Gluten Intolerance – GMO’s

Posted on April 12, 2015 by marcia

Is it Gluten Intolerance or are We Being Poisoned?

Via Sadie Nardinion Mar 8, 2015

Eleditor’s note: Elephant is a diverse community of sixteen million readers and hundreds of writers (you can write too!). We are reader-created. Many blogs here are experience, opinion, and not fact or The One Right Point of View. We welcome all points of view, especially when offered with more sources and less invective, more frankness and less PR. Dislike this Op-Ed or opinion? Share your own take here.

I have Celiac Disease symptoms in the USA, but not in Italy or most places in Europe that regulate their food and lean “bio” or organic.

The incidence of Celiac Disease and Gluten Intolerance and all the gut-wrenching, bloating, and autoimmune disorders it can cause has exploded over the past 10-15 years, and now we may know why.

I began having symptoms like terrible stomach and gut pain, severe bloating (five pounds of fluid in an hour that lasts for days), fatigue, joint pain, rapid weight loss, migraines and malnutrition in the Midwest right when these herbicides began being used in my beloved Heartland, and now they’re used all over—and much more.

As someone close to the farming process and those who farm, including friends whose farms were bought out by Monsanto, making them employees of this behemoth, I can tell you that there are many other chemicals used in planting, during the growth phase and pre and post-harvest. Researchers are focusing on one in particular, a chemical in Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup named glyphosate. This toxic compound has been shown to cause Celiac-like symptoms in animals.

You think?

Since glyphosate-based herbicides appeared on the market in the 1970s, the incidence of Celiac in America have skyrocketed by 400 percent.

Coincidence? Or maybe much more.

As someone who grew up in the Midwest where Monsanto and their herbicides began moving into our food supply—and as someone who developed this disease at the exact same time, after being alive for 15 years without any symptoms whatsoever, I can tell you this company is no joke and they don’t care about your health—just the bottom line.

They and other companies like them are the factory farms of vegetables and grains.

If we as yogis or supporters of small, family, organic farms and if we are at all concerned about the wellness of ourselves and if we wouldn’t let our children eat Oscar Mayer hot dogs three times a day, or give them a spoonful of herbicide once a year—then why are we participating in, and then mystified when strange illnesses begin presenting themselves after a few years of eating those “regular old” bagels, pasta, muffins and tofu?

Now, I’m aware that there are genetic markers for Celias Sprue (aka Celiac Disease), and some people are absolutely unable to ingest wheat or other gluten-containing products. I’m not advising you to go to Italy with me and chow down on a fettucini Alfredo, and I know other countries, including Italy, are exhibiting Celiac as well.

However, it’s worth noting that many, many people without the genetic marker are reacting to gluten. And some with the genetic marker, myself included, react far worse to conventional or GMO or sprayed wheat, corn and soy, than non-GMO and non-chemicalized product. In countries like Italy, where GMO and chemicals are not as ubiquitous as in the States and Canada, we see the disease rearing its ugly head at a fraction of what it is here.

I believe all people, whether you are exhibiting symptoms or not, would do well to cease their support of non-organic foods containing pesticides, herbicides, hormones, antibiotics and other crap.

I believe we are intelligent enough to stop arguing about the fact that we should no longer swallow—or support companies that spray their products with things that kill life forms like insects, plants and animals–and, quite possibly—us too.

What do you think? Is Celiac Disease something our bodies just suddenly all made up at once?

Or is it environmentally caused by this company and others like it?

What are you gonna do about it in your own diet?

Here’s how I’ve decided to be the change I want to see in my own body, and the larger world community:

I’m personally boycotting products made from Monsanto-produced food, other pro-chemical companies and as many GMOS as I can suss out of my daily diet. I am going to focus solely on small, organic family farms.

And please—remove saccharin and aspartame (fake sugars and things containing them).

Our bodies are trying to get us to listen to the simple fact that we cannot continue arguing Mother Nature.

She will always win.

Will you do this with me? A company can’t thrive if we don’t buy…

from: http://www.elephantjournal.com/2015/03/are-you-celiac-gluten-intolerant-or-actually-being-poisoned/

Garlic & Inflammation

Posted on April 11, 2015 by marcia

Garlic Prevents Inflammation, a Cause of Varicose Veins. How to Make Garlic Oil.

Posted on February 12, 2015 by Anya V

Many Americans have some form of varicose veins. Processed food, lack of physical activity, obesity, nutritional deficiencies and prolonged sitting or standing can burden the veins.

Varicose veins are blood vessels that have become enlarged and tortuous. Varicose veins usually happen in the legs and is associated with chronic inflammation and poor circulation. You must de-flame the body to reduce and eliminate varicose veins. Garlic is a great remedy for varicose veins. It can break down the protein content in the body and distribute it evenly. This increases the protein supply to the lower limb region.

How to make Garlic oil to Treat Varicose Veins Naturally

Ingredients:

5 cloves of garlic
3 oranges
2 tablespoons olive oil

Finely slice 6 cloves garlic, put them in a clean jar with lid, then add the juice of 3 oranges and 2 tablespoons olive oil

Allow to sit for 12 hours before you use it.

Shake well before use

In the evening, pour several drops of garlic mixture on fingers, and rub it on the areas of concern with a circular motion. Put a plastic bag and wrap the legs with bandage or a warm cloth. Repeat every night.

from: http://livingtraditionally.com/garlic-prevents-inflammation-cause-varicose-veins-make-garlic-oil/#more-5313

RE: Fish Oil

Posted on April 11, 2015 by marcia

If Fish Oil is So Unhealthy, How Did It Pull Brain Damaged Victims Out of Comas?

by PAUL FASSA

There are a lot of health writers who recommend staying away from using fish oil as a supplement for omega-3, and there are mainstream reports of studies that “prove” supplementing omega-3 does nothing for heart health.

But rarely is anything mentioned about brain health. Omega-3s are the building blocks for the cell walls and neuron structures of the brain, myelin sheath, and nervous system.

“We have strong data that suggest omega-3 will activate good proteins to cope with brain damage and turn off proteins that cause neuroinflammation,” said Dr. Nicolas Bazan, director of the Neuroscience Center of Excellence at LSU Health in New Orleans and author of one of the studies that determined this.

Dramatic Episodes of Brain Damaged Victims Recovering With Fish Oil

Every once in a very great while, mainstream doctors look away from their “standard of care” medical bags and dare to use unusual approaches with non-pharmaceutical substances that deliver surprisingly effective results.

In 2010, high school student Bobby Ghassemi was taken out of his crashed vehicle and airlifted to a nearby Virginia hospital more dead than alive with severe brain trauma.

He was so much more dead than alive that the physician who eventually advised the Ghassemi family on using fish oil, Dr. Michael Lewis observed, “For all intents and purposes, he was dead on the scene. I’m looking at the reports, and they report a Glasgow Coma Score of three. A brick or piece of wood has a Glascow Coma Score of three. It’s dead.”

Bobby was placed in intensive care in a coma with all the apparatus possible to keep him a breath away from death. The hospital’s physicians commented that his brain injury was so bad, it was a wonder that he was alive enough to be in a coma!

They told Bobby’s father and mother it was doubtful he’d be more than a vegetable if he came out of the coma, and he’d be unable to speak or recognize his family.

A Good Time to Gamble with an Unusual Intervention

After 10 days, Bobby was still comatose but stable. His dad, Peter Ghassemi, felt more should be done than maintaining stability in a coma. So he started asking around to old Army buddies and was led to Army colonel Dr. Micheal Lewis.

“It really gets down to what I would call my brick wall analogy,” Dr. Lewis said. “If you have a brick wall and it gets damaged, wouldn’t you want to use bricks to repair the wall? And omega-3 fatty acids are literally the bricks of the cell wall in the brain.” (Emphasis added)

Dr. Lewis recommended fish oil based on an earlier episode of a West Virginia coal miner who barely survived a mining accident with severe brain damage. Except for extreme myelin sheath damage (nervous system’s fatty protective coats) from breathing toxic fumes, Randall’s condition resembled Bobby’s current state.

The 26-year-old miner, Randall McCloy, was “on death’s doorstep,” according to Randall’s hospital neurosurgeon, Dr. Julian Bailes. He and the other doctors then decided to forgo the normal wait and see after Randall was stabilized in intensive care.

Even as some recovery is noticed after a brain injury, the brain cells continue dying from progressive inflammation.

Dr. Bailes knew that the brain needs to feed on omega-3 fatty acids to heal inflammation as well as stimulate brain and nervous system cell growth. Unlike plant based omega-3s, fish oils do not require the body to convert ALA into the more efficacious aspects of omega-3 fatty acid, DHA and EPA.

After discussing Randall’s condition with fish oil omega-3 experts, Dr. Bailes determined that 20 grams of fish oil, several times the standard supplement dose of one to three grams, should be fed through Randall’s feeding tube daily might bring him around.

This successful intervention was explained to Bobby’s dad, Peter. In order to overcome authoritative medical “standard of care” resistance, Peter persistently urged the hospital staff to try the fish oil. Eventually the hospital yielded.

At his high school graduation, Bobby took off his cap and waved it to the cheering students. His dramatic three month recovery had left him with some weakness on his left side and walking difficulty, for which he had just begun therapy. But he was back.

More recently, in 2014, a repeat performance of a fish oil miracle. Grant Virgin was the pedestrian victim of a hit and run accident while walking near his family’s home. At first thought dead, he was rushed to a hospital. Doctors told his parents he would never recover from his coma and to “let him go”.

But the parents refused that and searched for solutions. They got an email from someone telling them about fish oil, and had to urge the hospital to perform “medical disobedience”, as reported from a medical source.

Here’s that story:

Instead of simply using the same treatment that saved these three trauma brain damaged victims when there is nothing Big Pharma can provide that effectively treats the 1.7 million people who suffer a traumatic brain injury each year in the United States, state Attorney Generals are waging wars against supplements.

from: http://www.realfarmacy.com/fish-oil-unhealthy-pull-brain-damaged-victims-comas/

Benefits of Cooked Veggies

Posted on April 11, 2015 by marcia

Why Not All Green Veggies Should be Eaten Raw

Jill Ruttenberg, Contributor
Waking Times

Yes, there are Greens that should NOT be eaten raw!

Recent trends in nutrition promote eating mostly raw foods. As a nutritionist I feel it’s necessary to qualify a few things about this popular new eating practice.

First off, although fresh raw foods do retain more of a food’s life force, it is not true that all nutrients and enzymes are lost when plant-based foods are cooked, and it is not true that all vegetables and fruits are best for you when eaten raw.

Some vegetables actually release beneficial nutrients when cooked as in the case of cooked tomatoes producing more lycopene (a powerful antioxidant which prevents cancer- causing free radical damage and helps prostate problems, night blindness and asthma) than when eaten raw. Other vegetables such as cooked carrots, spinach, mushrooms, asparagus, cabbage, peppers also supply more antioxidants, such as carotenoids and ferulic acid, to the body than they do when raw. And when it comes to energy, cooked foods are easier to digest because your body does not have to do as much work to break down the undigestable cellulose from the cell walls of the plants.

Another important issue is the fairly new increase in young, otherwise healthy people who regularly consume green juices developing hypothyroidism (low thyroid function). Naturopathic doctors are seeing more and more of this anomaly. The problem is with juicing raw cruciferous vegetables which have an enzyme that blocks the production of thyroid. Kale, which has become very popular for its nutrients and ALA (alpha lipoic acid) content helpful in regulating blood sugar and blood pressure, as well as its high potassium level which helps the heart, is a member of the cruciferous family. It has become popular to juice kale every day, which can negatively affect the thyroid.

While recent studies show that these vegetables do not block thyroid production in everyone who eats them, and that it may take a large quantity to actually negatively affect thyroid function, I believe it is wise to lightly steam these vegetables rather than eating them raw in anything but small quantities, and to completely avoid them raw if you have low thyroid. Steaming them eliminates the enzyme that blocks your production of thyroid and still retains their beneficial properties.

Other cruciferous vegetables include: cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy, arugula, collard greens, mustard greens and radishes (including Daikon radish). Contrary to some lists, swiss chard and beet greens are NOT cruciferous as they do not belong to the Brassica family. Chard and Spinach, however, contain Oxalic acid which can interfere with calcium absorption. Again, cooking these foods eliminates the mineral-blocking effects. Dr. Andrew Weil had this to say about spinach:

“Concentrations of oxalic acid are pretty low in most plants and plant-based foods, but there’s enough in spinach, chard and beet greens to interfere with the absorption of the calcium these plants also contain. For example, although the calcium content of spinach is 115 mg per half cup cooked, because of the interference of oxalic acid, you would have to eat more than 16 cups of raw or more than eight cups of cooked spinach to get the amount of calcium available in one cup of yogurt.”

Dr Weil goes on to say he certainly would not avoid eating these foods because they give so much folic acid, potassium and magnesium, as well as vitamin K, carotenes, vitamin C and lutein, however, he recommends if you want to eat these foods raw to make sure you are getting calcium from other sources throughout the day, a recommended amount of 1200 mg for women and 500 mg for men from all sources (men should not use Calcium supplements, as too much calcium may contribute to prostate problems).

What do Leafy Greens give us? For one, Chlorophyll, which helps the body’s detoxification systems, curbs food cravings, controls body odor and is a powerful antioxidant. A study at the Linus Pauling Institute at the U of Oregon showed that, “In the developed world, a diet high in natural chlorophyll from vegetable consumption could offer substantial protection against food- and air- borne carcinogens, in addition to all the other known benefits of a vegetable-rich diet.” Vitamin K, which helps blood to clot and prevents many age-related illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, bone fragility, and calcification of the arteries and kidneys is another benefit to leafy green veggies. One cup of leafy greens, especially kale, chard or dandelion leaves gives us all the Vit. K we need for one day. Greens also lower blood cholesterol and give us important B vitamins, calcium and other minerals.

What about Wheat Grass? Of all the nutritional claims I have seen over the years (the acai berry craze, mangosteen, noni etc) I do believe Wheat Grass or Barley Grass Juice have very good benefits and are good additions to one’s daily diet especially since these greens do not possess the problems mentioned above and gives us many useful nutrients in concentrated form. B vitamins (except B12 & folic acid), vitamins A&E and many of the essential amino acids and minerals our bodies need are abundant in wheat grass.

Nevertheless, scientific studies are surprisingly lacking and many claims of the benefits of wheat grass are unsubstantiated. I say this with respect, however, as empirical evidence (practitioners and patients reporting good results) is important to consider as I know from my own herbal medicine practice. Clinical studies are expensive and often profit-driven and there is no financial gain in performing these studies on something people can grow in their back yards for pennies.

Still, when analyzed, the nutrient value of wheat grass, though concentrated, is the same as eating broccoli or spinach, but the power of drinking wheatgrass may lie in its ability to detoxify the digestive system and reduce inflammation. It is my hope that with the popularity of this su-called “superfood” some of the companies that are making money selling wheatgrass juicers, powder or growing kits will begin to fund studies to prove their claims.

Wheat grass is sprouted from seeds, “wheat berries”, and is easy to grow. In one animal study, it did reduce cholesterol levels, and in another small study it seemed to reduce symptoms of ulcerative colitis. Claims that because of its high chlorophyll content (70%) and chlorophyll’s structural similarity to human red blood cells wheat grass helps build hemoglobin or red blood cells are unfortunately not true. The reality is that chlorophyll can do two things:

1. It blocks dietary iron-induced metabolites from creating havoc in our system. In other words, it can help balance an iron-heavy diet such as heavy meat eaters have. Chlorophyll also binds to certain carcinogens, carrying them out of the body.

2. It is a dietary source of magnesium which can also be found in green leafy vegetables, young cereal grasses, and chlorella. These are all alkaline-forming foods which promote healthy pH levels in the body, and particularly in the gut, which in turn helps good bacteria to thrive.

People with gluten sensitivities can safely drink wheat grass juice, but if you have an actual ALLERGY to wheat, the juice is not recommended (you may notice immediate sore throat or swelling of mouth/lips if you are allergic, but this is rare.) Wheat grass gives you B vitamins (except B12 & folic acid), vitamins A&E and most of the essential amino acids and minerals our bodies need.

Recommended dose is 2 oz per day, more if you are combatting a serious illness and need both more alkalinity and antioxidants. Wheat grass is easy to grow. There are many u-tube presentations on the internet to learn how. In our garden here at AmaTierra we grow the seeds in a medium of coconut fiber and our hydroponic nutrients, with very good results. The grass is ready to juice (we put ours in the Vitamix) in 6-8 days.

It is my hope that this information is helpful to you in making healthy food choices. Detoxing the body from time to time is important, and fresh greens do help in this endeavor as do herbal teas and supplements. Feel free to write to me with your comments or to schedule an individual consultation with me at amatierra@gmail.com.

from: http://www.wakingtimes.com/2015/04/09/why-not-all-green-veggies-should-be-eaten-raw/

Traits of VIsionaries

Posted on April 8, 2015 by marcia

10 Qualities of Visionary Leaders and Healers in Transitional Times

9th April 2015

By Gerri Ravyn Stanfield

Guest Writer for Wake Up World

Let’s push it, let’s birth it. Let’s create and heal and risk the pain. I love the way you lead the way, the way you risk that disapproving sneer, the distasteful glare. I love the way you dive right into the fear of isolation and rejection, just to become the truth. Sure, we want to be good and to be loved, but following the rules has never unveiled the joy we seek.

Now is not the time to follow the old rules!

The world is in a great initiation, a giant transition. It’s time to question the (de)construction of every wall. Those of us willing to identify as leaders and healers are uniquely poised to help this process. Surviving crisis is written in our DNA, but this time around, the scale is larger.

Many of us have had the luxury of time spent together in friendship, spiritual or professional community, celebrating the cycles of the planet and imagining the world that is to come. Our intention is sent out to create that world where natural resources are valued, everyone has what they need and our relationships with plants and animals are healthy. We want to recognize the interdependence of our lives with other humans. We are surrounded by people who may have a different view of what is coming or who may fear the events that are unfolding around our climate, racial justice and change in economy.

The Great Turning

In their book, Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We’re In Without Going Crazy, Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone outline three paradigms about the way that the world is going right now.

The first is Business as Usual; this seems to be the way that most of Western urbanized culture is going. Governments still recommend economic progress based on overuse of resources; the media still gives the message to consume. No change is recommended anytime soon.

In The Great Unraveling story, it is the opposite. All the dire truths about this time weigh heavy and there is no other direction except for imminent destruction.

The third paradigm, The Great Turning, is about a major transition in lifestyle and actions to shift human culture towards a holistic healing relationship with our planet.

People who are practicing Business as Usual seem to be living in denial about climate changes, extinction of species and extreme economic disparity. When faced with this story, everything can feel hopeless and we find ourselves spending hours searching the internet or distracting ourselves. It is seductive to engage in The Great Unraveling as well. This one feels like we are really doing something by convincing people how bad it is out there. Our urgency feels like the opposite of apathy. Perhaps we grow more desperate, thinking that it is too late for significant change; that we are surely doomed.

In healing leadership, we continue to revisit The Great Turning as a possibility for the future. We share what is so painful and exciting about being alive right now. We remember what is worth fighting for and loving; and what qualities leaders need in the real world to bring The Great Turning to life.

Qualities of Visionary Leaders and Healers

Capacity For Holding Grief.

We are in a time where many things are changing and being lost. Sometimes, the growth on the other side of loss isn’t immediately obvious. Our opportunities to sit with people who are in distress may increase.

In many of the healing arts, there are techniques around energetic shielding to effectively help people process deep emotions without taking them on ourselves. Grief sometimes elicits anger, anxiety or fear which can be difficult to support. The tendency can be to try and ‘fix it’ so the person will stop expressing the emotion we perceive as negative. In Chinese medicine, all emotions move qi (life force) through us. Emotions are in service to our health and they will not be endless. When people feel things intensely, we can learn to give them space and empathy. We cannot fix it and sometimes what people want is to be physically or emotionally held so that they can keep going.

If you do not feel comfortable around heavy emotions, ask yourself what is hard for you about it. How can you grow your capacity to hold people in transformation? What are the resources in your community to help people process loss and anger?

Capacity For Rejuvenation.

Just as we expand our ability to hold suffering, it is also necessary to become excellent at rejuvenation. At a memorial service for my friend, Jim Brandau, we were told that one of Jim’s great mottos was a rule from the Running of the Bulls festival in Pamplona, Spain. “All participants are required to lend to the joy of the fiesta.” Our joy matters now more than ever.

One of the first signs of trouble in an activist campaign is when we lose enthusiasm. As leaders, we are responsible for knowing what brings us pleasure, how we can find respite. Our self care becomes more vital than ever. Because passion and motivation are such wonderful qualities in leaders, we must be ever seeking inspiration.

What are ten practices that refill you? Who are the people or beings who help you relax, reconnect with resources and with yourself?

Ability to Listen and Synthesize.

We all love leaders who have brilliant ideas and communicate them in a succinct way. Even more coveted is the ability to synthesize what has been said. Leaders who release attachment to their own ideas and draw together the passionate opinions of others are needed. One of us is rarely as brilliant as all of us and the marriage of different ideas is a way to achieve innovative solutions. It is great to restate people’s words in a group, ensuring that everyone understands what is being said and allowing individuals to edit their own offering. Crafty leaders also begin to notice when folks are saying similar things and make proposals.

Mediation Skills.

I am an unapologetic fan of Marshall Rosenberg’s Nonviolent Communication. His assertion that every human being has the same needs is revolutionary. I have seen his system bring more empathy and ability for people in serious conflict to reconnect than any other. We have conflict when an underlying need of ours is not being met. Leaders can use NVC (or another comparable system) to assess what unmet need is causing the upset in a group and help to meet the need if possible. When leaders seek conflict resolution training, we all have a better chance of moving forward.

Intimate Relationship With Our Challenges.

Thank goodness we are imperfect. It is a lifelong struggle to accept this about ourselves and in leadership, it is amplified. Our ability to be aware of our own challenges and to be kind to ourselves around the ways that we make mistakes is imperative. I recommend making a list of tendencies that sometimes feel like barriers to success. Along with a commitment to work on them, give yourself permission to be an imperfect leader. Ask a trusted mentor to be ‘on call’ to give a reality check if they see your challenges becoming a problem. It can be freeing to give your challenges names, faces and personalities. Now, when I hear my Rigid Controller (RC for short) start to speak inside my head, I have much more empathy for myself and ability to edit what that part of me has to say.

Ability To Laugh At Ourselves.

We are funny monkeys! We do strange and outrageous things. The more we relax and give a good guffaw when we can’t control things, the easier it is to lead others in doing the same. I love it when anyone in leadership asks for a “do over” when they do something that they didn’t intend. The more sense of humor that is displayed, the more my respect grows. Taking ourselves too seriously has got to go.

Ability to Apologize When Our Impact Does Not Meet Intention.

Cedar Barstow emphasizes that even with the purest intention, what we say or do may still feel offensive. We hate that. We want to explain and excuse ourselves. We want people to think well of us. Often, the best thing to do is just apologize. It can be the most disarming thing. More information from you may be welcome after that or not. I will sometimes even get advice about another way that it could have been said or done to achieve the impact that I want. Leading with an authentic apology when something has gone awry, rather than a defense, is one of the best moves a leader can make.

Showing the Vulnerability That Builds Trust.

We want to see ourselves in our leaders. It is difficult to see ourselves in people who appear to be perfect. I consistently get feedback that writing or telling stories about overcoming obstacles in my life or the places where I still struggle are helpful to others. We feel hopeful when we see people we admire be vulnerable. We trust them more. It awakens the mammal in us. People want to know how you arrived where you are. There is an art to sharing your personal stories. Oversharing from the center of your unprocessed painful experience might cause mistrust. However, giving some personal details about what you are experiencing now or what you have been through to get where you are today will help us connect to you.

Embracing Paradox.

Truth is not simple these days. Leaders who can do the mental gymnastics of holding two opposing truths simultaneously are in demand. The ocean levels are rising and there are millions of organizations creating healing and justice in the world. How can we hold disparate realities as being relevant and accurate? There is a way to shift our perception of the world to support our actions and resolve and it will require a strong relationship to holding paradox.

Stress Relief Techniques.

The Dalai Lama recently said that humans are in a pandemic of anxiety and depression. While this may be appropriate given what is happening to our planet, it can keep us helpless. Our ability to feel deeply and move our emotions through us is paramount. What are the ways we can support ourselves and each other in doing this? This is connected to our capacity for rejuvenation but also necessary just to keep moving, to get out of bed in the morning. Our media and our circumstances keep our nervous system in constant sympathetic arousal. We must find breathing techniques, movement, exercise, and relaxation, anything to get us back to our creative brain and out of reaction. What does this for you?

Contributing to the Transition

One of our challenges is to take our wisdom into a world that may not understand what we do. People may be repulsed or frightened by our beliefs or the words we use to self identify. We must not be deterred. The skills we have are desperately needed. People will sense who you are and ask you to assist in their crisis, facilitate their meetings, interpret their dreams, perform their memorial service, create art or ritual for them, settle their arguments, or answer their questions about spirituality or medicine for these times. How will you respond?

Carolyn Raffensperger asks a provocative question in an interview with Derek Jensen. “What is the biggest and most important problem in the world that you can [help to] solve with your unique skills and abilities?” I pose this question to all current and potential leaders and healers. It helps us face the size of the transition with which we are dealing but also to see our distinctive contribution to it.

Sometimes, our protest results in a policy change, our patient recovers, our kids learn something, our client feels better, our students understand; we make a visible difference that we can acknowledge. Those are great moments, but our attachment to having them happen frequently is problematic. Sometimes we have to do the work that is directly in front of us and not see the results of our actions. Instead, we may have to trust that our children, students, or some descendent in the future may be touched by what we do. We can continue to support each other and hold the vision. There is no certainty about where we are going. All we can do is exactly what is in front of us and contribute as much as possible to the joy of the ongoing fiesta unfolding around us.

I suspect we have enough of everything we need to make this transition. Let’s keep going. Squeeze out that last drop of wonder in the tube. Stop clenching and clawing and clamping down. Open your chest, your heart, your lower back, your whole life. Live audaciously all the way to the edge and I will too.

from: http://wakeup-world.com/2015/04/09/10-qualities-of-visionary-leaders-and-healers-in-transitional-times/

Save Homeopathic Remedies

Posted on April 8, 2015 by marcia

FDA Sets Hearing to Regulate Homeopathic Medicine- ACT NOW to save access to homeopathic remedies

Wednesday, April 08, 2015 by: Talya Dagan

(NaturalNews) The FDA has called a hearing to decide the future of access to homeopathic medicine. Urgent comments are needed to protect health freedom. The FDA is reevaluating their “regulatory framework” for homoeopathic remedies. Friends and supporters of homeopathy have to act immediately to tell the FDA that they want to maintain their freedom to use homeopathic medicines.

The hearing will be on April 20 and April 21, 2015. You can send materials to the FDA to support homeopathic freedom. Materials must be received by the FDA by June 22, 2015. Comment online at: http://www.regulations.gov or by mail to Division of Dockets Management (HFA-305), Food and Drug Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852. Be sure to include the docket number HFA-305 in any correspondence to the FDA. The hearing will be broadcast live at https://collaboration.fda.gov/hprapril2015/.

How to help
The FDA wants to hear from patients and consumers, as well as from health care providers and those selling or manufacturing homeopathic medicines. You can apply to speak in person or listen to the live meeting. You will be able to listen to the live broadcast of the meeting and comment afterwards. The comment period is open until June 22, 2015. (See addresses below.)

Current FDA regulations of homeopathic medicines
Many homeopathic medicines are sold over-the counter. The FDA has now decided to reevaluate their “regulatory framework.” After sending out a safety alert concerning a homeopathic remedy for asthma in March 2015, the FDA then sent out a notice of public hearing. The hearing has been set in order to: “…obtain information and comments from stakeholders about the current use of human drug and biological products labeled as homeopathic, as well as the Agency’s regulatory framework for such products.”

Current homeopathic regulation of homeopathic medicine by the FDA
The FDA currently recognizes the homeopathic Pharmacopeia along with other drugs labeled USP. A NGO called Homeopathic Pharmacopeia Convention of the United States (HPCUS) has been regulating and monitoring the 1200 included (monographed) homeopathic remedies since 1897. In 1972, the FDA decided to “defer” review of homeopathic medicines based on their “uniqueness.” Because of this, there are no FDA safety reviews required for the sale or manufacturing of homeopathic medicines. In 1988, any “drug products” labeled as homeopathic have been able to be sold and manufactured without FDA approval, based on their Compliance Policy Guide (CPG) published that year. Compliance Policy Guide (CPG) 400.400 entitled “Conditions Under Which Homeopathic Drugs May be Marketed” (see 53 FR 21728, June 9, 1988).

Notice of the FDA hearing on regulating homeopathic medicine (HFA-305)

www.federalregister.gov

How to send comments to the FDA about regulation of homeopathic medicine
Mail:
Division of Dockets Management (HFA-305), Food and Drug Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852

Online:
http://www.regulations.gov
Include docket number HFA-305 in all correspondence.

For more information:
www.nhmrc.gov.au

http://www.fda.gov

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/049290_homeopathic_medicine_homeopathy_FDA_hearing.html#ixzz3WjUbXJ4u

Los Alamos, NM – Vaccine Exemptions

Posted on April 1, 2015 by marcia

Top Gov’t. Scientists Refuse Vaccines for Their Kids

Posted by clnRobertOLeary

By Jon Rappaport | *No More Fake News

“The combined death rate from scarlet fever, diphtheria, whooping cough and measles among children up to fifteen shows that nearly 90 percent of the total decline in mortality between 1860 and 1965 had occurred before the introduction of antibiotics and widespread immunization. In part, this recession may be attributed to improved housing and to a decrease in the virulence of micro-organisms, but by far the most important factor was a higher host-resistance due to better nutrition.” —Ivan Illich, Medical Nemesis, Bantam Books, 1977

Albuquerque Journal, 3/20, “Los Alamos schools top NM in vaccine exemptions”, reports:

2.3% of kids in Los Alamos public schools don’t get vaccinated. Their parents have received exemptions.

That’s the highest rate of non-vaccination in the state.

We’re talking about parents who work at the US Los Alamos Labs.

People with advanced degrees in science.

People who work for the federal government.

You would think the vaccine rate in that environment would stand at 100%, no questions asked.

What do these people know? Why are they opting out of vaccinations for their kids?

Those are hard questions to answer. Very hard.

Hmm, let’s think. For example, have they done some actual research on their own, and have they decided that vaccines are unsafe and ineffective?

No, that couldn’t be it. Of course not. Who in his right mind would come to that conclusion?

It must be this: these sober PhD federal scientists are being driven into fear by wild-eyed anti-vaccine lunatics. Yes. That’s it. Of course.

These obey-the-government-at-all-costs scientists have gone off the rails.

At Los Alamos Labs, where they do nuclear- bomb and disease research, there must be a Terrorist, whose mission is to subvert “vaccinations for everybody” and, by this covert tactic, aid a revolt against vaccinations and thereby allow the whole USA to succumb and die off from…the measles and mumps.

Yes. That’s it.

Finally. We’ve gotten to the bottom of it.

Terrorism at work.

Call in the FBI and DHS. Surround Los Alamos Labs with tanks. Lock the place down.

Send in brave men and women wearing hazmat suits (protection against measles and mumps) to find the Terrorist and take him, dead or alive.

While I was writing my first book, AIDS Inc. (*), in 1987, I began interviewing people about their health. These interviews branched out into areas that had nothing to do with AIDS.

(*) (AIDS Inc. is included as a bonus in my The Matrix Revealed and Power Outside The Matrix collections.)

I discovered a number of people who were in excellent health and had never received a vaccination.

Of course, “medical science” rarely if ever concerns itself with people who are heathy and how they got that way.

One common factor emerged in my interviews with very healthy people: good nutrition.

Big surprise, right?

The more people I spoke to, the more obvious something became: non-medical, naturally acquired immunity to disease could become a serious problem—for the medical cartel.

Its solution? Pretend such immunity doesn’t exist.

This is a quite insane approach.

Yes, many people around the world don’t have access to the foods that constitute good nutrition.

Regardless, if the goal is really excellent health, that underlying aspect must be addressed. There is no way around it.

You can’t say, “Well, for those unfortunate people, we’ll give them immunity with vaccines and guard their health with drugs.”

That’s preposterous. It doesn’t work. It only makes things worse.

The current rabid campaign in the US to inject every human with a whole host of vaccines is sheer madness (*). It intentionally ignores the fact that natural immunity should be the goal, which can only be achieved through non-medical means.

(*) (And, I might add, the people at the National Vaccine Information Center Advocacy Portal are doing a superb job of tracking this rabid madness. I urge you to check them out.)

To cover up this essential fact about health, public health agencies, doctors, and the pharmaceutical industry assault the population with ceaseless propaganda implying that everyone is sick or on the verge of becoming sick all the time.

Well, guess what? Your body is your own. It’s undoubtedly more your own than anything else you possess.

Apparently, this fact needs reaffirming in these times.

[Read more here]

*Originally entitled: “Top Gov’t. Scientists Say No to Vaccines for their Kids”

from: http://consciouslifenews.com/top-govt-scientists-refuse-vaccines-kids/1183023/

Deepak Chopra on Synchronicity

Posted on April 1, 2015 by marcia

Synchronicity, Evolution, & Your Genes (Part 1)

In SF Gate – On March 30, 2015

By Deepak Chopra, MD.

Over the past decade, the hunt for genetic connections with behavior as intensified. For any experience, there must be a physical activity in the brain—otherwise, the experience has no basis. Using this irrefutable assumption, researchers have looked for the seat of anger, criminal behavior, gender identification, the sense of self, and many other aspects of human nature. This includes spirituality. Where is God in the brain? To many neuroscientists, that’s not only a valid question but the only one worth asking, insofar as spiritual experiences have any reality.

Now we are hearing about “God in the genes,” as genetics overtakes neuroscience for the top spot in explaining the roots of human experience. Where the brain operates only in the present, genetics peers deep into the past. A geneticist would want to know what evolutionary advantage early humans got from being spiritual—in the broadest sense of the word—that led to a better chance to survive. This whole line of inquiry, whether we’re taking about the brain or our genes, makes sense if you are a materialist. But it runs the danger of saying that spirituality is only about the physical side of the experience, as if music could never be discussed except by looking at pianos and radios, the physical side of delivering the musical experience.

The materialist explanation is filled with philosophical flaws, but instead of focusing on that, it’s more productive to ask how the brain and genes relate to spiritual experience. The physical side must be accounted for, without making it the whole story. To explore a new kind of explanation that embraces both the physical and non-physical, let’s examine an experience that most people have had. Without experiencing God, angels, the soul, or other traditionally religious things, almost everyone has had at least one or two inexplicable coincidences in their lives.

Synchronicity is the commonly used term for a meaningful coincidence, such as thinking someone’s name and having that person telephone a few seconds later, or opening a book at random and finding the answer to a problem you’ve been wrestling with. Synchronicity doesn’t feel random, which is how it is differentiated from coincidences that have no meaning but happen by chance. The spiritual link involves how to explain a meaningful coincidence. When someone is rescued through a string of chance events, did God intervene? If a car is stranded by the side of the road and a stranger appears out of nowhere to offer help, is God answering a need or a prayer? Events without causes lead to all kinds of unusual explanations.

The term synchronicity was coined by the eminent Swiss psychologist Carl Jung for a phenomenon he experienced with clients in psychotherapy. He first publically discussed synchronicity in a short essay describing synchronicity as an “acausal connecting principle”. By using the word acausal he is pointing to the non-local nature of synchronicity. Non-locality is one of the major principles in quantum physics. Non-locality refers to behavior between particles that doesn’t need a specific cause or location in spacetime. Hitting a billiard ball with a cue entails both a cause and a location. The location is the point where the tip of the cue strikes the ball. The force of the strike is the cause that moves the ball.

But in the quantum domain there is a mystery known as action at a distance, where two particles react to each other instantaneously, even though they can be separated by light years. The action occurs without regard for distance or the limitation of the speed of light. Action at a distance has been popularly explained as “You tickle the universe here, and it laughs over there.” Two particles that mirror each other’s behavior are said to be entangled, although the mechanism behind action at a distance is unknown. Entanglement fits the mathematical model underlying quantum mechanics, and that is what counts when physics is arriving at reliable, precise calculations.

In the everyday world, however, non-locality is about people, not particles. It’s part of human experience to have a meaningful coincidence happen that feels too profound—or too spooky—to feel random. A strict materialist would dismiss such feelings as unreliable and subjective, but “meaningful” isn’t simply subjective. Finding meaning in our lives, from any source, is essential. So how can we fit synchronicity into a broader context?

The key is to connect inner and outer, because synchronicity is about an event “out there” that has sudden meaning “in here.” To make the connection, nine principles apply to genuinely synchronous coincidences.

1. Synchronicity is a conspiracy of improbabilities. The entangled events break the boundaries of statistical probability).

2. The improbable events conspiring to create the synchronistic event are acausally related to each other. (Buddhist traditions call this interdependent co-arising. This is the equivalent of non-local correlation.)

3. Synchronistic events are orchestrated in the non-local domain.

4. As we become aware of synchronistic events, we move to higher or more expanded states of consciousness.

5. Synchronistic events are actually the result of an intention, which organizes the needed outcome. (The intention may have been introduced consciously or unconsciously.)

6. Synchronistic events vary in importance. They can seem incidental or can change the course of a person’s life.

7. Synchronistic events affect our emotions the way random coincidences don’t. A synchronous event creates the experience of emotional fulfillment and joy.

8. Synchronistic events allow us to discover the meaning and purpose of our life.

9. Synchronistic events are personal. In effect they are messages from our non-local self.

Taken together, these principles enable us to receive clues about the essential unity of two realities that seem to be separate: the inner world of thoughts, feelings, memories, fantasies, desires, and intentions, and the outer world of spacetime events. The inner and outer are the same field, one non-dual consciousness that simultaneously creates both the subjective world and the objective world.

Therefore, synchronicity isn’t simply a passing anomaly that can be shrugged off. Something crucial is happening. In the next post we’ll discuss the implications of that something as it applies to everyday life.

from: https://www.deepakchopra.com/blog/article/5160

Expanding your ‘Purpose’ in Life

Posted on April 1, 2015 by marcia

31st March 2015

By Steve Taylor Ph.D

Guest Writer for Wake Up World

Transpersonal Purpose: When we no longer have a purpose but become a purpose.

To have a strong sense of purpose is always beneficial, but it’s important to remember that there are different types and levels of purpose, some of which are more beneficial than others.

The most basic type of purpose for all living beings – including human beings – is survival. Most human beings throughout history – and sadly, probably still most human beings alive today – have been mainly oriented around this purpose. Due to poverty, they’re forced to give most of their time and attention to trying to satisfy their, and their children’s, basic needs for survival, for food, shelter, safety and security. But survival usually isn’t enough in itself…

Even while they’re mainly preoccupied with trying to keep themselves and their children alive, most people need a more rarefied and meaningful type of purpose. Many people gain this through religion, by taking on a pre-existing belief system and aligning their lives with it. Psychologists have found that strongly religious people tend to have higher levels of well-being than the non-religious and the nominally religious, and this is probably largely because of the strong sense of purpose and meaning which religions provide. If you’re strongly religious, there is a clear purpose to everything you do: to follow the conventions and principles of your faith, to attain salvation, and/or to convert other people to your faith.

For many of us in the secular modern world, however, religion may not be a viable source of purpose. In that case, sport may serve a similar function to religion. If you follow a soccer or baseball team, you’re also part of a pre-existing framework of purpose. Your purpose is for the team to win the next match and overall, to win that season’s league or tournament, or at least to perform well, and finish in a good position in the table.

Others may take on what I call a ‘personal accumulative’ purpose. This means that the main purpose of our lives is to accumulate more wealth, more achievement or more status. We might aim to become famous or powerful, or to rise to the higher levels of our profession.

Altruism and Self-Expansion

If we move beyond a self-centered egoic orientation, our purpose may become altruistic or idealistic, where we’re not so concerned with our own well-being so much as other people’s. Our main aim might be to improve or contribute to their society, or contribute to the human race in general. We might devote our time and energy to aiding the development of other people, helping them to overcome obstacles or acting to alleviate their suffering. Significantly, research in positive psychology has found that, although a materialistic or ‘personal accumulative’ purpose can have beneficial effects, purpose is most beneficial when it is based on altruism.

Transpersonal Purpose - Power of Purpose

Another type of purpose which emerges when we move beyond an egoic orientation is self-expansion, or self-development. (Abraham Maslow referred to this as ‘self-actualisation.’) This is distinct from accumulation in that it’s not about adding wealth or status to yourself, but about uncovering and expressing your potential, and deepening and expanding yourself. For many people, this happens through creativity, or through hobbies and experiences which challenge them and help them to grow. This could include intellectual growth, based on curiosity and a desire to understand the world. It could also refer to spiritual growth. A person who is mainly oriented around a ‘self-expansive’ purpose may undergo therapy to try to overcome obstacles to their development, or meditate regularly in order to try to facilitate a shift in awareness. They may have an impulse to expand or intensify their consciousness, by following a spiritual path such as Buddhism or Yoga.

I’ve spoken about them separately, but often an altruistic/idealistic purpose and a self-expansive purpose combine. That is, people who are altruistic and idealistic are often focused on self-development at the same time. They’re both facets of trans-egoic development, when the main aim of our lives is no longer to protect, enhance and bolster the ego. (It’s also possible, however, that a person who is mainly oriented around a personal accumulative purpose may have be altruistic/idealistic purpose to some degree, and vice-versa. This might be the case when a person has partly – but not fully – moved beyond ego-orientation, for example.)

Transpersonal Purpose

When we follow an idealistic, altruistic, creative or spiritual purpose, we may reach a point where our purpose becomes transpersonal. This emerges as we move further beyond an egoic orientation, when our own desires, interests and fears begin to fade in importance, and we connect to a larger superconscious source, for which we become the expression. It’s a question of us uncovering a deep, authentic purpose inside us – a purpose which is natural to us, which is an expression of our innate potentials and inclinations – and aligning ourselves to it. Then we become the channel for a purpose which is flowing through us. Rather than us carrying the purpose forward, the purpose begins to carry us. We may not even have a clear idea about what our purpose is – but we trust it, and allow it to flow through us.

At this point, purpose becomes more effortless. We don’t need to strain or exhaust ourselves pushing our purpose forward, trying to realise our ambitions or achieve our goals. We don’t need to push anymore because we can just flow with the purpose, and allow it to take us forward. There can be an intoxicating sense of momentum, as if we’re swimming with the current of a fast-flowing river.

The important thing is for us to step aside – that is, to put our own personal interests, desires and fears to one side, so that we don’t block or distort our purpose. It’s especially easy for us to let our fears stand in the way of our purpose – for example, a general fear of attracting attention, of fear of embarrassment or humiliation, or of appearing arrogant.

Many creative artists experience transpersonal purpose. They follow their inspiration, and are never wholly sure where it’s going to take them, or what it’s going to express. I often experience it when I write books. I have a rough idea of where I’m going, a rough structure which I try to follow, but the book carries me along, and I’m always surprised at the material which comes through – connections, ideas and concepts which I was never expecting.

Transpersonal Purpose and the Impulse for Spiritual Development

Many people who devote their lives to spiritual exploration and development are following a transpersonal purpose too. Their urge to expand or intensify their consciousness stems from a deep-rooted evolutionary impulse which they may not even be consciously aware of. In my view, this impulse is fundamentally the same impulse which has impelled the process of evolution from the beginnings of life hundreds of millions of years ago: an impulse towards greater intensification of consciousness, by which living beings become more complex, more aware of reality, and more aware of themselves.

Spiritual traditions describe transpersonal purpose as a characteristic of the ‘awakened’ or ‘enlightened’ state, in which the individual no longer has a will of their own, but is the expression of the will of the divine. In the Taoist tradition, the individual who has realised their true nature as Tao follows the wu-wei chih-Tao, ‘the non-striving Way of Transcendence,’ in which the Tao flows through them. They live in a state of ‘actionless activity’ (wu-wei). In the Christian mystical tradition, phrases such as ‘self-annihilation’ and ‘self-naughting’ are used in a similar way – the mystic empties himself (or herself) in order to allow God to emerge and express Himself through them. Similarly, in the Bhagavad-Gita, a great deal of emphasis is placed on ‘unattached action’ – acting without being concerned about results, simply doing what is right and appropriate. While in Sufism, the ‘awakened’ state is referred as Baqa, and one of its characteristics is that the person has no will of their own, but lives in and through God, in a state of ecstasy. They no longer have a sense of planning their own life, or making things happen. Life unfolds naturally and spontaneously through them, by virtue of divine power.

With some types of purpose, particular the personal accumulative, there’s the possibility of becoming too future-focused, and losing our orientation in the present. We might become so focused on our goals, and so determined to reach them, that the present loses significance for us, and becomes just a means of reaching the future. We might spend so much time looking forward that we forget to look around. However, this certainly doesn’t have to be the case. So long as we’re not too rigidly focused on our destination, we can still live in the present at the same as moving with the flow of our purpose, in the same way that a person on a train journey can enjoy the experience of the journey. A sense of direction and purpose can actually enhance the journey, by giving us a greater sense of connection and appreciation. And at the transpersonal level, there is little focus on the future at all, just a surrender to the creative or spiritual force which is flowing through us. The invigorating impersonal momentum of the flow of purpose illuminates the present.

Human beings are naturally dynamic. Growth is an intrinsic part of our nature. Life on earth has always been dynamic, as expressed through the process of evolution. Life has always had innate tendency to grow towards greater complexity, to become more organised, and more conscious. So when we feel a sense of purpose, we’re really aligning ourselves with this dynamic impulse, which is possibly why following a sense of purpose feels so right, and is so beneficial. And at the transpersonal level, we become the manifestation and expression of this impulse, become a channel through which is flows directly. When we reach this point, we no longer have a purpose, we are a purpose.

from: http://wakeup-world.com/2015/03/31/transpersonal-purpose-and-the-impulse-for-spiritual-development/

Sturdy Houseplants to Clean the Air

Posted on March 29, 2015 by marcia

9 Houseplants That Clean The Air And Are Almost Impossible To Kill

March 29, 2015 Steven Bancarz

Pop quiz: which is more polluted, indoor air or outdoor air? 10 times out of 10, indoor air in your house, office or apartment is going to be worse than the air outside. Indoor air pollution has been ranked among the top 5 greatest risks to public health by the EPA, and stagnant indoor air allows pollutants to build up and stick to the things inside of your home.

The things in our homes emit some nasty toxic chemicals, like formaldehyde for example. You can also be impacted by pollutants like pollen, bacteria, mold, dust and various outdoor contaminants that find their way inside.

Fortunately, houseplants can help us solve some of these air quality issues. Even if you don’t have a green thumb, these houseplants are basically impossible to kill. Let’s check them out!

1) Garden Mum

This plant was found by NASA to be a real air-purifying beast. It removes ammonia, benzene, formaldehyde, and xylene from your home’s air. It’s popular and inexpensive, plus they can be planted outside too.

2) Spider Plant

Spider plants are incredibly easy to grow, so if you’re a beginner, this is a great one to start with. It lights bright, indirect light and sends out shoots with flowers on them that will eventually grow into baby spider plants that you can propagate yourself. Before too long, you’ll have more spider plants than you’ll know what to do with.

3) Dracaena

There are over 40 kinds of dracaena plants, which makes it easy to find the right one for you. They remove benzene, formaldehyde, trichloroethylene, and xylene from the air. They are toxic to cats and dogs though, so if you have pets, you might want to think twice about this one.

4) Ficus

Ficus trees are a favorite of mine as they are able to grow quite large depending on the type of pot you have them in. They typically stand between 2 and 10 feet tall and have some serious air cleaning abilities. You can also keep it outside in the spring and summer. The ficus removes benzene, trichloroethylene and formaldehyde from indoor air.

5) Peace Lily

Not only does the peace lily send up beautiful flowers, but they’re impossible to kill and have great air cleaning abilities. They flower through most of the summer and prefer shady spots with moist but not soggy soil. It removes ammonia, benzene, formaldehyde and trichloroethylene.

6) Boston Fern

This plant likes cool locations with high humidity and indirect light. Bathrooms are a perfect spot for these little friends. They remove pollutants like xylene and formaldehyde from indoor air.

7) Snake Plant

I see this one all over the place in offices and restaurants – and for good reason. They’re pretty much impossible to kill. They need water only occasionally (about once per month) and prefer drier conditions. They don’t need much direct sunlight either. They remove benzene, formaldehyde, trichloroethylene and xylene from indoor air.

8) Bamboo Palm

Bamboo palms are most effective at filtering formaldehyde. They thrive in full sun and bright light. They grow as high as 12 foot too, making them an incredible presence indoors. They remove benzene, formaldehyde and trichloroethylene.

9) Aloe Vera

Aloe is a multi-use plant for sure. It has health benefits when consumed in smaller amounts, helps relieve burns, and cleans your indoor air as well. It removes formaldehyde effectively from indoor air.

Having these plants inside your house will dramatically improve air quality, and will also provide you with an increases sense of being connected to nature. You’ll be surprised how much life a single plant can add to a room!

Source: This article was written by Jesse Herman of Powerful Primates, and was used with permission from the author from powerfulprimates.com

from: http://thespiritscience.net/2015/03/29/9-houseplant-clean-the-air-and-are-almost-impossible-to-kill/