Albany Complementary Health

starting Feb. 22... https://ancestralhealingsummit.com/program

Zen Recording: The only thing that is ultimately real about our journey is the step that we are taking at this moment. That's all there ever is.

there is a terminology in the internal martial arts. there is what is on the outside there is what is on the inside...and there is what is hidden or secret... some of you in class have heard me say this before. things are not what they appear to be. as we look ahead to the spring solstice, re-imagine what you want your world to look like.

the truth is out there...

Happy Winter Solstice...

beginning today

Upcoming Event with ALBERTO VILLOLDO, Ph.D.

Happiest of Holidays Everyone!!! Consider a meditation for Peace on the Winter Solstice. We enter a time of rejuvenation and rest. begin to add more yin practices as we enter January to stay in tune with nature. Be Well. Zhang Fei Acquires A Horse By Trickery Golden Cicada Sheds Its Skin

Definitely relative to our work...

Learn how professional medical herbalist, Peter Holmes, LAc, MH, advises to strengthen your immune system with essential oils and Chinese medicine.

as you have probably already ascertained our Friday April 10 Sound Healing with Rich Googhart is not being held due to the social distancing protocol. we will reschedule this event in a few months when we are on the other side of this...be well

classes are online with Zoom...if you are interested in attending, let me know. I will continue with this virtual protocol as long as our social distancing is in place, as it looks like that will continue into April and probably May and perhaps beyond...hope everyone is well and staying happy.

Sitting peacefully doing nothing Spring comes and the grass grows all by itself.

Zen Recording: "What we learned as children, that one plus one equals two, we know to be false. One plus one equals one. We even have a word for when you, plus another, equals one. That word is love."

Going into the future, these newer viruses, these cross genetic Zoonotic viruses have been on the rise over the last few years such as Ebola, Sars, Mers and now Covid 19. Expect these trends to continue. Our only defense is to build a better immune system. Fear inhibits the immune system. The most productive action we can take now is to begin a serious practice of building a better immune system for ourselves. Please begin this Practice now.

Why does soap work so well on the SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus and indeed most viruses? Because it is a self-assembled nanoparticle in which the weakest link is ...the lipid (fatty) bilayer. A two part thread about soap, viruses and supramolecular chemistry. v/ Palli Thordarson https://bit.ly/2TPFm7F The soap dissolves the fat membrane and the virus falls apart like a house of cards and "dies", or rather, we should say it becomes inactive as viruses aren’t really alive. Viruses can be active outside the body for hours, even days. Disinfectants, or liquids, wipes, gels and creams containing alcohol (and soap) have a similar effects but are not really quite as good as normal soap. Apart from the alcohol and soap, the antibacterial agents in these products don't affect the virus structure much at all. Consequently, many antibacterial products are basically just an expensive version of soap in terms of how they act on viruses. Soap is the best but alcohol wipes are good when soap is not practical or handy (e.g. office receptions). https://bit.ly/3cJ9zxK Most viruses consist of three key building blocks: RNA, proteins and lipids. The RNA is the viral genetic material -it is very similar to DNA. The proteins have several roles including breaking into the target cell, assist with virus replication and basically to be a key building block (like a brick in a house) in the whole virus structure. The lipids then form a coat around the virus, both for protection and to assist with its spread and cellular invasion. The RNA, proteins and lipids self-assemble to form the virus. Critically, there are no strong covalent bonds holding these units together. Instead the viral self-assembly is based on weak non-covalent interactions between the proteins, RNA and lipids. Together these act together like a Velcro so it is very hard to break up the self-assembled viral particle. Still, we can do it (e.g. with soap!). Most viruses, including the coronavirus, are between 50-200 nanometers so they are truly nanoparticles. Nanoparticles have complex interactions with surfaces they are on. Same with viruses. Skin, steel, timber, fabric, paint and porcelain are very different surfaces. When a virus invades a cell, the RNA hijacks the cellular machinery like a computer virus (!) and forces the cell to start to makes a lot of fresh copies of its own RNA and the various proteins that make up the virus. These new RNA and protein molecules, self-assemble with lipids (usually readily present in the cell) to form new copies of the virus. That is, the virus does not photocopy itself, it makes copies of the building blocks which then self-assemble into new viruses! All those new viruses eventually overwhelm the cell and it dies/explodes releasing viruses which then go on to infect more cells. In the lungs, some of these viruses end up in the airways and the mucous membranes surrounding these. When you cough, or especially when you sneeze, tiny droplets from the airways can fly up to 10 meters (30 ft)! The larger ones are thought to be main coronavirus carriers and they can go at least 2 m (7 ft). Thus cover your coughs & sneezes people! These tiny droplets end on surfaces and often dry out quickly. But the viruses are still active! What happens next is all about supramolecular chemistry and how self-assembled nanoparticles (like the viruses) interact with their environment! Now it is time to introduce a powerful supramolecular chemistry concept that effectively says: similar molecules appear to interact more strongly with each other than dissimilar ones. Wood, fabric and not to mention skin interact fairly strongly with viruses. Contrast this with steel, porcelain and at least some plastics, e.g. teflon. The surface structure also matter the flatter the surface the less the virus will stick to the surface. Rougher surfaces can actually pull the virus apart. So why are surfaces different? The virus is held together by a combination of hydrogen bonds (like those in water) and what we call hydrophilic or fat-like interactions. The surface of fibres or wood for instance can form a lot of hydrogen bonds with the virus. In contrast steel, porcelain or teflon do not form a lot of hydrogen bond with the virus. So the virus is not strongly bound to these surfaces. The virus is quite stable on these surface whereas it doesn’t stay active for as long on say fabric or wood. For how long does the virus stay active? It depends. The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus is thought to stay active on favourable surfaces for hours, possibly a day. Moisture (dissolves), sun light (UV light) and heat (molecular motions) all make the virus less stable. The skin is an ideal surface for a virus! It is organic and the proteins and fatty acids in the dead cells on the surface interact with the virus through both hydrogen bonds and the fat-like hydrophilic interactions. So when you touch say a steel surface with a virus particle on it, it will stick to your skin and hence get transferred onto your hands. But you are not (yet) infected. If you touch your face though, the virus can get transferred from your hands and on to your face. And now the virus is dangerously close to the airways and the mucus type membranes in and around your mouth and eyes. So the virus can get inand voila! You are infected (that is, unless your immune system kills the virus). If the virus is on your hands you can pass it on by shaking someone’s else hand. Kisses, well, that's pretty obviousIt comes without saying that if someone sneezes right in your face you are kind of stuffed.

This is beautiful. A testament to the human spirit. Follow @Upworthy on Instagram for more like this during these trying times. : David Allegranti