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?

A Modern Manufacturing of Homeopathic Remedies

Here is a marvelous short video of the process through which Boiron creates their Homeopathic remedies. 

I learned all this back when I was trained in Homeopathy, and have made some of my own remedies through the years, but it's fascinating to watch the modern industrial process.

America Needs Homeopathy

There is a great compendium available - "Why Homeopathy Matters in America" - for those curious about Homeopathy -- and explains a bit of why those of us who use it are passionate about it as a viable effective health care modality, from reducing the need for antibiotics to alleviating pain (and opioid addiction) to boosting immune systems and improving health overall - including mental health. (Just go to the link and download the ebook.)

Homeopathy is one of many different modalities that fall into what is now often called together Biofield Therapies. But no worries - "biofield therapy" is simply a term chosen because it sounds more like a scientific method than does "energy medicine" or "vitalism."

Multiple Sclerosis - An Excess of Air and Fire

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a mysterious sort of disease, one that is hard to pin down and even harder to halt and/or reverse. My introduction to MS has been through my younger brother who developed recognizable symptoms in his early forties, and has been heartbreaking to watch as it progressed. Each medical system generally has its own approach to healing, and with MS that's true as well. I want to offer an Ayurvedic window into understanding and treating MS, a perspective that may be particularly helpful in the early stages of the disease.

Ayurveda is an ancient medical system, one that looks at our health problems from both a material and an energetic perspective. It can help us see that when we understand our own innate constitution, we can bring a broader vision to self-care, showing us our individual weaknesses and susceptibilities.

The online resource "The Ayurveda Experience," reveals this modality's insights into MS in its essay "Multiple Sclerosis Symptoms, Treatment, Causes and Ayurvedic Treatment." What I particularly appreciate in this article is how the author blends modern with ancient in her descriptions of what is happening within a person that has developed MS.

Individuals with a Vata-Pitta nature (prakriti) seem to be more susceptible to developing MS than those who are predominantly Kapha; they need to make sure they are keeping enough healthy fats in their diets (the myelin sheath needs cholesterol; Vata is dry) and not ingesting too many foods or drinks that are excessively heating (because dryness is exacerbated by fire/Pitta). Every situation is unique, however, and anyone can develop MS depending upon causative factors; another Ayurvedic article is "Multiple Sclerosis Protocols" and points out, in contrast to the earlier article, how the treatment approach can vary depending upon whether MS reveals itself as an auto-immune or an inflammatory disorder.

This above is a simplistic description but I hope it encourages the reader to explore what benefits Ayurveda may offer to those suffering from MS.

Emotional Support and Dogs

I was reflecting upon how the USA approaches dogs and their people. Sadly, though many of us consider our dogs to be members of our family, many other people don't treat them that way. Instead, the majority of Americans continue to treat dogs as commodities. "No way!" you say? Think about it in relation to not only the hundreds of thousands of dogs killed every year in shelters but also the latest trend of getting dogs (and other animals, but here I'm speaking only about dogs) for "emotional support."

Now, I'm the first one to speak up about how blessed I feel to be living with canine companions, and I do feel emotionally supported by them. But when I bring a dog into my household, the primary consideration is not what they can do for me (although I am aware of that aspect) but rather how can I care for them and provide them with the best life possible. We will be in relationship with one another. This is in direct contrast to the trend of acquiring dogs as a tool, a commodity, or an object to use -- this is uncomfortably close to the mindset that continues to use dogs as experimental objects for science as well as factory farming. I see many dogs being used rather than related to as beings in their own rights.

So, back to the action of getting an "emotional support animal (ESA)." I've seen dogs turned in to rescue groups because they weren't what someone was needing in an ESA; people try them on for fit and if they don't -- fit that is -- then the dog is abandoned. Dogs are not machines or automatons; they are individual and unique creatures with as many temperaments as we find in people. They aren't a one-size-fits-all solution to mental health therapy and can become a crutch rather than allowing the person to find true healing.

How might this be different if the USA already allowed well-trained dogs to be in public places with their people, similar to many countries in Europe? (Please note I said "well-trained" - any dog taken into public places needs to behave; one advantage of tiny dogs is they can travel with us in carriers, thereby having very little impact on or interaction with other people and animals. But they still need to be socialized properly.) When a society has a dog-friendly culture, I'm going to hazard a guess that it's not nearly as necessary to acquire a dog specifically as an ESA. Why? Because our companions already attend outings with us and both species are welcomed, thus reducing the anxiety of human and dog before we ever leave our home.

Maybe our American problem where more and more people are desperate for canine emotional support is directly related to our cultural objection to and intolerance of dogs accompanying their people into public places.

If you need emotional support, please consider all therapeutic options -- especially natural ones like Flower Essences or EFT (tapping) or mindfulness -- before using a dog to "fix" your mental health problem. 

Living with a dog is a privilege and the relationship needs to be one of mutual respect while acknowledging that we are wholly responsible for the health and well-being of the dog, not the other way around. The gift a dog provides in the form of emotional support is a beautiful legacy of enjoying a good relationship with him or her -- not the ultimate purpose.