Private: “What Every Body Knows” | Blog

Home Schooling and Working from Home: Tips to Keep Sane and Mobile

April 21, 2020 by ClaireFitzpatrick

Question: My friends who have been furloughed keep talking about feeling guilty about not doing enough to improve themselves now that they’ve been given all this time. But I would give anything for that time. I can’t do anything for myself. As it turns out, my days are more regimented than ever. My partner is an essential worker. We have a 6 and a 9-year-old. I get up early, my partner runs out the door, I get breakfast ready and pre-pack dinner for the kids, I have my Zoom work meeting, I spend two hours home-schooling, I work through late morning to early afternoon and the kids serve themselves dinner, I spend another hour home-schooling, then I try to combine their fun time with chores and queuing for groceries with masks and gloves once a week (try to do that with 6 and 9 year olds! The looks I get when I have my kids with me!). Another hour working, have my late-day Zoom check-in with the team at work, then I get tea ready, my partner comes home and we try to share at least that time together, then she’s off to spend time with the kids while I try to finish what I should have done at work during the day whilst they drop in front of the tele. I feel like I can’t be productive because of the constant interruptions on every level; I’m not there enough for my kids and my partner, and I certainly am not there for me. I feel guilty about all those things. I don’t want to bother my partner, because she’s so tired from working out of the house all day while trying to practice social distancing and not bring this virus home, which is of course another worry. I feel like a failure at everything I’m supposed to do, let alone trying to care for myself.

Effin’ Heroes

Let me just start by saying, you’re not a failure. You’re and your partner are effin’ heroes. Look at all you’re doing to make sure you honour your commitments and to doing what you can to provide for your family and keep them safe during this insane time.

You’re not the only one going through this shake up of life, even if it seems that way from what you say about your friends. Families all over the world are trying to restructure their roles and activities. From my perspective, this just highlights the unrealistic expectations that our busy lifestyles already had on us and our families before this crisis and the importance of rethinking the way we structure our lives now and after we’re let back out into the world. No one can be a Master-Of-All. We need one another to do what we’re best at, so we can cooperate together.

Sources of Online Home-schooling Help

I’m really glad that the Oak National Academy rolled out today in the U.K., and that there are online programs in the U.S. and the Netherlands. These programs show how, globally, we’re recognizing that our communities can and must work together for one another.

Give Yourself (And Your Family) Space

First thing for you: give yourself a break. It is easy to unconsciously default to the same expectations you had of yourself before all this happened. But expecting perfect, timely, and complete results was not healthy then, and is certainly not healthy now.

It sounds like you’ve constructed a particularly rigorous schedule of events. If you feel like you and your family is finding it difficult to keep to this regimen, maybe a little looseness is what’s needed.

Let the hours/minutes fray a little bit at the edges. If you or your kids are feeling burnout creep into this schedule, pre-schedule online chats with their classmates and friends and schedule yourself time to reconnect with friends (especially friends who parents so you can commiserate!).

Designated Space

When you are working, make sure that you’ve designated space away from the madness, space where it is your “workplace,” one that separate from your home space. Even if it is a set-up that, due to space constrains, you construct every work day, make sure that set-up is for only for your work and broken down at the end of the work day so you cannot return to it when it is family and self-time.

Let your kids and partner know that when you’re in this space, you’re not to be disturbed unless it’s an absolute emergency. Noise-cancelling headphones can help with that.

Exercise That You Can (and Must) Fit In

(Disclaimer: the following suggestions are no substitute for advice from your health care practitioner and are not meant to treat any disease. Check with your general practitioner or primary health care physician before you begin any lifestyle-related change in your diet or exercise.)

I get it. It seems like there’s no time for self-care. But you must. Must. Must. Self. Care.

Remember when flying was a thing? The flight attendant would tell you that, in the event of cabin pressure failure, to put your mask on before you put your child’s mask on.

That’s because, you’re the carer. If you don’t serve yourself first, you’re not going to be available for your children. Your body will fail you, and they are, at present, unable to care for you.

It’s the same now. Bodymind atrophy and breakdown doesn’t wait for you to “make time” for it. It happens, and then one day, your body cannot do it anymore.

A Little Goes A Long Way

As far as taking care of yourself, a little movement is better than no movement, and can go a long way to bringing your body and mind into a more peaceful, healthy place.

While in that space, set your timer every 20-30 minutes for you to stretch and move in some manner. Get up and wiggle. Breathe deeply. Give yourself a nice hug. I’ll be posting little quick videos to show you what you can do.

My YouTube Channel

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvZ5VW56Gu9RK9FrECq7fAQ

Family YouTube Exercise

Remember that part of schooling is exercise and free time. YouTube has a plethora of free exercises and games that have built up over the years, if you cannot get outside. Take the time that the kids are exercising to join them or do your own thing while they’re doing “free time.”

One of my favourites is Yoga with Adriene. She has about 6 years of thoughtful yoga instruction online. This is saving my body for work when I get back. I suggest it to you too.

Yoga with Adriene

https://www.youtube.com/user/yogawithadriene/videos

In the very early morning; during the day, at points when you feel like you’re about to lose it; and/or in the evening; or even in the middle of the night if you’re having trouble sleeping; put on some headphones and wind your mind and body down with some guided meditation.

There’s many; one is being built by my friend and yogi in Amsterdam, Emily Mulder. They’re quick 10-20-minute offerings to get you reset. Things won’t feel so panicky afterward, and you might be able to tap into your own answers (and she’s a home-schooling parent, so she gets it!).

Buddhi

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCfzlRb_fH0O5g2Tix4jHpg

I also found this little gem, if you or your children are into Martial Arts. It will teach the basic disciplines and give them (and you) a good guided workout until you can get back to the dojo. Check with your instructor that this is all right for you to do.

NOTE: For the experts out there: you know that everything you do is built on the basics. This is key for you to keep your skills sharp.

Global Martial Arts University

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2P_ez18uOCFlNpnZParZtw

This is a free guided, weekly offering that is offered by Philip Carr-Gomm, a druid from the Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids. You don’t have to be a druid or shaman to benefit from these. They’re completely free, lovely, effortless, and healing.

The Garden of Retreat in Flowing Happiness

https://artoflivingwell.org.uk/p/homeretreat

Check Yourself

The following may be possible: even as you may be feeling that you’re a “failure,” because you’re being a bit hard on yourself; it is very easy to unconsciously transmit those feelings and expectations to those around you in the home and workplace.

It is just as easy to not see that your co-workers and family wants to support you but don’t know how. Chances are they may be feeling helpless and inadequate, too, because they have not received guidance on how to help you.

Check in with your workmates and directors, your partner and your kids and be real with them.

Keep it cool and non-accusatory; instead of saying, “I feel that you don’t do this or don’t appreciate what I do…” say, “I feel overwhelmed.” Listen to them and where they’re at and remind them to keep it non-accusatory as well.

Offer suggestions and let them offer suggestions. “Here’s where I need help. Here’s what you can do to help.” “What do you think?” “Is there a way you can help me?” Delegate chores and responsibilities when you can, and at their ability level, of course. Let them do the same.

Collectively find a way to lessen expectations for yourself and them and check in regularly to see how it is going. Keep if fluid, and ever-changing. We all need space to breathe until we figure out how to do this. You may all feel closer together (perhaps after a good family cry and hug, if you’re able to safely do so).

I hope this helps.

I love you. I believe in us.

Claire

Wellness Care Should Be Mainstream

January 2, 2019 by Claire Fitzpatrick

Wellness Care is More Honest

I cannot stomach doing something dishonest or manipulative. It is soul-crushing to me. The health care industry is, by and large, conducted dishonestly.

It has replaced care, concern, and the mission to help people get better for mechanistic technicalities like insurance, cost, and containment.

Doctors have become commodities by which the mainstream health care industry can make its money. The more money a doctor can earn the wider industrial complex, the more of an inclusive place that doctor holds within the industry.

Therefore, medical doctors, with their ability to minimize the time they spend with people and therefore maximize the quantity of people they see a day, as well as their role as delegates for diagnostics, prescription drugs, and surgery, is the preferred physician type in the industry. Medical care the cog around which the entire industry revolves, and it ironically has the least power to help you or itself.

For the mainstream health industry, people are avenues for enrichment and, simultaneously, threats of cost liability that must be contained, rather than the front-and-center focus of health care delivery around which all else should revolve.

Therefore, medical hospitals advertise themselves in terms of your sickness, instead of your wellness. They tout medicine as the primary source of health, instead of one tool among many (and a hazardous tool at that!) to control your pain and sickness.

They advise us, either directly or by inference, to seek care only when we feel pain or disfunction, and to seek medicine as our first line of care instead of the last resort.

These are bald-faced lies

Because, you and I both know we should see a primary care physician regularly. Our physicians should be members of our immediate circle-of-influence and direct members of our personal community instead of the last people we want to see in the world.

Meanwhile, societies with single payer systems struggle with keeping health care costs and salaries to a minimum. Societies that rely on insurance models for health care are victims of a war between this mechanized health care delivery and the insurance industry, with the pharmaceutical industry winning out over all.

Doctors and patients are also the resulting victims in this model, and sadly, pitted against one another in the unrealistic expectation that the doctors’s job is to magically get a patient well for the least amount of money in the shortest amount of time, and the patient’s job is to not give the overworked and undermined doctor any trouble.

When you absolutely, positively have to

Knowing this, by and large, people only see a health care provider when they absolutely, positively, cannot function anymore in their self-determined place in society, and only if they feel like they can pay for care. If the latter qualification fails, they end up going under extreme diress and emergency to the hospital.

Wellness care is ignored by a health care industry that seeks maximum profitability, and by the population as a luxury they can neither afford in time nor money.

The irony is, both the health care industry and the population at large are wrong.

Wellness care is the logical answer

Wellness care can maximize profitability of the health care industry by minimizing losses and can save the public at large billions a year in devastating health care costs by maximizing health and quality of life like medicine never could on its own.

As far as chiropractic is concerned, it currently falls in a populist grey area, because many of us chiropractors have agreed to define ourselves within merely a musculoskeletal model that deals with pain and function; and therefore in direct competition with physical therapy.

In reality, chiropractic is in competition with no one. Chiropractic is different. It is a form of health care delivery that maximizes the body’s ability to heal, adapt, and grow.

But this isn’t an article about chiropractic care. That’s a discussion for another time.

Primary health

I happen to have attended a chiropractic school that trained us to act as primary care physicians as well as chiropractors.

That means, in addition to my chiropractic specialty, I have been trained to know when, in addition to chiropractic care, you need emergency care by a medical doctor, nutritional, herbal, and lifestyle guidance from a naturopathic physician or Chinese herbalist.

I also know when you need psychological help by a psychologist; coaching by a health coach; acupuncture from an acupuncturist; and physical therapy from a physical therapist.

There’s more to this list. I refer to hypnotists, yogis, personal trainers, spiritualists…anyone I know who I think can help you in addition to chiropractic care.

Most primary health care physicians aren’t as versatile as chiropractors who are also primary health care physicians. That is a luxury that I have as a wellness care physican.

Wellness care is versatile and inclusive

Naturopathic physicans have this versatility as well. I am not sure about other types of physicians. Medical physicians and primary nurses could, but most don’t.

In short, wellness care physicians know how to build a wellness team that can help you best, with doctors who are NOT commodities for the mainstream health care industry, and we know how to help you out before you become a tool for the health care industry to use and discard.

That’s why I created Joy Health and Body. We doctors all need to take a team approach — not a combative, competitive approach — to surround you with the care you need and deserve.

That’s it.

Optimal Fueling For Young Athletes (Karate et al)

July 27, 2018 by Claire Fitzpatrick

The following is a copy of my notes from a presentation I gave at my favorite karate dojo in the world, Ryokubi Karate Dojo in Stamford, CT, in 2012. The information is still relevant, and for adults as well as kids. Enjoy!

Karate, along with requiring strength, speed, skill and agility, requires endurance

You need to train right and eat right. Building a body equipped for strength, speed, skill and endurance will require plenty of protein, good fats, fruits and vegetables. You and your child need to lay off the junk food 90% of the time.

Optimal Fueling Notes — Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/peta-de-aztlan/3519424024

Example: Bruce Lee

Bruce Lee’s height and weight: 5’7 ½” (1.71 m) tall and 140 lbs (63.6 kg).

Don’t have to be large to be strong and fast. Bruce Lee had a strong interest in healthy eating, especially when it came to high protein drinks and nutritional supplements. He is reported to have drunk 1-2 protein drinks every day, along with homemade smoothies made from fruit and vegetable juices and plenty of fresh green vegetables.

Bruce Lee’s waist was between 26 and 28 inches (66-71 cm) throughout most of his adult life. The average male’s waist size today is about 38 inches (97 cm).

By the way, the most telltale (and worrisome) indicator of diabetes and heart disease is a preponderance of abdominal (gut) fat.

Problems with inadequate energy

World Champion team in 2014 – Demonstration of a perfect Kime. Source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kime#/media/File:Karate_WM_2014_(2)_173.JPG

Problem maintaining existing lean mass
Lowering of metabolic rate
Lower energy / nutrient intake
Reduction in athletic performance
Increased risk of injury

Energy inadequacy clearly has problems associated with it.

Inadequate energy intake reduces the benefit athletes derive from training.

Energy inadequacy also makes it difficult for athletes to maintain existing lean mass, probably because muscle is being consumed by the body to provide some of the needed energy that was not consumed through food. A lower metabolic rate is commonly seen in people who consume inadequate energy, and is probably linked to a lower lean (metabolic) mass.

The less you eat, the lower the nutrient intake and, for young developing athletes this could dramatically increase developmental problems. A poorly developed skeleton from inadequate calcium intake is at far greater risk of developing, for instance, stress fractures now and osteoporosis later. There is ample evidence that shows that inadequate energy consumption is associated with reduced athletic performance.

Finally, athletes who consume too little are at increased risk of getting injured. Some studies suggest that these injuries are most likely to occur at the end of practice or competition, when energy inadequacy causes both mental and physical fatigue.

First and Foremost: WATER!!!

Source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/clean-clear-cold-drink-416528/

Water is a food. We do not get enough of it, especially during workouts

Fluid loss during exercise can equate to weight loss just after the workout. You do not want to lose water weight directly post-workout! If you weigh 2 pounds less just after exercise, you have lost 2 pounds (907 grams) of water.
Sweat rate is heavily influenced by:
- exercise intensity
- ambient temperature (rm. temp)
- humidity

Proper Mineral Balance and Hydration

A direct threat to heart health is electrolyte imbalance, which can occur when your child is dehydrated and not eating enough of the right nutrients. Muscle, including the heart, is over 75% water.

The heart, in particular, has its own electric circuitry that is regulated by proper hydration and electrolyte balance. Children become dehydrated much more quickly than adults, and the dehydration and electrolyte deficiency that can occur during athletic training and sport events can be dangerous, even life-threatening.

Water levels and minerals like sodium, chloride, calcium, potassium, magnesium, and phosphate in proper quantities and ratios are all necessary for the heart to function properly.

Normally, we should drink ½ our body weight in ounces of water a day. For example, a kid who is 86 pounds should drink 43 ounces (1.22 kg) of filtered water a day – not juice, not coffee, not sports drinks.

In both children and adults, higher exercise intensities slow the rate at which fluids and fuels are digested. However, this occurs to an even greater extent in children who are exercising at high intensities, and the maximum amount of fluid that a child can absorb per hour while training will be about 20-24 ounces.

Sweat losses during 2 hours of exercise can equal 2 liters (68 ounces) of fluid or more. For this duration, your child should drink 8 oz (1 cup) of filtered water every 15 minutes! The child needs to replenish during training in order to keep hydration at proper levels.

A good rule of thumb for your child athlete is the following chart:

Water Intake

2 hours before exercise 2-3+ cups
15 minutes before exercise 1-2+ cups
Every 15 minutes during exercise 1 cup
After exercise 2-3 cups for every pound lost

Source: American College of Sports Medicine Position Paper, 2006

Keeping Up with Hydration Status

Monitor urine color (should be a light straw color).

Focus on fluids all day, not just during workouts and practice.

Adequate Fueling:

Adequate macronutrient / micronutrient intake daily – fresh, locally grown organic raw foods as well as cooked foods
Portion sizes! Look at your fist. No more 3 huge square meals: 5-6 servings of food/day the size of your fist. Eat every 2-3 hours.
Do I have a balanced plate for my training cycle needs? Good fats, useful carbohydrates, and useful proteins!
Is the way I am eating going to support my body so that I can accomplish my goals well?

After exercise, it is important to eat the proper combination of nutrients during the first 30 minutes. The meal following exercise should be very easy to digest and provide amino acids to help building and repair of muscular tissue and optimize uptake of the nutrients and minerals to the muscles, including the heart (remember: the heart is a muscle!).

A good example of a post-workout meal would be a good whey, egg, or pea/hemp drink with a teaspoon of sea salt or dulse thrown in.

Following are examples of electrolyte-rich foods (all should be organic and in the case of dairy, raw):

Sodium: dill pickle, tomato juice/sauce/soup; sea salt (1 tsp = 2300 mg sodium), dulse
Chloride: sea salt, dulse, tomatoes, romaine lettuce, olives
Potassium: red potato with skin, plain yogurt, banana
Magnesium: cacao beans/dark chocolate, halibut, pumpkin seeds, spinach
Calcium: raw dairy (yogurt, milk, ricotta), collard greens, spinach, kale, sardines
Phosphate( available in suitable quantities along with the other electrolyte foods) egg yolks, milk, nuts, wheat germ, peas, beans, legumes, mushrooms, cacao beans/dark chocolate

Carbohydrates

Primary energy source for high-intensity activity
Nutrient-dense carbohydrates provide:
- Vitamins & minerals
- Antioxidants & phytochemicals
  - Contribute to healthy immune system
- Fiber
  - Helps control appetite
  - Helps stabilize insulin levels
  - Helps resist chronic diseases

Healthy Carbohydrates

Make sure they are organic, locally-grown, bright colored, and in season

Daily Carbohydrate intake for Young Athletes (under 16)

(Key: 2.2 kilograms in 1 pound)

4 grams/kilogram for girls

7 grams/ kilogram for boys

Ex: 90 pound young female athlete would need to eat around 165 grams of carbohydrate daily, or about 660 calories of carbohydrate (165 x 4). A 90 pound boy athlete would need 289 grams of carbohydrate, or about 1155 calories.

Calorie Chart

4 calories per gram of carbohydrate

4 calories per gram of protein

9 calories per gram of fat

Make sure your child eats calorically-balanced, healthy meals consisting of lean proteins, healthy carbohydrates like leafy green vegetables, and healthy fats like omega 3 fish oil supplements, flaxseed oil, and nuts every two hours for four-to-six hours followingexercise. BTW:Children do not require extra carbohydrate intake prior to exercise lasting under 75 minutes. They require water!

Fat

Fat is very important for the development of appropriate muscle-neuron development in the young athlete, as well as in very hardcore adult trainers. Children and high-intensity trainers use 10-40% more fat stores than adults who exercise only moderately. Parents should be very considerate to provide meals that contain healthy omega-3 fats for proper muscle/neural development.

Dietary fats
- Supplies energy to the body
- Needed for structure of cells, hormone production, etc
- Regulates metabolic processes
- Transports fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E & K through the body
- Contributes to healthy immune system

*Fats should be avoided by moderately-active adults prior to exercise; they will drag them down.

Good Fats

Polyunsaturated:

Omega-3 Omega-6

Oily Fish Corn

Flaxseed Safflower

Canola oil Soybeans

Leafy greens Sunflower

Cottonseed

Monounsaturated:

Olive, Peanut oils, many nuts, avocado

Saturated:– animals, some plants:

*Make certain the animals lived a happy life free of antibiotics, genetic modification, and pesticide intake.

Game Birds, Wild Fish, Deer, Boar, Grass-fed beef, Free-range chicken, Free-range eggs, Raw milk/cheese/butter

Trans Fat/Bad Saturated Fat (DO NOT EAT):

Processed food, Factory Farmed Animals, Genetically-Modified Animals/Plants/Dairy —

If you see/hear about it on a commercial, DO NOT EAT IT!

Sad, Scared, Angry, Unnatural Animals/Plants + Human Belly

= Unnaturally Sad, Scared, Angry, Unhealthy Human

Protein

Provides building blocks for muscle
- Growth
- Maintenance
- Repair
Contributes to healthy immune system
May help with appetite control

Nature is smart! Many foods you need contain carbs, fats, and proteins all in one!

Avoid/limit intake of these proteins:

Okinawa Health

A very good model for eating can be found in Okinawa, the birthplace of Shotokan Karate

Okinawans Have:

Very little sickness
Longest, disability-free life expectancy on planet
Mean age of 81.2
Highest percentage of centenarians (40 per 100,000)
Use nutrient dense diet, cultural traditions, elder care, and Reiki (Healing Art) for wellness

Compared to Americans

Okinawa death rate from heart disease is only 18% that of Americans
80% less breast and prostate cancer
50% less ovarian and colon cancer
60% less hip fracture
50% less dementia
Heart attacks are only 20% as common as in the U.S. and the survival rate is twice as great

Diet and Nutrition

Diet is considered the “key” to their longevity
Plant-based diet
78% of entire food intake is comprised of vegetables
Wide variety of foods
Vegetables, rice, seaweed, sweet potatoes, fish, legumes, and turmeric
Protein comes from: fish, nuts, tofu, chicken or pork
Omega 3 fatty acids
Americans daily consume 3 times the avg. amount of meat eaten by Okinawans

Food Preparation

Meals prepared with care
Main method of cooking: stir frying using expeller-pressed Canola oil (Omega-6)
BTW: if an oil smokes when heated, the oil has become carcinogenic. Heat oils carefully!
Many garnishes such as turmeric are used that offer numerous health benefits
Meals are enjoyed, not rushed through

Hints for Meal Timing

Spreading same food intake out over 5-6 meals and snacks rather than 3 large meals or preventing the “Backlog Effect”
- More even blood glucose levels
- Lower blood fat levels
- Stimulation of metabolic rate
- Reduces “hunger spots” when on a lower energy diet

Once Again:

After exercise, it is important to eat the proper combination of nutrients during the first 30 minutes.
The meal following exercise should be very easy to digest and provide amino acids to help building and repair of muscular tissue and optimize uptake of the nutrients and minerals to the muscles, including the heart (remember: the heart is a muscle!).
Good examples would be a good whey, egg, or pea/hemp sports drink with a teaspoon of sea salt or dulse thrown in.

Fueling your child properly for training can provide your child with a performance edge and help your child develop into a strong, smart, balanced, confident adult!

Yes, Virginia; there ARE Biologisch Hot Dogs

July 11, 2018 by Claire Fitzpatrick

Yes, Virginia; there ARE Biologisch Hot Dogs…even here in the Netherlands!

I was on my way home from my morning shift at the office, and I was very peckish for lunch (the auto correction on my Word doc just corrected it to “puckish,” which I am…but I digress).

So when I got off at my stop and saw a new snack stand nearby, one that says it has biologisch snacks (organic fast food), I was thrilled.

There were a man and a woman who were working that stand. They did not look like teenagers; meaning, I think they knew each other and that this was their venture. The manner in which others were hanging around chatting with them also lent itself to the impression that this was their business.

I am all about supporting local businesses who want to add to my mission to make the world as natural and clean as possible. I made my way over.

First of all, there was a sandwich board by the bikepad to advertise the stand. The arrow, supposedly there to point toward the stand, was pointing the other way. That should have been my first clue.

But being who I am, I turned the sandwich board around, so it actually pointed to the snack stand, and trotted over.

It is a Dutch stand, not far from a hospital. I am trying to learn Dutch, so I can read the signs pretty much.

The friets (fries) are biologisch. The suiker (sugar) is biologisch.

Not much else.

Still, I remained hopeful. There were hot dogs rolling away on a hot dog cooker/roller thing, and I like hot dogs.

So I asked the woman behind the counter, “Zijn de hot dogs biologisch ook (are the hot dogs also organic)?”

She answered me back, in English, “No. They don’t make biologisch hot dogs.”

She chuckled, as if at the thought, and repeated louder, “They don’t make them.”

While its true that I have, up to now, not had a hot dog in the Netherlands – I don’t normally eat fast food – I have, indeed, had many organic hot dogs back in The States.

Maybe they don’t make organic hot dogs here. I don’t know. All I know is that I didn’t want fries, so I went off home.

As soon as I got home, before I fixed my lunch, I looked up on the Internet, “biologisch hot dogs.”

Hear ya go.

With links, just because they exist, and I WANT TO SUPPORT SMALL BUSINESSES THAT GIVE A DAMN.

Yes, Virginia; there ARE biologisch hot dogs…even in the Netherlands!

I hate it when people in positions of authority (and if you own a snack truck that says “biologisch is lekker” on it, it implies that you are an authority in organic fast food) just SAY THINGS THAT AREN’T TRUE.

Not only is it not true, it’s not true that she even looked.

And it’s only midday.

My day, up to this point, has been full of hearing reports of these so-called, “authoritative” opinions.

Before I left for home, I ran into one of my ex-patients. He told me that the hand brace he’s been wearing for 6 weeks for De Quervain tenosynovitis (no imaging – standard of care says it’s not “necessary”) is not working, so “they” are going to try surgery.

I asked, “Have you worked with a physical therapist? Have they tried ultrasound? Laser therapy? Mobilization? Anything like that?”

No, he answered. But he trusts them. They only do hands.

“They only do hands.”

This is why he’s my ex-patient. As much as we like each other and as much as I care, he trusts people who deal with the body like it is a machine with separate, mechanical parts. I treat the body like it’s a whole being that works synergistically. Our world views are different.

Still, I care, so I referred him to a very good sports medicine center in Amstelveen. Here they are, because I CARE.

Ibis Medisch Centrum http://www.mcibis.nl/

And then before that…

Before that, I have a patient who has been dealing with debilitating back pain for a few weeks.

He’s been visiting me and a physiotherapist, and we both agree there’s probably a herniated disc or two in his low back.

If I was in The States, I would order imaging to rule out herniation and spondylolysis. But I can’t do that here. I have to rely on his huisarts (primary care physician) specialist to make that call.

I wrote a nice note to the doc, hoping it would help.

It did not help.

The huisarts specialist said he didn’t need it because “its really something that is not that.”

???????? First of all, what does “that” mean in that context?

Second of all, HOW THE HELL DOES (S)HE KNOW THAT WITHOUT TAKING A F*@&ING PICTURE?

It drives me CRAZY when people, who we are supposed to trust with our health – and that means, with our lives – say and do things to influence their patients without even trying to find out what’s going on, and whether or not they are saying and doing the right things!

We have a responsibility to say, “I don’t know.”

More: as humans, we all have these responsibilities:

To say, “I don’t know,” when we don’t know.

At this point, we are obliged to either:

Find out
Send them to someone who knows
Send them to someone who might know, or
Admit we don’t know and we don’t know anyone who might know, but we will try to find someone who might know

As health care providers, we are doubly responsible to do so.

And above all else:

Stop acting like an authority in EVERYTHING just because you are an authority in SOMETHING.

The snack stand owner may know how to run a snack stand, but she doesn’t know how to please her supposed-target customer.

When you put, “biologisch en lekker (organic and tasty)” on your sign, you’re calling to me. Biologisch food is very, VERY important to me.

When I ask you about your product, and your branding is all about biologisch, you better bet that I know something about it too, or I wouldn’t be interested at all.

Stop branding with my values.

If I am not your target, stop calling to me.

It’s insulting to me that you’re branding with my values, and they are not your values at all.

It is INSULTING.

If you brand yourself as a health care provider, and you do not provide health care, it is insulting to me that you are branding with my values when health is not your value at all; and, in the process, mishandling our patient, who wants help.

If you brand yourself a health care provider, provide health care.

This evening, I am going back to the office to see my late afternoon-evening patients, and to host a monthly event called, the Functional Forum Amsterdam Meetup.

It is an event for medical and other health care providers who are interested in incorporating functional medicine into their practices.

I, personally, am not interested in incorporating functional medicine in my practice.

That’s not why I am holding these monthly events.

I AM interested in partnering with health care providers who share my values, so I can refer my patients to them when I need to.

What is my brand?

I am a chiropractor who loves to deliver chiropractic. Chiropractic is my product.

My BRAND, though, is living well in harmony with nature, connected to your body and to Source.

It is VITALISM.

Vitalism takes into account the whole of human experience — body, mind, and spirit.

I want our spiritual beings who are having human experiences to have the most effective, vitalistic human experience possible.

Chiropractic can help that happen.

When it comes to health care delivery

I am not the whole. I am part of the whole – a vital part, to be sure; but not the whole part.

I need you for that.

Does this all resonate with you?

Be real. Be human.

Guest Post: Testing Out Natural Skin Care Products by Ioanna Tsaousidou

June 9, 2018 by Claire Fitzpatrick

Testing Out Natural Skin Care Products

As promised! The following post appeared in Ioanna’s Blog, The Colourful Bouquet on MAY 7, 2018

Hey my loves, today I here to review some natural products that I’ve been testing out the last couple of months. For those of you who don’t know it, I’m a beautician and throughout the years I’ve tested a lot of different brands either on the beauty studios that I used to work or on my own. The last few years more and more people heading towards the natural products so today we’ll see if they are actually working. At least these three!

Γειά σας αγάπες μου, σήμερα είμαι εδώ για να κάνω review κάποια φυσικά προιόντα που δοκιμάζω τους τελευταίους μήνες. Για όσους δεν το ξέρετε είμαι αισθητικός και κατά την διάρκεια των χρόνων έχω δοκιμάσει πολλές διαφορετικές εταιρείες είτε από στα ινστιτούτα που δούλευα είτε σε αυτά που είχα αγοράσει προσωπικά. Τα τελευταία χρόνια όλο και περισσότεροι άνθρωποι στρέφονται σε φυσικά προιόντα και σήμερα είμαστε εδώ για να δουμε αν πραγματικά δουλεύουν. Τουλάχιστον τα 3 προιόντα που έχω εγώ στην κατοχή μου!

Squalan Cleanser: I’ll start with the cleanser. It’s from the brand Squalan and I have mixed feelings about it. It says to use 2-3 pumps but for me it’s not working. Don’t get me wrong it removes the makeup but if it’s heave it doesn’t remove it completely. I use 5-6 pumps to remove the makeup perfectly. On the contrary it removes the eyeliner like magic! I’m just impressed! My skin afterwards felt dry but clean and I had to put a moisturizer to feel it soft again.

Squalan Cleanser: Θα ξεκινήσω με το καθαριστικό προσώπου. Είναι από την εταιρεία Squalan και έχω ανάμεικτα συναισθήματα γι αυτό. Η συσκευασία λέει οτι χρειάζεσαι ποσότητα 2-3 πατήματα της αντλίας αλλά θα διαφωνήσω. Μην με παρεξηγείτε αφαιρεί το μακιγιάζ και καθαρίζει το δέρμα αλλά δεν αφαιρεί το βαρύ μακιγιάζ τελείως. Προσωπικά χρειαζόμουν 5-6 για να αφαιρέσω το μακιγιάζ μου. Αντιθέτως με την βάση θα έλεγα οτι αφαιρεί το eyeliner πανεύκολα. Πραγματικά με εντυπωσίασε το πόσο γρήγορα το αφαίερεσαι. Το δέρμα μου με την χρήση του ήταν ξηρό αλλά καθαρό και έπρεπε σίγουρα να βάλω ενυδατική για να τοο νιώσω και πάλι απαλό.

Squalan Pure: Moving on to the facial oil for which I have to the best! I absolutely love it! The key to this one is to find the amount that works best for you skin. For me it was 1 and a half pump. Enough product to cover my face without being too much. With 2 pumps my skin was too oily afterwards and one pump wasn’t enough. The amount of product that you need depends on you skin. For very dry skins I recommend 2 pumps. Mine is normal and sometimes it’s getting a little bit dry due to the weather (especially the wind) so 1 and a half is great. If you have oily skin I’m not sure that this product is for you because your skin will feel more oily afterwards.

I use it only at evening/night after I remove my makeup instead of a moisturizer. I test it out also underneath my makeup but it’s a big no no for me. Throughout the day my skin started to be very oily and the makeup was started to ruin. Using an oil underneath your makeup is never a good idea but I wanted to test it out thoroughly. But using it at night was the best thing for my skin. It feels so soft the next day! I love it.

I also used it underneath a cream to massage the face. The oil in combination with the cream doesn’t absord so quickly and it gives you plenty of time to do a facial massage. So in the end of every facial treatment that I do on my customers I always put a little bit of this oil before the cream. It doesn’t smell at all and for me that’s another plus!

Squalan Pure: Περνάμε στο λάδι προσώπου για το οποίο έχω να πω τα καλύτερα! Το μυστικό σε αυτό είναι να βρεις την σωστή ποσότητα που είναι ιδανική για το δικό σου πρόσωπο. Για μένα ήταν ενάμιση πάτημα της αντλίας. Είναι αρκετό προιόν για να καλύψω όλο το πρόσωπο μου χωρίς να είναι υπερβολική ποσότητα. Με 2 πατήματα αντλίας ένιωθα το δέρμα μου αρκετά λιπαρό και το ένα δεν είναι αρκετό. Η ποσότητα που χρειάζεσαι εξαρτάται καθαρά και μόνο από το δέρμα σου. Το δικό μου είναι φυσιολογικό που τείνει να γίνεται ελαφρώς ξηρό λόγω καιρού (κυρίως όταν φυσάει πολύ) οπότε εναμιση πάτημα αντλίας ήταν ιδανικό. Αν έχεις λιπαρό δέρμα δεν νομίζω οτι αυτό το προιόν είναι για σένα καθώς θα νιώθεις το δέρμα σου ακόμα πιο λιπαρό μετά την εφαρμογή.

Το εφαρμόζω κάθε απόγευμα/βράδυ αφού αφαιρέσω το μακιγιάζ μου αντί για ενυδατική. Το τέσταρα επίσης κάτω από μακιγιάζ αλλά το δέρμα έβγαζε λιπαρότητα κατά την διάρκεια της ημέρας με αποτέλεσμα να χαλάσει το μακιγιάζ οπότε η εφαρμογή του κάτω απο το μακιγιάζ είναι ένα μεγάλο οχι απο μένα. Γενικά το να εφαρμόζεις λάδι κάτω από το μακιγιάζ σου ποτέ δεν είναι καλή ιδέα αλλά ήθελα να το τεστάρω εξωνυχιστικά. Αντιθέτως το να το χρησιμοποιώ τα βράδια ήταν οτι καλύτερο για το δέρμα μου. Την επόμενη ημέρα το ένιωθα πιο απαλό απο ποτε! Το αγάπησα σαν προιόν.

Επίσης το χρησιμοποίησα και κάτω απο κρέμα για να κάνω μασάζ στο πρόσωπο. Το λάδι σε συνδυασμό με την κρέμα δεν απορροφούνται τόσο γρήγορα από το δέρμα το οποίο σου δίνει αρκετό χρόνο για να κάνεις ένα καλό και χαλαρωτικό μασάζ προσώπου. Το χρησιμοποιώ στους πελάτες μου κάθε φορά μετά από μια θεραπεία προσώπου για να κάνω μασάζ. Δεν μυρίζει καθόλου και αυτό του δίνει έξτρα πόντους για μένα!

Handmade Naturals Rhassoul & Strawberry Face Mask: The last product that I was testing is the Handamade Naturals Rhassoul & Strawberry face mask. It’s a mask that offers a deep cleansing, detoxifying and pore refining skin treatment. It comes in a powder form and you mix it yourself to make the mask at the moment you want it! That’s pretty cool if you ask me.

Now I’ll start with the only thing that I liked about this one and it’s the clean feeling that you have on your skin after using it. Other than that this mask was not for me at all. First of all it’s smelly for my liking. Every person though likes different smells so that’s not a big problem. Both on my clients and myself I like to remove the face masks with a hot towel. The feeling of the hot towel is very relaxing in my opinion plus it removes the mask in a minute!

This one though gets very tight and dry when it dries and it was a bit painful to remove it with the towel. So I massaged my face with a little bit on water on the tip of my fingers just to make the mask watery again. Then I removed it normally with a hot towel. One thing that you definitely need after using the mask is a moisturizer or oil. The skin feels so dry and if it’s already a little bit of dry it’s almost painful. I don’t recommend it on dry skins but it will work great on oily skins and normal one.

Handmade Naturals Rhassoul & Strawberry Face Mask: Το τελευταίο προιόν που δοκίμασα είναι η Handamade Naturals Rhassoul & Φράουλα μάσκα προσώπου. Είναι μάσκα για βαθύ καθαρισμό, αποτοξίνωση και μείωση της εμφάνισης των πόρων. Είναι σε μορφή σκόνης και φτιάχνεις μόνος σου την μάσκα με νερό όταν την χρειάζεσαι. Αρκετά cool κατά την γνώμη μου.

Λοιπόν θα ξεκινήσω με το μοναδικό πράγμα που μου άρεσε στην μάσκα και είναι οτι το δέρμα σου μετά το νιώθεις πολύ καθαρό. Πέρα απο αυτό η μάσκα δεν με βόλεψε καθόλου. Πρώτα απο όλα μυρίζει αρκετά για τα γούστα μου. Κάθε άνθρωπος όμως προτιμάει διαφορετικές μυρωδιές οπότε αυτό δεν είναι ακριβώς μειον. Τόσο στους πελάτες μου όσο και στον εαυτό μου μου αρέσει να αφαιρώ την μάσκα με ζεστή πετσέτα. Το αίσθημα της ζεστής πετσέτας στο πρόσωπο είναι πολύ χαλαρωτικό και επιπλέον η μάσκα αφαιρείται πολύ γρήγορα!

Η συγκεκριμένη βέβαια όταν στεγνώνει γίνεται πολύ σφιχτή και ξηρή με αποτέλεσμα να είναι ελαφρώς επίπονο το να την αφαιρέσεις απευθείας ακόμα κ με ζεστή πετσέτα. Αυτό που βρήκα σαν λύση είναι να κάνω ελαφρό μασάζ με τις άκρες των δαχτύλων μου και λίγο νερό. Με αυτόν τον τρόπο η μάσκα γίνεται πάλι υγρή και αφαιρείται πολύ εύκολα. Ένα πράγμα που χρειάζεσαι οπωσδήποτε μετά είναι να εφαρμόσεις ενυδατική κρέμα ή κάποιο λάδι προσώπου. Το δέρμα μου ήταν τόσο ξηρό μετά που ήταν σχεδόν επίπονο. Δεν την συστήνω σε ξηρά δέρματα αλλά για λιπαρά και κανονικά θα είναι μια χαρα.

I wasn’t the only one who tried them though. Claire Fitzpatrick, a lovely american chiropractor tried them also and here you can find her thoughts. Claire and I met at Daiva’s Christmas party (we both had a collaboration with Daiva who runs the Alive Cosmetics beauty studio) we started talking and decided to test some products that Daiva sells at the studio. Claire also tried the eye cream and the moisturizer from the brand Squalan and she also have before and after photos on her post! Make sure to check it out to have a second opinion about the products. Below you can find links to Claire’s website and social media!

Claire’s website: www.joyhealthandbody.com and fitzpatrickchiropractic.nl

Claire’s facebook page: here and here

Δεν ήμουν η μόνη βέβαια που δοκίμασα τα προιόντα. Η Claire Fitzpatrick, μια εξαιρετική αμερικανίδα χειροπρακτικός τα δοκίμασε επίσης και εδώ μπορείς να βρεις την γνώμη της. Με την Claire γνωριστήκαμε στο χριστουγεννιάτικο πάρτυ της Daiva (και οι δυο είχαμε συνεργασία με την Daiva που έχει το beauty studio Alive Cosmetics) αρχίσαμε να μιλάμε και καταλήξαμε πως θέλουμε να δοκιμάσουμε σε βάθος τα προιόντα που πουλάει η Daiva στο στούντιο. Η Claire επίσης δοκίμασε την κρέμα ματιών και την ενυδατική της εταιρείας Squalan, στο post της θα βρείτε ακόμα και φωτογραφίες από το πριν και το μετά! Αν λοιπόν θέλετε μια δεύτερη γνώμη για τα προιόντα ρίξτε μια ματιά στο post της Claire. Παρακάτω μπορείτε να βρείτε link από τις ιστοσελίδες και τα social media της!

Ιστοσελίδες: www.joyhealthandbody.com και fitzpatrickchiropractic.nl

Σελίδες στο facebook: εδώ και εδώ

Photos by me

ABOUT

Hey, my name is Ioanna Tsaousidou, I’m from Greece and I currently live in the Netherlands. I studied aesthetics and cosmetology but as long as I can remember myself I had a strong passion for the fashion industry. I remember that I always wanted to be a model but my dreams were crashed when I didn’t grow taller than 155cm! That didn’t stop me though from following my dreams so I created my blog as a way to express my love for fashion and to inspire petite people like me to learn to love their bodies and wear items that complement them. If you ask me what my style is I would say that is feminine, minimal and elegant.

Alongside my blog, I work as a beautician and I also write for a fashion and beauty online magazine called Stylishly Beautiful. I’m in love with the Italian language and I’m addicted to travelling. There is no way that I’ll miss a chance to explore a new place.

My partner in crime and in life is Alexandros Risis. He is the one behind the blog set up and also behind the camera. He is the one who captures most of my photos! Together as a team we started “The Colourful Bouquet” back in 2014 and we constantly try to improve ourselves.

“The Colourful Bouquet” is a fashion and lifestyle blog for everyone to visit and feel inspired. I hope that my story will motivate you to never stop following your dreams. Come and see the world through my eyes while I try to pursue my dreams.

Hey, ονομάζομαι Ιωάννα Τσαουσίδου, είμαι από Ελλάδα και μένω στην Ολλανδία. Σπούδασα αισθητική και κοσμητολογία αλλά από όσο θυμάμαι τον εαυτό μου είχα πάθος για την βιομηχανία της μόδας. Θυμάμαι ότι από μικρή ήθελα να γίνω μοντέλο αλλά τα όνειρα μου κατέρρευσαν όταν δεν ψήλωσα πάνω από 155εκ! Αυτό βέβαια δεν με σταμάτησε από το να ακολουθήσω τα όνειρα μου και έτσι δημιούργησα το blog μου ως έναν τρόπο να εκφράσω την αγάπη μου για την μόδα και να εμπνεύσω μικρόσωμα άτομα σαν εμένα να μάθουν να αγαπούν το σώμα τους και να φοράνε ρούχα που κολακεύουν την σιλουέτα τους. Αν με ρωτάτε ποιο είναι το στυλ μου θα σας πω ότι είναι θηλυκό, μίνιμαλ και κομψό.

Παράλληλα με το blog μου δουλεύω σαν αισθητικός. Δηλώνω ερωτευμένη με την ιταλική γλώσσα και είμαι εθισμένη με τα ταξίδια. Δεν θα με δείτε ποτέ να χάνω ευκαιρία για να εξερευνήσω ένα καινούργιο μέρος.

Μαζί μου σε αυτό και στην ζωή είναι ο Αλέξανδρος Ρίσης. Αυτός βρίσκεται πίσω από τις ρυθμίσεις του blog και πίσω από την κάμερα. Είναι αυτός που απαθανατίζει τις περισσότερες φωτογραφίες μου! Μαζί σαν ομάδα ξεκινήσαμε το “The Colourful Bouquet” το 2014 και προσπαθούμε συνεχώς να εξελισσόμαστε.

Το “The Colourful Bouquet” είναι ένα blog μόδας και lifestyle για όλους οι οποίοι θέλουν να το επισκεφτούν και να πάρουν έμπνευση από αυτό. Ελπίζω ότι η ιστορία μου θα σας δώσει κίνητρο να μην σταματήσετε ποτέ να ακολουθείτε τα όνειρα σας. Ελάτε και δείτε τον κόσμο μέσα από τα μάτια μου ενώ προσπαθώ να κυνηγήσω τα όνειρα μου.

Contact Mail:

ioanna@thecolourfulbouquet.com

Skin Care Review: Squalan Natural Skincare

May 22, 2018 by Claire Fitzpatrick

Upshot: I like this brand.
Favorite: The Eye product
Least Favorite: N/A
Overall: Feels great, sinks in, not oily, ingredients are nourishing, non-toxic, don’t expect miracles.
Reveal: Ioanna and I are partners with Alive Cosmetics. If you purchase from them and you tell them where you found them, we get a small percentage of commission.

Just a Customer

As much as I like natural products, I actually use very few skin care products.

When I was a teenager and a young adult, in order to control breakouts, while my friends used all manner of acne wipes and creams, I used to just wipe my face with warm water. Worked fine for me.

As I got older, I just used whatever natural body lotion I had lying around to put on my face. I never had a special “facial” line. I didn’t think I needed that.

Taking risks

About 15 years ago, I decided to go rogue and went red with my hair. I won’t tell you what brand I used. Sufficed to say it was commercial and bad for me.

It was a departure from my usual “go natural” approach, but my husband loved it and I thought it was fun. But it was really harsh for my hair; and, at exactly the same time, I began to experience contact dermatitis on my temples.

I lived with it, which was probably stupid (it was stupid). During the ensuing years, my naturally brown hair began graying, so I stayed with the red less for rogue purposes and more of an, “I’m not ready for gray,” attitude.

In an effort to find a balance, I switched from nasty chemical red dye to henna about 4 years ago. I thought if I used a natural product, my contact dermatitis would go away.

But no, it did not go away; it actually spread. I now have it on my forehead.

It’s really embarassing for me; but lately I’ve been practicing stepping into uncomfortable territory. I have pictures that I’ve been taking as I test the Squalan, so I’m going to show you a progression of pics below as I go through the review.

So anyway…

When I came to Amsterdam and started the practice last summer at Nieuwe Achtergracht 61, I rented the space from Daiva Luksyte, owner of Alive Cosmetics.

We shared our mutual love of natural products. Hers was particularly focussed on skin care, and she decided to start her own business selling her favorite skin care products. It was in this capacity that she let me know that if I sold any of her product in my capacity as chiropractor, I could earn a commission.

That’s nice, I thought. However, I didn’t want to sell the product to my patients without knowing anything about it, so I put the offer on the back burner, so to speak.

I met a cosmetic expert

Time rolled on, and the winter holidays came around. Daiva had a holiday party for her renters: me, massage therapists, and a skin care specialist named Ioanna Tsaousidou, an absolutely charming beautician from Greece.

Ioanna and I got to talking, and we decided to test some of the products that Alive Cosmetics sells so we could recommend them with authority. She published the results of her review on her blog, The Colourful Bouquet.

The next post here will be a guest post from her on the subject, as a Part II of our review of Squalan. Hers is more from a beauty expert’s point of view. Mine is more of a natural health geek point of view.

Squalan[TM] Skin Care

Squalan’s primary ingredient is squalane, an hydrogenated (therefore, oxidatively stable) form of squalene, Squalene is an isoprenoid compound similar to beta-carotene in structure[1].

It is found a variety of both animal and plant products; in Squalan’s case, according to their website, they derive theirs from sugar cane approved by Ecocert.

Squalane is an intermediate metabolite in the synthesis of cholesterol. Topically, it can act as a natural protection from UV rays. Clinically, it may help lower overall cholesterol and is thought to be a potential treatment in anti cancer therapies[2].

According to the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Cosmetic Database — a MUST for your natural health care resources — the ingredient is minimally toxic (see this link)[3].

Squalane is an emollient, which means it can act like an anti-inflammatory on certain types of skin conditions such as papulosquamous disorders, which, for me, would differentiate my skin irritation with contact dermatitis.

In the latter case, a protein rejuvenator like keratin or collagen would probably be more appropriate [4].

But for me…

But for me, I wasn’t sure what was causing my rash. Evidence of henna causing contact dermatitis, until recently, was considered a very rare event if it was not mixed with other chemicals or when minimal pesticides are used [5,6]. Because that seems to have changed a bit, I will research more pure forms and more information.

But for now, not only did I want to see if Squalan helped my skin feel better and look younger, but did it help my rash?

February 2018

Before photo.

Ugh. I hate looking at it. Sidesweep is a good thing.

I started by using the Eye serum and the Moisturizer facial oil.

The Eye serum is awesome. It was light, it only took a tiny bit to nourish my eyes, and it didn’t sting if I messed up. Look at the bottle. It’s 3 months later and I still have this much.

The Moisturizer was a bit heavy, though certainly not as heavy as my body lotions/oils I’ve used in the past. I mostly used it at night and after a shower, because in the morning I looked like I’d been running around the neighborhood once or twice.

April 2018

I used the two of these for two months, before I met up with Ioanna again in April to go over our findings. At this point, my skin looked like this:

Not much better. My eyes look a little brighter, though.

So, I added these two products to my repitoire a month ago: Pure and the Cleanser

I’m not used to a cleanser, so it felt okay. It took a while to remove my eye makeup with it, but my skin did feel tighter. I continued to use the Eye serum, but I switched the product on my face to the Pure facial oil.

I definitely liked it better on my face. I started using the Moisturizer on my shoulders and arms, upper chest, and it was much better there. Not so well on my legs — too light.

May 2018

So, here’s how my skin looked yesterday:

Maybe I’m looking too long at it, but my forehead looks a bit better, I think. My face and eyes look about the same, but I like the way they feel.

I am sticking with the Eye serum. I love it. The Pure facial oil is also nice, and deserves more of a trial, I think.

The Cleanser? It’s not bad, but I’m not a cleanser kind of person. However, I’m going to also give it more of a trial before I settle on mensa-mensa status with it.

Moisturizer, for me, too heavy for my face, but as a light moisurizer for chest, back and arms, not bad! If you don’t need much moisturizer for your legs after shaving, it’s okay. But I need more.

Tomorrow, I’m going to a local dermatologist to get a second opinion, and I may have to stop using Henna on my hair.

Oh, gosh. I know I like natural, but I don’t think I’m ready to go gray yet. Let’s see…you’ll know when I know! Will she go white?

Stay tuned!

I’ll post Ioanna’s review next time. In the meantime, you can read it for yourself on her blog, here.

If you want to help support Ioanna and me in our business efforts, and you’re moved to purchase any of these products, do us a favor and go here to Alive Cosmetics. Daiva is a true blue merchant anyway; its a nice mission she’s on. Be a hero and let them know where you heard about their products.

Talk to you soon!

Footnotes:

[1] Kelly GS. Squalene and its potential clinical uses. Altern Med Rev. 1999 Feb;4(1):29–36. [PubMed]

[2] ibid.

[3] this is not to construe that the EWG Skin Deep database endorses the product in any way, shape or form. I am simply reporting on the feature ingredient.

[4] Sethi A, Kaur T, Malhortra SK, Gambhir ML. Moisturizers: The slippery road. Indian J Dermatol. 2016 May-Jun; 61(3): 279–287. [PubMed]

[5] SCCS (Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety), Opinion on Lawsonia inermis (henna), 19 September 2013. [SCCS]

[6] National Center for Biotechnology Information. PubChem Compound Database; (accessed May 22, 2018). [NCBI]

The Brain is Your ECU

May 10, 2018 by Claire Fitzpatrick

The ability to adapt

I got a wonderful email from a patient of mine this morning. He is relatively new to care, Dutch, and a business professional.

He came in because he periodically gets debilitating back pain, to the point that he cannot move for two weeks. He finally sought care out of a recommendation from SOMEONE I DON’T KNOW.

That is a compliment right there. Someone heard of me from another source, and recommended a totally different person to me. This is very moving and an extreme honor for me.

He’s been under care for about three weeks. He hasn’t had any recurrence of the spasms, but he has continued to feel stiff and pain in the low back while attending Vinyasa yoga.

Yesterday, I helped him release a subluxation pattern, the access points of which were left L3, left T3, right C3. The points were very clear to me, which is a good sign that we’re on the right track.

A Sound Adjustment

Happily, he emailed me last night to thank me, that he really noticed a change today in his practice and feels particularly healthy.

I am super pleased about this, and I thanked him for this update. I am also aware that, while this is a great report, our bodies follow a healing pattern that rarely follows a straight line, nor a predictable timeline. So I am aware that he’s not out of the woods yet.

The main thing is he seems committed to his health and is willing to weather the highs and lows. When someone is committed to stay the course, despite how they feel from day to day, this is usually how I can tell that someone will be able to take charge of their health. This is when I can tell they will be able to progress to states of awareness and flexibility that have been previously been unknown to them.

Health is a process.

It isn’t a “one day I was healthy, the next day I was sick,” kind of thing — although sometimes it feels that way.

I am looking forward to helping my patient on this facinating, interesting patht that is the optimal healthy expression of body, mind and spirit, as long as he allows me the honor to do so.

Who is helping you?

Last night, I held my third Functional Forum in Amsterdam, and there was a doc who made an observation: people take better care of their cars than they do their body.

He posed the question: what if you only brought your car in to get serviced when it couldn’t function anymore? Where would you be if you didn’t listen to the little changes, the little noises, the lag in pickup, and keep it tuned up?

We count on the fact that our bodies are self-healing mechanisms, and they are.

But when the body fails to self-heal, when the nagging lack of repair just doesn’t go away, what is keeping you from seeking help?

Who is traveling the bumpy road of life with you, to help you spot the possible potholes and sharp turns?

Who is helping you optimize your engine control unit, ECU’s communication with the workings of your car (i.e., your brain and body).

We All Need Somebody

As the song goes, “We all need somebody to lean on.” Who is helping you find the answers that are right for you?

True health is expressed when the body and mind are flexible and adaptable to the stresses in the environment.

Chiropractic and Neuroplasticity

Chiropractic is all about helping your nervous system be as flexible, adaptable, and “plastic” as it can be, so it can not only communicate with your body properly, but improve its own function and capacity.

Each chiropractic adjustment builds on the last. Each adjustment builds momentum in your body and mind.

The reason it is so hard to predict how fast or how well someone will “heal,” is because when two people show up with the same symptoms, they don’t show up with the same past, nor the same life trajectory.

It is difficult how quickly they will build that healthy momentum.

I Can Help You Build That Momentum

But I can help you with that trajectory. I am honored to help. It is what makes me happy, to see you blossom into the best you that you can be.

I hope you reach out to talk to me about chiropractic. If you’re in the Amsterdam area, to speak to me or to schedule an appoinment, you can go to my office website here.

Have a healthy, loving day, filled with joy.

Guest Post: A Level in Reiki by Misha

May 3, 2018 by Claire Fitzpatrick

In March, I tought my first Reiki 1 class. I tought my first Reiki class at any time, anywhere.

Sometimes the Universe gives you clues. The Universe began giving me clues in the form of questions by my patients, friends, and colleagues about the nature of Reiki.

There is a lot of misinformation floating about the Internet and the world about its nature, and its process. In truth, I didn’t understand the nature of Reiki until I was introduced to it.

Knowledge vs attunement

I was attuned in 2005 and 2006 by two separate Reiki masters. The first was a younger, Western teacher who gave me little to no introduction. The second was a Grand Master of the original lineage, who was fiercely strict about the seriousness of the training and who came from an Eastern point of view (Indian).

Both tought me a lot. Neither tought me what I needed to experience on my own. And that’s the thing. Because we are each a different energy signature, Reiki is going to be different in each of us.

Reiki 1 is your Reiki

Reiki 1 is “my” Reiki, as much as my silent oberver is me. So Reiki 1 is the attunement to your Reiki, that which your silent observer understands and with which it can commune.

I am a Western-trained chiropractor. My education is rigorous and physical, and requires a keen and astute knowledge of the human body and its processes.

Reiki does not require this, per se. But for a Westerner, understanding the energetic nature of life is. And this is often difficult for Western minds to wrap their heads around.

The good thing about Reiki is that you don’t need 4-5 years of anatomy, physiology, neurology, chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, biomechanis, kinesiology, and chiropractic training and internship to use it to help improve your life.

Reiki 1 It is something that people can, and likely should, use every day for themselves. One needn’t go further than Reiki 1 to improve their lives, and by extension of the self, the lives around them.

Not cheaply achieved

It took me many years to understand and use the power of Reiki 1-3 to its best benefits. During this period, I did not feel ready to share my trials and errors.

Until the questions started coming last winter, I just quietly used it and learned from it.

Then that little voice in my head, the one with the good ideas that are also uncomfortable ideas, started poking me. “It’s time.”

My two students

When recruiting students, I often recruit through discouragement. I find that, if you make something less romantic, and reveal that it will actually take some work and will shift you as a person, one weeds out those who are not really interested in the product of study.

So after a discouraging introductory process, two people remained who wanted to know more.

So I tought my experience and my perspective of Reiki 1, and I had the blessing of attuning them. It was a very moving experience for us all.

Misha, one of my students, wrote about the experience in a candid manner that I would not have been able to express in 2005. I thought it was important to share, for prospective Reiki students and Reiki teachers alike. So I asked if It would be all right to post here, and Misha graciously accepted.

The following is a blog post that you can find on Misha’s blog:

A level in Reiki

Misha

2018-04-07 11:23

A few weeks ago I received my Reiki level one attunement. From conversations I had later, I learned that most people are vaguely aware of it as “some kind of laying on of hands” at best. I’ll first give a short explanation, and then tell you about the experience.

What?

So, what is Reiki, without going into as much detail as the two days of class I had? First, what’s energy work? If you’re into meditation at all, you’ve probably encountered some guided meditations that asked you to move your breath into parts of your body where your airways don’t go. What you’re moving around isn’t literal air but a type of energy. There are many types of energy other than “breath”, which all feel different from each other. Reiki is one of those, and comes from an outside source. There is a methodology to use it to assist healing in the broadest sense of the word. A set of principles to live by is part of the methodology (order and wording vary):

Just for today, I will live the attitude of gratitude.
Just for today, I will not worry.
Just for today, I will not anger.
Just for today, I will do my work honestly.
Just for today, I will show love and respect for every living thing.

I like the “just for today” part a lot, it’s very… mindful actually. It also means a bad day isn’t a complete disaster, one can always try again tomorrow.

Why?

I was curious about Reiki because I learned some energy work as a child (and figured things out on my own from there), but don’t remember who or where from. I wanted to know if that perhaps was Reiki, and now I know the answer to that is “no”. I also want to learn energy work and meditation methods that are known to be safe, because I will be able to help others with those. Of what I figured out on my own, I know for sure that some practices are unsafe, but not what is actually definitely safe for everyone’s mental health.

What was it like?

I decided to go into it with a clear and open mind, in other words I did not try to learn everything in advance on the web. This did mean I didn’t know about the three weeks of daily one hour and a half practice on oneself after attunement. If you want to learn Reiki too, you have now been warned of that 🙂 .

Lots of coincidences!

The first day was my birthday. A friend wrote to me in her birthday card that she hoped there would be many attractive women for me to practice on. I later told her I would be practicing on someone extremely sexy for the next three weeks.The second day was new moon, to be more precise the day on which the (invisible) moon sets after the sun again. I try to celebrate that day every month, something about new beginnings, I’ll write about that another time.When I found out my now-teacher is a Reiki master and asked if she was planning to teach soon, I didn’t know she had not done so before. She did have lessons planned because someone else had asked her! If I understood correctly she rejected a few potential students for not being serious enough, leaving just me and the other.Learning anything together with one other student is a special, intimate experience, especially when it’s someone you instantly like and quickly develop a feeling of understanding for. I hope we become friends.

Can’t avoid that spirit work

I try not to talk about spirit work. I really do, because I don’t want to encourage anyone to try it. Yes, I learned very much from it, but it has also been incredibly upsetting at times. Unfortunately, it’s so interwoven with energy work that I had to come out of that closet, because I couldn’t predict if anything weird might happen (it didn’t).This got me the question “why do you do that?” twice, which is difficult to answer in the moment. Imagine you find a puppy with a broken leg and take it to the vet. Nobody claims the puppy, so you pay the bill and adopt it. You now have a dog. If someone asks you “why did you get a dog?”, well, why did you? One can make up explanations after the fact with words like “compassion”, “kindness”, “sense of justice”, “sense of responsibility”, but I think it’s healthier to leave those words for other people to describe me than to make them part of a self image I use to reason from to decide what to do in any situation. When I find a task, no matter how odd, that clearly needs doing in front of me, I do it.

Day one

We were taught a lot connecting Reiki to western science and mysticism (not sure if I’m using the right word there). It felt like being back at university. If one is not an energy worker yet, all this would help to accept Reiki as something that could be real. For me, it was still very interesting.

Day two

This was a day of showing the method (hand positions), personal conversations, meditation, and the attunement! Also, dinner 🙂 . Reiki feels wonderful and warm, and intense when first getting to know it.

The next days

Life can become wild after Reiki attunement, I certainly had a few rough days in which things changed for the better in friendships. It’s hard to say if there’s a cause and effect, because things weren’t calm in the week before either.I can say with certainty that I feel better. Meditation is a bit easier, and my preferred posture is now one that fits feeling comfortable in my environment. Straight back, low shoulders, small steps, exactly what I remember being corrected into and being unable to keep up. Posture, body language, can be caused by how one feels. It’s useless to try to correct the symptom without addressing the cause.

And now?

Reiki level 2, for sure, sometime. First, I think I found a reasonably short track for going from informally knowing about mindfulness to being a mindfulness trainer. It’s on a different end of a spectrum, but again it’s a known safe practice to learn so I can help others.