Kids First: Health with no Interference by Dr. Ogi Ressel
Dr Ressel’s book Kids First was not a revelation to me. Rather it made me feel secure in the knowledge that I had been accumulating over the years.
Since the nineties I have been concerned with the attention being given to kids’ health as I had the feeling that something was wrong with how doctors were treating their parents. Living in countries where the doctor’s word ruled supreme and the chemical model was the only solution, I found myself turning to more of what I had grown up with, ole time herbs, roots and mixtures.
Not to say that Dr Rexell in any way teaches us to use ole time remedies.
On the other hand, the subtitle for his book is How to Raise a Healthy Child Outside the Medical Model, and in his own way he makes the reader understand what is a state of well being and good health. His mantra is to keep the body healthy and not wait to see if you have symptoms of illnesses which need to be treated. In fact once we are in that state of mind then the opportunities for alternative measures is endless.
“There is no pill, potion or lotion on the face of this planet, which can possibly oversee the power of your own body to achieve health!”(Dr Ressell in chapter 1)
To understand this, is, as he puts it, a major paradigm shift. A major difference is the way the parent thinks of their kids as being healthy or their being ill . In the book he moves from pregnancy through birth , from the terrible twos through tweens and teenage years.
For example, he gives you a new understanding of simple problems like bed-wetting. This is something that happens in a number of households and means that the child is still wetting his/her bed past the usual time for potty training.
He explains the function of two key nerves in the child’s nervous system which control the flow of urine from the bladder. To assist with the healthy growth of the nervous system, Dr Ressel recommends chiropractic care as he has found that as the child grows he/she has been shown to respond very well to chiropractic care.
I know some people have the worn-out idea of chiropractic care being “cracking of bones”. We have come a long way with the inclusion of network chiropractors who do no such thing.
He goes on further to explain that as parents continue to go to the doctor for treatment of a symptom/problem like bed-wetting, a new disease appears on the market which calls for chemical medication. Overactive bladder disease. I think we are all familiar with these fancy sounding names. Names which make us dependent on the fashionable trend to address the symptom rather than the reason for the occurrence. As Dr. Ressel teaches, what can be addressed as a natural development in kids health has now become a disease.
That is but one example as the book has many case studies and life experiences. It is 247 pages of life wisdom and a voice which should be heard.
Parenting for Peace : Raising the next Generation of Peacemakers by Marcy Axness Ph.D.
Dr Axness’ book “Parenting for Peace” gives every parent a sense of calm and purpose. In harmony with Dr Ressel’s perspective, Dr Axness forces the parent to look inward at themselves and how their beliefs and behavior affect their daily parenting. She names the central premise in the book, ‘a constant process of growth and protection’.
Nowadays it seems that parents are more often feeling stressed than calm. She explains that our stress system is really designed for occasional activation not continuous. Consequently, as the stress reaction becomes more and more habitual, our cells tend to stay fixed in a state of protection. This is not the best situation as healthy growth of the cells in our bodies is impeded and we find ourselves turning to popular commercialized medication.
Marcia Axness presents some pretty intense, complex information in a very readable style. It is a book which you should have a copy nearby for quick reference.
She is very clear about the principles which parents need to practice is they are to create peace in their family and then be able to share that peace. These principles stretch across kids health and parent health.
Her book is unique as it follows the growth of the child in a family setting from birth to 18 years of age. Her concept of the global citizen is one which defies all the confusion and misrepresentations of today’s world. It is truly the development of the peaceful citizen.