Daily Detoxing

Detoxing for the Mind & Body to help you life a present and inspired life.

If you practice daily, gentle detoxing, you won’t need to do a major detox to shock your body back into a healthy state. This article could be titled ‘advice for everyday living’, but I have decide to go with the current title to emphasis the importance of ‘daily detox’. Many holistic health practitioners recommend health maintenance, which include diet and a lifestyle, that facilitate the body’s natural detox mechanisms.

Sticking to a healthy diet allows you to feel more energised, have less pain and inflammation, a stronger immune system and better concentration. Combine healthy eating with regular exercise, and you are half way there. Mental health plays a huge role in general health and wellness, and unfortunately, in most cases, it is still overlooked.

ELIMINATE UNDERLYING CAUSES OF BREAST CANCER, ELIMINATE RISK OF BREAST CANCER

Understanding the meridians and their involvement of the cause of disease, will help you to understand your health better. 

Meridians are energy pathways that relate to major body organs. They run through the body penetrating organs and tissues. Energy pathways in the body can become congested and stagnant as a result of incorrect living. Lifestyle, stress and emotions affect the energy flow in our bodies. When these pathways become blocked the body shows specific ‘warning’ signs. The stomach, spleen/pancreas, kidney and gall bladder meridians all penetrate the breast area. This area is where 70% of breast cancer is diagnosed. Breast cancer is abnormal growth of cells in the breast tissue resulting in malignant tumours. Women over the age of 45 years have the highest chance of getting breast cancer, because as we age our bodies become less defensive.

According to Western orthodox medicine breast cancer cells can manifest 8 – 10 years before they are detected. Congestion of the meridians mentioned above can be the root cause of breast cancer. Knowing the symptoms which manifest can help with early detection of breast cancer. We should then alter our lifestyles and diets to get rid of those current ‘warning signs’, thus getting rid of the underlying cause of breast cancer.

There are symptoms we get along our meridians that should not be overlooked. They can point to the relating meridian becoming more congested which can result in breast cancer. Below are some of the signs to look out for, relating to each meridian:

Reflexology: The Inside Job

During my 4 years of practicing reflexology I have had many inquires about what reflexologists actually do, how many years I studied and what I studied. My understanding of reflexology before I started studying it (and sometimes even during my studies) was very vague, so I have decided to write this article to give people a better idea of reflexology.

Simply put, a reflexologist stimulates certain parts of the feet that correspond to specific organs and energy pathways (or meridians). In South Africa, therapeutic reflexologists study a 2 year diploma and are required to register with AHPCSA.

But what do reflexologists really do? What is in the detail of what reflexologists actually do?  And what do they do behind the scene?

Being Presently Aware

Do you ever feel like you are not taking in life in fully?
Is taking the time to breathe properly a challenge?
Do you feel conscious of your life’s decisions, or are many of your decisions habit?
Do you sometimes feel like a robot, or a disorganised robot in training?

While you may not be able to get out of the rut of life, you may be able to learn to cope with it. Taking a time out doesn’t always seem like an option – but prioritising time to just ‘be’ is just as important as prioritizing time to get a work project done.

Causes, Triggers & Root Causes

Causes, triggers & root causes; these are all words we hear when speaking of health and wellness. But can you distinguish the three? Although there are fine lines between them, they have distinct differences and are often are confused with one another.

Causes are not the definition of the disease and nor are they to be confused with the triggers of diseases.  Cause of disease is also known as the etiology, or origin, of disease. The cause of disease is the disorder of a structure or function in the body, or living organism, that is not due to any external injury[1]. Causes of disease include external factors such as pathogens; and internal factors such as immunodeficiency, hypersensitivity and autoimmunity.

Doctors and scientists are more likely to be able to give the cause of acute (and more simple) illnesses, such as the common cold and flu, than more chronic and complex conditions that tend to have more triggers and subjective causes. I think that it is important to note that many causes of disease are idiopathic, or unknown.

To make it easier to comprehend the different subheadings of disease, here is an example (of Asthma) broken down into different subheadings:

Holistic Health Concept – Therapies P2

The different modalities in holistic / alternative / integrative medicine.

The previous article, Holistic Health Concepts: P1, focused on basic ‘treat yourself’ therapies as well as some advice and questions to ask yourself to determine which therapy is best for you.

This article will focus on the alternative / holistic Doctors and Therapists who are recognised by the Allied Health Professions Council of South Africa (AHPCSA)[1].

Most people in South Africa have not explored the complementary or alternative medical options. One reason being, that there is less information and education provided on it.

The modalities that I am focusing on are all listed and registered with the Allied Health Professionals Council of South Africa. If you decide to see one of these Doctors / Practitioners / Therapists, it is advisable to check that they are registered with the Council. This means that they have the correct qualification and apply to the standard requirements.

We need to understand that there are many facets to disease. These include immune system, environmental factors, emotional / psychological factors and epigenetics; bearing in mind that each person is different and may require different healing methods.

One of the major differences between alternative / holistic medicine and orthodox medicine is that alternative medicine aims to heal the disease, it is a process of getting to the root cause and solving the problem entirely. Orthodox medicine’s main aim is to cure disease or manage a symptom.

Holistic Health Concept: P1

The field of holistic therapies is very vast. It ranges from Homeopathic, Naturopathic and Ayurvedic doctors to Reiki and Body Talk practitioners. Different therapies work for different people and sometimes it may feel like trial and error until you find the therapy or practitioner that helps you.

So how do you go about choosing the ‘right’ therapy? To find the right therapy, therapist or practitioner, you need to ask yourself and the therapist / practitioner the right questions:

1.) Why are you seeking this therapy? Is it for a specific condition; is it of physical or psychological manifestation; do you have a diagnosis; what helps ease the condition and what exacerbates the condition?

2.) Talk to the therapist or practitioner before the consultation – this helps them ‘plan’ your session and if they cannot help you, they would be able to tell you beforehand

3.) Open yourself up to the healing modality and all that it has to offer. Being able to communicate openly with the therapist / practitioner is also very important.

4.) Be aware of your body / mind and any changes that have occurred. If the therapist / practitioner refer you to a different practitioner, it is a good idea to investigate.

Human Being vs Human Doing

“Doing nothing is better than doing busy doing nothing” – Lao Tzu.

 The majority of the people in the world we live in are always busy doing something. It is pretty much the lifestyle of the city. When I was in high school, one of my English teachers commented that it appears to be a trend to be constantly busy. She herself appeared content to not be so busy. She also never missed much, she was the teacher that would always catch you out or notice something and also one of the least stressed teachers.

Let’s think about this. If we are always busy, even ‘fake busy’, we have less time for real people. We become less approachable and perhaps miss a couple opportunities.

Too much doing can be a distraction from what is really important in life.

And technology is one of the things that keeps us occupied, and it can keep people occupied constantly.

Human being vs human doing, what is the difference?

“Human doings fill up their lives with things that they should do, ought to do, have to do,  got to do, better do, expected to do, are expected to do, trying to do. Human beings do what they need to and want to.” – Anonymous

More specifically a ‘human doing’ has lost the art of being present. Interaction with others should be a present interaction, but the interference of work, cell phones or other devices, or whatever the distraction, makes this contact somehow ‘distant’ and perhaps we lose the sense of distinguishing people we talk to in the physical body and the people we communicate with via technological devices.

People used to go for walks, sit on the porch, have family dinners and even play board games together – this was fun quality time. This is being replaced by giant TV sets, take out and social media.

Somehow people also use busyness to avoid awkwardness, to fill silent pauses in conversion and to seem productive. But being busy does not always mean being productive (as mentioned in opening line).

“I am a human being, not a human doing!

Don’t equate your self-worth with how well you do things in life. You aren’t what you do. If you are what you do, then when you don’t…you aren’t.”  – Dr. Wayne Dyer-

Grounding & Reflexology

The grounding effects of reflexology.

I have mentioned earthing and grounding a couple of times before. It only recently occurred to me that therapeutic reflexology is also a form of grounding!

Grounding or Earthing is being in direct contact with ‘the earth’ – the soil, sand or grass[1]. A conductive surface or instrument can also be used to directly connect the body with the earth (i.e. grounding mats). The science behind it is that the earth gives off a negative charge to balance out the positive charge that we build up over time due to things like electromagnetic radiation. The energy from the earth has a number of positive effects on our health.[2] [3] The earth resonance frequency is also similar to the frequency of our brain waves[4].

Living in Harmony with Autumn

In essence Autumn is the season of letting go of the ‘rubbish’ and taking in the pure.

In TCM Autumn is associated with the Metal element which controls the Lung and the Colon.

Autumn is the season of slowing down and becoming more contemplative.

As you enter this stage it is no use dwelling on the negative aspects of the past and hanging on to negative energy. Now is the time to let go and make peace with the past.

It is time to take in the pureness and positive energy.