BACK TO BASICS:

8 TIPS FOR OPTIMAL HEALTH, WEIGHT LOSS & HAPPINESS (PART ONE)

by Stephanie Kato, Metaphysical Intuitive Healer

June is the perfect month to begin discussing 8 basic health tips to help you attain optimal health, weight loss and happiness. As a Metaphysical Intuitive Healer, the top health complaints I hear from my clients involve digestive issues, excess weight and lethargy.

What is the number one reason we stay stuck?

Resistance to change

People prefer to eat and live as they please believing they will incur no negative consequences (until their body begs to differ in ways they can no longer ignore). The majority of adults will (most likely) agree that eating certain foods and drinking alcohol at 18 affects us differently than these same foods will at an older age. Why? As we age, digestive enzymes diminish so we must be mindful to eat foods our bodies can metabolize, eat slowly and liquify our food with proper mastication to maximize the way our digestive system functions. Also, our metabolism tends to be much faster when we are younger. If we don’t adjust our diets to reflect this metabolic change, it seems as though we gain weight overnight when it probably happened slowly and we just didn’t notice. Most of us were very active and involved with sports and exercise as young adults but with careers, family and the demands of adulthood our lymphatic systems suffer the consequences of a less active lifestyle. Additionally, our reactions to life experiences either shut us down emotionally or open our hearts, depending on our unique perceptions and perspectives. How we process our emotions, or lack thereof, directly affects how our physical bodies function and the level of happiness we feel.

I believe there are 8 basic things we can embrace to ensure good health and happiness. They are as follows:

• Diet: I prefer to eat for my blood type. As a child I suffered with gastroenteritis and other digestive issues. When I learned about The Blood Type Diet, by Dr. D’Adamo. I realized my diet consisted of all the wrong foods. I used to eat comfort type foods and as a blood type O, eating grains (wheat, corn), potatoes and dairy created inflammation, congestion and constipation. For the last 20 years I encouraged my clients to eat for their blood type to reduce digestive issues including gas, bloat and constipation as well as supporting weight loss and energy. Many people do not connect diet with inflammatory pain such as back, joint and arthritis. If I eat corn, even one time, I wake up in pain with my back “out”. Pork will trigger gastroenteritis and it has given me food poisoning more than once. To experience how this diet can heal the digestive system, one would need to abstain from foods on the “avoid” list for a long enough period of time so their body releases the inflammation caused from eating those foods. Having small amounts of inflammatory foods daily or a few times a week can keep one’s body inflamed and congested. Utilizing colonics while changing one’s diet can help the person embrace the new diet much more easily and also curb cravings.
• Water: We all know the benefits of drinking water for proper hydration, yet many live with dehydration. Lack of water accounts for constipation, sluggish lymphatic systems and improper drainage, skin issues, fatigue, headaches, joint pain, kidney issues and more. To ensure you drink enough (1/2 your body weight in ounces per day is a good goal), start your day with 2 glasses of water before doing anything else. Set an alarm every hour and drink another glass of water (you may not get in one every hour but this will help you drink more than you probably are now). Replace any caffeinated drink, ounce for ounce, with water. Also, drink an extra 8 ounces of water for every ½ hour of exercise you participate in. These tips can help ensure you stay hydrated!
• Exercise: Like water, we understand how exercising our body contributes to health. When our lives become busy, exercise is often the one thing that gets put on the back burner. Ironically, the stress of life keeps us from exercising yet it’s the one thing that can help with the stress of life! Knowing your limitations helps you succeed with your exercise goals. For instance, I need to exercise in the morning. After a full day of work I am spent, so enjoying my Pilates in the morning sets my day with energy, helps me stay mindful around food and encourages me to stay hydrated. Combined with eating for my blood type, exercise keeps me feeling fit and my self-esteem high. I love the camaraderie of my friends in the class. We groan together during the challenging bits and celebrate when we get through another tough class! The first couple years after opening my business were spent building my business so I wasn’t exercising then. A mirror on the way to my shower one evening provided a rude awakening, which was enough to take my fairly droopy derriere to my first class! The human body is amazing! Even at 55 I have been able to re-shape my figure through diet and exercise to the point where I am thinner, healthier and more toned than I was in high school. My point? It’s never too late to change your life, your body and your happiness quotient!
• Lymphatic System: Our lymphatic system is an efficient system designed to remove excess protein and transport nutrients to our cells. Stimulating it can aid the colon to produce healthy bowel movements. Unlike our blood that is pumped by our heart, we must move our lymphatic system ourselves everyday two ways – muscularly and superficially:

o  Muscularly:

* Deep breathing

* Cellular exercise – one of the best ways to move your lymph is through cellular exercise like rebounding. Getting a mini trampoline and bouncing on it 15 minutes a day with deep breathing can effectively move your lymphatic system and encourage proper lymphatic drainage. Much of the bloat we see in our bodies (“bra fat”, puffiness, etc.) is due to congested lymph. Increasing our water and eating foods our bodies can metabolize (as already discussed) can help de-congest our lymphatic system as well. Physically, our lymphatic system reflects whether we are balanced or imbalanced in our emotional bodies. For example, during many metaphysical lymphatic drainage sessions I have correlated a client’s excessive caretaking ways to congested lymph in the axillary glands and after deeper inquiries, the results were fairly similar. If a woman cares for others with more than she has to give or is doing so to validate her self-worth, she might see congested lymph (specifically under her arms and armpits on the right side of her body if she is giving too much, or on the left side if she does not allow herself to receive caretaking from others). In this way, the wisdom of her body is asking her to put her needs first and ascertain if she has energy available to give to others before doing so. This is a simplified example of how the lymphatic system is affected by our emotions and the mirror our bodies continually hold up for us.

o  Superficially:

* Deep breathing

* Dry skin brushing: Using a natural bristle brush, brushing your skin prior to shower or exercise can help move the lymphatic fluid in the lymphatic vessels through the lymphatic system as it filters and cleans. Practicing dry skin brushing also cleanse dead skin cells and makes your skin glow – an added benefit (perfect for summer!)…

I promised you 8 tips but I only showed you 4! Check back in July when I talk about the other 4 tips you need to optimize health, lose weight and embrace joy! In the meantime, book your colonics, lymphatic drainage and craniosacral sessions now as you prepare for vacations, beach bods and fun in the sun!