From Weirdness to Healthness

Once upon a time I got sick with mono. And for quite awhile after that (for a few months) I would often wake up and be so physically exhausted and in pain (feeling like I'd been hit by a large truck) that I would literally wonder how I was going to get out of bed just so I could pee. (You become determined enough that you decide to crawl, and you do it slowly.) And I've never been the same since.

When you are someone who begins to have weird health problems that the medical community seems unable to help you with you start being willing to try weird things to get better. It's an act of desperation. It's an act of courage. Sometimes it's an act of faith. It's an act that can also give you empowerment as you take control of your health rather than handing it over to someone else (aka the doctors or anyone else you may have given it over too...including some quacks who got you to try some "bad" weird things for your health). And surprisingly some of these "weird" things actually help where the medical field could not.

Right now I am drinking "flax seed tea." I have no idea whether it will help, but it certainly won't hurt. I haven't strained the flax seeds out, so some of the seeds float to the top as I drink...the heated water has made them slippery. And I am doing some chewing of slippery seeds as well as sipping "tea."

Okay, a lot of the things that I have tried to improve my health that have actually helped really aren't that weird. Improving my nutrition has helped dramatically. Things like taking extra zinc, magnesium, vitamin C, etc. have had amazing results. So it's only kind of weird in that your doctor probably isn't going to tell you to take these things for things like anxiety, sleep disorders, muscle ache, etc. But they might.

I did try a "cleansing program" from Isagenix (yes, the same program which bestselling authors that Jack Canfield of Chicken Soup for the Soul fame and John Gray of Men are from Mars, Women from Venus fame are big advocates of), which always induced what is known in alternative medicine as a "healing crisis" (a sort of "you temporarily get worse right before you get better). And I realized if I were to be on a cleansing program I needed to be on a gentler one. But I have stuck with their "meal replacement drink" because it is so chockful of nutrients that really seem to benefit me. This is what "saved me" and made so I was finally able to get out of my bed after my bout with mono. And everytime I stopped taking their drink (or something equivalent to it in the kinds of vitamins and minerals it has) my health would take an immediate nosedive, almost back to how it was when I first got so sick I could barely move and get out of bed.

I try to get "friendly bacteria" such as lactobacillus acidophilus from things like yogurt...yogurt is considered more normal than it used to be. So in order to be more weird I will also consume such things as Kefir. I also found a really great tasting mint-chocolate bar that has probiotics in it and no milk/dairy. I've even dared try kombucha on a couple occasions. *shudders just a little*

I've done yoga and seen chiropractors and got some good results by doing these. I've learned a little about Ayurveda (the traditional medicine from India) and will do a sort of self massage called abhyanga which is surprisingly very helpful to me and so I should do it more often.

One of the weirdest things I have done that I swear actually helps me is called oil swishing, where you basically swish something like sesame seed oil in your mouth like mouth wash...but for twenty long minutes. I'll be the first to admit that it's really weird. But hey, if it works for me then it's worth it. (I can't believe it does all the things that many people claims it does...but I can't know that it doesn't either.) Almost all oils have anti-bacterial properties (some even have anti-viral properties) which may be one of the reasons why it helps.

Not everything I've done I've done has been on the physical level though either. Some of it has been more on the mental level. I've done hypnosis, visual relaxation techniques, positive affirmation, writing in a journal. Awhile back I started doing something to release negative thoughts/feelings called the Sedona Method which then led to my doing a method called The Work which has led to amazing transformations emotionally and mentally...which then has had an effect on me physically. Letting go of the mental stress (or having the mental stress let go of me) has resulted in my muscles letting go of years of habitual tension. Which frees up so much energy that I'm less tired and able to do other things.

I take time to research the things I try...especially the weirder ones...for things like safety and effectiveness.

It's been an interesting experience over the years, learning and trying new things. Seeing what works and what doesn't. And experience how amazing it is to find something that actually improves my level of health.

I still am not "normal" but I am better. And I believe I am continuing to climb up to better levels. I've always been sick my entire life...for example as a child sore throats were often something I experienced for a week or two almost every month. But it wasn't until I was practically incapacitated in my adult years that I realized how much I took health for granted. I wonder if someday I'll truly experience "good health." But I'm learning to at least appreciate and even enjoy the journey, even if I never completely arrive at that particular destination.