Holistic Health Illustrated Study Booklets

Remember the Indiana Jones movies, where Indy (Harrison Ford) found his father’s diary, which had very important sketches, notes, and other clues to aid his search for the Holy Grail? Well, I have been searching for over 40 years for the “Holy Grail” of health, wellness, fitness and self-awareness. I have been producing graphic posters and graphic study booklets to depict what I believe to be the key components of better health, fitness, well-being and relative happiness. My publications consist mostly of pages showing color graphics of concepts for better health and wellness. I draw my illustrations from my knowledge of allopathic and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), qigong, martial arts, yoga and philosophy on these topics. There are depictions of theories on the human life cycle, psychology relative to components of fitness and many other subjects pertaining to mental and physical well-being. Most of my booklets contain many exercise sets for rehabilitating injuries and illness, as well as others to promote longevity and a better quality of life.

These booklets are the summation of over 40 years of my training, education, teaching and public speaking of holistic health, qigong, fitness, wellness, TCM, martial arts and other facets of self-improvement. Similar to popular study guides such as Quick Study or PermaCharts, these graphic and text guides cut to the chase in order to minimize precious time spent muddling through extensive textbooks seeking understanding of specific concepts. Each guide is packed with the root knowledge regarding specific topics. This format is highly beneficial for the novice as well as experts in the fields of health, wellness and self-improvement.

Books published and available:

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Most of my publications are available through Amazon at:

www.amazon.com/author/jimmoltzan

Study booklets, graphic charts & herbal extracts can also be purchased at:

Study Booklets, Charts & Herbal Extracts

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I teach and offer lectures about holistic health, stress management, mindfulness0based stress reduction (MBSR), qigong, tai chi, baguazhang, meditation, phytotherapy (herbs), music for healing, self-massage, and Daoyin (yoga).

I look forward to further sharing more of my message by partnering with hospitals, wellness centers, VA centers, schools on all levels, businesses, and individuals who see the value in building a stronger nation through building a healthier population. I also have hundreds of FREE education video classes, lectures, and seminars available on my YouTube channel at:

https://www.youtube.com/c/MindandBodyExercises

www.MindAndBodyExercises.com

www.Amazon.com/author/jimmoltzan

Mind and Body Exercises on Google: https://posts.gle/aD47Qo

Jim Moltzan

407-234-0119

The Teacher/Student Relationship

Seek the right teacher for you, because in time a student (you) can become similar to your teacher, sometimes absorbing good and bad traits alike.

“Learn to earn”
One must learn something and understand it effectively before teaching it to another. It is usually quite difficult to teach another what you yourself are not proficient with. Learn to understand – earn to have purpose and meaning. Jack of all trades, master of none – think about it, do you know something well enough to help another rather that hurting them with what you do or do not know? Not everyone who carries the title of teacher, is indeed a good teacher.

The Teacher/student relationship
In the teaching and learning environment, there has to be an even exchange of energy. The teacher shares their knowledge while the student listens, watches, absorbs and hopefully learns and applies. Gratitude is a reciprocating relationship between student and teacher, because if there is no teacher, there is no student. If there is no student, there is no teacher. Yin and yang in all things. Teachers too, benefit from this relationship. Teachers, first responders, armed forces members, public service workers and others don’t help others just for others to benefit. These types of individuals often find purpose and meaning through their service to others. At the very root of these endeavors is indeed a self-serving motivation that needs to be kept in check. Helping and teaching others to have purpose is one thing; indulging a god complex is another. A god complex is when an individual truly believes they have a greater power, influence, ability, etc., and see themselves as superior to others. A god complex behavior is often associated with having a narcissistic personality disorder. We all have much to offer and learn from one another, regardless of fame, wealth or social status.

A wise and experienced teacher realizes that not everyone learns the same way and adjusts accordingly. Some teachers are better at this than others as not all teachers are the same. Various students are better at grasping concepts through graphic or visual presentations, while others gravitate towards the sounds of words. Some may visualize the words in their mind’s eye. While still others learn best through touch and movement, where they need to be physically engaged in order to mentally comprehend concepts.

Teaching verbally, visually and tactilely.

Embrace the “beginner’s mind.”

Students and teachers alike can benefit from understanding that they cannot fill a full cup, without first emptying what they already have. Once a student’s ego lets go of what one thinks they already know, they can then be open to learn something new or see something from a different perspective. Teachers can often learn much from their students if they are open to it and not let their own ego get in the way of their own learning from a student.

Learn so that you can earn a living and hopefully a purpose!

Learning ability/environment later in life

It is never too late to learn something new. Those who were once a teacher, can be a student once again. We are only limited by our own boundaries. However, learning ability does change as we move through the various phases of life. Short term memory becomes just that, shorter. We may remember complex details from our youth but fail to remember someone’s name that we were just introduced to seconds prior. Memory is indeed a muscle that needs to be exercised continuously in order to keep it working effectively. Sitting in a classroom or behind a computer screen can have a toll on the physical body, so plan accordingly and find the format that works best for your circumstances.

Fees for instruction

Fees and/or tuition are almost always necessary, in order for the teacher/student relationship to flourish. Time, effort and monetary compensation are all forms or conduits of energy. Sometimes labor (physical as well as mental) in return for knowledge is a viable commodity and can offer many opportunities for personal growth. No fee, cost or sacrifice on some level = NO VALUE. No skin in the game most often leads to no commitment or investment of one’s time and effort. Give a young adult an automobile and often they don’t care about maintenance, dings or scratches. The spoiled or entitled individual sooner or later learns a whole different set of life lessons. The person that saves and buys their own vehicle, often takes more pride and care of their assets, as they realize and value the time, effort and sacrifice that they put on the line for their own personal gain. Most people know this in spite of looking for the best deal or “free any things”. We usually pay for what we get, good or bad quality. Teachers need to earn living and be rightfully compensated for their time, effort and sharing of their earned knowledge.

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I teach and offer lectures about holistic health, stress management, qigong, tai chi, baguazhang, meditation, phytotherapy (herbs), music for healing, self-massage, and Daoyin (yoga).

I look forward to further sharing more of my message by partnering with hospitals, wellness centers, VA centers, schools on all levels, businesses and individuals that see the value in building a stronger nation through building a healthier population. I also have hundreds of FREE education video classes, lectures and seminars available on my YouTube channel at:

https://www.youtube.com/c/MindandBodyExercises

www.MindAndBodyExercises.com

www.Amazon.com/author/jimmoltzan

Mind and Body Exercises on Google: https://posts.gle/aD47Qo

Jim Moltzan

407-234-0119

Fracture Cascade – a domino effect of ailments

A “fracture cascade” refers to bones and ailments such as osteoporosis, where a person experiences multiple fractures in a sequence, often initiated by a single initial fracture. Falling is a major reason leading to such circumstances. When bones weaken due to poor nutrition, inactivity and age, osteopenia and osteoporosis can grow into serious medical conditions. Herein bones become less dense and more porous, which can make bones more prone to fractures. This “fracture cascade” highlights the possibility of a domino effect that can manifest in individuals with osteoporosis. Falling and landing on one’s hand, can cause fractures to the fingers, wrist, bones in the forearm (ulna and radius) and the bones that comprise the shoulder joint. Additionally, when someone falls, they may injure their knees, hip joints (head of the femur) as well as injuries to the spinal vertebrae. Having a physical exercise plan that not only increases bone strength, but helps to improve balance, and flexibility as well as strength of the muscles. Grip strength becomes more important as we age and sometimes need to grab on to solid structures to avoid falling. Weight training, yoga, tai chi and Pilates are all appropriate methods to achieve these goals.

Practicing exercises that challenge one’s balance is a key component to prevent falling, while increasing leg strength and flexibility to navigate falls.

These images show the various hand and wrist positioning that are common when people accidentally fall onto, while trying to mitigate falls.

A fracture cascade might occur from the following circumstances:

Initial fracture – A person with osteoporosis experiences an initial fracture, often as a result of some level of impact, stress or trauma on particular weakened bone(s).
Modified or influenced body mechanics – After the first fracture, body mechanics during physical movement may be influenced reducing mobility, pain and changes in gait.
Increased risk of falling – Modified mechanics and reduced mobility leads to an increased risk of losing sense of balance, which is often elevated in individuals with osteoporosis.
Future fractures – Minor physical trauma, stumbles or minor to major falls can lead to a ripple (cascade) effect of additional fractures in other bones throughout the body.
Compromised Functionality: With each additional fracture, an individual’s freedom to move and function unimpaired can be at further jeopardy, making them even more prone to future falls and fractures.

This cycle of decline can contribute to compromised overall health and thereby quality of life for those with osteoporosis. Management strategies for osteoporosis should involve prevention through lifestyle modifications, dietary awareness (rich in calcium and vitamin D), weight-bearing exercises and activities. If necessary, there are pharmaceuticals intended to improve bone density and reduce fracture risk. However, almost all medications have side-effect that needed to be weighed against their benefits. It is highly important that individuals at risk with osteopenia/osteoporosis seek healthcare professionals as well as fitness and wellness advocates to pursue a comprehensive plan for bone health.

This graphic details various exercises to help increase strength, flexibility, and dexterity of the wrists, hands and fingers. One can practice these exercises as a form of preventive maintenance.

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I teach and offer lectures about holistic health, stress management, qigong, tai chi, baguazhang, meditation, phytotherapy (herbs), music for healing, self-massage, and Daoyin (yoga).

https://www.youtube.com/c/MindandBodyExercises

www.MindAndBodyExercises.com

www.Amazon.com/author/jimmoltzan

Mind and Body Exercises on Google: https://posts.gle/aD47Qo

Jim Moltzan

407-234-0119

Walking Aids in Venous Return – or walk more, your life might depend upon it!

Walking and other weight-bearing activities that engage the muscles in the feet, calves and thighs illicit a pumping effect that aids in moving blood back to the heart. Rhythmic patterns of relaxation and contraction of these muscles, in addition to the movement of the ankle and toe joints, help to increase venous return and help to prevent blood pooling in the lower extremities. Lack of physical movement such as walking and an increase in sitting within our modern American sedentary lifestyle, are major factors that are contributing to the drastic decline in physical and mental wellness of our population within the last decades. More sitting for hours on end at work, behind computer screens, playing video games and engagement with social media are the norm now. In past years physical activity was more prevalent whether from occupations, recreation, social interactions and other reasons. A return to a more active lifestyle is what is necessary to get our nation back on a track of better health and wellness, in lieu of harsh pharmaceuticals for all that ails us, and pursuing living a life without consequences. We are the architects of our own well-being and relative health and happiness.

The venous plantar plexus of the foot, the venous pump of the calf and the thigh muscle pump all work together as part of the venous return mechanism, which sends blood back to the heart. The venous pump of the calf, also referred to as the calf muscle pump, is a very important component of this whole mechanism involving the relaxation and contraction of calf and foot muscles during specific activities such as walking, climbing, exercising and others. The primary muscles of the calf muscle pump are the gastrocnemius and soleus. This engagement of the calf muscles compresses the veins and pushing blood upwards against gravity. The venous plantar plexus is a bundle of veins found in the sole of the foot, having a primary function of collecting de-oxygenated blood from tissues within the foot and moving it back upwards towards the heart. Other muscles in the foot, such as the flexor hallucis brevis, flexor digitorum brevis, and lumbrical muscles, influence toe flexion and extension and consequently help with increasing blood circulation. Both of these mechanisms within the calves and feet contribute to providing efficient blood circulation back up to the heart, as well as preventing blood pooling (edema) in the lower extremities.

I have been practicing for over 40 years a type of moving meditation called BaguaZhang or 8-trigram palm, which is a walking meditation with various feet, hands, arms, and body positioning. When practiced with rapid (or sometimes slow) breathing and circular walking or stepping patterns, a great amount of qi (the Chinese word for life force) or prana (in Ayurveda), is accumulated within the body for martial, fitness or wellness applications. Conversely, the same methods can be practiced with a slower respiration rate of 6-10 BPM or even slower for more health and spiritual focused practices. I have received many benefits from these practices on mental, physical, and spiritual levels. Mentally, I feel more aware, alert, and calm throughout my day after a 20-minute session of practice. Physically, my whole body is stronger as the exercises engage many more muscle groups than conventional exercise. Spiritually, I am much more self-aware, as well as feeling more connected to nature and the energy or universal consciousness that we have access to. In today’s current norm of many coping with stress, anxiety, depression and many other psychological and physical issues, many types of exercise can be a much-needed option in lieu of pharmaceuticals or other invasive treatments. Basic walking is a great means of maintaining wellness, while advanced methods of walking such as BaguaZhang can offer benefits on many levels beyond locomotion. Studies on BaguaZhang have shown that these types of exercises were able to significantly affect the delicate balance of autonomic control, by way of increasing parasympathetic regulation while decreasing sympathetic nerve activity. Also reported were decreased were levels in serum glucose, cholesterol, body mass index and systolic blood pressure. Lastly, innate and adaptive immunity improved, as well as increased in physical fitness and physical strength for those who participated in a 10-week study (Tai, Chou, Tzeng, Wei, Su, Liu, & Kung, 2018).

References:

Parts of the figure were drawn by using pictures from Servier Medical Art. Servier Medical Art by Servier is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).

Tai, H.-C., Chou, Y.-S., Tzeng, I.-S., Wei, C.-Y., Su, C.-H., Liu, W.-C., & Kung, W.-M. (2018). Effect of Tai Chi Synergy T1 Exercise on Autonomic Function, Metabolism, and Physical Fitness of Healthy Individuals. Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine (ECAM), 2018, 1–7. https://doi-org.northernvermont.idm.oclc.org/10.1155/2018/6351938

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I teach and offer lectures about holistic health, stress management, qigong, tai chi, baguazhang, meditation, phytotherapy (herbs), music for healing, self-massage, and Daoyin (yoga).

https://www.youtube.com/c/MindandBodyExercises

www.MindAndBodyExercises.com

www.Amazon.com/author/jimmoltzan

Mind and Body Exercises on Google: https://posts.gle/aD47Qo

Jim Moltzan

407-234-0119

Seek Out the “Wounded Healers”

Would you seek dental help from a dentist with rotten teeth?

Ask for relationship advice from someone that has a record of domestic abuse?

Take your car to a mechanic whose own automobile is always broken down?

Then why would you seek advice on health and well-being from someone who themselves is not healthy and well?

I have previously come across the concept of the “wounded healer.” There is no shortage of books and articles on this topic, where people that have first-hand experience with surviving trauma are often the best empaths for a particular issue. Psychologist Carl Jung may have been the first to use this term back in 1951, where he proposed that disease of the soul could be the most advantageous type of training for a healer. Jung was thought to believe that only a wounded physician could heal effectively. An empath that truly understands another’s circumstances may be of great benefit and perhaps provide a guiding path to post-traumatic growth (PTG). PTG is the term for what happens when someone who struggles psychologically from trauma and adversity, comes to experience positive, transformative changes in their mindset and behavior. “Finding the silver lining in all things, good or bad,” is a quote many of us are quite familiar with.

How can something “good” come from things that are seemingly “bad?” While I don’t think anyone truly looks forward to any personal loss and/or suffering on any level, there are sometimes good aspects that can come out of even the worst of circumstances. Losses or misfortunes can offer the possibility of life-enhancing “post-traumatic growth” as someone weaves the lessons of loss and resilience into their life moving forward. Personal growth following major experiences of loss is common (Hall, 2014). From my experiences in teaching fitness, wellness, and mindfulness, I have found most people do not have a deeper connection to their own health, well-being, or consciousness until some event of trauma as a life-threatening or life-changing situation enters into their life. Loss of life of a family member or close friend can be the spark that causes another to change their behaviors. Someone passing of a heart attack at an early age, might motivate others to watch their own health closer. Mental or physical trauma can sometimes lead to what some call “knowing one’s true self”, self-realization or enlightenment. Taoism and Buddhism has taught me decades ago, that trauma can be means to knowing one’s true self. Trauma can be very intense and life-changing experiences that an individual may become so affected, that they may appear to others to have evolved overnight into a different person. Many of us have encountered someone who while in dire straits, promises to change their ways if their circumstances where to play out in their favor. Changes of this sort can be viewed as positive or negative, as all things are relative. Change through motivation, stemming from trauma.

I have discussed alcoholism in some of my past posts here, as it is a topic that I am quite familiar with. We can see the wounded healer here, where survivors of alcoholism or those who have experienced alcohol abuse-related relationships often have firsthand experience with coping with alcohol related issues. Similarly, survivors of abusive relationships and varying levels of trauma have been wounded themselves but can also help others to heal by extending empathy and, if sought, advice. This same concept may hold validity for survivors of law enforcement related events, survivors of war trauma as soldiers and/or civilians, healthcare workers, firefighters and many others involved in service to others. However, in order to serve effectively as a wounded healer, this individual needs to be able to manage their own stress, suffering and other mental and physical ailments before extending their advice to others that are suffering. Otherwise, this individual, while having good intentions, may actually come off as being less understanding, less empathetical and perhaps hypocritical, and therefore causing more harm to a sufferer.

(1) Survivors of alcoholism or those who have experienced alcohol abuse-related relationships

(2) Survivors of abusive relationships on all levels of trauma

(3) Survivors of violence and/or law enforcement related events

(4) Survivors of war trauma as soldiers and/or civilians

(5) Survivors from cults and other particular groups

(6) Survivors of physical accidents or catastrophe

References:

Daneault S. The wounded healer: can this idea be of use to family physicians? Can Fam Physician. 2008 Sep;54(9):1218-9, 1223-5. PMID: 18791082; PMCID: PMC2553448.

https://www.azquotes.com/quote/1200463

Hall, C. (2014). Bereavement theory: recent developments in our understanding of grief and bereavement. Bereavement Care, 33(1), 7–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/02682621.2014.902610

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I teach and offer lectures about holistic health, stress management, qigong, tai chi, baguazhang, meditation, phytotherapy (herbs), music for healing, self-massage, and Daoyin (yoga).

https://www.youtube.com/c/MindandBodyExercises

www.MindAndBodyExercises.com

www.Amazon.com/author/jimmoltzan

Mind and Body Exercises on Google: https://posts.gle/aD47Qo

Jim Moltzan

407-234-0119