Contact the White House Tell Obama to Stop Factory Farms from Degrading Organic Dairy Standards

Contact the White House
Tell Obama to Stop Factory Farms from Degrading Organic Dairy Standards

(I got this alert through the Organic Consumer's Association newsletter)

With so many people calling the White House on this issue and others right now, it's very hard to get through. Please call and leave a message, but if waiting on the phone is too frustrating, you can SEND AN E-MAIL instead. Thanks! CLICK HERE TO FIND THE PHONE NUMBER TO CALL.

Organic dairies that graze their cows on pasture produce food that is healthier, safer, and more nutritious than chemical or GMO food, while protecting the environment and removing dangerous greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.

The USDA is finally coming out with new rules to better enforce the longstanding requirement that organic cows must graze on pasture, rather than be confined in feedlots. Only one last hurdle remains: the President's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) review.

Straus Dairy (based in California) and Aurora Dairy (based in Colorado) are making a last-ditch effort to prevent the USDA from cracking down on their feedlot operations. They're making a determined effort to sway the Obama administration, utilizing "insider influence" gained through campaign contributions to Obama and politicians like Tom Vilsack, who now heads the USDA.

In order to prevent factory dairy farms from driving ethical organic farmers out of business, and stop special interest manipulation of organic standards, thousands of us need to pick up the phone today. Call the Obama administration and tell them you're furious that the USDA has never adequately enforced the pasture requirement for organic dairy farms. Tell them that you'll never forgive the President if he lets ties to political contributors destroy the strict standards that safeguard organic integrity.

Tell the President that you won't settle for less! If a farm's dairy cows are kept in confinement or aren't on pasture, then its milk and dairy products are not organic!

For a better understanding of the issue you can read the detailed backgrounder, prepared by the Cornucopia Institute, that was submitted during Cornucopia's meeting with the OMB Friday, January 22, 2010:

http://www.cornucopia.org/USDA/PastureLivestockRuleBackground.pdf

Urgent Call For Human Milk Donations for Haitian Infants

Urgent Call for Human Milk Donations for Haiti Infants

Washington, DC--The Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA), United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC), International Lactation Consultant Association/United States Lactation Consultant Association (ILCA/USLCA), and La Leche League International (LLLI) are jointly issuing an urgent call for human milk donations for premature infants in Haiti, as well as sick and premature infants in the United States.

This week the first shipment of human milk from mothers in the United States will be shipped to the U.S. Navy ship Comfort stationed outside Haiti. Comfort is currently set up with a neonatal intensive care unit and medical personnel to provide urgent care to victims of the earthquake. An International Board Certified Lactation Consultant stationed at the U.S. Navy base in Bethesda, MD is assisting with providing breast pump equipment and supplies to Comfort. Dr. Erika Beard-Irvine, pediatric neonatologist, is on board to coordinate distribution of the milk to infants in need. HMBANA, USBC, ILCA/USLCA, and LLLI are responding to requests to provide milk for both premature infants and at-risk mothers who have recently delivered babies on board the USNS Comfort, but an urgent need exists for additional donations.

At the current time, the infrastructure to deliver human milk to Haiti infants on land has not yet been established. As soon as that infrastructure is in place, additional donations will be provided to older infants.

Mothers who are willing to donate human milk should contact their regional Mothers' Milk Bank of HMBANA. A list of regional milk banks is available on the HMBANA Web site at (www.hmbana.org/index/locations).

Currently milk banks are already low on donor milk. New milk donations will be used for Haiti victims as well as to replenish donor supplies to continue to serve sick and premature infants in the United States. Donor milk provides unique protection for fragile preterm infants. Financial donations are also strongly encouraged to allow HMBANA, a nonprofit organization, to continue serving infants in need.

UNICEF, the World Health Organization, the Emergency Nutrition Network, and medical professionals all recommend that breastfeeding and human milk be used for infants in disasters or emergencies. Human milk is life-saving due to its disease prevention properties. It is safe, clean, and does not depend on water which is often unavailable or contaminated in an emergency. Relief workers, health care providers, and other volunteers are urged to provide support for breastfeeding mothers to enable them to continue breastfeeding, and to assist pregnant and postpartum women in initiating and sustaining breastfeeding.

For more information, contact HMBANA at 408-998-4550 (www.hmbana.org). Additional information can be provided from the United States Breastfeeding Committee at 202-367-1132 (www.usbreastfeeding.org), ILCA/USLCA at 800-452-2478 (www.ilca.org or www.uslca.org), or La Leche League at 847-519-7730 (www.llli.org).

United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC)
The United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC) is an independent nonprofit coalition of 41 nationally influential professional, educational, and governmental organizations. Representing over half a million concerned professionals and the families they serve, USBC and its member organizations share a common mission to improve the Nation's health by working collaboratively to protect, promote, and support breastfeeding. For more information about USBC, visitwww.usbreastfeeding.org.

The USBC is an organization of organizations. Opinions expressed by USBC are not necessarily the position of all member organizations and opinions expressed by USBC member organization representatives are not necessarily the position of USBC.

Now Open Monday

Once again, due to demand, I have expanded my office hours. 

As of Monday, February 1st, I am scheduling patients from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. which opens 7 more appointment slots each week. See you there!

Thank you all for choosing me as your health care practitioner and for referring your friends, family and co-workers.

FREE LGBT Health CE Course!!

Now Available: Free Online Continuing Medical Education Course!

Studies over the last decade have consistently shown that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities are disproportionately impacted by tobacco use. These high smoking rates have been attributed to the stress of coming out, active targeting by the tobacco industry, and the vicious cycle of seeing peers smoke.


This free online course reviews the scientific literature on tobacco use and tobacco-related health disparities among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) populations.

Feature-rich content and interactive exercises in this free online course help participants understand course materials, allowing them to apply principles learned in their clinical practices.

At the completion of this course, you should be able to:

· Describe key components of providing

healthcare to LGBT persons in a culturally
competent way

· Describe basic concepts related to LGBT health

· Apply evidence-based brief interventions for smoking cessation in clinical practice

To participate in this free online education program, go to www.glma.org/lgbttobacco.

GLMA is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians. GLMA designates this activity for a maximum of 2 credit hours in Category I of the AMA Physician’s Recognition Award. Each physician should claim only those hours of credit actually spent in the educational activity.

This program was developed by the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association and made possible by a generous grant from the American Legacy Foundation. The contents of this program do not necessarily represent the views of GLMA or the Foundation or that of their staffs or Boards of Directors.

GLMA Home | My GLMA | About GLMA | Membership | GLMA Annual Conference | GLMA on Facebook

GLMA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that depends on your support. If you would like to support our important work, please donate online. If you are a member, please accept our thanks.

Stress Reduction Classes NYC

I recommended MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction) classes on a regular basis to many of my patients. If you have a hard time dealing with the stress of work, family or other pressures this class will teach you the tools to deal with them as they come up.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)
with Elaine Retholtz

Orientation Sessions (required):
Wednesday, January 20, 2010 or Thursday, January 21, 2010

This course is modeled after the renowned program developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts 30 years ago. It includes instruction in mindfulness meditation, gentle yoga, group dialogue and inquiry, and provides daily practice support materials. Research has shown that MBSR can bring lasting changes in physical and psychological symptoms, greater energy, improved self-esteem and increased ability to cope with pain and stress. Attendance is required at one of the orientation sessions.

Wednesdays, Nine Evening Sessions (Orientation + Eight Classes):
January 20, 27, February 3, 10, 17, 24, March 3, 10, 17
7-9:30pm

Thursdays, Nine Morning Sessions (Orientation + Eight Classes):
January 21, 28, February 4, 11, 18, 25, March 4, 11, 18
10am-12:30pm

Daylong Session: Sunday, March 7, 10am-5 pm

Fee: NYI/JCC members $325, nonmembers $375

Co-Sponsored With the Jewish Community Center
SPECIAL LOCATION: Jewish Community Center in Manhattan, 334 Amsterdam Avenue (at West 76th Street), NYC


Elaine Retholtz was introduced to mindfulness practice in 1988. Elaine has been active in New York Insight from its inception, serving on the Steering Committee for many years as a practice leader, and now as an associate teacher. She completed the practicum in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) as well as the Teacher Development Intensive at the Center for Mindfulness in Worcester, MA. She teaches MBSR in a variety of venues including at the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan, the Tri State College of Acupuncture, and at Rivington House Adult Health Care Facility, where she is the Coordinator of Complementary Care Services. She is a graduate of the third Spirit Rock Community Dharma Leaders Program.

Click here to register

Great NYC Yoga Classes, Yoga Retreats Jamaica, Italy and Upstate

One of my most favorite yoga instructors, Michelle Barge, has an updated and expanded yoga teaching schedule this winter, to include lovely retreats in Italy, Jamaica and Upstate New York.

Michelle's training is Iyegar-based so her classes are focused on strength and alignment of body and mind. Her teaching style is out-going, encouraging and challenging. You should try it!

Learn more about Michelle here:

http://beyoumag.com/author/michelle-barge/
http://www.thefierceclub.com/MICHELLE.html
http://www.goldenbridgeyoganyc.com/
http://reflectionsyoga.com/index.php

CLASS SCHEDULE:
Mondays: Reflections -- 4pm and 5:25pm
Tuesdays: Golden Bridge -- 6:30pm (and we've been moved to the BIG room)
Wednesdays: Reflections -- 4pm
Thursdays: Golden Bridge -- 6:30pm NEW (BIG room, too!)
Saturdays: Golden Bridge -- 12:30pm; Fierce Club -- 5pm
Sundays: Exhale -- 9:30am Lvl 2/3 980 Madison NEW (back at Exhale by popular demand!)


RETREATS:

Ananda Ashram, Monroe NY Feb 20 - 21
It is my extreme pleasure to be co-teaching with Elias Lopez at Ananda Ashram. Many of you have asked about the Ashram and have wanted to experience it. So here's your chance. It is a beautiful, lovely, spiritual place. This is sure to be a lovely recharging weekend spiritually and physically plus FUN! Elias Lopez is a teacher's teacher and has the great skill of being able to get students newer to their practice to levels thought unimaginable. He's also a naturalist and environmentalist and knows his way around the Ashram's many beautiful acres. AND you can see the organic farm we've been working on and perhaps become a volunteer.
http://blog.anandaharvest.org/
Vegan and vegetarian diet. Super low price for an all inclusive weekend.

Dormitory $ 190

Semiprivate $ 240

All you need to know on link below:
http://www.eliasyoga.com/winterretreatatananda.htm
There are limited spots, so if you are interested, PLEASE email me and we'll put you down.

Bromley Estate, Ocho Rios, JAMAICA
I want everyone to experience the beauty, charm and peace of Bromley in Jamaica, but know that schedules become a factor. We have 2 date options for Bromley:
first week in March OR push to April.
If you're interested in Jamaica and have a date option, please let me know. I can only book it with interest.

Cascina Buenosera, Asti, Italy May/June 2010
And just to entice you -- Italy in the spring awaits us. Let's just say it will be a yogic, wine and food filled celebration of life amongst the vineyards and the rose gardens...
This will also be brought to you by Pravassa Healthy Travel.
Let me know if you're even dreaming about it... Again, need interested parties to book the VILLA. YES, VILLA!
http://pravassa.com/

Postpartum Weight Loss For Nursing Mothers

This article of mine was published by Chinese Medicine Times in the Summer of '09. Great for professional practitioners, and the lay reader.

"Over the past few years, there have been many published studies, articles and one book written on the effectiveness of acupuncture and Chinese herbs for weight loss and weight management. However, none have focused on post-partum weight loss. Now that Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has become extremely popular for fertility, gestational diseases, and labor induction; practitioners have the opportunity to follow-up with these same patients for post-partum healthcare.

Many pregnant and post-partum mothers are concerned about losing the “baby weight” as soon as possible. During pregnancy it is contraindicated to lose weight, but we can assist with weight management techniques to control weight gain during pregnancy if needed. In addition, we can educate mothers about how to safely and effectively lose weight after the baby is born. Many new mothers focus on losing weight as quickly as possible after her baby is born. However, as practitioner’s we ought to teach these mothers to lose weight healthfully and slowly for the sake of their personal health and the health of their nursling(s).

Weight Loss in the first six weeks Post-Partum

It is not advisable to begin any special weight loss dieting during the first eight weeks postpartum so that the mother can recover her energy and heal from the birth. Eating a healthy, balanced and varied diet is advisable. In fact, nursing mothers need to eat an extra 500 calories per day to support milk production. A nursing mother’s diet should be 1,800 calories per day and definitely not less then 1,500 calories per day. Most women can begin exercising at about six weeks post-partum.

Most women lose about ten pounds (4.5kg) during the birth: the baby, the placenta and the amniotic fluid. Nursing the baby helps the uterus to shrink which will also result in weight loss. Typically in the first few weeks after birth, the mother will spontaneously lose about 5 to 8 pounds of leftover fluid weight, without the need for special weight loss techniques. That water is commonly lost through urine and sweating. Post-partum sweating occurs frequently in the form of night sweats, day sweating, and sweating while nursing the infant. All of these types of sweating result in water weight loss and are such sweating is usually considered normal and is not classified in TCM as pathological fluid (Yin) loss.

Weight Loss after eight weeks

Weight loss after eight weeks postpartum should not exceed 2-4 pounds (1-2kg) per month. Loss of more then that may cause a drop in milk supply and therefore an inability to adequately provide nutrition to the nursling. It can also prove unhealthy for the mother because patients who lose weight quickly tend to regain the lost weight and then some, whereas patients who lose weight in a slow and steady manner tend to maintain their weight loss".

READ MORE HERE

Be Healthy Active & Pain Free

My regular readers know that I am a HUGE FAN of the MELT method and teacher Zoe Bostwick-Levine, because it/she helped me so much in my healing and recovery from a long three day labor and subsequent c-section. My body was a mess and I didn't discover this method until after a year of pain. I had chronic pelvic pain, low back pain, a severe diastasis. This was one of the methods I incorporated into my healing regimen and it was so releiving! So, if you are in NYC and have back pain, leg pain, foot pain, etc., check this out!! 

Be Well- Juliette

Take Better Care Of Your Body in 2010

Introduction to "Hands Off" Bodywork: The MELT Method

For those of you that are still unsure about what exactly one does in a MELT class, just imagine that someone gives you a foam roller and a few little balls, and shows you how to use those simple tools to make your whole body feel healthy, vibrant, and pain free. You will do some rolling, lengthening, decompressing and mobilizing of the spine and joints. I'll even show you how to relax on the foam roller! If you are still unsure, you should just join us for one of these upcoming workshops. MELTing is not like anything you have ever done before!

So if your New Year's resolutions and desires are at all connected to your body feeling great, working well, or even looking great (MELT decreases cellulite!), then this workshop is a great place to start.

In this Introductory workshop I will show you 6 simple "do-it- yourself" secrets to feeling better now. 

1. Rediscover your ideal alignment 
2. Decompress the low back and neck
3. Decompress overworked joints
4. Rehydrate your connective tissue freeing up your joints and muscles
5. Reconnect to your core in a more effective way
6. Learn a hand and foot treatment you can take anywhere to treat the whole body

You'll come to class feeling, tight, maybe disconnected or even unaware of your body. Your body may feel stiff from sitting all day, or sore from yesterdays killer workout or dance class. Your shoulders might be shrugged up toward your ears (and perhaps they are even as you read this). No matter what draws you in, by the time you leave a MELT class you'll feel more grounded, long, and lean. You'll stand with a new kind of ease, without all that unnecessary tension in your neck, shoulders, and back. You'll feel like you have a little more space in all your joints. Most importantly you'll start to have a better understanding of how your body tends to get out of balance and how you can fix it yourself. 

And this is how your new obsession with MELTing begins. 

Tues Jan 5th 6:30-8pm 
@ Conscious Body Studio 575 5th St. 2nd fl. (between 8th Ave and the Park - Brooklyn)
Thurs Jan 7th 3:45-5:15pm 
@ Conscious Body Studio 
Sunday Jan 10th 9-10:30am 
@ Soulshine Family Wellness Center 917 8th ave (10th st) 

Space is very limited. Please register in advance. Take $5 off if registering by 12/19! 

$25 for class or,
$85 total with props (to keep for yourself)

•  1 Hand and Foot Treatment Kit ($50 value!)
•  1 MELT Roller ($40 value!)
•  This is a savings of $30 on the retail price of the props! It's like getting them at over 30% discount if you purchase them with this workshop.

You do not need to purchase props- this is just a special offer!

-- 
Zoe Bowick Levine
Everyday Balance NYC
917-309-5969
www.everydaybalancenyc.com
www.meltmethod.com
www.kinesisproject.com
www.fitnesscollective.com

New Year’s Diet Resolution: No Deprivation Weight Loss Diets!

Throughout the holidays many people have consumed more rich, fatty, sugary foods than they should have in a matter of two weeks. To bring in the New Year, many people have resolved to go on yet another diet. Are you one of those people? Those extra holiday pounds added to the rest of the weight you want to lose could make dieting seem like an overwhelming task. Which diet will you chose: Vegetarian, Atkins, The Cookie Diet, Fit for Life, The Zone, Weight Watchers, Raw Foods, Juicing, or Cabbage Soup? READ MORE HERE...

Q&A w/ Juliette Aiyana: Chinese Herbalism Straight answers about the modern practice of Chinese herbal medicine

Q&A with Juliette Aiyana:

Chinese Herbalism: Straight answers about the modern practice

of Chinese herbal medicine

Here is a link to an interview I did for InnerRewards.com E-Zine.

After you read my interview, surf the InnerRewards site for other interesting interviews and articles on

a variety of health and wellness topics.

In the interview, I answer such questions as:

-What are the common uses of Chinese herbs?

-Why use Chinese herbs instead of Western herbs?

-What makes herbs effective? Why do they work for some and not others?

And much more!! Read it HERE.

Old ideas are new again in cancer research

The New York Times published a very interesting article called Forty Year's War- Old Ideas Spur New Approaches in Cancer Fight

This article shows that the majority of medical researcher's need to listen to the few, and, listen much sooner. It also delves deeper into the idea that cancer grows based on it's environment within the body. But what makes it grow within the body? The environment around us- that is chemicals in our food, drink, chemicals in the air that we use to clean our homes, work places and in the schools. This news is nothing new under the sun but, thankfully, the attention is.

Keep yourself healthy- use natural cleaners, eat pesticide free foods, eat whole, fresh, locally grown foods, (or at least frozen organic veggies if fresh is hard for you to find in your town) and avoid prepackaged/chemical rich foods like a, well, like a cancer.