Immune Support Tips & Ideas – Day 4
Immune Support Tips & Ideas – Day 1
Don’t Panic Mr Mainwaring! Don’t Panic!
For what it’s worth, here are a few ideas to add to the pot, to help those who are concerned about this so-called global virus.
First of all, here’s some light-hearted information to watch from two UK doctors, identical twins, Dr Chris and Dr Xand via the BBC’s Newsround.
Along with these ideas, which focus on more lifestyle factors, like nutrition and personal hygiene…you also need to consider your beliefs and emotions and any stresses you may have going on in your life as well…because it is a collection of six main factors, which contribute to any form of dis-ease in your mind and thus your body. I wrote more about this here.
Therefore, looking after our health and wellbeing in mind, body and spirit is so important…and is not just about green smoothies and pilates. Or keto diets and gym routines. There needs to be balance (or as close to balance as possible) in all six areas for us to enjoy more balanced health and wellness overall.
What’s also important to remember is there isn’t any blame being placed here. This is about educating ourselves and adjusting things in our own lives accordingly. When we know and are informed fully, we can make more accurate and appropriate choices and decisions. Education and being empowered individually is key, rather than giving that personal power away, expecting someone else to fix you. You’re not broken…your body is simply giving bio-feedback when physical and mental symptoms show up.
Two tools which I use successfully and effectively, both on and for myself, as well as with those I work with are EFT (also known as tapping) and pure simple mindful breathing. They each help to calm the fight or flight response and rebalance the mind and body to a state of calm again. Both can be easily learnt and followed by two apps I recommend, which are currently free to download. The Breathing App has very simple content and it’s all accessible for both iOS and Andriod. The tapping app has some free content and some which is accessible when you subscribe. It’s also available for both iOS and Andriod.
* NB: If you have any signs or symptoms, both physically and/or mentally, which you’re unsure of and are not coping with on your own, go and see your GP and get a medical assessment done. Knowledge is power and understanding what is going on from a medical perspective is vital for supporting your wellness journey. I work alongside doctors in my work, which is crucial for getting to the root cause of illness and dis-ease in anyone.
It’s time to be kind…or be extinct…
I’ve been saying what the latest research has just proven (link below) since the whole environmental impact by humans started to gain publicity…
…that it’s not simply too much plastic or too much intensive farming or too much flying in aircrafts causing climate change and environmental devastation…
…that our very emotions and attitudes influence our environment massively…
You see, because every living thing, from human beings right down to a small leaf or insect are all innately connected, it was always obvious to me that the environmental changes we’re seeing and experiencing on a global scale are hugely influenced by human thoughts, beliefs and emotions.
Science has already proven time and time again that less than 5% of symptoms we experience are because of genes… i.e. it’s our thoughts, emotions and beliefs – how we interpret and interact in the world – which manifests dis-ease and illness in our bodies, along with other factors, which I talk about in previous posts. Therefore it makes perfect sense that these same thoughts, emotions and beliefs can and do also influence the very environments we live, work and play in as well.
Now before anyone jumps on a high horse…there isn’t any blaming or shaming in what I’m saying. No one is saying it’s your fault if you have this dis-ease or that illness. Much of what happens to us is through unconscious programming and conditioning. Therefore, most of us are very unaware of what our thoughts, beliefs and emotions are doing or that they’re even there in fact. I for one didn’t know it was my thinking which landed me with two knee surgeries or my thinking which has caused me to have skin issues for most of my life.
However, we know now, that more than 95% of dis-ease and illness in the mind and/or body has a mind-body-social-brain connection. There are very specific themes which are associated with where a symptom, illness or dis-ease shows up, following a trigger, which to the individual, was a conflict for their thoughts, beliefs and emotions and thus, creates this imbalance in our bodies.
Therefore, the world we live in, our environment, is also a reflection of our thoughts, emotions and beliefs…because we’re all connected, every-living-thing.
If we explore and study the history of what’s happened in global populations and the land where these things happened, there will be a correlation with what’s going on environmentally now…likely with similar conflict themes to those we see showing up in the human body, where similar individual thoughts, feelings and beliefs have been felt, processed and held on to over time.
So the new research which has just been published (link below), by three separate scientific studies is very exciting and illuminating for how we continue to choose to shape our future, both as individuals, as well as country-wide and global populations.
The dominant patriarchal aggressive approach to life and living is not serving us as a global family. We need to create radical change, right down to how we treat ourselves and others, before we actually, seriously become a part of the sixth mass global extinction…which will include the extinction of the human race if we don’t change the way we live with ourselves and others now.
The #bekind movement has never had a more significant birth than now.
It’s actually paramount for the future of the planet and every living thing that we change how we live, work and socialise with each other. If we continue on the trajectory we’re on just now, with the nastiness, slander, anger and rage which we’re witnessing everywhere, even towards ourselves, we’re on a very slippery, rapid downhill slope to ending life on planet earth as we know it. Literally.
Even if we do not agree with someone else’s opinion, we need to learn to be kind and loving anyway.
Our governments…it’s time to stop slagging and bitching at each other, thinking this kind of behaviour is clever and is going to win votes. It’s not mature…it’s not grown up…and it’s not showing any kind of loving-kindness or intelligence for your people to look up to and be inspired by.
Teachers in education…stop putting children down. Treat them with the respect you want to have as well. If you’re getting angry and irritated in the classroom, maybe it’s time for a career change or retirement. Don’t take your frustrations and unresolved emotional hurts out on the students though. Teach with loving-kindness and you will receive this in return.
Those who work at the top in medicine and pharmacology…including the funders…it’s time to tell the truth at all levels of the medical chain. People deserve to know the truth. Stop with the lies, deceit and pretence that you do not know what is going on when scientific research has proven time and time again now that we do know why illness and dis-ease are happening…and it sure isn’t going to be cured by mass pharmacology either…and you know it. You signed the Hippocrates oath…which says do no harm.
Organised religious leaders…it’s time for you to stop with your lies too. Stop hiding the abuse and corruption at all levels of your patriarchial organisations. None of the religious texts talk about or support the behaviour you’ve all been carrying out, supporting and hiding over the decades. Stop it. Be honest. #bekind
Media in all its forms – print and internet journalism, radio and TV presenters. It’s ok to have an opinion about things. We can all be kind when expressing our thoughts and feelings though. If you feel the need to put down or berate another person in any way, shape or form, it’s time you looked at your own unresolved emotional hurts…your heart needs loving-kindness and it’s time you bestowed it upon yourself.
Social media trolls. It’s simple. Be kind. If this is a challenge for you, ask yourself, “where do I have unresolved emotional hurts, which are desperately calling out for my loving-kindness…?”
It all starts within, for all of us. Be kind to yourself…and then it’s much easier to be kind to everyone and every living thing around us, with love and compassion.
Honestly, without this change now…we’re all going down the plughole sooner rather than later.
Below are some book suggestions to help you move from loveless and lacklustre to loving and lovable, from cutting and cowardly to kind and compassionate, from disconnected and disillusioned to Divinely guided:
And finally, below is a link to the latest research about how our thoughts, emotions and beliefs shape the world around us, from three separate scientific research projects.
New Research Shocks Scientists: Human Emotion Physically Shapes Reality!
Trusting Our Symptoms
Probably one of the biggest challenges I originally had before gaining the knowledge I have now, which I often hear from those I work with, is trusting our symptoms and the process our body is naturally going through to help us…the body’s natural healing intelligence.
We’ve been conditioned and programmed into believing something is wrong with us when symptoms show up…that it’s somehow our fault when we are ‘ill’ ‘unwell’ ‘sick’. That we are in some way broken and we need fixing in some way.
The truth is, it has nothing to do with any of that. It’s about biology. Your body is the seat of consciousness. Your body, your biology, your organ tissues are all a reflection of who you are in all your greatness…and your body is also lovingly, intelligently talking to you, giving you messages of where aspects simply require rebalancing, adjusting and realigning, to return you to health once more.
This may include removing blockages with tools like EFT, which no longer support the natural healing process. It may also include adding in aspects such as foods to strengthen you, physical activity to enliven you and also looking at the social environment factors which you engage in e.g. at work, at home, out socially. These will all help to increase vitality in mind, body and spirit when aligned with your true nature.
We already know about auto-regulation and homeostasis in general medicine. However, we’ve perhaps not been clearly shown what that actually looks like in lay terms and how to realistically apply it for ourselves to achieve our health goals.
Our body is striving to achieve this for us naturally though and symptoms are messages relating to where there is an imbalance, which requires our more focused attention. This happens very easily and effortlessly in nature. It’s constantly adapting to maintain balance, even with all the pressure humans put on it. The human body is doing the same. Climate change is a symptom of imbalance on the planet, which many are listening and responding to, to help restore a healthy planet. Symptoms in our body are exactly the same…a call to action, a call to make positive changes.
Therefore, the more we can trust our body, our symptoms and the messages being given to us…as well as understanding what phase in the autonomic nervous system, symptoms are in, coupled with knowing their root causes (see previous posts), which, combined is the natural response from the logic of our biology at its finest…the more we are able to support an easier restoration and rebalancing process within the body system overall.
So I invite and encourage you to begin to see and experience your symptoms from a biological intelligence perspective…and begin the inquiry as to what’s triggered these responses in your body, rather than seeing yourself as broken…because that is simply not true.
Nothing is random. Your body is showing you, telling you, speaking to you. Your biology is incredibly smart…and not just your mechanical biology…there is a direct link between your emotions, thoughts and brain with our social environment. Therefore, notice how beautiful and intelligent your body is and what it’s communicating to you to help restore balance and harmony for you again. What better gift to give yourself in this new year as we ease towards spring and embrace this new decade of 2020 than to listen to what you truly need and be present with yourself.
If you would like to find out more and how the tools I use can help and support you with your health goals, get in touch.
Why are symptoms chronic and recurring?
Chronic health symptoms, as I mentioned at the end of my last post, are a different ball game…albeit similar. This kind of pattern sees the body-mind-social system cycling back and forth between the sympathetic and parasympathetic i.e. from stress to restoration to stress to restoration to stress etc.
Let’s think about this for a moment…🤔
If we’re experiencing some symptoms and then they disappear or change for a few days, weeks or months and then reappear…why is that? What has happened to create this looping pattern?
Well, it’s the exact same process I’ve described in the last few posts, in the nine points and phases of the biological healing process (as shown in above graphic)…except with chronic recurring symptoms, we’re never fully resolving the original stress trigger (the traumatic event, also known as a UDIN – because it’s usually Unexpected, Dramatic, you feel Isolated and have No strategy) and therefore, in every way, we oscillate between the sympathetic and the parasympathetic, each time that button, that still open unresolved emotional hurt, is re-pushed, is re-wounded, as shown in the graphic below.
There are usually two or more aspects which are contributing to this pattern repeatedly occurring e.g. the original stress trigger (which will be how you emotionally and cognitively responded in that moment of unexpected stress), plus it could be an environmental aspect, such as pollen being present when you were triggered (so you may have recurring hayfever); or it may be a social aspect, such as a specific food was there at the time of the trigger (so you may have a food allergy); or it could be another social-environmental aspect, such as a specific place, like work, where you are always put down by your manager (so you always get lower back pain).
In the past, these recurring cycles were left with the ‘cause unknown’ question mark over them ❓by medics and medical manuals. We didn’t fully realise what was happening in the body-mind-social space. We didn’t really fully acknowledge that these elements were all connected.
We do know now though and I can’t imagine working without this knowledge in my practice…and those I have the privilege to work with express similar sentiments when they understand what’s truly happening within them. It’s empowering and gives you back your power and control over outcomes, rather than feeling helpless and at the mercy of your symptoms. It gives you options.
This is what you will learn when you embrace this knowledge. And embrace it or not, it’s biological science. It’s real. It’s happening in all of us. So we can take it and be informed. Or we can choose to ignore it.
Day one. Or one day. We can all choose when to begin.
You will learn what phase your symptoms are in; which of the six root causes require rebalancing and what steps you can take, which are workable and sustainable for you, towards your health and wellness goals.
We learn to appreciate that our symptoms aren’t random anymore. We can spot cycles and patterns…and with this knowledge, we can utilise appropriate methods to support where we’re at in this time and space and to ultimately help us reach our health and wellness goals, living a life we love and thrive in.
When would now be a good time for you to begin your own journey to health and wellness again?
Get in touch now, if you would like to know more and how you can begin to help yourself.
So…what’s going on…?
So…if we’ve got these symptoms and we’re not broken…what’s going on?
As I said in my previous post, from the meta (big-picture) perspective, your body is starting to repair. Restoration, repair and regeneration produces a lot of these symptoms, viewed as being sick/unwell/ill.
The first part of this restorative phase will produce different symptoms, depending on the body tissue impacted by the organ-mind-brain connection, which has been triggered in us, based on our perception of the situation. It’s all a very subjective experience. No two people come to have their apparently similar symptoms or the same diagnosis from the same trigger.
What is a common aspect though, is your autonomic nervous system has been activated with parasympathetic activity i.e. your symptoms of exhaustion, sleepiness, tiredness is the body asking to rest and repair…BUT often we don’t give it enough of this restorative time because we push ourselves to continue working, doing, pushing and pushing to keep going going going.
So we end up treating and managing symptoms, trying to counter-balance the symptoms with medications etc.
Don’t get me wrong…there can be a very valid reason to take medication because there is a place for all forms of healing. It’s knowing what to do to fully support ourselves when we are properly informed of what is truly going on within our mind-body system, which makes the difference as to what is the best form of action and treatment to take and follow at any given time, however. This will vary for everyone, even if you do have the same diagnosis. No two people are the same, therefore, it also makes sense that a one-size-fits-all approach to healing also needs to be individually tailored.
Once we are triggered into the restorative, regenerative phase (as described in the last post at step 4), the first part of this restorative phase (5) often sees swelling/oedema, increased inflammation and viral or bacterial or fungal activity (what these will be all depends on which brain relay has been triggered, as well as which organ/organ tissue is involved from that brain relay. This is determined by our subjective view of the world…i.e. our thoughts, values, beliefs and emotions).
Our thoughts and emotions in this rest and digest parasympathetic phase tend to feel more like brain fog/fuzzy thinking because we feel so tired and fatigued.
The emotions from the sympathetic stress phase (e.g. anger or ruminating thinking) are almost not there or are at least lessened in some way, shape or form.
These initial restorative phase symptoms may typically last approximately 3-7 days (though this varies depending on the length of the stress/sympathetic phase). What then occurs is described as a healing peak (6) i.e. it’s a short burst of sympathetic nervous system activity, which mostly goes unnoticed, the exceptions being when more serious health challenges are present and then the healing peak will be evident e.g seizures, strong palpitations.
Following the healing peak, however, in a normal biological cycle and process, we move into the second phase of the restorative (parasympathetic) phase (7) and our body begins to normalise again…moving towards homeostasis (balance and harmony within mind and body) once more.
Our appetite usually returns and we feel a little better too. Our body will be excreting a lot of toxins now as well, or tissue it no longer requires from the repair phase, so we detox quite heavily in this part of the biological process, as our body shifts more into normalisation again e.g. increased urination may also be a detox symptom.
Subsequently, after a few days of this detoxing, where we’ll feel increasingly better, in most general cases, we’ll reach that auto-regulation phase (8) and feel normal once more…”I’ve recovered”.
Most of us have experienced this general biological cycle and process, where we then carry on with the regular day-night cycle of general health and sympathetic-parasympathetic autonomic nervous system functioning.
In most cases (excluding long term/chronic symptoms) we feel as good as before, sometimes stronger than before. Chronic health issues are a whole other subject, which I’ll come to in another post.
If you have any questions about how this applies to you, do get in touch. And if you would like to know how a meta-health analysis could help and support your health and wellbeing, please do find out more about how I work and what I can do to support your aspirations and goals.
Only you can steer the ship of your health and wellness. When would be a good time to take back your power and own your path to wellbeing again?
Day one? Or one day? You choose.
You are not Broken
Previously, we looked at the six root causes of symptoms and the specific connection between organ tissue and specific stressors. This knowledge is backed up by science e.g. Bruce Lipton; Kelly Brogan, MD; Rupert Sheldrake; Gabor Maté, MD; Candace Pert; Dr Hamer; Bessel van der Kolk, MD to name but a few. Symptoms are not random.
The next principles to understand are the points and phases of this biological process because symptoms are a natural response to stressors (emotions, beliefs, lifestyle, environment etc). When we can acknowledge, appreciate and fully understand this, we’re in a more empowered position to support ourselves (as opposed to feeling powerless by a symptom and/or diagnosis). We can decipher where we are in the healing process and establish more accurately what will support our passage to balanced health and wellness again.
Awareness is the key to unlock your inner sense of power and management over what’s happening within your body (rather than “I’m sick & weak”). Your body is going through a natural biological process and response to stress (or stresses)…you’re not broken. Your body is doing its best to support you to resolve the stress and return your whole self to health, balance and vitality again.
It’s believed there are nine main points/phases of the natural biological process. We’ll look at the first four here.
Tuning into your own symptoms, whatever, wherever they may be (because this applies to EVERY symptom experienced)…let’s work out where you are in the process…
Contrary to what is commonly believed, most, or at least many symptoms appear in the regenerative (restorative, parasympathetic) phase of the process e.g. inflammation, feeling hot and sick, bacterial infections and apparent viral infections. How can this be?
Usually (point 1), we have the normal day-night activity (work during the day; rest and repair at night). This is the normal sympathetic (day) & parasympathetic (night) sequence of the autonomic nervous system. It’s the natural cycle of being human.
However, a part of being human is we experience things which trigger us into a stress response (point 2).
No one is excluded from this. However, we all respond to stress triggers according to our own subjective view and perspective, our beliefs and values basically and how we’re conditioned in the world we live in. This is why and how we all have different symptoms (e.g. some get cancer, some arthritis, some heart issues, some diabetes, others skin challenges, or digestive issues etc). To get really specific, we’d need to look at your individual circumstances. I’ll give you the basic principles here though.
So consider yourself…
Prior to your symptoms, something happened. It may have been a conversation or someone said something or you saw something. Whatever it was… suddenly…BOOM!!!… we feel extraordinarily stressed… And we are pushed into a heightened state of arousal in our sympathetic nervous system i.e. increased stress (point 3).
We physically feel more stressed and a specific organ tissue will have been activated in correlation to your perception of the stress trigger e.g. high blood pressure or loss of vision if it’s your retina or loss of hearing if it’s your ears or your digestive tract could be triggered, so you then have constipation or if in your stomach there could be ulceration and thus sensitivity.
Our mind will show emotions such as anger, upset, sadness, anxiety. Our thoughts will race and repeat over and over. And if you were to look at brain CT scans this stress will show up in the brain too. Mind-Body-Social-Brain…it’s all connected.
The stress phase can last for minutes or days, weeks, months or longer. we are triggered into the regenerative (restorative, parasympathetic activity) phase eventually though. We somehow (again depending on us as individuals) switch into this part of the biological process and the shift is usually felt quite obviously e.g. we go from feeling amped with stress to then feeling utter exhaustion and a sense of “coming down with something…I’m getting sick”. You feel hot, swollen, inflamed, tired, fuzzy thinking, to name just a few signs.
The interesting paradigm we’ve been thinking up until now is that we believe this is when we’re getting sick because we have all these obvious symptoms, oftentimes rather severe. However, from the big-picture (meta) perspective, this is actually the body starting to repair, restore and regenerate… which produces a lot of the symptoms we’ve been conditioned into believing is us getting sick, going downhill, breaking up.
Not so…YOU ARE NOT BROKEN.
Your symptoms aren’t random…it’s biological intelligence.
Continuing on from yesterday’s blog post…in Meta-Health, we go several steps further with looking at, exploring and getting to the root cause of symptoms…because the research has shown us symptoms aren’t random. No one randomly gets a diagnosis of cancer or heart disease or MS or lymphoma or diabetes or whatever the diagnosis by pure chance. There will be a pattern which can be explored, analysed and understood, which has led to this diagnostic outcome.
There is absolute biological intelligence in our symptoms, which has direct connections to our emotions, thoughts/beliefs, stresses, lifestyle choices and the social environment we’re in.
There are very definitive themes which correlate to organ tissue symptoms and the presenting emotional stressors, beliefs, lifestyle and social situations.
So I’m inviting you to consider the paradigm shift from our current thinking of how symptoms occur and instead understand that there isn’t any randomness happening in our bodies when symptoms occur. They aren’t happening by accident…such as eczema, back pain, hearing loss, carcinoma in situ, chronic digestive issues, weight-gain…or fill in the_______.
Organ tissue (e.g. your digestion has many parts like stomach mucosa, oesophagus; the liver has parenchyma and gallbladder ducts etc) all respond in us in different ways, affected by different processes. So I encourage you to be open to the fact the stressors we have in our lives impact very specific parts of the body…specific organ tissue, according to how we perceive the world we live in.
Emotions we may feel, thoughts or beliefs we may have, affect, energetically speaking, very specific parts of our physiology e.g. repeatedly thinking and feeling “I’m not good enough…I’m not strong enough” will show up somewhere in the muscular-skeletal system…and often this is all happening in the sub-conscious mind, not our day-to-day conscious mind.
The same applies to our social environment which we live, work and play in and experiences we may have in these spaces. They again affect very specific parts of our body according to how we, as individuals perceive the situation, which translates as a conflict for us, according to our world view, how we see and interpret things in life.
Our lifestyle also plays a part…vitality, diet, fitness, sleep patterns all affect us. Not just for healthy living but also comfortable longevity, which has a good quality to it…physically, mentally and emotionally.
I’ll be exploring the biological process and phases our bodies go through in my next posts. So stay tuned to find out more soon.
And in the meantime, if you have symptoms and a diagnosis, which you would like to understand more, get in touch or book a call to get the ball rolling for your health and wellness now.