Whole Life Magazine

August / September 2016

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A uthor Tamarack Song doesn't want us to just enjoy nature, she encourages actually Becoming Nature via immersion in the natural world, thus remembering and awakening our innate, instinctual inner awareness. By engaging in "Nature Speak... the First Language...the mother tongue of all life and the foundation of interspecies communication," she believes we reconnect with "the operating system for our minds... one of a bundle of core operating skills [imprinted in our DNA] that includes orienteering, tracking and envisioning." Becoming more aware of our every movement, speech and thought pattern, energizing our senses through intense listening and detached observation, and actively merging visualization and reality truly allows us to become "invisible" and transcendent, the author maintains, whether in the woods or on the street. Song is a self-described radical, and some of her idealized advice may not resonate with all readers, such as rising at dawn, retiring at dusk and not using binoculars in the fi eld (see "Busting the Night Owl Myth"). But her book is chock full of tracking recommendations, canoeing advice and animal behavior observations. Although presented as an instructional manual, replete with bulleted passages (Song founded and directs the Teaching Drum Outdoor School in northern Wisconsin), this entertaining volume is equal parts outdoor guidebook and metaphysical manifesto. The wisdom imparted is playful and sage, entertaining and useful. Amply punctuated throughout with personal anecdotes, exercises, games and beautifully drawn illustrations, it is essential equipment on family camping trips. (Bear & Co.) —Marcy Emmer Graham Becoming Nature Learning the Language of Wild Animals and Plants BOOKS art & soul S tem cell therapy has been credited with sometimes aston- ishing results in regenerative health. Despite the hope it offers, fetal stem cell injections are not authorized in this country, so someone seeking that potential help would have to travel to Mexico, where the practice is thriving. Why is it so controversial here in the U.S.? As award-winning director Eric Merola explains it in his new documentary fi lm, The God Cells, "America's FDA is attempting to block their approval due to their inability to be patented and marketed within the current monopoly-driven pharmaceutical paradigm." In the face of intense pressure from political conservatives and many religious communities, the technology of taking cells from recently aborted fetal tissue and cryogenically freezing them until they are ready to be used remains one of the most hotly debated practices in recent medical memory. But the primary focus of this fi lm is Dr. William Rader, a former celebrity-type doctor and health expert who appeared on pop- ular news programs and television shows in the 1970s and '80s. The state of California was in disagreement with his practices and eventually revoked his license. Now Dr. Rader sees patients, sometimes at no cost, at a clinic in Tijuana. Patients suffering with varying levels of illness, including teens with cystic fi brosis and others suffering from the symptoms of Parkinson's disease, MS and other debilitating conditions, offer heartfelt testimonies to his work there. Several say their family doctors in the United States call them "medical miracles," as they are unable to explain their remissions. The fi lm's producers did, however, include a caveat, stating that while some experienced profound healing, others did not, and noting that the earlier in the disease the cells were injected, the higher the chances of success. The God Cells acknowledges our freedom of choice. The patients interviewed ask our government, medical com- munities and pharmaceutical industries to do the same. (Merola Productions) —G. M. Salvati Directed by Eric Merola The God Cells Fetal Stem Cell Controversy FILM By Tamarack Song 34 wholelifetimes.com

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