Healing Parkinson’s Naturally – Part Two

If you read my previous blog on this subject, you will know that I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s a few years ago and last fall I embarked on a natural treatment program to heal the condition by purifying my diet in order to strengthen my immune system and in turn, restore the dopamine and other neurotransmitter levels in my brain. If you want to read my full story, click here.

I recently made some more changes to my healing program.

First, I altered my diet by reducing the amount of carbs I’m eating and increasing the amount of fat. Of course, that type of fats I’m referring to are the healthy saturated fats and omega-3s, not unsaturated trans fats and omega-6s. This means more eggs, organic meat, wild fish, avocado, coconut & olive oil and nuts & seeds. It also means less rice, which is where I was getting a lot of my carbs.

Energetically speaking, my sense is that fat is a more calming food, which I think is particularly important in healing neurological disorders, especially, considering the brain is mostly comprised of fat.

Second, I’m going to be doing a lot of grounding… walking in bare feet or sitting with my bare feet on the ground … having recently read about the healing potential of this rather natural activity.

When your bare feet are in direct contact with the ground, free electrons from the earth transfer into your body via the soles of your feet. These free electrons are incredibly powerful antioxidants. Studies have shown that free electrons from the earth cause beneficial changes in heart rate, decrease inflammation, reduce pain, promotes healthy sleep, and thin your blood.

Parkinson’s, like all diseases has an inflammatory element. In this case, the key inflammation to address is in the brain. This is actually quite comforting to me, because it suggests that I must have a brain … a question I was constantly asked growing up!

The idea that grounding has health benefits makes perfect sense to me because last summer, I noticed that my arms didn’t tremble when I was on, in or near water. I believe the Earth, being an energetic being, has tremendous healing potential and so being in direct contact with it’s basic elements must be beneficial. It’s also worth noting that in her book, Why Suffer, Ann Wigmore, founder of the Hippocrates Health Institute, recalls how her grandmother would treat patients by having them lie on the ground for hours at a time.

Grounding also lets me feel like a kid!

As an aside, I discovered a couple of years ago that my arms don’t tremble when I’m laying on my back. This was a marvellous discovery for me, because now I can lie around without feeling guilty.

So, now my meditation, exercise & healing program looks like this:

• Meditation…5 – 20 mins each morning
• Walk…for one hour, 5 – 6 times per week
• Grounding…every day for as much time as possible
• Chin ups, push ups & high intensity exercises…1 – 3 times a aweek
• Hot yoga…periodically
• Stretches…4 – 5 times a week
• Martial arts…various exercises while teaching, 4 nights a week
• Emotional healing…daily
• Body Stress Relief…once a month

And my average daily diet looks like this:

• Breakfast…protein drink (raw eggs, spinach/kale, walnuts, pepitas, brazil nuts, olive oil, coconut oil, cinnamon, hemp or brown rice protein powder, rice milk & water) as well as 3 cooked eggs with some veggies and fish.
• Dinner…organic meat, brown rice or potatoes or sweet potatoes, steamed or lightly cooked veggies and protein drink.
• After karate meal…cucumber with hummus, or stew or soup, protein drink
• Snacks…nuts & seeds, a mixture of sunflower butter, nuts & seeds & raw honey…it’s awesome.

I do a lot of stews and I use a lot of cloves and turmeric in them. Both spices have plenty of health benefits. Stews easy to prepare and I can do 3 or 4 meals in advance. Because I teach in the evenings, I typically have a late breakfast and early dinner, so I eat something light when I get home from karate.

The Parkinson’s symptoms I experience are as follows:

• Trembling…in my left arm & hand and right wrist
• Imbalance…standing, sitting and walking. People must think I’m drunk all the time!
• Loss of strength, mobility, dexterity and coordination in my left arm, hand and fingers … makes guitar playing a challenge.

I anticipate the healing process to go like this:

• Step 1: heal the gastrointestinal tract
• Step 2: strengthen the immune system
• Step 3: correct the neurotransmitter imbalance
• Step 4: eliminate the symptoms

As I become aware of different healing strategies… whether specific to Parkinson’s or not … and health conditions that are implicated in the development of the disease, I will incorporate them into my program and report on my progress.

Have an awesomely healthy day!

Intestinal Fortitude vs Insanity: Hot Yoga, The 3rd Installment

Mid way through my third hot yoga class I found myself deep in thought. I was thinking that hot yoga actually requires a little intestinal fortitude. Some of the poses, particularly the balancing ones, are not exactly easy …. and I found my self several times feeling quite relieved when the instructor instructed us to move on to the next pose.

It made me think about how intestinal fortitude helps us cope with adversity, especially when we’re able to do it cheerfully, rather than angrily.

Hot yoga is particularly challenging because of the heat aspect … 113 degrees is a temperature I would normally cope with using the assistance of a cold Corona or icy Margaritas … and I felt quite proud of myself!

But then deep in the recesses of my mind a nagging little voice piped in with, “it’s not intestinal fortitude, it’s insanity!”

“What?” I said.

“You heard me,” the voice replied.

It was sort of like that same voice that keeps telling you to do your homework when you’d rather be watching the latest episode of your favourite television show. You’re not really listening to it, but you can hear it, and it makes you want to beat up your little brother … not, of course, that you would ever really want to beat up your little brother … I hope!

At first the voice was almost inaudible, but then it kept getting louder and I found myself unable to ignore it. Perhaps the voice was being influenced by the book I’m reading. It’s called, Gobi Runner. It’s written by Stefan Danis, a Canadian, who ran the 6-day, 250 kilometer, Gobi Desert Run, through inhospitable terrain in plus 40 degree celsius temperatures. Quite often reading this book I’ve found myself bouncing back and forth between marvelling at what it must take to complete such a race versus the insanity in even thinking about undertaking it.

I ran a marathon 12 years ago and I thought it took quite a lot of intestinal fortitude to train and run the race. I will never forget those 3 and 4 hour weekend runs in freezing cold and blowing snow. Some people thought I was nuts. Perhaps the line between intestinal fortitude and insanity is much narrower than I thought.  Perhaps there are just varying degrees of insanity depending on your point of view.

Perhaps the difference between intestinal fortitude and insanity depends on your circumstances or your motivation. Did you put your self there willingly? Are you doing it to disprove a sense of inadequacy? Are you being adventurous? Does your motivation come from a place of self love or self hatred? All relevant questions.

The voice was clearly at odds with my rational mind that couldn’t help but think about Victor Frankl’s magnificent book, Man’s Search for Meaning, in which he documented his experience in surviving the Auschwitz concentration camp during WWII. All concentration camp survivors, I think, displayed incredible intestinal fortitude.

I think it’s okay to test yourself. Knowing you have a little intestinal fortitude can help you get through difficult times, and these are undoubtedly difficult times.

In any event, my mind was eventually drawn back into the yoga studio. It was time to have a drink and high five my yoga partner for another enjoyably awesome experience. The voice was gone, hopefully, never to return. But if it does, I’ll just remind it that I have lots of intestinal fortitude. I’m a Toronto Maple Leafs fan

Have an awesome day!

The Joy of Hot Yoga

Today I did my first hot yoga class … and I’m happy to report that my body and self esteem survived intact … although I’m not so sure about my t-shirt and shorts.

For those of you who’ve never done hot yoga, it’s pretty much like regular yoga, except that you’re in a room where the temperature is quite warm. For today’s class, it was a sizzling 113 degrees Fahrenheit!  Now that may not seem very hot to those of you who live in Arizona or somewhere near the vicinity of the equator, but in Canada in mid-January, I can assure you, it has the intended effect.

Prior to the class, I was feeling a little apprehension.  Would I be able to handle the heat? Would I embarrass myself in front of all these seasoned yoga people, or whatever you call them? Perfectly reasonable questions to ask, I’m sure you would agree.

However, upon arriving at the studio I discovered that I wasn’t the only newcomer, and so with rented mat in hand and brimming with confidence, I entered the yoga room.

Expecting to be hit by a wave of stifling heat, I was pleased to discover that the room didn’t feel that hot at all…I failed to take into consideration that, with the door opening and closing, the air temperature near the door is somewhat cooler than the rest of the room. Duh!

We were first instructed to lay down on our mats, close our eyes, relax and breathe. This was great. With each inhale, I could almost hear my muscles say, “thanks Fred,” as they fell deeper and deeper into a relaxed state. It was quite tranquil.

And then the lesson started.

We began with a series of poses that were challenging enough to test my balance and flexibility, but not enough to send me into panic mode, and for the next 20 minutes or so I felt quite comfortable. Silly boy!

After the second or third drink break, I started to notice it. The heat. It was subtle alright, but it just kept coming.

Then all of a sudden, BAMM, as if it occurred spontaneously, I realized my entire body was bathed in sweat. And there was no stopping it. It just kept getting warmer and warmer and I just kept getting sweatier and sweatier.

I first knew I was in trouble while trying to do the tree pose.  My hand kept slipping off my knee, like a cowboy on a greased pig. Next, while in raised plank, sweat dripped relentlessly from my forehead, nose and chin.  Even my ears were dripping sweat and didn’t think ears could do that. I watched helplessly as each bead of perspiration fell from my face and disappeared without a trace into my poor mat.

My tongue, dry as a bramble on the desert, cried out for water, as I panted wildly like a dog in the hot sun. With each subsequent pose my thigh, calf and butt muscles screamed in agony, as the sweat continued to pour off me like an angry river.

“Only 30 more minutes,” I heard the instructor say, cheerfully.

“What!” I said desperately to the guy beside me displaying the demeanor of a Buddhist monk relaxing leisurely on the beach.

He just smiled.

Clearly, I was on my own. I would have to muster up the courage to carry on and finish this endeavour…and I did!

Several gallons of sweat lighter, soaked from head to foot, my t-shirt and shorts completely saturated, I walked triumphantly from the room. I felt good!

Later, upon arriving home, I was feeling full of life, when I looked in the back of my truck and discovered that my t-shirt and shorts were now frozen solid and stuck to the truck.

Can’t wait for my next class!

Have an awesome day!