Gut Power! Get Your Gut in Order to Heal Chronic Infections and Diseases

A series of strange events lead the way. The next thing I knew I was completely engrossed listening to an hour-long talk by someone claiming to know how to completely heal eczema naturally. No ointment. No pills.

Earlier that day, I was listening to Dr. Zorba Paster on NPR, tell a long-time sufferer of eczema that maybe she needed to try a new doctor. The caller's current doctor had been pushing the same ointment on her forever, even though she wasn't getting better. The same steroid ointment that she must not use much or her skin may become too thin. Dr. Zorba usually has numerous ideas for callers, and he seemed stumped. I felt the callers pain as complained of a lifetime of suffering with eczema and she didn't know what else to do.

As I listened to the interview of holistic practitioner Emily Bartlett, and author of ebook The Eczema Cure: Heal from the Inside Out with Real Food, I couldn't stop listening. My body was vibrating along with the wisdom she was revealing because it made total sense.

"Using cortisone cream to fix eczema is a bit like painting a rickety house that’s about to fall down. It makes it look better, and you may feel better for a short period of time – but ultimately the underlying issues must be healed." Eczema Cure, pg 6.

It turns out that eczema, like many other skin issues, is just a symptom of a deeper internal problem in the body that's gone out of whack. Typically, this imbalance is originating from poor digestion, and results in a  leaky gut (leaky gut syndrome).

Emily's daughter had a nasty case of eczema as soon as she started to eat solids. It took about six months to heal her daughter's internal system, but she is now healed and can drink milk (which before was a trigger). See her pictures below.

So many people I know suffer from gut issues and skin issues. I am on my own healing journey, so the knowledge she shared is helpful to me to make sure my internal system is operating at full speed so I can avoid nasty complications. My best success at staying healthy and healing is keeping my body in balance. I already told you how much better I feel after fixing my allergies naturally. Now it is time to get my gut in order.

Here is a summary of what I took away from her FOUR ACTION STEPS for getting getting your gut back into health, and curing eczema. (You are supposed to do all at the same time).

1. Eliminate Triggers
-This means environmental triggers or foods that triggers flare ups of skin or gut. Go to allergist if you can, or try the elimination diet. She prefers the elimination diet because she feels it is a truer test of how food effect you internally.
- Eliminate petroleum products (especially creams, because skin can't breathe and then becomes dependant on the petroleum product).

2. Clearing Inflammation
- I believe eliminating inflammation is key so it doesn't bog down your gut, and immune system.
-Fish oil (reduces inflammation). You need to take a lot of it. She recommends a good cod liver since it has extra vitamins and nutrients.
-Vitamin A rich food. (Liver is one).
-Anti-inflammatory foods like dandelion, cherries, berries, dark leafy greens.
-She didn't mention this in her talk, but modern wheat contains super-gluten which triggers an inflammatory response, so best to avoid wheat altogether.

3. Cultivate a Strong Immune System.
-Take a good oral probiotic pill. Good ones for eczema are l. raminosis (sp?) and l. luteri (sp?). There are a lot of probiotics that don't do anything. Type is REALLY important. Make sure you take it each and everyday. If it doesn't do any good in the first three days, then try another one.
-Eat fermented food, as much as possible. Kombacha, kimchi, sauerkraut (not the canned kind but the kid you get at a health store or make your own).  Make your own yogurt because it can have more probiotic in it.

4. Eating Right to Heal
- Bone soup heals the intestine walls! (For example, the broth from cooking a whole chicken). She recommends eating a cup (or if its a child 1/2 cup) bone soup every day. You can use the broth when you cook rice, make jello with it, or freeze in icecube trays to add to other foods.
- Eat cultured food, raw milk.
- Eliminate the junk! Sugar and refined foods reek havoc on your internal system!
- Live Food! Eas those veggies, especially raw. There are great micro-organisms and live enzymes that foods that come straight from the soil contain.
- Go back to old fashion fats: butter, animal fats, bacon, coconut oil, ect. These are better on your internal system.

Random Fact: Did you know the birth control pill disrupts your gut health! So you need to be really mindful in taking your probiotic pills, eating fermented foods and eating healthy.

Now, go and get that gut power in order!

A Little Violin for a Little Lad: How its Worked Out

Testing out his violin for the first time (3yrs, 3 months old)

We started my son in violin lessons a few months after her turned three. It takes a certain three-year-old kid to start at that age. It takes one who has that determination, concentration skills and love of music to make it through the almost daily practices without a huge fight.

We could see that our son had that potential. Just as importantly, he seemed so responsive to music and playing an instrument at an early age. He really wanted to play the guitar. But violin was the only option. He was cool with that. Plus, living in the musical gifted city that we do, we found an amazing Suzuki teacher who is especially gifted at teaching the wee ones. So we gave it a whirl.

The first few months were the hardest. He hadn't even touched a real violin, and the "reward" of being able to play a song was not there. But as he mastered the "bow hold" and slowly, very slowly he started to learn how to play twinkle twinkle in various rhythms, and by his fourth birthday, he could play a whooping one song (sarcasm!) with 5 or so different rhythms.

Here is a cute video of him practicing one. He just turned four.



Even though he didn't learn very much musically that first year, we started young so that he could cultivate a skill to help with his self-confidence, and because it is a concrete way to teach him the benefit of a little hard-work.

Learning an instrument is an easy way for kids to see their progress!

Here he is just a year later, just turned five, playing three other songs.



For the first time in over a year, we watched that video of him practicing his twinkles at age four, and it really made us appreciate how far he has come. Now he is up to a dozen or so songs on the violin. He really took off after that first twinkle!

Today, with a little tear, we traded in his first violin, the smallest they make, for the next size up. He has had that little squawker for two years! Boy, the bigger one sounds so much better. But I will miss the little squawky, squeeky one.

Here is a short clip of his very last practice on his first little violin.



Drum roll please....

Here he is on his new violin. Here is Twinkle Twinkle for comparison.



Honestly, even if he gives up his violin as he ages, I still think it has been a wonderful and valuable experience for him. We don't think he is a musical prodigy or anything. But he is a special little guy, and I think he has needed something to channel his inner scorpio energy on.  I am all about channeling energy in good and productive ways.

Like I said, starting out a three-year-old in violin isn't for all kids. For some, the fight to get the kid to do it would far outweigh any benefits. But for us, it worked!

Now if I could just get my son to practice yoga more regularly with me....

Waking up Different After 20 Years

This is unbelievable. The last few weeks I have been waking up light and energetic. Even noticing how happy I feel right away even if I am swirling in the busyness that motherhood brings from the moment I open my eyes. WHAT IS HAPPENING?

For almost 20 years now, I have been waking up congested  full of snot, sneezy and super groggy. It usually takes about 2 hours to get rid of it. Its embarrassing, and annoying.

The 12th grade pre- Domestic Yogi 

I remember the exact time it all started. It was the beginning of 12th grade, the end of September, and I remember thinking that I had a cold that would just not go away.

I started to feel better in the mornings, ironically, 3 months post-Lyme. I went off antihistamines after I realized I had Lyme. The antihistamines seemed to be greatly exasperating the situation. I got through my antihistamine detox and changed my diet, then *poof* all of a sudden I was feeling much less snotty all the time.

The odd time I cheated and had wheat, I woke up the next day a little more snotty and sneezy.

I don't think I am allergic to wheat, but wheat is a trigger. Modern wheat, now-a-days contains a sort of "super gluten" that is super inflammatory. Here is an interesting article about modern wheat in HuffPost.

After my Live Blood Cell Analysis, it was suggested I go on plant-based supplements Quercetin and Bromelain. They are known for their anti-inflammatory properties, and work to help boost the body's natural allergy fighting mechanism (amongst other things).

Ever since I started to take these new supplements, I feel like my 16-year-old-self again! Well, almost. Hopefully more the wiser.

It feels different than over-the-counter allergy medicine too. (Jim explained the technical chemical difference to me too, but I can't remember).

All's I know is "Stella's Got Her Groove Back."

Me, 20 years later!

Kids Yoga Series: Butterfly Life Cycle

Here is a wonderful yoga series that helps to strengthen kids bodies, improve their self-awareness, inspires imagination, and helps them learn the life cycle of a butterfly.

Before you begin, you may want to show the kids a diagram or book to explain briefly about the life cycle stages.

Pose 1: Butterfly Egg Pose

Curl up in a seated ball. Tell the kids they are butterfly eggs stuck on a green leaf. 

Tell the kids to close their eyes and take 10 deep breaths. 

Mention that with each breath their inner power grows and grows. Count down from 10 for them. 

* To make it more playful as you count, mention there is a rainstorm, or windstorm, ending with a sunny day.

Pose 2: Caterpillar Pose

From butterfly egg, slowly grow out of the egg by straightening your eggs and leaning back. This will work core muscle strength. Encourage kids to keep their lower back on the grown and lift their head and upper backs. Younger kids can put their hands down. 

Wiggle side to side like a caterpillar.

* To make more fun, you can encourage kids to "munch munch munch" with their mouths on a leaf.

Pose 3: Chrysalis Pose

From caterpillar, rest head and feet on the ground for a moment. Then using core strength again, lift feel and head up in the air, grabbing onto legs. Legs can be bent.

Encourage kids to again breath deeply in their cocoon, gathering inner power to transform into a butterfly with each breath.

Count down from five.

Pose 4: Baby Butterfly Pose

From chrysalis, put your legs down and open them to the side, with feet together into buddhakonasana, or baby butterfly pose. 

Have kids test out their wings, and tell them the butterflies are very hungry. Its time to find food! Ask, what does the butterfly eat? Where are we flying to?

Pose 5: The Adult Butterfly Pose

From baby butterfly, have kids breath five deep breaths and on the last one, grown their adult wings. Legs can be bent. Its easy to roll back here, so encourage kids to come up again if they roll out.

Ask the kids where the adult butterflies are flying to today?

To complete the cycle, tell the kids the butterflies lay eggs, and go back into butterfly egg pose.

Live Blood Cell Analysis Shines Spotlight on My Health

Healthy Blood Cells 

Today I had an amazing opportunity to get Live Blood Cell Microscopy done in hopes of helping me assess the state of my health. As revealed in my post, Just Hanging Out with Lyme, I have had some unfortunate setbacks to my health, and am in the process of building my health and immune system back up.

After changing my diet to eliminate wheat, sugar, yeast, alcohol, and seemingly all things delicious, and finishing the year up with a great 30-day herbal detox, I finally started to get my vitality and strength back. Lately, I can still feel the lyme creeping up on me now and again, but it is stuffed way down there, so as long as I don't overdo it or become too stressed, everything has been in check.

Or am I just dreaming? Am I just too hopeful and positive that all my hard work/sacrifice has been helping?

Enter Live Blood Cell analysis.

It provides information about the state of the immune system, possible vitamin deficiencies, amount of toxicity, pH and mineral imbalance, areas of concern and weaknesses, fungus and yeast. Here is a really cool video that gives you an idea of how much can be revealed with looking at your live blood. It shows the remarkable differences that can happen of people with chronic diseases by primarily taking nutritional supplements just after a few months.

We are so lucky to have a medical technologies in town that has been doing this for 20 years, and just started a new business, called Club Rejuve, that offers it for a fraction of the cost in a medical clinic. Not only that, but he sat down and talked with me for two hours!

I was dying to know if my blood was crawling with critters and where I am weak. Just like a predator in the wild, lyme and other bacteria/viruses love to feed on the weak. Then after feeding, comes re-population. Eek.

Jim Lane, the Medical Technologist, knew I was dealing with Lyme, and had warned me that he has seen lots of people whose blood was absolutely riddled with bacteria and fungis so bad that you could barely discifer any blood cells.

So I prepared myself for the worst.

And with just one little prick of my finger, like many diabetics do to test blood sugar, so much was revealed in my blood that I could write a short novel.

To spare you too many details, I was relieved to see that, overall, my blood looked quite healthy! Whoot!

The funniest part was when he asked me what I last ate. I was mortified to tell him that I had a plate full of homemade french fries an hour earlier. Hmm. He scowled at me.

"What type of oil? Coconut?"he asked.
"Uh, no."
"Deep fried?"
"Yep."
Then he investigated the potatoes, "New potatoes? Organic?" he pressed on.
"Ugh...no idea."
"You know you can bake potatoes..."
"I swear I usually eat healthy. I know way too much about this stuff. I just rushed home after teaching yoga and ate what my husband offered up [minus the illegal-for-me grilled cheese]. I swear."
He didn't look impressed or like he believed me one bit. I don't blame him either.

Well, at least my blood spoke up for me. Jim was very surprised to see in my blood very few big-globby-sticky-trasnfat-sludge-thingies  (my words). Cholesterol I assume. It goes on to combine with others globs to clog your arteries and slow down the free flow of your blood. He even went on to say the levels were way below normal.  "Oh, you really don't eat fried foods," he said. Ha.

The GROSSEST part though was to see lots of dot-like particles floating around in the blood plasma. "See those," Jim pointed at the dots, "those are the fat partials from your lunch." Yuck. At least, for whatever reason, it proved that my digestion was pretty good. We need fat in our blood though, said Jim. But its better to have the good fats. He recommended me take more fish oil/DHA supplements  especially because there were some "ghost cells", or weakly formed cells.

THE BAD

IT was there. THEY were there. Eating away at the weak blood cells. Those little squiggly worm-like spirochetes that created this whole mess in my body (aka lyme). Along with some other strange bacteria probably related to the original spirochetes (they morph and change form). I saw them with my own eyes. Disheartening to see I still had work to do, but I knew that. I knew they were still there. The good news is they were just in a few small pockets. Not everywhere overflowing.

A spirochete

He recommended herbs I am already taking, teasel root, cat's claw (I am on the specialized version called Samento which is really great to fight Lyme). As well as Oregano Oil derived from the Mediterranean oregano. It is an antiviral, and helps with yeast too, which , yes I had too.

Yes, traces of  yeast in my plasma clogging up my blood even though I have cut out sugar, wheat, and yeast from my diet for four months. *Sigh*

THE STRANGE

Then there were some really really strange looking red blood cells. Some that were spiky-looking instead of oval, and a couple that looked more like the shape of a bunny in Annies Mac & Cheese. The spiky ones are due to free-radical damage. The reason why those marketing gods are always promoting antioxidants. So guess I will be loading up on antioxidants to help prevent more free-radical damage.

The bunny shaped ones, Jim said, are due to radiation. Radiation could be from a dentist office, x-rays, radon in the earth, or electromagnetic radiation from cell-phones, or compact florescent lights (CFLs), or computers ect. (I knew that florescent lighting in school/work always made me sick!) There are many articles out there about how CFLs are not good for our health, like this one. The "green movement" supports shifting to CFL for the environment, but I have never been on board due to the "dirty energy" they emit.

Also lurking deep in my cells were some fibrous strands that Jim said were a sort of fungus. (Fungus in my blood, what!) He asked if I get cysts because these sort of fiber-strand-fungi can develop into cysts and even cancer.

Fibrous-fungi in the blood

He recommended the health supplement Bromelain (1000ml twice a day) to help rid my blood of these fungi-fibers. As an added bonus the Bromelain helps as an anti-inflammatory, which for a Lyme sufferer who experiences arthritic-like symptoms, this is wonderful. Bromelain is "one of the most popular supplements in Germany, where it is approved by the Commission E for the treatment of inflammation and swelling of the nose and sinuses due to surgery or injury."*

LESSONS

Lessons learned: eat antioxidants, stay away from wheat, yeast and radiation! Plus, our gut health is so important to overall health! Without proper digestion in the gut, things (critters and fungi) can get into your blood and reek havoc!

I walked away feeling pretty good, but I still have work to do. It was so nice to be armed with direct knowledge of what exactly was going on in my blood and healthy options to help remedy. I hope I can go back in 4 months to see how I am doing again. Blood cells have a 4-month cycle.

I recommend everyone get this done! It can really help you know where exactly you are lacking and where you need to improve.

* Source about Bromelain.

Top Health & Fitness Blog

Awards, they are a funny thing. But at the end of the day, it is nice to be recognized. So it is will a little smile, that I needed so bad today, that I announce I was voted Top Health &and Fitness Blog.

 Accredited Online Colleges

Feeling Sexy From the Most Unexpected Place

Normally in the winter my skin feels so dry and foreign to me, no matter how much moisturizer or oils I use. Sure, yoga helps to reconnect and enliven my cold body in the winter, but still my skin always seems to feel disconnected and dull.

Enter, body brush.

Oh my. The invigoration. The heightened senses. AND, the fabulous soft and smooth skin. And it's winter.  Winter. Booya.

Skin is our largest organ. We sense so much through our skin. Chemicals and toxins move out of our body through our skin (as well as chemicals from the environment leaking into our bodies through our skin). When our skin is tough and thick like an elephant, it will dull our senses and decrease our overall health.

BENEFITS OF DRY SKIN BRUSHING

1. Firms your skin to reduce the aging process of the skin. That means it counters the sagging, bagging, wrinkles and cracks. Claims to even break up cellulite.
2. Boosts blood circulation, bringing fresh blood to your skin to help replenish it. This also helps to eliminate toxins. 
3. Stimulates lymph circulation which also aids to detox harmful bacteria and other waste products from your body. 
4. Invigorate the nervous system by activating the near 3 million nerve points that are located under the skin. 
5. Exfoliates the skin removing dead skin cells and unclogging pores. This helps to keep the skin soft and supple.
6. Tones muscles. The circular strokes feel great, like a quick massage.

FOR BEST RESULTS

1. Use a natural fiber brush. You can get one a your local drugstore.
2. Use right before the bath or shower. It takes just a few minutes. 
3. With a dry brush (no water!) start at your extremities (hands and feet) and work with firm circulars strokes towards your heart. 
4. Include your palms, nipples and soles of your feet (eek!)
5. Bath or shower as usual. Following with moisturizer or oil as necessary.
6. Wash your brush every week or so with mild soap and air dry.

DRY BRUSHING VS LUFFA SPONGE OR CREAMS

1. Hands down dry brushing takes the cake. Dry brushing seems to get so much more skin off and stimulate the muscles and circulations so much better than the other two. 
2. No extra chemicals or substances on your skin (that could leach into it) like when you are using the cream exfoliants. 
3. Less extra product to buy (Just say no to material consumption when you can).

The first time I tried it, I had to brush very lightly. But now after about a month, I can go quite firmly. It feels good on my muscles, like a quick massage. 

Body brushing has been the best three-minute a day gift I have given to myself since Christmas. It really helped me to feel alive and sexy in my skin this winter! I highly recommend you add it to your daily routine.