Year Four, Day 88: She'ol

"She'ol in the Hebrew Bible, is a place of darkness to which all the dead go, both the righteous and the unrighteous, regardless of the moral choices made in life, a place of stillness and darkness cut off from life and from God. The inhabitants of Sheol are the "shades" (rephaim), entities without personality or strength." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheol#cite_note-

I feel like I have just returned from She'ol. I was there for nearly 4 days. It was dark. I heard voices. I felt like a shadow of myself. Who am I kidding? I felt like death.

This morning I ascended from the pit. And left my shadow self behind.

I awoke suddenly at 7:00 a.m. The sun was shining brightly through my window shades. A strange sense of calm enveloped me. I could breathe. My heart wasn't racing. I didn't have negative thoughts swirling through my brain like a manic merry-go-round. I didn't remember waking up multiple times coughing and feeling dehydrated.

What was going on here? I wondered.

Then I chuckled. Perhaps this is what it feels like to be healthy! It has been so long.

So I am going to continue what I have been doing. Small meals of congee, rice, fruit, veggies and yogurt. Herbal tea, or weak black tea with freshly minced ginger. Kombucha tea. Plus I am on day 5 of my 14 day Prevacid course.

GERD be gone!

The cough is!

So are the negative thoughts. I have been pondering this connection. Could a poor diet, high in acidic foods (i.e. fried foods, processed foods, salty foods, meat, full fat dairy) cause mental illness?

I briefly did a search online and there is much research connecting food and mental health. In fact, one article mentions that "food allergies may play a role in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder". (https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/news/20150820/food-mental-health#1)

Interesting. Will have to read further.

I do know that eating more of a vegan, whole food, alkaline diet has tamed my demons in 4 days.

They can stay down there in She'ol with my former shadow self. I prefer the light!

Talk to you soon. Hopefully I'll stay out of the pit until then!

Love,

Zita

P.S. As an added bonus I have lost 5 pounds! YIPPEE!

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