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Hydrogen Peroxide - Curse or Cure?

Posted on Jan 1st, 2009 by Flowerchild : Girl On A Journey Flowerchild
Hydrogen Peroxide - Curse or Cure?
by Dr. David G. Williams

HYDROGEN PEROXIDE -- CURSE OR CURE?

ALTERNATIVES Newsletter Editor Dr. David G. Williams discusses the
merits of intravenous administration and oral consumption of hydrogen
peroxide therapy.

When it comes to hydrogen peroxide therapy there seems to be only two
points of view. Supporters consider it one of the greatest healing
miracles of all time. Those opposed feel its ingestion is exceptionally
dangerous, and only the foolhardy could think of engaging in such
behavior. Before either condemning or endorsing hydrogen peroxide,
let´s take a real close look at what we´re dealing with.

If any substance is interesting, it´s hydrogen peroxide. Hydrogen
peroxide should really be called hydrogen dioxide. Its chemical formula
is H2O2. It contains one more atom of oxygen that does water (H20)

By now everyone´s aware of the ozone layer that surrounds the earth.
Ozone consists of three atoms of oxygen (03). This protective layer of
ozone is created when ultraviolet light from the sun splits an
atmospheric oxygen molecule (02) into two single, unstable oxygen atoms.

These single molecules combine with others to form ozone (03). Ozone
isn´t very stable. In fact, it will quickly give up that extra atom
of oxygen to falling rainwater to form hydrogen peroxide (H202). (Bear
with me: all this chemistry mumbo jumbo I´m going through actually
will help you understand the importance of hydrogen peroxide.)

It is this hydrogen peroxide in rainwater that makes it so much more
effective than tap water when given to plants. With the increased levels
of atmospheric pollution, however, greater amounts of H202 react with
air-borne toxins and never reach the ground.

To compensate for this, many farmers have been increasing crop yields by
spraying them with diluted hydrogen peroxide (5 to 16 ounces of 35%
mixed with 20 gallons of water per acre).

You can achieve the same beneficial effect with your house plants by
adding 1 ounce of 3% hydrogen peroxide (or 16 drops of 35% solution) to
every quart of water you give your plants. (It can also be made into an
excellent safe insecticide. Simply spray your plants with 8 ounces of 3%
peroxide mixed with 8 ounces of white sugar and one gallon of water.)

Hydrogen peroxide is odorless and colorless, but not tasteless. When
stored under the proper conditions, it is a very stable compound. When
kept in the absence of light and contaminants, it dismutates (breaks
down) very slowly at the rate of about 10% a year.

(This can be slowed even further by storing the liquid in the freezer.)
It boils at 152 degrees C and freezes at minus 2 degrees C.

When exposed to other compounds hydrogen peroxide dismutates readily.
The extra oxygen atom is released leaving H20 (water). In nature oxygen
(02) consists of two atoms--a very stable combination.

A single atom of oxygen, however, is very reactive and is referred to as
a free radical. Over the past several years, we´ve continually read
that these free radicals are responsible for all types of ailments and
even premature aging. What many writers seem to forget, however, is that
our bodies create and use free radicals to destroy harmful bacteria,
viruses, and fungi.

In fact, the cells responsible for fighting infection and foreign
invaders in the body (your white blood cells) make hydrogen peroxide and
use it to oxidize any offending culprits.

The intense bubbling you see when hydrogen peroxide comes in contact
with a bacteria-laden cut or wound is the oxygen being released and
bacteria being destroyed. The ability of our cells to produce hydrogen
peroxide is essential for life. H202 is not some undesirable by-product
or toxin, but instead a basic requirement for good health.

Newer research indicates we need hydrogen peroxide for a multitude of
other chemical reactions that take place throughout the body.

For example, we now know that vitamin C helps fight infections by
producing hydrogen peroxide, which in turn stimulates the production of
prostaglandins.

Also lactobacillus found in the colon and vagina produce hydrogen
peroxide. This destroys harmful bacteria and viruses, preventing colon
disease, vaginitis, bladder infections and a host of other common
ailments. (Infect Dis News Aug.8,91:5).

When lactobacillus in the colon or vaginal tract have been overrun with
harmful viruses, yeast, or bacteria, an effective douche or enema
solution can be made using 3 tablespoons of 3% H202 in 1 quart of
distilled water. Keep in mind, however, that a good bacterial flora must
always be re-established in theses areas to achieve lasting results.

While we are discussing enemas and douches, there is another
misconception about H202 I need to address. The friendly bacteria in the
colon and vagina are aerobic. In other words, they flourish in high
oxygen environments and thrive in the presence of oxygen rich H202.

On the other hand, most strains of harmful bacteria (and cancer cells)
are anaerobic and cannot survive in the presence of oxygen or H202.

We can agree that hydrogen peroxide produced within individual body
cells is essential for life. And no one doubts its effectiveness when it
comes to treating infections topically. The controversy deals with
ingesting the substance orally or introducing it into the body
intravenously.

The dispute has been going on for decades, and considering the attitude
of our medical community, it will continue for many more decades to
come.

I´ll admit I was skeptical when I first learned about using H202
orally or intravenously. This healthy dose of skepticism, however, lead
to a great deal of investigation, clinical work and experimentation. And
while I realize a large majority of readers will probably never be
convinced that H202 is a safe and effective compound, I am. Hydrogen
peroxide is safe, readily available and dirt cheap. And best of all, it
works!

No one yet fully understands the complete workings of hydrogen peroxide.
We do know that it is loaded with oxygen. (A pint of the food-grade 35%
solution contains the equivalent of 130 pints of oxygen.

A pint of 3% hydrogen peroxide found at the local drugstore contains 10
pints of oxygen. And a pint of the 6% solution used to bleach hair
contains 20 pints of oxygen.) We also know that when H202 is taken into
the body (orally or intravenously) the oxygen content of the blood and
body tissues increases dramatically.

Early researchers felt these increases were simply due to the extra
oxygen molecule being released. This doesn´t however, appear to be
the case.

Only very diluted amounts of H202 are ever introduced into the body. The
small amount of oxygen present couldn´t be solely responsible for the
dramatic changes that take place. Dr. Charles Farr, a strong proponent
of intravenous use, has discovered another possible answer.

Dr. Farr has shown that hydrogen peroxide stimulates enzyme systems
throughout the body. This triggers an increase in the metabolic rate,
causes small arteries to dilate and increase blood flow, enhances the
body´s distribution and consumption of oxygen and raises body
temperature (Proceedings of the International Conference on
Bio-Oxidative Medicine 1989, 1990, 1991).

We are just beginning to learn exactly how H202 works. It was reported
to work as far back as 1920. The English medical journal, Lancet, then
reported that intravenous infusion was used successfully to treat
pneumonia in the epidemic following World War I. In the 1940´s Father
Richard Willhelm, the pioneer in promoting peroxide use, reported on the
compound being used extensively to treat everything from
bacterial-related mental illness to skin disease and polio.

Father Willhelm is the founder of "Educational Concern for Hydrogen
Peroxide" (ECHO, a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating the
public on the safe use and therapeutic benefits of hydrogen peroxide.)

Much of the interest in hydrogen peroxide waned in the 1940´s when
prescription medications came on the scene. Since that time there has
been little economic interest in funding peroxide research. After all,
it is dirt cheap and non-patentable.

Even still, in the last 25 years, over 7,700 articles relating to
hydrogen peroxide have been written in the standard medical journals.
Thousands more, involving its therapeutic use, have appeared in
alternative health publications. The number of conditions helped by
hydrogen peroxide is astounding. The reported dangers and side effects
are few and often conflicting.

Let´s look at several conditions that seem to respond especially well
to H202 therapy. First, keep in mind that there are two methods of
administering the peroxide-orally and intravenously. While most
conditions respond remarkably to oral ingestion, emphysema is one
condition in which intravenous infusion can be a godsend.

Emphysema involves destruction of the alveoli (the small air sacs in the
lungs). Although chemical fumes and other irritants can cause the
destruction, it is most often the result of smoking. As the disease
progresses, the patient finds it more and more difficult to breathe.

A wheel chair and supplemental oxygen become necessary as the disease
progresses. Lack of adequate oxygen reaching the tissues forces the
heart to pump more forcefully. This leads to high blood pressure,
enlargement of the heart itself and eventually heart failure.

Conventional medicine offers little help for emphysema. There is no
cure. The best that can be hoped for is symptomatic relief and the
prevention of any serious complications that might result in death. H202
therapy can offer more.

Using 1 ounce of 35% peroxide per 1 gallon of non-chlorinated water in a
vaporizer improves nighttime breathing tremendously. But intravenous
infusion holds the real key to relief. It has the ability to cleanse the
inner lining of the lungs and restore the ability to breathe.

We continue to hear the same story from Dr. Farr and others who use
intravenous infusion for emphysema and congestive lung problems. Within
minutes oxygen from hydrogen peroxide begins to bubble up between the
membrane lining the lungs sacs and the accumulated mucus. (Dr. Farr
refers to this as the "Alka-Seltzer effect.")

The patient begins to cough and expel the material that has accumulated
in the lungs. The amount of bubbling, coughing, and cleansing can be
regulated by simply turning the H202 on and off.

As the peroxide clears the lung surface and destroys the bacterial
infections, the patient regains the ability to breath more normally. We
continue to receive reports from patients for whom the technique has
improved breathing so much that a wheelchair and supplemental oxygen are
no longer needed.

If you would like to find a doctor in your area trained in the use of
intravenous H202 infusion, contact the International Bio-Oxidative
Medicine Foundation (IBOM), P.O. Box 13205, Oklahoma City, OK 73113 at
(405) 478-4266. They can provide names and addresses of doctors using
the procedure in your area.

If emphysema were the only ailment successfully treated with H202
therapy, it would still rank as one of the top health discoveries of all
time. Fortunately, H202 works wonders on a multitude of health problems.
It does so by increasing tissue oxygen levels. A closer look at how we
have decreased the availability of external and internal oxygen, will
show you just how important this can be.

If you were not too occupied with trying to hide dissection specimens in
the other student´s desks, you might remember from elementary science
courses that our atmosphere contains about 20% oxygen. That is under
ideal circumstances.

It has recently been reported that in many of our more polluted cities,
there levels have dropped to around 10%! (I have already mentioned how
less hydrogen peroxide-containing rain is reaching the earth´s
surface.

With increased pollution it is reacting with airborne toxins before it
even reaches the ground.) And everyone, by now, knows the
oxygen-generating rain forests are being destroyed worldwide, which
further reduces available oxygen. Internal oxygen availability is also
under attack.

Chlorination of drinking water removes oxygen. Cooking and
over-processing of our foods lowers their oxygen content. Unrestrained
antibiotic use destroys beneficial oxygen-creating bacteria in the
intestinal tract.

Dr. Johanna Budwig of Germany has shown that for proper cellular
utilization of oxygen to take place, our diets must contain adequate
amounts of unsaturated fatty acids. Unfortunately, the oils rich in
these fatty acids have become less and less popular with the food
industry.

Their very nature makes them more biologically active, which requires
more careful processing and gives them a shorter shelf-life. Rather than
deal with these challenges, the food industry has turned to the use of
synthetic fats and dangerous processes like hydrogenation.

It´s obvious that our oxygen needs are not being met. Several of the
most common ailments now affecting our population are directly related
to oxygen starvation. Asthma, emphysema, and lung disease are on the
rise, especially in the polluted metropolitan areas.

Cases of constipation, diarrhea, intestinal parasites and bowel cancer
are all on the upswing. Periodontal disease is endemic in the adult
population of this country. Cancer of all forms continues to increase.
Immune system disorders are sweeping the globe. Chronic fatigue, "Yuppie
Flu" and hundreds of other strange viral diseases have begun to surface.

Ironically, many of the new "miracle" drugs and nutritional supplements
used to treat these conditions work by increasing cellular oxygen
(oftentimes through H202 formation). For example, the miracle nutrient,
Coenzyme Q10, helps regulate intercellular oxidation.

Organic germanium, which received considerable publicity not too long
ago, also increases oxygen levels at the cellular level. And even
substances like niacin and vitamin E promote tissue oxidation through
their dilation of blood vessels.

Hydrogen peroxide is only one of the many components that help regulate
the amount of oxygen getting to your cells. Its presence is vital for
many other functions as well.

It is required for the production of thyroid hormone and sexual
hormones. (Mol Cell Endocrinol 86;46(2): 149-154) (Steroids
82;40(5):5690579)
. It stimulates the production of interferon (J Immunol
85;134(4):24492455). It dilates blood vessels in the heart and brain (Am
J Physiol 86;250 (5 pt 2): H815-821 and (2 pt 2):H157-162). It improves
glucose utilization in diabetics (Proceedings of the IBOM Conference
1989, 1990, 1991).

The closer you look at hydrogen peroxide, the less surprising it becomes
that it can help such a wide variety of conditions.

The following is only a partial listing of conditions in which H202
therapy has been used successfully. (Many of these conditions are
serious, if not life-threatening. As always, I would highly recommend
seeking the advice and guidance of a doctor experienced in the use of
these techniques.)

Allergies Headaches

Altitude Sickness Herpes Simplex

Alzheimer´s Herpes Zoster

Anemia HIV Infection

Arrhythmia Influenza

Asthma Insect Bites

Bacterial Infections Liver Cirrhosis

Bronchitis Lupus Erythematosis

Cancer Multiple Sclerosis

Candida Parasitic Infections

Cardiovascular Disease Parkinsonism

Cerebral Vascular Disease Periodontal Disease

Chronic Pain Prostatitis

Diabetes Type 11 Rheumatoid Arthritis

Diabetic Gangrene Shingles

Diabetic Retinopahty Sinusitis

Digestion Problems Sore Throat

Epstein-Barr Infection Ulcers

Emphysema Viral Infections

Food Allergies Warts

Fungal Infections Yeast Infections

Gingivitis

GRADES OF HYDROGEN PEROXIDE

Hydrogen peroxide is available in various strengths and grades.

3% Pharmaceutical Grade: This is the grade sold at your local drugstore
or supermarket. This product is not recommended for internal use. It
contains an assortment of stabilizers which shouldn´t be ingested.
Various stabilizers include: acetanilide, phenol, sodium stanate and
tertrasodium phosphate.

6% Beautician Grade: This is used in beauty shops to color hair and is
not recommended for internal use.

30% Reagent Grade: This is used for various scientific experimentation
and also contains stabilizers. It is also not for internal use.

30% to 32% Electronic Grade: This is used to clean electronic parts and
not for internal use.

35% Technical Grade: This is a more concentrated product than the
Reagent Grade and differs slightly in that phosphorus is added to help
neutralize any chlorine from the water used to dilute it.

35% Food Grade: This is used in the production of foods like cheese,
eggs, and whey-containing products. It is also sprayed on the foil
lining of aseptic packages containing fruit juices and milk products.
THIS IS THE ONLY GRADE RECOMMENDED FOR INTERNAL USE. It is available in
pints, quarts, gallons or even drums. Various suppliers are mentioned
later in this article.

90%: This is used as an oxygen source for rocket fuel.

Only 35% Food Grade hydrogen peroxide is recommended for internal use.
At this concentration, however, hydrogen peroxide is a very strong
oxidizer and if not diluted, it can be extremely dangerous or even
fatal. Any concentrations over 10% can cause neurological reactions and
damage to the upper gastrointestinal tract.

There have been two known fatalities in children who ingested 27% and
40% concentrations of H202.

Recently, a 26 month old female swallowed one mouthful of 35% H202. She
immediately began vomiting, followed by fainting and respiratory arrest.
Fortunately, she was under emergency room care and although she
experienced erosion and bleeding of the stomach and esophagus, she
survived the incident. When she was re-examined 12 days later, the areas
involved had healed (J Toxicol Clin Toxicol 90;28(1):95-100).

35% Food Grade H202 must be 1) handled carefully (direct contact will
burn the skin--immediate flushing with water is recommended). 2) diluted
properly before use. 3) stored safely and properly (after making a
dilution the remainder should be stored tightly sealed in the freezer).

One of the most convenient methods of dispensing 35% H202 is from a
small glass eye dropper bottle. These can be purchased at your local
drugstore. Fill this with the 35% H202 and store the larger container in
the freezer compartment of your refrigerator until more is needed. Store
the eye dropper bottle in the refrigerator.

The generally recommended dosage is outlined in the chart below. The
drops are mixed with either 6 to 8 ounces of distilled water, juice,
milk or even aloe vera juice or gel. (Don´t use chlorinated tap water
to dilute the peroxide!)

The program outlined is only a suggestion, but it is based on years of
experience, and reports from thousands of users. Those who choose to go
at a slower pace can expect to progress more slowly, but that certainly
is an option. The program is not carved in stone and keep in mind that
it can be adapted to fit individual needs.

Individuals who have had transplants should not undertake an H202
program. H202 stimulates the immune system and could possibly cause a
rejection of the organ.

Day # Number of Drops Times Per Day

1 - 3 3

2 - 4 3

3 - 5 3

4 - 6 3

5 - 7 3

6 - 8 3

7 - 9 3

8 -10 3

9 -12 3

10 -14 3

11 -16 3

12 -18 3

13 -20 3

14 -22 3

15 -24 3

16-25 3

MAINTENANCE DOSAGE

In most situations after the above 21 day program, the amount of H202
can be tapered off gradually as follows:

25 drops once every other day for 1 week

25 drops once every third day for 2 weeks

25 drops once every fourth day for 3 weeks

This can then be reduced to between 5 and 15 drops per week based on how
one feels.

Those with more serious problems will often benefit from staying on 25
drops three times a day for one to three weeks, then tapering down to 25
drops two times daily until the problem is resolved (possibly as long as
six months).

Those with chronic systemic Candidiasis may need to start with 1 drop
three times a day, then 2 drops three times a day before starting the
above schedule.

It is important that H202 be taken on an empty stomach. This is best
accomplished by taking it either one hour before meals or three hours
after meals. If there is food in the stomach, the reaction of H202 on
any bacteria present may cause excess foaming, indigestion, and possibly
even vomiting.

Additionally, some animal research indicates that when H202 given orally
combines with iron and small amounts of vitamin C in the stomach,
hydroxyl radicals are created (J Inorg Biochem 89;35(1):55-69).

The bleach-like aftertaste of H202 can be lessened by chewing one of the
sugar-free cinnamon gums.

Some individuals taking H202 immediately before bedtime have a difficult
time getting to sleep. This is probably due to a sense of alertness
triggered by an increase of oxygen at the cellular level.

The oral dosage schedule is basically the same for all conditions. There
are several points to keep in mind, however.

Some individuals may experience upset stomach. If this occurs it is
recommended that one not stop the program, but rather remain at the
current dosage level or reduce it to the previous level until the
problem stops. (Some patients have been able to solve the nausea problem
by taking three or four lecithin capsules at the same time they take the
H202.)

During the program it´s not uncommon to experience what is known as a
healing crisis. As dead bacteria and toxins are released from your body
it may temporarily exceed your capacity to eliminate them quickly
enough.

In some individuals this overload may cause fatigue, diarrhea,
headaches, skin eruptions, cold or flu-like symptoms, and/or nausea. One
should not discontinue using the peroxide to stop this cleansing. By
continuing the program, toxins will clear the body sooner and this
healing crisis will pass rather quickly.

If you are not already taking vitamin E and an acidophilus product, I
recommend starting them before going on H202. Vitamin E can make more
efficient use of any oxygen available and acidophilus will help
re-establish the beneficial bacterial flora in the lower bowel and also
help in the internal production of hydrogen peroxide.

Making and Using 3% Solutions of H202

A 3% solution can be made quite easily by first pouring 1 ounce of 35%
H202 into a pint jar. To this add 11 ounces of distilled water. This
will make 12 ounces of 3% H202. 3% H202 has a variety of medicinal uses.

Three tablespoons mixed with a quart of non-chlorinated water makes a
good enema or douche formula.

It can be used full strength as a mouthwash or mixed with baking soda
for toothpaste.

It can be used full strength as a foot bath for athlete´s foot.
(Diabetics have found relief from circulation problems by soaking their
feet in 1 pint of 3% peroxide mixed with 1 gallon of warm,
non-chlorinated water for 30 minutes nightly.)

A tablespoon added to 1 cup of non-chlorinated water can be used as a
nasal spray. Depending on the degree of sinus involvement, one will have
to adjust the amount of peroxide used. I have seen some who can use it
at the full 3% strength and others who had difficulty with using a few
drops and mixed with a cup of water.

3% H202 can be added to pets drinking water at the rate of 1 ounce per
quart of non-chlorinated water. Sick cattle reportedly benefit from 1
pint (of 3%) to each 5 gallons of water. (Chickens and cows have
remained healthy by using 8 ounces of 35% H202 per 1,000 gallons of
drinking water.)

Additional Information

There are two sources you should contact if you have an interest in
using hydrogen peroxide therapy. The first, ECHO, was founded by Father
Richard Willhelm and is run by Walter Grotz. Their information packet
includes a sample newsletter, a list of H202 distributors and several
other items. The packet is being made available to interested
ALTERNATIVES readers for only $3. Their address is ECHO Box 126, Delano,
MN 55328

If you have an interest in contacting doctors who provide intravenous
hydrogen peroxide therapy you can write to the International
Bio-Oxidative Medicine Foundation (IBOM) at the address listed earlier
in this article.

You should also be aware that there are now numerous hydrogen peroxide
products on the market. Some are simply peroxide that has been flavored
and mixed with sea minerals, aloe vera, inner tree bark or other
ingredients to make the peroxide more palatable (Superoxy, Oxy Toddy,
etc.).

Others claim to have developed products that deliver more oxygen than
does simple hydrogen peroxide (Aerox, Anti-Oxid-10, Di-Oxychloride,
Aerobic 07, Aqua Pure, etc.). Basically you´ll end up paying a small
fortune and at best achieving the same results you can get for pennies
by using hydrogen peroxide.

CONCLUSION

Hydrogen peroxide is one of the few simple miracle substances still
available to the public. Its safety and multiple uses ranks it right up
there with DMSO. If you´ve never used either of these compounds you
are overlooking two of the most powerful healing tools ever discovered.

Most of us started on hydrogen peroxide shortly after birth. Not only
does mother´s milk contain high amounts of H202, the amount contained
in the first milk (colostrum) is even higher. This seems only reasonable
now that we know one of its main functions is to activate and stimulate
the immune system.

Although I am a strong supporter of H202 therapy, I am not suggesting
that everyone needs to be using it. There are probably some individuals
whose health and well-being would not be enhanced with hydrogen
peroxide. But there are also millions of others who are suffering
needlessly because they either do not know about hydrogen peroxide or
they have been misinformed about its use.
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What would you like to celebrate?

Posted on Jan 6th, 2009 by Flowerchild : Girl On A Journey Flowerchild
This is in Response to the Questions and Reflections for January 06, 2009:

Ego!

I've noticed that many are trying to get rid of Ego. It seems the more we try to get rid of something, the more prevalent it is in our lives.

Embrace Ego! It's there for a reason! When we accept, the struggle is over! Time to celebrate!!!
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Where do you find the sacred in your life?

Posted on Jan 7th, 2009 by Flowerchild : Girl On A Journey Flowerchild
This is in Response to the Questions and Reflections for January 07, 2009:

I've learned to keep my insights to myself.
Enlightenment
Those that rely on belief systems are enslaved.
Thinking they are free.
The belief was given to them.
Slave.
When they discover a belief. Their own.
Freedom.

Someone has found enlightenment.
Free
Someone learned of anothers enlightenment and covets it
Enslaved
They will seek and never find
The seeker will always need to seek
The need is like a thirst that is never quenched

The eye is there
Only inside can open it
Anything outside will keep it closed
Until they stop seeking and just BE
They will find it

Freedom - from enslavement - group think - death
No longer I AM - I AM angry
They feel the anger like a cloud surrounding them.
They are separate from it.
They feel the group think
Engulfing energy by energy
When it comes near them - they stay separate

Self think
A knowing
A connection to Source
Not to a Group Think
One can always agree
but not get sucked into the energy of Group Think

This is enlightenment
Being in the now and seeing what's to come
The future is in the now.
It will tell you what's to come.

The body can take on the sacred geometric shapes of the Universe
Or be engulfed in the entity of the world
One is very beautiful
the other is beyond ugly
One is free - the other enslaved
No one can tell you how
You already know it

The balance has begun
Those consuming will be consumed
Those conserving will be conserved
It has been the other way until now
The poles have switched

Those that say I must consume to feed my body
has a body that consumes

Those that say I must feed the divine within
Has a body that is pure

----Denise VanVliet
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Tagged with: QaR, divine, sacred, holy, everyday, daily

Go Meatless Mondays!

Posted on Jan 12th, 2009 by Flowerchild : Girl On A Journey Flowerchild
We gotta start somewhere. We are told one minute that meat is bad for us, just read The China Study. Then we read that we will get cancer without eating meat. Just read The Hidden Story of Cancer.

Why all the confusion? Why not just eat?

Our choices affect our planet.

http://www.ted.com In this fiery and funny talk, New York Times food writer Mark Bittman weighs in on what's wrong with the way we eat now (too much meat, too few plants; too much fast food, too little home cooking), and why it's putting the entire planet at risk.

Here's an eye opener:

Mark Bittman: What's wrong with what we eat

Think about the next meal you stuff into your mouth. Where it came from affects our health and our future! Lets be responsible for our choices. If we stop buying most of this crap, they'll stop making it! It wont be profitable! But we make the choice! They're not force feeding us!

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What has your recent relationship to money been like?

Posted on Jan 13th, 2009 by Flowerchild : Girl On A Journey Flowerchild
This is in Response to the Questions and Reflections for January 13, 2009:

Money is an energy form. It comes and it goes. When it comes I thank it as it usually comes at the exact right time. When it goes, I bless it. Because it's energy has blessed me and I in turn bless it.

Just as the energy of the Universe, we can't hord it or abuse it or tame it, not without facing the consequences. When we focus on being without it, we will be without. When we focus on all the blessings we have, the Universe provides blessings. Sometimes in the form of the energy called money.

Just as the breath comes and goes. We don't worry about when the next inhale is going to come or when the next exhale is going to go. When we inhale, there is still room for more inhale, but we only inhale exactly what we need in the moment. When we exhale, there is still more to be exhaled, but we only exhale exactly what we need in the moment.

Even in this time of economic panick, we are doing just as we should be. We are blessed.


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How could your life be more balanced?

Posted on Jan 16th, 2009 by Flowerchild : Girl On A Journey Flowerchild
This is in Response to the Questions and Reflections for January 16, 2009:

Everything is in perfect balance. I'm the one that gets into alignment with it....or not.
If I choose not, then I'm the one resisting the balance. Balance is a constant changing thing. It is never stagnant. We are the ones that resist change, wanting things to stay the same thinking that is balance. Change IS Life, Life IS Change.

Imagine standing on a balance beam. If you stay still, lock every muscle in your body to stay completely still, you'll fall off! You must be constantly modifying, monitoring and adjusting in order to stay on the balance beam. If you fall off the beam, do you blame the beam?

Everything is just as it should be. It's when we perceive that it is what is out of balance that we create non-alignment within us. Balance comes from inside.

It's the duality of thinking. Good - Evil, Up - Down, In - Out, Balance - Chaos, Male - Female, Love - Hate. Just the dual thinking creates an imbalance. When we think everything is One, that creates balance. Yes, Love and Hate are One. Only there are degrees of separation. One is closer to Love and the other is further away. One is breathing in, inhale, toward you the other is breathing out, exhaling away from you. But they are the same thing; balance. To think they are separate things; imbalance.

So how could my life be more balanced? Perceive everything as One within and it will be reflected without.

Namaste'
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Tagged with: QaR, balance, life, well-being

What brings you peace?

Posted on Jan 22nd, 2009 by Flowerchild : Girl On A Journey Flowerchild
This is in Response to the Questions and Reflections for January 22, 2009:

When someone goes out of their way to be inclusive.
This performer is also signing! How cool is that! As a Sign Language Interprer, this brings me peace. Opening up to another world and including others that may communicate differently.

Sia - Soon We'll Be Found (Live Shepherds Bush Academy)

Thanks Rob for sending this to me! MUAH!

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Tagged with: QaR, peace, inner calm, relaxation

Decoding 'The Secret'

Posted on Jan 24th, 2009 by Flowerchild : Girl On A Journey Flowerchild
Decoding 'The Secret'
Oprah lives by it. Millions are reading it. The latest self-help
sensation claims we can change our lives by thinking. But this 'new
thought' may just be new marketing.
By Jerry Adler

Newsweek

Feb 24, 2007

March 5, 2007 issue - If you're a woman trying to lose weight, you had
your choice of two pieces of advice last week. One, from the American
Heart Association, was to eat more vegetables and exercise an hour a
day. The other was from a woman named Rhonda Byrne, a former television
producer who has written what could be the fastest-selling book of its
kind in the history of publishing with 1.75 million copies projected to
be in print by March 2, just over three months since it came out, plus
1.5 million DVDs sold. Byrne's recommendation was to avoid looking at
fat people. Based on what she calls the "law of attraction"—that
thoughts, good or bad, "attract" more of whatever they're about—she
writes: "If you see people who are overweight, do not observe them, but
immediately switch your mind to the picture of you in your perfect body
and feel it." So if you're having trouble giving up ice cream, maybe you
could just cut back on "The Sopranos" instead.

You'd think the last thing Americans need is more excuses for
self-absorption and acquisitiveness. But our inexhaustible appetite for
"affirmation" and "inspiration" and "motivation" has finally outstripped
the combined efforts of Wayne Dyer, Anthony Robbins, Dr. Phil and Mitch
Albom. We have actually begun importing self-help—and from
Australia, of all places, that citadel of tough-minded individualism,
where just a couple of years ago Byrne was a divorced mother in her 50s
who had hit a rocky patch in her business and personal lives. It was in
that moment of despair, when she "wept and wept and wept" (as she
recounted to Oprah on the first of two broadcasts devoted to her work),
that she discovered a long-neglected book dating from 1910 called "The
Science of Getting Rich." In it she found how to let your thoughts and
feelings get you everything you want, and determined to share it with
the world. She called it "The Secret."

And it was that stroke of marketing genius that turned what might have
been a blip on the Times's "Advice, How-To, Miscellaneous" best-seller
list into a publishing phenomenon that Sara Nelson, editor of Publishers
Weekly, says "could become this decade's 'Tuesdays With Morrie'."
"Nobody," she adds, "ever went broke overestimating the desperate
unhappiness of the American public." Self-help books roll off the
presses with the regularity of politicians' biographies, and sell much
better; Wayne Dyer all by himself has written 29 of them with sales
estimated at 50 million. But Byrne had something else going for her. "It
was an incredibly savvy move to call it 'The Secret'," says Donavin
Bennes, a buyer who specializes in metaphysics for Borders Books. "We
all want to be in on a secret. But to present it as the secret, that was
brilliant."

To a tired genre full of earnest bullet points and windy exhortations,
"The Secret" brings breathless pizzazz and a market-proven gimmick, an
evocation of ancient wisdom and hidden conspiracies that calls to mind
"The Da Vinci Code." Torchlights flicker on the 90-minute DVD and the
soundtrack throbs portentously before it gets down to giving you the
secret for getting your hands on that new BMW. The book is a miracle of
cover art, a jacket suggestive of a medieval manuscript punctuated by a
crimson seal. "It evokes the film, with the secret scrolls and all,"
says Judith Curr, executive vice president of Atria Books, a division of
Simon & Schuster that brought out the book in partnership with Portland,
Ore.-based Beyond Words Publishing. Its very size, small enough to hide,
adds to its aura. "It feels special, like it contains really important
information.
"

What it doesn't contain, though, is a secret. That should be
self-evident to anyone who has ever been in an airport bookstore. The
film and book are built around 24 "teachers," mostly motivational
speakers and writers (dressed up by Byrne with titles like "philosopher"
or "visionary") who have been selling the same message for years. Jack
Canfield is probably the best-known of them. Is it really true that a
cabal of elites has conspired to keep the rabble from getting their
hands on "Chicken Soup for the Soul"?

The "secret" is the law of attraction, which holds that you create your
own reality through your thoughts. You can, if you wish, take this
figuratively, to mean that by changing your thoughts you can feel better
about your situation in life. Or you can view it as a source of
inspiration—that by believing you will succeed, you will perform
better in the race or the test or your relationships.

But that's not what "The Secret" is saying. Its explicit claim is that
you can manipulate objective physical reality—the numbers in a
lottery drawing, the actions of other people who may not even know you
exist—through your thoughts and feelings. In the words of "author
and personal empowerment advocate" Lisa Nichols: "When you think of the
things you want, and you focus on them with all of your intention, then
the law of attraction will give you exactly what you want, every time."
Every time! Byrne emphasizes that this is a law inherent in "the
universe," an inexhaustible storehouse of goodies from which you can
command whatever you desire from the comfort of your own living room by
following three simple steps: Ask, Believe, Receive.

In a dramatized interlude in the film, a young woman ogles a necklace in
a window, and the next thing you know, it's around her neck. A child
imagines himself with a new bike, and it appears outside his door. No
need to do a lot of boring chores or get a newspaper route: the universe
provides. Contrariwise, a worrywart who obsessively checks the locks on
his bicycle returns to find it stolen; the law of attraction has called
down on him just the predicament he hoped to avoid. A financial
consultant reliably finds parking, just by visualizing an empty
spot—which implies, by another law of the universe, the one about
two objects occupying the same space, that he believes his thoughts can
induce someone else to leave. Is this someone you'd trust with your
investments?

Perhaps this proposition has not been analyzed closely enough by fans of
"The Secret," including Oprah, who exuberantly told her audience that
she'd been living her whole life according to the law of attraction,
without even knowing it.

On an ethical level, "The Secret" appears deplorable. It concerns itself
almost entirely with a narrow range of middle-class concerns—houses,
cars and vacations, followed by health and relationships, with the rest
of humanity a very distant sixth. Even some of the major figures in the
film confess to uneasiness with its relentless materialism. "I love 'The
Secret' but I also think it's missing a couple things," says
"metaphysician" Joe Vitale. "If I were producing it, I would have added
something more about serving others." Vitale defends the dream homes and
sports cars as baubles to draw people in, in hopes they will employ the
law of attraction for higher purposes. Not that the law has any bias
toward higher purposes. On the contrary, Byrne writes, it is totally
impersonal and "it does not see good things or bad things." In the film,
the Rev. Michael Bernard Beckwith compares it to the law of gravity: "If
you fall off a building it doesn't matter if you're a good person or a
bad person, you're going to hit the ground."

Which is equally true if someone pushes you off a building—or, let's
say, beats your brains in with a club during a bout of ethnic cleansing.
The law of attraction implies that you brought that fate down on
yourself as well. "The law of attraction is that each one of us is
determining the frequency that we're on by what we're thinking and
feeling," Byrne said in a telephone interview, in response to a question
about the massacre in Rwanda. "If we are in fear, if we're feeling in
our lives that we're victims and feeling powerless, then we are on a
frequency of attracting those things to us ... totally unconsciously,
totally innocently, totally all of those words that are so important."

She has seen evidence of this in her own life, she says, where "many
tough things" happened to her. "The Secret" devotes several pages to the
weight she gained after her pregnancies. Unaware of the law of
attraction, she mistakenly believed that eating made her fat. She now
recognizes her error: "Food is not responsible for putting on weight. It
is your thought that food is responsible for putting on weight that
actually has food put on weight."

And today, she maintains an ideal weight of 116 while eating anything
she wants. A woman in the film claims to cure her breast cancer in three
months, without chemotherapy or radiation, by visualizing herself well
and watching funny movies on television. Whatever you think of that as
medical advice—Byrne insists she's not telling people to avoid
doctors—it makes psychologist John Norcross, a professor at the
University of Scranton who is an authority on self-help books, wonder:
what about the people whose cancers don't get cured? "It's
pseudoscientific, psychospiritual babble," says Norcross. "We find about
10 percent of self-help books are rated by mental-health professionals
as damaging. This is probably one of them. The problem is the propensity
for self-blame when it doesn't work."

On a scientific level, the law of attraction is preposterous. Two of the
"teachers" in the film are identified as quantum physicists, which they
are, although on the fringes of mainstream science. One, Fred Alan Wolf,
is mostly an author of science books with a quasi-mystical bent, and the
other, John Hagelin (who has run for president on the Natural Law
ticket), is affiliated with Maharishi University of Management, in
Fairfield, Iowa, which does research on transcendental meditation. Both
of them, contacted by NEWSWEEK, distanced themselves from the idea of a
physical law that attracts necklaces to people who wish for them. "I
don't think it works that way," says Wolf dryly. "It hasn't worked that
way in my life." Hagelin acknowledges the larger point, that "the
coherence and effectiveness of our thinking is crucial to our success in
life." But, he adds, "this is not, principally, the result of magic."

Wolf said he used his time in front of the camera to talk about the
relationship between quantum mechanics and consciousness, but all that
evidently wound up on the cutting-room floor. What he might have said is
something like this: modern physics says that atomic particles influence
one another in ways that violate our ordinary understanding of space and
time, a phenomenon called "quantum entanglement." The question is
whether quantum signals can be perceived on the scale of something like
a neuron, a brain or a human being. Overwhelmingly, physicists dismiss
this idea. A minority, very much out of the mainstream, think it's worth
investigating, and a few claim to have experimental evidence that
thoughts can influence physical objects, such as the circuitry in a
random-number generator. But the effects are tiny, on the order of a few
hundredths of 1 percent. And there's no evidence you can use it to move
a BMW into your driveway.

But modern physics has reinvigorated a long tradition in American
philosophy, one in which "The Secret" stands squarely. "I can show you
books written 100 years ago that say the exact same thing," says Beryl
Satter, a professor of history at Rutgers. Long before there was a "New
Age," Satter says, there was "New Thought"—a self-help movement that
drew on 19th-century Americans' suspicion of elites and on the
Protestant tradition of looking for the "inner light." You don't need
doctors to heal you, priests to save you or professors to instruct you:
the secrets to health, success and salvation are within you. A best
seller in 1869 called "The Mental Cure" unleashed a flood of imitators,
which increasingly evoked But armed with the law of attraction, Byrne
was confident things would work out. A Web company just blocks from her
office in Melbourne had a technology for distributing streaming video
over the Internet. Last March, her site (http://thesecret.tv) began
selling downloads and DVDs, one of which found its way to Cynthia Black,
president of the New Age-oriented publishing house Beyond Words. Black,
who had recently entered into a relationship with Atria, saw its
potential; by late November the book was in the stores and soon after
got its first break when Ellen DeGeneres featured it on her show. By the
time Oprah ran her first segment on it, on Feb. 8, it was already a huge
success.

"science" in their titles, hoping to capitalize on the fascination with
inventions like the telephone. "It was a short leap from 'You can use
the telephone to send messages' to 'You can use your mind'," Satter
says.

It was one of those books, "The Science of Getting Rich," by the
long-forgotten Wallace D. Wattles, that Byrne's daughter handed her one
day in 2004, when she was struggling with her various setbacks—the
recent death of her father and a budget overrun on a series, "Sensing
Murder," she was producing for Australian television. (She was a
longtime producer on an Australian version of "The Tonight Show," and
her company was behind a reality series about marriage proposals called
"Marry Me.") Wattles's book struck such a chord with Byrne that she
plunged into a crash course in Western, Eastern, ancient and modern
thought, devouring "hundreds" of books and articles in just two and a
half weeks. "That was in December," she told NEWSWEEK. "In January I
told my team we were going to make the greatest film in history to date.
They thought I'd gone mad." Inspired, she flew to the States in July
2005 and began lining up people to interview; the film was finished six
months later and she began trying to find an Australian network to air
it. The top-rated Nine Network was intrigued by her proposal, but the
finished film struck Len Downs, the program manager, as just "a whole
range of talking heads giving their basis of the secret of life." (It
eventually ran in Australia just a few weeks ago, and, says Downs, it
didn't do all that well.)

Byrne herself seems nonplused by her success, and remains a somewhat
elusive figure; she is sparing with interviews and didn't even appear on
the second of the two hours Oprah devoted to "The Secret." Her family in
Australia said they were told by Rhonda not to talk to reporters,
although her mother, Irene Izon, did offer this assessment to NEWSWEEK:
"The thing is that Rhonda just wants to bring happiness to everybody.
That's the reason it all began. She just wants everybody to be happy."

And to give her her due, she might actually be achieving some of that.
There is nothing, in principle, wrong with thinking about what makes you
happy. Here is someone she did make happy: Cheryl Cornell-Powers, 59, a
Chicago training consultant, who saw Byrne on "Oprah" and then watched
the film. She discounted the idea of curing one's own cancer, but liked
the segments that emphasize gratitude over resentment. "We look at our
money and say, 'What fun it would be to go out to dinner to places that
are on our budget,' not, 'We can't do this because we're on a budget'."
Even a serious academic like Harvard psychologist Carol Kauffman is
willing to credit the idea that you can change your life by consciously
directing your thoughts in a positive direction. "Basically, it's chaos
theory," she says. "I don't think you can actually attract things to
you. But if you're profoundly open to opportunity, then when ambiguous
events occur, you notice them. I think what positive thinking does is
raise your consciousness to possibilities so they can snag your
attention. We're starting to see some empirical studies on that now."

Of course, that's a long way from the simple model of
Ask-Believe-Receive. In most people's lives, positive thought leads to
success only through the transforming medium of action. For obvious
reasons, this is a much less popular message. "The Secret" dubiously
appropriates a number of historical figures to illustrate the law of
attraction. Beethoven was probably bipolar; Newton ruminated obsessively
over personal salvation; Einstein derided quantum entanglement as
"spooky action at a distance." Martin Luther King Jr. is enlisted as
author of an epigram about taking a staircase one step at a time. King
certainly could visualize. But he also knew better than to sit back and
wait for the law of attraction to send down justice; he went out and
worked for it. And there's no secret to that.

With Matthew Philips in New York, Mary Carmichael in Boston, Karen
Springen in Chicago and Kendall Hill in Sydney

© 2007 Newsweek, Inc.


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Tagged with: the secret

What do you most want to know and understand?

Posted on Jan 25th, 2009 by Flowerchild : Girl On A Journey Flowerchild
This is in Response to the Questions and Reflections for January 25, 2009:

The Lost Generation

What example am I setting for my kids? What will this up and coming generation think of the previous generation?

Lost Generation



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What was the last blessing in disguise you received?

Posted on Jan 28th, 2009 by Flowerchild : Girl On A Journey Flowerchild
This is in Response to the Questions and Reflections for January 28, 2009:

I just found out last night that I'm in Abraham-Hicks new DVD!!! So exciting!

Here's a link to the trailer

I'm the one asking about Indigo Children. This was in Chicago September of '07.

http://www.abraham-hicks.com/video/LAA_ ... LER90.html

How fun!
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