Flu shot? No thanks, I'll take a ginger shot!

Recently my step-kids came back from private school with the fear-mongering propaganda below:

The papers talk about how the flu is deadly and that vaccination is the "best" way to prevent the flu.  This is utter and complete nonsense.  First of all people do NOT die of the flu virus.  The so-called "flu-associated" deaths are most likely from iatrogenic infections which the person acquires during hospitalization or in immune-compromised or otherwise sick individuals!  

When I was in college and uneducated about the risks of vaccines, I was persuaded to take the flu vaccine.  Much to my dismay, I became sicker than I had ever been in my entire life.  I was bed-ridden for 2 days, miserable, with the flu.  I would never wish that demise on anyone and I never want to experience that again.  I should mention that I was otherwise very healthy and fit.  When I was finally well enough to go back to the school clinic and told them how sick I got from the shot, they denied it was the shot that made me sick.  They claimed that it was a coincidence that I got the flu after getting the shot and that if I had not had the shot I would have been more sick.  Today I know it was all a cover-up.  

Under the section of is the flu vaccine safe, they fail to mention reactions like the one that I had.

Under the benefits of getting a flu vaccine they say that the shot can keep your child from getting sick.  Again they miss the opportunity to disclose that the recipient of the injection can BECOME extremely sick!

The claim that the flu vaccination may make your illness milder if you do get sick is not supported by any scientific data,  In fact, all so-called "studies" that they reference in this literature do not have any sources cited!  Where is it published (in a peer-reviewed journal)?  Who funded the $tudy?  What was the sample size?  What was the nature of the study?  What are the confounding variables?  Show me the evidence.  You can not make such outrageous claims without any evidence to back it up!

Under other ways to protect against the flu they fail to mention nutrition, vitamins, hydration, exercise, rest, and sleep.  

Under medicine to treat the flu, they only mention conventional meds, no natural (herbal or vitamin/mineral) immune supporting antivirals.

They fail to mention the toxic and disgusting ingredients in the flu vaccine which include: mercury, gelatin, formaldehyde, and MSG (mono-sodium glutamate).

I disagree with their recommendation that pregnant women get the shots.  Pregnant and lactating mothers transfer these toxins to their baby!  Mercury and other heavy metals stay in the body forever (unless chelated) and MSG is a neurotoxin.  Heavy metal can deposit in the brain (which is particularly susceptible to heavy metal toxicity).  These are not health conscious recommendations!  The risk of the vaccine is worse than the risk of the flu!

They do give a very important piece of information, "Flu viruses are constantly changing and so flu vaccines are updated often to protect against the flu viruses that research indicates are most likely to cause illness during the upcoming flu season."  This is the most important and true statement in the entire handout.  The viruses are changing and mutating all the time and the vaccines are being updated some of the time.  Also, science does not have a crystal ball to predict which viruses are going to be most active at any point in time.  I do not want anyone playing Russian roulette with my health when the shot contains heavy metals and other chemicals which are not fit for human consumption!

Conventional Iconic Doctor Oz says

NO FLU SHOTS for his wife and children!

Retired Hospital Worker Gives Explosive ‘Flu Shot Speech’ Before CDC Advisory Committee

Another MUST SEE Video in which a Medical Doctor explains how the AMA (American Medical Association) and CDC (Center for Disease Control)* are governed by whoever pays for the research and that their recommendations are biased towards the providers of the funding. The information he provides about cigarettes is the same thing that's going on with vaccines, Big Pharma and the multi-BILLION DOLLAR collaboration that they are in....

*Big Pharma also provide funding for medical schools in the USA which is why nutrition is an elective course and not a required class and they push drugs to keep people dependent on their medicines for life!  It all starts with vaccines, setting children up to be sick adults.

Here is some additional information from my previous posts about the flu:

INFLUENZA

The scare-tactic data of soaring high death rates provided by the CDC in their brochure was from between the years 1918 and 1919. Hello? We have antibiotics since the 1940’s!!! That data is totally and completely IRRELEVANT! Are you kidding me? Using pre-antibiotic information to scare stupid people into taking the vaccine so big pharma and the gov can make more money off of us! Good grief!!!

The CDC has the audacity to state, “Before the vaccine” prior to their ridiculous statistics in order to make it look like the vaccine is what saved the day. NO, it should say before antibiotics, sanitary water, and hygienic living conditions!!!

Granted the flu is a virus, if it is left untreated the weakened immune system is susceptible to a super-imposed bacterial infection, which is what all those millions of people died from! No one EVER died from the FLU!!! See Merck page 1288, “ Although even healthy people demonstrate defects in lung clearance and ventilation for several weeks after acute illness, RECOVERY IS THE RULE in uncomplicated influenza.”

The CDC website says the following about potential adverse effects:

Severe problems:

· Life-threatening allergic reactions from vaccines are very rare. If they do occur, it is within a few minutes to a few hours after the shot.

· In 1976, a certain type of influenza (swine flu) vaccine was associated with Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) . Since then, flu vaccines have not been clearly linked to G.B.S. However, if there is a risk of G.B.S. from current flu vaccines, it would be no more than 1 or 2 cases per million people vaccinated. This is much lower than the risk of severe influenza, which can be prevented by vaccination.

From http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/side-effects.htm#hepa

Treatment: rest, naturopathic or homeopathic remedies, hydration, symptomatic relief to prevent bacterial super-imposition and appropriate antibiotics if super-infection occurs.

Just recently an assemblyman contracted GBS and it was in the news.  Click here for story.

CONCLUSION: The CDC brochure is purposely misleading people into erroneous thinking by deliberately presenting skewed data! This is totally unethical and nothing less than outrageous! No one ever died from the flu. We can successfully treat it with modern medicine!

The book referenced here is called “The Vaccine Book: Making the Right Decision for Your Child” by Robert W. Sears, MD, FAAP.  In Dr. Sears pro-vaccine book, he gives me all the reasons and reinforces my decision NOT to vaccinate. 

Flu

Given at 6, 12 months and then once a year. Vax contains mercury, gelatin, formaldehyde, MSG

Possible side effects include: Guillain Barre syndrome, encephalopathy, facial and arm paralysis, visual problems.

Virtually all cases of the flu pass without consequence.  And the disease isn’t usually treated anyway, so why bother with the vax? 

There are less than 60 deaths per year in children up to 14 years old.  Complications of the flu usually occur in the elderly or people with chronic heart, lung, or immune system diseases (p. 121-123).  Children with asthma, diabetes or chronic health diseases are recommended to take the vaccine but otherwise healthy people do not need the shot.

People who SHOULD NOT be given the vax include those with: egg allergy, past history of Guillain Barre syndrome, and children routinely taking aspirin.

Antivirals can make the course of the disease milder.

Dr Sears says, “I feel that the potential severity of the flu for infants and children has been hyped up by the media.  The actual number of fatalities on this age group every year is extremely small.  Combine this with the high rate of side effects and the unusual chemical additives in the shot, and it’s no wonder some parents shy away from making this a routine vaccine for their kids” (p. 134). 

CONCLUSION:  See highlighted paragraph above by Dr Sears from p 134 of his book.  It summarizes my sentiments very nicely!

HIB (the bacterial flu bug)

This vax is typically given at 2, 4, 6, and 15 months, by AAP guidelines. 

According to Dr. Sears, “severe cases of this disease are now extremely rare.”  There are only about “25 cases per year in the United States in kids under five years of age.”  And, “a breastfed baby who does not attend day care is at a particularly low risk of catching this illness” (p. 9).  My guess is that those 25 cases were in children who have weak immune systems, live in unhygienic circumstances and were possibly malnourished or impoverished without access to appropriate medical care.

He says that he hasn’t seen a single case of HIB in 10 years of practice and that since the disease is so rare, HIB isn’t the most critical vaccine (p. 12).

Dr Sears states that in the vaccine trials, “more babies who received the vaccine caught a serious HIB infection than those who didn’t get the vaccine!” (p. 8).

It seems to me that the risks of the side-effects of the vax such as Guillain-Barre syndrome are more common and more threatening than the bug itself. 

According to the CDC, “The risk of Hib vaccine causing serious harm or death is extremely small.”  http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/side-effects.htm#hib

CONCLUSION:  My baby is breastfed and not in day care.  Therefore, she is at low risk for catching HIB, which is anyway a rare bug with rarely grave consequences.  Since the vaccine is known to have caused serious harm or death, why would I want to take that “small” chance???  No thank you!  We’ll stay healthy with breastmilk and naturopathic medicine and if need be, antibiotics!

HAEMOPHILUS INFLUENZAE TYPE B (Hib)

According to the Merck Manual, “Haemophilus species are normally found in the upper respiratory tract and RARELY cause disease! (page 1166).

Antibiotic treatment varies depending on the site of infection.

According to the brochure, this condition was responsible for the death of 600 children a year (before the vaccine). I suspect that those 600 children were immune compromised, malnourished, probably not breastfed, without medical access and/or lived in poverty conditions with poor sanitation and hygiene. I doubt if any of them were the children of naturopathic doctors!

The vaccine contains ammonium-sulfite, and thimerosal.

CONCLUSION: This is a RARE condition, which can be successfully treated with antibiotics. 

The USA should follow Italy and dismantle the corrupt CDC which operates conflicts of interest.

Additional resources

Doctors who explain clearly why vaccines aren't safe or effective.

1. Dr. Nancy Banks - http://bit.ly/1Ip0aIm

2. Dr. Russell Blaylock - http://bit.ly/1BXxQZL

3. Dr. Shiv Chopra - http://bit.ly/1gdgh1s

4. Dr. Sherri Tenpenny - http://bit.ly/1MPVbjx

5. Dr. Suzanne Humphries - http://bit.ly/17sKDbf

6. Dr. Larry Palevsky - http://bit.ly/1LLEjf6

7. Dr. Toni Bark - http://bit.ly/1CYM9RB

8. Dr. Andrew Wakefield - http://bit.ly/1MuyNzo

9. Dr. Meryl Nass - http://bit.ly/1DGzJsc

10. Dr. Raymond Obomsawin - http://bit.ly/1G9ZXYl

11. Dr. Ghislaine Lanctot - http://bit.ly/1MrVeUL

12. Dr. Robert Rowen - http://bit.ly/1SIELeF

13. Dr. David Ayoub - http://bit.ly/1SIELve

14. Dr. Boyd Haley PhD - http://bit.ly/1KsdVby

15. Dr. Rashid Buttar - http://bit.ly/1gWOkL6

16. Dr. Roby Mitchell - http://bit.ly/1gdgEZU

VACCINE INGREDIENTS

• Flu: mercury, gelatin, formaldehyde, MSG
• Diptheria/ Tetanus/ Pertusis: formaldehyde, aluminum, ammonium, thimerosal, horse-derived antitoxin 
• Hib: ammonium-sulfite, thimerosal
• Measles/ Mumps/ Rubella: aborted fetal tissue, gelatin
• Chicken pox: MSG (a neurotoxin), gelatin, guinea pig embryo cells, aborted fetal tissue -> human embryo lung cells, cow fetus 
• Pneumococcal Disease: aluminum
• Polio: monkey kidney cells* and human proteins (from embryos?) *not tested for viruses

Vaccine RISKS:

allergies

asthma

eczema

autism

autoimmune disorders

neurological disorders

Guillian Barre Syndrome
encephalopathy
epileptic seizures
(facial and arm) paralysis 
visual problems
severe life-threatening rash
cardiac events
intussuseption (life-threatening intestinal blockage!) 

cancer

SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome)*
MMR:  diabetes, bleeding disorders, life-threatening rash (Stevens-Johnson syndrome), nerve inflammation and dysfunction, eye inflammation and visual dysfunction, deafness, seizures, Guillain-Barre syndrome, inflamed pancreas, joint and muscle soreness, chronic arthritis, encephalitis, encephalopathy, subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, autism, and even rare deaths from unknown causes!!!

DTP: The CDC website lists the following possible side effects to the DtaP Vaccine:

From http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/side-effects.htm#hepa

Moderate Problems (Uncommon)

· Seizure (jerking or staring) (about 1 child out of 14,000)

· Non-stop crying, for 3 hours or more (up to about 1 child out of 1,000)

· High fever, 105 degrees Fahrenheit or higher (about 1 child out of 16,000)

Severe Problems (Very Rare)

Serious allergic reaction (less than 1 out of a million doses) Several other severe problems have been reported after DTaP vaccine. These include:

· Long-term seizures, coma, or lowered consciousness

· Permanent brain damage.

*Also DEATH in adults:

NY State Senator Complains Flu Shot Made Him Sick; Dies After Rushed To ER

Food for thought:

The world is run by cause & effect!

Here is the cause:

Here is the effect: 

Childhood illnesses can be treated successfully with early detection and intervention using both conventional medicine (antibiotics and antivirals) as well as holistic medicine such as herbal antivirals, immune boosting vitamins and supplements 

and these homeopathic remedies. 

DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH, MAKE YOUR OWN DECISIONS BUT DON'T JUST FOLLOW THE AMA AND CDC LIKE A BLIND SHEEP.  YOU DESERVE TO KNOW THE TRUTH, YOU DESERVE TO MAKE AN INFORMED DECISION ABOUT YOUR HEALTH CARE!

Beating Alcoholism

By Shoshanna Schmalz

Alcohol has always had a place in my life. Since my earliest memories, my parents always drank in the evening and at social events. My mother started to really have a problem with alcohol addiction when I was about twelve. She was drunk every evening. She wasn’t a mean alcoholic, rather an over-loving alcoholic. She would want me to sit with her while she rambled on, slurring her words. Half of the time I had no idea what she was talking about and often she would forget what she was talking about mid- sentence or repeat herself endlessly. I felt a deep emptiness and sorrow. I felt powerless to help her. I started to avoid her when I knew that she would be plastered drunk. I was disgusted. When I was a younger child she was the most loving and caring mother, but as an alcoholic there was nothing there but a hollow, blubbering shell. She would wake up late morning and begin drinking straight away. In the mornings I could still have a meaningful conversation with her but by mid-afternoon she wasn’t there anymore. The house reeked of vodka and was always a mess. Many times I had to help her just to walk to the bathroom, she fell a lot and would get hurt. I have two older brothers and two younger siblings who caught the brunt of this during their early childhood. My older brothers and I helped take care of them as much as we could, but they were often left to fend for themselves. My brothers and sister and I began to disregard her and toward the end of her drinking, we were sure that she was going to die soon and we accepted it.

There was a lot of shame that came from having an alcoholic parent. I didn’t want anyone to know and we always tried to hide it. We wouldn’t bringing new people home. In 1999 mother went through a two week dryout program and has been alcohol free since. She has returned to be herself, a loving and supporting mother and grandmother. She lives knowing that alcohol is simply not an option for her.

My father always drank, but he was a different type of alcoholic. He never drank until he fell but alcohol definitely played a role in his life.

Addiction runs in families and four of my mother's brothers and sister have had struggles with alcohol addiction. That is five out of eight. As well as her grandfather. All three of my father’s siblings are alcoholics as well as many of my cousins. Both of my grandparents on my father's side were alcoholics and I remember as a very young child my father taking my grandmother to rehab. I am one of five siblings. Two others have had struggles with alcohol but I am the only one who has fallen into deep alcoholism.

We grew up very poor and we were always moving so there is no place that I really come from. I was born in Jerusalem to American parents. When I was two we moved to the States. We lived in Montana, Oregon, Arkansas and California. At 12 we moved back to Israel and moved several times within Israel. Although our home was full of love as a child, there was always an underlying feeling of unworthiness and unbelonging. I had an illusive belief that people that had means were happy and didn’t have worries.

I must add that overall I had a wonderful childhood experience, full of love, inspiration and adventure, but this story is about the role that alcohol played in my life.

As a way to escape and find security, I married before my 20th birthday and had two children by the time I was 22.

My addiction to alcohol started gradually and by all logic I should have known better. Alcohol was a natural outlet for me because it was familiar and comfortable.  As I fell into alcoholism, I knew what I was doing even in the earliest stages.

When I was 29 my husband and I moved our family from Israel to the suburbs of Chicago with nothing. For the first couple of years in the States my husband was a trailer driver and I was left alone with two young children most of the time. One evening, a few weeks after we got there, I went into the supermarket and saw the beer aisle. I thought that it would be really nice to have a beer and relax. So I bought a six pack. I think that I had two beers that night and it felt good. The pressure was off. I drank every night after that until I finished them and then repeated it a couple of weeks later. Then I got pregnant with my third son and stopped drinking. After he was born I began doing the same thing, even while I was nursing my infant. I noticed that the amount that I was drinking was slowly going up. Instead of two beers I was having three to four beers at a time. But I still wasn’t drinking every night. After a year and a half I got pregnant again with my fourth child and stopped drinking again. I remember thinking that he was my savior from alcoholism, but almost as soon as he was born I began drinking again (while nursing).

Between the birth of my two youngest children, my husband and I opened a business and success was almost immediate. But with the success came many long work days and constant stress. I was constantly juggling work with taking care of the kids and home. I was also in a very emotional and verbal abusive relationship with an extremely controlling husband.

At that point our marriage was falling apart and I didn’t care about his feelings toward my alcohol or anything else. There was no love or compassion, I was far from any family and I had no friends. I knew that I was falling into alcoholism but the relief that it gave me was stronger than the fear and in the beginning I still believed that I controlled it. Slowly I started to crave alcohol, like a burning sensation in the back of the throat or the larynx. I knew that I had a problem but denied the extent of it, or damage that I was causing to myself and others. Now I realize that I could not see the effect that I was having on my children because I dismissed my importance or the impact that I had on their lives. I dismissed my self-importance as a mother. I didn’t see that it was a big deal.

Gradually, my evening drinking started earlier and earlier in the day, sometimes even before I left work. Many times I picked my kids up from daycare after I had already had a couple of drinks. I would be very careful not to get too close to anyone so that they would not smell it. Driving drunk was routine for me and I made all my plans around my drinking. I would drink until I fell asleep every night and that was usually on the couch. In the morning I would walk around the house collecting empty and half full cans that I had misplaced the night before. I hid the cans under other trash in the garbage so no one would see how many were there. Many times, in the morning I would not remember what had happened the night before. I pretended to know what the conversation was about while trying to remember or figure out the situation.

I tried many times to stop drinking by myself. I would stop for a few days at a time but the pull was too strong so I would fall back into it. These falls were devastating to me, I felt guilty and like a failure. My real addiction to alcohol lasted for about four years.

At 36 I started to look in the mirror. I had reached success by many peoples standards. I had an unlimited Platinum Credit card and I could buy whatever I wanted. I had a fancy car and big house in the suburbs and a successful business. But my life was empty. What was it all worth if I found pleasure in nothing?  At that time I weighed close to 300 pounds because of the excess calories, I was an alcoholic, I worked all the time and I was in a bad marriage. As a child I had connected happiness to money and I found it to be a myth. I had to make a change. I knew that there had to be more meaning than this to life. I didn’t want to die this way and I knew that I had more to give to my children. I decided to leave everything. I separated from my husband and moved back to Israel to be close to my family. My parents were shocked at my state. I could see the worry in my mother’s eyes. She helped me find a therapist but I still couldn’t find the strength to quit. I didn’t want to go away from my children to rehab. I tried again to quit on my own but fell back after ten days.

My husband also moved back to Israel and took formal action to try to take my children away from me, (he later cancelled it). I was scared and the shame was immense. I didn’t want anyone from the outside to know. I remember my therapist telling me that one day, after I recover, I will not be ashamed anymore and that I would be able to talk about it openly. I did not believe her.

Then one morning I woke up and couldn’t find two of my four children and I had no idea where they were. I was supposed to get them ready and send them to school and they weren’t there. I had to wake up my sixteen year old son to ask him what had happened the night before. The lost look and look of total disgust in his eyes as he told me, changed something in me. This was my wake up call, my rock bottom.

My therapist helped me find a closed dryout facility and within a couple of weeks I checked in. The thought of giving up alcohol scared me but I made the decision that I was going to surrender myself to the care of others. I would simply do whatever they told me to do. I obviously didn’t know how to do it on my own so I gave myself to them trustingly. It felt like I was letting go of all control in my life.

My mother and daughter accompanied me and helped me sign in. I remember joking around with the doctors. When they left and I walked into the ward I saw people sitting in a circle in a group meeting. They looked ragged and worn and a strong sense of flight came over me. I wanted to run. I felt like I didn’t belong there among those people. I was not like them. For a second, the thought crossed my mind that I could still catch my mother in the parking lot, but I knew that I couldn’t leave. I needed this, so I stayed.

We had group meetings twice a day and lots of chores. It was not fun and mostly I remember being bored. Most of the people that were in rehab with me had been there many times prior. This made me realize that it is not a quick fix and that relapse is a real possibility. Almost daily people were signing themselves out so that they could go and drink. One of the ladies in my room had been to rehab seven times. I stayed and completed the two week program.

When I got back home I still struggled with cravings, especially during the first few days. My children gave me strength. They acted as though they had gotten their mother back “fixed.”  I remembered getting my mother back and how wonderful it felt. They did not fathom that I could still fall back into drinking and I could not let them down. So I stayed strong and adopted my mother's way of thinking, alcohol is simply not an option for me no matter what. As the time passed it got easier and easier.

As I write this I am 39 years old and nearly three years alcohol free.

In order to overcome the hold that alcohol had on me, I had to go deep within myself to untangle and sort through tightly intertwined emotions and beliefs. This is what I know to be true, based on my own experience with alcoholism.

My alcoholism sprouted from emotional agony caused by my inability to cope with my internal negative emotions. It may seem as though outside circumstances cause alcoholism, but they do not. Alcohol is a vice, a symptom of emotional distress. I was stuck in constant loops of self pity, blame, shame, self-hatred, guilt and denial. I was oblivious to these loops. Because I was unaware of these thought processes, they were impossible for me to change.

Self Pity and Blame: Self-pity can be very consoling. If you are pitying yourself, then you are blaming others, and outside circumstances for your situation. Feeling sorry for yourself is the opposite of taking responsibility. If you are feeling sorry for yourself, then you are under the false pretence that you are the victim of outside circumstances and the victim of other people's behaviors. In other words, you don't feel as though you have control or power in the situation. One of the best lessons that I received from my alcoholism is that when I blame others for the situation that I am in, I have to wait for others to change in order for the situation to change. But when I realized that I am the only one that can make a change in my life, then I quit blaming others. Others can only do to me that which I allow and agree to take from them. If others treat me poorly and I stay, then I am the one that is allowing them to treat me this way. It is not them that is to blame, they are only doing what they know how to do based on their own internal dialogue. When I blame another, I am giving them the power over my life. Imagine your life as a car that doesn’t stop and you choose which seat you want to sit in. You can choose to sit in the passenger's seat. You can choose the back seat or you can choose to be in the drivers seat. No matter what seat you choose, the car will still go. Imagine that you choose the passenger’s seat and let someone else drive, but you continuously blame them for taking turns that you did not want to take. As I let go of blame, I gained strength in the knowledge that I am in control my life. If I am in charge then I am the only one that is responsible for my alcoholism and I am the only one that can change the situation.

I took the power in my life back by letting go of blame and checking within myself what I need to do in order to change the things that I wanted to change.

Shame: The shame experienced as an alcoholic, or any shame, stems from feeling less adequate than others. I felt like there was something wrong with me because I couldn’t control my alcoholism. I was worried about people finding out so I stopped being social and stop putting myself into social situations all together. The shame made me hide, both emotionally and physically. Shame is one of the lowest emotions you can feel. It is the opposite of self-worth. I was ashamed of who I was and what I did, I didn’t feel worthy of anything or anybody. Even just going to the park with my children was emotionally difficult.

Self Hate and feelings of inadequacy: Self-hate is extremely destructive. I hated myself and could not believe that another could love me. I felt as though I was not worthy of love. So I searched out in a relationship that which I felt I was worthy of, and settled into a destructive marriage and stayed there for many years. In retrospective, I could not have had any true, meaningful relationship with this mindset. If you don't believe another can love the true you then you never really show them who your true self is. I was constantly hiding of who I really was.

When you hate yourself you find reasons to reinforce the self-hate in every situation. It is a constant dialogue in your mind. When I met someone new, I would begin to imagine myself through their eyes. I became acutely aware of aspects of my personality and my body that I disliked the most. I would imagine that the other person is only seeing these aspects and I couldn’t just flow with conversation or act naturally. I would cut conversations and interactions with other people short. When you see yourself in a certain way, you cannot believe that another sees you differently.  When you hate yourself, you give up on yourself and you do not feel like you deserve more than your lot, so you don't strive for better.

The cycle of the self-hate and the feeling unworthy, is one of the hardest cycles to break. When you think this way then you can only see that which reinforces this way of thinking. When someone compliments you, you may feel as though they are patronizing you. But if somebody points out something that you did wrong, you will take it, own it, dwell on it and grow it. You will beat yourself up over it and play the recording of how stupid you are over and over again. Whereas, a person that believes in themselves and loves themselves, would not take it to heart. Rather, they would realize their mistake, learn the lesson that the situation is offering and grow from it.

We are not born all-knowing, therefore, a person who does not make mistakes does not exist. There is only the person who chooses not to take the lessons by way of dwelling or blaming (including self-blame). When you don't learn from a situation then you are likely to repeat it. Self-hate feeds and reinforces itself with every loop. The lower you feel, the harder it is to pull yourself up. This loop makes it very difficult to pull oneself out of alcoholism. You feel as though it doesn't matter anyway.

Guilt was my constant companion as an alcoholic. I felt guilty about what I was doing to others, especially my children. I felt guilty about what I was doing to myself. I felt guilty because deep down I knew better, and I knew that I was responsible, even though I was not consciously aware of it and outwardly blamed others and outside circumstances.

These loops of thought are self feeding and hold you down and lock you in their grasp and constraining boundaries.

Not only was I having these negative dialogues within my own mind, but the people in my life, especially the people closest to me, were blaming me for my alcoholism as well. They didn’t understand me. This made me go further into my own hell. This just made me hide myself from them more and live in complete self-isolation. Alcoholism is lonely.

My addiction to alcohol made my mind manipulate itself. It twists your truths and morals around in such a way that it changes the way that you think about alcohol, justifying your drinking, in order to satisfy the addiction. As an alcoholic I would wake up in the morning and be disgusted with myself for drinking. Many times I would swear to myself that I would never touch another drop of alcohol. I would look at myself in the mirror and tell myself that I'm going to stay connected to this feeling and I never want to drink again. But as the day progressed, my hatred and disgust would begin to fade and my mind would talk itself into drinking. I would tell myself that everybody has a drink in the evening and that I'm not going to hurt anybody by drinking. An alcoholic's mind tricks itself as the hour to drink approaches. I often compare what took place in my mind it to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. This is one of the hardest things to overcome. You can't trust your own self.

The addiction to alcohol is progressive and intensifies with time. The longer the alcoholism is allowed to flourish, the deeper the roots and the harder it is to break. The earlier it is caught, the easier to overcome. There will not be a point in the future that it will be easier than it is at this moment. What started out as casual drinking slowly matured into the demon of alcoholism, gradually taking over my life. As it spread through my mind it slowly engulfed every component of my life, shadowing it and choking out the love, happiness and meaning of each aspect. Alcoholism filled those spaces with guilt, absence of caring, impatience and bitterness. It's numbing. I lost love for life, lost love for self, lost love for others and lost purpose. I quit enjoying my children and my home.  I lost hobbies and friends. Nothing had meaning for me but the alcohol. And the alcohol became my best and only friend. It feels like a warm blanket that drowns out the pain. This is an illusion though, because the alcoholism brings with it far more pain than I had prior and most of the pain that I was trying to kill was the pain brought on by itself.

Understand that we are each born individual and unique and we all come into the world the same, as equals. Each of us are worthy of love and understanding.  We lose this belief because of experiences we have along the way and things that are told to us in our life.

Denial or partial denial of the addiction is why it can take so many years to get help. You cannot see the extent of your problem (or don't want to see) and you believe that you can quit anytime if you really wanted to.

To make any kind of true lasting recovery, you must first admit to yourself that you have a problem.  This can be extremely difficult to do because once you admit that you have a problem then you must take responsibility for it. The alternative is to give in to the alcohol knowingly.

In order to break the denial and get the full lesson needed to overcome alcohol you must first reach your own personal rock bottom. This rock bottom is different for each person. It is such a low point that you cannot go lower. You feel as though you are choosing between life and death. You cannot lie to yourself any longer. You have to face the truth and admit to yourself that you have a problem. You realize that this is what your life has become and you may end it this way.

This breaking point is usually triggered by a very traumatic moment or a series of events brought on by alcohol. When you reach this breaking point you are faced with a life or death choice. Either you admit and take responsibility and reach out for help, or you admit and you give in to the addiction. In both cases you cannot deny it to yourself any longer. Those who choose the latter parish. This is because you quit resisting and give into the alcohol knowingly. You accept it as your fate.

For me the breaking point was when I woke up in the morning and could not find two out of four of my children, one of whom was six at the time. My children were fine. My daughter, who was 14 at the time left to sleep at her grandparents house. My six year old had called his father to come and get him because he was hungry and there was noone there to feed him and I was “asleep.”

Once you admit to yourself that you have a problem, then you must be able to admit to others and ask for help. Asking for help can be one of the most difficult things to do. What I found is that once I asked for help there was a huge weight lifted from me. I was not alone any more and I could lean on another for strength. Another thing that I found is that people who were close to me knew I had a problem anyway, whether I admitted it to them or not. You must be able to ask for help.

The physical addiction to alcohol can be just as difficult to overcome as the mental addiction. Your body physically craves it and needs alcohol just to feel normal. Without alcohol your body shakes uncontrollably and you feel sick. You cannot physically function without alcohol. You cannot move. The physical craving feeds your mental craving. I tried many times to break my addiction by myself, but I was unable to. You cannot think rational thoughts while your body is craving alcohol nor can you think rational thoughts while you are influenced by alcohol and these are your constant states of being.

The physical addiction must be broken before you can begin the mental recovery. Knowing as an absolute truth is that you are the only one that can pull yourself out of alcoholism is key. No one else has that power. The work is yours. But with saying this, I will also say that you cannot do it alone and you do not need to do it alone. Reach out and find help. I still religiously continue group meetings and personal therapy.

Therapy is very important. When we are stuck in the destructive loops of thought, another's perspective can show us a different way of thinking and help us break the loop. I have a very talented and dedicated therapist, Adi, who slowly helped me work through my personal demons. She showed me rays of light that I did not see and and planted seeds in my mind of other ways of living. These seeds flourished.

Surround yourself with people that build you up and avoid those who do not.

Understand that you cannot beat yourself up enough or put yourself far enough down to break the cycle of alcoholism. The further down you are, the weaker you are, the less power you have and the more likely you are to break. You can only inspire yourself out of alcoholism. The further you lift yourself up in your thoughts the more power you gain and the more worthy you feel of change.

You can help yourself out of alcoholism by focusing on the positive things that you want in your life and the positive things that you want for yourself. Whatever it is that you focus on in your life is what expands. This is because, the only moment in time that your life is happening is in the current moment. The past is gone and the future is not here. Everything that we dwell on in the past is inhibiting and everything that we think of in the future is only a projection of our current thoughts and expectations. It is not actual. It is only an illusion. If we can keep our current thoughts focused on positive things, our entire life experience will change to a positive one. As we change our current thoughts, so will our projection and expectations of the future change. Our overall life experience will be tilted into the light rather than the darkness. Therefore, if you are focusing on not wanting to drink anymore, it is still the "drink" that is in focus, it is the subject of the conversation. What your thoughts are on is what is receiving airtime in your life and gaining power. You are giving your addiction strength with every thought upon it. You must find things to focus on that are outside of the alcohol. Being in the clutches of alcohol can make it difficult even to see the smallest ray of hope to grab onto or find enjoyment in anything. Alcoholics who had a hobby or interest prior to alcoholism can visualize themselves enjoying them again. It may help to focus on a role model, someone that you can aspire to be like. Find a vision of yourself that you enjoy, without the alcohol, how you would like to be. Hold that vision in your focus as much as you can. When you feel yourself being pulled into the loops of your mind, pull yourself out and bring your new vision into focus. This mental process takes time and practice but if you can persevere, you can do it.

If you can look into your own mind as an observer and completely understand these loops of thought, you can slowly remove yourself from them, and if you can keep your thoughts positive, you can beat the addiction. I am not saying that it is not difficult to quit, but it is possible, and there is hope.

Through healing alcoholism, I was able to sort through my own personal demons and heal my life. I see my alcoholism as a gift.

Give the Gift of Inner Peace & Relaxation

It's June and for most of us it means it's time to shop for a present for Father's day, and/or for a beloved Graduate in our lives!

 

Searching for the perfect gift can be a challenge.  Here is a gift that your loved ones can use on a daily basis that YOU can benefit from too!  Guided-Meditation MP3 downloads!  Here's how it works. Click on this link to visit my Indiegogo campaign.  It will be live until August 2, 2015.  Decide which titles are best for you and them.  There are 5 meditations to choose from ranging from 19 to 26 minutes in length and the links below are to YouTube Demos of each meditation:

Optimal Weight Meditation

Smoking Cessation Meditation

Chakra Balancing Meditation

Self Empowerment Meditation

Spiritual Growth Meditation

So whether you want to empower the recent grad with some extra confidence to face the working world, or whether you want to help dad lose a few pounds or quit smoking, there is something for everyone!

 

All purchases receive a BONUS GIFT of 101 Power Affirmations for Personal Transformation!  It is a relaxing 14 minute track that will feed your conscious and subconscious mind with empowering affirmations in various areas of life including relationships, health, prosperity, nutrition and vitality!

 

This is the ultimate gift that keeps giving!  After you make your purchase online, you will receive a DropBox link via email to download the MP3s that you purchased.  Simply download the MP3 you purchased and then forward the link to your beloved dad or grad.

The more meditation titles you buy, the more you save!  The link will be active until the Indiegogo campaign ends.  We highly encourage sharing the link to the campaign on ALL social networks and use hashtag #bestgiftfordadsandgrads and also hashtag the person who referred you to us.  The person who refers the most friends who make meditation purchases will receive $100 CASH!  

 

There are so many stress-induced illnesses today!  Feel great that you are giving a gift that can reduce stress, improve feelings of wellbeing, and more!

We THANK YOU for your support and so will your Dad or Grad!
 

~Namaste

 Ahuva Gamliel

 Founder

 www.MeditationsForSuccess.com

Got STRESS? Try This!

Of course exercise, eating healthy, sleeping adequately, meditating, and taking a bath can help to reduce stress.  Every body knows that and yet most people still find themselves leading stressful lives.  
Since stress is the leading contributing factor in many preventable life-threatening illnesses, it is vital for us to get our stress levels under control!  

Sometimes we feel like we don't have time to do everything that we want to do and items on our list (such as meditating or praying) get postponed and it's hard for us to catch up with our busy schedules!

Well I have good news, even for the busiest person!  There is something that you can do to reduce stress which doesn't take any time at all.  If you have time to breathe, you have time for aromatherapy!

These are the effects of STRESS on the body:

Clinical research has shown that aromatherapy has measurable psychological and physiological effects such as reducing pain, fatigue, depression, stress and anxiety, drastically reducing stress related biomarkers (i.e. blood pressure, heart rate and cortisol) and has considerably enhanced well-being. It has even outperformed other stress management techniques, such as progressive muscle relaxation.  

  

Aromatherapy has been used with cancer patients to boost lymphocyte production (immune system cells)!  And even animals who are nervous due to travel (or other stressors such as thunder) have been calmed by lavender aroma therapy!  The fact that it works on animals and children means that this powerful aromatic plant therapy is not merely a placebo effect since those results were not biased by expectation, belief, or desire and are therefore indisputable.

 

 

These and many more favorable outcomes are published in PUBMED which is known as the GOLD STANDARD in Medicine today because of their placebo controlled, double-blind studies which are peer-reviewed.  The mechanism of action is not clearly understood, however, the olfactory sense (smell) is the sense linked to having the most immediate response in the brain of all the other senses.  Perhaps it is by the nature of the proximity of the two organs that the effects are so immediate and substantial.

 

Essential oils utilized in aromatherapy can be very affordable. This link to Emerson Ecologics has essential oils at competitive prices.

They also carry diffusers so that you can enjoy the aromatherapy and make your home or office smell good too.  Maybe it will even chill your boss out!  Worth a try!
 

Essential oil blends can be utilized to have specific effects for (click on hyperlink to view product):

Aphrodisiac 

Anti-Anxiety  

Asthma 

Boost immunity 

Cheer up   

Quit Craving  

JOY

Mental energizer 

Peaceful sleep 

Relaxation 

 

The above formulas are all meant to be smelled only, not ingested.  Some essential oils such as tea tree or clove oil must be diluted before applying topically or they can burn the skin due to the very strong concentration.  Therefore, only use the above in a diffuser such as this one.

Receive a 10% discount at Emerson Ecologics on any of the above products by entering the following code when you check out: MIBASO and 33021

 

 

References:

1. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25114901
2. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24238073
3. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25595338
4. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25787105
5. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25784877
6. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17291597
7. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25743585
8. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24038798
9. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23886205
10. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23531112
11. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23221660
12. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23140115
13. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23062018
14. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21107332
15. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16978115

 

 

www.mibaso.org

(786)537-0771

 

Thank you for sharing this blog in your social media networks!

~Dr Gamliel