My Lifestyle for Health

by Thomas Eldridge

One of the characteristics of being sensitive is the ability to see the big picture and to absorb all the details, thereby understanding the ramifications of any particular situation. I look upon my health and wellbeing in this way. I have always been oriented to eliminating the primary dysfunction in my lifestyle that is affecting my health. This is accomplished by correcting the weakest link because I intuitively know how it affects all the other areas of my being.

My lifestyle has been referred to as Spartan, simple, basic and clean. It has been that way for most of my life. My simple farm upbringing is one reason I do not see my life today as lacking in material things, or as being no fun, as some people have commented. I believe, like many intuitive and sensitive people, that I have some inner knowing about what is important in my life. I have my doubts from time to time, although on the whole I am quite content with the way my life has gone so far.

Government indicators would measure my living standard as somewhere in the lowest tax bracket. Health-wise I am absolutely delighted with where I am. At 58 I have been told I have healthier blood than most twenty-year-olds. Seldom do I need doctors, but a few years ago a check-up yielded the conclusion that I was 15 years younger than my biological age.

I am sharing this health information because I think others could benefit from knowing the results of my lifestyle approach. You might be thinking, he must have come from good stock. Both my parents died of degenerate diseases of their internal organs. A number of my mother's siblings have died of cancer. You might then say that he had a good start in life. I was raised on a subsistence farm. We had no electricity, central heating or running water. We lived off what we grew or produced, mainly potatoes, milk and wheat. I ended up in early life with wheat and dairy problems and was addicted to sugar until my mid-twenties. For the first forty years of my life I had all the common colds, flues, digestive irregularities, aches and pains. Giving up my childhood dairy and wheat habits did help my healing.

For the last ten years I have been unusually healthy. I believe I have reconstructed myself at the cellular and consciousness level into what I am today. This has been largely from my sensitive lifestyle and my intuitive spiritual journey. Below are what I believe to be the fundamental aspects of my health lifestyle as it exists today, and it is still evolving.

My personal health-promoting lifestyle (that is also a cancer prevention program) includes:

I try not to be in anyone's second hand cigarette smoke. I have even dropped back a few cars while driving because someone in the car in front of me was smoking a cigar that I could smell while driving behind him.
I do not use any cosmetics. Yes, this includes deodorants. With my health improvements there has been no need for anything beyond a daily shower. Cosmetics would include lipsticks, perfumes, hair dyes, deodorizers etc.
I avoid dry-cleaning. If I need to dry-clean something like my down vest once a year I air it out for weeks before I use it again.
I never drink water that is chlorinated or fluorinated. Twice a year I spend around $75 to replace my activated charcoal filter in my kitchen water filter. If I go to a meeting or to visit someone I take my own water in a glass bottle. I also have a charcoal shower filter.
Although I usually only drink filtered water, and lots of it, I occasionally have a fresh-made carrot or vegetable juice.
I avoid radiation. I do not have a microwave oven or a cell phone and never will. However, I do have a computer monitor that emits some radiation. The new monitor that I have meets the latest TCO 99 radiation standards for computer monitors. My monitor sits at farthest back edge of my computer desk, my keyboard is extended as far out front as possible and I sit way back and reach my long arms to type. If I am reading from the monitor I sit even further back. By using large typefaces I can read from a distance.
I have gardened all my life and I have never used chemical pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers or fungicides. I have had compost piles for over 30 years. I have picked a zillion bugs by hand and pulled enough weeds to earn a medal.
There are no chemical cleaners in my house. My clothes are laundered in washing soda and borax; windows are cleaned with vinegar; and sinks are unplugged with vinegar and baking soda. I use a fragrance-free, herbal shampoo. Dishes are largely washed with elbow grease. Greasy dishes are cleaned with non-toxic cleaners.
I have not used toothpaste in years. I have discovered that flossing and frequent changing to a new natural bristle toothbrush cleans my teeth better than any paste.
I have virtually no processed food in the kitchen. Exceptions are cold pressed olive oil, butter, tamari, tahini, miso, mustard and vinegar. All of these are organic.
I usually buy only organic fruits, vegetables and meats. Yes I pay more money and gladly. For example, I eat only wild salmon, not the farmed salmon that is generally available. I have what is considered one serving sized filet cut and wrapped into three or four separate packages and I eat one of those per week. Over time, I actually spend far less for my protein than other people.
I have never been vaccinated as far as I know. Fortunately, more people now seem to be paying attention to this vaccination issue.
I have never taken antibiotics or prescription drugs, again as far as I know. There have been times in my life when most people would have opted for drugs and I chose not to. I have, for example, had dental anesthetics only twice in the last twenty years. I use acupuncture, homeopathy remedies and visualizations while in the dentist's chair.
I had all my mercury amalgams removed from my teeth 20 years ago (without anesthetics). That was a very convincing experience of heavy metal toxicity. By the time we arrived at the fourth quarter of my mouth I felt like I was carrying a lead weight in that final quarter. I never noticed that until the first three-quarters of my mouth were free of metals. I avoid dental x-rays.
I exercise moderately every day, sometimes three times, although usually twice. Rebounding is my favorite exercise.
I sleep 9 to 10 hours every night. If I don't get this much sleep I do not function well the next day.
I store nothing in plastic containers. Everything in the kitchen pantry is stored in glass. My clothes and bedding are cotton, wool or silk; no polyester or plastics.
I take supplements every day; multivitamin-minerals, extra vitamin C and essential fatty acids, all of which are of the highest professional quality available. During my healing years I took a lot of supplements and many homeopathic remedies. I take herbals a few times per year for ongoing cleansing and flower essences for emotional balance. I take fewer remedies now, but occasionally find them helpful.

I hope that you can see that my health is what it is because I have made it that way and I maintain it that way by choosing this comprehensive lifestyle. And, I hope you can see that by consistent attention to your unique health situation you can make a great difference in your life. I followed many blind alleys before I arrived at this particular lifestyle. What is important is to have the attitude that you can, through various means, improve the current status of your health and life.

For me, my health is my fun.

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Highly Sensitive People

My Lifestyle for Health

by Thomas Eldridge