Health

Pemmican as a Traditional Food and Its Place in Modern Culinary Culture

Pemmican is a traditional food that has been consumed by Native American tribes for centuries. It is a concentrated mixture of dried meat, rendered fat, and berries that was initially created as a survival food. Today, pemmican has gained popularity in modern culinary culture due to its unique flavor and nutritional benefits.

Pemmican in Traditional Culture

Pemmican played a vital role in Native American culture as it was used as a high-energy food source. The traditional method of making pemmican involved drying lean meat and pounding it into a powder. The meat powder would then be mixed with melted fat and berries, forming small, easy-to-carry balls. Pemmican was an essential part of the traditional diet, providing a vital source of protein and nutrients.

Pemmican in Modern Culinary Culture

Pemmican has gained popularity in modern cuisine, with chefs incorporating it into their dishes as a unique and flavorful ingredient. Pemmican is now being sold in specialty stores and online, making it easily accessible to consumers. Its appeal lies in its sustainability, as it is a food that can be stored for long periods, and its high nutritional value, making it an excellent option for health-conscious consumers.

Health Benefits of Pemmican

Pemmican is a nutrient-dense food that provides a range of health benefits. It is high in protein, healthy fats, and a variety of essential vitamins and minerals. Pemmican is a great option for athletes or anyone looking to increase their protein intake. It is also an excellent source of energy, making it a perfect snack for those on the go. Additionally, pemmican is gluten-free and paleo-friendly, making it a great option for those with dietary restrictions.

Making Pemmican at Home

Making pemmican at home is easy and requires only a few ingredients. To make pemmican, you will need lean meat, fat, and dried berries. You can use a dehydrator or your oven to dry the meat, and then pound it into a powder. Melt the fat and mix it with the meat powder and berries, and then form the mixture into small balls. Pemmican can be stored in an airtight container in a cool, dry place.

Pemmican has a rich history and an important place in Native American culture. Its popularity has only grown in modern culinary culture, with chefs and health-conscious consumers alike recognizing its unique flavor and nutritional benefits. As we continue to look for sustainable and healthy food options, pemmican will undoubtedly continue to have a prominent place in our diets.

How Spa Therapies Can Restore Chakra Balance and Help You Heal

The energy system known as our chakras can be visualized as an invisible energy network that circulates within the body. Like wheels, the charkas are constantly spinning and need to be in perfect balance if they are to function optimally. Each of the charkas corresponds to one of the body’s core elements. Imbalances in the chakras can affect other systems including our endocrine and immune systems.

In Tantric philosophy the spiritual element of the charkas is fully described and considered the most important. According to Tantric teachings the perpetually spinning charkas are centers of consciousness capable of releasing supernatural powers. In Kundalini yoga, the root chakra at the base of the spine is thought to have the ability to release energy that leads to a spiritual awakening. The ways in which chakras interact with our nervous system have a profound effect on the functioning of both the endocrine and immune systems.

Fine Tuning the Chakras

Balance can be restored to the chakras through yoga, essential oils, meditation, energy healing with crystals and minerals and deep tissue massage. The following list describes the chakra, its associated color, conditions associated with imbalances, and the gemstones and essential oils that help restore its balance.

• Root chakra at the base of the spine; red; anemia, lower back pain, cold hands and feet, adrenal glands and bone; garnet gemstone; sandalwood, patchouli and vetiver essential oils
• Sacral chakra in the genital area; orange; urinary problems, allergies and ovary, bladder or testicular problems; carnelian gemstone; orange, geranium and jasmine essential oils
• Solar plexus chakra in the lower abdomen; yellow; digestive problems, ulcers, pancreatic disorders; citrine gemstone; lemon, lavender, and fennel essential oils
• Heart chakra in the center of the chest; green; high blood pressure, muscular tension, problems of the thymus gland, immune system and heart; jade gemstone; rose, mandarin, and bergamot essential oils
• Throat chakra in the neck; blue-green; swollen glands, thyroid disorders, hyperactivity, neck and shoulder problems; turquoise gemstone; spruce, chamomile, and ylang-ylang essential oils
• Third eye chakra in the forehead; royal blue; sleep disorders, poor coordination, problems of the pituitary gland, eyes, mouth, and neck; lapis lazuli gemstone; camphor, petitgrain, and eucalyptus essential oils
• Crown chakra at the top of the head; purple; headaches, light sensitivity, disorders of the pineal gland and central nervous system; amethyst gemstone; lavender, elemi, and neroli essential oils

Spa Therapies for Chakra Balance

Massages, especially deep tissue massages using a blend of essential oils used to correct specific imbalances are particularly effective. The use of chanting in certain techniques such as shirodhara therapies are also effective in restoring balance. The sounds made from medicine bowls and bells are also conducive to healing the charkas. Any time gemstones can be employed in spa therapies, including hot stone massages, their use is beneficial. At the Ananda spa and resort in the Himalayas, several treatments use crystals and other gemstones in crystal healing therapies to correct and balance the chakra’s vibrations.

Spa therapies designed to balance charkas also incorporate color. Chakras have a certain spectral ray embodied in them that can dissolve blockages in energy flow. For instance amethyst with its purple-violet hue affects the brain and nerve cells. Color therapy can be used in hydrotherapy sessions, steam baths, light therapy treatments and in visualization therapies.

With 5000 years of Ayurvedic wisdom guiding the chakra tenets, restoring the balance necessary for optimal chakra functioning is a tremendously powerful form of spa healing.

The Spa Experience for Healing the Body and Spirit

The psychologist Ryan Howell and his team at the University of San Francisco have conducted several studies that show that money spent on pleasing experiences brings both short and long-term emotional and physical benefits. However, money spent on purchases, for instance a new car, can bring a temporary lift without any long lasting effects.

Experiential Purchase

Howell’s team describes experiential purchases such as the spending of money for massage or opera tickets as conduits for spiritual and physical health. They see experiences, such as the state of relaxation evoked during a massage or facial, as a way of creating an emotional reserve of what they call memory capital. That is, after a spa treatment, consumers can later reflect on the experience and reap emotional benefits and feelings of well-being.

With memory capital, experiences can also become more significant over time. Later recalling a couples massage they enjoyed during a vacation, individuals show changes on brain scans indicating pleasure. Recalling purchases of luxury items they’ve made, subjects showed no such changes using brain scans. The researchers also found that the amount spent on an experience or a purchase had no effect whatsoever on an individual’s well-being. People who spent nothing to sit quietly and observe a beautiful sunset experienced the same feelings of well-being as people who spent a great deal of money for a vacation spent touring vineyards in France.

Well-being and Health

Howell’s team has also conducted research showing that feelings of well-being caused by experiences lead to happiness and better health outcomes. In their study, the team defined health as a process in which life is sustained with a minimum of medical care. That is, individuals in good health can be free of disease or they can have chronic medical conditions with symptoms that are well-controlled with minimal effort.

The team found that feelings of well-being related to experiences had a positive effect on health, whereas the accumulation of material items did not benefit health. Effects on health in this study were measured using cortisol and other endocrine levels and biochemical parameters such as changes in blood glucose levels.

Well-being and Beauty

In his book, Beauty and the Soul, the psychoanalyst Piero Ferruci describes the importance of beauty for soothing the body and soul. Ferruci writes that being in touch with our spiritual side through an appreciation of beauty is more important for health than most people suspect.

In other words, the positive effects on skin’s clarity and tone from a facial treatment or an herbal body wrap, benefit much more than the skin. The experience of having beautiful skin and appreciating the results of treatment can also have a positive effect on spiritual and physical well-being.

Ferruci explains that experiencing beauty brings a new dimension to knowledge, and every experience of beauty teaches us something that delights us. This type of knowledge inspired by beauty is more passionate, alive and intimate than other types of learning. In addition, beauty, when perceived, greatly improves one’s relationship with the environment and the natural wonders of the world.

Medicinal Powers of Acupuncture

Acupuncture needles may be very thin, but they are very powerful. A lot of people hope in the medicinal powers of acupuncture needles, and many people are taking part in this because they are getting a lot of facilities through this. Day by day the popularity of acupuncture are increasing because of its proven track record of medicinal powers.

How Acupuncture Works 
The reason behind acupuncture needles is that the placing of acupuncture needles at these premeditated points gives confidence to the medicinal powers of the body. The body has many remedial controls that will restore and treat. Acupuncture needle mean to help this medicinal and restoration. The expert trainers, who are qualified in acupuncture, must know the premeditated tips in the body that will be helpful, when these needles are placed in. The exporters will place the needles exactly to help the body cure. It is very thin, but has the capacities of curing the disease in as little as a few days and as few as one treatment.

Acupuncture Cures Disease and Chronic Pain 
The curing capacity of acupuncture needle is determined by the correct placement of the needles, but acupuncture is also helpful for further objectives moreover than curative and recovery. Acupuncture has become a treatment of choice for those who have gone through constant ache. A lot of people don’t want a medicine treatment for pain relief. Acupuncture has become popular for an easy cure and can be effective in as little as a few days. 
 
People that suffer from headache can also be cured from acupuncture. Acupuncture specialists know the right places on the body to reduce pain. While placing these needles into your body, you can feel a little pain, but the pain is negligible. The majority of patients who have underwent acupuncture report that the pain experienced during needle placement is worth the reward of a reduced amount of pain.

Acupuncture for Smokers and Weight Loss? 
New research suggests that acupuncture is very effective in helping individuals quit smoking. Many individuals have tried various methods to quit smoking, the patch, gum, cold turkey, unfortunately they often fail. For these individuals acupuncture is a very viable and recommended treatment. Many individuals who have failed to quit smoking for years are finally free from their addiction after using various acupuncture treatments.

Acupuncture for Anxiety 
Acupuncture can be helpful for those are anxious by the pressures in their life. These people can place the needle in the exact place to cure their strain. For individuals who are not interested in taking anxiety medications for whatever reason, acupuncture is a very good option. Acupuncture for anxiety in combination with relaxation techniques has even been shown to be more effective and long lasting than most medications on the market.

Today I Went to Grief Counseling

Today I went to counseling. When someone so close to you dies that is what you are supposed to do, I am told. I am very, very sad and I am in denial. I am very angry and my attitude is not very healthy. You have died and I am supposed to go though the stages of grieving as If it were a schedule I should follow, I paid someone 150 (one hundred fifty dollars), to listen to me. I would have paid any amount to feel different than I am feeling at this moment.

I wanted to have help figuring out how I could drive so far to the hospital and sit with you all day and not cry, not show any emotion at all and be basically fine. Drive all the way back home, not even tired and set my clothes out to do it all again the next day; even when I knew there would be no “next day”.

You know me and you know I don’t accept things without a reason.I was the last person to see you alive and the first to see you when you weren’t. I couldn’t leave your side, not for a moment. I didn’t freak out, I didn’t scream or even cry. It’s not like it is in the movies. Grief counseling said this was normal, I was in shock. I had people to call and things to do, but not really anything to feel. When I did call people, I couldn’t say the words, I did tell everyone to please not ask me questions or I would fall apart. I had to send an email around, the hardest one I ever had to write. I was fine, until I heard someone say that you died. Then I just went into a full panic and needed them to be quiet, to stop saying that. The counselor said that was normal.

I know I said I would let you rest in peace and I’m not, but you told me you would not die, so I guess we are even. This is just so hard now, this part, the living without you here. I am so angry that you didn’t take better care of yourself. I am so angry that I didn’t believe how sick you were and how I pushed you to do more. I am feeling so guilty on top of all this other stuff.

Your doctor said I was a great friend and I should never feel guilty, not for one moment. I had given you four more years of your life than you would not have had if I hadn’t brought you to them. The grief counselor nodded.

I am probably ruining your peaceful time in heaven, but I don’t care right now. We have never been out of touch for more than a day and we were supposed to be little old ladies together and you didn’t keep up your end of the bargain. I’m not sleeping very well and that’s the one thing I was so good at! In time, I will let you rest in peace and I will just be sad, always just sad. I look at the things you have given me over the years. Best friends, Pals forever, but that wasn’t true. The counselor said time would change everything. I wondered if maybe it would bring you back.

I run all day just so I am exhausted and maybe sleep will come. Not today, not yet. Today is 21 days and in all these years we have never been out of touch for more than 24 hours. When I realize that you are gone, I can’t stop crying, I just can’t. I am afraid I will never stop. the grief counselor said I would and had a tight little smile on her face.

We had our thing of never ever saying bye, it was always just nite, never bye. When I left you that last night, I said “I love You, Night”, and you answered the same. I will keep doing this every night. I just can’t say bye. The grief counselor said that was not healthy. The grief counselor was getting me very angry. I told her for 150 (one hundred fifty) dollars I wanted you to come back and then she said I truly did not have a healthy attitude. This much I knew was true.
The grief counselor would never see me again.

Acupuncture Canada The Natural Health Domain

Forward Chinese Medicine is an exciting and rapidly growing health discipline. Although it is relatively new to the West, it is, in fact, thousands of years old, and due to its efficacy, it will be around for thousands more. It is exciting to see its emergence in cities small and large across the country, and to be in the midst of it all. As a profession in B.C., and all across Canada, Chinese Medicine has a very strong foothold that is continually growing stronger. We are now recognized by the Ministry of Health and we are self-regulating. Also, many extended health care plans now cover acupuncture, and both I.C.B.C. and W.C.B. accept acupuncture claims. These are all signs of growth that indicate continual wider acceptance by the public and private sectors.

One of the wonderful things about Chinese Medicine is that its focus is on health rather than on disease. Therefore, ideally it is used to preserve health and to prevent disease. This is a simple idea, but one that is very different from the focus of Western Medicine that most of us have grown up with. Most people who enter our clinics do have a disease or concern that has brought them to us, but our focus is still on their health and bringing them back to this state, as well as educating people on how to stay that way.

In the past in China, and indeed in many small villages still, the focus on health was very apparent. In these places, Doctors of Traditional Chinese Medicine were not paid when anyone in their village was ill. Their job was to keep everyone healthy and it was only in so doing that they would make their living. This model would be impossible to apply here in the West, but it is a wonderful illustration of the beauty of Chinese Medicine at its best.

MISSION AND OBJECTIVES Our goal at the West Coast Institute of Oriental Medicine is to provide quality education and training in the discipline of acupuncture and traditional Chinese diagnosis. Upon completion of the program, each graduate will have the skills necessary to write all licensing examinations and will be ready to begin their careers as T.C.M. acupuncturists.

Objectives:

1. To provide a two and a half year diploma program in T.C.M. based acupuncture.
2. To provide a strong foundation in the traditional art that is Chinese Medicine.
3. To meet and surpass all guidelines set by the governing body of acupuncture.
4. To instill a strong business sense in each student.
5. To maintain small class sizes in order to better facilitate learning.
6. To provide students with clinical experience and the public with these services.
7. To help each student to set up a clinical internship.

LOCATION AND FACILITIES

The West Coast Institute of Oriental Medicine is located in Nanaimo, B.C.. Nanaimo is located in central Vancouver Island with easy accessibility to Vancouver, Victoria, the Sunshine Coast and the Pacific Rim. Our surroundings include the ocean, the gulf islands as well as mountains and lakes. If you enjoy the outdoors, there is ample opportunity for kayaking, hiking, mountain biking, and skiing amongst others. It offers affordable living in comparison to the expenses of big city living. Along with the academic focus, the West Coast Institute of Oriental Medicine is proud to provide the experience of West Coast living.

The college itself is located within walking distance of downtown Nanaimo and is one block off of the water. The clinic has been in this location for three years and is continually expanding its services.

Source: Acupuncture Arlington