Category Archives: Body, Mind & Spirit

Ancient Wisdom & Healing

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Belief and the Healing Arts of Ancient Civilizations

byzantine hippocratic oath

1 Comment by WRF Staff

The majority of this article and all of the quotes are taken from The Healing Gods of Ancient Civilizations (1925), by Walter Addison Jayne, M.D.

The various superstitious practices of the ancients may seem strange to us, but some of the drugs and therapies that were used then have been rediscovered over the last several hundred years, and have proved to be of great value.

Today, the modern doctor has the snake symbol of Aesculapius. In those ancient times (as well as today), medical practitioners faced the problem of how to stimulate the recuperative powers of the afflicted patient into action. Old temple disciplines included purification, temple-sleep, and various hypnotic rest states. Bodily processes were aroused and focused through intensities of suggestion, through touching the patient, along with lifting the faith of one who was ill.

Perusing the deeper concept of the ancient healing gods, we find it focuses upon the idea of a body-mind relationship. Hippocrates believed that body and mind are a unity, and to affect one is to affect the other. Modern medicine has taken more of the viewpoint of isolating the “one cause” and prescribing a specific remedy that will bring the solution. Interestingly, although Pasteur originally held strongly onto the effect of the microbe in medicine, his dying words were, “the microbe is nothing, the terrain is everything.”

The earliest definite knowledge of Egyptian medicine is obtained from several medical papyrus manuscripts from the twelfth dynasty, about 2000 B.C. In those writings, it stated that it was the duty of the pharaohs to maintain the health of their subjects. From the ancient writer Maanetho, we read that King Athotis of the first dynasty of the Thinites practiced healing and wrote anatomical works. “Eventually all the great medical centers were located at the chief capitals along the Nile. These shrines were depositories of medical lore, and the ancient traditions are confirmed by the lists of diseases and their cures. Clement refers to forty-two Hermetic books at the temple of Hermopolis, of which six were medical texts giving formulas and remedies. On the walls of sanctuaries were inscriptions and tablets in commemoration of miraculous cures with statues and steles erected by former patients in grateful recognition of cures effected by the divinity.”

Healing methods in the ancient days consisted of religious rites, ceremonies and special formulas which brought forth the mysterious, miraculous powers of deities and other supernatural beings. The healing theme centered around the idea of expelling the unseen, malicious actions which caused disease. Appeals to the gods for the cure of disease were made orally or in writing.

The priest/doctor would make the examination and give the ceremonial form of diagnosis. The patient would then make a formal statement regarding the problem, such as, “I, (patient name), am a sufferer with (naming the disease or the problem).” Treatment consisted of incantations, prayers and possibly the giving of some remedy along with commands, spells, coaxing and threatening. All of these had some symbolic meaning which served to impress the mind of the patient.

“Egyptians assumed that the body was divided into 36 parts, each of which was under the sway of a certain god. ‘There is no limb of his without a god,’ (Leyden Papyrus, a.k.a. Leiden Papyrus) and so invoking these, they heal the diseases of the limbs.”

On some occasions the priest would put on a disguise and would appear to a patient as the god of the body part, imitating the god in voice and gesture, and utilizing relics to chase the evil spirits away.

Remedies were given to assist the spoken formulas, with many remedies given to patients, by the gods, during their dreams. Time has proven the value of many of the modalities then employed, such as castor oil, aloe, mint, myrrh, copper, lead, salt, cedar, opium, and others that are still in pharmaceutical use. “It would appear that remedies used without the magical words were valueless or failed their full effect.”

There is no question that the aspect of the mind in the healing process was a strong consideration. When we review the wording of the incantations from any of the ancient papyri, then this theory becomes very clear. The Ebers Papyrus states in its opening line, “this is a book for healing all disease.” An example of an incantation given while drinking a remedy states, “Welcome, remedy, welcome that which destroyest the trouble of this my heart and in these my limbs… the magic of Horus is victorious in the remedy.”

Another incantation for cataract of the eye reads, “come ointment, come to the patient and take from him the water, the pus, the blood, the pain in the sys, the chemosis, the blindness, the flow of matter which are being worked there from the god of inflammations, of each kind of death, of each kind of pain.”

The Greeks also believed that disease and death, like other processes of nature, were ascribed to superhuman agencies. Although there was a belief that Zeus sent disease, in a declaration attributed to Zeus in the Odyssey, we read, “Alas, how forsooth, do mortals reproach the gods! For they say that their evils are from us, whereas they themselves, through their own infatuations, suffer grief beyond what is destined.”

The Greeks looked to the power of the gods for healing, using customary rituals, hymns of praise, prayers and sacrifice. An elaborate system existed of beneficent acts of friendly deities, demigods, and heroes. These took precedent irrespective of all other means employed. Greek cures consisted of two major methods, direct and indirect.

Direct healing was through divine intervention, very commonly by the transmission of the divine power by means of some agent or sacred object. The healing power of the gods was transmitted by simple divine presence, by the laying-on of hands, through some sacred relic, or through the medium of a priest, priestess, or sacred animal.

Asklepios (Asclepius) healed Theopompos, the writer of comedies, by the laying on of hands. A man having but one good eye slept in the temple, and dreaming that Asklepios applied an ointment to the empty socket, he awoke in the morning with two sound eyes. Marinos tells of Procius, the philosopher, who suffering from arthritis, had covered the part with a cloth. A sparrow, sacred to Asklepios, plucked the cloth away, and the disease with it.

Gaining power to cure oneself by touching the image of the god, or his altar, was often used. For example, the statues of Theagenes in Thasos, Pulydamas at Olympia, and the Corinthian general Pelichos was thought to possess healing powers for fevers.

Indirect cures were obtained by following directions received through dreams and visions. Fragments from the shrine at Lebena records cures due to application of remedies indicated by the gods in visions. Therapies included mild and innocent purgatives, roots, herbs, diets, fasts, baths, rubbing with ointments, and gymnastics. “Tales of the marvelous cures effected at the healing temples spread the fame of the healing deity, Asklepios, throughout Greece. It was such common knowledge that the sick, in going to these sanctuaries for relief, were probably already imbued with a certain religious fervor, while their imagination was excited by the hope that they also might be the recipient of the divine grace.”

The dream temples were quite well known. Psychology played an important part in the healing success. “At Pergamon, patients were conducted through the sacred spot by attendants who related the legends and explained the remarkable cures recorded on the steles and tablets. The tablets and symbols that covered the walls of the temple were examined, then, the patient being properly prepared, was allowed to approach the image of the god, offer sacrifice with prayer, and allow the diseased part to come in contact with the hand or other part of the statue. An air of sanctity pervaded the temple and the sacred spot, and the sick could not fail to be deeply impressed by the majesty of the deity and the supernatural powers with which he was endowed, so that, with imagination fired by the marvels of the sanctuary, the patient awaited the mysterious events which would take place during the night of dreaming in the temple.” In the morning, the dreams and visions of the night were told to, and interpreted by, the priests, who then gave appropriate directions for any treatment that should be carried out. Belief was an integral part of the ancient healing arts. The learning of the virtues and attributes of the gods produced the activation of the healing powers within the patient. Whether it was the Egyptian, Greek, or other ancient civilization, they understood the importance of stimulating the patient’s own healing energies that surely led to the miraculous cures which did take place.

There is an important place today for the theories of healing utilized by the ancient civilizations. The mind and body have not changed significantly in the last few thousand years, only the manner in which we view and utilize their relationship.

from:    http://www.wrf.org/ancient-medicine/belief-and-the-healing-arts-of-ancient-civilizations.php

On Zen, Dogen, & No-Self

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Note to Self: There is No Self

Brad Warner

The following is excerpted from Don’t Be a Jerk by Brad Warner, published by New World Library. 

 

There probably is not one teaching in the entire Buddhist canon that causes more confusion than the teaching of no-self. The existence of a self is taken as a given by pretty much every religion and philosophy, apart from Buddhism. In fact, the idea of no-self is so difficult that there are even sects of Buddhism that find workarounds to redefine self and try to sneak it in through the back door somehow.

When I first encountered this idea of no-self, I conceived of it the way most people do when they first come across it. First off, it seemed completely absurd. It was the denial of something that I could clearly see for myself was true.

You can deny the existence of the Loch Ness Monster or Bigfoot. You can tell me there’s no Santa Claus or Easter Bunny. But the existence of self? Come on! That’s obvious. René Descartes proved the existence of self with a simple five-word formula: “I think, therefore I am.” End of argument. Self must exist because here I myself am, thinking of things and writing them down, and here you yourself are reading them. Who else could be doing these things if it wasn’t my self and your self? How could anyone with any common sense at all deny that?

But okay. I was game to try. I respected my first Zen teacher, and I didn’t think he would tell me lies. He believed there was no self, and it seemed like this belief made his life better. My life was not going that great and I wanted some of whatever it was that seemed to make his work. Besides that, the rest of what he said about Buddhist philosophy and practice made sense. Or, when it didn’t make sense, at least it usually didn’t feel like it was denying something I could clearly see was true. So I started working with the idea of no-self.

My initial forays went something like this. I figured I had a self but that it was my job to eradicate it in order to feel happier and more peaceful. My understanding of self was that it included my personal jumble of likes and dislikes, attitudes, ideals, personal history, beliefs, habits, hobbies, and so on. I figured I had to somehow get rid of all that and become a clean, blank slate. If I could whitewash everything I considered to be “me,” I would be rid of self and then maybe I’d stop being such a wreck all the time. So I went about trying to do that.

But as I was doing that, I started to realize that my first teacher, Tim, didn’t appear to have erased his personality. He liked certain things and disliked others. Just like me, he adored Star Trek but thought Lost in Space was pretty dull. He had very specific opinions on politics. He had some rather peculiar habits that he didn’t seem keen to eradicate. He was, in fact, a very strong personality, a very strong self, if that’s how self was defined. This was one of the things I liked about him. So what was I doing trying to erase my personality?

Tim really liked a book called Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by  Shunryu Suzuki, which I’ve already mentioned, so I read that through a few times. In the chapter titled “Emptiness” Suzuki says, “When you study Buddhism, you should have a general house cleaning of your mind. You must take everything out of your room and clean it thoroughly. If it is necessary, you may bring everything back in again. You may want many things, so one by one you can bring them back. But if they are not necessary, there is no need to keep them.”

That actually kind of scared me. For one thing, I’m a fairly messy person. I didn’t like cleaning my room at all in those days. There are a few photos of rooms I lived in when I was younger that make me cringe when I see them now. And even today I’m probably not most people’s image of the ideal housekeeper. But that isn’t what really put me off. What made me truly scared was the idea that I’d have to do a house cleaning of my mind.

Nowadays, having lived in Japan for eleven years, I know precisely the type of house cleaning Suzuki was thinking of when he said this. In Japan there’s a tradition of doing something called osoji at least once a year. Osoji literally translates as something like “big cleaning.” It’s like what we call spring cleaning, but more extensive than what most Americans do when they spring clean. In Japan, during osoji time, you take everything out of the house. And I do mean everything! The books, the knickknacks, the dishes, the bookshelves, the furniture — everything that’s not nailed down gets taken outside. Sometimes even the stuff that is nailed down gets taken apart and moved outside. Then you clean up the house thoroughly, after which you clean up all the stuff you took out, and then you start putting it back inside. It’s a pretty massive task. When you’re putting stuff back in, you get to see how much useless junk you’ve accumulated since the last osoji and you always end up throwing a lot of it away.

Osoji usually takes place around New Year’s Day, a time during which most businesses are closed for five days, although the tradition of remaining closed for five days is slowly starting to erode. So not only is this tough work, but it’s usually cold as hell outside when you’re doing all that scrubbing. When I first encountered this tradition it seemed like madness. But once you’re done, your house feels great!

I didn’t know anything about osoji when I first read Suzuki’s book, but now that I do I get an even clearer picture of what he was saying. If I’d known then what I know now, I’m sure I would have found the prospect even scarier.

What he’s talking about is metaphorically taking everything that you think of as your self out of your head and looking at it carefully and critically to see if it’s really necessary. He does say you can bring some of it back inside. But read between the lines, and you can see that he’s implying that there’s a lot of stuff in there you won’t want to bring back.

This idea scared me because it wasn’t just paperback novels I’d finished reading or broken guitar effects boxes I finally had to admit I’d never get around to fixing that he was telling me to throw away. He was telling me to throw away pieces of me! That is a much scarier prospect. It wasn’t just scary. It sounded utterly impossible.
For me this was especially tough because I prided myself on being a true individualist. I got through high school knowing that even if I was just a nerd boy that the pretty girls ignored, at least I was truer to myself than the jocks and preppies who liked what everybody else liked and dressed the way everybody else dressed. I dared to be different and I was, I thought, justifiably conceited about it! I had to be! It was all I had going for me!

Now here I was just a couple years out of that mess, being told to clear all that stuff out. What would I have left if I did? Would I become a mindless vegetable? Would I turn into one of those culties who just stares blankly off into space all the time? Or worse, would I become just like the jocks and preppies I hated, accepting everything the mainstream media told me because I had no self and therefore no opinions of my own? Or would I be opening myself up to being brainwashed by my teachers? Would I be just like the pod people from Invasion of the Body Snatchers? The prospects were not attractive!

But the idea of no-self isn’t like that at all. It’s not that we have a self and we are being asked to get rid of it. There is something real that we call “self” and that we ascribe certain characteristics to. It’s just that once we call that thing “self” we are already on the wrong track, and anything else we say about it will be mistaken.

It would be ridiculous to insist that the aspects of our experience indicating that we are autonomous individuals with our unique history, personality, and point of view simply do not exist. I have my own credit cards and driver’s license, which you cannot use. I know the password to my Wi-Fi at home, and you do not. I remember things that happened in my life that I could not possibly convey to you, even if I tried my hardest. I have opinions that you do not and probably a few you couldn’t even comprehend, the same way I cannot fathom why some people hold the opinions they hold. All this and more applies to you as well and to every human being or animal who has ever lived.

When Buddhists talk about no-self they are not saying all the foregoing is false, nor are they saying it’s all true but that we have to utterly destroy these aspects of who we are. Rather, they are saying that applying the idea of self to this real stuff is a mistake.

The word used in early Buddhist writings for the concept of self is atman. Atman was an idea propagated by many Indian philosophers and is similar to the Christian idea of the soul. It starts from the sense of “I am” that all of us experience. This “I am” feeling is taken as evidence that there is a permanent abiding something in us that remains stable and constant throughout the changes we experience. Thus the soul you had as a four-year-old child is the same soul you have today. This soul is different from the body because even though the body clearly changes, the soul does not. Many philosophers further extrapolate that the soul survives the death of the body. This makes sense if we accept the basic idea of the soul. If you believe that the soul remains unchanged while the body ages, it follows that the soul is not the body and it therefore follows that the soul could go on even after the body decays and dies.

The Buddha completely rejected this idea. First of all, he noticed that what we refer to as the soul or the atman does change. Our personalities do not remain static throughout our lives. We mature internally as well as externally. The Buddha did not accept the idea that body and mind were two different kinds of substance.

Yet something experiences the world uniquely in the case of each one of us. You are reading this book. Somehow my thoughts about self are being conveyed to you across time and space. My thoughts are not exactly the same as yours, or you wouldn’t have bought this book. You are not me, and I am not you. What are we to do with that except say that you have a self, and so do I? Even if we don’t accept the idea of the immortality of the soul or the idea that mind is made of some kind of ethereal substance that is different from matter, we have to accept that your mind and my mind are not the same mind. Otherwise we wouldn’t need to have conversations or read books or watch movies or listen to music in order to access each other’s thoughts and feelings.

Most of us only ever experience that way of looking at things. No, that’s not exactly right. Most of us are taught that looking at things this way is the only correct way of understanding the world. I think everyone experiences the other side of the equation at some point in their lives. As children, our sense of self is much more fluid than it becomes later. We also have moments of transcendence when the barriers between ourselves and others fade away. Sometimes this happens during sex. Sometimes it happens in large public gatherings like concerts or sporting events. Sometimes it happens in religious services and ceremonies. We all know about this other side of human experience, but we are conditioned to disregard it. Or we imagine that it only happens at rare, special times and places. We miss the fact that this transcendence is actually continuously happening throughout every moment of every day.

Meditation practice helps make this clearer. Moments of transcendence and oneness no longer seem like anomalies. You start to notice that your individual identity and the identity of the universe itself are not two separate things.

Certain Indian philosophers who meditated took this as evidence that the individual atman was part of a supreme atman that was basically the soul of the entire universe. They called this super-atman “Brahman.” And just to confuse those of us outside India, they also called certain people who preached this idea Brahmin and named their chief god Brahma. Be that as it may, this Brahman is said to be sat-chit-ananda, or “being, consciousness, and bliss.”

Yet, like the atman, Brahman is supposed to be something apart from the material universe. The Buddha could see no reason to believe in the existence of something beyond the material universe. It’s not that he thought matter was the only thing there was. Rather, he saw that matter and the immaterial were different aspects of the same unified reality. Form is emptiness, emptiness is form.

The idea of no-self means that we do not interrupt this oneness with our individuality. In the January/February 1985 issue of Matter magazine, my all-time favorite singer-songwriter, Robyn Hitchcock, told an interviewer, “Inasmuch as a mind can discuss itself — it’s a bit like a mirror looking at itself, only I don’t know how much truth there is in that. You put two mirrors up against each other, and there’s infinity, but you can never see it, ’cause your head blocks it off.” This is a remarkably astute metaphor for the problems inherent in looking at the true nature of what we call self.

 

from:   http://realitysandwich.com/319707/note-to-self-there-is-no-self/

Latest Hathor Message fr/Tom Kenyon

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Destabilization

A Hathor Planetary Message through Tom Kenyon

Your world is entering a period of immense destabilization.

In past messages we have referred to Chaotic Nodes as unexpected catalytic and chaotic changes. We have also noted in past communications that multiple Chaotic Nodes are emerging, and their interaction is what we are referring in this message as destabilization.

(see a previous Hathor message titled Escalation of Chaotic Nodes and the Dismantling of 3-D Reality).

This destabilization of your world is occurring at the ecological, social and individual levels of existence.

Let’s begin with the ecological issues.

Your planetary environment is, essentially, being poisoned. The acidification of your oceans, the overuse of pesticides, chemical agents and fossil fuels are all interacting to create an ecological Chaotic Node of immense proportions. Indeed, a growing number of your scientists are saying that your Earth is entering the beginning stages of a “6th mass extinction.”

We will turn our attention to the ramifications of these issues in a moment but let us address the other two levels first.

At a social level your world is entering a highly volatile and destabilizing state. This is a complex situation but addressing the most rudimentary levels we would say you are witnessing a clash of cultural values as well as the impact of both climate change and war on migrations of human populations, some of which are being caused by circumstances and some of which are being manipulated by power brokers behind the scenes.

The third level is the individual—you—the one reading this message.

This is also a complex situation and there are several levels involved. One of these levels has to do with the poisoning of your planet’s environment that we mentioned earlier. And as a result of climate change and deforestation, new forms of bacteria and viruses are being spread globally.

These microforms of life are not inert. They are living intelligences that evolve, and they are evolving very rapidly in ways that will make your current medical methodologies for dealing with them ineffective.

A second challenge to your individual stability has to do with the magnetic shifts and dimensional alterations that are unfolding on your planet. Because your nervous system operates according to the principles of bio-electromagnetism, the neural networks in your nervous systems are being challenged by these shifts and alterations. Some of you, especially those who are energetically sensitive, will be prone to this more than others. But increasingly, no one will be exempt.

Communications between human beings will get more challenging—to be gracious about it.

What may surprise you is that some of these challenges will arise in close friendships and intimate relationships. You may find that seemingly insignificant external events can set off tsunamis of emotional responses.

There are two primary reasons for this phenomenon.

The first has to do with the destabilization of your nervous system making it more prone to losing its center. And the second level has to do with the process of catalytic evolution that you are undergoing as a human being at this point in time. What we mean by this is what has been hidden is being revealed. The deepest catacombs of your subconscious are being turned over like a plow cutting through a field. This is essentially a very disturbing state to deal with especially for those of you who think of yourselves as spiritual beings.

If you are of the opinion that being a spiritual being requires that you always be in a state of bliss and happiness then you will find this purification process deeply disturbing, but it is—quite frankly—required for individual evolution and liberation from the restrictions imposed by your religions and confining histories. It is also necessary for humanity, as a whole, to face and transform its own shadow material (i.e., unresolved emotional issues and destructive belief patterns) if humankind is to survive.

In past messages we have said that a course of action could be changed in the 11th hour. By this we were referring to a metaphor meaning that in the last hour before an irrevocable shift occurs it is possible to change an outcome.

We are still of this opinion, but you are well past the 11th hour. You are at one minute before midnight, metaphorically speaking, of course.

What this means is that massive changes will have to occur in a very short period of time if you are collectively to avoid the 6th mass extinction.

As the ecological and social aspects of this destabilization process are so complex, we wish to confine our comments to practical suggestions for you.

One marker, evolutionarily speaking for transition states between dimensions as a human being, is the growing perception that life is a dream. If this occurs for you, you will experience your life and the events of your life as having a dreamlike insubstantial quality. You will still have to deal with the realities of your physical existence, but there will be an increasing sense that your physical existence has an unreal quality about it.

We do realize that in many of our messages we have sounded like a broken record, repeating ourselves again and again especially when referring to coherent states of emotion like happiness, joy and/or appreciation. This has to do with physics and neuropsychology. Coherent states of emotion are an antidote to the destabilization of your nervous system caused by the various factors that we mentioned previously.

There are many ways to accomplish this task of bringing coherency to your nervous system. For one, we suggest you work with the sound meditation A Bridge Between the Worlds (see Tom’s comments below) on a regular basis as a means to introduce this type of coherent emotion into your nervous system.

Another way to create more coherency is to introduce more joy into your life, which is indeed paradoxical for many of you. Very few cultures underwrite the necessity for joy as a value. Sacrifice, martyrdom and self-forgetting are what seem to be valued most in many societies, but from our perspective these are the greatest errors, at least from the perspective of spiritual evolution.

We are very sensitive to the fact that many of you reading this message may be dealing with this paradox (i.e., how to create more joy your life) in very direct and challenging ways.

Our advice, like all advice, should be “taken with a grain of salt.” This is simply our perspective on this particular challenge. Having stated this caveat, our suggestion is to cleave away from your life the thought forms of self-sacrifice and martyrdom. Find more ways to discover joy even in the smallest things. It does not matter how small they are.

And finally, find the courage to speak your truth to those closest to you. This type of truth speaking and self-revealing is, in our opinion, critical for your successful transition through the current and on-going period of global destabilization.

from:    http://tomkenyon.com/destabilization

Native Herbal Cures

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Natural Cures Once Ruled the Land In the US Before Big Pharma Took Over

Dec 18

(GreenMed TV) Slate just reported on this amazing map of ‘Herbal Cures’ from 1932 of the medicinal plants in common use among pharmacists and the public back then. The map itself states under the heading ‘The Service of Pharmacy’:

“It is important that the public does not lose sight of the fact that the professions of Pharmacy, Medicine, and Dentistry, each give an essential service, which must not be impaired or destroyed by commercial trends. The public and the professions whill suffer equally if these services are allowed to deteriorate. In pharmacy the public should understand something of the breadth of knowledge required of the pharmacist. Few people realize the extent to which plants and minerals enter into the practice of pharmacy, and how vital they are to the maintenance of the public health. It has been stated that upwards of 70 percent of all medicines employed are plant products.”

Flash forward 80 years and we have a medical system which relies almost entirely on patented chemicals and/or biologicals that are far removed from anything resembling the ‘back yard farmacy’ of yesteryear. The FDA’s very definition of a drug now precludes the use of natural substances, and drug-based medicine has become a form of human sacrifice, on a scale that may exceed previous civilizations sacrifice of their population for ostensibly religious reasons. This map should be shared far and wide and hopefully will shed light on the massive, emergent database of natural substances (there are about 1700 indexed on our website alone) that can be used to treat a staggeringly wide range of health conditions (over 3,000 indexed on our site alone).

Note: Amazingly, you will find the much demonized Cannabis Sativa listed as a medicinal plant used on the Druggist’s map! Consider that in modern times this plant alone has been used to incarcerate hundreds of thousands of citizens simply for possessing, using and/or trading it as a commodity! (Source: GreenMed TV)LgMedicinalPlants-2

Click here to view the massive, poster size version of this image.

 from:    http://www.realfarmacy.com/1930s-pharma/

On Meditation & Wisdom

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New Study Links Meditation To Wisdom

| March 13, 2016 

New Study Links Meditation To Wisdom

by Derrick Broze,
ActivistPost

A new study has found an association between meditation and wisdom.

Researchers with the University of Chicago’s Department of Psychology have found that meditation, and physical practices such as ballet, might lead to increased wisdom. The study, “The Relationship between Mental and Somatic Practices and Wisdom,” was published in PLOS ONE.

The researchers gave 298 participants a survey that asked about their experiences practicing meditation, the Alexander Technique (a method for improving posture, balance, coordination, and movement), the Feldenkrais Method (a form of somatic education that seeks to improve movement and physical function, reduce pain, and increase self-awareness), and classical ballet. The participants also answered psychological exams related to various elements of wisdom, such as empathy and anxiety.

The team found that individuals who practiced meditation had characteristics associated with wisdom more often than the other groups. The types of meditation being practiced include vipassana, mindfulness, and Buddhist. The researchers also found that participants who practiced ballet had the lowest levels of wisdom, but with consistent practice of ballet individuals scored higher on measures of psychological traits typically associated with wisdom.

“The link between ballet and wisdom is mysterious to us and something that we’re already investigating further,” said Patrick B. Williams, lead author and a postdoctoral researcher in the University of Chicago’s Department of Psychology. Williams plans to monitor practitioners of both meditation and ballet for months and years to study the results over a longer period of time.

Williams also said that he believed this study to be the first to look at the possible link between physical practices and the cultivation of wisdom. Howard Nusbaum, professor of psychology, is a lead investigator in a research project on somatic wisdom. Nusbaum believes that understanding wisdom will lead to greater insights.

“As we learn more about the kinds of experiences that are related to wisdom, we can gain insight into ways of studying the mechanisms that mediate wisdom. This also lets us shift from thinking about wisdom as something like a talent to thinking about it as something more like a skill,” he said.

Williams stressed that the research was not looking to establish a causal relationship between wisdom and the four practices. “We hope our exploratory research will encourage others to replicate our results and look for other experiences that are linked with wisdom, as well as the factors that might explain such links,” Williams said.

The benefits of meditation have slowly been recognized by Western medicine as more studies confirm what many cultures have known for thousands of years: Meditation is a powerful tool. In November 2015, a study found that adolescents who undergo a mindfulness meditation program may see improvements in memory. In April, Anti-Media reported on another study that confirmed the healing power of mindfulness meditation. The study, published in The Lancet medical journal, found that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) may be just as effective as pharmaceuticals when it comes to preventing chronic depression relapse.

Meditation has also been used to help former soldiers suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In September 2014, TruthInMedia spoke with Heather Linebaugh about her experience with United States Air Force from 2009 until March 2012. Linebaugh worked in intelligence as an imagery analyst and geo-spatial analyst for the drone program in Iraq and Afghanistan. Linebaugh has suffered from PTSD and now works to promote natural treatments such as cannabis, yoga, and meditation.

The consistent practice of meditation can help one establish a balanced mind. By maintaining a balanced mind and learning to use meditation as a tool for peace and clarity we are helping promote a more compassionate world. If more people opted to begin meditating on a regular basis it is likely we would see an increase in wise, compassionate, and awakened minds.

 

from:    http://www.bodymindsoulspirit.com/meditation-wisdom/

Light Therapy for Cancer

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Breaking: Doctors Can Now Use Light to Fight Cancer!

Doctors have found an exciting new non-evasive light therapy that can help the body’s own cells fight cancer! Supporting our own bodies in fighting disease, aka immunotherapy, is one of the most popular and growing areas of cancer research. Let’s face it, people are tired of chemotherapy and would prefer to avoid dangerous surgeries if they can help it. Now, with new therapies such and this new light technology we can boost the body without harming it.

Assistant professor Yubin Zhou, Ph.D. from the Center for Translational Cancer Research located at the Texas A&M Health Science Center Institute of Biosciences & Technology is actively studying how light can be used to control our body’s immune system and use it to fight cancer.

“Although neuroscientists have been using light to stimulate neurons for years, this is the first time the technique, called optogenetics, has been used in the immune system,” Zhou said.

'Optogenetics (from Greek optikós, meaning "seen, visible") is a biological technique which involves the use of light to control cells in living tissue, typically neurons, that have been genetically modified to express light-sensitive ion channels.' -Wikipedia
‘Optogenetics (from Greek optikós, meaning “seen, visible”) is a biological technique which involves the use of light to control cells in living tissue, typically neurons, that have been genetically modified to express light-sensitive ion channels.’ -Wikipedia

Typically in neuroscience, the scientists will engineer cells that will produce microbes that are light-sensitive. When exposed to different frequencies of light these microbes will produce proteins that can tell our nerves to send or stop sending nerve impulses.

“Neuroscientists have learned a lot about brain circuits using the technique,” Zhou said, “and now researchers in many other fields are giving it a try.”

Optogenetics and the Immune System

Zhou and his team have found a way to modify the technique in order to help the immune system. The work wasn’t easy: unlike nerve cells, your immune system’s cells don’t use known electrical impulses to communicate. Another challenge is that our immune system cells are deep inside the body and are constantly moving around making it hard to hit with the right amount of light.

They had to use some out of the box thinking and team work to figure out.

“We collaborated with Dr. Gang Han at the University of Massachusetts Medical School who does bionanotechnology and photomedicine development,” Zhou said. “Together, we were able to combine state-of-the-art optogenetic approaches with cutting edge nanotechnology.”

The new nanotechnology known as optogenetic immunomodulation was recently published in an article in eLife.

“This work was driven by talented scientists in the lab: graduate students Lian He and Peng Tan and postdoctoral research fellow Guolin Ma, Ph.D.,” Zhou said, “who fearlessly undertook this daunting project and overcame all the challenging obstacles to make this technique into reality.”

Doctors can use Light to Direct Immune System Cells

With this new technique, the researchers were able to control immune system cells and ‘instruct’ them to kill cancerous tumor cells. Using a near-infrared laser beam that is able to penetrate a few centimeters into your body the scientists can use nanoparticles to turn blue and direct the engineered immune cells to fight specific cancer cells. Just imagine a general and his

war-games-with-the-brain-as-the-generalJust imagine a general and his troops about to go into battle and once they get the light signal from central command they team up and destroy the cancer cells.

 “We are able to wirelessly control the action of immune cells buried deep in tissue,” Zhou said.

The researchers found a way to modify the immune cells so that their calcium gate-controlling protein was light sensitive. When they are exposed to blue light which is emitted by the nanoparticle they ‘open the ion gates’. Once the light is turned off the gates then close. Researchers can increase the flow of calcium into the cells by increase the flow of light.

They are still working on fine tuning the calcium-dependent actions of our immune cells so that they can better target tumor cells and invading pathogens that our body would otherwise not notice or be focused on fighting.

When animal tumor tests were conducted they were able to boost the immune system response which aided in the bodies ability to kill the cancer cells.

“The technique reduced tumor size and metastasis, so there are lots of applications,” Zhou said.

One of the biggest advantages of this method is that it only actives a specific type of immune system cell, the T-cell, and only in the area of the body where the light is being shined. When you get chemotherapy the immune system response is bodywide which can be a miserable process. With this non-invasive light tunable technique, they can focus the immune response only on and around the area of concern.

“Other scientists will likely use the technique to help them study immune, heart and other types of cells that use calcium to perform their tasks,” Zhou said. “It’s quite a cool technology. With these tools, we can now not only answer fundamental questions of science that we never could before but also translate it into the clinic for disease intervention.”

Zhou’s lab has been using this technique in order to see how effective specific cancers drugs will even have on people.

“If successful,” Zhou said, “all these efforts would remarkably improve the current cancer immunotherapies by personalizing the treatment to exactly where and when it is needed, while reducing side effects.”

What possible issues do you see with this new light therapy and the genetically modified immune cells? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

from:    http://themindunleashed.org/2016/03/breaking-doctors-can-now-use-light-to-fight-cancer.html

Considering Hemp Seed

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Hemp Seed: The Most Nutritionally Complete Food Source

Hemp Seeds

Anna Hunt, Staff
Waking Times

Hemp, or cannabis sativa, has been called the world’s most versatile and useful plant for many reasons, one of which is because it benefits the human body. Hemp seeds are becoming a welcome addition to the diet of many health-conscious individuals, who have let go of the delusion that anything related marijuana or cannabis is bad, a common misconception imposed on the public over the last 80 years of federal cannabis prohibition.

The simple fact is that hemp seed is one of the most nutritionally complete foods available. Take a look:

  • Hemp seed food products, depending on how they are processed, offer some or all of the following: the ideal ratio of Omega-3/Omega-6 fatty acids, all 10 essential Amino Acids, digestible protein, calcium, potassium, phosphorous, riboflavin, vitamin A, vitamin E, vitamin B12, folic acid, vitamin D, magnesium, iron, and zinc.
  • Hemp refers to strains of cannabis sativa that have been bred specifically for fiber used for clothing and construction, oils and topical ointments, nutritional benefits, and a wide and growing variety of other purposes that don’t involve intoxication.
  • There are different varieties of hemp – a plant grown for seed isn’t necessarily the best plant for fiber.

It’s about time that the mass public breaks free of anti-cannabis drug-war programming, which used the slang word marijuana to instill fear of “pot-smoking Mexicans.” Here are 7 categories of how you can start consuming hemp and reap the health benefits of this amazing plant.

Hemp Food Products

1. Hemp Seeds

Hemp seeds are often sold shelled, so you can eat them right out of the package. They offer easily digestible protein and all the essential Omega-3 and 6 fatty acids needed by the human body. Hemp seeds are also rich in antioxidants, fiber, various minerals, and many vitamins including a hefty dose of vitamin E. They have been used to reduce dry skin and hair, help with muscle regeneration, reduce inflammation, ward off heart disease, and improve immune system function.

These nutritious and healing seeds are starting to be a favorite among vegans and health fanatics, and are often added to smoothies, cereals, oatmeal, and on top of salads.

2. Hemp Milk

Hemp seeds can be blended with water to make a healthy milk substitute, a nice option for people with nut and soy allergies, although the flavor of hemp milk is less sweet than raw almond milk or cow’s milk. It can be used in baking or to make some homemade hot chocolate. You can buy hemp milk in a box, which may have added sweeteners (for example, the recommended product below is sweetened with brown rice syrup), but it is really easy to make. Take half a cup of shelled hemp seeds and 2 cups of water, blend for about 3-5 minutes and then strain through a nut-milk bag or cheesecloth. It’s that easy!

3. Hemp Seed Oil

Unlike the medicinal cannabis oil high in intoxicating delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, hemp seed oil is cold-pressed from hemp seeds and can be used in many recipes such as sauces, dips, spreads, marinades and salad dressings. It is typically nutty in flavor and has a light green color. It does not give you buzz, aside from infusing your body with rich omega-3 fatty acids and the more rare ‘super’ polyunsaturated fatty acids, notably gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) and stearidonic acid (SDA).

4. Hemp Protein Powder

Hemp protein powder is typically made by cold-milling hemp seeds. This results in a product that has less fat than hemp seeds, thus the final product has mostly the natural protein found in the seeds. Lean sources of protein are beneficial for digestion, they boost metabolism, and they promoting a healthy, lean body mass. Three tablespoons of hemp protein powder contains roughly 90 calories with only 3 grams of fat but 15 grams of protein. Some hemp protein powders are also supplemented with fiber for people looking to increase their overall fiber consumption.

Remember: Hemp food products are different from what you will find in medical cannabis baked goods. So putting hemp seeds on your sweet potato casserole won’t get you high. Now, you can purchase an alcoholic Hemp Ale, compliments of the Humboldt Brewing Co, although it’s not likely to pack the same nutritional value as the hemp seed products above the “high” that you’ll get from medical cannabis baked goods.

5. Hemp Supplements

You may not always have access to your favorite hemp foods, especially when you are traveling. Hemp oil supplements are a great option to continue benefiting from the nutritional value of hemp seed oil while on the go.

Hemp Beauty & Personal Care Products

Both women and men can benefit from ditching traditional body products which can be laden with various potentially dangerous chemicals. Here is a list of a few body care applications for hemp-based products:

6. Hemp Seed Oil

Hemp seed oil can be used topically in many different ways: as a skin moisturizer, anti-wrinkle treatment, massage oil, etc. It can be used to treat eczema, acne, psoriasis, and skin inflammation. The ideal balance of Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids in hemp seed oil stimulate the skin and improve the overall function of cells, muscles, tissues and organs. And don’t forget the skin is our largest organ!

Hemp seed oil can be used directly on the skin or you can use it as a carrier oil mixed with a few drops of essential oils that also benefit the skin, such as geranium or frankincense essential oils. This makes for a great skin moisturizer that is paraben free, gluten free and 100% began. You can also purchase pre-made body moisturizers enriched with hemp seed oil.

7. Hemp Soaps and Shampoos

As more people in the world learn about the benefits that hemp seed oil has on the skin and body, more producers are using hemp seed oil as an ingredient in their personal care products. In addition to replenishing the skin, hemp seed oil also stimulates hair growth, fortifies hair against damage, and moisturizes the scalp.

from:     http://www.wakingtimes.com/2016/03/14/hemp-seed-the-most-nutritionally-complete-food-source/

Take Your Power!

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The Rightful Role of the Truth Warrior

by Zen Gardner –

9 164

by Zen Gardner

It’s amazing how people have been backed into a corner by this barrage of social programming and outright intimidation. People actually feel apologetic about speaking the truth when it counters the politically correct entrained mass mindset of the world today.

Telling someone the truth is the most loving thing anyone can do. Of course it needs to be done wisely so as not to give a ready excuse for holding on to their illusion. That’s a clever mechanism that needs to be avoided. But there is also a time the truth hurts but still needs to be said. If it hurts, so be it. To withhold the truth from someone who is clearly in need of it is the most unloving and self serving thing any of us can do.

Let the chips fall where they may. Telling the truth is a fundamental form of love.

Taking Authority is Contrarian in a Spineless, Programmed World

I often think about this, the need for all of us who have awakened to take authority in our awareness and live in it fully and boldly. It’s totally contrary to everything we’ve been conditioned with. The collective mind is built on dependence and allegiance to imposed authority. This is nothing less than fear and submission programming.

From Pavlovian bells ringing between classes and fire and atom bomb drills as school children, to stop lights and sirens wailing in the streets and figures in uniforms, it’s all conditioning. Think about those strange costumes of authority figures we were entrained to “respect” – from religious garb and battle gear to dark suits and lab coats with “degrees” behind their names – these authorities were to be implicitly trusted as well as feared and obeyed.

The conditioning runs deep. And needs to be shirked.

The result of this programming which we can see all around us is a weak, limp and spineless humanity, willing to go along with whatever program comes next, with just enough free range within their confined space to give the illusion of freedom and autonomy. Very clever, very insidious and completely debilitating.

Entrapment, Intimidation and Assumptive Posturing

These are all mechanisms of subjugation. Devious baited traps of entangled low-level left brained arguments, all with assumptive conclusions. You’ll often hear “why can’t you consider both sides?” as if there’s some sort of neutral ground to a life threatening situation, all in an attempt to neutralize your conviction which is contrary to theirs.  Have “they” fully considered” both sides? Total hypocrisy.

This type of mind manipulation leads the unsuspecting subject into mental and social cages of seemingly logical yet conflicting conclusions, often accompanied by just plain bullying with the projected atmosphere of unquestionable authority. It’s a nasty response system to these mechanisms that’s been engrained into humanity, both the thinking and the unthinking. We’re dealing with a very deep spiritual source of disinformation that works on the unsuspecting, the overly programmed and those who are self justifying and self serving.

All are devious responses and affirmations of severely entropic forces – mental, spiritual and physical designs to break down our natural spiritual state. The need to see and wake up to these is absolutely imperative.

It happens in all walks of life. The mind weave of guilt tripping and subordination programming is admittedly slippery and surreal, but very very present. The effects are everywhere.

What we witness in these usurping rulers posturing themselves as authority figures is a perfect manifestation of this form of falsely based intimidation which trickles down through society right into interpersonal relationships. It’s taught and reinforced from birth because it’s unnatural and must be learned and is essential to the control system. It’s an imposed false paradigm born in lies and perpetrated by lies. It’s literally an illusion perpetrated by nothing but fabricated innuendo, continued reinforcement, and backed by brute force, the extension of which is their hierarchy of control supported by a mechanized policing military machine.

Again, this is a woefully misused mimic of the true power of loving empowerment, a false projection in this 3-D reality play we’re all playing a part in.

We are an intrinsic element of the true Authority and it’s time we took our rightful place.

theFORCE2

Awaken and Take Authority

We need to be proactive and confidently assertive in our convictions. We cannot waver or bend to these influences, however complex, corrosive or intimidating they may be. Ours is to defy the lie, denounce the liars, expose the agenda, and march on in full confidence in the Truth and freedoms we’ve been endowed with. Forget national altruism and the futile law-riddled political and religious maze, ours is to stand as parts of the creative universal Source itself – autonomous, free thinking, creative and imaginative agents of love and positive change.

We have far greater and more powerful tools, even weapons, at our disposal than we realize. When thinking about this I was reminded of the light saber we saw popularized in the Star Wars films. My problem with that imagery is that the dark side has an equally powerful light weapon. That’s not true. Their sabers should have had a black beam. There’s power there, but only operable in dark places. It cannot stand up to the power of light and would easily be cut to shreds by the wand of Truth and Light.

We have such a weapon. If you’ve ever seen adepts use the power of chi to literally knock people backwards, as well as wonderfully heal, you’ve seen it in action. Sure, the interdimensionals have influences at their disposal we are now becoming familiar with, but they cannot affect those living in the full light of awakened truth.

What arouses this truth force within us is living it and not compromising or living apologetically on the defensive, riddled with doubt about our calling or capabilities.

There’s much to learn for all of us but this tremendous resource awaits our activation. And it has everything to do with taking and using the authority with which we’ve been endowed.

The Time to Decide is Now – Always Now

Either you’re on board or you’re not. Either you’re compromised and impotent and left languishing on the banks of the river of truth….or not, and in allowing the spontaneous process of creative activation.

The choice is ours. What we’re up against has been clearly spelled out to us in this massive awakening and sharing of empowering and enlightening information we’re experiencing. At that point either we utilize it, or we succumb. There’s no standing still in this current. We either stand strong and forge ahead upstream or get washed over the falls in the polluted river of lies.

It’s ours to decide. Empower and help change the course of now, or hide in shame, doubt and disgusting fear and self-serving self pity.

Personally, I have no pity for the liars and those who adamantly defend the lie and thereby exert this oppressive system on others. They are the problem. We and the truth we bear are the solution. We must treat those who’ve been subverted with love, but love takes many forms, and telling and living the Truth are intrinsic to it, come what may.

And take heart. The reign of the dark forces of the Kali Yuga (or age of vice) is over. What we’re witnessing is its death throes. The cycle is ending and this is our time to come forth, but it will be a challenge as we pass through the debris of ages past and its remnant psycho-spiritual effects on our planet.

Let’s help these dark minions on their way to oblivion in style. When we disconnect, disengage and do not comply but rather stand confidently and boldly in the truth we know and then move forward proactively, their fabrication of deceit will shred, shatter and fall to our feet.

My lightsaber’s turned on and burning furiously. How’s yours? It simply awaits activation.

It’s time to awaken the weapons of loving truth – and wield them with full authority.

Much love, Zen

from:    http://www.zengardner.com/60095-2/

Importance of Vitamin D & The Sun

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How Dermatologists Fuel Chronic Disease Rates With Their Flawed Sun Exposure Guidelines

Story at-a-glance

  • The U.S. Surgeon General, the American Academy of Dermatology, and The Skin Cancer Foundation all view sunlight irrationally as a dangerous skin cancer risk
  • Sun avoidance fuels health problems associated with vitamin D deficiency, including hypertension, cardiovascular disease, cancer, depression, and poses special health risks to pregnant mothers and their children
  • The evidence supporting sensible sun exposure is strong and clear, while there’s little evidence that sunscreen use protects against skin cancer, or that vitamin D supplements are bioequivalent to sunshine

By Dr. Mercola

In July 2014, the interim U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Boris Lushniak, who is also a dermatologist, issued a “Call to Action to Prevent Skin Cancer,”1,2 in which he declared UV radiation harmful and said sun exposure should be avoided altogether.

The American Academy of Dermatology and The Skin Cancer Foundation also advocate avoiding all sun exposure — regardless of the color of your skin — saying vitamin D supplementation can address any deficiencies.

This is an irrational and shortsighted position that lacks any credibility. The scientific evidence, now running in excess of 34,000 studies, detail that UV exposure is essential, both for vitamin D production and other benefits unrelated to vitamin D.

The color of your skin is a significant factor to determine appropriate exposure times and any advice that does not take this into consideration is illogical.  We are not nocturnal beings, avoiding the sun entirely is horrible advice that should not be followed.

Dermatologists’ Position on Sun Exposure Riddled With Fatal Flaws

Let’s remember that, because of their irrational concern, they were able to convince public health officials and media to convince people to use sunscreens.

What happened as a result of the public adopting this proactive “preventive” approach? Skin cancers actually increased.

Why? Because the dermatologists did not do their homework. Most sunscreens blocked UVB, which causes vitamin D levels to increase and lower cancer rates, but they let UVA, which can cause skin cancer when excessively exposed, to shine right through like a hot knife through butter.

What’s worse, they never admitted to their egregious mistake. Ironically,  the only location dermatologists approve of UV light treatment is in their office under costly supervision.

Avoiding Sun Exposure Radically Worsens Disease Rates

Advocating abstinence from UV light is undoubtedly fueling many health problems associated with vitamin D deficiency, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, autoimmune diseases and depression.

UVB exposure is essential for optimal health, and any risks of exposure are related to over exposure and burning. Research shows vitamin D is involved in the biochemical regulation of nearly every cell in your body, including your immune system.

Vitamin D deficiency can deteriorate your health in a number of different ways, as your cells need the active form of vitamin D to optimally regulate genetic expression.

As noted by William Grant, Ph.D., head of the Sunlight, Nutrition and Health Research Center (SUNARC), staying indoors to avoid sun exposure is “not particularly good advice,” adding that:3

“There are several papers indicating that occupational exposure to sunlight reduces the risk of melanoma. It is having fair skin, a high-fat, low fruit and vegetable diet, sunburning, etc., that are more linked to melanoma than total UV exposure.”

Vitamin D Is Crucial for Pregnant Women

Vitamin D is particularly important for pregnant women, as deficiency affects both the mother and her child in the short and long term, including raising the child’s long-term risk for diabetes, allergic rhinitis,4 arthritis, stroke, and cardiovascular disease.Recent research shows that raising maternal vitamin D levels helps children born in winter months develop stronger, healthier bones.5 Lead researcher Professor Nicholas Harvey, Ph.D., of the University of Southampton, also notes that sun exposure is the most important source of vitamin D.

Health initiatives such as GrassrootsHealth D*Action study,6 and the Protect Our Children NOW! campaign are both based on these fundamental and scientifically proven facts.

Dermatologists Ignore Skin Color

The fact that the American Academy of Dermatology issues the same recommendations for everyone, without regard for skin type, is telling. Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, they view sun exposure as nothing but a dangerous cancer risk to be avoided at all costs.

This is a really nonsensical, and most definitively nonscientific, stance. According to their advice, even if you have the darkest skin, you should always seek shade and wear protective clothing and/or sunscreen when outdoors.

The notion that supplements are bioequivalent to sunshine is lacking.  While I recommend supplements if UVB exposure is not available, to suggest that vitamin D can replace all the benefits of sun exposure is ridiculous.

In fact, each of us responds quite differently to vitamin D supplementation – there is a 6 to 10 times difference in dosage response between individuals.   If you are supplementing with vitamin D, you should have your levels checked twice per year to ensure you stay above 40ng/ml.

Because of this, vitamin D experts such as Grant and Dr. Michael F. Holick note that sensible sun exposure is far preferable to vitamin D supplementation.

Oversimplifying the Issue Is Not a Good Public Health Policy

The Skin Cancer Foundation echoes the American Academy of Dermatology’s recommendations.

When questioned about this philosophy and asked why the recommendations fail to take into account skin type and color, Dr. Henry Lim, who sits on The Skin Cancer Foundation’s photobiology committee, replied that such information is irrelevant because vitamin D supplements can address deficiency.

According to Lim:7

“We want to make it simple as a public health message — as to what the public should reasonably be able to absorb and understand. To fine tune it is just too complicated we feel.”

But by oversimplifying the matter, dermatologists place a great number of people at grave risk for vitamin D deficiency, which may not be identified until health problems have already set in. Moreover, the advice to use sunscreen is also on shaky scientific ground.

According to an analysis by epidemiologist Marianne Berwick, Ph.D., there’s very little evidence to suggest that sunscreen use will prevent skin cancer.

After analyzing a dozen studies on basal cell carcinoma, which is typically non-lethal, and the more deadly melanoma, Berwick found that people who use sunscreen tend to be more likely to develop both of these conditions.

Only 2 of 10 melanoma studies found that sunscreen was protective against this condition; three found no association either way. None found sunscreen use protected against basal cell carcinoma.8

Your Body Is Designed to Optimize Health Effects of Sun Exposure

While you certainly need to avoid the skin damage associated with sunburn, sun exposure is required for optimal health, and your skin type plays a major role in how much UVB exposure you need and can safely tolerate.

Darker-skinned people not only need more sun exposure to produce sufficient amounts of vitamin D, they’re also more protected from skin cancer due to their skin pigmentation. Yet this important reality is simply ignored by dermatologists, resulting in most African Americans being at a radically increased risk of cancers and heart disease from vitamin D deficiency.

As noted in a previous article by Nautilus:9

“How the sun affects you depends on your complexion, the shade of which is determined by melanin … The anti-oxidizing molecule is so versatile at protecting and repairing DNA from UV solar radiation that creatures from humans to fungi deploy it … [T]he melanin sits atop cellular DNA like tiny umbrellas pointed … out to shield from incoming rays …

[T]he same ultraviolet wavelengths in the 290 to 400 nanometers range that trigger melanin production also spark vitamin D creation. You cannot make one without the other.

Humans evolved to produce two kinds of melanin … The MC1R gene determines the type of melanin the body produces. In the mid-zone such as the Mediterranean region, people … produce eumelanin, the pigment responsible for brown or black hair and for dark skin that tans easily …

[I]n far northern Europe, humans paled, adapting to lower light … with a different type of melanin, called pheomelanin, associated with fair skin and blonde and red hair with minimal protective value, but allowing more UV to penetrate to make vitamin D. ”

Sun Avoidance Raises Risk of Internal Cancers

Dermatology is focused on one primary outcome — avoiding skin damage and skin cancer. But by focusing on just one side of the UV exposure issue, they’re actually promoting a lifestyle that may raise your risk of other lethal cancers and chronic diseases. Not only have higher vitamin D levels been shown to offer significant protection against a number of internal cancers, there’s also evidence showing higher levels offer protection against melanoma.

In fact, higher rates of melanoma are found among those who have low vitamin D levels; among indoor occupations; and in areas of the body that rarely or never see the light of day. In short, the vitamin D your body produces in response to UVB radiation is protective against skin cancer. As noted in The Lancet:10

“Paradoxically, outdoor workers have a decreased risk of melanoma compared with indoor workers, suggesting that chronic sunlight exposure can have a protective effect.”

Even more importantly, vitamin D has been shown to significantly reduce internal cancers, along with chronic diseases such as heart disease, which kill far more people than melanoma does. Breast11 and prostate12,13 cancers are just two examples where low vitamin D renders you more vulnerable to more aggressive forms of the disease. Recent research14 has also found that low vitamin D levels are associated with more severe peripheral neuropathy in cancer patients.

Reporting on recent research linking low vitamin D levels to an increased risk for aggressive breast cancer, Medical Daily writes:15

“The researchers linked vitamin D levels to the ID1 gene, which at high levels of expression is associated with breast cancer tumor growth. Past studies have shown that vitamin D is linked to inhibiting the expression of this gene, and that low vitamin D levels have been associated with more aggressive tumors. ”

Public Health Messages Should Be Based on All-Cause Mortality Reduction

TO READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE & VIEW THE VIDEOS< GO TO:    http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2016/03/14/vitamin-d-sun-exposure-guidelines

Importance of Magnesium

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The Higher The Magnesium Level, The Healthier Our Arteries

Higher serum levels of magnesium may reduce the risk of hypertension by almost 50% and the risk of coronary artery calcification by 42%, says a new study.

More than 70 percent of the population have an unhealthy balance of 10 calcium to 1 magnesium in our many trillions of cells. A previous study in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition indicated that for every 50 mg per day increase in intake of the mineral, the risk of cancer was modestly reduced by 7%.

Another notable study of more than 4,600 Americans, begun in 1985, found the risk of developing metabolic syndrome over the next 15 years was 31 percent lower for those with the highest intake of magnesium.

Data from 1,276 Mexican-mestizo subjects also indicated that for every 0.17 mg/dL increase in serum magnesium level was associated with a 16% reduction in coronary artery calcification.

While the data indicates correlation and not causation, scientists from the National Institute of Cardiology – Ignacio Chávez in Mexico City said that there is biological plausibility for the potential cardiovascular benefits, adding that the mechanism(s) may be linked to enhancing endothelial function and reducing inflammation.

One study, which combined data from 313,041 people, provides the “most robust evidence to date of the associations between circulating and dietary magnesium across their usual physiologic ranges and CVD risk”, wrote Dr Dariush Mozaffarian and his co-authors in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Benefits

The results add to an ever growing body of science supporting the potential health benefits of the mineral. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) lists magnesium as being necessary for more than 300 biochemical reactions in the body, from helping maintain normal muscle and nerve function, to keeping heart rhythm steady, supporting a healthy immune system, and keeping bones strong. The mineral is also needed for blood sugar management, and healthy blood pressure.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has issued positive opinions on magnesium and the maintenance of normal bone, teeth, and protein synthesis; the reduction of tiredness and fatigue; electrolyte balance; normal energy-yielding metabolism; neurotransmission, and muscle contraction.

However, EFSA was not convinced by claims about magnesium and blood glucose, blood pressure, stress relief, protection of DNA, proteins and lipids from oxidative damage, the immune system and fat metabolism.

Study details

The new cross-sectional study, which was published in the Nutrition Journal , assessed magnesium levels in almost 1,300 Mexican participants aged between 30 and 75. None of the participants had any symptoms of cardiovascular disease.

The results indicated that people with the highest average serum levels magnesium (greater than 2.18 mg/dl) had 48% lower odds of high blood pressure (hypertension), 69 % lower odds of type 2 diabetes, and 42% lower odds of coronary artery calcification, compared with people with lowest average levels (less than 1.97 mg/dl).

“The results of this study strongly suggest that lower serum magnesium levels are associated with coronary artery calcification in Mexican subjects free of clinically apparent cardiovascular disease,” wrote the researchers. “Confirmation of these results in other populations is required. Additional prospective studies are also needed to determine if hypomagnesaemia predicts the development and progression of coronary atherosclerosis.”

Sources:
nutrition.org
biomedcentral.com

from:  http://preventdisease.com/news/16/031416_Higher-The-Magnesium-Level-Healthier-Our-Arteries.shtml