Going Green August 19, 2010

With all the evidence available on how much of the population are consistently damaging their health and passing that damage down through the generations it would be naïve to not stop every now and then and question your own lifestyle and wonder if you could do anything differently.

A while ago, during a reasonably passionate and vocal nutrition class about the role our food plays in physical and physiological health and the evidence to revert to more traditional diets, a hand was raised and the nutritionist was challenged “But people didn’t live as long back then. We live longer now so how do you explain that?”

The answer was one I have thought about often. “We don’t live longer, we die longer.”

The teacher went on to talk statistics about the numbers of people with long term, debilitating diseases that severely reduce the quality of lives and the dependencies built up on the medical profession and all the pills and potions touted as being valuable to our survival. As she was speaking I wondered what state we have come to accept for ourselves without questioning the alternatives. I contemplated personally in that moment, and regularly since, whether there was more ‘living’ to be had for myself and my family.

What I haven’t done is a panic convert entirely to one way of eating purporting it to be the only divine path to ultimate health. Nor will I refuse medical support if it is appropriate and necessary. What I have done is look at options that are reasonably comfortable to assimilate into our lives and have obvious benefits to our wellbeing in the most natural way possible.

I’ve talked about some of the changes we have made here but this post is to talk about a recent new recruit in our health line up – Green smoothies.

We eat pretty well most of the time. We make all our meals from scratch, we eat a lot of fruit and vege, mostly avoid takeaways and when we do have them it is sushi, thai, indian or pretty much anything apart from the likes of McDonalds, Burger King, KFC, we have a completely organic edible garden and we have our own chickens for good quality eggs.

Then I came across Victoria Boutenko’s Green Smoothie book and curiously picked it up. What she offers in this book made so much sense and it was information that told us how to fill a gap in our healthy eating regime. The gap being how to consume more green vege. We knew we were missing out on this food group as none of us are particularly fond of leafy greens beyond lettuce in our salads. Victoria explains how she developed the Green Smoothie and what benefits they have for your health (which might seem obvious but the details are fascinating). So, eager to see if indeed we could get our daily green fix through a supposedly ‘tasty’ smoothie, we got blending. We fully expected to end up with something only mildly palatable that we would none the less force ourselves to drink knowing it would do us good. We were pleasantly surprised! The smoothie was good. In fact it was really good! We slurped every last drop and could have drank more.

We had consumed at least 4 times more green vege in one drink than we would ever eat in a single meal. And it really was tasty.

So, with knowledge of all the great reasons to eat more greens and the convenient and even delicious way to get in more of them we plan to have a green smoothie every morning for breakfast and one in the evening for dessert (have I mentioned they are actually really tasty, and sweet! I know! We were surprised too. ) in a bid to improve our health that bit more.

I will post back in a months time (apparently it takes about this long to really see the benefits) and let you know how it goes.  In the meantime, go on and try this one yourself and then post me a comment and let me know what you think.

Berry Green Smoothie

Punnet of Strawberries, Blueberries or Raspberries (or a mix)

2 ripe Bananas

Big bunch of spinach leaves (I used baby spinach leaves)

2 cups of water (more depending on the thickness you like)

Blend the berries, bananas and water first.

Then add the spinach and blend for 3-4 minutes to really break the greens down.

Serve

Tapping July 9, 2010

Tapping (EFT, Meridian Tapping) has been in my life for a while now. It is one of the tools I have come to trust and rely on like an old friend, a friend who you can’t ever imagine not being there. That friend you call on both to share the usual, simple stuff as well as the deep, hard, dark stuff. Tapping is definitely a close ally for me.

I began tapping when I wanted to address my self esteem issues. I had spent many years battling with a perception of myself that affected my body image, my confidence and my acceptance of myself. To be blunt, I hated my body. I always felt betrayed and disappointed by it. I was so disconnected from myself that often times I saw it as the enemy and would fight, beat and despair over its state.

I came to a point where I was so tired of the constant dialogue with this apparent enemy. My days were filled with how to punish and control it, how to force it into the shape I needed it to be. I wanted it to be silenced, regardless of the outcome. I wanted to be free of the constant, consuming thought about my weight, food, my body and all that I expected of it.

Enter Tapping. It was suggested to me by a friend who noticed that despite losing 10kgs and getting to a perfectly acceptable weight I was still unhappy. She asked me to try it as a way of clearing the beliefs I held about my body so that I could finally LET myself be thin (I will talk more in depth about this concept in another post).

The first session I had was incredible. I didn’t know what to expect but I came away from the session feeling light and released from the weight of my constantly critical mind. It was odd in a way because after so many years of being angry at myself I suddenly could no longer illicit an emotion about my body. It felt like many of those thoughts had never existed. In the session I had started off with issues that seemed to be basically about my weight and yet I was soon taken to places that I never expected which in the moment had so obviously contributed to my self esteem (or lack of). I had never put the pieces together but tapping somehow brought forward old memories and points in time which made sense in their contribution to my outlook. And it wasn’t in a negative way, though there were many tears, it was in a ‘a-ha!’ kind of way.

I was a fan from that first session. And over the time I have tapped and tapped on many issues, including my weight and my self esteem. And for the first time in 33 years, I can honestly say that my body size, shape and weight is of little importance to me. I love and accept it for exactly what it is and with the other self development I have done in this area (which as I say I will talk about in another post) I really have LET myself be thin.

Could tapping help you? Visit www.superlativeliving.co.nz if you want to find out.

Gratitude 1 May 13, 2010

I have a friend who right now, is in a lot of trouble, emotionally, mentally and physically. An addiction and a possible mental illness plague her. Splitting from her boyfriend this weekend past pushed whatever emotional reserves she had over the limit and in a desperate moment she slashed her wrists. I don’t write this for the shock value, I write this to illustrate how far the despair has reached.

Speaking to this friend, hearing her desperation and watching her seemingly futile search for happiness, contentment and ultimately a sense of peace it breaks my heart. But it also makes me grateful, grateful for my own wellbeing, my peace of mind and my happiness. It is not a pious feeling, or one of advantage but I reflect today on the simple joy of feeling good, of wanting to live life, of looking forward with hope and excitement, the simple pleasure of feeling that life is to be enjoyed and embraced.  It wasn’t always this way though and it’s because of that fact that I know the enormous divide that runs between the two states.

Only 3 years ago I was lurking around the same state of mind that my friend finds herself engulfed by. I wasn’t an addict, I wasn’t suffering mental illness but I was seriously depressed, despondent and had begun considering ways of taking my life because I could no longer bear the pain I was in emotionally. I felt incredibly alone and felt there was nothing the world could offer me that would ever relieve the gnawing pain that always seemed to resurface. I had spent most of my adult life trying to get to a place that remained out of my reach. A place where I felt safe, loved and cherished. I had failed to find it time and time again. It seemed like this world wasn’t for me.

I feel so far from that now but I know so many are not and I haven’t forgotten that foreboding sadness. I remember those days of thinking that my hurt was neverending and wondering whether anything would ever heal me. I wish I could give these people the hope that there is a way through the darkness, that we can take back control and find the light in this life we are so privileged to be living. The answers are all with us, we each have all the power we need to create a life we are happy in, that we can feel blessed by.

So in this time, while I offer my support, love and friendship to a soul tormented, while I give what I can to ease the ache in their heart, I also have a huge sense of gratitude for the place I am in, the command I have on my life  and freedom it has given me from more unhappy days.