The Experts Weigh In: Cancer Prevention the Natural Way!

Image via biohealingweb.com

BY: SARAH ANNE STEWART, CONTRIBUTOR

The word 'cancer' is a scary, scary word. And with the current statistics declaring that half of all men and one-third of all women in the United States will develop some sort of cancer, the word feels even more terrifying.

But instead of focusing on the negative, this statistic can shed light on and increase our awareness of a very important topic - prevention. And, while I understand the urgency and importance of finding a cure for cancer, I believe cancer prevention is grossly overlooked and underfunded. I believe in supporting companies that are sharing a message about cancer prevention, while also offering a program to educate people about healing through nutrition.

Why am I such an advocate?

Because my father overcame cancer using nutrition and alternative medicine. He can truly credit his recovery to the plant-based diet he ate, the green juices he drank, the natural supplements he took and the mind-body work that he did.

So... this success got me thinking. If cancer can be cured with nutrition and supplements, is it really that crazy to think that it can also be prevented? I think not.

While studying under some of the world's brightest minds in the world of health and wellness, I have discovered that there are certain 'staples' of successful healing programs. Here is my list of the top 12 things you can do to prevent chronic illnesses:

Image via justjuice.org

1) DRINK GREEN JUICE

Drinking cold-pressed, raw, organic juice is one of the best things you can do daily to give your body the nutrition that it needs to heal. It also makes it much easier to get your recommended servings of fresh produce without eating pounds of kale and broccoli.

2) FUEL THE BODY WITH BLENDED NOURISHMENT

Unlike juicing, blending soups and smoothies uses the entire fruit or vegetable - including the skin and all the fiber. The blending process breaks the fiber apart, which makes the fruit and vegetables easier for your body to digest and the nutrients easier to absorb.

3) EAT LIVING FOODS

Living foods are high-enzyme, chlorophyll-rich and easy to digest foods from which your body can easily receive optimal nourishment. Living foods include young organic greens, sprouted nuts, seeds and grains, fruits and vegetables, lightly fermented preparations and dehydrated crackers and snacks. Adding these to your diet is an important component of healthy living.

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4) STRUCTURE YOUR DIET AROUND RAW FOODS

Adopting a back-to-nature diet of raw foods is extremely important to the healing process. Raw foods that are prepared correctly (to maintain or unlock their life-giving nutrients) are high in enzymes, vitamins and minerals that the body needs AND are so much more nutritious than cooked foods!

5) TAKE ORGANIC WHEATGRASS SHOTS

Wheatgrass is truly nature's finest medicine. It contains an impressive array of minerals, amino acids, vitamins and enzymes. This nutrient content is significant because the human body is made up of similar components. Wheatgrass helps regulate all our bodily functions and balances the body naturally.

7) CLEANSE THE COLON

The colon is the body's major organ for elimination, so poor functioning of the colon causes sickness. Some doctors go as far as to say that disease begins in the colon. Cleansing the colon through cleanses, enemas, colonics and/or the proper fiber intake is key to preventing sickness.

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8) USE ESSENTIAL OILS

Essential oils have been used for thousands of years to heal the body while also positively affecting our spiritual, emotional, mental and physical body. Using Certified Therapeutic Grade essential oils on a daily basis can have tremendous healing benefits. Learn more about essential oils here!

9) JUMP ON A REBOUNDER

Jumping in place daily on a rebounder (a small personal 'mini-trampoline') is a great way to exercise because it supports lymphatic circulation. Stimulating the lymphatic system is extremely important in detoxifying and cleansing the body. Rebounding puts gravity to work for you with minimum muscular effort! Learn more here!

10) HAVE A DAILY MEDITATION/YOGA PRACTICE

Committing to a meditation or yoga practice is very important, as it helps reprogram your thoughts and your deep subconscious. I've learned that, without a doubt, shifting the way you think and reprogramming your subconscious mind is the most important thing you can do when facing any health challenge.

11) UNDERSTAND THE MIND-BODY CONNECTION

Thoughts become things; therefore, your body will become sick without a mind that is focused on health and happiness. It is very important to stay focused on positive thinking and having joyful experiences.

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12) ATTENDING WELLNESS-RELATED RETREATS

We tend to hang onto what we know and what has given us a sense of security in the past, so I believe it's often very beneficial to remove ourselves from our current circumstances. Attending a wellness retreat where we can disconnect in a safe, peaceful environment can empower us to bring forth a newfound sense of health and wellness. Learn more about these types of retreats here!

I will always be a strong supporter of 'awareness' movements that re-educate those who believe in 'quick-fix' solutions for cancer and other chronic illnesses. Luckily, there is now more and more scientific evidence supporting the idea that with the proper diet, supplements and lifestyle adjustments, healing can take place from the inside out.

So, I encourage you to stop waiting for the government to step in with new standards or for the medical industry to discover 'cures'. Instead, be the change-makers. Lead by example and take responsibility for your own health today.

To support these movements or learn more, please visit: Creative Health Institute, Gerson Institute and Hippocrates.

(reference: cancer.org)

Sarah Anne Stewart is a Board Certified Holistic Health Practitioner (AADP), writer, speaker, world traveler, free spirit & lover of life. Founder of Introducing Wellness LLC, Sarah Anne passionately invites others to experience a new-found "love for life" and WELLNESS through holistic healing. She enjoys writing about her down-to-earth life experiences and de-bunking conventional misconceptions about health and wellness.

Connect with her at Introducing Wellness, like her on Facebook at http://facebook.com/introducingwellness, and stay updated on Instagram @stewartsarahanne and Twitter @sarahannes.

Monday Makeover: Early Morning Affirmations

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Monday, we meet again. 

Do you ever find yourself facing Monday with a less-than-stellar attitude? On a Monday morning, it's not uncommon to overhear just about every customer grumbling to the barrista about their horrible fate... "Can you BELIEVE the weekend is over? I mean, wasn't it just Friday? My to-do list this week is killer. God help me". And if we're being honest here, many times that person is ME.

Bitching and moaning just seems like the American thing to do on a Monday, right?

But you know what? I'm tired of spreading the negativity around. I've done quite enough of that in my lifetime of Mondays. Instead, this week I'm going to make a conscious effort to wake up every morning and take a moment to thank God for giving me another day - another day to feel the cool fall breeze, taste a warm pumpkin latte (thank you, Starbucks!), smile at a stranger, learn something new, help someone who needs it and spread love to every person I encounter.

I've never been one for meditation. If you know me, you know that my mind is always working and it's hard for me to quiet that chaos down. But a month ago, my client and I did a 30-Day Meditation Challenge with Deepak Chopra and Oprah. It was 15 minutes of guided meditation each morning, focusing on building abundance in your relationship with yourself and others. 

Image via jianiteo.com

We meditated on affirmations. If you're not familiar with an affirmation, it's basically a positive declaration or belief. For example, if you are ill, your affirmation could be "I am a vibrant, healthy person who will live a long and happy life" OR if you are feeling unworthy of love, your affirmation could be "I am a beautiful and caring person, deserving of a healthy, uplifting relationship."

You may not believe the affirmation that you're meditating on, but that's beside the point. By meditating on an affirmation and constantly speaking that affirmation to yourself, you will begin to see how the affirmation slowly morphs into a belief. And when you believe something to be true, it will manifest itself in your life and influence your actions and your future.

So today, join me in a Monday Makeover. Speak an affirmation to yourself, then affirm others, knowing that you have been given another Monday for a reason.

Wishing you all a very blessed week!

The Experts Weigh In: The Intention Behind Your Yoga Practice

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BY: GRETA HILL, CONTRIBUTOR

Yoga has recently become a buzzword that is commonly associated with health, fitness and relaxation.  Although yoga is indeed associated with all these aspects of wellness, yoga can also be a practice that promotes deep inner growth and change.  Our bodies, minds, and hearts are deeply connected and interrelated.  As we work on one aspect of ourselves  (like our physical bodies), we simultaneously promote change in the other aspects of ourselves - our minds and hearts. I really love the Sanskrit word for "transformation" - Parinama.  It translates as “folding within to offer out”.  For something to truly transform, we must first take it in, sit with it (meditate) and then turn it into an offering from inside out. 

Yoga practice is truly a process of transformation, but how can we cultivate that change in real and lasting ways?

I began practicing yoga 18 years ago when my mom died of colon cancer at age 46.  It was the darkest time in my life, and I longed to find some peace and understanding.  About that time, my college roommate’s sister came to live with us after spending a year in India.  She seemed “spiritual” and “happy” and I wanted some of what she had!  At her suggestion, I immediately immersed myself in all the yoga I could find - which was substantially less in 1995 than what's out there now.  To be honest, I didn’t really understand how these poses were helping me become more peaceful or happy.  In fact, they mostly just frustrated me!  

Image via parinama.com

A well-kept secret among yoga practitioners is that many of the poses are extremely uncomfortable, sometimes painful, and far from “relaxing”...by design.  Yet I stuck with it and slowly I did begin to change. Slowly but surely as my tight hamstrings and rounded shoulders opened, my mind also opened.  That gnawing pain inside my grieving heart began to soften, and the anger and resentment I felt at losing my mom so early in life began to melt away with every drop of sweat that hit my mat. Mysteriously, the discipline of aligning and stretching my body into these shapes while quieting my mind and deepening my breath began to transform something deep within me.  Without any understanding of why or how, as I regularly practiced these yoga poses with deep awareness, my heart began to heal.  My perspective on the world and my place within it shifted.  My sadness and loneliness dissipated, and I felt truly connected and whole.  

I recently heard that the only real catalyst for change is crisis.  Although there may be some truth to this, my wish for everyone is that we can cultivate the courage to truly turn within, digest what needs digesting, and create a sweet offering from our own hurts, mistakes, grievances and pain.  There is a beautiful poem on transformation that says, 

           

            “Last night as I was sleeping,

            I dreamt—marvelous error!—

            that I had a beehive

            here inside my heart.

            And the golden bees

            were making white combs

            and sweet honey

            from my old mistakes.”

            

            -Antonio Machado, "Last Night As I Was Sleeping"

Yoga can be an important tool for inner (and outer) transformation.  Unfortunately, many classes today are taught from a purely physical, fitness-based approach.  While there is definite value to this, I believe yoga is much more than just a physical practice.  One way for any practitioner to engage in this “inner unfolding” or transformation is to always set a clear and powerful intention before practicing yoga.

Image via flickr.com

Here are some simple steps for turning your yoga routine into a true tool for growth and change. First, always put your practice into the context of something bigger.   Rather than just settling for a good stretch or workout, sit for a minute, connect to your breathing, and let your mind relax. Contemplate what you really desire on the deepest level.  It may be something simple like “relaxation” or something more complex like “forgiving _______ who hurt me and truly moving on”.  Then, whatever intention arises naturally from your heart, listen to it and use it to fuel your practice.  I like to break down my intentions into one word when possible.  I often am working on transforming my impatience into greater compassion and tolerance.  So I simplify this into a word like “patience” or “acceptance”.  Next, use this word as an inner mantra (inner affirmation) throughout the entire practice.  Often, whatever we are struggling with on the outside will show up during our yoga practice.  When I am impatient with others in my daily life, I also notice myself being impatient with my teacher or my body during yoga.  So I silently repeat “patience” with every breath.  Use yoga as an opportunity to embody the quality you are transforming or cultivating.  Make every single pose an expression of this intention.  

When we take the time to really create an intention and apply it to every single pose and every single breath, our yoga practice truly becomes a vehicle of inner transformation.  We are then able to turn within, churn our experience, and make a sweet offering back out into the world.  In this way we transform not only ourselves, but everyone and everything around us.

Greta Hill is a passionate, inspiring, and highly skilled yoga teacher (E-RYT-500) and health coach who has taught both nationally and internationally. She is known for her dynamic and creative sequencing, clear and precise alignment instruction and down-to-earth approach to bringing yogic philosophy to life on and off the mat! She is dedicated to uplifting and empowering her clients by cultivating a safe space for true transformation to occur.  Greta has been featured in a variety of magazines including Yoga Journal Brazil, Run W, O2 magazine, and Estilo Natural.  A combination of wanderlust and meeting the love of her life led her to Sao Paulo, Brazil, where she currently lives and leads workshops, retreats, yoga immersions, Teacher Training programs, and also works extensively with private clientele.  Find out more at www.gretahillwellness.com.

The Benefits of Sesame Oil (Part 3): From My Nose to Your Ears!

If I had to pick one body part to beat up West Side Story-style, it would be my nose. 

Let's see... where do I start? 

As a child, I would be sitting in class, minding my own business, when suddenly my history book would be covered in blood. Seriously, nose? A little warning, maybe? Sometimes, these incidences were so bad that I had to make an impromptu trip to the doctor to get my nose cauterized (if you don't know what that is, consider yourself lucky).

So that's how our relationship began.

Then, after a few years of peace and quiet, my nose decided to bust loose on me again, just actin' a fool - this time in the form of allergies. I was allergic to EVERYTHING - grass, pollen, dogs, cats, rabbits, mold, dust, boys (j/k... that was just the cooties) - you name it, it was on the list. As a result, my mother was forced to buy me hypoallergenic stuffed animals and keep me away from rabbit fur coats, which were all the rave in 3rd grade, by the way. 

Dear Nose,

I don't like you one bit. 

Love, Lauren.

Because constant barrage by my own body is really not my bag, I have been on a lifelong hunt to find a natural solution, and guess what? In keeping with the theme of sesame oil, I may have found just that!

Image via satmya.ie

Nasya, is an Ayurvedic remedy for nasal cleansing. The nose is the gateway to your head, so it's no surprise that systematic Nasya practice would have all sorts of benefits pertaining to your noggin'. You perform Nasya with plain, natural sesame oil (not the type you find in your average Asian grocery). If you have a local health food store, you may even be able to find a medicated oil infused with herbs. As far as the technique goes,  store the sesame oil in a glass jar with a dropper. When you're ready for treatment, warm up the oil in a hot water bath. When the oil is warm (not hot, that would hurt), tilt your head back, insert 2-3 drops per nostril and spend a few minutes inhaling deeply so that the oil can penetrate the sinus cavity. 

Image via yourdictionary.com

Seeing as how I'm usually pressed for time though, it's also effective (though slightly less so) to dip a Q-tip into the sesame oil and rub it on the inside of each nostril, inhaling as you go. It's as simple as that.

Ok, so now that we've covered the specifics, let's talk about why you would ever consider sniffing sesame oil. Nasya therapy is said to treat congestion, headaches, allergies, fatigue, insomnia, puffy eyes, dark circles, snoring, anxiety and other stress-related problems. Nasya also goes hand-in-hand with a regular yoga practice because it has a strong positive effect on concentration and meditation. But most importantly, proponents of Nasya therapy claim that it's an instant dose of 'happiness'.

Who doesn't want that?

So while I can't claim that one week's worth of Nasya therapy has changed my life, I can offer this information up to you, in hopes that we can change our lives (and sinuses) together. 

Honestly, I'd just be happy if my nose and I could call a truce.

C'mon, sesame oil! Work your magic.

A Little OM: Meditation to Calm the Madness

The average American is exposed to over 3,000 advertising messages a day. That's scary, especially living in New York City where you literally hop in a cab and find yourself sitting in front of a TV screen. YIKES!To make matters worse, most of us are addicted to social media sites like Facebook and Twitter and truly believe that our lives are over when we leave the house without our cell phones (Yes, I am including myself in these generalizations...don't worry!).

Try as we might, it's very hard to disconnect from our environment. We're taught, especially in America, that time is money and there's so little time! So we go into work early, stay late, answer our phones at all hours of the night, miss those important family events - all because we have no idea how to disconnect.

There IS an answer! Wait for it... wait for it...



Image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

MEDITATION!

Wait, did I lose you? You're not into that type of thing? It's too spiritual? You don't have time for such nonsense? OK. OK. I get it, but you'll be hard pressed to convince me that you can't take just 10 minutes out of the day to nurture yourself. There are 1,440 minutes in a day. You can spare a few! Meditation is a great way to silence the madness, and you'll be shocked to see how much it does for you physically, emotionally and spiritually!

Here are 10 reasons you should give it a try, followed by suggestions for getting started...

• Meditation lowers your blood pressure and can help reduce your dependence on medication. - Put the pills down, pill-popper!
• Meditation has a calming effect. Because it reduces your blood lactate levels, you are less likely to experience an anxiety attack. - Ah, freak out! Le freak, c'est chic!
• Mediation decreases muscle tension and muscle pain. It's especially helpful for athletes and those recovering from an operation. - Surgery, schmurgery.
• Meditation helps to relieve headaches and the symptoms of PMS. - Ladies, your significant other will thank you!
• Meditation increases the production of serotonin, the 'happy hormone'. - You'll be as happy as a hippie in a mud puddle at Bonnaroo!
• Meditation increases your 'natural-killer cell' activity. Killer cells fight off cancer and other unwanted bacteria in the body. - Killer cells... so much more helpful than killer bees or killer sharks!
• Meditation helps your lungs use oxygen more efficiently. - Rid yourself of the dreaded Duncan Sheik-syndrome!
• Meditation helps you sleep better. - Nighty night, world!
• Meditation increases your concentration and strengthens your mind. - It's like an instant Harvard degree! Well, not really...but you get the point!
• Meditation improves your memory and your capacity to learn. - Somebody will want to take you to trivia with them!

If you'd like to give it a try, start with 10 minutes a day, broken into the following...

Image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

MORNING (5 minutes): When your alarm goes off, don't just hop right out of bed. Take 5 minutes to set the tone for the day. Lie in bed on your back with your hand on your stomach. Take deep breaths in and out for 5 minutes, concentrating on the rise and fall of your stomach. Your mind will inevitably start to wander and that's ok. Just try to stay focused on those deep breaths. When the 5 minutes is up, you'll feel more refreshed as you enter your day.


AFTERNOON (2 minutes): Obviously, your work situation may not be conducive to taking a 'breather', but this is a great time to take a moment for yourself if you can. Mid-afternoon tends to be the time when you hit a wall and feel your energy waning. Instead of going on a coffee run, find a chair, sit in it and rest your hands lightly on your knees. Just like before, take deep breaths in and out for 2 minutes, concentrating on your breathing alone. If you can't do this at work, just add the 2 minutes to your bedtime routine.


NIGHT (3 minutes): I don't know about you, but when I lay down for bed, my mind is always racing. I can't turn it off, and it keeps me awake. Try lying down and spelling the word 'SLEEP' out loud. On the exhale, recite 'S', on the inhale, recite 'L'... you get the idea. Before you know it, you'll be fast asleep.


See? Meditation doesn't have to be all 'Eat, Pray, Love'. You can do what works for you and you'll notice that even 10 minutes makes a huge difference in the way you feel!

Who wants to get all ZEN with me?