Episode “Organic Products”

Nicole Tomlinson: Have you ever looked at the back of your shampoo bottle and not been able to pronounce any of the ingredients on the label? What kind of chemicals are we putting on our body’s everyday? I am here with Amy Holland who is going to answer just those questions. Hi Amy.

Amy Holland: Hi Nicole. 

Nicole Tomlinson: Now I see a wall full of personal products back here can you explain a little bit about some of them?

Amy Holland:  Our Company tries to buy products that are made with organics as well as natural ingredients. To get away from some synthetics. Naming a few would be Methyl Paraben’s, polypropylenes, Laurel sulfates. Along with heavy fragrances that are synthetically done. The more natural we can get our ingredients to be the healthier its going to be for our skin and hair and environment.

Nicole Tomlinson: would you say that using this product is going to be better in the long run for our bodies?

Amy Holland: Absolutely.

Nicole Tomlinson: What about our water supply. Because you wash your air and those chemicals go right down the drain and into our water supply.

Amy Holland: You have got it.

Nicole Tomlinson: Do you have any organic hair dyes?

Amy Holland: We have botanical hair as well as Jason’s puts out one.

Nicole Tomlinson: This is a wash out?

Amy Holland: Right over time and that’s a more permanent coloring.

Nicole Tomlinson: So how long doe these last normally?

Amy Holland: Probably different hair styles and different hair textures can take it for different lengths of time but I would say for a couple of months.

Nicole Tomlinson: Really well that is about the same that mine last, so it’s pretty comparable. What’s another really good product you would recommend?

Amy Holland: Well, there is the Weleda line they make wonderful salves and lotion and oils just to massage your bodies with and there all organic.

Nicole Tomlinson: Nice they smell good.

Amy Holland: Yeah and everybody recognizes Buts Bee’s, that’s a wonderful company because they do label on the front of their product, how much of there product is natural and they are shooting for a 100%. They are not organic but they are natural and there company uses recycled material in there packaging which I really respect. Along with using soy based inks.

Nicole Tomlinson: Apple cider vinegar shampoo? I read that if you put a little apple cider vinegar in your hair it makes it shinier. Is there any other benefits we should know about?

Amy Holland: This is a very interesting line of shampoos its morocco method, and their more or less like mud.

Nicole Tomlinson: A little bit like clay I guess so the consistency is pretty thick and muddy? What about day to day stuff we use all the time like toothpaste?

Amy Holland: you know there is a wide variety of toothpaste everybody is trying to get away from fluorides because we already have fluoride in our water. And tea tree of course is wonderful for freshening everything. It’s a antibacterial agent.

Nicole Tomlinson: So this is all to take care of me and you but what about to take care of the little ones?

Amy Holland: Again Weleda is the company that we know and trust. They are doing Bio-dynamic Gardening. They have supplied us with organic Calendula which is great for a baby’s skin. And the soap also has Calendula in it I believe along with organic ingredients.

The diaper cream has zinc, sunscreens should all have that as a major ingredient, titanium dioxide. Zinc and titanium dioxide I am using interchangeably, and there a reflective agent. When you put that on it tends to turn you a little bit white sometimes but it’s reflecting the sun away from you and it really is the best. The chemicals that are in the sunscreens that are on the market today actually change when the sun hits them and can become very toxic.

We like to look at the big picture of being sustainable on every level. On your own body as well as how you are impacting the world.

Nicole Tomlinson: So next time you are looking to stock up your medicine cabinet maybe you should check the labels! Thank you so much Amy for having us here today and from all of us at Zen living, thank you for watching. I am Nicole Tomlinson and we will catch you next time, peace.

Episode “Organic Style”

Nicole Tomlinson: We have eaten Zen, built Zen, and even shopped Zen. But did you know that we can wear Zen? That’s right I am wearing organic, natural, chemical free clothing. Clothing that won’t harm my environment. Clothing that won’t harm my body. Today we will show you how to dress for health and best of all for style.

I am here with Amy Holland, owner of Eco wise, and she is going to explain a little bit about what I am wearing. Hi am how are you today?

Amy Holland: I am fine thank you. You look great.

Nicole Tomlinson: Oh thank you so much, now I am wearing clothing from your store and its all organic right?

Amy Holland: Yeah, what makes it organic is the fact that it is grown without pesticides. And doesn’t need fertilizers to grow.

Nicole Tomlinson: So this was basically hemp?

Amy Holland: It is Hemp.

Nicole Tomlinson: It is hemp and it is grown out of the ground and processed.

Amy Holland: It’s a weed.

Nicole Tomlinson:  I am wearing weeds. Why is it so important and healthy for us to wear clothing with low impact dies and organic materials?

Amy Holland: It’s healthy for us as individuals because we don’t want a lot of chemicals right next to our bodies. And it is healthy for the planet to start buying things that are beneficial to the soils so that we are creating a lifestyle that can keep on generating. Rather than killing off our soil.

Nicole Tomlinson: Now tell me these pants are beautiful, can you talk a little bit about them?

Amy Holland: Those pants are from china they are organically grown hemp and cotton. 55% hemp. Hemp is a great alternative fiber, its light and wears well. As well as being something that doesn’t take pesticides or fertilizers to grow. And it looks great, the style is wonderful.

Nicole Tomlinson:  Buy buying clothes we are supporting our environment because we are supporting a more natural way of…

Amy Holland: Of living.

Nicole Tomlinson: With more Americans going organic it’s good to know that we have more options. And thanks to Amy Holland and our friends at Eco wise, we can now find more fashion alternatives. I am Nicole Tomlinson, and from all of us at Zen Living thank you so much for watching.

Episode “Holistic Solutions to stress”

Nicole Tomlinson: Your tired, stressed and energy where did it all go? Today we are going to explore how holistic medicine can distress your life and give you more energy. I am here with Luisa Mendoza from Nr. Natural and she is going to give us some advice on how to reduce stress in our lives. The natural way. Hi Luisa how are you?

Luisa Mendoza: Hi, I am fine how are you?

Nicole Tomlinson: Very good, we really want to know today about how to relieve stress in a natural way.

Luisa Mendoza: Well, the natural way is really good to do it because then we are having the help of the herbs. Like this herbs that we have here on the table. Like this one is the Tela flower.

Nicole Tomlinson: The tela flower?

Luisa Mendoza: Uh huh, tela flower is a very fine flower that makes a very nice tea. It doesn’t have a bad taste it is very good. This one that I have here is the pepper mint; the smell of the pepper mint is like a chewable gum. Chewable gum has the extract of the oil of the pepper mint tea and is very good. It is very relaxing but also has another benefit. Like taking out the gasses from the intestine or for little kids that they have stress, they can take this tea before they go to sleep.

Nicole Tomlinson: Wait hold on one second, little kids have stress?

Luisa Mendoza: Sometimes they do exactly. I have to mention that sometimes the little ones they watch some movies that they are scared. Or maybe something happen to them like being part of a accident or a family exclusion or any violence that they may be exposed to. Then they can take this kind of herbal tea so they can release all sorts of stress.

And also this one is the hoja anaranjada, or the orange leaf. And its also very good tea. When you take it fresh from the tree it’s very aromatic but so the dry leaf has still the botanical extracts.  I have this, the basil. Basil has the properties of a super relaxant in the herbal system. And the top of them is this one. You don’t want to smell it.

Nicole Tomlinson: No I don’t, but I am going to anyway.

Luisa Mendoza: Ok, go ahead and be brave.

Nicole Tomlinson: This Is Valerian?

Luisa Mendoza: Mmm hmm, Valerian.

Nicole Tomlinson: Ok, I am being brave here; I can smell it from here actually. MMM.

Luisa Mendoza: You don’t have to get so much close. Ah ha I know the smell is strong.

Nicole Tomlinson: This is how they derive the drug valium?

Luisa Mendoza: Yes, that is the extract from this root.

Nicole Tomlinson: But you don’t need a prescription to this and its non addictive.

Luisa Mendoza: Oh no because it’s very well measured by nature. And we have the other one that is poleo. I love this one the poleo because it has also very good taste and is very aromatic and is also relaxing. Which combination do you want to make?

Luisa Mendoza: We can put a little bit…

Nicole Tomlinson: No, no, no, no…

Luisa Mendoza: We can pass up that one.

Nicole Tomlinson: I have a busy day ahead of me I cant be falling asleep. I like that peppermint.

Luisa Mendoza: What about tela, the tela flower.

Nicole Tomlinson: Yes, the pretty one.

Luisa Mendoza: And the poleo, I will invite you to try this one. It’s very little you don’t really need a lot for one cup of tea. Let it steep for awhile and you will see the color changing immediately.

Nicole Tomlinson: Pretty fast.

Luisa Mendoza: Pretty fast exactly, and then you can drink the tea with a little bit of honey before you go to sleep.

Nicole Tomlinson: For a very stressed person you would need to use this entire combination and its also not going to do us much good unless we allow the appropriate time for our bodies to actually rest and recuperate.

Luisa Mendoza: Exactly we need to follow the nature’s advice. When we are overstressed we need to stop and reaccommodate our agenda of activities because otherwise we get over consuming our own energy.

Nicole Tomlinson: So how long does it take for my tea to be ready?

Luisa Mendoza: Your tea is ready. You don’t have to wait too much. Do you want some honey?

Nicole Tomlinson: Please.

Luisa Mendoza: Well this tea may be very good for you and then tonight you are going to have a good night of sleep don’t worry.

Nicole Tomlinson: that sounds good because it has been a very busy week.

Luisa Mendoza: The weeks are always busy. You are taking exams at the school you are working, you have two jobs. You have to relax, let your body to be just happy. There are some vitamins that we can take like the stress b-complex. And b-complex will work wonderful. Just make sure you are taking fresh orange juice. So then you have the vitamin c for the body to absorb the B complex.

Nicole Tomlinson: I see so that will give us energy through our day and this will help us relax and recuperate from those days.

Luisa Mendoza: Exactly.

Nicole Tomlinson: Will we are out of time and you are out of excuses. Be kind to your body and give it the natural medicine that it needs to feel better Thank you so much Luisa for having us in your store today.

Luisa Mendoza: Thank you Nicole come again. 

Nicole Tomlinson: I will and from all of us here at Zen living than you so much for watching and we will catch you next time. Peace.

Episode “Acupuncture for Fertility”

Nicole Tomlinson: For millions of Americans having a baby and starting a family is as natural as life itself. However, when if hit roadblocks and found themselves unable to conceive, many turn to IBF and many other not so natural solutions. What if there was a more natural way to help Mother Nature along? We are here today with Kirsten Karchmer who is going to guide us through the process of acupuncture for fertility.

This is Kirsten, and she is going to tell us how acupuncture can assist in the treatment of infertility. Hi Kirsten.

Kirsten Karchmer: Hi, how are you?

Nicole Tomlinson: Very good. Now in regards to fertility, who is a prime candidate to undergo treatment for infertility?

Kirsten Karchmer: That is a good question. We divide it into three categories. In our practice we specialize in infertility, and ovulation disorders, and miscarriage prevention. There are very few patients who are not a good candidate for infertility treatments in general. A lot of times we find that patients who have the least success rates are patients who have very large uterine fibroids. Or who have some kind of blockage of the fallopian tunes. Those things need to be surgically removed. Acupuncture is not going to remove those tings.

Nicole Tomlinson: Right. Once we decide ok, I am a good candidate. How do we start?

Kirsten Karchmer: Well what happens is first you come for a consultation with a licensed acupuncturist. In that consultation the acupuncturist should take about an hour or hour and a half first of all to explain what he or she does and answer all your questions, and then do a comprehensive health history.

When we are treating infertility our goal is to understand why do you have what you have. Why does this person have infertility who is thirty four years old versus this person who doesn’t have infertility who is the same age and has similar health.

Nicole Tomlinson: I see.

Kirsten Karchmer: Many problems can sauce infertility; it can be the blood not moving in the uterus. There can be an inability to make enough blood, so the uterine lining doesn’t build up thick enough for implantation to occur. So there are many, many reasons why somebody may have a hard time either getting pregnant, or ovulating, or staying pregnant. And we are trying to decide that on the first appointment.

Alyssa: My husbands and I tried on our own for close to six months and had no success then went to a doctor and I had problems with all sorts of hormonal imbalances and things so I started taking Clomid and doing iui’s which are intra-uterine inseminations for several months and none of that worked. I was found to have mild to moderate endometriosis so I had a lot of that cleared out with the surgery and that could have been a factor that was keeping us from getting pregnant.

Marla: Over a year’s time I wasn’t menstruating regularly, they didn’t believe I was ovulation. I didn’t believe I was ovulation. For a year or a few months they prescribed a drug called Clomid, and still taking ovulation productive kits it wasn’t coming out positive. So again I wasn’t believing I was ovulating, and the medicine was having a negative impact. So I decided I wasn’t going to do any kind of medication. If I couldn’t get pregnant naturally in some way then maybe that wasn’t the path for us.

Nicole Tomlinson: So once we have the consultation and all of those things are worked out. Then what do we do? Do we go in on the table and start getting the pins?

Kirsten Karchmer: On the second appointment, that’s when we start doing acupuncture.

Nicole Tomlinson: Is it instantaneous? Like I can go home and get pregnant?

Kirsten Karchmer: Actually it takes quite a bit of time. What we are trying to do is regulate your menstrual cycle. So the goal of the treatment for infertility is not to get someone pregnant. Because just getting pregnant doesn’t finish the job. What our goal is to help people to first get as healthy as possible, to get there body functioning at the highest capacity possible. After there body is functioning at full capacity we regulate the menstrual cycle. When somebody is really healthy and there menstrual cycle is regular the side effects should be they can get pregnant easily, and stay pregnant.

Nicole Tomlinson: Ah, I see.

Kirsten Karchmer: The end goal is a happy healthy baby.

Nicole Tomlinson: So what we are really doing is not focusing on getting pregnant. We are focusing on getting healthy.

Kirsten Karchmer: Exactly.

Marla: I had a friend who told me several years back that she had tried for at least two years to get pregnant and nothing had worked in terms of medication. I think she went and tried IVF. One of the things she did was acupuncture. So that kind of just stuck in my mind I remembered it and so then I looked around here. And within two moths of regular treatments twice a week, with the herbs the had prescribed as well, my cycle started regulating. And I started ovulating, which was a big deal for us. And then within a two month period of time I got pregnant.

Alyssa: I started coming about three to four months before we did our second in vitro twice a week. And it relaxed me so much and it sort of made me calmer about the whole thing as well as it was a very stressful medical procedure to go through. I just sort I had a very different outlook at it and I felt that the doctor s and medicine would do their part and the acupuncture helped me stay very calm and relaxed on my part. Which I would joke to think was a really big help in having it all work and keeping me in good health for having a pregnancy and have a baby. And it worked and I now have a eight month old baby.

Nicole Tomlinson: So we are looking at a lot of unusual things in here. Do any of these herbs assist in the treatment of infertility?

Kirsten Karchmer: In our clinic we use acupuncture and herbal medicine and nutritional consulting and lifestyle consulting. The goal of herbal medicine in Chinese medicine is to try to make a formula for patients that meets them exactly where they are currently today in there menstrual cycle. During each week in the menstrual cycle, something different is occurring.

Nicole Tomlinson: So take us two someone who is maybe at day 14 in their cycle who is coming in to seek treatment for infertility. What herbs would you use?

Kirsten Karchmer: This is a problem because when somebody is coming in for ovulation problems when they say oh I am having ovulation sores, I have polycystic ovarian disease or I am not ovulating. Or I am ovulating to early or too late. The cause of each one of those individual problems are different.

Nicole Tomlinson: Once the whole process has gone through, we have gotten the acupuncture for awhile, how long do you say it takes to conceive?

Kirsten Karchmer:  Once the patients who come to us are feeling very healthy and their health has been restored and their menstrual cycle is regulated and their basal body temperature falls within the parameters we are looking for people are getting very close to pregnancy.

Nicole Tomlinson:  Do you recommend that they not try while you’re trying to remedy the problem. While you’re trying to really get our menstrual cycle back on track?

Kirsten Karchmer: We do recommend that they wait three moths before they try to conceive. Probably acupuncture can get a persons body strong enough to conceive within five or sic or seven weeks, but it’s really just putting a band aid. Like getting things shored up as best as possible but it’s not strong enough to necessarily sustain the pregnancy and carry the baby term. So we really want people to deliver a healthy baby.

Marla: I cant say for sure, I mean I cant say that is exactly the variable that caused the pregnancy, but I did see quite a bit of impact that it did have on my body as compared to any kind of medicine I have been taking and any kind of other doctors appointments that I had and so acupuncture is the only thing that I saw that started to regulate my cycle. And the I was also very hopeful that this is hopeful I can feel positive things in my body. I was having less aches and pains I was sleeping better at night. So I saw other things in addition to just the menstrual cycle changing.

Nicole Tomlinson: When Mother Nature needs just a pinch to get started, acupuncture might be the solution. Its not high science, just common sense. With all we do today to disrupt the flow of nature, it takes old world know how to get us back to basics. I am Nicole Tomlinson, and form all of us at Zen living thank you so much for watching and we will catch you next time. Peace.

Episode “Holistic Medicine”

Nicole Tomlinson: With health care cost on the rise everyone is looking for more affordable alternatives. Holistic medicine is gaining popularity, but what is it all about? We will take a look on today’s Zen Living.

I am here with Luisa Mendoza from Mr. Natural and she is going to tell us a little bit about Holistic Medicine. Hi Luisa.

Luisa Mendoza: Hi Nicole.

Nicole Tomlinson: How are you doing today?

Luisa Mendoza: We are doing fine.

Nicole Tomlinson:  Good now please explain to me about holistic medicine I don’t know much about the subject and I am really curious to find out more.

Luisa Mendoza: yes, holistic medicine is a medicine that embraces all things. Therapies from the natural elements of nature that we can implement or incorporate in our daily life.

Nicole Tomlinson: So how did you initially get started in holistic, where you raised this way? Or is it just something you just stumbled onto later in life?

Luisa Mendoza: Since I was eighteen years old I got this information in a book in Mexico where I am from. And this book was talking about all the truth about the food. And I was in shock about it; I didn’t know how the animals are fed. And how much toxins we can take without knowing. And then I realized that it was so impotent for our health to be really in much better quality. Know exactly the quantity but it is the quality. And then I started to study with the doctor Estrada Valero in Mexico, at the school of natural medicine. And I have become vegetarian because I understand that the natural food was very good.

Nicole Tomlinson: How does it work different than taking the medicines?

Luisa Mendoza: Well, the medicines are made in laboratories, but these are made by nature. So it is as simple as that.

Katy: The thing I like about holistic medicine is that it seems to focus more about prevention than it does about just dealing with the problem if it happens. What I think happens a lot in western medicine if somebody has a problem then they go to a doctor instead of learning about there bodies.

Luisa Mendoza: We have also, for example the geo therapy, which is made out of the clay. When we use the clay mixed with water or juices or herbal teas. Then we apply it to the kin or some areas of our body. It helps to heal because the clay has the power of bringing out through the skin any problems or stimulate the circulation or the detoxification.

Nicole Tomlinson: So this is a way of detoxifying through the skin?

Luisa Mendoza: Through the skin yes. For external use. But there is another one that has the bentonite, that is also for inside. But sometimes the flavor of bentonite is not very pleasing.

Nicole Tomlinson: I have had bentonite in a liquid form and it was not too tasty. Is there another option then?

Luisa Mendoza: This one is another option. The purifiber has the bentonite in a good amount but also has inside probiotics. Those probiotics are helping to strength our immune system through the inside of the intestines sop then we have a better flora, intestinal flora.

Nicole Tomlinson: o let me see if I understand this correctly all of these things in front of us are going to detoxify our system.

Luisa Mendoza: Exactly we have to go through the basic step. Which is the digestive system, the digestive system we use it as many times as we eat during the day. So what we need to do is to clean our system, our intestines, our stomach. And then we have to do it by things like this.

Or what I have in this little cup is the flax meal. It is the flax seed grounded.

Nicole Tomlinson: So this has, let me see if I can remember: Fiber, and omega three.

Luisa Mendoza: But I like to suggest always the fiber with the aloe. Because the aloe juice is the pure that we can see I will show you here look. It is very thick. It’s a very thick juice and I can add it to my smoothie, one ounce a day and a little bit of this fiber and this will make me feel better with my stomach already.

The main thing for someone who wants to go through the detoxification process is to start the morning with something like this.

Nicole Tomlinson: So a fiber cocktail or shake of some sort using the flax seed ground up and now I have heard of aloe vera for your skin also, but this is for your stomach?

Luisa Mendoza: Yes, this is the extra virgin aloe gel. So when we use that in the morning it’s the first thing to open up to work the intestines, when we have that work done then we can digest anything else.

Another thing which we can use is the Phyto-therapy. Which is the use of the plants, the botanical extracts of the active principals that each herb has to offer to us.

Benito: I think sometimes in our society, particularly pharmaceutical companies and things of that sort sometimes divert attention from other remedies that may be much better for you.

Nicole Tomlinson: What is in my smoothie?

Luisa Mendoza: Your smoothie was made by soy milk and papaya, fresh papaya. And mine is made of pineapple and orange juice.

Nicole Tomlinson: Now what is mine, soy milk and papaya? What are these two things helpful for are these going to be healthy for my digestions?

Luisa Mendoza: Well these are very healthy because the papaya has the enzyme papain, papain is like a vegetable that will help the lining of the stomach and it helps to move the intestine. Peristaltic movements are made by the papain.

Nicole Tomlinson: So the enzymes in the papaya are going to help me breakdown my food?

Luisa Mendoza: Yes, of course.

Nicole Tomlinson: Well let’s dive in.

Luisa Mendoza: And also the natural medicine is so helpful with all the food as Hippocrates used to say, your food should be your medicine. And he really did because when we take the freshest ingredients from the vegetables or fruits we don’t have to spend anything else.

Nicole Tomlinson: So your food should be your medicine, you shouldn’t have to take loads of pills to feel better. It should be what you eat everyday.

Luisa Mendoza: Exactly, the impact there many people these days they go only in this way. And they don’t take medicines at all.

Nicole Tomlinson: As you can see holistic medicine may just save you a trip to the doctor I am Nicole Tomlinson, and form all of us at Zen living thanks for watching and we will catch you next time. Peace.

Episode “Basic Acupuncture”

Nicole Tomlinson: You have heard of acupuncture but have perhaps been too intimidated to try it? With all those needles who can blame you, I am here today with Kirsten Karchmer, who is going to demystify the practice of acupuncture.

HI Kirsten how are you?

Kirsten: I am doing fine thanks.

Nicole Tomlinson:  Briefly what is acupuncture?

Kirsten: Acupuncture is a form of medicine that has been in practice for over 3,500 years in china. It is a form of medicine that works with your bodies’ electric system.

Nicole Tomlinson: Your body has an electrical system?

Kirsten: Well let’s do an experiment; is it ok if I touch your body? If I touch your body here, do you feel something?

Nicole Tomlinson: Mmm Hmm

Kirsten: How do you know?

Nicole Tomlinson:  I don’t know, I guess I just feel it. My brain tells me.

Kirsten: Right so if I touch your arm here a message travel along your nerve to your brain and gives you the message something is touching you. And your brain processes that information and makes a decision. What should I do about that? Is that a bee? Is that something warm that I love to touch, something that you care for.

What we believe is that there are many points all over the body that have very specific functions these functions might tell the body to expand the blood vessels, to narrow the blood vessels, to promote urination, to move fluids in the body. And so when we put a needle in that, a needle conducts electricity.

So if we put a needle in a point that causes the blood vessels to dilate, like if I put a point right here in your hand. One of the functions of this point causes the blood vessels to dilate; the side effect of that treatment is it will make our headache go away.

Nicole Tomlinson:  Oh see I have heard that if I massage this part right here, so that’s similar. SO there is all different points all over the body that can trigger certain reactions to cure certain ailments?

Kirsten: Exactly, if you come to an acupuncturist and say I have headaches, the first question we asked ourselves in our head is why? Why do you keep getting headaches? What organ system in your body, what’s not working such that the side effect is you continuing to get a headache?

Nicole Tomlinson:  Ah, so you go to the source and that way you inevitably find a cure.

Kirsten: We try to; of curse we never want to say well acupuncture can cure everything. But certainly what we try to do is understand what is the root cause. That root cause is frequently causing a lot of other symptoms. Insomnia or poor digestion or gassy bloating or fatigue.

Nicole Tomlinson:  Now I have poor digestion. I every once in awhile, just stomach distention, and pain in my stomach and I really have a hard time, so acupuncture could help me with that?

Kirsten: Acupuncture sure could help you. Now remember again that we could put. If you came to me today and said I am very bloated and distended, I could put some needles that would make those or give you some herbs that would make those symptoms go away. That’s not a very complicated kind of treatment.

A more masterful kind of treatment when you came in and said well I from time to time have these problems I can ask myself why? Why do you have these problems? Where another person doesn’t have those problems. So you want to investigate, you are looking for all the clues that you can t make an appropriate diagnosis.

My old teacher always said, the truth is, is that for the most part Chinese medicine works, if it is not working it is because your diagnosis is wrong. So you haven’t identified clearly what the real root is.

Nicole Tomlinson: I see so what we have to do is go back through my own personal history.

Kirsten: your health history.

Nicole Tomlinson: Find out along the way where we got troubled, figure out how my digestive maladies were caused?

Kirsten: Sure. Ok Nicole now as you talked about before you are having some digestive problems, some gas some bloating. Are there any other symptoms that you want to tell me that we haven’t talked about?

Nicole Tomlinson: That’s pretty much it.

Kirsten: Ok. You have been prepped for acupuncture, so your points have been cleaned with some alcohol and now we are going to give you a treatment if that is ok with you.

Nicole Tomlinson: Yes.

Kirsten: Ok so before I put in the points I just want to show you one more time, see we use single use, disposable needles. So we are just going to touch this one alright? We are not going to use it. So you can take your fingers, and see it is very fine. You can try and bend it even.

Nicole Tomlinson: Oh, it’s almost hair like.

Kirsten: That’s why I use a guide tube, because the needle is so fine if I tried to just insert it with my hands it will bend. Ok so because this is your first acupuncture treatment we are going to do just a few needles. And what you can expect to feel is the guide tube on your skin and then a little thump. Ok? Do you have any concerns or questions?

Nicole Tomlinson: No, I just wanted to know, just because it is my first time we are going to do just a couple and as you gradually go back for treatments you increase the amount?

Kirsten: Yes, plus we want to, see different people respond to acupuncture in different ways. Some people respond very strongly and some people don’t respond very much at all and there’s people who respond somewhat in the middle. We want to give you the appropriate needles and stimulation for your body. Now the needles are going to go into muscles. So it is important that once the needles are in you try to remain still.

So you feel the guide tube on your skin and a little thump. How does that feel?

Nicole Tomlinson: That one actually kind of hurt a little bit.

Kirsten: Acupuncture is looking for what is blocked in your body and trying to open it up. So as those places that re blocked open up sometimes they will stagnate in other places, and then the acupuncture can work it out and you will feel it just dissipate.

Nicole Tomlinson: Ah, so I see it flows just like water entering a tube.

Kirsten: Sure your bodies’ energy should be circulating through your body and when it’s blocked sometimes you will feel some pressure and then as that blockage dissipates you will feel some relief in that. But I am telling you this so that you won’t be concerned there is nothing to be worried about. There is o needles near your internal organs, although sometimes there are.

And so you can just relax, most people go to sleep when they get acupuncture, snoring is fine. Drooling is fine, I will wake you up when our treatment is over.

Nicole Tomlinson: Thank you so much.

Kirsten: Ok is the temperature comfortable for you?

Nicole Tomlinson:  Yes it is. If you are looking to get to the root of your problems, acupuncture just might be the way to go, as you can see it is relaxing, relatively pain free and totally natural. I am Nicole Tomlinson, and from all of us at Zen Living thank you so much for watching and we will catch you next time. Peace.

Episode “Building a green home”

Nicole Tomlinson: Bau-Biologie, green building, breathing homes. What does this all mean? It’s about creating a more environmentally friendly living space. This is George Swanson, a building biologist and he is here to tell us exactly what that means. Hi George. Would you please go into Bau-Biologie, would you please elaborate on what exactly that means?

George Swanson: Ok, Bau-Biologie roughly means building biology. It started about 65 to 70 years ago in villages in Germany where they were studying the health effects of construction on small villages. And found a direct correlation between the building materials and the health of the people in the village.

Nicole Tomlinson: What specifically did they find?

George Swanson: Well they found one village where they actually relocated an entire village because people would have four times the cancer rate because of water courses under the buildings.

Nicole Tomlinson: Ok, so you’re a building biologist, what exactly is your job description?

George Swanson: Primarily at this point we are consulting, but also fully doing design build for buildings for people with chemical sensitivity. So folks who don’t really have an option and do have to get out of their buildings.

Nicole Tomlinson: There homes are toxic to them so you help them to find ways to use green materials to keep them healthy?

George Swanson: Exactly.

Nicole Tomlinson: Great now this is your home?

George Swanson: Uh, huh.

Nicole Tomlinson: So George you have developed a very unconventional way for treating waste water. Can you elaborate a little bit about that?

George Swanson: Ok, what we are looking at here is a gravel marsh, black water treatment system. Where all the black water of the house comes into these two tanks that we see right below us here. And there are four manifolds that come out from the bottom of those tanks that spreads the black water twenty inches down into the gravel pit. And then the roots from these plants actually purify the black water as it runs through.

Nicole Tomlinson: Now how is this better for us living wise than say the conventional techniques?

George Swanson: Well we don’t have to ever empty our tanks for one thing. So the tanks self clean themselves. And the water that’s discharges from the end of this gravel bed is fully safe for watering our plants.

Nicole Tomlinson: so it’s all using everything that comes out of your home and recycling it back into your garden or you’re…

George Swanson: Right the water becomes safe its actually full potable water coming out the other end.

Nicole Tomlinson: So you could drink it?

George Swanson: Well, no it’s too nutrient rich. Now you could sand filter it and drink it. We recently did a system like that. But we want to use it in its full nutrient rich state.

Nicole Tomlinson: Thank you so much for having me in your home. Now we spoke before about a breathing home. Is this qualified as a breathing home?

George Swanson: Yeah, this particular construction was 12 inch clay treated wood chip block. That’s treated with a natural clay plaster to create the breathing effect.

Nicole Tomlinson: What is this little rock bed right here?

George Swanson: Well this is what we call breathing gill. We try to make this a signature on most of the homes that we do. It’s actually open to the earth. And it actually affects the electro magnetic s of the home. We have the natural earth smells.

Nicole Tomlinson: Ok, so there’s no foundation here?

George Swanson: No foundation here. Now this is part of our original cooling system where this was all plumbed. And this little cove that you see here was sprinkled with cold water that comes from the bottom of the cistern we saw out side.

Nicole Tomlinson: If I was to dig up all these rocks, I would find dirt on the bottom?

George Swanson: Mostly dirt right.

Nicole Tomlinson: And do you ever have any trouble with bugs or anything? No water comes up through there when it rains?

George Swanson: None of those problems. We will also look at these two Volkswagen car radiators that are mounted on the wall.

Nicole Tomlinson: So wait, let’s take that back, Volkswagen car radiators?

George Swanson: Car radiators, they are run on twelve volts, just like your car is run off of twelve volts, off the solar system. But this upper one it actually has cool water that is being pumped from the bottom of that cistern. So the water is about 61 degrees down there. It just runs over the car radiator with a tiny fan behind it. Now we are used to feeling like forty three degree air so that doesn’t feel like really cold air.

 So that why we only turn it down at night too charge the walls. By charging the walls we mean there is a concrete core in the middle of this soft clay treated woodchip block and that’s being cooled by what we call a radiant cool effect.

Nicole Tomlinson: There’s no radical up and down shifting because of the heat?

George Swanson: Right because it takes a full twelve hours for the heat or cool to leave the wall. So we are saturating it at nigh with the cool nighttime temperature, and then we get the free cooling all day long.

Nicole Tomlinson: So we talked before about your water bill, let’s talk a little bit about your electric bill.

George Swanson: Ok, it is averaging about $35 to $39 a month.

Nicole Tomlinson: American?

George Swanson: US, yeah!

Nicole Tomlinson: That’s insane. Alright so bottom line, what is the average cost of a typical green home?

George Swanson: Well, in the last couple of years we have been averaging about $170-$280,000.

Nicole Tomlinson: Well that sounds pretty comparable to a conventional home.

George Swanson: Right most of those homes are between the 1100, 1800, and 2000 square foot. So about a hundred to a hundred and thirty dollars a square foot.

Nicole Tomlinson: Ok great. So if you’re looking to live a more sustainable lifestyle green building is defiantly the way to go. Thank you so much George for showing me this beautiful green home.

George Swanson: And thank you Nicole.

Nicole Tomlinson: From all of us here at Zen Living thank you so much for watching, I am Nicole Tomlinson and I will catch you next time. Peace.

Episode “Going organic at Timpones market”

Nicole Tomlinson: Synthetic chemicals, pesticides, hormones. Buzz words used to make us go organic, but are these words of any value or is it just a lot of hype trying to get us to spend more money? I mean after all living the organic lifestyle really can increase your budget. I am here today to find out exactly what and where we should go organic without busting our wallets.

Our guest today is Patrick Timpone of Timpones Market. Hi Patrick.

Patrick Timpone: Hello there how are you?

Nicole Tomlinson: Could you please tell me why should Americans go organic?

Patrick Timpone: Well, there is no chemicals or pesticides in our organic food. So its pesticides or other than that are the best foods to eat.

Nicole Tomlinson: Which of these three items would normally contain the most pesticides that I should start buying only organically?

Patrick Timpone: Bananas are traditionally sprayed very highly. Grapes are sprayed very highly. Strawberries.

Nicole Tomlinson: Now I eat bananas every day they are one of my favorite fruits. Tell me why it is so important that these are bought only organically.

Patrick Timpone: Well there is a lot of different things about bananas. You see right now they have these little specks of brown things in bananas.

Nicole Tomlinson: Those are the seeds right?

Patrick Timpone: Well that’s where seeds used to be, there all pretty neutered, or sterile, so there really not that good of a fruit to eat at all. Bananas because they have no life force or energy or chi in them.

Nicole Tomlinson: I can’t really afford to go organic all the way. So what would be another key staple, besides just the bananas and grapes and such, to incorporate into my grocery list?

Patrick Timpone: I think lettuce, lettuce and celery and those, the greens.

Nicole Tomlinson: What do you think is going to happen if Americans don’t really start to change the way that they eat and what they buy at their stores?

Patrick Timpone: Well I think what’s happening is already happening. America is the sickest country on the planet and we spend more on health care than any country in the world.

Nicole Tomlinson: Healthcare does get expensive.

Patrick Timpone: Well yeah because it doesn’t work because they are just going after the symptoms of all of these diseases, and so people are getting sick with high blood pressure and cholesterol and Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s and all these things when they are 60 and 70 years old because of pollutions and chemicals and plastics and environment and food.

Most people around the country that run the world don’t really get it. That we are what we eat. And they still don’t get it. We don’t know the true benefits of not having chemicals in our diet. All we do know is that the chemicals and the preservatives and all the other things do cause imbalances in the kidneys and the liver and in other areas that cause malfunctions of the body. The trick is to keep as clean as a diet as you possibly can.

Nicole Tomlinson: This is really delicious. Mmmm, that’s good, that’s really good. Ok Jennifer when I first got here I thought this was just decoration. But I am guessing that its not, what is its purpose?

Jennifer Pittman: This is wheat grass. Ok this is ocean grown wheat grass. People use wheat grass for their b vitamins, cleans your blood it is high in chlorophyll, but this is ocean grown so it has ninety two minerals in the soil because it is grown with a concentrate of ocean water.

Nicole Tomlinson: Alright we are ready for the shot.

Jennifer Pittman: Ok, here you go.

Nicole Tomlinson: I am a little nervous, ok so, bottoms up! Mmm, that taste a little bit like grass. Like I just chewed on my lawn, but there was a sweet after taste, so it wasn’t so bad. I was expecting it to be a lot worse.  I hope I have gave you a little bit more insight on the benefits of going organic, at least now you know a few key items so you can substitute a little bit here and a little bit there. It can be a little bit more expensive, but in the long run think of all the money you will be saving on doctor bills, perhaps even saving your life.

I would like to thank Patrick Timpone and Jennifer for her delicious smoothies and wheat grass. From al of us here at Zen Living I am Nicole Tomlinson it has been a pleasure to be here with you today and we will see you next time.