Yeast and Dis-ease
While naturally occurring yeast in our nutrition is healthy, in the West we have become excessive users of yeasted products primarily in the form of bread products and pastry This adversely affects the bowel flora or the microbiome of the gut because yeast overgrowth is a definite complication This is why yeasted bread products are listed in the No column in the energy science nutritional formats
Energetically the sweet taste soothes the nervous system Even though we grow up with the sweet smell of oven baked bread and yearn for the sweet taste in its many different forms unfortunately the yeast in bread products can do a number on our gut flora This is why if we look at the planetary nutritional habits we'll see that 80% of the population uses flatbreads as a way of taking their grains which have naturally occurring yeast, not yeast that has been artificially added to produce the puffiness of the dough
Dis-ease and Yeast
What does yeast have to do with dis-ease in the energy physiology?
Think about what yeast does to dough as it rises The excess yeast in the dough produces the hot quality during the rising process We can feel that hot quality on the sides of the bowl as the process is occurring This hot quality is delivered to the GIT and produces an additive effect to the already present hot quality in the gut As you may remember it's the hot quality that produces many of the symptoms of dis-eases such as gastroesophageal reflux(heartburn), diarrhea, inflammatory bowel dis-ease, and inflammatory joint dis-ease
But what else are we observing? The dough begins to "rise" This rising is an result of the CO2 gas being produced by the yeasties as a byproduct of their metabolizing of sugars in the flour The result energetically is the qualities of cold, light, mobile, dry, rough, subtle, and clear are being added to the GIT when we consume yeasted products These qualities of gas lead to a build up of the Vata energy pattern in the GIT
Vata is a primary player in all dis-ease processes in the mindbody and in particular 80% of dis-eases that are seen So you can see how very important it is to limit the influence of Vata in the body
What To Do About Dietary Yeast?
So there are a number of different lifestyle behaviors that you can take on that will make your gut a happier place
Use flatbreads such as sprouted wheat tortillas, pancakes, or corn tortillas(corn should not be used for PV energy makeup)
Consume naturally occurring yeast found in all grain flours We don't have to go looking for this because it's naturally there for us
Avoid the bakery section in grocery stores As Vata pacifying as it may be this section of the store should be off limits
Scones which are a great bakery good without the yeast
Don't supplement with yeast This seems obvious but in many matter science health communities we find recommendations for yeast supplementation While this may be a good idea from a molecular point of view it makes little sense from an energy science perspective
Toast the bread if you have to have it so that the residual yeast and the Vata qualities are not consumed
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Healing Expectations: Redefining What It Takes to Heal
Would we think it unusual that someone involved in a severe car accident would walk out of the ICU in a couple of days looking well? In the same way would we think it ususual that someone with chronic disease would clear their symptoms in a couple of months?
When various energy science therapies are used healing is elicited because therapies help correct the imbalance of qualities For example, the qualities of hot and mobile over time get cleared from the body with therapies
It literally takes years to cultivate these imbalances due to unconscious lifestyle choices Energy science work is not like taking an antibiotic for a few days and everything is better Wish it were that simple in the world of imbalances But the question often arises as to how long do I have to do this work to see benefits?
Foundational Therapies
Since all disease begins in the gastrointestinal tract(GIT) except for trauma nutrition that supports the energy constitutional makeup becomes foundational therapy for helping support a return to qualitative balance and eliminates imbalancing qualities in the GIT For example if a VP has a diet rich in nightshades(tomato, eggplant, peppers) simply removing those from the diet can be an important step toward bringing balance
Observing the removal of incompatible food combinations is another foundational therapeutic step to aid the GIT to correct the imbalances of the hot and mobile qualities of the syndrome
Therapies that support improving agni(digestive power) also do this rebalancing because removing ama improves the rebalancing effort
But how long does it take for rebalancing? Foods are instantaneous in terms of their effects in the GIT they have the most immediate impact on symptoms and within 7-10 days one can experience shifts in symptoms But the time for these foundational therapies to do their magic is dependent upon how long the GIT has been imbalanced The estimate is 2mo for every year of symptoms
Advanced Therapies
There are clinical situations where the imbalance that was created is beyond simple nutritional work In this setting there are more advanced therapies that are required in order to achieve the clearing of the qualitative imbalances developed Typically the symptoms have gone beyond the basic disease process
Again these advanced therapies such as herbal formulas, basti management, and detoxification procedures are part of getting better but again require time Oddly when the energy mindbody reaches this advanced stage of dis-ease the length of time remains the same...2mo for every year of symptoms, that is, if you've been having problems for 10 years then it will take one year and 4 months to progress to a symptom free state
Appropriate Expectations
So we can see that when we do energy science work to heal the IC syndrome it requires dedicated work on our part to maintain lifestyle changes that support the clearance of the imbalances created Unfortunately in life there is no quick fix I think we all intuitively know that but we hope against hope that it's not true
Another interference to doing this work is lack of clarity as to the decision making about whether this is an approach worth trying Only you can decide whether the journey is worthwhile
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Management of Chronic Disease: The Curse of Lifestyle Behavior Patterns
Chronic disease is different than acute disease If you have appendicitis, remove the appendix and voila, you're fixed
But most disease is chronic and not surprisingly it's due to our lifestyle choices Yes, here's the problem in a nutshell We create our disease by the unconsious choices that we make over our lifetimes
This can be very annoying to hear and many point to the infant born with congenital anomalies as an argument to avoid responsibility but the choice we make of our parents plays the role as to what decisions the unconscious mother makes for her in utero child At other times the unborn child carries karma to work out in this lifetime that comes out as congenital anomaly of some form
The bottom line is that as much as we would like to avoid our disease responsibility from an energy science view, the discipline will not let us off the hook In the end this is actually a blessing It prevents us from playing the blame game It's our parent's fault, it's my spouse's problem, it's just in my genes which is probably the closest reason as we will soon see
Chronic Disease Means Chronic Management
As we said cute disease is short lived and the solutions are straight forward But chronic disease management requires continuous ongoing treatment therapies which becomes a problem for us living in a Vata vitiated society who want our solutions yesterday
From an energy science point of view treatment guidelines revolve around those which center on lifestyle behavior patterns(LBP) which are the most difficult for us as humans to deal with From an epigenetic view the reason for this is actually based on methylation groups that prevent us from changing easily This methylation obstructs us from changing our LBP Essentially unhealthy LBP are obstacles to health
Holocaust survivors have high levels of methylation and leave them mentally "scarred" Unfortunately this methylated scarring becomes heritable whatever the traumatic event may be But it brings up questions for us such as "Is agni or eating patterns heritable?"
The good news for us who are challenged by LBP's that are not supportive for healing IC is remember that is takes just 8 weeks to reverse patterns not supportive of moving in the right direction That's right, 8 weeks to reverse those pesky methylation patterns that prevent us from changing to healthy LBP's
What Makes a Healthy LBP?
Ayurveda, the energy science of healing, gives us guidelines for healthy living Say we get up at 9am and go to bed at midnight Ayurveda would say that it would be better to go to bed early and get up earlier How much volume to drink during the day? How much to eat at the biggest meal of the day? What are the best foods to bring about physiologic balance?
The LBP help us live our lives in balance because that promotes health and heals chronic disease The above questions seem like they would have nothing to do with the IC bladder pain syndrome but from an energy science point of view they are all suggestions to bring about physiologic balance that will produce a foundation by which other therapies will build on the foundation of LBP
5 Ways to Deal with Pesky Unhealthy LBP
Yes, it's possible to change those methylation groups leading to unsuccessful unhealty patterns or LBP The reason that they work is that these activities produce mental clarity Any technique as a matter of fact that induces more mental clarity will decrease "bad" methylation which induces unfavorable LBP
1 Meditation is becoming a well known technique to quiet the mind An active mind clouds our soul's intelligence leading to poor decision making that leads to repetitive destructive LBP
2 Mantra work is the repetition of sounds that evoke DNA demethylation Essentially the sounds said mentally to yourself bump off these unwanted methylated groups to bring about change in any LBP
3 Breath retention is a form of meditation but has the added advantage of improving agni and promoting love, compassion, and peace
4 Herbs can change over time behavior patterns because herbs work at the level of mind or DNA
5 Marma therapy directly works at the level of mind so unwanted patterns slip away and one is consciously directed in different directions
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Energy Science Detoxification
When we enter a new way of doing healing it's good for us to educate ourselves about how the new discipline does its healing I have emphasized in this blog that we can't bring our matter science preconceived notions along with us when we begin looking at the energy science way of healing It just doesn't work So we need to be prepared to leave behind out old baggage and be prepared to enter a new way of healing
The Ayurvedic detoxification procedure is called panchakarma(PK) which means the 5 actions The five actions are nasya, rakta moksha(blood donation), vamana, virechana, and basti These actions can be done outside the context of a panchakarma event especially if there are complicating clinical circumstances but they are most effective when done in the context of PK
Detoxification has a very specific meaning in the energy science It means that during the process the Vata Pitta and Kapha energy patterns are brought back to the GIT for elimination AS WELL AS ama which has been peripherally spread from the GIT to the tissues and energy channels of the mindbody along with VPK
The PK Event
The event of PK is just that It is an event that occurs that brings about healing Like all the healing modalities used in the energy science it's not just one thing but a multiplicity of things done to the energy body's field that brings about healing changes So it is with the PK It's not just one thing in the PK event that brings about healing but it's how all of the modalities during the event come together to bring about a successful outcome
There are 3 components to the PK event The first is the preparatory phase in which the primary purpose is to prepare the energy field for detoxification There are several components to this phase but by far and away the most important is internal oleation which is done by taking increasing amounts of ghee orally in order to saturate the tissues so that the energy mindbody will release VPK and ama from the peripheral tissues
The second phase is the application of the five actions during a period of time During this time three other things should be done to encourage the movement of VPK and ama back to the GIT for elimination Oil massage, sweating, and oil to the forehead in a continuous stream helps support the process Other therapies can also be applied as per individual patient
The followup or third phase is to do things to support the elimination of the VPK and ama from the GIT An important aspect here is to rekindle agni that has been slowed down by the first two phases This is a very important aspect of this third and last phase of PK This phase can last as long as three months in which there is gradual release of VPK/ama
Some Clarifications about PK
One PK event in a person's incarnation is not enough for detoxification Rather it should be seen as a repetitive process that is like dipping a shirt into soapy water One dip doesn't clean the shirt It takes multiple dips to clear the accumulated toxic load As with any process the more you do the better you get at it
The PK event is special in how things get done If you take pieces out of context and use it regularly they don’t have the same effect For example, the use of basti which is the best way to eliminate Vata and ama from the energy mindbody doesn’t have the same effectiveness when done alone out of the context of the PK event as when it’s done in it
The more one oleates in the first phase the better the end result There are several tricks that can be used to make this important stage successful
It is possible to do the PK event over one week and by yourself with or without guidance But this week time frame doesn't include the first and third phases outlined above
Lastly even though it may seem foreign to you it is a way to ensure that real healing can take place if you deposited peripheral VPK/ama
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Low Back Pain: 5 Management Strategies
As the incidence of low back pain(LBP) is trending higher in the general population numerous anatomical or matter science methods are suggested Now there are new anatomical observations about the mechanical carriage of the spine that suggests that there has become too much thoracic curvature and that the back in more primitive cultures was more J shaped than the gentle S curve that is shown in spinal diagrams The reason given for this is our sedentary culture and the incorrect use of furniture
Let's look at how the energy science anatomy looks at LBP
The Anatomical Home of the Vata Energy Pattern
Vata, the energy pattern of movement, has the qualities of cold, light, mobile, dry, rough, subtle, and clear
As we have discussed before the role that Vata plays in disease labels begins in the GIT and then spreads from the colon and/or lower rectum to the pelvic nerves or to other parts of the mindbody to produce the varied presentation of Vata imblance
The anatomical home for Vata is the colon, pelvic girdle, thighs and lumbosacral(LSS) spine It is this latter involvement that leads to Vata when increased to produce symptoms of pain in the lower back
How does Vata increase its qualities? First, lifestyle choices such as lack of proper rest, lack of regimen, and foods that produce Vata aggravation This is particularly important for those with a PV type of energy constitutional makeup Secondly, when agni or digestive power is affected it can lead to a progressive buildup of Vata in the rectum that then leads to symptoms in the LSS
There is no pain without Vata This is because Vata primary functional area of the mindbody is the nervous system So when Vata accumulates and then aggravates the tissues Vata is the first to produce complaints of pain
5 Management Strategies for LBP
The qualitative reasons for LBP are cold, light, mobile, dry, rough, subtle, and clear due to the localization of the Vata energy pattern in the LLS area Another important observation already discussed is the close relationship between the pelvic and pectoral(shoulder) girdles
Pranayama(PY) Since the breath ties together the pelvis(apana vayu) and the shoulders(udana vayu) together it is no surprise that breath exercises can facilitate over time back rehabilitation This strategy improves the flexibility of the musculofascial planes surrounding the LSS and the strength of the supporting muscles of the entire back PY is the best way over time to make this happen Loss of flexibility is related to the cold, dry, and rough qualities The loss of strength is related to the light, dry, rough and subtle changes
Mahanaryan oil This is an excellent penetrating oil that quiets the Vata qualities of dry, rough, and subtle There are energy science methods of oil application that are ingenious and highly effective in improving ability to loosen the tissue rigidity occurring due to cold quality
Heat The cold quality is always present in any pain complex so the liberal use of the hot quality, preferably moist heat
Become a floor dweller This may seem rather radical but even laying on the floor for brief periods of time can be very therapeutic for LBP This is because when the back's foundation(LSS) becomes impaired all aspects of the back become involved Using the floor helps provide support to the upper thoracic back which becomes problematic due to the LSS Vata effect
Become conscious of your posture As we started in this discussion being aware of our posture becomes an important part of rehabilitation of the lower back by targeting how we carry the upper back particularly the thoracic curve This is done by paying attention to the shoulders keeping them drawn back and down This action improves the lordotic J hook of the LSS and reduces the prominence of the thoracic spine PY helps improve the overall strength of the back so that this action on the thoracic spine can be held for long periods of time
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A perfect snack should be nutritious and digest easily even in those with poor digestive strength(agni) This can be really important for those with poor agni which is almost always the case
Fresh fruit fits this category and is the primo snack food, hands down It beats anything in the middle of the grocery store
The Universal Fruits
Energetically we are not created equally Some are PV others PK while others VK(unusual) so we don't resonate the same to foods and fruits are no exception Perhaps some of you already know that a granny Smith apple due to its sourness can provoke your IC
But there are some fruits that can be used all the time....the universal fruits Notice that they are all sweet because the sour taste will provoke Pitta
Fruit that can be used all the time: Sweet apples(apple a day keeps...), applesauce, sweet berries, sweet cherries, sweet cherries, soaked prunes, soaked raisins
Particularly during the summer when central agni is low, fruits make an excellent way to protect an already compromised agni Try to use locally grown fruits when you can and support the organic growers
Remember the general rule to not mix other foods with fruit If you eat fruit before or after a meal allow 30minutes as a separating time interval Fruits and yogurt is a particularly nauseating combination
Fruits and Improving Digestive Fire(Agni)
Consider using fresh fruit for the below to charge up your agni berries
Fruit fast (PV every 2w...PK evergy week)
Fruit juice fast
Fruit as meal subsititutes
Fruit as snacks
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