About once or twice a year for the last ten years I have had the pleasure of what I call ‘a bout of gout’. I have done a previous post on this, but wanted to take the time to update the ‘cures’ cabinet.
I was lying on my bed with a swollen and painful foot and I was definitely playing the ‘poor me ‘ card, not a lot wrong with that because by playing it my wife dealt her positive cards, which led to new discoveries! She asked a simple question ‘when was the last time you truly felt positive and healthy’? I answered when working at sea 10 years ago (of course I have had great times over the last 10 years, the question was more aimed at a time free from chronic illness) she then asked ‘what were you doing’? This then bought back the memory of some supplements I was taking, which consisted of algae and herbs, I mentioned I still regularly eat algae, but the only herb I remember in that product was ‘Indian Tiger Herb’. She said well let’s get you some of that 😀.
My wife then discovered that ‘Indian Tiger Herb’ is actually ‘Gotu Kola’ and is often referred to as Indian Tiger Herb due to the observation of Tigers using the Gotu Kola plant to heal wounds, after researching Gotu Kola I realised it was exactly what I was looking for, but when a bout of gout strikes one is limited on the distance they can travel, so I messaged a couple of friends who said they were happy to help (legends). They took there legendary status further by doing there own research and went and saw a herbalist who added warm lime water, sour tart cheery juice, Devils claw and celery seed to the list, they returned to me with an amazing goody bag.
My friends had armed me with herbal wisdom and magic and my wife took me from poor me to let’s look to the positive and pay attention to the narrative because illness easily strikes a negative and pessimistic narrative. With narrative checked and a brew of Gotu Kola, Devils Claw and celery seed after an entree of sour tart cherry juice I was ready to meet my old foe in the battle field (with positive narrative in play, of course).
The results are really significant and anyone suffering from rheumatoid arthritis or anything similar should in my humble opinion touch base with these remedies.
Recently Cotopaxi got in touch with me and asked me to share a ‘health hack’, which I was more than happy to do. I was motivated by their simple and sustainable approach to business and overall philosophy of life, below is my version of a simple and sustainable health hack.
Words are consider by many to be spells, the words we use are the spells we cast and create as if by magic the life we live and experience. When embarking upon a journey towards great health and wellbeing these words and spells can actually get in the way, whilst they can serve to both inspire, educate and motivate us they can also be a source of confusion and contradiction leaving one lost in their quest to reach new heights of health and happiness.
Being lost is actually a good place to be! One can only find themselves when they recognise they have lost themselves and so an opportunity for growth, healing and great health and wellness begins or at least continues from this point of being lost.
If words can be misleading at times then who is the teacher without words?
There are many and some we even intertwine in our words with phrases such as ‘silence is golden’.
The one I refer to in particular is the sea, a friend once said to me, ‘why do you go and dive into the sea most days?’ I simply replied ‘I wanted a teacher without words’. He was left aghast, but also inspired, he had realised that through everyone’s best intentions to inspire and guide we had lost something profound and beautiful within ourselves, we had lost a connection, a connection with ourselves and nature, there was to much noise between us and our inner selves.
The sea is never the same, no two days follow the same course, at times she’s rough and other times she’s calm, sometimes she makes you laugh and feel playful at other times she scares you so much you surrender all of your fear and dissolve into her flow allowing yourself to be carried upon her waves.
I have personally learnt so much from the sea, deep internal relaxation, movement free from tension, how to be playful, how to float, how to dive, how to hear the sound of the pebbles dancing upon the sea bed.
The list could go on, but one thing I have also learnt is that I am my most powerful and authentic self after a morning dip in the sea, she cleans all my physical, emotional and spiritual dirt every time I make it into her embrace leaving me feeling fresh and anew.
The teacher with no words develops wisdom from within, she does not judge or scold you, but instead shows you what you need to see, feel and hear in any way that will nurture your growth.
When we truly listen we can truly trust, when we can truly trust we are strong in our faith, when our faith is strong so is our love, when our love is shining bright we can give freely of ourselves with no fear or desire, we are stewards of this land, shepards of this moment.
It was reading the work of Clint Ober that inspired myself and my wife to experiment going barefoot and has encouraged us to raise our son Ulysses and when she is old enough our Daughter Ostara barefoot, to let there little feet connect with the earth and develop a full range of motion.
Clint was a retired billionaire maybe millionaire either way he was financially secure. One day he was sitting down watching the world go by when for some reason he cannot explain; his attention was drawn to the shoes, trainers/sneakers and other footwear that people were wearing and found it funny and curious, his curiosity encouraged him to remove his shoes.
After removing his shoes he noticed his connection with the earth he noticed that he felt better and then he asked himself a question – what would I feel like if I could spend more time of the day connected to the earth than disconnected? From this question he went on to create the Earthing brand, which provides grounding sheets and products that essentially bring you closer to the earths vibration more of the time.
Clint’s work explores how reconnecting back to the Earth reduces inflammation, stress, anxiety, improves sleep and encourages the body to self heal, there were a lot of other benefits, but the one that stood out for me was self heal.
Through going barefoot and earthing through the night Clint found you could heal a whole range of conditions, I was interested by this and from the moment Ulysses could find his feet we had him barefoot and whilst he does love to wear his wellies and has a pair of trainers you will find him climbing trees and running along a pebbled beach barefoot, when I first observed Ulysses running along the pebbled beach and digesting Clints work I knew I only had one thing left to do!
I winced at the thought of it and as my sleeping feet tried to communicate with the uneven attack of the pebbles below I knew this was going to be a painful journey; no one likes being woken up and my feet were no exception, they had become very accustomed to the sheltered life of a whole array of footwear, I did not understand to what detriment this was though until I took my shoes off. I have found also that through self healing the teacher is generally pain and so I took this discomfort as a positive sign, but also as a sign to be patient and nurture myself through this transition, Ulysses was running along the beach with no discomfort, how come I felt pain? That simple observation helped me to acknowledge the power of self healing potential in going barefoot.
Now I have practiced Yoga for many years and we even attempt to knead our fingers through our toes to encourage them to open up in yoga practice, however it was Clint’s insight that was key! he observed that just 20 or so minutes a day earthing (going barefoot) was a huge imbalance when you consider there are 24 hours in a day, the benefits would only be recognised through regular practice, which is similar of course to yoga and any practice.
To increase my practice time I purchased a pair of Vibrams, which are barefoot trainers and wear them as often as possible, I go to the sea most mornings braving the pebbles barefoot and I also climb barefoot.
Since increasing my barefoot time to a daily practice I have found my feet have finally begun to wake up and it is through this waking up that it was confirmed to me that most of us live with sleepy feet, which is probably why they ache and are stiff, they have been cushioned for far too long.
The thing is when you walk or climb or whatever your doing if you do it barefoot you have to pay greater attention too or you could say be more mindful of where and how you are moving; at first this actually increases the levels of tension and stress no different to any new practice, however when you get into it the freedom you have to move is unbelivable because the whole of the foot is moving, your ankle wakes up and your knees and your hips, in fact the whole of you wakes up to a whole new potential of movement.
Now this takes time it doesn’t happen overnight and yes it comes with a portion of pain and discomfort, let me tell you the pebbles in Brighton on a cold December morning are unforgiving, technically they are unforgiving all year round I have discovered, however they are particularly unforgiving in the winter, but worth the pain plus as time has passed the pain has lessened and the body has almost fully adapted, I will not be racing my son just yet, but I am getting there.
I mentioned I am excited about barefoot practicing as a self healing tool and I want to re-iterate that, as with all my recommendations don’t take what I say as a truth get out there and try it for yourself, feel the sand between your toes, feel the mud beneath your feet, climb a tree and feel how much more grip you have, plus doing all this is fun (ok not so much fun on those cold December mornings), but its summer time now.
Your feet will not be use to going barefoot so do take your time, wear flat shoes as often as possible (I do wear boots, this is not a complete removal of all footwear, I would happily place my feet in my snowboard boots to go snowboarding). Understand that the more often you go barefoot your body will begin a process of adaptation and change (back to your original design), this change can feel uncomfortable, but if you persevere you will reap the rewards.
Have fun with it, be curious and remember you were not born with shoes on or clothes for that matter (we will visit that at a later date), I encourage you then with this simple knowledge that if you were not born with it you may not need it as much as you think you do!
Feel free to share any barefoot adventures you go on, I hear that you can do barefoot marathons for the runners out there! Wim Hoff completed a barefoot marathon across the arctic!!!!
My beautiful daughter Ostara Rose was born on 21st April 2015, when a baby comes into the world strange things happen to you words can not describe, however one thing that can be expressed is the curiosity one has about the infinite potential and possibility that lies before this new life; that old song runs through my mind ‘when I was just a little girl I asked my mother what would I be?’ you know the song and go on have a sing to yourself 🙂
What will she be? what will my baby boy and daughter grow up to be? and maybe my parents asked the same questions? The answers as we all know will only be answered via the magical unfolding of time and through the course of my life I have been curious as to the unfolding of my own life.
I have never been shy to delve deep into the inner workings of life, I have explored most philosophical frameworks from east to west, I have dived into the sciences and even peaked into religious doctrination, each time I surfaced with a new nugget of information, another piece of my puzzle and each time I would return and know that collectively we have a lot of room for growth collectively because most people were and are not practicing living, they were specialising in various professions, but were missing the user manual for their own being!
It is a curious thing that we generally believe that we are evolving as a species, that we have progressed from the form of being of our ancestors, however we face many challenges that are the making of man and it turns out that evolution has three states! Progressive, stagnant and regressive and all three states can be present in the same species at the same moment of time.
This simply means we are progressing in some areas, regressing in others and staying the same in other areas of life, when I consider human potential I am interested in progression and within that progression I am interested in progressing our evolution in terms of connecting with ourselves, each other and nature, in becoming masters of our minds, bodies and souls, in self healing and collective healing through practices that require a deep conscious awareness of ones existence and existent nature as a whole. For me at least popping a pill is not progressive, but regressive it bypasses our innate ability to heal ourselves and misses the lessons and teachings we need to learn through the state of disease we may find ourselves in, pain is necessary for growth it is a form of internal communication and if you ignore its message you will only increase your suffering because it will come back.
I also feel we need to progress in our understanding of emotional well being and overall mental, physical, spiritual and physiological well being, through creating a plethora of stresses for the body and mind to endure we have regressed in almost all those areas of being and they fundamentally underline the quality and quantity of life that a person will live in this life time.
To explore human potential is to wipe your slate clean of what you think you know and begin to collect the information from within yourself, the answers truly are there, at first you do not trust yourself and that old friend doubt and his buddy fear will accompany you, but as you grow your understanding of you, you will find new friends such as love and compassion, it is only through love, compassion and passion that we can truly dive into the uncluttered depths of our potential, before we get to that state of being we are simply surviving or struggling, suffering our suffering.
It is simple to love; the moment I looked at Ostara and when I gaze upon Ulysses or swim in the sea, when I walk with Adele or climb a tree I find love, but its not easy to cultivate that love into an energy that unleashes your creative power on the world and the life you are currently living.
I struggle with this myself and have found myself experiencing one moment unreliable power and creativity and lightness of mind and body, but then next I come crashing down into the cauldrons of depression and negativity, however I have now cultivated tools that mean I bounce back quicker that I accept both as a necessary experience of my life and continue to truly recognise my passion, love and creative output in this life, with each obstacle and each blessing I know I am getting closer, but I do not want to wait to share what I practice for after I cross my metaphorical finish line I want to share it now whilst I am in the midst of my own obstacles and my own faith being tested, why?
Finally my weakness I must finally show is the simple answer. When you teach yoga and have been in the health and fitness industry for over a decade sometimes the pre-conception can be that you have it all figured out! Well the truth is you don’t and in reality you end up over complicating things and can be further away from health and well-being than the very people you are helping, however this is part of the journey, yes a hard and at times scary part of the journey, but integral none the less because as you remove the layers of the ego you get closer to love, true no holds bar love, a completely un-conditional love that gives you the strength to go further than you ever thought you could.
Is this easy? In my experience NO, there is a flow that is for sure and when you are aligned with your flow you will naturally discover your potential and purpose with what appears to be relative ease, I have had these moments, however life can sometimes knock you off your path, spin you around and hang you upside down, which can leave you feeling completely lost, it is at this point when you need to re-discover yourself and re-build who you are, then that word ‘easy’ does not feature, but love, unbelievable moments of joy and beauty await those who wade through the mirky waters.
over the years I have attempted many concoctions aimed at restoring, healing and improving vitality, this current effort is far and away one of my most successful attempts yet and the beauty of it is? It is in most people’s budget, you could leave out the Camu Camu Berry and it would be in everyone’s budget, you can use any blender really as you sieve the ingredients at each step, coconut oil can be replaced with olive oil or if you fancy upgrading add oil of oregano, either way it’s awesome.
To increase its awesomeness value rating I want to share this, I am currently going through one of my yearly episodes of gout (ouch does not really cover it), now I do not mean to get into the debate of healing gout alternatively and am in no way suggesting that this elixir on its own has healed me this time round, but it has had a dramatic effect on the rate of healing, reduction in inflammation, swelling and overall state of wellbeing. In that regards this concoction is awesome.
Equipment:
Pan to heat tea
High speed blender
Sieve
Bowl/jug
Ingredients:
1/2 – Organic un-waxed Lemon (appreciate this is more expensive, however you will be using the skin in this Elexir.
1 tbsp of Camu Camu Berry Powder – a high vitamin C sour tasting fruit from Peru, again highly priced, however one bag will last a long period of time and I can attest to its potency as a medicinal aid.
Inch or two of Ginger Root
Inch or two of fresh Turmeric Root (you could use powder, but the root is cheap and more powerful).
1 tbsp of honey (in an ideal world you would go for the highest quality, however even myself settled for a cheaper variety).
Handful of Grapes (does not matter which variety you use)
1/4 tsp of coconut oil
1 tbsp of Flax Seed
Method:
In your high speed blender add about one cups worth of filtered or any water you have available, next add the turmeric and ginger; blend these two together, place your pan on the stove and put the sieve on top and once you have finished blending pour the turmeric and ginger through the sieve and into the pan add your coconut oil at this point, put on a low heat and heat till boiling (be careful as they will froth up and explode over the side of your pan, don’t ask how I know this 😀).
Whilst the turmeric and ginger are heating clean your sieve and place over your jug or bowl. Fill up your blender again with roughly a cup of water then add the lemon (skin and all), grapes and flax seed; blend till smooth. Pour liquid through your sieve into your bowl/jug, discard the waste in the sieve and clean your blender.
Your Turmeric and ginger should be nicely heated at this point, pour into your blender and add the lemon mixture. Now add the Camu Camu berry and honey, blend all the ingredients together and viola you have yourself a little power house of healing awesomeness.
The Yoga Health Coach 