Tips for Thriving Through the Holidaze

Posted on by Tammy

By Keri Nola, LMHC

We are entering into the holiday season, the time of year when we can allow ourselves to get carried away in the hustle and bustle of excessive commitments, lengthy to-do lists, traveling, shopping, and more. Instead of repeating old patterns that keep us feeling unsatisfied, overwhelmed, and tired, we have the opportunity to choose to glide through the remaining months in joyous and peaceful ways. Why not stop for a few moments today and invite yourself to discover and practice a few tips to support you in thriving through the season?

Four Tips for Thriving Through the Holidaze

1) Establish a clear intention. Rather than allowing the season to happen to you, consider setting a mindful intention and empower yourself to create an experience you actually look forward to having. For example, “This holiday season I intend to be present with myself and my loved ones, even if that means I cannot cook the ‘perfect’ meal, get all the ‘perfect’ gifts, or say ‘yes’ to every invitation I receive.”

2) Put yourself on your priority list. Making time for YOU is not optional if you want to thrive. People who experience peace understand they are worth making time for, and they make it a point to create space and time for themselves on a regular basis. Consider making appointments with yourself and then honor them without excuses or justification.

3) Say “No, thank you” to events, people and circumstances that do not resonate with you. Just because you have participated in a tradition, event or relationship in the past, doesn’t mean you have to agree to it now. Check in with yourself and honor what your heart desires this year. Even family? Yes. Even family. Saying yes to others and no to ourselves is not loving or kind, and it certainly does not contribute to our ability to thrive. We have a right to spend time with people, doing things that resonate with us—consider giving yourself this generous gift this season!

4) Practice Gratitude. Engaging in a practice of conscious gratitude can help take the edge off during busy and hectic times. Consider choosing to mindfully acknowledge your blessings each day by either writing them down, sharing them with loved ones, and/or saying them aloud. Our hearts and lives expand when we honor that which lights us up.

Interestingly enough, these tips are also valuable year round to welcome more peace and less struggle, so you may choose to keep them on hand to practice even beyond the holidays. May this season be filled with abundant blessings for us all as we take responsibility for creating the experience we desire this year!

Keri Nola is author of “A Year on Your Path to Growth: Daily Inspirations to Reconnect with Your Soul,” and founder of Path to Growth LLC, a Central Florida-based integrative healing center that blends traditional and holistic techniques for journeys to peace. As a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Nola provides psychotherapy and facilitates therapeutic retreats for those seeking to reconnect with their inner wisdom, particularly after trauma or loss. She also offers heart-inspired business consultations for healthcare professionals. For more information visit www.pathtogrowth.com, on Facebook and Twitter @pathtogrowth.

NOTE: Picture of Keri Nola by Monica Alfonso

The Importance of Being Selfish

Posted on by Tammy

By Jennifer Garza

As children, we are taught to share. We are taught this in school, in the home, and in church. As adults, we learn about compromise. Both are wonderful lessons, but can be devastating when sharing and compromise turns into unhealthy sacrifice.

At its most benign, sacrifice means something given up, lost or surrendered for the sake of another. The harshest description of sacrifice means the destruction of one thing for something else.

While giving is a wonderful and necessary part of life, as we connect with others through sharing and giving of our love and affection, when giving becomes sacrifice, it can indeed be destructive. It’s important to your emotional and physical health to ensure you maintain a balance, and make time for yourself, too.

Here are two ways to tell if giving has turned into sacrifice for you:

1. You feel drained and tired physically and emotionally. This is a sign you are putting others or situations ahead of your own personal care. Yes, life can be stressful and draining, but you must combat this by taking time for yourself to re-charge.

The cure:
* Start setting limits. Sometimes, you have to say “no.” This is not saying the other person isn’t important, this is saying you are just as important. It’s about survival. Think about what you are told to do on a plane in case of emergency – secure your own air bag before attempting to help others. You cannot help anyone if you run out of oxygen yourself.

*Schedule time to decompress – make time for leisurely walks, to meditate, or read a good book with no interruptions. If need be, negotiate with your spouse or family members to schedule “me” time and then reciprocate. This way, everyone wins.

2. You make excuses for other people’s behavior. When you become accustomed to giving without receiving, you justify why it is acceptable for the other person to withhold. You tell yourself this person is wounded and therefore doesn’t know any better. You rationalize their behavior by focusing on the good and ignoring the unhealthy. The tough lesson to learn is you cannot heal anyone else’s wounds, no matter how much you give to them. They must heal their own wounds.

The cure:

*Remember sacrifice is a choice, and if you continue to do it, the responsibility for your emotional state is yours.

*Realize no one has the right to cause emotional or physical harm to your being. There are absolutely no excuses for being treated poorly. Yes, we all have flaws and are human. We react to others unfairly sometimes. However, when it becomes a never-ending cycle with little change occurring despite efforts to tell someone what you need from them, it’s time to set boundaries and choose to be selfish.

Visit our Self-Care section for more articles on taking care of you!

Jennifer Garza, M.S., has a master of science in counseling and psychology. She is a former therapist and has taught life enhancement classes at venues including college campuses, state conferences and prisons. She is the author of the inspiration journal “365 Days to Happiness: Use Your Strengths, Thoughts, and Dreams to Manifest a New Life.” Garza has been featured in Natural Health magazine, AOL, BusinessInsider.com, Young Entrepreneur.com, and on FTNS radio. Visit her website at www.authorjennifergarza.com or connect with her.

The Flu Vaccine: Fact of Fiction

Posted on by Tammy

It’s recommended for the young, the old and just about everyone in between, but does it really make a difference?

By Joseph J. Murphy, DC

As consumers, we look to authorities to inform us how to stay healthy. But in the case of the influenza virus, I believe we have been led astray. Every year as flu season approaches, health authorities begin their chorus of warnings about the dangers of getting the flu. As part of their campaign to drum up support for the annual flu vaccine, it is common to hear about the 36,000 people who die every year from flu-related illness. But is this statistic even accurate?

According to a recent announcement from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

(CDC), the answer is no. In fact, according to the CDC, there is no average number of people who die from the flu because the actual count varies significantly from year to year. Published in its “Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report,” the CDC explained the actual death count from flu-related illness has been as low as 3,300 in some years, which is far lower than statistics often used by the media.

The vast majority of flu-related deaths occur in people over 65, and typically it is not even the flu that kills them, but other illnesses that result at some point after having the flu. However, this fact has not stopped the CDC from now recommending that every person over the age of six months get a flu vaccine.

The question is, do flu vaccines even work? According to two reviews recently published by the Cochrane Foundation, flu vaccinations are not effective at preventing the flu. In fact, the group’s findings say, they do virtually nothing to prevent the flu-related illnesses responsible for causing death, primarily in the elderly.

In fact, flu vaccines “show only modest or no effect against influenza and hospitalization from pneumonia,” according to Dr. Tom Jefferson from the Cochrane Vaccines Field. He also said in a podcast that “we have no reliable evidence on the effects of influenza vaccines on the elderly and health care workers who work with the elderly. What we do have evidence of is widespread manipulation of conclusions and spurious notoriety of the studies.”

In New Jersey where I practice, more vaccines are government mandated than any other state, approximately 33 in all, and it is now mandatory that all school-age children receive the flu vaccine. Yet, in many countries, like Australia, the vaccine was actually banned for children. A recent WA Today article stated that an 11-monthold boy had a seizure after receiving the first dose of the two-dose flu vaccination, and after his mother called the doctor, she was told her child was the fifth that day to be admitted to the hospital with similar symptoms.

FLAWED STATISTICS
Two of the flawed statistics touted by organized medicine and vaccine manufacturers are that “the vaccines save lives” and “vaccines are safe and effective.” But in 2004, vaccine production was low, resulting in a shortage (there was a 40 percent reduction in vaccinations). Yet mortality rates did not rise during this flu season.

Additionally, in 1968 and 1997, the formulated flu vaccine was a total mismatch for the widely circulating influenza that made people sick. So in effect, nobody was vaccinated these two years! If the vaccine reduces death rates by 50 percent as is claimed by vaccine manufacturers, then these two years in which the vaccine completely missed the mark should have seen huge spikes in winter death rates, right? But what really happened was…nothing. Not a blip. Not a spike. Nothing. The death rates didn’t rise at all.

If vaccines really worked to save lives, then the more people you vaccinate, the lower death rates you should see, but that’s not the case. Back in 1989, only 15 percent of those over 65 got vaccinated against the flu. Today, more than 65 percent are vaccinated. And yet, amazingly, death rates among the elderly have not gone down during flu season. In fact, they’ve gone up!

It’s time that we, the people, stand up and be counted. Our voices against the forced flu vaccinations of our children should be heard.

They do not work. They are not safe, and in my opinion, are totally unnecessary. For more information on flu vaccines and vaccine safety, visit the National Vaccine Information Center at www.nvic.org. This is the consumer watchdog group that tells it like it is. Here, you can also see what states require the flu vaccine for school enrollment.

Editor’s Note: The opinions stated in the above article do not necessarily reflect those of Elevated Existence Magazine, and are not a recommendation made by the magazine or its staff.

For more articles on Health and Healing visit this section of our site!

ABOUT DR. JOSEPH J. MURPHY

Dr. Joseph J. Murphy has been in private practice for 25 years, and currently practices in New Jersey. He is a past president of the N.J. Board of Chiropractic Examiners (NJBCE), and received his bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry from Rider College and his Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Palmer College. Additionally, Dr. Murphy currently authors the blog, MedicineIsKillingUs.com. For more information, visit his Web site at www.drmurphy.com or follow him on Facebook.

The Benefits of Cooking With Coconut Oil

Posted on by Tammy

Vegans already know about the power of coconut oil as a replacement for butter, and now Dr. Oz recently spoke about it on his daytime talk show, explaining it is also a great weight loss tool.

While coconut oil remains hard at room temperature, it melts quickly when warmed, and Dr. Oz explained it fights fat because it actually keeps us fuller for a longer period of time. It also helps to speed up the metabolism. He actually recommended taking two tablespoons of it daily to increase metabolism.

Also, always look for virgin coconut oil – organic preferred, but at least one that does not have any hydrogenated products in it. And many brands offer coconut oil with a neutral flavor, so it can be used for any dish.

Babycakes NYC, a vegan bakery in downtown Manhattan, recommends Omega Nutrition 100 Percent Organic Unscented Coconut Oil in their cookbook, “Babycakes Covers the Classics: Gluten-Free Vegan Recipes From Donuts to Snickerdoodles.”

While some argue coconut oil contains saturated fat, some saturated fats are actually good for you, and coconut oil falls into this category, according to physician and author Dr. Joseph Mercola, who has cited a number of health benefits from the oil including improving the heart, boosting the thyroid, increasing metabolism, promoting a lean body/weight loss, and supporting the immune system.

“Nearly 50 percent of the fat in coconut oil is of a type rarely found in nature called lauric acid, a ‘miracle’ compound because of its unique health promoting properties,” he said in an article on Huffington Post. “Your body converts lauric acid into monolaurin, which has anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-protozoa properties.”

Blissify Me: A New Meditation Game App for iPhone

Posted on by Tammy

Blissify Me is a new app for iPhone offering three levels of guided meditations in a game format to help the player elicit a relaxation response, recall positive states of mind, calm down the nervous system, and cultivate strong positive emotions.

“People new to meditation have loved the game twist,” said Christian Bergstrom, creative director of Eternitas Publishing. “By turning the learning process into a game you get an addictive layer to the meditation experience.

The app combines modern technology and ancient wisdom to bring a fun meditation experience, allowing players to earn virtual jewels for meditating and unlock lucky charms as rewards. When a player earns enough jewels, they can unlock the next progressively more advanced meditation. This feature secures a smooth learning process and allows players to learn needed foundation techniques before continuing with more advanced meditations, according to Eternitas Publishing.

“It’s a rare game that leaves the player in a better mood, relaxed and contributes to their health. We’re on a mission to facilitate happy, harmonious and mentally fit people. Happiness is a choice and you can cultivate it with the right activities and decisions,” Bergstrom said.

RECIPE: “Squashed” Apple Soup

Posted on by Tammy

We recently came across this healthy butternut squash soup recipe by nutrition expert Joy Bauer that uses apples, and our editor made it during Hurricane Sandy while staying at her aunt’s house because she had no power! It was amazing, so we decided to share it here. Enjoy!

“Squashed” Apple Soup

INGREDIENTS
1 butternut squash
½ tsp salt (split in half)
½ tsp pepper (split in half)
½ cup water
1 onion, diced
1 tbsp olive oil
2 apples, diced (we used golden delicious)
3 ½ cups reduced sodium chicken broth
1 tsp nutmeg
1 bay leaf

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut a butternut squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds, and mist the flesh with oil spray. Sprinkle each half with ¼ tsp of salt and ¼ tsp peper (we used less pepper!) Place squash flesh side down in a baking dish and add half a cup of water. Bake until flesh is fork tender, about one hour.

Once it’s cooled, scoop out the flesh and set aside. In a large pot, sauté one diced onion in a tablespoon of olive oil until translucent, about 10 minutes.

Add the squash, two chopped apples, 3 ½ cups of reduced sodium chicken broth, a teaspoon of nutmeg and a bay leaf; bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer 30 minutes.

Cool slightly, remove the bay leaf and puree in a blender until smooth (we used a stainless sleet immersion blender right in the pot).

Makes 4 servings.