Lucy Teear – Heal Thy Self Health Coach & Detoxification Specialist

We have a tendency to think a healthy lifestyle is all about food. But for thousands of years individual cultures have recognised that there are 7 basic principles that lead to a healthy and vibrant life.

These cultures are the longest-lived on the planet today, communities that live into old age and have very low levels of dis-ease. 

You can look up a book called “The Blue Zones” about a university scientist who travels the planet investigating these long-lived cultures located in quite different parts of the globe. These include Okinawa (Japan); Sardinia (Italy); Nicoya (Costa Rica); Icaria (Greece); and among the Seventh-day Adventists in Loma Linda, California. What he discovered is they all had the same things in common. 

So what are they? 

Well, they are: Air, Water, Sunshine, Relationships, Exercise, Passion, Whole Foods 

These communities all have these in abundance and I believe if we become clear on the level we’re currently experiencing these 7 principles and get better at each of them, or at least a little bit better at just one of them, it could have a radical impact on our health. 

So let’s take a closer look at each of these 7 principles and see how we can incorporate some or all into our lives…. 

 

1. AIR 

So number one is air. Take a deep breath. Let it out. Breathing. 

What is the quality of air like inside of your own home? Most people are not aware, but kitchen appliances sometimes give off gases like formaldehyde or benzene. The furniture in our home can also gives off gas and different chemicals, especially when brand new. Paint on the walls and other chemicals used in the home can leach what’s called trichloroethylene and there are many other chemicals that can come from random things that we have in our house. 

Not to mention dander from pets and other types of chemicals we use for cleaning. Our window cleaner, bug sprays and all kinds of things that are getting into our homes are making the air quite toxic. 

Here’s a trick: when introducing brand new furniture or a new carpet into the home slice onions and put them in the room on a plate, this will actually absorb a lot of these chemicals and clean the air! 

One of the best air detoxifiers is simply plants 

NASA tested specific plants in what is called a hermetically sealed container with benzene, trichloroethylene, and formaldehyde. Then they put different varieties of plants into these chambers to see which ones had the capacity to survive, clean the chemicals out of the chamber and produce oxygen in the meantime… 

They found that the following plants were the most profound at cleaning. In fact, within 24 hours, they cleaned 98% of an entire room full of toxic chemicals while also producing fresh and clean oxygen! 

So these plants are: The money plant, also called English Ivy, Peace Lilies, and the Areca Palm. These have a massive capacity for cleaning the air and producing fresh and clean oxygen. So imagine having three of these plants in each room of your home to keep the air clean while also producing fresh oxygen. 

Essential oils are another great air cleanser: 

Many essential oils contain different types of phytochemical nutrients that can be up-taken simply by diffusing and it’s extremely therapeutic to breathe. As you breathe in it goes directly into your bloodstream, enhances oxygenation to the brain and cleans the cell receptor sites of hormone disruptors. It does all kinds of beautiful things. 

So having plants and essential oils are a simple and fantastic way to clean your air. They’re also great for therapeutic use if you had any type of lung condition such as asthma. 

Breathing good clean air deep into the lungs is super important and I teach a very specific breathing exercise called seven rounds of seven that brings us back into balance. It’s a very meditative and if you’re depressed, sad or anxious and have too much energy, this exercise corrects it almost immediately. It takes about three and a half minutes to do it and really simple: 

Breathe in for 7 seconds, hold for 7 seconds, breathe out for 7 seconds, hold for 7 seconds – Repeat 7 times 

 

 

2. WATER 

Our body is composed of about 70% water, so we should be drinking water and hydrating ourselves as much as possible. Rule of thumb is 1ltr for every 22 kilograms of body weight per day. 

Dr. Otto Heinrich Warburg proved that disease thrives in an acidic, anaerobic environment (anaerobic means no oxygen) and that disease cannot live in an oxygen rich, alkaline environment. 

A natural flowing stream or fresh spring is about 7.5 – 8.5 pH, quite alkaline. But if you measure water that’s coming out of a tap it’s likely to be quite acidic. 

The reality is if we’re hydrated, everything works so much better. Even if it’s got a low pH, and simply breathing deeply can boost your body’s pH by adding oxygen content. 

A quick little tip if you want to boost your metabolism by 26% first thing in the morning drink ice cold water. 

I don’t recommend drinking cold water before eating a meal, but having it first thing in the morning boosts your metabolism and definitely hydrates you in a fantastic way. 

Tap water has been found to contain pesticides, herbicides and heavy metals. Along with chlorine, added to kill pathogens but actually destroys our own good gut bacteria. Chlorine has also been documented to aggravate asthma and been implicated in acne, psoriasis, seborrhea, and eczema. So drinking it and swimming in it is not ideal.  

So what do we do? 

Well, filter the water we’re drinking and washing in and one of the best systems out there is a reverse osmosis filter, I have one of these in my own home, it sits under the sink and the difference in our drinking water is incredible. If you do decide to invest in a filter just make sure that it removes chlorine and fluoride, along with pesticides and herbicides as some systems are less effective. 

A water distiller is also another great way to get pure fresh water, it sits on the counter top and will remove the vast majority of impurities. 

I also highly recommend regular bathing. Our body will actually exchange one litre of water per 20 minutes when we sit in a hot bath, so if we’re dehydrated the body can actually hydrate simply by sitting in a bath. 

Add in things like Epsom salts, Himalayan salt, even Celtic salt. These are high in minerals. Epsom salt is really high in magnesium, which many people are deficient in. It helps to calm the nerves as minerals help build the nervous system and it’s also very good for the skin. When I sit in a bath, I use frankincense and myrrh essential oils too. Lavender is great for calming, and Eucalyptus would be really good if you have sore muscles or any type of lung condition. 

 

3. RELATIONSHIPS 

Positive relationships is one of the major principles in the communities of the long-lived cultures; the relationship they have with each other, the way they support each other, the types of passions and activities they do together is a key component of how they live. 

The way that they treat and respect their elderly is very different to the west. They look up to the older people as the ones with the wisdom and the elders share their stories and teach the younger generations. 

Studies show they’re quick to forgive, have compassion for each other and have quality communication. 

I encourage you to think about the relationship you have with yourself, do you invest in these qualities for yourself, if not how could you improve? I can almost guarantee if you improved the relationship with yourself, these qualities will start to show up in your external relationships. 

I know because I’ve seen this in my life. When I don’t have a quality relationship with myself, the relationships I have with the people around me is a reflection of that and suffer! 

Instead of pointing fingers at our partner, family or friends, choose to see what’s going on inside of you, what’s causing these things to manifest and choose to have forgiveness, compassion, to communicate effectively and immediately. It’s not always easy and I’m certainly not perfect at this practice but try it and see what happens! 

 

4. SUNSHINE 

I honestly believe sunshine is one of the most amazing things for detoxifying the body and building hormones in the body. We call it vitamin D, but it’s actually a hormone. Our bodies convert cholesterol into vitamin D, which controls all of our hormones of our body and helps with depression. 

Sunshine is one of the most natural and ESSENTIAL things for life. Sun light has been hailed for its unique ability to dramatically lower the risk of many forms of cancer and has been shown to lower the risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke and dementia.

Researchers Cedric Garland and William Grant from the University of California recently said, “Enhancing vitamin D status by getting in the sun is the single most important thing people can do to reduce their risk of cancer.” 

A major study was published by the Karolinska Institute in Sweden in 2014: 

The study conducted found women who avoided lying out in the sun were actually TWICE as likely to die compared to those who make sunbathing a daily ritual. This wasn’t a small study either, it looked at 30,000 women for a period of 20 years!

So why are we told sun is our enemy?

It about being sensible, don’t go out recklessly and burn! But slathering petrochemicals called sunblock on your skin with known carcinogens and thinking you can stay out for hours at a time isn’t smart either. There’s plenty of natural mineral sun creams on the market so do your research and find safe alternatives. 

Keeping the skin clean and free of toxins is key to a healthy relationship with the sun. I practice an ancient way of cleaning the skin called “Guasha” which removes the toxins and fungus eliminated through the skin by the lymphatic system and prevents burning and helps reduce skin cancers. I’ll share how to prepare and use it in a later dedicated post. 

Basically my advise is don’t buy into the hype that sunshine is dangerous but sensibly enjoy this amazing natural source to boost your health and vitality…. We get very little in the UK so get out when it’s out!
 

5. EXERCISE

The data is clear in showing that physically active men and women have about 30-40% reduction in their risk of developing colon cancer, compared to inactive people. 

With regards to breast cancer, there is reasonably clear evidence that physically active women have about 20-30% reduction in risk compared with inactive women. We’re talking only 30 to 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity, so you could literally just go for a fast paced walk for 30 to 60 minutes a day and have a radical reduction in your risk of getting cancer! 

When we activate adrenaline by high intensity training or playing a game that gets you moving like tennis or riding a bike, these things help circulate what are called natural killer immune cells which literally attack cancerous tumors and other types of things that we definitely don’t want in our bodies! 

These are from many different scientific studies from the National Cancer Institute, the Journal of Physical Activity and Health and JAMO (Journal of American Medicine and Oncology). Men who stay fit in their middle age have a 55% lower risk of lung cancer, 44% lower risk of bowel cancer by the age of 65. 

Life is movement. If you don’t use it, you lose it! And the thing that I really want to get across is that you don’t have to be an athlete. You don’t need to run a marathon. You don’t have to do anything crazy. Literally, it’s just walking briskly! 

Every long-lived culture on the planet wake up early, go for a brisk walk, find a water source and drinks water. It’s built into us. So if we just did that, got up earlier, took 30 minutes to an hour to walk and hydrate, everything in life is going to shift. 

I teach a specific set of exercises called “Tibetan Rites” that opens up the endocrine system, which consist of the pineal and pituitary glands, master glands in the brain that control the thyroid gland, the thymus which is in the chest and regulates your immune system, your adrenal glands and your reproductive system, they all benefit from this practice and keeps your hormones in balance, key for longevity. I’ll share how to do it in a later dedicated post. 

 

6. PASSION

When I look at this word, I literally draw a little line in here and say pass-ion. Ions are unit of energy. 

When I’m working with my clients to support them in their detox, to lose weight or reverse dis-ease I’m doing what I love, I’m in my passion and it’s building energy inside my body. It’s building electrical frequency and gives me a buzz! 

It is so important to put yourself out there and try new things. Whatever it is you feel drawn to; art or dance classes, riding a bike, hiking, camping or skydiving (that’s my husbands pass-ion!). Whatever it is, try new things even if it’s building models or knitting a blanket. When you find your passions in life it adds vitality and keeps you youthful! 

7. WHOLE FOODS 

Whole foods are things that grow out of the ground:

Fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains, tubers, legumes and fungus. 

It is the foods that actually grow from sunlight that add all the most concentrated dense forms of nutrition that we can gain access to. All of the minerals, all of the enzymes, all of the vitamins and everything that our body needs to thrive are within the whole food. 

I find these days, too many people cook and process food, add artificial ingredients, sweeteners and colours. So it really is time to get back to fresh, whole foods and raw foods as much as possible 

The word “nutrition” literally means a transition of light. Nut means light, rition is a transition. So nutrition is a process of light. When the sun shines down onto the earth and these plants hold out their solar panels and they take in that light, they concentrate and focus on one of those colours. 

A tomato focuses on red, an orange tree focuses on orange, and a blueberry bush focuses on blue. I know that there are very specific antioxidants that clean the body out, prevent disease and build amazing qualities for energy and mental clarity and help maintain the body. In science they called the colour red lycopene, you could look up the endless science about the amazing benefits of lycopene. They talk about carotenes also referred to as vitamin A. Beta carotene. It just means Orange. Anthocyanins are blue and purple colours in nature. 

When we look at the science, we don’t need to take lycopene, supplements. We don’t need to take carotene supplements. We simply need to eat the rainbow and get back to mother nature. Eat fruits and vegetables and foods with colours; the peppers, the purple onions, all the different colours that truly nurture our system and build us up. 

Hippocates the founder of modern medicine said “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”.

So let’s bring it back to basics. 

Let’s really look at these 7 principles of health

AIR – WATER – RELATIONSHIPS – SUNSHINE – EXERCISE – PASSION – WHOLE FOODS 

Think about how you can take small steps of action with each one. I know that together, we can start to evolve and improve our health, become more vital and reverse dis-ease! 

I look forward to sharing how in dedicated future masterclasses.