Community News
Prolozone for Whiplash

Whiplash syndrome describes a traumatic event of the neck, secondary to abrupt flexion and extension of the neck. The most common causes are due to motor vehicle accidents and sports injuries. Whiplash can cause damage to various parts of the neck including ligaments, facet joints, cervical vertebrae, cervical disc, nerves, and muscles. It is one of the most common causes of pain in the general population. The usual imaging, such as x-rays, CT, or MRI is unlikely to show evidence of injury, giving little insight into what is responsible for ongoing pain. Whiplash symptoms can include: Neck pain, muscle tightness, decreased range of movement, headaches, dizziness, blurred vision, tinnitus, fatigue, inability to focus. A relatively unknown but effective treatment for cervical spinal pain is Prolozone. Prolozone therapy works by addressing the cause of pain: ligament, tendon, and joint instability. Prolozone involves the injection of ozone to regenerate the ligaments and cartilage tissue in the areas that have become weak.

Dr. Ross Ralph Dr.TCM, R.Ac., DOMP, courtenayhealingcentre.ca

A Healthy Heart is a Happy Heart

Did you know that nine in ten Canadians have at least one risk factor for heart disease and stroke? Those odds can be daunting but keeping our individual risks low can be simple. In addition to being active, recommended preventative measures include eating higher fiber and nutrient rich foods with healthy fats. Diet changes don’t always mean eliminating choices, though, just making better ones; such as switching whole-wheat bread with whole-grain and seeds. Whole grains are naturally higher in fiber, as they include all parts of the grain, and seeds (like flax) while adding to the fiber content, often contain omega 3 fatty acids. It’s so simple that it doesn’t seem like much, but it’s a great step in the right direction. Almost 80% of premature heart disease and stroke can be prevented through healthy behaviors. What better time to get started, then during this month of the heart?

Cakebread Artisan Bakery, www.cakebread.ca

The Best Way to a Persons Heart

This Valentine’s day, you might be thinking the best way to a person’s heart is through their stomach. While this may or may not be true, research shows one of the best ways to optimal mental health is, indeed, through the stomach. What you eat is critical to the health of your entire body including brain health. Many of the nutrients we digest are essential building blocks of neurotransmitters (brain chemicals) that regulate mood, appetite, sleep, weight and a myriad of other processes that work to keep us functioning properly. Diets containing whole grains, fresh fruit, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, lean meat, and fatty fish as well as probiotic-rich foods like pickles, sauerkraut, and kefir are associated with better physical and mental health. Omega 3 fatty acid and vitamin supplementation can play an integral role in our mental health, reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression. Always consult your healthcare provider before making lifestyle changes.

Canadian Mental Health Association, www.cmha.ca

Book Club: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondō. Despite constant efforts to declutter your home, do papers still accumulate like snowdrifts and clothes pile up like a tangled mess of noodles? Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes tidying to a whole new level, promising that if you properly simplify and organize your home once, you’ll never have to do it again. The KonMari Method, with its revolutionary category-by-category system, leads to lasting results. www.goodreads.com

Home Remedies for a Cough

Did you know that onions can be used to cleanse airways and reduce congestion? Try a poultice of roasted onion to the chest every few hours. They can also be drunk as a warm broth. Cabbage also works well, as it has an extraordinary ability to draw out toxin. Crush the leaves with a rolling pin until the juice starts to appear. Place 3 or 4 leaves over the chest and cover with gauze. You can also drink the juice of a cabbage sweetened with a little bit of honey. Adapted from the book “The New Guide to Remedies” by Paragon Staff

6 Ways to Alkalize Your Body

Did you know that your immunity is based on how alkaline your diet is? Having an overly acidic diet eventually leads to a weakened state, and our bodies become susceptible to disease. Here are six ways to alkalize – and healthify – your body! 1. Drink plenty of water. Drink half your body weight in ounces every day to keep your body systems regulated. For an extra boost in alkalinity – add lemon! 2. Trade coffee for tea. Green tea is highly alkaline. Try jasmine, Sencha or Matcha. 3. Kick that sugar habit. Use stevia, coconut sugar or small amounts of honey in place of sugar. 4. Eat more greens. Vegetables are highly alkaline and oxygen rich. Consume fresh green vegetables often as possible. 5. Move. Exercise to create more oxygen and qi flow in the body and to avoid stagnation. 6. Reduce stress. Meditate as often as possible, practice deep breathing, do yoga, and get plenty of sleep

Get Connected

Being connected to other people is a great thing – family, friends, partners, lovers. But this closeness can be complicated! People who are near and dear hold a lot of power to disappoint us. It can be very difficult to get what we need from others, and hard to manage our reactions to disappointment. We can sometimes give up too much, agree to things we don’t want – or we go the other way, and start bullying the other person. Both of those are strategies to preserve a connection with someone. Is your strategy working for you? It can be difficult to feel confident setting limits with people in your life, to manage your negative feelings, to trust yourself, and to communicate your expectations without doing too much or too little. Counselling provides a safe and non-judgemental place to find ways to keep your connections healthy and happy.

Mary Munro, www.marymunro.ca 

 

Book Club: Autism, Beyond Despair

Autism, Beyond Despair, CEASE Therapy, Homeopathy has the Answers, by Dr. Tinus Smits MD. A riveting read for anyone with an interest in autism and other developmental disorders. Through the use of homeopathy, Dr. Smits was able to identify many causes of autism and outlines how to treat them systematically. Please read it, you will be inspired and most importantly, you will be able help someone with autism or another modern disease.

Dr. Anke Zimmermann, ND, www.drzimmermann.org

Believe to Achieve

BELIEVING is the most important part of the mental game of any sport or leisure activity. If you want to change your experience, change your beliefs – at the subconscious level. Learn to hit the ball, SEE THE BALL, be AWARE of the game set around you and play with confidence. BELIEVE in your ability and watch your game improve daily! Hypnotherapies for sports and leisure activity treats anxieties and blocks at the subconscious level, improving your underlying beliefs in your abilities. Remember how good you felt when you first hit a ball cleanly, made a wonderful putt, sank a shot, made a fabulous pass to a teammate, returned an impossible serve, got your first strikeout or made it to the podium? Hypnosis works with your subconscious beliefs to eliminate anxieties, release old blocks, and bring those wonderful feelings of being in the moment – IN THE ZONE – and put you back on the path of enjoyment and fulfillment within your sport!

Pete Flagg, Hypnotherapy Consultant, Victoria Hypnotherapy for Sports Performance Improvement, www.relax2playwell.ca

Want to be Free of Sickness & Disease?

Do you want to extend the quality of your life? Do you want to relieve inflammation? Powerful Plant Enzymes and Proteolytic Probiotics are the answer! Every single function in the body relies on enzymes. Enzymes have an unlimited source of energy. This unlimited source is what drives us and gives us life as well as the energy to do what we want. Did you know that it is very likely that we were robbed today? That our pancreas is enlarged – perhaps two to three times the size it ought to be? That our immune system is expending some of its resources to help us complete the digestion of our food in our blood stream? Practically everyone is devoid of enzymes. Did you know that without enzymes protein is not utilized? Without protein, minerals are not absorbed. And without minerals, vitamins do not function. This is the CAUSE of most illness and disease. Many have eliminated their most challenging illness with the enzyme and probiotic protocol.

Louis Hoolaeff, Leading Edge Health, leadingedgehealth.org

Understanding Your Subconscious Mind

We have two parts to our mind, the conscious mind, and the subconscious mind. The conscious part of our mind makes up 5-10% of our potential mind power. Our subconscious makes up 90 to 95% of our potential mind power, where our core values and belief systems stem from, where creativity and emotions are generated, and where long-term memories are stored. Hypnotherapy is a therapeutic tool that uses hypnosis and allows the conscious mind and the subconscious mind to work together to use all the potential power of your mind to achieve goals, change unwanted behaviors and beliefs, and resolve inner conflicts. Hypnosis allows direct access to the subconscious and can alter unwanted or outdated beliefs which results in positive changes physically, mentally and emotionally. It is imperative to change or alter what is in our subconscious mind, or understand it in order to facilitate positive, lasting change.

Scott Metcalf, C.H.t, RCCH, abeautifulmindhypnotherapy.com