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The
Western Botanicals Archive
Being
Stalked by a Silent Killer
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Have
you ever talked with a financial advisor about savings?
They tend to get very excited as they begin explaining
how your money grows over time with interest. Save
$100 per month starting when you're 20 and by the
time you are in your 40's you will have over a million
dollars saved. It seems counter-intuitive that putting
away $25,000 over time can grow into $1,000,000.
But that is what it can do.
Our
lives can be like this as well. It seems that the
habits and attitudes that we develop in our youth
can grow and magnify as the years compound. Rarely
does life happen all at once, but step by step,
here a little, there a little until one day you
look back and observe the accumulate result of every
thought, decision and action. That is why we work
so hard to teach and train our children to make
good choices. I often tell my children that they
have the freedom to make their own choices, but
not the freedom to choose the consequences of those
choices. Once a decision is acted upon, the consequences
will surely follow.
One
of the challenges we face today as a culture is
the mindset of instant gratification. We are bombarded
daily by the media to buy today and pay later. Years
ago none of us would consider using a credit card
to buy groceries or fast food, but now it is common.
Few of us save our money, watching it grow each
month before we spend it on a "major"
purchase. With "No interest until 2008"
why shouldn't we enjoy the new furniture or entertainment
system now. Banks will now allow you to carry mortgages
on your home of 125% of its value. The advertising
media tries to persuade you that you can get rid
of your debt by refinancing your home. Of course,
what they are saying is you can borrow more against
your home, which has appreciated during the past
year, which means that when you financed to 100%
of your homes value last year, it is now worth more
so you can borrow again back up to 100%, paying
off credit cards used for buying entertainment,
food and "stuff".
The
beating drum to spend money and get stuff is only
the symptom of deeper issues. We have become a culture
whose search for happiness has gone terribly awry.
A recent study on happiness found that once basic
needs were met (enough food, clothing, shelter,
security), any wealth beyond that did not increase
happiness. Sadly, the output of our energies is
expended in acquiring more and more stuff, rather
than what we really need. And what
we really need is relationships. We need friends. We
need family. We need people to help and to serve.
And we need people to help and serve us. We need
to share our talents and special abilities with
others. We need to express the inner workings of
our heart, soul and spirit, through music, dance
and art. We need to reestablish our connection to
Spirit. It is only then that we will enjoy a rich
and satisfying life.
When
we view life as a whole, it is cumulative. By
this I mean that we become
the sum total of our experience. I teach my patients
that our health is characterized by what we put
in to our bodies, what comes out of our bodies and
our programming. Let me explain. If we eat the Standard
American Diet (S.A.D.), we put into our digestive
tract foods that are refined and laden with a variety
of chemicals that our bodies are not designed to
handle. Pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, preservatives,
and toxins such as heavy metals. Once absorbed into
the bloodstream, our food along with any contaminants
will be utilized, stored or excreted. For example,
if you eat too much protein, the body takes just
what it needs and the rest is excreted as waste.
Sugars, however, can be saved for later and are
stored in fat cells within the body. Many toxins
however are very harsh, and the body will try to
separate them from sensitive tissues and wall them
off storing them in a nice protective layer of fat.
This may be the reason that some people get a headache
when they fast or miss a meal or two. The body begins
to burn fat as an alternative fuel source and in
doing so releases these toxins back in to the blood
stream resulting in a headache. When someone goes
on a detox program or cleanse and they are too aggressive,
they can end up feeling sick. This is why it is
recommended to drink lots of water to flush toxins
out of your system after a massage or during a fast.
The water will flush these toxins out rather than
allowing them to interact any longer than necessary
with the other tissues of the body.
Someone
who eats reasonably well, but has problems with
elimination, such as constipation will not release
toxins (even toxins that are the normal healthy
result of digestion and metabolism) in a timely
manner, causing the body to be exposed and therefore
irritated by toxins, which should have been eliminated.
One very effective way to recover from illness or
disease is to focus on putting only good and healthy
food/drink into your body and making sure that your
channels of elimination (bowels, kidneys, liver,
lungs, skin) are all functioning efficiently.
'Programming'
is another issue. By programming, I mean that our
bodies have learned to react in ways that can be
either positive or negative based on our previous
experiences. For example, someone who has had a
bad experience with a vicious dog will react differently
physiologically than the person whose experience
is otherwise. But programming is not only based
on psychological cues. The development of allergies
is the result of faulty programming within the body's
immune system. Altering the programming of the immune
system can eliminate allergies. If allergies are
an issue for you give us a call. We can help.
In
a nutshell, this is how I see it. We are continually
being exposed, bombarded and infected with a myriad
of toxins, poisons, irritants and influences that
can cause our bodies, minds, and spirits harm. The
food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breath,
the electromagnetic fields that buzz around and
through our bodies, the stresses and anxieties that
pervade our minds, all these influences can wear
away at our health. It is enough to make you neurotic,
if you let it. Fortunately, our souls are
housed in bodies that have the ability to cleanse,
purge and detoxify. The way I see it, we need the
good to outweigh the bad. We need to eat enough
healthy food (containing antioxidants) to counteract
the influences of toxins and harmful substances
(containing free radicals). We need the positive
activities and endeavors we pursue outweigh the
negative influences that confront us. We need to
be part of the solution rather than contributing
to the problems. It is a matter of balance. You
cannot escape poisons and pollutions. You cannot
avoid stress and anxiety. But you can make choices,
that I believe, may be enough to offset the negative.
We can choose to eat wholesome foods. We can choose
to foster healthy relationships. We can choose to
follow spirit. Choosing the good and the healthy
may not eliminate all that is bad or harmful in
our lives, but it will definitely improve the quality
of our living and lessen the likelihood of preventable
disease or problems.
~ Dr. Kyle
D. Christensen D.C. ~
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