What About Dairy?

Taken from The Raw Food Detox Diet by Natalia Rose:

Now, don't have a cow but... the milk you think is good for you and your bones is also contributing to the deterioration of your bones, organs, and waistline -- yes, even skim milk! Regular cow's milk products are the biggest culprits and should be avoided at all costs. But goat and sheep dairy products are acceptable, particularly if they are raw.

There are two things that make cow's milk products so bad. First, the protein molecule in cow's milk is too difficult for the human body to break down, which means it will leave residue in the body and really pile up if you consume it regularly. Remember, cow's milk was designed for baby cows -- not humans! Second, the milk is pasteurized, so any good attributes may have been cooked out, including its enzymes.

A bit of good news, however, is that butter and cream -- since they do not contain the casein-heavy protein -- are much easier to break down and are acceptable in small qualities. Nut milks, like almond or hazelnut, will quickly replace your need for cow milk. If you're up for it, you can even make your own nut milk (blend 1 part nuts with 3 parts water, and straight through cheesecloth) or you can buy the Pacific brand of nut milks, which are delicious an store very well. In terms of your calcium needs, consider this:

-In order for calcium to be properly absorbed and not leached from the bones, magnesium is needed. Dairy products contain very little magnesium. Leafy greens contain calcium and magnesium in perfect ratio for optimal calcium absorption.

-Despite the fact that American women have been consuming an average of two pounds of milk per day for their entire lives, according to the National Institute of Disability and Research, it is estimated that 30 percent of postmenopausal white women in the United States have osteoporosis of the spine, hip or arm!

-According to the European Vegetarian Union, "Vegetarian women were also shown to have much lower risk for an da lesser degree of postmenopausal osteoporosis. The Chinese vegetarian women tested only consume about one-third the amount of calcium European women do, but in their case, all the calcium is derived from plant foods instead of dairy products, as is often the case in western countries. Osteoporosis as we know it is virtually unknown in this area and not one of the women tested had this disease!"

-The growth hormones and antibiotics that are injected into cows to produce milk enter directly into our bloodstream when we consume milk products. Even most organic dairies use these hormones -- just in smaller amounts.

-Milk is one of the most mucus-forming foods we can consume. Knowing this, it should come as no surprise that American children suffer to such a great extent from asthma, allergies, ear infections, and colds. Reared on formula, cow's mil, an dairy-rich diets, their bodies become laden with mucus buildup in just a few short years. World-renowned physician and best-selling author Dr. Christine Northrup states, "Dairy is a tremendous mucus producer and a burden on the respiratory, digestive, and immune systems." She says when patients "eliminate diary products for an extended period and eat a balanced diet", they seuffer less from colds and sinus infections."

-According to Victorias Kulvinskas, cofounder of the Hippocrates Institute and best selling author, pasteurized dairy and cooked meat cause our white blood cell count to increase by 300 to 400 percent. This is what happens when the body responds to infection!

-Dairy can block iron absorption resulting in a reduced red-blood cell count, which causes anemia.

-Pasteurized dairy intake is linked to thyroid conditions and diabetes.

-While dairy products do contain calcium, they also contain difficult-to-digest animal proteins, lactose sugar, growth hormones, and numerous other contaminants.

Since eliminating dairy from your diet can be a very big step, many of you will continue to consume it. At the very least, you can learn how to combine it properly with other foods. Dairy combines best with raw and cooked vegetables. Therefore, if you would like to enjoy cheese as part of your meal, make a big raw salad topped with your favorite natural cheese. Goat cheese and goat milk are superior to cow-based dairy products, as the protein in goat milk is much easier for humans to digest. Goat milk is often used as a more natural substitute for mother's milk for infants and todlers. Raw goat - and cow - milk cheeses are always preferable to regular pasteurized cheese.

The most healthful sources of calcium are leafy, green vegetables like kale, dandelion, and swiss chard, which are high in absorbable calcium, not to mention a host of other healthful nutrients.

Simplifying LOA

I subscribe to a 2-minute newsletter by Tzabia Siegel, a Toronto-based Certified Nutritionist and Professional Coach (www.foodcoach.ca and www.freefromdieting.com). Her approach focuses on six key ingredients to your ultimate physical, emotional, and spiritual health: mind, emotion, food, soul, movement, and rest.

In this particular newsletter, she provides some helpful and straightforward techniques in learning to understand and implement the Law of Attraction principles into your life:

"I know from talking with clients and other people that there is some confusion as to how to actually make use of the principle of attraction. As it is a principle that those looking for lifetime weight loss need to be clear about, I will lay it out here.

As far as how to create what you want through attraction, here is a simplified version of how you can make use of the ask, believe, receive process that was laid out in ‘The Secret’:

• Ask yourself, “What do I want?” Be detailed. Get into the nooks and crannies of your desires. Write it down. Ask yourself “why do I want this?” If you are not motivated by something that you deeply value, it is unlikely that you will devote the time and energy to making it a reality.

• Believe by expressing your desire in every way that you can. Tell someone, write it out, compose a song and sing it, create a piece of art, dance it, visualize it, etc. That will increase the attention and the feeling that you bring to your desire. It is imperative to engage your emotions as attention follows feeling more strongly than thought.

• Prepare yourself to receive by asking yourself, “What are the obstacles and the fears that are keeping me from my what I desire?” Write those down as well. Then use the tools that you have at hand to clear those obstacles. If you do not have effective tools, seek help to learn them. Check out my free article “Tools to Help You Deal with Your Emotions so that You Can Create Change” for insight into some options that you can use. You will find that article on my website.

• Repeat the above as often as you need to. You may need to be patient because desires can take years to become a reality. However the more attention you bring to it and the deeper your willingness to bring focus to the qualities of character you need to be able to receive your desire, the more likely you are to create it."
  

The Problem With "God"

I was struck by this passage from The Power Of Now by Ekhart Tolle:

"The word God has become empty of meaning through thousands of years of misuse. I use it sometimes, but I do so sparingly. By misuse, I mean that people who have never even glimpsed the realm of the sacred, the infinite vastness behind that word, use it with great conviction, as if they knew what they are talking about. Or they argue against it, as if they knew what it is they are denying. This misuse gives rise to absurd beliefs, assertions, egoic delusions, such as “My or our God is the only true God, and your God is false,” or Nietzsche’s famous statement “God is dead.”

The word God has become a closed concept. The moment the word is uttered, a mental image is created, no longer, perhaps, of an old man with a white beard, but still a mental representation of someone or something outside you, and yes, almost inevitably a male someone or something.

Neither God nor Being nor any other word can define or explain the ineffable reality behind the word, so the only important question is whether the word is a help or a hindrance in enabling you to experience That toward which it points. Does it point beyond itself to that transcendental reality, or does it lend itself too easily to becoming no more than an idea in your head that you believe in, a mental idol?

The word being explains nothing, but nor does God. Being, however, has the advantage that it is an open concept. It does not reduce the infinite invisible to a finite entity. It is impossible to form a mental image of it. Nobody can claim exclusive possession of Being. It is your very essence, and it is immediately accessible to you as the feeling of your own presence, the realization I am that is prior to I am this or I am that. So it is only a small step from the word Being to the experience of Being. "

***

For some reason, I have always had difficulty with the word "God" -- so much so, that often, when it is just tossed out there, I feel a wave of resistance or annoyance run through me. I have always found this sort of funny, as I have, over the past few years, come to embrace my own interpretation of "God". Perhaps I am simply aware of all the thousands of meanings and definitions and images and problems that have been attached to that word, and my immediate response to it is one of skepticism and agitation. I think "flakey" and "stupid"... even though I actually think "God" (at least my own interpretation of it) is anything but.

Whenever someone asks me if I believe in God (which isn't very often -- people tend to avoid questions like those except for me), my first response is always to say "Well, yes, but..." and I go on to define exactly how I interpret it and what it means to me personally. I have difficult using the word God myself, and usually find myself replacing it with words like "energy", "being", "divine", etc. depending on who I am in a conversation with. In this day and age, "God" has been given a bad rep, and the youth of my generation are resistant to exploring, understanding, and personalizing God because they associate the word with religious war and suffering, new-age flakes, and Jehovah Witnesses ringing their doorbells. In 2007, it is definitely way cooler to be atheist and anti-religion (not that the two have to have anything to do with each other) ... and I feel the need to be careful about when, where, and with who I share any of my "God"-related thoughts.

The spirituality that I experience is very personal and has little to do with anybody else. I certainly like to discuss and debate the ideas I have with others who are willing and open-minded and like to share, and I continue to grow and open myself up to new possibilities and interpretations... but I certainly feel no need to pass my experiences on to anyone and make them "believe" in what I do. I do not consider my beliefs to be any kind of absolute truth... they are simply what make sense to me and help fulfill me right now. I do, however, think it is unfortunate that people nowadays are so void of any spirituality. I suppose some people don't care about it or feel the need for it, and some people don't know how to access it or separate it from the religious institutions that they dislike. There is no one spiritual philosophy for everyone.... but I think if a holistic lifestyle is important to you, it is then important to recognize your spirit and the ways in which it is affected by everything around you -- in both the physical and non-physical realms. Maybe you have trouble understanding what everyone calls "God", but can feel the energy of the earth when you lie on the grass; or are overcome with emotion by a piece of music; or feel the urge to dance in the rain; or know the experience of unconditional love flowing out of you into another human being. All of those things can be spiritual experiences, can potentially be the experience of God (or whatever you like to call it), and the more we recognize those kinds of moments as being so, the more we can be free and discover our whole selves.

Maybe the word "God" doesn't do it for you like it doesn't do it for me. The word has definitely lost whatever meaning it once had. But perhaps there is a voice in you that tells you that there is more to the world than meets the eye; that we are really part of something special, exciting, and beautiful. I think that voice is worth listening to now and then.

The Law of Attraction

Last summer I was recommended some books on "The Law of Attraction" that I began to read and put into practice. It was at a time when I was feeling particularly low and self-pitying, and my Naturopath suggested the titles to me. Since that time I witnessed the "law" manifest in my life in multiple ways, most significantly when I was asked out by my boyfriend -- two weeks after I began reading the books, had clarified exactly what I was looking for, and started to feel like it really could happen. It did -- and after four years of being very, very single and being told my standards were too high and thinking I might be alone forever (dramatic, I know, but sometimes perspective is a tricky thing), this was kind of a big deal.

Also since that time, I have struggled to maintain the positive thinking that the law of attraction requires (in order to use it in a way that actually benefits you). Although I have seen proof that it works, I also find it difficult to trust it (I find it difficult to trust most things that I believe in)... and it always feels scarier to put faith and trust into something that is a source of anxiety than just letting yourself be consumed by the fear. I don't know why that is -- possibly because if it doesn't end up working out the way you want it to after investing so much hope, you feel even worse, or more personally responsible for the "failure", instead of getting to blame the cosmos for all your problems and feel as though your fate is in someone or something else's hands.

What I have noticed about the law of attraction in my life is that rarely does what I think I want to happen happen how or when I think I want it to. Let me clarify that. Sometimes I will put a great deal of energy into a very specific thought of something that I want, and it will happen -- but in a very different way than I first imagined it. It can take me a while to realize that what has come into my life is a manifestation of what I have asked for. For example, I have been anxious about money recently now that I'm facing graduation. How am I going to survive financially as an actor fresh out of school? I keep dreaming about all these big parts and big cheques that I might get this year -- even making LOA statements as bold as "I can easily make at least $20,000 next year as an actor" (which is slightly ambitious considering the average income for actors is under $5000 a year). Then I open my e-mail one day and, out of the blue, was asked to direct a show for pay in the next month. No, the pay isn't even a tiny spec close to $20,000... but the job just seemed to fall out of the sky. Can money really appear that easily? Why not. Some kind of sign saying, "here's a tiny taste... now start to trust yourself!".

I have read some criticism on the law of attraction, and The Secret in particular -- claiming that the philosophy is in fact harmful to people, and to society as a whole. It puts so much responsibility on the individual that people begin to get offended ("You mean, the starving children in Africa are asking to starve to death?"). Honestly, that is the part of it that gets to me as well. I can understand how that would be true according to how the the law of attraction claims to work... but I don't like it and I can see why people would be upset by it. I don't want to believe that. I have also heard of people becoming so fanatical about LOA that now it is even being criticized for being like a cult, controlling how people think and feel. Well, to that I say that there are always going to be people in the world with obsessive personalities, and people who lack the ability to think critically and absorb new information in a balanced way. People are obsessed with dieting and making money and having sex and wanting to indulge in every aspect of their life ... and here is a new way to easily achieve it all. Of course you are going to have fanatics. I don't think that diminishes the value that the LOA offers when used in a positive way.

What is the Law of Attraction (or, The Secret, as it is also called), to those who have no clue what I'm talking about? The Law of Attraction claims that like attracts like. Therefore, every thought and feeling we have has a matching vibration to it, and as long as we continue to think and feel those things, we attract more of that vibration into our lives. That is why we see so many reoccurring patterns... attracting the same kind of partners (or none at all), problems with money, poor health. As long as we are paying attention to what we don't want, we attract what we don't want into our lives, and then continue to feel miserable, and continue to attract the misery to us. The vicious cycles we all hate. Shitty, eh? Well, according to LOA, not if you use the "law" in the way that works for you. We are always asking for things simply by giving our attention to it. If we are able to shift the attention from the negative to the positive, we can begin to attract the positive (what we want) into our lives. Essentially, its the power of positive thinking.

This made a lot of sense to me last summer when I was in self-pity mode. I had been single for four years, and all I could do was think about how lonely and alone I was. Therefore, I was simply attracting more loneliness to me. As soon as I shifted my thinking and wrote a long list of what I did want, became secure in it and began to believe it could happen, I saw an immediate change in my life.

The problem for me is when I don't seen an immediate result the way I did back then, I begin to feel discouraged and slip back into my negative thinking instead of having patience and trust that it will come to be at the right time. There are three parts to the Law of Attraction:

1. Identify Your Desire
2. Raise Your Vibration to your Desire
3. Allow It

For example, if your desire is to be rich, you need to match your vibration to your desire by thinking rich, feeling positive, and working on letting go of your money fears. Then, once money begins to pour into your life, you have to allow it... by picking up and appreciating the dime you see on the street, by graciously accepting a friend's offer to treat you to dinner, by being grateful that you bought your shoes on sale, etc. and realizing how all of these things are connected.

I struggle with maintaining my vibration with my desire... feeling positive, letting go of fear, and trusting that everything is meant to go well. And sometimes in recognizing and being grateful for the good that comes into my life and allowing it in.

What I like about LOA and leads me to believe in it (aside from really having nothing to lose), is that we can all see the evidence of it at work in our lives. You know the expression, "when it rains, it pours"? It makes a lot of sense when you think about it in LOA terms. As soon as you are open and ready to receive what you want, there is no limit to what can come to you.

There are a great deal of books on LOA. You can even download one for free at http://www.receivethebook.com. I like 'Ask and it is Given' by Esther and Jerry Hicks for the list of different practical tools to begin applying LOA to your life (and to, as they call it, 'move up the emotional scale' in order to increase your vibrational match with what you want). 'Law of Attraction' by Michael Losier is also very practical.

We are always told not to dwell in the negative, and yet we are programmed to think in negative terms (how many times have we heard "no", "can't", "don't" in our lives?). It makes sense to me that as soon as we begin to trust and believe that anything is possible, and only allow what we want and what makes us feel good into our lives, things will begin to change. Still, I think it is important not to become unhealthily obsessed or consumed with any one philosophy ... but to simply try it out and see what works for you, remembering that change doesn't always happen immediately, and of course, to be forgiving with yourself. I have to remind myself of that all the time.