Healing Parkinson’s Disease Naturally – Recovery Inspiration #103 … Living spiritually with Parkinson’s!

If you have been following my blog, you will likely know my belief is this neurological condition we’re experiencing, in fact any challenge we are facing, is meant to guide us to an understanding of our true nature and purpose! It has spiritual meaning!

It is meant for us to learn that we are more than just physical beings here to amass and consume. We are not just the physical bodies we inhabit, nor are we our thoughts and beliefs, or the emotions we feel. We are actually spiritual beings having a human experience, living in oneness with the universal-energetic-intelligence [God]. We are the conscious observers of our body, thoughts, feelings and experiences. This is Eckhart Tolle’s primary message!

But how do we live spiritually given the daily challenges we face? How do we live spiritually when we are in a state of anxiety, trembling, shuffle walking, trying to maintain our balance, struggling to perform simple tasks like tying up our shoes or getting out of a chair, or experiencing constipation? It’s not easy!

To begin, I remind myself every day that what I am experiencing has purpose. Not only is it meant to guide us to spiritual awakening, it is also meant to guide us away from fear, to divine love! To reinforce this, each day I recite my spiritual version of the 23rd Psalm as well as my divine love mantra [see below].

Next, I do my best to live in the present moment. This is another one of Eckhart’s key messages. It is okay to reflect on the past, but we don’t live in it. Similarly, it is okay to plan for the future, but we don’t live in it. We only ever live in the present moment. It’s all there is. I do my best to place my attention on whatever I am doing. I also focus on my breath or simply look around and observe.

Whenever the present moment is unpleasant I do my best to accept the circumstances and remind myself that it is only temporary. It will pass!

I spend time in nature! I love the serenity and I can sense the healing energy! There is nothing quite like the joy of walking through the forest or sitting by the lake!

I talk to the universal-energetic-intelligence. I carry on a conversation just like I would as if I was talking to you. I give thanks. I make observations. It is a great way to connect with the divine!

I live lovingly! I am kind, compassionate, generous, grateful and forgiving! My mantra is, we could change the world simply by being kind to one another!

I practice Qigong. Qigong is about cultivating chi [energy]. It is a very spiritual practice!

I pray as an expression of gratitude!

I yell hallelujah! As I discussed in my last post, this too is a great way to connect with the divine!

I believe in my heart living spiritually is a big, essential step towards recovering my health! At the very least, it helps me to manage my day-to-day challenges in a more loving manner!

23rd Psalm [spiritual version]:

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Spirit makes me lie down in green pastures and leads me beside still waters. Spirit restores my soul and leads me down a path of spiritual awakening for my highest good. Spirit helps me to feel good about myself. Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of impermanence I shall fear no darkness, for thou art with me. Your love and compassion comfort me. You help me to understand, accept and let go of my past, and in the process, you help me to forgive. You also help me to live in the present moment. My life is filled with abundance. Surely peace love joy abundance and bliss will be with me all the rest of my days. And I will dwell in spiritual consciousness forever! Hallelujah!

Divine love mantra:

The universal-energetic-intelligence, which is pure love, wishes to expand itself. It wishes to expand love in the universe, through experience. Through my experience and the experience of every other entity in the universe. We are the vessels for the expression and expansion of love. And the best thing I can do to contribute to this expansion is to fully surrender to the will and wisdom of the universal-energetic-intelligence; live in love by being kind, compassionate, generous, forgiving and grateful; acknowledge my true essence which is divine love; and live in the present moment. And I can do this, because I live in spiritual consciousness and I choose to celebrate life. I choose to honour and enjoy the journey and embrace the adventure. I am so grateful for the opportunity I’ve been given to participate in the flow-of-life and contribute to the expansion of divine love! Hallelujah!

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Healing Parkinson’s Disease Naturally – Recovery Inspiration #97 … Stilling the body!

Trembling isn’t the most troublesome symptom I experience. That distinction goes to loss of balance and freezing, with an honourable mention to constipation. I attribute the minimal trembling I experience to the bodywork I am doing, namely, four chiropractic treatments a month. [A few years ago when I started doing Body Stress Relief therapy, the trembling I was experiencing was reduced by about 75%]

Healing Parkinson’s Disease Naturally – Recovery Inspiration #85 … Car travel intensifies symptoms!

A few years ago [I don’t recall exactly when], I noticed that driving intensified my symptoms. Not long after that, I noticed that my symptoms got worse even when I was a passenger in the car.

Last week, I took a rather long driving trip to visit family and friends, including my mentally handicapped brother who is in declining health. Every day involved a significant amount of time in the car, including nine hours on day one and six hours on the last day.

Healing Parkinson’s Disease Naturally – Recovery Inspiration #30 … ‘Experience’ rather than ‘disease’!

I am rereading Wayne Dyer’s book, change your thoughts change your life, living the wisdom of the Tao. Verse 2 addresses the concept of contrast…Long is defined by short, the high by the low.

Healing Parkinson’s Disease Naturally – Recovery Inspiration #19 … Surrender to the Experience!

Thanks to a recent conversation with a friend, I had an epiphany about my experience with this neurological condition. I realized that I have been spending far too much time thinking about the symptoms I experience; wanting not to experience them.

Healing Parkinson’s Disease Naturally – Recovery Inspiration #5 … The Benefits of Nutraceuticals!

Thank you so much to Jimmy, who reads the blogs I post, for providing a link to an important article on the benefits of nutraceuticals in treating PD. It was published in the  September 2016 edition of NeuroMolecular  Medicine and contains a lot of medical terminology, but it’s well worth the read.

My Journey with Parkinson’s … A Natural Approach: Post 177 … A new way of looking at things: overcoming detrimental beliefs!

The purpose of this blog post is to set the record straight … for me! You see, I was raised to understand life in certain ways and this understanding led me to develop a whole raft of detrimental beliefs, which have caused me considerable suffering and are at the root of the neurological condition I’m experiencing. I was also raised in accordance with strict rules and expectations, much of which was based on this understanding, and failure to follow these rules and meet these expectations was often dealt with in quite a harsh way, causing considerable emotional pain, much of which was never resolved.

My Journey with Parkinson’s … A Natural Approach: Post 117 … Take a Deep Breath!

Quite often I find myself experiencing a lot of tension. I might be sitting at the computer, watching television, eating, walking, driving or even just sitting in my chair enjoying the view of the lake. I can feel the tension in my neck and back. My arms and shoulders are all tensed up. Quite often my arms will be trembling. I’m typically not thinking about anything in particular.

Recovering from Parkinson’s Disease: Step 9 – Bodywork

Early in 1993, I was midway through my karate training on my way to earning a black belt. As much as I loved the training, my body was a mess. Every one of my joints was in pain and a back injury I sustained in 1986 doing yard work had flared up on me. I had reached the point where I had to do something or I was going to have to put my training on hold.

A Healthy Immune System: It’s Our Choice

Convincing people to eat a more healthy diet is a considerable challenge. Healthy eating takes willpower. It’s not easy to resist the temptation of a piece of chocolate or a burger loaded with bacon, cheese and ketchup. Nor is it always easy to take the time to prepare and cook nutritious foods when you can reach in the cupboard or pick up the phone and have something on the table in short order and with little effort. However, knowing that a healthy diet is key to having a healthy immune system can inspire us to make better choices at meal time.

Our immune system is vital to our health. In fact, the state of our health is pretty much entirely dependent on the state of our immune system (IS). If our IS is in good working order, it’s almost impossible for us to get sick.

According to The Healing Code, written by Alex Lloyd and Ben Johnson, only one thing compromises our IS, and that is stress. Stress comes primarily in four forms: first, an unhealthy diet; second, day to day stress; third, unresolved emotional pain; and, four, physical trauma to the body. If the stress is mild or short-term, generally our IS can handle. The problem is that we’re overloading our immune system with all forms of stress.

Given that 80% of our IS is situated in our gastrointestinal tract, the single most important thing we can do for it is to eat healthy foods. It’s the surest way to keep from getting colds, flus and even cancer. Unfortunately, the lure of tasty, unhealthy stuff is quite often too irresistible and so we opt for foods and snacks that aren’t good for us.

The second important thing we can do for our IS is to feel good about ourselves. When we feel good about ourselves we make better food choices and we are generally much happier…we are not so affected by day to day stress. A happy mind helps keep our body’s pH level in the 7.0 to 7.4 range which promotes a healthy IS.

Changing the way we eat begins with awareness. It is really important to know about the effects of all the food we consume. Yes, everyone knows that eating candies, snack foods and fast foods isn’t exactly going to help you live til 100. But it is also important to be aware of the negative health effects artificial sweeteners (esp. aspartame), sugar, margarine, dairy, pasteurized juices, processed foods and genetically modified foods (esp. corn), because in many cases we’ve been led to believe the exact opposite.

We also need to be aware of the positive effects of fermented foods (like sauerkraut and kefir), which put healthy bacteria into our digestive system, and Vit D (esp. from the sun), which promotes a healthy IS.

Folks, it’s like we’ve been given a choice. We can choose short term ego gratification by stuffing ourselves with tasty, unhealthy foods or we can choose long term health. Because I am in the process of healing Parkinson’s, my choice was made easy for me. I just wish I had this awareness, wisdom and willpower before I got sick, and I wish the same for you.

In recognition of the importance of maintaining a healthy immune system, this month at our karate club–Georgina Family Martial Arts–we’re celebrating Be Kind to Our Immune System and we invite you to celebrate it with us by making healthy food choices.

Honouring your immune system is a wonderful gift you can give yourself! We wish you healthy eating and an awesome day!