In a world of commerce, where health is pitched with a price tag and the latest drug or supplement or therapy that can bio-hack one's way to wellness, the more powerful and effective ways of healing are not just overlooked but disparaged as too hard or impractical.

Late last month, I had an echo-cardiogram to see how my heart was progressing and the technician completely freaked me out because at the end of the consult, she told me to wait, that she needed to see the cardiologist before I left. My heart seems to have a mind of it's own under stress, and had really not behaved for the echo-cardiogram and was doing all sorts of funky things. I reassured myself that it wasn't long ago that I was cross country skiing, hiking through the snow without feeling the cold, on long walks in nature and generally feeling good and though my diet hadn't been perfect, and I had eaten the few vegan treats here and there that had oil in them, overall I should expect improvement.

My blood pressure though was high, near 200 (which seems to coincide with medical appointments) and I thought to myself, well better take some drastic action, so I just ate bananas and apples for a couple of days and then threw myself into a 9 day water fast. I modified it by occasionally