Victoria Anisman-Reiner's Blog
Posted by Victoria Anisman-Reiner
I've just returned last week from a trip to Sedona, Arizona. It's a truly amazing place. In addition to the beautiful scenery of amber-red rock formations and spiny green plant life, the city is overflowing with healers, alternative health specialists, massage therapists, teachers, hikers, retreat leaders and more. It's a perfect spot for a learning vacation or a spiritual retreat: the city of Sedona is dappled with energy centers known as "vortexes" or "vortices" which are said to enhance healing energy, meditation and spiritual practice.
For more information on Sedona's vortex energy, see this week's article: Vortex Energy of Sedona
Posted by Victoria Anisman-Reiner
Greenpeace reports that Monsanto, the genetically modified food giant most blacklisted by health food junkies and environmentalists alike, has decided to stop producing the bovine growth hormone rBST.
BST or "bovine somatotropin" is a hormone naturally produced by lactating cows, but rBST ("recombinant BST") is produced by genetically engineered E. coli with cow genes. rBST is then used to increase milk production in cows.
rBST has been banned in Canada since 1998 (though it still arrives in unmarked GM food products), and companies including Starbucks, Safeway and Kraft have recently removed any rBST-tainted milk from their foods.
For more information, see Greenpeace's Good News for Canadian Consumers...
See also my article, Genetically Modified Foods: The Debate
Posted by Victoria Anisman-Reiner
A recent study done at Rutgers University in New Jersey hits on a link between certain skin moisturizers - containing artificial ingredients such as mineral oil and sodium lauryl sulfate - and an increase in skin cancer in mice. Although the lead researcher claims that "we don't really know what ingredients in these creams" increased cancer risks, it seems clear that the synthetic ingredients in these creams are largely at fault.
For more information on the study, see the Health News article by Drusilla Dyess.
Related reading:
Posted by Victoria Anisman-Reiner
In my non-writerly day job, I deal face-to-face with the public. I've always been sensitive to smells, particularly aromas of perfume, hairspray, and cologne; anything with a synthetic chemical fragrance, even less-than-pure essential oils, can trigger headaches and nausea.
After a great deal of work to cleanse my system - cleansing and removing toxins has been known to decrease sensitivity and reactivity to allergies such as those to scents, pollen and dust - and energy work to clear my allergies, I haven't reacted to perfumes in years - until recently.
Doing crowd control this past weekend, I was overwhelmed with the scents around me. It's possible I need to do another cleanse - in fact, I was planning on starting one in the next few weeks - but it's equally possible that the perfume industry has upped its ante.
The chemicals in perfumes have included toxic preservatives, aroma enhancers and stabilizers for years; why wouldn't they add more to this chemical soup if they felt it increased the scent, or extended the length of perfume's fragrance? All I've got is speculation, but to those who have been having increased reactions recently to new perfumes: I'm with you.
Posted by Victoria Anisman-Reiner
Those who've been reading this blog for a while may remember earlier mentions of the Toronto Energy Psychology Conference - an annual event featuring healers, teachers and experts from many fields related to psychology, energy, healing, and personal growth. This year's theme is "Science and Consciousness", and features speakers including Gary Schwartz, Ph.D., Joyce Hawkes Ph.D., and Amit Goswami, Ph.D.
The EPC runs October 24 to 26, 2008, with pre- and post-conference workshops occuring on the days before and after the main event.
More information on the conference will be coming soon; in the meantime, visit the Energy Psychology Conference website for details or to register.
More information:
