By
Lois Nethery,
Acupuncturist and TCM Herbalist at Ocean Acupuncture, Curl CurlWelcome to
grass roots health!This is a place to find all kinds of information, tips, articles, recipes and news about healthy living.
Being "healthy" doesn't have to mean following a boring diet and a punishing exercise routine. Rather, it's about getting back to basics and looking after yourself with simple, do-it-yourself techniques.
In modern industrialised culture we're becoming further removed from the rhythm of the beautiful planet we live on. Most of us don't see where or how our food is produced, and for some of us a lot of the food we eat has been processed, altered, packaged and de-natured so that the vibrant chi-energy of the living food has long since departed and we are left with an empty material that fills the stomach but doesn't nourish the soul.
Our electrically-lit, insulated houses and workplaces keep us removed from the light and dark cycles of the day and from the longer cycles of the seasons. Our cars keep us removed from the concept of distance as well as separating us from the environments that we are passing through as we rush to where we're going.
Getting back to your own roots means applying small, simple changes to your daily routine to slowly start connecting you back with the world around you. Getting back to your roots also means connecting within, to that infinite space of abundant energy and contented joy that is your natural underlying state, your birth right.
And
grass roots health means empowering all of us, applying the wisdom of the ancient Asian sages - which is often not so different the wisdom of our great-Grandmothers!
There's nothing wrong with becoming informed about your own health - whether via the internet, magazines, books or from health practitioners. But in the end the magic comes from making a small change for yourself and then seeing how you feel... do you feel happier, lighter, more content, relaxed, at ease, joyful, enthusiastic? At least a little bit more than before? Well then it's probably working for you!! If a magazine tells you to do something, and you do it, and you feel terrible - then maybe it's not for you, even though it seems to be logical.
And a grass roots movement of people slowing down and connecting - connecting with themselves, with each other and with their surroundings - has got to be good for our society and good for the planet's future. We can't keep rushing around, getting exhausted and overstimulated, depleting our body's resources and robbing ourselves of vibrant health later in life. And collectively we can't keep gobbling up the Earth's resources as if they are magically self-replenishing, and digging bigger and bigger holes to hide the waste by-products of this frenzied binge. Enough is enough!
Just for today, let's all unplug and switch off and shut down those buzzing devices that make us imagine we're connected to the world - go on, turn it off! Cook a simple meal and invite someone to share it with you - friends, family, a neighbour, a colleague... Wake up at dawn and watch the sun rise... Go for a walk in the park and sit under a tree... How good does it feel?!?
For the baby boomers in the '60s it was "Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out". For the 21st century? Turn OFF (your mobile), Tune OUT (the TV), Drop IN to your natural, connected state of calm and joy!
