Caring for Yourself in these Uncertain Times

This is a time of intense stress, concern and worry, and as such it’s more important than ever to look after our health and wellbeing – in a holistic sense. The following is from an article published in the May 2018 issue of our Newsletter – The Voicemonkey Dispatch. We’re reposting it here in the hope it gives you some inspiration to take extra good care for yourself while at home over these next few weeks, if not months.

As a self-proclaimed health nut, and an officially certified Health Coach, I’ve had LOTS of practice using my own body as an experiment for many years. Fasting and cleansing and healing myself of conditions that regular medical doctors told me were “incurable”. Through experience I learned that there is much that western doctors aren’t taught, including the fact that real health is something we can only achieve from a holistic sense.

It makes sense they aren’t taught from a “Holistic Health” model, i.e.: a model that considers the ENTIRE body as one integrated circuit. Medical schools get their funding from the pharmaceutical industry, and pharmaceutical company executives sit on every medical school board in the United States. As such the curriculum spends very little time on treatments other than with pharmaceutical drugs. Most graduates will tell you over an 8 year educational program only an average of 20 hours is spent studying nutrition and how it directly affects health. Let alone how vital exercise is to the human organism.

There are MANY things we can do to improve our lives and our health that are simpler, easier, and less expensive than medications. A Holistic Health model is not hard to achieve or to practice, and at this time in our history when medications are being rationed out and in some places made unavailable, it behooves us to learn about the alternatives, some of which have been practiced effectively on the planet for thousands of years.

The Digestive System and Its Importance to Your Wellbeing

Did you know that you actually have TWO brains? One in your skull and the other in your G.I. tract? More neurons exist in your digestive system than in your brain! It’s actually considered the “first brain”. Whatever goes in there informs the “second brain” – the one up top. You really ARE what you eat – toxic food isn’t just bad for your body, it’s bad for your THOUGHTS as well. It can change the chemistry of your brain, especially if you have a low-grade undiagnosed allergy (like to gluten, which many people unknowingly have). Food is so often the root cause of depression, anxiety, malaise, etc. Bad diet is responsible for more death and disease than anyone would have you believe.

The father of medicine, Hippocrates, said “Let Food Be Thy Medicine”. Smart Man.

Your Waste System

Here’s another interesting factoid: Did you know you have 3 times more lymph fluid in your body than blood? Your blood has a Heart to pump it around – pushing it through the filtration systems of the liver and kidneys which help keep it clean. But what pumps your lymph fluid?

Nothing!

Nothing that is, except for YOU moving your body. And sweating. The lymph fluid is filtered through the skin! No exercise, no movement = no cleaning! What happens when the lymph stagnates? Well, what happens when a pool of ANY water stagnates? Ew.

The Interconnected YOU

Everything is connected to everything else. There’s a Web of Life within you. Toxic food leads to toxic thoughts, toxic thoughts lead to stress, stress leads to over-production of cortisol, and cortisol destroys cells. The cycle continues until something major breaks down, showing up as pain or discomfort, and we end up at a doctor who prescribes us a pill to manage the symptom, without ever tracing back to the root cause that would heal us.

This gut/brain energy balance is 30 years from being truly understood by allopathic medicine, but Naturopaths and Holistic Doctors know it well. Indigenous people (like my Grandmother) knew it well. Practitioners know it well.

You can be one of those.

What To Do!

Practice the beautiful Meditation Steve shared with you (if you’re in class). Slow down your breathing, slow down your mind, for just a couple minutes a day. Meditation is a “Mind Treatment”. An ancient prescription proven over thousands of years. No mistakes there.

Drink good quality water.

Do some yoga (youtube it in your bedroom if you’re too embarrassed to be seen doing it!).

Some simple movement each day can make the world of difference to your body. Voiceover is no different from singing in that it requires the mechanism to function well internally. The diaphragm, the posture, the throat, the capacity of the lungs. The health of your “apparatus” make a difference, not only to you while you’re engaged in the work, but to the end product as well!

None of this needs to be fancy. You have everything you need already on board. The body is a self-healing machine. Remember that if your body created the condition, it can also reverse it. I’ve seen it and lived it.

If you’re depressed, anxious, sleepless, lethargic, sick, tired, constipated, irritated, ALL of these things can be signs that the body is not getting the nutrition, movement, rest and mindfulness it needs to heal and find balance. These are some of the most basic ways that you can begin to bring that balance back into your life, and life back into your body.

Like most “Medicine” these things need to be “taken” regularly, and they have a cumulative effect on the body over time. Unlike most medicine though there are no negative side effects. You’ll pretty quickly start to feel better for it, and hopefully this should encourage you to continue.

Feel free to reach out to me if you have questions. There are lots of great resources available out there, and lots of folks like me walking the path and happy to share what we’ve discovered along the way. One of my favorite websites for natural alternatives to everyday products is www.wellnessmama.com.

Whole-body awareness doesn’t just lead you to greater health. It leads you to happiness, creativity, and joy, all things you’ll need for a great performance! At this time it’s more important than ever that we share our wisdom and ideas, and that we actively work to better our lives and those around us.

To Your Health, which is your Greatest Wealth!

– Reirani