Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the daily news? You’re not alone. And please don’t worry, I’m not going to try to sell you a new app or pill to alleviate your distress. What I’d like to do is share an alliterative mantra I developed for a little self guidance around interacting with the news. It’s an easy four-step process: 1) Turn On 2) Tune In 3) Trans-“send” and 4) Turn Off. I’ll start metaphorically with the notion of satiety. Satiety refers to the sensation that you’ve had enough to eat, and thus your stomach is satisfactorily full. This...

Despite its astonishing prevalence in the United States and developed countries, a singular defined cause of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) has yet to be identified. However, Part One of this article series did uncover six possible contributing factors of IBS – abnormal gut motility (constipation or diarrhea), visceral hypersensitivity (abdominal pain), altered brain-gut function, low-grade inflammation, intestinal permeability (aka leaky gut) and psychosocial factors. Another consideration is stress. In fact, stress has been shown to play a starring role in the life of IBS sufferers. Stressful life events, anxiety and depression are all well documented in IBS patients. Additionally,...

In order to understand the experience of stress, we need to consider what type of beings we are. We are water beings. Many people have heard the statistic that our physical bodies are between 65-75% water, but that estimate is by weight. When we compute the number of molecules in our bodies, it is closer to 90% water. Some examples of this: 83% of your blood, 90% of your brain, 90% of your nerves, and 99% of the cerebrospinal fluid (which surrounds your brain and spinal cord) is water. This proportion changes over the course of one’s lifetime. It...

There are two ideas that I have found to be most valuable in my practice: one is to see every client as perfect, whole, and complete no matter what they are experiencing and the other is one of the tenets of Craniosacral therapy: that every person’s inner wisdom knows what it needs to heal; that the practitioner holds a space for that to happen. I remind myself of these two pieces of wisdom when I am working. I truly believe it is helpful. Sometimes I can feel a person’s tissue change in my hands as I imagine it letting...

Whenever I’m experiencing a high level of stress, I find that getting outside shifts my perspective and allows me to slow down and breathe deeper. The rhythm of the natural world is a drastic change from what most of us experience each day. It’s easy to get consumed by technology but taking a break outside away from all your devices can be a vital time to recharge your own batteries. In Maine, we’re fortunate to have so many wonderful places to make this environmental connection. Hanging out by the ocean, taking a walk through the woods or even just...

It is undeniable that water is essential to human health and well-being. When your water supply comes from a private well instead of a public source it is your responsibility to protect the quality of that water. Maine has a very high well water population, with an estimated 57% of homeowners relying on private wells. This makes homeowner education for measuring water quality and implementing required corrections so important to preserving the biggest financial investment most families make – the Family Home. With well water comes a variety of elements that can cause physical effects we see, taste, and...

Free radicals – you’ve heard about them, but what are they really and how do we fight them? In a nutshell – free radicals are inflammation-causing molecules linked to everything from accelerated aging to cancer. And we create them all day long – when we exercise, engage in movement, even breathe. How do we fight them? Science indicates that antioxidants are nature’s way of counteracting toxic free radicals. Hydrogen (H) is the smallest and lightest element and when ingested acts as a natural antioxidant. You may know Dr. Nicholas Perricone for his amazing skincare line – but now he...

When I think about my past career in the traditional business world, I have both positive and negative memories. My positive memories are associated with the wonderful opportunities that I had to learn and hone top-shelf business skills. My negative memories spiral around the aggressive persona that I had to maintain to drive projects to successful completion as a female in male-energy-dominated Corporate America. I found balance for my harder business edge during the work-week by studying spirituality on the weekends. I intuited I had a deep desire to live a more authentic life that intermingled my corporate and...

Summer is upon us and it’s time to think about our skin! It is estimated that 1 in 5 of all outpatient visits to doctors in the United States are dermatological in nature. That’s 20% of all doctor’s visits — that’s a lot of skin complaints. It comes as a surprise to most people that Chinese medicine can offer a safe, effective treatment for many of these common skin complaints. How, you ask? Chinese Medicine Treats the Individual Chinese herbal medicine considers the details of each individual case to determine the best treatment plan—no two cases of eczema, psoriasis,...

Healthy glowing skin is dependent on good nutrition, exercise and rest (…snooze…) Statements like this become wallpaper in our world that don’t inspire or motivate us to want to know more for our own good. In today’s culture of health and vanity, we respond more easily to claims like “Clear Skin!” “Look younger!” “Erase wrinkles!” “Tighten sagging skin!” These great ideas are followed by the latest miracle cream, aggressive prescriptions, or expensive medical procedure. Improving or maintaining skin health appeals to all of us but let’s be more motivated to seek a complementary approach that starts from within. It...

There’s something about your water that no one is telling you, and it’s very important to your health, and fortunately there is something you can do about it. It has to do with the way that water is in nature, how it is changed when we take water from nature for our own uses, and the effects that has on our bodies. Let’s start by thinking of a snowflake (not very difficult to do here in Maine, although the summer may not be the best time to do that!) It is said that every snowflake is unique – yet...

I don’t know if you often declare that you have plenty of time but I have yet to hear anyone say those words or see them written anywhere. If you are like most of the people I’m chatting with regularly, you want more time and you never seem to get it but I’m going to suggest you’re looking for the wrong thing. If you’re like me, you consciously try to get control of time by taking things off your schedule. This makes you feel good for a short time but before you know it new things have landed on...

We certainly do not have to leave our beautiful state to find adventure here in Maine and summer brings many opportunities for many outdoor adventures. You can take a quick hour break or go on a day trip or weekend adventure to explore all that Maine has to offer. From the ocean to the lakes and rivers to mountains and numerous easy or challenging trail hikes, there is something for everyone! Do you enjoy getting out on the water? Check out kayaking with Portland Paddle or Scarborough Marsh Audubon Center where you can rent kayaks and go on guided...

For anyone who suffers with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), the road to improved gut health may feel impossible or, at the very least, a long and arduous journey. IBS is a very complicated disorder that involves many other aspects of your health and life, but there is hope and that is what this three-part article series is all about! Part One of this article series, featured in the last issue of ELMTM Maine, talked about the six contributing factors of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), how the body responds to stress and the role stress plays in IBS. Today, we...