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Your Life-Your Choice Issue 52
Your Life-Your Choice ISSN 1488-0253
==================== May, 2000
Issue 52
Letter from the Editor
We're back for another information packed issue of Your
Life-Your Choice. Our main objective is to sort through
all the scams, stories, and news to provide you with credible
information about alternative medicine. With that in mind,
I'm going to share with you a situation that I have recently
encountered.
I'm always searching for good sources of information for
the benefit of our subscribers and members. Dr. Whitaker's
Health and Healing Newsletter seemed to be one of those
sources. I phoned their sales line with the intention of
subscribing.
The salesman was very pleasant, and told me that the
subscription was $39.95 for one year. I asked him if
that was in Canadian funds. He answered "No, that's
U.S. funds. The Canadian price is $79.95 plus tax, plus."
I asked him why the Canadian price was so high when
adding the exchange rate to $39.95 would total approximately
$57.72. He confirmed that it was the correct price and gave
me the phone number for customer service.
As per his suggestion, I did call customer service and spoke
to the manager on duty. I explained to her that I couldn't
understand why the Canadian price was double that of the
same product in the U.S. when we receive exactly the same
product with no additional issues. I do understand that the
exchange rate requires a higher price for Canadians, but
this is literally DOUBLE the exchange rate. Her response was
that the company was simply covering the fluctuation of
the exchange rates.
I told her that I also deal with exchange rates in my business.
About every 6 months I phone the bank and get the current
rate and use that as a guide for the next few months. However,
when it comes to billing, my customers are billed the exact rate
that day by their charge card company. It's been my experience
that the exchange rate doesn't fluctuate THAT much. However,
to charge DOUBLE the exchange rate, in my opinion, is not
"covering the range". It is using the exchange rate as an excuse
to take unfair advantage of Canadians.
At this point she could only say was that this was a decision
made by the company long before she was hired and there
was nothing she could do about it. I explained to her that I
believed this practice to be highly unethical and simply bad
business and on principle alone I would not order this
newsletter, and we politely parted ways.
Immediately I sent an e-mail to Dr. Whitaker explaining
my concern and the situation as it had transpired. I also
explained that I felt a responsibility to publish this story
in Your Life-Your Choice and offered to include any
comments he may have. That was April 13, and as of this
publication, I have not received a response from him.
Now, I suppose I could look at it from the perspective of
perhaps the information is worth paying twice as much as
a U.S. customer, and it may well be. But I wonder how
often someone has gone into a store and offered to pay
twice as much for a product as the customer before him/her.
As a U.S. based company, they made a decision that fair
value for their product was $39.95. There was nothing
added to this product to increase its' value once it came to
Canada. Why should Canadians pay more for a product
(other than the legal exchange rate) than the value established
by the company itself? This type of action makes me question
the credibility of a company who would consciously take
unfair and unnecessary advantage of the very people they
claim to help.
I wrote this editorial is to make everyone aware of these kinds
of injustices . Companies get away with it because consumers
let them. We don't question them, and we pay their inflated
prices. Before making an investment of this nature, I encourage
you to ask the company what the charge is for their product in
their home country. Compare that rate, after you've converted
it your currency, and see if the price they've quoted you is
reasonable. If it's not, you have two choices. You can either
refuse to purchase their product, and if so be sure to tell them
why. Or you can purchase it anyway, but at least you'll be aware
that you've been taken advantage of.
Until next time, best of health to you.
Brigitte Synesael
Editor of Your Life-Your Choice
Make it your business to be informed!
No on cares more about you than YOU.
**********************************************
ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE:
1. Announcement
2. Aloe Vera
3. Massage Therapy As A Holistic Healing Tool
for Breast Cancer and Heart Disease
4. How to Reframe for Success
5. Health Smart Recipe -Barbecued Mushrooms
6. Talk to the GARLIC
********************************************
Section 1
Announcement
We had some trouble in our last issue with some of
the links not showing up. My apologies for that
inconvenience, and thank you to those who brought
it to our attention. The ads that were missing links
have been repeated. For those interested in comparing
book prices through Deal Pilot can do so here:
http://www.Life-Choices.com/bookstore.html
********************************************
Section 2
ALOE VERA
by Joan Vankoughnett
It seems that everywhere nature has aid and comfort for human
beings, as well as for birds and animals. They know instinctively
where to seek their "medicine" and when. Man had not been so
intuitive, or at least not in this century when chemistry has been
king. Aloe vera has probably been the most widely used through-
out history. The Bible mentions aloes in at least three places,
(John 19:39, Numbers 24:6 and Proverbs 7:17)
Here are some of the ways Aloe Vera has been used in bygone
days.
1. The Chinese, who consider the Aloe Vera sacred,
used it for stomach and colon ailments
2. People of the Congo, used it to reduce body odour
in stalking wild game and for boils on the skin.
3. In the Philippines, it is used with milk for
dysentery and kidney infections.
4. Mexicans use it to relieve epysipelas, (a skin
disease)and for the scalp & hair in the form of a
shampoo & conditioner which leaves them with
healthy, uxurious & shining hair.
5. Ancient Egyptians used Aloe to stop bleeding
wounds smooth scaling & itching skin. They used it
for sunburns and a non-oily skin moisturizer, to
retard the aging process.
In the aloe species, there is only one Aloe Vera. Aloe Vera looks
like cactus, but is a member of the lily family, as is the onion,
another cousin. It can be identified by its dark green stiff
triangular leaves which form a rosette from the basal centre.
The leaves have sharp pointed teeth on the edges and it gives
the impression of growing directly out of the ground, as there
is no apparent stalk.
For best results, Aloe Vera Juice is processed under the strictest
clean room conditions. The leaf is filled so that only 100% of
the clean fresh juice is used. None of the outer green peeling or
deep yellow substance, next to the peeling (Aloin) is allowed to
remain. This substance is very bitter and is a high irritant.
After filleting, the gel is chapped and the juice starts its own
digesting process and becomes very thin and slimy. No heat or
pasteurization is used so that none of the vitamins, essential
minerals, amino acids and enzymes are destroyed. No thickeners
are added.
Aloe Vera Juice has become a refreshing, invigorating and thirst
quenching drink or juice. It may be safely consumed in quantities.
The list of experiences with healing by application of Aloe
juice, gel or its preparations is very long. Here is a summary:
Poison Ivy
Bites from insects
Acne, psoriasis, itches, exzema, erysipelas, rheumatism &
inflamed joints
problems caused by protozoa, virus & fungi
dysentery -- add gel to milk
boils and abcesses
stomach ulcers
liver toxicity
corns & calluses
aching feet
cosmetic
scalp cleansing
baldness
purify drinking water
antibiotic
astringent lotion
healing torn teat of animals
pain & inflammation after dental surgery
healing of gingivitis
headaches
coating on legs to ward off insects
warding off flies
wrinkles
burns
diaper or heat rash
kidney infection
allergies
blood infections
female troubles
Many of these remedies have been confirmed by medical people,
particularly in Europe, Russia and Germany. Much of the
interest lies in the fact that Aloe Vera has No Side Effects.
It is important to note that the gel and juice, have powerful
properties for internal use are used diluted.
-----
Read about Joan Vankoughnett on our Meet the Team
page; http://www.Life-Choices.com/team.html
**********************************************
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Section 3
Massage Therapy As A Holistic Healing Tool
for Breast Cancer and Heart Disease
by Laurel Duran, CMT
If it seems odd that breast cancer and heart disease would be
paired together as a single health issue, I can assure you that
the issues which underlie these top two American killers are
as close to eachother emotionally as they are physically.
In order to explain this, I'll be referring to the breasts and
heart as a single energy center in the body (chakra). In my
work as a massage therapist, I utilize the 12-chakra system
to translate my patients' illnesses into understandable patterns
of thought and feeling. In other words, if a patient has an
ongoing problem with contracted energy (tension) in a certain
area of her body, I can compassionately understand what life
issues she is facing by applying my knowledge of what that
area of her body expresses. When I share the life-issue
translation of her illness with her, the patient usually sees
herself through more compassionate eyes, and is more
empowered to make improved life choices that grow from
increased self-understanding.
The primary life issue that underlies the breasts/heart chakra
is simply "healing emotional conflict through private
introspection and feeling".
You may have noticed that in our Western industrialized
culture, this theme of privately honoring emotional conflicts
is NOT particularly valued. On the contrary, if a person
mentions that they have engaged in viscerally feeling
emotional conflict in order to release it from their
body/mind/emotions, they are often judged as being
"depressed" or in some way emotionally ill. The truth is
that they are being emotionally healthy by temporarily
undergoing this state of emotional disequilibrium for the
ultimate purpose of regaining emotional balance naturally,
according to the Creator's design. The word EMOTION
is composed of two parts: "e" is for energy, and "motion"
is what happens when we feel. By feeling emotions - in healthy,
non-destructive ways - we are literally putting blocked energy
in motion as it clears out of the body. When individuals with
breast/heart health conditions are willing to literally feel their
emotional conflicts, the energy that was formerly blocked in
their breasts/heart clears out. This is a miraculous healing
phenomenon to behold! Emotions are the primary component
of the chakras in the body that are made of the water element.
There are 3 chakras in the body composed of the water element.
They are: the feet, the reproductive organs, and the breasts/heart.
During a typical massage therapy session, I usually begin the
session by opening the patient's (emotional) water energy flow.
In this way, emotions may more easily come up and out during
the session. This is a very good thing, and here's how to do it:
As the patient lies draped supine (face up) on the therapy table,
first make light manual contact with the two uppermost water
chakras. Using one or two fingers, locate the often-tender spot
just below the clavicle, and make light to moderate contact with
the spot. Using the other hand, simultaneously make light contact
by resting your hand gently on the pubis. While maintaining the
light pressure to the pubis, you can increase or decrease the
pressure of the breast/heart chakra contact. You may suggest
that your patient relax and surrender into whatever she feels
during these contacts.
After several moments, repeat the upper hand's contact on the
opposite side, applying light to moderate pressure to the tender
spot just below the clavicle , while still maintaining the lower
hand's pubis contact. Again, encourage the patient to relax
and surrender. If you wish to be quite thorough, make contact
with the lowest water chakra in the feet. You can do this by
giving your patient a bit of foot massage.
By doing this basic "opening water chakras" procedure you
will be naturally helping the patient move blocked emotional
energy stored in her body. It is very possible that the patient
may begin to actually feel emotions as a result of this. I
encourage you to non-judgmentally accept and allow her to
simply feel her feelings. There is no need to give advice or life
instructions during this opening. Simply by being receptive to
her feelings, you are doing your best supportive healing work!
In general I have found that the left breast/heart chakra emotion
point can store sorrow, while the right breast/heart chakra
emotion point can store anger and frustration. Be assured that
by stimulating the natural, safe flow of emotion in your own
or your patient's body, you are helping them to heal themselves
from the inside out. It is very healthy for the breasts and heart,
in both men and women, to allow emotional conflict to rise up
and be felt. To feel is to heal, and the normal human emotions
that reside in our breasts/hearts are a healing gift, not a medical
curse!
Tune in next month for Part 2 of this series.
-----
Read about Laurel Duran on our Meet the Team page;
http://www.Life-Choices.com/team.html
********************************************
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This is YOUR newsletter! Share your thoughts, what you'd like
to see by emailing, yourlife@life-choices.com with
"Feedback Your Life-Your Choice" in the subject heading.
********************************************
Section 4
How to Reframe for Success
By: Kevin L. Polk, Ph.D.
The only thing that stands between you and success is a little
reframing. That does not mean reframing your house or a
picture. It means reframing your thoughts about the problems
that you face. You take off the old mental frame and put on a
new one. You've heard the phrase, "The power of positive
thinking." Well positive thoughts are a lot more powerful if
you use them to remove the old frame. Let's take a look at
how to do that.
First you need to find the old frame you have been using.
That simply means finding the thoughts you have been
using to frame the problem. Finding them won't be as
hard as you might think. The following exercise should
root out most of them.
Get out a piece of paper and write down your problem.
Money, relationships, something at work. Anything that's
a problem. Try to be as specific as you can. For example,
what do you need money for? Who are you having a
problem with and what is the person doing? Which part
of work bothers you? The more specific the better. Now
set the sheet of paper aside and do something else for a
few minutes or hours.
After you have cleared your mind go back and read the
problem again. As soon as you have read it, take note of
how the problem makes you feel. Does it make you sad,
mad, or afraid? Write down how it makes you feel.
The feeling you wrote down comes from the thoughts you
have about the problem. So next write down the thoughts
you are having about the problem. Are you thinking, "I
will NEVER make more money!" Or, "That person is mean
to me ALL the time." ALL or NOTHING thoughts like
these almost always lead to negative emotions. Write down
every negative thought you can think of about the problem.
These negative thoughts form the emotional frame you are
using to solve the problem. It's okay to feel a bit sad, mad,
or afraid about a problem, but eventually you need o get
motivated to solve the problem. That's where the positive
frame comes into play.
Now go back and change every one of those negative thoughts
into a positive thought. So, "I never can" becomes "Yes I can."
"That person is always mean to me" becomes, "That person is
nice to me sometimes, and sometimes not. I can learn how to
deal with it." Literally change each negative thought you came
up with into a positive one. Don't overanalyze this, just do it.
When you are done, fold up the paper and stick it in your
pocket.
As you go through you day and you start to feel lousy about
your problem, take out the paper and read the positive thoughts.
The trick is to do this until the positive thoughts replace the
negative ones. If you do this several times a day it will only
be a short time and you will start having much more positive
feelings about the problem. In other words, you will have a
positive frame on your problem. Now solving it will me much
easier.
Here's a checklist to follow in putting a positive frame on
your problems:
1. Identify and define your problem. Be specific. Write it down.
2. Identify the negative feelings you have about the problem,
e.g. mad, sad, or afraid. Write them down.
3. What negative thoughts are leading to those feelings?
Write them down.
4. Change those thoughts into positive thoughts about the
problem. Write them down.
5. Put the sheet of paper in your pocket.
6. When you think about the problem, read the positive
thoughts. Repeat until you have a positive frame of mind.
This is a simple but very powerful technique. Do it and you
will be conquering problems you thought were unsolvable.
-----
Dr. Polk is a clinical psychologist. He and his wife offer
online training in life skills. The Creative Problem Solving
course is Free. Sign up at http://www.timedoctor.com/004192.htm
**********
Your Life-Your Choice makes every effort to provide you with
healthy recipes where the nutrition is geared towards specific
health issues. If you have a recipe you'd like to share, submit
it to with "recipe from YLYC subscriber" in the subject.
Remember to include whatever nutritional information you can.
**********
Section 5.
Health Smart Recipe
By Edna Laraway
Low Calorie and Wonderfully Delicious
Any desired quantity of mushrooms; use regular large mushrooms
or for a real taste treat try Portobello Mushrooms. The flavor is unique.
Rinse and wipe the tops of the mushrooms.
Use vegetable spray or olive oil to lightly coat the mushrooms.
Sprinkle with garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste
Place on the barbeque grill on low heat for 4 to 5 minutes. Turn.
(when you turn them, try to make the grill marks crisscross -looks impressive)
Grill until still firm but tender, and serve on toast or on romaine leaves for
an impressive side dish.
Calories Fat Fibre
MUSHROOMS (1 cup, 250mL) 22.74 0.31 0.96
*******
Section 6.
Dear Garlic,
My boyfriend loves me to death and he's going to be the
death of me!! he buys me flowers almost every day, for
no good reason, the problem is we live in a small apartment,
so it's beginning to look like a funeral parlor, i even told him
i didn't like flowers.....what did he do...bought plants! help!!!
from Flower Peeves
Dear Flower Peeves
One of 3 things are happening here. Either:
1) this is a new relationship, and he's trying to impress.
Don't worry, this phase doesn't last long. Soon he'll be
following you from room to room turning off the lights to
conserve energy. As soon as he starts this well known
masculine type of behavior, the flowers will stop as well.
2) its a guilt offering. Take a real close look at his behaviour
lately. Is he a cross dresser or wears diapers or something?
Hey, don't laugh!! Just look at Jerry (Springer) to see how
popular this type of behavior is becoming. They have to start
somewhere!
3) He's that genuine rare find, a generous, thoughtful, and
caring male whose only desire is to make you happy. If you
really give it some thought, there will be an opportunity to
get him to transfer this fetish into something else. Like
expensive jewelry maybe. Take him by Birks and point
out that darling little diamond rose or those gorgeous seed
pearl earings in the shape of Daisys. Think how much longer
these will last, AND they don't smell. Just re-direct this
darling to a newer, better habit. It's really for his own good.
Like to talk to Garlic? Yes, men are welcome too:
mailto:marketing@life-choices.com put "Dear Garlic" in
Subject line.
Note that the Dear Garlic segment of Your Life-Your Choice is for
entertainment purposes only. The advice is intended to tickle your
funny bone so put your Sense of Humor hat on and let's take a look
at the "lighter side" of life.
After all, laughter is supposed to be the BEST medicine.
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Disclaimer
All material appearing in this newsletter is provided
for educational purposes only. It is provided with the
understanding that authors and contributors are not
offering medical advice or services. We strongly
encourage you to consult with your own physician
regarding any recommendations with respect to your
own medical condition.
Advertisement in the Your Life-Your Choice newsletter
does not indicate endorsement on our part. The opinions
expressed by our sponsors do not necessarily reflect
our own. Our sponsors make this newsletter FREE to
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