Embrace Your Inner Girl

Eve had me moved to tears, laughing, nodding knowingly and feeling so good about myself and desperately wanting to embrace my inner girl by the end of her talk. It's AMAZING. I think if you've made it to speak at TED, you have made it!

Living with Purpose

There can be times in life where we find ourselves without a sense of purpose. A life lived without purpose can be a drag, to say the very least.

Illness can appear to steal purpose from us, particularly if we're no longer able to work or participate in other meaningful activities. If you're cooped up in bed or on the couch more often than not, watching TV or surfing the net or reading books, it's easy to feel like your life has lost all sense of purpose.

Perhaps you experienced feeling lost before illness and/or a lack of vitality entered your life. On the contrary, maybe it feels as if your sense of purpose and fulfillment was stripped from you and replaced with a life of dis-ease in one fell swoop. Ka-pow, you ended up with a life that you'd never ever imagined for yourself. Perhaps, a symphony of depression, anxiety, fear, hopelessness *insert other here* arrived with the dis-ease.

What if you could get the sense of purpose back, without having to have your physical health? What if your new your sense of purpose could align with your current life, if it was available to you right here and now?

Does Your Job Work For You?

Some of us work in totally rubbish jobs; it's a blunt statement, but true.

Disclaimer: 'Rubbish' jobs are completely subjective; read on to find out if you have one.

For many of us, a rubbish job makes us feel as good as dead. Dead inside that is. Our inner beam seems more like a distant memory or lustful hope for the future in such jobs.

Definition of a rubbish job: It could be either poorly paid in a dodgy old building or well renumerated with a whole lot of perks, including a coffee machine in the staff room and air conditioning that keeps the environment at a consistent temperature. A rubbish job could mean that you're on your feet all day, or sitting on your butt. Rubbish jobs come in all shapes and sizes, their only commonalities is that can create feelings of despondency and self-pity, and usually diminished self-love. Hint: If you're experiencing these feelings at work, you might want to read on.

Some experts in the laws of attraction and other such things would suggest that it's a lack of love for oneself that finds us in such a job in the first place. Maybe, or maybe you went in all optimistic and inspired to make a difference, to enjoy the role, and somehow wound up where you are now, on the not so inspired or joyful side of things. So What Happened??

Unfortunately society and workplaces conspire against our sense of joy and freedom. Egos get in the way and start telling stories that our worth is dependant on the outcomes we can produce at work. Employment can become our egos new way to measure our self-worth, and if the environments' not conducive to feeling good, to celebrating individuality, achievement and creativity, well, ouch.

Unfortunately many workplaces are imbalanced with regards to the masculine and feminine energies. I'm not talking about the ratio of men to women, but of the balance between yin and yang, masculine and feminine that exists within all of us and within companies, organisations and communities. In the western world we've long experienced the supression and denial of the feminine and the celebration and endorsement of the masculine. When we have the two in balance, amazing things can be achieved and we experience a sense of health and vitality. When it's out of whack in our work environment, we feel the effects and can begin to feel worn down, hard done by and disappointed. As a result we can either turn our upset inwards or towards external factors- such as blaming the boss and our colleagues.

Turned inwards these feelings can lead us to experience anxiety and depression, outwards they can turn into aggression, anger or physical conditions affecting the heart (all emotions, unexpressed, can become physical and/or mental conditions).

This brings me to why rubbish jobs make for a lack of vitality and well-being. They can eat away at our positivity, joy and energy. They are like sand being sprinkled or poured onto our inner beam, continuing to dampen it over time. Work that we can enjoy, that works for us, that allows us to feel balanced, it can do the very opposite. It assists to fan our inner beam, giving rise to a great flame of passion, energy and vitality.

What kind of work are you experiencing right now? Regardless of the perks, or lack thereof or whether others like it or not, what kind of a work place is it for you? Does it full your beam or dampen it? That's your answer right there.

Returning Home

Who Am I?

How many times in a lifetime will one ask themselves 'Who Am I'? I'd love to present a statistic, but I've arrived empty handed on this one. I'm here with a bunch of questions and some musings.

There's this myth that once you know who you are, life gets easier. The myth purports that being secure in this knowingness means you will know what you want to do in life. The myth mostly goes unspoken, but seems to be somehow perpetuated. The gist of it is this: Step 1- Work out who you are. Step 2- Use this information to work out what you want to/should be doing. Step 3- You've made it and now you can coast through the rest of your life, happy.

You know I truly doubt this is true. The only people I've ever come across who will tell me they know who they are, are clearly speaking from a place of ego or superficiality. Lots of people will confuse who they are with what they do. For example, someone tells you they're a pharmacist. That's what they do to earn a crust, it's not who they are, because if they really were a pharmacist they'd be born one and die the same; it's impossible to be born a pharmacist. Consider that during their lifetime they have a career change and decide to wait tables in Paris, does it make them a Waiter? Non.

I think that people clutch to the idea that they are their profession because it's safe, it gives them a sense of belonging and place. It can also mean that for a while they get to ease off on trying to answer that pesky question of 'Who am I?'.

Chasing Happiness

 Denial has been given a bad name, it's actually a valid and handy tool our mind uses to protect us from overwhelm or pain.

Take a moment to listen to Illy's 'It can wait'...

While denial might have unkind connotations it certainly serves it's purposes. It's one of the ways our mind can hide uncomfortable truths from us, it buys us time 'til we're ready to face the 'issue'. Illy's song reminds me of how we can choose denial, avoidance, procrastination, blame etc in the pursuit of moments of fleeting happiness. A boozey Saturday night is another way that we can do all of the aforementioned and escape into fleeting moments of happiness. We drink up/smoke/pop pills in the hope of experiencing the bliss that comes from blocking out the reality of our daily lives. The euphoric feelings come from not only the drugs, but from allowing ourselves the freedom to let loose and have a good time.

Body Balance

Today is the day for Body Love, we are looking at the balance of your body's Ph a.k.a it's alkalinity or acidity. You may know all about this, or like me up until recently, you may know zilch.

Alkalising is a truly important topic, whilst on Inner Beam you will mostly find talk about emotional, mental and lifestyle balance, it is essential that we pay attention to the physical aspect in order to be the brightest we can be.

What does Ph mean?

Ph often refers to water, if you've ever had a backyard pool you would know that someone has to keep an eye on the Ph levels. I remember those hot summer days waiting with anticipation as Mum tested the pools Ph before advising us that it was safe or that we'd have to wait a while until she had fixed it. If the Ph is too high or low then the water is unsafe, a similar concept applies to our bodies.

Our bodies are made up mostly of water, so the analogy of a pool being like our body isn't too far fetched. When the water in the pool is greenish blue and slimey it is completely unsafe to get in; the Ph is out of wack and who knows what kind of organisms are growing in there. When the pool is crystal clear all we want to do is get in there, it is a healthy pool and it looks safe.

The same applies to our bodies, we too can have internal environments that are lovely and clear and functioning healthily, or that are an environment where bacteria and all sorts of things can grow. Here's a thought, if you had super x-ray vision and could see inside your body, in particular your digestive system- which kind of swimming pool would you like it to represent?

Why do Ph levels in my body matter?

Imagine for a moment that your body is like a pool of algae and slimy green, the pool's filter just would not cope. Our body's main filters are the kidneys and liver, do you want them to have an easy task of simply filtering the odd bug and a little sunscreen or do you want them to be dealing with non stop green slime? Do you want your digestive organs providing a home for all sorts of nasties to procreate or do you want it to be functional and an environment for good helpful bacteria?

If after all this pool and algae talk you are still tuned in...you might like to find out more by reading my post 'Alkalising my Body'. You will discover how to test your own Ph and strike the alkalised balance yourself!

Please note that this article is based upon my own research and personal experience, I do not claim to be an expert in the field. If you have further questions or concerns I recommend you seek advice from a health care professional such as a dietician, naturopath or your doctor.

Wheat is No Friend of Mine

Image from thespartandiet.blogspot.com

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The chances are that you or someone you know has discovered that they are 'intolerant' to wheat. In alot of ways I dislike the term intolerant. I am 'intolerant' to wheat, dairy and sugar. To others this could make me sound fussy, overly sensitive or a hyperchondriac. I've had such thoughts about myself too, I have wondered 'what's wrong with me?'.

If you've experienced similar worries I am here to reassure you that it's not us, it is the *insert refined food here*. Our bodies are intolerant to such foods because they have been messed with in labs, on farms and in big factories. They are no longer recognisable from their original form.

According to Foodintol there are alot of people experience food intolerance, here are the statistics they provide:

Dairy Intolerance (includes Lactose intolerance) 3 in 4 people

Yeast sensitivity (eg. Candida infections) 1 in 3 people

Gluten sensitivity (inc. Celiac and Wheat intolerance) 1 in 7 people

Fructose or Sugar sensitivity 1 in 3 people

Food allergy 1 in 100 people

How do I know if wheat is bad for me?

Chances are that wheat is not good for you, because it is super refined. White flour is actually bleached (yes the main ingredients of your toast, cereal, muffins etc. have been bleached- yuck!). Unless it's an organic product it's also a safe bet that alot of nasty chemicals have been used to fertilise the wheat and to keep bugs away from it on the farm, that does not make for a good start in life for an edible plant.

To be more specific, symptoms of wheat intolerance include: lethargy (particularly after consumption) bloating, nausea, stomach aches...and the list goes on. For a more comprehensive list I recommend doing some research online. For further information you can talk with your General Practitioner or visit a Naturopath.

If wheat is an ancient grain, why was the wheat we eat today developed in the 1960s?

If you thought wheat was an ancient grain, you are not alone. The truth is that it was adapted from other grains in the 1960s for ease of farming. One such grain used in the development of common wheat is Spelt, which is indeed and ancient grain and dates back to BC.

To suit modern day farming practices the new 'wheat' was developed to be resistant to heavy use of chemical fertilisers. It was also dwarfed so as the entire crop grew to the right length to allow for ease of harvesting.

When you consider that the kind of 'wheat' humans ate pre 1960 was different to what we have now and it was changed so as chemicals could be used with ease in crops, it starts to make sense why so many of us just can't 'tolerate' it. We are the first generations who have been eating this kind of wheat for all of our lives or atleast a great portion.

What is the future of wheat?

Call me crazy, but it is my hypothesis that this trend of genetically modified food (aka plants that have been messed with) will have to be reversed, because more and more people will be waking up to the detrimental effects this 'new' chemical resistant wheat and other such refined foods are having on our health. Increasing health issues will occur among the population, particularly those who remain clueless about the impact refined foods have on their bodies. Eventually the cost of 'lifestyle' related illnesses will escalate to a point where mainstream science and health care practitioners will be forced to wake up and realise what has gone wrong. The Government will freak out over costs and will take measures to clean up our supermarkets and the poisions we are currently being allowed and encouraged to consume. The result being that we will need to get back to basics and eat food in its original form, the kinds that our bodies not only tolerate but draw nutrition from.

If I don't eat wheat, what will I eat?

Disclaimer: This article includes some research and lots of opinion, please look into the topics discussed for your self and make up your own mind. If you are concerned about symptoms then speak with a holistic health care practitioner who can help you to return to good health.

References:

Wikipedia

Wrongdiagnosis

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The Perils of Too Much Sound Advice

Listening to others too much can be dangerous, it opens us up to great confusion and overwhelm. Interestingly we most often find ourselves seeking answers outside of ourselves in difficult times. We look to others in the hope that they will know ’better’ than we do. There are lots of people, web-sites and television shows out there that make their money because they appear confident, because they seem ‘to have it together’.

Have you considered that their secret is not that they know it all, rather that it is in their confident approach?

Many outwardly confident people experience just as much confusion and self doubt as the rest of us, they simply choose to put on a mask for the world, and we are fooled. We only need to turn our gaze to hollywood to see the masks of beauty, confidence and elitist glamour. However there is a whole market kept alive by telling both sides of the story and revealing the shadows that hide beneath those masks (think LiLo, Brittney). Not so long ago Teri Hatcher took photos of herself sans make-up, she took off her mask. This decision caused widespread publicity and she soon found herself sitting opposite Oprah discussing the topic of reality versus the images we see are bombarded with in the media. The fact that Teri’s move caused so much noise and landed her on Oprah shows us where we are as a society right now. It would seem that we have only just begun to recognise the importance of revealing what exists behind the masks.