Why cheat?

Many years ago my friend George Jelinek remarried. During her speech his wife Sandy commented that as she came to first know George, she realised he had a strong commitment to eating well. After a while she felt she knew him well enough to ask if he ever cheated on the diet. His answer surprised her. “Why would I do that?” He seemed almost incredulous. "Why would I cheat on something that was so good for me?"

Yet for many it is not so simple, and "cheating" is a real and challenging issue. I wrote of this years ago as it seemed pivotal to Lifestyle Medicine. There is so much to gain by eating well, exercising and meditating regularly, and so on; yet the problem is that to receive those benefits, we actually have to do these things! So “why cheat?”

The article of years ago drew a huge collection of well thought out, intelligent responses. Insightful. So it seems timely to go “Out on a Limb” and share them with a new audience and ask for your own insights. But first

Thought for the Day
Watch your thoughts, they become your words
Watch your words, they become your actions
Watch your actions, they become your habits
Watch your habits, they become your character
Watch your character, it becomes your destiny
                                                          
So, do you cheat on what is good for you? My guess is we all do to some degree. So how often? Why? What follows are actual quotes from others responding to this question. What do their respsonses trigger in you? What insights do you have into why people cheat? Feel free to add your insights to the Comment section, and widen the conversation.

There is not one single answer.  

Firstly we are all weak creatures who find it difficult to commit and stay committed.

Second, we have different personality types, some seek and live comfortably within strict (Black & White guidelines) such as those who are drawn towards fundamentalist religions.  Others find this approach very restrictive.

Third, there is ego involved, with a common human tendency when told what to do and how to do it, there is an urge to do the opposite.

The Doctor will make me better



The doctor will make me better was my initial attitude.  Capped with this was also the attitude of the local health professionals who, with the exception of a few, were very much against us.

Feeling undeserving

Some people are not aware of the fact that they feel on a deep level that they do not deserve to be well, or to recover, "because it might be Gods will that I die."

Enjoying being sick



Some I met seemed to like being sick and attended the group sessions just to regale everyone with the story of how bad this cancer really is, they would come for a few weeks and then return at the start of a new session to tell the whole story again.

Self Love



I think it's quite simple.  Yet not very.  From my limited yet consistent observations of people facing serious illness and other life challenges, it all comes down to Self Love.  Capital S.  Capital L.

Knowledge and Experience helps



Knowledge has been a key to everything.  As time has progressed I have learnt more and adapted it a little to suit myself and I find these changes to my life very satisfying.  I started to feel the benefits in well being and happiness, and with time, healing.  When medical tests (MRI) confirmed this healing it was wonderful.

Maintaining this lifestyle does require discipline, it is a marathon.  Support from friends and family is indispensable.  Time passing also helps enormously as understanding develops and benefits accrue.  Belief in what you are doing is essential and knowledge supports belief.

Link with parents



I think people do internalize a relationship of self-care from their early relationships with parents and if this has been fraught in a variety of ways - neglectful, persecutory, narcissistically inclined - then it is very difficult for people to take up the response-ability to do this self care for themselves.

As is obvious, virtually all patients are up against mainstream beliefs, the full force of cultural wisdom, and the beliefs of everyone they know.  My oncologist told me "We can't cure you;  we aim to keep you as well as possible for as long as possible".  There are very few beacons which say "You can do this!"

The lack of deep, visceral, belief creates a distressing inner tension and turmoil; it is incredibly hard to remain positive.


It took me two full years of hard, conscious, work to acquire that deep-seated belief.  At the course you said, "This stuff works, folks, but you've got to actually do it".  I wrote that down, but I didn't really need to, because it was burned into my brain.

I used those simple words of your on many, many occasions.  Not to spur me on to action (for I've never been short on action!), but to reassure myself, because the issue for me has always been belief.

Trying too hard



I tried so hard that I nearly lost all, for my trying was not born of inner conviction, but rather was simply drawing on precious reserves of nervous energy.  Juices, meditation sessions, healthy meals - all were done in order to tick the list.  But of course it didn't stop there - exercise, daily sun bathing, growing vegies, researching, reading (to spur myself on) etc etc etc.  It all became something of a nightmare because I was trying so hard.  I would stand in the kitchen and feel myself go woozy and overwhelmed, just with this sense of trying so hard.

I suspect that it is much more common for you to deal with people who don't comply because of all sorts of reasons other than the one of trying too hard!! Trying too hard leads to exhaustion, and consequently rejection of the thing that causes the exhaustion.  So from my perspective, then, I feel that there needs to be some awareness around our drivers.  That an exploration of the emotional/subconscious journey can perhaps be as critical to survival as diet and meditation.  Obviously, the more self-awareness, the more understanding of why we do or don't 'comply'.

Finding balance



There is a happy 'ending'.  I am now joyfully exploring the world of balance, and am excited at the prospect of finding a completely new way of being, one that is built neither on hopelessness nor teeth-gritting determination, but on a more peaceful, healthful, going-with-the-flow.  It is already a much more beautiful place to be and, surprise, surprise, it is no harder from this position to 'comply' than it is from the position of whip-whip drive-drive gotta-do gotta-do.

Join the conversation; add your reactions/insights to the Comment section below.

RELATED BLOG

Go with the flow or intervene

RESOURCES

BOOK: You Can Conquer Cancer – the fully rewritten version that goes deeply into the detail of the lifestyle changes and how to follow them

NEWS
Two great events coming soon, the Surviving Cancer night as featured in last week’s blog, and the Holistic Cancer Congress that I will be speaking at in Auckland on March 16 and 17.

Holistic Cancer Congress

I will be speaking at this exciting and innovative conference that is open to all those affected by cancer including practitioners, health professionals and oncologists. The Congress will highlight the latest developments in holistic cancer research, treatment and prevention.

Leading experts in their field will share their knowledge and experience of using a holistic approach to the treatment of cancer, which combines the best of medical science and contemporary holistic healthcare, and includes treating the emotions, mind spirit and body.

 There is a special “mates rates” offer of NZ$295 for those who register through my blog -- a saving of $200 off the normal delegate fee of NZ$495. Click here

Those who are unable to attend the conference can watch it online for US$99 (normally US$299). This will also provide online access to the 2012 Holistic Cancer Congress that brought cutting edge information on holistic health from leading experts. Click here

Surviving Cancer - Come and be inspired, be informed and support the Gawler Foundation

St Michaels on Collins, 120 Collins St , Melbourne

Tuesday March 5th from 6.30 to 8.30pm, No bookings necessary just come!

The Wellness Warrior

Jess Ainscough’s transformation from self confessed, twenty something “champagne-guzzling, Lean Cuisine-loving magazine writer to all-out nutrition nerd” was made after she was diagnosed with a rare, “incurable” cancer back in 2008. This week, full of beans, Jess shares her remarkable story. 

It is a challenging story. Medical treatment is declined, self-healing comes to the fore. There is total commitment, nutrition is taken to the limit, and the capacity to find meaning and joy amidst real adversity is revealed. But first:

Thought for the day

If you want something you have never had, 
then you are going to have to do something that you have never done.
                                                                                                                    Drina Reed

Some months back, when I was eating out with members of the family at one of Melbourne’s great vegan restaurants, Yong Green Food, I was approached by a vibrant young woman and her equally healthy boyfriend. It turned out to be the remarkable Jess and she was celebrating coming off the Gerson Therapy.

After her diagnosis, Jess had “decided I was not having a bar of that “incurable” nonsense, and I took responsibility for my condition”. Jess came to the Foundation’s residential program and then completed two years of Gerson Therapy.

These days Jess is a writer, holistic health coach, and the creator of the excellent health and wellness website, The Wellness Warrior  which I highly recommend. Via her e-books, daily blog posts, and videos, Jess’ goal is to empower people to take control of their health and to show that the quality of our lives is directly linked to how we treat our body and mind.

Here Jess shares her story.

What Cancer Has Taught Me – by Jess Ainscough, the Wellness Warrior

For the past four years, I have been living with the knowledge that I have cancer in my body. Like anyone who has ever been given a terminal diagnosis, this experience has changed me. I have gone through the usual changes – life becoming that little bit more precious, petty drama becoming totally insignificant, and priorities being completely reshuffled. However, there has been so much more.

Before cancer I was a big meat eater, now I am vegan. Before cancer I drank a lot of alcohol, now I am sober. Before cancer I was self-critical and full of self-judgment, now I love myself unconditionally. Before cancer I associated the disease with pain, sickness, hair loss and death. Now, cancer is my greatest teacher, my guru, and the catalyst that lead me onto a path far brighter and more fulfilling than I ever knew was possible.

I was one of the lucky ones – conventional medicine had no answers for me. My doctors wanted to amputate my arm to remove the cancer, but they said there was a high chance that the disease would come back somewhere else in my body quite rapidly. I decided that this wasn’t good enough. I wasn’t ready to die, I wasn’t willing to be an amputee, and I wasn’t willing to hand my power over to some people who didn’t really know what they were doing with it.

So I became one of those difficult patients and started thinking for myself. I researched anything and everything to do with healing cancer, and what I discovered is that our bodies have this incredible ability to self heal – as long as we provide the right environment for them to do so.

The first stop on my healing path was The Gawler Foundation. My boyfriend and I spent 10 days soaking up every bit of wisdom and comfort we could at the Life and Living retreat. We learnt how to meditate and how to express our emotions in a healthy way. But most importantly, we learnt that cancer does not need to be scary. It can be empowering, and the catalyst to an amazing life.

The other healing modality that resonated most with me was Gerson Therapy, so a few months after Gawler, I flew to Mexico with my mum to spend three weeks at the Gerson clinic. Here, I learnt how to implement the therapy, which involves hourly juicing, a specific vegan diet, various supplements, and up to five daily coffee enemas.

When the three weeks was up, I came home to carry out the Therapy for two years with the help of my family. For two years I dedicated every waking hour to saving my own life. To thriving against the face of adversity, and carving a new reality for myself based on the wisdom and inspiration I’ve gathered along the way.

It has been far from easy. For two whole years I have not been able to go out for lunch, go out for dinner, go out drinking with my friends, or even sit through a whole movie without having to get up and make a juice. But I would not trade one moment of this journey for anything. The power, wisdom, and deep self-respect that have been born of riding out these challenges is something I feel incredibly blessed to have.

When I was first diagnosed with cancer, I thought I had something in my body that needed to be “killed”, “eradicated” and “beaten”. Now I understand that cancer is not the enemy. I have realised that you cannot wage a war against yourself and win. No one wins when you go into battle with something that is part of you. And contrary to conventional belief, cancer is a part of you.

Cancer doesn’t need to be “killed”; it needs to be “healed”. Cancer is simply your body’s way of giving you one final opportunity to clean up your health.
I have completed two years of Gerson, but healing doesn’t end now. Healing is ongoing, and I will live the rest of my life being as kind and respectful as I possibly can to my body.

Even now, after two years of intense natural treatment, I cannot say that I am cured. I’m not sure if I will ever be “cured”, but I will always be healing. Cancer is something I will always manage with my clean lifestyle.

I don’t plan to have any scans, partly because I don’t want to subject my body to the poison and radiation, but also because prior to my diagnosis scans were not detecting that I had cancer. Only a biopsy did this, so I don’t really see the point.

Many people think I’m crazy for not “checking up” on the status of my condition, and once upon a time I would have agreed. My path is not the right one for everyone, but it is right for me. The moment I stopped struggling, and fighting against myself and the cancer, was the moment that fear left my mind for good. Now, I never fear that I will die of cancer – and that is the most empowering feeling ever.

The number one thing I have learnt over the past four years is that our bodies heal in their own time. Sure, it is our job to do whatever we can to make sure this is possible, but we can’t force anything. Our bodies are incredible, and as long as we listen to them – truly listen to them – give them what they need to heal and remove any obstacles that will prevent the process from happening, healing is inevitable. Healing is possible for all of us.

Connect with Jess on …

Twitter: twitter.com/#!/JessAinscough

Facebook: facebook.com/thewellnesswarrior

Website: thewellnesswarrior.com.au

NEWS

1. Overseas travels

Ruth and I will be in Russia, Israel and France over the next months for a combination of presentations, holiday and retreat. The winter being in full swing at home, it is a good time to be heading for the warm side of the planet. The garden is in winter hibernation, we have a house sitter looking after things and after a full on year so far, it feels timely to be having some time away.

People aware of the trip have been encouraging me to write more personally in the blog as we are going to such interesting places and will be meeting with interesting people, so maybe I will.

RELATED BLOG

Eating for recovery - this blog presents the recommendations I offer to people with cancer, based on 30 years of experience working directly with people who have taken the nutrition seriously, as well as the available research

Ian Gawler Blog: Sustainable and healthy fish – Fishing for answers.

Thought for the Day

Our children need to be taught how to think
Not what to think

If you do choose to eat fish, which ones are the best – for you and the environment?
For non-vegetarians, fish have health benefits courtesy mostly of their Omega 3 fatty acids, and are one of the best protein options. However, most of us are alert to the vexed issue of contamination of our fish and other seafoods by pollution, as well as the sustainability and environmental problems of overfishing and damaging fishing practices.

It is claimed that currently 70% of the world’s fish species are fully exploited, overexploited, depleted or recovering from depletion. It is a scary thought to know the best estimates are that if current trends of overfishing continue, stocks of all fish currently being commercially fished will collapse by 2048. The question then, is what fish are best to eat?

Can you help? I have been researching what follows for the revision of You Can Conquer Cancer, which is nearly complete. To my knowledge the information is accurate. Does anyone know anything else that warrants inclusion? How easy is it to understand? One issue to be clear on, is that if you do choose to eat healthy, sustainable seafood, there are a number of issues to think through. However, once you do make the time to do this, you can eat with a clearer conscience.

Please feel free to share this with family or friends who are interested in the question, and add comments as usual at the end of the post.

Seafood -what to do?

1. Say no to farmed fish

The trend towards increasing aquaculture, the farming of fish, makes sense in theory, but does not seem to have the right answers as yet in practice. Most people are unaware that commercially farmed salmon are genetically modified to become what are called tetraploids; that is, they have a double set of genes so they grow faster. Then they are fed on other fish; a practice that is very inefficient and damaging to other fish stocks. It takes 2 to 4 Kgm wild fish to produce 1 kgm of farmed salmon. While increasingly vegetable proteins are being used for feed, these result in lower levels of the valuable omega 3 fatty acids in the salmon. Seaweed may be a more viable food source for fish farming, but that remains to be seen. Also, disease is emerging as a major issue amongst intensively reared fish. Increasingly, significant amounts of antibiotics are being used to manage infections (as happens continually in the intensive rearing of chicken).

So wild caught fish are preferable, but which ones?

2. Know where your fish came from – the further out to sea and the less polluted the waters the better.

Fish that are caught in more remote areas away from built up areas and heightened pollution are obviously preferable. So choose fish that live further out to sea, that are the deeper sea varieties, and come from less polluted areas and countries.

3. Choose the smaller species rather than the big predator fish. 

Pollutants accumulate as you go up the food chain. For example, it is well known sharks accumulate heavy metals and the mercury levels in big fish can be very toxic.

4. Check out what the sustainable fish are in your area.

This is a regional as well as international issue and the need is to check your local conditions. In Australia, a good guide is found on the Australian Marine Conservation Society’s website: marineconservation.org.com.

The Marine Stewardship Council has developed a certification system that mostly shows up on packaged seafood and features a distinctive blue MSC label. See their website: msc.org.
Goodfishbadfish.com.au has a very user-friendly list of sustainable seafoods, with reasons for the various listings and practical preparation tips.

5. Avoid the unsustainable fish and those that may also have health issues.

Again, say no to farmed fish

Say no to wild caught

Barramundi, Blue Grenadier, Cods, Garfish, Gemfish (Hake), Gropers, Murray Cod, Orange Roughy (deep sea perch), Shark, Snapper, Marlin, Swordfish, Toothfish and Tuna (unless troll, pole or line caught).

6. Fish that are probably better avoided, but not so bad:

Blue Eye Trevalla, Coral Trout, Flathead, Gunard, John Dory, Kingfish, Ling, Mulloway, Red Emperor, Red Mullet, Red Snapper (Redfish) and Silver Trevally.

7. Fish that are OK to consider:

Wild caught Bonito, Bream, Eel, King George Whiting, Leatherjacket, Mackerel, Mahi Mahi, Mullet, Tailor, Trevally and Whiting.

Imported canned salmon and sardines are usually OK.

8. Avoid scallops from the wild.

9. Seafood that is best to avoid, but not so bad:

Lobster and Prawns (farmed prawns are likely to be better environmentally).

10. Seafood that is OK to consider:

Farmed: Abalone, Oysters, scallops and Blue mussels.

Wild: Blue swimmer crabs, mud crabs, squid, calamari and octopus.

All this information may seem a little imposing at first, but it is like many things. Take your time to think it through. If you are planning to eat fish, find out what is available locally, where you can get healthy, sustainable seafood, develop a good relationship with your supplier, and then it is easy and satisfying.

CONCLUSIONS

If you are well and you do choose to eat fish, avoid farmed fish in the main and eat the smaller, sustainable wild fish varieties that come from non-polluted areas. Only eat seafood occasionally. For those dealing with major illness and on the Healing Diet, fish and other seafood is probably preferably avoided until you are in remission.

NEWS
1. Melbourne workshops now open for bookings through the Gawler Foundation
                 Saturday and Sunday May 26th and 27th at Hawthorn

                                The Mind that Changes Everything

A highly experiential day based on the latest research as well as ancient wisdom. Understand more about how the mind functions and how we can use more of its extraordinary potential. A gentle blend of theory and practice, with many led sessions of meditation and imagery, along with ample time for questions and discussion.
Click here for more details and bookings.

2.    Gratitude -and a balanced comment on the “diagnosis” controversy.

I wish to express my gratitude for all of you who have offered support to me personally and my work generally during these turbulent last few months. If you have not been reading the comment sections on this blog, they are worth a look as many people have spoken of the benefits received through the work and it is very inspiring - particularly the many comments on the "Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition" and last week's "Too good to be true?"

Here is another great letter:

 “I am an allied Health professional who has survived a serious cancer. For three years following initial medical diagnosis and two recurrences of cancer, I resisted looking into the Gawler approach.

I had not shifted from the medical model paradigm that I had been professionally trained in and based my life around. The medical model generated my income, my status, and gave me a highly regarded community to belong to. My ego was inextricably intertwined with all the positive things I personally gained from staying aligned with the medical paradigm. Can this happen with Oncologists as well?

When I was still strictly aligned with the medical paradigm, I really believed it was right to not foster "false hope,” in medically defined ‘incurable’ or ‘low prognosis’ situations. If clients questioned such medical predictions, I could easily label and dismiss this as their denial. I didn't have to think too much about it.

It took a very personal and big experience to challenge this thinking.

This was cancer. Once I did look into the lifestyle approach, I found it strongly life affirming and health giving. Since making changes as per the Gawler lifestyle program, I have survived for a further three years without recurrence. It has given me control over my wellbeing, and made an enormous positive difference to my outlook. I see that this positive change is linked closely with physical health.

I wish to offer my support to Ian and others with cancer experiences, as we face this assault to the lifestyle approach. I am also deeply grateful for the considered and courageous responses to these unhelpful assaults, from Ian and others.

I will meditate and hope that those feeding this assault will reflect and realign with more ethical action. Is there a way that those attacking can change their strategy and save face?”

From a deeply grateful survivor."

RESOURCES


Books   You Can Conquer Cancer

CDs  Eating Well, Being Well: The plant-based, whole food way of eating that is ideal for those who are well and that forms the starting point for those dealing with major illness, including cancer.

Eating for Recovery: The anti-cancer diet that includes how to get at cancer metabolically.

Programs: The Gawler Foundation where at the residentials the food is legendary - putting these principles into really tasty meals.

MS – can you believe this?

This is truly amazing and very important news for people with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). New research shows MS can be reversed by lifestyle changes. Everyone needs to know this.

Over the 5 years following diagnosis, the average person with MS who is having the best of current medical care is expected to deteriorate by an average of 10%. Research has just been published showing that people who attended a lifestyle program that  was based upon the cancer programs I established, actually improved by 20%. Instead of the expected deterioration after 5 years, these people were markedly better!

Can you believe it? This is really wonderful news and warrants being passed on to all you know. 

How did it happen?

In 2002, Prof George Jelinek (a Professor of Emergency Medicine) and I, along with my wife Dr Ruth Gawler and other staff at the Gawler Foundation, established a new concept for people with MS. Attend a residential program, change your lifestyle and improve your health. 

Having seen quite a few people with MS regain their mobility and improve their state of mind dramatically after attending similar groups I had been conducting for people with cancer since 1981, I was fairly confident. 

George was a little more circumspect. Having been diagnosed with MS himself a couple of years earlier and having thoroughly researched the medical literature on the subject, George had written the groundbreaking and wonderfully useful book with the relatively conservative title “Taking Control of MS”.

In fairness to George he started those early groups convinced participants could stabilize their MS at the level they began, but he baulked a bit when I told the groups that I believed if they were diligent with the lifestyle changes, they could reverse it and get better as their years went on.

To George’s credit, when he did a major rewrite of that great book in 2009, he had seen enough direct evidence to rename it “Overcoming MS”.

Now the really exciting news. MS as a disease is a lot easier to research than cancer and Prof Jelinek is a world-class researcher. Happily, right at the beginning, we established a research program to monitor any changes in our participants. The results are truly stunning.

Here I hand over to Professor George Jelinek and thank him for contributing to “Out on a Limb”:

The news is so positive and so affirming, we really need to blow the trumpets! 

Where else in all the MS literature will you find an intervention that is shown to result in improvements in mental and physical health and overall quality of life that continue to grow over at least five years? 

Surely this would be a new wonder drug that would be heading every TV station’s evening news? Or some new surgical procedure, like stem cell transplantation, where the great outcomes outweighed the serious risk of the procedure? Isn’t it remarkable that our new research, published in the international journal Neurological Sciences (download the paper below), shows that actually, such an outcome comes from a one-week live-in retreat where people with MS (PwMS) learn how to live well? No drug, no surgery, no risk. Just mainstream good health from an optimal diet free of saturated fat, optimal vitamin D levels, exercise and meditation. 

This research outlines our follow up of the longitudinal cohort of PwMS attending Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis (OMS) residential retreats at the Gawler Foundation since 2002. We started these retreats keen to observe the outcomes of people adopting the OMS lifestyle based approach, by asking them to complete a standard, well-validated 54-item questionnaire, the MSQOL-54. We then asked them to complete the questionnaire again at the 1 and 5 year marks after the retreat. 

The only intervention provided was the 5 day retreat. Nothing else. No other follow up or ongoing care, although each group had group support, as they kept in touch by regular email after the retreat. 

At the retreat, a good deal of detail was provided so that PwMS could judge for themselves the science behind the recommendations and whether they were prepared to commit to these changes for life.

As reported in the paper, the results were remarkable! Not only did this group of PwMS stop deteriorating, they rapidly began to get better! And the improvement continued to the five year mark, the last time point for which we have data. The study is ongoing of course, and it will be very interesting to see how this group is going at the ten year mark and beyond. 

But for now we know that the group had highly significant (p<0.001) improvements at one year in mental health of about 12%, physical health 19%, and quality of life 11%. At five years the benefits continued to accrue, with highly significant (p<0.001) improvements in mental health of about 23%, physical health 18%, and quality of life 20%.


The graph below (Figure 1 in the paper) shows this well.

This result is quite staggering! We do not know of any other study of any other intervention in MS that shows such improvements; nor has any other study using the MSQOL-54 in a comparable cohort shown any improvement at all, let alone such a large benefit. 

For those who have had doubts about embarking on the OMS program, or those who have had trouble sticking with it, this research should provide the necessary impetus to seriously get involved with this lifestyle. 

There is much to celebrate for the nearly 300 people overcoming MS in this study, and in general for people committed to this lifestyle approach. If someone said to you at diagnosis that you would be roughly 20% better overall in five years time, most people would be overjoyed. After the publication of this research we now know that this is what you can expect on average. Some people may not do as well; others will do correspondingly better. But on average, you can expect very significant improvement. 

Now that is something to blow the trumpets about!

Link to Prof George Jelinek’s very useful MS website: www.overcomingmultiplesclerosis.org

Access the full research paper: click here

NEWS

1. Webinar open to all Tuesday 20^th March 2012 at 8pm

One of the features of the Mindbody Mastery program is the extensive support package that accompanies it. Along with daily emails, weekly SMS, FAQs and research on the website, a key feature is the monthly webinar.

Having successfully presented the first webinar last month, we have decided to open the broadcast to everyone, even if you are not participating directly in the Mindbody mastery program.

So on Tuesday, I will be the presenter. I will talk directly for about 20 minutes about the four steps that make meditation easy and reliable, before focusing more particularly on relaxation in daily life. Then I will lead a meditation before taking your questions which can be sent in by email.

You need to register to be included and to do so, click on http://www.anymeeting.com/mindbodymastery, and then click on the Register button next to the 21st March 2012 webinar.

The webinars will continue each month on the 3^rd Tuesday of each month and you will be able to join in via the website: 

www.mindbodymastery.net

2. Cancer on the increase

The number of cases of cancer diagnosed in Australia is projected to rise over the next decade for both males and females and is expected to reach about 150,000 in 2020—an increase of almost 40% from 2007. Increases in the number of cases diagnosed are due primarily to the ageing and increasing population and are expected to be most evident in older populations.

Cancer incidence in males is highly influenced by prostate cancer, which accounts for about 30% of all cases. Assuming incidence of prostate cancer stabilises in the future, it is projected that the overall age-standardised rate of cancer in males will fall from 595 to about 568 cases per 100,000 males between 2007 and 2020. 

Conversely, the overall age-standardised rate of cancer incidence in females is projected to rise from 394 to about 408 cases per 100,000 females between 2007 and 2020.

Full reference:  http://aihw.gov.au/publication-detail/?id=10737421461

3. Breast cancer – The right fats decrease fatigue

Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are well known for reducing inflammation. A recent, comprehensive study has shown these good oils may help reduce inflammation-related fatigue in breast cancer survivors.

Consistent with observational data in healthy populations, increased intake of omega-3 was associated with reduced inflammation in a cohort of 633 survivors, with an average age of 56.

Reporting in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, researchers found those with the lowest intake of omega-3 relative to omega-6 PUFAs were over four times more likely to have a high-risk C-reactive protein level – a marker for inflammation – than those with the highest.

Inflammation has been previously related to a higher incidence of medical problems in cancer survivors and a reduced risk of survival in women with breast cancer.

Because fatigue was such a common condition among cancer survivors, effective treatment “could have a significant health impact”, the researchers concluded.

Reference: Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2012; doi:10.1200/ JCO.2011.36.4109

RESOURCES

BOOKS  

Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis: George Jelinek

You Can Conquer Cancer: Ian Gawler

MEDITATION ONLINE

Downloadable meditation program: Mindbody Mastery

Ian Gawler Blog: The paradox of helplessness – let go and find your self

Thought for the day

“Mathematics is the inner sensitivity to beautiful mental sculptures”

                          Stefan Banach, a self-taught mathematics prodigy who is widely considered to have been one of the 20th century's most important and influential mathematicians.

How would you imagine you might feel if you had a stroke that left your mind clear, your body paralysed and it took nearly 8 hours before anyone found you?

Speaking at the Happiness and its Causes conference recently, I had the good fortune to speak to a Tibetan Buddhist lama who was in just this situation about 6 months ago. I asked him how he felt.

“I really enjoyed the feeling of helplessness” came his rather remarkable response. I asked him to explain.

“Well, I have done a good deal of meditation and other practices throughout my life. But lying there on the floor, not sure if I would live or die; not sure when someone might find me, what I did find was that it intensified my practice in a way I have not known before. It gave me a much more profound glimpse of who I really am and how I can really be.”

The lama’s observations match those of the great English Christian mystic and scholar, Father Bede Griffiths. I remember talking with him in his Inter-faith ashram in India not long after he had recovered from a massive stroke. His eyes ablaze with the delight of the experience, Fr Bede told me how he really thought he was going to die.

“In that moment, it was as if all my doubts fell away. All my attachments to this body, my ego - all gone. I was left with the profound experience of my true essence – in a way that previous experiences in meditation had hinted at, but nothing compared to this. It was marvellous! I would recommend it to anyone!”

Now, there is a secret in all this. You may think these experiences are only for great lamas and monks, or only to be had at the cost of a near death experience. The truth of the matter is the inner essence of which they speak is within each and everyone of us. To experience it more directly, we do not need to “make it happen” or seek it in some exotic place. What we do need to do is go beyond that which obscures it from our view - our normal confusions of the mind and our attachments.  What will help us to do this is to go forward with what Fr Bede described as “crazy abandon”. In doing so maybe we can let go profoundly, surrender completely, and in doing so, we may well find what we are really looking for.

So how to do this? As Fr Bede said, meditation begins to bring familiarity with all of this. As we do learn to relax more deeply, to settle the mind, often we do have those deeper moments when we go beyond the thinking mind into the deeper stillness where the experience of our fundamental nature is more direct.

For the adventurous ones there is a radical approach; simply imagine you are dying! This takes a little mental stability to even consider, but think about it. If we breathe out and do not breathing in again; that is all it takes to die. So if in meditation, we breathe out and abandon any hope of breathing in, we can somewhat duplicate the experience.

Now at this point I probably need to emphasize that having lead many people in this type of meditative exercise, I have not lost anyone yet!

But to take it further, some people have found extra poignancy and great benefit in actually imagining themselves on their deathbed, in the process of dying.

At the conference, I had been asked to speak on “Living well, Dying well”. My basic premise is that there are two ways to live. One is in fear and denial of death, the other way to live is informed by death. While the first is very common and has a certain logical appeal, when we acknowledge the reality of death, and go into understanding it; when we live a life informed by death, fear drops away and we realize the facts of life. We realize how precious life is, how uncertain the length of our life is and this focuses our attention on living each moment to the fullest of our capacity.

Here then is the paradox. While life is so precious and we tend to cling so strongly to it, by letting go profoundly, not only is there the possibility we will be more at ease with both our life and our death, but we may come to experience the truth of who we really are.

NEWS


1. Workshop at Mt Macedon – Saturday 24th March. 

Duneira is one of the premier gardens at Mt Macedon and will be the venue for my day workshop: “The Mind that Changes Everything”. I love the format of this workshop; we explore how the mind functions, the recent amazing research to do with brain function, and then we will explore and practise the key mind training techniques of meditation, affirmations and imagery. Not withstanding the content, just being in these wonderful gardens for a day is worth the trip! (The workshop itself is held within the beautiful old homestead). Click here for details.

2. Meditation retreat - March 30 - April 5th

There is nothing like attending a retreat to learn more about meditation and to deepen your practice. Ruth and I will only lead the one retreat this year – at the Foundation’s glorious Yarra Valley centre. Still a few places available. Click here for details.

RESOURCES


RELATED BLOGS


Meditation and its experiences


Slow down and go faster


BOOKS Meditation – an In-depth Guide

The Mind that Changes Everything

CDs  Meditation – a complete path

Understanding death, helping the dying

Linking lifestyle, sustainability, the environment and health

Concerned about the environment? Concerned about sustainability? Worried about what sort of future our children will have? Good news! Pretty much anything that is good for our own sustainability, our own long-term health, is good for the environment.

This week let’s go “Out on a Limb” and examine how this works, how you can look after yourself, and in the process look after the planet. There are many simple solutions that follow.

These days the most prevalent causes of physical ill health are the lifestyle related, chronic degenerative diseases. Cancer, heart disease, diabetes, MS are the obvious ones, but not far behind in what causes suffering are obesity, arthritis and bowel disease.

All are directly related to lifestyle; what we eat and drink, how much we exercise and smoke, our emotional health, state of mind and our spiritual life.

The causes of the chronic degenerative diseases are directly linked to profound issues of sustainability and the environment. So here are just a couple of key issues that are easy to remedy:

1. Saturated fats 

Consuming large amounts of saturated fats is one of the biggest health risks. Saturated fats come from animal fats and palm oil.

The environmental issue relates to land clearing – a total disaster with palm oil. With cattle, it takes around 20 times more cleared land to grow a kilo of protein when compared to that required to produce a kilo of vegetable protein.

Solution: Simple: A vegetarian diet. For the benefit of your health and the environment, do not eat animals and do not eat palm oil or use any products with palm oil in them. This means read labels as palm oil crops up everywhere.

2. Food production, processing and adulteration.

The way commercial forces are adulterating food production these days causes me deep distress. Go into a chicken or pig farm, witness the multiple spraying going on in orchards or commercial vegetable gardens, pick up an icy-pole with 10 added chemicals (some known to aggravate asthma in children, some banned overseas), read the labels on the supermarket shelves.

It amazes me some people seem puzzled by the fact so many suffer ill-health these days. 


Then there is the issue of food being transported across great distances. Oranges from South America, even just vegetables coming thousand of miles across country; this is a major issue.

Solution: Simple: Eat locally produced (preferably from around the corner, at worst 500Ks away), organic produce wherever possible. Ideally grow as much for yourself as you can. Home veggie gardens must be one of the most beneficial things you can do for your own health and the environment. Grow organically, grow sustainably – it is easy once you learn the basics.

Read labels, avoid chemical additives as much as possible, be selective. If you are just starting with this, it does take time on the first shopping expedition or two, but once you are familiar with the products and brands that are OK, it is easy.

3.  Meat, poultry and fish production

In my experience as a veterinarian, the intensive commercial production of chicken and pigs is an ethically embarrassment. The conditions are just unacceptable.
But there is more. A naturally reared, back-yard chicken can take 9 months (270 days) to be ready to eat (if a chicken is ever ready to be eaten). The chicken sold in places like KFC takes about 37 -39 days to grow from the egg to slaughter. The larger chickens in the supermarket freezer are around 45 days old.

A good deal of this shorter production time relates to genetic selection, but to sustain it relies on the regular feeding of low dose antibiotics (that are euphemistically called “growth promoters” rather than what they really are, antibiotics). The regular use of antibiotics in large populations of animals leads to resistance. This builds up in the animals and can be passed on to the people who eat the affected birds or animals. Most heavyduty antibiotic resistant bacteria stem from this source and once carried into places like hospitals, cause real havoc.

Good news is that the EU banned the use of these antibiotics about a year ago, but it is a disgrace they are still used in Australia.

Pigs have similar problems, and the same issues are beginning to surface amongst farmed fish.

Also, not many people seem to know farmed salmon is commonly genetically engineered. Atlantic salmon is modified by adding a growth hormone regulating gene from a Pacific Chinook salmon and a promoter from another fish, the ocean pout. The purpose of the modifications is to increase the speed at which the fish grows, and the result is a fish that grows to market size in 16 to 18 months rather than the three years the naturally, selectively breed fish take.

On a more positive environmental note, farmed prawns have little problem in their production, while commercial prawn fishing can be very hard on the marine environment, so with prawns, locally farmed varieties are preferable.

Back to cattle. A great deal of the cattle consumed in Australia spends its last 2 months in a feedlot being fattened up for slaughter. On entry to the feedlot, it is common practice to inject a “growth promoter” that is actually a hormone that has a growth promoting effect (HGP). It is claimed about 40% of all beef consumed in Australia has been treated with HGP and the most common hormone used is oestrogen, the female sex hormone. Adds another twist to “give the man meat”. Coles created quite a controversy recently by advertising they would only supply HGP free meat. HGP treated meat is totally banned in the EU.

Solution: Simple: Be very aware of sustainable fish issues. If you do eat meat, only eat the naturally farmed variety. This too is easy as all beef for is tagged in Australia so its history can be followed; meaning butchers can be confident of where their animals came from. Totally reject intensively farmed chickens, pigs and fish. Farmed prawns are preferable if you eat them, and they come from Australia.

4. Sugar and salt

Sugar production has been linked to major reef destruction following run off of fertilizers and pesticides. The health issue is that both sugar and salt often lead to such strong cravings as to be effectively addictive; but then both can mask the body’s natural ability to discriminate regarding what is good for it and what is not.

To explain, most of us have the notion that animals in the wild have a good sense of what to eat when. I have always contended people have this same potential, but that most of us lost it due to poor eating habits. If you eat junk food regularly, your body accommodates to it and basically puts up with it even if you have a strong chance of developing one of the major degenerative diseases as you grow older. It is like the body and the mind loses the ability to discriminate.

When we eat a better diet, gradually we start to notice that when we eat healthy foods, we feel good; when we eat rubbish, we feel crappy. If we respond to these observations, we can arrive at a more personalized and individually appropriate way of eating.

My experience gained from helping many people to do this is that sugar and salt mask the taste buds and significantly reduce our capacity to notice what foods are ideal.

Solution: Simple: Remove sugar and salt from your diet; and with sugar, again you help the environment. It usually takes a week or two to get over the cravings, but then you will notice heightened taste sensations that more than compensate.

5. Country of origin

There are plenty of issues with this. For details, refer to my recent blog: click here.

Solution: Simple: Read the barcodes.

6. Marketing

It fascinates me how much effort the meat and dairy industry (I have not addressed the dairy concerns in this blog) put into marketing, while the fruit and vegetable mob do so little. But be aware of the efforts that go into swaying your opinion. One of the worst examples is how the CSIRO produced its book “The Total Wellbeing Diet” that advocated a very large intake of meat – way above the recommended allowances. Who funded the project? You guessed it, the meat industry (check the book Perfidy if you are interested). Scandalous!

Solution: Simple: Be aware of your own way of thinking, the impact of the media, practice mindfulness, train your mind, think for yourself, choose wisely and eat consciously.

And do what you can to bring about positive change. Consider relaying this blog to family or friends (if you do not know how to do this yet, ask a teenager!) Lobby politicians. Make the link. What is good for our health, is good for our environment. What truly sustains us, sustains our planet.

NEWS

1. This week’s blog follows the talk I gave at Melbourne’s Sustainable Living festival, along with Paul Bedson. It was a pleasure to be asked to talk on the link between health, environment and sustainability.

2. Two weeks before the Happiness and its Causes conference in Sydney. For those who read this blog and do attend, come and say hello.

3. Day workshop near MELBOURNE coming up on Saturday, 24th March at the beautiful Duneira estate in Mt. Macedon.

4. Still a few places available for the meditation retreat Ruth and I will lead in the Yarra Valley at the Gawler Foundation, Meditation in the Forest: March 30 – April 5.

RELATED BLOGS

Will you have chemicals with that?

Would you eat like a dog?  Examines digestion and how humans are better suited to a vegetarian diet.

What fuel goes into your tank?

Eating for recovery

RESOURCES

Mindbody Mastery: the online, downloadable meditation program with 6 months of support built in.

Sustainable seafood guide


Sustainable food 

CDs  Eating well, being well: Ian Gawler: wellness or maintenance diet

Eating for recovery: Ian Gawler: specifics for cancer

BOOKS

Perfidy: Geoff Russell: exposing the CSIRO wellness diet, its high meat content and funding by the meat industry.

Global Cooling: Strategies for Climate Protection: Hans-Josef Fell

Will you have chemicals with that?

Will you know if you have chemicals or other unwelcome additives in the food you buy?

It probably depends on where it comes from. Almost certainly you will not know if it comes from China, fair chance you will if it comes from Australia. Barcodes provide a very useful answer.

The problem is we need to think hard before buying any foodstuffs from China, Hong Kong, Vietnam or Thailand as these countries have little or no laws that regulate food production and processing and erratic policing of what controls there are. It is particularly wise to avoid buying processed food packaged in China, Vietnam and Thailand. We just do not know what else may be in those packages.

Also, do note that many Mainland Chinese companies now use a Hong Kong address in an attempt to avoid the poor reputation Chinese produce has developed.

Some companies are going to greater lengths to mislead you. For example, according to CBC TV’s “Marketplace”, Highliner Fish Products all come from China where they are pen raised using chemicals that are banned in Canada as cancer causing, but are legal in China. Once processed in Canada, their packaging quite truthfully declares “processed in Canada”! Clearly “processed” does not mean “ originated in”.

So do beware of items like a bottle of organic Tamari I saw recently. On the label was “Produce of China”, “packaged in Australia” and certified “organic” in Australia. I am sorry, but I do not have enough confidence in the Chinese food production system yet to buy that.

The fact is that some countries like Australia do have pretty good food regulation Laws and labeling to match, as do countries like New Zealand, the USA and Canada, Germany, France, Italy and Great Britain.  At least in Australia, buying Australian prepared food, you have a good chance of knowing what is in the food you buy. True you could buy an ice cream for yourself or a child and it could have 6 – 10 chemicals in it, but at least the label will tell you it has 6 – 10 chemicals in it. What you do after that is up to you!

So how do you know where your food comes from?

Look at the barcodes! The first 2 or 3 numbers on every barcode define the country of packaging. Australia is 93, New Zealand 94. These two countries are right up amongst the best food standards, and if it really was grown and packaged in either, what is on the label is likely to be what you will get (barring criminal activity which is fairly well policed). However, watch for the "packaged in Australia", "product of somewhere else" routine. Again, at least on produce packaged in Australia, you will be able to find this information if you look hard enough.

Clearly, the need is to read labels thoroughly.

Countries I avoid and their codes are:

China:  690 – 695

Thailand: 885

Vietnam: 893  

Japan (due to the radiation misfortune): 450 - 459 and 490 - 499

There are several others that warrant suspicion, so the full list is included below.

What to do?

First: Grow as much as you can. How is the home veggie garden going? If you are still thinking about it, this is a great time to start. If you need help, try the books listed below or ask a friend.

Second: Buy local produce.

Third:  If local produce is not easy to come by, try harder! Buy local produce.

Fourth: If you are still having trouble sourcing local produce, try really hard!

If we get into the habit of seeking local produce, it will get easier and easier. When I first developed cancer in 1975, there was one organic veggie shop in Melbourne. It was a big effort to get there. Now, in our small country town of Yarra Junction we have a terrific organic shop and who knows how many there are in Melbourne?

Buy local and our children may have more of a future. Less transport pollution, less unknowns in the processing, more local knowledge and suitability, more sustainable communities.

Buy local produce.

Fifth: If all else does fail, read labels. It makes heaps of sense wherever possible to choose foodstuffs from Australia and New Zealand. Heaps of sense to use organic produce. Heaps of sense to buy as much unprocessed food as reasonably possible – eg buy the raw ingredients and prepare your own sauces etc. It also makes heaps of sense to read labels if you do buy things that are processed.

Find out where things originated from, where they were packaged and what is in them.

Happy eating and good health!

Maybe this is a good blog to share with those you care about - you could save them a problem!

Here are the Country barcodes which are in numerical, not alphabetical order. Good luck.

code	country
000 – 019	U.S. and Canada
020 – 029	Restricted distribution (MO defined)
030 – 039	U.S. drugs (see U.S. National Drug Code)
040 – 049	Restricted distribution (MO defined)
050 – 059	coupons
060 – 099	U.S. and Canada
100 – 139	U.S. (reserved for later use)
200 – 299	Restricted distribution (MO defined)
300 – 379	France and Monaco
380	Bulgaria
383	Slovenia
385	Croatia
387	Bosnia and Herzegovina
389	Montenegro
400 – 440	Germany (440 code inherited from old East Germany on reunification, 1990)
450 – 459	Japan
460 – 469	Russia
470	Kyrgyzstan
471	Taiwan
474	Estonia
475	Latvia
476	Azerbaijan
477	Lithuania
478	Uzbekistan
479	Sri Lanka
480	Philippines
481	Belarus
482	Ukraine
484	Moldova
485	Armenia
486	Georgia
487	Kazakhstan
488	Tajikistan
489	Hong Kong SAR
490 – 499	Japan
500 – 509	United Kingdom
520 – 521	Greece
528	Lebanon
529	Cyprus
530	Albania
531	F.Y.R.O. Macedonia
535	Malta
539	Ireland
540 – 549	Belgium and Luxembourg
560	Portugal
569	Iceland
570 – 579	Denmark, Faroe Islands and Greenland
590	Poland
594	Romania
599	Hungary
600 – 601	South Africa
603	Ghana
604	Senegal
608	Bahrain
609	Mauritius
611	Morocco
613	Algeria
615	Nigeria
616	Kenya
618	Côte d'Ivoire
619	Tunisia
621	Syria
622	Egypt
624	Libya
625	Jordan
626	Iran
627	Kuwait
628	Saudi Arabia
629	United Arab Emirates
640 – 649	Finland
690 – 695	China, The People's Republic
700 – 709	Norway
729	Israel
730 – 739	Sweden : EAN/GS1 Sweden
740	Guatemala
741	El Salvador
742	Honduras
743	Nicaragua
744	Costa Rica
745	Panama
746	Dominican Republic
750	Mexico
754 – 755	Canada
759	Venezuela
760 – 769	Switzerland and Liechtenstein
770 – 771	Colombia
773	Uruguay
775	Peru
777	Bolivia
778 – 779	Argentina
780	Chile
784	Paraguay
786	Ecuador
789 – 790	Brazil
800 – 839	Italy, San Marino and Vatican City
840 – 849	Spain and Andorra
850	Cuba
858	Slovakia
859	Czech Republic
860	Serbia
865	Mongolia
867	North Korea
868 – 869	Turkey
870 – 879	Netherlands
880	South Korea
884	Cambodia
885	Thailand
888	Singapore
890	India
893	Vietnam
894	Bangladesh
896	Pakistan
899	Indonesia
900 – 919	Austria
930 – 939	Australia
940 – 949	New Zealand
950	GS1 Global Office: Special applications
951	EPCglobal: Special applications
955	Malaysia
958	Macau

NEWS

1. Any tired tennis fans? Wow, if you want a model of determination, perseverance, endurance, never give up attitudes and incredible skill, the Djokavic, Nadal final had it all! What a pair of champions. Congratulations to them both.

2. Happily the online Mindbody Mastery program can accommodate anyone who wants to join, but the meditation retreat Ruth and I will lead pre- Easter, "Meditation in the Forest", is filling, as is "Wednesdays with Ian", the follow-up program for people with cancer who have already attended a Gawler Foundation program. May be wise to book soon if you plan to attend.

RESOURCES

Books:

Esther Dean's No-dig Gardening Book: the simple, quick and reliable way to start a veggie garden.

Jeffery Hodges: The Organic Garden: another very useful guide.

You Can Conquer Cancer has detailed food guidelines for well people along with those dealing with cancer.

CDs: 

Eating Well, Being Well has the Wellness Diet outlined, ideal for all the family and the starting point for anyone interested in preventing illness or recovering from it.

Eating for Recovery is the specific Healing Diet for those seeking to overcome cancer. It builds on the first CD, e.g.  if you are dealing with cancer, you need both.

Programs

Meditation in the Forest and the full range of Gawler Foundation programs