pathways to family wellness - issue #17

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Gift from the Future

The Benefits of Laughter

How to Choose a Holistic Practitioner

Real Change

Natural Birth—Wow! How Amazing!!??

Cradles of Life

Fluoride: No Reason to Smile

Casual Remarks

Jumping Jeepers!

Recess is Different from PE

Evolve Your Brain: Part 3

Interview with Dr. Joe Dispenza

Defending Informed Consent to Vaccination in America

Conscious Parenting in Real Life

Pathways magazine is a quarterly publication offering parents articles and resources to makeinformed health care choices for their families.Pathways provides thought provoking informationfrom the holistic health perspective and invitesparents to explore options for family wellness.

The individual articles and links to health care information in Pathways are based upon theopinions of the respective author, who retainscopyright as marked. The information provided isnot intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not intended as medical advice. It is intended as a sharing of knowledgeand information.

The publisher of Pathways encourages you tomake informed health care decisions based uponyour researched knowledge and in partnershipwith a qualified health care provider.

Pathways is provided to you by the InternationalChiropractic Pediatric Association in collabora-tion with the Alliance for Holistic Family Healthand Wellness.

Both organizations are 501-C3 non-profit statusorganizations and sales of Pathways supporttheir mission for public education.

© 2004–2008 Pathways, Issue 17, March 2008

A D V E R T I S E R S

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C R E D I T S

On the front cover:© Photographer: Peter Zelei Agency: www.istockphoto.com

On the back cover:© Photographer: Paul MaguireAgency: www.istockphoto.com

Images used are for illustrative purposes only.

Family Wellness Lifestyle

Executive EditorJeanne Ohm, DC

Editorial Board of AdvisorsSarah Buckley, MDBruce Lipton, PhDStephen Marini, PhD, DCLarry Palevsky, MDLisa Reagan

Assistant EditorsTracey Beck-CampbellAlissa Pond Mentzer

Creative DirectorTina Aitala Engblom

contentsF E A T U R E 6

Gift from the FutureIf parents could pluck the brightest jewel from thecoming culture of the twenty-second century togive to their children today, it would not be BabyMozart or Brain Gym. I have come to believe thatthere is one gift that parents can give their childrenthat trumps every other possible advantage.

by Dawson Church, PhD

L E T T E R F R O M T H E E D I T O R 4

W E L L N E S S L I F E S T Y L E 1 2

The Benefits of Laughterby Daniel Decker

H O L I S T I C H E A LT H C A R E 1 4

How to Choose a HolisticPractitionerRecommendations from AHMA

C H I R O P R A C T I C F O R L I F E 1 6

Real Changeby Sarah Farrant, DC

P R E G N A N C Y & B I R T H 2 0

Natural Birth—Wow! How Amazing!!??by Olivia Gleeson

T H E O U T E R W O M B 2 4

Cradles of Lifeby Syndey Seaver

N U T R I T I O N 2 8

Fluoride: No Reason to Smileby Robert Schecter

PA R E N T I N G 3 2

Casual Remarksby Elizabeth Pantley

FA M I LY L I F E 3 6

Jumping Jeepers!by Dr. Renee Fuller

M O V I N G A N D L E A R N I N G 3 8

Recess is Different from PEby Rae Pica

M I N D — B O D Y 4 0

Evolve Your Brain: Part 3Interview with Dr. Joe Dispenza

I N F O R M E D C H O I C E 4 4

Defending Informed Consent to Vaccination in America by Barbara Loe Fisher

G R A T I T U D E 4 7

Gratitudeby James O’Dea

R E S E A R C H R E V I E W 4 8

News to Know and Share

PA R E N T S ’ P E R S P E C T I V E 5 0

Conscious Parenting in Real Lifeby Liberty Liscomb

W H A T I F ? W H Y N O T ? 5 2

What if Spring Brought UsNew Perspectives?By Jen Grover

M A R K E T P L A C E 5 3

safe sleeping

Tips for Safely Sharing Your Bedroom with BabyOf the many philosophical debates in the world of infant care, few are ascombustible as whether or not parents should share a bed ( bed sharing )with their babies.Critics warn of dire consequences, from an increased risk of SIDS to difficultyin learning to sleep independently later in life. But an increasing body ofresearch supports what many Eastern cultures have always believed. Havingbaby sleep nearby can be safe and beneficial for both parents and child.

Despite institutional and social pressure to put babies to sleep by themselves,studies show that at least 50 percent of all American parents co-sleep withtheir infants at some point. Research by Dr. James J. McKenna and his teamat the Mother-Baby Behavioral Sleep Laboratory at the University of NotreDame indicates that not only can co-sleeping be done safely; it can helpreduce the risk of SIDS and other sleep-related problems.

The vast majority of scientific studies on infant behavior and development conducted in diverse fields duringthe last 100 years suggest that the question shouldnot be “is it safe to sleep with my baby?” but, rather, “is it safe not to do so?” James McKenna, Ph.D.

Mother-Baby Behavioral Sleep Laboratories Notre Dame University

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“Co-sleeping infants nurse more often, sleep more lightly,and have practice responding to maternal arousals,”McKenna reports. “Arousal deficiencies are suspected insome SIDS deaths, and long periods in deep sleep mayexacerbate this problem.”

Further, co-sleeping makes it easier for a mother to knowand respond when her child is in trouble, he says.McKenna’s research shows that co-sleeping is not just a question of convenience for breastfeeding mothers.To safelyco-sleep with your baby, consider the following guidelines.

Follow the American Academy of Pediatrics’ recommendationto put all babies to sleep on their backs. It is the safestsleeping position for young babies, regardless of wherethey sleep.

Never drink, take drugs or use prescription medicationsthat cause drowsiness if you are co-sleeping with yourinfant. One of the major benefits of co-sleeping is the parents’ ability to rouse and respond to the baby. Alcohol, drugs and some medications will impair your ability to wake up if needed.

Always leave your baby’s head uncovered while sleeping.Consider putting him in a “sleep sack” rather than using a conventional blanket that may work its way over thebaby’s head during the night.

Make sure you use the proper bedding and that yourmattress fits snugly to the bed frame and headboard.There should be no gaps into which a baby might slide.Eliminate pillows, comforters, quilts, or other soft or plush items.

Never place a baby to sleep in an adult bed alone.

Consider using a Co-Sleeper® Bassinet, a small, separatebed with one open side that fits up against your bed. Arm’s Reach produces a number of co-sleeping productsthat give mothers easy access to their babies, while keepingthe infant in his or her own space. They provide the convenience of co-sleeping without the risk of a sleepingadult rolling over on the baby.

CO-SLEEPING GUIDELINES PROVIDED BY ARM’S REACH CONCEPTS

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Not bed-sharing, but having

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© 2006 Arm’s Reach Concepts, Inc.Patent No.7,013,505 ARM’S REACH,CO-SLEEPER,Mother & Child Logo and all other trademarksare rigorously protected. All rights reserved.

Safe and secure attachment to parental bed

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800-954-9353 or 805-278-2559

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4 pathways | issue 17

WE ARE LIVING IN EXCITING TIMES. There is a constant buzz of activity in

books, e-newsletters, documentaries and other forms of media reflecting a major

transformation, a shift in consciousness. This shift is affecting all aspects of our

lives: it is affecting how we identify and interact with our selves, our families and

our communities.

During times of transformation, old patterns are challenged and dissolved. New

perspectives are initiated and formed in replacement. This process of transformation

may bring up feelings of both elation and trepidation. These feelings are normal

and to be expected in times of great change. It is important for us to maintain a

sense of balance during this shift so we can adapt to these changes more effectively.

The following wise words spoken by the Elders of the Arizona Hopi Nation come to

mind. I hope their wisdom brings you to a place of knowing and of peace.

Many Blessings,

Jeanne Ohm, DC

l e t t e r f r o m t h e e d i t o r , j e a n n e o h m , d c

© luckyoliver.com

/ Neta D

egany

pathways | issue 17 5

You have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour.

Now you must go back and tell the people that this is the Hour.

And there are things to be considered:

Where are you living?

What are you doing?

What are your relationships?

Are you in right relation?

Where is your water?

Know your garden.

It is time to speak your Truth.

Create your community.

Be good to each other.

And do not look outside yourself for the leader.

This could be a good time!

There is a river flowing now very fast.

It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid.

They will try to hold on to the shore.

They will feel they are being torn apart, and they will suffer greatly.

Know the river has its destination.

The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river,

keep our eyes open, and our heads above the water.

See who is in there with you and celebrate!

At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally, least of all ourselves.

For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.

The time of the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves!

Banish the word struggle from your attitude and your vocabulary.

All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.

We are the ones we've been waiting for.

f e at u r e

© istockphoto.com

/ Peter Zelei / Dam

ir Cudic / N

ick Schlax

By Dawson Church, PhD

Gift from the FutureRelationships between parents, children, and society are in the midst of a tectonic shift. Behaviors once thought to be private matters, such as child battery, alcoholism, drug abuse, and spousal abuse, are now considered public matters.Attitudes have changed drastically in just a century. Consider:

• Just 150 years ago, children “hurriers” in Great Britain were still sent down tinymine shafts to haul coal wagons up to the surface. Most died early and horribledeaths of black lung disease. The US did not ban child labor until 1938.

• When my grandfather was born, women in England and the US did not have theright to vote. Women did not get the right to vote until 1920 in the United Statesand 1928 in England—and not until 1971 in Switzerland!

• Ten striking workmen were killed by policemen and thirty wounded in Chicagoin 1937. Among their outrageous demands? A 40-hour work week. This event iswithin the memory span of many people still alive today.

• There are many countries today in which exercising your religious preferencecan cost you your life. In Iraq in 2002, there was a stable, established, andthriving Christian population. Today, an estimated two-thirds of Iraq’s Christianshave been killed or driven out. But in most Western societies, religious prefer-ence has become so unimportant that friends may not even know which churchothers go to, or whether they go to church at all.

I could cite many other examples of radical social mind change. When we areembedded in a society, change can appear slow, just the way a parent rarelynotices, day by day, how a child is growing. Then a friend may remark, “Goodness,how big Johnny’s become!” and suddenly we realize the change. From within asociety, social progress might be equally invisible. But in reality, huge shifts in“groupthink” can happen in time frames that are, historically, a blink of an eye.The Renaissance, that glorious flowering of art, music, science, and philosophythat began in fifteenth century Florence, was startlingly limited in time and num-bers. A small group of just 1,000 people formed its core. Yet in a mere 25 years,those thousand people changed the entire direction of Western civilization.


f e at u r e

What is the Renaissance of today? What changes are bubbling just below the surface of our society? Who are the Renaissance women and men of the twenty-first century, and what will the lives of their children look like?

Children of the new Renaissance are being raised very differently than children of old. The human potential movement gave us tools for ferreting out the uniquetalents of each person. Tests like the Myers Briggs Personality Inventory gave usnuances far more revealing than a child’s grades in grammar and mathematics.Concepts like social intelligence and whole-brain learning may yield insights much richer than IQ tests. Enlightened new charter schools have ditched thearchaic academic structure of traditional public schools, designed for the agrarianeconomy of pre-industrial America, with only 180 days in session, classes endingearly in the day, and three months off to cull a long-vanished summer harvest.

Thousands of today’s toddlers were sung to and played with in the womb byfathers and mothers who understood that they were bringing more than a bodyinto the world. They knew they were midwifing not just a brain but a consciousness.In a book I wrote in the 1980s, Communing With the Spirit of Your Unborn Child, I defined the job of a parent as providing an emotional and spiritual environmentin which the soul of the child could come into full expression through body, mind,and heart. The first generation of these children are now maturing, and they repre-sent a complete break from an era in which “to spare the rod is to spoil the child.”

But if parents could pluck the brightest jewel from the coming culture of the twenty-second century to give to their children today, it would not be Baby Mozartor Brain Gym. I have come to believe that there is one gift that parents can givetheir children that trumps every other possible advantage.

That gift is to heal your own emotional wounds. It won’t just help your childrenand your parents. It will help your partners, your teachers, your friends, your colleagues at work, and everyone whose lives you touch. If you don’t heal the traumas you acquired from your parents and grandparents, you will pass thisunwelcome legacy on to your children.

What’s so important about emotional clarity? I believe it’s the gateway to spiritualrealization, explosive creativity, vibrant health, and peak performance.

If you want to see the effects of repeating old emotional traumas, just look aroundyou. You’ll see couples who move from drama to drama. You’ll see children andparents who are either fighting or striving to repair the damage. You’ll see work-places corrupted by greed, stupidity, and short-sighted ignorance. You’ll seeorganizations with the brain-to-weight ratio of a dinosaur (the kind that becameextinct first). You’ll see pointless religious conflict, and you’ll see egos layingwaste to the surrounding countryside through their clashes.

Emotional wounds are the traumas that keep on traumatizing. A guy in my men’sgroup recently asked if his relationship problems were due to his stuff, or his part-ner’s. “It’s simple to figure out,” I told him. “If you’ve had the same feeling manytimes before, with different people, it’s you.” We tend to fall into habitual ways ofreacting. We can move from relationship to relationship, picking different partnersto trigger our wounds. Yet while the triggers are different, the wounds just getdeeper and deeper with each re-enactment. The neural bundles that govern thosepathways literally become thicker. A physician named Eric Kandel won the NobelPrize for Medicine in 2000 for his work showing that the number of synapses candouble after just one hour of repeated stimulation. We are literally etching traumainto our brains if we fail to clean up our emotional reactivity. And all the problems

Thousands of today’s

toddlers were sung to and

played with in the womb

by fathers and mothers

who understood that they

were bringing more than

a body into the world.

we create in our lives as a result then consume vast amounts of our personalpower, attention, and energy.

Emotional trauma does not just sicken your heart, mind, and spirit. It sickens your body, too. The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study was undertakenby Kaiser Permanente (a giant hospital chain) and the Centers for Disease Control. It examined the medical histories of over 17,400 adults. ACE found a striking correlation between unresolved childhood emotional trauma and several conditions including cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke,diabetes, bone fractures, depression, and illicit drug use.

The correlations were not trivial. A person with a lot of adverse childhood experiences is three times as likely to smoke, and thirty times more likely toattempt suicide. And despite the assurances of writers from Geoffrey Chauceronward that “tyme doeth hem cure,” time is not, in fact, the great healer of emotional trauma. The median age of subjects in the ACE study was 56; the events that were devastating their physical health had happened half a centuryearlier. The proposition that emotional trauma and physical disease are inextrica-bly linked has been shown beyond reasonable doubt; numerous other studiesreinforce the conclusions of the ACE study. They point toward a future field of medicine in which emotional trauma is the first line of healing and popping pills or cutting out organs takes a supplemental role to releasing the energyenmeshed in the wounds of the past.

Even those of us not raised in violently abusive households may still have suffered thousands of incidents of misunderstanding, neglect, or accidental shock. I’m sometimes asked, “How severe does an incident have to be to leave an emotional wound?” The answer is that it depends on the person. One client


We are literally etching

trauma into our brains

if we fail to clean up

our emotional reactivity.

© istockphoto.com

/ Peter Zelei / Nick Schlax / John K

eith / Ivar Teunissen

in therapy regained a memory that, as a baby, his father had misjudged thedepth of his crib, and dropped him a few inches onto the mattress. He was terrified when recalling the incident thirty years later. Others may have sufferedrapes or beatings, and yet determinedly battled their way to psychologicalhealth as adults. But I’ve yet to find the person who had an entirely happy childhood free from what psychologist Brad Blanton calls “normal, middle-classchild abuse.”

Fortunately, we are not doomed to re-enact the traumas of our childhoods indefinitely. There are many exciting new therapies that can reset our emotionalbuttons. Therapies that adjust the body, like chiropractic and massage, can leadto emotional release and energetic healing. The techniques of energy medicinecan change the electromagnetic signature of our cells, organs, and systems.Energy psychology, which includes therapies like EFT (Emotional FreedomTechniques), can produce rapid healing of even chronic conditions by removingthe emotional trauma that may underlie disease.

Prayer, good attitudes, belief, visualization, and affirmation can have powerfuleffects on our health and longevity. Studies have also shown a strong correlationbetween immunity and spirituality. And there are health professionals who are combining all these modalities, and others, into original, cross-disciplinary,paradigm-shattering treatment protocols. In their quest for wellness, they drawfrom sources as ancient as Qi Gong—and as modern as pulsed electromagnets.Many of these therapies have epigenetic effects (epi=above, epigenetic=control of genes from the environment outside the cell). They send signals to groups of genes that dampen stress and improve immune function. In my latest book,


f e at u r e

Prayer, good attitudes,

belief, visualization, and

affirmation can have

powerful effects on our

health and longevity.

© istockphoto.com

/ John Keith

The Genie in Your Genes, I examine the waysuch therapies are interweaving to form a new field I call epigenetic medicine. Healingemotional trauma produces an epigeneticstimulus that results in positive changes ingene expression, producing immediateimprovements in health.

To avoid passing our emotional wounds to ourchildren, we have to heal them in ourselves.The task is like forging through a tangled forest when we first begin it. But, like theundergrowth, it can be cleared, little by little.And when you clear away a big patch of the

trauma weeds, there is space for beautiful new seedlings of positive intention to sproutand joy and creativity can take root. Free fromthe screams of the wounded inner child, thestill small voice of the Great Spirit can beheard. The small clearing of good energy feelswonderful and encourages us to carve out abigger patch in which our spirits, and those of our children, can flourish.

When we do this, we take this gift of emotionalhealing that future therapies will prize aboveall surgeries and drugs and give it beyond ourselves. Our clear space becomes theground for conscious parenting. When we, as a generation, stand up and say, “This woundshall not pass,” then the sins of the fathers are no more passed down to the children, “lo, even unto the seventh generation.” Weraise our children in a glowing field of positive

energy. And we lay the foundation for radical social change,for a species mind change that can set the whole planet on a path toward a magnificent and vibrant future.

View article references and author information here: www.pathwaystofamilywellness.org/references.html


e provides i n for family

w

i.c.p.a. International Chiropractic

Pediatric Association

mention this code:

to receive a issue!

To avoid passing our emotional wounds to our

children, we have to heal them in ourselves.

w e l l n e s s l i f e s t y l e


The Benefits of

Laughter

By Daniel Decker


FACT: Preschool-aged childrenlaugh up to 400 times a day, but bythe time we reach adulthood, weonly laugh about 17 times per day!I don’t know about you but when I read that statistic above,it makes me wonder why there is such a drop in laughter as we age. Is it because we begin to take life too seriously?Is it because our jobs and obligations begin to demand somuch from us that we forget life is about living rather thanjust existing? Maybe it’s because as we enter adulthood we want people to take us seriously; in the process we tradelaughter and silliness for what we consider maturity andrespect. Or, it could just be that we no longer have a BigWheel or crayons or can sit and watch an episode of Barney without someone making fun of us. Who knows?

The answer may be a mystery but the significant benefitsof laughter are not.

Did you know that when you make someone laugh that you very well may be helping them strengthen theirimmune system, reduce food cravings, or even increasetheir threshold for pain? There’s even an emerging fieldknown as “humor therapy” that is helping patients healmore quickly after surgery. Laughter reduces the level

of stress hormones like cortisol, epinephrine, adrenaline,and dopamine. It also increases the level of health-enhanc-

ing hormones like endorphins, and neurotransmitters.Laughter has also been found to increase the number of

antibody-producing cells and enhances the effective-ness of T cells within the body. All this creates

a stronger immune system and better ability to ward off the effects of daily stress.

A good laugh also exercises the diaphragm,contracts the abs and even works out theshoulders, leaving muscles more relaxed

afterward. Some research suggests it evenprovides a good workout for the heart.

Laughter shifts our focus away from anger, guilt,stress, and negative emotions that can create more

discomfort and stress within our lives. Laughter is conta-gious. If you bring more laughter into your life, you will notonly help others around you to laugh more, but you will real-ize these same healthy benefits yourself.

So it seems that laughter really is the best medicine but howdo we increase our dosage? Here are a few ideas…

Start with a shift in your perception. Studies show that ourresponse to stressful events can be altered by whether weview something as a “threat” or a “challenge.” Humor cangive us a more lighthearted perspective and help us viewevents as “challenges,” making them less threatening andmore positive. The next time you are faced with what seemsto be a roadblock in life (a threat), don’t get upset—becomingbitter and resentful—instead look at it as an opportunity todetour around it (a challenge). Sure, it may take a little moretime but that detour may have something in store for youthat you never dreamed possible.

Slow down. Regardless of how much we try, humans are notmachines. Slowing down and spending time with others isvital to bringing more laughter into our lives. We can’t makesomeone laugh if we don’t take the time to engage them orgenuinely care about them. Take a few minutes each day andwhen you pass a co-worker in the hall or even some strangerat the store...say hello and pay them a compliment. As yourush through your day, remember to also take time for those who serve you. The drycleaner, the waiter, thewaitress, the clerk...use each interaction as away to try and make someone else’s dayinstead of expecting them to make yours!

Tell a joke. Here’s a good clean one frommy 5-year-old:

Q: Why did the cookie go to the doctor? A: He felt crummy.

Say “Thank you” by sending someone anelectronic thank-you card. Greeting card websites make it easy to send someone a note just to say “thanks”...maybe for no reason at all other than for being a part of your life.

This week, be encouraged to laugh like a child. Make some-one laugh and know that their laughter is not only makingthem feel good but improving their health (and yours as well).

For more tips visit www.GiftofKindness.com

If you have jokes or ideas to help others create more laughter and joy in their lives, email your comments [email protected]


© istockphoto.com

/ Sean Warren / Sean Locke / C

armen M

artinez Banús / Quavondo N

guyen


Your first responsibility as a patient/client is to select a practitioner who

will join your “team” to support you in obtaining and maintaining opti-

mum health for your body, mind, emotions and spirit. While most holistic

practitioners use modalities that are currently labeled “alternative medicine,”

their interests and practices may vary widely. Thus, one person might work pri-

marily with nutrition and herbs, while another might look mainly at the spiritual

aspects of health and disease. Other areas of interest include spinal manipula-

tion and body work, “energy medicine,” mind-body medicine, acupuncture and

stress management. It is important to remember that there are many different

definitions of holistic medicine. When choosing a practitioner, make sure that

How to Choose a Holistic PractitionerRecommendations from the American Holistic Medical Association

holistic health care


individual has the same type of philosophy and uses the

treatment modalities you are seeking.

The following considerations are offered as a guide to help

you find a practitioner with whom you are comfortable.

Optimum health is more likely to be present when you work

with someone who is supportive of your efforts to be in

charge of your life. Some of the criteria may not apply to all

situations.

Does this practitioner have health professionalrelationships with others? How did you hear about

this practitioner? A personal referral is often more powerful

than a professional referral. What do friends and other

professionals say about this person? How does he/she feel

about second opinions or your interest in alternative health

care therapies/treatments? What technical certifications,

professional organizations or hospital affiliations does this

practitioner have?

How do YOU respond to this practitioner’soffice and staff? This environment reveals his/her

attitudes and beliefs. Do you feel comfortable and cared for

when you call or visit the office? Does the ambiance enhance

that comfort? Does the staff further your sense of well being?

Are educational handouts available in the office or waiting

room? Is your appointment time honored or do you have

to wait?

Do you feel like a valued person working as apartner with this practitioner? Healing is enhanced

by a healthy relationship between patient/client and practi-

tioner. Do you feel this practitioner is there for you? Do you

feel trust and confidence? Does he/she seem to care about

you, take your medical history personally and show an interest

in your family, lifestyle and diet? Are you told about various

treatment options? Do each of you recognize that you need

the other? Is the practitioner accessible? Are you able to

discuss the financial aspects of your care openly and comfort-

ably? Positive answers to these questions are evidence of

your rightful place as a co-creator of this healing partnership.

Is your personal dignity respected? Any examination

or interaction should be respectful of your personal dignity.

Does this practitioner honor your anxieties and fears? Is this practitioner sensitive enough to place

him/herself in your position regarding fears and anxieties

about an illness or proposed treatment?

What is the state of this practitioner’s health?Does he/she appear to have a healthy lifestyle? Signs of

overweight, overwork, smoking or drinking may indicate that

he/she does not take care of him/herself. You will probably

do best with a team member who is just as committed to

good health as you are. The Biblical statement, “Physician,

heal thyself,” is paramount in a health-filled relationship.

Are you allowed time between diagnosis andtreatment? Does this practitioner allow you the time

to collect the educational and personal resources that you

need to make a well-informed decision?

Are you treated as if this is an important, ongoing relationship? Are you notified of test results

within a reasonable period of time? Are follow-up visits

scheduled after treatment? Is there discussion of future

health goals and not just the immediate matter at hand?

Do you feel unconditionally accepted by thispractitioner? Unconditional acceptance allows you to get

well in your unique way. Do you feel that you are accepted

no matter what develops, no matter what decisions you

make? Can the practitioner approach your care with an open

mind, rather than with a predetermined treatment plan?

Would the practitioner offer to a member of his/her own

family the same carefully chosen advice that he/she has

offered to you?

Would you send the person most dear to you tothis practitioner? Do you have such a strong feeling

of caring, confidence and trust in this practitioner that you

would send to him/her, with no misgivings, the person who

is dearest to you? If so, then you have found that special

person to be on your health team.

images for this article ©

istockphoto.com / G

rafissimo / D

iana Lundin

c h i r o p r a c t i c f o r l i f e

Real Change

“Correct skeletal

alignment is

essential for a

healthy body,

mind and spirit.”

D.D. Palmer

© istockphoto.com

/ Özgur D

önmaz / M

arcus Lindström

When most people come

into the practice, they are

coming in “for” some-

thing and are carrying

with them a particular

symptom which they want

rectified instantly.

They have usually tried everything else:pills, herbal mixtures, a new exercise,fads and other health care profession-als. Most have found one or a combina-tion of them didn’t deliver what “it”promised, or rather what they wereexpecting, which is usually instanta-neous relief. We are constantly insearch of one thing that will make usbetter, more stable, or which will ulti-mately take the pain and/or discomfortaway. We generally want the pleasurewithout the pain. However, the univer-sal intelligence doesn’t deliver one-sided emotions. Pleasure and pain areinversely proportional to one another.The innate intelligence of the body,however, is constantly searching for thebalance point where there is harmony,for example, between the pleasure andpain experience. There is no world inwhich only pleasure exists; there isboth good and bad. We have all emo-tions within us. To expect one withoutthe other is to set ourselves up for afall in the equal and opposite direction.

“No doctor can heal, nor

can anyone else produce

healings for you, but when

correct adjustments are

made, the body’s self-

healing process begins and

dis-ease turns to ease.”

D.D. Palmer

There are no “outside-in” approachesin chiropractic. Chiropractors work with the body’s innate knowledge andunderstanding to allow the body toreach new states of being. The spinalcolumn houses the most preciouspiece of machinery ever designed: thecentral nerve system. This allows us tohave a plethora of physical, chemicaland emotional changes take placeindependently or all at the same time.How ingenious! Let me give you a special example of the difference chiro-practic made in Caleb’s life and that of his parents when his parents beganto trust the body’s innate intelligence.

Caleb was two years old when hismother brought him into the practice.Caleb had experienced a severe fall,which his mother didn’t see, but shehad noticed his left temporal area wasred and a little swollen. A week afterthe fall, Caleb developed a hematomain the brain and had started havingseizures. His mother took him to theirlocal medical doctor who self-assuredlytold her that the fall had nothing to dowith the seizures and that Caleb had

just developed epilepsy. Caleb’s motherremained unconvinced, but left thedoctor’s suite with medication prescribedto control her son’s epileptic seizuresand to prevent him from having grandmal seizures. Caleb’s mother wentahead and administered the medicationshe had received from their medicaldoctor. After a period of time shenoticed other changes in her son.

The body is remarkable in how it stillchooses to release pressure from theincreased neural activity in someonewho has epilepsy even when medicationis administered to “control” the seizures.There still needs to be an outlet torelease the pressure that is buildinginternally. When the body’s ability toexpress its health is masked it findsanother way to give you the message.This is exactly what happened to Caleb.He began to have “drop attacks,” where he would suddenly fall and beunconscious for a few seconds. The family lived on a farm and through theirconcern for these drop attacks they hadhim wear a crash helmet. His parentsstarted to become very concerned when


By Sarah Farrant, DC

things weren’t changing and he wascontinuing to have these attacks withincreased frequency. They felt therehad to be something else that couldhelp him and the family.

About six months after the initial incident,his parents sought out chiropracticcare, driving for two hours to reach thepractice. Upon his initial check Calebwas found to have pelvic instability as a result of the blow to the temporalarea of the head. Only his pelvis wasbalanced that day, but there was still a large amount of cranial work to bedone on the child following the initialadjustment.

The family returned home that night.Caleb’s parents anxiously phoned laterthat evening, saying he had had agrand mal seizure despite being on the medication. They were advised not to panic. It was explained that it is normal for the body to release stressin the system and that Caleb’s bodywould calm down. The parents trustedthe advice, and did everything to makeCaleb’s night comfortable. After thatnight Caleb never had a grand malseizure again. His drop attacks wentfrom 20 per day to only three or foureach day. A few years later his dropattacks were reduced to one or two per week, and then eventually becamealmost non-existent.

Caleb’s life was changed immenselythrough the care that was sought andhis body’s inborn ability to change. And it was not only his life, but thelives of his parents that have changed.New eyes were opened to the potentialof the human body.

Your nervous system allows for vitalaccurate information to be communi-cated between your brain and bodyand back again. Where there is interfer-ence there is also a decrease in yourbody’s ability to express health,whether it is physical, chemical or

emotional. An adjustment allows us tobe the best we can be, to reach our fullpotential and function at our optimumlevel. There is no discrimination againstsex, age, race, religion, or species. If you have a nerve system, then it isimportant to get it checked.



Courtesy of Steve Tullius.

The Vital Truth• If you mask the communication in

your body, your body creates new

ways in which to awaken you to

what is occurring internally.

• Learn to listen to your body’s

messages and make the changes.

• Seek other understandings in

health and vitality.

• Give your family the gift of

regular adjustments.

The Vital Questions• Will you incorporate chiropractic

care into your life and the lives

of your family?

• Do you know of a child and/or

a parent who could benefit from

regular care and a new-found

understanding of how the

body functions?

• Are you ready to explore options

that may appear contrary to

popular medical opinion?

The First Family Wellness

World Extravaganza

PHILADELPHIA

MAY 8–11, 2008

Explode your practice potential with hands on techniques, patient education strategies, successful community outreach programs and the leading edge science to increase and validate your family wellness practice.

Experience an inspiring, fun-filled weekend where we will celebrate the chiropractic family wellness lifestyle. Collectively we have accomplished amazing achievements for our profession, for the public and most of all the children.

Together we are leading the family wellness movement!

Come celebrate who we are and what we do!

Joe Dispenza, DCEncounter dynamic discoveries in neuroscience and its exciting relationship to chiropractic. Author of Evolve Your Brain, and participator in “What the Bleep,” expect Dr. Joe to open you to unlimited possibilities.

Barbara Loe Fisher

Empower your patients with the most current information on vaccination and informed health care choices. Barbara is the co-founder of National Vaccine Information Center and author of A Shot in the Dark.

Larry Palevsky, MDObtain practical, holistic gems from an avid chiropractic supporter and practicing holistic pediatrician. Dr. Larry is co-founder of the Holistic Pediatric Association: The Alliance for Holistic Family Health and Wellness and international presenter.

Dawson Church, PhDExpand your vitalistic perspectives on healing and wellness. Author of numerous books including The Genie in Your Genes, Dr. Dawson will inspire you with insight and research for conscious based care.

Nancy Wainer, CPMAttain a greater practical understanding between chiropractic and natural birthing. Author of Silent Knife and Open Season, Nancy brings years of experience for implementation in your wellness practice.

Peter Kevorkian, DCExperience an infusion of chiropractic and vitalism as Dr. Peter weaves the weekend together as Master of Ceremonies and our closing keynote. Dr. Kevorkian brings over 25 years of a hugely successful family practice integrated with excellent presentation skills.

Our Keynote Speakers:

Seven Reasons to Come to Philadelphia this May…

Increase your practice with vitalistic principles!

Advance your technical and educational expertise!

Expand your family wellness perspectives!

Inspire your patients with leading edge resources!

Accelerate your community presence and collaborations!

Reconnect with the ICPA family and mission!

Celebrate our vision for Family Wellness!

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

For weekend schedule and events, please visit:

www.FamilyWellnessFirst.org


By Olivia Gleeson

N AT U R A L B I R T HWow! How Amazing!!??

p r e g n a n c y & b i r t h

Courtesy of the Gleeson Fam

ily

I am extremely proud of myself: that I continued to questionand reject the premise that my so called “high risk” pregnancy had to endin a caesarean delivery and grateful that we got the birth outcome I wantedfor my babies and myself.

At 19 weeks we had our first ultrasoundas we thought there was the chance oftwins due to my rapid growth. I stillthought there was only one baby as I hadhad very little nausea, no vomiting (don’tpeople with multiples get REALLY sick?),and the only symptom was the fatigue—which was considerable, but I was preg-nant and that’s something I expected to go with the territory so I soldiered on.We had chosen not to have the earlierultrasound, trusting that nature was taking its course. The sonographer imme-diately pointed out two heads; “Did youknow you were having twins? There’s onehead, there’s two. Hang on, count withme—there’s one baby, there’s two babies,


“Wow! How amazing! You had a naturalbirth!!” is something I have heardrepeated since we welcomed Clancy,William, and Tomas into the world onthe 15th June, 2007.

Yes, we have triplets.

Yes, I had a vaginal birth of all three.


ily


there’s three babies…YOU’RE HAVINGTHREE BABIES!”

“OH MY GOD,” was about all I could saybetween bouts of laughter, Mick lookeda bit pale and we were definitelyshocked to say the least. When we toldeach of our family members it tookabout half an hour to convince them weweren’t joking. We were extremely excit-ed right from the start, even amongstthe shock and a few days of fear at theunknown of what we were in for.

The fear at whether all three of ourbabies would be healthy and whether I would be healthy was the first thing to hit after the initial buzz wore off. This was not helped by the labeling ofmy pregnancy as “high risk” in connec-tion with my hospital appointments andcheckups (I had been planning to birthin the family birth centre with midwives).

I was (and am) healthy and fit and Ireflected on this after I had started worrying. Up until then I was workingfull time, running my business, adjust-ing patients regularly, keeping up myroutine exercise regime (at a slightlylower intensity than pre-pregnancy) and maintaining an active social life.Anyone who knows me knows I like to be busy and am not one to sitaround. It was at this point that I had

a few stern words with myself, as Iknew I had to be aware of the possiblerisks but that I was not in the “average”category and my journey would likelybe different than what I was readingand being told: (a) that I would be lucky to carry my babies to 32–34weeks at which point a c-section wouldbe scheduled and (b) that it would be lucky if my babies were all similarweights and healthy and thriving and not hospitalised for some timeafter birth.

I chose to believe and trust in theinnate health of my body and the grow-ing, and so far thriving, bodies of allthree of my babies and my ability tocontinue to be healthy and strong. I continued to get adjusted regularly (of course) to ensure my nervous system was communicating with andco-ordinating the function of my bodyand that of my unborn children at theirhighest level. I meditated daily, usedaffirmations as well as guided imageryand hypnobirthing CDs to keep mymind focused as well, and read andwatched as many positive natural birthexperiences as possible to mentally and emotionally prepare for the birthahead. I continued exercising to mybody’s ability, followed my naturopathsadvice on diet and supplements, had

massage, kinesiology, reflexology,facials, pedicures, and shopping sprees—not all necessarily essential but spoilingmyself had health benefits too.

I was determined to have a healthypregnancy, natural birth, and healthybabies and thankfully I did.

Once we knew it was triplets everyoneassumed “so you’ll be having a c-sec-tion.” I was told by lay people, otherparents of multiples and doctors thatnatural birth is a risk because thebabies would be at risk of oxygen deprivation, brain damage and death.What about the risks associated with a caesarean delivery and the loss ofbenefits that a natural delivery affordsthe newborn?

One of my sisters is a nurse and anaturopath and she asked people in themedical field who the best specialistwas for me to see. The ob/gyn maternalfetal specialist who I transferred to as a private patient was a big factor in usgetting the birth we wanted. He is oneof the best health professionals I haveseen in any field. The first impression I had of him was his positivity and caring nature; I trusted him from dayone. He listened to me, treated me as an individual—not a statistic, andrecognised my above average health.


ily

He also pointed out the pluses that were in any optionswe considered. He is an advocate for natural/vaginaldelivery and is actively involved in research into women’shealth. That’s not to say there wasn’t any difference ofopinion in planning the birth: there was discussion andsometimes debate and give and take on both parts toreach a plan and ultimately an outcome we were all happy with. For the birth I also had a private doula (birthsupport person) who was an enormous help in stayingrelaxed and focussed.

It seems that the benefits of natural birth have been forgotten, or at least downplayed, and the effort involvedseems too much for many who see a c-section as a ‘nor-mal’ option without downsides. Certainly there are somecases where a c-section is warranted, and in emergencysituations medicine is in its element: knowing I had thebackup of some 15+ medical staff on standby for me andmy babies if needed was wonderful. (I think also seeing a natural triplet birth was a drawcard for many of the staffwho went out of their way to be there until after midnight.)

However, the fact that my natural birth is viewed as suchan accomplishment and rarity is for me cause for concern.When did nature take such a backseat that by doingsomething my body is made to do it became such an occasion for fanfare?

My recipe for a positive, natural birth experience:

• I was healthy prior to conception: I was adjusted regularly, ate well, exercised, meditated regularly, and was drug free.

• I maintained my mental, physical, and emotional health during pregnancy

• I educated myself to the point that I knew without a doubt that I could birth in a positive, natural, andhealthy way and what exactly that looked like for me.

• I surrounded myself with positive birth stories andexperiences, and very importantly didn’t take on board other people’s negative opinions or outlooks.

• I investigated and searched for health professionals for our birth that have a similar health philosophy asme, people that I trusted and felt safe with.

• I embraced the process of pregnancy and birth wasextremely grateful for the gift it is to create new life and the gift of giving birth naturally (which I almostdidn’t have).

Gleeson Chiropractic [email protected]

View article references and author information here:www.pathwaystofamilywellness.org/references.html

She’ll love a gift subscription to Pathways.www.pathwaystofamilywellness.org


t h e o u t e r w o m b

Cradles of Life

Courtesy of Karen Samonds

S ince the beginning of time indigenous cultureshave worn their babies. The cradle appears tohave originated as a part of the culture of the

early Mesolithic hunters in Asia. Early Pleistocene migrationsprobably brought the cradle to North America since the cradleis linked predominately to nomadic hunting andgathering cultures. Contrasted to the variety ofmodern furnishings used in the United Statestoday to carry and transport infants, the NorthAmerican Indian cradle is an example of a simplebut highly versatile design. Perhaps the popularityof the plastic infant seat and back carriers we haveseen in the US recently reflects an increasinglymobile and somewhat nomadic society, in whichwomen feel the need for a carrier that will securethe baby and keep it close.

The Sioux Indians from the Great Plains had aninfant carrier called a cradleboard. It wasenhanced with a patch of leather on the lowerfront, which acted as a shield for boys to keeptheir urine from collecting around their bodies. Thewooden frame had a beaded leather cover deco-rated with buttons, beads and bells. The lining wascotton cloth sewn to a crested buckskin cover thatwas quilled in bright red with yellow, blue, andwhite trim. The crest may be a variation of the tur-tle design, which symbolized protective powerover disease in infancy.

The Apache from the Southwest used a bent wil-low frame and wooden slats to support the baby,while a hood of willow twined with cotton stringacted as protection. The Chippewa cradle had asunshade support and footrest. Other tribes usedplaited and shredded cedar bark and beaded buckskin coverson a wood backing. Toy infant cradles were also made just aswe now provide our children with toy dolls that wet and cry,baby bottles, and strollers. The Blackfoot used doll cradles toeducate young girls in the fundamentals of childcare. A great

deal of borrowing of ideas must have occurred among the tribesin terms of cradle construction. (Mason, 1889) It is interestingthat our current market of carriers and slings reflected on Internetweb sites also illustrate considerable design similarities.

In the Canadian subarctic many Athabaskan-speaking tribespacked the base of their cradle with shreddedbark and moss that served as bedding and dia-per. A great variety of basket-framed cradleswere used, both sitting and reclining. Some weredecorated with porcupine quills or rosettedesigns. One belief is that the rosette symbol-izes “the crown of the child’s head” as well as“its intelligence.”

These cradleboards “depict infant care as free-dom for the mother to carry out daily chores, theuse of the cradle in transport, the effects ofswaddling on adult personality development andmotor movement as well as a protective device.”(American Indian Art Magazine, 1980) Althoughwe are no longer a “gatherer” culture, in a sensetoday’s parents have become increasinglymobile modern nomads: traveling worldwidewith their children; working in their home officesor taking their infants to work; and participatingin a multiplicity of activities. It is only in the lastfifty years, however, that researchers have con-firmed the wisdom of this timeless practice. Anearly book about this topic was published in1958: The Psycho-Motor Development of AfricanChildren in the First Year and the Influence ofMaternal Behavior by Marcel Gerber.

One area of research is the use of KangarooMother Care for premature babies. Kangaroo

Mother Care (KMC) was initially developed in Guatemalamaternity wards where a shortage of incubators led them toplace the babies inside their mother’s clothing to keep themwarm. KMC has since been found to benefit neonates greatly,


By Sydney Seaver

image provided by Vanessa Roanhorse under creative com

mons license.

© istockphoto.com

/ Kati M

olin


allowing them to better regulate their heart rate and breathing,allowing for better sleeping, faster growth, less crying, andearlier hospital release than preemies who do not participatein KMC (Sears, 2995b). Ashley Montagu explains it this way:“It is especially necessary for the parental generation of thehuman species to fully understand what the immaturity of itsinfants really signifies: that the infant is still continuing itsgestation period passing from uterogestation to exterogesta-tion. Among the most important of the newborn infant’sneeds are the signals it receives through the skin, the firstmedium of communication with the outside world.”

Researchers (Lozoff & Brittenham, 1979) found that pre-crawl-ing infants were carried most of the time in all hunter-gather-ing societies. In contrast, babies in the United States spentonly 25% of a 24-hour period in contact with their mothersdue to the proliferation of plastic carrying seats (such as theinfant seat of the 1950s, high chairs, jumper swings, and playpens). This, along with pediatric advice to have a separatesleeping area for the baby, resulted in 43% of crying episodesin American babies being ignored. (Blackwell, 2000 and Losoff& Brittenham 1979).

The Continuum Concept by Jean Leidloff was published in1977 after she spent two and a half years in a South Americanjungle with indigenous Indians. This experience demolished

© istockphoto.com

/ Kati M

olinim

age provided by Thomas Yager-M

adden under creative comm

ons license.

www.ergobaby.com

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her modern preconceptions of child rearing. Her book hasbeen translated into at least twelve languages and hasenlightened us with an alternative way of raising childrennow promoted by Attachment Parenting International andnumerous babywearing organizations and advocates suchas In-Arms Parenting.

We are definitely in the midst of a babywearing revolution inwhich women feel the need for carriers that secure the baby,keep it close, and allow the mother freedom of movementwhile promoting parent-child bonding. The Internet market isinundated with imaginative, versatile, and creative products.One website claims that it is the most active and fastestgrowing site solely dedicated to babywearing. It receives 12million hits per month and has over 21,000 registered usersand 10 new product reviews are posted each day.

The goal of parenting is to raise well-integrated childrenwho have strong self-preservation instincts and the abilityto peacefully discern and articulate their needs. The bene-fits of babywearing are wide ranging, in addition to makingthe parenting process easier and more fun. Most of all, eachnew generation of babies can be ushered into our worldwith the best loving support possible.


We are definitely in the midst of

a babywearing revolution in which

women feel the need for carriers

that secure the baby, keep it close,

and allow the mother freedom of

movement while promoting parent-

child bonding.

n u t r i t i o n

By Robert Schecter

At the end of last year, with the hope of improving den-

tal health, Southern California began to add fluoride

to its water supplies—a procedure first adopted 68

years ago in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Surprisingly, even

though fluoride is now added to most public drinking

water and found in the vast majority of toothpaste,

few of us actually know what it is.

FluorideNo Reason to Smile

© iStockphoto.com

/ Isabel Massé / digitalskillet

For promoters of the practice, that’sprobably a good thing. Fluoride, as itturns out, is one of the most toxic substances known to man. According toformer EPA scientist Dr. Robert Carton,“Fluoride is somewhat less toxic thanarsenic and more toxic than lead.”Which is interesting since fluoridatedwater contains on average 1 mg/liter of fluoride—even though the EPA con-siders any water containing more than.015 mg/liter of either lead or arsenic to be in excess of its maximum contam-inant level.

In its elemental form, fluoride isfound in minerals in the earth’s crust,such as apatite, and cryolite. Apatite,used in the manufacture of phosphatefertilizers, is the primary source of thefluoride used in water fluoridation pro-grams. The United States Department ofHealth and Human Services states: “Inthe manufacture of phosphate fertilizer…fluorides…are released as toxic pollu-tants.” That is unless these toxic pollu-tants are recovered and dumped intoour children’ drinking water.

Additionally, fluoride is widely used asan insecticide. It kills bugs while at thesame time giving them great teeth.Fluoride is in fact so toxic, your tube oftoothpaste contains the warning, “Ifmore than used for brushing is acciden-tally swallowed, get medical help or con-tact a Poison Control Center right away.”

Fluoride and fluoridation are responsi-ble for a condition called dental fluoro-sis, which, in very mild cases, causes

white and yellow blotches on our chil-dren’s developing teeth. The condition ispermanent and can only be masked byexpensive cosmetic surgery. Fluorosis ison the rise afflicting 20 to 75% of chil-dren living in fluoridated areas.

Dentists often blame swallowedtoothpaste for the problem because itallows them to use the “fluoride is onlya problem when used improperly”excuse. However, current levels ofdietary fluoride are more than enoughto cause the condition without any helpfrom toothpaste.

These same dentists assure us the dis-coloration effecting our children’s teethis “only cosmetic” (while at the sametime marketing their whitening productsand services by reminding us howimportant a beautiful smile is) and thatthe condition is mild or very mild—whichis meaningless when one considers thatmoderate to severe cases of fluorosis.When waters containing naturally highlevels of fluoride are consumed, victimsare left with crumbling, dark brown rem-nants of teeth.

The problem has gotten so bad theADA, by far fluoride’s biggest supporter,recently had to issue a warning aboutallowing babies to drink fluoridated tapwater because of the fluorosis risk.Think about that. Due to the actions ofthe government and dental authoritiesit is unsafe for our babies to drink theirown tap water.

But don’t we have to take a risk? Afterall were told, “Most dentists agree that

adding fluoride has drastically reducedtooth decay.” Perhaps, if they were right.But the evidence supporting the efficacyof fluoride is exceedingly questionableand has been widely criticized within themainstream scientific community.

Articles appearing in the journalsNature and Perspectives in Biology andMedicine have both agreed fluoride wasnot responsible for the large drop intooth decay that began in the mid partof the 20th century, which coincidedwith the post-World War II increase inteeth brushing.


Due to the actions

of the government

and dental authorities

it is unsafe for our

babies to drink their

own tap water.

Furthermore, a 1999 investigation per-formed at the behest of the OntarioMinistry of Health reported that, at thattime, the effects of fluoridation wereoften both statistically and clinicallyinsignificant and, when examining thefour major studies initiated the 1940sand whose results led to widespreadfluoridation, found them to have been“crude and subject to a number ofmethodological flaws.” So numerouswere these flaws that Sutton in 1959 wasable to write an entire book about them.

Finally in 2000, the British MedicalJournal published a study by McDonaghentitled “Systematic Review of Water

Fluoridation,” which examined 214 stud-ies involving fluoridation and found noneof them to have been of good quality.

Another important fact to be aware ofis that today, when studies measure flu-oride efficacy, they generally employ ameasure called the DMFS index, whichtabulates decayed, missing and filledtooth surfaces (each of us, if we have allour teeth, has 128 surfaces). Using theDMFS index has the effect of creatingpercentage variations that give the illu-sion of substantial benefits where noneexist. For example, a widely citedNational Institute of Dental Researchstudy released in 1990 attributed an

18–25% carries reduction—dependingon how the data was interpreted—tofluoridation. Yet when one considers thevariation in DMFS, 2.79 vs. 3.39, fromwhich those numbers were derived, thebenefit is less than 1/2 of one tooth surface per child. And even that data issuspect because the aforementionedstudy, like almost all fluoride studies,did not take into account the well-known fact that fluoride consumption,even in “optimal” amounts, can delaytooth eruption long enough to confoundfluoridation studies (a delayed eruptionlessens the time a tooth is vulnerable to decay and, since studies comparechildren of the same age, fluoridatedchildren may actually have “younger”teeth than their unfluoridated peers, cre-ating an invalid statistical comparison.)

Unfortunately, fluoridated water is notthe only source of exposure. Toothpasteadds substantially to the burden. It is very often swallowed, especially byvulnerable, younger children. And evenwhen used by children with good control of swallowing, it adds as muchfluoride to the “diet” as do all othersources—including fluoridated water.

But can we afford to give up fluoridat-ed toothpaste? Surely that works. Afterall we’ve seen the commercials tellingus it’s “clinically proven to fight cavi-ties.” But what does clinically provenreally mean?

When “clinically proven” benefits havebeen found, they generally fall withinthe 15–30% range, which is largeenough to be called “significant.”However, because these percentagesare expressed in terms of the DMFSindex, those “benefits” are, as in thepreviously cited NIDR fluoridation study,again in the half of one tooth surfacerange—hardly anything to crow about.

Then one must consider the studiesfrom which these numbers are derived.One particularly revealing study, con-ducted in 1962 and funded by Proctorand Gamble, maker of fluoridated Crest,basically gave out free toothpaste—some fluoridated and some not—tokids and told them to use it, with or


© iStockphoto.com

/ Monika A

damczyk


without supervision and however theypleased, at home.

Not surprisingly, the study found thatthe fluoride toothpaste was protective.It also found the kids were brushing lessthan once a day and for about 40 seconds at a time—a less than optimalregimen to say the least. And remember,they were using toothbrushes of the1960s, which are hardly comparable tothose of today.

In regard to fluoride consumption,there are two other items about whichparents need to be particularly con-cerned. The first is white grape juice andthe second mechanically separatedchicken which is found in baby food,chicken sticks and chicken nuggets.Both contain high levels of fluoride—the former due to pesticides, the laterdue to fluoride-containing bone dustreleased during the separation process.

When fluoride was introduced into thewater supply, the 1 ppm level was, ingeneral, deemed optimal. It provided asupposed anticaries effect without cre-ating an excessively high risk of fluoro-sis. But the emergence of additionalsources of fluoride has exposed chil-dren to substantially more than theoptimal amount, creating an epidemicof dental fluorosis. The government’sresponse has been to do nothing but toexpand fluoridation while celebratingits imagined virtues.

The increased consumption of fluo-ride among children has been matchedby an increase in adult consumption. A2000 study published in the BritishMedical Journal found adult fluoride

intake varies from between 1.58 to 6.60mg/day. Much of this fluoride is storedin bone and can cause a conditioncalled skeletal fluorosis. According tothe NRC and others, consumption of aslittle as 10 mg of fluoride per day over aten-year period may cause a cripplingform of the disease. That’s an amountunder the highest consumption levelsreported, but one must remember thesehigh levels are being consumed over alifetime, not a ten-year period.Additionally, if 10 mg over 10 years cancause the disease’s crippling form, howmuch fluoride over what period of timecauses a less severe manifestation? Andwhat do we do after our 10 years are up?Move to another country. The NRCreport does reassure us that, “cripplingskeletal fluorosis in the United Stateshas been rare and not a public healthproblem.” Which is reassuring until werealize the symptoms of skeletal fluoro-sis are indistinguishable from those ofarthritis—a disease whose prevalencegrows day by day.

If fluoride sounds like something you’dlike to avoid, here are my suggestions.

Use bottled water for cooking anddrinking. I prefer brands that removefluoride using the reverse-osmosis filtering process. Remember, fluorideexists in the earth as a natural element,and therefore may be present, at unde-sirable levels, in some bottled waters.

Switch to a non-fluoridated tooth-paste. The kids might not like the ideaof giving up Tweety Bird™, Barbie™ andthe artificial sweeteners (although

some non-fluoridated toothpastes nowreplicate the taste of the fluoridatedvariety) but they’ll get used to it. Just befirm when you make the change. If theyresist brushing, inform them, in a pleas-ant, non-threatening way that you’ll nolonger be able to provide any treatsuntil they see the error of their ways.

If you’re not ready to give up fluoridetoothpaste, at least restrict the amountyour children use to the recommendedpea-sized amount and make sure theydon’t swallow it. Additionally keep aneye on them when they brush: at leasttwice a day and especially before bed. Ifwe don’t see them brush, there’s noguarantee they’re brushing—even ifthey say they are.

Choose health over chemicals. If youhave the former you won’t need the latter. I had a mouthful of cavities growingup in optimally fluoridated—and sugared—NY, while my daughter, fluoride-free for the last five years andliving a healthier lifestyle, is, knock onwood, cavity-free at age twelve.


The emergence of additional sources of fluoride has

exposed children to substantially more than the optimal

amount, creating an epidemic of dental fluorosis. The

government’s response has been to do nothing but to

expand fluoridation while celebrating its imagined virtues.


pa r e n t i n g

It’s a curious affliction: the tendency to talk about one’s children in the most brutally honest and hurtful ways withoutrealizing that the cherished subjects of the offensive commentsare listening to every word. Right now, you may be saying toyourself, “This never happens to me.” Perhaps. Perhaps not.But I think there’s a good chance you’ll see yourself in atleast one of the following examples.

Unloading a cart full of Cheerios, macaroni-and-cheese andhot dogs at the grocery store’s checkout counter, a harriedmother chats animatedly to the cashier. “…Only one moreweek ‘til summer vacation, then the kids will be home allday. I can already hear the bickering and whining! I don’tknow how I’ll manage to live through the next few months!Want to buy two kids, cheap?” The cashier laughs andshakes her head, “Oh, no thanks, I have my own! I knowwhat you mean! I’m already waiting for next September!” In their supposedly innocent light-hearted banter, neitherone notices the shopper’s two children standing right besideher, listening quietly to every hurtful word. Neither onenotices a pair of small eyes cast downward just so, or a nervous little cough.

Consider Amir’s situation as he walks in the door after anothergrueling day of work. His joyful, eager children run for Daddy,but Mom spies him coming in just before they have theirchance to pounce. And the daily gripe session begins. “I amSO glad you’re home. I need five minutes of peace and quiet.These kids drove me crazy all day! Abdi and Sheida havebeen like wild animals. They were fighting in the living room

Casual RemarksAn excerpt from Hidden Messages:

What Our Words and Actions are Really Telling Our Children

© iStockphoto.com

/ Bulent Ince / digitalskillet

By Elizabeth Pantley


and knocked over the potted fern. Aria has been acting like a two-year-old—having temper tantrums over every littlething. The wash machine is broken again and I have fourstacks of kids’ dirty clothes piled up in the laundry room…”Quietly and unnoticed, three dispirited children fade into the background of the family room and turn on the TV.

Then there’s Megan, chatting on the phone with her bestfriend. As usual, the conversation turns to the daily issueswith their children. Megan dramatically relates how veryannoyed she was with Kyle at baseball this morning. “I was so embarrassed!” she groans. “Kyle struck out and he stomped his foot like a baby and threw his helmet on the ground. You’d think he was five years old instead of 15!”She chuckled. “I think adolescent hormones are taking over.”Meanwhile, said adolescent is just a few feet away, pretend-ing to work on his homework—but actually suffering theembarrassment of listening to his mother talk about his veryreal pain as if it were some big joke.

I know many parents who slip into the type of unfortunateconversation of a mother and father who approached meafter a recent parenting lecture. They were anxious to talkwith me, bemoaning their three-year-old’s latest behaviorproblems. “Molly’s been a good girl until recently. It’s likewe’ve entered the terrible twos a bit late. She’s just no funanymore. She’s constantly yelling ‘No!’ to us and won’t listento a word we say. We’ve tried to be patient, but she’s pushedus to the end of our rope!” I glance down to see a little three-year-old (Molly, perhaps?) clinging tightly to her father’s leg.

But she’s only three, she doesn’t understand what they’resaying, this couldn’t possibly hurt her.

Or so we think.

The Hidden Message

“I can talk about you all I want, and since you’re just a childyou’re not listening to what I say anyway. You’re not worthyof the same respect I’d give another adult. Besides, this ishow I REALLY feel about you, and I don’t care about yourfeelings—you’re just a kid so your feelings aren’t important.”

Think About It

If you don’t believe that your children hear your casualremarks, try this: As you chat with a friend or your spouse,casually slip a question in the middle of your conversation.Something along the lines of, “Do you think we should roundup the kids and take them out for ice cream?” Be ready tohop in the car when you hear the chorus of, “Yes!” from thefour corners of the house.

Children do not always react outwardly to what they hear.However, if you could see into their hearts, you would find a record of every careless word, every thoughtless action,every adult laugh, that here, in the most tender and vulnera-ble of places, was not found so funny. Here would you find also significant—and often, inappropriate—meaningattached to these products of childhood observation.Children struggle through the growing-up process, and alongthe way they question who they are and what their meaning

is to this world and to their parents. A parent’s potentwords, and the multitude of other comments, gesturesand actions, help a child paint a picture of who hereally is, and how important he is in this world. Howtragic for that child if, despite how we really feel, thatpainting is not the masterpiece we envision!

Changes You Can Make

Given the extreme importance of your words, it simply makes good sense to choose them carefully.From now on, if your child is within hearing distanceassume that he may be listening—and don’t say anything about him that you wouldn’t say to him.

If you see a bit of yourself in the previous examples,you’re no different than most parents. But that doesn’tmean that this behavior needn’t cease. Such a simplechange could have a very positive impact on your

A parent’s potent words, and the

multitude of other comments, gestures

and actions, help a child paint a

picture of who he really is, and how

important he is in this world.

Offeryourissue

toa

friend...

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FIND A HOLISTIC

PRACTITIONER:

www.hpakids.org

The HPA:

Alliance for Holistic

Family Health and Wellness

offers resources and timely information

helping parents make informed health

care choices for pregnancy, birth,

and childhood. We are committed to

supporting parents who seek a holistic

model of health care and empowering

parents to build healthy bodies and

spirits in their families. Visit our web

site to find a holistic practitioner.children’s lives. As you talk about your children—andlet’s face it, they’re among our favorite topics—payattention to how those words sound from your child’spoint of view. If you think that what you’re saying, or about to say, can be construed as hurtful or embar-rassing, stop. Talk about something else.

If you’re not sure what you’re saying has a negativeimpact or not, ask yourself how you would feel if youoverheard someone talking about you in those exactwords. Or perhaps you can ask yourself, “If I weretalking about my boss/spouse/best friend to anotherperson, with the object of my comments listening,would I ever say such a thing?” If your answer is amortified laugh, then stop mid-sentence and rephraseyour comments in a more positive way, if you findthem absolutely crucial to the conversation.

Better yet, find something shining and wonderful tosay about your child, and be sure your child hears it.That type of “casual comment” can yield life-enhancingbenefits to your children. It may help them compose amore wonderful vision of themselves—an image thatthey can carry with them for the rest of their lives.

(Excerpted with permission from Hidden Messages:What Our Words and Actions are Really Telling OurChildren by Elizabeth Pantley, copyright 2001,NTC/Contemporary Publishing Group Inc.)



“She’s hyperactive, you know.” Mrs. Bryant saidit with deep concern. Then, as if to mitigate thecause of her concern, she added with an embar-rassed giggle, “I guess Erica got it from me.”

With considerable astonishment I realized that Mrs. Bryantwas genuinely upset. But why was she under the impressionthat there was something wrong with her daughter, and thatit carried the label “hyperactive?” Eight-year-old Erica hadjust spent almost two hours in my office with no sign of any disturbance. What I had seen during the psychological-neurological examination was a lively, charming, and a quiteaverage eight-year old. Two hours was enough time to seethat Erica had no problems paying attention, or staying witha task. Where could her mother have gotten the idea thatthis was a hyperactive child?

It came from the new classroom teacher. Erica had beennoisy in class. Being a lively and charming youngster, herfriends had joined her in the noise. That was more than thenew teacher could take. She sent Erica for evaluation. Theevaluation turned unfortunate. The child, nervous in front of strange adults, whom she interpreted as unfriendly, had

fa m i ly l i f e

By Dr. Renee Fuller

Jumping Jeepers:Why Won’t These Kids Sit Still?

© iStockphoto.com

/ Bulent Ince / Eva Serrabassa / Vladim

ir Melnikov / D

IGIcal / C

assandrea Tiensivu / jaymast / D

arren Baker / Nicole S. Young


tried to be extra lively to win them over. That didit! Erica was labeled “hyperactive” instead of“nervous in front of not-so-friendly adults.”

Why had she been relaxed with me when I test-ed her? Probably because we were old friends.I was the doctor who periodically exam-ined her sick little brother. And herbrother looked forward to those visitswith its wonderful toys. Psychological examinations in expe-rienced hands can be great fun, not at all threatening. Theirpurpose is to find out what a person can accomplish undernormal conditions, not what stress and duress will produce.

Fortunately the story of Erica had ahappy ending. Rather than placingher on Ritalin, as the school had

demanded, her parents switchedschools (this was before home school-

ing was a relatively easy alternative in New York State). Her new homeroomteacher was a lively elderly woman whoenjoyed a noisy classroom. In the new

school Erica escaped further evaluations. As she grew older she channeled her wonder-

ful energy into helping her parents with theirblossoming catering business. On graduatingfrom high school she became a full-fledged partner in their business which her husband-

to-be eventually joined.

What appalls me is the label “hyperactive.” For those of uswho have worked with genuine psychopathology, “hyperac-tive” implies a neurological abnormality usually involving the reticular activating system deep in the brain. In manycases the abnormality is so pronounced that it is picked up by as undiscriminating an instrument as the EEG (elec-troencephalogram). People who have this genuine kind ofbrain damage are very different from the school child whodoesn’t sit still in the classroom and has trouble payingattention to boring seat work. Once you have seen genuinehyperactivity, you will never mistake the liveliness of Erica for this kind of pathology.

Rather than reflecting the pathology of hyperactivity, oursquirming and wriggling youngsters resemble other youngmammals of every size and shape. What baby elephants,puppies, kittens, rat pups, and colts all have in common isthat their activity levels keep their mothers and sometimestheir fathers on constant alert.

The elaborate nurseries of elephant, dolphin, monkey, andwild dog mothers are necessary because the energy levels of the youngsters surpass those of even the most energeticadults. As a result, the adults pool their energy resourcesand create nurseries. The same holds for us humans.

A healthy youngster keeps goinglong after the exasperated adult col-lapses in exhaustion. That is why wehave Dad periodically take over fromMom, or older sibs, or grandparents, or yes, even our schools. Except thatsometimes our schools are resentful

of this task which they feel is beyond them.

Why all this energy? Why all this wild runningand bouncing about? To build a healthy body.Those couch potatoes that so many schoolsseem to prefer have obesity problems with elevated choles-terol levels already in childhood! Then there are the socialinteractions we learn from such simple games as playingball. The understanding of concepts such as fair play, takingturns, giving someone else a chance: these are the essen-tials of social living that are learned during childhood’s play.No classroom dialectic can take their place.

The frenetic activity of youngsters in the backyard or on theplayground is serious work. To dampen this work through theadministration of drugs implies a lack of knowledge of ourbiology and its purposes. But, you say, Erica surpassed manyother youngsters in her energy level. Perhaps we should seeher as especially gifted on this dimension. And shemay well have inherited her high energy levelfrom her mother who was the driving forcebehind the family business. That business heldthe family together as well as giving entry-level jobsto numerous youngsters in the neighborhood.

Human diversity has enriched all our lives. Musical, mathe-matical, verbal, athletic abilities, and yes energy levels arenot evenly distributed among us. Instead, each of us has a special mix of aptitudes with which we can delight andenchant each other. To call a particular mix excessive, espe-cially when there are people all around us showing how successful the mix can be, seems bizarre. And yet, in the last 30 years, I have seen a rising population of childrenlabeled as “hyperactive” simply because they resemble their successful parents. The high energy level of these parents frequently was essential to their achievements.

I am so glad that Erica’s parents understood—that they did not heed the advice of her school, and perhaps destroy,or at least inhibit, the wonderfully energetic and creativewoman she came to be!


By Rae Pica

When school began last fall, many parents discovered thatrecess has disappeared from their children’s day. Of those who asked why, some were probably told that because theirchildren have physical education class they don’t need recess.But PE and recess serve different purposes for children.

Certainly, if the development of motor skills and physical fitness were the only benefits of recess, then schools offeringa daily, developmentally appropriate physical educationclass might feel justified eliminating recess from their pro-grams. But there are two major points to be considered here:First, daily physical education is about as rare as purpledinosaurs. Second, recess has much more to offer than thedevelopment of motor skills and physical fitness. Recess cer-tainly contributes to these outcomes. It is in the outdoorsthat children can fully and freely experience large motorskills like running, leaping, and jumping; manipulative skillssuch as throwing, catching, and striking; and gymnastics

skills like climbing and balancing. But, because it is unstructured, recess also has a great deal more to offeryoung children.

Physical education is organized and planned. It is an instruc-tional program in which children are expected to participatein specific activities and achieve certain results. In that way,it is like almost every other aspect of the school day.

Recess, on the other hand, is not organized and planned. It is, in fact, a break from structure as well as a break from all of those expectations. As such, children are allowed toengage in choice: choice of activities, choice of companions.Having already spent a good deal of time with other children,they may also choose no companions—to be alone in solitary reflection. All of these options benefit children, whoneed to learn to socialize, contemplate, and make choices.The latter is absolutely essential for personal responsibilityand problem-solving skills; all are essential for a full andrewarding life.


m ov i n g a n d l e a r n i n g

© iStockphoto.com

/ Sebastian Kaulitzki / O

lga Lyubkina / asiseeit

Why Recess Is Different from PE

For many children, especially those who are hyperactive orpotentially so, recess is an opportunity to blow off steam.Outside, children can engage in behaviors (loud, messy, andboisterous) considered unacceptable and annoying inside.And research has shown that children are more active atrecess than while outside at home.

Research also shows that prolonged confinement in class-rooms results in restlessness and fidgeting. Could it be thatwe would have fewer children considered hyperactive—thatis, being drugged—if we simply allowed them an occasionalbreak? And isn’t it sad, not to mention exceedingly counter-productive, that the “problem” children are the ones likely to have recess revoked due to “misbehavior?”

Finally, unlike physical education class, recess is a time whenchildren can simply and freely play. Unfortunately, much ofhow we feel about recess is connected to today’s attitudetoward play in general—that it’s a waste of time that couldbe spent more “productively.” In fact, many early childhood

professionals fear play has become a “four-letter word.” But,regardless of how we presently feel about it, play has alwaysbeen and will always be necessary for children. According toPlaying for Keeps, a national, nonprofit organization, play is“the single most important activity for the healthy develop-ment of young children.”




m i n d — b o dy

E V O L V E

YOURBRAINThe Science of Changing Your Mind

Part 3 of an

I N T E R V I E W

with Joe Dispenza, DC


Pathways: What is mental rehearsal and how can we use it to change?

Dr. Dispenza: Mental rehearsal allows us to change our brain—to create a new level of mind—without doing anything physicalother than thinking. It involves mentally seeing and experiencingour “self” demonstrating or practicing a skill, habit, or state of being of our own choosing. Through mental rehearsal, we can employ the advanced faculties of our frontal lobe to makesignificant changes in our life.

Several studies have shown that the brain does not know the difference between what it is thinking internally and what it isexperiencing in its external environment. In one experiment, twogroups of non-pianists were asked to learn one-handed pianoexercises and to practice two hours a day for five days—with one important difference. One group physically practiced theirexercises, while the other mentally rehearsed the same exerciseswithout using their fingers. At the end of the five days, brainscans showed that both groups grew the same amount of newbrain circuits. How is that possible?

We know that when we think the same thoughts or perform thesame actions over and over, we repeatedly stimulate specific networks of neurons in particular areas of the brain. As a result,we build stronger, more enriched connections between thesegroups of nerve cells. This concept in neuroscience is calledHebbian learning. The idea is simple: nerve cells that fire togeth-er, wire together.

According to functional brain scans in this particular experiment,the subjects that mentally rehearsed were so inwardly focusedthat their brain did not know the difference between the internaland the external world. Thus, they were activating their brain inthe same way as if they were actually playing the piano. In fact,their brain circuits strengthened and developed in the same areaof the brain as the group that physically practiced.

Pathways: You say in your book that thinking isn’t enough tochange our mind, and that change is a process of thinking,doing, and then being. Can you explain how this works?

Dr. Joseph Dispenza studied biochem-istry at Rutgers University in NewBrunswick, N.J. He went on to receivehis Doctor of Chiropractic Degree at Life University in Atlanta, Georgia, graduating magna cum laude. He is therecipient of a Clinical ProficiencyCitation for clinical excellence in doctor–patient relationships from LifeUniversity and a member of theInternational Chiropractic Honor Society.

Dr. Dispenza’s postgraduate trainingand continuing education has been inneurology, neurophysiology, and brainfunction. He has authored several scientific articles on the close relation-ship between brain chemistry, neurophysiology, and biology, and theirroles in physical health. He hasauthored the book: Evolve Your Brain:the Science of Changing Your Mind. Dr. Dispenza was also one of the scien-tists, researchers, and teachers featuredin the multi-award winning hit movie,“What the BLEEP Do We Know!?” ™ .

Joseph Dispenza is known by his abilityto translate scientific concepts of physicsand biology into every day comprehen-sible language.

© iStockphoto.com

/ Sebastian Kaulitzki


Dr. Dispenza: The change we want to make has to go beyondthinking and even doing—we need to go all the way tobeing. If I want to truly be a pianist, I will start by acquiringknowledge, which involves thinking. Then I can start to gainexperience through mental rehearsal, which again involvesthinking. I also have to involve the body in the act of doing—physically demonstrating what I’ve intellectually learned—byplaying the piano. But that isn’t going far enough. Imagine aconcert pianist who does her best work in practice sessions,but struggles during a concert. Or to bring this a little closerto home, imagine a spouse who is the model of understand-ing on the drive home from work, but devolves into an impa-tient pouter as soon as he or she comes through the door.

If I want to attain the state of being a pianist, my evolvedunderstanding and my skills must become so hardwired andmapped into my brain that I no longer have to consciouslythink about playing, because my subconscious mind nowhandles that skill. Now that I am a pianist, any thought Ihave about playing, or desire to express my feelings throughmusic, will automatically turn my body on to carry out thetask of playing the piano. We talk at length in Evolve YourBrain about how we use different kinds of memory, activatingdifferent parts of the brain, to turn conscious thoughts into

subconscious thoughts. We also learn that to master anyparticular skill one must possess a great deal of knowledgeabout a subject, receive expert instruction in that area, andhave plenty of experiences to provide feedback.

We all go from thinking to doing to being every time we learna skill well enough to do it automatically. Driving is a greatexample. The beauty of this process is that we can use it toattain any state of being we choose, from being more patientwith our children to being healthy to being a happy person.

Pathways: What is evolution and how can we evolve ourbrain?

Dr. Dispenza: We evolve as a species and as individuals. Infact, our own personal evolution also advances the humanspecies. Most of us learned in school that evolution is theslow, linear process by which species survive changes intheir environment through adaptation over generations,selecting for specialized anatomy and physiology that helpthem to perpetuate their species. The human brain evolvedin a linear fashion up to about 250,000 years ago, when (forreasons that remain a mystery) a sudden, explosive period of growth gave us a neocortex much larger and denser thanthat of any other species. This so-called new brain is the seatof our conscious awareness; it houses the capacity to learn

This so-called new brain is the seat of

our conscious awareness; it houses

the capacity to learn and to reason,

and the free will to create. Simply

put, our neocortex, especially the

frontal lobe, affords us the potential

to transcend the gradual process

of evolution and move into rapid,

nonlinear evolution.

and to reason, and the free will to create. Simply put,our neocortex, especially the frontal lobe, affords us the potential to transcend the gradual process of evolution and move into rapid, nonlinear evolution.Because we can learn from knowledge and our experi-ences—above all, from our mistakes—and since wehave several specialized forms of memory by which we can remember what we learn, we can immediatelymodify our thoughts and behavior. Unlike otherspecies, we can create a completely new range ofexperiences in just one lifetime.

In terms of the brain, evolution means learning, makingnew synaptic connections, maintaining them, and applying what we learned so we have a new experience,which then is encoded in the brain. We may then passon what we learned to our offspring and to other mem-bers of our species. What Evolve Your Brain presents isa process that can cause the brain to make a quantumleap by overcoming certain neural circuits that we’vebeen given genetically and by encoding new experi-ences and information. When we evolve out of the primi-tive states of survival hardwired in our brain, fire newthoughts (which make new chemicals), change our mind(which alters the chemical message to our body), andmodify our behavior (to create a whole new experience,thus bringing new chemistry that affects our cells), nowwe are on the path of evolution.

We all have certain habits and propensities that we’veeither inherited genetically, or that we’ve been condi-tioned to by our environment. Personal evolutionrequires us to break the habit of being ourselves andto become greater than our environment. We break out of our routines and habitual emotional reactionsand behaviors by acquiring new knowledge and havingnovel experiences. In the early stages of learning, weare faced with novelty. Next follow moments duringwhich we review and internalize the new stimuli, as we begin to make it familiar or known. By the end ofevery learning process, the newly acquired informationis known and familiar; if we have learned a behavior or atask, it may now be routine, even automatic. Our abilityto process unknown to known, unfamiliar to familiar,novel to routine is the route to our individual evolution.

Pathways: Are training programs or schools of wisdomnecessary to evolving our brain?

Dr. Dispenza: In Evolve Your Brain, I outline a simpleprocess of acquiring knowledge, getting instruction,applying what we’ve learned, and receiving feedback—that’s how we evolve our brain. We go from thinking to doing to being. That sequential process allows us tochange. I do recommend, and have found it essential

in my own experience, that if we want to evolve in the mosteffective way, we should seek out instruction from someone who has mastered what we want to learn.

There are many excellent individuals, programs, and institutions—some of which are mentioned in this book—that can help uslearn new information, apply what we have learned, have novelexperiences, and begin to modify our behavior. Each individualmust decide for themselves whether starting with small changes,or taking huge leaps, is most appropriate for them.


Vaccinations:Your health.Your family.Your choice.

very vaccine carries risks. Somevaccine reactions are mild, others

can lead to chronic illness and disabilityor even death.

The National Vaccine Information Centeris a private, non-profit organizationworking to improve the safety ofvaccines and vaccine policies,and to protect your ability to make informed, voluntaryvaccination decisions.

Visit www.NVIC.org and learnhow to prevent vaccine reactionsand protect vaccine choices.

E

www.NVIC.org


i n f o r m e d c h o i c e

DefendingInformedConsent to Vaccination in Americaby Barbara Loe Fisher

Vaccination is a medical intervention performed

on a healthy person to theoretically prevent

infectious disease that could harm that person

or be communicated to someone else and cause

harm. Many people experience infectious dis-

eases, such as chicken pox and mumps, and do

not develop complications that cause perma-

nent health problems or death. Others do.


Unlike recovery from infectious diseases, which often provideslifelong immunity, vaccination does not give lifelong immunity.For some people, vaccination does not work at all and fails toprovide even temporary immunity.

All pharmaceutical products, including vaccines, carry a risk ofharm. Just as individuals can react differently to prescriptiondrugs, some people are at greater risk than others for adverseresponses to vaccination that can lead to chronic illness anddisability or even death.

In 1986, Congress acknowledged the reality of vaccine injuriesand deaths when it passed the National Childhood VaccineInjury Act. By 2007, nearly $2 billion had been awarded to vac-cine casualties by the U.S. Court of Claims—even though feder-al officials continue to fight every claim and two out of threevaccine victims are turned away for compensation.

In 1991 and 1994, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) publishedreports reviewing the medical literature for evidence that vac-cines can injure and kill. IOM confirmed that vaccines can causedamage to the immune system and brain, as well as death, andadmitted there are “many gaps and limitations in knowledgebearing directly or indirectly on the safety of vaccines.” Theseinclude “inadequate understanding of the biologic mechanismsunderlying adverse events following natural infection or immu-nization…”

Since the early 1980s, every new vaccine developed by drugcompanies for children has been recommended by U.S. federalhealth officials for universal use by all children in America.Today, Americans are required to buy and use more vaccinesthan citizens in any other nation in the world.

In 1982, pediatricians were giving children 23 doses of 7 vac-cines, including vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella. By2007, the numbers of doses of vaccines the federal governmentrecommended for universal use by age 12 years had more thandoubled to 56 doses of 16 vaccines: diphtheria (6 doses), per-tussis (6 doses), tetanus (6 doses), polio (4 doses), measles (2doses), mumps (2 doses), rubella (2 doses), HIB (4 doses), hep-atitis B (3 doses), chicken pox (2 doses), hepatitis A (2 doses),pneumococcal (4 doses), rotavirus (3 doses), influenza (5doses), meningococcal (1 dose), and HPV (3—for girls).

More than twice as many American children are suffering withchronic brain and immune system dysfunction today than therewere in the 1970s and 80s, when half as many vaccines weregiven to them. Today, 1 child in 450 in America becomes diabet-ic; 1 in 150 develops autism; 1 in 9 suffers with asthma; 1 in 6 islearning disabled.

Americans are required to buy and use more vaccines than citizens in any other nation in the world.

In 1982, pediatricians were giving children 23 doses of 7 vaccines, including vaccinesfor measles, mumps and rubella.

By 2007, the numbers of doses of vaccines thefederal government recommended for universaluse by age 12 years had more than doubled to

56 doses of 16 vaccines:

diphtheria (6 doses),

pertussis (6 doses),

tetanus (6 doses),

polio (4 doses),

measles (2 doses),

mumps (2 doses),

rubella (2 doses),

HIB (4 doses),

hepatitis B (3 doses),

chicken pox (2 doses),

hepatitis A (2 doses),

pneumococcal (4 doses),

rotavirus (3 doses),

influenza (5 doses),

meningococcal (1 dose),

and HPV (3 for girls).

More than twice as many American children aresuffering with chronic brain and immune sys-tem dysfunction today than there were in the1970s and 80s, when half as many vaccineswere given to them. Today, 1 child in 450 inAmerica becomes diabetic; 1 in 150 developsautism; 1 in 9 suffers with asthma; 1 in 6 islearning disabled.

© iStockphoto.com

/ Hilary Brody

46 pathways |

Dozens of new vaccines are beingdeveloped by the pharmaceuticalindustry and tested in more than1,800 human clinical trials world-wide to prevent everything from her-pes and syphilis to nicotine andcocaine addiction. Americans todayare facing an increasingly well-financed and highly structuredmandatory mass vaccination systemthat attaches societal sanctions and

legal punishments for failure to use multiple doses of multiplevaccines.

The legal right of states to require citizens to be vaccinated forsmallpox was confirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1905.Since then, vaccine laws in most states have provided individ-uals with exemptions to vaccine mandates for medical, reli-gious, and philosophical or conscientious belief reasons.Requirements for obtaining these exemptions are worded dif-ferently in each state.

All but two states (Mississippi and West Virginia) allow reli-gious exemption, although the language about which beliefsqualify for a religious exemption varies among states.Seventeen states provide for a philosophical, personal beliefor conscientious belief exemption. These states come closestto protecting the right of Americans to exercise informed con-sent to vaccination.

However, both the religious and the conscientious/philosoph-ical belief exemptions are threatened by forced vaccinationproponents who argue that these exemptions provide “loop-holes” in vaccine laws that allow too many people to avoid vac-cination. They contend that if many people opt-out of vaccina-tion, it could lead to future epidemics of infectious disease.

On November 17, 2007, government officials in the State ofMaryland ordered several thousand parents to line up at acounty courthouse with their children to get them injectedwith two newly mandated vaccines for hepatitis and chicken-pox or else face jail time and stiff fines. There was no publichealth emergency. No bioterrorism attack. No raging epidem-ic of deadly disease.

No questions were asked about previous vaccine reactions orhealth risks before the children were vaccinated on the spot.Armed guards with dogs made sure nobody from the public,including the media, were allowed inside the courthouse tosee what was happening. It was the first time Americans wit-nessed fellow citizens being rounded up and threatened with

imprisonment for simply failing to show government officialsproof of vaccination. It will not be the last time unless citizensin every state stand up and fight for their right to makeinformed, voluntary vaccination decisions for themselves andtheir children.

With the understanding that medical science and the doctorswho practice it are not infallible and what doctors believe istrue today can be proven wrong tomorrow, better educatedhealth care consumers are now demanding more information,more choices, and a more equal decision-making partnershipwith doctors. They are asking questions rather than trustingblindly. One of the biggest questions yet to be answered bydoctors and public health officials is: Why are so many highlyvaccinated children so sick?

As millions of Americans instinctively turn away from the phar-maceutical-dependent medical model and embrace a morevitalistic approach to health and wellness that acknowledgesindividuality and the oneness of body, mind, and spirit, manyare rejecting one-size-fits-all forced vaccination policies. Theyare coming to the realization that one way to better health isto summon the courage to reject belief systems based on fearand work in harmony with the natural order.

The National Vaccine Information Center has defended theethical principle of informed consent since 1982. We maintainthat the right to make informed, voluntary decisions aboutany medical intervention that can harm you or your child is ahuman right. Go to www.nvic.org to learn more about how youcan prevent vaccine reactions and protect vaccine choices inAmerica. Support the work of the National VaccineInformation Center and educate your community about theneed to secure informed consent protections in vaccine lawsin your state and every state.



g r at i t u d e

Your body lovesgratitude! Not a

superficial “oh gee,thanks” but a deep,

h e a r t - c o n n e c t e dappreciation that car-

ries love and accept-ance from a place of higher

consciousness and well-being.

Your body loves it because it wash-es away the biochemistry of stress and

insufficiency and replaces it with the alche-my of flow and emotional warmth. The reso-

nance from gratefulness warms both the giverand receiver; it generates a field of appreciationsometimes referred to as limbic resonance. In thefield of appreciation, we create a healing andreviving antidote to psycho-toxins such as “I don’thave time,” “I don’t have enough,” or “I amdrained.”

Each trickle of gratitude blesses us with its affir-mation that we have all we need in consciousnessitself to gather our strength and honor life. Eachstream of gratitude clears out the corrosive toxinsof stress and anxiety in your body and becomes agift to yourself and to others.

Now visualize great rivers of gratitude comingtogether as we turn collectively to face the hour inwhich we live. “With all of its sham, drudgery, andbroken dreams, it is still a beautiful world,” wroteMax Ehrmann. Even in the face of war, violence, andsevere climate imbalance, Christopher Fry declared,“Thank God that our time is now, when wrongcomes up to meet us everywhere.” We can be

grateful that we are here in thistime of earth challenges with anunquenchable sense of hope and with asteadfast belief in our human capacity toheal, to renew and even to go beyond whatseemed our most persistent limitations.

So I say let the gratitude flow. We are ready forthe challenges that exist now and that lieahead. Let these great rivers of our deepestintention flow towards a polarized and dis-tracted world and cleanse it with the power oflove. We come from all races, all creeds, allsocio-political backgrounds with one unify-ing feeling of gratitude for life, for con-sciousness, and for a new evolutionary pathforward. We come with gratitude for everybeing that came before us. We have beengiven an epic moment in the journey of life onearth to bring our greatest scientific knowl-edge together with our deepest spiritualinsight to change the course of history. Ifyou ever thought you were insignificant,consider how you are now needed in thisgreat shift. And be grateful that you weregiven such a role and such a time to live in.

Thank you, thank you for what each one of you doesto step up and to raise the consciousness of the cit-izens of this world. Thank you for feeding thesegreat rivers, even in the face of wounding anddenial. Thank you for being you.

Organization: www.noetic.org Media membership: www.shiftinaction.com

GratitudeJames O’Dea, President

Institute of Noetic Sciences


© iStockphoto.com

/ David Schrader

48 pathways | 48 pathways | issue 17

r e s e a r c h r e v i ew

Two recent survey studies have shown chiropractic care for chil-dren is safe, gets results and offers childrenunexpected health benefits. One survey includ-ed data from doctors of chiropractic and theother survey collected data from parents of chil-dren under care.

The results of the doctors’ surveys showedthat of the 812 clinical cases, 717 indicatedexperiencing an improvement with their pre-senting symptoms, while 9 patients reportedtreatment-related aggravations. These were described as“soreness” or “fussy.” No treatment-related complicationswere reported. The survey results suggest that chiropracticadjustments for children is safe and effective.

An overwhelming majority of the parents reported that theirchildren’s problems improved with chiropractic care. After10,249 visits from 1, 176 children, only 17 reported treatment-associated aggravations described as soreness and stiffnessafter the adjustment, the child is “fussy” after the adjustmentor a fever or spitting up. No serious complications were report-ed. “Wellness care” care was reported by 54% of the parentsfor their child’s visits.

Both surveys revealed that children experienced added healthbenefits beyond what they came in for. The three most com-mon additional benefits were: improved immune system func-tion, improved sleep and improved moods in the children.

To date, these are the first study of its kind in documenting treat-ment-associated problems and improvements in the chiropracticcare of children. These study provides practice-based evidenceon the safety and effectiveness of pediatric chiropractic.

A Recent Study Claims: Chiropractors Do Not Raise Stroke Risk.A recent Canadian study indicates there is no increased risk of stroke related to chiropractic care. These findings help shedlight on earlier studies that had cast a cloud on the chiropracticprofession and suggested that their actions resulted in somepatients suffering a stroke after adjustments.

Researchers say patients are no more likely to suffer a strokefollowing a visit to a chiropractor than they would after step-ping into their family doctor's office.

“We didn't see any increased association between chiropracticcare and usual family physician care, and the stroke,” saidFrank Silver, one of the researchers and also a professor ofmedicine at the University of Toronto and director of theUniversity Health Network stroke program. “The associationoccurs because patients tend to seek care when they're havingneck pain or headache, and sometimes they go to a chiroprac-tor, sometimes they go to a physician. But we didn't see anincreased likelihood of them having this type of stroke afterseeing a chiropractor.”

Chiropractic Care for Children found to be Safe and Effective!

“We didn’t see anyincreased associationbetween chiropracticcare and usual familyphysician care, andthe stroke,” said Frank Silver,

one of the researchers and also a professor of

medicine at the University of Toronto and director

of the University Health Network stroke program

Photo courtesy of Shrew

sbury Family Chiropractic

Photo courtesy of H

umiston Chiropractic


Another Reason to Support Midwifery CareA new study showed, the only time caesarean sec-

tion was found to be a safer alternative than vaginal

birth was for babies who were in a breech position.

But for normal, headfirst deliveries, the risk of the

baby dying or suffering serious complications was

one-and-a-half times higher when an elective (non-

emergency) caesarean was performed. Risk of

requiring a hysterectomy after a caesarean was four

times higher than after vaginal birth

This study should be a wake-up call, as nearly 25

percent of all deliveries are now caesarean sections.

According to lead researcher Dr. Jose Villar, “The

increase in rates of caesarean delivery at an institu-

tional level is not associated with any clear overall

benefit for the baby or the mother but is linked with

increased morbidity for both.”

Said Dr. James Walker, spokesman for the Royal

College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and an

obstetrician in Leeds, “[C-sections] can save lives in

some circumstances but it does have risks for the

mother and baby. It is important we don’t think of

them as just another delivery option. This research

is a reality check that we don’t go too far.”

US Among Worst in World for Infant Death

The United States ranks near the bot-tom for infant survival rates amongmodernized nations. A Save theChildren report last year placed theUnited States ahead of only Latvia,and tied with Hungary, Malta, Polandand Slovakia.

The same report noted the UnitedStates had more neonatologists andnewborn intensive care beds per person than Australia, Canada andthe United Kingdom—but still had ahigher rate of infant mortality thanany of those nations.

Photo courtesy of Shrew

sbury Family Chiropractic

© iStockphoto.com

/ Anne de H

aas

By Liberty Liscomb

There are three legs to my existence as stay-at-homemother of three young children—places I go for nearlyeverything I need. Being a mother with ideals weavingthrough and around emphasis on sustainability, community and learning, it is easy to trace them allback to my favorite resources: Google, Goodwill ThriftShops and my Families for Conscious Living/FCLCommunity Group.

It feels like I can do anything when I sit in my home in front of a Google search box, but I realize it’s littlemore than a pretentious leap toward omnipotence. It has also given me two of my most revered and well-used software programs. The Google-designed photoediting software, Picasa, and their Desktop searchengine have been much-loved (and free!) blessings tome amidst the Microsoft pit of despair, expense andbreakdowns. The information easily accessed is alsoinvaluable for all sorts of “educational experiences.”Once when I was trying peacefully discuss seatbeltswith my children, I found myself trying to argue aboutwhy they simply can’t hold onto their little sister whileI drive. Feeling wordless for the seven- and four-year-old’s maturity level, I put the conversation on holduntil we reached the internet at home and Googled. Ittook about ten minutes of various crash demo videosand the pictures of roadside crashes to end the dis-cussion. A picture is always worth a thousand words.

Goodwill Thrift Shops are another widespread recy-cling and model of community-based sustainabilitythat have been changing the way people buy thingsfor many, many years. Shopping at Goodwill Stores

brings me and my kids back to the dime stores of the70s and 80s where you could buy old-fashioned sur-prise grab bags for $1. There is always an excitedanticipation about what great deal or valuable findyou’ll discover today. With a working list of needs formy house and family in hand, regular visits producemost of the things I need at about 25% the cost ofnew. I consider it recycling, as I am always exchanging

a bag full of unwanteditems, clothing and giftsbefore I go in to purchaseother people’s unwanteditems. Our used purchasesprevent hundreds of newitems from entering thewaste stream each year.We can also feel good thatour purchases support my

local disabled community members who work there,and the various enterprises Goodwill creates in thecommunity.

Then there is FCL, which is both an online communitycenter of folks with my same heady goals for raisingchildren and the venue by which all my family’s socialevents are organized. Google and Goodwill are some-what impersonal and therefore much easier to use;FCL is extremely personal, and so while it is alwaysmore difficult with its inherent mass of people, emo-tions and subjects, it is also more worthwhile to myefforts.

It’s always a struggle to live isolated from other fami-lies, especially when you’re attempting to raise themoutside the mainstream commercial culture standardsthat usually seek to confine, manipulate or coerce children. But I have a secret weapon, and it has onlybeen possible in the modern age of the internet: myFCL Community Group.

Families for Conscious Living is a national “by parents,for parents” non-profit organization that has beenaround a little more than a decade. I, and a circle

It’s always a struggle to live isolated from other families,

especially when you’re attempting to raise them outside

of the mainstream commercial culture standards.

Conscious Parenting in Real Life

pa r e n t s p e r s p e c t i v e


of enthusiastic moms, run the Connecticut branch of around 100 fami-lies online and in-person. We have a modest website (www.fclct.org),but the real action happens inside our discussion forums. Similar tothe boards found elsewhere in natural parenting groups on the inter-net, our discussion board are organized by topics, and accompaniedby calendars of events listing our many local and growing groups.

Whether you are staying at home, or are out working much of the day,it is difficult to dress, drag and drive the family around too much, forlack of funds, fuel economy and sanity. This usually means you areraising your family in a vacuum that gets very lonely. The internet ismy saving grace though, and I turn online to FCL daily for nearly everyother need in my life, but especially the human needs for connection,community building, friendship and advice.

We talk about our experiences in pregnancy, birth and parenting; wediscuss the best ways to be politically active; we organize meals for thebabymoon period following a new birth or when a family is in difficulttimes; we talk in private forums of abuse and recovery, depression anddivorce. There is also the host of events we get together for—fromblessingways to family dances, women’s circles to Dads’ Night In.

There are buying cooperatives for purchasing in bulk, a family photoalbum to remember all the events we’ve held, a private Dad’s forumwhere they can talk about the crazy women they love who sometimespush them to discover ideas outside their own recollections of chil-drearing. I go there to make friends, check on and send birthing vibesto friends I am thinking of, or inform others of something I may havejust learned today.

We are all in this journey together, and the only rule we have is onewe instill in our children for their use in the world of the future:Respect. What works for me may not be right for you. No one has the ‘right’ or perfect way for anything. Each of us is the authority inour own family. I am always honored and humbled to be in the same‘room’ with these men, women and families.

So there is the short version: I can’t live without the resources ofGoogle, Goodwill and my FCL group in my life. And simultaneously,they are each a step toward a more sustainable future, full of under-standing and respect, community and authenticity in my life and values. I hope we continue to invite others in and show them theseeasy ways to make life more simple, yet deeply full.

Spring is upon us once again! It’s officially the time for the air to get warmer and sweeter, the flowers to return, the birds to come home, and for us all to check up on howwe’re doing in regard to our New Year’s resolutions.

Okay, okay, so the latter isn’t actually a true function of spring

but it does help me illustrate a point. Do we even remember, three

months after the fact, what our resolutions for the new year were?

And if so, are we still continuously reflecting upon and growing from

those positive changes we decided to put into action? In short—

did we really make our resolution with the proper conviction and

then adhere to that new doctrine of our life?

I would like to personally use the beginning of this wonderful time

of year, the season of new beginnings, to propose that we all take

a harder look at and gain some fresh perspective on what the true

spirit and essence of a resolution should be: collective improvement.

Instead of the more traditional model of focusing on the egocentric,

I believe that if we made a publicly open commitment to the wellbe-

ing of others and to societal responsibility we would feel a stronger

sense of fortitude knowing that our failure to follow through would

affect those beyond ourselves. I believe that when we help others

we light a part inside of us that is very powerful and instinctive.

A part that knows, even if we don’t, that by focusing on the greater

good of those around us, we are actually helping ourselves just as

much, if not more.

There are so many ways large and small to make a difference.

To be unable to fit some plan of action into your life is the result

of simply not looking for a way to help.

I received a holiday e-card this past season from a company

that we work with stating that a donation to a reputable charitable

organization had been made on my behalf. To some this might have

seemed an unoriginal or easy gift but I found it particularly touching

and poignant. An e-card to me doesn’t represent a lazy approach

to hallmark correspondence but rather an opportunity to conserve

paper and money. Even if just that savings of a few dollars (that

would have been spent on the stamp and card) were the amount

donated, it would be worth it. We could shift billions of dollars to

needy and worthy causes if we collectively and regularly invested

that small amount of money in our community and future. The pos-

sibilities that could stem from us all engaging in that one tiny act

are endless.

These sorts of highly effective and thoughtful practices and their

potential ramifications are what New Year’s resolutions could aspire

to create and become, as could all united efforts of improvement;

we don’t need a specific time of year to remind us to live a little

more intelligently and to be more aware.

Figure out small but meaningful ways (i.e. e-card donations) to

bring some good into the world and then ask everyone you know

to join you in your resolution, or should we say movement. Doing

so will help you to transcend the notion of positive change from a

trite, once-a-year occurrence to that of everyday reality. Our world

is primed for such a revolution of thought and action. It will only

take a few to make the shift.

• Take fifteen minutes and look into some of the different

ways that people are trying to collectively improve our world.

Research different organizations you could contribute to.

Perhaps it will be one of these that fit most effectively into

your lifestyle or inspires you to contact everyone you know

in order to share the knowledge.

• Ask those around you what their New Year’s resolution

was and whether or not they are succeeding at upholding

it. If they aren’t, ask if they would be willing to participate

in a “Beginning of Spring” resolution with you and others

aimed at helping worthy causes.

• Approach every day as a day for resolution and new beginnings.

• Commit to being a part of a movement to raise the consciousness

not just for yourself but for those in need around the world.



w h at i f , w h y n ot

Spring Brought Us New Perspectives By Jen Grover

Organizations to Consider Supporting

NVIC: www.909shot.com

ICPA, Inc: www.icpa4kids.org

FCL: www.familiesforconsciousliving.org

HPA: www.hpakids.org

Water Birth International: www.waterbirth.org

Noetic Sciences: www.noetic.org

Center for a New American Dream: www.newdream.org

Commercial Alert Commercial Alert: www.commercialalert.org

TV-Turnoff Network: www.tvturnoff.org

The Organic Consumers Association: www.organicconsumers.org

Touch the Future: www.ttfuture.org

Alliance for Childhood: www.allianceforchildhood.net

© iStockphoto.com

/ Denise Torres

Baby Beautiful: A Textbook of Baby HeadShaping by Justine Dobson. This book describesimportant concepts and clinical procedures used by cranial osteopaths to balance the bonesof the head; it makes a basic understanding of cranial osteopathy available to parents and healthpractitioners. To order, call Makin’ Miracles 610-891-1190.

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A new book by Dawson Church, Phd. The Genie inYour Genes is a breakthrough book linking con-sciousness to genetic change. For the first time, asingle book summarizes a chain of remarkable sci-entific discoveries that in the new field ofEpigenetics that are the keys to healing. Citing hun-dreds of scientific studies, he shows how beliefs andemotions can trigger the expression of specific DNAstrands. www.genieinyourgenes.com

Genie in Your Genes

The Institute of Noetic Sciences was founded in1973 by astronaut Edgar Mitchell to bridge science,spirituality, and societal change. IONS’ membershipprogram Shift in Action offers the largest web libraryon evolving our world.

www.noetic.org - IONSwww.shiftinaction.com - membership program

Institute of Noetic SciencesDr Sarah Farrant's revolutionary approach to healthand vitality is reshaping how people see themselvesand their health. The Vital Truth: Accessing thePossibilities of Unlimited Health combines philoso-phy with practice stories and moments from herown life to help warm your heart and touch yoursoul. To order your own copy today go towww.drsarahfarrant.com

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ICPA, Inc. 327 N. Middletown Rd. Media, PA 19063

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pathways to family wellness - issue #17

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