Empower Your Life, Through Food

A human being is a part of the whole, called by us “Universe,” a part limited in time and space.  He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness.  This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us.  Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.  Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security.

Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955)

Currently we have many food, health and fitness ‘experts’ telling us what to do to get healthy, thereby creating the perfect life for ourselves. Some say it’s all about green smoothies, or super foods, others are spruiking different fad diets. I went to prodiets.org and found the best diet plan for me and have since lost 8 pounds.

Presently The ‘Paleo Diet’ is leading the pack when it comes to what we’re eating. Paleo’s tell us to cut out all grains and legumes, as they’re highly acidic thanks to the phytic acid they contain and to eat more animal protein. This has been such a popular diet that there are more and more Paleo café’s and restaurants popping up around the western world daily, food lines and many Blogs. Not only is eating more animal produce detrimental to our health but agriculture creates more green house gases than all of the gases created by all types of transport on the planet combined. How are we to survive as a species if the 7billion people soon to populate our planet went Paleo? How does being on a diet, any diet, aid our wellbeing, our oneness?

It’s not just Paleos’ who reckon they’ve got it right. There’s special diets like the Fodmap and GAPS aimed at treating conditions like fructose malapsorption, SIBO, Candida, Crone’s Disease, IBS, ADHD, cancer and so on. Seriously fruits and vegetables are not the problem. This Fructose- free craze that seems to be dictating the way western world is eating in the 21st century. Or it was unil we realised it’s not the answer either. When was fruit ever a problem for our ancestors? Especially if it’s organic. (The chemicals our food is grown with is a whole other matter, which is why I am a great believer in organic food. Yes most of us can afford it. More on this later.) I think we all agree processing fruit into a high fructose or corn syrup is nasty, and seriously bad for our health, and the planet. Yes avoid processed and refined foods, not wholefood in their original state, unless there’s an allergy or severe intolerance present of course. And in this case, the offending food will usually only need to be removed until the gut is repaired.

We hear the good and bad of buying organic food, of GMO technology, others are telling us how awful palm oil is and the detrimental health and environmental effects trans-fats and GMO foods are having. Who’s right?

We’re also hearing how an ‘alkaline’ diet is better for our health. This means acidic food, which are animal products, most fruit and veggies, grains, nuts, seeds and legumes – are all bad for us – causing acidosis. Yet there’s no real evidence to support this. There is also a school of thought (evidence needed here?) that the way we eat has much more of an effect on our health than what we actually eat. Are we stressed when we’re eating, are we eating too fast, too much, too late at night, when we’re not hungry?  Does chewing alkaline our food, making it easier to assimilate/digest?

Many of us are worried that we’re doing the wrong thing, that we’re making all the wrong decisions concerning our health, especially since we heard that perhaps margarine isn’t so good for us and may potentially be detrimental to our health. This is a good example as we were told that butter is unhealthy and margarine the king as it will lower high bad cholesterol that will lead to heart disease. Imagine if the Paleo Diet was around then? They put butter in their coffee it’s apparently so good for you, and now, the result? We’re freaked out. It’s understandable that some of us have decided it’s all too hard, sticking our heads in the sand, making no positive changes at all. Why bother when they don’t even know what’s good for us?

I remember the days when the only evil was gluten, and before that MSG. Now it’s the toxic form of folic acid that’s been added to our wheat grain (and other packaged food) since the early 90’s in Australia and NZ, or the negative effects of consuming highly processed cow’s milk and its products. And what about sugar, or ‘white poison’ as it has become known? How much of this can we actually consume without turning into an acidic cookie monster on a blood sugar see saw?

Then there’s sulphur dioxide that is added to pretty much everything with a long shelf life in the supermarket. Sulphur extends the shelf life of food, and preserves its colour. Many of us are highly sensitive to this naturally occurring, acidic substance and anything it’s in.

We are told what to do, we believe it, and then we obey. ‘Why would ‘they’ lie to us?’ That is until we realize the food (or action) in question was never properly researched and really isn’t that healthful. Or as bad – the food we were told to avoid, is actually what we should be eating after all – better for the planet and us.

What’s the deal with all of this conflicting information? It’s not only easily available, but constantly being delivered to our phones and computers via text, social media or email. Is it that we are getting the info’ from too many different sources including Dr. Google, Apps, TV, on-demand viewing, social medias and print media? Or is it that some celebrities have a bigger voice and brand than others? Does anybody really know?

All of this has led to mass confusion, which has led many of us into anger then resignation, then increased illness. It’s keeping us from addressing the real reasons why we are sick and getting sicker. It’s not spray-free fruit that’s the problem.

Food it seems is the one thing in our generally disempowered lives that we have some control over. And control we want.

You can eat a fully organic, well balanced and mostly plant -based diet and still get cancer. Or you hear of some people living to 100 years old, having a few drinks everyday, eating the fatty bacon on white bread with butter, and perhaps still smoking. Why? Is it where they live, having their own spray-free veggie patch, the water they drink, their genes, how well they compartmentalise their thoughts and feelings, how much surfing they’ve done and do. Do they practice mindfulness or other forms of meditation, how well they love and are loved in return, is their default emotion set on love instead of fear?

Putting your own oxygen mask on first is an old adage that expresses this. Do we feel we own our own lives? That we’re in control of it thereby feeling safe.

I am the master of my fate
I am the captain of my soul.

– WILLIAM ERNEST HENLEY

Being in of state of ‘fight or flight’ means your sympathetic nervous system is turned on. Parasympathetic means ‘rest and digest’. Love is yin, as is yoga when practiced in its true state. Hatred stimulates our sympathetic nervous system, as does stress of any kind. Getting away from a saber tooth tiger is one thing. Survival stands between you and it, so stimulating the stress hormones adrenalin and cortisol is a matter of life and death. But unnecessary stress has become a habit, a bad one.

An imbalance in both is disempowering. We have the greatest resilience when they’re balanced. A martial artist knows this, as does nature.

Blood pH doesn’t change much. It’s controlled by kidney and lung and in Traditional Chinese Medicine the kidney stores the emotions anxiety and fear, and the lungs – grief and sadness. All of these emotions take our nervous systems into a sympathetic state. If prolonged – illness follows. All diseases, and ageing and death, come from oxidation – an inflammatory state/environment in the body. This is one reason we want to increase oxygen in our cells – to fight free radical – the bad guys. To do this we need exercise, cetain supplements, meditation, happiness, and foods high in anti-oxidants.

Man-made chemicals are toxic endocrine disruptors, affecting all organ systems.

Occasional and short-lived stress is not such a bad thing though – it gets us out of a situation that isn’t working for us. Distress on the other hand is not ok. Distress is when we feel we have no control over our lives; that someone else is running the show and we can’t do a thing to get out of the situation; we can’t make the necessary changes. Research tells us that this is a very dangerous place to be, emotionally and physically. Feeling that you have a lack of control causes adrenalin and cortisol to be released – as long as you’re feeling this way you’ll be releasing these stress hormones. This then causes and an inflammatory response in our system – releasing cytokines, (inflammatory agents) – due to the constant ‘fight or flight’ response associated with complete disempowerment.

We’re empowered when we feel we have power over our world. Everything is interconnected. Acting with this knowledge alone is empowering. And the bonus is that it’s in everyone and everything’s best interest, not just yours.  All of nature – the birds, bees, soil, water and air.

We get sick when our bodies are inflamed for too long. Food is just one part of our lives that can cause inflammation, and that can happen simply by not chewing it. Eating highly processed or heavily sprayed food, or eating when you’re stressed. You can drink all the green smoothies you like but if you’re in a job you hate, a destructive personal relationship or dealing with a traumatic event from childhood, or indeed your entire childhood. If this is the case then chances are your body is going to be inflamed.

Greed, anger, resentment, overwork, jealousy, fear and grief are all things that can cause too much inflammation in our system. Love, peace, babies, prayer and mediation on the other hand take us the other way, towards good health. According to Prof Bruce Lipton. There’s nothing in between. Ether you feel good or bad. He says…

He says that the cells in our body are like people in the world. They make up the whole. We are the cells.

 ‘When you look at yourself you see an individual person. But if you understand the nature of who you are, you realize that you are actually a community of about 50 trillion living cells. Each cell is a living individual, a sentient being that has its own life and functions but interacts with other cells in the nature of a community. If I could reduce you to the size of a cell and drop you inside your own body, you would see a very busy metropolis of trillions of individuals living within one skin. This becomes relevant when we understand that health is when there is harmony in the community and dis-ease is when there is a disharmony that tends to fracture the community relationships. So, number one, we are a community.

Everything in the universe is now understood to be made out of energy; to our perception it appears physical and solid, yet in reality it is all energy and energies interact. When you interact in your environment you are both absorbing and sending energy at the same time. You are probably more familiar with terms such as “good vibes” and “bad vibes.” Those are the waves at which we are all vibrating. We are all energy. The energy in your body is reflecting the energy around you because the atoms in your body are not only giving off energy, they are absorbing energy. Every living organism communicates with these vibrations. Animals communicate with plants; they communicate with other animals. Shamans talk to plants with vibrations. If you are sensitive to the differences between “good” and “bad” vibrations, you would always be leading yourself to places that would encourage your survival, your growth, your love, et cetera, and staying away from situations and places that would take advantage of you or cancel who you are.’

– Prof. Bruce Lipton.

So if you’ve been burning the candle at both ends for too long, emotionally, physically or both and have possibly been doing this because sub-consciously you’ve been avoiding dealing with your painful divorce or sick child – now we have double trouble. Running on empty for too long leads to adrenal fatigue, then exhaustion, then collapse – then disease.

And what about the water we drink? It needs to be at a pH of around 7 (neutral) or slightly alkaline and often it’s not. Ideally, we want water, or a filter that gives an alkaline pH in the beneficial range of 8 – 10.

Toxic chemicals also cause inflammation – in many of our cosmetics, pharmaceutical drugs, cleaning products, soft furnishings, electrical chords, carpets and other household items like room deodorisers, and insect and rodent traps and sprays and all those bottles, sprays and liquids for the garden and in the garage.

Then there’s the potential fallout from our computers and mobile phones, all causing inflammation in our bodies. So considering how much our bodies have to deal with, where do we start? With us, what we choose to put in and on our body, what we inhale ingest and absorb.

Anta Moorjani, author of ‘Dying To Be Me’ – chose to eat an organic diet because she was so completely afraid of getting cancer. Yes she got cancer – Non-Hodgkin’s’ Lymphoma that had metastasized, and was given months to live. She had a NDE, (Near Death Experience) and has ‘returned’ to tell us of her experience. What she learnt from this extraordinary experience was that her lack of self-love, her duality, her lack of trust and belief in herself, her self-loathing was the reason she got sick. Upon regaining consciousness she had a ‘spontaneous healing’ and now travels the world speaking about the importance of self- love and belief – understanding the reason why we do things. Of ‘oneness’.

‘The only purpose of life is to be our self, live our truth, and be the be the love that we are.’

– Anita Moorjani

‘Once I was no longer expressing from a state of duality, I realised there is no separation between the within and without.’

– Anita Moorjani

It’s ok to get ‘appropriately angry’ from time to time, but the trick to good health/wellness is to get out of that state as soon as possible; not to be hanging around there as this provides the internal environment for disease.

Wellbeing – health plus happiness – seems to be a lot more about not what you do but the way and reason you do it. It’s not about eating an organic diet because you’re scared to death you’ll get cancer if you don’t. It’s about eating an organic diet because it empowers you to do so, knowing you’re giving your health and that of the planet the best chance at living a long, healthy and happy life.

Doing for others is more empowering than doing for yourself. What’s best for yourself is right for you, your community, the environment, your family, friends, the birds and the bees.

Once we know this stuff, how to live better – our life becomes a powerful and positive experience instead of a pessimistic, lonely and disempowered one. By actively responding to a situation you find unacceptable, you not only become an example to others, but it will give your whole life more meaning and purpose. Positive action – apart from having widespread beneficial repercussions, is one very good way to feel personally empowered.

Our whole life is a vehicle for advocating global change that is desperately needed in these times. Everything we do has a global effect; it influences the norm in society. Every action has an effect. From how people look at you when you’re experiencing ‘good vibes’, to what comes after that. Whether it be deciding to ‘vote with your wallet’ and spend a bit more on organic food for example. Our buying behaviour affects corporate decisions and investments. Poisonous food has a long lasting effect – long after you’ve taken it home.

‘Healthy’ you do on your own. Wellbeing comes from how positive the way you’re living is for you. Who you live with, where you live, and what service you’re providing to others – great and small. Do you feel good about yourself and how you’re living?

Do we decide it’s more important to look good in a swimsuit, which is a self centered way of approaching things, and not as empowering long term, or live in a way that benefits all?

“Be the change you want to see in the world.”

– Gandhi

Once we decide we want to be a vehicle of social change – the 100th monkey effect* – then we become an example of conscious living, positively affecting others by empowering and influencing them in a positive way, whilst at the same time empowering yourself.  You then become a role model for a conscious and much needed change on the planet.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

― Marianne Williamson,

Empower yourself now in the knowledge that every thought, deed and action you take is affecting a whole lot more than you’re your world/yourself. Choose to make a positive difference in the world. All it takes is first to make the decision that you choose service, then awareness in all that you do, think and feel.

The hundredth monkey effect is a studied phenomenon in which a new behavior or idea is claimed to spread rapidly by unexplained means from one group to all related groups once a critical number of members of one group exhibit the new behavior or acknowledge the new idea.

In self love, and oneness,

Janella[/private]

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