Days III and IV: Phlegm vs. Phlegmatic?

It's too early to tell, but I feel less stuffy, less congested. Is it a fluke? A placebo effect? (though a rice cracker makes a lousy placebo for an English muffin). Is it the absence of dairy, sugar, caffeine, or beer or wine, all of which can cause inflammation, and which I often crave? All of the above?

Oh God, don't let it be all of the above...

Because if this congestion-free feeling sticks around, one or more of the above may have to be cut back, or cut out. Or...maybe it's bumping up the intake of anti-inflammatory foods, like fish (Omega 3s), walnuts (for protein). Or a combination of both.

I decide on Day 4 that after this cleansing diet is over, instead of gorging myself on all the forbidden foods starting December 1, it's time for a little test. Introduce an item or group slowly, singluarly, and see how I feel. Maybe stop and alternate. Then think about some longer-term changes.

Part of doing 'Ground Into Fall' for me was to root deeper into who I was and what makes me tick, from what I eat to working on trying to reach a state of grace (both physical and metaphysical) to being more mindful and setting--and achieving--intentions. Frankly, I'd like to tick a little better.

So the idea of experiencing an emerging physical change this quickly is both exciting and scary. I'm used to being stuffed up this time of year and staying that way for months: November's been notoriously a bad month. In an earlier phase of life November typically marked the onset 0f recreational smoking. Almost like a fit of youthful pique, I would think "well body/lungs/respiratory system, if you're going to stuff me up and make me cough and sniffle, then screw you, I'm show you what really hurts!"

Yeah, I really showed myself there.

Now I notice right away, especially when I wake up in the morning the past couple of days, that breathing is easier. It's like throwing open the windows in spring and knowing it's not too cold to leave them open the better part of the day. It feels really good to open my eyes and breathe clearly, and I notice that waking up is getting easier too. The Yerba Mate is even growing on me. Smoothies are looking less brown. Breakfast salad is starting to seem normal.

What's really funny and kind of ironic is that the relative absence of pleghm (such a funny word) by knocking off on certain foods makes breathing easier and me feel more phlegmatic, or calmer, temperment-wise. When I learned about the four humors (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Temperaments#Modern_adaptations) in English literature 'phlegmatic' to me was one of those words that always seemed to mean the opposite of how it sounded. Shouldn't someone who's phlegmatic be snotty instead of stolid? I remember being fascinated by Hippocrates' classification of the four temperaments and how they were attributable to four body fluids (humors): blood, yellow bile, black bile, and my old friend, phlegm.

Now I think I may finally get what the concept of phlegmatic means, and maybe literally getting the feeling. And it feels good. Unsurprising when you consider, in the inimitable words of 'Time for Timer," that we are what we eat, from our head down to our feet. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mE7szSLE924)

So pass me a couple more of those walnuts. But hold the sugar.