Inner Strength...Health...Fitness...

"A wise man should consider that health is the graetest of human blessings, and learn how by his own thoughts to derive benefit from his illness."

Chlorine is a poisonous chemical that has been used to sterilize our domestic water supplies for nearly 100 years. It is inexpensive and helps to destroy many bacteria which are the cause of cholera, dysentery and typhoid.

Regrettably, in addition to being a destroyer of bacteria, it is also a poison that has countless unpleasant reactions on the human body. Chlorine reacts with decomposing plant and animal materials naturally found in water to create Trihalomethanes (THMs).

The THMs then activate the creation of free radicals in the body, the free radicals highly carcinogenic, and progress to damage the body at a cellular.

Scarring of the arteries can be caused from drinking chlorinated tap water. With the arteries are scared, LDL cholesterol can attach itself to the artery walls leading to arteriosclerosis and heart disease.

In certain cities, chlorine levels far exceed that of government standards due to the water supplies being so polluted. Cancer of the kidney, bladder, and urinary tract are more common in these cities.

For example, drinking water taken from the highly polluted Mississippi River contains approximately 63 carcinogenic compounds that are created when chlorine combines with pollutants present in the water.

It is not unusual for public water supplies to have chlorine levels higher than those recommended as safe for a public swimming pool.

Drinking chlorinated tap water is only the ‘tip of the iceberg’. More chlorine is soaked up through the skin, and inhaled in the condensation from a hot bath or shower, than is taken in from drinking five glasses of tap water.

Steam from a hot shower open the pores then allow the absorption of chlorine and other compound. In addition, the steam can contain 20 times the concentration of chlorine as tap water.

The breathing in of chlorine and other chemical vapours are a supposed cause of bronchitis and asthma. Further, The American Journal of Public Health contains a report linking chlorine to increases in certain types of cancer.

"Due to chlorine and showering, virtually every home has a detectable level of chloroform gas in the air"(The U.S. EPA recently stated), Chloroform is a powerful irritant of the respiratory system.

The natural shielding oils of the hair and skin are stripped away by chlorine accelerating drying and aging skin, chlorine is also the biggest trigger of eczema.

Safe water disinfection processes such as ozone and UV radiation are considered too expensive for most large metropolitan water supplies. The positive out come to all of this is that you don't have to drink it or bath in it, affordable, high quality drinking water and shower filters are now available.

Using quality water filters to remove the chlorine from your drinking and shower water is the right thing to do, and will protect you and your family from unwanted health challenges.

Chi Kung is a type exercise from China; it involves slow gentle movements or even being motionless with calm rhythmic breathing.

It refers to the ancient traditional practices of accumulating energy or Ch'i Kung (Qigon) Qi within the body.

In Chinese the words Chi (qui) means air, life force or dynamic energy, and Kung (or gong) means is work.

Qi is circulated through out the body and permeates every part of it, keeping each cell alive. This benefits the heart, lungs, kidney and digestion by balancing the amount and the circulation of Qi in the body.

There are many types of chi Kung that can be divide into different categories, some of these categories include: Taiji Eighteen Step Chi Kung, Shoalin Cosmos Chi Kung, Medical Chi Kung, Martial Arts Chi Kung, Meditative Chi Kung, Folk Chi Kung and Fragrance Chi Kung.

Chi Kung is very easy to learn most people will be able to execute the basic movements with in a short time. However, mastering the finer and more subtle points may take much longer.

G Hamilton