Detoxification

This is a subject that raises much controversy between practitioners of conventional medicine and the holistic community. Although I don’t much fancy the Gerson Therapy coffee enemas, I do agree with the principle. If I clear weed-filled gutters, it is only prudent to ensure that the drains that will remove the rainwater run-off are not blocked. Inherently, correct functioning is a systemic concern.

Max Gerson gained his insight into holistic healing over decades of work treating patients judged to have terminal cancer. Often they only came to him when conventional medicine had given up on them and they were considered beyond hope. His therapy is undoubtedly successful and yet remains relatively unknown despite innumerable campaigns to eradicate cancer forever. Why? Because the simplicity of his approach threatens to undermine the cancer industry which has grown cancerous itself. The massive costs of treating cancer sufferers are bankrupting society while the causes become more common and collectively we remain in denial.  So far the conventional wisdom to poison, slash and burn our way to health is achieving only poor long term outcomes and yet even now, only minimal attention is given to prevention.

I have long believed that health begins at the cellular level and my own journey to health has honoured that concept. As a healthy individual I am able to play my part in building community and contributing to a healthy society. The choice to be optimally healthy must come from the individual and demands that we adopt a disciplined lifestyle. Often this will require the changing of habits we have nurtured for years. We do so because we believe that our efforts will, down the line, bring the results we want. As the fresh vegetables supplant the convenience foods and the threat of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes recedes we gradually come to enjoy the benefits of robust good health. Today my meals are ‘nutrition attacks’ providing the broad spectrum of nutrients that ensure that every cell gets what it needs to perform well.

The same principles apply in a corporate environment. If working well, leadership acknowledges the state of the culture of an organisation, sets a course for health and marshals its resources to achieve it. Every individual counts. Nourishment equates to jointly creating a clear vision of the healthy organisation, providing the opportunity for individuals to excel and developing a strong psychological contract. Soon collaboration and trust cause the threats of strike action or closure to recede.  

Conventional corporate medicine will engage the accountants, the lawyers, the marketers and management to get the yes-men to march to the latest beat, with additional inducement or coercion being applied through HR as required. Too often the result is a lacklustre compliance to the doctrine of the day.

On the other hand, a more radical holistic approach will involve ‘Worldwork’ as espoused by Mindell and Appreciative Inquiry, as each employee finds his or her voice and shares in the creation of the enterprise. Dismantling excessive boardroom remunerations and tiers of privilege will provide the enema necessary to flush out the unnecessary bureaucracies and the toxic and crippling cost structures that threaten the survival of the business. Eventually emerges the lean, mean collaborating machine that becomes a pillar / bone or sinew of a healthy society.

© Paul Curran, January 2012

Factory Settings

Last week I had the dreaded computer crash. We all know it can happen so we protect our machines with firewalls, antivirus software, backup drives and memory sticks etc, don’t we? Prudent precautions prevent a severe inconvenience becoming a disaster. Returning to factory settings is painful but provides a firm foundation on which we can safely build.

Back in 1972 a nutritionist researcher from Queen Elizabeth College, John Yudkin, wrote his prophetic work  ‘Pure, White and Deadly’, in which he described the many dangers of sugar.  In 1975 it was joined by ‘The Saccharin Disease’, which provided the surgical perspective on the epidemic by Royal Naval Surgeon, Terence Cleave. Both authors pointed to the disastrous impact of refined carbohydrates, particularly sugar, on human health. By comparing the disease profiles of different populations around the world Cleave showed very clearly what befalls us when our diets depart from the evolutionary, ‘factory settings’ of traditional, natural foodstuffs. Civilised societies are now rife with coronary disease, diabetes, dental caries, peptic ulcer, obesity, varicose veins and many forms of cancer not seen in tribal populations adhering to traditional diets.

A parallel malaise has befallen much of Western industry; not through technology itself, which has bestowed enormous benefit on mankind, but in how forces of greed and corruption have led to gross distortions in wealth distribution through exploitation and profiteering. It may start innocently enough, perhaps through the opportunistic acquisition of a synergistic partner.  A little while later, in the name of efficiency jobs are lost. Boardroom packages grow ‘to reflect the complexity and responsibility of the role’ and ‘to attract the best executive talent for the future growth of the business’. Subtly, and sometimes swiftly, the controlling mind of the enterprise has lost touch with the workforce and has brought it to the brink of instability. The business has changed so much it may no longer be possible to recognise its origins. Should the business fail the chances are that, like a viral infection, many of the executives will be eagerly welcomed into other businesses and find themselves feted for their wrecker-ball insensitivities. They may never pause to ask what went wrong or how businesses are meant to live.

So can such situations be avoided? Around the world co-operative enterprises are enjoying a renaissance. Organisations like the UK’s John Lewis Partnership are showcasing the benefits of employee ownership. Warring communities everywhere can become reconciled when they are prepared to recognise their common humanitarian needs. While fully embracing the complexity of  modern life, it seems to me that the fundamental question that always needs to be asked is “What would Optimum Health require in this situation?” The answer often points to some fundamental disciplines that have been dropped or massaged – the PC backup, the healthy diet, budgetary controls, non-executive oversight and, most importantly, workforce consultation.

Being mindful of, and providing for, the health of each cell in our body, each member of our community, each worker in the business etc will ensure that we stay close to factory settings in our affairs. We will protect our personal health and form healthy relationships around us ever conscious of our role in the bigger picture. We will seek healthy partnerships within and between businesses, constantly learning from our efforts, ever vigilant against greed and corruption, and when necessary, ready to reboot.

Happy New Year

In Newcastle, Co Down, the first morning of the year is bright and sunny. It’s easy to be joyful on such a morning and to think positively of the year ahead. Standing on the bathroom scales at 9am confirmed that my first resolution had already been broken but I am undeterred. I do not subscribe to the ‘Make them to break them’ philosophy with its attendant guilt and feelings of hopelessness. Rather I see worthwhile achievable initiatives as stepping stones to optimum health, reflecting conscious lifestyle choices.

Until my hospitalisation I had not experienced the linkage between body and mind. I had not felt the powerlessness of being unable to concentrate for more than a few seconds. At a time when I could not walk, I couldn’t think either. Three years later I can better appreciate this linkage and see that it extends far beyond the immediate situation of being totally incapacitated. It pervades every aspect of life. Previously I might have equated being healthy with not being sick. Today I see optimum health and sickness as being poles apart. I now seek health in mind and body through a balance of stimulation and restfulness, nutrition and exercise. With body and mind in balance we are best able to meet the challenges of life, to develop our talents and to cooperate with others to build community.

Life experience helps us to build resilience. The young sportsperson masters her event through long hours of practice. The scholar masters his subject through study and inquiry. It is through dedication and application that real progress is made, not on the stopwatch recording of a single event, the scoring of a class assessment or the one off reading on the bathroom scales. Establishing appropriate metrics is certainly valuable to help us improve our awareness and levels of performance but let our goals serve our development as members of the human family rather than drive us to seek personal aggrandisement. Both success and failure bring learning. Success builds confidence and independence. If we’ll let it, failure broadens our perspective and brings humility.

My wish then, for 2012, is that I am receptive to the nutrition that will build both body and soul. Physically I won’t get closer to the Olympic Games than my TV set, but I will be enthralled as the  athletes set new records for human achievement. Neither will I be close to CERN as the scientists further our understanding of the universe. My task this year, and for life, is to be uniquely me and to fully play my part in society so that after my time in this world it is at least as healthy as I found it. To help me I’ll seek balance and understanding in my eating habits, I’ll exercise intelligently, read avidly, join with family in both celebration and sorrow and knit myself into the community through the music of my labour.

I hope you will join me in the quest to become optimally healthy and that you too will be undeterred in your resolve when setbacks occur. I wish you health, happiness and serenity on your journey.