Maggi Nimmo

“The past beats inside me like a second heart.” (The Sea by John Banville)
The process of Pancha Karma the medicine of India is a revealing journey.
The treatments take time and each individual needs different treatments in different order to others. The food you are given plays as much a part as the medicines and treatments. I have been blessed in my choice of ayurvedic physicians and the place and time of my healing. Here I sit in the fourth week of my stay in Hariharapura and every day I’ve eaten a plant based diet. Breakfast today was water pancakes and a mild accompanying samba made from sweet potatoes. The water pancakes are made from finely ground rice, mixed with water and made into a fine crisp pancake, followed by a fine  sweet chai, I ask you, how good is that?
I have bought myself a rather colourful cotton nightie, it has scary big sunflowers on it and covers me from neck to ankle. I wear this passion killer to my treatments in the early dawn. I ‘ m also kitted out in a kinda cross between a nappy and a thong that covers my lower rude bits.
A large table awaits me and I throw off the flower robe and lie down. Within minutes very warm medicated sesame seed oil is poured over me in a thin almost continuous stream, toes to neck over and over again, I can feel my body letting go, my mind stops and my nervous system registers relax, relax, relax. Then I am basted on my back. I can tell you now it’s a splendid way to begin the day.
This is called Shiro Pizhichil. When I first arrived here  four weeks ago I was given a massage and Shiro Pizhichil for 3 days until I was relaxed enough to start cleansing my body and that is a whole other story.
The actual ins and  outs of the treatment are individuated and I hope each and every one of you reading this gets a chance to experience them. The thing that intrigues me about the over all experience is how much of the past is teased out of my body. We are born and at the moment of our first breath our spirit, soul and body are fused meshed together into a being of senses, mind and intellect. Our life  experiences and conditioning tease together into our awareness, our beliefs, our traumas, yet these experiences are not the essence, the entity experiencing is the true self.
In the Bhavgad  Gita 3:39-40 it says just as a fire is hidden by smoke, or a mirror by dust or a foetus by the womb the living entity is covered by the desires. The seat of these desires are the the senses, the mind and  the intellect. These desires hide the living entity, the true self, if you like, causing bewilderment and confusion.
The different stages of our lives create different desires, our cultural experiences create desires and expectations. It is difficult to discern, through our misperceptions, projections, imaginings, yearnings and illusory beliefs just what is real. Our progress through the world is clouded by the past, our unexamined beliefs, chemical state, age.
Discerning any truth is as much an individual journey as the Ayurvedic treatments and your response or reaction to them. 
If you are young then it is very difficult to tease apart the cause and effect of an event. You are caught up in hormonal surges, physical fluctuations, and habitual responses. With time, experience and deliberate choices you can move towards inner equilibrium and acting on those choices you cannot not move past the smoke and mirrors towards a different concept of yourself, each journey takes as long as it takes.
Here at the ashram, (http://www.arogyaniketana.com/) old injuries are examined, old, perhaps, outmoded behaviours exposed and a deep sense of physical ease, relaxation and mental freedom means it is easier to come to the final barriers to self awareness.
For me it is embracing an emptiness that years ago might have been terrifying. Now I can sit with myself and slowly pass through barriers of self judgement and emotion that formerly might have agitated me. It’s not that I’m in any way enlightened it’s just that I’m less likely to see things that are not there, illusions if you like, that can cause my snaky nature to bite. 
My past histories, my past stories have been sifted through and refined until maybe there is some modicum of truth in my experience of now. The beating heart of my past is synchronised with the real heart of me.  

Dear Fellow Travelers
I started teaching yoga in Balmain in the early 90’s.  My friend Greg Barwick and I taught huge classes, in terms of numbers. We taught in the old nurses quarters in the Balmain hospital, a lovely old hall. Later I moved the classes to the more modern, but kinda less appealing conference centre also in the hospital grounds. I was unhappy teaching in the slightly seedy, low ceilinged cavernous hall, so moved to the workshop area that is now Beyond the Ordinary.  Then it was Mysteries a crystal and esoteric book shop. I had an uneasy relationship with the proprietor but loved the teaching space.

In the late 90’s a large space became available in Booth Street, Balmain and I moved my therapy and yoga teaching business in, a stressful period. I loved teaching yoga at the Booth Street clinic and treating people with Bowen, homoeopathy and Sacro-Cranial Technique. Many people passed through that space, and many people taught classes. I initiated into Balmain, Flying Warrior Yoga, Iyengar Yoga, Shadow Yoga, Ashtanga Yoga, Power Yoga, Yoga Therapy, Pranayama, Yoga Nidra, Yoga Philosophy, Pilates, Belly Dancing and workshops on feminine expression.

At the end of 2003 to 2004. I went to India to study yoga and to experience some Ayurvedic purification therapy, Panchakarma
Panchakarma <http://www.google.com.au/search?q=Panchakarma&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&client=firefox-a&gws_rd=cr&hl=en&sa=X&as_q=&nfpr=&spell=1&ei=KmZTUsm0K_GZiQfH14HYBA&ved=0CCIQvwU>

I have never been sick travelling in Asia or India but in Kerala in 2004 I drank some pineapple juice and got sick, sick, sick. Fortunately I was on my way to the ashram, and an Ayurvedic Doctor called Ashwin Sasrty looked after me. I came back to Australia and my son picked me up from the airport he exclaimed when he saw me, “Oh my God, you look like a Biafran marathon runner.” I had lost an enormous amount of weight and came back to Australia, recovered but weak.  I continued running the Booth Street Yoga and therapy centre into 2004.  Having been ill I was easily exhausted and decided in mid 2004 to close the Booth Street clinic and yoga centre and treat and teach yoga from home. I specialised in one on one yoga therapy and hands on treatments.

In 2009 I started teaching out of the Old Mysteries space. It had become under the gentle hand of Colleen Kennedy, Beyond the Ordinary, a Tea House and Healing Centre: http://www.beyondtheordinary.com.au/BTO/Welcome.html. Still to this day I love teaching in the yoga room.

Which brings me to 2013. My yoga practice has become centred on postural integration, strengthening yoga postures, pranayama (breath control), Yoga Nidra (yogic relaxation) and lots of calming sitting practices.  I bring to yoga my experience as a therapist. I bring to my own yoga practice a need to become calmer, stronger and maintain a steady relationship with myself and the world.

If you wish to work with me in Yoga a new series of classes will begin next week.  The final few classes of 2013 will emphasise a subtle awareness, a gentle more therapeutic and meditative approach.  Yoga means union, the balancing of opposites, the quieting of your inner monkey mind and a resulting subtle and gentler approach to living your life. As you grow your awareness expands and becomes more subtle, and generous.

I have just returned from a Yoga Conference run by the International Yoga Teachers Association of Australia. One of it’s oldest members Rosemary Pearson was present. Rosemary was , at one time, the president of this organisation. At one meeting she walked up behind me and put her hands on my shoulders. I experienced a stream of gentleness flowing through me.  This gentle woman is present, really present.  She totally embodies a loving presence. The practice of yoga is not going to mean that you don’t age, what it does mean you become open, wiser and your quiet presence restores and replenishes the world within you and those around you just as Rosemary creates an aura of calm in the stormy seas of our lives. I trust your body, mind and  heart will move towards this goal of stillness that moves mountains.

IT’S WARM, UNCANNILY SO…
It’s very very windy in Sydney town today. A most unpleasant experience. The wind is gusty and gritty. The hot humid winds are driving folk indoors. It is also the school holidays and my friend Sally has to cosset herself and her 2 boys away, asthma and tempers flair when the wind flies.
If this is the result of global warming it feels grim…
To compensate I am sitting at my computer in my front clinic room, a cool room. I can see the sun and the Banksia tree outside. The tree is shaking almost shuddering and other than the occasional car the sunny streets are empty. Ironically I’m listening to an Icelandic composer, Ólafur Arnalds his album “For Now I Am Winter, “ is incandescently beautiful. Rolling smooth musical movements that flow through my body. I have done a few yoga practices to this album and it awakes in me a feeling of expansion that really translates into an extraordinary yoga experience, maybe it’s the cooling soothing effect of music inspired by vast cold landscapes. I saw Ólafur at the basement last Friday evening. The crowd was so quiet listening to the music and the sheer musicality of the group, piano, violin and cello was extraordinary. Here’s a link to him on Soundcloud:

ONLINE PRESENCE
I have been attempting to increase my Google rating. Apparently the only way is to get satisfied clients and yoga students to go on line and give me the thumbs up; now if you feel so inclined please do.
Like many small businesses I am feeling the Pinch. It’s more than that really, with yoga classes on line, glamorous young teachers waving their perfectly packaged perks bits at us it would be easy to mistake physical attractiveness and good graphics for competence in yoga teaching ability. In terms of my one on one therapy work that too suffers as people panic about money and work long hours and play hard to compensate. This is not the economic climate to ask people to be moderate. That is what I do, excessive behaviour of any sort, either too much or too little of anything for too long, will deteriorate your body, mind and consciousness. Economically challenging times means the forces of balance, moderation, calm and restraint are largely ignored as your lives swing from pole to pole. Get thee to a yoga class. Jus’ sayin’. Link: http://magginimmo.com/mainindex/mainframe.html
A new course starts in mid October…

TEACHING YOGA
I’m a very traditional yoga teacher. I start with a connection, that is, rapport with a student. The next step is to really get to know each other to be able to support your journey, heal wounds, both emotional, mental and physical. Once that link of resonance is built on mutual trust, friendship and empathetic connection you, the yoga student, move forward into yoga. Yoga means union, as a teacher I start as I mean to continue in a state of alliance, the aim being to become warmer, more balanced human beings, responding to life’s inevitable changes with love for what is as it is, which frees us all up to make choices, exercise our free will to our best advantage. One of my students now in London, contacted me recently and said, “Every time I want to come out of a posture prematurely I hear your voice saying, Let your neck be free, inhale softly, exhale softer.” I was touched.

WORKSHOP
I was speaking with an very experienced health professional this morning, she is not well at the moment, and is having to take the time to examine her life and particularly her work. She said, ”A few months ago I would convene a workshop and command large numbers now not so much it costs me money to teach.”
I’m going to buck that trend and present my next workshop at Barefoot Yoga. The DOs & DON’Ts of YOGA, this is an exploration of the philosophy of Patangali’s (a yoga philosopher) YAMAS & NIYAMAS, the recommended character based behaviours (DOs) to approach balance and the restraints (DON’Ts) to inhibit destructive impulses. It’s on the Saturday, October 19th, the Full Moon, an auspicious time to study balance. See the Link below…
http://www.barefootyoga.com.au/Event/i59

DOs & DON’Ts of YOGA

Hi there all as you may know I just taught the inaugural DOs & DON’Ts of YOGA. An exploration  of the basic information in Patangali’s Yoga Sutras.

It was a remarkable day, the numbers were intimate, which was, at first, disappointing, but as the day progressed and the text wove itself around our explorations, the small group found a reoccurring theme, over coming obstacles that prevented disciplined actions and a challenge to our ideas of what is real. Perception filters altered as we unravelled our past and present. The juxtaposition of doubt and certainty, of responsibility and freedom came up again and again.

Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras have been called Four Chapter on Freedom, yet they suggest disciplined action, action, enthusiasm while surrendering to something greater than yourself. What we explored was a way to look at the two sides of an idea leading to an action, for example, doubt verses certainty. We discussed them until both revealed our anxieties and the underlying motivations based on conditioning or unquestioned beliefs that drive our behaviour, we came closer to be able to choose how to respond to events.

We did some yoga to aid us in the sitting process, applying the concepts of non violence and truthfulness.  Don’t worry if you missed out because I will teach a shorted version in October on the October Full Moon, Saturday the 19th at Barefoot Yoga, Paddington. 12:30 to 3:30pm
Here is a link to read more about the workshop and to book in: http://www.barefootyoga.com.au/Event/i59

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Last night fear was near the surface

I feel like I write my life upon water.  My words snake into the air and as I quietly voice or sing my thoughts to the night air my eyes fill with moisture.  

I am alone looking at the reflection of Venus in the slopping waters of a small bay.  I realise that when I’m alone I see myself in a very clear mirror and in relationships I somehow see my face as I am.  I spot the planet Venus nestled against the moon. I can see Venus in all her created glory.

As I walk home along the night street a young man with dark hair and dark pants sat pensively on some steps, his sunglasses at odds with the moon. I wanted to stop and ask, “ Are you all right?” and solve the mystery of why he sat where he was looking at nothing. My training was too entrenched, the imagined possibility of him being an drug addled axe murderer was too likely.  Fear is so near the surface.

A dog darted ahead of me out of a side street and a man quickly picked up his child to plunge her into the safely of an open car.  All the while reassuring her that the doggy was just wanting to have a look. Fear is so near the surface.
The surface of  things is a deep mystery.

No advertisement for tooth cleaning products ever said, “You can find it cheaply in your kitchen and it cleans your teeth better than anything else.” Ever.

I’ve been expose to those strange posts on Facebook that have a retro picture of 50’s men and or women saying things like, ”Hon, I know where we keep everything in the house. I live here remember? Said no husband ever.”

It got me thinking about all the things that some body or some organisation never said and never would say. A politician would never say, “My party has only the interests of a limited number of well heeled business people, who make generous donations to the party fund as our major policy direction.” Soooo in the interests of fair play I have decided to include in this post a link to the GetUp television advertisement that the media has banned, you can judge for yourself and vote accordingly on Saturday.
https://www.getup.org.au/campaigns/media/murdoch-ad-update/why-we-were-banned?t=dXNlcmlkPTExNjc4MDgsZW1haWxpZD0yNjMx

As for the tooth cleaning products that give you a whiter and brighter smile and rids your mouth of harmful inflammatory process and bacteria, they are Turmeric and Baking Soda. Turmeric paste though yellow  if used as a tooth paste really makes your teeth stains disappear and Baking Soda does have a whitening effect on your teeth and is anti bacterial.

Over the last year or so I have walked past a house in the street where I live. On its ultra modern front porch there lived a shabby array of stones, arranged in no apparent order. Beside the stones was often an array of small sticks. The pattern and placement would change from time to time but essentially there was always a few stones and sticks on the wooden step.

One morning I was walking by with a Frangipani flower in my hand and I tossed it amongst the stones. About a week later I moved the stones into a circle and put a red leaf on the road side of the porch. This behaviour went on for months. You might well ask why I did this, well I keep asking myself too. I figured it was either a real eccentric Wiccan playing with the element of Earth, unlikely. Maybe it was a person who placed stones randomly as an act of minor anarchy, kinda passive aggressive anti style statement.

I was fascinated and my speculations got wilder. Last week I was walking along my street and outside the house of interest was a big moving van. A man and a woman stood on the now stone and stick free porch. I smiled and said, “Looks like a big move. Where are you going?”
The man replied , ” London.”
“Golly,” I said, “That’s a big change, If you don’t mind me asking, what’s with the stones and sticks on your front porch?”
“That’s our son.” Said the man, “Every time we go to the park he insists on bringing back a stick or stone and we make him leave them out the front.” So there you have it, It never occurred to me that the culpret was a child, who’d of thought a child in Balmain, silly me.
Then our good traveller said, “Yeah someone kept putting flowers amongst the stones.”
I pursed my lips and said, “That’d be me.”
The couple smiled and I said, “Bon voyage, I hope it goes really well for you in London.”

I love being alive even with its dilemmas and especially with its delusions that often resolve themselves into lovely human realities of warm human consciousnesses touching.

 I’m very excited, you see, Leonard Cohen is returning to Australia in November. I haven’t secured my tickets but I’m already in a mental cyber queue. I’ve had his latest CD on high rotation. ‘Old Ideas’, an amazing eclectic offering of songs that get you by the mental and emotional hot and curlies.
Here’s an example of the lyrics of last track on the CD:

We find ourselves on different sides
Of a line nobody drew
Though it all may be one in the higher eye
Down here where we live it is two

I to my side call the meek and the mild
You to your side call the Word
By virtue of suffering I claim to have won
You claim to have never been heard

Both of us say there are laws to obey
But frankly I don’t like your tone
You want to change the way I make love
I want to leave it alone

The pull of the moon, the thrust of the sun
And thus the ocean is crossed
The waters are blessed while a shadowy guest
Kindles a light for the lost

Both of us say there are laws to obey
But frankly I don’t like your tone
You want to change the way I make love
I want to leave it alone

I hope that you read that all the way through because it sums up many divisions taking place in the Western world. Men and women seem more divided and divisive than ever.  The current generation, in it’s 20’s, is the selfie generation and the older generation can only look on perhaps amused, or with muted horror, I’m not sure which.. Everyone is posting from their smart phone, photos and dubious news of themselves.  The narcissism that fuels the social media creates personalized pages and news feeds that leads further to the self aggrandisement of young, immature easily influenced youth. One of my yoga students called them FOMO’s, the Fear Of Missing Out Generation. But they are not the only ones hopping on the selfie bandwagon. Us older folk are just as deluded, with our desire for more stuff, better stuff, new stuff. We need bigger houses to store said stuff and spend our days busy acquiring the means to get more stuff.

I recently wrote about my colonoscopy and quite a few people have commented that I was so brave, or fearless in publishing such an intimate piece of writing. “Really,” I thought, “that surprises me.” The reason it surprises me is that I personally see it as a common medical procedure, that amounts to good preventative medicine and I wanted to encourage others to consider it, while being aware of how messy it is. To me it is not intimate.  Intimate to me might be sharing my sexual peccadilloes, my thoughts on points of philosophy and how to cook my favourite meal.  Medical procedures are not intimacies.  Another level of let’s just keep this too ourselves relates to illness. Many people don’t share that they are ill, have cancer or are suffering in some way.  I must admit I tend to let people know on a need to know basis about the details of my life and or health, for example when I hurt my back after an altercation with one of the Balmain breeder’s prams, I let my students know because as I swooped about the yoga classes I was obviously in pain and bent but we all gained from my experience; me, in compassion with regard to back pain sufferers and my students got, and still get, the benefit of practical back care knowledge acquired in my recovery.  Now I teach back care  and it works for everyone.

While I had the back pain I did conduct a social experiment, I told a few people of my  condition and they responded with, “Oh I’m soooooo sorry to hear that, give me a ring when you are well and we can catch up.” I replied, “Probably not, see ya round.”  I do understand that if you have never had a headache or injury you may not understand how debilitating they are, I heard one man say to his wife, “Just take the medicine, you’ll be fine.” His wife had a severe hormonally related migraine and he went off to golf and left her with 2 young children.

I have been tackling the problem, gender related behaviour and this is a mine field. I spent some time asking the opinion of a very intelligent man and he said he didn’t see any problem.  He said he saw some women as dysfunctional and some men as dysfunctional and of course the reverse was also true for him.  His logical mind could not or would not  extrapolate from his particular experience into the world of gender politics and the behaviours of men and women in general. Thought trained in logic I have no difficulty making a leap,  I notice that the division between the sexes is growing.  The selfie generation with its Hello Kitties, Instragram pictures, instant Twitter comments seems to have  developed a high opinion of itself that is not warranted and this puffed up self importance, makes intimacy really difficult.  The little ones want to appear glamorous, cool or tough depending on their peer pressure or environment. The next generation of breeders want stuff, like big mother load cars and McMansions. The retirees, the baby boomers want a bountiful, pain free retirement.  All I can say is good luck with all of that.

The older generation women are increasingly  spending their twilight years in the company of those who give a damn, their children perhaps and their girlfriends, men are no longer relevant, attractive, or necessary. Men die early due to their earlier excesses or live a single life hankering after admiration or younger women or both.

 The breeding generation are so busy getting stuff they forget who they are. The Selfie, young generation are, as always in regard to the young, self obsessed, it’s hormonal. But this generation has more access to technology to reflect back their own inflated images of themselves.  Very few of the teenagers I talk to have a ‘boyfriend’ or ‘girlfriend’ but they have more besties than shoes.. They wonderer about in their hormonal haze doing god knows what as a mating ritual or not. I don’t want to know.

At a very fundamental level, Mr Cohen sums it up the Masculine thrust of the sun and the Feminine pull of the moon balance each other in the heavens while down here, where we live, it is rare to find a way to maintain a balanced relationship let alone a sexual relationship, where there is a balance between adventure and safety, a balance between familiarity and newness.  We want it new and fresh all the time.  If our mate or car gets shabby it’s replaced.  I wonder if any children will actually be bred in the up and coming selfie generation?

On this planet to live in some semblance of harmony we need to find a way into compassion, that is, really see how other’s live/feel and dispassion, the ability to stand back from events and not take them personally. Maybe the next generation of children will be the Selfless Generation. It comes in alternating waves. My parents were conservative, my generation the baby boomers were, in their youth, radical, self obsessed, hedonistic but radical. The baby boomers children are verging on conservative again, with the stuff obsession. So maybe the FOMO generation will be radical, but will it be destructive? Maybe even hedonistic like my peers? Can this generation of FOMO’s afford to be hedonistic with a disintegrating planet? Who knows maybe their tech savvy personas will find and offer solutions to the woes of global warming and a monetary economy that is increasingly failing.

On this note I see amazing grandparents, who know themselves, mainly women, giving generously of their time to their grandchildren, helping them learn, function and love and I see that as the way forward as it has been in times past, where the older hopefully wiser members of our society give of themselves and their love to the generation to come.  Solutions really could be long term, educative.  There is no one solution but smart children, who are educated to think, allowed to express themselves creatively and intelligently and appreciated for that would be a start. Children trained to think, decide and move well, may well realize that there is a future beyond this moment of a good selfie, .  My Zen Master was a man called Ernie. He taught people to train dogs, he trained people really.  He said,”Know what you want. If you’d get it, don’t get angry just ask for it again.”

From the deepest level of your heart ask, what do you want? What do you want this world to become? What do you wish your children to realize and create? Me I going to ask that compassion be taught to children and that we as grown ups, practice that with regard to each other and ourselves.  If you understood the heart of another you probably would hate them less.

I’ve been probed by aliens…

I don’t know if it was the car ride, low blood sugar, low blood pressure or car sickness but when I arrived at the digestive diseases clinic I was sweating, nauseous, headachy and staggering. As I rode up the metal lift to the reception level I leant my forehead against the cool metal wall. I’m not one to make a scene, much, but I must have looked alarming and alarmed. ”This too will pass.” I thought. I eyed off the sullen grey seats and thought, “No way.”

“I have an appointment at 11:15 for a colonoscopy.” I said.
“Take a seat, Margaret.” One of five receptionists said, gesturing towards the offending grey seats. Margaret, indeed, who are they talking to?
“I feel nauseous, I need to lie down.” I grunted.
One of the nurses handed me a green vomit bag. I knew it wouldn’t come to that, but to placate her I carried it about until I found a horizontal place to leave it.  When you prepare for a colonoscopy you are given three doses of medication that over a 24 hour period empty you out. I heard the man in the bed next to me answer the question, ”Did the medication work?”   ”Spectacularly.” He said. I assure you neither he nor I had anything in our guts to offer the little green vomit bag. Empty, dehydrated, weak and tired from being up and on the toilet every half hour during the night.

Spectacular was not a word I’d apply to the effects of a medication designed to empty your colon, horrific, mortifying, messy, debilitating, ghastly, and horrendous are probably more accurate. I have recommended this procedure to a few people who I though needed their colon investigated. And here I was with no Idea just what it entailed. In one case a small tumour was found and the long term result was a man healthy as a horse, drinking more water, eating more vegies and protein and less carbohydrates. Thumbs up to the colonoscopy the only way he would have discovered his cancer at such an early stage.

Once I was able to lie down the whole process took a turn for the better. A sweet male nurse offered me a nausea medication, but I said, “No, this will pass as long as I can rest horizontally.” I knew my body’s capacity to heal without help, as long as I give it what it needs, in this case horizontality.  He said, “Margaret, the anesthesiologist can give you pain killers for the pain, just ask him.” I thought, you poor boy, you are well schooled in the medical procedures, the answer to having pain is to suppress it.  I said, ”I have had enough medication  for my liver to deal with, the pain is lessening, but thank you.” He persisted, I refused, he left, with his little cup of pills, looking confused. I was tempted to take the pills just to have a sip of water though.

Once I was horizontal, the whole thing went smoothly. I slept, and finally met the urbane doctor, “The bum doctor.” He called himself aptly, I suppose.  The anesthesiologist was there one minute and  then I woke up, the whole process was over.  The Bum Doctor had removed a polyp and other than that offending protrusion all was well. Happy days except the cup of tea was crap, what can I say, it was.

Mistakes I made:

• My appointment was for late in the morning and I had to endure a thirsty morning (of the procedure) so my dehydration was nasty.
• I decided not to eat much the day before the procedure so my blood sugar plummeted.
• I travelled in the back of a car to the clinic a sure way to feel nauseous.
  

Suggestions:

• Follow the low fibre recommendations so your bowel is clean of any seeds that may hide a problem.
• On the day prior to the procedure when you are taking the emptying medicine, try to have a quiet day near a toilet.
• For the night ordeal of voiding get some adult nappies, there is no way your anal sphincter is designed to hold back the turbulent liquid.
• Sleep near a toilet.
• Attempt to have your colonoscopy as early in the day as possible.
  

I don’t want to discourage anyone from having this simple if messy procedure. I am hoping that this missive will demystify the anal probe and prompt you to investigate. I went because I don’t like recommending something to people unless I know what they are up for.  I had no symptoms, no constipation but I am of an age when a colonoscopy is recommended.  The Bum Doctor said, ”Good on you for doing this, it sounds like you’re healthy and all we’ll probably only find in a few polyps.” He did find a very large polyp and in the course of an hour’s work he removed what might have been a problem. Tonight I’m a happy camper sipping water and waiting for a risotto to cook.

Inflammation, its more common than you think…

Food is medicine, water cleans and sooths, herbs really heal, supplements can really alter your internal chemistry and some diseases are inherited and need to be managed over time rather than cured. That means for many of you, a long term commitment to your health rather than a shot gun approach.

Most naturopaths and natural health professionals are aware of the connection between your diet and health, but your general practitioner is often too busy or not aware. They are busy giving you referrals and covering their own liability. Many of you go to the doctor when you’re in pain on any level. What happens then? A pain killer, a referral for a test and or specialist, an anti-depressant?

People have serious problems, alcoholism, depression, inflammatory diseases like arthritis, stomach ulcers let alone the all too common cancers that occur with alarming regularity.  People usually come to see me for structural problems, postural training, for back pain and commonly because all other practitioners have failed to identify, help or even improve their condition. So many people may have painful bits but they also have deep seated behavioural problems some stemming from belief systems, but many ailments arise from uncorrected chemistry from bad fuel (stupid or impulsive food choices), not enough water or inherited dyscrasia.

I am in some ways fortunate to have inherited through my Irish ancestry an inflammatory condition, that from a young age has affected my joints. So I have become the anti-inflammatory queen. I know more about anti inflammatory herbs and supplements than most people. I also know more about anti-inflammatory behaviour than I can possibly begin to truly describe. In some ways my inflammatory condition drove me to understand my posture, made me sensitive to small nuances of my body and mind’s condition and definitely drove me towards yoga and especially its deeper practices of movement and breath coordination and meditation.

Well over 10% of our population have this condition, Pyroluria. It is also known as Pyrrole Disorder and Kryptopyrrole. It occurs in a large majority of people with addictive problems, anger management disorders, personality and psychiatric disorders.  Pyroluria can best be described as a problem with the chemical processing of the oxygen carrying molecule in your blood, the haemoglobin. When the haemoglobin die they  bind with your B6 and Zinc and carry it out of your body, depleting you of those essential nutrients.  The waste-product of haemoglobin is a metabolite   called hydroxyhemopyrrolin-2-one (HPL) also known as Pyrrole. People who suffer from Pyroluria produce excessive amounts of these Pyrroles which bind to or inhibit the nutrients; Zinc (1-7), Biotin 8, and the Omega 6 Fat GLA from reaching their targets within your body. This effectively renders these nutrients unavailable to you.

Here’s a list of the symptoms:
Abnormal body fat distribution,  Lack of regular menstrual cycles, Acne, Loss of appetite, Allergies, Low libido, Amnesia spells, Low tolerance to stress, Anger – explosive Migraines, Anxiety/anxious Mood swings, Argumentative – likes to argue, Morning nausea, Cold hands and feet, Motion sickness,  Constipation, Much higher capability in the evening than mornings,  Creaking in joints, Nervous exhaustion,  Delayed puberty, Nervousness,  Delusions, Overwhelmed in stressful situations,  Depression, Pale skin, poor tanning or burn easy in the sun,  Difficulty remembering dreams, Panic attacks,  Dramatic Paranoia,  Dyslexia, Pessimism,  Early greying of hair, Poor memory, Eczema, Poor morning appetite/tendency to skip breakfast,  Elevated eosinophil’s,  Preference for spicy or heavily flavoured foods,  Emotionally unstable, Prone to stitches when running now or as a child, Fatigue, Reading difficulties, Fluid retention, Seizures,  Frequent colds, fevers, and chills,  Sensitivity to bright light, Frequent ear infections as a child, Sensitivity to smells,  Hallucinations, Severe inner tension,  Hyperactivity, Skin rashes, Hypersensitivity to noise, Significant growth after the age of 16, Hyper-pigmentation of the skin, Social withdrawal, Hypoglycaemia, Substance abuse, Inability to think clearly, Temper tantrums, Insomnia, Tendency towards iron deficient anaemia,  Intolerance to alcohol, White flecks on your nails, No half moons on your fingernails, Tingling in the arms and legs, Intolerance to drugs, Tremors,  Intolerance to some protein foods, Unusual smelling body odour, Joint pain,  Unusual smelling breath, Knee pain

How far did you get with that list before you freaked out well there’s more. There’s another syndrome called the leaky gut syndrome associated with Pylorurea. The Leaky Gut Syndrome  is also known as intestinal permeability, is a condition whereby   microscopic holes occur in your intestinal wall and allow undigested  food, bacterial by-products, poisons and toxins to pass into your  bloodstream. Leaky Gut Syndrome is widespread in sufferers of Pyroluria  and a common factor in driving up blood Pyrrole levels.

My knee pain was getting worse and I had never ever had half moons on my nails, both symptoms of Pylorurea.  I was lucky as in some ways my absolute love of oysters had staved off some of the worst of the symptoms that is zinc deficiency….. Now I have better functional knees, a better temper and why well I undertook a anti oxidant, general mineral, zinc,  boron, magnesium and occasional copper supplementation. It also helps to restrict carbohydrates and increase your intake of protein and vegetables. Ask for help if these measures don’t work, there are simple lab tests that can give a diagnosis and levels of supplements.

Dr Alison Knight, (http://behaveability.com.au/dr-alison-knight/) is a Nutritional Medicine Physician, one of 150 Medical Doctors aware and trained in the affect of our foods, supplements and herbs on our health and behaviour.  Natural therapist like Alison and myself are lucky to be exposed to these medical insights through our own  experiences.  If you are ill or in pain do not give up looking for answers, follow your instincts with regard to choosing a practitioner and life will become a pleasure again.