I woke up with this thought of variety as the spice of life. It is something I have heard since I was knee high to the grasshopper. I am not sure I knew what it meant other than it is good to try different things. And so my child mind has grown up.
I have been thinking about variety and how we must have variety in the foods we eat, not only daily but seasonally, and how much of this is habitual. Then I was thinking about exercise and the same thing applies. We know that we become physically unbalanced or hurt if we do the same exercise repeatedly. We have a concept of mixing the exercises up to cover the basic large muscle groups such as something for the legs, which usually doubles as a cardiovascular exercise, them we do something for the chest and triceps and them back and biceps. So by the end of the week we have pushed and pulled and worked our legs and if we are lucky and motivated, we have done some abdominal work. Once we get a “program” we tend to stick to it.
This is the same pattern as our eating. We have foods we like and we generally stick to them. At the end of the week, we have been on an exercise “diet” and we have also been on an eating “diet” and when the thinking is habitual, we have a thinking “diet.”
I use the word “diet” deliberately. The first 3 letters of the word spell “die.” The Concise Oxford Dictionary has defined diet as “…feed (person, oneself) on special food as medical regimen or punishment. Diet originates from the Greek word, diaita, meaning “way of life”.
Our “way of life” has become a form of punishment because there is no variety in our thinking, in our attitude, our choice of words, in our choices of food, and types of exercise we do, or do not do. No variety in life equals no spice! Spice to me is animation and living to the full sensory, thinking, loving emotional experience possible. If we are not doing this, then we are living the opposite and punishment of stasis becomes the norm. Our lives on all levels and facets become conditioned and squeezed into a box of conformity and habit. This comes down to mindless movement and mindless eating and all stem from a mind that is not thinking leaving us with less mind. We seem to stop thinking once we have a routine established and we become robotic sleepwalkers. This is not living.
There are some things that are good to have as routine to make our transitions from sleep to work easier. Routines are good to have in that they allow an easy flow to occur. Then there is the fine line between routine and habit. In my mind, the difference is habit goes with an unthinking mind and routine is about being conscious and when one is conscious then adaptability and flexibility are infused into routine. This offers us organization and structure within and without.
I am not focused on what the numbers on a scale say and have not been at any time in this life but this does not mean I have not been on a diet! I did my first food diary years ago now and was amazed to discover just how habitual my selections had become. I was buying the same thing week in and week out with a modicum of variety. I like vegetables and fruits. I discovered I was buying the same fruits and the vegetables did have a slightly broader range than the fruits. Once this came to my attention I shifted gears immediately and tried to vary the fruits and the vegetables and felt the difference immediately within my cells. It really is about being conscious, being mindful, and changing. This is the spice of life.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Sunday, February 17, 2008
some other links worth reading.....
I offer these two links that offer different perspectives and are interesting...at least they are to me. Do check them out. I do not think you will be disappointed.
Go well into this very grand day....carpe diem!
http://spiritualphilosophymymusings.blogspot.com/
http://michaelslight.blogspot.com/
This blog is posted by a good friend of mine so i hope you enjoy her writing as much as i do....
Raewyn
Go well into this very grand day....carpe diem!
http://spiritualphilosophymymusings.blogspot.com/
http://michaelslight.blogspot.com/
This blog is posted by a good friend of mine so i hope you enjoy her writing as much as i do....
Raewyn
Friday, February 8, 2008
sugars, fat and inflamation of cells
A client showed me what he was using to snack on and the first ingredient was fructose and a little further down the list of ingredients was high fructose corn syrup. I was amazed and not surprised that he was struggling to lose a few pounds.
Fructose is as deadly in the body as high fructose corn syrup. It is a bit like putting sugat in the gas tank of our car and expecting good performance! These sugars are what I call “dead food” (as in lethal!) because they have no vibration as a result of having absolutely no nutritional value. I feel the same way about processed cereals. The contents may have started out as living foods but in the process of getting it into a pretty box for supermarket shelves, the “living foods” had the stuffing knocked out of them and any relationship to life and goodness that could be transferred to our cells is totally gone in the end product. The food has no life-force left in them.
The infusion of fructose, and high fructose corn syrup into “food stuffs” really should be held up as an offense against humanity as detrimental to our health and well being. These chemicals hold no enzymes to begin the break down of foods, nor do they contain any vitamins or essential minerals. Because of this lack, these “dead foods” interfere with the natural functions of the body and impede essential organs from using essential minerals. When I see the word “essential” I take it to mean I require them to function well.
If we look at when fructose corn syrup became imbued in the American food chain and looked at the dramatic rise in obesity and related illnesses, I feel we do not have to look too far to see a direct correlation to the synthetic, artificial “foods” we have been ingesting. We have to look at the quality and the quantity of our foods, air and water we are taking in. This is just one small example of how we are killing ourselves and creating a lot of pain and discomfort along the way. These synthetic foods we are eating are setting up a tremendous inflammatory state within our cells because these “foods” do not follow the natural (Nature) pattern of our design. It is well known that the body is challenged to heal and lose excess fat when the cells are inflamed. To eat “foods” containing high fructose corn syrup, for example and man-made synthetic chemicals is a perfect recipe for inflammation of cells, excess fat and all diseases that it brings with it when the body is out of balance.
We are going to be as healthy as the soil and the foods grown in it. Steiner has this part of the equation for health correct. To look around at the general population we can see that we have a major health problem. We have an epidemic of excess fat, and this epidemic is symbolic of our underlying dis-ease. It is in our face and we cannot miss the importance of what we are showing ourselves. We have a choice to be balanced and healthy and to do so we have to accept responsibility to change how we think and act. We have to line up our thinking, with our words and our behaviour with our commitment to change. No one can do this for us, nor can we do this for others. It is all our very “in our face” personal choice and to act on the decision to change is our gift of love to ourself.
We have separated ourselves from mother Earth and Nature and in doing so; we have separated ourselves from our health. Obesity and its related risk factors (heart disease, strokes, diabetes, hypertension to name a few) all have a direct link to the quality and quantity of what we are eating, drinking, breathing and movement of mind and body.
Fructose is as deadly in the body as high fructose corn syrup. It is a bit like putting sugat in the gas tank of our car and expecting good performance! These sugars are what I call “dead food” (as in lethal!) because they have no vibration as a result of having absolutely no nutritional value. I feel the same way about processed cereals. The contents may have started out as living foods but in the process of getting it into a pretty box for supermarket shelves, the “living foods” had the stuffing knocked out of them and any relationship to life and goodness that could be transferred to our cells is totally gone in the end product. The food has no life-force left in them.
The infusion of fructose, and high fructose corn syrup into “food stuffs” really should be held up as an offense against humanity as detrimental to our health and well being. These chemicals hold no enzymes to begin the break down of foods, nor do they contain any vitamins or essential minerals. Because of this lack, these “dead foods” interfere with the natural functions of the body and impede essential organs from using essential minerals. When I see the word “essential” I take it to mean I require them to function well.
If we look at when fructose corn syrup became imbued in the American food chain and looked at the dramatic rise in obesity and related illnesses, I feel we do not have to look too far to see a direct correlation to the synthetic, artificial “foods” we have been ingesting. We have to look at the quality and the quantity of our foods, air and water we are taking in. This is just one small example of how we are killing ourselves and creating a lot of pain and discomfort along the way. These synthetic foods we are eating are setting up a tremendous inflammatory state within our cells because these “foods” do not follow the natural (Nature) pattern of our design. It is well known that the body is challenged to heal and lose excess fat when the cells are inflamed. To eat “foods” containing high fructose corn syrup, for example and man-made synthetic chemicals is a perfect recipe for inflammation of cells, excess fat and all diseases that it brings with it when the body is out of balance.
We are going to be as healthy as the soil and the foods grown in it. Steiner has this part of the equation for health correct. To look around at the general population we can see that we have a major health problem. We have an epidemic of excess fat, and this epidemic is symbolic of our underlying dis-ease. It is in our face and we cannot miss the importance of what we are showing ourselves. We have a choice to be balanced and healthy and to do so we have to accept responsibility to change how we think and act. We have to line up our thinking, with our words and our behaviour with our commitment to change. No one can do this for us, nor can we do this for others. It is all our very “in our face” personal choice and to act on the decision to change is our gift of love to ourself.
We have separated ourselves from mother Earth and Nature and in doing so; we have separated ourselves from our health. Obesity and its related risk factors (heart disease, strokes, diabetes, hypertension to name a few) all have a direct link to the quality and quantity of what we are eating, drinking, breathing and movement of mind and body.
Monday, January 21, 2008
stress and pH of cells and memories etc
Stress acts to deplete the body of trace minerals and minerals, in the same way that a negative attitude does. When stress is the state of mind, digestion, absorption and more than likely, elimination are all affected. Stressful situations are a part of life and I feel they are personal. What is stressful to one person may not be so for another. Preparing a formal dinner for 10, public speaking, doing tax returns, having a loved one die, moving to a different state, finding a snake in the bathtub are just some examples of a range of stress buttons that people experience and not everyone has the same exact buttons.
How to deal with stressful situations and maintain health? Being conscious is the first thing. I think back to my more stressful moments and what was happening to me chemically. It all makes sense now. When my mother was in her transition process, I felt like I stepped out of my life here and lived a huge chunk of it having an incredible experience to just as suddenly return to my life here again and attempt to pick up where I had left off. Everything was the same and yet everything had changed. It was a peculiar state to be in. In 28 days, I had flown thousands of miles to another country, in opposite season, and 17 hour time zone difference. I had spent a week at the hospital with my mother as she said her goodbyes and prepared for her own transition. In the remaining 2 weeks I had arranged her funeral, auctioned off the household and sold the house. All physical ties to town and country had been removed. I returned to the states and picked up my life. Throughout the whole ordeal I was eating well. I still dropped a lot of weight and experienced waves of grief for many months afterwards. I am sure I was in a more acidic state than normal. The one thing I was not doing was supplementing with minerals and vitamins. The stress I was feeling through my grief, used up a lot of minerals, particularly calcium which showed up dramatically with a broken tooth, and this brought on another lot of stress for me. Sometimes i think stress is just another label for giref.
Spiritual philosophy has offered me tools to cope with such things and I am grateful! Even though my mother’s death was an emotional shock, I still felt an internal buoyancy or support that allowed me to achieve a lot in a short time. I feel that each experience is either accepted as stepping stones for growth and change or as stumbling blocks. It all comes back to choice on how we wish to respond to life.
Since my mother has moved on, I am remembering things she used to say. They surface at odd times when a memory node gets nudged and I hear my mother’s voice in my head. There is one memory that came up the other day for me and I sat and savoured it. It was over a cup of tea that Mum said to me, “When you get a handle on patience, everything falls into place.” I felt the profundity of her words. I watched her live this in the last few years of her life and am conscious of the gift she offered. She gifted me with life and her life has continued to offer me treasures. I am finding that the more I learn about my self, the greater my appreciation I have for my mother and the role she played for me. The more I learn, the easier life becomes, the less stress I take on, the healthier I become. Life is good.
How to deal with stressful situations and maintain health? Being conscious is the first thing. I think back to my more stressful moments and what was happening to me chemically. It all makes sense now. When my mother was in her transition process, I felt like I stepped out of my life here and lived a huge chunk of it having an incredible experience to just as suddenly return to my life here again and attempt to pick up where I had left off. Everything was the same and yet everything had changed. It was a peculiar state to be in. In 28 days, I had flown thousands of miles to another country, in opposite season, and 17 hour time zone difference. I had spent a week at the hospital with my mother as she said her goodbyes and prepared for her own transition. In the remaining 2 weeks I had arranged her funeral, auctioned off the household and sold the house. All physical ties to town and country had been removed. I returned to the states and picked up my life. Throughout the whole ordeal I was eating well. I still dropped a lot of weight and experienced waves of grief for many months afterwards. I am sure I was in a more acidic state than normal. The one thing I was not doing was supplementing with minerals and vitamins. The stress I was feeling through my grief, used up a lot of minerals, particularly calcium which showed up dramatically with a broken tooth, and this brought on another lot of stress for me. Sometimes i think stress is just another label for giref.
Spiritual philosophy has offered me tools to cope with such things and I am grateful! Even though my mother’s death was an emotional shock, I still felt an internal buoyancy or support that allowed me to achieve a lot in a short time. I feel that each experience is either accepted as stepping stones for growth and change or as stumbling blocks. It all comes back to choice on how we wish to respond to life.
Since my mother has moved on, I am remembering things she used to say. They surface at odd times when a memory node gets nudged and I hear my mother’s voice in my head. There is one memory that came up the other day for me and I sat and savoured it. It was over a cup of tea that Mum said to me, “When you get a handle on patience, everything falls into place.” I felt the profundity of her words. I watched her live this in the last few years of her life and am conscious of the gift she offered. She gifted me with life and her life has continued to offer me treasures. I am finding that the more I learn about my self, the greater my appreciation I have for my mother and the role she played for me. The more I learn, the easier life becomes, the less stress I take on, the healthier I become. Life is good.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Attitude and the pH of our cells
What attitude we chose to wear is solely our choice; it can be either positive or negative, depending on where the mind is focused. When the mind is swirling in negative thoughts, the trace mineral and minerals in the body are used up quickly. This chemical change means there is a shift in our vibration, or energy field. Just as plants take up pesticides and synthetic fertilizers ahead of the minerals of nature and alter their vibratory state with the “foreign” chemicals, so to does our body. Our mind focus determines our attitude, combined with organically produced foods, clean air and water, and all determine our vibration because of the chemicals used and this in turn affects the pH of our cells. A negative mind results in a more acid pH.
The openness of our mind, the gratitude and excitement being lived, build up the trace elements and minerals to a more expanded state. This means that the energy field has a higher vibration and more expansive and therefore, the cellular state is more alkaline. Our natural state of being is to be love and live joyfully. This is health!
The openness of our mind, the gratitude and excitement being lived, build up the trace elements and minerals to a more expanded state. This means that the energy field has a higher vibration and more expansive and therefore, the cellular state is more alkaline. Our natural state of being is to be love and live joyfully. This is health!
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Weight Loss and Chemical balance
I was asked what the upcoming class was about and so i offer this as an overview.
I will begin by stating that the body is challenged to drop excess fat when the cells are in a state of inflammation. This is not a new concept. It has been around for a while and has been recognized as the basis of a lot of pain (mental, emotional, physical) and even disease processes. Typically the common course of action is to alleviate the “issue” with more chemicals/drugs that put us further out of balance. We know that pesticides, fungicides, artificial “foods” (man-made and not from/of nature) added sweeteners and dyes are all out of sync with our chemical design. So changing our foods to be of Nature and organically grown is to use food as medicine. It is also the first step towards loving, respecting and valuing self (Nature and Earth) and taking up the reins of personal responsibility to help in change of the health of All.
Do you know the body has pH levels like the soil does? Just as plants grow best with the right pH level, the pH of the body has a large bearing on the health of the cells. When our body becomes too acidic, we become “ripe” for dis-ease, disease and basically a sick body. A sick body means that our mind and emotional state are also affected because we are a total package of energy of mind, emotion and spirit. It is all reflected into the body.
Hippocrates said, “You are what you eat” and this is true. We are intricately and intimately connected through the chemicals of the foods from Nature, the water and minerals of Earth, and the air from the Universe. When we pollute Nature and Earth with pesticides, use chemicals to force growth, genetically engineer crops, dump toxic chemicals into our ground-water supply or empty toxic chemicals into the air, we pollute our chemical balance. We open ourselves up for inflammation and disease. Whatever we eat, we have to ask this question. How was it grown or processed? We are not separate from our “home on Earth” any more than we are separate from our “body as our home.” We are truly what we eat.
When we are chemically out of balance, we can be in a state of inflammation. It is challenging to lose weight when the cells are inflamed.I like to flip this truism of Hippocrates around to “eat what you are” as I think of our atomic signature being carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, mineral and essential fatty acids, minerals and various combinations of all of these. This is our connection to Earth, Nature and the Universe.
Our thoughts create our reality. It is our choice what our thoughts are. It is our choice of what words we use. It is our choice of what actions we take. Everything is Choice. It is our choice to be in a negative energy field. It is our choice to chase or obsess on things/people/actions (acid producing for cells). Or we can focus our mind in a positive way and produce a positive and expansive energy field…no-one else can make this choice for us. To eat an entire packet of cookies in one sitting (or as a “reward”) is our choice. To allow another’s fear and negativity to expand ours is to create dramas and live in chaos. This action is also showing how a negative mind is running the show and dictating all actions.
Everything is related and therefore cannot be separated in any way, shape or form. This means that to address health, nutrition and weight loss, I have to bring in how the mind is thinking, what the feeling sense is being lived and what emotions are being used. This also applies to the physical movement, stage in life and stress and all are dependant upon the quality and quantity of air, food and water being ingested. These then relate to the health of us, the Earth, Nature and Universe. The bottom line is that it does not matter where we begin or end as all areas are interwoven and interpenetrated and there is not one thing that can stand on its own. It is our thinking mind that determines our energy field we chose to live in.
Nothing is separate and “nothing comes from nothing.” Everything begins with the mind and is reflected into the body.
Want to hear more on Holistic Weight Loss and Health? Call 919-545-0619 to reserve a seat for a class on January 23rd at 7 pm at Unity Books & Stuff in downtown Pittsboro....or contact me directly info@healthischoice.com
I will begin by stating that the body is challenged to drop excess fat when the cells are in a state of inflammation. This is not a new concept. It has been around for a while and has been recognized as the basis of a lot of pain (mental, emotional, physical) and even disease processes. Typically the common course of action is to alleviate the “issue” with more chemicals/drugs that put us further out of balance. We know that pesticides, fungicides, artificial “foods” (man-made and not from/of nature) added sweeteners and dyes are all out of sync with our chemical design. So changing our foods to be of Nature and organically grown is to use food as medicine. It is also the first step towards loving, respecting and valuing self (Nature and Earth) and taking up the reins of personal responsibility to help in change of the health of All.
Do you know the body has pH levels like the soil does? Just as plants grow best with the right pH level, the pH of the body has a large bearing on the health of the cells. When our body becomes too acidic, we become “ripe” for dis-ease, disease and basically a sick body. A sick body means that our mind and emotional state are also affected because we are a total package of energy of mind, emotion and spirit. It is all reflected into the body.
Hippocrates said, “You are what you eat” and this is true. We are intricately and intimately connected through the chemicals of the foods from Nature, the water and minerals of Earth, and the air from the Universe. When we pollute Nature and Earth with pesticides, use chemicals to force growth, genetically engineer crops, dump toxic chemicals into our ground-water supply or empty toxic chemicals into the air, we pollute our chemical balance. We open ourselves up for inflammation and disease. Whatever we eat, we have to ask this question. How was it grown or processed? We are not separate from our “home on Earth” any more than we are separate from our “body as our home.” We are truly what we eat.
When we are chemically out of balance, we can be in a state of inflammation. It is challenging to lose weight when the cells are inflamed.I like to flip this truism of Hippocrates around to “eat what you are” as I think of our atomic signature being carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, mineral and essential fatty acids, minerals and various combinations of all of these. This is our connection to Earth, Nature and the Universe.
Our thoughts create our reality. It is our choice what our thoughts are. It is our choice of what words we use. It is our choice of what actions we take. Everything is Choice. It is our choice to be in a negative energy field. It is our choice to chase or obsess on things/people/actions (acid producing for cells). Or we can focus our mind in a positive way and produce a positive and expansive energy field…no-one else can make this choice for us. To eat an entire packet of cookies in one sitting (or as a “reward”) is our choice. To allow another’s fear and negativity to expand ours is to create dramas and live in chaos. This action is also showing how a negative mind is running the show and dictating all actions.
Everything is related and therefore cannot be separated in any way, shape or form. This means that to address health, nutrition and weight loss, I have to bring in how the mind is thinking, what the feeling sense is being lived and what emotions are being used. This also applies to the physical movement, stage in life and stress and all are dependant upon the quality and quantity of air, food and water being ingested. These then relate to the health of us, the Earth, Nature and Universe. The bottom line is that it does not matter where we begin or end as all areas are interwoven and interpenetrated and there is not one thing that can stand on its own. It is our thinking mind that determines our energy field we chose to live in.
Nothing is separate and “nothing comes from nothing.” Everything begins with the mind and is reflected into the body.
Want to hear more on Holistic Weight Loss and Health? Call 919-545-0619 to reserve a seat for a class on January 23rd at 7 pm at Unity Books & Stuff in downtown Pittsboro....or contact me directly info@healthischoice.com
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
an upcoming class
WE CAN’T HAVE SWEET THOUGHTS ON A SOUR STOMACH!
An Introduction to
HOLISTIC WEIGHT LOSS
Discover your emotional, mental, sensory triggers and release your blocks to begin your healing journey. With 20 years experience working with clients, I have found a holistic approach to be the most effective in attaining weight loss and lifestyle changes for health.
· WE ARE MORE THAN JUST A PHYSICAL BODY
· HOW THOUGHTS, NUTRITION, LIFESTYLE CAN INFLUENCE STATE OF CELLULAR INFLAMATION AND pH OF OUR CELLS
· HOW WE ARE INNOCENTLY SABOTAGING OURSELVES
Raewyn Cooper M.S, CNDP www.healthischoice.com
Where? Unity Books & Stuff, PITTSBORO ….919 545-0619
When? January 23rd 2008 @ 7-9 pm
Cost? $25.00 … bring notepaper and pen
An Introduction to
HOLISTIC WEIGHT LOSS
Discover your emotional, mental, sensory triggers and release your blocks to begin your healing journey. With 20 years experience working with clients, I have found a holistic approach to be the most effective in attaining weight loss and lifestyle changes for health.
· WE ARE MORE THAN JUST A PHYSICAL BODY
· HOW THOUGHTS, NUTRITION, LIFESTYLE CAN INFLUENCE STATE OF CELLULAR INFLAMATION AND pH OF OUR CELLS
· HOW WE ARE INNOCENTLY SABOTAGING OURSELVES
Raewyn Cooper M.S, CNDP www.healthischoice.com
Where? Unity Books & Stuff, PITTSBORO ….919 545-0619
When? January 23rd 2008 @ 7-9 pm
Cost? $25.00 … bring notepaper and pen
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