acid reflux diet

Heal Your Heartburn Through Acid Reflux Diet

Acid Reflux, another term for heartburn, is a disease which is created by a simple imbalance of chemical make-up in the body--the attack of acid reflux in the esophagus when it is supposed to be in the stomach only.

The fact that Acid Reflux, the acid indigestion, affects not just adults but also infants and children, make it essential for everyone to be aware of its symptoms and how it can be prevented.

Since the Acid Reflux is triggered by various foods like chocolate, citrus fruits, spicy foods, including fried and fatty foods. Together with the time of day the foods are eaten and over eating which causes excessive weight. Therefore, the key to avoid the heartburning uneasiness brought by the Acid reflux also lies on the foods

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How is HGH Available

HGH supplements are available in a variety of forms, including the HGH releaser, which is designed to help your body increase the production of natural growth hormone.

But why should an adult need to include HGH dietary supplements in their daily regimen? The reasons can be summed up in only a few words - anti aging and higher energy levels. Since most of us want to stay younger and HGH is a way to increase energy levels, it just makes sense to find the human growth hormone supplement that works best for you, and then to make it a daily part of your life.

You can find HGH dietary supplements in the form of pills, capsules, powder and even a spray. The array of options for introducing a human grown hormone supplement into your daily routine means that there's something that will work for you. Take time to do a bit of research on the HGH products at http:

You can buy HGH supplements that will fit seamlessly into your lifestyle.

This wasn't always the case. The human growth hormone was fist discovered in the 1950s. It's a protein compound manufactured in the pituitary gland and researchers were quickly at odds over what the role of this particular protein was. Two decades would pass before that question began to be answered. The protein, as researchers discovered, was the reason some children grew and physically developed at a normal rate while others remained smaller or grew larger. It was later discovered that the HGH protein also played roles in boosting energy levels and slowing the aging process.

When the idea to supplement the body's natural production of human growth hormone first came to be, the only method for processing was to extract the protein from human cadavers, process it, then inject it to the recipient. It would be several years before a supplement was created to be widely available in tablet, spray or powder form.

There are several things to consider as you're choosing HGH dietary supplements. The form is obviously one of the most important. If you're the kind of person who simply hates to take a pill - any pill - you'll likely want to look at the other options. You can choose a human growth hormone supplement in powder form. Simply add it to your morning orange juice and you're ready to face the day. For those who prefer to simply take a pill and be done with it, that's certainly an option.

Another important factor in choosing your source of HGH dietary supplements is the manufacturer. Like all products of this type, look for a company with a good reputation who is willing to stand behind their products. While price is important, quality is more so. A reputable company will provide excellent product descriptions along with proven benefits and potential side effects. If you have doubts about the HGH products listed on a particular website, move on.

Choosing quality HGH supplements could be just the boost you need to make you feel, act and look younger.

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How To Easily Obtain HGH

How is HGH purchased?

HGH supplements are accessible in an assortment of forms, including the HGH releaser, which is developed to assist your body extend the production of natural growth hormone.

But why should an adult want to include HGH dietary supplements in their everyday regimen? The reasons can be summed up in only a few words, anti aging and higher vitality levels. Since many of us wish to stay younger and HGH is a way to increase energy levels, it just makes sense to find the human growth hormone supplement that works best for you, and then to make it a daily part of your daily existence.

You can find HGH dietary supplements in the shape of pills, capsules, powder and even a spray. The array of options for introducing a human grown hormone supplement into your daily programme means that theres something thats likely to work for you. Take time to do a bit of research on the HGH products. You can buy HGH supplements that will fit seamlessly into your lifestyle.

What happened next..

This wasnt often the situation. The human growth hormone was fist discovered in the 1950s. Its a protein compound manufactured in the pituitary gland and researchers were quickly at odds over what the role of this special protein was. Two decades would pass by before that query began to be answered. The protein, as researchers discovered, was the reason certain kids grew and physically developed at a normal pace while others remained smaller or grew more obese. It was later discovered that the HGH protein even played roles in boosting energy levels and slowing the aging process.

When the idea to supplement the bodys natural production of human growth hormone first came to be, the only method for processing was to extract the protein from human cadavers, process it, then insert it to the recipient. It would be several years until a supplement was created to be widely available in tablet, spray or powder configuration.

A purpose is the eternal condition for success.

There are several points to consider as youre choosing HGH dietary supplements. The construction is clearly one of the most important. If youre the type of person who simply hates to swallow a tablet any tablet youll likely wish to look at the other options. You can choose a human growth hormone supplement in powder form. Just add it to your morning orange juice and youre ready to take on the day. For those who favour to simply take a pill and be done with it, thats also an option.

Another important factor in choosing your origin of HGH dietary supplements is the manufacturer. Like all products of this type, look for a company with a commendable reputation who is willing to rise behind their products. While cost is important, quality is even more so. A reputable company will furnish excellent product descriptions along with proven benefits and potential side effects. If you possess doubts about the HGH products listed on a particular website, proceed on.

Actions speak louder than words. But without thought and focus those actions are like a meandering river. Michael Ross.

Taking this all into consideration...

Finding quality HGH supplements could be just the boost you require to make you feel, act and look younger.

0

How is HGH Available

HGH supplements are available in a variety of forms, including the HGH releaser, which is designed to help your body increase the production of natural growth hormone.

But why should an adult need to include HGH dietary supplements in their daily regimen? The reasons can be summed up in only a few words - anti aging and higher energy levels. Since most of us want to stay younger and HGH is a way to increase energy levels, it just makes sense to find the human growth hormone supplement that works best for you, and then to make it a daily part of your life.

You can find HGH dietary supplements in the form of pills, capsules, powder and even a spray. The array of options for introducing a human grown hormone supplement into your daily routine means that there's something that will work for you. Take time to do a bit of research on the HGH products at http:

You can buy HGH supplements that will fit seamlessly into your lifestyle.

This wasn't always the case. The human growth hormone was fist discovered in the 1950s. It's a protein compound manufactured in the pituitary gland and researchers were quickly at odds over what the role of this particular protein was. Two decades would pass before that question began to be answered. The protein, as researchers discovered, was the reason some children grew and physically developed at a normal rate while others remained smaller or grew larger. It was later discovered that the HGH protein also played roles in boosting energy levels and slowing the aging process.

When the idea to supplement the body's natural production of human growth hormone first came to be, the only method for processing was to extract the protein from human cadavers, process it, then inject it to the recipient. It would be several years before a supplement was created to be widely available in tablet, spray or powder form.

There are several things to consider as you're choosing HGH dietary supplements. The form is obviously one of the most important. If you're the kind of person who simply hates to take a pill - any pill - you'll likely want to look at the other options. You can choose a human growth hormone supplement in powder form. Simply add it to your morning orange juice and you're ready to face the day. For those who prefer to simply take a pill and be done with it, that's certainly an option.

Another important factor in choosing your source of HGH dietary supplements is the manufacturer. Like all products of this type, look for a company with a good reputation who is willing to stand behind their products. While price is important, quality is more so. A reputable company will provide excellent product descriptions along with proven benefits and potential side effects. If you have doubts about the HGH products listed on a particular website, move on.

Choosing quality HGH supplements could be just the boost you need to make you feel, act and look younger.

0

How To Easily Obtain HGH

How is HGH purchased?

HGH supplements are accessible in an assortment of forms, including the HGH releaser, which is developed to assist your body extend the production of natural growth hormone.

But why should an adult want to include HGH dietary supplements in their everyday regimen? The reasons can be summed up in only a few words, anti aging and higher vitality levels. Since many of us wish to stay younger and HGH is a way to increase energy levels, it just makes sense to find the human growth hormone supplement that works best for you, and then to make it a daily part of your daily existence.

You can find HGH dietary supplements in the shape of pills, capsules, powder and even a spray. The array of options for introducing a human grown hormone supplement into your daily programme means that theres something thats likely to work for you. Take time to do a bit of research on the HGH products. You can buy HGH supplements that will fit seamlessly into your lifestyle.

What happened next..

This wasnt often the situation. The human growth hormone was fist discovered in the 1950s. Its a protein compound manufactured in the pituitary gland and researchers were quickly at odds over what the role of this special protein was. Two decades would pass by before that query began to be answered. The protein, as researchers discovered, was the reason certain kids grew and physically developed at a normal pace while others remained smaller or grew more obese. It was later discovered that the HGH protein even played roles in boosting energy levels and slowing the aging process.

When the idea to supplement the bodys natural production of human growth hormone first came to be, the only method for processing was to extract the protein from human cadavers, process it, then insert it to the recipient. It would be several years until a supplement was created to be widely available in tablet, spray or powder configuration.

A purpose is the eternal condition for success.

There are several points to consider as youre choosing HGH dietary supplements. The construction is clearly one of the most important. If youre the type of person who simply hates to swallow a tablet any tablet youll likely wish to look at the other options. You can choose a human growth hormone supplement in powder form. Just add it to your morning orange juice and youre ready to take on the day. For those who favour to simply take a pill and be done with it, thats also an option.

Another important factor in choosing your origin of HGH dietary supplements is the manufacturer. Like all products of this type, look for a company with a commendable reputation who is willing to rise behind their products. While cost is important, quality is even more so. A reputable company will furnish excellent product descriptions along with proven benefits and potential side effects. If you possess doubts about the HGH products listed on a particular website, proceed on.

Actions speak louder than words. But without thought and focus those actions are like a meandering river. Michael Ross.

Taking this all into consideration...

Finding quality HGH supplements could be just the boost you require to make you feel, act and look younger.

0

Atkins Criticism

The Atkins diet is very popular, but it also comes with a lot of criticism. Health experts, doctors and diet specialists come from all different opinions when it comes to the Atkins diet and other low carb diets. Some believe that it is dangerous, some say that it is a healthy method to lose weight and others say that it works on a short-term basis.



However, there are also thousands of individuals who have found success with the Atkins diet. They can speak from personal experience and know that the diet works and it is an effective means of keeping weight off. There are thousands of testimonials that tout the benefits of the low carb way of living.



There are many typical criticisms of the Atkins diet. One of the first is that the diet it too high in fat. The butter, oil and fatty meats that are used in the Atkins diet are a far cry from the low-fat diet fad that recently swept the nation. For many people, the low fat mindset has prevailed and they cannot fathom eating real butter or cream with their meals. It seems like too much fat at first glance. However, those that pay close attention to Dr. Atkins guidelines and follow the program closely know that the diet focuses on good fats. Extra virgin olive oil and other helpful fats are emphasized. The proper use of these oils is important to brain function and mood management.



Another popular Atkins criticism is that it focuses too much on food and not enough on exercise. This is an unfair claim because the Atkins books clearly spell out a need for exercise. There is a lot of attention paid to food choices because they are an integral part of the program, and they are different foods than what people are normally used to eating. However, this does not mean that exercise is not an integral part of the Atkins program. Aerobic and anaerobic exercise regimens are encouraged, and both will greatly increase your weight loss efforts.



Many Atkins critics feel that the diet is hard too keep up in the long term. Critics in this category will admit that Atkins is effective in short-term weight loss efforts, but point out that the lifestyle is hard to maintain over time. However, people who have had long term success with Atkins claim it is one of the easiest diets to follow for significant periods of time. The Atkins plan has rich food that is forbidden on other programs, and it has appetite-suppressing effects. When you combine this with the quick weight loss, a motivating factor for many people, Atkins is easy to stick to long term.



The side effects of Atkins, like constipation and bad breath, have also been a topic that Atkins critics are quick to point out. However, these side effects are not as common as critics make them out to be. If they do occur, the side effects normal only last through the first phase of the diet. Additionally, drinking additional water will normally take care of both problems rather quickly.



There are pros and cons to many diets. If you don’t particularly enjoy preparing and eating meat, then Atkins is probably not for you. But if you are considering Atkins, make sure to look beyond the common criticisms for the truth about the diet.

The Science of Mother Love

A growing body of scientific evidence shows that the way babies are cared for by their mothers will determine not only their emotional development, but the biological development of the child's brain and central nervous system as well. The nature of love, and how the capacity to love develops, has become the subject of scientific study over the last decade. New data is emerging from a multitude of disciplines including neurology, psychology, biology, ethology, anthropology and neurocardiology. Something scientific disciplines find in common when putting love under the microscope is that in addition to shaping the brains of infants, mother's love acts as a template for love itself and has far reaching effects on her child's ability to love throughout life.

To mothers holding their newborn babies it will come as little surprise that the 'decade of the brain' has lead science to the wisdom of the mother's heart.

According to Alan Schore, assistant clinical professor in the department of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at UCLA School of Medicine, a major conclusion of the last decade of developmental neuroscience research is that the infant brain is designed to be molded by the environment it encounters.1 In other words, babies are born with a certain set of genetics, but they must be activated by early experience and interaction. Schore believes the most crucial component of these earliest interactions is the primary caregiver - the mother. "The child's first relationship, the one with the mother, acts as a template, as it permanently molds the individual's capacities to enter into all later emotional relationships." Others agree. The first months of an infant's life constitute what is known as a critical period - a time when events are imprinted in the nervous system.

"Hugs and kisses during these critical periods make those neurons grow and connect properly with other neurons." Says Dr. Arthur Janov, in his book Biology of Love. "You can kiss that brain into maturity."

Hormones, The Language of Love

In his beautiful book, The Scientification of Love, French obstetrician Michel Odent explains how Oxytocin, a hormone released by the pituitary gland stimulates the release of chemical messengers in the heart. Oxytocin, which is essential during birth, stimulating contractions, and during lactation, stimulating the 'milk ejection reflex', is also involved in other 'loving behaviors'. "It is noticeable that whatever the facet of love we consider, oxytocin is involved.' Says Odent. "During intercourse both partners - female and male - release oxytocin." One study even shows that the simple act of sharing a meal with other people increases our levels of this 'love hormone'.2

The altruistic oxytocin is part of a complex hormonal balance. A sudden release of Oxytocin creates an urge toward loving which can be directed in different ways depending on the presence of other hormones, which is why there are different types of love. For example, with a high level of prolactin, a well-known mothering hormone, the urge to love is directed toward babies.

While Oxytocin is an altruistic hormone and prolactin a mothering hormone, endorphins represent our 'reward system'. "Each time we mammals do something that benefits the survival of the species, we are rewarded by the secretion of these morphine-like substances." Says Odent.

During birth there is also an increase in the level of endorphins in the fetus so that in the moments following birth both mother and baby are under the effects of opiates. The role of these hormones is to encourage dependency, which ensures a strong attachment between mother and infant. In situations of failed affectional bonding between mother and baby there will be a deficiency of the appropriate hormones, which could leave a child susceptible to substance abuse in later life as the system continually attempts to right itself.3 You can say no to drugs, but not to neurobiology. Human brains have evolved from earlier mammals. The first portion of our brain that evolved on top of its reptilian heritage is the limbic system, the seat of emotion. It is this portion of the brain that permits mothers and their babies to bond. Mothers and babies are hardwired for the experience of togetherness. The habits of breastfeeding, co-sleeping, and babywearing practiced by the majority of! mothers in non-industrialized cultures, and more and more in our own, facilitate two of the main components needed for optimal mother/child bonding: proximity and touch.

PROXIMITY, Between Mammals, the Nature of Love is Heart to Heart

In many ways it's obvious why a helpless newborn would require continuous close proximity to a caregiver; they're helpless and unable to provide for themselves. But science is unveiling other less obvious benefits of holding baby close. Mother/child bonding isn't just for brains, but is also an affair of the heart. In his 1992 work, Evolution's End, Joseph Chilton Pearce describes the dual role of the heart cell, saying that it not only contracts and expands rhythmically to pump blood, it communicates with its fellow cells. "If you isolate a cell from the heart, keep it alive and examine it through a microscope, you will see it lose it's synchronous rhythm and begin to fibrillate until it dies. If you put another isolated heart cell on that microscopic slide it will also fibrillate . If you move the two cells within a certain proximity, however , they synchronize and beat in unison." Perhaps this is why most mothers instinctively place their babies to their left breast, k eep! ing those hearts in proximity. The heart produces the hormone, ANF that dramatically affects every major system of the body. "All evidence indicates that the mother's developed heart stimulates the newborn heart, thereby activating a dialogue between the infant's brain-mind and heart." says Pearce who believes this heart to heart communication activates intelligences in the mother also. "On holding her infant in the left-breast position with its corresponding heart contact, a major block of dormant intelligences is activated in the mother, causing precise shifts of brain function and permanent behavior changes." In this beautiful dynamic the infant's system is activated by being held closely; and this proximity also stimulates a new intelligence in the mother, which helps her to respond to and nurture her infant. Pretty nifty plan - and another good reason to aim for a natural birth. If nature is handing out intelligence to help us in our role as mothers we want to be a wake ! and alert!

TOUCH

"The easiest and quickest way to induce depression and alienation in an infant or child is not to touch it, hold it, or carry it on your body." - James W. Prescott, PhD

Research in neuroscience has shown that touch is necessary for human development and that a lack of touch damages not only individuals, but our whole society. Human touch and love is essential to health. A lack of stimulus and touch very early on causes the stress hormone, cortisol to be released which creates a toxic brain environment and can damage certain brain structures. According to James W. Prescott, PhD, of the Institute of Humanistic Science, and former research scientist at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, sensory deprivation results in behavioral abnormalities such as depression, impulse dyscontrol, violence, substance abuse, and in impaired immunological functioning in mother deprived infants.4 For over a million years babies have enjoyed almost constant in-arms contact with their mothers or other caregivers, usually members of an extended family, receiving constant touch for the first year or so of life. "In nature's nativity scen e, ! mother's arms have always been baby's bed, breakfast, transportation, even entertainment, and, for most of the world's babies, they still are." says developmental psychologist, Sharon Heller in, The Vital Touch: How Intimate Contact With Your Baby Leads to Happier, Healthier Development.5

To babies,touch = love and fully loved babies develop healthy brains. During the critical period of development following birth the infant brain is undergoing a massive growth of neural connections. Synaptic connections in the cortex continue to proliferate for about two years, when they peak. During this period one of the most crucial things to survival and healthy development is touch. All mammal mothers seem to know this instinctively, and, if allowed to bond successfully with their babies they will provide continuous loving touch.

Touch deprivation in infant monkeys is so traumatic their whole system goes haywire, with an increase of stress hormones, increased heart rate, compromised immune system and sleep disturbances.6

With only 25% of our adult brain size, we are the least mature at birth of any mammal. Anthropologist, Ashley Montagu concluded that given our upright position and large brains, human infants are born prematurely while our heads can still fit through the birth canal, and that brain development must therefore extend into postnatal life. He believed the human gestation period to actually be eighteen months long - nine in the womb and another nine outside it, and that touch is absolutely vital to this time of "exterogestation."7

Newborns are born expecting to be held, handled, cuddled, rubbed, kissed, and maybe even licked! All mammals lick their newborns vigorously, off and on, during the first hours and days after birth in order to activate their sensory nerve endings, which are involved in motor movements, spatial, and visual orientation. These nerve endings cannot be activated until after birth due to the insulation of the watery womb environment and the coating of vernix casseus on the baby's skin.

Recall Dr. Janov's claim that you can kiss a brain into maturity. Janov believes that very early touch is central to developing a healthy brain. "Irrespective of the neurojuices involved, it is clear that lack of love changes the chemicals in the brain and can eventually change the structure of that brain."

BREASTFEEDING: Liquid Love

Breastfeeding neatly brings together nourishment for baby with the need for closeness shared by mother and child; and is another crucial way that mother's love helps shape baby's brain. Research shows that breastmilk is the perfect "brain food", essential for normal brain development, particularly, those brain processes associated with depression, violence, and social and sexual behaviors.8

Mother's milk, a living liquid, contains just the right amount of fatty acids, lactose, water, and amino acids for human digestion, brain development, and growth. It also contains many immunities a baby needs in early life while her own immune system is maturing. One more instance of mother extending her own power, (love) to her developing child.

LIMBIC REGULATION: The Loop of Love

Another key to understanding how a mother's love shapes the emerging capacities of her infant is what doctors Thomas Lewis, Fari Amini, and Richard Lannon , authors of A General Theory of Love, call limbic regulation; a mutually synchronizing hormonal exchange between mother and child which serves to regulate vital rhythms.

Human physiology, they say, does not direct all of its own functions; it is interdependent. It must be steadied by the physical presence of another to maintain both physical and emotional health. "Limbic regulation mandates interdependence for social mammals of all ages." says Lewis, "But young mammals are in special need of it's guidance: their neural systems are not only immature but also growing and changing. One of the physiologic processes that limbic regulation directs, in other words, is the development of the brain itself - and that means attachment determines the ultimate nature of a child's mind." A baby's physiology is maximally open-loop: without limbic regulation, vital rhythms collapse posing great danger, even death.

The regulatory information required by infants can alter hormone levels, cardiovascular function, sleep rhythms, immune function, and more. Lewis, et al contend that , the steady piston of mother's heart along with the regularity of her breathing coordinate the ebb and flow of an infant's young internal rhythms. They believe sleep to be an intricate brain rhythm which the neurally immature infant must first borrow from parents. "Although it sounds outlandish to some American ears, exposure to parents can keep a sleeping baby alive."

The Myth of Independence

This interdependence mandated by limbic regulation is vital during infancy, but it's also something we need throughout the rest of childhood and on into adulthood. In many ways, humans cannot be stable on their own-we require others to survive. Recall that our nervous systems are not self-contained; they link with those of the people close to us in a silent rhythm that helps regulate our physiology. This is not a popular notion in a culture that values independence over interdependence. However, as a society that cherishes individual freedoms more than any other, we must respect the process whereby autonomy develops.

Children require ongoing neural synchrony from parents in order for their natural capacity for self-directedness to emerge. A mother's love is a continuous shaping force throughout childhood and requires an adequate stage of dependency. The work of Mary Ainsworth has shown that maternal responsiveness and close bodily contact lead to the unfolding of self-reliance and self confidence.9 Because our culture does not sufficiently value interpersonal relationships, the mother/child bond is not recognized and supported as it could be.

The ability of a mother to read the emotional state of her child is older than our own species, and is essential to our survival, health and happiness. We are reminded of this each time a hurt child changes from sad/scared/angry to peaceful in our loving embrace. Warm human contact generates the internal release of opiates, making mother's love a powerful anodyne. Even teenagers who sometimes behave as if they are 'so over' the need for a mother's affection must be kept in the limbic loop. Children at this age might be at special risk for falling through the emotional cracks. If they don't get the emotional regulation that family relationships are designed to provide, their hungry brains may seek ineffectual substitutes like drugs and alcohol.

Children left too long under the electronic stewardship of television, video games, etc., are not receiving the steady limbic connection with a resonant parent. Without this a child cannot internalize emotional balance properly.

Our hearts and brains are hardwired for love, and from infancy to old age our health and happiness depend on receiving it.

As the research keeps coming in and we gain a gradually expanding vision of how mother love shapes our species, we see an obvious need to take steps to protect and provide for the mother/child bond. We can take heart knowing that all the while we carry in our genes over a million years of evolutionary refinements equipping us for our role as mothers. The answers sought by science beat steadily within our own hearts.

Notes 1. Schore, Alan, Effects of a Secure Attachment Relationship on Right Brain Development, Affect Regulation, and Infant Mental Health, 2001 2.Verbalis, J.G., McCann, McHale and Stricker, 'Oxytocin secretion in response to cholecystoknin and food: differentiation of nausea from satiety.' Science 1986, 232: 1417-19 3. Prescott, James W., PhD, Breastfeeding: Brain Nutrients in Brain Development For Human Love and Peace, From Touch The Future Newsletter, Spring 1997 /prescott/ttf/article.html 4. Prescott, James W., PhD, The Origins of Human Love and Violence, From Pre and Perinatal Psychology Journal, Volume 10, #3: Spring 1996 5. Henry Holt, 1997 6. Prescott, James W. , Ph.D , Rock A Bye Baby, Time Life Documentary, 1970, Executive Producer: Lothar Wolff, Scientific Consultant. (last modified 2001/04/16). 7. Montagu, Ashley Touching : The Human Significance of the Skin, Harper, 1986 8. Prescott, James W., PhD, Breastfeeding: Brain Nutrients in Brain Development For Huma n Love and Peace, From Touch The Future Newsletter, Spring 1997 /prescott/ttf/article.html 9. Ainsworth, M.D.S., "Attachments Across the Life Span." Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine 61, 1985

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Werner, E. and Smith, R.S. (1992). Overcoming the odds. High Risk Children from Birth to Adulthood. Cornell University Press. Ithaca and London.

Winslow, J.T. and Insel, T.R. (1991). Social status in pairs of male squirrel monkeys determines the behavioral response to central oxytocin administration. J. of Neuroscience. Jul 11(7):2032-2038.

Winslow, J.T., Hastings, N., Carter, C.S., Harbaugh, C.R., Insel, T.R. (1993). A role for central vasopressin in pair bonding in monogamous prairie voles. Nature. Oct 7. 365(6446):545-548.

Winslow, J.T., Shapiro, L., Carter, C.S., Insel, T.R. (1993). Oxytocin and complex social behavior: species comparisons. Psychopharmacology Bulletin. 29(3):409-414.

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What is mesothelioma

"Mesothelioma" is the term used to describe a cancerous tumor that involves the mesothelial cells of an organ. Mesothelial cells are cells that form a protective lining over the lungs, heart and abdominal organs. The most common type of mesothelioma is pleural mesothelioma. The pleura is a thin membrane found between the lungs and the chest cavity. It provides a lubricated surface so that the lungs do not rub and chafe against the chest walls.

What causes it?

Virtually all cases of mesothelioma are related to inhaling of asbestos fibers. There are about 3,000 cases per year (mostly men over the age of 40) and there will be about 300,000 cases before 2030. Mesothelioma usually spreads rapidly through the mesothelial cells to the heart and abdominal organs. The life span is typically 24 months after diagnosis, but it depends on what stage the cancer is detected, the health of the patient and other factors.

Although asbestos exposure causes mesothelioma, it has a latency period after exposure that could last 15 to 50 years. This means that someone who worked in a factory with asbestos 40 years ago could be developing mesothelioma now. Anyone who knows they were exposed to loose asbestos fibers should be tested regularly for mesothelioma.

Diagnosis

The onset of mesothelioma is usually very slow. The first symptom is a constant pain in the chest. This pain is later accompanies by difficulty breathing due to an accumulation of fluid in the chest. Other symptoms include coughing, fever and weight loss. Mesothelioma can be diagnosed by your doctor with a chest CT-scan.

Prognosis (the outcome)

Mesothelioma advances in 4 stages:

Stage I - the tumor is limited to the area of the lining of the lung and usually limited to only one side of the chest.

Stage II - the tumor extends to other organs within the chest cavity, such as the heart or lymph nodes in the chest.

Stage III - the tumor expands to the other side of the chest or it spreads into the abdominal organs. The lymph nodes outside the chest are affected.

Stage IV -the cancer spreads to different parts of the body far outside the chest area (liver, brain, bone, etc...).

Mesothelioma is an extremely deadly disease. The average survival time is about one year from date of diagnosis. About 20% of patients who find their cancer early and treat it aggressively will reach the five-year mark.

for more information and articles about mesothelioma go to

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Atkins and Exercise

There is a lot of attention paid in the Atkins diet plan towards food and cooking. It’s true that your food choices on the diet are of utmost importance. But a lot of people make the mistake of ignoring exercise. The newly released Atkins food pyramid shows the importance of exercise. It shows an increase in food options with increased activity. Exercise is important on the Atkins diet, and important for everyone’s overall health.



Exercise is beneficial to body, mind and soul. It has many major benefits, even at limited levels. It not only burns fat but it boosts your metabolism and increases circulation. Daily exercise helps your body eliminate toxins through sweat glands and lymph systems. It is especially important to all low-carb weight loss programs because it regulates blood sugar levels.



Physical exercise is essential for Atkins diet success. Without exercise, your body isn’t configured to process carbohydrates successfully. Research has shown that sedentary individuals have extreme insulin reactions to even moderate amounts of carbohydrates. This means that exercise doesn’t only help you lose weight, it will help you keep it off too. Exercise will teach your body how to process the carbohydrates in your diet. When you exercise regularly, you’ll be able to eat more carbohydrates over time because your body will use them efficiently.



There are two basic types of exercise: aerobic exercise and anaerobic exercise. The best regimen combines these two forms each week.



Aerobic exercise’s primary goal is to increase your heart rate. This causes your body to consume more oxygen and it gives all of your cells a fresh supply of oxygen. If you’ve been without physical activity for a while, many of those cells have been deprived. Aerobic exercise will regenerate them and help you feel better in times when you aren’t exercising.



If you’ve been inactive for a while, it may take some time to get used to your new aerobic workouts. You may want to get some advice from your primary care doctor or a professional aerobics instructor. Make sure to start slowly to give yourself time to adjust to your new movements. It’s essential that you learn how to stretch and warm up correctly in order to avoid muscle strain. Some good beginning aerobic activities include walking, golf, tennis and dancing. These activities won’t cause a lot of strain on your body, but they will get your heart moving. Start slowly and set small goals for yourself. For example, if you are starting a walking program begin by walking four blocks. Then increase your training to five blocks, then six. Your body will respond well to the exercise…after all your body was meant to move!



Anaerobic exercise includes any activity that isn’t technically aerobic. Most of the exercises in this category build muscle mass. Weightlifting and strength training are examples of anaerobic exercises. Working out with weights is an important part of losing weight. As you lose fat, you’ll need to replace it with muscle in order to stay lean. Don’t be afraid of working out with weights. You won’t need to become a bodybuilder. Weight bearing exercises like isometrics and resistance training will help improve your bone density, your posture and your fat burning potential.



If an exercise program is not part of your weight loss efforts, you are setting yourself up for failure. Make a commitment to incorporating exercise into your weight loss efforts and you’ll see the results immediately.

The Asbestos Trust Fund Bill

A bill continues to languish in Congress which was designed to resolve many thousands of asbestos related lawsuits, leaving many waiting for a just resolution as they continue to endure their painfull illness without compensation.

According to a study released in September 2004 by the American Thoracic Society (ATS), asbestos continues to be a hazard for more than a million American workers in the construction industry and those involved in buildings and equipment maintenance. The study also warns of new products that may contain asbestos,These products may include: brake pads, roofing materials, and imported cement pipe and cement sheeting that could expose workers to an increased risk of asbestos related cancer.

Although government researchers are reporting a new rush of asbestos related claims, which is expected to continue over the next 20 years, it was believed when the legislation was first introduced in 2000 that the vast majority of asbestos related cancer claims were over, and the legislation was designed to take care of the thousands of remaining cases which were clogging up the courts.

But for many of the asbestos related cancer victims, the fact that the legislation continues to be held up has meant many patients have been unable to collect damages owed they are certainly entitled to before death takes its toll. The proposed legislation makes available, to the victims of asbestos related disease, a "trust fund" to take care of the needs of those suffering from mesothelioma and other asbestos related diseases. This legislation would eliminate companies from being sued and unclog courts of tens of thousands of new asbestos claims.

Though a compromise is on the table between the Republican and Democratic Senate leaders on the size of the asbestos fund of $140 billion, there is a lot of dispute and argument that a large number of people with asbestos cancer and other serious asbestos illnesses will be left out. $140 billon dollars, they say, is insufficient to cover the rush of Americans expected to develop asbestos related disease over the next several decades.

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Cancer- The Real Facts

Cancer has a fearsome reputation. Not without reason either. It is a disease that has not yet fully yielded to the skills and intelligence of medical scientists and doctors. And, as if the pain from the disease is not enough, the treatment for cancer, too, inflicts heavy suffering on the body.

Cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled and abnormal cell division. Cancer spreads in the body and destroys tissues when the cancer cells travel through the blood stream or the lymphatic system. The runaway growth of cells is caused by mutations to the DNA in the cells that makes the cells unable to control cell division. This mutation can either be inherited or acquired. The mortality rate in cancer depends on the type of cancer and where it develops.

Among cancers, lung cancer is the biggest killer, causing up to 3 million deaths every year worldwide. It affects the above-50 age group population most and is one of the most common types of cancers that occur in the Western countries. The main risk factor for lung cancer is smoking. Cigarette smoke, especially, contains several carcinogens. It is estimated that 80 per cent of all lung cancers are caused by smoking. The role of passive smoking in causing lung cancer is also being recognized by studies.

Another carcinogen that causes lung cancer is asbestos. This substance, which is widely used because of its fire-resistant qualities, causes a rare type of cancer called mesothelioma cancer. In mesothelioma asbestos lung cancer or asbestos cancer, malignant cells develop in the pleura, the outer lining of the lungs and the chest cavity.

The problem with asbestos cancer is that diagnosis is difficult. For one, the symptoms of mesothelioma cancer occur only 30-50 years after the exposure to asbestos. Second, the symptoms of asbestos lung cancer, such as shortness of breath and chest pain, are similar to those of many other medical conditions.

The incidence of mesothelioma asbestos lung cancer has increased in the last two decades. Still it is considered a relatively rare form of lung cancer, because the incidence rate is only 1 per 1,000,000 people. This could be as high as 7-40 per 1,000,000 in the industrialized nations. By contrast, the incidence of lung cancer is 1,000 per 1,000,000.

The common lung cancer treatments include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. However, the conventional treatment methods have not been very successful in the case of asbestos cancer, yielding only a median survival rate of 6-12 months after the presentation.

Again, surgery does not have much effect on small-cell lung cancer. A treatment method for lung cancer that has become increasingly popular in recent years is radiofrequency ablation. This technique is especially effective in destroying the cancerous cells inside the tumors. These cells are 'cooked' by inserting a small heat probe into the tumor. This technique is also non-toxic and causes very little pain for the patient.

However, there is hope for the cancer-affected. Scientists are developing new techniques of treatment, such as molecular targeted therapies, for lung cancer. Better and more effective therapies can be expected as scientists and researchers coax out more secrets from the human cells.

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Arthritis Relief with Simple Dietary Changes

The best course of action to take sometimes isn't clear until you've listed and considered ALL of your alternatives. The following paragraphs should help clue you in to what changes the experts think are significant when trying to control the pain of Arthritis..

Arthritis is one of the most prevalent health problems facing today's aging population.

The most common form of arthritis is osteoarthritis, which usually strikes weight-bearing joints such as the ankles, knees and hips. Pain is caused by the gradual breakdown of cartilage, the soft "padding" material that cushions the joints.

About 85% of adults who reach the age of 85 will have osteoarthritis--unless they take a proactive approach to prevent it.

Exercise is very important. But what about diet?

For a long time, doctors doubted there could be any link between diet and osteoarthritis. They saw the disease as a natural result of wear and tear on the joints, something inevitable as we age.

But new research is making them reconsider that idea.

It now appears that nutrition plays a vital role in helping to prevent or ease the effects of osteoarthritis. One key element is vitamin C.

Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant, and may protect the joints from the damaging effects of free radicals (unstable molecules that can cause joint inflammation).

Recent research is showing that vitamin C can help prevent bone loss and cartilage inadequacies associated with aging. Specifically, when your joint has cartilage that needs to be repaired, vitamin C is needed for such repairs. It helps to keep your cartilage "young".

The information about Arthritis presented here will do one of two things: either it will reinforce what you know about Arthritis or it will teach you something new. Both are good outcomes.

According to Dr. Timothy McAlindon of the Boston University School of Medicine, "Vitamin C may also help generate collagen, which enhances the body's ability to repair damage to the cartilage."

When scientists at the Boston University School of Medicine studied the eating habits of people with osteoarthritis of the knee, they found that those getting the most vitamin C--more than 200 milligrams a day--were three times less likely to have the disease get worse than those who got the least vitamin C (less than 120 milligrams a day).

Dr. McAlindon recommends that people get a least 120 milligrams of vitamin C every day. "That's the amount in a couple of oranges," he says.

Dr. Michael F. Roizen and Dr. Mehmet C. Oz, co-authors of "You: The Owner's Manual", recommend even more. "Shoot for 1200 milligrams of vitamin C a day--spread between your diet and supplements throughout the day."

Be careful not to overdo it. Some data suggest that more than 2,500 milligrams a day can have the opposite effect and actually increase the risk of osteoarthritis.

Dr. Eve Campanelli, a holistic family practitioner in Beverly Hills, CA, recommends black cherry juice. She advises her patients to drink two glasses, twice a day, of four ounces of the juice diluted with four ounces of water.

Other fruits and vegetables rich in vitamin C include oranges, cantaloupe, broccoli, strawberries, peppers and cranberry juice.

A healthy diet, rich in fruits and vegetables, has been recommended by nutritionists for years. Now there's another reason to pay attention--it can help your joints to stay young!



Hopefully the sections above have contributed to your understanding of Arthritis. Share your new understanding about Arthritis with others. They'll thank you for it.

Screening for Poly-Behavioral Addiction

With the end of the Cold War, the threat of a world nuclear war has diminished considerably. It may be hard to imagine that in the end, comedians may be exploiting the humor in the fact that it wasnt nuclear warheads, but French fries that annihilated the human race, when considering that food addictions and their related diseases now afflict more people globally than malnutrition. The behavioral addiction disorders (e.g., food addictions, pathological gambling, and other obsessively-compulsive behavioral-patterns to religion, and/ or sex / pornography, etc.) are just as damaging, psychologically and socially as alcohol and drug abuse.

On a more serious note, lifestyle diseases and addictions are the leading cause of preventable morbidity and mortality taking more than one million (1,000,000) U.S. lives a year, yet brief preventive behavioral assessments and counseling interventions are under-utilized in health care settings (Whitlock, 2002). The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force concluded that effective behavioral counseling interventions that address personal health practices hold greater promise for improving overall health than many secondary preventive measures, such as routine screening for early disease (USPSTF, 1996). Common health-promoting behaviors include healthy diet, regular physical exercise, smoking cessation, appropriate alcohol/ medication use, and responsible sexual practices to include use of condoms and contraceptives.

Multiple Addictions and Poor Prognosis

Since it is impossible to expect treatment for one addiction to be beneficial when other addictions co-exist, the initial therapeutic intervention for any addiction needs to include an assessment for other addictions. National surveys revealed that a very high correlation exists between substance abuse and behavioral addictions. Repeated failures abound with all of the addictions, even with utilizing the most effective treatment strategies. But why do 47% of patients treated in private addiction treatment programs (for example) relapse within the first year following treatment (Gorski, T., 2001)? Have addiction specialists become conditioned to accept failure as the norm? There are many reasons for this poor prognosis.

Some would proclaim that addictions are psychosomatically- induced and maintained in a semi-balanced force field of driving and restraining multidimensional forces. Others would say that failures are due simply to a lack of self-motivation or will power. Most would agree that lifestyle behavioral addictions are serious health risks that deserve our attention, but could it possibly be that patients with multiple addictions are being under diagnosed (with a single dependence) simply due to a lack of diagnostic tools and resources that are incapable of resolving the complexity of assessing and treating a patient with multiple addictions?

The Addictions Recovery Measurement System (ARMS), along with 350 national organizations and 250 State public health, mental health, substance abuse, and environmental agencies support the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Healthy People 2010 program. This national initiative recommends that primary care clinicians utilize clinical preventive assessments and brief behavioral counseling for early detection, prevention, and treatment of lifestyle disease and addiction indicators for all patients upon every healthcare visit. The ARMS theory proposes a new diagnosis. Poly-behavioral addiction is the synergistically integrated chronic dependence on multiple physiologically addictive substances and behaviors (e.g., using/ abusing substances - nicotine, alcohol, & drugs, and/or acting impulsively or obsessively compulsive in regards to gambling, food binging, sex, and/ or religion, etc.) simultaneously (Slobodzien, J., 2005).

The ARMS prognostication system supports the Five As construct (a model adapted from tobacco cessation interventions) as a brief screening behavioral counseling system. This guideline (Morgan and Fox, 2000) provides different brief interventions for treating patients based on their lifestyle disease indicators and addictive behavior status. Health care providers should:

Ask patients about disease/ addiction health indicators (e.g. if they use tobacco, alcohol, drugs, exercise, diet, gamble, practice risky sexual behaviors, etc.). An office wide system can be implemented to ensure that all patients are queried regarding risky behaviors.

Advise patients to quit--advice should be clear, strong, and personalized.

Assess willingness to make a quit attempt in the next 30 days. Provide a motivational intervention for those unwilling to quit at this time.

Assist patients in their efforts to quit: (1) Patients should set a quit date and remove addictive products (triggers) from their environment. (2) Provide practical counseling. Total abstinence is the key objective. Patients should limit alcohol use and anticipate and plan for challenges and triggers. (3) Offer support and suggest that patients seek support from their friends and family. (4) Recommend appropriate first- or second-line pharmacotherapies.

Arrange follow-up within the first week after the quit date to prevent relapse.

Accurate diagnosis is dependent on a thorough multidimensional assessment process along with the possible help of a multidisciplinary treatment team approach. Behavioral Medicine practitioners have come to realize that although a disorder may be primarily physical or primarily psychological in nature, it is always a disorder of the whole person not just of the body or the mind. The ARMS approach examines the broad bio-psychosocial context of the individual (e.g., biomedical, behavioral, interpersonal, social, cultural, spiritual, and self-regulative factors, etc.), when assessing an individual to determine the presence of a lifestyle addiction. It is concerned with the health choices individuals make as well as modifying and altering unhealthy lifestyles to directly reduce illness and illness behavior that predisposes them to other physical illnesses.

The ARMS battery of dimensional assessment and screening instruments focus on the multidimensional aspects of diagnosis, but continue to promote the standard screening instruments for specific substance abuse addictions (e.g., CAGE, MAST, AUDIT, SASSI, etc.). The ARMS battery can also assist with developing the other four DSM axes of a clinical diagnosis. The Multidimensional Psychosocial Stressors Inventory (MPSI) is utilized to narrow down a list of axis one diagnoses and axis four stressors. The Personality Feature Checklist (PFC) can assist with identifying an individuals personality traits on axis two that may be contributing to his addictive life-style.

The General Health Risk Assessment (GHRA) can assist with identifying physical symptoms and other addictive behaviors to consider alternative axis three diagnoses. The Religious Attitudes Inventory (RAI) can assist with assessing a patients spiritual/ religious life-functioning dimension. The Prognostic Assessment Gauge (PAG) cumulative score can objectively reveal a prognostic level of functioning for axis five. This thorough assessment approach attempts to leave no stone unturned. The following brief screening tool is just one of twelve screening instruments proposed in the Addictions Recovery Measurement System to assist providers with the poly-behavioral addiction assessment process:

Behavior Risk Assessment Screen (BRAS) Fact Sheet

The Behavior Risk Assessment (BRA) is an efficient and effective screening tool used for early detection of unhealthy life-style practices before they manifest themselves as major health problems. It is comprised of the following six screening tools: 1) Substance Intake Screen: (Nicotine, Alcohol, Illegal Drugs), 2) Eating Attitude Screen, 3) Exercise Pattern Screen, 4) Sleep Pattern Screen, 5) Sexual Practice Screen, 6) Gambling Practice Screen, and the 7) Risky Behavior Screen.

Target Population: Adults diagnosed with Alcohol/ Substance Abuse or Dependence Disorders and/ or other behavioral addictions, (e.g., gambling, eating, sex, religious addictions, etc.). For adults in both inpatient and outpatient settings.

Administrative Issues: The BRA has 21 items that an individual can answer within minutes. It is easily scored, and the results can be quickly integrated into the Prognostic Assessment Gauge for a cumulative prognosis score.

Scoring:

Time required: 10 minutes

Scored by Clinician

See scoring guide

Clinical Utility:

In addition to the BRAs effectiveness in initially detecting an individuals risk for potential health, and/ or other addictive problems, it can also be used as an awareness education tool for the prevention of behavioral health problems.

Research Applicability:

The BRAs brevity, ease of administration and scoring, and availability of computer format for data storage and analysis make it highly useful for research applications. Based on independent interviews by a mental health professional, the BRA administered by primary care practitioners demonstrated good accuracy (sensitivity and specificity) for collecting significant clinical history data in a timely manner for prognostic decision-making. Treatment outcome studies are presently in process. Copyright, and Source March 2004 by James Slobodzien, Psy. D. -------------------------------------------------------- Behavior Risk Assessment Screen (BRAS)

Name: _______________________________ Date: _________________

Signature: ___________________________ SSN: _________________

The Behavior Risk Assessment Screen is comprised of the following seven screening scales:

A. Substance Intake Screen

B. Eating Attitude Screen

C. Exercise Pattern Screen

D. Sleep Pattern Screen

E. Sexual Practice Screen

F. Gambling Practice Screen

G. Risky Behavior Screen

Instructions:

Following are groups of statements that are numbered and weighted - 10, 20, or 30. Please read each group of statements carefully. Then pick out the one statement in each group that is most true for you, and circle the number beside the statement that you pick. NOTE: Be sure to read all the statements in each group, and circle just one number beside the statements that you pick.

A. Substance Intake Screen: Score = ___

(Total Nicotine, Alcohol, Illicit drugs & Caffeine Scores and divide

by 4= ___ (Total Score)

Nicotine Use Score = ___

1. I do not smoke cigarettes, cigars, or pipes or use smokeless

chewing tobacco, and I am not exposed to tobacco smoke regularly.

Yes (30 points)

2. I typically smoke a pack or more daily, and/ or chew more than a

can of tobacco per day.

Yes (10 points)

Alcohol Use: Score = ___

1. (Male) I do not drink alcoholic beverages, or if I drink, I do not

consume more than 2-standard alcoholic drinks per occasion, or more

than 14-drinks per week.

(Female) I do not drink alcohol, or if I drink, I do not consume more than 1-standard alcoholic drink per occasion, or more than 7-drinks per week. (Male & Female) I never drink while having medical problems (e.g., female- pregnancy, etc.) or while operating machinery. Yes (30 points)

2. I drink, but I do not consume more than 3 (female) or 4 (male) standard alcoholic drinks per occasion on any one day of the week. Yes (20 points)

3. I typically consume 4 or more standard alcoholic drinks per occasion, and typically consume more than 14-standard drinks per week. Yes (10 points)

Illicit Drug Use: (e.g., All street drugs: marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine (ICE), ecstasy, LSD, Heroin, including un-prescribed medications, inhalants, and/ or unauthorized supplements Ephedra, or excessively used over-the-counter medications, etc.). Score = ___

1. I have not ever used illicit street drugs and/ or taken addictive prescription medications for long periods in the past, and I do not presently use illicit drugs or take addictive prescription medications. Yes (30 points)

2. I have used illicit street drugs and/ or have taken addictive prescription medications for long periods in the past. Yes (20 points)

3. I use illicit street drugs and/ or take addictive medications frequently or whenever I get the opportunity. Yes (10 points) Caffeine Intoxication: (e.g., coffee, soda, tea, & other caffeine products, etc.)

Score = ___

1. My use of caffeine products has not caused distress or impairment in my social, occupational, or other important areas of my life. Yes (30 points)

2. My use of caffeine products has caused physical symptoms (e.g., restlessness, nervousness, excitement, and/ or insomnia, etc.), that have resulted in impairment in my social, occupational, or other important areas of my life.

Yes (10 points)

B. Eating Attitude Screen: Score = ___

1. Issues concerning my weight and/ or eating habits have not caused me to feel shame, guilt, embarrassment, and/ or low self-esteem, as my relationship with food has never been one of the problem areas in my life. Yes (30 points)

2. Issues concerning my weight and/ or eating habits have been a focus of my life, causing me to sometimes feel shame, guilt, embarrassment, and/ or low self-esteem, as I tend to overeat, under eat, binge, purge, and/ or obsess over diets and calories

Yes (10 points)

C. Exercise Pattern Screen: Score = ___

1. On average, I exercise five times or more per week for 30 minutes or more each time and/or have vigorous activity three times or more per week for 20 minutes or more each time. = 30 points

2. On average, I exercise once or twice a week for 30 minutes or more each time. = 20 points

3. I dont exercise and/ or dont have a regular exercise program that I follow.

= 10 points

D. Sleep Pattern Screen: Score = ___

1. On average, I typically get between 7 and 8 hours of sleep daily.

= 30 points 2. On average, I typically get less than 4 hours of sleep daily or more than 11 hours of sleep daily.

= 10 points

E. Sexual Practice Screen: Score = ___

1. I have always abstained from sexual relationships or I have always practiced safe sex (e.g., used condoms/ contraceptives appropriately, etc.) and have no prior history of STDs, multiple sex partners, or of sharing needles with anyone.

Yes (30 points) 2. I have not always practiced safe sex and/ or have had multiple sex partners.

Yes (20 points) 3. I have not always practiced safe sex, and/ or - I presently have multiple sexual partners and/ or have a prior history of STDs and/ or a history of sharing needles with others.

Yes (10 points)

F. Gambling Practice Screen: Score = ___

1. I have never gambled, or I have never gambled with more than $100.00 on any one- day, and it was purely for social entertainment. My gambling has never resulted in adverse consequences to others or myself.

Yes (30 points)

2. Gambling is sometimes a part of my recreational activities, but I have never gambled with more than $1000.00 on any one-day. Periodically I have suffered from some negative consequences, but I have never lost control over this behavior. Yes (20 points)

3. I have gambled with more than $1000.00 on any one-day and/ or I have a continuous or periodic loss of control over gambling behaviors; and/ or a preoccupation with gambling and obtaining money for gambling; and/ or a pattern of continuing to gamble in spite of adverse consequences. Yes (10 points)

G. Risky Behavior Screen: Score = ___

1. I do not have a pattern of practicing the following risky behaviors:

a. Drinking alcohol and/ or using mind altering drugs and driving a motor vehicle, or riding with someone that does;

b. Drinking alcohol and/ or using mind altering drugs and operating machinery, and/ or using a firearm, explosive devices, and/ or exposing myself to medicines, chemicals, and/ or poisons;

c. Drinking alcohol and/ or using mind altering drugs and bicycling, swimming, diving, boating, or performing other potentially hazardous recreational activities;

d. Driving/ riding a motor vehicle and not using seatbelts or a helmet;

e. I do not have a history of having obsessive thoughts and/ or impulsive behaviors that have resulted in negative consequences (e.g., alcohol/ substance abuse, sexual promiscuity, speeding/ reckless driving, and/ or other aggressive impulses, resulting in motor vehicle crashes, falls, fires, near drowning, near suffocation, poisoning - incidents, assault, self-harm, damage or loss to personal or others property, or other dangerous behaviors, etc.). Yes (30 points)

2. I have a history (more than one incident) of the above risky behaviors, and/ or of having obsessive thoughts and impulsive behaviors that have resulted in some negative consequences, (e.g., alcohol/ substance abuse, sexual promiscuity, speeding/ reckless driving, other aggressive impulses, resulting in motor vehicle crashes, falls, fires, near drowning, near suffocation, poisoning - incidents, assault, self-harm, damage or loss to personal or others property, or other dangerous behaviors, etc.).

Specify behavior(s): _________________________

Yes (10 points)

Scoring: The Addictions Recovery Measurement System utilizes an arbitrary, but standardized weighted classification process to assign different intensity levels of prognostic factors relative to each individuals test scores (e.g., Clinical Evaluation Guide: 10 points = High Risk with chronic & severe symptoms; 20 points = Moderate Risk with acute & moderate symptoms; and 30 points = Low Risk with no present acute symptoms, etc.). This method is used in an attempt to objectively measure, integrate, and systematize the collection, tabulation, interpretation, and graphical display of the ARMS screening instrument test results.

Behavior Risk Assessment (BRA) Tabulation Guide: (Example) 1. Substance Intake Screen: Nicotine Score = 30

Alcohol Score = 10

Illegal Drugs Score = 20

Caffeine Score = 10

(Divide by 4) 70 = 17.5

Score = 17.5 2. Eating Attitude Screen Score = 30 3. Exercise Pattern Screen Score = 30 4. Sleep Pattern Screen Score = 30 5. Sexual Practice Screen Score = 20 6. Pathological Gambling Screen Score = 20 7. Risky Behavior Screen Score = 10 (Score) divided by 7 multiplied by 3.33 Total Score =157.5 157.5 divided by 7 = 22.5 x 3.33 = 74.9

Cumulative PAG Score = 74.9

Prognostic Assessment Gauge (PAG) - Interpretive Guide:

___ Excellent = 80 to 100(e.g., optimal level of functioning, etc.)

75_ Good = 60 to 80(e.g., above satisfactory level of functioning w/ Mild symptoms)

___ Fair= 40 to 60(e.g., satisfactory level of functioning w/ Moderate symptoms, etc.)

___ Poor= 20 to 40(e.g., unsatisfactory level of functioning w/ Severe symptoms, etc.)

___ Guarded= 0 to 20(e.g., eminent danger to self or others, etc.)

The Prognostic Assessment Gauge (PAG) Score can be used to score just one or all twelve ARMS - screening instruments. It is utilized as an indication of how well an individual is coping at the present time. It summarizes an individuals overall psychological, social, and occupational functionability and may similarly represent an objective DSM-IV, Axis V - Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) score.

NOTE: Each individual item in the (10) high-risk category should be screened for further assessment.

Conclusion

Since successful treatment outcomes are dependent on thorough assessments, accurate diagnoses, and comprehensive individualized treatment planning, it is no wonder that repeated rehabilitation failures and low success rates are the norm instead of the exception in the addictions field, when the latest DSM-IV-TR does not even include a diagnosis for multiple addictive behavioral disorders. Treatment clinics need to have a treatment planning system and referral network that is equipped to thoroughly assess multiple addictive and mental health disorders and related treatment needs and comprehensively provide education/ awareness, prevention strategy groups, and/ or specific addictions treatment services for individuals diagnosed with multiple addictions. Written treatment goals and objectives should be specified for each separate addiction and dimension of an individuals life, and the desired performance outcome or completion criteria should be specifically stated, behaviora lly based (a visible activity), and measurable.

For more info see: Poly-Behavioral Addiction and the Addictions Recovery Measurement System (ARMS) at: /drslbdzn/Behavioral_Addictions.html

References

American Psychiatric Association: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision. Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Association, 2000, p. 787 & p. 731. American Society of Addiction Medicines (2003), Patient Placement Criteria for the Treatment of Substance-Related Disorders, 3rd Edition, Retrieved, June 18, 2005, from:

/ Arthur Aron, Ph.D., professor, psychology, State University of New York, Stony Brook; Helen Fisher, research professor, department of anthropology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J.; Paul Sanberg, Ph.D.,professor, neuroscience, and director, Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair,University of South Florida College of Medicine, Tampa; June 2005, the Journal of Neurophysiology Gorski, T. (2001), Relapse Prevention In The Managed Care Environment. GORSKI-CENAPS Web Publications. Retrieved June 20, 2005, from: Lienard, J. & Vamecq, J. (2004), Presse Med, Oct 23;33(18 Suppl):33-40. Morgan, G.D.; and Fox, B.J. Promoting Cessation of Tobacco Use. The Physician and Sports medicine. Vol 28- No. 12, December 2000. Slobodzien, J. (2005). Poly-behavioral Addiction and the Addictions Recovery Measurement System (ARMS), Booklocker.com, Inc., p. 5. Whitlock, E.P. Evaluating Primary Care Behavioral Counseling Interventions: An Evidence-based Approach. Am J Prev Med 200 2;22(4): 267-84. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Healthy People 2010 (Conference Edition). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office; 2000.

James Slobodzien, Psy.D. CSAC, is a Hawaii licensed psychologist and certified substance abuse counselor who earned his doctorate in Clinical Psychology. The National Registry of Health Service Providers in Psychology credentials Dr. Slobodzien. He has over 20-years of mental health experience primarily working in the fields of alcohol/ substance abuse and behavioral addictions in medical, correctional, and judicial settings. He is an adjunct professor of Psychology and also maintains a private practice as a mental health consultant.

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The Health Risks of Cigar Smoking 423

The Health Risks of Cigar Smoking

We have all heard of the risks associated with smoking cigarettes, but what are the risks of cigar smoking? Are the risks of smoking cigars just as dangerous, or more so? According to the National Cancer Instituted, regular cigar smoking can result in a major health threat. Scientific research has linked cigar smoking with cancers of the larynx, lungs, esophagus, and oral cavity. Newer research also indicates that cigar smoking may be strongly linked to the development of cancer in the pancreas. Doctors also caution that individuals who regularly inhale while enjoying a cigar are also at greater risk of developing lung disease and heart problems.

The health threats of cigar smoking appear to increase dramatically in those individuals who smoke regularly and inhale while smoking. Someone who smokes three to four cigars each day will him or herself at eight times the risk of developing some kind of oral cancer than a nonsmoker. Unfortunately, we do not yet know the health risks of smoking the occasional cigar. It seems clear however that smoking cigars on a daily basis can pose serious health risks.

Many individuals wonder if cigars are as addictive as cigarettes. Many wonder why, for instance, so many people become addicted to cigarettes, and not cigars? The truth is that any tobacco product can become addictive because it contains nicotine. Witness the effects of smokeless tobacco products on individuals. These products, such as chewing tobacco, can become very addictive, simply because they contain tobacco, which in turn contains nicotine. Many cigar smokers do not inhale deeply, thus causing the nicotine to be inhaled superficially. Cigarette smokers tend to inhale, causing the nicotine to be absorbed faster and more readily by the lungs. Even though most cigar smokers inhale the nicotine more superficially, it is still possible to become addicted if the user smokes cigars on a regular basis.

If nicotine is so addictive, why don't more cigar smokers smoke more often? It appears that more people avoid becoming 'hooked' on cigars for several reasons. The most obvious reason is that the nicotine is inhaled much more superficially than in regular cigarette smoking, causing less nicotine to be absorbed by the body. Also, cigars are not as readily accessible as cigarettes. They are viewed by most as a luxury item, saved for special occasions and used infrequently. However, when cigars are smoked on a regular basis, they can become addictive. The health risks of any kind of smoking increase dramatically as frequency of use increases.

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Are Herbal Diet Pills Right For You?

I took a few herbal diet pills in college once on a whim, and I didn’t eat anything for nearly two days afterwards. I also didn’t really get much sleep either. Anything that makes you wired like that and kills your appetite so completely just isn’t good for you.

While they were ‘ephedra free’ and were supposedly totally natural and safe, I don’t think I’d ever felt so polluted and ill in my life. A year later I discovered that the FDA had banned the same herbal diet pills I had taken, and I have to wonder what it was I had put in my body.

Herbal diet pills are very popular these days as an alternative to more traditional methods of weight loss like diet and exercise. Herbal treatments in general are very trendy today, which I find a little worrisome for several reasons.

First of all, just about anything can be in an herbal diet pill. ‘Herbs’ are a kind of loophole in the FDA system, as they are not classified as drugs and therefore don’t have the rigorous standards for testing and safety that drugs normally get.

Make no mistake about it though, herbs can be every bit as potent and harmful as drugs. The difference between medicinal herbs and drugs is really quite vague anyway, as most drugs themselves come from a kind of plant or herb.

Most of the time the ‘herbal’ classification doesn’t last very long; the FDA eventually calls it a drug and brings in the scientists. When that happens herbal diet pills often either become available only by prescription or are banned completely. Snooping around a little from site to site selling herbal diet pills, it is clear that the makers of these things are all too familiar with the FDA.

Many sites even use it to their advantage saying things to the effect of ‘buy it now before the FDA bans it!’. You have to ask yourself, if the FDA is likely going to ban an herbal diet pill you’re interested in, should you be taking it at all?

I took a few herbal diet pills in college once on a whim, and I didn’t eat anything for nearly two days afterwards. I also didn’t really get much sleep either. Anything that makes you wired like that and kills your appetite so completely just isn’t good for you.

While they were ‘ephedra free’ and were supposedly totally natural and safe, I don’t think I’d ever felt so polluted and ill in my life. A year later I discovered that the FDA had banned the same herbal diet pills I had taken, and I have to wonder what it was I had put in my body.

Anyway, just don’t be fooled by the word ‘herbal’ in an herbal diet pill. I would actually trust a regular diet pill that is FDA approved a lot more than some herbal diet pill concoction that has who knows what in it. The words herbal and natural are marketing ploys and should never be confused with the word safe unless there’s been some testing to prove it.

Proprioceptive Training A key to sports success

Lets talk a little bit about proprioception for a minute. Thats a $3 SAT word that means your bodys ability to react properly to external forces. For example: if you ride bulls for fun, you must have the ability to react to gravity and the changing forces of the bull to keep from being thrown off. Thats proprioception. But proprioception is also your ability to walk across a room without falling down.

One of the main components of proprioception is your kinesthetic sense. That is your ability to sense where your body is in space. But thats only one component unless your sport happens to involve standing or lying in space.

You must also be able to sense and control your bodys movements. Think of a gymnast showing perfect control as she throws herself about the parallel bars. The key here is the appropriate control of tension by your central nervous system.

Balance is also a key element to proprioception. You will not perform your sport very well if you fall down all the time. Balance is also a key to generating power as any martial artist will tell you. Balance in movement as occurs in walking or running, is a process of constantly and consciously losing your balance and regaining it quickly. The quicker you can regain your balance, the safer your movement.

Deliberate Proprioceptive training has normally been reserved for people who are in rehabilitation from injuries. Sports injuries in particular can leave decreased performance in the mechanoreceptors in the body. Exercises for balance and greater kinesthetic sense are usually prescribed.

The benefits of proprioceptive training to the healthy athlete are many. With increased balance athletes are less prone to injury. Athletes may also become quicker in athletic terms this mean they can change direction faster. Proprioceptive training helps them make more precise movements with less effort. Think about the martial artist throwing that jumping spinning wazzu butterfly kick now thats proprioception.

So, the benefits break down to safer, more efficient, quicker, and more precise movement. What athlete wouldnt want that?

To be fair, any type of training you do is already working your proprioception unless you are training for the sleep Olympics. Playing you sport itself is a functional integration of your proprioceptive skills. However, you may want to spend some time focusing on proprioceptive training to increase proprioception, then integrate that into your sport.

Like any kind of training, proprioceptive training should be challenging. This forces an adaptive response on your bodys central nervous system. This is much like lifting weights where most of the strength gains come from the nervous system and not from increasing muscle size. If all you ever do is lift light weights that arent challenging for you you arent going to get much stronger.

So, I can hear you asking, what exercises can I do for proprioceptive training?

Thats a great question. Let me tell you that there is an astounding array of exercises designed to increase proprioception. You know those big rubber stability balls that every gym has these days? Those are great for proprioception. There are also wobble boards, Styrofoam doo-hickies, and all sorts of crazy wobbly things designed to challenge your balance and core strength.

Certain yoga exercises are also designed to challenge balance, as are some forms of kettlebell lifting. To get some sport-specific proprioceptive training I suggest you check with a qualified fitness instructor.

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An Easy And Simple Golf Conditioning Program

Your body dictates your golfing ability. Theres no way around it. If youre fit, chances are youll play better golf. If youre not fit, chances are youll play poorly. While you should stay in shape all year round, the winter is great for starting a golf-specific fitness program. Regardless of age, gender, or playing level, participating consistently in a golf-specific exercise program pays dividends in your game and in your life.

A golf-specific conditioning program consists of resistance training, cardiovascular conditioning, and functional flexibility. Resistance training strengthens the core body the abs, low back, and hamstrings. Cardiovascular conditioning generates energy to play longer at peak performance. Functional flexibility enhances swing mechanics and shot execution. Together, these three components build strength, suppleness, and stamina. The also build confidence in yourself and your game.

Functional Flexibility

Flexibly is a key to a consistent golf swing. Recreational golfers often lack the flexibility to perform swing mechanics correctly. Instead, they compensate for it by making adjustments in their swing. They risk hitting a bad shot and injuring themselves. Adding flexibility exercises to your winter workout improves your swing mechanics and your shot execution.

The Lunge with a Twist Exercise combines the power in your lower body with the core rotational movement needed for maximum golf swing speed and distance. Use a medicine ball or a single dumbbell for this exercise.

Assume a standing position with your arms straight and hanging down in front of you, holding the dumbbell or the medicine ball.

As you step forward with one leg, rotate your upper body to the same side holding the medicine ball or the dumbbell chest high the whole time.

Return to the starting position and do the opposite leg.

Repeat each side 10 times for 3 sets.

This exercise improves rotational range of motion and strength. It also strengthens the core area of your body. The Seated Twist is an offshoot of this exercise. Instead of standing and lunging forward, you simply twist from side to side while sitting on a chair and holding a dumbbell chest high. This exercise can be done in your office.

The Straight Leg Rotational Hamstring Stretch stretches the hamstrings, hips, lower back, and mid-section. It trains the hamstrings, glutes, hips, lower back, obliques, and upper back muscles.

1. Begin by placing feet shoulder-width apart, extend arms overhead, and clasp hands together. Turn so that you are facing to one side.

2. Slowly extend arms toward the top of your shoes, keeping your legs straight.

3. Extend downward to your level of tolerance, pause slightly, and return to the starting position.

4. Rotate torso, shoulders, head, and arms to the other side.

5. Slowly extend arms toward your shoes, keeping your legs straight.

6. Reach downward to your own level of tolerance, pause slightly, and return to the starting position.

7. Return to the other side and repeat the same sequence, then return to the center position.

8. Perform 15 to 25 repetitions.

Yoga is also a good exercise for enhancing flexibility. PGA pro Jamie Mulligan includes Bikram Yoga in his conditioning program. Bikram Yoga involves making precise movements for 90 minutes in a superheated room. It keeps the body loose and supple, and strengthens concentration and focus

Resistance Training

Resistance training should be part of your winter conditioning program. When you improve strength, you improve control and balance. Also, strength training involves body awareness, muscular control, and coordinationall key elements for improved golf. When you do resistance training, you increase blood flow through a functional range of motion, and strengthen the tendons and ligaments in you bodys joints. In conjunction with a stretching program, strength training improves flexibility, not hinders it.

The strength-for-golf commponent of your program addresses your bodys core areathe abs, low back, and hamstrings. Contrary to popular belief, weight training does not cause you to lose feel.

A golf-specific conditioning program incorporates moderate weight, with medium (12-15) repetitions, and in a time frame of 30-45 minutes. This type of program is designed to improve your golf-specific strength and endurance, not build muscle. A typical strength training exercise includes

Leg Extensions

Leg Press

Leg Curl

Low Back

Abdominal

Rotary Torso

Double Chest

Super Pullover

Triceps

Biceps

Forearm

Four-way Neck

The Tire Exercise is a different type of resistance exercise. Invented by golfing great Henry Cotton, this simple exercise strengthens the arm and wrist muscles and helps you judge swing speed.

Take your normal stance with the tire positioned as the ball. Employing a normal grip use a quarter swing to hit the back of the tire, moving the club head as fast as possible. The pitch of the swishing noise and the sound of the clubs impact are your speed indicators. The loudest crack at impact is heard when the clubhead is released properly. Do 3 sets of 15 to 20 swings. Then turnaround and do it from the left side.

Aerobic Conditioning

Improving your cardiovascular system boosts energy. It also increases stamina and focus. Waking, biking, stair stepping, running, and swimming are all good cardiovascular exercises. Since golfers walk a lot, many focus on it as their main cardiovascular workout. A cardiovascular program incorporating 20-30-minutes of walking at an intensity 10- to 15-percent higher than when you walk a course works well for most golfers.

Using the winter to get in shape pays dividends. It improves your golf game, enhances your quality of life, and builds self-confidence. Instead of being depressed this winter because the season is over, start a golf-specific conditioning program to get yourself ready for the spring.

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All About The Chinese Diet Green Tea: Good For Diet?

Did you know that during the Boston Tea Party, the tea that was dumped into the harbor was mostly Chinese green tea? Well, this delightful beverage has been around for thousands of years and has been part of the Chinese diet since the ancient times. Today, it is highly appreciated for its advantages. As numerous studies have found out, the Chinese diet green tea has a significant number of health benefits.

Origin and Background

As noted, Chinese green tea has been around for thousands of year, approximately 4,000 years. Legend has it that this delightful brew was discovered accidentally by a Chinese emperor. It comes from the same plant, Camellia Sinensis, as traditional black tea and oolong tea. And, for centuries, Chinese medicine has used it to treat headaches, digestive problems, lack of energy, and immune enhancement.

The Chinese diet green tea is actually produced by steaming the fresh tea leaves at high temperatures, leaving a significant part of the nutritional enzyme content intact. Unlike the black and oolong tea, the green tea is never fermented. Instead, its leaves bypass the fermenting process and steamed, baked or pan heated. The leaves are rolled and those tightly rolled leaves have long been considered as a sign of quality.

Chinese Diet Green Tea for Weight Loss

One particular claim that linked the Chinese green tea to diet is its being a miracle tea for weight loss. Well, there is no such thing as a “miracle” weight loss food or drug though, but several indications were revealed that Chinese green tea brings a number of benefits to those trying to lose weight.

It was revealed that green tea extracts are capable of reducing fat digestion by inhibiting digestive enzymes. Other studies have shown that green tea has thermogenic properties, which are probably brought on by the interaction between its caffeine content and catechin polyphenols. As you may know, thermogenesis is the process of the body burning fuel without making chemical energy.

Experts have said that of combined with the other weight loss supplements or techniques, the Chinese green tea could be an excellent addition to your diet.

Other Benefits

There are also other benefits connected with the intake of Chinese diet green tea. One of those is the claim that the polyphenols found in green tea have been shown to inhibit growth of cancer cells. The polyphenols appear to block the formation of cancer-causing compounds, and it is believed that the Chinese diet green tea has the greatest benefit on cancers of the gastrointestinal tract.

The Chinese diet green tea polyphenols are also powerful anti-oxidants. They are even more powerful than vitamin C and vitamin E, and more powerful than that found in many fruits and vegetables. The green tea itself contains vitamin C.

Further researches even found out that the compounds in green tea stimulate immune system cells. In recent years, research has shown that green tea may reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke. It is even good for the teeth as it contain fluoride that helps fight tooth decay.

Having said all these, I think that now is the right time to brew up a bit of Chinese diet green teas for a beneficial break in your day.

Mudras Hand Symbolism Mudra Power Part 2

[Note: This paper contains images which may be seen as originally published at our website]

What Would Occur During Practice?

Having described briefly the effects of mudras, their theory and practice, it is important that some knowledge regarding the actual occurrences during practice be known as these might cause some unnecessary alarm and consternation. Below we list some points that are likely to occur during mudras practices and should be understood as a natural result of the generation, accumulation and flow of the Shakti principle:

Warm sweat--this is a good sign. It means that the body is undergoing a cleansing and healing process.

Swaying and rotation of the body--this shows that the body's attunement with the influx of the invoked energies is taking place.

Hands moving and resting at various chakra points--this is the result of energy being channeled into specific parts of the body.

Hands moving and resting at various layers of the biofield--this indicates that certain areas of the aura is being cleansed or being magnetized.

Hands moving in an up and downward chopping movement--this is one of the signs that the nadis or subtle channels are being opened and unblocked, or that the aura is being cleansed.

Hands moving in a forward-backward movement--same as above.

Hands moving left to right--same as above.

Hands moving in circles or ellipses--same as above.

Hands moving in arcs or in figure-eights--same as above.

Hands moving erratically or with other definite patterns--same as above.

Hands vibrating intensely--same as above.

Sudden jerks of the hands--same as above.

A strong sense of energy surrounding the hands and body--this is a sign of a build-up of cosmic forces in the body.

A sensation of warmth, tingling, and power in various parts of the body--same as above.

A sense of tingling, and energy flowing throughout the whole body--this means that the nadi channels have been purified to a certain degree and that energy now flows freely without any obstructions in its path.

Movement of the head--a sign that the energies have moved up to the head to clean the energy pathways.

Cold sweat--this is an indication of circulatory problems. Cease mudra practices for the time being until the body regains a certain degree of health. Physical gymnastics at this point would help.

Breaking up of hand formation--this shows that the body has absorbed enough energy for the time being or that it is being overcharged. Whatever happens here just go with the flow.

Yawning and belching--this denotes that stagnant chi (prana), or energy is being removed.

Spontaneous pranayama, or control of the life-force flowing with the breath--this shows that the Shakti flowing in the body has taken control over the respiratory processes and as a result, the mind may slowly undergo a transformation and the awareness-principle will be heightened. Should spontaneous pranayama occur, one finds oneself doing kumbhaka (the retention of the breath) effortlessly and naturally.

Activity of inner perception or the manifestation of psychic visions, sounds, etc.--this signifies that the contents of the subconscious mind is being cleansed of all dross. During this process visions of gods and demons may occur, landscapes may be seen, unusual sounds heard.

Jerking movements of the body like a frog-leaping as though levitation were to take place.

Experiencing negative emotional states of anger, hatred, etc.--this is caused by the Shakti force purifying sushumna, or the central channel of the etheric body corresponding to the spine. All of our karmas, traumas, pain, and emotional feelings of our past and present lives are lodged there and when Shakti encounters them she releases and expels their crystallizations and the psyche temporarily re-experiences them. Positive feelings of bliss, joy, and mirth are also lodged in sushumna and these may likewise be experienced.

If one were standing while doing the mudras, one might suddenly feel an inner force taking over and the movements of the hands, feet and limbs in a dance is a possibility as iconically displayed by Shiva in the Cosmic dance.

It should be noted that all of these sensations and hand-movements are temporary and represent certain phases of pranic or energy influence. The motions may start out strongly at first in early sessions but later evolve to graceful movements or even to stillness. Convulsions and spasms are common manifestations of the activities of energies within the subtle and physical bodies. These are positive signs so let them happen. Yoga kriyas such as bandhas, and the types of mudra processes mentioned in the yogic text Gheranda Samhita may likewise happen naturally. Spontaneous occurrences of these are safe--much safer than doing the yogic exercises through your own conscious volition and forcing their manifestation. If none of the above are observed during practice, a knowledgeable spiritual Guru may empower the disciple at his own discretion so that progress may proceed at a greater pace.

Whatever spontaneous movements or yogic processes occur are necessary and appropriate for you. The Shakti energy that flows through you knows what to do to spiritualize and transform your whole being. Shakti is an evolutionary force and she will lift you up to greater heights if you will let her. When Shakti flows through your being you may find yourself spontaneously practicing all of the yoga systems. For instance, you may find yourself withdrawing your senses and focusing within to your Higher Self, as in Raja Yoga; find yourself emanating an overflowing love for Nature and all life, as in Bhakti Yoga; or even acquiring divine knowledge effortlessly, as in Jnana Yoga. One may even find oneself chanting as in Mantra Yoga.

Do not be startled or afraid of the movements that occur naturally without your conscious volition or direction. You can exert your will at any moment to stop them if you wish; however, by doing so you will be hampering the occult work that is being done to you by the presence of the spiritual force. It would be best to let it run its course. Only in this manner will you reap the full benefit of mudra practices.

There are many stories of spiritual practitioners experiencing spasms and involuntary movements of the body and hands while engaging in meditation. One of the spiritual messengers of God referred to as "the Seal of the Prophets" is an instance:

One day while meditating in a cave at Mt. Hira, Muhammad, the future Prophet of Islam was said to have shivered uncontrollably. This occurred when a voice commanded him to "recite" or "read." Replying to the voice that he was unable to do so, he was instantly seized by a spiritual presence (Shakti) that was previously sensed to be in his vicinity (forcefield).

What was the real nature of the Prophet's experience? Were the convulsions that he experienced symptomatic of an unusual energy flowing throughout his body? What were the spiritual yogic exercises that he was engaged in that brought about such an experience? Did he make use of mudras, or any other esoteric practices? It is said that the Prophet was a "widow's son." In esoteric language this refers to an initiate of the Mystery Schools; the latter was called a "widow" after the goddess Isis lost her husband, Osiris, to the machinations of their brother Set, who is the personification of evil and materialism. Isis was the symbol of the Mysteries. In these mystical schools spiritual disciplines and practices were taught to the initiate. Mudras were undoubtedly one of the many teachings given. After mastering the teachings and attaining a higher level of consciousness, the initiate would emerge out of the womb of Isis and become Horus, the would-be slayer of his evil uncle.

Mudras & Spirituality

It is vital to keep in mind that the sensations, effects ,and powers that mudras help unfold are not an end in themselves--they are simply a means to an end. They are tools that may support us to achieve Self-Realization. Evolving to a higher state of awareness or experiencing oneness with All That Is should be our primary aim. Other motives are just baubles that should be given up. Mudras, meditation, or any other religious discipline when exercised for the sake of acquiring the gifts of the spirit is not spiritual work nor is it spirituality. Offering unsolicited advice is not spirituality; predicting people's future is not spirituality; perpetuating a sense of mortality and helplessness in people is not spirituality; causing others to maintain materialistic attitudes is not spirituality. To seek the Giver rather than the gift is spirituality; to give of oneself without thought of self is spirituality; to cease forcing one's desires, or imposing one's will upon others i s spirituality. So long as the sense of separation exists, the sense of duality, the illusion that we are separated from everything else, we shall never attain the state of true spirituality where only divine love is the law. The "heresy" of dualism in one's mental conception and spiritual blindness is what prolongs the "sleep of the ages" where one is ignorant, unaware, and unresponsive to the eternal Truth of Oneness.

Spirituality has many expressions, however, none of them have anything to do with acquiring or vainly displaying psychic powers. Initiates are not always psychic or magickally powerful, but they are sensitive to inspiration, to spiritual impulses emanating from celestial spheres and the Spirit within. Those that ambitiously seek psychic powers and abilities for self-centered purposes normally end up shackled in the astral realm where they become the playthings of malicious spirits. It is much wiser to first purify the mind, body, and soul of all negative energies, congestions, sense of limitations, and blockages and developing the love-wisdom-intelligence aspect of the soul before embarking on any psychic development. Without the proper spiritual and moral preparation we would be deluded, deceived and entrapped by wayward psychic forces. Mudras are definitely a help on the Path of Purification, but it should be accompanied by other practices and studies that awakens the h eart, and the acquisition of esoteric knowledge and wisdom.

Preparation

Empowering the Hand

There are energy points in the hands and fingers just as there are all over the physical/etheric bodies. Called chakras (lit."wheels") in Yoga philosophy, these vortexes of energy may be detected and their existence verified in various ways. Perhaps the most simple method is to directly feel them in one's hands. This requires a certain amount of sensitivity though, which may be acquired through an exercise that we will provide below.

Pendulums may also be used for detection. Hold a pendulum (any sort will do) in your right hand and hold it above the palm of the left hand. Watch it slowly move in circles. The swing may be clockwise or counterclockwise depending upon the flow of the energy from the palm whether it is outwards or inwards. The circumference and velocity of the swing indicates the size and activity of the chakra. At various points of the fingertips the pendulum might swing too indicating the presence of a minor chakra.

As related to Mudra-Vidya, or the "Science of Mudras," what sort of unfoldment or empowerment do the hands require? What sort of preparation is necessary for the successful performance of mudras?

First of all it would be helpful to massage the hands often so that they would be flexible enough to assume the positions of the mudras. Most of the mudras are easy to do; some, however, may require isometric exercises of the hands as a preparation. Flex your hands often--bend it, contract/relax it, stretch the fingers, and massage them. This would create a greater flexibility in the hands and would be conducive to a better performance of the mudras and enhance the circulation of blood. Massage of the hands after mudra practices is also suggested to help circulation of the blood and remove stiffness.

Those with short, stubby hands may have some problems doing certain mudras, unlike individuals with long slender fingers that palmistry identify as "philosophical" and "psychic." However, subjects with short fingers normally are not the type that would be interested in yoga, spiritual training, or mudras; logically speaking, as the person reading this series of articles is intent in developing spirituality, they should not encounter any obstacle practicing the mudras or executing the forms.

The next essential step is to empower the hands to increase the sensitivity, activity and size of the hand/finger chakras. This may be done through such exercises as the focused attention upon the palm of the hands and the fingertips. This particular exercise enlarges the hand chakras so that there may be a greater stream of energies flowing bi-directionally according to need. To carry-out this exercise follow these steps:

1) Focus upon each fingertip for about a minute each. Feel them tingling and vibrating. Begin with one hand and then move on to the other.

2) Now concentrate upon the palm of either hand for about 3 minutes and then move on to the palm of the other hand. Feel as though a flower were blossoming in your palms.

Do this every day for about 40 days during which time the size of the chakras should be permanently extended and greater sensitivity achieved. In the meantime, it would be permissible to commence mudra practices simultaneously with the hand-empowerment exercise.

Meditation Pose and Inner Tranquility

Generally, most of the mudras may be done while seated in a chair, cross-legged, or standing. Certain mudras may call for specific body-positions. If you are knowledgeable on Hatha yoga and flexible enough, you may assume the various asanas or body positions while practicing mudras such as, "Padmasana," "Siddhasana," and "Vajrasana."

Before commencing mudra-exercises, the practitioner would reap the most benefit by first relaxing the mind and body so that a certain degree of inner tranquility may be attained. Any relaxing method taught in occult schools may be employed; one may use contraction of the muscles, perhaps even coupled with visualization and auto-suggestion--the point is that the physical body and mind should be deeply relaxed so that they may not hamper the energy-flow coursing through the subtle channels.

Mantras, or Words of Power

Mudras may be accompanied by chanting and vibrating certain bija (seed)-mantras (words-of-power) that stimulates/activates the chakras and enlarge the subtle channels, or otherwise affect the psycho-physical body in some metaphysical way. Whenever possible, appropriate mantras would be given in association with the mudras in the following papers of this Mudra series. Chanting may be verbal or mental--directions will be given for this.

Seed-mantras should be vibrated strongly as you chant them so that the power of the mantra would be felt in the various psychic centers. Vibrating the mantras does not imply raising the volume of your voice, it implies chanting the words-of-power in a peculiar way so that the vibes are felt palpably in the microcosm; some seed-mantras requires right intonation.

Breathing Exercises and Visualization

Pranayama, or the art of controlling the life-force through rhythmic or specialized breathing, may be engaged in while simultaneously doing the mudras. Some mudras may specifically call for a certain breathing technique. Generally, though, if instructions are not given, breathing should be allowed to flow naturally without any conscious direction. Visualization may be employed to support specialized breathing. Cosmic energy may be visualized as a brilliant silver, white, or gold force--each of these colors do have their specific properties. You may experiment to feel the sensation and know the effects of each of these forces. As a general rule, always inhale as you visualize energy flowing into you, exhale as you channel energy to a certain object, area, or space.

In the following papers of these series, an extensive amount of mudras of various traditions will be presented for practical application.

Copyright 2006 Luxamore

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