Hi friends, Wading through misinformation, belief systems, old attachments and habits to things can either be fun, exciting and exhilarating or you will believe, that's its a hard slog, unachievable, and not possible (depending on your experiences in life and conditioning) So lets continue today to open the field of understanding about how your body mind works and seeks to balance itself constantly, kindle a greater depth of connection to what our body's needs and wants are, opposed to 'what you have been told to do' and ...lets just have some fun with this.
Looking at the microbiome of the body...the amazing and cool microbes that give you life, is not just about knowing their names and what they do, its about understanding their personality, the way they express themselves within and for your benefit. And most importantly maybe we can smash out some beliefs about what is right and wrong for you, give you some really helpful information that you can put into simple play into your every day lives and in between your BodyTalk sessions, its about supporting yourself and ultimately...them! Lets go and find out more...
A Refresher
+ You are a super organism, a complex ecosystem of human cells living in a relationship with bacteria and other microorganisms, collectively called the human microbiome.
+ Approx 10% of 'your cells' are actually human cells, the other 90% are microbes. You my friend are made up of about 100 trillion cells!
+ There are specific areas of microbial communities that live in different habitats on your skin, oral and nasal passages, and within your digestive and reproductive systems.
+ They are absolutely essential for your health.
+ If not healthy, happy, working together, in the right quantities and if they don't have the intelligence to understand what their role and purpose is, it will deeply impact your physical health, brain function, emotional and psychological health.
Everyone's microbiome is unique, its like your signature or finger prints, never the same as another's. And so, what is 'right' for "Simon", is not necessarily going to be right for you and what you need. Your communities of microorganisms are impacted by everything in your life, starting at your birth experience, to how much time you spend bare foot, what is absorbed through the largest organ you have....your skin, what is taken in directly through the mouth (digestion) and breath (lungs and respiratory system). Wi fi, EMF (electromagnetic fields in our houses and environments) all have the ability to either impact the communities in a positive or pathological way. Given that your birth had a major impact on your microbiome, lets start there. Research shows that there will be a big difference to your microbiome at birth if you were born via C-section or vaginally. Babies that travel via the birth canal receive its initial communities of Mutualists (friends) microbes from mum. That community then starts to expand and grow into all different environments on the surface and within the you. Its a very different story for those of you born via C-section. C-section babies get a microbiome that lasts up to seven years, this more resembles the microbes found on the mothers skin, very different to the ones found via the birth canal. Its been noted that there are major short comings in the key Mutualists species at the age of six months in babies born via C-section. As an example, meet B. fragilis, these guys are teachers, they educate the immune system. Bifidobacteria and Lactobacillus are major players in digestion, these were significantly less in babies born via C-section. Hospital environments tend to be a crèche for pathogenic bacteria strains, and given that newborn babies tend to be handled initially by staff, this tends to lead to a much greater prevalence of bacteria (not so good guys) that can and will cause huge imbalances in the colon. Further to this, if there was a lot of stress or trauma at or surrounding your birth, this will have a major impact on the microbiome. Mum, Dad or staff producing stress chemicals, went hand in hand with the psychological wellbeing of mum and Dad, as well as attending staff , this all affected you. I see it almost everyday in practice. The Amygdala and nervous systems in a state of flight, fright and/or freeze reactive mode. This has a flow on affect to the way that a persons mind then perceives its environment and its reality growing up into adulthood. The experiences you had via the 5 senses during and at birth will largely determine the way your belief systems are formed, and gives us our 'recipe's for life', i.e. your behaviors, habits, patterns and emotional triggers. These then will directly impact the behavior of microbes! Yep...they mirror one another! Ok, lets put aside how you were born. Other factors that have a direct impact on the health, determination and vibrancy of your microbiome and immune system are the cutting of the umbilical cord. There has been a big change in recent years on delaying cord clamping, but unfortunately for most people this tended to be done immediately after your birth. How the cord is cut, and where the cord is cut, can affect the rest of your life! If at birth, the cord is clamped and cut to quickly it can deprive babies of essential blood, oxygen for the lungs and body, stem cells and nutrition. This can lead to a significant blood volume loss, which then to lead to imbalances such as anemia, iron deficiency and in some cases, cerebral palsy. Imagine the effect on the entire microbiome just from not delaying the cord clamping. Cutting the cord too early (in the first minute or two) can also bring up other issues for individuals that affect more the psychology of the body mind such as, feelings and beliefs of separation issues, abandonment issues and fear of survival.
"It's not good enough to say you should wait at least five minutes or longer to cut the cord. That should be obvious. The newborn baby is strongly reliant on his or her placenta for sustenance and oxygen. It takes a little while before its lungs and other functions can take over that job." John Velthiem
As it happens in the natural world, the baby and umbilical cord will tell you when optimal to clamp. If the baby is left for a while, a section of the cord will start to wither and shrink, it continues to contract sufficiently to shut down all flow from the placenta to the baby. This indicates that processes have done their job and also indicates the best place to cut the cord. This would be when, in nature an animal would start to chew the cord.
What helps?
Apart from what we have already discussed above, its important to realize that babies get additional microbes for their thirsty ecosystems from handling by family and friends. Interactions with pets, contact with many different sources of water, all the things that they put in their mouths and what they get fed. Its important to allow a balance of a wide variety of outdoor environments, gardening, sunshine, having bare feet as much as possible inside and outside the house. Getting your hands and face dirty, ....and not being in a rush to wash it off! Sampling a very wide variety of foods, going naked as often as possible, reducing the over use of antibiotics, medications, antibacterial hand washes, chemical based cleaning products, parasite treatments (internally or externally)...anything that goes on the skin goes directly into the blood system. But these aren't just things that apply to babies and toddlers, these are things that you can look at and if they resonate with you, you can make some changes now for you and those that share the same space as you...today! Next week, we are going jumping into the microbiome of the digestive system, one of my favorite places, and an aspect that factors into nearly every treatment I do for people. Find out why it can be a deal breaker! Hope to see you then, All my best Jacquie