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Obeying the Call of the Wild

by Sandra M. Yee, DCM

Our animal instincts pulse stronger than we think, probably wilder than we care to acknowledge. When feeling the tight tug of Mother Nature, many of us have cried out: “Wait, not here, not now, not in front of all these people, not in these unsanitary conditions…!” It’s not the subject of cocktail parties and first dates, but when Mother Nature calls, we’d be wise to listen.

Many people blanch at the thought of using public restrooms to pass water, never mind passing a bowel movement. However, when we purposely ignore nature’s signals to empty, we choose instead to store our waste in the recesses of our precious “temples” – our bodies, our homes. We imagine such delays are temporary and occasional, but continual disregard of our internal messaging system threatens to pollute our bodies and disrupt our overall energetic balance.

When urine and stool are not released at the body’s request, we allow the waste matter to stagnate within, where it seeps into the cell tissue of the bladder and colon and is then released into the bloodstream. The entire body becomes contaminated, a prime host for dis-ease.

Also, many people choose to drink less water to decrease visits to the restroom. School teachers and drivers are notorious for voluntary dehydration. Such practice leads towards constipation and dis-eases of the kidneys and urinary bladder, such as chronic infections and formation of kidney stones (not to mention disorders of the reproductive system, memory, and bones, which are governed by the Kidney Energy Meridian). The kidneys need to be flushed regularly with clean water to properly filter out cellular waste; figure about one quart of water for every fifty pounds body weight – more in hot weather or when engaging in vigorous activity. Remember, the body is 70% water – not soda, juice, tea, coffee, or beer.

To add to the toxicity of voluntary constipation and dehydration, the body eventually becomes numb to its own signals. When its prompts are repeatedly ignored, the body realizes it does no good to alert us any longer, and the muscles used to clamp down on normal excretory functions ultimately lose their elasticity. When it’s time to go, it’s time to go. Many of us may see this form of bodily anarchy years later in so-called incontinence – urinary, gaseous, and fecal. This is a high price to pay for avoiding use of a public restroom (or squatting behind a tree)!

Ideally, each day we should have one bowel movement per meal and pass urine about once an hour, or for each eight-ounce glass of water consumed. Such frequency may be much higher than some supervisors like to see; however, we should all note that a properly hydrated body is much less susceptible to dis-ease and disability in the long run. To allow the body to rest during the night, the last meal should be completed at least four hours prior to bedtime and the last liquids drunk two hours before sleep. The body requires four straight hours of sleep to enter the restoration mode of deep sleep, in which cells are repaired and new cells created. Night trips to the restroom disrupt the sleep cycle and thus, the healing process.

Also observe that those who choose to hang on to the body’s offal are also usually the ones who hang on to emotional injuries. Those who try to restrain the body’s mechanics also usually try to control the unfolding of the universe. Make no joke about it – the physical body is a metaphor for the emotional self.

Of course there are many non-voluntary reasons for retention of stool and/or urine. Herbs, homeopathy, colon cleansing, change of diet, and acupuncture can help. When used correctly, these modalities help the body remember how to work on its own and help retrain us to answer that sometimes inconvenient, but always necessary, call of the wild.

Next time the body calls out for release of its waste matter, pay attention. A public restroom may not be the most sanitary or private for our bodily functions, but we owe it to our temples to keep our inner pathways clean.

This article originally appeared in Atlanta's The Life Line.