Sun Salutations, Downward Dogs and Exalted Warriors

It hit me almost as soon as I got out of the car... a very subtle aroma of fine incense.  Entering the reception area, a young lady handed me a clip board with a health questionnaire to fill out and told me where to go next.

However, this was not my acupuncturist's office or any other kind of medical establishment at all.  It was about to be my first Yoga class in at least twenty years...

How It Started 

What was the attraction?  Well, aside from my constant drive to test out new-to-me and different forms of training in personal resilience, I'd been really wanting to expand my hip and leg flexibility for a while and summer is the ideal time for this kind of work (the heat and humidity facilitate safe stretching).  And what better way to stretch out of your comfort zone than Hatha Yoga? 

Indian Hatha Yoga is what people in the West usually think of as Yoga - the use of interesting and sometimes challenging postures that you hold for periods of a few seconds to a few minutes.  In reality the idea that Hatha Yoga = Yoga is like saying that the pre-game warm-up = the Superbowl.  Yoga is a vast subject.

Anyway, after changing into my conspicuously un-Yoga like exercise attire (I would have fit in perfectly with a Tai Chi class ;-), I took my mat into the appointed room and made myself at home... in a nervous kind of way.  

As more people entered, they all sat quietly and never acknowledged each other by more than a passing smile.  It was then that I noticed I was the only one wearing shoes - major breach of etiquette apparently!  Who knew??  

All this describes the first of two Yoga classes at different studios I attended last week.  The first was an hour long beginner's class and the second a 90 minute class for all levels.  In both cases I was already resigned to my fate as the class klutz, convinced everyone else would have rubber-like joints and glide effortlessly into scarcely believable positions.  






Here's a great video to help you get started... and you're NOT a dummy!

What I Learned 

I'm really happy to say in retrospect that I emerged from both classes with my dignity intact.  Apparently I was already at least in the mid-range of flexibility and even the instructors (who both did an excellent job) didn't come off as having an unlimited range of motion.

One thing that really surprised me was how good a cardio workout these classes were!  I shouldn't have been surprised, though, because people make that same comment about Tai Chi and Qi Gong all the time.  Just because something appears to be slow, rhythmic and gentle does not mean you're not working your ass off ;-)


And the sweat!  It was pouring off in buckets like I've seldom seen before.  In the second class I was actually running out of dry T-shirt space to wipe my forehead with so the sweat would stop running into my eyes!  And that's a good thing, because sweating is a superb detoxification process.  Have a really good sweat and, as one health professional told me today from her own experience, "you'll feel like a newborn baby." 

Before my first class, I was a little afraid the instructors would be calling out Sanskrit names of postures one after the other, like "Adho Mukha Svanasana!" and that everyone else would assume them easily while I'd be sitting there stunned, thinking the more polite equivalent of "WTF?!".  Fortunately, instead of the above string of incomprehensible Sanskrit syllables, the words "Downward Facing Dog" echoed through the training hall.  Now that I could understand!  It really helped that during a couple of recent business trips I'd picked up copies of Yoga magazines in US airports and refreshed my memory about which postures were called what... at least in English! 






And here's some more advance stuff I was NOT doing last week.  I include this not only so you can see a beautiful demo done by a beautiful woman on a beautiful sandy beach, but also to underline the fact you don't need to do the advanced postures to benefit.  As with most disciplines, 90% of the benefit comes from the more basic practices - fancier is not necessarily better. 

The REAL Take-Away

It's easy to go to a Yoga class, have a good stretch, feel energized and then go about your day just as you always do.  It's quite another to maintain your Yogic grace, poise and awareness all day long, to say nothing of delving into its deeper aspects in terms of physical health, emotional self-management and spiritual development.  


This is where the vast majority of people doing Yoga lose out.  And you can substitute Qi Gong or Tai Chi or any number of other profound disciplines for the word "Yoga" in the preceding sentence.  If your practice ends when the class ends, the benefits won't be far reaching or really transformative in your life. 

Yoga is capable of profoundly reconnecting your mind and body, detoxifying your system, boosting your immunity, calming your nerves and taking your life to a new level.  Going to class is a great starting point, but there's so much more to be savored and enjoyed.

Now, if only I could get into the splits (without screaming) and sit painlessly in that damned full lotus pose!

~ Dr. Symeon Rodger :-) 

Fasting Part Two: Fasting for Spiritual Purposes

===========================================================

Ageless Beauty – Timeless Health:
Building a Lifestyle that Automatically Creates the
Health, Immunity and Longevity You Want

Toronto, Canada: June 4-5, 2011

http://www.harapower.com/AB/

=========================================

Over the course of human history, fasting for spiritual purposes has been at least as widespread and quite probably much more so, than fasting for better health.  We also need to remember that non-Western and pre-industrial cultures did not tend to divide life into categories of "physical" and "spiritual" as we do out of (bad) habit. 

Goals of Spiritual Fasting

There are many different ones.  As I write this, tens of millions of Eastern Christians are beginning their Holy Week fast leading up to Pascha (Easter).  For them the goal is to become more open to divine influence and to actually participate in the events they're celebrating.  Of course, there are many different spiritual reasons for fasting:

1. To become more open to divine influence
2. To receive divine guidance on a particular issue
3. To receive healing, whether physical, emotional or spiritual
4. To help someone else receive what they need, whether healing, guidance or protection
5. To prepare for a spiritually difficult task

In reality, of course, the majority of people who would say they practice spiritual fasting seem to do so on a semi-conscious level at best.  They often think they're fasting, when they're simply practicing a form of abstinence, or they're not clear on how fasting works or exactly what they wish to achieve.


Is fasting a form of sacrifice that God demands imperiously?  Is it a form of punishment for human sin?  Well, if you read the ancient Christian spiritual sources carefully, such as the various collections of "sayings of the desert fathers" from the fourth and fifth centuries, it's quite clear this isn't the case.


What emerges is a bit more complex.  Because fasting cleanses the body, it also makes the mind more lucid.  If you consider that the desert dwellers who pioneered Christian spiritual fasting were totally dedicated to remaining in an unbroken state of inner "prayer of the heart", this lucidity of mind was very important.  The bottom line from their experience is that abstinence from heavy foods and periodic fasting will enable you to maintain focused inner attention and will cut down on the inner dialogue, swirling emotions and physical symptoms that ensnare your attention.  That's obviously a vital consideration for any sustained program of prayer or meditation, and explains why spiritual fasting has been so widely used worldwide for millennia.  


So if we ask how spiritual fasting works, it's clear the explanation bridges the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual planes of our being, creating a cleansing and unifying effect.  It's not simply a matter of fulfilling an abstract divine commandment; it has to do with how your mind-body organism is intended to function.  This is something that Orthodox Christian ascetics, Kriya Yoga practitioners and many native American medicine people, to name just a few, will tell you.  


Here's a really interesting video on spiritual fasting that also ties in the health aspect in an admirable and well thought out way.  Be sure to pause it to give yourself time to read the text, in addition to listening to the excellent commentary:












A Spiritual Warrior's Explanation


Without contradicting any of the foregoing, the Coptic Orthodox Monk, Matthew the Poor, offered this explanation of fasting. When he uses the word "self", he is using it in the sense of the "ego" or "false self":


"[When we fast] we must reach a state of accepting not the partial, but the complete annihilation of the self, and this can only take place by an act of deliberate volition.  In other words, if we begin by any exercise, such as fasting, which brings us to the partial overcoming of the self, we need to supplement the feeling of satisfaction that comes from accepting this state with an acceptance of the total destruction of the self.  This is obtained by the mental acceptance of death itself, with no dismay or restraint.  'But we received the sentence of death in ourselves' (2 Corinthians 1:19).  


"When our father Abraham offered Isaac his son, he did so partially with his hands, but totally in purpose.  When Abraham proved his willingness to offer Isaac, his only son, God did not leave him to carry out the slaughter; when the offering had been only partially made on the physical level, God considered the sacrifice to have been actually carried out.  This, and only this, is why God redeemed Isaac with a ram - a symbol of Christ - who was to redeem the souls of those whose self was destroyed partially by their actions, but wholly in their intentions."1.


In terms of spiritual fasting, that's certainly "food for thought"!  Think about it.  Better still, try it.  Just remember, though, as with fasting for health, the same advice and warnings apply here, so go back and read the previous post before you start!


Blessings!


~ Dr. Symeon Rodger :-)

Fasting Part One: Fasting to Improve Your Health

===========================================================

Ageless Beauty – Timeless Health:
Building a Lifestyle that Automatically Creates the
Health, Immunity and Longevity You Want

Toronto, Canada: June 4-5, 2011

http://www.harapower.com/AB/

=========================================

This is Holy Week for most Christians and a time when tens of millions of people will be fasting.  So what better time to do a two-part series on the value of fasting?  Why two-part?  Because there are two main reasons people fast...

We fast in search of better health or we fast as a method of spiritual purification.  As we'll see the two are related.  Today, though, we'll focus on fasting to create health, immunity and longevity....

What Exactly is "Fasting"?

That's not as stupid a question as you may think.  That fact is, there are lots of misconceptions out there about fasting.  Some people believe that simply abstaining from certain foods or food groups, either temporarily or permanently, is "fasting".  That's most definitely not fasting.  That's "abstinence".  


Fasting is going without eating solid food, and sometimes liquid nourishment as well, for a defined period of time.  That could be a matter of hours, days or weeks, depending on what you're trying to achieve and how.  

The Health Benefits of Fasting

So why would you bother?  Perhaps because there are few if any other health tools in your arsenal that give you such bang for the buck.  Here are just some of the primary benefits of fasting:

1. Initiates a detoxification / cleansing reaction in the body, enabling you to rid yourself of accumulated toxins.
2. Enables weight loss.
3. Puts the digestive system, and the body as a whole, into "rest mode", allowing the energy usually devoted to digestion to be diverted to healing.
4. Clears up skin problems and the whites of your eyes.
5. Naturally lowers blood pressure without drugs.
6. Makes it easier to overcome bad habits and addictions, and to make a fresh start with a new, healthier diet and lifestyle.
7. Reduces inflammation throughout your body.
8. Reduces water retention throughout your body.
9. Pacifies many allergic reactions and sensitivities.  
10. Historical and biological research strongly suggests proper fasting promotes longevity.

Varieties of Fasting

You may have heard of many types of fasting for health, including water fasts, juice fasts, total fasts and many others.  Natural health pioneers like Dr. Bernard Jensen and Victor Irons used fasting together with colon cleansing to achieve remarkable results for their patients and clients for about half a century each!  More telling is that both of these great pioneers lived healthy lives to nearly age one hundred.  


Here's a video with Dr. Nicholas Tancheff, a chiropractor who has founded a fasting retreat facility in Hawaii.  You can learn a lot by listening to how he went from the typically disastrous North American lifestyle to learning how to self-heal...

Warning: Avoid the Traps!

There are several traps with fasting, so here's my advice on how to get started:

1. Check in with your physician or a licensed health-care provider to help you get started.  This is particularly important if you've never done this before or have a pre-existing medical condition.
2. Be clear on what you would like to achieve with the fast.  This will help you select the proper type.
3. Don't make it up on your own: follow a program based on reliable and tested information.
4. Don't overdo it.  Fasting for just a few days can provide enormous benefit!
5. Don't become addicted to fasting and cleansing!  These are activities you should do periodically, not constantly.  Once your fast is over, start giving your body all the nutritious food it needs to stay healthy!

If you would like to learn a whole lot more about fasting and cleansing directly from people with a lot of experience, you should consider coming to the health workshop I'm doing with Michael Morningstar in Toronto, Canada on June 4-5.


As you've heard from the teleseminar we did last week, Michael really knows his stuff.  And we are confident that you'll leave our event with the knowledge and the confidence to take your health to a whole new level.


~ Dr. Symeon Rodger






 

 

Colon Cleansing - Why and How to Get Started

It's no secret that our bodies are piled high with toxins these days, toxins from our corrupted food chain and water supply, the air we breathe, the household cleansers we use and any number of other sources.

So if you're serious about your health, immunity and overall resilience, you do need to be thinking about incorporating a regular detoxification program into your life.  And the best place to start for most people is definitely the colon.  Why?

• Over time, thanks partly to poor dietary habits, not all your bodily waste is excreted and some of the leftover ends up attached to the walls of your intestines, where it eventually becomes toxic and leaches those toxins into your bloodstream
   
• This leads to a less efficient colon, longer "transit times" for waste matter through your colon and more toxic build-up
   
• The most extreme colon cleanse is a colonic irrigation, where the colon is filled with water.  This breaks down and flushes out the caked on waste matter and what comes out is quite a shocking revelation to most people!
   
• Colon cleansing was quite popular until the pharmaceutical revolution of the '20s and '30s buried it under false promises of "miracle drugs"
   
• Great 20th century exponents of colon cleansing, such as Dr. Bernard Jensen and Victor Irons, lived extraordinarily long and healthy lives 

So colon cleansing sounds like a great thing to do for your health, right?  Unfortunately though, very few beginners have any idea where to start and what to do...

Blessed Herbs - Colon Cleanse in a Box

One of the easiest ways to get started and to see and feel great results is to use a colon cleanse based on herbs and fiber rather than on colonic irrigation.  It's quite a bit easier and more convenient, and I say that as someone who's done it all.  


One of the top cleansing kits out there comes from Blessed Herbs and I love their Internal Cleansing and Colon Cleansing kits because they're so well laid out, so easy to use and have such clear directions.  


Here's a brief video about their Colon Cleansing kit and three different ways to use it:









As a point of information for you, the Blessed Herbs Internal Cleansing kit targets the intestines, the liver, gallbladder, lungs, kidneys, lymph, blood and skin.  While you can order the Colon Cleansing kit on its own, it's currently being offered for free if you go for the Internal Cleansing kit.  


You can find all the information you need right here.


However you do it, I would encourage you to make regular cleansing and detoxification a part of your health routine this year - the benefits are truly astounding.


~ Dr. Symeon Rodger

Your Optimal Health Cheat Sheet

Turn up your speakers or read the text version below:

Over the last month I think I've given the "7 Deadly Spirals of Disease" teleclass about five times to various audiences totaling thousands of people.  It's one of the most in-demand health presentations out there today. 

And while there's a place for presentations that go into that much depth, there's also a place for the high-level check list of things you can do to ensure fantastic health for years to come.  So here's just such a list for you:

1. Detox your body - There are lots of great detox systems out there.  One of my personal favorites is from a company called Blessed Herbs.  Detoxifying your system two to four times per year is highly advisable, since your body is being forced to deal with a toxic load that's well in excess of its design specifications!
   
   
2. Stop loading your body with new toxins - yes it's time to start thinking about eating more organic fruits and veggies, meat that's hormone and antibiotic-free, free range eggs, and the like.  And, for that matter, to beware of any non-organic personal care products you use, such as toothpastes, shampoos, cosmetics and the rest.  If it goes on your skin, it goes into your bloodstream.
    
   
3. Get everything circulating - one of the greatest keys to excellent health is to take your entire body through its total range of motion on a regular basis, pack your organs, bones and fasciae with Qi (vital energy) and ensure that your blood, spinal fluid, lymph fluid and Qi are all circulating unobstructed throughout your body.  This alone will short-circuit the disease process. To find out more, go to http://www.rocksolidvitality.com/dvd. 
   
   
4. Optimize your diet - learn what your body really needs nutritionally.  Take Dr. Mercola's free nutritional typing test to figure out what you should be eating.  Learn from internationally famous nutritional expert Michael Morningstar by taking the course he and I put together at http://www.mindsetbootcamp.com/symeon/healthmastery.html.
   
   
5. Avoid the electromagnetic storm - learn about the dangers of information-bearing radio waves.  Avoid wireless internet, be careful about how and how often you use your cell phone, your cordless phone and your laptop.  And be especially careful to educate your kids about this too!
   
   
6. Cultivate gratitude - this the nature's most natural stress-killer.  Whereas stress sends your body's pH level into the disease-prone acidic range, the frequent practice of gratitude will have the opposite effect.  Remember, an alkaline body is a very poor host for illness.
    
   
7. Smile habitually and never complain - this has the same effect.  Yes, you're surrounded by the frustrating (and sometimes mind-bendingly stupid) actions of other people.  But the more you can learn to disregard it all, the more you'll stress-proof yourself.  When your friends or coworkers complain, propose a solution instead!
   
   
8. Give affection, get affection - people who give and receive affection frequently live longer and happier lives.  Become one of them!
   
   
9. Deal with your emotions - this is one of the greatest keys to dealing with stress.  Learn simple and powerful tools like the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) or Be Set Free Fast (BSFF).  Then you'll never again have to wallow helplessly in a puddle of negative emotion and put your health at risk. 
   
   
10. Meditate - it's one of the key elements of the ancient Taoist longevity system.  Moreover, it gives you mastery of your mind and emotions, and makes you totally stress-proof.  That's in addition to all its spiritual benefits, of course.
     
    
11. Learn to breathe - learn Normal Abdominal Breathing, the way the human being was meant to breathe.  This has enormous physical, psychological and spiritual benefits.  It's even more powerful when you join your breath, your movement and your mental attention into one.  You can learn more at: http://www.harapower.com/
    
    
12. Aim at harmony - we live in an anti-harmony culture.  Just walk down a busy street in any of our cities and you'll realize we've constructed a way of life hostile to our physical and emotional health.  When you aim at physical and emotional harmony in your own life, you counteract the persistently destructive influence of the man-made outside world.  Again, http://www.harapower.com/ will teach you more about this.
    

Please note you shouldn't try to do all of this or too much of it at once.  If you can implement just one of these this week or this month, you'll be making great progress!  

Remember that there's no one, single silver bullet for your health.  There are several and you need to take them all into account when you're building your new, healthier and more resilient lifestyle.  

~ Dr. Symeon Rodger

You NEED a Vacation More Than You Think...

You need a vacation.  In fact, there's a high probability you need a vacation now and you need it more than you think.  

Your body knows you need it.  Your subconscious mind knows you need it.  So then why is your rational mind so good at finding excuses not to take any holidays, even if those are paid holidays you have coming to you?


"I'll wait until flights are cheaper in the off-season."  "I just have this one project to get out of the way."  "The kids have too many activities for us to take time off."  "The office will fall apart without me."  And the list goes on...

So why do you desperately need a vacation?  Consider the following:

• You are under a lot more chronic stress than you're consciously aware of (and you probably know from experience the only way to verify this is to take a holiday from your regular responsibilities)
• You're under continual non-psychological stress from your environment and the way you treat your body-mind organism
• These stress factors are harming your nervous system, your energy system, probably your cardiovascular system and more on a daily basis
• Therefore, you need to rest and rebuild your health and immunity on a deep level
• And you need a time where you can relax and make no decisions at all

 
Vacation Myths:

It's often said, "A change is as good as a rest."  Nonsense!  It's not uncommon to find people whose vacation was a whirlwind tour of ten European capitals and who come home all excited... only to realize they're more exhausted than when they left. 


Don't get me wrong - it's great to go see the world... as long as you take a true vacation that's separate from that.  So I'm not saying you should cancel your flight to Frankfurt; just that the vacation you mind-body organism most needs, the one that will build your personal resilience instead of depleting it , is a little different.

The holiday you really need requires lots of fresh air and sunshine, light exercise, a healthy diet, some light detoxification, better quality sleep and probably a bit more of it, and deep relaxation.

An Ideal Vacation?

In the video below you'll see an example of a near perfect, resilience-building vacation.  Please note that the point here is not so much the place itself, nor the Qi Gong master who devised it (Mantak Chia), but the key resilience-building components of the experience.  Can you pick them out?

Design Your Vacation Today:

[NOTE: The following advice is for people in a state of overall good health.  If you have particular health challenges or preexisting conditions, you should consult your health care practitioner before undertaking some elements of the following]

So now that I've persuaded you to take that long overdue vacation (!), here are some of the things you might want to consider:


First, you need time off work.  So tell the office to take a hike for at least a week and preferably no less than two weeks.

Second, make sure that at least part of your vacation involves a change of surroundings for at least a few days if possible.  You're looking for a calm and orderly environment, a place conducive to good sleep, fresh air, light exercise and a healthy diet.


Third, book yourself a few hours at a good spa, including at least one massage treatment of sixty minutes or more, plus use of the sauna and, if possible, swimming pool facilities.  This is the "light detoxification" I referred to above.  A good relaxation massage will help detoxify your body naturally, as will a sauna, especially if the sauna is followed by a dip in a cold-ish pool. 

Fourth, surround yourself with warm, optimistic and loving people.

Next time, I'll let you in on the secrets of how to construct a mini-vacation anytime, even when you can't really get away for long or at all.  That's what I did just last week ;-)


~ Dr. Symeon Rodger

Summer: the Key to Building Your Personal Resilience (Part 1)

Well, I don't know what your weather is like today, but here in Ottawa, Canada (officially the planet's second coldest national capital), it's 28 C / 82 F and with the humidity if feels like 39 C or 102 degrees F. 

So summer is definitely here!  And despite the heat and humidity, summer is very important to building your personal resilience.  The key is knowing how and why. 

Flexibility:

On the most elementary level, summer is great for fitness.  You're likely to spend more time outdoors, even if that's just walking, gardening or soaking up rays at the beach.  One area where it's easy to make huge fitness gains in the summer is the flexibility of your connective tissue (muscles, tendons, ligaments, fasciae) and your joints.  You see, the higher ambient temperatures make your body more pliable, so it's easier to stretch and there's less likelihood of injury when you do.  So if you've ever thought about improving the range of motion of any part of your body, summer is the time!

One person I know plans to increase his flexibility enough over the summer to be able to sit comfortably in the full lotus posture by September.  I've known others, especially martial artists and other athletes, who wanted to work up to the splits (or at least closer to it ;-).  All this brings up the key question - why should you care about improving your flexibility?

For starters, flexibility training will help protect your soft tissues and especially your joints from injury - in other words, minor mishaps that would previously have injured your knee, twisted your ankle or thrown your back out are no longer such a threat.  Flexibility training will also improve your blood circulation, as well as your energy (qi) circulation, giving you better health and more vitality.  And finally, stretching is a natural detox, something we'll talk about more in a later post. 

Here's a great resource for you on flexibility:

http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/flexibilitytraining.html

Needless to say, it's also a great time to start a Hatha Yoga program, since the yogic stretching and postures (asanas) will be easier.  The same applies to certain types of Qi Gong.  Whatever kind of stretching you use, though, just be sure to warm up first and build slowly.  Increased flexibility can make a big difference in how you feel phyically and emotionally, so you'll be glad you did.


Fitness in General over the Summer:

Summer is also a great time for strength training, simply because there's less chance of injury to the joints and soft tissues, given the higher temparatures.  Is it a better time for cardio than other seasons, though?  Well, the jury is out on that.  Some point out how much easier and safer it is to go running in the summer than with snow and ice under foot.  Granted, but on the other hand, high heat and humitiy can be a serious hazard for runners in the summer.

One great thing to do in the summer is to change your fitness routine to make it season-specific, to take advantage of what's more easily available in the summer, such as cycling, swimming and more. 

So I'd encourage you to use the summer to build up your resilience in ways the season itself can help you with.  Next time, we'll go on to look at some other resilience-building activities best done in the summer. 

~ Dr. Symeon Rodger

Want REAL Health? Go on a Cleanse!

Just so you don't think I'm all hot air, that I write about all these great practices without ever doing them...

...Last week I was into two phenomenal resilience-building activities.  It was an amazing week, a week of challenges, of pain and finally of sweet victory.  Today, though, I'll just cover the first of those activities - a comprehensive internal cleanse or detoxification.


If you're reading this blog, you probably already know how important periodic cleanses are.  Your body is packed with a dizzying array of toxins and parasites absorbed from food, water, air pollution, toxic substances used in building interiors and more.  And by all accounts, this toxic load is considerably worse than it was even two or three decades ago.  Yet a good cleanse is almost guaranteed to get your blood pesticide levels down to FDA standards ;-) Even more amazing is that a good cleanse can eliminate the after-effects of previous emotional and even physical traumas.

In fact, some of the greatest "miracle" stories of healing and longevity have been based on cleansing, such as those of Victor Irons, Dr. Bernard Jensen and many more.  




The Cleanse I Used:


Over the years, I've used a number of different cleanses, and most of them have been incredibly positive experiences.  The cleanse I just started was recommended by my business associate, Kathy, about two years ago and I had wanted to try it ever since.  It's produced by a US company called Blessed Herbs and Kathy's naturopath was very impressed with the contents.  


If you know how confusing a cleanse can be, with a zillion different capsules to swallow or potions to drink at specific times of day, you'll really appreciate the Blessed Herbs approach.  Yeah, they have the pills and potions, but the layout is SO user-friendly you can't possibly get confused.   


This cleanse is, as the name implies, based largely on herbs, and runs for three stages of seven days each, so three weeks in all.  Right now I'm on Day 6 of Stage 2, or a bit more than half way through (which is good, since I'm developing a serious craving for cheese ;-)


That brings up the whole question of diet, since some cleanses are based on fasting of various types.  For this cleanse, it's up to you -  if you eat burgers and fries every night, you'll pretty much torpedo any benefit from your investment in all those amazing herbs.  On the other hand, if you eat light, vegan meals and drink lots of filtered water, you'll get fantastic results.  




My Results (Knock Wood...):


So far, I haven't experienced any kind of healing crisis - a healing crisis happens when you have a lot of toxins and the cleanse starts moving them out of your body at a rapid rate.  The symptoms are pretty unpleasant and mimic real illness, even though they're actually a good sign. 


For me, however, it's all been the opposite so far.  Well, a bit of intestinal pain one afternoon, but who's to complain?  All in all, I've noticed:

• Lots more energy throughout the day
• Improved mental clarity
• No more joint pain (a miracle, considering my other resilience-builder last week...)

This cleanse targets the colon (absolutely the most important place to start) and then moves on to all the major organs of toxin eliminations: your liver, gall bladder, lungs, kidneys, bladder and skin.  


So far, so good.  I'll keep you posted.  Cleanses are highly recommended at least twice a year.  Remember, you should only undertake a cleanse with the approval of your physician and / or a licensed and qualified health care provider. 


Next time, I'll fill you in on my other big activity of last week ;-)  


~ Dr. Symeon Rodger

Want Health? Then You Can't Afford to Ignore This...

"The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease."
- Thomas Edison

Hi all,

Edison was right, all those years ago, and despite the power and political clout of the pharmaceutical industry, people will likely look back at the medical and health practices of the our time and shake their heads saying...

"What WERE they thinking??"

Ancient cultures made some miraculous medical discoveries, and none more far-reaching in its effectiveness than the science of BREATHING. Sounds ridiculously simple?

What if I told you that just by using certain breathing methods for minutes a day, you could detox your whole body? Here's the scoop...


Beyond "Deep Breathing"

Taoist longevity masters discovered that although ordinary "deep breathing" is really good for you, there's something even better. Yes, it's a great idea to go outside first thing in the morning, expel all the stale air from your lungs and take in some crisp, clean air to oxygenate your system (and wake you up ;-), but there's more...

They discovered that the human body is designed for "abdominal breathing", not the chest breathing adults are used to, and that when you change over to abdominal breathing, amazing things happen. For one thing, it will detox your whole body continually (a big plus in our toxin-filled society). Here's how:

Your body eliminates toxins in 3 main ways - through your lungs, your skin and your bowels.

Abdominal breathing uses the whole lung and eliminates toxins through the lungs more efficiently than chest breathing. Abdominal breathing continuously massages the lower digestive tract, allowing your intestines, kidneys and bladder to eliminate waste products far more effectively than they usually do.

And now the "piece de resistance"... they discovered that through breath control they could access the body's energy field. You can too. Focus your attention on the tip of one finger as you practice abdominal breathing and you'll notice something...

Your finger feels like it's breathing too! Eventually, you'll learn to feel this sensation everywhere. To make a long story very short, using this dynamic allows you to eliminate toxins directly through your skin.

The Taoist masters also noticed that normal abdominal breathing and the special exercises that use it radically improved the circulation of blood, lymph fluid and energy throughout the body and eased the burden on the heart muscle. And they enable you to gather energy all day long instead of just expending it.

There are further benefits on the emotional and spiritual levels too, but I've run out of space for today, so...

To learn more about these miracles, just hop on over to:

http://www.warriorcoachinginternational.com/hara.html

For anyone who grabs a copy this week, I'll toss in a free copy of my book, The 5 Pillars of Life in case you don't already have one ;-)

~ Dr. Symeon Rodger