What is Terrain?  

Terrain is simply the state of your inner and outer environments.  Your inner environment includes your nutritional state, immune system, metabolism and your microbiomes.  Your outer environment includes factors such the toxins and pollutants that you may be exposed to, the air quality and the water quality of where you live.  There are also other factors involved in your personal terrain and that is your state of mind, how you handle your emotions, your stress levels, stressors and triggers that come typically original from your inner and outer environments.

Terrain is often compared to lifestyle; however, the two are different in many ways.  Lifestyle refers to how a person lives their lives, how they socialize and interact with others, how they choose to live their lives.  Terrain on the other hand refers more about how a person treats their body, mind, spirit/soul (their state of being) which becomes both their inner and outer expression, which in turn is seen through the eyes of one’s lifestyle.

Why is terrain important?

The condition or state of your body is your terrain and it includes the following factors:

• Nutrition
• Fittness
• Metabolism
• Microbiomes
• Health and function of vital organs
• Immune system
• Nervous system
• Emotional well-being
• Mental well-being
• Environmental factors – exposure to bacteria, viruses, allergens, toxins, chemicals, radiation, EMF’s, noise, air pollution, contaminated water and more.

By nurturing your body’s terrain, you are able to fight off illness
which is your best long-term defence against disease.

Where does the term terrain come from?

The term “terrain” comes from comparing the human body to that of the land, Mother Earth.  Your body, as the land, is made up of water, rocks, soil, minerals, microorganism, wildlife, fauna, bacteria, fungi, and more.  They all interact, just as everything within the human body interacts.

Now think of cancer as an obnoxious weed.  Many weeds thrive in poor soil, poor pH, poor nutrients, poor water and so cancer survives, thrives and multiplies in our bodies just like a weed.  That is just what cancer does, it thrives on poor diet, poor water, processed foods, chemicals, sugar, alcohol, glysophates, GMO’s, and so many things that the body is exposed to from the environment.

There are numerous studies on the subject of cancer, what causes cancer, how cancer travels and multiplies throughout the body, how it attacks vital organs, gets into the blood, bone and the brain.  It is an easy conclusion that cancer acts like a parasite.

So what is the first thing that one does to get rid of a parasite, we cleanse!  How does a farmer or gardener get rid of obnoxious weeds without using chemicals, they have to examine, analyze and sense what is wrong, what is it lacking, what is it getting too much of, and how to rectify the problem.  That is exactly what we have to do with our cancer, our illness, our disease—we need to change our lifestyle, our terrain.

How do you tend to your terrain?

Tending to your garden/soil means bringing your terrain’s nutrients, chemicals, and microorganisms into balance.  We all know that if soil is healthy, it will grow healthy plants.  A healthy terrain means fewer drugs or invasive medical treatments.

Step 1:  Get honest, real honest with yourself as to what you have been doing to your body.  Have a good cry if you need to.  You must be true to yourself going forward.

Step 2:  Research all the possible diets that are out there and find one that suites you that you feel you can work with and stick with.  You can always switch and change to something else if it doesn’t work for you.

Step 3:  Change your shopping habits.  Strive to purchase organic, locally grown vegetables, fruits and grass-fed meat, eggs, and dairy products.  This may be difficult for many people, but the sooner you get away from commercially prepared foods and fast foods the better for your health and well-being.

Step 4:  Create a diet plan and commit to it.  There are so many, many diets out there in books, the internet and ones recommended by reputable doctors.  Pick and choose what feels right for you.  Mix and max diet recommendations to create your own, what suits you best.  The most important thing is to make a plan and stick with it.

Step 5:  What is the health and purity of the water you drink.  Consider installing a good water filtration system or purchasing an alkaline water system.  Drink 2-3 litres of water per day.  Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.

Step 6:  Develop an exercise plan and routine that works for you.  Again, like diet, recipes, and cooking there are numerous recommendations to be found in books and on the internet.

Create a healthy environment for the body to thrive in so that it will remain resilient
when exposed to pathogens and toxins from the outside environment.

How terrain changes throughout our lives

The state of one’s terrain changes exponentially over the course of a lifetime.  Such things as puberty, hormones, pregnancy, breastfeeding, menopause and aging all have factors on one’s terrain.  As we age, our fitness level declines, our sexual drive declines, our bodies start to sag, ache and stiffen.  If anyone has experienced a severe illness such as cancer, been in an accident that left them disabled, or are suffering from diseases such as diabetes, parkinson’s, etc. will all know that their bodily functions, their terrain, are not functioning as it once was.

Changes in one’s terrain due to the above will mean that the microbiomes within the body have changed also.  For the most part nutrition and fitness have the biggest impact on metabolism, the digestive system, hormone balance and microbiomes which impact the body’s ability to respond to infections and environmental exposures.

Terrain and cancer

Cancer is often characterized as a genetic disease.  Most cancer cells don’t necessarily evolve as genetic disease, but more likely develop over time.  The mutations of the cancer cells and how they manifest in the body over time is heavily influenced by one’s environment and the terrain of their body.

When an imbalanced body terrain is manifested as cancer, it means that the cancer promoting genes (genetic or not) have been turned on and the cancer suppressing genes have been turned off.  By bringing one’s terrain back into balance the cancer promoting genes can be turned back on.

The following is a list of factors that aid in turning on those cancer promoting gene cells:

1. Diabetes, glucose and body weight
   • The concentration of glucose (sugar) in the blood alters the body’s terrain.  When blood sugar irregularities arise such as insulin deficiency, then diabetes may ensue.  If insulin deficiency is feeding the cancer cells by taking up glucose then it is not good for the body’s terrain.
2. Hormone Imbalance
   • The actions of hormones influence all body systems from the endocrine system, heart function, blood pressure, energy production, stress response, wakefulness, blood sugar, reproductive organ development, immunity, calcium uptake and digestion.  Hormones optimize the body’s terrain balance, rhythm and equilibrium
3. Immune Function
   • The body’s ability to fight infection, neutralize harmful toxins and prevent disease (including cancer) is a key component of the body’s terrain.
4. Inflammation
   • Inflammation is the body’s response to injury, disease or irritation of the muscles, bones, nerves and tissues such as the skin and nails.  When inflammation becomes chronic then DNA damage can result as well as cancers.
5. Oxidative Stress
   • Oxidative stress reflects an imbalance between the systemic manifestation of reactive oxygen species and a biological system’s ability to readily detoxify the reactive intermediates or to repair the resulting damage. Wikipedia
   • Oxidative stress is an imbalance between oxidants and antioxidants.

Terrain and returning to balance

Terrain is not new.  Only the term is new.  Traditional Chinese medicine, Ayruvedic medicine and Native American medicine all recognize the key factors in the body’s ability to heal or to return to balance.  These concepts are deeply rooted in the MIND, the BODY and the SPIRIT/SOUL, through MEDIDATION, NUTRITION and EXERCISE which I will go into in more detail on this website.

True health is only possible when we understand the unity of our
minds, emotions, spirits and physical bodies. — Christiane Northrup