Hi Manisha,
I am trying to get my treadmill fixed so I can go back to vigorous exercise.
Drinking fresh beetroot juice or a concentrated, high-nitrate beetroot blend an hour or two before moderate-vigorous exercise has been shown to boost blood flow and oxygen to the frontal lobes of the brain, which can help boost the neurogenesis there that physical exercise already stimulates. There was a study on that done with the elderly who had mild cognitive decline but not full-fledged dementia.
I am also trying to regrow the nucleus accumbens, a motivation-related dopaminergic part of the brain and physical exercise is the only thing I can find that may help heal it. I have been, for a very long time, on at least two medications known to shrink it over time, and I am working with my doctor to try reducing the dose of one and taking breaks from the other while reducing its dose as well. I have symptoms of a damaged nucleus accumbens and frontal lobes. Probably basal ganglia and hippocampus as well.
If you are concerned about your brain and cognitive function but are not on any pharmaceutical medications, you have a great advantage if you are wanting to try promising herbs like Brahmi, or Ginseng or Rhodiola (dopamine and neurogenesis), or Ashwagandha (interesting studies on dementia through its action on the liver) (But not all of them at the same time) of not having to worry about interacting with drugs, which can get scary and complicated.
The supplements Acetyl L Carnitine and Citicoline may help heal and protect the brain as well.
You probably already know about Turmeric.
But you are an avid researcher and have probably read up on everything like this anyway.
Do you drink a large glass of warm water with turmeric powder, Himalayan salt and a squeeze of lemon or lime as the first thing to consume after waking up?
Ernst often prefers homeopathy in general and has warned about over-reliance on even the tonic medicinal herbs, with regard to "forcing the body" to change too often.
S.
???? Even though I am an avid researcher, there is way too much to read on. Not only that, but there are as many studies proving one thing right as there are proving that same thing wrong. One can drive oneself mad with all that information out there!!! So, now I research about what takes my fancy as I have started becoming aware that it is what I need at that time to take care of whatever is happening within.
Along with physical exercise, mental exercise will also stimulate the brain and start building up severed connections. I like classical music and I was also listening to a lot of it as I did when I was a kid. I started learning piano as another way to stimulate the brain. The hardest part I found was trying to get the brain to work on playing differently with both hands, or switching melodies quickly. It had never been a problem before in other areas of my life, and so it was frustrating to not have the full function at my beck and call. But it helped me develop empathy to those who are in similar situations. Also, knowing where I was before, where I was now, where I wanted to be, the possible frustrations I would face, the kindness and patience I would need with myself, helped put things in perspective.
I am not worried about dementia now. I think I have conquered that problem. The next step is trying to get my photographic memory retention back. I still have 3-4 years of major outer planetary energies to deal with, so I am going to rest and relax and let it do its work before taking stock of how much damage has occurred. I might be thinking that I have lost it, but maybe there is something else going on.
I squeeze lemon in my water off and on, but I don’t do anything on a regular basis. At the last new moon, I was feeling really sick and went on a ‘lentil soup with lemon’ diet for 10 days. No other food. I just follow what my body needs.
Yes, I would agree with Ernst about the over-reliance on herbs too, and I have cut down my visits to the doctor from every fortnight where she would check my pulse and alter the herbs accordingly, to every three weeks. The doctor is good too, and has already told me how she would start reducing the prescription once she is happy with my physical state. It’s only after 6 months of treatment that the body has finally started releasing the toxins that it has stored for years, and I can see the results manifest in my outer world, so I am happy with the way things are going.
I think all types of treatments are beneficial - homeopathy, ayurvedic, allopathy, Chinese herbs, acupuncture, acupressure, and so many more. I have tried a few of these and they have worked wonderfully at different times and at different levels, and not at all at different times or at different levels. I wonder how we can see what is beneficial at what time.
@manisha Sight reading was extremely difficult for me. I guess it is a Mars thing.
But those Bach inventions could be challenging and fun sometimes.
I had a photographic memory of music though and could learn and play by ear and even compose. Good rhythm too. I would like to get back into it but I think it was just a Ketu-based past life gift and now pluto is about to transit the 3rd(Ketu) house.
Rahu maturity might otherwise help with sight-reading as Rahu is closest to my mars.
You sound like my daughter. She has this inborn talent with regards to art and music, but was never interested in pursuing either of them. Instead, she is trying out another creative arts stream.
In my early 20s, I was learning to play sitar and I could mimic the teacher perfectly after he would show us how to play the piece. Now, with sight reading, I am actually forcing my brain to see where the problem lies. When it knows the problem, it can go fix itself. I also balance it by doing things that come easy to me.
The past few years, I have been trying to figure out ways to get my memory retention back, but this eclipse actually brought an acceptance of the loss. We struggle so much to keep what we have, but sometimes it is only a step up to the next thing. The acceptance was much more complex than what I write, but basically it was allowing the death to occur and an acceptance that even though it was a part of me, it does not define me. It was useful and I am grateful for what I had. Now that I don’t have it, I can use devices and other useful things to help me with what came naturally before, and which most probably I took for granted and did not feed and nurture it enough to ensure its continual growth.
Somehow, that acceptance actually brought clarity as to how I got it in the first place and how I can possibly get it back. Now I have to start experimenting with it.
But as in the case of Bali and Vaman Avtar, only the ego or mind can give itself up. Nothing is mine and nothing belongs to me. I never experienced that truth with such clarity before.
@manisha Yes its like learning to stop grasping as if we "owned" certain abilities, and to instead just empty ourselves and become like Krishna's flute. Or to unblock the Saraswati river by getting out the way and it will flow with us where it needs to again.