Dear Energy Medicine Friends:

When I was studying for my Counselor Training in Chinese Medicine/Macrobiotics, my wonderful teachers, Herman Aihaira and David Briscoe, drilled the concepts of Liver Chi Stagnation, Acid/Alkaline balance, and “sticky blood” into us as the most important phenomena to consider in our diagnoses. “Sticky blood” has become somewhat epidemic in our junk-food culture, and is spoken of as a troubling condition in Traditional Chinese Medicine.

I am forever grateful to Herman and David for teaching me about blood quality and the need for the maintenance of kidney health for our acid/alkaline balance.

In my last few email letters I have spoken of ways to maintain kidney health for immunity, vitality, and for the maintenance of a strong alkaline base for the bloodstream. Salt bathing, breathing in a deep and regular way, walking on the grass first thing in the morning (this stimulates the Kidney Meridian), and taking daily infrared saunas are some of the remedies I spoke of, both in class and in the email letters sent out (see the page on my web site: www.SouthernFriedSpirituality/Blog/Email).

Of course, there is no such thing as food which is either alkaline or acid! It just isn’t either/or!

Food is either more acid, or more alkaline, just as something may be more yin or more yang. Food can lead toward an alkaline base, but once combined with saliva, stomach acid, or blood, it can become quite acidic, just as food which is more acidic can do the opposite.

What about a whole grain, which is more “acidic?” Well, if you add a bit of an alkalizing mineral, like salt, it becomes more alkaline. Then, when the parotid glands secrete saliva, and this saliva begins to work its’ magic, the qualities of the grain becomes even more alkaline, and more digestible. It is a complete chemical chain reaction, and it varies from food to food, as well as from individual to individual in some cases.

Ph balance, or the percentage of hydrogen ions in the blood, is a very fixed amount, and controls the acid/alkaline ratio in our bloodstream. The maintenance of this balance is regulated not only by diet and breathing, but by managing stress in our lives. No one can avoid stress, but the management of this unavoidable phenomena can affect the quality of our blood in profound ways.

Meditation, stressed and stressed again, not only provides an excellent pathway to emotional balance, but it can help discharge the body’s acidic waste through the controlled out-breath. More than anything, the body’s acidic waste build- up is discharged pretty much through the out -breath. One of my teachers once said that 70% of the body’s acidic waste was eliminated or discharged through the out- breath. And he learned that from an anesthesiologist.

The topic of blood quality, acid/alkaline balance and kidney health is of vital importance as the seasons change. Especially important is our response to the Wind, one of the pathogens in Chinese Medicine…This has been discussed at length in former E-Mail newsletters.

How do we stay healthy? How do we avoid inflammation, pain, autoimmune illness, wind related problems (called “pernicious evils” in TCM)? How do we maintain an acidic bloodstream, and most especially maintain Kidney/Liver/Triple Warmer health in these windy, dry times which can change on a dime?

These topics – along with our ongoing discussions about KUNDALINI and SAMSKARAS - will be explored more fully in the Energy Medicine emails to come.

Love,

Gopita