Osho's healthy self-esteem

Everyone deserves the opportunity to pursue their life’s dream - their legacy - as passionately and vigorously as imaginatively possible.

I was hugely inspired by the teachings and opening expressions of my first HLC teacher,  JP Sears.

But one key area from his teachings that made a permanent indent into my cognition, is the importance to understand why an individuals 'self-esteem' may be low or severally impacted, and the key to helping someones impacted 'self-esteem' is to re-build their relationship with themselves.

"You cannot truly love someone else, until you learn to love yourself first"- Ralph Smart

Be sure to love you liver..it loves you!

As we mature and are exposed to an abundance of experiences our ego becomes a self-definition, and while self-esteem includes these aspects of the 'self', it is also inclusive of the energy about us and the willingness to “do” and to do without fear of judgment by others...


Consider that your self esteem is closely connected to your own unique personal development. Your exposures as an infant, throughout childhood and through adolescent years, has shaped who you are or who you've become today, both physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually to.

1. Identifying YOU: The child sees itself in the mirror and sees that things out there go on changing while he/she is the same in the mirror. At this stage, a sense of self- image is born.

2. The self-esteem: The child develops a sense of self-pride with accomplishment. Through physical movement, touching, crawling, discovery, communicating, verbal noise, when a parent disturbs this natural developmental process by repeatedly saying, “No! You can’t do that!” self-esteem becomes progressively more diminished.

3. Self-expansion and Ownership: This is the result of letting the child feel the pride of ownership that comes when it begins using the word “mine!” This self- expansion is often defeated when parents or siblings rob the child of its natural and needed developing sense of ownership. 

4. Reflective image: The child sees itself in terms of its parents’ perceptions. If the parents are unsupportive, it tries harder and progressively harder to gain approval. If it gets defeated too often, it often goes the other way and may become destructive to get attention from the parents. Murders, petty crimes, eating disorders are they all just deep emotional actions seeking love and attention?  

5. Intuitiveness: The child learns to reason and to solve problems. This is part of the child’s education by its parents, family and environment. To the degree that the child truly learns to reason, it learns to effectively solve problems and gains the sense of accomplishment that is necessary for a healthy self-esteem.- Paul Chek

6. A Stride forward: To leave a legacy, is the desire to leave proof that one has existed here on earth. Osho describes how many murders have been committed by people who never completed this stage of their development. They simply wanted to be remembered and by murdering another human being, they made the news... became known - remembered. 

When we revel more we have less to hide, when we have less to hide we are less worried about being found out, when we are less worried about being found out, we can pay better attention to someone else...this is where true intimacy exists...

Enjoy life, don't take it or yourself to seriously!

Beatle.

Ref: Osho - JP Sears - Ralph Smart - Alan Watts - Chek

          

Do you need essential fatty acids? (Omega)

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds state that 2004 was the most catastrophic breeding season on record for seabirds along UK coasts. It says "industrial fishing to supply fish meal and oil is barely sustainable and destroys the whole marine food web"- RSPB.org 

A can of estrogen anyone?

It seems that everyone you talk to is concerned about"gettin their omegas in", everywhere you look billboards, posters, t.v. "nutritionists" and even Holland+Barrett (glorified chemist) are telling you to "get your omegas in"....and why might this be?

Well historically, policy makers and the big boy industries have told us the public, that "radiation is good for you," "estrogen will make you fertile (or safely infertile), feminine, strong and intelligent (haha), "using diuretics and avoiding salt will make pregnancy safer," and that the polyunsaturated fatty acids are "nutritionally essential, and will prevent heart disease."... and they just generally keep on going.  

The history of fish oil as I learn't from reading a seriously aged, oxidise, sticky varnishing tub from 1963 in my cousins grandpas house (Opa), is in fact largely based around that very product..varnish. As well as 'whale fat' being used to fuel lamps, the fish oil just like linseed where used in the paint industry prior to the 1960's and also fed to pigs and cattle as a cheap, waste industry, thyroid suppressing fattener, whilst at the same time being utilised in margarine production for human's....


Its the fish oils vulnerability to oxidation that made them and still does to some extent useful in varnish and paint products, as they harden rapidly when exposed to oxygen (test it for yourself using veg/fish oil). 
But its this vulnerability to oxidation that promotes the animal tissue (us) to injury and cell death.

There is so much hype around fish oil and the omega fatty acids, that baby formulas have   had them added and schools have implemented them to the kids meals. Most if not all experiments that I have graised my immature eyes across conducted with the unsaturated fish oils, last just a few weeks or months. 
Understanding how these unsaturated oils accumulate and over time suppress the bodies ability to generate energy in the mitochondria, these studies are not long enough to consider the long term effects and certainly not a long enough time for cancers to develop, and on that time scale, the immunosuppressive and "anti-inflammatory" effects of oxidised fish oil might seem beneficial. 

In declaring unsaturated- Omega's to be safe, the Food and Drug Admin neglected to evaluate their: 

A company that distributes
industries waste products and
sells them as "food". 

antithyroid effects 

immunosuppressive nature

lipid peroxidation (free radical oxidation of fats) 

light sensitising

anti-mitochondrial effects (inhibiting energy production)

depression of glucose oxidation (diabetes tII)   

contribution to metastatic cancer (one organ/tissue to another)

lipofuscinosis (accumulation of lipopigments)

and liver damage, among other problems. 

(Song et al., 2000), (Delarue et al., 2003), (Klieveri, et al., 2000) 

"it is usually their (pufa's) presence, rather than their deficiency, that creates the nature for the disease."- Peat, PhD.


The fish oil fad is now just as old as the x-ray fad was at its peak of popularity long before I was invented, and if its actions involve the same mechanisms as the "anti-inflammatory" immunosuppressive x-ray treatments, then we can expect to see another epidemic of fibrotic conditions and cancer in about 15 to 20 years. 



Ending on a bright note.. its all preventable! 

And...

The fats that we synthesise from sugar (fruits) or coconut oil are protective against the inflammatory PUFA's, in some cases more effective than potent vitamin E+C. 




Beatle.


Mind and Tissue: Russian research perspectives on the human brain (book)
Hypothyroidism- Barnes (book)
Personal Observations- jack perham
Gee Photography- http://geeohphotography.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/out-in-field.html

Look after your bum!

85% of the gluteus maximus consists of phasic, fast twitch fibers attaching to the ITB and the 15% are postural fibers that insert onto the coccyx and sacrum.

If you where to ask most western societies 'what function does your bum/arse/asss/glutes offer?' 

....you might expect an answer relating to its role during sitting, protecting the anus, cushioning a fall, law of attraction, enhancing medical liposuction revenue, symmetry and maybe even how it helps to extend the hip joint during some extreme change of speed...

Though all of the above may be true and yes some are true, its important to consider that your bum isn't just something that assists our destructive sitting obsession, as we no longer know how to squat, your bum is actually a skilfully woven piece of manufactured art, that integrates with every system streaming across the pelvis and its design is highly complex. Even if we where to consider solely its biomechanical potential, that would require a depth of regurgitation, sitting and equations way beyond a functional blog post!

So what can your bum tell you about how well your operating? 

When an an individual experiences optimal homeostatic posture where no discomfort or compensation is announced, the chances of seeing a well developed gluteus maximus is high. Its when issues within the abdominal wall become chronic, that you begin to see overcompensation and dysfunction presenting at and around the bum.    

Panniculus adipose tissue-
with minimal glute max development,
often accompanied with a protruding
lower abdomen.

A sedentary background, consecutive pregnancies, food toxicity, faulty exercise patterns.. Can all promote a bad looking-dysfunctional bum.

All of the above can actually promote leaky gut, constipation, muscle inhibition and viserotosis (organs "falling down"). Which again has a knock on effect to how well your 'inner unit' opporates in order to create spinal (lumbothoracic) stability and stiffness when producing force. 
The inner unit consisting of predominately the TVA, multifidis, diaphragm, pelvic floor, internal obliques..when exposed to these conditions.. will turn off. 
So now the internal postural stabilisers cannot function, this makes the nervous system subconsciously adapt to create the required structural stability.  

By adapting and preventing the organs from dropping through the pelvis due to the faulty abdominal wall, the body utilises the slow twitch 'glute mead' and a small percentage of glute max to act as a inner unit stabiliser. Consistently in a "clenched" mode acting as the new 'pelvic floor', the postural fibers soon become phasic (dominant), leading to the 85% gluteus max atrophy (tissue breakdown) as it now only has use as postural support, leading to pelvic girdle instability and imbalance throughout the spinal stabilisers. 
This can be seen in distance runners, as they loose muscle mass and become more slow twitch.

Look at that development!

To create optimal function within any muscle fibre string, it would make sense to use and train the muscles as they where designed to be used. The Gluteus Maximus as shown, is a fast twitch dominant muscle that would benefit with exposure to firstly correct activation and secondly environments that can express its true potential as a force generating unit (weighted glute bridges, isometric holds, low dynamic drills, squatting, deadlifting, sprinting and even correct hand standing etc.. etc..)

The same can be said for the rectus abdominus, which is constantly trained as if it were a slow twitch dominat group, but in actual fact its largely fast twitch! So by performing 100, 200, 300....crunches through partial range, all your promoting is a dysfunctional set of abdominals, tight pecs and neck, increases thoracic kyphosis and only partial function! If you really wanna crunch, get over a swiss ball, grab a 40kg dumbbell, put your tongue to the roof of your mouth and work through full potential!
or just learn to deal with gravity a little better.. 

Individuals with Inner unit dysfunction and poor gluteal development/ activation, can be very susceptible to injury when moving with dynamic effort...assess the individual from the neck down, move with caution until function is restored.   

Look after your insides, move and you will have a sweet looking functional bum! 

Beatle.

Richard Don Tigney
'Janda Approach'
Paul Chek

Gee Photgraphy
            

       

     

Above ground vs Below ground veggies

A strong physiologically backed understanding from a prestigious researcher and endocrinologist 'Broda Barnes', was the view that; 

"Cancer cannot exist in the human body, unless there are unsaturated fats in the diet" 

As seen throughout the world, when there is great poverty and famine, almost anything becomes food. Throughout dry, impacted, industry controlled countries like Haiti, 'dirt' cookies have become a staple in order to 'survive'. Produced by combining dirt, salt and vegetable shortening, as you may guess the only benefit the 'cookies' offer, is the short break it gives the hungry 'mind'.

Professional dieticians primarily function are enforcers of cultural prejudice. But its our own instincts that give us an idea about of our nutritional needs, such as thirst, pleasantness of sweet things, satiety from whole foods, the hunger for salt etc.. But we can see from observing all around, that some have become far removed from the sensitivity our bodies offer and mis informed by the contradicting masses. Therefore the need for education to help people help themselves, is key.

The fact that cows, sheep, goats and deer can thrive on a diet of foliage, shows that leaves contain essential nutrients. Their minerals, vitamins, and amino acids are suitable for sustaining most animal life, if a sufficient quantity is eaten, hence why the need to GRAZE for 10-12 hours per day. But when people try to live primarily on foliage, as in famines, they soon suffer from a great variety of diseases.

Depending on the temperature of the climate a plant or animal was grown in, will dictate dramatically the ratios and amount of saturated:unsaturated fatty acids they contain. The warmer the environment the higher levels of saturated fats a food will contain, for example a coconut, banana, mango, lychee etc.. will grow in only temperatures of 35+ degree heat and remain stable/non rancid due to the lack of unsaturated fats. For this reason the coconut and any food that is grown within tropical climates, presents as a protective food for humans due to the lack of oxidation they promote at body temperature (36.2-37 degrees...if your healthy..).

A particular plant will have a variety of defence chemicals (Goitrogens, cellulose, oleic acid, phytic acid, unsaturated fats etc..). The leaves, stems and seeds are exposed to threat by insects, bugs, pests and grazing animals and considering the seed is of great importance to the  reproductive potential of the plant, it is often enclosed and protected within a hard shell and often contain toxins (Phytates, enterokinase) that inhibit the animals digestive enzymes. But its the fruit that has been evolved by certain plants that aim to act as a distraction for most animals, and whilst most fruits contain a seed, this helps distribute the DNA of the plant across far distances i.e. the bird poops out the berries seed. And if the fruit where to be poisonous, then they would't really serve the plant to well, so when mature and ripe the fruit carries very little if any toxins, where as the seed carries the most intense (Sorry seed/nut heads, mother natures law..not mine!). 

I reckon 'Pop eye' took more
than just kidney stone
promoting spinach...
roid head!

Root veggies on the other hand only contain chemicals that inhibit microorganisms from attacking them in the soil, as they aren't really at much risk from hungry grazing animals and crazy bugs, they don't contain the compounds that inhibit digestion and mineral absorption, unlike their leafy mates above. 

It might be interesting to note, that leafy plants are major sources of allergens and its the allergens of these foods and the sensitivity of the individual that depends on how an individual will react. As well as on the growing conditions of the plant, for example; the use of pesticide sprays will not only create more toxicity and a greater likely hood of digestive dysfunction. 

Technologies have been invented to convert vegetation into digestible protein, but at our present scientific and technological level, it’s better to simply minimize our use of the more toxic foods, and to direct more effort toward the elimination of the conditions that produce famine (Big Agricultural industries and Mono cropping)- Peat PhD.  

Generally you could say that wild fruits, domesticated fruits, roots and wild tubers contain the highest source of nutrients along with lowest concentrations of anti-metabolic, antithyroid substances, therefore it would make sense that these form the basis of the humans sugar needs.  

Lastly, people need to stop worrying so tragically about the environmental pollution, because it's not as harmful as the things that we do to ourselves. Save yourself before you try saving the planet... your only as healthy as the environment you live in right?... i.e. your blood stream.

Beatle.

Broda Barnes- Hypothyroidism (book)

Photo- Gee Photography (http://geeohphotography.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/out-in-field.html)

Fructose and Sucrose for the Diabetic...

A basic meaning of homeo-natropathic medicine is the support of the organism's ability to heal itself; the essence of allopathy is that the physician fights "a disease" to cure the patient, e.g., by cutting out tumors or killing germs. 

1950's sugar ad's

Diabetes has been named the sugar disease, and whilst excessive amounts of circulating glucose in the blood IS toxic, should we really be pin pointing out sugar? It could be like blaming the firefighter for causing the fire, every time a fire occurs its normal to see 'firefighters' at the scene, but no one ever accuses them for causing the fire. 
Sugar, just like cholesterol, just might be going through a period of industry backed BRO-science, and though we see extreme episodes of hypo/hyperglycaemia, blood sugar disregulation, pronounced estrogenic features, a thrashed metabolism and poor energy production (ATP) in the diabetic, maybe its worth considering whats inhibiting its (glucose) oxidation at the cell level and evidently preventing the sugar hungry mitochondria from thriving... 

The decrease in blood sugar stimulates the formation of many hormones, including estrogen  prolaxtine, adrenaline, cortisol and under the influence of cortisol both sugar and fat are produced by the breakdown of proteins, including those already forming the tissues of the body. At the same time, adrenalin and several other hormones are causing free fatty acids to appear in the blood. Estrogen and stress are both known to create some of the conditions of diabetes, while increasing fat oxidation and inhibiting glucose oxidation in the cell. Estrogen increases circulating free fatty acids and decreases glycogen storage, and with birth control pills becoming popular, some researchers warn that they might cause diabetes via estrogen exposure. But the food oil industry and the estrogen industry are satisfied with the medical doctrine that diabetes is caused by eating too much sugar. Emotional stress, overwork, trauma, poor sleep and infections have been known to initiate diabetes also.


It seems consistent to say that from personal-clinical based observations and linking to the literature, the common issue amongst most diabetics is the prolonged exposure to STRESS... Now that is one broad term, so to be specific-ish, the stress imposed from consumption of UNsaturated fats, lack of sunlight and loss of mental/spiritual guidance within society. 

Again what do you see from these stressors... The unsaturated vegetable fats (veg oil, nuts, seeds, pork, legumes, soya, white flour etc..) linoleic and linolenic acid and the long chain fish oils, have excitatory, stress promoting effects, that shift metabolism away from the oxidation of glucose blocking its ability to get into the cell leading to an eventual inability for insulin to direct glucose into the cell, a hyothyroid state and finally destroying the respiratory metabolism altogether. 
Its often been tooted that "you need your OMEGA's", your "essential" fatty acids are "essential" (duh).. But once again we can see from just looking intelligently where this hype came from, that the "essential" fats and fish oils you so religiously ingest, are in actual fact just waste products from industries (just like whey from the dairy) and the use of 'fish oil', sunflower, flaxseed and cottonseed oil has been for years used in paint varnish and gloss. 
Studies on animals have shown that when you make animals “deficient” in the unsaturated vegetable oils, this protects them against “autoimmune” diabetes, and against a variety of other “immunological” challenges. The “essential fatty acid” deficiency increases the oxidation of glucose, as it increases the metabolic rate generally.  



Saturated fats (coconut oil/butter) improve the insulin-secreting response to glucose.


The protective effects of sugar from tropical fruits, root veggies and coconut cane and the harmful effects of excessive (unsaturated) fat metabolism, are now being widely recognized, in every field of physiology. 

So why don't we begin evaluating levels of cortisol, adrenaline, glucagon, prolaxtin etc.. which show to be the real problem (as they increase blood sugar whilst preventing glucose from getting into the cell), in the diabetic... rather than just blaming sugar.

Beatle. 

• Lita Lee (Autoimmune disease)
• Broda Barnes (Hypothryroidism)
• FPS (website/journals
• William Budd (1857) Bristol, England

Lots of animal flesh and tight hips...?

I've been working with youth academy base athletes for the past few years now. It hasn't been until my greater appreciation of human psycho-physiology that I began looking away from the primary school of thought that an athletes issue "must be" musculature-ligament-tendon related. 

Anatomical appreciation of the
 kidneys in relation to the
Psoas/hips flexors 

Consider this:  
"If mechanical movement of the Kidney externally rotates on inspiration (breathing in) and internally rotates on expiration (breathing out)...and its axis of motion is the psoas (hip flexor), we can make some conclusions that an anterior rotated pelvis (Donald duck), tight psoas, etc, is most likely not always the GO TO issue at hand" - Josh Rubin 

i.e. The issue may not be muscular, but more organ related...Take a look at the kidneys as to why you may have 'tight hips'? 

Yes there are many reasons for 'tight hips' (sitting, postural dysfunction, biomechanics issues, poor exercise choices, not giving a damn etc..) but i'm just going to touch on one that i've come to see a POTENTIAL relationship between, whilst working and observing athletes/trainers. 

So could a dysfunction or over compensation of the kidneys, through excessive animal protein especially muscle meats high in cysteine, tryptophan and methionine, combined with inverted breathing patterns and degrees of dehydration  etc.. be the missing link to your lack of hip mobility, ability to squat, lack of mobile freedom >lower back pain<? etc.. 

In todays society the over consumption at any one time of hard to digest, over cooked, taxing substances are often on the menu.

A humans root of digestion should begin prior to putting anything in their mouth, simply by choosing what to eat the body prepares for digestion. By stimulating gastric juices, saliva and increased stomach acid the next phase starts by chewing, this covers the food in saliva which aids in transportation into the stomach carrying essential enzymatic properties. Once into the stomach the individual should be producing sufficient stomach acid (pH; 2-3) in order to effectively breakdown for assimilation into the Intestines. 

An optimal, physical resting position!

Today most are falling short at these first 3 phases! With poor "food", "drink" and lifestyle choices even before we put anything IN our already over stimulated systems, the chewing phase tends to not exist and a lot of the time its due to eating on the run, eating whilst stressed and the inability to even breakdown such foods (overcooked meat??). Coupled with a lack of body awareness and the constant supply of partially or undigested food stuffs, the unrecognisable food particles that should have been broken down into their respected usable compounds (glucose, amino acids, fatty acids etc.) for assimilation from the small intestines into the cells... never seem to get this far without promoting a constant barricade of stress on the respected organs. In most cases when one organ or system is asked to work 'overtime', all organs/glands/tissues not only chip in by producing more of the necessary hormones/enzymes, but they too become overtaxed and over worked (now thats something most can relate to)

Muscle meat (when consumed by humans) from sources of conventional animals, fed substances that don't fit their chemistry, when overcooked, under chewed, eaten without love and attention and consumed to excess...More often than not results in the over production of ammonia from the break down of purines and circulating free fatty acids (FFA) from these foods. The kidneys job is not only to filter waste from the liver but to metabolise and filter ammonia from the blood to be excreted in the with the help of urea + CO2. Its when the the small over worked kidneys become inefficient at dealing with the amount of waste material from this by product, that symptoms of muscular tightness around the hips, lumber and SIJ and to a greater degree.. hypertension (excess serotonin and estrogen) and gout (hyperuricemia) begin to pronounce themselves! 

When an organ (in this case the kidney) becomes inflamed/toxic the resulting action is to shut down and/or inhibit optimal working capacity. This has the ability to inhibit function of the connecting nerves and ligaments leading to the relating musculature (the psoas/hip flexors), resulting in dysfunction and the inability to protect and support movement.  

Assess don't
Guess! 

Nickolas et al: found a high relationship between chronic kidney dysfunction and hip fractures. Though not muscular, its important to understand that whenever an internal organ is over burdened, it will at best show symptoms of dysfunction through the musculoskeletal or neuropsychological systems (In an athletes case; fatigue, poor recovery, uncontrolled aggression). Unless you assess through internal readings/scans, there is very little chance of recognising an issue, if the understanding of bone-muscle-organ (OSTEO-VISERAL-SOMATIC) relation is not there. 

So if you remind yourself of the mechanical positioning, function and importance of the kidneys, you not only begin to appreciate the roll they play in overall bodilyFUNCTION, but also the complexity of our system at maintaining balance is far greater than just a muscular understanding when it comes to everyday life, and in this case athletic performance.  


So rather than JUST stretching those hips, rolling on that foam, becoming a yogi or taking a polar plunge (all of which are good)... why not consider what your putting in your mouth may actually be causing more discomfort than wished for and now expressing itself and impacting your day to day freedom!

Be wise, keep chewing.

Beatle.