Food and Constitution

 A quick note on food, eating, diets and how those have an effect upon us depending upon our unique, individual constitutions. We are all human with the same basic food needs. Absolutely. But we don't all have the same ways of processing the foods we ingest based upon many variables including genetics, history, geography (place where we live has a significant impact upon how our bodies respond to foods), and so much more. This is a lifetime of study that most people never have the opportunity to study and explore. Which is why we fall into what works for other people or what the establishment says is best. Where does that leave most folks? 

Listen to your own body. What is it telling you? How do you feel after eating a certain way for a while? There is no 'one size fits all' -- everyone is a unique individual. Every single diet out there -- and I do mean all of them -- can cite studies and anecdotal evidence that it cures or resolves an illness, dis-ease, etc. And I believe them ... for those individuals, that approach was right for them. What they don't tell you is that for many other people, the diet or lifestyle or habits of eating did NOT work and, in fact, often created other problems because they ignored the first signs that something just wasn't right. They felt they must be doing something 'wrong' because, hey, it was working for all those other people. But they aren't those people, they are uniquely themselves.

So, again. Where do you feel led? What makes the most sense to you? How does your body feel? How are your food choices sitting with you not just physically but mentally and spiritually? Ayurveda teaches us that everything we ingest -- be it food, location, entertainment, the very lives experienced by the beings we eat, etc. -- is going to have an effect upon us, either in the present or in the future.

Lastly, you can do everything right and still end up suffering in some way, simply because life is unpredictable. (Not to mention karmic impacts from past lives or, if you don't believe in reincarnation, simply cause and effect from your own life interacting with people and the world around you.) Listening to your body and following as healthy and holistic a lifestyle as possible is what I refer to as 'hedging your bets' -- and, for most people, that approach can make a huge difference, one that brings confidence, joy, and peace. 

Do I know it all? Nope. (And beware anyone who says with certainty that 'this is the best and only way.') I simply share here the results of my own training and certification in various health care modalities combined with my own two decades of focused study and holistic health consultancy since leaving a 9 to 5 job in corporate work. Which is why I always come back to ...

Live well, listen to your own body/mind/soul, and follow your own path.

Repercussions

 I've been researching Big Pharma, the Medical Industrial Complex, and the Psychiatric paradigm for a couple decades at this point. Without going into my own thoughts on all of this, first I want to share a video documentary: How Big Pharma Makes Healthy People Sick.

I will return to this topic and my own perspective in a later post, but felt compelled to at least share this video -- even realizing that most people reading my blog are already aware of the dangers of prescription drugs.

Another aspect of Medical and Psychiatric over-reach with huge damages long-term is the impact of tr@ns idealogy on children; this video talk HERE between Helen Joyce and John Anderson is helpful.

Take care, live well, and follow your own path.

In Gratitude

I'm offering a public moment of gratitude. 

I still see regular comments by folks, those who followed the dictates and/or mandates, that they continually get sick and often supposedly with C0^!d -- and I always send them healing wishes, of course. However, my husband and I have had quite different experiences. 

Neither of us were injected, he was at his office nearly the entire past four years (except for a short six weeks in those first panic months of 2020). Plus, he physically went to get what we needed from stores, as did I from the grocery store, we never wore m@$k$ unless absolutely required (which was thankfully eliminated early on due to the state - in the middle of the country - in which we live) and we NEVER wore them outside in the fresh air. Our home is in a semi-rural area; hubby works in a metro city of 170K people.

During the past four years, as of the date of this post, neither of us has been sick -- not at all, not from anything. We are both in our early 60s but we eat relatively healthy, get plenty of fresh air, and rely upon Homeopathy, Cell Salts, and Flower Essences for wellness support (the usual aches and pains of getting older). I'm sure we will, at some point, get a cold or the flu, as that is a completely normal part of life, but right now, we feel fortunate and blessed.

And we personally know others in our area -- plus those in my extended alternative health care community -- who have experienced similar results. Every person's situation and physical constitution is unique; this is simply ours.

This is not a judgment, simply my sharing of an observation based upon our own personal experiences and those in our communities.

Sending love, peace, and healing to all!

Flower Essence Power

The past four years have brought about certain challenges. For all of us, I know. My journey would have been much more difficult without access to my beloved Flower Essences. While I also practice physical-focused forms of wellness -- such as QiGong (Yoga formerly) and breath-work, meditation and walks in nature, plus am always surround by my precious fur-companions -- it is the Flower Essences that allow me to dive into my psyche's needs and support my mind, consciousness, soul the most fully and effectively, thereby deepening my physical healing as well.

There are many flower essence creations available; you can even co-create them yourself if you have access to wildflowers and/or organic growths, but especially those growing as far away as possible from pollutants and toxins. 

I've recently returned to a focus upon my all-time favorite flowers, the Australian Bush Flower Essences. While I have used a wide variety of lines of flower essences over the past 25+ years, I always seem to feel most at home and most easily healed through this line co-created by founder Ian White. The above image is of Crowea, my personal touchstone essence. And, I will admit that, after so many years connecting to this flower and its Devic kingdom, if I don't have a bottle of essence to hand, I can recall its image and feeling and tap into its healing energies that way (although the effect is more subtle). 

If you feel at all called to the healing energies of flowers, I encourage you to follow your curiosity. Flower Essences fall into the natural healing modality category of "it cannot hurt and might help". 

Blessings of peace and healing on your life path!

Boost Immunity and Health

During the past 18 months, I have felt no fear -- NO FEAR -- about any particular virus. Why? Because for almost three decades, I have been learning about and been trained in holistic medicine, understanding that the terrain of our body-mind-soul is more important than the so-called 'attacking germs' that are simply part of our world since time immemorial, changing as we do. 

I realize that many people choose to participate in the conventional medical system and I support their right to choose to do so. But the current propaganda pushing, even at times forcing, people to comply with a particular world view is wrong and short-sighted. Why should healthy people or those with alternative practices be forced to take injections or pharmaceuticals they don't need -- that have not been proven to help anyone else -- and that are potentially harmful to their wellness?

With this in mind, here is the approach (beyond eating fresh and/or organic foods predominantly rather than processed foods; getting exercise, fresh air, sunshine; using energy-enhancing modalities that are free such as QiGong, Yoga, meditation; no smoking; no drugs; minimal alcohol intake) I have personally undertaken to boost immunity and health in myself and my family (what you need for your unique constitution will vary as holistic medicine views each person individually):

• BioSuperfood -- This is a whole-food algae blend created from extensive research that supports cellular nutrition throughout our body by feeding nutrients to our hypothalamus (the genius within our endocrine system et al). You can learn more at: BioAge.com  I take this whole-food 'supplement' rather than isolated vitamins and minerals. Here is a good article on the nutrient density of this algae-blend Earth's Most Efficient Food.
  
• Homeopathy -- These remedies are made from the entire plant or mineral and provide holistic, vibrational support to our systems on multiple levels. Specifically, a simply prophylactic is at the first sign of illness, Bryonia plus Aconite are splendid. A blog post that may help you navigate this concept and remedies is: Josette Calabrese's Ferocious Flu Fears. 
• Cell Salts -- These remedies are made from 12 primary minerals we all have in our bodies that assist the body in re-balancing these vital substances and they are quite easy to learn to differentiate, which is why they are often used as an entry into learning Homeopathy. A simple reference for cell salts as to flu prevention (BioPlasma - the combination of all 12) or specific symptoms: For Colds and Flu.
  
• Flower Essences -- These amazing essences were my first love and introduction to holistic, vibrational, whole-plant/mineral healing sources. They help our psyche on an exquisitely subtle level and this, in turn, helps our body. In this specific situation, there are many options because there are a lot of different essence lines but my own personal preference right now to begin with if you have no experience in selecting your own essences is Boost from the Australian Bush Flower Essence line 

As always, feel free to post a question in the comment section if you would like more guidance. The above are just a quick reference to a variety of options to encourage you to explore what might help you boost your immunity and grow your own health from a holistic perspective. While I encourage people to learn on their own about all these modalities -- and more! -- I have to admit that there is no comparison to receiving actual training in a modality, whether a short course, certification, and/or degree because training involves depth that is hard to acquire on one's own. Self-teaching is awesome, don't get me wrong, but usually training pushes us harder to go deeper -- at least it did for me.

If I were to become ill then I would use the above as well, but in a different way, more intensive if you will, and based upon specific symptoms. If needed dependent upon symptoms, there are also other mostly-natural protocols to be used as adjunct measures. There are many options available to us -- preventative as well as therapeutic -- that have no side effects. Only as a last resort would I go to conventional medicine (just as I did when I had a broken arm -- and I'm very grateful for the surgical repair work of conventional medicine, which is where that industry excels).

David Crow, an expert in the Ayurvedic and Chinese medical systems, speaks in a recent video to our willful ignorance about true wellness when he says: “There is a saying in Traditional Chinese Medicine that the man who waits until he is sick to think about his health is like the man who waits until his house is on fire to dig a well.”

As soon as we were aware of an illness that seemed to be spreading quickly -- for most of us it became apparent in February or March 2020 -- the first thing I did was pull out my books on 'germs' and epidemics and physiology to refresh my memory. David Quammen's books are particularly helpful to the layperson in understanding bacterial and viral infections historically. I also began turning to the holistic and integrative health professionals (many of them doctors) I've appreciated in the past, for their insights on what was currently happening: David Crow, Kim Elia (repeated updates via video meetings), Andre Seine, Josette Calabrese (weekly videos), Zach Bush (appeared on many podcasts and later produced web videos re health and immunity), Christiane Northrup, Andrew Kaufman, Judy Mikovits, Sherri Tenpenny. In addition, many people took up the task of producing video series to inform the public including: Del Bigtree at The Highwire and Pam Popper, an so many more! There has been a wealth of holistic information made available to all of us beyond the propaganda of MSM (main stream media). And throughout this entire time, the brilliant Dr. John Ioannidis as been updating us with the IFR (Infection Fatality Rate) that remains at a LOW 0.3% across all populations. 

Indeed, to view the IFR from the opposite count, the following survival rates have remained relatively steady throughout the entire world situation:

Age - Infection Survival Rate

 0-19     99.9973%

20-29     99.986%

30-39     99.969%

40-49     99.918%

50-59     99.73%

60-69     99.41%

70+        97.6% (non-institutionalized)

The primary reason for deaths as we age is a less robust immune system plus most of those who died were obese, had multiple co-morbidities and/or were on multiple pharmaceuticals. Most of those who died at less than 70 years old also fell into the above categories, especially that of being obese. Also, most of these people were refused therapeutics that might have saved their lives if given at the first indication of illness.

 The entire approach to this event has been extremely flawed according to everything we know about viruses and epidemics/pandemics and how we used to and ought to handle them.

I extend my deepest sympathies to all people everywhere who have been adversely affected by the past year and half, however that may appear in your life. May we all live in peace with one another and our Mother Earth.

Blessings!

I won't be factory-pharmed

As long as I have the freedom to choose, 

I won't become a factory-PHARMed* animal. 

I choose holistic, vibrational, natural healing modalities first and foremost to support wellness in myself, trusting in the ability of my body and energetic system to use those natural resources to become healthy, regenerative, and create an optimal immune response to challenges encountered.

I stand for Health Choice Freedom.

I choose Health Sovereignty.

Only as a last resort, and only if that should be my choice, would I turn to the anatomical repair-work offered by the conventional medical system (which is the area in which it excels) OR to pharmaceuticals as a last-ditch adjunct to holistic health care. This is reversed from the modern approach which emphasizes seeing a doctor, running tests, etc., first because most pharmaceuticals have so many, and often life-threatening, side effects.

A final consideration might be once diagnosed with a terminal illness, as I do believe in and support self-deliverance for the dying or chronically ill; I believe in freedom of choice when it comes to one's own body. Thankfully, we finally have states that support this choice.

* aka pharmaceuticalized or pharmaceutical-dependent

Yoga or Qigong or Both

As with most healing practices, we evaluate where we are in our life and body, in our mind state, and then let ourselves feel or intuit which practice might suit us best at this particular moment. Perhaps sharing my own experience may help you feel more at ease with how to choose a healing movement practice.

Many practitioners (I'm not a teacher, rather a forever student) concur that Hatha Yoga (postures or asanas) moves at a moderate or fast pace, focusing upon static postures that strengthen; it has always felt to me very much a masculine or yang system, no matter how much I slow it down or try to soften the postures. Qigong is felt to be a distinctly more flowing movement practice, often quite slow; far more feminine or yin in its character. Yoga usually requires greater athleticism while Qigong can be done by nearly everyone, no matter their physical limitations. That said, there are certainly some Yoga vinyasas (flows) that are less rigid while some Qigong videos present far less flow than others (I've found those to be presented by teachers who began with Yoga and added Qigong later so they seemingly still retain the rigidity.

I began practicing Yoga more than a decade ago, which led me to the holistic medical system of Ayurveda, both traditional practices in India for many thousands of years. The practice of Hatha Yoga suited me for a while, granting me greater strength and focus (even though I didn't 'advance' very far in the postures). As I had never been an athletic or "exercise" person per se, I surprised myself in keeping to a fairly consistent practice. That was then.

Moving through my mid-fifties, and following an accident that limited my mobility for several months, I found myself less satisfied with the practice of Yoga as it pertained to postures. My body felt so much more stiff than ever before and most of the postures weren't just uncomfortable but downright painful. I kept at the Yoga I knew for a while but began to realize something needed to shift. This is now.

Last week, as it happens, I received an email invitation to observe a free Qigong Summit (via the Shift Network, an organization that has provided me with many helpful programs over the years). Yes. This resonates on multiple levels. I'm ready for a change. I had tried Tai Chi many, many years ago but found it too difficult; Qigong is much more simple, especially in the beginning. Not that I will completely abandon Hatha Yoga but can feel an inner knowing that Qigong is where I need to be residing right now for movement and healing and wellness as I edge closer to turning sixty.

All of us need to move consciously in our lives, to keep the energy (Prana or Qi or Chi) flowing, the energy that heals.

What do YOU need? Where is your body, mind, and spirit guiding you?