From the editor.

Many of us have stories of how or why we were led to explore healing modalities beyond the conventional. Throughout my childhood, I battled illness after illness: sinus infections and flus several times every winter, ear infections, general listlessness and tiredness. Eventually, in high school, I ended up going half days to school for a semester and a half because of illness. By the time I went to college, I began noticing that I seemed to be allergic to lots of things, like mold, hairspray, different foods, anything with a strong smell. I sleep-walked through college suffering from extreme fatigue, back and joint pain, faintness, headaches, digestive problems, and a myriad of other symptoms that didn't seem related to each other. I felt like I was living in a perpetual haze, a blur of pain and fatigue that I tried to ignore. I went to eleven doctors in my junior year of college. Finally when I went to two doctors within a week and they both told me I had two entirely different conditions and prescribed expensive drugs for each problem, I realized that they didn't really know what was wrong with me, and that the prescriptions, like the many other ones I'd taken over that year and throughout my life, were not helping me to heal.

Finally, I went to an "alternative" doctor that two different people had assured could help me with my health problems. His approach was very different from other doctors I had been to; he seemed to understand all these symptoms and explained how they fit together. He explained to me about hidden infections and toxicity, and he put me on a strict diet and a bunch of herbal supplements. Within three days, I knew I had made the right choice, and two long, hard years of vegetables and rice later, many of my symptoms were gone. I felt better than I had in my entire life so far! I had to take charge of my healing process in fundamental ways, changing my lifestyle and my eating habits. It was so difficult that I wouldn't have done it if I hadn't been so sick.

As my health improved, so did my understanding of the holistic approach to healing. I added energy healing to my health regimen; I could feel old emotional and spiritual patterns that had been keeping me ill begin to fall away.

A couple more years of hard work, eating very clean and organic, living in a toxic-free environment, and I was strong enough to start New life Journal to get the word out on the benefits of natural medicine and whole foods.

I began the publication as an activist, and I'm continuing it in acceptance. When I began NLJ, I felt like the world was all wrong, people had made a mess of things, and that made the world an inhospitable place to five. I felt like my environment was attacking me, that the very food available for me to eat was my enemy. Somehow, it was my job to fix things. Now, I feel more secure in my place in the world, and I understand that most of our illness is caused by our lack of connection with the world around us. My life has taught me, and will continue to teach me, everything that I need to know to play my role, to live my heart. Conventional medicine has its place, its role to play in healing, and so do the many natural healing methods available. With joy and gratitude, New Life Journal will continue to educate our readers about the many options for natural therapies, whole foods, and reconnection with nature and our communities for many years to come.

WHAT'S AHEAD? If you would like to submit an ad or article to our upcoming June/July issue on Children's Health, check out newlifejournal.com for our advertising and writers' guidelines, or contact us.

To advertise in New Life Journal, call a member of our sales team in the right column of the masthead, below.

For article submission:

828-251-9289, [e-mail] Ads deadline: June 18, 2004; Articles deadline: June 25, 2004