The Woman Who Healed Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

http://thedeliciousday.com/health/chronic-fatigue-syndrome-cure/

Gifts from the Sea

I spent a few weeks on the East Coast of Florida a few summers ago, where I was spending time with my parents. My dad was recovering from esophageal cancer. He was stage four and really sick when I arrived, but started doing much better after we made some changes in his diet (cultured foods, superfoods, protein shakes, and herbs). I also did some energy work on him and we moved a lot of toxins out from his last rounds of chemotherapy and radiation.

There is a Dolphin Conservation Center in Marineland, which is about a mile up from where they live. I got into the habit of walking up there at sunrise every morning either along the beach or road, depending on high tide. My first morning I didn't make it very far because it was mid-tide on the beach and I was thoroughly distracted by the gorgeous beach and abundance of shells.

With my eyes trained below me I saw the imprint of a large starfish buried in the sand, waiting for high tide. It felt like I had struck gold. This was my first time finding one. It was orange, blue, beautiful, and unreal looking. I immediately thought to take it home so my dad could see it. I carried it on my water bottle up the shore in the hot sun. The wind was blowing and kept knocking the starfish off my water bottle. Each time it fell on the sand my intuition would say, "leave it here." But I wanted my dad to experience the wonder of it so I would pick it up and place it back on my water bottle. After while it started wrapping its arms around the neck of the bottle. When the wind knocked if off my bottle right before I reached the condo I picked it up and broke one of its arms. I started to panic. I felt for sure I had made a mistake bringing it home.

My mom and I immediately put it in water, and I brought it in to show my dad. He was thrilled and said he hadn't seen one in years. I then high-tailed it out to the ocean and put it into the growing high tide.  I promised myself that if I were ever lucky enough to find another one, I would kiss it, make a wish, and send it back to the sea where it belongs. I don't regret showing it to my father, but I had tried to hard to hold onto the experience of it, when it was clear where it was the starfish was meant to stay.

The next morning, I made a silent wish again that I would have the opportunity to find another starfish. Since I had never found one before it seemed like a long shot. Within minutes of being on the beach I found a baby starfish right in my path. I picked it up and it immediately started squirming. Who knows, maybe it was afraid. The other one had been so still. So I did what I said I would do: I kissed it, made a wish, and put it into the waves. A few minutes down the beach I found another medium-sized one. I felt blessed and the power of prayer. I made a wish and sent it back to the sea.



I've had trouble in the past truly appreciating the beauty of fleeting moments, but the abundance of my wish fulfillment with the starfish stayed in my mind. A few days later, I had the opportunity to meet dolphins for the first time up close at the Dolphin Conservation Center in Marineland Florida. I have seen them before in the wild at a distance, but never up close. They were so light in being and happy and playful, just like you hear all the time. My dad made the tremendous effort to come watch me play with them in the hot Florida sun. Not easy if you're sick and in a wheelchair. The experience was amazing for my parents and me. I met a baby dolphin just a few months old and her mother --a blond dolphin -- which are rare. We talked about the experience all day long.

Another day, my mom and I took a walk at sunset to the river with the hopes of seeing more wild dolphins. We had seen some together at this location a few years ago. There were none that night. The next morning, we both got up early to take a final walk on the beach, tide permitting. We walked down to an empty, crystal white beach with a luminescent ocean glimmering pearl white, pastel blue, green, and pink. After a few minutes of walking down the beach and staring into the ocean, I spotted a dolphin arcing through the water, and then another, and then another. It was a family feeding at sunrise. We saw the baby dolphin up close, very near the ocean's edge. The dolphins arced through the water and traveled with us as we walked. We stopped again to stare when the ocean turned all pink and a pink sun began to rise. We saw a fourth dolphin -- a blond one -- arc through the water. It was stunning, and much more than for that which we could have wished or hoped.

In Anne Morrow Lindbergh's book Gift from the Sea, she quotes Blake on recognizing and appreciating the sacred in fleeting moments of beauty and joy:


"...(s)he who kisses the joy as it flies lives in Eternity's sunrise."


The fleeting, unexpected moments we experience are often the best and the most meaningful.

My dad has since passed away.  It wasn’t his time here anymore.  It was bittersweet, seeing him for the last two weeks in Florida that I did.  But it was profound and beautiful too.  We got to spend quality moments together, and to say a proper goodbye.  And he filled me with his steady wisdom like he always has.  “Never give up,” he said.  “Too many people lose the light from their eyes.”  I’ll remember that more than anything beyond our final games of battleship.  Never give up and remember from where you came.  Stay awake and keep your hope alive.

My heart is filled from these unexpected gifts from the sea and my time spent on the beautiful Florida coast. I can see why people retire here. It's about returning to our deep origins. There are so many dreams we come from, so don't be afraid to ask for what you truly wish. The world is limitless, and wishes are often granted in ways even better than you could ever imagine. All you you have to do is ask/pray and be grateful for its fulfillment no matter which form the universe decides it takes. Even for only a few moments of divine grace, the memory will last with you a lifetime.

 




http://www.PortlandWellnessCoach.com

Stress & The Holiday Season

The following information is for educational purposes only and is not meant to diagnose, treat, or prescribe any kind of disease or illness. It is a good idea to seek the professional advice of a qualified health care practitioner (remember Naturopaths are doctors too) before making any major changes in your self health care.



Winter is upon us. It can be a beautiful time of year but stressful for many as well. Unfortunately stress can be extremely damaging to your body and soul, much more than any of us realize. It is imperative to find ways to stay calm and focused no matter how crazy your life gets, or how crazy your relatives might seem.

Stress is talked about much but understood little, at least by most of us. Our doctors are always telling us to keep our stress levels down, but they rarely say why. Constant stress in your life is not only unnatural (however common it may be), but is a precursor to far more serious ailments, chronic illness, and disease: we’re talking heartburn, upset stomach, chronic fatigue, weight gain, bad skin, adrenal burnout, depression, anxiety, chronic inflammation, heart disease, and even cancer.


There are many factors involved in what makes stress just so damaging to the body. When we get “stressed out” what’s really happening is our fight or flight mechanism is being activated. In short, your adrenals begin pumping out adrenaline in order to give you the short term energy you need to deal with the “emergency” at hand. This is fine for the short term, especially if you are being chased by a saber-tooth tiger, real or imagined.


But a prolonged, on-going stress response to life’s situations is a recipe for disaster. If you get stressed out on the commute to work every day, get anxious every single time you have to talk to your boss, spouse, or neighbor, your adrenals are working overtime. What should be an occasional situation – facing down the saber-tooth-holiday-in-law — is now a chronic, daily, maybe even hourly occurrence. Chronic elevated adrenaline levels can lead to raised cortisol levels in your body, which then leads to fatigue when your cortisol levels “crash” again. This is when most of us reach for coffee, chocolate, sugar, carbs, or all four. And this is where your body begins to break down.


Stimulants unfortunately only make the problem worse. They actually create an energy “debt” in the body because they stimulate the adrenals to produce even more adrenaline. This is artificial energy, since you are asking the adrenals to do something they would not normally do, i.e. produce extra energy you don’t have. So many of us are in “debt” not only monetarily, but energy-wise as well. Just remember, if you take out a loan on your energy, you are going to have to repay it through sleep and good nutrition.


Another source of stress is unresolved emotions, especially anger and regret. Emotions “float” around in our bodies (we have neurotransmitters everywhere in us, not just in our “heads.” Our bodies and minds - read emotions - are intertwined. So if we are harboring rage, hate, anger, or sadness, we are doing unwitting damage to ourselves. These emotions tend to come more around this time of year when many of us spend time with people from our past.

Unfortunately they tend to remind us, consciously or not, of unresolved issues. Counseling can help to clear up these emotions, especially EMDR therapy. Bodywork, physical activity such as yoga, walking, dance or martial arts, even art or music therapy can help to release toxic emotions as well. Our bodies were designed to keep energy (and emotions) flowing. Find what works for you and try to do it regularly.

One of the most promising therapies for clearing out toxic emotion and keeping emotions flowing freely is Mickel Therapy. It teaches you how to express your emotions in a healthy, non-confrontational way. Mickel Therapy believes that our primary emotions (anger, grief, fear, joy, love, and compassion) are actually generated by our bodies. Know those “gut” feelings you have of anger, fear, and of being in love? That is your physical body talking to you. The trick is to be true to your primary emotions and keep expressing them, as tactfully but honestly as possible. Our bodies were designed to keep energy and emotions flowing. Find what works for you and try to do it regularly


Of course the best solution is to not get stressed out in the first place. When you are stuck in traffic, breathe. Breathe in slowly and breathe out slowly. Deep breaths taken from your lower abdomen immediately calm down your sympathetic nervous system. Try it, it works every time. Also, move your focus to what you can focus on without worry, like enjoying the passing scenery or listening to the radio.


Whatever’s causing you stress in your life, nine times out ten it isn’t worth getting all worked up about. Most things have a way of working themselves out, whether or not you are worrying about them. In fact, they tend to work out better if you aren’t worrying. This includes spending the holidays with your partner’s family who, I guarantee, you have absolutely no control over.


be well,


The Holistic Coach

http://www.connektwell.com/

http://www.theholisticoach.com/