What do you mean by "Energy Therapy"?
What do you mean when you say to "listen to" my body? I don't know how to do that.
I have PMS and crave chocolate most strongly during my menstrual cycle. What's the connection?
How can I stop nightly cravings and binges?
What's wrong with using a microwave oven for cooking?
What do you mean by the words sexuality and spirituality?

What do you mean when you say to "listen to" my body? I don't know how to do that.
Your body is filled with wisdom. Listening to your body's wisdom means learning to feel what it is telling you through physical sensations such as "butterflies" or tightness in your gut, stiffness in areas such as your neck, shoulders, back or hips, or other twitches, itches, rashes, pimples, burning, numbness or pain in any part of your body. These sensations are telling you to pay attention and they most often occur when you are worried and/or about to make a major step forward - or backward - in your life.

Where do you most feel sensations when you are stressed or worried? (Close your eyes and think of something stressful right now. Where do you feel it and what does it feel like? Now let the thoughts and feelings go and think of something happy to return yourself to balance.)

When you know something for sure, where do you feel it in your body? In your stomach or your heart? Or both? That's your center point of intuition - your gut instinct. Be open to it and trust it. You do have it and it can be nourished in the space of stillness - letting go and listening. Like the ability to listen to our children or other loved ones can only happen when we practice being truly present in the now, so it is with our ability to hear our Inner Guide of Wisdom residing within. Focus on the messages from your body and ask your Self what they mean. With repeated feedback you will eventually begin to get answers and be able to discern the difference between your ordinary thoughts, reactive emotions and body wisdom. I recommend that you have the latest edition of Heal Your Body by Louise L. Hay (Hay House, 2002) handy to refer to. Women's Intuition by Paula Reeves, Ph.D. (Conari Press, 1999) is also very insightful and empowering. Both books may be obtained from Amazon.com

I have PMS and crave chocolate most strongly during my menstrual cycle. What's the connection?
A woman's menses - or moon time - is a time when we are more intuitive and reflective, with our deeper emotions rising closer to the surface. When these emotions are avoided and pushed down, we develop pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS). One of the factors contributing to PMS is chocolate, due to it caffeine. Other primary factors contributing to PMS are high consumption of dairy and refined sugar and not enough whole foods such as fresh vegetables. Tubal ligation, mainly the type done in the 1970s - which I had - is one of several other factors.

Women have been told for a few thousand years that our menstrual cycle is unclean, malodorous, painful - something to be ashamed of rather than rightfully proud. It's no wonder that's so many of us have hormonal imbalances and lower seratonin levels than men. Our metabolism and our hormone levels are regulated by the thyroid gland, which is governed by the throat chakra (our energy center metaphysically associated with higher will and speech). Do you articulate your needs? Do you feel safe enough to speak and live with integrity? Many women get fever blisters (also known as cold sores or herpes simplex) during this period. These blisters are typically about getting overheated from unspoken anger regarding someone close. If you get them, ask yourself what your blistering anger is really about. It usually goes deeper than your current issue with someone.

Chocolate and its sugar have the narcotic effect of soothing emotional pain. Chocolate is especially addictive because of its theobromine and other chemicals that produce a euphoric sense of love and self-esteem. It may be beneficial at times, but if you find that you are using it to keep from dealing with important underlying issues, I suggest you learn to communicate your feelings (first to yourself) and reduce your intake of chocolate.

Chocolate cravings have been associated with a magnesium deficiency and the need to balance the body's acidity (typically from stress and over-eating refined "comfort foods" which ironically induce more stress). The liver needs magnesium (along with B vitamins) to metabolize estrogen optimally. Chocolate does contain a substantial amount of magnesium but chocoholics beware; if consumed habitually, chocolate is known to deplete the healthful minerals in the body. I was a blistering PMS-chocoholic for years, so I know the territory well.

Finally, chocolate was, and still is considered sacred food - a sacramental gift of the Gods in the Mayan civilization and, in fact, is still used by them in their fire ceremonies. (This is similar to how priests use wine and aboriginals use tobacco or other plants that produce a euphoric feeling and a closer connection to God.) So, if you do eat chocolate, eat it in moderation and with reverence - and try to avoid products from Hershey, M&M, Ben and Jerry's and other large corporations which buy from plantations on the African Ivory Coast that use cruel child slavery. (Buy organic or free-trade chocolate available at your local health food store or in health-food or specialty sections of most large supermarkets.) Theologian Matthew Fox calls alcoholism "liquid spirituality" because alcoholics are essentially seeking a closer union with God, just as chocoholics are. If you are a chocoholic, you may need to quit "cold-turkey" until you can balance your emotions and a find a more empowering path to wholeness (oneness or unity with the Creator).

I suggest reading the latest editions of Women's Wisdom, Women's Bodies by Christiane Northrup, M.D. (Bantam 1998), and Heal Your Body by Louise Hay (Hay House 2002). Books can be obtained from www.Amazon.com

How can I stop nightly cravings and binges?
First, I suggest that you eat a balanced, healthy dinner that includes complex carbohydrates (potato, whole grain rice), protein (from fish or poultry or other lean meat) leafy green and colored vegetables and small amounts of good fat - butter or olive oil). Avoid large amounts of fat and carbohydrates that induce cravings for more of the same. Next, plan to go to sleep earlier - no later than 10:00 PM, if possible. The longer you stay up the better your chances of getting hungry and losing control, and the less quality sleep you receive. I also recommend sipping some relaxing herbal tea after dinner. Sleepy Time by Celestial Seasonings and organic chamomile tea are my favorites. They are naturally sweet and calming.

You also need to look more closely at the physical, emotional and spiritual issues that may be triggering those cravings and binges. Bingeing is about losing control - and taking control - over your own body and your life. What are you truly craving in your life that you have been unable to attain for yourself? What is your relationship to God, your body and Nature?

Here are some suggestions to stop excessive sweet and starch cravings on a more physical level. You might try 100-1000mg. l-glutamine between meals plus chromium (700 mg/day in three meals) and a good multi-vitamin to keep your blood sugar levels strong. Avoid junk food! (Junk foods are white flour products, sweetened cereals, deserts, snacks and "energy" or "power" bars, fried and hydrogenated fats found in most snacks, caffeine, artificial colors and sweeteners as well as some so-called "natural flavors.")

Seratonin, the body's good-mood neurotransmitter is now known to be produced mainly in the gut (rather than just the brain, as previously believed) and plays an important role in this issue, too. There appears to be an intricate connection between digestive problems, low seratonin levels and accompanying low self-esteem levels. New research has shown that people who binge have lower levels of seratonin and have a harder time controlling their cravings and binges. I suggest reading The Mood Cure: The 4 Step Program to Rebalance Your Emotional Chemistry and Rediscover Your Natural Sense of Well-Being by Julia Ross, (Viking 2002). Although her book ignores the point of dealing with underlying emotional and spiritual issues, she has vital information regarding the physical aspects of the problem. I also highly recommend the cookbook Nourishing Wisdom, by Sally Fallon (ProMotion Publishing). For the emotional issues, you would benefit from reading Geneen Roth's witty little book, When You Eat at the Refrigerator, Pull Up a Chair, before going on to her heavier works. Books can be obtained from www.Amazon.com

Another associated cause of the cravings and bingeing may be candida albicans (commonly referred to as a yeast infection). It is a form of fungus that can spread to all parts of the body and manifest in many different ways. It loves sweets and simple carbohydrates and thrives in an acidic body (which we get from a high-stress diet of carbohydrates, dairy and sweets - including too much fruit.) A naturopathic physician (N.D.) can help diagnose and offer remedies. There are also many products available in health food stores and nutritional catalogs. (N.E.ED.S., a mail-order business in New York, carries excellent health and wellness products. It also offers the opportunity to consult with well-known N.D.s at moderate prices, or with their own N.D.s at no charge. 1-800-634-1380.)

What's wrong with using a microwave oven for cooking?
Microwave heating can radically alter the molecular structure of your food. One short-term study of test subjects following the consumption of microwaved foods demonstrated pathological changes in the subjects: an increase in leukocytes (an indication of serious stress in the body), and a decrease in lymphocytes (greater then the decrease typically associated with food poisoning). One simple test even showed that seeds placed in microwaved water would not germinate.

You might want to learn to plan ahead better so you can heat your food in a slower, safer way. (Use your oven or a toaster-over, crock-pot, "waterless" pots that need very little water or a modern pressure cooker. The latter holds in all the nutrients and cooks foods very rapidly.)

What do you mean by the words sexuality and spirituality?
Our sexuality and spirituality are "who we are", not "what we get". These are my definitions, with much of the knowledge from some very special teachers, including the Dalai Lama.

Sexuality is more than sex. It is our total creative energy - our sense of identification, how we relate to ourselves, our family and special others. It is the urge to merge, the primary way to connect with Source (God, Goddess or whatever you call the Creator), with Nature or whatever brings you to that special place of bliss and oneness. For women sexuality is their magnetism, but for all of us sexuality is our sacred source of rapture and creative energy. Orgasm is the closest that most of us get to bliss (oneness with God) without dying. It gives us that total sense of union, fulfillment, and ecstasy. (Perhaps that's why so many people say "Oh my God" at the point of orgasm!) Unfortunately, sex has been distorted and debased for eons, losing its sacredness in the process. Learning to know one's creative, sexual and other intimate needs becomes a spiritual journey.

Spirituality relates to attitudes and relationships on the path in which we grow in wisdom, consciousness, balance, joy and sacrifice as we journey back to Source and wholeness. For me, it is soul power, a belief in my Self /Soul as the Divine within and all around me, seeing the bigger picture and feeling deeply connected to all life. We develop higher levels of spirituality as we grow in compassion, love, and wisdom. For each of us, spirituality many have a different meaning. Namaste. (I bow to the divine within you.)