Gall Stones - a Holistic Perspective

NOT gallstones ;)

If you are a practitioner of Naturopathy / Chinese Medicine / Holistic Nutrition and other close subjects this article may be of extra interest to you:

It was some 18 years ago that I turned yellow. Friends were laughing at me that I was taking my Chinese Medicine studies too seriously. It was obvious that my bile ducts were blocked since I was not feverish and was showing no other signs of hepatitis. I am not one to run for surgery and so I went searching for alternatives.

I posted a website that challenged people to share with me their solutions with the prize being - everlasting glory. A page on my site.

If I told you half the weird things that were suggested to me at the time you would be shocked I'm sure. The last thing that was suggested came with the name of a book and a photo of several gallstones that, according to the writer, were his stones, removed with a simple protocol taken from that book.

The book was called "Cure for all disease" By Hulda Clark. The name of the book troubled me some but the story was compelling and the procedure sounded safe. After reading the book I realized two things:

1. The book read as the title felt

2. The gallstone removal protocol was not Hulda's but borrowed.

So I went ahead and tried it on myself. It was a little scary because no-one locally could back me up with experience. The results left me caucasian and with a collection of bilious stones. The largest was over 15 mm in diameter.  

Today, 22 years later and with thousands of patients of experience to our name. My wife, Shanni, and I are experienced authorities on this subject. We have upgraded the original protocol and have found many important points that require attention before and after the procedure in order for the patient to achieve the full benefits from the protocol.

In this article I would like to share some of our perspective and experience with the medical and holistic community for the benefit of future patients. I believe that the future of gallstone therapy should be an integrated one. An integration of Naturopathic Nutritional counseling and herbology, Chinese Medical herbology, Acupuncture and Conventional Medical Diagnostics and surgery (when all else fails). For such a future to emerge more Holistic therapists need to learn and use our upgraded protocol and Conventional Doctors need to be introduced to this doctrine - and convinced to research into it.

Background

Conventional Perspective

I find this perspective to be commonly known. For those not aware of it Wikipedia is as good a source as any (Though the holistic versions mentioned there are hardly researched in depth)

Gall Stones !

Holistic Perspective

Why gallstones?

Bile is a mixture of many things. It is both a secretion of toxins (End result of the liver's role as a detoxification organ) and of emulsifiers for fats and oils  digestion. For this reason the bile is actually not a very homogeneous substance. It can be thick and sludgy or watered down, full of minerals or not. It is always rich in cholesterol.

When people don't drink enough they contribute to gallstone formation. Another common reason for gallstone formation is low levels of Taurine, an amino acid. Taurine takes a part in creating the Tauro-cholic acid. One of the bile acids that help keep the bile fluid. The most common reason for this is late pregnancy and lactation. Taurine is an important ingredient in forming mothers milk. This is one of the reasons pregnancy is considered a gallstone factor.

A point to remember: Most gallstones are formed in the liver. They then drop into the ducts and from there to the gallbladder. Liver stones can never grow too big because the bile ducts in the liver are quite narrow. Still, they grow large enough so that they can sometimes block the common bile duct when they move out of the liver. This fact is important when considering the reasoning for gallbladder removal by surgery. People assume it will end the risk for gallstone-attacks but in fact that is not always true. There will not be any more gallbladder inflammations but the risk of a clogged up CBD and pancreatitis is still there.

There are other Holistic aspects that relate to gallstones. The Chinese have a saying that the liver is the general and makes the plans, it is the gallbladder that sees the plans carried out. people that have a problem living their dreams or have them in a drawer will tend to form a gallstone for every dream stashed away. Frustrations are also correlated with gallstone formation. When people try to convince others of their beliefs and are not willing to accept no for an answer, they often hold their stomachs in a highly tense way. From my experience it is very often precisely the gallbladder area that is tensed up. This may well lead to poor evacuation of the bile and to bile-stasis which in turn can lead to gallstone formation. Deficiency in magnesium seems to go hand in hand with gallstone formation though I have yet to find a reason for that. It may just be two very common occurrences that simply happen often enough to seem to correlate.

So what is our solution?

The solution we found and then upgraded is rather simple. A short description would be: Prepare, then avoid all fats for three days, then introduce a lot of fat to the system at once. The result is a process where in the three days with no fat the gallbladder and liver accumulate bile with no outlet. Ingesting plenty of fat at this point causes the bile to be forcefully injected into the bile ducts from both organs. The hydraulic force pushes any objects in its way out from the live, gallbladder and ducts and right into the small intestines. This is of course a very coarse picture.  The complete process adds many factors that help soften the stones, relax the ducts and sphincters, and prepare the body for the ordeal. All this in order to raise the safety level of the protocol and to make it less weakening and not painful.

The point in all this is that it is possible to remove the gallstones from both liver AND gallbladder without having to surgically remove the gallbladder and with very little risk. As a matter if fact in the past 22 years we have NEVER had to rush any of our patients to the hospital in the middle of the night during the protocol due to stone getting stuck in the ducts! We have encountered people who had recurrent gallstone attacks before our liver flush ( and one that had some after the flush and before the second one) but never during. And remember- we had this protocol done to thousands of people.

There are limitations to the protocol. Stones 3.5 centimeters in diameter came out (!!!) but 4.5 did not. I am not sure if it was because of its size or because of the fact that it was glued tight to the gallbladder wall but since that time we consider 3.5 centimeters our maximum size. Another lesson learned was when a patient had the flush done successfully but then went back to a horrendous diet only to come back in pain several years later. His pain was relentless for three days prior to coming to us and no amount of therapy would help. We sent him to the hospital knowing he will most likely lose his gallbladder but it felt too choked up with sludge and stones for the flush to work. Some patients lose patience after the first flush or during the preparations for the first flush.

We make a point never to rush. In the few times we allowed ourselves to be manipulated by patients in a hurry we had the displeasure of seeing the price quite clearly. In one case a woman was adamant that we move on to the protocol before we deemed her ready. She was too weak for this, and we were trying to convince her to wait but to no avail. When she was done with the protocol her digestive system was too weak to hold her food and she was diarrhetic all the time. It took several weeks of tonifying Chinese herbs to put her right. Since that case we learned never to rush this. When done right and prepared right patients report that it was mostly easy and that we must have exaggerated our horror stories 😉. We like it that way.

There are many other limiting factors we discovered over the years. We made a point of close observation and careful monitoring so as to improve the protocol over the years. Over the recent years the cases of complications of all kinds have dropped to zero. The only sad cases are the ones where the oil refuses to go down. Seeing as how we are talking about 3/4 cup full of olive oil that is not too surprising. Still, the few cases where this happens can be uncomfortable and some people just won't throw up (A simple solution and when the timing is right one that will not prevent a successful protocol). Those find the protocol last night to be quite tedious. over the last few years even this has dropeed close to zero after changing another parameter.

How do we prevent all the complications from occurring?

To begin with, the first issue we find crucial is vitality level. Exhausted people can't really deal with this protocol as is. The tool we use to determine vitality level is Chinese diagnostics. The Chinese Pulse is quite a good determining tool for vitality as is the Chinese Tongue diagnosis.

Once we determine this we know if the patient can go ahead to the next phase or otherwise needs to be prepared using tonifying tools such as Chinese Herbs / Vitamins / Acupuncture etc.

Preparing a patient can take 3-6 weeks though at time it will take longer. This is a vital phase and often helps the patient deal with other issues as well.

Making sure the patient is not lacking in any important nutritional element is crucial to the safe success of the protocol. For example- magnesium deficiency has caused in a couple of cases that the Epsom salts used in the protocol had no effect. No diarrhea and very likely less stones expelled.

Making sure the patient is ready psychologically is quite important as well. Patients lacking in confidence in the protocol may have a much harder time. This we resolve most of the time simply by supplying names of previous clients to talk to (After getting those patients' consent of course).

In the complicated cases (Heart disease background for one example) we make sure to either use alternative means to the protocol or if we are sure it will be ok we make a point of personal tight supervision. This is true of elderly patients (86 being our oldest I believe) etc.). In some cases we make of point of waiting a while (Postpartum for one example).

Even doing our best- we are always on the alert for more issue not encountered before. This is the only way not to get caught off guard.

A futuristic view of this protocol should be one of integration. Practicing this protocol with a Naturopathic AND a Conventional staff on hand. Making the most of both ancient and modern means. Having an Ultrasound machine at hand and a lab to analyse the results would be some of the benefits. I was once approached by a doctor who was intrigued but never came through with his suggestion for a research done together.

The future today

Seeing as how this protocol has prevented much suffering and surgery. On top of this our work over the years has made this protocol a very safe and viable tool. I believe our experience should not be available only to the people of Israel. It should be out there for all the world to benefit from. We intent to make our knowledge and experience available to as many serious and professional therapists as we can.

If you are a therapist - with background either in Naturopathy or Chinese medicine. And even if only in part of the Naturopathic tools (Wholesome Nutrition for one), You are welcome to send us our resume and we will be in touch.

Passive vs. Active

How Passive becomes active - when one is at peace

Over the years I have been observing that life tends to take turns and twists in what seemed like a random pattern. Once in a while I got a glimpse of what looked like a pattern. It was different every time...

My clinic would be full one month and only half full the next. This seemed random. Till I learned that it had to do with my state of mind. When I was tired people would cancel- it was so considerate of them :). When my mind was not focused or I filled the calendar too much- same effect.

It seemed like there are many lessons here to be learned and seeing as I was working on being attentive- I searched for lessons and learned as best I could.

One of the most important lessons I learned from this attentive period is that a lot depends on whether we choose to be active or passive (Or reactive as passive is often seen). When we choose to be passive or as most people experience it - reactive, we are busy responding to what life throws at us. So busy in fact that people will often say they have no time to take their lives into their own hands. Constant battering of external origin is usually the result of us not taking preventative measures due to the passive nature of our behavior. In other words, by our very choice to be passive or lack of choice to be active we allow the world to be active for us and very often complicate our lives... When we choose to be active or proactive we dictate the way our life flows and the amount of battering subsides and eventually goes away.

If you feel that your life seems to be governed by external forces it may be time to choose to be more active. Going out there and making a stand about how we want our lives to be, what we want to do for work , how our relationships look like, what kind of communication we have with other people etc.etc. All these examples are the way successful people choose to live and one of the main reasons for their success is in fact their level of pro activity.

One classical aspect of this can be found in the financial arena. We find ourselves constantly dealing with debt. More bills and more bank statements and not enough income to handle the payload. If we only resort to putting out the fires and going from one crisis to another, responding to alarm bells, we will not see a change. All we need to do is stop, take a deep breath, and then take the time to understand the current state of affairs. After this we can choose a proactive approach. Change our working habits, choose another job etc. Go proactive. By choosing this attitude we will start to change the balance of our income-expense ratio and at the same time change the way the world sees us. This change will often make others more willing to help us or join us in ventures which will again help us balance the equation.

Where are you being passive in your life today? Where have you chosen to be active? When? Share this with me below and all the other readers can learn from your success or help you with your needs. 

In health,

Chen

Jan. 2014

Basic human needs - Nourishment part I

Will you give me what I need?

What do we all need to survive? What constitutes the very basic human needs?

Ask anyone on the street and you will get to a very different list... Each will give you his or her list of habits and some basic biological needs. Not all will agree on the degree of importance of each need.

I will address this question from both a Naturopathic point of view and a personal spiritual one.

Naturopathically speaking, our biological primal needs can be summed up in four lines:

1. Nourishment

2. Removal of toxins and waste

3. Motion

4. Vitality

Remember that each of the above needs has to be supplied on all the human planes of existence - physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, social and ecological. From the single cell to our environment - everything needs the above list.

If we take a baby,Our beginning, the needs are:

Physical Nutrition: We all need the basic suckling, mothers milk but it starts even earlier - during pregnancy, we need the sustenance that comes from our mother. If our mother is under-nourished, we suffer for it. During both pregnancy and nursing the mother is in charge of double feeding for them both. My experience here shows that good quality wholesome foods help a lot and that a good supplement regimen (Consisting of a very good multi-vitamin + personal adaptations) makes the difference between a reasonable pregnancy and nursing phase and superb ones. I have never had a patient truly eating well and on supplements from the pre-pregnancy phase that suffered pre-ecclempsia or diabetes or any other radical complication (And I've professionally supported very many pregnant woman over the years). When a baby does not get breast fed it still needs this nourishment. It can be raised on alternatives but I would suggest home made after learning the formula from a Naturopath. I have treated many babies fed on industrial alternatives and they all needed support due to this fact. It just doesn't come close to real food.

Emotional nutrition: During pregnancy and nursing the emotional nourishment is just as important as the physical one. A classical (and sad) research with gorillas discovered that a gorilla baby fed with its mothers' milk but without her touch and presence will die ! The value of balanced emotions on the mothers part during pregnancy and between the parents and the baby once it is born is beyond critical. It gives us our emotional-base.

Spiritual nourishment: We live at an era that people rarely appreciate the value of spiritual living. Many people go to work for the financial sake and have no feeling of self realization in their work. This vibe is an under-nourishment factor on the spiritual level. Not only do THEY feel under nourished - they vibrate spiritually on an under nourished vibe and this is what their children take from them on this plane.

[End of part I]

Basic Human Needs - Vitality part I

The word Qi in Chinese

The fourth part of our basic needs according to the Naturopathic perspective is Vitality. 

Can being tired be resolved? What do I need to do to feel livelier like 10 years ago?

Chinese call this Qi, in Ayurveda it is called Prana and the more common name in most modern cultures is Life force. We all know what it feels like to be low on vitality; it is our most common state... Most do not know what it is and what makes it tick.

The Chinese say that there are three sources to our vitality;

1. Internal: We are born with a basic "Qi Battery" - when it runs out, we die...

2. Air: when we breath in air we take some of the Heavenly Qi into our body (aka Oxygen ;) )

3. Food: Nourishment gives us not only building blocks for our body, it gives us the materials for creating our vitality.

To this basic formula one can add emotional and mental vitality and of course spiritual vitality. Another aspect is motion as a source of vitality (We all know that being physically active makes us more vital).

A tool that is important to understanding vitality is sleep. We all need sleep. Sleep is the mode of consciousness most useful for regenerating vitality. Without enough sleep we are like an uncharged battery - with potential vitality that is unavailable for long...

Naturally, our vitality depends on both how much we charge up as well as how much we discharge / use up as we go about our lives. Spending our vitality wisely is crucial for at times we can have great vitality building habits and still feel exhausted because we spend it all and more on a daily basis...

The above may seem rather simple - and it can be. Then again we tend to make our lives a lot more complicated then they need to be - and with vitality more than ever. My goal in this blog entry is to clarify some of the above so as to help you understand the basics. I hope that after reading this you will know where to turn to next time your feel tired.

The first thing I ask a tired person is: "How many hours of night sleep do you get?" And "When do you go to sleep?". 

The Chinese claim that sleeping 23:00-3:00 is crucial thus going to sleep at 22:00 makes for a good night. Sleep studies show that most adults need around 8 hours of sleep. My simpler answer to this is - sleep till you don't need an alarm clock! For many this solution sounds hilarious - they just go out on the town at 22:00 so how can they possibly get to bed by then? Others claim they only get their children to bed by 21:00 so this leave only an hour with their husband or wife. Bottom line is simple - either you sleep well and enough or the quality of your life drops accordingly since your vitality drops. It's all about prioritization.

The funny thing is many tired people say they have no idea why they are so tired and then tell me they sleep 5-6 hours a night......

The second thing I pay attention to with tired people is to how they breathe. Very few people breathe optimally now-a-days. It's amazing how shallow and erratic the average breath taken is. And worst - people don't normally notice it! Exercising your breathing muscles is just as needed as any other muscle. More so, no other exercise is efficient when you breathe badly.

The third aspect I focus on is food. Nourishment allows for vitality. It is the basic relationship between the basic human needs. Each sustains the others. What people eat today on average has very little vitality in it. It is overly processed, made from low grade materials and the additives that are inserted take away the last of its value. Whole grains, unrefined oils, non-roasted nuts and seeds, fresh vegetables, sprouted legumes - all these are examples of wholesome foods that, when prepared wisely, can contribute a lot to our vitality.

Food preparations can radically alter the vital value of our foods. Steaming, gentle cooking and stir frying are all good examples of food preparation that retains a lot of the vitality. Raw is very often the best but here there is a catch - digesting raw food consumes more energy by the digestive system then cooked food. If our vitality is low this can actually cause us to feel more tired and even at times to fail with the digestion all together. Such situations benefit from gentle cooking more. The opposite can be said about the following cooking methods: Deep frying, microwave cooking, grilling over live coals (Barbecue...) and the likes. These techniques kill the food vitality leaving it devoid of any real value and otherwise damaging our health. A simple alternative for barbecue is using a stone based gas grill. Heat up the stones well, turn off the gas and barbecue to your hearts delight :) .

A lesser known aspect of food and vitality is food intolerance. If we over consume foods (Like we often do with wheat) our body can develop food intolerance to it. It is not the classical allergy response but behaves somewhat similarly by creating a myriad of symptoms in response. The most basic common response is low vitality. Varying your eating habits and going to a professional Naturopath or Holistic Nutritionist for an elimination diet can save you from this predicament.

We don't have to be tired. If you are tired (Or if someone says you are - but that's for the next blog post) go through the check list and do something about it. Your life is never going to be the same again.

[End of part I]

Basic Human Needs - Detoxification part I

One of the classical tools to aid detoxification - Organic juices

The second part of our basic needs according to the Naturopathic perspective is the removal of toxins and waste. 

Remember how you felt when you were young? You were more  vibrant, your skin unblemished, your breath sweet etc... One of the reasons we loose all of this as we age is because we accumulate toxins.

Can it be reversed? To a great degree - yes !

It's spring time and the body feels as vibrant as it can for all the amazing spring energy in the air. This is the best time for a good clean up program ! I am not going to give you specific instructions in this blog and for a very good reason - detoxification is a challenging thing even when tailored by a pro. Alone, without a personally tailored program you may well come out of such an effort feeling worst then you came in. Do yourself a favor and go see a Naturopath.

What do I want to share with you in this blog post? Perspectives. On how to know if you need a detox, on the rules of detox and tips that may improve the process.

So... Do I need a detox?

If you do you may be suffering from one or more of the following:

1. Bad mouth odor or body odors
2. Lots of gas in your digestive tract
3. Skin eruptions
4. Allergies
5. Difficulty digesting fats
6. Foul smelling urine (Even when you drink enough)
7. Excessive weight (Whether you are stuck or more so if you are in the process of loosing it fast)
8. Recurrent headaches
9. Bad habits such as smoking or excessive alcohol consumption
10. Strange reactions to mild alcohol consumption (Falling asleep / pain in joins etc.)

And when in doubt - detox :)

How about the rules of safe Detoxification?

When going through a cleanse it is imperative that you do it right. The toxins that are cleared during this kind of a process may have accumulated throughout your life and on the way out, when in the blood, they can make you feel quite bad. If the organs of elimination are not functioning well or your vitality is low you might suffer quite a bit during the detoxification with less then optimal results.

1. Make sure you rest well during the detox
2. Make sure a health professional (Naturopath or Chinese Medicine practitioner) checks that your elimination organs are functioning well enough for the detox (Live & Kidneys mainly) and that your vitality is up to par.
3. Find the Detox most suited to your needs - there are many.
4. Do not undergo a water based fast for more then 3 days in a row without professional supervision.
5. When in doubt stop the program. Some symptoms are a sign that the detox is happening but some mean that your body is not up for the task.

Remember - a safe detox is a good detox !

Tips for a really good detoxification process:

• Combine several tools of different orientation (Nutrition / massage / Sauna when appropriate / Classical Hydrotherapy / Trampoline / Physical exercise / Herbology / Aromatherapy etc.) - not all at once of course.
• Cleanse the mind not just the body (More about this in a future post).
• A professional enema can upgrade the detox when relevant.
• Keep yourself  warm - especially during fasting if applied.
• Brush your skin regularly (e.g. With a natural loofah during the shower).
• Breathing exercises raise your vitality and improve the detox.
• Physical exercises are usually a must - but find your dose and don't over do it.
• Make sure you are not deficient in vitamins and minerals.

Have a colourful and radiant spring !

Basic human needs - Nourishment & Vitality part II

What makes for Physical nourishment ?

Food, drink, sleep and of course breathing. Most people tend to take breathing for granted. It is automatic and therefore taken care of by the body. The truth is slightly different. Breathing is a semi automatic function. This means we have control over it to an extent. Enough to make a crucial difference in the quality of out lives when we invest some time to learn and practice better breathing.

Most of us breathe just enough not to die. is that enough to supply us with optimal oxygen levels? The more stressed and unaware we are the less we breathe. This can easily be proven by practicing Yogic breathing techniques. For one thing, many people find themselves dizzy from hyper-oxygenation at first. Their brain is so not used to reasonable oxygen levels it gets shocked... Another way to prove this is simply by practicing breathing techniques. After a short time it becomes very obvious that this is improving the quality of your life.

I used to find this fact quite flustering. If breathing help one relax, why do people in distress choose to breath less ? It seemed paradoxical. Thinking this through I remembered that our stress response is primordial. It comes from a period of survival-ism. Which would you prefer if you were faced with a raging lion in the night (That hasn't noticed you) - being quiet or loud? Breathing can become somewhat loud when we breathe rapidly as we often do when stressed (Unless trained) and so breathing in such moments can be dangerous... It is of course only a theory but the fact remains - when stressed we breathe less. When stressed for long periods of time we train ourselves to breath less on a regular basis. The price being insufficient oxygenation for optimal living.

The results of inadequate breathing are:

1. Low vitality

2. Less than optimal brain function (Concentration, memory, cognitive abilities etc.)

3. Higher stress levels

4. Lower emotional control

5. Higher acidic tissue levels (From accumulation of Co2 = higher tendency to 

    inflammations, allergies and cancer)

And much more.

If you wish to lead a healthy, vibrant and alert life - learn to breathe !

In the following video I will be sharing the first of several breathing techniques I employ for my own well being as well as for my patients and students. I call it 1:4:2. The brief instructions for this exercise follow.

1:4:2 - how to

1. Exhale fully and slowly

2. Inhale to the count of 5 (X1)

3. Hold your breath to the count of 20 (X4)

4. Exhale to the count of 10 (X2)

5. Repeat 10 times morning and evening

If 5:20:10 is too hard (Go for 70% effort, no more) reduce the count to 4:16:8 or even 3:12:6 - over doing it is in efficient to advance. When you find it too easy you can advance to higher counts (The highest in the textbooks being 16:64:32).

So you finished a chapter of healing with us, now what?

Most people understand how to follow our instructions during therapy. It is after a chapter of therapy is done that they enter a state of "Limbo" where the rules can appear unclear. Allow me to suggest a few tips for this stage:

1st thing - don't forget we are here :)

Whether you find yourself dealing with more of the same health issues or a new symptom: Talk to us ASAP. Don't wait "a few weeks" to see if it goes away... Small symptoms (And especially new ones) tend to be much easier to heal earlier rather than later.

Don't stop our recommendations without first talking to us.

Unlike many drugs, stopping most natural therapies will not cause harsh symptoms but that doesn't mean there isn't a "right" and "wrong" way to do it. Also, not all therapies need be stopped once you are well. Prevention is a very good idea. Talk to us and we will help you maintain good preventative measures. Not all you got from us during therapy need be used on the long run and some things are not used for active phases but are great for prevention.

Technical updates

If you have a new email (!), phone number, address, online kupat holim code, child (Mazal Tov!), or have gone through any other major change, its probably a good idea to update us. In this way we can remain effectively at your service in the future.

Long term followup

If you are suffering an illness that has yet to heal or is in remission and are taking a break from our therapy, Don't wait too long for the next appointment. If more then a month goes by the time it will take to get us up to speed will leave little time for new suggestions and therapy and advancement will be slower.

Qi Gong sessions

If you are in an on-going therapy in the present you are welcome to join us for our Qi Gong sessions (+ Breathing exercises and meditation) for FREE. If you are not in therapy at the present you are still welcome to join us for a symbolic fee.

Seasonal sessions

If you are done healing what you came to us for and have ended this chapter - don't disappear till you need us again. Coming once to twice a year for seasonal checkups will keep us in the loop with your life events and changing health so we can better intervene if your health drops and practice prevention where possible and help you stay healthy. It is also an opportunity to work on bad habits one at a time over time.

Time as a factor in health

“Time is the great healer”

How long will it take me to get better? Why isn’t my health better already? Is there such a thing as instant healing? Why should I go through a long process when a pill can relieve my distress in an hour?

I don’t remember how many times I have already heard these and similar questions from my patients over the past 25 years of my practice. It is clear to me that time is a loaded issue and this is the reason I decided to write about it. My purpose is to promote a shift in attitude in regards to time in health. I recall a patient that came to me with a complex matter many years ago. It was to be her first acupuncture session and so I decided to treat her for one of the many issues only and with one needle so as to make it less challenging for her. A week later she came for her second appointment only to say thank you. Her health was all fine… For me it was a pleasant shock. I was happy for her of course and maybe someday I will be old enough and experienced enough to repeat that success. In the mean time I understand that often it is unrealistic and at times even wrong for the process to be this fast – lessons need time to be learned more often than not.

So what do I want to say about time?

I shall start with prevention – after all, a minute of prevention can save hours and days of healing.

—————————————————————————————————————

I don’t have time to prepare breakfasts. I have no time for sports. I cannot find time for a massage once a week. I don’t have time for meditations or breathing exercises…

The above sentences represent a central question in preventative medicine: “How do we cope with the idea that we have no time to spare in modern times when contemplating preventative habits?”. The first thing we need to establish is the understanding that there is no such thing as “no time”. We have 24 hours every day and the right question is how do we use up our time wisely? It's all about priorities. It’s not always simple to reorganize our priorities but it is often a crucial step for the process of change.

Another important factor: With every passing year our body becomes less and less forgiving towards our mistakes. It becomes more evident the older we get. When young people go out on the town and go to sleep very late the worst they feel is tired the day after. At the age of 40+ it might wreck the next day. At 50 it could take a few days to recover. There is a beautiful lesson to be learned here – our body expects us to be wiser as we age – and show it by making wiser choices J. It is also less forgiving.

In an age of a fast pace race after money, preventative medicine is confronted with a major obstacle. It is very hard to quantify. In the field of insurance it is calculated but out of the assumption that people don’t change. Understanding that where there is a will there is a way, a challenge of mine is to get the message through that preventative medicine is good for the economics. Maybe when people realize there is a lot of money in health they will start investing in health daily… It is very simple to understand the role of exercise or nutrition in prevention. Everyone knows ample rest is crucial for healthy functioning in every aspect of life. Tomorrow it can never happen. If it is important it has to start today. Right now. In prevention time is a vicious foe. You delay for a moment and by then it hurts.

It is time to start acting on what you know and believe that can prevent you from becoming sick. If you are not sure about something or what is best to do come and let’s talk about it. Today is the best time to start. Right now!

Next let’s talk about time and acute diseases

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I don’t have time to take a day off in bed. Work will not wait. My students expect me in class. It is not that bad, I will drag along for a few days and it will blow over. I have plans for this weekend, I can’t just cancel it all and rest.

Acute diseases are short lived, usually dramatic in nature and tend to blow over even without meaningful assistance. They usually behave this way due to us having a reasonable level of vitality. If not it would quickly turn chronic. These diseases are only slightly challenging timewise. They are short and so require only a few days of cooperation on the patients’ part. Weeks at worst case. Despite this, most people rush out and seek the easy way out. A quick fix / pill for their illness. Usually pricy in terms of health. What is our body asking of us? Is it so much to ask that we take a break for a day? A week? A little tender loving care?

I have seen many cases where a neglected or mistreated acute disease – where all the body needed was a little rest or such, gets complicated by lack of cooperation and deteriorates into a more complicated disease. When the body is clearly asking for attention it is important and wise to comply.

A day or two invested in health can save many more in disease.

And if we already deteriorated?

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I am tired of constantly taking care of my health. It is hard for me to be so busy mostly with my health – I have no time for life itself. I have been sick for so long, when will it end? How long have I got?

In degenerative and chronic diseases (Longer and usually more complicated by nature) time becomes a much heavier issue. Especially when the disease gets worst with time.

Time spent talking and not advancing, tires. Time well spent, often bringing the rewards of improvement, uplifts. Knowing how to translate the process of illness and health correctly will most often make the difference above (Learning to recognize the positivity of some signs that could be misconstrued as setbacks but are really positive on the long run are one example – such as the positive meaning of raising a high fever as a sign of high vitality in children). Sometimes taking a pause from therapy can mean deterioration and at other times much needed rest can help the process along. Time in chronic illness management can be both a hindrance and a great tool – it’s all about how well you understand time in the bigger picture.

There are varied techniques for working with the toll of time – including them in long healing processes is crucial. It is very possible and realistic to cope with the experience of time during therapy and the right translation can make all the difference in the world.

Predicting what time will bring – now that is much more difficult. Answering the question “How long the treatment will take” requires a prophetic ability… Knowing how long a patient has left to live? Not among my talents… (And it has been proven that such knowledge can be a self-fulfilling prophecy). Knowing how to cope with these questions is a whole different ballgame. Learning to live in the here-and-now can be very helpful (one technique) especially with the “how long do I have left” question. This perspective helps teach the value of the moment and thus promotes a positive pro-active attitude to help us get to the next “now” as best we can. The right philosophical outlook can change the very fear of death. Fear is one of the strongest time-stress factors. The budhistic philosophy, for example, sees the end of a life as the beginning of another (Re-incarnations) and thus the fear of death is greatly reduced. Another wonderful philosophy is the one Ekhart Tole teaches in his book “The Power of Now”. A life focused on the here and now allows much better coping with life as a whole and especially disease.

There are several more time related conflicts we can talk about:

1. How many treatments do I need in order to heal?

2. How about instant healing treatments? What value and what dangers do they offer?

3. What could possibly be bad about instant relief from discomforts and symptoms? (Mind you, I’m not talking here about making an illness go away instantly, only the symptoms), what benefits can there be here?

4. Treatment frequency – the rights, wrongs and maybes in planning a therapeutic plan.

I will talk of these issues and more in a future article

Inflammation in Holistic Eyes

There is a great gap between Allopathic and Holistic approaches to inflammation. Since most of us grew up with conventional medicine, it seems important to open your eyes to the Natural view-point so you can choose your approach in such a common situation.

Conventional definition:
 "Inflammation is an immune reaction to wounds, certain irritations and toxic invaders such as viruses, bacteria or fungi."

The holistic definition is somewhat different. Inflammation is a process initiated by the body to serve its needs. Indeed sometimes an inflammation can lose control and risk our lives but in most cases it doesn't.
 The idea in treating inflammation holistically is to monitor it and make sure it is not life-threatening but by no means to supress it or stop it before it reaches its goal.

If it is a short or one-time non-violent inflammation like a light eye sore, usually easing the symptoms can suffice. The problem begins when it is more severe, long-lasting or recurrent. In such cases we deal with a situation which requires deep inquiry and treatment in order to help the body finish its task and break the inflammatory cycle.

In order to understand how we do this in Natural Medicine, here is some useful information regarding inflammation, from a Naturopathic perspective:

1. Usually inflammation flourishes in acidic tissue environment. Not the extreme acidity like in the stomach while digesting protein, but rather a slight change in acidity in the body tissues.
2. The body uses several materials in order to limit the activity of the inflammation it creates. Among these are vitamin C, vitamin A and zinc. Lack in one or more of them can make it hard for the body to complete the job and/or to heal the tissues afterwards.
3. In inflammation, like in all life processes in life, the engine behind the body's work is our life force. If we are vital enough, these processes work better, and if we are tired and worn, body systems don't function that well. According to Naturopathic approach, the difference between an acute disease (short, powerful and efficient) and a chronic disease (longer lasting, less effective and often doesn't end without help) is due to the person's vitality. One who is not vital enough to end the inflammation will stay with it until vitality is restored.

From these three points come a few simple and very helpful recommendations:

1. Increase plant-source foods (preferably organic since most of the pesticides are very acidic) and decrease animal foods. Veganism or vegetarianism is not always required for healing but it can definitely help ease and shorten suffering from long or severe inflammations.
2. Stress management can help a lot in improving the body's abilities and thus shortens inflammation processes accordingly.
3. Natural dietary supplements, adjusted by a professional naturopath or holistic nutritionist according to personal needs, are highly recommended.
4. Sufficient rest is highly vital for our health, so get enough sleep (around 8 hours a night, preferably starting at 10pm or no later than 11pm), and do not test your body's limits by spending too much energy over a long period of time.

Winter is coming

It seems the weather has gone mad. At least here in Israel the climate changes are rather clear. For a change winter has come to Israel fully blown and clear (+ extra rough winds and storms).

I am quite sure you all make a point of preparing your car for winter.

How about your body?

Here is a collection of tips for a healthy winter:

1. Whether you are already taking Zinc and vitamin C or not – if you haven’t tested their levels recently (Using the urine C test and Zinc taste tally) now is a good time to do so. During changes in weather and especially winter the body uses up greater amounts of both to boost the immune system. If low taking them regularly may be prudent.
2. It’s soup season! Now is the time to take out all those warming spices (Cinnamon bark, Black pepper, cardamom, Dry ginger etc.) alongside the sweat inducers (Fresh ginger, mint leaves and cinnamon twigs) together they form a wonderfully tasty preventative measure for the flu season.
3. Cold induced rigidity reduces blood flow and with it the immune system. Engaging in sports (Especially Qi Gong the Qi mover) warms the body nicely.
4. Using massage to soften the cold stiffness is also useful and very fun. Adding warming aromatic oils makes the massage even more effective.
5. Keeping your home aired out – including the bedrooms, is very important in winter (Challenging during very cold days and night) – stale air does little good and much bad to our health… Long term might introduce mold and that is very unhealthy.
6. Other tools worth keeping handy during winter: Zinc lozenges for that sore throat and our Chinese winter formula for all mild illnesses of winter (Always keep one in your freezer for a rainy day)
7. Are you one of those that tend to get sick several times during a winter? Come in for an appointment and we will work on prevention (Food, rest, supplements, herbs and the cherry on top: moxa. This Chinese tool involves burning Chinese mugwart over Chinese acupuncture points and/or needles. It is a very effective Immune system booster among other benefits).

We wish you a pleasant, rainy and most of all healthy winter