I'm absolutely terrified of saying that I haven't got a cold this year yet. I won't even talk about the flu shot that I didn't get, even though I'm in a high risk demographic working with hundreds of people daily *and* I'm asthmatic. There's something about saying those words allowed that makes me totally freak out and go and wash my hands and take zinc tablets and drink two litres of water, a magic ritual to ward off the 'lurgy', which for those who don't know, is a word for an unspecified illness, British in origin. And so I approach the [Ecotrain question of the week](https://steempeak.com/ecotrain/@ecotrain/ecotrain-qotw-what-is-more-important-for-good-health-emotions-diet-exercise-positive-thinking-or-something-else) (which I encourage you to answer, too!) with a degree of caution, *just in case* I totally jinx myself. But hey, as the leader of Natural Medicine, how could I resist writing a post about *health?* It's the cornerstone of a group focussed on natural healing through conscious choices about what we put in our bodies, or don't, as the case may bee. I was brought up to be health conscious, and being so has been a big part of my life since I was a kid. If you have two Virgos for parents (who are known to be fanatically health conscious, stereotype wise) you're going to to be. I would marvel at friends who seemed to go weeks without a vegetable touching their lips, whereas I couldn't go two days without needing fresh vegetables. You notice the difference when you're raised on a vegetarian diet and a mother who handed you raw cabbage and capsicum over the kitchen bench when us kids would sit there, watch her cook and wail *I'm huuuuunnnnggggrrryyyyy.....'*. And so, even *before* I get ill, I know what's going to be good for me. I know that a balanced diet with variety is going to give my body's system what it needs, and if I'm ailing, it's my diet that I first look at. I know around *that time of the month* I'll be craving a brown rice, lentil and silverbeet pilaf kinda think that Mum used to make, and find myself in the garden eating handfuls of raw parsley. In winter it's citrus I crave, and lots of it - limes and lemons in water, blood oranges and tangelos (because just an ordinary orange doesn't tickle me *half* as much) and pineapples. As for what I *don't* put in my mouth, all jokes aside, sugar is one I've always avoided. When I was younger it was because I was told it would make you fat, and thought that may be a contributor (no one is going to be svelte on a block of chocolate and two litres of coke a day), I'm more worried about the *inflammation* it causes, and inflammation is good for nuffin', kiddos, good for *nuffin'*. What I *love* about being conscious about food choices is that it's always a process of inquiry. There's always something new to learn, from the effects of a particular herb, food combinations, or simply how food can cheer you up, calm you down, or downright sustain you through difficult times. Depressed? Give me moong dahl with lots of ginger and a squeeze of lemon, topped with coriander. Ultimate comfort food (okay, okay, I'm guilty of loving a welsh rarebit, which is basically grated cheese, milk and mustard on toast, melted - THAT is ultimate comfort food too). Summertime? Give me a big bowl of raw fennel, red peppers, parsley, pomegranates, various lettuces with an avocado and tahini dressing and roasted seeds. All of that is nothing, of course, without exercise. By 14, my father had brainwashed me into being a surfer for life, and by 16, I'd brainwashed him into being a yogi for life. The two things go together beautifully and whilst I do love a walk on the beach, I'm never going to run or play ball sports, it's just not my style. Yoga makes sense to me (or asana practice, as a *limb* of 'yoga') as it stimulates prana, chi, or energy flows in the body - think of this not necessarily as a mystical flow but of lymph and blood and fluids around our joints. I love the investigation into the subtle body and how we might affect our internal organs with a particular pose - twists, for example, will stimulate blood flow around the kidneys, a kind of 'rinse' effect, or, in downward dog, the pressing of your thumbs firmly into the mat will activate the line that runs up to your heart - whether it's 'meridian' or 'fascia' is irrelevant, but I can feel the changes to my body as I attend to these seemingly minor details. And I haven't even *begun* to discuss pranyam, or yogic breathing which has an incredible effect on our nervous systems, but also can also be seen as an asana, or shape, in it's own right, changing the internal shape of the body as it stretches and tones the diaphragm, the intercostal muscles, the abdomen. All this moving meditation helps me stay sane, too, by pulling me into the present moment with that most blessed of actions, the breath.
https://gateway.ipfs.io/ipfs/QmU9f4FK9j91cnUGYk9hnMXuYdAFcnF6ekkpXZ5DfiByfG
Originally posted here: https://steemit.com/ecotrain/@riverflows/a-natural-medicine-life-what-keeps-me-healthy-and-sane
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