Depression Is An Allergic Respons To Life/Big Think

I know I am totally addicted to sugar but to know it is even more addicting than cocaine….wow!
Boy, more and more I think we are seeing this. I think we cannot negate that it is a huge natural response and yes part of an inflamatory response. For myself the changes I have made with the Paleo eating philosophy of real food, preparing my food, engage all my senses of delight and healthy indulgence and has merged into a healhier lifestyle in general of liking myself and relying on myself.

Refined sugar, even natural sugars in excess cause a spike in blood sugar, which releases a whole host of chemicals like cortisol(stress hormone) then a low. Processed food with tons of additvies, trans fats, hormones are not broken down well in the body and often leave trails of toxins causing inflamation yes even in the brain. Particularily the brain. I get deeply out of sorts when I do not eat well, especially when I do not get enough protein. The average, so called healthy American diet does not do well for me, it sets me on a spiral of moodiness, joint pain, sinus issues and yes depression and anxiety. Over Christmas, a lot of my clients expressed they were having anxiety issues and could not pin point where or how it arises. Consumption of sugar, flours increases over the holidays yep even honey, maple syrup etc is still a sugar and can cause these mood highs and lows. However, this is not to negate that we all have feelings of unease of either anxiety or depression, that food alone does not always help.

For me spiritual teachers like Eckhardt Tolle, Gangaji, Papji even Jesus say the same thing…"Be still and See" as Jesus says. Or as Papaji says "Keep Queit" Or as Gangaji says, "Just stop, stop dead in your tracks, stop the endless search of, oh if I just had that I would feel better or be better." The mind loves to tell its story and the story often drives the emotions into a rollercoaster of fear, anxiety, sadness, anger and on and on the thoughts keep propelling until it becomes extremely exhausting and the body becomes wiped out from the ego and super ego telling us we are not good enough or they are out to get us or blah blah blah. I think that is when we are ready to just stop and this very depression and hopelessness is when we can become still enough to say "I surrender". And you have no choice but to get up and proceed in the daily activities of life but now with the mind exhausted without thinking, You the body can partake on its own and finally be present. How many of you have experienced this??

I was discussing this the other day with a client and we talked about how sometmes the mind is not even going but the body will get a weird sensation and then you go where is this coming from? Well in my mind, it is because something triggers the body to remember that emotion via the sensation picked up from the trigger. As the body too has a memory. Anyway there are a lot of things that can set off either depression or anxiety but staying present and remembering you are not your emotions, they are like the weather they come and go. Within there is always the abiding peace. It also helps according to Gangaji when the emotion gets triggered, which it will, that is just a natural human response, to just stop and become aware of it, or investigate it then if you can if not later and see what little mechanism in the brain or body is causing this to fire off within you like a run away train.

Anger is particularily a hard one cause it comes in a flash, like fire, there is often no thought but if you examine it, you will see that there is a feeling of self rightousnes, and under that hurt, you feel justified in demanding what you feel or want whereas sadness and grief, they say the deepest of emotions is like dampness it lingers and weighs us down often into deep depression. Guilt is another one triggered by our story. Be Still, Keep Queit, repeatedly telling yourself this calms the mind enough for the body to catch a breath, to come out of paralysis if fear is involved which it usually is, no matter what the trigger of the emotion is. From this place of stillness, we can be led beyond what the thinking conscious mind can handle, beyond what the anger thinks it can control. Ideas spark from the unknown and we are guided as I like to say what to do next or things just magically work out if we step out of the way, keep quiet. It is as if God or the universe or the divine takes over and there is no need to fear, become anxious, feel overwhelmed, depressed, or to always react or take action right away. Naturally, as humans we will, but recognizing them as a portal to a deeper essence of peace, allows them to be like the weather…..some days it is bright and sunny, other days gloomy and stark. We see them for what they are, one might be better for playing outside the other for making a hot cup of tea and reading a book. or curling up by a fire. Our Emotions they say are our connection to our spiritual selves. it is the reason we are here and we all have our life lessons and many of them are alike far more than we realize.

Depression Is an Allergic Reaction to Modern Life | Big Think
http://bit.ly/1FbyR49
While the symptoms of depression are marked by changes in the brain, the cause of the disease may ultimately lie in the body.

60 people reached

BOOST YOUR FOLLICLE COUNT AND CLEAR PHELGM ACCUMULATION

DETOX, NOURISH, REFRESH, CLEANSE….all in one drink
Drinking my fresh green juice in the am is always a disciplined delight. I say disciplined because I have to wash and prepare all my ingredients first, set up my juice parts and then wash those afterwards but I always feel so much better. This is my standard drink, might vary a tad but it consists of:
-Handful of fresh Wheat Grass
-Peeled whole organic cucumber(organic cause this is one of the dirty dozen)
-Quarted whole apple( I use whatever looks good; Fuji this time)
-A 1/4 of a peeled lemon(Publix actually had them organic) but does not need be.
-Few Fresh Mint leaves
Juice in your juicer and sip away or gulp away!!

IN CHINESE MEDICINE THIS DRINK WOULD NOURISH THE YIN AND THE BLOOD BUT NOT THE YANG, AND CLEARS PHLEGM. WHY BECAUSE IT IS COOLING AND MOISTENING. SO IT IS SUPERB IF YOU HAVE POOR OVARIAN RESERVE, AS IN ESSENCE, YIN AND BLOOD DEFIENCY, OR PHLEGM ACCUMULATION AS IN FIBROIDS, ENDOMETRIOSIS, PCOS.

Doctor- Patient Relationship At The Heart of Our Health-Care Crisis….Doctors Tell All--And It's Bad

Wow, I am so glad Chris Kresser(renowned functional medicine physician/acupuncturist) shared this article. It speaks volumes to the doctor patient connection and the various assitants involved with the doctor and or hospital. What becomes even more sickly to one's healing, is the time health care practitioners are willing to give you or who fail to include you the patient as the biggest part of the team. Instead the doctor turns you over to a specialist and or an office manager who often fails to return calls or answer questions. You the key player are left in the void. At some point, you start to feel guilty for asking questions of advice or seeking out answers to help you understand your situation. Where the doctor/nurse/office manager/ even staff/patient relationship makes you think maybe you need to see a shrink to figure out how to handle your own health care and the doctors you seek to connect with. You, as the patient maybe willing and ready but you are getting left out on their end. In the meantime, you have a nagging feeling your physical problem is getting worse because time is ticking and emotionally you are frustrated from the lack of empathy and understanding you receive, from the confused, unspoken messages given off in your quest. When a person has a health issue that is complex this can be damaging to their health but even more so to their self esteem. There is nothing worse than to be left without encouragement and hope especially when you have been told in some way it can be fixed.

I think a doctor who honestly shares and provides alternatives and takes the time to sit and go over your treatment protocal, who is open, caring, looks at your history from all angles, and listens to your concerns and fears, understands your need to gather different opinions, to weigh those out with you, even if they do not have all the answers, is the kind we all gain a level of trust in. This, in itself is the thing that contributes to the healing process, when a doctor and or nurse/office assitant educates his patient about the procedures they may utilize. Unfortunately, as the article tells, too little time, too many patients and too much paperwork, insurance documentation and fear of liability has left out the human element and this connection. The people who work in these health institutions have become rote, frustrated and impatient themselves, are often on antidepressants and antianxiety meds, overweight, have health issues as a result of dealing with the crisis it has become. I remember going into my dentist office, a small one, 14 years ago where they welcomed me with smiles and "Hi Carolyn, how are you today?" and made you feel like the only person that mattered and more than that, they made you feel comfortable, as going to the dentist can often be intimidating to say the least, they took the time to explain the procedures, did not make you feel rushed, sadly, I have not seen this greeting or care in too many offices these days with or without a complex problem. Not all of course are like this but many are.

I have observed that even so called alternative medicine or functional medicine has begun to be like this. Patients who come to us as a last resort, frustrated, sad, disillusioned and maybe even angry, try our patience as we seek to help them. When it is too complex a problem, or the patient is resistant to the commitment of time and education involved, we have to be honest ourselves and let them know it is out of our scope, or you need to come at this from many angles, with no gaurantee we can help them and we have to remember to be emphatic, calm even in the face of a disconcerted, overwhelmed patient who cannot take on what we propose. We can, however, continue to provide healing support even if we cannot give them the cure or solution they are looking for; we can slowly educate them to empower themselves. We can help them relax enough to help the body heal on a deeper level, to help them through their medical procedures and improve outcomes and most of all we can take the time to listen, but if all we care about is time and getting the next patient in, it starts to look like the picture of this article. If my priority, is to see 15 to 25 people a day, this care goes down the drain, not to mention my own health. By the same token if the patient is skeptically resistant to what is offered and does not have the time the doctor wants to give him, than that in itself is a problem. I do not know how doctors seeing 40 or even 30 people a day do it, but maybe it explains why a lot of them are not well themselves. I think they cannot help but pass that on to their patients. Time away from the office allows me to heal so I can better heal my patients and creating that empty space allows my unconscious self to bring solutions because the most profound insights occur when the mind is empty of all thought, when the mind is still. This is why people are seeking out spiritual avenues, once they have exhausted the answers with their doctors, because illness often goes beyond the physical. How do we bring this spiritual tie back into the art of practicing medicine? True Chinese Daoism reflected this art. I believe sitting in peace with a healing spiritual teacher can be very powerful as well.




Doctors Tell All—and It’s Bad


www.theatlantic.com


A crop of books by disillusioned physicians reveals a corrosive doctor-patient relationship at the heart of our health-care crisis.

Crispy Roasted Duck for New Years Eve Dinner…..Eat Like a King & Be Fertile

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!! MADE THIS DIVINE CRISPY DUCK WITH ORANGE HONEY TARROGON SAUCE FOR NEWS YEARS EVE DINNER WITH FRIENDS. THE TRICK TO A CRISPY DUCK IS TO KEEP THE SKIN AND DUCK DRY. I HAD THE HAIR DRYER ON IT LAST NITE BEFORE ROASTING. AND IT WAS TOTALLY CRISPY, TENDER AND SUPER EASY. NO STUFFING ONLY GRATED ORANGE PEEL AND SALT AND PEPPER. THE DUCK IS FROM A LOCAL BUTCHER WHO GETS THEM FROM CANADA. I LOOK FORWARD TO USING THE CREAMY FAT FOR COOKING WITH OTHER FOOD.

                                          http://paleoparents.com/featured/crispy-roast-duck

Dcotor/Patient Relation

Any health difficulty is hard espcially when it becomes chronic and consumes your life. Recently a dental issue has led me down a very long journey and yet, I understand better now what my women with fertility issues go through. The path can be long and twisted and seeking out the right doctor/doctors to help along the way can be even harder.

You hope to find one knowledgeable but approachable, caring and empathetic to your needs. Many of my couples go out of state and even out of the country, especially when they turn 40 with their fertility issues. Being able to connect with your practitioner is key. This is also one big difference between Western Medicine and practicing Chinese Medicine, often we have more time to listen, to hear what is beyond the physical symptoms of our patient. Miscarriage is probably one of the most difficult situations to face and the fear of it occuring can even be more stifling. This is where encouragement and reassuance really helps my patients out. Advanced maternal age is another category extremely difficult to face with little time on their side.

We all need encouragement, reassurance and guidance no matter what the health circumstance may be, that we are on the path to health especially from our doctors. It also sometimes means being able to tell the truth if the treatment is appropriate or not, needs further testing, treatment time or just plain " We or I really do not know for sure" or "you need to proceed in this direction ultimately or to face a certain fact about your health situation". Having the integrity and empathy to communicate this is part of our jobs and part of the Hippocratic oath. I also believe the Doctor/patient relation is so important to the healing process, and can often lead to better overall outcome. If the doctor is aloof, distant or noncommunicative this makes it difficult for the patient to be a part of the treatment protocal. Doctors that include you in that process help you to be a part of the team, in accomplishing the healhty result you aim to achieve.

I always try to empower my patients with what they can do on their own, it helps me to help them better. Taking the time to find out where they are at and what is going on and what concerns they may have. Making the patient feel comfortable and encouraging him to follow or comply with the treatment protocal laid out is an ongoing process with forward steps and many times backwards. Sometimes the patient gives up before the goal is reached as the treatment is too time involved or exspensive and you can see they are at the end of their rope or not communicating anymore with you especially cause our treatment with Acupuncture and herbs is not a quick fix or a surgical procedure or strategy. None the less you plug away as my teacher Jane Lyttleton an Ausie from Sydney always says. Her demeanor and wisdom is an honor to our profession and to all in this healing medicinal art. I strive to become the healing practitioner that she is with her soft spoken, extremely wise manner. She was a former scienctist with NASA.

May Peace Fill Your Hearts...

Starting to think about Chrsitmas. Getting all dreamy....where is your heart this Christmas?
Bring Peace where there is distress and anger and love where there is sadness and from these joy unfolds on its own and hope is renewed. Fill your heart with joy and wonder. The Skies in this picture look like the Northern Lights which are seen in Marquette, MI my home town quite often. Plus I love Polar Bears. Merry Chirstmas Everyone….may peace fill your hearts and joy. Remember God always leads us. Do not be afraid he will take you there and more places than you can imagine.

Gut Brain Connection…..Leaky Gut Commonly Associated With Infertility As Well

It just goes to show the importance of eating something fermented daily even for kids.
Might be Yogurt with no sugar added, Kefir, Kombucha drinks, Sauerkraut, Kimchi(which I have not tried yet) or taking a Probiotic Supplement but always best to get your nutrients from a food source. Just think your kid will think clearer. Especially if he/she has had a history of antibiotic consumption, as I heavily did as a kid, till I realized too quick these things do not even work, cause why I am always sick, and then moody, in a brain fog. So You Do Not Even Have To Be Autistic to feel the effects of not enough bacteria in your gut. This is weird I know, but after eating my homemade sauerkraut, several times I notice how clear and focused I was!

Autism’s Gut-Brain Connection
http://bit.ly/1uaH2SA
Treatment for autism may one day come in the form of a probiotic - live, 'friendly' bacteria like those found in yogurt.