Hello world!

So while messing around on the laptop waiting for jetlag to buzz off, I discovered this space on the HCM website, I recall the marketing person suggesting to me to blog on the website a few years ago but until now I’ve not been in the correct space to discover how, or decide what content to put up.

So Melbourne to Dublin for Christmas with the inlaws is 6 days in and going well so far, I love the oppurtunity that holidays from the clinic afford me to observe some of the principles of Chinese Medicine in action without the requirement to diagnose and treat. I find I still do diagnose myself and my family (which I’m sure they’re over) however I get to observe the effects of the attempt to adapt to the rapidly changing environment by the person in the absence of treatment. Until such time as it becomes appropriate to give some herbs or acupuncture, of course…

Most notably are jetlag and diet, and the interplay between the two and the prohibitory effect of these significant progressily increasing adaptive changes, on ones ability to also adapt to the change in season. The small humans whose care my wife and I are charged with for the next decade or so have been challenged with phlegm type disorders effecting their respiratory systems during their childhood, so diet and digestive health are crucial for their ongoing wellbeing.

So we left Melbourne at 10pm flew 14hrs to dubai, stayed there for 9 hrs then flew 7hrs into Dublin and landed at 6pm. We’re now back in rhythm waking at 6am and looking for bed at 8pm. The daylight hours are fewer and the temperature a lot less but we only suffered some temporary sniffles, sore throats, upset tummys and a couple of random episodes of fatigue induced stress responses.

The bread here is so much easier on the digestion, I mean refined sugar is crap wherever you are in the world, but the bread out of the supermarket in the morning is warm, not wrapped in plastic, and our gluten sensitive tummies arent bothered by it in the slightest… so I’m thinking either the protien in the wheat in Australia is more inflammatory due to it being a different genus, or the manipulation of such to ensure drought or pest resistance, or Australian bakers use a different yeast or exposure time to yeast, or something else I haven’t yet thought of. Either way Soda Bread, Batch and Pan are all new best friends:)

Yesterday we took the 27 to Dublin Castle for the Christmas Market via Molly Malone and Grafton St. Really appreciating how ridiculously alien our Aussie Christmas is for Ali. Yesterday was 43 degrees celcius (109 F) at home…

Anyway this blogging may or may not continue, it’s nice sitting and reflecting, I’m using the local fit4less gym, the classes are great, 15-30 minute high intensity sessions which run into each other and finish with a stretch, also running (mostly walking) and drinking coffee in the am and Guinness in the pm, and it’s helpful in managing the day/night thing.

I get the feeling I’ll be looking for a UV hit soon, hopefully a tanning place will do the trick. I’ll let you know how it goes.