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What is the Peace of God?

14 Wednesday Sep 2016

Posted by in CURATING CONSCIOUSNESS

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A Course in Miracles, Manual for Teachers

20. WHAT IS THE PEACE OF GOD?

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1 It has been said that there is a kind of peace that is not of this world. How is it recognized? How is it found? And being found, how can it be retained? Let us consider each of these questions separately, for each reflects a different step along the way.

2 First, how can the peace of God be recognized? God’s peace is recognized at first by just one thing; in every way it is totally unlike all previous experiences. It calls to mind nothing that went before. It brings with it no past associations. It is a new thing entirely. There is a contrast, yes, between this thing and all the past. But strangely, it is not a contrast of true differences. The past just slips away, and in its place is everlasting quiet. Only that. The contrast first perceived has merely gone. Quiet has reached to cover everything.

3 How is this quiet found? No one can fail to find it who but seeks out its conditions. God’s peace can never come where anger is, for anger must deny that peace exists. Who sees anger as justified in any way or any circumstance proclaims that peace is meaningless, and must believe that it cannot exist. In this condition, peace cannot be found. Therefore, forgiveness is the necessary condition for finding the peace of God. More than this, given forgiveness there must be peace. For what except attack will lead to war? And what but peace is opposite to war? Here the initial contrast stands out clear and apparent. Yet when peace is found, the war is meaningless. And it is conflict now that is perceived as nonexistent and unreal.

4 How is the peace of God retained, once it is found? Returning anger, in whatever form, will drop the heavy curtain once again, and the belief that peace cannot exist will certainly return. War is again accepted as the one reality. Now must you once again lay down your sword, although you do not recognize that you have picked it up again. But you will learn, as you remember even faintly now that happiness was yours without it, that you must have taken it again as your defense. Stop for a moment now and think of this: Is conflict what you want, or is God’s peace the better choice? Which gives you more? A tranquil mind is not a little gift. Would you not rather live than choose to die?

5 Living is joy, but death can only weep. You see in death escape from what you made. But this you do not see; that you made death, and it is but illusion of an end. Death cannot be escape, because it is not life in which the problem lies. Life has no opposite, for it is God. Life and death seem to be opposites because you have decided death ends life. Forgive the world, and you will understand that every thing that God created cannot have an end, and nothing He did not create is real. In this one sentence is our course explained. In this one sentence is our practicing given its one direction. And in this one sentence is the Holy Spirit’s whole curriculum specified exactly as it is.

6 What is the peace of God? No more than this; the simple understanding that His Will is wholly without opposite. There is no thought that contradicts His Will, yet can be true. The contrast between His Will and yours but seemed to be reality. In truth there was no conflict, for His Will is yours. Now is the mighty Will of God Himself His gift to you. He does not seek to keep it for Himself. Why would you seek to keep your tiny frail imaginings apart from Him? The Will of God is One and all there is. This is your heritage. The universe beyond the sun and stars, and all the thoughts of which you can conceive, belongs to you. God’s peace is the condition for His Will. Attain His peace, and you remember Him.

http://www.miraclecenter.org/a-course-in-miracles/M-20.php

Under the Crying Tree: Grieving and Acceptance

11 Sunday Sep 2016

Posted by in Under the Crying Tree: Grieving and Acceptance

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I had been trying to get to my parent’s house for the past two years. Trying to make it out there to see if it would be a tolerable environment for me to take safe haven in as my disease was clearly not letting up, in fact I endured many worsenings and new injuries from the medical system. I think I am in a space of acceptance. I have fought this illness with everything I had for 14 years now. I know down to my marrow that I did everything I could do to heal myself, and yet here I was, at 38 years young, declining and needing the assistance of a caregiver and many caring friends and family.

The stages of grief are never linear for anyone, regardless of what or who they are grieving. But typically the griever has the luxury of closure, conclusion, an end of some kind. This may take the form of their own death, or a death of a loved one, an end of a marriage or stage of life. With chronic illness you go through the stages of grief over and over again. Though, I had endured so many of the stages, depression, bargaining, and denial, I never ever came to a place of acceptance. For me, this was never an option. I just knew I would overcome what was eating away at my body. I never lost steam for that mission until about a year and a half ago. I finally, and for the first time, said to myself, “I might not actually get better, and maybe that is ok”.

Many people are not ok with me accepting that I am not well and may never be. If I had cancer or some other disease more easily processed by the intellects of my friends and family, this might be seen as a good thing, a place where my ailing body and soul could be at peace with what simly IS. I also find a lot of resistance from supposed positive and new age thinkers. “Well, if you don’t think you can get better, then you won’t”. I sort of chuckle when well meaning people say this to me, and yes there is an element of hurtfulness to these comments and concepts. Essentially they all indicate that I am choosing to be ill in some way or another, which essentially makes me a failure.

For many years I felt like I had failed because I had set out to cure myself, and I was not cured. I cleansed my body, my emotions, my very soul. I had literally travelled to the edges of the world to heal myself, yet the physical symptoms of this disease have not gone. Constantly fighting was not working, on any level for me any longer. I thought, what if I just let go of everything and just be with what is? This lifted a huge amount of internal stress that was living inside me. The giving over of my life to the Will of God, in every way, allowed me to finally let go of “I should be doing this” or “I could be doing that”. The fact was I spent most of my day in bed, I had very little energy to do anything with, and that this entire thing was not in my control. Therefore, how could I have failed myself? If you have tried, but not succeeded are you a failure?

One of the things that really got to me throughout this process has been the feeling of being a failure. I had made a singular mission, to which I dedicated every ounce of my being and focus for 12 years, as well as every extra cent of money. If I stopped everything and just looked honestly at where I stood, I clearly saw that I had failed my mission. That was just the truth of it. Our cultural focus on accomplishment was seared into my deep subconscious, and finally I saw how this brought me so much suffering. I never got to really go through the stages of applying my knowledge to a career. I was able to finish my degree in Social Work, but the stress of having pushed through to get that degree broke my body down, and as I entered my Master’s degree program, I nearly passed out in the first of my classes. I had to take a medical leave. That was in 2009.

So here I am in 2016, not really having moved much or accomplished anything by our world’s standards. Nor had I accomplished the feat of healing my body back to functionality so I could meet my survival needs, be a contributing member of society, and fulfill my lifelong dream of being of service to my fellow humans in the ways I had imagined. I instead became the burden that so many gripe about. I became the recipient of the welfare programs, I became the one who needed food stamps. I became a person in constant need. I became the person I was going to help. I was supposed to be the helper! This was not the natural order of things. Something had gone terribly wrong. Or had it?

When I began to dip my toe in the pool of acceptance, which has been an ongoing process for me, I was able to let some of the ideas about what my life should be go. I have always wondered what the difference between surrendering and giving up are when applied to illness. It seems like “Surrender” is a good word, we like that term, when you surrender something good is happening and you are in a space of allowing what is to emerge. But “giving up”, those are bad words, that is something we don’t do as Americans, and we certainly don’t do that as Spiritually awake and conscious beings. In my acceptance, I was able to surrender many thoughts and beliefs about myself. I was able to not be triggered by the judgments of others, if not just for moments at a time. The relief I felt permeated areas of my being I didn’t know were being hijacked by “my fight against Lyme.”

I suppose the difference is when you surrender, you still work to treat your body and symptoms for relief and comfort, but you are unattached to the outcome of those works. I have surrendered to what is. I have not given up, but I am beginning to surrender and accept what has happened to me and where I am at in life. This has brought in a fresh energy for me. It has made room for all kinds of new perspectives to come in that are life affirming, and self-affirming in the face of still being ill. Maybe I can still be valuable. Maybe I am contributing in ways that aren’t recognized with paychecks or accolades. In fact, perhaps there are some blessings here that have graced my life that would never have been had I not become so sick.

I realized that I have been able to be what I sometimes refer to in levity as a “free radical”, just getting to kind of float about in time and space and land wherever God willed me to be. I am available for the 2 hour phone calls with fellow Lymies, to be the shoulder to cry on. To be the one who understands. Yes, I get to do that, what a great honor! I have had the space to go deep into Spiritual study and practice, to meditate, to pray. I get to express my devotion to the Beloved at a pace that is natural, and allows me to gain a momentum in the direction of Spirit that takes time, often in a way I find comparable to the life of a monk or nun. Time that people working 9-5 simply don’t have. I have had the space and opportunity to explore dimensions of my deep Self, to see my ego, to work on my character. Illness has been a container for my personal and spiritual growth. They say that you can only meet people who are suffering to the depths that you yourself have suffered. Because of the depths I have gone to, I am able to truly be a place where other’s suffering can be heard and understood, or at least I hope to be.

When I finally got here to my parent’s house in August, I went from no outdoor space at all, to a practical sanctuary of nature my dad had created out of his backyard. As far as backyards go, being from Las Vegas you are used to a 5 x 10 concrete square for your “outdoor space”, not to mention it is 110 degrees out there with very little as far as trees and creatures, so being outside is not really that enjoyable there unless you can get out to somewhere like Red Rock (and don’t get me wrong, I love Vegas, it has all it’s own uniqueness). But here, in Southern California, the beautiful weather and the relatively large backyard space is just such a gift. It has been wonderful to spend hours of my day outside and enjoying the beauty and gifts of nature.

The one special spot in the backyard is my mother’s area where she goes to enjoy a smoke. It is a two-seater swing under this beautiful Weeping Willow Tree. It is technically a Pepper Tree, but for visual effect I will call it a weeping willow because it’s branches and leaves hang just like a willow. My mom has a special connection with Trees. She can feel their energy, and I believe she passed this gift onto me, it is a special thing we share together. It is just one aspect of our Empathic nature (another blog for this).

My first week here I would go to sit under it and would feel a drop of water fall on my arm or hand, and I would see little droplets of liquid coming from the leaves of the tree. I got up to look at the sky to see if there were any signs that it was raining, but sure enough the sky was clear as could be. I forgot about it, then a few days later, sitting under the Tree I felt more drops on my arm. My mom came out to sit with me and I asked her if she ever noticed that the Tree expressed little droplets of water?

She said “yes, this Tree cries.” I was taken aback. I said, “what do you mean it cries, why does it cry?” She replied, “well, this Tree is very old and knows what the Humans are doing to the Earth and to one another, and because of that it cries”. She believes that it protects her from some of the harshness of the world, just sitting under it’s wise old branches. That it carries some of the sadness of the world. This brought me to tears. I instantly felt a great love and connection with this Tree, The Crying Tree. That moment, my mother and I went to get some water as an offering to this beautiful being who creates a space of beauty and protection under which our sensitive souls can sit and just be. A soft place in a harsh world. I guess in many ways we are all grieving for something, even the trees. It is a time in our world where there is much to grieve for.

I often remember an article I read by Ram Dass that was about Trees. He said we look at trees and they are crooked and go in this and that direction, but we never question why it is the way it is. So why do we do that with people? Why can’t we look at people the same way we look at Trees, with an automatic acceptance?

Under the Crying Tree is a place where I can accept what is and be accepted. I sit under it everyday, and feel as though I am in a chrysalis of love. A place where my acceptance of myself, exactly the way I am, is being born. What, if not this, is healing?

 

Cannabis for Lyme Disease

12 Monday Jan 2015

Posted by in Cannabis for Lyme Disease

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cannaleafCannabis use is a Process, not a silver bullet. But it is a worthy process to go through.

My journey with cannabis for lyme began about 7 years ago, and about 3 years ago I learned about the oil (you can read my article Cannabis Oil, Shifting the Paradigm below) Since then, much has been experienced and learned. I began the first facebook lyme and cannabis group in 2013 and we have since gathered a tremendous amount of information, as well as there are now other groups for lyme and cannabis hard at work gathering more. Due to a very long and in depth journey with this healing plant, much wisdom and information about the process of using it has been gained, however, there is no “perfect formula” or “standardized treatment” for using cannabis.

Currently I am only smoking cannabis and using a transdermal preparation. I still must take breaks from treatment with the oil itself due to herx reactions, which is where I am at now, on a break. But I continue to heal. Even with cannabis it is a deep spiritual, physical, and emotional process, not a quick fix. It is better to learn your way by developing a relationship with the energy of the plant and with your own body and your own intuition than to follow any one’s rules for using it, though initial research and guidance from more experienced users (best to find others using it for lyme) are a good way to find starting guidelines. Lyme does not neatly fit into the cannabis protocol developed by Rick Simpson (please do not attempt that type of dosing), nor do we do well with the solvent he uses, from what I have seen over time. Cannabis has not cured me, but continues to help me. And with lyme we need all of the non-harmful help we can get. I believe that managing symptoms and discomfort are as important as battling the disease itself. I no longer subscribe to a “grin and bare it” attitude about herxing.

There are many emotions that arise when utilizing cannabis, and this is a very important piece of the healing puzzle. Working with our emotions, past memory, trauma, fear, anxiety, and bad habits are fundamental to the process of healing lyme. I have often seen many who feel the strong emotions that arise when using cannabis and think they are a “side effect” and I do not think this is the case. I think it is more a matter of the latent emotions which are stored “come up” for purification. And in this sense I have experienced cannabis as a strong emotional healer as well as a fine physical companion.

Cannabis can be used for lyme in so many ways, it is not limited to smoke. It can be used as multiple types of oils, infusions as well as concentrates. It can be vaporized, used transdermally, it can be eaten in foods, and it can be used raw by juicing the leaves of the plant (though this has proven to be the most difficult to access).

Cannabis continues to bring me comfort, ease, support, healing, and relief from suffering. It helps me sleep better, eat better, and de-stress. It is a blessing on this very difficult journey. I encourage anyone who is beginning their path to learn as much as they can, and to really rely on the advice of others with lyme who are experienced in using cannabis second only to their own inner guidance and intuition. Go slow, start slow, remember it is a process and respect the potency and the power of the medicine. Taking breaks is ok. I do it all the time and find “pulsing” the medicine to be best for me, that may not be true for  you, and you should do what your body needs. The links below should help you along your journey and orient you to some of the general yet progressive cannabis info.

Links to my article and a radio interview specifically on Cannabis for Lyme

Vegascannabismag.com article “Cannabis Oil, Shifting the Paradigm” Page 20-21

http://issuu.com/vegascannabismagazine/docs/vegas_cannabis_magazine_oct_2014

Blog Talk Radio “High Noon” Discussion Cannabis for lyme disease

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/papsite-radio/2013/12/14/high-noon–cannabis-oil-lyme-disease

Other helpful and important links for Cannabis specific healing:

A place to begin, Run From the Cure the Rick Simpson Story

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0psJhQHk_GI

RAW juicing of cannabis, Kristen Courtney’s story

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xPmR8j4plw

Cannabis International, views cannabis as dietary essential

http://www.cannabisinternational.org/

Shona Banda’s story and method, she healed herself from Chron’s with Cannabis Oil

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_otUB7pVMA

Colorado Dispensary article on ACT therapy Advanced Cannabinoid Therapy

http://sensiseeds.com/en/blog/riverrock-colorados-largest-dispensary-2/

About our Endocannabinoid System that is now being discovered

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVS9QIzTT7k

For further information please join one of the cannabis for lyme groups on facebook

My group

https://www.facebook.com/groups/375646122538840/

Another wonderful cannabis for lyme group

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1506598772889860/

 

Modern Medicine People- We have come to build a bridge

29 Sunday Jun 2014

Posted by in Love note to medicine people

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A Love Note to my fellow medicine men and woman

 

The “others” are beginning to come out of their caves and down from the high planes and quietudes of the montain ranges and peaks. The Masters of tomorrow are coming from the valley of the shadow of death into the daylight of this dimension to sing their medicine to the people connected by strings of light to exact our roles in geometric formation sacred beyond the times of the ancients. I danced in a pow wow from 10,000 years ago to which I belonged. I was home with the ancestors. Viva the ancestors!  I see you. I love you. I  honor you. The Awakening was a seed I had faith in, but now it is a strong seedling with roots that are spreading with strength and swiftness across the landscape of consciousness. Water. Nourish. Build. The medicine people are back and to you all I offer a song of gratitude and a feather from White Hawk medicine for your alters. As your songs are why I can live and take one more step forward with a shining heart.

 

Inspired by “Build a bridge” by Nahko Bear and Medicine for the People….loving their music and message

 

Amanita Muscaria for Lyme: A little known pain killer

09 Saturday Nov 2013

Posted by in Amanita Muscaria for Lyme

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amanitaFor so many years, 10 actually, I was in awful pain daily from chronic low back pain I had as well as from the myalgias and joint pain of Lyme disease. In 2012 I was at a very low point due to my pain and I prayed to God to help me find a way. I was also suffering from daily nausea that was two years and counting. This combination of debilitating symptoms was simply too much for me. In Fall of 2012 I came upon a few plant (one fungi) medicines that really helped me. One of them, Amanita Muscaria or Fly Agaric, the famous mushroom depicted in Disney films and iconically known worldwide for its bright red cap and white dots, came into my consciousness and has since been one of my very favorite allies. It is an ally and not an inert fungi. When I first started noticing it, I just had a feeling about it, I felt drawn to it. Then I found a woman who had Lyme in the UK and had utilized this very fungal ally as a remedy for some of her most daunting Lyme disease symptoms, and especially pain. I flew through her entire blog with utter fascination and I knew I had to utilize this. I started to research more about the beautiful mushroom and what I found was no short of a trip down a rabbit hole, and a visit to wonderland. Not in the way you may be thinking.

I found that in Russia, it is utilized for it’s pain killing properties, and has been for eons. It has untold medicinal properties. In Siberian villages, it was used to help the elderly during the winter time for strength and endurance. The Vikings utilized it to become insensitive to pain and feel enormously strong against their conquests. The Shamans of Siberia utilized the mushroom in a sacramental way. In fact, some scholars have argued that it is the ancient Soma of the Rig Veda, and that most religions were channeled out of a sacred intoxication with this plant. While that idea tantalizes the mind, it is certainly too lofty to explore here. What I want to speak of is my experience with Amanita Muscaria, and how it helped me to become free of the plague of chronic pain, structural pain in my back due to disc bulging, as well as the myriad types of pain that Lyme disease creates, muscular aches, shooting pains, migrating pain, joint pain. I have been freed of most all of these pains that I had before working with this medicine.*

I obtained some mushroom specimens as well as a bit of tincture made from them. I began by eating very small amounts to see how I felt. A piece about the size of my thumbnail is what I took to begin, and I felt a slight change, and a few alterations in perception. I started to sweat a lot and felt extremely happy, and I also felt a distinct opening of my heart. It didn’t occur right from the start, but I continued experimenting with it in different forms. I made an oil from it, I heated it in butter, I soaked it in grape juice, I used the oil trans-dermally, and then I got my tincture. This, I put directly on my spine, where my back pain was. Key word is WAS. Over the next few weeks I started to notice I didn’t have any pain. If I would stop utilizing the mushroom, the pain would return.* But one of the things that was so surprising to me, is after the initial few weeks of experimentation, I simply had to use 1 drop right on my spine and it took all my pain away for about a week. Even in areas where I did not put the drop. No back pain, no muscle aches, it was all just kind of gone. I still had some breakthrough pain in my neck and shoulders, but the majority of my pain was reduced to almost nothing. I came off of my pain medication I had taken for the past 7 years thanks to this friend in the Fungi Kingdom, and I am still off of them completely as I still (Nov 2013, a year later) have no pain.*

The pain reduction isn’t the only benefit I received. I had much more energy when I used it and I found my depression started to dissipate. I felt a definite sense of the Spirit realm and a connection to nature, yet I didn’t trip out or anything like that, but I did feel like it was communicating with me in various ways. I started to see it everywhere, and I also started to find a lot of amazing information on it, including others who had used it with success to heal everything from arthritic joints to severe lifelong depression. All of a sudden my friends started to see it everywhere, it was a very cool phenomenon. I continue to use this very sacred ally through tincture I make myself. I use it daily to take away the pain of living with Lyme disease, as there has been a tolerance I have developed and I do need more now. I currently use about 5-8 drops on my spine per day.

The pain reduction qualities are so impressive I started to wonder why we know nothing of it, why science isn’t figuring out how to make the best pain medicine that is totally non-addictive from it. I, mean, I had tried all of the medical industries “solutions” to pain, and YUK. It is a world fraught with despair and addiction, and often the pain becomes just as bad after you get used to their narcotics and you are still in pain, yet now you are an addict too. It is a dark world, and there is great need for the relief this fungi brings.

When I started working with Amanita, It felt like I was developing a relationship with the energy and essence of it. There is no prescription for it. One must see how it responds to you individually, as well as use caution because it is an entheogen, and can be poisonous. So I started very cautiously and I do feel there was some adjustment my system had to make to it, like I had headaches at first after using it. But I no longer get them. I think that there is a detoxification process that it puts you through before revealing it’s gifts of pain annihilation, increased energy and stamina, and a happy disposition. I feel that there is a healing quality to it on top of it’s analgesic properties. Entheogens and sacramental plants and fungi are making their way back into the consciousness of the masses, and it is my belief that they hold many of the answers to our most pressing questions of health and healing, and can help us to become like the phoenix that rises from the ashes.

*I used AM for a few years, it did end up healing my chronic low back pain, but in the end was not able to heal the other types of pain I was experiencing. I am not recommending this for anyone, I am simply sharing my experience. I am very grateful for it’s effects on my physical and mental health, but there came a time when I stopped using it and my illness became more complex in different ways. So, basically, my update is that it helped me tremendously for a time, it healed my low back pain, and then I stopped using it. It may come back into the picture for me, only time will tell.

Here is a link to another blog describing it’s use in relationship to lyme disease

http://flyagarictincture.blogspot.com/

Colon Cleansing 101: Enemas, Colemas, and Colonics, oh my!

08 Friday Feb 2013

Posted by in Colon Cleansing 101

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Clean your colon! All three of these methods use water to irrigate and cleanse the lower bowel or the large intestine which is referred to as colon (bowel) hydrotherapy (water therapy). The use of water irrigation for bowel cleansing is not new, it has been used as far back as ancient egypt and is even mentioned in the bible. Cleansing your colon can have many benefits, because it clears out the old before your body can absorb the toxins that it means to release. This can be very helpful in terms of detoxification, and can be a very effective remedy for constipation of any kind. Having daily healthy bowel movements is paramount for even a normal healthy person. For those of us with lyme disease or other maladies that are a source of toxins in our bodies, we must be ever more diligent in keeping the train moving 🙂 But going beyond healthy normal bowel movements into the realm of detoxification has been key in supporting my healing. I have been on “both ends” of colon hydrotherapy so to speak. I used to give treatments as a colon hydrotherapist, and I use water irrigation all the time in my own healing protocol. For me, I feel it reduces the load of toxins my body has to process, thereby lifting that burden and releasing extra energy into my system that my body can use to heal itself. And it simply makes me feel better.  I learned to do my first enema at the Ann Wigmore Institute in Puerto Rico. Ann Wigmore was a health pioneer who believed that disease resulted from two sources, 1. Over toxicity and 2. Lack of Nutrients. She left a legacy of health education in the form of cleansing and rebuilding the body using living foods and cleansing techniques such as colon hydrotherapy. At the institute we were encouraged to do daily enemas as part of our program, which I did. Along with the nutrient dense living foods, I felt a tremendous difference. I felt lighter, clearer, and healthier overall. I learned about auto intoxication that can occur when the bowel is sluggish and moving slower than it is supposed to. If your fecal matter is not expelled quickly your body can continue to reabsorb the toxins over and over until it is expelled. Once I began cleansing my colon and eating the living food diet, my bowels began to move every time I put a piece of food in my mouth! I had never had movements like that in my life. It definitely made for more energy, and a terrain that had a better chance of dealing with the lyme I was fighting. Since my time at Ann Wigmore I have used many different methods of colon cleansing. I often would get colonics myself, but the cost of doing colonics can be prohibitive. I spent my time at Ann Wigmore at the beginning of my journey with lyme disease, and thank God for that! Cleansing my colon has been one of the most effective ways to keep my system clean as well as helping me to reduce the intensity of symptoms from chronic lyme disease. There is a sense of relief that comes from these methods. I think everyone should have, at the least, an enema bag in their home. And we should all know how to utilize these ancient time tested methods for health! I believe in self sufficiency in healing, and for that reason the colema and enema are the front runners here.

The differences between the three therapies, and how to do them:

The Enema

enemabag

The enema is the simplest and least invasive of the colon hydrotherapies. For it you will need an enema bag, not the fleet bottle, but the red rubber bags that are reusable as they hold more water and can be used over and over. The fleet enema pale’s in comparasn to the true enema bag, but there are also disposable enema bag products. To do an enema heat up some distilled water until it is warm to your touch, not hot, be careful with this. Set up your area in the bathroom. I usually put down a towel and a pillow, and I hang my enema bag from the door know or a handle on a drawer. You want to hang it so it is high enough to flow well, but not too high that the pressure would be too great. Lay on your right side. Use a little bit of olive oil to lubricate your anus, and insert the tip of the tube gently. Once you have done this, prepare your self with a few deep breaths, and then use the clamp to release the flow of water. You can allow the flow to continue until you feel the first urge to defecate. You can then clamp down and let that sensation pass or if you need to release get up, remove the tube, and sit on the toilette. You repeat this process until the water in your bag is all gone. While on the toilette, you can do a little massage over your colon and some stretching to help with the release. I believe most walmarts and walgreens sell the enema bag. The cost of the enema bag is around 15.00. This is the most affordable of the three therapies.

The Colema

colema board
The colema board is right in the middle, better than an enema but not as good as a colonic. The beauty of the colema board is it is closer to a colonic than an enema in terms of how thorough a cleanse you receive from it. It also allows you to lay on a board over the toilette, so you can release as your colon is filled with water. Where with an enema you must get up and down, holding the water in so not to make a mess. Colema kits also allow you to get a good 5 gallons of water flushed through your colon, which is obviously more thorough than what an enema bag can hold. This is my preferred method for colon cleansing. http://www.colema.com/setup.html The cost of a colema board kit is approx 270.00, and well worth it!

The Colonic

colonic

To do a colonic you mustgo to a wellness center in your area to receive a treatment. There are open colonic systems and closed colonic systems. If you go to a colon therapist with a closed system, they will be with you the entire session regulating the machine and working with you. In this system you lay on a table and have a tube inserted in your anus, and your fecal matter will flow out through a clear tube. In an open system, there is a basin like “bed” you lay on and the tube that is inserted into your anus only allows water to come in, but it is so small that when you release your bowels, the fecal matter and water mixture flow around the tube out into the basin under your bum. This method allows you to be alone while receiving the therapy as you only need assistance in the beginning. I prefer the open system because of the privacy factor, and I felt with a closed system that I feared releasing because it could make a big mess. Both are great and have their pro’s and con’s. Colonics typically run from 50.00 dollars a session to 75.00. If cleansing your colon is to become a regular therapy for you the cost of colonics could prove prohibitive. Which is the purpose of this blog, to explain the choices for colon cleansing available to you. The picture is of an “open system” colonic unit.

 

Do It Anyway- A Mantra For the Chronically Ill

05 Monday Sep 2011

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We may be down, but we are NOT out! Living with a chronic illness can be limiting in many ways, but adjusting to those new limitations and having a solid understanding of what you CAN do is really important. Even if you know you can only be active for 4 hours a day, that should serve as the basis for planning your days.. The biggest pittfal to this way of thinking is comparing yourself with others energy or abilities. That is not your reality and is not helpful. Base your life on your abilities, not societies expectations. Because even if you touch one life with your time or simply make a connection during your active 4 hours, it is better than nothing. Set a goal for yourself, and work on it each day as much as you can. When we go, our life’s work will not be measured against another persons, it will be measured against the truth of our own Soul. So don’t give up, and DO IT ANYWAY!

An example of how this mantra can help you is when your internal voice goes negative on you- “I don’t feel good” say mantra, “do it anyway”….apply this anytime your pain body tries to gain control, and you will be very happy with what you will accomplish!

Mother Teresa’s Anyway Poem

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered;
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

The Blue Butterfly: Shamanism for lyme disease, a story

22 Wednesday Dec 2010

Posted by in Shamanism for Lyme

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA I never thought Lyme Disease would lead me to the Amazon Rain Forest, but in fact it did. I Journeyed to visit a Shuar Medicine Man named Kiap Uyunkar, meaning black jaguar healer. That was his Shuar name, but we all called him Juan. As if my 7 years on the path in search of healing hadn’t taken me to outrageous places already, both in the world as well as in my soul.

My mother, who so graciously funded this expedition, said to me that she believed in the ability of the earth and the plants to heal the body. She also has a great faith in her heart about miracles. She told me about a movie called “The Blue Butterfly”, and that the boy in the film went to the amazon looking for the Blue Morpho as his last wish, he had a terminal brain tumor. His search ended in the total and complete healing of his tumor, it was a true story.I hadn’t seen it. So as far as Shamanism goes, that was my Mom’s frame of reference. I, however, have been more deeply looking at esoteric healings for quite some time, given to the lack of cure western medicine has provided. It is also my spiritual path. So with Mom funding the trip, I was on my way in search of healing.

I knew the travelling would be hard and that the journey itself would require deep internal and physical strength and an open channel of willingness on my part. One of the principle plant medicines used by Shamans of the Amazon is Ayahuasca. I had had one previous experience with this medicine and it is intense to say the least. So with all of this ahead of me, I knew my previous spiritual disciplines and practices would play a major role, and that I would have to make use of all of my personal power to overcome this disease.

As I boarded the plane for Ecuador my heart and mind were filled with excitement and fear and I employed my faith to enter into the deep unknown. I felt Alive, really alive to be embarquing on such an incredible journey. We arrived at the hotel in Quito with my fellow group of travellers, and were to be there two days before  heading to the jungle. We all exchanged stories of our purpose for being there and started to coalesce as a group. It was exciting. Then as I was walking to the cafe, I saw Juan and instantly recognised that he was our Shaman, in fact I felt an instant soul connection with him as if recognizing an old friend. His eyes were filled with light and we hugged. I employed my beginner level spanish and said, “mucho gusto”. I could tell instantly that he was a being of light because he simply radiated. I felt at ease that I was in the right place, that my heart had led me down the right path, and that I had a profound journey ahead of me.

The next day we headed out, Juan said a prayer to keep us protected on our 6 hour journey to the Amazon. We all squeezed into the transport van and began our new adventure. We stopped to see Cotopaxi, a breathtaking volcano that is 20,000 ft high. Ecuador has many active volcanoes. In fact, everything about it felt alive.

The earth was wildly alive with a living force that filled me up, and even the hearts of the people were alive and I could feel their heart centeredness. I had never seen such loving men with open hearts that exuded true masculinity. As we neared our destination it began raining, and not the kind of rain I’m used to, it was sheets of rain. We stopped to pick up our rubber boots, that were a total Godsend the entire time, and by the time we reached camp it was well into the darkness of night. We were greeted by Juan’s family and everyone helped the “gringos” get our bags to the hut, it was really a hut.

I was overwhelmed at the reality of living in the jungle, although admitedly exhillerated. The bugs were abundant, and I found my way to my bed which was minimal. I was disoriented and going through a wild stream of emotions, but still the excitement outweighed my fears about roughing it. Little did I know that that would be the easiest thing about the next 10 days. We would begin our ceremonies in two days.

The next day we acclimated, we talked, and Juan delivered the first of many different kinds of medicines. It was a tea concocted of 9 different plants he went out into the jungle to pick freshly that morning. It was boiled down and made in a 5 gallon stainless steal pot. He started to talk to us about the purpose of the tea and how to take it, it was a purgative mixture that worked through making you sweat and urinate profusely. It was to begin cleansing us of our impurities before our ayahuasca ceremonies. He insisted we must drink as much as we can, cup after cup, and to continue to sweat out the poisons in our bodies. “Very important” he said, “keep drinking and purify!” I must have drank 20 cups that day, and I felt exhausted, both from travel and from the cleansing effects. God knows I was toxic with all the pills I had been taking for years, everything from antibiotics to painkillers, and then of course the toxins that lyme produces, they were all coming out. I zombied my way through dinner that night and went to sleep.

Juan was already teaching me so much about nature and life. They had cut down fresh trees that would burn for the next ten days because they burned only on the inside. One log had been a home to hundreds of “hormigas” (ants) and I said, “how will this be ok”? I mean it was right in our “living room”. Juan insisted, “no, they are our family” and on the hole out of which they poured he placed his hand. He left it there and allowed his family to run all over him. Then he grabbed my hand and pulled me to the log I had made my mind up to avoid, but something about seeing him do it and not have any fear transferred to me. I knew what he was trying to teach me, and I let him place my hand on the grand central station of ants. I felt calm and I think exuding that calmness had an effect on the ants, they could feel it and most of them curtiously walked around my hand, although a few decided to explore the new territory. This was my first lesson from him showing me that the Mother, our Earth, is our family and that there is an interconnectedness we share with her and all living beings.

Juan was born in the jungle, and this interconnectedness was his way of life. He was born to walk the path of the Healer, the Doctor of his tribe. In Shuar they call him an “Uwishin” which means doctor. In fact he told me that before he even had breast milk after birth, he was given the sacred medicine of ayahuasca. He was a man that I could see had deep deep wisdom, and I felt honored to be learning from him. His tribe’s direct lineage of teachings went back 100,000 years, from the Elders to the Young, generation after generation. Unfortunately he seemed to be one of the last to be carrying on the tradition in it’s original form.

Ayahuasca is a sacred brew that has been used by shamans of many cultures in south america for thousands of years. It is an intelligent medicine that helps you to face yourself, your fears, and your internal world. Physical healings of miraculous quality are known to take place when people ingest the medicine. These claims are what peaked my serious interest about the brew, although I had heard stories from many friends over the years about the spiritual process of taking the medicine.

I found little to no information on the internet about ayahuasca and lyme disease. This makes sense because they don’t have lyme in South America, and it is a relatively new illness even where it is epidemic. Western medicine has offered treatment for the chronic form of lyme, from which I suffer, but has delivered a cure to only a small few. So when I found Juan and heard that he had experience with several lyme patients over the past ten years, I knew I had to explore it further. Juan had treated exactly four lyme patients, and all had recovered a good part of their health from his treatments, however none had been cured. This was something Juan was not aware of until I brought it to his attention, and he looked further into the nature of the disease and why it relapses.

During my assessment with Juan he explained that they did have the disease in his culture, but it was isolated to the animal population. In Shuar it was called “Muah”. He told me he had spoken with other doctors before I came to inquire more about it, and had used his visionary abilities to gain a deeper knowledge of the disease. What he saw was that lyme worked as a male and female energy in the body. When the male aspect was active in the body, the feminine would be asleep and vice versa.They worked together. This allowed it to survive almost any treatment and explained why lyme relapses so often. That the bacteria had a protein coating around it that kept it safe from medicines intended to kill it. All of this concurred with what I already knew about lyme. He said the ayahuasca would dissolve the protein coating, but that it would not kill the bacteria itself. That to truly cure the disease, it must be a continuous treatment over many months in six day cycles. Six days on the ayahuasca and six days on herbal antibiotics. He told me that lyme is harder to cure than cancer, but that it is curable. He emphasized, “it is curable, not incurable”. This gave me a lot of hope, although I knew my two weeks in the jungle with him would not be enough to affect a cure, and that this would be the fight of my life. He talked with me of working together to discover the true cure, and that I could stay longer to work with him.

The day of our first ceremony arrived and we all anticipated nightfall. The ceremonies are performed at night in Juan’s tradition, in many shamanic traditions actually. Because it is a visionary medicine, the backdrop of a night sky makes the external world less important and allows you to go more deeply inside. That is where the healing takes place, inside yourself.

That afternoon he took me aside and I began the first of my initiations. We sat side by side in the medicine circle, with the Pestaza river rushing endlessly behind us. Until that moment, I had seen Juan as a lighthearted spirit filled with wisdom. But now it was time to be serious. He began to center himself and his internal power became evident. He held a white bottle of  liquid tobacco and began showing me what to do with it. “Tobacco is a sacred plant, very very sacred to my people”. He demonstrated the ritual to me, cupping his hand and stabalizing the liquid in his palm. He moved slowly and lifted his palm to his left nostril, snorting the liquid up one side and allowing it to settle at the back of his throat. He leaned forward letting it come out the other side. It reminded me of the neti pot that Indians use to clean the nasal cavity, which I had done many times. But as I took my first snort, I realized, this was not the same thing. The liquid stung and a burned as it hit the walls of my nose. I began to gag violently and mucous loosened from all of my passages. My ears opened, my vision became sharper, and then he told me to go lay down and rest for the ceremony.

 

Therapeutic Juicing for Lyme: A recipe for symptom reduction

01 Thursday Jul 2010

Posted by in Therapeutic Juicing for Lyme: A recipe for symptom reduction

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Juicing has been a lifesaver for me more times than I can count. About a year and a half ago I went to the emergency room because my brain felt like it was swelling, and dealing with Las Vegas hospital staff that knew nothing about lyme was almost worse than the awful sensation. While I was sent home empty handed, I knew I had to do something. I called my LLMD and he wanted me to go on bicillin for the symptoms which he believed was caused by the bacteria entering the nerve cells and creating the sensation of swelling, I guess like a neuropathy of the brain. The symptoms, he said, are also caused by the toxins the bacteria release. I have to say that the reason my symptoms were so out of control at the time was because I was trying to come off of antibiotics and I had started using a rife machine (more on this in another blog).

I had been off of all antibiotics for about three/almost four months at the time and desperately wanted to be free of them, so I decided against the bicillin. Because I understood that the toxins from the bacteria were what were causing most of my immediate problem, I started thinking of how to reduce the toxic load in my system. I took a number of supplements, but the thing that really got me “out of the woods” that time was a juicing protocol I developed. I have been juicing and using raw foods since I found out I had lyme disease, and I know this has helped me tremendously with both the effects of the disease and with the effects of the drugs I had to take for the disease. While ultimately, I did go back on antibiotics, I used the following protocol that made me feel at least 80 % better!

I went on a 10 day juicing protocol that reduced many of my symptoms by the second day. People with lyme have to think about so many things, like avoiding yeast problems caused by the antibiotics and avoiding sugar. I created a recipe that chelated toxins out of my body with copious amounts of chlorophyl (the green veggie’s pigment), but that at the same time avoided large amounts of sugar, and had a mild drinkable taste to it. I kept the recipe really simple with only three veggies, celery, cucumber, and italian flatleaf parsely. I would just juice large quantities (60 oz) of them and keep it in the fridge, drinking it throughout the day.

So, it’s 60 full ounces of green juice (almost 8 – 8 oz glasses) a day, you juice it in the morning and keep it in your fridge. It takes about 30 minutes with preparation, juicing and clean up. I always continued to eat regularly, probably a little less because of the juice, but I did not do a juice fast. Juice fasting is a totally separate modality and it detoxifies you too fast, especially if you are having a lyme flare. What I am talking about is simply adding in the juice to your daily routine and believe me, It did make me feel about 80% better, gave me a great boost of energy, and aided in healing my internal organs. It’s crazy to think that just juicing can help so much, but it does and it has dozens of positive effects besides symptom alleviation. The therapeutic factor is both the type of juice (green juice) and the large amount of juice throughout the day for a series of days in a row. One glass will not do the job! Trust me on this one. It is also pretty affordable.

keep in mind symptom reduction/alleviation is very important when you are on the road to curing lyme, because the road is a long one! Just getting to the point that you don’t feel like you are dying, or wanting to die is a huge blessing. I have used this simple 10 day protocol many times since then because it is so effective.

Lisa’s Green Drink Recipe: (this should make about 60 full ounces, give or take)

2 whole bunches of celery

2 whole cucumbers

1 bunch flatleaf italian (not curly) parsely

*organic is best, but if all you have is a food for less than non-organic will do (just wash really well)

*tip: buy at least three days worth at a time (just multiply recipe above by three), sometimes I get away with four. So you don’t have to run to the grocery store every day. The more convenient you make it, the more likely you will do it.

As far as the juicer goes, I use the Jack Lelane Power Juicer, and there is a reason for it. The hole that the veggies go in is very large so you don’t have to spend a lot of time cutting the veggies down. This is a big deal when you are doing it daily. And it is affordable at about $99.00. I believe target and costco carry them.

http://www.powerjuicer.com/