integrative-health | health

The Great Debate

Written by Dr.Gerald Lemole. Posted in Integrative Health.

Earl’s raspy breathing often preceded him on his visit to the doctor’s office. “Darth Vadar!” the receptionist would kiddingly say as he opened the office door. This, plus his shortness of breath, fatigue and depression sent him repeatedly to his family practitioner, cardiologist and pulmonary doctor.

When Earl came to see us at the Center for Integrative Health, he was ashen, gray and wheezing. After an extensive interview, we put him on a regimen for his symptoms. A week into his treatment he felt better but when his studies came back he was seen to have a severe Vitamin D deficiency and was immediately put on 5,000 IU daily of Vitamin D3.

FESTIVE F(e)ASTING

Written by Karen Verna Carlson, N.D., Ph.D.. Posted in Holistic Living.

Celebrate! Maintaining Health and Weight

Balancing feasting with fasting is my secret for ebulliently enjoying holiday festivities to the max. (I’ve heard, however, there are more restrained levels of holiday enjoyment. Choose what suits you.) Yes, I can party hearty with a free conscience and keep my svelte physique. And you can, too. Here are the details for you to emulate or adapt respecting your personal physical condition to boost your holiday pleasure without diminishing your health or adding inches to your waistline.

Use Your Hands to Heal

Written by Karen Verna Carlson, N.D., Ph.D.. Posted in Holistic Living.

Touch + Intention + Attention = Healing

You have used your hands for a myriad of tasks today, but most likely none of them have involved healing. That’s about to change. It is both simple and easy to transmit healing energy using the very hands that zip up your jacket, open doors, hold a phone or hand over a credit card.

Touch is a powerful catalyst for healing energy.

Put this magazine down for a minute, and place your palms and fingers lightly together in the classic prayer position ~ not to pray, but just to feel. Focus on their temperature for a moment. Relax a bit. Maybe take a satisfyingly full breath. Be present with your experience. Is there even the slightest shift in temperature? Now concentrate on sensations shared by those hands. A slight pulsation perhaps. Any buzzing, humming or prickles? Be patient. Pay attention.

Writer's Bio: Karen is a naturopathic physician who has taken holistic healing and education into the realm of quantum physics. She is credited with “the first major breakthrough in Swedish Massage ~ research demonstrating energetic interconnections ~ since Peter Ling systemized it in the early 19th century.” International recognition for her healing and educational work includes an honorary degree, a silver medal, listing in Who’s Who of Professional and Business Women, appearances on TV and radio, lecturing in Europe and in the U.S. for professional symposia, colleges, corporations, community groups, and being featured in professional journals, magazines and newspapers. She has published more than 200 articles on holistic health and education. She has facilitated joyful well-being and health for hundreds of students she has personally certified in holistic healing and holistic massage and for hundreds more clients she has personally touched including luminaries in science, medicine and religion. iamholistic@gmail.com

Grow a Plant

Written by Karen Verna Carlson, N.D., Ph.D.. Posted in Holistic Living.

“We urgently need to find practical ways of reestablishing our conscious sense of connection with living nature.” RUPERT SHELDRAKE, one of the world’s foremost biologists

Tending a simple little plant can be a doorway to enchantment in your everyday life. Nature’s rhythmical entrance into the season of rebirth is a perfect time to align with the physical and mystical energies of rejuvenation. Whatever state you may perceive your life to be in right now, you can experience the thrill of a new beginning just by tending a new, simple little plant. Synchronize with natural forces and proceed without doing any research. Just follow your intuition.

Writer's Bio: Karen is a naturopathic physician who has taken holistic healing and education into the realm of quantum physics. She is credited with “the first major breakthrough in Swedish Massage ~ research demonstrating energetic interconnections ~ since Peter Ling systemized it in the early 19th century.” International recognition for her healing and educational work includes an honorary degree, a silver medal, listing in Who’s Who of Professional and Business Women, appearances on TV and radio, lecturing in Europe and in the U.S. for professional symposia, colleges, corporations, community groups, and being featured in professional journals, magazines and newspapers. She has published more than 200 articles on holistic health and education. She has facilitated joyful well-being and health for hundreds of students she has personally certified in holistic healing and holistic massage and for hundreds more clients she has personally touched including luminaries in science, medicine and religion. iamholistic@gmail.com

Rest Refreshingly

Written by Karen Verna Carlson, N.D., Ph.D.. Posted in Holistic Living.

“Take rest; a field that has rested gives a beautiful crop.” OVID, Roman Poet, 43 B.C. – 17 A.D.

When was the last time you experienced a deliciously refreshing night’s sleep? Or a deeply restful hour with loved ones. Or a quiet moment of solitude relaxing into your spiritual self? If you need to look beyond the past 24 hours for the answers, let me help you rest right now.

Writer's Bio: Karen is a naturopathic physician who has taken holistic healing and education into the realm of quantum physics. She is credited with “the first major breakthrough in Swedish Massage ~ research demonstrating energetic interconnections ~ since Peter Ling systemized it in the early 19th century.” International recognition for her healing and educational work includes an honorary degree, a silver medal, listing in Who’s Who of Professional and Business Women, appearances on TV and radio, lecturing in Europe and in the U.S. for professional symposia, colleges, corporations, community groups, and being featured in professional journals, magazines and newspapers. She has published more than 200 articles on holistic health and education. She has facilitated joyful well-being and health for hundreds of students she has personally certified in holistic healing and holistic massage and for hundreds more clients she has personally touched including luminaries in science, medicine and religion. iamholistic@gmail.com

Amplify Those Good Feelings

Written by Karen Verna Carlson, N.D., Ph.D.. Posted in Holistic Living.

Power Wash Your Energy Field!
You surely know that feeling good generates healing chemicals and activities in your body. You might know that the law of attraction brings us more of what we’re feeling. But do you know that positive emotions cleanse your aura? Energy flows into us clean and clear, and it outflows as emotions. When your emotion is positive, the flow of that energy “power washes” your portals. When your emotion is negative it carries all kinds of sludge and debris that clogs up your field.

Writer's Bio: Karen is a naturopathic physician who has taken holistic healing and education into the realm of quantum physics. She is credited with “the first major breakthrough in Swedish Massage ~ research demonstrating energetic interconnections ~ since Peter Ling systemized it in the early 19th century.” International recognition for her healing and educational work includes an honorary degree, a silver medal, listing in Who’s Who of Professional and Business Women, appearances on TV and radio, lecturing in Europe and in the U.S. for professional symposia, colleges, corporations, community groups, and being featured in professional journals, magazines and newspapers. She has published more than 200 articles on holistic health and education. She has facilitated joyful well-being and health for hundreds of students she has personally certified in holistic healing and holistic massage and for hundreds more clients she has personally touched including luminaries in science, medicine and religion. iamholistic@gmail.com

Inner Activity Creates Outer Activity

Written by Karen Verna Carlson, N.D., Ph.D.. Posted in Holistic Living.

World class athletes use holistic visualization to enhance learning and performance, and you can, too. Here's proof. Recall--as vividly as you can--holding a fresh lemon in your hand. "Feel" its weight. Imagine tossing it in the air. "Hear" it land in your palm. "Examine" the knobbly texture and colors of the rind. "Hold" it close to your nose. "Smell" the aroma of pure lemon oil. Imagine lifting a knife and halving it. "Pick up" half and look at the little sacks of juice. "Squeeze" it slightly and "lick" the juice.

Tah dahhhh! Your salivary glands respond like you really licked a lemon! And that puckery feeling at the sides of your throat is equally real.

Writer's Bio: Karen is a naturopathic physician who has taken holistic healing and education into the realm of quantum physics. She is credited with “the first major breakthrough in Swedish Massage ~ research demonstrating energetic interconnections ~ since Peter Ling systemized it in the early 19th century.” International recognition for her healing and educational work includes an honorary degree, a silver medal, listing in Who’s Who of Professional and Business Women, appearances on TV and radio, lecturing in Europe and in the U.S. for professional symposia, colleges, corporations, community groups, and being featured in professional journals, magazines and newspapers. She has published more than 200 articles on holistic health and education. She has facilitated joyful well-being and health for hundreds of students she has personally certified in holistic healing and holistic massage and for hundreds more clients she has personally touched including luminaries in science, medicine and religion. iamholistic@gmail.com

Holistic Summer Health Upgrade

Written by Karen Verna Carlson, N.D., Ph.D.. Posted in Holistic Living.

Longer days, abundant local produce, and outdoor activities make summer time a great opportunity to joyously upgrade your health. It can be easy. It can be fun. It can be lasting.

Tiny improvements in health habits accumulate into huge benefits over the years, like a penny doubled every day. Involving family and/or a few friends to formulate their individual choices for an upgrade creates a contagious momentum. Do more of the healthy things you love rather than forcing yourself to struggle towards some idealistic “should.” (Don’t should on yourself!)

Writer's Bio: Karen is a naturopathic physician who has taken holistic healing and education into the realm of quantum physics. She is credited with “the first major breakthrough in Swedish Massage ~ research demonstrating energetic interconnections ~ since Peter Ling systemized it in the early 19th century.” International recognition for her healing and educational work includes an honorary degree, a silver medal, listing in Who’s Who of Professional and Business Women, appearances on TV and radio, lecturing in Europe and in the U.S. for professional symposia, colleges, corporations, community groups, and being featured in professional journals, magazines and newspapers. She has published more than 200 articles on holistic health and education. She has facilitated joyful well-being and health for hundreds of students she has personally certified in holistic healing and holistic massage and for hundreds more clients she has personally touched including luminaries in science, medicine and religion. iamholistic@gmail.com

Value Your Smart Body

Written by Karen Verna Carlson, N.D., Ph.D.. Posted in Holistic Living.

“Every cell is a little sentient being.” ~ Deepak Chopra, MD

Grasping that half-gallon carton of juice to lift it out of the refrigerator, my hand launches up like a rocket because the carton purchased yesterday is practically empty. Nerves, bones and muscles involved in the maneuver had geared up for the weight of a full carton. Yes, a miscalculation, but the prefix doesn’t negate the fact that some calculation did indeed take place. Who made that calculation? My intellect was occupied with the ominous dark cloud filling the sky above my laundry on the clothesline.

Writer's Bio: Karen is a naturopathic physician who has taken holistic healing and education into the realm of quantum physics. She is credited with “the first major breakthrough in Swedish Massage ~ research demonstrating energetic interconnections ~ since Peter Ling systemized it in the early 19th century.” International recognition for her healing and educational work includes an honorary degree, a silver medal, listing in Who’s Who of Professional and Business Women, appearances on TV and radio, lecturing in Europe and in the U.S. for professional symposia, colleges, corporations, community groups, and being featured in professional journals, magazines and newspapers. She has published more than 200 articles on holistic health and education. She has facilitated joyful well-being and health for hundreds of students she has personally certified in holistic healing and holistic massage and for hundreds more clients she has personally touched including luminaries in science, medicine and religion. iamholistic@gmail.com

Speak in First Person Singular

Written by Karen Verna Carlson, N.D., Ph.D.. Posted in Holistic Living.

“Nobody can be exactly like me. Sometimes even I have trouble doing it.” - Tallulah Bankhead, 40’s Film Star

Are you still in school “daze,” now that all the paraphernalia has been wrestled into a dorm cubicle? Or now that sending your baby off to kindergarten just tugs at your heartstrings rather than breaks them? I’ve been beaming healing energy to all of you ~ from preschool to college, students and families. Such a big transition!

Giving Thanks

Written by Karen Verna Carlson, N.D., Ph.D.. Posted in Holistic Living.

An attitude of gratitude is a valuable holistic tool.

Dancing joyfully between your life’s mission and your daily tasks, the big picture and the details, your long-range aspirations and recycling your trash is one way to describe holistic living. When I’m in that holistic zone, I’m feeling really good, dancing inside like Snoopy’s best cartoon
jig. Then there are those times when I’ve morphed into a Velcro ping-pong ball on a Velcro table: stuck, stuck, stuck. Doesn’t matter whether it’s the big picture or the little, stuck is characterized by frustration, or angst, or despair, or ___________. (I invite you to fill in your “favorite.” Seriously, why not grab a pen right now and get personal? Moving muscles demonstrates willingness, which in turn opens new nerve pathways for new thought patterns.)

Healthify Summer Fun

Written by Karen Verna Carlson, N.D., Ph.D.. Posted in Holistic Living.

“A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.” Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894)

The symphonic cicadas are an audio background while the sound studio in my mind plays that old tune, “It’s summertime, summertime, sum, sum, summertime….” I LOVE THIS SEASON! Fun opportunities abound ~ from a simple lunchtime picnic during a busy workweek to a sublime summer at the shore. Mother Nature entices us to savor the outdoors, to stroll the neighborhood on a cool evening, to chill around the pool on the doggiest of days.

Writer's Bio: Karen is a naturopathic physician who has taken holistic healing and education into the realm of quantum physics. She is credited with “the first major breakthrough in Swedish Massage ~ research demonstrating energetic interconnections ~ since Peter Ling systemized it in the early 19th century.” International recognition for her healing and educational work includes an honorary degree, a silver medal, listing in Who’s Who of Professional and Business Women, appearances on TV and radio, lecturing in Europe and in the U.S. for professional symposia, colleges, corporations, community groups, and being featured in professional journals, magazines and newspapers. She has published more than 200 articles on holistic health and education. She has facilitated joyful well-being and health for hundreds of students she has personally certified in holistic healing and holistic massage and for hundreds more clients she has personally touched including luminaries in science, medicine and religion. iamholistic@gmail.com

Bone Building Nutrition – Calcium and Beyond

Written by Debbie Edson RPh. Posted in Natural Health.

Maintaining bone strength as we enter mid-life and beyond is an important goal, not just for postmenopausal women. Men may experience declining bone strength as they age, although generally later in life than women. Most people know that adequate calcium intake is important for healthy bones. It is not widely understood, however, that bone is a complex living tissue continually undergoing a process of building up and breaking down. Strong bones require a constant supply of a variety of nutrients, not just calcium.

Bone Building Nutrititon

Menopause Meets Motorcycle

Written by Karen Verna Carlson, N.D., Ph.D.. Posted in Holistic Living.

Just what does “holistic” mean?

Let’s postpone this “what” question, and start out with questioning “why” even explore this topic? Answer: to learn something valuable you can easily apply for Living Well. Whether the value is simply considering a new perspective or whether it’s cultivating a new habit, you will experience direct benefits from applying it. These benefits build and grow and sculpt your being, and consequently your life, for the former inspires the latter.

Writer's Bio: Karen is a naturopathic physician who has taken holistic healing and education into the realm of quantum physics. She is credited with “the first major breakthrough in Swedish Massage ~ research demonstrating energetic interconnections ~ since Peter Ling systemized it in the early 19th century.” International recognition for her healing and educational work includes an honorary degree, a silver medal, listing in Who’s Who of Professional and Business Women, appearances on TV and radio, lecturing in Europe and in the U.S. for professional symposia, colleges, corporations, community groups, and being featured in professional journals, magazines and newspapers. She has published more than 200 articles on holistic health and education. She has facilitated joyful well-being and health for hundreds of students she has personally certified in holistic healing and holistic massage and for hundreds more clients she has personally touched including luminaries in science, medicine and religion. iamholistic@gmail.com

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