Happy Queen’s Day Public Holiday!

In respect of all the Queens in the world, including Queen Elizabeth II (not really a royal groupie but think she does an amazing job day in day out) and YOU, this is a super desert that can be eaten with pride and it simultaneously feels quite decadent!

Simply cut up the following ingredients and combine to be an amazing super meal.

2 punnets of different sorts of berries

2 tsp fresh chopped mint

2 Tbs black chia seeds

2 Tbs slivered almonds (dry roasted also good).

2 Tbs shredded coconut (can also dry roast if you like)

Optional pomergranates or coconut oil

And if you want to be cheeky and serve it as the best dessert ever served at a dinner party, add vodka.

Wonderfully high in antioxidants. vitamins and hormone balancing nutrients.

This is my humble take on what it means to be authentic.

Authenticity – the latest buzz word on the speaking circuit. Be true to yourself, be authentic, be you!

What does it really mean. I am in the “know” and yet I felt mildly embarrassed not knowing exactly what it all means.

I have listened to many and hear what they say. This is one of my favourite talks in the world by Brene Brown. I hope you enjoy it.

Authenticity is definitely a word you will hear in the personal development world and well, I am going to give it a crack. I am going to give you my explanation of what I think it means to be authenticity and how I try to live.

To me it means being YOU.

Worts and all, people who are authentic echo a big “THIS IS ME”. Like it or not…It means not being fake, not laughing if you don’t get it and not pretending in any sense.

This is the wiki definition

au·then·tic

This is what it means to be me to be authentic.

I made a decision to be as authentic and real and honest to everyone that I met and encounter a long time ago. To me this was the easiest way to live.

I felt at the time that I had too many potential skeletons that I didn’t want falling out of the cupboard at in-opportune moments destroying my current moment. The skeletons were varied – thoughts, beliefs, things I had done etc. Don’t get me wrong, I am not a villain but I am also aware that people judge. And it is this fear that ultimately gave me the courage to be transparent and live by what I truly believed in.

I wanted to be confident that no matter what the situation I found myself in, that I didn’t compromise myself or others.  Whether I was drunk with friends, working in my clinic, being with my family or in front of a thousand people talking. I wanted some guarantee that I could trust myself not to slip up and reveal something about myself that I didn’t want others to see. I didn’t want anyone to see a side of me that I wasn’t proud of and I couldn’t defend.

I don’t wish to pretend to be someone I am not. I want to be loved, respected and admired for me being me.

I know at different times in my life I have portrayed someone I am not. But it is an effort and it is draining and I am always  questioning my intent.

So being authentic, living my truths, doing things every day that were in line with what I believe is right, helps me stay honest, open and transparent.

I must say it’s also allowed me to explore and grow more. Bravado and ego just get in the way of getting to know people. It still happens sometimes when I find I am in a tennis match of egos… I am this, puff puff up goes my chest, well I am this and this… but I try to recognise it quickly and change the dynamic or walk away.

I can say, from the middle of heart that if you work out what you truly would die for and stand behind, and then live by these as a set of blue print rules, you will be showing the world your authentic REAL you. And people can then decided whether to hang out with you or not.

I urge you, encourage you to live as you feel. Make sure these things aren’t totally against societies rules but find your peace within the society rules in which you live.

If you need a hand on starting out to be authentic, from this day forward these steps might help… (get a pen and piece of paper and find a warm spot in the sun on your own to do this)

1. Write down what you believe is right/wrong, good/bad and these form your values. Eg I only eat healthy foods. (There is no need to extrapolate on the opposite value i.e.: I don’t eat junk food. Just focus on the desired behaviour).

2. Once you have worked out your values live by them, explore them. What do they mean in real life?

For example if you say “good nutrition” is a value, then be true to your word and eat well.  Commit to eating at least 2 cups of plant matter a day. This is being authentic.

3. Brainstorm different actions that demonstrate your value to yourself and the world. EG good nutrition might require that you eat only organic, cut coffee down to one cup a day, stop drinking alcohol on your own, say good bye to sugar etc…

4. Cut out the rubbish in your life. Get rid of distractions, clutter and trying to please others.

5. Find time daily to reflect on your values, your dreams and if you are living truthfully and authentic. If you are not, or if you are feeling stress, find the courage to change the dynamic.

I hope it helps you work out who you really are and how you can be more authentic and vulnerable and not give a brass bazoo about anyone else thinks.

“If only we saw ourselves through other people’s eyes. We would never worry again.”

I believe we are all beautiful and the more authentic the more relaxed and beautiful you become.

Share away as so many people are missing this really important step to being happy – being authentic.

Excited and enthralled I am sitting in Melbourne attending the International Congress on Natural Medicine.

I tell my patients regularly that I am a nerd and really this weekend is about me nurturing that very important side of me. The frustrated professor, the lab rat, the part of my that want to know why…

Some of you will be reading this for interests sake but others will be reading intently seeing if medicine/science/research has new doors to open. Especially if you are suffering with an auto immune disease (AID).

Firstly a little back ground on AID.

Immunity is the body’s ability and systems that it has in place to defend itself from diseases, bacteria, viruses and invading pathogens. Overall it is called the immune system and is one area of medicine that is AMAZING!

On the exterior we have skin, tears, coughing to protect us and internally we have probiotics,  mucous production and a permeable mucous membrane system that includes our ears and upper airways, lungs, gut , bowel and bladder.

Historically most invading pathogens (things that cause disease in humans) comes through our gut so the gut system has approximately 70% of the lymphoid (or immune defending cells) situated just inside the gut wall. Infact food has to pass by the immune surveillance cells (or MHCS) which is why foods can trigger immune confusion.

When we are rested, eating well and have a range of good bacteria protecting our boarders, we experience good health.

This person has rheumatoid arthritis. Painful, disfiguring and crippling.

If little viruses (that cause coughs/colds) , bacteria that cause infections,  do penetrate our first line defences then usually we can fend them off with a stack of second line attackers – our white blood cells.

White blood cells (there are many different types) play a massive role in protecting our internal systems. There are some that just float around looking for mutations (Natural Killer cells) and play a BIG role in protecting us from cancer, while others monocytes and macrophages are deployed when our body senses a bacterial or viral attack.

White blood cells are made in our lymphatic system (remember most of this is actually in your gut) and can lead to your glands swelling when you are battling an infection/invasion.

You may recognise this as swollen glands in your arm pits, groin, kids get tummy aches as their tummy glands inflame and hurt, and then the white blood cells orchestrate a reaction in the body that increases blood flow to the area to facilitate the attack and removal of the dead debris.

In AID white blood cells go CRAZY and hypersensitive. They destroy good tissue.

Swelling, heat, redness, pain, fever and low energy levels are noticeable when this is happening. once the invading infection is dealt with the immune system should settle down and go back into surveillance mode.

HOWEVER sometimes our immune response stays switch on. And when white blood cells stay switch on, they can do damage. They can start turning on “self” and start attacking it in an unpatrolled self sabotage. This is known as auto-immunity and conditions arising from this phenomena are called auto-immune diseases (AID).

AID have confused the medical profession for years. Many causes of AID get put down to “idiopathic” causes. Which means “we don’t know” . Well let me say they don’t know.

Research and what the two following  presenters talked about showed there are causes and reasons. It is clear that bacteria and viruses only express a genetic weakness. And virurses and bacteria are only two triggers. And it is highly likely that in many cases vaccinating was the cause of the disruption.

AID includes diseases such as MS, AS, ALS, diabetes type 1, Rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, crohns, coeliac disease, ulcerative colitis, vitiligo, juvenile arthritis.

There seems to be a myriad of things that will cause AID.

This slide summarises it well.

The two speakers this morning were fantastic and I can unreservedly refer you to their work if you would like more information.

Both of these world experts are disseminating so much information that I thought I would simplify things and put into punching points with references if you would like to read more. Similarly put questions on my Facebook page or leave comments here and I will do my best to answer them.

Take home grabs…

From Prof Yehunda Shoenfeld 

1. 5-10% of the population are predisposed to AID

2. A family history of thyroid disease is a good guide that there is probably genetic predisposition.

3. There are definite geographic areas in the world where there is higher incidence of AID and this is usually due to environmental toxins (e.g. London airport and scleroderma)

4. Diet plays a big role as to whether genetics are expressed or not.

5. There is a strong association between bacteria and viruses and AID

6. EBV (glandular fever virus) present (95% ) in polymoositis, SLE, SS, Hashimotos. But many people do have EBV antibodies.

7. Worms or helminths may offer protection against some diseases. In malaria ridden areas there is little AID. Ingesting worms have been looked at as a cure for all sorts of things including asthma.

8. Infections during childhood can affect you later in life as an AID

9. Things like vaccines, hormones and other environmental factors express a genetic weakness

Prof Garth Nicolson

1. in Gulf War survivors infections and vaccine use was rife. He noticed that families were affected so realised that it was due to infections

2. Biggest associated infections was with mycoplasma species which is hard to detect.

3. In chronic fatigue patients, multiple infections are very common

4. Multiple infections usually equate to more serious the symptoms

5. There seems to be a combo of heavy metals, chemicals and genetics

6. In gulf war toxic exposure included PB, DEET, permethrin, paint, Radiological: DU, 90Rs, 70Cr, Environmental Fine sand, smoke, oil fumes Biological: parasites, bacteria, viruses fungi and toxing

7. 100% of Gulf War veterans have mycoplasma and many of their families have become infected

8. 4-6 % of commercially approved vaccines by the FDA are contaminated with mycoplasma

9. Lyme disease is alive and well and can cause AID

So if you are reading this for interest, I hope it gives you an overview. If you are reading this because you suffer from an AID, then I urge you to find a physician who works with a naturopath. This requires a double barrelled approach. Sometimes naturopaths are well equipped to help on their own, other times you will require some pharmaceuticals to get symptoms control and then do the mop up and life changing stuff. Please do not settle on the “there is nothing we can do, (except put you on steroids and methotrexate or thyroid meds, or whatever it is) except keep you on drugs”. Find the strength, find a good practitioner, part with some money to gain a better life. If I can support you or direct you let me know. Sam x

A friend’s blog has prompted me today to explore my “why”.

Why do I get out of bed, why do I have a radio show, why do I write books, why why why??

“To live is the rarest thing in the world.

Most people exist, that is all.” 
Oscar Wilde

It’s quite a good thing to ponder on this winters’ day sipping pinot grigio at the local surf club. Why…

I am not 100% equivocal on my overall why but I do know the following:

I know when I was 10 years old, that I wanted to be famous, represent Australia and to help as many people as I can. This is still my same why. It helps me get out of bed and is never far from who I am as a person. It is my why.

Since writing my why when I was 10 years old, I have added layers to my “why” and am continually challenged on my why. If I stayed true to my “why” every day, then I wouldn’t be distracted, waste time and experience bad things.

My why has always lead to relief, greater gains and higher purpose. Interestingly my why takes me out of my why,  which is to focus on us/you and the world.

There is something in me that I can’t quite explain. That I haven’t got words for. And I think , struggling now and hoping the pinot fills the gaps with words, that it is love and connection. Somehow if I can create love and connection it enables me to feel love and connected? Does that make sense? That is probably more my daily why.

If I can create connection and love for people (in my clinic, my contacts, my family – my little world) then not only is my why being fulfilled but I know I am receiving some love and connection. Is that selfish? Maybe – but as long as we all get to bathe in the love and connection, it must be a good thing.

What is your why?

If you don’t have a why you may feel a bit lost.

I know many people who see me as clients either don’t have a “why” or have lost their why (e.g. the kids were their why and then they leave the nest and they don’t have a personal why any more).

Find a why to get out of bed, to breathe deep to love more. Charities are a wonderful place to start, as is volunteering or even travelling.

Find your why and all else will follow.

Create certainty to create calm

Today on Hop into Health I interviewed Nam and Devo – two friends and two inspiring people. I wanted to explore the importance of breathing, why it is essential for happiness and stress management and more importantly HOW TO BREATHE??

Crazy to suggest that you don’t know how to breathe I know, but as you sit here reading this, are you aware of your breathe?

Are you able to use your breathe to stop stress, modulate emotions and govern your thoughts? This is the extent and capabilities of learning to breathe properly.

Q: N & D: What are your back grounds?

A: Nam – Deep sea free diver who helped other free divers. I started to study what happened to people emotionally and chemically in oxygen debt and strategies they used to improve it. We started working with Pat Rafter (iconic Australian tennis star) a few years back to help him optimise his breathing. Then we started attracting serious surfers who were taking on big waves and started to teaching them to breathe, not to panic and control their physical and mental self under stress. From this we realised that we could replicate this to the wider community because what we teach is a daily life skill.

Devon: I did a bachelor in human movement and have been coaching people about their bodies for years. Together we make a great team as I help Nam with the physical and science understandings of what we do.

Q: Why do you think people are struggling to breathe properly?

A: People are missing out on basic life skills in school and as children. We are not taught to breathe from birth through to death. However having control over your breathing enables you to govern your thoughts, your chemistry and your physical self.

Stress in itself (the Fight or flight response AKA sympathetic nervous system response) is often governed by perception and beliefs. If we can work out why and when we are stressing we can learn to switch it off with breathing!

Q: Why is stress increasing?

A: Stress is perception and it is perceived in the body 3 different ways: mental, physical and chemical. When we start to stress our heart rate goes up which affects our higher centres in our brain. Interestingly the mere fact our heart rate goes up, tells our brain to start stressing! The heart feeds back 90% of emotional information to the brain and can generate a stress response, not the other way around!

This recent understanding of the body is what is behind heart math. (A subject for another show)!

Learning to breath better helps manage stress feedback to the brain, slower respiratory rate which keeps chemical changes to a minimum as well keeping the heart calm! So important.

Q: How can people better manage stress?

BREATHING BETTER!

1. Label it – what is it exactly that is stressing you

2. Create certainty in your body (best done by mastering your breathing slow breathe in and slow breathe out).

3. This delivers more oxygen to the cells which is calming

Q: where can people tap and learn more from you guys?

A: Via our website www.equalize.com.au .

I can highly recommend Nam and Devo for anyone suffering with anxiety or for people wanting to improve their oxygen reserves. Contact them via their website. They would love to hear from you.

Summary:

There is so much to the stress reaction and most of it is in our control. If you are struggling with anxiety, you really need to start by improving your breathing. Nam took us through a breathing exercise on air (listen the podcast for it) and I strongly recommend doing more with Nam and Devo or getting a guided meditation app or DVD. I am planning on making one over the next few weeks so will let everyone know.