If you live in an apartment, in a building, in a suburb, in a house, in the modern world, you are bathed in toxins daily. Our continued functioning is testimony to our bodies resilience, that allows us to continue to function. Yet over time, a toxic build-up, will lead to chronic dis ease. A high fiber, detox-laden diet is helpful. But, even still, small detoxes are no match for the gargantuan environment of toxicity we are engulfed in.
I do yoga twice a day, meditate, pray, have warm water with lemon or apple cider vinegar first thing in the morning, etc. etc... But the toxins catch up with me. They may be subtle. But they are present. Instead of an outright illness, like a cold, the toxins may result in body pains, headaches, sleeplessness, impatience, anxiety, etc. After all, stress i s a toxin, as is negative energy from others.
In Ayurveda, the motto is to keep the healthy healthy and prevent the sick from being sick. This is accomplished through a major yearly detox referred to as panchakarma. I will post an article on this soon, especially as panchakarma has been my area of focus. In brief, panchakarma is the heart of Ayurvedic treatments and is comprised of therapeutic nutrition, herbal medicine, bodywork, yoga therapy, and flushing out the system.
Here are 10 common toxins that the majority of us are taking in daily:
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1. Mental StressStress causes a state of toxicity. This happens through the limbic system of our brain (the reptilian brain), sending signals to our pituitary gland, which activates the adrenal gland (atop our kidney), and sets off the stress hormone. This process sets our off for fight or flight. Although useful in some areas, in a sustained state of stress, cortisone, and the glucose produced becomes a toxin in our body. Since metabolic processes are governed by our thyroid gland, we go from a state of hyperthyroidism, into a depleted state leading to hypothyroidism.
2. Fluoride
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It is no secret that there is fluoride in New York State water, as well as the water of the majority of the U.S. The use of fluoride, according to the Center of Disease Control, is a way to prevent tooth decay, and keep water clean. Although this may be true, in high amounts, fluoride can be a neural toxin, impacting our ability to learn, grasp, and recall.
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3. Air pollution
Cars, trucks, planes, highways, construction, over-population, lack of green spaces, unnecessary/negative talk, the methane released in concentrated animal feeding operations, over-development, etc. Air is closely linked to breath and life force in Ayurveda/Yoga. If air is destructed, prana is obstructed. It's a direct correlation.
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4. Contaminants in foods
Pesticides, preservatives, depleted soil, arsenic in soil, and in turn in foods, even those considered a healthy alternative, like brown rice, are just some contaminants in food. This does not include the ubiquitousness of GMO's and the comprised nutrient profiles that occurs with mono-cropping, which is the primary mode of agriculture the world over, at this point. This sets of the natural eco-system, and requires contaminants to balance the imbalance.
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5. Xeno-estrogens
Harmful hormone mimicking chemicals; in toiletries: soaps, shampoos, and many processed foods, including factory farmed animals, food flavorings, soy, soy protein. plastics, which includes many of the containers, utensils we use to eat and drink in. I will include a post on the deeply harmful impacts of xeno-estrogens in off-setting the menstrual cycle, menopause, and impacting estrogen dominance in both women and men.
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6. Oxidative stress a byproduct of metabollc processes to make energy (ATP), which our body does through extracting glucose from plant-derived foods. This is all foods that are not flesh.
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7. Aging
Changes in body. We are all going through time and space, and as get past our twenties, this process becomes more marked.
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8. Light pollution
unless you live in the woods, without electricity, you are impacted by this. Light pollution can be as simple as light after dark. This throws off our circadian rhythm, which is our natural clock, innate ability to distinguish time, through light, dark and a 24 hour period.
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9. Micro-waves:
Even if you don't use a microwave, with the ubiquitous nature of cellphones, internet, and other wireless communication devices, we are engulfed in microwaves. These waves have the capacity to alter cellular structures.
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10. Screens:
like light pollution and microwaves, screens, impact our circadian rhythm and emit microwaves. In the modern world, we are spending a good deal of our time conducting transaction, doing work, and leisure on our cellphones, laptops, and other computer forms. Screens have a direct interaction with our optic chiasma, through our optic nerve, that stretches from our eyeballs into our hypothalamus - the relay station of our brain, in which information is analyzed and made sense of. The optic chiasma is the juncture between the hypothalamus of our central nervous system, and the pituitary gland, which is referred to as the master gland of the endocrine system (hormones). Think your cell phone has nothing to do with your hormones, think again.
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