Editorial
Volume 11 Issue 5 —January/February 2006
by Melva Armstrong

Many blessings to one and all as we enter another new year of unlimited potential. I feel that the start of a new year is another perfect opportunity to motivate myself to begin doing those things I’ve been meaning to start for months, and even years, but keep putting off or avoiding. I always have good intentions but I can sabotage myself by having too many things that I want to start and then I feel overwhelmed and may end up doing none of them. At least it feels good to have the positive thoughts about new beginnings even if nothing eventuates. Mind you, I often do start new projects when each January 1st rolls around and I do complete them and feel good about myself.

I found 2005 to be a year of diverse experiences and challenges, all of which have made me stronger and hopefully wiser. It seems that the time flew by so quickly and was full of so many activities and thoughts continually spinning around in my head, and much work to do, that I’ve hardly had time to remember anything in particular of what happened. It was all good but the more recent years seem to becoming very blurred due to so many events being packed into them with so little time and space in between. For me it was a wonder-filled year and I am grateful that I have learned more about myself, about others, and about the meaning of life. I am truly blessed.

I want to thank everyone who supports WHOLifE. You are all precious to me and I feel very connected to each and everyone of you. I look forward to another year of all of us sharing and growing together. Please remember that the journal is a venue for disseminating a wide variety of health-conscious information to many folks so they can educate themselves in order to maintain a healthy, whole, and happy life. In this respect we encourage people to submit ideas and articles they feel would be of interest to our readers, so be sure to contact us regarding anything you deem suitable for publication in the journal. We also encourage people to promote their services, events, practices, and products through advertisements in each issue. We are grateful to our many long-time, as well as our more recent, advertisers. We look forward to your continued support in this new year, and to having many more brand new advertisers join us.

With that said you can now fasten your seat belts, as you are in for another issue full of unique, enjoyable, and educational treats. In putting this issue’s articles together I got to meet and work with Dr. Yancy Orchard who has written our feature article, Are You Chasing Your Qi? (p. 16). In it he focusses primarily on the skill of intention in qigong—a new name for an ancient practice that integrates body, heart, and mind into a single unit which then enables one to live a balanced and joyful life. Because the term “qi“, according to Dr. Orchard, is not easy to translate, he goes into great detail explaining how this energy, or life force, works. He concludes that there are many well-researched health benefits from practicing qigong so perhaps reading this article may be the key to helping you fulfill one of your new year’s resolutions.

Our knowledgeable and dedicated nutritional consultant, Paulette Millis, has just released her second book, Eat Away Illness, and for her column this issue she has used some excerpts from this book and has therefore titled it, Eat Away Illness (p. 8). She describes five stages that lead to disease and then outlines the main elements and importance of an ideal diet. As usual, she has included some of her favourite health-conscious recipes. This is another must-read article.

We all know the importance of good eyesight, so we thought it would be extremely helpful to include Elizabeth Abraham’s article, Relaxed Eyes See Better (p. 12). She explains that vision is a mindbody connection and provides a number of exercises to help keep your eyes healthy. I have personally tried these exercises and I know they work.

I am a Beatles fan so I couldn’t resist including Joshua M. Greene’s article, Beatle George Harrison’s Formula for Spiritual Health (p. 24). And on another spiritual note we are equally pleased to have Adrian McBride’s thoughtful article, Past Lives, Dreams, and Soul Travel (p. 14), in which he lists three keys to a richer, love-filled life.

May you enjoy reading this issue and may you all have a peaceful and blessed new year!

Namaste!
(I honour the Spirit in you!)