Haiti ~ Our Hearts and Thoughts are With You

As the people of Haiti try to endure and survive the horrific trauma that has fallen their tiny nation, a small film crew has set out to share their stories with the world. I have been following the Inside Disaster blog since I stumbled upon it last week. Their selfless efforts, emotion, and humanity has captivated many in a way that the evening news has not.

Please watch Nico's video "Asking the Earth to Be Still", sung at night by the survivors at camp Carefour des Brosses, a camp situated out of town, of 3,500 people who still have not received aid. Hopefully Nico's video will find them help soon...

Passionflower & Valerian - Essentials for your home

Hello and Happy New Year!

How many of you blog-readers watch Dr. Oz? On a recent show, Dr. Oz talks about stress and weight gain. Passionflower tincture is 1 of the solutions he presents to his attentive audience: when we are stressed, the brain releases a chemical that goes to the Adrenal Glands. The Adrenal Glands in turn excrete steroids that go into your stomach fat and actually make it larger. Passionflower has been shown to be effective in reducing anxiety thus breaking this stress cycle. You can watch this segment of Dr. Oz's show here: http://tinyurl.com/y8w875t

NNS’s Passionflower tincture is certified organic and made with whole herb of the highest quality, processed using cold temperature techniques to preserve the naturally inherent active ingredients. Want to give it a try? Visit NNS's website: http://tinyurl.com/ort884

Also recently mentioned on Dr. Oz’s show is Valerian Capsules. Dr. Oz includes Valerian Capsules as 1 of the top 5 items to keep in your medicine cabinet! They’re great to help with insomnia, improve the quality of sleep, and reduce the time to fall asleep: http://tinyurl.com/yddov44 Consider NNS’s whole herb, certified organic Valerian Capsules to add to your medicine cabinet: http://tinyurl.com/y8qmrf3

Another View of the Flu

By Daina Scarola

In light of all the scary media coverage on the latest influenza virus, I feel compelled to share a different perspective. A more positive perspective. If you do happen to catch the flu this season, it might not be all that bad. Here is an endearing story I read this week called 'Another View of The Flu' by Wendy Strgar that was posted on the Care2 Make a Difference website. It moved me because when I fell sick earlier this month I was able go home early from work and give myself permission to do absolutely nothing for the first time in almost a year. And I really needed that...

"The fear of the swine flu epidemic is gradually being replaced by the reality of it landing at home. I am not proud to admit that my children were the first to be diagnosed at their school in the first weeks of school and the last weeks of our Oregon Indian summer. As the final days of warm sunny weather teased, my children lay in bed too sick to notice. Thus far we have been through three versions of the swine, and the varied symptoms have taken on the colloquial “he’s swining big time” as all of their friends fall like dominoes to the illness. And although most of October is a blur of home remedies, I am relieved to not be worried about getting it anymore.

This is not to make light of the rare cases in which immune deficiency has real and frightening costs. There are enough exceptions to the typical swine course and an alarming number of secondary infections that warrant careful attention. Still, with the continuous mass media warnings and the mass of flu shots being distributed without full testing, it is easy to see how panic can build. Treating this new illness with love, which is to say the opposite of fear, might provide some insights and maybe even make the experience a teacher. This flu infection moves fast and goes into the chest deeply. This is a time to protect and love the immune system by applying all of the standard wellness advice about eating well, sleeping enough and getting regular exercise and fresh air. Supplementing with multi-vitamins, Vitamin C and Vitamin D3 as well as herbal formulas like Echinacea is another effective way to support your immune system.

Yet, even with all the remedies I had on hand, once in the system, the flu progressed and all my kids got sicker. Their fevers spiked high for the first couple of days and our home became the center of life again in the way it is on holidays. The schedule was off, no one was going anywhere and they all wanted company and assurances. It had been years since I lay in bed for an afternoon nap with any of my children as they are all in their teens, but this week the swine flu had us in bed falling asleep in the early afternoon light of autumn.

I welled up with the tenderness of the moment, as I lay next to my son, his hand in mine, and reflected that this might well be the last time I held my adolescent son’s hand as he fell asleep beside me. Even my high school senior had all his hard edges soften as we went through several linen changes per day. He was contemplative and wanted to share his thoughts, giving me a chance to hear him as I hadn’t in months. My youngest daughter curled around me and held onto me like an anchor to life through her feverish nights.

Don’t get me wrong, the swine flu is a tenacious and lively virus. It takes days after you are well to really get over it and doing too much can easily lead to relapse, but given its proper respect, this flu can also put things in perspective.

Dealing with any illness forces you to recognize that the central axis of life is health. There really is nothing else that life can give us or that we can give it, without the amazing and often taken for granted experience of well being. The day my 13- year-old son left the house again after 5 days confined, he exclaimed at the color of the trees, the bigness of the fields and skies. It was like watching him see it for the first time. Illness reorganizes our priorities and focuses our attention on the pieces of life that matter most. The tenderness of life is always right next to us. Illness sets that tenderness apart, holds it up to the light of day. If we are lucky we don’t just get well, we get fresh eyes to see how well we really are."

Wendy Strgar is a loveologist who writes and lectures on Making Love Sustainable, a green philosophy of relationships which teaches the importance of valuing the renewable resources of love and family. Wendy helps couples tackle the questions and concerns of intimacy and relationships, providing honest answers and innovative advice. As her online presence continues to grow, Wendy has become a trusted and respected source of information on lasting and healthy relationships. “I feel like I am inventing a language to give intimacy back to the people, take the fear away and open a space for physical love to serve as the glue that holds relationships together.” Wendy lives in Eugene, Oregon with her husband, a psychiatrist, and their four children ages 11-20.

Homegrown herbal business receives national recognition

Halifax News Net
By Lindsay Jones, The Weekly News

There’s no magic bullet for perfect health, but organic health pioneer Nancy Smithers is making the next best thing just outside Halifax in Lawrencetown. Naturally Nova Scotia started out as a homegrown herbal remedy business in Smithers’ kitchen 17 years ago. Her sister, a physiotherapist, was looking for higher quality herbal remedies than what was on the market at the time. What began as a messy hobby chopping dried roots and herbs is now a thriving business that’s receiving national recognition. Smithers took home the Organic Achievement Award at the Canadian Health Food Association’s Expo East trade show this month. (Nature’s Path cereal received it last year.)“It’s very exciting,” she said. “It’s not something that you get easily. It’s like a lifetime achievement award.” Naturally Nova Scotia is a leading manufacturer and distributor of certified organic whole food vitamins and herbal capsules across the country. Everything is made at a 30,000-square-foot-manufacturing facility on her 250-acre organic farm that employs more than 30 people. Even though the company has grown immensely and the product line expanded considerably over the years, Smithers says her philosophy remains the same: using organic and whole foods and herbs. “It’s out there in nature and that’s the way we’re supposed to get it,” she says. “That’s why we freeze dry, so you can get all the nutrients that you need. I don’t believe in analyzing food to death. There is no magic bullet. It’s total lifestyle.” She says the closest thing to that magic bullet is Nova Greens, a green drink mix that contains algae, phytonutrients, Chinese mushrooms, herbs and greens that help the body detoxify. “It gives you the energy you need during the day and people like greens,” she said. “This is the first Canadian-made one and the first certified organic one, so it’s become a very, very big seller.”Her Vitamin D, made from an organic sweet potato base, also tops her list of magic bullets. “It gives you the energy, the nutrients, the Vitamin D for your immune system,” she said. Her philosophy is also about knowing exactly where the ingredients in her products come from. “You want to be able to trace back exactly where you got things, which we can do,” she said. For instance, her calcium vitamins are sourced from powdered eggshells, whereas other brands derive it from sea coral, which she says could contain heavy metals. Her popular Echinacea spray is made from Echinacea grown right on the farm. So what does she eat? Only organic food, of course. “I do break loose every once in a while,” laughs the 62-year-old. “I have tons of energy. I just know when I take products, you can tell when they’re working. I know what’s in them and I use myself as a guinea pig. If something’s wrong, I’ll feel it.”

ljones@hfxnews.ca


http://www.halifaxnewsnet.ca/index.cfm?sid=296805&sc=615

!!Store is now closed until next spring 2010!!

Naturally Nova Scotia's front room was open for the first time ever this year. It was a successful season with many visitors and new supporters of our health products. We also had fine artwork on display from our staff, including oil paintings by Daina Deblette Scarola and beach stone angels by Beth Ann Knowles. The on-site store is now closed to the public until next spring, 2010. However our online store is always open with many new products available soon!! Please visit www.naturallynovascotia.com to see what we have to offer.