How can I tell when to trust my intuition? I have a feeling or a knowing, but how do I know whether to believe it?   

If you've completed the work of clearing your emotional history so that you are responding to life in the present rather than reacting to your past, you can  trust your knowing. If there are still memories that have the capacity to generate a strong emotional charge in you, the work isn't done. Can you unroll the story of You, from birth to present, as if it were just that: a story?  While it's your story, you'll be able to see how many other peoples' stories it intersects. What once seemed mysterious as to cause and effect is now more easily understood. The hero/ines and villains may switch roles. Some of the most painful scenes you may now realize were blessings.  

And you realize that every other person in that story has their own story that is as important as your own to the universe. For this brief lifetime, you chose to intertwine your stories and learn from one another. Your life becomes a play you're happy to watch from the audience rather than casting yourself as a hero/ine and taking your place center stage. 

80% of all dis-ease has emotional underpinnings, so clearing discordant emotions and messages from the body is a significant part my work with clients. Whether you clear up your past so that you become a clear seer or whether you do it for your health now and in the future, it's the most important healing work you can do.

As a part of my practice is identifying toxins held in the body and helping clients to clear them, I'm particularly concerned that we avoid adding more. No thinking person denies that our increased exposure to toxic chemicals in all areas of our lives is increasing our risk of a myriad of diseases. As the government doesn't require safety testing of personal care products, manufacturers can use almost any chemical they want, regardless of risks. The skin is the largest organ of your body and what you put on your skin inevitably winds up in your body. 

Read labels
Every personal care product must list its ingredients. Here's how to navigate the label:

• Start at the end, with preservatives. Avoid:    
• Words ending in "paraben"
• DMDM hydantoin
• Imidazolidinyl urea
• Methylchloroisothiazolinone
• Methylisothiazolinone
• Triclosan
• Triclocarban
• Triethanolamine (or "TEA")    
• Check the beginning, where soaps, surfactants, and lubricants show up. Try to avoid ingredients that start with "PEG" or have an "-eth" in the middle (e.g., sodium laureth sulfate).    
• Read the ingredients in the middle. Look for these words: "FRAGRANCE," "FD&C," or "D&C."

Kids 

In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers from two major laboratories looked for the presence of toxic chemicals in umbilical cord blood of 10 newborn babies born in U.S. hospitals in August and September 2004. Of the more than 400 chemicals tested for, 287 were detected in umbilical cord blood. Of these, 180 cause cancer in humans or animals, 217 are toxic to the brain or nervous system, and 208 cause birth defects or abnormal development in animals. Scientists refer to the presence of such toxins in the newborn as "body burden." Personal care products that you use while pregnant and that you use on your children simply add to that burder. Childrens' immature metabolism and organ systems are less capable of fending off chemical assaults. Even subtle damage to young bodies can lead to disease later in life.

1. Use fewer products and use them less often.
2. Don't trust ad hype. Check ingredients.
3. Buy fragrance-free products.
4. Avoid the use of baby powder.
5. Always avoid the top six chemicals of concern for kids:
    
   • 2-Bromo-2-Nitropropane-1,3 Diol
   • BHA
   • Boric acid and sodium borate
   • DMDM Hydantoin
   • Oxybenzone
   • Triclosan

Pet tips 

Ear infections can cause a great deal of discomfort and stress for your dog. A dog with an ear infection will probably shake her head and ears, scratch and paw at his ears or rub the sides of her head on the floor or furniture. Floppy-eared dogs are especially vulnerable and after a hefty vet bill a few years ago, I looked for and found a way to take care of ear infections in my precious Picco and in my canine clients. My dog hasn't had an ear infection since and I haven't heard about one in my clients since I found Zymox Otic Pet Ear Treatment. (It has 500 five star reviews on Amazon.com, so a lot of people must agree :-)