May 2005 Newsletter

An Inspirational Quote

"Getting in the best shape of your life is a journey. Before you start, find a mentor - someone who has walked the road ahead of you and can show you the best map for your personal journey."

James Williams

You CAN Improve Your Vision Naturally

By the time Marlene Rivera was 31, she had already had six operations on her eyes. Beginning in second grade, she became nearsighted. At the age of 10, she developed a bad case of shingles that affected her right eye, and needed her first eye operation, a corneal transplant, at age 12. The last of her six eye operations resulted in cloudiness.

It wasn't until eight months later, when Marlene attended my Natural Vision improvement class in Los Angeles, that the cloudiness began to clear up. She learned simple exercises she can do while taking brief breaks from her job managing music ads for Yahoo.com. In less than a month since learning her personal vision improvement program, Marlene has improved her eyesight 15-20 percent. "I just feel for the first time in a long time I have two eyes. Wow. It is an actually a noticeable change."

You can learn the same exercises that helped Marlene improve her eyesight by joining us for our next Natural Vision Improvement class in Atlanta June 4-5.

Marlene had never done anything for her eyesight other than go to doctors before her friend Chris Watson, a fellow Chek practitioner, encouraged her to come to my Natural Vision Improvement class in Los Angeles.

"I didn't even really know what alternative healing was about until this experience," she recalls. "I think I understand more now that the holistic approach affects pretty much everything about me and that specialists only focus on one thing but there may be other things beyond that are affecting one problem."

I am always thrilled to help my clients achieve what they never thought they can do. Many clients whose vision has been less impaired than Marlene's have noticed measurable improvements, but because of her long struggle to see better, I wanted to share her story.

"At age 10, a breakout of shingles on my face infected my right eye, rendering my vision permanently hazy and blurry despite multiple surgeries. For many years I have tuned out the severely impaired vision in my right eye as 'visual noise,' learning to ignore the hazy halos that it would cast on everything I saw. Though my healthy left eye is very nearsighted, requiring use of a contact, I have relied heavily on this eye to compensate for the vision loss in my right eye. Because I have been actively using only my left eye, my peripheral vision was very limited and I frequently had symptoms of fatigue in both eyes.

"My right eye has undergone several surgeries over the years, including a cornea transplant, cataract removal, two lens implants, and two cornea reshaping laser surgeries, but resulting vision has always remained hazy and blurry. Nearsightedness in my left eye is clear with the use of contacts.

"In Catherine's class I learned to make the most of my vision. The exercises in class helped to get my eyes working together, expanding my awareness of the usefulness of what I could actually see with both eyes. With noticeable improvements in my field of perception, I felt a newfound sense of control over the health of my eyes rather than feeling resigned to a lifetime of progressively stronger lenses and/or surgeries.

"I noticed immediately that my range of peripheral vision was extended significantly, and the general symptoms of strain, fatigue and irritation were greatly relieved. Until the relaxation techniques taught in this class, I was hardly aware of how tense my eyes really were! Since the class, I have become more aware of my surroundings and have noticed a reduction in the haziness cast by the vision in the right eye. This change alone is already more progress than I ever felt after one of my many surgeries!"

The changes Marlene has experienced since learning eye exercises are not just physical.

"I feel more balanced. Friends have noticed I have become a lot more confident at work and am speaking my mind more. I used to feel the two sides of my brain were constantly at odds with each other. There was too much going on and nothing ever seemed to come together. Lately I don't feel as muddled. This has exposed me to how much control I have over my body and my mind."

For more information about how you can join our next Natural Vision Improvement seminar June 4-5, you can visit www.totalfitness.net/classes_seminars.htm

Delicious Food For You!

Catherine Carrigan's Raw Food Carrot Cake

In honour of our Natural Vision issue, I'm sharing my recipe for a really delicious way to include the great eye food carrots in your diet. Nobody complains about giving up wheat or dairy when they tuck into this confection! This is the cake Henry Edmunds asks for on his birthday. Choose all organic ingredients.

Crust:

• 1 cup sunflower seeds
• 1 cup almonds
• 2 cups raisins

How to make the crust

Put nuts in food processor. Chop. Add raisins until the crust sticks together. Pat in the bottom of individual containers - I make this in individual Tupperware - or in a large flat ceramic dish.

Carrot Cake Layer

• 6 large carrots, peeled
• 3 ounces dried pineapple
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon powder

If you can’t find dried pineapple at your health food store, you can order it directly from www.justtomatoes.com This comes in a small tub for about $6. Peel and wash the carrots, chop in food processor. Then add dried pineapple and cinnamon. Spread the carrot cake layer on top of the crust.

Icing Layer:

• 2 cups pine nuts
• 1 cup lemon juice
• 2 cups coconut dates

Pine nuts make this icing fluffy! Ahead of time, juice a bag of organic lemons in your juicer. Do not peel the lemons - pectin is good for your liver. Simply wash the lemons, cut off the ends, and run through your juicer. Coconut dates are pressed, soft dates that have been rolled in coconut. We find them in Atlanta at Life Grocery. You can purchase them online at www.nutsonline.com.

Chop the pine nuts first in your food processor. Add lemon juice. Add the coconut dates one at a time until the icing becomes fluffy. Spread on top of your gorgeous carrot cake.

Upcoming Total Fitness Events

Pot Luck Qi Gong
Join us for our regular Qi Gong class on Wednesday, June 1, and bring along a dish for pot luck supper afterwards.

Natural Vision Improvement Seminar
Saturday & Sunday June 4-5,
Atlanta, $375.
For More information visit:
www.totalfitness.net/classes_seminars.htm

Nutrition Mastery Seminar(London)
Saturday & Sunday July 2-3,
London, £240 / £265
For More information visit:
www.totalfitness.net/classes_seminars.htm

Business & Money Mastery Seminar(London)
Sat’ & Sunday July 23-24,
London, £240 / £265
For More information visit:
www.totalfitness.net/classes_seminars.htm

Classes

Yoga Classes: Every Tuesday and Thursday, 7:30-9 p.m., Holy Spirit Catholic Church. $15 per class or $65 per calendar month.

Overcoming Eating Disorders: A free class for the general public, every Wednesday in February, 7 p.m., Holy Spirit Catholic Church.