Cairns IBD Support Group

August meeting was postponed in favour for a lecture by Anni Clark. Anni did a lecture on the ins and outs of the bowel. with some interesting points of view. Several Members went along to hear her speak. Two interesting points that came up for me was one about juicing and how that can effect the bodies metabolism over a long period of time, and if you feel sluggish after eating a particular  food then you may want to consider looking at what that may be doing to your body. Anni also brought up the point about what you think can create changes with in your body 

Thank you for all those people that turned up for our first meeting, I know man of you travelled many a mile to be there in person.

A few things of interest that came from the meeting;

• "Can't Waite" Toilet cards from ACCA see link on links page
• Next meeting Thirs 6 August same place
• People were full of beans and I think everyone was ahppy to meet up with others in the same boat.
• Every body was given a flier to put in there local surgery

What else is possible?

"Breaking the Viscous Cycle" Elaine Gottschall Table Land Book store 40915137

"Healing Foods for Celiacs, Colitis, Crohns and IBD" Sndra ramacher, Healthy Life Cairns Central 40310018

Thanks Sam!

here is a link to the ABC with an interivew with me about IBD and my book http://blogs.abc.net.au/queensland/far_north_breakfast/index.html

Almost 6 years ago now I was diagnosed with an incurable disease that turned out to be near fatal on several occasions. Three years of hell and 2 years of building a greater connection with my body and now a year of dis-ease free life.

How many of have you had the point of view that the body is not conscious, that it is a sin or not as conscious as ‘me the being’, or that it is to be transcended. All this is based on points of views that we have bought at some time or another. What if your body was conscious? What if when it comes to bodies your body was the expert? What if every time you include your body or ask it a question about body stuff you were actually communing with consciousness?

If you are getting a yes to those questions then it may be time for you to start communing with your body. That it is exactly what I did, do, in order to change disease. I am so grateful for my body and all the other bodies around me.

Did you know your body is constant communion with other bodies all the time? If you are not aware of this you may like to get aware of it because things like swine flu can have a greater impact if you’re are unaware that your body is talking with other bodies. A little sniffle here or there and you buy the idea that your body has a flu and you’re stuffed. But if you ask a question you may just get a different answer; that your body is just giving you an awareness of what is going on around it.

I am a bit slow at times but today I found that my body had another remarkable ability. It can actually talk to another body that requires something and if it doesn’t know what energy that body requires it goes and finds those bodies that have those energies and gets that info and then it can give that ailing body what it requires. Pretty cool hey?

Yes, it sounds weird, but hey I don’t make the rules I just ask questions and this awareness just comes. Now none of you could possibly do that because I am more special, cleverer and greater than any of you! Yeah right, consciousness does not judge anything so for me to be greater or less than you is total BS. I am just goading you into proving me wrong, if you prove me wrong then you will have to build that communion with your body and generate consciousness. Ha ha, got ya!

The thing is when I buy the sniffles or stomach pain or temperature as an indication of getting sick guess what happens. However when I ask a question I can get more info, more awareness, more conscious and then my body can help create more consciousness with other bodies. Wanna come play?

Crohn's and Colitis Awareness Week: 15 to 19 June

Local Author offers Hope, Advice and Support

It was just three years ago that Liam Phillips nearly died from the debilitating effects of Ulcerative Colitis. At only forty-one years of age, his 186cm frame was down to a shocking 42Kg. Determined to live and not give in to what he jokingly refers to as, ?one of the cleverest of diseases,? Liam began a heroic journey of self-exploration and healing.

In his book, ?Curing the Incurable,? Liam shares his humor and practical insight in dealing with this condition that can often be unbearable and embarrassing. Anyone who knows someone with Crohn?s and Colitis, or has personally dealt with any of the Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, is well aware of the toll it takes. According to the Australian Crohn?s and Colitis Association, the latest figures show about 61,000 Australians are affected by Inflammatory Bowel Disease. It is most frequently diagnosed in people between the ages of 15 to 40 years and has a lifelong impact.

To raise awareness, Liam is planning talks on this subject and launching new resources to help those with IBD (inflammatory bowel disease) right here in Cairns. He is a member of the Australian Crohn?s and Colitis, and Chronic Illness Association. It is Liam?s aim to increase awareness and bring relief to people?s ailing bodies across the globe, starting right here in Cairns with an invitation to people with IBD and their carer?s to form a support group, ring Liam 0429 806 196 to register your interest . To learn more about his amazing story, visit: www.curewithease.com or www.rightbodyforyou.com

The Emotional Roller Coaster of Bowel Disease

Liam Phillips was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis over six years ago. His life has changed dynamically since then. For the first three years he tried everything from medication to meditation and ended up travelling the world in search for a cure or he would die trying.

For Liam the worst part of the disease was the emotional torture that he went through. As the symptoms of ulcerative colitis and crohns disease are very unpleasant and often fowl smelling this will never be a disease that appears very glamorous and hence it is a disease often not talked about in public. It was due to these horrid symptoms that Liam became a recluse and trapped in his own mind of suffering.

Not only are there the obvious symptoms of frequent, bloody stools but a whole gamut of emotional symptoms that are rarely talked about. If you have had bowel disease perhaps you can relate to those “silent symptoms” such as; constant fear of soiling oneself in public, obsessive checking the toilet paper for blood stains, the inspection of feacal matter for an answer or the shear panic when the tummy gurgles, that for most is a normal function, but for a bowel disease sufferer is often a warning sign of something unpleasant just around the corner. And the list goes on and on.

Gradually Liam came to the conclusion that there was something intrinsically wrong with him. He started to see his body and life as something wrong saying “I had the basic belief that I had a type of Midas touch; that everything I touched turned to crap.”

That is gloomy reality for many people who live with this disease every day, but Liam’s life is no longer run by this Midas touch. The rest of the story I will let Liam tell as he talks how all that has changed.

In my travels I ran in to some people that empowered me to change all that emotional pain. The one thing that these people had in common was their ability to not judge me. That was an incredibly liberating feeling. They allowed me to be me. When I talked to them about having to flush my undies down the toilet in a shopping centre because they were too soiled to rescue, there was no snicker, look of horror on their face or pity.

This ability not to judge kind of rubbed off on me after a while as I started to use some of the methods that they had shown me and I had the realization that the one person who judged me the most was in fact me.

I had made my body wrong and I hated my life. So much so, I had actually decided that if things didn’t improve shortly I would pull the pin and take my own life. Luckily all that changed.

There was no gratitude in my life for me, and as so much of the literature tells us, gratitude is often the key to surviving and overcoming chronic disease. It’s not just gratitude for others and the things we posess, it’s gratitude for our own body and life! When gratitude is present there is no room for judgment and it is this judgment of ourselves and our bodies that makes the disease a million times worse.

All the physical symptoms and the emotional symptoms that were mentioned earlier led me to thinking I was wrong , and I used a huge amount of energy to judge myself almost to death. That energy has now been freed up to create a healthy body and a life that is so much more. My one question to those people who have a chronic disease like ulcerative colitis would be; are you willing to stop making your body wrong and have a little gratitude for you?

Liam is now a successful author and , dedicated to bringing awareness to bowel disease and enjoying his body in fabulous North Queensland.