I have tried out a lot of travel bags. My hubby might tell you that I’m a bit of a sucker for travel bags. (And gizmos. And cell phone battery packs – don’t ask how many I have. Just don’t.)
The Cool Bag is something that I originally got via Kickstarter … or Indiegogo. Which is, as you might have already guessed, my favorite place to purchase travel bags, gizmos, and cell phone battery packs. Suckah… ;-)
I do have a number of other bags that I’ve purchased and tried out via Kickstarter and Indiegogo, but I won’t mention them here, because they all failed for some reason or another.
I am back travelling again. This time, I didn’t “need to bring” the EmPack that I’ve talked about in previous posts. I bring that when I am going to be gone for a while, and need to keep up my Strength workouts. This time, I’m only gone for a couple of days, and I’ll be too busy to do anything more than a bodyweight workout or two. So I like using a bag that’s really made to be useful to the traveler.
The kicker on this trip (and my trip coming up in a few days, to the Crossfit Games) is that I didn’t pay the extra required for checked baggage. In fact, this current trip was on a tiny little plane, so many “standard” hard sided/wheeled carryons were required to be checked at the door. (Full plane, pissed off passengers.)
Not my Cool Bag. It fits in even the smallest overhead or (unless you’ve packed it to the gills), under the standard seat in front of you. (Note: It’s rated for about 30 pounds, but I’d be hard pressed to get heavier than that with clothes, a computer, and well, ya know, a few battery packs.)
So let’s get started on why I just love this bag.
Theft deterrence.
The Cool Bag’s padded, steel-cable-reinforced handle can be slipped out of a slot on the side, then you can wrap it around a stationary object, lock it back in, and lock the entire bag with the heavy-duty lock on the zipper. (You can even register your combination on their website, in case you forget it.) I remember a number of times swimming in the Bay in San Francisco where I would put the bag with my clothes, car keys, etc. against the big anchor at the side of Aquatic Park, and try to “keep an eye on it.” I mean – cummon. I know, stupid, but what’s a girl to do? With this bag, you can wrap the handle around something secure, and without a pair of bolt cutters, it’s not going to Go Walkabout.
If you’re feeling a bit sneaky at a busy beach resort, you actually could take the bag, clip it onto a recliner, and then come back after breakfast and still have your chair. While I have had a beach towel, and even a hat, moved by someone who has decided they want my chair, I’ve yet to have my entire bag moved. Because, of course, since it’s strapped and locked on, it’s just not possible.
Strap Length.
So many “shoulder” or “duffel” bags are impossible to carry, because the handles aren’t long enough to comfortably get the bag onto your shoulder. The padded handles of the Cool Bag make it super easy, and actually comfy, to carry it without wrestling. Moreover, it has a “hidden zipper” at the base of one of the outside magazine pockets on one side, so if you have a roller bag, you can open that zipper then slide the Cool Bag onto the roller bag’s handle to stack it securely on top. Finally, it has backpack straps – so if you want to go hands-free, you can put on the backpack straps and then slide the padded handles down into the compartment.
No worries – it is a carry-on.
The dimensions of the bag are small enough for even the smallest TSA carry on bag requirement. They are:
The Cool Bag comes in super bright colors (I have the red). This photo is from their website; it shows the turquoise, purple, red, pink, green, orange, and black (they also have navy).
Stain Resistant, Tough Material; Pocketses.
The outside fabric is UV-resistant thick ripstop polyester, with a durable stain and water resistant coating on the front, and a urethane waterproofing on the back side. The inside is made of cut-resistant material. It has a passport pocket that is RFID proofed on the inside, plus two net cell phone pockets (so that you can see if you got a call without pulling the phone out of the pocket). The zipper is puncture resistant. The handles are soft injection-molded foam, with a security cable inside. As I mentioned, there are backpack straps that “live” in the outside pocket; you can quickly snap them onto the bag if you like. They’re form-fitting and adjustable. Finally, there are expandable bottle pockets on both ends.
The padded pocket inside can carry a small computer like a 10 inch MacBook Air; larger computers easily fit into the main compartment.
But wait, there’s more!
It’s called the Cool Bag because . . . It’s a cooler.
The inside can be used as a carry on and then, underneath . . . there’s a leak-proof, water-proof cooler. It fits seven 12-oz cans or two 750 ml wine bottles. It also comes with a wine “sleeve” to put on one bottle, so they don’t clank.
You can get to the cooler via an outside zipper pocket along the bottom, OR through the inside. So let’s say that someone were to take this to a ball game- you could load up the bottom and then keep the hidden outside zipper turned “toward you” as you get your bag checked. There is no way to see the wine/cans on the inside if someone opens the bag. Then, to get to the bottom, there is a flap and zipper from the inside to reach down in. This zipper is secured from the main compartment, to deter access to the main compartment via unzipping this zipper.
They even sell a specific slim blue ice pack that fills the length of the cooler space, or a CoolPac that you can fill with your own ice. When I take it to the beach, I actually just use a blue ice pack I keep in the freezer – because not only can I bring a couple of cans of something cold, but I can also keep my sunscreen and lipstick in there, so they don’t melt in the heat.
HERE is a video that they made that shows all the features of the bag. Again – no promo code from me – I’m just sharing because I really think it’s a fantastic travel bag. I did notice that they’re having a promo through the end of July 2019, but as I am currently typing this on July 27th, that might not be that helpful to anyone.
We had a great lecture last night by Omar, who heads up Fitness here. It was the more amazing because, while all the lectures here have been in English, he did it simultaneously swapping back and forth between English and Spanish.
I really like Omar. He knows a lot about Fitness. There are three guys in the Fitness Center, and Omar is the quietest and perhaps “least muscular looking” if you want to put it that way. But he is infinitely smart about not only fitness, but also how to get the ‘best out of’ every single person he sees.
pelican (bottom, middle left)
In this post, I’m going to list some things about some of the Staff that you might “miss” at Sanoviv, or might want to be sure that you do not miss. Then I’ll talk about the Fitness lecture.
Before I start though, I thought I’d mention that I got my hemoglobin A1C and fasting insulin blood tests back yesterday. Both are normal. Because of the “inability to lose weight” issue, the doctor wanted to check these, even though my Fasting Glucose was fine. They’re more specific tests for insulin resistance and diabetes. As I said to her when she told me, I’m glad that they’re normal, but I’m also frustrated that they are normal. My DUTCH test won’t be back until we’re back home. THIS is what the results will look like.
Staff
I thought, since I’m writing, I should make a quick post about some of the Staff at Sanoviv. As I have mentioned before, you don’t tip the staff here, though when you do your check out and final billing, you can add to it for their “Christmas Fund.” We are adding $1,000, just by way of example. That said, here are a few completely random notes about Staff folks:
Roberto: He’s the shortest one in the kitchen/wait staff, but in my opinion has the best English. He has a great sense of humor, too. If you need something, see if you can snag Roberto. He’s very shy though, snag lightly. :-) He has the nicest smile.
Eunice (pron: you-NIECE-si): She is the Goddess of Massage. I’m not kidding. Her Swedish is the best I have had – In. The. World. And not only am I personally a licensed massage therapist, but I tend to “get massages” (and facials – more on that in a second) everywhere I go. This “honor” was previously held by a massage therapist in Sayulita, Mexico. Eunice’s Reflexology is outstanding as well – better than even the teacher who taught us reflexology at massage school. I have had 3 Swedish massages here, 2 from Eunice. The 2 she gave me were radically different, which is also important. She does a “once over,” then concentrates on what you need. She’s not just “following a template.” The first time she massaged me, I went from the Swedish to the Detox Bath – I’ve discussed that before. It knocked me out! The Reflexology is done with Parafango on your back (you lie on it), and is a great experience. Eunice goes through what she “found” after your Reflexology session (if you’d like), and she hit the nail on the head for me. WARNING: Her hands, elbows, etc. are Made Of Steel. She is no bigger than a minute, but believe me, if she asks you “Media, or Hard?” go for “Media.” Trust me on this. There will still be some excruciating points she finds, but I can’t imagine what “Hard” would feel like. (Her nickname is pronounced “niece.”)
art outside Special Care
Roberta: She doesn’t have a ton of English, but she’s the Goddess of Facials. If you like (well, not like, but desire/need) extractions, this is the woman. As those of you who feel that the “best” part of facials are the extractions, again, this is the best I’ve had – In. The. World. There was one gal up in Salt Spring Island (Canada) and another in Denver, Colorado who were tied for this “blue ribbon” before, but Roberta now has it, hand’s down. Warning: The extractions are as painful as painful can be. Breathe and pinch your hand or something. She does every. single. millimeter. of. your. skin. Including, like, in your ears. Yeeeee-owch!
Priscilla: Her seaweed wrap is the best. I had a couple, and she’s the winner. She’s hilarious, and she speaks English well. If you actually are going to Sanoviv, you can tell her that you understand that she learned her first English from Marvin Gaye “Let’s Get It On” (when she was six….) She’ll likely squeal though. ;-) She and her father are very musical and she mentioned it’s why she thinks some folks are better with languages than others. She said that her mother and brother aren’t that good musically and, in fact, neither of them “has English really at all.” If you’re doing a seaweed wrap, she’s your girl. If you have a good eggnog recipe, you can bring that to her, too. (She had her first eggnog this past Christmas and though she was freaked out at what was in it, she of course took one sip and had “eggnog love.”)
Brisi: She is the cutest kitchen/wait staff person (and only female). I don’t think that she would have a problem with me mentioning that (ahem) she somehow trails a little trouble after her when it comes to breakables. When we first arrived and were waiting for our tour, she came out to a table and dropped a tray of glasses on the floor. (Quite a crash!) Then a day later, another of the kitchen/wait staff “crew” were trying to hand her a pitcher of green juice, something slipped, and it wound up hitting the deck and all the green juice went up on her. A day or two later, she turned and knocked a glass off of the table with another spectacular crash. Just the other day there was a crash in the kitchen when I was standing outside the door, and she actually saw me through the window and held her hands up over her head like ‘It was not me!” She’s just the cutest.
Arturo: If you have any issues giving blood, ask for Arturo to do it. He’s magic. I have all sorts of issues (rolling veins, small veins, collapsing veins) and he took the gallon that they require with no sweat. (He doesn’t have English though.)
hubby’s “protein dinner” last night – stir fried chicken with a honey/coconut aminos sauce
Frankie: Frankie is sort of the “jefe” (boss) of the kitchen/wait staff. He’s not really (Sue Ward, Director of Nutrition, is), but he’s the one actually in the kitchen who will ensure that you get what you need at meals. Don’t be a douchebag though. Eat what they have, unless you have a medical reason not to. Believe me, in four weeks I have seen folks running the kitchen ragged with their “desires and choices.” The kitchen has to make special meals for folks who have medical reasons not to eat what is available at that meal. (For example, I am allergic to fish. So every time fish was the protein at lunch, they had to grill me up chicken. Similarly, hubby tested low in protein. So for dinner, which is always vegan, they would give him an animal protein.) There was a girl that would only eat kale chips and protein shakes. Another who wanted everything as sandwiches. This isn’t a resort – it’s a medical facility. So if you really do have allergies or sensitivities and you’re going to Sanoviv to get a handle on them – then whatever you and your Nutritionist have decided, your name will be on a “stick” at the front of the buffet – pick it up, and the kitchen will have a meal prepared for you. If you’re a Companion and have actual allergies, then put those in your intake form, and they will accommodate you. But if you don’t happen to “like” strawberries and so you go to the kitchen door to wheedle Frankie to “perhaps just bring me some of those blueberries we had for breakfast,” that’s being a douchebag. Just don’t eat the strawberries – there’s plenty more on the buffet. Enough said.
Dr. Sandra: She does the sound meditation class on Tuesday morning, which is wonderful and you really should go. (It’s in the Education Center, not the Meditation Room.) She also does the Energy Medicine/Meditation on Saturdays. Great classes. After sound meditation, head down to the Fitness Center for the Stretching class. Though it says “wear athletic shoes” on the calendar, that’s just the default for anything in the Fitness Center. If it’s yoga, stretching, tai chi, or the like no, you don’t need to wear athletic shoes.
Dr. Fernando: He was my psychotherapist. He does the Energy Medicine/Meditation on Thursday and Friday. He also does the Laughter Yoga in the Education Center on Monday mornings. It’s great. I was a little … ?suspicious?…can’t think of the word (didn’t want to go), but I did and loved it. I went the week that hubby was in the hospital in Tijuana, but then the next week we had to go back to the hospital to get hubby cleared (so missed class) and this week, Dr. Fernando is on vacation! So I only got to go once. It’s worth it, go! And here is a little secret: Fernando has a voice like an angel. If you ask him to sing, he was once told that “If people ask you to sing, you need to sing. If people do NOT ask you to sing, don’t sing!” He is very shy about it but his voice really is that beautiful. Make him tell you the story of serenading his (hopefully to be) wife under her window. :-) And don’t let on where you know this from, I’m sure that he can send the “evil eye” all the way back to San Francisco to “get” me!
Stretching, Kundalini Yoga, Swiss Ball Stretching, Water Aerobics, Tai Chi, Moving Meditation, Cooking classes: All the classes are great. While stretching sometimes is packed, they’ll make room. And I never did a water aerobics (Tuesdays) where there were more than 4 of us in the big pool. Today, it was only 2 of us! All these classes are for anyone (Companion or patient). Sometimes they are not listed on the patient’s schedule, due to a conflict with a doctor’s visit or the like. As such, be sure, if you go as a Companion, to keep your “group” schedule handy. (They give it to you at Intake.) You can go to any class, even if your patient is doing something else. Remember to bring them up their Snack before you go, though! They’ll be so grateful. (As an aside, I am surprised at how many Companions seem to just be swanning around not looking to their patient’s needs. Today, I took hubby up the Snack and his prescribed shake, and there were 6 people in the IV room, 2 of whom have Companions. They all ‘begged me’ to get them their Snack, or shake, or [whatever]. If you’re Companion-ing, come on, champ, do your job!)
The Fitness Lecture
Here are some notes that I took during Omar’s talk. It was a great talk, but the entire time I kept thinking about Greg Glassman. Everything that Omar said is exactly what Greg talks about constantly. The intersection of Physical Fitness and Functional Fitness. . . Eat real food, not too much, mostly plant-based . . . Sleep enough . . . Be your own Health advocate . . . Here we go with the notes:
Physical Fitness is “the ability to carry out daily tasks with vigor and alertness, without undue fatigue, and with ample energy to enjoy leisure-time pursuits and respond to emergencies.” — definition by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Functional Fitness is doing the things that you need to do every day, without pain or trouble. Examples that folks came up with – getting out of the car, picking up a heavy bag of groceries, but Omar said: Start smaller. These are things like bathing yourself and tying your shoelaces. Some people can’t even do that. It’s being able to do everything that allows you to “function” without pain or help.
Omar’s last slide
At Sanoviv, they concentrate on both. They do a hand grip test – but that will not only show that you can hold a barbell or a pullup bar, but also that you can open a jar. They do a squat test, which will show your mobility to get under a barbell, but it also will show that you can get out of a chair without pushing on the armrests or the seat. That is why they have the specific Physical/Functional Fitness “intake” test that they do – to see where you are on the spectrum, so that they can design a program that is specific for you, and that you can take home with you.
Physical Fitness has four components: Strength (“How much can I lift in a single exertion?”), Cardio (“How long can I do this exercise, at what effort, and how long does it take for my heart to calm down afterwards?”), Endurance (“How many repetitions of this exercise can I do before I can’t do any more?”), and Flexibility (“Can I move my body in all planes without pain and with good mobility?”). All of these are tested in the Sanoviv Intake Test. The “fifth” component is an overlap with Nutrition and that is your Body Composition.
The workshops and classes offered by Sanoviv address one or more of the above. For example, if you are talking about muscular fitness, that is addressed in Yoga, Rebounding, Pushups/Pullups, and Weight training, which is simulated through bands. (They are obtaining TRX equipment, however, in the next few months.)
Medical studies have shown that the optimal amount of exercise is, at minimum, five hours per week of moderate intensity and 2.5 hours per week of vigorous intensity. This has been “dumbed down” to “Do 30 minutes walking” and such, but the studies actually show that the body needs the 5 hours/2.5 hours at a minimum. This is similar to the “RDA” for vitamins (Recommended Dietary Allowance). The RDA amount that you see on a food or supplement label as a percentage of “100%” of a certain vitamin is so that you actually don’t come down with something like rickets or scurvy. It’s the absolutely minimum. Many people take this as a maximum, but it’s the exact opposite. Similarly, with physical fitness, the studies show that actually 90 minutes a day, with 60 minutes being moderate intensity, is the best level. After 90, the benefits flatten out. Perhaps people will throw up their hands hearing that this is what their body really needs, but instead of dumbing it down so that people will at least “do something” (though only a small percentage even reach that amount), it seems best to actually tell people what the studies show. Just like the RDA/vitamins. You can’t think “Oh, I didn’t get my 100% of Vitamin E today, but I got to 90%, that’s enough, it’s nearly there.” It is actually not – the RDA is the floor of what you should get daily.
When it comes to Strength training, everyone should be doing a minimum of two days per week. This should involve both strength and balance. For example, it could be body weight exercises (situps, pushups), or exercise bands, or yoga, or bar/dumbbells. “Gym machines” give you a false sense, because there is no balance involved in using them. Also doing non-functional movement (“bicep curls”) is suboptimal, because you are not training your body in a way that will translate into Functional Fitness. (example: Deadlifting directly translates into lifting a bag of groceries, whereas a leg press that works your leg muscles in what looks like the same “way” does not translate into lifting a bag of groceries.)
Older adults (NOTE: Hubby and I immediately said “Um, what do you consider ‘older’?” Omar smiled and said “70 and over”) need to do balance training, and should even think about “practicing falling.” Balance training can just be standing on one foot while cooking, then doing it with eyes closed, etc. You can’t start too early. An “adult gymnastics” or aikido or judo type class, if geared correctly towards older adult beginners, will teach falling. And everyone knows that the fall isn’t really the issue – it’s the break. And Strength training helps build stronger bones, as does eating the right foods.
The human body needs and likes being on a schedule. As such, you need to find something physical that you like to do, and block it into your schedule during the same time. Once you’ve been at it a month or two, your body will expect it. If you like to work out alone, check out apps that can help motivate you. If you like to work out with other people, visit gyms in your area and see if there is a class that speaks to you. Most gyms will give you a one-day pass. Find a buddy – you won’t want to “let each other down.”
There are items that can help you get more exercise during the day, such as “walking desks” (treadmill desk workstations) or something as easy as a desk cycle. Think about taking meetings while walking. Set a timer to stand up and do some stretches every hour if you are at your computer.
Hydration is a big issue. Most people don’t get enough water, and it can be an issue all the way down to the cell level. (I blogged about that HERE, a few years ago.) If you are working out, the only reason to step on a scale is to see if you’re dehydrated. (At Sanoviv, they don’t believe in weighing and measuring – yourself, or your food.) If you step on a scale before you work out and have lost weight after, you didn’t take in enough water. And a 1% body water decrease has been shown to lead to a 10% brain function decrease. Omar was a professional caliber soccer player (he now just plays for “fun”) and he said that this is why most goals are scored at the end of the game – because the teams are dehydrated. The team that stays the best hydrated is the team that’s the better able to see how to score.
Okay, since all that is left of today is dinner and then a lecture that we’ve heard before, I think that this really will be my last post! Thanks for reading what you have, and Commenting when you have. It’s spurred me on to keep blogging about this experiences – which I hope will wind up helping someone in the future looking for an in-depth write up from someone who has been at Sanoviv. I sure know I wanted one – so maybe I can be one!
Who knows? This might be my last post. We have one full and two half days left. I have done all but the largest one of my client projects, which I have just slated for tomorrow, leaving myself today and part of tomorrow to work out. The plan as it stands right now is to use the EmPack to do a “weighted Angie” of sorts. I’ll use the two 15# bladders, and instead of 100 pullups, 100 pushups, 100 situps and 100 squats, I will do 100 ring rows on the TRX, 100 pushups (1…(rest)…2…(rest)…), 100 plank holds and 100 squats. That should do me in. I figure it will take about an hour. (My “best” regular Angie time is 34:47, so that gives you some idea.)
view from our balcony (lap pool in the back, Thalasso Pools in the foreground)
UPDATE: Hubby and I did the Thalasso Pools protocol, then I did 500 yards swimming – 20 lengths/10 laps. I got dead bored and am now back up in the room, ready to try out my self-imposed “weighted Angie challenge.” I am laughing at HOW SHORT of a swim that is compared to my “Ironman Daze” . . . not depressed, not mad, not upset, just laughing. Now that the Elks pool in Marin has been remodeled, I do have it on my short list to start swimming again maybe a couple days a week – however – I need to find my Finish waterproof earbuds because I don’t got that “just swim forever” mentality no mo’!
UPDATE TWO: Oh for goodness sakes. That was ridiculous ;-) Did the “weighted Angie” with the EmPack plus 2 bladders (+/- 30 pounds). Split into 10s (pushups into 5s). So it was 10 TRX rows, 10 squats to the coffee table, 5 push ups, 10 second plank hold, then back around. Since of course I was basically looking at 50 pushups straight at the end that way, I started doing 5 in between the rows and the squats, so at the end I “only” had 20 to go. Did the whole thing in 35:37:44, which I think is pretty darned good as my “regular” Angie time was 34:47 and that was with banded push/pullups, the squat and situp alts the same. Not so terrible :-) Now I’m dead though…Like, single pushups at the end fo’sho’….
Suffering is a Choice, made in the Present, to live in the Past or the Future. [UPDATE: Unless you are doing a weighted Angie. Then suffering is just suffering, and there is no Past or Future. Just Suffering. Sandy ]
Dr. Sandra Toledo (Dr. Sandra)
Energy Medicine Notes
This post is the remainder of my notes taken during my stay. I broke out the “Nutrition” notes into a separate blog post, and I’m breaking out the Energy Medicine notes into this one. The others I just gathered together into a big lump in my last post. So here we go…
“K-27” is your “reset” point so not a bad idea to thump (“hard tap”) it a couple dozen times before starting any protocol. To find it, go to the inner edge of your collar bone, then about 1″ under it, press. There is a “sore spot.” (If you don’t feel one, keep looking – it’s there.) Once you find it, that’s the “reset” point. You can also use the “karate chop” point to reset. This is the inside edge of your hand (below the pinky, so if you’re looking at your palm, the lowest edge on the pinky side). Hit these two edges of your hands together a couple dozen times. Keep your mind clear, or just say to yourself “I am present.”
Meditation is not about staying in the Present. It’s about returning to the Present. So if your mind wanders 1,000 times and each time you tell it “Thank you, I’ll deal with that later” and return, you’ve been 1,001 times successful.
Dr. Sandra
Remember – you can find these on YouTube using the keywords “Donna Eden” and “Energy Medicine.” I wanted to link them here, but the WiFi is still not allowing me. So I will leave that up to you . . . .
Here are the postures that we did on Saturday, that I promised to ‘splain to you (Lucy):
Connecting Heaven and Earth
If you’ve picked up someone else’s energy or need fresh oxygen in your cells, this one’s for you.
Stand. Start by rubbing your hands together until they’re very warm (rub fast), then shake them off. Place your hands on your thighs and take a deep breath in through your nose, and out through your mouth. Swing your arms up from your sides and over your head, then down into prayer position. Take a deep breath through your nose and let it out. Breathe in, and as you do, stretch one arm up and one arm down, with your palms facing the ceiling (up hand) or floor (down hand). Hold your breath, and look up to the “Heaven hand,” then when you’re ready to let your breath out, look down to the “Floor hand.” Bring your arms back out and up over your head and down into prayer position. Now, do the same motion, but with the alternate hands up/down. Always remember to slowly swing your hands up and then to prayer position in between. Do this two or more times each side. When you feel finished, bend over from the prayer position (the last position after the last hand switch), and let your arms and head hang. Stay this way for two deep breaths. Roll yourself slowly up to standing position.
The Wayne Cook Posture
When you’re stressed, exhausted, can’t stop crying, overwhelmed, etc. this posture will help you think more clearly and get perspective.
Sit in a chair with your back straight. Sit so that you are able to “rock” backwards and forwards (so, you will be sitting more in the “middle” of the chair). Place your left foot over your right knee. Wrap your right hand around your left ankle, and your left hand over the ball of your foot, with your fingers curled around the sides, but thumb stays next to your index finger (doesn’t wrap). Keep your arms straight. Breathe in slowly through your nose, and pull your leg toward you/rock back, creating a stretch. As you exhale, breathe out of your mouth slowly with a “Haaaa” sound, letting your body relax/rock forward. Do this four or five times. Switch to the other foot. (Right foot on left knee, left hand around the front of your right ankle, right hand on ball of right foot.) Once you have done the other side 4-5 times, “steeple” your fingertips together to form a pyramid and uncross your legs, putting your feet on the floor. Bring your thumbs to rest on your “third eye,” above the bridge of your nose/in between your eyebrows. Breathe slowly and deeply (in/nose, out/mouth) for 3-4 full deep breaths. On the last exhalation, curl your fingers into the middle of your forehead and separate them, firmly pulling them across your forehead slowly to your temples.
Expelling the Venom (frustration/anger)
You can do this once you are already angry/frustrated, but also do this if you are going into a situation where you think that you might get angry or frustrated. It will act as a “buffer” if you do this before entering that arena.
Stand with your hands on your thighs, fingers spread, and take a deep breath. Ball up your hands, and with a deep inhalation through your nose, bring your arms up in a circle, ending them high above your head. As you exhale, make a very strong “Shhhh!!!” sound (as if telling someone, angrily, to be quiet) as you swing your arms down swiftly, opening them as they drop at the full length of your arms between your thighs. (As if you’re throwing something to the floor, hard.) You’ll likely be bent at the waist, knees slightly bent. Bring to mind the source of your anger as you do this, and make the movements very forceful. Repeat 3-4 times. Feel your muscles and power as you do this. On the last one, do the movement very slowly and deliberately, without the “Shhhhhh” sound.
An apology without change is just manipulation. (Read that again)
Some guru on Instagram
Anxiety: Two different exercises.
Cross your arms and close your eyes. Rub your arm with the opposite hand, slowly, all over the arm from shoulder to wrist. This might make you feel a bit more anxious. But after you have really “felt” that, breathe in through your nose, and as you are breathing out, count out loud from 1-20 (in as many breaths as that takes – in other words, 1, 2, 3, 4, breathe back in then 5, 6, 7, 8…etc.). The idea is that the “rubbing” engages your “creative” brain where the counting engages your “logical” brain, and with both of them engaged, it will overtake your anxiety, causing you to be in the Present. (Anxiety is found in the Past or the Future.)
Take one of your hands and place your palm over your chest. In between the ring and pinkie fingers on the outside of your hand, start tapping while thinking of what’s stressing you out. That point in your hand is where a meridian line flows that is related to the “fight or flight” response. By tapping, you interrupt that flow. It might take up to a minute to start to feel better. Once you start to feel better, change hands. It’s strongest if you do this over your chest/”Heart Chakra,” though if you want to be “unobtrusive” you can even do it in a meeting under the table, etc. Be sure to do both sides.
If you do an Energy Medicine exercise and you don’t feel any change from how you felt when you started, that just means that you might not have needed it. That is why some of you practicing these exercises will feel a profound difference, and some might feel nothing. If you feel that you are in an anxious, or angry, or stressed, or tapped, position and do the correct protocol, you will feel differently at the end from when you started. Even if it’s just a tiny change, that is profound. It shows your mind and your body that you can take control. Be sure to check how you feel before you start, then check back in when you’re through.
Dr. Sandra
The Sequence
The idea of this is to get out from under a Fear or a Problem. While you are doing it, repeat “Even though I [have this problem], I am deeply and completely [committed to a positive statement].” So for example it could be “Even though I have extra fat on my body, I love my body very much.” It might be hard to say the last part at first. Or, “Even though I am afraid of needles [if you’re doing the IV treatment], I am deeply and completely committed to my health.” Or, “Even though I am afraid of heights, I am committed to learning to rope climb.” Whatever it is, the second phrase cannot be a ‘No’ phrase, it must be a ‘Yes’ phrase, as your brain doesn’t know how to do anything but action, and the “action” that you tell the brain will be the “No.” So for example if you say “Even though I am afraid of heights, I won’t be afraid any more,” you are saying to your brain the phrase “…afraid…” since it loses the “won’t.” Or “Even though I don’t like needles, I won’t faint” – You are telling your brain, “Faint.”
Start by tapping the “Karate Chop Point” of your hands together about five times. This is not just light tapping. You need to put some force behind it (but don’t break anything ;-) ) Then, the sequence is do this (each about 5x) (1) on your third eye point (between your eyebrows), (2) one your temples, (3) under the middle of your eye on the bone there, (4) between your nose and your upper lip, (5) under your lower lip, (6) in the “sore spot under your collarbone” (K27, as noted above), (7) on the sides of your ribs (this is easier if you make a fist and “thump” your ribs a few inches below your armpit – there is a “sore spot” there – if you find it, that’s the place!), (8) in the middle below your last rib (so in the middle of your body, but on the last rib – you might think of this as on the “edges” of your diaphragm), (9) tap the tip of your thumbs together, (10) tip of your index fingers, (11) tip of your middle fingers, (12) inside of your pinkie fingers (you’ll need to flip one hand upside down, but if you think of it as the inside to inside of your pinkie fingers, you’ll get it right), (13) back to the karate chop point. No, not the ring finger, it has a meridian that has already been tapped up on your face.
Once you have done this once, the second time around, the wording you’ll use is “Even though I still have SOME OF this problem remaining…” Or if you want to move right to it, just do the phrase on the “right side” of the comma.” Do the entire thing over again from the beginning.
For the last part to “seal the deal,” you do just want to say what was “after the comma” in your original statement. So, for example, “I love my body” or “I am committed to health and healing.” For this one, tap your “gamma point,” which is your temples, with both hands. As you do this, perform these 9 actions: (1) eyes closed. (2) eyes open. (3) eyes hard down to the right (head steady, just move your eyes). (4) eyes hard down to the left (head steady). (5) roll your eyes in a circle clockwise. (6) roll your eyes in a circle anti-clockwise. (7) hum 5 seconds of a song that you know well (example: Happy Birthday). (8) count loudly from 1 to 5. (9) Hum 5 seconds of the song again.
I know that I’ve mentioned at least a couple of these elsewhere in the blog, but thought that I’d put them all in one place, here. I know that we did a few more of them (and I’m pretty sure that I wrote them up), but what I put above are my final notes that I had to transcribe (YAY!)
Have a great day – the sun is shining through the marine layer today and so it’s suddenly HOT! Hubby is done with his IVs so I might convince him to hit the Thalasso Pools. Can’t quite believe that I haven’t been in actually swimming the entire time we’ve been here. I think part of it is the fact it’s unheated. Also that usually if I’m doing something “work-out-y” (unless it’s in my room), hubby and I are doing it together, and he doesn’t like to swim.
Saturdays are still pretty much like a weekday – doctor visits, spa folks, Quiet Room, etc. However, you get dessert for lunch (the photo is of ours this week), and serenaded by a troubadour at dinner ;-)
Here’s a photo of our second favorite piece of art at the Mansion (first being the “dancing manatee”). It’s a solid sculpture – though not that big, it weighs enough that I was unable to lift it with one hand. :-)
Evenings on Saturday there is a “Hollywood movie.” Feature: Wild Hogs.
Sundays are super quiet. Though there is a coordinator and a few spa staff if you’d like to have a spa treatment, the bells don’t even go off on Sundays. This Sunday I had planned to do a workout, but I got lemon/cayenne tea, walked on the dewy grass for a bit, said goodbye to Arnold and Jay (Andy left Saturday), went in for breakfast, then “lay down for a nap” with hubby where we woke up at lunch . . . then another nap . . . woke up at dinner! Not kidding! This “ocean air” and the hypnotic waves hitting the cliff did us in!
Sunday is usually a “health movie,” but this Sunday the Coordinator was doing two tours for newcomers. So one of the other gals, and Dr. Danielle (OMG so embarrassed to have bothered her) figured out how to work the DVD in the theatre. We had four choices in the “sound booth,” and played That Vitamin Movie. It was good, and talked through a lot of what we have learned here about what vitamins do what, and how various vitamins help cells “return to their normal state.” It’s not so much that the vitamins “cure” things in the body, as they help it to return from arthritic states, cancer, gout, depression, etc. Of course, the first thing to do is stop eating processed food (or if you do eat it, eat it “as a treat”), but then – even if the food you buy is organic – our environment has so many more toxic pollutants that supplementing is (per the MDs in this movie) pretty much a requirement these days. Of course, if you look up any of the folks in this documentary (Erin Elizabeth, Dr. Mercola, Andrew Saul, etc.) you’ll find rabid “these folks are kooks” websites, and then rabid “these folks are God” websites. I think that the answer lies somewhere in between. The websites Doctor Yourself and Nutrition Facts also came up.
Because of all the napping, of course, I didn’t get to sleep until 2:00 a.m.!
I have done nothing productive or useful since Friday. Well, unless you count the Ngaio Marsh, Agatha Christie, Mary Higgins Clark, and Kathy Reichs novels I’ve added to the “Books Read” list I mentioned before. I have to admit that, given my “druthers,” the Cosy Mystery category is my favorite. I’ve picked up a Janet Evanovich from the library, but I’m telling myself I really must not start reading until I do both a workout today and the work that’s come in since Friday. Promises, Promises . . .
I’m writing this on Monday. After bidding adieu to two of my favorite folks here (leaving today), we had Forgiveness Meditation for 45 minutes, then hubby and I did our grounding-on-the-green, and I took some videos of the pelicans to post on Instagram. (No posting of videos here unfortunately, though I might be able to “backfill” them in once they’re on Instagram.) Mondays are “Nutola” day (with fresh coconut milk, papaya, blueberries, etc. to add) – so delicious. I plan to try making it when we get home. I have the mother-in-law of all shopping lists already started – yes, that’s what I do when I can’t get to sleep LOL.
I’d been tellnig myself that I didn’t get to open my tenth and final card until this morning, and when I did, I laughed out loud! (As I was told I would.) As my friend mentioned in a Marco Polo, this card just got better the longer I was here, especially given the whisking off to the Emergency room, etc. etc. I’d tend to agree! We have today and then one more full day – we leave Wednesday. I will do up the Energy Medicine blog, but I promised myself I wouldn’t do it until I did at least one work thing. Cheers!
Today was paleo pancake day – my favorite ;-) (Well, the nut-ola day is pretty close, especially if they make the macadamia milk!) As hubby said though, these are very dense pancakes – two is actually probably “one too many.” Not sure if the recipe will be in the new Recipe Book that we will receive in .PDF form when we leave, but I hope so. As you can see, they serve it with super sweet strawberries, “smashed” blueberry sauce (blueberries whirled in the VitaMix, and then whole blueberries added), and the “food with no brakes” nut butter :-)
These are the cards that I’ve mentioned a few times. They’re from a friend, who FedEx’d them to me to be sure I got them before I left. These have been the best thing ever. I remember when my goddaughter was in a “rehab-esque” facility, I bought a ton of cards, and sent her one every day that she was there (it was like 30 cards). Wow, it makes you feel really really cared for. I admit that I did open two in a row on the day that hubby was in ER, but I am saving the last one until Monday (two days before we leave). Above is a “gallery” of the cards. Although I’m sure that they will be a little tough to read posted this way, if you can click on them to read the “small print” on each, they’re just so funny. They’re from EmilyMcDowell.com and when I get home, I’m buying all of them since these are exactly the cards to have on hand!
coffee tables for step-ups, various bands/TRX, EmPack – out the slider on the balcony is where I do the jump rope and minitramp parts of a workout
A couple of folks have sent “private messages” to me with respect to my workout regime here at Sanoviv. If you’re on Marco Polo with me, I sent you a video showing you my room “gym” including the seafoam green shag carpet for floor work – but here’s a write-up for those of you who are not. In our room, I have a mini-tramp, which I use when I’m supposed to “jog” in the program set up for me by my Crossfit box. (I also have, of course, 7 flights of stairs.) When it says to do, for example, 1 minute at “100%” then followed up with a jog, I jump rope out on the balcony, and then I jump on the mini-tramp. This photo shows you various bands, the TRX (which I’ve been using for ring rows, because pullups aren’t really possible, my hang on the wardrobe photographed a while ago notwithstanding), then the EmPack which has three bladders, each of which weighs, full, about 15 lbs. I have 2 of them filled up and 1 filled to about 5 lbs. There is also the aforementioned small area rug where I do the planks, hollow rocks, etc.
Hubby got a bluetooth speaker called a “MegaBoom” by Ultimate Ears that is by far the best bluetooth speaker we’ve ever had. We’ve had Bose, etc. and this one has a 360 degree sound, plus the base is very good. It’s even waterproof ;-) I luckily downloaded a few of my Spotify playlists to my phone before leaving, because for whatever reason, you can’t get them to download over the WiFi. (Same goes for Audible books, Kindle books, iTunes, etc. I actually did this as an afterthought when we were driving to the airport on the day we left. So thankful that I did!)
I have to say that I’m sick of working out alone ;-) The other day I did their Circuit Training class, which was pretty fun. As I’ve mentioned before, their Fitness center is really set up for folks who aren’t particularly “fit” – as it should be (this is a hospital, after all). In the Circuit Training, we did 1 minute on, 20 seconds off, 2 rounds of: (a) Minitramp jumping jacks, (b) flies with a band (the toughest band in the gym is about the strength of a blue and a red in “Crossfit/Rogue band parlance”), (c) step up on a box (I did box jumps – it was about 9″ tall so I was able to, since my max is 12″ :-) ), (d) banded rows facing the band, (e) step “over” the box” side to side (he had me do a move where I straddled the box, plyo-jumped up to the top, then back down), (f) banded tricep push, (g) squats (everyone used a big Swiss ball that they leaned against a wall and then squatted as far down as they could – I put the biggest “slam ball” they had (12 lbs) on the ground and squatted down to it), (h) banded bicep curls, then (i) plank. For the plank, I did “down-up” plank for a little while, passed a dumbbell under my body side to side, did one leg up then another, etc. I mean, it was only a minute. Then at the end I did 6 pushups before moving back to the mini-tramp. It was fun to be with people again! And, why yes, I was the certified fitness bad @ss of the class. Now that is a different feeling….!
Yesterday hubby actually did part of my printed workout with me in the room. He had to lie down in between some of the sets, and then only did a couple rounds of the last set. It was a farmer’s carry with one hand (30# EmPack) and waiter’s walk (5# EmPack bladder) with the other – supposed to be 50′ then swap hands, but we did the entire hall and back to our door (probably more like 100′) then switched hands and did the hall again. While one of us was doing that, the other did the banded hamstring curls, ring rows, Pallof presses, and then back for the walk again, 3x.
The M-WOD was a dozen each of banded pull-aparts pronated, candlestock rock to seated straddle, banded pull-aparts supinated, the rock, banded overhead pull-aparts, the rock. Hubby had thrown a rib out, but surprisingly the candlestick rock helped get it back in. (He’s seeing the chiropractor anyway today.)
There was another WOD that we traded off (“pullups,” i.e., ring rows, and dumbbell rows), then he was “through” and went to take a shower. The EmPack was awesome for this last part, which was a Tabata plank. I used it with the two 15 lb. bladders and strapped it on “as” a backpack. This was sure easier than when my Crossfit wife and I were trying out all the moves back in the gym, and we were trying to balance a sandbag on our backs!
I was glad I had downloaded a couple of “Tabata songs” I bought years ago onto my cell phone, since for whatever reason, as I said, it won’t connect to iTunes or Spotify here, only downloaded songs.
I had a “prideful moment” doing the planks. Hubby was in the shower and I wanted him to “see me” doing the weighted Tabata planks (and tell me I was a bad @ss (LOL)). So I actually did two sets, figuring that since I’d started at what I thought was almost the end of his shower, he’d be out and see me and comment as I finished.
Um, yeah, NOPE. I was already cleaned up and had put everything away by the time he was out. Shows me for looking for approval/kudos from the outside ;-) Therapy Much? :-)
Our friend Andy (photo in previous post) is originally from Texas, here on the 2 week Lyme protocol. He’s the supply logistics bigwig at Chevron Australia in Perth. I ran into him early this morning, and he looked positively gleeful. He was supposed to leave on Sunday, but told me that he’d swapped out his flight for today, so he was “getting sprung in just a few hours!” It was so funny. As I’ve mentioned before, our friend Arnold (from Paraguay) dubbed Sanoviv “Hotel Baja California,” so of course I said to Andy, “Wait hey now, you sure that you can’t just check out any time you want….?”
He’s flying out of here to SFO. He was asking us about restaurants/etc. down by the airport about a week ago. After we talked it through with him, turns out he’s going to rent a car at the airport, have dinner in San Francisco (we provided him with the latest S.F. Chronicle “100 Best Restaurants” list), then he’s going to actually stay in Marin. His sister lives in Sacramento, and so Sunday and Monday he’s going to see her up in Napa and visit his favorite wineries, have some more good food, then he fly back to Australia Monday night. By staying in Marin, he won’t have to brave the Bridge traffic, and will be basically 1/2 way to Napa (and won’t be paying city hotel rates). We, of course, told him that we hated him ;-) He just giggled. B@stard. :-)
Speaking of wine, one of the funniest Marco Polos on record was one sent to me by a friend and her husband. She was telling me what was going on, and her husband was walking back and forth behind her listening/waving/etc. – carrying a bottle of Napa Cab in one hand and a huge glass full of the wine in the other. Sipping away, walking in and out of the picture. I had a total Pavlovian response. I had to listen to the Marco twice because all I could do was follow the husband back and forth with my eyes, staring at the bottle and the glass. I sent her a Marco back about it, and she sent one this morning laughing, saying that neither of them had even noticed that he was doing this. She “promised me” that her “um…morning caffeinated beverage that shall remain unmentioned” was outside camera range. I just laughed and laughed.
I might have said this before, but hubby had said – actually last Sunday right before he had to go to the hospital! – that he felt pretty good about taking a lot of what we had learned here with respect to eating, etc. and bringing it back to our daily lives. Last night he told me that after now “three weeks going on four,” all that has gone out the window! He said that they probably make the Cancer program three weeks because that’s the perfect “balance” where you are likely to go home and still retain 80% of it in your daily life. However (a bit like Andy, I think) now he’s just planning to dive head first into a bacon blue cheese filet mignon burger on a brioche bun with fries drenched in ketchup, with a nice magnum of Napa Cab. “To start,” sez he. :-)
I have some notes from the Energy Medicine/Meditation class today (our last…) that I’ll put in a separate blog post. Energy Medicine/Meditation is Thursday, Friday and Saturday. This is our last one, as we leave on Wednesday. I want to link some YouTube videos though, because I want to be able to go back and find the Energy Medicine techniques once I’m back home, and right this second YouTube is “wonky” on the WiFi. The class was super dense today – we did 4 different techniques (usually you do maybe 1-2). There were also a few great quotes that I immediately left class and wrote down. Dr. Sandra is great for memorable comments. :-)
So there you go ;-) Next post – Energy Medicine ;-)
This blog post will be a compilation of a bunch of nutrition lectures that we have had while here. I believe that the Director of Nutrition, Sue Ward, is coming out with a book that addresses “diets,” which I am sure will be fantastic!
A book that was recommended (and I already have in my Amazon ‘cart’) is Mastering Leptin by Byron J. Richards, CCN.
The Five Rules of The Leptin Diet®
1. Never eat after dinner. Finish eating dinner at least three hours before bed. Allow 10-12 hours between dinner and breakfast. Allow at least 3 hours between dinner and bed – never go to bed “on food.” Sleep is prime “fat burning” (metabolic) time. NOTE: If you have problems with Rule #1, you likely have a significant problem with blood glucose metabolism, liver function, and/or leptin resistance.
2. Eat three meals a day. Allow 5-6 hours between meals. Do not snack! The need to snack is a sign of an out-of-shape pancreas/liver/muscle system. Because each snack forces your body to make insulin, etc., snacking is like a “repetitive strain injury” on your system.
3. Do not eat large meals. Eat until you are “not hungry,” not until you are “full.” Eating slowly is important, as how “full” you feel takes 20 minutes to get to your brain, after you reached that point. If you shovel food down, your body can’t signal properly. Cutting portion sizes and “putting your fork down” will help shrink and tone your stomach.
4. Eat a high protein breakfast. Aim for 20-30 grams of protein at breakfast. Metabolism increases +/- 30% for as long as 12 hours after a high protein meal. This would be like taking a 3-4 mile jog! If you don’t “feel like breakfast,” it’s likely that your system is full of toxic waste from the night before. Have a low protein dinner, to set your system up for success overnight.
5. Reduce the amount of carbohydrates eaten – especially “Food with no brakes.” Limit, don’t cut out, carbs. Without carbs, your thyroid turns off, growth hormone doesn’t get released, fat is not burned efficiently, you won’t have the “bulk” in your stomach to feel satisfied, and lots of other nasty, disregulatory things happen.
From the Sanoviv Newsletter:
Sue Ward writes the Newsletter for Sanoviv, which comes out monthly. The featured article for June was “40 Tips for Fat Loss.” (I wish I could link it, but you need to subscribe yourself.) Here are just a few of the suggestions – she asks the reader to consider just doing 4-5 of those on the list (the 5 above are on there, by the way).
Support your liver by going through your house and eliminating processed foods and environmental toxins. These include shampoos, cleaning products, deodorants and the like. Pick up a replacement one, and “just see” if it works for you. If that one doesn’t – don’t give up!
Have soup for dinner for 7 days, then wake up to a high-protein breakfast.
Consume fermented foods. Sauerkraut, (live, non-sugar) yogurt, miso, etc. This can help balance your gut bacteria. Polyphenols are in a more active state in fermented food, which is also loaded with good gut bacteria.
Eat enough fiber. This means 25-30 grams/day.
Slow down and eat mindfully. Unconscious eating = mindless eating = overeating.
Stop sitting so much. Sitting stops the circulation of lipase, the enzyme that breaks up fat in the body. Standing re-engages the fat burning enzymes. Yes, you can talk on the phone, watch TV, or the like while standing!
Try a liquid day once a week. This gives the body a digestive rest, cleanses your system, and helps restore balance. This can be soups, smoothies, teas, green juices, or water.
Control portions through smaller plates. Many of us were brought up with the “Clean Plate Club.” If you use a larger plate, you can misjudge how much is on it.
Adjust meal timing to improve fat burning. Space meals 5-6 hours apart, don’t skip meals and do NOT snack. Combine with Intermittent Fasting for a bigger boost.
Use Vitamin C to reduce cravings. Linus Pauling’s research showed that Vitamin C competes with sugar for the entrance to your cells. The more sugar in the system, the less Vitamin C can get in. One study showed that adults with Vitamin C deficiency were more resistant to losing fat, whereas those with adequate Vitamin C levels burned 30% more fat during exercise. This does NOT mean “pop a Vitamin C gummy” or drink fruit juice however! Eat FOODS high in Vitamin C. (Thyme and Parsley, anyone? They beat oranges!)
Try a veggie-only day once a week. Start with a green smoothie, a large salad for lunch, and a plate of stir-fried veggies for dinner. No grains, fruit, or meat. You can also try replacing one meal per day for a week with veggie juice, which is a great way to boost antioxidants and phytonutrients without added calories. No, this doesn’t mean V-8! Try to make your own at home if you have the “machinery,” or opt for one from an organic purveyor without added salt, etc. Remember – the longer a product has been in the “bottle,” the less “fresh” it is for your body. Moreover, if a product you purchase isn’t in a dark bottle, the antioxidants are going to be working hard – on the sunlight that’s affecting the juice!
Miscellaneous Notes
We have had a lot of Nutrition workshops and seminars here. I saved out my notes from the “Notes” blog and am putting them here instead.
Digestion begins in the brain. Just think of something super tasty for you – or even sucking on a lemon. Your brain will tell your mouth that this food is on the way, and your salivary response will start. This why somewhat easy things – like just taking a second and saying Grace over a meal (even if you’re not religious, you can thank the farmers and ranchers who brought it to you) can get your brain to send the right “signals” to the rest of your body with respect to what’s coming. Giving gratitude over a meal is also positive talk about that meal for your body, which will be more receptive. If you’re “sneaking” food, bolting food, or eating “mindlessly” you have subconsciously given your body the signal that it’s not good for it. And what does the body do with substances like that? Wraps each molecule up with fat and stores it at your waistline.
Chew more. Count your chewing “baseline” for a meal. (Yes, this counts as Mindful Eating.) Then, try to double it. The more broken down an item is before it gets to your stomach, the less hard it is for your stomach and the rest of your system to deal with it.
Leaky gut is found in the small intestine. Yes, it’s a real thing. Basically due to damages done from foods and toxins, the wall of your small intestine is permeable, which allows food particles to “leak out” into your system. So, instead of having the parts of a meal that are supposed to be in your blood (amino acids from protein, from example), you actually have a small piece of that meal in your blood. Your system doesn’t know what to do with it. This can lead to a cascade effect. (Example: Your thyroid can view a gluten molecule as the same shape as its own tissue – so “seeing” a gluten molecule can cause it to attack itself. The gluten molecule wouldn’t be there without you having leaky gut – it would have been broken down into the composite protein parts (e.g., gliadin, glutenin, proline, glutamine, secalin, hordein, etc.) Gut healing foods include aloe vera (do not buy a “blend” or one that has sugar in it! Try to get organic. It is available at Trader Joe’s and is tasteless), bone broth, healthy fats (such as ground flax seed and avocado). There are also Gut repair nutrient supplements such as GI Revive.
you should have 1-3 bowel movements per day. They should look “fluffy” and hold together. If you are not, you can take magnesium citrate (not any other kind) to help with constipation, but should up your fiber to at least 30 grams per day, plus water. You can also take 12 grams/a rounded tablespoon of ground flax seeds, psyllium, or inulin (which is also a prebiotic), but you must take enough water with these, as they will all be constipating without it. If you have an issue with “stopping up the plumbing” with your bowel movements, release 1/2, flush, release the other 1/2, flush, THEN use the paper (and flush). (TMI?)
Two cans of regular soda/Monster/etc. (24 teaspoons of sugar) decrease the efficiency of your white blood cells by 92% for 5 hours. In other words, this “crashes” your immune system and makes it completely unable to fight any “immune-response” thing going on in your body (arthritis, flu, etc.)
If you take a med such as Prilosec, it actually decreases your stomach acid – the stomach will sense this, and make more and more and more. You need instead of take a supplement that will supplement your stomach system (I’ve mentioned this in a post before, because I mentioned that the Designs for Health product has H-Cl and was recommended as better for me than the USANA product). The alkaline of a product like Prilosec just buffers the stomach acid and decreases your digestion ability by an enormous factor.
HealthyTraditions.com has lists that include where you can find glyphosate-free oats, etc. Cornucopia.org has a list about egg purveyors and also yogurts. (Spoiler Alert: Trader Joe’s “organic, free range” eggs are nothing of the sort.)
Glutens have a substance in them that are called “gluteomorphins.” What does that sound like? Yes, Morphine. They react the same way. And you wonder why you can’t stop reaching for the bread basket?
Wash all your fruits and veggies. Soaking them in 1 ounce of aluminum-free baking soda combined with 100 ounces of water for 15 minutes has been proven in a test to get pesticide residue out from under the skin of apples. As I’ve said before, go to EWG.org to get the “Clean 15” foods that you can buy conventionally and the “Dirty Dozen” foods that you need to buy organic. If you give them a small donation you will get a grocery bag tag that contains these lists.
Resistant Starch. Your probiotic/gut biome needs “prebiotics” to grow and live. The best choices are three foods that we have been told now basically to never eat: white rice, white potatoes, and pasta. What’s the catch? You have to eat them cold. By way of example, rice has 4 calories per gram when it’s hot, and 2 when it’s cold. How do you do this? Make a cold rice salad, potato salad, or pasta salad. No mayo or sugar though! Make it with vinegar (e.g., “German” potato salad). If you combine resistant starch with live culture foods (sauerkraut, live culture yogurt), you get double the benefit.
Do not take probiotics on an empty stomach. The probiotics need to make it down into your small intestine, and your stomach acid kills them. If you feel the need to take a probiotic supplement, HERE is one that is strongly recommended – and if you take a good probiotic like this with food poisoning, it will “mop up” what is causing you to get sick. Take it as soon as you feel that you “might” have eaten something bad.
Lack of sleep and insulin resistance: A study showed that if you go from 8 hours to 6 hours of sleep a night, you can build up insulin resistance in two weeks.
Type 2 Diabetics should consider eating only two meals a day. Eating at 10 and 4 will allow your body to rest between having to make insulin. If you keep snacking, you never stop making insulin, and your body will never go to your fat stores to get energy.
Mark Hyman (who has a zillion books) trained at Sanoviv about eight years ago, for his functional medicine institute. All of his books pretty much recommend the same eating plan – which is basically the Sanoviv eating plan.
The Gabriel Code. About a zillion years ago (I checked my cloud files – yep, a zillion) I subscribed to the meditations, etc. that the author of this book put out. I never finished them because – SQUIRREL!!!! But I have just saved them from my “Diet and Exercise” cloud folder to my “To Read” cloud folder. The 10,000 ft. view of this book and the system is that this guy lost like 300 pounds by changing the way he thought. He also did it very slowly, so wound up not having “hanging skin” and the rest. His book and meditations have to do with the fact that when you’re under stress, etc. that your body “hides you” under mountains and mountains of fat. Hey, “Nobody bothers the elephant in the jungle.”
The Plant Paradox. This is a book that I’ve read, that reminds me a bit of the book How Not To Die, but it is really based upon lectins and has some suboptimal things in it. One is that it recommends “quorn,” which is a highly processed, engineered food which is terrible for you (there are lawsuits involved). It also has way too many complicated supplements that are low quality, and doesn’t include any animal protein, which can lead to body complications. Many foods that are eliminated are rich in important nutrients where cooking, soaking, sprouting and fermenting them can significantly decrease their lectin content. So, if you’re super sensitive to lectins, maybe this will help you, but for the bulk of folks, cooking foods prior to eating and following a healthy, balanced diet is likely a better alternative. Though a lot of these diet plans are “compelling,” as Sue said in her lectures, all these books will convince you to throw out everything that you have and move onto whatever it is that they’re suggesting.
So, what are you going to start doing – next week – from this list to lead to a more healthful life?? Let me know in the Comments – I’m curious!
This post is – quite literally – just a compilation of all the notes I’ve written that didn’t already “wend their way” into another post! I guess I will do them as “bullets” – but there’s no rhyme or reason to what goes first, next, etc. Just notes :-)
Energy Medicine Brain Hack (Anxiety/Sleep): Parasympathic = relaxation = healing and repair. One way to address this (as well as sleep issues, worry, anxiety) is to cross your left foot over your right, then your right arm across your left. If you can do it, put your right arm across your left, grab your palms/interlace your fingers, then turn your hands “in and up” so that you are in “prayer” pose with your fingers intertwined and your wrists crossed. Relax and release your tongue to the bottom of your mouth. Breathe deeply for about a minute. (Pretty sure I have mentioned this before, but I don’t have it “crossed off” my notes, so…)
Energy Medicine Brain Hack (Anxiety): Another way to deal with panic, anxiety, and feeling “out of body” is to put your finger out in front of your face (arm straight), focus on that finger for 5 seconds, then focus on something far beyond it for 5 seconds – do this for about 1/2 dozen times. If you’re in a public situation, you can just focus on something “at about arm’s length” and then take a “long” view. You are engaging the nerve endings behind the eyes and sending a message to the brain. The eyes are very important in tracking danger, so if you’re telling your brain that you’re not “concentrating” on looking for something to attack you (long distance) or something fighting you (short distance), it works as a brain hack that there is no danger.
Breathing in enhances the Sympathetic system. This is your “fight or flight” system. Breathing out enhances the Parasympathetic system, which is “calm down, relax, it’s all okay.” In remembering my “off the charts” Sympathetic energy response vis-a-vis the Parasympathetic, my psychologist discussed breathing out for a longer time than breathing in. Concentrating on the “out.”
“Hobnob” is an app (both iPhone and Android) that helps coordinate in-person gatherings. It’s “fremium” – if you use it a lot, you’ll need to pay. It’s like Evite on steroids/text (v. email)-based. Has designed invitations, a method for planning events, video-based invites, etc. The invites are sent via text, which allows instant RSVPs without guests having to download the app. There is a “private forum” feature for event-based conversations, and they are adding a feature to pay for events. Hobnob prioritizes in-person connections and cultivates relationships – started by a Hawaiian – over 10 million invitations have been sent, it takes about 30 seconds to create an invite from one of their templates (though you can upload your own), 6+ million individual people have been invited to a “Hobnob party” so far, and it costs $0 to create 10 invitations per month.
Iodine levels test as low (might have already noted this somewhere else). As a way to deal, nori/ “sea green leafies” are a great source, be sure that they are from a clean source. Also using iodized salt (e.g., standard “Morton salt” versus the “fancier” salts) can help. Either use it in cooking, or use it on the table, one or the other. Using a sea salt or “full spectrum” salt is good for the other minerals, but I test low in iodine. Affects thyroid function, so this might be a reason that thyroid has been affected.
Cancer invades the vascular system and produces an oxidative stress. It particularly affects the lungs and liver, even if “lung cancer” and “liver cancer” aren’t tested as “being present.” As such, there is less oxygen in the body, which means that there will be less absorption of food, etc. (Body needs to “make a fire” to burn/get the energy out of food, and fire needs O2.) Cancer makes its own blood vessels to block (“catch”) antibodies that the body makes to fight it. Cancer also “eats” sugar, and then grabs insulin before cells can get to it. So this means that sugar is left out in your blood stream, which is hugely stressful on the body, because the cancer ate the insulin that was trying to attach to it (leading your body into a diabetic state of affairs). However, keto diet, which is being touted these days, is very difficult on the body and also most people don’t really get into ketogenesis using it – the stress helps empower the cancer. (More on diets/food in a separate blog post.)
The immune system is depleted by just the “idea of” fighting cancer, and also by chemo and radiation. After these happen, you need to revert your body to “Healthy” – in other words, reverse the effects the cancer has had. Concentrating on “fighting” cancer is just more stress. If possible, try to “love” the cancer, for showing you issues in your life that perhaps were not as they should have been/where you weren’t paying attention. The body can produce far more antibodies and better antibodies at that, if it doesn’t have to “worry about you” “fighting” something.
All hormones produced by the body have a protein basis; as such, you need enough quality protein to make enough hormones. Often this is not obtainable on a vegan diet. It’s hard to “feel” that you aren’t producing enough hormones until it becomes critical. By not having enough quality protein, you literally cannot build hormones – you “starve” your system of the ability to build them.
Pancreatic enzymes are needed to “eat” animal protein. By having your daily animal protein at Breakfast and Lunch but none at Dinner, this gives your body a head start for your fast between Dinner and Breakfast, and those enzymes can work on your blood, cleansing and cleaning it. Since the vegetarian diet lacks the substrate (protein building blocks) for pancreative elastase-1 as an enzyme, this will decrease secretion of this enzyme, which can lead to malabsorption of food/minerals/vitamins. New drugs deal with “pancreatic insufficiency” (of course they do . . . ) but in reality the first defense is to get your diet on track.
An alkaline-forming diet (which is terrible for cancer) is less than 25% animal protein (but contains animal protein), plus fruits and veggies.
The First Aid Stress Tool (F.A.S.T.) can be utilized as an at-home way to give extra support after an N.E.T. office visit. The NET procedure addresses the mind/body effects of stress, helping deal with the root causes. Recurring stress patterns are often because the subconscious reminds us in current situations of old traumatic events (Conditional Response). NET and FAST focus on eliminating the conditioned response. With FAST, you touch the acupuncture points for stress (located on the forehead) and some of the pulse points that represent organ meridians, thus covering many of the normal emotional responses to stress. The idea is to touch these points and think about the stressful circumstance and embody the uncomfortable situation (where do you feel it?) After a few deep breaths, the “charge” will lessen. FAST is not a replacement for NET work with a licensed psychologist, diagnosis, or treatment, it is for home support. There are homeopathic tinctures that are also compatible with supporting this work. Kids particularly can use FAST in high stress situations after being walked through it with a child psychologist that practices NET.
Forgiveness lecture: Forgiveness is taking your power back – it’s all about you. It’s about improving your mental health and healing yourself, not about the people that hurt you. It’s 100% inwardly focused. It is not about condoning unkindness, denying or minimizing the hurt, forgetting that something painful happened, giving up feelings, excusing poor behavior. Forgiveness is not the same as “reconciliation,” and it does not have to be an “otherworldly” or “religious” experience. “Forgiveness is the feeling of inner peace that emerges as you take your hurt less personally” (Dr. Fred Luskin, “Forgive for Good” and co-founder of the Stanford University Forgiveness Project – the largest scientific study on forgiveness ever). Creating a “Grievance Story” = “Renting too much space to disappointment.” Difficult situations that we are still returning to in our mind gives away our power and keeps us in the past. Blaming the offender of a past offense for how we feel about it gives away that power and “adds insult to injury.” You are insulting yourself as you continue to blame an offender for how you feel. Think about being the “Hero” not the “Victim” – better yet, get out of the “Victim Triangle” altogether. (N.B.: I did a podcast on this a long time ago.) Do you want to be “right” or do you want to be happy/at peace? Free your mind. There are 3 preconditions for forgiveness: (1) know what your feelings are about what happened (do you still feel anger? ashamed? embarrassed? What is it, specifically?). (2) be clear about the action that wronged you (what, very specifically, happened? Look at it as if it was a movie – without any emotion – just watch it. Imagine the motivations, and particularly know that the motivation of the “other party” in the situation is 99.9% not to cause the feeling that you are still carrying around with you). (3) share your experience with at least one or two trusted people that aren’t in any way involved. Don’t rush forgiveness. (Books: “Forgive for Good,” Fred Luskin, “Taming Your Gremlin,” Rick Carlson, “Loving What Is,” Byron Katie, “Man’s Search For Meaning,” Victor Frankl)
Forgiveness is releasing all hopes for a better past.
Today’s dining room decoration took the cake. I’m not quite sure how long it takes the “artiste” to carve all the little teeth, feathers and scales, but – I mean – can you even?
Here’s the one from last night. I just can’t get over these. My Nutritionist said that she’s been here for years and years, and hasn’t seen the same one twice. I think that the fish might have been “recycled” in this one, but that’s it.
To have these all in one place, I will do a wee gallery here of all the ones that I still have in my phone. Enjoy!
I did start working out again yesterday after a week off – it was tough, but glad to have done it. That said, it’s 2:15 p.m., so time to knock another one out! As promised, the “May Grey” and “June Gloom” has metamorphosized into beautiful sunny days – but the humidity is also up. We’re running through the Sanoviv-provided shirts just about as fast as they can launder them ;-)
While hubby was at the hospital, he suggested that I do the Detox protocol. This protocol is usually done in concert with one of the other protocols (Lyme, etc.) but it can be done by itself.
By way of full disclosure, the 7 day program is just under $5,000.
The program includes: Lab Tests (CBC, SMAC, C-reactive protein, stool analysis, urinalysis, blood typing); EKG; MaxPulse (HRV & Vessel health); Bioimpedance Analysis; Microscopic Blood Analysis; Ultrasound (liver/gall bladder); Colon Hydrotherapy (one wheat grass, one coffee); Bioenergetic Therapy (e.g., The Quiet Room); Medical consults (M.D., Psych, Dentist, Nutritionist, Chiropractor, etc.); Dental full 3D Xray, mercury testing, evaluation; Nutrition assessment (including fat/water/muscle percentage, building eating program to your lab work); Fitness assessment & private session; Fitness classes (Swiss ball, yoga, water fitness, stretching, tai chi); 2 Spa Treatments daily (swedish, lymphatic, reflexology, Chi bath detox, seaweed body wrap, thalassotherapy, infrared sauna, MRT, parafango); food prep/juicing classes; supplements (Designs for Health GI Revive; USANA Vita Antioxidant, Core Mineral, Hepasil, Probiotics and Digestive enzyme; Heel detox; GI MicrobX); Energy Medicine/Meditation classes; Sound Yoga/Laughing Yoga; nightly lectures.
Of course it also includes your ocean-front room (all rooms are ocean-front), and the detoxification diet, which is the Sanoviv diet as discussed before.
If your doctor prescribes any medication or supplement that is not listed above on the “supplements,” that is added to your statement at the end. By way of example, my stool sample (TMI) showed that while I chewed my food thoroughly enough, some food was still making it into my colon. As such, she said that I needed to boost my stomach digestion, and she swapped out the USANA digestive enzyme for one from Designs For Health, which has HCl in it. She said that, unlike medicines, the digestive enzymes actually help your body to produce your own, so taking it would ultimately “teach” my system to boost the stomach acid enough to dissolve the food enough that it did not make it into the colon. (I will not talk about the colon hydrotherapy and what you “see” with that – suffice it to say that it is eye opening…!)
Since hubby’s program already had me as a Companion, we took 7 x $100 off of the price. I did not have IVs indicated (my Vitamin D, C, DHEA, etc. were “perfect”), but if I had needed them, they are an additional $260 or so.
There is another program at about the same price that has more labwork (can’t quite remember what it’s called) – but when I discussed this with the Coordinator to decide which program to do, he said that if the doctor felt that I needed those tests, I could add them – however, that program didn’t have all the spa and Quiet Room treatments that the Detox program did. That’s why I chose that program.
At the end, you’re giving a binder with all of your tests, a DVD of your dental 3D Xray to bring home, etc. Because my lab work, fitness test, and the like were perfect, my doctor recommended three additional tests for me – although I already have my binder (the program ended Sunday), those results will either come in this week, or might come after we’re back home. She said that she will call and go over them with me, and send me the results. Those tests were a full hormone panel test, a thyroid test, and a test to see if I am either insulin resistant or in adrenal fatigue. Her view is that since my eating is excellent and fitness is excellent, the reason that I have put on weight and can’t rid myself of it is that something is “off” on a more microscopic level.
This post will be looooo-ong. But when I went searching for information on Sanoviv, there really weren’t any blog posts, Instagram posts, etc. that detailed everything. So, that’s what this (and the previous blog posts, actually) have been for. Folks looking for the specifics.
Before You Start…
Read what’s sent to you! You’re instructed to remove all nail polish, acrylic nails, don’t bring jewelry, don’t bring smelly things (from perfumes to essential oils), etc. Come On. Just do it.
guy on the phone, in the pool. come ON.
I’ve been here now over three weeks, and so folks have come and gone. On the “intake day,” I’ve been so surprised at how many women don’t follow these rules. Here’s the deal: If you don’t take off your nail polish, your gel polish, your acrylic nails, your false eyelashes, etc. there is no way to do it here. And some of the protocols very specifically state that you can’t do them if you have not removed these things. The idea is that all of these are not “natural to” your body – as such, in any program (particularly Detox!) you are supposed to be “as you were born” so to say. You have parts that you can’t remove? (Like, for example, metal screws in a bone?) Tell them. Then you can’t do some of the magnetic therapies, but others you’ll be just fine. But if you weren’t born with it, do not come with it. Believe me, no one cares that you have no eyelashes, that your “been under acrylic for ten years” nails are going to be like tissue paper, that without your hair weave you’re nearly bald. (Wo)man up – do what you’re supposed to do.
If you have jewelry that has some “energetic value” to you, bring it but then ask for it to be charged for you in the Quiet Room. “You” say that this jewelry is great for you. How do you know? I personally have a pair of earrings and a necklace that I wear about 99.9% of the time, but I left them at home because you are instructed not to bring any jewelry, except your wedding ring if you “have to have it.” (No, not your big rock engagement ring.) I wish I had brought them, because I would have liked to have done the charging on them in the Quiet Room, but this is a special service. I personally wore a Qalo wedding ring to really follow the rules. Hubby wore a bracelet that I got him for his treatments last year, which he has had charged and does wear. But please, please don’t be “that girl” that has her mega-rock (and false eyelashes, and acrylic nails). Anything you weren’t born with is supposed to stay at home. And you know what? Maybe at the end of all this, you might re-think putting that back on your body . . .
Day One (Monday): Admitting Day
nom nom cacao banana almond flour muffin with nut butter
My day was a little different than the “usual,” as I had gone through all this with hubby. You will get your room, your Sanoviv clothing, an orientation, and a tour. In the afternoon, you’re likely to report to Special Care (the hospital floor/floor 2) for an EKG and your admitting consult. Other than that, you do what you’ll be doing every day: 6:40 a.m. go to the Mansion to get lemon and cayenne water; 7:00 do the class (laughing yoga, meditation, energy medicine, etc.); 8:00 do the fitness class (stretching, rebounding, etc.); 8:30 go to breakfast; 9:56 get your “green drink” (wheat grass, chlorophyll); 10:56 get your snack (today it was raw cacao almond flour muffins with nut butter NOM NOM); 1:00 pm Lunch; 1:35 Quick Food Prep Class; 2:56 green juice (this isn’t a “wheat grass” it’s a juice made up of like celery, cilantro, carrots, etc.); 4:56 “healthy beverage” (this can be golden milk, hot hibiscus tea, etc.); 6:00 dinner; 7:00 lecture.
On my Day One, we had Laughing Yoga for the 7:00 a.m class. It was GREAT. HERE is a link to a number of articles on the chemistry of laughing. My psychologist (Dr. Fernando) leads this. As he said, one must always remember that Motion creates E-motion. As such, in the exercise, if you can’t actually laugh, then make a false laugh. If you can’t even do that, then smile and if that even doesn’t work, then make a fake smile. There is a scientific basis for all of this. The idea is to have fewer words and more gestures, plus to have eye contact. When we use words we are in our head and “rational,” which has been clinically proven to be that you are “out” of your body. Especially these days, we don’t take enough time to be in our body and to Honor our Bodies. That is what this class is about.
The great thing about Laughing is that it is a social phenomenon – it’s “catching.” It’s also important to realize that you don’t need something humorous (words/watching comedy) to laugh. If you look at young kids, they can just laugh and shift. By way of example, you’ll see a couple kids fighting and a second later they’ll be laughing. It is our nature to be joyful like the child. There has been a lot of work done in this area, not only with respect to Laughter itself, but with respect to Compassion and Kindness. They are all “catching.”
Laughing yoga really was fun. You start off in a circle, and you have exercises that help you to look foolish and work “up to” laughing. The first exercise, by way of example, you move throughout the circle with your finger tilting your nose up like a pig. You make a “HA-HA-HA-HAAAAA!” sound, then move on to another person. By the end, just by looking at how silly your partner looks (and imagining that you look just as silly), everyone is really laughing. There are other exercises, but at the end, everyone’s heads are in a circle, feet out. Dr. Fernando has a great laugh. He starts up, and you can’t help but start laughing. The laughter will die down for a bit, and then someone will snort, or laugh, or breathe funny, and it will all start back up again. By the end you are wiping your eyes, holding your gut, and feeling so connected with everyone. What a great practice! On the schedule right now, Laughing Yoga is every Monday.
Mondays have a quick food prep class after Lunch, and a Breath, Detox and Relaxation seminar in the evening.
Day Two (Tuesday): Labs, Doctors, Spa
Day Two you start off fasted, and go down and get your blood drawn. You will be given a collection vial for stool and urine samples, which you’ll do that day and drop off at the lab.
my bloodwork, from my binder
They take a lot of blood, but my phlebotomist (Arturo) was outstanding. I mean, I’m the worst person to get blood from. My veins roll, they are tiny, they close off, etc. He got his gallon without breaking a sweat.
The morning class on Tuesdays is Sound Meditation. I’ve discussed this before, when I did it with the hubby. Dr. Sandra from the Psych department leads it. It’s great. You will meet your doctor team on this day. Unfortunately you only get one “date” with your therapist and the Body/Mind person, and also only one with the chiropractor, on this program. (I am paying for a couple more sessions this week, while hubby is back on his cancer program, but that’s unusual.) You will see your M.D. a few times, and your Nutritionist at least two times (because they look at the results of your lab work and tailor things to you). You see the Dentist on your second day to get your Xrays, check your teeth, etc., but you will see him or her later on to get the results. All folks who see you meet every single day, to tailor your experience.
On Tuesdays, there is a Cooking Class in the Mansion, and Tai Chi in the fitness room in the afternoon. The evening class is on Digestion and Detox.
My first spa treatment was a Lymphatic Massage. Your lymph system – a separate “waste carrying system” in your body – doesn’t have a pump like your blood system does (your heart). The only way to get lymph “moving” is by moving your body. That means more than just walking – it means things like stretching, yoga, etc. The entire lymph system can only be “engaged” by moving every part of your body. A Lymphatic Massage, however (“rich man’s exercise”) engages your lymphatic system by working all the muscles with light, “petting” strokes that end at your lymph nodes (neck, under the arm, thigh) so that your lymph system can “clear out” anything that was stuck in your lymph system. You have to drink a lot of water at Sanoviv (1/2 your body weight in ounces a day), and it’s particularly important to do so after you have any sort of Detox treatment.
I had my Quiet Room intake also, using the Max Pulse. Here’s a machine that won’t work correctly if you have on nail polish, etc. It measures your sympathetic (SNS), parasympathetic (PNS), physical stress, mental stress, stress resistance, etc. levels. The photo that you see above is mine. As you can see, my body stress is okay, stress “handling” is okay, but mental stress is “off the chart” – and my “fight or flight” (sympathetic/SNS) system is also off the charts. My parasympathetic system (relaxation/PNS) is basically non-existent. Whoops…. :-) After doing the MaxPulse, I had my first Quiet Room treatment, which was on the Super Tuning machine.
The Super Tuning machine will also charge your water (it will remain charged for 24 hours), and any jewelry that you might want to charge. It is a German machine, and is called “Effective Biotriggers” in Germany.
The idea is that all living systems are supposed to have a natural “frequency” and resonance, but we deviate from it. For those of you who have been friends for a very long time, you might have read my short story after we returned from hiking the French Alps (from Mont Blanc to the Mediterranean) where we had no cell phones, etc. for the entire period. When I returned, I tried to wear my Blackberry near my body, but I had a serious reaction to it. The doctor (yes, a real M.D. at Kaiser!) told me that’s because I had been so far away from electronics, that my body had “returned” to “direct current” which is what we’re meant to be. But, since we’re nearly all water, if we have “alternating current” items near or around us, our bodies will match that “alternating” current. The doctor back then explained that this is why I couldn’t put the Blackberry near my body without feeling a headache within 15 minutes – that my body had returned to “direct” current and was fighting the ‘AC’ current of the device. He also said (which is how I ended my short story) that I should “not worry,” because “in a few days, you’ll be back in alternating current, and won’t feel it at all.” (Cue “Flowers for Algernon”)
The Copen Super Tuning System was developed from space travel research, sensory deprivation research, and biochemical work at the Max Planck Institute. It detects and balances your energetic systems, by using octave colors according to didactic simplicity, e.g., red, orange, yellow orange, yellow, yellow green, green, turquoise, blue, indigo, violet purple, deep red.
How was it? Um . . . I immediately fell asleep ;-)
Day Three (Wednesday): Rinse, Repeat
The morning class is the Kundalini Yoga, which I have discussed before. There is a Stretching class after (it said Rebounding on the schedule, but it was Stretching), a Cardio and Strength class before Lunch (I had doctors’ visits), and a Psychology lecture after dinner.
My Spa treatment today was the Body Wrap, which is 90 minutes. I would just like to say that there is nothing as sexy as the little blue paper bikini that you’re required by law to wear.
First, you are dry scrubbed with almond-based meal that smells like pumpkin pie spice or chai tea. This is then washed off with a five-headed rolling water “faucet” of hot water.
You are then taken to the deep soak “sit” tubs. One is filled for you with hot water and a bath addition that I didn’t catch the blend of (but I think she said it includes Hawaiian lava salt). After you have soaked for a while, you’re taken out of the bath, washed by a hose with cool water front and back, then (gasp) you’re required to dip yourself three times (over your head) in the plunge cold bath. IT’S COLD!
bed & “faucets”
deep sit baths
the evil sauna lair
the middle of the sauna (standing back to the windows)
the evil cold plunge
You are then led to the sauna at 145F for 10-15 minutes. This is when I was reminded that – yep – I do NOT like saunas! After you’re cooked, back out you come, cold-hosed off front and back, then (ack!) three more over-the-head plunges into the cold bath. Now you’re led dripping back to the room with the table, where you are washed all over with “Incredible Hulk green” seaweed (including your hair and face), then wrapped up a la burrito for 1/2 hour. (Don’t forget to pee first.) It makes your hair feel AMAZING, but REMEMBER TO BRING A BRUSH – otherwise when you leave you look um “special.”
Tuesdays are Water Aerobics Day – which is a lot of fun actually.
I also saw Dr. Labrada today (the chiropractor), who mainly did a lot of muscle-testing. He was the guy that did what hubby said was a “TED Talk-worthy” talk last week. Lots and LOTS of muscle testing, relating emotion to organs to muscles, etc. Head to toe. Very similar to mind/body work – muscle testing, put your hand here, make your brain talk to your body, etc. At the end, he adjusted my upper shoulder area, which has been out for 4 days and was why I wanted to be on a program in the first place ;-) (You can only see the doctors if you’re on a program – as a Companion, you can do spa treatments if there is space available, but you can’t see the doctors.)
The Fitness test was somewhat comical. I was told that I “had to do” push ups on my knees, which I refused, because it hurts. (I was told I was “prideful” :-) ) That said, and due to a few other comments that “got my dandruff up” as my mom might say (Hi Mom), I wound up doing 22 (Men’s) pushups, which blew me off the chart. (Hubby had done 13, by comparison.) I did 24 of the specific sit ups that they require – fingertips on your ears, reaching up with your shoulders (elbows need to stay even with your head). My heart rate only got to 91 doing 3 minutes of step-ups, my flexibility and torsion was Excellent, left grip Excellent, right hand Very Good. Can’t remember what else there was, but it was very much like a Presidential Physical Fitness Test.
The Dental exam showed no mercury, and I was printed out an incredibly detailed chart related to my mouth and what the doctor saw. One thing that was fascinating was that he showed me brushing issues. My top back molars were not “brushed as much as” other teeth, on their inside face. I said I’d try better. Gums tested as great. Interestingly, when I got back to the room I tried out the brushing protocol he recommended . . . and surprise! – when I got to the “inside upper back” molars, brushing there tickled the top of my mouth like crazy! So obviously I have subconsciously not been brushing those teeth as often.
My Quiet Room was a 60 minute treatment called “Ondamed.” This was really cool. It’s pulsed electromagnetic frequency therapy. You put …. hm, sort of like a diver’s weight belt on your chest, that goes from your pelvic bone up to your throat, and a thing that looks like a tuning fork on your temples. The machine delivers a series of electromagnetic frequencies as focused pulsed electromagnetic field stimulation (PEMF) within the spectrum of human physiology. This means that it uses the same frequencies that your cells use to communicate with one another. While you can’t feel these frequencies consciously, your cells respond to them. The cells tell the machine what protocol you need “the most,” first. (You get three.) Of all the possible frequencies, your body’s tissues resonate with only a handful that are favored. When the machine gets that information, it is tuned to the frequencies that it is being told the body wants “right now.” The machine is then set to those frequencies. After that’s done, another test is done, asking for the 2nd. And then the 3d. Marilu, the operator, showed me the book, which has about 300+ different frequency combinations and what studies have shown them to be tied to. She said that sometimes what comes up doesn’t make sense at that time, but that’s what the body’s asking for.
My #1 was Asthma. I told her that I do have athletic Asthma, though it doesn’t come up that often. We talked a bit about the energetics of Asthma, then she set the machine to give the body what it wanted in that respect. My #2 was (as she explained it) Biorhythms being off, “as if I were a night or swing shift worker.” Well, by this time, I’d been having a few horrible nights sleeping, since hubby had been in the hospital since Sunday. (I normally sleep like a rock.) She said that must be it (she was delighted actually), and she also said that this one hadn’t come up, so she had to figure out how to do the treatment for that one. It was more involved than my #1 and #3, which just involved the position of the “breastplate/diver’s belt” and the “tongs.” She had to get another, smaller “diver’s belt” and she had to hold it over my head, moving it each minute to a different spot, for this #2. My #3 was hormonal imbalance. This was also not a huge surprise, as that is what the Nutritionist and my MD had both said must be an issue, as I was overfat by about 25 pounds but with what I eat and the exercise I get, there had to be “something besides just stress” related to it. Marilu was very pleased that all 3 of my Ondamed treatments were something I could relate to.
Human cells operate in the range of 1 to 32,000 Hz. In other words, the highest frequency to which the body was designed to respond is approximately 32,000 waves per second. By contrast, cell phones operate in the range of 3 or 4 Gigahertz, meaning 3 or 4 billion waves per second. These waves have been clinically proven to damage DNA, and are being studied related to brain cancer. They are being tested as well for men who carry their cell phones in their front pockets/infertility. Physicists have been able to identify specific frequencies within the healthy human spectrum that help rather than harm human cells; they stimulate repair, reduce inflammation, and facilitate healing. That’s what Ondamed does.
Day 4 (Thursday): Happy Birthday America! (July 4th)
Today involved Mindful Movement Meditation (i.e., walking on the lawn) in the morning. I have to say that at one point I looked up and had to turn away so that no one could see me laughing. We looked like a flock of the living dead! Aaaarrrrrrr . . . all in our matching Sanoviv sweats, walking slowly, some with very intense looks on their faces . . .
Swedish Massage today, Thalasso pools, and two Quiet Room treatments.
My Nutrition “discharge” showed me the results of my BIA (Bioelectric Impedance Analysis). Both Sue (Nutritionist) and actually the chiropractor I saw today (H’s “miracle worker,” Dr. Raymundo) said that perhaps part of the OAB issue is that I drink enough water, but that it’s not staying in my system. Both suggested adding the electrolyte ice cubes (the recipes were back on the Recipe page – by the way, I’m updating that daily FWIW) and/or full spectrum salt every time I have water. My fat percentage is 28% – to have an optimal number (20%), I’d need to lose about 25-30 pounds, presuming that I could keep the muscle numbers where they are. My fat free mass is 72% or 133 pounds. My BMR is 1860, total body water is 49% or 69% of my lean mass. (It should be at 75%.) My intracellular water was 50%, which means I am dehydrated at a cellular level (optimal is about 55%). My phase angle is 6.7 – this is an indicator of cell membrane fluidity and integrity and can be an indicator of insulin resistance. Normal for females my age is 6.6 – 10.9, so I’m fine but on the low end. (We are doing an insulin resistance blood lab.) My capacitance, which is the electrical potential of the cell membranes (which relates to the minerals in body fluid or the total energy storage capacity of the body cell mass) was 686, where 600-800 is good for females my age. Again, this could be higher but it’s in the normal range. Finally, my body mass index was 25.1, which is over, though it’s not a particularly good measure (the others are better).
Then we were back to Hydration. I was reminded to continue to drink the lemon/cayenne water every morning, and to ensure that I have 1/2 my body weight in water daily – with this water having the electrolyte support. Water intake should be higher until about 4:00 p.m., then should taper way off, and water at meals should be limited to at most 3 ounces. This ensures that your stomach acid is optimally supported. A lot of water after 4:00 is suboptimal.
Another recommended hydration protocol was from 7 a.m. to about 4 p.m., drink 3-4 ounces of water every 30 minutes. Every OTHER drink, add the electrolytes. So it would be 7:00 a.m. 3-4 oz regular water; 7:30 a.m. 3-4 oz of electrolyte water; 8:00 a.m. 3-4 oz of regular water; etc. This is the best way to slowly rehydrate tissues and in particular intracellular areas. It allows the body to absorb the water optimally. Do not use a “commercial” electrolyte – make the one provided in Recipes, it is “real food” and your body will accept it best.
I believe that I’ve mentioned this before, but the only mineral that tested a bit low in my labs was iodine, so it was recommended that I be sure to use iodized salt; I can also eat “underwater green leafies,” or some wild-caught shellfish. Was reminded that eating “lower on the food chain is better” so eating the nori/kelp that the shellfish eat is the best option.
This is the day that hubby came home. Yay!
Day 5 (Friday): Discharge Day
Though you have a couple more days of spa treatments and Quiet Room, this is your last day with the doctors.
Every Friday starts with Meditation and Mind-Body Practice/Energy Medicine. Today we worked on the standard EFT Tapping Procedure, Connecting Heaven and Earth procedure, the Wayne Cook Posture, and a technique for anxiety, and one for anger. I’ll write more about these, perhaps, or do some links, but I’m getting tired ;-) You can find these in video form on YouTube by putting Donna Eden, Energy Medicine and then the technique you’d like to see. For example, “expelling the venom” is for frustration/anger, Wayne Cook is when you are overwhelmed, can’t stop crying, etc. and need to come back to yourself, Connecting Heaven and Earth is when you are starting to feel sick or have picked up someone else’s energy. It also brings fresh Oxygen to your cells. The doctor reminded us that if we don’t feel a reaction after doing a certain protocol, it is likely that our body just didn’t need it. But it can never do harm.
One technique that we did that is very useful and easy involves re-connecting your brain and your body. You pat your temples with both hands (on what’s called the “gamma point”) throughout. First, close your eyes, then open them and look straight ahead. Close them again, open them straight again. Now look down to the right, down to the left, circle them clockwise, circle them anticlockwise. Look straight ahead and hum a piece of a tune you know (example, “Happy Birthday”). This engages the right side of your brain. Then count loudly 1-2-3-4-5! This engages the left side of your brain. Hum the tune again, and count again. You’re done!
After this class, you move to a Stretching class (today it was done on the Swiss Ball, which was actually fun). One thing that we were reminded is that different types of exercise increases microbial diversity in your gut. So exercise is good for digestion in more ways than just making you a little hungry!
I had another lymphatic massage, and reflexology with parafango.
The tide was way out, and all the pelicans piled up on the rocks that, usually, you can’t see.
Day 6 (Saturday): Mo’Spa Mo’ Spa
Saturday is an Energy Medicine/Meditation day in the morning, and dinner has live music (wonderful old guy with a guitar, who will play whatever you like, but particularly likes to sing the old Mexican love songs). Saturday is also “movie night” but so far the movies have been the kind that we can stand for about 5 minutes, so generally it’s been a reading night for us.
Wow, have I read a lot of books while here! I brought Moneyball, How Not To Die, Killer Angels, Radical Remission, a book written by a friend of my dad’s, then I read the FBI novel the folks gave to me we met a couple weeks ago, borrowed a Michael Crichton (Prey) and a Richard Castle (yes really) out of the library, and I’m reading something else from there now.
Folks do a lot of puzzles here – hubby and I have played either backgammon, Scrabble, or Blokus every evening. We’re about evenly matched on the backgammon front (though I have better luck with doubles), I do better with Scrabble (I mean – I’d better!) and though I’m getting better, he creams me every time with Blokus. I watched TV when he was gone in Tijuana, otherwise we haven’t used the TV at all. (Though it wakes you up with Mozart at 6!)
Today I had the body wrap again, plus Matrix Regeneration Therapy (MRT) with parafango afterwards.
MRT manipulates the “matrix” (or soft connective tissue) of your body. It connects the vascular, lymph, and nervous systems with the organs, and is the infrastructure for the organ cells. If it is overloaded, care of the organs can be obstructed. The Med-Matrix machine gives the matrix/soft connective tissue the ability to be “freed from” adhesions, metabolic waste, etc. so that it can recover. It uses petechial suction and rhythmic DC current.
What does that mean?
Ahem.
You lie on your stomach. They turn on the machine, and “petechial suction” means they use the machine to suck your skin and connective tissue off your bones. They start at your neck, and “vacuum” from your spine down to your side (think ‘along a rib’). You can’t breathe, it’s so intense. They keep doing it, and you start listening intently to the machine, because when the pitch increases, that means they’re just about to “un-suck” the machine from your side in preparation to start again at your spine. The operator is very thorough – like a cleaner doing a rug or a mower doing a baseball field. Every inch is covered. You have from the moment they de-suction the sucker until they put it back at your spine to pant a little, then hold your breath again. They do this all the way down from your neck to the base of your glutes.
Once they’ve done the first side of your back, they hit you with a little wheelie thing, which is the rhythmic DC. You can’t actually see it (of course, you’re on your stomach, getting toilet-bowl face marks via the headpiece on the massage table), but basically it sends a weak direct current into your tissue via roller electrodes, which “neutralizes” the tissue, changing it from an abnormal charge (if you have it) to a healthy one. Just when you’re getting ready to relax, it’s time to start your other side with the MRT . . .
After the second rhythmic DC, the therapist goes out and gets the big parafango packs. These are huge paraffin/mud packs encased in a thin film, that suck toxins out of your body. they are about 9,000 degrees Fahrenheit. One goes on your back, the other goes across your butt. These stay on until sweat is dripping off the table in just the right amount, and then you can get up. I mean – if you can…
I had the MRT and then went directly into a Body Wrap (with Priscilla, who was fantastic) and from there into the Quiet Room. I was Detox-zausted.
Day 7 (Sunday): Last Day
Sunday is a quiet day at Sanoviv. There are no classes – just spa things and of course, meals.
Today I had a Swedish Massage followed by a Detox Chi Bath. I need to get the name of the therapist (I think it is Eunice, but I’m not 100% sure), because it was by far the best Swedish Massage I have ever had. The Detox Chi Bath is made up of:
Are you wondering why I have all those links at the ready, since I’m exhausted from typing? Because the combo of the Detox Bath and the Swedish Massage sent me into Detox Coma. As in, I got out of that bath (which also of course included the de rigeur cold hose off and three-times-over-the-head cold plunge dunk, x 2) and just about literally crawled into the elevator and into bed. Hubby, who for this week (until he got his results on Monday from the Tijuana hospital) was MY Companion, was in the room getting ready for Lunch, and I told him that I had to have him bring me the Lunch up on a tray. (Yes, really.) As I pretty much never ask for anything like this, he was off like a shot and brought it back for me.
About an hour later I was fine – and that’s when I researched the above (and sent myself an email). I made the therapist give me the packet that the bath came in, so I could research it.
As a glutton for punishment (no, you don’t get a choice – all are chosen ‘for’ you), my final spa therapy was the MRT/parafango again. Interestingly, it wasn’t 1/2 as bad this time (one day after). A few times on my sides and on my glutes I got the full-on Oh My Lord This Is Pantingly Painful feeling, but I guess that the machine “did its job” the first time, and my skin and “stuff” had been sufficiently “sucked off” of the “stuff” below it – so it didn’t feel like my skin and fascia was being vacuumed off my bones.
One thing I’d promised myself – because I could find next to nothing on Sanoviv – was that when I got here, I would really document what happened. So – that’s what this blog is about. I hope that it is helpful to something who might be considering coming here. It’s such a pretty place – though I did take a photo while waiting for the elevator today on the 7th floor of what the “surrounding area” looks like. (No, those aren’t space alien ships – those are the reflections of the lights above my head.) The white in the foreground is the wall surrounding the property, which we have taken to calling “Hotel Baja California” (for obvious reasons . . . ).
AAAAAAND, a reminder! Hubby does not know about the blog, please don’t mention it to “us” (or him) if you’d like me to keep doing it (and stay married LOL)
Hubby returned to Sanoviv on Thursday night, after being carted off via ambulance on Sunday after breakfast. Yesterday (Monday) we went back to Hospital Angeles in Tijuana to be sure that his levels are clear enough for him to be clear of this – and he tested fine. Yay!
The “marker” that he had in his blood becomes septic/unsafe at 0.5. I had understood that it was at “5” that it was bad – since his was 30 on Sunday when he was rushed in, we were told that it was basically at “organ meltdown” stage.
But I hadn’t really realized the enormity of the numerical difference until Dr. Michel went over things with me yesterday when I accompanied him back to the hospital. I’m almost glad I didn’t know how bad things were!
If you’re ever in trouble in Mexico, I have to say, Dr. Michel is ridiculously amazing. She is smart, her English is good, and she is “la jefa” of Internal Medicine and Emergency (Medicina Interna & Medicina Critica). By way of example, we were told the lab test would take three hours to culture; when we told her that, she just raised her eyebrows, got on the phone, and surprise it was ready in 20 minutes. Yes, I have a bit of hero worship going here! Her direct line is 635-1814 or 635-1900- x 5303. Her cell phone is 664.204.8429. Her email is michelemartinezfranco[at] yahoo[dot] com[dot] mx. Hospital Angeles Tijuana is located at Av. Paseo de los Heroes #10999, Zona Rio Tijuana C.P. 22010, Tijuana, Baja California.
pandas
When hubby got back, he was told that he would “have to” sleep in the hospital-hospital portion of the building (e.g., where folks on chemo, who have undergone surgery, etc. sleep). He refused, and came back to our room. We received a call at about 9:00 p.m. from the attending physician “angry” that he was up in our room. He explained in no uncertain terms that he would “be with his wife,” and that I would be “better than any nurse call button”; if they wanted him, they would need to “come up and haul him out of bed and carry him down.” Then, with a raised eyebrow, I was asked if I had “remembered to pack my nurse’s outfit…” :-)
That’s all that this post will be about. As such, I will sprinkle through it, for your entertainment, a few more of the table decorations that we have had. The guy who makes them is incredibly shy – I was able to get him to come out and take one photo with one of his creations though.
Next post, I will discuss the Detox protocol that I was on. Now that one will be a long post!
flying fish
Ohhhhhhh, and speaking of detox, um, yeah, well, the chocolate shake and latte reached out and bit us at the hospital cafe. We were overcome. ;-) At least we had them with almond milk, not dairy. ;-)
