Some people agreed very much with the article, others called it a hatchet job. Then, there’s people like me who feel that although Oprah tends to promote things that I think are hokey (and maybe dangerous if it keeps people from seeing conventional medical specialists), there are some things that may have their place.

In other words, I think that we can’t use a blanket statement that everything Oprah promotes is garbage nor can we say that everything Oprah says is the gospel truth. There must be a middle ground somewhere.

The Newsweek article begins with a show where actress Suzanne Somers was promoting her new “healthy” way of life. I put “healthy” in quotes because I can’t see myself ever agreeing to her regimen of 60+ vitamin pills per day, vaginal injections of hormones, rubbing hormone creams, going for vitamin C intravenous drips, and more, as being even close to healthy. As well, in that particular show, the more conventional medical experts who were invited to participate were seated in the audience and could only speak when called upon. Therefore, they couldn’t really discuss the matter, with Suzanne prattling on in the spotlight.

At the end of the show? Oprah proclaimed Suzanne’s book as a must-read for women everywhere. So, now her sales will go through the roof. Every book that Oprah recommends goes through the roof in sales. Heck, I’d love for her to recommend my greyhound book – think of what that could do for greyhound adoption?!

The scary thing about the whole Oprah phenomenon is that this isn’t the only example. There are others who are treated as experts because they have claims that may be fascinating, albeit unprovable.

The other thing that worries many in the medical community is that sometimes procedures that get the super green light from Oprah end up not working or, even, harmful. There never has been a show that backtracks on any of the harmful or ineffective treatments. Since they were promoted by Oprah and believed in by many of her followers, wouldn’t Oprah have some sort of obligation to come back to her audience and say, “hey, you know what? I made a mistake recommending this treatment.”

Photo: Amazon.com

But not everything Oprah does is wrong. She does have guests who offer advice that could be good for people. Learning how to relax, take time for yourself, getting yourself checked for various illnesses. Even some of her beliefs, such as positive energy, pushed by the book and movie The Secret, that may be laughed at, may have some merit to it. And, thinking positively, trying to work on the law of attraction, which is what The Secret is all about, isn’t harmful. And, for some, it even seems to work.

What concerns me is even after stories like the one that ran in Newsweek, she doesn’t come out and admit that she may be playing a very iffy role in a very serious issue. This quote from the article, Oprah defends her ‘experts’ accused of talking nonsense, is particularly telling:

On Thursday, amid mounting controversy, Winfrey issued a statement to the TV show Entertainment Tonight. It failed to address any of Newsweek’s individual concerns, but instead claimed her audience was educated enough to make their own decisions about healthcare. “For 23 years, my show has presented thousands of topics that reflect the human experience, including doctors’ medical advice and personal health stories that have prompted conversations between our audience members and healthcare providers,” it read. “I trust viewers, and know that they are smart and discerning enough to seek out medical opinions to determine what may be best for them.”

So, what’s the moral of the story? Health issues are really, in my opinion, something Oprah needs to stay away from unless she’s going to be more objective. After all, she started out her professional life as a journalist, so she does know how that works.

What do you think?

~~~~

Images: GriffenBauer, Amazon.com

Post from: Blisstree

Oprah and Wacky Cures?

So far, I’m calling it a success.

Within this year I have attracted the simplest things like mystical pants to the big things like a home custom-made for me at an unheard of price, wonderful friends and magical money.

I know this sounds unbelievable, but after I started repeating Money comes easily and frequently to myself instead of we can’t afford it my husband found an uncashed check for $500 in some old papers. It was over 6 months old so the company issued a new check. I pasted that check on my dream board with the words Evidence that Money Comes Easily and Frequentlyon it. Then on Christmas Eve I opened the mailbox and found a letter from the same company, referring to the same check, stating that their records indicate that we never cashed the check and they are sending us a new one. That’s a $500 check that pays 3 times! I almost can’t quite believe it.  

I attracted a Law of Attraction Action Pack through a contest I never entered. Seriously. Then, not only did he send me this great program to help me make The Law of Attraction more effective, he made me an affiliate.

Last year when I first heard about The Law of Attraction I was hesitant to use it. Sceptical.

Then I realized I was unhappy anyway and had nothing to lose by trying something different. If it didn’t work I was still broke, living in a tiny house, sick with allergies and depression, surrounded by people who didn’t like or appreciate me, trapped in my work or stay-at-home mothering predicament and fighting with my spouse. In other words – my life sucked so I could afford to try something that sounded too crazy to be true.

Since experimenting with the concept that I am creating my own reality with my own thoughts I am learning to free myself. Free myself from the past, from poor health choices, from negative relationships, from restrictive ideas about what I’m allowed to have or achieve or who I get to be.

I freed myself from smoking and a lifelong dependence on anti-depressants and inactivity. Today I’m a non-smoker who exercises most days and I can’t imagine how I ever expected anti-depressants to truly help me.

The Law of Attraction Action Pack shed new light on concepts I’d already learned but never understood or took literally in my religious life. Like ask and you shall receive.

Best of all it’s teaching me how to dream again. I’m learning that I don’t have to give up any of my dreams because it seems impossible or because people say it’s competitive.

I love that there is enough of everything from love to money to go around. I’m also learning how to be kind to myself and expect kindness from others.

If you want to change something about your life – and who doesn’t this time of year? The Law of Attraction Action Pack is a great tool. It’s a simple 7 day program that will show you how to manifest a life you love.

You’ll learn how to:

• Figure out what you want and focus on it.
• Get rid of hang ups that are holding you back.
• Use visual props, like a dream board, to help focus.
• Learn to effectively meditate.
• Rewrite the tapes you play over and over in your head.
• Take action to get what you want.
• Recognize success when it’s knocking at your door.
• Realize a manifestation when you see it.
• Focus on gratitude and what it does in your life.
• Learn that you can always afford to give generously.
• Feel powerful over your own life. 

You also get an audio recording of The Science of Getting Rich: Attracting Financial Success through Creative Thought, which sparked the making of The Secret is also included. The Science of Getting Rich very succinctly and logically explains why acquiring money and wealth is a positive thing rather than a negative thing to do.

Maybe, like me, you have nothing to lose by trying The Law of Attraction Action Pack.

In 2008 give yourself the gift of feeling powerful in your own life. 

Post from: Blisstree

Law of Attraction Experiment

The concept of Law of Attraction very simply goes like this: You attract what you think about.

When I do Yoga, I have yet to master thinking nothing. A blank mind is something I’m unable to accomplish for more than two seconds. So, instead I try to meditate on something simple, repetitive and all-encompassing.

Lately, I’ve been meditating on the phrase Health, Wealth and Love. (Isn’t that what everyone pretty much wants?)

Except, a year or two ago my Mom won this make-over contest on a radio show called Healthy, Wealthy, Wow! So, while doing Yoga I would sometimes catch myself reciting, Healthy, Wealthy, Wow! instead of Health, Wealth and Love.

Last week my mother calls me and tells me Healthy, Wealthy, Wow! called her up and asks her if she wants to be the winner of a Law of Attraction program, on the condition that she go on the radio to chat about it. My mother, generous as she is, tells them that I could use the publicity for my website. She also tells them I’m already trying to use the Law of Attraction to get what I want.

Of course, I immediately agree to try the Law of Attractions ACTION Pack – Seven Days to Success with the Law of Attraction. Jeffrey Howard, CEO of Master Mind Mentor calls me up and is surprised I won the radio contest without even listening to the radio.

I attracted this, I tell him.

Post from: Blisstree

Attracting Contest

•  The only thing standing between you, happiness, and the life of your dreams, are two words…

  THANK YOU

• Einstein said “thank you” hundreds of times every single day!
• It is impossible to be negative when you are giving thanks.
• It is impossible to criticize or blame when you are feeling grateful.
• It is impossible to feel sad when you are in gratitude.
• If you become truly grateful, you will magnetize absolute joy to you everywhere you go, and in everything you do. In fact, without gratitude, nothing can ever change. Your life will change to the degree that you use gratitude and begin to feel grateful.
• The more that you practice gratitude the more deeply you will feel it in your heart, and the depth of the feeling is the key. The more deeply and sincerely you feel it, the more you will bring absolute bliss and happiness on every single subject.
• So why not begin by deciding to find 100 things a day to be grateful for? As you practice gratitude every day, it won’t take long before gratitude is your natural state of being, and when it happens you will have unlocked one of the greatest Secrets to Life.

Go here for a chance to win one of 9,000 gratitude journals.

Gratitude, like anything else, is a habit that can be learned and practiced until it comes naturally.

Post from: Blisstree

Gratitude Changes Lives