Wilderness camping

The wilderness drifts its way through many towns without the inhabitants ever knowing. A dog walker catches a glimpse of three canoeists quietly slipping down the river Tweed as it flows to Berwick on its way to the sea. A few months ago Joanna and her son Tom asked me if I would guide them on a trip by open canoe. We set off late one afternoon from Innerleithen, leaving her car and trailer in a small clearing by the river bridge, just before the traffic lights. The river was so low that we poled the canoes for many miles between bouts of paddling. Curious horses watched us; snipe rose to their erratic flight; common merganser ducks fussed and shooed away their broods. Late that evening looking for level ground for a camp site we found a park near Galashiels.  A car turned up and I wondered if a warden had arrived to tell us what to do. Instead a man got out with his children and put up a tent in the park. In the morning he gave me the rest of their milk for our own journey. In this part of the Scottish borders everyone is happy to talk, their curiosity aroused by our journey.

The next day a fresh headwind rose to cool the sunshine. We paddled, poled, and waded, pulling the boats down the rocky shallows. We inspected and shot rapids and weirs. This one at Melrose was rocky.

Merkatoun proved an interesting rapid. We shot it in turns, covering for each other.

The tricky part was a hard paddle to the right. Tom went for it.

and Joanna thought about it.

By supper time we had spent 12 hours with the boats. A Canadian canoe is about the same area as a yoga mat. You live in that space for several days, carrying everything that you need, gazing out at the world from your small territory.
The grounds of Floors Castle looked inviting for a level campsite.

Cooking supper across the river on the beach below an old battlement of Roxburgh Castle we tried to avoid any disturbance or trace of our being there.

  Roxburgh was built by King David and taken by the English in 1174 A.D. We rose early and slipped away before anyone was about.

Tom and I had bought one day tickets for trout fishing. Salmon fishing is expensive but the trout beats are let to local clubs at a low rent.

I took an ice axe for digging a toilet so we lashed it to a milk bottle full of stones and water. It make a great anchor for the canoes. I taught Tom how to cast a fly line and of course he caught a fish.

Kelso is a lovely town. The old market square is a great place to sit and eat take aways from the bakery. You would think that you were in France. Sir Walter Scott, who went to the grammar school said,  "it is the most beautiful if not the most romantic village in Scotland". A Lidl store provided a top up for our water. The Town hall has a tourist information desk. We took half a day around the town before setting off again into the headwind. Kelso was the only weir that we decided was unsafe to shoot. You can exit just above the weir on the left, or on the left below the first road bridge called Rennie's Bridge. The original had been washed away in the floods of 1797.


The river widened as it dropped through a series of weirs, all shootable. Sand martins flew in and out of their nests feeding their young on the wing. Swallows and swifts dived over the water. Black headed gulls and cormorants took their fill. Oyster catchers, sand pipers and curlews conducted their noisy orchestras.
Dog walkers and fisherman alike all stopped what they were doing to chat and ask how far we had come.

The pools under these bridges would be a fisherman's dream. Large salmon or sea trout slid beneath our canoes.
Slowly Coldstream campsite came into view just before the town on the right. The river had been our companion now so we chose to paddle past the town and found a perfect site on the left bank. With a saw we cut the driftwood that we carried into short lengths. It quickly made a fire, the glowing embers perfect for cooking. Tom and I had taken bivvy bags. Jo took a tent that afforded her privacy. Midges can be a nuisance but eating at least a clove of garlic a day puts them (and everyone else) off. Eating fresh grapefruit and rubbing the inner pith on the skin also puts them off. The pith contains hyalauronic acid which is used in high quality skin cleansers. Taking vitamins also helps your sweat to smell repellent. B vitamins change your sweat and vitamin C and MSM act as anti histamines without making you sleepy.

I had no stove so sawing driftwood into short lengths made a quick cooking fire.

It was midsummer's day, this view looked back to Coldstream at nearly 10 pm.

On the Sunday we set off for the final haul to Berwick on Tweed. The river widened. The fish leapt straight out of the water as if in mockery. No fishing is allowed on a Sunday. A pair of eagles circled above their eyre high in the trees. The fresh river turned to the salt marshes of the estuary. The numbers of Bewick Swans increased. I counted 14 at one time. The wind freshened again as if to give us a final challenge. Reluctantly we completed our journey as the tide was falling. Between the two road bridges in Berwick there is a sea wall on the right. You can haul canoes up the stone steps and leave them on the grass. We left my car on the trading estate with permission, by a manager of a business.

The Tweed is a wonderful river. In Scotland you have a right to navigate and wild camp. Politeness, respect and leaving no trace of litter or campfires goes a long way. Remember that Salmon fishermen have paid a lot of money for the privilege of their beat. Wait for them to see you. Ask them which way to go and paddle silently past them.

For me the pleasures lay in great companions, sharing a son for a few days, (I have two lovely daughters). There was no obligation to train or coach anyone, yet the skills and confidence of my companions came on leaps and bounds. There was no element of competition or prize winning and no deadline except to reach Berwick on Sunday. We were humans being in the wilderness not human beings competing in the wilderness. A group of young women once asked Hamish Brown to advise them on what they needed for a trip into the wilderness. He was tempted to offer his services as a guide but he wrote back to say that all they needed was a bus ticket.

Useful Kit
In this target driven society saving weight costs an arm and a leg. I buy the best I can and make do with the rest.
Some kit can save your life: a quick drying Buffalo or Montane fleece, an air breathable Goretex bivvy bag, a down sleeping bag, (provided you keep it dry).
For canoe camping a tent can be a nuisance. You wake up either hot and sweaty or cold and damp. The breeze under a tarp or over your bivvy bag dries your kit out.
5 coloured dry bags help you find your stuff, one for day time, for night time, one for valuables, one for day food, and a barrel for the rest.
A saw helps to cut driftwood short for a quick fire. It also helps to clear branches that obstruct fishing, cut poles for a tarp or cut someone out of a boat in emergency.
An ice axe digs a toilet in stony ground, acts as an anchor (with a milk bottle and stones attached), and acts as a belay point for rescues and abseiling.

For cold, wet feet I might invest in some socks from:
http://www.chillcheater.com
For camping equipment and good advice try:
http://www.theoutdoorshop.com/
If you want a reflective book on walking in the hills look out for:
Hamish's Mountain Walk by Hamish Brown. I heard him speak when we lived in the Orkneys. He has also put poetry together into collected works.

Yoga, psoas, hip flexors, dislocated patella, Sciatica, BP Oil leak, contentment

Nearly did not go to yoga on Saturday. Monday and Tuesday were both hip openers, hard on the groin when you have had a double hernia operation. Guess what he concentrated on - hip openers and groin stretches; came home feeling like John Wayne after a long ride on a horse.

Saw a few people over the weekend. You can tell by the sound of urgency in their voice whether they really need to see you now. A lady had mid back pain for three months. After lots of tests and seeing specialists the conclusion was gall stones. Even the orthopaedic specialist thought it was nothing to do with the joints or muscles. Two weeks after the operation she had exactly the same pain. It turned out to be short hip flexors, especially psoas and a rib that was a fraction out of place. There are some major nerve ganglions (or junctions) right underneath the rib heads. the psoas muscles interlock with the cross shaped tendons of the diaphragm into the ribs between the kidneys. The diaphragm acts slightly upwards and the psoas muscles act downwards.

A young woman came in panic and great pain about her knee. The meniscus was stuck and she could not straighten the leg. You have to work very firmly and gently with knees. A few months ago she had come with her father because of the other knee. She had been to the drop in centre with a severely swollen knee. The doctor on duty had examined it and told her to take a hot bath. I have a great respect for doctors but it takes a nose dive when someone gives the wrong advice. The knee cap was completely dislocated. We sat her up straight with her father behind her to shorten the quadriceps. I took the leg into strong traction and worked for 35 minutes to ease the patella (knee cap) back into place. My colleague Vanya had to wipe away the sweat that was dripping off my forehead. We cooled it down and it has been fine every since.

Someone else came with sciatica. Sciatica is pain, tingling, electric, fuzzy feeling, deep aching in the back of one or both legs, running from the gluteal muscles, down the back or outside of the leg, into the calf muscles and sometimes to the foot. It can affect the toes especially the big toe. We will talk about it another time. Tell me if you have found ways of relieving sciatica.

The thought occurred to me that perhaps BP will never block the oil leak. We love to blame someone, but it happened to be them not some other oil company. As human beings we need to accept the responsibility for poisoning our planet. Using non recyclable laminated plastics in packaging, being lazy about recycling Constantly buying and throwing away plastics, using our cars without a second thought or offering lifts to others are all ways that we put pressure on companies like BP to keep that oil spewing out of the earth for our convenience.

We had a couple in their eighties round for tea tonight. It struck me how content they were. Yet the other In laws of the same family are suffering. What is the difference. Both men started on the same job level. This one was a rep for a timber merchant and worked until he was 70 years old. The other man had higher ambitions and drove himself to earn a lot more money until he was a director of his company. He travelled the world with his wife and made many friends in exotic places. Then he suffered panic attacks and could not travel any more. He could hardly drive his Range Rover and lost all his confidence. It was a kind of M.E. Perhaps M.E. affects driven people more than contented people?

"Ambition is a hard task master."

Who has the better quality of life now? When my mother died my dad decided that he would sell his perfect house with the perfect garden. Perfection became a burden to him. Most of his life he and his wife had acquired possessions. (They had 10 teapots!). He went off around the country on National Trust trips, walked a bit with the ramblers, or sat in the pub at lunchtime and waited for the group to arrive, found himself a lady friend who would go to the teashops with him and buy the most expensive meals there. He would drink half a bottle of wine with his grand children and do all of the things that he had not been allowed to do when he was married.

He died at 92 a contented man.
ps if you want to buy a bargain flat in Warwick have a look at:
http://flatinwarwick.wordpress.com

Oils that heal the body

I don't know what all this fuss is about low fat diets. I eat a high fat diet and can't put on an ounce of weight. Butter, lovely stuff, who would want margarine? Olive oil, I dunk bread in it and pour it on my toast. Hemp seed oil, yummy great for the tummy, cashews, almonds, sunflower seeds, hazelnuts, pecans all full of oil and great energy foods. Extra virgin oil means that it is extracted from the first pressing without heating above 60 degrees centigrade.

The only things you need to watch are:
Never eat "roasted, salted nuts". I used to visit the factories where they are "roasted". Peanuts, almonds, pistachios or macadamias are cleaned of all the crud that is sticking to them from the fields or being dried in someone's back yard. They pour the nuts into boiling vats of oil, deep fry them, drain the oil, spray them with 6% salt then finish them off with a glazing oil, what a way to ruin perfectly nutritious food that kept our ancestors going through the winter.

The other factor to avoid is salt. Try Meridian peanut butter, just peanuts, no salt or palm oil. Or try Wholebake original 9 seed bars, they will keep your energy levels going. Did you know that peanuts have more fibre in them weight for weight than prunes? Nuts and seeds will regulate your blood sugar levels.

Another great oil for cooking is Carotino Healthier cooking oil. It is made from red palm and rape seed oil, both very stable when heated. Stable oils do not hydrogenate when heated.

Oils are the only source of the vitamins A, E, D, and K. A helps the skin, E helps the blood and the heart, D helps the digestion and protects against diverticulitis, crohns disease and colon cancer, K helps to clot the blood and to build and replace the bones. People on fat free diets are asking for trouble.

The Thyroid, Hyoid bone and the scalene muscles

The thyroid gland sits just below the projection under your chin. It secretes hormones that regulate your temperature and the rate at which you burn energy. There is another gland surrounding it called the parathyroid. It secretes hormones that regulate the balance of calcium in your bloodstream. Too little and calcium is borrowed from the reserves in your bones. Too much and calcium is deposited into your bones. Above the thyroid is another U shaped bone called the hyoid. It is the only floating bone in the bone and anchors your tongue muscles. You can glide it from side to side if you hold it deep under your chin.
The hyoid is a place where we sometimes hold memories of the past. For instance if you have been accidentally "throttled" say by the chin strap of a helmet you might hold a fear of someone taking you around the neck. A skilled therapist can release that fear by gently holding the hyoid while you are in a supportive setting. There is a muscle between the hyoid and thyroid and between the thyroid and sternum / clavicle (collar bone). If you tip your head right back you can stretch the front of the neck but it will not affect the action of thyroid. However if you tip your head right back while placing the tongue on the roof of your mouth and stretching your tongue upwards you will release the tension in the muscles under your jaw. Making silly faces in the mirror by jutting your jaw out will stretch the platysma muscle that covers all of the front of your jaw. Also try placing your fingers just over your collar bone into a very tender area. Lift your jaw and turn your head. That stretches the scalene muscles. The scalenes help with upper chest breathing. The nerves and blood supply to the arms runs between the front and middle scalenes. That is called the brachial (meaning arm), plexus (meaning nerve bundle).

Arthritis, osteo-arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis

This is a reply to someone who said that their neck felt worse after treatment.

I am really sorry to hear that your neck is feeling worse. When arthritis is present it is very hard to know how much treatment to give. In an effort to give value for money and not prolong the number of sessions, we sometimes over treat. The result can be soreness in the short term but hopefully more freedom of movement in the long term. The same applies to the shoulder. Osteoarthritis in the neck results from a loss of disc height and limited movement of the facet or gliding joints. If the facets do not move for a long time the neck starts to form osteophytes or new spurs of bone. They act like splints to limit the movement. You cannot see them except under x-ray. You need to keep your neck as mobile as possible and look at nutritional factors, including supplements. If I was suffering myself I would keep on stretching as best I can by trying to reach each shoulder with my chin and by a sort of chicken move, gliding the head back and forwards. This is active therapy. Passive therapy is to allow someone else to move the head and neck, but of course this can be painful in the short term.

Osteo means bone, -arthros means joint, -itis means inflammation.
Osteo-arthritis is essentially poor nutrition to a joint that might have been damaged by an accident, twisting or other trauma. It occurs more in weight bearing joints like the knees and the last joint in the fingers.

Rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammatory condition that flares up more often under times of stress. It is a sign of an over active immune system. A number of factors can affect the immune system:

1. Stress, anxiety, uncertainty, major shock, sudden news or change of circumstances
2. Previous exposure to allergens as a child
3. Food intolerances or intolerance to bee stings, cosmetics, chemicals
4. Slow recovery from a viral illness

Rheumatoid conditions tend to affect synovial joints on both sides of the body. Some people find a degree of relief from avoiding common allergens or stimulants like shellfish, dairy, wheat, eggs or soya, caffeine, anaesthetics. It is best not to remove something from your diet unless you are sure that you are reacting to it. Loss of essential nutrients and malnutrition might be the result.
Exploring triggers in childhood might help.

Some food supplements or anti-inflammatory herbs might help. Supergest and probiodaily from Higher Nature help digestion. Astaxanthin and blackcurrant is a supplement with an anti-inflammatory action.
If I have treated someone with inflammation from sciatica for instance, I suggest that they take 1 or 2 astaxanthin a day to calm down the inflammation. Cholesterol containing plaque in the arteries could be the result of inflammation. Astaxanthin comes from the algae that flamingos eat. They obviously have a strong protection against the effects of the sun. Glucosamine is an ingredient found in the fluid in the joints. Some forms like glucosamine sulphate are poorly absorbed. Glucosamine hydrochloride is much better absorbed. Chondroitin is a large molecule that sometimes helps to work with glucosamine. One person I know found that chondroitin with manganese in it helped him. Good oils in the diet also help to repair the body. MSM is a supplement that contains sulphur. Sulphur bonds to amino acids to make quality proteins. MSM acts to repair collagen the proteins that glue the body together. Incidently be careful about steroid injections. They dramatically cut inflammation inside joint capsules, but interfere with collagen production in the tendons.

Chocolate Cake Recipe Making cakes

I love making cakes. My mother taught me; she used to win the W.I. victoria sponge competition.
Here are some principles:

1. Bring all of your ingredients to room temperature before you start
2. Always sieve your flour and cocoa or any other powders.
3. Only use baking powder that is in date. Use if for cleaning surfaces or fishy pans if it is not.
4. Make the final blending in of dry ingredients very light. If doing it by hand use a metal spoon. If doing it with a processor only use the enough time to mix the ingredients.
5. You can lower the sugar content by adding water. For instance 150gm sugar plus 100ml (gm) water = 250gm sugar.
6. Personally I only use butter or if someone reacts to dairy, Pure margarine.
7. A cake is cooked when it smells cooked, when the top dips and springs back, when a skewer comes out clean.

Here is a chocolate cake recipe

Ingredients: 

250gm flour, (s.r. or plain plus 3 tsp baking powder), 240gm light, soft brown sugar, 250 gm butter, 4 eggs, 60 gm cocoa powder and half a tsp baking powder mixed, 3 tablespoons of yogurt, a dribble of real vanilla essence (half a teaspoon). 200 gm plain chocolate, raspberry jam for the filling.

Method:

Sieve the flour and cocoa (and baking powder if used). Blend the butter and sugar until smooth. Dribble in some vanilla essence. Add the eggs, blend again, Add 3 tablespoons of yogurt, blend again. Add the flour and cocoa, blend just until smooth. Spread into 2 x 20 cm (8") baking trays. Bake for about 35 minutes at 160 degrees electric (gas mark 4). Turn out onto a rack. Spread the jam between the two halves. Either dab pieces of plain chocolate onto the warm cake and spread with a palette knife, or melt the chocolate in a glass bowl over hot water and spread it. Bon apertit.

Thoughts on Iyenga and Ashtanga yoga

An enthusiastic friend encouraged me to go to an Iyenga yoga class last night. As we parked a number of people converged on the hall with trolleys or large bags, like fisherman on their way down to the lake. The hall was closely packed, warm and friendly. The teacher Sue, had just returned from India and was suffering from jet lag. She had a precise air, having been classical ballet trained. I liked her manner, very serious however, when it came to the teaching. I sweat a lot in yoga so as usual, stripped off the outer clothing for action. After 20 minutes I was cold. After an hour and a half I was glad of a woollen blanket to snuggle under for the final Shivasna or corpse pose, at the end.

Sue made some great points about warrior pose. Set up your back leg stiff and straight. Lift the toes of your front foot with your front leg straight. Then bend the front leg and place the toes down, keeping the same angle of bending. It activates the muscles in the pelvis.

At one point the teacher asked us to get ready for halasana or plough pose, then headstand. Looking around the room I felt distinctly out of place. People were tying straps around their arms and rolling up their mats in lots of foam blocks. I used to have them but most of them have gone to people with dodgy knees. Feeling like Mr Bean I folded up a tiny piece of fleece blanket as thick as it would go. Sue was obviously not happy at my intentions. She asked where my support was. I replied that we do not use them in our class. She said that it was obviously not an Iyenga class. Somehow we managed to cobble some blankets together. Doing shoulder stand with soft supports under the neck and shoulders was very uncomfortable. Newton's second law of motion says that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. If you use soft supports you cannot achieve a strong lift. If you use a firm resistance you can achieve a stronger lift.

I can see the purpose of using blocks, straps and blankets to help people who are stiff, or give beginners a start. However, pulling yourself into position with a strap for instance, takes away from the inner banda that engages your core muscles to bring you into the asana. I cannot imagine coach loads of Indian yogis still carting their trolleys to classes after years of practice.

I came home feeling like I needed some exercise before going to bed. Iyenga yoga is fantastic if you want to set up your asanas precisely, thinking through how you go into and come out of the pose. What puzzles me is that Iyenga teachers look down on movement based flow vinyasas as less precise and therefore less pure forms of yoga. I am so grateful for starting with Iyenga, but much prefer the challenge and strength involved in Ashtanga. The teachers are more accepting that we are trying hard to improve our own inner standards, not trying to meet someone else's definition of perfection. Surely yoga is an inner journey to gaining control and harmony both inside and out?