In February of 2007, a co-parent at our boys’ school gave me a batch of what looked like cottage cheese-like, curdled milk. I saw kefir for the first time.
It was only after I did some googling on the internet that I discovered that kefir was one of, if not THE most potent, probiotic there is. It contains different varieties of good bacteria and far outweigh the benefits of products claiming to have lactobacilli and even yogurt.
Since then, that first batch of kefir grains has multiplied over and over again. From just that one batch, I have given out kefir grains to friends and even unknown persons who ask for them — many times over. And up to this day, our household continues to culture it, harvest its liquid and drink it plain or as a smoothie (for the kids). Our youngest, who used to consume Yakult by the pack (that comes in packs of 5 bottles), has totally switched over to kefir smoothies, thereby saving me quite a sum of money.
Kefir is not a miracle drug and does not claim to be so. But its powerful live organisms have been known to normalize the digestive tracts of people suffering both from diarrhea and constipation. Other kefir users I have come across on the internet have claimed it boosts the immune system, lowers high blood pressure and reduces the effect of acne (it can be used as a facial mask too!).
With the H1N1 virus threatening the world and who knows what other diseases are out there waiting to explode, it might be good to take a second look at kefir and see if its benefits go beyond just the ones we know so far. At the very least, if it boosts our immune system, we could stand a better chance resisting whatever viruses there are out there.
I found this book while killing time at Fully Booked Bonifacio High Street (PhP599). It was the last copy in that branch but I saw another copy at the Promenade Greenhills one.
It’s tiny, just about 4 x 4 inches in size and an inch and a half thick. But when I flipped through its pages, I realized how, despite its being simply written, it contained a treasure trove of wisdom that was easy for anyone to digest and follow. You need not read it from cover to cover. Instead, you can take a few tips at a time and practice them.
The contents are categorized into the following sections:
~ Luck and Destiny (setting out, finding the way, uncertainty, ups and downs)
~ How to behave (positive perspectives, acceptance, humility, motivations and desires, choice and responsibility, right action)
Without fail, Manny goes to his ring corner before every fight, kneels down, oblivious to the crowd and the din inside the stadium, and prays.
To me, this act of surrender and offering shows where the REAL source of Manny’s power comes from. He has faced opponents who mocked him, ridiculed him, dared and challenged his abilities. He has never responded with the same spite. Instead, he just says he would do his best. And after every win, he still has good words for the one he defeated.
As a parent, I credit a lot of this to someone who has always remained away from the spotlight but whom Manny obviously loves very much and who has molded him to be the champion he is now — humble even in the face of global admiration. His mom, Aling Dionisia, should be given as much credit for keeping Manny on terra firma. Here is the Mom who would rather pray while Manny fights. It reminds me so much of the book The Power of a Praying Parent by Stormie Omartian which describes just how much power is wielded by parents who continue to pray for their children in various circumstances of life.
I hope Manny realizes that he has the power in his hands to become a role model for the youth who are growing up with jaded views of the world that has succumbed to materialism, corruption and self-interest. It is indeed a great responsibility for someone who has great power.
Last Saturday, I was privileged to hear and meet a Filipina whose “never say die” spirit is one that can spur and motivate many of us who think that whatever handicaps we may have are good enough excuses to back down from our dreams.
Not Joy Rojas!
Joy dreams of crossing the United States in 120 days — RUNNING!
Yes, she plans to run 5,000 kilometers from West to East at approximately 50 kms A DAY, for 100 days!
This dream appears daunting, especially when you find out she survived tuberculosis (TB) in 2001. But the spirit of this 43-year old freelance journalist flies high. Just a month short of finishing her treatment for TB, Joy completed a 42-km run in 4 hours and 11 minutes. Then in 2005, she became the first Filipina to run from Davao City to Pagudpod, Ilocos Norte in 46 days — a good 2,000-km course!
WHY TAKBONG PANGARAP?
When Joy completed her Trans-Phiippines run in 2005, she did not just sit on her laurels. To her, the end of that dream was just the start of others. She asked herself where she would run if given the chance to equal or exceed that run and her thoughts brought her to the USA.
More than 200 people have already run across the United States. In fact, Cesar Guarin, a Filipino, did this in 1987. However, no Filipina has accomplished the same feat. In fact, NO SOUTHEAST ASIAN WOMAN has.
THE ROUTE
Joy will begin her run on May 11, her 44th birthday. The kick-off event will be at Eagle Rock, California, where there is a fairly large Filipino community. She will then continue through Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey towards New York City where she expects to cross the finish line at the Philippine Consulate on Fifth Avenue on September 8. Of her 120 days, 100 of them will be spent running while the 20 days are designated rest days in between.
(picture courtesy of Chuck Crisanto)
THE TEAM
At the Meet and Greet at Powerbooks Megamall, I met the other members of Joy’s team.
The first one I talked to was Mat Macabe, Joy’s trainer and running partner. Mat was supposed to do this run with Joy until he had to undergo an open heart surgery in 2008 for a congenital heart condition. Instead, he will bike alongside Joy during some parts of the run. Mat had many funny stories about his running experiences, including outrunning a desert fox and wrestling to the ground a Doberman which was trained to kill. He regaled us with stories about people they had met along their runs. When I asked him about his surgery, he gamely pulled up his shirt to reveal a scar that ran from throat to waist! Gosh!!!!
Next I got to chat with Chuck Crisanto, team manager of Takbong Pangarap. He’s a jolly fellow from Ateneo who is a long distance event record holder for the school. Chuck gave me some additional insights about their planned route, including getting Fil-Ams in the places they go through, to run with Joy part of the way as support for a countrywoman.
(L-R): Mat Macabe, a pulmonologist, me, Joy Rojas, Chuck Crisanto
THE PREPARATIONS
Joy is training fervently for this run. She runs for 2 hours, 3-4 times a week, with at least 1 out-of-town run each month. Her diet consists of fish and vegetables. Adidas, one of the sponsors of this run, is providing her different types of attire for different weather conditions. When asked how many pairs of rubber shoes she was bringing, she said she would use 12 pairs which she plans to use in rotation. Wow!
Technology is playing a large part in this attempt too. The Philippine Online Chronicles has put up a channel specifically for Takbong Pangarap. Her every step will be chronicled through this special site and more plans are underway to maximize the access that technology will give to Joy’s supporters.
The beneficiaries of this run are the Social Services Division of the Philippine Heart Center and the Anti-TB Program of the Inner Wheel Club of Quezon City, District 378.
Despite these sponsorships, the team said that they still need help to ensure that all logistics (including money for food, gasoline & lodgings) for Joy’s run can be provided for. There are several ways to help in your own way:
1. The POC website states that supporters can donate funds via Paypal/Western Union, being a 5k sponsor, and soon via SMS.
2. If you live in the United States and are along the route that Joy will pass, you can help Joy, Mat and Chuck achieve their goal by offering to host them as they pass through your area. Keep checking the POC.net site for details of the route.
3. Embed the Takbong Pangarap widget on your blogs to create awareness of her dream run.
4. For other forms of assistance, contact Chuck Crisanto at chuckcrisanto@yahoo.com or 0917-8983621.
I missed the mommy reunion at Burgoo’s last year when Raquel was in town from Germany with her family (though I did see her at Dine’s birthday dinner at The Old Spaghetti House Katipunan).
So when Raquel made the trip back to Manila again this year and called for another mommy reunion, I jumped at the chance for another meet-up at Burgoo’s Podium.
What do mommies do when they are put together like this? Talk, talk and talk. Haha. But seriously, it was a chance to catch up on each other’s lives, especially Raquel’s. I also got to meet Aileen for the first time and found out that her uncle was someone I knew from my past job at an accounting firm. Of course, being mommy bloggers there were a lot of photo ops too. Good thing, Burgoo’s staff were very accommodating and were patient enough to take our pictures with over half a dozen cameras each time.
Here are some pictures from that super fun afternoon.
Couldn't resist a photo op while waiting for the other mommies
Raq with one of her girls (extreme left) and a relative
If stress does not kill you, it will at least age you.
Here’s a quick question. If you were to ask your friends (who obviously do not know your real age) how old you are, what do you think would their guess be. Would they think you are older or younger than your chronological age?
I just concluded a project with a company that had very high levels of stress. Although I promised myself that by going back to corporate work I would not let go of my yoga classes, I found myself missing first one class, then two, and before I knew it, I was going months without a yoga practice to speak of. Without my knowing it, I became too absorbed in work and its toxic effects. When I settled back into home life in January of this year, I got sick – TWICE. I think my body, running on adrenalin for the longest time, suddenly felt the letdown of all those months and broke down.
A few months into a home-based life again, I find myself able to resume yoga, be with my kids more (esp. now that it’s summer) and attend blogging events which are far, far from stress. Ever since I ventured into yoga, I have gotten comments from people I bump into and who knew me from decades ago when I was an upcoming corporate executive well-entrenched in the rat race, that I look younger now than I did then. I call yoga my age-regressing stress management treatment.
Researcher Elissa Epel of the University of California, San Francisco, says it is likely that the imbalance in the hormones is responsible for many of the psychiatric and medical diseases associated with aging. Epel also said that chronically elevated cortisol reduces lean mass, bone density and shifts fat distributions that can precede the onset of many age-related diseases like osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s disease and major depression.
An article “Chronic Stress May Make You Age Faster” states that older adults often face chronic stress in the form of social isolation, bereavement, financial stress and caregiving. However, not all adults handle chronic stress the same way. Those able to take such stressors in stride often look younger than more stressed adults their age.
But there is good news: a healthy lifestyle and exercise can modify some of the hormonal effects that seem to accelerate aging. The article gave out some stress management techniques which I used as a benchmark against how I was doing in these areas:
* moderate exercise (reason why I am into yoga!)
* adequate sleep (this is still an area I need a lot of work on)
* being able to manage one’s goals and expectations (a trial and error situation till now but I am continuing to learn)
* accepting that one cannot always control things (yes, I used to be a control freak; I am learning to let go more often…)
* finding meaning in life (the raison d’etre for this blog)
* strengthening social ties (one of the major reasons why I am into blogging. I draw life from being around young bloggers)
* having spiritual or religious beliefs (being part of a prayer community for many years has given me a link to the Divine that I call on under stressful situations)
Are the effects of aging stress reversible?
If I go by my own personal experience, the answer is a resounding and reassuring YES!!!
Go ahead. Take the age test. Go ask a friend how old he/she thinks you are. Do not be upset by the answer if it was not what you expected. Take their answer as a chance to honestly look at yourself in the mirror and see how the stress you are subject to is affecting how you look. Identify those stressors and see what stress management techniques you can apply to start you off on the road to reversing its aging effects.
Do something NOW, while your body has not yet fallen into the disease traps set by stress. This is your gift not only to your loved ones, but most especially, a gift to YOURSELF!
