- by Judi Longo

How is she still at the top of her game after all these years of success? How is she this timeless wonder still producing such modern, fashion-forward designs while maintaining her ageless physicality? I recently attended an evening event lead by the one and only Norma Kamali in her ultra clean, bright, white lacquered boutique on West 56th Street in NYC.

Surrounded by her plethora of passions including her powerful women’s clothing line, gorgeous bottles of olive oil and gourmet raw food, the picture of grace, elegance and modernity appeared. Enter Norma Kamali. She and her ultra-polite team gathered on this night, with an all female audience to discuss and interact on perhaps the most important of her passions, the end of the objectification of women.

She spoke with honesty and strength about redefining the modern woman. Norma Kamali created short film titled “Hey Baby” about the way women are treated by men as we walk down the street. She pointed out that we are so much more than our body image, the clothes we wear, our breast size and yet we are all judged by these physical aspects.

Norma shared her own stories of objectification and explained that, through sharing them with other women, we can empower ourselves. This is so huge for women, we all have these experiences and we usually keep them buried deep down inside.

Wellness and Women

As the night came to a close, I took my selfie with Norma Kamali and I realized she is far beyond a fashion icon. Norma Kamali truly is a superhero, a powerful woman who designs contemporary, gorgeous women’s clothing, who is devoted to eating healthy and most importantly, she is at the forefront leading the way for women in the face of objectification coming from our culture.

Norma Kamali is quietly breaking down this barrier in her graceful, elegant, modern way.

If you live in the New York area, keep an eye out for future events on thewellnesscafe.com so you share your experiences and share in the growing empowerment. You can also get involved at www.stopobjectification.com.

- by Judith Longo

Power down and live in the moment.

So now that I am back off my digital detox, seeing throngs of New Yorkers glued to their phones everywhere they go, I have made a decision to consciously cultivate a healthy relationship with my phone to avoid being a digital zombie. Here are a few methods:

- Either walk or text, never both. Not only is it annoying, it is dangerous! People get hit by cars! (Same goes for driving, one or the other!)

- Don’t mindlessly hit the refresh button in trains, cars and elevators. When you are surrounded by metal, you are inside what is known as a faraday cage. You may have seen cool tricks on the science channel where people stand inside one while effectively getting struck by lightening. They are protected because the metal cage forces all the positively charged ions to repel each outher to the outside of the cage. It also makes it tougher for electromagnetic signals to get through–like your cell signal. When your phone can’t connect, it tries even harder, this blasting you with more electromagnetic radiation, of which the effects may be cancerous tumors and other maladies.

speaking of…

- Don’t carry your cell in your pocket–especially on subways and elevators. To protect yourself against radiation, it is best to keep the phone a distance from your flesh, your organs and especially from your private parts (if you value your fertility that is.) The signal power follows the law of electromagnetic field strength, which is exponential. The power is inversely proportionate to the square of the distance. What that means is even a few inches can reduce the signal strength significantly, although to truly have the “safe” distance, it would be best to carry your phone in a Radio Flyer red wagon behind you.

- Don’t use headphones: ironically those don’t help, they act as antennae to concentrate the signal right into your head. Instead try a Native Union Pop phone which blocks radiation, or other alternatives like the Smart&Safe Hollow Air Tube Hands-free Headset.

Most of all, instead of obsessively checking for who across the globe “liked” your post, try being present and talking to the people in the room. I have found the synchronistic in my life have occurred when I am most present.

If you live in New York City, check out Sunset Switch-Off Tuesdays, an event hosted by the W Hotel downtown where guests are encouraged to to power down their phones and live in the moment. (Think about bringing a notebook and a pen in case you meet anyone interesting!)

The Smartphone is an incredible tool if we use it well, full disclosure, I wrote this post on the way home on the train in notepad, haha. I use the camera, the voice recorder, the MP3 player, it has replaced a whole army of devices. But it is also very addictive, so join me in developing a healthy relationship with your phone. It does not need to be always-on.

- by Jon Heinrich

Every morning when we wake up, there is a large buildup of toxins on the tongue, resulting from the body’s metabolic processes throughout the night. This buildup consists primarily of bacteria but also contains dead cells, food and fungi. Not only is this a major cause of bad breath, if left alone, the bacteria could cause any number of dental health issues, but also puts additional burden on the body’s immune system.

So instead, first thing in the morning you can use a tongue cleaner—or even your toothbrush, although I would recommend a dedicated instrument because your toothbrush will need frequent replacement.

In Ayurvedic medicine and in ancient India, the toxic buildup on the tongue is known as Ama, toxic byproducts from from the digestion process. While you sleep, the body detoxifies itself and deposits the toxins on the tongue. In addition to fresh breath and oral hygiene, some physicians see a link between oral health and diseases such as cardiovascular problems, pneumonia (due to breathing the toxic bacteria in the mouth), birth problems, increased risk of diabetes, osteoporosis and infertility problems for men.

Just try it and you will never go back. Once you scrape off the gross layer of junk on your tonugue first thing in the morning and feel what its like to have a fresh pink tongue, you will never go back!

You can get them at most pharmacies, or here on Amazon

- by Jon Heinrich

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tongue_cleaner
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ama_(ayurveda)

The first major topic in the Spiral Upward handbook is a foundational philosophy that, in order to thrive in this regulatory landscape that prioritizes corporate profits over environmental side effects, it is our responsibility to keep our bodies clean.

The core philosophy of this topic is “thy body is thy temple.” The body is the interface between your soul and the physical world. If that interface is clogged full of toxic residue, then you won’t be able to realize your full potential—neither mentally, physically, or spiritually.

We will cover other topics around what you put in your body, and other ways to take care of yourself as other chapters in the guidebook, however embracing the principle of regular detoxing is a core practice for those that are looking to spiral upward. The lack of detoxing will leave you accumulating toxins whether you have the most pristine diet in the world or not. Unfortunately environmental toxins are all around us.

The main organs we are supporting with a detox effort are your liver and kidneys, which are the garbage collectors of the body. They filter out the toxins left from chemicals in the system, alcohol and metabolic waste, which is a natural by-product of the body’s normal processes.

How do you treat your Temple?

Cleaning out your body with a regular detox regimen does not end with physical benefits through healthy lifestyle. Spiritual health and physical health go hand in hand. Like Sting said, “We’re just spirits in the material world.”.

I spoke to Brian Haas, esteemed pianist of Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey about detoxing and diet. His mother attributes her victory over cancer to changing her diet. While a life threatening disease is certainly poignant, it is more than what may happen at the end of your life:

“This is the house of our spirit,” says Brian, if you think of it in those terms, it makes sense. The body is the interface between your soul and the physical world. If that interface is clogged full of toxic residue, then you won’t be able to realize your full potential—neither mentally, physically, or spiritually.

“Jesus said your body is a temple. If you treat your body like a temple, it spreads into the rest of your life. Every aspect of your life becomes holy; everything you do is holy.”

Detox to realize your full potential today

“The mind, body and soul are connected,” Haas explains.

“If you don’t allow your body to operate at its full potential, how do we even know what our minds are capable of? I’m all about living like a real human and realizing my full potential. I’m back here [on the earth] for some reason so I want to be the best human I can be. All of this is so simple.”

After hearing him behind the grand piano, I know why he’s here. But its even larger than spreading his consciousness expanding jazz. There is a larger purpose.

“The reason we’re here right now is to help in the healing process of the earth. So, we have to turn ourselves into superheroes, we have to turn ourselves into ultra-humans. We have to find our true potential.

“Jesus said ‘Don’t you understand that you’re all Gods?’ Simple; we’re all Gods, we’re all creators. We create the world around us. And if we’re toxic, if we’re poisoning ourselves, we’re going to create an awful world. Look around, we made this.

“The way I look at it, if you only feed yourself goodness and love, you only create goodness and love.”

Creating a toxic free reality

If you are reading this, you know that you create your own reality through the law of attraction. Even in 1937 Napoleon Hill, in his famous business book, Think and Grow Rich, came to that conclusion. So if you want to attract a clean, healthy, pristine life, the first step is to go within and create that clean, healthy, pristine temple that serves as the seat of your soul on this planet.

As we progress with the guidebook, we’ll introduce many ways to help detox. If you want an easy method right away, try Apple cider vinegar or freshly squeezed lemon in water first thing in the morning upon rising. This regular practice will help your liver flush out all the toxins it accumulated over the night while you were resting. This is a great way to alkalize your body as well, but overall, your liver will thank you.

Stay tuned for more on the topic of detoxing and happy spring cleaning!

- by Jon Heinrich
- Photo by Jon Heinrich

Bibliography:
Haas, Brian. Interview. October 16, 2003.
Essene Gospel Of Peace
Painting of Jesus meditating from reference in: Yogananda, Pramahansa. “The Yoga of Jesus”

If you pay careful attention to what you put into your body—but more importantly, what not to put into your body—your health will increase dramatically and as a bonus you’ll instantly upgrade your chances of not becoming one of the 42% Americans that gets cancer.

Its simple.

To begin the healing process, the first thing to do is take the following items out of your diet completely: sugar, alcohol, dairy, processed food and factory (non-organically raised) meat.

Let’s take a look at what meat contains that adds to your risk of cancer and other diseases.

There are four major groups of toxins found in factory meat that you should be aware of: pesticides, antibiotics, growth hormones, and saturated fat.

Pesticides

If there is one reason to consider a vegetarian lifestyle, it is the chemical buildup found in non-organically raised meats, known as bioaccumulation. Produce grown non-organically in the United States is doused with pesticides like Monsanto’s Roundup.

The advent of pesticide use in large-scale farming was introduced just after World War II to increase productivity and drive profits. Unfortunately, no long-term studies have been conducted to determine the ramifications of such use. And thanks to Monsanto, we are still using such toxins more than ever.

One such chemical present in our food chain today is dioxin. You may have heard of this chemical. It is the contaminant in Agent Orange, the defoliant used in the Vietnam War that was found to cause birth defects in children of exposed parents. As far back as 1974, a representative of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) testified before congress that dioxin is “…by far the most toxic chemical known to mankind.” But this has not stopped its use. On October 17, 2003, the Boston Globe reported that the EPA, under the Bush administration, refused to enforce a new limit to the use of dioxin-laced sludge as a fertilizer on farms, forests, parks, and golf courses. Dioxin has been shown to cause cancer, birth defects, miscarriages, and in the worst cases, death.

This has been bioaccumulating in your chicken wings and its only the beginning.

Bioaccumulation

Here is how bioaccumulation works. When you or I eat such a piece of corn, one dose of that chemical enters our body. The same goes with farm animals. As a product of the food chain, the cow that your Big Mac came from consumed hundreds of meals coated in dangerous pesticides. Unfortunately, it does not pass through the animal’s digestive tract, but rather bioaccumulates in the tissues of the animal over and over again. By the time the animal is slaughtered, it has bioaccumulated every dose of foul pollutants it has ingested.

But that’s not the end of the cycle. When you consume that flesh, that lifetime of toxins are passed into your body, and the struggle of breaking them down, is passed to your immune system.

Antibiotics

Antibiotics are used in factory farms, to keep the animals healthy despite their rancid conditions. The New England Journal of Medicine pointed out that farmers are using the same antibiotics that are used to treat human infections. This is a problem because bacteria are becoming resistant to antibiotics in the medical arena.

In a 1999 study on the impact of agricultural antibiotics, analysts linked a rise, from 1 percent to 10 percent, in antibiotic resistance in bacteria, to the 1995 approval of antibiotics used in poultry—antibiotics in the same class as Cipro. (Cipro, used to treat anthrax, would be a bad thing to be resistant to.)

Researchers at UCS estimate that roughly 24 million pounds, or 70 percent of the antibiotics in the United States are fed to healthy livestock. “‘Although the 3 million pounds [prescribed to humans] are thought to be responsible for the greater contribution to antibiotic-resistant disease, the 24 million pounds cannot be ignored,’ for reasons of sheer volume, USC’s Margaret Mellon said.”

While this, according to my research, is not tied directly to cancer, it compromises our ability to fight off bacterial infections. Such an infection only compromises the body’s immune system when it needs it most—to combat malignant cells. And malignant cells are what you’ll get from the next popular additive to your Thanksgiving turkey.

Growth hormones

In the United States it is legal to give cattle hormones such as estrogens, testosterone, progesterone, and others. Well, cancer cells are fueled by estrogen. Giving hormones directly to the animals is like adding fuel to the fire. One reason why the European Union hasn’t bought meat produced in the U.S. since January 1, 1989, is the twenty-fold increase in estrogen levels.

The British Medical Journal reported harmful effects of growth hormones in meat involve developmental, neurobiological, genetoxic, and carcinogenic repercussions, and that even small residues of such hormones increase the risk of cancer. How do you like your steak, medium or well done?

Saturated fat

The final element contained in meat that increases your risks of cancer is saturated fat. There are no shortage of scientific studies that connect animal fat with cancers of the lung, colon, rectum, breast, endometrium, and prostate.

One such study done in Britain over 12 years found vegetarians to have cancer rates 40 percent lower than non-vegetarians. The study tested 6,000 vegetarians against a group of meat-eaters similar in body weight, social class, and smoking patterns. Another study done over eleven years in Germany concluded that cancer rates were less than half among vegetarians. For those that avoided meat for over 20 years, their cancer rates were the lowest of all.

A vegetarian diet is one of the best ways of minimizing the toxic chemicals, enemy free radicals and preventing malignant cells from growing in the body.

Aside from lengthening your life, the biggest benefit is the quality of life, the clarity, the good karma, and the added sensitivity to subtle energies. We will save that for another segment. In the mean time, think about adding vibrant veggies instead of dead flesh and your body will be so so happy.

- by Jon Heinrich

Bibliography:

Gorbach, Sherwood. “Antimicrobial Use in Animal Feed—Time to Stop”. (Editorial). The New England Journal of Medicine, October 18, 2001. v345i16 p1202(2).
Haas, Brian. Interview. October 16, 2003.
Melina, Vesanto M.S., R.D. Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.Healthy Eating for Life: To Prevent and Treat Cancer. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2002.
Nixon, Daniel W. M.D. The Cancer Recovery Eating Plan: The Right Foods to Help Fuel Your Recovery. Times Books, Random House, 1994.
Pianin, Erik. “EPA Won’t Regulate Use of Dioxin-Laced Sludge as Fertilizer”.The Boston Globe, October 18, 2003.
Quillen, Patirck Ph.D., RD. CNS. Beating Cancer with Nutrition. Tulsa, Oklahoma: Nutrition Times Press, Inc., 1994.
Robbins, John. Diet for a New America. Walpole, NH: Stillpoint, 1987.
Tagilaferri, Mary, Issac Cohen and Devu Tripathy. Breast Cancer Beyond Convention.
Vogin, Gary MD. WebMD, December, 2001. http://my.webmd.com/content/article/9/1811_50449.htm?lastselectedguid=%7B5FE84E90-BC77-4056-A91C-9531713CA348%7D
Watson, Rory. “EU Says Growth Hormones Pose Health Risk”. British Medical Association, British Medical Journal, May 29, 1999. v318i7196 p1442.

Donna explains in her book Cultured Food for Life that kombucha is a secret elixir of life existing for thousands of years. It is produced by adding a kombucha culture, otherwise known as a SCOBY, a Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast, into a sweet tea mixture and allowing it to brew for about a week. That is it! The SCOBY processes the sugar much like yeast consumes sugar when making alcohol, except instead of beer or wine, the final product is a tart, carbonated beverage with very little sugar and a lot of health benefits.

So what exactly does this health tonic contain and what does it do for the body?

Detoxification

During the process of fermentation, the SCOBY produces glucuronic acid, which is a key nutrient the body naturally produces in the liver, used to eliminate toxins through the kidneys. Kombucha assists the liver and pancreas fight off toxicity in the body.

While detoxing alone can help the body fight off terminal diseases, studies have shown that glucuronic acid alone helps prevent cancer. Of course there is no magic bullet for cancer prevention, but detoxing and alkalizing the body are a big help.

Alkalizing

Today’s American diet is full of sugar, meat, processed foods and alcohol, all very acidic foods. While not considered a disease itself, blood acidosis is the root of many prevalent diseases such as diabetes, arthritis and cancer.

Kombucha is an alkaline forming food, which brings balance back to the blood. Cancer cells can not grow in an alkaline environment so the more you balance your blood back away from acid towards basic (aka alkaline) the more resilient you’ll be against cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure and any number of health challenges seen with blood acidosis.

Digestive health and probiotics

One of the big benefits of adding kombucha to your diet is adding an army of good bacteria to your system to fight off the bad bacteria. As Donna explains in her book, when the bad bacteria start to outnumber the good bacteria, that is when disease sets in. But when you are in balance, and add probiotics to your diet, like kombucha and cultured vegetables, you will start to experience incredible health, well being, mental clarity and radiance.

One reason you’ll see celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow, Reese Witherspoon and Heather Graham drinking kombucha is because of its reputation as a “beauty elixir”. One of the well known kombucha founders GT tells the story of how his mother was known as the kombucha lady because of her “healthy glow.” But the real benefit came when she overcame an aggressive form of breast cancer, drinking kombucha to keep her strong before, during and after her cancer experience.

Immune and energy boosting

In addition to the probiotics, kombucha contains high levels of B-vitamins and amino acids, which are important building blocks for all sorts of body processes. You’ll notice a boost of energy when drinking kombucha as the B-vitamins help convert food into energy. The more energy you have, the more you’re able to fight off colds, flus and other more serious diseases.

Additional health benefits of kombucha include:

- improving eyesight and cataracts
- relieving headaches and migraines (and hangovers)
- improved digestion
- help with seasonal allergies
- appetite suppression
- helping to heal ulcers (by killing h. pylori, a bacteria that causes ulcers)
- joint health (kombucha also contains glucosamines, which help to prevent arthritis)

Making Kombucha

The first step in trying this healthy elixir is to try some store bought kombucha from a brand like GT’s, which can be found at health stores all over. If you are interested in making your own kombucha, then you really start getting the benefits. I would recommend you check out Donna’s site for the basics and she can even set you up with all the basics, including a SCOBY of your own. All it takes is:

- a 1 gallon glass jar
- breathable cloth napkin to cover the jar opening
- rubber band
- SCOBY starter
- black or green tea
- sugar (preferably raw turbinado sugar)

You will boil one gallon of filtered water, add five tea bags for 15 minutes, add 1 cup of raw sugar, let the mixture cool overnight. (Always take care to keep everything as clean and sterile as possible and avoid any exposure to the air that is not necessary. We are working with a highly nutritive mix that some mold would just love to nest on if you’re not careful.)
When the tea is cool to the touch, add it to the jar, add the SCOBY and one cup of existing kombucha, rubber band the cloth over the top and let it sit 5-10 days on the counter. You’ll have to taste it occasionally to see when it is not too sweet and not too sour. When you have a good taste, you’ll bottle up the mix in individual glass bottles and put them in the fridge to stop the fermentation process. Voila! You’ll have kombucha by the gallon!

Cheers to your health, and please visit Donna’s site before you get started to ensure a fun, successful process!

- by Jon Heinrich

Sources:
Schwenk, Donna. Cultured Food for Life, Hay House Publishing, 2013
Other sources linked directly from citation

To get all the nutrition out of the veggies like beets, carrots and daikon, you can clean them and either steam them or sauté the tops. All you need for a delicious addition of greens to your meal is a little Shoyu or Tamari, the gluten free version of soy sauce.

Today’s macrobiotic, gluten free recipe features beautiful beet tops, salmon and baked jeweled yams, prepared simply, packing tons of healthy minerals, protein, antioxidants and fiber.

Ingredients:

- tops of 2 or 3 beets* (we saved the actual beets for another recipe)
- large jeweled yam*
- wild Atlantic Sockeye salmon
- chopped garlic*
- grapeseed oil
- sea salt
- onion*
- barbecue sauce

* All organic, in accordance to macrobiotics

Pre-heat oven to 425F.

Step 1:

Clean yams and get them in the oven for at least 45 minutes.

Step 2:

Prepare the beet tops. Separate the stems from the leaves. Chop up the stems and lightly sauté just the stems with chopped garlic and sea salt for about 4-5 minutes until tender.

Step 3:

While the beet stems are cooking, sauté your onions and fry up the salmon in a skillet, add barbecue sauce to taste.

Step 4:

When the baked yam comes out of the oven, add beet leaves on top of stems and sauté for another 2 minutes.

Put it all together and you have this delicious little feast!

Recipe by Judith Longo

While the propagation instinct is built into all species, the entire animal kingdom does not hold the capacity to love. Your cat may act as a romantic troubadour as he passionately licks the neck of his feline companion, but not all animals have such tendencies.

Looking at the biology of the brain, not all creatures have the faculty of love. (Thank God we do!) In fact, before the reptiles evolved into mammals, it is uncertain if any life on the earth could sustain the emotion of love. The physiology involved came about when the reptilian brain, or brain stem, was joined by the limbic brain. The evolution of this brain structure marked several advancements, among those, the awareness of the young.

The disposition of the parent animal towards their offspring, is an indicator scientists use to gauge the emotional capacity of a species. After all, what is more fundamental than parental love? For example, reptiles simply drop their eggs into a nest somewhere and walk away. If the mother is lucky enough to be around when the young hatch, she may be in for a tasty snack. The willingness to eat your own baby, is probably a good indication that the maternal love is not there.

Another evolution that came along with the limbic brain, is the ability of the young to verbalize the displeasure of being left without the parent animal. For example, when you take a baby gecko from its mother, it does nothing. When you take a baby kitten from its mother, it will cry out in loneliness, indicating that feeling is there.

But we all know that love doesn’t come from the brain. It comes from the heart.

Finding and spreading love is a lifelong task we should all continue with fervor. Evolution has brought us this miraculous power, and the progress of humanity depends on us spreading it further. True love should permeate every aspect of life, every day of the year. It is the ever-pervasive, omni-present capacity we all have to feel compassion for the rest of man- and woman-kind.

Perhaps the most important challenge to tackle as a culture as we enter this Year of the Horse, is to nurture and express unconditional love for each other, especially those we disagree with. If we can start expressing love for others, so many of the ills that plague our modern world like war, poverty, and religious battles will melt away.

So whether you are having a romantic Valentine’s dinner with your special someone tonight, or are enjoying singles night in solidarity with your uncommitted brethren, remember that we have come a long way down the evolutionary road to enjoy the capacity to love, so let’s just just let it flow today, shall we?!

Love,

Jon

References:
- “A General Theory of Love“, Lewis, Thomas, Fari Amini & Richard Lannon.

Photography by Jon Heinrich, copyright 2014

Love,
Jon