Have you considered visiting Universal Studios? We are going for the first time in 2022. We are incorporating the Harry Potter series into our homeschool coursework over the next year. To celebrate we will adventure to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter!
If you are interested in The Wizarding World, there are a few things you want to know. There is an Exclusive Harry Potter Vacation Package that comes with a special keepsake box with fun surprises like Harry, Ron, and Hermione luggage tags. You will need a Park to Park pass in order to ride Hogwarts Express. The train takes you between Diagon Alley in one park and Hogsmeade in the other.  There are also fun shows, like the Frog Choir and Triwizard Spirit Rally to get the full Harry Potter experience. 
Check out this article about the 2022 Universal Resorts Orlando Vacation Packages.  
You can also reach out to me adventureswithaprilm@gmail.com

I've recently found myself with a deep sense of needing to reconnect to my practices and to my heart. Today, it led me to picking up a book from my yoga teacher training of 10 years ago. I had woken up before the household did this morning and went to a quiet space to do whatever yoga my body wanted to do. I tried to do a meditation first, but the mind was having none of that. The body was stiff and didn't really want to participate in moving. So, I sat there and just noticed my breath. Gently I was aware that I was moving into child's pose. Appropriate, a position of surrender, of learning to let go of control, of learning to do nothing and everything at the same time.  I felt my breath deepen, expanding through my back and pressing against those areas of stiffness. It felt so good. I noticed the stiffness begin to ease and the body being more willing to move. I only did four or five postures this morning, but I stayed in each, noticing my breath, and following the lead of the body. I didn't move when the mind said to move, I moved when the body began to move.
When it seemed I was finished moving for the morning, I was able to sit in meditation again. It was brief, and the mind was trying to make me feel like I needed to get that coffee made before anyone woke up, but I stayed as long as I felt still, calm, and called to sit there. When I opened my eyes, I noticed my bookshelf in front of me, two books were drawing my attention. I chose the one I didn't really remember reading very intently during my training. But, this morning, as I began to read it, I realized that now was the time for this book. 

I'm not very far into the book, but I decided this time, I would actually do the practices as I came across them. Not just read through the entire book, to finish the book, and say "I'll do them". So, the first practice, was a practice in stillness, a practice in learning to find your center and just notice the stillness. I left my ego at the door, the one that says you know how to meditate. It's true, I do know how. It's also true that I've gotten out of practice and the mind has gotten a little to comfy being in control. So, I willingly surrendered into trying someone else's way of finding stillness. It was lovely and I'm sharing it here for you, in case you, too are needing another way right now.

Sit comfortably with your eyes closed and your back tall. Notice your breath. Don't try to control your breath, just notice when you exhale and when you inhale. When you exhale begin the backwards count from 50. Exhale - 50, inhale - 49, exhale - 48, inhale - 47 and so on, until you reach 20. At 20 begin only counting exhales. Exhale -20, inhale, exhale -19, inhale and so on to zero. At zero, just stop counting and notice the breath.

Sit here in quiet as long as you are able and slowly return to noticing the breath, opening the eyes slowly. Stay there, with eyes open and just notice for a couple of minutes before you move. 

My first experience with this, I found it easier to just relax into stillness by not worrying about where my breath was moving, how deeply I was breathing, if I was breathing correctly and what not. I noticed not every inhale and exhale were the same. Some were deep and slow, some quick or short. There was no criticism, I just noticed it. I also noticed, it was super challenging once I hit 20 to not mentally do something on the inhale, I tried to count 20 again or just resigned myself to saying "in".  I also noticed as I got to 10 the mind started trying to speed up the count, even though the breath was not moving as fast. But, we made it to zero, the breath, mind, and body together. I was peaceful and had a lot of energy in my arms and hands as I sat in stillness. 
​
So, if you are looking for something to help you relax, maybe give this a practice a try. If you are looking for a new book to read, this practice came from Yoga The Spirit and Practice of Moving Into Stillness by Erich Schiffmann.

So, this is the authentic me.... no make-up, hair isn't fixed, but present and speaking from the heart. I was going to do this talk on our chapters on Love, Compassion and Forgiveness, but after the Florida school shooting that same night, the discussion I knew needed to be had had changed. I moved away from the discussion in the book to talk about the importance of Love and compassion in the midst of tragedy. 
I'm posting here because I know not everyone has social media accounts. Thank you all for being here, being present and tuning -in. 
Big Love,
​Dr. A

Make room for the unexpected. It seems like a bizarre thought, welcoming the unexpected. More often, we seem to be told to make a plan and stick to it, always be prepared, or set specific goals and don't waiver from them. How has that worked for you? Sometimes, it might have worked extremely well, other times it probably didn't work at all. Whether it is weight loss or setting a budget, life seems to take its own twists and turns. If we are rigid in our path, only seeing it in the way we determined it should work, we are often met with perceived failure.  Perhaps it wasn't failure, but an unexpected success. If it doesn't work out the way we planned, we call it failure, but is it really, or did it indeed work out for us, just not as we expected? 
Does this mean we don't set goals or make plans? Of course not, but there is availability for the unexpected to be part of that plan. Allowing for the unexpected gives us more freedom, more possibility for our goals to happen in a way we didn't even consider or perhaps even know was possible. Weight loss, for example, is often looked at as sacrifice, misery, restriction and a lot of painful exercise. You may set a goal of losing 20 pounds by your vacation, and set upon strict calorie restriction, hours of intense exercise and even avoiding going out with friends in order to stick to your plan. After one week and only half a pound lost, you may give up or turn to even more misery through cutting out major food groups and resorting to exercise practices you detest. Still, the weight doesn't seem to be coming off. 
What if, instead, you set the goal of 20 pounds by your vacation (hopefully you have a few months if this is your goal) and you plan to practice mindful eating, staying hydrated and finding activities you enjoy with the possibility that the weight will come off easier than you expected, or that you can be grateful to yourself for taking steps to be healthy and trust that whatever amount of weight is ready to be released will do so easily. This or something better. Learning to detach from the outcome, learning to let go of the rigidity of your plan and allowing for your idea (weight loss in this scenario) to happen in ways you didn't even consider.
Rigidity sets us up for failure, creates friction and more force. What is forced into being will not last long and it will not last with ease. Eventually, the system will break down. It may be a loss of relationships, a loss of finances, a loss of health, sometimes a loss of all three. If we can welcome the unexpected, we set the space for flexibility and as the circumstances develop, new possibilities show up that would have been missed if we stayed rigid in our plan. The new possibilities, new people or relationships that appear might make your plan more fluid, more successful, with ease and fun, and it may become even bigger or better than you could even imagine when your first set the plan or goal. 
You don't have to make this a difficult process, you don't have to do anything extra. As you set your goals and plans write into it "this or something better" to make room for the unexpected. As the plan unfolds and things seem to take a twist or turn, take a step back and remember, "this or something better". The second step is to recognize when something good happens, something in alignment with the end goal, even if it doesn't look the way you expected. Thirdly, give gratitude every time you have that recognition. Gratitude that even though it looks different than you thought it would, it is still in service of you. 
Make space for the unexpected.
Namaste,
​Dr. April

While running the other day, I came to a big hill. I was already tired, but committed to my goal of finishing the run. At the bottom of the hill I could barley see the top and had a moment thought of, "I can just walk this". True statement, nothing would be lost from walking up the hill and much would be gained. I made a choice, a choice to run up this hill. As I continued up, staring at the peak, I remembered something special. Short term goals are just as important as the long term goals." With that reminder in my mind, I shifted my gaze from the peak of the hill to the ground in front of me where my next step would land, and the next. Ever so often, I looked up to remember where I was going and see how far I had come, but then back to the next step. Before I knew it I was at the top of the hill and cruising down the other side. But, in this downhill moment, there was much to be observed. For one, if I just let momentum take me, I could easily have tripped over my feet and rolled down the hill. I was still mindful of the moment and the movement. At the bottom of that hill, I gave gratitude for my experience and the clarity of life I received. So here it is, my reflections from the hill.
When setting goals, we are best served by having short and long term goals. It's great if the long term goals make you weak in the knees, focus on the short term goals to strengthen those knees. 
Don't forget to look up (and around) once in a while. If we become too rigid or too focused and single-minded, we miss the beauty along the way, we miss new opportunities or possibilities that show up and we might lose sight of our goal.
Don't stop once you reach the top. Sometimes reaching a goal can be anti-climatic, but that doesn't mean to just jump into the next goal. Take time to celebrate your success. Celebrate! Maybe on a run like this it is just a smile at yourself or throwing your hands up in the air in victory, but whatever you do, don't forget to celebrate.
Then, reflect, restore and relax. The downhill portion is easy, gravity will just take you all the way to the end. But, this is the time to reflect on what you learned about yourself, your beliefs and abilities. It's time to ground that expansion that occurred inside you on the journey up so that it  anchors into the cells of your being. "I did this." "I am enough" "I am supported". It is a time to rest and restore the body, mind and spirit. Many people forget about this step and find themselves forced to rest because of illness or severe body pain or fatigue. Reflect, rest and restore.
The journey up and the journey down are just as important as reaching the goal, I would say more important. It is where we learn about who we are, who we can be. There is an understanding, a clarity and and expansion of wisdom that occurs when we stay in line with who we are as we climb towards those goals. It doesn't matter if you reach the top, it matters if you pay attention to who you are on the journey, what you choose on the journey and what you learn on the journey.
Life isn't just about the peaks and valleys, it's about the lessons in between. 

This time of year people begin to think about setting goals for the upcoming new year. Few will reflect upon the goals they set for the past year. Some of this could be due to not having written down their goals, or remembering where they were written, but often it is because they don't believe that anything happened for them this year. 

My question is, are you paying attention? Recently, I worked with a patient that came in with low back pain.  We talked a little about what was going on in her life and about her complaint before beginning the B.E.S.T. session. She mentioned that she couldn't wait for the new year because nothing seemed to have gone the way she wanted this year. During her session I kept wondering what she was missing, what she wasn't paying attention to that did work for her this year. 
After the session I asked her some questions and this is what happened.

"What is it that you wanted to happen this year, that you don't think happened?" I asked 

"Well, I, my weight didn't change." she replied, but we both knew that wasn't it. I waited a moment and the asked, "What else? What did you really want?"

"My own bank account." she said as she hung her head. "But, I couldn't open one because of past student loans that are in default. I was devastated and thought my dreams of starting my side business was gone." I could see the tears forming in the corner of her eyes. 

"Didn't you tell me you had started selling things online? How is that going?"

"Oh, it's going great! I've been so excited with the orders and my PayPal account has had more than enough money in it to buy all our Christmas gifts online without touching our bank account."

I began to smile, this was it and she didn't even see it yet. "That is wonderful. It sounds like you got your business started AND opened your own account."

"What do you mean? This isn't the business I wanted to start and I didn't open an account." I could feel her anxiety beginning to express itself.

"Well, it may not have been how you thought it would turn out, but it did turn out. You have started your own business, but not in a building with lots of inventory and a shiny sign, but you started it and it is something you can manage with success. And, the account may not have been in a bank, but it is money that you have available to you for things you need and want, basically, it's an account."

"Huh." Silence for a few mintues as she thought about it. "You're right. I did get what I want, but not exactly how I thought it would work out, how I wanted it to work."

"How do you feel about it now?"

​Pause, huge smile with big tears, "I love it and have been so excited. It's been going so well. I can't believe I didn't notice."

Wow, so how many times do we miss it, miss that thing we wanted so badly because it didn't show up exactly how we wanted it? If we miss it, we can't express gratitude for it. Missing it means staying in the same victim story cycle of "nothing good ever happens to me". Really? Maybe it does, but you are so focused on what others have or the exact way you wanted something to happen that you can't even see how much good does indeed happen to you. 

She left with pep in her step, a smile on her face and no low back pain. Maybe this year she will notice her successes, in whatever manner they show up. 

In our previous article, we focused more on nutrition and it's correlation to allergies and allergy prevention. In this article we will focus on healing techniques that decrease the inflammation in the body and boost the immune system. 
The first is chiropractic care. Many people think of their chiropractors only when they are in pain. Pain is one of the five signs of inflammation. It would seem to reason, that if you see a chiropractor to decrease pain (inflammation) the chiropractic adjustments can also help to decrease other signs of inflammation, allergies for example. 
A chiropractic adjustment is simply realigning the bones, so that the muscles may relax into their optimal length and the nervous system can flow at its optimum quality and quantity. The nerves that function less than optimal during allergy season are located in the top of the neck. These can lead to tight neck muscles, ear aches, headaches, increase mucus production and fatigue. Getting the cervical spine re-aligned will help alleviate these symptoms, allowing the muscles to relax and the inflammatory response to calm down so that your body may respond appropriately to the allergens that triggered the development of the inflammation in the first place. However, this is why it is important for you to do your work at home. Stretches, exercising, drinking water, eating clean, healthy foods will help you maintain your alignment and make your trips to the chiropractor a maintenance visit once a month versus 2-4 times a week for crisis care.
So, why did my chiropractor adjust my sacrum when I came in for allergies? It is important to remember that the top of the spine and the base of the spine both need to be in alignment for the adjustment to hold well and aid in alignment throughout the spine.  

BioEnergetic Synchronization Technique (B.E.S.T.)
Yes, energy healing is beneficial for allergy relief as well. Energy healing, such as B.E.S.T., allows for healing on the mental and emotional levels. Inflammation can develop in the body when our thoughts and feelings are in a low vibration mode, creating a sympathetic response in our body. These energies and responses are depleting to the system and decrease the ability of the body to function and respond appropriately to any physical allergens. 
When you are constantly worried about things, like your finances or your health you are in low-vibration thinking. Constantly comparing yourself to others, being angry, frustrated, fearful, bored, etc you are in low-vibration thinking and feeling. The constant brain chatter, you may not realize you are experiencing, may be more harmful than you realize. Replaying conversations or situations and allowing yourself to remain in a state of anger, fear, judgement and frustration is actually creating an inflammatory response within the body. Your body may be telling you that you are in low - vibration thinking/feeling, by allowing you to experience inflammation or in this case allergy symptoms. Some patients experience great relief from their allergies by energy healing techniques. Your homework, is to recognize when you are having these cyclical conversations in your head, so that you can stop the cycle and create a better response to the situation. Your energy healer can help you with this during your sessions.

We've all heard of the energy balance equation, it's the reason people go on low calorie diets. It goes something like this, if you consume fewer calories than you expend you will lose fat. Eat less and lose weight. Even more specifically, eat 500 calories less each day and lose one pound of fat a week. Yes, you will lose weight, no it will not be fat.
Usually, low calorie diets are no carbohydrate diets. We need carbohydrates, however, there are good choices and there are poor choices when it comes to carbohydrates. Consuming high glycemic foods will cause your insulin levels to elevate. High insulin leads to MORE fat storage. Yes, insulin is a fat storing hormone. The purpose of insulin is to keep blood sugar levels in a specific range. Which means that insulin allows sugars to enter the cells and therefore, decrease blood sugar when we eat. When we consume foods high on the glycemic index (higher in sugars) insulin is produced in greater amounts, not only will this cause us to store these foods as fat in fat (adipocytes) cells, but it will cause blood sugar to drop and therefore create an increase in appetite.  One of the problems with low calorie diets, is that people often choose to eat pre-packaged junk food. Why? Ease and clever marketing of 100 calorie packages. The problem is it is deficient in actual nutrients and high in sugars that will cause the increase in insulin - increase in fat storage - drop in blood sugar - increase in appetite cycle. 
The other reason you don't lose fat on low calorie diets is because it costs the body less energy to burn a pound of muscle than it does to burn a pound of fat. Your body is very thrifty and chooses to conserve energy. Therefore, if it only takes 580 calories (energy) to burn a pound of muscle and 3500 calories (energy) to burn a pound of fat, which do you think it will choose? Muscle. That's right, it will actually break down lean tissue before fat tissue. Also, your body thinks you are going into starvation with the low calorie diet, so it begins to store up energy. Building fat tissue is how the body stores energy. In reality, the low calorie diet is setting you up for failure. You think you have lost 5 pounds of fat, but you have actually lost more muscle and gained more fat. That is why when you begin to eat in your "old" ways, you gain that weight back plus 5 pounds. You never really lost them to begin with. 
There are many ways to go about fat loss, but every body is a little different. You need protein, carbohydrates and fats with every meal. Choose complex carbohydrates, in other words vegetables. Many people will eat more fruit on low calorie diets, but many fruits are high on the glycemic index and therefore, should be eaten in limited amounts. 
Also, build that muscle! Weight training, yoga and pilates are great ways to build muscle and therefore use muscle and fat in their appropriate methods of use. You do not need to go crazy lifting weights for hours every single day. There are many great body exercises you can do at home without weights. You can get a fantastic full body weight and cardio workout by simply doing body exercises, like burpees, planks, push ups, bear crawls, mountain climbers and so much more. 
So, stop starving yourself. There are better, more effective ways to drop those fat stores. And, be gentle with yourself. You did not gain 30 pounds overnight and you won't lose it overnight either.