By Guest Blogger on September 3, 2009

My Story: How I Got Here

Just three years ago I was sick, I was tired and I was so afraid that this was as good as it was going to get. I didn’t know how to cook, had done maybe a handful of yoga classes and was surviving on rice cakes and margarine. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that this is where I would be today, healthier, stronger and happier than ever before in my life- living a dream I never even knew existed.

I am now over two and a half years symptom-free from a disease that is believed to have no cure. As far as I’m concerned, I am cured. With the support of my family, and the help of my acupuncturist, yoga teachers, spiritual guides, friends, pure determination and a little sunshine and bicycles, I cured this disease. Without a doubt in my mind, I know that anything is truly possible.

Through my disease, I learned the importance of the simple things. I learned that without our health, we have nothing. I learned that a cute outfit means nothing if we feel like crap. I learned what true friendship was and I learned what it was to be well. These are the greatest lessons of my life.

It began in 2003, after graduating from university with a degree in fashion, I hopped on a plane with the intention of backpacking for several months around Africa on my own. I would joke that I was going to be a hippie in Africa with a fashion degree. My parents couldn’t figure out why I was going and kept saying that I was going to get sick. I insisted they had no idea what they were talking about. No matter how old you are, it’s always a little annoying when your parents are right and you are wrong.

I was sick from the time I got my vaccinations, before I even left. After ten weeks backpacking through Africa, I couldn’t handle the way I was feeling anymore and so I returned home. There began a three year nightmare.

I was working in advertising, and spending most of my free time trying to work out what was wrong with me. I was going from doctor to doctor and they kept telling me different things- IBS, stress, depression… I started doing my own research. I knew exactly what I had. It took half a dozen more doctors before I found one who would look past my teary and terrified eyes and take my complaints seriously.

A month later, in the summer of 2006, I was diagnosed with an inflammatory bowel disease that causes severe pain, bleeding, malnutrition and nervous system disorders. My doctor gave me a list of medications I could take and suggested I come back in a few months to discuss surgery. He said to me- “You’re young, have fun. Go ahead- eat your cheeseburgers and drink your milkshakes”. He told me there was not much I could do, that there was no cure for what I had and to just learn to live with it.

I couldn’t believe this was my life and that this was what my future was. At 26, I was looking at a lifetime of medication and surgery. Intuitively, I believed there had to be another way. I believed in my heart that if the body, mind and spirit received what it needed, health would be the inevitable result- that health and happiness were the natural birth right of all human beings.

Going against the recommendations of my doctors, I took a holistic approach to my healing. I quit my job, put my life in storage and moved down to California. While there, I underwent intensive acupuncture treatment, where six days a week for three months, I was turned into a human pin cushion. I made healing my full time job. I knew that if I was going to recover and be well, I had to believe that it would happen with every part of me.

From the moment I landed in LA, I was dedicated to getting better. Everything I did was for my health. I walked on the beach every morning and got around the sweet beach town of Santa Monica by bicycle. I went to yoga, meditated twice a day and ate only whole, organic food that I prepared myself. There were definitely times when I felt wholly overwhelmed by the burden and responsibility of what I was doing. I had taken total and complete responsibility for my health, and should this ‘alternative’ approach fail, I would have no one to blame but myself. I was terrified.

Should I succeed, however, I knew that I would understand the true meaning of empowerment.

I remained in high spirits through most of this time as I knew instinctively that lightness in my heart was integral to getting better. I did have bad days when I didn’t feel well and just wished to return home to my friends and family and be ‘normal’. I often felt overwhelmed by the burden of having to be mindful of every thing I ate, what I thought, how much I slept… There were times I felt completely alone, that no one could understand what this was like for me; no one could understand the fear I had that this would not work and that I would be sick and suffering the rest of my life.

I returned home three months later healed, vibrant, and happier than I could ever remember.

Two weeks following my return, I found myself sitting in a fundamentals of nutrition class, wondering how I went from advertising to nutrition school, working towards my certification as a holistic nutritionist. In December of 2007, I graduated with first class honors and was elected class valedictorian.

I now have the greatest job in the whole world. My job is to give people hope that they might live their best life possible, and provide the skills, knowledge and support to help them achieve this.

Meghan’s Making Love In The Kitchen blog…

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By Guest Blogger on August 5, 2009

Finding Equilibrium Through Acupuncture

“Every adversity carries with it a seed of greater benefit.” If anyone knows me, they would tell you that this is my daily tag line. I read it for the first time 10 years ago in a book written by Napolean Hill but didn’t really understand it until adversity slapped me in the face, knocked me to the ground and dragged me through the streets of NYC’s financial district on September 11, 2001.

I entered the twisted, internal psycho-emotional world of Dante’s Inferno, otherwise known as Post Traumatic Stress. It wasn’t pleasant to be afraid of the sounds of trucks backfiring, or having panic attacks while sitting on a subway train or contemplating how I might stop my scalp from forming bleeding plaques of psoriasis brought on by stress. I was a city girl, born and bred and had no idea that life on the outside could affect me so profoundly on the inside.

In the 1st century BC, an Ancient Chinese medical text was written that described the art of an all-encompassing medical philosophy. It was a book that described the human being as a small version of the cosmos and told the secret of how to live and sustain a healthy life. It stated that humans needed to learn to balance their internal state of being with their external environment. It was based deeply on Taoist theory, which believes that nature is the very expression of the essence of the universe and the force that creates all things.

One day before 9/11, I began my official academic quest into the eastern healing art of Oriental Medicine. The words “art” and “medicine” are rarely ever found in the same sentence however I learned early on in my career as an eastern practitioner that there is indeed a need for creative interpretation of someone’s symptoms of complexity. The human landscape is complicated, diverse, highly individualized with each of us beings holding our own unique set of blueprints.

The human internal environment often mimics the external world. If there is outside chaos and one hasn’t the tools to dissipate the fractionated energy, the inner energetic systems will become synchronous to the turmoil. Over a prolonged period of time, this will cause internal disruptions within our physical systems causing “symptoms” to appear which lets us know that our inner orchestra is playing out of tune.
Unfortunately, along with the advent of technology and fast paced lifestyles, came the “don’t stop, reach for the top” behaviors. It is the wake up with caffeine and need for pills/alcohol to wind down and sleep habits. It is the “eat while watching TV, having debates or making deals” habits. It is women being given synthetic hormones for 20+ years of their lives and having their reproductive health taken away habits. And it is the “let me eat genetically engineered food out of cans and boxes because it takes less time” habits.

But how does one know they are out of balance before the body begins to show signs? This is where the Taoist theory has been lost in translation along thousands of years of interpretation. The 11 categories of health include: sleep, lifestyle, digestion/elimination, menstruation/reproduction, temperature, emotions, skin, bones/ligaments/muscles, respiration, cardiovascular and physical energy. One must be aware of each of these daily in order to stay healthy and well. This is where Oriental Medicine is becoming the missing link in our healthcare options today.

Acupuncture is the practice of an ancient theory of Oriental Medicine based on an intricately woven thread of philosophy, culture, mysticism and empiricism. It addresses an intangible energetic internal meridian system of the body, which is manipulated by way of small stainless steel needles. These channels are complex networks that are filled with a life force, often known as Qi (chee). There are over 2000 ‘acupoints’ found on the human, including the hands, feet and ears and each juncture has a specified action. What appears to be as simple as the insertion of one needle into an appropriate acupuncture point on the skin, could become the actual compass that points you on the direction of internal balance. This needle is often thought of as a tuning device or a lever system, which allows excesses to be dispersed or deficiencies to be filled. When the correct combination of points are chosen, the pieces of the fragmented human puzzle can be placed together and disharmonies often disappear.

I have two questions for you:

1. Can you incorporate a daily scan of these 11 categories into your life so that you can become conscious of even the slightest imbalances before they go awry? For instance, if you are a woman and your abdomen feels cold to the touch combined with difficult cycles and digestive complaints, you might want to seek Acupuncture for a warming technique called moxibustion or seek suggestions on the use of botanicals to move stagnation or maybe you can stop using ice in your drinks!

2. Can you attempt to create a healthier external ecosystem now knowing that we are the microcosm within? For instance, you can make your way into nature to exchange carbon dioxide for oxygen by just hiking in a tree filled landscape. Or maybe you can stop buying plastic bottles for water consumption and replace them with glass that can be washed and re-used. How about knowing not to dump outdated pharmaceutical prescriptions into the toilet bowl or sink where they will eventually wind up in our water supply.

When mind-body, spirit-mind and environment are in equilibrium, the dance of life is rhythmically in tune with being healthy and well.

Here’s to the wellness of us all!

Bianca Beldini is a licensed Acupuncturist, Physical Therapist and Certified Aromatherapist and practices out of her office, Sacred Space Acupuncture in NYC. She teaches graduate level courses with a specialization in approaching pain through a muscular mapping system. Learn more about Bianca Beldini at SacredSpaceAcupuncture.com

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By Guest Blogger on June 22, 2009

Feng Shui 101

In 2001 I came down with a bad upper respiratory cold and upon a routine doctor visit, my blood work indicated something more serious was going on. After quickly being diagnosed with a rather grave prognosis, my head was in a WTF spin when 24 hours later my primary care physician was suggesting an “inevitable” bone marrow transplant. Three other opinions and extensive tests all later confirmed a different type of bone marrow cancer with a more hopeful outcome and an indolent, slow moving trajectory: Polycythemia. My next step was leaving my job at a company that represented film directors to think about my health and focus on a plan.

Days later, while in a bookstore, a book about Feng Shui and health fell on my head. Yes, it literally fell on my head. A ray of sunlight beamed upon it too, but each time I have relayed this story I have left that part out because it really sounds so incredibly hokey – but it’s true. I always had an interest in this topic, so I bought the book, made some changes in my home and immediately felt a difference. When I heard that the author was giving a lecture in New York, I ran to attend and left feeling so impressed by the depth and interconnectedness of this ancient art of placement. I called up the author’s office and asked if I could work for her in exchange for going through her training program. As luck would have it, she happened to need someone that week. I ended up helping run her business, graduating from her training program, studying with other Feng Shui masters and then eventually leaving to start my own Feng Shui consulting business.

Early in my wellness journey I began to shed some of the suggested, traditional plans of attack and found solace in alternative therapies that just made sense to me. While zoning out in acupuncture, I realized that Feng Shui works in the same way. Energetic pathways run throughout our bodies in the same way they run throughout our homes. Whether blockages are emotional (feeling jammed up, stuck, can’t move on) or physical (high blood pressure, stroke, tumors, cysts, sluggish organs, artery plaque) clearing the clutter in your environment and letting go of things that no longer serve you can have an enormous impact in allowing the fresh pathways of chi (or energy, or life force) to flow.

Need to speed up or slow down the flow of energy in your body? Look into the colors that you’re surrounding yourself with. Red is a stimulating color and considered auspicious in Feng Shui but an abundance of it is not recommended for proliferating cancers or those prone to stress and anxiety disorders. Do you have challenges with certain organs? Tap into the energetic properties of particular elements. The water element connects to the kidneys, the wood element to the liver, the fire element to the heart, the earth element to the spleen and the metal element to the lungs. Each element can be represented in your home in literal and symbolic ways and when there is a great imbalance of one or all elements in your surroundings, chances are you will experience imbalance too – especially if there is a pre-existing condition or a propensity for a particular organ weakness.

One important thing to remember is that each individual has different needs and what might be considered a balance for one home might not be the necessary balance for another. That is why before I start a consultation, I need two things from the client: a hand drawn floor plan and 1-2 written pages about what is currently going on in their life. When I enter a home, I first sit down with the individual or couple or family and discuss those specific challenges in detail before I walk through the home and make recommendations.

Even though a great amount of Feng Shui information is based upon thousands of years of ancient Chinese information, it’s also blended with modern psychology, urban planning, interior design and science. My favorite layer in this ball of wax, under the psychology category is symbolism. Symbolism often clearly illustrates how the emotional underpinnings of our issues come to the surface in our surroundings. I see it in nearly every single consultation I do. Sometimes it’s a subconscious manifestation, like, the frazzled client who “couldn’t get a handle on things” and yet there were literally no handles on any of her cupboards or drawers. That constant, day-to-day grappling without knobs in her home eventually took its toll and exacerbated the struggle that pervaded every area of her life. Another example is the blended family that was trying to create unity among their children yet had “his children” on one side of the dinner table and “her children” on the other side, with divides in their sleeping areas as well.

Couples struggling with marital discord who have pushed one side of their bed up against the wall will create a feeling of one person being trapped and unheard. An imbalance of “his” furniture or collectibles vs. “hers” is sure to cause an imbalance in other dynamics as well. And to all the people who can’t sleep at night, for goodness sake, get the treadmills, piles of work and pictures of crashing waves out of your bedroom. Once these associations are brought to light, a new intention is set in place and these no-cost recommendations are made, you are shifting the energies in your environment and therefore, in yourself. It’s by looking deep beneath the surface that we really start to see the connections between our external and internal lives, which then allows the best in both to unfold.

Laura Benko is the Feng Shui Correspondent and Home Expert for the television show Live It Up! on WLNY every Friday morning. She lectures around the country and writes for various home and design magazines.
For more information: www.BenkoFengShui.com

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