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Bulimia is an eating disorder. Someone with bulimia might binge on food and then vomit (also called purge) in a cycle of binging and purging. Binge eating refers to quickly eating large amounts of food over short periods of time. Purging involves forced vomiting, laxative use, excessive exercise, or fasting in an attempt to lose weight that might be gained from eating food or binging.

Bulimia, also called bulimia nervosa, is a disorder in the eating disorder spectrum. Bulimia is characterized by episodes of secretive excessive eating (bingeing) followed by inappropriate methods of weight control, such as self-induced vomiting (purging), abuse of laxatives and diuretics, or excessive exercise. Like anorexia, bulimia is a psychological disorder. It is another condition that goes beyond out-of-control dieting. The cycle of overeating and purging can quickly become an obsession similar to an addiction to drugs or other substances.

Symptoms of Bulimia

Signs of malnutrition or dehydration may be present including dry skin, changes in the hair and nails, swelling of the lower legs and feet, or loss of sensation in the hands or feet.

Eating, in a discrete period of time (e.g., within any 2-hour period), an amount of food that is definitely larger than most people would eat during a similar period of time and under similar circumstances.

Despite the fear bulimics have of becoming fat, being underweight is not a characteristic warning sign of bulimia. In fact, people with bulimia are usually of normal weight or are even overweight. If a person binges and purges but is dramatically underweight, he or she most likely suffers from the purging type of anorexia, rather than bulimia.

Excessive exercising – Works out strenuously, especially after eating. Typical activities include high-intensity calorie burners such as running or aerobics.

Nonpurging bulimia: You use other methods to rid yourself of calories and prevent weight gain, such as fasting or overexercising, which is sometimes called exercise bulimia.

Causes of Bulimia

Experts agree that cultural factors are very important in the development of eating disorders. Modern society’s emphasis on health, in particular thinness, can greatly influence those who seek the acceptance of others.

Families: It is likely that bulimia runs in families. Many people with bulimia have sisters or mothers with bulimia. Parents who think looks are important, diet themselves, or judge their children’s bodies are more likely to have a child with bulimia.

Many more women than men have bulimia, and the disorder is most common in adolescent girls. The affected person is usually aware that her eating pattern is abnormal and may experience fear or guilt associated with the binge-purge episodes. Although the behavior is usually secretive, clues to this disorder include overactivity, peculiar eating habits or rituals, and frequent weighing.

Sociocultural: Modern Western culture generally cultivates and reinforces a desire for thinness. Success and worth are often equated with being thin. Peer pressure may fuel this desire to be thin, particularly among young girls.

In certain neurological or medical conditions, there can be disturbed eating behavior, but the essential psychological feature of bulimia, the extreme concern with body shape and weight, is not present. For example, overeating is a common feature in depression, however, these individuals do not engage in inappropriate weight loss behaviors and do not exhibit the overconcern with body image and weight loss that is characteristic of the bulimic.

Shamanism is not a system of belief or faith, it is a system of knowledge, and divination is one of the paths to gain direct knowledge. Direct knowledge can be defined as that which is experienced first hand by the senses. Divination is not ‘fortune telling’, it is a way to a deeper understanding of events and influences surrounding a situation or person. Divination has always been an integral part of shamanism. One of the most important roles of the shaman has been to seek revelatory knowledge from visionary sources, which may be for healing purposes, “why has this person become ill?” “what medicine does this person need?, or important communal needs “where are the herds of caribou?”, divination is also often used to get meaning from dreams and visions.

Divination is as old as humanity, but unfortunately in mainstream Western society it has been regarded as something primitive, irrational, and pandering to superstition. Divination is simply a way of revealing the truth. The diviner reveals or uncovers to their client hidden truths about themselves, or the circumstances surrounding them. In societies outside the West, divining continues to play an important role, revealing that which is hidden, easing anxiety, and helping in coming to terms with challenging circumstances that may demand the implementation of difficult decisions.

In divination, the role of the shaman is to act as a mediator or ‘middle-man’. The shaman by exploring and providing the initial reading and interpretation allows the seeker of this information to avoid projecting personal wants, desires, and wishes if the question or situation is emotionally charged.

The Multi-dimensional Cosmos of the shaman

In shamanism, there is another kind of time, not linear or sequential but a time which is one single moment. This vast ever moving moment has no boundaries which separate the past, present and future. This is a time in which anything which has ever happened to anybody anywhere, somewhere it is still happening. The shaman travels ‘outside’ of linear time into this vast unending ever-moving moment to seek the information at the place where this event is happening.

One of the main gateways to this vast moment of time or universal consciousness is our own powers of imagination coupled with the three fundamental principles of expanded perception;

1.Intention All actions begin with an intention, a desire for a specific outcome. The principle of intention operates on two levels, the obvious , ‘this is what I want to do’, and the subtle level , i.e. it is a signal or alert to energy to be prepared to move to a certain destination.

2.Trust Trust is an ineffable quality, it is experienced in the body, not the mind. Trust takes time, and to get trust we need feedback which either directly or indirectly validates our experience. With trust our experiences and confidence in our actions increase significantly.

3.Attention This is about the application and focus of energy and intention. Attention is not ‘hard-work’ yet it needs consistency, to place your awareness at the interface of events or places….. Energy flows where Attention goes.

Divinatory methods

The shamans used many diverse methods for divination, either ways seeking patterns in natural objects and events, or using techniques to directly obtain hidden knowledge. An example of the former could be the practice of divination with rocks.

Rock Divination To do this the traditional practice is for the seeker looks for a rock whilst holding the question in the mind, eventually there will be a rock which stands out or ‘metaphorically’ shouts out “me, me!”. Here is an opportunity to practice the principle of trust!. As a helpful tip the more faceted and inner forms the rock has the better as more facets and patterns mean more detail will be available to the reader. The seeker should then give the rock to the shaman or practitioner and state the question. The shaman (who knows as little as possible about the questioner or the circumstances regarding the question) will gently focus on the rock and allow patterns to form within the imagination. The shaman may ask the seeker to state the question a few times as this helps to deepen the trance state of awareness, to the place where the shapes and patterns in the rock become a ‘gateway’ directly into the universal field of energy, and images, pictures, words, feelings will start to form within the shaman’s being. Each rock face represents a different aspect of the question, and the initial response is generally “where the questioner is at this moment”, and this leads to other rock faces, each rock face exposing and presenting an expanded view of the answer. To me personally this work is awesome, mysterious and poetic, and I have found that is as if a person’s life story is contained in a rock.

Sunbeam Divination Journey An example of a specific technique to discover hidden knowledge is the Sunbeam divination journey of the Labrador Naskapi shamans. This journey has a single specific purpose to find out the physical location of a person, object, or place where an event will take place. In this practice no information will be given about the object, person etc only it’s location. One can see the usefulness and practicality of this technique, for example to help hunters locate game animals, or the to find out and rescue a lost member of the tribe and so on. I have used this practice many times often to locate lost keys or the wallet of a client!

An Exercise – Naskapi Sunbeam Divination Journey.

First meditate or reflect on what you want to locate or know the whereabouts of, remember the first principle of Intention. When ready, find a place where you will not be disturbed for half hour or so, darken the room, and lay down and relax. Note: It is best if you have tape for shamanic journeying drumming (which will smooth the transition into expanded states of awareness). In the imagination, the launch-pad into multi-dimensional perception, go to a place where you can visualise, perceive, or sense being in the open landscape. Sense being fully in this place, experience your feet on the ground and the ground pushing up against the soles of your feet, experience the air and the wind on your face, become fully present in this landscape, and when ready look up to the sky where the sun will be, with the question firmly in your mind, ask the sun to show you the location or whereabouts of what it is you are searching for. Typically a particular sunbeam will either shine brightly or capture your attention in one way or another, follow this beam of sunlight, you may even experience yourself flying over the landscape, and where this specific sunbeam touches the ground, that is where the location is. When you recognise the location, and can correlate it to an actual physical place, it is then time to return. So turn around and go back to the place where you started from, and when you have returned, gently feel yourself back in the physical world, and gently open your eyes.

Remembering the second principle of trust, check the information out, try and get verification of the validity of the journey, keep on doing this until you have developed trust and the confidence will then follow.

Shamanic Trance Postures.

Another form of specific techniques is the body of work known as Shamanic Trance Postures. They take the form of certain precise bodily postures. These postures are gateways to an altered state of consciousness, and visionary experiences. This body of knowledge originates from ancient civilisations and many indigenous cultures throughout the world. Rediscovered in the 1970′s by the renowned anthropologist Felicitas Goodman, these postures are a piece of living history from our heritage of spiritual tradition.

It involves holding non-strenuous, but precise physical positions together with an accompanying rhythmic sound eg. Shamanic drumming or rattling. There are a number of specific postures for divinat
ory purposes, for example the Nupe people in sub-Saharan Africa, use these ritual postures, and in the one that their divinatory shamans work with gives the experience of detachment and a dispassionate persepective of the question.

An Exercise – Nupe Divination Posture

Once again meditate or focus on your question, as with this work it really helps if the question is sharp, no ‘ifs’, ‘shoulds’ , ‘but’ and so on, get your question as razor honed as possible.

Sit on the floor, leaning toward your left and supported by your left arm. Hold your left arm rigid, with your hand at a right angle to your body. Place your left hand at a spot three to five inches to the left of your body and just behind a straight line drawn along the back of your buttocks. Bend both legs at the knees with both feet pointing to the right, positioned so that your left foot is resting just to the left of your right knee. Place your right hand on your lower left leg, where the muscle indents about halfway down your calf. Move your head slightly to the left, so you are looking over your left knee, and close your eyes.

If possible listen to a shamanic drumming or rattling tape, as this will enhance the visionary potential and makes the experience smoother, and more powerful. Allow the visionary imagery , or just simple ‘knowing’ to take place, when you have a sense of an answer (even if you do not understand it rationally) just gently release yourself from the posture, and come back fully into the present. If an answer is not immediately understood, incubate it, play with it, draw or paint it, this is important as the answer is not always addressed to the rational mind. Being with the imagery or vision will often lead to a deep and profound revelation.

To conclude there are many other ways of divination in shamanism many which underlie well known practices eg; divination with quartz crystals, casting of objects, Scrying.

As the Tungus shamans of Siberia say “we are all connected, we are all one”. So is it no wonder that we can discover ourselves through the natural world.

For years, people have only linked menopause to women. However, studies have found that males experience a similar condition. People often refer to this as a mid-life crisis. Male menopause has been found to have similar symptoms that women experience. Male menopause, also known as andropause, is a condition where male hormones naturally decline. This is also a time of life when many men experience drastic changes in their life, including reordering, career change, or divorce. These events bring physiological and psychological changes that can grow into full-blown depression.

Andropause usually occurs in men at age fifty and above. Some people ask whether andropause is real or just a myth. It is a fact that hormonal decline occurs as a person ages. However, the hormone decreases in men are more gradual than in women’s menopause. That is why andropause is medically termed as A.D.A.M or Androgen Decline in Aging Males.

Like women’s menopause, andropause in men is characterized by various symptoms. These symptoms can include erectile dysfunction, mood changes, general tiredness, heart palpitations, and night sweats. Palpitations and night sweats happen because the autonomic system of men is overactive responding to their falling testosterone levels. Many men consider erectile dysfunction to be the most important symptom of andropause.

Men often develop feelings of wanting to be closer to family and friends during andropause. In their earlier stages of life, men often focus on money, career, and power, but when andropause strikes, the transitions are clearly seen. Men became more concerned with their family and friends, and often appear as if they regret past attitudes.

Another symptom that is commonly reported is memory loss associated with the aging process. This symptom is typically minor, and does not affect daily functioning like Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia.

However, because of the decline in testosterone levels, men who experience male menopause often report problems with depression. This can also cause anxiety and loss of interest in sex.

This is why you should think about getting male menopause treatment in order to alleviate the symptoms. One such treatment is called hormone replacement therapy for men. Usually, this treatment is done for men who have low testosterone levels. However, because of male menopause and the decline of the body’s production of testosterone, the testosterone replacement therapy is now done on men who are going through male menopause.

By going through this process when you are going through male menopause, it will significantly decrease the effects of male menopause. You have to consider the fact that testosterone replacement therapy will not cure male menopause. It will just help in alleviating the signs and symptoms associated with low testosterone level and male menopause.

It is important that, before jumping in and get yourself treated with testosterone replacement therapy, you first consult with your doctor. The doctor will determine if you are indeed going through male menopause. By conducting a series of tests, the doctor will determine if your testosterone level has declined. If it has, the doctor will then recommend treatments, such as testosterone replacement therapy.

The doctor will be able to recommend a professional who is able to administer and supervise the treatment. You have to consider the fact that it is necessary for you to have the right dosage of testosterone in order to have maximum effect while getting rid of the side effects.

There are different ways that testosterone replacement therapy is done. There is the injection method, the oral capsules method, the patches method, and also the implant method. Professionals in testosterone replacement therapy will let you choose which method is right for you and which method you are most comfortable with.

Always remember that testosterone replacement therapy should only be done with the supervision of a qualified professional in the field of the testosterone replacement therapy. This is important in order to give you the best effect possible while minimizing or eliminating unwanted side effects.

So, get your life back on track, get rid of depression, and cope with male menopause through testosterone replacement therapy.