20 - MARCI Fall 11

Our Vision To strengthen and support the community of holistic professionals.

Our Mission StatementTo create a unified community of compas-sionate holistic practitioners that will contribute to enhancing our profession and ourselves by providing a supportive space to share, learn, teach, grow, and lead.

Our PledgeThe Holistic Mentorship Network supports the Holistic Professional, as well as the Community by providing the space to network, build a referral base, mentor and support each other in business development and growth, promote community awareness and education of alternative services and products, and meet potential clients.

A Community of

Holistic Professionals

An international holistic and wellness

magazine that promotes conscious

living.

MARCI™ was started by Linda Mitchell in 2002 in response to a need for the hyper growth that the holistic wellness industry was experiencing. It was our intention for practitioners to refer to MARCI™ as a resource tool for their daily practice. Much to our joy, MARCI™ has grown by leaps and bounds and now features articles and tips on everything from health and wellness to sustainable living.

- Linda Mitchell, Founder of HMN & MARCI™

4MARCI™ Fall 2001

Inside This Issue:War Has an Impact on the Human SpiritBy Linda Mitchell 6

AN Interview with Gary Null:

Photo Essay: Hands on the World GlobalBrings a Gift of Water 20By Dawn J. Benko

MARCI TM SPOTLIGHT WRITERVeterans — Welcome to America’s Grave New World of PTSDBy Gary Null 22Historic Settlement Brings Benefitsto Thousands of Iraq, Afghanistan Vets 30“The Secret” Coaching: Your Powerful IntuitionBy Lisa Nichols 32

The Body Remembers Traumatic EventsBy Dr. Beth Haessig, PsyD. 33Project Planet NetworkTM

Earth Around UsWith Madison Nosal, age 9 36Looking Inward Can Reveal Past Life SoldiersBy Herb Palmer 56The Time is Right to Grow Your Holistic Business NowBy Shree Raghavan 57

Featured ContributorOur Soldiers Are Getting Sick from WarAn Interview with Gary NullBy Jefferson Harman 10Injured Vets, Labeled With PD,Are Denied HelpAn Interview with Joshua KorsBy Jefferson Harman 12

Board MembersLinda Mitchell, Founder & Exec. DirectorDonna Price, PresidentVivian Sartoretto, Leadership & Membership & EventsJordan Brown, Integrative Medicine & EducationKathy Lynch, Integrative Medicine & Education Karen Flaherty, Public Relations Eileen Maciejunes, Secretary Tracy Nosal, Treasurer Joan Velardi, Marketing Jefferson Harman, Publishing

Publishing CommitteeJefferson Harman, ChairJanine M. Torsiello, Editor Erin Saxton, Media StrategistDawn Benko, Photojournalist Sheri Horn Hasan, Journalist Linda Mitchell, Exec. Dir.

StaffLinda Mitchell

Exec. Dir. & Editor-in-ChiefJanine M. Torsiello

Editor & Layout DesignerDawn J. Benko

Photographer

Disclaimer

The views expressed within the various articles are not necessarily the views of the Holistic Mentorship Network, publisher of MARCI™. Copyright for all articles, poems, etc. are owned by the respective authors. Permission to copy or use in any manner is at the sole discretion of the writer.

Letters to

We would love to hear from you!

Please write to us at:[email protected]

Inside This Issue:Calendar of Events 59

ColumnsCreative ArtsWith Beth Olney 38AromatherapyWith Christina Santiago 39The Whole PetWith Beth Lowell 40Personal Development CoachingWith Hueina Su 41

Working With SpiritWith Christina Lynn Whited 42

Eat Right...Feel RightWith Judith Gisser 43Conscious Parenting: Age 13 & UnderWith Beth Haessig 44

SpiritualityWith Catherine Perry 45

Money CoachingWith Tom Selkow 46

Everyday AcupressureWith Susannah Pitman 47

Night SailingWith Jefferson Harman 48

Legislative MattersWith Omar Rashed 52

5MARCI™ Fall 2001

Contact Information55 Newton-Sparta Road,

Newton, NJ 07860Phone: (973) 300-1184 Fax: (973) 300-1189

www.HolisticMentorshipNetwork.com [email protected]

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a commonplace word today as more and

more alternative routes of treatments are disclosing and igniting discussions on trauma that is being misdi-agnosed under psychological and physiological disorders.

These experiences in our life, whether known, or un-known, can and will lead to a lifetime of triggers that occur from a traumatic episode that puts us in a “flight or fight” state, if not discharged.

We are at war, in our home-land, and afar. In one way or other, we are veterans in our own lives here on earth.

You cannot live on this planet, and not be affected by death, divorce, physical, emo-tional and mental abuse, sepa-ration, natural causes such as flooding, terrorism and, yes, the impact that war has on our vets, their families and the homeland that war has erupted in.

It is time to “break the silence” of trauma, and address the im-pact war has on our troops, that our country, the USA, holds itself accountable for when it is deemed necessary to go to war, and the aftermath that war plays on our soldiers, their fami-lies and this country as a whole. I am honored to have Gary Null, PhD, a strong leader and

those who have served in past wars, or presently in Iraqi and Afghanistan.

The psychological impact of leaving home to kill an-other human being, no mat-ter the age, I can only begin to imagine its psychotic im-pact on the mind, body and spirit.

Service men and women are sworn to military and governmental secrecy, and are left carrying their sto-ries in their heads, and lodged in the cellular mem-ory with no escape route. Gary details how exposure to “biological and chemi-cal agents, experimental vaccines, environmental toxins — ranging from the

by-products of air pollutants re-leased from burning oil wells to depleted uranium” leave their mark in the physical and psy-chological effects of illnesses and a depleted immune system leading to a whole spectrum of diseases.

The emotional impact leaves many vets struggling with ad-justing to civilian life, and often times on the brink of divorce, unable to keep a job, homeless-ness and too often will lead to suicide.

Dr. Beth L. Haessig, Psy. D., a licensed psychologist, Core Energetic Therapist, and Yoga

activist for human rights in healthcare and well-being and an award winning director of progressive documentary films, including “Prescription for Di-saster“ (2008), and “Gulf War Syndrome: Killing Our Own” (2007), to share his intensive re-search on the effect war has had on our veteran community with Jefferson Harman, Chairperson of MARCI™ Publishing Com-mittee and journalist.

Gary is outspoken on the ef-fects war has had on the men and women who have served America. His outrage is justi-fied.

Whether you agree, or don’t agree with war, is irrelevant to cont’d on page 8

6MARCI™ Fall 2001

War Has an Impact on the Human Spirit

a message by Linda Mitchell,

Founder of HMN & MARCI™

Join Gary every weekday at 12 noon at ProgressiveRadioNetwork.com for the latest in health and hear conversations with the real voices behind a new renaissance — audacious thinkers, scientists, physicians and healers, polemicists, investigative reporters and raconteurs. Listen in anytime via the ProgressiveRadioNetwork.com archives.

The Gary Null Show on ProgressiveRadioNetwork.com

So, why starve yourself on NPR’s Wonderbread when you can nourish your mind with real food at WBAI?

Harvey Cox

Michio Kaku Helen Caldicott Andrew Bacevich

Ashok Gangadean Andrew Wakefield Sherri Tenpenny

F. William Engdahl

Cynthia Mckinney Michael Parenti Mae Wan Ho

Peter Breggin

Sister Miriam McGillis

Amit Goswami

Uri Avnery Wendell BerryRupert Sheldrake

Erwin Laszlo

Barbara Ehernreich

Lester Brown

William McKibben Marjorie Cohn

Jim Hightower

Joan Halifax Henry Grayson Chris Hedges Susannah Heschel Michael Hudson Rebiya Kadeer Naomi Wolf Dennis Kucinich Simon Johnson Rabbi Michael Lerner

Ralph Nader Marion Nestle Greg Palast Elisabet Sahtouris Nomi Prins Frances Moore Lappe

Michael Ruppert Joe Bageant John RobbinsJames Lovelock

James Galbraith Jane Goodall

Danny Schechter

Dean Baker

Gerald Selente Johan Galtung Morris Berman

teacher, who has gone through additional training with the Trauma Resiliency Model , ad-dresses trauma specific to veter-ans and those exposed to natural disasters. Dr. Haessig states that “The challenges I see for veter-ans from today’s wars, as well as the past, is often their reticence to seeking help. There persists a sense of shame surrounding symptoms of trauma—as if the veteran sees them as character weaknesses.”

Both Gary Null & Dr. Haessig offer insight to governmental and military psychiatrists, psy-chologists and social workers who generally have little under-

standing or education in PTSD, and according to one military person feel “that you need to be in the military culture to under-stand a vet and be trustworthy.”

Doesn’t this kind of thinking leave our vets with limited re-sources in recovering from the impact war has on the mind, body and spirit?

Whatever you choose to call it, holistic, alternative, comple-mentary medicine is having a huge impact on healthcare to-day. A multibillion dollar in-dustry, with out-of-pocket ex-penses going to treat symptoms from disorders such as PTSD.

Susannah Pitman, MS, Lac (licensed acupuncturists) and a regular columnist for MARCI™, offers a pressure point found on the bottom of your foot to re-

lieve anxiety caused by trauma. Another therapy that “Even the Pentagon” is turning to is Aro-matherapy according to colum-nist Christina Santiago CHBC, CCA, CRTP.

Summing it up, isn’t it time the American people took back their right to have a healthcare system that is affordable to all, and integrates a complementary approach to both conventional and alternative medicine?

This issue is dedicated to our service men and women. Thank you for serving. It is my hope and dedication that MARCI™ will be at the forefront in rais-ing awareness to the effects of trauma and offer a passage for healing and recovery.

In Peace —

8MARCI™ Fall 2001

Spiritcontinued from page 6

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Our Soldiers Are Getting

Sick from War

MARCI™ Featured Writer

10MARCI™ Fall 2001

Photo Courtesy of Gary NullGary Null, host of the talk radio program “The Gary Null Show,” is seen broadcasting from his studio.

Gary Null, in conversation

withJefferson

Harman, HMN Publishing Committee

Chair, addresses

some aspects of the plight of our veterans,

especially those returning from war in Iraq and Afghanistan


Jefferson: Can you give us a snapshot of your work with veterans?

Gary: I started in 1991 dur-ing the first Gulf conflict un-der George Bush Sr. People be-gan contacting me saying that they had unusual symptoms — sweats, urine with blood in it, kidney pains, blurred vision — prior to going into the actual theater of operations. It was a very short war, if you remember and we virtually annihilated his (Saddam Hussein’s) forces from Kuwait back to Baghdad. Then what could have caused (these symptoms)?

So I began to look at each piece. The first and foremost was that every single soldier

was getting multiple vaccines. All of these vaccines were ex-perimental. None had been done with any clinical trials whatsoever to see their long-term impact synergistically, in-cluding (vaccines for) botulism and anthrax.

In some cases, soldiers got 10, others saying they got 15 vaccines all at once. We know that the vaccines were hurting them because so many people said, “I got the vaccines and immediately I got sick.”

Others said they got sick within a day of being in Sau-di Arabia or Kuwait. Then a whole group began to have these symptoms. In just one platoon, half the platoon were

sick. They’d never been in con-flict. So we’re not talking about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Second, people contacted me who had been in conflict but not direct hand-to-hand or seeing the enemy — people in camps. One example: Three men all from the same pla-toon said that late at night they heard popping noises. They looked up and they saw SCUD missiles going off. They saw the sky illuminate with this yellowish look, and then about two minutes later, they felt their skin and eyes burning. They had to take their clothes off and they started scrubbing down. They got very sick. They were vomiting blood. They de-veloped lesions on their skin.

The next day, a special group came in with white outfits, took all the clothes, took everything and told people “this didn’t happen.” And I thought, why would they say that. And one of them (the soldiers) said this: “We were told that there were no biological weapons used in the first Gulf conflict.”

So what if there was? Why

cont’d on page 14

Gary Null sat down for a phone interview with Jefferson Harmon to talk about some of his holistic wellness work with our military veterans, who suffer from many different ailments ranging from

some unexplained illnesses possibly resulting from exposure to chemicals to more recognized problems such as PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder).

Photo courtesy of Jefferson Harman

Jefferson Harman reads the symbols present in your dreams & everyday life. By interpreting this invisible language, he identifies your blocks & challenges & ways to overcome them. He offers workshops & private readings in Lucid Dreaming & Overcoming Your Phobias. Jefferson is a recur-ring guest on “Life Unedited” with John Aberle, on WCHE Radio 1520 AM, in the Philadelphia area (lis-ten live at wche1520.com). He is developing a pod-cast, “Everyday Symbology”, with psychic medium & certified hypno-therapist Patti Lehman discussing all things metaphysical. Jefferson is a Board Mem-ber of HMN, chairing the Publishing Committee, & is a practitioner at Peaceful Paths in Butler, NJ and Full Circle Counseling in Lincoln Park, NJ. www.everydaysymbology.com ; 973.839.9317.


Jefferson Harman talks with Joshua Kors, investigative

reporter for The Na-tion magazine, about his work with veterans who have been denied benefits because they have been labeled with Personality Disorder or PD.

Jefferson: Can you tell our readers about Personality Disorder and the American Military?

Joshua: Personality Dis-order (PD) is a pre-existing mental illness. It is being used in military circles is as a fraudulent diagnosis to get rid of soldiers who are deemed undesirable because they have a physical ailment based on a war wound, or they’ve complained about sexual harassment, these sorts of things.

I think most Americans know the phrase from the health care wars, “pre-existing” means no benefits. It’s the same in the mili-tary. It means no disability pay and no medical care for the rest of your life. For soldiers who are wounded, that is just a devastat-ing blow.

In the case of Sgt. Chuck Lu-ther, he was physically wounded

by mortar fire while serving in Iraq. A blow to his head left him with severe visual impairment. Headaches that were so intense one eye would black out. The other he said, was like somebody stabbing him in the eye with a knife. He went to the aid station at Camp Taji to tell them about this injury and they told him “Oh, we’ve just discovered you have a personality disorder.” They wanted him to sign the papers to say that, and when he wouldn’t, they tortured him.

They put him in a closet and held him there for over a month under enforced sleep depravation. There were armed guards keep-ing the lights on all night, blasting heavy metal music at him. At one point, he tried to escape the closet. They pinned him down, injected him with sleeping medication and dragged him back.

Finally, after a month he was willing to sign any-thing. He signed his name to the PD discharge. They shipped him back to Texas and told him he would receive no disability pay, no medical care. Also, one of the small print provisions of a PD discharge is that the soldiers have to give back

a portion of their signing bonus.

So on the day of their dis-charge, thousands of soldiers

from Iraq and Afghanistan are finding out they actually owe the Army several thousand dollars. They gave Sgt. Luther a bill for $1,500 and said “If you don’t pay it, we’re going to start assessing interest and garnishing your wages.

Jefferson: That’s outrageous. And if you can take something like a physical wound and apply PD to that, what’s happening

cont’d on next page

Injured Veterans, Labeled With PD, Are Denied Help

by Jefferson Harman

Photo by Courtesy of Joshua KorsAs an investigative reporter for The Nation magazine, Joshua Kors covers military and veterans issues and he has interviewed Gary Null about his work with veterans as well

to the people who are suffering from PTSD or depression be-cause of the experience of being at war? Would you describe the difference between PD and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?

Joshua: This is a tricky issue that is worth clearing up. I’ve been covering veterans issues for several years and I have reported about PTSD in some of my piec-es. But I try to avoid it because it’s so poorly understood and so easily confused with other sig-nificant problems like PD. As I said when I was testifying before Congress, PD and PTSD have as much in common, as Mark Twain said, as lightning and the lightning bug. They have similar letters, and that’s pretty much where the similarity stops.

PD is a severe mental ill-ness that arises in childhood. It’s something that prevents a person from cooperating in a group setting, from participating effectively, taking orders. But we’re talking about soldiers who have served many years, win-ning medals — in Sgt. Luther’s case he had served a dozen years and won 22 honors for his performance. It was only after he was physically wounded by mortar fire that this “pre-existing condition” was discovered.

And severe mental illnesses are screened out. No soldier coming in, if he had these, except in the rarest of cases where the screening was extraordinarily faulty — would make it into the military to begin with. That’s why the strict screening process exists in the first place.

Additionally, PTSD or Shell

Shock is a physical war wound. It’s when the neurons in the brain are stressed to the breaking point and thus cannot electrically fire in the appropriate way. People often dismiss it as a psychological illness, not really connecting that it’s a physical injury. The reason that flashbacks, severe nightmares or hallucinations pop up is be-cause of the physical wound from the severe stress for an extreme amount of time placed on these soldiers in combat.

Jefferson: How many of these fraudulent discharges have been signed?

Joshua: Since 2001, over 25,600 soldiers have been pressed into signing these phony PD dis-charges. It’s saving the military over 14.2 billion dollars in dis-ability and medical care.

Jefferson: How far back does this go in history?

Joshua: Generations ago. I’ve gotten calls from soldiers from Vietnam saying, “This happened to me.” One vet told me he had Shell Shock from fighting in the jungles in Vietnam. He took my article to the VA in Las Vegas and said, “This is what hap-pened to me. I have been denied medical care and disability pay for 40 years. I’d like you to re-examine my case.” They took my article and his medical data, re-examined him and decided yes indeed, he did have Shell Shock. They started giving him medical care for the first time in 40 years and they gave him a check for tens of thousands of dollars — back pay for all of the benefits they owed him over those years.

Jefferson: Is there anything our readers can do to help?

Joshua: Absolutely. I would encourage people to get in-formed about this issue. Go to

my Web site and click the purple heart in the upper right hand corner. That will lead you to joshuakors.com/military. There are videos to watch as well as my three-part series on this. There is video of Sgt. Luther testifying before Congress, describing how he was tortured during his US Army service. Forward it to your friends and family and encour-age them to forward it on.

While he was a senator, Presi-dent Obama put forward a bill to halt all PD discharges. He’s been on top of this from the very be-ginning. It didn’t pass in its orig-inal form because there wasn’t a widespread understanding of this issue. That understanding really begins with listeners, with readers. And if they don’t do the research needed to understand what’s going on, there’s never going to be a groundswell or a push for this to stop.

Jefferson: So by bringing awareness to this, we really can have a very profound affect on this situation.

Joshua: Absolutely. It’s impor-tant to note that I’m an investiga-tive reporter. I’m not an advo-cate. But I’m also an American and there are no political sides when it comes to the proper treatment of our soldiers. Ev-eryone wants to see the best for them.

Joshua Kors is an investigative reporter for The Nation Maga-zine, where he covers military and veterans’ issues. In addition to numerous awards, his work is featured in the American Society of Magazine Editors’ anthology “The Best American Magazine Writing 2008.” To hear more about this subject, listen to Gary Null’s July 2001 interview with Joshua Kors at http://thegarynullshow.podbean.com/2011/07/14/the-gary-null-show/ or visit www.joshuakors.com.


Denied Help continued from page 12

not just acknowledge it?

Jefferson: I agree, it seems odd not to acknowledge it. Were you able to discover why?

Gary: As my research con-tinued, I saw that it was be-cause in the eight-year war between Iran and Iraq, we supported Iraq and we put Saddam Hussein in power. My investigation found docu-ments (showing) that over four billion dollars in aid was smuggled to Saddam through agricultural invoices. We dis-guised what we were sending him. We also gave him the ingredients for anthrax and botulism — chemical and bio-logical warfare banned under the Geneva and all interna-tional treaties.

As signators, our country signed an international trea-ty. It supersedes any laws you have on your own books. It becomes the sovereign doc-trine.

Jefferson: May I ask which administration?

Gary: It was the Bush Ad-ministration.

Jefferson: Bush Sr.

Gary: Bush Sr. But Fort De-trick and other secret, illegal, offensive biological weapons research had been going on through each successive gen-eration going back to (Presi-dent Dwight) Eisenhower.

So they had all been engaged in illegal biological weapons research. It can be shown that

the biological and chemical weapons that were used by Saddam Hussein on the Kurds came from the United States and Great Britain. He was ulti-mately hanged, but at no time in that trial did the American media do their homework to show that we (the Unit-ed States and Great Britain) should have been held ac-countable with crimes against humanity. For all the Iranians and all the Kurds who were killed by Saddam Hussein, we were participants. We were en-ablers. So they had to deny all biological and chemical weap-ons.

Jefferson: What evidence is there that these weapons were used in the Gulf War?

Gary: There was chemi-cal and biological detection equipment in the field, called the Fox Unit. The Czechs had the most sophisticated bio-logical and chemical weapon detection device — 14,000

alarms went off. The head of our command (General Nor-man) Schwarzkopf and sec-ond in command, (Gen.) Co-lin Powell said every single one was a false alarm. But the soldiers said it wasn’t.

And then I did a (documen-tary) film on this called “Gulf War Syndrome — Killing Our Own” and you see a muni-tions dump that was captured from Saddam Hussein’s men. A soldier went in and was just taking some camera shots and you see that the munitions boxes (are) made in the USA.

So they went outside and they detonated this muni-tions place, and something unusual happened. You see this yellow-brown-orange cloud formation like a donut, and it hovered right over the area. That’s chemical and bio-logical weapons.

No one was in protective



Sick Vetscontinued from page 11

Photo by iStockSmoke and fragmentation grenades, radio, bullets, magazines and com-pass are just some of the munitions used in Iraq. In addition to the weap-ons that U.S. are carrying, they could also be exposed to the stores of chemical and biological weapons that were in Saddam Hussein’s control, which originated from the U.S. and Great Britain, Gary Null says.

gear. The wind then carried this (cloud) in a particular direction. It was later shown that the highest number of people reporting sick (from) Gulf War Syndrome (GWS) were in the field where it went, I think it was over a hundred miles. Over 100,000 G.I.’s were exposed.

One woman that I worked with was Jazz. She was petite, about 107 pounds, 5’2. When she came to see me, she had to wear a long dress. And from her waist up, she looked fine. She said that she was there at one of those explosions. About two weeks later she got really sick. And then she showed me her calves. They were the size of basketballs.

Her skin was so distorted it was literally ripping apart. Her calves were probably 30 inches around or more. I worked with her, and I got her back to health.

She had exotic viruses and bacteria in her. In fact, all the Gulf vets who suffer from GWS had such unique bio-chemical elements in them that a Dr. Garth Nicholson who had been a professor and a Chairman of the De-partment at MD Anderson in Texas discovered what he called mycoplasm incognitus. (Note: Mycoplasma refers to a genus of bacteria that lack a cell wall. Without a cell wall, they are unaffected by many common antibiotics such as penicillin or other beta-lactam antibiotics that target cell wall synthesis.)1

This was not a naturally oc-curring mycoplasm. It was

genetically engineered. He wrote an article on it and he said, “This is a weapon-ized microorganism,” which means someone had to create this in a laboratory.

Now then the question is — why? Well, based upon all that we could find, this would debilitate troops. It doesn’t kill them right away, but makes them incapable of fighting. So imagine if you had this and you got it into a water or food or inoculation supply of an enemy. Then in effect, without having to de-stroy the enemy or its town, you would destroy their ca-pacity to fight.

And then the question is, “But why would we do this to our own troops?” I don’t be-lieve that they intended at all

to do this to our own troops. I believe that they simply, as they historically had always done, were using some of our troops as experiments.

Now I had done the original research that was published in a landmark article in October 1989 showing that our gov-ernment had routinely used American subjects — the pop-ulation in general — but spe-cifically members of the armed forces and prisoners and chil-dren as experimental guinea pigs. This was confirmed through Freedom of Infor-mation Act documents. Over 2,000 experiments were done.

Jefferson: Can you give us an example?

Gary: One experiment, they





fed toast to children in a hos-pital that had radiation on it just to see how much dam-age it would do to their kid-neys. No one was ever held accountable, but then again that’s typical.

So what we have is — we now have over 800,000 of our troops — that’s more than one in three that have served in the first and second Gulf theater who are suffering from physical, not psycho-logical conditions. And the government has said across all of them — “doesn’t exist.” And now when soldiers are injured, shot in conflict, they will put that they suffer from Personality Disorder (PD).

Jefferson: Yes, this is what you had spoken about with Joshua Kors (The Nation mag-azine) and I really applaud you for that radio show. It re-ally opened my eyes. I know friends who were in both wars and I personally did not know what I learned from your radio show and I just want to thank you for broad-casting that.

Gary: I appreciate that. I took it a step further. If this is happening to Americans, is it happening to the peo-ple in Iraq? So we filmed in Iraq, and in Fallujah and we found that, against interna-tional laws, they were using white phosphorus, which is banned. And the number of children being born now with birth defects in Iraq is off the charts. Parents are told, “do not have babies.” You have babies born with no brain, a baby born with an eye in the

middle of its head, rare can-cers — and it is epidemic. It is pandemic.

Then you have depleted uranium. Doug Rokke2 and George Reilly and other in-dividuals who had very spe-cific expertise in GWS and depleted uranium showed that the more our soldiers were exposed to the muni-tions that had been made from depleted uranium —such as all the tanks and shells — the sicker they were, and they suffered from radiation toxicity. Which doesn’t happen immediate-

ly, it takes some time.

A scientist who I filmed who was also in the Iraq War, took urine samples, and the VA (Veteran’s Administra-tion) said there were no re-sults. So he took them to a lab in Canada and found they all had depleted uranium in their systems at very high levels.

Now don’t be confused by the misnomer “depleted” uranium. There’s nothing de-pleted. It is extremely toxic. It’s like a nuclear facility hav-



To Learn More

Gary Null has created four documentary films on veterans’ issues to date, (see below). You can watch video clips from these documentaries at his youtube page, http://www.youtube.com/user/GaryNullTV.

Friendly Fire: Exposing Gulf War Syndrome, 2006 Gulf War Syndrome: Killing Our Own, 2007 Gulf War Syndrome: A Deadly Legacy, 2008 U.S. Govt. to Iraq-Afghan Veterans: Drop Dead, 2010

For information on these and other films, go to www.garynull.com Gary’s films are also available for purchase at iTunes.

Also of interest, listen to George Carlin’s “Euphemistic Language”, where he breaks down the etymology of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and other “soft language” words and phrases. It is available on the 1990 Atlantic Records CD “George Carlin: Explicit Lyrics - Parental Advisory” and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNk_kzQCclo&fmt=22


ing spent fuel rods. It’s not spent. If one piece the size of a toothpick of a nuclear spent fuel rod was beside you, you’d be dead in a matter of hours. That’s how toxic this is.

Jefferson: And these sol-diers are working with these materials every day?

Gary: All day long. They could be in their bullets, in the bombs, the shells. The reason they’re used is it just shoots through metal like butter. But then they micro-crystallize. Boom, goes the bomb, but it doesn’t go away. Then it’s like you sneezing. You don’t see what just came out of your mouth, but about 20,000 vi-ruses just came out with each sneeze. And that will stay for-ever. Depleted uranium will stay in the environment for at least four billion years.

You cannot clean it up or destroy it, because it’s micro-crystallized. It goes wherever the wind blows. So virtually all the water, soil, and air in all of that area of the world is contaminated. That’s one of the reasons the children are being born with birth defects. And the adults are suffering from immune dysfunctions and cancers.

Then you have bottled wa-ter. All the soldiers in 110-120 degrees wearing 110 pounds of body armor packed on them, they’re going to drink a lot. You start putting plastic out in hot weather, and the polymers, the chemicals in the plastic are released into the water. It will affect the nervous system.

Then they use DEET, which is a very toxic chemical that’s treated to help keep the pests off. But that also causes ex-treme skin conditions, bleed-ing psoriasis and excema. It also adversely affects the im-mune system.

So then you put it all to-gether. This is before ever ac-tually being affected by the trauma of combat — seeing people killed, killing people, being injured. You’ve got bio-logical and chemical weapons in the First conflict, not the Second. Depleted uranium, experimental vaccines, DEET, pesticides, and that is what destroys the immune system.

Now with each hearing they have covered it up. The White House under Bush, un-der Clinton, and under Bush

again all said GWS wasn’t real. the VA: it’s not real. For a simple reason, they would have to treat these people and the cost would be about a hundred billion dollars.

Jefferson: So these 800,000 people, are they on disabil-ity? Are they receiving any money?

Gary: No. They don’t get a nickel. I went to Washington. I interviewed legislators, sen-ators, house members — no one can do a thing. So these people have gone broke. They’ve lost their homes. They’ve lost their lives. They’ve committed suicide.

Now that’s the first group. The second group, it gets worse. They start giving these



people anti-psychotic medica-tions. The side effects which — A.) they don’t work, they’re a complete fraud. But B.) the side effects are suicide and a particular type of defect to the genes that the anti-psychotic medication makes you homi-cidal. And you start looking at the high incidence of violence, suicide and murder in people who are coming back. So now you have a whole other layer of problems.

So people who are physically wounded where you can see they have shrapnel or a bul-let wound, initially they were treated in a hospital. But when they came back they were told they cannot get any medical treatment or any disability at all because they suffer from Personality Disorder that they had before they went in and they’re faking it.

So then you start looking at the number of G.I.’s who have died from GWS and it’s over 75,000. We are quickly approaching a number of peo-ple who have died from GWS that’s way beyond Vietnam. It’s getting up there close to World War I in another couple years with the way it’s going.

Jefferson: I applaud you for the research that you’ve done, and the work that you’ve done to benefit the veterans in this country. Just getting the infor-mation out there is enormously important. What can our read-ers do in order to help?

Gary: First, stop believing the lies that the puppets on televi-sion tell us until such time that you see Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity and Laura Ingram

and all the others who are so pro-war go to where I was and look at the consequences to the Iraqi children, the Iraqi people, the innocents who suffer. Be-cause when I ask, “Has Sean Hannity ever been here?” (The answer is) “Never.”

We’re now dealing with 900,000 homeless vets, almost a million. That’s in addition to

the GWS vets. So you’re deal-ing with a major catastrophe but they have no major pub-licity. They do have some ad-vocates but they’re not orga-nized. That’s why I did three films and that’s why this latest film shows you this. You get to see the conditions under which they’re living.





Find those advocates who will stand up for the vets and get them the treatment they need, which is not drugs for their PTSD, but holistic coun-seling, housing and job oppor-tunities.

Jefferson: Can they access more information at your Web site?

Gary: Yes. If they go to garynull.com, and they go to my youtube movies, look un-der “homeless vets.” It’s a sto-ry that doesn’t have a happy ending, but if we don’t have the courage to see what we do and the consequences, then we shouldn’t be doing it.

In the prison logo it’s “Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.” We go around do-ing things that we never look at the consequences to our-selves or others. We just keep this mindless mindset going forward. We’ve got to stop. I’ve interviewed thousands of vets. And we’re making a ma-jor push in the next 12 months to bring this information to the attention of the world.

My hope is that within the next year I can have a new documentary that shows their dilemma and get that out there to the world.

Jefferson: I really greatly ap-preciate your time and all that you’re doing for the veterans in this country. Thank you.

Gary: Happy to help.

1. Ryan KJ, Ray CG (editors) (2004). Sherris Medical Micro-biology (4th ed.). McGraw Hill. pp. 409–12. ISBN 0838585299.

2. Doug Rokke. Ph.D., is a Vietnam and Gulf War Vet and an expert on ‘depleted uranium.’ He headed the US Army’s DU Project after the Gulf War, and advocates a ban on DU munitions. http://www.grassrootspeace.org/de-pleted_uranium.html

Gary Null, Ph.D, is a New York Times best-selling author, the host of the talk radio program, “The Gary Null Show”, and a pro-ducer of documentary films, PBS television programs and health and personal development videos. For more information about Gary Null media products, visit www.garynull.com


On August 11th, nine high school students and five adults from New

Jersey headed out on a mission to bring water, education, and fun to students in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. They are volunteers for Hands on the World Global (HOW Global), an organization founded by Rachael Paulson of Sparta, New Jersey. While the main purpose of

Steph Assaro and Scott Gaffney of Sparta play with students at the Sokhela Primary School.

Henry Mundrick of Jefferson sprays the students after helping to complete the installation of a water pump at the Sokhela Primary School, Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa.

Photo essay by Dawn J. Benko

Henry Mundrick of Jeffer-

son, Brian Vinniski of

Vernon and Eric Brown

of South Africa lower

the water pump into the well at

the Sokhela Primary School.

Mbalenhle Sokhela, a 6th grader at Sokhela Primary School in the village of Donnybrook, carries a bucket of water. Before the pump, students made this trek daily from a water source a half a mile away from the school.

Hands on the World Global Brings a Gift of Water


Founder of Hands on the World Global, Rachael Paulson, drinks water from the newly installed water pump at the Sokhela Primary School.

Students at the Sokhela Primart School fill buckets with the first water from their new water pump.

the organization is to bring clean drinking water to schools of needy communities, they also endeavor to teach the students of these schools about sustainable living and health related issues. On this particular trip,

a water pump was installed on the property of the Sokhela Primary School in the village of Donnybrook, and volunteers engaged in various workshops to teach

the children about health and personal hygiene.

HOW Global volun-teers, from left, Brian Vinniski of Vernon, Nora Jelly of Sparta, Aryan Falahatpisheh of Sparta, Eric Smuda of Sparta, Kiralee Knotts of West Long Branch, and Fran-cesca Mundrick of Jefferson, help carry buckets of water half a mile to the school.

Kiralee Knotts of West Long Branch and Aryan Falahatpisheh con-duct a tooth brushing workshop for young students at the Sokhela Primary School.

Beth Weston-Knotts, a nurse from West Long Branch, weighs a young student at the Sokhela Primary School.

Students at the Sokhela Primary School sing and dance as they cel-ebrate their new water pump.


Veterans — Welcome to America’s Grave New

World of PTSDby Gary Null, Phd.



MARCI™ Spotlight Writer

From 1991 to 2003, hundreds of thousands of our bravest men and women sought help from the Veterans Administration (VA), from the Department of Defense

(DoD), from the White House, all to no avail. The official word was that Gulf War Syndrome did not exist. So they suffered in silence. Tens of thou-sands died from these conditions. Many lost their homes because of the high costs to pay for medical care themselves. Independent investigations, in-cluding those conducted by many of the Gulf War veterans themselves, showed multiple causes be-hind Gulf War Syndrome, including experimental vaccines, exposure to depleted uranium (DU), and toxicity from biological and chemical weapons, oil fires and other environmental contaminants.

The current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are

manifesting a new array of physical and mental illnesses and diseases. Some are being recognized, such as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but many others are not. Hundreds of thousands of veterans are living in destitution, are incarcerated, have attempted or committed suicide, and can no longer fit into a normal family life. And yet the government once again, as it did to the first Gulf War vets, turns its backs on them. This is an Amer-ican tragedy.

Today’s American troops are sinking ever low-er into the abyss of the lost and forgotten. Severe depression, confusion and an existential lack of purpose swarms across our armed forces and our government barely notices. We are witnessing an-

Time magazine called him “The New Mr. Natural.” My Generation magazine dubbed him one of the top health gurus in the United States. For over 35 years, Gary Null has been one of the foremost voices of the health movement.

Through his New York Times Bestselling books, documentaries, and daily radio show Gary has continued to be a strong voice for the consumer,

standing up against big pharmaceutical corporations. Gary has also exposed the massive drugging of children in our schools, the medicinal abuse of seniors, and the unnecessary and overuse of X-Rays, among other health issues.In short Gary’s entire adult life has been spent fighting for a better way for all of us to live. He has the longest running health radio program in American history. He broadcasts 15 hours live per week.

DoD and VA refuse to associ-ate DU poisoning as a possible cause behind the onset of PTSD, and continues to propagandize the safety of depleted uranium, such testing is deemed unwar-ranted.

In the meantime, the military and VA clinics have succeeded in building a medical assembly line, a flowing treadmill push-ing through soldiers and veter-ans from short standardized ex-amination to an arrow pointing the way to the pharmacy.

A National Alliance to End Homelessness study calculated one out of four veterans are homeless.[3] The National Coali-tion for the Homeless figures are still greater at 33 percent and 1.5 million veterans are now at high-risk to become homeless “due to poverty, lack of support networks, and dismal living conditions in overcrowded or substandard housing.”[4] What is absent from these equations is the large number of veterans

nual illness increases in practi-cally every category of physical, emotional and mental health: physical combat injuries, PTSD, brain trauma and depression, impaired immune systems, common and rare cancers, dia-betes, reproductive disorders, a wide variety of inflammatory conditions among many other ailments.

Over-extended and multiple deployments are shattering sol-diers’ lives. The fabric of their social relationships is rapidly deteriorating. Divorce rates and broken homes are com-monplace, and a homeward bound ticket is only an assur-ance many will return as dam-aged goods, courtesy of our government’s negligence and disregard for human health.

And upon their return to Kansas, away from America’s killing fields in the Middle East, there awaits an economy in collapse under the weight of insane government bailouts to Wall Street, recessionary unem-ployment and rising homeless-ness, hungry children and ram-pant poverty, and an American culture every bit as disoriented and fearful about its future.

Welcome to America’s grave new world of PTSD.

The June 2010 issue of the Archives of General Psychia-try published a study of 18,300 Army soldiers screened at 3 and 12 month intervals follow-ing deployment in Iraq. The study found that using “the least stringent definition” for PTSD, rates now range between 20 and 30 percent, and depres-sion rates are at 11.5 and 16 per-cent.[1]

Together this accounts for al-most a third of our troops now suffering serious functional

mental impairment.The Rand Corporation’s

own analysis— surprisingly, because Rand has for many years been little more than an obedient lapdog for the Penta-gon’s bidding in churning out confounded research and sta-tistics for disreputable motives — conforms closely with this independent study’s results.[2]

The fumes of cover-ups and scandals arise when we repeat-edly hear the DoD and VA refusing to acknowledge po-tential organic causes, for ex-ample, the long-term exposure to neurological toxic chemicals and heavy metal particles, such as depleted uranium (DU), strewn by the winds over the sands of the deserts, for PTSD and other mental illnesses. Ac-tive and non-active duty per-sons visiting VA clinics and hospitals for mental and emo-tional complaints are not tested for any chemical toxicity that might be interfering with nor-mal brain function. Because the

PTSDcontinued from page 22



Photo by iStockA veteran suffers from PTSD. The current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are manifesting a new array of physical and mental illnesses and dis-eases. Some are being recognized, such as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but many others are not, Gary Null said.

physically and/or mentally in-capable of seeking and holding a job.

The VA estimates 131,000 veterans are homeless on any given night;[5] however, more independent analysis shows the figure can be as high as 300,000,[6] and upwards to 840,000 veterans will experi-ence homelessness during the course of a year. The majority of homeless veterans now suf-fer from some type of mental illness, including PTSD, and about 76 percent are struggling with substance abuse.

Political activist and jour-nalist David Swanson offers one of the more poignant rea-sons for rising suicides among our troops and veterans, “US troops are increasingly killing themselves, perhaps in part be-

cause they have no better idea than the senators who fund the slaughter what its purpose is.”[7]

Active duty GI and veteran suicides have skyrocketed so dramatically that even major news sources are compelled to report it. June 2010 witnessed the rise of suicide rates at one per day.[8] What the major me-dia stories don’t tell us is that traumatized and mentally im-paired soldiers are dangling for survival on a thin thread of lethal cocktails of antidepres-sants, benzodiazepines, antiep-ileptics, atypical psychoactive medications, and a variety of pain drugs. In an earlier study of nearly 1,000 active duty sui-cide attempts, over a third of the soldiers were on psychoac-tive drugs.

Veteran suicide rates are much higher and are reaching 20 per day. This accounts for 20 percent of the nation’s annual 30,000 suicides.[9] One out of seven suicide attempts will be

successful. But suicide preven-tion hotlines provide a more chilling scenario: 10,000 calls per month and 400 per month requiring immediate rescue ef-forts.[10]

Government and military psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers are not knowl-edgeable enough in treating the seriousness of many mental conditions. Navy Commander Mark Russell, a mental health specialist, found that almost 90 percent of psychiatric staffs servicing veterans have no for-mal training in PTSD therapies. Within the active duty ranks, the bottom line for treatment has been indiscriminate, multiple drug prescriptions. A startling 98 percent of military personnel seeking assistance for mental complications are simply being drugged and returned to their units.[11]

Dr. Doug Rokke, a retired Major who served as the Direc-





tor of the US Army Depleted Uranium Project in the mid-90s, and a specialist in urani-um clean-up efforts, has been an advisor for DU science and health to the CDC, US Institute of Medicine, Congress and the DoD. Dr. Rokke is convinced that the DoD’s own reports stating that almost 20 percent of active duty personnel in the current military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq are non-deployable because of severe illness, is the direct result from prolonged exposure to the tox-ic swamp that has become the middle east.[12]

During the Bush-Cheney freedom wars, over 1500 tons of depleted uranium tonnage

were used in Iraq. Iraq’s envi-ronment minister claims there are 350 sites contaminated with DU from bombing campaigns.[13] Once detonated, these highly toxic munitions radiate oxi-dized nano-size radioactive uranium particles in a gaseous state that infiltrate the lungs, digestion system and skin of anyone coming in contact with Iraq’s environment.

The nuclear chemist Marion Falk was a member of the Man-hattan Project. While employed at the National Laboratory at Livermore, he developed the “particle theory” about how DU affects human DNA and RNA. Based on Fulk’s research of DU-related malignancies, and later research conducted by Dr. Al-exandra Miller for the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute in 2001, the Pentagon has known for almost two de-

cades about DU’s serious dis-ease and reproductive risks, es-pecially in its nano-form, which reacts differently in the human body and is far more toxic than in its natural isotope.[14]

However, the US Depart-ment of State’s fact sheet for the health effects of depleted ura-nium continues to state that it “poses no serious health risks,” that it “has not affected the health of Gulf War veterans,” and that “depleted uranium does not cause birth defects.” The US government wants us to believe that the epidemic in ge-netic deformities and still births among Iraqi children is due to “Iraqi military use of chemical and nerve agents in the 1980s and 1990s.”[15]

Investigative journalist and scholar Robert Koehler notes there is a grave problem in the



Save 18%Special throughOct 2011

government’s DU argument. Afghanistan is now experi-encing a gradual and steady increase in abnormal birth de-fects, not dissimilar to those escalating throughout Iraq (infants and still births born without limbs, numerous tu-mors, deformed genitalia, etc.). Afghanistan has nothing to do with Sadaam’s biological and chemical weaponry, but has everything to do with the 600 tons of DU munitions the US and its British allies launched to destroy al-Qaeda strong-holds and eradicate the Taliban. Although the US government continues to deny using DU munitions in its Afghanistan campaign, a classified manual to NATO was recovered by the Bundeswehr’s Center for Com-munications in Germany in 2005 acknowledging that DU-core weapons were used in US aircraft and armor piercing in-cendiary weapons.[16]

Dr. Asaf Durakovic, at the Uranium Medical Research Center in Canada, sent a team in 2002 to examine soil and urine samples for uranium among Afghani civilians. His findings were startling. “Without ex-ception, every person donating urine specimens tested positive for uranium internal contamina-tion” and results were 100-400 times greater than levels found in veterans from the first Gulf War. When BBC interviewed Dr. Durakovic, he stated that the most disturbing discovery is that in the absence of multiple oil fires and pesticide use, and no known experimental vac-cines, such as the experimental squalene-laced anthrax vaccine given to Desert Storm person-nel, the same symptoms were emerging among Afghanis as were among veterans from the

Gulf War.[17] In a further study testing deployed soldiers from the 442nd Military Police Com-pany, Durakovic discovered several had traces of another uranium isotope, U-236, which is only produced in a nuclear reaction process.”[18] This is an-other highly dangerous form of uranium being used in the Middle East that the Pentagon has been hiding from American citizens and our troops.

Prolonged exposure to de-pleted uranium can damage the brain’s cerebellar vermis. Stud-ies show vermis atrophy in over 40 percent of schizophrenics, as well as symptoms such as deep feelings of guilt, anxiety, and paranoia.[19] When the vermis is damaged or impaired, our sense of space, nearness and distance, becomes distorted. In addition to veterans expe-riencing flashbacks, reliving traumatic experiences in the war or re-witnessing a horrific




Photo by iStockGary Null says the U.S. Department of Defense and the VA has not ad-equately studied or acknowledged any of the possible longterm effects of depleted uranium (DU) and other such toxins, used in chemical and biological weapons, on the mental state of soldiers with symptoms like PTSD.


event, another PTSD character-istic is hyper-vigilance, the state of constant alertness although the enemy terrorist or potential IED is spatially thousands of miles away. There are no spe-cific studies investigating the vermis’ relationship to abnor-mal states of hyper-vigilance, however, personal stories by vets reveal repeated patterns of a loss in their spatial reasoning and raises the serious question of DU poisoning.

In one of the most important peer-reviewed summaries on depleted and natural uraniums’ toxicological effects compiled by Duke University and pub-lished in the Journal of Toxicol-ogy and Environmental Health, uranium poisoning induces electrophysiological changes in the brain’s hippocampus, the region of the brain partly re-sponsible for memory.[20] When the hippocampus is damaged or undergoes biomolecular stress, one condition that arises can be amnesia.

A recent article in the Navy Times, “Study Links Weak Im-mune Systems, PTSD,” notes that military personnel diag-nosed with PTSD have more compromised immune systems and are “less likely to turn on immune system genes.”[21] The researchers at the University of Michigan Department of Epi-demiology simply assume it is a psychological condition that is giving rise to certain changes in biological function, whereas human studies in DU poison-ing show consistently genetic mutagenesis associated with immune function impairment. This can lead to such conditions as flu-like illnesses, visual im-pairment, brain inflammation and hepatic disorders that are

also appearing more frequent-ly in vets. This list of symp-toms are the same biomarkers the Michigan scientists found among those vets enrolled in their study.

Today the DoD agenda is to “take the finest and turn them into wretched, sick, pathetic hu-man beings that have to beg for every single thing that they can get,’ says former medical offi-cer Army Captain Joyce Riley. “They go in the strongest and they come out absolutely made to grovel on their knees to get anything from the federal gov-ernment.”[22]

Clearly there is a sadistic iro-ny to this scenario. We are ask-

ing our brave men and women to serve in dangerous envi-ronments including Afghani-stan and Iraq. While there, we allow them to be exposed to biological and chemical agents, experimental vaccines, environmental toxins –rang-ing from the byproducts of air pollutants released from burn-ing oil wells to depleted urani-um –and then, we bring them home, and not only refuse to properly thank or treat them, but even go so far as to deny that their illnesses even exist. For 19.5 years we have denied that Gulf War Syndrome ex-




ists. As a result, many of our veterans have gone bankrupt because their conditions are not covered under any government programs for assistance. We are not referring to the rare case; we are referring to hundreds of thousands of human beings. We achieve high marks for getting our men and women into battle; indeed, we are skilled at enter-ing the conflict. We have fail-ing grades getting them out and treating them for conditions that they suffer on our behalf.

The American public has a responsibility to care for these people.

Whether you are for or against the war is irrelevant. It is time to rectify this, to approach Republi-cans and Democrats alike, and de-mand that our veterans receive the care and appreciation they have valiantly earned.

NOTES

[1] Thomas JL, Wilk TJ, Riviere LA, McCurk D, Castro CA, Hoge CW. “Prevalence of Mental health Prob-lems and Functional Impairment Among Active Component and Na-tional Guard Soldiers 3 and 12 Months Following Combat in Iraq.” Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2010; 67 (6): 614-623

[2] Coleman, Penny.“The Tragedy of Our ‘Disappeared’ Veterans.” Alter-net.org August 12, 2009. http://www.alternet.org/story/140828/

[3] House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. “Our Nation’s Veterans: Stop-ping Suicides and Ending Homeless-ness” press release. November 16, 2007

[4] National Coalition for the Home-less. “Homeless Veterans” report. September 2009 http://www.nchv.org and http://www.nchv.org/back-ground.cfm

[5] Ibid.

[6] Foster, Roy. Stand Down Organi-zation. http://www.standown.org/homeless.html

[7] Swanson, David. “The Cremato-rium of Empires.” Opednews.com July 15, 2010.

[8] Zoroya Gregg. “Army Reports Record Number of Suicides for June” USA Today. July 16, 2010

[9] Clifton, Eli. “US Suicide Rate Surged Among Veterans.” IPS News. January 13, 2010.

[10] Bandzul, Thomas “Rehabilitating Wounded Veterans to Enable Them to Improve Their Health Outcomes” (powerpoint presentation). Veterans for Common Sense. April 10, 2010

[11] “Military Faces Mental Crisis” USA Today. January 17, 2007.

[12] Interview with Dr. Doug Rokke. “A special investigation on Gulf War Syndrome”. The Gary Null Show. The Progressive Radio Network. Broadcast April 15, 2010

[13] Stuart, RB. “Veterans’ Rare Can-cers Raise Fears of Toxic Battlefields” New York Sun. August 6, 2007. http://www.nysun.com/national/vetearans-rare-cancers-raise-fears-of-toxic/59915

[14] Bollyn, Christopher. “How Depleted Uranium Particles Dam-age Human Health.” January 7, 2005 http://www.bollyn.com/depleted-uranium#article_11776

[15] US Department of State. “Fact Sheet on the Health Effects of De-pleted Uranium” http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/state/1007/du-factsheet.htm.

[16] “Depleted Uranium Weapons in Afghanistan” July 22, 2009, http://www.wise-uranium.org/dissaf.html.

[17] BBC News. “Afghans’ Uranium

Levels Spark Alert” http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/science/na-ture/3050317.stm

[18] Bollyn, Christopher. “Depleted Uranium Blamed for Cancer Clusters Among Iraq War Vets” Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. August 15, 2004 http://www.wagingpeace.org

[19] Sandyk R, Kay SR, Merriam AE. “Atrophy of the cerebellar vermis: relevance to the symptoms of schizo-phrenia” Int’l Journal Neuroscience. 1991 April 57 (3-4): 205-12. [20] Craft ES, Abu-Qare AW, Flaherty MM, Garofolo MC, Rincavage HL, Abou-Donia MB. “Depleted and natural uranium: chemistry and toxicological effects,” J Toxicol and Environ Health. 7:297-317, 2004 [21] Kennedy, Kelly. “Study Links Weak Immune Systems, PTSD,” Navy Times. May 20, 2010. [22] Interview with Capt. Joyce Riley. “A special investigation on Gulf War Syndrome”. The Gary Null Show. The Progressive Radio Network. Broadcast April 15, 2010

Gary Null lives in New York City. On weekdays he hosts The Gary Null Show, an on-air health forum where he and other leading experts discuss a wide range of mat-ters from food production and alter-native healing, including the politics of our healthcare system. Gary also does original investigative report-ing series on a regular basis on such themes as Gulf War Syndrome: Kill-ing Our Own, The Politics of AIDS, Poverty Inc., Autism: Made in the U.S.A. and over 100 original inves-tigative reporting articles. For more than 35 years Gary has had weekly programs on Pacifica radio stations KPFK, WPFW and WBAI. He also had his own very popular weekly program on WABC as well as ABC national radio. Additionally Gary has had more than 25 separate spe-cial programs presented on various Public Television Stations.



WASHINGTON – The National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP) announced in July its historic settlement victory for dis-abled veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. The settlement obtained by NVLSP and pro bono co-counsel Morgan, Lewis & Bock-ius LLP in the class action lawsuit Sabo v. United States will benefit thousands of veterans who were medically discharged due to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) between 2003 and 2008, but were denied the benefits to which they were legally entitled.

“These veterans served our country in time of war, but have waited 3 to 8 years to receive the disability benefits which they’ve earned for their service,” said Bart Stichman, co-executive director of NVLSP, which filed the class ac-tion lawsuit in 2008 along with Morgan Lewis. “Today, a terrible wrong to our nation’s war veterans is being righted.”

“For more than a thousand mili-tary families, today’s settlement brings some well-deserved peace of mind,” added Jim Kelley, lead partner for the team at Morgan Lewis, who along with colleagues at NVLSP and in-house counsel at HP and Pfizer provided free legal counseling to veterans who sought to opt into the class action lawsuit. “We are gratified that the govern-ment will finally make good on its promise to meet the healthcare needs of these veterans and their loved ones.”

As a result of the class action and settlement , NVLSP and the government jointly asked the U.S. Court of Federal Claims to give preliminary approval to, the U.S. military agreed to pay lifetime dis-ability retirement benefits to 1,029 veterans with PTSD who were de-

nied these benefits upon discharge from the military following war-time service in Iraq or Afghani-stan. This part of the agreement is a direct response to the allega-tion in NVLSP’s 2008 lawsuit that the military services violated the law by failing to assign a 50% dis-ability rating to those discharged for PTSD – a disability rating that entitles the veteran to disability re-tirement benefits. To remedy these violations, these veterans will re-ceive through the settlement:

• Entitlement to lifetime mili-tary disability retirement pay-ments (which may result in the vet-eran receiving monthly payments from the military above what the veteran is receiving from the VA) retroactive to the date of discharge.

• Eligibility to apply for Com-bat-Related Special Compensation (which may increase vet’s monthly disability payments further).

• Lifetime military healthcare (TriCare) for the veteran, his or her spouse, as well as their children until at least age 18.

• Lifetime commissary and mil-itary post exchange privileges.

• Eligibility to purchase life in-surance coverage through the Sur-vivor Benefit Plan.

• Reimbursement for expenses paid for the medical treatment of the veteran, the veteran’s spouse, and the veteran’s minor children, from the date of the veteran’s sepa-ration from military service.

The settlement also stipulates that an additional 66 veterans who are class members will receive these same disability retirement benefits if they apply to the VA for disability benefits for PTSD and receive a VA disability rating of 30% or more.

Additionally, the military agreed to increase the PTSD disability rating of another 1,066 OIF/OEF veterans.

These veterans were given disability retirement benefits upon discharge, but were wrongfully denied a 50% disability rating for PTSD. The dis-ability rating increases required by the settlement may qualify these vet-erans for thousands of dollars in back pay spanning several years.

The settlement agreement was jointly filed by the military de-partments and NVLSP. Under the rules that apply to settlements of class actions, all class members will be notified of the settlement and given an opportunity to object. After any objections are received, the Court of Federal Claims will decide whether to grant final ap-proval to the settlement. Given how favorable the settlement is for the veterans involved, NVLSP predicts that the Court will quickly grant final approval.

“This is a happy ending to a sad chapter of military mistreatment of those who served our country in time of war,” said Stichman.

ABOUT NVLSP: The National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP) is an independent, non-profit veterans service organization that has served active duty military personnel and veterans since 1980. NVLSP strives to ensure that our nation honors its commitment to its 25 million veterans and active duty personnel by providing them the federal benefits they have earned through their service to our coun-try. NVSLP offers training for attor-neys and other advocates, connects veterans and active duty personnel with pro bono legal help, publishes the nation’s definitive guide on veterans’ benefits, and represents and litigates for veterans and their families before the VA, military dis-charge review agencies, and federal courts. For more information go to www.nvlsp.org.

Historic Settlement Brings Benefits to Thousands of Iraq, AfghanistanVets

Mark Massoni Junie Moon Schreiber

Introduction to the Shadow Work® Model of

Transformation Sat. November 4th, 2011 Oak Ridge, NJ

6-10 PM

Shadow Work® invites you to discover parts of yourself you have hidden or denied. By bringing these parts out of shadow in a safe, experiential setting,

you can unlock the power of your true self, with all your gifts and strengths - even those you may have disowned.

Shadow Work® offers us the opportunity to:

Increase ability to make powerful choices; feel appreciated for who you are (Sovereign) Develop new solutions for old problems; understand persistent patterns (Magician) Deepen your capacity for intimacy; activate your creative talents (Lover) Improve your ability to set boundaries and deal with money (Warrior)

Cost: $50 (if deposit paid by Oct. 15th, 2011) / $75 after the 15th Pre-registration required.

For more information and registration details, contact: Junie Moon Schreiber at 973-874-0427 or [email protected]

Mark Massoni at 508-432-4245 or at [email protected]

Visit www.soulfulexpressions.net to learn more.

Mark Massoni is a certified Shadow Work® Facilitator and Coach, active in Mankind Project, and has facilitated many men's and co-ed groups over the years. Junie Moon Schreiber is a certified Shadow Work® Facilitator and Coach, active in the Woman Within and Women In Power® communities, and has lead numerous sacred women's circles. Comments about Junie and Mark: “Shadow work provides quick insight and powerful tools to help transform one's life. Mark and June create a warm, comfortable, and supportive environment to grow in. Their techniques and teachings are gentle and brilliant!” - Paul R., N.J. “Positive awareness of the shadows of my life coupled with an experiential process was brilliantly presented by June and Mark and has truly transformed my life in a way that no other modality has. Thank you.” - Sue B., .NJ.


“The Secret” Coaching:

Your Powerful Intuition

by Lisa Nichols

One of the biggest road-blocks many of us face is one we put up ourselves.

It’s our inability to trust intuition.If you want to live the life you

were put on this planet to live, it is absolutely critical you learn how to overcome this self-imposed uncertainty. Here’s how to start.First of all, give yourself permis-sion to have made mistakes in the past.

Quit beating yourself up. Rec-ognize that every choice you made in the past has given you one of two great things -- either a great outcome or a really great lesson. Either one is fine, but both are necessary to grow and learn.

Secondly, become quiet. We’re in movement too much of the time. The chatter in your head drowns out the wisdom of your heart. Your intuition is working just fine. The volume may simply need to be turned up so that you can hear it better.

Meditate every day to re-move the noise and relax in si-lence. Listen to your heart and listen to your soul more than

the chatter in your head.Finally, remove any negative

association with making a wrong decision -- in the past or in the future. Do away with the fear of the “Well, if it doesn’t work, then what?” syndrome.

If something doesn’t work, then try something else. Give yourself a new life experience.

If I don’t like the way my life experience is feeling, no one is go-ing to come up to my door with a UPS box and say, “Miss Nichols, this is for you,” and I open it and it’s a new life experience.

No. I’m the driver, and so are you. You are the creator of your life experience. And you do not lose any points for making a poor choice. You only get another op-portunity to learn your lesson and move on.

So take a leap of faith in your-self. Deep down inside you know you are divine. I love you.

P.S. Learning to trust your intu-ition is key to creating the life you want, whether that means more fulfilling relationships, greater health and well-being, or more

success and prosperity. Your in-tuition can empower you to reach higher than you’ve ever imag-ined. Learn how to empower every aspect of your life with my 4-CD program. You’ll learn how to trust your inner champion and say yes to your dreams. You’ll also get a powerful bonus CD to help the Law of Attraction work for you. Order it at the Web site www.Lisa-Nichols.com.

Lisa Nichols is one of the most enchanting speakers and seminar leaders of our era in the personal growth market. Celebrated for her signature voice and dynamic style, Lisa has inspired millions around the world with her insightful mes-sage about how to brave hardships, find your authentic self, and culti-vate the best life. She is the founder of Motivating the Masses and CEO of Motivating the Teen Spirit, LLC, is the bestselling coauthor of “Chick-en Soup for the African American Soul” and “Chicken Soup for the African American Woman’s Soul,” and best-selling author of her latest book “No Matter What!”

The Body RemembersTraumatic Events

by Dr. Beth Haessig, Psy.D.

“I never got help after the war” said the 72-year-old Korean War veteran sitting before me, “because I just wanted to forget about it. I figured the sooner I moved on, the better things would be. But I think what I went through never left me; I think it shaped my life.”

This is a common dialogue I have with war veterans, no matter which war they expe-rienced. They think that to begin anew means forgetting the past. There’s only one problem: the body remembers.

When the body’s instinc-tual abilities to protect itself are thwarted, overwhelmed, or rendered helpless, trauma results. The body’s biological response of this overwhelm be-comes frozen within the mus-culature —causing the event to be an undigestable experience. Unresolved, the trauma results in a permanent experience of hypervigilance, or overwhelm/immobility, in the survivor. If the body’s neuro-chemical re-sponse of protection (in the form of fight/flight/freeze) does not work itself out of the body after the precipitating event is past, the physiological experi-ence of the trauma events re-main in the cells, thus giving the body the incorrect message that danger is still alive.

The traumatized person re-sides inside a body controlled and directed by a primitive part of the brain (the reptilian brain) that is ready to fight/flee or freeze. We are meant to be taken

over by this brain function only when our survival is at stake. Instead, trauma in the form of childhood neglect, abuse, car accidents, falls, routine hospi-talizations, or violence, hijacks our body into experiencing the physical symptoms of hyper/hypo arousal, either all the time or when triggered. It is as if the accelerator in a car, were permanently depressed in the body. Peter Levine, trauma expert and scientist states in his recent book In an Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Good-ness, “A traumatized individual is literally imprisoned, repeat-edly frightened and restrained---by his or her own persistent physiological reactions and by fear of those reactions and emo-tions. The vicious cycle of fear and immobility prevents the re-sponse from ever fully complet-ing and resolving…”(p. 66).

The trauma survivor no lon-ger feels safe in their own body because they begin to experi-ence the physiological symp-

toms of the repitilian brain working overtime: chronic symptoms such as numbness, hopelessness, rage, terror, helplessness, or depression become constant. The enemy be-comes an internalized ex-perience of the self and the body’s sensations. Those sensations trigger more fear and the paralysis loop closes around this cycle of fear and immobility.

Symptoms of trauma don’t necessarily quali-

fy for the diagnostic label of Post Traumatic Stress Disor-der (PTSD). Symptoms such as hyperarousal, constriction, dissociation, and feelings of numbness and shutdown with-out treatment, turn into anxi-ety disorders, depression, tics, attention problems, and a host of other chronic health prob-lems (depending upon how the trauma expresses itself in an individual’s body.) More often than not, I see adults coming to me with anxiety or other is-sues when they’ve had trauma reactions from car accidents or a routine hospital visit decades prior that clearly never moved through their bodies.

Successful trauma therapy is about uncoupling the fear-immobility loop. By helping survivors experience their sen-sations, rather than dissociate from them, they can begin to unravel the frozen physiological response formed when the event (s) first occurred. “Effective




therapy breaks…the trauma-fear feedback loop by helping a person safely learn to contain his or her powerful sensations, emo-tions and impulses without be-coming overwhelmed.”(Levine, p.68). Thus, the immobility re-sponse is enabled to resolve as it is evolved to do.

Veterans may think that therapy means talking about what happened and are reti-cent due to the understandable desire not to return to the hor-rific. But trauma therapy is not about talking about what hap-pened. In fact, conventional mainstream talk therapy may serve to merely retraumatize an individual, further cementing a physiological response of terror and dysregulation in the body. Most likely, the narrative of the events are jumbled and unclear because as a person experiences overwhelm, the frontal lobe dis-engages in order to allow the more survival-based faculties of the brain to dominate. There is little time to stop and problem-solve because instinct takes over and action becomes paramount.

Trauma therapy involves helping the person befriend the sensations of the body, rather than dissociate from them, in order to allow the body to un-wind the frozen terror. “Thera-peutic approaches that neglect the body, focusing mainly on thoughts, will consequently be limited” (p. 45) says Peter Levine. “…addressing a client’s bodyspeak first and then, gradu-ally, enlisting his or her emotion, perception and cognition is not merely valuable, it’s essential.”

The research on PTSD done by Bessel Van der Kolk, MD, leading medical director and founder of the Trauma Center in Boston, director of the Na-tional Complex Trauma Treat-

ment Network and professor of Psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine echoes the necessity to body-centered in-terventions. Dr. van der Kolk purportedly will not treat a pa-tient unless they are concurrent-ly involved with body-based interventions such as yoga. As principal investigator of a 3 year NIH-funded yoga and trauma study, van der Kolk reported preliminary findings suggest-ing that trauma-informed gentle yoga led to significant reduction (30%) of post-traumatic stress symptoms in the body (Yoga In-ternational, Fall 2011, p. 50). Dr. van der Kolk states (in the same article) that “trauma is not about the story we tell, or the event that happened, rather it’s about the sensory and hormonal resi-due that gets left behind in our neurophysiology.”

The challenges I see for veter-ans from today’s wars, as well as the past, is often their reticence to seeking help. I offer pro bono ser-vices for veterans and at present, I am treating no one. There per-sists a sense of shame surround-ing symptoms of trauma—as if the veteran sees them as charac-ter weaknesses. I frequently field calls from family members of vet-erans who are unable to get their loved ones to seek help.

I find that there seems to be a general assumption that I won’t understand. I was told by military personnel that I am not part of the military culture, and therefore, stand outside of the familiar, and the trustworthy.

Unfortunately, the age-old adage “time heals all wounds” doesn’t apply when it comes to trauma says Peter Levine (p. 88) “This ‘sweeping under the rug’ not only prolongs the inevitable, it often makes the eventual en-counter with immobility even more frightening.”

A traumatized individual cannot begin to fathom well-ness because their very home (body) is turning against

them—seemingly beyond their control. But effective trauma therapy works—for the body is longing for regulation, peace, and homeostasis. With loving guidance, the body comes to know how to find this balance. Whether your war was in Korea, Iraq, or in your own home, help is out there. You don’t have to suffer anymore.

Dr. Beth L. Haessig, Psy. D., licensed psychologist, Core Ener-getic (body-centered) therapist and a Kripalu certified yoga teacher. Additional training includes Trau-ma Resiliency Model, a biologically based treatment to address trauma symptoms in veterans as well as those exposed to natural disasters and LifeForce Yoga training for Anxiety and Depression. She spe-cializes in trauma and its numer-ous symptoms such as anxiety, depression, eating issues, and rela-tionship difficulties. She works in schools with children, and privately with adults and families. For more information about her practice, see www.BethHaessig.com

Traumaticcontinued from page 33

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As we look at the earth around us... We see trees, the animals and human life-force.

What about in the ocean? What will happen to the sea creatures from all of the trash we are dumping in to the ocean? What if we have another oil spill? Over 1 million fish and animals have died from the toxins in the oil. What will

we do then? Will we leave and forget about it? Now is the time we all should come together to help this planet. There are so many ways to help our home earth...

Like … walking instead of driving or recycle more.

We all need to be more aware of our

own impact on earth. Let’s all come together! Reduce, reuse, recycle.


Earth Around Usby Madison Nosal, Age 9

Visit us on the Web at www.holisticmentorshipnetwork.com/Project_Planet.htm.

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CONTACT ME TODAY: Christina M. Santiago, HMN MARCI Columnist & Member201.400.0121 ❍ [email protected]/christinamsantiago


We Must Offer the Hand of Compassion to our Veterans

It has become quite apparent, over the years, that we are increasingly fed distorted information. One need not look far to see that the unemployment rate is more like 15 – 20% opposed to the 9% so declared by our government and media. So, imagine a disabled veteran, let only any veteran, returning home these days and trying to make provisions for his or her family.

President Obama announced, on August 5th, that he is committed to ensuring the needs of our veterans. Veterans make-up approximately 8% of our over-all population. Hence, availability of jobs for our vets remains to be seen, as many other Americans struggle.

Ed Mattson, of Veterans News Now, describes a major concern for US Veterans concerns:

“Reckless government programs, promises made to special interest groups to garner votes, inadequate oversight from government committees assigned the task of protecting us from abuse, and an ambivalent block of voters trying to ‘get their fair share’ of the bureaucrat pie. Such naivety is the insanity that legislators get from too long in office. They don’t even recognize the havoc their policies do to the citizens.

“To my way of thinking, the word ‘entitlement’ has come to represent a thought

that because one claims a right, the right being claimed is automatically justified. I don’t consider veterans in this category as our so called ‘entitlements’ are actually contractual arrangements whether explicit or inferred, when we signed on the dotted line and raised our hand to protect and defend this country from all enemies foreign AND DOMESTIC.”

— http://www.veteranstoday.com/ Meanwhile, back at the ranch, it is only

recently that The US Government recognized Alternative and Complimentary Medicine as acceptable means of treatment for healing and sustainable health in this country.

Though art therapy was accepted as a formalized means of treatment, post World War II, in order to help veterans re-adapt to society, other holistic practices are taking longer to be accepted, by The VA.

The US Department of Veterans Affairs is just beginning to consider biofeedback, acupuncture, yoga, hypnosis, meditation, and Native healing ceremonies, for their medical facilities, due to the growth of trending in these fields.

So, what can we do? We can advocate for veterans and present our holistic practices to them.

We can be more mindful, as we network, meet our clients and chat with our neighbors and friends by simply asking if they are know of a vet in need.

In this world of global communication we must never take for granted one-to-one contact and our local communities. There is no doubt that such efforts trickle out.

For an inside view of the present day concerns of US Vets visit :

What is a Veteran in Today’s Society?

http://www.veteransnewsnow.com/2011/07/27/what-is-a-veteran-in-todays-society/

Elizabeth Olney contribues articles about

creativity and art for MARCITM magazine. You can see her mini bio, in the HMN directory: http://www.holisticmentorshipnetwork.com/Directory.htm, under Creative Arts- Arts Therapy or Integrative Medicine.

Creative Arts with Elizabeth Olney

Image courtesy of Elizabeth Olney

Pentagon Experimentswith Aromatherapy for Treating PTSD

Unconventional methods yield unconven-tional results. In a quest to help our American soldiers, the United States military is experi-menting with aromatherapy and other Eastern medicine modalities to treat soldiers affected by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

There it was, blinking in my inbox, an article from Reuters.com dated May 8, 2010 by Adam Entous. Could it be? Yes. Our federal govern-ment is now exploring alternative options to help heal our soldiers, said Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Times are changing. As the article stated, Gates was at Fort Riley, Kansas, meeting with a group of servicemen’s wives when one woman inquired why alternative therapies and/or complementary medicine like acupuncture and chiropractic are not covered treatments under their military health care plan. He responded by stating there was an experimental unit treating soldiers with PTSD using several alternative healing methods and yielding positive results. Not surprisingly, there has been a strong increase in PTSD-affected soldiers connected to the Iraq and Afghanistan deployments.

The fact that our government is using aromatherapy to help our loved ones who have dedicated their lives for our freedom shows progress.

Due to the effect of essential oils on the limbic system of the brain — the center for memory storage, emotions, trauma, and sexual arousal —aromatherapy is a perfect candidate to help our soldiers.

Found in the cerebral cortex, the amygdala, is only affected by the olfactory sense. Essential oils cross the blood brain barrier and they can stimulate the brain to begin awareness and release of buried memories including past

Aromatherapywith Christina Santiago

hurtful events which have caused psychological turmoil. While there are various oils to help the central nervous system remain calm, some of

my personal favorites include: Sacred Frankincense™, Idaho Balsam Fir, Rose, Ylang Ylang, Palo Santo™, Cedarwood, Peace & Calming™, Stress Away™, and Tranquil™. These oils can be cold-air diffused every thirty minutes for 4-8 hours or as needed. They can also be applied topically (only if they are pure, therapeutic grade — Young Living Essential Oils hold the highest standard in the industry).

From a healing modality standpoint, Raindrop Technique™ and Neuro Auricular Technique™ are effective methods to help the body rest and relieve stress. These practices facilitate greater harmony and balance to the mind, body, spirit connection. Additional oils such as Trauma Life™ and Release™ can be added to target emotional healing thus promoting a sense of wellness.

In our nation, we are proud to salute our soldiers and veterans. You can help save a life today by sharing the information you just read. Will

you join me in this cause? Christina M. Santiago, CHBC, CCA is a holistic

health educator, Certified Clinical Aromatherapist from the Institute of Spiritual Healing and Aromatherapy professional program, and keynote speaker with Sky Diva Oils, a division of Rising Above, LLC. Christina has been featured on CNBC On the Money and Cablevision For the Health of It, and is a contributing expert in Latina magazine and Garden State Woman magazine. For more information on Christina, please call 888.811.8883 or visit her Web sites: www.SkyDivaOils.com and www.RisingAboveLLC.com.


Soldiers, Shelter Dogs Can Help Each Other

What do soldiers and shelter dogs have in common? Many have been through traumatic experiences and have seen the worst in people.

Former Air Force Senior Airman, Dave Sharpe recognized a transformation in himself after adopting a pit bull puppy from a local rescue. Prior to the adoption, Sharpe found himself wak-ing at night to episodes of violence. The puppy gave him someone to open up to without fear of judgment. He could unleash his feelings and experiences while the puppy listened quietly and then licked his face to assure him everything would be OK.

The dogs give these heroes something else to focus on other than their injuries, traumas, and losses experienced in the past.

Sadly, 18 veterans commit suicide every day and it is estimated that 3-4 million animals are euthanized every year in animal shelters in the United States alone. What better than to match a homeless dog with a well-deserving soldier? Reading the stories of the veterans who have either adopted a dog or who have volunteered at the animal shelter, one thing remains the same —the soldiers say the dogs have put a smile back on their face and they are reminded of how it feels to be happy.

Sharpe started Pets2Vets partnering with the Washington Animal Rescue League (WARL) to pair military vets with shelter dogs. This pro-gram helps vets who suffer from brain injuries, depression, anxiety, and PTSD get matched with dogs appropriate for their families. Many of these soldiers would otherwise not be eligible for a service dog.

Service men and woman at Walter Reed Army Medical Center are transported to the WARL shelter where they are matched with suitable shelter dogs 60 days before they are released from the hospital. The program then sets up weekly visits with their new dog and finally pro-

The Whole Petwith Dee Broton


vides transportation for the dog to any location within the U.S. and pays for the dog’s first year of veterinary care.

Sandra Barker, a psychiatry professor pub-lished a study in 1998 that showed that psychiat-ric patients’ anxiety dropped twice as much after spending 30 minutes with dogs as it did with standard music and art therapy. Anyone who has shared their life with a dog knows the health benefits they can have from lowering blood pressure to motivating people to exercise more. After a long day, they are there waiting at the door wagging their tails as if to say “I’ve missed you so much, I’m so happy you’re home.”

For more information and how you can help support this wonderful work, visit http://www.pets2vets.org.

Dee Broton trains dogs using positive rein-forcement training and essential oils to modify unwanted & challenging behaviors. Dee’s phi-losophy is to heal the dog’s mind, body, and spir-it and to strengthen the bond with their family creating harmony in the pack. Dee also organizes the Sussex County Dog Walking Group for those who are looking for a fun activity to do with their dog and those with reactive dogs. Dee is a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT), A mentor trainer for Animal Behavior College, Inc., Pet CPR & First Aid Certified and a Certified Raindrop Practitioner.

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Personal Development

Coachingwith Hueina Su


Joyful Detours and Full Circles

As I’m preparing for my first international keynote at a major medical conference in Asia, I thought about how my life is filled with what appears be “detours” and my heart is filled with gratitude.

As you may know, I was born and raised in Taiwan, and started my first career as a Registered Nurse because my parents asked me to follow my family’s long tradition in medicine.

While I love nurturing and healing others, I knew in my heart that nursing was not my real calling.

So I decided to follow my love for psychology and moved to the U.S. for graduate school.

In the last 23 years, I have thrived in nursing, counseling, education, nonprofit management, sales, small business, freelance writing and photography, coaching, consulting and speaking, both in Asia and U.S.

Some might look at my career evolution and scratch their heads.

To be honest, some of my career choices were deliberate decisions and others just fell on my lap.

For example, I’ve always called myself an “accidental speaker.” I was painfully shy and dreaded public speaking all my life.

Six years ago I decided to try speaking as a way of marketing my coaching business.

It’s totally against my nature and I didn’t know what came over me, but somehow I felt compelled to try it.

Long story short, I’ve spoken at FDA, American Cancer Society, Northeast Regional Oncology Nursing Conference, Lifetime TV, Hay House Radio, etc. Now I’m invited to give a keynote about my Amazon No. 1 bestseller “Intensive Care for the Nurturer’s Soul” at a medical conference in Taiwan.

I’m so excited to share my message with over

700 medical doctors, hospital administrators and government officials.

This Spring, I was contacted by a movie producer to co-star with Jack Canfield, John Gray and Marci Shimoff in a ground-breaking movie “The Keeper of the Keys.”

I’m so honored to share the stage with these luminaries and share my message with a global audience. Twenty some years ago when I was “just a nurse,” I could never have imagined anything like this.

Through divine grace and guidance, the person I’m meant to be unfolded like rose petals and my life comes to a full circle.

So, if you feel like you’ve been on detours or running in circles, take heart. There is no wasted journey.

Every experience in your life is training you to be who you’re meant to be.

Just like when you walk in a huge labyrinth, you can’t always see the entire path, however, the journey is already planned out in perfection.

All you need to do is keep following your heart and take one step at a time.

Pay close attention to your heart’s desires, the common thread in your life and synchronicities — these are the clues to lead you to your destiny.

Hueina Su, MS, BSN, CEC is an internationally recognized expert in helping people find the missing peace and power in their stressful lives. She is an international keynote speaker, certified life coach and best-selling author of “Intensive Care for the Nurturer’s Soul: 7 Keys to Nurture Yourself While Caring for Others.” Hueina co-stars with Jack Canfield, John Gray

and Marci Shimoff in a ground-breaking personal development movie “The Keeper of the Keys” (Dec 11). What sets her apart from other experts is the 5,000 years of ancient Chinese wisdom and culture behind her. Brought up in Taiwan and trained in the U.S., she is known for using her wisdom, compassion, her unique blend of Eastern philosophy and Western training in solving modern day challenges. Visit her Web site at www.HueinaSu.com.

Personal Development

Coachingwith Hueina Su

We Are All Heroesof Our Own StoriesThose among us who embrace a holistic view

of life, that body, mind and spirit are inextricably linked, recognize that when one aspect of our Self is experiencing dis-harmony, all other aspects are affected as well.

Those who experience migraines, for example, have found that there is often a link to the types of food they eat. Beyond that, many have found that biofeedback may have a profound effect upon the recurring headaches, as well as the ability to relax and control their emotions — body, mind and spirit.

The same is true for all disharmonies that we experience. Everything is energy, and if we get down to the most elemental level, shift things on the level of energy, then the healing process moves through the other aspects of Self as well.

We have all planned the pattern of our days before being born into this life and taking full responsibility for that plan, even though we don’t remember it, is one of the most challenging tasks we will ever take on — and the most rewarding. We plan the high points, the loves, the joys and we plan the lows, the challenges and the adversities. This does not mean that every moment of every day is run according to some agenda which discounts free will, rather life is much like a painting begun with a charcoal sketch. Our ability to choose is what brings color and detail into the painting. It is our free will which brings the painting, and our own life to life.

When we can make peace with the choices we have made, with the patterns of our days, then we are able to see that no matter what has happened in the past, there is a higher purpose to the experience. In finding that measure of peace within our spirit, it’s then possible

to extend that same peace into other aspects of ourselves and our lives.

We are all veterans of life, heroes of our own stories. The choice to take responsibility for the paths we have taken, to set aside the victim mentality, is the clearest way to healing that we can create for ourselves. We can heal our spirits, free our minds, and restore our bodies through the choice of loving ourselves, our lives, and our path.

Further information on this subject is available in Your Soul’s Plan by Robert Schwartz. There is a link to this on the Web site: www.CircleOfIntention.com, on the Links page.

Rev. Christina Lynn Whited has developed Soul Path Clearance and created Unconscious Scripts Release as a means of empowerment for her clients. She is head of the Circle of Intention School of Intuitive Sciences in High Bridge, New Jersey, and is available for private consultations. Over the course of the last twenty years Whited has been featured in People magazine, on CNN and Geraldo, and in the New York Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune and many other papers. She has spoken on radio programs across the country, talked to many groups both regionally and nationally, and has been featured in spiritual books. Her work has also been lauded by such notables as Dr. Wayne Dyer and Dr. Joe Vitale. She can be found at www.CircleOfIntention.com.

Working with Spirit:

Subtle Energywith Christina

Lynn Whited


Eat Right…Feel Right

with Judith Gisser


Eat Right…Feel Right

with Judith Gisser

Mission Nutrition: Use Food to De-Stress

Notice how are all wired differently? Perhaps that is why individuals respond to trauma in life with varying degrees of ongoing impairment. This applies to two functional areas typically central players in PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).

A. How the body utilizes glucose B. How it communicates with hormones and

neurotransmitters. Experiment with five ways how and what

you eat can help you re-create healthy patterns of function complementing the benefits of short term, effective psycho-therapy, meditation, bio-feedback, EFT, energy and body work.

1. Have breakfast con-taining protein within an hour of getting up in the morning.

2. Eat fre-quent small meals contain-ing protein balanced with high fiber carbs to keep low blood sugar from setting off a “flight or fight” reaction in the brain calling for corti-sol and a stress response.

3. Favor delicious fresh organic foods prepared

simply over processed and fried foods.

4. Identify and eliminate reactive foods from your diet. These provoke a fight or flight re-sponse and hypoglycemic reaction. Get tested or do an elimination diet, recording what happens when you refrain from eating anything contain-ing gluten, dairy, corn, eggs, soy and any foods you crave and MUST have every day (the most likely suspects).

5. Enjoy tea while you cut down the coffee, ditch soda and drinks with artificial sweeteners or high fructose corn syrup.

• Dandelion root tea 2-3 times a day with meals helps balance blood sugar, improves di-gestion, is rich in minerals and beneficial for the liver.

• Tulsi (Holy Basil) is a powerful adaptogen that supports stressed adrenal glands, soothes an irritated nervous system and promotes restful sleep.

• Caffeine Free Green tea contains theanine, an amino acid that provides a calming clarity of thought vs. the overstimulating mental boost from

caffeine in coffee..

Judith Gisser, MS, CNS. CWC, is a Board Certified Nutrition Specialist and Certi-fied Wellness Coach. Judith identifies your unique constitution and metabolism and teaches you to eat right, feel right and use simple tools to achieve sus-tained energy, resilience and peace. Appropriate supplementation is rec-ommended. A member of the American College of Nutrition, Judith is also an herbalist, author, cor-porate wellness trainer, key-note speaker and developer of a 30-day Detox with a Difference

program available in person, via teleconference and on CDs. Visit her Web site at www.judithgisser.com.

September is Here— and the Race is on

I’m challenging myself to have a different Fall than I’ve ever had before — one that allows more joy to flow.

Racing to work, rushing to make that football game, don’t forget your jacket, and then there’s your lunch.

Can I make dinner in 30 minutes without opening a box?

That evil task master of “the schedule”— pushing me plunging me into the future and to exhaustion, just so I don’t get caught missing what I’m supposed to be doing. Supposed to be doing. Supposed to do…according to the culture, the needs of others, the rules, the way things run.

I have three children. Yes, I know about the societal and peer demands we are exposed to expounding the importance of achievement — performing, excelling, being the best, doing it all.

Conscious Parenting

Age 13 & Underwith Beth Haessig

Those demands are likewise placed on parents to facilitate, support, and provide transportation for those pursuits.

At times it feels insane. Parents giving up their weekends to travel to, or watch soccer games, going to dance recitals in Georgia, helping our children do everything they desire.

What would it be like to take back your life just a little bit? Would your children get a happier parent? Perhaps, this is what they really need.

There’s no should here — I’m just introducing a question to ponder, encouraging parents to experience the flow of activities we say yes to, forcing us to jump into a race that may deplete your body of meaning and joy. By examining the “supposed tos” we invite a deeper more conscious way of living — one that is shaped by fresh personal choices that are best for our whole families, including parents, rather than task master schedules.

It’s September and the race is on, but do I want to line up? Maybe a joyful parent is a bigger gift to my children than the one they’re getting now.

Beth L. Haessig, PsyD, is a licensed psychologist and a Core Energetics practitioner (body-centered psychotherapy). As a holistic psychologist, she works experientially through movement, breath, and mindfulness, to help children and families cope with the 21st century challenges we face in our mind/body/behavior. For more information, see www.BethHaessig.com or sign up for her newsletter at [email protected].


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Spirituality with Catherine Perry

Acknowledgingthe Other Veterans

Reflecting on what I could say about veterans that would be impactful, I found myself engulfed in thought about a different kind of veteran.

In my experience as a spiritual healer, I have discovered a variety of veterans who are not the conventional sort.

They have not engaged in war, as we understand it. They have no military training. Who are they? They are adult children who have endured their own personal wars.

In childhood, their battles took place in their own homes.

These individuals are the veterans of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse.

They are former prisoners of war who endured torture, oppression and neglect within the walls of their caretakers’ whims.

They are the unacknowledged, unsung, uncelebrated veterans of a past where they fought to survive in chaos, uncertainty, danger, fear, pain, shame, and humiliation.

So many of these survivors have come to me with their stories.

So many have reported that they were

telling their stories for the first time. All of them coped with symptoms of PTSD

in one form or another. Most were unaware of the link between the

past and their problems. These heroes in their own right did not

understand that the residue of trauma—from the current life as well as past lives—is the source of their fear and dis-ease.

If you suspect you have unhealed trauma from childhood or past lives, I suggest you meditate and ask your Higher Self to provide clarity on how to clear away the energy of the trauma.

Also, consider having some regression work, energy work, or Shamanic healing to thoroughly clean, clear, balance, and re-integrate the chakras so that they are fully operational.

Blessed are all veterans of abuse, neglect, war, loss, family feuds, fear, isolation, and grief.

Bless them all.

Dr. Catherine P. Perry, M.Ed, DD is a psychotherapist-turned-spiritual healer, intuitive, lecturer, and author of the award-winning book “Courageous Wake.” She is an expert in energy medicine, intuition, human capacities, and self-healing. She owns a private healing practice and Reiki training center in Paramus, NJ. Dr. Perry holds a master’s degree in counseling and a doctorate of divinity in the spiritual healing arts. She is a certified Reiki master-teacher, certified hypnotherapist, certified Karuna Ki master-teacher, and a certified Seven-Rays practitioner. Her book “Courageous Wake” is available at www.authorhouse.com. For information about Dr. Perry, visit www.catherinepperry.net or call 888-330-7248.


Spirituality with Catherine Perry

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT MARCITM...“Well worth the read! Powerful and inspiring HMNetwork of Holistic Practitioners share their years of Health and Wellness wisdom in MARCITM Magazine... and they are waiting to help you too.”

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Start with What isAlready Going Well

Let’s start this installment by looking at our financial life and specifically finding the things that are working well. Even in financially challenging circumstances there are aspects of this area of life that are functioning. This may be something as simple as cash showing up just in time, or perhaps someone offers to pay for a service or product with exactly the amount required to satisfy another current need or obligation.

One way to bring this energy into focus is by playing “The Parking Space Game.” In this game, one holds the expectation that a great parking spot, front row, by the door, will be available either on the street or in a parking lot. It may take some time and effort to cultivate the energy shift required to create the condition, but that’s part of the game. Once parking spots materialize close to the door consistently, add another level of challenge and set the intention for traffic to subside in both directions in order to allow you easy entry onto a street or highway. Of course all traffic laws and rules should be obeyed and a second look each way to make sure it is clear should always be done.

Once you notice these things working reliably, stop to think about what you have just manifested reliably. Through your intension, without a significant attachment to the outcome, you were able to marshal the forces of the

Universe into physical reality. Now that you know it is possible and how to approach the process of creating, overlay that template into your financial life. The key to this entire process is to understand and integrate non-attachment. It’s really quite simple, if you are focused on a shortfall or challenge and constantly ruminating over it, it will stay and become increasingly belligerent. Have fun with this process and learn from it how to practice non-attachment.

For more information about transforming yourself using sound, tuning forks, and personal awareness tools, surprisingly fast, safe and comfortably contact me, Tom Selkow, by e-mail at [email protected] or phone at 862-268-3497.

Tom Selkow, Consciousness Technology Practitioner, is the owner of Zero Point Transformation, LLC, in Sparta, NJ. He is certified as a Matrix Energetics Master Practitioner, Money Coach and has a wide range of tools available to help his clients transform their relationship to abundance, life, career, relationships and more.

Money Coachingwith Tom Selkow


Use Acupressure for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

More and more people are becoming increasingly aware of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), an anxiety disorder that follows a traumatic event such as war, terrorism or assault. While anyone can suffer from PTSD, war veterans are especially affected by the disorder as a result of their experiences from their service. Acupressure can be a gentle supplemental therapy for helping people with PTSD, and one point in particular can have a strong affect.

Yong Quan is located on the bottom of the foot slightly below the balls of the foot. As many acupressure points are named in relation to nature, this point is also known as “Gushing Spring.” Yong Quan is the lowest point on the body and is closest to the earth, making it the area where, in theory, water gushes forth from the earth. Because this point is the lowest point on the body, it has a very strong grounding effect, especially during anxiety attacks. Also, this point can help reduce fear, irritability and other symptoms associated with PTSD.

If you are suffering from PTSD, it is best if someone else can press this point for you while you rest comfortably on your back, but pressing this point on yourself is also helpful. To find this

point on yourself, wrap your hand around the inside of your foot so that your fingers are on the top of your foot and your thumb is on the bottom of your foot. Roll your thumb over the inside ball of your foot downwards towards your heel. Your thumb will fall into a small depression below the balls of your feet. Press gently with your thumb, especially during periods of anxiety. This point will help your breath deepen, your heart rate decrease slightly, and give you a feeling of being more grounded and calm.

In addition, acupuncture can be very helpful for relieving PTSD. Acupuncturists Without Borders, a non-profit that started as a result of Hurricane Katrina, has helped volunteer acupuncturists establish many community acupuncture clinics world-wide to assist people with PTSD. Some volunteer community clinics have also been specifically established for veterans. To find a community clinic near you, visit www.acuwithoutborders.org.

Susannah Pitman, MS, LAc is an acupuncturist with a private practice in Boonton, NJ. She completed her Masters degree from Tri-State College of Acupuncture and has traveled to China and Japan to further her studies. To learn more about Susannah’s practice, visit www.balanceacupuncturecenter.com or call 973-257-8924.

Everyday Acupressure

with Susannah Pitman

Photos courtesy of Susannah PitmanYong Quan is located on the bottom of the foot slightly below the balls of the foot. As many acupressure points are named in relation to nature, this point is also known as “Gushing Spring.”


Dear Jefferson, I have two dreams I’d like to share. I am an Iraqi War veteran. I’ve been diag-

nosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) through the US Military.

I keep having a lot of strange dreams that take me back to everything that I experienced.

I would like to know why, from a standpoint outside of the military, because they always just say “you’re going to have the continuous flash-backs of what you experienced.”

But is there any meaning behind it? Is it just that I’m still fearful and I’m afraid that these things might happen to me now that I’m back in the United States?

In one dream I am constantly thinking that I am hearing the alarms going off.

Sirens letting me know that there are incom-ing rounds.

I’m asleep and I will go back to being in Iraq again.

I will have dreams that me and my friends are just hanging out, doing the things that we do on a daily basis working.

I dream of sirens and alarms, but they are not the exact same sound of the alarms that would go off in Iraq for incoming rounds.

They are louder, more of a high-pitched tone. Sometimes I’m sleeping in the CHU (Container Housing Unit) in the dream, sometimes I am awake and standing in the motor pool area where our vehicles are parked.

The weird part is that I’ve never experienced an indirect fire or mortar attack standing in a motor pool area.

Usually they were at night when I was sleep-ing.

The alarm in the dream actually wakes me up from my sleep.

Now for the second dream, I should tell you that my husband also served with me in Iraq on our last tour. We didn’t see each other all that

much. He was on an outlying FOB (Forward Operat-

ing Base), but we saw each other about once a month.

But since we have returned, the Army has sent me away to school for six weeks.

Since I left home, I keep having these dreams that he’s back at the duty station partying and meeting other women, cheating — and I know he’s not doing that.

But I continuously keep having these dreams that also wake me up.

Then I’ll call home to see if he’s there and he is. Both dreams wake me from my sleep.

I keep trying to get my thoughts. No matter where I am or what I’m doing

throughout the day, whether it’s at school learning something else for the military, or being around my soldiers or at home with my family, doing stuff with my children, no mat-ter what my mind always goes back to being in Iraq.

No matter what I’m doing, where I am or who I’m with, the thought always comes back to the moments when I am being attacked.

Is there a meaning to these dreams?

Jean in Pennsylvania

Dear Jean, Thank you for your service to our country. According to the Web site healmyptsd.com,

“In the past year alone the number of diag-nosed [PTSD] cases in the military jumped 50% — and that’s just diagnosed cases.”

Additionally, the number of soldiers return-ing with disturbing dreams and relationship difficulties is immeasurable.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to write about these very important issues.



In your case, PTSD is demonstrating by repeating what you experienced as if it were happening today.

When people are returning from war, there has to be a period of readjustment.

What you see “over there” is so vastly differ-ent from anything that we experience here.

With the exception of a terrorist attack like 9/11, we don’t really have a reference point.

So you come back to a life that’s very dif-ferent from the one you were living for a full year — in which your life was in danger, your friends’ lives, everybody was constantly wait-ing for the next “shoe to drop.”

There’s that sense of expectation that they drill into you because it can save your life.

Here in the States the things that stress you out are your job, getting up on time, traffic, things that must seem incidental by compari-son.

What you’re experiencing is a transition be-tween the two. You are trying to acclimate one reality to the other.

Your mind is still in Iraq on some level, re-maining on alert.

Give yourself permission to know that these things are going to happen for a period of time.

Some will tell you that they are always going to happen, that you’re never going to get out of that.

I’m not a big believer in absolutes. I think that your mind is capable of healing at any time.

Signing on to a belief system that says “you’ve been to war, you’re never gonna be the same” — could be true, but why would anyone agree to that when the alternative is: “for a pe-riod of time I need to adjust and after that I’m gonna be OK.”

I’d go with the latter because it gives you hope.

Your dreams are a safe place to work out these issues. But I would take it a step further

and create a practice of yoga and meditation. This will bring your mind to the opposite of

what you experienced. If you were in a state of war, be in a state of peace.

You want to counterbalance the trauma with something blissful.

Even if you are going back to war, you are not there now and this allows you a period of time where you can reprogram.

Yoga is a great practice because it focuses your mind, simultaneously strengthening and relaxing you.

Your second dream relates to the first because they are both about disruption.

Your husband’s potentially bad behavior and the alarms would both be disturbing if they were happening right now.

Your mind is processing the possibility of future traumatic events, telling you it’s over-stressed.

It’s sorting out all the possible stresses that could happen, and what the consequences may be.

If there were a bomb, it would be life threat-ening. If there were another woman, she would threaten your marriage.

It’s all about threat. It’s the fight or flight response.

Your body is kicking in your adrenaline while you sleep.

But you don’t need that because: A. He’s not stepping outside your marriage, and B. There are no bombs.

So there’s a level of safety here that allows you to bring the pendulum back to center, if you will, because it’s swung too far one way.

People forget to recalibrate when they come back. Or they don’t know how. Or they are not given the time and support to do so.

If you don’t reprogram, you’ll get stuck in




this hamster wheel of always being on the alert. That’s not good for your body. Over time it

would wear down. No job in the world is successful without

breaks or rest. Give your self the permission to say: “I am safe,

I’m in the United States, I’m able to sleep through the night.”

Write down what you would like your dream state to be — affirmations like “My dreams are peaceful.”

Saturate your mind with the possibility. As you think these new thoughts, you’re actu-

ally creating a different physiology. The same way that the fight or flight response

kicks in your adrenaline, your peaceful thoughts will kick in another set of chemicals that will calm you down.

Once you’ve experienced a calm dream, you have a point of reference. You realize you’re OK and over time you can build on that.

It took time to build your current belief of con-stant alert.

Imagine you put up a brick wall and each brick is a thought, and you want to change the wall.

The bricks are red and you want to change them to green.

How do you do that? You can knock the whole wall down, which is

very disruptive or replace one brick at a time. Replacing the stressed ones for peaceful ones

will affect both your dreams and your waking

life in a very positive way. Write down affirmative thoughts and read

them throughout the day. You can do it five minutes in the morning and

again in the evening, but what happens the other 23 hours and 50 minutes?

Where do your thoughts go then? That’s the rest of the brick wall. That’s where you need to dismantle the old

belief because it no longer serves you. What you want is a belief system that works

for the life you’re living now.

Jefferson Harman reads the symbols present in your dreams & everyday life. By interpreting this invisible language, he identifies your blocks & challenges & ways to overcome them. He offers workshops & private readings in Lucid Dreaming & Overcoming Your Phobias. Jefferson is a recur-ring guest on “Life Unedited” with John Aberle, on WCHE Radio 1520 AM, in the Philadelphia area (listen live at wche1520.com). He is develop-ing a podcast, “Everyday Symbology”, with psychic medium & certified hypno-therapist Patti Lehman discussing all things metaphysical. Jefferson is a Board Member of HMN & a practitioner at Peace-ful Paths in Butler, NJ and Full Circle Counseling in Lincoln Park, NJ. www.everydaysymbology.com, 973.839.9317

1 http://www.dreamtree.com/inside/dream-re-sources/dream-faqs/

Copyright © 2011 by Jefferson Harman. All rights reserved. Printed by permission of the author. Image Credit – “Night Sailing” Copyright © 2011 by Jefferson Harman. Used by permission.

Night Sailingcontinued from page 49

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUTHolistic Mentorship Network...“It’s been a powerful experience for me to have connected with so many exuberant, dedicated and wholistic practitioners at HMN. I have been fortunate to have been invited into many of the members homes for the purpose of space clearing and feng shui. All the experiences have been filled with growth, graceand love. I am grateful to have found a center so enlivened and at one with their purpose.”

Deanna Trustwww.TrustFengShui.com

Here’s a Toolkit for the Policy Advocate

IntroductionElected officials listen to two things: 1) A lot

of money, or 2) A lot of people. This document focuses on what individual citizens can do to tell their representatives what they want and “take back” our government. It then covers how groups of concerned citizens can work together to achieve their shared goals.

Visiting Your RepresentativeThe most effective way to impact their

viewpoint is to actually go to your elected official’s office and talk to them or a staffer. Actually interacting with a staffer or representative and voicing your concerns makes a lasting impression. Visit often; you may become a trusted source for information. You also may be a person the representative asks for a “pulse” of the district.

LettersThe most effective tool in a policy advocate’s

arsenal is a written letter: individualized, hand written, and from someone living in the representative’s district.

Form letters, auto-generated e-mails, and e-petitions are less effective, but still useful. The content of all forms of written communication are the same — they simply vary in style and length.

What’s In It?1. Personal Introduction – Your name, [MUST

include address], profession, family, e-mail, phone, etc.

2. Introduction to Concern — Background; the essentials the representative needs to know to understand the problem

3. State Desired Action — In simple terms, what exactly do you want him/her to do? (e.g. repeal law X, etc.)

4. Explain Why — Reasons for doing what you want; include facts, logical arguments, and opinions

5. Miscellaneous — Paragraph with personal stories, words of wisdom, etc. can be put somewhere in the letter.

6. Conclusion – Thank you for your consideration, taking time to read this, etc.

[Ask for a response in writing]7. Signature — Sign and Date8. Affiliation — If you are a member of the

Holistic Mentorship Network, say so!

Advice1. Be concise.2. Only write about 1 concern per letter — Do NOT juggle multiple issues3. Talk about yourself — Briefly

How Many?U.S. Senate: 12 - 18 letters U.S. House of Representatives: 8 - 12 letters NJ Senate & Assembly: 4 - 8 letters

Legislative Matterswith Omar Rashed




StrategySome basic, overall strategies include:

1. Be Constructive — Offer a way to help solve the problem and how to fund new projects (if possible).

2. Be Assertive — Be polite, but be firm in your requests, and communicate potential consequences

3. Be Accurate and Honest — Give numbers that are as close to the truth as possible. Don’t exaggerate.

Finding Your RepresentativesCurrent — To find your current local

representatives, use the following resources:

• U.S. Senate - http://www.senate.gov/• U.S. House of Representatives - http://

www.house.gov/• NJ Senate - http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/• NJ Assembly - http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/

Local Elected Officials — Search Google for the following: “[municipality] [state] government” and navigate site.

Running for Office To find the people running for elected office,

do the following:

1. U.S. Congress — To find candidates, go to the following Web site http://www.politics1.com/nj.htm

2. NJ State (Assembly & Senate) & Local Elected Officials

To find candidates, do the following:1. Search Google for County Clerk’s Web

It doesn’t take much.

Phone CallsWhile written communication is most

effective, calling your representative is useful, too. When calling, be sure to ask to speak to the person responsible for your topic area.

There are two types of calls:

1. I Want X NOW! Tell the relevant staffer what you want the representative to do.

• State desired action, just as described above for letters

• Explain why, just as described above for letters

2. I Want to Know… Consider asking some of the questions below:

• What information do you currently have about issue X?

• What information do you need to make a decision about issue X?

• I have information about issue X — What is the best way to give it to your office?

• What is your position on issue X? • What have you done to support (or

oppose) issue X?• What are you willing to do to support (or

oppose) issue X? • What information do you need to make a

decision about issue X?• I will follow up with you after you read the

information I send to you — When is the best time to call?

General Advice for Phone Calls1. Practice saying what you want to say to the

representative’s staff before you call 2. Write it down if it will help you to

remember your pointscont’d on next page

site — Search for ‘[county] clerk [state] election results’

2. Navigate Site for the Candidate Lists — These are often broken down by Party Affiliation

3. Complete Details Are Available — Includes the names of candidates of each party, voter statistics, etc.

Get Groups GoingElected officials listen to two things: 1) A lot

of money, or 2) A lot of people. For the greatest impact, get together in groups (either physically or online) and work with others — it leads to greater success.

A few tips: 1. Join HMN — Work with members of your

chapter on policy issues that affect all holistic practitioners

2. Check out the HMN Web site (Policy section) — Read:

A. Policy Alerts written by HMN staff — describe state and federal bills / laws of interest or concern

B. Policy Forum written by HMN members — introduction and discussion of bills / laws of interest or concern

C. Letter Samples written by HMN staff — letter examples to take paragraphs from to write your own

3. Do your own research — Contact your representatives and those running for office to find their views

4. Plan a letter writing / phone call day — Work with HMN Chapters / small groups to reach out to Representatives

Stay informed. Visit the Holistic Mentorship Network Legislative Web page for updates: http://holisticmentorshipnetwork.com/LegislativeIssues.htm

Omar Rashed is the Research and Public Policy Director for the Holistic Mentorship Network. He researches problematic and encouraging public policies relevant to Holistic Practitioners and informs HMN membership and staff of policies to mobilize people to engage state and federal legislators. He completed his Baccalaureate degree in Social Work at Rutgers University and then went on to complete his Master’s of Social Work at the University of Michigan. His areas of interest are poverty, healthcare, education, and labor policy areas.


Legislative Matterscontinued from page 53

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It has been a long and wind-ing road on my search for inner peace. A journey that started with anger and alcohol and led to levels of soul knowledge.

All soul journeys start with questions of who we are and where we come from. Metaphys-ics is a philosophy based on be-liefs, thoughts and investigation of realities beyond the known physical and scientific world. They say that the kingdom of God is within, so far there has not been a book written called “ How to Find God within Yourself. “

Most people have searched outside themselves with books, CDs, lectures, gurus, churches and temples to find the answers. In all my years of searching, I have come to believe that earth is a school for souls in human form. What if we’ve come here to earth to teach, and learn life lessons and evolve back to light, oneness or what we call God?

In my journey to understand life I have done some past life regression work. Do I believe I have lived before? Yes. Can I prove it in third dimen-sion science? No. My goal is to shed some light on your journey and for you to come to a place of peace and knowing. Following is one of my past life regression experiences to help you under-stand your own journeys.

The regression process is to allow oneself to get to a relaxed state of mind through a form of meditation. I watched the following vision unfold like I was watching a movie. The scene was a civil war battle next to a bloody creek filled with bod-ies. I wore a grey uniform of a confederate soldier. I led my men down a small hill as the two armies battled to their deaths. As the fighting continued I was stabbed by a bayonet in the side. As I watched myself die by the side of the creek the lesson be-came clear. The union soldier that killed me in that lifetime was my father in this lifetime.

In this life, because of our personality differences, my father and I never got along well as father and son. We were always at odds and constantly pushed each other’s buttons. In the great mystery of life, there are many things we don’t un-derstand and cannot ex-plain.

In the Iraq and Afghani-stan wars there have been over 6,000 US soldiers killed and over 16,000 wounded. What soul lessons are there to learn from this tragedy. Who benefits from war and who or what makes money ? As we move closer to 2012 the great curtain of life

will start to lift and we will see the larger picture, but only if we start to ask the right questions. We as a human race must start to understand life and soul lessons from war.

My vision for the future is that we as a whole see and know that all humans are brothers and sisters in the same human family. Hate is learned, just like love is learned, both paths have value from the seat of the soul. No one can make you kill another human, it’s a soul choice and with that choice comes a soul lesson.

The Hopi Native American elders have a say-ing, “We are the ones we have been waiting for.”

I believe it is time to know yourself and stand up for what you believe is right.

When your heart is open you will see the truth within yourself.

Herb Palmer is an intuitive energy healer, and au-thor of the adult fable, “ The lobster and the chicken” On the road of life there are many choices, each has its own message and journey. If your’re looking to find your inner pathway to peace and freedom, then let The lobster and the Chicken show you the way. 973-539-0015 [email protected]

Looking Inward Can Reveal Past Life Soldiers

by Herb Palmer


It’s a given that small business owners must take a different ap-proach than large corporations to growing their business if they hope to succeed in the current economic environment. While the U.S. financial sector faces a depreciating dollar and soaring debt, and corporate America is plagued with a growing num-ber of legal, social, and econom-ic issues, small businesses are faced with the challenge of not only how to survive, but how to thrive.

The strongest survive, they say, and larger corporations generally have the legal, fiscal, and politi-cal power to extricate themselves from potential problems.

But, that doesn’t mean that small owners can’t learn to be savvy enough to grow their business through solid plan-ning, creative marketing, and quality customer service.

Holistic practitioners in par-ticular must be both innovative yet cautious for several reasons.

Though many holistic practi-tioners are well aware that their treatments can be extremely ef-fective and often may produce better results than convention-al medical therapies, alterna-tive therapies are rarely medi-

cally approved or even legally backed.

The holistic industry is not unified throughout the country; nor is it successfully represented in the legal or legislative realm.

While the Holistic Mentorship Network seeks to change that by unifying all holistic providers under one trade organization umbrella, it’s important to rec-ognize what each business can do on its own to increase busi-ness.

These are the five main top-

ics we’re going to examine in detail, each of which presents unique opportunities to benefit holistic businesses:

• Social Networking• Hoot Suite• Publish Articles• Utilize Free Classified Ads• “Think Outside the Box”

Marketing & Advertising The most important factor in

determining a business’ success is visibility. Obviously, a poten-tial client base cannot be built unless enough people are aware of the business and the benefits it offers.

Currently, many practitioners are making use of various social networking sites to increase their visibility; Facebook and Twitter, for instance, are home

to several small business pages, including HMN.

A service that many business owners haven’t taken advantage of yet is Hoot Suite, a social net-working interface that allows a person to manage multiple ad-vertising pages, such as Face-book and Twitter, simultane-ously.

Although free Web pages and networking sites give you some

The Time is Right to Grow Your Holistic

Business Now How Small Holistic Providers Can Increase

Visibility and Succeedby Shree Raghavan



visibility, the real challenge is to find an effective marketing strat-egy that results in wider visibility without breaking the bank.

One extremely efficient way to spread information about your services is by publishing a thoughtful and well-written arti-cle in a well-known Holistic mag-azine or journal with national or international scope; an excellent example of such a magazine is MARCI.

Another effective but often ig-nored strategy is to take advan-tage of Ezine Advertising and Free Classifieds. A more expan-sive, albeit slightly more expen-sive, strategy would be to print bold, succinct, and memorable fliers/pamphlets and leave them in public facilities; local grocery stores, banks, store advertisement bulletin boards, doctor’s offices, community centers, and fitness centers. These are just a few of the many places you could request. Asking your interns/employees to hand out a stack of business cards is also a cost-effective yet shrewd idea to consider. Above all, suc-cessful marketing requires think-ing and planning that’s unique. That’s not to say that you can’t make good use of the suggestions above. Rather, the most successful entrepreneurs in history, whether it be technology titan Steve Jobs or investment mogul Warren Buf-fet, have been ingenious in both their services and in the ways they marketed them. Thinking of creative marketing avenues is a challenge, but one that could po-tentially pay you enormous divi-dends down the road.

Even after advertising your business and services, building a dependable client base can be a challenge for holistic practitioners for three basic reasons.

The first reason for this is fiscal; currently, most medical insurance packages do not cover holistic treatment, and as a result, people are reluctant to spend money out of their own pockets.

The second reason is because many Americans are often un-aware or misinformed about ho-listic practices and their projected benefits.

The third reason is social/prac-tical: Holistic therapy, like many forms of treatment, does not al-ways produce the intended re-sults, and disparaging criticisms from an unsatisfied client can spread like wildfire, suppressing potential future clientele.

How could a budding small business owner combat these ob-stacles?

The first step would be to list your services accurately and sim-ply, thereby leaving no room for discrepancy. Corporate America has seen its fair share of clients suing practices, claiming busi-nesses provided the customer with unsatisfactory or insufficient services. Any room for discrep-ancy is dangerous, so use preci-sion. For instance, if one of your services is a therapeutic massage, list not only the procedure, dura-tion, expected results, and logical basis behind the practice, but also a note explaining the procedure does not always produce the de-sired results. Straightforwardness can be an invaluable booster to a small business aiming to grow.

Another helpful strategy that has stood the test of corporate time is to approach your custom-ers with genuine empathy. Hav-ing a sincerely friendly and con-cerned attitude rather than a mere façade is not only more likely to be successful but also more ad-vantageous to your development as a marketer; I have seen these rewards personally. Be confident of your services, and most impor-tantly, do not lower your prices for the sake of a client who wants a cheap deal. In the public eye,

a company that lowers its prices based on the whims of clients appears desperate for customers and is adjudged to provide lower quality services. Although pro-viding quality services is finan-cially demanding at first, it will certainly result in important fu-ture benefits, the most significant one being a solid, dependable cli-ent base.

After establishing a solid client base, the path is only upwards from there on.

At every stage of business de-velopment come further respon-sibilities, complexities, and chal-lenges, but at this point, the battle is simply psychological: Believing in your business and believing that your clients will spread word about your high-quality service is crucial.

Those with the vision, drive, and confidence in their practice will be the ones who prosper and achieve greater heights and fur-ther success.

It is my sincere hope that some, if not all, of this article will benefit your practice by opening you to novel thoughts or ideas that you already knew but did not imple-ment thus far.

Shree Raghavan is an avid stu-dent of finance, business manage-ment, and marketing. He pursues these avenues through the Holistic Mentorship Network and its affili-ated businesses, working to advertise and promote the industry. Shree’s practical business knowledge comes from helping manage his family’s financial business and from his vari-ous leadership roles in his school and community. His side passions include Indian Classical Vocal Mu-sic and Politics: Please check out his Twitter page, HHS Politics.A Junior in Hillsborough High School currently, Shree wishes to major in finance/economics and pursue a ca-reer as an independent entrepreneur, financial administrator, or personal finance manager. He thanks HMN for the support they have given in furthering his interests.

Businesscontinued from page 57

31Holistic Mentorship Network Chapter MeetingsNew Jersey

Bergen County: 3rd Thursday of the month; 7-9pm Advanced Healing Center, 41 Locus Street, Emerson, NJ, Barbara Finlayson, 201-641-9008 | [email protected]

Butler: 4th Wednesday of the month;7:30-9:30pm Aquarian Sun, 1574 Route 23 North, Butler, NJJordan Brown: 201-370-6906 | [email protected]

Chester: 2nd Tuesday of the month; 7-9pm; The Art of the Heart, 15 Perry Street, Chester, NJ; Sue Freeman: 862.222.4268 | [email protected]

Montclair: 2nd Thursday of the month; 7- 9 pm Goddess in Eden, 50 Church Street, 2nd Floor, Montclair, NJ Robin Mansfield: 973.919.3600 | [email protected]

Morris County: 3rd Tuesday of the month; 7:00 - 9:00pm Presbyterian Church, 65 South Street, Morristown, NJLisa MacGray 973-879-1106 | [email protected]

Northwest NJ (Sussex County): 4th Friday of the month; 9:00 - 11:00am Unity Church of Sussex County, 25 Mudcut Road, Lafayette, NJ Tracy Nosal: 973.978.4230 | [email protected]

NEW CHAPTER North Central NJ: Kick-off meeting : Oct. 3, 2011; 1st Monday of the month; 7:00 - 9:00pm Evolving Goddess, 1331 Prospect Ave., Plainfield, NJ (Studio is the small yellow house to the left of the main house.)

Pennsylvania

Northeast, PA: First Thursday of the month; 7:00 - 9:00pm 311 Pennsylvania Ave,, Matamoras, PA, 570-832-2123Dee Broton: 973-713-0175 | [email protected]

Interested in starting a new chapter in your area? Learn more here:www.holisticmentorshipnetwork.com/New_Chapters.htm


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