Tag: health

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Tropical Allies For Your Home and Landscape

Power Point for A More Sustainable Home

Create a Healthy Home or Office with Tropical Ornamentals

Choose these Tropical Allies to Purify Your In-door Environment

Weeping fig (Ficus benjamina) A ficus in your living room can help filter out pollutants that typically accompany carpeting and furniture such as formaldehyde, benzene and trichloroethylene. Caring for a ficus can be tricky, but once you get the watering and light conditions right, they will last a long time.

Red-edged dracaena (Dracaena marginata) The red edges of this easy dracaena bring a pop of color, and the shrub can grow to reach your ceiling. This plant is best for removing xylene, trichloroethylene and formaldehyde, which can be introduced to indoor air through lacquers, varnishes and gasoline.

Golden pothos (Scindapsus aures) Another powerful plant for tackling formaldehyde, this fast-growing vine will create a cascade of green from a hanging basket. Consider it for your garage since car exhaust is filled with formaldehyde. (Bonus: Golden pothos, also know as devil’s ivy, stays green even when kept in the dark.)

Snake plant (Sansevieria trifasciata ‘Laurentii’) Also known as mother-in-law’s tongue, this plant is one of the best for filtering out formaldehyde, which is common in cleaning products, toilet paper, tissues and personal care products. Put one in your bathroom — it’ll thrive with low light and steamy humid conditions while helping filter out air pollutants.

Aloe (Aloe vera) This easy-to-grow, sun-loving succulent helps clear formaldehyde and benzene, which can be a byproduct of chemical-based cleaners, paints and more. Aloe is a smart choice for a sunny kitchen window. Beyond its air-clearing abilities, the gel inside an aloe plant can help heal cuts and burns.

Bamboo palm (Chamaedorea sefritzii) Also known as the reed palm, this small palm thrives in shady indoor spaces and often produces flowers and small berries. It tops the list of plants best for filtering out both benzeneand trichloroethylene. They’re also a good choice for placing around furniture that could be off-gassing formaldehyde.

Heart leaf philodendron (Philodendron oxycardium This climbing vine plant isn’t a good option if you have kids or pets — it’s toxic when eaten, but it’s a workhorse for removing all kinds ofVOCs. Philodendrons are particularly good at battling formaldehyde from sources like particleboard.

Peace lily (Spathiphyllum) Shade and weekly watering are all the peace lily needs to survive and produce blooms. It topped NASA’s list for removing all three of most common VOCs — formaldehyde, benzeneand trichloroethylene. It can also combat toluene and xylene.

Warneck dracaena (Dracaena deremensis ‘Warneckii’) Combat pollutants associated with varnishes and oils with this dracaena. The Warneckii grows inside easily, even without direct sunlight. With striped leaves forming clusters atop a thin stem, this houseplant can be striking, especially if it reaches its potential height of 12 feet.

Resources taken from www.mnn.com (mother natures network)

HOUSEPLANTS HELP CLEAN INDOOR AIR

 

 

by Deborah L. Brown  Extension Horticulturist

Our space program has led the way to a fascinating and important discovery about the role of houseplants indoors. NASA has been researching methods of cleansing the atmosphere in future space stations to keep them fit for human habitation over extended periods of time. They’ve found that many common houseplants and blooming potted plants help fight pollution indoors. They’re reportedly able to scrub significant amounts of harmful gases out of the air, through the everyday processes of photosynthesis. Some pollutants are also absorbed and rendered harmless in the soil.

Plant physiologists already knew that plants absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen as part of the photosynthetic process. Now researchers have found many common houseplants absorb benzene, formaldehyde and trichloroethylene, as well.

Chances are, all houseplants are beneficial in this regard, at least to a certain degree, though they haven’t all been tested. Of those tested, not all have proven equally efficient cleaners. Nor can we assume all harmful pollutants can be removed in this manner.

Some houseplants are better at removing formaldehyde from the air, while others do a better job on benzene; none is much help when it comes to tobacco smoke. But there are enough known plants that do a good job of removing pollutants from the air we breathe to cause us to view houseplants as more than just an attractive feature in decorating the interior environment.

These are three of the worst offenders found in relatively new homes and offices. Newer buildings are constructed largely with man-made building materials and furnished with synthetic carpeting, fabrics, laminated counters, plastic coated wallpaper, and other materials known to “off-gas” pollutants into the interior environment.

The advent of the “energy crisis” a number of years back has increased the problems associated with indoor pollutants. Newly constructed buildings are better insulated and sealed tightly to conserve heat or air-conditioning. While it does save both money and energy, this new found efficiency has its downside in that pollutants may be trapped indoors and have less opportunity to dissipate to the outside. The phrase coined to describe this unfortunate result is “sick building syndrome.”

If your home is old enough to be leaky and drafty, you may not need to worry about “sick-building syndrome.” But if you live in a newer, energy-efficient home with windows and doors tightly sealed, or you work in a building where the air feels stale and circulation seems poor, the liberal use of houseplants seems like an easy way to help make a dent in the problem.

NASA scientists studied nineteen different plant species for two years. Of the specimens studied, only two were primarily flowering plants; chrysanthemums and gerbera daisies. Though commonly used to bring a touch of color indoors, particularly for holidays and special occasions, these plants are generally not kept indoors very long. After they’re through blooming they’re usually discarded or planted outdoors.

Most of the plants tested are “true” houseplants, kept indoors year-round in our climate, though they may be placed outdoors during warm summer months. One is the common succulent, Aloe vera (now renamed Aloe barbadensis), also known as “medicine plant.” Many people already have one in a bright kitchen window because of the soothing, healing properties its viscous inner tissue has on burns, bites and skin irritations.

Most of the plants listed below evolved in tropical or sub-tropical forests, where they received light filtered through the branches of taller trees. Because of this, their leaf composition allows them to photosynthesize efficiently under relatively low light conditions, which in turn allows them to process gasses in the air efficiently.

Soil and roots were also found to play an important role in removing air-borne pollutants. Micro-organisms in the soil become more adept at using trace amounts of these materials as a food source, as they were exposed to them for longer periods of time. Their effectiveness is increased if lower leaves that cover the soil surface are removed, so there is as much soil contact with the air as possible. Best results were obtained with small fans that pulled air through a charcoal filter in the soil, cleaning more than foliage could alone or in combination with a “passive” pot of soil. Even without the fan and filter, however, houseplants did remove trace pollutants from the air.

The NASA studies generated the recommendation that you use 15 to 18 good-sized houseplants in 6 to 8-inch diameter containers to improve air quality in an average 1,800 square foot house. The more vigorously they grow, the better job they’ll do for you.

With the exception of dwarf banana, a fairly unusual plant in this area, the bulk of the list of plants NASA tested reads like a “Who’s Who” of the interior plant world. They are:

  •  Ficus benjamina (Weeping fig)
  •   Hedera helix English ivy
  • Chlorophytum comosum spider plant
  • Epipiremnum aureum golden pothos
  • Spathiphyllum `Mauna Loa’ peace lily
  • Aglaonema modestum Chinese evergreen
  • Chamaedorea sefritzii bamboo or reed palm
  • Sansevieria trifasciata snake plant
  • Philodendron scandens `oxycardium’ heartleaf philodendron
  • Philodendron selloum selloum philodendron
  • Philodendron domesticum elephant ear philodendron
  • Dracaena marginata red-edged dracaena
  • Dracaena fragrans `Massangeana’ cornstalk dracaena
  •  Dracaena deremensis `Janet Craig’ Janet Craig dracaena
  • Dracaena deremensis `Warneckii’ Warneck dracaena
  • Ficus benjamina weeping fig

(Information taken from the NASA report Interior Landscape Plants for Indoor Air Pollution Abatement, September 1989, by Dr. B.C. Wolverton, Anne Johnson, and Keith Bounds, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, John C. Stennis Space Center, Stennis Space Center, MS 39529-6000.)

H110I Reviewed 1/99

 

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Breaking Boundaries through Nourishing Traditions in Food and Culture!

Hopewood Holistic Health & The Center for Food and Culture of Bowling Green Ohio brings your this Eco-Culinary and Garden Experience in Belize.  The Food and Culture Center’s main goal is to nourish connections people make to food, through food and the implications these connections have for our communities, environment, and quality of life.  What a better way to understand ourselves and others than tour their country and  experience their stories through their food, herbs and gardens.

During this journey, Doctor Lucy Long a professor in Eco-tourism and Foodways at Bowling Green University and Rebecca Wood of Hopewood Holistic Health will share their love of food, it’s nourishing tradition, ethnobotancial uses and foodways as we tour the country of Belize this winter. We invite you to join us as we discover the Maya secrets of copal resin in healing, the role of rue for medicine and magic and how red roses or hollyhocks might stop blood flow. Taste the spices of the Creole, Garifuna, East Indian and Maya in their traditional dishes with (garnochos, tamales, hudnut, serre, recado, fy jacks or dukuna) and share their history, stories, fears and dreams.

We’ll walk among the tropical gardens, milpas, monocultures and polycultures then discuss first hand, the pro’s, con’s and concerns of present and past farming techniques with the farmers and families that tend them. You’ll taste cocoa from the pod, sucking the sweet white pulp from your fingers before you bite into the bitter chocolate of the bean. We’ll pondering the trade routes and traditions of chocolate; the maya ‘drink of the gods’ and why the beans, once a currency for trade is now a major part of international trade and industry.

Each morning we’ll wake up to the many colorful birds of the tropics, the aroma of coffee and then discuss our days adventure as we sip our morning brew with a tipico breakfast of tropical fruits, gallo pinto and plantain. We will tour the shade grown coffee coppices, so important in trade and livelihood of Belizeans and indigenous throughout the world and see and hear about impacts and consequences of our love affair with coffee and chocolate and why is the concept of fair trade, worker owned, value added is so important to their lives of many. Or, we might find ourselves floating down a lazy jungle river, comparing the beauty the land use and the importance of water and water ways, both here and at home.

We will tantalize our taste buds with a plates of’ beans and rice’, ‘rice and beans’ or your choice ‘stew beans and rice’ with the obligatory dash of Marie Sharp’s many hot and exotic sauces and then try to count the multitude of ways to prepare and savor plantain (a banana relative), coconut and the many regional specialties.

We are bound to have more than one version of a Belizean Boil up; a dinner of corn, beans and pumpkin (squash) or cassava tubers and yams with hand made tortillas (made from you) on the comal. The variation will never bore you as the roots, spices and choice of fish or poultry (for the non vegetarians) vary with each culture and tradition.

Each day we will discover the importance and necessity of food , how it’s planted, harvested, prepared and the stories, prayers and cycles of the moon that dictates these long traditions. We will experience the diversity of the tropics, taste the sweet juice of fresh squeezed cane and see why some farmers grow the many flora just because they are muy bonita as my friend Don Saul says, “The flowers, they are so beautiful, they just make you feel better when you work so hard”.

A special part of our adventure, as always, is daily opportunities to slow down, with gentle yoga, qi-gong or nature meditation. The exploration of art, music, dance and craft unique to each culture in Belize will also give us pause. Rachel Clark another Holistic Journey guide will help you integrate all of these experiences through her Getting Closer to Nature sessions. These optional sessions are open to anyone and will entice you to tap into your inner artist and create your personal journal of your adventure.

I can guarantee you will enjoy the company and culture of those who will tell their tales and share their lives with us throughout this journey. We will nourish ourselves through food, art, music but also by expanding our insights into others as we learn what brings people of all cultures to the table and how breaking bread or folding tortillas helps bridge the culture gap through commonality, laughter and life’s stories. It’s time to take time. For a better world and a journey you won’t forget contact Rebecca Wood for more information on the Dec. 10-20 or Feb 18-28 trips. becaherbtravel@gmail.com or check us out at www.hopewoodholistichealht.org or hopewoodhealth@facebook.com.

 

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Bound For Belize

From Hollyhocks to Hibiscus; Belize Bound-Join in the Adventure!

You Betta Belize it! Holistic Journeys is offering two amazing Eco-Cultural experiences for those with a sense of adventure, love of plants, ethnic food, art, music, history and of course the beauty of tropical nature. Pick the time that’s best for you and your family, but pick the time, these 10 day inclusive adventures are filling fast. Either adventure (Dec. 10-20 The Flavors of Belize and Feb. 18-28, A Plant Lovers Journey through Time and Tradition) will immerse you in the diverse culture of Belize; the Maya, the Creole, the Garifuna and more. Prepare yourself for taste sensations, hearth fire aromas, jungle sights and sounds and healing sun, sand and time, yes time, when was the last time you took some time just for yourself and your family. You can choose to participate in the many activities Holistic Journeys has in store for you or just relax in a hammock, with palm fronds dancing in the breeze and toucans flying in the trees.

Rebecca Wood and guest hosts will ensure your expectations will be met with comfortable, culturally unique accommodations and a choice of diverse experiences to meet your level of interest. Tour healing gardens and art parks, walk with Rosita Arvigo along the Panti Jungle trail, enjoy open air family style meals of tropical fruits, coffee, curry, fresh caught sea food, hand-made tortillas and rice & beans served Belizean style. Picture yourself cave tubing, snorkeling, kayaking a jungle river, enjoying the view a top a Mayan Ruin or walking through coffee and chocolate farms while you nibble locally harvested and prepared chocolate (food of the Gods). One thing is for certain, you will see Belize from all angles, cultures, land and air and you will return with a new perspective on people, places and yourself.

As an Herbalist, Ethnobotanist and Natural Health Care Professional, Rebecca will share her joy and knowledge of pan-American and unique plants, how they are used traditionally and how you can use them in your everyday life. So find out how hollyhocks and hibiscus can be made into a tasty healing tea or how the magic of marigold or man vine might just be for you. You’ll be busy, but every Holistic Journeys trip includes daily wellness options of yoga, qi gong, nature meditation and reflection time, join in or sleep in but don’t miss this exploration of one of the natures best kept secrets; Belize! It’s time to take time, for more information contact Rebecca at becaherbtravel@gmail.org.

 

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A Journey of Yoga-Dance Your Dance


By Rebecca Wood

            Being drawn to yoga in my early 20’s was natural.  I came to it from youthful endeavors of dance, gymnastics, swimming and good body awareness.  I also brought all the early injuries incurred from those activities but hidden in youthful exuberance and vitality.  Coupled with a few auto accidents, a predisposition for excess and the need and ability to be able to ‘do it all’ and you have a great recipe for deep injury and chronic pain.  I looked to yoga as a way to keep my flexibility, to lessen the pain in my back and neck and yes to be in a part of the ‘now’.  I discovered I was quite able to do the postures, but the breath work and mediation… eeehhh really do I have to?  I wanted the asana, so the asana I got, but I soon drifted back into other sports and work related venues-running, backpacking, weight training, rock-climbing, biking, paddling and the back to land movement…Oh my aching back.  I still did my asana, but not with awareness, not with breath, really just as another sport.  I pushed through this and every activity- get this mostly ‘holding my breath’ and yes exacerbating old and incurring new injuries.

Perhaps it was a personality thing? I was fun, reckless, daring and definitely ‘type A’ in all pursuits and ultimately an unhappy camper.  Relationships started and stopped, jobs came and went, I completed advanced degrees, but happiness, self-satisfaction and a sense of myself did not come, and the injuries and pain continued.  I found peace nature and only in nature is where I could slow down, focus and get a glimpse of who I was.   So, I spent many years paddling, backpacking and working in outward bound type jobs ‘being ‘in nature, but still not being me.   That sense of place, that sense of peace eluded me.

In my late 30’s my life was a train wreck, one more foundered relationship, my back and neck issues were at a peak, numbness, tingling, pain.  I should have bought stock in chiropractics and  MRI’s but no relief was in sight and still I pushed on -run, workout, play hard and luckily,  fell back into to yoga.

It was a local Iyengar class, and interestingly I still practice and study  with Linda today (I just turned 56).  Within a few months of regular practice my heart began to open and my body responded.   However, after months of steady practice my old personality traits took over and I began to embrace yoga with vigor and Iyengar was it.  While flexibility returned and a new circle of friends emerged, I still struggled with the breath and mediation unless I was outside.  I still really only embraced the postural aspects of yoga and the yoga talk.   I pushed, and let teachers push me even when joints where screaming, I realized  I was embracing yoga as a type A- egocentric practitioner and new injuries began to occur.  I wasn’t paying attention though  healing some aspects, getting stronger and more flexible (perhaps flexible to the point of instability), I was also getting older.  Ignoring that bodies change with time, I continued to push ignoring what one needs before real healing can occur.

Luckily,  I found workshops with Angela and Victor, a playful, inward and restorative yoga and immersed myself in the partner practice of Letha and Thai yoga.  My perspective and need was shifting  I was fortunate (or was I ready) to find my way to Nosara Yoga in Costa Rica on sabbatical from stress about five years ago.  Stress is one of the key factors in healing injuries, it is imperative to find a way to manage stress. I feel like it was here my practice deepened.  It was through the insight and instruction, the care and love in which Don and Amba facilitated their classes,  I began to understand the need to go inward for the answers.  I liked that their approach meshed with Angela and Victor’s which encouraged yoga from the inside out, to witness, to take responsibility, to play.

Continuing my journey and dance with yoga has recently brought me to Yin and Self Awakening techniques.   This has given me the freedom to embrace who I am, where I am and to give myself permission to explore, to be and to share.  I feel this is my Yoga.  It facilitates the union of mind-body-spirit and nurtures how we embrace and interact in community, in nature and our surroundings.

As my yoga journey continues to unfold, I feel it’s a dance and that I have come full circle.  I now  do a regular Iyengar practice but with a self explorative twist. I embrace restorative with a Yin and SAY perspective and spend many hours in nature-walking, breathing, listening, observing.  I still cope with injuries, but as I witness them, explore them and honor them, I usually find my way around them.  As we age, some things need to be fixed, some things can’t, but we can learn to live with grace and dance with these issues, not fight with them.  I share this approach with my yoga and holistic health clients with a technique I now call Integrated Body Alignment (IBA).  Here I glean from all the amazing teachers I have had the joy and opportunity to study with.  I can incorporate reiki and energy work in the beginning or ending of a session and I can just touch in a caring, safe manner. This brings the person home, back into their body.  I love hands on assists and the Pranassage and Letha adjustments and sequences.  This I believe, has opened my work to a new level.  As I work with people, love, laughter and joy seems to move through both of us and stress, toxins and pain seem to flow out with every twist, palpitation or inquiry.

I look forward to continuing this dance of yoga, this dance of life. I hope the journey will be this, just being, being present every day, in my practice, in my decisions, in my work with others and in how I live my life, embracing every new step th

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Get the Green Spark; Food for Health


Your Backyard and Beyond 2012 series
By Rebecca Wood
hopewoodholistichealth.org
Winter 2012

Tired of diets, handfuls of supplements, confused as to what herbs or pharmaceuticals are helpful or harmful? Here’s a way to get a handle on nutrients, not nutri-ceuticals. First step; Get the “Green Spark”, go for plant based, whole food, seasonal food and food prepared with love and joy. We certainly are what we eat and we are a culture that loves to eat and drink. So why not “eat, drink and get healthy”, you’ll find merry falls right into place. When all systems (circulatory, integumentary, respiratory, digestion, immune, etc.) are in sync; we feel better, move better, look better and better things just come our way. Whole plant based food can do that for us, it also opens the door to cultures, colors, taste, texture and health.
What, how and when we eat positively or negatively affects our health, so why not pack as much Fiber, Phyto-nutrients, Anti-oxidants and Water into every meal. Read the stat’s: most American’s and especially the elderly are chronically dehydrated and constipated. Processed food, STOP; research reveals a 51 % increase in type II diabetes if you eat processed meats like coldcuts , a 19% increase if you eat just one serving of unprocessed red meat per day (Delicious Living 2012). Even the young are suffering, overweight adolescents have tripled since 1980 and 16% of children ages 6-19 are now considered overweight (ASPE.hhs.gov). What we eat is key, but it’s more, according to the recent book The Metabolic Diet Effect (Harper Collins 2010), diet along with age, menopause and chronic stress greatly affects our health and healthy outlook, that’s why just slashing calories and increasing exercise doesn’t equate to weight loss and fitness. Real food, whole food, when and how you eat, and managing stress must be considered.
Two films that have a broad appeal and present simple ‘how to solutions’, are Forks Over Knives, directed by Lee Fulkerson and Engine 2 Kitchen Rescue with Rip Esselsytn. Other films that will shake your socks off are Fast Food Nation and Food Inc. The data is there and it’s SAD, yes and it’s mostly the result of the Sad American Diet! If you’re not into movies and you’d rather snuggle up to a book, try any of Michael Pollan’s, Food Rules, The Omnivores Dilemma (or the Kid’s version), In Defense of Food or one of my all time favorites, The Botany of Desire. Barbra Kingsolver’s , Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is also informative, inspirational and fun.
“The art of healing comes from nature, not from the physician. Therefore, the physician (and you) must start from nature, with an open mind” Paracelsus.
Understanding the ins & outs of health and healing are also key. These wise words from an ancient healer offer insight to health and healing. It’s not just the right combination of foods, but adopting healthy habits including fresh air (nature), walking (or your choice of regular exercise), sitting in a quiet, contemplative setting, regular small meals at the table, focused breathing (at least three
times a day for 5 minutes), creative outlets and community. These suggestions coupled with an open mind and compassion will insure a path to enhanced wellness.
Yes, we can improve our health and it starts from a ‘podium of positivity’ and acceptance of who we are. Personal responsibility and action are also key, because if we don’t do it, it never happens. Case in point, in the past, I spent a lot of time on good diet, healthy habits and exercise but I noticed I always measured my progress by what I didn’t achieve. For example: if I missed a workout or yoga class or had that extra glass of red wine, I felt just dog-gone guilty. Then a friend shared a simple suggestion: focus on that ‘I do’ vs. the ‘I didn’t’.
So – I created a list of all the healthy things I did every day, hummm . . . simple but what a shift, instead of ‘shoulding on myself’, I started looking, daily at all the positive things I did. That shift in outlook, along with positive affirmations and time in nature, really helped me accept myself and move forward in my goals of health and wellness. Now I share that bit of advice with all my students and clients.
Give these simple solutions a 30 day trial. Consider shopping at farmers markets, food coops or local grocery stores when possible. Fresh is better and the shortest path from garden to table will always be a healthier choice, there are many studies comparing the nutrition of organic and fresh to processed and transported foods. Common sense tells us that healthy soil, fewer chemicals, shorter shelf live and knowing the source of your food leads to greater health benefits. It also supports your local community and economy.
Make preparing your meals as much fun as eating your meals. Sit down, share meals and chew, ponder, take it all in; the smells, colors, tastes. Eat the colors of the rainbow, later we’ll discuss phyto-nutrients in detail, but suffice it to say, plant based chemicals and nutrients are those vitamins, proteins, minerals, enzymes that are essential to health, you can reduce your supplement list to a few key needs. Assess how many colors are on your plate. How many flavors? Try to incorporate the 5 Flavors – sweet, sour, bitter, salty and spicy. Yep- the Sad American Diet (SAD) usually includes two flavors, Sweet and Salty, and is heavily processed- canned, boxed, bleached, additive enhanced and preservative dense, that is not food.
So, Get the Green Spark, take a tour of your local farmers market or grocers’ produce section. Notice the colors, read the labels, and if most of the calories are from fat and sugar, put it back. Look for words like Whole Grains, Certified Organic and talk to your local farmers and growers, become a part of the slow food, local movement and read that ‘I Do’ list – I bet in 30 days your health, outlook and livelihood will improve.