This week I had a wonderful opportunity to meet with my dear friend and homeopathy mentor Dr. Heiner Frei. Many of you may know I first met Dr. Frei just over three years ago when he presented at a conference in Bad Kissingen, Germany. I love telling the story because, as we each have defining moments in our lives, this was truly one of mine.

I had actually decided to make the trip to Germany to attend the conference in order to hear another prominent European homeopath. After two days of taking in all of the various presentations, my brain was full and I was ready to jump on that train I had scheduled back to my in-laws that departed before the last presentation of the conference. I lingered a bit longer than I had planned in the conference hall, bidding farewell to some new acquaintances, when that last presenter, Dr. Frei, began his talk. Listening to the first 5 minutes was more than enough for me to realize that what he had to offer was exactly what I had made the long journey to learn next. So, the train left without me and instead I was exposed to a remarkable remedy selection methodology—Polarity Analysis (PA)—that truly transformed my practice.

What Dr. Frei gave me in my practice was a research-based, repeatable methodology that had not ever before been available in the field of homeopathy. His methodology was born out of his own background as an MD and frustrations studying the early masters, but still experiencing questionable success in his cases. Rather than giving up, he dug deeper and was intrigued by the work of Clemens Maria Franz Freiherr von Bönninghausen. Bonninghausen made huge contributions to the field of homeopathy during his lifetime, but what supports Dr. Frei’s work is the grading of symptoms and the theory of contraindications. You can read more about Dr. Frei’s methodology here on his website.

It turns out that I was not the only one impressed with the work Dr. Frei presented at the conference. In the past two years his methodology has gained recognition across Europe. This last academic year PA became the authorized curriculum to be taught to all German physicians studying homeopathy. This year he was invited to present both in India at Rajan Sankaran’s school, The Other Song, and at the National Center for Homeopathy Conference in Philadelphia in May. His two English language training books, Homeopathy and ADHD and Polarity Analysis will help spread the method even further.

We met this past week to discuss further methods to enlarge the reach of PA among homeopaths in America. I am very proud to share that one of the first steps will be to create a Polarity Analysis module within my Living Well™ training program for practitioners. I will be taking the research directly from Dr. Frei’s work and integrating it into a module planned for release in late August. I so look forward to this opportunity to share such a valuable tool with health practitioners with a background in homeopathy.

As my time in Europe comes to a close for this summer I savor these last few days of slow starts each morning, daily walks in the surrounding forests, sharing meal preparation with my mother-in-law, our evening family bocce ball match on the back lawn and cool breezy nights with windows wide open. I am grateful for such a successful and rejuvenating journey. I do, however, look forward to soon diving back in to my practice as well as Austin’s treasure, Barton Springs, each evening!

Be sure to check back in next week when I share the latest findings on the lymphatic connection to the brain and how that relates to the work I do with my clients to clean their lymphatic system. Could the importance of lymphatic cleansing soon go mainstream?

Having spent nearly a week in Romania sharing time in nature, over meals or in the car with my Gemmotherapy mentor Dr. Sorina Soescu, I came away with further clarity about the human body and healing. One of the primary topics of discussion was food. Both Dr. Soescu and I walk similar paths when it comes to feeding our families and advising our clients. It was actually my stay in her Constanta home two years ago that spurred the plant-based dietary changes we made as a family. This was my introduction to the cleaning power of a diet rich in raw, fresh fruits and vegetables.

Over these past two years I have shared my thoughts and experiences with clients in my practice. Many have made significant shifts in their diet and have—along with the support of Gemmotherapy and Homeopathic protocols—healed their chronic symptoms. Others still struggle. As a practitioner I am always searching for ways to clarify and simplify my message in order to reach those who feel overwhelmed by all of the dietary information that circulates or to whom change feels too burdensome. My hope is that I can spread the idea of eating with purpose.

What is Eating with Purpose?
Modern culture places a high value on food as lots of things other than nourishment. Eating is often the focus of our community time, entertainment, exploration, or even for just passing time. While there is a place for food in any of these endeavors, we’ve lost sight of the most basic and important aspect of why we eat—to stay vital and healthy. When we Eat with Purpose we can remember food is to nourish the body and the most tried and true path is filled with whole, plant-based, unprocessed foods.

Now, fresh from hours of personal discussions and friendly debates over meals and walks in the forest with Dr. Soescu, here are the three basic concepts we agreed sum up what a healthy body looks like and how to get there. Spoiler alert: Your diet plays a key role.

1. Every body needs a diet that supports its natural ability to CLEAN and HEAL. If your body can’t rid itself of wastes, it cannot heal. It’s as simple as that. The best way to help your body clean more effectively is to eat whole, natural foods that do not produce inflammation. A cleaner diet will help open and optimize elimination and that will subsequently heal any secondary symptoms.
2. Every body needs to have at least 2 well-formed bowel movements daily. If, on your current diet, you have slow/poor elimination, frequent loose or unformed stools, urinary urgency and/or night waking to urinate, these are signs from your body indicating that elimination organs are distressed. Dietary change is the quickest way to unburden these organs.
3. Every body can and should be free of any and all of the following secondary symptoms: acne, asthma, candida, eczema, headaches, migraines, rosacea, sinusitis, sleep disturbances, localized inflammation, bloating, menstrual irregularities including cramping, heavy flow, spotting, no menses, or hemorrhaging. These are all clear signs your elimination organs are distressed and your diet needs to change.

How can food optimize elimination?

• Alkalizing foods stimulate the lymphatic system.
• Raw food in the diet improves digestive efficiency and normal bowel function.
• Eat high alkaline plant based whole foods—aim for 80% of your daily diet.
• Increase consumption of raw whole foods—aim for 50% of your daily diet.

What is a whole food?
Food that is in the most natural state possible, just as it is delivered to us from nature. 

How do I start?
First: Begin your day by consuming a meal of raw fruits, on an empty stomach, as fresh pressed juice, smoothie or in their whole form. Don’t move on until your are prepared to take on further change. Staying with a fruit only breakfast is a huge step forward for many and is a fabulous healthy start to each day.

Next: Once you have become accustomed to an all-fruit breakfast change your lunch and dinner plate to meet the 80/50 guidelines of 80% plant based and 50% raw raw diet. Do this by adding a raw fruit or vegetable salad at the start of each meal, increasing the plant based dishes and decrease grains and protein servings.

Over time: Introduce bit by bit more dishes that use food in its natural state—direct from the tree or plant and reduce your intake of foods that must be cooked or processed such as grains, meats and starchy vegetables. Look for suggestions from Lauren’s Kitchen each Monday.

Important to note: Introducing a high alkaline diet too quickly can cause a variety of side effects in individuals whose elimination process has been compromised for years and years and are in a state of acidosis. Symptoms such as exhaustion, loose bowels, headaches, or irritability are clear signs to move at a slow and guided pace with the close support of your health practitioner. In my practice I highly recommend the use a complimentary Gemmotherapy protocol to support the body as it eliminates years of toxicity.

Can you heal yourself with food alone?
This is completely dependent on the current state of your elimination and the length of time it has been compromised. It has been my experience that food alone will not heal symptoms completely unless the elimination organs are functioning at an optimal level.

In my practice I use Gemmotherapy protocols to complement and support a plant based diet in opening elimination and cleaning the body because of their superior ability to both clean and heal organ tissue (unlike any other natural medicine). I use homeopathy once the elimination systems are functioning to support the ability of the vital force to completely heal the body.

It was a remarkable week in Romania and I treasure the opportunity to discuss and debate the natural process of healing on your behalf! I hope that these new insights bring further clarity to those in need. Next week I look forward to sharing some of the latest news regarding Polarity Analysis homeopathy as I will have had some scheduled time with my homeopathic mentor Dr. Heiner Frei.

It has been so lovely spending the last few days in the historic city of Timisoara surrounded by colleagues as passionate as I am about Gemmotherapy. All weekend long the conference hall on the University grounds was filled with over 200 physicians and pharmacists from throughout Romania who gathered to hear the latest Gemmotherapy findings. While it may seem like quite a distance for me to travel in order to connect with like-minded practitioners, I can assure you it is completely worth the time and effort.

This year I was honored with the opportunity to give two presentations. Saturday morning I presented alongside Joachim on our co-developed GemmoExpert™ software program and my unique perspective to case taking with Gemmotherapy. I have covered quite some distance with this topic these past months and my methodology has been refined to where I now feel it is teachable. It feels amazing to pass this information on so others can benefit.

The following morning I shared what I see as the 4 Stages to Healing the body (Opening Elimination, Cleaning Organs, Restoring Function and Optimizing) with Gemmotherapy and diet. This 4 stage process has become so integrated into my methods, I was a bit shocked by how much interest it garnered. I was approached for more information by practicing physicians as well as professors who are teaching Gemmotherapy as an adjunct therapy in medical school. That alone made the trip worthwhile.

While it is a pleasure to share my thoughts with the group, there is also much for me to gain both from the formal presentations and informal discussions. I particularly enjoyed hearing a presentation given by the Association Secretary and Pharmacist, Carmen Ponoran, on the detailed history of Gemmotherapy that began in Romania in 1979, ten years prior to their Revolution. She shared that it was Dr. Teodor Caba who was the first to present and publish on the subject of Gemmotherapy in Romania. After studying the emerging works from Belgium research physician Pol Henry, Dr. Caba  referred to Gemmotherapy as a modern drainage homeopathic medicine. While this would later be seen as an incorrect definition, his message piqued the interest of many practicing homeopaths.

In 1989, nearly ten years later and the year of the Romanian Revolution, the first extracts were actually prepared in Romania by a Dr. Pavel Chirila. Four years after that, Plant Extrakt produced the first commercial line of Gemmotherapy extracts which were at first only exported to Italy. The products later were promoted within Romania. The use and practice however increased exponentially in 1989 when my mentor, Dr. Sorina Soescu, translated the only Materia Medica on Gemmotherapy from Italian to Romanian. With ready material in the Romanian language, Plant Extrakt began offering weekend training courses which led to the formation of their current professional organization the ARGH.

Dr. Soescu, a renowned scholar and physician, gave a remarkable presentation on the Gemmotherapy tree extracts that best promote drainage for cleaning the body and the big tree remedies that best support lymphatic drainage in chronic cases. This was quite complimentary to the information I had shared earlier on opening elimination. While we each planned our talks a continent apart, they were remarkably synchronized and opened the path for many hours of talks between the two of us on the days following the conference.

Once the conference came to a close, my family was hosted by Dr. Soescu and her husband, who led us on two marvelous day trips. One trip took us out of the city to the outdoor historical museum Satului Banat Ean Timisoara and a nearby natural preserve where we hiked the trails under the canopy of Alder, Birch, Beech, and Sweet Chestnut—all trees of Gemmotherapy. The following day we traveled much further south by car toward the Serbian border and boarded an antique train along Romania’s oldest rail path. It was a fascinating ride along the mountain side this time having a look down onto the tree canopy in this densely forested region. It should come as no surprise that all of this pristine nature provided us with the perfect backdrop for many collegial discussions.

Now closing out my fourth trip to Romania I still marvel at the natural beauty of this country and the warmth and spirit of the people. What a week it has been and we depart with such a sense of fulfillment and ready to begin the next leg of our journey in Germany.

Keep Living Well,

Lauren

“It’s not what happens to us that determines our character, our experience, our karma, and our destiny, but how we relate to what happens.”

 —Lama Surya Das

CONSIDER: all that you may encounter in the day ahead, every single experience from the forgotten appointment, the downed internet, a surprise phone call, the kiss from your child, sitting in traffic, standing in line; each and every experience is an opportunity in itself to deepen character.

Within each instance is the potential to enrich and grow or remain stuck, unconscious, self serving. We don’t need to travel far or enroll in a course to develop character, we only need to wake up and show up to the school of our daily life.

DO: write yourself a reminder today in whatever manner that works for you. A sticky note on the computer screen,  posted on the front door, your bathroom mirror, or write on your hand the words, “building character.” Then take advantage of the lessons today holds and let your reminder gently guide you back when you lose your way.

“Most of our suffering comes from habitual thinking. If we try to stop it out of aversion to thinking, we can’t; we just go on and on and on. So the important thing is not to get rid of thought, but to understand it. And we do this by concentrating on the space in the mind, rather than on the thought.”

– Ajahn Sumedho, “Noticing Space”

Consider: how accustomed we become to fullness. Whether it is keeping a full tummy, a full schedule, a full house, a full fridge…full makes us feel safe, for a while, until we discover it is really exhausting and limiting.   However, when we want to shift and “find space in our life” it can feel like an insurmountable task and it is, if we only look at the BIG picture. However, if we concentrate on the small spaces, rather than the fullness between our thoughts, we can grow them and find peace.

Do: connect with your breath. After the third cleansing breath, place your attention on that tiny space that exists between the trail of thoughts. By relaxing, if only for a nanosecond, into that space you will begin to feel the joy of nothingness. This nothingness is the place where you will find your rest.

“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.

“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.

“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.

“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.

“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.

“We get quiet for a moment in meditation. We sink down to a relaxedness, a calmness, abruptly free from all the crazy dreams we confuse with reality. And in that instant, by mistake maybe, or because we aren’t thinking to stop it from happening—we experience, in a flash, things as they really are.”

— William R. Stimson, “My Brief Career Composing Spanish Music“

CONSIDER: How much of the day pass through accepting our perception of reality rather than actually experiencing it. Our racing mind is what does that and we are mostly unaware. It is only when we stop, breathe and quiet ourselves that we can begin to see things as they are rather than how we wish they were or the way we want them to be.

DO: Give yourself the permission to fall into a relaxed state upon waking each morning this week. Close your eyes, begin with three cleansing breaths, and take in the reality of that moment. Let your senses drink in the sounds, the smells, and the rise and fall of your breath.

“Be in harmony with each breath, each moment, and know that in giving yourself this time to develop awareness and a steadiness of attention you are nourishing spirit, head, and heart. Let it be an adventure, and in the silence and the stillness that comes with practice you”ll discover wonders here for you, now.”

—Elena Rosenbaum
“Guided Meditation: Awareness of Breathing“

CONSIDER: how simple the act of breathing is. For most of us it happens with out effort and most often without awareness. The very basic step of placing awareness on the breath changes everything. Our posture, our pulse rate, our racing mind. This is nourishment plain and simple. As we seek ways to nourish ourselves in an effort improve our health, let us not miss the most elementary and fundamental source of nourishment, our own breath.

Do: take small breathing breaks today. Thich Nhat Hanh, in his mindfulness guide, You Are Here, suggests using a cue from your daily life as a reminder to bring your attention to your breath and come into the present moment. Your cue could be each time your glance at the time, each stoplight while driving, each time your child calls out, “Mom,” or each time you open the fridge. Find you cue and take a break of 5 cleansing breaths to nourish your body, mind and soul.