There is a growing belief among complementary therapists that our emotional state can often hold the key to the pains or illnesses we suffer from, and this is a topic I’m going to explore in this blog post.

photo credit: Lotus Carroll

Ailments and emotions
I’ve been writing about spirituality and alternative therapies for several years now, and I’ve discussed the links between physical ailments and emotions with many different practitioners.

The general thinking is that when a person experiences an emotionally traumatic event – for example a bereavement or a relationship break-up – this can bring about a blocking of the body’s normally free-flowing energy or “chi”. If this block is allowed to continue, the body becomes unbalanced, which can lead to pain and illness. By analysing and tackling the emotional cause of the energy block, the resulting ailment can often be eased.

Out of balance
Reiki practitioner Julie Mills uses a mixture of energy healing and conventional counselling when working with her clients. She told me: “Often if a person is in a state of emotional stress then this can lead to tension in the body and the muscles, which in turn leads to aches and pains and even illness, rendering the body unbalanced. I find that it can really help to address the underlying emotional situation in order to tackle the source of pain.”

photo credit: eduardo.meza

Holistic healing
Journey therapist Carolyn Brown shares this way of thinking and also uses a mixture of conventional and complementary therapies. Originally she trained as a physiotherapist but became frustrated by the fact that she was unable to fully heal her clients. She looked towards a more holistic way of thinking, and came across the practice of Journey Therapy.

“Through the Journey method I help my clients to find the emotional source of their pain,” she says. “I then use a process of guided visualisation to help them work through the issue and come to a form of resolution. I have had excellent results and found the Journey work to have helped where the physiotherapy couldn’t.”

Personal experience
Spiritual healer Emily Mayfield knows from personal experience how a person’s emotional state can affect their health. When she first started working as a healer she found herself feeling permanently exhausted and run down.

After talking to other alternative practitioners she came to the conclusion that she had taken on board her clients’ emotional problems and that the distress this caused her had led to her falling ill.

“I realised I had to distance myself from their problems and to heal myself before I could carry on healing others,” she says.

Holistic therapies
Here are some holistic therapies which tackle the emotional causes of pain and illness, and which you may find of interest.

Dru Yoga
The philosophy behind Dru Yoga is that there are five layers or “koshas” of our being. These begin with the physical body, followed by the “prana” or energy levels. Next is the emotional layer, followed by the intellectual layer and finally the blissful layer or soul force. Through practising certain postures, hand movements and breathing exercises, the individual learns how to target each layer directly to allow a healing transformation to take place.

When practising Dru Yoga, participants are often said to find that traumas and emotionally distressing thoughts come up to the surface, but are gently and slowly released through the physical body.

photo credit: Nicholas_T

Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)
Described as an emotional form of acupuncture, EFT involves stimulating various energy meridian points on the body by tapping on them with the fingertips. During a session the practitioner will get the client to tune in to the problem they want to address, then tap the 11 acupressure points along with a series of affirmations.

The belief behind EFT is that unresolved negative emotions contribute to most of our physical ailments and that EFT can help to clear away this “emotional debris”.

Zero Balancing
This hands-on therapy is said to be particularly helpful in treating stress and the illnesses caused or exacerbated by it. Practitioners claim it encourages a feeling of quietness and centeredness within the body and mind, helping a person to cope better with changes as well as helping to resolve past trauma.

Zero balancers believe that physical damage can lead to blockages in the body’s energy flow, resulting in emotional trauma, and likewise that emotional shocks can result in physical symptoms. Therefore practitioners aim to bring about harmony between the physical body and its energy flow.

What do you think about the links between our emotions and our physical ailments? Do get in touch as I’d love to hear your views!

About the author: Liz Parry is a writer specialising in holistic health and wellbeing, personal development and spirituality.

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What are affirmations?
Put simply, affirmations are statements we make to ourselves, and these can be either positive or negative.  Throughout the day our minds are filled with thoughts and chatter and this is, in effect, a stream of affirmations. For example, you might find yourself thinking: “I’m so broke. My paycheck never seems to last,” which is a negative affirmation. But at another time you might find yourself thinking something more positive like: “I love this weather. What a gorgeous day.”

Through these statements of fact that we make to ourselves we are subconsciously creating our life experiences. Our beliefs about life are just learned thought patterns which we have developed since childhood. Some of these may work to our advantage, but others can work against us, stopping us from achieving our potential.  So every affirmation we make to ourselves is a reflection of our beliefs.  If you find yourself constantly making negative affirmations it follows that your beliefs about life will be negative.

In order to turn this around, you could start practising positive affirmations to train your subconscious mind towards a more positive state. It’s basically reprogramming your mind for the better.

photo credit: jjay69

How to create affirmations
Start by thinking about the different areas of your life that you would like to improve, eg health, finances, work, relationships, spiritual growth and so on. Think about each area in turn and write down a few positive statements summing up how you would like this area of your life to be. It’s important that the statements are in the present tense and are positive, focusing on what you DO want rather than what you DON’T want.

Here are some examples of positive affirmations, relating to different areas of life. You might want to try these yourself, but it’s much better to write your own as they are tailored specifically to you.

• I have a healthy body and a happy mind.
• I have plenty of energy.
• My mind is calm and relaxed.
• I have an enjoyable and fulfilling job.
• Money flows easily and naturally into my life.
• I radiate love and happiness.
• I have a happy, loving relationship with my partner.
• I am successful in all that I do.

How to use affirmations
The way to use affirmations is to repeat them on a constant, daily basis so that they sink into your subconscious. You could incorporate this as part of your daily routine. For example, as you are brushing your teeth or showering, remind yourself to repeat your affirmations. As you are doing your hair or dressing, look at yourself in the mirror and repeat your affirmations. This is a very powerful way of making these statements hit home.

Another idea is to write your affirmations on pieces of paper and leave them in places around your home where you will see them and be reminded of them. You could get together some cards and write a different affirmation on each one, place them in a bowl and draw one out each day, with the intention of focusing on that particular affirmation.

Why not use your imagination to come up with different ways to work with your affirmations? Good luck and stay positive!

About the author: Liz Parry is a writer specialising in holistic health and wellbeing, personal development and spirituality.

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So, for this particular blog post I thought I’d suggest some of my favourite natural pick-me-ups to help you get through the daily grind still feeling fresh and raring to go.

photo credit: JPott

Yogic breathing
An ancient yogic breathing technique known as alternate nostril breathing will give your energy levels a boost, if you’re feeling listless. The theory is that by breathing through one nostril at a time, you take in equal amounts of oxygen to both sides of the brain, therefore boosting overall brain function. Here’s how to do it:

Hold your right nostril closed with your right thumb, and breathe in slowly through your left nostril for a count of four. Close your left nostril with your ring finger and release your thumb from your right nostril. Exhale, steadily, through your right nostril, to the count of eight.

Then inhale through your right nostril for a count of four, close your right nostril with your thumb and breathe out through your left nostril for a count of eight. Start off practising a couple of rounds initially and gradually increase. I learnt this during a yoga retreat in India and I think it works really well.

Nutrition
As I said earlier, often the reason why we experience energy dips is because we’re not balancing our blood sugar levels. Foods containing sugar and refined carbohydrates cause a surge in blood sugar levels, later followed by a slump, leaving us feeling exhausted and in need of another sugar hit. Here are some tips to stop this happening:

Eat little and often. Try not to go more than three hours between each meal or snack. Include some protein with each meal or snack as this will slow down the release of sugars into your bloodstream and will help you feel full for longer. Good sources of protein include fish, lean meat, eggs, tofu, nuts, pulses and legumes.

Snack on a handful of almonds or walnuts; a couple of oatcakes with hummus or cottage cheese; or a few vegetable crudites with bean pate. Avoid alcohol, processed foods and refined carbohydrates such as white sugar and white flour as these leave you feeling sluggish.

photo credit: Rjabinnik and Rounien

Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy oils can be used in massage, added to baths or heated in an oil burner to freshen the air. A carefully chosen blend can invigorate the senses, lift your mood and restore your energy levels. However, it’s important to use essential oils with care, and remember that they must not be used undiluted on the skin.

For a natural pick-me-up, try combining the following blend of energising oils with an eggcupful of a pure base oil such as sweet almond:

• 1 drop of ylang ylang
• 2 drops of grapefruit
• 3 drops of bergamot

Then gently massage into your neck and shoulders in a rhythmic motion and feel those energy levels rising!

Store cupboard remedy
Next time you feel that mid-afternoon slump coming on, don’t reach for a double espresso, try a ginger and lemon tea instead. Here’s how to make it:

Take a two-inch piece of fresh ginger root, peel it thoroughly and cut into thin slices. Bring four cups of water to the boil in a saucepan and add the sliced ginger. Cover the pan and let it simmer for about 15 minutes. Strain the water, discarding the ginger, and pour into a mug. Add a slice of lemon and enjoy!

You can keep the remainder in a flask to drink throughout the day, whenever you feel in need of a lift.

About the author: Liz Parry is a writer specialising in holistic health and wellbeing, personal development and spirituality.

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Exercise

It may seem counterintuitive to think that exercise can actually calm your body and give you more energy at the same time, but it’s true. That’s because exercise releases your body’s feel-good chemicals, countering stress, anxiety, depression, and all that bad stuff that builds over time if you don’t take the time to care for yourself.

Meditate

Meditation is not just for hippies and monks, and there is a reason why it has been used for ages to achieve calm. It works. Don’t be confused by all the hype. While it is true that there are many different ways to meditate, it’s also true that it’s not necessary to meditate any “right” way. Basically, whatever works for you and helps you clear your mind from the day’s pressure is enough of a meditation to affect some real, positive change in your mental and emotional well-being.

Take a Break

It’s important that you balance your work and personal life, which means that, sometimes, you just have to take a break. Either schedule a couple of vacation days or call in sick, and just spend the time doing absolutely nothing. Don’t worry – your work will still be there when you return.

Guttural Breathing

This technique actually helps clear anxiety chemicals from your system by oxygenating the lower halfs of your lungs, which feed the blood vessels that are responsible for carrying chemicals away. Any time you’re feeling tense, try drawing a deep breath by pushing your stomach out and concentrating on using your diaphragm to pull air into the lowest portion of your lungs. Hold for a few seconds, then release and feel a wave of calm wash over your body.

Practice Being in the Moment

Be conscientious about concentrating on only one task at a time, and about ridding your mind of outside distractions and worries over what you should be doing next. It’ll turn into a habit, and you’ll feel so much lighter.

Take care of yourself. It’s not so hard. As a matter of fact, it can make your life a lot easier.

About the Author: Nicky Zolinski loves all things health, wellness, and fitness-related. She also relies on technological services like IT recruiting services, her smart phone, and other online sites to keep connected with her clients and friends.

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Have you ever had a chronic injury or illness that caused you a lot of pain no matter what you tried? It can be quite horrible. But did you know that science is now finding that meditation can help reduce pain just as much as pain killers? Fascinating isn’t it?

In this article we’ll take a look at some of the things science is discovering about meditation and pain and then look at some different resources you can tap in to if you want to give it a shot for yourself.

My background with pain and meditation

Although I have been lucky enough to meet quite a few meditation teachers, I have never really capitalized on my fortune. I am not someone who can speak about meditation from experience because I simply don’t do it enough.

But last year I got quite sick with a strange problem; a giant stone was stuck in my saliva gland and causing me more pain than I had ever experienced. And in my agony and despair I tried to do a bit of meditation and mind training in order to find some relief as well as to make the experience perhaps a little bit more meaningful.

And it worked. The most stress and pain free moments of that month were when I managed to calm down and focus on my breath for a little while. At that time I realized how much better off I might have been if I had trained in mediation prior to getting sick. It is no wonder Tibetan Buddhist Lamas are able to endure great hardships and illness without showing any pain at all. They have done years and years of isolated meditation.

Science and meditation for pain relief

So what exactly has science been finding out about meditation and pain relief? Actually, quite a lot. Since the early 1970′s American researchers and scientists have been working with Buddhist meditation experts because they discovered that meditation actually changes the way the brain works.

Realizing that they understood very little about all this, the scientists began taking MRIs and CAT scans whilst the yogis or lamas were meditating. The results were very interesting. Here is an excerpt from a recent article in the Sacremento Bee:

Researchers have found that people who meditate on a regular basis actually develop thicker brains – they increase the connections between their brain cells, and they also increase the network of blood vessels in the brain, especially in those areas that help us to focus and pay attention, as well as areas of the brain involved with self-awareness and empathy.

Meditation can also lead to a reduction in the area of the brain that is associated with pain and stress. In other words, we can literally change our brain by what we focus on. And you don’t have to be an expert at this in order to benefit.

This falls in to a new area of neuroscience called Neuro Plasticity. Basically, what this means is that the brain is constantly changing and can be changed by what we think and do. A decade ago scientists didn’t think this was possible but are now discovering that we can literally change the shape and function of our brain by our thoughts.

But it gets better. The study also showed:

In this study, 15 healthy adults were taught to meditate in four 20-minute classes. Prior to and at the end of the study, the participants underwent a special kind of MRI that measures activity in the part of the brain responsible for the perception of pain.

While they were getting the scans done, a device that produces painful heat was placed on each participant’s leg for five minutes.

At the end of the study, all participants noted a reduction in their pain ratings, some by as much as 93 percent – this is more than the pain reduction seen with narcotic and other pain relieving drugs.

Now we are on to something! Here we see a concrete example of how meditation can actually help with physical pain more so than strong pain relieving drugs. This could have wonderful implications for millions around the world who are suffering with long term injuries that they can’t seem to shake.

Of course, you don’t want to stop medication and just start meditating. That is a bad idea. But a combination of the two could prove to be very useful when done in conjunction with your doctor’s advice and the guidance of a qualified meditation instructor.

Where to start?

photo credit: fauve50

If you want to give meditation a try to see whether it helps you with your pain there are a few things you can do.

• See your doctor
  Firstly, go and see your doctor and make sure it is alright with him/her. Some mental illnesses, for example, aren’t very compatible with meditation. It is always good to check with your GP first.
• Read some books
  There are wonderful books available on mediation from both the philosophical point of view and the medical/scientific point of view. It would be good to start with some titles by the Dalai Lama and Mingyur Rinpoche as they have written books in conjunction with scientists and as such you get a very good mixture of the East and the West. Mingyur Rinpoche’s book is called the Joy of Living.
• Find a meditation teacher
  The most important step is to find a good meditation teacher who can guide you based on tradition, experience as well as your own personality. A good mediation teacher can guide his/her students differently depending on their experience level, neurosis, etc. This type of instruction cannot be found in a book. In the USA some good places to start include Shambala, Karmapa, FPMT, Lotus Speech USA, Sakya Trizen, etc.

If you do all of these steps you should be able to get some wonderful information that might really make a difference to your mental and physical health for years and years to come.

Have you tried meditation?

I would love to know whether meditation has helped to improve your life in any way. Please leave a comment with any stories you might have or advice that might help anyone who reads your comment. Also, if you know of any good books or meditation centers please feel free to share a link. Here are some excellent resources for using meditation to alleviate pain:

Mindfulness Meditation for Pain Relief

Peace in the Storm: Meditations on Chronic Pain and Illness

Break Through Pain: A Step-by-Step Mindfulness Meditation Program for Transforming Chronic and Acute Pain

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For over ten years now I have suffered from a painful chest injury. It happened during martial arts training; a stray elbow landed right on my sternum. I tried everything to diagnose and fix it – X-rays, scans, acupuncture, physiotherapy, Chinese herbs – and nothing worked. Until a friend told me to see a sports massage expert. After two sessions the damn thing was feeling good again!

It turns out my sternum was being stretched by a lopsided spine and collar bone which caused me to pinch some nerves. By working with the cause of the problem as opposed to the symptom I was able to get some pretty amazing relief.

And that really got me thinking about all the other health secrets we have discovered over the years. This post is all about them.

What health secrets am I talking about?

What I would really like to hear about is anything that you tried that finally gave you some relief from pain, new levels of energy, etc. The thing is, a lot of these methods are not accepted by Western Medicine due to the lack of intensive double-blind studies. But that is not the point. Some of them still work.

Meditation, for example, has been helping people achieve happiness, good health and peace of mind for thousands of years but it is only in the last decade or so that modern medicine has really accepted its benefits. Does that mean it didn’t work for people before that? Nope.

Your story
What I would really like to hear about is stories from people that have tried something new and got amazing results. Please share the details about what was going wrong and then about how you found out about the new treatment. It could be something to do with:

• depression
• anxiety
• insomnia
• a niggling sport injury
• lack of energy
• etc.

Obviously we do not need personal details or anything like that. This idea of this post is to learn about some new methods that people might be able to research as possibly alternatives or compliments to their current unsuccessful efforts.

Be the friend who suggests the treatment idea
I would never have seen that sports therapist unless a friend suggested it to me. Luckily for me I am mates with a lot of martial artists and as such they are in touch with the best people to treat their injuries. But not everyone has that friend around to make those types of suggestions. The idea behind this post is to share any health secrets that we have heard about or come across in the hope that we can be that friend that suggests the idea.

We are NOT giving anyone medical advice here; we are just suggesting some methods that worked for us that someone else might want to investigate further.

Not a replacement for a doctor’s advice

photo credit: Defence Images

Please be very clear on this. These health secrets that we occasionally encounter are not a replacement for a doctor’s advice. You should never try anything or change anything to do with your health unless you consult your GP first. It is far too dangerous.

Sure, if you are getting some physio for a bad back and want to try some acupuncture instead that is perfectly okay. But never ever change any medication or medical prescription because of something you found on the internet.

What is your health secret?

So have you tried anything that has really helped change your life? Something that you might not have tried unless a friend suggested it? Please leave a comment about it here. I am hoping that we might be able to use this post as the catalyst for some people to meet with a helpful new remedy and maybe finally be done with an old injury.

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Six months ago I weighed 93 kilograms (204 pounds). Today I weigh 83 (182 pounds). In just six months I have dropped a solid 10 kilograms and feel healthier than I have since high school. So how much exercise did I do to achieve that goal? Almost none.

In this post I am going to share with you how I lost the weight and why I am convinced that weight loss has very little to do with the exercise that you do. If you have your own weight loss experiences I would love to hear about them in the comments.

Why my teeth helped me lose weight

So here is the confession. About six months ago I got a new form of orthodontics called Invisalign. Invisalign is basically a series of invisible plates that you wear all day that move your teeth one by one. Every two weeks you change to the next plate and at the end of the series your teeth have gone from crooked to perfectly straight. Which I badly needed.

Anyway, the real kicker is that you can’t eat with them in. You take them out to eat (and drink) and you can only have them out for around 20 minutes at a time. Say goodbye to snacking, sugary drinks in between meals and, of course, say goodbye to second helpings after dinner.

These changes that have been “forced” upon me are the reason I lost 10 kilos so quickly. The secret to lasting and healthy weight loss is not exercise, it is the amount of food you are taking in.

Why exercise is not the answer

Prior to getting these plates I spent a lot of time exercising trying to lose weight. I didn’t have much luck. I would lose one or two kilos but the weight would always come back on as soon as I stopped the intense work outs. Why? Because I was still taking in way too many calories.

Let me show you some maths that I have been thinking about:

One can of Coke has around 155 calories in it.

Running on a treadmill for 20 minutes burns around 150 calories.

That means that after 20 minutes of exercise you have burned off one sugar drink and hardly any fat stores.

As you can see by this simple bit of maths, exercise is not the best way to lose weight. Diet is. It is your diet that will make or break your progress. It is simply too hard to burn off all the calories you need by exercise alone.

Why portion sizes will help you lose weight forever

I am now a firm believer that your portion sizes are one of the most important things when it comes to losing weight. And to prove this we can use a simple example and a bit of maths again.

Let’s say you use an extra large bowl for your dinner every night and fill it up so that you get 100 more calories than if you used a smaller bowl. Now, over a year that is 36,500 extra calories that you wouldn’t have had if you used a smaller bowl. There are 3500 calories in a pound of fat so in one year you have added around 10 pounds of fat. And that is just from dinner.

It is really important to control your portion sizes and think of it as extra calories that add up over a year or over ten years. By just making your dinner smaller you will essentially save 10 pounds of fat in a year. It is very powerful.

Why you have to keep exercising

After all this diet stuff is said and done it is still vital that you keep exercising on a regular basis. The exercise helps to increase your metabolism and thus will assist your weight loss progress. It isn’t the main thing, but it will make a massive difference to the way you look and feel. This is especially true if you want to add a bit of muscle or tone – diet can’t do that. Exercise also helps you to feel better about yourself due to the large amount of endorphins that are released. These feel good chemicals go a long way to keeping you healthy.

Does anyone have any weight loss stories to share? I would like to know what has/hasn’t worked for you.

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“If the problem can be solved, why worry? If the problem cannot be solved, worrying will do you no good.” – Shantideva

For the last two weeks I’ve been in bed unable to move due to a big ole stone stuck in my saliva gland. Every time I ate (or even thought about eating for that matter) the gland would swell up to golf ball size and ache like nothing I’ve ever experienced. It was the worst pain I have ever been in.

During this time laying perfectly still I really started to think about all the people out there who have it so much worse than me and my stone. And now that the stone is gone (thank you surgeon!) I wanted to write down some things that I’ve heard about in the hope that it might help you if you ever go through some horrible physical pain or sickness. I hope it helps someone out there.

Getting on top of the worry

If you talk to my friends and family they will probably tell you that I am a big worrier. I seem to make things out to be worse than they are and I worry intensely about things that haven’t happened yet. This is a very bad thing as it makes many a mole hill into a mountain.

Worry seems to make any pain that is there seem a lot worse than it is and this leads to a lot more suffering for you and your family. I think that if you can tackle the worrying you are halfway there as most physical pain is somewhat manageable.

A best friend with cancer

Some of my long time readers might remember that my best mate had cancer a few years ago. It was a pretty tough time for everyone involved (mostly him) and we all spent a lot of effort looking into ways to deal with the physical and emotional pain that was going on. I remember one night sitting with him whilst he was in unbearable pain and wishing there was more I could do. I also had the thought that one day it might be myself in that bed and that I should prepare my mind now and not wait for it to happen.

So even if you are not in pain now I hope that you will take some time to research some techniques as it seems that those who have trained their mind and bodies are able to cope with the bad times much better than those who start training when the problems occur. Of course I don’t want you to worry about getting sick, that’s not the point. I just hope that you might do a little preparation in case it ever happens.

Dealing with physical pain and painful sickness

There it is – the stone once removed from the saliva duct. Painless operation but a very painful few weeks before hand. All that trouble over a tiny little calcification!

Like I said, most of these ideas are things that I used when I was in bed with the saliva gland stone and when my best friend was dealing with cancer. They worked for me but there is no guarantee that they will work for everyone. If you yourself have any advice for people going through something painful then please leave a comment as it might really help someone out there.

1. Compassion – think about others more than yourself
More than anything else I am thankful for compassion. My mother and all my loving Buddhist teachers have constantly tried to teach me to make other people more important than myself. And while I have absolutely no real understanding of this, it did become very important when I was in pain.

It actually sounds quite selfish now, thinking about compassion in order to make your pain better. But as I was laying there unable to move I naturally started to think about all the other living beings out there who are in much worse pain than I am. All those people who are suffering terminal illnesses or have just had their arm blown off in Iraq. My pain, by comparison, is fairly minute.

I realized after a few days of being sick that I had a choice. I could panic and worry about whether I would ever get better or start thinking about others. Shifting my mind away from myself seemed to give me some strength and a will to endure and be brave and get back on my feet because there are a lot of people out there who can’t.

2. Giving and taking meditation – take on the suffering
In Tibetan Buddhism there is a tradition of meditation called Tong Len or giving and taking. It is basically an aid that helps you develop compassion and weaken your self clinging by imagining that you are taking on all the sickness of other sentient beings by using the breath. I am obviously not qualified to teach this so head over to this website for a nice teaching by a western nun called Pema Chodron.

Basically what I would do while I was sick was imagine that I was taking on all sentient beings suffering when I breathed in, and when I breathed out I would give them all my happiness. I imaged that my pain was me taking on the illness of everyone else. Again, this practiced seemed to help me because it made the experience meaningful. It gave me a chance to practice. Other than that all I could do was lie still and worry about whether the surgeon would accidentally cut an artery in my neck and kill me!

3. Accept help – don’t be ashamed
When my best mate was in hospital one of the doctors mentioned how important it was to be honest and open about how you are feeling because if you’re not two things happen. Firstly, the doctors have trouble diagnosing you because they aren’t sure what your true symptoms are. Secondly, your pain doesn’t get managed properly because no body knows how much pain you really are in.

For the first month of my illness I didn’t really talk about how much it hurt. Because of this the doctors just sort of plodded along not really thinking it was a huge problem. Finally the pain got so bad that I rang my GP desperate and begging him for a referral for a specialist. Within an hour I was talking to a surgeon who said he could operate in two weeks. Had I not opened up about the pain I would probably still be laying in my bed in agony, unable to eat or drink.

During that time I also asked my teachers to do prayers for me and my friends and family to help me with things like DVDs or just someone to chat to when I needed a distraction. Unless you open up and accept the help it is really hard for anyone to know what to do for you. Without the kindness of my doctors, teachers, relatives and friends I don’t know what I would have done.

Conclusion

I would love to hear about what has helped you or a family member deal with some pain or illness that has happened. It can be a very lonely and frightening time and it would be nice to use this post as a tiny bit of support for anyone who might stumble upon it one day when they really need somewhere to turn. If it is you that is going through something painful I hope you get better really soon.

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“We patronize them for their incompleteness, for their tragic fate of having taken form so far below ourselves. And therein we err, and greatly err.”
- Henry Beston

Is it time to stop eating animals? Is meat really necessary in a world where so many other options exist? Is the practice of eating meat something that is outdated, old fashioned and perhaps a little bit primitive? In this post I want to share some thoughts I have been having lately about eating meat and whether or not it is time we evolved.

A new angle to look at

The quote at the start of this post is from a book called The Outermost House by Henry Beston. Henry was a nature writer who produced this masterpiece while living in solitude on Cape Cod. There on the windy beach he found a new appreciation for the natural world and, in my opinion, wrote one of the most inspiring and opinion-shifting passages about our relationship with animals. Here is the full quote:

We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals. Remote from universal nature, and living by complicated artifice, man in civilization surveys the creature through the glass of his knowledge and sees thereby a feather magnified and the whole image in distortion. We patronize them for their incompleteness, for their tragic fate of having taken form so far below ourselves. And therein we err, and greatly err. For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth.

What I love about this quote is that it very subtly challenges our ideas about animals by arguing that they are not below us but are in fact other nationalities existing within our own. This concept is an interesting one because it brings up new ideas about eating meat. The documentary Earthlings explains this further by asking us why we consider racism and sexism to be negative traits but species-ism to be perfectly okay. On a logical front it doesn’t seem to make sense because discrimination against animals has the exact same patterns, motives and behaviors as the characteristics that we, as a society, most abhor.

Is it time we evolved?

photo credit: Michael W. May

The world “evolve” keeps coming in to my mind when I think about eating meat because it seems as though the more reading I do about meat the less I feel drawn to it. As you probably know by now I am an aspiring vegetarian. I still eat meat once a week but for the most part I avoid it. Inwardly it feels as if I am evolving a little bit from who I used to be – an overweight meat lover who stayed comfortable in the thought that the killing was out of sight and out of mind. But in a world where we are now all so conscious about global warming, disease and ethics I feel as though meat eating just doesn’t fit anymore. Some questions I have been asking myself lately:

• Is it healthy?
  After reading a few studies about the fact that vegetarians live longer and are less likely to develop cancer or heart disease I started to wonder whether meat was as healthy as we had always been told. Sure, meat has proteins and lots of vitamins but so do the variety of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and other foods that are available. And these don’t seem to come with the health consequences.
• Is it ethical?
  Growing up I was always told that killing animals, hurting things, etc. were unacceptable but the idea of meat eating was never challenged. This is probably because my parents wanted me to have meat while I was growing and developing but now that I am on my own I wonder whether it is time to challenge the status quo. I would never kill an animal so why do I consider it okay to have someone else do it for me?
• Is it logical to ignore an animal’s suffering?
  I have a cat and a dog and I love them like children. They have mood swings, get happy when I come home and cry out when they get hurt. I do not believe that their emotional responses are as developed as a human being’s is but I am 100% certain that they posses them. They are not like plants or rocks. They have a very active and emotional brain. And, from what I have been told, pigs are a lot smarter than dogs. They run away when they see the knife coming. So how can I justify eating pork and bacon when it comes from an animal that thinks and feels with greater capacity than my cat and dog?
• Is it socially responsible?
  Scientists have stated that the meat industry does more damage to the environment than any other industry or problem. Cattle emit enormous amounts of methane gas, they have to be fed and fattened up and that food needs to be grown and manufactured. Then we slaughter the cow and refrigerate it, truck it around the country or fly it overseas. The sheer amount of energy and pollution that goes into making one steak is staggering. And in a world where hunger and food prices are becoming a serious problem (never mind the global warming) it seems as though meat has become socially irresponsible.

These are the thoughts I have been having lately about meat eating. I am going to try and reduce the amount of meat I eat because I feel like it is something that I need to be doing. I do like the taste of meat and I understand why we eat it. But, it feels like it is time to perhaps move on.

What do you think?

What are your thoughts on the idea of evolving away from eating meat? Do you think it is something that has potential or do you think that meat should always be a part of our society and culture? If you can’t stand the idea of giving up meat, even though you might concede there are downfalls, why do you think that is? I would be really interested to hear all of your ideas on this topic as it is something that I have been quite interested in for a while now.

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Okay so we know that waking up and doing things in the morning is the best way to achieve our goals in life. We can exercise, study, work, meditate, etc. much better than other times in the day. However, most of us feel pretty crap in the morning.

So what can we do about it? How can we wake up ready for work?

Ways to wake up feeling fresh in the morning

Here are some things you can do in the short term and the long term so that you will wake up fresh and energetic in the morning. I’ve divided them up into three sections; (1) the night before and (2) during the night and (3) the morning.

The Night Before

1. Avoid coffee, red wine and chocolate the night before
To wake up fresh you need to get a good sleep and one of the best ways to ruin a good sleep is to upset your gut. You really need to keep it happy during the night.

Coffee, red wine and chocolate have been scientifically shown to disturb your sleep more than any other food. They upset your intestines in such a way that you will wake up constantly or have a very light sleep that doesn’t re charge you at all. Try not to have these things after lunch time.

2. Go to bed happy with your partner
One of the best ways to get a terrible sleep is to go to bed before you solve a problem with your partner. In my relationship I never let the sun set on an argument, even if I have to compromise a little bit on my own ego.

Before you go to bed make sure your partner is happy (as much as you can) and make sure that you are happy with them. It is also one of the best things you can do for your relationship, let alone your sleep.

3. Meditate, pray and calm down before going to bed
Every night before I go to bed I do about 30 minutes to an hour of meditation. This is amazing as it allows you to throw out all the days worries and forget about the worries of tomorrow. The future cannot be changed while you are asleep and the past is gone so there is no point losing sleep over it! Let it go.

Meditate or pray or do whatever you do. Simply sitting there and watching your breath is a great way to prepare yourself for a nice deep sleep. Check out this post if you want to learn to do a quick little stress relieving meditation.

4. Don’t eat dinner right before bed
A lot of people run home after work, cook up some dinner and then eat it and go to bed. This is a bad idea. The process of digestion takes a while and you do not want to be laying down right after you ate a big meal. Try and leave a few hours in between your bedtime and your dinner and see how you feel the next day.

5. Organize your room according to Feng Shui principles
I know a lot of you probably think that Feng Shui is a load of bull but just give me a second to convince you that it actually has some “western logic” behind it.

For those of you who don’t know Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese art of setting up your home in a way that balances the energies and vibes by putting furniture in certain “hot spots”.

The bedroom is particularly important and I have found that since I arranged my room according to Feng Shui principles I have had a much more “rested” sleep. In particular the placement of your bed is important. Feng Shui tells us that you should sleep where you can see the door but not be in he direct path of the door opening. This helps us sleep with a sense of security. I can see the practical reason for this. You can get some more bedroom Feng Shui tips here.

6. Go to the toilet
Even if you do not need to go to the toilet before bed you should still have a go and squeeze out whatever you can. The reason for this is that the kidneys will continue to work during the night and by the morning your bladder will be nice and full. If your bladder fills up early you might feel the need to go during the night and this cuts out valuable time from your sleep.

You might think that sleeping is about the total time spent asleep but this is incorrect. It is important to stay asleep without breaking it because it takes some hours to get into the “zone” where you are truly at rest. A toilet break interrupts this zone.

During the Night

7. Not too hot, not too cold
Another sleep related tip: your sleep is greatly affected by the how hot or cold you are during the night. It is important to get a good balance as this keep your energies calm and stops them from spiking.

Try and find a balance between clothes and bed covers. For example, I like to sleep without any clothes but with a heavy blanket. This keeps my temperature pretty consistent.

8. Keep the window open
One of the best things you can do for your health in general and your sleep in specific is to keep your window slightly open during the night. This has two benefits.

photo credit: volvidejapon

Firstly, the gap in the window will allow poisonous carbon dioxide to float away. The reason the human body breathes out is because carbon dioxide is poisonous. And during the night you take a heck of a lot of breaths and your room fills up with this gas. Let it out the window.

The second reason is that you need to allow new oxygen to float in. This might also help you regulate the temperature of the room.

9. Keep your sleep consistent
People think that you MUST have eight hours sleep to get enough.

Not true.

It is more important to go to bed at the same time and wake up at the same time everyday. Not everyone needs eight hours. In fact, if I get eight hours sleep I usually feel tired and groggy for the entire day. Six to seven hours is about right for me.

Start by setting your bedtime at the same time each night. Forget what is on the television and just go to bed at say 11pm each night. After a while start setting your alarm for the same time each day; even on weekends. If you don’t start waking up fresher and happier each morning I will write you a personal apology.

10. Cut out noise, it’s actually killing you!
I recently read in New Scientist Magazine that your life is actually being shortened by noise during the night. Yep, that’s right… that screaming police car or roaring traffic is actually killing you! The magazine said that the noise has an effect on your heart and waking up many times during the night puts your body under a lot of stress.

Try and keep your room quiet by wearing some earplugs. You can get earplugs that only cancel out certain sounds so that you can still hear your alarm or a baby monitor on your bedside table.

The Morning

11. Drink a glass of water
A cool glass of water on an empty stomach actually has a lot of health benefits as well as serving to wake you up. The water will kick start your metabolism and as such you will wake up faster and feel more alert.

12. Exercise
When you are groggy in the morning and nice run in the fresh air can wake you up fast. However, the interesting thing is that when you exercise in the morning you will actually have more energy the NEXT day. The more you exercise the more energy you will have as you become fitter and healthier.

If you need some tips to get up and exercise early check out this post on early morning exercise hacks.

13. Don’t drink coffee… everyday
Science is now showing that our body becomes accustomed to the caffeine in our coffee and we have less of a reaction to it. This means that your daily cup of coffee is waking you up less and less every day that you drink it.

A better idea is to save the morning coffee for when you are really tired and need a little bit of help. Perhaps if you had to stay out late or get up extra early and you have disturbed your regular sleeping habit. This is the time to have a cup of coffee.

14. Breathe deeply
The first thing you should do in the morning is take some deep breaths into your stomach and concentrate on waking up. Imagine breathing in a bright white light that makes your body feel happy and light.

15. Have something to be excited about
If you get up and go to a job you hate to work with a boss that drives you crazy you are not going to really enjoy waking up. However, if you have something you enjoy to go to you will be more likely to wake up happy knowing you have a bit of joy coming your way.

If you can’t leave your terrible boss then you should make time in the morning to do some sport or activity that makes you happy. Start your day with something happy and fun as opposed to starting it with work.

16. Get up straight away
When I was in the Himalayas a buddhist master told me that one of the best things you can do to wake up early and feel alert and fresh is to get up straight away. As soon as your alarm goes off you should get up without snoozing it over and over again.

He said to me half jokingly: “You have to get up before your self cherishing does”.

17. Be grateful for not dying
The Buddha said that every time you go to bed you should consider that you won’t wake up. That way, when you wake up you will be especially grateful for the day you have ahead of you. Instead of seeing the day as a burden that you have to “get through” you will see it as an opportunity to do something meaningful and beneficial.

Why? Because you could die tonight.

When applied correctly this realization will bring you tremendous energy.

Conclusion on waking up freshly

Each of these tips works. I have tried it on myself and my friends. And the great thing is that the more of these tips you apply the fresher you will feel when you wake up. Try them yourself.

Do you have any other to add? I’d love to hear them!

Top photo: photoeyeliam

**Top 10 Daily Mind post.**

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