Have you suddenly gotten the urge to clean up your house, start a new project, reorganize closets, or begin a cleanse? This is the natural order of things in the spring. However, if you have not gotten this urge and are feeling cluttered with stuff, stuck, indecisive and unable to move forward with projects, it’s time to do some spring cleaning in both your home and in your body.
Traditionally, in many cultures around the world there has been some type of cleansing or fasting process, specifically in the spring to help lift the heaviness of winter (physically, emotionally and spiritually). If we don’t purposely cleanse or fast as spring arrives, the body may naturally begin cleansing itself from excess oils, fats, salt and animal proteins by releasing a flu or cold. Some people may also suffer with odd aches and pains. This is the body’s way of cleaning out by releasing excess toxins.
Bacteria gets a bad rap. After all, they are responsible for causing so many frightening and terrible situations. They cause many cases of bronchitis or pneumonia which can lead to miserable days spent on the couch, hospitalization, or even death. They also cause tuberculosis which kills millions of people each year. Bacteria can create the agony of food poisoning, and of coarse, there is the rare but sensationalized flesh eating bacteria that seems to be straight out of a horror movie. While bacteria can cause a wide variety of problems, they also provide many benefits to humans and other living things. Bacteria are believed to be the oldest forms of life on the planet. Science suggests that long before there were plants and animals, bacteria were thriving and evolving. They play important roles in digestion, fermentation, and in the the process of decay. Without bacteria, life on our planet would not exist.
In 1945 penicillin became the first commercially available antibiotic. It dramatically changed the way bacterial infections were treated. Simple infections that previously had been extremely problematic or even fatal, now were being treated with great ease. There were some that believed we would eventually eradicate bacterial infections once and for all. After penicillin was discovered, many other antibiotics followed. Though they have succeeded in greatly reducing the complications of bacterial infections, they have not been the panacea that some expected they would be. In fact, wide spread antibiotic use in medicine and agriculture has begun to create strains of bacteria that are resistant to most antibiotics. These so called “superbugs” are becoming more of concern, as some experts predict, that we will soon create a situation where many widely used antibiotics will be ineffective. To further complicate the problem, very few new antibiotics are being developed because they are not as profitable as pharmaceuticals such as statins which people take daily for life.
Years ago Clark and I spent a few months in China and Tibet. We spent time learning more about our medicine and the culture that developed it. We also spent a good deal of time studying meditation. Part of our time in Tibet took us on a journey to one of the most isolated places on the globe. We traveled to the sacred Mt. Kailash in western Tibet.
Mount Kailash is revered as a very sacred place by Buddhism and Hinduism, as well as the native Jain and Bon religions. It is also the headwaters for some of Asia’s longest rivers. Its location is very remote and veiled in mystery.
Our journey to reach the 22,000 foot mountain and take the 3 day trek around was inspired by our commitment to evolving spiritually. It is said that a pilrimmage is a journey inward and outward.