As you?ve probably gathered over time, I?m completely enamored with our planet. I love nature. I love the interconnectedness of everything. I love the way the pieces instruct the whole, and vise versa. And I love that nature, when left to her own devices, maintains long-term balance in all that she is. I invite you to check out the pic that accompanies this post.
I took that picture on a walk in the woods up in Maine this spring. This picture leads me to thinking about balance. About how the tree grows from the soil?the tree is life and supports life?.and eventually the tree lives out its life and falls. Then moss will grow on it and bugs eat it and eventually it decomposes back into?the soil. I love how the tree needs the carbon dioxide that humans expel and we need the oxygen the tree expels. I love how the seed ?knows? that the tree grows up and the roots go down.
?Laurie Warren, for Pete?s sake. Is this a botany blog?!?
Not really. Except that we ARE nature. We just forget that because we have skyscrapers and rockets and cars and houses and deodorant and iphones. But we?re nature. And, our bodies, as part of nature, do well at keeping balance when they?re not over-challenged. Which brings me to some Body Sass? info for ya!
But first, let?s consider photosynthesis. KIDDING!
On to YOUR sassy bod?
The fires of inflammation
The massively complex human organism is wired for balance. The trouble comes when our modern living overloads the body with substances, with thoughts, and with lifestyle choices that create imbalance. What happens over time is that chronic inflammation arises in our bod. This isn?t the ?good? inflammation, like when you cut yourself and it gets all red and swollen as the superhero white blood cells go charging in to make things right. That?s acute inflammation.
The inflammation I?m referring to is a low-ish level inflammatory state throughout the body that contributes to cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, auto-immune issues and many other imbalances in the body. The inflammation disrupts the millions of tiny communications that are happening inside our body every second that keep us alive and healthy. It?s really similar to when we pollute a lake and nothing that lives there can survive and weird, creepy things take over and the whole ecology of the lake is disrupted. Our body IS a body of water, albeit an ambulatory one, since we?re about 70% water, so it?s actually a pretty close analogy.
Here?s the issue: we eat boatloads of sugar, and copious grains, and shopping carts full of packaged ?foods? with 20+ unknown ingredients, and food colorings, and pesticides, and rancid fats in all of the fast foods. And we do drugs (caffeine, alcohol, pharmaceuticals, and illegal drugs). And we smoke. And we?re stressed out. And we don?t drink enough water. And we don?t heal toxic relationships. And we sit all day. I could go on, but it would get kinda depressing and I think you get the picture.
And then, something goes wrong with our body, and we?re all surprised and indignant, like ?HUH?!?! How did this happen?? Well, the truth is that things don?t work right in the body with all of that going on.
So what?s a human to do?
It can all get a little overwhelming, which isn?t helpful at all. I suggest you start with food. Food Sass?, baybeeee! The Food Sass? lifestyle that you read about in these love notes, and on this site,?is anti-inflammatory. It?s pro-healing. It?s pro-LIFE. Food Sass? is like a wet blanket on the fire of chronic inflammation. Next maybe you add in 1200 mg. of omega-3 fats per day, like in a fish oil. Maybe you start using more turmeric on your food. (Both omega-3?s and turmeric are anti-inflammatory.) You up your water intake. (The goal is 80 – 120 oz. per day.) Maybe you get up from your desk every hour and move your sweet bod a bit. And you do all of this over time.
This isn?t about ?being perfect.? I have no idea what that is, and the pursuit of it sounds like no fun. It?s about honoring your body and enjoying your life. It?s about being kind to yourself, to others, and to the planet that we?re part of. It?s about creating vibrant health in your BodyMindSpirit.
With love & wet blankets,
Laurie
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