Everything is interconnected. Our environment is really an extension of us. What we do to planet earth, we do to ourselves. When we look at what is happening in the world right now, we see that we are in crisis. With Earth Day around the corner, let’s examine what we can do in this crisis.

What is Crisis?

On the outer physical realm it looks like tsunamis, earthquakes, nuclear crisis, hurricanes, tornadoes, destructive fires, extensive heat waves and droughts, melting glaciers, raising sea levels and icebergs the size of small states breaking away from ice caps. There are breakdowns in all aspects of reality these days.

The dictionary says a crisis is: any event that is, or expected to lead to, an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, community or whole society.

When written in Chinese, the word crisis is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity.  John F. Kennedy said this in one of his speeches on April 12, 1959.

I believe most crises provide an opening for growth, no matter how fearful the circumstances, because crises stop the treadmill we are on and force us to look at what really matters. We can grow emotionally and spiritually from crisis if we choose to.

Paradigms

Paradigm shift was the term used in the influential book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn (1962) to describe a change in the basic assumptions, or paradigms, within the ruling theory of science. Paradigms are also referred to as thought patterns.

Being in a crisis can speed up the changing of paradigms or basic assumptions that are no longer working in our world.

Our Response to Crisis

We can respond on the physical level and that is a wise thing to do. I’m sure you have read many articles at this point (including some of my earlier blogs) on what we can change and how to protect Mother Earth. There is much to read and much to do on the physical realm. There are ways we can help the earth and make a difference.  You can refer back to Awakening the Dreamer, 3 Common Household Chemicals Killing The Great Lakes, Making Intelligent Environmental Choices Inside Our Homes, 7 Questions to Ask To Help Protect our Planet to see some ideas and maybe change some paradigms.

What about our other responses – our mental, emotional and spiritual responses?  We tend to think that our five senses is all we have. So we tend to think that what is physically apparent is all there is. But now with quantum physics, we know that there is a lot going on in the invisible realms. Remember everything vibrates and those unseen energies are just as important as our physical endeavors.

How Important Are The Other Realms?

If we think about something before it becomes physical, then our thinking mind is very important.  If we need emotion to strengthen the attraction factor, then that becomes important too. Emotions are also a compass to tell us if we are on the right track or not. If we are feeling good, we know are going in the right direction with what we are thinking. If we are not feeling good, that is a sign to stop or examine what is going on. Our spiritual response is the recognition of a multi-dimensional universe that is still a mystery in many senses. It is the response that connects us all as we are all one with this realm.

Our mental, emotional and spiritual responses are what is needed in this particular crisis. There still may need to be some paradigms shifts here with these responses, but they are where our power resides.

We need new thinking and the emotions of love, compassion, gratitude, peace, joy, harmony, trust, hope, etc. to abound while realizing that everything is connected to one source.  If we, as the people of planet earth, come together in thought, emotion and spirit, we would be able to change the physical realm very quickly. The power and the potential to reverse this crisis is within our grasp.

Get involved with community efforts in your location. “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed individuals can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.“ Margaret Mead

Contact me if you want to join our group working to make a difference. Happy Earth Day!

I’d love to get your feedback.  Here on my blog, you’ll get commentluv.  That’s great for all bloggers out there. If you leave a comment, you can provide a link back to your own blog.  But you don’t have to be a blogger to leave a comment; I’m looking forward to hearing from all of you!

Until next time,

Charlene

For my daughter’s birthday, I decided to hire a raw food chef to prepare a totally raw gourmet dinner. I knew it would be a completely new experience for the whole family, except me, who has eaten this way before.  Not only was this a healthy gift, consuming a diet of raw food has a healthy impact on the environment as well. Read on to find out how.

I consulted with both Alexi Bracey (the raw food chef) and my daughter and came up with a menu that would suit most of the varying taste buds within our family. What we came up with was a choice of soups; Sweet and Spicy Red Pepper or Borscht, Lasagna and Coleslaw for the main course and Carrot Cake or Lemon Tart in Pecan Crust for desert.

The choices were good as we covered most of the family taste buds that way. During the dinner, there were tons of questions about ingredients and how it was made and most of the family enjoyed the meal.

The resounding response was that the meal was extremely filling and there was no snacking after the meal and during our evening conversation. Everyone felt very nourished and very full. So I felt that I had given a very healthy gift not only to my daughter but to the rest of the family as well. The grandkids will grow into it as they mature, but they at least tried everything.

So why raw food?

The raw food diet is one of the best kept secrets to creating optimal health, emotional balance and spiritual transformation. I find when I eat more raw, my energy changes. I am more alive and have more energy. I also notice a difference in my vibration. It is not as dense. In terms of the environment, it reconnects me again to Nature and Mother Earth.

Raw foods are alive with their enzymes intact. Processed food has valuable but fragile vitamins, enzymes, phytochemicals and probably other things as well, destroyed during cooking and processing.

Raw and living foodists eat all fruits, vegetables, seaweed, sea vegetables, roots, sprouts, nuts, seeds, grains, sea vegetables and other organic/natural foods that have not been processed, such as fresh fruit or vegetable juices, sweeteners, fresh herbs, raw spices, young coconut milk, fresh nut milks, purified water and oil.

There are special ways to prepare the foods by soaking, sprouting, juicing, dehydrating, pickling, and blending. This involves equipment like:

• containers for soaking the seeds, grains and beans
• a dehydrator (a piece of equipment that can blow air through food at low temperatures)
• a juicer, blender, food processor, and a sprouter

There are other pieces of equipment you may need when you get into the gourmet aspects of preparation, but these are the essential ones.

There are numerous health benefits to eating this way:

• increased energy,
• clearer skin,
• illness prevention,
• slowed aging,
• a naturally detoxed body,
• reduced risk of disease, etc.

In addition, raw food is rich in fiber, more flavorful, you can eat as much as you want and still maintain a healthy weight, it is easier to digest and it takes less time to prepare in most cases, easier to clean up, and there is more nutritional value in the food.

Let us not overlook the effect on the overall environment.  Eating raw is also environmentally sound. Think about it: with humanity on a diet of raw foods, the food industry would close up shop and take up organic gardening. What a concept! This would save us enormous amounts of natural resources used to produce power for these industries. Also, think of the forests we’d save, when we wouldn’t need the paper and plastics used in packaging our processed foods. There would also be less carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere when all the cooking stopped.  More oxygen would be produced from all the new orchards and gardens. I know this whole idea might seem improbable, but if all of us made a few changes bit by bit, it would add up to help save Mother Earth.

I know we are not anywhere near this little dream of mine, but it is good to dream and throw around these ideas. I want our future generations to enjoy this planet as much as we have. Slowly more and more people are getting back in touch with themselves and with nature. So you never know what the future holds.

I’d love to get your feedback.  Here on my blog, you’ll get commentluv.  That’s great for all bloggers out there. If you leave a comment, you can provide a link back to your own blog.  But you don’t have to be a blogger to leave a comment; I’m looking forward to hearing from all of you!

To your good health!

Charlene

Nature Versus The Business Of Food

“All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.” Arthur Schopenhauer

From a marketing perspective, milk is often described as “Nature’s Perfect Food”.  It is recommended by traditional doctors, television ads and even our own mothers.  After all, milk builds strong bones and teeth, it’s natural, and it’s loaded with calcium. This is what many people still believe.

So the new truth is, we are the only species on earth to continue consuming milk past the age of weaning. If milk is such a good thing, why are thousands of North American women being diagnosed with osteoporosis? Cow’s milk and cow’s milk products are the highest mucous foods you can consume. They clog the blood and arteries leading to heart disease. The hormones in milk have been implicated in promoting fibrocystic breast disease and breast cancer. They are the leading cause of childhood ear infections, asthma, sinusitis, allergies, excess mucous, weight issues and behavioural disorders. What about the increase in childhood cancer and juvenile diabetes rates? The list goes on and on. Clearly it’s not as nature intended.

What did nature intend? Well, if we go back to times before food became a business, we see that cows were treated more humanely and not kept in stalls all their lives. We see that cows were in the pastures and were grass-fed. The animals were not treated with hormones, fed antibiotics, or other unnecessary drugs, so their products were healthy, wholesome and natural in every sense of the word.

Raising animals on pasture is better for the animals, the farmers, and the environment. Just as important, grass-fed products are better for your health. They are lower in total fat and calories but richer in “good” fats such as omega-3 fatty acids and the cancer-fighting fat, CLA. Conjugated linoleic acid or CLA has demonstrated a multitude of benefits in animal studies, including fat reduction, increase in lean muscle mass, reduced risk of diabetes, reversal of arteriosclerosis, and a marked reduction in tumor growth. Grass fed milk has up to 500% more CLA. In New Zealand today, all cattle are grass-fed, thus insuring a high nutrient content of their milk, butter, and meat.

So what happened when food became a business? Most of the meat, poultry, dairy products and eggs available in your grocery store come from animals that are raised in large confinement facilities where they are fed grain-based diets and treated with a variety of drugs. Today’s milk comes from cows that live in over-crowded conditions with limited space to move around. Disease spreads quickly and many antibiotics are used to treat the sick animals.

Hormones, chlorine, pasteurization, homogenization, added synthetic vitamins are all used in the production of milk. Cow’s milk, both regular and organic, contains up to 59 active hormones, high fat content and hundreds of allergens. And if these were not enough, milk contains high amounts of herbicides, pesticides, antibiotics, blood, pus and a variety of bacteria and viruses.

Sure, homogenization and pasteurization can kill most of the bacteria, but not the toxins these bacteria create. These high heat processes also destroy the nutrients present in the raw milk. What is left behind is nothing more than a ‘dead beverage’ with a high amount of pesticides and other dangerous chemicals in it.

Pasteurization also changes the casein so that it combines with and immobilizes any calcium it comes in contact with. Therefore the casein binds the calcium in milk so the human body does not absorb it. There goes the notion that you are getting your calcium when you drink your milk. Better sources of calcium are green vegetables, sea vegetables (particularly Hijiki which contains 1400 mg calcium per l cup), fish, organic nuts, goat’s milk or cheese, molasses, grains, fruit and kefir. If you’re really concerned about calcium intake, use a high quality calcium/magnesium supplement like Shaklee’s Cal/Mag which has been tested for good absorption.

In addition, pesticide residues with estrogenic properties are consumed in the food that is given to these animals and are subsequently concentrated in the milk. These harmful estrogens are then deposited in our fatty tissues and on estrogen and progesterone cell receptor sites, where they are known to interfere in the proper utilization and production of progesterone and estrogen.

Other issues with milk are that it is very difficult for humans to digest cow milk protein. Cow milk is produced for a calf, not a human. Calves double their weight in 47 days and grow to 300 pounds or more within a year. Cow milk contains protein molecules that are much larger than the protein in human milk and three times the amount of human milk. This shows up dramatically in children. Since the intestines are still forming, these large molecules poke holes in the wall of the intestine leading to what is referred to as “leaky gut” which leads to allergies.

Many people develop lactose intolerance, which is the inability to digest the milk sugar lactose. This is a result of the fact that after the age of four, their bodies stop producing the enzyme lactase, which is necessary to digest the lactose.

Cow’s milk and other dairy products are high in fat. The dairy industry has cleverly expressed fat content as a percentage of weight. Using this system, 2% milk, which is 87% water by weight, sounds like a low-fat product. Expressed as a percentage of total calories, 2% milk is in fact 35% fat. 1% is 23% fat. Whole milk is 49% fat. Yogurt is 49% fat, cheese is 40-77% fat and butter is 100% fat.

So the bottom line with milk consumption, is that we need to think whole food again. It is time for us to stop supporting the food business, which is not supporting our health. I believe that the diseases we are experiencing from consuming denatured products are a wakeup call. Personally, I will continue to avoid denatured products dairy or otherwise, and support products from New Zealand and whole foods. I encourage you to do the same. It is time for us to embrace and live in harmony with nature once again.

Do you have a story to share? I’d love to get your feedback.  Here on my blog, you’ll get commentluv.  That’s great for all bloggers out there. If you leave a comment, you can provide a link back to your own blog.  But you don’t have to be a blogger to leave a comment; I’m looking forward to hearing from all of you!

To your good health!

Charlene

What is environment?

We generally think of the environment as being outside of ourselves. But just think about it for a moment. If we look at our planet from outer space and see the globe, we are part of that picture. Yes, we are too small to be seen by the physical eye but we are in that picture. So technically we are part of the environment not separate from it.

Our environment consists of land and water. There are many creatures both in the water and on the land. All connected in what we call the web of life. In this environment, the human creatures grow food from the land and drink the water that is potable.

What is food?

Food starts from a seed and that seed grows in the soil and we humans eat various parts of the end result, either the root or the above ground part. Humans also kill animals and fish for food as well. There is a whole cycle of life involved here.

Have you ever marveled at the miracle of the seed? Inside the seed is an imprint of a plant along with the initial nutrients needed to get the seedling stage. The seeds need some good soil, the right temperature, oxygen, water and sun in order to germinate. Each seed produces a life form with its own circulatory system and roots for assimilation of soil nutrients. Each seed knows every possible detail of the plant or tree it is to become. All that information is wrapped up in a tiny seed. Isn’t that amazing?

When we grow our food or we buy it from stores (who buy the food from food producers through a whole distribution channel), we get the results of the seed interacting with the environment. When we grow the food ourselves, we are in control of the kind of soil we use, the fertilizers and the growing conditions like where we place the seed.  We can choose not to spray any pesticides or herbicides and have everything organically grown. When we purchase from a store we have to be more careful of our choices. There is some organic produce available but it may take some extra effort to find it.

As the plants grow, they take in water and mineral elements from the soil through the root system. They absorb carbon dioxide from the air and through the action of light, directed by chlorophyll, liberate oxygen into the environment. This process is called photosynthesis and the chlorophyll makes more simple substances such as sugars, starch, cellulose, acids, lignin, tannins, amino acids, etc.  The living material of the plant is called protoplasm. Many plants have their own unique substances formed exclusive to that plant. So really plants are energy converters. This is truly a miracle when you think about it.

There are minerals in good rich soils that we can’t absorb until the plant takes them in through the root system and converts them through this whole process of photosynthesis. The energy in the earth comes through the plants and after we eat and absorb these plants, we get the kind of energy we need.

Energy vibrates.

Everything vibrates at different frequencies. Let’s think about what we are putting into our bodies.  Remember we are not only physical; we are also vibrating mentally, emotionally and spiritually. So when we nourish our bodies, we are nourishing all aspects of us. Every meal gives us a chance to energize physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

All the plants and all our food vibrate. If our food has been treated in any way, that changes the vibration.  There are too many factors that change the vibration to list, but bottom line, the more fake a food is, the more the vibration has been changed.

The vibration we are looking for is the one that keeps our energy high. So the more alive and untreated the food is, the more it will nourish us on all levels. So going back to we are the environment, what we do to our food, we do ourselves. What we do to our water, we do to ourselves. Everything is connected.

Our planet is in a state of disarray presently. I believe we are getting signals to remind us to go back to nature and everything natural. I hope that this blog made some connections for you. A gentle reminder to be more aware of what we are putting into our mouth if our desire is to be healthy.

Do you have a story to share? I’d love to get your feedback.  Here on my blog, you’ll get commentluv.  That’s great for all bloggers out there. If you leave a comment, you can provide a link back to your own blog.  But you don’t have to be a blogger to leave a comment; I’m looking forward to hearing from all of you!

Stay tuned for more on the vibrational effects of food.

Charlene

One Food That Can Save the Day

We are faced with numerous environmental challenges these days. This one is particularly dangerous and I wanted to inform you where you are being exposed to these chemicals and the effects it is having to our future generations.

The word “xenoestrogens” means foreign estrogens. They are man-made environmental chemicals, which are taken up by the estrogen receptor sites in the body and seriously interfere with natural biochemical changes.  These estrogen-like mimics have an uncanny ability to mimic natural estrogen and/or block natural hormones. They have distinct effects in different species and organs. Xenoestrogens are fat-soluble, not biodegradable or well excreted, and accumulate in fat tissue of animals and humans.  They are also dangerously toxic. The principle function of estrogens is to cause cellular proliferation and growth of tissues of the sexual organs and other tissues related to reproduction. So the union of hormone mimics to receptors, triggers genes that stimulate the production of proteins that accelerate cell division. This cell division is leading to a host of health challenges.

Mounting research is now revealing an alarming situation worldwide created by the inundation of these hormone-mimics. In the book, Our Stolen Future, authors Colburn, Dumanoski, and Meyers have identified 51 families of hormone mimics each able to unleash a torrent of effects such as reduced sperm production, cell division and sculpting of the developing brain. These mimics are not only linked to the recent discovery that human sperm counts worldwide have plunged by 50 per cent between 1938 and 1990 but also to altered sexual behaviour, lowered immunity, increased genital deformities, breast, ovarian, uterine, prostate and testicular cancer, and interfered with behavioral and neurological development.

For women, fibrocystic breast disease, polycystic ovarian syndrome, endometriosis, uterine fibroids and pelvic inflammatory diseases are also suspected. These may be influenced by developmental or chronic lifetime exposure to estrogen mimics.

These estrogenic chemicals are everywhere: in the air, water, food, soil, and over-abundantly in our bodies. These chemicals are mostly from the petrochemical industry and unfortunately for our health, petrochemicals are everywhere. Our machines run on petrochemicals such as gasoline and kerosene. Organochlorines are produced by chlorine gas reacting with petroleum hydrocarbons. Today there are organochlorines being used in plastics, pesticides, solvents, dry cleaning agents, refrigerants and other chemicals. Thousands more are by-products of the disinfection of water, bleaching of paper and incineration of chlorinated products.  Millions of products, including various plastics (polycarbonated plastics found in babies bottles, toys, food containers and water jugs), PCBs, microchips, medicines, even our synthetic vitamins, clothing, foods, household cleansers, air deodorizers, personal care products (such as cosmetics, antiperspirants, soaps, toothpaste and mouthwash), pesticides and herbicides (such as DDT, dieldrin, heptachlor, etc.) and perfumes, either contain or are made from petrochemicals.

Some proven environmental estrogens used as pesticides, most notably DDT, toxaphene and dicofol, have been banned in most western industrial countries but are still used in many developing nations. Averages of over 25% of all regular Canadian and imported produce show residues of pesticides. In just one example, California raisin and strawberry growers and Washington State apple growers are permitted to use DDT-laced pesticide dicofol on food crops.

Drinking water may be contaminated by other proven estrogenic compounds  (nonylphenol (NP), endosulfan) still being used in plastics manufacturing and pesticides.  NP from our liquid laundry detergent, all-purpose cleaners, soaps and shampoos also taint our water.  Airborne ash from industry or hazardous waste incinerators is often high in hormone disrupters like dioxin (one of the most virulent) as well as lead, mercury, and cadmium. The ash lands on grass or hay eaten by livestock and then is passed along, concentrated, to humans.

Our food is one of the most common pathways for these hormone-disrupting chemicals to gain entry. Processed foods now comprise 80% of our food supply. Packaging, excess sugar and hydrogenated fats, preservatives, artificial colour and flavourings may all be hazardous.  For example, Red Dye No. 3, a powerful carcinogen, is still widely used. Plastic containers, styrene cups, food packaging or can liners may contain PVCs (polyvinyl chlorides), alkylphenols, nonylphenols, bisphenol-a and phthalates. These are known xenoestrogens that migrate into food when heated or stored for long periods.

Food animals and dairy fat are a major source of hormonally active chemicals in our food and waterways. The highest concentrations are in beef and dairy products, with high residues of DDT and other chlorinated pesticides, antibiotics, veterinary drugs and growth-stimulating sex hormones. Fish from industrialized waterways are contaminated with a wide range of xenoestrogens. All Great Lakes salmon show enlarged thyroid glands in recent years.

Taking it one step further, synthetic estrogens are also being dumped into the waterways through the urine of women and enter our food chain. This has also increased our levels of estrogen exposure.

So we see xenoestrogens are everywhere and that we are being bombarded with them. Many women are considered “estrogen dominate” because of our over exposure to these foreign estrogens.  Because this is a big topic, I will deal with this subject next week. What I want to cover this week is that there is a safe alternative that can actually protect us from this over exposure.

Plant estrogens, called phytoestrogens, compete with natural and xenoestrogens for binding to receptors in the body. The phytoestrogens protect us from the toxic, synthetic petrochemical estrogenic compounds. They act as weak estrogens and appear to produce estrogen effects in postmenopausal women and anti-estrogen effects in premenopausal women.  Phytoestrogens thus have this ability to act as “balancers” – by raising low levels of estrogen and by lowering high levels by replacing a strong estrogen with a weaker one.

Significant amounts of phytoestrogens are found in many foods including soy products, flaxseeds, chickpeas, cashews, oats, corn, apples, and almonds.  One of the best sources of phytoestrogens is called isoflavones found in soy.  By eating these foods on a daily basis, we can protect the cell receptor sites from the xenoestrogens. This is an important awareness as most people do not know the benefits of these foods. Phytoestrogens are therefore the “good guys” and can counteract the bad effects of the “bad guys”. So do yourself a favour and protect your cell receptor sites on a daily basis.

Every morning I take my water washed soy protein powder and mix it with water. After I drink it, I know that I have protected my cell receptor sites for the day. I highly recommend that you do the same for increased health and wellness. Feel free to contact me for more information on the difference in the brands of soy protein powder.

Do you have a story to share? I’d love to get your feedback.  Here on my blog, you’ll get commentluv.  That’s great for all bloggers out there. If you leave a comment, you can provide a link back to your own blog.  But you don’t have to be a blogger to leave a comment; I’m looking forward to hearing from all of you!

Next week I will cover the different types of estrogens and estrogen dominance.

Stay tuned.

Charlene Day

Changing the Dream

Healthy Soul-utions is all about being healthy in all areas. This month there was a great focus on planet earth with Earth Day celebrations drawing to a close.

Everything is interconnected. Our environment is really an extension of us. What we do the planet, we do to ourselves. This week we are going to look at some ideas out of a program I do called Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream.

I’m also very excited to include a picture of Van Jones and myself at the Green Living Show in Toronto just after Earth Day. Van Jones is an American environmental advocate, civil rights activist and attorney. Jones is a co-founder of three non-profit organizations and a contributor to Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream.

Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream is a program of The Pachamama Alliance that serves as a galvanizing space for individuals to deeply explore the extraordinary possibilities inherent in a communion of technology with spirit. Through participation in this program, people are offered a new place to stand in looking at their world and their lives, and are empowered to formulate their own personal daily practices that contribute to the creation of a new dream for themselves as well as for our world.

The Pachamama Alliance is committed to finding ways to support a growing effort to help us awaken from the seductive trance of unlimited progress, unrestrained private interest and material accumulation. We are clear that there is now an unprecedented opportunity to live from a new vision, one made possible by the merging of two ways of seeing the world that until now have seemed to be totally distinct— a marriage of the technological skill of the modern world, with the earth-honoring wisdom of indigenous cultures.

Each of us has the opportunity to make new choices in our daily lives, to create new practices that we take on each and every day. Our invitation is for you to design practices for yourself that have you be ‘in action’ consistent with creating an environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling and socially just human presence on this planet as the guiding principle of our time. The name of the game is: engage. Small steps are good. Big steps are good. Have it be a practice that delights, satisfies and inspires you. You might like to include some of the aspects listed below:

My Relationship with Earth/Environmental Sustainability

• Identify habits in the way I live that are unsustainable for me or the earth, that I intend to do something about
• Eat less  _______ and more _______
• Carpool, bicycle, take public transportation or walk ___ times each week in lieu of driving my own internal combustion vehicle
• Begin to investigate “one-earth” methods of transportation, heating, and refrigeration at home & work
• Purchase only items whose packaging, ingredients and methods of production are sustainable and support life. (Note: Check my recent Earth Day blogs for ideas)
• Spend some aware moments outdoors, in nature every single day
• Plant a tree, a garden
• Clean up a beach, trail, field, path, roadway
• Pay attention to and track the natural cycles of the moon, sun(light), stars, plants and animals
• Make Your Money Make a Difference – there has never been a more powerful time to divert our financial energy from institutions and corporations that perpetuate the old dream, check out ethicalconsumer.org, kiva.org or The Better World Shopping Guide.

My Relationship with Others/Community/Social Justice

• Regularly initiate conversations about a sustainable and socially just human presence on the planet with friends and family
• Go online and investigate 10 “civil society” groups and/or initiatives that intrigue me, and join at least one
• Investigate the current topics in my local community with regard to politics and environmental/social issues
• Write/email letters to your representatives
• Buy only what I need for a specific time period; invite others to participate
• Notice the times when society/the culture relates to me primarily as a consumer
• Make a micro loan to a third world entrepreneur and establish an e-mail relationship with him/her on kiva.org
• Set aside a percentage of my monthly income to support organizations working for social justice
• Open myself; educate myself about privilege/oppression
• Stand Up Speak Out – there are organizations which mobilize citizens’ voices helping us to let legislators and businesses know what we think.  Examples places citizens can mobilize and speak out on the web are avaaz.org, Care2.com, and 350.org .

My Relationship with Self/Spiritual Fulfillment

• Designate a regular daily spiritual practice Meditation/ Yoga/ Prayer/ other.
• Investigate and watch for examples of interconnectedness everywhere
• Consider and pay attention to dreams, daydreams & visions. Seek the wisdom in them.
• Manage my conversation (internal and external) to be one of possibility and inspiration to myself and others
• Be compassionate and forgiving with myself, even when I don’t do everything I think I should
• As a radical act: want less, buy less, use less
• Consciously read, listen to, watch, and engage with things and individuals that empower and uplift
• Read one page of something that inspires me each morning or evening
• Explore what is “enough” for me
• Be of Service – there are lots of ways to give our time and skills to help, we can find opportunities our own doorsteps or on the other side of the world, check out WiserEarth.org, volunteermatch.org or worldvolunteerweb.org to find the organizations through which you can serve.

These are just a few examples, to get you thinking. Keep in mind these practices are meant to create an opening in our habitual way of going through life. When you notice you have gone to sleep, let go of the self-judgment, awaken, and renew your practice. Find partner(s) to support you in your practice. Have a great time with this!

I offer Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream symposiums on a regular basis in the Toronto area. Please feel free to contact me to find out the date of the next one.

Do you have a story to share? I’d love to get your feedback.  Here on my blog, you’ll get commentluv.  That’s great for all bloggers out there. If you leave a comment, you can provide a link back to your own blog.  But you don’t have to be a blogger to leave a comment; I’m looking forward to hearing from all of you!

Next week I will cover some ideas for women’s health as we approach Mother’s Day.

Stay tuned.

Charlene

Earth Day This Thursday!

Healthy Soul-utions is all about being healthy in all areas.  This month there is a great focus on planet earth with Earth Day this week.

Everything is interconnected. Our environment is really an extension of us. What we do the planet, we do to ourselves. This week we are going to look at what we are doing to our water resources. Taking our interconnection to another level, we can think of a human body being the smaller scale microcosm and the planet being the larger scale macrocosm.  About 70 percent of the planet is covered in waterways and oceans and the human body contains an average of 70 percent water or fluids. So we can see the mirroring of the microcosm and macrocosm.

Groundwater and fresh water are what humans use for drinking water. The Great Lakes are a vast shared resource containing a significant portion of the world’s freshwater. These lakes are a direct source of drinking water for millions of people as well as sustaining a rich variety of plants and wildlife.

The sustainability of the Great Lakes ecosystem is threatened. The lakes need immediate attention according to government officials.

What we do to our waterways, we do to ourselves, and to our children. How have our waterways become such a chemical soup?

When I was younger and not as educated, I used to blame industry, and it is true, they must plead guilty, and accept the responsibility for cleaning up their act. But then I realized that the combined households had a greater impact on the waterways than the industries. In a typical city of 100,000 people, approximately 14 tons of household cleaners go down the drain each month. Researchers are now saying that 70% of soil and groundwater contamination in North America comes from household cleaners. So it is time to look our home environment and see how we can improve it both for our personal heath and the planet’s health.

How do household cleaners affect our environment? What chemicals are we talking about? I will touch on only a few, There are many more.

1. Sodium Hydroxide found in dishwashing liquids, laundry products, oven cleaners, scouring cleansers and tub and tile cleaners, when inhaled is immediately irritating to the respiratory tract. Contact can cause severe damage to the eyes, skin, mouth, and throat and it can cause liver and kidney damage.

2. Butyl Cellosolve found in all-purpose cleaners, cleaning wipes, degreasers, floor polish, rug shampoos, toilet bowl cleaners, tub and tile cleaners, and window cleaners, contains neurotoxins and cause irritation and tissue damage from inhalation. A person who spends 15 minutes cleaning scale off shower walls could inhale three times the acute exposure limit.

3. Chlorine found in bleach and other cleaning products is a very hazardous substance. It causes neurological damage, memory impairment, behavioral disorders, spontaneous abortions, low birth rate, reduced testicular size, infertility, low sperm count, immune effects, immune cell abnormalities, and respiratory infections. Chlorine exposure causes a 44% greater risk of gastrointestinal cancer or urinary tract cancer, according to the National Health Federation.

Mitchell Gayor, M.D., Cornell University, states: “Chlorine bleach is potentially carcinogenic  … among its by-products are chlorinated hydrocarbons, chloroform, and trihalo-methanes, all of which act like estrogens and cause breast cells to divide more rapidly.  These by-products have been shown to cause breast tumours in animals.”

We could go on and on, there are many chemicals and these are all going down the drain and into our waterways and groundwater.

How these chemicals are affecting the wildlife? Chemical toxicity is very evident in fish. There is a large increase of fish with tumours and deformities. The World Wildlife Fund reports that not a single salmon in the Great Lakes over the age of two years has been found without an enlarged thyroid gland. Every year the provincial government publishes a fish advisory called “Guide to Eating Ontario Sport Fish” because of serious health concerns.

It is time that we realize that toxic household cleaners can damage the environment and return to us through water and food. What goes down the drain can come back to haunt us. So chose your cleaning products with care. The ones I choose are Get Clean as they are completely safe for the wildlife and the lakes. In fact those products already regenerated one small lake in upper New York State.

My goal now is to regenerate the Great Lakes starting with Lake Ontario. I need one million households using Get Clean products in order to get the tipping point we need to start the regeneration of the ecological balance for Lake Ontario. I need your help.

For more information on these healthy safe products, check out the healthy home section at www.healthyday.net. In honour of Earth Day, I will give out free samples to anyone who contacts me this month.

Together we can choose to become conscious stewards of our planet earth. Our individual actions can and do make a difference to water quality and the environment as a whole. Caring for the environment really does begin at home.

Do you have a story to share? I’d love to get your feedback.  Here on my blog, you’ll get commentluv.  That’s great for all bloggers out there. If you leave a comment, you can provide a link back to your own blog.  But you don’t have to be a blogger to leave a comment; I’m looking forward to hearing from all of you!

Next week I will cover some more ways we can protect the planet as we wrap up our Earth Day month.

Stay tuned.

Charlene

The Environment – Borrowing it From Our Children

Healthy Soul-utions is all about being healthy in all areas. This month there is a great focus on planet earth with Earth Day in a few weeks.

Everything is interconnected.  So our environment is really an extension of us. What we do the planet, we do to ourselves. We see the environment is in trouble. As the Native Americans say, “We have not inherited the earth from our fathers. We are BORROWING it from our children.”

As a health care professional, I am appalled at the number of children I have seen in my practice over the years. Upon investigation, I realized a major factor for this, is the environment these children have to cope with.

Now environment means both interior and exterior. We are all willing to point the finger and blame our external environment, but how many of us have really cleaned up our interior environments? I believe we need to look at our personal environments first and educate ourselves.

Most of the moms I met did not know that their choices of cleaning agents were harming their childrens’ health. Ammonia, ammonium hydroxide, ethanol, phenol and naphthalene are examples of some the chemicals in laundry detergents. Residues of these chemicals remain in the clothing and bedding and come in direct contact with the skin and respiratory system. By changing the laundry soap to a safe biodegradable one, I have helped many children eliminate asthma and allergic symptoms.

A note here about biodegradable. According to government standards, it means that it breaks down but there are no standards as to whether these chemicals have to be harmless. Also it has to break down within a hundred years. (Not acceptable in my books)

It can be very easy to make a few changes in our own homes and this gives us a sense of control. I know it certainly helps me to know I am not contributing to any further polluting of our planet.  Now we can make a difference to our internal environment and health. If each of us makes a difference, then we will create a hopeful picture for our future generations.

After many years of careful research, I recommend Dr. Shaklee‘s biodegradable products called Get Clean. Dr. Shaklee coined the word “biodegradable” back in the 50s. He saw what we were doing to our planet back then. NASA, the Biosphere 2 (World Renowned Environmental Project) in Arizona and the Cousteau Society use only the Get Clean products because they break down into harmless chemicals in a very short period of time.

Get Clean has something for every cleaning need. A good place to start is with the general cleaner. The Basic H2 concentrate has over 1,000 different cleaning uses. I used to bathe my grandchildren in it because it is pH balanced. I also use it for my entire general cleaning, windows to floors and everything in between.

Get Clean outperformed 11 National Brands in Independent Laboratory Testing. It also offsets its carbon footprint and was the first climate neutral company. Since 2007 through sales of one product alone (Basic H2), Shaklee Corporation eliminated 4.1 billion bottles of conventional 26-oz window cleaner from landfill sites. If placed end-to-end, these bottles would wrap around the earth more than 28 times! The neat thing is that is less expensive than all the other cleaners on the market. So not only do you save the planet, you also save money.

For more information on healthy safe products, check out the healthy home section at www.healthyday.net. In honour of Earth Day, I will give out free samples to anyone who contacts me this month.

Together we can choose to become conscious stewards of our planet earth.

Do you have a story to share? I’d love to get your feedback.  Here on my blog, you’ll get commentluv.  That’s great for all bloggers out there. If you leave a comment, you can provide a link back to your own blog.  But you don’t have to be a blogger to leave a comment; I’m looking forward to hearing from all of you!

Next week I will cover the project I have started to clean up the lakes.

Stay tuned.

Charlene Day