A friend sent me this link to a bbc story about the petty spurge - Euphorbia peplis which, as a gardener, I come across often. It is apparently successful in treating non-melanoma skin cancer such as Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC). I wish I had known about this 12 years ago when I was diagnosed with a BCC. I had to have surgery to remove it which was painful and required me to be off work for a couple of weeks while I healed. I still have the scar now. According to the article on http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12275507
the skin lesions show complete remission in 41/48 (85%) of cases. If this was a drug it would be hailed as the next big thing and marketed for all it's worth. However, a natural plant or a compound derived from it cannot be patented so the pharma industry will not be interested. I will certainly keep an eye out for this now. I always knew these plants could cause a skin reaction as the milky sap they exude often causes a rash but how interesting that if used in the right conditions it can be beneficial. Homeopaths have a term for that; 'The law of similars'. Dosage is everything of course and the article specifically warns people about trying this for themselves. However, if I developed another I think I would give it a go. I have been using castor oil applied topically to any skin lesion (warts, dry skin) whatever, and find it very helpful. A lot of these old wives tales have some basis after all.
travels through holistic health, wellbeing and hypnotherapy
Wednesday, 26 January 2011
Saturday, 22 January 2011
Finally, a date for my surgery
After weeks and months of waiting, interminable appointments and tests, I have a date for my procedure of the 1st March. Whilst I am not looking forward to going into hospital (it is the first time since I was 7 nearly 40 years ago), I am relieved finally that something is to be done. It is truly a weight off my mind as I hadn't realised how much uncertainty brings you down. It is a few weeks away now, but at least I now and, somehow that makes dealing with the discomfort easier.
The results of my MRI showed multiple fibroids, 3 of which are large and pressing on other organs which would explain the discomfort. According to my consultant this is not unusual they are often found in groups. He is confident they will all be treated at the same time with the embolisation and should shrink to 50% within 3 months. This would be a great relief and might mean i can get into my jeans for the first time in a while. Currently it feels like being a couple of months pregnant and unfortunately this means everything is a bit of a squeeze.
I was shown a diagram of the procedure and given plenty of time to ask questions. I cannot fault the team at Southampton General Hospital, they were kind, courteous and efficient as much as it is possible within a system that creaks at the hinges. Embolisation is not common, they only do 2 a week (I suspect as many women opt for hysterectomy not realising how debilitating this is and what the long-term effects may be - not just infertility but early menopause, and decreased sexual response). I wanted to remain intact if at all possible and have chosen this method as I will be able to return to work in 2 weeks rather than the 3 months recommended for hysterectomy. Interesting.
It is not the best timing, I was hoping for a February appointment but my consultant is away at the end of the month as it's half term and I suspect he's taking a holiday. I will possibly miss my next module of the Nutritional Medicine course which is annoying as it's one I missed 2 years ago as it was oversubscribed and I will have to wait another 2 years for it to come round. I am still hoping for an earlier cancellation however so we'll see.
Life goes on, it's remarkable how many different phases I have been through in the last few months. It's like Elizabeth Kubler-Ross's stages of grief. Denial, anger, resignation etc. I am at peace for the first time in months. Something is going to be done, they don't think there'll be a problem and I am perfectly healthy apart from this (blood pressure, oxygen saturation all good). So, we'll see, in the meantime I have to prepare my body with plenty of green juices and superfoods, rest and relaxation. I will also need to support myself in the healing afterwards with vitamins and minerals.
It's definitely been a learning curve.
The results of my MRI showed multiple fibroids, 3 of which are large and pressing on other organs which would explain the discomfort. According to my consultant this is not unusual they are often found in groups. He is confident they will all be treated at the same time with the embolisation and should shrink to 50% within 3 months. This would be a great relief and might mean i can get into my jeans for the first time in a while. Currently it feels like being a couple of months pregnant and unfortunately this means everything is a bit of a squeeze.
I was shown a diagram of the procedure and given plenty of time to ask questions. I cannot fault the team at Southampton General Hospital, they were kind, courteous and efficient as much as it is possible within a system that creaks at the hinges. Embolisation is not common, they only do 2 a week (I suspect as many women opt for hysterectomy not realising how debilitating this is and what the long-term effects may be - not just infertility but early menopause, and decreased sexual response). I wanted to remain intact if at all possible and have chosen this method as I will be able to return to work in 2 weeks rather than the 3 months recommended for hysterectomy. Interesting.
It is not the best timing, I was hoping for a February appointment but my consultant is away at the end of the month as it's half term and I suspect he's taking a holiday. I will possibly miss my next module of the Nutritional Medicine course which is annoying as it's one I missed 2 years ago as it was oversubscribed and I will have to wait another 2 years for it to come round. I am still hoping for an earlier cancellation however so we'll see.
Life goes on, it's remarkable how many different phases I have been through in the last few months. It's like Elizabeth Kubler-Ross's stages of grief. Denial, anger, resignation etc. I am at peace for the first time in months. Something is going to be done, they don't think there'll be a problem and I am perfectly healthy apart from this (blood pressure, oxygen saturation all good). So, we'll see, in the meantime I have to prepare my body with plenty of green juices and superfoods, rest and relaxation. I will also need to support myself in the healing afterwards with vitamins and minerals.
It's definitely been a learning curve.
Sunday, 16 January 2011
musings on gardening
I took the advantage of a break in the generally rainy weather to get out in the garden and do some much-needed tidying up. My virginia creeper (parthenocissus tricuspidata - 3 points on the leaf) although pretty in autumn when the colours turn, was rapidly creeping over my shed and coming in the door and windows. Time for a drastic prune so I got out there with the secateurs and trimmed it back to a sensible starting point for the new season. It will undoubtedly make up the difference within the year so in order to keep it to the desired spread I must do this every year.
While there I also cut my herbs back - the ornamental sage and camomile which has suffered the snows and subsequent floods with equinimity are now looking decidedly folorn so I set to and trimmed them to a mere shadow of their former selves. Cutting back hard at this time of year (except for lavenders and rosemary - don't do it they hate it) is generally a good thing as it gives the plant the suggestion that spring is on its way and new buds form further down the stem (in fact they had already begun to do so which shows me that the timing is spot on). My camomile were carefully planted in the gravel garden that separates the stone terrace from the wooden deck. Over the summer they were a riot of unruly colour but they also needed taking back now. The bergamot that had self-seeded just needed pulling and the old leaves came away leaving the new to take over. As I was doing this minimal intervention I began to think of Derek Jarman and his beautiful beach garden on the shores of Dungeness (one of my favourite books is his record of that garden) and how, though on a much reduced scale, I hope it has something of its beauty in the unexpected and unplanned nature of this sort of garden. I know some people look at it and think 'it's a mess why has she got weeds growing through he gravel'. These are usually 'tidy' people, the sort of gardeners who like nice gaps between plants and nothing that grows over anything else. They are not my sort of person, and it is definitely not my sort of garden.
Last summer I went with a friend to visit two local gardens open to the public as part of the NGS Yellow book scheme. They couldn't have been more different. The first was an exercise in control. Everything was perfect. Even the shed looked like a TV stylist had been at it. We gasped in incredulity and amazement. There must have been hours/days spent arranging this so it looked as good as it did. But still I was not moved by it. I suspect this was a man's garden, and I'm sorry if I'm going to sound sexist but I can usually tell. It's the orderliness which gives it away. A sort of extension of the 'man and his lawn' syndrome.
The second garden was completely different, everything fended for itself but was artfully placed with loving care. I immediately relaxed as this was a garden I could relate to. Where the other had made us all feel guilty and ashamed of our slovenliness here was a garden that suggested ease and contentment. When I met the owner I was not surprised gardening had been in her family for a few generations (like mine) and she 'blitzed it' twice a year then maintained the lawn and edges during the summer. That was it. It made me smile as it so encapsulates two different approaches to living. Some of us make hard work for ourselves - we struggle to 'fit it all in', always feeling guilty that we're not doing more but making ourselves stressed in the process. For others (not me, though I am trying) life seems easy, they take it in their stride and c'est la vie, que sera, sera to mix my metaphors. Perhaps we should take a leaf out of the book of the armchair gardener, do what is needed when it is most useful and then just let things take their course. I try to remember this when the back door jams, I drop something and it chips the sideboard and damages the floor, and I can't file my tax return because the IR website is frozen (as all happened yesterday). I wanted to scream and then I realised that you can't solve everything. Take one thing at a time and remember to breathe.
So, this is a big week for me, with another scan and consultant appointments. I hope the news is good. I hope I get a date for my procedure as I am in quite a lot of discomfort now which makes doing things a slog. Most of all I want to feel me again, this 'thing' seems to have taken me over.
While there I also cut my herbs back - the ornamental sage and camomile which has suffered the snows and subsequent floods with equinimity are now looking decidedly folorn so I set to and trimmed them to a mere shadow of their former selves. Cutting back hard at this time of year (except for lavenders and rosemary - don't do it they hate it) is generally a good thing as it gives the plant the suggestion that spring is on its way and new buds form further down the stem (in fact they had already begun to do so which shows me that the timing is spot on). My camomile were carefully planted in the gravel garden that separates the stone terrace from the wooden deck. Over the summer they were a riot of unruly colour but they also needed taking back now. The bergamot that had self-seeded just needed pulling and the old leaves came away leaving the new to take over. As I was doing this minimal intervention I began to think of Derek Jarman and his beautiful beach garden on the shores of Dungeness (one of my favourite books is his record of that garden) and how, though on a much reduced scale, I hope it has something of its beauty in the unexpected and unplanned nature of this sort of garden. I know some people look at it and think 'it's a mess why has she got weeds growing through he gravel'. These are usually 'tidy' people, the sort of gardeners who like nice gaps between plants and nothing that grows over anything else. They are not my sort of person, and it is definitely not my sort of garden.
Last summer I went with a friend to visit two local gardens open to the public as part of the NGS Yellow book scheme. They couldn't have been more different. The first was an exercise in control. Everything was perfect. Even the shed looked like a TV stylist had been at it. We gasped in incredulity and amazement. There must have been hours/days spent arranging this so it looked as good as it did. But still I was not moved by it. I suspect this was a man's garden, and I'm sorry if I'm going to sound sexist but I can usually tell. It's the orderliness which gives it away. A sort of extension of the 'man and his lawn' syndrome.
The second garden was completely different, everything fended for itself but was artfully placed with loving care. I immediately relaxed as this was a garden I could relate to. Where the other had made us all feel guilty and ashamed of our slovenliness here was a garden that suggested ease and contentment. When I met the owner I was not surprised gardening had been in her family for a few generations (like mine) and she 'blitzed it' twice a year then maintained the lawn and edges during the summer. That was it. It made me smile as it so encapsulates two different approaches to living. Some of us make hard work for ourselves - we struggle to 'fit it all in', always feeling guilty that we're not doing more but making ourselves stressed in the process. For others (not me, though I am trying) life seems easy, they take it in their stride and c'est la vie, que sera, sera to mix my metaphors. Perhaps we should take a leaf out of the book of the armchair gardener, do what is needed when it is most useful and then just let things take their course. I try to remember this when the back door jams, I drop something and it chips the sideboard and damages the floor, and I can't file my tax return because the IR website is frozen (as all happened yesterday). I wanted to scream and then I realised that you can't solve everything. Take one thing at a time and remember to breathe.
So, this is a big week for me, with another scan and consultant appointments. I hope the news is good. I hope I get a date for my procedure as I am in quite a lot of discomfort now which makes doing things a slog. Most of all I want to feel me again, this 'thing' seems to have taken me over.
Wednesday, 5 January 2011
Scanning
I had my first MRI scan today. I was wholly unprepared. I even went on my bike which was ok but when they sat me down and explained what was about to happen I remember thinking 'I hope I'm able to cycle home!' What I hadn't realised is that they were to insert a canula in my arm to be able to flush contrast medium through my blood so they could image the blood supply to the fibroid. I am quite a baby when it comes to needles so I felt a wave of anxiety and nausea and asked if I could lie down while that was being done. They were very kind to me and said of course but then I had to be physically wheeled into the machine room, strapped down and this huge metal cage put over my abdomen. My arms were raised above my head and then with a gentle motion pulled inside the huge doughnut loop of the machine so that I was completely enclosed. They had given me headphones playing classical music to dim out the loud whirring and clicking of the machine and at various points during the next half hour they communicated to me what was going on. It was still a weird, surreal and disembodying experience. And, apparently I have to have another couple, 1 after the procedure and 1 3 months later. I guess the subsequent ones won't be as bad as I'll know what to expect. I had to really try not to open my eyes as when I did it was a bit scary. There is only the 2 strip lights above your head within the body of the machine to illuminate your surroundings, and if you are at all claustrophobic I imagine you would struggle. They give you a bulb to squeezee if you need to attract attention. Certainly they would not hear you if you shouted as they are in another room. The whole thing took about 45 minutes. I will now wait to see what the results of that are at my consultant appointment in 2 weeks time. The wheels grind slowly on..
I am so glad to be out, so grateful for fresh air and sunshine (not that there is any at the moment). My thoughts turn to people I know who've had to go through this and there hasn't been a happy outcome, where perhaps it confirmed a terminal diagnosis. I feel very sad and contemplative therefore. I am also very tired, the stress is exhausting! I don't doubt that I'm in a good hospital, I've worked there, it's a large teaching hospital and know we are very lucky to have free medical care via the NHS. The treatment I'm having would probably have cost best part of £20,000 if I was paying privately. That would have cleared me out completely and I would be like many people in the States who have no insurance. Again, a reason to be glad.
I am so glad to be out, so grateful for fresh air and sunshine (not that there is any at the moment). My thoughts turn to people I know who've had to go through this and there hasn't been a happy outcome, where perhaps it confirmed a terminal diagnosis. I feel very sad and contemplative therefore. I am also very tired, the stress is exhausting! I don't doubt that I'm in a good hospital, I've worked there, it's a large teaching hospital and know we are very lucky to have free medical care via the NHS. The treatment I'm having would probably have cost best part of £20,000 if I was paying privately. That would have cleared me out completely and I would be like many people in the States who have no insurance. Again, a reason to be glad.
Wednesday, 29 December 2010
Post-Christmas blues
Hi warriors. It's been a strange Christmas blighted by the death (or 'passing on' as some euphemistically say) of two people, one a friend, the other a relative. Both were men in their 70's so perhaps you could say they had a 'good innings' but my sadness is still very real. It is those of us left behind who suffer their loss. The first to go was my ex-father-in-law who had become a real friend to me in recent years, who was so gentle and quietly supportive without ever interfering that I came to rely on his email missives which would always be sent back at times when I needed it. The last I saw of him was in the summer, when on my annual visit, we did the usual things of going shopping, eating a meal out and getting told off by the police. Well perhaps the last is not that usual but it is an endearing memory I will have of him of being ticked off by a well-meaning female police-officer who thought I should take more care of the poor chap. She obviously thought his mind was going as he'd lost a wallet and assumed, I think, that I had more influence than I, in fact, had. We laughed about it afterwards for quite a while. So, I know that I can carry those memories with me, though they will never substitute for him they are at least a subtle connection to his spirit which I do believe is still around somewhere.
My uncle I barely knew to be fair but I'm sad for my mother (whose brother it was) and his family who I can imagine are very sad at this point. Having lost my own father many years ago (when I was 19) I still remember the shock and sadness of that time. Time heals it is said but in my experience it just numbs you til you are ready to do the real work of healing and that takes effort and skills. Mine has only just begun really and it was over 25 years ago.
So, anyway my thoughts have been with loss but also with my own health which, as you know, has had a few shake-ups this year. 2010 began with a suspected skin cancer which turned out to be a wart which fell off within a few weeks, and now continues with a large fibroid which it seems I have been developing quietly (asymptomatically) over the last year. It has eventually made itself known by growing so large I could not avoid it and took myself to my GP in October. She was so worried she immediately sent me for blood tests, scans and the like and, though the diagnosis is not so worrying as she obviously first suspected (nothing was expressly said but her urgency said it all), it is a benign tumour nonetheless.
Now, as you know, my interest and specialism is cancer so I guess you could say this is all learning for me, of the deepest kind. I know I don't have cancer at this point but I do know my body is out of balance. Fibroids are related to oestrogen dominance (as are some forms of breast and prostate cancer) so evidently something is out of whack. I have been through the usual forms of self-enquiry - is it my childlessness (one of the predisposing factors), is it my use of soymilk (a phytoestrogen) or some unresolved emotional conflict from my past? However, you look at it there is some work to be done. I have got over the initial shock and am focussing on both conventional and more holisitic treatments. I am signed up for a procedure called embolisation which fires little pellets of an inert substance into the artery supplying the uterus which aims to block the blood supply to the fibroid and cause it to shrink. But I am also castor oil packing (soaked on a cloth and applied with heat to the body), taking proteolytic enzymes (fibroids are largely composed of fibrin, a protein so these enzymes should help to break it down), Di-indole methionine (a natural product of cruciferous vegetables) and herbs to help my body regain its balance. I also had a very powerful acupuncture session in a dream (don't laugh, this was as real an experience as one in so-called 'reality'). I do mean to follow it up with another one in this dimension but haven't found the right person yet. I have had a colonic irrigation and a liver cleanse to clear the chanels of elimination. And much mindfulness meditation and some EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) which I have found released a lot of fear around a new relationship and my sexuality.
Clearly there is a lot more to do. 2011 will be a year where I continue to connect with my body, learn what it is trying to tell me and heal myself. I will also see what conventional medicine has to offer - this procedure is clearly very clever and ingenious but what of the long-term effects of blocking the blood supply? This is something I will be enquiring when I go for my next check-up. It is an intruiging and complex story, I am only grafeful to be given the chance to explore it. So, goodbye 2010 and to those we have lost. Good healing to you all in 2011.
Wednesday, 1 September 2010
Cancer risk factors
Was just contemplating life, the universe and everything after hearing that a dear friend of mine has developed a brain tumour and thought I'd drag out my books to see what information I can pass on to his relatives as a diagnosis like that is bound to be scary. The two books I consider bibles on the subject are 'Cancer is not a disease it's a survival mechanism' by Andreas Moritz which outlines in plain language what cancer is and what it isn't and ways to heal your mind, body and spirit. The other is 'Anti-cancer' by David Servan-Shreiber which I think I may have mentioned before in another post. This latter book looks at the nutritional treatment of cancer and has a handy pocket-sized shopping guide so you only buy foods which will help your body (and specifically your immune system) overcome the cancer. Both are valuable tools in the quest to understand the message that cancer is.
Anyhow, was then reading some notes I made last year at the CAMexpo event at Earl's Court (CAM = Complementary and Alternative Medicine). The speaker was Dr. Marilyn Glenville and she was speaking about Breast Cancer risk and how to reduce it. Some of the things she highlighted were surprising. For instance Mammograms are dangerous; for every 1 life prolonged 10 women have unnecessary treatment (they are notoriously inaccurate) PLUS the radiation of the breast that this involves actually increases your risk by 50%. How about Tamoxifen which is given to women as a chemotherapy drug for hormone-dependent breast cancer? Well studies have shown that it increases the risk of cancer in the other breast by 400% i.e a 4x risk increase!! Not surprising when you consider that you are suppressing the immune system precisely when it needs to be stimulated. This is the great difference between conventional and CAM approaches. (Bizarrely, nutrition still falls within CAM not conventional medicine even though you would think food is the most conventional approach possible).
In fact if you asked an oncologist what you could eat to help you overcome cancer most if not all would deny there was any point in changing your diet. Some even recommend 'eat what you like, it won't make any difference' and suggest cream cakes and biscuits etc to 'fatten you up'. Cachexia (weight loss) is often a factor in people with cancer as cancer cells use up a lot of energy while they are growing in an uncontrolled fashion. Their main fuel; sugar. More specifically; glucose. So telling someone to go away and eat cream cakes as happened to a work colleague of mine after having stomach cancer is probably the worst thing you could possibly do. Instead natural foods like onions, ginger, turmeric, green veg, green tea, garlic, wholegrain foods, legumes, fermented soya products (tofu, tempeh, etc) are much better.
And where do you hear about the toxic products that have been linked to breast cancer risk? Xenoestrogens present in things like artifical air fresheners, cosmetics, perfumes and fabric conditioners - especially Bisphenol A present in plastic bottles - check labels and avoid , avoid. Unfortunately these are precisely the products that are targeted at women by the advertising industry! Also, pesticides particularly organochlorines are very linked to cancer risk - wash your veg if it's not organic.
Anyway, I am just amazed this isn't more widely known or a feature of Breast Cancer awareness fun-runs, etc. Whilst I know these are well-meaning events few women realise where their sponsorship money ends up and even fewer know the simple things they can do to reduce their risk; reduce the amount of fat and increase the quality (more omega-3 e.g. flax oil), eat less diary & red meat, drink more water, exercise more (especially in the open air to increase Vitamin D levels) and deal with your emotional issues. Breast cancer in particular seems to be linked to certain personality types - the martyr who puts everyone else before herself. Look after your own emotional needs and speak up. Don't be a doormat - it will make you ill.
So, anyhow that was what I have been musing on. Looking forward to this years CAMexpo - don't want to do their marketing for them but really it is a wonderful event that is targeted at therapist/practitioners but anyone with an interest in their health should go. The quality of the speakers is very high and the cost (£7) is very low. OK well that's all for now, back to study.
Anyhow, was then reading some notes I made last year at the CAMexpo event at Earl's Court (CAM = Complementary and Alternative Medicine). The speaker was Dr. Marilyn Glenville and she was speaking about Breast Cancer risk and how to reduce it. Some of the things she highlighted were surprising. For instance Mammograms are dangerous; for every 1 life prolonged 10 women have unnecessary treatment (they are notoriously inaccurate) PLUS the radiation of the breast that this involves actually increases your risk by 50%. How about Tamoxifen which is given to women as a chemotherapy drug for hormone-dependent breast cancer? Well studies have shown that it increases the risk of cancer in the other breast by 400% i.e a 4x risk increase!! Not surprising when you consider that you are suppressing the immune system precisely when it needs to be stimulated. This is the great difference between conventional and CAM approaches. (Bizarrely, nutrition still falls within CAM not conventional medicine even though you would think food is the most conventional approach possible).
In fact if you asked an oncologist what you could eat to help you overcome cancer most if not all would deny there was any point in changing your diet. Some even recommend 'eat what you like, it won't make any difference' and suggest cream cakes and biscuits etc to 'fatten you up'. Cachexia (weight loss) is often a factor in people with cancer as cancer cells use up a lot of energy while they are growing in an uncontrolled fashion. Their main fuel; sugar. More specifically; glucose. So telling someone to go away and eat cream cakes as happened to a work colleague of mine after having stomach cancer is probably the worst thing you could possibly do. Instead natural foods like onions, ginger, turmeric, green veg, green tea, garlic, wholegrain foods, legumes, fermented soya products (tofu, tempeh, etc) are much better.
And where do you hear about the toxic products that have been linked to breast cancer risk? Xenoestrogens present in things like artifical air fresheners, cosmetics, perfumes and fabric conditioners - especially Bisphenol A present in plastic bottles - check labels and avoid , avoid. Unfortunately these are precisely the products that are targeted at women by the advertising industry! Also, pesticides particularly organochlorines are very linked to cancer risk - wash your veg if it's not organic.
Anyway, I am just amazed this isn't more widely known or a feature of Breast Cancer awareness fun-runs, etc. Whilst I know these are well-meaning events few women realise where their sponsorship money ends up and even fewer know the simple things they can do to reduce their risk; reduce the amount of fat and increase the quality (more omega-3 e.g. flax oil), eat less diary & red meat, drink more water, exercise more (especially in the open air to increase Vitamin D levels) and deal with your emotional issues. Breast cancer in particular seems to be linked to certain personality types - the martyr who puts everyone else before herself. Look after your own emotional needs and speak up. Don't be a doormat - it will make you ill.
So, anyhow that was what I have been musing on. Looking forward to this years CAMexpo - don't want to do their marketing for them but really it is a wonderful event that is targeted at therapist/practitioners but anyone with an interest in their health should go. The quality of the speakers is very high and the cost (£7) is very low. OK well that's all for now, back to study.
Wednesday, 25 August 2010
Back to the land of the employed
Well it had to come to an end at some point. Finally secured myself some paid employment outside of my two business ventures; a part-time (2 days a week) Research Manager job at Southampton University. It will be good to start the new academic year with some new impetus and direction. it's all very well being freelance and I have greatly enjoyed the time I have spent studying massage, naturopathy and nutrition (which I intend to continue) and the gardening but it doesn't pay the bills! With winter fast approaching the idea of spending every day working from home is not so appealing, I find by mid-morning I am absolutely freezing. As the university is 3 miles away it's easily reached by bike so it'll be part of my daily exercise routine as well. Talking of which, I have been running every morning (a little 10 min jog round the local common). Nothing much to speak of but surprisingly, little and often seems to show real benefits. My theory is that if you don't perceive it as a chore you are more likely to do it and so I've not made it too onerous. I have to say though i've not turned into the bionic woman I have certainly noticed the difference with my legs feeling lighter and stronger and my energy levels raised. Am trying to 'practice what I preach' and make exercise a part of my daily life.
My next idea is to learn EFT and Meridian therapy and to this end I have signed up for a Practitioner course. If you don't know what this is then check out the web - it's a type of energy therapy that involves tapping along various points in the body to clear emotional blockages such as phobias, anxiety, etc. Sounds bizarre I know but it's gaining credence in psychiatric circles as it seems to act on the subconscious directly by distracting the conscious brain (with sensory stimuli). In order to practice I have to work on myself first and this will be an important part of my training. I have one phobia which is spiders but that's quite a common one. However, I also have some strange resistance around success and marketing myself which I've always known and wondered why this is. I love to learn new skills but when it comes to selling them i always falter. This is something I would love to look at. Wish me luck!
Have been juicing almost every day too - again trying to make it a regular routine. Finding good combinations is an artform a bit like cookery. My favourite so far is spinach, banana and orange juice but a close second (and more like a dessert) is rice milk, blackcurrant and cocoa powder (you could use raw cacao for a more healthy alternative). Yum! Making them tasty is SO important. I made one today which just wasn't up to snuff and then had to throw half of it away as I couldn't face it!
Finally am reading some wonderful books which I ordered off the internet and are broadening my knowledge of health and wellbeing; one I highly recommend is 'French women don't get fat' which is a wonderful antidote to all those awful diet books where restriction and guilt force you to give up the pleasure of eating to lose a few pounds and then put it all back on again (plus a few more!) when you stop the diet. This is about gradual weight loss through intelligent choices, regaining the joy of preparing and eating real food and realigning your relationship with food. It's a thoroughly enlightening and inspirational read by someone who has done it herself (and lost 3 stone in the process). She makes the valid point that a lot of diet books are written by men (Atkins anyone) for women (who make up the vast majority of the market) without realising the huge differences between men and women (both metabolically and psychologically). Women eat food for lots of reasons besides hunger, a lot of to do with emotional comfort. Another book that tackled this was 'Beyond Chocolate' which I found similarly positive and woman-centred.
Also, and seemingly unrelated, I am reading 'Healing beyond the Body' by Larry Dossey which looks at the links between unresolved emotion and illness, and 'Rethinking Pasteur's Germ Theory' by Nancy Appleton which argues against the idea that disease is caused by external forces against which we are helpless. I've only got to the first chapter but already am thinking how right she is that this has fed straight into the current medical paradigm of being passive consumers of modern medicine (= pharmacological drugs) rather than empowered creators of our own health. The subtitle of the book is 'How to maintain your Optimal Health' and I am looking forward to this part as I have long been a proponent of Optimum Nutrition since I read Patrick Holford's book almost 10 years ago. That book blew me away and it looks like this one may take the argument a little further without the underlying 'buy my supplement' approach.
Have also got into 'Making a Forest Garden' by Patrick Whitefield a classic permaculture book which, as readers of my previous blog will know, is one of my other passions in life. Ah, so many books so little time. A quick poke of my head outside the back to door to pluck some homegrown rocket from my raised bed, got soaked in the incessant rain but still a joy to see my tomatoes, beans, courgettes and leaves all enjoying a good soaking. So, you see not just reading about it but doing it too. That's the learning really.
Bye for now
My next idea is to learn EFT and Meridian therapy and to this end I have signed up for a Practitioner course. If you don't know what this is then check out the web - it's a type of energy therapy that involves tapping along various points in the body to clear emotional blockages such as phobias, anxiety, etc. Sounds bizarre I know but it's gaining credence in psychiatric circles as it seems to act on the subconscious directly by distracting the conscious brain (with sensory stimuli). In order to practice I have to work on myself first and this will be an important part of my training. I have one phobia which is spiders but that's quite a common one. However, I also have some strange resistance around success and marketing myself which I've always known and wondered why this is. I love to learn new skills but when it comes to selling them i always falter. This is something I would love to look at. Wish me luck!
Have been juicing almost every day too - again trying to make it a regular routine. Finding good combinations is an artform a bit like cookery. My favourite so far is spinach, banana and orange juice but a close second (and more like a dessert) is rice milk, blackcurrant and cocoa powder (you could use raw cacao for a more healthy alternative). Yum! Making them tasty is SO important. I made one today which just wasn't up to snuff and then had to throw half of it away as I couldn't face it!
Finally am reading some wonderful books which I ordered off the internet and are broadening my knowledge of health and wellbeing; one I highly recommend is 'French women don't get fat' which is a wonderful antidote to all those awful diet books where restriction and guilt force you to give up the pleasure of eating to lose a few pounds and then put it all back on again (plus a few more!) when you stop the diet. This is about gradual weight loss through intelligent choices, regaining the joy of preparing and eating real food and realigning your relationship with food. It's a thoroughly enlightening and inspirational read by someone who has done it herself (and lost 3 stone in the process). She makes the valid point that a lot of diet books are written by men (Atkins anyone) for women (who make up the vast majority of the market) without realising the huge differences between men and women (both metabolically and psychologically). Women eat food for lots of reasons besides hunger, a lot of to do with emotional comfort. Another book that tackled this was 'Beyond Chocolate' which I found similarly positive and woman-centred.
Also, and seemingly unrelated, I am reading 'Healing beyond the Body' by Larry Dossey which looks at the links between unresolved emotion and illness, and 'Rethinking Pasteur's Germ Theory' by Nancy Appleton which argues against the idea that disease is caused by external forces against which we are helpless. I've only got to the first chapter but already am thinking how right she is that this has fed straight into the current medical paradigm of being passive consumers of modern medicine (= pharmacological drugs) rather than empowered creators of our own health. The subtitle of the book is 'How to maintain your Optimal Health' and I am looking forward to this part as I have long been a proponent of Optimum Nutrition since I read Patrick Holford's book almost 10 years ago. That book blew me away and it looks like this one may take the argument a little further without the underlying 'buy my supplement' approach.
Have also got into 'Making a Forest Garden' by Patrick Whitefield a classic permaculture book which, as readers of my previous blog will know, is one of my other passions in life. Ah, so many books so little time. A quick poke of my head outside the back to door to pluck some homegrown rocket from my raised bed, got soaked in the incessant rain but still a joy to see my tomatoes, beans, courgettes and leaves all enjoying a good soaking. So, you see not just reading about it but doing it too. That's the learning really.
Bye for now
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