I found the best place for reflexology! Picture yourself in a small room, listening to the running water of a water fountain and light music, reclining in a plush pink easy-chair - getting 60 minutes of foot/leg massage for $25! I COULD NOT BELIEVE IT! I left feeling tingly, relaxed and unable to drive! I sat in my car for 7 minutes trying to come back to earth...HEAVEN!
Needless to say - I am so there - once a week. Yes, sir. Once a week. Because for $25 - to get a shift in the paradigm of urban living - well, that is just the deal of the century!
I am filled with Gratitude and it seems the perfect time of year (Thanksgiving fast approaching...) to make that list of Thanks - for health, for my family, for work, for food, for shelter...
Otherwise it is way to easy to get bogged down with: kids who talk back, clients who flake, husbands who get into car accidents and total their vehicles and then wake up at 3am groaning from pain, yet will not accept a treatment from their capable health-practitioner wife (yes, it is true!), rising prices, government politics, war, poverty, injustice....
So, yah, let's get back to Gratitude! AND Share the energy - Giving and Thanks....Amen!

And for those who like to indulge to excess on their Thanksgiving meal - get some Po Chai pills, or Curing pills, or Bao He Wan formula - it will save you! Within 5-10 minutes of taking the herbal pills - your food stagnation, nausea, and feeling of over indulging will disperse!
Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!

I have had two clients with the flu in the last week. Is it the swine flu? How have they chosen to get through it? One has done all natural remedies including:oscillococcium check it out at  oscillo.com   which is a homeopathic Rx. for flu which I LOVE! Along with various anti-viral Chinese Herbal formulas I recommended. The other came to me after a few days and had begun Theraflu from the doctor.
I was recently emailed these two links from two MD.'s here in California, Dr. Jay Gordon and Dr. Lauren Feder. They are Western Pediatricians that also include alternative, natural treatments within their practices. The articles give alot of info regarding the current H1N1 virus, it's history and their opinions regarding to vaccinate or not. What are the potential risks, etc.
Dr. Lauren Feder:  drfeder.com/index.php?page=articles&action=viewArticle&articleID=306
Dr. Jay Gordon:  http://drjaygordon.com/development/news/swinefluhighanxiety.asp.
The usual preventative measures include reducing or eliminating refined sugars (nearly impossible in my household considering the Holloween weekend trick or treating bounty), washing hands frequently, (keeping my 3 year old's grimy paws clean and out of her nose is a challenge).
Dr. Jay Gordon's recs:Astragalus: one dose three times a week will help support immunity during flu season (This herb seems to be valuable only before an illness and not during.) Echinacea and Goldenseal: one dose every day in a liquid or chewable form. My favorite is echinacea tea. (Preventatively I would do 1 week on echinacea. Take a few days break - then repeat. otherwise it stops working as a potent anti-viral). Vitamin C and Bioflavonoids: I recommend for children (and take) 500 mg of vitamin C per year of age divided into 3-4 doses each day during cold and flu time. (A five year old would get 2500 mg and a 10 year old 5000 mg. The maximum dose is 10,000 mg--Less if C gives you diarrhea.) Elderberry is a patented and proven viral treatment. Probiotics: 5 to 10 billion CFUs each day to build immunity.
These are all great. I would add - steaming with Tea Tree Oil (antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal). Using a great nasal spray. I have ordered bioessence cold/flu prevention with xylitol (antibacterial/viral), homeopathics, colloidal silver, etc. Xclear is also a good one. Along with Euphorbium. Depending on the actual symptoms - I rec. Evergreen's herbal formulas (by practioner prescription) Lonicera Complex (based on Yin Qiao - amazing anti-viral for sore throat/swollen tonsils, high fever), Respitrol Cold or Respitrol Heat depending on cold or heat symptoms with respitory component (cough, phlegm (clear/white is cold, to yellow green is heat). Chinese formulas have potent anti-viral effects however we prescribe according to the chinese diagnosis related to symptoms - so there is not a one cure for everyone.
I have noticed many clients are having a elimination/digestion aspect to their flu/illness this year - aka. nausea, diarrhea, vomiting. The Chinese Herbal formula will be modified to deal with this. Hope this helps. Wishing all of you a healthy happy fall/winter and new year!

Cons to living in a 2B2B Weho (West Hollywood for you out-of-towners) Apartment - no patio, no backyard, no frontyard to romp and play...
Pros to living in a 2B2B Weho Apartment - 3 blocks away is Plummer Park - site of many a birthday for the girls, a safe little Russia to go play and run around in. AND the location of an outdoor screening on Saturday night of Kung Fu Panda with Jack Black! To sit outside with "peeps" from the 'hood - picnicking, with folding chairs and blankets - in the cool relief of night - July in Los Angeles can be HOT but after the sun goes down - blankets are needed. It was a moment to enjoy a sleeping 2 1/2 year old on my lap, and count the blessings of life - health, family, neighborhood, safety and peace...AMEN!

So... I must confess - I have resumied my morning java. My story is ...I am preventing Parkinson's (my mom has this) and Alzheimer's! The upgrade from prior to my 3 week (did not last the month) sugar/caffeine cleanse is...The instant java fix is sans sugar. With a yup, yup to the agave! The reprieve from sugar was both challenging and inspiring and empowering. My biggest note to self was that I yearned for  the caffeine rather than the sugar.

I am currently handling some stressful situations like a master juggler with hot potatoes  - basically keeping the balls in the air while whittling away, one at a time, the necessary stressor. There are some affirmations/mantras if you will that were gifted to me by my friend, bellysecrets instructor, and on and off angel, Maya Karasso, who was meditating in Topanga Canyon at the beginning of the year and channeled What she coined as the mantras for 2009: "Working through attitude to gratitude". Brilliant - right?  I had called her and she seemed down. She told me she was working through attitude to get to gratitude. Indeed, when we are in gratitude - we are at peace. All the stories, the ego = the attitude which often feels like a palpable blockade to peace and wellness!

You've heard the expression - that which you resist persists? Maya's 2nd mantra for 2009 - "Working through resistence to existence!"

I have begun the book: Bringers of the Dawn by Barbara Marciniakwhich is pretty heady stuff - teachings channeled from enlightened beings from our future but also from now since time is elliptical - it offers interesting, though provoking ideas of our existence - personally on this planet and collectively. Basically, by remembering that we are Family of Light, that we share an ancientancestry with the universe around us and we become "bringers of the dawn,"consciously creating a new reality, a new Earth. Love it! And I am only on chapter 2!

To summarize - I am Walking this life path, Remembering, and Keeping the requisite Sense of Humor - so to quote a bumper sticker that I saw on line: "Namaste Bitches!"

Daily Mantras: "I am in love with my life!" "My life is sweet (without sugar)" - Psychologically I am missing the coffee - the ritual - the "Perk" - doubts waft through my conciousness - "Why did I go cold turkey?" - wouldn't it have been better to substitute Green Tea? That is my recommendation for patients/clients that are interested in boosting adrenals and eliminating coffee. Why did I choose to superhero it? Nature Abhors A Vacuum - what did I replace my pleasures with?

Renew tea from T.J.'s is a refreshing hibiscus, rosehip, nettle, etc. blend - tasty with no sweetener - hot or cold. Good antioxidants, minerals, nettles - detoxifying...
Tulsi Rose from Whole Foods - AHHHH! Tulsi is an adaptogenic which means it adjusts to your body - with the Rose - I am loving it - just added to my regime today.

Last night I went to my friend, Maya Karasso's  bellysecrets class, she just returned from performing in Morocco and had a lot to share - her classes link to the astrological sign of the month so this month is Gemini and it was all about discovering our "wings".  Great - My right shoulder/scapula has been bugging me - I have been twice this week to the chiropractor to pop the rib head back into place. So when I started the class, I felt pain and after 1 1/2 hours of inspired movement - I felt Great! I realized that for all the movement we as moms/dads do - picking up 28 lbs toddlers, carrying groceries/bags, running around - Healing, Medicinal movement is Key whether it is through Dance, Yoga, Stretching, Qi Gong, Tai Qi. Maya's class begins with 15-20 min. of Qi gong which normallhy my monkey brain is thinking - come on, let's get to the dance. Last night I actually became the movement and the breath and found great healing for my "wing" area through the movements.

So I sit here this morning - after a 1 1/2 hr. phone call with AT&T that brought me to tears (did lower the bill from $315 to $88 - so there is some vindication in that!) reflecting back on last night and realizing that I can totally make it through the 30 days and the coconut/date cookie that Maya served was amazing/sweet and didn't have refined sugar - so I may explore some yummy recipes - if only I could get my girls on the program....

So without excuses - I begin to blog again. There are those of my mother's generation that say that if you remember the 60's - then you probably weren't a part of the 60's. Well, the last year has been - sans narcotics and flowers in the hair - but still a whirlwind - that when I sit to recount remains a blur! Within this time period - I returned to daily coffee and sugar excess, lack of exercise - barring running after the 2 1/2 year old Tarzan daughter, and irregular eating habits - a.k.a. coffee with 2 sugars for breakfast, make kids breakfast (whole grain pancakes), while they eat, make the lunches. Drop them at school. Go to work or do errands. Maybe remember to shove something in my mouth around noon - or not. Pick girls up at 3 - and then possibly remember that I did or didn't eat and scarf something down - fruit, sandwich, leftovers. Take girls for fro-yo, go to park, come home make a dinner. And in between if I had to stop by Trader Joe's for food, grab a sample coffee (don't you love them?) with 2 more sugar packets. After dinner, get girls to bed - bath, brush teeth, books. And then - I would look at dinner, food, peace...
Okay - the dirt is out. I feel somewhat liberated...Actually embarrassed - The medicine woman who preaches regular eating habits, moderation, lifestyle - not only fell off the wagon - but rolled over to the nearest house of excess and has languished there for months!
So the fallout - no energy (without my coffee), no appetite (until kids are asleep), hi stress, and body aches - low back, shoulders, and particularly around my kidneys - mid back. Hormonal imbalances - needing to cry at every nostalgic commercial or moment. And feeling off - way way way off. Except after the coffee or sugar moment - when life is manageable and I am...SUPER WOMAN! And after the sugar spike passes - I am comatose on the bed looking at my children allowing them to play doctor on my reclining form...
So this new moon - I sat around a firepit with some sisters and realized that change begins now and I threw any concious fears into the fire and committed to healing the medicine woman so that she would be fit to heal others again. English? Starting Saturday - No Caffeine, No Sugar! (Friday night - I made sure to end my meal with a cappuchino with extra foam and extra sugar.)
Well today is Thursday and I am still alive. But Saturday was beyond challenging - basically I wanted to kill myself and everyone in the vicinity. A nagging aching headach wandered around my forehead and temples - reminding me that tomarrow is always a better day to start a cleanse than today... Saturday night I was ready to quit and to start anew on Sunday - but I persevered with sister support via telephone lines. Sunday through Tuesday I was depressed, the thought that life would never be "sweet" again couldn't be swept away with any mantra or positive affirmation - though I did try the "I am in love with my life" one with some results.
Wednesday woke up to my "moontime" - a period that was welcome as at least I realized why life seemed to dark and sad...
So here we are today - I honor the choice I made - I still miss the coffee - Trader Joe's is no fun anymore, and all bakeries need to be banned and shut down. But I will let you know how this progresses - there has to be light at the end of the tunnel...Right?

My great-aunt Rina was buried today in Israel. I got the call while at work and I was immediately overwhelmed with sorrow. I did not know my aunt very well. The ties that bind us are very strong. Her daughter and my mom were very close. I lived 2 years with Sara, Rina's sister, during my Jerusalem/Army adventure. Rina and Sara are 1 year and 3 months apart in age. "It was a very unique bond" Sara told me this evening. The sisters were close to the point of being kindred spirits. My great-aunt Sara and I had many a discussion around her kitchen table while I lived there. And to hear her hurt (not verbally expressed but within the timbre of her voice) caused such a tidal wave of emotion for me. She is such an important person in my life - a sage, a crone, a wise woman, an advisor.

It made me look at what a short time we have on this earth and as death often does, caused me to ponder our purpose during that short time. Death is always hard on the living, those left behind. Rina is at a better place, her heart and health in the last week got the better of her vitality and her fight. But it is her daughter and her sister and the family that must deal with the loss. And she was such a Strong Powerful Spirit! What a Woman! That the loss is palpable. I cry less for my personal connection to this great woman, though I would have loved to know her better. But she was so easy to be with, it was an immediate connection... I cry with compassion for my loved ones - her daughter and her sister - whom I feel as If I were the daughter or sister. Our tribe is strong, we are never alone though we may feel so.

We have the opportunity - each day - to be each other's heroes and angels. It is the purpose. To love and be loved. To be of service and promote each other's success and our humanity's success depends on being aware of our inter-connectedness, we are all one - in sorrow, in joy, and throughout the challenges that we face - we are family.

Happy New Year! That is...if you buy into the whole Gregorian Sun calendar thing. Personally, I like the moon based calendar - it jives with my mother religion (I am Jewish on my mother's side) and it resonates more with my natural cycles. But that is neither here nor there in the huge scheme of things. The fact of the matter is that there is a collective consciousness based around this Gregorian calendar and therefore many people en masse take the time to reflect on the old (2008) and make intentions and plans for the new (2009). Reflection is never a bad thing and if we take the time to reassess the various aspects of our lives that are working or not working for us - All the more power to us!

I am personally looking forward to 2009. My optimistic nature tells me that 2009 cannot possibly be as challenging as 2008... I know, I know - famous last words. But I metaphorically  march forward with renewed optimism and hope and NO EXPECTATIONS! The energies are shifting both in our leadership, our society, and our selves. What an adventure! We'll have to stay tuned to see what comes next.

For now - i pray for PEACE! Within our personal internal states, within our collective conciousness and most importantly within our international states.

Blessings to you all!

    Last week I received a reminder from the universe in the form of a static-laden voicemail message. The caller ID stated: Gahl Sasson. He is a Kabbalist/Astrologer that I had given a massage to 4 years ago as part of a barter that I had not redeemed. Several of my clients had raved about him to me and I had (back then) picked up his book, A Wish Can Change Your Life - on Kabbalah at the Bodhi Tree Bookstore. Well, they raved to him about me and we decided to do a trade. I gave him bodywork and we left it at - I'll read the book and then we will have a private lesson/session. Flash forward - a few years (didn't get through the book - there are exercises in it and I still haven't got to it...) I had my second daughter and I thought, wow - I should get her chart done. I had my older daughter's chart done after she was born - and it is a fascinating blue print of a soul's tendencies/predisposition for this lifetime. So I emailed him and asked for this and he was out of the country (this was a year and a half ago). Then I emailed again last spring. Well - I didn't have his telephone contact number and time passed. Ellah turned 2 at the end of September and then last week his phone "magically" called me. When I called him back - he stated that he hadn't called. HMMM....The Universe is conspiring...
    I had set an intention to be more aware of the Signs - so after a brief reconnecting - we scheduled a reading or rather a cycle analysis.  According to his card he is a "cycle-analyist" which sounds alot more current then astrologer (which evokes all kinds of responses in people - namely - "you believe in that baloney?").
    It was a short 30 minute session where he bombarded me with a lot of info (luckily recorded on a CD to share with my husband tonight after the kids are asleep!). He was able to give me a very detailed overview of her temperment and her karma and what she has brought with her to this lifetime. He connected her to my chart and to her sister's chart and also gave me a heads up on the next 3 years. It was a great REMINDER of my own challenges and TIKKUN (in Kabballah this is the CORRECTION that you are here for in this life - aka Karma). I give him a 5 star rating and if you are interested check him out at www.CosmicNavigator.com. His new book Cosmic Navigator just came out and he is doing a book signing for his new book by the same name, Cosmic Navigator, next Thursday at the Bodhi Tree at 7:30pm.
   May your 2009 be as blessed as mine is forcast to be!

Here in Los Angeles, we are having wild fires after a typical Los Angeles dry, hot summer. As if our lungs didn't have enough to contend with - namely, L.A. smog, the fires are burning and all sorts of crazy materials beyond the brush and bushes, the homes, the paint, the chemicals, are permeating the air.  Additionally, the temperature are fluctuating - sometimes 30 degrees in a 20 hour period. The body is thrown into flux. And then... You add the pervasive social and communal stress of the economical, geo-political climate that we are living with....WHEW!
  What to do?
1.  Exercise - hike, yoga, swim, cardio - get your Endorphins going naturally - you need them!
2. Develop a calm sleep routine - bath, book, bed. The triad (mind, body, and spirit) need the rest!
3. Eat well - forgo the processed, canned, white flour, white sugar. Go for the fresh - fruits, veggies, grains, legumes, enjoy in moderation free-range, preferably organic dairy, meat, fish.
And if your diet isn't all that regular or great - make sure you are taking some whole food based supplements.
The girls have their favorites, Ellah (age 2) LOVES her DHA fish oil chewable orange flavored soft capsules (I tasted it and don't get it). Lishai (age 7) takes 2 Perfect Food  tablets to supplement the her veggie intake (enzyme rich, easy to digest greens - grasses, veggies by the Garden of Life Company www.vitaminshoppe.com have them for a great price). I love the Garden of Life products and use there practitioner line called Original Medicine in my practice.
 4. Laugh - even if you need to fake it at first, take your clue from 2-5 year olds - they laugh over the silliest things - it reduces the harmful stress chemicals that cause illness and disease.
5. Favorite supplements - Essential Fatty Acids (flaxseed, borage oil, evening primrose, fish oils) - no one gets enough in their diet; CoQ10 and Alpha Lipoeic Acid - Liver function enhancement, brain food, anti-cancer - very helpful for urban living, Goji juice - by Freelife (my kids take it out of the fridge when they are getting sick and ask for it, yet don't go for it at any other time. I try to do 2 oz a day), Garden of Life Perfect Food tablets - bse despite loving salads - most of us don't get enough of these greens, Cal/Mag - for sleep, muscles, all women need calcium - most don't get enough
6. 8-10 glasses of water a day. Try to drink them before 5pm otherwise it may keep you up at night peeing.
7.  Positive Thoughts - get a good relaxation CD to listen to to meditate, do self-hypnosis, visualization -
This list isn't the be all end all but these are positive steps to keeping the immune system strong in hard times.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT:  If you are feeling overwhelmed with all that is occurring. Think about this... A Garden needs to seasonally be fertilized - yes it is stinky and full of sh-t - but it is fertile ground for new seeds, ideas, creation. We need this sh-tty situation to grow! Also - gardens need to be pruned - so it is a perfect time to cut back the excesses and see the beauty in the pruning process and result.

Namaste!