Dr. Ben Kim's Recipe for Healthy Pooing!

1. For one week, eat red beets, sweet potatoes, and avocados daily, and eat beet greens every other day, being sure to rinse well after eating the beet greens which have a good amount of natural acid that tends to coat teeth.

2.  Exercise for 30 to 45 minutes daily - anything that has
you moving on your feet and working up a sweat.

3.  Do gentle abdominal massage daily; begin in the right lower corner of your abdomen and work around in a full  circle, following the lower border of your ribs from right to left, and working your way down to the lower left corner of your abdomen.  

4.  Drink 10 twelve-ounce cups of water daily (normally, I 
recommend relying on thirst to guide water-intake, especially if you are eating plenty of water-rich plant foods, but when treating constipation, I find it's helpful to increase
intake of water to soften stool consistency and improve your gastrocolic response).  

5.  Stop taking your synthetic multi (synthetic calcium
and synthetic iron contribute to longer transit time within
your GI tract, resulting in harder stools).

6.  Take 5 capsules of organic greens with probiotics twice daily.  

These six measures are generally safe for anyone who is experiencing weak peristalsis and resulting constipation.  

I'm not completely against colon hydrotherapy, as I have had clients who strongly feel that they have benefited from 
having one done, but I think it makes sense to first try all
less-invasive measures like the ones noted above.  

I can also suggest having the following soup regularly


It will help keep your colon and its contents optimally 
hydrated, and will also nourish your body with easily digested protein, vitamin C, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, boron, and a plethora of health-enhancing phytonutrients like chlorophyll and carotenoids.

Colo-rectal cancer is quickly becoming one of the leading causes of death in first world nations, so you want to ensure that you are having regular and comfortable bowel movements, which are an excellent marker for how you are doing internally. 
 
With best wishes,

Ben Kim

The Temptation to Hoard

From the late, great Henri Nouwen:
As fearful people we are inclined to develop a mind-set that makes us say: "There's not enough food for everyone, so I better be sure I save enough for myself in case of emergency," or "There's not enough knowledge for everyone to enjoy; so I'd better keep my knowledge to myself, so no one else will use it" or "There's not enough love to give to everybody, so I'd better keep my friends for myself to prevent others from taking them away from me."
This is a scarcity mentality. It involves hoarding whatever we have, fearful that we won't have enough to survive. The tragedy, however, is that what you cling to ends up rotting in your hands.

And I would add, such thinking leads to constipation, as well.

My Gift to You...a Free Book about Good Healthy Bowels

Never too Late to Become Regular

No, it is never too late to become regular, to have ease in all our bodily functions. The following is a short testimony from a friend in his eighth decade on Planet Earth. His reference to an "Affirmation of Hay" means the great work of Louise Hay. Her book, Heal Your Body, A to Z, is an excellent primer for becoming acquainted with the mind-body connection.

"I have been suffering from constipation for the last ten years. I tried Natureopathy,Homeopathy and Auyarveda, without results. I didn't try Alleopathy as I was warned the medication is addictive.

Last year I mentioned my problem to Bethany and she put me on to "affirmation of Hay" It worked but not to my satisfaction. I have a tendency to hoard. Bethany said my thinking has influenced my body to hoard food and not let go of the waste. She suggested that I give away my old clothes and other things I am holding on to. I did that--Lo! my bowels have become regular. "

My friend is being modest. He has also continued to increase his spirit of giving; now planning on paying the school fees for two children, children who are not related to him by blood. Hoorah for generosity, for regularly letting go of resources...an activity that encourages letting go by the bowels!

Photo of Easter lunch in Hyderabad, at the home of George Reddy. Here, in the kitchen, left to right, with Mary's Aunty, Mary Reddy, me, and Mary's mom, Mrs. George Reddy. Mary is finishing her degree in medicine. Her studies have been sponsored by my husband, another most generous man.

Observing Environment to Assure Regularity

I have been teaching yoga three days a week for two months in a garden in southern India. How often I have wondered what the tree was that I sat under. "Is it some kind of fruit?" I asked Sujata, pointing to a big pod.

"No, it is something else," she said, not knowing the English word.

Well, the last week of class, I learned, IT IS A GIANT MILKWEED PLANT! In the US, this plant grows as high as my hips, maybe, a small plant on the side of the road. Here, it is enormous, five feet or more taller than I am.

Note: I put my sunglasses on the milkweek trunk, so you could see just how large it is!
I wanted to share this example because it speaks to the importance of paying attention, of noticing when something is different.

The ability to be awake and aware is especially important when you are working to heal yourself of constipation. Changes in the environment make a huge difference in regularity. But if you don't notice something is different, you continue to regard the arrival of your daily movement as a total mystery...or, (pardon the pun), as they say in the world of gambling, a crap shoot!

Read what an astute observer noticed:

"I am still dealing with the constipation from time to time. I think the stress of my job and family adds to the problem a lot. It seems that the last 3 or 4 weeks before a big event at work I get really bound up. We just had a three day convention and I had been so constipated for the past few weeks that I finally broke down and bought some stool softeners on Sunday and used them over the next couple of days to get some relief. I hate using them, but sometimes I just can't stand it anymore.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy my job very much and I love my family, but sometimes. "

No, I don't get you wrong at all, friend...I get you as right on! It is clear that when the pressures at work or home increase, you hold this tension in your bowels. Some of us suffer from severe migraines, or debilitating back aches or burning, upset stomachs. Your body stores stress in the intestines, and you literally put yourself in a state of "lockdown."

You have a "fear of messing up" so you subconsciously don't even let yourself "make a mess" in the toilet.

Because I know you are committed to healing yourself, I suggest you make a list of all the successful meetings you have organized, to give yourself an accurate report card. Look at your history of success! Can you see that this old pattern of getting super tense and shutting down your system is no longer serving you? That, in fact, at this stage in your life, you can count on yourself to perform well? Do you see that organizing a big event at home or work is something you do with ease and with regularity?

Children Who Shut Down Their Systems...

A psychologist friend writes, "On the constipation front, Eric Berne postulates the need to hold onto what the body has produced in case there is no more. If the child clings to the illusion that someday Santa Claus will come, then he/she needs to keep the sphincter tight to ward off disappointment. His admonition to therapists is : Think sphincter!"

Today's question: Are you holding onto something, fearing there will be no more for you?

Give Up, Let Go and Rejoice!

More than 5,000 years ago, the wise men of India, known as the Rishis, created the Vedas, books of great, timeless truths. The Ishavasya Upanishad is one of these books.

Within it, we find a great lesson to help us unblock our bodies and our hearts....Tena Tyaktena Bhunjitha.

Here's the translation and interpretation of this Sanskrit mantra, from Wisdom of the Rishis, a wonderful book written by one of Indian's living masters, Mumtaz Ali, known as Sri M:


"Therefore, give-up and rejoice! 'Let go!' is the proper phrase, not 'give up.' 'Let go!' Don't get caught up in this circus. Let go and enjoy yourself-rejoice! (Whose wealth is this anyway?)"

Are you ready to be free and at at ease?