I'm about to enter another stage in my life in a few short days and so with the extra time I have had to sit and enjoy some quiet moments, it has allowed me to reflect on a few things in life.
Growing up, I can recall many times where I was just a sounding board for my friends and family. Never thought too much of it, except being told that the idea of being a "good friend" is to be able to listen. Listen I did, but at the same time not realizing the impact that negative and "down" thoughts can have on a person.
I'm almost certain that by the time we are in our 30's we would have met someone along the way who just exudes negative energy. The only question is how much do they project out and how much do you absorb? Do you have that one friend or family member that when they are down or ranting about something, it seems to bring your entire spirits down too? And by the time they are done ( he/she is feeling much better) but now you have this heavy, almost suffocating sensation or your chest feels so heavy that you will just sink to the bottom of the sea even in a floatation device. I find these people like the Borg on Star Trek. They follow the rules of physics, they are negative and therefore naturally they are attracted to a positive person but even the most positive person eventually would be "assimilated" to this slowly and unwittingly form of negative energy.
I am not saying to dump your friends or family ( of course the latter is definitely a difficult one to do) but to be aware of this phenomenon of assimilated negative energy. Know when to put a stop and know when it is necessary to just walk away from such a person. Even therapist and councillors of all sorts know to debrief so as to ground themselves again or double checking that they have not accidentally picked up their clients "baggage" so to speak with them. But we, as the average citizen who doesn't have a job to clearly identify what is our "energy" and what is someone else's, we are truly at the mercy of this person who shares with us this stealth-like negative energy. Once the wheels of this negative vortex starts to develop, it almost catapults us into a realm of darkness and shadows.
I have run into friends and clients who can say that once they have determine the people to keep in their lives (those that they can manage to deflect these vibes) and those they need to keep at bay, their lives tend to change for the better. The dark clouds disperse, making way for the glimmer of sunshine to once again penetrate deep into our psyche.
All comments and stories are welcomed.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Monday, April 6, 2009
Darkness My Friendly Companion
The dark-side has always been synonymous with shadows, depression, creepy crawlies that come out at night, vampires, devils and all things evil. Recently, I have come to see this darkness as a friend and not as a foe. There is goodness, life and brightness that comes at the end of the spectrum of darkness.
Traditional Chinese Medicine talks about balance, the yin and the yang. They are just spectrums or opposite poles of the same thing. When things are in balance, we have harmony and health. When we do not go through this cycle from light to dark and from dark to light, then our health can be compromised. Activity and wakefulness is the yang, sleep and rest is the yin. But most of us don't realize that the amount of time that we spend in the yin aspect of our life is getting less and less.
For instance, before the invention of the light bulb, most people would go to bed when the sun goes down and get up when the sun rises. This is the way things should be, but of course in our whirl wind-like world, things are never what nature intends it to be. How many of us sleep in a room where something gives off light, such as a clock radio or alarm clock or even sleep with the television still on or have street lights or signs illuminating our sleeping quarters? The importance of replenishing that yin aspect of our life is crucial for good health. Good quality sleep in the darkness. So what happens in the complete dark? A very important biological substance is produced by a our pineal gland in our brain - melatonin.
Melatonin has been shown to be reduced with even small amounts of light during our sleep. So what is melatonin used for in our body? It is a powerful antioxidant. Anti-oxidants have been shown to reduce cellular damage. Unfortunately, unlike other anti-oxidants, melatonin doesn't get recycled such that to make the melatonin we need to go through our sleep wake cycles. So the age old saying of " I'll catch up with my sleep" can't be true. We can't really catch up to our sleep. So what should we do? First is to sleep at an appropriate time such that when melatonin is suppose to be peaking, we are actually asleep to be making it, second to sleep in the dark. Meaning we get heavy curtains to keep out any sort of external lighting, we use something to cover up alarm clock lights and other sources of light.
We all have a "dark side" that needs to be nourished, so lets embrace it.
Traditional Chinese Medicine talks about balance, the yin and the yang. They are just spectrums or opposite poles of the same thing. When things are in balance, we have harmony and health. When we do not go through this cycle from light to dark and from dark to light, then our health can be compromised. Activity and wakefulness is the yang, sleep and rest is the yin. But most of us don't realize that the amount of time that we spend in the yin aspect of our life is getting less and less.
For instance, before the invention of the light bulb, most people would go to bed when the sun goes down and get up when the sun rises. This is the way things should be, but of course in our whirl wind-like world, things are never what nature intends it to be. How many of us sleep in a room where something gives off light, such as a clock radio or alarm clock or even sleep with the television still on or have street lights or signs illuminating our sleeping quarters? The importance of replenishing that yin aspect of our life is crucial for good health. Good quality sleep in the darkness. So what happens in the complete dark? A very important biological substance is produced by a our pineal gland in our brain - melatonin.
Melatonin has been shown to be reduced with even small amounts of light during our sleep. So what is melatonin used for in our body? It is a powerful antioxidant. Anti-oxidants have been shown to reduce cellular damage. Unfortunately, unlike other anti-oxidants, melatonin doesn't get recycled such that to make the melatonin we need to go through our sleep wake cycles. So the age old saying of " I'll catch up with my sleep" can't be true. We can't really catch up to our sleep. So what should we do? First is to sleep at an appropriate time such that when melatonin is suppose to be peaking, we are actually asleep to be making it, second to sleep in the dark. Meaning we get heavy curtains to keep out any sort of external lighting, we use something to cover up alarm clock lights and other sources of light.
We all have a "dark side" that needs to be nourished, so lets embrace it.
Monday, March 30, 2009
The Circus Elephant
I once read, and I am no longer sure where I read it, that circus elephants are brain washed to believe that they are not stronger than the rope that holds them down. As baby elephants they are tied down with heavy chains and as they try and free themselves, they are unable to. As time passes and the elephant grows in size and has the power to break away from this bond, it no longer believes it can.
This type of conditioning happens a lot in our own lives and yet most of us are not aware of it. We go through life having certain beliefs but without us challenging these beliefs , are we no different from the circus elephant?
For instance, when I was younger ( back up a few decades) I would constantly be bombarded by people telling me how skinny and weak I am. I had always wanted to join the volleyball team but was not able to serve the ball over the net. That was a major requirement at that time and probably today as well to be able to get on the team. So year after year ( okay two years of junior high) I would try out for the team and year after year I would get cut. My first year in high school, I did not even bother to try out as I believed it was pointless. I was a circus elephant but I wasn't even working for the circus. If it weren't for a substitute teacher coming in for physical education class that I had, I would have continue to be my own circus elephant.
The fact is in two years my body had gotten stronger and with a minor technique adjustment in my serving suggested by my substitute phys ed teacher, I was suddenly getting the ball over 99% of the time. In another years time, the under hand serve was history and I was serving over head.
How many of us still carry or hold the same belief system we had as a child? How many of us are not consciously aware that things that may have been "impossible" or "improbable" in the past may now be a "possible" ? There are many factors that changes in our lives yet for some reason we sometimes stay stagnant in the "impossible" sphere.
Try creating a list of all the "impossible" things in your life. These can be anything from relationships, phobias, trauma, physical ability etc. We may not discover everything on the list of "impossible" as it has been buried deep within us for so long. Start scratching the surface and you may find yourself surprised that all this time when you had the strength of an elephant to roam freely yet you chose to stand still with a frayed rope tied loosely around your leg and attached to a wooden peg. Circus Elephants they are every where.
This type of conditioning happens a lot in our own lives and yet most of us are not aware of it. We go through life having certain beliefs but without us challenging these beliefs , are we no different from the circus elephant?
For instance, when I was younger ( back up a few decades) I would constantly be bombarded by people telling me how skinny and weak I am. I had always wanted to join the volleyball team but was not able to serve the ball over the net. That was a major requirement at that time and probably today as well to be able to get on the team. So year after year ( okay two years of junior high) I would try out for the team and year after year I would get cut. My first year in high school, I did not even bother to try out as I believed it was pointless. I was a circus elephant but I wasn't even working for the circus. If it weren't for a substitute teacher coming in for physical education class that I had, I would have continue to be my own circus elephant.
The fact is in two years my body had gotten stronger and with a minor technique adjustment in my serving suggested by my substitute phys ed teacher, I was suddenly getting the ball over 99% of the time. In another years time, the under hand serve was history and I was serving over head.
How many of us still carry or hold the same belief system we had as a child? How many of us are not consciously aware that things that may have been "impossible" or "improbable" in the past may now be a "possible" ? There are many factors that changes in our lives yet for some reason we sometimes stay stagnant in the "impossible" sphere.
Try creating a list of all the "impossible" things in your life. These can be anything from relationships, phobias, trauma, physical ability etc. We may not discover everything on the list of "impossible" as it has been buried deep within us for so long. Start scratching the surface and you may find yourself surprised that all this time when you had the strength of an elephant to roam freely yet you chose to stand still with a frayed rope tied loosely around your leg and attached to a wooden peg. Circus Elephants they are every where.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Healthy Money Saving Tips
Here we are with our economy in "free fall". Well since we are falling we might as well enjoy the ride and learn to get creative with our downward spiralling journey and not get blind sighted by all the negativity. I wrote an earlier blog about a website called GoEyeball, a price monitoring website that helps you monitor an item until it is on sale. It also helps with our "spur of the moment spending", as you need to wait for the sale therefore, giving you some time to think things over as to whether you need it or not. As some of my clients know already, the GoEyeball idea is an idea that I had conjured up in my moments of being "cheap".
But this blog will be my cheap ideas of staying healthy. Here are my 10 tips in no particular order:
Tip #1: Register to be a GoEyeball user and feel happy about the savings you got. Just kidding. Although feeling happy is quite health related, so if possible watch a comedy (movie, sit-com) whatever touches your funny bone. Internet has lots of things you can watch these days even TV shows that you previously might need cable for.
Tip#2: Try dry skin brushing nightly before bed to help move the lymphatics so toxins don't build up. Cheapest loofah brush I have found is at the Dollarama. This will save you the cost of needing to go in for drainage massage.
Tip#3: Sleep is cheap and free. Free amounts of melatonin (some people buy this as a supplement). Sleep helps to boost our immune system, repair our body that is damaged during the day, improves our memory and so much more health benefits.
Tip#4: Quit the gym fees and do some outdoor activities now that we have the warmer weather rolling in. Get the free sunshine vitamin (Vitamin D) for free but don't stay too long out side without protection.
Tip#5: Use vinegar to clean veggies and fruit. Boil meat for a minute in boiling water before cooking. It's not totally equivalent to eating organic but it is cheaper and still has healthy benefits.
Tip#6: Use food as your cleansing/detox kit. Move your bowels with fibre-rich foods, tablespoon of ground flax seed or chia seeds, drink enough water so you don't feel thirsty. Cleanse by supporting your liver with liver friendly foods such as carrots, beets, celery, artichokes or having some freshly squeezed lemon with water. Exercise and work up to a sweat to remove toxins through our largest detoxing organ , our skin.
Tip#7: Filter water at home instead of buying bottled water.
Tip#8: Eat whole foods as they are packed with nutrients. This will help decrease cravings so you aren't paying to buy snacks and candy bars that only give you a sugar high.
Tip#9: Learn to take short breaks from work so that you are deep breathing for 5 minutes or doing some stretching. This will help to reduce stress and keep your immune system healthy. That means less down time and less visits to the doctor's office.
Tip#10: Okay, this last tip is probably going to make some people squeamish but hard times calls for some good old fashion scrub down. What I mean is to stop using soap (you might even try to stop using shampoo and conditioner). There is too much chemicals in our so called hygiene products to be healthy (unless you found a 100% organic, and I mean the entire bottle of ingredients is 100% organic/natural). Try using some water and a terry cloth to gently scrub away the dirt. Unless your soap says anti-bacterial, it usually isn't killing anything and I wouldn't recommend an anti-bacterial soap for every day home use. It's just an open invitation to create some super bug that you can't kill.
If you have a healthy tip to share please feel free to add to the list. We'll be gliding soon so don't get too down about the economy. The silver lining is just under the cloud if you look for it.
But this blog will be my cheap ideas of staying healthy. Here are my 10 tips in no particular order:
Tip #1: Register to be a GoEyeball user and feel happy about the savings you got. Just kidding. Although feeling happy is quite health related, so if possible watch a comedy (movie, sit-com) whatever touches your funny bone. Internet has lots of things you can watch these days even TV shows that you previously might need cable for.
Tip#2: Try dry skin brushing nightly before bed to help move the lymphatics so toxins don't build up. Cheapest loofah brush I have found is at the Dollarama. This will save you the cost of needing to go in for drainage massage.
Tip#3: Sleep is cheap and free. Free amounts of melatonin (some people buy this as a supplement). Sleep helps to boost our immune system, repair our body that is damaged during the day, improves our memory and so much more health benefits.
Tip#4: Quit the gym fees and do some outdoor activities now that we have the warmer weather rolling in. Get the free sunshine vitamin (Vitamin D) for free but don't stay too long out side without protection.
Tip#5: Use vinegar to clean veggies and fruit. Boil meat for a minute in boiling water before cooking. It's not totally equivalent to eating organic but it is cheaper and still has healthy benefits.
Tip#6: Use food as your cleansing/detox kit. Move your bowels with fibre-rich foods, tablespoon of ground flax seed or chia seeds, drink enough water so you don't feel thirsty. Cleanse by supporting your liver with liver friendly foods such as carrots, beets, celery, artichokes or having some freshly squeezed lemon with water. Exercise and work up to a sweat to remove toxins through our largest detoxing organ , our skin.
Tip#7: Filter water at home instead of buying bottled water.
Tip#8: Eat whole foods as they are packed with nutrients. This will help decrease cravings so you aren't paying to buy snacks and candy bars that only give you a sugar high.
Tip#9: Learn to take short breaks from work so that you are deep breathing for 5 minutes or doing some stretching. This will help to reduce stress and keep your immune system healthy. That means less down time and less visits to the doctor's office.
Tip#10: Okay, this last tip is probably going to make some people squeamish but hard times calls for some good old fashion scrub down. What I mean is to stop using soap (you might even try to stop using shampoo and conditioner). There is too much chemicals in our so called hygiene products to be healthy (unless you found a 100% organic, and I mean the entire bottle of ingredients is 100% organic/natural). Try using some water and a terry cloth to gently scrub away the dirt. Unless your soap says anti-bacterial, it usually isn't killing anything and I wouldn't recommend an anti-bacterial soap for every day home use. It's just an open invitation to create some super bug that you can't kill.
If you have a healthy tip to share please feel free to add to the list. We'll be gliding soon so don't get too down about the economy. The silver lining is just under the cloud if you look for it.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Happy I am buying things on SALE
There are a many good things that makes me happy but one of them that just makes me feel like I hit the jackpot is when I get a really good sale on something I really want. This doesn't come by too often as I peruse the isles of items or flip through webpages and the item is not on sale. I spent hours going back to webpages every week when we moved to our new home to see if the item I wanted had gone on sale or not. Where is a website that monitor prices for items that I want when I need one? I looked desparately. But it was to no avail.
A month past, and I decided that we should make a website ourselves to remedy my problem. So let me introduce to you, the reader my little invention. Ta Da!
www.GoEyeball.com
GoEyeball.com is super easy to use once you understand it's concept. Some think GoEyeball.com is a community site that people contributes to what is one sale. You do have some highlighted sales but the importance is creating your own price monitors or what we have termed "eyeballs" to help you watch for the items that you want but aren't on sale yet.
And what makes me even happier is that I can price match and price adjust if I want to make a little extra effort and save an extra 5 or 10% on top of the sale.
Being happy isn't always the big things in life. It is the little ones that add up on a daily basis. Now I have more time to spend with my family because GoEyeball.com sends me an email when the price drops.
Healthy living is healthy shopping! Saving money just makes me Happy, period.
A month past, and I decided that we should make a website ourselves to remedy my problem. So let me introduce to you, the reader my little invention. Ta Da!
www.GoEyeball.com
GoEyeball.com is super easy to use once you understand it's concept. Some think GoEyeball.com is a community site that people contributes to what is one sale. You do have some highlighted sales but the importance is creating your own price monitors or what we have termed "eyeballs" to help you watch for the items that you want but aren't on sale yet.
And what makes me even happier is that I can price match and price adjust if I want to make a little extra effort and save an extra 5 or 10% on top of the sale.
Being happy isn't always the big things in life. It is the little ones that add up on a daily basis. Now I have more time to spend with my family because GoEyeball.com sends me an email when the price drops.
Healthy living is healthy shopping! Saving money just makes me Happy, period.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Keeping Breast Cancer at Bay
In another 3 months my Mom would have left us for 11 years. She died of breast cancer. And as statistics points out to me, I am at a higher risk category. Does it scare me that I might one day be diagnosed by it? Sure it does. But I have found a few things in life to help me fight this lurking monster.
The number one thing is that I found a husband who makes me laugh every day. I love the moments that we can share a cheesy joke. So how is being happy and laughing going to help? Excellent question my friend. Last year sometime I read in the news that there was a study entitled "Breast Cancer, Psychological Distress and Life Events among Young Women," published in the journal BMC Cancer. The study suggests that traumatic events and stress can lead to an increase in breast cancer risk.Interestingly, these findings correlate to Traditional Chinese Medicine's (TCM) theory that has been around for thousands of years. TCM describes that we all have Qi that circulates throughout our body. Some may call it our vital force or energy. Whatever we choose to call it, Qi needs to flow smoothly in our bodies. The "energetic" organ responsible for this smooth flow is our liver. If you have ever been to an acupuncturist and they have their classical acupuncture charts on the wall, you may notice that the liver meridian (energy channels along the body where Qi flows) , along with the Gallbladder and Stomach meridians all flow through the breast. When Qi stagnates in our bodies, it can lead to the development of pain and eventually breast lumps or tumours. So besides trying to get my daily dose of laughter, I will massage points along the liver meridian.
Another important yet simple thing to do is sleep in the dark and get enough sleep. I will be talking about this in another blog. Eat healthy foods which are high in anti-oxidants (usually foods that are in our vegetable and fruit groups), exercise daily and use more natural products for my skin that doesn't contain hormone disruptors ( parabens, Diethanolamine (DEA) etc.)
Most important is to keep up the fight and lessen the fear, as fear in itself is deadly.
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