Living in a Ghost Story trailer

My latest book trailer for my new book "Living in a Ghost Story."

Ghosts are they real?

So do you believe in ghosts? Are they real or made up by Hollywood and the movie industry? Some may say “yes” while others say “No.” What is your personal answer to this question? Have you ever experienced someone talking to you but not know where it came from? Have you ever felt something or someone touch you but you saw no one there?

The TV and movie industry is full of suspenseful ghostly encounters. With the Paranormal Activities near the top of the charts as a movies portraying these videotaped ghost encounters happening in the house. Popular too many of those seeking the intense paranormal experience. No matter if we believe it or not some if not most people myself included are interested in this phenomenon.

The fact that ghosts may or may not exist sits on a very fine line. These are the people that aren’t really sure if they do exist.

I remember when the “Blair Witch” movie came out and people told me how they remembered hearing about this in the news as a child and therefore they believed this to be a true experience.

Droves of people jumped onto the internet seeking the answers to this very question. Was it real? For some they believed it so strongly that they fought and led good arguments about why it might have been real.

What we call Urban Legends became popular in this idea of what is real or not real. However, for many these experiences are real and for some very scary. Not all experiences are like how the movies portray them. In order for anyone to answer if ghosts do exist, one must have a view about life after death.

Do we go onto a better place in Heaven or wherever you believe to be the place we go when we die? Do we stay behind and become stuck here on earth?

For each person this is personal opinion. No one can answer this question for you. It is either a strong “Yes” or “No” there is no place for being stuck in the middle. Even those that vacillate on the line between the two are not able to say for sure.

I myself don’t know anything about the use of EVP items to pick up ghosts but as with anything else ghosts are an energy source just as we are and everything around us. Energy is everywhere and for this reason we are going to pick up energy signals.

With everything Hollywood can do with special effects it makes it difficult for people to know if they do truly exist.

I myself am a scientist in one way or another. I believe in science and the fact that everything needs to be evidence based. However, I have had paranormal experiences in my life and I know them to be real.

Since childhood I have heard voices, felt something touching me, witnessed items flying through the air, and much more.

As a child not knowing anything about these experiences, I was unable to tell others about them. I did not hear anyone else talking about them and my parents had me believing that I was having nightmares.

I realized at a young age that I either was crazy or there was someone there that I could not see. As I grew older my experiences became stronger and I started being able to see them.

Was I scared? Yes, the truth is I was very afraid. I didn’t know what they could do to me and the not knowing is what is scary.

The house was quiet and I fell right to sleep that night. I awoke with a start and practically jumped out of my bed.

I don’t know why I woke but I did and with a jolt. I sat up and could see a figure standing in front of me.

It scared the crap out of me and I grabbed the loaded pistol I kept in my nightstand.

I never took my eyes off whoever it was and they just stood there. I couldn’t see anything but black and no face or hands just someone dressed in a black cloak.

I grabbed my gun and brought it out in front of me and said, “who are you, what do you want?” no answer.

He began moving away from me and heading toward my baby’s bedroom. My heart was racing and I felt a flush of heat all through my body.

I jumped out of bed like I was lit up on fire. I had the gun out in front of me holding it like I would see cops on TV holding onto their gun.

I walked slowly through my dark house which the only filtered light came in from a street lamp on a nearby post.

I continued into the kitchen and it was standing there. It had its back to me and just stood there. I hollered, “You better get the fuck out of here or I am going to blow your head off!”

I had never shot anyone or anything but would do whatever it took to save my baby and myself.

I didn’t know what to do as it began opening the door to my son’s room. It went in and the door was left ajar. I began walking toward it.

I opened the door and looked inside the room. I was able to flip on the kitchen light so I could see. What I saw will forever be burned into my brain.

It leaned over my son’s crib looking at him. I didn’t know what it wanted. I yelled again for it to go away and it was not welcome.

Just as quick as it came it was gone. Disintegrated right in front of me, I couldn’t make sense of it.

This is an excerpt from my book, “Living in a Ghost Story.” I continue to experience ghostly encounters and plan to continue adding to this book.

My book is due to be released soon so watch for it and I will update you on the release date.

Check out this video

Living in a Ghost Story

My newest book "Living in a Ghost Story" by Jerri Cote will be released soon. I am very excited about this new book. It is full of different stories about my personal experiences with ghosts throughout out my life so far. I do plan to continue adding to the book over time as more experiences happen. Since I can remember there have been ghosts or spirits reaching out to me. Why me? I was sensitive enough to hear them, see them, feel them, and smell them.

I know when one has gotten close because it feels like someone is touching me but when I look no one is there. Lately I have smelt smoke around me and it is fairly strong and drives me crazy but I know someone or something is there. I had to ask them to stop smoking it was making me violently ill.

So are these stories real or fake? I assure you they are real. I have always had experiences and some very horrific and some not. Want to know more about them? You will have to read the book to see.

The book is not too long so an easy and interesting read. It will be available at amazon in print and on kindle and at Barnes and Nobles.

This book will be available soon so watch for it.

So for all you ghost story lovers this is the book for you to read. It will keep you engaged throughout the whole book. I hope you all enjoy it. I myself love to read ghost stories about other people's experience and this was the driving force behind sharing with all of you my living ghost story.

Reiki

I am a Reiki level III practitioner. That makes me a Reiki Master. There are many people who don't know what this is or what it can do for you. I call it spiritually guided healing. In our hands we have two chakras in the middle of our palms. When a Reiki practitioner does a Reiki session for a client. The practitioner will call upon this spiritually guided energy to flow through them and to give a healing to the client. As a person whom has received sessions it is quite relaxing and most times you will fall to sleep. A session can last anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and half. It depends on what the client needs at the time of the session.
I spend time talking with clients first explaining to them what Reiki is so they are clear about their session. It is very similar to massage except a Reiki Practitioner is not going to massage you but instead places their hands in certain spots starting at the head first and moving along down to the feet.

How does Reiki help to heal? It allows for energy blockages to be released and for the stagnant energy to be allowed to move freely within your body. A Reiki Practitioner can feel where these blockages are at and will work to get them set free so that the client may heal. Reiki is a good stress reliever and helps to alleviate anxiety. It can be conducted on animals, people, plants, and much more. 

Here is an article I thought was interesting about Reiki and Cancer. There has been studies conducted over the last 10 years or so looking at what Reiki could do for healing with Cancer patients. 

By LAURA JOHANNES

Mimi Ritzen Crawford for The Wall Street Journal

Reiki, a therapy in which hands are placed lightly on the body or just above it, is increasingly being used to reduce cancer-related fatigue, anxiety, nausea and pain. Several studies suggest a benefit to patients, but scientists say more large, rigorous studies are needed.

Cancer patients—due to the disease and to side effects of chemotherapy—often suffer from severe mental and physical fatigue, doctors say. Anxiety, nausea and pain are also common. In recent years, many cancer centers have been offering Reiki, a form of healing which originated in Japan in the early 1900s, according to scientific literature. In a session of Reiki, hands are placed lightly on the body. Each spot is treated for three minutes or longer and sometimes therapists place their hands just above the body without touching, says Donah Drewett, a Fairlee, Vt.-based Reiki therapist who works at Norris Cotton Cancer Center in Lebanon, N.H.

Extra care is needed with cancer patients. Therapists must avoid sensitive areas on the body such as ports used to administer medications, doctors and therapists say. The gentleness of Reiki is appealing to cancer patients, many of whom are too ill to tolerate a deep-tissue massage, doctors say.

Reiki is often described as a treatment that helps life energy to flow in a patient—an explanation not generally accepted by scientists. Barrie Cassileth, chief of the Integrative Medicine Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, calls the energy theory "absurd" but says light-touch therapy can have a "great relaxing effect" on cancer patients "who are constantly poked, prodded and given needles."

Adds Deborah Steele, manager of patient and family support services at Norris Cotton: "How it works is a mystery, but we see anecdotally the amount of delight" it brings patients.

Some scientists think the benefits may be as simple as the warmth of human touch and the feeling that someone is caring for you. "We do have a reciprocal effect between the mind and the body. if you relax one, you relax the other," Dr. Cassileth says.

At Memorial Sloan-Kettering, treatment for inpatients is available at no extra charge; outpatients pay $90 to $110 a session. At Norris Cotton, trained volunteers administer treatments free of charge—often while patients are at the hospital receiving intravenous chemotherapy treatments. Insurance typically doesn't pay for Reiki.

Other centers don't offer Reiki, citing insufficient evidence. "There isn't a good evidence base for its utility in cancer care as of yet," says Lorenzo Cohen, a professor in the departments of general oncology and behavioral science at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

David S. Rosenthal, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and medical director of the Leonard P. Zakim Center for Integrative Therapies at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, co-authored a January study on Reiki that was published in Cancer. The study found twice-weekly, 50-minute sessions reduced anxiety in 18 men with prostate cancer, but the benefit wasn't statistically significant compared with a control group. A larger study is needed to determine if a benefit exists, Dr. Rosenthal says. "The evidence for Reiki is still slim, but there are trends and we have to show whether those trends are real," he says.

A 2004 study of 1,290 cancer patients at Memorial Sloan-Kettering found a light-touch massage, standard Swedish massage and foot massage all helped symptoms including pain, depression anxiety, nausea and fatigue; the study didn't have a control group. In a 16-person study published in 2007 in Integrative Cancer Therapies, a team of Canadian scientists found five daily Reiki sessions of about 45 minutes improved quality of life and general well-being reported by cancer patients on a 28-question survey significantly more than resting for about the same period.

Study co-author Linda E. Carlson, a psychologist and an associate professor in the oncology division at the University of Calgary, says she thinks it is possible that a good rapport between the Reiki therapist and the patients could be the reason for the positive result.

—Email aches@wsj.com

Write to Laura Johannes at laura.johannes@wsj.com

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph-nowinski-phd/complementary-cancer-treatments_b_852673.html

Complementary Treatments for Cancer: The Role Reiki And Massage Can Play in Treatment

 

By Joseph Nowinski Ph.d

Modern medicine has transformed death and dying. Whereas a "terminal" diagnosis once meant that death was more or less imminent, increasingly "terminal" illness refers to a chronic and potentially fatal disease. It begins with a diagnosis. That can lead to a protracted process that includes treatment, remission, possible relapse, treatment again and so on. In this way, death has become a process for millions of us, as opposed to the sudden event it once typically was.

In the course of writing "Saying Goodbye: How Families Can Find Renewal through Loss," we interviewed a great many patients, caregivers and family members. We were looking for common themes and experiences in an effort to draw a rudimentary "road map" of what families can expect -- and what they can do to make this process more manageable. One of the themes that emerged was the increasing use of alternative and complementary treatments (ACT's) conjointly with treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery, all of which can have pernicious side effects.

As I did in my first blog on complementary treatments, I have tried to base this material as much as possible on objective evidence that can be found through the National Institutes of Health, theNational Cancer Institute and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine(NCCAM). Recognizing that there are many advocates for various kinds of complementary therapies, I should make it clear that I am a clinical psychologist, not a massage therapist or Reiki practitioner. As a psychologist, however, I am well aware that it is possible to obtain testimonials attesting to the effectiveness of virtually any treatment. That is not to say that those treatments did not help those individuals. But that is not the same as controlled clinical research. I carry no brief for any complementary treatment, and I am open to the possibility of their effectiveness.

My previous blog looked at acupuncture. This one focuses on two additional therapies: Massage and Reiki. Conceptually, they are thought to work in somewhat opposite, yet perhaps complementary ways. Massage is a hands-on therapy that is based on manipulating tissue. Reiki, in contrast, is a hands-off (or light touch) therapy that seeks to free up innate bodily energy (ki) that is believed to have healing power.

Reiki
Reiki, in its original form, is a self-administered treatment; however, it cannot be self-taught. One must learn Reiki from an experienced practitioner and it involves three levels of learning. As a complementary treatment, it has been used to treat many conditions. Although Reiki can theoretically be performed at a distance, in the cancer treatment centers where it is used, it is often applied in-person at one-to-one sessions lasting anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes. In these sessions the Reiki practitioner places his or her hands close to or lightly touching the patient's body, using as many as 15 different hand positions. The idea behind Reiki is that the practitioner is able to feel the flow (or lack of flow) of the body's energy (ki) and to free it up so as to facilitate the patient's overall health. Reiki can be a very calming and reassuring therapy for the patient who receives it.

Is Reiki Effective?
The Journal of Alternate and Complementary Medicine recently published a review of 12 clinical trials of Reiki. While nine of these investigators reported positive effects for Reiki, 11 of the 12 studies had serious methodological flaws, such as the lack of a control group and/or a comparison treatment. It is therefore impossible to say whether the reported effects were due to patients' expectations of benefit -- the placebo effect. In another review of research published in theInternational Journal of Clinical Practice, 205 studies were evaluated and boiled down to nine that were scientifically sound. The most common benefits of Reiki that were reported in these studies was in the area of relieving depression and anxiety. There were no substantiated results for pain relief. Finally, none of these studies has been replicated to show that the results can be reliably repeated.

If Reiki is effective, then, it is most likely to be with respect to patients' overall emotional state. That, of course, matters: Depression and anxiety are two side effects of medical treatments for cancer that are often overlooked.

Massage
According to NCCAM, the leading reason why Americans turn to massage therapy as an adjunct to cancer treatment is to help relieve pain. To the extent that massage is effective in relieving the physical aspects of stress (tight muscles, etc.), we could say that massage is also used to relieve stress. And surely treatment for cancer is stressful, for the patient as well as loved ones!

There are a variety of "schools" of massage therapy, but all of them involve the direct manipulation of bodily tissue in one way or another. In addition, the majority of massage therapists I spoke with said they incorporate a variety of techniques in their practice, including the use of pressure, deep muscle massage, body alignment and so on.

Is Massage Therapy Effective?
Keep in mind that we are talking specifically about the use of massage as a complement to cancer treatment, not its effectiveness in general. In a study funded in part by NCCAM, 380 participants were randomly assigned to receive either six 30-minute sessions of actual massage therapy or six three-minute sessions of simple touch therapy that did not include the kinds of methods cited above. Both groups showed significant reductions in reported pain, physical and emotional distress and overall mood. However, these effects were greater for the group that received actual massage therapy.

Two things strike me as important about the above findings. The first is that touch -- any kind of touch -- appears to be beneficial when you are fighting cancer, including the side effects of medical treatments. Second, the fact that these beneficial effects were not sustained after the massage therapy ended suggests that this form of complementary treatment needs to be ongoing as opposed to a one-time intervention.

One final note on massage: A treatment known as manual lymphatic drainage, in which massage is used to move fluid away from areas where lymph vessels are blocked, appears to be effective in reducing lymphedema associated with surgery for breast cancer.

Both Reiki and massage therapy are available to patients who reside (for free) at the Hope Lodge in Boston while they undergo treatment in one of that city's several major cancer centers. However, as people have commented in response to my earlier blog, it is a mistake to assume that a cancer treatment center -- even an expensive or well-known one -- will offer such services. Their availability may reflect in part the bias of the center's administration regarding the effectiveness of complementary treatments. So the best advice I can offer to these patients and their families is to pursue these options on your own if you think they might be worth a try.

Insurance may not cover complementary treatments; on the other hand, they are much less costly than any medical treatment, such as chemotherapy. And some have commented that it may be possible to negotiate rates, especially if several patients get together and seek a discount.

Perhaps as more rigorous research is conducted and reported we will learn more about which complementary treatments do what, and for whom. Surely all of the above symptoms -- anxiety, depression, pain -- complicate cancer treatment. To the extent they can be ameliorated, it makes sense to include them in a comprehensive treatment plan.

The "new grief" that is the result of the transformation of death and dying will affect every one of us eventually, if it hasn't already. Families do best when they approach terminal illness by learning about primary treatment as well as complementary treatment, and bringing both to bear.

To join the conversation about the transformation of death and dying visit www.newgrief.com.

Here is a great video about Reiki and Cancer

Here is another video

Quitting Smoking Timeline

We all know how difficult it is to quit. I had been trying to quit for over 15 years before I finally did the right program for me. My success of quitting has guided me towards writing the secrets to quitting smoking in my newest book that I am finishing off. I found this video and thought I should share and that I never felt better until I had finally quit smoking.

Meditation Daily can decrease stress

With the world a buzz and living in a fast food nation do we ever slow down? Not really and even when we do rest our body our mind is reeling with what is happening in the day or what is to come within the next few days.

It is no wonder many people have a great deal of stress they never take time to decompress and get rid of the worries of today. Stress is associated with anxiety disorder, heart disease, headaches, feeling overwhelmed, and it taxes our physical body every day.

We know that research has shown that reducing stress in our lives will help us mentally and physically. When my mom had her first heart attack the doctors told her to limit the stress she had in her life. Well that was a difficult feat for her to bear. However, continuing a life full of stress may take years off your life and potentially cause other harmful situations such as an anxiety disorder.

We know everyone has had anxiety and it is a physiological drive in our body. Does that mean anxiety wins? For some “yes” and for others who have found the art of meditation “no.”

Researchers from Harvard Medical studied the art of meditation and found information regarding what they term, “disease fighting genes.” The researchers suggest that when you meditate these genes are turned “on.” This means that when you meditate you turn these “disease fighting genes” on and they fight disease such as pain, infertility, Rheumatoid Arthritis, and high blood pressure.

What the researchers found was when someone meditated the individual’s meditation caused, “A relaxation effect” this phenomenon is just as powerful as taking a medical drug for the specific disease.

During this study they asked participants of the research groups to meditate everyday for two months. The participants were taught how to meditate to cause the relaxation effect. After two months of meditating every day the researches found that inflammation for participants came down, the genes that were turned on were killing diseased cells, and a protection mechanism for Cancer were all turned “on” during the meditation.

These are huge accomplishments with meditation. Not only that but research suggest that meditation lowers blood pressure, reduces stress, and allows the body to get into a repair state of being.

You can see the benefits that one can receive from engaging in meditation each and every day.

7 Health Benefits of Deep Relaxation 

The next time you tune out and switch off and let yourself melt, remind yourself of all the good work the relaxation effect is doing on your body. These are just some of the scientifically proven benefits …

1. INCREASED IMMUNITY

Relaxation appears to boost immunity in recovering cancer patients. A study at the Ohio State University found that progressive muscular relaxation, when practiced daily, reduced the risk of breast cancer recurrence. In another study at Ohio State, a month of relaxation exercises boosted natural killer cells in the elderly, giving them a greater resistance to tumors and to viruses.

2. EMOTIONAL BALANCE

Emotional balance means to be free of all the neurotic behavior that results from the existence of a tortured and traumatized ego. This is very hard to achieve fully, but meditation certainly is the way to cure such neurosis and unhealthy emotional states. As one’s consciousness is cleansed of emotionally soaked memories, not only does great freedom abound, but also great balance. As one’s responses then are not colored by the burdens one carries, but are instead true, direct and appropriate.

3. INCREASED FERTILITY

A study at the University of Western Australia found that women are more likely to conceive during periods when they are relaxed rather than stressed. A study at Trakya University, in Turkey, also found that stress reduces sperm count and motility, suggesting relaxation may also boost male fertility.

4. RELIEVES IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME

When patients suffering from irritable bowel syndrome began practicing a relaxation meditation twice daily, their symptoms of bloating, diarrhea and constipation improved significantly. The meditation was so effective the researchers at the State University of New York recommended it as an effective treatment.

5. LOWERS BLOOD PRESSURE

A study at Harvard Medical School found that meditation lowered blood pressure by making the body less responsive to stress hormones, in a similar way to blood pressure-lowering medication. Meanwhile a British Medical Journal report found that patients trained how to relax had significantly lower blood pressure.

6. ANTI-INFLAMMATORY

Stress leads to inflammation, a state linked to heart disease, arthritis, asthma and skin conditions such as psoriasis, say researchers at Emory University in the US. Relaxation can help prevent and treat such symptoms by switching off the stress response. In this way, one study at McGill University in Canada found that meditation clinically improved the symptoms of psoriasis.

7. CALMNESS

The simple difference between those who meditate and those who do not is that for a meditative mind the thought occurs but is witnessed, while for an ordinary mind, the thought occurs and is the boss. So in both minds, an upsetting thought can occur, but for those who meditate it is just another thought, which is seen as such and is allowed to blossom and die, while in the ordinary mind the thought instigates a storm which rages on and on.

How to switch off stress 

How can you use relaxation's healing powers? Harvard researchers found that yoga; meditation and even repetitive prayer and mantras all induced the relaxation effect. ''The more regularly these techniques are practiced, the more deeply rooted the benefits will be,'' Jake Toby says. Try one or more of these techniques for 15 minutes once or twice a day.

Body Scan: Starting with your head and working down to your arms and feet, notice how you feel in your body. Taking in your head and neck, simply notice if you feel tense, relaxed, calm or anxious. See how much you can spread any sensations of softness and relaxation to areas of your body that feel tense. Once your reach your feet, work back up your body.

Breath Focus: Sit comfortably. Tune into your breath, follow the sensation of inhaling from your nose to abdomen and out again. Let tension go with each exhalation. When you notice your mind wandering, return to your breath.

Mantra Repetition: sitting quietly with eyes closed for 15 minutes twice a day, and mentally repeating a simple word or sound such as Om can evoke the relaxation response.

Guided Imagery: Imagine a wonderfully relaxing light or a soothing waterfall washing away tension from your body and mind. Make your image vivid, imagining texture, color and any fragrance as the image washes over you.

 

For more information please go to this sitehttp://foodmatters.tv/articles-1/7-health-benefits-of-meditation

I would like to share with you my experience thus far with meditation. I have been doing the 21-day meditation challenge with Oprah and Depak Chopra. Each day they guide me through a 16 minute meditation. Today is day 5 of the challenge. I find time no matter what to do this because I know it will benefit me greatly. Those of you who read my blog know that Cancer has been quite an issue for my family and I am determined to make changes that my ancestors did not know about to become healthier and to increase my chances of being healthier.

The first few days of my meditation my mind was a buzz and I kept having random thoughts pop up about what I should be doing and need to be doing. I pushed them aside and ignored them. I decided to lie down for the majority of my meditations and would turn on my electric blanket and lie on it to help me to relax. On day 3 I stopped having random thoughts passing by and I instead had new insights come to me. I felt more relaxed than I have ever felt even when sleeping. My body was still and in sinc with my meditation and answers I needed to be answered became answered.

During today's meditation, I sat in my chair and did it and still felt the same intense relaxation. I found myself sitting on a beach and animals were all around me. At first a black bear cub showed up and just sat down next to me and then an owl came and talked to me for a few minutes about a question that I had been frustrated over. I sat there watching the sun set sitting on the beach listening to the waves crash the shoreline and was surrounded by furry friends. 

I must say it was quite an amazing and uplifting moment for me and it only took 16 minutes of my day away from me. What have I noticed in my body so far? My heart used to beat a little erratic nothing to worry about the doctor says but I was worried none the less. It has stopped since I started this meditation journey. Now I have meditated many times in the past but I have not been very regular with any of it.

I went to the doctors the other day and already by blood pressure had dropped. I was ecstatic about the news. I feel more grounded and more productive in a day that I have meditated as opposed to a day when I have not. I don't think there will be another day that I won't spend those 16 minutes in bliss. I may even add an additional 16 minutes before bed at night and I bet I would sleep more soundly and restful than before. I will let you know as I continue this journey of meditation.

I am meditating to heal my physical body and to decrease stress in my life. What can meditation do for you? Give it a try and see. I would love for others to share their story of meditation and what it does for them so don't be shy. Share with us your story. Until next time

Namaste

Here are some great meditations to guide you to good health

You will want to lie down or get very comfy with this meditation and you need a pair of headphones to get the full benefit. This is the 30 minute one that I do in the afternoons. I do the 16 minute one in the morning.

More Than One Million People Are Diagnosed Every Year With Cancer, That Equates To 1 in 3 People

More Than One Million People Are Diagnosed Every Year With Cancer, That Equates To 1 in 3 People

update on the ayurvedic diet

So it has been just a little over two weeks since I started the ayurvedic diet and guess what? The weight is coming off so easily. Really, I couldn’t believe it. I never get hungry in between meals like I used too. I also have more energy and feel better. I no longer suffer from nightly congestion. Before I started this diet my nose would close up every time my head hit the pillow and stay that way all night. There was nothing I could do about it and was told to have surgery even though they couldn’t see any reason for it to be happening. I knew that surgery would be hard on my body and I also knew others whom had it done and it did nothing for them.

Now I don’t have to take my nightly Sudafed to try to open up. It never really worked anyways. I am still in shock that I would be impacted this way already. I am just in awe. Now I have heard from some of you out there that you wanted the list of foods to eat. Well before you can even look at what you should be eaten you need to know what Dosha you are. I suggest you going to one of my earlier posts and take the quiz from Dr. Oz and make sure about your Dosha.

I am a Kapha with Pitta falling behind. In reality I am a Kapha all the way. I suffer from everything they speak of and since I started living this lifestyle my body is becoming happier. Seriously, it is functioning better and I know it has to be because of this program. I know it might look restrictive by site but I am going to tell you that I am a terrible dieter. I get bored too quickly and my cravings would drive me crazy.

Well I don’t have any cravings and get this. I went to eat some chocolate yesterday and it tasted terrible. I pushed it away and don’t want it anymore. Now those of you who know me know very well that I am a chocoholic and must have my weekly fix. Not anymore. I love that this transition is happening for me.

When I went to my doctor’s office the other day he was stunned at my progress. He was quite pleased that I was working on the weight so that my body could heal from the injuries I have received.

Now many of you are probably wondering. Is she exercising to get this weight off? Nope I am very limited and restricted in my activity level with my current injuries. I can’t do the exercises like I used to be able to do before. I can do the ones that I shared on one of my earlier posts. Really those are good for toning and strengthening your muscles. I do them to help me to get stronger.

If I had access to a pool that would do well but I don’t. However, for those of you restricted like me a pool at the local gym might be an answer to your exercise questions. I can walk in the pool and swim and it doesn’t hurt me because of the buoyancy and the unloading weight off joints.

Also I wouldn’t feel any direct pain right afterwards it actually made me feel relaxed and good for a couple of hours afterwards. Currently, I don’t have transportation to the gym reasons why I don’t go.

Now I had to kick up the spice in my diet, which wasn’t something I normally ate on a regular basis. I am now getting quite used to eating turmeric and peppers and ginger into my days. I didn’t like any of that when I first started this so don’t fear if it is not your thing. Just slowly immerse yourself into it if you happen to be a kapha too.

There is no rush so take it slow. I jumped right in because that works better for me. The hardest thing for me to get used to is the taste of ginger and I drink ginger tea all day long now. I know it is the reason I am not congested like I used to be. I even got a cold and it isn’t as bad as how it would be before.

I still have a long way to go but I am headed into the right direction and that is all that matters to me. I don’t really miss the other foods that I am not supposed to eat. I love it. This has been the easiest weight loss diet I have ever done. I don’t feel deprived and I feel satisfied and full all the time. There is no calorie counting or fat counting either it is just eating the foods on my list and being creative in how to cook them up.

 this information taken off http://www.ayurveda-holistic-medicine.com/10-best-foods-to-eat.html

10 Best Foods to Eat for Vata

Vata benefits from heavy, oily, and warm food (these qualities are SUPER important, more than the individual food items).

1) Clarified butter or butter (you can add it to anything you eat)
2) Fresh ginger (best pungent spice; I know not exactly a 'food', but it's really one of my tops for Vata; can be added to food or made into fresh ginger tea)
3) Warm milk (preferably with a pinch of powdered ginger and cardamom)
4) Cream of rice or wheat (with some ghee, ginger and cardamom; are you starting to see the point ;-)
5) Warm soups and long-cooked stews (preferably with some root vegetables, such as beets and carrots)
6) Almonds (the best would be rinsed with boiling water to remove the skin & slightly roasted in ghee)
7) Sweet fruit, like dates, figs, and red grapes (try to eat any fruit room temperature; if the fruit is dried, soak it first)
8) Root vegetables, like carrots, red beets, and sweet potatoes (cooked and spiced)
9) Kichari (also with ghee, fresh ginger and root veggies)
10) Chicken broth

10 Best Foods to Eat for Pitta

Pitta benefits from heavy, cold, and dry food.

1) Clarified butter (clarified butter has a special quality - even though it's oily it decreases Pitta)
2) Milk (with a pinch of cardamom)
3) Sunflower seeds
4) Steamed broccoli
5) Lassi (½ cup plain good quality yogurt + ½ cup water with a pinch of cumin)
6) Cucumber
7) Salads and other leafy greens
8) Cold cereal, such as oats
9) Kichari (with cumin, coriander and fresh cilantro)
10) Lentils and other legumes

10 Best Foods to Eat for Kapha

Kapha benefits from dry, light, and hot food.

1) Hot water with fresh ginger, honey, and lemon (I know it's not food, but Kapha in general does better with less food and this drink can be used as food substitute)
2) Warm buckwheat, rye or millet
3) Kichari (make it quite spicy; with fresh ginger, pepper, and chili)
4) Astringent fruit, such as pomegranate, apricot or persimmon
5) Leafy greens, such as dandelion, kale and beet greens
6) Artichoke, cauliflower and green beans
7) Sprouts
8) Soy milk
9) Lentils and other legumes
10) Steamed brussel sprouts

Notice any repetition? Yes, Kichari! Kichari is a wonderful tridoshic healthy recipe that you can eat anytime regardless of which Body Type you are. Which brings me to the last list . . . 

read this article in the Washington Post

 http://blog.washingtonpost.com/mighty-appetite/2007/05/do_you_eat_for_your_dosha.html

http://ayurvedaplace.com/category/dosha/

Follow this site that has a short article on the foods for each Dosha
http://www.halepule.com/sites/default/files/PDF/Foods_by_dosha.pdf

http://www.ayurveda-treatment-guide.com/ayurvedic-cooking.html

Ayurvedic cooking to balance doshas for Kapha Types

Your kapha dosha is aggravated you are overweight,feel lethargic,and get depression easy. also if you have mucus every morning or a feeling of mucus in your throat.

Your diet should consist primarily of foods and beverages that stabilize kapha ayurveda herbs and are stimulating: choose foods that are light, dry, and warm and that taste primarily pungent (spicy), bitter, or astringent. Avoid overeating and foods and beverages that aggravate kapha, such as those that are oily, cold, or predominantly sweet, sour, or salty.

VEGETABLES

Emphasize asparagus, cilantro, mushrooms, broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, alfalfa sprouts, mustard greens, chard, turnips, watercress, radishes, beets, carrots, pumpkin, celery, peas, green beans, chilies, lentils, lima and soybeans. Eat moderate amounts of parsley, cauliflower, spinach, okra, squash, corn, seaweeds, chickpeas, split peas, tofu, and kidney and mung beans. Avoid cucumbers, avocado, and sweet potatoes.

FRUITS

Emphasize apples, cranberries, and dried fruits. Eat grapefruits, pomegranates, prunes, lemons, limes, and papayas in moderation. Avoid grapes, bananas, pineapples, oranges, pears, melons, plums, cherries, strawberries, mangoes, dates, and figs.GRAINS

Emphasize quinoa and barley; eat moderate amounts of corn, millet, buckwheat, rye, and basmati rice. Avoid couscous, oats, brown or white rice, and wheat.

NUTS, SEEDS, AND OILS

Emphasize safflower, sunflower, and mustard oils; eat small quantities of coconut, and pumpkin, sunflower, and sesame seeds, ghee, and corn, peanut, and soy oils. Avoid walnuts, cashews, almonds, pine nuts, filberts, pecans, Brazil nuts and their oils, as well as butter, sesame, olive, and avocado oils.

HEALING AYURVEDIC FOODS, HERBS, AND SPICES ANIMAL FOODS (NONVEGETARIANS)

Use moderate amounts of buttermilk, goat milk, and kefir, and turkey and chicken; avoid all other animal and daily products.SWEETENERS

Use only honey, fruit-juice concentrates, and Sucanat in moderation.

Vata diet

They need to avoid becoming overstimulated; to include periods of rest, relaxation, and reflection (even if it's only fifteen minutes twice a day), particularly in the afternoon, when you tends to become scattered; and to eat regular meals. use this spice to feed your nerves everyday as part of your daily meal.

Be mindful of moving too much, doing too many things at one time, and thinking too much and too fast.

Your the type that usually gets the least amount of sleep but need the most in order to rest their wound-up, overworked nervous systems. They are natural night owls.

Do daily oil massageRevitalizes and moisturizes for soft, young-looking skin. Increases energy, stamina and resistance to stress; improves circulation/enhances sleep. Prepared with a blend of Ayurvedic herbs and pure essential oils. No animal ingredients. Not tested on animals. No articficial fragrances. especially if you are :a mild insominac who likes to go to bed at 2 a.m.

To compensate for the irregular circadian sleep cycle that becomes a life time habit follow strict discipline of daily oil massages.

They should get a solid seven to eight hours of sleep and can sleep a little later than other doshas; they should go to bed early and rise at the same time every morning—even on the weekends.

SeasonFall is the season when dryness is most prevalent,(just look at the dry leaves all around) so you should be aware that this is when most imbalances occur—and be prepared. You don't do well in hot dry indian summer that leads into in rainy, damp, or windy weather, so you should stay out of the cold and avoid these conditions.

Food Emphasize sweet, bitter, sour, heavy, oily, hot, stabilizing foods and herbs, especially during fall and winter, the autumn moivng into winter time of year. They should drink warm teas and fluids, and avoid caffeine and alcohol. VATA Dosha: DAILY LIFESTYLE REGIMEN

BASIC

Early morning

Arise by sunrise, without alarm clock

Drink warm water Urinate and have bowelmovement

Brush teeth and scrape tongue

MeditateDo sesame oil massage Do yoga Sun Salutation

Do calming exercises such as tai chi or yoga, between six and ten A.M. or six and ten P.M.

Bathe/shower with warm water

Eat breakfast by eight A.M. Take short walk

Midmorning Do active work; best time for meetings, communicating with others, doing chores and errands

Afternoon Eat lunch between twelve and one P.M.

Take short walk

Low-key work: thinking, contemplation, reflect on the day

Vata tea break at four P.M. break at four P.M.

Pitta diet

What does pitta dosha mean? Pitta dosha means the aspect of the body that refers to the digestion of the body. Pitta means heat and is referring to the enzymes of the body, the HCL of the body,and how the body prepares the food into the chemical nutrient that builds the tissue. It also refers to the ayurveda body type that is predominant in heat,prone to hyperacidity aka acid reflux.

One of the most fundamental concepts in Ayurveda is that of pitta is enzymes power. A metaphor is that Pitta is the "fire in the belly." So folks with a lot of " fire in their belly" are Pitta types.

Enzymes are the digestive and metabolic "fire" produced by the doshas that grabs the essence of nourishment from food, feelings, and thoughts and transforms it into a form your body can use.

Through the heat of enzymes various tissues of the body produce secretions, metabolic reactions, and other processes needed to create energy and maintain and repair the body. Agni is also part of the immune system since its heat destroys harmful organisms and toxins.

The activity of stomach acid varies throughout the day and, maintaining the strength and natural ebb and flow of your digestive juices is needed for good digestion, good immune function, and resistance to disease. Enzymes are needed to form healthy juices that the body chemistry stews in . Anytime anything is put in the mouth, the stomach secretes hydrochloric acid.

If the substance is not food, the hydrochloric acid has nothing to work with. So, gum chewing is not a good thing to do because it causes excess acid secretion with nothing to work on.

Enzymes and stomach acid are examples of pitta dosha. 

http://www.holistic-online.com/ayurveda/ayv-Pitta-food-plan.htm go here for lists of foods for each dosha


I hope this is useful information for all of you. I will continue posting every so often about my progress and if anyone dares to join me and wants to do this diet let me know. I would love to add your information here too to help others out there.

Grieving the loss of a loved one

I think we have all lost someone in our lives and this has left us feeling hopeless. I never knew how grief could affect a person’s own emotional state until I lost my own mother. I mean I had lost animals before and felt sadness for them but it was much different than this type of loss.

My brother was sadly taken when he was only 36 years old. He fought the good fight for three whole years but then gave it up and threw the towel in and lost his fight to Cancer.

As most of you know I have written a book regarding this aspect of Cancer and death. I wrote it because I couldn’t grieve or I just was too stubborn and refused to go through that type of pain. I mean I cried and wept for her loss. I spent time alone and took a few days off from work to get through it but the reality is, I did not do the work.

I ignored it and tried to move on in my life. I tried to ignore it and thought it would get better in time. Well two years had passed and I still wasn’t getting over it. Every day felt like the same day I heard that she died. That’s right everyday; I had to relive the horrible pain involved in losing her.

I never showed my children how to grieve the loss of a loved one. I couldn’t do it myself so how could I show them? I wasn’t doing it at all. I showed them how to shove it aside as if it wasn’t important. I realize that it was important and it would have helped me to go through it if I had allowed myself the gift of letting go.

I mean there is really no right or wrong way to grieve. We all do it in our own styles but some aren’t as healthy as others. Mine was far from a healthy way of dealing with this loss.

Ironically, I had been helping clients in therapy go through the grieving process and was helpful to them but when it came down to me I got lost some where along the way.

I think I just went to a dark place and couldn’t find my way back. Then it happened. One night I had a dream and my mom came to me and told me that I needed to find a way to grieve my loss of her and maybe I should write about it.

So I woke in the morning pen in hand and paper and wrote down what I could remember of our conversation. I decided that day that I would write about my experience in losing those that I have loved to Cancer.

You see I had already lost a lot of people to Cancer. It seemed like every time I turned around someone was being diagnosed with Cancer and then given a short 6 months to a year to live.

I can remember being a young child, I think I was 5 or 6 years old and my dad was diagnosed with Leukemia and I had no clue what that was but knew it was bad because he spent most of his days at the hospital sick.

Then my grandfather was diagnosed with lung Cancer and he died within six months. I never got to say goodbye to him and when he died I refused to go to the funeral. My mom didn’t make me and went without me and I can remember curling up in a ball in the bottom of my closet crying for hours.

I thought about him all the time and how much I missed him it made me sick inside. It felt like I was on the ocean and the waves were forcing me back and forth with their veraciousness. It took years for me to get over his death. I now know it was because I didn’t go through any grieving process.

Then my grandmother was diagnosed with colon cancer. I flew 3000 miles to see her one last time. I wanted to make sure I said, “goodbye” to her. However, I never returned for her funeral and again didn’t go through the grieving process for her loss and it kept stinging me for more than 20 years.

Then my brother was diagnosed while I was in the graduate program in the middle of my program. He was stage 4 when he went to the doctor unknowing to him. I will never forget the call he made to me the day he got the news.

He was stunned and told me that he had wished someone had gone to the doctors with him to hold him that day. He couldn’t believe he could have this death sentence and hadn’t even really lived his life nor would his children get to grow up with their father. His kids were still young under 10 at the time of his death.

I will never forget my last phone call from him. He told me that everything was fine and that he wasn’t going to do any more treatments and that he felt pretty good. He sounded happy and because I wasn’t there I thought he was fine. He died a few days later.

Again I did not grieve the process of his death. I never went back to my hometown. Again I did the status quo and stayed behind and dealt with it the best I knew how.

So what do you think happened to me when my mother was diagnosed? I went crazy. I was angry at the world and couldn’t believe she was leaving me here alone. We had just made a whole lot of plans to do all these things and see all these places together. She was gone within 10 months and it was ten months of hell let me tell you.

So I wrote a book about my experience and my life with the invasion of Cancer into my family. I grieved all these deaths by doing this, taking the journey I should have taken a long time ago for all of them.

I cried, I wrote, I cried some more. I shared with my children my process and they cried with me and grieved the process of their grandmother’s death and we became healthier by the end of the book. I no longer cry every day about her being gone. No longer do I cry over the other’s that I have lost. I think about them but no longer get pulled into the pit of darkness.

By the end of the book I found the light. I wrote about the seven steps/phases of grieving and how I went through them all. I wrote about the tools I used that helped me through it so I could finish the book. It was the hardest thing I have ever done but who said grieving was easy? It is not and it can be scary. I know I was scared out of my mind.

Moral of the story, find a way to grieve and make sure you go through all the steps it is imperative to your children that you lead the way. You are the one in front with the light lighting the way through the dark.

If you need a book to help you check out mine at amazon.com and B&N.com

“Forgiving Cancer: A Mother and Daughter’s Journey to Peace” will lead you through the dark. 

You can click on the book to the right toward the top if you are wanting to see more about the book. I wrote it for people who have gone through what I have with death and Cancer. I hope you all find a way to peace in your way and grieve those processes so they aren't haunting you for a lifetime.

 Here is a wonderful video about grief

 watch her story as she struggles with her grief she mentions that her family didn't talk about it. It is important to help be there for questions that they may have. They don't understand and many children have questions about death that need to be answered.