NATUROPATHIC INSPIRATIONS What is a Healthy Lifestyle?

What is a Healthy Lifestyle?

SOME REMINDERS FROM A WESTERN NATUROPATHIC PHYSICIAN’S POINT OF VIEW

Photo © Adobestock / Tanja Esser

Routines are healthy. Recently in our household

when asked what day it is the answer is “Blursday,” as the days run into each other. Developing some kind of daily routine does keep your health in check during stressful times. During the pandemic I have been trying to keep a regular exercise regime. Signing up online ahead of time has helped, because if I don’t I won’t get in! I also have made a commitment: Perfect Mind Campbell River offers many exercise and yoga classes so if I miss a class or the time isn’t right I can do the class at home in my basement—outside is even better! Having a routine contributes to a stable frame of mind, and these areas are key: bedtime and time to get up; meal times; meditation, creativity and downtime. Eating at regular intervals prevents blood sugar highs and lows. Instead of TV and a glass of wine, occasionally try something else instead, like visit a friend while walking the Canyon View. Having a “green bath” like this is like a walking meditation and lowers your stress hormone cortisol. Children particularly benefit from being outside. It is lovely to see youngsters enjoying “Forest School”.

Take time for cleansing: This past year has perhaps been a “reset” for you, rethinking how you spend your time, how to be less busy and more creative and spend quality with your family. How to have more balance in your life. A time to clean your home and garden, and catch up on projects. Is there one thing that you might want to get rid of and replace with something more healthful? For example, less screen time and more reading before bed. Naturopathic medicine teaches that cleansing the body is also a great “reset” for your health. There are simple short programs that can be done every spring and fall that combine diet changes and cleansing herbs and homeopathy to refresh the liver and the bowel.

Take time for creativity: Over the last few months I have taken up playing the Ukulele and practicing with a friend over Zoom and learning from You Tube. Playing a musical instrument, colouring, writing a poem, dancing and singing are forms of creativity that are very calming for the sympathetic nervous system.

Take time for downtime: Like everyone else I have been watching some great series on Netflix. I am careful to choose something uplifting, rather than violent and negative. I also try to find something humorous to end the day. Your choice of music also makes a difference, and sometimes silence is best. We are so fortunate to be able to have beach fires on our local beaches and there is nothing more calming than sitting around a fire at the beach and just be. Once a week, create your own sacred time on Sunday morning to take time just for you.

Take time for gratitude: Surely during this time many of us have seen others go through much worse times than us. It helps us also look for the little things that bring a smile to our faces. Keeping a daily gratitude journal is another key to happiness as we recognize what a wonderful life it truly is.

These healthy lifestyle ideas complement a wholesome diet, herbs and homeopathy that I have talked about many times in my past articles. Please contact me if you'd like a complete set. Happy Fun Summer to you!

Make sure you have a bowel movement every day and taking a fiber, such as flaxmeal or psyllium, treats endotoxicity which are toxins created in the body in the bowel. Pectasol, a form of modified citrus pectin, has been studied to remove heavy metals. Colonics are also available (in Courtenay) if required and reduces endotoxicity. Saunas, either radiant heat or infrared, are effective at increasing the ability to sweat, eliminating toxins through the skin: the second kidney. Exercise also falls into this category. People such as hair dressers can smell chemicals exuding from their skin after sauna therapy.

Avoid non organic dirty dozen foods that contain the highest organophosphate neurotoxic pesticide residues according to the Environmental Working Group (EWG) ie peaches, bell peppers, apples, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, grapes and lettuce.

Greens in the form of cilantro, spirulina and green vegetables rich in chlorophyll can bind with toxins such as PCB’s for easier elimination, so add a “Greens Drink” to your daily routine. See “Clean, Green and Lean” by Dr. Crinnion. Use air filters in the home to improve air quality. Don’t forget toxins come into the home on the furniture and other household items.

Don’t store food in plastics or microwave in plastics.

Eat foods that help eliminate toxins: Cruciferous vegetables, resveratrol and quercitin foods (ie: blueberries, apples, onions, kale), celery, garlic, ginger, green, black, peppermint, rooibos and chamomile teas.

Use chemical free make up and skin care products: ie Lei Lani Makeup (Save On Foods) or Jane Iredale.

For more of Dr. Pincott’s articles visit www.PerceptiveHealth.ca or www.drpincott.com and www.bcna.ca to find an ND near you.

WIth over 40 shops, restaurants, banks and services, Discovery Harbour Shopping Centre is a convenient and relaxing place to stop, shop and dine on the North Island. Visit discoveryharbourcentre.com for a complete list of shops and services available at the Shopping Centre.

SHIFT HAPPENS ANDREA WAGEMAKER

Hebb's Law

HOW WE HARDWIRE OUR BRAINS

There is a principle in Neuroscience call Hebb’s Law.

It basically states that, “Nerve cells that fire together, wire together.” Based on this and the research in Neuroplasticity, it is shown that if we keep firing the same neural patterns by living out lives the same way each day with the same thoughts and beliefs, we are hardwiring the same neurons to fire and creating the same patterns within our brains whether good or bad, which forms habits and our personalities.

So, if we keep thinking the same thoughts, doing the same thinks and feeling the same emotions we begin to hardwire our brains into a directs reflection of our perceived reality. Knowing this, wouldn’t we want to create our own positive reality?

According to psychologist Sona Yebomersky, our ability to reframe our situation more positively has a great influence on our happiness. I have found the profound meditative experience of Lucia Light is an incredible tool that facilitates a more positive perspective on life.

By creating a more relaxed state of being, Lucia Light facilitates an enhanced ability to reframe our current reality, and make better choices that promote greater harmony and growth within our lives. So how do you enter the gateway to consciousness and escape from the matrix?

Lucia Light is an aid in helping us step beyond the verbal mind, into meaningful meditation and expansive awareness. It speeds the process of healing, awakening and integrating knowledge—a ‘room of requirement’ for the internal world. It is all about the pineal gland that claims to be the seat of the soul. The bridge to higher consciousness. Opening the third eye is the key to awakening our psychic senses, allowing access to other realms and dimensions, and connecting to Spirit.

Bright light is believed to stimulate the release of DMT and awakens the pineal gland. Dr Rick Strassman M.D’s (The Spirit Molecule), 4 yr clinical study proved that DMT, consistently produced NDE’s and profound mystical, insightful, cathartic, healing experiences, in a supernatural light, to which shifts in consciousness were attributed. If you feel this resonates with you and you would like to experience this incredible light journey for yourself, get in touch!

Andrea Wagemaker at Shift Happens & Lucia Light in Courtenay www.ShiftHypnotherapy.ca • 250-338-3401