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Home - Heartland Healing
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Master's Class - |
Wu Dang Mountain comes to Omaha
by Michael Braunstein
“All men are created equal,” uttered Thomas Jefferson, and those wise words went into our Declaration of Independence. Each human is equal in the greatest sense. What is not always equal in this world is the responsibility of our assignments.
When a role is cast upon us and we answer the call, we are responding to a teaching assignment that is ordained not so much by choice but by a higher calling. Following through is how one becomes known as a Master Teacher.
A Master Teacher is coming to Omaha this weekend. In keeping with the humility a true Master adopts, Yun Xiang Tseng prefers not to be called a Master. Nonetheless, Master Chen is what his students call him and it is a title earned through years of study and decades of teaching. He is a Taoist monk instructing in the ancient traditions of tai chi, chi kung, healing and meditation. |
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Magnet Therapy - |
Polarizing opinions …
by Michael Braunstein
A friend’s mother took a tumble a few years ago and shattered her ankle. Along in years, the anticipated healing time was expected to be lengthy. She experienced great pain and was forced to sleep on a day bed on the ground floor because she couldn’t climb the stairs to her bedroom. After a couple days, my friend installed a stairway elevator that allowed his mom to sleep in her own bed. A surprising thing happened. Her pain subsided almost immediately.
On her first return visit to the doctor, she told him she was virtually pain free. He said her ankle seemed to be healing more rapidly than expected.
It was several days before she realized what might have assisted her healing. A couple years prior, her daughter bought her a mattress pad with dozens of therapeutic magnets sewn into it, believing it would help her mom recover from a sprained back. She told her doctor about it. He was a somewhat enlightened sort and acknowledged that it probably did some good for her broken leg, citing recent research in the U.S. and abroad. |
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The Dark Side - |
Dangers and health perils of the compact fluorescent light bulb come to light
by Michael Braunstein
CFL’s are those squiggly light bulbs with the clunky porcelain base that cost up to six times what your regular bulbs cost.
Many governments around the world have already jumped on the CFL bandwagon and as a result, European citizens will be forced to switch to some form of lighting other than incandescent by 2012. Incandescents will simply no longer be available. The same will be true in the United States and Canada, though the U.S. will enact the ban progressively starting in 2012 with 100-watt incandescent bulbs restricted first.
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With Tea, Go Green - |
Tea is healthful and green may be best
by Michael Braunstein
Tea is many things to many people. It can be a brew made with water and almost any kind of plant material. There are herbal teas from the flowers of plants, the roots of plants, the stems of plants. Tea has come to mean almost any type of beverage that results from steeping or soaking botanicals in water. That is tea as a process. But there is a plant that is called tea, also. That’s the one our forefathers tossed over the side of ships in Boston Harbor. It was taxed then because it was valued as a beverage. But in the land of its origin, it was valued as much more than just that. It was, and is, a medicine. |
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Who Are You? - |
Who, who? Who, who?
by Michael Braunstein
A couple old geezers are warming up to play at halftime of the Super Bowl this weekend. Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend, the surviving original members of The Who, will try to cheat father time again. It’s coincidence that the only member of The Who that I ever worked with in the studio was drummer Keith Moon, the first one to kick off. The flipside of that irony is that the only Beatle that I didn’t work with was John Lennon, the first of the Fab Four to go.
I guess admitting that I worked with those guys “back in the day” makes me an old geezer, too. Worse, I was at Rosenblatt when The Who played there Aug. 4, 1967. They were booed because they were the opening act and were holding up the appearance of the headliner, The Beach Boys, I think. I don’t really recall because I was so blown away by The Who. |
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Electropollution and Your Health - |
Is your cell phone (and more)
killing you?
by Michael Braunstein
It’s everywhere, more ubiquitous than quick shops, strip malls and Starbuck’s coffee. It penetrates buildings, rock and metal to get at you. It soaks through the walls of your home like sweat through a cheap suit. There’s nothing you can wear, no isolation equipment or HazMat body condom that will keep you safe. It will find you — indeed, seek you out — and swarm through your body like ravenous piranha, disrupting every function, attacking every cell. In its wake are diseases of every nature, maladies of every sort: cancer, immune-system disruption, chronic fatigue and heart disease. It will kill your babies in their sleep and will change untold generations on a genetic level.
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Spice is Nice and Healing - |
Common cures from the kitchen
by Michael Braunstein
Columbus sought them. Queen Isabella lusted for them enough to send Chris out in primitive sailing ships over uncharted waters to bring them back to Spain. Wars have been fought over them. They were critical to the power of the British empire when the East India Trading Company was the commercial arm of an English fleet that controlled their trade worldwide. The Magi brought them as gifts to the baby Jesus. They are special. They are spices.
The trade and use of spices elicits visions of exotic places and far-off camel caravans packing commodities from oasis to oasis. A spice is powerful by definition. Look how little is used to provide zest or flavor. Use too much and the goal is overshot, the project ruined.
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News of Note - |
Such a thing as “too clean” and other news
by Michael Braunstein
It’s always a good idea to catch up on some points of interest in the news. Here are some recent developments:
Let ’em eat dirt
I remember when the only time we washed our hands when I was a kid was right before dinner or going to bed. We would play in the dirt all day with nary a care. But many present-day mommies are seemingly obsessed with antibacterial this and antimicrobial that. Grocery stores and auto parts counters, movie theatres and department stores — nearly every conceivable retail outlet — offer sterilizing wipes and lotions free to customers, right on the service counter. We have turned into a nation of self-created, bacteriaphobic, obsessive-compulsive neurotics. |
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Pink Slime Burger - |
Ammonia and a slurry of slime in most American burgers
by Michael Braunstein
It’s already a tough year for the commercial beef industry and when it comes to industrial beef, “tough” is not a popular term. That may be part of the problem.
The new decade begins with yet another quarter-million pounds of beef recalled due to E. coli.
Most Americans consider ground beef the product most likely to be contaminated by E. coli. That is usually accurate because indeed, the very production methods used to concoct commercial ground beef contribute to the likelihood that it will be laced with the pathogen. |
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Much Ado About Tamiflu - |
Doctored research;
billions spent on
questionable flu drug
by Michael Braunstein
The British Medical Journal and The Atlantic magazine reported that Roche, the company which markets the flu drug Tamiflu, in a brazen scheme, doctored the research used to secure approval for the drug. Millions of people around the world and in the U.S. are taking a flu drug that clinical trials have shown to be no more effective than placebos.
Moreover, since 2005, governments worldwide have spent over $3 billion stockpiling Tamiflu as part of a pandemic preparedness plan, $1.5 billion in the U.S. We have been duped into lining the pockets of yet another drug company that allegedly relied on home-cooked research to get a drug to the marketplace. |
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On the Water Front - |
Group claims Omaha has seventh worst water
by Michael Braunstein
A report this month from the non-profit Environmental Working Group in Washington, D.C., (ewg.org) assesses various quality standards relating to the environment and health, both of humans and the planet. Cited widely in the media, including a series in the New York Times, the report found that since 2004, 49 million Americans drank water from the tap that violated government standards.
The Safe Drinking Water Act requires communities and public utilities to deliver safe tap water. But the EWG used public records to show some water has contained illegal concentrations of chemicals like arsenic or radioactive substances like uranium, as well as dangerous bacteria often found in sewage. Oftentimes, after the violations were discovered and the water providers notified, nothing was done for months or even years. |
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Buteyko Method for Asthma Relief - |
Forget swine flu, asthma is a real respiratory epidemic
by Michael Braunstein
Asthma and other respiratory problems are increasing among industrialzed nations. No specific cause of asthma is known; statistically, the closer we are to chemical pollutants and the farther we are from natural foods and lifestyles, the more asthma we see.
Nebraska’s incident rates for asthma and asthma deaths are among the nation’s highest.
One might presume the wide-open spaces of Nebraska would afford clean, fresh air. For the most part, that is true. Our local air quality, with the exception of some hotspots, is acceptable to most. |
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Mooning Blue at Blue Moon - |
Seasonal Affective Disorder in
season this month
by Michael Braunstein
December is an auspicious month and this year it includes the rarity of a blue moon. It occurs every two or three years because the Gregorian calendar, the one we base months and days on, does not align with the lunar calendar. While Gregorian months are 28, 29, 30 or 31 days, the phases of the moon, (full, new, first quarter, etc.) take place over a period of 29.53 Gregorian days. The obvious overlap is that at some time — on average, every 2.7 years — there will be a Gregorian calendar month that has a full moon early enough in the month that another full moon takes place about 29.5 days later and within the same month. Which explains why the term “once in a blue moon,” describes something that happens rarely. |
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Name Game, Part Two - |
Labels — many meaningless; few helpful
by Michael Braunstein
Last week Heartland Healing reported on some labels commonly used in describing foods. Some labels or words used by producers are regulated and defined by statute but many are not. Some claims or labels are not regulated by government agencies but are certified by organizations or private agencies. Such certifications are at least verifiable in most cases by querying the agency and examining their standards.
Often, however, sellers rely on buyers’ presumptions and the ability to project an image with a word that may be virtually meaningless. |
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Name Game - |
Real food doesn’t need a label
by Michael Braunstein
To me it makes sense that the harder you have to try to sell something, the greater the indication that it may not be a smart buy. With food, I figure the healthfulness of an item is inversely proportional to the amount of money spent marketing it. If a company has to spend millions of dollars to advertise a product, or lobby for friendly legislation, I consider the product suspect. I can’t recall ever seeing a billboard or magazine or television ad that said, “Broccoli. It’s what’s for dinner. A message brought to you by the Nebraska Broccoli Council.” Or is there a need for a medical group or athlete to endorse spinach, and pose with some of it stuck between his teeth, comparable to that annoying milk campaign? |
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Miso Happy - |
Eating less leads to longer life, plus ‘health care’ legislation
by Michael Braunstein
Studies in the 1930s demonstrated that lab rats and mice lived longer when their caloric intake was restricted. More recent (2006) research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, cited similar results with humans. Food high in nutrient content but low in calories is better for you. Metabolizing food puts wear and tear on the body, down to the chromosomal level.
Metabolizing apparently rends the important part of the chromosome structure known as telomeres. Telomeres are DNA structures at the ends of a chromosome. They keep the chromosome from unraveling, much as an aglet, the tip of a shoelace, keeps a shoelace sound. As we age, the telomeres seem to wither and unravel. This is acknowledged as a reliable age marker.
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Staying in Synch for Health - |
Nature
segments time as it segments energy
By Michael Braunstein
Everything in the universe is made of energy. No exceptions. Most of us blindly consider only the illusory part that seems to show itself as solid matter. We get caught up in the physical. That includes Western medicine’s view on health and healing as just an assemblage of physical parts. Other approaches to healing take a different angle.
Centuries ago, scientists had described the relationship of energies, even to the atomic level, using terms different from Einstein’s. Their science is still valid, still works and is used today. It is called ayurveda. |
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Be a Winter Locavore - |
Local food is still available after farmers market season
by Michael Braunstein
There is hardly a hotter topic in America than the interest in buying local food from small, family farms. The USDA reported this month that the number of farmers markets — the top venue for local, family farmers — increased by 13 percent from 2008 to 2009, now topping nearly 5,300 across the country. In my opinion, that is a gross underestimate. I would guess the number could be much higher, given the number of local farmers markets that began in just the recent months and may be too small to show up on USDA radar. This year there were at least four new, smaller farmers markets just in Omaha. |
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News That Makes You Go "Hmmm" - |
Of swine, sweat and sweets
by Michael Braunstein
News items recently that are thought provoking include some interesting developments about sweeteners, flu sense and crazy cars gone rogue:
Flu medicine works. Flu medicine doesn’t work. Huh?
Last week, the glut of news concerning swine flu included this bit from the World Health Organization’s Dr. Nikki Shindo:
“The good news is that quick treatment with the antiviral drugs oseltamivir, made by Roche AG under the brand name Tamiflu, and zanamivir, made by GlaxoSmithKline as Relenza, helps a great deal,” she said.
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Keep Your Nose Clean - |
A neti pot is good for snot
by Michael Braunstein
It’s one of our first lines of defense. It warms the air we breathe. It filters out dirt. It traps disease-carrying pathogens. It has millions of sensors that identify odors. It’s one of our early warning systems for when something is bad for us. If something has a bad smell, it can tell. The nose knows. And, a flu virus is often first detected in the mucous membranes of the nose. |
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