Homolateral Crossover

I met Donna Eden in the Fall of 2000 at the public lecture she gave in Cincinnati, Ohio. At the end of her presentation, she invited members of the audience to the stage. She was so thorough with each person that I was afraid that I wouldn't have a change to talk to her. But my turn came and to my amazement she told me that I was homolateral. She showed me a few moves and later, I read in her book Energy Medicine/ about the meaning of being homolateral.
It wasn't a death sentence. It means that my energies weren't crossing over and my two brain sides couldn't harmonize. It came as a clear answer to me since I had always difficulties reciting, dancing in harmony or just keep up a rhythm. The left side of my brain was dominating the right side. I did her exercises for a while and then forgot about it.

"When energy is unable to cross over, it (energy) slows down dramatically.
It begins to move in a homolateral pattern straight up and down the body
and the body's ability to heal is severely diminished."
- Donna Eden & David Feinstein, PhD

Since I haven't been well in the last few weeks and month, I have been asking myself many questions and search many alternative ways to get well. Somehow I always felt that there was still a missing link. Then I remembered Donna Eden's words and started reading "Energy Medicine" again.

She suggests in her book to do:

THE HOMOLATERAL CROSSOVER
• 1. First it is important to make sure you are hydrated. Drink a glass of water prior to the exercise and make sure you drink at least 8 glasses a day.
• 2. Begin by tapping or massaging the K-27 points while inhaling and exhaling deeply. These are the points immediately below the Collar bone corners and tend to be quite sensitive for most people as they are Neuro-lymphatic reflex points. Immediately after tapping or massaging these points, do a full body stretch that ‘reaches for the stars’.
• 3. Next do a ‘Homolateral Cross Crawl’ by simultaneously lifting the right arm and the right leg and then the left arm and the left leg for about 12 lifts each in a deliberate and slow manner.
• 4. Then march in place, doing a normal Cross-Crawl by lifting your right arm and left leg and then your left arm and right leg for another 12 times or so.
• 5. Then revert back to the previous pattern of lifting same-side arm and legs for another 12 lifts as per point 2.
• 6. Again stop and do the Cross-Crawl exercise (lifting opposite arms and legs) for another 12 lifts.
• 7. Do these Cross-Crawl exercise sequences for about three times in a row and end the exercise by again stimulating the K-27 points.

Additionally she has the daily activity which consists of:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9106521468609833299#


Five Minute Routine
Do this at least once a day, preferably night and morning, or any time when life is heading towards being too much!
1. Three thumps
2. Cross Crawl, or homolateral marching if you have right/left problems.
3. Wayne Cook both sides
4. Crown Pull
5. Spinal Flush
6. Zip up

If you can't do the regular Cross-Crawl, you can even do it while seated. Lift your knees alternately, and touching each raised knee with the opposite hand or elbow. Persons with chronic-fatigue and those who have experienced head trauma seem to benefit from regular cross-over exercise. They describe feeling more energetic, alert and clear-thinking than previously, and show improved response to other energy-work techniques.

Here are some links from Q&A sessions regarding alternative cross over techniques:
http://www.innersource.net/energy_medicine_faq/energy_medicine_QA_homolateral_crossover.htm
http://www.innersource.net/energy_medicine_faq/energy_medicine_QA_homolat_paraplegics.htm
Her company website link is: http://www.innersource.net/

Thank you, Donna, for your priceless advice.

The Benefits of Rebounding Exercise

Therapeutic rebounding has many different applications. The therapeutic aspect comes into the picture when we are using a rebounder instead of a mini-trampoline which sells in the department stores. The difference is the length of the springs and the legs of the rebounding unit. You have more buoyancy and no jarring on your joints. Rebounding is enjoyable and promotes self-healing. Along with being fun it also improves your posture, increases the vascular system, improves muscle tone and coordination, helps you sleep better and elevates your energy levels.
Here are the various ways to rebound:

· Health Bouncing
Without leaving the mat you just bounce up and down on the mat. The first benefit is that every minute you do that, you strengthen your immune system, fortifying yourself against colds, flu, etc.
This bounce is also good for re-cooperation from any illness, to get your lymphatic system going after being bed-ridden for a while. It helps in the detoxification process of the body and delivers oxygen rich blood into all the parts of your body. NASA astronauts are encouraged to rebound after space flights to counteract the anti-gravity they experienced while in space.
This means benefits for the cardiovascular system, for the digestion and for the cortisone hormone balance which means it is stress reducing.
Start out with 1-3 minutes and build yourselves up, never allowing yourself to get dizzy or straining yourselves.

· Jogging
This is a more vigorous bouncing where you actually leave the mat and do basic jogging. Because we take advantage of the anti-gravity movement there is no jarring or jerking on the joints. Jogging on the rebounder can be done without shoes and to any rhythm. It is actually more beneficial than running on the street while we have all the benefits of building muscle strength and tone, relieve tension, enhancing skills, improving flexibility, creating weight loss and weight management, as well as improve the body’s general physiological condition.
So put on the music and enjoy yourself!

· Aerobic Bouncing
Your rebounding becomes aerobic when you become vigorous on the unit. Leaving the mat, jumping higher and elevating your arms above your heart gives you the aerobic effect. That means that you increase the number and size of your blood vessels that carry the blood around the body. Therefore, more oxygen is carried to the cells of all the tissues and organs. It improves the functions of the heart and the lungs. The longer and faster you train will give you better overall endurance. According to Dr. Kenneth Cooper, who first researched aerobic exercise, you gain greater physical as well as psychological improvement which makes you feel better. You gain a more positive outlook on life as well.

· Strength Training
To increase your upper body strength, in addition to the G-force strength bounce, you can add weights by holding dumbbells or tying weights to your ankles.

· Body Bouncing
For those who can’t bounce themselves you can do the body bounce. Have a wheelchair bound person put their legs on the rebounder and bounce for them to get the benefits of getting circulation to their legs. Or a child could lay on the unit and you put your legs on both sides of the child and give them the benefit of bouncing in case of a fever or other disabilities.
You can also bounce your pet that way. I used to do that with my dog and he really enjoyed it.

· Senior Rebounding with support bar
For those who have trouble with stability, a support bar can be mounted on the unity and you can have them do the same activities on the unit by holding on for greater security.

For quality rebounder, please contact: http://www.needak-rebounders.com/ or call:1-800-232-57621-402-336-4083; Hours: 8:30AM to 5:00PM M-F Central Time and tell them that Jutta Tobkin send you.

Autumn Days

Autumn is my favorite time of the year. I know - some of those rainy days are not so grand but they make one reflective. My personality is also melancholic, so I like reflecting very much.
Well, this Monday afternoon was one of those reflecting days. It turned out mostly that I felt so very blessed to be alive. There is nothing wrong with being grateful in fact it is the most wonderful feeling where I feel deeply connected to my creator.

I went out in my yard and enjoyed some of the colored leaves and picked some late raspberries. We didn't have any frost yet here in Ohio, therefore, everything is still blooming and green.

I love the smell of Autumn, the wet earth and the decaying matter. I love the cool breeze. This Monday we had a little drizzle, just enough to keep everything moist and alive. Because of the long summer this year, the leaves are changing slowly. We will have to wait until November to dispose of the leaves. We usually just mulch them and use them for compost or cover up the plants.

When I came back inside I was looking for some autumn theme and found this video:

Enjoy and Happy Autumn!

Hip Replacement - Do I need it?

As we are hearing a lot of news these days regarding health care reform, I would like to have more choices in treatment in my health care plan. "Health care" is too much focused on the diseases. It doesn't give the individual too many options of treatment and certainly, in most cases, the benefit of really getting well.
Since the beginning of the New Year I started to develop pain in my right leg and hip while walking and standing. I contacted my family doctor for a physical and mentioned my concern with the right leg. She recommended an MRI, and after she had seen that report, referred me to an orthopedic doctor.

With a copy of these pictures, I appeared at the orthopedic doctor only to find that he preferred x-rays which he took in his local office. He showed me the pictures and pointed out that the hip joint was beginning to deteriorate. He was encouraging that I was still too young for a hip replacement and therefore suggested a steroid injection. That could only be done under ultra-sound at the hand of a surgeon in the hospital. What do you do when you only have two choices? I agreed to the steroid injection.
Unfortunately, it gave me only three weeks of pain relief. After that I went back to another doctor who had treated me for back pain earlier. I loved that treatment and the massages, but it didn’t bring the desired result. I heard that acupunture would give pain relieve. But it wasn't enough in my case. Next I tried a chiropractor. He was almost able to fix the difference of the leg length but couldn’t help with the weakness of the muscles and the hip pain.

My family went on a ten days vacation and I thought that is a good break. But since I was in pain most of the time I couldn’t really enjoy the time with my family, except that I discovered a new side in my kids, now they were taking care of me, wheeling me around and helping me walk.

What was I to do? When we came back from the vacation, I made an appointment with a different orthopedic doctor. He took another x-ray and convinced me that I needed a hip-replacement. The good news was that he suggested a partial replacement or what they call Resurfacing. It still makes an operation necessary by with lesser impact since the bone is resurfaced, kind of like a crown on a tooth. Again, I chose the lesser invasive procedure. The only thing was that they could schedule me except with a six week wait.

I was still looking at the perfect picture of a right hip joint every day (see above), wondering if there was any other way? If I was picturing the good outcome, then something better could happen, right?
Well, for about three weeks, nothing happen. Then, a friend of mine heard about my situation and he asked if he could talk to me about it. He is a licensed massage therapist, and he felt that he could help me. But the most important thing he suggested that I would ask a few other people to pray for me for three weeks to get some new direction. I was delighted, and felt bad that I hadn’t thought of prayer before.

There were still many concerns besides the operation. I was facing stiffness all over the body, joint pains and overall fatigue.
By the second week of the prayer condition, I felt motivated to look up the Internet for some answers regarding natural treatment for arthritis and joint pains. I came across a clinic in Cincinnati, headed by a medical doctor who was offering all kinds of alternative treatments. I got really excited and had an appointment within three days (I don’t know why allopathic practices need weeks of waiting).
In the meantime I had one visit with my massage therapist who with pressure points and exercise had me so limber that I could walk the stairs effortless. He told me that at the cellular level the body keeps memories like, I can’t walk right, this hurts and I have arthritis, etc. These are contraindicating messages to our mind and don’t help us to get well. Instead he suggested to focus on wellness, walking without pain, health and being whole. He also had me take a foot bath in ionic water which pulls out toxins from the body.
Then I went to the wellness center where the doctor had several alternatives for hip health. He explained that even though the bone of my hip deteriorated somewhat it is the muscles and the ligaments which become weak and need support. He had several options, like injections of joint fluid, prolotherapy which stimulates the soft tissue, ligament and cartilage repair or a third possibility, Platelet Rich Plasma injections which is adult stem-cell therapy. This sounded more like real solutions with a long-term pain relief.

On the very last day of the three week prayer I had my first injections. Even though it was painful I felt so grateful and hopeful that I had made a better decision with the help and support of my friends.
As some of you might face similar decisions in the next few years, maybe not regarding hip replacement, I really want to encourage you to trust your own heart and ask yourself, is this just a temporary solution or is this still going have me better in ten years. Because the body renews itself continuously, even into old age. With good nutrition, exercise and most of all a positive and hopeful mindset, we can remain healthy and well. And I belief that within the next few years we will learn of more modalities which actually support our health and not just disguise themselves as disease care (health care).

My present regiment for recuperation:
As I mentioned before, I had my first Platelet Rich Plasma injection on 9-21-09. Alongside with this treatment I am seeing a licenced massage therapist who helps me with muscle and joint stimulation through relieving acupressure points. I am able to do many of these exercises on a daily base by myself. He also uses an Ionizing Foot Bath to detoxify my body. Every time I do this, I am dumping more and more toxins, sludge and candida into the water.
One of my favorite exercise comes in handy with this situation: rebounding. Because of the low impact on my joints, I can do a light bounce and started to do even some jogging (not leaving the matt as yet). It also helps to strengthen the immune system which is a good protection for the colder months.
My vitamin regiment includes MonaVie juice, Microhydrin, Spirulina, Calcium, Vitamin C, Fishoil, and a Joint Formula. I also started juicing again to have the health benefits of the enzymes in the fresh pressed produce and the natural vitamins and minerals.
Last but not least the important thing is to believe in my recovery. God sees us as whole, healthy and complete human beings. With total faith and by participating in my health, I believe that I can be walk again very soon.