Here's to Your Haelth!

The odd spelling goes back to its origin in German

Health—good and ill—is such a widely discussed and frequently argued theme that you might be wondering what I could possibly add to an already enormous body of knowledge freely available on YouTube, in podcasts, articles and books. Since I am neither a doctor nor have any kind of science degree, what am I doing writing about Your Health?

I’m glad you asked and frankly I have been asking myself this very question. Without further ado, here’s what I can do that is a little bit unique and possibly even helpful. I have spent most of my life reading and learning about so called ‘alternative health’ or ‘holistic health’, which means that I believe symptoms should not be simply suppressed but the underlying cause of the pain should be investigated. I believe that the body is not an intricate machine that just wears out or makes mistakes—it is the most evolved organism on the planet, animated by what our ancestors called ‘the soul’. The soul gets short shrift in a materialistic science worshipping society but my intuition tells me that we’re about to bring it back. It’s not an idea peculiar to the West alone. Perhaps the soul is what Chinese medicine calls ‘chi’, a kind of universal energy that animates not just us but the entire cosmos. I know that sounds rather mystical, and you certainly do not have to share this view. I’m not anti science; I just think we should not ignore other sources of knowledge, but draw on them as needed.

I had a Mongolian doctor for about a decade and learned a lot from him. That I am in good health at the age of eighty-four is in no small way thanks to him. And while I think western medicine is wonderfully effective in a crisis, it is woefully inadequate in dealing with chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and obesity. The cost alone is staggering and if nothing is done to reverse current trends we will quite literally spend most of our public funding on healthcare. I am not talking about what is happening in Europe, I’m limiting myself to North America and its curious inability to keep people healthy and out of hospital.

From The Far Side, to my mind among the top cartoons of all time

I also spend a lot of time listening to what I call The YouTube Doctors, some of whom in turn talk to other medical professionals. They are not all equally good and sorting out whom to trust and whom to ditch is an ongoing and fairly complicated task. In addition I read, ask questions as they arise and pay attention to what the Zeitgeist is throwing up for consideration. At the moment, Insomnia is the topic that currently keeps us awake at night, and there is an entire branch of medicine devoted to helping the sleepless West get some rest. That is going to be my first attempt to write something that is both helpful as well as entertaining.

To summarize, what I can do is pay attention to a combination of the latest research, what the best Youtube doctors are saying, what my own experience is and what is generally called ‘common sense’. Last but not least, I will integrate what I call the Far Side of Health, the Chinese, Indian and mystical traditions and also, the fascinating field of Energy Medicine into my posts. Dr Michael Greenwood, who headed the Victoria Pain Clinic for many years before his recent retirement, has written a couple of excellent books and if I’m lucky he will even grant me an interview. I will always endeavour to actually talk to an expert in whatever field I am investigating. And each post will include a list of my sources and suggestions for further study for those of my readers who have the time.

But back to the Big Picture: what is Good Health?

Good Health is when you don’t need to think about it. When you only think about it as something you enjoy and feel good about supporting. Alas, with advancing age, too many of us find ourselves spending a great deal of time and energy either fixing or rethinking or just worrying about our state of health. And it does seem that as you get into your eighties and beyond, it becomes Topic #1. My body is getting more ornery, I have noticed. It won’t let me forget that it’s there, expecting certain things like excellent food, exercise and plenty of rest. It’s possible that I am simply following my body’s orders in focusing my Substack on Health.

Which I hope will be a very good thing indeed. May you sleep well tonight! But if you can’t, check out this video on how to get back to sleep. More on this topic next week.