This is another great article I would like to share from Susan Weed.

Seaweed is an everyday miracle. The benefits of including seaweed’s optimum nourishment into your daily diet are extensive: increased longevity, enhanced immune functioning, revitalization of the cardiovascular, endocrine, digestive, and nervous systems, and relief from minor aches and pains. No wonder seaweed has been part of the traditional diet of all coastal cultures, including the people of Japan, Korea, China, Iceland, Denmark, Wales, Scotland, Hawaii, and the South Pacific Islands, and all the people who had trading contacts with the coastal cultures.

All seaweeds are high in fiber. Those in the brown family supply large amounts of algin as well. Each seaweed contains a wide range of essential nutrients, including enzymes, nucleic acids, amino acids, minerals, trace elements, and A, B, C, D, E, and K vitamin complexes. Seaweeds offer us zest for life and the perfect medium for electrical nerve flow.

Benefits from a wise woman alliance with seaweed – glossier hair, more luminous skin, less digestive distress, renewed energy and stamina, rekindled sexual desires, and reawakened delight in life – will be noticeable in about 13 weeks.

SEAWEED IS AN ALLY WITH LOTS OF HEART

Seaweed is an ally with lots of heart. Dancing, singing seaweed strengthens circulation, balances blood pressure, lowers cholesterol, builds healthy blood, increases the veins and hearts contractile force, restores and increases cardiac efficiency, nourishes and prolongs the life of the heart muscle, and encourages rhythmical working of the heart in all its aspects: physical, emotional, and inspirational.

How can weeds with so much sodium (we all know salt raises blood pressure) be good for the heart and even hypotensive – that is, capable of lowering blood pressure~

DID YOU KNOW~

Sodium is not to blame for high blood pressure. Sodium chloride may be. Table salt may be. But table salt contains sugar, aluminum salts, and several other agents as well as sodium chloride. This is an unnatural salt solution and one that creates cardiovascular stress. The naturally occurring sodium in seaweeds (and garden weeds) bathes the inner being with rich salty nourishment, like the amniotic fluid of our original home. This sodium relieves tension in blood vessels made brittle by immersion in the wrong saline solution, table salt. (Note that commercial sea salt is usually as full of free flowing agents and other addenda as commercial table salt. Real evaporated seawater salt is pinkish in color. As usual, if it’s white, you can’t trust it.)

Seaweed is a wonderful green ally to use with other Wise Woman ways when healing those with problems of the heart and circulation including atherosclerosis, hypertension, chilly extremities, varicosities, heart infections, repressed feelings, and self blame.

SEAWEED IS A WAY TO GET YOUR JUICES FLOWING

Daily use of seaweed provides optimum nourishment for the hormonal, lymphatic, urinary, and nervous systems. The hormonal system uses minerals and trace elements so richly available from seaweed to repair tissue, build new cells, and create hormones responsible for regulating blood pressure, metabolism, fertility, sexuality, and reaction to allergens, to name but a few.

The lymphatic and immune systems are avid partakers of seaweed’s splendid feast of nutrients. Combined with this optimum nourishment, the communication enhancing effects of seaweed further enhance response time and strength in the immune system. This reduces opportunist bacterial and viral infections and helps prolong youth and vitality, not to mention joy and ease in life.

The urinary system gets a special boost from seaweed’s seeming excess of potassium and sodium. Those with cystitis, kidney weakness, gout diabetic kidney ills, and bladder weakness find health / wholeness / holiness with seaweed and Wise Woman Ways.

The nervous system relaxes in the presence of seaweed’s mineral abundance. Seaweed creates an inner environment where nerve signals flow more smoothly and where brain chemicals are produced as needed: to maintain alertness, increase memory, reduce pain, and provide a sense of buoyant bliss. (Envision the head sized floats of kelp bobbing on a gently undulating sea.)

SEAWEED IS A GUT GREASER

Seaweed provides a multitude of gifts to the digestive system: soothing, disinfecting, and nourishing distressed surfaces, helping out with the metabolism of lipids, and maintaining a healthy balance of digestive yeasts and bacteria in the intestines.

Seaweed is an exceptional ally to the wise woman healing those with gastric ulcers, duodenal ulcers, ulcerated colon, colitis, constipation, watery stools, and other intestinal ills, thanks to its bio-available nourishment, high algin content, mucilaginous fiber, and rhythmical resonation.

SEAWEED IS AN ALLY IN WOMEN’S MYSTERIES

Seaweed flows and shifts like the energy of a woman. Saline solutions of ocean and uterus rock in rhythm. Pulses of tide, menstruation, heartbeat, and fertility join seaweeds and wombs. Nourishing breast milk merges with waves of green fronds.

Seaweed eaten daily is a powerful ally to a wise woman for, prevention and healing herself or others with osteoporosis, breast cancer, mastitis, uterine cancer, irregular menstrual cycles, ovarian cancer, fibroids, ovarian cysts, infertility, fibro-cystic breast distress, and pre-menstrual / menopausal problems such as water retention, emotional freak-outs, chills and hot flashes, fatigue, lack of lubrication, loss of calcium and general irritability.

SEAWEED IS A GREAT WAY TO STAY IN SHAPE

By providing optimum nourishment to the thyroid, helping to regulate metabolism, and increasing the effectiveness of the digestive system, seaweed helps you get in shape and stay that way.

SEAWEED PROPERTIES AND USES

~ Protective – anti-radiation, anti-cancer, anti-oxidant, anti-toxic, anti-rheumatic, antibiotic, antibacterial, alterative.

~ Nutritive – trace mineral supplement, cardio-tonic, rejuvenative, aphrodisiac.

~ Mucilaginous – Emollient, demulcent, aperient, anti-constipative, diuretic.

~ Anti-stress- Analgesic, calmative, anti-pyretic.

CULINARY DELIGHTS!!!

Bladderwrack Tea

~ Gently simmer a handful of fucus for 15 minutes in enough water to cover. OR, fill a quart jar only full with dried bladderwrack; add boiling water to completely fill the jar
~ Cap and let steep overnight.
~ Next morning, strain (give the seaweed to the nearest patch of earth), warm and enjoy, seasoned to your taste!

Mother Earth Ocean Soup

3 onions, chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
6 potatoes, cubed
2 carrots, sliced
2 parsnips, sliced
cup dried or fresh wild greens
cup dried seaweed of your choice
12 cups pure water.

~ Sauté onions in oil until brown.
~ Add all the remaining ingredients and cook until vegetables are done.
~ Adjust seasonings adding sea salt as needed and let mellow overnight or serve immediately.

Green and Purple Salad

4 cups of watercress
1 cup dulse pieces
1 cup goat cheese
Olive oil and lemon at table for dressing

~ Tear watercress and dulse into pieces.
~ Arrange on 4 plates of brilliant hue.
~ Sprinkle with crumbled goat cheese.
~ Dress with oil and lemon. (Voila!)

Carrot, Onion, Hijiki

Cup dried hijiki
1 cup warm water
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions crescent cut
2 carrots diagonal cut
1 tablespoon tamari

~ Soak hijiki in water about 20-30 minutes.
~ Cut onions in half from top to bottom, then cut into slices.
~ Cook onions in oil until very brown.
~ Put the carrots in an even layer over the onions.
~ Top with a layer of hijiki.
~ Add tamari and about half of the soaking water and cover pan tightly.
~ Cook until the carrots are tender.

Rare and Common Soup

8 shitake mushroom (if unavailable use any mushroom)
1 cup dried fucus (bladderwrack)
hot water as needed
6 cups pure water
1 teaspoon garlic oil
6 oz soba noodles
1 tablespoon tamari or miso

~ Soak shitake and seaweed separately in hot water for 30 minutes.
~ Reserve the liquid when draining.
~ Slice shitake caps, saving the stalks for later use.
~ Bring the 6 cups water to a boil and add seaweed, garlic oil, reserved soaking liquid (minus any grit that settles to the bottom), and the noodles.
~ Cook uncovered at high heat until seaweed is soft.
~ Add tamari or miso after removing soup from heat and serve.

Anne’s Marinated Hijiki

1 cup dried hijiki
3 cups hot water
4 cups sliced celery
2 cups bean sprouts
4 cups bok choy

Dressing:

4 oz. dark sesame oil
4 tablespoons tamari
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
fresh ginger to taste

~ Soak the hijiki in the hot water and cut the celery and bok choy meanwhile.
~ When hijiki is tender to the tooth, drain it well and combine with everything else – dressing too!
~ Stir well and refrigerate overnight.
~ Any crisp vegetables may also be used in this marinade like sunchokes, water chestnuts, burdock stalk pith, cattail roots and so on.

Acupuncture is an ancient system of healthcare that has been used to treat pain, illness, and various dysfunctions within the body. These conditions occur when the body has an imbalance or blockage of Chi some where along a meridian, which is a lengthy topic in an of itself. Basically there are 12 meridians on each side of the body. These meridians are named for the organ which they influence or course through. I recommend that you research the meridians in detail.

We commonly think of acupuncture being used to relieving pain. It has also been found to be effective in addressing nausea associated with pregnancy and chemotherapy, asthma, cardiac disease, menstrual problems, genitourinary problems, neurological dysfunctions, smoking addiction, and weight loss to name a few.

I personally have tired acupuncture for various conditions and found the results to be quiet positive, specifically weight loss, back pain, and smoking cessation. I would encourage anyone to try this ancient

The Native Americans made tea out of the roots to be used as a diuretic, to treat rheumatism, gout, reduce fevers, colds, diarrhea, respiratory disorders and even impotence. It also has apparent uses as a sedative and stimulates perspiration and sweating. It was utilized to flush the bladder and kidneys with increased urine flow and removing gravel/stones and accumulated toxins from these organs.

As with any alternative treatment you should consult a physician prior to using, especially if it will be taken in conjunction with prescription medications. If any of you have tried Joe Pye Weed I would be very interested in hearing of your experiences.

Susun S. Weed is the voice of the Wise Woman tradition, where healing is nourishing. She is known internationally as an extraordinary teacher with a joyous spirit, a powerful presence, and an encyclopedic knowledge of herbs and health. For more than thirty years she has opened hearts to the magic and medicine of the green nations, restoring herbs as women’s common medicine, and empowering women to care for themselves.

Susun S. Weed has no official diplomas of any kind; she left high school in her junior year to pursue studies in mathematics and artificial intelligence at UCLA and she left college in her junior year to pursue life.

Susun began studying herbal medicine in 1965 when she was living in Manhattan while pregnant with her daughter, Justine Adelaide Swede.

She wrote her first book — Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year (now in its 29th printing)– in 1985 and published it as the first title of Ash Tree Publishing in 1986.

It was followed by Healing Wise (1989), New Menopausal Years the Wise Woman Way (1992 and revised in 2002), and Breast Cancer? Breast Health! The Wise Woman Way (1996).

In addition to her writing, Ms Weed trains apprentices, oversees the work of more than 300 correspondence course students, coordinates the activities of the Wise Woman Center, and is a High Priestess of Dianic Wicca, a member of the Sisterhood of the Shields, and a Peace Elder.

Susun Weed is a contributor to the Routledge International Encyclopedia of Women’s Studies, peer- reviewed journals, and popular magazines, including a regular column in Sagewoman.

Her worldwide teaching schedule encompasses herbal medicine, ethnobotany, pharmacognosy, psychology of healing, ecoherbalism, nutrition, and women’s health issues and her venues include medical schools, hospital wellness centers, breast cancer centers, midwifery schools, naturopathic colleges, and shamanic training centers, as well as many conferences.

Susun appears on many television and radio shows, including National Public Radio and NBC News.

The intent of this article it to identify medicinal mushrooms, which have shown to have significant immune-stimulating properties. The main mushrooms that I’ve been able to identify with immune-stimulating properties are, cordyceps, coriolus, shiitake, maitake and reishi,. If you maintain a strong immune system you are far less likely to get colds or flu. They can be used both preventively and during an illness. Unlike many immune-boosting herbs, mushrooms do not seem to lose their effectiveness with prolonged use. I personally use and recommend that you include one or more of these mushroom varieties in your weekly diet.

If you search the web you can find a number of places to purchase organically grown mushrooms. I personally purchase a number of the mentioned varieties at a local Chinese food store. To order on-line, check out GMHP Health Products and Mushroom Science.

I have also read a number of articles that discuss how some mushrooms that are also used for the treatment of tumors and certain type of cancers.

How do we know if we are suffering the affects of depression? The symptoms are often subtle and difficult for an individual to recognize. There are signs that you or loved may noticed, which I will list a few:

• Feelings of   hopelessness or sad.
• Find no pleasure in things you do.
• Feeling down or discouraged.
• No or low energy levels.
• Losing or gaining weight.
• Sleeping to much or not enough.
• Being restless and tired all the time.
• Feeling unworthy or guilty for no reason.
• Difficulties with concentrating, remembering, or decision making.
• Thoughts of death or suicide.

So what can I do? First and foremost if you are suffering several of the symptoms above, immediately bring this to the attention of your physician.  He or she can help by administering medication and/or referring  you to a professional counselor. I strongly encourage you to seek professional counseling regardless of the treatment being provide by your physician. So you ask, is there anything I can do without taking medications?  The answer is yes and a counselor most likely will recommend some of these alternatives, which I would like to share below:

• Exercise is a must. I recommend going outside a taking a 30 minute walk. You should walk daily, at least three times a week at a minimum.
• Drink fluids that are clear and avoid dark colored fluids such as soda and coffee.
• Start a Journal and write in it daily. I recommend that you write down exactly what you did throughout the daily and include why. This helps get things off your mind and may even help identify what is causing your depression.

In short, here are a few other ideas that may help:

• Eat a nutritional diet.
• Pray
• Get plenty of sleep.
• Set realistic goals that you can achieve. Take charge, as difficult as it may be, and ensure you don’t ignore your responsibilities  to your better half and  children.
• Relaxation is a must. You may want to consider Yoga or other meditation techniques.
• Get out of your rut and routine and find something different to do.

This is a short article with some good recommendations. However, don’t ignore the serious signs of depression and seek professional help. In closing I would like to recommend you married folks reading the following books. Your you gals, pick up a book titled ” For Better or For Best” and you guys should pick up a book titled  “If Only He Knew”. Remember, just don’t pick them up, read them.

We got on the subject of getting older and the aliments that accompany age, such as arthritis and feeling run down. Immediately, he told me that I should be drinking pine leaf tea. The tea has many benefits; cleans the veins, increases your strength and vitality and helps in reversing or slowing the aging process. It is also know to reduce or eliminate symptoms of asthma, bronchitis and other respiratory & digestive disorders. The pine leaf tea is believed to be beneficial in the majority of human diseases.

How To Prepare Pine Tea

.1) Collect fresh and green needles and wash.

.2) Cut the needles (leaves) into small pieces

.3) Place one cup of the small needles in a pan.

.4) Pour 3 quarts of water into pan.

.5) Let the tea steep for about two hours (until the water turns brownish in color).

When you make tea, you want the water “HOT” but not boiling. You need to experiment with the amount of needles required and how much water is added to obtain an acceptable taste. This tea is not the best tasting but has many health benefits.

Celery is rich in vitamin C and a number of amino acids. Best of all, it contains almost zero calories.

Here are some of the other benefits that I ran across while researching Celery:

· Reduces blood pressure and cholesterol

· Bladder and kidney problems

· Prevention of Cancer

· Improves immune system

· Cardiovascular

· Relief from migraines

• Killing germs, viruses, bacteria, fungi and yeast
• Enhancing oxygen to the brain
• Increasing vitality
• Strengthening the benefits of sleep
• Speeding recovery times from stress, illness and trauma
• Healing wounds

Do you know that most age related health problems can be attributed to oxygen deficiency? By increasing oxygenation you may undo years of damage done by stress, free radicals and lack of oxygen. I found it interesting the amount of information you can find on this subject. The information I have provided in this article is intended to help you think outside the box and pursue other ideas on improving your health. I always recommend that you consult with a medical practitioner. If you are serious about the health benefits of improved “Breathing”, I encourage you to search the Manfred Von Ardenne and Framingham studies.

This article is a brief summary of various methods of natural healing.

Acupressure

I am sure the majority of you have heard of acupuncture. Acupressure is similar, you use finger or hand pressure instead of needles, both stimulate what Chinese practitioners call chi – the body’s basic healing energy.

Acupressure is known to be more powerful than acupuncture for relieving everyday aches, pains and stress. Some of the most common complaints healed by acupressure are headaches, backaches, sinus pain, neck pain, eyestrain and menstrual cramps. It is also well known for reducing pain of ulcers, help sports related injuries, relieve insomnia and alleviate constipation and other digestive problems.

One of the great things about acupressure is that you can do it yourself and it doesn’t cost you a penny. All you need is your hands and some basic knowledge. Acupressure is simple and very safe to practice, the only thing you can do wrong is being to aggressive in the area of treatment. The traditional Chinese practitioners have said that your body has channels, called meridians that connect the body’s chi, or energy. If disturbed, the energy flow through them is too slow or too fast, too turbulent or too static. The body is then know as being out of balance. Acupressure is then utilized to restore chi to a state of balance or unblock the energy that flows through your body, which then allows your body to heal itself.

Acupressure is one techniques that has a lot of varieties. Here are six of the main varieties of acupressure: (1) Do-in, (2) Acu-yoga, (3) Jin Shin Jyutsu, (4) Shiatsu, (5) Zen shiatsu, and (6) Barefoot shiatsu. I personally utilize acupressure and have found it to be very effective. I strongly encourage everyone to take the time to research the healing method in more detail.

Acupuncture

Acupuncture is a part of Chinese medicine that stretches back at least 3,000 years. It is often used in conjunction with herbal medicine, dietary changes and relaxation techniques. It is used t treat illness, reduce pain and manage chronic conditions. It is believed to promote good health through preventive measures.

Acupuncture uses very fine needles, pressure, heat and exercise to restore or redirect energy. During this type of treatment, our bodies natural painkillers, called endorphins are released along with other chemicals. It has an antidepressant effect, improves lung capacity, boost the immune system and may enhance circulation. It some areas it is used as an anesthesia and treatment for alcoholism and drug addictions.

There is three kinds of energy (yin, ynag and qi) asis the belief that 12 main meridians run through the body. These meridians carry an energy force that affects the workings of our internal organs and tissues. There is nearly 1000 designated points in this treatment.

Aromatherapy

Aromatic plants have played an important role in maintaining health for thousand of years. In ancient times they infused fragrant oils for massage, bathing and medicine, burned incense in ceremonies and used cedar oil to embalm the dead. The essential oils of plants are extracted through distilling and squeezing. It is not greasy, more like water in texture, evaporates quickly and penetrates the skin easily.

It is know that the odors we smell have a significant impact on the way we feel and has a direct effect on brain activity. To experience the mood-altering power of scent, you can simple add several drops of essential oil to your bath or place several drops on a scent ring, which is place on a warm light blub. If you would like a longer-lasting scent in your room, use an aroma lamp, porcelain or clay pot in which oils are mixed with water and heated over a candle. They now have an electric aromatic diffuser, which reduces essential oils to a fine spray and disperse the scent throughout your room.

I would recommend that you explore the benefits of aromatherapy at home by utilizing a few inexpensive oils.

Citrus Oils: to dispel a somber mood, use lemon, lime, orange and grapefruit oils.

Floral Oils: great for stress relief.

Lavender: essential to have, great for relaxing and stress relief. It also soothes cuts,

bruises and insect bites.

Peppermint: a mental stimulant and a drop with honey to make a herbal tea will ease

intestinal discomfort.

Rosemary: invigorating for low-energy.

Tea Tree: antiseptic to speed healing. This is one I use on a regular basis.

Relaxation Therapies

Many of the relaxation therapies can be self-administered. It is effective in reducing stress, which can lower blood pressure and improve your immune functioning. It has also shown the ability to diminish the frequency and intensity of asthma attacks and migraine headaches and reduce chronic pain. Some of the basic methods to reach a relax state is through deep-breathing exercises, meditation and even physical exercise. One you have mastered these you can move on to more complex therapies such as Imaging and Hypnosis.

Biofeedback

This explanation may be a little lengthy but wanted to share a more details since I have personally tried Biofeedback for back pain and insomnia and found the results to be very positive. Biofeedback is a technique to improve health by learning to control certain internal bodily processes, which normally occur involuntarily. These processes include heart rate, blood pressure, muscle tension, and skin temperature. These activities can be measured with electrodes and displayed on a monitor which provides feedback to the participant and therapist about the internal workings of his or her body. A person can be taught to use this information to gain control over these “involuntary” activities. Biofeedback is an effective therapy for many conditions, primarily used to treat high blood pressure, tension headache, migraine headache, chronic pain, and urinary incontinence. There is several types of biofeedback, the most commonly used forms of biofeedback therapy are: (1) Electromyography (EMG), which measures muscle tension, Thermal biofeedback, which measures skin temperature and Neurofeedback or electroencephalography (EEG), which measures brain wave activity

Scientists can’t explain exactly how or why biofeedback works. However, there seems to be at least one common thread: most people who benefit from biofeedback have conditions that are brought on or made worse by stress. Scientists believe that relaxation is the key to successful biofeedback therapy. If your body is repeatedly stressed, internal processes like blood pressure become overactive. Through the guidance of a biofeedback therapist, a person can learn to lower his or her blood pressure through relaxation techniques and mental exercises.

In a normal biofeedback session, electrodes are attached to the skin. These electrodes feed information to a monitoring box that translates the physiologic responses into a tone that varies in pitch, a visual meter that varies in brightness, or a computer screen that varies the lines moving across a grid. The biofeedback therapist then leads the person in mental exercises. Through trial and error, people can soon learn to identify and control the mental activities that will bring about the desired physical changes.

Biofeedback appears to be effective for a range of health problems. It has shown positive results for the treatment of the following: Anorexia nervosa, Anxiety, Asthma, Autism, Back pain, Bed wetting, Chronic pain, Constipation, Depression, Diabetes, Epilepsy and related seizure disorders, Fecal incontinence, Head injuries, High blood pressure, Insomnia, Learning disabilities, Motion sickness, Muscle spasms, Raynaud’s disease (a condition that causes diminished blood flow to fingers, toes, nose or ears), Sexual disorders, including pain with intercourse and Spinal cord injuries. It may also be effective for certain ailments in children, improvements in behavior and intelligence scores in children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Craniosacral Therapy

The founding belief of craniosacral therapy is that the head and spine contain important communications pathways within our body. This type of therapy consists of gentle, noninvasive, hands-on massage to correct imbalances in the fluid system that connects the brain and the spinal cord and can be applied by a therapist or by yourself. Therapists say imbalance or restriction in the craniosacral system can potentially cause any number of sensory, motor or neurological disabilities. It can be used to relieve whiplash, head and neck injuries, TMJ (joint syndrome), effects of trauma and a variety of other disorders.

Magnetic Therapy

Magnetic therapy has been used for a long time in China, France, Japan and India. It has been proven effective at treating slow-healing fractures and arthritic knees and necks. It is also suggested that magnets may reverse osteoporosis, prevent heart disease, slow tumor growth and boost mental function in some Alzheimer’s patients. There has been studies conducted that show magnets increase blood flow, diminish pain, speed up the healing process, headaches and back pain, arthritis pain and slowing of cartilage deterioration, healing of tissue inflammation (Tennis elbows, carpal tunnel syndrome and tendon/ligament problems), healing of broken bones and asthma.

Summary

I have touched base on a number of methods that you can try for natural healing or that provide relief from symptoms of various aliments that cause discomfort and pain. I am sure by conducting research that you can find other methods or different variations of those I have briefly discussed. The are other areas that you may want to research in more detail: Herbal/Oriental Medicine/Placebo/Pilates Method/Rolfing Therapy/ Reflexology/ Therapeutic Touch/Visualization and Guided Imagery and Yoga. I have personally tired a number of these methods with positive results and recommend that you consult your personal doctor should you decide to try any these treatments/techniques or therapies.