Category: Oxygen

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Protect Your Sleep ?

I am a very deep and good sleeper but anything can throw me off as my body is so hyper-sensitive.

The one thing I have learn’t over the last year is nothing is more important than good sleep! I am very mindful during the day of what will help me get good sleep.

  1. At the top of my list is being careful about what I put into my body past 4pm. Supplements and medications can activate the body so profoundly that you just are mentally too active to sleep. So as a general rule, I finish all my supplements before 4pm and avoid green tea or 100% cacao. If you a supplement, it’s better to wait until the next day.
  2. Next is keeping my sleep environment cool and relaxing. It should be as zen as possible, with calming colours and no distractions, as cellphones, televisions or clutter.
  3. Keeping my body at a cooler temperature before bed. This means no Far infared saunas before bed or taking any medications that heat the body. Far infared heats the body for 8 hours after an hour of use. So make sure you have enough time to cool down before sleeping.
  4. This has been the most challenging for me: sleeping at the same time and by 10pm every night. I do try, but this is a difficult one for me. At the very least I have started waking up at 8am everyday… more work to do in this area.
  5. Supplements that really help with sleep are magnesium, melatonin, probiotics, vitamin C, and GABA. I take these, with or without GABA, an hour or more before I head to bed.
  6. Teas. Lemon balm, lemongrass, and chamomile are at the top of my list. Try to have them at least an hour before bed… otherwise they wake you up to go to bathroom…
  7. Bed time activities. Reading a spiritual “book” before bed as the Bible really helps your mind shut down and gives you some food for thought, keeping you attention above yourself or your situation.
  8. Stopping electronic use 1 hour before bed. Need I say more… I think we hear enough about this one.
  9. Enough exercise during the day. I find if I have not done at least 60 minutes of moving around during the day, I have a hard time sleeping. Aim to do your cardio in the morning and keep it to walking closer to bed time.
  10. Too full or too hungry. If you are doing intermitted fasting as I am, I find that I can’t sleep if I am hungry so I have my last meal by 8pm and first by noon. This way I am not hungry before I sleep.
  11. Dark sleeping area. Block out light as best as you can. There are some good drapes out there, and even better… get to bed early and wake up with the sun.


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83%: Healing is in your control.

I was seated in a private clinic in Nevada waiting for one of the doctors to enter the room. Until this far, everything I had heard had to deal with medical intervention. I did not expect that this doctor would look at me and ask me “do you love yourself”?

He went on to say that scientifically 83% of your recovery is due to your mindset.

This means that 17% is what doctors can offer and the overwhelmingly power of healing lies with us: our thoughts, emotions, and those we surround ourselves amongst.

So then how do we make sure we are fulfilling the 83% of our commitment to healing our bodies.

  1. Living in gratitude is one. This makes it so easy to keep a healthy positive attitude. If you find it hard to be thankful for anything, start a gratitude journal and you will see within a couple of days that you have a lot to be grateful for.
  2. Another way is getting locked in with your faith community. For me God is always present so I always have the sense that He is working on my life through my disease to make me more of the person He wants me to be. This is a very humbling experience. Getting amongst people of your faith will encourage you and keep you on track for the moments that come when you loose hope, because they do come, if only for a second and rarely but they show up and you need to be well guarded.
  3. I recently heard about tapping. It’s used to help calm and reset your nervous system especially when diving in and going through some painful memories. It’s important to work with someone to get to some emotional roots that harbour in the body. This can help with resetting your response to these events in the body releasing their hold on you.
  4. Meditation, yoga and Chi Gong are also very practical daily tools to keep your mind set positive and help move energy.
  5. Cardio or brisk walking keeps the energy moving, blood oxygenated and releases stresses.

From Kelly Turner’s research and book (Radical Remission: Surviving Cancer) and Radical Remission Project found online here, Kelly concluded 9 commonalities amongst those who went into remission without any or full intervention.

  1. Radical change of diet
  2. Taking control of your health
  3. Following intuition
  4. Supplements
  5. Releasing trapped emotions
  6. Increasing positive emotion
  7. Embracing social support
  8. Deepening spiritual connection
  9. Having a purpose for living

Interestingly, I had not seen this list until recently and I have passed the one year mark since my diagnosis. Instinctively the very first thing I did was change my diet. I have not touched sugar for over a year now and have never eaten so many vegetables in my life.

Secondly, I was point blank told that if I want my body to change I need to take responsibility for my illness, as “…only owners can make changes“. As, I made the shift my social support from Family and Friends also shifted to create a very supportive and nurturing community for me.

Thirdly, my naturopath, in my research and my oncologist, Dr. James Forsythe in Nevada highly recommended supplementation. It took me about 6 months to get on the right path with supplements, basically taking all the data and figuring out what exactly what works for my body.

One important finding I found was that Diindolylmethane (DIM) caused my breasts to swell. DIM had a counteractive effect on my body. It is definitely not one size fits all when it comes to breast health. Almost every single breast vitamin has DIM in it. I had taken it prior to my diagnosis and I had the same reaction. This deserves a separate blog page and further investigation.

Now I am working on the other 4 emotional aspects Kelly mentions, though my list above. I incorporate all of these aspects and in addition make sure I get enough silent time.

Very good friends sent me on a silent retreat in Quebec with the Art of Living over New Years. I must say it’s the best time I have spent with myself. I find since this experience I crave days of just simple food and time to myself.

The Art of Living basis is the Happiness Program which teaches you some powerful breathing techniques that definitely reduce stress and increase oxygen in the body.

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