Image Source: Newsday Web site, minivan of Diane Schuler, July 26, 2009

Diane Schuler had the equivalent of ten shots of vodka and a high level of THC from marijuana in her body-all before noon on the fateful day she drove her minivan filled with kids headfirst into an SUV, killing seven people, including herself. She was driving the wrong way on a state highway, and the broken bottle of Absolut vodka found in the wreckage gives testimony to the reason so many died that day. Yet her husband (who also had a past DUI conviction) swears he never saw her drunk. She couldn’t possibly have been an alcoholic.

But who else can consume that much alcohol and pot and still believe they are capable of driving, especially with five young children in the vehicle? Only someone who denies the extent of her own addiction, even to herself. Someone who just wants to “take the edge off” a little before dealing with the stress of the day.

And more and more women are doing just that. More women are being arrested for DUI than ever before, even as the numbers for men drunk drivers is getting lower.

Read my exploration of this topic at the Huffington Post.

Chemo can be really effective in conjunction with energy medicine treatments that go to removing the underlying problem. Chemo also combines well with a strong positive belief system. It all works synergistically.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Mom and son flee to avoid chemo: yes, their religious beliefs could well be the catalyst that, in combination with chemo, could eradicate the cancer. What I’ve found working with thousands of people is that it’s usually a combination of modalities, together with deeply held beliefs, that work best to make changes at the cellular level.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

There is a yoga pose called tadasana, or mountain pose. You stand with your weight balanced on both feet, align your ankles, knees, and hips, and your head and shoulders. You become very aware of yourself and the feeling of being connected to the earth. It is this feeling that we lack as we hear about the Dow’s precipitous drops, banks failing, and Fortune 500 companies tanking. We find that the solid base we have been standing on is nothing but air. The emotional pain of this economy is also an awakening for us – a chance for us to build a more solid foundation for our lives. How can we remain grounded when our world changes by the hour? See my blog on the Huffington Post for more on keeping sane as the economy goes crazy.

Posted October 23, 2008 | 10:00 AM (EST)
It’s everywhere we turn these days–the bad news about the economy. It’s one more fear piled on top of all the other fears festering in our guts. Here comes another breaking news alert: the stock market is down, no, now it’s up, no, down. The foreign markets are… Read Post

Stop and smell the roses. I bet some of you got impatient just reading that! But wait! Stop and answer these questions: what are you racing to? What are you going to “win” at the end of the day? Are you going to be satisfied? When you maintain this I-want-everything-now pace, what do you have in five years? You’ve aged five years. That’s it. If you haven’t stopped to enjoy the smell of freshly mown grass, feel sunshine on your face, cuddle with someone you love, or spend an hour doing nothing but being, you’re just marking time. We have lost the art of being, which I urge you to relearn for better physical and emotional health. Visit my blog at Psychology Today for some help.

September 30, 2008 – 10:43am in Psychology Today
Remember that old Simon & Garfunkel tune-the “59th Street Bridge Song?” It starts off with “Slow down, you move too fast.” It kicks down the cobble stones, says hi to lampposts, and watches the flowers growing. And ends with “Life, I love you, All is groovy.” When was the last time you were in love with life, moving slow enough to enjoy the flowers growing? Read More

“I’m a freak.” A striking woman with beautiful blue eyes, flawless fair skin, and a muscular body said this to me during a session, and it has always stayed with me, breaking my heart over and over again. Alopecia had taken her hair. She lived in shame, always hiding, hoping no one noticed she was different. And she succeeded very well; most people would not be able to tell she wore a wig. But she knew. The secrecy was tearing her apart. When women lose their hair, they also lose confidence and self-esteem because they think they are alone. You are not alone; you are assuredly not a freak. My blog on Psychology Today goes into more depth on this topic for the millions of women who struggle with the emotional pain of hair loss.

July 18, 2008 – 10:48am in Psychology Today
Often, women with hair loss issues come to L.A. to work with some of the hair pros here. After all, if you can’t get good-looking hair in Hollywood, where can you go! Read More

I could argue about gay marriage until my face turns blue -how sexual orientation is but one part of someone’s identity, how Jesus doesn’t care about whom we love, but that we love. I hope what I say sticks, but if someone were to argue with me till he was blue in the face that gays are evil, worthless, etc…it wouldn’t change my mind. Where does that leave us with gay marriage? It boils down to one thing: civil liberties. We pride ourselves on being the Land of the Free, so we must include everyone in that freedom. Marriage is a basic civil right. If you can’t see allowing gay marriage out of misguided “morals,” why not out of a belief that our country should treat everyone equally? More on this issue and the fear holding gay marriage legislation back on my blog on the Huffington Post.

Posted June 16, 2008 | 09:29 AM (EST)
The weddings start this week in California as gay marriage becomes legal. West Hollywood is thrilled; Bakersfield is not. While others cities and towns across California are preparing to boost their economies through wedding services for same-sex couples, Kern County Clerk Ann Barnett decided to stop performing all weddings after… Read Post

ALL ABOUT AMBIEN

May 5, 2008

The popular sleeping pill Ambien is a sedative and a hypnotic, causing relaxation and sleep. It affects chemicals in the brain that have become unbalanced, which results in insomnia. So Ambien sounds like a good solution, but how many people actually read all the little print that contains the warnings?

Ambien is not a good choice of sleep aid for anyone who drinks alcohol or has a history of addiction problems, even to cigarettes, because it’s so seriously addictive. It can become addictive in a very short time, even less than 10 days, and withdrawal symptoms, including rebound insomnia, can occur—the very thing you were trying to address in the first place.

It is frequently found in cases of driving under the influence, indicating abuse. It is also abused recreationally by those who force themselves to stay awake to experience vivid visuals and a mild euphoria and light-based hallucinations. Once a tolerance to the drug is reached, the sedation effect decreases and the euphoric side effects remain, along with increasing anxiety.

If mixed with alcohol or marijuana, the effects of Ambien effects are intensified. Nor is it a good choice if you’re dealing with depression. I urge people to try safer alternatives for sleep, like St. John’s wort, kava kava, or valerian, but not if you’re using Ambien, which reacts adversely with these popular sleep preparations as well as with many antidepressants and even with caffeine.

If we’re having trouble sleeping, it’s often because we’ve lost our connection to Mother Earth – so easy to do today in our fast-paced world of computers, artificial lighting, and freeway living. Before asking for a prescription, try getting more fresh air and sunshine (20 minutes a day of sun is a natural sleep aid) and exercise every day for a week to reconnect your body the natural world. Also consider drinking no caffeine after early morning, turning off the TV an hour before bedtime, and having the same sleep time every night. Nine times out of ten, this will address insomnia; if not, see a sleep expert. Menopause can also cause insomnia; if that’s the situation, see someone who can deal with the symptoms of menopause.

Live Your Dream

Everyone wants to be happy and live a joyful and fulfilling life. So what’s stopping you? And what can you do to ensure that you live your dream?

The first step is actually defining your dream. Do you know what you really want? Are you happy with your job, your relationships, your health? Is it more important at this point in your life to find some personal security or to do good in the world no matter the cost? Be truthful with yourself as you clarify your desires.

Then see what’s standing in the way of realizing your dream. Did someone put it down, tell you no, stop you in some way from “following your bliss?” I remember being a junior in college and telling my guidance counselor I wanted to be a lawyer like my dad. He said,“You’re dreaming! With your grades, you don’t stand a chance.” Instead of letting him be an obstacle in my path, I took his words as a challenge and did what I had to do to become a successful lawyer.

It’s especially important to clear out old unconscious ways of thinking. For example, a man at one of my recent seminars said he’d always been stopped from doing what he wanted by a lack of money. In fact, what was really stopping him was the way he was living out a family trait he had inherited of Depression-era thinking. When I brought this up, he said,“You’re right! My whole family’s attitude that there’s never going to be enough is based on my parents having lived through the Depression.” I gave him visualizations and affirmations so he could work actively on reversing this old glass-half-empty stance.

Stand strong in your own truth. Have a real conviction about what is right for you. Even set-backs or seeming failures along the way shouldn’t stop you. See them simply as part of the learning curve, another step along the road to your ultimate success

Author Robert Graves wrote, “Intuition is the supra-logic that cuts out all the routine processes of thought and leaps straight from the problem to the answer.” When we have the emotional health to trust our intuition, we can cut through a lot of the facades and nice speeches to get to the truth. Can we ever really know the truth about the people we elect to our public offices? We can glean “facts” from the media – but look closer. Look beyond the prepared words, the carefully crafted “candid” shots. What does your intuition tell you about the candidates? For my take on the events of this busy political time, check out my blog on the Huffington Post.

Posted 02.04.2008
In an election year, we are asked to sit in judgment of the candidates and then take our decision into the voting booth. How can we ever know who these people are and what they are capable of? Read Post