 | | leonardo-da-vinci-biography.com |
February is National Heart Month - both the heart health version and the Hallmark version. I've often wondered how we got from Leonardo Da Vinci's anatomical drawing of the heart to the ubiquitous red bubble-shaped heart. . .
I feel that the simple yellow and black smiley face is a better symbolic description of the heart. When I'm smiling like that, my heart is definitely happy.
Your heart's health will benefit just by reading this newsletter and implementing just a few changes into your daily routine. |
Uncross Your Legs!
| |
 One doesn't often think of crossing their legs as bad for one's heart, but it most definitely is. Matthew Wood, renowned herbalist and author, first opened my eyes to the fact that the legs are considered the second heart. Think about it, your heart has to pump blood all the way down to your feet, and the blood has to make it all the way back up to the heart. The muscles in your legs assist in this process, but cross your legs and you have a major blockage in the pathway back up to the heart.
"Crossing your legs will really slow the flow of blood from your leg veins up to your heart, will increase the pressure inside your leg veins and will distend the veins in your lower leg and ankle," said Dr. Navarro, director of the Vein Treatment Center and surgeon at Beth Israel Medical Center.
The impact of leg crossing isn't limited to the heart and veins either. Crossing the legs wrecks havoc on your posture. It can throw off your hips, spine, head and neck. Our posture is already suffering from sitting at computers for long hours with our chins jutted out. Uncross your legs AND tuck your chin to bring your head back in a more natural alignment with your spine.
As an acupuncturist, I see the damage to veins in many of my patients from crossing their legs. And granted this position is quite comfortable and socially acceptable. I catch myself doing it once in a while.
A much better alternative is to cross your ankles - still quite comfortable, and it minimizes the impact on your circulation. |
Cholesterol: The Mistaken Culprit
| |
 Cholesterol is woefully misunderstood. The media and pharmaceutical companies would have us believe that cholesterol is a villain, and it must be reined in at all costs.
Not true. Our livers produce cholesterol because it is needed in every cell in our bodies. It's not so important what your levels of cholesterol are, but whether or not the cholesterol is being oxidized and then laid down as plaque in your arteries.
A few things that oxidize cholesterol are smoking, eating fried foods and eating foods with transfats (hydrogenated fats/artificial fats) in them.
For a more in-depth explanation of cholesterol's role in the body and the adverse effects of taking cholesterol-lowering drug, I urge you to read "Cholesterol is NOT the Cause of Heart Disease" by Dr. Ron Rosedale and "Cholesterol: Friend Or Foe?" by Natasha Campbell-McBride, MD. Dr. Rosedale's article is shorter, but Dr. Campbell-McBride's article is just so nicely articulated.
|
Heartfelt Soap
| |
 What better way to love yourself than to start the day by scrubbing yourself from head to toe with a bar of soap wrapped in a felt coat and emblazened with a red heart!
Being creative does wonders for your heart. I am especially thrilled with making stuff, and if I can spend an entire day being creative - all the better. I learned to felt at the North House Folk School up in Grand Marais, MN.
Felting is the process of transforming wool into beautiful objects, and there are many ways to felt. I used the wet felting method to create the Heartfelt Soap. I purchased the beautiful aqua roving (spun and combed wool) from one of the artists at the Minnesota Garlic Festival last August. I layered the roving around the bar of soap, covered it with a netting, dipped it into hot water, and commenced to transforming the wool into a felt jacket. Hot water, soap and agitation combine to lock the wool fibers into place.
Last year one of my goals for self-sufficiency was to learn to make soap. I've made a few batches now, and it's very much like cooking. Plenty of room for creativity. The soap encased in these bars is unscented, and they lather up quite nicely.
Heartfelt Soap is available at my clinic for $14 each. Made with love, of course.
|
Upcoming Classes
| |
 I am excited to be teaching the Breast Health class that I developed at the first annual Midwest Women's Herbal Conference. It is an honor to be among the talented women/herbalists from the Midwest who will gather at this event. The conference will be held at The Christine Center in Willard, WI - just a few hours from the Twin Cities.
Locally, I'll be teaching It's Not Just What You Eat, But What You Digest! at the Seward Co-op on leap day, Wednesday, February 29th from 6:30-8:30 pm. It's not a leap to say that if you're not digesting your food well you won't experience the best of health.
In March I'll be teaching Health and Healing from the Flower Garden at the Seward Co-op on Wednesday, March 14th from 6:30-8:30 pm and at Linden Hills Co-op on Saturday, March 17th from 10:00 am-noon.
This class is designed to inspire you to look at your garden a bit differently, and it is presented as a Powerpoint Presentation with lots of photos. I was originally asked to do this class for a garden club, and I have presented it to several garden clubs now. It was very well received. |
Spoken Spice
| |
Poems, Recipes and Rapping About the Spices of Life
 Bay Leaf (Laurus nobilis) has a nickname in our house: kissing tickets. A few years back our friend Dylan was dining with us, and he fished out a bay leaf from his soup (technically you're supposed to remove the leaves before serving). He said his family has a tradition of whoever gets the bay leaf gets to kiss the cook. His tradition became our tradition, and needless to say, my husband ensures that I get quite a few bay leaves in my soup!
Culinarily speaking, bay leaf is one of the ingredients in bouquet garni along with thyme, sage, savory, celery, basil etc, and it is frequently called for in soup and stew recipes. Its dried leaves can be brewed into a herbal tea/infusion, and are used to soothe stomach ulcers and relieve flatulence. In clinic I use an essential oil of bay leaves quite frequently. Its spicy and pungent aroma help to clear the sinuses as well as balance one mentally and emotionally. Snow Lotus, Peter Holmes' company, carries a lovely Laurel (bay) essential oil. The pungency of bay laurel lends an insecticidal property to its leaves; it reportedly deters moths. Makes you wonder if it would also help with butterflies in the stomach. . . |
|
As Always. . .
Your First Wealth Is Health, Katherine Krumwiede, L.Ac. Diamond Stone Oriental Medicine, Inc. 612 872 9133
|
|
|
Quote of
the Month
|
- "If you live the life you love, you will receive shelter and blessings. Sometimes the great famine of blessings in and around us derives from the fact that we are not living the life we love; rather, we are living the life that is expected of us.
We have fallen out of rhythm with the secret signature and light of our
own nature."
-
| |
Tip of the Month
How Hydrated Are You?
|
We tend to not drink as much water in the winter as we do in the summer. Although we're not sweating as much in the winter, the air is much drier, and our bodies require plenty of water.
A quick and easy test to determine if you're adequately hydrated is to pinch up the skin on the back of your hand. If your skin quickly snaps back, then you are hydrated.
If your skin "tents" or slowly goes back into place, then you need to up your intake of water - preferably room temperature or warm water.
|
|
Newsletter Archive
|
There's a wealth of health-inducing information contained in past issues of my newsletter.
Newsletter Archive
|
|
Gift Certificates Are Available
|
Give the gift of good health to your friends and family.
|
The Benefits
of Acupuncture
|
De-stress
Alleviate pain
Improve concentration levels
Lift the cloud
of depression
Get a better night's sleep
Improve digestion
Boost energy levels
Insure success with smoking cessation
Excellent preventative medicine
And many more. . .
|
|
|
