Irritable Bowel Syndrome: An Energy Science Perspective
Digestive fire is a collective term for all the enzyme and bacterial systems from mouth to anus So you can see it has broad connotations in terms of good bowel function and if abnormal potential for poor bowel function
From an energy science point of view irritable bowel syndrome(IBS) is a collection of bowel symptoms related to disturbed digestive fire or what Ayurveda terms agni As I have written in the past most people's agni is not up to par The reason for this is quite simple The concept of agni is not even in our health vocabulary
How would you know about it and hence take care of it if you don't know it exists?
This is a significant problem for the present day health consumer but unfortunately she is duped by the matter science model into believing it is complete Suffice it to say the majority of the population suffers from symptoms of IBS
The Symptoms of IBS
The types of IBS fall into four categories: Vata Pitta Kapha and combination patterns By far and away the latter makes up the majority of those affected by symptoms The most common symptom of IBS is bloating after eating for short or extended periods of time
Many people don't know that they bloat and some who have an exaggerated bloat know it very well Abdominal distention occurs as a result of the gaseous bowel distention Other symptoms include diarrhea, constipation, or a mixture of diarrhea and constipation At times flatulence or excessive gas that may be malodorous may occur
When the Kapha energy pattern is manifested in large degree mucous will be present in the stools but the worst IBS of all is when the mucous becomes dried in the GI tract This creates a marked problem for elimination This latter group of IBS can become severely debilitated professionally, physically, and often emotionally drained due to the chronicity of the disease This is the ultimate in the manifestation of IBS and the matter science has little to offer in such cases
The Creation of Ama
Now the stage is set for the next phase of disease Agni becomes impaired and due to this undigested food begins to accumulate in the GI tract The energy science of Ayurveda terms this ama(not to be confused with the American Medical Association)
This ama begins to clogs the lymphatics of the bowel wall leading to malabsorption, food intolerances(aka allergies), and "overgrowth syndromes"(yeast etc), and in children the autism spectrum disorder As a matter of fact we could simply do fill ama would be part of the disease
In essence IBS goes together with almost all diseases except for perhaps trauma The bowel dysfunction related to disturbed agni is fundamental to the unfolding causative process of every disease in the mindbody even mental disease
Energeticall vibrational frequencies begin to accumulate in the GI tract and then spread to different partsof the mindbody to promote mischief
Treating IBS
So treating any disease requires that IBS is treated as well According to posts there are essentially two levels of therapy for any energetic imbalance in the mindbody The first level is to stop the condition from getting any worse The second level is to remove the offending vibrational frequencies using specific therapeutic modalites that have already been discussed
But one of the integral therapies in IBS treatment is to deal with the cause of the problem.....disturbed agni This is paramount to successful management and since the matter science doesn't even have the concept all bets are off that IBS management will be successful
Many many of the blog posts done in the past have made suggestions about how to promote better agni CCF tea, agni tea, ginger tea are all about promoting better balanced agni Herbs can be very impactful in this regard and it's beyond the scope of this dialogue today to address them
Using a nutritional format appropriate for your energy constitution and avoiding incompatible food combinations can be very helpful in not aggravating the condition In this regard the daily use of churans as talked about in the past is very advantageous
A specific pranayama(breathing exercises) flow sequence can really help impaired disturbed agni by balancing it Dependent on the severity of the IBS other methods can be employed And yoga asana practice has been successfully employed in the matter science literature
As in all energy work however it's not just one thing that creates healing....healing requires a multifaceted approach to bring about real healing
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Creativity and Imbalance: 5 Things To Expect
In the energy science model the mind and body are intimately spliced...you cannot separate them What happens in the mind, happens in the body....and what happens in the body, happens in the mind If you have a thought, the physical body hears it The thought of "I'm scared" may be subconscious but the body experiences the fear nonetheless If the body is injured, the mind goes into fear about survival even if it's a minor injury All one has to do is reflect on your experiences as a child or watch children to realize this intimate connection
Imbalance and the Mind
In the energy science of Ayurveda if the qualities of foods, the environment(hot day), or experiences(anger) create imbalance in the body it creates imbalance in the mind At times the imbalance may begin in the mind over the body but the effect is nonetheless the same
So how does this imbalance affect our mental function? The answer lies in the common energy science phrase, "It depends"
It depends on the qualities that are out of whack For example, the imbalance of the Vata qualities of cold, light, mobile, dry, rough, subtle, clear will look different in the mind than the Kapha imbalance of qualities like heavy, slow/dull, cool, slimy/smooth, gross, sticky, and liquid Can you picture these differences and how they would impact a mind....a light anxious mind versus a heavy slow/dull depressed inactive mind
It's important to point out here that in the present moment...right here and now...we can think our mental functioning is pretty good But everything is relative to what we have previously experienced So if our mental function improves we can look back and see the difference
Emergence of Creativity With Clearance of Imbalance
When therapies are done to the physical body, they have a direct impact by what I've said earlier about what happens in the mind When one addresses the qualitative imbalances in the mindbody there is improved mind function and one can expect to see relatively speaking(as above) that there is more clarity about how we mentally task
Creativity When this happens we begin automatically entertaining different ways of doing things It no longer becomes "my way or the highway" Rigidity is lessened and there is less control about seeing another's or your own way of doing things
Attention span You're able to stay on task without wanting to get up and leave because you're bored
Memory retrieval You begin remembering things you couldn't have ever thought you would remember
Balance is something worthy of everyone to strive to achieve There are so many valuable things that occur that make life more fun and enjoyable
Intuition As the intuitive sense grows it becomes normal part of the day Someone asks you to water their lawn while they're gone on vacation and you don't because you sense that it will rain And you're right!...it rains while they're gone
Learning ability As imbalances clear there is better clarity of the mind and with that comes the ability to pick up tasks more quickly
There are so many benefits of clearing imbalances that make life more fun and enjoyable You think you're having fun now....just wait and see Best DB
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15 Methods to Enhance Digestive Fire
Digestive fire is a collective term for all the enzyme and bacterial systems in the gut from the stomach to the rectum When we have a good digestive fire we can burn through past mistakes and current ones that we make when we eat foods that aren't balancing for us or poor food combinations
Over the years of doing these mistakes without rectifying for them, the accumulated imbalance in the GI tract begins to make us sick Hence preserving or making the digestive fire healthy is of prime importance Here are some tips as to how you can make your fire robust and best for optimal health
1 Biggest Meal at midday
2 Only eat when appetite is ready for the experience of food
3 No snacks between meals
4 All beverages at room temperature Ice is not nice
5 Tongue scraping stimulates digestive fire
6 Do at least one meal every 2 to 3 days in silence
7 Try to not eat when emotionally upset or bored
8 Try not to eat large meals late at night
9 Drink milk separate from meals
10 Use a rice bowl or similar measuring device for measuring 2 handfuls (how much should eat at any one meal)
11 Juice fast according to VPK protocol
12 Try to always sit to eat
13 Exercise regularly
14 Use churans to improve the digestion of a meal
15 Don't chew gum This may sound strange but if saliva is continually sent to the stomach with mastication movements of the mouth, the body thinks that eating is occurring This false signal makes the body feel that it's eating all the time and essentially causes deterioration of agni(digestive fire)
Do these tips on a regular basis and see for yourself how you feel after meals
To Health as a Skill Love DB
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The Inertia of the Human Spirit: 3 Ways to Manage It
These days there is a lot of money spent by companies or individuals hoping to get the "edge" using a motivational approach using such professionals as Tony Robbins or Jack Canfield The promise is that if I amp up my performance then I "win"
This may be all well and good in 20th century but I would offer a different perspective as to why "we need motivation"
The Kapha Energy Pattern
A complete model of the mindbody is that it's both a matter or molecular and an energy field simultaneously coexisting with one another This is the biological model of the 21st century that respects the molecular investigations of the body but also sees the energy science contributions as well
To my point about motivation that I began with I believe that there can always be present in the biological energy field a problem with inertia or lack of compelling passion to get the job done
From an energy science point of view Pitta becomes the driving force behind the passion to get things done but there can be at times and restricting force on this passion that comes about when the energy pattern of stability comes into play Kapha has the qualities of heavy, slow/dull, cool, slimy/smooth, oily, liquid, dense, soft, static, and cloudy Just reading these qualities can make you tired!
3 Ways to Manage Physiologic Inertia
Foods Not Correct for Our Mindbody Energy Constitutions
I watched a couple of ballgames this weekend and was surprised at the food ads in between innings, all vying for my tastebuds It's not surprising that two-thirds of us are overweight or obese All these foods are programming us for these Kapha qualities I listed above If we keep eating the "good old American diet" we will continue to get the same results
Not only do these qualities produce our weight problem on the planet but they also put the brakes on our drive and creativity It's been shown that an individual who is fit and of normal weight outperforms in the workplace his obese counterpart No or little inertia versus lots of inertia Is this discriminatory or is it a fact?
Incompatible food combinations
There are several ways that foods when not partnered properly can lead to lowered metabolism and Kapha inertia For more see foodsheal.com
Breathing techniques
An excellent way to reduce the Kapha inertia is through breathing techniques called pranayama The sequence requires instruction but is a surefire way to jack up the system that is sluggish and needs help Called pranayama in yoga circles it is a bonafide way to reduce the debilitating Kapha energy pattern in the physiology As a matter of fact no weight reduction program is complete unless it has these breathing exercises as part of the program
To Health as a Skill DB
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Cooking Oils: Which Ones Are Toxic For You
In the energy science approach there are specific cooking oils that carry the hot quality and these in the end will aggravate the small bowel, the seat of Pitta energy which as you recall is the energy of transformation in the body These oils if used improperly can produce imbalances over the long term leading to disease
Why would the small bowel be the focal point of transformative energy? It's in the small bowel that foods are literally transformed from a vegetable, say broccoli.... and that piece of broccoli is transformed into molecules that can be used by your body for repair or energy to do things So when oils heat the small bowel they increase the energy pattern of Pitta which is responsible for all forms of inflammatory diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and str oke
Which Oils are Best?
It depends on who you are energetically If you do the questionnaire at foodsheal.com you can determine whether you are PK, PV, or VK Then to the specific nutritional format will show you the oils that will bring about balance for your specific energy pattern....that is, your unique energetic constitutional makeup that is genetically determined
Oils That Heat the Small Bowel
Some degree of heat is valuable for health but sometimes that heat can become so provoked for many different reasons that disease occurs Oils that can be used in moderation for any energy constitutional makeup are almond, apricot, flaxseed, safflower, sesame, soy and sunflower
Almonds are actually seeds and in the skin of the almond are numerous enzymes that produce transformation so the almond can reproduce itself into another tree If the skin of the almond is left in place during the production of the oil then the oil will be heating The same is true for almond butter
For PV makeup all oils can be used in moderation without causing an imbalance except for coconut and avocado which should be used externally only This latter external use is based on the fact that these two oils are extremely cooling and affect the digestive fire or agni Hence routine use of coconut oil internally, even though the rage from a matter science view currently, is not a good idea as it will disrupt agni which is extremely important for health
For PK makeup there are problematic oils that can produce imbalance Seldom used apricot oil and safflower, and sesame oil internally should not be used at all Sesame can be used externally in moderation Internally taken oils for PK that can be used in moderation are corn, olive, soy, flaxseed, primrose, walnut, and almond Those oils that can be taken internally all the time for PK are sunflower, canola, and ghee The same caveat holds true for coconut and avocado regarding the internal use as above
For VK makeup all oils can be used in moderation except for flaxseed which should not be used Those that can be used all the time are ghee and corn Again the same caveat holds true for coconut and avocado regarding the internal use as above
Cooking Oils and Eating Out
So armed with this information you can begin to make better energetic choices around the choice of cooking oils in the kitchen and at restaurants But when it's all said and done you should think twice about fried foods in restaurants since you have no control over what kinds of oils are used unless it's used at the table from a bottle for salads Otherwise fried cooking oils in the restaurant kitchen are more than likely the cheapest oils that can be found and are used over and over again
Having said this if eating out is infrequent then consuming oils that are imbalancing every once in a while particularly if your agni is strong probably will not make a big difference
A Word About Ghee
From an energetic perspective, no matter what your energy constitutional makeup, ghee can be used by everyone The universal cooking oil!!
Ghee or clarified butter is an excellent cooking oil(high burn point) because not only does it cool the small bowel but its qualities are those of our digestive fire Hence using ghee on a regular basis improves overall health Said another way, many who have IC have poor agni, ie poor digestive strength
In our next post together we'll discuss how to make this amazing cooking oil
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Restoring Biological Innocence Through Nutrition
The energy body is composed of three types of energy using the energy science model of Ayurveda As I have talked about in the past how it is articulated in other models such as the Traditional Oriental Medicine discipline is different but in essence it's the same, the mindbody is being seen as an energy field, not a matter field
The three energy patterns in the Ayurvedic model are Vata(energy of movement), Pitta(energy of transformation or metabolism), and Kapha(energy of stability) You need all three to function but they are expressed in degrees in all of us Someone may be born Vata 3 Pitta 2 Kapha 1 while her friend might be V1P2K3
Innocence and the Energy Science Model
The energy patterns described in the Ayurvedic energy model simply are They are mental constructs created by healers 1000's of years ago in order to make sense of what they were observing in themselves They had no microscopes, MRI's, or Xray machines They only had their powers of observation They saw that there was movement around them and they saw movement in the healthy body and so they called this Vata and we now term it a biological energy Similarly observations in Nature showed the transformation and stability was seen and those were also observed in the human body and these energy patterns were called Pitta and Kapha But Nature Herself is innocent and so are the energy patterns that make Her up....she simply exists
These energy patterns are simply expressions of Nature herself So there are Pitta dogs, Kapha type cats, Vata like birds And our mindbodies are expressions of Nature as well This is the basis of understanding the energy model as it applies to us as biological energy patterns
Disease: The Loss of Innocence
Disease in the energy body occurs because we make unconscious choices that cause these energy patterns to become more active than they should be If we run, run, run....eventually we run out of energy.....we deplete the body because by all that running the energy of movement gets so active in the body that it causes depletion
So disease is typically a depletion of the energy body due to poor unconscious choices that we make The energy patterns are innocent They're just being part of Nature...it's our mind and its choices that go against Nature that produces disease
Working the night shift might seem like a way to make a living but it goes against Nature's intelligence which sleeps at night....She's not working
So when we make choices that restores these energy patterns back to balance, back to the times when they were not provoked(when we were children) then healing occurs This is the healing is seen in the energy science at least
We restore this innocence by making choices that do not aggravate the energy patterns in our bod
y For example by following the nutritional formats we avoid making food choices that lead to imbalances in the body that eventually lead to disease
So here's to restoring innocence Best DB
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