Douglas Cohen

To navigate the health and wellness marketplace for our families and our selves is an exercise in nearly endless choice making. Among the many challenges accompanying us is reconciling the conventional assumptions and external messages about healthcare in our culture with the natural, inner guidance system operating deep within us.

I believe that when we can get quiet enough and listen within, we know what is good for us and what it not. Unfortunately, there are many barriers in our society to cultivating that inner quietude and access to self-derived knowing. Staying alert and increasing consciousness in our personal and family path making is an ongoing responsibility if we value true well-being in ourselves and our community.

Having lived in several regions in North America before settling in New Mexico, I appreciate the diversity of the traditional health and mind-body based resources within arm’s reach in several of the more populous areas. This includes the ready access for poor and otherwise challenged families available through the Community Healthcare Assistance Programs and the Indigent Funds (Sandovalcountynm.gov) as well as the array of Complementary and Alternative medical approaches.

Many of the articles in this addition of Green Fire Times are about bridging inner and outer ways of knowing when it comes to healthcare. These are personal and informative essays from practitioners of long-standing approaches to healing illness and preventive, wellness and longevity-based medicine. Relationship-based wellness complements the dominance of impersonal and Western science-driven treatment. Remember: It’s your choice.

Douglas Cohen – Corrales, NM

Douglas Cohen serves as the membership manager of the National Ayurvedic Medical Association (AyurvedaNama.org), co-leads the NM Outdoor Coalition (ActivateNewMexico.org) and is chair of the National Youth Initiatives for the Inspired Futures Campaign (USPartnership.org). Email: dacohen77@gmail.com

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Con Alma Health Foundation Convenes Forums Around the State

As New Mexico’s largest foundation dedicated solely to health, Con Alma Health Foundation brings people together to gather information, discuss issues and develop solutions that address the state’s health needs. This includes bringing people together to learn more about federal healthcare reform and what it means for New Mexico.

The statewide foundation recently held meetings in Albuquerque and Las Cruces, where speakers provided information about components of the federal Affordable Care and Patient Protection Act such as Medicaid expansion, American Indian eligibility and the health-insurance exchange, as well as proposed bills for this year’s legislative session. About 100 people, representing local and state government, nonprofits, educational institutions and other organizations, attended each meeting.

“One of our roles in New Mexico is to serve as a convener and as a catalyst for positive, systemic change,” said Dolores E. Roybal, Con Alma’s executive director. “We think it’s important for people to have the opportunity to network and share information about critical issues, such as healthcare reform and proposed state legislation.”

Presenters included health policy consultants, NM Voices for Children, Doña Ana County Health and Human Services Department, NM Alliance for Health Councils, NM Health Connections, NM Legislative Council Services and Bernalillo County Community Health Council.

Sandra Gonzales, director of eligibility and benefits for Families, Youth Inc., attended the Las Cruces meeting. Her nonprofit organization helps individuals access healthcare programs and other resources such as food stamps, disability insurance or heating assistance. “Healthcare reform is going to have a direct impact on people we serve, so we need to make sure we know what’s going to happen so we can prepare,” she said.

Gonzales was happy to hear people talk about online registering of people into Medicaid and the health insurance exchange. Already, Families, Youth Inc.’s community health workers go directly to people to enroll them electronically into programs that can help them. “I feel there are a lot of vested partners in this, and they are seriously looking at ways to improve their systems,” she said.

Nikki Zeuner, program director of the Wellness Coalition in Silver City said she gained a better understanding of some of the state’s strategies in implementing healthcare reform, including how patient navigators can help people sign-up for Medicaid or insurance through the soon-to-be -established health insurance exchange. “We see ourselves as a curator of information and resources for the nonprofit sector,” she said. “Primarily we want to educate ourselves and make connections with others who are active in promoting the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.”

Zeuner attended Con Alma’s meeting before the Wellness Coalition hosted its own seminars on the Affordable Care Act for the general public and small employers. “It was good to connect with people who have been active in the state on healthcare reform,” Zeuner said. “I especially appreciated the advocacy piece from the NM Center on Law and Poverty and Southwest Women’s Law Center. Now we know who our allies are, and we haven’t been connected to that before.”

At the Albuquerque meeting, Pamelya Herndon, executive director of the Southwest Women’s Law Center, explained how people can be eligible for health insurance through the health-insurance exchange that NM is supposed to have running by October 2014.

In a detailed chart, she showed that families who earn 133 percent of poverty level ($30,657 for family of four) or less would qualify for insurance under the Medicaid expansion, while families earning up to three times that amount could receive a federal tax credit to help pay for health insurance through the exchange. That means a family of four could earn up to $92,200 and receive a tax credit for getting insurance through the exchange.

She also reviewed the possible penalties that employers and families could face if they aren’t insured by 2014. For example, small businesses that employ fewer than 50 people wouldn’t be penalized for not offering insurance. Businesses that have fewer than 25 people with an average wage of $50,000 or higher may be able to get a tax credit for providing insurance to their employees.

A representative from the NM Center on Law and Poverty described specifically how Medicaid expansion for adults who earn low incomes could benefit NM. Since then, Gov. Susana Martinez announced the state will expand the federal-state health insurance program. About 170,000 New Mexicans may qualify for insurance under the expansion.

That decision will have widespread benefits throughout NM, according to economist Kelly O’Donnell, Ph.D. O’Donnell shared information at the meetings about the economic impact of the Affordable Care Act, including federal grants for primary care, small-business tax credits, Medicaid expansion to adults who earn low incomes, and increased productivity and reduced absenteeism due to better health.

“We will see hundreds of millions in new federal funding for health insurance,” she said. “What that essentially means is a great amount of new funds will flow into NM, and that money will stimulate the economy, creating jobs and rippling out through other areas and creating jobs there. Each sector is linked. A newly hired nurse is going to spend her new income on the local economy.”

O’Donnell added that healthcare is one of the only growing segments of NM’s economy, and it will be an engine of economic force, especially in rural areas. “Right now, the job-creation opportunities are in healthcare,” she said. “As a state we need to take all the resources we’ve been throwing at attracting call centers and manufacturers and direct them toward making NM as good a place to grow a healthcare business as possible.”

Healthcare for American Indians

Roxane Spruce Bly, who runs a small consulting company that specializes in health-policy and American Indian issues, spoke of how the Affordable Care Act treats American Indians differently. “For non-Indians, it’s critical they understand the federal government has a legal obligation to provide healthcare to Indians because of the millions of acres of land that our ancestors ceded,” said Bly, who is a member of the Pueblo of Laguna.

The federal healthcare reform law specifies that American Indians don’t have to pay penalties for being uninsured or any co-pays or deductibles if they buy insurance on the health-insurance exchange and earn less than 300 percent of poverty level ($69,150 for a family of four). American Indians will be able to enroll in the health insurance exchange every month. Everyone else can enroll once a year or during special enrollment periods or life-changing events. “The law is designed to encourage American Indian consumers to acquire insurance through the exchange,” Bly said.

She added that it will be important that the health-insurance exchange is designed in a way that American Indians can access it. She said she and other members of the Native American Work Group assisting the State’s Health Insurance Exchange Advisory Task Force have requested that the exchange include a Native American Service Center or other smaller centers where people can enroll in person. She also thinks it’s important to have a dedicated advocate or ombudsman who can resolve people’s concerns and obstacles.

Currently, American Indians who don’t have health insurance can only get healthcare through charity care programs or the Indian Health Services, which is woefully underfunded, according to Bly. Access to care is especially hard for American Indians who live off the reservation or far from an Indian Health Service clinic or hospital.

“It’s really important for Indian people to look at whether they are eligible for Medicaid or the insurance exchange, even though they are not required to have coverage,” Bly said.

Bly is in the process of updating a “Native American Health Care Reform Guide,” commissioned by Con Alma Health Foundation, which provides information on the implications of healthcare reform on Native Americans in NM.

In addition to discussing healthcare reform, presenters gave information about proposed health legislation for the 60-day NM legislative session that started mid-January. Among the proposed bills are a few that aim to increase access to healthcare in NM, including a proposal that would allow anesthesiologist assistants to practice statewide and one that would allow dental therapists to practice basic dentistry. There is also funding proposed to add more medical students to the University of New Mexico’s program.

Other funding requests would support anti-domestic violence programs, school-based health centers, sexual-assault prevention and training, teen-pregnancy prevention, adult day care, ambulatory surgical center inspections and telehealth programs. Some bills would expand insurance coverage, including mandatory autism coverage for state employees.

The presenters distributed information at both meetings. Those documents, including some in Spanish, are now available on Con Alma’s website, www.conalma.org

With its initiatives and grants, Con Alma Health Foundation places an emphasis on supporting culturally diverse, rural and tribal communities, as well as the uninsured and underserved. With a focus on achieving health equity, Con Alma defines health broadly: physical, mental, emotional, behavioral, social, oral, environmental, economic and spiritual health and well-being.

As healthcare reform begins to be implemented across NM, Con Alma will continue to support nonprofits as they try to meet the needs of the people they serve. “We will continue to look for opportunities to bring people together so they can share information and resources,” Roybal said. “Our goal is to support efforts in NM that will improve health for all.”

Con Alma is scheduling two more meetings in other areas of the state so more people can learn about how health-care reform might affect them. For more information, visit the foundation’s website and become a Facebook friend: www.conalma.org

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Con Alma’s Roadmap

Key Findings:

1. Improved conditions and policies that address Social Determinants of Health and advance health equity, especially among racially and ethnically diverse and underserved populations, can significantly improve health in New Mexico.

The correlation between poverty, educational attainment and good health is evident when comparing health outcomes for NM’s children and others in the United States. NM ranks 48 and 49 respectively in teen death and teen birth rates.

• Racial and ethnic minorities suffer higher rates of mortality and illness compared with other Americans and receive a lower quality of healthcare.

• New Mexico has the second-highest poverty rate in the nation.

• The number of households receiving food stamps has almost doubled during the recession, from 6 to 11 percent.

• Children ages 0–5 are more likely to die: NM experienced a 20-percent increase in youth death rates since 2000.

2. Access to quality and affordable health-care services continues to be a barrier to good health, especially in rural NM, communities of color and underserved populations (e.g. elderly, immigrants, border communities and veterans).

• New Mexico has the second highest rate of uninsured in the nation (21.6 percent).

• Hispanic and American Indian adults were over twice as likely to be without health insurance coverage as whites.

• Native Americans lack a consistent health benefits package.

• The health workforce is neither diverse nor culturally competent. Minorities make up 59 percent of the population, but only 11 percent of the nursing workforce.

• Thirty-two of the state’s 33 counties are defined as Health Professional Shortage areas.

• Substance abuse/dependence and/or mental disorders affect more than half a million people in NM: 24.3 percent will need help from the publicly funded care system.

• Returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are expected to increase the number of veterans in NM. Veterans, especially in rural areas, lack access to essential healthcare and behavioral services.

3. Prevention, nutrition, health promotion and holistic health are critical to improving health in NM.

• Nationally, there has been a shift in the conversation about healthcare in the last decade to focus on prevention, access and alleviating equity boundaries.

• The percentage of obesity among the state’s population doubled from 1990–2009. Obesity can lead to heart disease, stroke, diabetes and some cancers.

• Preventative oral health is limited, especially in rural areas, which can result in impaired general health, particularly impacting the mortality rate due to heart disease at younger ages.

• Healthcare reform provides opportunities to implement prevention and wellness programs.

4. Our rapidly changing environment, including demographic shifts, will have major implications in health for the people and communities of NM.

• People of color in NM comprise 58.7 percent of the population in the 2010 Census and fare far worse than their white counterparts across a range of health indicators.

• The Hispanic population in NM increased by 25 percent, compared to a 13 percent increase in total population.

• New Mexico residents 18 and under account for almost one in five of the population (18 percent in 2010), and the Hispanic population under 18 years of age was 58 percent, the largest in the US.

• The largest percent increase from 2000 to 2010 was among those 60 to 64 years, at 5.8 percent. By 2030, the state will rank fourth in the nation in percentage of population age 65 and older; currently NM is 39th.

• Almost half of NM’s grandparents provide a home for their grandchildren.

• Minority child populations show the most dramatic shift: almost three in four children under five are African American (2 percent), Hispanic (59 percent) or Native American (12 percent).

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Seth Roffman

The first baby boomers turned 65 in 2011 and became eligible for Medicare. By 2020 those same people will be 74 years old. Over the next 20-plus years the United States will experience what has been referred to as the Silver Tsunami. This represents an epic demographic shift, with more elders per capita needing care than has ever been experienced in human history.

Unfortunately, by that time, if current trends continue, more than half of the nurses in this country will have retired and may need care themselves. Meanwhile, low retention rates and decreased employee satisfaction resulting from workplace stress and overload has many people avoiding the healthcare profession or leaving the industry altogether. The projected numbers of new nurses will fall far short of the demand. The healthcare industry is clearly ripe for and in need of transformation.

Fortunately, there are people with a practical vision of how to create a sustainable healthcare system.

Santa Fean Camille Adair conceived of FairCare™ in collaboration with her colleagues and other healthcare experts. Adair, a nurse and documentarian, has been a thought leader and visionary in the fields of conscious aging, end-of-life care and healthcare reform. In 2008 she developed the Green Hospice Philosophy and the Shades of Green Program, with the intention of applying the triple-bottom-line, where the relationship of the people, the environment and the prosperity (profit) are interconnected, measure organizational success and drive the bottom line. This has the potential to provide a new paradigm for an industry that has been excessively driven by fiscal compliance and productivity, and less by a human context.

FairCare is offering a certification program to healthcare organizations that could be likened to the healthcare version of the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. Along with guidelines and standards for sustainable practices, it provides support and resources to achieve these goals. The certification process begins with an assessment for how to move forward with a customized plan for each business or organization.

FairCare is introduced in three phases, beginning with Planet, where the focus is on the carbon footprint, carbon offset, recycling and eco-friendly working conditions. This is an opportunity for branding, building positive community perception and increased workplace morale.

The second phase, People, addresses staff retention, recruitment, employee satisfaction and education. The development of Emotional Intelligence and Resilience Training is a big part of this. It is an approach backed by studies at institutions such as the Harvard School of Business. “Unlike most certifying entities within healthcare,” says Adair, FairCare is designed to provide support and solutions, rather than imposing weighty restrictions and regulations that often choke a healthcare provider’s ability to empathize and tap into the true resource of people’s humanity. And people-oriented skills can make a positive impact on the financial bottom line.”

The third phase, Prosperity, focuses on achieving sustainability through succession planning, leadership development, cooperative community relationships and transparency.

In addition to taking care of people, FairCare addresses environmental concerns through recycling and carbon-offset strategies. In partnership with Tree New Mexico, FairCare organizations will donate $1/patient in support of tree-planting efforts in NM. FairCare’s 2013 goal is to plant more than 1,000 trees.

The pilot of the FairCare model in New Mexico is being integrated into a family-owned and operated healthcare agency, Advantage Home Care and Hospice. Adair is also taking the model to hospitals, cancer centers, long-term care facilities, home-care and hospice organizations. A group of national healthcare experts is working together to develop a plan for national expansion.

“For some, sustainability in healthcare is a new way of thinking,” says social worker Elis Wilson, who works for Advantage. “For Norteños, it is a reminder of our communal, subsistence- and land-based past. For the families of the mercedes (land grants), the ejido provided land for everyone to graze their livestock and cut their firewood. The acequia systems have also sustained the land, people and communities in this way. Stewardship, as the FairCare model recognizes, is not just of the land, but also of the community and culture. This model appeals not only to my social work values; it also speaks to my roots in the mountains, streams and communities of northern New Mexico.”

If you are a part of a healthcare business, a sector of government, a healthcare professional, private caregiver or someone in need of services, and would like to learn more about the movement to shift the healthcare paradigm through FairCare™ Certification, contact Adair at 505.470.3838 or Camille@CamilleAdair.com

SIDEBAR:

FairCare Trainings

A group of hospice and healthcare professionals interested in FairCare™ meets in Albuquerque and Santa Fe each month. Many of these people intend to train as FairCare facilitators. There will be three Emotional Intelligence (EI) and Resilience trainings as part of a certification process that is a prerequisite for caregivers who want to work with the model as well as be part of the certification process. Those trainings are May 23-25 and Oct. 3-5 for Level 1, and Oct. 17-19 for Level 2. Camille Adair, RN, and UNM professor Dr. Amy McConnell Franklin, an international expert in Emotional Intelligence, are developing the training. 

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Camille Adair

Working in hospice has been one of the great joys and challenges of my life. I started out at the bedside working as a hospice nurse case manager. I was impacted by the sacredness and raw intimacy that is present at the end of life. It is from the dying that I have learned more about living than anything else I have been exposed to. I began to see how the youth- and beauty-driven culture of mainstream America avoids the elderly, the sick and the dying. These people have become our version of untouchables. By removing them from our lives, we have robbed ourselves of something profound. We no longer have a sense of the cycles that inform the nature of our lives and our connection to the natural world.

In the presence of a dying person, quality matters. Quality of relationships, quality of intent and quality of presence trump busywork, small talk and superficiality. It no longer matters what kind of car you drive or what your title was at work. Life is close to the bone. Meaning-making, resolution and kindness are what nourish us as we prepare to leave the physical body.

It was the contrast I experienced between mainstream media’s shallow and unrealistic portrayal of death as entertainment, and the rich world of humanity that filled my days in hospice, and inspired me to create a documentary on death and dying. In 2008, after eight years of filming and editing, Solace: Wisdom of the Dying screened in Santa Fe. Since then, I have directed and produced eleven related documentaries called the Solace Teachings to deepen the understanding of healthcare professionals, individuals and community groups.

When we think of dying people we think of illness and are expected to adhere to medical terminology like failure and decline. The lack of training for healthcare professionals in how to think, feel and work with people at the end of life translates to over-treatment and avoidance of a person’s humanity. This often increases suffering and confusion for dying people and their families.

It is possible to be well and dying, just as it is possible to be “unwell” and physically healthy. We have equated wellness with physical stamina and youth. Palliative care expert and author Ira Byock, MD once shared with me a question he routinely asks people facing a life-limiting illness, “How are you within yourself?” Through processes of inquiry we are able to address the whole person, not just an illness with symptoms to be treated.

The second phase of my work in hospice was in education and management. In my career as a nurse, I experienced hospice managers generally as unhappy, unsupported and therefore unable to be effective in their role as a leader. I learned that 83 percent of all nurses are first-born children of alcoholics. I was able to identify bullying, vertical or organizational violence and horizontal or peer-to-peer hostility that comes from many wounded people working together under stressful conditions. As one of the 83 percent, I began a deep investigation into the Greek myth of Chiron, the wounded healer.

In the middle of what I saw as an industry of wounded healthcare professionals and often even more wounded (and wounding) organizations, I saw the need for a new model that addresses sustainability. Green Hospice is the result of that investigation that is now part of the FairCare™ model of sustainable healthcare, available to hospice organizations (see accompanying article).

A movement to reclaim death and dying as a normal and sacred part of the life cycle rather than as a medical failure backs the philosophy of Green Hospice. Like birth, death is a rite of passage to be held by the individual, family and community, as it deepens and informs how we live and reminds us —like nothing else can—of the preciousness of time and the importance of making conscious choices about how we live and how we die.

A Green Hospice is required to provide all patients with information on Green Burial. Green Hospice has partnered with the Green Burial Council, who will supply the education, support and resources on Green Burial options. Green Hospice also requires organizations to incorporate a “saging” program, where seasoned and elder nurses are able to pass their skills and knowledge along to incoming nurses. Physicians are integrated as staff members rather than contractors with minimal impact on the team and organization. Staffing ratios comply with national standards and groups of interdisciplinary staff form teams to support communication and lateral accountability.

Hospices who become green adopt the philosophy that the people are the product. Without them, the organization would be unable to provide services. Many hospices, contrary to the spirit of the services provided, disregard the needs of the clinical staff and are closed to the valuable insights and feedback of hospice professionals, even though basic business motivation strategies teach about the relationship between weighing in and buying in.

An alarming number of hospice professionals express their feelings of futility and frustration with their organization. Here the disconnect between the administration and the field staff breeds discontent, which impacts the quality of patient care, retention rates and in turn the fiscal bottom line. Green Hospice holds to measurable standards for satisfaction and retention within hospice organizations as it speaks of concrete outcomes in business practices and culture that impact the staff, having a ripple effect on the overall industry.

Green Hospice applies the standard of Do No Harm, an ethic held by physicians, to be extended to organizations. Businesses whose bottom line comes from serving dying people are faced with high moral and ethical stakes. There are no “do-overs” in hospice, as my friend and colleague, Kim Mooney of Boulder hospice says. Therefore, a large part of sustainability in hospice lies in raising awareness and committing to ethical practices, which includes careful selection and treatment of staff so that the hospice workers are able to provide responsible and appropriate care of the dying.

Sustainability, like mindfulness is a practice that calls us to wake up and bring ourselves to the present moment in support of positive change. This requires humility, patience, persistence, humor and creativity. It is here that I combine my nursing practice with a daily practice of sustainability. The FairCare™ and Green Hospice models provide the framework. The people provide the change.

Advantage Home Care & Hospice of New Mexico will be the first certified Green Hospice as part of the FairCare™ Certification in sustainable healthcare.

Camille Adair, CEO of Sacredigm Alliances, LLC, is a healthcare consultant, speaker, educator and filmmaker. Camille is available to provide presentations and in-services on FairCare, Green Hospice, Leadership Development Training for Healthcare Sustainability and film screenings. 505.470.3838, Camille@CamilleAdair.com  

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Dr. Stephen Weiss

Today while driving home after adding an acutely ill patient to my schedule at the end of a busy day, I happened to eye a bumper sticker on the back of a car which my whole being emphatically embraced: “When the Power of Love Overcomes the Love of Power, the World Will Know Peace” (William Gladstone). This ranks up there with some of the best quotes I’ve ever seen. Profound. Simple. True. With this kind of wisdom so freely available, why is it that our nation is reeling from yet another mass shooting, this time involving precious young children at an elementary school? The causes of such tragedies are obviously multifactorial, but they point to a deep imbalance in our society as a whole and in many individuals. The primary goal of all authentic healing is to reestablish inner homeostasis or balance. The body-mind-spirit is exquisite in its capacity to self-regulate. How often do we stop and marvel at its complexity and the undeniable intelligence that governs it? Classical Homeopathy, one of the primary modalities I use in my Integrative Medical Practice, has a name for that intelligent healing force within us—the Vital Force.

This Force can get deranged by a number of factors or insults, rendering it incapable of performing its supreme function—maintaining vibrant health. Examples of such insults include improper diet and pesticides in non-organic foods, emotional stress and trauma, environmental toxins, and the Western (“allopathic”) medical emphasis on suppressing symptoms rather than uncovering and addressing the root cause of a person’s dis-ease.

Back in 1980, George Vithoulkas, the father of modern-day homeopathy and a recipient of the Right Livelihood Award, also known as the Alternative Nobel Prize, predicted a surge in violence in our society from allopathic medical practice. According to homeopathic theory, suppressing a symptom rather than treating the whole person drives the disease deeper within, resulting in more serious imbalances and diseases. Did you know that many of the mass murderers of recent times, including the Newtown killer, the Aurora, Colo. theater murderer, the shooters at Columbine High School and the Unabomber, among many others, were on psychiatric medications when they committed their crimes? Many of these drugs have been linked to violent behavior, including suicide and homicide. All but one of the medications in a recently published “Top 10 Legal Drugs Linked to Violence” list are psychiatric medications: seven antidepressants (mostly SSRIs), two stimulants used to treat ADD/ADHD, and one sleeping pill no longer available in the US. Of course, all these killers were mentally deranged before they started their psychiatric meds. How many would have committed atrocities if they had been treated holistically is, of course, not known, but it seems likely that their meds did directly contribute to the blood spilled.

Homeopaths around the globe, including myself, witness the validity of this theory of suppression regularly in our practices. When the correct constitutional homeopathic remedy is given that most closely matches the totality of an individual’s physical, mental, emotional and spiritual state, the patient’s psyche and spirit are the first to improve, while certain physical symptoms that they used to have, which were suppressed by drugs, particularly skin eruptions, may temporarily reappear as part of the healing process. This is known as Hering’s Law of Cure : the body-mind-spirit literally extrudes or “spits out” the disease from its deepest recesses to the surface, exactly the opposite of suppression.

I do have a healthy respect for pharmaceuticals when used judiciously. Steroids, the most suppressive of drugs, and even antidepressants, have saved countless lives. Except in emergencies, suppressive therapies should be used as a last resort and only after more holistic therapies such as Homeopathy, Chinese Medicine or Ayurveda have been tried. The breadth and scope of homeopathy is vast. I have seen it positively impact patients with a very wide range of both acute and chronic diseases. In the last week alone I have had the pleasure of seeing several patients with chronic ailments turn their health around using homeopathy. Please see articles I have written about patients on my website.

In Ayurveda, which is derived from the Vedas, the oldest scriptures of Hinduism, spirituality plays a central role. The great Rishis, seers who received the sacred knowledge that forms the basis of Ayurveda, understood that a human birth is a very precious and rare phenomenon. They taught that the purpose of our human life, and of the healing of our bodies and minds, is to grow spiritually and to know God intimately, indeed to become one with God. In order to do this, we must all make the pilgrimage from our egos to the infinite, unconditionally loving Land of the Soul and Conscious Awareness.

Dr. Stephen P. Weiss is a board-certified family physician with a private practice in Holistic Integrative Medicine in Albuquerque, and over 25 years of experience. Dr. Weiss also graduated from two schools of homeopathy (graduate and post graduate), a school of herbology, and the Ayurvedic Institute. Voted one of Albuquerque’s Top Docs in 2006, Dr. Weiss treats children and adults with a wide range of medical conditions. He has appeared on national television and radio discussing Alternative Medicine. Weiss is known for his heartfelt compassion and ability to seamlessly combine cutting-edge high-tech medicine with numerous effective and safe alternative healing modalities. His website is holisticmedicineheals.com

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Celestia Loeffler

Smile, breathe, relax. There. Feel better? Surely it can’t be that easy to lead a happy and healthy life. But there are a few simple changes we can make in our daily routine to vastly improve our health and well-being, and in turn, the health and well-being of our communities. By taking better care of ourselves, we become better parents, spouses, co-workers and stewards of our communities. So what follows is a list of five ways to keep healthy, happy and well balanced in the new year.

1) Breathe: “When you own your breath, nobody can steal your peace,” says an anonymous sage. Learning how to breath properly is vital for our well-being. Respiration delivers oxygen needed to nourish and purify the body. Our breath also has a major influence on our mind. Calm breath, calm mind. By lengthening our breaths we engage the parasympathetic nervous system, taking ourselves out of “fight or flight” mode and easing into “rest and digest” mode. So see how conscious you can be about your breathing patterns throughout the day. And if you find yourself getting overwhelmed, angry or unsettled, try deepening your breath by filling your lungs slowly and deeply from the bottom all the way up, then exhale from the bottom of the lungs to the top again. Repeat this a few times and notice the difference.

2) Eat Well: We, quite literally, are what we eat. If we consume processed and synthetic foods, our body has to work harder to assimilate what we consume—and often can’t accomplish it—which results in our ailing health. But if we favor local, seasonal, organic, non-GMO (non-genetically modified organisms), whole—or at least minimally processed—foods, then not only do we nourish ourselves, but we also pay respect to the Earth and the resources necessary to get the food to our plate. Buy whole foods. If something has a label, read it. If it contains words that you don’t recognize or can’t pronounce, chances are it doesn’t belong in your belly. Shop at your local farmers’ market. And if you can’t, then at least stay on the perimeter of the grocery store, where the food is fresh (not packaged), and there are often local and organic options. And eat less. We Americans have a penchant for doing everything BIG. That includes portion sizes. A simple way to cut our food budget, and a couple inches off our waistline, is to only eat as much as your body really needs. Aim for 1,200-2,000 calories a day. Eat slowly. Taste your food. Savor and enjoy it. New Mexicans are blessed with an abundant local food supply. By supporting your local growers, you support and nourish yourself and your community.

3) Sleep Well: Quality sleep is essential for a person’s optimal health and well-being. Each person has his or her own individual sleep needs, but any less than an average of six hours per night and you deprive your body and mind of the much-needed reprieve from the day’s events. Seven to eight hours of nightly sleep is ideal for most. If you have difficulty sleeping, avoid alcoholic and caffeinated beverages in the afternoon and evening. Also unplug electronic devices at least an hour before going to bed. If you can, take a few minutes to wind down before getting ready for sleep. Meditating and sitting quietly with a cup of hot herbal tea are simple yet profound ways to promote optimal rest. If you can, go to sleep and wake up around the same times every day to tune in with your natural circadian rhythms. Research indicates that getting ample sleep can reduce inflammation in the body, sharpen your attention, aid in healthy weight loss and significantly lower stress levels. Not only will you feel good, you’ll be a pleasure to be around.

4) Be Kind. Being kind to others and to ourselves provides a steady flow of endorphins, the body’s natural pain inhibitors, which can help contribute to our sense of physical and emotional well-being. When we give of ourselves we foster a strong sense of confidence and optimism. Our kindness also inspires others to be kind, which helps contribute to a stronger sense of family and community. What’s more, we are much more likely to receive the same kindness in return during our own times of need. It might feel counterintuitive at first to smile at or open a door for a stranger. But if you follow the Golden Rule, “Due unto others as you would have them due unto you,” you just might find that it benefits you as much, if not more, than those to whom you are expressing kindness.

5) Spend Time in Nature: The Southwest abounds with wild spaces and nature to explore, and studies show that spending even 20 minutes outside every day can have a vast impact on our vitality. “Nature is fuel for the soul,” says Richard Ryan, a professor of psychology at the University of Rochester. “Often when we feel depleted we reach for a cup of coffee, but research suggests a better way to get energized is to connect with nature,” he says. Spending time outdoors is a natural immunity- and energy-booster. Spending time outdoors contributes to our sense of interconnectedness with all beings, which is vital in this age of rapidly evolving technology. Most folks these days are subsumed with computers and smartphones and would rather Google a ladder-backed woodpecker than actually find one in the wild. But by taking even a few minutes each day to commune with nature, we are more apt to remember that we are all—from the tiny caterpillar and cholla cactus to the human being—in this life and this consciousness together.

Vast life improvements often begin with small, incremental changes in your daily routine. So even if you can’t log 10 hours of shuteye every night or eat only local, organic meals, don’t give up. If all you have each day are a few 30-second bursts to focus on your health and well-being, then try the “smile, breathe and relax” method. You just might find that those brief, blissful moments have the capability to bring a bit of peace and happiness to yourself and those around you, the effects of which can really add up during the course of the year.

Celestia Loeffler is a wordsmith and yoga instructor from Santa Fe. celestia@loreoftheland.org, www.loreoftheland.org

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Dr. Japa K. Khalsa

Hibernating is a human thing: We are designed to shift into low gear in winter. Like a farmer tinkering with his tools while snow covers the ground, downshifting gives your body time to repair itself. This is your body’s natural agenda.

Given extra downtime and deep nutrition, your body can refill the disks in your back with fluid, rebuild immune system cells and recondition your stressed-out nervous system (among other things). That can mean less back pain, better overall health and an increased ability to handle hectic lives.

Just like night gives us time to recharge our batteries after a busy day, winter gives us time to restore ourselves after the wear-and-tear of summer.

But if we want any of these benefits, we have to lift our foot off life’s accelerator.

CULTIVATE LAZINESS

Mainstream culture rewards “doing”; it judges “being” as unproductive and lazy—which makes it extra hard for us to slow down. We think we are relaxing by watching television or drinking and eating with friends—but in reality we need more hibernating: sleep and actual “quiet time.” When we stop doing, our bodies can start repairing. Give yourself permission to slow down.

If you find yourself getting sleepy much earlier in the evening, this is your body’s natural clock giving you extra time to nourish yourself with deep sleep. Stop your activities as early as possible, ideally by 8 pm. Unwind and relax and go to bed by 9 or 10 at the very latest.

To get the deepest sleep possible, have an herbal sleep tea or grate some nutmeg into warm milk, as nutmeg helps maintain a deeper sleep cycle. Give yourself a foot massage with oil and do some long deep breathing before going to sleep to calm your mind.

How to Give Yourself an Evening Foot Rub

How can you go to bed earlier and fall asleep easily? Let your body know that you are serious with a foot rub. This stimulates special nerve endings in your feet that help calm your mind and shift your nervous system for sleep.

Begin by rinsing your feet in cool water and drying them. Pull one foot towards you and rub a bit of oil on it. Start by massaging around the ankle and down to the heel on both sides of the foot. This area carries the reflexology connection to the sexual organs, so massaging it relaxes this tension.

Next, rub the underside of your foot with several long thumb strokes. If you find any bumpy spots or calcifications, rub harder on those areas until you feel a gentle softening of the tension. Press hard on the ball of your foot and dig deep between the first and second toe in the natural hollow of your foot. This soft spot on the underside of your foot is soothing to stimulate because it is an entry point for energy in Chinese medicine. Stay with it for a minute. Now grab your toes with both hands and stretch and bend them in both directions, towards the sole of your foot and away. You get extra credit if your toes “pop.”

Squeeze your foot with both hands, caressing and massaging it and then switch to the opposite foot. If you have children, this is a wonderful way to unwind them from their day. In reflexology, massaging a child’s heel every night helps them develop a photographic memory.

Foraging for Yummy Winter Foods

In order for your body to carry out quality repairs, you need to eat nourishing foods. Most of us add a few pounds during the holidays, which feature an abundance of sweets, carbs and fats. Now is an excellent time to choose nutrient-dense, seasonally available foods that will satisfy without adding weight.

Winter greens such as kale, chard and seasonal lettuce are packed with nutrients like iron, potassium and calcium, which build blood and can help people (especially women) feel more relaxed. Root vegetables make an easy meal, are gently cleansing, and satisfy that urge to chow down. Beets, turnips, parsnips, radishes, yams and carrots have a blood-building effect because of all their minerals and are known for a cleansing effect on the liver. Root vegetables that have been harvested in the fall save their energy and potency for the winter and are especially beneficial. Make a root vegetable bake for a simple seasonal meal that is satisfying and chock full of nutrients.

Roasted Roots Recipe:

Take any combination of root vegetables (beets, parsnips, radishes, carrots, onions, potatoes and yams), chop them into evenly sized pieces and put them in a Dutch oven or covered casserole dish. Toss with olive oil, salt, pepper and perhaps some basil or oregano and let the roots bake at 375° until tender (45 minutes to an hour).

How to Hide Winter Greens in a Smoothie

A favorite way to disguise winter greens is in a nut-and-fruit smoothie. The trick is to add a “sweet” item (like dates, berries, oranges or fruit juices) for every additional “healthy” item (like spinach, sprouts or spirulina) to balance the flavor. Start with frozen berries and toss in a few cashews, almonds or hemp seeds to help it keep that creamy flavor and add some healthy fats and protein. There are an infinite number of fruits, nuts and veggies to combine.

In Eastern medicine, raw fruits and vegetables are considered hard to digest and are better for the summertime. However, because you are blending them, it breaks through the cell walls and allows all of the dense energy of winter greens to penetrate your body. Try this as a breakfast and you will be surprised how energized your day can be. One word of caution: drinking this in the evening might be too energizing. Experiment and see what works for your individual body type.

Recipe (Serves 2)

Raspberry and raw cacao “green” Smoothie

2 cups frozen raspberries

Cover raspberries with your favorite juice, then add:

1 handful of any winter green (kale, chard, lettuce, spinach)

1 tsp spirulina

1 “splash” of tart cherry concentrate

3 Tbsp hemp seeds

2 Tbsp raw cacao powder

Blend in a good blender until creamy, adding more juice if needed.

Deeper Nutrition: Healing Core Digestion Issues

These are easy, inspiring recipes, but what if you have more serious issues? Digestion plays a critical role in helping the body resolve health challenges. Most people have some digestive complaint like gas, bloating, constipation or acid reflux that indicates poor digestion. Cleaning up your diet, eliminating processed foods and adding whole foods is very important for digestion (and healing) in the long run.

Quick tips for dietary changes

People really struggle with changing their diet and improving their health through eating. It is very hard to eliminate something from your diet, because if you are what you eat, it feels like you are taking away a part of yourself.

This is why it’s important to keep the focus on adding healthier foods to your diet. Instead of removing dessert, for example, add smoothies (see recipe above) or baked apples with butter and cinnamon. Tame your sweet tooth by filling up on fruits. Fruit is the ultimate fast food, it tastes amazing, has zero fat and tons of vitamin C and antioxidants. Fill your cupboards with good quality fruits and prepare them in interesting ways. Focus on adding them to your daily foods and see if you can satisfy your sweet tooth in a way that heals your body instead of sabotaging it.

It is common to slip off the wagon and go back to old eating habits. It takes time to create a change in the body and for the body to accept the new food regimen. One great way to keep yourself on track is through herbal teas. In addiction circles, people talk about alcohol as a “gateway” to other drugs. In terms of food and your body’s addiction to fattening, fast and salty foods, herbal teas are a “gateway” to health food. They encourage your taste buds to adapt and open your palate to real food and better habits.

If you find yourself slipping off the healthy food wagon and veering into processed foods, grab a hot herbal tea on your way down to cushion the fall. The hot water in the wintertime is beneficial for all body types, and the plant medicine available in the tea keeps your body oriented towards real food. Ginger tea is the most obvious, inexpensive and tasty tea that supports digestion and nerves. You can chop up the ginger root and boil it for 10 minutes or just buy the prepackaged tea.

Cultivate Your Inner Farmer

If you keep your foot on the accelerator, despite the cold and the snow, your inner farmers will never have a chance to repair summer’s damage. So in these busy times with an overload of food choices, bring it back to the simple pleasures of life: sleeping in, cooking good food and practicing self-care.

Like a bear in need of a good nap, listen to your body this winter and indulge in the sweet escape of sleep. And if you find yourself craving rich foods in this brisk cold weather, pamper yourself with truly nourishing foods that deeply build the cells in your body. Value yourself enough to allow for the natural hibernation cycle to occur, so that in the summer, you may reap your rewards.

Dr. Japa K. Khalsa received a Bachelor of Science from Northwestern University and completed her Master of Oriental Medicine at Midwest College of Medicine. She is a Board certified and licensed Doctor of Oriental Medicine, and practices in Española, NM. 505.747.3368, drjapa@gmail.com, http://www.drjapa.com

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Jan and Jack Kerr

Oh, Fair New Mexico, we love you so. We love to garden, walk, hike, bike, ski, swim, play tennis, ride horses and fish.

However, New Mexico doesn’t love our skin. As much as we love it here, we live in a very harsh climate, and skin care is not a luxury–it is a necessity. When you evaluate the inevitable age-related changes in the skin, you have to take into consideration both intrinsic and extrinsic factors.

Individuals age at different rates. Intrinsic aging is the chronological aging determined by the DNA of your skin type, inherited from your parents and ancestors. Intrinsic aging is a function of the body’s metabolic processes naturally slowing down, which decreases the rate of new cell production. Extrinsic aging is biological aging determined by your lifestyle and environment.

Understanding skin types and skin color is essential for corrective treatment of the skin because individual characteristics determine tolerance for skin rejuvenation. Other factors that can affect skin are sun exposure, air pollution, nutrient deficiencies, extreme weight loss, prescription medications, physical activity and emotional health. In New Mexico, wind, cold, low humidity, sun and Ultra-Violet (UV) radiation exposure are the major causes of skin damage and aging.

For every 1000 ft. of elevation, UV radiation increases 10 percent. So in Santa Fe we are at 7,000 ft. and receive 70 percent more UV compared to sea level, or say, Carlsbad, at 3,300 ft., with approximately 30 percent more UV-radiation exposure than sea level. Historically, NM and Arizona have led the US in skin cancer rates because of our elevation, exposure to the sun and lack of humidity. Our major defense against aging in a climate such as this is to wear sunscreen, preferably a 30 SPF, 365 days a year.

As of December 2012, there are new sunscreen regulations:

A. Manufacturers can claim Broad Spectrum for products covering UVB and UVA at 370 nanometers or more.

B. Products can no longer be labeled “waterproof.” “Water resistant” may be used if the product can be immersed for 80 minutes and retain its stated SPF.

C. No claims can be made for SPF above 50 SPF. SPF 30 filters 95 percent of UVB. Any SPF higher than 30 only protects in small increments up to 99 percent. If you are using sunscreen and are concerned about not getting enough Vitamin D from the sun, make sure you are eating a healthy diet of red and orange veggies and dark leafy greens. Sit outside three days a week mid-day with your palms up for 15 minutes, and keep the rest of you protected. Your palms will absorb enough Vitamin D, and you won’t be damaging your skin.

Antioxidants

Many studies have shown the health-protecting benefits of antioxidants. Antioxidants are vitamins or nutrients that protect the body and skin from oxidative stress by fighting off free radicals. Free radicals are highly reactive molecules that can cause damage to the body, especially the skin. Vitamin C is a potent antioxidant and a necessary contributor to collagen synthesis and wound healing.

For healthier skin, eat a balanced diet that includes dark leafy greens, red and orange veggies, berries, apples, healthy fats such as avocados and nuts, and lots of water. In the suggested 64 ounces of water intake a day, only 2 ounces actually make it to the skin. The rest is directed to the internal organs. Keep your intake of sugar low, and try to eliminate fructose, high-fructose corn sugar and carbohydrates that cause inflammation and cell injury, and you can improve the aging appearance and quality of your skin.

We believe that products that use organic ingredients that come from whole foods and other natural sources can be even more effective because the ratio of vitamins and other nutrients in them is more likely to work in harmony with our skin. As an added environmental perk, the botanicals in organic skin-care products must be cultivated in ways that minimize pollution from air, soil and water.

Jan and Jack Kerr own Seventh Ray Skin Care in Santa Fe. They create their own organic skin and body-care products for their clients’ specific needs. 505.982.9865, www.seventhrayskincare.com

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Diabetes. Alzheimer’s. Obesity. Cancer. With disease and depression running rampant, it’s not surprising to learn that we run the risk of exposing ourselves to over 80,000 toxins in our modern day-to-day lives. Enter the Self-Care Revolution™, an inspiring, educational 12-month series of weekly 60-minute teleseminars, Q&A calls, self-care journals and self-assessment tools.

The series is designed to promote more holistic, patient-centered solutions to the current disease-management model of healthcare. Inspired by Dr. Robyn Benson, DOM, a specialist in pain management, women’s health and family medicine, and sponsored by Santa Fe Soul Health & Healing Center, the Self-Care Revolution is bringing together world-renowned leaders in the field of complementary and alternative medicine with those who wish to actively attempt to prevent or reverse disease.

“Be your own best health-care advocate” is the first of five pathways that Dr. Benson speaks about regularly in order to prevent illness and stay well. The compound effects of self-care choices made daily, which include food, exercise and stress management, have a profound effect on personal health throughout life. “Daily choices that aren’t in alignment with your well-being can ultimately lead to disease which can take years to be expressed,” says Dr. Benson. “Self-care is the true healthcare and now is the time to commit to sustainable self-care strategies.”

The Self-Care Revolution connects members with a coaches who provide mentoring and guidance. The potential transformation includes such things as fat- and weight loss while learning about foods, reducing the need for medication, improving mental clarity and focus, increasing energy and stamina, reducing aches and pains, and lots of other important information intended to help people empower themselves to make wise choices for themselves and their families.

Subscribers to the series receive access to weekly 60-minute teleseminars, Q&A calls, self-care journals and self-assessment tools on the following topics:

January: Thoughts and Food as Medicine

February: Heart and Breath Matters

March: Transmute and Release Trauma

April: Unleash Your Brain Power

May: Restore Your Health by “Earthing”

June: Power of Relationships

July: Exercise As Medicine

August: Empowerment through the Balance of Your Feminine and Masculine

September: Power of You = Power of Community

October: Be Fabulous At Any Age

November: Power of Gratitude

December: Celebrate Life and Pay It Forward

Series participants also receive a ticket to a live Self-Care Revolution event scheduled for June 21–23in Santa Fe.

As part of February’s topic, “Heart and Breath Matters,” the Self-Care Revolution is presenting author Stig Severinsen and Roy Heilbron, MD. Some of the other presenters throughout the year include Bioneers’ Kenny Ausubel and Nina Simons, The Secret’s Bob Doyle, Lynn Rose, Larry and Barbara Dossey.

For more information, visit www.JoinTheSelfCareRevolution.com

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