A Few Words on Bladder Infections

Last month I was blessed with a UTI -  bladder infection.

It didn’t exactly feel like a blessing at the time, but if I learned anything in the last five years, it is that in every unpleasant situation there’s a generous helping of brilliance and insight to be served if one is willing to accept it. A proverbial silver lining, if you wish.

And so, as I lay awake at 3 AM, running to the bathroom every 15 minutes, I start to realize that I have approached this situation from a very holistic perspective. It occurs to me that I can not only share my findings on this particular subject with you, but also use a similar method as a platform to explore and address any chronic (or not so chronic, but nonetheless annoying) ailments that are plaguing you and stopping you from enjoying your life fully. Hey, even bladder-infection induced insomnia can be productive!

So now, every month, we’ll choose a topic together – whatever is current and urgent for you – and use blog posts and Facebook to delve deeper into the discussion. Have you liked Satori on Facebook yet? If not, now is the time!

Before we start, though, I want to remind you that I am not a doctor. Everything that I talk about comes from my own experience.
NO, I didn’t study pharmacology or anatomy in university; YES, I’ve worked in the health food industry for the last decade, I research everything to a fault and am passionate about healing. Consider this to be an invitation, not a prescription.

I look at the healing of any illness or unpleasant situation from 3 different angles. This is the very same approach I use in my private practice.

Here is the holistic approach –  Satori way:

1. iLIVE: How can a change nutrition, diet, lifestyle and supplementation support healing?
2. iMOVE: What are structural imbalances – breathing restrictions, unhealthy or inefficient movement habits and holding patterns – that are contributing factors here?
3. iAM: Is there an underlying chronic stress condition or emotional imbalance worth addressing?

So, in the case of my urinary tract infection here is what I did:

iLIVE:I chose to go on a mono rice diet for the first 3 days to give my digestive system some rest and also let my body use most of its energy for healing, instead of digestion. From there I stuck to an anti-inflammatory diet. If what I just said sounds like a complete gibberish, here’s some good news: Spring Detox course is coming March 25th: we’ll talk about ayurvedic cleanse options as well as herbal formulas available on the market today.  Did you miss the Anti-Inflammatory Diet class last November? Look for a virtual Anti-Inflammatory Diet course coming this summer. And, of course, if you need a solution right NOW, please book your one-on-one consultation – let’s figure it out!
I didn’t want to overcomplicate things with supplements. (A good thing to remember is that they are just that – supplements. They are to supplement an already healthy diet, not to replace it!) The only three I used were unsweetened cranberry juice, critical care probiotics and d-mannose.  Plus an ayurvedic tea made from equal proportions of cumin, coriander and fennel – all cooling, soothing herbs. And lots and lots of water.
I do believe that conventional medicine has a rightful time and place –not as a stand alone solution, but as a part of a complete program. So I chose to go on antibiotics, and discovered something worth mentioning. For the first round of antibiotics I opted for a milder, 3-day solution. My thought behind it was to be as gentle on my body as possible. Not only did this first round of antibiotics not work, they made me feel tired and nauseated. YUCK! I asked Dr. Lyddell’s advice for the second round. Here is what he suggested: “ You have to treat those infections aggressively, as now there are a lot of drug resistant bacteria because of wide – spread use of antibiotics.” So a broad spectrum, potent antibiotic was in order for the second round, and I felt better for it in a matter of hours. Surprisingly, too – I experienced no fatigue or nausea – and that’s because these new generation drugs are hard on bacteria, not on your stomach. Win-win, I like it!
I also made sure that I was getting at least 8 hours of sleep and still napped in the afternoon. Rest is essential!

iMOVE: From the movement perspective, I have designed a therapeutic yoga practice to enhance the blood flow to the lower abdomen to reduce pain and cramping, and improve circulation. I practiced a lot of deep breathing. I also had an enlightening conversation with Janet Wood (a physiotherapist and miracle worker) on the merits of pelvic floor tonus and my bathroom habits.  The pelvic floor is a foundational support of your internal organs and the corner stone of your core stability. If the topic of core strength and balance is of interest to you, sign up for the Essential Core workshop coming up on March 10^th – we’ll be discussing this in much detail.

iAM: Last, but not least, I made sure I fit morning and evening meditation into my day. While I do have a regular practice of meditation, sometimes it slips, as I get really busy – hey, I am human, too. But when I am not feeling up to scratch, meditation becomes essential.
From a spiritual perspective meditation connects us to the deeper part of ourselves untouched by illness, pain, stress and discomfort. It is not just about controlling stress or triggering a relaxation response, even though these are valid reasons to practice meditation. Meditation reminds us of our true, unbound nature; it takes us to a place were all these old tapes that have been playing in our heads for years and years do not exist anymore; it shows us that Perfect Health is indeed a part of who we are. From that standpoint, meditation needs to be an essential piece of any healing program.  You are in luck: Learn to Meditate class is scheduled for January 25^th; and if you are ready to delve deeper and finally resolve your chronic stress issues then the Mastering the Art of Stress – Free living program might be for you.
I also investigated emotional holding patterns that might contribute to urinary tract infections and was surprised to learn that control issues were right there at the forefront.

There you have it, the Satori approach to urinary tract infections. To re-iterate what I’ve said earlier, I believe that the holistic way of healing is the only way. To find true healing, not just the band-aid solutions, we need to attend to ourselves in all our holiness – that’s right, the word holy, holistic and healing all have the same root.

To those of you who are thinking, “ where am I going to find time to do all of that?” I have this to say: It is not despite, but because I find the time to take really good care of myself I am able to work 14 – hour days, be productive and take care of my students the way I do. It is the reason I am able to heal myself, educate myself, build a successful business, take care of the household and raise two children all on my own. If I can do it, so can you. Don’t doubt yourself. Not now, not ever!

We have a two contenders for discussion in February – elimination problems (a.k.a. constipation) and sinus infections. I am leaning toward constipation, because both urinary tract infections and constipation depend heavily on the inner workings of your pelvic floor and your bathroom habits – something we are going to discuss in Essential Core workshop this March.  They also both belong to the realm of VATA imbalances, but that’s a whole ball game. Please let me know which topic interests you and resonates with you, so I can continue to serve you to the best of my ability.

 

 

The Law of Least Effort

An integral being knows without going, sees without looking, and accomplishes without doing.

Lao Tzu

Listen to The Law of Least Effort class:

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About a month ago I was reading Candace Pert’s book “Molecules of Emotions”.

In one of the chapters she talks about her discovery of Peptide T, a brilliant new drug to treat AIDS. At the time of discovery, the only treatment option available was a highly toxic chemotherapy cocktail, that targeted the symptoms but not the virus itself. Candice and her partners had become more and more frustrated, as the medical community refused to consider Peptide T as the viable option. Paradoxically, the harder Dr. Pert and her colleagues tried, the more rejection they’ve encountered.

By chance of luck Candace Pert was introduced to Dr.Chopra at one of the meetings. Here is what she writes about their conversation:

“Deepak, I don’t know what’s going on. I have a brilliant drug that can save people’s lives. I’ve been working on it for years, and I can’t get in out the gate. What am I doing wrong?”

He listened carefully and then, gazing calmly and deeply into my eyes, gave me a stunning answer: “You are trying too hard!” he said and then smiled.

I took this in for a moment and then responded.

“Trying too hard? But I’ve never heard of such a thing!”

In the world I lived in, there was no such thing as “trying too hard”.

Two years later, as  Dr. Pert at last has secured financing for the clinical trials, she wrote: “True to Deepak’s diagnosis of my problem, the solution had come only when I had stopped trying.”

Here are three ways to bring the Law of Least Effort into your life;

• Practice Acceptance: “Today I will accept people, situations and circumstances as they are, not as I want them to be”
• Take Responsibility – doesn’t mean blaming yourself or anybody for current situation. It simply an ability to respond creatively to whatever arises.
• Become Defenseless: ever had a conversation with somebody in which you were trying to convince that person of something? Have you noticed that the harder you tried to get your point across, the more resistance you’ve encountered? It is a tremendous loss of energy for everybody involved, the energy that could be used for something positive and productive.

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The mantra for The Law of Least Effort is:

Om Daksham Namah.

I achieve maximum benefit with minimal effort.

Sages and Scientists Symposium: The Merging of a New Future

“Science is God Explaining God to God Through the Human Nervous System.”

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The Law of Pure Potentiality & Group Meditation Class

The source of all creation is pure consciousness..pure potentiality seeking expression from the unmanisfest to the manifest.

And when we realized that our true Self is one of pure potentiality, we align with the power that manifests everything in the universe.

Deepak Chopra

The Law of Pure Potentiality comes from the understanding that at the level of the Spirit or Soul – in our essential state – we are pure consciousness, pure potentiality and infinite creativity.

So what are these Spiritual laws, where did they come from and how can we apply them to our reality?

We started our  class in Seven Spiritual Laws of Success series with the verse from Bhagavad Gita, a remarkable Hindu epic story of a great battle:

Never the spirit was born; the spirit shall cease to be never

Never was time it was not; End and Beginning are dreams!

Birthless and  deathless and changeless remaineth the spirit for ever;

Death hath not touched it at all, dead though the house of it seems!

It was so inspiring to trace the connection between this ancient text, written thousands of years ago to a scientific principle that has been boggling the minds of the brightest quantum physicists for the last century or so – the  Observer Effect.

Delving into the greatest paradox of quantum physics, we talked about the smallest identifiable units of matter, force or light called quanta. Quanta display a bizarre behavior commonly known in the scientific world as the Observer Effect: until they are measured, in their pristine state, they are everywhere in time and space. They exist in several states simultaneously, having the potential  to be a wave or a particle. Once the experiment to measure one of their characteristics is set, they chose! their real state – collapsing into being either a wave or a particle. The conversation expanded on to the social ability of quanta – once they’ve entangled ( introduced to each other), the connection remains alive even when they are a great distance apart – in fact, communication between the entangled particles happens to be 22,000 times faster then the speed of light.

Why bother exploring to such a depth? Simple – quanta are building blocks of our cells, tissues and organs;the unlimited potentiality is scientifically proven and possible – now, we only have to allow it into our reality.

From there we jumped centuries back to explore the Layers of Life philosophy created by yogic sage Adi Shankara around 806 AD. He describes a human being as a multiplicity of layers – physical, psychological and spiritual.We have learned to practice the Law of Pure Potentiality by shifting our reference point from Ego-referral , based on judgment, discrimination and protecting our social mask to Self, or Soul-referral which brings us to the source of internal happiness and non- judgment.

A group meditation was a welcome reprieve from such deep and  intense philosophical discussion.

“We meditate to discover our true own identity, our right place in the scheme of the universe. Through meditation, we acquire and eventually acknowledge our connection to an inner power source that has the ability to transform our outer world. In other words, meditation gives us not only the light of insight but also the power for expansive change.” writes Julia Cameron, author of “The Artist Way”-modern day guide for discovering our creative side.

Namaste!

Seduction of Spirit in New Orleans

Seduction of Spirit in New Orleans:

Seduction of Spirit, a true celebration of Primordial Sound Meditation, is one of those unique events that encompass all of your life experiences in just a single week. Read more