The Guiding Light of Conscious Parenting: Body Autonomy

As a woman and a mother, I was blessed to experience the growth and giving of a life (two beautiful lives actually).

For 10 months, my daughters were a part me - our bodies were one. When I felt happy (or fearful), waves of hormones rushed through them and they felt as I did. 

My voice was theirs.

My destination, theirs.

However, when the time was ready, they detached and became their own.  

It is with incredible responsiblity and priviledge to be able teach our children how to nourish and protect their body. For me, there are two main approaches to developing body autonomy.

Modeling as a the Supreme Teacher for Psychological & Physical Autonomy

Modeling is the supreme route in which most of life's lessons can be instilled.

Having a body can be challenging work sometimes. We have to teach our children how to nourish it properly and protect it the best they can. This can be physical - simple, everyday things we may not give much thought to are becoming the building blocks in which our children learn to understand their bodies - using our seat belts, eating vegtables, growing a garden, brushing our teeth, exercising.  

However, in a psychological sense, children are particularly receptive to our response and actions in the most challenging times in our life. In these times, we may not want them to see us - we aren't normally in our best state when death, loss or basic frustration occurs in our life. However, we must not waver in our ability to be aware that a child is like a parched sponge in the hot desert sand - absorbing all of our actions and emotions at these times.

This in no way implies that we must attain perfection at all times  - there will be times, repeatedly, that we slip up.

We’ll have a rough day at work and be grumpy.

We’ll get into an argument with a friend and say something we don’t mean.

We’ll slam a door or raise our voice.

We’ll cry.

We’ll be quiet, and gloomy.

None of these actions or emotions are wrong.

What is problematic is letting these actions define who we are – showing a child their emotion identifies who they are.

Helpful to a child: "Sometimes you’ll feel mad/sad/scared and it’s normal.  Although you may feel this way sometimes, none of these feelings is who you are. You are beautiful, spirited, and loved."

Not helpful: "I get angry/sad/scared and this is just a part of who I am. I have a temper. I am just a depressed person. I have a phobia."

The key is awareness. For me, when I trip up, I am quick to acknowledge it to my kids in a way they can understand. Body autonomy is about the psychological as much as the physical.

Reverence for Their Body

  

As our children grow, it is important for us to teach them to develop ownership over their body. This is important because they will need this foundation as they grow-particularly girls. 

One example... In the past, I have written about piercing my daughters' ears and how, for me, this is a choice I decided against.

I know in the scope of things piercing my daughter’s ears doesn’t seem to be big deal. However, to me it can be if we let it (and I think there are good benefits if it is). I want my daughters to know that it’s not my place to modify their body.

I will help them trim their nails and keep their hair cut to a manageable length, until they have the means to do this management of their bodies themselves – but piercing does not enhance their quality of life, it’s painful and carries significant risks over, say, just changing a diaper or cleaning their ears. If I wait to allow them to decide if they would like their ears pierced or not, then there is an opportunity to learn responsibility in caring for it.

Spanking and physical punishment can also be addressed here. I do not support physical punishment (spanking) out of respecting my daughters’ body. Although I do agree to a certain point that a parent can spank a child and not hurt them physically (too much) – however, it is not about pain inflicted or reducing an unwanted behavior for a short time.

What it is about is imparting the lesson that it is never acceptable use physical force over another person for any reason. Avoiding physical punishment (spanking) also increases the opportunities you get to show your children language skills in resolving conflict –actually communicating about a problem…NOT smacking, spanking or hitting to get a problem to resolve itself.

..…

For just a short period of their lives children are a part of our body  - and then comes the time when we are blessed with the great responsibility in showing them what a precious and beautiful gift they are to this world.

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit,

not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as he loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.

Children Chapter IV by Khalil Gibran

Natural Teeth Whitening with Activated Charcoal

Teeth whitening is big bussiness. From professional whitening sessons to whitening strips to gum that even claims to whiten - everyone wants that brillant, dazzling smile.

 

 

The most popular whitening strategy is to use hydrogen peroxide. Dentist use hydrogen peroxide as a bleching agent which uses acid to bleach the germs on the surface of the teeth that cause discoloration.

 

The downside to using hydrogen peroxide is mainly due to the fact that it is an acid. It can cause your teeth and gums to be overly sensitive. You may even see your gums swollen or inflamed after whitening. It also has the potential to actually increase the porosity of your teeth.

 

 

Activated Carbon

 

Activated carbon is best known as an emergency decontaminant in the GI tract - laymens terms: it's given to people who overdose on drugs or chemicals. This is because of its adsorption (yes, adsorption not absorption) ability.

 

Briefly - to understand why activated carbon is AWESOME, let's learn some science.

 

Surface Area and Adsorption

 

Activated charcoal is most commonly made from coconut shells. When charcoal is termed "activated" it means that it has been produced to have a very fine particle size - which increases the overall surface area.

 

an electron microscope image of activated charcoal

 

One standard 50-gram dose of activated charcoal has the surface area of TEN football fields.

 

This is significant when dealing with adsorption - this is because adsorption is different from absorption in the sense that it focuses on the surface area NOT volume.

 

A good analogy is someone drinking a glass of water. When you drink the water you are technically absorbing the fuild and making it a part of you. Adsorption happens when you get clumsy and spill the water all over your shirt. The water does not become you but instead it just bonded physically to your surface (your shirt).

 

Activated Charcoal and Teeth Whitening

 

Activated charcoal is amazing at whitening teeth because of its adsorption qualities - specifically of tannins. Tannins are in the food and beverages we consume that stain our teeth (wine, tea,cola, sauces, sweets,etc) and activated charcoal is remarkably efficient and fast at adsorbing them.

 

It even has the ability to be helpful at adjusting the pH balance in the mouth - which is effective at preventing cavities and bad breath.

 

I purchased my activated carbon through Amazon. Don't make the same mistake as me - make sure it's already in it's powder form. (I bought mine in crystal form and had to pulverize it –bah.)



This is a picture BEFORE pulverizing into a powder - to
skip this step simply buy in powder form.



 

Here is how I use activated charcoal in whitening and maintaining a brillant smile:

 

1.   Clean/Brush teeth

 

2.   Add a bit of the activated charcoal powder in a small cup. Add some water to create a sort of ‘slush’ mixture.  

 

3.      Move the water to the front of your mouth and let it set there for a minute or so.

 

( You can also dip a clean toothbrush into powder and very gently rub onto teeth – I’ve done this as well, but you must be very careful not to let the charcoal be abrasive to your teeth or gums)

 

4. Let sit on teeth (I usually let it set for about 1 minute)

           

5. Rinse well – you most likely need to brush your teeth again because the black charcoal gets in between the teeth and it can be difficult to simply wash out with just water)

 

 

Afterwards your teeth will feel very smooth and clean - plus they will look brillant. At first, I used this regime everday for a week. The above pic was taken after only a few times of using - I plan to update the picture after using for a few months. Currently for maintenance, I use about twice a week.

Viewing the Difficult as Your Advantage

I receive daily emails from Jeff Kober at Vedic Meditation.

They are all very valuable and applicable to my life, however – the one I received yesterday seemed to speak more loudly.

Around me, I noticed several people struggling more with the difficult things/events in their life.

For them – and those of you dealing with life’s obstacles – this is dedicated to you.

An excerpt from ‘My Eyes So Soft’:

Don't

Surrender

Your loneliness so quickly.

Let it cut more

Deep.

Let it ferment and season you

As few human

Or even divine ingredients can.

Something missing in my heart tonight

Has made my eyes so soft,

My voice so

Tender,

My need of God

Absolutely

Clear.

Hafiz, My Eyes So Soft

Emergency C-section. Baby on ventilator.

Fifteen-year marriage breaking up.

Loved one undergoing extraordinary measures in order to stay alive.

Burying a parent, a grandparent, a lover.

Going home alone. Eating alone. Watching TV alone.

These are things happening in the lives of just a few of the people I know. These experiences and others like them are a given. We all will know death, loss, worry, remorse, loneliness. The facts of our life will at times align to appear frightening and perhaps even hopeless.

This is the nature of the relative world. No matter what is happening, it will change. To seek safety and security here is a guarantee of frustration. It cannot be found but for a moment; for as soon as our idea of perfection is achieved, at that very moment everything begins to move away from that perfection. Whatever that idea of perfection is, it cannot be held. It cannot be frozen. It cannot be kept. For indeed, in the relative world, the only constant is change.

Spiritual masters such as Hafiz show us there is a way to know this truth as our advantage, rather than as a handicap.

Loneliness is not an indication that there is something wrong with me. Loneliness simply tells me that I need to find God. A deeper experience of God. In Vedic terms, I must find what I am, the Self that I am, that is other than my relative world experience. I must find the Self that I am that can allow these relative world things to play themselves out as they may.

The power of the loneliness itself--of the fear, of the sorrow, the sadness, the anxiety--this is the motivation. This is the fuel that can drive me to seek a deeper connectedness and a truer experience of what I am.

When looked at like this, all these challenges in my life suddenly can be seen as opportunities. Can I see the beauty of my sorrow? Can I use this experience of death to appreciate life? Can I find God even in the midst of loss? Can I find a definition of happiness that is large enough to encompass even this depth of sadness?

In the midst of my loneliness, can I feel myself connected to that which is much greater, that which is universal, that which is Totality itself? Can I even imagine how that might feel? In that feeling in my imagination, what happens to this loneliness? How is it transformed?

If consciousness is all that there is, and I can imagine something fully in my own consciousness, does that not make it real?

Today I will imagine that every seeming difficulty is in fact a message from God, from nature, that He/She/It is expecting my call. And so I will call. 

You can sign up for Jeff’s emails here on the left-hand side bar.

A little about Jeff: He has spent the last 30 years studying metaphysics and meditation, traveling extensively in India. In 2007, after a lengthy and intensive period of study, Jeff became a teacher of Vedic meditation, and since has taught from his center in Los Angeles, as well as in Mexico City, Chicago, Montana, Wyoming and regularly in New York.
He has written a daily Vedic Meditation thought for over a year and is currently compiling a 365 Meditation Daily Reader.

The Perfect Storm - How the increase in pertussis vaccine usage is causing an 'epidemic'

If you live in the United States then you and your children most likely have had at least one pertussis (DTP, DTaP, Tdap) vaccination – fair to say, that you’ve had multiple injections over your lifetime…and you are urged to continue to get them.

According to the CDC, despite the high vaccination rates, the number of reported cases of pertussis has increased steadily since the 1980s. [1]

Curious enough, we are experiencing the highest vaccination rates against pertussis ever recorded in the US.

Then what the heck is going on? Shouldn’t we be seeing a decline…or at the very least no increase.

Lucky for us, there is a scientific library accumulating as we speak with published works about the Bordetella spp. bacteria and acelluar vaccines- one which might have us considering the increase in vaccine usage is contributing to a combination of circumstances that is causing a rise in Bordetella infections.

A perfect storm.

A "perfect storm" is an expression that describes an event where a combination of circumstances will aggravate a situation drastically.

So, what could be the circumstances contributing to the increase in pertussis/parapertussis infections in the United States… (reiterating here: even with the highest rates of vaccine coverage ever experienced)?

Can you think of any? I can -

Vaccinated population as asymptomatic carriers of pertussis

To understand this factor we have understand an important aspect of illness: clinical stages of disease.

Pertussis is an acute infection of the upper respiratory tract caused by Bordetella bacteria (B. pertussis and in some cases B. parapertussis) which last approximately 6 week and has three clinical stages.

The initial stage resembles a common cold with a mild cough, followed by the second (paroxysmal) stage that is characterized by the repetitive episodes of coughing fits and the typical “whoop” cough. The final stage lasts 1-2 weeks and marks a decrease in the frequency and severity of the cough.[2]

It has been recurrently documented (and touted as a benefit to getting vaccinated) that infected vaccinated individuals will suffer a milder, nonspecific form of the disease. Specifically, infections in the vaccinated population cause nonspecific symptoms.

Vaccinated adolescents and adults become reservoirs for silent infection and transmitters. [3][4][5][6][7][8]

Pertussis vaccination increases susceptibility and enhances performance for B.parapertussis bacteria.

There are 3 species of Bordetella bacteria that are human pathogens, however only the B. Pertussis and B. Parapertussis can cause whopping cough in humans.

The pertussis (aP) vaccination not only makes a person more susceptible to B. parapertussis infection but it enhances the performance of the pathogen. [9]

Research has illustrated a 40-fold increase in B. parapertussis lung colony-forming units after vaccination of aP injections.[9]

A little side note about evolution here (because evolution is neat to learn about)- because of the O-antigen that is found only on B. parapertussis, immunity derived from B. pertussis does not protect against infection by B. parapertussis. The parapertussis bacteria are free to colonize a host's lungs without being subject to attack by previous pertussis antibodies. This particular finding suggests that B. parapertussis evolved in a host population that had already developed immunity to B. pertussis, where being able to evade B. pertussis immunity was an advantage.[10]

If I was a gambling woman, I would bet that we will be subjected to a parapertussis vaccine within the next 8 years.

Increase in antibiotic resistance with a standstill in new research & development

Antibiotic treatment plays an important role in treatment of pertussis and parapertussis in the United States. Erythromycin helps eliminate the Bordetella organism from the respiratory tract and is currently the treatment of choice for patients with confirmed and pertussis and their close contacts.[11]

The first case of erythromycin-resistant B. pertussis was identified in Yuma, Arizona in 1994. To-date, four additional cases of erythromycin-resistant B. pertussis have been reported in the United States. Most recently, screening of 1,030 isolates of B. pertussis revealed an additional five strains exhibiting a heterogeneous erythromycin resistance phenotype.[11]

 

As you might know, antibiotic-resistant bacteria make it difficult—sometimes impossible—to treat serious infections.[12]

This is because when certain antibiotics are used to kill bacteria, a few may survive because they happen to have the appropriate genes; thus they will become the predominant strain. For example, if an antibiotic kills ten million bacteria but doesn’t kill five that are resistant, at their incredible multiplication rate (bacteria divide approximately every 20 minutes) after 15 hours there will be 5 million descendants of those five, all of them resistant to the antibiotic.[12] 

Neat huh? Some bacteria even carry antibiotic resistance genes that can be passed to other species of bacteria.[12]

Not so good news? New antibiotic drug development and research is stalling. The main reason behind this is because pharmaceutical companies don’t have very many incentives for developing antibiotic drugs. Why focus on research for drugs that people will only take for a few days versus development on drugs for chronic illnesses such as arthritis and heart disease which people will take for years?[13]

Vaccine Failure

Children in the United States receive five doses of diptheria, tetanus and (aP) pertussis (DTaP) vaccine before the age of 7, yet duration and effectiveness protection is unknown.[14]

To reiterate, despite high vaccination rates, the number of reported cases of pertussis in the United States has increased steadily since the 1980s.[1]

This rate of exacerbations has not changed, even after the introduction of mass vaccination – a fact that indicates the vaccine does not prevent transmission of the causative agent (B. pertussis) within the population [15]

Despite detailed analysis of several virulence-associated factors of B. pertussis, significant gaps remain in the understanding of the pathogenesis of the infection and disease. [16]

Something that is becoming more evident and important in understanding why the vaccine is much less effective then believed is that clinical efficacy trials of the (aP) pertussis vaccines did not yield any correlation between antibody levels and protection against pertussis.[17]

The mechanisms of vaccine-induced immunity remain elusive. [17]

The current vaccines contain antigenic components for 3 pertussis antigens (Filamentous hemagglutinin, Pertactin, and the pertussis toxin itself [PT]). [17]

Unfortunately, research of the pathogensis of infection confirms that the vaccine is omitting a vital toxin. The adenylate cyclase toxin (CyaA or also known as ACT).[15][16]

Despite the widespread national childhood vaccination program against B pertussis, the disease remains prevalent.[18]

And despite over 50 years of this population-wide vaccination, whooping cough incidence is on the rise.[9]

The new 2013 recommendation for pregnant moms

The CDC confirms that more than 41,000 cases of whooping cough were reported last year, the highest level in more than 50 years and more than double the 2011 total.[19]

The disease was linked to 18 deaths in 2012, with the majority of them babies younger than 3 months old.[19]

The CDC and ACIP no longer demands a superior vaccine-instead the latest recommendation is to vaccinated pregnant mothers - during EACH and EVERY pregnancy.[19]

This is contrary to what the manufacture shave proven is safe and what is approved by the FDA. However, doctors do not need FDA approval to recommend and administer the vaccine repeatedly to pregnant women.[19][20]

In fact, there is no data at all to support repeat administration of Tdap in any population, especially pregnant women.[20] 

This should be cause for concern for anyone that just read this post for one main reason (1) due to the vaccine causing only subclinical, asymptomatic signs of infection - if vaccinated mothers with newborns do contract pertussis they will only think it's a slight cold and they will be less inclined to seek medical attention.

Nevermind that the vaccine has not been studied for safety in pregnant mothers and their fetus(es).

To date, one clinical trial was completed using pregnant mothers. The results are not published or available for review. The trial consisted of 48 pregnant woman and 32 non pregnant women. Both groups received a combination vaccine. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not a clinical researcher - but the assessment of safety seems mute if both groups are receiving a vaccine with one not even pregnant to begin with. [21]

Research on this cocoon strategy is highly inefficient - and I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that it is also reckless.[22]

References:

[1] Weiss, A., Patton, A., Millen, S., Chang, S.j., Ward, J., Bernstein, D. Acellular pertussis vaccines and complement killing of bordetella pertussis. American Society for Microbiology (Infection and Immunity). Vol 72(12): 7346-7351. Dec 2004.

[2] WHO meeting on case definition of pertussis: Geneva 10-11 January, 1991. Geneva: World Health Organization, 1991:4-5 (issue no. MIN/EPI/PERT/91.1)

[3]Jenkinson D. Duration of effectiveness of pertussis vaccine: evidence from 10-year community study. BMJ 1988;296:612-4.

[4] Christie CD, Marx ML, Marchant CD, Reising SF. The 1993 epidemic of pertussis in Cincinnati: resurgence of disease in a highly immunized population of children. N Engl J Med 1994;331:16-21.

[5] Rosenthal S, Strebel P, Cassiday P, Sanden G, Brusuelas K, Wharton M. Pertussis infection in young adults during the 1993 outbreak in Chicago. J Infect Dis 1995;171:1650-2.

[6] De Melker HE, Conyn Van Spaendonck MA, Rumke HC, van Wijngaarden JK, Mooi FR, Schellekens JF. Pertussis in the Netherlands: an outbreak despite high levels of immunization with whole-cell vaccine. Emerg Infect Dis 1997;3:175-8.

[7] Yaari E, Yafe-Zimerman Y, Scwartz SB, Slater PE, Shvartzman P, Andoren N, et al. Clinical manifestations of Bordetella pertussis infection in immunized children and young adults. Chest 1999;115:1254-8

[8] I. Srugo, D. Benilevi, R. Madeb, S. Shapiro, T. Shohat, E. Somekh, Y. Rimmar, V. Gershtein, R. Gershtein, E. Marva, and N. Lahat. Pertussis Infection in Fully Vaccinated Children in Day-Care Centers, Israel. Emerging Infectious Diseases. Vol 6(5): 526-529. Sept/Oct 2000 PDF: http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/6/5/pdfs/00-0512.pdf

 [9] Gráinne H. Long, Alexia T. Karanikas, Eric T. Harvill, Andrew F. Read and Peter J. Hudson. Acellular pertussis vaccination facilitates Bordetella parapertussis infection in a rodent model of bordetellosis. Proceedings of the Royal Society (Biological Sciences). Vol 277 (1690):2017-2025. Jul 2010

[10] Wolfe D, Goebel E, Bjornstad O, Restif O, Harvil E (2007). "The O Antigen Enables Bordetella parapertussis To Avoid Bordetella pertussis-Induced Immunity". Infection and Immunity 75 (10): 4972–9. doi:10.1128/IAI.00763-07. PMC 2044517. PMID 17698566. //www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2044517/.

[11] J. M. Bartkus, B. A. Juni, K. Ehresmann, C. A. Miller, G. N. Sanden, P. K. Cassiday, M. Saubolle,  B. Lee, J. Long, A. R. Harrison, Jr., and J. M. Besser. Identification of a Mutation Associated with Erythromycin Resistance in Bordetella pertussis: Implications for Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance. J Clin Microbiol. 2003 March; 41(3): 1167–1172.

[12] Vaccines and Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria. National Network for Immunization Information. Dec 22, 2005

[13] Lallanilla, Marc. Antibiotic-Resistant Disease Crisis May Bring 'Apocalyptic Scenario,' UK Health Officer Says. Huffington Post (originally posted on Live-Science). Jan 25, 2013

[14] Nicola P. Klein, M.D., Ph.D., Joan Bartlett, M.P.H., M.P.P., Ali Rowhani-Rahbar, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D., Bruce Fireman, M.A., and Roger Baxter, M.D.Waning Protection after Fifth Dose of Acellular Pertussis Vaccine in Children. The New England Journal of Medicine. Sept 13, 2012. 367:1012-1019.

[15] Ori Hochwald, Ellen Bamberger and Issaac Srugo. The Return of Pertussis: Who is Responsible? What Can Be Done? Israel

[16]Vaccine Research Initiative. Vol 8: 301-307. May 2006[14]Nicholas Carbonetti. Pertussis toxin and adenylate cyclase toxin: key virulence factors of Bordetella pertussis and cell biology tools. Future Microbiol. Vol 5: 455-469. Mar 2010

[17] Hewlett, Erik. Pertussis: current concepts of pathogenesis and prevention. Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal. Vol 16(4): S78-S84. Apr 1997

[18]Maxwell A. Wit1, Paul H. Katz, and David J. Witt. Unexpectedly Limited Durability of Immunity Following Acellular Pertussis Vaccination in Preadolescents in a North American Outbreak. Clinical Infectious Diseases. (Mar 2012) 54 (12: 1730-1735.

[19] Dooren, Jennifer.Panel Pushes Vaccine for Pregnant Women-Amid Whooping Cough Crisis, New Guidelines Recommend Mothers Get Vaccinated at Each Pregnancy. The Wallstreet Journal. Jan 28 2013.

[20] Boostrix package insert. GlaxoSmithKline

[21] Pertussis Vaccine in Healthy Pregnant Women. Sponsor: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). Clincila Trial ID # NCT00707148.

[22] Danuta M. Skowronski, Naveed Z. Janjua, Elodie P. Sonfack Tsafack, Manale Ouakki, Linda Hoang, and Gaston De Serres.The Number Needed to Vaccinate to Prevent Infant Pertussis Hospitalization and Death Through Parent Cocoon Immunization. Clinical Infectious Diseases. DEC 2011.