Exercise

Everyone Matters

Liz James · May 28, 2020 ·

Whose Life Matters More? How’s that for a politically incorrect intro? Dang it if this hasn’t been on my mind for weeks on end.

I think we can say with near 100% certainty that the numbers regarding CV19 are suspect. Even Dr. Deborah Birx ( the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator) has said that the numbers are inflated by perhaps as much as 25% AND she herself doesn’t even trust the information the CDC is handing out these days. (according to a recent Washington Post article)

To date (and according to the worldmeter.com website), there have been 99,927 deaths due to CV19 in the United States (a .03% death rate in the USA and .07% worldwide if you do the math).

The virus is clearly real, and like all viruses, it is apt to pray on those in the poorest health…. Including those who are laden with organ compromising toxins. No wonder many of the elderly are at risk, considering the average 65-84 year old takes between 15-18 prescription medications each year (in addition to elder vaccinations).

The “Powers that Be” made the decision to lock down the world (except for Sweden who did its own socio-bio-virology experiment and seems to be doing fine) and continue to encourage a no touch 6 foot distancing protocol, tho we know that the virus doesn’t obey the pseudo-science edict that the CDC has ordained.

We also know that a mask of any shape form or fashion is paltry protection unless you are:
1. In a sterile environment.
2. Putting it on properly and then NOT touching the mask the entire time it’s on your face + #1
3. Boiling or sterilizing or using a new mask each and every time + #1 and #2.
4. Your mask is an N95 or greater + #1 & #2 & #3…. And NOT made of cloth.
5. Has been fitted properly for your individual face + #1 & #2 & #3 & #4.
Otherwise you are #attemptingtocatchmosquitoeswithafishingnet

Yes, I know you know all of this, but it is important to recount the facts. 😉

People with high risk comorbidities have cause for concern and therefore it would be prudent to be cautious and careful if they fall within that category.

In addition to limiting social contact and perhaps wearing a mask properly, we can hope they are also attempting to correct the course of their ship by eating organic foods and foregoing the junk,fast, and processed foods, exercising as much as is appropriate and under supervision, exercising their brain thru stimulus outside of television, drinking clean filtered water, getting plenty of sunshine, and removing toxins from their lives as much as possible.

And if they are not, who are we to tell them how to live their lives? #itsaConstitutionalright

Then there are the roughly 18 million Americans who lived with depression and anxiety before CV19 came into the picture.

Who knows how many have since joined them. 😢

Many people rely on daily routines, their jobs, time at the gym, time outdoors, interaction with friends, coworkers, and family members…. The hugs, love, and comaraderie …. Balm for the soul that keeps them afloat instead of drifting. #weareherdanimals

But the stark reality is this: not everyone has a job (unemployment continues to rise quickly) AND…. not everyone is getting (or has gotten) a stimulus check. I personally know quite a few people who are really starting to struggle under the weight of the financial burdens they have. 😢

Alcohol and drug addiction is also on the rise, as people sit at home and look for ways to numb themselves. 😢

I spoke to a friend who is a police officer 👨‍✈️in Dallas and he remarked that suicide is easily more of an epidemic right now than the virus in Dallas. The numbers he gave me indicated a 400% increase in the incidence of successful suicides these last few months. He cited depression and financial burdens based on evidence at the scenes in most cases. According to the Public Health group, Well Being Trust, we can expect these numbers to exceed death due to CV19.

Isolation, extreme mental distress and economic burdens typically don’t mix well. But since the mainstream media isn’t reporting on this, it leads me to believe that perhaps these lives matter less?

I personally don’t believe it, but if we are to believe the mainstream media in all things, then it must be true.

Dr Caroline Leaf is one of our nation’s foremost authorities on psychology and brain science. #sheisbrilliantandworthfollowing
In her book, Who Switched Off My Brain, she discusses dangers of prolonged lack of touch, also called “cutaneous deprivation”.

Over time, “cutaneous deprivation causes emotional disorders, affects our intellect, and physical growth, and weakens the immune system. Research also shows touch deprivation causes negative change in the brain laying patterns for aggression and violence”.Touch is also considered a powerful healing force that alleviates the symptoms of stress, trauma, and depression. In short, we are wired for loving touch by God. #wiredforloveandtouch

Geez… considering 28% of Americans live alone, and 5% of the elderly live nearly “touchless” in some form of assisted living…. I can only imagine the damage being done.

And yet…. The mainstream media is silent on this topic too, and we are encouraged to continue to exacerbate the problem by social distancing, and the elderly in assisted living continue to go without advocacy and visits from their loved ones.

……. But I suppose the health and wellbeing of the combined 32% of our country’s community who live in relative isolation (roughly 100 million people) is less important than the .03% who may yet still lose their lives to the virus.

Media?…….

I would be remiss if I also didn’t speak for the kids whose lives are traumatized by the very ones they live with. Before the ‘rona shutdown, 4 children die daily in the USA from child abuse and neglect. An estimated 3 million children are living victims of child abuse, and they’ve been locked inside with their abuser for the last many weeks. Who knows what kind of permanent physical and mental damage this has done to these babies during this time? Is that damage fixable? Only God and time will tell.

Media?…. Where are you?Are the lives of these 3 million babies not important too?

Spousal abuse is going on as well… make no mistake about that. An estimated 4.8 million women and 2.9 million men live in an abusive relationship with many having no place to retreat these last many weeks.

I suppose their lives are not quite as important as those who might get a virus that has a .03% mortality rate. I keep expecting to hear media outrage about child and spousal abuse….. But again…. Crickets.

We’ve misplaced our faith in this country and put it on statistics and the advice of man instead of God. #areallybadidea

💗 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (2 Tim 1:7)

💗 “Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.” (1 Cor 10:24)

💗 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” (John 15:12)

💗 “… love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mark 12:31)

💗 “Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him…” (Mark 1:41)

There is no room for fear in a time such as this. It’s a foothold for the devil and that’s all he needs to turn focus inward instead of outward.

EVERYONE’S life matters and we need to stop thinking of only the 0.03%, and care for and cherish the other 99.97% too.

xoxo~ liz
www.goodmedicine.info

#protectingtherightsofeveryonenotjustaselectfew
#everyonematters
#WWJD
#Weallmatter
#standupforyourrightsasachildofGod
#standupfortherightsofthosewhocannot
#qualityoflifematterstoo
#givegraceandbekind

Chicken Pox – part 2

Liz James · May 11, 2020 ·

Eleven days ago, I unpacked some surprising information about chickenpox and I pray someone found it helpful. Whenever I seek information on a deeper level, it’s a rare day that I don’t learn something myself and a rarer day still that I don’t end up down some rabbit hole that fascinates (and sometimes disturbs me ? ).
Shingles (aka herpes zoster) is also caused by the varicella zoster virus and is the “adult thug version” of chickenpox….

….Bigger and badder than it was in the kiddie version.

With shingles, there is nearly always a rash of some sort, but the hallmark is nerve pain (neuropathy). The pain can be debilitating and is often described as burning, stabbing, throbbing, and/or a shooting pain. Neuropathic pain from an outbreak can last days to months (at which point it is diagnosed as postherpetic nauralgia – PHN). Other symptoms may include (but not limited to) fever, headache, upset stomach and muscle weakness.

While a shingles event is not contagious (meaning, you can’t “catch” shingles), someone with active shingles CAN pass chickenpox on to a child ?? or adult ? who has never had chickenpox or received the chickenpox vaccine. It’s far better to have chickenpox as a child, than it is as an adult…. Hence, the importance of getting this childhood disease as a child. Remember those chickenpox parties I was telling you about in Part I? ?

Shingles is the same virus that will have been lying dormant in the body of someone who had chickenpox OR, in some cases, in those who had the chickenpox vaccine.

WAIT! …… I thought we wouldn’t get shingles later in life if we got the chickenpox vaccine ?

I believe that was the plan, but sometimes messing with what God has laid out for us isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Despite the advent of the chickenpox vaccine (1995) and the shingles vaccine (2006), the incidence of shingles has only continued to rise ?. Take a look at the graph I’ve attached. Notice that as the incidence of chickenpox decreases? , the incidence of shingles has increased ? dramatically. Additionally, while shingles used to be an affliction of the elderly and immunocompromised, it has become much more common in younger and younger people.

Prior to both vaccinations, the incidence of shingles appeared to have been pretty uncommon. According to the article below, shingles was rare enough that only two US studies had been found to report data (in study format) on the incidence of shingles circa 1960. . I have searched for hours and have not been able to find solid numbers on shingles cases prior to the early 1980’s. (Please do comment if you can find anything relating to this)

So why are shingles so prevalent now? ….And how prevalent are they?
➡️ An estimated one million cases occur annually in the USA
➡️ 4 cases per 1000 people in the USA
➡️ 1 case per 100 among people 60 years and older

Are you familiar with herd immunity?

Herd immunity by definition is a form of indirect protection from an infectious disease that occurs when a large percentage of a population has become immune to an infection (by developing antibodies) thru a previous infection (NOT by means of vaccination ? ).

In short, herd immunity is one of God’s (many) health gifts to us. Herd immunity helps us take care of each other as a whole. #herdimmunitycommunity

Why can’t we achieve herd immunity thru vaccination? It would seem easy to do that, wouldn’t it?

Well, you’d think so…. But God and (His) nature have a plan, and His ways are not our ways…. They are better! Viruses are constantly changing… (heck, we’ve learned this with the ‘rona virus ) and vaccines cannot keep up with the mutations.

(ex: The flu vaccine is a crap shoot every year, and often the projected guestimate misses the projected virus strains chosen based on the previous year’s worldwide flu).

So how does this pertain to shingles?…. And chickenpox? Studies show that before routine use of the chickenpox vaccine, children who recovered from chickenpox later experienced recurrent asymptomatic boosting of immunity by coming into contact with others who were actively infected with chickenpox….. It is God’s way of keeping us safe.
#Helovesusso

Parents and grandparents who interacted with their kids and grandkids were then less likely to develop shingles because they had the opportunity to reinforce their immunity thru periodic exposure to “wild” chickenpox.

??IMPORTANT‼️Without this periodic asymptomatic exposure to the “wild chickenpox”, the dormant varicella-zoster virus can re emerge as shingles, especially in the elderly and in those with a weakened immune system.

Now the puzzle pieces are falling into place.

As “wild” chickenpox exposure becomes more of a rarity, no natural immune boosting can occur.

*************************************************
?‍⚕️ What I say next is my opinion and observation. ?‍⚕️

I have family members and loved ones that have regular occurrences of shingles.

I fill prescriptions regularly for medications that are for long term treatment of postherpetic neuralgia. The prescriptions are often neither cheap and none are without substantial side effects….. side effects that are damaging at the cellular level.
#protectyourmitochondria

Some of these shingles patients are in their 20’s and 30’s…. Adults who got the chickenpox vaccine back in the 90’s onward. It’s no longer an aged or infirmed affliction.

I have listened to family, friends, and pharmacy clients lament the pain and the quality of life decline as a result of shingles… especially those who have recurrent flares. Many of them get shingles over and over again…. (And many of these in the older generation have also gotten the shingles vaccine).

I don’t know. It seems to me that God had it under control. His ways insured us and kept us safer as we aged. I would much rather be exposed thru periodic herd immunity (in its correctly defined state).

I leave you with this quote from another study I’ll attach below. Anything in ( ) are my comments or thoughts:

“In the prelicensure era, 95% of adults experienced natural chickenpox (usually as children ?? )—these cases were usually benign and resulted in long-term immunity. Varicella vaccination (the chickenpox vaccine) is less effective than the natural immunity that existed in prevaccine communities. Universal varicella (chickenpox) vaccination has not proven to be cost-effective as increased HZ (shingles) morbidity (pain, suffering, and medicating) has disproportionately offset cost savings associated with reductions in varicella disease (Was chickenpox such a bad thing after all? #notreally ) . Universal (chickenpox) varicella vaccination has failed to provide long-term protection from (shingles)VZV disease.”

(excerpt from linked article below)

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov article

Someone, please tell me why we are vaccinating against chickenpox? I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather continue down the path God pre-designed for us than rely on man…. Chickenpox is looking pretty good. #CommunityImmunity
#wildchickenpoxforthewinforyouthandelderly
#GodknowswhatHesdoing

What we CAN do….. what we ought to be doing….. what I hope ALL of you are doing is this:
? Eating quality (unprocessed, nonGMO’d) food and drinking “clean” water

? Exercising regularly (improve muscle mass, help your heart, improve your balance, and decrease stress!)

? De-stress daily. This is sooo important. Use your Lavender, your StressAway (my fave), Tranquil, Peace & Calming, or RutaVala (and that’s just a few!)

? Get 7-8 hours of sleep a night. Use your Immupro or Sleep Essence along with a sleepy time diffuser blend (the aroma options are endless to help you get your ??. )

? Remove your known toxin load and replace those things with non-toxic alternatives (please visit with me if you are not yet a Young Living member, or reach out to your bestie who is and one of us will hook you up! ) … Young Living has non toxic alternatives to everything from housecleaning , to vitamins, to makeup and beyond. Importantly…. their essential oils are pure, safe, and effective.

Nothing does more for boosting immunity than the self care I just mentioned above. #loveyourselfenoughtocareforyourself

Have a beautiful day! I learned something in my digging and I hope you did too.

xoxo~ liz

#knowbetterdobetter
#sharingiscaring
#ThanksYL

PS: the links below are to a couple other studies and articles for those who like to dig deeper . Enjoy!

jscimedcentral

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. article

Smart Gardening

Liz James · April 10, 2020 ·

Many of you are gardening 👩‍🌾👨‍🌾 this year, and I hope thought has been given as to how to organically manage pests and weeds. I have been an organic gardener for years, and organic gardening requires a bit of pre-planning and a willingness to exercise.

Pesticides and herbicides have a lifetime of potential side effects. Thankfully, there ARE alternatives out there, although you gotta be willing to put some “sweat equity” into your food.

Ya’ll are a smart bunch…. and I feel certain you’ve thought this thru. Lest you want to give up and reach for a toxic chemical, I’m speaking up on behalf of your mitochondria…. it’s one of the most important bits of you. Your cell’s mitochondria are your energy makers, helpers in your detoxification process, and play a supportive role in your immune system. In short…. you surely don’t want to poison this very important bit of you 😘.

Garden on my friends….safely!

xoxo~ liz

#knowbetterdobetter
#youcandothis
#toxinfreeisthewaytobe
#ThanksYL
#SeedtoSealiswhatYLdoes

pesticides that could harm article

Spring Detox

Liz James · April 9, 2020 ·

Psst…… Hey there friend! I see you and your struggle between patience and frustration, perhaps even moving between anger at being cooped up and concern for the welfare of others. You are not alone in this. Hardly. Let’s chat a bit, shall we? 😘

Springtime is the season of new and pent up energy bursting forth… it’s that way in nature, and we humans also have that tendency.

Spring cleaning….

Spring gardening…..

Western medicine doesn’t look that much at seasonal changes and how it affects your body (unless they are discussing seasonal allergies),…. but it is a core feature in Traditional Chinese Medicine. TCM looks at the physical (what can be seen), and also the energy (that which might be blocked or sluggish). Too much blocked energy, and something physical will usually result. Free flowing energy results in a higher body frequency which results in a happier healthier you! #highfrequencyrules #bethelight

AT THE HEART OF THE SPRING SEASON FOR TCM ARE THE LIVER AND GALLBLADDER. THESE TWO ORGANS PLAY A TERRIBLY IMPORTANT ROLE IN DETOXIFICATION OF OUR BODY. WINTER WAS A TIME FOR STORING RESERVES…. AND SPRING IS OUR TIME FOR SHEDDING THE ACCUMULATED TOXINS THRU INCREASED MOVEMENT THAT TENDS TO COME MORE NATURALLY WITH LONGER DAYLIGHT HOURS AND A SUN THAT BECKONS US OUTDOORS….. and we need to be doing this!

Grab a bottle of Juvaflex or Helichrysum, Lemon, Orange, Peppermint, Basil, Rosemary, Frankincense, or Geranium and apply over the liver or use the vitality versions and add a drop or two to your water.

Movement is critical to all parts of the body… but in the Spring season, it’s especially important to your liver. Exercise can be done anywhere… even in the comfort of your own home and neighborhood!

Grab a bottle of the amazing essential oil blend, Motivation, and go for a walk today. Your liver will thank you. Promise!
Failure to move makes blood sluggish, and accumulated toxins just don’t have the opportunity to leave the body as they should.

Signs that you’ve maybe not incorporated enough movement in your life recently?
frequent headaches
sluggish metabolism
frequent sighing
stress related digestive issues
chronic stress you can’t seem to shake
an odd feeling of a “lump in the throat “
irritability, anger, or frustration

The liver is also the organ that holds stress. One of the best ways to help your liver emotionally is to practice expressing your feelings. Express… and then let go of them. Don’t dwell on them unless they are positive ones! Holding on to your negative emotions ultimately will cause outward irritability, frustration and anger. One sign that you might be holding on to something is feeling like you have a lump in your throat (almost like the feeling you get in your throat right before you cry).

Remember…. different emotions live in different organs….. Anger is held in the liver. But for the “negative” emotion an organ holds, it also holds a good one too…. and we have the free choice to decide which one is going to be expressed. The “positive” emotion associated with the liver is compassion. ….. and ya’ll… I’m thinking right about now…. our world could use a little less anger and a little more compassion.

If you are wanting to get rid of anger, first have some compassion on yourself. These are stressful times and stress feeds anger. Instead, try looking for ways to express compassion to get your liver energy flowing:

Offer to go shopping for someone who needs to avoid people due to a health concern.

Clean out your bookshelves and donate books or games to an assisted living community library.

Offer to walk someone’s dog for them.

Share what you have with someone who has less than you do at this moment.

Call people to check on them… don’t forget about your extroverted friends. They are probably climbing their curtains right about now 😉.

And finally….. seek out ways to nourish your liver… Lemon vitality oil in your water….. beets, broccoli, asparagus, and goji berries are all very helpful ways to support your liver.

Goji berries….. hmmm, where have we heard of those before? You probably have some in your house….. at least I HOPE you do. 😉… Goji berries are also known as wolfberries… and the best, healthiest ones in the world can be found in our NingXia Red! Who knew?

Love your liver, and show some compassion to yourself and to others. We’re gonna make it thru this time alone together just fine. You’ll see. 😘
xoxo~ liz

#strongertogether
#ThanksYL
#youvegotthis

*****************
Not sure about the science of TCM? If you are like me, you’ll want proof. Go do some digging on your own… perhaps start here with a really interesting study:
******************

hindawi article

Victory Gardens

Liz James · March 20, 2020 ·

Springtime is one of my most very favorite times of the year, for many reasons…. Not the least of which is the anticipation of getting my fingers deep into the earth in preparation for seed planting time.

Spring this year has been somewhat challenging. Lots of distractions, an incredibly wet February and March, and a spirit of unrest that seems to have enveloped our world.

And yet….

The leaves and flowers continue to unfurl from the safety of their buds as if to tell us that life will go on, despite the circumstances at hand.

It makes me want to talk to the old timers…. The ones who were around as kiddos and young adults during WWII. What did it feel like, to have such a great unknown? To know that a loved one could be taken from them because they said yes to following God and their country? With only snail mail letters to communicate in the interim?

I hope a bearer or two of these memories will comment because I have a strong love of history and would love to hear the stories of resilience on the home front……the peace they perhaps held that surpassed all understanding even when the world seemed anything but calm.

Perhaps this was another reason the people at home returned to gardening in 1942-43? Canned food and buying from grocery stores instead of self sufficiency was a relatively new concept to the world back then.
It had only been about 25 years since the first grocery store (A Piggly Wiggly if you remember those!) opened and self serve grocery shopping had quickly taken over supplying the USA with food.

25 years. One generation. Many had already lost sight of where nourishing food must come from.

1942….. Not 2020.

And then World War II happened…. and it didn’t last days….it lasted years. 😥

Ask one of the old timers about those times. Invariably, one of their strongest memories will be the rationing of foodstuffs. Food was in short supply for a variety of reasons:

🍅The processed and canned foods they had become accustomed to buying at Piggly Wiggly suddenly were reserved for shipping overseas to the soldiers who were fighting and to our Allies who were bearing the brunt of the war devastation.

🍅Transportation of fresh foods was limited because of gasoline and tire rationing (priorities were placed on getting those to soldiers and to the war effort)

🍅Many farmers in the USA were off fighting instead of growing food.

🍅Imported food, especially the likes of coffee and sugar, were limited in supply.

Rationing books were issued. (I have one that belonged to my grandmother.) Stamps inside the books were for certain food categories, and if you had already used your stamp for that product for the month, you were not eligible to buy it until the following month rolled around. It prevented hoarding and encouraged creative menu planning. ( Hmmm …. Seems like we could use that principle these days for basic things like toilet paper!)

Suddenly, the skill of gardening became an asset again…. Not reserved for someone living on a farm. By 1920 tho, more Americans lived in cities than in rural areas for the first time in America’s history so this had to have been hard.

Real hard.😔

This situation was something they felt unprepared for, they had no land to make gardens. For others, it felt like they were being called home….. back to their roots…. and it was those whom the former leaned into and learned from….. And a beautiful thing began to sprout around the United States…..

Victory Gardens.

They began to sprout up across America and eventually across the world:

👩‍🌾People plowed up their beautiful front yards and lawns and began growing fruits and veggies.

👩‍🌾They pulled up their rose bushes and flowers and replaced them with edible foodstuffs.

👩‍🌾Pots and containers were used to grow gardens on back porches, patios, and stairways.

👩‍🌾Even public land was put to use….. San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park had one of the best public gardens in the country!

Neighbors helping neighbors. 👫

Sharing knowledge.

Sharing bounty.

Relying on God to supply no more or less than they needed.

Back to their roots.

The food, of course, was important, but so was the community idea of doing something for the common good, and the daily grounding… the resetting of emotions and release of nervous energy expelled just by getting dirt under their fingernails. In times like those, I am sure that gardening felt heavenly!

Anyone can do this…. Gardening.

All you need is Sunlight. Seeds. A container or two, or 12 (or a plot of land of any size). ….. And a desire to be part of the solution.

A time to heal.

A time to return to our roots.

If this post is calling to you, there are TONS of seed packets for sale at the feed stores. There are also half grown “teenager” plants if waiting is too much to bear.

Never gardened? Don’t let that stop you. You never know, you might pick up a new hobby you love while in this time of national time out.

The best growth comes during times of adversity…. Knowing that, our Great Nation should be due for a bountiful harvest. The Bible says it. This I know.

Garden on friends!

xoxo ~liz

#GodblesstheUSAandtheworld
#wecandothis
#strongerthanyouthinkyouare
#learnsomethingnew
#embraceyourdowntime
#youwillbeproudofyourfood
#springtime2020
#healthyfoodismedicine