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Cheryl Jones host of Good Grief is presenting âIllness, Grief, Loss and the Holidaysâ this Saturday at the Womenâs Cancer Resource Centerâs Continuing Education program available in Oakland, CA and online.
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Don’t miss this exciting episode with Hay House Author, Professional Wellness Speaker, and Integrative Coach, Nancy Levin! Formerly the Event Director at Hay House since 2002, Nancy has easily transitioned into a moving speaker and inspiration, taking a cue from her own life changes and turning that into a “must read” book, Jump! And Your Life Will Appear. A compelling poet with a heart of gold, Nancy will join your Host, Winifred Adams, to explore the motivation behind her amazing new book as well as the step-by-step process she offers as a solution for those making change in their lives. This is a very special event and will be a Must Read or Must Give for Christmas lists everywhere! For more information: www.makinglifebrighter.com
Nancy Levin, bestselling author of Jump ⦠And Your Life Will Appear and Writing For My Life, is an Integrative Coach working with clients â privately and in groups â to create lives in alignment with their own truth and desires.
For nearly 20 years she produced experiential events and innovative conferences focusing on self-empowerment, health and spirituality, most recently as the Event Director at Hay House from 2002-2014 where she first began weaving her own story and poems to connect with audiences around the world during keynotes, workshops and seminars.
When sheâs not on an airplane, Nancy lives in Boulder, Colorado where she received her Masters in Poetry from Naropa University. You can visit her online at www.nancylevin.com
Making Life Brighter is a show that is based on the latest in the field of natural healing, consciousness training, and all healing modalities. It will be a forum for positive, inspiring and uplifting entertainment as well as contemplative thought, show casing authors, musicians, and artists. Pulling from a wide variety of interesting experts in their field, Winifred will bring to life topics to inspire and âmake your life brighter!â Tune in every Monday at 10 AM Pacific Time on the VoiceAmerica Health and Wellness Channel.
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I made a commitment to writing regularly in my blog. I really committed. I thought about what I would say each week over the months, how I would say it, what was meaningful to me, what would be meaningful to the people who read my blog. I made lists, plans, created visions. I was all set⦠except then I didnât do it.
Yes, Iâm very busy with my radio show, Good Grief, with my family and my work as a grief counselor. Yes, Iâm still absolutely committed to time when Iâm not working; to singing, creating, and just plain goofing off. But I didnât think any of that explained why I wasnât writing. All those things have failed to prevent me from doing many other things these past few months that I didnât seem to have time for.
I lived with the question for a solid week or two. Why am I not writing my blog? What is in the way? Then I ticked off possible explanations. âIâm procrastinating.â Hmmmâ¦Â Unlike many other periods in my life, procrastination hardly even qualifies as a part of my personality right now. âIâm uninspired.â Definitely not. Iâm inspired beyond my wildest dreams by amazing people I get to meet and talk with every day, by the guests on the radio show and the meaningful conversations I get to have, and by my community and family. âI donât want to write.â Wrong! I love to write and Iâm writing other things all the time with great relish.
When the answer hit me over the head, I almost laughed out loud. I was not writing my grief blog because I was experiencing that time after a new loss when I just donât want to share. I need time to absorb the new reality, to adjust to the changing picture of what I imagined the future to be. I need time to (wait for it) process.
I had not really written since I found out my mother has pancreatic cancer.
When it finally dawned on me that I was simply practicing what I preach and listening to what my own heart told me I needed, I relaxed. And then, respecting that my mother is busy adjusting too, I asked her if she would be ok with me writing about this newest wrinkle in the fabric of my life. âEveryone knows anyway,â she said, bestowing a blessing on whatever I might say about it. (Thanks mom).
So hereâs what I want to say. Cancer stinks. I hate the endless doctors appointments and project management, getting all the pieces to work together. I hate waiting in endless waiting rooms with other people who also donât have the energy to wait for anything. I hate anticipating losing my mother, who I love, in the very foreseeable future. I hate unexpectedly crying in public when there is nothing at all sad going on. I hate that I know how to do all this so well because Iâve done it before for years at a time without a prayer of changing the eventual outcome. I hate that no one has cured cancer yet, including my brilliant son-in-law, a cancer researcher who I honestly think has a chance of it.
But all of this is really so very small. What I love, even now, is so much bigger. I love my mother, who was clear right away that if they offer her 6 months of chemo for 6 months of time, itâs not worth it. I love the conversations weâre having in which we can share our love for one another in a way that is more immediate, and deeper than it was six months ago. I love that the doctors who are caring for my mother ask her about herself as a person before they talk about treatment and, when they run late for her appointment, apologize. (Thank you, Dr. Tempero and her staff). I love that I have all that experience to offer my mother, to ease her burden and help her feel supported and nourished. I love all the hearts on her Caring Bridge page. I love being so deeply in touch, every day, with my love for her and for everyone else in my life, knowing that having them at all is, at best, fleeting. I love pictures of her with my grandsons. I love that there is nothing in me that wants to shy away from the whole experience.
So, I guess we could call this Continuing Education, having taken what sometimes feels like the graduate level course in grief. Lifelong learning for the griever. Showing up for class. Taking notes. Putting one foot in front of the other and stepping into love, because even the hurt tells me how very much I love. How very very much.
Cheryl Jones has been working with people facing loss in their lives for thirty years. She is the host of Good Grief, a weekly radio show on the VoiceAmerica Health and Wellness Channel, about the transformative potential of our losses. You can learn more about her at her website at Weathering Grief.
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On today’s InsideOut Forum Discussion Call we expanded the conversation from the show about what we want to change in ourselves and can we begin to do it today. The theme that emerged in our discussion was that the things we want to change all have to do with changing the way we relate to ourselves, each other and reality. Whether it’s that I want to stop being self-absorbed or to stop looking good to others but not being real or to stop giving my resources to others out of obligation, we ALL have things we want to change. Join our very real conversation and help us continue to change together!
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On the day my wife died, the house was overflowing. In the room with me were our kids, 2 1/2 and 14, and a few friends who had pretty much moved in with us those weeks when we knew it was the end. Out in the living room were people who had supported us through her illness, really supported us! They fed us, took care of our baby and helped our teenager navigate having a parent with life-limiting cancer. They had been there when we cried, and laughed, and napped; even for our difficult conversations. We all learned together to live at deathâs door, claiming the word live. My mother would later say that although she had belonged to loving churches all her life, she had never experienced the kind of love she felt in our community of friends.
This was the first remarkable change in me as a result of her cancer and death â after eight years of living next to cancer. I was comfortable conducting my life in front of a crowd. Before cancer, I was shy and, at one point, even agoraphobic. Before cancer I was a one-on-one person, coming to a party when only the host was there and leaving before the guests arrived. Before cancer, I had trouble exposing my deepest feelings. Before cancer, I was anxious and feared abandonment, often fitting myself into what I thought others wanted me to be. Now I was take charge, sure of my own way, telling the truth about myself whether it was popular or not.
That night offers a perfect illustration. About to take a shower when she died, I pulled off my robe afterwards and laid down next to that body that I had loved for so long, holding her in a skin to skin embrace, the first for months that wasnât inhibited by a fear of hurting her. She was no longer dealing with the pain of broken bones and degenerating nerves and I could bid her farewell with abandon. I realized later I had had no hesitation about nakedness, words of love, songs, whatever I wanted to do to say goodbye to her, disregarding the crush of people in the room, even including (as soon as they could get there) my parents! Where was that shy girl now? Where was my fear of being seen or heard? I had reincarnated somewhere along the way.
This person I had turned into hardly resembled me Before Cancer. I entered grief better able to matter to me. I committed to at least a year of giving myself whatever my grief asked for. Within the boundaries of (now) single parenthood and going back to work, I did that. In the quiet hours when the kids were at school, in between the clients I worked with as a therapist, I played music and dug in the garden and cried and meditated. I ate good food and depended on friends (who were now so much greater in number). Grief, for me, was an extension of the life I had had with her; rich and full and open to possibility. Those eight years of illness had taught me to face, unafraid, whatever I felt in a given moment, to ride the waves of it to my own shore, and to come home to myself in any situation. What could undo that? What could make me truly afraid when I had already lived through her death?
My life today rests on the shoulders of that time. What I discovered then, through deep pain and profound joy, informs everything I do and everything I am. I will never be glad she died, but I will always live in awe of what we learned together; life is a joy, a miracle, and love should not be avoided or wasted. Taking a chance on love is always worth it. Iâm grateful for whatever I feel, because emotions remind me, each day, that I am alive.
When I couldnât imagine how I would live through losing her, I was right. I couldnât imagine it â not in my wildest dreams.
For more, tune into Good Grief, we are inspired by people who have made something miraculous out of their deepest heartaches! We listen as they share how they have walked through their own exquisite pain and what they have gained as a result. We come away ready to follow our own dreams to a deeper, more meaningful time on this beautiful earth! Listen for Good Grief, broadcast live every Wednesday at 2 PM Pacific Time on the VoiceAmerica Health and Wellness Channel.
On Good Grief we explore the losses that define our lives. Each week, we talk with people who have transformed themselves through the profound act of grieving. Why settle for surviving? Say yes to the many experiences that embody loss! Grief can teach you where your strengths are, and ignite your courage. It can heighten your awareness of what is important to you and help you let go of what is not.
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Tune in for a new episode “Parental Wellness: The Importance of Boundaries and Keeping Them” on Moving Forward: Wellness One Step at a Time on Friday June 27th at 1 PM Pacific Time on VoiceAmerica Health and Wellness Channel.
Join us as we talk with Dr. Karla Steingraber about effective parental wellness. Dr. Steingraber works with parents and children, in and out of the foster care system, since many years, in a variety of settings and states, and specializes in parenting strategies. She will discuss parental boundaries, what these are, why they are important, how they contribute to family wellness and steps listeners can take to move forward in creating their own boundaries and parental wellness.
Karla Steingraber Guest Bio:
Karla Steingraber, Psy.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist who loves helping parents regain their confidence in effective parenting and children with finding a healthy equilibrium between natural rambunctiousness and respecting limits. Â She spent time working in clinics, hospitals and residential programs in DC, Wyoming, Illinois and Montreal, Canada, working intensely with foster parents and children of all ages, developmentally delayed individuals and those with a brain injury, amongst other populations. Â These experiences, as well as that of being a parent, have shaped her understanding of impulse control and the necessity of clear boundaries.
This show is about creating wellness, one step at a time. Itâs about being curious and seeing what happens with doing something different, being different, or embracing what is different. Itâs about cultivating possibilities and creating a rippling effect of change. It is about being the change one wants to see. We provide straightforward information and steps for you to try. The show provides the encouragement and nonjudgmental space to try something that is going to help you move forward.Resources may also be available.This program will cover topics relating to all areas of wellness, including physical, mental, emotional, sexual, financial, spiritual, social and behavioral areas. Moving Forward: Wellness One Step at a Time is broadcast live every Friday at 1 PM Pacific Time on the VoiceAmerica Health and Wellness Channel.
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Dean Shrock, Ph.D, is a mind-body-spirit medicine specialist and the author of two books: Doctorâs Orders: Go Fishing and Why Love Heals. His first book is not about cancer as much as it is about life. Dr. Dean Shrock, will discuss his book, Why Love Heals, which discusses while working with cancer patients, he witnessed how bringing more joy and meaning into life surely could affect a patientâs quality of life.  Dr. Shrockâs research published in 1999 found that it extended their length of life. He concluded they lived longer because they felt listened to, cared for, and supported. People who are busy doing what they like to do not only tend to forget their aches and pains, but experience a positive effect on their quality and length of life.
Dr. Shrock was very intrigued by his finding that feeling loved and cared for could extend survival with cancer. This culminated in his 2009 bestselling book, Why Love Heals. Dean Shrock, Ph.D. began training to be a lecturer in a self-help program with its founder, Ken McCaulley. Shrock returned to college in 1980, graduating from the University of Akron in Akron, Ohio with a masterâs in Community and College Counseling in 1983, and completing his doctorate in Counseling Psychology in 1986. His doctoral dissertation was titled, Relaxation, Guided Imagery, and Wellness. In 1986 Dr. Shrock completed a post-doctoral internship where he developed a research proposal for the Cleveland Clinic to test the effectiveness of guided imagery with cancer patients. In 1987 he interned as a staff psychologist with the Nittany Valley Rehabilitation Hospital in State 
College, Pa. While there he also interned with Dr. Carl Simonton at the Simonton Cancer Center where he initiated his research with psychological approaches to cancer care. In 1988 Dr. Shrock was hired by a physician management group to provide psychological services for their cancer centers. Here he developed a wellness program whose primary purpose was to instill a greater âwill to liveâ. While bringing more joy and meaning into life surely could affect a patientâs quality of life, Dr. Shrockâs research published in 1999 found that it extended their length of life. He concluded they lived longer because they felt listened to, cared for, and supported. His experience and expertise led to his being invited to co-author the chapter on Mind-Body Medicine in Dr. Donald Abramsâ and Dr. Andrew Weilâs 2009 textbook, Integrative Oncology. Dr. Shrock wrote a book in 2000 about the wellness program he taught and the insights he gained. This book, Doctorâs Orderâs: Go Fishing, is not about cancer, as much as it is about life. Readers can use the information to get well or stay well. People who are busy doing what they like to do not only tend to forget their aches and pains, but experience a positive effect on their quality and length of life. Â However, Dr. Shrock was very intrigued by his finding that feeling loved and cared for could extend survival with cancer. This culminated in his 2009 bestselling book, Why Love Heals. He now resides in Yachats on the Oregon coast and lectures regularly about his âGoing Fishingâ approach to life. His books and presentations highlight his discovery that joy and peace of mind are essential for health â and how to find them. âCellaâs Chatâ airs live on Thursday at 1 PM Pacific / 2 PM Central / 4 PM Eastern on The VoiceAmerica Health and Wellness Channel. Tune in for “Why Love Heals: Health As a Natural Consequence of this Healing Energy” New Episode Now. All shows will be available in Cella Zappiaâs Content Library on The VoiceAmerica Health and Wellness Channel for on-demand and pod cast download.
ABOUT Cella Zappia:
Cellaâs Chat was created out of Cella Zappiaâs personal healing experience. Each week, Cella will be your guide in teaching you how to find your own healer within. This healing is accomplished when we work to balance our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual selves. Through interviews with experts in each of their different fields of holistic wellness and medicine, you will learn how to use your own mind to create a life of health and empowerment. Deeply passionate about the subject of depression, suicide awareness and prevention, she desires to take the stigma away from this disease and provide facts and information to allow you to know there is hope. Healing through inspiration and information, Cellaâs Chat invites you to create a space in your life where all things are possible. Tune in every Thursday at 1 PM Pacific Time, 4 PM Eastern Time on the VoiceAmerica Health and Wellness Channel.
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This weekâs episode, The New Buzz: Chronic Endocrine Disorders on Holy Hormones Honey! Airs January 16th LIVE at 9 am Pacific.  Catch this episode and others on demand every day here!
Once upon a time, words like immune-compromised, ADHD, Autism, Alzheimerâs, Parkinson disease, obesity, diabetes, hormone imbalance, adrenal fatigue, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome toxicity, gut function, food allergies and nutrient deficiency were not a part of our vocabulary. Today these words are embedded in our vernacular. Now a new term is entering the language: âchronic endocrine disorders’. Margarita Ochoa-Maya, MD, CDE CCD believes it is time to become proactive and personal about our health. She is a proponent of nutrition and micronutrients as key determining factors for the prevention of chronic illness. Prevention, patient knowledge and treating the whole person, not just the disease, are the keys to achieving wellness for everyone, especially those with chronic endocrine disorders. Dr. Ochoa-Maya will weave together the latest knowledge and cutting edge research in the traditional medical world, with other integrative therapies.
Guest Bio:
Dr. Ochoa-Maya originally from Medellin Columbia, graduated from Instituto de Ciencia de la Salud CES and completed her Internal Medicine Residency at Boston City Hospital/Boston Medical Center in Massachusetts. She then completed a fellowship in Endocrinology and Metabolism at Brigham and Womenâs Hospital.
Dr. Ochoa-Maya, MD, CDE established Advanced Health and Wellbeing in 2010. With an 11-year history of practicing endocrinology, Dr. Ochoa-Maya, is well-known in southern New Hampshire as well as along the east coast through Florida.
Dr. Ochoa-Maya demonstrates her ongoing commitment to patient education by leading open discussions focusing on her areas of expertise and expands this commitment by actively participating in community activities that promote health literacy. Her main efforts are to understand and to help others acknowledge the influence hormones have on total health, happiness and physical appearance.
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With HHS Secretary Sebelius recently announcing long-awaited parity laws, our two mental health experts will explain what this means for Americans who suffer from mental illness and how insurance companies will now have to give equal coverage to people who have a mental disorder. They will also speak about the new federal grants for community health centers that are helping people sign up for health insurance. Jamison Monroe is the CEO of Newport Academy, a mental health and addiction facility in CA and CT, who believes this will finally make mental health treatment affordable, bringing people with mental illness out of the shadows. Carolyn Wolf, an attorney in mental health law, believes this is long-overdue, as the insurance companies have fought for years not to cover people with mental illnesses. But the next fight is getting insurance companies to actually follow the law.
Tune in with Mary Woods on “One Hour At A Time” for her new episode “New Parity Laws And What It Means For Insurance Coverage with guests Jamison Monroe, Jr. CEO, Newport Academy and Carolyn Reinach Wolf, Attorney in Mental Health Law” On the Voiceameica Health and Wellness Channel. Every Monday 12 PM Pacific Time.
Recovery, whether it is from substance abuse or a mental illness, or both requires a treatment plan, which in many cases is as effective as treatments for other chronic illnesses. âOne Hour AT A Timeâ will increase awareness about recovery and decrease the discrimination against individuals in the recovery process. Host Mary Woods, will help people understand the recovery of adults and families living with co-occurring substance use disorders and psychotic and/or affective illness over the course of a lifetime. Helping individuals develop the skills and knowledge they need to take personal responsibility for their health and supporting individuals in their efforts to get on with life beyond illness has been Maryâs mission and she now brings that mission to the airwaves. Broadcasting live on VoiceAmerica Health and Wellness every Monday afternoon at 12 PM Pacific, âOne Hour AT A Timeâ â where recovery begins with education.
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This is a quick recipe that is easy to make, delicious, healthy, vegan and full of chocolate. Interested? Thought so! Perfect for impressing guests or just enjoying on your own.
Serves 2
Ingredients
For the chocolate fudge:
– ¾ cup maple syrup
– ¾ cup cacao powder
– 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
– pinch of salt
For the mudslide:
– 1 cup So Delicious Almond Plus unsweetened almond milk
– 2 bananas, peeled and frozen
– 1 tablespoon chocolate fudge
– 1 teaspoon almond extract
– stevia to taste (optional)
Instructions
For the fudge:
– Place ingredients in high-speed blender until thoroughly mixed.
– Set aside 1 tablespoon of the mixture to add in the mudslide.
– Take the remaining mixture and place in a piping bag/plastic bag
For the mudslide:
– Place all the mudslide ingredients in high-speed blender (liquids first) until smooth & creamy
To serve:
– Swirl chocolate fudge inside glass (using the piping bag/plastic bag),
– Pour in mudslide mixture
– Garnish with a swirl of chocolate fudge
Please note: You will have some extra fudge left over to enjoy later. Perfect topping for ice cream and will last for 5 days in the fridge
Tasty Alternative: Make a Mocha Mudslide by using coffee extract in place of almond extract.
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Aimee DuFresne. certified as a life coach and raw vegan chef, Aimee worked at a chiropractic clinic and benefited from learning more about health and wellness. Aimee and her guests, leading health, wellness and lifestyle experts, shatter the myth life has to be so hard and teach you vital lessons to live a life you love. Vital Lessons guides you to clear the clutter from your outer life and calm your inner chaos. Aimee and her expert interviewees will give you tips, tools and techniques to set yourself up for success, whether it is increased energy, improved work/life balance, deeper relationships, thriving after loss, or simply taking the time to relax and enjoy the moment. Listen in and be inspired to keep going to create the life you crave. Vital Lessons is broadcast live every Wednesday at 11 AM Pacific Time on VoiceAmerica Health and Wellness.
Listen Live: http://www.voiceamerica.com/show/2243/vital-lessons-feeding-your-body-mind-and-soul
