I have been a vegetarian for many years for all kinds of reasons: health, morality, energy, ecology, and on and on. I don’t think everyone should be a vegetarian, and I have never proselytized. I think everyone should follow their own body’s guidance toward food that works for them. I just know what works for me.

When Dee and I grew a family of dogs, we decided to feed them meat. That was a big decision for us, since we had never had meat in the house. But we love our “kids,” and we want them to be happy.  Why impose our diet on them? So we buy them canned dog food and cook meat for them.

You may be surprised to learn that your body has its own wisdom, which is separate and distinct from the wisdom of your mind.  The mind thinks, while the body feels. The body can give us feedback that’s different from the mind. We can learn to tap into and be informed by this wisdom, and use it to transform our lives and improve our health. Although the body is often dismissed as something less than the mind or soul, our body is a special, unique and valuable part of who we are.   

We can learn things from our bodies beyond what our minds can access. Antonio Damasio is an internationally recognized leader in neuroscience, and director of the USC Brain and Creativity Institute. He has done extensive research on the body’s ability to feel and process information. Mr. Damasio  discovered that “The mind is embodied, not just embrained.”  One of Damasio’s discoveries is how the feelings of the body influence rational thought without us even being aware of the process. 

Publisher's Description: Food allergy and intolerance is a massively important subject that can affect every one of us. Now that we all realise that we have a responsibility for our own health, it’s vital to learn simple ways that we can use to help ourselves, and increasingly people ask doctors how they can help themselves. Discovering and doing something about our food intolerances is a very positive thing we can do.

Gwynne Davies has done us all a great service, by painstaking observation, by development of a system of diagnosis and cure, and by helping thousands of people. Even better, he has chosen to share his findings with us, to help more of us to understand how we can be helped – and how we can help ourselves.

When I began to teach classes on spiritual principles, I devoted some time at the end of each class meeting to pray for students and their loved ones. One woman asked the group to pray for the continued health of her sister, who had had cancer, but the disease was now in remission. At that time I had not heard the term “in remission, so I asked her what it meant.

“It means that the disease went away for now, but it might come back,” she explained.

The explanation made no sense to me then, and it makes even less sense to me now. The idea is that the disease is here and real, a prevalent condition, but it has temporarily gone behind a curtain and may pop out again. The notion was jarring to me because my understanding is that health is our prevalent condition and our natural state. When a disease occurs, our health is temporarily in remission, and will return when the temporary condition of the disease has been alleviated.  

Coconut and Coconut Milk are the latest boutique "miracle cure," This one, however, seems to have some real science behind it. It has been found to give us a lot of health benefits including help with blood pressure, diabetes, and a lot more. And it is yummy, although many brands are tasteles so pick the good ones. Also use the unsweetened kind and add your own Stevia or Agave Nectar. I sometimes mix it with Almond milk. Really good.

This is a good video on the benefits of Coconut Milk.

author of Leaning Into Sharp Points:

 Practical Guidance and Nurturing Support for Caregivers

Stan Goldberg’s Lessons for the Living won the London Book Festival’s Grand Prize in 2009 and was featured in Best Buddhist Writing of 2010. A private therapist, clinical researcher, and former San Francisco State University professor, he lives in San Francisco. He was named Hospice Volunteer Association’s Volunteer of the Year 2009 and his website is www.StanGoldbergWriter.com.

What’s involved in caregiving?