karen

Traditionally, tea has been brewed by putting a few leaves in a pot, and refilling the pot with water over the course of the day.. in other words, beverage tea is a weak infusion. Anything beyond that is really medicinal, and in order to use medicines safely, they need to be used according to medical principles, not according to health food marketing hype . The health food / pharmaceutical industry is marketing herbs now in ways that they were never traditionally used, extracting constituents that they deem "active", giving us the message that stronger is better, more antioxidants are better, etc. And then they recommend them according to meaningless allopathic disease categories, or else as generally good for everyone without regard for differentials. The products become more like drugs, so negative effects really aren't surprising. -Karen

Yeah, now I'm realizing that Intuflow would be a better place to start.. now to pry it out of my friend's hands just long enough to watch it I do like the beginning Flowfit exercises with the stool, and think I'll make a list of the beginning parts of each of the exercise groups so I could do just those. Karen

I saw most of it last night, really liked the flows.. watching them, I mean . I was disappointed that the beginning levels don't seem to involve much flow, just building up to where you can do the flow.

Not weird, but it took me a minute to get the picture. This is just a long shot, but could it be that the bronchial relaxation had to do with the way you were focusing your attention away from the area associated with anxiety. In other words, would it also work if you focused your attention on your big toe or your fingertips? I'm wondering if the way you were using your attention to calm the breathing was simply regulating the autonomic nervous system and shutting off the sympathetic fight-or-flight. And there are a lot of ways that can be accomplished. Does this ring a bell? If not, I'll put my thinking cap back on. Can you make a connection between the wheezing and something that happened just prior to it? Karen

Hey Lozen. I know what you mean. I've been using the Tooth Soap sparingly and thinking up what to do when the bottle runs out! I talked with the tooth soap people about making a similar formula, and they implied that there's nothing magical about their formulation, and regular old soap could be used. I just find it handy to use the liquid Tooth soap in the squirt bottle, but hey, if you have some basic vegetable oil-based soap with no additives, I think that would be fine. Maybe even Dr Bronner's. Or if you feel like making soap yourself.. I never had the desire to mess around with it. I think I'd rather start with an unscented olive oil bar soap, and just add some essential oils to it. Re. the Thieves toothpaste, it looks mostly good, but I have no idea what the "patented liposome complex" is. Might be okay, but who knows. Karen

Yup, the CD packaging doesn't have the lyrics, but what I couldn't get from listening I got somewhere online.. maybe the genghisblues.com site or kongor-ol ondar's site. I enjoyed reading the translations of the songs sung by kongor-ol, even though he captures the song in his language better than the awkward translation. I think there might be some songs on the CD that weren't in the film.. I loved every minute of the CD. Paul also did a gorgeous folk song in Portuguese, from.. oh, I forgot the name of the island off Portugal, where his family was from. Anyway, I think your take on relaxing with the throat singing and not coming from the throat, is right-on. I'm not especially a singer, but as a pianist I had some singing lessons with a Sufi singer/composer. He started me with very simple Indian scale practices, where I found that I could work on one note for days. And it would just break me through my defenses and bring me to that essential experience of letting go into trust, getting totally out of the way of the process. Powerful practice. My guess about throat singing is that sound naturally contains these over-and-undertones, and it's just the way we filter them that produces a particular quality of sound. So to get a more complex tone it's more a matter of letting go of the habitual filters, than trying to produce something different. Like the way that a natural vibrato can't come from forcing it but letting go of what's preventing it to come through. About women doing this.. I don't know what kind of cultural contraints there are in Tuva.. I don't remember seeing women singing in the film, except maybe the kids? But cultural issues aside, I'm gonna guess that the lowest notes that I produce when simply allowing them to, are the right ones for my body. I tend not to like very high-pitched sounds, maybe because I don't need any more cerebral stimulation than I already have! Keep us posted on your progress! Karen

Yep. The lyrics to "Kargyraa Moan" suggest that.."My wife died, went on that long black train, Three years since then have come and gone again.. Had to find something to soothe my soul, that's when I found that Kargyraa Moan." Sure wish I could physically get anything near those low undertones. Heck, I wish I could get the overtones, but I love the low tones especially, seem to resonate the lower part of the body. I wonder if any women do Kargyraa! Karen

Tuvan throat singing, YES. See the movie (and CD of music from it) Genghis Blues, about American blues singer Paul Pena's odyssey in Tuva.

Hi Yoda, Just to add a couple things on the subject of arrythmias, which I had for quite a while but rarely anymore.. First, Mg is great but most of what's sold is poorer (cheaper) quality, and not well absorbed. Mg Glycinate or Mg Taurate are well absorbed and also tend to have higher poop thresholds. Great source of info there is George Eby's Magnesium site That said, instead of using such high doses of crude Mg, which can cause some mineral imbalance, I use a potentized form of Mg which is a component of the Bioplasma tissue salts. It's a broad-spectrum multimineral, more bioavailable in potentized (what people generally call "homeopathic") form. Another possible cause of palpitations that's often missed is MSG toxicity. MSG is everywhere in most processed/packaged foods even when not stated on the label. ("Natural flavoring" often means MSG, same for a slew of other harmless sounding ingredients). Some people are more sensitive to its toxic effects than others, and palpitations are a common effect, not to mention food cravings! There are lots more things that could enter into the situation, but I had good results with Mg and also Heavenly Emperor Formula, to nourish heart yin and qi. Somewhere online is a great article by Bob Flaws about that, to treat yin-deficiency-related menopausal symptoms (which can begin waaay before expected, I can tell you! ) -Karen

I just unearthed a terrific book on TCM principles and acupuncture theory, loads of great charts and diagrams. Student Manual on the Fundamentals of Traditional Oriental Medicine, by Tyne, L.Ac. I only just began to tap the depth of this material when I was studying TCM herbalism, and the book went further into acupuncture theory than I intended to go. But it's organized so clearly that it was very helpful even from the very beginning. If I had a lot of space and money I'd keep great reference books like these around, but such as it is.. . The book is a large 8 1/2 x 11 soft cover with spiral binding, in great condition, just a small amount of unobtrusive yellow highlighting. It's sold for $43 but I'll sell it for quite less. For details: Student Manual on the Fundamentals of Traditional Oriental Medicine I'd also be willing to lend it if someone really wants to spend some time with it but doesn't need to own it. (Thanks Sean for okaying the post ) Karen

Sounds good. I would disagree a bit with the idea that herbs are superfoods, because herbs are by nature unbalanced. They have a narrow sphere of action. But that's exactly why they're medicinal, because they can be used for very specific purposes to balance an opposite imbalance in the body, according to the law of opposites. Interesting about calamus used as a vegetable.. I'm not sure, but maybe it has somewhat different energetic properties in that form than when dried. I wonder if it tastes any better that way! Karen

Hi Neimad, Whether the nausea is a toxic reaction or a healing reaction, I would say that nausea is a sign to cut back or stop taking it for a bit, but I'm sure you'll intuitively know what you need to do. Even when the reaction is a healing one, it's best to have it be as gentle as possible. I'm surprised that an herbalist recommended calamus alone without other balancing herbs. You could try taking some ginger, which has a downward directed energy, to counteract the upward energy of nausea. Take care, Karen

Interesting! I have no idea what those "Holo" liquids are, my guess is they're low potency homeopathics, but it might be interesting to contact this company in Amsterdam and find out more. I'm resonating with your gut feeling about x-factor butter oil and cod liver oil. Aajonus emphasizes the importance of raw fats in detoxification.. and recommends sometimes huge amounts of raw butter and cream, which I don't have access to on a regular basis, so I hope this little 8 ounces of butter oil goes a long way. Did you find a European source for x-factor butter oil? Karen

Some areas of study that I particularly like, and for some reason these turn out to be more on the western side of things.. esoteric psychology, transpersonal hypnotherapy and NLP, Anthroposophy, esoteric aspect of music, just for starters . Some specific books: 1. If you like the idea that "who we think we are is our deepest trance state", then you'd like the new edition of Jack Elias' hypnotherapy textbook Finding True Magic. (I would highly recommend his training also, Finding True Magic.) 2. Esoteric Mind Power, by Vernon Howard 3. Anything by Rudolf Steiner 4. Blessed by Illness, by L.F.C. Mees (anthroposophical view of human evolution) 5. The Musical Life, by W.A. Mathieu 6. Anything by David Frawley on Ayurveda.

Wowee. I second Yoda's question. Would really love to hear a comparison with Intu-Flow. My friend who's 56 and hasn't exercised regularly at all before now, is really digging Intu-Flow. He seems to think it's even easy enough for me . But I'm really interested to hear more about Flowfit. Thanks again Sean!! Karen

My homeopath (Heilkunstler, to be more precise) uses potentized Chelidonium, which is the herb celandine, which acts on the liver. He prefers using potentized forms of herbs rather than material doses, as they can penetrate more deeply. Although herbal remedies can be used too. Also sometimes potentized forms of actual organ tissue is used -- liver, lymph, kidney, thyroid, adrenal, etc. to support those organs. For general tonification, in terms of herbal remedies, I'm partial to traditional Ayurvedic rasayanas (partly because they're yummy jams . Those are pretty all-purpose or at least all-purpose for one's Ayurvedic constutional type, which is pretty easy to figure out. >How would one go about making an isode of cannabis, it not being water soluble? I'm not sure how directly useful this info will be, but I can tell you basically how homeopathics are made. If the substance is soluble in alcohol, you could use alcohol in place of water, but if it's not soluble at all you have to grind it up with powdered lactose. The idea is to take 1 part of the substance to be potentized, to 9 parts of the diluting substance (water, alcohol or lactose). Then you "succus" the bottle by rapping it against a hard surface. Then take one part of that mixture, dilute it again with 9 parts of the diluting substance, succus again, and keep repeating that process. In the example I used a 1:9 ratio, and that would produce potencies on the X scale (roman numeral 10). Then for example if you repeat the cycle of diluting and sucussing 3 times, you have a 3X potency. If you repeat it 12 times, you have a 12X potency. If you use a 1:99 ratio, you have potencies on the C scale (12C, 30C, etc.) 1:999 ratio is the M scale. Up to LM, CM, MM... I really don't know how potentized cannabis is made, and honestly I didn't do it myself :-) >Would you actively disrecommend an isode, even if one got advice about when to take it, if it's not an acute situation? I'm thinking of someone (no Mum, not me!) who has a massive accumulation of hard feeling yurk in exactly the spots around the eyes mentioned above, which is a big hijacker of meditative attention as said attention aims to go lower. Well, I can tell you from a Heilkunst perspective, which is going to be a different answer than you'd get from a classical homeopath . An isode of a toxic substance can be useful at any point, and even when someone is taking a prescription drug, often they're given a potentized isode of the drug to help neutralize the toxicity. But if it was a substance that was used over a period of time, often it constitutes a shock to the life force that needs to be treated with other remedies, and in proper sequence. In other words, if you want to clear the deeper energetic imprint of the substance, you may need to do a deeper treatment that addresses the various shocks and traumas from the most recent and going backward in time. For example, if you had a car accident recently, and you did some toxic drugs a few years ago, you might need to be treated for the shock of the car accident first before you can clear the energetic effect of the drugs. The sequential method works according to the principle that the body heals recent traumas first, and older ones come after that. Timing is important, as you can only treat what the life force is ready to deal with. Nux is used when the particular toxic substance isn't available to make a remedy from. But also sometimes it's given in addition. These are judgments that a skilled Heilkunst practitioner would make, and I couldn't really give you a definite answer on this. >How does one take calamus? The Nasya oil, which is sesame oil infused with herbs including calamus, is a great way to get it up into your head and promote a sattvic effect in the mind. Calamus can also be used in herbal oils for massage. Traditional Ayurveda uses it internally, combined with other herbs to mitigate any negative effects. I've used Rasayanas that contained it among many other herbs. About dark circles under the eyes, that could also be from food allergies, eating foods that aren't appropriate for the particular person and which cause the gut to be "leaky" and allow large proteins to enter the bloodstream. That usually goes along with deficient digestive fire that isn't burning up toxins efficiently. There are a lot of possibilities to consider, and usually it's not just a matter of one causative factor and one corresponding remedy. To use herbs it's maybe ideal to work with a TCM or Aurvedic herbalist who could individualize the recommendation based on your particular patterns of imbalance. But that's not always practical, and I think the Rasayanas are as close as you can get to a good all-purpose, balanced tonic that can be used safely on a long-term basis. Hope that helps somewhat . Karen Re. "powerful orgone devices", I've got a house full of them! In my experience they're a powerful support, and I highly recommend them for the etheric boost. The effects of that seem to be more subtle and generalized, though, rather than addressing specific health issues. Never hurts to have them around, IMO.

Neimad, Calamus can have an emetic effect and some toxic effects when taken internally or in high doses, and it's hard to know how much that is for each person. Also it's generally best to take herbs in balanced formulas, not singly, except for acute situations for short periods of time. If you're getting stomach upset, that seems a sign to stop taking it and then consider a different form of it or different approach. Was this recommended to you by an herbalist? Just wanted to mention that for now, and I'll be back in a couple of days to reply to your questions, Ian. Cheers, Karen

Calamus is a wonderful herb for the mind. I use it in Nasya oil (a method of taking herbal oils up the nose :-). Homeopaths are aware of isopathy, although homeopathy is practiced in many different ways and not all homeopaths do this. Also, illegal substances even in homeopathic potency are generally not available. Here in the U.S. we can't get homeopathic Opium, for example. Opium is in the homeopathic pharmacopeia, and in potentized form there's not even one molecule of the original substance left.. and still it can't be sold. But generally homeopaths will give the one remedy that has a similar picture as your symptom picture, whatever that may be in each case. Others use multiple remedies at a time, including specific drainage remedies to open the detox pathways, and isopathy may be included there.. there are a lot of different ways that homeopathy is applied, some more successfully than others! -Karen

The simple answer is Yes . The principle is called isopathy, and the potentized form of a toxic substance is an isode. I've taken many.. potentized cannabis, etc., although it's not as simple as using an isode to get rid of the ill effects of that substance. Actually, Nux Vomica in potency tends to work better for symptoms stemming from substance abuse or iatrogenic illness caused by drugs. (But also you want to support the liver and organs of detox at the same time, with "drainage" remedies.) "Classical homeopathy" as it's commonly practiced is based on matching a remedy to the person's total symptom picture, on the basis of "like cures like." So according to that principle, the remedy you need would depend upon the particular symptom picture that your body is producing at a particular time. But that's not the only principle that is used in the broader practice of Heilkunst, which is the complete medical system that Dr. Hahnemann taught. Heilkunst also prescribes based on cause, not just symptom picture, and that's actually the larger part of the practice. There are times when it might be appropriate to use an isode. But I wouldn't say it's a good idea for people to do that on their own. It's very easy to make an isode especially if the substance is water soluble, and I've done it many times, but would only take it under the guidance of a skilled homeopathic practitioner. When to take a remedy is just as important as what to take. That said, it's safe to take Nux vomica in a medium potency, like a 30C, when there are symptoms related to substance abuse. It's sometimes called the "hangover remedy" . That can help in acute situations, although it's a very limited approach, and usually there's more to be done on the deeper levels that Heilkunst/homeopathy treats. Re. the issue of toxicity from antibiotics, Heilkunst deals with that by treating for the shock to the vital force that the antibiotic caused. But also people can use an Ayurvedic herbal formula that Dr. Lad developed to treat antibiotic associated damage to the Kidney. It's called Gokshuradi Guggulu. Karen

Your friend's downfall was that he believed he had to answer the question

Hi Leo, If e-coli was involved, that suggests that the cows were not grass-fed. When animals eat their species-appropriate diet (cows eat grass, not Purina cow chow :-), their gut can not support the proliferation of e-coli. That's why when people buy raw milk products, it's important to know the source. The small farmers I've dealt with are people you can call on the phone and talk to the farmer him/herself and find out exactly how they run their farm, what they feed the animals, what they do in winter, etc. It's such a pleasure to deal directly with the people who produce your food. Feels like the way things oughta be... as I sip my African Rooibos tea and wondering who I should call -Karen

Wow, Ian, I know this sounds facetious, but seriously I'm really glad to have learned that I agree with what you said about individuality.. some people do better with goat milk, and generally in the world it's more practical for humans to interact with goats, I think. I've had raw goat milk from a local.. um, goat. It was heavenly, but unfortunately not very available especially in winter. There are some good mail order sources for raw dairy here in the U.S., but many are known mostly by word of mouth, or they advertise their products as pet food, in order to avoid harrassment. Here in NY state it's legal to buy raw milk right at a farm, but not otherwise. I give Aajonus a lot of credit for the work he's done, although I think his brush strokes are a bit broad. In private consults he individualizes his recommendations more. But even just to begin to gravitate toward the foods that humans generally have thrived on for ages (high percentage of raw animal foods -- yes; vegetarian diets -- no), I think is for most people a big step in the right direction. -Karen

Hi Trunk, I only have a minute right now, but the Weston Price Foundation website is a great source of info on CLO (cod liver oil). Also Radiant Life is a good source for products, including the X-Factor Butter Oil which seems to work synergistically with the CLO. You can read about it on the Radiant Life website. The Butter oil is expensive, and I haven't sprung for it yet, but I hear it's very wonderful stuff. If you think the CLO is powerful, the combo might be.. interesting Re. the audio stuff.. I use a separate mic and preamp. Before I had a preamp, I was using an old tape recorder to act as a preamp . -Karen

Excellent. But I wouldn't be concerned about introducing something or bypassing something. You just keep allowing whatever you experience, and every time an interpretive thought or expectation comes up, notice it, allow the experience. Just another take on vipassana, really. Karen