100 Days - What is Life?

What is life exactly?

I’ve come to realize that LIFE is not only what is taking place outside of us, around us, with us and to us – it should be equally (perhaps more so?) inside of us. And for me, for a very long time, if ever at all – there was little life to be lived on the inside.

My gut had ‘dead-spots’, it was leaky, and generally non functioning in the appropriate ways to sustain life. By that I mean – there were not enough beneficial organisms helping me digest food, extract nutrients and make vitamins. 

Over the years I have seen more and more people with these dead areas in their guts mostly as a result of antibiotic medication but another big culprit are birth control pills, chlorinated water, the too numerous to count chemicals in our food and the fact that our guts are not set up from birth in the first place anymore.

Our mothers cannot pass on organisms to us as babies they no longer have, not that many of us were breast fed in the past few generations but these organisms when they are available, find ways to get to and inside of us even without the breast feeding. When they are present, they will be in our environment as well.

It appears as if entire species of gut flora have simply died off inside of our guts and are no longer to be found in the modern human.

For quite some time people have been aware of these facts (antibiotic use is deadly in so many ways) and they have been taking steps to get their probiotic flora back on track and literally regrow  damaged gut biofilm….however I am not convinced we are doing enough nor are these always the right kind of organisms that are needed to colonise our bodies. 

We have been convinced by those who manufacture these bugs that there are a narrow group of 3 or 4 types of bacterial strains and this will do the entire job of keeping us healthy, setting up our immune response, digesting food, healing and sealing the gut and to generally carry out some of the numerous other vital functions of gut flora.

I think this is entirely wrong thinking. 

We are off tract in the gut microbes department and we are paying the price with poorer health, more chronic dis-ease and a complete inability to protect ourselves from ordinary (read necessary) viruses and bugs that have co-evolved alongside humanity for millennium. 

So what to do about all of this?

One place to start is to grow a garden. Get your hands dirty, then eat some real raw foods that you’ve had a hand in producing. Next, take some of those raw foods and create kitchen magic by making sauerkrauts, kimchee, kombucha types of drinks, natural and wild yeasted foods and some of the many other alchemical processes we know can increase the presence of beneficial bacteria in and around us. 

If you want your health, body and soul back – it’s time to take back your life and that begins on the inside.

Vegetables growing in the garden......

Check out my upcoming classes on Wild Fermentation & Food Alchemy 

100 Days ......Juicing, Fasting and Bone Broth

We are back on our schedule of not really fasting....but not really eating either!! Let me explain.....

These past few weeks I have done 30 days on juices and smoothies - with at least 50% vegetables in each one and the rest some kind of fruit. 

I am really finding great benefits from the cabbage - one of the most underrated healing foods of all time and indeed my best 'superfood' discovery to date. It has completely changed the way my gut works and helped build up those beneficial organisms in a massive way. 

Then we did 30 days on juices, smoothies and bone broth made from meats. It was another awesome month and one of complete gains in terms of healing benefits. My sore knee got better. My thinking and focus clearer and I just could sense a great change - once again in my gut bacteria. 

Of course.....you know me, I have been adding in some of my own fermented Sauerkraut (I just crave the stuff!) and have even been known to juice it along the way as well as taking a daily few tablespoons of my Cleanse Juice Apple Cider Vinegar - which is mighty stuff! 

Between each of these 30 day lifestyle menu changes we took a weeks break to eat breads, cereals, treats and enjoy a few grains and things that were missing from our diet. But only for a week - sort of a little celebration timed to coincide with full moons and feast times.

Right now we are back on track with another 40 days this time of more of the same. Lots of smoothies & fresh veggie juices, fish and bone broth, some other proteins are included such as duck eggs and a few beans. 

We are all feeling great - it's as if this was the little push that was needed to get our energy/motivation/focus back and to really concentrate on all the little things that needed to be done over this summer. 

Now, if we could only change the weather - we'd be all set! 

April

Juice Fast - Healing your body & Changing Your Life

I am still fasting….today is day 23 of my plan for doing 30 days this time around. It feels so good to be back to fasting – I’ve done so many shorter fasts of 2 or 4 days over this past year or so, however, my body feels like it is working at creating greater change whenever I undertake these longer fasts.

Besides all of the mental, spiritual and emotional benefits, there is no end to the physical benefits a body experiences as you fast your way to better well-being. The sheer physical changes that a person goes through each day as we detox are astounding.

Not only is my body detoxing, it is also rapidly changing out old cells, building up bacterial colonies, letting go of debris and revamping vitamin, mineral and nutrient stores. I can feel my stomach and intestines regenerating.

Because this is a juice fast, I am taking in ‘food’, but it is liquid and full of flavour. I think a true juice fast is a bit like an IV infusion….your stomach and intestines are completely empty and cleaned out. You take in liquid juice which absorbs directly into your system through that empty, unclogged stomach….

All of those vitamins and nutrients are being directed into the healing, detoxing and cleansing work that needs to be done each day of the fast. What an awesome thing to experience! I am making my own concoction of a combined fresh juice with fermented juices....truly life changing. 

Yesterday I realized I was craving meat. Of course I thought this was very strange as I have done many fasts and never, ever craved meat before. I always crave apples, grapes, onions, garlic or some other fruit and vegetables, besides, I eat very little meat and never crave it. Then I realized I was getting all of those things into me with the juice, so my mind was craving other types of foods and perhaps protein will be first on my agenda when I am done with my fast….

I am also far more aware of my skin this time around, which is exactly what I wanted….our skin contains the roots of our Energy Field, an often overlooked but extremely vital and important part of our overall health. When we nourish all of these elements of our beings we can truly enter a state of optimum health.

Looking forward to enjoying these last few days on my fast  to see what this next detox cycle brings and then on to much more,

April

Life is a bowl of fruit salad......

Fasting with a Goal - Spiritual Quest

It is now 10 June and I am just finishing up 3 x 3 days of fasting on more of the same types of drinks….this time it has been mostly on my own as the others took longer food breaks. I kind of wanted to see how I would do on my own as well, and it was better then fine.

So, today is day 8 of my planned 9 days. I refer to it as 3 x 3 because I broke this fast down into 3 day or 72 hour increments with a goal to be achieved by the end of each section of 3 days each.

Actually I started out my fast with 3 questions that I wanted answers to and treated my time as an intense spiritual quest. And you know what? It worked far better, it has been easier and I have really found some deeper insights into the issues I was searching for. 

This is what fasting is all about – set a goal (it could be health, breaking bad habits, changing something, making or creating something or any number of questions you want answers to) then follow through with the fasting all the while focusing on your task.

There really aren’t any rules when it comes to fasting. Except, you don’t eat! LOL.

One of the things I have changed this time around is I am taking in more Apple Cider Vinegar. Of course that’s easy to do when mine tastes so good (can’t beat Rebel Foods ACV!) and I am adding it in to everything I drink.

I realized I was taking the usual amount of about 2 tablespoons each day – however, during a fast/healing situation, my body was constantly craving more. So I upped it to about ½ cup to nearly 1 cup throughout the day. 

And I immediately felt the difference. My energy went up – things started to ‘move’ at a faster pace, less detox symptoms and generally brighter all round. My body simply feels even cleaner, if that is possible.

The most wonderful thing about all of this is I do feel I have turned a corner – you remember from my initial goal of wanting to completely change out my gut bacteria into healthy colonies throughout, well that is happening. 

Only over these last 10 days or so can I say I do sense a significant shift in my internal gut flora and indeed in my overall body flora. Thankfully being tuned in really helps – but you can’t help being well informed when you are fasting.

There is only you and your body - in constant contact.

Right now I am finishing this post and I have reached my 9 days goal – just a few more hours to go and see how I will feel. I plan to take a couple of eating days to feed all of these good bacteria now living in my body and then go right back to fasting for the next phase of bringing back my life….

Onwards & Upwards

April

Rebel Foods Market Stall - Apple Cider Vinegar 

Gut Bacteria Profile Change....Days 13 to 16

Day 13 to 16

We are back fasting again after a days break – back on the liquids – this week I am taking in my fermented juices (kiwi, strawberry, orange, lemon & ginger) as well as apple cider vinegar, beetroot juice and raspberry apple vinegar plus 1 - 2 tablespoons of homemade goat’s yogurt a day in the drinks. 

Well, this time the transition from eating to fasting was a little bit more difficult. But, not because I wanted to eat or anything – my mind is clearly made up on that matter and I have no desire for food at the moment. It was something else, less tangible at first.

It actually took me a couple of days to ‘readjust’ (slip back into detox mode) into fasting again after taking a little break. Which was strange – I could feel such a resistance coming from somewhere deep in my gut and it was all to familiar.

I have some interesting thoughts on all of this – and I feel we are making significant progress. 

One of the things I noticed right away was that the difficulty was coming from gut bacteria. Of course, I would probably put these bacteria in the camp of non-beneficial ones as they have been giving me grief all along (deep inflammation).

That’s the reason I need to do a bacteria change out in the first place – my gut was never set up properly from the beginning of my life. Too many antibiotics, too many infections, reactions to vaccines, drugs, solid food way too early, and toxic exposure to endocrine disruptors. 

Whew! Anything else to add to that list....sadly all to common these days.

And that’s just what I know about! All of these same bacteria (remember they are present from the first years of our lives) or their descendants are still lurking around the place. These are the exact same ones that brought me IBS symptoms, digestive issues, arthritic pain, poor skin, non-functional hormones and cancer.

Is it any wonder I want them gone? LOL

This week, what flared up for me was an old inflammation (read hospital infection MRSA) that I had many years ago. Right now I can see how these infections (there have been 4) over the years have been the source of a lot of deep rooted inflammation leading to aches, pains and general ill health. 

Hospitals are filthy places for anyone, sick or otherwise! 

Actually I am quite pleased this has come up – this has shown me how much the probiotics are doing and hopefully (finally) taking root deep within my gut. I know they have to battle the other ones first and I am giving them space to do just that, through the fasting. 

That’s what this fast is all about.

Quite a few other things have surfaced for me as well. Mostly about how much our gut flora (and skin organisms too - one and the same?) must affect our thinking, behaviour, habits, moods, cravings, energy levels, nutrient absorption, digestion, immune system and all else. 

When our guts are down – so is everything else. Including our moods, thoughts and thinking, that's the first thing we learn as Nutritionists.

There really is a link between what inhabits our guts and how we go about our days – feelings, thoughts, and perhaps all else. I have long ‘known’ this was a fact, but only now am I getting a chance to watch it and feel it shift and change as my gut does the same. 

And of course, I have been talking about ‘obesity bacteria’ for years – they are generated and sustained from all of these medications, chlorinated water, rubbish foods and chemicals we are subjected to….not the least of which are these deadly antibiotics.

Our bodies are extraordinary places, and our gut flora is a living matrix capable of amazing healing – it’s not to be tampered with, only supported! Out with the trash....LOL

April

Dandelion Coffee is fabulous for your gut health! And it tastes great too....available on my Market Stall or by mail order! 

Building A Gut Profile......Days 10 to 12 of Our Probiotic Fast

Day 10 to 12

We are now on day 13 of our fast and feeling pretty good. To be honest, most of the time I feel as if I could carry on indefinitely – I think this is what it feels like to make progress!

Now, to catch you up on what I have been doing….

Days 10 and 11, we just fasted on our fermented drinks, apple cider vinegar and beet root fermented juices. Oh, and I have increased my intake of herbal teas – now I am including a liver tonic along with the hormone balance herbs.

During my fasts is the only time I have experienced unprecedented healing/balancing/regulating of body systems. Therefore, it always makes sense to me to take in lots of herbal teas anytime I fast because you get results far more quickly. Even if only doing a day here and there, herbal tea is the way to go!

To be honest, I just find that all healing takes place at an unprecedented rate whenever I am fasting….healing a body ‘system’ such as immune, endocrine and especially the digestive tract, is much more straight forward when unimpeded by food, debris and by products of metabolism. 

Of course, our bodies heal from the top down, inside out, however, the largest fires will be put out first. So, healing takes time and continued effort on our parts. Deeper inflammation takes the longest. But, you will see improvements no matter how long the fast!

Then, for day 12 - we broke our fast again with lots of garlic with a plan to have some milky foods the next day. I keep craving milk (perhaps because we have so much of it right now!). Over these past couple of days I have been wondering about the best way to get it into my system – fermented milk products are awesome for gut bacteria especially homemade from raw milk.

So, I decided to include some dandelion coffee with our own raw goat’s milk in it, a couple times a week to also help build beneficial bacterial colonies. It tastes great (we gave up drugged coffee years ago) and dandelion has the added benefit of supporting our livers. 

BUT….did you know that dandelion root is also a prebiotic? This means it has components that feed and benefit gut bacteria in their struggle to survive. And roasted dandelion root or dandelion coffee tastes quite nice. It’s a bitter herb needed to keep things in a healthy balance. 

What I know about beneficial bacteria in our guts is that they need all sorts of different foods (raw, living, wild, cooked, sweet, bitter, sour, fibre) to nourish them. Because this is a probiotic fast, I can see and feel already how it is working.

Over these next few hours I plan on getting a little bit of milk into my system – raw and fermented in smoothies and with dandelion coffee as well as perhaps a little meat or fish. 

Meat sounds like a weird thing to include on a mini break from our liquid fast days, however, we also have gut microbes who are complete carnivores (just like my cat) and I want to feed them as well. 

Let’s keep everyone happy in there! 

Up to this point I am feeling very well. I always feel great when I am fasting and my energy levels are quite good – even for all of the detox, changeover and perhaps a bit of an immune boost that is taking place in our guts. There’s a lot of shifting and changing going on…..

April

Getting there!

Fasting - Healing & Sealing the Gut

Day 13

Today is another day fasting –  we are living without food and taking in only liquid drinks, but we are not without sustenance. We were just chatting about how we feel after nearly 2 weeks without solid food and the consensus is – pretty good!

This morning, when comparing how we feel right now to how we might (usually) feel during a Master Cleanse or a water fast – we all agree that we are not tired, we are generally not cold, nor are we hungry or low in energy. 

I’m not even sure we are detoxing at all because this is too easy!! LOL But, all the other signs of a detox/cleanse are there including loads of dreams, deep sleeping, huge energy patterns rising up to the surface, coated tongue, bright eyes, clear skin, a need to clear the house and so forth.

Our plan is to stop shortly for a family birthday/thanksgiving feast – some years we skip this and put it off for after Christmas, but this year we really want to celebrate. After all, I feel we have so much to be thankful for – we are healthy, moving forward and alive.

Which brings me back to why we are doing this fast using only the probiotic drinks (Rebel Juice) I make for ourselves and the market in West Cork. I wanted to see what would happen to our guts. Would they change out in terms of old bacteria leaving and dying off, more colonies of candida being brought under control, internal and outer balance with regards to gut flora overall?

After all, as a Medical Intuitive and Clinical Nutritionist, my main interest is in how these processes work and why it is so vital that we make fundamental changes when we can. Our guts are basically in charge of a lot of physical, emotional and cognitive function - so this is the single most important area in our bodies. 

And a very good reason to choose to detox. Whenever we have been exposed to antibiotics, medication and general toxins, including stress and toxic situation, our guts tend to need healing and sealing afterwards. 

Right now I am watching for signs of these changes of deep healing and internal sealing within our bodies – perhaps later this week when we go back to eating solid foods we will see the full benefits of this fast with our digestions up and running. 

But, there are little things changing already - creativity is opened up and the desire to be organized is very present - both very mental processes.

I knew this was a mind cleanse or as my son calls it, an oil change! LOL

April

Geese in the garden enjoying the sun

Energy Vampires.....Leave You With Nothing in Reserve

These days I find myself back onto the subject of Energy Vampires with some further insights and deeper understanding of how they may be operating in our lives….some of the most common questions are, just what have they stolen from us, and where, how, why is it being taken?….

Well, this subject has come up for me time and again over these past few weeks. I have spoken to quite a few people as well, about the seemingly modern day problem of vampires and their own experiences with it.

For one thing….it appears to be getting worse (or at least we are far more aware of it) and there is an obsession (just look at what people are watching, reading and writing about) with vampires, ghouls, monsters and the zombies they create.

That’s right – many of us who have been leaking energy, under attack and drained of our life force are empty shells (zombies) walking around in a thick haze of nothingness.

The land that time forgot, these spaces in-between are places we humans get stuck in (feeling blocked/stuck in life?) once we have been accessed and then left ‘frozen’ (fear, pain, grief, loss, emptiness) by the many energy sucking entities roaming the earth.

This is taking place because we are allowing our essence or life force to ebb away with a steady diet of sterile, dead, plastic manufactured foods as well as walking around with guts that have never been sealed. But, this just goes hand in hand with our sterile, empty, plastic manufactured life, doesn’t it…..

Our guts, bodies, skin, inner and outer beings are not meant to be sterile (or wide open!). We are part of the living forces of this planet and as such should be fully caught up in all dimensions of aliveness taking place here.

The more we dampen down our internal gut flora, lessen our own immune defences and response as well as continue to consume food, water and air devoid of life’s essential elements – well, we just invite the energy vampires to take over, because let’s face it…..

If you’re not using it (life force), someone else is. It’s like an open door…..the nasty bugs, viruses and microscopic whatnot’s are just waiting for any opportunity (they are opportunistic organisms!) to jump in and take over.

Some of the symptoms of being drained by energy vampires are lack of interest, tiredness, unable to focus or concentrate, loss of creativity, change in facial features (especially eyes, skin), weight gain, hormone imbalance, IBS, chronic infections, and a sense of feeling badly (remorse?) about something…..

I have seen this come up repeatedly in people who reach their ‘maximum’ output where work/life/living is concerned. For example, they push themselves to do a little bit extra and then crash due to lack of energy.

There are simply no reserves (they have been siphoned off).

So….keep taking those antibiotics, drugs, Deadly Nightshades and the medication that you don’t need, instead of making changes to your diet, lifestyle and attitude. I hear zombieland is open for business…..

April 

Turtle in the grass - out for a walk

Gut Health, Fasting and Physical Strength

Thankfully the sun is shining – otherwise rain would have added a strange dimension to the energy of this day. It has been an eye opener to say the least…after several dreams last night I was happy to wake up this morning.

I am sure we all have those nights where we sleep so deeply – but not in a restful way. Yet, I felt as if I was somewhere else and needed to come back from that place. Perhaps it was a part of me that has been away for quite some time, it certainly feels like it.

We are just coming back this week into increasing our exercise as well as talking about our next adventures in fasting. I think I will do some day on, day off – with weight training in between for the next little while to build myself up again.

Right now my focus in on building up my gut – I can sense a lot of changes taking place over these last couple of weeks and I really want to keep that going as well as perhaps enhance it in some way.

It’s as if as a result of each of these intense fasts, cleanses and detoxes I have done over the last couple of years have cleared out my gut enough to bring back life to the places and spaces where previously there wasn’t any.

No wonder I actually feel different – inside as well as outside – things are just different for me. My task now is to get used to this new way of being as well as to learn how to nurture myself in a new way. It’s a different sort of thinking really – to grow, cook, eat and prepare our food in such a way that will protect and enhance the delicate ecosystem inside.

But, the link here is how gut health, physical strength and cleansing are all inter-related. When your focus is on one, and you see it through, then you can focus on the others -- building up one area will enhance and affect the others as well. 

In lots of ways I have been doing this all along – no sugar, no medication, no caffeine, no Nightshades, no plastic etc. for many years should have helped. But, it was the actual clearing out of old debris that finally brought things back.

It just goes to show you – you can’t grow much of anything worthwhile on a rubbish heap, you do have to clear it out first.

April

Raising Your Vibration - One Cell at a Time

This has been a strange couple of days – not really feeling much like myself, but have been too busy to stop and have a think about exactly what is happening. Right now I am making myself take the time to tune in and get my feet back on the ground....

I love any feast or celebration – this week we have had a couple of them which means I have been baking and cooking all week. But, in that work I have also been processing some pretty deep and dark energies - keeping busy is often the best way through it. 

For the most part, I have been really focused on getting my life back – inside and out. For me, this means, I have been paying careful attention to how this is taking place, especially in my gut. I have been working towards this end for quite some time and it is really great to feel more alive.

Of course along with feeling more alive comes other new sensations of new found consciousness – it’s like an awakening of a different sort. Rather then the mind awakening more deeply, this is now a physical awakening.

I have long known and explained in my books and classes how when you are raising your consciousness, your body leaves no stone unturned. All of you -- each and every part of your body must be in alignment with this process or it doesn’t happen as it should.

That means even the bacteria in your gut will wake up, become aware and in all ways work with you on a conscious level. Every part of your body must be part of this change in vibration – all cells, tissues, organs.

So, piece by piece your body is cleared, cleansed, detoxed while the heavy stagnant energy is lifted off, broken down and transformed. Your body must become your own again and that takes work. This is the specific work of the spiritual path. To clear the way inside and out for higher levels of consciousness. Your body is not a temple until you make it so. It is not a whole and healthy place in the same way – this all takes effort.

And the way you eat is a vital part of choosing to live a spiritual life. Your food is who you are – it works equally at keeping body, mind and soul together – make it count.

April