More on the microbiome, pre and pro biotics and other fun gut stuff

I'm being a little lazy and a little, I told you so here 

In 2015 I posted about gut bacteria and its possible benefits to health 

Since then there has been a huge interest in the subject (I'm not saying it was just my post)! and I wanted to signpost you to some other really interesting programmes 

Three from the briliant Food Programme on the BBC 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08wmmwq Hunting with the Hadza

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08x4s4v Hunting with the Hadza 2

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08xxfz5 Sandor Katz and the art of Fermentation 

Sandor also features  in these great YouTube short films 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4elw9rIs9Y   No 1 Mrs Dings Pickles 


See the original post below 



I have often spoken to my Shiatsu Clients; and any one else who will listen,  about our second (I think first, as in earliest) brain in the gut

This fascinating BBC program about  digestion features this; (around 37:08 in)

I think really worth a look

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01kpt6c/guts-the-strange-and-mysterious-world-of-the-human-stomach

The section on fecal transplant is interesting, this was recorded in 2011 and my understanding is that many people have been treated with great success. 

Our understanding of our own Eco system is so small, its role in both physical and emotional life is just starting to be understood my western science. Traditional Chinese Medicine has been looking into this for a couple of thousand years and has some fascinating ideas in this area. 

Wikipedia has this
The concept of treating fecal diseases with fecal matter originated in China millennia ago. Fourth century Chinese medical literature mentions it to treat food poisoning and severe diarrhea. 1200 years later Li Shizhen used yellow soup aka golden syrup which contained fresh dry or fermented stool to treat abdominal diseases. 'Yellow soup' was made of fecal matter and water, which was drunk by the patient

Mindfulness

I was shown the Ladybird Mindfulness book a few days ago. The person who showed me it sat back (well they may have actually been standing but you know what I mean) and waited  

Now I don't behave in what many people see as the typical Buddhist way, in fact most of the Buddhists I know don't. I get cross, I swear (sometimes) and I express strong opinions (lots). I think she had lit the blue touch paper and was waiting to see what would happen

But on this occasion I was just sad, I was sad because I saw the book as a mild piss take of an aspect of Buddhist thought that I hold very dear, that of Right Mindfulness 

I have had many chats to quite a few people over the last few years as the Mindfulness craze took off. 

My thoughts have always been that practising mindfulness within the specific context that it arose (alongside the other 7 aspects of The Eightfold Path) is wonderful. But that if you have to take this one aspect and use that, its better than doing many other things, but not ideal and not 'the real deal'. 

I feared that the popularisation of  Mindfulness could also lead to its downfall. We (humans) seem to have a habit of half understanding something, half giving it a go and then trashing it when it does not give us the instant results we were sold. I use the word sold deliberately in this context as one can buy Mindfulness (books, DVD's, Courses etc.) 

The book is supposed to be light-hearted and I suppose it is, but it deals with something that I think is a crucial practice for so many people, poking fun at it, is I fear part of discrediting it.

Mindfulness has been commercialised at a shocking rate and been pounced on by lots of folks who want to make money from the craze. I fear that its a result of taking something out of context, but as most people mistakenly think that Mindfulness is Buddhist practice I feel its a great shame  

Grasping with the eyes

Grasping with the eyes

I believe that it was a shared idea in many different cultures that the process of seeing was one of grasping. That the eyes would reach out and grasp what they were seeing. 

Of course this is not the modern way of thinking;  we now have the idea that the eyes are simple receptors and take in whatever they see in a neutral way. That light travels from the world and hits the back of the eyes. 

The idea that the eyes reach out and grasp seems odd, old fashioned, when coming across the idea its easy to think of those simple pre-science folks, did they know nothing?

On the bus the other day I became aware of my eyes grasping, I was actively looking, reaching out, searching. It felt exactly like my eyes were indeed grasping. 

So is what previous thinkers were reflecting on, the feeling of the process of seeing, did they really not understand or did they see the bigger picture? 

I realised that I was compulsively seeking out things to see, I suppose I was looking for stimulus. It was an urgent and compulsive feeling. There seemed to be a strong desire for stimulus but also a feeling of not wanting to miss out. 

I realised that it was taking quite a lot of energy to do all this grasping. It was also making my mind quite agitated 

So I thought I’d stop, after all I’d become aware of the feeling/action/behaviour and normally when I become aware of a mental process I can change it quite well (if only for a short time)

And I found it really difficult. I tried lowering my eyes, I tried not lowering my eyes but not grasping, I tried softening my eyes and just allowing what came to come. It was really difficult. 

So no conclusion, I just thought I would share and let you into what goes through my mind on the bus sometimes 

Tech Neck

We seem to be running an experiment on ourselves as a society. The unprecedented use of 'smart' phones is putting us into compromised body positions for prolonged periods of time.

I'm sure you have seen it in others, you may not have felt it in yourself. Head jutting forward, shoulders and upper back rounded forward and inwards 

The nearest pre smartphone position I can think of is the classic prayer position, but actually this is very stable in comparison. 

Smartphones seem to have a way of dragging us in that not only prolongs their use (the stats on the amount of use my young people is terrifying) but has us holding a posture that is causing discomfort or pain whilst making no attempt to change it. We seem to be almost trying to dive into the devise, whilst loosing our body awareness.  

There is lots of speculation about the effects of this posture over the long term, but as I said, its an experiment so we can't be sure. In the short term the effects are dramatic, shoulder, neck and back pain, dowagers hump and postural Kyphosis for starters.

So what's to be done; firstly try to be more aware of doing the damage, keep a bit of yourself back to be aware of how you are feeling in your body. Listen to the messages that are coming to you from your body, its easy to think, just one more game/look at Facebook/blog post and then I'll move, you then find you have been it 'that' position for an hour. 

Once the damage has been done; Get a regular Shiatsu treatment from me; but also move the body in the opposite directions, often. A structured approach can be found here, by Ekhart Yoga. You could hang from a door frame, stretch upward and back or downward dog are all good... this one below was shown to me by my friend Mick, hold the chest on the sternum and tilt the head back; this stretches the SCM (which tend to shorten with Tech Neck) and feels lovely 

Adaptation

Noun; the process of change by which an organism or species becomes better suited to its environment.  

Humans are the most adaptable species on the planet. The cost of this is that our young (or young-lings as Star Wars will have it) take the longest of all to be independent. 

The advantage is that we can exploit nearly every situation or environment there is, from the arctic to the jungle, from hunter gathering to mega cities.

Humans (me and you) have adapted and more importantly will continue to do so. 

Now I find this idea a little intimidating. We will continue to adapt! That means that every thing we do, every thought we have, every behavior we express will lead to adaptation (to change). Doing nothing is not doing nothing it's active adaptation. 

So when we slump on the sofa it's not neutral it's an adaptation to slumping on the sofa. The same is true for; taking the car rather than cycling, being negative rather than positive, eating crap rather than something healthy, I'm sure you get the idea. 
We tend to become what we do, like the wake of a ship our actions have consequences that stream after us, this is part of the idea of Karma. 

But the positive expression of this is also really true, every time we make a better decision we adapt. That means that in a relatively short space of time we can change. We can be fitter, more flexible, happier or more positive (whatever your list looks like). 

For me the point is there is no neutral, we will adapt; we have no choice, we just need to keep actively choosing to make that a positive adaptation. 

It makes us responsible but also means we have an endless ability to get better, whatever that means to you. 

Our second brain and fecal transplant (maybe don't read this over breakfast)

I'm being a little lazy and a little, I told you so here 

In 2015 I posted about gut bacteria and its possible benefits to health 

Since then there has been a huge interest in the subject (I'm not saying it was just my post)! and I wanted to signpost you to some other really interesting programmes 

Three from the briliant Food Programme on the BBC 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08wmmwq Hunting with the Hadza

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08x4s4v Hunting with the Hadza 2

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08xxfz5 Sandor Katz and the art of Fermentation 

Sandor also features  in these great YouTube short films 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4elw9rIs9Y No 1 Mrs Dings Pickles 


See the original post below 



I have often spoken to my Shiatsu Clients; and any one else who will listen,  about our second (I think first, as in earliest) brain in the gut

This fascinating BBC program about  digestion features this; (around 37:08 in)


I think really worth a look

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01kpt6c/guts-the-strange-and-mysterious-world-of-the-human-stomach

The section on fecal transplant is interesting, this was filmed in 2011 and my understanding is that many people have been treated with great success. 

Our understanding of our own Eco system is so small, its role in both physical and emotional life is just starting to be understood my western science. Traditional Chinese Medicine has been looking into this for a couple of thousand years and has some fascinating ideas in this area. 

Wikipedia has this
The concept of treating fecal diseases with fecal matter originated in China millennia ago. Fourth century Chinese medical literature mentions it to treat food poisoning and severe diarrhea. 1200 years later Li Shizhen used yellow soup aka golden syrup which contained fresh dry or fermented stool to treat abdominal diseases. 'Yellow soup' was made of fecal matter and water, which was drunk by the patient

Relax, NO RELAX!

It’s a word I don’t use with clients as it tends to generate tension

I prefer the idea of letting go, as holding is something we do a lot of

I have just returned from a 9 day meditation retreat; held in silence with no stimulus what so ever, I had lots of opportunity to let go. And it’s not easy. I found that I hold onto many things; ideas of who I am, ideas of what my body is, opinions, thoughts, the breath, muscle tension, memories oh just lots and lots and lots

Letting go is something that I aim for my clients to do, when I first treat them it’s often a good indication for me of how the session and the relationship is going. As we gain experience together letting go or the lack of it is a great diagnostic tool

I want clients to let go within the session because it’s so good for them on lots of levels, but my main reason is so they can experience the letting go and take it into their ever day life.

So much suffering is caused by holding onto things we do not need to. We then suffer what Jack Kornfield calls ‘mental rope burn’, a lovely way of describing the suffering  that comes from holding or clinging.

If we can take the feeling of letting go that we have on the futon and practice it when we are angry for being cut up in our car, when we are bored at work, when in an argument with our children/relative/friend, then we can change the situation in a really radical way.

It seems that letting go is a transferable skill, if we can let go of muscle tension then it feels very similar to letting go of our fixed opinion of ourselves and other. You have to see the holding but once we do the letting go feels very similar.

Like most transformative things it’s a simple process that needs applying over and over and it’s the application which is difficult. 

Is sitting going to kill you?

Is sitting going to kill you?

If you Google sitting at the moment you will be swamped by articles proclaiming that ‘sitting is the new smoking’, ‘sitting will wreck your life’ and ‘sitting will kill you’.

Is it the latest fad, daily mail ‘polishing your shoes will give you cancer’ scare story, or is there something in the claims?

There is some compelling looking evidence out there, in a 2012 study publish in the British Journal of Sports Medicine it claimed that every hour spent sitting (well watching TV, which we assume is done sitting) cuts 22 minutes from your life span, whilst every cigarette cuts 11, shocking stuff!

However if you really look into the studies it’s clear that it is nearly impossible to distinguish the sitting from lots of other factors. So is it ok to sit all day?

My short answer would no. But it’s not a yes or no answer, as always it’s more complex than it appears.

Modern western people do sit for too long, office workers in America sit on average for 28hrs each week during the working week. That does not include travel to and from work and time on the sofa.

Desk bound people (most working people now) spend way too much time sitting and yes it does have lots of issues. Workers need choices; they need to be able to stand at their desks when they wish to.  And the improvements to physical and mental health are many, elevating mood, increasing productivity (whatever) lowering blood pressure and lots more. So what’s not simple about this.

There is a Buddhist idea of the ‘suffering of change’. One example of this is sitting and standing. We have to stand for hours and we so wish to sit down, we sit down for hours and we should really wish to stand up. My point is that humans are supposed to move, to move!

If we really get in touch with our bodies we can feel when it’s a good time to stand and when to sit. At the moment I seem to be cycling around 10-15 mins for each, with it being shorter when I’m tired. We get into trouble with sitting when we learn to ignore our bodies and ignore the messages that we send ourselves. I have written plenty about how this happens elsewhere. But just standing and then ignoring the bodies’ messages about this is also not the answer.

For me the answer is to get in touch with our bodies, listen to what they/we tell us and act on it.

It’s important to realise that both sitting and standing are skills. And they are skills that we are not taught in school, so many of us have to learn them as adults. 

There are lots of models to use and lots of very intelligent folks working on this. I would refer you to Kelly Starrett and Kit Laughlin as good starting places. You can attend a good Yoga class, learn to sit well in meditation or if you are in the Rowhedge area come and see me.

The BBC have broadcast a quite interesting programme on sitting; you can find it here 

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0415hbv

The cost of treatment

I have written about the cost in money of Shiatsu and other alternative treatments and I’m sure I will return to that. This post is about other possible costs.

One of my main desires in treating people is to allow them closer, more immediate access to their bodies and therefore themselves. I strongly believe that the more we are aware of our bodies and the subtle shifts in energy or flow the better we understand ourselves.

This access to understanding does not have to be all hippy and out there, (although I did just write both energy and flow)! It can simply be by understanding that ‘when I am tense I hold the muscles in my jaw firm’, or ‘I've noticed that I tense my forearm’, ‘I think it’s when I’m worried’.

Simple little bits of understanding can lead to some powerful discoveries about how we are feeling and doing.  Part of the magic is that it can bring us into the now, it allows greater understanding of how we are really doing, now.

But there is a cost; one of the coping mechanisms we have is to learn to ignore just these signs. We are all inherently capable of being aware on the most deep level but for many, many individual reasons we learn that one way of anaesthetising our lives is to turn off these messages. In this way we are able to continue with the crappy job, the rubbish housing and the less than satisfying relationships.

In my experience when we turn back on these understandings we also can cause ourselves pain and difficulties as we experience in detail what we have been hiding from. Now I feel that the ultimate outcome is an authentic life lived well. And as we have been fortunate enough to be born into these strange bodies, in this strange place we must grasp the opportunity while we can. Sometimes the process is not pretty but the results can be. 

Bags (old and new)

Bags have been bothering me lately. Well to be fair I have been obsessing about bags. 
I have been spending a lot of my time out and about watching how folks interact with their bags. But more importantly how their bags interact with them. 

I find a huge amount of the  world makes no sense to me, little more so than fashion. 
I know I'm an old git, but the primary way I choose any item that's going to interact with my body is comfort. Specifically can I maintain good posture and movement patterns if I choose to buy and use this thing. 

Through some miracle we have been born into this body. This body, this one body. And it's this body that we are going to use to negotiate our way through from birth to death. 

Now I firmly believe that our bodies are designed to work, pain free (with the obvious exceptions of pathology and injury) until we are 110 years old, when we fall out of the apple tree, or crash off our longboard. 

To do this we need to set up and maintain great movement patterns. This means every day (and night) all the time. When it comes to movement what we do becomes who we are. As Kelly Starrett says practice does not make perfect it makes permanent.  

So when we hold a bag over one shoulder or one arm we change the dynamic of our spine, shoulders and hips. A bag held over the right shoulder forces that shoulder up (to hold onto the bag) which then tends to force the same hip up to compensate, curving the spine and changing the angle of the legs to the hips, affecting the knees and ankles. Ones ability to stand and walk is therefore compromised, over decades its very seriously compromised. 

Doing this every once in a while is one thing, but every day is another. Remember practice makes permanent. 

Throw high heals and restrictive skirts into the mix and we have no end of fun.

One body; come on. 

Your perfect therapist

Some years ago I looked into the handbag of my therapist; I saw a packet of cigarettes and some support stockings.

I'm not proud of what I thought; ‘who is this person who claims to be able to heal me, who needs support stocking and can’t quit smoking’. It was a shocking realisation but, she was human!

I sometimes feel that within some of the alternative world there is a desire/need for the therapist to be supper human. If they get a cold, are fat, grumpy sometimes or express other human traits that they can’t be a good healer/therapist.

This need for others to be better than us, leads to the ultra-shiny, grinning, white teeth flashing portrait pictures we see on websites and promotional materials.

So it’s time for me to come clean, I’m human, there I said it! I have all the human frailties that everyone else has, and some I made up just for me. And that’s how it should be.

I have an adductor strain at the moment which is limiting my movement. I could be embarrassed about this when with clients. But my conviction is that I would rather see a therapist who has lived a bit, who understands what it is to live with pain. Who gets tied and does not always eat the perfect diet, who has been in the trenches and knows what it is to be human.

Seeing a blessed person who has not had to struggle is no use to me at all. So I apologise to my ex therapist for thinking those thoughts and I celebrate all the imperfections that make us the fascinating humans we are. 

The mind secrets thoughts

The mind secrets thoughts
In the same way that the
Salivary Glands secretes saliva

So why do we take them quite so seriously? 
They can be really useful but maybe we don't have to believe all of them.
And of those we do believe in, it may be useful not to hold on to them quite so tightly.

When we do grasp them tightly, we often experience mental rope burn, a painful condition which often seems to have the affect of making us hold on even tighter. 

Thoughts are so often in the past or the future, very seldom in the present. The body however is always in the present. And if attended to closely can give clear indications of where we are and what we are feeling in a really clear and open way.

"My life has been filled with terrible misfortune; most of which never happened".

                                                               Michel de Montaigne

The Cost of treatment, what can be done?

The Cost of treatment, what can be done?

Shiatsu treatment in the UK can be quite high, around £45-60 is normal. 

This price means that a lot of Shiatsu practitioners charge clients for treatments they can not afford themselves! A very strange situation indeed.

Shiatsu is of course not alone in this, in fact its one of the cheaper 1:1 alternative treatments available.

We are in a place with Shiatsu where the middle class can afford treatment, the very poor with 'issues' often get treatment for free through schemes but that the 'working poor' who make up most of the population (including most Shiatsu practitioners) can only afford treatments on rare occasions, as a treat or in serious crisis. 

If you can afford the price, then I suppose its OK, but I love Shiatsu, I feel its fantastically effective, can make huge changes to people lives. So I have a strong feeling that Shiatsu should be for everyone and everyone should be able to afford it as often as needed.   

But how do we make this happen? 

There has been a quite revolution happening in acupuncture which I think the Shiatsu community could learn from. Starting with Working Class Acupuncture in Portland Oregon, USA

a movement of multi bed affordable clinics has sprung up.  This movement has spread to the UK with the The Association of Community and Multibed Acupuncture Clinics spreading the word in Europe and the UK.  

The model is that patients get treated in a shared environment at the same time, that chat is kept to a minimum, but that professional effective treatment is retained. 
In this way the clinics can charge much less, typically £15-40 on a sliding scale. 
So one acupuncturist can  treat many people at the same time, which is not an option with Shiatsu. 

So how can we (Shiatsu folk) take elements of this approach, or at least the spirit and make it work for us? Two things come to mind; 

Room rental, many Shiatsu therapist do not treat at home, so have to rent a space, we are then  forced to pass on the cost to the client. I get around this at the moment by treating in a friends room, she gets a free treatment and I get to offer low cost treatments. 

Another way of doing this would be the idea of many practitioners treating more than one client in the same room at the same time, and splitting the cost of room hire. 

One of the features of the multi bed model is that a very quick but accurate diagnosis is made, then root treatment is given on the most pressing and underlying imbalance. So is this possible with Shiatsu, to offer a stripped down treatment where only the most underlying/pressing issues are treated in a shorter time. I feel it should be, and it's something I am going to offer to clients who really can't afford a full hour treatment and see how the feedback goes. 


We have a long way to go before Shiatsu does become affordable but the debate needs to happen. Its such a fantastic treatment, its a shame to exclude the 'working poor'.