In this final installment, I’ll discuss the three other things that helped swiftly rid me of hypertension, diabetes, etc.  All are useful for any ailment. Then, having done my duty for the health of humankind, this blog turns to books, writing, food, travel, perfume and general fun.

TABATA

Until I found Tabata, a short version of interval training, I believed effective exercise meant hours of work.  Instead, this 4-minute program (12 minutes including warm-up and cool down) delivered remarkable health benefits.  This link explains the background and how, in a six-week test, people who did Tabata improved their fitness more than a group that “cycled, swam, skipped or jogged” 5 times a week for an hour at normal speed.  Following is the program I still use almost daily:

-4 minute warmup
(arm circles, waist swivels, side stretches, leg lifts, leg stretches, toe touches — the kind of thing we did in high school gym)

-4 minute Tabata
20 secs high intensity exercise (walking, biking, skipping, running in place — anything that you can do fast)
10 secs slow down
(repeat both for 4 minutes)

-4 minute cool down
keep moving but go slow for 4 minutes

I’d been so sick, I couldn’t get to the gym or even walk on my treadmill.  Because of zapping (see previous post), I was able to start this program in June. Tabata woke up my muscles and my metabolism and gave me real strength while other things were busy curing my insides. I credit it  and fasting as big contributors to my early progress.

FASTING

Inspired by this study’s claim that fasting renews the immune system, I decided to try it, using the advice on this excellent site, allaboutfasting.com.  Another way of putting it is that when digestion stops, the body’s energy is freed for self-healing. If you decide to fast, be sure to read the guidelines there or somewhere else. Naturally, my blood sugar was lowest during periods of fasting.

June 10-13  –  Fasting blood sugar range: 132-203

Jul 31-Aug 3 – Fasting blood sugar range: 94-142 [prior to this ate 1500 calories a day]

Sep 25-29 –  Fasting blood sugar range: 87-129 [prior to this ate normal diet]

Note: The key to avoiding weakness and and nausea on the first days of a water fast is to take a good laxative (preferably herbal; I use Swiss Kriss) the night before; or have an enema first thing in the morning of day one. Long ago for good reason, enemas were routinely given to those entering a hospital.

MEDITATION

What does meditation do that helps combat disease?  An incurable ponderer of things, I eventually became obsessed with understanding why so many health centers like the Mayo Clinic are suggesting it.

I first learned mantra meditation in 2006 at a Deepak Chopra seminar and have since tried other methods, including the simplest: sit still, close eyes, and follow my breath (without changing it).  However, busy with life,  I’d stopped doing it regularly.  When I got sick, I scooted right back to my meditation cushion for at least 15-20 minutes each day, often longer at first.

As background to what I’m about to write, I need to share something.  I could serve as a human canary. Not kidding. My senses are weirdly acute.  Mind you, this is not always a pleasant experience! If there’s something bad in the air, I pick it up and get headaches or have trouble breathing. Something off in the food or water?  My taste buds and stomach know. Hang a picture slightly out of line and my eyes keep returning to it. I have to remind myself not to adjust things in museums and people’s homes. Depending on what my ears hear, I’m blessed or cursed with keen reaction to the sound and an inability to tolerate even low level noise for long.

Therefore, as soon as I picked up the handholds of the zapper described in Not Afraid of Ebola, Part 2, I felt the low current vibrate in my hands and through my body.  Hubby felt absolutely nothing when he tried it, perhaps because his hands are muscular and mine are thin.  Since my lungs were congested and my heart not pumping right, my body didn’t love love this feeling, but I persevered, sure the current couldn’t hurt me, and tried to make friends with the vibration.

Here’s the zinger.  Since I hadn’t meditated in so long, I’d forgotten what it felt like.  It took  a while for the old sensations to resume and, for me, they usually range from pleasant to blissful.  Why had I ever stopped?  After a few days of meditation with occasional zapping, I suddenly realized something.  The vibration of  zapping and the vibration in the deep stage of meditation felt virtually the same!

It made me reassess what I thought I knew.  Dr. Clark, inventor of the zapper, said low level current kills pathogens.  Does deep meditation do the same by inducing a similar vibration in the body?   Is that what medical research is detecting?

For me, this was a thrilling discovery.   I’d read eastern meditation theory that said “cosmic energy”  heals when allowed to flow, not suspecting this could really be a fact.

Believe me, I’ll be doing a lot more pondering and reading about this now.  Meanwhile every morning I rise, visit the bathroom, then meditate before I do anything else, including shower. At the Chopra center, one instructor called it RPM (rise, pee, and mediate).  My day goes better as a result.  Now I realize my health could, too.

WATER

I added this because of repeated advice from almost everywhere that water is good for what ails us.  Lots of water.  More than most of us normally drink.  Plain water.  Not counting teas, coffee or other drinks.  During most of my recovery I drank 8-12 cups a day.

SIDE BENEFITS OF OLIVE LEAF EXTRACT

Other conditions that have improved are kidney function (urine stream back to normal; before OLE I used Dr. Clark’s Kidney Cleanse Tea which worked) painful joints (not so painful), overall stamina (I can stand at a perfume counter for hours now, if I choose, indulging in the positive application I discovered for a hypersensitive nose).  Ah bliss!

MY RESOURCES

WebMd – Great for both medical and herbal info, including interactions

VitaCost – Where I buy most of my supplements and natural products (high quality, low price)

HerbalRemedies – where I discovered Dr. Clark’s book.

BetterHealthHerbs –  He’s a master herbalist.

Supplements  – An online friend just pointed me to this gem

EatTheWeeds – and this gem for wild sources

NCCAM – What the NIH says about alternative medicine

LAST STEP

The cardiologist’s already told me my heart’s okay now. All that remains is to return to my doctor for an exam, though I know the result: I’m not diabetic and don’t have high blood pressure anymore.