The beauty of all life as we know it is diversity. All facets of nature, including humans, are diverse, this is what creates the ability for life to continue to grow, change and expand. Without diversity we may be more likely to become extinction, or leave ourselves open to dysfunction and a lack of solution based improvement.
We can observe lack of diversity in things on a macro level such as monoculture farming, nations that don’t encourage individuality, groups that have a single minded focus, and on a micro level when we eat only one type of nutrient poor food, or focus our mind in one negative type of way. Ultimately it becomes destructive and doesn’t encourage positive growth and good health. On a spiritual level if we understand that God/Source or Creation is experiencing itself through the abundance of diversity that exists then we can understand that without diversity there is no longer a need for anything to exist. It just becomes the singular I am. So to encourage diversity is to feed the very essence and purpose of life. All areas of your life can benefit from encouraging diversity. For instance if you were interested in a particular subject, looking at all angles, reading all available information and being open to all views about that subject would encourage a broader knowledge base and understanding about it. The same goes if we are considering people and the way they are or why they do things. If we apply this to our health, and our gut-brain axis, the more diverse our micro-biome is the better able our bodies are to be healthy and our minds are to be positive and clear. In what areas of your life could you encourage more diversity. Do you find that you get stuck in a narrow view and are not able to come up with solutions, or are you sick of the same outcomes over and over again. Consider all the areas of your life that could benefit from diversity, from things such as your music and podcast choice to your knowledge base, friendship circles, to your diet, lifestyle and daily routines. Diversity keeps us alive, physically, spiritually, mentally and emotionally.
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The essence of Alchemy is change, a transmutation of one base material into something more valuable.
Change is a natural and normal part of life. From the moment we are conceived we are changing and we are continuously growing from who we were yesterday into who we are today. Without growth and change, expansion cannot occur and we become stagnant and begin to die, in a literal sense as well as a physical sense. Change is a constant, this is true for us as humans and for the world at large including society, the earth, and the universe. Change is the one thing we can be sure of. When we resist change and cling to the past, or the old ways of doing things, we find ourselves fighting against the natural and normal process of life. Quite literally we find ourselves working against the tide. Everything seems to become difficult and overwhelming, nothing appears to go right or to flow easily. On a personal level and on a collective level when we begin to embrace change (the direction of change will mean different things to different people) and let go of what no longer serves us, and embrace who we are becoming now, the universe will respond accordingly to encourage flow. It cannot be any other way because this is a universal truth. So, take a look at your life, what are you resisting, or holding on to that no longer serves you? In what areas is growth not occurring, and what do you have the power to change? Every day we are given the opportunity to create, grow, change and expand. Start with one small step and see where it takes you. “Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like” Lao Tzu What is Fear? Fear is our emotional or physical response to a threat, either real or imagined. Sometimes fear is palpable and obvious, other times it is beneath the surface and hard to pinpoint or even notice. For example, often when there is a lot of anger we think that anger is what is affecting us, but often there is fear underneath this and it is the fear that needs to be addressed to clear the anger.
Fear is corrosive for our bodies. Fear relates to the Kidneys in Chinese Medicine. Fear activates the adrenal glands that sit atop of the kidneys, and these glands release hormones and neurotransmitters that help us respond accordingly, getting ready to either run or fight to save ourselves, triggering our fight or flight reflex. This response is deep, primal and ancient and there for a very good reason. Fear reduces all bodily activities that are not required for this response, digestion is affected, our gastrointestinal system is put into a state of limbo so that all resources can be directed to our muscles, heart and lungs, ready to take immediate action. So much of our immune response lies within the gut, a whopping 70-80% of immune cells are located in the gut. We need our guts to be working in optimal order to be able to fully activate our immune response. We need to be able to switch off this constant fear state, and move from fight or flight, back into rest and digest mode. There was a time in my life when I was living in a very fearful state, my life and those of others was at risk, and I had to manage my response very carefully in order to stay safe. While I was able to this it didn’t reduce the threat. One day my father said the following words to me, “you can’t live in fear forever”. And I realised I needed to become brave and I began to imagine a life that one day would be very different from the one I had. And every day I took a step in that direction. And then one day I arrived. Every day we have a choice, to stay trapped, dis-abled and living in fear, or to take back our power and choose a better life. Do what you can to make every day better for yourself, turn off negative media, surround yourself with positive people, watch positive, funny movies, talk to people who make you laugh and give you great ideas and inspire you. Do you what you need to do to feel safe. Your life is yours to live, and your choices are your own, respect the choices of others, we are all working with our own set of beliefs, values and experiences. It is good that we are all different. If we can find harmony with each other and with nature then we will be able to live safely, wisely and symbiotically without the need for constant Fear. Inhale, Exhale. You’ve got this. |
AuthorRebecca Wood is a Herbalist, Acupuncturist, nature lover, mother and grandmother. She enjoys all aspects of Natural Medicine, Learning, Teaching and being Human. Archives
November 2021
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