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Wednesday, 2 September 2015

Energy Fields, Energy Leaks & the Human Body

I get asked lots of questions on my market stall and through emails, texts and messages…..many of those are about my understanding and extensive work with the human energy field.

The energy field is one of the areas I have been looking into for most of my life in an effort to make sense of exactly what is taking place in and around us (especially those who are walking a spiritual path) and of course to learn how to work with it more effectively.

You probably know about my book Closing the Energy Leaks© or ‘Windows’ as we like to call it, and how in this book I explore the ways and means our energy fields are functioning or not at this point in time.

I wrote this book to help myself and others with their own work on their own energy fields - as it is an often mis-understood aspect and function of our lives here.

My biggest discovery so many years ago when I was first studying human energy fields was how we are all oozing energy from pretty much every part, organ, system and function of our body. We have arrived at this crossroad on our journey on this planet in fairly poor energetic condition – for the most part!

To explain this a little more here is an excerpt from my book; Closing the Energy Leaks©;

‘Therefore, leaking energy from the energy field is possible once the energy field has been damaged in some way. Anything that harms the body (poor food & water, medication) mind (trauma) and spirit (bullying) will equally impair function of the energy field.

An energy leak allows for an energy loss, parts of you actually go out through the open ‘window’ (rip, hole or tear) and become lost, stolen, hurt, and broken. When we start closing these holes, energy leaks or as I call them windows (because this is easy to visualize), the things taken on from others start to dislodge and can be lifted off, and then the parts of ourselves that have been given away, lost or stolen, can be reclaimed.

What also, starts to happen, is that you begin to re-form your own higher consciousness, as an individual within the larger framework of the universe and disengage from the control of the over-mind.’ 

Do not discount the part your energy field plays in your overall health and well-being – it is a vital part of the whole.


April

*****Closing the Energy Leaks is available on Kindle or directly from April Danann & on the market stall each week

Tuesday, 25 August 2015

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......

Tuesday, 11 August 2015

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

Tuesday, 16 June 2015

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......

Wednesday, 3 June 2015

Juice Fast - Day 10

Today I am fasting. Actually I have been doing a juice fast of the past 10 days or so. I must say this is the easiest fast we have ever done! LOL

Each day we are making a juice – both fruits and vegetables – often with some juiced garlic, drinking about 8 ounces or so of that in the morning, then spending the rest of the day drinking herbal teas and my own fermented drinks (Rebel Juice available on my market stall). Of course we taking medicinal mushrooms, herbal teas and water as well.

How I feel is; better. Much better that I was feeling before and certainly feeling as if I am moving forward in the right direction. My goal at the outset was to not make any promises to myself, but to just start fasting, not let anything get in the way (ride the waves as they roll in) and keep going no matter what.

So far, so good.

Physically, this is easy our bodies are designed to fast and can shift into fasting mode quite easily. I love how I feel when I am fasting and fasted…clear, light, in-touch. Mentally this is a challenge, but I knew it would be. 

I’ll keep you posted on this…..should be an interesting ride….

April
Full Moon 


Sunday, 29 March 2015

Food & Our Spiritual Essence

Over these past few years I have given a lot of thought to our Spiritual Connection with food – what went wrong and how to get back to that special place inside of our bodies where eating, drinking, growing, foraging, fasting and anything related to nourishing ourselves - once again becomes a part of our spiritual essence.

One main thing I have discovered is how much my own spirit has been pushed down – pulled apart and broken off over the years, to reach a place where food was just there for ‘eating’ (pushing something down, aside, keeping things in place) and had little other meaning attached to it. 

It has shook me to the core to be able to think of food in a positive way especially in terms of celebration, ceremony and ritual – all coming from a spiritual place. However, working at dropping these old beliefs and building up something new has also taken me on a different journey inwards….

To the soul.

Whenever you think of the word ‘food’ – what is the first thing that comes to mind? Do you draw a blank or do you immediately feel a sinking, deep heaviness of ‘bad’ buried in your gut?

I’ve asked this question of so many people and have had very interesting responses – unfortunately far too often of the ‘bad’ nature. Or at least when describing thoughts around eating, many of us use mixed words & emotions bordering on disordered.

How we got here is another story, however, what we can do about it is all positive! One thing is certain, we are on the upswing moving away from critical thinking around eating & enjoying good food. Especially where rituals and ceremony are concerned. 

I think it is about time we started to discover joy in our lives and food, especially when involved in  celebration - food is a fundamental part of that essence. Perhaps eating, food and nourishing ourselves, is the door and 'the way' in.....

April
Shadows on the wall - Union Hall, West Cork

Monday, 23 March 2015

Using Clay to Heal & Seal the Gut

Some thing I use a lot of here and cannot recommend it enough, is clay. Of course there are so many different types and kinds of clay; French Green Clay, Diatomaceous Earth, Bentonite Clays, Fuller's Earth, Red Clay, Kaolin and so forth….but their basic use is often the same. 

Clays pull, encourage movement and remove toxins, wastes & debris from both your internal and external systems. They tighten up the membranes while gently sloughing off the uppermost layers of cells as they move along on the inside and pull toxins out of your skin allowing detox on the outside.

In fact on the inside, they work much the same way as a clay mask on your face would do. Only this 'mask' is a moving flow of minerals being propelled along your digestive tract along with your food.

The one important point that I have discovered and then have been able to confirm, is how some of these clays work over time to heal and seal the gut. Remember how I have mentioned over these past few years my observation in myself and many others that our guts were never set up properly from birth? 

Well, this has to do with the fact that the biofilm and internal covering containing the living matrix of bacteria (mainly) are either too thin on the ground,  are made up of some non-beneficial types of organisms and in general have been not functioning in a health sustaining way.

Thus, we see far too much of childhood eczema, asthma, allergies, tummy troubles and then later on – far worse conditions, all relating back to this most basic necessity of a functioning gut. In fact, our immune systems never kick into high gear when our internal environment is not fully operational as well. 

What needs to happen for many of us is to heal and seal these gaps, spaces and places in our digestive tract that have never fully functioned from infancy. Only then will we see significant progress in our health and healing.

Clay is an amazing natural part of any healing regimen when it comes to the skin - inside and out.

Bentonite clay being hydrated for use