When the project finally ended over a week ago, I eagerly looked forward to sleeping normally again. Quality, uninterrupted sleep at night, in a dark room without distracting light or sound, encourages the body to naturally produce melatonin, a powerful antioxidant. This period of blissful sleep, which follows the body’s natural circadian clock rhythm, is the best time for the body to rest, repair and rejuvenate. When we deprive ourselves of this natural sleep pattern, our immune systems become depressed and we are more likely to fall ill and age faster.

To my aggravation, I found myself having difficulty returning to sleeping at night. Despite being utterly exhausted, sleep eluded me. I tossed and turned every night. Nothing would get me to fall asleep. I was a total wreck during the day, and just couldn’t get anything done. I’ve completely neglected this blog for weeks now, and even simple tasks like walking my dog have been very trying.

Then two nights ago I slept almost uninterrupted for almost nine hours, at night, when it was peaceful and dark. I did it again last night. So I’m finally able to write this blog post, at long last. And I’m back to enjoying my walks with Ginger.

In May 2009, Professor Paolo Sassone-Corsi and his team from the University of California, Irvine, reported that women working the night shift are four times more vulnerable to breast cancer because of a disruption in their internal physiology – or circadian clocks. Disrupting these clocks can also lead to other kinds of illnesses. We need to listen to our internal clocks!

Sleep – it’s one of the most powerful secrets behind natural healing and wellness. Make it your priority to get sufficient quality sleep every night.

This feline is such a character. He likes to knead his paws on my tummy (ouch!) and he loves to get under the covers with me. When I take out the ironing board, he leaps on it before I can start ironing because, for some reason, he thinks it’s a place for massage and I’m his personal masseuse. So I have to massage him before he’ll get off, leaving fine kitty fur all over the board.

Billy also enjoys ambushing Ginger, my sweet-natured doggy who found him when he was barely a month old. You should see him lying in wait, flicking his tail and wriggling his posterior as he gets ready to pounce on poor unsuspecting Ginger. Ginger puts up with Billy. She thinks that he’s always trying to steal her food, which is really hilarious as she’s 10 times bigger than Billy is, and her kibble is more than Billy can manage. She probably thinks that way because she’s stolen Billy’s food many times. Those two furballs are a riot and they provide me with endless hours of amusement, companionship and love.

Keeping a pet is good for your health. Their therapeutic powers range from helping to keep the blood pressure in check (unless they poop on the carpet, of course), providing comfort during depression and improving physical fitness levels. Pets, even cranky ones like Billy, are natural mood enhancers. They always look up to you – except maybe for cats who can be snotty – and make you feel good.

Generally, spending time with your pets will reduce your levels of cortisol, the hormone associated with stress. Serotonin levels (a chemical associated with well-being) rise. Too much stress is harmful while rest is healing. It’s elementary.

Having a dog who needs to be walked twice a day forces you to get some exercise, a good thing for urban-living sedentary types. If your pooch is anything like Ginger, who has a mind of her own and is constantly in a tug-of-war with me, you’ll also benefit from weight bearing activity which strengthens your muscles and bones. Walking your dog is a healthy and inexpensive way of preventing osteoporosis.

For some great true stories about cats and dogs who helped their guardians through breast cancer treatment, check out:

The true story of kitty-cat Luke and her guardian Karen who had Stage III triple negative breast cancer
AND
The true story of Great Dane Kenya and her guardian “lifegoeson” who had Stage IV breast cancer

If you don’t have a pet, why not adopt one from the animal shelter? You’ll be saving more than just the animal’s life – you could be saving YOURS as well.

Recently, in a series of studies, scientists found that when people leave their concrete surroundings to spend a few hours in a more natural environment – forests, parks and places with plenty of trees – they experience increased immune system function.

Several factors play a part. One is stress reduction. The other appears to be airborne chemicals called phytoncides which plants emit to protect themselves against rotting and insects. A study found an increase in white blood cells, which lasted a week, in women exposed to phytoncides in forest air. A 2007 study showed that men who took two-hour walks in a forest over two days had a 50% spike in levels of white blood cells.

A study published in January this year included data on 280 healthy people in Japan. On one day, some people walked through the city for a few hours while another group of people walked through the forest. On the second day, they traded places. Scientists found that being among plants produced “lower concentration of cortisol, lower pulse rate, and lower blood pressure”.

Various studies have shown that visiting parks and forests seem to raise levels of white blood cells, which help to fight infection. Interestingly, in Japan which has one of the world’s highest life expectancy, its people enjoy visiting nature parks for its therapeutic effects. This practice is called “Shinrin-yoku”, which means forest bathing.

Think about it, people who live in rural areas and walk everywhere are known to have lower incidences of diseases like cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular problems. Ultimately, the best way to stay healthy and well is to have a strong immune system which functions properly. Medicine can only do so much. Time for me to go forest bathing.

Lose Weight
The most dangerous form of estrogen, estradiol, is manufactured in fat cells as well as various places in the body, so it stands to reason that the less fat you carry, the lower your estrogen levels will be. Through a process called aromatization, fat cells actively convert precursor hormones to estradiol, and will continue to do so even after menopause. Excess fat stores both endogenous (produced naturally within the body) and exogenous (originating from outside the body) estrogens. Avoid consuming large meals, as these cause insulin surges in the body which, in turn, wreak havoc with hormones, estrogen in particular.

Increase Consumption of Phytoestrogens
Phytoestrogens are plant chemicals which mimic estrogen. Estrogen facilitates the binding of certain cancer chemicals to receptor sites on good cells and this feeds the cancer. Phytoestrogens are a weak form of estrogen which compete with your body’s natural estrogen to fill these receptor sites, so that the harmful form of estrogen cannot take over these sites. Without the harmful type of estrogen feeding the cancer, the cancer cells starve to death.

Beans (including soybeans), lentils, pulses, peas (including chickpeas), green vegetables, carrots, red peppers, herbs and cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cabbage are good sources of phytoestrogens and protective carotenoids. Asians, particularly Orientals, eat lots of soy foods. The Japanese diet, as well as the traditional Chinese diet, is rich in soy foods, and adherents of such traditional diets are known to have a low incidence of cancer. Modern diets typically do not include enough phytoestrogens to protect us from cancer. Be greedy with these foods; eat an abundance of them.

Eat More Estrogen Blockers
There are foods which help to block estrogen from dominating your body. Increase your intake of these estrogen inhibitors.

Reduce Consumption of Animal Fat
Numerous studies have reported that consumption of animal fat, including dairy products, causes many health problems, such as heart disease and cancer. In countries where growth hormones are given to dairy herds, milk has been found to contain high levels of Insulin Growth Factor (IGF 1), which has been shown to affect insulin, estrogen and other hormone levels. Swedish researchers have identified a link between the volume of dairy consumed and the risk of prostate and testicular cancers.

Animal fat also contributes to weight gain (remember the documentary “Super-Size Me”?) which, in turn, produces more fat cells in the body where estrogen can be manufactured and stored.

Vegetarians have half the cancer rates of meat eaters. There are lots of delicious non-animal based foods to enjoy nowadays. There are even mock meats, or vegetarian meats which taste and feel amazingly like real meat. Check them out at Asian grocers and supermarkets. There are plenty of yummy alternatives to dairy products too. Go discover!

Use Natural Progesterone
Natural progesterone acts to balance out and control estrogen levels. Use safe progesterone creams like those made from wild yam, such as Neways’ Endau.

Boost Your Melatonin Levels
Melatonin is a hormone produced naturally by the body when we practise good sleep habits like sleeping at regular times and sleeping in darkened rooms (light prevents the production of melatonin). This hormone is a potent antioxidant as well as an estrogen balancer, and our bodies produce it about an hour after we fall asleep in a darkened room. Interestingly, people who are blind rarely have breast cancer, whereas people with irregular or poor sleeping patterns , and night shift workers, are more cancer-prone.

Melatonin in supplementary form, like Megatonin, can also be used to boost melatonin levels.

Negative ions are negatively charged particles which form when enough energy acts on a molecule such as carbon dioxide, oxygen, or water to eject an electron. This displaced electron then attaches itself to a nearby molecule, which then becomes a negatively-charged Ion. High levels of negative ions are desirable and good for your health.

Today’s air-conditioned buildings, trains and planes frequently become supercharged with harmful positive ions because the metal blowers, filters and ducts of air-conditioning systems strip the air of negative ions before it reaches its destination. Air conditioner manufacturers have been designing new systems that increase negative ionization. Computers and fluorescent lighting also supercharge environments with harmful positive ions.

My sister’s NewTeq4 magnetic bracelets have ceramic inserts which emit negatively charged oxygen ions in the region of 1000 ions per cubic cm. By comparison the levels of negative ions present in different environments are approximately: Base of waterfall – 3000; Office – 150; Mountain air – 2000; Home – 100; Countryside – 1500; Car – 50. Nothing beats getting away to a pure, natural environment, but when you can’t do that, the negative ions emitted by Neways NewTeq4 magnetic bracelets will at least increase your exposure to beneficial negatively-charged ions.

Benefits of Negative Ions
Negative Ions have a refreshing and invigorating effect on the body; similar to the experience you would have if you were standing next to a waterfall. They produce a calming effect on the mind and support immune function.

Negative ions increase the flow of oxygen to the brain; resulting in higher alertness, decreased drowsiness, and more mental energy,” says Pierce J. Howard, PhD, author of “The Owners Manual for the Brain: Everyday Applications from Mind Brain Research”, and director of research at the Center for Applied Cognitive Sciences in Charlotte, N.C.

Negative Ions are also therapeutic partly because they kill germs. As early as the 1930s. a Russian team headed by A L. Tchijevski found that large ion doses of either positive or negative polarity retarded bacteria colony formation on plates. Ionization also sterilized enclosed air. Latter experiments duplicating Tchijevski’s work noted an exponential bacteria decay rate of 23 per cent per minute for untreated air, 34 per cent per minute for air with pos-ions, and 78 percent per minute for negatively charged air. They concluded that the pos-ion decay rate was due to simple bonding of the ions with the bacteria, whereas the neg-ions actually killed the bacteria.

Animals larger than microbes find negative ions beneficial. Rats learn better and are less anxious. Mice live longer (mice with flu die more quickly If deprived of neg-ions). Silkworm eggs hatch earlier, larvae grow faster, spinning begins sooner, cocoons are heavier. chickens lay more eggs and grow more plump. Sheep grow faster and supply more wool. In the vegetable kingdom. plant seedlings grow up to 50 percent more when charged. Fruit stays fresh longer: after 10 days, ionized tomatoes were still fresh while untreated controls rotted. No wonder negative ions are sometimes referred to as the “vitamins of the air”.

The U.S. has equipped nuclear submarines with ion machines since the late 1950s. There are even combat uniforms which have negative ion emitters embedded into the collars “for performance enhancement without the side effects often associated with drugs”. The manufacturer of these uniforms says that “the material emits negative ions into the surrounding air and if close enough to the face, those emitted negative ions are inhaled. Numerous studies on air ions conclude that a higher proportions of negative ions in the air have shown improved alertness and brainwave activity.” Now you know a military secret for getting fighting fit.

Ionizers are being used industrially in auto spray paint booths, food processing plants, grain storage bins and chemical spray factories. Architects, designers and city planners are increasingly incorporating water features like fountains and rooftop solariums into urban environments. Negative ion technology is used extensively in air filtration and refrigeration products in Asia, particularly in Japan. Next time you change your air-conditioner or refrigerator, look out for models which incorporate this technology.

My final post on the subject of magnetic therapy for healing and wellness will be about Germanium, a trace mineral used in my sister’s NewTeq4 magnetic bracelet.

Anyway, after tea, we had a little nap. We’ve been working hard on our websites, so we decided to give ourselves a break. A movie followed. Later in the evening, after walking our dog Ginger, we checked our computers and found that a customer had made a large order on one of our websites. I also received a nice message and thank you from someone who recently discovered this website, Healing Pastures. It’s great to be able to help.

Ah, the joys of working from home! Who wants to be a slave to a job?!

Billy sleeping in his favorite position

Now Billy likes to sleep on my desk, and anywhere and everywhere I happen to be at home. He sleeps on the sofa, he sleeps on the pillow under my desk, he sleeps on the chair at the little writing table in my bedroom, he sleeps in his basket, he sleeps on the dining chairs, he sleeps on Ginger’s day bed. He particularly likes to lay his head on my computer keyboard, which drives my computer crazy. Basically, Billy sleeps all day and all night. He never seems to have any problems sleeping.

If only we humans could doze off so easily. Nobody would suffer from insomnia. Ever since Michael Jackson’s struggles with sleeplessness came to light, insomnia has been in the spotlight. Phillip, one of my friends, says that the health supplement melatonin helps him to get to sleep. Neways International has an easy-to-take one called Megatonin. It’s certainly convenient, as you only need to take it 30 minutes before bed and you can even travel with it.

If you prefer off-the-wall natural remedies, one remedy for sleeplessness is oil-pulling, a practice gaining popularity in India and elsewhere. Basically, you gargle a tablespoon of sesame oil on an empty stomach. For 10 minutes, gently swish and swirl the oil through your gums and teeth. The oil will become thinner and whiter during this time. After 10 minutes, spit out the oil and rinse your mouth thoroughly. The oil may be toxic after all this oil-pulling, so make sure you don’t swallow it. Doing this at least once a day is supposed to guarantee a good night’s sleep. The results are apparently better when you do oil-pulling two to three times daily.

Besides keeping insomnia at bay, oil-pulling is also said to alleviate gum disease, stabilise loose teeth and whiten teeth. It may even cure headache, backache and knee pain. Not having any insomnia or gum problems myself, and virtually never suffering from headaches and other aches and pains, I never found a reason to try oil-pulling. For good oral hygiene, I gargle with Neways Eliminator. It’s great for preventing sore throat and mouth ulcers as well, and you can even use it to banish body odours, clean wounds and sores and treat acne. Really handy stuff and it sure smells nicer and fresher than sesame oil. But hey, different strokes for different folks, right?

I can’t imagine working a nine-to-five job anymore. The thought of having to drag myself out of bed early every morning and fighting the commuter traffic wearies me. Working from home is just great. I get plenty of rest and I have time to do the things I enjoy, like reading, writing and going out wherever I like, whenever I wish. Lately, I’ve been so busy writing websites and blogs for clients that I’m afraid I haven’t had as much time as I would like for “Healing Pastures”.

A reversible pendant from Silver Butterfly Jewelry

I have a butterfly jewelry website of my own too, and I’ve been rushing to get new products and promotions ready for Christmas. My husband, Andrew, is the webmaster and designer, and I think he’s done a really nice job. Silver Butterfly Jewelry is ranked Number One by Google for many of our key search phrases. Fans love our jewelry so much that many designs are sold out. We even have customers e-mailing us to ask when certain designs will be available again, and whether we’ll be able to ship out their purchases in time for Christmas. This is one ‘rush’ I’m really enjoying.

Once this weekend is over, I hope to turn my attention back to “Healing Pastures”. Come December, though, I’ll have to get Silver Butterfly Jewelry as well as a client’s jewelry website ready for Valentine’s Day. It never ends, but I’m loving it. Nothing beats having your own business, especially when you can work from home. Working from home allows me to be more rested, less stressed out, and healthier. And I have more time to spend with my loved ones.

If your health and happiness isn’t to your satisfaction, have you considered working from home? It’s probably one of the most healing things anyone could do, and it could make a big difference to the quality of your life.

Psalm 91 from the Bible has been called the psalm of protection, as it defies the enemy and makes a stand that our Heavenly Father will not fail those who trust in Him. Many people have drawn strength from it. The interesting thing is that it’s all about taking refuge and resting in God’s love, faithfulness and promises, the kind of rest which can result in miracles. Here is Psalm 91 from the New King James version of the Bible:

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the LORD, “[He is] my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.”
Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler [And] from the perilous pestilence.
He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth [shall be your] shield and buckler.
You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, [Nor] of the arrow [that] flies by day,
[Nor] of the pestilence [that] walks in darkness, [Nor] of the destruction [that] lays waste at noonday.
A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; [But] it shall not come near you.
Only with your eyes shall you look, And see the reward of the wicked.
Because you have made the LORD, [who is] my refuge, [Even] the Most High, your dwelling place,
No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways.
In [their] hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.
You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.
“Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name.
He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I [will be] with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.
With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation.”

Psalm 91 is from the Old Testament, written in Hebrew. In verse 16, the last verse, the word ’salvation’ in the original Hebrew is ‘Yeshua’, or Jesus. Salvation and Jesus are synonymous. That’s something to think about.

Don’t let negative thoughts get to you. May Psalm 91 protect you and encourage you.

In a study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Dr Akio Nakamura and his colleagues reported that stressed-out lab rats showed reduced stress levels when they were exposed to linalool, a chemical found in citrus fruits and flowers like lemon and lavender. Over 100 genes are active in stressful situations, and inhaling linalool reduces their activity. Breathing in linalool helped the lab rats’ levels of neutrophils as well as lymphocytes – key components of the immune system – return to near-normal levels.

Neutrophils are the most abundant white blood cells in mammals. Their job is to squeeze through the capillary walls and into infected tissue to kill invaders like bacteria, and then engulf the remnants by surrounding the bacteria cell and absorbing it. Stress factors, like heavy doses of radiation and chemotherapy used in cancer treatment, can reduce the numbers of neutrophils so that formerly harmless bacteria begin to proliferate. Life-threatening infections may then result.

Lymphocytes are white blood cells which help to protect the body against disease and abnormalities like tumors.

For centuries, people have been known to inhale the scent of certain plants to help reduce stress, banish depression, treat inflammation and induce sleep. Even today, people relax with the help of essential oils or pillows stuffed with flowers like lavender. The next time you bring some lemons home, why not put them out in a basket or bowl to scent the air with their fragrance?