Sue Kira N.D, DRM, PGD. Clin Nutri. PTC (pathology), ECP
Professional memberships—ATMS No: 4624, EPA-P10026
E-mail: sue@truevitality.com.au
ABN: 29 650 961 396
Clinic address: 6 Cornwall Drive Elanora. 4221
Phone: B.H-07 5522 6528  

Thank you for booking to see Sue Kira at ‘True Vitality’
 
Sue practices Naturopathy, Clinical Nutrition, Orthomolecular Bio-Chemistry, Live Blood Screening, Iridology & Sclerology, Medical Herbalism, Esoteric Chakra-Puncture (acupuncture), Esoteric Bodywork, Hormone testing, Allergy & Intolerance testing, Heavy Metal and Mineral Screening, as well as Urine and Saliva testing.
 
Following are client history sheets to complete before your first visit so you can maximise consultation time.
 
What to bring to the session:
 
1.  Completed client history sheets
 
2.  A ‘first of the morning’ urine sample in a clean disposable container e.g. a jar
 
3.  To avoid incorrect readings for tests, please avoid eating for two hours before your appointment (drinking water is fine)
 
4.  Continue any medications as prescribed
 
5.  Bring with you, or write down the dose/strengths, of any medications and supplements you take or have that you could use if prescribed.
 
6.  Bring any medical records you have from the last 12 months (or longer if relevant)
 
7.  If you have private health insurance cover for naturopathy, please bring your health fund card for Hicaps direct claiming. Then you only need to pay the difference using EFTPOS, Visa, MasterCard or cash (sorry, no cheques accepted)
 
I look forward to meeting you soon and helping you with your health and true vitality, with love….Sue Kira

Client History Sheets – Please copy and paste the following to a word doc and either print them out, fill them in and bring them with you for your first consultation or you can paste them to an email and send them through to me and I will print them ready for your first visit. I look forward to meeting you soon…..with love, Sue Kira xxx

Personal Details:

Name:                                                                DOB:                                                            1st Visit Date:
 
Address:                                                                                                                                 Postcode:
 
Phone: (H)                                                        (W)                                                               Mobile:
 
Email:                                                                                                                                       Occupation:
 
Relationship status:                                                                                                           Children:
 
How did you find me/referral:(if internet, what did you put in your search?)
 
 
Health Fund:
 
EMERGENCY CONTACT
Name:
 
Phone:                                                                                                                                         Relationship to you:
 
Doctor contact details – (name & phone):
 
MEDICAL / GENERAL HEALTH HISTORY
 
Current symptoms and when started:
 
 
 
 
General health history (e.g. list any major physical /emotional / mental incidents, allergies, disease or illness and when they occurred):
 
 
 
List any surgical procedures you have had:
 
 
Do you have or have you ever had Hepatitis A, B or C, HIV/AIDS or any other infectious disease?
 
No                        Yes                                          If yes:
 
Medication (list all medication you are currently on – prescribed or otherwise):
 
 
Supplements (list any nutritional or herbal products you are taking): Also list any that you have that you are not taking that you may be able to use.
 
 
I consent to the modalities and services offered at this clinic: (signature)                                                     Date:
 
Please rate the following:
Daily energy level: Excellent /Good/ Fair/ Poor
Energy level after exercise: Excellent /Good/ Fair /Poor
Daily stress level: Very High /High /Moderate /Low/ None
Do you have a support system of family and friends?
General enjoyment of life: Excellent /Good/ Fair/ Poor
If you experience pain how would you score it (1-10 ten being the worst)?
 
Sleep quality:
How many hours do you sleep?
Do you sleep right throughout the night?
Do you wake up without an alarm?
Do you wake up feeling rested?
Do you fall asleep within 15 minutes of retiring?
 
Bowels:
Do you have daily regular bowel movements?
How often do you have a bowel movement?
Firm and form/constipated/diarrhea/varies (please circle)
Do you get bloated or have lots of gas?
Any history of polyps, diverticulitis, IBS, IBD’s (please circle)
 
Diet: Please give examples of what you may eat in a typical week
 
Breakfast:
 
Mid-morning:
 
Lunch:
 
Mid-afternoon:
 
Dinner:
 
Snacks:
 
Junk foods:
 
Alcohol consumption: (quantity please)
 
Tea/coffee/soft-drinks/water (quantity of each please)
 
Cigarettes/recreational drugs: (kept confidential)

For the following, please place a ‘C’ next to any ‘current’ conditions and mark ‘P’ for ‘past’ conditions you have experienced before. This is for the purpose of metabolic and energetic screening, so you may find some conditions repeated, but this is necessary.
You can add a note next to the condition/symptom if you feel it will help. 
 
(KP screen)
Irritability
Moodiness/mood swings
Depression
Anxiety
Fears
Worrier
May have visual hallucinations
History of aggressive feelings/anger outburst
Racing mind
Poor ability to tolerate stress
Night person / insomnia / sleep problems
Poor dream recall or recall of vivid bizarre dreams only
Poor morning appetite, tendency to skip breakfast
Morning nausea (not pregnant)
Morning sickness during pregnancy
Tendency for motion sickness/car/boat/air
Sharp stabbing abdominal pain/stitches
Behavioral disorders as a child
Prefer spicy or flavoursome foods
Reading disorder/dyslexia/poor school performance as child
Fascination with disaster
Growing pains as a child
React unfavorably to the ‘pill’ or other HRT
Poor or deteriorating short term memory
Sensitivity to bright lights, or loud noises, startle easily
Sensitivity to tags on clothing &/or textures of clothing such as wool
Sensitive to food smells
Unstable blood sugars/carbohydrate craving/hypoglycemia
Dry skin
Stretch marks
Poor wound healing
White spots on fingernails, brittle weak nails
Cold hands/feet
Abdominal tenderness
Weigh issues
Abnormal fat distribution
Tremors
Sensitive to alcohol
Fair hair / skin
Frequent infections / illnesses
Get sick easily / or seem to ‘catch’ everything
Often have vitamin deficiencies 
Low self esteem
 
(C screen)
Tired body with overactive mind
Anxiety
Depression
Feelings of aggression
Poor concentration
Sensitive to tight clothes and tags
Premenstrual syndrome
Headaches/migraines
Cravings for chocolate, nuts or avocados
Frequent colds/flues
Easily or frequent bruising
Slow metabolism
Excessive stress
Acne
Alopecia
Anorexia
Autism
 
(U-M screen)
Fatigue
Fears
Seasonal inhalant allergies
History of perfectionism
High academic achievement
Eating disorder history
Obsessive tendencies
Ritualistic 
Competitive
Low tolerance for pain
Prefer vegetarian food
Strong willed
Calm demeanor but high inner tension
Addictions or addictive personality
Poor concentration endurance
Prone to tears
High libido
Low calcium, magnesium, B6
Respond well to SAMe, St. Johns Wort, Kava Kava, inositol
 
(O M screen)
Chemical or food sensitivities
High anxiety evident to others
High pain threshold
Tinnitus
Poor organizational capacity
Underachievement at school
Poor sleep
Paranoia
Panic attacks
Racing thoughts
Auditory hallucinations
Poor dream recall
Nervousness
Low libido
Upper body pain
Obsessions but not compulsions
Heavy body hair
Hyperactive
Nervous legs
Grandiosity
Any known adverse reactions to Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, St.John’s Wort or SAMe products
Tendency to have low levels of folic acid, B3 (niacin), B12
Reaction to copper or methionine
Reaction to sulphur foods—onions, garlic
 
(G screen)
History of kidney stones
Liver problems
Anemia
Loose stools
Emphysema
Nails – poor growth
Arthritis (Rheumatoid or Osteo)
Gall bladder problems
Bladder infections (Cystitis)
Gout
Parasites
Bloating, gas or indigestion
Hair loss or poor hair growth
Pregnant or nursing mother
Blood Sugar problems
Headaches
Respiratory problems
Bronchitis
Heart disease or problems
Ringing in ears
Cancer
Heartburn
Seizures
Colds or flu (frequent)
Hemorrhoids
Cold Sores
Skin conditions
Chronic fatigue
High blood pressure
Constipation
High cholesterol
Dandruff
Thyroid condition
Hot flushes
Ulcer
Diabetes I (insulin dependent)
Yeast infections
Diabetes II (adult onset)
Diarrhea
Intestinal problems
 
Women please tick all that pertain:
PMS
Frequent urination
Irregular periods
Painful periods
Loss of periods
Loss of libido
Menopause
Painful intercourse
Children (ages)
Hysterectomy
At what age did you begin menstruation?
Describe menstrual cycle
When was your last period?
Have you ever used HRT / Birth Control Pills?
 
Men please tick all that pertain:
Frequent urination
Difficulty with erection
Loss of libido
Prostate enlargement
 
Family Medical History: Please list any family illnesses etc
 
 
 
 
If there is anything else you may wish to add to help me help you then please use this space:
 
 
 
 

Thank you for taking the time to answer the above questions as it will help me to help you and shorten the time necessary in consultation, allowing more time for testing procedures.
 
 
With love, Sue Kira – True Vitality 07 5522 6528 – 6 Cornwall Drive Elanora 4221
I look forward to meeting you soon. If you have any questions in the mean time please email me on sue@truevitality.com.au
 
Naturopathy, Clinical Nutrition, Orthomolecular Bio-Chemistry, Live Blood Screening, Iridology & Sclerology, Medical Herbalism, Esoteric Chakra-Puncture (acupuncture), Esoteric Bodywork

The following are a list of tests available for clients of the ‘True Vitality’ clinic with Sue Kira

Endocrinology Tests

Adrenal Function Tests

Aldosterone Tests

Estrogen Tests

 Estrogen Metabolite Tests

 Female Cycle (28 Day) Hormone Profile

 Female Hormone Profiles

 Growth Hormone Tests

 Male Hormone Profiles

 Osteoporosis Markers

 Sleep Profile

 Thyroid Hormone Tests

 Gastrointestinal Tests

 Calprotectin

 Celiac Tests

 Comprehensive Digestive Stool Analysis (CDSA)

 Helicobacter Pylori

 Intestinal Permeability Test

 M2 Pyruvate Kinase

 Organic Acids – Intestinal Dysbiosis Panel

 Pancreatic Elastase

 Parasitology Profile

 Immunological Tests

 ALCAT® Food & Chemical Sensitivity Testing

 Candida Antibodies

 Chlamydia

 Food Allergy and Sensitivity Testing:

 IgE Allergy Panels

 IgG Allergy Panels                                               

 MELISA™ Metal Allergy Testing

 Mycoplasma

 Nanobacter

 Secretor Status

 Secretory IgA

 Metabolic Tests

 Cardiovascular Profile – Comprehensive

 Cytokine Tests

 Histamine

 Homocysteine

 Inflammation Profile

 Lipoprotein A

 Liver Detoxification Profile

 The Mauve Factor (Formerly Kryptopyrrole)

 Neurotransmitter Metabolite Test

 Organic Acid Panels

 Oxidative Damage Markers

 Porphyrins

 Nutritional Tests

Amino Acid Tests

 Antioxidants

 Copper, Magnesium & Zinc

 Essential Fatty Acid Tests

 Glutathione

 Iodine Tests

 Mineral & Metal Tests

Cut about 1tsp worth of hair from the nape of neck under the main body of hair (the little fluffy part that grows close to the back of the neck) or if you have very short hair then you can collect hair from anywhere else on the body, shave if you have to.

Place the hair sample on some cling wrap plastic or in a snap seal bag then place this into an envelope. Also in the envelope please put you contact details including a phone number and email as well as age and any information as to why you feel that you have allergies (or heavy metal toxicity). You may if you wish put any health history here as well and then when I write the report I can include other suggestions as to the relationship of the allergies (or toxicity) to other conditions.

Post the sample to 6 Cornwall Drive Elanora QLD 4221 and payment of $125 for the Allergy Testing and $145 for Heavy Metal and Mineral testing (or if doing the allergy testing plus the metal and mineral testing the price is $250 for both) can be made by ringing through your credit card number,  or most preferred is direct deposit to the ‘True Vitality’ account which is National Australia Bank  BSB: 082679  ACC: 893589376. Please put your name in the reference and then email me that you have sent the sample. (see contact page)

Your results will be emailed to you (or posted if you don’t have email) within 10 days of me receiving the sample ( in most cases). Thank you

Some of these where because they had an illness or disease state that they were or were not aware of at the time they came in to see me, but the majority did not have a disease, at least not yet.

In this post I will cover many aspects of how to regain vitality and energy. The topics covered will be:

Please note that this post is being added to often and so many not be complete at the time of your reading.

Food choices

Nutrition

Food preparation

Sleep patterns

Lifestyle

Body rhythms

Self-love/Disregard

Observing/Absorbing

Detoxification

Patterns and momentums

Conscious Presence

Body Movement/exercise

Acidity/Alkalinity

Stress

Supplements to support the body

Herbs to support the body

Therapies to support the body

Diet:

Practicing as a naturopath I would often suggest that people try omitting gluten and/or dairy foods from their diet and most of the time they found an improvement in their health and energy levels.

Sometimes this sugestion would be because their body would need to reduce the antigenic load to allow their immune system to have a rest and sometimes this would be because of a suspected allergy. On and off I would do the same. I would go three months without gluten to see how I would feel and also to see if it would have any effect on my weight. At the time it seemed to have little effect if I ate gluten and dairy or not.

 Also at that time I wasn’t aware that there was gluten and dairy hidden in foods, so in fact I was never completely off gluten or dairy and so I wasn’t really able to gauge the effect fully. I discovered later that unless you are 100% off gluten and dairy your body doesn’t detox from it. So it’s as though you are still eating it.

When I became involved with Universal Medicine the topic of gluten & dairy came up again. This time with clairsentience (true feeling) I knew I had to eliminate gluten and dairy from my diet completely.

I had a history of fatigue and weight issues for many years and had worked on the emotional aspects of giving away my energy, but the diet was the place I found that I could instantly feel a difference in my energy levels. I would often feel tired after a meal, but thought that this was just how it was.

 Universal medicine has helped me understand the esoteric side of how certain foods such as starchy foods will dull your light and make you feel gluggy and sluggish and tired as well as not allow you to feel clearly (be clairsentient) the foods which are right for you. Gluten and dairy seem to be the main foods that have this effect. Dairy isn’t a starch, but would have a dulling effect on feeling clearly also. Dairy is difficult to digest and so it seems that the one common thread is in how difficult something is to digest determines how heavy that food will make you feel, hence dulling your energy and your ability to feel clearly.

Being emotional, rushing about, eating quickly, being stressed, all puts the body’s nervous system into sympathetic overdrive, whereas the body can only digest if it is in parasympathetic mode which is what we are in when we are connected to the gentle breath, relaxed and still.

It is with this knowing that I have put together a range of gluten free, cane sugar free, dairy free raw and cooked foods that can be enjoyed by the whole family as they are or as accompaniments to other foods. You can find these recipes by clicking here.

Esoteric (innermost) nutrition & the calcium myth

Esoteric nutrition is about feeling into the foods that are right for you and your family by clairsentience (clear feeling), not just by what a book or someone else says is good for you. Take for example how the dairy corporation sponsors eating dairy for your calcium requirements. Are they saying this for your benefit or theirs? Most children beyond the age of two can no longer digest milk properly due to the lacking of the enzyme lactase in the individual and the product. We are told to have calcium for strong healthy bones and teeth which is truth, but are not told how we leach calcium from the body via acidic foods and salt. Even stress causes acidity in the body which in turn causes depletion of calcium reserves when the blood uses calcium stores to bring the acid alkaline balance back to a favorable parameter.

Esoteric food preparation

When it comes to food preparation we want to be in the very best energy possible as everything we do carries the imprint of the energy that we are in. The movie ‘Like water for chocolate’ is a good example of how energy transfer of the person cooking the food can affect the taste of the food and the health of the person consuming the foods. If we cook when angry for example then the food will contain the energy of that person’s anger. Bad enough for the person who made it to eat it in that energy for it is their energy amplified, but for others, to consume something with another’s bad energy is worse as the body doesn’t know where it came from and it is like poison to that body.

Optimally we want to always be in the best energy possible and not have emotions rule our lives. It’s not just cooking that is influenced this way but everything we do carries energy. If we send an e-mail in a state of anger or sadness, then the person receiving that e-mail will be affected by that energy. At the moment we are not in a perfect world where every person’s energy is good so how do we deal with this situation. We can only be responsible for our self and our energy and also how we allow others energy to effect us.

In a state of connectedness to the inner heart, (via the gentle breath) and the harmony from within we will be impulsed with what to do in any given situation. Things that we can do to help, is to be aware of the energy that we are in when preparing foods. If we recognise that we are feeling emotional in any way, then best to stop, sit down, practice the gentle breath meditation to help clear the emotion and re-connect back to the inner heart before proceeding with the food preparation. Whilst preparing the food we can also stir the foods anticlockwise with the rhythms of the inner heart and this will also help to clear any negative energy. Also a clearing symbol (available from Universal Medicine) can be placed under the bowl, plate or whatever we are using. The clearing symbol is good for dinning out if we feel that the chef or other kitchen staff might not be in the best energy. If we actually see or feel a strong negative energy coming from the kitchen of a restaurant it is more self-loving to leave.

Foods that heal vs. foods that harm

As in the above discussion we can see that the same food prepared with love will have a different effect than if prepared in anger. In this way the same food can be harming or healing. I’m sure you can guess which is which. But there are also other foods that no matter how you prepared them they can be harmful to the body. Mostly we know what these are. Connected to your inner heart you will know that foods that are processed and refined are damaging to your health. Sugars, starches, including most grains and dairy are all processed as well as being heavy to digest.

It is more important what you DON’T eat than what you actually eat.

It’s all about obstruction. In other words, which foods are damaging and obstructing the ‘True Vitality’ of the body. The number one benefit from eating simple, fresh foods is the elimination of all the processed foods that are DAMAGING to the body. Your body will be able to rejuvenate if you have eliminated harmful processed foods such as refined sugar and processed starches from your diet.

Increasing your ‘True Vitality’ with food choices

Foods can be broken down into several groups or categories:

1. Processed starches/grains – breads, cereals, cakes, biscuits, pasta

2. Refined sugars – sugar, ice-cream, sweets/lollies, chocolate, soft-drinks, alcohol

3. Dairy products of all animals  

4. Processed oils – any oil from vegetable, animal or seed not cold-pressed

5. Meat and eggs – chicken, turkey, beef, pork, fish, eggs

6. Unprocessed and not heated (cold pressed) oils from nuts, seeds and vegetables

7. Cooked fresh fruits, vegetables, legumes and herbs

8. Raw fresh fruits, vegetables (including salads) and herbs

9. Sprouted seeds, nuts and legumes

 Most diets that claim that they work for good health or weight loss omit the first two to four food groups.

Whole grains such as rice, quinoa, buckwheat, amaranth and animal proteins in moderation (125-200g 3/week), will still result in reasonably good health. It is a moderately acidic diet which will leach some alkalizing minerals, which can lead to osteoporosis but is certainly better than a diet based on processed foods.

Remember it is more important what you don’t eat than what you do eat. What you leave out of your diet completely is the key to ultimate health.

The natural process of digestion causes fermentation. Cooked foods cause more fermentation than raw foods. Also, not chewing any type of food will cause more fermentation due to the food not being broken down enough first. It is important to note that the stomach doesn’t have teeth! The stomach does have acids to break down foods, but these acids are stimulated to be secreted in the stomach by the action of chewing.

 With years of poor eating the cells in our body grow and become full of carbonic acid. As you eat less fermentive foods the cells contract and give off waste gas and shrink in size. This is why people seem to be gassier when first eating a healthy unprocessed food diet, they are releasing the gas build up from their cells. However, gas from eating legumes is because they have usually not been soaked and sprouted to remove the enzyme inhibitors and so this causes fermentation in the gut and the subsequent release of flatulence.

The clearer and cleaner you become, the more sensitive you become, but you also become clearer and more sensitive to energies – more connected and clear feeling (clairsentient).

When you stop eating certain foods that are toxic, the body will detoxify. This may give symptoms of runny nose, headaches, nausea etc, so it is important to firstly realise that this is the body clearing and to assist it where you can.

Ways to help the body to detoxify are – body brushing, sweating, drinking plenty of pure clean water, drinking fresh vegetable and fruit juices especially green vegetable juices and melons (not together). Herbal teas such as dandelion & fennel can be helpful. Rebounding on a lymphaciser and having chakra-puncture (esoteric acupuncture) is great for detoxification. Walking in fresh air especially by the seaside or in the bush where there is a greater concentration of negative ions.

True healing comes from looking beyond the physical

To introduce the case studies, perhaps it’s appropriate that I provide an insight into my background, philosophy about health and the way I work with clients to help them move ahead. It has been a remarkable journey and one that continues to become more exciting as time goes on as my knowledge, experience and understanding grows.

As a kid from around 9 to 11 years old I had a special area in my dad’s garage with a bench and lots of shelves that became my ‘laboratory’. There I used to keeps sticks, leaves, insects and special potions in jars for my ‘experiments’. When I was 12 I remember being asked by a teacher what I wanted to do in life and my reply was to ‘find a cure for cancer’. In high school, science and home economics were my favourite subjects.

After leaving school I travelled and tried different jobs before working as a lab technician. I then moved into forensic science, followed by pathology and laboratory research. Following a miscarriage in 1985 I was referred to ‘something I had never heard of before’ – a naturopath.

This was a revelation to me. I had discovered my true calling – to become a healer. I became immersed in studies for 4 years, which was just the start. I was a sponge, soaking up as much information about health as possible from lectures, books and seminars (which I continue to do today). After working for other naturopaths, I opened my own clinic in 1992. As the clinic ‘evolved’, detoxification and colon hydrotherapy became a major part of the business back then.

Over a period of time I noticed that many of my clients experienced remarkable results with their health, while others made little progress or improvement. I asked myself why this was so. The result has been a fascinating exploration that has taken me ‘behind the scenes’ into the relatively unknown areas that link the extraordinary influences that our minds, emotions and energy systems have on our health and well-being.

Although clients normally see me about a physical ailment or imbalance, I like to look ‘behind’ the problem. Generally there is a cause for everything. Things just don’t go wrong without a reason. On one level I may consider lifestyle habits that may have contributed to their problem, such as inappropriate diet or stress. However, I like to look deeper and see what emotional imbalance may be causing the problem. For example, they may have chosen to eat the wrong foods to ‘feed’ certain emotional needs. Perhaps they ‘attract’ particular types of people into their lives who have a negative influence or, they may keep repeating self-sabotaging patterns of behaviour.

When I treat clients on purely a physical level, invariably the condition returns because they re-create the same scenario that manifested the problem in the first place.

Clients often tell me they know what they should be eating or doing in their life, but they don’t do it. They need someone else to tell them. This can work for a while, particularly if they have a motivating factor such as a serious illness, or see their blood live on a screen and what a mess it is. The worse people feel, the higher their motivation. But once the pain or problem subsides, the sense of urgency disappears and people often revert to their comfort zone and are happy with that.

However, if people are genuinely ready to completely heal, it requires working on all levels – physical, mental and emotional.

I believe that the body is our sub-conscious mind and it talks to us via signs and symptoms (symbols). Minor imbalances are symbolic of an imbalance in its early stages. When we don’t listen to these symbols, our body (sub-conscious mind) will think ‘hmmm, not listening, so now let’s get serious and manifest a symptom’. Then if the symptom is not addressed, it may turn into a diseased state. The body is our marker of our truth.

So when I see a client with a set of symptoms, initially I will address the physical. Then (when I know someone is open to listening to what their body is trying to tell them) I share my interpretation of what this could mean on an emotional level. These will often be simply key words and not necessarily an accurate diagnosis. Amazingly the process often unearths an emotional aspect that relates to the individuals physical symptoms.

Once we have made an emotional connection, then what? Well of course everyone is different. Some may tell me that they have already worked on the emotional issue. But if the problem is still present, then obviously it is not resolved and we look at ways to help them clear the emotional aspect.

My journey then took me into an arena where I tended to focus on the mind-body connection. Along the way I have also had personal emotional issues to deal with in my life and my own search for personal happiness and satisfaction has been a fascinating and fulfilling process.

Since 2006 my studies connected to ‘Universal Medicine’s use of meditation to connect to my own inner truth. Developing a ‘clairsentient’ (true feeling) approach, I now facilitate healing and meditation retreats as well as running a private naturopathic clinic, to help people to connect to thier inner truth to live a life of ‘Energetic Integrity’.

From this time (compared to articles written before 2006) you will notice the flavour of the articles and case studies that I write will come from this approach and will have a less analytical feel about them as they are writen from my inner truth. 

The case studies on this website will demonstrate the work that I have been doing in this area. I hope you find them interesting and worthwhile.

If you would like to add your case study or testimonial or would like to speak to Sue, please click here.

(p.s if you don’t want to read about the pain you can skip to the happy ending of the last 7 paragraphs.)

I was trying to get fit from spending too much time sitting down at work, so I had embarked on daily walks to the Cape Byron Lighthouse from Clarks beach, an up and down stair trip of around 6 kms I think, plus going to the gym 3 times per week. I was loving it all and felt great for a while, and then I started to notice that I couldn’t get on my left knee in the gym class and thought that I must have bruised it or something. Then I had a really sore thumb and thought that I must have bent it back with the weights bar or something. Then after my walks my feet really hurt but put this down to trying to increase my speed too quickly. Bit of ‘bull at fence’ syndrome or ‘something’.

Then I noticed that the aches weren’t getting any better even after cutting back on the gym and stopping the walks thinking that I just needed to slow down a bit and let my body catch up with my brains enthusiasm. This didn’t work in fact it all just got worse till I woke one morning and could hardly walk. It felt like I had broken the bones in my feet and my left thumb hurt like crazy. I thought this was bad enough, but over the next few days it actually got worse, till I could hardly move my body. It hurt sooo much but it hurt not to move too.

I’m not normally one who would go to a doctor, but by this time I knew something was terribly wrong. I was thinking maybe Rheumatoid arthritis as I didn’t feel at all sick or feverish at this stage so I didn’t think of Ross River. It was a struggle to get to the doctors room. I just felt like my whole body was broken, and with tears running down my cheeks from the pain, I shuffled into the doctors rooms as slow as a snail. I collapsed into the chair and fell to pieces emotionally.

The Dr. had me do all sorts of bending things and said my joints were swollen and that he would have to put me on anti-inflammatories and do some blood tests. Normally I would never take any drugs, but the pain was so bad I would have taken a general anesthetic if it were available. My next challenge was to get to the blood collecting rooms. Everything was hard to do. Life was too much pain. It must have been putting pressure on my nerves or something because the anti-inflammatories didn’t work so I gave them up after a few days, and tried aspro, paracetamol, codeine, all to no avail.

I just had to bear it. Nights were excruciating as laying still made everything throb, but to get up and move hurt too much to. I was beside myself and I could no longer think rationally what to do with myself. Life was one big PAIN and I wanted the pain to end. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse I got a rash all over my body and started to get fevers, mostly at night. What was my body doing, I thought.

Then a phone call from my G.P. He said, guess what? you have Ross River. I was relieved, in fact I was excited. Everyone thought that I was strange to get excited over this diagnosis and that maybe my brain had fried with the fevers, but I was happy even in pain as I knew it would go away. The thought that I may have this forever was not attractive, so knowing that it was a virus that ‘this too shall pass’ was comforting in a quirky kind of way. I never thought such a tiny creature could cause so much pain. Now that I knew I was dealing with a virus I got stuck into Olive leaf extract and vitamin C in mega-doses as well as herbal anti-inflammatories including fish oil. I thought I’ll at least drown the virus out of my system if nothing else.

I guess it all helped a bit, but I was still in so much pain. Then I guess the pain settled enough that I could think again and started to meditate by connecting to the ‘gentleness’ of my breath. My days were filled by being gentle with myself. After 3 weeks had passed and just starting to actually sleep at night, someone told me about having intravenous Vitamin C to help, so I did this, but this was a decision made by my head not my heart. My heart didn’t feel good about it, but I wanted it to work. I wanted it to all go away. Even though the pain was less, my tolerance was lowered and any pain was still too much.

Also, when I had the IV C I had a reaction the first night where I thought that I’d had a close call on a stroke when the weirdest feeling rushed over me and up my head  But this passed and I was just left with lots of pain again for three weeks. After this settled I started to ‘breath’ again.

My recovery did seem slow, but one thing was for sure, whenever I tried to push myself and not be gentle it hurt heaps for ages. I learnt how to be gentle. How crazy are we? Why can’t we be gentle with ourselves always? With not being able to do much but think or read or meditate I learnt the art of being gentle. If I approached everything with gentleness I had no pain. When I had no pain for a while and tried to do something not gentle, I paid for it with more pain. Just like a mouse with the reward cage, I learnt gentleness.

Three months later most of my symptoms are now gone and I am being gentle most of the time and this is working. But I still get reminded if I step out of gentleness even a bit. The pain is so minimal now but I still use it as a barometer of gentleness.

The other thing that helped me was that I decided not to ‘suffer’ or be a ‘sufferer’, but rather to ‘experience’ the condition and not own it. I saw it as a passing energy. After all, everything IS just energy, stuck energy in this case.

So, you might be thinking, what does gentleness mean? Well to start with, it means choosing consciously a gentle in and out breathe. Gentle in, and gentle out. And going about the day in ‘gentleness’, not rushed or stressed, but allowing yourself to do things with ‘gentleness’, being kind to yourself, nurturing, soothing, relaxing, instead of the usual push-push attitude of hectic life. And not allowing others to bug you, just letting things go with love.

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This virus has been a most valuable experience that although I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, I’m glad I got it because of the gift that gentleness has brought into my life. The other part to this gift is that I also learnt how to say NO to people’s requests and also how to ask for help when I needed it. A lot of women feel that they need to be tough and do most things for themselves, but this only disconnects us from our ‘femaleness’, an important balance of energies needed in this day of equality of the sexes.

History has shown others that it can re-occur with repeated flair-ups, but I only expect this to happen if I forget to be gentle with myself. You know what?, I actually feel that this has been a ‘healing’ rather than a ‘cure’ I’ll talk more on this another time, as there’s a big difference. Do you know what I mean? If you have any thing you would like to share about this (cure vs. heal), then I’d love to hear about it. Wishing you never get Ross River, but you get ‘gentleness’- it’s truly lovely.

After examining her abdominal area I couldn’t feel anything out of the ordinary, but her discomfort was in the area of her pancreas. We talked about her digestion, with no clues uncovered about any problems with the pancreas. I told her that problems with the pancreas can relate to ‘life not being so sweet’ and questioned her about this. She told me how she had a sudden break-up from her partner 12 months previously and the fatigue started at that point. Then the pain started later after she ‘got over him’.

We searched for further clues by looking at her blood and discovered she had a fungal infection. I discussed how fungus likes to grow in a body that is festering very old emotional wounds. With a sigh she told me about how she wasn’t loved or wanted as a child. I asked her how she knew this to be true and she told me how he mother told her that she never wanted her, but her mother’s religion didn’t allow abortions. She had the child (and other children) but resented all of them for destroying her life and her freedom.

We talked about how Joannes’s challenge was self-love, because her parents couldn’t love her. Joanne had 3 children of her own and several grandchildren. She had dedicated her life to loving them, but gave little regard to herself as she felt unimportant.

She realised she was now ready for some self-love and that this was the real reason she had come in for help. She was there to help herself, not anyone else, so the first major breakthrough had occurred. Even after just talking about this, she felt the pain under her rib decreasing. That was her clue that she was on track. Joanne devoured the exercises in self-love that I gave her and within a few weeks she was absolutely glowing with energy and vitality for herself and her family.

According to Dr. Frank Oski, the former director of pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University, “There is no reason to drink cow’s milk at any time in your life. It was designed for calves, it was not designed for humans, and we should all stop drinking it today, this afternoon.”(18) Dr. Spock agreed, saying, “[T]here was a time when cow’s milk was considered very desirable. But research, along with clinical experience, has forced doctors and nutritionists to rethink this recommendation.”(1)

Cow’s milk is the number one cause of food allergies in infants and children, according to the American Gastroenterological Association.(2) Millions of Americans are lactose-intolerant, and an estimated 80 percent of African-Americans and up to 100 percent of Native Americans and Asian-Americans suffer from the condition, which can include symptoms such as bloating, gas, cramps, vomiting, headaches, rashes, or asthma.(3) As early as 2 years of age, most people begin to produce less lactase, the enzyme that helps with the digestion of milk. This reduction can lead to lactose intolerance. (4) Breast-feeding mothers should also shun cow’s milk from their diets, as the proteins can be transferred to infants and upset babies’ intestines. (5)

Milk is suspected of triggering juvenile diabetes, a disease that causes blindness and other serious effects.(6) Some children’s bodies treat cow’s milk protein as a foreign substance and produce high levels of antibodies to fend off this “invader.” These antibodies also destroy the cells that produce insulin in the pancreas, leading to diabetes. Studies have also found that autism and schizophrenia in children may be linked to the body’s inability to digest the milk protein casein; symptoms of these diseases diminished or disappeared in 80 percent of the children who were switched to milk-free diets. (7)

Other common childhood ailments such as chronic ear infections, asthma, and skin conditions can also be eliminated if cow’s milk is avoided. (8)

1) “Dr. Spock Joins Milk’s Detractors; Nutritional Value, Safety Are Questioned,” The Washington Post 30 Sep. 1992.
2) American Gastroenterological Association, “American Gastroenterological Association Medical Position Statement: Guidelines for the Evaluation of Food Allergies,” Gastroenterology 120 (2001): 1023-5.
3) National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse, “Lactose Intolerance,” National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Mar. 2006.
4) National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse.
5) Spock and Parker 113.
6) “Study Explores Link between Cow’s Milk, Juvenile Diabetes,” Kitchener-Waterloo Record 20 Sep. 2002.24) “Study Explores Link between Cow’s Milk, Juvenile Diabetes,” Kitchener-Waterloo Record 20 Sep. 2002.
7) “Milk Protein May Play Role in Mental Disorders,” Reuters Health, 1 Apr. 1999.
Spock and Parker 332.
American Dietetic Association, “Position of the American Dietetic Association and Dieticians of Canada: Vegetarian Diets,” Journal of the American Dietetic Association Jun. 2003.

Calcium Content of Selected Vegan Foods

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