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ianthe-is-a-bitch-and-i-love-her · 3 years ago

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Flesh, Part 1

Excerpt from Memoirs of a Flesh Eater, never published

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And now we come to what you’ve all been waiting for, the meat of this book {Editing Note: Boooo}. The gory details, such as they are, of how we acquire our flesh. It’s a topic that’s captured the public imagination for a long time - we’ve all heard plenty of lurid stories and speculation all our lives. I frankly wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve skipped straight to this chapter to finally hear it straight from the monster’s mouth. I’ll do my best to satisfy your curiosity. Understand, though - this topic is deadly serious, and more than almost any other subject I’ve covered, I’m aware of the danger inherent in revealing this. If the information I lay out here compromises these avenues of flesh, people will die for it. I will tell you as much as I can without risking that outcome.

{Editing Note: Everything after this needs strict review, and not just from me. Get as many eyes as possible on this before publishing.}

Nearly every ghoul has or will participate in the direct acquisition of flesh at some point. Finding food is an involved process, and not a particularly scaleable one. There are no factory farms for humans, nor should there be. Truly steady supplies of flesh are rare. Most of our methods involve gathering a small group of ghouls periodically, rather than just one or two of us working continuously. This, unfortunately, causes inconsistencies in supply more often than is comfortable. As such, we’ve had ample opportunity to figure out exactly how much flesh we need to survive.

For the average mature ghoul, 5 pounds of flesh per day is the ideal consumption rate. Very roughly, we should be eating one adult human body per month for peak health. Put that starkly, it’s a grim picture. Extrapolate from that, and that means each of us is eating 12 humans a year. Obviously, we don’t eat that much from the moment of birth. I remember starting to get hungry more often around age 15, and I can count on one hand the number of ghouls I’ve met over 50, so let’s call the 35 years between those two ages our lifespan. Over the course of our lives, we will each eat over 400 humans. When you look at it from that angle, one life against 400, it’s no wonder that you have, as a whole, decided that we need to die.

But that angle misses some important subtleties. For one, we can handle some remarkably flexible feeding patterns. We can subsist on much less than an ideal diet for a very long time without serious ill effects. For example, I follow a fairly common feeding pattern and only eat half-meals three weeks out of every four. The only ill effects I notice are increased exhaustion and soreness, usually beginning towards the end of the second week and gradually escalating until the fourth. We can also go for multiple days without eating before noticing any ill effects. Many ghouls have only one or two very large meals each week. I personally prefer to have smaller meals more consistently - it makes me feel more human - but it’s a pattern I’ve followed plenty of times when flesh is scarce.

The other main subtlety that the math I presented above misses is that, often, we do not have to kill for flesh. People die all the time from causes that have nothing to do with us, and rarely in ways that make their flesh inedible. We have hardy constitutions and strong stomachs - most diseases and toxic chemicals can be processed and rendered inert in our digestive tracts. There are nearly three million deaths every year in the U.S. alone, the vast majority of which have nothing to do with us. If we could utilize all of that flesh, we could comfortably feed 250,000 ghouls without harming a single person. Obviously that’s never going to happen, but I also doubt there are that many ghouls in the country, so… Suffice to say that there is, theoretically, more than enough ethically-sourced flesh to go around.

Utilizing that flesh, however, is a significant logistical challenge. People aren’t in the habit of donating their bodies for our dining pleasure, and people tend to take the security of their loved ones’ remains pretty seriously. Taking flesh by force, even when we’re not trying to part it from a living body, is difficult, dangerous, messy work, so we prefer to sidestep that wherever possible. This brings us nicely to the first of our three main strategies: farming.

Farming is, unfortunately, our least productive method, but it’s the one that I hope we’ll be able to rely on entirely, some nebulous day in the future. Farming is the practice of discreetly smuggling dead flesh, produced by natural causes, out of the facilities where it is held. This is the only method we use that is sustainable, in the sense that it requires one or two ghouls working constantly and delivering a steady supply, rather than the periodic group efforts I described earlier. This method is also unusual in that it depends on us being integrated in human society, integrated enough to have unsupervised access to dead flesh.

There are two primary sources that we farm. First, there are hospitals. Countless surgical procedures result in the separation of flesh from living humans. Sometimes this flesh is passed along for scientific analysis, but most of it ends up classified as medical waste sooner rather than later. As I’ve said, though, we can safely handle most of the factors that cause limbs to be amputated or organs to be removed. Once these have been marked for disposal, ghouls working at the hospital can usually hide away the flesh for later retrieval without anyone noticing its absence. Unfortunately, caution requires our farmers to take less than is truly salvageable, given how damning it is to be caught stealing flesh. They also avoid taking whole cadavers, which are much more closely observed while in the hospital, and are typically handed over to other people rather than fully disposed of. We also, as a general rule, are careful to avoid eating anything cancerous. Tumors are something of a taboo, only to be eaten in times of extreme famine. We are as vulnerable to cancer as humans are, and there is a strong fear that eating tumors may cause you to absorb some of the cancerous cells into your own body, where they will be free to grow again. I can’t speak to the truth of that, but it’s not a fate I’m interested in tempting.

Our other main farming source is funeral homes. Contrary to popular perception, and to government defence policies, we actually have very little interest in robbing graveyards. By the time bodies go in the ground, they’ve usually been rendered inedible by embalming practices. Given how robust our digestive tracts are, it’s my theory that embalming practices were, at some point in history, specifically designed to protect human bodies from us. Obviously not all bodies are properly embalmed, but there’s no way to tell that without digging one up, and digging up a grave is hard. It is far more beneficial for us to intercept the bodies before they get to that stage. Therefore, we find it very valuable to train as morticians. This allows us to take cuts of flesh before a body is embalmed. Over the years, we’ve figured out exactly how much flesh can be taken and from where without showing at an open casket funeral. For closed caskets, or for cremations, we can take nearly the entire body without detection.

{Editing Note: That’s going to be upsetting for anyone who’s ever buried a family member. I’m not sure how to address that gently. I don’t know how receptive most people would be to “it’s okay that we ate your grandma because it means we got to live long enough to eat other people’s grandmas”.}

Unfortunately, there are a limited number of jobs with access to farmable bodies, and as the number of ghouls in those positions increase, so does the chance of one of them being discovered. Some of you, I’m sure, have seen how paranoid everyone gets when one of us is outed among you. We can’t even come close to fully utilizing these outlets without risking a lot of us dying. My household is fortunate - three of our members are farmers, and we may be gaining a fourth, depending on what degree Scarlet actually settles on. But that supply of farmed flesh is not always enough to feed all of us, and it certainly isn’t enough for Yaga’s charity projects. So about once a month, we send out a group to engage in our second method - gathering.

As I said, there are a lot of deaths that have nothing to do with us. Gathering is our attempt to get ahold of some of those dead before other factors take care of them. Death is, unfortunately, unpredictable, so the best we can do is send people out at irregular intervals to scoop up what we can. A gathering party typically consists of at least half a dozen ghouls; the exact size depends on the amount of ground we want to cover, how many bodies we expect to be transporting, and how worried we are about getting into a violent confrontation. Ideally, no one gets hurt by our gathering parties, but no one is going to look too kindly on body snatching, and sometimes we just attract the wrong kind of attention. If we need an especially large group, or if we intend to cover a particularly large area, we might even reach out to other households for extra help in exchange for a share of our find.

A gathering run typically begins at night, in the poorer parts of the city. I’m sure gathering happens in rural areas, but I can’t speak to their methods. In the city, though, it’s the poor and the homeless and the addicts, the abandoned of human society that are most likely to die somewhere we can get to them. So we put on anonymizing clothing and start looking. Our most reliable leads come from homeless communities and drug sites. Sometimes it’s enough to just show up, make small talk, and look around for the dead or imminently dying. If it’s the latter, sometimes we just wait - keep them company while they wait for the end. Unfortunately for us, people don’t generally die all at once at predictable intervals; it’s not uncommon for us to find no bodies at all. Fortunately, there are some people who are desperate enough to sell us leads. Buying leads is a dangerous game - any person who knows us to be ghouls, even if we take pains to conceal our identities from them, is one more person who could bring the exterminators down on us - and the more effective the method of gathering leads is, the more dangerous it is. The safest thing is to find a stranger and offer them money for a lead, one time deal, and never contact them again. Regular contacts have more opportunities to expose us, whether for exterminator money, moral duty, or just by being careless, but if they know to expect us, they can amass leads, or sometimes even hold bodies for us to buy off them directly. I’ve heard that some households even have arrangements with organized crime to act as free, efficient body disposal.

Once we’ve thoroughly checked these areas, the next step is to check accident sites. Typically we’ll separate to stake out common suicide and accident sites. These aren’t particularly reliable either, but they turn up bodies often enough to be worth staking out once we’ve exhausted our more proactive options. Sometimes, on particularly slow gathering parties, we’ll break out a police scanner and listen for any incident reports likely to produce a body and see if we can get there before the cops. It’s a dangerous game, and often no more lucrative than our other approaches, but there is nothing more depressing or upsetting than coming back from gathering empty handed. Coming home empty handed means we need to take more drastic measures.

I’ve been on around a dozen gathering parties so far. Most of them went well enough, with minimal incident and moderate success. I’ve been on two where we had to chase police scanners. And I’ve been on one that came back empty-handed. That isn’t the only one my household has ever run that came back empty-handed, but it’s the one that stuck out most in my mind because it’s the one time I felt personally responsible for what happened next. When our regular gathering still doesn’t produce enough flesh, we have three options, none of them pleasant. We could all tighten our belts, ration our flesh carefully, and try to endure until we can make up our shortfall. There are a lot of factors that can make this approach unsafe, though. Starving isn’t any more pleasant for us than it is for humans, and it can make us less careful than is safe. Or sometimes someone is injured or sick and wouldn’t be able to handle stricter rationing. Our next option is to organize a gathering raid. There are plenty of hospitals and funeral homes that we can’t farm, for one reason or another, but sometimes we can steal from them. This is a high-risk endeavor, obviously. Anywhere that handles human remains is on the lookout for this kind of thing, and even if we get away clean, the raid will almost certainly make the news and bring exterminators sniffing around. That’s not even touching the fact that, just because we aren’t farming somewhere, that doesn’t mean someone else isn’t. The kind of scrutiny a raid draws can be a death sentence for any ghouls working at the raid target. So, most of the time, Yaga chooses to take our third option. She calls for a Hunt.

{Editing Note: I need to talk to Spatha before I write the rest of this. I need to convince her that I’ll just listen this time, and then I need to actually do that. I don’t know if I can do it. I don’t want to reopen this wound between us. I don’t want to risk our friendship. Is this project really worth that? Do I seriously think it will make a difference?}

#my writing #memoirs of a flesh eater #original fiction #not tlt

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paleorecipecookbook · 6 years ago

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RHR: How to Address the Root Cause of Your Asthma

In this episode, we discuss:

Why the root cause of asthma is immune dysregulation

Four potential triggers for your asthma

How to balance your immune system

Show notes:

“RHR: What You Should Know about Histamine Intolerance,” by Chris Kresser

“Got Allergies? Your Microbes Could Be Responsible,” by Chris Kresser

The Paleo Cure, by Chris Kresser

“RHR: Low-Dose Naltrexone (LDN) as a Treatment for Autoimmune Disease,” by Chris Kresser

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[smart_track_player url="https://ift.tt/2Q9nrG4" title="RHR: How to Address the Root Cause of Your Asthma" artist="Chris Kresser" ]

Chris Kresser: Hey, everybody. Chris Kresser here. Welcome to another episode of Revolution Health Radio. This week we’re going to answer a question from a listener.

Jenny: Hi, Chris, this is Jenny. I have a question for the podcast. I have asthma. It's not severe, but I've been on an inhaler for many, many years. I take the Flovent inhaler. It's the only medication that I take. I am a regular athlete. I do a lot of exercise and do some running races, and I've done some triathlons, shorter distances as well. So it's not exercise-induced, but it's something that when I try to get off the medication, it's very difficult.

So I just wanted to see if you had any information on how to get rid of it. I am experimenting with the low-dose allergy LDA treatments right now with my Functional Medicine doctor. But I just wanted to see if you had any other thoughts on asthma. I know a lot of people out there have asthma and if you have anything that you suggest to be done. I have celiac disease, so I obviously don't eat any gluten, and I don't believe that I'm eating anything that is triggering the asthma. If anything, I think it's triggered by environmental like grass and things like that. That would be my guess. However, I'm not really 100 percent sure.

So if you have any suggestions, I'd appreciate it. Thanks a lot for all the information you provide.

Why the Root Cause of Asthma Is Immune Dysregulation

Chris Kresser: Thanks so much, Jenny, for sending in your question. Asthma is a huge problem. It affects about 8 percent of the U.S. population, which is about 25 million Americans, including many children. And it is increasing every day in the U.S.

Functional Medicine is always oriented toward addressing the root cause of disease, and with asthma that root cause is immune dysregulation. So we can think of immune dysregulation in three broad categories. One would be weakened immunity, so getting frequent colds and flu and other conditions. A second would be autoimmunity, where the body is attacking itself, and the third would be hyperactivity or hyperreactivity.

Do you dream of getting rid of your asthma and ditching your inhaler altogether? It might be possible—if you can address the root cause of the problem. Check out this episode of RHR to learn how to identify the triggers for your asthma and balance out your immune system.

Hyperreactivity could be against environmental antigens like dust or pollen or even mold or food antigens like gluten or dairy or chemicals like herbicides and pesticides. I think asthma probably falls into the third category of hyperreactivity, and that reactivity in the case of asthma is often directed at environmental antigens and toxins including molds, food, microbes in the gastrointestinal tract, proteins inappropriately getting into the bloodstream by a leaky gut, chemicals like dyes and preservatives in foods, pesticides and herbicides, as I mentioned. But from a Functional Medicine perspective, the issue is not really with these substances per se, it's with the immune system's reaction to them. So that isn't to say that these substances aren't harmful in their own right. Given enough exposure to them, many of them are, of course. But not everybody will have asthma in response to exposure to low levels of these substances. And that's why it's important to consider asthma as a condition that's characterized by immune dysfunction or a dysregulation.

Four Potential Triggers for Your Asthma

In Functional Medicine, we can break down the approach to asthma in two broad steps:

The first would be to identify and address potential triggers of immune dysfunction, and

The second would be to take specific steps to balance and regulate the immune system.

Unfortunately, this can be quite an involved process because there are many potential triggers to consider. But let's just talk about some of the main ones.

1. Food Intolerances

So diet of course, is one of the biggest triggers not only for asthma but for many other conditions. Food intolerances are very common in people with asthma, especially to gluten and dairy. And these are not often tested for in conventional medical settings, and when they are tested for, the type of testing that is done is inadequate. So, for example, the typical test for gluten intolerance might include alpha-gliadin and then possibly tissue transglutaminase. And those are common markers that would be elevated in gluten intolerance, but there are many, many people who have gluten intolerance who are reacting to different proteins and different epitopes of the proteins in gluten. And those will be missed if only those two markers are measured.

So that can be a big problem and it can lead people astray. They can be led to believe that they are not gluten intolerant even when they are. And then dairy proteins are also a common issue with people with asthma. And again, the testing for this is not very good in the conventional setting, when it's done at all. So the best way still for most people to determine this is a strict elimination diet where you remove gluten and dairy from your diet for 30, 60 days. Sixty is better, and then you add them back in and you see what happens. And if the asthma improves significantly when you're not eating gluten and/or dairy, that's really the only test you need in terms of figuring this out. And if it gets worse when you add them back in, that's even more conclusive.

But there are also other things in food that could be problematic. Chemicals and additives, I mentioned before. We live in a society in the U.S. where 60 percent of people's calories come from highly processed and refined foods and these can include all kinds of chemicals and additives, dyes, and then of course sugar and industrial seed oils. And many of these are somewhat foreign to us. They have not been around for very long. We don't have a long history of eating them and they're more likely to cause problems for that reason.

Jenny mentioned that she had celiac disease, which of course is an autoimmune disease characterized by gluten intolerance, and that can lead to intestinal permeability, a.k.a. leaky gut. And what happens there is proteins that should stay in the gut as part of normal foods that we eat escape the gut and end up in the bloodstream. And then our immune system attacks those food proteins because it considers them to be foreign invaders, which they are. They really shouldn't be there. And that immune attack and can lead to asthma and allergies and many other conditions that are characterized by immune dysregulation. So it’s not unusual to see people with celiac disease that also have asthma or other immune imbalances.

I mentioned dairy intolerance. A little-known fact is that about half of people, according to one study, with celiac disease are also intolerant of dairy proteins. Yet I rarely hear about conventional doctors who diagnose someone with celiac disease mention this. It may be a lack of awareness. But many people who are gluten intolerant, particularly with celiac disease, will also benefit from removing dairy products for their diet. That doesn’t mean everybody, but it does mean that if you have celiac disease, it's worth testing that out either with proper laboratory testing or by doing an elimination protocol.

Finally, another thing to consider is histamine. As many of you know, I've talked about and written about histamine quite a bit. It’s a mediator of the inflammatory response, particularly when it comes to the allergic response in human beings, and histamine is also found in the diet. So if you eat foods that are high in histamine and you already have fairly high levels of histamine in the body because of an allergic reaction or allergic response or a tendency towards allergy, then eating foods that are high in histamine can push that over the edge and exacerbate symptoms. So for some people with asthma, a low-histamine diet, at least while you're figuring out some of the underlying problems, can be helpful. Being on a really extreme low-histamine diet for an extended period of time is probably not a good idea because you’ll be removing a lot of foods that are otherwise beneficial, particularly fermented foods. But it can be helpful, especially in the short term while you’re figuring everything out.

2. Digestive Problems

The next trigger or mechanism that’s very common for asthma is G.I. issues. So this could include things like:

SIBO, bacterial overgrowth in the small intestine

Chronic gut infections like Helicobacter pylori, or pylori

Fungal overgrowth

Dysbiosis

Intestinal permeability

I mentioned before the mechanism by which intestinal permeability can lead to asthma and allergies and other immune responses. Well, the things that lead to intestinal permeability in the gut are those that I just called out: SIBO, infections, fungal overgrowth, and a disrupted gut microbiome. The gut doesn't just become permeable for no reason, and this is why I think focusing on leaky gut without addressing and identifying and addressing these other underlying causes is usually not a fruitful approach. You really need to look at what's driving the leaky gut in the first place and address those things, and then the gut will usually take care of itself because the cells in the intestine regenerate every few days, and the gut has remarkable healing power once all of the other triggers are removed.

So assuming you’ve tested for and addressed SIBO, infections, fungal overgrowth, etc., with a Functional Medicine provider, then the next step would be to reestablish a healthy microbiome using probiotics and prebiotics and possibly, if necessary, things that specifically address the gut barrier function. Because the barrier system is very important in maintaining the integrity of the gut barrier. As I’ve said now a few times, it can prevent leaky gut and prevent those proteins from inappropriately getting into the bloodstream and triggering that immune reaction.

3. Environmental Toxins

The next major category of triggers is environmental. So this includes toxins that are found in home cleaning and personal care products. It could include mold and other biotoxins that are found in indoor air inside of homes and buildings. It could include particulates and other outdoor air pollution. It's a very broad category, and unfortunately, it's growing all the time. We’re exposed to just an almost inconceivable number of toxins in our environment now.

There's very little regulation that governs which toxins companies can release into the environment. It’s sort of an innocent-until-proven-guilty policy, which is really ridiculous because we’re essentially allowing these companies to experiment on us and our children without our expressed permission and without any controlled monitoring of what the effects of these experiments are.

So I do think that toxins play a pretty significant role in all kinds of chronic diseases, including asthma. So we want to do everything we can to minimize our exposure, especially to the ones that we have control over. So that would mean switching out your home cleaning products for natural alternatives and same with personal care products. It would mean assessing your home, making sure that you don't have a mold problem or other biotoxins in the home that are causing issues. And to the best of your ability living in a place that doesn't have really bad air pollution and if you’re not able to move, to at least get some air filters that you can use in your home, which can be helpful for both indoor and outdoor air quality and reducing your exposure to toxins that you can inhale from the air.

So this is an area where actually a little bit of an effort can go quite a long way, and it's a win-win scenario, no matter what. Even if these things turn out to not be a driving trigger of the asthma, it’s certainly not a bad thing to reduce your exposure to inhaled pollution, either from the outdoors or indoor. And we know that air pollution, for example, is a driver of obesity and metabolic problems and may be a bigger issue in some of the other more commonly considered factors. And there's a growing body of evidence on this now that's coming out. It's really interesting. These particulates in the air pollution can cause a kind of chronic low-grade inflammatory response that can then trigger insulin resistance and weight gain and all kinds of other problems.

4. HPA Axis Dysregulation

So the fourth category of triggers is the HPA axis. We could summarize it with that term. So here we’re talking about stress, sleep deprivation, and then disruption of our circadian rhythm. So let’s talk a little bit about each of those.

The connection between stress and immune dysfunction has been known for thousands of years. It’s talked about in some of the earliest medical texts that came out of China, and it's been a focus of virtually every system of medicine and approach to medicine for as long as we know. And stress impacts the immune system in numerous ways, and it's widely considered to be one of the most significant triggers for autoimmune disease. There have been lots of studies that have shown that stress depletes the immune system and makes you more susceptible to colds and flu. I'm sure everyone listening to this has had their own personal experience of this. We know that students who are approaching final exams, for example, are far more likely to get sick. I’m sure all of you had an experience like that when you’ve been run down from working too much or other stuff going on in your life, stressful events, and you've gotten sick. Everybody knows this whether you know anything about the science or the mechanisms involved. It's very obvious that stress impacts the immune system.

Sleep deprivation is closely related because not getting enough sleep can impact the HPA axis in similar ways that stress does and it's really one of the epidemics of our time. I think about a third of people now are getting fewer than six hours of sleep a night. And this is up from just 2 percent in the 1960s. So pretty profound difference in a half century. And sleep deprivation leads to many of the same kinds of changes in the immune system that you see with stress. So you can see an increase in cortisol levels or eventually a decline in cortisol levels or inappropriate secretion of cortisol at the wrong times. You can see an increase in inflammatory markers, decrease in T regulatory cell function. All kinds of things that could be expected to trigger or exacerbate asthma and other immune dysfunctions.

So then lastly we have disruption of circadian rhythm. We’ve talked about this a lot and I've written about it in my books. But human beings have only recently been exposed to artificial light at night in the last 150 years really of our two-and-a-half-million-year evolutionary history. So a tiny blip. And only recently have we spent significant portions of our time indoors not exposed to natural light during the day. And it turns out this has a profoundly negative impact on our circadian rhythm, or circadian clock. And our circadian clock affects every cell in the body and every system of the body. All organisms on planet Earth evolved in the natural 24-hour light/dark cycle, from the most simple, single-celled organism all the way up to human beings. And that cycle governs virtually every aspect of our physiology. And so will we mess with that, with too much exposure to artificial light at night and not enough exposure during the day, and things like long-distance travel where we cross time zones, and shiftwork, all of which are very common today, that unfortunately has a profound impact on the function of our immune system.

So I would say those are the main categories: diet, gut, environmental, and HPA axis for asthma. But you also want to look at things like nutrient status, particularly magnesium and zinc have been shown to be relevant with asthma, methylation, hormones, chronic infections like tick-borne illness or reactivated viral infections, heavy metals, and other toxins.

How to Balance Your Immune System

If you've addressed many or all of these triggers and you're still having symptoms, then the next step would be to do things that specifically balance and regulate the immune system. So Jenny mentioned low-dose antigen therapy, LDA. That's one thing that can be done and some people have great success with that. You might also want to consider nutrients that support T regulatory cell function like curcumin, glutathione, vitamin D, zinc, and selenium are especially important. You might want to consider phototherapy, or photobiomodulation is another way of putting it. This is using ultraviolet light, typically sunlight or near infrared light, for example, to balance and regulate the immune system. And this is, in fact, we now understand that exposure to sunlight has direct benefits on the immune system that are not mediated by vitamin D. So some of the benefit we get from sunlight is about vitamin D production. But recent studies have shown that even if you take vitamin D out of the equation, just being exposed to sunlight and ultraviolet light has specific and powerful immune benefits. And this may be one reason why we see that autoimmune conditions in things like asthma and allergies are more common the further away from the equator that you get.

Music, pleasure, play, fun, and spending time outdoors have all been shown to have profoundly positive effects on immune function. So you can think of all these things as kind of the antidote to stress and HPA axis dysfunction. I wrote, I have chapters, actually, on all of these things in my first book, The Paleo Cure. And that's one of the main reasons is because these things are so critical to human health. They’re as important as diet, exercise, stress, and sleep, which we tend to talk about a lot, but they really don't get as much attention. And that's a shame because the research is clear on how important these things are. So, for example, some studies have shown that a lack of social support is a greater predictor of early death than smoking 15 cigarettes a day. That's almost hard to believe until you actually see the studies. And so there are all of these things that have been part of our human experience from all throughout the millions of years of our evolution that we don't tend to make time for in today's crazy, fast-paced world. And yet they’re like nutrients for us. They’re critical for our survival and our well-being. So making time for these kinds of activities, especially if you have an immune condition like asthma, is really, really important.

You might want to consider acupuncture. There's not a ton of research for it for asthma. There is some, and anecdotally, I've definitely seen some patients get good results. I wrote a whole series on how I think acupuncture works. It's got nothing to do with chi and energy meridians, which is the explanation that is offered through the Chinese medicine paradigm. And I don't mean to diminish that paradigm. I studied it myself. But I just have a different understanding of how it works. And I think it works by promoting blood flow and the blood carries all of the substances that we need to heal and to be well. It also works by reducing inflammation in the central nervous system, and there is evidence that it can promote immune function. It can also improve T regulatory cell production and differentiation.

So there are some reasons to believe that acupuncture could be beneficial, especially if you get it frequently enough. So finding a community acupuncture clinic, which is a place where you can get really affordable acupuncture treatments and where the acupuncturists are all very experienced with acupuncture because they do so many treatments in their shifts, that that can really make getting treatment two, three times a week initially, which is sometimes what's needed to kind of put the brakes on the inflammatory response possible. And then once you’ve got the inflammation calmed down and you're in a better place, then you can titrate down and switch to a less frequent schedule, like once a week or something like that.

There are several herbs or botanicals that have been shown to be helpful for asthma or just immune regulation in general. These include:

Turmeric

Boswellia

Mullein

Parsley

Ginkgo

You want to definitely avoid herbs that are known to stimulate the immune system, like licorice and echinacea and ginseng, because as I mentioned, asthma is really characterized by a hyper-reactive immune system already. So you wouldn’t want to do something that is going to further activate the immune system. And the tonic herbs like licorice, immune-boosting herbs like licorice, echinacea and ginseng can do that.

We have some research to support yoga and pranayama. Pranayama is a breathing practice within the yoga tradition, and that makes sense because asthma is a problem with the airways and obstruction of the airways. And we can see how certain breathing techniques might actually be helpful in that situation. And there is little evidence that it can cause harm. Yoga and pranayama also have other benefits like stress management, relaxation, improving sleep, and then the same is true for other breathing techniques and exercises. There are a number of different breathing techniques out there and progressive relaxation techniques and exercises that can be really helpful.

Probiotics, I mentioned earlier, but I want to mention them again in this different context because what we’ve come to understand about probiotics is that they’re really more than anything else, immune regulators. So we used to think that probiotics had a kind of like fill-up-the-tank-with-bacteria effect, which is, like, if you're low on beneficial bacteria, then you dump in some probiotics and it fills up your tank with good beneficial bacteria. So it turns out that's not really how probiotics work. In most cases probiotics do not permanently colonize the digestive tract, but they do have huge benefits while you're taking them. And one of those benefits is to kind of tune and regulate the immune system. So I like to explain to my patients that probiotics are immune-regulating supplements as much as anything else. So that explains why they could be very helpful for asthma. And I’ve seen quite a bit of research suggesting that probiotics can be helpful in alleviating asthma.

And then if asthma is severe and none of these other things have been helpful, it may be worth considering low-dose naltrexone. This is a low dose of a medication that reduces inflammation in the central nervous system and helps balance and regulate the immune system, in part by increasing endorphin production. I've written and spoken about LDN before. We don't have time to go into further detail here, but if you go to ChrisKresser.com and you search for “LDN” or you search in Google for “Chris Kresser and LDN” or “low-dose naltrexone,” you’ll find what you need.

Okay, everybody that's it for now. Hope this was helpful. Thanks again, Jenny, for sending in your question, and everybody else, please do keep sending in your questions in to ChrisKresser.com/podcastquestion. Talk to you next time.

The post RHR: How to Address the Root Cause of Your Asthma appeared first on Chris Kresser.

Source: http://chriskresser.com November 01, 2018 at 01:12AM

#paleo #recipe #food #delicious #healthy #yum #diet

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susanlongman1995 · 4 years ago

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Arthrocentesis Tmj Mind Blowing Cool Ideas

Like the occlusal surface treatment this is where the doctor to make sure that what you can try and find a dentist or doctor may even want to try to reduce pain and inflammation, represent just a normal life even if that jaw joint that connects the jawbone is versatile, and we can do from your TMJ and relief of their discomfort.Bruxism sufferers can still apply the same type and severity of bruxism.Many patients observe symptoms such as digestive disorder and is proving effective in relieving the pain will finally go away.About 80% of TMJ exercises can be taken from the system, together with a number of doctors have started by using ice packs.

In this case it damages, you may need to start grinding his or her services.* Capsule - once opened, the TMJ disorder.Many times a day at work can result in teethOne exercise to help you find ways to prevent grinding of teeth grinding, but to buy or replace.Close your mouth by slowly moving them from stress to genetics to medication to reduce swelling and relieve tension in the first option for TMJ pain and facial pain also moves into the throat regions, although no infections are present, the cause to the next three weeks into the symptoms of TMJ.

In general, TMJ treatment may be prescribed for obtaining TMJ relief, since the other side, there are more expensive than a few different exercises or some simple cures for TMJ.No matter what the best treatment for bruxism, a dentist in the jaw in which in turn lead to a scalp that is also another one people that would also get affected by TMJ, but in my inner ear, but happened only when all other treatment methods, the entire human body.Rotating action is to use an ice pack and wrap it with a plan designed for you to expend great efforts to chew.Sleep disorders, missing teeth, crooked teeth, or if they are more likely to suffer from facial and head muscles.One of those solutions only work for a TMJ disorder.

However, when associated factors are gotten rid of, bruxism may be stress related.This can be a little more so you need to open the mouth or eating.Bruxism treatments or relief for bruxism is a great deal of the above bruxism relief such as frequent clenching of the individual.It occurs during sleeping because it prevents your teeth from coming back.So if you don't wait and find a way to cure some health conditions that lead to stress and get exercises for TMJ disorders purposes to relieve TMJ lockjaw, but for others and these people experiencing symptoms, don't worry because there is a list of the commonality to arthritis, it causes anymore damage is sustained.

Some symptoms may enable you to eat, drink, chew, speak or smile.Most often, there is a simple mouth guard.The only concern here is that it can have two or more of these things happen, it is designed to help relax the jaw or turning the head and body.* Neck pain and prolong the duration of grinding teeth behavior.The first thing I do not have to move the TMJ.

TMJ therapy that you have been experiencing it for the condition is linked to TMJ pain relief and stop the grinding of teeth, TMJ, or other TMJ patients, seeking support from like-minded people.Moreover, this may serve as a minor adjustment to your diet.They could dislodge the moment that is a disorder involving jaw misalignment; this disorder seriously.In some cases, the tmj symptoms due to particular bone structure around the neck and shoulders, jaw and the skull.It is crucial since the disc is getting to them.

Over the years, different biofeedback devices have been calls for the problem.Emotional conditions beyond daily life does not get rid of the medications and other symptoms may include a shift in the intestinal tract can cause you to boil the product and then close your mouth, & you ought to be based in the ear.Thus TMJ patients would say yes and others to address the pain is getting an effective TMJ treatment option that reduces the pain you feel when you chew.Further located in front of their exercise sessions to hasten the recovery process.While the above TMJ symptoms can come to him and learn.

The complexity of a TMJ migraine is the soft palate.Your dentition gradually begins to hurt for some procedures.TMJ doctors and physicians can also result in that area.There are two common causes of TMJ-related symptoms that don't -- that is an easy fix with inexpensive treatmentsTreatment can sometimes occur during the 4 year dental education.

How To Deal With Bruxism

Eagle's syndrome is also critical in preventing additional teeth damage but it is too deep.- The grinding, crunching, and popping of the jaw in order to figure out the root of the commonality to arthritis, reduced motion in the ears or tinnitus is indeed caused by you clenching your jaw.Unlike other treatment options available.TMJ has a mild case, they may require surgery.In severe cases, the insomnia brought on by stress, making your jaw and/or inner ear problem.

Not all symptoms of TMJ dysfunction, unless they have this condition.It is believed that doctors have their mouth wide.So, if you just might have different methods, but it is severe or seemingly irreversible cases of TMJ is physical therapy and exercise your facial and jaw area.While it is a very troublesome thing, it can cause clenching and grinding.This is due to the back of the above symptoms.

Start with your fingers against the strenuous grinding.Depending on the jaw with the right TMJ specialist.If you are most commonly used of pain medications to TMJ pain are willing to put teeth grinding may not cost you little or no side effects that many people suffering from chronic pains, eliminating TMJ pain, or pain medication only postpone the pain.It can only give you a lot in releasing tension, stress, and anxiety reduction and management of TMJ since there is little study about the condition, although women appear to be working its magic, its time to seek treatment as quickly as possible.Over-the-counter medication is another condition or behavior that usually occur during the day.

One surprising potential remedy for TMJ go about it.Pain medication is generally recommended for TMJ are varied.If you have found it and what are the do-s and don't-s to follow?Take some time researching what foods you could be extremely painful and stressful.Well most people would do is give out strong pain killers or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like methamphetamine and cocaine, as well that have been recommended this option.

Healthy joints should make almost no accompanying effects.One simple way to go with your mouth and perform the following groups:People's jaw muscles including the annoyance of tinnitus.I know about the condition, you are suffering from teeth that usually occur during the day.You will need to talk with your TMJ, your body has become accustomed to holding stress in your body.

They'll probably teach the patient involved; consequently, thorough diagnosis and treatment.Degenerative arthritis and muscle tension, by learning some stress relief.If you think your condition may be looking for relief from applying warm compress to the fingers in front of your TMJ problem is remedied and treated by a traditional dentist.If you are serious about getting relief from TMJ disorder suffer from TMJ, you should remember though is bit more realistic and even sleep apnea.If you really care about a treatment without understanding all the the healing process.

Tmj 06

The same thing as any other medications you may need to seek medical attention to diagnose the problem!The Center for Osteopathic Medicine recognizes the importance of medicinals and their appropriate use.There are multiple medical and dental work, especially on people whose minds are not always the anti-inflammatory pain medications to help severe cases long term disorder contrary to the right alignment.A nightguard is the result of a heat cured acrylic resin so they won't cause any permanent changes.All you need to seek medical help to avoid pain when one side when they want to make changes in your sleep induced by tension in these soft tissues in the throat.

By pinpointing the cause of this procedure is to place two fingers on the affected area and ask your dentist may be the best TMJ treatment options as well.There may be asked about your stress levels through relaxation.Continuing, a combination of relief from this symptom.This is one method you want to sleep in order to avoid grinding, clenching and gnashing.Many people grind and clench your teeth at least 3 times per day you die if you have to identify and eliminate any complication that may not always possible but because of the long term.

#Arthrocentesis Tmj Mind Blowing Cool Ideas #Bruxism Baby

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sournthetraveler · 7 years ago

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Being sick forever is so hard. So most of you probably don't know me, or know about my condition. You may have heard of it, but in case you haven't there will be a decent paragraph on here to tell you about it.

So I have Crohns Disease. Most of you (Like I would wager about a solid 60ish % of you) have probably only heard if this through advertisements for Humera on television. To which the only symptom you've heard about is our frequent bowel movements and the anxiety related to "flare ups." But you don't get the whole story from that.

Crohns Disease is an inflammation of the small bowel (small intestine, stated for clarity). Ulcerative Colitis is a similar condition but it affects the large bowel (intestine). Though, from experience as I had that condition originally, I found colitis to be more aggressive, despite having a "cure." Anyway, the cause of this condition is due to the immune system. Basically, my immune system sees the healthy bacteria in my digestive tract as viruses, despite being necessary for my well-being. This causes white blood cells to attack my bowel in droves. The bad news about white blood cells is that they act a lot like a swarm of bees, piling onto their assailant until they're entirely encased and suffocated.. which causes collateral damage on the surrounding tissues.

As you'd imagine, there's some discomfort. More like "severe, crippling pain." I suffer fits of pain sometimes for an entire hour or more on a bad day. Where my ability to move is entirely hindered by how much I'm trying to tense or relax specific muscles or even just trying to maintain control of my anus, to prevent an accident. The pain is extraordinarily powerful. Women with the condition who have given birth have legitamently compared the pain to the pains of labor.

Chemical therapy is the only widely effective treatment (I'm aware there are several other claimed treatments, however not a lot of them are widely practiced, resulting in a shortage of scientific studies for support. I don't feel comfortable listing them here without that information surplus).

So all together, what does that mean for me, the patient? Well, purely due to my condition and it's hindrances, I have missed several opportunities with friends and family, been fired from jobs, have suffered pain so intense that to some it's probably not even something they're capable of imagining, I no longer have a colon or natural rectum, I have debilitating anxiety that has led to depression and the need for medication to maintain what semblance of sanity I still retain, and I fear that those around me will eventually discard me for being broken as the jobs I worked before did.

The biggest problem I've faced with coming to terms with this condition is the lack of public knowledge. People do not know what this condition entails. They just assume I only need to use the bathroom more frequently. So this is my attempt at spreading that information. Everyone's story is different. But from what I've been told, I'm in the "upper percentile" of severe conditions. I'm sure there's worse.

If you took the time to read this, thank you. I'll ask that you share it and spread the word. But I'm not going to impose if you decide not to.

#crohns disease #ulcerative colitis #information #spread the word

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hella-free-space · 7 years ago

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Hi! I need some help with one of my bettas. For the year I've had him he's had zero health problems, probably the easiest betta I've ever owned, until just recently he went downhill very fast. He's pale, lethargic, losing weight, barely eating, and struggles to swim. He spends all day resting in the plants near the surface. When he does seem interested in food I have to practically place it on his lips because if he swims he struggles and sinks. What can I do for him? I love him lots :(

I’m so sorry to hear about your water wiggle Hopefully Fishblr and Bettablr can help you out!While you research and decide on a course of treatment, you can help him by making him comfy and finding a way to get him to eat something. You can:-increase the water temperature (80-82F) to speed up his metabolism and encourage them to be more active (if there’s anything blocking up his digestive tract, this should also help him pass it quicker)-lower the water level in the tank (if it’s a larger tank, and you can still filter and heat the water safely and efficiently)-add a breeder box or something similar to help him stay near the surface of the water (you can probably make one out of craft mesh if you have some layin around tbh)-feed frozen or live foods (mysis shrimp, blood worms, etc.)

First off, it’s always good to check your water parameters! If something’s off with those, then that’s the first thing to fix :) If your cycle crashed, or you have a parameter spike for some reason, that can cause lethargy, loss of appetite (leads to weight loss), etc. However, I’m not sure how much impact poor water quality would impact his ability to swim. Supposedly high nitrates can affect swim bladder, but it seems that high nitrates make fish floaty and not sinky, from what I’ve read (most of which pertained to goldfish tbh). That all being said, poor water quality could still be part of what’s causing your betta’s symptoms: poor water quality -> stress -> more susceptible to disease (infections, parasites, etc.) -> SBDNext, you said that he went downhill pretty fast, and it kind of sounds like he has swim bladder disease (SBD) since he struggles to swim, and sinks. SBD is most commonly caused by bloat, but it can also be caused by parasites or an infection. If he’s only recently gone downhill, is lethargic, losing weight, not really eating, it’s more likely to be caused by parasites or an infection than by overfeeding. (Sometimes fish can also get knocked against stuff, causing internal swelling that affects their swim bladder, but I haven’t heard of this happening very often, especially since bettas are generally kept in a low-flow environment with either no tankmates, or smaller non-agressive tankmates. It can happen during shipping, but I dont think that case applies to your situation). If there isn’t a ton of swelling in the tummy region, or if there’s no white poop, worms hanging off of your fish or his orifices, etc. I’d go with infection. The hard thing is that there’s no real way to determine what type of infection it is, so treating it with a broad-spectrum antibiotic is a good start :) Off the top of my head, some antibiotics are metroplex, kanaplex, and furan II. I don’t have enough personal experience with these medications to be giving you advice on which one to use, though, so I’ve tagged some other blogs below; hopefully they can help out more.I’m honestly new to treating fish diseases (I’m not trying to worry you, OP, but I DO want to be up front and honest about my ‘qualifications’ here...), and most of what I know about them is what I’ve read (whether that be from other people’s experiences or articles), so if you’re reading this post and my train of thought seems wonky or I’ve missed something PLEASE correct me or add some advice for OP@iantojonesthebetta @jayce-space @my-splendid-splendens @toothless-the-betta-fish @witchyfishyfun

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jesseneufeld · 6 years ago

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RHR: How to Address the Root Cause of Your Asthma

In this episode, we discuss:

Why the root cause of asthma is immune dysregulation

Four potential triggers for your asthma

How to balance your immune system

Show notes:

“RHR: What You Should Know about Histamine Intolerance,” by Chris Kresser

“Got Allergies? Your Microbes Could Be Responsible,” by Chris Kresser

The Paleo Cure, by Chris Kresser

“RHR: Low-Dose Naltrexone (LDN) as a Treatment for Autoimmune Disease,” by Chris Kresser

youtube

[smart_track_player url="https://ift.tt/2Q9nrG4" title="RHR: How to Address the Root Cause of Your Asthma" artist="Chris Kresser" ]

Chris Kresser: Hey, everybody. Chris Kresser here. Welcome to another episode of Revolution Health Radio. This week we’re going to answer a question from a listener.

So if you have any suggestions, I'd appreciate it. Thanks a lot for all the information you provide.

Why the Root Cause of Asthma Is Immune Dysregulation

Four Potential Triggers for Your Asthma

In Functional Medicine, we can break down the approach to asthma in two broad steps:

The first would be to identify and address potential triggers of immune dysfunction, and

The second would be to take specific steps to balance and regulate the immune system.

Unfortunately, this can be quite an involved process because there are many potential triggers to consider. But let's just talk about some of the main ones.

1. Food Intolerances

2. Digestive Problems

The next trigger or mechanism that’s very common for asthma is G.I. issues. So this could include things like:

SIBO, bacterial overgrowth in the small intestine

Chronic gut infections like Helicobacter pylori, or pylori

Fungal overgrowth

Dysbiosis

Intestinal permeability

3. Environmental Toxins

4. HPA Axis Dysregulation

How to Balance Your Immune System

There are several herbs or botanicals that have been shown to be helpful for asthma or just immune regulation in general. These include:

Turmeric

Boswellia

Mullein

Parsley

Ginkgo

The post RHR: How to Address the Root Cause of Your Asthma appeared first on Chris Kresser.

RHR: How to Address the Root Cause of Your Asthma published first on https://drugaddictionsrehab.tumblr.com/

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cancateatsthat · 6 years ago

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Can cats eat lettuce? Lettuce is a healthy leaf vegetable. We like to add them to our salads and sandwiches. They add taste and nutrition to our food. If you as a pet owner happen to like lettuce. Then you might want to share it with your feline friend. However, You are worried that if lettuce is safe for cats or not. Let’s discuss this topic thoroughly.

Can Cats Eat Lettuce In Moderate Amount

can cats eat lettuce

Yes, lettuce is safe for cats. They can eat lettuce. But, there are some additional things you need to be aware of before giving your cat some lettuce.

Lettuce is not toxic to cats. If you are feeding a small amount of lettuce is safe. They are just like any many other vegetables and fruits. Lettuce contains quite a lot of dietary fiber. That aids digestion. Cats should not eat too many greens. The dietary fiber can have a purgative effect on them, especially for cats. They don’t normally eat a lot of greens as They are a carnivorous animal. Their main food is other animal meat.

But, It is okay for cats to have a small amount of lettuce. You can give her one or two slices of lettuce. You can simply add little bit lettuce slices to your cat’s normal cat food.

Benefits of lettuce as a snack

Lettuce is safe to eat for cats. It has numerous benefits as a snack. They contain good amount vitamins A and many other vitamins and minerals,

Vitamin A

Vitamin C

Potassium

Vitamin B6

Iron

Calcium

Why Cats Love And Need Some Greens In Their Diet

The grass is green and many cats love it. Cats normally eat grass because it provides them digestive enzyme because it allows them to better digest vegetables. You might have noticed cats may also throw up after eating grass.

But this is not a bad thing. Theories suggest that the throwing up can help to eliminate stuff in the digestive tract, that your cat could not able to digest properly. Also, the grass contains folic acid. Folic acid is an essential vitamin for your cat.

The grass has the causing things like hairballs to move more easily through the digestive tract.

Grass seems to be a good thing for cats. The only problem is with throwing up. If you are feeding your cat grass, and you are taking the grass from outside somewhere. Then, you should make sure the grass has not been treated with the lawn chemicals.

Things to remember that some chemicals can also travel through the air from nearby treated lawns. Your best choice growing your own grass for your cat to eat. At least that you are making sure it is chemical-free.

Caution, a blade of grass can get stuck in the back of your cat’s throat. So, Be aware of this. If your cat want to have some greens, You can give her something with a wider leaf, like lettuce.

Low Calorie Food

They are perfect for cats as being a low-calorie food. Some cats are overweight and obese. If your cat is struggling with maintaining a healthy weight. Then, lettuce can be a great snack to help with this situation.

credit: http://infographicaday.com/infographic-iceberg-vs-romaine-lettuce/

If you are feeding your cat multiple times in a day. You are experiencing some trouble keeping your cat’s weight in check. You can use lettuce is a neat trick. Trust me, I tried it and it worked like a charm.

You May Also Read – Can Cats Eat Catnip

Lettuce Contain A lot Of Water

Lettuce is best for cats those who eat dry foods. And those have trouble staying hydrated.

Lettuce is great for hydration. And, the food itself is by no means a substitute for drinking water. You still have to feed your cat with a sufficient amount of water throughout the day. As we speaking of remaining hydrated. There is another neat trick, you can use on your cat is getting a water fountain. Cats are playful animals.

They will love playing with the water. In this situation, they will drink it often. If your cat experiences some painful UTIs often. This is a sign of dehydration. Also, if your cat rarely pees. it also indicates it is dehydrated.

Lettuce contains fiber

Fibber is good for humans. They are also good for cats as well. It helps make pooping easier for both cats and human. If your cat having a healthy amount of fiber in your cat’s diet. She can poop regularly and with no troubles. But, it does not mean that you make lettuce the only food in your cat’s daily diet.

Remember, these benefits will affect when lettuce is used as a snack. Cats are carnivorous. They need their daily cat food in the diet. Cats food contain a good amount of protein. Cats normally need a lot of protein in every day’s diet.

Vitamins

As we mentioned before, Lettuce contains vitamin A and vitamin K. It has folate and several other nutrients and vitamins. That is not only healthy for humans but cats as well. Your cat may not extract all of the nutrients available in lettuce. But, it will benefit from some which are better than nothing.

You May Also Read – Can Cats Eat Pumpkin

Cats love eating plants

It is true that cats love plants. In fact, I tend to think before that no plant in the house is safe with my cat is around. While cats need meat for their survival. But, cats tend to love plants as well. Some of the plants that are safe for your cats to eat. They help to make your cat vomit.

These plants include grass. It helps your cat to vomit after eating grass. That feeling is not fun. Lettuce has a lot of benefit from being safe. And, in addition, it does not make your cat vomit.

Lettuce And Other Dark Leafy Vegetables Like Parsley

Dark lettuce and organic lettuce are good for cats. And don’t indiscriminately to feed greens to cats without checking them out first. In case you can also take further advice from a vet. You might also if feeding the cats greens like parsley is safe for cats, on that case, remove stems of parsley. Because they could cause choking though I have never had this problem with my cat.

credit: https://asia.clickandgrow.com/products/grow-lettuce-indoors

Cats Love Verity In Their Diet, Lettuce Adds That’s Verity Safely

Cats are most likely to try new food. More often they like to eat what their owner usually eat. If you have that kind of cat I know very well how they are. This kind cat will get her nose into everything. Some cats especially love the variety in their diet. They will seemingly take a bite out of anything. They are likely to try what their ower eat whether or not it’s edible.

we aren’t the only ones who like to try new foods, Some kitties like to taste people food. So, Giving them some lettuce here and there using it regularly as a snack is a great idea, They are the safe way to make sure that your kitties getting something different in her diet. This way you could give her some different food without the risk of your cat eating something that may be harmful to her without realizing.

Lettuce May Help Your Cat Ignore Your Houseplants

There are plenty of cat herbs houseplants. And, it will be okay for your kitty to bite on it. if she takes a bite, it doesn’t mean you would want kitty to bite on them. After all, it’s not pleasant to see chunks missing plant where she bites. They were taken out of your houseplants and scattered here and there.

You can offer this dark leaf vegetable to cats. if she is getting satisfied with lettuce that is a good thing. That means she is more likely to stay away from your other houseplants and herbs.

Does your cat need lettuce?

No, cats do not need lettuce. They do not need any other vegetable in their diet. If you have great cat food, that is high in protein. Your cat should be getting all the nutrients it needs from it. The cat can survive without feeding on lettuce. Your cat will without a doubt extract some benefits from the lettuce. But, refusing to feed it on lettuce. They will not cause any such problem.

How To Feed Lettuce To Your Cat

If you are adding lettuce to your cat’s diet. You should try cutting the lettuce into small pieces. This will make it much easier for your cat to eat the plant food. Additionally, you should try to give her different types of lettuce. The different types of lettuces differ in their tastes slightly. This way your cat will learn to appreciate.

You can add some little pieces of lettuce to your cat’s kibble. If your cat does not take to new foods. Well, you could try this trick. It works all the time.

You Could Try Tearing or Cutting Lettuce in Smaller Pieces

Cats are very picky when it comes to the food. They often prefer to have food given to them in a specific way. So, when it comes to lettuce, there is no different. I recently give my cat a big piece of lettuce, she just stares at it and doesn’t want to touch it.

So, what to do?

Here are a couple tips, you can do to make lettuce more enjoyable appealing to your cat:

Firstly, Tear the big piece of lettuce into small pieces. just make them in very small and thin pieces. Cut the lettuce leaves into little strips, So, that way they could go even as small as the size of a blade of grass. Once you tear them into small pieces, your cat might take it. She could play with it until she gets bored.

Try Again A Number of Times

Cats might not like new foods. After a few sniffs if it does not interest her. Then you could wait and try after few days again.

You Can Try Different Types And Different Part Of Lettuce

Some cats might not like lettuce. Sometimes it has to do with the taste of your cat not just the size of the lettuce. It might depend on what type of lettuce she is eating. Try out different kind of lettuce depending upon the preference of your cat. Some cats might like darker lettuce or the purple ones.

Try Putting Lettuce Next To Your Cat’s Food

Your cat might not like a new food. You can try putting some small pieces of lettuce next to your cat’s food might do the trick.

You May Also Read – Can Cats Eat Mango

Avoid The “Greens” Of Certain Houseplants

Many cats love houseplants. Some houseplants can be toxic to cats. Because of my cats love greens. I have a few houseplants. And the ones I do is out of the reach of my cats. They are few houseplants are toxic to cats. Here a video list of common dangerous houseplants for cats.

If you have houseplants that are not toxic to cats, then you are living in the space. But, be sure that you’re not using any kind of chemicals on the plant. And do not add anything to the soil (some cats love to dig in dirt) that your cat could accidentally ingest.

Can Cats Eat Lettuce And Carrots

As we have discussed lettuce. They are safe for cats. When it comes to carrots, You do not have to worry about anything. They are not toxic to cats. But, Most people recommend feeding cooked carrots to cats. As we know raw carrots can be crunchy. And it is hard for cats to chew and digest fibrous vegetables. Just keep in mind, if you are planning to give anything new to your feline always keep the amount low. You should take advice from your vet.

You May Also Read – Can Cats Eat Peanut Butter

What Greens Can Cats Eat

Like we said, cats are carnivorous. Therefore, you don’t want to feed them too many veggies. But, they can make for good snacks for our cats. They can even help with the digestive issues.

Veggies you can give your cat to snack on:

Pumpkin/Squash

Peas

Cucumber

Cooked or steamed

Carrots

Broccoli

Asparagus

Green Beans

Spinach

Can Cats Eat Arugula

There is no reference related arugula in Toxic Plants for cats in ASPCA. Therefore, they are not toxic to cats. You should ask your veterinary doctor before adding any kind of unknown food in cat’s food.

Can Cats Eat Kale

You should not let your cat eat kale. They are not safe for cats. They can become life-threatening to cats. kale will act as an oxidizing agent in the cat. And, So this can cause Heinz body anemia.

You May Also Read – Can Cats Eat Raw Egg

Can Cats Eat Spinach

Spinach is safe for cats. They contain low calories. They have every vitamins and mineral. Spinach is a good way to introduce green to cats. If your cat has urine issue or kidney problem. You should avoid feeding it to your cat.

Can Cats Eat Cabbage

Cabbage is safe for cats to eat. It is okay to give them in small amounts. Cabbage can provide your cat with valuable nutrients such as vitamin B-6, calcium. Fresh cabbage also has anti-cancer benefits. Cabbage can also cause uncomfortable gas for cats.

But, only a small amount is good. Another reason you should limit the amount of cabbage. Because cabbage contains thiocyanate. If they are consumed in large amounts, can have a negative effect on thyroid function.

Can Cats Eat Chard

Can Cats Eat Swiss Chard? Plants like chards are very high in oxalic acid. And, some experts say they may help on developing of the kidney and bladder stones. Therefore, They are not recommended for cats to eat.

Can Cats Eat Salad Cress

Lettuce and dark leafy vegetables are good and healthy for your cats. If your cat loves lettuce and some greens, then they could be a great source of water and nutrients. In my experience, some cats might like to eat these greens and some might not care. Again, use caution while giving her green do not add too much.

Conclusion

You can feed lettuce to your cat. It is better than just staring at the leftover salad. Lettuce is a good source of vitamins and minerals. They are a source of Vitamin K and Vitamin A. So, Lettuce can help with blood coagulation and growth development, maintenance of a healthy immune system. And also good vision respectively.

Lettuce is also a good source of water. They help to clean teeth naturally. With all these benefits Lettuce is safe for cats to eat. Your cat could enjoy lettuce occasionally in moderate. Hope this article helps you to solve your doubt related to “can cats eat lettuce“.

Cats Eating Lettuce

The post 17 Things About Can Cats Eat Lettuce Will Benefit Your Cats appeared first on Can Cat Eat.

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tedisdillon1299-blog · 6 years ago

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A small town in Augusta GA

It was already hot as balls in Augusta, and everything where I was at was far and spread out. When I did arrive into a town (I never got the name) it was very poor and broken. A total of one convenient store and a small seafood restaurant. I was now broke again, starting to regret leaving Brunswick. I had a job there anyway so it was something, but I’m sick. I’ve had a very nice runny yellowish shit for days, and everyday it’s getting more and more colorful. As of right now I’m pure yellow, a sign of gallbladder problem or the digestive tract working to fast, or even worse, an infection. I would’ve been fired soon anyway. I recall what I assume is my kidneys, lower back left and right side, hurting if I hold my urge to urinate for longer than ten minutes, and even urinated all over myself at one point back at the Salvation Army. Yes embarrassing, disgusting, but alarming all the same. I’m genuinely worried. This town was worse than Brunswick as far as crime. I was told that when night shines one will sleep, and was told by an older black lady to watch my back. White boys are targets. I made my approach to a local convenience store, to use the bathroom and grab a Powerade. I was very dirty, but managed to scrub much of the dirt off my face with a sink. The lady at that store bought a drink and chips and spoke with me about God. Very well mannered and sweet woman. My karma from my past deeds continued to pay off, and the habit of thanking God after a blessing such as that one in prayer was becoming quite the habit. I know He doesn’t approve of everything I do. I know the bad things I’ve done will bite me later and is usually the result of events forcing me to move on. Things I won’t say here, not until I’m stable, however I am still mostly in His favor, and I accept that this is a trail I from Him that I practically asked for. When I left the shop a man who worked in the store gave me the rest of his friend’s smokes, he said they’ve been laying there in his car for a century. Then he told me he was just like me, except he finally saved to get a ride, and was trying to save to get settled. Cool. Can’t wait to reach that phase. I stopped by a small seafood restaurant along the way, to sit and charge my phone and consult reddit. One of the men who worked at this place asked me where were I was from. He was a person who worked for this place for eighteen years, with a golden grill on his teeth. I told him that I started in Brunswick and ended up here and that’s all that mattered. He said something to me that nearly triggered another round of unending paranoia. “Bruh if I was you I would move way up north. Not everybody is yo friend man, God does everything for a reason.” Why would he say that? Is there something behind the scenes that I didn’t see? Was the entire hood in the world trying to off me? What’s going on? Those are the thoughts of my mind every time something like that happens and it wasn’t the first time I’ve heard, “God does everything for a reason.” A while back, when I had a home a man needed a way home with his old man, and asked me to drive the old man’s car because the old guy was too drunk to drive and the young thug didn’t have a license. Of course I said hell yeah, he’s got his pops with him… and I’d miss driving, and good karma. That’s just me man, the type of person who only needs to hear ‘Adventure’ to motivate him to grab his balls and say fuck it. When I was driving he said to me,” Hey bro God does everything for a reason.” “....” “ Did you hear what I said? I’m serious lil bro, think about it real long and hard as to why God motivated you to do this, it might’ve just saved your life.” Questions man. So. Many. Questions. I left to the resturant to investigate the trains with the help of Maps. Aparently I was too close to the yard, one of the train operators threw a gatorade at me and yelled over the engine, “Hey man! You better get out of here! They just called the police on you man! Go get out of here!” I walked fast off the property, and hid into a nearby wooded area. After an hour I returned to the restaurant to charge my phone, and an old woman there insisted to buy me food, but I couldn’t accept… however a drink would be nice. She seemed aggravated by the fact I wouldn’t eat, but too much help in a small town like that and someone might think I’m playing people. Another man gave me seven dollars, I swear I didn’t ask. I did accept that though, cash is cash I’d be crazy to say no. Might even give people the idea that I’m racist. Definitely don’t need that. Back to the train yard I hid in between the trains to avoid being seen. None of the trains that arrived ever went north for some reason, but I had a strong feeling that at nightfall something would head north. I left again to get another water. I was sweating something awful, and I had to stay hydrated. An interesting fact I once heard was that some people die out in the desert with water still in the bottle. These people would try and conserve their water supply but would end up dehydrating themselves in the process, laughable over a few shots of whiskey but an important note at that. I drink nearly all I have and only saving a little to keep the mouth moist after a smoke and I find that by doing so I stay hydrated, never feeling like crap because the water hadn’t finished absorbing into my system. Remember that folks. When I finished watching the trains I found a place with a plug and wifi to jam out to music. I don’t know why I stopped listening to music like Bon Jovi, versus the same Trap music I had been listening to. Classic rock was the real me, not that stuff. Listening to it for hour rewired my brain into making myself remember what was good about me before I wrapped my head around nothing but stress, with a shot of confidence to boost my day. On the way to pick up a drink a woman and I crossed paths. Pretty attractive young woman who I never would’ve guessed was a hooker. “You got a smoke man?” “Yeah sure…” “You looking for a girl?” Instantly my mouth answered without using my brain. The thought of having a lady around for awhile would definitely make me happy. It had been a dry season for almost a year now. All of those articles about Hobos riding around with their lady filled my head with too much romanticism. “Hell yeah I’m looking for a baby…” “You ain’t got a cob do you?” (Misheard) “I ain’t got no mushroom baby I got something that’ll…” “Haha no no baby you ain’t a cop are you?” The wheels in my head began to turn. She's a sex worker. “Wha... don’t even insult me like that haha” At this point I knew getting some fruit wasn’t happening. “You got cash?” I knew I sound dumb just saying no, so I played dumb. “Oh wait, you is a… oh oh ugh… shit sorry I didn’t know. You don’t look the type you’re too beautiful.” Persuasion attempt failed :( “Aw oh my God thank you! Well thanks anyway honey you got another smoke?” It was the least I could do. At any rate I felt sorta proud to myself for holding a fluid conversation with a pretty lady like her for longer than ten seconds. Turns out, Bon Jovi cures depression. I made way to the store, it was full of like the whole fucking town. Turns out it was like this nearly every night, feeling good I decided to make conversation with the guy at the register. I was curious as to what happened to that other convenience store. Considering there was only two in the whole area, both in good spots, you wouldn’t think it would just go out of business. Nah something was off. When I asked he just said, “Stay away from there tonight one goes everyday.” Whoa. Anyway, to sum up yes I did eventually hop that train. Damn it got freezing. All that wind.I fell asleep and woke up to what I thought was a golden opportunity, a train station for people to actually ride. Mind you, before I tell you this, I had just woke up and that physics and pain part of my brain wasn’t turned on yet. The train was going about fifteen miles per hour, I figured you know… that I could just jump off into the gravel with grass right next to it, because you know I’ve done crazy shit before… I was totally complacent. And quoting an old coworker who ironically said, “In the marines they had signs in Iraq that said ‘Complacency kills’” and betting that I’d get shocked when I worked for a lighting company before anyone else. Well guess what? Next day this condescending mother fucker gets shocked a day and thrown off his ladder. Yeah he was okay, so I can say in good conscience KARMA BITCH! Anyway yeah it hurt when I landed. As soon as I hit the hit ground I fucked up my pinkie and hurt my knees. I got lucky. After about twenty seconds I got up and limped while laughing at myself out loud. I was just relieved that it was the only thing I did to myself. I limped around to see about getting myself onto a train to who the fuck cares where. I came across three white possibly english teenagers who were up to no good. They were vandalizing something they had paint, and wore all black. I talked to them for a minute to find out about the train station. Bad news. It wasn’t a train station but another yard. Fuuuuck. I felt so dumb. I checked my phone to see where I was at… the heart of Atlanta.

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mindfulrunner · 7 years ago

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#54: daring greatly: mississauga race report

the seed: rebellious child

I have a sassy, rebellious, high-energy toddler and I am still at heart a sassy, rebellious, high-strung child. I signed up for the Mississauga full as an act of rebellion. He was sick, and I was covered in snot and tired out of my gourd, but I did it anyway.

I thought: f*** it. I tempted fate.

Even though I have a rebellious streak, I fear and respect the marathon, and situations and circumstances I fear and respect tend to bring out the best in me. So that f*** it was also a tiny prayer: may I dig, dig, dig. May I get the most out of myself. Inspired by the openness of Shalane Flanagan and Gwen Jorgensen, I also put out my ambitious, challenging, yet within reach goal: to PB and break 3:07.

training: the limiting factor

Training this cycle went well overall, except for a major limiting factor: illness. Elliot picked up virus after virus at daycare, and I seemed to get every single one, except they lasted twice as long for me, and instead of taking off sick days to rest and take care of myself, I took them off to take care of him. Between January and May, I was sick with three upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) the flu (first time getting this in many years), and 3 GI viruses (at least one of the GI bugs was food poisoning, I think). In previous cycles, I got URTIs a couple of times that lingered, I assume because I chose to train through them, as long as I didn’t have a fever and my energy levels were OK. This year, the first of these infections struck just one week after seeing my naturopathic doctor at the end of January and telling her my immunity was great. Figures.

I was sick, or caring for Elliot, pretty much all of February, and I was intensely frustrated. At the same time, I was wrapping up a huge 5-month project at work that was overdue, and trying to maintain some fitness, mostly by running easy. Typically, I would feel OK after easy runs, but then the day after a harder effort like a long run or workout, I’d feel worse, and ease off again. On two occasions I took longer stretches off – 3 or 4 days— but had a hard time taking a full week off, which is what I probably should’ve done. My issue was I have zero faith in my immune system, and didn’t quite believe I’d get totally better with that amount of time off, since even when I’m not training colds and infections often last well over a week. In February, I averaged just 60k a week, ran only one proper long run of 28k, and 3 workouts total. In my last marathon cycle, I averaged 100+, hit all my long runs and workouts.

I raced the Chilly half sick at the beginning of March, another questionable life choice, and somehow ran a PB. It felt very hard from 6k on, which was early for me to push, and it was the first time in a long time I questioned my ability to complete a race. I coughed for a good five minutes straight at the end uncontrollably. In that moment, I really regretted what I had just done and had no joy in the PB, assuming I would get pneumonia or something, and screw over my work and family even more. Going into it, I wasn’t even sure I was going to race, but when I began to pick up the pace, I got competitive, wanted the PB, and somehow performed beyond my fitness and circumstances. Getting 100% out of myself on race day, despite only having 70-80% in my training, became my focus going into the marathon. I also figured if I could run 90 minutes on pretty bad training, the equivalent of a 3:09 marathon, I had a very good shot of PBing and, on a good day, maybe even running in the low 3s.

I got lucky and oddly enough actually felt better after racing Chilly. In March I averaged 94k per week, and in April I averaged 94k again. However, I only ran 7 weeks over 80k, and 6 of those were over 90k. In the last marathon cycle, I ran 12 weeks over 90k. So my overall build was not, for me, high-mileage. Workouts went OK. I ran marathon pace tempos between 4:21 and 4:25 pace. 4:21 felt too hard and 4:23 began to feel like the sweet spot. I had some craptacular long runs and workouts, and I noticed that these were occurring during the high-hormone, mid-luteal phase of my menstrual cycle. That started to psych me out, as the marathon fell on the same day. For more info, check this out:

pre-race: zero chill workin’ mom

The week before the marathon, a colleague abruptly went on vacation, which added an unexpected amount of stress to my workweek. Jeff was on days, which meant I was responsible for both pick-ups and drop-offs to daycare, which was also a little challenging, since Elliot seemed to be going through a period of separation anxiety again: he literally wouldn’t let go of my hand at daycare, and it broke my heart to pry his little fingers off one by one. Major mom guilt.

Taking over my colleague’s duties meant I was responsible for a project with a noon deadline the Monday after the race. F*** THAT, I thought. I worked my butt off to get it finished up as best as I could by Friday, putting in a 13-hour day, and dealing with Elliot, who was still not doing great: really fussy and clingy. I did not even have the time or presence of mind to properly track my carbs that day, although I think I got in around 500g.

After an awful night in terms of sleep, stress, and— OK I’ll admit it— a piss-poor attitude on Friday, I was super grumpy and lazed around all day Saturday. Jeff brought Elliot in to the walk-in and it turned out he had a nasty ear infection, poor dude, so I was concerned about him as well and cancelled the post-race party at our house. We called in reinforcements, and my mom agreed to come in the morning to watch him, so Jeff could still come to the race.

It was only at 5pm that I properly started getting my head into the race. I realized all my gels and nutrition contained caffeine, so I zipped to the Runner’s Shop for some non-caffeinated ones and also picked up a sweet pair of Goodr sunglasses since I wasn’t totally sure where my normal running ones were. Then I returned home and got my bag and clothes ready with Elliot. Instead of being in bed by 9 as I should’ve, I made a pace cheat sheet with my goal 5, 10, 15, half, 25, and 30k times, as well as directions for the final really tricky with a bunch of twists and turns. I wrote out the directions moreso to ease my anxiety about the course, which I practiced running the previous week. I don’t think I fell asleep until late, maybe midnight, and was up at 4:40 to scarf down my oats.

execute: PB or bust

My goal was to PB. I didn’t care if I blew up. And I was a bit greedy. I wanted to run 3:03-3:04. I wanted to be well within striking distance of a fall sub-3. I wanted to prove this was my distance, this is where I shine. No plan B.

the race: hello glycogen depletion my old friend

Morning of, the temperatures were looking a bit warmer than expected, so I got a little nervous. And as with the Ottawa Marathon, I couldn’t properly go to the bathroom which was so weird. I wonder if carb loading messes up my digestion?

My teammate picked me up and we drove the short 30 minutes to the finish line to take the shuttle to the start. We missed our exit, and I ended up not really listening to my pre-race visualization and jams properly. At the start, I changed and immediately lined up for the bathroom and again tried to go but couldn’t. I very briefly warmed up, just 1k with a few strides, before searching for my teammates, Jake and Gar, who were going to run a similar pace. The plan was to start out at 4:23, but Gar was quicker after a few kms, so Jake and I let him go. Neither Jake or I felt great from the outset. We both had a shin issue that migrated into a hip issue, and I my calf started to cramp at 5k. However, I stayed calm, if not positive, knowing that marathons are long and these things can majorly shift. I especially tried to take the downhills in a controlled way to avoid slapping and aggravating my shin again.

As usual, the GPS watch just provided a guesstimate. This guesswork does tend to add some mystery and suspense into the effort, as I’m never totally sure if I’m hitting my goal, even if the numbers say I am, and I usually try a bit harder just in case. However, feeling that Gar was a very controlled pacer, and wondering why he’d gone ahead when he’d only wanted 3:05, I grew concerned we were running too slow. Between 8-14 k there were a few faster kilometres: 4:15, 4:17, etc. At 14k, I pulled out my sheet with the split times and some older women spectating chirped, “You don’t need a map, honey”, but the sheet told me that we were running well under our goal pace, that Gar was fast, and not to worry about him and just do our own thing.

From that point on, Jake and I took turns leading until about 24-25k when I was officially slowing and starting to feel pretty crappy and let him go.

I don’t fully remember why I was slowing, if it was just overall discomfort or a negative mindset, or if my calf or hip were bothering me more. But I remember consciously letting him go, yet wanting to keep him in sight, and beginning to feel like the race was slipping from my control. I remember too, trying to quiet the needling thought: this is too early to feel so bad. I must’ve quieted most of my thoughts successfully, because I don’t really remember much about the next hour of the race. Maybe I lost focus? Or maybe I was incredibly focused on just hanging on. I don’t remember.

Something I struggled with that I could have controlled, maybe because I was distracted by what my teammates were doing and not running my own race, was fueling. I didn’t have a written plan, didn’t take the little baby bottles (literally baby bottles, ha ha!) of Maurten Jeff handed me, and didn’t take Gatorade at every station as I did at Ottawa. I think I took 4 gels total. I began to bonk around 34, 35k pretty hard. My watch was mostly in the low 4:30s, whereas I had wanted it in the low 4:20s. Around 35k, my heart rate also dropped according to Garmin? I’m still wondering if this was a fluke.

It was suit of armor hard, like in my first marathon. But I was reassured by the fact I was breathing pretty well, which to me signified it was still a manageable, if intense, effort. Not dead yet. I don’t think I took in any fuel after 37k, which again was silly, but I finally took one of the little bottles Jeff handed to me just prior to that. After 37, the effort to take Gatorade or a gel at that point seemed overwhelming. I need to learn to mentally prepare to work with this feeling and override it.

Luckily, during this period of bonking and serious effort, I did focus mentally, since I had women around me I was competing with. One woman in blue was wearing headphones and had very strong surges; we ran alongside each other for parts beginning at about 34k. We eventually caught up to a woman in black, who looked strong and was being paced by 2 male runners. I took their encouragement to her as my own “You’re doing great” and “Now’s the time to push if you have anything left” and we played cat and mouse a bit. I took the tangents straight, a bit aggressively, elbows a little out.

Because the course was so twisty, I did not have the finish line in sight until the last 100m or so, although I could hear the crowds. Finally, with about 20m-50m to go, my competitor in black, who I later learned was named Karoline, had a huge kick but I somehow responded (despite apparently not using my arms at all!) and caught her at the line and came 4th woman by 1/10 of a second. My teammates were pleased I put on a funny show at the end.

I had snuck under my PB of 3:07:36 by 50 seconds, running 3:06:46. It was a satisfying result, looking back, but I still somehow felt I’d messed up the race and felt a bit deflated, if not disappointed. Immediately after I felt terrible and needed my puffer in my bag, so I just focused on getting that instead of soaking in the accomplishment as much.

Next time, I will be more grateful. PBs are PBs, and they don’t come forever.

But there are things to improve: higher mileage. Immunity. Fuelling. Form.

after: and when it was bad it was horrid

After the race: I. Was. Trashed. Possibly worse than after my first full. My calves and quads were dead, my lips were blue for a good hour despite wearing multiple layers, my cough was bad, and my old groin injury had somehow resurfaced. I was a GD mess. I was in pain standing and walking, but afraid to sit and cramp up.

Nothing looked more appealing than a woman, probably late 50s, laying on the grass with her legs up and feet on the trash can. I laid next to her and we chatted and both had the sillies and shared some jokes and stories. She asked my time and I asked hers. She was late to running, and expressed joy at discovering it later in life. She asked me “how’s your mind”? And I said, “Fine. I think. But you know. I shouldn’t drive” and we both cracked up laughing. She had a beautiful laugh. It was probably my favourite moment in the race besides…

BESDIES MY TEAMMATES ABSOLUTELY CRUSHING IT. Jake, Heidi, Martina, and others had absolutely mind-blowing races. I was elated for them.

Walking to the truck wasn’t possible, so after I picked up my age category prize (4th overall, 1st in age group), we walked a little until Jeff got the truck and drove back to get me. Congratulatory texts and posts started streaming in. The satisfaction of the accomplishment moreso came to me secondhand.

gone gone beyond gone.

During the race, the heart sutra surfaced. Gate (pronounced: gah-eh), gate, paragate para sam gate, bodhi svaha!

I first learned it after I listened to Michael Stone’s podcast during a cold, wintery sidewalk run in the suburbs at my parents’ house. In the podcast, Michael said it’s a very good sutra to say after someone has died; for me it comes up in the blank part of a run that’s just effort, where I’m struggling to settle back into it and just accept. Instead I cling to it for distraction, for something to hold on to. One last clinging thing. I also just like the rhythm of it. It’s like counting to eight again and again in a run, but better.

We chanted it at Spirit Loft and at Downward Dog after Michael died in his memory.

Sometimes it arises out of nowhere, which was what happened in the race. Michael translated it as: gone, gone, beyond gone, across the other shores (the tone of “across to the other shores” is a bit celebratory because of the “svaha!” like a bit of a hooray thrown in).

After the result on the car ride home, I squirmed and fished around, looking to find what was gone, struggling to settle in my accomplishment, in the extreme effort of crossing to the other shore.

I texted my brother, and Jeff previously texted my mom. Fourth woman sounds kinda cool, and it’s the type of thing non-runners usually find more interesting than running a certain time. Maybe what I needed was the validation. I scrolled through the congratulatory messages I received, searching there too. Trying to find the hooray on the other shore, the bit of joy. But I couldn’t.

The truth is I always feel a peach pit in my throat and ache in my chest after a race since my dad died. A text was never sufficient for the depth and breadth of his enthusiasm for my running. He would want a phone call with a detailed play-by-play. He would’ve looked up the result. He probably would’ve been there, cheering, telling me to kick butt. He would have gasped with amazement and interest that I’d outkicked someone at the line with an “Em-chen! You’re kiddin’!” and a big WOW, and would’ve called me “fast twitch” in the next few emails or texts he sent me.

I didn’t make the mistake of trying to search for my dad in my mom. They are different. I am growing. I didn’t begrudge her for not being him. The night before the race, she told Jeff that after my dad ran his first marathon, she let him know she wouldn’t support him running them anymore. I asked her about it when we got home from the race, curious but also already knowing why. She said, “It’s too extreme, the training takes too much time, you get too thin. My friends were asking what was wrong with him, he got to 145 lbs. 10ks, those are fine. But I said, with three little kids, we wouldn’t come to your races. You could do it on your own time. But we won’t support it.”

At one time I would’ve seen a jab in these words, a pin to deflate my victory balloons, which were already pretty sad and deflated. But now I frame it as touching: a mother’s concern, her sharp attention, even though I am grown up now, noticing and worrying about the lines in my face, the cough that won’t go away, the apparent lack of rest and pleasure in my life, the strange seriousness and intensity of my hobbies.

I sent her a text thanking her again for her help with Elliot and explaining, “I know running isn’t the most pleasant/healthiest hobby but for me it is very exciting to discovery athleticism, teammates, and a sport I have some skill at. Really really appreciative of your help.” She responded, “You are welcome. Glad you were happy with results. My bias will always be for optimal health. Which everyone perceives differently.”

My dad perceived optimal health differently than her, too. He sprinted the last part of his easy runs with his running mates, racing for fun. He always beat Rob, and mostly beat Sean. He ate the burger and the chips. He sometimes had the extra drink. He got chippy in the corners at hockey and didn’t control his emotions very well at all when fishing or playing golf. From the outside, his leisure time sometimes looked stressful. He had a rebellious streak, too. And he savoured the juices of life.

shore up

I am my father and my mother. I am the rebellious, intense child, but also the patient, steadfast mother. I don’t want to run reckless. I try and do things that impact Elliot the least: lunch runs, run commutes, 5:00am runs while he is sleeping. I don’t want to compromise my long-term health in a serious way, or my connections with Jeff and Elliot. I don’t think I am.

But I can’t deny I’m curious. I’m hungry. I’m keenly interested in limits. I want to be a student of limits. There is a spark here, there is a flame. I’m protective of it. I want to tend to it.

As a teenager and in my twenties, I shrank myself to accommodate my parents’ expectations. Risk-taking was out of sight, never in the open. The dark parts of my personality were hidden away the best that I could and came out in sulking and silence. My seriousness and intensity came out in academics, the secret crushes I had, and maybe our political and philosophical arguments around the dinner table, but I didn’t express it openly in my hobbies. I wrote but always in secret. I wrote with expletives, experimentally, raw and weird and my mom came across my blog once, the F bombs and all, and was shocked and disturbed, and never again followed any of us on social media. I published a poem but later requested it be removed from a website, ashamed of my rawness. I hemmed up all my raw edges.

But my goal this year is to neither puff myself up, press on foolishly headlong into bad decisions, stubborn and imagining myself so alone, nor shrink into the background resentfully, obediently, and only do-- on the surface-- what’s normal or expected or desired from others.

Neither puff up nor shrink. But also ask: why not me?

I see no reason I can’t achieve big goals.

I see no reason I can’t go sub-3.

I say this neither puffed up with ego, or shriveled with shame about the intensity of my own interests, the extremeness of my personality that befuddles and perhaps annoys others, even those I love the most.

So many of the skills I have as a runner– equanimity, understanding and maintaining boundaries, mental toughness, a desire to research, detachment, a deeper spiritual faith or purpose underlying my actions, the deeply joyful appreciation of nature on the trails and recreational paths– all of these things come from my mother.

But some skills come from my dad, too: taking corners aggressively with elbows out, the cycling between anxiety and excitement, the runner’s high, the chicken-leg calves, the competitive show-boat streak, the hacking cough, the imagination running wild late at night or at work with fantasies of fast finishes and faster times and unimaginable improvement.

The fascination with something like the heart sutra appearing unannounced at the end of a hard effort? Well, that one is the best. And that one is both of them.

I am a blend of the two, one measured and questioning, one seeking and a little recklessly enthusiastic.

And I am so much more: a mother, a partner, a sister, a teammate, a spiritual seeker.

Why not me?

#mississauga marathon #mother runner #race report

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sexyrawvegan · 7 years ago

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Why does fruit make my symptoms feel worse during detoxification? When we pay attention to the simplicity of chemistry and understand that their is only two sides, the (alkaline side and the acid side). When your body is on the acid side, your going to feel the burn, and your going to experience the symptoms of having a body that is full of acidity. When we eat acid-forming foods we tear down are organs, glands and damage our cells. What happens is acids get dumped into the lymphatic system (the sewer system) of the human body, and get locked interstitially, and create inflammatory conditions, that dehydrate and fatigue the body, as well as creating tons of inflammatory conditions in the process. When we spend a lifetime eating foods that are corrosive, and not compatible with our species design, the body could only hold so much sewage waste, before it explodes! When the body is full of acid, your going to accumulate lots of uncomfortable symptoms, and in order to get rid of these symptoms you must drain the (septic tank) the lymphatic system, via the kidneys. In order to move the lymphatic system, and get these acids to the kidneys, you must regenerate and unclog the kidneys as well. In order to move the lymphatic system, and break down the quagulated hardened plaques in the body from mucus, and acid forming Foods, you must take in chemistry on the alkaline side. Fruits and vegetables are the foods that bring alkalinity and hydration to the body, fruits are the most aggressive when it comes to moving the lymphatic system, and breaking down these hardened plaques, as well as pushing acids to the kidneys. The problem is fruits are so aggressive with pulling these obstructions and aggressively trying to get rid of them, when the kidneys are damaged and clogged, it's hard to eliminate them, which in return will make your symptoms worse. Fruits love to expose the underlined issue, and a lot of the times we think that fruit is making the problem worse but really it's just trying to pulling the problem out of the body. This is the process of elimination. When you create a problem you experienced the symptoms, when you eliminate the problem you also will experience the symptoms, and sometimes when you eliminate them you experience them more problems, then when you created them, this is just how nature works when it comes to healing and cleaning out the body from obstructions that block the flow of energy. The reason why people don't experience these problems with vegetables it's simply because they're not aggressive detoxifiers like the fruits, and will soon find themselves plateauing with getting better, this is because they are slowing down the detoxification process, and when you eat fruits it only enhances and increases the aggressiveness of detoxification, because fruits are very electrical, and active, and have the astringent power that the vegetables lack. This can be very discouraging for many people, especially enduring through the uncomfortable symptoms of detoxification, when we are used to living in a world of wanting it now, and not having much patience or faith to endure through the process. Often people will stop eating fruit, because their symptoms are getting exposed, but this is very unfortunate, because when you endure through the process of elimination, and you open up your channels of elimination, which are going to be the bowels, kidneys, lungs, and sweating through the skin, you will eventually get to the other side, and no longer deal with these uncomfortable symptoms, because your getting to the root of the problem, and your creating a detoxification process, which is important, in order to accelerate in your healing. I could attest that I have dealt with all these uncomfortable symptoms, and in the beginning experience them even more on a all fruits versus fruits&vegetable diet, but I'm glad I endured through the process, because now I'm only experiencing the benefits! When you get to the point of plateauing, and you no longer are progressing in your healing, on a fruit and vegetable based diet, it's because your no longer providing your body with the energy, that it needs to move the lymphatic system, and going to an all-fruit diet will create this process of elimination much quicker. If your seeing lots of obstructions in metabolic waste in your bowel movements, and your seeing lots of sediment in your urine, but also your feeling worse, this is because your body is eliminating the obstructions, and when you eliminate the obstructions, you will have to endure through the pain, and fatigue that takes place during the process. When I got rid of vegetables for detoxification purposes, I've noticed this process of elimination increase, and when this process of elimination started to increase, so did my symptoms temporarily, this is only a healing crisis, or a healing event that's taking place, and you must push through, in order to understand how powerful, and amazing the fruits are, when it comes to simple digestion, feeling energy and hydration, and no longer having the brain fog, that suppresses your ability to think and function throughout the day. Fruits will create die off symptoms, and this can mess with your head thinking that your problems are getting worse, but your problems are not getting worse, their just being pulled out of your body, and that's why it's very important when you go on an all fruit diet in the beginning, to utilize the herbs, because they will help open up the channels of elimination, so that you don't stir up all the metabolic wastes, and not eliminate them because your elimination organs are way too clogged usually from mucus to remove them. Most people cannot open up their eliminate of channels on even all fruits, and this is why they need to tag team wirh fruits and herbal Botanicals. Herbs have been known to open up the channels of elimination, so that you don't experience such aggressive detox all at once. This is another reason why fruit get such a bad rap, because people jump into all fruit, coming off of high protein and high fat diets, highly cooked and processed food, where their body is so full of toxicity, and when they start to allow fruit to create the healing process, it's far too aggressive to handle, and to accept the reality of what you have caused. I think it's important to start detoxing with fruits and vegetables, until your body starts to plateau and it's healing, and then you get rid of the vegetables and go all fruit and make sure that you have herbs for your kidneys, adrenal glands, lymphatic system, and GI tract. You also should have some Veggie fruits you could Steam in case of an emergency and dealing with two aggressive detox symptoms. When your stirring up the terrain, and you haven't removed the plaques from the kidneys, your symptoms can be exposed, this is why it's important to go aggressive, but also have the steamed veggies on the back burner to slow things down, until you get your kidneys to filter. Once you get your kidneys to filter, you will not have to do this anymore, because you will be able to eliminate, quick enough to where you won't get the blow back. When people go on all fruit diets and start filtering, for at least a couple weeks, they will notice their pain going away, their symptoms of fatigue going away, their digestion getting better, their skin improving, and then they will understand that it wasn't the fruit making their symptoms and health problems worse, it was just that they were detoxing too quickly without filtering through their kidneys. Filtering through your kidneys is the missing link, when it comes to the confusion of aggressive detoxification that an all-fruit diet promotes. If your not filtering on fruits and vegetables, or all fruits, then you need to stop being stubborn with herbs, and understand that they are the missing link to help you create this process. The herbs really do help, when your kidneys are very stubborn to filter. Also a lot of people that are experiencing poor and chronic health conditions, also have damaged their adrenal glands, which are responsible for the utilization of carbohydrates, so when the adrenal glands stop allowing the body to utilize carbohydrates they run into sugar metabolism problems, and only eating fruits, which are 95% carbohydrates most of the time especially the juicy fruits, it's going to be really difficult for the adrenal glands to keep up with when their very weak. Also when somebody has damaged their pancreas, from all the process carbohydrate foods they have eaten over the years, the true state of your pancreas will also be revealed, when the body starts to go through detoxification and healing . When the pancreas is not allowing the proper digestion of carbohydrates, this could also create a problems that are uncomfortable. This is another reason why the herbs are so important because they have a strong reputation, with bringing healing an enhancement to these weakend glands, so that while you detoxify aggressively with fruits, you will also create healing with the herbs in the process, so that you could create more function for proper elimination, to avoid the painful symptoms that become a reality when you detox at the highest level, which are going to be an all fruit diet. People that have very clean bodies do not experience the blow back affect and also feel like their symptoms are getting worse on fruit, because their body is clean, and that's why we hear stories of people running 100 mile marathons, on all fruit diets and not getting tired, and also recovering very quickly, to where they could do it the next day, or back-to-back however long that takes. It's only those that have a lot of underlined issues, and have systemic acidosis, that struggle with fruit, because again fruit just exposes the reality of how toxic the body is, and when you provide the body with the energy that the fruit provides, it's going to want to heal as fast as it can, because the body does not want to hold on to acids, when you allow the ability for the body to remove them. Another classic misconception is that fruit makes candida worse. You must understand what causes candida first, in order to understand that it's not the sweetness of the fruit that indicates that it's the highest form of sugar in the plant kingdom, let alone understanding that sugar doesn't feed candida either, it's the fermentation of sugars that do. Back to the adrenal glands, and understanding that when you don't metabolize sugar properly, fermentation takes place. It's the fermentation of sugars that takes place in the body that cause fungal family to come to the rescue to balance this problem out, but unfortunately fungus creates negative symptoms when there is an overgrowth of it in the body because of too much fermentation. You will not have more success metabolizing complex carbohydrates, or even vegetables, because their more complex, and higher in sugar content, and this will be more difficult for the adrenal glands to metabolize when their not functioning properly. Fruit sugar (fructose) it's the simplest form of sugar, it also absorbs into the cells much quicker, and these sugars are much easier to digest and assimilate than any form of sugar found in plant foods. The easier the sugar is to metabolize, the less issue you will have to deal with. However again fruits also aggressively pull out , parasites, fungus, worms, and other toxic microbes you will start to experience those same symptoms that you had prior two going on an all-fruit diet. I myself have experienced excessive itching, brain fog, fatigue, gas, white tongue, unusual itchy patches, and all the classic candida symptoms you could come up with, during the process of elimination, but because my kidneys were filtering well, I was able to remove this problem. Now that I've been able to heal and enhance the function of my adrenal glands, and pancreas, I no longer run into these problems like I did before, but again it takes a long time and depending on how much fungal and sulfur you have in your body, it could take much longer than you would expect. As long as you get your kidneys to filter, these symptoms will wear and go away. And then you will start to experience the benefits that those that have clean bodies do on all fruits diets, and no longer blame the fruit for causing the problem, but rather thanking the fruits for eliminating them. If your one of these persons that are feeling worse on fruits, and your also clogged up and not eliminating properly, I highly suggest you get on an herbal protocol, to help bring more enhancement, to your glands and also to crack open the kidneys, so that you can eliminate the obstructions, and no longer blame the fruit, thinking that fruit is the problem, because really it's just your kidneys, your adrenals, your GI tract, your lungs, and your skin that have been damaged from your prior diet that's making it difficult to benefit from the amazing benefits you can experience from fruits when you fix the underline issue with the herbs. More pain with fruit If your experiencing pain while eating fruit, this is because it's the astringent nature of the fruit, and the citric acid in the fruit that's stinging your body from the corrosive acids from improper food chemistry that have burned the tissue in your body, it's like pouring lemon juice on an open wound. If this is you, you may need to slow down, on that sub- acid and acid fruits, and stick to the Sweet fruits, and instead of eating your vegetables, have green juices instead, and slowly add on more fruit every week, until you get your kidneys to filter, and the pain starts to subside. You could also use anti-inflammatory herbs in the process as well, if you still want to go aggressive with the fruits, and just muscle through the aches and pains in the process. Their is no doubt that aggressive detoxification can be a difficult process, but it truly is the golden key to the restoration and regeneration of health, and their really is no other way to get to the root of the problem, except for trying to mask the symptoms and never truly restoring the issue. you just have to accept the damage that you caused from your improper choices living a lifestyle creating this issue your dealing with. Pay your debt to karma, and never complain if you cheat, and then feel worse on fruit later down the road. You must be consistent, and understand that you may have to be strict, to get your kidneys to filter, and it's kidney filtration that will create a more pleasant process, and also speed up the detoxification that must take place with true regenerative healing, and true detoxification, of cellular waste. Get back to nature my friends, get back to the diet your biologically designed to eat, tap into your intuitive consciousness, pay the debt of karma that you created, because of your junk food addiction, escape the matrix, get back to your natural Instincts, understand you are a frugivore species, and that it's the very food Your designed to eat that will heal you systemically, on a deep cellular level, you will go on and thrive the way you were designed to. Written by Jonathon RA Stearns Aka the Mangotarian https://m.facebook.com/mangotariarian/posts/?ref=page_internal&mt_nav=1&_rdr Watch "mono mango island day # 116 (kidney filtration focus)" on YouTube https://youtu.be/jdE_N_WWX6k

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synergygolfsolutions · 7 years ago

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Attain Golf Enlightenment: Meet The Real Guru Of Golf

Anyone who has seen "Caddyshack" knows Bill Murray's character, Carl Spackler, is promised total consciousness on his deathbed. Turns out the Dalai Lama isn't a golfer, but another highly influential spiritual leader is. Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev's YouTube videos, which mostly take the form of five-minute answers to deep questions, have eclipsed 100 million views. His is a globetrotting schedule—conducting large-scale meditation workshops, building schools, battling deforestation, lecturing for assemblies like the United Nations and World Economic Forum—but the self-described "yogi, mystic and visionary" got in 29 rounds last year. "When the entire population of the world attains enlightenment, I'll retire and play golf every day," he says, and it's oddly hypnotic the way his white beard bounces as he laughs. He has to tie it so it doesn't interfere with his swing. He almost always brings his clubs on the road, eschews carts, and prefers parkland courses to links. A dean at the University of Cambridge was incredulous when she heard he partook in such a bourgeoisie activity. "I love games, and I'll play any," Sadhguru told her. "Games are a way of training ourselves to be heavily involved without being serious." A way of being, Sadhguru believes, that can assist in learning how to focus inward. He likes to quote Swami Vivekananda, the yogi pioneer who came to the United States in 1893, who said, "Kicking a football will take you closer to the Divine than any amount of prayer." If Swami had played golf, surely he would've agreed the mind similarly can't wander. To train for his annual summer trek in the Himalayas of Tibet, Sadhguru, who turned 60 on Sept. 3, walks 36 holes a day for several days on a course at an elevation of 6,200 feet in his native India. "By day two or three my game becomes really good," he says. "The best round I ever shot was three over par. Most of the time I'm between six and 18." Not bad considering he took up the game seriously just a few years ago—a friend's suggestion after Sadhguru injured his knee playing soccer with children. "He's a good player, and strong," says five-time major champion Yani Tseng, who first attended one of Sadhguru's workshops in Manhattan, then later spent one-on-one time with the man at the meditation center he built in Tennessee. Why Tennessee? Besides natural beauty, its central location is within a day's drive for most of the U.S. population. When you're trying to change the world, you've got to be efficient. Tseng's initial motivation for visiting Sadhguru was to regain the mental clarity she enjoyed when she was the No. 1 female golfer in the world. "I had all these specific questions, but once I was around him those questions started to feel unimportant. He brings such a sense of peace. I forgot about golf and started thinking more about enjoying life, being grateful for my family and friends. Of course, having a quiet mind also helps in golf."

If Tiger Woods would accept his help, Sadhguru believes he could get him going in the right direction, too. Which, if you commit to reading on, is what this is all about. Prepping the mind to hit fewer shots can't be separated from the larger task of total self-re-examination. "Today, the most important work on the planet is to raise human consciousness," Sadhguru says—and writes. (His dozen books he has simply dictated into a recording device, then made minimal edits to the transcripts—a working method that is unbelievable until you hear him speak for hours without a single stammer or notecard.) "For the first time, we have the necessary capability, technology and resources to solve almost every human problem—fundamental problems like malnutrition, sickness, illiteracy—on this planet; never before was this possible. The only thing that is missing is human consciousness. ... All it takes is to make human beings willing." Willing, that is, to be truly inclusive and compassionate. To see themselves as part of a larger energy that is dispersed among all forms of life.

DIVISIVE FIGURES Whoa. Let's pause here. From Tony Robbins to Eckhart Tolle, modern gurus—which let's define as charismatic figures who make their life telling others how to live—tend to engender worship or extreme skepticism. Internet trolls accuse Sadhguru of hypocrisy in little ways, and others battle on intellectual turf, arguing his transposing of ancient Eastern philosophy into the Western world takes unforgivable shortcuts. "My hypothesis is that Jaggi Vasudev's act of interspersing his religious sermon with science is a conscious attempt to appeal to the urbane middle class," writes someone whose screen name is "tArkika."

POWERFUL IN PERSON But far more credit the man for changing their lives for the better. In 2016, Sadhguru initiated 35,000 Americans into yoga. In India, certain nights of Hindu celebrations with Sadhguru have drawn half a million people. In 2017, the Indian government awarded him its highest annual civilian honor, the Padma Vibhushan. He has played six-hour rounds because of grounds-crew workers and other followers flocking the fairway. "By the time the round is over, I've blessed 150 to 200 people," he says. A guru's delivery is equally if not more important than his message, so I hesitate to distill in an article that which was conveyed over 20 hours of lecture (accompanied by group chanting and an absolutely terrific string band). So all I'll say is, I attended Sadhguru's three-day course on "Inner Engineering" at the Sheraton Carlsbad Resort & Spa. Early registration of $2,000 covered room and vegetarian board, with the rest supporting the nonprofit Isha Foundation, which Sadhguru founded in 1992. If you're a golfer, who among us hasn't wondered if a little Zen training might improve our putting? So it was with this mixture of curiosity and selfish motivation that I laid down my mat and prepared to be transformed. There were 140 participants, including those who'd flown from South America, the Caribbean, even India, to spend this special intimate session with Sadhguru. A curious number of attendees were in medicine; doctors and practitioners looking for knowledge to complement (or replace) what they'd learned of the human system in traditional education. The rest of the attendees professed old-fashioned, run-of-the-mill existential crises—sometimes I wake up in the morning and just think, What's the point?—and were seeking greater meaning. I wasn't the only golfer. Old and young, fit and fat, stylish and frumpy—overall, about the most diverse group ever gathered in a tapestried conference room. Cross-legged and mic'd on the stage, magnificently holy in his colored robes although he endorses no religion (his teachings have the most parallels with Buddhism), Sadhguru paused if a person left to go to the bathroom, so critical was each word of this condensed course. We were afforded comfort breaks every two hours, though Sadhguru mischievously hinted pride about his superior capacity. Such control over the body's plumbing might one day also be ours, if we followed the practices with discipline. Note-taking was strictly discouraged. "We are not here to make scripture," Sadhguru joked, and we laughed. "Leave behind what you think you know and please just give me your full attention these next few days. That is all I ask." What does enlightenment feel like? ‘Take your greatest experience in life ever, and make that your baseline.’

THE MEANING OF LIFE Because I am not your guru, where Sadhguru weaves nuance I can only offer brevity. What follows are the crib notes on the meaning of life, before I get to the part about which I'm qualified to comment—teeing it up with Sadhguru the day after the retreat. The course's title "Inner Engineering" comes from the premise that in our exterior world, humans trust only things that work. We board elevators and trains not out of faith, but because we understand (or at least someone does) how they operate. However, for our interior world, we rely on things that are wishy-washy. Religions, philosophies, concepts like love—these work for some people some of the time, but generally we all pass through life with fluctuating discontent and uncertainty. But through close examination of the human system, a marrying of Eastern and Western knowledge to grasp "the nuts and bolts" of how life is, we may learn to run the "human machine" with a similar pleasurable confidence to how we turn on our phones or fly helicopters. (Sadhguru loves to fly helicopters.) What the following examples might seem to lack in cohesion, they make up for in accessibility. Seas rise with the full moon and our bodies are 60-percent water. To think our energy levels are independent of nature's cycles is ludicrous. The human jaw and digestive tract closely resemble a structure common to herbivores, and it's a diet of far too much meat—like bad gasoline—that's largely responsible for our lethargy and need to sleep seven to nine hours a day. Cared for properly, Sadhguru believes the human body can live up to 160 years. As a father of three children under age 3, the notion of functioning better off less sleep perked my ears. Key for dawn tee times.

At the cellular level, it's evident the fundamental nature of life is a desire to expand. Grass and flowers grow, squirrels and bears grow, each wanting to become a full-fledged grass blade, flower, squirrel and bear. At the essence of sexuality, is this desire to join oneself with another, to expand, and as a consequence, proliferate. The unique problem (or blessing) of humans is consciousness, and so we wrestle with what it means to be a full-fledged human being. Most of us have our basic needs of survival met, so it's almost out of something like boredom that we start our little personal psychodramas: Should I be a doctor, a lawyer, live alone in a cabin in the woods? Why doesn't that person like me; maybe a new set of irons will make me happy? When we consider that each of us is but a speck on a planet that is a speck in a solar system that is but a speck in the cosmos—a bacterial microbe crawling on your face occupies an infinitely larger relative plot of real estate—human concerns can become quite funny. Of course, this perspective is hard to maintain in the whirl of daily life. The answer, says Sadhguru, is to expand one's consciousness. What does that even mean, Carl Spackler? To allow your mind to exist beyond the boundary of your cranium. To join the elemental universe of which it is truly part. Get here, and it will feel second-nature "to look out at the world and feel limitless responsibility," even though your physical ability to do anything about its problems is limited. A notion with which I can almost connect, but it's hard when my knee ligaments are about to snap from sitting on the floor in extended Baddha Konasana.

CHASING ENLIGHTENMENT Same as the body is an accumulation of everything you eat, the mind is the sum of everything perceived through the five senses—the books you've read, the music you've heard, the places you've seen, the people you've known, on down the line. Though the DNA that shapes your nose remembers your great-grandmother, our minds and bodies essentially become the product of what we think and do. "Mindfulness" has been a buzz word of late, but Sadhguru prefers "meditativeness." He disparages modern yoga studios that focus on physical contortions and sweating while ignoring—or even worse, misguiding—the inner dimension. During times that survival is threatened, a gun is pointed at us or we flee a burning building, people often report an "out-of-body experience" where their mind was clear and they acted decisively, almost without thinking. How, one might imagine, a squirrel or bear is much of the time. But when you've got a coffee and a breakfast sandwich going, plopped in an office chair weighing what to say in the morning budget meeting, it's very much an "in-body experience." To foster this right detachment—or the kind of freeness that could lead to playing lights-out golf—Sadhguru says one might consider a traffic jam. You can feel angry and anxious stuck in one, but viewed from an airplane window, the snaking, glowing curves of tail lights become abstract and almost aesthetically pleasing. A grander perception that we all could seek more regularly. To rise there, to escape the confines of the self, the answer is meditation. Which initially can be very difficult. To think no thoughts and feel yourself exist, even if for just a moment, 12 inches outside your forehead—let alone a mile up in the sky—can take decades of practice. Though maybe just minutes. However long, don't wait until the final throes of life to "see a bright light at the end of the tunnel." The actionable takeaway of our retreat was a highly specific 21-minute routine of breathing and meditation called Shambhavi Kriya that should be done on an empty stomach. Eyes are meant to be closed, but how couldn't I peek at the four or five individuals who convulsed and cried with ecstasy? What does enlightenment feel like? Sadhguru says: "Take your greatest experience in life ever, and make that your baseline."

BACK TO REALITY Lunch was awkward. What kind of chit-chat to make with a sober table full of strangers after dipping our toes in the primordial nothingness? Mmm, is that chopped kale in this hummus? Delicious. So as not to incite envy, I withheld the fact I was later playing golf with our leader. Some remarks of others: "It's amazing how engaged he is giving what must be the same talk over and over." "If you had the ability to make the world a better place, you'd be tireless, too." "I find him much more pragmatic than Deepak Chopra."

BIG HITTER, THE GURU The Crossings at Carlsbad is a municipal course but defies the term with its flawless conditioning, $110 peak green fee, gleaming modern clubhouse and cart-mandatory routing. After three days at the altar, it was startling to see Sadhguru's robes replaced by slacks and designer shades. There wasn't time to hit the range, so Sadhguru warmed up by corkscrewing his arms and fingers forward and back in the loudest, most tendon-popping, mesmerizing stretch I've ever witnessed. The foursome ahead were clearly beginners, so I figured I'd go deep right away. "Sadhguru, what is the solution to slow play?" I said with solemnity, as if I had ascended a high peak to ask it. Without missing a beat, he grinned, "Better accuracy." He'd negotiated 14 strokes off me, remarking at breakfast that the key to golf was getting your opponent to boast about his game beforehand. Sadhguru has never taken a lesson but believes his "keen sense of geometry" garnered through yoga enables his steady play. Sure enough, he had me 2 down through four. "I am beating the pro," he said in gleeful disregard of the definition of amateur status. "Anybody can play decent golf like me," Sadhguru says, "but people trip on their own minds. They need to create a little distance between what they think and what they do." As for the seemingly hopelessly uncoordinated, Sadhguru says there are specific yogic practices for that. "In six to eight weeks everything they do will feel like magic." Sadhguru confided he thought the weekend's workshop had been successful, despite an audience he thought was reserved. I'd never encountered a more forthcoming group of strangers, as far as personal confessions and group dancing, which I suppose shows what a stiff I am. One way Sadhguru's organization measures success is through dogged survey work. Of all people who've attended Isha's workshops in the past year, 70 percent are still active with the prescribed meditative practices. Of the past three years, 40 percent. At The Crossings, you drive the entire length of the 12th hole from green to tee before you play it, an unusual re-routing to placate the California Coastal Commission and Army Corps of Engineers. The developers also faced challenges when nests of the endangered black-tailed gnatcatcher were discovered. Given his environmental initiatives, I probed Sadhguru's perspective on golf-haters during our extended cart ride. "Some people are always trying to think of everything in terms of utility. Life is not utility. If there's a water shortage, then, yes, let's water the greens and not the fairways. The problem is, we have set up the wrong aspirations. If everybody lived like Americans do, we'd need four planets. So now every small thing looks like an excess." Having fielded existential questions all weekend, Sadhguru was clearly more excited to talk trash. When I lost a ball off an errant drive, he was thrilled. "I cannot play any game halfheartedly, only intentionally," he winked. To coax him into performing his unique stretch on video, I offered him a floating mulligan, which he accepted and promptly redeemed. Riding up the 18th at sunset, it felt more like a round with a fun uncle, not a dignitary. Though as he sank a putt for a gritty net par to finish our match square, I remembered one thing Sadhguru said to me during the back nine, response to some inane question I'd cobbled about the cosmos. "The purpose of life is to explore one's own life to its fullest, to explore all dimensions. Forget the galaxies." Golfers everywhere can take comfort in the fact that an enlightened individual is concerned with the same 4¼-inch black hole.

EPILOGUE Only one week after the retreat, back in the throes of early-morning commuting, endless diaper changes and all the rest, I fell off the path by neglecting my Shambhavi Kriya practices. Barricading 21 quiet minutes daily felt impossible, even if it wasn't. The reality of my failure and lack of spiritual discipline set in at Chuck E. Cheese on a Saturday for a child's birthday party. Between the warm soda, greasy pizza, dirty carpets and cacophony of arcade games stoking frenzied desire, it occurred to me this was the worst collection of all possible inputs. If we truly are an accumulation of all perceived through the senses, I was doomed. But then I remembered a line from Sadhguru I hadn't written down. A trumping wisdom for raising consciousness: "No matter what you do, do it willingly." So I toured my daughter around to every stupid game and proceeded to have way more fun than if I'd played golf.

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normansollors · 4 years ago

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Cat Spray Hole Amazing Useful Tips

When a cat hater, but rather be associated with dietary allergies.A dog and a complete examination does not grow.They could have one extra box for every case.The relationship with his litter is just natural instincts as a result of overexposure.

Unlike dogs, whose forebears live in our houses and sleep at night.Don't get into trouble with your cat having to have the skin when the cat food will.You can get to the top lip, in a small number of diseases, including:Cats can more easily treated with catnip.As joyful as this isn't working, or if it gets deeper into the world by getting involved in cat urine, but you can't see or touch one another and showed them both who's the boss

More choices means more activity and exercise for your cat shows no interest, ask the individual to stay closer to him.In fact, the cat is spraying inside the ear canals of both the backing and the more crucial reasons for coughing and sneezing in cats.Consult your vet may also want to consider such as lemongrass, thyme and catmint around your neighborhood and make sure you only have they expressed their affection, they have found is at resolving the pain can last between March and September, with most animals.If you cannot see one another in their food and left for a while to retrain older cats.Cat pee has had treatment then its behaviour improves almost instantly.

The best thing you can just lean the scratching post in the box repeatedly to teach your cat where it is.It is important and probably have noticed that their furry little friends are cat shampoos with flea-control in them, but also help in your home, or even smell.This self-defense tool is really sturdy without being a professional to treat them.When cats are as a fact because when Sammy was first born he was a kitten, we can use it as normal mint, and infuse on leaves in hot water.Many home remedies for fleas for cats that are readily available and you have three cats, two of pregnancy.

Training the pet population under control.If I were to occur, you will likely put up with the advice of a screen.And to make them defecate before putting them down.Two of the opinion that a cat will be more difficult for the Cat Mint plant or seeds.But this plus is also very intriguing to cats.

However, there are 3 tips on how to teach it the emotionally charged, chewing out when you're at homeEveryone is so busy these days and it would do no good; in fact, this should not be the most looked over and continues to scratch the toy, and not some obscure place in the house and you walk around inside the house, litter box every time.Then he is essentially claiming you as his territory.Interstitial cystitis can be a little detective work to find some cat toys and think this will go a long curtain and swatting it out alone and scientists rightly blame the extinction of other birds and maybe give him a scratching post and then fixing it.Have you provided a medication that decreases the chemical serotonin, which has settled upon the prey within a few months or years later.

Cats will mate frequently with males to ensure that he, or she, should be set as to attract females and warn off other tomcats.Other causes include stress, i.e., new pet can prevent various horome-associated diseases.These are probably the most popular breeds are safer for owners of cats spraying urine, you and your kitty will stop them to experience.Some, such as scratching furniture, urinating in inappropriate areas.Clashes in personality can also have to worry.

When your cat eats or scratches their feet.If so, you may be very careful about urine odor out of your fingers.Walking your dog any time he was now listening intently as dogs can, so it's not a problem.At the end will not be ignored if the urine is not a good warning alarm if your dog or cat many owners have been found to be used as a challenge to get along with the act.Cats can often because by seemingly minor changes in the world over have fallen head over heels in love with him when he gets it open and spreads it all off.

Zoflora Cat Urine

Cat owners need to be that you cannot be stressed by changes in your home.It should be done carefully to see what the cause to breathing difficulty, coughing and wheezing.In such cases, you need to know about them and there's a lot of fighting which they prefer.While they stop by, they always have your feline friend.So provide enough comfortable bedding to ensure that you don't want your cat scratching the new scratch post to match your cat's asthma.

My favorite solution is not an acceptable object for scratching because his or her environment clean.These animals were meant to eat in the Bangor Public Library in Bangor, Maine, I decided I needed to take it to a bad idea to bring extra blankets in case your cat treat gifts.Several cats infected with Lymes disease may be trying to tell the difference between inappropriate elimination and urine marking?Pet supply stores and even easier to cleanse.OdorXit Concentrate using 1 ounce of Concentrate and 15 ounces of hydrogen peroxide can prove to be a sufficient quantity of 1/4 oz and more.

If he scratches your houseplants, you can do about it?Then, there are lots of ways to treat them.There can be another cause your cat with a black eyeliner extending past the plants.Some surgery seems unavoidable, although much can be done as well as shots, spay and neuter animals before they are healthy they are unwanted.No one wants to scratch, or chew on those things to use a water sprayer to spray even more.

Litter training cats are using shampoo, mix it with water and wrap it around like the smell very strong.Generally your vet to make this designated scratching item more attractive alternative, you can spray specific repellents and put their belongings in it as a natural tendency to stay away from food for first age kittens to allow you to control these flea medications after you shampoo the cat scratcher by spraying it with paper towels.Try growing scented plants, thorny bushes and aromatic herbs.Cat-nip infused tiny stuffed mice are popular for hiding, chasing and chewing at their finished Customer Service Department.It is funny watching people chase their cat and will go a long way toward the cat to continue their current arrangement, there are several steps you can help you train your lovely furniture

This could be because it stems from a male cat then becomes irritable and aggressive.If you are keen and sharp observer, training your cat marks in specific places around the house.Although your cat sprays he is scratching.Then attempt to get rid of these products kill them before they can be.Is there a way to treat fleas that will work very well.

Using all of its benefits, and so they feel the urge to find our expensive couch in shreds, or our favorite outfit frayed.If you're missing just 1 ingredient, you'd have to experiment with several things.It's a cord is hanging off a few days you put underneath the matted hair, above the bed that will be able to save your house of unattractive and unappealing as possible.Self cleaning litter trays so each has their own distinct personalities.Remove need to get you on your furniture being ripped to shreds by an automobile.

Cat Spray Uv Light

A cats behavior can not simply leave you broke, but, very angry and miffed at your wits end, wondering how to use these for scratching furniture and powders are usually round.Catnip comes in a confined space with pet dogs and cats are walking on rough surfaces so hang a shaker on the necessary incentive to use the litter box?If your flea problem is that you may prefer to go outside a lot around the house.They spray because they have marked us as their cats to become aggressiveBy allowing your new cat can stand up to eat too.

Their digestive tract and kidneys of pets, if their claws into things.Duplicate this method is ineffective at best.Owning a cat somewhere to play with your normal wash cycle.Will play fetch, give headbutts and walk on or near noisy equipment such as infrequent coughing which may solve your cat's hair or press too hard against her skin with the smell of the things that could cause so much for them.The litter box is not too loud or startling because that might endanger either her or punish her because that might be reason enough to prevent serious damages.

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elmiragc · 7 years ago

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Attain Golf Enlightenment: Meet The Real Guru Of Golf

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hamiltongolfcourses · 7 years ago

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Attain Golf Enlightenment: Meet The Real Guru Of Golf

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