Tomorrow I'll have been back at Hippocrates for 7 days. Most days it feels like 70 as there has been so much that has filled the week and filled my head and spirit. All of it, every tiny bit of it has been good. From the lecture I alluded to in my last post where we discovered that 90% of our food absorption takes place in the small intestine, 22 ft. long X 1" in diameter of miraculous digestive processor. CPU, indeed.....to the importance of keeping our bodies ph positioned in the alkaline side of the balance where cancer cells and other diseases cannot survive (they thrive in an acidic environment - thus the importance of wheatgrass juice and all the 'greens'). Our wheat grass expert, Michael, gave a great lecture on food in general and wheat grass in particular. The food part was fascinating in terms of seeing our social eating obligations somewhat differently than I had before. He suggested that our past patterns had been to eat for social and emotional reasons, not nutritional. He pointed out that we let food and time define our energy. Much as we all mostly know better, we still tend to eat at prescribed meal times based on the clock rather than our appetites and I knew the truth of that for how often I eat based on that rather than real hunger. You know how we will always say to someone or to ourselves "you really have to eat something, you haven't eaten all day" and the reply is "I'm really not hungry". I think that unless someone suffers from blood sugar issues that they should probably just go with that. I don't think I will any longer decide that they or myself should eat based on the fact that it's meal time. Most of the staff here eat one meal a day, either lunch or dinner and the rest of their nutrition comes from the powerful green juices that everyone drinks at 9 (cucumber only), 11 and 4 (50% sprouts, 50% celery, cucumber and/or other green veggies). 16 oz. at each juice time. Considering the amount of nutrition in the juices, once one gets used to it you can see why hunger wouldn't be an issue. We spent a lot of time talking about how we always seem to want to see friends/family around food. He talked about having to adapt and ask friends to cut the food part and just gather for some conversation/fun/whatever and how much more enjoyable he finds this. I can see how this will become something to do because it is very difficult to meet people over food when one eats this way and yet friends/family are too important to not be able to see them because of that. Some adaptations will be needed, I'm thinking.
Wednesday is fasting day which means fasting on liquid nourishment. It is also "silent" day for those who choose to practise it which I did this week. It's never 100% silent because I had a meeting with the Health Ed Director, for example, so talk was necessary but for the most part, other than that, I maintained silence all day and it is a very liberating experience. There is noise around what with the lectures and Q & A etc. and not everyone chooses to do it but even at that, just to be quiet within oneself is relaxing. Speaking of relaxing, I've been getting up at 5:00 so that I can make it to the 7:00 class in either Qi Dong and/or Chinese Health Exercises. This lasts for an hour followed by an hour of meditation and what a way to start the day. You are so mellowed out by the end of it physically and mentally and at the same time totally energized to begin the more cerebral part of the day. The more energetic/active classes follow this so it's also a good beginning to start on those. All in all, there is lots of exercise available and this is a good thing as once this initial 3 weeks is over we will be sitting in a classroom from 10 until 5 or 6 most every day so without the early exercise I think it will be challenging. Currently we move about the campus going from building to building for different lectures or exercise class to exercise class/pool, etc. so the old body keeps moving. This is nothing but good :-)).
Today was graduation as is every Friday and once again, hearing the stories from the folks returning home brings tears and laughter. I hear the gratitude and joy they express at having found Hippocrates and the positive changes they've seen in their illness and their commitment to continue the program at home secure in the knowledge that they will be cured by their own bodies. I can't help but feel more solid in my belief that God created a miraculous creature in us and that each and every cell in our bodies has its function and given that we are supposed to be the most intelligent of all the species it behooves us do everything we can to keep our bodies in optimal condition. Why didn't I think of this at 20? :-)) A sobering study was discussed this week. Again, what a turning point WWII was in terms of our health what with the discovery of all of the toxic pesticides, herbicides, etc. People who are today under 50 years of age, for the first time ever, have a weaker DNA than their ancestors. Those over 80 years of age have the strongest. We are devolving the strength of DNA much more quickly than it was strengthened which is why we are seeing the strong surge in childhood illnesses. Parents haven't inherited those "good genes" we always like to talk about so they can't pass them on to their offspring. I can't help but think on what the expansion of this might mean in another 50 years if we don't provide our children and their children with the nutritional framework to restore the strength of that DNA. Eat your veggies!! Have a wonderful weekend......lots of love, Sally xoxo
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