Life On A Train

Russian Tea Tradition

Imperial Russia was attempting to engage China and Japan in trade at the same time as the East Indian Company. The Russian interest in tea began as early as 1618 when the Chinese embassy in Moscow presented several chests of tea to Czar Alexis. By 1689 the Trade Treaty of Newchinsk established a common border between Russia and China, allowing caravans to then cross back and forth freely. Still, the journey was not easy. The trip was 11,000 miles long and took over sixteen months to complete. The average caravan consisted of 200 to 300 camels. As a result of such factors, the cost of tea was initially prohibitive and available only to the wealthy. By the time Catherine the Great died (1796), the price had dropped some, and tea was spreading throughout Russian society. Tea was ideally suited to Russian life: hearty, warm, and sustaining.

The samovar, adopted from the Tibetan “hot pot”, is a combination bubbling hot water heater and tea pot. Placed in the center of the Russian home, it could run all day and serve up to forty cups of tea at a time. Again showing the Asian influence in the Russian culture, guests sipped their tea from glasses in silver holders, very similar to Turkish coffee cups. The Russians have always favored strong tea highly sweetened with sugar, honey, or jam.

With the completion of the Trans-Siberian Railroad in 1900, the overland caravans were abandoned. Although the Revolution intervened in the flow of the Russian society, tea remained a staple throughout. Tea (along with vodka) is the national drink of the Russians today.

Belief systems can cause stress

A lot of stress results from our beliefs. We have literally thousands of premises and assumptions about all kinds of things that we hold to be the truth – everything from, “You can’t fight Government” and “The customer is always right,” to “Men shouldn’t show their emotions” and “Children should make their beds.” We have beliefs about how things are, how people should behave and about ourselves (“I can never remember people’s names”). Most of our beliefs are held unconsciously so we are unaware of them. This gives them more power over us and allows them to run our lives.

Beliefs cause stress in two ways

The first way is the behavior that results from them. For example, if you believe that work should come before pleasure, you are likely to work harder and have less leisure time than you would otherwise. If you believe that people should meet the needs of others before they meet their own, you are likely to neglect yourself to some extent. Several friends have told me, “If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.” They do not delegate well and tend to get overloaded.

In the above three cases, the beliefs are expressions of people’s philosophy or value system, but all lead to increased effort and decreased relaxation – a formula for stress. There is no objective truth to begin with. These are really just opinions but they lead to stressful behavior. Helping people uncover the unconscious assumptions behind their actions can be helpful in getting them to change.

The second way beliefs cause stress is when they are in conflict with those of other people. An example would be a father having a fight with his son because the child wore the same clothes several days in a row. If you ask why it bothered him and he would most likely reply, “Because you should change your clothes every day.” If you ask him where this idea originated: “Well, my mother taught me that. Everyone knows you should change your clothes every day.” If you told him that this was not “the truth,” but merely his opinion based on the way he was raised and people lived in cultures where they did not change clothes often and nothing bad happened to them. This would help him see that this was a premise he held but one which was not shared by his son. The argument was not over the clothes themselves but merely about a difference of opinion. Once this hypothetical person recognized his belief was not “true,” his anger would be diminished.

For most men the belief that a man can not show emotion and he must be the main source of income for the family can cause an enormous amount of stress. However, I believe that childhood experiences can play a significant role to the preconceived ideas held by many men. It would be simply disingenuous to assume that every man you talked to about being emotional and letting go of their fears would actually do this. Some men can watch a news report on television about Iraq and bring them selves to tears while other can show no outward or inner emotion. Their are some men that would see this as a challenge to their sexuality as others could accuse them of being feminine. The reasons for these beliefs may be due to watching their fathers and other piers while they were young. The fact of the matter is that a man can be emotionally connected to himself and others and still have all the other masculine qualities that society stereotypically expects from him.

Beneficial blood-suckers

According to data two working women out of tree have varicose vein problems. Of course it may be worse in case of working in a standing position. Namely this especially strains feet, just like sitting all day. However the development of varicose veins is primarily due to hereditary susceptibility, environmental effects can only add up to it.

Smooth muscles of veins, departing from heart is becoming thicker and thicker, as it should bear a blood column of higher pressure. Healthy veins react to diastole with dilatation, while systole results in contraction. The ability of contraction and relaxation is also a means of blood pressure control. Contraction increases the reflow of blood towards the heart, while relaxation by temporarily storing blood in veins results in blood pressure reduction. If veins are dilated, the smooth muscles contracting to nervous and hormonal stimulus can exert less energy than the muscles of healthy veins. Finally smooth muscles relax, and veins dilate. The mechanical means of peripheral veins are vein valves, which, like closing valves let blood flow only to one direction, hereby promoting the efficiency of heart pumping. Valves normally bear 200 Hgmm pressure without reflow. However in case the tone of the smooth muscles of veins is lost, or connective tissues are damaged, the vein section above the valve widen out so much that valves cannot bear the pressure any longer.

The problem is four times more frequent in women than in men, as the muscle relaxing effect of progesterone hormone produced in women during pregnancy promotes the languishing of the smooth muscles of veins. Estrogen also worsens the efficiency of smooth muscles. The veins of those taking contraceptives and hormone supplements are especially at risk.

Varicosity, besides decreased performance, esthetic problems and painful symptoms threatens with the development of some serious complications. Permanent venous stagnation and insufficient blood supply may lead to the necrosis of the skin, as the transport of waste materials, products of decomposition produced in tissues is not continuous, while fresh oxygen and nutrients cannot reach some parts of the feet. In slackened blood circulation blood clots, blood vessels are clogged, instead of liquid blood solid blood stagnates in it, offering an ideal medium for pathogens. Bacteria multiply quickly in it, causing serious inflammation. If the inflammation spreads towards deep veins, the consequences are even more serious; necrosis and amputation of legs. It clotted blood produced in vein comes off and reaches lungs, it may cause lethal pulmonary embolism.

The disease is preceded by mild cosmetic problems, development of web-like, not palpable veins. First symptoms are tiredness, heaviness, tensive pain on legs. Frequent numbness, as if legs were prickled by thousands of tiny needles, and we often wake up at night to painful cramps in the calves. Later even beautiful, well-shaped legs are deformed by protruding, winding thick veins and brownish discoloration above the ankles.
Warning signs should be taken seriously, the development of disease can be prevented by routine application of natural active agents.

There is a new possibility to treat the problem by a long used, recently rediscovered active agent. Three thousand years ago leeches had already been used by Asian doctors. Blood loss resulting from blood-sucking served for detoxification. Patients felt relieved after the intervention. The substances that got into the blood on biting acted as anti-spasmodic agents, moreover, they exerted some calming effects as well. Greeks among others treated hemorrhoidal nodes with leeches. Leeches had a great cult in the Middle Ages, until blood letting came into fashion. Blood sucker have been rehabilitated during the French Revolution. In Parisian hospitals 5-6 millions of leeches had been on duty. The use of living animals have been made superfluous by identifying the active agent called hirudin, than another component, heparin in the extract of leeches.

From among the active agents isolated from the saliva of leeches the most well-known is the anti-coagulant enzyme hirudin. Beside hirudin, the presence of other anti-coagulants is unnecessary. It has an anesthetic and blood vessel dilating effects, promotes micro-circulation and tissue oxygenation. The second one is Hyaluronidase, which reduces the viscosity of connective tissue. This agent dissolves the sheath of pathogens and makes them defenseless against the immune system, reducing the risk of development of infections. The proteins called englines reduce inflammation. In the extract of saliva among others there is an agent of anesthetic and capillary dilating effect. Siegesbeckia orientalis (Makino), as a general anti-inflammatory is recommended against rheumatic pains as well. It absorbs well through skin, so its active agents can exert a complex effect, and help the integration of vitamins responsible for the flexibility of blood vessel walls into vein walls. These substances are twice as effective as synthetic agents. Altogether they rid the legs from the feeling of being swollen. They reduce the development of spontaneous pain, spasm in calves, serosity between tissues and fatigability. Redness of skin is alleviated, painful touch and blue spots subside. It makes dry, sensitive skin flexible and silky.

If you fell you are at risk because of your way of life or profession, it makes sense to use the above mentioned active agent preventively.

Warning!

· In case of taking anti-coagulants, primarily Syncumar, it should not get into open wounds.
· On rare occasions the auxiliary materials may cause allergy. Hirudin and Siegesbeckia orientalis extract in 50 ml cream.
· If your complaints would not cease in case of recommended dosage, turn to your health care specialist, doctor or pharmacist!