Categories
Positive thinking

We Are Family

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Humanity ..
When it comes to our families, we sometimes see only our differences. We see the way our parents cling to ideas we don’t believe, or act in ways we try not to act. We see how practical one of our siblings is and wonder how we can be from the same gene pool. Similarly, within the human family we see how different we are from each other, in ways ranging from gender and race to geographical location and religious beliefs. It is almost as if we think we are a different species sometimes. But the truth is, in our personal families as well as the human family, we really are the same.

A single mother of four living in Africa looks up at the same stars and moon that shine down on an elderly Frenchman in Paris. A Tibetan monk living in India, a newborn infant in China, and a young couple saying their marriage vows in Indiana all breathe the same air, by the same process. We have all been hurt and we have all cried. Each one of us knows how it feels to love someone dearly. No matter what our political views are, we all love to laugh. Regardless of how much or how little money we have, our hearts pump blood through our bodies in the same way. With all this in common, it is clear we are each individual members of the same family. We are human.

Acknowledging how close we all are, instead of clinging to what separates us, enables us to feel less alone in the world. Every person we meet, see, hear, or read about, is a member of our family. We are truly not alone. We also begin to see that we are perfectly capable of understanding and relating to people who, on the surface, may seem very different from us. This awareness prevents us from disconnecting from people on the other side of the tracks, and the other side of the world. We begin to understand that we must treat all people for what they are—family.

Source:Daily Om

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Herbs & Plants

Hermal

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Botanical Name : Peganum Hermala
Family: Nitrariaceae
Genus: Peganum
Species:P. harmala
Kingdom:Plantae
Order: Sapindales

Common Names :Syrian Rue,  Hermal, Sirski Rue, [amazon_textlink asin=’1482249561′ text=’Harmal peganum’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’finmeacur-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’0ccb715f-f7fb-11e6-8849-79fe62386952′]

Harmal seeds or sometimes Esphand or Espand from the Persian word where it originates from, Wild rue, Persian rue, Hermal seeds, or Harmal seeds

Habitat : Peganum Hermala  is native to Europe – Mediterranean and Southeast Europe  It grows  om dry steppes, especially where grazing is heavy, and dry waste places. It is often found in saline soils.

Description:
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It is a bushy herb with leaves divided into numerous narrow segments. It has white solitary flowers, spherical fruits and brownish seeds in various shapes.

The seeds ripen in September. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs)Suitable for: light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils and can grow in saline soils.

Cultivation details
Prefers a light well-drained but moisture retentive soil and an open position in full sun.   Prefers a dry soil[ and succeeds in poor soils.

Although this species comes from dry desert areas, it responds well to cultivation so long as the soil is very well drained. It can tolerate temperatures down to about -20°c if the soil is dry.

There is speculation that this plant was the sacred ‘Soma’ plant, which was used by the ancients of India and Persia as an hallucinogenic aid to understanding the deeper meaning of life.
Propagation
Seed – sow late spring in a greenhouse. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and grow them on in a sunny part of the greenhouse for their first winter. Be careful not to overwater, especially when the plants are dormant. Plant out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer.

Edible Uses: Condiment; Oil; Oil.

Seed – used as a spice and purifying agent. Some caution is advised because the seed has narcotic properties, inducing a sense of euphoria and releasing inhibitions. An edible oil is obtained from the seed.

Traditional uses:
It has been used as an entheogen in the Middle East, and in modern Western culture, it is often used as an analogue of Banisteriopsis caapi to create Ayahuasca, a South American entheogen. Syrian Rue, however, has a distinctly different chemical makeup than caapi, and a unique character of its own.

In Turkey, dried capsules from this plant are strung and hung in homes and vehicles to protect against the evil eye.

In Iran, dried capsules – mixed with other ingredients – are burnt so as to produce a light, distinctly scented smoke. It is used as an air as well as mind purifier, to be linked to its believed entheogenic properties. This practice, which roots back in pre-Islamic – Zoroastrian – times, is still used by the Iranians.

The active alkaloids of Harmal seeds are the MAOI (MonoAmine Oxidase Inhibitor) compounds harmine, harmaline, and tetrahydroharmine (collectively known as harmala alkaloids).

Medicinal Uses:
Disclaimer

Abortifacient; Alterative; Aphrodisiac; Digestive; Diuretic; Emmenagogue; Galactogogue; Hallucinogenic; Narcotic; Ophthalmic; Parasiticide; Uterine tonic; Vermifuge.

The seeds of which can be taken internally in minute doses, providing a valuable Ayurvedic remedy against depression.  They have also been taken to treat eye disorders and to stimulate breast-milk production.  In central Asia, harmala root is a popular medicinal remedy, used in the treatment of rheumatism and nervous conditions.

Alterative.
The fruit and seed are digestive, diuretic, hallucinogenic, narcotic and uterine stimulant. They are taken internally in the treatment of stomach complaints, urinary and sexual disorders, epilepsy, menstrual problems, mental and nervous illnesses. The seed has also been used as an anthelmintic in order to rid the body of tapeworms This remedy should be used with caution and preferably under the guidance of a qualified practitioner since excessive doses cause vomiting and hallucinations. The seeds contain the substance ‘harmine’ which is being used in research into mental disease, encephalitis and inflammation of the brain. Small quantities stimulate the brain and are said to be therapeutic, but in excess harmine depresses the central nervous system. A crude preparation of the seed is more effective than an extract because of the presence of related indoles.

Consumption of the seed in quantity induces a sense of euphoria and releases inhibitions. It has been used in the past as a truth drug.

The oil obtained from the seed is said to be aphrodisiac. The oil is also said to have galactogogue, ophthalmic, soporific and vermifuge properties.

The seed is used externally in the treatment of haemorrhoids and baldness.

The whole plant is said to be abortifacient, aphrodisiac, emmenagogue and galactogogue. A decoction of the leaves is used in the treatment of rheumatism.

The root has been used as a parasiticide in order to kill body lice. It is also used internally in the treatment of rheumatism and nervous conditions.

Other Uses
Dye; Incense; Miscellany; Oil.
A red dye is obtained from the seed. It is widely used in Western Asia, especially as a colouring for carpets.

The ripe seed contains 3.8 – 5.8% of the alkaloids harmine, harmaline, harmalol and peganine. Ineffective as a contact poison, they are active in vapour form where they are effective against algae, in higher concentrations to water animals and lethal to moulds, bacteria and intestinal parasites.

The seed is used as an incense.

Known Hazards: Use with caution. Although the seed is used medicinally and as a condiment, it does contain hallucinogenic and narcotic alkaloids[238]. When taken in excess it causes hallucinations and vomiting.

Disclaimer:
The information presented herein by is intended for educational purposes only.Individual results may vary, and before using any supplements, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.

Resources:

http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Peganum+harmala

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmal

http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Peganum+harmala

http://www.herbnet.com/Herb%20Uses_RST.htm

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News on Health & Science

Facial Expression

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Is your smile fake or genuine? Elena Conis unravels the myriad goings-on that bring about that enchanting facial expression .

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Mona Lisa’s smile is mysterious, the Cheshire Cat’s is devious, the Joker’s is mischievous and Buddha’s beatific.
Humans probably have been smiling for as long as they have been around. But despite the long history of smiles, scientists still haven’t figured out exactly how or why the brain tells the lips to curve, the nose to wrinkle, the eyes to twinkle and the cheeks to lift.

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Babies generally start smiling at about six to eight weeks. Throughout childhood, boys smile just about as much as girls. That changes soon after puberty. Grown women smile more than men, and they also smile wider. Smiling, studies suggest, makes people appear more attractive, kinder and, by some accounts,easier to remember.

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Smiles carry myriad meanings: joy, amusement, politeness, mockery, disdain, lechery and deceit, to name a few. But no matter the emotion, all smiles call on many muscles and nerves, starting with one called cranial nerve seven.

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Cranial nerve seven leaves the brain and heads for the face, and at the point where the jawbone meets the skull, it branches off. Some of its tributaries travel to the muscles of the forehead, some to the eyes, some to the nose and others to the cheeks, lips and chin. When cranial seven sends its message to the face, the face will smile.

All smiles share something else in common: an emotional foundation. But there’s subtlety here. Depending on what the emotion is, the brain sends different instructions to the face — such was the conclusion of a young, 19th century French doctor named Guillaume Duchenne.

In the 1840s, Duchenne went from hospital to hospital in Paris carrying a box-like contraption of his own making. Using the coil and electrodes in the box, he applied volts of electricity to the faces of his patients. As their faces contorted, he took notes, ultimately creating a map of the face muscles and nerves.

In the process, Duchenne noticed that the range of human facial expressions includes two kinds of smiles: one that stops at the lips, and one that extends across the face, to the eyes. A smile engaging the eyes, he concluded, was a genuine smile, one that is technically called a  Duchenne smile.

A century after Duchenne, scientists studying facial expressions began applying electrical currents directly to the brain. They found that stimulating certain areas could induce a smile, and that stronger stimulation could make a person laugh.

But not all scientists got the same results. In one experiment, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, were examining the brain of a 16-year-old to find where her chronic seizures were originating. When they electrically stimulated an area on the left side of the girl’s brain, she grinned. When they increased the current, her smile turned to genuine laughter.

In another case, this one in Switzerland, researchers were looking for the source of seizures in a 21-year-old man. Stimulating an area on the right side of his brain caused him to smile, and increasing the current made him laugh. Unlike the 16-year-old girl, he insisted that he felt no joy.

The precise brain regions involved in smiling are still debated, but evidence from patients with brain damage has made one thing clear: The areas involved in instigating a polite, or voluntary, smile (the kind exchanged with a bank teller, for example) are not the same ones involved in genuine smiling (such as the kind that emerges on seeing a loved one or hearing a funny joke).

Some stroke victims, for example, can’t force a smile on demand, but will grin easily when truly happy  is  an indication that the stroke destroyed part of the brain controlling voluntary smiles. But sometimes the converse occurs: A stroke destroys the brain region controlling involuntary movement. In this case, the victim is no longer able to smile or laugh out of joy but can still force the corners of his mouth up into a polite smile.

Researchers are now tapping into another of the smile’s mysteries: They have evidence that a smile that’s a prelude to laughter may actually help the body heal. Preliminary studies suggest that genuine laughter can jolt the immune system into gear.

Source:The Telegraph (Kolkata,India)

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