Spleens are beautiful! A Shutterstock Licensed Image.

Your beautiful, useful, little spleen is a vital organ found under the ribcage, in the upper left part of your abdomen. According to Western Medicine, your spleen is the largest organ in the lymphatic system, making spleen health crucial. It is sister to your tonsils, adenoids, and thymus. Helpful to your digestion and immune system, your spleen is like a youth hostel for the different aspects of your blood.

Your lymphatic system is a compilation of tissues and organs that rid your body of waste, toxins, and other non-beneficial materials. Your “lymph” is a powerful fluid that contains white blood cells, the little warriors that fight infections. According to Western Medicine, the spleen keeps your bodily fluids in balance, yet it is possible to live without it. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) offers similar ideas, yet expands upon these premises.

There are many similarities between the attributes of Western Medicine and TCM perspectives. Rather than distill each as a separate pathway to spleen vitality, I’ve combined most of their similarities and offer suggestions on dietary and behavioral changes in support of your spleen’s health.

In all things related to your health, seek forward-thinking doctors, D.O.s, and naturopathic practitioners to advance your health and well-being.

What Is the Healthy Spleen’s Function?

As a filter for blood, and a hunter of harmful bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms, the spleen is vital to your health and immune system. While the spleen stores platelets (thrombocyte) and white blood cells, it also recycles your old and tired red blood cells. TCM dives a little deeper into the value and functions of the spleen, thereby giving us a broader, more specific, and more relatable picture.

How to Strengthen Your Spleen?

In TCM, your spleen does not have the same definition that you’ll find in western medicine, although both schools of thought appear to be more aligned than opposed. If we extrapolate from both methodologies, the spleen seems to be at least a vital partner to the stomach, and does the following:

Location of the spleen

• Digests information and environmental stimulus
• Assists in the digestion of food and converting it to energy
• Controls the blood
• Controls the muscles and the four limbs
• Influences transformation and transportation
• Connects with the lips and mouth
• Associates with enthusiasm, sadness, and worry
• Participates in digestive processes
• Houses the spirit and intellect
• Influences emotions
• Affects our minds and houses our thinking processes
• Controls our increasing energy (Qi)
• Provides warmth and vitality

In a society overloaded with messages and stimuli, our spleens tend to suffer. But through right-action, we can nurture our spleens into abundant health.

The spleen is akin to the Earth element and loves Summer through early Fall. Its Ayurvedic dosha is Kapha, which tends to be slow, conscious, thoughtful, careful, and grounded. When we allow ourselves to adopt some of these Kapha attributes during the Summer and Fall, we feed, heal, and nurture our spleens. To increase enthusiasm and positivity, consider researching Pitta Aggravated diets.

Sadly, given how overworked our minds, bodies, and lives are, most spleens are not always in balance. In TCM, the condition is called, “Spleen Qi Deficiency,” and it’s characterized by sadness, loose stools, fatigue, confusion, feelings of being overwhelmed, decreased vitality, weakened immunity, poor digestion, and feelings of defeat.

But wait, there’s more! You can protect your spleen’s health with just a few simple changes in diet and behavior. You’ll find 60 total ways to support your spleen within this article. Try these on for size:

1. Avoid cold drinks and ice in your beverages
2. Honor and express your emotions, especially sadness
3. Be mindful about your schedule and related stressors
4. Be careful when taking on new projects
5. Chew your food slowly and thoroughly
6. Eat warm, veggie-abundant soups and broths
7. Take breaks
8. Pause activities and thinking often
9. Try acupuncture and acupressure
10. Laugh to open the heart, and release tension and toxins
11. Pray to inspire hopefulness and positivity
12. Meditate to reduce worry, anxiety, or overthinking
13. Seek ways to “get over yourself” and reduce negative attitudes
14. Fake happiness until you embody aspects of happiness
15. Cuddle your loved-ones often

Foods That Support Your Healthy Spleen

Whether coming from Western Medicine or TCM, everybody seems to agree: Eating five small meals per day is healthier than eating three large meals, and adding spleen-friendly foods to your diet can turn your spleen into a heroic warrior.

Spleen aficionados suggest these foods for improving your spleen’s health:

1. Winter squash, carrot, rutabaga, parsnip, turnip, sweet potato, yam, pumpkin
2. Legumes like garbanzo beans, kidney beans, adzuki beans, lentils, black beans, and peas
3. Sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds
4. Seaweed and kelp
5. Green tea, jasmine tea, raspberry leaf tea, chai tea
6. Walnuts, chestnuts, pine nuts, pistachios
7. Aloe vera gel and juice
8. Grapes
9. Pomegranates
10. Ginger, pepper, cardamom, onions, garlic, cinnamon, clove, fennel, rosemary, sage, turmeric, thyme, horseradish, cayenne, and nutmeg
11. Instead of heavy sweets, try these less aggressive sweeteners to your diet: cooked fruits, rice syrup, barley malt, molasses, and stewed cherries
12. Add a little protein to every meal
13. Add a little bit of organic beef or bison to your weekly diet

Foods to Avoid Consuming for a Healthy Spleen

While many of these removal suggestions are helpful to your overall health, they are particularly beneficial for your spleen:

Depiction of the lymphatic system

• Cold, raw, and frozen foods
• Ice in your drinks
• Dairy
• Wheat
• Processed foods and refined flour
• Refined sugar
• Coffee
• Alcohol
• Peanuts and products like peanut butter
• Cucumber
• Winter melon
• Grapefruit
• Lettuce
• Bananas
• Avocados

How Do You Check Your Spleen?

Your doctor and your Ayurvedic and TCM practitioners will check to see if you have a healthy spleen or if it is enlarged during your next physical exam. By gently pressing on your upper left abdomen, your practitioner can learn a lot about your spleen. Your doctor might also suggest imaging and blood tests to help identify the causes of your enlarged or inflamed spleen.

Ayurvedic practitioners will check the pulse of the spleen, along with the pulses of other vital and symbiotic organs. As one of Earth’s oldest medical sciences, including Ayurvedic methodologies, can provide a wealth of information. The more informed we are, the better decisions we’ll make, especially when trying to improve our physical health and emotional well-being.

Each of Western, Chinese, and Ayurvedic disciplines will help you nurture your spleen back to a blissful state.

Causes of Weak Spleen and Problematic Symptoms

According to Western science, many conditions can cause an enlargement of it. These include a variety of infections, Parasites, Anemia, Leukemia, Hepatitis, Jaundice, Malaria, Liver disease, and some Cancers. Some of the symptoms of a weak spleen might include:

• Pain in the upper left abdomen
• Pain or discomfort in the left shoulder
• Feeling full without eating
• Fatigue
• Frequent infections
• Bloating and gas
• Weak limbs
• Little desire to speak
• Prolonged headache
• Dizziness
• Tired eyes

Herbs and Supplements for a Healthy Spleen

The company Standard Process has several products that help the immune system. They also sell excellent products directed at the spleens, most notably, “Spleen Desiccated.” These types of products are finding their ways into western medical research and are showing encouraging outcomes when compared to pharmaceuticals and other types of supplements. Consider researching bovine and porcine concentrated, desiccated spleen extracts to improve the health of your spleen.

Other supplements include products directed at the adrenals, thymus, Qi, and reducing stress. Consider that when the liver is overburdened, the spleen is under excess pressure to perform. You’ll find that liver supplements and trace minerals might also be beneficial to your spleen.

Traditional Chinese Medicine tells us that the following herbs can be helpful to your spleen:

1. Astragalus (黄芪)
2. Ginseng (人参)
3. Codonopsis (丹参)
4. Chinese Yam (Huai Shan)
5. White Atractylodes ( 白术)
6. Licorice (甘草)

Naturopathic doctors might also encourage you to incorporate herbs such as Dandelion, New Jersey Tea, Barberry, and Iris into your health strategy.

While every instance of a weak spleen might require an individual regiment, the Ayurvedic supplements that might support your spleen, include:

• Ashwagandha
• Turmeric
• Holy Basil
• Gotu Kola
• Shilajit
• Brahmi
• Trikatu
• Triphala
• Sandalwood
• Cordyceps
• Cloves Bud
• Amla Fruit

Each of us has a unique set of emotions, environmental influences, and karmic attributes that filter through our spirits and physical bodies. When seeking improvements to our health and well-being, it’s beneficial to do lots of research and invite the counsel of medical, healing, and spiritual professionals.

While TCM, Western Medicine, and Ayurvedic Medicine each offer unique perspectives, the best solution is the one that works for you. Research each of the pathways outlined here to find the solution that brings you the most vitality and vibrancy. You might find that a combination of these methodologies to be your most successful pathway to an empowered spleen and abundant health.

EMF Radiations can impact our health. A Shutterstock Licensed Image.

For a company to push innovation forward, they must first lobby for laws in their favor. Sometimes they lobby for the removal of laws. It’s all about what most serves their wealthy board members, shareholders, and revenue.​

Industries like pharmaceuticals, dairy, manufacturing, energy, and wireless tech, plus many more, spend billions of dollars annually to successfully protect their agendas, pay packages, and profits through lobbying.

We might think that the government prioritizes our best interests, but this is rarely the case, and the rush to allow an unregulated 5G wireless infrastructure is a prime example of this. Which is why you should know how to protect yourself from 5G and EMF radiation.

How Tech Innovation Works

1. Companies unearth an idea that’s years ahead of its time.
2. The moment they file a patent, they hire lobbyists to set the stage for their technology’s success, whether it’s dangerous to the public or not.
3. Tech is built-in stealth. Testing is limited. The focus is on profit.
4. Through lobbying, secret payoffs, mutually self-serving deals, and insane incentives, laws are gutted and rushed. The public has little choice in the matter. In the end, everybody loses.

Because we have no laws in place that genuinely protect humanity from greed, and many regulations that glorify the corporation, the agendas of technology companies will continue to supersede the health of the planet and all living-beings for years to come.

What Are EMFs, And Why Do We Care About 5G Radiation Dangers?

An electron is a subatomic particle that’s charged with negative electricity. This is how electricity is delivered throughout the world. An electromagnetic field, often referred to as an EMF, is born when electrons begin to accelerate. Upon movement, charged particles create fields. The realm of this field, the range of frequencies of radiation, is known as its radiation spectrum. When compared to the cute little spectrums of radio frequencies, 5G’s radiation spectrum is a beast.

5G (or 5th Generation) technology refers to the latest trend in wireless systems, involving larger channels, higher speeds, and the ability to connect a host of devices from one location. As related to EMFs, having 5G in your neighborhood is like turning on a microwave oven in every room of your house, and opening all the oven doors.​
With 5G towers and mini-stations being installed throughout every city and neighborhood, we appear to be building a global microwave oven. Oh, and I forgot to mention: microwaves cause cancer.

There has been minimal testing of the effects of 5G, but over 180 scientists in 40 countries have already proclaimed, “Stop 5G. It could kill us.” At the very least, 5G can cause nausea, hair loss, depression, confusion, and infection. Short of a revolution, 5G will evolve into 10G, and so on. These futuristic technology companies aren’t to blame; it’s our individual and collective addictions to our devices that have brought us here.

How To Shield Yourself From 5g

Since there’s little chance of a significant shift in how these types of technologies are tested and approved, the only thing we can do is prepare for the onslaught of radioactive frequencies. If we research like scientists and establish protective plans, we can mitigate EMFs and their effects on our health.

Here is a comprehensive list of how you can protect yourself:

1. PURCHASE EMF SHIELDS: Purchase an EMF shield, and continue to measure the levels of radiation within 100 feet of your home. Research all the consumer products in this category so that you can protect yourself as much as possible.
2. STAY EDUCATED: Continually educate yourself about the wireless industry and the global, governmental support of this insane endeavor.
3. TECH TIME-OUT: Refrain from using your cell phone for long periods of time, including never keeping your cell phone in your bedroom. If possible, keep your mobile devices five to ten feet away from you. When traveling with your cell phone, store it in an EMF protective bag.
4. BE PROACTIVE & STAY OUT OF FEAR: Remain positive and strong, and continue to improve your vibration through positive thinking, forgiveness, and with increased attention toward mental, emotional, and physical health.
5. LEARN TO GROW YOUR FOOD: Food born from our soil can improve our vibrations. Our vibrations are akin to electromagnetic fields because they birth fields of energy and light that inhabit and surround our bodies, which can protect us. Many enlightened masters have said that it is time for the pendulum to swing the other way, in that, we must learn to break our dependencies on manufactured food. We must learn to grow lettuce, potatoes, carrots, fruit, and more. Amma, The Hugging Saint, once said to me, “To start, learn to grow enough food for one day per week. Over time, you can learn to do more.”
6. LOVE: Focus on loving yourself and your family. Love has a profound effect on our health. It also can shield us from darkness, negative energy, and quite possibly, EMFs. Spiritual masters have been embodying love for centuries. A few examples include Jesus, Mother Mary, Buddha, Guanyin, Krishna, Amma (there have been many), Lau Tzu, Guru Nanak, Paramahansa Yogananda, and many more.
7. EAT SUNLIGHT: We often forget how powerful sunlight is for our health. In addition to Vitamin D, super powders and supergrasses can drastically improve our energy, immune systems, emotions, and overall health. They’re infused with antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties. Try some of these and monitor how your physical and emotional bodies improve: Barley grass, Chlorella, Alfalfa herb, Wheatgrass, Moringa (drumstick/horseradish tree), and Spirulina. The nutrients found in these powerful foods can quickly improve our health and vibrations.
8. SUPERFOODS: Superfoods can quicken your healing and improve your body’s ability to protect itself. Here are some of the most nutrient-filled vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds on planet earth: kale, Swiss chard, collard greens, turnip greens, spinach, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, green tea, eggs, turmeric, garlic, ginger, lentils, peas, peanuts, alfalfa, pecans, pistachios, walnuts, cashews, Brazil nuts, macadamia nuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, flaxseeds, hemp seeds, kefir, yogurt, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, and seaweed.
9. EARTHING: Spend at least two hours in the forest every week. Trees absorb our negative energies, improve our immune systems, and nourish our hearts and souls. Hugging a tree and walking barefoot in the woods can change your health, mind, attitude, thoughts, and intentions, and therefore, your current life-trajectory. Connecting with the earth in this way feeds our meridians and electromagnetic systems, which in turn can protect and empower us.
10. CRYSTALS: Consider purchasing Orgonite, which reportedly scatters electromagnetic fields and turns them into beneficial ones. Dr. Wilhelm Reich developed this unique composite. Elite Shungite is an equally powerful, EMF resistant stone. Crystals, gems, and stones are living beings. Talk to them, love them, infuse them with light – and they will do the same for you.
11. CHOOSE YOUR HOME WISELY: If possible, do not live near a cell tower or mini-station. Also, get involved in local politics so that you can learn about all of the potentially dangerous plans your city council has in store for you.

We all know that it’s not solely about 5G. There’s fluoride in our water, carcinogens in our farming processes, and insidious greed at the foundation of our health industry. There is no turning back without a thoughtful, conscious, non-violent revolution.

The only way we can evolve is to become educated, proactive, and self-sufficient. If we do these things correctly, we can reduce our dependencies on corporate and government systems, which would reduce their profits and decrease our personal expenses. While being little sheep feels cute and heartwarming, sometimes it’s vital to become the wolf.

Isochronic Tones are the rage. A Shutterstock Licensed Image.

The brain is experiencing quite the renaissance as of late. Not only has brain research become more easily accessible and immediately applicable, but the implications of the latest research are pointing to a wonderful outcome: we now know that specific locations in the brain can be pinpointed, accessed, addressed, flooded with light to heal symptoms, and healed through the emission of sound.

What’s even more compelling is that several categories of brain research are inspiring the creation of accessible and wearable technologies that can help soothe and heal the brain, along with other parts of the body. The brain is no longer an anomaly. It’s now scientifically proven that when the brain is nurtured by light, sound, and frequencies, it passes that healing along to the whole system.

“If You Want To Find The Secrets Of The Universe,
Think In Terms Of Energy, Frequency, And Vibration.”
– Nikola Tesla

It’s All About Light & Sound

Sound therapy has come a long way since its new-age hippie roots. Sound Therapy is now utilized by a variety of global organizations and businesses. This includes business offices, hotel chains, medical facilities, universities, and a variety of treatment programs, as an effective treatment to alleviate pain and depression, lower blood pressure, overcome feelings of stress, improve learning, improve balance, and promote physical and mental endurance.
According to the Mayo Clinic, light therapy treats seasonal depression and other conditions by exposing a person to artificial light. During light therapy, the individual sits or works near a device called a light therapy box, which comes in a variety of forms, shapes, and sizes.

If you’re into frequencies and healing through sound and vibration, you’ll want to research everything you can about Sound Wave Therapy. It’s not only healing sleep deprivation, it’s been reported to improve focus and take the edges off depression. Within Sound Wave Therapy is audio-based brainwave entrainment (or just brain entrainment), which has become one of the hottest topics in transformative technology.

Brain entrainment is a simple idea with remarkable implications: communicate with the brain using audio and light, and the mind and body will respond. After all, each of us is comprised of light and sound. Many believe that, over time, this therapeutic category will also be responsible for healing a long list of physical problems, although scientific research is at an early stage.

“If you look at the anatomy, the structure, the function,
there’s nothing in the universe that’s more beautiful,
that’s more complex, than the human brain.”
– Keith Black (Discover magazine, April, 2004)

What Are Isochronic Tones?

If you’ve heard of binaural beats, you may have learned about its younger cousin, isochronic tones. These tones are defined by a single tone being turned on and turned off in rapid successions, like pulses. Imagine putting on a headset and listening to regular beats of a single tone. This is known as isochronic.

While it might sound monotonous, if done correctly and if emitted within the most successful parameters, listening to this simple set of sounds can reduce your stress, boost your immune system, and help you achieve a meditative state. Isochronic tones are part of a compelling trio that also includes binaural and monaural beats.

What Are Binaural Beats?

Binaural beats is an auditory experience whereby the receiver listens dichotically (a unique frequency in each ear), where each frequency is lower than 1500 Hz, and the difference between the frequencies is lower than 40 Hz. The tones inherent in binaural beats can vary.

What Are Monaural Beats?

The sounds of monaural beats and binaural beats are similar, except that monaural beats are more specific. They consist of two separate, steady tones produced and mixed externally.

Isochronic Tones Vs Binaural Beats

Isochronic tones are a form of binaural beats and are considered a subset. While binaural beats include a variety of tones, isochronic tones are specifically a single, repeated tone, constructed and emitted in the form of pulses.

Do Isochronic Tones Work?

According to several scientific trials, isochronic tones and binaural/monaural beats alleviate pain and reduce stress. Given that these modalities are helpful to people who have challenges sleeping, in some circles, they are affectionately known as sleep tones and sleep beats.

What Is Transformative Technology?

The definition of “transformative technology” has evolved. While it was once a fairly nebulous term related to different facets of everyday life, it’s now more pinpointed toward the idea that as we create and evolve new technologies, we must consider the lives, hearts, and minds of every species on planet Earth. Transformative technology now lives at the intersection of robotics, artificial intelligence, and the evolution of consciousness.

A leader at the intersection of tech and consciousness, and the co-founder of The Transformative Technologies Conference, Rui Ma has a mission. She recently shared, “…competence, autonomy and psychological relatedness are basic psychological needs that are necessary for well-being. Another concept

I’m fascinated by is beneficence – or the sense of being able to give to others. We have theories on what makes people flourish, not just what their systems “want,” but what we know are core psychological needs for people to lead a “good life”. What if we built companies around that?”

Light and Sound Technologies

There is a new wave of tech being birthed, known as transformative technologies. This category has come a long way. When it started in the late 1990s, the yield was poorly developed contraptions that made outlandish promises including brain growth, healing cancer, and doubling the IQ. It was a lot of snake oil backed by fascinating, abject hyperbole. Transformative technology’s early origin gave it a poor reputation and nearly broke it.

More recently, science has stepped in and started punching holes in the ideologies behind this category of theories and products, not to dismantle it, but to improve upon it. What they’re finding is that the premises behind transformative tech are not so penetrable. Since healing technologies are becoming more grounded in reality, science has changed its tune. It’s now more easily proven that light and sound can positively affect (heal) the mind and body.

What’s On The Horizon?

We know that the brain is not only fragile but also responsive and sensitive to external input. Its function is not solely information storage and retrieval. The brain can be accessed and healed through unique codes comprised of sound and light.
If science and light/sound technologists can work together to quickly iterate on theories and accessible technologies, we might learn that the brain is a key variable in the healing of some of our most elusive abnormalities and diseases.

We are at a pivotal point in the history and potential trajectories of technology. Until recently, consciousness and technology have evolved on two separate, independent tracks. If we can align them, if we can encourage deep and advanced dialogues between them, we will see immeasurable advancements in the human condition.

When this occurs on a global scale, technology will be of service to humanity, rather than the other way around.

Binaural Beats can heal us. A Shutterstock Licensed Image.

When the final trickle of sadness evaporated, I became a fan of binaural beats therapy. In just 15 minutes, the unscientific new-age-ness of it all had evaporated and was immediately replaced by a measurable, grounded, and healing experience. I was more relaxed and I felt as though my brain and heart went through a (healing) car wash.

Recently on the fringe of alternative medicine, binaural beats returned to the scene with the backing of double-blind scientific trials, and a long list of brilliant supporters, including scientists, doctors, healers, and patients. What was originally thought to be a fluke in the early ear and brain quasi-experiments has become a powerful, if not profound, treatment for depression and anxiety, and potentially, a variety of physical conditions.

The binaural beats modality is the latest to emerge in “frequency medicine,” a broad category of healing techniques that tune to our body’s rhythms, patterns, sounds, and vibrations in order to gently guide, nurture, and improve them.

Binaural beats are essentially brain entrainment and live under the umbrella of Sound Wave Therapy, which some practitioners and therapists are using for everything from healing seasonal sadness disorder and improving sleep deprivation, to increasing IQ and even helping erectile dysfunction.

Do Binaural Beats Work? You Betcha.

Binaural Beats: What Is It?

The word binaural comes from the Latin, “with both ears.” The broad definition of binaural beats therapy is: when a person is presented with an audio stimulus, there is a change in their brain activity. More specifically, binaural beats are an auditory experience whereby the receiver listens in a dichotic manner (a unique frequency in each ear), where each frequency is lower than 1500 Hz, and the difference between the two frequencies is lower than 40 Hz.

Because of this dissonance, the listener perceives a cadence or beat that is absent from the audio being played. This can produce a meditative experience whereby the mind, heart, and body become more relaxed. The belief is that if our bodies and hearts are relaxed, they stand a better chance of healing. In most cases, the audio or music file being played in a binaural beats session is melodic, peaceful, and enjoyable.

Some scientists have called binaural beats “tech meds” or “digital drugs,” and they might be right. Patients and devotees of binaural beats say the experience is akin to meditating for 30 minutes, smoking marijuana, or ingesting a small amount of CBD oil. In all, binaural beats certainly aren’t dangerous and seem to have the potential to help millions of people.

Binaural Beats: How Does It Work?

Brain entrainment occurs when audio or light stimuli are used to coax our minds and hearts into new states of relating to our bodies and spirits. In other areas of science, entrainment occurs when a fluid attaches to and drags other fluids or solids along with it. It can be said that entrainment is where one element inspires other elements to attach to or follow it.

In Jungian psychology, this can be represented by “matching and leading,” whereby the therapist validates and mirrors specific phrases and behaviors in the patient, and then over time, makes healthy adjustments to these phrases and behaviors, thereby matching the patients and leading them to more conscious states of being.

In binaural beats therapy sessions, patients sit comfortably or lay on their backs. The practitioner places headphones on the patient and then plays a series of audio files. Some binaural beats music is melodic and hummable, and some is more akin to ambient, new-age electronic music.
During the session, a FitBit or similar device is used to measure heart rate and brain activity. In most scenarios, the results are clear and decisive: binaural beats therapy is a powerful modality for relaxation and healing.

Binaural Beats Effects & Benefits

• Here are the benefits that are most often reported:
• Sleep Improvement
• Relaxation
• Meditation
• Focus
• Mental Clarity
• Immune System Boost
• Decreased anxiety
• Decreased depression
• Heightened feeling of peace
• Increased life enjoyment
• Binaural Beat Science

While many claim to experience changes in physical conditions, scientific studies are still a little vague on this point. Additionally, science has recently found that binaural beats might not produce any effect on the personality, which this reader finds hard to believe.
One scientist reports that, because the thalamus is not affected during most binaural beat therapy sessions, any improvement in physical, emotional, or mental conditions could be limited, and difficult to prove. Not all the science points to binaural beats being the new cure-all, but most of the tests show measurable improvements in emotion and mind states.

Some of the more clever healers and practitioners out there are trying to find their own groove and unique value proposition in the market. As such, there is now a variety of repackaged and rebranded binaural beat therapies. While each one seems to march to its own drum, when compared to the basic tenets of binaural beat therapy, their offers are essentially the same.

The military has increased its investment in experimental technologies, especially tech focused on relaxation and mind/body control. This has tremendous and widespread implications because when the military invests, the business world tends to follow. We’ll see a variety of devices that produce effects similar to binaural beats in the coming months. Body and mind-enhancing tech is finally here to stay.

As binaural beats therapy evolves and as more research is funded, nuances in treatments, technologies, and methodologies will emerge. At present, the results and trends are promising.

Binaural Beat Technologies

If you’re hankering for a hunk of binaural beats tech, there is an emerging pile of technologies that will satiate both eardrums, and more. Here is a list of the headphones with the effective frequency responses for the therapeutic implementation of binaural beats.

• Bose QuietComfort 35
• Audio-Technica ATH-M50x
• Sennheiser HD 202 II
• CozyPhones Sleep Headphones
• Shure SE215-K Sound Isolating Earphones

If you’re into binaural beats science, you might try the Muse and Muse2, which, according to their website, sells “immersive meditation devices that provide real-time feedback on mental activity, heart rate, breathing, and body movements. I love the Muse and Muse2. I have both of them and have found them to be extremely effective for mental, emotional, and physical health improvements.

If you’re interested in the future of humans and consciousness-tech, including binaural beats technologies, check out the Transformative Technologies Conference. It’s an unusually comprehensive event featuring brilliant scientists and those interested in advancing human consciousness.

Binaural Beats In Summary

The Dalai Lama once said, “It takes a long time for me to settle into a deep meditation. If you can invent a device that will help me get into a deep meditative space, I will use it.”
While much of the transformative technologies space is still in early experimentation, the trends in research and the recent release of a long list of products point to a massive paradigm shift. Not only are the emerging technologies aimed at pacifying and healing pained and anxious spirits, they are also hoping to heal the body.

In a matter of five years, this category of technology went from “fru-fru-woo-woo” to powerfully and thoughtfully embedded in scientific research and trials. The next five years will astound us.

Many scientists (artificial intelligence, hardware/software, data science, etc.) who are in the conscious-tech space believe heart rate and brain waves are the key doorways that will lead us to meditative states and improved physical conditions.

While vibrational, energy and sound healers have believed in (and proven) the power of induced relaxation for centuries, so far, scientific research is still playing catch-up. The belief is simple: When our spirits are peaceful and aligned, our bodies will follow.

Intermittent fasting is effective. A Shutterstock Licensed Image.

I love intermittent fasts. I have found them to be physically healing, emotionally cleansing, and spiritually uplifting. As the body experiences a shift in its attachment to food, the mind and heart experience something similar in relation to their attachments to ideas, feelings, people, and experiences.​
Intermittent fasting refers to eating plans and dietary protocols that cycle between periods of fasting (no food or some food) and periods of non-fasting. There are a variety of intermittent fasting diets, along with several types of intermittent diet meal plans.

The benefits of intermittent fasting include lowering insulin levels, reducing inflammation, improving brain health, possible weight loss, and helping you feel more hopeful and prayerful. Overall, Intermittent fasting has shown promising results in broad trials involving mice and a few limited human trials.

To learn more about intermittent fasting, check out my other article about the benefits, trends, spirituality, and dangers.

“Fasting Is The First Principle Of Medicine;
Fast And See The Strength Of The Spirit Reveal Itself.”
~ Rumi

Intermittent Fasting Diets

In general, intermittent fasting includes fasting one to two days per week or on alternating days. During these days, you eat either no food at all or 25 percent of your regular caloric intake.
On reduced calorie days, men consume 500 to 600 calories, while women consume 400 to 500 calories. Rather than strictly focusing on male vs. female intake, you might consider your body type, regular diet, and personal preferences before committing to a specific number of calories.

On non-fasting days, the most successful intermittent fasters eat normally and never binge. Some of the more courageous fasters eat only during limited windows throughout each day and might reduce their carbs. For all fasts, it’s important to stay hydrated, which includes drinking water and non-caloric, non-alcoholic beverages like unsweetened coffee and tea.

Here are a few types of intermittent fasting diet plans to consider:

Simple And Painless Fast

The most cautious fast consists of no food restrictions, fasting one day per week, with only one meal on that day, and with a calorie intake at the 25 percent level (400 to 600 calories). On the other six days, eat normally.

5/2 Moderate Fast

The 5/2 fast consists of no food restrictions for two days per week, while reducing calorie intake to 25 percent, between 500 to 600 calories. On the other five days, you would eat normally.

Consistent Fasting

One of the most aggressive ways to intermittent fast is to adhere to your usual diet from 8am to 3pm, with fasting during the remaining hours of the day. On some days you might want a cheeseburger at 8pm, but you can’t have one.

Alternate-Day Fast

This intermittent fast might be one of the most difficult. Eating normally on one day and then fasting on the next day. To get the most benefit, you would continue this cycle somewhere between 8 and 16 weeks. Each fasting day can include 500 to 600 calories or no calories at all. In either case, be sure to drink plenty of water.

Alternate-day fasting can help you lose weight, and help lower your risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Dr. Krista Varady created a version of this diet which she calls, “The Every Other Day Diet.” While restrictive, this diet tends to hold people’s attention longer than most. The length of time that seems to produce the most benefits is 12 weeks, which is also the number of weeks that most human trials aim to achieve.

6/1 Fast

The 6/1 Fast is a simple fast where you eat nothing for one 24 hour period each week, starting with any meal (breakfast, lunch or dinner). During this time, doctors recommend that you drink plenty of water. Low-sugared coffee, tea, and other non-caloric and non-alcoholic beverages are permitted.

Keto Derivative

A form of The Keto Diet includes an aspect of intermittent fasting that some people find helpful and effective. During every meal, eat your vegetables first and then eat your protein, with meals to be completed between 11am to 6pm, with intermittent fasting hours from 6pm to 11am. Refrain from heavy carbs like bread, pasta, and rice. Keep in mind that drastic reductions in carbs can make you feel a little foggy.

The Master Cleanse: Lemon Juice & Cayenne Pepper Fast

This popular fasting practice has been around since the 1940s, created by the controversial Stanley Burroughs. Stanley wrote The Master Cleanser in the 1940s but the 1970s revision inspired a popular cleanse movement, which continues to this day. Fans of this cleanse include Beyoncé, Jared Leto, Denzel Washington, and Angelina Jolie.

The Master Cleanse consists of drinking only water mixed with a half-teaspoon of lemon juice and a hint of cayenne pepper 5 to 8 times per day, for 5 to 10 days. While this fast is not recommended for everyone, and it’s not a cure-all or intermittent fast, you might consider this idea when creating your own hybrid intermittent fast/diet. One hybrid idea might be to drink this formula from 3pm to 8am and eat two calorie-restricted meals during the hours of 8am to 3pm.

The Warrior Diet

This intermittent fasting diet has some passionate followers. It involves fasting during the day and then eating a huge meal at night.​

Popularized by fitness expert Ori Hofmekler, the dieter consumes small portions of raw fruits and raw vegetables during the day, then eats a high-calorie meal before 8pm. In short, you fast all day (limited to fresh fruits and vegetables), and then you have a power-feast in the evening, finishing your banquet within a 4-hour eating window.​

There are several challenges with this type of fasting. Depending on your body and metabolism, eating in the evening can extinguish the benefits of intermittent fasting. It might:

• Negatively impact your sleeping and dreaming patterns
• Alter hormone function
• Increase inflammation
• Impair blood sugar regulation
• Create weight gain
• Elevate triglycerides and cholesterol

Circadian Rhythm Or 16/8 Fasting

When it comes to losing weight, there are healthy and unhealthy paths. The Circadian Rhythm or 16/8 Fasting is when you eat solely during an 8-10 hour window each day. The rest of the time you refrain from meals and caloric beverages, but you can drink non-caloric, non-alcoholic drinks, including low-sugar coffee and tea.
Intermittent Meal Plan Example
For this example, we’ll focus on the 5/2 Intermittent Fast, which consists of two fasting days per week, each allowing 25 percent of your regular caloric intake (400 to 600 calories). When doing this fast, consider having an eating window from 8am to 6pm. In addition to possibly losing additional weight, you’ll have more food options if you avoid pieces of bread, rice, and pasta during your fast.
When fasting with limited calories, a hidden gem is hemp seeds. My favorite brand is Manitoba Harvest. Their Hemp Hearts are delicious and provide more protein than meat.

Here Is An Example Of An Under-600 Calorie Meal Schedule:

Breakfast: 250 Calories

• 1/4 cup of oatmeal
• 8 oz Green smoothie with apples, spinach, and kale
• One hard-boiled egg or a one-egg Tex-Mex scramble with a pinch of tomatoes, onion, garlic, and salsa

Lunch/Dinner – 300 Calories (Pick One)

• One small baked potato with one tablespoon of sour cream
• 2 cups roasted vegetables with two tablespoons of hemp seeds
• 1/2 avocado on toast with one tablespoon of crushed peanuts or sesame seeds
• Chicken, Vegetable and Bean soup with 3 oz of chicken, 1/4 cup of red beans, 1/2 cup of chopped veggies. You can swap the chicken for 3 oz of beef or buffalo, a moderate portion of tofu or 2 tablespoons of hemp seeds.

Between Meals – Under 60 calories (limited to one of these items, once per day)

• 2 cups of cooked microwave popcorn
• 1/2 cup cottage cheese
• Three whole-grain pretzel sticks
• 14 almonds
• One apple (baked)
• 1/4 cup low-sugar ice cream
• 1/4-1/2 banana

Anytime

• Water with 1/2 tsp of lemon juice and a tiny sprinkle of cayenne pepper. This drink is my favorite, especially during the fasting hours of 6 pm and 8 am or 6 pm and 11 am.

Intermittent Fasting Benefits

While intermittent fasting is not a cure-all, and the data is based mainly on scientific trials focused on mice, many people agree that intermittent fasting does wonders.
Many say that it can:

• Ease depression and increase vitality
• Improve memory
• Reduce inflammation and weight gain
• Remove damaged brain cells and generates new ones
• Help reduce attachment to emotional and psychological luggage.
• Improve your experience when praying and meditating

In general, even a little fasting here and there is shown to have positive effects. If you have gut issues or adrenal fatigue, proceed with caution. To be safe, ask your doctor or certified nutritionist before you begin fasting.
In all fasting, be careful about “starvation mode,” when your body starts to conserve energy by reducing the number of calories it burns. Starvation mode is something to avoid. It can cause your body to stop losing weight, and it will most often make you depressed, angry, lost, confused, or worse. It might also have other negative effects.

Just in case, notify a few friends before you fast. Texting a friend is quick and easy, “Hey, I’m fasting. If I die, I buried a treasure under a tree. The map is in my fridge. It’s all yours!”

The Keto Diet is powerful. A Shutterstock Licensed Image.

Over the past few years, the keto diet, or ketogenic diet, has become one of the most popular forms of dieting and weight loss. While weight loss isn’t in the cards for every dieter, it’s often the primary motivator.

Because the diet requires a drastic reduction in carbohydrates, we might feel spacey, flaky, and lost for a few days, but only at the start. By its conclusion, many dieters report a loss of weight and see an overall improvement in their mental clarity and physical health.​

Getting on the keto diet might not make you a better person, but it will improve your relationship with bacon grease and cauliflower. It might also teach you about the addictive nature of carbs.

What Happens To Our Bodies During The Keto Diet?

As we starve our bodies of carbohydrates, our systems begin to get our energy from triglycerides in our stored fat. As our livers break down the fat and produce ketones (acids), our bodies enter the survival state known as ketosis. This is when our energy levels improve, and our weight tends to decrease.​
Let’s be careful though. When the body is synthesizing fat, it can also produce excess ketones, which can be poisonous to the body, resulting in ketoacidosis. Good times.​

My body goes crazy for foods that are high in carbs. I especially love pasta, which means giving it up is painful. When we eat carbs, our bodies rush to produce glucose and insulin. After a plate or two of spaghetti, I tend to feel a little high. Lucky me!​

With carbs, glucose converts to bursts of energy, and then insulin processes it all in the blood and carries it throughout the body. For a while, carbs can feel wonderful.

When I completed my keto diet at 31 days, I had lost 15 pounds. During and after the diet, I experienced improvements in mental focus, memory, and energy.

Many people report losing lots of weight during their keto diet, while some don’t lose any weight at all. Luckily, weight isn’t the banner value of the diet.

What Is The Keto Diet?

The keto diet consists of a straightforward set of rules:

• Remove carbs from your diet or drastically reduce your carb intake. This means no grains, rice, pasta, potatoes and their tubular friends, and no bread, flour, fruit, or sugar.
• You can eat meat, eggs, vegetables, high-fat cream, butter, nuts, seeds, avocados, berries, stevia sweetener, and all the other fats (high-fat salad dressing, coconut oil, sesame oil, saturated fats, and bacon fat). Yes, bacon fat. Lots and lots of bacon fat.
• Eat as much as you want from 11 am to 7 pm.
• Do not eat from 7 pm to 11 am every day.
• When planning your meals, include lots of fatty meats and oily proteins.
• During each sitting, eat your vegetables first and then your proteins.

The nutritional breakdown of your meal plan might look something like this:

• Fat: 70% of calories
• Protein: 25% of calories
• Carbs: 5% of calories

By forcing a fat-burn through the liver, your body goes into a state similar to fasting, known as ketosis. In some cases, this fast-paced fat-burn can be reinvigorating. In many cases, the weight you’ve been struggling to lose for the past five years will appear to fall off magically. Please be aware that this is not the case for everyone.​
Some people find the beginning of this diet to be very difficult. The spaciness and confusion that can result from excluding carbs from their diet can feel debilitating. If you struggle with letting go of carbs, pace yourself, and try to decrease your carb intake over time.

The Downside Of The Keto Diet

When you stop eating carbs, your body and mind begin to exhibit a type of withdrawal. While your system is scrambling to grab energy from fat, your mind, and body look for their sugar daddy – carbs.

While your body is transitioning to its new source of power, it might also produce flu-like symptoms, otherwise known as the Keto Flu, Carb Flu, or Sugar Flu. The resulting fatigue will cause you to feel like you’re running around steep mountain paths at very high altitudes. You might also feel sleepy and tend to whine like a 5-year old. It’s okay; mommy loves you.​
In the midst of your Keto Flu, your mind might wander, mostly because your brain will miss the energy bursts that the carbs were producing. You might feel confused and won’t have quality mental agility for a few days. This is all temporary. Eventually, your mind and body catch-up to the new system of fat-burning and all sorts of beautiful things take place.

During this diet, you might experience a change in bowel function, including constipation. This can be attributed to your newly-found low fiber intake. Without carbs, you’ll need to get fiber from vegetables and psyllium seed husks. Seriously, eat fiber-rich veggies and psyllium. This will make your trips to the bathroom much less painful and far more productive.

If you experience diarrhea during your diet, you might need to add probiotics to your meals, along with fermented foods like sauerkraut, pickles, kimchi, tempeh, and miso. While you’re at it, be prepared for a slower metabolism and stinky breath — just sayin.

The Benefits Of The Keto Diet

Most people love the ketogenic diet for the benefits outside of weight loss. Here’s a list of the most incredible takeaways:

• Increased energy
• Improved mental focus
• Increased mental agility
• Improved memory
• Reduced cholesterol
• Lowered blood pressure
• Regulated hormones
• Controlled epileptic seizures
• Lower insulin at healthier levels
• Increased sex drive
• Reversed insulin resistance
• Reduced feelings of stress
• More frequent feelings of happiness
• Reduced acne (Yup, the keto diet means fewer zits!)

Keto Diet Warnings And Conclusion​

If you’re on the keto diet and you experience frequent urination, extreme thirst, high blood sugar levels, and high levels of keynotes in the urine, please see a doctor or go to an emergency room. These are symptoms of DKA, otherwise known as Diabetic Ketoacidosis.
​Most common in type 1 diabetes, DKA is a serious condition, and it can make you violently ill. It might also kill you. Treatment involving fluid replacement has the highest rate of success.
To flush ketones out of your body naturally, drink extra water.​

Keep in mind that the keto diet was never meant to be a long-term strategy for health and weight loss. Some doctors are not careful when prescribing this diet. Your keto friends might also be unaware of the diet’s potential risks.​

If you’re frequently using the keto diet for weight loss or any of its other benefits, you run the risk of chronic disease, and potentially, premature death. Yes, it’s that serious.​

In all cases and with all diets, be extremely careful, especially when limiting your carbohydrate intake.
The most comprehensive health and diet plans include exercise. Consult a western or naturopathic doctor to learn more about your limits and health risks related to dieting.

For the vegetarians and vegans in the house, it’s entirely possible to maintain your plant-based diet and be a keto rock star. While consuming fat is a normal part of the keto process, your fat can be from coconut oil, nuts, and avocados.

While getting on the keto diet has some compelling benefits, it might also cause you to become addicted to bacon memes. The hidden fun of this diet is in the fat. With a little research and careful moderation, butter, pork fat, and coconut oil might become your new best friends. Go fat go!​ Enjoy your diet and be safe!

Intermittent Fasting Benefits. A Shutterstock Licensed Image.

I began intermittent fasting when I was 15. At that time, I fasted because it cleared my mind and put me in a more meditative and prayerful state. Fasting might make you feel a little foggy or spacey, but for me, fasting helps me become more peaceful. Meanwhile, it does a great job of rebooting the system.

“All The Vitality And All The Energy I Have,
Come To Me Because My Body Is Purified By Fasting.”
~ Mohandas Gandhi

What Is Intermittent Fasting?

Intermittent fasting refers to eating plans and dietary protocols that cycle between periods of fasting (no food or some food) and periods of non-fasting. There are a variety of intermittent fasting diets, along with several types of intermittent diet meal plans.

The benefits of intermittent fasting include lowering insulin levels, reducing inflammation, improving brain health, and helping you feel more hopeful and prayerful. Intermittent fasting is showing promising results.
There is also the benefit of weight loss, one of the more popular reasons why people do intermittent fasts. While some intermittent fasts are helping a wide variety of healthy humans (and many mischiefs of lab rats) to burn fat and lose weight, intermittent fasts can have adverse effects, too. To be safe, ask your doctor or certified nutritionist for the go-ahead.​

The overall consensus about intermittent fasting is that it improves health and mental clarity, but it doesn’t consistently result in weight loss, or more weight loss compared to diets that restrict calorie and carb intake.
I’ve tried all types of intermittent fasting. Sometimes I lose weight and feel better, and sometimes I don’t experience anything beyond improved clarity and peacefulness.

Intermittent Fasting Diet

In general, intermittent fasting includes fasting one to two days per week, where during those days you eat either no food at all or 25% of your caloric intake. Most people who commit to intermittent fasts reduce caloric intake to 25% of their regular diets, either periodically or on alternating days. On reduced calorie days, men consume 500 to 600 calories, while women’s caloric intake is 400 to 500.​
On non-fasting days, the most successful intermittent fasters eat normally and never binge. Some of the more courageous fasters eat only during limited windows throughout each day and might reduce their carbs. For all fasts, it’s important to stay hydrated, which includes drinking water and non-caloric, non-alcoholic beverages like unsweetened coffee and tea.

You can learn more about a wide variety of intermittent fasts, along with their meal plans and suggested eating schedules here.

Metabolic expert Dr. Deborah Wexler, Director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Diabetes Center said, “There is evidence to suggest that the circadian rhythm fasting approach, where meals are restricted to an 8-10 hour period of the daytime, is effective.”

There is substantial scientific evidence suggesting that circadian rhythm fasting, when combined with a healthy diet and lifestyle, can be a particularly useful approach to weight loss, especially for people at risk for heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

Fast With No Binge

While the idea of fasting for a day and then binging on fat and sugar might sound appetizing, it’s terrible for the body. It’s important to note that when you choose to do an intermittent fast, make sure you are eating normally on the non-fasting days. Studies show that people who binge after fasting can cause their health more harm than good.

“If Thou Wouldst Preserve A Sound Body, Use Fasting And Walking; If A Healthful Soul, Fasting And Praying; Walking Exercises The Body, Praying Exercises The Soul, Fasting Cleanses Both.”
~ Francis Quarles

Spiritual Fasting

When the body is cleansed, the spirit is uplifted. The two go hand-in-hand. Fasting allows our souls to be less attached to our bodies and minds. It improves our vibration and helps us feel more connected to ourselves and others.

Almost every spiritual and religious tradition in the world mentions fasting as an essential activity for spiritual growth. It’s found 87 times in the Bible. Socrates and Plato fasted so they could purify their minds and spirits in pursuit of the truth.

Native Americans fast either in private or during public rituals. Indian fasts generally include abstinence from food and water, and they often enhance spiritual visions. In addition to a clearer state of mind and heart, fasts are also a way to rid the body and spirit of toxins accrued when interacting with society and the everyday world.

Kundalini Yogis encourage regular fasting because it allows the spirit to traverse the chakras and connect with the eternal consciousness. This allows energy to flow through the body without hindrance. When done in conjunction with Kundalini yoga, intermittent fasting can also improve the immune system.

When doing vision quests in the wilderness and other rituals, I’ve found it vital to fast the majority of the time. The idea here is to put my spirit in a state of wakefulness so that I can connect with my spirit guides and be more in tune with my surroundings.

During my first vision quest, I was so in tune and connected, I was able to attract peaceful bears, mountain lions, wild turkeys, and other animals to my sleeping/ritual sites. I felt genuinely peaceful, which inspired the animals to feel the same.​
One early morning, I must have been profoundly awake and aware because a big black bear encouraged me to wrestle with him. He was so loving and playful. I attribute these amazing experiences partly to fasting.
Feeling bright and awake allows our spirits to connect to several dimensions and to vibrate at higher frequencies. This, in turn, improves our health and relationships.

Intermittent Fasting Benefits

If you’d like to lower your risk for disease, intermittent fasting can improve the health of your brain, lower risk of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, and it can reduce the chance of obesity. Some studies show that intermittent fasting can reduce your risk of Type 2 Diabetes, while other studies show that your metabolic health can be put at risk, increasing the risk of diabetes.

Alternative medical doctors, who are trained in both eastern and western medicine might be able to understand your specific needs so they can prescribe the type of fast to give you the benefits you’re seeking, while also preventing you from hurting yourself.​

While intermittent fasting is not a cure-all, and the data is based mainly on scientific trials focused on mice, many agree that intermittent fasting does wonders.​

Many say it can:

• Ease depression
• Improve memory
• Increase vitality
• Reduce inflammation
• Reduce your weight or slow weight gain
• Reduce the growth speed of cancer
• Protect your neurons
• Remove damaged brain cells and generate new ones
• Help reduce attachment to emotional and psychological luggage.
• Improve your experience when praying and meditating

In general, even a little fasting here and there is shown to have positive effects. If you have gut issues or adrenal fatigue, proceed with caution.

Intermittent Fasting Science

One of the most remarkable benefits of intermittent fasting is that it has a positive effect on your mitochondrial networks, the fuel for your cells, by helping it remain fused. This undoubtedly improves energy, which can have positive effects on memory, longevity, and health challenges related to aging.
While intermittent fasting is trending, and many people are posting positive effects from their fasts, the research has mostly been conducted on mice.​

The hope is that intermittent fasting isn’t just a fad and that it has proven, lasting effects. Fasting research is on the rise. The hope is that more and more trials involving humans will be funded.

The Dangers Of Intermittent Fasting

Studies have shown that intermittent fasting if done incorrectly, can cause a person to have a net gain in weight. When you fast for a couple of days, and then binge on beer and pasta, chances are, you’ll do more harm than good.

Intermittent fasting may increase insulin levels, put pancreatic cells at risk, cause unnecessary fatigue, and add to your belly fat. A new study suggests that intermittent fasting, while often producing positive results, can harm metabolic health and cause Metabolic Syndrome.

​When we have poor metabolic health or Metabolic Syndrome, we are at risk for heart disease, diabetes, and stroke. See your doctor to ensure that you have the proper levels of blood sugar, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein, and blood pressure.​
When you conclude your fast, your body might be oversensitive to the foods you eat. Be aware of your allergies and eat only whole, natural, unprocessed foods, at least for several days. Hydration is the key.
In all fasting, be careful about “starvation mode,” when your body starts to conserve energy by reducing the number of calories it burns. Starvation mode is something to avoid. It can cause your body to stop losing weight, and it will most often make you feel depressed, angry, lost, confused or worse. It might also have other negative effects.​

Just in case, notify a few friends before you fast. Texting a friend is quick and easy, “Hey, I’m fasting. If I die, you can have my toaster!”