Category Archives: Ageing

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Dying Healthfully

Death as Part of the Healing Process

Tony Pics for SA BookWe all come to this final moment in our lives.  Death, like taxes, is inevitable.  It’s a part of life. . .for now anyway.  Legends and Biblical texts tell of a time when death was not in the picture of  life on earth.   My life’s mission has been dedicated to the return to such a reality for all humanity, even if it’s just to hold it in my heart as a possibility, even as inevitable as death is now.

A friend of ours, and of many the world around, John Cruickshank, made his transition from this earthly plane yesterday evening.  It was a peaceful passing, what one could describe as  a “healthy death.”  Sounds like a paradox, doesn’t it?  Death, after all, is the complete absence of life, so how can it be healthy?  Or is death the complete absence of life?

I prefer the word “transition” we seem to be using more often these days, because, in reality, death is a movement from one level of being to another.  Birth, in that sense, is also a transition, one that we celebrate with much joy, as we are doing this afternoon at our grandson’s birthday party here in Ashland, Oregon.  Jonahven came to us through his mother Holly Adams and his father, our son John, and what a gift they are to each other.  Jonahven came from heaven into the earth, transcended the invisible realm of spirit to incarnate in the visible realm of form.  John Cruickshank transcended the visible world of form to return to his origin in the invisible world of a higher level of form.  There is form at every level appropriate to each level. Should not both transitions be celebrated with equal wonder and joy?!

Life has its irony.  We celebrate the joy of a child’s birth today and yesterday we celebrated the death of a friend with joy and thanksgiving for his full life of service.  John was truly a server to all he encountered in his earthly journey;  a selfless friend.   Notwithstanding an aggressive brain tumor, John’s death was a healthy one.  He was at peace in his heart, his earthly journey fulfilled and complete.  He died as he lived, sharing his life with others.   We who are left behind surely feel a loss.  He will be missed.  And to process that loss we have the grieving process.  If we were aware of the other levels of being, what Jesus referred to as the “many mansions” in the Father’s House, perhaps we would not have cause to grieve the passing of form and could see it as a birthing process into another level of life experience.  Life, after all, is eternal . . . is it not?

Speaking of dying as we live, one of John’s friends recently shared a quote that describes how John lived and died:

“Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, ‘What a ride!'”

John slid into Home plate after running all the bases.  He was only fifty-eight, so he must have hit a home run early in life, because I don’t think he sat on any of the bases.  He was always on the move helping his fellow-man, and changing the world as he went from one ingenious invention to another innovative project.  His last project was as part of team who created a machine called Straw-Jet that turns agricultural residue, such as rice and wheat straw, into building materials,  specifically, but not exclusively, targeting third-world countries.  His most notable invention, however, is the “Sunny-John” which embodies a technology for recycling human waste into manure.  His love was permaculture and he left several such gardens behind him during his journey. He was exceedingly well-gifted with a “green thumb” and knew innately how plants belonged together symbiotically (in close beneficial relationships).  That was his forte and legacy for which he will long be remembered by many.

The ultimate “cure” of disease

Getting back to our blog theme . . . historically, death has been relegated to the morbid and macabre, an event to be feared and staved off for as long as possible.  Certainly as something unhealthy.  We’ve even invented and dedicated an entire industry to keeping death away from our door as long as possible . . . and, for the rich and well-insured, at whatever the cost . . . and cost it does, plenty these days . . . sometimes the equivalent of an arm and a leg, like a donor’s heart or kidney.   That said, I am thankful, as I’m sure our friend was, for the pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory drugs Medicine  provides that helps make the dying process physically, mentally and emotionally bearable and comfortable.  Comfort is a good thing.  We all need that in times of distress, and especially in terminal illness and the dying process.  It’s what we seem to do best as humans.

But what is death, actually (if you will allow me to muse and ponder a bit)?   A colleague once described death as “part of the healing process” and a final resolution and “cure” of disease.  And so it may well be when you stop to think about it.  Tumors stop growing when there is no more life from which to steal sustainable energy.  Bacteria, of course, remain.  But, then, bacteria are natural and essential to all life processes, both integrative and disintegrative.  Mother Earth can put them to good use without Herself becoming infected.  Mothers are natural healers.

Tumors, on the other hand, are thieves . . . unnatural growths outside the creative design of life for flesh.   I’ve seen them described as embryonic masses growing outside of a womb, an unwelcome guest in our house of being.  Death of the host terminates their occupancy.   Of course there are certainly other “cures” and resolutions to the diseased state where the host survives the crisis . . . for a season anyway, until another crisis comes along that threatens to resolve itself through death.   Either way, the healing process prevails.  Life goes on at yet other levels and dimensions.

To make whole

Healing means to make whole that which was previously fragmented, broken, disconnected or dismembered, and therefore dysfunctional.   Healing is a re-membering process whereby what belongs together is allowed to be together – much like the plants and trees in Cruickshank’s permaculture gardens –  as a whole entity that’s an integral and essential part of a larger Whole.   Some call it “God” or the “Great Spirit.”  By whatever name called, the larger Whole is what we each are a part of naturally and whatever would keep us from playing our destined roles in that Whole is inevitably and naturally re-solved . . . returned to a solvent state, such as earth and water, where it can once again participate in creation.   From “dust to dust,” as Christians are reminded with ashes on their foreheads every year.   But the spirit returns to a liberated and functional role as part of the greater Whole; returns to God who created it and maintains its existence.

In this light, death can be seen and embraced by us as part of the healing process . . . and the word itself, like the dying process, could stand to be cleared of its karma and given a noble place in our culture and vocabulary, as well as in our lives.  Death, then, looses its sting as it is healthfully and joyously embraced.  Hospice is a promising step in that direction.

While sitting with our friend at his deathbed, I was moved to talk about his final step into the unknown and how he was about to have all his questions about death and what’s beyond answered.  As awkward as it was at first to even breech the delicate subject, especially with one who was not able to communicate verbally his desire to go there, I felt a certain ease and welcome energy coming from him.   Afterwards, I thought how appropriate it could be to engage the dying, while they are yet able to do so, in a conversation around the theme of preparation for death as a rite of passage.  A conversation that would, first of all, acknowledge and connect with the angel incarnate who is experiencing, even orchestrating, the process of transition, and one that would evoke the conscious participation of the angel who is about to shed the dis-eased earthly form and take on a lighter one, one that will give the angel freedom to move about with ease.  Perhaps using music or the sacred sound of quartz crystal or Tibetan bowls accompanied by toning or chant that would help create ritual space for the generation of buoyant substance for a robust send off.  Or even group song and dance to celebrate the momentous event of final passage and transition.   While such ritual is being used in indigenous as well as some contemporary settings, I would welcome seeing more of this become part of our way of doing things here in the West and throughout the modern world.

And who knows but what this may well open the way for an unveiling of the mystery of death itself and ultimately eliminate its necessity?!  We would simply ascend, taking our bodies with us to a higher vibratory level, leaving nothing behind to be recycled.   I envision a ritual space created specifically for this purpose, just as I envision the creation of such a crucible for facilitating incarnation, a vibrational vesica pices (womb) for the birth of new form.  It’s all in the Divine Design for the process of transmutation and transition from one level to another.  We can agree to let it be so and it will come about.  It’s where we are headed in the new cosmic cycle underway, a theme I expand on in Sacred Anatomy – Where Spirit and Flesh Dance in the Fire of Creation. We are in for a new ride on this earth plane and it’s best to let go of the old and let go to the new.

Here’s to your ride!

Anthony Palombo, DC

Write me at  tpal70@gmail.com

Visit my second blog at attunementwithsacredsound.wordpress.com .

Review my book, Sacred Anatomy, and order your autographed copy on my website at healingandattunement.com

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Not All “Free Radicals” Are Harmful

 

Tony Pics for SA BookSome free radicals are actually essential to life. Free radicals have acquired a rather notorious reputation.  Like with the news media and worldly events, we mostly hear about all the bad stuff they do to the body’s cells and their DNA. The good stuff often goes un-noticed and untold. One such essential “free radical” is the recently discovered and celebrated Redox Signaling Molecule. Before I tell you about it, however, let me create a little context that will help you understand its importance in your body.

Your cells are micro-models of your entire body. Your body has organs and its cells have organelles: they eat, they digest, they create energy, they excrete waste, they are regenerated, and they die.  Their health depends largely on the conditions of the terrain wherein they live and carry out their various roles in the body.  This post is about the health of this terrain of your physiology. Your body is only as healthy as its cells.  It lives and dies at the cellular level.

Cells are individuals complete unto themselves.  They are also gregarious.  They form communities of organs and systems and communicate with one another and with cells in other communities, such as the immune system – or what I prefer to call “immune alliance.”  (It’s an alliance by virtue of the involvement of and dependency on every cell, organ and system of the body.)  The immunity of the body is only as strong and balanced as the health and stability of the cell and its ability to communicate with and activate protective mechanisms such as antioxidants and “T” cells, or T lymphocytes.

T cells are the body’s exterminators. They destroy harmful bacteria, pathogens, toxins, viruses and even viral-infected cells.  They are made in the Thymus gland and bone marrow.  They often depend on the secondary lymphoid organs, such as the lymph nodes and spleen as sites where activation occurs, but they are also found in other tissues of the body, most conspicuously the liver, lungs, blood, reproductive tracts, and profusely throughout the intestinal tract.

Cells can be injured and damaged by “free radicals.”  When they are damaged they cannot function normally nor communicate with the rest of the cells in the body. But not all “free radicals” are equal, nor harmful.  So, let’s take a look at what they are.

Free radicals are oxygen-carrying atoms, molecules or ions with unpaired electrons looking for other molecules with unpaired electrons to bond with. They may have a positive, negative or zero charge.  The unpaired electrons cause radicals to be highly chemically reactive.  They pair up with other molecules, such as those of the cells, to which they bond and, in most cases, do damage through what is called “oxidative stress.”  Antioxidants, such as found in fresh fruits and vegetables, including Vitamins E and C, can protect the cell from free radical damage by a chemical reaction that simply neutralizes free radicals.  This is the purpose of antioxidants.

Hydrogen, for example, is an atom with a zero charge and an unpaired electron to which free radicals are easily attracted and bond.  Once they bond, they are no longer “free” and are thus rendered harmless.  This is why it is important to keep the pH (potential of Hydrogen) of the body’s fluid internal terrain balanced with plenty of raw fruits, vegetables and alkaline-ash foods (not to mention plenty of water, which is comprised of 2 Hydrogen and 1 Oxygen molecules). Too many acid-ash foods, such as meats and grains, deplete the alkaline reserve the body draws on throughout the day in order to keep the pH balanced.  Otherwise your body’s terrain becomes acidic making the cells very unhappy as the acidic fluids in which they live and function erodes their outer wall.

Free radicals also play an important role in combustion, plasma chemistry, biochemistry, and many other chemical processes, including human physiology.  For example, superoxide and nitric oxide regulate many biological processes, such as controlling vascular tone.  Such radicals can even be messengers in a phenomenon dubbed “redox signaling.”    [Chemial reactions in which one atom or compound is reduced (gains an electron and therefore energy) and another is oxidized (loses an electron and therefore energy) are called redox reactions.]

Redox signaling molecules are produced in the mitochondria of each cell, where your energy (ATP) comes from as well.  Two kinds are produced: antioxidant activators and immune system communicators.   Here’s a graphic:   [Also, this link will take you to a power-point presentation by Dr. Rob Ward of ASEA’s Scientific Advisory Council.  Dr. Ward focuses on the powerful holistic nature of redox signaling and how these amazing molecules empower our bodies! http://www.vimeo.com/17464658 ]

Redox signaling is the complex process within the cells wherein free radicals, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and other electronically activated radicals act as messengers in the biological system. It is basically the process that shows how cells in our body respond to oxidants and free radicals. Redox signaling is a continuous and crucial process, through which human cells communicate with each other and carry out vital body functions.    [Ref:  http://www.bewellbuzz.com/antiaging/redox-signaling/]

As demonstrated here, the immune system (T cells) is one such system activated by these redox signaling molecules.  These reactive molecules attach to receptor sites on the cells and convey signals and messages to them, thereby empowering them to perform specific functions.

Redox signaling molecules also activate antioxidants that protect the cells of the body from free-radical damage.  In fact, antioxidants are functional only when activated.  As you can see, these molecules are very important to life.

For a scientific explanation of ROS, click on this website: http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reactive_oxygen_species#Oxidative_damage

If you haven’t heard of redox signaling molecules yet and the role they play in the body’s ability to maintain a high degree ofhealth and well-being, you are not alone. Despite the fact that these molecules are relatively unknown to the general public, researchinto the critical role they play in cellularhealthhas been going on for at least 30 years, if not longer.

For a layman-friendly explanation of the Redox Signaling Molecule, visit this website: http://www.hubpages.com/hub/Redox-Signaling-Molecules-The-Next-Health-and-Wellness-Breakthrough .  You will be thrilled and thank me for bringing this information to you at this time.

This complex process, which occurs naturally within the cells of the body, slows down as we age, contributing to the ageing process.  Damaged cells fail to produce sufficient quantities of these signaling molecules, and those that are produced are often unstable and ineffective.

This slowing down and consequent ageing can now be addressed through a recent scientific breakthrough which has found a way to stabilize the Redox Signaling Molecule and synthesize it for human consumption with significant results in health benefits.

For a visual demonstration of how these radical molecules work in the body, click on this link:  http://www.dranthonypalombo.teamasea.com/science.aspx.  Scroll down and click on “View the full video.”This is my website as an associate distributor for ASEA(TM) products. After viewing the video, you may contact me for further information about this innovative approach to health enhancement. I’m taking ASEA(TM) myself and have noted an increase in energy, stamina and mental acuity and clarity. That’s encouraging to a septuagenarian. Clients report that they are able to reduce the amount of supplements they are taking.   I feel good about this product and recommend it highly to my blog readers.

I wish you each one a very joyful Christmas and a New Year of abundant and healthy living.

Here’s to your good health,

Dr. Anthony Palombo

1722 Bilbo St., Lake Charles, LA 70601. Phone (337) 802-5510 – Email dranthonypalombo@live.com