Research Shows Effectiveness of Breathwork in Healing
Breath, most of us take it for granted, and yet as an influx of recent studies show, when we learn to control it, it can be the key not only to our physical wellbeing but to our spiritual transformation.
Breathwork is the conscious awareness and control of the breath through the practice of various techniques. While breath practices have been incorporated for millennia in many religious and spiritual traditions, they were largely forgotten with the rise of the modern western world. Today, however, we are in the midst of a massive resurgence in interest in these ancient practices.
Ben Stewart is a filmmaker who has been researching and practicing breathwork for years. “We always have breath, it’s free, and it’s relegated to the subconscious for the most part of our lives,” he said.
When we bring it back into the conscious realm, just the very act of bringing awareness to the breath is something that augments the experience of what the breath is doing to us, but also just becoming aware of your breath allows you to realize how much we actually hold our breath, how interrupted and inconsistent our breathing really is.”
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Stem Cells From One's Own Body Show Efficacy in Treating Pain
Stem cell therapy is still a relatively new concept that few understand, but it continues to garner a lot of support and promise — especially for medical problems that have traditionally been very difficult to treat. In his fascinating discussion with Open Minds host Regina Meredith, naturopathic doctor Harry Adelson N.D. reveals a new way to address pain by using stem cells as curative agents. This may come as a welcome idea for at least a fifth of the population, who suffer from chronic pain that affects quality of life, the ability to work, sleep patterns, and more.
According to the Mayo Clinic stem cells create other cells with specialized functions, and “[u]nder the right conditions in the body or a laboratory, stem cells divide to form more cells called daughter cells. These daughter cells either become new stem cells (self-renewal) or become specialized cells (differentiation) with a more specific function, such as blood cells, brain cells, heart muscle cells or bone cells. No other cell in the body has the natural ability to generate new cell types.”
Adelson, says treatment with stem cells can help treat musculoskeletal pain and increase energy using cells from one’s own bone marrow and fat to prompt regeneration. Citing his own use of stem cells on his road to recovery from injury and pain, Adelson says how regenerative therapy using biological tissues found in the human body can restore normalcy to someone living with pain and suffering.
One of the more exciting aspects of stem cell therapy is that each of us can create our own cells to heal ourselves. Emerging evidence suggests that adult stem cells can not only replicate, but also create various other types of cells. For example, bone marrow stem cells may be able to create bone or heart muscle cells.
Adelson is highly experienced when it comes to using stem cells for pain treatment, having performed numerous procedures using bone marrow combined with adipose (bodily fat) stem cells. He’s also injected more than a thousand intervertebral discs with stem cells.
Adelson’s excitement for stem cell therapy began with an accident as a young man, while rock climbing in the early 1990s. He was in naturopathic school at the time, when an injury to his shoulder set him off in a new direction, leading him to pursue an alternative to traditional surgery and injections for pain treatment. After receiving his naturopathic degree, Adelson discovered the potential of stem cell therapy.
