I remember once when I was in my twenties I was walking down the street in a skirt. Suddenly, a car full of black men drove by and started shouting something at me. Sensing it was some sort of "dog-whistle"--and obviously short on self-esteem that day--I called out, "What?" Because I didn't understand what they were saying. So they shouted the compliment again. "What," I called again. Once again, they bellowed.
I still didn't understand, so I turned to a gentleman walking next to me and said, "Did you hear what they were saying?" "Yes," he replied, "they were saying 'look at them fat calves.'" Well, this was long before the days that hearing "baby got back" was high praise, but I learned from some of my coworkers later that day this comment on my calf size was indeed appreciative.
Needless to say, this little white girl was mortified. At least now I can look back and laugh. Not only that, as it turns out my "swimmers calves," as I like to call them, may be healthier for me: "Though it sounds counterintuitive, a French study found that women with small calves (13 inches or less around) tended to develop more carotid plaques, a known risk factor for stroke. The subcutaneous fat in larger calves may pull fatty acids from the bloodstream and store them where they are less of a risk factor, say researchers."
The author suggests sipping green tea to stay heart healthy is probably more useful than hitting the gym to bulk up those babies. "In a study of more than 40,500 Japanese men and women, those who drank five or more cups of green tea every day had the lowest risk of dying of heart disease and stroke."
Well, we're not in Japan, and with our problem with obesity, we are high on the list of at-risk nations for stroke: "Over 20 million per year worldwide have a stroke and over 5 million per year die from strokes. In the U.S. about 700,000 people a year have strokes. 500,000 are first time strokes and 200,000 are recurrent strokes. About 61% of stroke deaths are women. Strokes are the 3rd leading cause of death in the U.S. behind heart attacks and all forms of cancer combined."
It's quite possible, then, you may some day be in a position to help someone who is having, or who has had, a stroke. So grab that cup of tea and read the following taken from An Energy Practitioner's Guide to Medical Emergencies on how to identify when a stroke is occurring, and what you can do to improve the victim's chance of recovery.
STROKE SYMPTOMS:
Sudden numbness or weakness of the arm, leg, or face, especially on one side of the body
Sudden confusion, trouble understanding or speaking
Sudden trouble walking, loss of balance or coordination, or dizziness
Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
Sudden severe headache with no known cause
The symptoms of a stroke can be difficult to recognize, and this can spell disaster. The stroke victim may suffer brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke. Now doctors say any bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:
Ask the person to smile
Ask the person to raise both arms
Ask the person to speak a simple sentence
If the person has trouble with any of these tasks, call 911 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.
WHAT TO DO FOR SUSPECTED STROKE UNTIL THE PARAMEDICS ARRIVE:
Medical Necessities: If the person has stopped breathing, administer CPR, including chest compressions if there is no pulse. This is the top priority.
Common Sense: Make the person as comfortable as possible.
ENERGY METHODS to help restore neurological balance:
Do a hook-up (one hand in navel, one hand on third eye, push in and pull up).
Push the middle finger of one hand into the person’s “power point” (indent at center base of skull where skull meets the neck) and with the other hand hold the K-27s firmly for at least a minute.
Hold the “electrical points” at the base of skull just above the neck (on either side of the power point) for at least a minute.
Do a crown pull
Do a frontal/occipital hold (one hand across the forehead area at the hairline, the other at the back of the head where the skull joins the neck) until you feel a pulse in the forehead. The top part of the hand on the forehead activates the liver neurovascular points (liver meridian feeds the heart) at the hairline and the bottom (across the eyebrows) activates the bladder neurovascular points (bladder meridian governs the nervous system).
Hold spleen neurovascular points (one inch above ear on either side of head) for one to two minutes.If you are in the position of helping someone who has been a stroke victim, Donna Eden suggests the following:
The triple warmer strengthening points (TW3 & GB41, then TW2 & BL66) if the person appears to be leaving the body. Talk to the person and ask the person to stay with you. If you have help available, have another person pulse the K1 points on the bottom of the feet.
Even if you're not trained in Eden Energy Medicine, just doing a few of these according to the directions can be immensely helpful.
"Tracing figure eight energies helps the energy cross over from the left hemisphere to the right side of the body and from the right hemisphere to the left side of the body. It also helps energies cross over every part of the body, through the organs, even the cells. Another person can do this tracing of the cross-over energies (see the discussion of the Celtic weave in Energy Medicine Chapter 6). The stroke patient can also imagine the energies weaving. If possible, the person could trace figure eights of any size with a finger or a hand, or you could do it for the person by tracing the eights directly on or just above the body. Also, encourage the person to "doodle" by drawing figure eights on a piece of paper. This helps to imprint crossover energy patterns into the brain."
By the way, a figure eight is nothing more than the number eight lying on its side, or an infinity symbol: ∞
Last but not least, you can increase your own heart health with Eden Energy Medicine by practicing the Daily Energy Routine on a--guess what--daily basis! In addition, clear your heart chakra on a regular basis. Check out my blog on the heart meridian as well for more tips.
Blessings,
Rose
