August 30th, 2010
We all know it is very important to have adequate intake of fiber ranging from oats, vegetables and fruits. But please keep in mind that you need to drink lots of water as well.
There was a case I heard where a person who had an inflammation of the stomach even though he took a lot of oats. The reason was because even though he has the habit of taking oats, he does not drink enough water.
Food like sweet potatos and yams are very good source of fiber. Sweet potatos can be just steamed together with your rice or in boiling water. It taste good enough even though eaten by itself. They have quite low Glyceamix Index- which means the food fills you up and there is no hunger pangs.
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Categories: Diets, Digestive Wellness
Tags: diet, digestive, fiber, gi
August 24th, 2010
I have heard stories of 2 AIDS patients in Thailand who have gone into remission told to me by my teacher. Initially, I thought that if I have written about it on this blog, no one would have believed me. But when I read the same thing being written by Barbara Hoberman Levine in her book Your Body Believes Every Word You Say, I realized that it is indeed true that it is possible that the virus could go into remission:
As early as the late 1980s reports began to appear about long-time survivors of the usually deathly AIDS virus. An Advanced Immune Discoveries Symposium in Los Angeles featured a panel of ten long term survivors. AIDS patient and some long-term survivors have appeared on several TV talk shows, often bringing messages of hope. One man said he no longer tests positive for AIDS, although he had had several bouts with AIDS symptoms- pneumonia and cancer. A woman in the audience who had been diagnosed with Aids Related Complex (ARC) was also now virus free. ARC was then considered the precursor to fullblown AIDS.
By February 1997, it was widely reported by the Centers for Disease Control, that for the first time ever, there had been a 13% decline in the death rates from AIDS. Then in June 1998 an article in New York Times Magazine reported on what “scientists had known for some time about a small group of people they call long-term nonprogressors.” These people “suppress the virus without ever taking drugs.”
~Excerpt from Body Believes Every Word You Say page 57
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Categories: Others
Tags: immune system, mind over matter
August 17th, 2010
I once know of someone who was suffering from schizophrenia. This man was disconnected from reality because he had not been able to deal with it. He suffered in silence and remained an outcast both to society and his family. The rejection, disgust and lack of understanding shown to him had worsen some of his behavior, some which were socially unacceptable. He told me that he had been hearing voices and seeing dark shadows- which became increasingly intense as the years go by. But due to his personality, his condition was not aggressive- it was just socially unacceptable.
After many years of suffering from that condition, he died suddenly one day. But about 2 years before he passed away, I saw the light of life went out from his eyes. They say, ‘the eyes is the window of the soul”- and there is a lot of truth in this saying.
When the eyes have no light and life in them- the spirit of the person is weak- usually due to a lack of motivation to live. It is possible for a person to slowly commit suicide because of deep loneliness and feelings of isolation- not everyone chooses to quickly end it through jumping down a building.
We all live within the ‘realities’ that we create within our world. Society tends to have defined social norms that is supposedly be understood. When a person exhibit behavior that deviates from the social norm, that person is labeled as abnormal and sometimes being placed in a mental hospital. Decades ago, the treatment was even inhumane- those thought to have mental abnormality are given electric shocks at the arbitrary discretion of the doctor (there is no standard prescribed dosage to give as no one really understood how these treatment works)- the treatment had since been discontinued because it had shown to be ineffective.
One of the main symptoms of a person suffering from schizophrenia is the fact that the person hears voices and have hallucination.
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Categories: Inner Peace
Tags: Inner Peace, meditation
August 10th, 2010
A friend of mine shared with me that she used to have a number of health problems. When she attempted to treat using Western medicine, the doctors could not find anything wrong with her. She later tried to take Chinese medicine- it helped a little to relief her condition.
Because I know her personally, and am aware of some deep personal issues that she is going through, I told her that her health problem could be related to her emotional well-being. As such, only healing her emotional health will help her overcome her outward health problems. Medicine is not so effective in this sense. And I asked her because I was sure that the Chinese sinseh should be able to detect her emotional imbalance when he felt her pulse (because in Chinese medicine, physicians do not only treat the physical symptoms, they also treat the emotional and spiritual aspects).
She laughed and said that it’s very true. The sinseh told her that her health problem was related to her emotional and therefore the medicine would not be totally effective. In fact, initially he asked her after feeling her pulse at the wrist: “how’s your work? Is it stressful? Do you go for holidays? Why not you go to walk around nature to relax yourself?”
The next round when my friend went back for follow-up, he felt her pulse and suggested why not she goes for bowling.
It is the sinseh’s way of asking my friend to cheer up, relax and let go. As he could not think of more sophisticated methods, he only know of walks in nature and bowling (probably because someone told him about bowling).
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Categories: Inner Peace, Mind-Body Connection
Tags: chinese medicine, Fatigue, Inner Peace, mind over matter
August 3rd, 2010
Treatments for acne, especially those found in private dermatologist center can literally cost a huge chunk of someone’s monthly salary. Because having acne on the face affects one’s self confidence so deeply, those who could not find help in various expensive over-the-counter medication and supplements have no choice to be resort to these centers as the last resort.
Many skin products that seemed to be effective in treating acne would probably contained chemicals like steroids, which is detrimental to the body’s health.
If there is a free alternative, effective but tough to implement, I wonder if anyone’s willing to try it?
Based on a recent book that I am reading, called Your Body Believes Every Word You Say by Barbara Hoberman Levine, she offered some hope for acne sufferers through a research on the works of Dr Wallace C Ellerbroek. Below is an excerpt from her book (page 54- 55):
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Categories: Mind-Body Connection
Tags: acne, mind over matter, skin
July 28th, 2010
A professor that I once took a course in during university had a hunched back and drooping head. When he conducted his lectures, he never looked at us- he always looked down and had conversations with the slides that were displayed on the projector. Even when he walked, his head drooped downwards and his gaze had always been downwards.
He looked defeated. Despite the prestige and job security, the burdens in life that he had to carry with him must be so heavy that it literally weighed his back and head, causing his back to hunch forward. That with a drooping head the burdens got too heavy- the person feels defeated.
Hunched back could also be a manifestation of the emotional pains and burdens that a person is carrying- so much that the back literally buckled under the weight.
At first, I had thought that a hunched back is a structural problem- and my apologies if what I am writing here does not apply to you. But this article is written based on my personal observations on those with a hunched back.
Let’s share a case study- again, this is just an example and not all people with hunched back share similar attributes:
I used to know someone who had a hunched back. No doubt, hunched back is usually attributed to tall people and he is above average in height. But as I also know this person- he is single but have a lot of commitments- he had to earn to pay and support his family, he also bought a house and so need to pay for mortgage. In the job, he was constantly bullied and made to do more because he does not complain (he was worried about losing his job because his family back in his hometown depended on him).
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Categories: Mind-Body Connection, Posture
Tags: back, head, hunched back, mind over matter, muscle imbalance
July 24th, 2010
The gallbladder is known as “dan” in Chinese language and it means courage. In the West, when we may say “the gall of you!”, similarly to saying “how dare you!”.
If a person has a small or weak gallbladder, it implies lack of courage, timidity, fear and indecisiveness. On the other hand, a person who is impulse, short fuse and constantly react out of anger could be also having an imbalanced or large gallbladder.
A strong and balanced gallbladder helps a person to be more assertive, stable and decisive.
When a person has a small gallbladder, she will find difficulty digesting food that are high in fat. Therefore, sometimes she can feel very bloated after a heavy and fatty meal, or sometimes there can be pain indicating that there could be gallstones forming.
Many people do not want to go for the operation to remove the gallbladder- and therefore they wanted to try holistic method like the gallbladder flush or cleanse (but of course, when the situation has become critical, there is no other option but to operate).
But before things get out of hand, the initial signs are usually there. Hard to digest fatty food, the ultrasound indicates a small gallbladder. Don’t be disheartened- there is hope and what you are about to do not only can improve your gallbladder health, but transforms you life as well.
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Categories: Digestive Wellness, Mind-Body Connection
Tags: gallbladder, mind over matter
July 19th, 2010
The lower back acts as a support that holds our body together. Inactive lifestyle, being overweight, past injuries and sitting positions have been identified as the main causes of lower back problem. The recommended prescription: Exercise, more stretching, develop a strong core, sleeping on a better bed, and note ergonomic aspects when you are working.
What if you have done all the above, but find that your lower back is bothering you? You attend Pilates and yoga classes religiously, got your boss to buy you a good office chair and sleep on an expensive bed that is supposedly good for your back. But your back still hurts and nothing shows up in the medical scans- why?
You may be able to find the answers in the kind of support that you receive in your life. Do you have adequate support in life- mostly emotionally?
If the pain is more pronounced on the left side, it could relate on the feminine aspects of our personality or the females in our lives. If it is on the right, then it could either be the masculine aspect of our personality or the males in our lives.
Sometimes at work, we are very much on our own- our bosses does not support us and our subordinates give us all kinds of attitude problems. The feeling of being unsupported and the deep wish for help and acceptance can express themselves in a chronic lower back problem.
Or if we want to venture in something like a business venture and everyone’s dead set against it. Not only we receive no support, but we are constantly being put down and being told that we cannot make it. It hurts even more when the lack of support came from people who we loved the most. Then we run into problems in our life’s direction and had no one to turn to- in this period of crisis, our back problems seemed to flare up. We thought that perhaps it is due to working too hard and insufficient exercise. But if we do have the time to go for exercise or massage, we may find that it only offers temporarily relief. After a while, it flares up again- especially so when we are stressed and overwhelmed.
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Categories: Mind-Body Connection, Posture
Tags: Inner Peace, lower back, mind over matter, pain, stress
