Thyme is without a doubt one of the most useful herbs we have at our disposal, being a powerful germicide with carminative and anti-inflammatory properties. It is described by one of the preeminent herbalists of our time Dorothy Hall as being “powerfully protective and therapeutic”, and one of the “big three of herbal medicine”.

During the Middle Ages, thyme was grown in the monastic gardens of Italy, France and Spain and used to treat those suffering from poor digestion, intestinal parasites and a sore throat. Herbalists used thyme as a powerful germicide to treat patients infected with the plague that swept through Europe between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries.

In 1725 a German apothecary ‘discovered’ thymol, the powerful disinfectant present in the essential oil of thyme, which is effective against bacteria and fungi. Thymol has been found to be very similar to carbolic acid in its action, though more powerful against infection and less irritating to the skin.

In fact cultures as far back as the ancient Sumerians employed thyme as an antiseptic. The ancient Egyptians also used thyme as an antiseptic and preservative in the process of embalming their dead. No doubt the learned physicians of these cultures also knew of and used thyme in all its therapeutic capacity.

Thyme was even used extensively in hospitals during World War I and well into the twentieth century to purify the air and dress the wounds of soldiers.

For medicinal purposes, classical herbalists today use both Wild thyme (Thymus serpyllum) and Common thyme (Thymus vulgaris) sometimes called Garden thyme.

Thyme is very effective when used to treat respiratory conditions. A cup of thyme tea brewed up can bring relief to those suffering from a sore throat, or better still make a cup at the first signs of a throat infection.

The tea is also very useful as a throat gargle for those people, like singers or football coaches, who use their voices a lot. Thyme tea can be quite strong for some people, so dilute with extra water to taste. Brew a cup of thyme tea only when required, as it is not suited for regular use.

A professional herbalist can prescribe thyme in extract or tincture form if this herb is indicated for you therapeutically.

Luke Hughes is a classical Western herbalist.
Title quote by Rudyard Kippling.

via Thyme ‘That smells of dawn in Paradise’ Part 2 | Food | Life | Epoch Times

Related Articles: Thyme ‘That smells of dawn in Paradise’ (Part 1)

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By Cassie Ryan
Epoch Times

Chinese researchers have created a virus that can infect mammals via coughing and sneezing by hybridizing the H5N1 bird flu virus with the H1N1 swine flu strain that caused the 2009 pandemic.

Their paper was published in the journal Science on May 2, the same day a man from Henan Province died from the H7N9 bird flu virus–reportedly the first death outside of eastern China and the 27th death among over 120 cases to date.

The H7N9 virus is believed to be a reassortment of several avian flu viruses, but is relatively benign in birds, according to recent research by another Chinese team published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

H5N1 bird flu is highly pathenogenic, but does not easily infect people, whereas H1N1 swine flu infected many millions in 2009. As yet, there is no evidence that the two viruses have mixed in nature, but they do overlap geographically and share some host species.

In the controversial new research the Chinese scientists deliberately manipulated the two viruses to make them more dangerous, for what they said was for the purpose of improving their understanding of pandemic risks. Some of the resultant mutants easily spread through the air between guinea pigs in the lab.

“If these mammalian-transmissible H5N1 viruses are generated in nature, a pandemic will be highly likely,” said research leader Hualan Chen at the Harbin Veterinary Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

“High attention should be paid during routine influenza surveillance to monitor such high-risk H5N1 hybrid viruses in nature.”

While Chen believes her work could benefit disease control and prevention, other scientists are critical of these so-called gain-of-function mutation studies, as manipulating viruses requires excellent lab security standards to prevent the viruses spreading or being accessed by terrorists.

Microbiologist Richard Ebright at Rutgers University, New Jersey, said two other studies had already looked at how H5N1 mutations spread through the air between mammalian hosts–in that case ferrets. That flu research triggered a debate about biosecurity, and led to a one-year moratorium on any similar projects.

“This argument—even if one accepts it, which I do not—does not provide a rationale for the third, fourth, fifth, and nth research projects confirming the same point,” Ebright told Science Magazine via email.

Baron May of Oxford, a former U.K. government chief scientist, told The Independent that the work by Chen’s team is “appallingly irresponsible.”

“They claim they are doing this to help develop vaccines and such like. In fact the real reason is that they are driven by blind ambition with no common sense whatsoever,” he added.

Further research by Chen and colleagues has apparently been delayed by investigations into the new H7N9 virus.

via Chinese Scientists Create Mutant Bird Flu » The Epoch Times

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By Zachary Stieber
Epoch Times

A set of “ultraconserved” words that are frequently used today, and were frequently used thousands of years ago, point to ancient languages having more in common with each other than previously thought.

The researchers, in a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on May 6, found a set of 23 words that have barely changed from 15,000 years ago, being used in a similar form in four of the seven ancient language families.

Among the words:

-Thou

-Not

-To give

-Man/male

-Mother

-Bark

-Black

The researchers can predict how the 23 words traced back to ancient times sounded in those times, as part of an ancestral language.

“We can trace echoes of language back 15,000 years to a time that corresponds to about the end of the last ice age,” study co-author Mark Pagel, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom, told LiveScience.

The team of researchers reconstructed ancient words based on the frequency of when certain sounds usually change in different languages. They could mark when words slightly change as languages have evolved, such as the Latin “pater” to the English “father.”

The team also mapped modern languages to mark the relationships between modern languages, and pinpointed the most stable words in the modern day.

Words identified as frequently used are spoken about 16 times a day. Many on the list are used more than once per 1,000 spoken words, and many on the list are pronouns and adverbs.

“Here we use a statistical model, which takes into account the frequency with which words are used in common everyday speech, to predict the existence of a set of such highly conserved words among seven language families of Eurasia postulated to form a linguistic superfamily that evolved from a common ancestor around 15,000 years ago,” according to the study abstract.

While the research has broken new ground, Page said that it would be difficult to go back beyond 15,000 years.

The other words on the list are:

-I

-That

-We

-Who

-This

-What

-Ye

-Old

-To hear

-Hand

-Fire

-To pull

-To flow

-Ashes

-To spit

-Worm

via Ancient Languages Have Words in Common » The Epoch Times

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Ms. Xiao Hongyun, a teacher at Changde Normal School in Hunan Province, usually suffers dizziness, tinnitus, and palpitations the day before an earthquake occurs. She has suffered these symptoms in conjunction with earthquakes in China as well as in Taiwan and Chile.

She recently experienced dizziness and insomnia a few days before the 7-magnitude earthquake in Ya’an in Sichuan Province, China on April 20.

Voice of China interviewed Ms. Xiao about her physical prediction of the Ya’an earthquake.

According to Ms. Xiao, she suddenly fainted while giving a lesson. She was sent to the hospital and examined, but no abnormalities were found.

Xiao said, “I began to feel dizzy on the 18th and I could not fall asleep during the night, especially on the 20th, I was still awake at 4 a.m., feeling very tired as if I were in a boat swaying on the water.”

She said to her husband, “I’m afraid a quake is about to happen somewhere.” The Ya’an earthquake did then happen on the morning of April 20th. “I was sitting on the sofa and my legs could not stop shivering when the quake took place,” said Xiao.

Ms. Xiao, age 53, says her physical episodes date from an electric shock she suffered at the age of 13. “At that moment, my whole body went numb and I collapsed on the ground. Luckily I was not hurt badly,” she said. Since then, she has experienced the dizziness and other symptoms from time to time, yet medical examinations have always been normal.

Ms. Xiao recalls that when she was 16 years old, one day she heard a roar in the field while harvesting rice crops, but people next to her didn’t hear anything. Many days later, she learned that the Tangshan earthquake had happened on that same day. (On July 26, 1976 the Tangshan earthquake struck in northeast China, killing hundreds of thousands of people.)

However, Ms. Xiao did not associate her abnormal physical symptoms with earthquakes until September 1999. “When I saw on TV the strong quake in Taiwan on September 21, 1999, I began to think, maybe my strange illness is related to earthquakes.” Xiao said, because she had suffered strong physical reactions the day before.

Since then, Ms. Xiao watches the news every time she feels unusual. “After my physical reaction, most likely there will be an earthquake. Based on the degree of the ringing in my ears, I can judge how far, how strong, and in what direction approximately a quake will be,” she said

Because nobody believed her and thought something was wrong with her, Xiao started recording every premonition that had been verified by an earthquake. She asked her family and colleagues to sign the pages as confirmation. According to her diary, the closest earthquake occurred in Linli County of Chengdu and the farthest occurred in Chile.

Ms. Xiao contacted Sun Shihong, a retired professor of the Chinese Seismograph Station, the day before the Yushu earthquake of April 14, 2010. She told him she had a strong physical reaction and that this usually happened the day before an earthquake.

Sun Shihong believed Ms. Xiao’s condition really is linked to earthquakes.

Subsequently, experts from various seismic stations throughout Hunan Province made a special trip to Ms. Xiao’s home to conduct an investigation and analysis.

The experts concluded that Xiao’s reactions were indeed linked to the earthquakes because her body could sense the infrasonic sound of the earthquake in advance. The higher the magnitude is, the stronger the sensation is.

Read the original Chinese article.

Translation by Alex Wu. Written in English by Arleen Richards.

via Teacher in China Feels Earthquakes Before They Happen » The Epoch Times

…

A prestigious Australian university has come under scrutiny recently for giving an honorary professorship to a former top Chinese health official who has been involved in unethical organ harvesting. 

Researchers of organ harvesting in China spoke to the influential Australian news program the “7:30 Report” with information about Huang Jiefu’s involvement in organ harvesting in China; they called on the University of Sydney to rescind the honorary professorship they gave to Huang in 2008 and renewed in October 2011.

Researcher Maria Fiatarone Singh, a member of the faculty of health science at the University of Sydney, regards Huang as one of the former leaders of an unethical system of organ transplantation.

In the 1990s a very special form of lethal injection called slow lethal injection was perfected in China by Chinese officials. – Researcher Maria Fiatarone Singh

“In the 1990s a very special form of lethal injection called slow lethal injection was perfected in China by Chinese officials,” she said to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, which produces the “7:30 Report.” This was meant to preserve the organs while the person is anaesthetised.

“They don’t die right away,” Singh said, giving the surgeon time to pull out organs before the lethal injection is finalized. “It’s done in a way that actually allows this very, very unsavoury mix of execution and medical care and treatment to be done by the same team of doctors,” Singh said. “It’s horrific, really.”

Huang was the vice minister of health from 2001 to 2013, and was the point person for international groups to hear the official word on the Chinese regime’s organ transplantation policies. He was also a member of the Party Leadership Group in the Ministry of Health, according to the Ministry’s website; and he is a reserve member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, ostensibly an advisory body for the Communist Party.

Huang also watched over a period of extensive harvesting of organs from prisoners of conscience, according to the research of David Matas, a Canadian lawyer who co-authored the seminal “Independent Investigation Into Allegations of Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China,” first published in 2006.

Practitioners of Falun Gong are suspected of being the preponderant source of illicit organs trafficked through the Chinese system from the early 2000s onwards; tens of thousands may have been killed in that fashion, researchers indicate.  

Much of that activity was carried out by the medical-military complex, where military hospitals work with labor camps to source organs and carry out the transplants in secret. Such hospitals are not under the purview of the Ministry of Health—but as head of the transplantation system, Matas holds Huang accountable.

The University of Sydney defended itself with a note from Professor Bruce Robinson, Dean of the Medical School: “Huang Jiefu is recognised internationally for having made significant changes to the regulation of China’s organ transplantation processes in an effort to curb the practice of organ retrieval from executed prisoners.” Robinson listed some of the initiatives that were attributed to Huang, including “publicly stating that executed prisoners are not an appropriate source of organs for transplantation.”

But it’s likely that Huang has himself extracted the vital organs of executed prisoners, says Singh. Singh notes that even up until November of last year Huang was still carrying out liver transplants.

“That would be 100 organs a year,” Singh says. “Using his own figures, 90 to 95 percent of those would have come from executed prisoners.” Huang previously gave estimates that 90 or 95 percent of all organ transplants in China were from executed prisoners.

Before an operation in 2005, he also contacted the Third Military Medical University in Chongqing, which is affiliated with the Chinese military, as well as the Zhongshan School of Medicine located in Guangzhou, to obtain a blood-matched liver. Within about 24 hours, one arrived from Chongqing and he performed the transplant, according to a news report on a Chinese official website, recounting the incident in adulatory terms.

While David Matas, the lawyer and researcher, acknowledges that Huang played a public role in highlighting the need for the People’s Republic of China to reform its organ sourcing system, he said in a previous interview with The Epoch Times that it was far from enough.

“With Huang Jiefu, I mean, he says all the right things, but he’s a fellow traveller. This guy is sitting on top of a system of massive transplant abuse,” Matas said. “What I see is the system playing good cop/bad cop. Huang is the good cop. He has this notion of ‘Let’s change things gradually.’ He’s been saying this for many years now, and I don’t see a lot of changes. They do everything to hide the figures.”

Matas added: “I don’t buy the line that they’re doing what they can. They should stop it.”

via University of Sydney Criticized for Giving Degree to Huang Jiefu, Alleged Chinese Organ Harvester – Epoch Times

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NEW YORK—Bollywood actress and film producer Kalpana Pandit said Shen Yun Performing Arts was unreal.

“I would say it’s one of the best, musical, spiritual, precision dance pieces I’ve seen in the world,” she said after the performance at Lincoln Center on April 28. “I shall remember this forever.”

Ms. Pandit, an emergency physician-turned-actress, was the leading actress in Panithuli and starred in Janleva 555, as well as appearing in a range of other films, music videos, and television commercials. She was in New York to judge a Bollywood dance competition and ended up experiencing Shen Yun.

Shen Yun is a New York-based performance company that aims to revive the divinely-inspired, 5,000 years of traditional Chinese culture.

Ms. Pandit said the “depth of this beautiful culture” has very deep meaning, especially in today’s world.

“I feel that lack of spirituality is causing a lot of today’s problems with the youth,” she said. “There’s no grounding, because they have no concept of what to hang onto in order to satisfy the soul.”

“I think the deep spirituality which you see in shows like this, it awakens something, and I hope that these kind of shows will help people to explore what it is,” Ms. Pandit added.

Shen Yun presents in some of its dance pieces realms of paradise and the heavens, transporting the audience through the colors of the costumes, the divine nature of the dancing, and the digital backdrops that utilize patented technology.

The performance evoked contemplation from Ms. Pandit.

“There is something that pulls you deep inside, it gives you that sense of belonging to the earth,” she said. “That’s what I felt, especially when they showed all the heavens and the earth, the connection.”

“I aspire that this show touches every corner of the world so that everybody sees it,” she said. “I would love for it to go to India one day and for the people for India to see. This is gorgeous; it is perfect. I aspire that other shows can come up to this level.”

Spiritual Depth of Chinese Culture and Shen Yun

The long Chinese history formed on the three main faiths of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism.

“Under the influence of these faiths, Chinese culture has spawned a rich and profound system of values,” explains Shen Yun’s website. “The concepts of ‘man and nature must be in balance,’ ‘respect the heavens to know one’s destiny,’ and the five cardinal virtues of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and faithfulness (ren yi li zhi xin) are all products of these three religions’ teachings.”

Classical Chinese dance is at the heart of a Shen Yun performance, accentuated by handmade costumes, digital backdrops, and an orchestra that melds both classical Western and Chinese instruments.

Yet there is much more to Shen Yun than what’s on the surface.

“Digging deeper, one discovers a sea of traditional Chinese culture. Mortals and divine beings merge on stage as one,” says the Shen Yun website. Furthermore, the range of principles and virtues from Chinese culture “come to life” through the performance, “washing over the audience.”

Ms. Pandit said: “I’m going to recommend this to all my friends, because it’s something that is obviously thousands and thousands of years old. That traditional culture comes through because of that ancient art form.”

Reporting by NTD Television, Ivan Pentchoukov, and Zachary Stieber

New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. The next performances in the northeastern United States are in Philadelphia May 3-5. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org

The Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time. We have proudly covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.

via Bollywood Actress After Seeing Shen Yun: ‘I shall remember this forever’ » The Epoch Times

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…

By Simon Veazey
Epoch Times

Researchers have created bacteria that can directly produce commercial fuel on demand from sugar.

Until now biofuels were not completely compatible with unconverted modern engines, working inefficiently and corrosively.

But researchers say they have genetically engineered bacteria, splicing in tree and algae genes, to produce hydrocarbons identical to those used in commercial fuel.

The research was carried out at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom (UK), producing modified E. coli bacteria that produce enzymes that convert sugar into fatty acids which in turn are converted into fuel.

Professor John Love at the University of Exeter said in a statement: “Producing a commercial biofuel that can be used without needing to modify vehicles has been the goal of this project from the outset.”

“Global demand for energy is rising and a fuel that is independent of both global oil price fluctuations and political instability is an increasingly attractive prospect,” he said.

The ecological credentials of biofuels produced from food crops are sometimes criticized. But Love believes that a scaled-up version of the process would enable them to adjust the genes to allow the bacteria to produce fuel from animal manure, not sugar.

The research was partly funded by Shell’s research division, Rob Lee from Shell Projects & Technology said in a statement: “ While the technology still faces several hurdles to commercialisation, by exploring this new method of creating biofuel, along with other intelligent technologies, we hope they could help us to meet the challenges of limiting the rise in carbon dioxide emissions while responding to the growing global requirement for transport fuel.”

via Bacteria Produce Pump-ready Fuel » The Epoch Times

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The more ‘diet’ foods I consumed, the more addicted to sugar I got

By Tysan Lerner
Epoch Times

When I was in my late teens I started struggling with my weight.

I had just decided to focus more on academics, less on dance training, so I drastically cut down my physical activity. Between that and the hormonal changes affecting my 16-year-old body, I started gaining some weight.

Dieting

I decided to go on a diet. I read Dr. Ornish’s diet book. It taught me that what was making me fat was indeed fat. At the time, low-fat diets had just become a big craze, and so there were plenty of fat-free foods to support my dieting efforts.

Dr. Ornish encouraged whole foods, but I was only 16 and didn’t really know how to cook. So, like many of my fellow North Americans, I turned to the wide selection of low-fat and fat-free processed foods being offered to consumers.

Soon after changing my diet, I found myself feeling hungrier than ever.

A few years later, I read that fat makes you feel satiated, and without it you will never really feel full. So I added the fat back in. But I still ate the fat-free, sugary desserts and still felt chronically hungry, lazy, and tired!

As a result, I gained even more weight, felt tired most of the time, and was chronically hungry despite the large amounts of food I was allowing myself. The more “diet” foods I consumed, the more addicted to sugar I got.

I also started suffering from chronic fatigue, depression, and major weight gain. Eventually I gained 40 pounds from binging on sweets.

What is ‘sugar’?

We all know what sugar is. It is that lovely white or brown powdery stuff that we add to our coffee or tea, and candies and cakes.

But sugar is found in almost all foods, although it manifests in different forms. Some forms of sugars are more toxic, and some less.

Grains and breads contain sugar. Next time you eat some brown rice, chew it 30 to 50 times until it becomes a liquid. You will discover that it ends up tasting sweet.

That sweetness comes from the sugar you have released after chewing the rice. But that sugar is primarily in the form of glucose and does not affect the body the way other forms of sugar do.

In fact, we need glucose to run well, so when I say “kick sugar,” I don’t mean kick carbohydrates such as bread and grains.

I am talking primarily about fructose. Dr. Robert H. Lustig explains in his lecture “Sugar: The Bitter Truth” at the University of California, San Francisco, that the fructose in sugar is toxic for us.

When eaten without the nutrients and fibre found in fruits, which are high in fructose, it causes metabolic syndrome, Type 2 diabetes, high triglycerides, a fatty liver, and a big gut.

Consider this: 50 percent of sugar is fructose, 55 percent of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is fructose, and 50 to 70 percent of agave nectar is fructose.

This is all dangerous because the fructose from these sugar sources is not getting digested with the fibre found in fruits. So although the sugar found in fruit is 70 percent fructose, it is not toxic for us since fruit fibre helps to digest it. Fibre is nature’s antidote for fructose.

Most North Americans are getting their fructose fix from soda, juice, chocolate milk, ice cream, cookies, and cake. It is also added into many processed foods to make them taste better. Because HFCS is inexpensive, it is easy to load up food with it.

In 2009, Dr. Lustig helped the American Heart Association rewrite the guidelines for the recommended daily limit on sugar intake. The association now recommends limiting daily sugar intake to 9 teaspoons for men and 6 teaspoons for women. Having more than that is considered toxic.

Cutting out sugar

After learning about how toxic sugar was and how prevalent it was in our diets, I went on a mission to cut it out. To keep it simple, I started with HFCS. I noticed that it was in much of the treats I loved, including light ice cream, whole wheat bread, and “healthy” morning cereals.

I thought I had been doing so well since I was eating whole wheat bread and only indulging in a 160-calorie daily treat, but in fact, if Dr. Lustig is correct, I was slowly poisoning myself (and my kids).

So out went the bread and cereal with the HFCS. Out went the light ice cream since the only alternative to light ice cream with HFCS was light ice cream with artificial sweeteners, which I do not advocate.

I got into making baked apples with cinnamon or baked blueberries with coconut. That hit my sweet tooth and cut my cravings for more dessert. As a result, I lost the last 6 lbs I had been struggling with for years.

Tysan Lerner is a certified health coach and personal trainer. She helps women attain their body and beauty goals without starving themselves or spending hours at the gym. Her website is www.lavendermamas.com

via How I Kicked Sugar » The Epoch Times

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NEW YORK—Mind and matter are like the chicken and the egg—and pain, both emotional and physical, is no different. Healers and scientists have long known that mental factors and physical symptoms are inextricably intertwined.

A study published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine in 2004 found that two-thirds of patients being treated for depression also reported physical pain such as frequent headaches, back pain, joint pain, and abdominal pain.

“Physical pain and depression have a deeper biological connection than simple cause and effect; the neurotransmitters that influence both pain and mood are serotonin and norepinephrine,” reads a 2004 National Institutes of Health report. “Dysregulation of these transmitters is linked to both depression and pain.”

While trouble with neurotransmitters play a huge role in both depression and pain, the story doesn’t end there.

Since the 1950s, doctors and drug companies have touted pillular anti-depressants as the go-to method for treating depression and certain cases of pain. In the process, patients were forced to counter side effects associated with these drugs with more drugs while pharmaceutical companies reaped the profits. Now, patients and health care providers alike are turning to other, lasting, and more intuitive ways to address the psychosomatic factors contributing to the twin distresses of pain and depression.

The Integrated Being

For 5,000 years, Chinese medicine has treated human health holistically. Its foundational philosophy says that a human being exists on the spiritual, emotional, and physical levels simultaneously, and that no one facet of human health can be fully understood without examining the others. Furthermore, people do not exist in a vacuum; they are also members of their community and the universe. Thus, when practiced fully, Chinese medicine integrates concepts from many fields that are today specialized and separate.

Chinese medicine believes that physical symptoms have their root causes in mental and emotional states that manifest in blockages of qi, which can be loosely translated as “life energy.” Likewise, since qi is the conduit for all human functioning, mental, emotional, and physical dysfunction can be treated by manipulating qi. On this framework sprang traditional Chinese healing methods such as acupuncture, herbal medicine, and qigong, just to name a few modalities commonly known to the West.

According to Dr. Jingduan Yang, a Chinese medicine doctor and psychiatrist practicing at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, a deficiency in yang qi or an excess in yin qi often manifests as depression. The same qi imbalances will affect other areas of functioning and present itself as pain.

Modern research is coming close to similar understandings of this complex relationship. The Scandinavian Journal of Pain in 2011 attempted to explain the connection this way:

“First, catastrophizing plays a central role in models of both pain and depression and hence might form an important link between them,” researchers wrote. “Second, emotion regulation is important in both depression and pain since they both can be viewed as significant emotional stressors.”

Dual Acting Treatments

Pain and depression often go hand in hand—sometimes the same traumatic experience triggers both, and the two conditions exacerbate each other.

Neuropathic pain, as opposed to common muscular aches and arthritic pain, derives from dysfunctions in the central nervous system or peripheral nervous system. Trauma causes disproportionate electrical activity in the nerves, and sufferers of chronic neuropathic conditions such as complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) experience normal touch or the slightest heat as pain.

Acupuncture acts on correcting the qi blockages that cause such pain and when used correctly can reduce the hypersensitivity associated with neuropathic pain. Used as a complementary treatment to conventional modalities, it can increase the rate of recovery while reducing stress. Since it works on the person’s qi, and qi regulates emotion, effective acupuncture boosts mood, too.

Another alternative treatment that acts on both the body and the brain is ketamine infusion. Ketamine is an anesthetic drug that, when administered by a qualified physician or anesthesiologist, acts on the nervous system to dampen excessive pain signals.
“It stops the transmission of pain from the body to the spine and to the brain, and gives the system the chance to reboot,” said Dr. Glen Z. Brooks, a New York anesthesiologist who offers ketamine treatments.

In cases of depression, ketamine promotes the growth of the synapses and lets the brain heal itself, reversing the structural causes of depression, according to Brooks.

The ketamine dosage and treatment plan for depression patients and pain patients are different, and must be customized to the person’s body weight, and so should be thought of as separate treatments, but patients with related conditions often see improvements in their symptoms.

via The Link Between Depression and Pain » The Epoch Times

…

A tightness in the chest, a cold creeping rush enveloping the body, sweaty palms, palpitations, a racing heart. A feeling like one is dying. These are the symptoms of a panic attack.

TV presenter Anna Williamson is known as the bright and bubbly face of the ITV children’s show, Toonattik, and entertainment reporter on Daybreak. Yet, five years ago behind the “smiley” façade, Anna was suffering.

“It’s like you’re having a heart attack,” says Anna describing her panic attacks. “I didn’t identify what was happening to me, I just remember feeling so desperately unhappy and I didn’t know why.”

It was the most desolate, lonely time of her life. Anna knew she was fortunate to have a “fantastic” job and was also surrounded by close friends and family. So why did she feel like her life was “imploding”?

Away from the cameras she was troubled in her private life and embarrassed to admit to those close to her she wasn’t coping. Anna put pressure on herself to feel happier. The panic attacks worsened.

“Like a rabbit in the headlights you want to be anywhere else than where you are,” Anna says.

“It was so awful that I feared having a panic attack again. The fear of a panic attack created a panic attack. So I got locked in a cycle, where I thought: ‘I never want to feel like that again.’”

About 1 in 10 people will have severe anxiety or phobias at some point in their lives. However, most people with these problems never ask for treatment, according to the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

‘Life changing’ therapy

Defeated, Anna took time off work, and despite the stigma, sought therapy. She felt the “tight elastic band” of emotions inside her start to unwind.

“I found counselling absolutely life changing.”

Tears came as the therapist asked questions that allowed Anna to pinpoint what was bothering her.

“It was so liberating. I remember walking out of that office an hour and half later knowing that I was going to be ok, because I had found someone who understands me,” Anna says.

Two sessions a week of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for three weeks helped Anna get back to work. CBT, which is available on the NHS, is a talking therapy that helps people to recognise and change habitual thinking patterns causing anxiety.

Every session was “more about self-discovery, more unburdening and unravelling of things that were going on in my head.”

Anna worked through the jumbled mess in her mind, filing it away with the help of CBT and, combined with anti-anxiety medication, felt better and better about herself. She also found a deep sense of relaxation using self-hypnosis.

Anna became a huge advocate of talking therapies and trained as a counsellor. She regularly volunteers taking calls from children on the free helpline Childline.

Online peer support

Recently, Anna is supporting another cause close to her heart: Elefriends.org.uk, a newly relaunched mental health online peer support platform.

“Anybody, you, me, can go on and just talk. It’s for like-minded people who are, perhaps, having a bad day,” says Anna, who explains that with the option to be anonymous, the forum is a safe place to share feelings and opinions about mental health problems.

“Maybe you can identify with someone,” Anna says.

Started on Facebook, Elefriends outgrew the limit of 5,000 friends. Mind, the mental health charity, secured Social Action Funding allowing Elefriends to expand to an unlimited platform. Thousands more people can now access the popular support network.

More than four out of five people feel that talking about their mental health problems helps, according to Mind.

President of Mind and the voice of the Elephant animations used on Elefriends, Stephen Fry said in a statement: “If you have a mental health problem, talking to someone who’s had a similar experience can be an absolute lifeline.”

Twenty per cent of people have to wait more than a year for talking therapies on the NHS. A Mind survey revealed that almost four out of five people who have accessed on- or offline peer support networks have found at least one kind of peer support effective.

One forum user, Sam, 31, who suffered depression for more than ten years, was signed off work for two months following bereavement, his mother being ill and a difficult time at work. A former colleague recommended he join Elefriends.

“No one will naively tell you to ‘get over it’ or be patronisingly over-concerned. You get empathy rather than sympathy and the support is mutual, which can help give you perspective and explore new ways of managing your mental health,” said Sam in a statement.

Another member, Katie, 31, has battled over the years with depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsions and self-harm. She wanted to use her experiences to help others, but found to her surprise that she got so much more support back from the community itself.

Anna’s wish

People may be concerned: Will they be employable if they speak out about their mental health problems?

For Anna, through confronting her demons, and going public has only helped her career.

“I’ve had more work since I’ve got to know myself better and corrected any errors in myself and I’m a much better TV presenter as a result of it,”

Anna hopes her story can inspire others.

“If one person identifies with my story, and takes heart and comfort in that, that’s the right reason for me to speak out about it.”

via When Panic Attacks » The Epoch Times

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Premonition, Precognition, and Presentiment

By Louis Makiello
Epoch Times Staff

Sheldrake has collected a database of 842 cases of human premonitions, precognitions or presentiments, including people who see the future in dreams. He has also looked at the same phenomenon in animals.

He cites the case of British biologist Rachel Grant, who was carrying out a study on the mating of toads in Italy, only to observe a mass exodus of toads ahead of the 6.4-magnitude quake that struck Italy in April 2009. Grant told the press that her findings “suggest that toads are able to detect pre-seismic cues such as the release of gases and charged particles, and use these as a form of earthquake early warning system.”

But Sheldrake writes: “If it turns out that they are indeed reacting to subtle physical changes, then seismologists should be able to use instruments to make better predictions themselves. If it turns out that presentiment plays a part, we will learn something important about the nature of time and causation. By ignoring animal premonitions, or by explaining them away, we will learn nothing.”

Dean Radin, a U.S. academic, devised an experiment in the 1990s to test for presentiment. He monitored human subjects’ emotional arousal using electrodes attached to the fingers (as in lie detector tests). The activity of sweat glands, which varies following people’s emotional states, results in changes in skin resistance.

The subjects were shown various photos. Most photos showed calm things like landscapes but some were shocking, such as corpses cut open. A computer selected the them at random. When the calm pictures were displayed, the subjects remained calm; when the shocking ones were displayed, the increase in electrodermal activity could be measured via the electrodes.

Researchers were surprised to find that the increase in electrodermal activity occurred up to four seconds before the photo was shown to the subject, despite being selected only milliseconds earlier by a computer. Sheldrake writes: “People seem to be influenced by themselves in the future, rather than by objective events.”

He relates this to his own theory of morphogenetic fields. “This is in agreement with the way that attractors pull organisms towards their inherited or learned goals, with flows of influence from virtual futures through the present towards the past.”

Universal Constants May Not Be Constant

In addition to biology and philosophy of science, Sheldrake comes up with amusing and intriguing ideas in other fields of science.

Speaking of the speed of light, he writes, “By 1927, the measured values had converged to 299,796 kilometers per second. At the time, the leading authority on the subject concluded, ‘The present value of c [the speed of light] is entirely satisfactory and can be considered more or less permanently established.’

“However, all around the world from about 1928 to 1945, the speed of light dropped by about 20 kilometers per second. (…) In the late 1940s the speed of light went up again by about 20 kilometers per second and a new consensus developed around the higher value.”

Sheldrake says that in the future, scientific periodicals may carry regular news reports on the latest value of c, much like weather reports or stock-market indices.

Questioning the Conservation of Energy

The book discusses a range of experiments aimed at testing the conservation of energy in living organisms. This involves keeping humans or animals in airtight chambers and measuring energy input through food, heat and work produced, oxygen consumed, and carbon dioxide produced.

In some experiments, more than a quarter of energy is unaccounted for. In other experiments, Sheldrake holds that scientists averaged data from different experiments, and discarded some data to arrive at a result that followed the conservation of energy law.

“Although most people do not realize it, there is a shocking possibility that living organisms draw upon forms of energy over and above those recognized by standard physics and chemistry,” he writes.

Sheldrake goes on to tackle the phenomenon of “inedia,” wherein people do not eat for months or years without any adverse effects. He discusses the many holy people in India and the West, from past to present, who are said to survive without food, and in some cases water too.

Sometimes, the fasting seems to happen due to illness, rather than spiritual devotion. Sheldrake cites the 2010 study of Indian yogi Prahlad Jani [/n2/science/study-on-yogi-prahlad-janis-fasting-miracles-concludes-35126.html] who was monitored for two weeks by the Indian Defense Institute of Physiology and Allied Science.

Sheldrake calls for further study of the phenomenon: “Are there new forms of energy that are not at present recognized by science? Or can the energy in the zero-point field, which is recognized by science, be tapped by living organisms?”

Sheldrake relates the failure to experimentally verify the conservation of energy in living creatures to physics’ theory of dark matter.

When physicists observed the motion of galaxies and clusters of galaxies, they were surprised that the galaxies were not following the laws of the motion of matter. There seemed to be much greater gravitational attraction than should be possible. They thus concluded that a large amount of invisible matter must be present. They called it “dark matter” and it remains hypothetical and unobservable.

Cosmologists now believe that only a small fraction of the universe is made up of observable matter and energy such as atoms, stars, galaxies, gas, planets, and electromagnetic radiation. Most of the universe is made up of dark matter, they say.

Most theories of dark matter state that the density of dark matter is constant. Therefore, since the universe is expanding, dark matter is constantly coming into being. This refutes both the second law of thermodynamics, and the conservation of matter—two cornerstones of physics.

Sheldrake writes: “The universe is now like a perpetual-motion machine, expanding because of dark energy, and creating more dark energy by expanding.” He goes on to call out scientists on their prejudices against perpetual-motion machines: “Skeptics claim that all these devices are impossible and/or fraudulent, and some promoters of ‘free energy’ devices may indeed be fraudulent; but can we be sure that they all are?”

He says that misguided scientific advisers may be to blame for discouraging investment in research into “over unity” devices (which supposedly produce more than one unit of energy for every unit of energy put in). “But perhaps some of these devices really do work, and really can tap into new sources of energy.” He goes on to suggest a prize to be put up for the creation of such a device.

Alternative Medicine Should Become Mainstream

In addition to modern materialistic medicine, rival medical systems, such as homeopathy, chiropractic, and traditional Chinese medicine, are also widely used. However, government research, most national health services, and private medical insurance schemes ignore such rival systems, and stick to Western medicine.

Sheldrake begins by acknowledging the extraordinary achievements of modern Western medical science. The huge leaps forward in public health through immunization and improved hygiene were not thanks to any particular dogma, he says. Neither materialism nor the mechanistic theory of life should claim credit. Antibiotics also were discovered by chance. Most modern drugs are either chemical compounds isolated from herbal remedies or discovered by trial and error.

After a brief history of Western medicine, Sheldrake criticizes corrupt practices within the pharmaceutical industry. “Some companies go to great lengths to make their drugs look safer and more effective than they really are, creating an illusion of scientific respectability for their claims. [...] They offer large fees to scientists to put their names to articles that have been ghostwritten by authors paid by the drug company.”

Sheldrake goes on to tackle the placebo response. He relates this to the power of hypnosis on the body. He cites hypnotists’ abilities to induce blisters on the skin by convincing people they are being burned. He also cites the treatment of warts by “magical” methods as often being more effective than conventional ones.

When modern medicine tests a treatment’s effectiveness, it seeks to ignore the placebo response. Sheldrake asks the question: do some treatment methods give a better placebo response than others?

He then talks about the effect of spiritual practices on health. “The effects of prayer or meditation on health and survival have been investigated through prospective studies in which people who prayed or meditated and otherwise similar people who did not pray or meditate were identified at the start of the study and watched over a period of years to see if their health or mortality turned out differently. It did. On average, those who prayed or meditated remained healthier and survived longer than those who did not.”

He cites a U.S. study in which 1,793 over 65s were tracked for six years. After correcting for factors such as lifestyle, those who prayed had a 55 percent better survival rate. “If a new drug or surgical procedure had such dramatic effects on health and survival as spiritual practices, it would be hailed as a medical breakthrough,” he writes.

Sheldrake then urges the development of a new way to test treatment methods other than the randomized double-blind placebo controlled study. Mainstream and alternative treatments should all be compared so as to determine which one works best, which has the greatest variability of results between practitioners, and which is the most cost-effective.

On the sensitive question of end-of-life care, Sheldrake says patients who receive palliative care rather than aggressive treatments to prolong life lead better quality lives. Palliative care costs less, and in one study, lung cancer patients who received palliative care actually survived longer than those receiving aggressive anti-cancer therapy.

The Illusion of Objectivity

Throughout his book, Sheldrake challenges different assumptions and beliefs held by the scientific community. Scientists themselves are often unaware of their own prejudices, he says. Those who idealize science believe that scientists are “the epitome of objectivity, rising above the sectarian divisions and illusions that afflict the rest of humanity.”

He cites comedian Ricky Gervais as a prime example of a layperson having blind faith in the infallibility of science.

Scientists themselves perpetuate the ideal of the scientist as an objective, godlike, disembodied mind “freed from the normal limitations of bodies, emotions, and social obligations.” Stephen Hawkins has captured public imagination precisely because he is “as close to the disembodied mind as a human can be.”

Quantum theory has found that the very act of observing an experiment affects the outcome, but scientists still mostly write reports in the passive voice, as do schoolchildren in science class.

Sheldrake urges drastic reforms for scientific education, funding for science, and health care. At stake, he says, is the advancement of science, public health, mental well-being, and even the safety of our species, which is endangered by modern science’s effect on ecology.

via ‘The Science Delusion’ by Rupert Sheldrake—Part 2 | Beyond Science | Science | Epoch Times

Related Articles: Does Telepathy Conflict With Science?

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When talking psychotherapy or emotional counselling most people conjure up images of reclining on a studded leather couch talking with a psychologist. But therapy need not always take this form, which to some can be uncomfortable and confronting. Traditional “talk-based” forms of counselling are effective, but there is another alternative method becoming more widely accepted, which is also an evidence-based approach: Equine Assisted Therapy EAT.

The presence of animals

Incorporating animals in the process of self-discovery and emotional healing may seem very left-field compared to conventional approaches, but there has been much evidence that suggests that an animal-led approach is successful in psycho-intervention.

We are all familiar with the concept of using domesticated animals in hospitals and hospices to brighten a patient’s day. It is also well accepted that patting an animal can reduce blood pressure and help to lower a patient’s guard; a dog or cat can help patients feel at ease during treatment and consultation with a doctor.

Therapy involving horses was first used in Europe in the 1800s. Since then horses have played a role in helping people to overcome a wide variety of personal problems like depression, anxiety, eating disorders, sleep disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder—common among war veterans. Equine Therapy is also being used to treat children with autism or behavioural problems and children with a history of abuse.

Michelle Rookley, an Equine facilitator therapist and employee of Chiron Programs in Tasmania’s Huon Valley says that the horse-assisted sessions are relaxed and informal.

“From observations, I feel people are drawn to this therapy because it is not clinical. The sessions are in a natural setting, it is not a pressured environment. The focus is not on the person as a ‘patient’,” she said.

Ms Rookley also has experience working as a nutritionist and she incorporates this knowledge into her horse-led therapy sessions to assist people affected by eating disorders.

Ms Rookley says that after spending time with the horses people often comment that they are feeling more positive, more empowered and more confident.

“We believe that horses have a power which is uniquely transformative. They can teach us compassion, respect, humility, patience and gratitude,” she said.

The horses’ place in the arena of healing

EAT is not horse riding. It is a personalised therapy session conducted by a trained horse specialist, a licensed health councillor, and a small herd of horses—specially trained to be calm and docile.

Different countries have set up different models for conducting EAT, and so there are slight differences in the way a session is conducted.

Australia, a typical session may be conducted as follows: the patient will be guided to undertaking groundwork with the horses such as leading them along an obstacle course or brushing them.

When the session with the horses finishes the participant is invited to verbalise arising thoughts and feelings. The Equine Assisted Therapy Facilitator brings attention to the themes being raised. Through discussion and self-reflection the patient may become aware of negative notions or thought-patterns, which may lead to a holistic change.

“Why horses?” you may be asking. Horses are highly responsive animals, which naturally “group” together, and are therefore sensitive to the feelings and body language of their herd. When around humans they are expert body language readers and can pick up on intentions and attitudes in a non-judgmental way. Through observing interactions between the participants and the horses, the therapist can gain insight into behaviour patterns and mental obstacles that the participant may not be aware of.

Ms Rookley has witnessed this curious experience firsthand. “Quite often the horses are reflecting a person’s inner issues and mental-emotional health, though sometimes not in obvious ways. In a group scenario people often connect to horses which reflect their personality—providing insight,” she said.

Everyone can benefit

EAT is not just for people in need of psychotherapy. This approach is also being used by people in the corporate sector to build on life skills such as leadership, self-confidence, motivation and being more open and sensitive to their peers.

Equine Assisted Learning (EAL) is another approach within the same field of philosophy. In this approach, through close contact with horses, children and adolescence learn about themselves and the importance of positive, socially acceptable behaviour. This therapy has proven to be useful with children with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), aggression and anti-social behaviour.

Ms Rookley has assisted a large variety of people in her community through EAT. She has helped children who are not coping with peer situations, people who are experiencing grief and others who are suffering from eating disorders, to name a few.

During an EAT session a participant is placed in the role of being a leader and clear communicator to guide the horse—without being domineering or spooking it. Through this learning, Ms Rookley believes that EAT can play a positive role in resetting healthy personal boundaries when re-building family relationships.

“EAT can be beneficial for families who are seeking to re-story their patterns of interaction. This therapy is a part of rediscovering self and others and the world that we live, in a healthy way,” she said.

Anyone can try Equine Assisted Therapy or Learning as no previous experience or horse-handling skills are required. People of all ages and fitness levels are welcome to take part; all you need is a willingness to connect with horses and an open mind.

via In the Company of Horses » The Epoch Times

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Letters sent to businesses and government officials ask for withdrawal of support

By Matthew Robertson
Epoch Times

TOKYO—Chinese consulates in Japan have recently sent letters to businesses, newspapers, and government officials in cities and prefectures across the country, demanding that they withdraw their support for Shen Yun Performing Arts, a Chinese classical dance company that tours the world. Good relations with the People’s Republic of China PRC are said to be at issue.

Shen Yun’s tour in Japan runs from April 19 until May 1. It will perform 11 shows in five cities, and is currently playing in Tokyo.

Last year, and the year before, Chinese consular officials also sent similar letters.

One of the letters, reviewed by The Epoch Times, asks a businessman to cancel his sponsorship of Shen Yun’s local promoters in Fukuoka, where the company is scheduled to perform on May 1. He was additionally asked to withdraw all public relations activities, “involvement,” or other support.

Local government officials have also received such letters, like that sent to the mayor of a city in the Fukuoka Prefecture, by Li Tianran, an official at a PRC consular office in Fukuoka.

Officials in prefectural governments in Tokyo, Kanagawa, Osaka, and Aichi, at least, have also received the letters, according to the local promoters in those areas, who were contacted by confused officials after receiving the abusive notes.

So have theaters, television broadcasters, magazines, and three of Japan’s largest newspapers.

The letters frame their demands as being “for the sake of Sino-Japanese relations,” according to the text in the letter seen by The Epoch Times. The Epoch Times devotes a segment of its website to feedback from audiences that have seen Shen Yun.

The Chinese authorities have long attempted to shut down Shen Yun’s performances around the world. The company is frequently sponsored by the Falun Dafa Associations where it performs; Falun Dafa, a spiritual practice, is persecuted ferociously by the Communist Party in China.

A focus of the round of letters in Japan was to slander the host Falun Dafa Association, using the Communist Party’s propaganda against the practice.

In addition, analysts say that the Chinese regime fears the attractiveness to Chinese audiences of the traditional Chinese culture Shen Yun presents. The Chinese Communist Party has sought over the past 60 years to stamp out China’s traditional culture.

The demanding letters were sent in the context of ongoing maritime disputes between Japan and the PRC, where many Japanese feel that the PRC is acting like a bully.

This round of letters targeting Shen Yun is unlikely to reassure the Japanese that China is a generally benign presence, indicated Koyu Nishimura, a Japanese critic and journalist, who read the letter sent to government officials.

“We have the freedom to think, freedom to speak, and freedom to believe. This is what the Communist Party is most frightened of,” he said in an interview with The Epoch Times. “The world is awakening to the real nature of the Communist Party.”

Nishimura continued: “If this has been happening each time the performers come to Japan, we should not keep silent. We must take action.” He added: “We shouldn’t forgive these actions.”

As a result of the letter-writing campaign, some of the sponsors of the hosting organization withdrew their support, and newspapers have been reluctant to run advertising for Shen Yun.

In the history of Shen Yun’s performances this response is unusual. Letters of this kind are regularly sent to sponsors and politicians who support the hosting organizations in countries around the world, and are often ignored or dismissed. Sometimes they are roundly rebuffed.

In early 2011 one such letter reached Dr. Cathy Casey, a member of the city council of Auckland, New Zealand. “I was quite outraged by it,” she said in an interview at the time. “I’m really upset that the consulate should think it can influence elected members in a host country, where they’re our guest. … How dare they!”

After seeing Shen Yun on April 20, Hirosato Nakatsugawa, a member of Japan’s House of Representatives, said: “I deplore the Chinese Communist Party sabotaging the performing arts. It is just pure artistic performance. People want this emotional experience.”

Updates: The article was updated to reflect the widespread nature of the letter-writing campaign, the content of the letters sent, and the impact they had in Japan.

Translation by Yukari Werrell. Written in English by Matthew Robertson.

Read the original article in Japanese. 

via Chinese Consular Officials Demand Japanese Forsake Shen Yun » The Epoch Times

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By Ariel Tian
Epoch Times

The Communist Party has banned civilian volunteers and groups from entering the Sichuan earthquake disaster region without permission, and is also calling for donation of money instead of supplies. 

After the devastating quake hit Lushan county in Ya’an on April 20, volunteers nationwide formed rescue groups, and headed to the quake-hit areas. Several non-official charities and civil rights activists joined in, but encountered heavy resistance from authorities.

New Tang Dynasty (NTD) Television interviewed Huang Qi, founder of China Tianwang Human Rights Center, who rushed to Lushan from Chengdu with three other volunteers. After the 2008 Wenchuan quake, Huang exposed the shoddy “tofu” school buildings, that had claimed numerous children’s lives.

When the four men arrived at Ya’an city, they were blocked by the local stability maintenance department, and taken to a police station. The officers checked their identities, and then said they were “not welcome.”

Huang said that the police told them not to “cause trouble,” and that it would be bad for the locals if they went to the disaster areas.

Huang’s center has again revealed poorly-constructed projects that collapsed in the Ya’an earthquake. He said the communist authorities are afraid they would see more examples if they went to the scene. “The authorities don’t want us to have close contact with local quake victims. I think this is mainly because they don’t want us to expose problems associated with the quake.”

The day after the Ya’an earthquake, the Foreign Affairs Ministry issued a statement, saying that China has adequate rescue and medical forces, and relief supplies, and foreign assistance is not required for the time being.

However, two news reports issued by official media People’s Daily and China National Radio contradicted this statement, saying there is a shortage of relief supplies, with 30,000 tents and 40,000 blankets and clothing needed, and that Ya’an has food and water shortages, with only enough water to last three days.

Shenzhen-based author Zhu Jianguo told NTD that he also believes the regime is trying to hide the real situation in the disaster areas. “If any other third-party rescue forces arrived there, the truth would be revealed against the authorities’ wish. So the government rejected foreign and even non-official rescue assistance as early as possible”

Many netizens were upset that the authorities refused the donation of supplies and only wanted money, especially as media said there is a severe shortage of relief materials.

One Internet user blogged: “I told them, ‘We can’t possibly place money in your care. The Red Cross has been notorious for its corruption. I won’t give a penny to the government-run Red Cross.’”

Others commented that the Communist Party has insisted on taking a closed approach to the rescue effort, and that it places more importance on stability maintenance than people’s lives.

Read the original Chinese article. 

Translation by Jane Lin. Written in English by Cassie Ryan.

via Chinese Regime Prioritizes Stability Maintenance Over Quake Rescue Efforts » The Epoch Times

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Spring has sprung, and it’s time to start planting vegetable seeds indoors to transplant into the garden.

Jennifer Zoch, seed technician at Seed Savers Exchange, a non-profit organization dedicated to saving and sharing heirloom seeds based in Iowa, explains that the benefits to starting plants by seed include keeping garden costs down as well as the fact that there are many plant varieties that cannot be found at local garden centres.

Seed selection

“The process begins with deciding what you and your family like to eat and size of the garden and seed selection,” Zoch said.

Seed selection options are heirloom (seeds used by past generations), hybrid (plants cross-bred for special traits), and organic (non-synthetic pesticides or fertilizers).

Regarding heirloom seeds, Zoch said, “Flavours are better and the vegetables come in different shapes and colours. There are specialty crops which apply to a region or provide for special needs, like apples for making cider.”

Ideal veggies to start early by seed are cold-weather crops such as lettuce, kale, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, leeks, and cabbage.

When to plant indoors

To start various plant seeds indoors, count backward from the expected last frost date pertaining to the number of days for the plant to be ready to plant outdoors according to the seed packet instructions.

Containers and soil

Any container—even yogurt cups with plenty of holes for drainage—can be used along with a mixture of organic potting soil (soil, peat, and compost), explains Zoch.

Local garden centres sell seed-starting trays and plastic covers. Peat plugs are simple but peat has no nutrients, thus fertilizing is needed when the plants get their second round of leaves.

“Liquid fish emulsion added with water meets organic standards for fertilizer but is a little smelly,” Zoch said.

“Do not use raw manure or compost with grass clippings contaminated with herbicides as the residue might kill your seedlings. That is why it is good to be familiar with the source of the product you are using, and to buy local and/or organic whenever possible.”

Plastic covers trap moisture and warmth, but remove immediately after the seeds sprout in order to avoid fungus.

Indoor growing

Once the seeds sprout, they need a lot of water, light, and ventilation, Zoch said.

“Many beginners kill plants by over watering. Water once a day (if needed) and at the same time each day before noon, so foliage can dry before nightfall to avoid fungus.” – Jennifer Zoch, Seed Savers Exchange

“Many beginners kill plants by over watering. Water once a day (if needed) and at the same time each day before noon, so foliage can dry before nightfall to avoid fungus.”

Re-pot when there are more than a couple of roots wrapped around the inside of the container or the drainage holes, or poking out of the peat plug. Zoch explains that plants can have a tough time getting established, stop growing, or even die if the root hairs are damaged while taking them out of the pot due to being root-bound.

Moving outdoors

The next step includes “decreasing water, moving plants to a cooler room for a few days, and regularly brushing your hand over the plants, or a few hours of an electric fan blowing gently on them to simulate wind,” Zoch said.

“This simulation strengthens the plant cells in the stem.”

One to two weeks later, gradually introduce the plants to the outdoor elements by placing them on the west side of a building or under a tree in the shade, then gradually move them away from the tree or building into more light. Cover the plants at night.

Transplanting

A couple of days prior to planting, till the garden soil and then till in peat and compost. Add granulated organic fertilizer and peat into each seed hole. Zoch advises covering with dirt any areas that may have peat exposed as it will pull moisture away from the plant and kill it.

“Set the plants about 1/2-inch lower than ground level for good watering and root development,” she said. “Water the plants gently with a watering can. Avoid getting the foliage wet.”

Never step on areas where plants will be planted, but rather walk between rows to make a path to weed, water, fertilize, and pick the produce.

Now, get the satisfaction of watching the plants you’ve carefully nurtured grow and produce.

Seed Savers Exchange is a non-profit that preserves heirloom plant varieties through regeneration, distribution, and seed exchange. To learn more from a webinar presented by Jennifer Zoch and Seed Savers Exchange, go to http://www.seedsavers.org/Education/Webinar-Archive/#seed_collection.

via Starting Veggies From Seed Indoors » The Epoch Times

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