Eating for Blood Type

Several years ago I read Eat Right 4 Your Type, by Peter D'Adamo. It was a revelation both the story and the science behind the book . The premise that some foods act as medicine and some as poison is intuitively obvious to most of us. However, the tie in to blood type is ingenious, as is the sleuthing that led to the discovery.

I was already attracted to many of the foods for blood type A+. But the grains that really help my body are allegedly, buckwheat and amaranth. Huh? All the rest are neutral, so they are okay. But if I eat the things that act like medicine, that is supposedly the upgrade. Buckwheat I once used as a cover crop when I used to garden on a large scale. Amaranth is a family that includes an extremely weird looking flower, called Love Lies Bleeding, and does look somewhat gory.

Long story short, this week my breakfasts included both buckwheat and amaranth and it was a decidedly different experience from eating other things. Hard to put into words, but eating buckwheat was like eating air. It was both light and filling. I prepared it by sprouting it, drying it, roasting it, then boiling it in water. Talk about good. Then the amaranth I just boiled on the stove. With a little sweetener, nuts and raisins, it was a great start to the day.

So you might want to check this out. Whether the foods on the list just give your body a total vacation by digesting themselves or whether they are doing something sneaky and wonderful inside, who knows. For me it feels like a rest.

Meat is not medicine for blood type A. We must be the veggie blood type. Whereas Type O's who forgo meat often suffer. But in case I indulge, I have HCl pills that make short work of a mess of ribs or a hot dog. There is no blood type that can boast hot dogs as medicine. Dream on!

Chaos For Real

Today, as promised earlier, I'm going to talk about meditation. The dictionary is no help here. MEDITATE: to reflect on or muse over; CONTEMPLATE; INTEND, PURPOSE; to engage in contemplation or reflection. The definition my friends have range from formal zazen to taking big drags off a cigarette in a contemplative way. I think fishing might be the modern day equivalent. With a rod in my hand, aside from a jingling anticipation of the BIG BITE, I feel at one with the water, trees and dirt.

The thing I never realized about meditation is that it is truly a litmus test for sanity. Hey Zeus! The minute I attempt quiet on my own, all hell breaks loose in my mind. A tidal wave of agendas, instructions, manic fantasies, music, a horror movie, ear splitting harmonics. Its like I got cable in my head. Like there is a conspiracy to keep me rattled and unable to actually think something through. Well, the good news is that if I am willing to attempt it over and over, sitting on my cushion with my eyes closed, breathing deeply, it settles down in there and I can breath and have some 'no thought' spaces before the other stuff sneaks back in.

If I get away from it though, it takes 3-4 days of sitting on my zafu (cushion inherited from my buddhist Dad) before I find peace. That feels like failing every minute, while exerting maximum exertion. Try that one on for size ! Could be I'm doing it wrong. Today I heard about a better way.

More later. The demons are dancing on my head today.
Time to read a book.

Is Peace Practical?

Just finished my quiet time and wondered if having a good life is so much simpler than I ever thought. Like when I am feeling gratitude, it might be a reset button for my whole body. Or laughing at a joke, saying hi to a friend is the most spiritual of activities. Eckhart Tolle is pretty adamant about staying in the moment being the answer to our ills. I'm starting to be convinced.

Yesterday I got really rattled about something, checked in with myself and handed it off to my 'special assistant' who takes care of everything difficult. Getting back to a peaceful state of mind suddenly showed me all the possible solutions. Instead of wasting the day on fretting, I was off on a fantastic and productive day. It was a Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde moment for sure. One minute, my brain is in the blender, my face would probably inspire someone to turn and run, the sky is dark and no relief in sight. Next moment, the sun is out, I can breath freely and and I have not a care in the world. Wow! It sure is fun being me.So is peace the answer to all my problems? A peaceful state of mind... The research on meditation is, of course, staggering in its implications for our well being. The research on the Maharishi Effect has been around for 40 years but I am always surprised how few people know about it. That 1% of a population practicing (transcendental) meditation can reduce crime rates in a given region by upwards of 20% on any given night, everytime, is a fact worth exploring.

For the individual though, informal quiet time, or mindfulness meditation, has "produced lasting positive changes in both the brain and the function of the immune system" according to an article explaining this preliminary study at University of Wisconsin. In another study, violent or sociopathic behaviors previously assumed to be caused by character defects, bad parenting, or bad genes, may actually be caused by abnormally high or low activity, in specific parts of the brain. If this is true, there may be a simple solution to the most baffling of human behaviors.

The Maharishi Effect has implications that affect every sphere of life from how corporate decisions are made to improving the quality of family life, to averting mental and physical illness. That is cause for celebration. Next time, I'd like to look at how everyday people find that peaceful place. I don't know about you, but the word meditation has always seemed like a closed door to me, rather than an invitation. Then, when I ask everyone I know, they each have a completely different definition for what meditating is for them. So this might be fun to look at.

How far can we go

Humans are capable of the most miraculous feats of survival, strength, endurance and even shape shifting as I mentioned in the Alley Grazer post today. In addition to the evidence mentioned there about extreme survival, other powers deemed impossible by current wisdom, are being taught in online and regular classrooms and tutorials around the country. Healing techniques (the links are coming), and power techniques-distant viewing, telekinesis, levitation, shape shifting- are all available at a price. In the past centuries, initiates to the sacred sciences prepared themselves for years before they were deemed worthy to plunge into the secrets of such powers.

I first heard about some of these super powers (including the ability of the human body to bi-locate and to contort into silly putty shapes during types of religious rapture),when Carolyn Myss talked about the lives of saints in her tape, Why People Don't Heal and How They Can. There are eye witness accounts back in the 16th through 18th centuries of the most miraculous occurrences. Even as recently as War II, a friar who was famous for his stigmata as well as his ability to bi-locate, saved the village of San Giovanni Rotondo by appearing to the American pilots as they were about to release their bombs. The pilots did a 180 and all reported back to base with the exact story of this guy in the sky. Padre Pio was doing chores at the monastery when it happened.

There is a lot of talk now about activating the inactive strands of DNA (of 12, we only use a couple). When we do that, they say, we will be capable of amazing feats. There are people making scads of money teaching people to activate their DNA or live on pure air. These folks are talking about reverse aging and immortality. Euwwww. Living forever has no appeal for me, but it is an intriguing idea. I read somewhere that there is no scientific evidence that the human body can't live healthily for 140 years. I think Wallace, the Dead Doctors Don't Lie guy, said that. I am more interested in having robust health for the 20-30 years I may have and feeling like this:

Interestingly enough, quantum physics supports the 'anything can happen' stories about human powers. The reason is, that we are not what we think we are. Big newsflash. We are mostly, no not mostly... we are entirely composed of are energetic wave patterns. If you've never read Richard Bach's Illusions: Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah, it will help you question the solidity of all of 'physical' matter. A wonderful yarn about a barnstorming pilot who can walk through walls.

So wiseguy (I can hear you say), if we are made of pure energy, why do we look and feel so solid? Apparently, the electrons are orbiting so fast, they create the illusion of solidity the same way a ceiling fan does. I still have a problem with that because I can't pass my hand through my face. More will be revealed on that.

Why am I so convinced the human body is capable of miraculous things? One time, in my early twenties, I emerged from a yoga class with my friend. When I went home, something felt very weird. It had never felt this vibrant in here. I felt this purr of well being from my toes to the top of my head and everywhere in between. It felt as though I could fly.

So what is the connection between alleged human super powers and this extreme well being I experienced and that imprinted so deeply, I'm still hooked on it?

I'm not sure, but I have a theory. So my plan for the this blog is to explore some ideas about all that and find out what others have experienced. I know exactly how I want to feel. Like you, I have some ideas about how to do it, so my first job is to find a starting point for doing it. Not thinking about it, or blogging about it, but doing it. What is the starting point?

I want to get that sparkle back. How about you?
In the meantime, here's to your health!