Basically Balanced

Causes of Illness & Disease – Body Aligment

2010-03-26T10:44:00.003Z

I’m pretty sure that at some stage in your life you have heard someone tell you to stand up straight, right? And you probably thought, nag, nag, nag! Or you tried to, but couldn’t get it right because you felt more comfortable slouching, ‘cause it hurt to stand up straight, or it was simply too much trouble (I know I did!!)?

Well, I went through my own personal trials and tribulations with my mother nagging, going to so many different physiotherapists and doing so many exercises, with nothing working, to help me fix my sagging shoulders and curved spine (labelled scoliosis). The problem was that the muscles were already so much in spasm to protect the various nerves in my lower, middle and upper back that were pinching, that no amount of trying to stand up straight, and no amount of exercise was going to work!

What did work, though, was fixing the alignment of my hips and then relaxing the muscles in my back by means of lots of massages and pressure point work. The reason this worked for me – it also addressed stubborn thinking patterns!

Seriously, if you think about it, what you think and feel, reflects in your physical body! If you think of someone being a pain in the neck, your neck muscles automatically tighten! If you carry the whole world on your shoulders, your shoulder muscles will tighten up.

But let’s stay with the physical alignment for now. Your body’s structure is based on your spinal column sitting on top of the hips. If the hips are not straight vertically in both the frontal plane or the sideways plane, it will mean that the normal curve of the spine will be out. In other words there will be more curve where it normally curves and more bend where it normally bends. This means that there will be more pressure on the cushions between the vertebrae, and therefore more of a chance that the nerves will be pinched, restricting the flow of messages from the spine to the area, limb or organ that the particular nerve feeds.

If this happens over a long period of time, it will mean that the area, limb or organ that is fed by a particular nerve, will not get the proper nourishment it needs, its function will be impaired and the body will start to want to protect it! If it is a limb that is affected, the joints are usually affected, especially on the end of the nerve’s path, in the fingers or feet. So now your body takes whatever it has in excess – water, acid, toxins, fat…yup! and goes and dumps it in or around these areas under pressure to protect it! The area bulges, and if it is acid, arthritis develops in the joints!

If, like with me, you have nerves pinching in your lower back because your hip alignment is out, you will probably develop problems in all the organs and limbs this area feeds – your legs, knees and ankles, the sex organs, and the colon! Mine even resulted in my left leg collapsing out from underneath me!

Needless to say, if this condition exists for 10 or more years, serious problems are going to develop in all these organs and areas!

If your colon does not function properly, you cannot eliminate properly and your kidneys and liver come under pressure…you also do not absorb nutrients properly and all types of other ailments usually develop because of this.

Sexual dysfunction, both in men and women, usually stem from this simple cause! Once the pressure on the nerve is released by adjusting the alignment of the hip, the body’s natural regenerative ability takes over, and it fixes itself, especially if you give it the proper nutrients to assist!

Hip, knee and ankle problems usually rectify in a short period of time and you can even prevent replacement surgery if you work with a knowledgeable health practitioner that will assist you to strengthen and rebuild the joint and relax the surrounding muscles and tendons that have been in spasm for so long!

If the hips have been out of alignment for a while, the curve of the spine adjusts and this usually affects the neck area, causing problems in the shoulders, elbows and fingers. Usually you would also slouch forward, so placing even bigger pressure on the vertebrae and cushions at the junction between neck and body, the “widow’s hump” area!

So, posture, posture, posture!

If you have no serious problems yet, this is a good reminder to keep your posture up straight – head on shoulders, on hips, on feet! The easiest way to keep your head up straight, and fixing the shoulders back at the same time without straining them, is to tuck your chin in and think of a wire holding you up to the sky from the hairs on the top of your head…and a chain holding you from the bottom of your spine onto the earth…with you stretched to your full potential in between!

To fix the alignment of the hips is usually easy, and something chiropractors and similar practitioners can do.

The problem is that the muscles that have been in spasm to protect, also need to relax, otherwise they will simply pull you out of alignment again, so either a massage of the area or a warm relaxing bath afterwards is vital for these muscles to “let go”!

Breathing out whilst they are being worked, helps your mind to let go as well too, and then they will relax all the more easier!

Preventing the hips from going out of alignment is very important, as this is the base of the whole body. The organs in this area and the legs are vital to our functioning as a whole.

Things that throw the hips out?

Standing on one leg

Crossing the legs at the knees

Carrying anything on one hip – especially children!

Carrying anything over one shoulder

Bumps, falls and accidents – GET IT ALIGNED IMMEDIATELY AFTERWARDS!!!

Giving birth

Keep these simple, basic things in mind and prevent or fix the cause of the imbalance.

Causes of Illness & Disease - Body Imbalances

2009-10-01T11:42:00.005+01:00

I’m a firm believer that there is always a reason for everything and if you can find the cause, you can fix it. This is especially true in the human body. If you understand the reason for an imbalance, pain, illness or disease, it can be fixed…it’s really that simple! There is nothing in your body that cannot be fixed, it has the most amazing regenerative abilities. All it needs is the right alignment and the right nutrients, and it will then restore its own imbalances!

There are some basic things that your body needs to function at its optimum:

Body Alignment

Acid/Alkaline Balance
Proper Flora Colony in Gut
Elimination of Toxins
Adequate intake of water
Proper functioning of Kidneys & Liver
Proper Nutrients
Proper Absorption of Nutrients
Exercise/Stretching

Body Alignment

This just means that your spine and pelvis needs to be in its proper position, otherwise nerves will be pinched and the functioning of the area that those nerves nourish will deteriorate over time, causing problems with the organs and joints in the area.

Acid/Alkaline Balance

It is vital for your whole system to be alkaline for proper functioning. If you eat too many foods that cause an acidic environment in your body, it causes problems from candida, arthritis, gout, to the growth of parasites and worms in your gut. If your digestive system doesn’t function properly, this causes problems everywhere else in the body.

Proper Flora Colony in Gut

Probiotics is a vital part of our whole digestive and immune system. They can only survive in an alkaline environment, antibiotics also kill them, and so does chlorine in drinking water and absorbed through the skin from bath water.

Elimination of Toxins

You need to eliminate toxins from the normal processes of the body, as well as those absorbed as part of your food, the water you drink, the air that you breathe (worse for smokers) and the products you rub into or spray onto your skin. Your body eliminates these through your gut, urine, breath and skin, and if all else fails, through your mucous membranes (sinus, hayfever… the common cold!).

Adequate intake of water

Your body needs an average of 8 glasses of fluids per day, not 8 glasses of pure water as is commonly mistakenly given, but at least 1 – 2 glasses of pure water for the kidneys, liver and gut to perform their functions. The rest of your fluid (water) intake can come from teas, coffee, juice and fruit and veggies. If you do any strenuous exercise, however, and sweat more fluids out than normal, you will obviously need to replace that, as well as the minerals you lost.

Proper functioning of Kidneys and Liver

If your system is overburdened with lots of chemical toxins, and you are not drinking enough clear water or exercising, your kidneys and liver will reach a point where they cannot handle the overload. They are the body’s filters and can become clogged. It is vital that the kidneys, and the liver, be given a tonic every now and then to assist them to regenerate and detoxify.

Proper Nutrients

Your body needs the proper nutrients to be able to fulfill its daily functions. These come from the food that we put into our mouths. If you eat too many refined, stripped of its nutrients types of food, your body will not be able to maintain itself. It’s like putting sugar into the gas tank of a car and expecting it not to seize up…As natural, fresh, and raw as possible, with no chemical flavourants or additives, like MSG, or growth hormones and antibiotics!

Proper Absorption of Nutrients

Even if you do eat a healthy diet now, your gut might not be able to absorb the nutrients! This could be because of the gut lining being damaged, or the lack of the right enzymes, or the lack of probiflora. This is also the cause of many autoimmune diseases, and believe it or not, easy to fix!

Exercise/Stretching

The actual reason you need to use your muscles, besides the aerobic advantage, is the fact that the lymphatic system needs the muscle action to pump it, so that it can drain all those toxins out of the tissues, otherwise they stay there and you plump up and get headaches!

So these are all the important things, very basic, that keep our bodies healthy and alive and kicking. I’ll be expanding on each of them in future blogs, so stay tuned!

…And get the muscles pumping and the good snacks on the go!

Probiotics - The Good Stuff in Your Gut

2008-09-15T13:34:00.002+01:00

Pro-biotics, also known as probiflora, is the opposite of anti-biotics. These are the “good” bacteria that are found in the human digestive tract. The gut flora are the microorganisms that normally live in the digestive tract and that perform a number of useful functions for their hosts.
The average human body, consisting of about 10,000,000,000,000 (ten trillion) cells, has about ten times that number of microorganisms in the gut.
Bacteria make up most of the flora in the colon, 99% of the bacteria coming from about 30 or 40 species and the activity of these bacteria make the colon the most metabolically active organ in the body.
Research suggests that the relationship between gut flora and humans is not just a non-harmful coexistence, but rather a mutualistic, symbiotic relationship. Though people can survive with no gut flora, the microorganisms perform a host of useful functions, such as training the immune system - by stimulating the lymphoid tissue of the gut’s mucous lining to produce antibodies to harmful substances. The immune system then recognizes and fights harmful bacteria, but leaves the helpful species alone, a tolerance developed in infancy. They also prevent growth of harmful bacteria by regulating the development and renewing of the intestinal lining, they produce vitamins for the host (such as biotin and vitamin K), as well as hormones to direct the host to store fats.
Some types of gut flora have enzymes that human cells lack for breaking down certain starches, fiber, oligosaccharides and sugars that the body failed to digest and absorb like lactose and sugar alcohols, mucus produced by the gut, and proteins. In addition, the short chain fatty acids they produce help the body to absorb nutrients such as calcium, magnesium, and iron.
Another important role of helpful gut flora is that they prevent species that would harm the host from colonizing the gut. Yeasts and harmful bacterial species are unable to grow too much due to competition from helpful gut flora species, thus animals without gut flora are more susceptible to infections.
Probiflora are destroyed by antibiotics, chlorine in drinking and bath water, and stress. Replacing the colony of flora in the digestive system(with a supplement) and maintaining (eating foods like yoghurt and fermented foods) will assist in a myriad of conditions including acidic imbalance, obesity, constipation, bloating and flatulence, diarrhea, candida, parasites, infections of the urinary tract or female genital tract, irritable bowel syndrome, prevention of the recurring of bladder cancer, lactose intolerance, allergies and eczema in children.
Ensure that the probiotic supplement taken is of good quality and remember, the bacteria are alive - they die off, so store them in a fridge to ensure that they last longer!

References: Solgar, Wikipedia.com, MedicineNet.com

What is Natural Health?

2008-09-10T13:36:00.000+01:00

We live in a fast paced technological world where fast everything is the norm – instant global communication, fast foods, instant coffee… Our bodies and minds struggle to cope with the associated stress.
Are you tired, in pain, stressed to breaking point?
Maybe it is time to consider that your body is exactly like your car. Your car needs to be filled with the right octane of petrol, without impurities, needs to be serviced regularly – the filters, spark plugs and oil changed – and it can’t be driven on very bumpy roads without consequences, unless it’s a 4X4!
Your body functions in a certain way as well. It needs the right nutrients to fuel it, lots of water to eliminate waste products and toxins, rest to perform these tasks and repair areas where damage has occurred and exercise to keep moving.
We are built to move! For example, the lymphatic system does not have its own pump, so muscle action pumps the lymphatic fluid, which has the important function of draining toxins out of our tissues!
Your body consists of natural systems, built from natural elements – it is a part of Mother Nature. It has natural rhythms and is tuned to the cycles of Nature: day and night, lunar and seasonal.
It is structured to process natural raw products. Breathing utilises air to extract oxygen. Eating utilises food to extract useful nutrients to build tissues and perform millions of tasks throughout the whole body. Any changes in the quality of raw products – dirty air, food without the needed nutrients and energy values – cause imbalances. These imbalances cause blockages. The natural flow has been disturbed. The natural health of the body has been compromised.
We live in an artificial world, out of sync and removed from Nature, and expect our bodies to cope day after day, year in year out, with impure fuel - processed foods stripped of nutrients, fast grown foods lacking nutrients, lack of water, lack of adequate rest, lack of exercise and input of poisonous substances. Our bodies have amazing abilities to adjust and regenerate, but after long periods of abuse, is it surprising that they collapse?
Do you know how your physical body works? Are you looking after it? Or do you just drive the car without checking the water and the oil and hope it lasts?
The natural health of your body depends on the quality of the food and water you give it. To stay in balance, it needs natural food and water, exercise and rest - no artificial additives, no poisons to tax its elimination systems. Simple. Natural.

Are you well? Healthy? In touch with your nature? Do you live in sync with Nature and Mother Earth?

In future articles, I will address how to get back to your nature… the nitty gritty of being real, being human!

What we do...

2008-09-10T13:32:00.000+01:00

At the Natural Health Centre in Worcester, we specialise in a Natural Life Enhancing Wholistic NaturMotion™ Treatment that integrates the Healing Arts of Spinal Care, Reflectology, Detox Pressure Points and Deep Tissue Massage, with Natural Organic Herbal Oils, in a pattern form.
The onehour hands-on physical treatment assists the client to restore health by finding the causes of pain, discomfort and dis-ease (the results of daily stressful living) and by utilising the natural regenerative ability of the body. All 11 body systems, including the muscular, nervous, skeletal, digestive, circulatory and lymphatic systems, etc., are brought into balance again and allowed to naturally re-align. The whole being, physical, mental, emotional and spiritual, is treated as one integrated unit.
Clients are educated to take responsibility for their own state of well-being and health and are assisted towards this by Personalised Life-Enhancement Programmes. Programmes may consist of an initial series of treatments, depending on the individual’s needs, with regular monthly follow-ups, as well as Natural Mineral and Herbal Supplements (Nature Cure), Body Detox Methods, Posture Correction and Breathing & Stretching Exercises.
We have successfully assisted clients with headaches, migraines, backache, neck pain, depression, stress, sleep disorders, fatigue, abdominal pains, sports injuries, arthritis and hip problems, to name but a few.
Both my husband, Kelman, and me are qualified Natural Health Practitioners. We belong to the NaturMotion™ Association which is a founder member of the Confederation of Complimentary Health Associations of South Africa (COCHASA). NaturMotion™ has also just been formally defined as a modality.
Health runs as a theme through our life and we practice these principles in the Martial Arts as well. We run a full-time Martial Arts Centre where we give classes in Tai Chi Chuan and Karate for adults and children. Moving and doing from the centre, being in line and in centre, flowing life through – these are the things we live and teach.
Kelman is a 6th Dan Martial Artist and has formed his own Martial Arts System based on our principles of health, called the Inner Dimension. I am a 2nd Dan Black Belt, and our 13 year old son is growing up in the Martial Arts as well (Like Father Like Son!) (He’s a junior orange belt!).
I feel privileged to be able to pass on the knowledge that has made a great impact in my own life.

Understanding that every choice I make has a consequence, everything has a cause, any cause can be fixed and it’s all MY responsibility – that is powerful!

Introduction

2008-09-10T13:27:00.000+01:00

This Blog will be used for general and specialised topics of Natural Health and Balanced Living for clients, friends and others interested...

To be used for Educational Purposes and a link for questions and networking.

I'm a qualified Natural Health Practitioner operating in Worcester, South Africa.

Coming up...
Natural First Aid, Mineral Tissue Salts, Breathing, Taking Responsibility for your own health and well-being, Breathing...