Month: May 2021

 Last week’s blog was all about eating -eating the right stuff! This week I’m focussing on how to lose weight without taking on a special diet. During the lockdown many have put on extra pounds -I think we call it comfort eating! Getting back to your ideal weight not only makes you feel better in yourself mentally and emotionally -it means the body works more efficiently and your immune system is strengthened. If your Body Mass Index (BMI), the measure of your weight compared to your height is within the healthy weight range (18.5kg/m² – 24.9kg/m²) then you will be a practitioner of some advice I offer here. How can you calculate your BMI? Go on- line -Google BMI calculator and get the good or not so good news!

Assuming you need to shed some weight the first thing to do is get the right amount of sleep.

Ideally this is between 7 and 8 hours nightly, however, some people’s lifestyles have to do with less, either because of work schedules, or because of health reasons. If you don’t get the required sleep -then the solution is to catnap. After eating is the best time for catnapping because the heaviness of food in your gut will slow down your energy release rate and quieten brain activity. Beneficial catnaps are anywhere between 10 and 30 minutes. If you are not a catnapper already just sit quietly for 10 to 20 minutes after eating -the energy release rate will slow down, and you will find you can nod off for a while. When the body is stressed by pushing yourself to be active whilst it’s trying to digest and turn food and drink into active energy you will put on weight. In effect the body is saying I can’t transform that food into useable energy at present, so I’ll store it. What you don’t utilise goes to fat.

The next thing to do is drink plenty -the more you drink the more your appetite will lessen.

Don’t over stimulate the body with teas and coffees -and needless to say,  or with alcohol. It doesn’t mean you can’t have any -just don’t overdo it.  Best to drink plenty of plain water, or fruit juices, or herbal teas. By drinking plenty you improve and speed the digestive processes and believe it or not drinking plenty will help regulate the optimal bio rhymical efficiency of all your organs.

We can also lose weight without eating less -you don’t have to drastically cut calories to lose weight.

Simply focusing on healthier choices can lead to a decrease in weight provided those choices meet the necessary criteria. You do this by focussing on nutrient dense options rather than eating less food. By choosing higher nutritional quality foods, you will be more likely to stay full without feeling famished, and by default, you may be eating less calories because of the power of satiety, rather than snacking throughout the entire day. The more you think about weight loss and dieting, the more you want to eat. It’s ultra-important not to skimp out on your daily caloric requirements and what suggest doesn’t do that -mostly we absorb too many calories by not eating the right foods. And mentally you need to focus on the intention to lose weight (and keep it off), by switching your mindset from one of deprivation to one of high-quality foods. Not sure how to get started?

Here are four more ways to lose weight without eating less.

1. Chew your food thoroughly and slow down the rate of eating. And most importantly consciously focus on what you are eating and drinking -that means not getting distracted by TV or radio. Switch your phone off. Don’t indulge in conversation whilst eating. Make this a habit and you will lose weight.
2. Smaller food portions. If you follow the advice on point 1 you will be pleasantly surprised to notice how your appetite is satisfied. Always tell yourself you can get more food if it is required. If you heap the plate (I must not waste the food I’ve cooked) then you will feel obliged to eat it all -and on goes the weight!
3. Eat plenty of protein. Chicken and Turkey (avoid factory farmed birds if you can), lean beef, Loin of Pork, Liver, and black beans, soybeans, and legumes, low fat milk, plain yogurt, Salmon, Tuna, and Tofu. Cottage cheese, and eggs.
4. Fill up with Fibre.
   Food high in fibre, such as raspberries, Brussel sprouts, nuts and seeds, avocados, apples, dried fruits, potatoes, brown rice, or black beans. Whatever you do, don’t overcook the rice, potatoes and sprouts!
   Eating fibre-rich foods may increase satiety, helping you feel fuller for longer.
5. Eat Breakfast! Why? When the sun is rising the body metabolises food much more quickly and efficiently than when the sun is sinking. It also means you are less inclined to overeat during the day and evening.

As mentioned last week, Garlic is a building block for many food dishes, and Ginger is similar to garlic in that it isn’t a primary food, but its addition to meals or drinks can give your immune system a boost to fight infections. Prebiotics and probiotics. Gut health is key to the microbiome diet. Probiotics and prebiotics help replace the good bacteria your body loses when fighting infections. Think of probiotics as live bacteria that help your digestive system, while prebiotics are dietary fibres that provide food for probiotics. Greek yogurt and other fermented foods have high levels of probiotics. You can also find probiotics in sauerkraut, kefir and kombucha. Many common high-fibre foods, such as apples (leave the skin on), bananas and beans, contain prebiotics.

Vitamin C is an important antioxidant that can help control infections by increasing white blood cell production. Oranges, lemons and grapefruits are popular sources of vitamin C. It may come as a surprise to know they’re present in vegetables, too. Feel free to load up your plate with bell peppers, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower.

You won’t find vitamin D present in as many foods, but it still can help with immune health by reducing inflammation. Your best bet is fatty fish such as salmon, tuna or mackerel. Many commercial milk products have vitamin D added, and cheese, mushrooms and egg yolks contain small amounts of vitamin D. Your skin also absorbs vitamin D from the sunlight, so take advantage of the warmer temperatures outside.

Immune-boosting teas

Teas have been popular for thousands of years, primarily for their health benefits. Our guide on the basics of tea provides a refresher on the types of tea and their uses. All forms of tea come from the Camellia sinensis plant. This plant has polyphenols, which are micronutrients that can boost the immune system, improve heart health, and lower cholesterol. Green tea is especially good but nonetheless if you like black teas -they help too.

We are about to enter June -weather-wise in the UK the sun has arrived! My poem today is all about summer pursuit!

A Dream in a Robins’ Red Breast

It is the smallest thing attended least
I most connect. Suddenly a feather touch
alerts my sleeping mind, and there’s a Robin
perched upon my rod puffing his red breast
seemingly larger than the hovered sun, bigger
than the fish I want to catch, and somehow
more important than myself.

Head cocked sees the maggots in my box,
his eye swivels, rests on me and knows
instantly I’m not a threat, neither my code
or any order I conceive -inwardly understanding
the man, my baggage, this shading tree
its’ watery web of root, floating debris,
the noise of Coot, Pigeon, Duck, and Heron.

And above, the shading tree, the windy sky
are all in place, elsewhere pointed, harmony prevailing.
Stabbing with his beak, picks once, twice,
flies up and settles on a nearby tree
his attention elsewhere. In a blink of eye
he disappears. Half asleep as before
I wing skyward.
As a dream in a robins’ red breast.

Footnote

As always I welcome constructive comments -if it helps you it can help others to make choices and changes.

I’ve talked a lot about the immune system over the past year and more and each time I’m planning to write next week’s newsletter something comes up in the news to bring the subject back in focus. This time it’s the Indian coronavirus variant and the daily paper I’ve just picked up describing people who haven’t had the vaccine as Refuseniks! For a moment there I thought I was in Russia under Putin’s heel. Dr Michael Yeadon, an ex-Pfizer vice-president and scientist is obviously a Refusenik as whilst reminding us that no vaccine in circulation has yet received full marketing approval -in other words, still under trial, he is concerned these gene-based vaccines are reprogramming the immune system with outcomes no one can foresee.

So, who are you to believe?

As you know I don’t take sides in these matters, my aim has always been to advise on natural health support, so this week I’m listing the kind of foods you can eat and supplements you can take that will strengthen the immune system. Just a few words of caution before deciding on what you want to mix and match and go to town on. To know if the immune system is functioning as it should then daily you should have a movement of the bowels and otherwise urinate with ease. If you are in physical discomfort prior to bed or have headaches on waking -these also are signs that the immune system is struggling to function efficiently. These words of caution are to account for the simple fact that sometimes we eat at the wrong times or otherwise have a sensitivity to some foods and supplements.

Your immune system has many integral parts.

For example, lymphoid organs release white blood cells called lymphocytes that help regulate the immune system. This response causes inflammation, similar to how your body produces a scab and swells up if you scrape your arm. Generally, this response is acute or short-lived and your immune system returns to normal. However, prolonged inflammation can impact your health and make it difficult for your body to defend against common illnesses. Where does food come into play? You need vitamins, minerals and other nutrients to keep your body in peak form. You can cause harm to your immune system with poor diet choices — refined sugars, refined carbohydrates, processed and packaged foods, and certain fats (especially trans-fat; Artificial trans-fats are created during hydrogenation, which converts liquid vegetable oils into semi-solid partially hydrogenated oil and can cause inflammation -some can be found naturally in meat and dairy.

These foods can trigger the C-reactive protein (CRP), which alerts your body to an inflammatory threat. Many processed and refined foods are also void of important vitamins and minerals. Diets low in iron or vitamins A, C and D could lead to decreased production in white blood cells. As a general rule of thumb, natural anti-inflammatories can help keep inflammation in check and limit symptoms when you’re ill. Antioxidants protect you from free radicals and can also repair cells and tissues that become damaged during an inflammatory response.

As a general guide you should strive for 50% fruits and vegetables, 25% whole grains and 25% lean meats and proteins.

Here are some food groups to choose from:

Fruits and vegetables:
Leafy greens (lettuce, kale, spinach)
Cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and cauliflower)
Tomatoes
Apples
Citrus fruits (grapefruit and oranges)
Berries (blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries)

Whole grains:
Whole wheat, Barley, Oats, Brown rice

Lean meats and proteins:
Seafood, Poultry, Beans (legumes, lentils and peas), Nuts (almonds and walnuts)

Cook with Olive oil, Coconut oil, instead of butter and other oils high in saturated and trans-fats. Don’t be afraid to add herbs and spices, either. Basil, cinnamon, curry, oregano, rosemary, thyme, and turmeric can help reduce inflammation.

Here are more examples of ways you can boost your immunity through your diet.

Garlic is a building block for many food dishes, but did you know it has health benefits? Garlic releases allicin when impacted by some sort of friction, such as chopping or chewing. This sulfuric compound has antioxidant properties that can help protect your cells and produce more white blood cells. Ginger is similar to garlic in that it isn’t a primary food, but its addition to meals or drinks can give your immune system a boost to fight infections. The use of ginger for medicinal purposes dates back thousands of years. When you’re not cooking with ginger, try adding it to your tea.

Prebiotics and probiotics.

Gut health is key to the microbiome diet. Probiotics and prebiotics help replace the good bacteria your body loses when fighting infections. Think of probiotics as live bacteria that help your digestive system, while prebiotics are dietary fibres that provide food for probiotics. Greek yogurt and other fermented foods have high levels of probiotics. You can also find probiotics in sauerkraut, kefir and kombucha. Many common high-fibre foods, such as apples (leave the skin on), bananas and beans, contain prebiotics.

Vitamin C is an important antioxidant that can help control infections by increasing white blood cell production. Oranges, lemons and grapefruits are popular sources of vitamin C. It may come as a surprise to know they’re present in vegetables, too. Feel free to load up your plate with bell peppers, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower.

You won’t find vitamin D present in as many foods, but it still can help with immune health by reducing inflammation. Your best bet is fatty fish such as salmon, tuna or mackerel. Many commercial milk products have vitamin D added, and cheese, mushrooms and egg yolks contain small amounts of vitamin D. Your skin also absorbs vitamin D from the sunlight, so take advantage of the warmer temperatures outside.

Supplementing your diet

Your supermarket is likely to have hundreds of supplements that claim to work wonders for the immune system. These supplements can help you if you have a deficiency, but natural foods remain the best way to absorb key vitamins and minerals. Vitamin D supplements remain popular because it’s harder to get your daily amount through food. You can take anywhere from 600 to 800 International Units of vitamin D. Anything more than that can likely cause harm.

Immune-boosting teas

Teas have been popular for thousands of years, primarily for their health benefits. Our guide on the basics of tea provides a refresher on the types of tea and their uses. All forms of tea come from the Camellia sinensis plant. This plant has polyphenols, which are micronutrients that can boost the immune system, improve heart health, and lower cholesterol. Green tea is especially good but nonetheless if you like black teas -they help too.

We are in May -down the winding lane I walk… the natural world has much to teach us! I hope you like this week’s poem.

Seeking Winds of May

Down the winding lane I walk
hid by hedge and under bough
that skirl their leafy sounds anyhow
in the seeking winds of May.

Going nowhere with a purpose
talking secrets with my feet
marching to the cyclic beat
of natural worlds at play.

Pausing at the path smooth head
over which the white clouds scud
stopping, watching cows chew cud
hear the dark horse neigh.

Ambition-less, I am asexual
just conscious of my nose
down I go where the river flows
to greet the end of day.

Not wanting less than everything
I sit rod-less on its banks
eyeing the silver fishes’ shanks
oblivious of time.

Then someone overshadows me
Bow in hand, feminine and fey
and about me She draws a line
in the seeking winds of May.

The ‘she’ in the last stanza is Diana the huntress

Worries and concerns are a permanent part of life’s tapestry

…. but when they refuse to lessen and go away and insidiously become part of daily life, they affect our entire BodyMind and unbalance us. We become uncertain of outcomes -constantly anxious and lose touch with our sense of identity.

There are many forms of anxiety.

Persistent and excessive anxiety and worries about activities or events —even ordinary, routine issues, where worry is out of proportion to the actual circumstance, difficult to control and affects how you feel physically, emotionally, and mentally. It often occurs when a person is depressed.
Panic disorders involving repeated episodes of sudden feelings of intense anxiety, fear or terror reaching a peak within minutes that characterise panic attacks. Feelings of impending doom, shortness of breath, chest pain, or heart palpitations. Disorders of this kind may lead to worrying about them happening again or avoiding situations in which they have occurred.

Social anxiety disorders (social phobias) involving high levels of anxiety, fear, and avoidance of social situations due to feelings of embarrassment, self-consciousness, and concern about being judged or viewed negatively by others.

Separation anxiety -usually associated with children, has become much more widespread due to restrictions on meetings and movements during the coronavirus pandemic.

Some physical and mental health conditions give symptoms of intense anxiety or panic. Obsessive compulsive disorders (OCD) can take a number of forms; fear of contamination -physical and/or mental, fear of harm and taboo thoughts, symmetry obsessions -the need for things to be perfect, exact, or ‘just right’.

And of course, there are other types, such as Agoraphobia, a type of anxiety disorder in which you fear and often avoid places or situations that might cause you to panic and make you feel trapped, helpless, or embarrassed. Selective mutism, a consistent failure of children to speak in certain situations, such as school, even when they can speak in other situations, such as at home with close family members. Substance-induced anxiety disorders are characterized by symptoms of intense anxiety or panic that are a direct result of misusing drugs, some medications side effects, and being exposed to a toxic substance or experiencing withdrawal from drugs.

Common anxiety signs and symptoms

include: Feeling nervous, restless or tense, having a sense of impending danger, panic or doom, increased heart rate, breathing rapidly (hyperventilation), sweating, trembling, feeling weak or tired, difficulty concentrating or thinking about anything other than the present worry, trouble sleeping, experiencing gastrointestinal problems, inability to control worrisome thoughts, having difficulty controlling worries.

What all anxiety states have in common -is the frequency and complexity of the phenomenon. It’s constant, difficult or impossible to self-assess cause and solution.

To fix the problem you need to slow down and simplify your lifestyle and maintain outward awareness of the environment you occupy. Meditation and mindfulness can be a healing process for some -but not all, because they cannot make the shift in consciousness to switch from busy to idle. Hypnotherapy, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is an approach favoured by people whose anxieties have reached fever pitch and need someone to interact with to begin the healing process.

Because extended lockdowns during the pandemic have given cause for anxieties to develop, a cost-free approach I recommend too slow down and simplify is as follows:

1. Begin your day with a walk before you eat anything. By all means have a non-stimulating drink if you feel the need of one but don’t eat. Reason is because any amount of eating has a comforting effect and gives you a sense of security. Anxieties will latch onto feelings of comfort and security and maintain their presence. Walk for the sake of walking -it shouldn’t have a destination purpose. Maintain an outward physical awareness of your immediate space projecting forward a couple of body shapes. If you find anxieties come flooding back into your mind, reassert your conscious focus. 15-30 minutes walking like this will slow the mental subconscious inputs into consciousness.
2. Do one thing at a time. If you are eating -eat for its own sake. Don’t switch on the TV or listen to the radio, because both of these actions will stimulate the subconscious into activity and stimulate anxiety feelings in the background of your mind. Task-wise apply yourself to one task at a time. Complete the task or shut it down if it can’t be completed. The next task is what the mind suggests, or it maybe what you have already defined as a necessary next task, however if it is a task you associate with anxiousness -dismiss it. Instead do something completely different.
3. If you find worries, concerns, or repetitive thoughts breaking into the pattern of tasking, despite your best efforts, you need to change the atmosphere -that means get out of the place you have been spending time in. Ideally that is going outdoors. Environments we frequently occupy for any length of time become saturated with our thoughts and emotional energies and playback to a worrisome mind.
4. Lastly, as and when you get positive guiding thoughts, for example, you might say to yourself ‘what I need is a good laugh’, or you might read something that strikes a positive chord -an affirmation like; ‘my body, mind, and spirit function harmoniously’. Write the words down on a postage sticker and put it somewhere in plain sight -don’t try to remember it. As you practise looking outward these messages will come into sight every now and again. Whatever you do, don’t try to remember the sayings -your anxious mind will dispute them.

The poem I’ve written for this week is a celebration of the natural Self.

The Rite of Spring

In secret place I dance the mystic rites of Spring
forswear the binding that illusions bring;
slough the old skin and dissolve the marriage ring.
Here where no man-made thing may live
I touch the earth, seek my darkly distant self,
press my body to the boles of mighty oaks
until I hear their drumbeat in my head.
Then dance again until the trees are fiery red,
the sun is risen gold and my fears have fled.

In last week’s post I said the rune-master would throw the sticks and read you the fortune of an alternative world. I guess I need to explain myself. One of my communicators who I know as Lone Wolf, as illustrated by my psychic artist wife Pam, has guided me on matters concerning BodyMind development for many years. He has taught me body movements and guided my understanding of the energy body, which I teach to my pupils and is often present when I am in healing mode.

Why runes?

To say that Lone Wolf is not all he appears to be is an understatement -from what I know of him his soul history stretches way back into the distant past. The incarnation I’m aware of when I see him is of a North American/Canadian Indian, but he has a soul link to the old Norse world. Could that be of Norseman who landed in the Americas -likely from Greenland way back in the first millennium AD? He shows runes that originate with the Vikings.

As some will know runes are symbols seen and interpreted in the spread they fall. So, I asked the question and the first thing he reminded me about was the history of the coronavirus.

‘Your scientists became aware of it soon after you were born.’

Digging around I find that scientists in England first identified a human coronavirus in 1965. It caused a common cold. Later that decade, researchers found a group of similar human and animal viruses and named them after their crown-like appearance -hence the name, and of these seven were identified that could infect humans. Ongoing research found that in temperate climates, respiratory coronavirus infections occur more often in the winter and spring than in the summer and autumn.

Data revealed that coronavirus infections contribute as much as 35% of the total respiratory viral activity during epidemics. Overall, the proportion of adult colds produced by coronaviruses was estimated at 15%. Epidemiologic and volunteer inoculation studies found that respiratory coronaviruses were associated with a variety of respiratory illnesses; however, their pathogenicity was considered to be low. The predominant illness associated with infections was an upper respiratory infection with occasional cases of pneumonia in infants and young adults.

These viruses were also shown to be able to produce asthma exacerbations in children as well as chronic bronchitis in adults and the elderly. Given the enormous variety of animal coronaviruses, it was not surprising when the cause of a very new, severe acute respiratory syndrome, called SARS, emerged in 2002–2003 as a coronavirus from southern China and spread throughout the world with quantifiable speed. This virus grew fairly easily in tissue culture, enabling quick sequencing of the genome.

Sequencing differed sufficiently from any of the known human or animal coronaviruses to place this virus into a new group, along with a virus that was subsequently cultured from Himalayan palm civets, from which it presumably had emerged. Again in China December 2019 a new coronavirus SARS variant was identified and called Covid-19 and declared a pandemic in March 2020.

Asking why this virus spreads so easily and causes so much illness, he replied, ‘It’s the way you live. The rise in populations. The density of living spaces -man made environments which recirculate the atmosphere you breathe. The intermingling and intermarriage of peoples throughout your world -each having a genetic history of immunity associated with the countries and climates their forebears experienced. When different immunities are joined, and peoples share the same man-made environments common colds and other viral transmissions can become virulent.’

‘What then do you advise as the way forward?’

‘Your futures point to a parting of ways. Man is by nature a hybrid of many forms, and each of these influences has seen and unseen counterparts. The consciously pointed Self continues to promote itself as the power of change and divisions within accelerate what you are pleased to call progress, the way forward. That which you call good; the caring of the environment, endeavours to reduce harmful gases, scientific advances in healthcare and modes of living, all have their side effects. I have called them futures, and each may be modelled to harmonised with the natural forces present in your world. Some will have cause to claim betterment, others not so.

To understand himself Man has always defined his consciousness by the battle of good against evil -right against wrong. And how it is interpreted gives cause for more and more divisions. The way forward can only be defined and acted upon by each and every individual -and there will be evidence of betterment because more people are becoming aware of the differences between Man’s creations and the natural world.

Tell your people this -the world you live in is the smallest part, a place of beginning, and life is much greater than you can imagine. Indeed, I am limited in what I can tell you because your consciousness is still bound by its earthly roots. Just tell them as you have been taught before -there is only one law; the Law of Good, but in interpreting that disharmony arises, and from disharmony the force to harmonise is born.’

There… I will leave you to think on that. What echoes in my mind from what Lone Wolf has said, is the absolute need to assert our own individuality. It’s so easy to allow yourself to be shepherded -to leave decision making to others.

I am reminded of some suggestion I made early on in this pandemic when the need for face masking was about to become mandatory in public places. Masks are not healthy things -just causing us to breathe back in some of the carbon dioxide (and germs) we have just breathed out. Now that face masking rules will soon be relaxed in the UK and we can yet again move about close to one another in public places -particularly indoors, let me readvise the use of coconut oil. Just apply it on a cotton bud up your nose.

Coconut oil contains lauric acid and monolaurin which can disintegrate the virus envelope, inhibit virus replication, and prevent the binding of viral proteins to the host cell membrane. Coconut oil is made up of about 50 percent 12-carbon lauric acid. When lauric acid is digested and interacts with body fluids, it produces monolaurin. Both of those funny-sounding things can kill things like bacteria, viruses and fungi. So, coconut oil can be linked to killing bad stuff.

The poem I’ve written for this week is a reminder of how little we know of Nature.

I am a Legion not a King

In the water green world under the wych elm tree
live me and my kin, birthing and dying unseen
in the light dark seasoning cycle of time,
quite unlike men’s expectation of body shape.

We are benign, threatening, handsome, shape shifting,
Sun dialling, moon tiding, invisible touch conscious life.
If only you knew how to look- what sounds to recognise.

The stones that you walk on and think dead

are concerts of sound singing to this river’s urge.
The water spirit in harmony seeks the still dark depths
Worlds distant: satisfied never to know.

Leaves its memories for you to find

And is free as you cannot be.
Here where the wild crocus grows, dies and re-seeds
and a myriad of things have but a day to live
I am a legion not a king.

I am many not a thing.

And you walk here as a prison in the shackles of feet
under the wych elm tree like a sleeper
dreaming of freedom awake.

And know nothing of me, yet
lay claim to what you see.
Come now instrument being, speak out,
let all that comes be unreasoned, unfelt.

When earth reclaims the form you have shaped
migration will not mean turning back,
For as I sip, so you also can be refreshed

truly a legion, never a King.