Happy December! I hope it’ll be an “upswing” month for us.
I thought I’d type out an update. (I haven’t been able to type for months due to pain so it’s a bit of a novelty now!)
I’ve been off social media for one main reason – resting my right arm, which is now much less painful and I’m hoping it will hold up as I’ve started typing again – little by little. (I won’t bore you with the details but I’ve had tennis elbow since mid June which got better twice and got worse again, aggravated by all the work involved during entries for the 2021 Awards).
If you want to SKIP the elbow and TMS/DR JOHN SARNO bit below, scroll down, now, to the rest of this post covering:
1) 2021 AWARDS UPDATE & EMERGING TRENDS
2) KAAVAN (NO LONGER “THE WORLD’S LONELIEST ELEPHANT”) RESCUED BY CHER and FOUR PAWS
3) THE EASIEST HOLIDAY WREATH TO MAKE WHEN YOU ONLY HAVE A BIT OF CARDBOARD AND SOME EVERGREEN LEAVES
4) MY FAVOURITE SPILL-PROOF, KEYBOARD-SAFE ECO TRAVEL CUP
5) HAVE YOU BEEN WATCHING WIL YEUNG, PLANT-BASED CHEF? (fab recipes, easy to watch/calm to listen to, no faffing around)
Back to TMS and Dr Sarno…if you know someone in chronic pain and this resonates please tell them about the book.
Two things have really helped – acupuncture and Dr John Sarno’s TMS theory – outlined in his book Healing Back Pain. Dr Sarno passed away in 2017 in his 90s but he leaves a powerful legacy behind.
He believed a lot of muscular/joint pain and “diseases” like fibromyalgia are often caused by not “sitting with your strong emotions” like anger or grief. His view was that the pain, although medically “real”, is actually our brain playing tricks with us to “protect us” from our emotions and distract us by forcing us to focus on whatever pain we’re dealing with – instead of dealing with our emotions and emotional issues.
I watched about six videos on TMS (Tension Myositis Syndrome) and started journaling, ignored the pain, got rid of the fear of re-injuring my elbow, and immediately started doing everything I used to do – carrying heavy things including plants and bags of earth, hoovering, lifting heavy jugs of water… the point is not to care about the pain anymore. To become completely indifferent to it. I can feel it sometimes but honestly I’d almost forgotten I had this problem. You have to get into the mindset that the pain is a “rubber snake” – not real. It’s not scary. It’s your brain playing games.
The “logical” bit behind Dr Sarno’s work is that pent up feelings, aka internal stress, restrict blood flow and oxygen to specific parts of the body which totally made sense to me.
Part of the practice is to STOP all therapy – that means no physio, no massage, no infrared heat, no acupuncture, no nothing – because if you continue with these treatments searching for a solution, it implies there’s a problem that needs to be treated.
You have to tell your brain that (a) you can handle your emotional pain, be it anger, grief or whatever – in my case the grief of losing my beloved mum (after not being able to see her for two months) in May, as my elbow pain kicked off in mid June and (b) your brain needs to absolutely know it cannot and will not distract you with chronic pain. Because you’re going to be totally indifferent to it.
TMS principles focus on not fearing the pain, and knowing that your body is actually absolutely fine, deep down. (Obviously if you’ve had an accident you need to get checked out – but things like RSI “injuries” which my elbow issue fits with can be TMS masquerading as carpal tunnel syndrome, a sore back, neck, etc.)
I don’t want to jinx things but if you’ve had chronic pain that maybe moves around (tendinosis, joint issues, back pain, plantar fascitis, fibromyalgia…) and you haven’t come across Dr Sarno’s work, search “Dr Sarno TMS” on YouTube. There are quite a few practitioners on there – prominent spine surgeon-turned-TMS expert Dr David Hanscom who believes in this so deeply he gave up his surgery and teaches TMS now, and Dan Buglio (Pain Free Now on YouTube) are the two I’ve been listening to. Dr Hanscom has a book about this.
The father of TMS, Dr Sarno’s success rate was 95%. Many say he deserved to win a Nobel Prize for his work but he was almost vilified by the medical profession (no surprise! If you can heal yourself, you won’t need Big Pharma’s drugs or regular consultations/therapy/ies).
In the same way that flower essences work so well for some, in what can seem like a really esoteric way, TMS can also be the doorway to a pain-free life when everything else has not worked. Worth looking into if you need another option.
2021 AWARDS UPDATE & TRENDS
I know the judging panel are knee deep in beauty and natural health samples at the moment and once we hit January, Tuesday 2 March will come around fast…
CBD entries were very strong (oils, edibles like CBD coffee and dark chocolate and CBD beauty and self-care products like CBD-infused night creams and bath salts).
Also, it’s a very stellar year for beauty balms, natural self-tanners and eco packaging (far less plastic packaging than say 2 years ago).
I’ve opened moisturiser boxes to find empowering/inspiring messages printed on the inside, and “Celestial Beauty” – inspired by the sun, moon, stars and lunar cycles – and “Crystal Beauty” have been two of my favourite trends (crystal-infused products aren’t brand new but the trend is evolving).
“Comfort” and “self-love” are also themes this year.
I have never felt such a positive energy around the awards as this year – it’s as if we collectively just all want to move on and embrace some good news for a change!
I’ve just started thinking about travelling again. Who know when we’ll be able to, in complete safety, but I’m finding I’m watching more travel documentaries on YouTube and have had a hankering for Italy recently.
KAAVAN THE WORLD’S LONELIEST ELEPHANT (BUT NOT ANY LONGER)
The release of Asian elephant Kaavan, chained up in pitiful conditions in an Islamabad zoo for decades has to be up there as the feelgood news story of the year.
Languishing, swaying from side to side (a sign of distress), all alone and his health deteriorating, Kaavan’s luck changed thanks to Cher and her wildlife foundation, US entrepreneur Eric Margolis (who paid 50% of the cost of the flight) and animal charity Four Paws who arranged for Kaavan (who weighs 5 tons) to be airlifted in a Russian war plane from the Islamabad zoo to an elephant sanctuary in Cambodia at a cost of $400,000.
Kaavan reportedly (and visibly, on YouTube) is doing much better already in the few days he’s been there and he’s slowly being introduced to three female elephants.
The loneliest elephant in the world is in quarantine for 2 weeks and had to have a Covid-19 test before flying to Cambodia.
How upside-down the world is.
I’ve been following the updates daily.
All zoos should be closed. They are animal prisons. Wild animals deserve to thrive in their natural habitat (not shot dead or chained up in a zoo). A zoo is not educational and it’s not entertainment. We have TV and the internet to learn about animals. Same for circuses.
Cher (thank you!!) and wonderful, kind-hearted Four Paws vet Dr Amil Khalil (who sang Frank Sinatra songs to Kaavan at the zoo to soothe him and lift his spirits) arrived in Cambodia with Kaavan who’s looking happier and seems to be settling in well before he’ll be able to mix with other elephants.
He’s currently in an enclosure with a few “toys” like a rubber tire attached to a huge tree trunk and he’s been “reaching out” – with his trunk – to two of the female elephants who aren’t quite sure yet what to make of him…but it’s early days still.
“He will be a happier elephant”: Vet describes what it was like to rescue Kaavan
THE EASIEST AND CHEAPEST WREATH TO MAKE WHEN YOU ONLY HAVE A BIT OF CARDBOARD AND SOME EVERGREEN LEAVES
What you’ll need:
Cardboard (eg side of a box)
Small knife or scissors
Evergreen stems (eg little “tufts” of pine tree needles)
I bought a little oil heater for my bedroom on Friday afternoon and have been meaning to make a wreath (have the wire but no wire clippers) but hadn’t got round to it.
After a walk and the farmer’s market on Saturday morning, I had an idea. Cut one side of the radiator box into a big polo mint shape, score little holes all over it with a small kitchen knife (or scissors) and push in little pine tree “twiglets”.
On a walk earlier this week I found a large pine branch blown down in a storm and took it home – I was going to decorate it with fairy lights but went for the wreath idea instead.
Here’s what it looked like before I “padded it out more” and finished it…
And here it is hanging on my wall (I don’t have a front door you can hang things from):
It got a bit prickly finishing things off because you’re inserting the last pine needle “twiglets” into an already almost full wreath. (You have to be careful making the holes, that you don’t bend the cardboard or it will become floppy and harder to work with).
I think this would be a fun project for kids – if an adult pre-poked the little holes in the cardboard “polo mint” first so there are no knives or scissors lying around and probably best using different, softer evergreen leaves. This could be gorgeous as a Summer Solstice “nature inside” wreath made with olive leaves although you need quite “fluffy”/expansive/large leaves to hide the cardboard backing circle. I might try that in the summer.
MY TAKE-IT-EVERYWHERE, SPILL-PROOF RICE HUSK ECO TRAVEL CUP
Lastly, I’m a pro at knocking over cups of tea and coffee (including all over the keyboard of a previous laptop) so I thought it was high time I got a spill-proof travel cup. Travel as in “dreaming of doing it” but this one by Hills and Valleys made from rice husk is fantastic! It’s completely spill-proof so I take it in the car and on walks although it doesn’t keep drinks warm (it’s not supposed to).
I always sleep with a herbal tea or large glass of water on my bedside table and I don’t know how I haven’t knocked a drink over until now but that won’t be happening!
I love the “taste” of this cup – there isn’t one. Not the loveliest colour (it sort of looks like a very vaguely mint/white mottled stone step).
It’s:
light
sturdy
screw top
holds 450ml
100% recyclable
made from rice husks (you can also buy them made from wheat husks)
£11.99 on Amazon
the brand is Hills and Valleys
double walled insulation (feels warm but never hot to the touch – it’s lovely sipping it outside in cold weather!) – it doesn’t keep drinks warm which I thought it might but overall I am very happy with it
WIL YEUNG – PHOTOGRAPHER & PLANT-BASED CHEF
OK this really is “last but not least”…but he’s too good not to mention!
Have you discovered Wil Yeung yet? He’s a Hong Kong born Canadian photographer and his YouTube plant-based dishes are yummy and not difficult to make.
He has a calm, to-the-point, visually clear way of talking you through the recipe and I think you might like him if he’s new to you…?
Here’s his special veg fried rice…I think Wil Yeung is a rising star, his whole ethos is about cooking simple and delicious vegetable-based dishes “with confidence” – I hope he publishes a full blown cookbook…check him out! x
