DelveSpot | wellness, wisdom + the search for radiance

[Part 3 of 3] Digestion + our overall health: healing with a cultured veggie cleanse

Today is the final post of a 3-part series on digestion + our overall health.

I’m sharing another layer to my wellness path, to help you see the importance of making sure each individual system in your body is healthy, for healing to happen and for overall wellness. Plus I illuminate a few lesser-talked about ways to support your gut [and overall] health.

PART 1: You found out it was important to heal my gut stat + how I’m doing it. Light bulb: gut health is directly linked to the health of our whole body [1].

PART 2: Naturopath Alisha Lynch told us about the direct connection between our emotions + gut health, and how to release emotional blockages with Australian Bush Flower Essences.

TODAY, PART 3: A gut-healing and -boosting method. It’s called cultured cleansing [aka a cleanse eating only cultured/fermented foods], with special guest Kayleigh Jean of Pickle-Biotic. There are no juice fasts here, though:

This special cleanse relies solely on fermented foods to cleanse your digestive system and give it boost.

Today Kayleigh chats about:

What she eats for breakfast, lunch + dinner on a cultured cleanse
How she honors her body type + a tip if you have a hard time fasting
Why you shouldn’t freak out if symptoms get worse initially
A recipe for her cruciferous ferment

[Part 2 of 3] Digestion + our overall health: the emotional connection with naturopath Alisha Lynch

Today is part 2 of a 3-part series on digestion + our overall health.

I’m sharing another layer of my wellness path to show the importance of making sure each individual system in your body is healthy, for healing to happen and for overall wellness. Plus I illuminate a few lesser-talked about ways to support your gut [and overall] health.

PART 1: Last week I revealed why I needed to heal my gut ASAP, and how I’m doing it. After a lifetime of digestive issues, it’s rewarding and powerful to see an improvement in my symptoms in six weeks, which I correlate to less gut inflammation and, all around, a boost on my cancer healing path.

TODAY, PART 2: We’re delving into the emotional connection between gut health and overall well being. I surprised myself, since I harp on about how important the emotional connection is on my cancer-healing path, by assuming our guts are isolated from our emotions. They’re not. It may sound kooky, a bit of a tenuous thread to link your gut and your emotions, so I’ve brought in an expert, naturopath and mum Alisha Forbes, to help us understand.

Today Alisha chats about:

How our gut + emotions are eerily, powerfully, intrinsically linked
Helping our brain = helping our gut
Her favorite natural + effective way to keep your connection open for gut healing + overall health

[Part 1 of 3] Digestion + our overall health: how and why I need to heal my gut ASAP

A lifetime of digestive issues, like bloating and tummy discomfort every time I ate or drank, led me to believe that having these symptoms all the time was normal. It isn’t. In fact, if your gut is out of balance too, chances are you may have other health issues that stemmed from it; think candida, allergies, arthritis, headaches, depression, autoimmune diseases and more [1]. I’d even go so far as to say that it contributed to the imbalance in my body that created cancer. The simple truth is that a healthy gut is crucial for immunity, and our overall mental and physical well being.

I’m excited to share with you another layer of my wellness path – it also illuminates the importance of making sure each individual system in your body is healthy, for healing to happen and for overall wellness.

In this 3-part series we’ll talk about the direct connection between our [amazing, intelligent] gut + our health, including:

Why I need to heal my gut ASAP [and why you might, too]
Gut healing foods + recipes + supplements
What I’m noticing after 6 weeks of dietary changes + supplements
Plus special guests!

The emotional link with naturopath Alisa Forbes
Kayleigh Jean from Picklebiotic on how she gives her digestion a break and a boost with a special one-day cleanse. No juice fasts here, though!

A hodge-podge update: castor oil, doing your heart’s work, eBook design + wellness workshops

It’s twenty to ten in the morning on my least favorite day of the week, castor oil day. I take castor oil internally as part of my many-layered natural healing routine, but I so dislike it that I grimace just thinking about chugging it earlier this morning. The upside, apart from helping my body detoxify, is that on castor oil days I allow myself the luxury of a morning in bed, partly because I’m usually nursing a mini hangover-like feeling as the castor oil works its way through my system, also because it’s a brilliant excuse to indulge my love of TV, reading and, especially, musing, in bed.

In between programs, nestled under a blanket, this morning I ponder the work I want to do in this world. With six months left of the Gerson Therapy, there’s been a need and desire to tease out where I’m going to be in the world after [heading back to New York], and how to do work I love: to craft ways that make being happier and healthier easier for you, in a way that fulfils me and explores my innate, unique gifts – just like you have your particular set of talents.

Because it can be new, lonely, confusing, scary to open your life up to change, even if the end result is more fullness.

Guidance, and hand and heart holding, is needed on the healing path.

This, I know.

The stories we tell about our symptoms [physical, emotional & spiritual]

There’s an element of healing – of life in general, our health and happiness – that isn’t often talked about. An immense obstacle that’s not often recognized, by doctor or patient. It’s where our deepest fears stem from, where our lack of trust nestles comfortably, and why we are disconnected from ourselves – so unknown to ourselves that we don’t see or ignore our symptoms, whether physical, emotional or spiritual [actually, they’re entwined], until they hit us over the head to get our attention.

This healing hinderer is the stories we’re told.

The stories that come from our parents, our friends, our culture, community, media, teachers, leaders. The stories we don’t know aren’t true, so, from a young age, we begin to tell them to ourselves. And we believe the words by living these limiting stories.

A few limiting stories & how they play out in real life:

Don’t be sad, don’t cry, it’s ok, don’t be weak, suck it up….

Emotional expression is scary. Essentially, “I can’t deal with my emotion – or yours, so shut yours down.”

My natural wellness favorites this week [April 18]: doing the work you love, nettle leaf for allergies, nurturing the soul of your family + more…

EACH WEEK I SHARE A ROUNDUP OF WELLNESS WISDOM, FROM REAL FOOD RECIPES AND WHOLE HEALTH TIPS, TO GUIDANCE ON NOURISHING MIND AND SPIRIT.

April 18 – loving the little things: A Tui bird warbling and clucking, the sound of home for me + 2 rows of brilliant green baby lettuce in the patio garden + Trying a Qi Gong class on Monday; gentle and powerful + Afternoon naps with Rupert – even if he does sleep all day anyway + Organic rhubarb leaves as big as an elephant’s ear… almost + Getting reflexology in a yurt + The beginning of feijoa season, hallelujah + Feeling centered… and not… but knowing what I need to do to re-center.

What are you loving today?

My natural wellness favorites this week:

+ Doing work you love is a part of nourished, whole living. Pat Flynn talks about doing work we love by taking advantage of our unique-to-us talents [yes, I guarantee you have your own set].

My natural wellness favorites this week: the head heart dialogue, chickpea + spring onion panzanella, the switch from raw vegan to omnivore, + more…

A weekly roundup of wellness wisdom, from real food recipes + whole health tips, to guidance on nourishing mind and spirit. April 11th note: I’m sitting on the patio, Rupert at my feet, writing in the gentle morning sun instead of going for my usual morning walk. I’m trying out a new routine, since adding [...]