by Joseph Barker, Web designer, writer and doodler, Melbourne, Australia

As I lay back in the seat, a nurse placed a cover over me. I took one last look at the picturesque scene of the sun setting out the window before a great big screen was moved in front of my face. “I don’t want to disturb you, but what you see next may make you upset” said Doctor Max. Then he switched on the screen to display the full uncensored, gruesome scene. What was in front of me was a close up of my teeth. Bacteria and build up was everywhere, all over the inside of my mouth, in between the gums bubbling away like some Icelandic water spa.

This made me sit up a little stiff in my seat. How had this happened? After all they looked good to me, and hey, don’t you know, I don’t even eat sweets! But as Doctor Max asked me a few further questions, it became clear my teeth regime was not quite as squeaky clean as it seemed. “Do you brush inside and out every tooth?” “Do you methodically floss in between?” “Do you spend an equal time in every spot?” “Do you you always brush with care?” Well…no. I had to admit, that I did not, more often settling for a quick scrub around whilst thinking of something that happened to me that day.
Continue reading “Tooth wisdom” →

by Leigh Matson, London, UK 

In life, we are always presented with opportunities to test ourselves and to learn from the results of these experiments. The quality of the experiments will vary, depending on how willing we are to be aware of what we are feeling.

For example, finding out if we have a food intolerance can be quite simple.

If we eat a certain food – we may get a reaction.

If we don’t eat that certain food – there is no reaction.

It simply requires us to stop for a moment to clock our body’s communication in response or reaction to this food.

If we were to eliminate the foods we react to for a period of time, we could then see and feel the results by feeling the effects in our bodies.

Unfortunately, we live in a world where we are taught to override and ignore these reactions, or messages from our bodies. So even though we may have a bodily reaction, we have been taught how to override these messages, so we can eat ‘normally’ and appear to be normal.

When I was young I could not eat gluten, because it caused various reactions such as a reddening of my face and a number of mood and behavioral disorders and 20 years ago gluten free food was not as readily available as it is now. So over time I learnt how to override and ‘grow out of’ being gluten intolerant. But what if we don’t ‘grow out of’ being intolerant, we just get better at masking the reaction?

Since I have eliminated gluten (and also dairy and sugar) from my diet, I have found that my energy levels, general health and wellbeing have increased.

So then what if we could apply this method of experimenting with ourselves to other areas of life?

Continue reading “The Test of Life” →