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The secrets of aging are hidden deep within the molecular structure of the living organism. One of the great biological mysteries, aging is a universal phenomenon - a simple fact of being alive. But how rapidly it occurs is by no means universal. By now much research has been carried out into the processes of aging and all sorts of theories have developed about how and why it happens. The aging clock theory sees aging as programmed by a preset number of cell divisions, the time between which is said to determine our life span. The cross-linking of protein theory suggests that molecular alterations in the body's protein molecules cause micro fibers to be laid down creating loss of elasticity, stiffness and degeneration. The errors in DNA theory insists that chemical exposure, general toxicity and basic genetic tendencies distort the genetic material of cells so they can no longer reproduce normally. Still other theories claim aging comes from changes in brain function to undermine the function and regulation of balance in hormones and the nervous system, or from auto immunity where the immune function declines, or from stress. The one thing that all theories of aging seem to have in common is recognition that degeneration is associated with free radical damage. The more free radical damage takes place, the older you get. The more you are protected from free radical damage the more you are protected from aging.

For more than 60 years we’ve been warned to stay away from saturated fats and told that coconut oil is dangerous. Government bodies, the media, even most of the medical profession have been harping on about how coconut oil elevates cholesterol, makes you fat and fosters all sorts of illnesses like Alzheimer’s and heart disease. Well don’t you believe it! The humble coconut is a godsend. Its oil blesses health, reduces the appearance of wrinkles, destroys harmful bacteria, fungi, viruses and protozoa, counters food cravings, and is one of nature’s great antioxidants. It also supplies the body with top quality fat, essential for high-level wellbeing. If you’re not yet one of this oil’s greatest fans, it’s time to become one… COCONUT’S MIRACLES Half of the fat that makes up coconut oil consists of a marvelous and rare gift from nature called lauric acid. When lauric acid enters the body, either when you eat coconut oil or rub it on your skin, it gets converted into monolaurin—a monoglyceride capable of wiping out the viruses that carry a lipid coating—herpes, flu and HIV, as well as dangerous protozoa like giardia lamblia. The next important fat components of coconut oil are its medium chain fatty acids (MCFAs). These fatty acids get converted by the liver into energy instead of being laid down as fat deposits. When it comes to banishing your food cravings, especially for sugars and starches, MCFAs are the best things around. They bring us the energy the we long for so we don’t feel compelled to munch on sweets and snacks. Medium chain fats are also highly nutritious. They are regularly used in hospitals to feed critically ill patients who are unable to digest their foods. They also offer excellent support for pregnant and nursing women. Athletes, disillusioned with much-hyped sports drinks that lift you up temporarily only to let you down an hour or two later, are at last waking up to the amazing way MCFAs provide them with energy that lasts and lasts. EAT IT REGULARLY Use organic coconut oil in cooking as often as you can. It’s great for frying and for baking. It can be heated to very high temperatures without being damaged the way other oils are when they are heated. Coconut oil does not go rancid like other oils. It is not only the tastiest and most stable oil you’ll find anywhere for cooking: It’s also the easiest to digest. Put a teaspoon of the oil in your morning cup of tea or coffee and it will bring you a quick burst of energy that may even last long enough to carry you through to lunchtime without hunger. Coconut oil never causes blood sugar spikes or insulin resistance the way sugars and carbs do. And, taken with any fat-soluble vitamin like D3, A or E, coconut oil improves your body’s ability to assimilate these nutrients. BIG LIES How does coconut oil work its wonders? This is a question still being debated. Why? Because—since the mid 1950s—most of what we have been taught about what is a healthy diet has been nothing more than conjecture. Not grounded in solid research, current widespread beliefs about nutrition are still not based on hard science, but on endless unproven hypotheses. We’ve been indoctrinated by multinational food corporations, government bodies and the majority of medical doctors to believe that all saturated fats cause heart disease. Even Dr Mehmet Oz, well known for his TV appearances, and his co-author Mike Rosen published a blistering attack called “Don’t Monkey With Coconut Oil”, claiming that coconut oil is “loaded with artery-clogging saturated fat and oozing with calories.” It’s hard to believe that similar blatantly inaccurate warnings of the dangers of eating saturated fats—especially coconut oil—still goes on in spite of the extensive research demonstrating that such beliefs are completely untrue. Coconut oil’s ability to support high-level health is now well proven. When I wrote and presented my documentary in the Southern Hemisphere called “To Age or Not to Age” , the nutritional program I designed for participants was rich in organic coconut oil. We worked with healthy men and women between the ages of 30 and 60 who wanted to become even healthier. My documentary asked the question, “Is it possible to slow aging by making simple nutritional changes?” We also wanted to know, “Might it also be possible to reverse age-related degeneration that has already occurred?” And, most important, “Can these things be verified in medically measurable ways?” GREAT BLESSINGS We carried out what is known as a baseline study to find out. We sent our participants to undergo standard tests of medical parameters before the project began. They were each one checked for fasting insulin and blood sugar levels, cholesterol, triglycerides and blood pressure. These medical tests were carried out in a well-known hospital which also happened to have an excellent physiology laboratory, so we were able also to work with exercise physiologists who measured each participant’s VO2Max, body fat percentage and lean body mass to fat ratio. To our surprise, every participant—including a 50 year old triathlete—showed several abnormalities associated with insulin resistant syndrome and other biomarkers. Most were also overweight. I introduced the group to my low-carb, high-fat way of eating, full of coconut oil. The experiment lasted only 5 weeks. When we sent participants back to the hospital at the end of this time to have their medical parameters checked again, the results were mind-blowing. We were amazed to discover that, after only 5 weeks of dietary changes, every abnormal biomarker had normalized for each participant, except for cholesterol measurements in one woman, which took another few weeks to normalize. Participants reported that they felt better than they had for years in every way. The irony of all of this was amusing. A well known self-promoting “professor of nutrition” went so far as to upbraid the television broadcasting authorities for having aired such a documentary. Paying no attention to the remarkable improvements in health recorded for all participants and validated by medically measurable procedures, this gentleman raised hell. And the single most aggressive attack he tried to make against the program was directed at... you guessed it... coconut oil. The documentary confirmed yet again that the human body has a phenomenal capacity to heal itself through the right changes to what we eat. Here is a short list of some of the proven health benefits that we can experience when we add coconut oil to our meals on a regular basis. Coconut oil: Balances thyroid gland functions Is an instant source of energy and vitality Stimulates metabolism Supports heart health Produces no insulin spikes in bloodstream Supports weight control Has anti-cancer benefits Is a natural anti-microbial Has anti-aging properties Feeds the brain Creates vitality that lasts ONLY THE BEST Coconut oil comes in two forms: refined and unrefined. Most coconut oil that you find in a supermarket has been refined. The refined oil tends to be tasteless and without fragrance. Some people like this. However, refined oils don’t offer the same benefits that unrefined, raw, virgin organic oil does. Most refined oils are processed using a chemical distillation procedure. They have been bleached and deodorized in an attempt to produce the bland consumer product that lines our supermarket shelves. Some are even hydrogenated—something you want to avoid at all costs. There are a number of methods for extracting coconut oil too: expeller-pressed is one during which the oil can often be heated as high as 90 degrees Centigrade. The higher the temperature, the stronger the smell and taste becomes. This is how some coconut oil ends up smelling as though it has been toasted. Cold-pressed is another extraction method—this does not necessarily mean “raw”, since it too can sometimes be heated. Then there is the Centrifuge method: This is often the best extraction method, since coconut oil treated this way is less likely to have been exposed to a lot of heat in the process. This makes it taste milder and more delicate. I have tried many brands and rejected many in the process. I guess I could go so far as to describe myself as a connoisseur of this wonderful stuff! Let me share my favorites with you below. Decide to welcome organic coconut oil into your life. You won’t regret it. I’ve only just scratched the surface when it comes to the myriad blessings it bestows on us in every aspect of our lives. Soon I’ll share with you lots more amazing things that coconut oil can do, for your skin, your hair—it can even be used to protect from tooth decay and clear gum problems. There appears to be no end to the gifts this tropical oil can bring us. Nutiva, Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil (which comes in many sizes and is very good value for money) Buy Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil Nature’s Blessings Organic Virgin Coconut Oil Which with its own certified coconut plantation in the Philippines they are able to pick the nuts at the exact time of perfect ripeness. Buy Nature’s Blessings Organic Virgin Coconut Oil WANT TO LEARN MORE: Weston Price: New Look At Coconut Oil Coconut Oil Research Coconut Oil In The 21st Century

What gives any woman charisma? The Chanel suit she wears? The car she drives? The way she has been taught to use her body or speak her words? Not really. For stylish or charming as these things may be, they are ultimately externals—things put on from the outside. As such they offer a woman little more than the appearance of charisma. And, like pastiche, appearances never deceive a discerning eye. What are the characteristics of real charisma? Where does it come from? How do you get it? And what is living with it all about? Charisma—the real McCoy—has certain characteristics: expansiveness for instance, and energy, joy and creativity. It is not only a way of being which calls forth all the powers of a woman— from the pragmatic to the inspirational, the intellectual to the intuitional. It is also a way of relating to yourself, to those you work with and play with—even to the planet itself—through all of these modes. That is why at its core, charisma is both disarmingly simple and immeasurably complex—neither more nor less than living day by day from a full and honest outpouring of your own individuality—the spirit which is unique to you. CHARISMA—YOUR UNIQUE ENERGY This unique nature, which each woman has but most of us have yet to discover, can be expressed in a myriad of ways from the most simple and playful to the most profound—in the colors you like best for instance, in the way you choose to have your hair cut, the kind of make-up you wear (or prefer NOT to wear). It is also explicit in the way you think and talk, and in the kind of deep values you embody, the dreams you dream and the things you create, whether they be works of art, intellectual or physical feats, or simple day-to-day ways of being. Charisma is also evident in the rhythms and fluctuations of this energy. How different you are, for instance on the tennis court, than when you hold a child in your arms, produce a piece of work, get involved in an intellectual discussion, or embrace a lover. Yet in each of these circumstances, provided you are true to yourself, you will have charisma—the originality of your spirit will shine through. IT COMES FROM WITHIN Contacting that unique spirit, coming to respect it and having the courage to live from it, is what gaining charisma is all about. Sometimes challenging, frequently exciting, this process can be a lot of fun too. As it takes place, the externals—the clothes and make up you wear, the way you move and how you relate to your world, cease to be arbitrary, like things you pick up with uncertainty to carry around with you. Instead they seem to unfold and develop beautifully and mysteriously—almost organically—from within, as ever more honest and potent expressions of who you are. Whatever forms or shapes your individuality takes, one quality tends to permeate every facet of charisma as it unfolds: aliveness. That is where health comes in. Health is right at the core of charisma. The more fully and honestly your unique nature shows itself, the more charisma you will have. Simple? Nothing could be simpler. Yet in our 21st century crazy world, it would seem that our every encounter with the world around us—from breathing increasingly polluted air, to interacting with a media intent upon selling us things we don't need or don't want at prices we can often ill afford—contrives in one way or another to interfere with the process. Decide not to let it interfere with your discovery of who at the very core YOU are. I firmly believe that each of us is being called to become a creator of a new world—for ourselves then for the planet as a whole. I hope you will join me in your own process of becoming, in essence, who you are at the deepest levels of your being. For along with all the horror in our world there is such great promise. Has there ever been a more perfect moment for your charisma to come into its own?

Over the years I’ve amassed so many useful tools for dealing naturally with unnatural states of mind and body—even, god forbid, hangovers. The most obvious way to avoid a hangover is don’t drink. If you do drink then choose only the best—be it wine, whiskey, or whatever, and never overdo it. The best always has fewer unpleasant chemicals—known as congeners— to upset the system. King of all the alcohols when it comes to purity and low levels of congeners is tequila. However, if you make yourself a margarita, make it from real tequila. So much of the stuff they sell as tequila is filled with a lot of insidious junk you don’t want to put into your body. SUCCULENT LILY Agave, which is called cactus, is actually a succulent that belongs to the lily family. The finest blue agave comes from the highlands of Jalisco, Mexico. It must be harvested at the peak of its sweetness. My brother, whom I adoringly call Toto, is a connoisseur of Tequilas. He insists—I have checked out his recommendations and come to trust them implicitly—that the finest tequila is made by Patron. Anejo Patron is his favorite. Silver Patron is mine. My son Aaron has developed a fabulous recipe for Margaritas. It’s very simple: To a handful of ice in our Vita Mix he adds four jiggers of freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice, 4 jiggers of Silver Patron, 2 jiggers of Cointreau or Grand Marnier, a couple of jiggers of water and the crème de la crème, a dropper or two of the most delicious stevia in the world: English Toffee Sweet Leaf Liquid stevia from iherb,com (so much more delicious than the usual sugar or syrup, which is really rather revolting). He turns on the Vita Mix for 30 seconds while he rubs the rim of each glass with one of the lemon or lime skins, then plunges it into a saucer of Maldon salt to coat the rim. This makes Margaritas for 4 people. A perfect hangover-free treat to share with friends. Hangover Cure - WORST CASE SCENARIOS Now let’s get back to hangovers, should they happen from drinking stuff that’s not so pure or far too much of even a good thing. Drinking lots of fluids along with alcohol helps to prevent the dehydration that comes with an over-indulgent evening. There are also a couple of things you can do the morning after to help feel better. First thing, make yourself a cup of peppermint tea. Put 2 teaspoons of the dried leaves (or 4 teaspoons of fresh) into a tea pot and pour a cup of boiling water over it. Steep for 5-10 minutes and sip it gently. The peppermint will settle your stomach. Breathing in the steam from your tea will also help to ease your headache. When your stomach is settled enough to handle more, take a couple of grams of vitamin C and 2-3 grams of evening primrose oil, or star flower or borage oil. The vitamin C’s antioxidant properties help the liver clear the toxic wastes from too much alcohol. The GLA in these oils is turned into prostaglandin E1—an important regulator of mood which alcohol depletes. When it is low you can feel depressed and very tired. Hangover Cure - SAINT MARY’S THISTLE Also known as milk thistle is a wonderful liver cleanser and supporter. Take 2 capsules or 1 teaspoon of tincture in a little water every 3-4 hours until you are feeling better. If you can remember where you last saw it in your current state, reach for some dried borage as well. Open the jar, or put it in a paper bag, hold your nose over the bag and take a deep breath. No one has ever explained to me how it does it, but this clears your head wonderfully. I have heard that taking ginkgo before you go out for the evening can also help to prevent hangovers by enhancing your body’s ability to metabolize alcohol swiftly. However, I’ve never heard anyone say how much you should take, or how long before drinking alcohol you should take it. If you are taking ginkgo for other reasons, pay attention to how you feel after a glass or two of wine and see if this makes a difference.

The most common herald of menopause is the appearance of hot flashes. These are virtually synonymous in the experience of many women. An adjunct to hot flashes are night sweats where you awaken drenched in sweat, so much so sometimes that you not only need to change your night clothes but the sheets on your bed as well. Both night sweats and hot flashes can be disconcerting if you are frightened of them. Don’t be. A lot can be said about hot flashes, but there are only two facts that you need to know: First, they are completely harmless. Second, hot flashes are the only symptoms among a long list of stuff usually attributed to menopause that genuinely belong to it. Women of all ages get hot flashes especially strongly when their ovaries are removed surgically. During pre-menopause, thinner women often experience more drastic alterations in their estrogen levels and are therefore more likely than their bigger sisters to get stronger hot flashes. In most women, hot flashes are at their most intense during the last year or so before the end of menstruation and during the first year afterwards. Estrogen levels tend to be lower in pre-menopausal women with hot flashes than those without hot flashes. Yet it is quite clear that low estrogen, although it continues to get the blame for hot flashes, it is by no means all that is involved in their production. It is the sudden drop of estrogen in your body that is the real issue. And once your body becomes accustomed to lower levels of estrogen, most hot flashes gradually diminish. Often low estrogen is not involved in hot flashes at all. Hot flashes happen to women if they have been taking supplementary estrogen in HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) for a time and then stop. . There are certain foods and habits known to contribute greatly to the incidence of hot flashes. Stop cigarette smoking, drinking, caffeine, and eating hot spicy food. An overactive thyroid can cause hot flashes too, as can insulin resistance, the use of all sorts of potentially dangerous drugs from Big Pharma, and diabetes. Hot flashes are often the result of allergic reactions to foods and the chemicals in the environment. The high levels of steroid hormones used in pharmaceutical hormone replacement suppress important functions in your body, such as those that are connected with allergies and with your body's attempt to detoxify itself. When estrogen decreases rapidly in a menopausal woman who has been taking artificial hormones, then the underlying allergy or toxicity that was being masked by the hormones comes to the surface. Foods can give you reactions such as migraine, headaches and rises in blood pressure as well as hot flashes. It is time to look at your diet, since when offending foods like milk and all cows’ milk products, including yoghurt and cheeses, wheat, chocolate, or oranges are removed from the diet, hot flashes will diminish and may even cease altogether. By the way, extra estrogen does not “cure” hot flashes. It only masks them for a while. Actually, there is nothing to “cure,” because hot flashes are not a symptom of disease. They are a normal bodily change associated with the transition between the menstrual years and menopause. The standard medical treatment for hot flashes is estrogen. If you decide to go on estrogen for a few years “to get you through the rough patch,” what you are not told is that when you come off it, your hot flashes are likely to return in force—three years down the road or twenty. Women who have been filled full of fear of menopause—particularly professional women—sometimes sit in trepidation lest a hot flash come over them while in a business meeting to betray that they are menopausal. Women always think they are more evident to the outside world than they are. But even if they were, so what? Why should any woman agree, even tacitly, to buy into the general nonsense that menopause—or perhaps a swollen belly during pregnancy—is something disgraceful to be hidden? If you have been experiencing hot flashes, change your diet. Also use some powerful and benign herbs. Here are my favorites. They work beautifully: Sage: Make an infusion of 1 teaspoon of the dried leaves in a cup of water, allow it to steep for 10 minutes, then drink 1 tablespoon of the tea 1 to 4 times a day. Or you can use 10 to 25 drops of tincture of sage every day. Motherwort: It does not make a great tasting tea, so I prefer to take it as a tincture. Take 10 to 25 drops of tincture every 2 to 6 hours. Chastetree: Take 1 capsule of powdered berries 3 to 4 times a day, or 15 drops to 1 teaspoon of the tincture 1 to 3 times a day. Dong Quai: Make an infusion of a teaspoon of the dried root in a cup of boiling water and drink once a day. Or take 15 to 30 drops of tincture 1 to 3 times a day. Remember this: The long traditions of natural medicine view hot flashes as the body’s way of detoxifying itself and enhancing immunity. And recent research shows that even a slight raise in temperature in the body can be instrumental in doing both. Eclectic Institute, Organic Motherwort Fresh, organic motherwort (leonurus cardiaca) flower tops. organic grain-free alcohol content: 40-50%. filtered water. Fresh herb strength: 1:2.(500 mg/ml). Order Eclectic Institute, Organic Motherwort from iherb Eclectic Institute, Chaste Tree Dried organic chaste tree (vitex agnus castus) berry, Organic grain-free alcohol content: 70-80%, filtered water. Dry herb strength 1:4. (250 mg/ml). Order Eclectic Institute, Chaste Tree from iherb Eclectic Institute, Dong Quai Dried cured dong quai (angelica sinensis) root, organic grain-free alcohol content: 25-35%, filtered water. Fresh herb strength: 1:4 (250 mg/ml). Order Eclectic Institute, Dong Quai from iherb Herb Pharm, Whole Leaf Sage Certified organic cane alcohol (71-81%) & distilled water. Gluten-free. Dry herb / menstruum ratio: 1 : 5 Order Herb Pharm, Whole Leaf Sage from iherb

Christmas had been full of laughter. But on Boxing Day when the children left, Emma began to cry. Grief racked her body. It was as though she had been taken over by a power beyond herself. There was no apparent reason for this, yet it went on for three hours. That was the beginning. Within three weeks, each time she went out to walk in the woods near her house, the trees, the grass, the rocks - all came alive. They seemed to vibrate with energy and to glisten with light, almost to breathe. Their colors had become overwhelming - too intense to bear. Panic set in. This healthy and competent woman in her early fifties feared that she was losing her mind. The doctor suggested tranquilizers, sleeping pills and psychotherapy. "Don't worry," he assured her. "We will soon have it all under control." For Rebecca, 32, the crunch came at work after neglecting her relationship with her lover and ignoring a mounting biological urge to have a child, then passing up two intriguing job offers and working 18 hours a day for seven months on a marketing plan for a new toothpaste. She knew it was just what she needed for a promotion which would make her the first woman on the board. Then the managing director announced the take over. The launch had to be scrapped. The product would have been in direct competition with the new company's own product already on the market. Two days later, her boyfriend announced he had fallen in love with someone else and was leaving. Then one morning while doing her morning run in the park, Rebecca sprained her left ankle so badly that she could not walk at all for two weeks. This meant that now, when it was absolutely crucial that she be at work to secure her future, she found herself completely bedridden. She felt her life collapsing around her and knew she was helpless to do anything about it. the signs of molting Two women in crisis - that moment in life when the foundations of personal safety, beliefs, security or values are challenged, overwhelmed by either internal forces or external events. When any one of us experiences such a crisis it is a sign that a molting is about to take place. We are being asked to walk a passage which, if made with awareness and trust, can expand our experience of life and our sense of ourselves enormously. This demand for personal metamorphosis may be triggered by a death, the ending of a love affair, the recognition that one is addicted to alcohol, drugs or work, a dawning awareness that what you have always worked for and what you have achieved no longer holds meaning for you, the loss of a job or reputation, or even the detoxification process of a cleansing regime. Although each person's metamorphosis is unique, experiences of profound change have much in common. The advice to people in the midst of crisis is pretty standard too. It goes something like this: "Pull yourself together," or "Don't worry," or "Go see the doctor" (who most often supplies a long-standing prescription for potent antidepressants, barbiturates, or tranquilizers). In the case of women - particularly women of menopausal age - the men in their lives (whether they be husbands, lovers or bosses) are frequently made so uncomfortable by the unexpected changes in a woman's feelings and behavior (changes that they themselves feel unable to handle) that they insist she must be mentally or biologically ill. For they, like most of us, just want things to return to normal. We are all afraid of crisis, and fair enough. Change that is truly transformative seldom comes easily. mid-life transition Emma's background was simple. After many years as a successful wife and mother, she approached the time in her life when all of the structures on which her life had been built were becoming redundant. Her children had left home for university and work. Her husband, the managing director of a large engineering firm traveled a lot and she, who had given up a job in publishing twenty five years before to look after her young family, felt she had little to look forward to. Before crisis struck, Emma had become vaguely aware of these things and told herself she should take up a hobby or go back to work, but nothing grabbed her interest. Thanks to the success of her husband's business, she did not need to earn money. When, unable to cope with the strange states of consciousness into which she found herself plunged, and on the advice of friends and family, she sought help from the doctor, he told her she was menopausal and wrote out a prescription for tranquilizers and hormone replacement. Something prevented her from having the prescription filled. "I feared I was losing my mind and I was absolutely terrified that these intense visual experiences together with sensations of powerful energies flowing through my body in waves day after day were a sign that I was actually going to die," she says, "But a small voice somewhere deep inside me kept saying `see it through - don't run away from it.' I didn't know where to turn. Everyone, including my husband, thought I was irresponsible not to do as the doctor advised. The irony of it all was that the one thing on which I had always prided myself was my sense of responsibility." The healing power of friendship As it turned out, Emma was lucky. Despite her embarrassment and shame about what had been happening to her, she frequently spoke about it to people whom she did not know very well. "It was as if I had to tell someone" she says "and I couldn't speak to my family and closest friends since they were convinced I was crazy." One of the people she told was a woman who had herself been through a similar experience five years earlier. Emma, relieved to find anybody who "understood" and didn't brand her psychotic, began spending time with this woman. On the advice of her husband who thought a change of scene would be good for her, she decided to spend a fortnight with her new friend in a small holiday cottage in the Lowlands of Scotland. There the two women lived together, ate together and walked in the wilderness. Emma's symptoms continued, but the woman she was with was not in the least afraid of them, neither did she worry about Emma's intense emotions - feelings of grief at the loss of her children, of uncertainty about her future, of abandonment much like a baby must feel when taken from its mother - nor about her strange bodily sensations which were particularly severe at night. She simply stayed with her friend and allowed it all to happen. In Emma's own words, "The experience of her simply letting me be in the state I was in and her complete sense of trust that what was happening to me was all right was incredible for me. I learnt from it that the death I feared was not physical death as I had thought, but the death of everything in myself that was meant to die - the end of the life I had lived as a mother, always sacrificing myself for the sake of my children and my husband, and the death of my image of myself as a responsible but limited person with no real sense of identity apart from the way I could serve others." After about ten days, her symptoms peaked and then began to subside. By the time she got home she was still experiencing strange energy flows in her body and the colors still seemed extraordinarily bright (it took about three months for all that to change) but now she no longer feared what was happening because, she says, "I could feel for the first time in my life that there really was something inside me - something very alive and real. I am determined to get to know it and to find out what it is all about. Where it will lead I don't know. I have begun to paint - to try to get some of that vibrancy of color on paper. Incidentally, a lot of people don't like the `new me'. They prefer the `good old reliable Emma'. But I feel, far from my life being over, that I am beginning a new adventure and that wherever it takes me, it is uniquely mine." harbingers of change This sense of impending death which Emma experienced is common in the experience of molting. It is something I have experienced again and again before a major change takes place in my life. As American expert in transformative psychology, John Wier Perry MD says, "Whenever a profound experience of change is about to take place, its harbinger is the motif of death. This is not particularly mysterious, since it is the limited view and appraisal of oneself that must be outgrown or transformed, and to accomplish transformation the self-image must be dissolved... one is forced to let go of old expectations... let oneself be tossed about by the winds of change...cultivating a more capacious consciousness, open to new dimensions of experience." Perry, a Jungian analyst, encourages people to work through their experiences - even when they are very extreme - without the mitigating effect of drugs. Instead they are given the support of a safe place to be while their particular molting is taking place, and a lot of loving support from people who have, from experience in their own lives, learned to turn the experience of crisis into a passage to power. Perry insists that, like the crab in need of a new shell, what precipitates such a crisis is the surfacing of energy from deep within the psyche, which has been bound up in the structures of a self-image or a worldview that has become obsolete - too limited to suit a person's needs. where inner and outer meet One of the most common objections amongst conventional "batten-down-the-hatches" psychologists to viewing crisis as part of a transformational process is that, while a crisis such as Emma's appears largely to have arisen from within, that of Rebecca was triggered entirely by outside events - the company take over, the decision of the man in her life to leave her, the accident to her ankle which put her to bed - all things over which she had no control. Or did she? According to British transpersonal psychologist Barbara Sommers, the outer and the inner world are not as separate as we might imagine. A woman like Rebecca may be far more responsible for precipitating the outer events that triggered her crisis than she thinks. Each of us has an inner and an outer world. When these two get out of balance, say, by emphasizing external or material values to the detriment of more personal deeper values, then a person invites disruption. The more someone like Rebecca pushes on with her ambitions and neglects her inner voice, the closer she brings herself to situations that precipitate crisis. Then crisis becomes a way of rebalancing things by forcing her to turn and look within. Things fail: She loses the man she loves because she has, by her actions, undervalued and neglected the relationship, and she damages her body so she is quite literally forced to go to bed, to be alone and to listen to her inner voice. In Sommers' words, "The real woman inside her doesn't like the way she has been living so she starts to cry out, `What about me?' The more she drives her energy into her conscious external life, the more power from her unconscious is generated to redress the balance. The `feeling' side of her (as opposed to the `doing' side) actually magnetizes a field around her so things start to happen." According to Sommers the important thing about Rebecca's crisis is that out of its forcing her to be with herself, instead of constantly being caught up in doing, comes the opportunity to ask questions such as "Who am I?" and "What do I want? - is my goal really to have a seat on the board? Or is that something I think I want because my father, my society, my friends think it is important?" All crises big or small are opportunities to get in touch with the wholeness of ourselves, not just to live lopsidedly or as partial people pushed into the way we are living by our culture, by education or by other people's views or values. rehearsal for change All crisis offers transformation provided, as the poet Rilke says, we have the courage to embrace it: "...this very abyss is full of the darkness of God, and where one experiences it, let him climb down and howl in it (that is more necessary than to cross over it)." Let yourself become aware of any structures of your own life - emotional, physical, environmental, intellectual - which no longer serve you and the choices you are making. See if there are any passages that are appropriate for you to make consciously. Making simple changes willingly can be useful practice for developing the skill of transforming crises, when they appear, into passages to power. You might like to experience the passage to new energy and clarity that a detoxification diet followed for a few days can bring. Or you might try doing without some addictive substance or activity which you feel is draining your energies. If you choose to do either, notice any changes that come about and pay attention to any messages that you get from within in the process.

A detox can work miracles after a spate of too much work and too little sleep, after the over-indulgences of Christmas, in spring when all life is renewing itself, before you hit the beach in summer, or whenever you need a lift. Detoxification is just a long word for clearing out your system. A process which stimulates your body’s natural ability to get rid of the toxic waste products that build up in your cells, tissues and organs over months and years of living on the Western fare of convenience foods and polluted air. You can spend hundreds of hours and thousands of pounds on lotions, potions and treatments to improve the look of your skin, to firm your flesh and to renew your body. But none of these things is likely to bring you the same benefits as simple, natural methods for periodic internal spring-cleaning. You might think of spring cleaning in terms of carting out boxes of junk from the attic. In a way, an internal spring clean does the same thing. The human body is magnificently designed to cleanse itself automatically without ever giving thought to the process. The trouble is that the kind of food and drink most people in the West put into their bodies, the tendency we have to lead stressful but sedentary lives, and the increasing number of pollutants to which we are exposed through the air we breathe and the water we drink, have created a situation in which often far more toxins are taken into the body, and far more metabolic wastes produced in it, than we can effectively get rid of. In other words, your body is continually having to cope with more poisons than it can eliminate in the normal day-to-day course of events. Instead they are stored in the tissues where they lower vitality, encourage the development of degenerative diseases and early aging and rob the system of nutrients necessary to keep your whole body looking its best. garbage gathering Dr Dwight McKee, Medical Director of the International Health Institute in America, put it rather bluntly when he said: "anybody who has lived the mainstream American lifestyle for ten or more years has 70 trillion garbage cans for cells." McKee believes, as do a growing number of physicians, that the cells of anyone living in the West are literally chock full of metabolic and environmental wastes gathered over a lifetime. To live at a high level of health and vitality, not to mention being able to make the most of your potential for good looks and prolonged youth, we need to get rid of them. Beautiful skin, a firm and healthy body, and a clear mind are all dependent on your system being able to efficiently and effectively get rid of bodily wastes and toxins before they have a chance to do any damage. This principle forms the foundation of the long European tradition of natural medicine. Remove some of the burden of what is creating excess toxicity in your system by laying aside coffee, alcohol, and over-processed foods complete with chemical additives for a time, and you’re halfway there. Add to that a very simple and temporary regime designed to trigger rapid detoxification and quite naturally you trigger your body’s own mechanisms for clearing out the junk in the attic. good looks from within So what do you get out of it? Giving your body the chance to clear out the rubbish it has been carrying around, sometimes for years, will encourage weight loss if there is weight to be shed, will start you on the road to getting rid of cellulite, will improve the look and texture of your skin, minimize lines on your face, improve overall muscle tone, and increase your sense of vitality and well-being. It cleanses the digestive system, restores a good acid/alkaline balance to the body and generally stimulates the proper functioning of organs and tissues. In short, it puts you through the kind of transformation which leaves you sparkling with vitality. Regimes like this keep world-famous health-spas making money hand over foot as they take in worn, tired, stressed people and transform them using healthy foods and natural treatments into more energetic, younger looking, better functioning versions of themselves. Yet you, too, can get that health-spa lift by doing a simple detox in a weekend at home for – believe it or not – the price of a few pounds of apples. Following such a regime two or three times a year can be enormously helpful in transforming the way you look and feel, reducing excess weight, increasing your energy, and generally getting you back on track. It is particularly useful when you have been under a lot of stress, when you have overindulged, or to get you looking and feeling your best before exposing your body on holiday. Detoxification can bring you a new sense of vitality and regenerate all your systems for maximum good looks and energy. The theory is simple. Stop putting into your body as much as possible those foods which encourage the production of toxic wastes which clog the system. Take two days – a weekend - to relax, spoil yourself, and get your natural elimination processes going with an apple fast. Follow with a few days of taking in lots of delicious living foods to really put you on top form. It’s a cheap, effective program which fits perfectly into a normal working week.  Too good to be true?  Check out Apple Magic and find out for yourself. To Find Out more About The Apple Detox Click Here

After a long day's work, don't just put your feet up - pick them up, put them in your lap and massage them! Strange as it may seem, a ten minute foot massage can not only relieve aching feet, but can give your whole body a boost - thanks to the art of reflexology. The soles of our feet are thought to contain around 72,000 nerve endings, which connect with all the other parts of the body. When these nerve endings are massaged, an impulse is conveyed via the nerves to a corresponding part of the body - gland, organ etc. If a person is sick, or suffering from fatigue, circulation in the feet slows down, and deposits of uric acid crystals and excess calcium accumulate around the nerve endings in the feet. When you massage these crystals you break them down so that they can be reabsorbed into the blood and eliminated. It is also possible to pinpoint a specific ailment in the body by pressing the soles of the feet. Usually if an organ is not functioning properly, then its corresponding region on the foot will be tender to the touch. By massaging the particular region involved the organ's function can be improved. That's the principle of reflexology. general foot massage Begin your foot treat by removing your shoes and socks and lifting one foot into your lap. This may be easiest if you sit cross-legged on the floor. Take your foot between both hands and rub your hands together across the top and bottom of your foot all over to warm it. Make a bracelet with your fingers around your ankle and rotate your hands pressing firmly around your ankle. Spread the ball of your foot by separating the toes out with your hands widthwise. Rotate each toe a few times bending them forward and back, and then gently pull them out, lengthening away from the foot. With your thumb one side and your fingers on the other side of your heel, massage your Achilles tendon with gentle pinching movements. Make a fist with your right hand and, supporting your foot with your left, use your fist to "scoop out" the underside of your foot several times. Now that your foot is warm, try massaging different points with the tip of your thumb. It is best to bend the first thumb joint at a right angle to the thumb. Then use a rocking motion back and forth of the thumb tip to stimulate different areas. It is important to apply a steady pressure. If you find a sore spot, work gently but firmly into it until the soreness eases a little. When you have finished, give the foot a good shake out and then repeat the treatment on the other foot.

In my mid-twenties, while searching for my own healing, I was blessed with friendship from some of the world’s finest physicians. These were men and women who had turned away from what they had been taught in medical school: Namely, that people need to be treated with drugs. They worked differently. They taught me that the power of healing always comes from within, thanks to the healing powers of Nature. These special physicians spent many days showing me how to prepare delicious, life-enhancing organic salads and juices, amongst hundreds of other things. I remain infinitely grateful for all they taught me. It changed my life. I keep getting requests from you all to write about some of the things I know, and how anyone can apply them to their own life. So let me begin with raw, organic juicing. LIFE IS THE SECRET Drinking raw juice is far more than the latest craze to hit a public grasping for its next quick fix. The dynamic lift, clean refreshment and sustained energy you get from drinking fresh juice is not an indulgence. And how to make and use these juices correctly is still one of life’s best kept secrets. As you begin to incorporate freshly-extracted, organic, raw vegetable and fruit juices into your life, wonderful changes begin to occur. At first you’ll notice the lift that just one glass of fresh juice can give you, especially if you drink it first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. Your head clears. Your abdomen tightens. Your finger tips tingle. A few weeks down the road, you are likely to discover more energy, sharper thoughts, greater concentration, even a different outlook on your life. If you’ve never experienced a juice high, it’s time to buy a juicer, and get started. What’s the secret behind all this? Life is the secret—the most profound mystery in the universe. Raw organic foods and juices are bursting with life force. They are the perfect fuel for the body—easily assimilated and supplying a full range of essential minerals, nutrients and the power of living plants. That's all there is to it. REGENERATION AND RENEWAL Fresh fruit and vegetables are excellent foods. Most of our energy is derived from the food we eat. But the body has to break down and digest most foods before we can derive nutritional benefit from them. By extracting the juices of fruits and vegetables, you provide the body with an excellent source of nutrition that is virtually pre-digested, so it can be absorbed into the system in a matter of minutes—with a minimum expenditure of our own energy. There is nothing in raw juice that your body cannot make use of and, therefore, nothing that it need work hard to expel. Instead, the body can concentrate on getting rid of old waste. Raw juice helps the body detoxify itself, restoring its chemical balance. It creates an ideal environment for physical regeneration. However, it must be said that raw juicing will not bestow its blessings on you if you are still eating the standard western diet of convenience foods full of grain-based carbs and sugar. (Download my free book Healthy and Lean for Life from the home page of www.curaromana.com to learn about the best way to eat.) WHEN YOU NEED HELP What fascinates me is the way specific combinations of fruits and vegetable juices have specific therapeutic properties to offer help with common issues that we struggle with—from hair loss and insomnia to depression and prostrate trouble. Let me share with you a few juice recipes designed to help some common challenges. CLEAR FATIGUE One of the underlying causes of fatigue, particularly in women, can be iron depletion. Spinach juice is a far better way of boosting iron levels than taking tablets, which tend to be constipating and are poorly absorbed. The iron in natural foods and juices, including all our green leafy vegetables as well as in poultry, liver and molasses, is highly bio-available. This means your body has no trouble making use of it. Remember that replenishing the body’s essential nutrients takes time, so be prepared to work with organic foods and juices for several weeks before you start to see lasting results. Magnesium is another important mineral when it comes to fatigue. Low intracellular magnesium makes the body very prone to infection, food allergies and chronic illness. Good sources of magnesium are dark green vegetables, seaweeds, molasses, fish and organic raw nuts. DANDELION PLUS 4 or 5 carrots A handful of dandelion leaves 1 bulb fennel Juice as usual, then squeeze a tablespoon of lemon juice to the mixture. GREEN ZINGER 2 leaves kale or beetroot tops or a handful of spinach 4 or 5 carrots A small handful of parsley HI MAG 4-5 carrots 2 florets of broccoli 2 leaves dandelion, beetroot tops, spinach or kale Juice and season with a twist of lemon and a pinch of salt. HANGOVERS There is an art to hangover management. The key to it is looking at detoxification as the other side of the intoxication coin. All drugs provoke a strongly acidic reaction in the body, which causes the symptoms of a hangover, and the first step to recovery is to correct the body's chemical imbalance. Plain old carrot and apple juice is effective for re-balancing, and it's easy to take when you're feeling weak. By incorporating beetroot juice, you will greatly assist the repair of any possible damage done to your liver and kidneys. The inevitable consequence of over-indulgence is waking up dehydrated and nauseous, with a brain that feels like it’s banging against the side of your head each time you move. You need to replenish bodily fluids, nourish exhausted muscles and get your head together. Fruit juice is strongly indicated. Citrus juices, being full of natural sugar vitamin C, are an immediately effective remedy, but they may be a bit harsh if your stomach is delicate. Watermelon, being exceptionally mild, is an ideal substitute if you happen to have some. APPLES & PEARS Apples and pears are closely related. They make a sublime combination when juiced together. 2 pears 2 whole apples Juice as usual and drink straight away as this juice oxidizes very quickly. VIRGIN MARY A Bloody Mary without the vodka, the flavor of this refreshing tomato-based cocktail benefits from a few drops of Tabasco. (Add a clove of garlic and it becomes a Vampire Mary; a fresh jalapeno or other hot green chili pepper turns it into a Scary Mary.) 2 ripe tomatoes 2 carrots 1/2 a beetroot 1 stalk celery 1 cucumber BERRY MELON Berries combine well with melons. The array of flavors gives lots of scope for experimentation. Try Cantelope & Raspberry, Honeydew & Blackberry or the classic Watermelon & Strawberry: 1 slice of watermelon, 3cm wide and cut into chunks to fit your juicer 6 strawberries, washed and with their green stalks removed (In hot weather, a good tip is to freeze your berries before juicing them.) HAIR LOSS You may have been genetically programmed to lose hair, but that doesn't mean it has to happen. There’s a great deal you can do to prevent hair loss, to slow it down dramatically, and in many cases to stop it altogether. Eat foods that are rich in the sulfur amino acids, L-methionine and L-cysteine. Eggs are a wonderful source so devour them with enthusiasm. When it comes to protection from hair loss, cabbage is a real help too. You must also cut out the foods that work against you stopping and eliminating hair loss. Sugar in any form is a killer. Stop eating it altogether. Use a good tasting real stevia in its place. So are the grains and cereals—breads, biscuits and pasta. Eat foods rich in PABA, inositol and choline, such as organic liver, spinach, grapefruit, and raw nuts. Consider adding vacuum-packed flax seeds to your diet. You can grind them in a coffee grinder and sprinkle them on salads or soups. You can also add them to your juices. Finally, the alfalfa has long been believed to stimulate hair growth, particularly in its sprouted form. ALFALFA—FATHER OF ALL JUICES The word alfalfa means ‘father of all grains’ and when it comes to hair health you can't do better than alfalfa sprouts and carrot juice. 4-5 carrots 1 cup alfalfa sprouts Optional: chopped parsley Juice as usual, top with some chopped parsley and drink. GINGER’S BEST cantaloupe melon ¼ inch slice root ginger 1 lime (peel, leaving pith) PARSNIP PERFECT Parsnips, also known as anemic carrots, are well known for their ability to strengthen hair, skin and nails and can protect against hair loss. 2 parsnips 3 carrots 1 beetroot Ease yourself gently into raw juicing. If the juices you make don’t taste sweet enough to you at the beginning, add a good quality stevia to taste. There are a lot of so-called “natural” stevia products which are gross distortions of the natural stevia. I have found that they give a lot of trouble to many people. Avoid them like the plague. (Aaron please put check out my video on this issue and give the link to it here) When it comes to the very best stevias (it feels like I have tried them all), below are the crème de la crème. 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. Order Liquid Stevia from iherb 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 Order Stevita from iherb