105: HEALTH...WISE
THU 17 SEPT 12:00 - Mooning Monthly seeks confusion busting nutrition.....
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FORTNIGHTLY EMAIL MESSAGE HERE
Happy approaching Autumn Equinox dear friends The equinox is the mid point between summer and winter solstices. On the 22nd September the length of days and nights will find temporary equanimity before the lengthening hours of darkness dominate the balance of daylight for the next six months. Our Equinox New Moon sits in Virgo midweek and there are a couple of influential, astrological themes we would do well to acknowledge. The next couple of weeks are likely to be all about the physical body, with a testing Neptune opposition that might make us more prone to confusion and deception than usual. Virgo is an earth sign which reminds us to anchor (or earth) our well being in the body: our physical connection to the planet that supports us. Many wisdom traditions suggest that our bodies are the focal point (or vessels) for the consciousness which animates and determines our experience of life on Earth through perception. Our physical senses are key to that perception. They inform our mental and emotional responses to circumstance. A carefully nurtured body provides more reliable, 'healthy' information for the mind and emotions to process. Under this Virgo New Moon, specific attention given to our precious physicality could pay dividends. The more time we can spend engaged in a considered dialogue with the only body we've got, the greater the long term benefits. The body speaks to us continually: a constant stream of reported sensory information that, ill-advisedly, most of us ignore in our busy, busy lives. This is a great week to develop a more receptive internal 'ear' and act on the messages heard. Few people are blessed with perfect health of course. For those of us with ailments and health challenges this would be a great fortnight (covid permitting) to invest in time with doctors, dentists, opticians, health specialists and clinicians. Finances permitting, we would gain great benefit from cossetting ourselves with health promoting treatments, a massage, sauna or two. If Covid or purse restrictions intervene, persuade a friend or partner to give the massage in return for dinner, or a treat in kind...everyone ends up a winner! (Article - How to give your partner a massage like a professional) How nutritious is the stuff we are putting into our bodies? Is our food intake supporting our health or adding to the problems? Is it worth consulting a nutritionist or reading up on the latest thinking regarding gut and brain health? (Article - How your belly could heal your brain) Fellow Mooner, Rebecca Jones, is a fully qualified nutritionist affiliated and can be contacted through her website at www.inspiredwellbeing.org. Is now the time to finally commit to cooking with fresh organic produce at every opportunity? Not only would we be eating healthier food, lower in pollutants and toxins, we would be helping address the environmental issues surrounding intensive farming practices. Another win/win. (Article - science backed health benefits of eating organic). If there is one area of our diet in which we should always take the organic option, it's our dairy products. Dairy produce is right at the end of a multiplicity of food chains culminating in the concentration of all preceding toxins and chemicals. Pesticides and nitrates on non-organic pasture and processed (usually GMO) cattle feed; cattle growth hormones and antibiotics will find their way into our non-organic cheese, milk and yoghurt so the choice is ours. Organic dairy farming has a far better record for good animal welfare too. Win/win - kerchiing! How clean is the water we are drinking? Is now the time to finally invest in a decent water filter to make sure our hydration is as efficient and cleansing as it should be? It will also improve the taste of one's average cuppa no end. Let's keep those win/wins rollin'. (Article - best gravitational water filters) And what about the other stuff we are exposing our bodies to? How safe are the chemicals in our anti-perspirants, deodrants, toothpastes, shampoos, hair treatments and colours; house cleaning products and detergents? How toxic are our home and work environments and what can we do to improve the situation? (Article - Five ways to make your home less toxic) Chemical toxins can inhibit the natural messages the body transmits, causing confusion to some of our biological systems. In general terms, the fewer artificial chemical influences we are exposed to, the better. What other kinds of messages are we absorbing into our bodies from external sources? How healthy is the incessant flow of gender normative stereotypes of all those symmetrically bodied, 'successful' people enjoying overtly ordered, lavish life styles? Surely by now, we all understand that the Hollywood dream is a misogynistic, racist, artificial cultural construct and yet its seductive, consumerist, trickle down obsessions have taken full residence within the self administered, digital walls of our personal social media accounts. Through social media, we Increasingly present an artificial vision of ourselves to the world and wonder why we feel shit when the reality falls short of the one we project. The psychological damage to young people has already been well documented. (Article - social media effects on mental and physical health) Unless countered, the daily deluge of mass media negativity is another anxiety stick with which to beat ourselves. There is more to be gained in being open and aware of issues in our neighbourhood and immediate environment than extending any desire to discover new fears further afield. To feel helpless to change remote, problematic situations is to render ourselves impotent, frozen in the headlights of our depressing powerlessness. It's another quick route to inertia and self hatred. We are programmed by the programmers. If they are broadcasting poison we will be poisoned. Tune out from any message that provokes fear/anger/helplessness. Tune into the stuff closer to home that you can change, will change and that makes you feel good. Virgo is considered a sign of great wisdom. How we harness the influence of this Virgo New Moon will be a mark of our own wisdom but probably clearer evidence of the kindness and love we are willing to show ourselves. Do not be misled or misinformed. You are not just your body - you are so much more. However, the messages that the body receives and accepts will have a dominant influence on how we perceive ourselves and, as a consequence, our life experience. The grand plan would be to love ourselves knowing that, in essence, we are perfect .....and BECAUSE, not despite of our imperfections. Life is a perfect bag of paradoxical, mysterious unknowns and challenging contradictions that is reflected in our own being. We are not separate from life. We are Life. To distrust or hate life's wonky reality (however challenging) is futile and equates with distrust or hate for the Self. Life is not perfectly symmetrical with a chiselled jawline. It does not have an hourglass figure that never burps or farts but is, nonetheless, immeasurably beautiful. Maybe it is about time for us to love what exists, value and care for it as it is, and gratefully enjoy it.
I know you'd like to think your shit don't stink But lean a little bit closer See roses really smell like poo-poo-oo eah, roses really smell like poo-poo-oo 'Roses' - OUTKAST 2004 from the seminal album "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below" (Spotify Link) With that aromatic thought in mind, here are a few do's and dont's to help enlist the wisdom of this earthy Virgo New Moon in transcending the deafening confusion of human deception toward a world of love and wellbeing for All. DO eat green, eat clean, eat less. Acknowledge that the marginally higher costs of fresh organic produce are an invaluable investment in your own health and that of the wider environment. If you're going to commit to organic in one area of your diet make sure it's the dairy option. Get yourselves a gravity water filter. Any stainless steel reservoir will do but we opt for the 'Berkey black filters' available as a separate purchase - simply a brilliant product and we wish we were on a commission! DON'T eat that sugary shit. I know the suggestion is to listen to our bodies but we need to differentiate between needs and cravings for instant gratification. Sugar addictions can be very noisy particularly mid afternoon when the blood sugar levels dip and you can smell chocolate biscuits half a mile away. Give your pancreas a break, go processed sugar and sweetener free for the next fortnight.....and then beyond if you can. DO take a look in the mirror. Acknowledge what an absolute miracle you are: rolls of fat, bandy legs, balding pate, strange toes, wonky noses and all. You're gawwwwgeous! Someone will always love you if you let them, however unloveable you think you are. Love transforms our lives as soon as we find the courage to love ourselves - warts and all. As we never tire of saying in these columns, self-love is the greatest, most passionate love affair we can ever have, so get with yourself now! DON'T ever judge yourself in negative terms. These will be external value constructs that you had little choice in creating. They are ficticious and malicious, designed specifically for self harm. You are perfect as you are. End of.
DO get a check up. Listen in to the bones, belly and sinew. Where are the points of restriction, tension and pain. Get them checked out by a seasoned professional. Listen to their advice but make your own, intuitively informed decisions about the action you then take. DON'T place your entire physical well being in someone else's hands unless that's a conscious decision. You know your body better than anyone else and you should listen to what it tells you with great attentiveness....particularly while receiving a course of medical treatment. DO open your windows. The Covid second wave appears to be arriving with our autumnal move indoors. Let's open the windows and doors even as the temperatures plummet. Instead of whacking the heating on and up, let's wrap up in layers of natural fibre clothing (our imperishable plastic pants and pullovers should be phased out of the wardrobe with some environmental urgency) and breathe fresh air throughout the winter months. Apparently fresh air, inside and outdoors, boosts the immune system and helps prevent socially spread ailments. (Charming article - value of playing in fresh air)
DON'T meet in groups of more than six.....unless you're at a pub, restaurant, shopping mall or somewhere with a cash register. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Give us strength.....(appllicable for UK households only) DO switch off the news apps and outlets. It's a stale, repetitive, largely fictitious drama undeserving of the importance we accord it. Sign out from the social media platforms for a fortnight - just to prove you still can! DON'T contribute to or endorse other people's negative narratives. Do not engage with others about the state of the nation, the corruption/incompetence of politicians/lovers/colleagues or issues of malcontent. The process simply reinforces the misery and changes nothing. If you feel the symptoms of a personal whinge arising (a clear example in the previous paragraphs) you can rest assured you'll be ill informed, so stop taking yourself too seriously, resist the comforting arrogance of being 'right' and find a way to swiftly redirect your thoughts, words and actions to something positive. In a holy instant the world changes for the better. Believe. Don't let money change ya! Laaaaah, di-dah, da-da-dee-dah Lah-di-dah, da-da-dee-dah Laaaaah, di-dah, da-da-dee-dah Lah-di-dah, da-da-dee-dah Laaaaah, di-dah, da-da-dee-dah Lah-di-dah, da-da-dee-dah Laaaaah, di-dah, da-da-dee-dah Lah-di-dah, da-da-dee-dah Don't let money change ya! Laaaaah, di-dah, da-da-dee-dah Lah-di-dah, da-da-dee-dah Laaaaah, di-dah, da-da-dee-dah Lah-di-dah, da-da-dee-dah Don't let money change ya! Laaaaah, di-dah, da-da-dee-dah Lah-di-dah, da-da-dee-dah Laaaaah, di-dah, da-da-dee-dah Lah-di-dah, da-da-dee-dah Don't let money change ya! Laaaaah, di-dah, da-da-dee-dah Lah-di-dah, da-da-dee-dah "Deception" - BLACKALICIOUS 1999 from the genius Album "Nia" (Spotify link) We hope you continue to enjoy these missives, unreliably composed from dubious source material, exclusively delivered every fortnight to members of our expanding international Mooning Monthly community. Please encourage friends of a similarly Moonish persuasion to subscribe for free so that we can share the lunar bounty, all of which can occasionally be found uploaded to the website www.mooningmonthly.com. We salute you.
With Love 'til next time.
BLACKALICIOUS - The Sounds of Hope (Article April 2020)