Read full article here: Mindfulness Skills Benefit Both Physician And Patient

This is a group for people affected by Chronic Pain and/or Neurological disorders, their families, and caregivers, in need of support to manage their experiences and find healing through guided transpersonal process work, meditation and various heart-centered approaches proven to be very effective. A supportive and comfortable place where you can feel at ease to share what is stopping you from living your life at its fullest.

Do you find yourself in any of these situations?

• Suffering of chronic pain
• Suffering of a neurological disorder
• In need of mental, emotional, spiritual and physical support
• In need of guidance on how to thrive every day
• You are the caregiver of a loved one and need support to manage your life
• You are a professional caregiver looking for more depth and understanding

If one or more of these situations apply to you, then you are a good candidate for this support group. Each meeting may have a slightly different format depending on the people attending and the issues that will surface, but the general guidelines for eachmeeting are the following:

• Sharing of struggles and achievements
• Sharing of what works for you and what does not
• Stress Management
• Guided Meditation
• Process work
• All along there will be valuable tips that could be applied in your daily life

We are meeting every 1st and 3rd Monday of the Month. For more questions and to RSVP email Damiana Corca at damiana@holisticacare.com or go on the Meetup Group.

This group is facilitated by the experienced and gifted psychotherapist, Timothy Long. For more information about him, please visit his webpage at www.imaginehealing.com.

This group is organized by Licensed Acupuncturist and Herbalist Damiana Corca. Marked by her father’s death of Alzheimer’s disease, she is now dedicating part of her practice and supporting the community for neurological disorders and chronic pain.  Please visit her webpage for more information about her at www.damianacorca.com.

The irony is that while inhaled pollen can trigger allergic reactions in some people, if ingested it can actually treat allergies. How can that be? Well, strange as it might seem, the explanation is simple. The body reacts differently when the pollen intake is achieved through the digestive system instead of the respiratory system.

Let’s now talk about the interesting way bees gather the pollen. I bet you did not imagine that bees mix the pollen with their saliva and stick it to the back of their legs to carry it back to the hive and feed it to the male honey bees. No wonder bees are known to be some of the best workers. Those tiny legs, almost imperceptible to the human eye, must carry so many loads to make one single grain. We should always keep this in mind and prize every little grain of bee pollen, as it is the fruit of such a tremendous and tireless effort! It’s not for nothing that we use the phrase busy as a bee to describe a tireless person.

Bee pollen is commonly used to boost energy and this shouldn’t come as a surprise as it is sometimes called the perfect food containing almost all the essential nutrients our body needs. Proteins, carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins – pollen has it all, to honor the beauty of plants and the industriousness of bees. Pollen can give a real boost to your energy when time seems to be shrinking and lower energy levels kick in.

Another common usage of bee pollen is to promote longevity. Pollen has been found to contain this protective coat with such a tremendous power that has kept intact some 200 million years bee pollen grains attached to a rock. That definitely rocks! Thank goodness bee and human saliva provides the appropriate enzymes for the pollen to be digested, otherwise we would be long gone while the bee pollen we ingested would still be there even after millions of years.

Finally, let’s talk about the beautiful quality of bee pollen as a remedy for allergies. Don’t you hate when allergies keep you arrested away from nature because of the continuous sneezing, runny nose and even headaches? Instead of our common Allegra, why not try something different this year. Just start taking a few granules of bee pollen and work your way up to two teaspoonfuls a day and when the allergy season comes in you might be quite surprised to see that nature is not your enemy anymore. Bee pollen seems to be working by strengthening the immune system and desensitizing the body of common allergens. However, some people can be allergic to bee pollen itself so if you have ever had anaphylactic shock you should exercise caution and consult a health care provider before introducing it to your diet.

I think these are enough reasons pleading the case of bee pollen. If you really wish to buzz around with new forces, think about introducing bee pollen into your daily diet!

Other therapies useful for allergies are Acupuncture, herbal medicine, elimination of allergens when possible, diet changes, and dietary supplements.

While many of these herbs are naturally antiviral and antibacterial, the diagnosis however is based on the overall symptoms of each person. For example, a person with lots of sputum will have a very different herbal treatment than a person with a dry hacking cough.

A customized herbal formula for each individual gives the practitioner the freedom of choosing what is most effective for each person and the advantage of fast measurable results.

Chinese herbal medicine works by boosting your immune system and eliminating whatever pathogens exist within your body. It also has the added benefit of no side effects, as often happens with antibiotics. In certain cases where antibiotics are definitely advisable, herbs can work in synergy with them, potentiating their effect and helping maintain a healthy gut flora.

I do not recognize myself!
I am cranky and a bit depressed.
I can’t sleep.
I have no sex drive.
I cannot remember anything!
I have hot flashes, and my period is early/late/irregular and making me nuts!

Honestly, everyone says the same thing, mostly with some bewilderment and surprise.  The truth is, if you are over 35 and under 55, you are likely suffering from hormone changes that are totally normal for the peri  menopausal women. Often my patients are shocked when I tell them that they are peri menopausal. Often some of them are contemplating having another baby and do not at all relate with being close to menopause.

I feel that there are several reasons that we have so much difficulty believing we are in peri menopause. First, many of our mothers either had hysterectomies and consequently, never went through the “change’ in front of us; so we did not experience it as young women. Secondly, many of our mothers never talked about their symptoms and changes related to hormonal shifts. Most important to the confusion about our proximity to menopause is that we are truly a younger generation, and as they say, “40 is the new 30.” So, there are a great deal of women who are in their 40’s feeling like they are still 30, which is fabulous!!!

Today’s woman is interested and engaged in her health and wants to be involved in a graceful transition through peri menopause.  There are several things you can do to find out where you are in the transition and what you can do about it. First of all, get some hormone testing done. Saliva and urine tests are superior to blood tests. However, depending on your insurance situation, blood testing may be the most viable as it is either less expensive or completely covered.

Tests to ask your doctor for:

1.     LH, FSH, Estradiol, Progesterone (ideally tested on day 21 of your cycle), Testosterone Free and Total, DHEA.

2.     Adrenal testing, which must be done with a saliva test, is vital to figuring out how to use the best approach to helping someone address fatigue associated hormone changes. Your adrenal glands are small glands that sit atop of your kidneys. These small glands communicate with the brain and are responsible for hormonal secretions. If your adrenals are under performing, this has am impact on your estrogen, progesterone, testosterone and DHEA.

3.     Thyroid tests: TSH, Free T3, Free T4, T4, T3, TPO ab and Reverse T3. Most physicians will only test the TSH, but this is a very insensitive measure of the thyroid function.

The ultimate goal for all peri menopausal women is to manage symptoms as you progress on the journey. This starts with finding your hormone status and working with your doctor to create the best treatment protocol for you.

Each patient has a different story and cause related to their fatigue, and each patient that we see has a specialized treatment plan created for their particular picture of fatigue.

Too many people are struggling with fatigue every day and most patients accept it as a normal course of aging. NO! I want to scream from the roof tops: “This is not a normal symptom to just put up with!!” We dig deep to find the cause of your fatigue. For some people they have a latent viral infection, lyme disease, adrenal fatigue, hypothyroidism and low thyroid function, hormone deficiencies, food allergens, digestive disorders, sleep disorders, or most often, a combination of the above. Often patients have seen a doctor for digestive symptoms and another for fatigue and another for depression, and no one has ever looked at their case in its entirety!   Fatigue is a diagnosis that anti-depressants are prescribed for, largely because the allopathic medical model does not address fatigue well. New research has been published in the journal Health Affairs reporting that in the past two decades, antidepressant drugs have become so commonly prescribed that they are now the third most prescribed type of medication in the U.S.  While depression may be a feature of fatigue, it must be ruled out as a causative factor.

A typical patient in our office who is seeking help for fatigue will generally get a full blood work up, which includes comprehensive hormone panels, testing for viral infections (Lyme, Epstein Barr, Hep C ), nutrient and mineral analysis, thyroid hormone assessment, nutritional consult, digestive analysis, and a physical exam. The findings from the above will help us create the best protocol for you.

If you are seeing your “normal” doctor for the treatment of fatigue, you may want to find a holistic practitioner! You need longer than the typical 7-9 minute office consultation to discover and address your fatigue.

What if we were fully alive in our power and had enough energy to do the things we know we are here to do?  What if we had the courage to confront our fatigue and to do what ever it takes to move beyond it? How many of us would be making a difference in the world around us if we no longer had fatigue?  Get help and be assured…fatigue doesn’t have to happen to you!

Homeopathy is a science all on its own and uses infinitesimal “energetic” doses of a substance to cause a change in the patient.  hCG is a hormone prescribed for weight loss that causes one to burn fat preferentially instead of sugar or carbohydrates. When it’s used along with a specific diet, patients often lose up to a pound per day.  Homeopathic hCG is a new approach to weight loss, and it reduces any of my prior concerns about safety because you are using the “energy “ of the hormone and not the hormone itself.  Combined with a specific hCG diet, this protocol is safe, effective, and costs less than using the hCG hormone itself!

The homeopathic hCG diet plan is ideal for patients who want to lose more than 20 pounds.  We have added our “skinny shot” to this protocol and have seen over 10 inches lost in one week.  The “skinny shot” is a combination of amino acids and B vitamins that increase energy production and metabolism.  Recommended use is one shot every four days. Ask us about both the homeopathic HcG and the “skinny shot” and get on the path to your ideal weight!

Note: While the hCG diet is a great way to lose excessive weight in a shorter amount of time, we still highly recommend a daily exercise regimen along with balanced, organic (whenever possible), and colorful meals that include lean protein, vegetables, whole grains, and good fats.

As an active health care practitioner, I am privileged to witness whole life stories and get to know people even more than their own families do.