Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Two Herbs for HEMORRHOIDS / VARICOSE VEINS / WOMEN (Prenancy/Menses) / URINARY TRACT / KIDNEY STONES

On Sunday my Post offered you a variety of ways to restore balance to the 1st Root Chakra, which rules the kidneys and bladder.  This Chakra can be improved with regular practice of the standing postures in yoga, eating protein enriched foods and taking herbs that helps restore balance to the two organs of fluid elimination.  Two of the Herbs I suggested to maintain/restore balance of the kidneys and bladder are purple loosestrife and gravel root.  Because they are both VERY EXCELLENT HERBS, I thought you should know a little more about each of them.


PURPLE LOOSESTRIFE
Purple loosestrife offers great potential as a valuable and practically useful medicinal, possessing an admirable balance of astringent and mucilaginous properties. This may seem odd if you think of astringents as being drying and mucilage as being moistening, but remember that astringents do not dehydrate tissues, they tighten and restore tone to them, and in doing they lessen over-secretion.  So purple loosestrife restores tone to tissues while also bathing them in a soothing mucilage, which eases inflammation and ensures lubrication.  People also use purple loosestrife as a tea for diarrhea, intestinal problems, and bacterial infections.   They also use it for swelling and as a drying agent and women use it for menstrual problems.  I find that including more leaves and stems in preparations yields a more astringent medicine, while collecting mostly the flowering spikes increases the presence of mucilage in water based preparations.

Purple loosestrife is sometimes applied directly to the affected area for swollen (varicose) veins, bleeding gums, hemorrhoids and eczema.

Gravel root has many common names to indicate both its botanical appearance and also its medicinal uses. It is called Queen of the meadow because it stands so high and the purple hue of its flowers make it somewhat majestic in appearance. It is called Joe Pye weed because one native American of that name used it extensively in his practice. It is called Gravel root because it has the ability to remove and to a certain degree dissolve kidney stones or gravel. It is a member of the large boneset family of herbs, many of which are well none for their medicinal value. Gravel root is underused in medicine today because most people just think of it for removing kidney stones and overlook its other uses especially in the genito-urinary tract of women.  Gravel should be thought of in all disorders of the urinary tract. It is a very efficient diuretic and is indicated in bed wetting. Gravel root is useful in pregnancy when a cough dispels urine.

I have had excellent success with gravel root for its use in the reproductive disorders of women because of its ability to tone and restore balance to the uterous. It specifically refers to its use in retro version, prolapsus, introversion, etc, all conditions where dysplasia has occurred.  Gravel root is very safe and the dosage can be increased according to the condition. For normal diuretic use the dosage of 15 to 30 drops is usually very helpful. In our experience the dosage in quantity is not the most important aspect of medical application, but the frequency of dosage. The normal dosage of 15 to 30 drops, probably the 30 drops would be minimum for an adult and should be repeated as many as 6 times a day in acute conditions. This will result in a much more active result and hasten the healing. Gravel root has no toxicity so the dosage can be quite large without fear.

Here is one healer's experience with Gravel Root: "This could be a cause of sterility and that condition is what I originally had success in with Gravel root. I combined it with black cohosh and squaw vine in a case of long standing sterility with good success. This is a well documented case where the lady was under the care of an expert midwife and much effort had failed. I personally knew the lady and while contemplating her situation remembered her having a car wreck where she broke her hip among other things. Although the accident was many years removed, when reading about sterility caused by dysplasia and similar conditions, I thought that this might be the cause of sterility in this case, as she was otherwise a very health conscious person who had tried all available means. After taking the Gravel root about a month or two she conceived. The midwife was convinced that it made the difference. Since I have used it in many cases and thus far have always been satisfied.


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Monday, May 4, 2015

The Most Adorable Parenting Moments . . . .


25 Of The Most Adorable Parenting Moments In The Animal Kingdom




Image credits: David Lazar
There’s no love in this world like the love of a mother or father for a child. It’s beautiful and often times can be seen across species barriers. We’re not the only ones capable of it, and these heartwarming photos of animal parents will show you that for sure.
We tend to separate animals into two different categories based on how they rear their children. Those are the R and K categories. K categories include animals like cats, elephants, and humans. They have few babies but have longer gestation periods. Their offspring tend to require more care and for much longer time. The R category is more focused on quantity for survival. Here are some great examples of K animals:
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Image credits: Laurie Rubin
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Image credits: Anton Belovodchenko
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Image credits: Tin Man
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Image credits: dailymail.co.uk
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Image credits: Wolfgang von Vietinghoff
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Image credits: Udayan Rao Pawar
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Image credits: Daniel Münger
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Image credits: dailymail.co.uk
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Image credits: Andre Pretorius
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Image credits: Anton Belovodchenko
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Image credits: Jim Ridley
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Image credits: Michael Nichols
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Image credits: Edwin Kats
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Image credits: Jeanette DiAnda
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Image credits: Igor Shpilenok
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Image credits: Ric Seet
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Image credits: Marco Mattiussi
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Image credits: Jan Pelcman
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Image credits: Michael Milicia
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Image credits: Chuck Babbitt
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Image credits: hqwide.com
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Image credits: Frederique Olivier/John Downer Productions
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Image credits: imgur.com

Sunday, May 3, 2015

HEALING OUR EMOTIONS with HERBS and CHAKRA BALANCING

We are like the shining sun, and our sickness, like passing clouds which appear to extinguish the sun’s rays. Our original nature is wholeness: HEALTH. We are perfect, infinite energy.

Then where do our illnesses come from?  All illness of the mind, body or emotions is an effect of our ignorance of this perfect Self, causing us to unwittingly invite our disease by treating our body carelessly and by burdening our mind and nervous system with negative thoughts and emotions, allowing the limiting ego to rule us with its fluctuating anger, greed, and deceit.  We abuse our body with too much of the wrong kinds of food and too little rest and exercise.

The same way the Creator gave us 12 organs and various systems to make sure our bodies function in accord with the Universe to facilitate a harmonious life on this physical plane, S/he also gave us the 7 Energy Centers (chakras or hubs of spinning energy) in our body to connect us to the spiritual and emotional plane.  Each 'chakra' serves a particular purpose for our spiritual growth and physical stability.  Just like energy that flows through our physical body – when it is off, we feel sick, tired or out-of-sorts.  When the 'chakra energy' doesn't flow harmoniously through our bodies, we feel insecure, disconnected and emotionally imbalanced.

Just as you can use exercise and alternative healing methods, herbs and vitamins to heal and restore energy and health to the physical body, you can use chi exercise, meditation and alternative healing methods and crystals to heal and restore energy and health to the spiritual and emotional bodies.

We will begin to share the definitions of each of the chakras, the herbs, yoga postures and crystals for healing the mind, body and emotions. For more complete information on this weeks subject, please visit my website section CHAKRA ENERGY CENTERS, where you will find fuller postings of this week's article on healing the emotions with herbs, crystals and chakra balancing.

The 1st Chakra: ROOT CHAKRA is the source of our life force and forms the vital foundation for all the higher chakras, and is located at the base of the spine (coccyx).  It rules our physical energies and governs our vigor, heredity, survival, security, passion, money, job and home.  This chakra aids us in our everyday survival, and is actually the basis of both our masculine and feminine energy.

If your root chakra is open and functioning harmoniously, you will experience a deep, personal relationship with Earth and nature. You will be rooted in life and filled with satisfaction, stability and inner strength. If unbalanced or malfunctioning, your thoughts and actions primarily revolve around material possessions and (in)security, as well as your overindulgence in sensual pleasures, such as good (exotic) foods, alcohol, sex, etc. Your inability to let go of these tendencies often manifest themselves in the form of constipation and gaining weight, as in overweight. For you, life on earth is NOT a pleasure.

Standing postures in yoga helps to balance the energy of this Chakra and protein enriched foods are beneficial for attaining this equilibrium; the Water Element (kidneys and bladder) and organs of elimination are connected with this Chakra, and some of the herbs for the kidneys/bladder include juniper berries, parsley, gravel root, plantain, uva ursi, chaparral, burdock, marshmallow, golden seal and purple loosestrife.

The 1st ROOT CHAKRA: located between the anus and the genitals, is connected with the coccyx at the base of the spine and opens downward (“grounding us,” connecting us with the Earth). The color for this chakra is black, sometimes red; red is also the color of anger and/or vitality!

Your current diet may be deficient or over-indulgent of the foods necessary to maintain a healthy balance of the emotions and chakras.  To help ground your root chakra, eat plenty of “root” vegetables: carrots, parsnips, radishes, beets, onions, garlic, etc; protein-rich foods: eggs, beans, soy products, grains: quinoa, kasha, Haritaki and chia seeds, nuts (butters) and the spices: horseradish, hot paprika, chives, cayenne and peppers. Some of the herbs for the kidneys/bladder include juniper berries, parsley, gravel root, lotus root, plantain, uva ursi, chaparral, burdock, marshmallow, golden seal and purple loosestrife.  The crystals that help balance this chakra are Azurite, Bloodstone, Chrysocolla, Hematite, Obsidian, Boji Stone, Golden Topaz, Black Tourmaline, Carnelian, Citrine, Red Jasper, Smoky Quartz.

Out of balance, this chakra can manifest various physical ailments such as interruptions in the cycle, frigidity, impotence or tumor related diseases, or as migraine headaches or frequent bladder trouble. As you surround yourself with crystals, adjust your diet to 'feed your spirit' and focus your daily thoughts and actions, you will find that the negative qualities of the Root Chakra (impatience, fear of annihilation, death wish, violence, anger, over-sexed or impotent, vengeful, hyperactive, impulsive and manipulative) will subside as your meditations and daily thought processes are directed by your Spirit and you will instead become based in security, sense of one's own power, spontaneous leadership, active and independent. These small and gradual changes in our daily lives can help break bad eating habits, behavior, thoughts and relationship patterns.

Join our FREE Monthly HEALING MARKETPLACE every 1st Saturday 
(Healers welcome) and a 1-hr $10 Workshop on the Basics 
of Making Herbal Formulas (see Newsletter for more 
details and location).

You can Sign up for NEWSLETTER here. You can also subscribe to this Blog
~ simply submit your email address above ~ so you can receive every Post
directly to your Inbox. ALSO, don't forget to share your favorite
Posts with your Framily members.