The 5 Biological Laws - A New Paradigm for Medicine

I haven't written anything in a while and now I am about to launch in a somewhat daunting task of writing about the 5 Biological Laws. Part of the reason I haven't been writing is because I often wrote about topics I was currently reading about. Well, for the past few months I have been mostly reading about this topic and I just haven't felt ready to dive into this one. Actually I still don't feel ready and I hope I don't botch this one, but here we go...

The next few blog entries will be my attempt to provide an understanding of the 5 Biological Laws as discovered by Dr. Ryke Geerd Hamer. I am using the book 'Disease is another thing!' (I imagine the title is somewhat less awkward in italian...) written by Marco Pfister and Simona Cella. The 5 Biological Laws, which were called 'New Medicine' by Dr. Hamer, give an entirely new understanding of how diseases develop. It answers both how and why we get sick and requires a complete shift in paradigm of medicine. To describe what I mean by shift in paradigm, let me share the analogy used in the book of "changing the room". Our fundamental view on health is that of a battle field, where our immune system fights disease which is "bad". Now, whether you have a completely allopathic view and believe that diseases must be fought with aggressive drugs and surgeries or prescribe more to the naturopathic / holistic view of treating the whole person, supporting the immune system in order to heal the person, fundamentally the view point remains the same. That is: the disease is bad and needs to be fought. To get back to the my analogy, you can re-arrange a bunch of furniture and even bring in a whole bunch of new furniture, but ultimately you are still in the same room, a room that is defined by the philosophy of the battle field. What the 5 Biological Laws require is that you step into a completely different room. This of course can be a challenge because you will be tempted to evaluate this new room based on what you learned in the previous one. In other words, if you've always known the world to be the center of the universe and flat, then the thought of a round planet that orbits the sun can be a challenge.
So I hope for those who read the next few blog entries, that you will allow yourself to step into a new way to look at health and what we call disease. If you find yourself intrigued, I hope you will explore this subject a bit further. I will do my best to provide you with some more resources in English. I also want to caution you from looking up Dr. Hamer on Wikipedia and forming your opinion on this entire subject solely on what you find there.
Finally, I want to clarify that the 5 Biological Laws are not a new form of treatment or therapy. They are a set of laws that provide an entirely different framework for describing the complex and complicated phenomena of "health" and "disease". The beauty of them lies in their simplicity as well as in the fact that they are verifiable by everyone. Once you fully understand this subject matter (and this may require a bit more than simply reading the next few blog entries here) you will be able to verify these laws next time you 'catch and cold' for example.
So I hope you will allow yourself to be challenged in your views and go on a journey with me. Remember that if history has taught us anything, it's that chances are, what we currently know to be the truth isn't really. At some point, it was believed that disease was punishment from god for our sins and thank goodness we got over that one! (at least most us did...) So, give this a try and see if this can serve us as a better model for explaining what happens in our bodies.

Food Inc.

I watched Food Inc. yesterday. It's a documentary about our food supply and an absolute must-see! I don't really know what to say other than: Watch It! Sometimes I find myself having conversations with people and I tell them that I don't eat a lot of meat, I am not an all out vegetarian but might not have meat for weeks and when I cook it's mostly vegetarian and fish. Then, sometimes I get the comment: Well, what's wrong with meat?  Because the general impression that most people seem to have is that maybe they should cut down on the amount of sugar they eat, or fast food they eat but meat from the grocery store is good for you.

But really, it's not "What's wrong with meat?" it's "What isn't wrong with it?". The implications of the our food choices go far beyond our own health and affect the treatment of workers as well as the environment. And yes, once again, choosing organic, locally grown food costs more. But it is a vote you cast. A vote that has an impact. Big stores like Walmart and Superstore are carrying more and more organic products and with the purchasing power of these giants the implications are huge. It means millions of tons of pesticides and other chemicals NOT dumped into the soil. It also clearly supports, of course, farmers in your local area.

At any rate, I highly recommend this film. In Canada you can get it on Netflix and I sure you'll find other ways to watch it as well.

The power of vulnerability

This was shared with me in response to my last post. I wanted to share it here because I know that some of my readers are not connected to me through Facebook and may not have seen this yet. Enjoy.

The Value of Vulnerability

I recently learned a wonderful life lesson. I learned this from my students. This happened (in part) when I, recently, attended what is called the Thompson Rivers University, Adventure Guide Program 'Pin Party'. I teach whitewater kayking, swiftwater rescue and rafting at TRU and have done so for about 4 or 5 years. Adventure grads are notorious for not showing up to grad ceremonies because these events are usually when they are already working somewhere on the rivers, oceans or in the mountains. Therefore, the pin party was created. It takes place in November when all adventurous activities become dreadfully wet and cold; and it's generally in between commercial guiding seasons. Instructors, students, grads and former student then gather in the gear bay (a giant room filled with kayaks, rafts, canoes etc) and grads are presented with a TRU Adventure Programs pin. We all cheer, watch slide shows of recent adventures and generally rejoice in the magic of this place. It was at this recent event that I had a conversation with one of my former students, who told me how I had had a tremendous impact on his life. He told me that he had made several lifestyle changes lately such as paying attention to what he eats, making meditation part of his life and writing a mission statement for his life. He told me that all of this began, for him, with a conversation him and I had in the spring. I had talked to him about my personal journey. I talked about cancer, meditation, nutrition and personal growth & development. It was that evening, because of that conversation that I had a realization about this life lesson. But there were other experiences that led me have this epiphany. Over the past few years of teaching kayaking I had the incredible privilege of teaching some very talented boaters. Some of them, had far more natural talent than I, they were younger, more graceful than I. The first time this happened to me, I had second-year student as an assistant on a Kayak 1 course (the beginner level kayak course). At the time I felt threatened by this better kayaker. I felt out of shape and a bit rusty at the time and I struggled to deal with this situation. The following year I had a student in the Kayak 2 course who was clearly a much more talented boater than me. Thankfully it was so obvious, because I now had to adjust my entire approach right from the start rather than struggle with a threatened ego for the whole course. I realized that I wouldn't be able to out perform this student. But what he had in talent, I had in experience. Especially teaching experience. I had spent a lot of time honing my detection and correction skills. Being able to look at a complex movement and determine what could be done to improve it. So I decided to take a coaching approach to my teaching. I did not pretend to be the better boater, instead I said: "Here is what we want to learn, let me provide you with a location and specific challenge to help you master this skill". Then I provided feedback and everynow and then I would challenge myself to give it a go. Sometimes I did well, other times I wasn't as smooth and when that happened I provided my opionion as to why that happened. At the end of the course, this student told me that I had been his favorite instructor and that he had learned so much from me. As it turns out I learned just as much from him. So the life lesson I took away from all of these experiences is this: The value of vulnerability. I can have a much greater impact, when I am vulnerable. When I don't pretent to have it all figured out, know all the answers or possess all the skills, others are able drop those same barriers and allow themselves to step up. Great conversations happen from a place of vulnerability, because we all have our struggles, our doubts, fears and pain. When you allow yourself to be vulnerable you are really open and you allow others to do the same. Then, the magic happens.

The Solution To Pollution Is Dilution!

I was reminded of the importance of letting some fresh air into the house. We all appreciate fresh air when we get outside of the city or town where we live. Anytime we get outside for a walk, maybe up in the hills above the valley floor I think most of us take in a deep breath and appreciate the clean fresh air. Many of us, depending on where we live, pay attention to air quality ratings. Fewer people consider the indoor air quality. Because the air in our homes comes, of course, from outside it is often more polluted than the outside air unless we let some frash air in. This is because once the air is in the house, we add pollutants to it in the form of hair spray, perfumes, cleaning products, off-gassing from adhesives, paint, furniture carpets, cooking etc. In addition to that, there are organic pollutants like dust mites, molds and other micro-organisms which, along with good old dust add to the pollution of the air inside our homes. There are ways to deal with all of this pollution of course. One way is to filter the air and in a lot of North American homes air is circulated through a forced air heating and AC system. Those who own their own home may have options available in terms of upgrading the furnace or installing additional air filters. But many people live in older houses or don't have the option of installing an expensive air filtration system. The other two options are much cheaper: reduce or eleminate the sources of pollution and LET SOME FRESH AIR IN! Ways to reduce pollution in your home include eliminating many of the common house hold cleaning products. There are natural ways to clean, using vinegar and natural soaps. Norwex has a line of micro fibre cloths that require only water to effectively clean almost any surface (go to florianscharlock.norwex.biz for more info). And then you can open some windows and let some fresh air in! My grandmother used to open the windows to her bedroom every morning and lay the down pillows on the window sil. She'd let both the bedroom and pillows air our for 1/2 hour to 1 hour, while keeping the door closed as to not let all the heat from the whole house escape. Making a habbit of opening the windows in your bedroom to let fresh air in every day will ensure your bedroom remains a healthy place for you to rest.

Death by Doctor

A friend of mine posted this video on Facebook and I am thankful she shared it. I knew that allopathic medicine is responsible for more deaths than the diseases it attempts to cure but Dr. Peter Gilden does very fine job of outlining the reality we live in and how we got here. It's just a short video, but great food for thought so I hope that you will take the 5 min. and watch it.

All the crap in personal care products... Part 1

Ruby from Valemount suggested that I write about harmful chemicals in make-up. I am on my way to San Diego today and saved a number of articles and websites about this topic to read while traveling. I knew a bit about this subject but it's been eye opening to read more about it. One of the resources I used was David Suzuki's website www.davidsuzuki.org where he lists the "Dirty Dozen" chemicals in personal care products. A common thread throughout this document is that regulations of the various chemicals are much more lax in Canada than they are in other parts of the world such as Europe. Some chemicals, which are banned for use in cosmetics in Europe, are not regulated at all here. For others, the allowed concentrations are ten or hundred fold of what is considered safe in Europe. Maybe people in Europe are just weaker than us Canadians? After all, people are not the same everywhere! Apparently school children can run away from cars much faster in Saskachewan where the speed limit in school zones is 40 km/h instead of the 30 km/h here in BC. All joking aside, the amount of harmful chemicals in cosmetic products isn't funny at all. I guess what happened is, back in the 1930s we thought that our skin was pretty well impermeable. Add to that an ever increasingly eager chemical industry and an underfunded regulatory body and you end up with carcinogenic, hormone disrupting, toxic chemicals in products that claim to be good for you. If you think that government agencies such as Health Canada or the Food and Drug Administration in the US test everything for it's safety you are sadly mistaken. While the process is quite rigorous for new medications to get on the market and thorough and expensive testing is required, no testing is needed for chemicals that are used in cosmetic products. The few chemicals that do get tested are rarely assessed for their long term effects on human health and never in combination with any other chemicals. And while the concentrations for some of these compounds are relatively low, they are often persistent, meaning that they do not break down quickly in the environment and often stay in the body for some time. Also, we use so many different products that while concentrations can be low in individual products, they add up. When it comes to fragrances, companies don't even have to disclose any of the chemicals because fragrances are considered trade secrets. That means you don't have any idea what's in a products that smells nice. Some 3,000 chemicals are used in fragrances and even products that are labeled 'Unscented' or 'Fragrance-free' often contain fragrance chemicals as well as masking agents that prevent the brain from perceiving odor. If you want to find out more about the specific chemicals so that you can take a look at the ingredients in some of the products in your bathroom cupboard check out this link: http://www.davidsuzuki.org/issues/health/science/toxics/dirty-dozen-cosmetic-chemicals/ The major concerns with these harmful chemicals fall into these categories: Some of them are known carcinogens or are associated with causing cancer. Others are called endocrine disruptors because they interfere with hormone function. Some are straight up poisonous and last but not least most of them are untested and we have no clue what they do to us, especially long term. I am descending into San Diego, so I will have to continue with this tomorrow. I am not done, so stand by for more....