I've been thinking with eating raw are you able to keep all in balance, yin/yang, hot/cold, the energies in the body, For example the spleen is said to work harder digesting cold raw food, which can drain your energy reserves & making you a bit of a emotional mess. Living in the uk it is always so cold & damp what can you do with being able to keep warm in winter months etc ,eating raw foods, plus me having low blood pressure does not help. I am a geat believer in the energies in our bodies & what surrounds us.

Cheers!

Ju

I went raw last December (in Vancouver, BC). I'm mostly vata and don't like the cold. I ALWAYS used food and hot drinks to warm me.

But after a month or two on about 65% raw and cleansing, I no longer felt the need for warm food (except for cravings). I even spent 2 days camping in Whistler in December and managed to stay mostly raw!!

I don't like cold food though - room temp.

Cold RAW food throughs my Vata off balance as well, I feel like crap. My VitaMixer does a good job of heating my smoothies & I have started to intake tea, I do feel alot better.

[www.youtube.com]

Here's what the spleen function is (from some random web site):

Quote

What is the Spleen?

The human spleen is an organ that creates lymphocytes for the destruction and recycling of old red-blood cells. The spleen is also a blood reservoir. It supplies the body with blood in emergencies such as a bad cut. The spleen is also the location where white blood cells trap organisms.
...
Other diseases that causes enlargement of the spleen are: rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus, sickle cell anemia, leukemia, lymphoma.

It seems to me, that on a raw diet, there is less to for the spleen to do, as the red blood cells on a raw diet are hardier and healthier than ones created with a lower quality nutrient. The lymphatic system needs to do less work on the raw diet because there are much few toxins in the raw diet compared to a cooked diet. Also, those disease that affect the spleen, they are all caused by the consumption of cooked foods.

The imbalance your are feeling is the effect of your adapation to cooked foods verus eating clean raw foods. If you were to eat raw foods long enough, and then eat one of your current favorite cooked foods, you would have a whole different experience than the one you are having now. The balance would be tipped in a different direction, and you would experience brain fog, lethargy, lack of energy.

In the dead of winter, on a cold and rainy day, I went swimming in the cold Pacific ocean, and I found it exhilarating. All this on a raw diet. When I first went raw, I was cold all the time, but after my body adapted to the raw diet, I am able to endure great temperature extremes in both the hot and cold direction.

The reason that cooked foods heat us up is not because they are warm, but because the toxins in the food create a slight fever in the body so that it can eliminate the toxins. Eliminate all the toxins in the body, and the body lets go of the fever. A cooked eater could never eat a raw food, but just fast on water for a while, and once their body came into a toxin free state, their body temperature would drop.

How long have you been eating raw for flex4life?

Cheers bryan for interesting info, I ask theses questions as my acupuncturist said my spleen was overworked by eating too much raw food, & also my liver was struggling, but I put the liver down too the oils I was consuming.

Is it possible to combine raw & some of the chinese philosophy?

Cheers all!

There are a lot of differing Chinese philosophies, as that culture is 10,000 years old or more. For example, the philosophies of Confucius is quite different than than of the Tao Te Ching. Myself, I prefer the Tao. I am looking at living my life by what is in the Tao Te Ching, and as I practice this stuff more, my life seems to work better.

As far as Traditional Chinese Medicine, most of that stuff is figuring out how to restore balance to a person eating a cooked food diet, and those ideas are not universal. The people who came up with that stuff all ate cooked foods, and the people they they worked on all ate cooked foods, so they are going to have a different view of raw and in fact don't understand the raw body and how it is different than the cooked body.

Here is some Chinese wisdom from the Tao Te Ching. Take this passage and apply it to Traditional Chinese Medicine and see what you get:

Quote

Not-knowing is true knowledge.
Presuming to know is a disease.
First realize that you are sick;
then you can move toward health.

The Master is her own physician.
She has healed herself of all knowing.
Thus she is truly whole.

I tried that path for a few years and made barely any progress but spent thousands of dollars,,,,

My conclusion is: you CAN'T cheat Mother Nature and you can't improve her. Good health is deceptively simple. Ayurvedic and Traditional Chinese Medicine were designed for cooked food eaters to try to cheat Nature.

TCM does not believe Raw Vegan is a healthy diet. I know some people will argue and say that it's okay to eat some raw food according to TCM, but that's not what I'm saying.


Bracken, I know I sound like a broken record, but you can save a lotta time, money and suffering if you accept the simple truth. The only reason I 'know' that is because I learned it the hard way.

The title of your post was energy in the body. Being an aspiring yogi, I am very in tune with energies in the body, and the yoga helps to become conscious of those energies and to become aware of how to manipulate those energies with consciousness alone.

The thing about external therapies to move energy like acupunture or massage therapy or chiropractics is that is feels great when you receive those therapies, but after awhile, the great feeling goes away and then you are back to where you started. If these therapies truly worked, you would go get the treatment (perhaps more than once), but your body would heal itself and you would no longer need them. Is this your experience of how it works for you?

It is possible to learn how to manipulate energies in your own body, how to find the blockages of energy and internally release those blockages with consciousness. I am doing this right now, and for me it requires having a committed meditation and yoga and breath practice. As I become more aware of my internal operations from these practices, the energies flow more freely and I feel better more of the time.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/15/2007 07:26PM by Bryan.

i'm going to second (or third) the above opinions. tcm is designed for cooked bodies and doesnt neccessarily work for raw. most practitioners REALLY don't like to hear that though.
the acupuncture/pressure and shiatsu are still pretty good

I see what you mean bryan, when I have acupuncture I feel good for a while & then I start to feel rubbish again, I have spiritual healing,crysal healing & Reiki, I have decided to use have these over the years to help top up my energies so to speak to help me feel stronger recovering from Eating disorder. I do admitt I don't have them as offen anymore, I want to be able to heal myself though raw, & a more positive mind, when I was younger I used to meditate alot, being one with nature,I used to paint, wright poetry I did not really worry about much, I used to be more aware of energies around me trees, stone circles etc, did not care about what people thought of me, until bad things had arisen in my life, childhood memories etc,& other things then ed started for decade, I am now such a worrier I have O.C.D ( obsessive compulsive disorder). I want to be like the person I was More relaxed about life.
But yes I do get what you are saying, Thankyou!

bracken, may i suggest a book? it's called Loving What Is by Byron Katie and is just about the most helpful book i've ever read. really worth taking a look at.

cheers coo will take a look!

right on coco.

try this, bracken...

[www.thework.com]

What Is Is
The greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions and not our circumstances.
-Martha Washington

by Byron Katie

The only time we suffer is when we believe a thought that argues with what is. When the mind is perfectly clear, what is is what we want. If you want reality to be different than it is, you might as well try to teach a cat to bark. You can try and try, and in the end the cat will look up at you and say, Meow. Wanting reality to be different than it is is hopeless. The only time we suffer is when we believe a thought that argues with what is. When the mind is perfectly clear, what is is what we want. If you want reality to be different than it is, you might as well try to teach a cat to bark. You can try and try, and in the end the cat will look up at you and say, Meow. Wanting reality to be different than it is is hopeless.

And yet, if you pay attention, you'll notice that you think thoughts like this dozens of times a day. People should be kinder, Children should be well-behaved, My husband (or wife) should agree with me, I should be thinner (or prettier or more successful). These thoughts are ways of wanting reality to be different than it is. If you think that this sounds depressing, you're right. All the stress that we feel is caused by arguing with what is.

People new to The Work often say to me, "But it would be disempowering to stop my argument with reality. If I simply accept reality, I'll become passive. I may even lose the desire to act." I answer them with a question: "Can you really know that that's true?" Which is more empowering? - I wish I hadn't lost my job or I lost my job; what can I do now?

The Work reveals that what you think shouldn't have happened should have happened. It should have happened because it did, and no thinking in the world can change it. This doesn't mean that you condone it or approve of it. It just means that you can see things without resistance and without the confusion of your inner struggle. No one wants their children to get sick, no one wants to be in a car accident; but when these things happen, how can it be helpful to mentally argue with them? We know better than to do that, yet we do it, because we don't know how to stop.

I am a lover of what is, not because I'm a spiritual person, but because it hurts when I argue with reality. We can know that reality is good just as it is, because when we argue with it, we experience tension and frustration. We don't feel natural or balanced. When we stop opposing reality, action becomes simple, fluid, kind, and fearless.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/16/2007 06:07PM by Bryan.

Staying in Your Own Business
Reality is God, because it rules.
-Byron Katie

by Byron Katie

I can find only three kinds of business in the universe: mine, yours and God's. (For me, the word God means "reality." Reality is God, because it rules. Anything that's out of my control, your control and everyone else's control - I call that God's business.)I can find only three kinds of business in the universe: mine, yours and God's. (For me, the word God means "reality." Reality is God, because it rules. Anything that's out of my control, your control and everyone else's control - I call that God's business.)

Much of our stress comes from mentally living out of our own business. When I think, You need to get a job, I want you to be happy, you should be on time, you need to take better care of yourself, I am in your business. When I'm worried about earthquakes, floods, war, or when I will die, I am in God's business. If I am mentally in your business or in God's business, the effect is separation. I noticed this early in 1986. When I mentally went into my mother's business, for example, with a thought like, My mother should understand me, I immediately experienced a feeling of loneliness. And I realized that every time in my life that I had felt hurt or lonely, I had been in someone else's business.

If you are living your life and I am mentally living your life, who is here living mine? We're both over there. Being mentally in your business keeps me from being present in my own. I am separate from myself, wondering why my life doesn't work. To think that I know what's best for anyone else is to be out of my business. Even in the name of love, it is pure arrogance, and the result is tension, anxiety, and fear. Do I know what's right for myself? That is my only business. Let me work with that before I try to solve your problems for you.

If you understand the three kinds of business enough to stay in your own business, it could free your life in a way that you can't even imagine. The next time you're feeling stress or discomfort, ask yourself whose business you're in mentally, and you may burst out laughing! That question can bring you back to yourself. And you may come to see that you've never really been present, that you've been mentally living in other people's business all your life. Just to notice that you're in someone else's business can bring you back to your own wonderful self. And if you practice it for a while, you may come to see that you don't have any business either and that your life runs perfectly well on its own.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/16/2007 06:09PM by Bryan.

Cheers coco & fresh for that, it took me a while to get my head around the way that was written as I am dyslexic, but yes it does make sense got me thinking!

i know, the punctuation is weird when you copy and paste!

i just ordered two more of her books, so looking forward to reading them.

Alot of Byron Katie vids here:
[www.youtube.com]

[www.youtube.com]

Thankyou coco & flex4life I will check the videos out today!

Coco just a quick question, as i know you have just had a little one could you help me with a few questions, as my hubby & I are planning on having children in the near future, as I am worried about being pregnant. I am concerned about the morning sickness as I have a phobia of being sick, also (not very nice to mention guys ) Piles/consptiation, I was wondering did eating raw help combat these symptoms? What was your typical days diet eating while pregnant if you don't mind me asking?

I am going to see if I can get one of Boron Katies books on Amazon today as I live in the uk, i'm not sure if I can get it here yet.

Tankyou all again well appreciated!

braken, i was 100% raw for about a year before i got pregnant the first time, don't know if that's why but i never had a day of morning sickness and had a completely perfect pregnancy right up to the end. i worked until i was 8.5 months too, physical work, on my feet and running around. i didn't stay raw after 5 months though, i was very, VERY hungry. food was all i could think about, a clear indication to me that i wasn't getting enough calories or fats or nutrients or whatever. i started eating more cooked and allowing my cravings to guide me (reasonably speaking). i did make sure that i got enough EFA's throughout pregnancy and breastfeeding. whatever anyone else says, gabriel cousins recommends this and it worked very well for me. i was in a terrific mood after the baby was born, no sadness or exhaustion.
i had the baby at home in the tub unassisted, very easily, never pushed and easily nursed right away. a great resource for a positive mindset it laura kaplan shanley, her website is [www.unassistedchildbirth.com] . even if you do want a midwife or doctor assisted birth, the stories of blissful homebirth are very inspiring.

with this second baby i was not 100% raw, i don't do that anymore. i had lots of raw and i ate a lot of fresh, local foods this summer. once again i made sure i took enough EFA's and i feel that it made a difference for me. i had mild nausea during the first trimester and threw up only once when i left the house without having anything to eat for breakfast.

prunes and prune juice are great for constipation, so are dried apricots. try to get dried fruit that hasn't got anything in it to preserve the colour. you can tell the apricots are natural if they are dark brown, brightly coloured dried fruit has additives (sodium benzoate, sulfur dioxide, etc).

the most important thing that you can do is remove that negative thinking and language from your life. tell yourself the positive version of every negative thought you have. use the positive version of every thing you say.
here's an example, you're husband forgets his keys a lot. on the way out the door you say to him "honey, don't forget your keys."
the action words used are "don't" and "forget", two negatives.
replace that statement with:
"Honey, remember your keys."
the action word is "remember", it's very positive.
it's a very simple adjustment but it's incredibly effective. it only took me five years or so to integrate that into my daily language. hopefully you'll get it sooner than i did!

here's another thing i really love. write affirmations on pieces of paper and stick them up around the house. louise hay has some terrific ones in her many books. i like this one on the fridge or (best place i think) on the bathroom mirrow where i see it at least twice every day.

"I am responsible for my own great health. My daily choices create my great health."

look at the library for byron katie's books, check out louise hay too, I Can Heal My Life is a good one, so it I Love My Body.

xo.

Thankyou so much coco for that,unfortunately I won't be able to have a natural birth as I have hip dysplasia in both hips ( ball and socket dont fit properly easy dislocate) your births sound beautiful. Will start on some affirmation tomorrow, used to do them before, dont know why i stopped.

thankyou again

love ju

Bracken,
As you can see there is a rift between TCM and raw foods. There is also a difference in the understanding of the functions of the organs in TCM and western medicine. In the west the spleen produces white blood cells, and some other functions, in TCM the spleen is a digestive organ primarily paired with the stomach.

It could entirely be that TCM has a bias against raw foods based entirely on tradition. I have considered that perhaps its just so that people NEED to continue to see the practitioner to feel better. Still it bothers me how consistent practioners and teachers in TCM strongly caution against lots of raw food of any kind. It also seems to me that given the long history of TCM they could have discovered the magick of raw foods, but that didn't happen for some reason.

TOday I had the thought...well they used to practice foot binding, so maybe their values are a bit off?

Raw ginger might be a good thing to warm up? its supposed to be warming. perhaps some hot peppers?

I don't think there is any big conspiracy like that Mislu

IM-Observation theres a certain change in consciousness (globally) that has allowed for the wisdoms of raw food eating/healthful living on a larger scale. There were - in my readings - probably more close practictioners in the ancient West (Pythagoras, Seneca) then the east, for numerous factors (some discussed in recent TCM bashing threads ). Many semi-practioners in lush tropical lands possibly, but my guess is not many for the same reasons as traditions and lack of our present consciousness-state, kinda like a spiritual version of the 4-minute mile..ha ha!

TC-Medicine might just disapprove of eating a diet of raw plant foods because such a diet appears to create great symptoms of illness, in any population exposed to adulterated foods (even the seemingly harmless of grains and legumes), and especially the 'modern' foods. If you have a system of health that is based on aleving/suppressing symptoms, we call that system medicine. I for one, think there is plenty space for 'therapies' of sorts, as long as they are used in conjunction with healthy steps in one's habits...or to remove difficult blockages (yoga qualifies as a therapy IMO) NOT as excuses to not feel pain/discomfort of one's BAD habits

bracken, if you go here
[www.mothering.com]
and sign up for an account you will be able to go here
[www.mothering.com]
and read a mother's account of her vaginal birth with hip dysplasia.

everything is possible if you believe that it is.
tell yourself every day that your hips are perfectly balanced and aligned. visualize them that way. tell them that you appreciate their flexibility and strength. do it and believe it and see how you feel after two or three weeks. there is NOTHING so powerful as the power of belief and you have nothing to lose and so much to gain.

blessings.

Anaken,
Thats an interesting commentary. How does one test this idea? How can one tell if one is truely healing, or just treating symptoms? TCM often claims to be treating underlying causes and not just symptoms as in western medicine. But if I understand it correctly, tcm could actually be doing the same thing? With my experimenting in raw foods, I had very frequent urination, especially at night. This was a cause for great concern at the tcm clinic I was getting treatments at.

Mislu Wrote:

>How can one tell if one is truely
> healing, or just treating symptoms? TCM often
> claims to be treating underlying causes and not
> just symptoms as in western medicine.


seems to me that either the conditions are right for the body to heal itself, or not. why would the body require outside treatment?

is the body self healing/regulating or not?

its the or not part that is trying to be remedied. Its like fertilizing a garden. You can do that bbut only the plants can grow.

Mislu Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> its the or not part that is trying to be remedied.
> Its like fertilizing a garden. You can do that
> bbut only the plants can grow.


so then it seems like you are saying that the human body is not able to heal itself on its own without some external treatment.

did you have an example ailment in mind that would need treatment?

i don't understand your analogy with the garden.

Hi coco just signed up but cannot find the birth story you said to take a look at! I can see what you are getting at at the power of belief I will give it a go. Cheers coco!

Fresh,
Here is a short list of conditions for which people seek treatment by TCM.
[www.aworldofchinesemedicine.com]

By way of 5 phase theory, yin/yang flow etc...potentially any condition can be treated, by the theory that any disease is caused by paterns of disharmony. Like any medicine, some conditions are more easily treated, and may have better success rates, some more difficult.

I purchased a book about TCM, and it compared TCM to western medicine. The western view is much like a mechanic treating a 'static' machine, made up of parts, chemicals, ratios of chemicals etc... They compared TCM to be more like gardening. Water when its dry, raise the beds if soils are soggy. Add soil amendments to improve soil, add things to change the PH if necessary. These are the types of things you do in gardening, but its still the plant(s) that do the growing.

The TCM practioner doesn't make the body heal, only the body can do that. But if they are trained well they will know what will assist the body to heal. It might be helping the client to learn to relax more, it could be helping the client to have a different perspective on life. It would be that nutritionally the person might be missing something. From what I know its usually symptoms that bring a client in to any medical practice. The TCM practioner may indeed immediately treat superficial treatments at first, but they will try and seek causitive factors and remedy them as much as possible, by addressing the paterns of disharmony.