PART ONE
Trauma can induce
epigenetic changes that can affect our physiology -- which can then be passed
down to future generations, increasing their susceptibility to disease.
If trauma can affect
the very expression of our genes, then so must happiness.
"Your genes are
not your destiny but they are your tendency". Andrew L Rostenberg
Mitochondria are
interesting cellular organs containing their own DNA, and once upon a time they
lived independently as separate living entities.
If you look through
old Western medical books from the 1700s to the 1900s, you will see very clear
descriptions of patients that include how they look, how they smell, and their
temperaments. Before the advent of modern
medical tests, doctors had to rely on signs that the body gave, in addition to
symptoms, to be able to help with a diagnosis.
Due to the
residential-school period, when Indigenous children were taken away from their
home communities and families with the purpose of taking the "Indian out
of the child", we have missed key generations of passing on traditional
healing knowledge.
Sweating was a key
part of many traditional societies for cleansing the mind, body, and soul.
Regular sweat
bathing will help you keep up with the needed discharge of the thousands of
combined chemicals we are exposed to from year to year, in addition to toning
your cardiovascular system.
If a sedentary
person can commit just to walking like our ancestors (even for one hour, or
meeting ten thousand steps per day), they will reduce their likelihood of
obesity by 24% and diabetes by 34%).
There seems to be an
increasing disconnect between the material we choose to put in our mouths and
the type of body (or spirit house) we assume we are building. We consciously choose the building materials
for our bodies each and every day, and yet we are often surprised when our
bodies don't function the way we think they should.
I therefore put
forward the concept of the "grandmother diet", which essentially
means utilizing the historical eating patterns of our grandmothers when they
were young (and not in residential schools).
What is brilliant
about the concept of seasonality, aside form its rationality and practicality,
is that eating with the seasons brings variety to the diet.
