Don't Underestimate Environmental Stress

About a year ago I started experimenting with an aquaponics system. Aquaponics is an agricultural concept that uses fish to grow plants. When fish breathe they give off ammonia. Ammonia turns into Nitrites and Nitrites become Nitrates. Plants eat Nitrates. Thus I have a big fish tank and a small garden in my garage. The fish feed the plants; the plants filter the water so that the fish can breathe. I eat the plants and compost what is left over which is used to feed the fish. We are all one big happy family.

Recently my fish stopped eating and were getting sick - I had no idea why. Although you may not know anything about an aquaponics system and you probably aren't an ichthyologist – let me ask you this question. Where do you suppose the problem would be? Would it be the fish or the water in the tank?

In other words, do you think those fish that have a basic

chromosome deficiency, are they allergic to something I fed them, are they just weak, or maybe they have some hereditary disease – either way, you may think the fish are the problem. On the other hand maybe there is something in the water. Perhaps my filtration system isn’t working correctly, maybe I fed them too much or too little, the water temperature might be out of whack.

Which situation is more likely the cause?

Probably, and this is just a guess here, the first thing you’d suspect would be that something in the environment was harming the fish. Your mind would naturally gravitate to the environment as the problem, and you’d be right. After a little research I discovered that the PH level in the water was making the fish sick. Nothing was really wrong with the fish; it was the environment they were in that was causing the problem.

What is so obvious with fish, isn't so obvious with people!

Now, let’s say you start getting sick more often than usual. You get a sore throat, your body aches, your nose runs, eyes water, you have chills one minute and fever the next, you can't sleep, you have headaches and your stomach hurts. Where do you look for the problem? Incredibly, most of us never even consider the environment as the cause of our ailments.

You have been sold the bill of goods that "you" are the problem!

Most of us would feel uncomfortable if our physician were to ask personal questions like: “How are things going at your job?”, “Are you and your spouse getting along okay?”, “Are you having problems paying your bills?”, “Are your parents still able to take care of themselves?” Face it – none of us would want our doctor to ask about those things. Yet, how could any practitioner properly diagnose our condition without knowing about the environment we live in?

You can’t do it with fish, and you can’t do it with humans either.

Admit it, when it came to the fish you knew that the environment was the cause. Yet, if you get sick, or your child has a fever, you look for something wrong with the patient and ignore the environment. How crazy is that?

This explains why it is so incredibly hard for us to accept the fact that stress is by far the major cause of our disease. Environmental stress is killing people right and left and most of us ignore it. Our environment is toxic, our work places are stressful, traffic takes a toll, our relationships are out of whack and yet we ignore all these factors. We think the problem is something inside us; a chemical imbalance, a missing chromosome, a vitamin deficiency or even toxic build up. And there are many people who make a ton of money by keeping this thought in your head.

Perhaps your focus has been in the wrong place!

For the most part anyone who even suggests that the environment may be the root cause of illness is looked at askance. It is like they are wacko or some kind of voodoo, quack. We call this holistic medicine, which most of us want nothing to do with. And why not, our health insurance won’t cover most holistic therapy anyway.

Perfect example!

Not too long ago I awoke with a terrible “crick” in my neck. Usually this is the result of a bad night’s sleep and is gone after a day or so. But not this one; the pain went down into my shoulder, then to my bicep. After a few days my left pointer finger developed a mind of its own. My finger would shake for no reason and I knew something had to be done.

I went to my regular physician, he prescribed a muscle relaxer. Seriously? A pill! Not liking that idea very much, I went to a chiropractor. He took an x-ray and said it was a pinched nerve. He could fix me, but I needed ten sessions at $50 a pop. I didn’t like that idea either. Then I went to a holistic doctor. He asked me if I had changed the way I was sleeping lately. How stupid!

Yet, after due consideration it occurred to me that I had recently purchased some new fluffier pillows. He told me to take those pillows back and get ones that are thinner. I paid him $30. I took the pillows back, got the thinner pillows, and within three days my finger, shoulder and neck was back to normal.

Change the environment!

You see, the holistic doctor looked at what changed in my environment instead of trying to find something wrong with me. That is what we do here at the Life-Wave Living Center. We focus on helping you relax, knowing that stress is your primary adversary. God endowed you with a wonderful body perfectly capable of healing itself and no pill will ever do a better job.

So come visit us at the Life-Wave Living Center here in Franklin so that you will feel better, live longer, and have a happier life. Which is exactly what we wish for you.