What is the Significance of the Cold?

If you’ve been following this blog, you know that I explored my first Ayurvedic cleanse, called Pancha Karma, two weeks ago with some interesting twists and turns.  Last Friday, 4 days after I had finished my cleanse, I got hit with a “cold”.  I put the word in quotes because although the symptoms I have are similar to a cold (sneezing, runny nose, sinus headache, mucous draining down the back of my throat creating a sore and dry throat), I’m not sure that’s truly what it is…or all that it is.

I do acknowledge that both my kids have the same set of symptoms which on the surface adds credibility to the germ theory of a cold.  However, my son, who’s symptoms are the strongest, does not eat a diet that serves his body…despite my best efforts to provide a whole foods, well rounded meal plan.  You know the saying…”you can lead a horse to water but can’t make it drink”.  So it is with my son who consistently gravitates to everything sweet and salty…kapha foods in the Ayurvedic world.  And too much kapha creates ama (excess toxins) in the form of…mucous! 

I bring this up because my body has a similar reaction to excess kapha foods when I become imbalanced.  Coming off the cleanse, with simple and soothing food, I dove a bit too heartily back into the world of “normal” eating.  On the surface the foods I added back in were healthy but did have more flour based products and dairy, both of which are kapha, than my body may have been ready for.  I might have done OK even then except that Thursday I was at a social gathering and a large part of the meal was rich, dairy heavy with some sweet…and it pushed me right over the edge.  Literally, as soon as I ate the food, I could feel the mucous ramping up and it went downhill from there.

Extra rest and Chinese herbs have me coming back into balance.  The “cold” never completely manifested.  Did I catch it early and switch the course or was it always an internal imbalance created by my food intake…or both?  I think it’s the latter…meaning both.  My food choices created an internal imbalance which allowed me to be more succeptible to the virus.  However, since my overall health is strong, it didn’t take me too long to right the wrong and I’m back on track with a gentle reminder from my BodyMind to toe my line of food balance a little more carefully at the moment.

And all of that experience is perfect.  Because I just keep learning, listening, and moving forward with new insights and skills.   What are you experiences giving you?

Expanding Thoughts or Simply Re-inforcing My Beliefs

I’m reading a new book.   Not a surprise considering this is my favorite downtime activity but this time I’m on a non-fiction kick.   Anyway, one of my current books is called “Why People Get Sick”.  It’s a fascinating look at some of the complex factors that play a role in getting sick…many of which fall in line with the body-mind connection.

As this topic is a center piece of my work, naturally I’m excited.  These two authors from England, one a psychoanalyst and one a researcher, offer some history and some social commentary.  The history is about how the body-mind connection had a greater recognition in the 40’s through the 60’s and have since been fading off behind the simplistic germ and genetic disposition theories of illness.  If this is interesting, check out the book yourself.

The question I’m pondering today is, do I really look to stretch my awareness and perceptions, or do I gravitate towards that which re-inforces what I already believe?  This isn’t a new idea but I’ve always considered myself more progressive and open minded.  So how do I know…am I attracted to interesting ideas that are simply more accurate or am I stuck in a habit, a rut?

What do you think?  Anyone else caught in such a loop.