W Simeons, who created the original Cura Romana, writes about this at length in his book Man’s Presumptuous Brain. He says, and I quote: “An instinct is a very old impulse which is generated in the diencephalon by a combination of hormonal and sensory stimuli. In this process the cortex is involved only to the extent that it censors the raw incoming messages from the senses. An emotion, on the other hand, is the conscious or subconscious elaboration of a diencephalic instinct by the cortical processes of memory, association and reasoning. Emotions are thus generated in the cortex out of crude instincts. In primitive man many raw instincts were still consciously acceptable but in urban man this is no longer so. When a raw instinct . . . breaks through all cortical barriers, it is usually interpreted as insanity . . . raw instincts threaten the cortical authority with which man runs his artificial world.’ Simeons describes the cortex as a “censor of instinctual expression and action.” Once the cortex changes instincts into emotion, it usually censors any expression of that emotion. And, because our culture is built on cortical control and demeans the value of instinct, illness often occurs. As a result of these and other restrictions—both conscious and unconscious—directing our lives, we begin to lose touch with our bodies, our instincts and our essential self at the core of our being. So important is bliss to becoming who you really are and to helping you realize your goals—whatever they may be—that when we deny our need for it, we are forced to look for artificial substitutes. Addictions arise: to food, drugs, alcohol, sex, even ambition. These addictions disempower us, leading us further from the authentic freedom that is our birthright. That’s the bad news. Here’s the good news: The more bliss we can learn to allow in our lives the more true balance between instinct and intellect is created within us harmonizing mind, body and spirit. This is why I urge you to let more bliss into your own life. Find out what brings you bliss day by day and make space for it in your life. It is a powerful force for transformation and will help you forge your own individual path to authentic freedom and greater creativity.

Find your way to eating delicious and wholesome foods that will help you avoid putting back into your system all that junk you have just got rid of. It’s easy and delicious – lots of fresh, wholesome fruits and vegetables, prepared simply so you keep all of their wonderful tastes and textures. Go and see what your greengrocer has on offer and let your imagination run riot. Here are some ideas of how to put together delicious meals that will keep your body working well and your energy levels high. Try them out, then make up your own. There’s a whole world of possibilities out there. bountiful breakfasts A traditional cooked breakfast of fried eggs, bacon, toast with butter and jam and tea or coffee is definitely bad news. In the first place, greasy food puts a great strain on your liver, which is working hardest to detoxify your body between midnight and midday, and its high fat content will leave you tired and mentally dull. Far better to choose an energizing breakfast such as Live Muesli, or an Energy Shake, or just fresh fruit. live muesli This recipe is similar to the original muesli developed by the famous Swiss physician, Max Bircher-Benner. Unlike packaged muesli, which usually contains too much sugar and is rather heavy and hard to digest, the bulk of this muesli is made up of fresh fruit. It will leave you feeling light and lively. 1-2 heaped tablespoons steel-cut oats, rye or buckwheat a handful of raisins or sultanas 1 apple or firm pear, grated or diced 1 teaspoon fresh orange or lemon juice 1 small banana, finely chopped 2 tablespoons yogurt (optional) 1 teaspoon honey or a little natural stevia to taste (optional) 1 tablespoon chopped nuts or sunflower seeds ½ teaspoon powdered cinnamon or ginger Soak the grains overnight in a little water or fruit juice to help break the starch down, along with the raisins or sultanas. In the morning, combine the soaked grains and raisins with the apple or pear and banana, add the orange or lemon juice to prevent the fruit from browning and to aid digestion. Top with the yogurt, then drizzle with honey or a little natural stevia if you like. Sprinkle with chopped nuts or sunflower seeds and spices. You can prepare countless variations of Live Muesli by using different types of fresh fruit, such as strawberries, peaches, pitted cherries or pineapple, depending on what’s in season. When your choice of fresh fruit is limited, use soaked dried fruit such as apricots, dates, more sultanas, figs or pears. energy shake This recipe is delightful and quick – ideal if you have little time to spare in the mornings. 8 fl oz (1 cup) plain yogurt a handful of strawberries or raspberries 1 teaspoon of honey or a little natural stevia to taste 1 tablespoon coconut (optional) a squeeze of lemon juice Combine all the ingredients thoroughly in a blender or food processor and drink. Depending on the type of yogurt used, you may need to thin the shake with a little fruit juice. As with Live Muesli, you can vary the Energy Shake by using different kinds of fruit, such as bananas, mango or fresh pineapple. sexy salads Most people think of salads as a rather limp affair involving a few bits of lettuce and some cucumber. What I mean by a salad is a taste sensation of fresh, raw vegetables presented beautifully and dressed to kill. The permutations are endless. Go for the freshest vegetables in season and let your creative (and digestive) juices run. Here’s one of my recipes to get you started: Line a large dish with lettuce or spinach leaves. Then chop or grate a selection of fresh vegetables and fruit such as: cabbage (red or white), carrots, radish, tomatoes, courgettes, cauliflower, broccoli, green peppers, apples, beetroot, cucumber, oranges, grapes. Add a handful of sprouted seeds or beans such as alfalfa, mung, chickpeas or lentils. Dress with a little extra-virgin olive oil, a squeeze of fresh orange or lemon juice, a little curry powder, ginger or a dash or Worcester Sauce, and a little Swiss Vegetable Bouillon Powder to taste. Top the lot with a handful of sunflower seeds or chopped nuts. To your basic salad you can add a side-dish of grated boiled egg, a little chicken or fish, or some brown rice or a baked potato. Make plenty of salad and you will find you won’t go hungry. sweet treats sorbets You are supposed to make sorbets with a sorbetiere but I have survived for years without one. Juice 6 oranges, and combine the juice in a food processor with 2 juicy seedless oranges which have been peeled and quartered. Add enough honey or natural stevia to sweeten and add some nutmeg or ginger if desired. I sometimes add a grated peach for texture. Pour the mixture into a plastic lunch-box type container or empty ice-cream tub, and freeze. Remove from the freezer and leave to thaw slightly for ten minutes. Blend the mixture again, spoon into dishes or empty halved orange shells and serve immediately. raspberry fruit freeze pie This is a great basic pie base that you can fill with any fruits and berries that are in season. Here is my favorite: pie base: 1 cup pitted dried dates ½ cup almonds ¼ cup oat flakes 1 teaspoon honey a little water Grind the dates and almonds as finely as possible in a food processor. Add the oats, honey and a little water and blend again. You need to add the water slowly to get the right consistency. You want the mixture to bind but not be sticky, so it rolls into a ball in the food processor. Flatten the mixture into a pie dish with your fingers or the back of a wooden spoon. As a variation you can add a tablespoon or two of coconut. pie filling: 2 bananas 2 cups raspberries sherry honey or natural stevia to sweeten Peel the bananas and chop them into pieces about an inch thick. Freeze in a polythene bag with the raspberries until firm. Remove from the freezer and blend the fruits together with a dash of sherry and a little honey to sweeten if you like. Pour into the pie crust and serve immediately, garnished with a few banana slices or raspberries. carob and apple cake 1 cup sunflower seeds (or a 2:1 mixture of sunflower and sesame seeds) 1 cup carob powder ½ cup dried coconut ½ cup dried pitted dates 3 apples ½ teaspoon vanilla essence 1 teaspoon allspice apple slices or strawberries to garnish Grind the seeds very finely. Add the carob powder, coconut and dates. Quarter and core the apples, then blend them in the food processor with the dry ingredients. Add the vanilla essence and allspice. Spoon the mixture into a flat dish and leave to chill for a couple of hours in the fridge. Decorate with apple and/or strawberry slices before serving. carob fudge Once chilled, these wonderful fudge balls have the texture of ordinary fudge, and their carob flavor makes them ideal chocolate substitutes. 1 cup sesame seeds ½ cup dried coconut ½ cup carob powder 1 teaspoon honey ½ teaspoon vanilla essence Grind the seeds very finely in the food processor. Add the other ingredients and process again. Form the mixture into little balls and chill.