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| Volume 3, Issue 6 |
November/December 2008 |
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Namaste!
Congrats to President Elect Obama for his win. One of my yoga clients, Marsha, brought this pin back for me from a trip she was on. I just love it. I am amazed by all the marketing ideas they have come up with during the campaign. Congrats as well to John McCain for a job well done under some tough circumstances. He is a very stand up guy. In this issue of Yoga Bean you will find, as always, lots of great information for you, your home and children, and your life as a "whole" experience.
Hope you enjoy the magazine enough to send it to all of your friends and family in your address book or maybe even to send in a donation to help support the effort. Believe it or not, it takes lots of money every month to run this online magazine. The Yoga Bean staff hopes to keep it going and growing with support from great subscribers like you. Thanks for caring. I am sending you a cyber hug! It's really easy to donate to Yoga Bean by going on the website at www.yogabean.net click on the "paypal" link in the "Quick Links" section to help support Yoga Bean.
And don't forget, supporting Yoga Bean can also involve advertising online or in the magazine to the perfect audience. Check out how to advertise HERE.
Thanks!
Tina R.LeMar
Editor-in-Chief
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| Catching Up |
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The Small Town I Used to Call Home
What makes a small town what it is? There are always so many interesting people floating around, doing their small town thing. There are usually small town stores with hand written signs on the door, saying things like "out to lunch- be back at 1" or "closed- have the flu." Maybe it is the "center square" or the "general store" or the one single vehicle that transforms from the police car, to the ambulance, or the local taxi!
In this one particular town I used to live in, Columbus, NJ, a very small town in South Central Jersey, off exit 7 on the turnpike, there were many people that had "tasks" you could say, that kept the small town what it was. There was a general store, owned by a family in town for years, where you could get almost anything from homemade meals to overpriced milk, eggs and bread, to locally baked desserts from a neighbor and friend of the store. One of the other unexpected items you could get from the general store, usually at about 6am, was the latest gossip of the town. All the locals came in for breakfast at about that time, 5am for all the farmers in the town. It is at that time that you could hear who got drunk and caused a scene at the local bar, who had a family member that is very sick, or who is having marital or relationship problems. I used to make a grand effort to keep my name out of that early morning chatter!
Another bustling location in the town was the one beauty salon where you could get a haircut and, secondarily, all the gossip that was way too juicy for the general store crowd at 6am. The beauty salon, Donna Don's Hair Salon, is just across from the General Store in town and next to the tiny post office where everyone knows your name when you come to get your mail. The hair salon lived on the first floor in this big, old Victorian home and inhabited by Donna Don herself on the second floor. It is so beautiful and quaint on the outside, with flowers pouring out of baskets and lining the walkway to the front door and backyard. It is exquisitely decorated for all the holidays in a true country fashion. Inside you wont find snobby hairdressers that seem hard to approach but warm smiles, jokes flying, and gossip slinging. You just hope that on the days you come in they are not slinging your name. But it is like a newspaper story, people will forget about it the next day so no harm is done.
Speaking of decorating, every year in Columbus there is a contest to have the best-decorated house for the holidays. That holiday is Christmas. Most people in Columbus are Presbyterian or Catholic. This little town started and still is a farmers town with southern roots. There are two families in particular that are infamous for decorating their houses to the nines. They live right next door to each other. These houses are both big, beautiful Victorian country homes with elegant front porches, columns, and shutters that make them stand out and make their presence known. Each year I would look forward to the new decorations mixed with the century old ones that made you feel right at home when you were waiting for the light to change at the only streetlight in the town. For me, these houses were reminders that it was time to stop what I was doing and start to celebrate the holidays and enjoy family and friends more, to take time to decorate my little part of the town and to enjoy the feeling and expectation of new memories that will be created throughout the season.
Accompanying the hair salon and the general store are a few other quaint, small town stores like the one that buys your old jewelry and fixes it, a pizza place, the local bar- where you can find at least ten of the locals every night, a florist, two churches, one accountant, one dentist, a dance studio and a Curves, where I teach yoga. There is one restaurant in the town, called the "Columbus Inn." The shutters are falling off, the paint is chipping, the windows are crooked and it is considered by most in the town to be haunted but it is packed most nights and throughout the weekend.
I would say though, by far, the most interesting thing about this little town was and are the people. You can always rely on certain people to be at certain places or doing certain things throughout the course of the day. There was an old man that would ride his bike all around town with a cigar hanging from his mouth. When he wasn't riding his bike he would walk with his son waving at everyone he knew. I never actually caught his name-he was always on the go. There was a woman that lived down the street from me that was either working on her garden around her house or sitting on her porch keeping watch over the street and its happenings. The woman across the street from me was a domestic engineer that would sit on the couch, near her front window that was always open, and wait to hear who was having a fight with whom. She was a lovely woman but I would never talk on my cell phone outside for that reason! There was a young man named Kirty that would sit out on his porch, after work, and read. I came to find out later that he was usually snookered out of his gourd and barely reading anything. There were always people in town that didn't talk to others and held grudges that were centuries old but this little town managed to hold many secrets and stick together during hard times. If a family suffered a loss, everyone was there to console them and cook them food, help with housework, and offer a shoulder to cry on. They held beef and beers and potlucks for families or individuals that needed help financially and supported their local stores before going outside the town to shop. This is a dying way of life in America.
I moved to this town from the Philadelphia area, so you can imagine the culture shock I was under for at least the first six months. I thought I would never fit in and learn the lingo. Everything seemed to move so slowly; people, cars, and conversations. Friends I met in Columbus would call me "city girl." But little by little it grew on me and, even though I have moved out of that town and to the Princeton area (about 20 minutes North), it will always hold a place in my heart, as well as house my yoga studio classes, which I still teach and hope to continue teaching for many years.
This holiday season, I look forward to driving through the town, on my way home from class, and hope to get caught at the traffic light so that I can take a glance at the spirit of the town unfolding through decoration and light.
No matter what religion you are, take some time to enjoy the twinkle lights and spirit of this holiday season. It will warm your heart and maybe even make you feel a little bit more connected to your neighbors, your community and your "little town at heart."
Sincerely,
Tina LeMar
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| One Woman, One World |
Back to the Basics- the Yama of Ashtanga Yoga
By Miriam Stollar
Reflecting on this events of this past month and on the coming season, I decided it was a time to take a deep breath and go back to the basics.
It seems all around to be a time of contemplation and inspiration.
For Moslems, September 30 marked the last day of the Ramadan fasting, the end of a month of grueling no-food, no-water fasts from sunrise to sunset. During Ramadan, I am continuously in awe at the willpower of so many dedicated Moslems in non-Moslem countries, that manage to keep their total fast not in a secluded mosque or monastery or ashram far from temptation, but in the very midst of the bustling and culinarily decadent non-fasting society all around them.
The Ramadan fast is a strong ascetic practice, using fasting based on devoted faith and determined willpower, to strengthen the control of the senses and purify the mind of negative thoughts.
Coinciding this year with Ramadan, the end of September also marked the Jewish New Year or Rosh HaShana, leading up to Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Again, control of the senses withdraws the mind from worldly affairs, to a state of introspection, a time to appraise oneself and one's actions, purify the mind of negative thoughts and actions, and put in place a positive framework for the future year.
Looking forward,Thanksgiving marks the practice of giving and of appreciation, a great time to practice generosity and helping others, as well as being thankful for what we have.
Looking more ahead, in December comes Christmas, a deeply religious holiday, despite all the glittering lights. This year however, in light of the financial tremors felt around the world, I imagine that also the glittery commercial image of Christmas, that Christmas tree with piles of wrapped gifts under it, will maybe also be, this year, inspiration for a little ascetic renunciation.
Thinking through these times that are pointing to some good old soul searching, or navel-gazing, it's a good time to take a deep breath and get back to the basics. Which basics ? The basics of yoga, that is, the basics of a calm and disciplined and contented mind.
In the Yoga Sutras of India, over 2000 years ago, the saint Patanjali defined yoga as the cessation of all mental fluctuations. He defined the raja yoga practice (raja means royal, or highest) as having eight branches, the system of yoga practice thereby called ashtanga, or the eight limbs. It is these eight limbs of practice of Ashtanga Yoga which are the basis of Raja yoga, or Patanjali yoga, and of all yoga philosophy and practice.
These eight branches are the code of self-restraint, the code of proper conduct and practice, practice of physical postures, breath regulation, withdrawal of the senses, one-pointed concentration, meditation, and the super-conscious state, or Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi. While at least the third of the eight, Asana (physical posture in which we should become at ease), should be familiar to most people practicing yoga, to understand the full essence of yoga, every yoga practitioner should strive to understand all eight of these branches. Notice that Asana, or physical posture, is only third out of eight, and is considered an important but beginning step in the higher goals of sense withdrawal, focused concentration, and absorbed meditation.
Does all this seem somewhat complicated rather than basic ? The ideas are high but the steps are basic- lets go back to the first step, Yama, the five restraints every yogi should know by heart, as I was told by a yoga teacher, even in their sleep.
The five Yama are Ahimsa, or non-violence, Satya, truthfulness, Asteya, or non-stealing, Brahmacharya, celibacy, and Aparigraha, or non-covetousness. These are considered the five prerequisites for the tranquil mind needed for further practice of yoga. While literally defined as non-violence, Ahimsa goes beyond the idea of non-violence to the idea of no-harm and full compassion for all beings, making us aware of even the violence in killing a mosquito. Satya aims for the truthfulness of our words and, in aspiration, the purity of our thoughts. Asteya is taking nothing that is not ours both in action and in thought. Brahmacharya, defined as celibacy, is also interpreted as correct sexual conduct, and Aparigraha or non-covetousness is the mental renunciation of greed.
Yama is the first branch of Ashtanga Yoga, and as such is its beginning and most basic step, that code of Thou Shalt Nots which forms the base of every religion. Yet the five Yama should not be easily passed on for more interesting things, as the Yama have great depth, and the depth and nuance of each can only be discovered in the highest stage of the path, not in the beginning. We start with Yama (which, incidentally, is mountain in Japanese, for anyone interested) but they carry us to the end. As one teacher liked to say, 'Have the five Yama on the tip of your tongue even if I wake you up in the middle of the night.'
In which branch faith does step in? Patanjali doesn't need to mention faith here. It is faith itself which moves one to practice yoga. Then it is the practice itself, the experience, which continues to build the faith.
The five Yama are not simply the beginning step. The eight branches of Ashtanga yoga practice weave into each other interdependently. Each of the five roots of Yama are the seeds not only of our actions, but reaching down to the roots of our actions, reflect also our speech, and ultimately, our thoughts.
Behavior, speech, or thoughts ,of anger or harm, lying or mistruth, stealing or envy, sexual misconduct, and greed and desire, constantly distract our minds and prevent us from developing the one-pointed concentration levels of bliss and insight, or even from focusing our mind at all for more than a moment or two. With a mind distracted by these thoughts, words, or actions, even the real tranquility of asana, or physical posture, cannot be reached, no matter how flexible we may be.
The practice? To be aware of not only our actions, but our speech and our thoughts, throughout the day, not only in meditation or in asana yoga practice, but in day-to-day life. What to do when we catch an angry, jealous or greedy thought, word or action? No self-harm- don't hit yourself, physically or even mentally, or curse yourself verbally! The more we become aware of our thoughts, the more negative thoughts might seem to pop up, but don't take it badly. It is simply that before, they passed through the mind mostly unseen and unchecked, going straight ahead to cause us miserable feelings and sometimes regrettable words and actions to others. Now suddenly we put up a checkpoint, a border crossing, taking all the negative thoughts aside for some self-questioning, with the ultimate idea of transforming them into blissful thoughts of compassion for all beings, non-clinging and generosity, respectful love, truth, and contentedness. It's only natural that they sometimes seem to be gathering en masse, or keep coming back to demand passage. Its not easy to change the habits of the mind that actually thinks it enjoys to hold grudges and resentments against others, or to dwell constantly on the things it desires. To start becoming aware of the thoughts that are the roots of our feelings, words and actions, is a big step forward, though it may sometimes feel like a step backwards. Remember that compassion and understanding go to ourselves as well, not only to others, and that contentedness means also understanding acceptance of who we are. Only in accepting who we are now, can we practice yoga positively.
Let's take a collective deep breath - from the belly, as my older-sister guru recently reminded me (see YogaBean, issue...) - and get back to the basics.
Now who remembers the five Yama?
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Food and Recipe of the Month: BRAZIL NUT! |
Brazil Nut
(Bertholletia excelsa)
This is a picture of a Brazil Nut Fruit
There is so much to love about the Brazil Nut
The Brazil nut is a South American tree in the family Lecythidaceae and also the name of its edible seed. It was always my favorite nut growing up. The actual tree is quite large, reaching 100-150 feet with a trunk having a 3-6 foot diameter! It is among the largest trees in the Amazon Rainforests. It can live for more than 500 years and often times has been recorded to live as long as 1,000 years! See, this is why I love this nut so much. What a magnificent presence on the earth.
There is only one way to pollinate these trees, large body bees of the genera Bombus, Centris, Epicharis, Eulaema, and Xylocopa. This means that the forest the trees grow in needs to be pristine, as disturbed forests lack this special type of bee.
FLOWER POWER! Get your mojo on!
The little yellow flowers that are produced from the Brazil Nut Tree are very special. They attract the MALE orchid bees. Why? Because the flower's nectar is very sweet, which entices the large FEMALE long-tongued orchid bee, one of the special bees that can actually negotiate the complex coiled flower, and mating begins! Without the orchid, the bees do not mate, and the Brazil Nut fruit does not get pollinated.
When the orchids and the bees are present, the fruit takes 14 months to mature after pollination. The fruit resembles a coconut in size (see photo above) and weighs approximately 2 kilograms. The seeds inside (about 8-24), the "Brazil Nut," are packed in wedges similar to orange slices which is how they get their unique shape.
THEY SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT TOO!
Brazil Nuts are harvested right off the forest floor without ever having to destroy the forest. This way of "wild harvesting" has been a model for generating income without destroying the tropical forests.
NUTRITIONAL VALUE
Brazil Nuts are 18% protein, 13% carb, 69% fat! The saturated fat content (25%) is among the highest of all the nuts, even surpassing the macadamia nut. Brazil nuts are readily pressed for their oil. Because of their high fat content, when shelled, brazil nuts can become rancid quickly. As stated by Dr. Russo in his article about Selenium, brazil nuts top the chart as the richest dietary source of this element. With its healing properties, brazil nuts have been recommended as an important supplement in ones diet to help prevent breast and prostate cancers, regardless of their high fat content.
OTHER USES
The brazil nut is also used to lubricate clocks, for making artists' paints, and in the cosmetic industry.
The timber of the tree, although of excellent quality, is prohibited by law to be logged, thank goodness.
Source: Wikipedia.org
RECIPES
ORANGE BRAZIL NUT TART
(1 hour to prepare)
Ingredients
3 eggs, separated
3/4 cup granulated sugar
Grated zest of 1 orange
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups finely ground Brazil nuts
1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
Garnish:
2 grapefruits
2 oranges
4 large egg whites
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 10 inch round cake pan with parchment paper, butter and flour.
In a mixing bowl, whip together the egg yolks and sugar until pale yellow. Add the orange zest and vanilla, whip until light and fluffy and set aside.
In a small bowl, combine 1 cup of the Brazil nuts with the flour and set aside. Reserve the remaining nuts for the garnish.
In another bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy. Sprinkle in the salt and continue beating until soft peaks form. Alternate folding in the nut and flour mixture, and the beaten yolk mixture, until combined. Pour into the prepared pan.
Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until lightly browned. Set on a rack to cool, about 10 minutes. Run a knife along the edge to loosen and invert onto a platter. Remove the parchment let cool completely.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Place cake on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Working over a bowl to catch the juices, peel the grapefruits and oranges and cut between the membranes to remove the sections. Remove the seeds. Arrange the sections over the cake. Pour the juice through a strainer and drizzle over the cake.
In mixing bowl, whisk the egg whites until foamy. Gradually add the sugar, whisking until stiff peaks form, about 10 minutes. Gently fold in the reserved 1 cup of ground Brazil nuts.
Spread the meringue evenly over the cake and bake 1/2 hour. Cool on a rack and serve.
If you have any great recipes with your favorite foods, please send them to me and I will include them in this section of an upcoming issue. Or if you have any suggestions about what veggie, fruit, herb etc. you'd like to know more about- Just email me at tina@yogabean.net. Thanks!
Recipes furnished by www.foodnetwork.com, |
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Get Creative in the Garden with Bryn |
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Bees, Pt. 2
While we may primarily associate beekeeping with the production of honey and beeswax, most commercial beekeepers actually rent out their hives for "pollination services." Pollination is a greater source of income than any of the bee-produced products for most commercial beekeepers. Roughly one third of our food is dependant on animal pollination (versus wind or rain-driven pollination). Our grains are typically wind pollinated, but nearly all of the fruits, vegetables and nuts that we eat are dependent on pollinators. With the way most farms are setup-with large tracts of mono-cultures (or single species plantings)-local pollinators are unable to successfully pollinate the plants. It's a feast or famine situation-everything flowers in a short time span, then there is nothing to eat again. As a result, many beekeepers are migratory and "follow the bloom." Honey bees in the United States pollinate over $14 billion worth of crops each year--approximately 130 agricultural crops. While many of these plants have multiple pollinators, a few, such as almonds, rely exclusively on bees. See this chart of bee-pollinated crop plants or this smaller chart that shows the percentages of several select crops that are due to bee pollination.
Most beekeepers keep the European, or Western, honeybee, Apis mellifera. A typical bee colony ranges from 15,000 to 30,000 bees. Large commercial beekeepers each keep up to 10,000 colonies. Of course, there are also people who keep bees as a secondary source of income or as a hobby.
In 2006, a Pennsylvanian beekeeper over wintering in Florida noticed his bees were disappearing. This became the first documented case of what came to be called Colony Collapse Disorder (although some argue that it is a problem that has been around for a long time, but has just recently become worse.) Within months, beekeepers in 24 states were reporting losses of between 20 to 80 percent of their bees. CCD has since spread to Europe. The signs of Colony Collapse Disorder are primarily that the majority of the bees leave the colony and don't return. Sometimes, the queen, eggs and a few newly hatched bees are all that remain. No, or very few, dead bees are found in or near the hive. They are just gone. Another sign of Colony Collapse Disorder is that the food stores of the hive are not robbed by bees from another colony and there is a long delay before the hive is attacked by hive pests such as wax moth and small hive beetle. Although this second sign typically means that the nest has been infected by a disease or chemical, no signs of such have been found so far.
To date, the cause of Colony Collapse Disorder is unknown, although a number of theories have been proposed. One of the early media favorites, that cell phone electromagnetic radiation disorients the bees and they lose their way (originally published in The Independent,) has been largely discounted. Apparently, the supporting study cited by The Independent actually involved cordless phone handsets placed inside the hive, not cell phones (which use a different wavelength.) Also, Colony Collapse Disorder has been discovered in areas with little cell phone usage. Genetically modified crops have also been discounted as the cause of CCD (although I couldn't find out why.)
Leading suspects for the cause of Colony Collapse Disorder include a virus, a parasitic mite or an agricultural pesticide. Many feel that with the way large-scale commercial beekeeping is done, it was a disaster waiting to happen. Most CCD researchers seem to feel that Colony Collapse Disorder is likely due to a combination of factors, which only adds to the complexity of the problem. The CCD Working Group has recently discovered that the only pathogen that was present in nearly all the CCD sample colonies, but not the non-CCD colony samples, was the Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV), a virus that can be transmitted by the Varroa mite (Science, Sept 6, 2007). (It should be noted that the study only determines a correlation between the presence of IAPV and CCD, not a causal relationship.) Initially it was believed that IAPV first appeared in the US with some imported Australian honeybees right before CCD appeared, but later it was determined that IAPV has been in the US since 2002.
Another recent source of concern is a new class of pesticides called neonicotinoids (based on nicotine.) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires that companies provide data on a pesticide's possible impact on nontarget organisms before a pesticide can be registered for use. The data provided by Bayer (the manufacturer) on neonicotinoids, showed it did not harm bees at the levels to which they are likely to be exposed. However, France banned the use of the neonicotinoid imidacloprid in 2005 after some studies showed potential adverse effects on honeybees. This past summer Germany temporarily banned the neonicotoid clothianidin (pending further study) after a field application was immediately followed by a widespread bee die-off. Italy and Slovenia have also banned neonicotinoids. The Natural Resource Defense Council currently has a lawsuit against the EPA over the issue of neonicotinoid approval.
To keep up with the most recent news on Colony
Collapse Disorder, I'd recommend regularly checking the following sites:
Organic Consumers Association - collects news articles related to honeybee health & CCD
Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research & Extension Consortium (MAAREC) - contains a list of articles and resources related to CCD, including CCD Working Group findings
US Dept. of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service - the ARS is part of the CCD Working Group
The more I read about Colony Collapse Disorder, the more I am convinced that our current predominant methods of agriculture and commercial beekeeping have a lot to do with the problem. Most of our food is grown in large monoculture fields, where all competing plants ("weeds") are suppressed. There is nothing to feed the local pollinators when the food crop is not in bloom and therefore there are no resident pollinators. As a result, farmers must hire the "pollination services" of commercial bee keepers if their crop is dependent on insect pollination. Commercial beekeepers travel around the country with their hives to wherever their services are currently needed.
All of this traveling subjects the bees to numerous stresses. The bees work a longer pollination season than they would if they remained in one location. To get them energized and ready to fly as soon as they arrive, beekeepers frequently supplement the diet of their bees with items such as high fructose corn syrup and imported flower pollen. They are also constantly being exposed to new surroundings to which they must adapt. Like any other species, from plants to humans and more, when bees become stressed, their immune system weakens.
Add to this the fact that bees from all over the country (and sometimes even imported from out-of-country) are brought together to pollinate the same field. For example, over half the beehives in the US travel to California every February to pollinate the flowering almond trees. In 2005, demand for bees was so great that the USDA approved the importation of bees from Australia to help the almond growers. Of course these bees from all over also brought their local pests and diseases with them. While bees, like people, may have developed a resistance to their local illnesses, they are unlikely to have a resistance to everything they encounter at one of these mass gatherings. Just think, you are more likely to get sick from traveling through an airport than going to your local grocery store.
So what does this mean for us? If you search online for information on Colony Collapse Disorder, you will very likely come across a quote (probably falsely) attributed to Einstein that claims if the bees disappear, humans will die off within four years. Although I wouldn't argue that we'd be in very big trouble regarding our food, I don't think this is likely. Honeybees are not our only pollinators, nor are they even the most efficient (several of our native bees are better.) As stated earlier, our grains are wind pollinated. Some plants are pollinated when raindrops splash the pollen from the stamen to the pistil. A number of different animals contribute to pollination, chiefly bats, birds, moths, butterflies, many species of bees, and a variety of other insects. If honeybees disappeared, it would mean the end of large scale commercial production of pollinator-dependant crops. Alternate methods of pollinating crops have been tried, such as pollinating by hand or even setting up massive fans in the fields, but none have been found to be effective and feasible. Even with changes in agricultural techniques, crops such as almonds are specifically dependant on pollination by bees and would not exist without them. So, while it wouldn't be a pleasant transition, I don't believe that humans would die off if Colony Collapse Disorder wiped out the honeybee.
What can we, the non-farmer/non-beekeeper, do to help the situation? First support your local, small-scale, organic farmers (and beekeepers too). Do you really need additional reasons to buy your food from these sources? Small scale farms must, out of necessity, produce a diversity of crops. This means that various plants will be flowering over an extended period of time, providing a continuous food source for local pollinators. Buy organic. Although it hasn't been researched, anecdotal evidence suggests that small-scale beehives located in organic fields have had fewer cases of CCD. With the effects of pesticides, herbicides, and GMO crops still being studied, it's best to avoid them if you can. Even if herbicides are not directly causing bee deaths, the "weeds" they are killing frequently would have provided an additional food source for pollinators. Buy local to support your local bee populations and support genetic diversity among bees.
If you are interested in doing more and have some land around your house, consider planting a pollinator's garden. Pick plants that have a variety of flower shapes, colors, and bloom times to attract a variety of pollinators and keep them fed throughout the growing season. Native plants are best because they will be most likely to appeal to your local pollinators and supply their needs. Obviously avoid pollenless cultivars of plants. There are a number of websites that can help you create a pollinator's garden. Check out the Pollinator Partnership site (contains ecoregion specific planting guides), Berkley's Urban Bee Gardens site, and the Xerces Society's Pollinator Conservation Program, as starting places. You can also find directions to build, or places to buy, bee nesting blocks online. These will attract mason bees, a native bee that is very efficient at pollination.
If you are concerned about attracting bees to your yard because of concerns over bee stings, consider the following. Only female bees have stingers. Several honeybee species have barbed stingers and, while they can sting other insects without harming themselves, their stinger will stick in the skin of a mammal, pulling out of the bee and killing her when she tries to fly away. Queen honeybees, bumblebees and many of the solitary bees have smooth stingers and can sting repeatedly. Bees are not aggressive, but defensive. They will only sting something they perceive to be a threat. The best way to avoid being stung is to be aware of where bees are and what they are doing. Obviously don't swat at or otherwise attack them. If you are gentle, you can even pet bumblebees! When they are busy in a flower, they will be so absorbed in what they are doing that they will ignore your touch. I've done this a number of times. They're very fuzzy! If you, or someone in your house, have a severe allergic reaction to bee stings, please use your best judgment before attracting bees to your yard.
If you are concerned about planting a pollinator garden because of pollen allergies, consider the following. Most pollen allergies are due to wind pollinated plants, not plants that depend on pollinators. Plants that depend on wind pollination attempt to get as much pollen up into the air as possible, because it increases the chances that some of the pollen will land on a receptive plant of the appropriate species. A plant that depends on pollinators, conversely, wants its pollen to remain in the flower until the flower is visited by a pollinator, which will then likely be attracted to another plant of the same species. Therefore, you are much more likely to encounter wind dispersed pollen than animal dispersed pollen. Goldenrod (Solidago sp.) is an example of a plant that is falsely blamed for many fall allergies. However, goldenrod depends on insects for pollination-watch it and you will see a stand of goldenrod practically humming with bees. Typically the allergen culprit is ragweed (Ambrosia sp.), a plant with an inconspicuous, wind-pollinated flower that occurs at the same time as the showier goldenrod flower and grows in similar conditions.
If you wish to actively contribute to the study of your local bee populations, consider joining The Great Sunflower Project. They will send you seeds of the native US sunflower, Helianthus annuus, and in return ask that you, twice a month, observe your plant after it flowers and record how long it takes 5 bees to visit (or watch for 30 min., whichever comes first.) They provide guidance in growing your sunflowers and in identifying the bees, as well as general bee facts and resources.
Happy gardening!
Bryn Richard is a licensed landscape architect with a strong interest in sustainable design. She can be reached at Bryn@BlueTrillium.net and welcomes your questions and suggestions for further articles.
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Natural Healing and Prevention with Dr. Joseph Russo |
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Selenium
Selenium is an essential trace element needed by the human body in very small amounts. Humans require Selenium for important enzymatic reactions and for normal functioning of the immune system. Selenium has received much attention over the past several years because of its reputation to act as an antioxidant and decrease the possibility of cancer in humans.
It is thought that selenium is one of the elements responsible not only for preventing cancer but also for shrinking cancers that humans already have.
Where do we get selenium?
Plants are the major source of Selenium in most parts of the world. The amount of Selenium in a plant is determined by the amount of selenium in the soil. In areas with low soil selenium, like parts of Russia and China, the plants have low selenium. Most soils in America have adequate Selenium.
Selenium is also found in meats and seafood. Animals that eat grains, which are grown in selenium rich soils, tend to have higher selenium concentrations in their bodies which is then passed up the food chain. Believe it or not, Brazil nuts, those nuts that very few people like and that are left abundantly in the bowls during holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas, are an excellent natural source of Selenium.
Additionally, Selenium can be obtained in pill form alone or as part of a multivitamin. Most multivitamins these days have selenium.
Selenium supplements are available in several forms, the most common being Sodium Selenite and Sodium Selenate. Selenite is only about 50% absorbed but is retained in the body better than Selenate. Selenomethionine is an organic form of Selenium that is found naturally in foods and is absorbed well. Selenomethionine is combined with yeast and sold as a supplement.
Food sources of Selenium:
Brazil nuts 1oz. (apprx. 6 nuts) 544 mcg (micrograms) Wowza!
Crab Meat 3 oz. portion 41 mcg
Salmon 3 oz. portion 40 mcg
Halibut 3 oz. portion 40 mcg
Brown Rice 1 cup 19 mcg
Noodles 1 cup 38 mcg
Chicken 3 oz. portion 13 mcg
Beef 3 oz. portion 16 mcg
Whole Wheat Bread 2 slices 23 mcg
Skim Milk 8 oz. ( one cup) 5 mcg
How much Selenium do we need?
The recommended daily allowance established for Selenium is 55 micrograms per day for adolescents (14-18) and adults, 60 micrograms per day for pregnant females, and 70 micrograms per day for those breastfeeding. Most people in the U.S. obtain enough selenium each day from the foods that they consume to meet the daily requirements.
Who is at risk for a Selenium deficiency?
Those at risk for a Selenium deficiency are the usual suspects; anyone with a disease that results in decreased intestinal absorption. Once again it is the same group that is at risk for any vitamin or mineral deficiency: those with surgically removed intestine, those with Crohn's Disease, those with colitis and those people who for any reason have poor intestinal absorption of nutrients. Also people who are malnourished, and/or people who have a diet mainly of plants that live in an area where their food is grown and the soils are deficient in Selenium.
What are the symptoms of Selenium deficiency?
The symptoms are varied and could also be attributed to many other diseases: enlarged heart, muscular weakness, joint pain, shortness of breath, fatigue, weight gain, dry skin, memory loss, constipation, chills and hair loss. Some of you may say that a lot of these symptoms sound like HYPOthyroidism or slow thyroid function. If this thought crossed your mind you are absolutely correct because Selenium is essential for the synthesis of the active thyroid hormone. If low Selenium, then low circulating thyroid hormone.
What are the beneficial affects of Selenium and Selenium supplementation?
Selenium has been the topic of many medical and scientific studies over the past twenty years. It is currently a very "hot" research issue. The main areas of Selenium research are disease prevention and cancer. Scientists are trying to ascertain whether Selenium can prevent cancer and/or if it can slow cancer growth. Additionally, research has been underway concerning Heart Disease, Diabetes, HIV/AIDS and the role Selenium can play. Can selenium slow or prevent these ailments is the question to be answered.
In animal studies, Selenium has proven to decrease incidence of certain cancers. In a human study from Finland, lower Selenium levels were associated with an increased risk of Lung cancer. In a Japanese-American study it was shown that men with higher Selenium levels in their bodies had a 50% less incidence of developing prostate cancer versus those with lower Selenium levels.
The Quidong province of China is an area poor in soil Selenium and an area where most people rely on grains for food. Scientists decided that this was a good study area to add Selenium to the table salt of one town of about 20,000 people. After eight years some preliminary results were tabulated and it was found that in the town where Selenium was added to table salt there was a decrease in liver cancers by 35% compared to the other towns in the province which did not have any Selenium supplementation.
It was also thought that Selenium could prevent recurrence of some types of skin cancers. A study was conducted in the United States at seven Dermatology Clinics between the years of 1983 and 1993 to address this issue. The patients in the study were asked to take 200 micrograms (four times the RDA) of Selenium as a supplement each day. Although the Selenium did not prevent recurrence of the skin cancers, it significantly reduced the incidence of sickness and death from other cancers such as: prostate, colorectal, and lung.
HIV/AIDS patients have at times poor absorption in their gut, which can lead to decreased Selenium absorption and thus low Selenium levels. Current research is underway to decide whether Selenium supplementation will boost the immune systems battle against the aids virus. Currently there is information that low Selenium levels in persons with HIV/AIDS is associated with a significantly increased risk of poor outcomes. Also, another study has linked Selenium supplementation with decreased amount of circulating HIV-1 virus in the blood of HIV/AIDS persons.
Can a person take too much Selenium as a supplement?
Unfortunately, Selenium is like Vitamin A in the respect that if you supplement your intake with too much you can get sick.
Researchers at the Institute of Medicine have concluded that the "tolerable" limit (over this amount can cause problems) of Selenium is set at 400 micrograms per day. It is interesting to note that most of the Selenium studies conducted have used 200 micrograms per day as the supplement amount and to review, the RDA for Selenium is 55 micrograms per day for healthy adults.
What's the skinny on Selenium?
The evidence is compelling. Selenium supplementation at 200 mcg per day appears to prevent the progression of prostate, lung and colon cancer and decrease the number of viruses in the blood stream of HIV/AIDS patients.
More research is needed and is ongoing.
The average American diet provides about 100 mcg per day of Selenium, this is about 100% more than the RDA of 55 mcg per day. So by eating a well balanced diet (diet meaning the foods a person eats each day) we as Americans are getting enough Selenium. However, it is always a good idea to take a daily multivitamin that contains Selenium.
If I had a strong history of prostate, lung or colon cancer in my family or if I was diagnosed with any of the above, I would supplement my diet with 100 mcg of selenium or eat several portions of foods that contain Selenium each day.
During the upcoming holidays remember to put out a generous supply of Brazil nuts for your guests.
Until next time, fly low and avoid the radar.
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| Green Living |
Green Exercise.
Let's exercise our way to energy independence.
By Alix Shutello
Think of all the places out there where there is gym equipment. Aside from some of the large fitness chains like Bally Total Fitness, Sport and Health, and Gold's Gym, and everywhere from your local tennis club, community fitness center, and even our home gyms there are thousands of machines being used or in some cases sitting there waiting to be used. What else can you find in some or all of these places? Large flat screen TVs, computers and vending machines. All of them use tons of electricity. It is not surprising that in Portland, Oregon, where green living is second nature, that there is a gym that's gone green. The Green Microgym uses human energy to power the equipment. The concept is absolutely ingenious. You have all of these people, who are using exercise equipment to burn calories and get fit, actually generating some electricity at the same time. Talk about killing two birds with one stone! Adam Boesel, founder of the Green Microgym, thinks that way exactly. With the correct electrical configuration, his stationary bikes generate power that run the stereos, for example. There is also an exercise machine that can generate up to 100 watts of electricity an hour (that is enough energy to light up an entire room!). The machine has four seats where people interested in low impact exercise can use hand cranks and/or foot pedals. The gym is also equipped with SportsArt, EcoPowr treadmills that use 30% less electricity. Boesel's gym also goes the extra mile in design and other product utilization by using cork flooring, double flush toilets, and non-toxic soaps - making the gym a truly green entity.
Other Trends Setters in Green Exercise
While the Green Microgym is an example of a commercial gym that's gone green, individuals are making an impact in their own homes. Mother Earth News featured a story about Linda Archibald who not only lives off the grid but who generates her own electricity by pedaling on a bike generator to generate electricity for common household items. Archibald will pedal an hour to generate the power she needs for everything from her blender to her computer. The time she spends pedaling is not to gain fitness but rather to keep her in check with her commitment to being green. When Archibald's kids visit, they cannot dry their hair or watch movies on their mother's laptop without spending some time on the bike. The whole family gets a little exercise while seeing firsthand how their own energy can be used to create it. On the other hand, David Butcher was so into the process of generating his own electricity and getting a work out at the same time he built his own product, the PPPM (pedal power prime mover). Butcher, a client services director for a Web agency and biking enthusiast, developed the bike generator back in 1976. The PPPM (a bike with a large front wooden wheel) cranks electricity as he exercises each morning. The machine generates the electricity he uses to power his home office.
Windstream Power
Windstream Power (Vermont, USA), one of the leaders in human power generation, sells two products that have gained interest among the energy conscious. Their most popular product, the Bike Power Generator, quickly converts a regular bicycle to an electricity generator. The Human Power Generator is a hand crank that has gained global recognition. According to Mother Jones Earth, 300 of the generators were sent to Siberian forestry camps to power communications equipment.
Bike Powered Generator Human Powered Generator
From the Windstream Power homepage.
See more about this product at www.windstreampower.com
Human Power is Powerful.
In our country, we use so much electricity that we'd need to bike for hours to generate enough electricity to power our homes, but the basic premise is that we can generate electricity so we might as well try. When I go to my gym, I would love to know that while I am running on the treadmill, while listening to my Ipod and watching the large screen TV, that I am actually generating electricity or that when I am at home with the lights on, fan blowing, TV on mute, and running on my treadmill that I could be doing some good for the planet instead of just myself.
Power Consumption of Typical Appliances:
Most of us can generate 100 watts an hour
Small TV 100 watts
Large TV 200 watts
Laptop PC 10 watts
Desktop PC 75 watts
Stereo 20 watts
Charging a cellphone 5 watts
Hi Effic Desk lamp 15 watts
Taken from http://www.econvergence.net/electro.htm
Sources:
Windstream Power, leading producer of human-powered devices.
http://www.windstreampower.com/
Ecovergence, producer of Pedal-a-Watt Stationary Bike Generator.
http://www.econvergence.net/electro.htm
Wiki on human power generation products
http://peswiki.com/energy/Directory:Human-Powered
Wiki on human foot power generation
http://peswiki.com/index.php/Directory:Strike-Heel_Generation
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Thanks for being a part of the Yoga Bean Magazine family. And don't forget, send this email to all of your friends and family so they can share in the goodness of whole living.
Sincerely,
Tina LeMar
Editor-in-Chief
Yoga Bean Magazine |
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