Everyday Bliss

This is reposted from last year, but still a good primer:

Hi Folks,
I just met a number of women in the last few months who are terrified of getting mammograms, even though breast disease is in their families. My mother, grandmother and aunt had breast cancer. My mom died of it as did my husband’s mother. Breast disease is not going to be my experience. I am proactive in maintenance of breast health: I do the breast health tapping routine from my book Everyday Bliss For Busy Women every single day, monthly breast checks and I get regular mammograms and thermograms (another form of diagnostic that looks at heat patterns in the breast).

My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer on October 1st, 1990 and that’s when I always go in, to honor her. Coincidentally, this is the first day of Breast Cancer Awareness Month so I’m kicking off my own personal awareness campaign by telling you about my mammogram and bust some myths about the procedure in the process.

I got my mammogram today, and while I wasn’t allowed today to video my thoughts through the procedure, did a lot of video around that and breast health in general that you’ll see here soon. I am also working with hospital administrators to videotape real mammography in the future to help women lose their fear about getting mammograms, which is very exciting. Stay tuned for that.

Bustin’ the Mammo Myths

It’s real important as we all travel this journey of life, that we not be afraid of things. Fear is an old patterned response that taps into that limbic system in the brain I talk about in the ETHOS manual. It can save our lives when we’re in actual physical danger, but most of the time today, fear is mis-triggered and mis-fires on a consistent basis, running our lives instead of letting us flow easily through events. If you are thinking about something in the future and getting a fear response – that’s a mis-trigger that you might want to eliminate. There’s an old acronym floating around about that too: Fear really means “Future Expectations Appearing Real”. Fear of the future is kind of silly when you look at it because you’re upset about something that hasn’t even happened yet. Waste of energy!

ETHOS is one of many methods that can help you deal with fear, and come through the doorway fear is, to the Unlimited Self. BTW, Unlimited Selves don’t have breast disease or any other kind of dis-ease. Unlimited Self is the personification OF “ease” in every sense. Ease and joy and beauty in all ways. Let’s bust some of the myths about mammograms and learn a little bit about what goes on:

1) “I DON’T stink, and don’t want people to think I do”

I want to tell women who may be afraid of this procedure – don’t be. The worst thing that happened was that I had to not wear deodorant or powder under my armpits for two days. This can put a lot of women off, as they don’t want to stink. I am sensitive to scent and didn’t want to offend others, so I kept alcohol wipes (in America, one brand is HandiWipes) in my purse and dabbed my armpits through the day for two days prior to my mammogram. Problem solved and the alcohol both kills scent-producing bacteria, then evaporates so no residue is left. If you can’t find such wipes wherever you live, simply fill a plastic bag with cotton balls, pour a little rubbing alcohol in the bag and dab armpits with cotton balls. Works just as well.

Caveat: Don’t use perfume or cologne as the oils in these kinds of scent can irritate the delicate underam skin.

So me and my deodorant-free armpits went to the hospital xray department, filled out a short form and sat maybe five mintes waiting to be sent to the dressing room to put my hospital gown on. Everyone was so nice – they know women can be a little nervous and do their very best to put you at ease. Some women even brought a girlfriend, sister, daughter or mom with them for moral support. This is not only permitted, but encouraged. If you’re feeling a little shaky, bring a buddy, by all means.

2) “Don’t Pressure Me”

The second thing I hear women saying they don’t want to experience is the pinching they’ve heard happens when the breast is put between the two plastic plates of the mammogram machine. The breast needs to be compressed as thinly as possible so as to produce the highest contrast, so a machine gently squeezes the breast tissue between these plates.

Ladies, my girls are “D” cup sized (for the gents reading this: a handful and a half) and while I felt this pressure, it was only very slightly intense and didn’t hurt a bit. Some women do feel discomfort. This may be because the breasts are congested. If you do the “Triple Thump Plus” tapping routine outlined in the AM Energizers on page 28 of the ETHOS manual, the energy and fluids pervading your breasts will flow easily releasing congestion. This is one I do EVERY DAY, and it’s my thought that this will lessen any potential for an uncomfortable experience.

Here’s that routine again:

The Triple Thump PLUS – For general health, wellness and to put on “immune system defense” armor, vigorously tap your Kidney-27 Collarbone points 7 – 10 times, your Thymus 7 – 10 times and your Liver-14 Under Breast points 7 – 10 times. This is the “traditional” Triple Thump from Touch For Health and Educational Kinesiology. I add to this thumping on the Underarm Spleen-21 Points and gentle circular rubbing on the “Sore Spot” – the upper chest neurolymphatic drainage point. This routine circles the breasts and helps to keep them healthy in addition to conditioning and fine-tuning your energy to do what you need it to. Do this sequence three times in all.

3) “I’m afraid to go in because I just don’t know what’s going to happen”

So here’s what happens: I waited probably five minutes after disrobing from the waist up and putting on a hospital gown. Then I was invited into the mammography room and untied the top of the hospital gown. The female technician lifted the tissue of my right breast, pulled it out slightly from my body, and placed it on the horizontal lower plate holding the xray film. An uppper plastic plate called a “paddle” then automatically descended and judging the right amount of pressure, pressed the tissue as thin as it would comfortably go, then locked the breast into place. As I mentioned, this felt odd, but did not hurt.

Then as soon as it was locked, the technician popped behind the little booth, pressed a button, I heard a “ZZzzzt” of the picture being taken and the upper plastic paddle immediately released my breast. Then we did the same procedure to the other side. That full set of pictures in the upright position took less than three minutes.

Then a second set of pictures was done, with the machine rotated at a 50 degree angle. I wondered how the heck my breast was going to fit between the two plates with the thing at an angle like this. The technician told me to drape my inside arm over the top of the machine which pulled all the breast tissue upward. Then she held the breast against the plate while the top plastic paddle came down to compress the tissue. Once the paddle was touching the top of the breast tissue, she let go as it began to gently compress the breast, telling me to keep my shoulders back. Then she popped ’round the control booth again, “ZZzzzt” went the machine and bingo-bango, the right side was done. The same thing was done with the left breast.

This set of films took about five minutes for both breasts. So all in all, I was in the mammography room for less than ten minutes.

4) “There’s so much radiation in an xray, I’ve heard you can GET breast cancer from a mammogram. It’s probably not good for me.”

The jury may still be out in the alternative health community, but the radiation in a mammogram comes at such a low dose, that they don’t even make you wear a lead apron, as it doesn’t penetrate further than the plate below the breast holding the xray film. The techician even clued me that people sometimes think digital xrays are lower in dose, which actually isn’t correct. She told me that people tend to think this as digital xrays, not using traditional film, tend to have a lower rate of the need to repeat an xray due to faulty breast positioning, but the dose of radiation is very slightly higher than a traditional film xray. Color me educated on that one!

If you’re worried about the dose of radiation in a mammogram, it is very, very low. And there are many proactive things you can do to help your body detox the radiation as well. I’m a great veggie eater, but for a week prior to my mammo, I greatly increased my intake of ground flax seeds, sea greens, sprouts of all kinds and deep green leafy vegetables. I also took mild herbal colon tonifying herbs to make sure I was processing bodily waste out of the body extremely regularly. Today I’ll increase that dose very slightly so I am having several bowel movements a day, and keep that up for a total of three days before going off the colon tonic herbs.

By the way, two bowel movements or more a day is normal – many people do not know this. My acupuncturist, chiropracter and doctor are all in favor of having three or more. If you’re trying to detoxify the body, increase your bowel movements by eating leafy green roughage, fruits (dried fruits are great for this), sauerkraut, or other vegetables, and drink lots and lots of water. Your local health food store will have information on herbs that tonify the bowels. Consult a reliable herbal such as Michael Tierra’s The Way of Herbs or John Lust’s venerable The Herb Book for instructions, and always do so in consultation with your healing practitioner.

I continue this bowel stimulating regimen when I need to have an xray for a week following the radiation, just to make sure I’m supporting my body through its detox process. If this doesn’t appeal to you, simply eat a lot of salads and raw veggies, and drink lots and lots of water. Going to the toilet is a sacred thing, don’t be afraid of it. Better to go, and get the poisons out of the building.

5) “Do they just leave you in the hall after the mammogram? What happens when the picture-taking is all over?”

After your mammogram, you’ll be told to stay in your hospital gown in a waiting area until a technician can look at the films. Please understand they are not READING the films for abnormalities, and you WON’T get a diagnosis then, on the spot. They’re looking for mistakes in the way the breast was positioned, to know if they need to go back in and take another film or not. This usually takes less than five minutes, and you’ll then be told you can put your clothes on and go home, or to come back for one more picture.

If you ask real nice (I did) they’ll let you look at your films but do NOT ask them to interpret the mammogram for you – a radiological technician cannot do this by law, even if they see something their experience tells them may look suspicious. They can’t tell you, so please don’t badger them.

DO take the chance if you can, to look at the films of your breasts. This is greatly instructional and also very validating and life-affirming. I found myself fascinated looking at the intricacy of little hairline veins and tissue criss-crossing the breast – it was a beautiful network of nurture personified, and reaffirmed my womanliness to me. This journey of the mammogram can be greatly reinforcing of your femininity. Celebrate your breasts!!

6) “I’m so nervous! I’ve been waiting for over a week after my mammogram and haven’t heard from my doctor. Is this a bad thing?”

Your doctor will be sent the films along with a qualified radiologist’s interpretation. You will be given your results and diagnosis if any, within a few weeks. I was told if there is something really wrong, they flag your films and you’re notified even sooner. So no news is probably good news if you’re waiting for that call or in my case, the card in the mail telling you what’s what. I was also told by a hospital representative, that this particular hospital made a point of personal phone calls to women whose breasts showed suspicious spots, so the doctors and technicians are making sure you are notified as soon as possible.

My trip in and out of the mammogram took less than 45 minutes. I was on the street an hour later and having lunch with a girlfriend. We celebrated our breast health together by doing a public demonstration and teaching of the Triple Thump Plus to six ladies who were in the same restaurant. We’d all waited in line together and fell to discussing mammograms. My friend is also an energy healer so we were comparing our two breast health routines.

These six ladies heard and wanted in on the action. Then three more joined us, plus a couple of the waitresses and one of the cooks who came out from the back to see what the commotion was. Nearly all of these women had a mother, sister, aunt, grandmother or friend stricken by breast disease and all were desperate to know how to prevent it. In all we taught twelve women how to care for their breasts that day, so my promise to my Mom, to help other women to breast health was more than fulfilled on “Mammogram Day”.

Please teach ETHOS and the Triple Thump Plus to everyone you know. Even men can get breast cancer, so everyone needs to be doing this routine. Very briefly, it is tapping on the: Collarbone points, Thymus, Under arms, Under breast, Neurolymphatic Reflex (Sore Spot) of the upper chest. Surrounding the breast with tender loving care, and draining toxins away from the breast tissue.

I hope this has been instructional and helpful to you. Please feel free to pass this post in its entirety to anyone you know of that has any fear of going in for a breast check up or mammogram. It’s something as women that I feel we owe ourselves, and one form of love we can give our bodies.

Warm Blessings,
Maryam
http://maryamwebster.com

I do this breast health routine every day. If this is your first encounter with energy therapies, this is a good one to start with as the Triple Thump Plus will not only clear stagnant lymph fluid that can accumulate in and near the breasts and properly energize your breast tissue, but will boost your immunity in general. Want to not have colds or flu? Do this one every single day. Sitting on the toilet? Thump your chest. Takes no time at all. K27, the collarbone point is also good for jogging memory, waking up when driving late and night and for kids in class to remember what they’re studying. This is noted by the great energy healer Donna Eden, whose two videos on this process I include below.

Of interest to women: Doctors often recommend lymphatic massage for women with breast disorders to keep fluids and toxins from building up. The Triple Thump is a safe form of self-massage on the lymph tissue that will help keep breasts healthy! And it is believed, may also help to prevent breast cancer. All that for just a few minutes a day – how much simple could it be?

The Triple Thump *Plus*

Thumping on these three places instantly changes the vibratory energy signature of stress (which is a frequency, like a radio station you can tune into) and flushes your lymphatic fluid which drains stress away from the body. Do the Triple Thump whenever you feel stressed during your day – it’s a great one to energize your wakeup period with too! Be sure to drink lots of water when you do these exercises, to help flush stress hormones out of the body.

1) Find the spots on the model above that say “Collarbone”. These are the 27th point on the Kidney meridian in acupuncture. These are a little below and underneath your collarbone at the “L” where it attaches to your sternum, or breastbone. Put two fingers in this area on both sides of your body and gently thump ten times or massage these spots. They may be sore, and if so, need a good working out as this is where stress hormones accumulate!

2) Next go to the “Thymus Point” which is right on the center of the breastbone, about two inches down from the v-notch at your collarbone. Thump ten times or massage here, using a few fingers.

3) Third in the traditional Triple Thump are the “Underarm points”, below where your armpit hair area ends on the side of the body and one rib-width beneath where where a woman’s bra elastic would end (see above – on the model above the mark is a little high. Feel around for what’s sore – yes, that’s it. Thump both of these two points briskly as well – I use a gently closed fist – to clear the lymph system.

Plus Size It

To “plus” this process to encourage healthy breasts, just add in the Sore Spot neurolymphatic points on either side of the chest above the breasts (see model above or watch Eden’s videos below) and the Under Breast points, underneath the breast tissue, beneath the crease under the breast and on top of the rib below that crease. Since these points are tiny, use the entire side of your hand (like karate-chopping – but gently!) to thump here ten times, or use the soft pads of your fingers to massage the area if it’s sore. This “Plus” addition completely surrounds the breast with clearing and encourages the body’s energy systems to pulse clean energy through the breast area.

Here’s stellar energy healer Donna Eden showing you how to do the triple thump basic move:

Hey there! What’s up?

How have you been?

Has life been blissful for you?

I sure  hope so. But, if things aren’t going so well and you’re having challenges, you’re going to like the freebies &  treats I have for you throughout October.

October is going to be a busy month. I love the autumn, and this month, will return to  public speaking. Coming up will be several really cool no-fee teleseminar series aimed at getting you Conscious, out of fear and helping you stay there, plus tutorials on Vibrational Healing, Spirituality and Outrageous Wellbeing.

October is also Breast Health Awareness Month, so you can count on a good primer (a video, if I can muster the intestinal fortitude to do it “al fresco”…) on ways to keep breasts healthy, for guys and gals both.

Trick or treat? As the month progresses, you’re in for an  amazing grab  bag of goodies -  all treats, I promise. 

You’ll want to mark your calendars for the first of these learning opportunities on Tuesday, October 13th at 6pm Pacific / 9pm Eastern. I’ll lead off the month keynoting the Soulfelt teleseminar series with Michelle Skaletski-Boyd and a host of wonderful presenters you’ll love learning from. If you get my newslettter, you’ll receive your invitation to this no-cost teaching series this Thursday. If you’re not subscribed, you can do that by requesting your free Bliss Kit in the form to the left of this page.

Then wait for Thursday (it’s gonna be so much FUN!) and watch your mail…

AND YET MORE TREATS

Before all that gets underway, I wanted to share some resources I’ve sourced out for the Love Your Life Again class. These are things we all need and are no-cost ways to improve the amount of happiness you have. And who doesn’t need more happiness? Please share these with everyone!

Your Body Holds The Key To Your Happiness

If you’ve ever taken class with me, you’ll know that I love checking in with the body, and always direct you back to your body for answers you need (they’re there, really). The body is a fantastic resource most people partially or
completely ignore, thinking: it’s just a vehicle to schlep your mind around in, why pay attention to it unless it hurts? But the body is also a source of great joy, and the repository of every single memory and emotion you have. One of my favorite quotes about why the world is so screwy relates to this:

“Unresolved emotional pain is the great contagion of our time — of all
time.”

~ Marc Ian Barasch

And guess where that emotional pain is stored? Yep, it’s in our bodies. Marc Ian Barasch, spokesperson for “cultural creatives” (like me, and you if you’re reading this) former editor of New Age Journal wrote about the mind-body
connection in a great early-90’s Psychology Today article that’s worth a re-read, especially if you’re new to this idea: “welcome To The Mind-Body Revolution” here:

http://bit.ly/mind-body-revolution

There’s lots here. Candace Pert and the neurochemistry of emotions, breast cancer survival (plus how to make a tumor disappear), the Dalai Lama and wired monks, Larry Dossey & the Boggle Factor and finally the sage advice of Buckminster Fuller. This article is sixteen years old and still relevant as tomorrow.

What did you think of the ideas in this article? Agree? Disagree? Do you even think some of these things are possible?  I’d love to enter conversation with you on your mind-body connection thoughts. Just scroll down this pageand share your observations in the comment section.

And…after you’ve absorbed this great info, why not clear the feelings of emotional pain your body may generate, with the ETHOS Method or your favorite clearing technique? The more we clear, the less screwy our world. And by extension, everyone else’s world…

Union Valley Headache Remedy

Sounds like the name of a swanky PTA chapter, doesn’t it? Nope, Union Valley is an acupoint on your hand in the flesh web between the thumb and first finger. From the place where there is only skin, go back into the palm area until you feel the muscle between the thumb and index finger bones.

Use your index and first fingers of your other hand to press  firmly on either side of the Union Valley point for at least ten  seconds, then let up. This causes energy to drain out of the  head and is great not only for headaches, but for over-thinking, addictive behaviors and getting people back into their bodies when they become ungrounded.

So How Happy Are You…Really?

Here’s a great series of tests that I sourced out for the “Love Your Life Again” crowd that I thought I’d pass on. They’re from ground zero of the Positive Psychology movement at the University of Pennsylvania, under the guidance of well-known researcher and psychologist, Dr. Marty Seligman. You need to register (it’s f.r.e.e), but you can provide help to the research department plus find out a lot about your own “Authentic Happiness” here:

http://bit.ly/PosPsychTests

That’s all for today, and I wish you a very happy first week of October.

Hurray!

Autumn is here with black cats  (our charcoal-grey fluffer Anoushka, at least), pumpkins  and bobbing for apples plus bonfires, taffy pulls & spiced  cider. Hay rides too, and all manner of things that remind  me of home during this exciting season.

Did the air EVER smell so good? Drink down the invigorating energies of autumn with every breath and enjoy the results…

Until Thursday, have a great week!

Warmest…

Maryam

(For 3-way Natural No-Junk Deodorant recipe, scroll to the bottom)

In my unending quest for a natural, junk-and-aluminum-free deodorant, I’ve tried them all. None work past a few hours which is basically what I would get with soap and water alone. Recently a friend clued me to the otherwise-pristine Tom’s Of Maine product, “Natural Long-Lasting Care 12 Hour Odor Protection Aluminum-Free Deodorant Stick”. This stick smells like Lemondrop candy and contains both lemongrass and hops to inhibit odor-causing bacteria. And it works like a charm, up into the next day.

But wait a minute shoppers, the first ingredient is propylene glycol, which is a potential poison. Propylene Glycol is chemically related to ethylene glycol, the syrupy ingredient in antifreeze and is used as a less-toxic antifreeze itself – it’s that pink stuff you’ve seen hosed over your winter flight to de-ice wings of the plane.

Saving lives that way = great. But “PG” as it is often noted in ingredient listings, has been directly implicated in cases of iatrogenic renal toxicity (1) when used as a carrier for intravenous solutions. And skin contact causes “…moderate skin irritation. Contact with the skin may cause erythema, dryness, and defatting” (multiply this if you apply deodorant directly after shaving) with chronic use causing “reproductive and fetal effects. Laboratory experiments have resulted in mutagenic effects. Exposure to large doses may cause central nervous system depression…” (2)

Odd that this substance would turn up in products destined for the most delicate skin on our bodies! PG is used to make a stick deodorant solidify. Hey Tom’s – if you’re listening, what about vegetable glycerine or Zimea as a substitute for propylene glycol? Or ANYTHING but this unnatural substance? Derived from natural gas though you say it is, it’s not something I want on my body.

And if you’re going with “The Crystal” in solid or spray form, be aware that it contains potassium alum, a salt of aluminum, so you’re still getting aluminum under your arms.

While the Tom’s deodorant doesn’t thankfully carry alum or parabens, many so-called “natural” deodorants do. Parabens are an even more toxic substance. Methyl, ethyl and propyl paraben are common preservatives in many cosmetics and have been implicated in breast cancer (3, 4) as they mimic the action of estrogen, which has been implicated in breast tumor growth.

From a great article from Dr. Kris McGrath which has great graphic of lymph proliferation into breast tissue at: http://bit.ly/y0kVT

“In a recent study 18 of 20 breast tumors contained parabens (synthetic preservatives) found in underarm products. Parabens mimic estrogen, and estrogen can drive tumor growth (Journal of Applied Toxicology, February, 2004).

The underarm is a gateway to the lymphatic system, which is an essential part of the immune system, and helps the body fight infection and diseases such as cancer”

Okay, so what can we do about all this who want a deodorant and don’t want to pay the poisonous piper? Either find a viable commercial option, or make your own! I’ve made my own deodorant for ages and while it’s not a perfect solution, if you’re worried about breast toxicity, it’s worthwhile to experiment. Recipes follow, but first…

Dr. McGrath whom quoted above, writes for a site that I’ve just been in contact with, TerraNaturals.

The formulary and owner, Tanya Workman, assures me her products contain NO PG, NO Parabens and NO aluminum or other unhappy junk. Just what do they contain and how do they work? That’s a really interesting topic! I interviewed Tanya and that will be the subject of a new article. But in the meantime, if you’d like to look, research or purchase, you can do that by clicking the banner above, OR, make your own.

Auntie M’s Natural Deodorant Recipe

Please understand that with any natural deodorant you may need to re-apply partway through your day for maximum effect. This may be a hassle, but it beats the living shit out of having breast cancer. My sympathies for those who find this a “bore” are on par with my sympathies with those who find drinking lots of water to be inconvenient because god-forbid, they might have to pee. ‘Nuff said.

Caveat: Essential oils are strong by themselves and must be used sparingly on human skin. NEVER ingest essential oils. Mix ONLY 6 drops of any of the following organic essential oils, or use any two in combination. These oils are universally regarded as safe and non-irritating in low concentrations but your mileage may vary, so be sensitive to your own reactions. Including vegetable glycerine where noted below will soothe skin and minimize irritation.

Anti-Bacterial /Anti-Odor Oils:
cedar, clary sage, cypress, lavender, lemon, lemongrass, orange, rosewood, sandalwood, tea tree, thyme

A good mix is clary sage, lemon, tea tree and lavender. Another is lemongrass, tea tree, cypress, cedar & sandalwood. Or a simple mixture of lavender and tea tree. Try different mixtures for yourself and see which you like.

Add 1/8tsp Vitamin E oil, or pierce two Vitamin E oil capsules and add to the oil mix. Vitamin E is a stabilizer and will act to preserve the essential oil mix. You could also use benzoin tincture if you are going with an alcohol base.

For a Spray:

Add the oil mixture to 1/2 cup vodka or Everclear alcohol and put in a spray bottle. Mix in a few drops of vegetable glycerine and a tablespoon of water. Shake well each time you use.

For a Powder:

Mix oils into 1/2 cup cornstarch and 1/2 cup baking soda thoroughly with a fork. Baking soda is a deodorizer and neutralizes the acids that odor-causing bacteria secrete. Cornstarch is now recommended over talc as a body powder as it causes no lung complications if inhaled, and is what is found in commercial baby powders. Caution: don’t use baby powder as it contains other chemicals you and baby don’t need! Plain, inexpensive cornstarch from the grocery store works just fine.

Place the soda, cornstarch, essential oil mixture into an clean spice container with a shaker top and shake well before each use. Wash underarms, pat dry and apply deodorant with a powder puff, or dry hands.

For a Deodorant Cream:

If you want a slightly wetter mixture, or deodorant the consistency of a cream, make the powder version and add vegetable glycerine or a good organic facial cold cream by the teaspoon, blending with a fork until desired consistency is achieved. This will be more moisturizing on the delicate skin of the armpit. Stop just short of the point where mixture would become too greasy for comfort.

When using this version it can be sticky. You can powder the cream down with plain cornstarch or make a special fragrant powder with a few drops of sandalwood or ylang-ylang, for the purpose. The cream form is ideal for putting into a container and taking with you for re-use throughout your day. Great form for taking to the gym, along with a small shaker of deodorant powder.

BTW, all of these recipes work well on feet, too!

Breast cancer survivor Kris Hart, right, vice president of global brand management at (casino operator) Harrah’s Entertainment, was still breastfeeding when she found out she had breast cancer. In this month’s Pink Magazine email, Taylor Mallory interviews Kris. Here are a couple of relevant highlights:

Hart’s Advice for Breast Cancer Newbies

1. DO take a breath and come up with a plan. The cancer has probably been in you for years, so you can wait a week.

2. DON’T make emotional decisions about your care. Get all the info you can before you make a decision.

3. DO surround yourself with people who don’t make you feel like a victim.

4. DON’T be afraid to ask for support. Your friends and family want to help.

Hart also adds her greatest challenge dealing with chemo:

"I have always had an innate sense of organization in my head. Since the chemo, and even now as it’s still in my system, I’m fuzzy. I can’t retain things, and I’m not as quick as I used to be. I can’t remember names as readily as I could. That’s really frustrating."

Maryam’s Note: Kris Hart, if you’re out there reading this, please check out the energy therapies (no drugs, no needles, no hassle, easy to learn and practice) like ETHOS, EFT and ZPoint to help "get your brain back". This involves the energy in your body, not in a box or machine. You’re using the natural energy an acupuncturist manipulates by putting needles in the body, only with the new energy therapies, you only tap on the acupoints, hold them gently and breathe, or use the energy solely in your mind. No gadgets or drugs needed!

Anyone dealing with fuzziness like this can regains clarity by practicing a couple of simple exercises to synch the hemispheres of your brain back up. Go to my page on that here:

http://maryamwebster.com/stressrelief

Do every exercise on the page, especially the Cross Crawl. This highlights part of the Bliss Coaching Process that is laid out in full in my book, Everyday Bliss For Busy Women.

PINK asks: How can colleagues help when a co-worker has cancer?

Kris Hart: "Be specific about how you want to help. Everyone says, "I’m here for you." But very few people will ever take you up on that. So say, "I’d like to bring dinner for you on Wednesday." Also recognize it’s not only the physical victim but the whole family that needs support. Someone called my husband to go have drinks. He was thrilled to get away too."

Maryam’s Note: I’ll second the "be specific" part. When Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in the 90’s she deteriorated rapidly, and the community troups were marshalled to provide friendly visits for she and Dad. The best visit they had was after dinner one Tuesday evening from Bill Hall, a buddy of Dad’s from Rotary Club. Though Bill offered, Mom refused to let him go into the kitchen and get her usual offering of lemonade and cookies – it was important for HER to "do for" visitors as long as she was able.

Bill visited with the family for awhile, drank his lemonade and nibbled his cookies, chatting easily on a variety of topics. The ease with which he carried on conversation soon put Mom and Dad at ease. They reported during this time feeling pressed to entertain people and alleviate their discomfort with Mom’s cancering*, which only caused them to feel more stressed and tense after friendly visits than not. Bill’s visit was a welcome exception, doubly so because of what he did next.

After a polite amount of time had passed, Bill said to Dad: "Charlie, get your coat. You’re coming out bowling with me and the boys, and I won’t take no for an answer." Dad didn’t bowl, but he was too much of a gentleman to refuse such a public invitation. He went, had an excellent time, and Bill managed to wheedle him into coming to the "boys night out" from then on. It got him out of the house, Mom had a peaceful evening once a week to do as she liked, and Dad had a place to blow off steam and "be a regular fellow" as he put it. That’s important, and it was the best present a friend could have given him at this sensitive and crucial point in his life.

It doesn’t have to be a whole-hog fancy evening, any level of attention and caring is good. Just be there.

You can find out more and subscribe to Pink Magazine for Women Professionals here: http://www.pinkmagazine.com/index.html

Pink is about women having money and worldly power too – what activist and author Naomi Wolf calls "the last taboo". Canted towards C-level professional and executive women, Pink provides gathering opportunities at locations around America to help women network and excel in business.

* Cancering - Using the word "Cancering" creates a gerund, or non-finite verb form out of the noun, cancer. When you add the "-ing" to a word that is so definite, so negatively final, it transforms the disease into a process which can have a positive end – the disease process ends, but you go on. This is a form that I take from the teachings of Master NLP Health Coach, Suzi Smith, who reports that this simple linguistic change brings empowerment back into the equation for those living with this disease process.

For Breast Health Awareness Month and also each month out of the year – do you know how to do your monthly breast self-exam?

Review the self-check procedure and what to look for here:

http://snipurl.com/breastexam

When I spoke of this to a group of women in business at a recent talk I gave, it was pointed out by one of the ladies present:  "The body is a temple, sure, but not every woman wants to feel up her own breasts! I’m religious and I don’t think that’s "nice" for a woman to do."

And now for a reality check….would whatever god you worship want you to be neglectful of this temple that is your body? Or to suffer a disease you may not have if you check yourself and catch changes early? Average of nine months earlier than doctor exams, by the way.

YOU are your own best breast health advocate!

And to go along with your implication of immorality – no, this is not sexually oriented "feeling up".

While you can certainly enjoy the process yourself or even involve your partner for extra fun (why not? if it makes sure you get the job done, go ahead!) a monthly breast self-exam is a purposed, focused fact finding mission.

So please, religious ladies of all sects and everyone else, click the link above and learn how to give yourself a proper breast self-exam.

Once a month. It’s What Nice Girls Do.

TODAY IS THE FIRST DAY OF BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH. ALL MONTH LONG, I’M GOING TO FEATURE BREAST HEALTH TIPS. PLEASE CHECK YOUR BREASTS TODAY! AWARENESS IS A BREAST’S BEST FRIEND

Hi Folks,
I’ve met a lot of women in the last few months who are terrified of getting mammograms, even though breast disease is in their families. My mother, grandmother and aunt had breast cancer. My mom died of it as did my husband’s mother. Breast disease is not going to be my experience. I am proactive in maintenance of breast health: I do the breast health tapping routine from page 28 of The ETHOS Method manual every single day, monthly breast checks and I get regular mammograms and thermograms (another form of diagnostic that looks at heat patterns in the breast).

At right is a mammogram of a normal breast. Isn’t it beautiful? The wireframe of nurture, revealed.

My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer on October 1st, 1990 and that’s when I always go in, to honor her. Coincidentally, this is the first day of Breast Cancer Awareness Month so I’m kicking off my own personal awareness campaign by telling you about my mammogram and bust some myths about the procedure in the process.

I got my mammogram today, and while I wasn’t allowed today to video my thoughts through the procedure, did a lot of video around that and breast health in general that you’ll see here soon. I am also working with hospital administrators to videotape real mammography in the future to help women lose their fear about getting mammograms, which is very exciting. Stay tuned for that.

Bustin’ Mammo Myths

It’s real important as we all travel this journey of life, that we not be afraid of things. Fear is an old patterned response that taps into that limbic system in the brain I talk about in the ETHOS manual. It can save our lives when we’re in actual physical danger, but most of the time today, fear is mis-triggered and mis-fires on a consistent basis, running our lives instead of letting us flow easily through events. If you are thinking about something in the future and getting a fear response – that’s a mis-trigger that you might want to eliminate. There’s an old acronym floating around about that too: Fear really means "Future Expectations Appearing Real". Fear of the future is kind of silly when you look at it because you’re upset about something that hasn’t even happened yet. Waste of energy!

ETHOS is one of many methods that can help you deal with fear, and come through the doorway fear is, to the Unlimited Self. BTW, Unlimited Selves don’t have breast disease or any other kind of dis-ease. Unlimited Self is the personification OF "ease" in every sense. Ease and joy and beauty in all ways. Let’s bust some of the myths about mammograms and learn a little bit about what goes on:

1) "I DON’T stink, and don’t want people to think I do"
I want to tell women who may be afraid of this procedure – don’t be. The worst thing that happened was that I had to not wear deodorant or powder under my armpits for two days. This can put a lot of women off, as they don’t want to stink. I am sensitive to scent and didn’t want to offend others, so I kept alcohol wipes (in America, one brand is HandiWipes) in my purse and dabbed my armpits through the day for two days prior to my mammogram. Problem solved and the alcohol both kills scent-producing bacteria, then evaporates so no residue is left. If you can’t find such wipes wherever you live, simply fill a plastic bag with cotton balls, pour a little rubbing alcohol in the bag and dab armpits with cotton balls. Works just as well.

Caveat: Don’t use perfume or cologne as the oils in these kinds of scent can irritate the delicate underam skin.

So me and my deodorant-free armpits went to the hospital xray department, filled out a short form and sat maybe five mintes waiting to be sent to the dressing room to put my hospital gown on. Everyone was so nice – they know women can be a little nervous and do their very best to put you at ease. Some women even brought a girlfriend, sister, daughter or mom with them for moral support. This is not only permitted, but encouraged. If you’re feeling a little shaky, bring a buddy, by all means.

2) "Don’t Pressure Me"
The second thing I hear women saying they don’t want to experience is the pinching they’ve heard happens when the breast is put between the two plastic plates of the mammogram machine. The breast needs to be compressed as thinly as possible so as to produce the highest contrast to show up any abnormalities, so a machine gently squeezes the breast tissue between these plates. Ladies, my girls are "D" cup sized (for the gents reading this: a handful and a half) and while I felt this pressure, it was only very slightly intense and didn’t hurt a bit.

Some women do feel discomfort. This may be because the breasts are congested. If you do the "Triple Thump Plus" tapping routine outlined in the AM Energizers on page 28 of the ETHOS manual, the energy and fluids pervading your breasts will flow easily releasing congestion. This is one I do EVERY DAY, and it’s my thought that this will lessen any potential for an uncomfortable experience. Here’s that routine again from The ETHOS Method manual:

The Triple Thump PLUS - For general health, wellness and to put on "immune system defense" armor, vigorously tap your Kidney-27 Collarbone points 7 – 10 times, your Thymus 7 – 10 times and your Liver-14 Under Breast points 7 – 10 times. This is the “traditional” Triple Thump from Touch For Health and Educational Kinesiology. I add to this thumping on the Underarm Spleen-21 Points and gentle circular rubbing on the “Sore Spot” – the upper chest neurolymphatic drainage point. This routine circles the breasts and helps to keep them healthy in addition to conditioning and fine-tuning your energy to do what you need it to. Do this sequence three times in all.

3) "I’m afraid to go in because I just don’t know what’s going to happen"
So here’s what happens and thanks to the folks at the National Institute for Mental Health (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/imagepages/17085.htm) for the picture of "Bucky", the mammogram machine. This will help you better understand  what I’m describing below.

I waited in a waiting area probably five minutes after disrobing from the waist up and putting on a hospital gown. Then I was invited into the mammography room and untied the top of the hospital gown. The female technician lifted the tissue of my right breast, pulled it out slightly from my body, and placed it on the horizontal lower plate holding the xray film. An upper plastic plate called a "paddle" then automatically descended and judging the right amount of pressure, pressed the tissue as thin as it would comfortably go, then locked the breast into place. As I mentioned, this felt odd, but did not hurt. Then as soon as it was locked, the technician popped behind the little booth, pressed a button, I heard a "ZZzzzt" of the picture being taken and the upper plastic paddle immediately released my breast. Then we did the same procedure to the other side.

That full set of pictures in the upright position took less than three minutes. Then a second set of pictures was done, with the machine rotated at a 50 degree angle to radiograph the side of the breast. I wondered how the heck my breast was going to fit between the two plates with the thing at an angle like this.

The technician told me to drape my inside arm over the top of the machine which pulled all the breast tissue upward. Then she held the breast against the plate while the top plastic paddle came down to compress the tissue. Once the paddle was touching the top of the breast tissue, she let go as it began to gently compress the breast, telling me to keep my shoulders back. Then she popped ’round the control booth again, "ZZzzzt" went the machine and bingo-bango, the right side was done. The same process was done with the left breast.

This set of films took about five minutes for both breasts. So all in all, I was in the mammography room for less than ten minutes.

4) "There’s so much radiation in an xray, I’ve heard you can GET breast cancer from a mammogram. It’s probably not good for me."
This is an belief I hear when women know someone who has had regular mammograms for years, then have a mammogram which finds a tumor. The logic in this conclusion is faulty and fear-driven. As I said above, please work on your fear using ETHOS or any other method you like. Mammograms find tumors, that’s their job. But these tumors are only visible on mammograms after several years of growth. Monthly self-checks are the best way to know your breasts and track their changes. If you have a mammogram, there’s a chance it will, yes, find a tumor.  But would you rather know, or not know?

One school of thought in the alternative health community is thermograms, then sonograms, then and only if suspicious areas are found, mammograms to pinpoint the area of a tumor or cyst. I asked my body and it told me to get a mammogram. Personally I don’t do this every year a mammo is due, as my body seems to prefer thermograms. This year it was relevant.  Ask your body and learn to interpret its language so you can do what’s best for you.

And the jury may still be out in the alternative health community, but the radiation in a mammogram comes at such a low dose, they don’t make you wear a lead apron, as it doesn’t penetrate further than the plate below the breast holding the xray film. The techician clued me that people sometimes think digital xrays are lower in dose, which actually isn’t correct. She told me that people tend to think this as digital xrays, not using traditional film, tend to have a lower rate of the need to repeat an xray due to faulty breast positioning, but the dose of radiation is very slightly higher than a traditional film xray.

If you’re worried about the dose of radiation in a mammogram, it is very, very low. And there are many proactive things you can do to help your body detox the radiation as well. I’m a great veggie eater, but for a week prior to my mammo, I greatly increased my intake of ground flax seeds, sea greens, sprouts of all kinds and deep green leafy vegetables. I also took mild colon tonifying herbs to make sure I was processing bodily waste out of the body extremely regularly. Today I’ll increase that dose very slightly so I am having several bowel movements a day, and keep that up for a total of three days before going off the colon tonic herbs.

By the way, two bowel movements or more a day is normal – many people do not know this. My acupuncturist, chiropracter and doctor are all in favor of having three or more. If you’re trying to detoxify the body, increase your bowel movements by eating leafy green roughage, fruits (dried fruits are great for this), sauerkraut, or other vegetables, and drink lots and lots of water. Your local health food store will have information on herbs that tonify the bowels. Consult a reliable herbal such as Michael Tierra’s The Way of Herbs or John Lust’s venerable The Herb Book for instructions, and always do so in consultation with your healing practitioner.

When I need to have an xray, I continue this bowel stimulating regimen for a week following the radiation, just to make sure I’m supporting my body through its detox process. If this doesn’t appeal to you, simply eat a lot of salads and raw veggies, and drink lots and lots of water. Going to the toilet is a sacred thing, don’t be afraid of it. Better to go, and get the poisons out of the building.

5) "Do they just leave you in the hall after the mammogram? What happens when the picture-taking is all over?"
After your mammogram, you’ll be told to stay in your hospital gown in a waiting area until a technician can look at the films. Please understand they are not READING the films for abnormalities, and you WON’T get a diagnosis then, on the spot. They’re looking for mistakes in the way the breast was positioned, to know if they need to go back in and take another film or not. This usually takes less than five minutes, and you’ll then be told you can put your clothes on and go home, or to come back for one more picture.

If you ask real nice (I did) they’ll let you look at your films but do NOT ask them to interpret the mammogram for you – a radiological technician cannot do this by law, even if they see something their experience tells them may look suspicious. They can’t tell you, so please don’t badger them. DO take the chance if you can, to look at the films of your breasts. This is greatly instructional and also very validating and life-affirming. I found myself fascinated looking at the intricacy of little hairline veins and tissue criss-crossing the breast – it was a beautiful network of nurture personified, and reaffirmed my womanliness to me. This journey of the mammogram can be greatly reinforcing of your femininity. Celebrate your breasts!!

6) "I’m so nervous! I’ve been waiting for over a week after my mammogram and haven’t heard from my doctor. Is this a bad thing?" Your doctor will be sent the films along with a qualified radiologist’s interpretation within a week – more if the lab is backed up with more films to process than staff to process them. While you’re at the mammography office, ask what the general processing time is if you want to know. You will be given your results and diagnosis if any from your doctor’s office, within a few weeks. I was told if there is something really wrong, they flag your films and you’re notified even sooner. So no news is probably good news if you’re waiting for that call or in my case, the card in the mail telling you what’s what. I was also told by a hospital representative, that this particular hospital made a point of personal phone calls to women whose breasts showed suspicious spots, so the doctors and technicians are making sure you are notified as soon as possible.

My trip in and out of the mammogram took less than 45 minutes. I was on the street an hour later and having lunch with a girlfriend. We celebrated our breast health together by doing a public demonstration and teaching of the Triple Thump Plus to six ladies who were in the same restaurant. We’d all waited in line together and fell to discussing mammograms.

My friend is an energy healer so we were comparing our two breast health routines. These six ladies heard and wanted in on the action. Then three more joined us, plus a couple of the waitresses and one of the cooks who came out from the back to see what the commotion was. Nearly all of these women had a mother, sister, aunt, grandmother or friend stricken by breast disease and all were desperate to know how to prevent it. In all we taught twelve women how to care for their breasts, so my promise to my Mom, to help other women to breast health was more than fulfilled on "Mammogram Day".

Please teach ETHOS and the Triple Thump Plus to everyone you know. Even men can get breast cancer, so everyone needs to be doing this routine. See above for the method which surrounds the breast with tender loving care, and drains toxins away from the breast tissue. I hope this has been instructional and helpful to you. Please feel free to pass this post in its entirety to anyone you know of that has any fear of going in for a breast check up or mammogram. It’s something as women that I feel we owe ourselves, and one form of love we can give our bodies.

More info on The ETHOS Method: http://community.ethosmethod.com

I’m a pink ribbon kid. Mom, grandma and two aunts on both sides of the family all either had or died of breast cancer. I’ve decided I won’t be doing the same, thank you very much. Tapping on the acupoints around the breast, including the thymus, helps keep the breasts free and clear of toxins, and the emotional issues can also be worked on by tapping as well using EFT, or Emotional Freedom Technique.

Wonder of wonders too, last night I heard on the news that a compound found in cannabis, CBD, greatly slows the spread of aggressive breast cancer cells without the painful side effects of other treatments currently available.

Researchers at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco warn that this is not a recommendation to start smoking though, as you can’t get enough CBD this way. CBD, unlike that other cannabis compound, THC, does not get you high. The proposed CBD  treatment would be the first all-natural, non-toxic breast cancer treatment, without the serious side effects of radiation and chemotherapy.

Having watched strong and precious women in my life become shrunken shells of their former selves while on radiation and chemo, this news comes as a great comfort. This herbal form of medicine may in time come to replace chemotherapy if all test results pan out.

My grandmother, Grace Evans Ratliff, a natural herbal healer who herself battled breast cancer, said that there is no disease known to man that God did not put a plant in the ground to either help or cure.

How sad that the plant in question happens to be illegal. Perhaps this research will at least see cannabis admitted once again, to the American Pharmacopoeia and world-wide materia medica – as it has been, safely and effectively for thousands of years.

Read the full article here:

http://cbs5.com/health/breast.cancer.marijuana.2.571109.html

All types of alcohol raise cancer risk

Just read about this at Sandra Ghalinger’s "Tittyology" website courtesy of Suzanne’s ezine – thanks, Suz!