Do you curse?
Posted on August 9, 2017 Leave a Comment
Aahhhh… The sun on my face, sand between my toes, the sound of waves, the call of the seagulls , smells of suntan lotion and salt air, blue skies… plus, I have a fantastic sandwich that I’m really looking forward to eating at lunchtime. It’s a perfect beach day down in Mannasquan, NJ. I am in my happy place! It’s packed on the beach today as everyone is enjoying the beautiful beach days left in our summer. It’s the place I go to that I can breathe in all the senses of nature that touch my soul. Such peace it brings me to look out into the ocean.
I take my seat ready to eat my lunch and I tune in to what “other sounds are around me.” What’s THAT I hear???? People cursing extremely loudly? The young adults behind me are all cursing in normal conversation. Dropping the “F” bomb in every sentence as they tell their stories to each other, as well as the other famous word that starts with “S and ends with T” .. you all know that word. It continues. I’m hoping that it stops soon as I look around at one of natures most beautiful places that’s being cursed upon. What is happening to my perfect beach day? Do I have to listen to this? Not even my music would be loud enough to drown out their fowl language. And I’m thinking this is just great, I’m all set up and now I have to move. Thinking to myself, “ouch, the sand is hot!” but I won’t participate in listening to this, and why should I? I came to beach to breathe and chill out, and listening to this garbage-talk come out of their mouths is now stressing me out and now I’m just complaining! But wait..now I think I’m getting angry. Why am I angry? It’s the perfect beach day! So, I practice my breathwork that will cool me down and I decide that I now have to move my chair away from this group. But, before I do, I begin to think and observe…
Why are they cursing? Why do I curse sometimes? (Yep, even I do) Wow, how it truly affects others when you curse. Well, in Kundalini yogic tradition, I’ve learned that the body is actually made up of 10 bodies! I’m thinking, hmmmmm, what body is out of balance that perhaps has something to do with this harsh language? So I dive into my research and I come up with not just one body out of balance, but three bodies are out of balance! The Soul body, the Physical body and the Subtle body! All are weakened. (It’s too much to explain in this first blog post, so I’ll just explain how all of those bodies relate to each other in regards to harsh language)
People curse because they are overwhelmed with life’s challenges. They are simply frustrated and angry. There is no grace or refinement in their speech and they are forgetting the trueness of their real self, the Divine parts of themselves. Well, life is going to give us challenges and it’s up to us how we navigate through those times with grace, strength and ease. Just like the ocean, the tide rolls in, the tide rolls out. Our tongues are related to our hearts, so why are we dis-heartening ourselves? That’s exactly what you do when you curse. You are out of your own heart. Listen folks, the world today is already upset, hurt and angry, why add to that with your bitter tongue? Why not be the change that is so required? You know, THE LIGHT! The kindness. The compassionate.
Try this breathwork when you catch yourself cursing or when you hear cursing:
Sitali Pranayam…. It soothes and cools the system down especially in the areas of 4th, 5th and 6th vertebrae of the spine. It’s a detoxifying breath which leads to a new you. There are a ton of more positive affects with this breath, but to keep it simple, just try it when you are running hot. Catch yourself and get back into your heart and breathe.
Always tune in first with mantra..
Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo (repeat 3x)
Sit tall with a straight spine. Roll your tongue and extend just past your lips. I nhale through the curled tongue and exhale through the nose slowly.
Continue this for 1-3 minutes or 26 rounds (it doesn’t matter which, just breathe until feel calm)
To end, inhale through the nose, and hold your breath for a few seconds then exhale. Repeat. Feel the shift.
You might notice your tongue tasting bitter at first, but the more you practice this breathwork, the sweeter it will become.
End your practice with the mantra: Sat Nam!
For it is the Sat Nam that will set you free from that anger.
—
Part two to follow!
Kindly,
Kundalini with Kimberly
Posted on February 15, 2017 Leave a Comment
“With every thought, ask only one question: “Will this thought, if I pursue it, make me noble or will it make me bitter? Will it make me a stone-head or will my fragrance be all over the world? Will it give me strength to make peopl
e happy or will it make other people unhappy?” (Yogi Bhajan everyday)
Such a beautiful quote for today. Today, I received some news and I thought, wow, how perfect this quote is for me. Because the news I received wasn’t what I had hoped for. My “thoughts” went into an “I’m just not good enough and I can’t do everything.” I stopped myself quickly with the 4-part breathwork and thoughts in my head changed to.. “Hey, it’s okay, you aren’t perfect, and you know what Kimberly, it’s not up to you, its up to God.” My thoughts could have spiraled that yes, like the quote would have made me bitter today and no, that is not good for me nor for others! Just know this to all that feel “I’m not good enough.” And the “oh, why me?” You know that victim-hood thing … Tell your ego to stop it. Breathe 4 sniffs in through the nose, hold for 4 counts and then exhale for 4 counts all while mentally repeating the mantra: Sa Ta Na Ma. It worked for me today and my thoughts changed to “hey Kimberly, your imperfectly perfect and accept you just as you are today! Let go, let God.” A smile returned to my face and it’s a great day of just being in love with me. Sat Nam.
-Kundalini with Kimberly (2/15/17)
Stress
Posted on January 4, 2017 Leave a Comment
Okay, it’s January fourth. All of the holidays are officially over. Hopefully, your stress level will slowly start to settle as we get back into our regular routines, or until we get all the credit card bills for last month. The holidays are meant to be a time for giving and sharing love with the ones you cared about. Today, we have turned it into a retail nightmare. Having to get presents for all those people, some who you only see once a year. Why do we put so much into the presents? Is it possibly a hope that the person will accept you or love you more if you give them gifts? Is it possibly a way to fill a void of self love for yourself?
Now it is all over and you are left feeling that you have to make New Years resolutions. All too often unrealistic goals are set creating room to set yourself up for failure. Because of all the stress and overeating of cookies, other holiday foods and alcohol, the most common resolution is to lose weight. We start going back to the gym and start eating healthy again. I agree with this however, most only start and never keep going with the healthy routines. I feel that we should have a goal to start and keep up nurturing our bodies and our minds throughout our whole lifetime. Fad diets and lose weight quickly schemes just do not work and often leave our bodies even more stressed.
In dealing with all this stress, everyone has to realize that we all have stress. In realizing this, you also have to realize that there is always someone who has it worse even though you may feel that you have the most stress of all. After realizing, this you have a choice. The choice is how you choose to react to the stress. The law of attraction instigates that the more you think of and give energy to something the more of it you get. So the more we focus on the stress, the more we get. I choose to visualize a bank account full of money. I choose to look at my body and touch the places that need work and tell myself that I love myself. I choose to move my body in all directions to allow the flow of life to run through it. I choose to either show or tell all the people around me that I am you and you are me therefore we are all one and we must love all. “If you can not see God in All, then you can not see God at All.” (Yogi Bhajan) Choose where to focus your thoughts and actions.
Some great tools to help with all of this is to learn how to meditate. As the world is changing, it is imperative that we all start to meditate and create healing for each other and the world. I use Kundalini Yoga meditations as they work best for me. Exercise a little every day. You need to create sweat as a toxin release as well as to create an increased metabolism combating depression in the cold winter months. Of course, eat your fruit and vegetables and limit your meat intake. I will discus diet in future blogs. Get your chiropractic check ups! All that stress leaves your spine often in a kinked state leading to a compromised nervous system. Only a chiropractor can detect and correct the nerve interference created by stress. But most of all, make your goal for 2017 to be happy. Be happy with who you are, be happy with how far you have come, be happy with all that you have learned in your life, be happy with all the loved ones around you, be happy in knowing that the Universe always provides. Most of all, be happy in loving yourself as it all starts with you!
Why Do We Take Antibiotics???
Posted on December 27, 2016 Leave a Comment
Yes, it’s the holidays. We all stress ourselves out by running around in crowded shopping malls, staying up late wrapping presents or online shopping, eating sugar and cookies, drinking more wine and beer than normal, and most of all, running up the credit cards spending way too much money on presents. Then, when the dust clears, you are left with a scratchy throat, runny nose and a cough. Does this sound familiar? Of course this happened to me as well, we are spiritual beings having a human experience
Now we need to decide, how are we going to handle these symptoms? For many, they make a call or visit to their medical doctor and ask for some antibiotics. My question is, why? First of all, did you know that antibiotics do nothing for a viral infection? Most common symptoms of the cold (runny noses) are from a virus, not bacteria so taking an antibiotic will NOT help, but it can also harm you by lowering your immune systems ability to fight the virus. (Evidence of this can be found in two studies: The first study is published in Science Translational Medicine and the second appears in Cell Reports.) The second problem when you take an antibiotic even if you do have a non-life threatening bacteria, antibiotics attack not only the bad bacteria, but also the helpful bacteria in your gut thus leaving a void for even MORE bad bacteria to take over once the antibiotic is stopped. Now, don’t get me wrong, antibiotics save lives every day however, no doctor could argue that they are way over-prescribed for conditions that your normal immune system should be able to handle.
So, here is what we personally do in my household… First of all, we stop doing the things that got us into trouble in the first place. We start eating healthy again with lots of fruits and vegetables along with an increased intake of water. We make sure we get our rest and avoid toxins such as white flour, sugar, caffeine and alcohol. We get outside and get some fresh air and sunshine on our faces. We take a walk or some other form of exercise (preferably outdoors if you can.) We make sure we are taking our Ester-C vitamins several times throughout the day, as well as making sure that we take our regular multi-vitamins. We de-stress with a morning Kundalini Yoga ritual at 5 am before we start our day. (If we have a runny nose, we do forward-folds, cat and cow exercises several times throughout the day to get the snot moving around and out of our noses.) And last, but most certainly not least, we get our spines checked by a chiropractor (including myself!) to make sure that our nervous system is working to its optimum. It has been know for a long time that an adjustment boosts the immune system 7 times stronger!!!! The next thing we know, we forget we even had that nasty cold, cough, or sore throat!
Allow your body to work as it is supposed to. Build your immune system rather than depending on a pharmaceutical every time you have a symptom!
Why Infants Get Adjusted
Posted on November 14, 2016 Leave a Comment
I had the honor this week of checking an infant who was only two days old. Checking newborns is vital to allow them to grow up healthy, without any interference caused by the birthing process and medical intervention during the birthing process.
If you have given birth or have been witness to giving birth, you understand that the fetus has to squeeze through a tiny birth canal only about 10 + or – centimeters in diameter. All to often modern medicine often will intervene with procedures that often cause more complications and lead to the use of vacuum extraction (http://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/vacuum-extraction/basics/definition/prc-20020448) or cesarean sections. (https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/pregnancy/conditioninfo/Pages/cesarean.aspx)
Although the medical procedures may cause more torque to the neck of an infant even the natural birth process may cause this as well. Any torque or pulling and twisting of the infants neck can cause a subluxation (http://medical dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/subluxation) Specific chiropractors trained in the care of pediatrics are the only health care professionals that knows how to detect and correct spinal subluxations. I personally have extensive experience and training in chiropractic pediatrics. With only slight pressure and alignment, we are able to release the torque created in the birth process and any subsequent traumas that may occur to an infant, such as rolling off the bed. The adjustment allows the entire nervous system to balance out and work to its optimum advantage leaving your infant healthier and a whole lot happier!!! For more information, we deliver a health talk the first Tuesday of the every month at Evans Chiropractic in Hamilton Square where we go into detail of the benefits of chiropractic and other holistic health avenues.
Kids + Chiropractic
Posted on September 19, 2016 Leave a Comment
All too often when I am with clients I ask, “where are your children”? “Why are the not getting a spinal check up?” The inevitable answer I receive is that they do not have any problems or symptoms… At this point I then proceed to explain to them the benefits of getting your child checked for spinal subluxations.
Spinal subluxations occur when a bone in the spine is misplaced or out of alignment. When this occurs, there is interference to the nervous system creating malfunction and Dis-Ease in the body. Unfortunately, only about 10% of the nerves de
al with feeling pain. The other 90% deal with keeping the body functioning in what we call homeostasis (all body systems working in harmony). So a child can seem fine on the outside and not have any symptoms, but be functioning at a limited potential, most often leading to problems later in life.
Because modern medicine likes to intervene with the natural birth process, all too often the first and worst subluxation to occur in an infant is during child birth. There are many procedures that try to assist the babies exit through the birth canal or even during a C-section where there is pulling and twisting on the infant’s neck. This can shift the top two vertebrae out of alignment causing possible: pain, excessive crying, ear infections, constipation and colic as well as other more severe problems down the road.
If that was not cause enough, as a child begins to walk they end up falling over and over again causing more whiplash type injuries to their necks and hips. As they grow, more and more kids are causing severe postural imbalances by playing video games, watching TV, looking on computers and now most of all, looking at their phones constantly. Watch any adolescent when they are texting etc. on their phones, and you will see what I am talking about. Severe postural imbalances are a direct cause of further subluxations in teens. To add insult to injury we can top it off with many sports injuries.
There are many causes of spinal imbalances (subluxations) that lead to a variety of Dis-Eases (lack of ease in the body). Too often symptoms are the last step in the imbalances of the spine. As a chiropractor my job is to find the imbalances and interference to the nervous system and correct them with a spinal adjustment. We are the only doctors who are trained and sufficient to perform spinal adjustments. So if you leave your child at home when you go to the chiropractor or even if you do not go to the chiropractor yourself, you are letting them have the chance to have all the symptoms and problems you may be experiencing at this time. You can prevent that!!!!
Dr. Eric Evans has been serving families for over 25 years. His practice in Hamilton, NJ focuses on Holistic Health and Prevention Health for entire families from infants, children, adolescents, teens and adults. Dr. Evans delivers a free monthly health talk discussing facts on Holistic health and maintaining better health. It is held on the first Tuesday of the month with pizza and refreshments afterwards.
Food for Thought
Posted on June 20, 2016 Leave a Comment
According to the world UN food organization, there is enough food on earth to feed 12 billion people, yet 27,000 die from starvation every single day. We are to feed the people and nourish their souls.
Food insecurity is considered being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable and nutritious food. More than 800 million people live every single day with food insecurity. As of 2014, 48.1 million Americans live in food-insecure households, including 32.8 million adults and 15.3 million children.
One out of every five New Jersey families do not earn enough money to afford food, although 85% of these families have at least one working family member.
In 2014, there were 906,735 people participating in the food stamp program in New Jersey, up from 542,424 in 2009, which is an increase of a shocking 67.2%
Below is a list of some of the most food-insecure counties in New Jersey:
- Essex (150,140 people)
- Hudson (101,940)
- Bergen (91, 920)
- Union (70,940)
- Middlesex (88,290)
- Monmouth (64,180)
- Mercer (45,530)
- Camden (72,570)
- Passaic (72,630)
It is time for us to help. Evans Chiropractic is holding an event in our office on Tuesday, June 28 from 11-2. We will be making bagged lunches to donate to the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (also known as “TASK.”)
TASK feeds those who are hungry in the Trenton area and offers programs to encourage self-sufficiency and improve the quality of life for the people in need.
TASK was founded in the 1980’s by a group of individuals from local churches and service organizations. Their goal was to feed Trenton residents in need five days a week. Every week, volunteers help the staff at TASK serve more than 4,800 meals.
If you are unable to make our event, we are accepting donations of the items that we need to make these lunches. Below is a list of items you may donate if you are able to:
- Bread
- Juice boxes
- Small bottles of water
- Peanut butter
- Jelly
- Brown, paper bags
- Napkins
- Baked goods (muffins, banana bread, etc.)
All are welcome to attend to help make lunches. If you have any questions about this event, please give us a call at the office (609-586-9199)
Sources:
- Map the Meal Gap, Feeding America and Community Food Bank of New Jersey, 2014
- Gundersen, C., E. Engelhard, A. Satoh, & E. Waxman. Map the Meal Gap 2014: Food Insecurity Estimates at the County Level. Feeding America, 2014.
- Hunger in New Jersey: http://rah.rutgers.edu/hunger-new-jersey
- Poverty Research Institute, 2011
- Trenton Soup Kitchen http://www.trentonsoupkitchen.org
Written by Olivia Santoro, Office Manager
Allergies + Chiropractic
Posted on April 20, 2016 Leave a Comment
Is your nose itching? The old saying is that if your nose is itching, someone is going to kiss you.. Realistically, it could mean many things, but most commonly, it is from an allergen or something that causes allergies.
What some may not know is that allergies are actually an overactive immune response to a perceived threat that can be harmless, but also, not so much.
Spring time brings out a series of pollen that creates an allergic reaction that causes itchy nose, watery eyes, runny nose, stuffy nose and even a sore throat.
There are many over the counter remedies and even several prescription remedies, but most of them are designed as antihistamines. These block histamines that the body produces to attack the perceived threat. So in reality, it is actually stopping your immune system from working and leaving you more susceptible to other threats such as bacteria or viruses thus creating a common scenario of allergies and a cold.
Then when you stop taking the antihistamine, you end up having a rebound effect and your body says hold on, we don’t have to produce more histamine!
So what is a Holistic way to limit allergies?
One way is to be the boy in a bubble, not go outside and filter all of your air to remove the allergens, but that’s not a realistic way to live your life.
The second option is to work on your immune system so it does not perceive the allergens as a threat. Most scientific health literature is pointing towards a healthy gut as the best way to improve your health, and I could not agree more. With the many fad diets out there, most are geared to lose weight and not so much to help your health. I believe we need to eat more fruits and vegetables and less meats and grains. We also need to balance the healthy bacteria in our gut. There are many great probiotics on the market today that can help with this; simply eating yogurt is not enough anymore.
Another key component is water, water, water. Drinking coffee, tea and soda do not hydrate the body, they dehydrate it. Bioflavonoid such as Quercetin, Vitamin C, and antioxidants such as CoQ10 help to improve the immune system and limit allergies. Taking bee pollen as well as local honey has also been said to help limit allergies! You can also never go wrong with a tablespoon of organic apple cider vinegar to help reduce mucus and cleanse the lymphatic system. Many also swear by the neti-pot because it is effective in washing out the nasal cavity getting rid of the allergens.
All of these are great tools to help limit allergies, however; if you do not have a proper functioning central nervous system that controls every cell, tissue and organ in the body, you are limited in the effectiveness of any remedy even pharmaceuticals.
Getting a regular wellness check by a chiropractor is the only way to determine if your central nervous system is out. Chiropractors are the only ones trained to fine tuning the spine to allow your central nervous system to function at its optimum. When your nervous system is working properly than the allergies tend to diminish over time.
It is vital if you suffer from allergies to get to your chiropractor at least a month before allergy season starts to get a tune up for your nervous system, especially if you have not been getting regular wellness checks all year. Then, you can start some of the natural remedies listed above.
Written by Dr. Eric Evans
Disease vs. Dis-Ease
Posted on January 15, 2016
As a chiropractor in the Hamilton, New Jersey area, I am required to ask if my patients have any diseases or symptoms on their first visit. Sometimes, I receive a list of problems or diseases that people think they may have or that have been given to them. Many are happy with just a name for the certain set of symptoms that they may be experiencing. To better understand what disease is, we must first look at the definition.
Disease: a disorder of incorrectly functioning organ part, structure or system of the body; simply put; lack of function. All diseases start with something in your body that is not working correctly. I would like to change our way of thinking about disease. I prefer to look at disease as dis-ease. It means that our body is not at an easy state. In order to combat the body not at ease, as our own health experts for ourselves, must then decide what can we do to give our body or mind a state of ease. Does it have the proper nutrients, hydration, mental focus, and nerve supply?
For example: I am sure if you are suffering from headaches that your body is not in a deficiency of ibuprofen. It could be something as simple as dehydration. What makes more sense; drinking water that creates balance and ease or taking a chemical that not only affects the head but also the kidneys, stomach and many other parts of the body. This is a very basic example, and of course the body is very complicated, however the shift is happening where many are getting tired of taking medications for every little problem they may have. Do not get me wrong, there are times when a medication is necessary to save or maintain a life; however most would agree that especially Americans are way over medicated. According to the new data in 2014 from the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics, we spent $374,000,000,000.00 ($374 billion) on 4.3 billion prescriptions. Our health ranking according to The World Health Organizations is at 37 out of 190 countries; France and Italy are number one and two.
I believe that it is time for change. Since I became a health care professional in the New Jersey area, our government has been trying to resolve this problem by adding more gasoline to the fire. One of my favorite quotes from Ghandi is: “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” We must take back our health. We must start feeding our body and minds with proper nutrients. We must take our health into our own hands and not just rely on the Government and Health care industry.
The steps are simple on creating ease in your body:
- Give your body proper nutrients and hydration from the food and liquids you put into it. The food is not only the energy you receive, but the building blocks for the cells that you need to produce to stay healthy.
- If you do not move it you lose it. Our bodies are meant to move and work. It has only been the last 20 years that the computer work station is a mainstay in most jobs. Our bodies are breaking down just from the simplicity of not moving enough. You also get natural anti-stress and anxiety hormones released when you perform consistent exercise. Do some form of exercise at least 30 minutes every single day.
- Get proper sleep. This is when the body repairs, regenerates and heals itself. That means trying to go to bed by10:00 pm (you get the best sleep before midnight) and then waking up anywhere from 4:00-6:00 am. Also, falling asleep in front of the TV, cell phone, computer or I-pad makes your brain think that it is still daylight and makes it much more difficult to get a restful, deep sleep.
- Proper mental attitude. The mind can often run away from us and continue what I call stinking-thinking constantly. A positive mental attitude must be learned and trained through watching our every word and thought that we put out. This can be used in a very constructive and positive way when mastered. Daily meditation practices train the mind and connect you closer with the source. I have personally found that Kundalini Yoga helps me best with this.
- Most importantly, all four steps cannot help if you do not have a proper, functioning nervous system. Every cell tissue and organ is controlled by our nervous system, so in order for you to have full function and ease in your life, you must make sure all of the nerves are connected. Regular Chiropractic check-ups help to ensure that the nerves and energy flows in your body and mind are at their optimum. As a Chiropractor, I help to tune the nervous system to create better function, better ease and to prevent dis-ease or disease.
Written by Dr. Eric Evans
Yogi Tea
Posted on November 18, 2015 Leave a Comment
There are many, many benefits of drinking Yogi Tea; It acts as a tonic for the entire nervous system. Yogi tea purifies the blood, lungs AND circulatory system. It reduces tiredness, physical weakness and it also helps restore mental balance. It is also known to prevent atherosclerosis, high cholesterol, inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes and liver disease and also aids in weight loss. It is a remedy and preventative measure for colds, flu and sinus problems. The list of benefits could go on and on.
The recipe to follow is posted below, and it makes one cup of tea.
- 10 ounces water
- 2 slices of fresh ginger root (optional, but excellent!)
- 3 cloves
- 4 green cardamom pods, cracked
- 4 black peppercorns
- ½ stick of cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon black tea (1 teabag)
- ½ cup of milk or equivalent honey (optional)
- Bring water to boil and add spices
- Cover and continue boiling for 10-15 minutes
- Remove from heat, add black tea and let sit for 1-2 minutes
- Add honey and milk, bring to a boil and remove from heat
- Strain and serve
The benefits of the ingredients have to be touched upon because they are each amazing as well.
To start, Cardamon has pain-relieving, anti-inflammatory and anti-spasmodic effects. It removes mucus from the stomach and lungs and can also be used to treat stomach pain, involuntary urination, phlegm, indigestion and gas.
Black Peppercorns aid in relief for hay fever, ear or sinus problems, coughs, asthma or any kind of respiratory issues. It is also a blood purifies and can be used as an anti-aging agent. Black peppercorns also prevent the depletion of glutathione which effects the immune system.
Cinnamon promotes agni, the fire element, which maintains vitality. It helps sluggish digestion and the metabolism. Boiled cinnamon sticks are part of a remedy for bone loss. Another benefit is that it can be used to prevent menstrual and muscle cramps. It also has high levels of salicylic acid (the anti-inflammatory ingredient in aspirin!)
Cloves thin mucus and support the respiratory system, promote digestion and prevent gas. Cloves also enhance the circulation of blood and lymph, lower triglycerides and blood sugar levels. Relief of muscle aches and pain of rheumatism and arthritis is yet another benefit of cloves.
Ginger is known as a universal medicine and detoxifier. It can relieve muscle cramps, headaches, cold and flu symptoms, nausea and upset stomach. It lowers blood sugar and cholesterol and also soothes any inflamed joints.
Grab some Yogi Tea and experience all of the benefits for yourself!
Written by Olivia Santoro, Office Manager
Evans Chiropractic 