Cannabis

I've been reading about the healing power of the ancient and much maligned plant, cannabis. Cannabis should be considered sacred. Plant kingdom royalty. I've procured a tiny bit of some high grade THC oil. The oil is a potent healing agent. Today is the first day of continuous doses, three, half grain of rice sized oil sub lingual, three times a day. After four days the dose is doubled, and continually increased dosages until one gram is consumed in approximately 30 days.

I feel way more bodily sensitive. I'm aware. Feel almost on another plane. My body is super relaxed, when I feel like sleeping I do. It's very odd being this high and healing. I'm stoned. But I am tuned into all the healing the oil may be up to, there is nowhere in my body that will not benefit.

I already feel some reduction in the inflamed feeling in my chest, and an opening up. This new dilation of arteries and blood vessels improves my hypertension. Still coughing, but I think this will subside shortly. Still wake up at night, but think the oil will rectify this too. I'm very optimistic.

I thought I might feel a bit like McMurphy in "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest." I liked the image, but I didn't want to feel contained or crazy. I want to be the monk. The monk learning to free body and mind.

Self Mastery

Noon at Wilson Creek Beach. The ocean breezes have ended the temperature breaking heat wave. Glorious spring and summer, the best I've ever experienced. A perfect day. A good time to reflect. I was reading my journal about my efforts at cleansing and rejuvenation and yet here I sit facing the sun coughing up blood riddled, thick mucous.

I do have a disease where this is expected and perfectly natural for most, it's in the cards. But I have knowledge and a method that can partially eliminate my symptoms and elevate my state of well being. But for some reason known only to God's best friend, I am not applying the method. Partially because my breathing is out of control, but a short fast can tame that beast.

I know I'm not the only one on earth guilty of this. People constantly fantasize about being slim and fit if only they could stick to their diet and exercise. But the weight keeps piling on. Men and women all over the world addicted to nicotine try over and over to break their habit. Multitudes of people with good intentions fail in their efforts.

But this is my life and my life depends on change.

I was privileged to witness Daniel Northcott's stubborn battle with a rare form of incurable blood cancer. Family and friends rallied around and they tried a stream of alternative treatments. He died in the arms of his mother and sister. At Daniel's request his body was put on ice and he remained with his family for three days. The reason for this is to allow the etherical dimension to separate from the elemental or physical body. This is an esoteric practice that Daniel was aware of and his family honored his wishes. He also wanted his body to be wrapped in a shroud and buried in the ground near a forest. He was laid in an earthen grave sans coffin on Vancouver Island. The first man to receive a green burial in Canada's history.

Legendary photographer Bruce Webber beautifully captured the life and vitality of Heath Ledger. Two years after the photo was taken he too would be dead. Daniel and Heath were around the same age and I'm sure they would both do whatever it took to stay on this side of the dirt. I'm 62 and still on the living side of the dirt. And I'm beginning to understand why I fast and cleanse, then go back to my old ways.

Old habits die hard. Over indulging in good wine and rich food is a hard habit to kill. It's so sensuous to drink vino and devour a meal of tender meat and trimmings. Been doing it since I was a cave man, except in those days I worked my ass off for the meat and couldn't yet find grapes to ferment. So, I continue to flip from health nut to gourmet glutton. Why? Because I have not learned the high art of self mastery. I googled and found this: "Self mastery is the ability to make the most out of your physical, mental, and spiritual health. To be the best you can be."

Two words come to mind with mastery - discipline and control. If I wasn't in the latter stages of a progressive incurable disease I'd probably eat and drink my way to death's door. And that still is an option. But I've decided to learn some control and discipline over my habits and see if self mastery can improve my health.

I've learned over the years that quick turns in the road of life don't necessarily mean you stay on the road. So I'm taking a slow turn, not dashing into a water fast, but a gentler change that I can stick to. I'm eating only raw vegetables and fruits with some nuts. I still have the odd glass of wine, but only occasionally and never more than two.

I can feel some very subtle changes in the last few days, mucous seems to be less thick and not so dark with blood, cough is still present, but not as severe and my breathing at night is not as labored. I'm supplementing with hemp oil, CoQ10, Vitamin D, circumin and liquid magnesium with calcium. I'll cruise at this speed for awhile, then embark on a juice and water fast.

When my body eases I'll initiate the Buteyko breathing method and that is where the real elevation will begin. Stay tuned.

Power Hungry Cops

My train of thought about cops and power continues. A young cop in Vancouver went to the bar with two cop buddies and drank himself into oblivion. The intoxicated bully stumbles upon a gentleman delivering morning papers at 2 AM. For no reason he knees him in the gut and beats him. The man asks why he's being beaten and the off duty cop says, "Because you're under arrest." He wasn't under arrest. But the cop's statement implies that if he was he assumed the right to beat the shit of the poor guy.

The cop forces the innocent man to the pavement, put his boot on his back and calls his cop buddies at the bar for "backup." The other cops arrive. By now witnesses have gathered. Newly arrived cop yells at the man on the pavement, "Stay down or I will kill you!" Kill the guy for delivering newspapers. This cop is also off his rocker.

In court cop testifies that he has no recollection of the beating. How convenient. The cop was sentenced to 21 days house arrest and six months probation. The judge called him 'an upstanding young man.' How the fuck does he deserve the praise of 'upstanding?' The guy is a power hungry bully. He should have done time with some inmates who don't think so highly of cops. That would have been Solomon justice. The only reason this bullying and beating made it to court is because there were witnesses. Other wise the cops would had their way and relished the abuse of the power they crave. Similar scenes play out like this everywhere there are macho policemen drunk on power.

The Wise President And The Stupid Cop

The news of the last few days has been over flowing with the story of the cop, the professor and the president. I won't belabor the details, suffice it to say that in order to smooth the nation's ruffles the President invites a cop and the man he arrested to the White House for a cold beer.

My impression is the cop is an asshole. An ungrateful asshole to boot as he never mentions the honor that's been bestowed upon him. Cop arrests the professor in his own home for being exhausted and pissed off. Cop should have left the premises, end of story, no big news. But no, in a show of power he arrests the professor, who unbeknownst to the flat foot is a friend of the President's. At a press conference the President uses the word "stupidly" to describe the cop's actions. I agree with the President - the word suffices. But America being as polarized as it is, the story explodes on to the front pages, all corners of the Internet and every TV.

Two things stick out for me which are not being covered.

Number one. The cop arrested the professor because he is able to, he has the power. Cops enjoy wielding power. Thirty years ago I broke my arm. I had my arm in a sling under my jacket. A squad car pulls up and a cop asks me what's under my jacket. I show him my broken arm. He starts asking me a myriad of questions, I answer politely. I tell the cop it's my understanding that unless I'm being arrested I don't have to endure the interrogation. He gets out of the car, puts his nose in my face and says, "Would you like me to break your other arm!"

Cops use their power in excess constantly. That's the story. Or as Bill Maer said, this is about cops wanting John Q. Public to kiss their ass.

Number two. The media is a giant way out of control. Forty years ago the President of the United States may have used the word "stupidly" and the world wouldn't know or care a less about it. Not in our insane culture of 24/7 news. Case in point, Michael Jackson's personal cook was on the Larry King Show last night, she mentioned in passing that she now has a publicist.

Barack Obama has a lot on his plate. Our world is in a hell of a mess. Does he really need to have a beer with a disgruntled cop? Leave this man alone so he can preside, priority by priority. Because there's no one better on this planet for the job than Barack H. Obama.

A Leading Roll

I'm writing these posts for a few reasons.  Number one I like to write.  Number two they motivate me to stick to the program.  Number three, I hope I can inspire and offer hope to others who have COPD.  

I'm not writing to complain about my condition, to bitch and moan.  I writing and I'm rooting for the leading player in my life - ME.  I hope there will be a plot twist in the next few months.  I hope that by pushing different physical limits that the hero in this story will prevail, break some new ground, become stronger, and live with renewed vitality and vigor.  

In three paragraphs I've written the word 'hope' five times.  Without hope life can be damn depressing.   

Now For Something Completely Different

We humans are all creatures of habit.  We get into a pattern.  Our daily lives follow much the same form.  Rise roughly the same time every day, do our bathroom ritual, whatever private details that may include, in probably much the same order day after day.  Commute to work.  Starbucks.  Work.  Commute home.  Cocktails. Dinner.  Read.  Work.  Watch TV.  Bathroom routine.   Bed.  Make love with the spouse or lover - or not.  Sleep.  Dream.  Rise several hours later and do it all over again.  This is if you're lucky enough to be working and you're not mindless and living on the street.  Then your pattern is much closer to the pavement and  it's bare bones survival. 

If you're trying to break a habit, like quitting smoking, the resolve must be there, and it's easier if you break the life pattern too.  If you get up in the morning,  do the bathroom ritual, with a pack of cigarettes smiling at you next to the sink, or sit down to your usual breakfast, sipping the coffee and nearing the time you'd usually light up a smoke, chances are you probably will grab one, because the strong resolve you had last night has vanished this morning amidst your normal daily pattern.  

But, if you get up and immediately go to the gym without the coffee and breakfast pattern, you're out of your normal mode.  Your body reacts differently and your mind is occupied with other activities other than inhaling nicotine.  Now, if you can continue to break your daily pattern until sleep, you may just be on the path to finally becoming a non smoker.

So too in dealing with COPD.  Or perhaps better said, coping with COPD.  COPE with COPD. You have to break your pattern.  If you live your life like you always have, your breathless meanderings, from breakfast to lunch to dinner to bed, the disease will progress and eventually you will be dragging an oxygen tank around with you.  

I'm a classic example - A prime rib roast and garlic 'n butter mashed potatoes loving guy with a penchant for chilled buttery tasting Chardonnays stuck in a pattern.  The deeper I get into the pattern the worst my breathing becomes and  more disability is established.  A few years ago my meanderings were bearable and doable, I could get around, even tromped all over Moscow one winter.  But now, even getting around the house is a difficult journey.  As promised by Western medicine, my disease has progressed.  So, I can either accept the progression and wait for the inevitable, or I can change my pattern and halt the onslaught.  

I'm resisting the terminology "fighting for my life."  Or "battling the disease."   Sounds like a CNN broadcaster, "fighting the insurgency," winning the "war on terror."  I prefer the mind set or the disposition of intelligent inner healing.  Utilizing a new strategy on time, space, sound, and new action to bring about the desired result of better bodily functioning.  

http://www.imeem.com/groups/ov_dajXb/music/Z1UpiMFq/deva-premal-moola-mantra-incantation/

Step 1.  Eat very lightly for a couple of days, no meat, just maybe rice and some lightly steamed vegetable, lots of water.

Step 2.  Do a cleanse.  I chose the Wild Rose 12 day cleanse. This will clean out any toxins in the system and empty the upper and lower intestine.   

Step 3.  Simultaneously with the cleanse I'm drinking only herbal teas, diluted fruit juice, and broths.  That will give my body a rest from ingesting, digesting, and eliminating food, all of which takes over 60% of the body's energy.  Now the body is relieved of this normal daily function, it can turn it's wisdom to healing.   Step 4.  Begin to practice the Buteyko breathing method.  Google Dr. Buteyko.   Better yet work with a knowledgeable seasoned practitioner. 

I highly recommend Christopher Drake.  His practice is in Thailand, but he works beautifully on Skype.  It's like you're in the same room and is wisdom on breathing and physiology is, dare I say, breathtaking.  http://cpdrake.googlepages.com/christopherp.drake 

Very subtle changes are already beginning to occur.  A few days ago my feet and ankles were swollen, today they're not.  Why?  I'm not sure, less work for the liver and digestive system creates more blood flow to my extremities?  Could be.  Whatever the reason, I'm grateful.  

If we rate my morning cough on a scale of one to ten, the last few weeks have been ten, today it was seven and one half.   I still have lots of mucous, my energy is still low, but there are some positive changes that in all likelihood would not have happened had I still been in my meat and potatoes, Chardonnay rhythm.

So, the body is weak but the spirit is willing.  I used to say to my doctors as long as I can walk and make love I'll be fine.  Well... walking around ain't great, and if it wasn't for the nitric oxide opening up my blood vessels and capillaries I'd be hooped. 

Thank God for Dr. Konstantin Buteyko and Mr. Pfeizer, I'm still in the game.  Ernest Hemingway killed himself when he couldn't write or make love any more.  I think the famous blue pill would have saved him.  

I love the image in this post.  The guy looks tormented.  I image he used to be able to run like a friggin' horse, but now with his COPD he can barely walk.  Poor bastard.  I can relate.  

First The Bad News

I lost all the benefit I gained from the 28 day fast by going back to my old ways.  Steaks and wine in abundance do not work in this old body.  A heavy diet puts too much strain on my weakened system resulting in havoc and over breathing.  I last posted a month ago and it feels like I'm living in a different world.  

Returned to that dreaded place - breathless upon exertion.  And I’m waking up to the morning cough and holding in my intestines so the dam doesn’t burst again causing another hernia.  Must end this horrid morning ritual.  I’m eating only baby food today and tomorrow with lots of water.  Still having my morning coffee for its laxative value.  One bowel movement today. 

I have tons of clay-like mucous in my lungs.  I’m convinced once this is eliminated my cough will stop. 

Sunday May 11, day three I’ll begin diluted fruit juice and the Wild Rose cleanse.  I’ve been preaching the life style change now it’s time to take my own medicine and walk the walk.  I’m plenty good at the talk - now it’s time to take action.

Speaking of walking I want to wander the streets of Rome this fall, or St. Petersburg, some foreign city reeking with history.  I want to be able to stroll around effortlessly.

My Lindy Lou was in Paris for her 60th birthday.  Now that's the way to celebrate!  She emailed me and said she must have walked 100 miles one day. I thought how wonderful.  I want to do that.  

I couldn’t travel in the state I’m in.  So, this summer I must get my body into the physical condition where I can.  I just want the simple pleasure of walking.

I lay on the slant board for a while and expelled some mucous, had a dull pain in my chest, which seemed to be pressure from my breastbone, as it was alleviated when I stretched my arms over my head. 

Continued soreness and sensitivity near my hernia scar.  A few days ago it seemed another eruption might happen on the other side of my groin.   All this is caused by pressure from the coughing fit.  My first priority is to eliminate the cough.

As bad as I feel, I sometimes think these could be the good old days.  With my body starving for oxygen I’m ripe for cancer or a stroke.    I have three conditions to rectify or improve upon, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, COPD.  PAH Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension and tachycardia.   Whew!

My body is out of balance.  Back to the basics, water, oxygen, sunshine and movement. 

I’m drinking lots of water.  I’m hydrating which I normally neglect.  Monday day four I’ll begin my Buteyko breathing practice.  I’m going to stretch my body and I’m looking for a rebounder.  Jump for joy!   When my breathlessness eases up I’ll begin walking.  Spring is in the air.  I’m so looking forward to sitting in the sunshine. 

I feel a bit like I’m training for an athletic event.  And much of sporting performance is mental.  So I’m trying to get my head into the game.  Stay tuned.

 

 

Life's Journey Make It A Good Ride

Life's a journey it may as well be in a good ride.  Healthy people take the ride for granted and it's only when the "apparatus" begins to fail that the illusion ends. 

I'm meeting a young man tomorrow who no longer takes anything for granted. Daniel Northcott had the world by the tail.  He roamed the planet for 10 years and recorded over 1,000 hours of his adventures on video.  All he had to do was assemble his movie.   He became ill in Taiwan and returned home.  His mother didn't recognize him at the airport so ravaged was he by the disease. He was diagnosed with a very rare form of blood cancer.  

The prognosis - six months to live.  

Mom always told him how lucky he was to have his health.  And he realizes now how he took his health for granted.  His mission is to restore his health by whatever means.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?=J8MZ6ylA8lY

I too am trying to restore my health so I feel as though I am meeting a brother.  I feel karma and kinship.  I want to see him thrive physically and creatively.  I want to witness his miracle.  

I admire the strength and courage of my fellow human being.  And I want to be there for him.  I feel it in my heart.  His song is my song.  

Day 29 - Human Anatomy Houses Your Spirit

Seconds after the moment of conception we are a cluster of 100 trillion cells, more than there are stars in the Milky Way.  Each cell completes six trillion tasks a second and knows what all the other cells are doing.   That is just frigging amazing!  

I ended my juice and broth fast several days ago.  Solid food, what a heavenly treat.  First meal - I steamed some broccoli and carrots, I garnished them with a bit of creamery butter, a dash of sea salt and ground black pepper.  It was delicious and all 100 trillion cells rejoiced and enjoyed the feast. 

What did my fast accomplish?  I'm certainly not cured of COPD, but I feel a hell of a lot better than I did last month.  The breathlessness has decreased substantially, I have more energy, and there is a new sense of ease in my body.  My morning cough returned surprisingly a couple of days ago.  This was the disease letting me know that it still exists.  Nice try buddy, but I'm still here, can't get rid of me that easily.  

Now my objective is to follow a healthier diet and lifestyle than I did prior to the fast, so as not to diminish the gains I've accomplished.  My diet will be lighter, with more fresh fruit and vegetables.  I will eat only good organic cuts of meat, but not on a daily basis.  Daily walks in the forest or by the ocean.

Oxygen is the primary food, and I will partake by daily practice of the Buteyko Method.  In May I'll begin new sessions with the world's most talented Buteyko Practitioner, Christopher Drake http://cpdrake.googlepages.com/christopherp.drake

Now more than ever I believe the great teacher Rudolph Steiner's proclamation, "For this is a great secret: all the healing forces reside originally in the human breathing system."   During the summer I'll do another juice fast, this time I'll have hot weather as support.  Being empty and sitting in the sun with a glass of water in your hand is a glorious feeling.  

For those suffering with COPD the key is to try and not let the body be overwhelmed by the disease.  And that's exactly what will happen if you do nothing yourself to stop its progression.  

There are many stages of the disease, and this must be considered when planning your own treatment.  The earlier stages are best suited for self-treatment, but even severe stages can be improved upon.  Keep the blood clean and thin. Maintain the blood's "highways" and keep them dilated.  Be vigilant of your breath. Cultivate the habit of good breathing by learning and practicing the Buteyko Breathing Method.  Economize sleep.  Sit in the sunshine.  Enjoy the marvels of life.  Feel LOVE - receive it and radiate it.   

Day 21 - Matters Of The Heart

I haven't written a post for five days.  I hurt and may have lost someone I love dearly.   Now the fast isn't as important as matters of the heart.  I'm feeling rather miserable emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.  I feel I've destroyed something beautiful and precious.  And I've created two heartaches; hers and mine.    

Physically my COPD symptoms have improved.  I had a root canal and was able to lie on my back with my feet raised and mouth forced wide open for over two hours.  That would have been an impossible feat for me a month ago.  My blood pressure is down to 125/75.

I'm going to ratchet up my Buteyko practice, pushing my maximum pauses further.  I'm hoping the increased carbon dioxide and nitric oxide will help heal my broken heart.

I feel like eating a medium rare steak and drinking one too many martinis.  That's a sure way of dulling this pain.  To see love and laughter in her eyes again would too.  

http://www.remedialbreathing.com/breath_hold_test

 

Day 16 - Monk Feelings And Pavlov's Dog

A fast separates the self from normal daily living.  The rhythm is broken. No buying food.  No preparing food.  No eating food.  No digesting food.  No eliminating food.  I feel isolated.   We spend our entire lives eating.  Stopping that puts a different slant on just about everything.

It's a new world that is void of food.  Emotions roll and boil.  I can feel my heart beat easier. I can feel me better.  There is no food but plenty of reflection.

I hear some distant spiritual bells, they sound familiar, but seemingly from a past life.  I feel monk-like.  My physical being is slowly changing.  I feel my lower intestines empty.  Although I still made a trip to the outhouse.   I'll get a colonic in a day or two.  My stomach is definitely empty.  I'd like to empty my mind too, get rid of the constant chatter and wandering, but that continues.  It stills somewhat when I do my breathing work.  I have a Pavlov's dog experiment underway.  When I sit down to do my breathing I ring a small brass bell.  I alert my brain and body that it is time to shift gears.  Breathing will now be controlled.  Breathing will now become the centre of awareness.  Breath will begin its healing power.  

I feel stronger.  I'm not always happy, who is?   I move around quite effortlessly in the house,  joyous walking is no longer a forgotten woe.  My senses seems to be more acute.  My skin is smoother, tighter around the eyes.  I'm more at ease.  I can lie on my back and relax.  That seems like such a normal thing to be able to do, but a few weeks ago that relax-on-the-beach-feeling was not available to me.  My body is enjoying its new state of being.  I am too.

Day 15 - Planet In Peril

We know about global warming and the potential catastrophe we're heading towards.  Prince Charles said in a recent speech that we have 100 months to turn the calamity around, or the human race may exist on a very hostile, inhospitable planet that eventually may not be fit for human life.  Welcome to planet Earth.  

Al Gore has been chanting the mantra for a long time.  Most scientists agree that the climate changes are accelerating faster than first estimated. 

Potentially the greatest crisis facing mankind has virtually vanished from all the major news outlets.  The news is dominated by the economy.  Market bailouts, stimulus packages, propping up the banks, trillions of dollars from China, get credit flowing, Bernie Madoff generates the greatest Ponzi scam in world history swindling movie moguls and charities, GM, the largest automobile company in the world is on its knees, gasping for air, greed, arrogance, and the almighty dollar seem to make the world go 'round.   Soon there may not be a world to do business in, but nobody seems to care.  

People with COPD are like a planet in peril. Sea water is remarkably similar to blood.  In the early 1900s experiments were run on a dog.  All the dog's blood was drained and replaced with a filtered sea water solution. On the second day after the transfusion, half the dog's normal blood components had returned, regenerated by its body.  By the fourth day its blood was back to virtually normal and the dog was active, full of energy and happy.  It lived for many years with no adverse effects.  

Global warming depicts carbon dioxide as the evil gas. Yandell Hederson, Ph.D studied the gas and wrote this in a paper he wrote,  "Carbon dioxide is, in fact, a more fundamental component of living matter than is oxygen."   The entire text is here and is required reading for those interested in the condition of COPD and how the lack of carbon dioxide plays a roll. http://cpdrake.googlepages.com/carbondioxide

Our own little COPD plagued planets are in peril.  What to do?  Trees are the lungs of the world. Our lungs need some help too.  Cleanse the body, like I'm documenting.  Increase your carbon dioxide levels by practicing the Buteyko Breathing Method and get much needed oxygen to your 100 trillion cells.  Eat a light nutritious diet heavy with fresh fruit and vegetables.  Drink water whenever your thirsty.  Use a slant board to get the blood flowing to the brain.  Find a power plate and use it to stimulate your organs and glands. 

Keep optimistic, don't believe that COPD is incurable.  Your body has innate healing properties, just give it the support it needs.  Be grateful for all the good in your life. Breathe less, talk less, sleep less, love more.   

Day 14 - Buteyko Nose Best

One of the first things we learn when studying the Buteyko Method is to breathe through our nose at all times, the inhale, exhale, all night and all day.  The nose warms and filters the air before it enters the lungs.  

I attended a COPD symposium last month, there was a panel of three physicians specializing in lung care.  I was amazed at their ignorance.   A question was asked, "Should we breathe through our noses or mouth?"  The answer was  - it doesn't matter whether you breathe through your nose or mouth, it's a personal preference.  He totally mislead the 300 people in the audience.  The incorrect answer verified the lack of knowledge regarding the process of breathing in the field of medicine. 

Taping the mouth closed during sleep is such a simple and beautifully effective and ingenius method.   Breathing is one the simpilest yet complex functions of the body.  It's totally taken for granted until  one can't breathe well.  The British Columbia Lung Association has a slogan, WHEN YOU CAN'T BREATHE NOTHING ELSE MATTERS.  God, that's true, but I think you have to experience this to believe it.  

When one is healthy very little attention is paid to the breath, it's all but ignored.  

The nose is our most sensitive organ, enabling us to distinguish between more than 10,000 complex odors.  We do not seem to put this ability to any significant use.  Science now believes that smell play a factor in creating unconscious bonds between people.  Experiments reveal that babies can distinguish between their mothers and strangers at the age of six days using their sense of smell.  

So, my fasting journey continues.  I still feel strong, experiencing less symptoms than 2 weeks ago.  I'm not breathless all the time, but certainly can become so if I don't conserve my energy.  I'm less breathless, that's for sure.  My cough has all but disappeared, but there is still mucous being produced in my lungs.  The only way it's expelled now is when I'm on the slant board.   The mucous has a light green/yellow colour and sticky.  I'm hoping the mucous production will cease before I finish the fast. 

Post script.  I went to the "outhouse" again today.  A healthy deposit which continues to surprise me.   

Day 13 - Mirror MIrror On The Wall

Can you imagine a bathroom without a mirror?  We all spend time gazing at our selves in the mirror, looking at our imperfections and studying what the ravages of time is doing to our bodies.  If you really want to check your face out, get a mirror that has the power of 5X or 10X.  Pores and nose hairs you never knew existed leap out into plain magnified view.  YIKES!   Imperfections illuminated. 

During a long juice fast changes take place inside the body and out.  I've lost weight, not sure how much yet, don't plan to step on the scales until day 28.  As the fast progresses, the tongue is a good indicator of the cleansing process.  First it gets a rather heavy fuzzy coating, then that slowly begins to clear.  Mine seems to be clearing from the sides and working inward.  

The eyes too are a good indicator.  The whites should become whiter, that sounds like a Tide detergent ad.  Today my eyes are a bit bloodshot.   Hair should become shiny.  My hair is staying in the skull.  The morning brushing used to result in lots of hair in the brush and sink, now there's maybe three, sometimes none.  

I'm still emptying my colon too, went twice today.  Some evenings I'll have warm organic vegetable broth, with maybe a blended tomato added, half teaspoon curcumin, and crushed garlic.  This may be what's creating the bowel movements, or I could be still eliminating old waste.  I'm not sure, but it feels good to elimiinate to complete the law of reception and release. 

My overall physical state feels stronger than when I began.  Two weeks to go.  I look forward to the end of the juice fast path and to see how my organism reacts.  I think being proactive is the only way to combat COPD.  If you just do nothing the progression of the disease will overwhelm the body and kill it.  

Western medicine tells us that we have an incurable disease.  I so want to believe this statement and prove them wrong:  "For this is a great secret: all the healing forces reside originally in the human breathing system.  And anyone who truly understands the whole dimension of the breath know the healing forces from the human side.  They do not reside in the other systems of the human organism, these other systems have themselves to be healed.  A secret of activity of healing resides in the breathing system, and all the secrets of healing are at the same time secrets of breathing."  Rudolph Steiner. 

I am so grateful for the genius of Dr. Konstantin Buteyko for giving us the breathing exercise required for the task of healing.   

  

Day 12 - Famous Blue Pill

Viagra is one of the most famous drugs in the world, verifying forever that sex sells.  Pfizer, the gigantic pharmaceutical company that makes Viagra is researching drugs for COPD.   

Sildenafil was originally tested as a heart drug.  Always thought the drug study would make a great movie, nice mix of tragedy and raunchy comedy.  

The pitch.  A bunch of older guys with bum hearts are recruited to try out a new drug.  The head physician tells them the purpose of the study and gives them some pills to take home.  Buddy pops a tablet just before dinner.  Later he gazes over at his wife who's making gravy for the roast beef in the oven.  Is it her short dress?  The way she's bending over?  Her skin?  Her legs?  The nape of her neck?  Whatever it is, he's got a ranging hard on and wants to screw her NOW!  Due to his impotence they haven't had intercourse in years, so his advances surprise his lovely wife.  Surprise and thrill her, and quickly they are getting it on like teenagers on the kitchen table, gravy burning on the stove!   Similar stories happen to three other guys and they all become fast friends.  

Hope you haven't heard this joke.  An attractive woman goes to her doctor.  In tears she tells him about her husband's erectile dysfunction and how they haven't made love forever.  He gives her a sample package Viagra.   The woman is doubtful, explaining that her husband doesn't take any drugs, he won't even do an Aspirin.   The doctor instructs her to grind 50 milligrams of Viagra up and secretly put it in his coffee.  

She returns a few days later, more distressed than ever.  What happened?  "I did exactly what you told me to do, one morning I put the powdered Viagra in his coffee.  Pretty soon he got this wild look in his eye.  AND a huge bulge in his pants.  He grabbed me, lifted my dress, ripped my panties off, and took me right there on the floor.  It was absolutely amazing, we'd never had sex that good."  Then why are you so unhappy, asked the doctor?   "We can never go back to our favorite Starbucks again!" 

OK, enough humor, let's return to the serious stuff.  

I use Viagra.  Maybe that's not so serious.  Anyway when I take Viagra I feel really good, and it's not jut the wine, women and song that may be happening.  I breathe better.  I feel less pressure in my chest and I have more energy, and the physical ability to do things.  I feel more at ease and I'm sure it's the result of cappilaries opening up in my heart and lungs.

An erection occurs when blood flows freely to the genitals, and that invigorated blood flow happens all through the body.  I know they have done test trials using Viagra to treat people with COPD.  Viagra works by influencing the nitric oxide molecule which expands blood vessels.  Now here's the GOOD NEWS.  When doing Buteyko breathing, nitric oxide is produced abundantly in the para nasal sinuses. 

Just recently I began to read the works of Rudolph Steiner.  His quote says it all, "For this is a great secret: all the healing forces reside originally in the human breathing system." 

So today I am even more invigorated to deepen my Buteyko Breathing practice. There is no alternative.  And a treatment that involves sitting quietly in a relaxed manner and breathing gently can become most enjoyable. 

Day 11 - Love In A Big White House

As soon as Barack Obama announced his candidacy for President of The United States, I was damn sure he would win.  He just had that destiny vibe about him.  When he spoke in Grant Park after the victory, I wept all through his masterful speech.  When I woke up the next morning I felt as though I was living in a new world.  A better world, the future looked astonishingly bright!  I still feel that way.  

His Presidency in part has inspired this fast.  I want to be well and vigorous to see what this guy can do.  I plan to be around for both terms of office.  My kids and grand kids will be almost a decade older, and because of Barack Obama I think they'll live in a better world, we all will.  

He's in such a good space.  It radiates from his face, he walks with grace and composure, and he speaks so eloquently.  Bill Clinton was a great orator, but Barack Obama has taken the art of Presidential speaking to a higher level.  To say he inspires is an understatement.

What makes him so wonderful is he is an exquisite human being.  He's soulful.  He's brilliant.  He's artistic. He's beautiful.  He's funny.  He's athletic.  He's sexy.  He's compassionate.  He's passionate.  He's present.  And he radiates LOVE.  

He will change the world because there is love in the Whitehouse.  His love is blatantly obvious when he's with Michelle and his girls.  Love can change the world.  It's the only force that can.  Technology creates change, but we'll only develop better toys and weapons that can kill better.  Love in the human heart is the only thing that will stop mankind's murderous rampage on each other and the planet.   

A short update on my state of being during the juice fast.  I haven't eaten solid food in 10 days, but I still went to the "outhouse" this morning, T W I C E!   I find that quite amazing, I guess people were right when they told me I was full of shit!

I feel stronger and I have more energy.  There's snow on the ground, and with ease I took the garbage out this morning and marvelled at the towering cedar trees in the yard.  That may not sound like much, but for me it's a huge change.

A month ago I would be coughing and wheezing doing that simple task that most people take for granted.  

Being able to walk again feels like a miracle.  Yesterday, my son Jonas and I enjoyed a half mile walk in the snow.  Before the fast, a half block was all I could muster. 

I still cough up mucous from the lungs, but it's less than before.  I hope by day 28 the mucous is no more.  I'm doing my Buteyko exercises with more diligence and focus.  The juice fast contributes to my well being, but getting oxygen to my tissues via the breathing exercises is the key to my renewed energy level.  I feel blessed that I have this method to deal with this incurable and relentlessly progressive disease. 

COPD is like a being on an unmanned freight train rumbling down a mountain track, I feel I've applied the breaks a little.  One day I might even be able to stop the train and hop off.    

Day 10 - Good Vibrations

Everyone has heard of good vibrations.  If you're sensitive to them you can feel a good or bad vibration emanating off people.  It's a subtle energy that's picked up.  Vibrations have long held mystical relevance too.  When OM or more properly AUM is chanted the body vibrates, especially the throat and heart regions.  Chanting Buddhist monks  "feel the textures of their own states of consciousness."

Vibrations of long held healing properties.  But now I refer to man made vibrations in particular the Power Plate that Madonna has made famous.    It's been around for a long time and once again it was invented by the Russians.  They used it in their space program to help the cosmonauts over come decreased bone mass loss and muscle tone during weightlessness.   The Russian's kept the technology a secret during the cold war. The world first witnessed its benefits when the Russians started winning all the Gold at the 1960 Olympic games.

For people with COPD who are unable to exercise this device is miraculous as it trims body fat, builds muscle, and increases bone density.  The workouts require very little expenditure of energy and the results can be spectacular. 

I think the real glory of the technology lies in what it does to the body's inside.  The vibration stimulates the glands, all other organs, and increased blood flow creating renewed oxygenation.

In one study, six of ten infertile women became pregnant after using the device for only three minutes a day three times a week.  The study determined the fresh oxygen-rich blood flow and deep tissue stimulation of the uterus and ovaries was the reason.

I think the elevated oxygenation will help people with COPD.  I have a small hand held vibrator that I use twice a day for ten or 15 minutes. I start with the souls of my feet and work up.  I rest the device at the base of my skull, don't know if this stimulates the respiratory center and the brain, but it sure feels like it does.  If my IQ goes up I'll let you know.   

Day 9 - Gymnastics And A Good Bloody Story

Olga Korbut won three gold and one silver medal at the 1972 Olympics.  She also won the hearts of millions of men and became the talk of the planet.  Nobody had ever seen a gymnast do what Olga could do, that's because no one had ever done it before.  She performed with grace and super human athleticism, that combined with emotional music made her an icon. She wept openly when she faltered and the world fell in love.     

Russians often refer to the Buteyko Method as breathing gymnastics.  It's a good analogy, because the breathing exercises demand the lungs to perform like never before.  People with COPD over breathe, they hyperventilate - they breathe more than the body requires.  People with COPD even over breathe while resting.  The lungs are performing on auto pilot, no one is at the controls.

Fortunately the lungs are organs whose function we have some voluntary control over. So it's a matter of sitting at the controls and doing something radical.  At least the body will consider it radical because it has never experienced this force before.  It has had no demands.  

COPD is relentlessly progressive and once in its grip, there is a feeling of helplessness.  Hope vanishes and the disease robs you of vitality, a sense of well being, and eventually your life.  Buteyko offers a beacon of hope.  It's the lighthouse in the dark windy, wave whipped night.  If someone with COPD does nothing, but inhale medicine, they will suffer through a rather dismal life and die.

Western medicine can offer them very little.  Dr. Buteyko offers "From Russia With Love."

The respiratory center is located in the medulla oblongata, the lowermost part of the brain at the rear of the head.  The respiratory center receives controlling signals of neural, chemical, and hormonal nature and controls the rate and depth of respiratory movements of the diaphragm and other respiratory muscles.  Long term hyperventilation plays havoc and upsets, or better yet, ruins our neural, chemical and hormonal balances.

It's the respiratory center that Buteyko Breathing resets.  Too great a volume of air being breathed in and out of the lungs causes low levels of carbon dioxide.  After months and years the respiratory center becomes accustom to this lower level of CO2 and determines it to be correct.  Our respiratory center in turn instructs us to over breathe to maintain these low levels of carbon dioxide, even though our organs and tissues are starved of oxygen. 

A bloody good story.  The release of oxygen from the haemoglobin molecule is dependent on the quantity of carbon dioxide in our alveoli/arterial blood.  If the carbon dioxide is not at the required level of five percent the oxygen sticks to the haemoglobin and is not released to tissues and organs.  This bond was named after the physician who discovered it and is known as the Bohr Effect.

The Buteyko breathing method restores the body's levels of carbon dioxide thus resetting the respiratory center and causing the body to breathe in a healthy manner. The new elevated level of carbon dioxide dilates the smooth muscle around airways, arteries and capillaries.  They OPEN UP.  Now this increase in carbon dioxide results in a greater distribution of new oxygen rich blood which translates into reduced symptoms.  People who could barely walk a block before they were breathless can now walk a couple of miles.  Rapid heart rate may return to normal.  Sexual activity is revitalized.  Happiness returns.  All I can say is God bless Dr. Buteyko.  

Back to Olga Korbut and breathing gymnastics.  Today my breathing gymnastics (breathing exercises) consist of three minutes of reduced, or very shallow breathing, thus reducing the volume of air entering and exiting my lungs.  Then I do 3 maximum pauses of 25, 30, and 35 seconds, another three minutes reduced breathing, three more maximum pauses,  3 minutes reduced breathing and three more pauses.  I am doing 4 sets a day, morning, noon, late afternoon, and before bed.  Soon I will increase this to 6 sets, and increase my very shallow breathing time and my Maximum Pauses.  My goal by the end of this 28 day fast is to have a Control Pause of 20 seconds or better, and a top Maximum Pause of 60 seconds.  

This sounds easy, but it's not and some mastery is involved, the mastery comes with consistent practice, concentration, patience, tenacity, commitment, and the will to get well.

After the juice fast I'll begin further training with my Buteyko Teacher, Christopher Drake.  The following two months my goal is Maximum Pauses of 90 seconds, and a Control Pause of 25.  I capitalize the pauses out of reverence for Dr. Buteyko, and their importance in healing my life. 

I'm writing this blog for people who have COPD.  Those with asthma can be CURED by the Buteyko Method, especially younger people whose lungs have not been damaged.  

On this planet asthma is an epidemic.  The incidence of COPD is on the rise, killing millions of people every year.  

Buteyko is not accepted by Western Medicine because it's a method of healing, not a pharmaceutical.  If I could invent a pill that does what the Buteyko Breathing Method does, I'd be a billionaire.  But I haven't and I'm not.  But I know Buteyko works to heal and improve well being, and that is one hell of a gift to the sick people living on planet Earth.  

Day 8 - Shitty Topic

Yes, I'm going to write about the un-talkable.  Everyone shits, but nobody talks about it.  I used the word shit in my first post and my girlfriend suggested I use another word.  I told her this was my voice, and these posts have to be me.  She smiled, she knows me well.  I could call it poop, or bowel movement, but I like s h i t   Definitely won't call them stools.  Imagine coming from a foreign country and trying to learn English. You've studied hard, you know about foot stools, bar stools, milk stools, and piano stools. Then one day you go to the doctor and he asks you if your stools are loose, or watery?  Or are they soft with shape?  What?  A stool is human feces?   A stool exits your butt and ends up in the toilet?   You've got to be kidding!

On a fast and cleanse you can't help but get in touch with your own shit.  I think everyone has a glance at what's in the toilet just before flushing.  During the fast it's good to get rid of as much shit as possible, all of it if you can.  Some people do daily enemas, but I'm passing on that in the early stage and relying on herbal laxatives. 

I had a colonic once to clean out the pipes.  I felt great after, but chatting to a guy in darkened room as he puts a tube up your ass is no fun.   I plan on a couple of colonics during this fast, so I'll make it a wonderfully basic human experience with a huge health upside.

I regress.  I'm nearing the end of day 4 of my juice fast and I sat on the can 5 times, count them F I V E.  I'm a very regular guy, I usually go 3 times a day, like you're supposed to if you eat 3 meals.  My lungs and heart ain't working too well, but it seems my plumbing is.  So, my point is, I got rid of a lot of shit today.  A lot of debris from my colon.  A lot of waste from my body.  I'm cleaning house. That's the purpose of the fast.  So I'm on track.

When I was a kid we had an outhouse at our summer cottage.  Lived in a semi-mansion in the city, but the summer home didn't have an indoor crapper.  It was all part of the summer Huck Finn adventure.

I'll probably continue to eliminate from the rear door a few more days, then the urge will end.  Then my skin and penis will be the main routes of getting rid of waste. I'll do enemas down the road.  Shall I post the gory details of that experience, or is that TOO MUCH INFORMATION?

Maybe next time we have to talk about shit, I can say I took a trip to the outhouse.  The word outhouse won't offend one single soul.

Day 7 - Breathing

7 days into the juice fast and I'm dreaming of food.  But for another 24 days I'll dream on, then feast on mashed cauliflower with a bit of butter, sea salt, and ground black pepper.

One thing there is an abundance of during a fast is time.  I've become acutely aware of the time I would normally spend shopping for food, preparing the food and eating it.    Lots of time on my hands now.  Time especially for my Buteyko practice.  And I've been reading and writing a lot more.  I'm devouring Ernest Hemingway's   A Moveable Feast, his sketches of life in Paris during the 1920's.  "I would stand and look out over the roofs of Paris and think, "Do not worry.  You have always written before and you will write now.  All you have to do is to write one true sentence.  Write the truest sentence that you know."  So finally I would write one true sentence and go from there.

I think that is the essence, the heart of Hemingway's art, his craft.  He didn't write long frilly sentences.   He wrote true simple declarative sentences.  And he strung declarative sentences together beautifully, creating character and story.

Don't you just love youtube.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35vrg7a64ny

According to fasting experts from day 3 to 7 the "body embraces the fast, the body takes a much-needed rest, focusing all of its energies on cleansing organs and the lungs are in the process of being healed."   This is very good news for those with COPD.  My experience today is some relief in the lungs, there's some mucous, but lessening.  My nasal passages are quite clear upon rising.  A few weeks ago, I'd cough and blow my nose for a half hour in the morning.  So there is some relief.  I am still experiencing breathlessness.  I'd like to eradicate this symptom, so I can walk the streets of Paris and go to the cafes Hemingway haunted.

When I walk those French streets, I'll be thinking of a Russian, Konstantin Pavolich Buteyko.  It will be his genius that will make my healing and travel possible. One day his discovery will be recognized by medical science as one of the greatest breakthroughs ever. Breathe less. http://www.buteyko.com/method/buteyko/index_buteyko.html  

No one in the world understands breath better than Dr. Buteyko's disciple, Christopher Drake. 

Why rewrite that which has already been written so eloquently.

http://cpdrake.googlepages.com/meditation,yoga&buteyko