February 2015 - Tim Altman

By Tim Altman 22/02/2015 Latest News

Ten Tips From A Shaolin Monk On How To Stay Young Forever

Great set of tips from the perspective of a person who has achieved great balance.

I have found via my work with Mickel Therapy that many people in general, and especially those with chronic illnesses such as CFS, Fibromyalgia, anxiety or IBS, get most of these points way out of balance.

Point 3 is one that particularly resonates and that most people do not consciously work on. Our society and it’s expectations and programming has us push, push, push, ignoring our internal needs until we drive ourselves to exhaustion and illness.

“People always say health is the most important thing but how many people live by this belief? We need to start today. In order to help us stay on the path to health I have translated an extract from one of the Shaolin Classics. Written by a monk who was a great martial artist and scholar, here he gives advice to lay people as to how to stay young and healthy.

Ten Tips From A Shaolin Monk On How To Stay Young:

1) Don’t think too much. Thinking takes energy. Thinking can make you look old.
2) Don’t talk too much. Most people either talk or do. Better to do.
3) When you work, work for 40 minutes then stop for 10 minutes. When you look at something all the time, it can damage your eyes and also your internal organs and peace.
4) When you are happy, you need to control your happiness, if you lose control then you damage your lung energy.
5) Don’t worry too much or get angry because this damages your liver and your intestines.
6) When you eat food don’t eat too much, always make sure you are not quite full as this can damage your spleen. When you feel a bit hungry then eat a little.
7) When you do things, take your time, don’t hurry too much. Remember the saying “Hasten slowly you will soon arrive.”
8) If you only do physical exercise all the time and you never do Qigong this makes you lose your balance and you will become impatient. You lose the Yin of your body. Exercise balances the Yin and the Yang.
9) If you never exercise, just peace, meditation, soft training, Qigong, then this doesn’t give you Yang energy so you use up your Yang energy.
10) Shaolin Gong Fu gives you everything. The purpose of our training is to balance our Yin and Yang. How many hours is not important. It’s down to knowing what your body needs.
About the Author
Shifu Yan Lei is a 34th generation Shaolin Gong Fu Master. “

By Tim Altman 13/02/2015 Latest News

Fasting Diary – The Day After

So, I am at the end…but the end of the fast does not signal the end of the complete process.

A one week fast is more like 4-5 weeks when you consider the re-introduction to food. Or, as I often say to clients, don’t see a two week fast as a 2 week process. It is a 6 week process.

In the re-introduction to food it is vital to rebuild the digestive system by providing the right environment for the digestive system to redevelop slowly and steadily. Taking short cuts at this stage can compromise the whole benefit of the fast itself – and the cleanse experienced. Therefore the first few days involve liquids only, such as broths or juices. They just include more overall than on the fast – small amounts, more regularly; i.e. 8-10 times per day.

From there the food is still quite soft and soupy. We really don’t get to chewable foods like salads until after a week. We also start introducing nuts slowly around this time.

It takes 2-3 weeks before fish is introduced and 3-4 weeks before meat is introduced.

The key also in the first few weeks after is also consuming small meals regularly. The stomach will have shrunk significantly and consuming too much in meals puts too much pressure on the digestive system. And will hinder the effective re-population of this system including the gut lining.

A huge trap that many fall into is introducing sweet foods too soon after fasting. This can lead to a nasty little sugar habit down the track which is not good for anyone. A post fast body is super sensitive to many things – especially sugar.

The last night of the fast included an extremely thorough liver cleanse which is not pleasant – t0 say the least. It is a very thorough process that involves activating the liver by using liver herbs during the day and then consuming olive oil at night (which is a real challenge given the quantity we consume), followed by placing a hot water bottle over the liver area of the body and sleeping with it there. If you can manage the olive oil process, the proof is in how you feel the next day. Generally people experience significant flu like symptoms for the day or two afterwards. Whilst it is not pleasant, it is a result of the liver and gall bladder putting out the garbage ‘so to speak’, which then circulates throughout the blood stream – which is why you feel so awful for the next day or two.

In addition, what comes out during the enema the next morning is very surprising given that, for the last few days of the fast there is virtually nothing left in the large intestine and the enema contents are very watery. Pardon me for the gruesome details, but the enema the morning after the liver cleanse has a lot more solid content. And quite pungent!!

This really shows not only the potency of this liver cleansing process, but also how much pressure we put on our liver and how much debris can get caught here and in other parts of our upper digestive system. And therefore the importance of giving the liver and digestive system a good rest and cleanse occasionally.

I had a sauna on the first day afterwards to facilitate or accelerate the process of eliminating this ‘garbage’ out of the blood stream. It was fantastic and I started to clear up a lot afterwards – in terms of the flu like symptoms. Maybe another one tomorrow. And the day after…

Once this ‘garbage’ does fully leave the blood stream, you feel incredible. Great energy, mental clarity and focus. And so clean. You feel almost ‘super human’. This makes the whole process more than worth it.

Overall for during the 8 day fasting period (which I cut short from 10 days for logistical reasons), I recorded the following changes in my body using the Bio-impedance testing:

Body composition:

Weight dropped 7.2kg from the start.
Fat levels down 1.37kg overall.
Muscle mass down 2.55kg – this will come back on over 2-3 months with nutrition and exercise.
Abdominal circumference down 4cm overall.

Cellular health indicators:

Extra-cellular water down 2.88 litres (or kg) overall – a huge amount of toxins leaving the system!!
Cellular fluid balance (or fluid retention factor) down 12 points – from good to excellent range.
Cellular energy production up 6% overall – from above average to excellent.
Biological Age down 1 year 🙂

My body likes me very much at the moment.

By Tim Altman 10/02/2015 Latest News

Fasting Diary – Day 7

Smooth sailing now that I’m past the first few days.

My energy levels are good. And I’m not hungry. I am excited about commencing eating again soon as foods smell so good. I catch the occasional scent of a dinner being cooked in a house or walking past a cafe and it smells fantastic.

I have continued exercising lightly (mostly walking and some light movement and stabilising exercises, however I have noticed that if I push the exercises too much, I get a bit light headed.

I have also noticed that my blood pressure has dropped a little. If I get up from lying too quickly, I sometimes get a little dizzy. It only takes a few seconds to adjust and then I’m fine again.

I did my third set of Bioimpedance tests yesterday. Some more changes. Explanations of parameters are found in the blog ‘Fasting Diary – Day 3’.

Body Composition Indicators:

Fat reduced by 1.3kg.
Muscle mass decreased by 0.58kg (making it down 1.86kg from the start).
Abdominal circumference down by 3cm.

Cellular Health Indicators:

Extra-cellular water down by 0.36 litres (down 2.09 litres since the beginning).
Biological age reduced by one year 🙂

The most significant thing I have noticed over the last 2-3 days has been my mental clarity and focus. It has made me extremely productive with work.

And decision making has been very clear. With regard to work and life in general.

I must say I like this state.

And it echoes loudly how significant the state of our nutritional health and that of our digestive system can impact on our psychological or mental health.

By Tim Altman 08/02/2015 Latest News

Fasting Diary – Day Five

Day 4 was my most challenging by far.

I was on the beach all day and it was very hot. I definitely felt challenged. Energy levels weren’t great and I felt a little faint. I often had thoughts of eating food.

Fortunately I have come this far now, so I hung in there and, after a rest in the late afternoon/evening I felt good again at night. Enough that I went out to dinner with friends. No you didn’t read incorrectly. We went to dinner and they ate dinner. Instead I had sparkling mineral water or two and enjoyed the beautiful smells of the meals of my friends.

Rather than regretting what I couldn’t enjoy, and what smelled so beautiful since my senses have come alive, I just enjoyed the smells and that kept me sated. It was great.

Hopefully that was the hump day. I felt very good today. Although bored a little at times. Bored, that is, of not participating in the ritual and sensations involved in eating.

However, as said in previous blogs, this process is only temporary, and I will soon greatly enjoy what most people take for granted.

Today (day 5) I noticed that I started to feel super relaxed and my mind has been much stiller. The mental chatter has reduced dramatically. As a result I am experiencing greater mental clarity and ability to make decisions. A state of presence or mind that I am enjoying. It makes me reflect how strongly what we eat can affect our mental state. And our attention to the present moment.

It should not be surprising really. It is the natural or baseline state of our intelligence, when working in harmony with our environment, to experience silence and clarity. And peace.

So when our system is clean and harmonious internally, it provides a perfect foundation for a harmonious nervous system and brain.

By Tim Altman 06/02/2015 Latest News

Fasting Diary – Day 3

Fairly smooth sailing again today. I’m feeling a bit exhausted now. Although it has been a big day of clinic and it is Friday night.

I was a bit hungry this evening. I would have expected to experience this within the first few days, so it is not a surprise.

Fortunately I wasn’t hungry during the day. And it is close to bed time now, so tomorrow will be a new day.

I have noticed that I am dreaming more over the last couple of nights. And quite vividly. It has been interesting.

Today I did a Bio-Impedance analysis on myself for the first time since the day prior to the fast. There have been some significant changes. And some areas that, surprisingly, did not change.

Regarding body composition, my weight has dropped 3.1kg. My muscle mass dropped 1.3kg. Surprisingly, however, my fat mass was virtually unchanged, dropping by only 0.07kg.

The body composition analysis is for observation purposes only. I never conduct fasts for myself or clients for the purpose of weight loss. It is always for cleansing and detoxification purposes. Particularly for cleansing the gastrointestinal tract. And giving respite to other organs involved in digestion and elimination. I use it in treating many chronic illnesses. And it is great for optimising health and well-being for those looking to explore the upper levels of health and vitality.

The above analyses did not account for the whole loss of weight. In fact, less than half of it. Cellular health analyses revealed that over the three days since the last test, my extra-cellular water levels dropped by 1.73 litres (or kg). When extra-cellular water levels are high it indicates that water is being drawn from the inside of the cells to the outside. Which indicates that something is going on outside of the cells – usually toxicity or inflammation (an immune response). Conversely, when extra-cellular water levels drop, it indicates that inflammation or toxicity is decreasing. Or, arguably, the system is detoxifying. Or getting cleaner.

As a result the fluid retention factor (cellular fluid balance) dropped by 80%. And cellular energy production increased by 4%.

This would explain why I have been feeling so good.

For today’s blog, I have included a photo of my lunch today. No, it wasn’t red wine. It was a lovely juice with beetroot, apple, celery and watermelon in it. I hope the whole photo fits this time.

By Tim Altman 05/02/2015 Latest News

The Secret to a Happier Life by Dr Amit Sood

I love this short video by Dr Amit Sood.

It is fun and so profound. Great to see another example of western science meeting eastern (or mystic in general) philosophy.

It relates to the Mickel Therapy understanding of chronic illness. Dr Sood suggests that a brain in overdrive can drain you. Dr Mickel suggests that the hypothalamus ( a part of the brain) in overdrive leads to symptoms. He focuses on this understanding in treating chronic illnesses such as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), Fibromyalgia, IBS, Anxiety and Depression. My experience in using Mickel Therapy as a practitioner is that it can be used to treat most ailments that create symptoms and is wonderful for creating work-life balance, and improving performance and relationships. And, of course, the feeling of safety and self worth. Dr Sood said that brains that feel safe and worthy are the happiest brains.

The key is to understanding what leads the hypothalamus into overdrive in the first place. Dr Mickel has developed some wonderful tools to do this. And, consequently, take the hypothalamus out of overdrive. Into harmony. And happiness.

I love this quote by Dr Sood on the secret to a happier life:

“Because of the way the brain operates, the pursuit of gratitude and compassion will make you happier than the pursuit of happiness”

http://www.upworthy.com/a-doctors-advice-for-inner-happiness-is-so-easy-that-i-wasnt-a-believer-until-i-tried-it?c=hpstream

By Tim Altman 05/02/2015 Latest News

Fasting Diary – Day Two

Today was smooth sailing all day.

Whilst it is common to experience some symptoms in the first 3-5 days, I have not experienced many at all. And none today. Energy levels were great. I wasn’t hungry. Mental clarity is also great. Very sharp.

And after 3 enemas I feel very clean internally.

I have noticed that my senses are starting to come alive. This afternoon I walked into the kitchen at Surfcoast Wholefoods, above which I have my clinic room in Torquay, and the sense of smell had a feast. It was beautiful. Just admiring and no sampling for a while. That’s ok. It’s only temporary.

Again I worked a full day in clinic and was fine.

I also walked for 30 minutes and did my light exercises comprising static holds, core work, stretching and some light dynamic movement for an hour.

Then I finished it off with a fantastic 45 minute sauna (Traditional Finnish) tonight with a friend.

Right now I feel so clean and vibrant – skin wise from the sauna and gut wise from the cleaning and reduction of food intake. I will sleep like a baby tonight however.

Given I’m still in the adjustment phase of the first few days, who knows what tomorrow will bring.

We can only see and deal with it as it comes.

Just to show that it is not all hard core health at my place, I’ve included a photo of me at a fancy dress party from last weekend (Boogie Nights or 70’s theme – a few days prior to the fast) having a bit of a last hurrah. It wasn’t too crazy. I drove home at the end of the night. But I had fun. And a few celebratory drinks. Not sure about the wig. My head is not used to being so hot!! And I think I looked more like Eric Bana from the film Chopper than someone from Boogie Nights or the 70’s.

By Tim Altman 04/02/2015 Latest News

Fasting Diary – Day One

Day 1 almost done and I’m feeling great.

Two enemas done already (one last night and one this morning) without any fuss or incident. Most of the objection or bother with this is really only mental. It is not a big deal once you do it.

The same applies to the process of fasting. Many people who have not gone through one before have lots of fears – I’ll have no energy; it will be unbearable; I’ll have horrible headaches etc. etc. etc. The list goes on. Whilst there may be challenges, especially in the first few days, it is overcoming fear of the unknown that is the biggest challenge for most when it comes to fasting.

Today has been smooth sailing so far. I am mildly hungry now (7.47pm), but certainly not uncomfortable so.

Like many of the symptoms experienced in the first few days, the hunger is transient. It will pass.

My juice today was very enjoyable. My taste buds have not come alive completely yet, but they will. And I am looking forward to the great pleasure found in tasting simple foods (such as fresh vegetables and fruit) that we normally take for granted.

As far as activity goes, it’s been a busy day. I did one hour of exercises (static stretches, core work and holds), walked barefoot for an hour and worked a full day in clinic (8 hours approx).

As long as your work is not extremely demanding physically, then it is definitely possible to continuing working during a fast. I have continued working throughout the previous 2 week fasts I’ve done. I also continue to exercise – just mildly however.

Fasting is a time for rejuvenation and introspection so there is absolutely no point in doing strenuous physical exercises that requires significant cardiovascular or musculoskeletal reserves.

It’s great to be co-fasting with a group of people. We have 5 that have joined in thus far. I love to see more and more people aspiring to become super-human – super healthy people that is. More over the next few days hopefully.

Off to a full moon meditation with some friends tonight, so pumped about that.

By Tim Altman 03/02/2015 Latest News

Fasting Diary – The Day Prior

As of tomorrow I will be commencing a 10 day fast along with a number of clients.

I have fasted several times before for either 10 days or 2 weeks, and many one day fasts usually done as one day per week or fortnight. My experience has always been very positive. Especially on the longer fasts I end up feeling more energetic, mentally sharper, clearer internally (and clearer skin) and much healthier and more positive generally. Obviously, I also feel much lighter.

Afterwards, these affects last for a several months to one year. I also find that my immune system is far more robust and I get ill far less frequently for at least 12 months afterwards.

Rather than going into the benefits and details of fasting in this blog, there is heaps of information on this website.

The 10 day fast I will be doing will be a juice fast where I have 2 juices of 300-350ml (with varying ingredients each day – depending on the individual requirements), 2 herbal teas and I can drink as much water as I want.

To make the cleanse more thorough I will be having several herbal enemas (self administered) over the course of the 10 days.

I will also be exercising lightly every day, including walking, yoga, some stretching, light swimming.

I monitor the fasts using Bio-Impedance testing which was developed for use in hospitals and gives valuable information on body composition changes, toxicity levels, cellular energy production, hydration and biological age.

Today I took base tests to get a starting measure and took photos to monitor visual changes.

Last time I fasted for 2 weeks I dropped 10kg over this period – including 2.7kg of muscle, 2.6kg of fat and the rest as extra-cellular water (high levels of which are associated with higher levels of toxicity). My biological age also dropped two years.

The reintroduction to food phase usually lasts for twice as long as the fast. I will be on a specific program for 3-4 weeks after the finish of the fast to rebuild the digestive system at the appropriate rate and not to overload it too quickly to foods that are difficult to break down.

I will blog my experiences regularly over the next few weeks. I am looking forward to it. The first 3-5 days can at times be a little challenging, however I’ve done it before so I know teh challenges are transient.