I felt that my return to Dehradun and Mussoorie after 17 years was destined. But I had never imagined it would be during the monsoon of 2011. Living in the city, I had lost the charm of the monsoon season. Apart from welcoming the showers after the scorching and sweltering summer, there was no other reason to rejoice. The romantic and poetic inspiration brought about by this season, the beautiful aroma of damp earth and the clean and green look of the trees had been almost washed away by the slush and waterlogged streets, longer traffic jams and delayed travel time everyday. Today, having witnessed the rains in Dehradun during dusk and the floating clouds in ever-lovely Mussoorie, nostalgia and love for the monsoon was re-kindled, ...

Parked at a comfortable corner at the waiting area of the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, I was awaiting my flight to Dhaka along with other passengers headed to different destinations. As far as my vision went, I could see a myriad of colours, faces, heads, people, luggage, and hear a multitude of announcements, voices, squabbles, tongues and noise. It seemed like I was in some cosmopolitan country, where being an Indian felt strange. There were many Indians, correction, NRIs around who only resembled that they once belonged to my beloved India. Of these, the older generations might have even spoken in a familiar tongue and accent, but the current crop looked, behaved and spoke completely foreign. It made me wonder whe...

Treatments of: Cancer, Radiation Exposure, Neurological Conditions, Autism, Pain, Stress, and Emotional Upset by Dr Mark Sircus This book champions the use of marijuana in clinical practice for adults and children for a wide range of diseases including cancer and diabetes. Medicine needs cannabinoids to fight in the front lines against serious diseases as well as stress and emotional upset. Medical marijuana is an especially safe and effective treatment for cancer and a 2007 Harvard Medical School study showed that marijuana cuts lung cancer tumor growth in half. I've just bought a copy from Dr Sircus' site www.imva.com  and am impressed with what I've read so far. Table of Contents 1 - About This Book 2 - About the Author 3 ...

Aikido-Yoga seamlessly integrates the traditional training methods employed by the Japanese martial art of Aikido with the ancient science of Yoga. Far more than a separate study of Aikido and Yoga in isolation from each other, the pragmatic training methods of Aikido-Yoga provide a seamless integration of the two disciplines.

Having been a holistic therapist for over 17 years I have observed a good deal of human life and the human condition.  I have also been lucky enough to be working with some of the most inspirational people you could ever wish to meet. As I have had more and more experience and involvement with holistic therapies I have come to realise that the world we live in is not always as it might seem and that what is given to be a 'truth' might not be quite as it might seem - particularly when it comes to modern day medicine. My story starts with me myself as from being a teenager I suffered with acne - it never got better despite my spending a kings ransome on every medication the pharmacy ever stocked.  My Doctors tried everything at their d...

Blotting Brushes: Weapons of Plaque Destruction By Dr Elmar Jung and Graeme Dinnen We've done it. We finally got our act together and finished the book we started way back when lizards were fish.  Someone called us downright lazy; we called it selective creativity! Pats on the back all round to those who helped us get our act together. That was Phylipa. We would of course like to thank everyone who contributed, telling us how boring the first draft was (hey! - it was only the first draft), proofreading the pages over and over, cooking superb meals (while we opened the wine), finding wonderful images to keep readers stimulated as they read, and making cups of tea & flapjacks.  Not to forget of course our parents for having us, the...

Food is vital for our sustenance and health. However, the significance of food goes beyond its role of regulating metabolism and providing energy. Food contains information through which it interacts with our genes thereby affecting their function. It is a study about how our genetic code influences our nutrition and vice-versa. This discovery is called “nutrigenomics”. Earlier, nutritional science was limited to identifying essential vitamins and nutrients and their insufficiency. Diagnosis was based on lack of such nutrients and treatments were universal. However, over the years nutritional science has undergone a paradigm shift in focussing its attention towards molecular biology and genetics. The completion of many genome projects ha...

Understanding Functional Medicine: Today people are seeking alternative methods of medical care. Functional medicine is a holistic approach to treatment and aspires to treat a patient not only physically but also on an emotional and spiritual level. Functional medicine is based on the assumption that every individual is unique and has a distinct biochemistry.  Functional medicine, often referred to as the medicine of the future is a holistic treatment which takes into account the well being and lifestyle of an individual. The treatments are usually personalised where the patient also plays an active role in the treatment as often radical changes in diet and lifestyle are required.   Functional medicine is anchored on the philosophy t...

Autoimmune disease is a condition where the body’s immune system considers its own body tissues and organs as foreign and attacks them. Autoimmune conditions are usually chronic in nature and are more common in women. There are nearly hundred autoimmune diseases such as thyroid disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s disease etc that have been identified by the medical fraternity. Exact cause of such diseases is still unknown. However, factors such as heredity, stress and environmental toxins have been linked to such diseases. Autoimmune conditions cannot be prevented or cured as the cause of such conditions is still unknown. Symptoms such as low grade fever, feelings of malaise, joint pain and fatigue have b...

What do moms do best? The answer to that is easy, "just about everything". Mom is the hub that the family revolves around; she is the driving force behind the moral, ethical and spiritual direction of the family. When I look back on my own life, I see a strong grandmother, mother and three daughters who were without a doubt, the power point in the lives of the family. I dedicated one of my books, (In Search Of Paradise) to my own mom who shaped just about everything I am today. My father gave me the particulars, but my mom gave me the world. We look to our mother for advice, counseling, support, acceptance, recognition and that all important factor, love. She is always ready to fill in were we have a need and puts us back on track when...