Amanda_S, Age 25, 7DW Level 1, Introduction

[Amanda_S]

Hello Everyone-

My name is Amanda and I am very excited about joining this group. My present health is fair, but I think it's more because my age is still letting me get away with poor eating/exercise habits. I like to eat, and often, for the wrong reasons. Nonetheless, I have had periods in my life where upon eating a cleaner diet, my entire being has come alive. Currently though, life is busy and I eat vegetables, if I'm lucky, once a day and supplement that with entirely too much Diet Coke.

My main health concern at this point is my energy level. I have a full life and need the vibrance physically to keep up. Days are filled with a full-time job at an ad agency and nights I go to school for Oriental Medicine. I love school and feel very fortunate to be learning all that I am. Bodies/minds have so much potential when you don't bog them down with crap!

My goal is to get rid of that crap and do so in a loving, positive environment. My everyday physical environment is an office building in Los Angeles. I try to get as much of the outdoors and fresh air as possible on my time off. Any time out of smog is a good time.

I consider myself a spiritual person. Faith is a big part of my life. I've found that having a cleaner body adds exponentially to my spiritual journey and that is really my end goal.

Thank you for having me in your group, I know that I am in great company and look forward to any comments you might have.

Have a wonderful day-
Amanda S.

[Fran_D'A]

Hi Amanda!

Welcome to the group. You are very lucky to have found the path so early in your life. And to be studying Oriental Medicine too! What a great combo.

[David_T]

Welcome Amanda!

This is the place to clean out that crap! Start with the diet coke...very bad. Carbonated beverages are very acidfying...but you knew that didn't you? HEH ;)

Mind and body indeed. You are on a very important path, and so young too! Your cleansing is not just for you. You will be a role model for many people.

Glad you are here.

Love and light,

David_T

[Amanda_S]

Thank you both, Fran and David, for your comments. I knew this is what I signed up for, but as this is my first online group experience, it's very exciting to know that there are actual people out there.

Thanks!

[Jos-hua Medicine man]

Welcome to our community of online cleansers Amanda!

Since this is your first online experience, it is important that we make it a good one for you, even an excellent one. At the least good. That will help in strengthening your faith and efforts.

I am so glad you are starting to cleanse at 25... that is the age I would have liked to have begun... it didn't come around until 35 this life, who knows what the next one beholds?

Studying Oriental medicine... cool. How many hours. I am in the middle of a course in Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand, it is a 100 hour course divided into 4 parts. Introduction, diagnosis, pulse reading, herbalogy. Colin too knows the women, we all visit her for our daily month or bi-monthly TCM check-in (which is a part of the fivefold path). Her name is Rungrat. She is a lovely human being... so gentle, compassionate and knowledable.

I wizzed through the first 25 hours, that is all the stuff we are talking about here at HPS, especially the fivefold path, the five flavors, the internal organs, yin and yang, etc.

I especially am looking forward to continuing, especially for the diagnosis and the pulse reading parts... a good pulse reader accumulates the knowledge and experience over lifetimes... there is just no way one can do it well in one or two lives...

Anyway, I assume the 7DW program will take care of your health issues, and all of us here can help take care of the online experience so that this 'first' online experience for you is a good one.

So there isn't much left to say at this time other than, good luck and blessings!

Welcome to our community of cleansers!
:)

[Richard_D]

Hi Amanda. I just wanted to add my voice to the chorus of welcome, and I also think it's great to be studying TCM while actually doing your first fast (or is it just the first online fast?). There's a school here that I've been thinking about joining after I have my finances in order, but I'm a little skeptical about what I've heard of Chinese doctors practicing in these parts. I have a coworker who's been seeing one, and in all his consultations he was never even asked about his diet once. Another friend of mine knows a different doctor, and he mostly just hands out medicine and maybe does a little acupuncture. And supposedly this latter doctor actually spent the better part of his youth as a monk (I don't know what flavor). I've heard that when treating foreigners, the doctors here just give them something to make them go away, but it still makes me wonder just how traditional the TCM in widespread practice here is.

But anyway, you've picked a perfect time to learn about fasting, and to undertake the discipline yourself. I hope you find the experience helpful in your studies as well as your health.

Rick

[Jake_W]

Amanda,

How wonderful that you have joined our group. We all benefit when we reach out to help one another. The path you are on will be a blessing for you and those whose life you touch.

The energy you seek is within you and you will find it again. I'm looking forward to following your progress.

[Amanda_S]

Thank you all for your comments. What an amazing group of people....that would send love and support to someone they don't know. Many thanks. It was so exciting to get the first recommended book for this cleanse and see that 1/2 of it was dedicated to the subject I'm studying.

Jos-hua, I'm not sure of the exact number of hours that my studies will fulfill, it is a Masters program for Oriental Medicine. Four years long, extremely intense. I am at the end of my first year and I am just getting to the fun stuff :) . I agree completely with your comments on pulse reading. It's odd to study this medicine and know that it's not something you can master....I guess that is the bigger lesson for life also. Rather, it would take years and years (or lifetimes as you said) to really know what's going on. Maybe I have a few behind me...we'll see:) . I love every minute of it though.

Richard, thank you for your comments. It is so interesting to hear what you have to say, and yes, I wouldn't doubt that at times you would receive 'less than' treatment as a foreigner. That's unfortunate. When you wrote of the doctor who just hands out medicine and does little acupuncture, do you mean herbs? I would assume so. Of the schools I know of here in California, some focus mainly on acupuncture as treatment with herbs as a side thing, and others see herbs as the bulk of the treatment, with acupuncture as an aid. I'm sure there is an argument for both. But my thinking is that any good practitioner of any modality would look first at your diet and make changes to that before prescribing any herbs, etc. That is why I am here at HPS. It's the basis of health.

Jake, thank you also for your comments, they are so very true.

I look forward to sitting down and seeing what each of you are up to in your lives. Thank you for the support and insight.

Have a wonderful day-
Amanda S.

[Elisa_C]

Amanda,

Congratulations on your study of oriental medicine. Maybe one day you will end up down here in the Caribbean. We don't have anyone proficient in that area. The french are big on homeopathic medicine. But everytime I get a good relationship with a doctor, they get bored with island life and go back to France.

I have always been into herbs but the Oriental variety has me lost and without resorce down here. When I was in China several years ago, I picked up a case of "travellers sickness" , if you know what I mean . My guide just took me to the medicine counter in a state store and She had me buy something that worked phenominally ! The problem is I couldn't read the package to figure out what it was.

Keep it up !
Elisa

[Mike_Y]

Elisa
Was it Po Cai pills that u took in China? Little brown pills. You gulp about 50 of them down at a go. And boy they work big time.
Not sure you'll find them in your local pharmacy though.
cheers
Mike

[Mike_Y]

G'day Amanda.
I gotta say I admire the fact you can manage a job in an ad agency and find the time and energy to do night school.
One of the healthiest things I did recently was to quit my agency job...it was taking control of my life!
I suppose a key difference (apart from being twice your age!) is that my wife and I have two very important and demanding clients at home (Max, 6, and Tara, 2).
Welcome and all the best with the cleanse.
cheers Mike

[Niamh_H]

Hi Amanda,

Welcome to the group - even though I'm a bit late looking at all the posts before me.

What a great and beneficial subject to study - oriental medicine. You will help yours and so many lives you touch with your knowledge. It must be hard going balancing the two.

Recognising that your age is standing you in good stead rather than your diet and exercise is great level of awareness to be at.

As for Diet coke, I used to drink so much of it but switched to water - the difference is phenomenal on the body and the working of the brain. Diet coke is also full of aspartane which is lethal for that temple you are living in.

I'm delighted for you that you have found hps online - you'll be a new woman.

I look forward to your posts,

Love Niamh

[Elisa_C]

Mike,

The medicine I got in China was in capsules (herbal) and I only had to take one or two.
But they sure worked ! That is true.

Elisa_C

[Dirk_E]

I can see that vibrant health would be something nice to have working full time in an ad agency and studying TCM at the same time!

You will see that in this group Joshua strikes the right balance between theory and practice.

In my case, I was not so much lacking theory as practice. TCM certainly helped me to understand the relation between the things that were happening to me, so it is a wonderful path.

I know you know and I knew it too...but sleep can do wonders for your health and beauty. (On the first I can be very positive as for the last :-) I have no idea)...and you know what?

Sleep is not expensive and you don't have to order it online :-)

I wish you all the best on your cleansing path!

[Amanda_S]

Thank you all for your posts. So encouraging to me right now. I didn't have access to a computer this weekend (:eek: ), but I've started precleansing and need to post that message. I'm not 100% comfortable yet on the posting, etc.

Mike - I am glad to hear that you quit your agency job. It's an all-consuming industry. Not a profession that is synonymous with health AT ALL. Luckily I work for amazing people that are very understanding about my education. I've been blessed :) .

Elisa - I could only hope to end up practicing in the Caribbean. That would be a dream come true!

Niamh - Always comforting to hear of someone who struggled with soda and came out the other side. I've quit drinking it a few times and it is incredible what a difference that makes in my mental and physical shape. Thanks for your support and encouragement!

Dirk - Thank you also for your words. I am very excited about my studies. It's still a struggle between work and school to make time for sleep, but I love it when I get it. This weekend and next in fact will be devoted to my cleanse and sleeping will be a big part of that I'm sure.

I wish everyone a wonderful day-----
Thank you-
Amanda S.

[Heather_A]

Hey Amanda,

Back when I was your age (not that I am much older), my post would have been very simalar to yours. Very busy and not eating correctly, but able to get away with it becasue of my age. I am now 30, not busy but don't eat well. I too live in los angeles. Although I am starting this cleanse after you I look forward to reading your posts and seeing how your cleansing process goes. Also any advice or help would be appreciated. Good luck with your cleanse...Heather

[Amanda_S]

Heather - I look forward to reading your posts as well. You know how hard it is to stay clean in this city. So much crap in the air. Thanks for the support :) and have a wonderful day!

Amanda S.

[David_M]

Hi Amanda,

Welcome aboard. One of the great things about this support group is the variety of personalities that contribute to these posts. Some cleansers are very knowledgeable about theory, others have great tips on putting theory into practice, still others have good information on foods and herbs, and so on. The sum total is that, while we individually may not think what we have to say is very profound, our posts may touch certain cleansers in a most encouraging way.

Chances are, if you have a question, someone will have an answer ... usually from personal experience. Still, as I've said in the past, you have to make your own health decisions based on what you learn and experience for yourself as you travel along this cleansing path. Jos-hua will recommend a number of books when the time is right for each one, and they contain a wealth of valuable information. So you can look forward to that. For now, you have plenty on your plate to digest in going through Level 1.

Enjoy your journey.

P.S.: For what it's worth, I recall hearing or reading some years ago that one of the bad things about drinking pop (or any carbonated beverage) is that the bubbling action does bad things below the gum line. I used to like pop, especially with pizza, but haven't had it in years. Took a sip this last year and hated the taste ... I think in part because now I associate it with all its non-nutritional ingredients. Blechh.

[Amanda_S]

Hi David!.....Thanks for the post. I too love soda w/pizza (sounds like you're done with it though). Well, I just love pizza. Haven't had it during the precleanse though, which is a miracle. Soda really isn't tasting good anymore, I feel myself wanting it at work everytime I get stressed (which is often right now). I know the desire will leave me soon, the more I eat good foods, the less I want it, the more disgusting the taste. I'm going to check in to the below the gum line thing, no doubt it does damage to your teeth down there. Yuck, I'm getting grossed out talking about it.

I am loving everything about this support group right now. I truly wasn't expecting to feel supported. New to me. But I do!!! Thank you all.

I'm still waiting on a book, not sure when it will arrive. I've read the Reid book pretty thoroughly. Love it, packed with great information.

Wishing everyone a wonderful day-
Amanda S.

[Rachel_M]

Hmm. seems like there are a few of us women from southern cali doing the cleanse. very cool. I'm starting in august, and i look forward to reading about your progress. we're about the same age, demographic, it'll be interesting.
when you get done with this thing, maybe i'll give you a recipe i created for home made root beer that isn't oh so bad for you...that is if you are still craving it...and if you like root beer. i've tried other cola recipes, but they all tasted, well, pretty disgusting.
wishing you success,
Rachel_M

[Terry_W]

Hi Amanda:

Thanks so much for your note - it's nice to be welcomed by another Angeleno. Congratulations on all your success - it sounds like you've managed to get a handle on a very hectic schedule. Have a great 2004!

Terry_W