Divine Dragonfly
Summer 2013
As promised, here it is. The Divine Dragonfly. I had intentions on putting this out monthly. That was before my mother’s cancer diagnosis and her subsequently moving in with my family. The Divine Dragonfly will return to the web just four times a year, but I believe you will find it a wealth of information.
As always, I am open to writing ideas. If there is a topic you want to see in the Fall 2013 newsletter, let me know. You can always email me directly at: havenhypnosis@yahoo.com
Haven Hypnosis is taking new clients for hypnotherapy sessions. I will also be posting my Emotional Detox Education classes soon via webinar format. STAY TUNED!
-Namaste-
Norkee 🙂
Health and Wellness
Do you know what you are REALLY eating?
Food poisonings are on the rise. On a regular basis, the media reports food recalls. From tomatoes to melons, our food supply has become toxic. But why are these recalls on the rise? Some say the toxicity is due to the increased use of hormones and insecticides. Another likely cause is the increase of a bacteria called campylobacter. In the last five years, the cases of campylobacter poisoning grew by more than 14%.
Campylobacter is most often associated with unpasteurized dairy products, poultry and produce. Animals can also be infected. People can become infected via their pets if the pet has been affected and they come in contact with their pet’s stool. Something to think about when preparing for this year’s growing and harvesting season, not to mention, when you let the pooch out to do his/her ‘business’.
How can you avoid campylobacter? Some simple practices for handling food can prevent the spread of this infection.
- Cook all poultry products thoroughly. Make sure that the meat is cooked throughout (no longer pink) and any juices run clear. All poultry should be cooked to reach a minimum internal temperature of 165°F.
- If you are served undercooked poultry in a restaurant, send it back for further cooking.
- Wash hands with soap before preparing food
- Wash hands with soap after handling raw foods of animal origin and before touching anything else.
- Prevent cross-contamination in the kitchen by using separate cutting boards for foods of animal origin and other foods and by thoroughly cleaning all cutting boards, countertops, and utensils with soap and hot water after preparing raw food of animal origin.
- Do not drink unpasteurized milk or untreated surface water.
- Make sure that persons with diarrhea, especially children, wash their hands carefully and frequently with soap to reduce the risk of spreading the infection.
- Wash hands with soap after contact with pet feces.
To learn more about campylobacter and how to prevent this infection from making your summer miserable, visit the CDC website at:
http://www.cdc.gov/nczved/divisions/dfbmd/diseases/campylobacter/
Other sources for this article include: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/04/18/food-poisoning-bacteria/2093697/
Complimentary Therapies and Alternative Medicine
Are you stressed? Have you just not been able to quite get over the Winter Blues? Why not try a relaxing aromatherapy massage?
The Journal of Alternative and Complimentary Medicine released a study in March 2013 that showed the positive affects aromatherapy massage had on elderly patients who were experiencing long-term hospitalization. The study was conducted on nursing home patients twice a week for a month. The study finds that aroma massage appears to prove effective in reducing the psychological stress among elderly patients.
In a separate study released in January 2013, it was revealed that inhaling essential oil scents reduced the effects of mental fatigue and exhaustion. The study was performed three times a week/five days per week. The study used peppermint, basil and helichysum in personal inhalers.
To relieve physical stress, essential oils to try are:
- Clary-sage
- Cypress
- Eucalyptus
- Thyme
- Peppermint
- Rosemary
To reduce stress that results from the environment around you (including loud noises and bright lights) try:
- Basil
- Cedarwood
- Chamomile
- Cypress
- Coriander
- Geranium
Oils that help relieve the physical stress that is a result of eating too much junk food or breathing polluted air are:
- Clary-sage
- Grapefruit
- Geranium
- Lavender
- Lemon
- Rosemary
For mental stress, essential oils that are effective are:
- Basil
- Bergamot
- Cardamon
- Grapefruit
- Geranium
- Sandalwood
To learn more about the study, visit this website:
Another source used for this article and to learn more about the Uses of Aromatherapy: http://www.enrichment.com/content/use-aromatherapy-relieve-stress
Nutrition
What Is ‘Clean’ Eating?
You’ve heard the phrase, you are what you eat. Well, it’s true. If you put garbage into your body, you cannot expect it to perform properly. Any more than you could expect your car to run efficiently if you fill it with bad fuel. In order to gain and maintain proper health, one must eat clean. So, what is ‘clean eating’? While the term seems to have no true definition, clean eating is essentially eating whole and unprocessed foods as they come from the Earth; in their unrefined and most nutrient-rich state.
Getting and staying healthy is just one benefit to clean eating. Clean eating has great benefits as an anti-inflammatory, leading many who live with auto-immune illnesses such as lupus, MS and RA to follow this eating regime. And it is just that. Clean eating is not a diet, rather a lifestyle choice. A choice that can lead to your body running more efficiently and you feeling better overall. If you stop eating ‘CRAP’ (Cheese, Refined Sugars, Artificial Products and Processed Foods) and eat better choices in ‘FOOD’ (Fruits and Vegetables, Organic, Omega-3 and Drink Water and Green Tea), you can achieve the goal of clean eating and better health.
Clean eating may seem overwhelming. No worries. If you start small and eliminate origin of ‘CRAP’ at a time and add a real ‘FOOD’ into your regime, you will, in no time, be eating clean.
To learn more about Clean Eating, visit this websites which were sources for this article:
http://cleancuisineandmore.com/what-is-clean-eating/
For ideas and recipes on Clean Eating: http://cleaneatingmag.com/recipes/
Environment
Little Known Health Hazards of Citronella
It’s summer time! Many of us will spend an abundance of time outside in the coming months. Perhaps that time will be spent with family, friends or even pets. One of the little known hazards of citronella is its enticing scent on our pets’ noses. Citronella candles are a popular accompaniment to summer picnics and BBQs. We can safely burn the candles to ward off unwanted insect ‘guests’ at our backyard parties. However, citronella can make our pets very ill, if ingested. Should your family pet accidentally ingest a citronella candle or citronella oil, you can call the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Hotline 24-hours a day at: 1-888-426-4435. Practice safe summer fun—for yourself and your pet.
Sleep
How Much Sleep Do We Need?
The amount of sleep one needs varies from person to person. The average person sleeps more than 7.5 hours at a time. While Thomas Edison believed sleep was a waste of time, one can certainly understand, if he slept less than the average person, it did not hurt his cognitive abilities. Going without sleep to levels of depravaity, can hinder ones cognitive abilities to the point of hallucination. Sleep deprivation can adversely affect the prefrontal cortex of the brain; the area responsible for memory, logic and problem solving. Without sleep, we literally lack the ability to think.
How many hours a night do you sleep? Check out the link below and try the ‘Sleep Profiler’ to assess your sleep habits.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/sleep/profiler/
For more information about sleep and why it’s important, check out the source link below.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/sleep/articles/whatissleep.shtml
Fitness
Staying Hydrated During Summer Exercise
We all love to get outdoors. Especially if you live in the northern states—once the weather is nice, I am outside. Whether you are working in the yard running a 5K, it is important to stay safely hydrated. Naturally, our bodies are warmer than the environment we are in. When that temperature begins to change on either side, our muscles regulate heat by sweating to cool the body. Sweating equates to lose of fluid, which is why it is essential to drink plenty of fluids; particularly water. Profuse sweating is a sign of a potentially dangerous medical situation. Heat exhaustion and heat stroke are serious side effects that can occur if you overdo it during your time of exertion in the summer sun. When this occurs, you become dehydrated and you become dehydrated because your body cannot cool itself quick enough and stores the heat inside.
It is important to recognize the signs of heat exhaustion. The signs include: fatigue, nausea, dizziness, weakness and cramps. However, more serious signs of inability to sweat, loss of consciousness and breathing difficulties can be signs of heat stroke. If you experience any of these symptoms, you are urged to seek medical attention.
For tips on staying safe in the summer sun, visit this link used as a source for this article: http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/features/exercising-in-the-heat?page=2
Mind*Body*Spirit
Meditation: This technique can be practiced either indoors or outdoors, in standing or sitting positions. The process may take 15 minutes or longer, depending upon the need of the individual.*
1. Imagine that the Sun moves from a distance to you and then encases you; feel the warmth and brightness for one minute.
2. Imagine that the Sun shrinks to the size of a golf ball inside your belly area behind your navel; it still has warmth and brightness; let it stay there for 1 to 3 minutes.
3. Visualize a giant shining lotus (any color) that travels from a distance to you; you sit on the lotus; feel the light in the bright ball inside your belly coming out from all directions and connecting with the petals of the lotus; internally focus on the scene for 1 to 3 minutes.
4. Visually shrink the lotus to the size of a golf ball and mentally put it inside your belly behind the navel area.
5. Move the lotus in a circle from the center of the belly to the outside (counterclockwise seven or nine times and then clockwise seven or nine times); when moving the lotus counterclockwise, the circles become bigger each time; when moving the lotus clockwise, the circles become smaller each time until the lotus returns to the original location.
6. Focus on the lotus inside your belly for 1 to 3 minutes and then finish.
*Note that this practice may not be suitable for people with psychotic symptoms.
Source for this meditation: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-justice-and-responsibility-league/201111/simple-meditation-technique
Prayer: This prayer is one that was used when I was confirmed. It is a prayer I use quite regularly when I need peace in my heart and mind.
Prayer for Peace
Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
–St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226)
Focus Word: PEACE
Fun ! : “Laughter is the best revenge for anger.”
Relaxation Station
Relaxation Exercise
This is something that you can do for yourself by following these steps:
- Sit quietly and comfortably.
- Close your eyes.
- Start by relaxing the muscles of your feet and work up your body relaxing muscles.
- Focus your attention on your breathing.
- Breathe in deeply and then let your breath out. Count your breaths, and say the number of the breath as you let it out (this gives you something to do with your mind, helping you to avoid distraction).
Do this for ten or twenty minutes.
Self-Improvement
Scripture: Isaiah 26:3–4
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock
Positive Quote: “Life’s problems wouldn’t be called “hurdles” if there wasn’t a way to get over them.” – Author Unknown
Business of the Month
Phitness 4:13
Rte. 250 N
Avery, Ohio
http://phitness413.com/
Product of the Month
Ezekiel Bread—Wheat-Free Bread
-Namaste-
Divine Dragonfly
(C) Haven Hypnosis- Nora Knople, CHt.
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