PRIVATE MATTERS
I begin my day with coffee but not the drinking kind.
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The laughter fills the quiet restaurant as my friend admonishes that there are certain body parts that have been designed for “exit only.”
Permission to speak freely? Coffee enemas. Why is it the seemingly simple tasks so often frustrate and confound? When it comes to some things, mastery takes longer than expected. I can inject myself daily with long, skinny needles. I am adept at eating very little throughout the day. But coffee enemas [she whispers] are decidedly not my favorite thing.
I've watched other health and wellness advocates celebrate their enemas on instagram. I can share with complete transparency that I have no idea what they are talking about. They brag, "it only takes 15 minutes." Just the prep alone takes me an hour...
Light candles. Ethereal music. [You know I'm kidding] This is the exact opposite of spa.
Why am I telling you this? Because I think so many of us believe it’s only when we are “expert” at something do we have the right to share.
When we witness the raw humanity of another's Struggle, we let go of the burden of perfection we place upon ourselves.
Those of us who step out of mainstream medicine, who seek alternative therapies as a means of redeeming our health are, for the most part, overachievers as far as information-gathering is concerned.
I revere that curiosity, the necessity for learning how to heal ourselves. But I wonder in our eagerness to “know” if we are often perceived as “know it alls.”
That posture of preaching serves only to alienate and discourage. sometimes what's needed is to hear not only how we succeeded but also how we failed.
The truth is, I have often failed myself—
in not listening to what my body was trying to say,
in being too busy to make my health a priority,
in being too proud to listen to where I went wrong,
in pretending I was an expert just because I knew a little something,
in neglecting to live what I expound.
Sometimes the things we suffer in private—questioning our decisions, frustration over simple things like enemas, awakening in the wee hours with a fear that is surprising and bigger than ourselves—are the very things others need to hear.
I am motivated by the bigger-than-life moments, good or bad. But it’s the little, private matters that sometimes discourage me more than I can understand. “She makes it look so easy,” we simultaneously compliment and begrudge in someone else.
The truth is, nothing is as easy as it seems. Most of what we witness and what we share is the triumph waiting on the other side of what we bear. We misunderstand that, to inspire, it must be beautiful. In fact, some of life's most-compelling moments are a mess.
it's not always the victories but more the vulnerabilities that bolster and incite.
Sometimes what we endure in private becomes more bearable when it’s shared.
Sometimes only in the sharing is the purpose of our suffering revealed.
Sometimes the purpose was intended for the benefit of someone other than ourselves.
NOTES ON COFFEE ENEMAS:
Over the past two years we’ve all been a glimpse behind the curtain of what potentially does and does not heal. The conversation is endless, compelling, and diverse in opinions. I can only tell you what works for me. I can only share the positive outcomes of my lab reports, tell you how good I feel.
For those of you curious about the benefits I [and others on this health journey] have experienced from coffee enemas, I’ve included more information here—Benefits of Coffee Enemas:
~ Stimulate the liver to produce more bile to flush out toxins and avoid toxic overload~ Increase production of Glutathione S-Transferase~ Relieve depression, confusion, general nervous tension~ Alleviate many allergy related symptoms~ Offer pain relief~ Lower serum toxins~ Stimulate the visceral nervous system promoting peristalsis and the transit of diluted toxic bile~ Represent a form of dialysis of blood across the gut wall~ Increase glutathione-S-transferase
By the way, my home has been undergoing its own transformation along with mine...here's a sneak peek of the shower.