©2015 Margaret Adie

“Some of us can accept others right where they are a lot more easily than we can accept ourselves. We feel that compassion is reserved for someone else, and it never occurs to us to feel it for ourselves. 

My experience is that by practicing without “shoulds,” we gradually discover our wakefulness and our confidence. Gradually, without any agenda except to be honest and kind, we assume responsibility for being here in this unpredictable world, in this unique moment, in this precious human body.”

—Pema Chödrön

CONSIDER: whether you tend to fall into the trap Pema describes, holding yourself to a higher standard than others. I’d say that fits most of us most of the time unless we really are conscious about it. What if you went a full day without using the word “should” directed at yourself? Now that’s worth a try!

Practice this when you’ve impulsively ordered something you know you shouldn’t be eating or are simply too tired in the evening to exercise or lose it over something that really wasn’t important. Instead of saying the word ”should” when the tapes begin to roll how about trying this one on, “next time I might consider….”

DO: start your day tomorrow talking to yourself as you would someone you adore and cherish—your partner, a best friend, your child, or an aging parent. Use the same gentleness, understanding, and forgiveness you would offer this loved individual throughout the day. Practice now for a moment by closing your eyes taking in a few cleansing breaths and affirming you deserve your own kindness and compassion.

Last week I shared with you these three beliefs I have in regard to women and their menstrual symptoms whether they happen at 15 or 45 years of age:

1. No woman should suffer with symptoms that can be treated.
2. Small changes early on can prevent so many further issues later in life, including, but not limited to, infertility, endometriosisis and its complications, fibroids, cancers of the reproductive organs and autoimmune diseases.
3. Holistically supporting women’s health from an early age impacts the health of generations to come.

I shared a list of symptoms that should serve as red flags that something is amiss. Painful periods is the red flag that I want to discuss in this particular post. This is a topic that should be of greater concern to medical practitioners than it is because pain is the body’s signal that inflammation is present. I am a firm believer that pain needs to be noticed and addressed not suppressed. Further, I urge my clients with daughters to check in on a regular basis with them about their cycles. It’s important for young women to learn that their body is signaling for attention if any of these symptoms appear and that early intervention can stave off a host of bigger issues.

So, to be clear, painful periods are not normal or okay because your mom and her mom also had the issue. Pain during menses is an indicator that inflammation is present and should be taken as a clear sign the lymphatic system is not doing its job. Take a look here at the number of lymph vessels and nodes in the abdominal region. As I wrote in a recent post on elimination, 50% are right where you or someone you know experiences intense pain during menses. If the lymphatic system is congested or sluggish in its cleaning, waste will accumulate in this area AND when estrogen levels raise right before menses, the problem is exacerbated. Due to the acidic quality of the hormone estrogen, it can shift an already imbalanced pH into overdrive, which then increases the level of pain.

While lymphatic stagnation is the main reason behind painful periods, another similar problem most often associated with excruciating pain during menses is found in the case of endometriosis. What is endometriosis? Dr. Aviva Romm, an NYC expert in holistic health care for women, explains that endometriosis occurs when tissue that normally line the uterus are found in other areas of the body, most commonly the abdominal cavity. During menses these tissues then shed dead cells and bleed, irritating the nerves in the abdominal region. Endometiosis is a condition that should not be ignored, however, conventional medicine fails in the treatment it offers. Having suffered from this myself for years, before my exposure to homeopathy and gemmotherapy, I found the solutions offered to me completely unsatisfactory. Now being equipped with answers, I want to help as many women as possible heal the underlying cause.

Because lymphatic stagnation is the root cause of both painful menses and endometriosis, I start my clients on a gemmotherapy protocol and recommend an alkalyzing diet to get things moving. These two steps will engage the lymphatic system to drain off the acidic wastes, reducing pain within the first month of treatment and eventually completely. If the problem is truly endometriosis then I use a homeopathic protocol to reduce the inflammation and shift the constitution of the individual being treated and suggest Mayan massage and/or acupuncture.

If you or someone you know suffers from painful periods or endometriosis it’s important to know you don’t need to endure  symptoms month after month, there are solutions that are drug free, accessible, and work.

“One of the beauties of Nowhere is that you never know where you’ll end up when you head in its direction, and though the horizon is unlimited, you may have very little sense of what you’ll see along the way. The deeper blessing is that it can get you as wide-awake, exhilarated, and pumping-hearted as when you are in love.”

—Pico Iyer, “Adventures in Going Nowhere”

Consider: all the careful strategizing that is applied to plans, plans to get somewhere with your career, your relationship, your life. It’s always about forward movement. Our western culture is all about setting sights and attaining goals. What if your plan was to move, to grow, yet with no particular destinations insight. What if all of our thinking about goal setting was really leading us down the wrong path? What if rather than moving we wanted to merely expand?

Do: find a time this week when you can truly experience this freedom of going nowhere, of just opening yourself to the limitless riches the Universe can offer. This can be done by practicing unattachement which, very different from not caring, involves releasing preconceived ideas of an outcome. So, how can one practice this on a daily basis when we do have real imposed deadlines and schedules and places to be? Well, it can be done just like this: walking into a meeting in order to hear others instead of being heard; arriving home to the family and flowing with what is already in progress; or carving out time to spend with your partner or child without an agenda. It’s addicting! This “going nowhere” may actually be the start of a very good habit.

I seem to be drawn to cooked veggie salads lately and why not? I believe these hearty salads are perfect during our wonderful warm days and cool evenings. The native Californian in me absolutely could not resist Heidi Swanson’s gorgeous Cocagne Bean and Artichoke Salad. Growing up we didn’t do a lot of gourmet eating, to say the least, but when artichoke season arrived my mom always splurged. And, like many California gardeners, we also grew them ourselves. I still smile when preparing them as I recall my father’s line he would repeat each year when the first ones appeared on our dinner table,  “Someone had to be mighty hungry to figure out this plant was edible.” Not being a veggie man he certainly appreciated artichokes.

While prepping artichokes is certainly more labor than say, asparagus, those of us passionate about them will make the effort. I suggest using Bon Appetite’s great guide to make quick work out of your purchase of baby artichokes.

Here’s what you’ll need to assemble your own version:

1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon honey
1/2 cup / 60ml water
4 celery stalks, thinly sliced

20 baby artichokes, trimmed, quartered, and placed in a bowl of water acidulated with the juice of one lemon

1 medium clove of garlic, chopped

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
30 kalamata olives, pitted, rinsed, chopped
1 cup chopped, toasted walnuts
pinch of salt, plus more to taste
4-5 cups cooked white beans

You will find the complete instructions here.

What I love about this dish are the many variations. You may want to consider subbing out chickpeas for the white beans,  replacing the olives with golden raisins and the walnuts with pine nuts for an entirely new dish. You will note I didn’t change out those coveted artichokes, but you certainly could do so yourself.

Don’t forget to start this meal off with some slices of cantaloupe or watermelon that have begun making their appearance. Having that bit of raw food at the start of this meal will have an alkalizing affect on your lymphatic system and aid digestion.

Enjoy!

I’d like to challenge some ideas you may have about “normal” menstrual symptoms—whether you are 15 or 45. One of the first things I discuss with my female patients is the character of their menstrual cycle, paying close attention to listen for these signs:

• Brown bleeding at the start or end of menses
• Clotting
• Heavy bleeding
• Pain that keeps you from your normal activities
• Bleeding that starts and then stops
• Mid-cycle bleeding
• Cycles that are shorter than 28 days or longer than 32

Each of these symptoms signifies a deficiency in the bowels or kidneys, adrenal fatigue, or decreased pituitary function.

Each of these symptoms can cause harm greater than just the discomfort you may be experiencing.

All of these symptoms and their root cause can be addressed with gemmotherapy and homeopathy protocols.

Most of these symptoms are seen in the mainstream medical community as within the norm, but because I am fortunate to treat women of all ages in my practice, I have come to recognize that these signs and symptoms, when left untreated, can lead to serious conditions later in life. I believe in supporting the body so that it can clean, heal and harmonize rather than treating diagnosed disease, so I am all for catching the first signs of an imbalance. With this approach we can practice true preventative medicine rather than passive disease care.

As women, we are designed to have three methods to clean and eliminate for a reason and we need to optimize all three to do their job so that our body stays in harmony. What does harmony look like?

1. All systems working their fair share to clean the body.
2. The immune response is rapid and strong.
3. Bodies are free of inflammation.

The subject of elimination comes up frequently here and menstruation is just that, a method of elimination the body uses to remove waste and prevent inflammation. Like our other two means of elimination, bowels and kidneys, when it is not functioning optimally we need to take note. If you have some of these symptoms or a weakness with one of your elimination systems, you will be putting undue stress on the others. You may already begin to see the connection in yourself.

When it comes to menstrual issues, especially those in young women, I take quite a strong proactive stance for these reasons.

1. I don’t want anyone to suffer with symptoms that can be treated.
2. Small changes early on can prevent so many further issues later in life, including but not limited to: infertility, endometriosisis and its complications, fibroids, cancers of the reproductive organs and autoimmune diseases.
3. I firmly believe that holistically supporting women’s health from an early age impacts the health of generations to come.

Please share this article with women you know of all stages in life. I will be writing more each Friday about the root of these symptoms and sharing case stories of how gemmotherapy and homeopathic protocols made a difference.

“According to Buddhism, true giving involves the awareness that there is no giver, no gift, and no receiver. Attachments of any kind—whether it be to self as the benefactor, the value of the gift, or the acknowledgment by the receiver—nullify the pure act of giving.”

— Taitetsu Unno,”Three Grapefruits”

Consider: the magnitude, yet the simplicity, of this statement.  To give without attachment or identity, hmm, that is a lot to wrap your brain around, and yet it’s not.

It is actually all the story we weave into the gifts we give, whether they be tangible or of our time that make it complicated. The dialogue in our head about what we might get in exchange, how this gift might make us feel better as a person or change our status—this is what is complicated and weighty.  If the giving is truly out of love, pure love, then we are available to be who we are, as is the receiver, and both may respond in their own truthful way.

So what does living in this mindful way of existence feel like?  Free, it feels like being free. And our willingness to live like this has a ripple effect on all the lives we touch.

Do: consider shifting today into this sense of freedom, placing no attachment on your time or the gifts you give those whose lives you touch. This unattached gift giving could look like making a cup of tea for your office mate, preparing a special meal for your family, or bringing something from your garden to your neighbor. Give whatever you give with love and let both of you in the exchange experience the lightness and freedom.

Ok I admit I have a salad thing going but seriously with these sultry spring days I don’t think anything sounds better in the evening than a bowlful of spring veggies tossed in the perfect vinaigrette. Enter Green Valley Kitchen’s Potato Salad with Grean Beans and Asparagus – a heavenly match. So heavenly that I’ve made it twice in the past week!

So here’s what goes into this delightful dish:

• 1 pound of new potatoes – I used about 15 small new potatoes.
• 1 pound of green beans
• 1 bunch of asparagus
• 2 Tbs minced red onion
• 2 Tbs minced parsley
• 1 large handful of walnuts
• 4 Tbs olive oil
• 2 Tbs red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp dijon mustard
• 1 large clove of garlic – put through a garlic press
• 8 twists of black pepper

Further instructions for preparing can be found here on the Green Valley Kitchen Blog.

As you know I encourage my clients to eat a raw salad before dinner to help alkalize the body and improve digestion so what to do when the salad is the main dish and it is cooked? This calls for a perfect plate of seasonal fruit. Dinner done.

How to Makeover your Medicine Cabinet

Last week I shared with you the importance of taking ALL of the Gemmotherapy extracts in your protocol whether it be for an acute issue or a several week protocol for a chronic condition. I explained how each Gemmotherapy extract is interdependent on the others creating a synergetic action. While leaving one out of an acute protocol will simply not heal your symptoms, omitting one for a period of time for chronic conditions can create a host of unwanted and unnecessary aggravated symptoms.

Today I want to inspire you to clean out your go-to stashes whether they be filled with nutritional supplements and immune support or over the counter medications. This should help you simplify your acute care strategy as well as create a long term advantage by supporting your body to clean while treating those symptoms. You might want to read more about acute care treatment here.

OTC Medications
There are two basic problems with Over The Counter medications whether it is for pain relief or something like a nagging cough.

1. These medications are designed to suppress symptoms. While you may get some immediate relief, you are adding to your inflammatory state and delaying the natural healing process.
2. These medications are laden with ingredients your body was never designed to digest.

It has become increasingly clear that what we put into our bodies matters. If you have taken steps to rid your diet of processed foods and switched to organic ingredients, clearing out OTC medications is the next step. Fortunately, there are replacements for all of them and I’m happy to guide you through the process.

Natural Supplements
Natural supplements like Echinacea or Oil of Oregano certainly are a better option over chemical filled OTCs and are not likely to do your body any harm, they still do not perform as well as a Gemmotherapy protocol. While they are designed to either support the immune system or fill a deficiency the body is experiencing they do not have the capability of addressing and repairing the root of the problem. Here are two reasons Gemmotherapy extracts have more to offer:

1. Whole plant supplements do not contain the meristem tissue of the plant like Gemmotherapy extracts, so while they can feed the body they cannot clean and support drainage or rejuvenate. If the buildup of inflammation that occurs in acute situations cannot be eliminated efficiently by the body, the symptoms linger and the healing process is slowed.
2. Supplements, while they are natural (derived from natural sources), when taken for symptom relief are not holistic and that means the root cause is not being addressed. Something you may not want to think about when your head is pounding but you need to consider for your long term health.

Learn More
I’d love nothing more than the opportunity to teach you how to use Gemmotherapy in your home for acute care and help you support your body for the long term. To help you get started I have created a short introductory course available at no cost throughout the month of April. This course is hosted by Pathwright and you can take a look here. Know someone In your circle who might be interested as well? Please share this article with the course link.

The Introduction to Home Acute Care with Gemmotherapy applies the 7 gemmos every household should have on hand. Do you have the 7 gemmos? Right now we are offering a sweet deal with all seven in a handy container and instruction booklet for $75 in the Vital Extract store. This makes a  wonderful gift for  a friend or family member you’d like to introduce to Gemmotherapy.

Challenge Me
While cleaning out your stash, no doubt you will come across a favorite OTC or supplement you cannot part with—challenge me to find a Gemmotherapy replacement. Post a photo this month on my Facebook wall and I’ll respond with a healthier protocol for you to follow using gemmotherapy extracts. While you are hanging out on Facebook be sure to like our page and share it with some of your friends.

Check back next week when I begin a series of Gemmotherapy Answers specifically for women’s health.

“We call meditation ‘practice’ for a reason. Any form of practice consists of doing something over and over again and failing at it over and over again. Through this process, we gradually build the capacities that make it possible to do what we are practicing.”

– Ken McLeod, “The Progress Question”

Consider: that at the start of each day we are given the opportunity to begin anew. It’s a fresh start to practice showing up, being present and failing over and again. With each failure there is growth and with each new start there another chance to practice.

Do: begin your day with the full realization that this is just a practice and ahead lies a stretch of hours to repeatedly fail, grow and begin again.

The name alone of this gorgeous recipe would win it a feature spot on my blog but now that I’ve made this for dinner it also wins for taste! Filled with all the yummy flavors of spring and given some plant based protein heft with the inclusion of millet and lentils, these gratitude bowls are as delicious as they are satisfying. Note that the lentils and millet are soaked ahead of time which increases their nutritional value. Here’s a good explanation of why that is true. Because I wasn’t inspired to cook this until the morning of, I began soaking mine after breakfast. No doubt you will replay this recipe a few times this season.

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 heads romaine lettuce, roughly chopped
1/2 cup green lentils, soaked overnight
1/2 cup millet, soaked overnight
1 bunch asparagus, with the ends trimmed
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon hemp seeds
2-3 radishes – optional but delicious
rapeseed oil/ghee
sea salt and pepper, to taste

MUSHROOMS
5 chestnut mushrooms, cut into sixths
3 sprigs of thyme
rapeseed oil
sea salt and pepper, to taste

CROUTONS (skip if gluten-free or sub with gluten-free bread)
2 slices sourdough bread, cut into squares (around 1 1/2 cups of the squares in total)
2 sprigs of thyme
rapeseed oil
sea salt and pepper, to taste

HONEY/MAPLE MUSTARD DRESSING–Yields 1/3 cup.
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons + 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
1 tablespoon raw honey or maple syrup
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
sea salt, to taste

Here are complete preparation directions.

Yes, you need to take ALL of them!

Last week I shared a bit about how the cleaning and fortifying action of gemmotherapy when used for acute digestive symptoms in babies can lessen more series symptoms later on in childhood. Today I want to emphasize the importance of using each of the gemmotherapy extracts that are prescribed in your protocol.

Recently, enough conversations have occurred in my practice to lead me to a post about the synergy of a gemmotherapy protocol. When prescribed more than one gemmotherapy extract it is absolutely important to take all of them each day as one actively supports the work of the others. For instance the acute protocol for flu requires both Black Currant and Oak extracts. Those two gemmos support each other, as the Black Currant reduces inflammation and the Oak stimulates lymphatic drainage and carries that inflammation to the elimination organs.  Without the two together the protocol simply would not be successful. Another example would be the acute sinus protocol of Black Currant, Dog Rose and Common Alder. The Alder aids lymphatic drainage leaving it out could be critical as the drainage of inflammation by the Dog Rose and Black Currant would accumulate causing additional symptoms.

This is equally important for protocols designed for chronic conditions. Leaving one gemmotherapy extract out for a stretch of days can actually cause some aggravated symptoms as one client recently experienced. Gemmotherapy is a drainage protocol and the body can only drain if the elimination organs are being supported. So if you are regularly skipping one gemmo that supports elimination, but continue taking the others, the waste that is being drained has nowhere to go! When acidic waste cannot be eliminated the body seeks emergency exits (skin, sinuses, vagina) and our mood and sleep are impacted. Not a pretty picture and one simple enough to avoid.

Here’s a few one-off situations and their answers:

So does it hurt to skip one gemmo one day? For chronic conditions, no, but yes for acute situations since every hour counts when treating acute conditions.

What should you do if you lose one gemmo out of your protocol while traveling? While this is a very individualized answer, there are a few common gemmos—Black Currant, Fig, and Walnut—will still give benefit all on their own and not cause aggravations.

What if I have a morning/evening protocol and I remember late in the day that I forgot the morning gemmo. Should I take it when I remember it? If this is a protocol for a chronic set of symptoms and you discover you missed a dose you can take it in the afternoon as long as there are 4-5 hours remaining before your next dose. Be careful however as some gemmos can give you an unwanted boost at the end of the day such as Ginkgo, Rosemary and Juniper.

What if I end up just having enough for half a dose? Take it and be sure to order more.

Unlike taking a handful of vitamins or supplements, your gemmotherapy protocol is made up of interdependent components and taking the entire protocol is key.  Gemmotherapy is a unique medicine that is both gentle and powerful. So please take your protocols mindfully whether it is for an acute or chronic condition, giving consideration to each gemmotherapy extract and its role in cleaning and fortifying your body.

Currently I am working with my mentor Dr. Soescu on a guide that will provide information on the individual actions of each gemmotherapy extract.

“We can begin anything we do—start our day, eat a meal, or walk into a meeting—with the intention to be open, flexible, and kind. Then we can proceed with an inquisitive attitude. As my teacher Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche used to say, “Live your life as an experiment.” 

At the end of the activity, whether we feel we have succeeded or failed in our intention, we seal the act by thinking of others, of those who are succeeding and failing all over the world. We wish that anything we learned in our experiment could also benefit them.”

—Pema Chödrön

CONSIDER: the importance of being open, flexible and kind to yourself. What a novel idea! Sounds fairly simple in theory right? It certainly is more difficult on some days than others especially when everything is coming at us too quickly or feels like too much. Just taking a pause, giving ourselves a well deserved timeout provides the opportunity to open up some space and be ok with not meeting that deadline, bumping a car in the parking lot or forgetting what your really needed for the “perfect” meal at the store.

DO: take time today, step out of whatever activity is causing you to judge yourself, take some cleansing breaths and allow a glimmer of flexibility and kindness to flow. Along with that, acknowledge all who surround you who are having successes and failures throughout their day, just like you, and send them your blessing.