From the mouths of our Grandmothers

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Karen

I am so happy to have been shown this interview by Vedana Shiva on the hot topic of seed saving, Monsanto, farmer suicide, Genetic Engineering, and so much more.  She is so clear, and says so much by saying so little.  Please take 17 minutes of your life to educate yourself about a critical, life altering current issue!

The interview was taken on 16th March 2011, during “Grandmother’s University” a three day course at Navdanya Biodiversity Farm (http://www.navdanya.org/) at Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India which Dr. Vandana Shiva founded in 1987 to help save traditional seeds. The farm also undertakes research and training, along with the important role of distributing native seeds to farmers in the region.

Vandana Shiva on GMO, Monsanto, and Seed Saving

And here is another video, a 3 minute clip for a documentary by the scientists who have worked for Monsanto.  I really don’t know how we can stop this…but we have to be aware.

Scientists From Inside Monsanto, The Truth

Posted in General Life, GMO, Nutrition | Leave a comment

Homemade Food for Our 4-legged Companions (aka The Story of Violet)

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Karen

I get so many requests to share how I got into feeding home made food to my dog Violet, and how I actually do it.  In the beginning it was a bit of a complicated routine, but over the years I figured out what parts of the process I could let go of and still have a happy healthy dog. *This article is long, so if you are just curious about what I feed her just scroll to the bottom*

This topic is so near and dear to my heart.  Mostly because the star of the show is my beloved canine BFF Violet, and also because elaborating on the concept that food IS medicine is a passion of mine.

I am going to take this article as an opportunity to also share the story of Violet and me.  It’s a very special story, one I wanted to write before she wasn’t actually lying next me as I wrote it.  You see, Violet is 21 years old.  I credit her longevity (not only her longevity, but how WELL she has aged) to her diet by about 90%.  The other 10% is a combination of her genetics, being terribly spoiled, and her own amazing spirit.  She very dedicated to her job (me), and has been my constant shadow for the past 15 years.

Beautiful Violet, after eating her dinner! I believe she is 12 in this picture. Perfect teeth, vision, hearing. Still very athletic, chasing the tennis ball and wrestling with other dogs.

Continue reading →

Posted in General Life, Pet Health, Raw meat for dogs, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

This is perfect…

Posted on January 7, 2012 by Karen

“People are fed by the food industry, which pays no attention to health, and are treated by the health industry, which pays no attention to food.”

Posted in General Life, Nutrition, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Women, Food, and God

Posted on January 5, 2012 by Karen

I just watched this beautiful video of the author of Women, Food, and God, Geneen Roth, reading an excerpt from her book.

It is very loving, very poignant, and very true.  I don’t think there is much more I need to say, other than enjoy.

 

Posted in General Life, Good Reads, Videos, Weight Management, Women | Leave a comment

Be afraid- but do it anyway

Posted on December 31, 2011 by Karen

If you are my friend, a family member of mine, or a patient, you have probably heard me say the above statement.  It’s the motto I strive to live my life by, and it has served me well.  It is not always (often) a comfortable motto, nor is it (seemingly ever) an easy one.

But it’s effective.

Be afraid, but do it anyway.

It’s the reason I went to graduate school.  It’s why I chose to train in yoga with a very intense, very intelligent, very intimidating teacher who broke me through my glass ceiling daily.  It’s why I got married, why I ride horses, why I opened my own practice right out of grad school.  It’s why I expanded my practice into the next suite over without knowing why (turns out it was because I was soon blessed with an extremely talented chiropractor to share the extra space with).  It’s why I feed my dog raw meat and cooked veggies, which is why she is about to enter her 21st year on this planet happy and healthy.  It’s why I began training in herbal medicine with a doctor who can run circles around me simply by inhaling and exhaling.

And after all this time of living my motto, what can I say?  It gets easier.  Well, more like it gets quicker, more succinct.  More elegant.  Less sobbing and screaming, more “oh, I’ve been here before…I recognize that tree…”.  It’s nice.

Which leads me to what I really wanted to share, Neil Gaimans’ New Year 2012 wish for us all.  It seems I have a kindred spirit out there.

I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.

Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re Doing Something.

So that’s my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody’s ever made before. Don’t freeze, don’t stop, don’t worry that it isn’t good enough, or it isn’t perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life.

Whatever it is you’re scared of doing, Do it.

Make your mistakes, next year and forever.

Source: http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2011/12/my-new-year-wish.html

 

 

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No regrets!

Posted on December 19, 2011 by Karen

With New Year’s resolutions brewing in everyone’s mind, here is a simple yet profound reminder of how to really live life.  Sure, there is some merit to the usual suspects of the resolution list (eat better, live cleaner, exercise more, be more generous…).  But let’s just go one step further…let’s take a moment to read a list of the five most common lifetime regrets of those imminently facing life’s singular guarantee- death.  If you are a patient of mine who has been seeing me regularly for some period of time (read: long enough for me to get you like me enough so that I can talk with you on a very real level without making you inch slowly toward the door), than you have probably heard me talk about the fact that I live my life entirely for one moment;  The moment I am dying.

See, for me it’s all about that moment.  I have no idea how that moment will play out, but one thing I am sure of is that at some point, all I will have are my memories.  I want my mental movie to be great.

Without further adieu:

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

2. I wish I didn’t work so hard.

3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

And as any responsible blogger must do, here is the link to the full article.

Posted in Death and dying, General Life | Leave a comment

Everybody Hurts…

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Karen

A colleague of mine, Jason Moskovitz, wrote a short and elegant article about the experience of pain.  I am linking you to it, as I really couldn’t have written it better myself.

Here is an important excerpt from the article:

“In an era where we have our own living space, our own car, our own schedule, the idea of community seems almost antiquated. We’re left to sift through our own pain, making it very easy to believe we are alone in our suffering, which only serves to compound our pain. These days, community has been replaced with the social network. We, sitting behind our own computers, select digitally who are our own friends, and become digitally oblivious to our pain.

It’s time to let go, to disown what we own. Cast off the idea that our environment would rather have us deal with our own problems by ourselves in the confines of our own life. Release into a world knowing that everyone is in pain. Everyone. And that this is normal.”

 

Posted in General Life, Pain/ Pain management | Leave a comment

Feminine 2.0 – refining the feminist movement

Posted on March 10, 2011 by Karen

The feminist revolution was necessary for so many reasons, and in it’s own right, successful.   However, just like anything that shifts from one extreme of the pendulum swing to the other, the movement and it’s parameters need to be revisited.

Please read this eloquent article by Marianne Williamson.

Posted in Uncategorized, Women | Tagged | Leave a comment

Article: Finding Science in Acupuncture

Posted on March 24, 2010 by Karen

Finding science in Acupuncture in the Wall Street Journal; article here.

Posted in Evidence | Leave a comment

What the heck is Magnesium Stearate?

Posted on July 8, 2009 by Karen

This additive is in sooooo many things, including tablets and capsules. Great easy to read article about what this HYDROGENATED OIL is, and just how much you are ingesting if it is in your supplement, etc…

Posted in Food Additives, Nutrition | Leave a comment