Epigenetics versus Genetic Modification

The question I posed at the end of the last post was answered by some members of Blog Catalog, a social online network. It appears that many of my readers are not familiar with Epigenetics and some are confusing Epigenetics with genetics or genetic modification. So this article is to clarify the difference between Epigenetics and Genetics. Let's see what one of the experts say, shall we?

"The difference between Genetics and Epigenetics is compared to the difference between writing and reading a book. Once a book is written, the text (DNA, genes) is stored and the information will be the same in all copies. However, each individual reader (epigenetics) of the given book may interpret the book differently." Thomas Jenvwein, Austria

 Genetic Modification uses biotechnology to change the genes of an organism such as a plant or animal.
Genetic Modified Organism is a plant or animal that has been changed using genetic modification and not through traditional breeding techniques.CSIRO

"The field of Epigenetics has emerged to bridge the  gap between Nature and Nurture."
                                                    Canadian Conf. on Epigenetics,2011 



So in conclusion for this article, let's re-cap the definition of Epigenetics - It is the study of the changes produced in the gene expression caused by mechanisms other than changes in the underlying DNA sequence of the silenced genes. (epigenome.eu)
 So what are the non-genetic factors that cause the organism's genes to behave (express) differently?
Stay tuned for the next post for the answers. 

PC Nicholas

Epigenetics Anyone?

Wikimedia -Split  DNA

                                                  
What's that?  Is that what I  hear many of you asking? Why is she not discussing more Eden Energy Medicine or Energy Psychology,EFT or something we're more familiar with? Well, if you give me a chance to explain... Thanks. Epigenetics is related in many ways to all my other topics on this site.

Ah so many questions and I'll try to answer them, perhaps not all in this post? Before we begin, let me tell you about my absence. It is quite exciting.

As you've noticed it has also been a month since my last post. There are several reasons for that! I have been working on a WordPress website and the launch will be in a couple of weeks or so and it will be more of a site for parents and teachers of children and youth although it will be open to anyone, interested in our future generation! So stay tuned!


Now to Epigenetics.which is a relatively new science, that you might not even find the meaning in your lexicon. My spellchecker does not even recognize it. The following definition is from the journal Science

" the studies of heritable changes in gene function that occur without the change in the DNA sequence."

Epigenetics study the signals that turn genes on and off and it also investigates sources that control gene expression from outside the DNA, like the environment. Sorry, did I get too scientific on you? Perhaps this next statement will make it easier to understand.
"The activation of genes is intimately connected with healing and immune system function."
                                                                                  Dawson Church PhD


Since EEM, EP and EFT work on healthy immune system and promoting resolution to physical, psychological and emotional issues, Epigenetic research will contribute to the explanation of those modalities to the still skeptical scientific community. I would like to continue with this theme and there have already been a few studies on Epigenetics and the research continues. Please send me your questions, so that I can tailor my posts to your requests on the subject. Thanks.

PC Nicholas

Empower-Student Program

We ended the last post with three Benefits of the Empower-Student Program. We will continue with the rest of the benefits and you could add your own to the list.

Benefits of the Empower-Student Program

4. The students' Self-Esteem increases and they have a healthy Self-Image.

5. They have more focus and attention in the classroom and academic confidence increases.

6. They will learn and use these techniques independently.

7. They are able to influence their peers, siblings and other friends in a positive manner.

8. They feel a sense of control over their lives.

9. They are calmer in the stresses that they encounter daily.

10. Their compassion, honesty, helping behaviors and social dialogue is enhanced.

The students will take all the tools learned in the Empower-Student Program with them through colleges, universities and the workforce. It's a Win-Win situation for students, parents and teachers.

PC Nicholas

Parents, What do you Fear for Your children???

 Today, we'll show the benefits of the Empower-Student Program. These are benefits not only to the students but also to the parents? Parents are sometimes overwhelmed with trying to provide a safe, happy and healthy environment for their children amidst all entrapment in the real and virtual world facing their children. Definitely, parenting is a challenge today!  So what are the fears facing parents?  Are there coping tools that will help their children? Tools that will give parents some peace of mind?

A recent Canadian survey showed that the following are the fears facing the parents of teens ?
1. Their children's lack of confidence to perform well in school.
2.  Their children will be bullied.
3.  Their children are depressed.
4. Their children's test anxiety.

Parents are looking for tools or solutions and the Empower-Student Program is just one such solution? It comprises of a number of tools, which has also helped teachers in their classrooms. This brief article will not go into the techniques (which uses Energy Psychology): instead it will give the proven benefits. There are many benefits and three of them will be listed for now

1. The students will have emotional control as they learn techniques to regulate their emotions in an appropriate manner.
2. Their self-respect and respect for others is increased.
3. They have a positive attitude, good energy, increased academic and sports performance.

All these benefits come without side-effects.These benefits and ones in the next post will accompany these students throughout college and later to the workforce!

PC Nicholas

Empower Youth Now

This post will be slightly different from my previous ones or perhaps not. I'll let you be the judge! One of my first careers, (oh, I've had a few), was a grade school teacher. The experience was rewarding till I had a class of 40 children from the inner city where there were major behavior problems and general student apathy

I was a student teacher then, yet I noticed that even the senior teachers were stressed out teaching this temporary class of mine. The students did not show violence toward the teacher, then, but there was peer bullying, poor grades, etc.

Fast Forward to 2010 and I was in San Diego in an Intensive 5 day workshop where  participants comprised of teachers, pediatricians, coaches, nurses and other disciplines. One of the early morning breakout session was conducted by a recently retired teacher, who used certain techniques to her class of below average students with behaviour problems. Parents wanted to know how to do it with their children.A few months after daily use, the students grades showed improvement and parents' relationship with their children changed for the better. The principal implemented these techniques to other classes in the school and the SAT scores at the end of the year improved  tremendously. A year later, that school was one of the top performing schools in San Diego.

 Presently, Ritalin appears to be the drug of choice for many students with labels of hyperactivity, ADD, etc but how many of the teachers or parents realize the side-effects of Ritalin??? This link shows the latest research. www.asktheneurologist.com/ritalin-side-effects.html

So what do we do?  Well, teachers and parents, there is hope. I have used some of RET to help
youth who are hyperactive, with ADD and other issues. It has been effective. Just like adults are negatively affected by anxiety, fear, anger, stress and panic, so are the children of all ages. The symptoms children show are slightly different from adults. Now with the right tools, solutions, it is a joy to work with children again. and they are happy, too when they find out how to use these tools to be calm, in control and get wonderful results. Recently this is what a client in grade 3 commented of the session. " It is fun to work with PC." (3rd grader)

I will be presenting workshops to  teachers' associations and parents' council upon request. The programs that are geared to the youth are  A. Empowering Students - a comprehensive package  B. Anxiety Busters.
More on these programs on the next post.

PC Nicholas

Two easy ways to go from Chaos to Calm!

Have the earthquakes, tsunamis, political unrest in the world made you anxious, fearful and worried? Imagine what the people who are in the midst of those natural disasters or the man-made violence are feeling?
Are you feeling helpless about those situations? Are you addicted to the grim news on the radio or television? Are you thinking that there is nothing you could do to help? Are you trying to put the blame of this disasters on ......?  Whoa... Whoa..... Stop!  Inhale Deeply, and count to three, then exhale. You have the Power to help!

Yes you, and not just by donating cash, which I'm sure some of you have already done. Here are two other tools that you could  use to help those in the midst of the earthquakes, tsunami in Japan, and bloody unrest in the Libya, Haiti and other war zones. The tools mentioned below have empowered others! Why not you???


The first one is relatively simple, relieve the anxiety,worry and fear from yourself ; then once you're are calm, that calmness could reach those people at a distance. Then you do three affirmation rounds, on spreading the Love, Light and Peace to others who are in the midst of natural and man-made disasters.  The words of the Affirmation rounds will be in the conclusion of this post.

Please try it, after looking at the tapping point video, the first one on the right top of this page. It is on
the side bar, you have a video on tapping and Jessica had done a tapping of about 10 minutes to help the people of Japan and other disaster areas.

The second way to help is to meditate and pray and I know for some of you, meditation or prayers have been quite a challenge. Meditation requires more skill than a simple spontaneous prayer from your heart. If anyone wants more information on how to meditate simply, then write to me.

Now have you looked at the tapping spots. While you're tapping these spots, with each of the following phrases, move from the eyebrow point, tapping while you say.

1.Love before me                          2.   Peace before me                          
Love behind me                             Peace behind me                                     
Love on my left                              Peace on my left                                      
Love on my right                            Peace on my right                                   
Love above me                              Peace above above me                           
Love below me                              Peace below me                                     
Love on to me                                Peace on to me                                       
Love in my surroundings                 Peace in my surroundings                        
Love to all                                      Peace to all                                              
Love to  the universe                       Peace to the universe                              
                                              
 3. Light before me                         Light below me
     Light behind me                         Light on to me    
     Light on my left                          Light in my surroundings 
     Light on my right
    Light above me                          Light to all
                           Light to the universe 
                        
Do these three rounds after tapping away your fear, anxiety and worry.
Just remember, if we have fear, anxiety,worry in us, that is what we vibrate, so we have to tap away those negative emotions and then we can replace them with the love, peace and light that those suffering in Japan, Libya, Haiti and other troubled countries are in great need of.

PC Nicholas

Healing Power of True Friendship

Do you have a few true friends or a hundred over "so called friends" that you don't even remember their names or faces?

I know some of you reading this have friends like that, perhaps in Facebook or some social networking sites. Perhaps some of you might have been hurt by the friends you trusted and now you're very cautious of befriending anyone.Some might be keeping their friends at arm's length. Friendship like any relationship has its ups and downs, doesn't it?
Well, what prompted me to write this article and a series of posts on friendship which is ongoing in my other blog is the fact that social scientists have been conducting research in the last six years on the effects of friendship in disease and mortality rates and this is a blog of empowering health.  To find out some of the startling results of these studies, please click on the link below.
http://transformyourlife1.blogspot.com/2011/02/friendship-life-or-death-choice-part-i.html

There is an ongoing study going on now using friends in Facebook. Definitely, as a society, we have found new ways of befriending people all over the world and without even meeting them in person. Has the website contributed to increasing our friends but how has it impacted on the quality of friendships? Is it possible to foster quality friendships or genuine friendships in cyberspace? How do we treat friendship that we made at school, college, workplace, recreational spots and places of worship? Have we maintain contact with these friends? The most important question of all - how many trusted friends (friends that you could count on, if you had a challenging episode in life) do you have?

PC Nicholas

Revitalizing Energy Therapies -Synopsis Part II

Energy Psychology, Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT ) and Laughter Therapy

EFT or emotional freedom technique developed by Gary Craig uses a tapping technique on specific acupuncture points while stating specific statements to a related issue, emotion or condition. This technique involves stating the emotion you feel at a certain event, no matter how negative and then working through it. It uses Subjective Unit of Distress (SUD) to gage the progress.  I use the Homo-lateral and Cross-Crawl of   EEM as a preparatory technique because they enhance the effects of EFT

Laughter Therapy should really be part of Energy Psychology as it works on the emotions and puts one in a positive state for healing to take place. As the founder of Laughter Yoga, Dr. Madan Kateria stated it produces the laughter cocktail which means it releases endorphins (body’s natural pain killers), hormones and neuropeptides and increases levels of immunoglobin A1gA which provides immunity.

Forgiveness Therapy 
The Self-Forgiveness Process is vital before you can forgive anyone else. Using the work and research done by Dr. Guy Pettitt MD as well as techniques from EEM such as “expelling the venom” and “sending forgiveness through the body”, clients are able to forgive themselves and others in a shorter  time than they can do on their own. Why is it vital to forgive? 1. It is a basic need and will make you happy2. Improves your will-power 3. Makes you stronger to confront injustices. 4. Improves your atmosphere 5. It is telepathic 6.  It Empowers-You
     ‘...it cancels the conditions in oneself that are blocking the flow of love, independent of the behavior of anyone else or any other circumstances’.   Guy Pettitt MD

Gratitude Therapy

This therapy goes in conjunction with previously mentioned therapies.
Gratitude goes a long way in cementing healing that has already taken place. Included in all the Revitalizing Energy Therapies, there is a small but significant portion devoted to gratitude. This is usually done while tapping and it could also be done in affirmations and  mini-meditations.

So there you have it, Revitalizing Energy therapies in a nutshell. No matter how detail an explanation, it is really  in experiencing it that you will realize their effects in your life. No amount of words can do justice to any of the therapies that are found in Revitalizing Energy Therapies or RET but since I had so many requests, I obliged. However, asking more questions is always welcomed and that is why I give some mini courses and workshops that is posted on my website. I will always consider myself a student of all these therapies as I'm always learning something new in the application of all these Revitalizing Energy Therapies and sometimes from my clients in their practical application of RET.

My thanks go out to some incredible teachers, Donna Eden, Dr. David Feinstein, Gary Craig, Dr. Guy Pettitt  and Dr. Madan Kateria and E. Chow. Thanks also goes out to my clients who expect nothing but the best in their healing journey!

PC Nicholas

Revitalizing Energy Therapies -Synopsis Part I

Revitalizing Energy Therapies (RET)

The following Therapies are included in RET -

Eden Energy Medicine (EEM), Energy Psychology, includes Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), and Laughter Therapy, Medical Qigong, Positive Psychology which includes Gratitude and Forgiveness therapy.  Group therapy classes like Boosting Your Energy in 5 minutes are others given bi-weekly and monthly and upon request. Former and present clients are encouraged to continue their healing practices by attending these classes.

Eden Energy Medicine
The following techniques are used in Eden Energy Medicine : energy testing, tracing the meridians, holding  neurovascular points, siphoning pain, sedating as well as strengthening acupuncture points, massage of neurolymphatic points, spinal flush, zone tapping. These are just some of the techniques that remove blockages to the flow of energy in the body, remove stagnant energies and enhance the body’s Immune System.

Medical Qigong
 Qi - means breath, and gong -work. So this 5,000 year old energy therapy from which accupuncture, tai chi and kung fu take their origins, has much to do with the breathing technique.
Medical Qigong uses the emitted Qi to areas in the body that is in need of repair. Certain movements combined with the
Breath work fortifies the immune system and revitalizes the body’s physical & neurological systems.


 Next week we'll continue with the rest of my Revitalizing Energy Therapies. In the meantime, keep your energies buzzing.
P Nicholas

Wow what a great group

I want to thank the wonderful people who braved the cold temperatures to attend the two and a half hours session of Boost Your Energy in 5 minutes, based on Eden's Energy Routine. I think it was safe to say that everyone saw a little of how Scalar energy worked and all agreed that the content was enough to absorb and any more would have been too much.

Yes, everyone had smiles and some laughs which was the bonus I promised. I will have a repeat of the first class in 2 weeks for those who could not make it for the first one. Already some of the participants want to attend the repeat class. As a facilitator, it is so rewarding to see that people enjoyed the class and are willing to practice the techniques for a few weeks at home

My next post will be on a brief description of the other modalities of Revitalizing Energy Therapies, as we already covered Laughter Therapy!

PC Nicholas

Boost Your Energy in 5 minutes!

This is the title of the study course that will begin tomorrow. It is at 1940 Saunderson Drive, Ottawa, On.Canada.  Only a few spaces left. So hurry if you want to take part in this first ever in Ottawa, Canada.

If you're tired, stressed, have little or no energy, often get colds and infections, then this event is for you! Two and one half hour of energy testing and demonstration and practice of techniques to boost your energy and immune system! Reference is from Eden Energy Medicine.This is Part One and Part Two and Three will follow in February and March.

Due to the limited number of students accepted for this class, there will be a repeat of the first class on February 5th but pre-registration is required. Thanks! Hope to see some of you there.
PC Nicholas

Laughter Therapy, Part II

There is so much written and researched on Humor and laughter therapy but most were based on what will cause one to laugh. However in the last post, we mentioned one type of laughter therapy with a video clip where there is nothing externally to stimulate the laughter. So I've tried laughter yoga and joined a laughter yoga club in my area for a few months and stopped when the weekly schedule at night interfered with my work hours. Once you do the HoHoHaHaHa for a minute or so, it ispossible to laugh for a while. But I do urge you to stop after 5 or 6 minutes and take a couple of deep breaths.  There are now laughter yoga clubs in 60 countries and the latest from Dr.Kateria is his plan to start a Laughter University in India!

Make it a goal not to take yourself so seriously. Own a joke book and watch silly comedies like Laurel and Hardy. One word of caution - don't laugh at someone (comediennes are an exception) but with them. Perhaps, you could even write a joke yourself.  Even in the animal kingdom, they laugh. Check out the kookaburras from Sydney, Australia.

If you noticed the last verse of the Kookaburra song, it shows that we are uncomfortable with the laugh and want the bird to cry but it is not in its nature  to do so. And neither is it in true human nature to be sad and weepy!!

 If you want to know how laughing helps your physical, emotional and mental health, then please click the archives on this page for July 2008 and there are several posts with details.

I have interviewed someone who started a 2 man team that goes and does juggling and comedy skits for groups and organizations. If you subscribe to my blog, you could hear that interview with Gene Monterastelli, an EFT practitioner!
I always like to receive your comments and questions, which will determine if I write more on a particular topic. As for now this will conclude the laughter aspect of RET (Revitalizing Energy Therapy!.
Laugh to be healthy!
PC Nicholas

RET - Laughter

 In Revitalizing Energy Therapies, I do include humor and laughter therapy to help you sustain a joyful spirit as healing works quickly and the body bounces back well from traumas, when we are able to be joyful. Here is one that I have found quite helpful!


 Laughter Therapy has a number of sources, one of which is Laughter Yoga, started by Dr Maden Kateria
It does not employ jokes, funny situations or comedies. So how do you laugh without any reason or provocation. Well, you choose to open your mouth and start to laugh. Kateria has called it laughter for no reason. Yet the effects of this laughter has been proven very beneficial to all our body systems, which I have gone into detail in older posts on this blog.

Laughter Therapy is certainly easier to do in a group. But it can be done when you're alone. In the next post, I will give you some suggestions to jump-start the laughter when you're alone! This video clip is from Dr Madan Kateria. Enjoy! PC Nicholas

Wishing You a Breathtaking and Breathgiving New Year

I left you last year with the back of the empower-you postcard mentioning RET or Revitalizing Energy Therapies. I said that in the New Year I will explain a little further of what RET comprises of. 
Well, RET is breathtaking and breath-giving. It involves the main ingredients of Energy Therapies that I've found harmonized  and blended with each other.

There are definitely more energy therapies than what I've used but these are what I found work well either individually or in combination.They are Eden Energy Medicine, Energy Psychology & EFT, Qigong, Laughter Therapy, Forgiveness Therapy and Gratitude Therapy. The main common element that runs through all these is the Breath Work which is the literal translation of Qigong. RET is breathtaking in another sense which is - results are achieved at such a relatively short time and the thoroughness of the results are also breathtaking.

In the next few posts, I will try to explain the individual therapies, but unless you experience the effect, you might not appreciate it. That is why, in the third week of January, there will be a 2 hour class akin to a study group dealing with the basic aspects of Energy Medicine which will also include some elements of Energy Psychology, Qigong , laughter and forgiveness therapy. So as not to overwhelm the participants, it will be given over the course of 3 months, 2 hours each month and practice, practice,practice between each monthly classes. There is a limit of 25 persons per class. Some of my former clients will be there, as now they are free from their "problems" and want to learn more.

Till the next post, make this year be full of possibilities!
PC Nicholas

Empower-You Postcard-Back

This the back of my post-card. In my next post, I will explain further about RET, an acronym that I coined to simplify the modalities or tools I work with as my therapy combines one or two of EEM. EFT Laughter therapy, forgiveness therapy or Qigong. It will be in my first post of January 2011.

For now I would like to send positive vibrations and all my gratitude to my followers and readers as well as a Meaningful Christmas for those who celebrate and for those of other religions or none, a wonderful Season and the beginning of a Hopeful, Healthful and Joyful New Year!
PC Nicholas
If you could think of even a couple of things to be grateful for this year, then you'll be starting the New Year with some good vibrations.

Empower-You Postcard

Yes, I know I said in my last post that I was going to show you the back side of my business card. It is mostly contact information which you could find inSo today, I'll show you the front of my postcard.

Where has November gone?

There is a saying that when you're enjoying life, the time goes fast! Well, it did for me as it is the end of November and thankfully, I've managed to squeeze this second post for November. I've been occupied with updating and re-vamping  my business cards, my logo, changing my brochures into post cards and working on the material for my new website. I thought I would share a preview of my business card. This is on side one.

Yes, my readers, this is my logo and the name of my business is "Empower You" Enterprise. The colors are my life colors which is dual as you can see - Violet and sea green. The majority of the population has only one life color but some of us have a double whammy!
If you would like to share your views and comments, you're invited to do so. My next post will focus on what is on my brochure! I think I will soon cease to use Agapelife! What do you think?
PC Nicholas                                            

Smiling while Learning

This week we will continue with what went on during the EEM training in San Diego where we briefly discussed Donna Eden's view of Life Colors.

During the time I spent at the training in San Diego, mingling and talking with the practitioners as well as those who were recipients of this futuristic yet ancient form of healing, I was struck at the peace and joy with each one of them.  They all look younger than their stated ages. Do you know that smiles are very contagious? Everyone smiled, regardless if they knew you or not. And our principal teacher Donna Eden, was smiling all the time!


So what did we learn? We studied a humongous amount for the 5 days we were there.We were trained to trace our energy meridians, know and feel our neurovascular points, neurolymphatic points and know the location of the alarm points, as well as how to do a quickie energy balance. These are just a few of different techniques we learned and applied them on each other in our small group settings in the evening.


For my long-time readers, we also started our mornings with the Five Minute Daily Energy Routine and during the day, we repeated a couple of the techniques of that Routine when needed. For my new readers, this Five Minute Daily Energy Routine has been documented in my older posts, under the category Energy Medicine.

Empower-You Blog will be going through some major changes in the coming weeks. It will not affect the comment section, so keep your comments coming and I will answer. If you want your answers to be private, then please mark them private and leave an e-mail address I could send them to. I have not published any comments that were marked PRIVATE!
Thanks!
Agapelife

Energy Medicine a la Donna Eden Part 2

So I guess most of you were wondering what Life Colors are! If some of you thought it was another name for auras, I would have thought the same too, if I did not attend the training with Donna Eden. She defined Life Color as the dominant color that surrounds your body; it is the color you're born with and stays with you till the end of your life. Usually it is one color of the rainbow but for a few people, they have two dominant colors. "Life color is an aspect of energy that circles the body and permeates through all the other auras."(Eden)

Ms Eden is able to see someone's Life Colors and she saw it as she was signing her book for each attendee. She saw Nailina's color as violet and pink. Actually, Donna remarked that she saw many violets in the audience and this was the predominant color that she sees in all of her training sessions. Why? Violet is the Life Color of searchers - "seeking a deeper meaningful life, and usually on a spiritual quest....they are cerebral and emotional." (Eden).

Auras are energy bands of different colors that also are seen around a person's silhouette but they are influenced by time and situations.They do change.

Well, hope you're clear about life colors and auras.
P Nicholas

Energy Medicine a la Donna Eden Part I

Remember the battery commercial, where the rabbit keeps going and going, while the others with the inferior batteries have stopped. That's the best metaphor I could come up with at this time of the night. From dawn to way past dusk, we were just absorbing, watching, sharing and celebrating Eden's Energy Medicine during a recent 5 day EEM training in San Deigo.

The mornings started with Energy dancing which transformed all the sleepy heads. It was mostly lead by Eden's daughter Titanya, an award winning belly dancer. Breakfast followed on board a boat docked on Mission Bay, then to the morning courses given by the exuberant Donna Eden assisted by Dr. David Feinstein. During the 3 hour course, there was demonstrations on the different energy medicine techniques. The subjects of the demo were the participants who had a particular problem.Many hands were up but Eden usually chose the one who was the severest! How did she know? She could see a break in the energy around them or scientifically also known as scalar energy, bio-scalar energy or waves. If you had a GDV Kirlian camera, you could see it, too. However, Eden was gifted to see it with her natural eyes. She told us that all of us could see it and did see it as wee children. More on that in my next post.  The picture above is Scalar energy waves seen via a Kirlian camera before an energy therapy and after.

After lunch, we had another course by Ms. Eden. Then we had our small group practice sessions. These five days and evenings were chock-full of practical information, inspiring anecdotes, humor provided by David, her spouse.There is enough material during the training that could easily provide enough articles for a year! All queries to Eden was answered thoroughly and many times with a case-history.

I'll conclude Part 1 with the following questions? 1.What do you know about your life color? 2. How would you define auras? Please click here to find out more about this remarkable Donna Eden.
Agapelife